Freeman Frenzy

7 Weeks old

2012-02-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Our little Noah is growing up too fast! I'm LOVING this stage of just snuggling all day long. It's obvious for any of you who have seen our apartment that I'm probably doing a little too much snuggling and not enough cleaning. Those things can wait! This guy is too gosh darn cute!

Noah's accomplishments this week: going to church for the first time, having the most incredible burp that I have ever heard from any human being, waking mama up (still) every 2 hours, breast-feeding lying down (or maybe that's my accomplishment?), peeing on himself during diaper change twice, wearing all of his 3 month clothes, and filling up the diaper trash can in less than 4 days. Way to go, pal!

Daddy got to come home from work for lunch today. We loved it!

He's our little bug and we love him so much! Names that we call him: Little bug, nugget, pal, bubba, bubooshka, Mr. Magoo, Magooski, and Noah-bear. There's no way that he knows his name.

We took a 2 hour nap together today! I have a cold and needed the extra zzzz (and hello, I'm a new mom and am always behind on sleep!). I love napping with this guy. He's the best cuddle bug out there!

Changing a colostomy bag 101

2012-02-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

People have a lot of questions about Noah's disease--and I still do too!

Some questions have been:

How do you bathe him? We have some great sponges (that the hospital gave us) that soap up when we put water on them and we simply wipe him clean with those on the days we don't change his bag. It cleans him fine and it's fast, but I'd much rather give him a bubbly warm bath every day! On the bag changing days we give him a nice long bath. Noah LOVES it. We put him in the baby tub and the warm water helps loosen the adhesive on his skin so that I can tear it off more easily. Then we wipe the skin around the stoma to get the adhesive and anything else off so that when we put a new wafer on it's nice and clean. We always cross our fingers that he doesn't poop during all of this :) But it's not a big deal if he does--we just dump the water and have another bath!

Do you change the bag every time he poops? No way. We'd be tied to the bathroom all day! The wafers, if we did a good job, last usually 3 days. But we're still learning better techniques and it's a continual learning process (don't heat the wafer for any longer than x amount of time, don't fold the bag over itself because that tears it off faster, make sure the skin is completely dry before applying the wafer, cut the hole a little bit on the smaller side so no poo gets through the crack, etc. etc. etc.) The last bag we put on lasted 4 days! That was great. But last week we went through 3 in one day! So you see...it's just constantly changing, but we're getting better!

How does it stick on? I'll briefly outline the process. 1- after you tear it off in the bath tub, throw the bag away, take him out, wipe his skin dry. 2- Mark cuts a hole in the wafer just a little bit smaller than the circumference of his stoma and heats up the rubbery wafer until it's soft. 3- blow dry Noah's skin so that it's warm in order for it to mold to the wafer--but not too warm or it will slide off. 4- Place the wafer around the stoma. 5- Press down the wafer to his skin using a Q-tip for around the stoma. 6- take off the strips of the adhesive part that surrounds the wafer. This acts as an extra security for the wafer. 7- as soon as the wafer and adhesive parts are secure, grab a bag, take off the strips of the adhesive and stick it over and around the stoma.

Can you touch his stoma? Yes! It's virtually painless for us to touch it. Noah can't feel it. Our intestines don't have nerve endings, so you can actually cut them, poke them, etc. The only way that we feel pain in our colon/large intestine is when it expands (fills up with gas). This is a big blessing especially since we have to put something so tight around it.

Does he still have to wear a diaper? Yes! He still urinates. He's very good at it too!

Are the supplies expensive? Yes! But luckily our insurance covers most of it! I just made an order of 20 bags and 35 wafers and it was about $75. Without insurance, it would be almost ten times that!

Does he cry while changing the bag? Umm it depends. I make sure that we change it around the time that he needs to eat so that I can sit and nurse him on my left side (so that his stoma is on the up side) which always makes him happy while Mark does the dirty work. But he's no dummy and knows what's coming after we take him out of the bath tub, so he usually starts to fuss/cry at that point. We're getting faster though, so if he is upset, it's not for too long.

Can you change it by yourself? I hope I never have to! This is part of the pain--I have to wait for Mark to get home from work so that we can change it together. He's had to leave work in the middle of the day just once to change it with me. It's just tough to do it correctly when Noah's kicking and flailing his arms around. I'm the one who holds him down and Mark does everything else. I know how to do what he does so if I had to do it myself, I could.

As I've mentioned before, he has to poop in a "colostomy bag" that is attached to his "stoma" which is located just a couple inches to the right of his belly button (his left side). Here is what a "bag" looks like:

The white tab at the end is the opening. You fold that a few times and stick it to Velcro and seal it shut. You attach the bag to the "wafer" shown below:

It's still in the package so it's hard to see, but that tan part is what we have to heat and cut the hole out of to fit around his "stoma"

We use these circles to help measure what size hole to cut. His stoma is a little smaller than the 4th largest hole.

I thought I'd throw him in-- makes the picture a lot cuter! :) You can kind of see the outline of the bag under his onesie. It's on his left side.

This is our routine--I take the syringe and stick it inside the bag and drain the contents out. I put everything in the toilet and rinse the bag out probably 4 times to get it somewhat clean. I could empty it into the sink as well. I clean it out every time I change his diaper. It doesn't take long, and he sits pretty still on the little bed that we have next to the sink. This will be trickier (I'm anticipating) as he gets older and more mobile. Luckily this will end in around 6 months!

As mentioned earlier, last week was terrible as far as bags go. In one day we had to change it three times because it was leaking. We think it's because he's moving a lot more now and that not only jostles it a bit more but moving also heats his skin which can make the "wafer" part slide around.

Something a little unfortunate is that Noah's poop stinks! A lot! And most newborn poop doesn't (unless he/she is formula-fed). I can't imagine what it would smell like if I fed him formula. I think it's because he's operating on -11 inches of his colon? Let's hope that his poop after the second surgery isn't so unbearably stinky. I can only imagine what the adventures are ahead for us! I heard from another mom with a son with Hirschsprung's that she had to take a dilator and put it up her son's bum several times a day for the first year after his surgery so that it didn't build up scar tissue. SO...I'm just happy that he won't remember ANY of this when he's a teenager :) but he'll have some pretty "sick" scars to show off.

Noah getting discharged, etc.

2012-01-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

<br><br><br>as

As if you haven't seen enough...
lo siento, amigos!

Noah hates the Andersen tube

2012-01-23T13:14:00.002-07:00

post-biopsy

2012-01-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

Noah's NICU adventures (aka the longest post in blog history)

2012-01-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

I think it's about time that I document the rest of our little nightmare-turned-miracle last month. Most of you know of most of the things that took place because of my Facebook updates. Here we go!

It was 2 days after Noah was born--December 22nd (my mom's birthday) around 1 p.m. that he projectile vomited when Mark and the nurse were burping him. Our nurse Jill was really alarmed, especially since he hadn't had a real bowel movement since birth and we were scheduled to go home in just a few hours.

She called the radiologist to get an x-ray, then Dr. Kendal (sp?) took a look at his tummy and x-ray once it had been processed. Mark and I were anxiously awaiting for a phone call to know what the next step was. We both knew there was something wrong. The phone rang and Dr. Kendal told us that Noah needed to get transported either to Primary Children's or Utah Valley's NICU. She recommended Utah Valley because the doctors that were on call were all top-of-the-line doctors who would most likely be able to fix him. Plus, "It will be a lot less expensive to get him transported to Utah Valley than Primary Children's." We laugh at that later--little did we know he'd get transported to both! So fun! Not! As expected, I started balling on the phone with her but luckily Mark is a rock and took action right away and that gave me strength! We went down to the nursery where the Life Flight people were with all their equipment to get Noah all geared up for the 4-mile drive. They gave him IVs in his head, and later in his hand and foot. Mark was watching--and I was off to the side with my mom.

See how distended his tummy is?

That's his respiratory reader on his foot.

The crew said they never have babies bigger than like 6 pounds in the carrier; he barely fit!

He was so brave! He hardly cried through the whole process. I was very impressed.

Once we got to Utah Valley's NICU, it was early evening and they immediately started tests on him. They put this nasty barium dye both down his throat and up his bum so that they could take more x-rays and see where the "transition point" is--or where the blockage begins. The frustrating part about this is that they couldn't see a clear transition point after putting him through that. It was very unclear, and as a result they were sucking that barium out of him for the next 6 days through this gosh-awful "Andersen tube" that sucks everything out of your stomach 24/7. It goes down your throat; I can't imagine that it's very comfortable. Out of everything that was done to Noah, this irritated him the very most.

Mark begged me to let him put a mustache on that tape--looking back I wish we would have. At least it would have given us a good laugh! Oh well, he's still cute as ever!

At this point, we still don't know what he has. The surgeon on call at Utah Valley was Dr. Skarda--he was very impressive from the beginning and suspected that Noah had Hirschsprung's Disease. Because of this suspicion, he came down the next day (Dec. 23) to do a rectal biopsy to check for certain nerves. These nerves are what move our stools down through our colons to our bums. When he did the biopsy, Noah projectile pooped EVERYWHERE! Mark watched the whole thing. It was like an explosion from his bum. This is another symptom of Hirschsprung's. Dr. Skarda took the biopsy and sent it to pathology so that they could see if those nerves were there. Dr. Skarda told us that he was almost positive it was Hirschsprung's and that we should plan on transporting him up to Primary Children's for surgery. He didn't go into detail about what the surgery would be, and if he did, I was too out of it and emotional to really know what was going on. I still didn't know what a colostomy was or that Noah would probably have to get one.

After he pooped all over, he felt a lot better. You could immediately see the relief on his face; he even gave us a few smiles! We were so grateful for this, even if it was very temporary.

I only got to hold him for a few minutes twice while we were at Utah Valley. As you can see, he was connected to several cords; this made it intimidating to hold him. We had to be very careful, but I never wanted to give him up! I treasured those minutes with him!

Most of the time that he was there I could only touch his legs and the top of his head. His tummy was still very tender from all the pressure and blockage.

Here's Noah's spread. This was the last night at Utah Valley's NICU. We hung his stocking and put up Christmas decorations. Can you believe that it costs over $13,000 a day to be here?

We brought this sign from Orem Community. The nurses were so sweet to make Noah all these fun signs and decorations. He's a very loved little boy!

"Bump me"!

The nurses at Utah Valley's NICU were AMAZING. We loved every. single. one. They were just as nice as can be and were extremely accommodating. We were so grateful for them! Here is Vanessa.

Noah really took to sucking on that pacifier. Mark had a way of helping him keep it in his mouth on his own.

Here is the container where the Andersen tube emptied into. For the first couple of days it had to be emptied a couple times. Gradually the flow lessened, but it still took quite awhile, especially for a newborn's tiny tiny stomach.

haha we loved seeing his random arm movements. Yeah!

This was Christmas Eve, and Santa came! We had just gotten the green light to transport him to Primary Children's. Noah wasn't very thrilled about Santa Claus. What kid is?? It was still a fun little thing that they did for all the babies there. Too bad I look worked! Little breakdowns here and there weren't uncommon :)

I was SO HAPPY that I got to hold him before they transported him! And for more than a few minutes! I think I held him for close to an hour. It was heavenly. I couldn't believe that he was mine yet. It still felt like all of this was a big bad dream. I don't think I could even process in my brain that he would be cut into the next morning. I couldn't handle thinking about it at that point, so I just enjoyed every second of having my 4-days-old baby in my arms!

Mark was so cute and wanted to bring this football for him to have in his bed. We had fun posing Noah with the football like he was getting a hand-off.

Mark got a turn too :)

He knows who his daddy is!

My parents were with us when the Life Flight people came. When they packed him up, all I could think was, "What now?" Mark and I headed home to gather a few days' worth of clothes. I was almost constantly in pain because of my epic episiotomy, so I thought I'd better take the time to soak in the hot tub before we headed up to Salt Lake. I remember Mark falling asleep on our bed for a half our or so. We were so exhausted! But somehow the strength came, and I know it was from all the prayers being sent our way and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ just holding us up. It was Christmas Eve, and we were on our way to see our baby at Primary Children's. I continually think, "I'm 22 years old! I am too young to have to deal with all of this! This is adult stuff! I'm just a baby myself!" Well kids, Amy's grown up a bit (at least I hope I have!)

When we got to the hospital that night, I had a break down when the doctors told me what Noah would be going through and what that meant for us as his parents. This is when I learned about a colostomy. I had never even known that these existed. When they showed me the pamphlets about changing them, cleaning them, and attaching them, it was one of those tipping points where I couldn't handle any new information unless it was news that he was coming home. In retrospect, I'm mad that I reacted this way because it's not a big deal at all! It's actually a lot easier than changing poopy diapers every day! Anyway, at the time everything felt so heavy to me, and I'm sure it was a combination of postpartum hormones, lack of sleep, and the pain killers that I neglected to take. I think I was paranoid that I'd become a drug-addict at this point, so I just wouldn't take them (haha!)

Here we are at his bed at Primary Children's on Christmas morning, right before he went in to surgery. We got to hold him and be with him before they shipped him to the 2nd floor. There, we were greeted by the 2 nurses, the anesthesiologist, and Dr. Scaife--another amazing surgeon. He was so sweet to come and do the surgery on Christmas morning when he has a family at home. We didn't know how long the surgery would take. They had to go in through his belly button and take biopsies starting at the bottom of the colon and working their way up until they found those nerves. So basically the longer the surgery was, the worse his condition. We prayed and prayed that it wouldn't be a long procedure! It took five hours, which was an eternity for me. But luckily the nurse called with every biopsy to tell us how he was doing, and Dr. Skarda (who was just there to observe) would come back to the waiting room and let us know as well. It was very sweet of Mark's mom, step-dad Brent, brother Ryan and sister Cassidy to come and sit with us. My parents and little brother Austin also came to lend us support. I appreciated that so much! It helped the time go by faster and it was good to be with family on Christmas.

Here he is after surgery. They found the nerve cells after the fifth biopsy, which ended up being about 11 inches of his colon. Babies have 2-3 feet of large intestine, or colon, in them. Adults have anywhere from 7-9 feet of colon. So Noah will be functioning on 1/2 to 1/3 of his colon. This isn't the best case scenario, but it isn't the worst case either. The surgeons have a lot of confidence in him that he'll be just fine and won't be hindered in his growth or development. We're SO GRATEFUL! but of course, there's still a second surgery coming up in a few months. Ask me how excited I am for that...

Holding the pacifier all by himself!..Getting those motor skills down already :)

We didn't take a picture of his stoma because it just might make you throw up. When I saw it the first time, I had to turn away because I started feeling nauseated. It was really swollen and red and bloody at first. Now it looks pink and it's a lot smaller/ less gross.

Grandpa came up the day after his surgery too. Noah loves grandpa!

This is after we received the TERRIBLE (at the time) news that Noah had to stay another night. We were so upset at this news because we knew that he was well enough to come home with us. We had the car all packed and ready to go, so it was a little disheartening. We ended up just sleeping at the hospital so that I could basically breast feed him/force feed him all night. In order for him to come home with us, he had to gain weight. For some reason, the doctors the day before said that it would be no problem at all for him to go home because he looked so good and was doing so well. They said NOTHING to us about him having to gain weight. We were quite upset. But now it doesn't matter, other than the extra thousands of dollars that we'll have to pay for that pointless night's stay.

Here he is on that last night. I fed him about every 2 hours around the clock. We didn't sleep more than a couple of hours that night.

I thought I'd include a picture of the blessed hospital pump. This thing was my constant companion while we were there. It's amazing.

Here's Noah's sweet nurse who helped discharge us. She was an angel. Not all the nurses there were angels, let me tell ya! But we loved her and the nurse that we had before her. She loaded us up with colostomy supplies and diapers and all sorts of things.

We're so relieved to go HOME! I remember feeling physically and emotionally spent--not to mention I was a walking towel of wiped up spilled milk! You can't see in this picture, but my sweat bottoms are completely covered in milk spots and blotches. The milk, people, was pouring all day, all night, every day, every night. I pretty much felt sexy and pretty this whole time. Anyway, it's New Year's Eve. And no, we did NOT stay up to watch the stupid ball drop. We went to bed. At 10. With our Noah. And it was wonderful.

Here's the picture that I had waited 9 days to take! Okay, 9 days doesn't even sound bad. But of course at the time, it's an eternity! Most babies that we saw there had to be there for months at a time! I can't even imagine! I was starting to go crazy there...not kidding. We love our little nugget!

And that concludes our NICU adventures. We'll be back there this Friday for a check-up with Dr. Scaife. Let's hope all looks well and that the surgery will still be within the next 6 months!

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2012-01-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

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Up All Night

2012-01-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

My poor baby threw up all over himself and me about an hour ago. After he threw up, he just looked up at me with the most precious face, like he was saying, "sorry mama...I didn't mean to!" It just melted my heart. After bathing him and changing him, we cuddled until he fell asleep again and I put him in his little rocker. Now, I'm awake and figured...why not blog?

I've been keeping a journal for Noah ever since he was admitted to Primary Children's. I've been pretty good about writing in it everyday, which explains my absence on this blog somewhat. I can't believe how fast time goes by each day, even when I'm "stuck" at home. Between feeding him and myself, bathing him and myself, sleeping, doing laundry, folding laundry, vacuuming, cooking, and watching The Bachelor (haha), the days are pretty busy for the two of us!

I just feel like I need to express and share how blessed we've been this past month. When we first got word of Noah's sickness and had to transport him to the NICU at Utah Valley, we immediately saw the Lord's work in action. I finished reading "Following Christ" yesterday and in it, he closes the book by talking about love. If we are not loving others, then we are not showing love to Christ--therefore we are not following Christ. It's one of those "duh" principles that I've been taught my whole life, but now this hits me especially hard. We've had so many Christ-like people help us along the way. Until yesterday, I have not had to cook ONE dinner. For those of you who have had a newborn, this has been a HUGE blessing. It's really tough to cook with a needy newborn constantly chirping in your ear! I can't believe all the meals that friends and family brought to us while we were in the hospitals. We never even had to leave the hospital for food while Noah was at Primary Children's...and for me, that was the greatest gift. I didn't want to leave him unless it was absolutely necessary, and our family members made that possible. On the day of Noah's surgery (Christmas morning), family brought us gifts and just came and sat with us in the empty waiting room while they were operating. I needed the distractions, and it went by a lot quicker than I anticipated because of all the people who came to support us.

Even simple texts or Facebook messages or voicemails from family and friends made a difference. I was not always good at returning these messages, but they sure meant a lot! So if you were one of those many people--thank you!

And that's the difficult part. I sit down to write thank you notes, but I feel like those are so inadequate to the gratitude that I feel inside. I expressed this frustration to Estef (my sis-in-law) and she said, "well, you just need to reach out to others when you see needs--everyone will need help sometime in their lives!" I'm really glad she said that. It's the pay-it-forward concept. I am more motivated now than ever to serve when I see a need! Even complete strangers were bringing us baby clothes and dinner. I can't believe all the angels out there.

I've shared with a lot of people some of the miracles that we witnessed while at the hospital. When Noah was transported to Primary Children's on Christmas Eve, Mark and I were running on zero sleep and lots of stress. We weren't sure where we were going to stay, because I refused to stay at our place in Orem while Noah was an hour away. Well, it turns out that I have a great aunt and uncle who live just a few minutes from the hospital. Not only that...my great uncle used to be the head pediatric surgeon of Primary Chilren's. He has performed colostomies on several children and he actually trained the surgeon who did Noah's surgery. They're neighbors, in fact. I knew that my uncle was a doctor, but I never knew that he was a pediatric surgeon. During that week that we were there, Mark and I were able to stay in their spare bedroom in the basement. They were remarkable hosts, and it was extremely comforting to talk to my uncle about Noah and hear the confidence in his voice that Noah was in good hands and that he'd do great with the procedure.

Another miracle/ tender mercy that I experienced was my milk supply! I was producing 5 ounces per breast in the first five minutes of pumping every two hours...it was insane! I feel so fortunate to have had that while Noah was unable to eat for over a week. I became famous in the NICU at PC's. I had three nurses get on to me about taking up too much room in their freezer, so finally my mom came up one day and brought a cooler and now I have lots of leche chillin' in my parents' deep freezer. It's been so nice to have lots on-hand. We've been using it for Mark's nighttime shifts with Noah.

Noah's surgeons are heaven sent. Dr. Scarda is the first surgeon who gave Noah the rectal biopsy at Utah Valley to diagnose him with Hirschsprung's. He is the nicest man--he was constantly checking up on Noah and even came on Christmas morning to oversee the surgery that his partner--Dr. Scaiffe--was doing on Noah. During the 5 hour surgery, it was Dr. Scarda who would walk down to the waiting room just to chat with us on his progress. Dr. Scaiffe is also a wonderful man. These two men have families who probably wanted them there on Christmas morning--but instead they were at the hospital early to fix my precious babe! I could complain endlessly about how expensive everything is going to be for us, but when it comes down to it, I'm just so so grateful that there are people out there willing to go to 15 years of schooling so that they can heal others like my Noah. Dr. Scaiffe even went to my uncle's house later that day to chit-chat about the surgery.

I've been thinking about these things constantly, and I never want people to think that I'm not grateful! I appreciate all of our blessings, and know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have been with us constantly. I remember the night before I gave birth to Noah and actually feeling quite alone. I shared this with Mark and I prayed and prayed for comfort, but it never seemed to come. I was a little heart-broken that I had these abandoned feelings. Well, when I really needed comfort and feelings of love from my Savior, he has more than delivered. And it was through the service of others that I have truly felt His love for me and my family.

January 2nd

Our festive Noah shrine

He LOVES Daddy!

He's my little bug!

Getting pictures taken last week

Aaron came to visit, Sat. Jan 14th

Say "cheese"!

2012-01-17T22:05:00.001-07:00

After things settled down a bit, we finally were able to get Noah's newborn pictures done. Noah was a little old to get newborn pictures--our photographer doesn't like to do pictures any later than 10 days, and he was 20 days old! It really does make a difference, but luckily my little guy slept a bunch and she was able to get some good ones! My sister in law Estefi got the most precious newborn pictures of my nephew when he was born, so I promised myself 2 years ago that when I had a baby, I'd make sure to get these done! And I'm so so glad I spent the money on it because they grow up SO DARN FAST! My friend Lizzy did his pictures, and she did such a great job. I was so impressed with all of her tricks to get him to stay asleep. Noah is a month old today.

Try not to think, "Oh man, he's cute!"....

I dare you!

Our first outing

2012-01-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have so much to blog about! Yesterday I had an appointment with my counselor at school to delay my graduation. "Why??" you ask. Well, there's this thing called insurance. And the only way that Noah will be covered through April is if the people at BYU show some mercy and un-check that little box that says "apply for graduation." No insurance company will take Noah, so we had to do it! Luckily, my counselor was oh-so-sweet and understanding and worked quickly to get this taken care of for us. I don't even have to take any classes this semester since I had a 16 credit schedule last semester.

Anyway, this appointment was at 9:10 a.m. Mark had to be at work by then, and that meant I had to bring Noah. Having never driven the car alone with him or taken him outside in his stroller before and not knowing where to park and worrying about feeding him, changing his poo bag, and bundling him ever -so-warm AND getting there on time made me a little nervous. BUT...I found a parking spot, he was an angel during the whole outing, and I left a happy girl knowing that me, Mark, and Noah would be covered with insurance at least until mid-April. He's such a good baby, and I can't stop loving on him.

We had another little outing just a few hours later. He had his 2 week check up at the Health Center. All the employees/nurses/doctors that we ran into were intrigued by Noah's story. He got his PKU done (a poke to the heel for some lab tests) and did so well. The nurse was shocked by how calm Mark and I were because, "Usually the parents who come in here are nervous wrecks about this!"....well, we'd much rather him get a prick to the heel than an I.V. in his head, pick line in his arm, or intestine cut out.

We love our Noah!

Noah Mark Freeman, part 1

2011-12-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

I want to begin with the more exciting part of this whole experience--Noah's actual birth. Forgive me for skipping all the labor part--no need to bore you through those details! Let's get to the good stuff!

Noah Mark Freeman was born on December 20, 2011 at 6:13 p.m. He was perfect and yanked out with forceps. Mom was grateful for her epidural :)

We couldn't believe he was 9 pounds 5 ounces. Because my fluid levels were so high, they thought he was a smaller baby just swimming around in there. There was a whole lot of fluid, and a whole lot of baby, apparently! He is, after all, his father's child.

When he was placed on my chest, I couldn't believe what I saw. He was more handsome and perfect than I had ever imagined.

Daddy was so proud of him. He trotted around the room like it was his most prized possession--and let's be honest...our Noah is!

Here is the man who made a vaginal delivery possible--THANK YOU DR. JUDD! He really does have skills with those forceps. He got Noah out in less than 15 minutes.

Taken December 21st.

This was before all the chaos. I loved snuggling him. We were starting to get a little worried that he had only eaten 2 solid times and had only one bowel movement. He didn't act uncomfortable though, so we didn't worry too much. It was very soon, however, that he got an x-ray on his stomach and was also examined by the pediatrician. I got the phone call that Noah needed to be transported to Utah Valley's NICU.

And then the nightmare began!

This is me saying bye to him before they loaded him up in the ambulance to go to Utah Valley's NICU for tests. It was awful. I had to stay back to get fully discharged from the hospital. My mom was with me, luckily. Not knowing what was wrong with my baby brought on a swarm of terrifying emotions that I don't wish on anyone!

And this was just the beginning of all the pokes and pricks this brand new baby of mine had to endure!

When I'm a little more recovered from it all, I'll share the rest of the story. That sounds a bit dramatic...haha, but we'll see.

"how can I sell my breast milk"

2011-12-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

is what is in our Google Search right now.

We're supposed to be home--the three of us--but the doctors thought it more convenient that we stay yet another day at Primary Children's hospital because "he has lost weight over the last three days."

Am I bitter? A little.

That's when Mark Googled to see how we can sell my breast milk. If you're in the market, give us a call. I'm producing a lot these days. After 1) giving birth, 2) getting transported via ambulance to two hospitals 3) having very $$ surgery (preluded with mucho expensive tests) 4) only having coverage for all this until January 4th 5) not getting to hold my baby for more than 30 minutes for a week 6) neglecting my impressive stitches and dealing with painful constipation for 10 days 7) anticipating another major surgery in 6 months (in which it is nearly impossible for any insurance to take Noah)... I could of course go on... we have a lot on our minds.

But I promise my list of things I'm grateful for is even longer! We've been SHOWERED with love and kindness--and I am eternally grateful for it, really.

I'm ready to go home. Live a normal life with my son and Mark. Heal--emotionally and physically. My poor baby has to poop through a hole in his stomach. And how am I going to face people who see it and look in disgust? It's a totally normal reaction. I almost passed out when I saw it the first few times.

Only 6 babies in Utah are born with Hirschsprung's Disease per year. Hirschsprung's is a disease found in the large intestine. Noah's lower colon (about 11 inches of it, or a little less than half) is absent of ganglion cells, which aid in moving stool through the bowels to the anus. In his 5 hour surgery, the surgeons (whom we absolutely love--seriously) took biopsies every four to five centimeters starting at the anus to test for these ganglion cells. After the 4th biopsy, they discovered them. This is where they pulled his intestine through his skin--called a colostomy--so that he could have bowel movements. His poor tummy was so distended that they were worried his bowels had an obstruction because of all the build up. This is why they ordered he have surgery on Christmas morning. It is a Christmas we will never forget. This all still feels like a bad dream. After Noah gets bigger and stronger in six months they will perform his "pull through" surgery. They will take his intestine and pull it back through the hole and pull it down to his anus and take out the part of the colon that doesn't have the ganglion cells. Isn't it crazy that they can do that? I'm grateful. While it's unfortunate that Noah will only have about 60% of his colon (that's not an exact percentage...just a guess), they have performed this surgery on kids with as little as 20% of their colon. Your large intestine doesn't deal much with nutrition--just water absorption. So for the rest of Noah's life, we will have to make sure that he is always hydrated and eating foods that comply with this disease. Because Noah was so big when he was born, he has dealt with all this stress beautifully. It may not be because he's so big, but I'm sure that helps! He is such a strong baby and has an amazing spirit about him. We love him so much, and I hope I never see him in pain again! I know, I know, not likely, but can't a mama wish?? The surgeons are very optimistic that he will live a completely normal, active life. We won't give up on him being a big wrestling super-star just like his daddy!

Luckily we have spent all day feeding him and making sure he expends as little energy as possible. His weight has increased because of it and it looks like we will get to go home tomorrow. Thank the heavens! But there's always that chance....keep your fingers crossed.

This is Noah with his very distended tummy. Although he looks like he's in pain, you would never know! Not even a whimper from this kid. We are so so grateful that he was able to get an operation to fix him! He's totally normal now and we can tell he feels great. We can't wait to take him home!

2011-12-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

How do I begin this post?

It's been the most exhausting, exhilarating, exciting, and frightening week of my life. Since I'm exhausted and my mind isn't the most clear, I'm going to list a bunch of things that I need to document later on.

News that I was getting induced (Monday night)
Admitted to the hospital Monday night at 5:15 p.m.
I.V., Cervidil insertion, waiting all night long
Taking the Cervadil out, administering the Pitossin
2 1/2 hours of increasing the dosage, 1/2 an hour of insane contractions
Getting the epidural...thank the heavens.
News that I was "complete" by another nurse
News that I wasn't complete, but still at a 9
Noah at a weird position--forceps or wait it out? Definitely forceps.
Delivering a 9 pound 5 ounce beautiful baby boy...my little Boomer.
Nurses: Andrea, Suzie, Andrea, Vickie, Tami, Zandy, Jill.

Shae, Karen, Vanessa (NICU)

Spending 2 days in heaven with our Noah bear
Finding eating and digestive problems
Getting the x-ray
Getting transported in an ambulance to Utah Valley RMC NICU
Seeing Noah get pricked, pried, and prodded in places and ways that a mother would NEVER want to see
Getting a rectal biopsy and pooping all over the doctor and peeing on the nurse (good boy!)
Could be Hirschsprung's Disease? May have to get transported (again) to Primary Children's
Pumping constantly so there's a nice supply of milk for when Noah's better
Staying healthy myself
All the love and support from friends and family during this hard time
Finding out what pure love is through being a parent

He is absolutely perfect in every way. The only thing keeping him from being home with us is this terrible constipation. Thank goodness for modern medicine and caring doctors. We feel so loved and supported at this time, but I'm not going to lie---I can only take so much before I crumble every day. We're just taking it one day at a time and know that he'll be super healthy soon. We just need to get this problem fixed and figured out and he can continue to live a normal life. We're so grateful that this isn't something that will be hindering to him in any way down the road once we get it fixed. He has the most amazing spirit. We're amazed daily at how determined and calm he is about everything happening to him. He is so strong! Much stronger than I am!

One day at a time....

1 day overdue

2011-12-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

Ugh. It's 12:15 a.m. and officially the 17th of December... I'll be bouncin' on this thing for a bit. Let's hope I pop before the ball does.

Goodnight to you all! Sleep better than I will! Cross your fingers :)

AFI (not that band from middle school)

2011-12-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a fun adventure. I went to the perinatologist (spelling?) unit of Utah Valley hospital to get a non-stress test and then an AFI...stands for Amniotic Fluid Index. This was the test to fail (read last post) but I knew that there was no way I was going to leave with the "okay" to get induced. It was a quick ultrasound and the tech measured how much fluid I had in me.

She looked at me and said, "Well, normally we fail people who have amniotic fluid levels of around 5. You're at 25...enough to carry triplets" (does anyone know what units of measurement that they use? it's bugging me)

No wonder my belly is so round. But that also means that he's not as big as I thought--he's just swimming around in there. This can also partially explain why I haven't progressed much because it's hard for him to stay in one spot due to all the fluid.

My dad happened to stop by to check on me. He wanted me to fail so badly so that he could have a grandbaby today! The nurses sent me to get more monitoring at Orem Community where my doctor was inducing a bunch of patients and my mom just happened to be working there too. I sat at the monitor for 2 hours and he's as healthy and normal as ever! But why the heck do his kidneys work that well? 25?!!?? All the nurses (including my mamacita) said they'd never heard of AFI's that high in a full term pregnant woman...

Oh and it didn't reassure me that my doctor said I'd be pregnant until February. OR that in his practice right now (as of two days ago) I am his MOST PREGNANT PATIENT.

K sidenote: when you're 40 weeks pregnant, do NOT drink ANYTHING after 8. Or even 7. I got up to go to the bathroom seven times last night. SEVEN. And for some reason decided not to go back to sleep after 3:45. This is all in preparation for mommyhood I guess!

Have a wonderful day and remember not to complain about being fat or uncomfortable around me.

I might snarl at you.

Baby update

2011-12-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

Still no baby. Still not dilated. Still not effaced. He's basically stuck up there...warm and cozy-like.

But but but....he WILL be here within a week and he WILL be chubby (at least he'd better be chubby if he's going to come late!). I am reminded by other mommies that I still have 2 days until my due date and a lot can happen, but if I'm anything like my mother, I will have to be induced.

The doc is sending me to the hospital tomorrow to get 2 things: a non-stress test and an AFI (amniotic fluid index). If I fail one of them (the AFI is the easy one to fail) then they will send me to Orem Community to start inducing me. He encouraged me to bring a few extra movie passes or something to bribe the nurse to fail me. I'll have to do that, because I doubt I fail either of them. "This is the test to fail!" he exclaimed. If I obviously pass both of them, then I will see my doc. again on Monday and he'll most likely schedule me for an induction the next day (let's hope at least...he says the lines get long for inductions at this time because no one wants their babies born on Christmas!). I never wanted to get induced, but at this point, am I one to be picky? Nope, definitely not.

It feels so foreign being at home all day. I thought it would be a lot more exciting than it is. But what I realized is that it's just too darn quiet! I need my little buddy here with me. I'm so used to being surrounded by people all day and moving about that all this lying around business isn't settling well with me.

I can only be on my computer for so long before my hands swell like latex doctor's gloves. I think the heat of my computer and the angle that I type don't exactly help the swelling. And I've given up on doing the dishes. It hurts too badly! My belly is seriously too big so that I can't comfortably reach the faucet, which results in some serious back aches. Sorry Mark :(

I do need to vacuum still and get a rug for our hall bathroom and possibly make a meal or two...I'll let you know if that gets done. My mom is taking me to get all my nails done today...so I guess I should at least shower and wash my hair, right?

Does anyone else have a hard time getting ready when there's absolutely nothing scheduled and it's freezing outside?

Good, because I've been in my bed in my underwear all day... is it really 1 p.m.? Whoops.

2011-12-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning's events made the list for "TOP 10 SCARIEST MOMENTS". I woke up at around 6:50 and did not feel any movements. I was having a really long contraction so my tummy was hard-as-rock. Mark fetched me some ice water so I drank that quickly and laid on my left side. Finally my belly relaxed, but he still wasn't moving. Mark grabbed my belly and jostled him around to see if he'd move. He still didn't budge. I hurriedly called my mom and she told me to go to the hospital right away. I was bawling of course, but Mark didn't seem too panicked. I laid back on my side and sure enough he did move a little. But I wasn't satisfied. I didn't get to school until about 8:35 and after observing two teachers I was still unsettled about it. I told my mentor teacher that I needed to get him checked out so I headed to the hospital. Although I had felt him move a few times, I didn't want to wait until I didn't feel him move at all and have some major regret later. Of course the worst possible thoughts were going through my head but I just said a prayer that all would be normal. Better to be safe than sorry. I texted my mom "almost to the hospital". I didn't want to bother Mark unless there was something seriously wrong. I got checked in and hooked up to the monitor. It turned out that he was just very sleepy, but as soon as the tight belt and monitor was on him, he was active as ever and all is well. His heart rate was great and my contractions were regular. I felt much much better!

I had my 38 week 5 day appointment just a few hours later. He had the same news as he did last week...I'll most definitely (unless the Man Upstairs decides to humble him) deliver this guy late. As my good friend Megan shared with me a few months ago when she was trying to have her little one...."My cervix sucks." Haha. He's just wayy too cozy in here. I don't blame him, because who wants to leave their cozy bed to venture into 18 degree weather?! I certainly don't! But come on little guy, I'm getting consistently uncomfortable and stretch marks are most likely going to make their lovely appearance very soon.

However...I asked for it. All my life I've wanted to have big chunky babies. And if he's gaining the so-called one ounce a day, he'll most definitely get to the 8 pound range. Heaven help me! Also, I have told him that he absolutely cannot come early because his daddy has to finish taking 3 finals. Soo that leaves just one day to be "on time" and anything after the 16th is late. So I have no real right to murmur about it. What I am bummed about is that he could most definitely be born just a couple of days before Christmas. I'll have to get creative for birthdays to make sure he feels special! Anyway...I'll keep you all posted! Happy Wednesday!

ps- two days until I'm a GRADUATE of BYU!

ohh I can't believe it

2011-12-02T11:47:00.001-07:00

I made it! I am DONE planning lessons! Hallelujah! Now I just have to focus on getting all my papers written for my TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) endorsement. Everything is due by next Friday the 9th, which will also mark my 39th week of pregnancy! Student teaching flew, but I'm so glad that it's over. I am really starting to ache all over and dealing with teenagers all day can wear anyone out.

I got checked at my 37 week appointment four days ago and you know what he said? "You've got nothin' (referring to 0 cm dilated and 0% effaced) ...Miss Amy, you could still be pregnant in the 20s of December."

I wanted to throw my shoe at him. Oh wait, I was barefoot and my pants were off. There is no such thing as modesty when you're preggo.

I'm thinking that this is my doc's style---to really exaggerate so that the end result is never disappointing. Remember the weight appointment? How he said that at the rate I was going I'd be 180 pounds by the end? Yeah well kiss my booty.

Some fun happenings in the Freeman fam.:

Mark's older brother Erik is the Orem High wrestling head coach, so last week we went to see the Tigers in their first match of the season. I can't wait to put our little "Boomer" in youth wrestling. We saw dozens of little boys ages 3-10 matched up wrestling each other in the wrestling room....seriously so adorable. I wish that I would have taken a picture of them--but their parents were all watching and I didn't want to look like a creeper.

I couldn't help but notice my husband's name on the wall:

The only problem is that golden color... (Go Timpview!) But it was my first live wrestling match EVER and I can't see why it's not more popular! There's blood, sweat, tears, vomit...everything that exudes masculinity and manhood (right??). Boys of all shapes and sizes can participate and be awesome at it. It was such a huge part of Mark's life and he was excited to teach me all about it. The Tigers won that night, which is a pretty big deal considering that Erik is rebuilding the program this year.

Thanksgiving was a total hit this year. I enjoyed getting 5 days off of school---probably a little too much.

Here we are at the mall after getting bagels at Einstein's (I ate four of them... Heaven on Earth in mi boca) Breaking Dawn, getting our nails done, and shopping. This was the day before Thanksgiving so we didn't go too crazy in stores...the sales weren't up to par. We had such a fun time and missed having Fifi and Nico in the picture! Imagine my mother saying, "You could have this baby any day now, so you HAVE to get your nails done!"....Hmm....I had to think really long and hard about that one! Thanks mama for such a FUN day!

Now on to the "Turkey bowl"

I'm a little suspicious that some of these are of him purposefully posing for me.

Isn't that a great hat? I think it accentuates his desirable high cheek bones.

My brother Austin is a senior this year! Crazy! I never get to see this kid--he's always running around.

I fulfilled my role as cheerleader/photographer on the sidelines. A perk to being 9 months pregnant in the winter? No need for a coat. Or long sleeves. Or long pants.

This is how much Erica loves Robbie. Erica fulfilled her role as supportive wife to Mr. Larson. Notice her Little Mermaid jacket....

Why hello there....

Robbie's punt after-shot.

And of course...group photos.

Tough guys.

Happy guys ready to do some major damage in the kitchen!

We headed up to my parents' house after their game and had an amazing brunch with buttermilk pancakes, bacon, eggs Benedict, and scrambled eggs. Mark and I were there until about 2:30 and then we headed up to Saratoga Springs to join Mark's family for a Thanksgiving feast. And boy....that was amazing. Mark's brother Erik woke up at 5 a.m. to smoke the turkey and it was absolutely delicious.

This picture is terrible. However, I wanted to add it because my legs look 12 feet long. And yes, my feet and ankles really are that swollen...ouch!

Food coma.

This little man is just nice and toasty and squooshed in my bell. I can tell that he's gaining weight because my once "outtie" belly button is turning into a "flattie" and when I feel him move it seems like my whole body shifts. I'm worried sick he'll be a 10-pounder if he stays in me a week later than my due date. Mark and I packed his diaper bag and installed his car seat two nights ago....now we need to pack our bags! I can't believe he can come any time. I have a feeling that he'll come late though....he's not ready to share himself with everyone quite yet. He's a mama's boy already! Or maybe it's just that I'm not ready to share him with anyone else....

If I get much bigger, I'll take that last statement back! Pictures of his room are coming! I still need to cover the 80s patterned cushions on my rocker and get a book shelf and hang some pictures up. We'll see if I get those things done.....

This is a really long blog post. Lo siento! Hasta luego!

I stole this from my sis-in-law Sarah's blog! She's due in March with a baby girl! can't wait to have all these babies around!

Man in charge

2011-11-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning at the fun hour of 5:45 to abrupt kicking to my right ribs. Although I really wanted to sleep in today (Thanksgiving break--hallelujah) I didn't mind it so much. Him kicking me and squirming around means that he's alive and he's real. I am so grateful for such a healthy pregnancy. During the course of my pregnancy, I have had 3 loved ones lose their babies. One was just a few weeks along, another was 22 weeks along, and another was 34 weeks. The two who lost theirs at 22 and 34 were within a couple weeks of where I was in my pregnancy at the time. All of them were unexpected and as you can imagine, extremely painful and difficult to hear about when my own pregnancy has been nearly perfect as any I've heard of. My heart goes out to all the women out there who have had to deal with losses and pains of losing babies. I can only imagine the pain that that must feel...or can I? When I first titled this post "man in charge," I was thinking of my baby. But now it takes on a new meaning. We only have so much control over our lives; Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and we have to at all times be willing to say "Thy will, not mine be done." And most of the time that's a harder pill to swallow than we'd like.

catch-up: Baby shower

2011-11-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

My baby shower...

was the day after the wedding. It was amazing. My parents' house has been re-modeled for most of my pregnancy and had just barely finished it a few days before this shower. It is the most beautiful renovation that I've ever seen. It worked out perfectly since so many people came and there was plenty of room. My sister-in-law Estefi went above and beyond for me. The invitations turned out ADORABLE. It was a pumpkin theme. My mother- in- law Kerri also went nuts. She made the most delicious soups and desserts that I could ever wish for. My step mother- in- law Shelly did the decorations-- of course they were darling-- and I just couldn't ask for better support from so many aunts, cousins, friends, sisters, in-laws...I had such a blast and this little boy has more than he'll ever need or want. My closest Aunt Cindy made me this almond cake that had a Mummy on it, complete with the saying, "I love Mummy". And of course MY mommy was a busy-bee just getting the house looking perfect. I feel so incredibly blessed. This little boy of mine is one lucky dude!

I don't know why the pictures are so small-- but this is a changing table that Estef found and refinished for me! She also did the crib, but we couldn't get it to fit in any of our cars to bring to the shower! This was the first time that I saw it and it made me so excited. (Side note: we just found out that she's having another BOY!! She's due April 8th. I couldn't be more excited that our boomer will have a boy cousin his age!! Her first two ultrasounds at the hospital were wrong! We thought she was expecting a girl. So fun!)

Gifts GALORE.

Of course Shelly and Fifi had to make me diaper cakes....this one that Shelly made was huge! She included all different brands and sizes so that I could more easily figure out which ones will work for my babe's bum. :) What a smart woman. They will keep me stocked for at least a little while. Thank you!

Fifi's adorable "Panda" themed diaper cake. Our nursery is all things panda--since those of you who know me know that I have been obsessed with them since high school!

This is my aunt Cindy working hard on my cake! I love her so much! Isn't she adorable? I hope I look like her at her age! You'd never guess how old she is. She worked her tail off to make it just perfect--and it was!

I have the coolest aunts in the world. L-R: Diana (my adopted aunt), Jennie, and Cindy. I had a bunch of other aunts there who didn't make it into the picture! Thank you Auntie Wendy, Sara, Sarah, and Becki for coming too!

And I had to get a picture with my grandma Carol. That's my cousin Brea on the left. I forget how short I am until I see me next to other "short" women. Ahh the life of a 5-footer (who's prego). It was such a fun shower and we came home with a couple carloads of goodies. I missed a bunch of friends from my old ward who didn't come though. I'll post pictures of his nursery soon!

2011-11-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

*tear tear

I just wrote a novel about pregnancy and my boomer and it got deleted :(
I'm 36 weeks tomorrow. My little boomer is getting huge. He startles me at least twice a day with his large movements. He's getting crammed in there, and so are all of my other major organs. I can't breathe very well and these aches and pains are getting more pronounced. Luckily my last day of student teaching is the day after we get back from Thanksgiving Break. I can do this.

Two negative things that have really picked up: 1) swelling---my hands and feet and 2) my bladder constantly being pushed on. I am very very very blessed though that I still sleep very well every night and that I only have to get up once or twice in the night to go to the restroom. Hallelujah! If I wasn't getting any sleep and had to teach for 5 hours every day I would be a basket case all the time. Yesterday I had to take off my shoes while I was teaching and talk with my hands up so the blood could circulate a little better. My students love it. I'm sure going to miss them!!!! They make my days go by so much faster and I love most of them to pieces.

(2 days later....)
Um. About that sleep comment. Thursday night was TERRIBLE! I felt like I didn't sleep a wink. Here's my belly progress:

Let's take a look at where I was just a few months back:

I'm 36 weeks...almost there! More on pregnancy later--the POSITIVE things. I know you're on the edge of your seat.

catch-up: Erica's wedding

2011-11-17T18:10:00.003-07:00

I have been one busy soon-to-be mama, let me tell you!

I haven't even talked about my sister's wedding that was on October 28th, or my baby shower that was the next day, or what this kid is doing inside of me.

Erica and Robbie's wedding:

Their wedding dinner was on the Thursday before their sealing. Robbie's family held it at the newly renovated Riverside Country Club. It was delish and beautiful and all of our family and close friends were there. Robbie's dad was so cute sharing his journal entries about Robbie and Erica's relationship progression over the last few months. He's so sentimental! Robbie is a lot like him. We ended the fun evening with toasts from family and friends. I got up and took all the credit for them getting together. In December I ran into Robbie and urged her to take Erica out. I then gave Erica Robbie's number and told her to text him. One night a couple weeks later she texted him, he asked her out, and they had been together since then. So naturally, it's all because of me ;)

The wedding day was crazy. I took the day off and had my mentor teacher take over that day. He was happy to and everything went smoothly. I met my family at Amara salon where all of the wedding party, including all my sisters' best friends, were getting our hair 'did' and all purtied up for the long day ahead. Poor Erica woke up sick and threw up early that morning. She tried to put a brave face on, but I could tell she wasn't feeling very well. When Erica doesn't feel well, everyone knows it. An old friend ended up doing my hair so it was fun catching up with her and talking about all the changes in our lives since we last saw each other 3 years ago or so. ANYWAY.

I was the last to leave the salon--my mane was just a whole lot to handle in under 2 hours I guess. I ran to the house, threw on my dress (size 10, non-maternity...cracks me up!), left with Mark. As soon as we got to the first light, I frantically screamed "MY TEMPLE RECOMMEND!" We were only 50 yards from our apartment--thank goodness.

We enjoyed the ride up--talking about our wedding day when Mark picked me up from Amara after I had gotten my hair and makeup done and we drove up to the temple together. It was such an exciting and special day. We can't believe it's been over 2 years since it was our turn. We had fun reminiscing and rubbing my belly of course.

The sealing was beautiful. It brought us right back to where we were sealed for time and all eternity. GOsh, I love sealings so much because I always feel like the sealer is talking directly to Mark and me. It's always a wonderful reminder of where our priorities should lie in a marriage--Prayer, scriptures, selflessness, and Christ. Elder Neil L. Anderson sealed them. He is Robbie's great-uncle--so that was really neat to see and hear in person one of the 12 Apostles give counsel and advice. Erica and Robbie radiated, especially when they kissed over the altar. My sister is an animal! and has some guts! She basically grabbed his neck and open-mouth kissed him multiple times.... in front of an Apostle! Elder Anderson even said, "Okay now, let's keep the reverence of the temple...you'll have plenty of time to do that!" I couldn't believe it. I was dying.

The reception was great. It was a total party and I had a ball visiting with old family friends who came to show their support. Erica was sick so she had to sit down to greet people, but once she got some Tums and Ibuprofen, she started feeling better. She still smiled and looked gorgeous as ever. I'm so happy for them--and let me tell ya, they're both SO MUCH BETTER married!!! She's sweeter, more patient, kind, and HAPPY! That's a good sign--I'll take it ;) I told her that the other day and she said, "It's because of ROBBIE! He calms me!" So...Robbie, if you're reading this...THANK YOU FOR CHANGING MY SISTER FOR THE BETTER! Not that she was horrible before...but the girl can be a stress case and she has been nothing but pleasant and sweet since that day. They spent their first night and weekend together up at a sweet cabin in Sundance. They're going on a cruise for their second honeymoon to the Caribbean in December during Christmas break. Hopefully my baby is here by then! She can't miss it!

Man am I lucky

2011-10-30T23:58:00.001-06:00

Yes I'm still awake grading term projects, but you know what kept me so occupied today?

Washing and folding my baby boy's blankets, washcloths, and towels. WAYY more important than grading if you ask me.
(My next post will be about all the goodies he/I got at my shower yesterday! It was more like a baby "monsoon"!!)

All day today I was interrupted by Mark's sweet hugs, kisses, "I love you baby"-s and "You're going to be such a good mom" and "Do you think I'll be a great dad?" (all while I was sporting my darling pregnancy garment bottoms and much-too-short non-maternity top--belly hanging out and all, with my usual top-of-head bun. Sexy is the LAST word to describe me these days) To which I reply "THE VERY BEST IN THE WHOLE WORLD!"

AHH he's so gosh darn cute I just don't know what to do with him! It's not like this is anything new. I'm not all about putting a gold star on him publicly (okay I am but not every day), but today I just can't help myself. What other husbands (okay, yours probably does this too) look at their nearly 8 months pregnant wives and say "Gosh you're beautiful--I'm really going to miss your belly...really!" I mean, I'm not one of those lucky pregnant women who has surging energy to get busy in the bedroom (do they really exist?! what do they eat for breakfast??). So it's not like he's saying that out of appreciation for an increased libido or other motive. I'm quite the opposite. TMI? (sorry, but it is so not me...still getting used to it or still waiting for that "stage" to happen)

There's more to men than we give them credit for. Especially my man. I thought that me being pregnant would really try our marriage in different ways. And I suppose it has, but not in ways that I anticipated. We have gotten closer than I ever thought possible. I know there are lots of trials ahead of us, but for right now I'm just soaking up these last few weeks of "just the two of us."

Take a deep breath...here we go.

2011-10-23T21:30:00.000-06:00

This month has been CRAZY.

Cousin's baby girl shower last Saturday (due 3 days before me)
Lingerie shower for my dear little sister this past Friday
My dear friend Chelsie's baby shower yesterday
Sister's endowment session for the first time last night
Mark's birthday TODAY
Mark's birthday dinner w/parents tomorrow night
Another Cousin's baby girl shower this Tuesday (due like next week)
My sister's wedding dinner this Thursday
Sister's sealing this Friday--reception that night
My baby shower on Saturday
....exhausted yet? Babies and weddings in my family are rampant this fall!
PLUS all the BYU games that are starting to become more of a chore to attend than anything else. I love my husband that much.

SOO...If I haven't been "there" lately, this is why :) Oh and besides any of these events, unfortunately I still have to plan lessons and write mucho papers in order to grad-gi-tate. November won't be any less busy.

Oh, and my students (okay, like 15 of them) are driving me CR-A-ZYYYYYYY...... They're LAZY and RUDE and my hormones are NOT helping! Last week I swore at all the kids in our "e-time" (like homeroom...but designated for all those peachy-kids who are failing my class...and yes there are more than 5. Or 15.) and the next day banished 5 kids in the hall throughout the day because they wouldn't shut their mouths. I really needed this 4-day weekend.

Dear baby boy, please stay in there until your due date---no earlier, no later. Mama has to finish teaching school and get through her two birthing classes in November to feel anywhere near "ready" for your arrival. Keep kickin' and getting big and strong! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you. I can feel every part of you moving around in me. Yesterday your aunt Fifi felt your whole spine in the temple. You gave her quite a show and showed off your big strong bum throughout the session. This week you've especially been moving a lot. It's so much fun and daddy can't keep his hands off of you (or mommy!) My skin feels like it can't stretch any tighter. Sorry you're getting a bit crammed, but it's only for a little while. See you in 54 days! (please!)

Amazing

2011-10-20T18:28:00.000-06:00

Close up

Wa-BAM

Sportin' the Outtie--proud of it!

Proud mama-to-be!

It's amazing that I have this special spirit growing inside of me! I'm so in love with this little man of mine... despite some hardships of pregnancy--I've LOVED it so far. I'm just so grateful that I have this great blessing in my life. Heavenly Father loves me so much! And I feel His love for my little Boomer too! I'm 32 weeks TOMORROW!
Love you all!

too funny

2011-10-16T15:23:00.002-06:00

Amy (while looking at friends' pictures of them in bikinis): "I can't wait to be skinny again"

Mark: ....."you're not UN-skinny, you just have a baby in your belly"

I can't stop laughing!
Un-skinny?? hahaha I like that!

2011-10-15T21:55:00.000-06:00

I have this love/hate relationship with our apartment. While it's twice as big as our last place, this also means that it's twice as much to clean. We have two bathrooms instead of one, two bedrooms instead of one, and basically two living rooms (instead of one....yeah yeah you get the picture). We woke up and attacked this apartment with organizing and cleaning--nesting is in full force!

Living in this new apartment also means that when I'm in the bedroom blogging, he's no longer just 5 or 6 feet away in the living room (watching ESPN)....it's more like 25 feet. It feels like a HUGE space and I just don't like that very much. I loved our old 625 square feet place that was oh-so-cozy 24/7. It was the perfect place for us newly weds. We loved that whole stage of life of not worrying about anything other than getting good grades and paying our phones and utilities bills (thank you, Papa Freeman for owning our apartment complex). Now we have two cars, one car payment, rent due every month, utilities, water, gas/electric, phones, cable, baby funds, yadie yadie yadda....

Basically, we are growing up. And this is another love/hate relationship that I deal with on a daily basis. I LOVE the fact that I'm going to be a mommy soon. But a small part of me is a little nerrrvouuusss....Luckily I have a super hard working man who is in fact LOVING being completely independent and who tells me all the time how much he can't wait to have this little boy around. He's going to be such a good daddy! His job has been so great and he continues to learn a lot in it. I'm so fortunate to not have to work, especially with this baby on the way. But I know that if I ever did have to work, I would willingly do anything for this family!

Okay this is turning into a bit of a long post about cheesy stuff. We (you...) don't need any of that. But back to what I intended to talk about: I don't want that cozy feeling of our little apartment of two years to ever go away! So right now I'm going to get up, grab a blanket, and rest my head on my man's leg while he scratches my back and I fall fast asleep. Happy Saturday, and good night!

a basketball

2011-10-14T17:08:00.000-06:00

This is for Julianne who doesn't have Facebook :)
Our little Boomer is taking the shape of a perfectly round basketball these days. This is me 30 weeks and 3 days along.

Teaching Chronicles, Chapter 3

2011-10-14T16:54:00.000-06:00

Ever since I began observing/teaching with my mentor teacher at Oak Canyon J.H., he has predicted that I will have "at least one meltdown" in front of my students. He said that every student teacher in his classroom has had an episode of tears, gnashing of teeth, and stress-filled resentment towards the students at one point. I have been determined to not be part of this statistic. Knowing that this would be more difficult because of the hormonal adjustments that come with carrying a child in my womb, I continue to press on hoping prove him wrong.

Yesterday was a close one! Luckily I got my tears out of the way before I walked into the school at the awful hour of 7:15 a.m. I didn't even give Mark a kiss goodbye---I knew that if I did or if he asked me what was wrong, the water works would get to the red-faced, blubbery, can't-stop-for-an-hour type of cry---so I just yelled "have a nice day" and headed out the door. I felt awful. A few tears streamed down my face, then I gave myself a pep-talk and prayed...out loud. It totally helped, and by the time I walked in to face Mr. A, I knew what I had to do to keep it together, and luckily I did! ....until after school :)

Poor Mark had to listen to all of my (b-swear word)-ing pretty much all night, sprinkled with tears here and there. He was so sweet and took me to look at couches for our living room. I felt much better after lots of hugs and kisses from him. It ended up being a great day and I'm so grateful for him.

This experience of student teaching 14 year-olds has made me a few things:

Terrified of raising teenagers (some of them give me that fear...)
Excited to have teenagers (some of them are great....)
Motivated to be a better mommy (in 2 months!!!)
Determined to raise HONEST kiddos (the cheating that goes on...!! blows my mind!)
More grateful for the good teachers that I've had in my life! (It's a lot of work!)

I'll have to keep adding to that list. That's all I have for now (my brain is a little sleepy!)

I have had a few rewarding moments that make it all worth it, like that look of "OH! I GET IT!" after reviewing a geographical concept or seeing students get excited about a lecture and shoot their hands up to participate. I love watching my kids who have learning disabilities (there are many) push through their hardships and turn in work that they're so proud of. Or my English language learners be so brave and get up in front of the class to share their term projects, despite the difficulty of speaking publicly in a language so new to them. These are the things that make me excited to come to school and be with them.

I could go on and switch gears to talk about what makes me not excited, but I don't want to ruin the moment. Happy Weekend, everyone!

Weight

2011-10-05T20:49:00.000-06:00

Mark just asked me what I'm blogging about and I told him my weight. He replied, "aahhh....a bragging post....niiiice....." So I apologize, I'm just really happy! (Especially after discovering stretch marks on my be-hind the other night. Thought you'd like to hear that.)

I got weighed yesterday at my doc's appointment. As I timidly stepped on the scale, I told the nurse "DO NOT TELL ME...it just stresses me out!" and looked to the ceiling. I thought for sure it had to be bad news because she didn't say anything like "Oh, you have nothing to worry about" or "you shouldn't be stressed"....this made me even more stressed!

So I get into the patient room to get seen by my doc. Some of you know that he scolded me for gaining so much weight in the last visit--so I was extremely worried that I'd leave defeated and feeling even larger and more helpless than last time. Instead, I got a, "Good job, kiddo....two pounds! Not bad for five weeks..." I guess I'm exactly where I need to be and by the time I have this baby I shouldn't gain more than 30 pounds total. Right now I'm at 18 pounds--and I've been thinking that I've gained at least 20. I'm so pumped.

I couldn't believe what I had just heard! As we left, I did a happy dance and couldn't stop smiling the rest of the night!

Now I'm off to watch Friday Night Lights...my new obsession!

ps- Michelle, I most definitely do not work out but probably once a week---if I'm lucky. I just happen to remember to take belly pictures when I'm the least clothed ;)

29 weeks, 3 days

2011-10-03T22:09:00.000-06:00

Student: Mrs. Freeman, when are you due?!
Me: Not until December!
Student: Are you serious?!...
Me: I know, I know, I'm a planet and I look like I'm going to pop.
Student: No, I mean you're so small, but you're so....BIG
Me: Yeah?....(run to the front of the class to get them started)

A pumpkin? Did I swallow a seed?

K but really? 10 more weeks of this? How much bigger can I get?! I'm terrified.

St. George Marathon

2011-10-03T21:57:00.000-06:00

...not ME, sillies. MARK! Mark ran his FIRST marathon...and kicked booty. Let me preface this by saying that he did a half marathon, an 18 mile run and a 20 mile run a month before the marathon to train. For seasoned marathon runners, you know that this is hardly training! He did great on all of these runs though, and just wanted to "finish" and have the experience of running 26.2 miles. Of course I fully support this because I think that EVERYBODY needs to run a marathon in his/her lifetime. There's nothing like it.

Here he is picking up his number. I thought it was great that he seemed to be standing in the "Elite Runners" line. In reality, he was getting his "Clydesdale" division number (200 lbs. +). The lady looked at him and said, "yeah, I don't think we need to weigh you. You're definitely a Clydesdale."

When we arrived at the Expo, it was about 8 p.m. We got his number, looked at the fun runners' booths, and headed to my grandma's house to sleep.

The time here is about 5:15 a.m. Waking up early to take him wasn't particularly the highlight of my trip, but he sure is cute and definitely worth it!

And look who we met up with! Amelia! Mark had a buddy to go up on the buses with. She gave him some awesome advice and Mark was very grateful. She gets married in less than two weeks! Lucky man!

Here he is just after running through the finish line! I'm choking back tears the whole time while waiting for him to cross. There's something about the atmosphere of a marathon that touches me and inspires me. I can't wait to get running again! He did SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB...

Here he is just a few minutes after finishing. What a stud-muffin. His time was 4:26....!!!!!!!!!! And that's after having 4 bathroom stops along the way. Without those stops, he would have finished at least ten minutes earlier. What an athlete! I can't imagine how well he would have done had he been on a consistent training regimen. And boy, it was HOT out there.

I can't believe how HUGE I am! I'm glad he loves me! A lot! At least I'll never weigh more than he does (let's hope not).

Good job honey! You're my hero!

My apologies...

2011-10-02T22:11:00.000-06:00

Dear students,
I'm feeling a little under the weather (this is appropriate since our lesson tomorrow is actually on weather and climate...heh).
I hope you don't mind me showing a video (or 2...cue President Obama's Education Address...) for half of class tomorrow.
Or showing you yet another PowerPoint as I sit on my chair at the front of the class.
It will be one of those days of "let's just get through this".
I'll be a better teacher....
AFTER tomorrow.
I promise!
Sincerely,
Mrs. F

Now instead of staying up another 2 hours perfecting a lesson, I'm going to enjoy sleeping more than 6 hours tonight :)

Teaching Chronicles, Chapter 2

2011-09-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

I taught my first full 1 hour and 20 minute lesson two days ago. It's now "my" classroom, even though my mentor teacher is in and out all day. Overall, it went pretty well. I even had a surprise visit from my supervisor from BYU--she had a lot of great things to say! I'm so so happy that I have been in enough classrooms that I feel comfortable 90% of the time and that I know most (? maybe that's wishful thinking...) of my kids' names.

It's starting to get a little uncomfortable and tiring walking around and standing for 5 hours every day. Waking up at 6:30 is not in my nature, either, but I really feel like I'm being magnified and strengthened from above for this arduous task of student teaching while 7, 8, and 9 months pregnant. I can tell you one thing though--it sure makes time go by magically fast.
Hallelujah.

Tonight was especially entertaining. Three words:
Parent
Teacher
Conference
I actually forgot that this was today, so I was happy that I showered AND washed my hair this morning. It had been three days since I had washed my mane. But that's the norm these days :)

I have never been on this end of P-T-C, and boy oh boy it was a treat. I learned a few things:
1. Mr. Andersen (my mentor teacher) is known for having one of the hardest classes in the school. Some over-achievers' parents love this. Others....not so much... (Um...sorry we have homework due every class period...but get over it...your kid is in high school now.)

2. Apparently some parents think his late work policy is too "cut-throat"....(excuse me, ladies, but do you realize that we spend at least 1 hour everyday just going through late work? and that there are over 280 students that we're dealing with?! It's HALF CREDIT if turned in late, and that is the policy so that we discourage students from turning things in late...)

3. It's "shocking" that we have a term project that involves making a map....One mother snottily (is that a word? I like it) said "when I was in geography, we learned all about different countries and cultures....not any of this busy work map stuff...." Was I offended? For a minute. Were we laughing about it for ten minutes after? Yes. Seriously lady? How is learning about maps "shocking" in a geography class???

4. Kids look and act just like their parents. It was easy to see which kids belonged to the parents that walked in through that classroom door.

And just in general, I've learned that 9th grade boys get uncomfortable talking to me with my basketball-sized belly between us. I think I counted 5 boys today glancing at my dear Outtie belly button instead of my mouth while explaining the difference between weathering and erosion. If I try getting past them in those tiny tiny rows of desks, they generally do all that they can so that they don't get an accidental "belly swipe".

I got home at 6:45 tonight. Ate food. And walked (wobbled) to the gym to try to get rid of this constant loose joint feeling in my left butt-cheek. It's still there. Bummer!

....for your viewing pleasure of my ever-growing bell. I wish my hair was down for this so you could see how clean and washed it is. I'm 27 weeks and 5 days today.

Have a wonderful noche!

Brazil leftovers

2011-09-07T23:15:00.000-06:00

These are pictures that Mark took on his phone. I just wanted to get them online :)

2nd Anniversary! a little late...

2011-09-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

For our anniversary this year, Mark surprised me with a night at Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake (August 25). I wish so badly that I had taken a picture of the room we were in. I was dying. Before we left our apartment, he introduced the room that he reserved by saluting me in the kitchen and saying "You may call me Commander-in-Chief, madame". Do you have any idea which room he reserved us?

That's right folks, the "Capitol Retreat. "

I slept underneath The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and Presidents Lincoln and Washington. We even had a secret bookshelf door to the bathroom...that was definitely my favorite part. Oh my gosh he is so dorky, but it was really awesome. We'd heard of people staying there and he thought it would be fun to try it out. We had a great dinner at a Mongolian BBQ place then we walked around Temple Square for a couple of hours, followed by a relaxing night in the room. It was perfect and I love him to pieces.

26 weeks, 100 days left!

2011-09-07T22:06:00.001-06:00

After my dear Mark took these pictures and I saw them, I instantly thought, "there's no way that I'm that big...I don't feel that big!" And then I said that out loud. SO, I'm thinking that my last couple of public belly pictures are numbered. I don't want to make anyone cringe when they look at me.

Oh come on, we've all done it.

But Mark reminded me that I'm not exactly wearing the most flattering/slender-ing dress either---true.

Oh and ignore the hair. At least I washed it last night--that's an improvement! I think it may be the only picture in the last couple of months where I haven't been sporting the usual bun too.

We tried the "upper half" shot thinking it would make me look less gigantic.

I got to see my baby today. My mom was working and I texted her after class to see if they were busy at the hospital...she promptly responded "COME ON OVER!"

I don't need too much persuading to get a peak at this little man!

It was so much fun. I got to do the ultrasound myself and just watch him move and breathe and hang out. I didn't want to leave!

Lately I've been craving macaroni and cheese, cucumbers w/rice vinegar, yogurt, herbal tea, and cold cold cold water (yeah that's not really a "craving"...but def. a must!). Tonight I made broccoli mac-n-cheese and Mark just went on and on about it....I'm pretty sure it's just because I haven't cooked in over a week! He's been doing all the cooking, poor guy.

This little boy moves constantly and it just never gets old. The weeks are going by a lot quicker, especially since I've actually been busy. I'm so grateful! The back pain is still a daily occurrence, but nothing that I haven't been able to handle without Tylenol and heating pads. My favorite thing to do is just soak in the bathtub and watch my belly. My other favorite thing to do is watch Mark touch and talk to my belly and feel/see the baby's reaction.

Time for bed! Happy Wednesday!

Teaching Chronicles, Chapter 1

2011-09-05T13:25:00.000-06:00

It's no wonder that I'm sick after beginning a new semester in a junior high school. Can you imagine how many germs these kids are carrying around? Sinus infections are G-R-O-S-S. And, well, waking up at 6:20 a.m. (I know I know, you're thinking "quit-chur-belly-achin'") after a full 4 or 5 months of absolutely NO schedule and NO obligations probably threw me off a bit too.

But honestly...I'm loving it so far. I have only been in the class since Tuesday, but I can feel the urgency to get these lesson plans written and somewhat solidified before next week. My mentor teacher, Mr. Andersen, is the bomb.com. He's been teaching Geography for over 15 years and rocks at it. I'm really lucky to have him as my mentor.

(What am I especially grateful for??....That it only takes 6 minutes in the morning to drive to my school. SIX. Now, that's not half-bad people! I have to be there by 7:15, so I'm pretty thrilled about it.)

Being sick and bed-ridden has had some positive repercussions! Instead of boating and BBQ-ing today, I've been working on a Google site to use with my students just to keep everything organized and easily accessible to them. If you want to see what we're doing, go to https://sites.google.com/site/mrsfreemansclassisgreat/

Yeah, the name is super cheesy...but hello...my BLOG name can't get ANY cheesier. I created the site over a year ago for a teaching technology class and never thought I'd actually use it.

You mean I'm actually using a skill that I was taught in college???

Why yes, yes I am.

Now, let's hope that I can get through teaching from 7:45-12:20 each day with only five minutes of passing period every hour and fifteen minutes to:

Relieve myself in the baño,
stuff my face with some sustenance,
and drink water.

Have a wonderful Labor Day!

And CONGRATULATIONS to my Beautiful friend Megan for having her baby yesterday!!!! He's PERFECT! Can't wait to welcome my little man into the world!!

Hobble Creek half marathon

2011-08-24T09:44:00.000-06:00

The half marathon on August 20th came quickly, and this guy ran like a champ! With all the traveling we had been doing plus the chaos at work plus the absense of his regular running partner (meeee), the guy hadn't really trained for this. We woke up at five and promptly drove to Mapleton to catch the bus!

Looks good in the morning!

All ready to go!

Saying goodbye....because of course I went back home to catch more zzzz's.

I caught him crossing the finish line! He did SUCH A GOOD JOB! He actually finished in an hour and 55 minutes...averaging a 9:10 minute mile.

Not bad for someone who truly didn't train! That's my athlete husband!

...and with a smile on his face as if he went for a stroll around the park or something. We found out this morning that he got 14th in his "Clydesdale" division (200+ lbs.). We both think there should be a 240+ division--he would have gotten 1st, duh.

I can't wait to join you next year honey!

The newest member of our family

2011-08-24T09:30:00.000-06:00

Our new Subaru Forester, better known as "Subi". We love her! Mark has me drive her while he takes "Mazdy," our little Mazda 3. I'm spoiled!

The selling point?

"This baby can go down flights of stairs with NO problem!"

Oh, good...because when we're getting chased that will be extremely convenient.

But really, she handles soo smoothly and I feel very safe when I drive her, and that's the most important. We're really excited to test her out in the snow. Apparently Subarus are Pros in the snow.

And she's really fast...but Mark doesn't need to know that I'm excited about that!

We'll get the windows tinted before baby comes...

A random picture of me a couple weeks ago. I'm a lot bigger now, don't worry. I sent this to Mio, one of my bffs on a mission in Japan and got a bunch of pics developed to send to her.

Davis/San Francisco CA visit

2011-08-24T09:07:00.000-06:00

Mark's grandma Libby Freeman lives by herself in Davis, California (just 10 minutes outside Sacramento). We love her so much; she sends us post cards of U.C.-Davis all the time and asks us to visit. Well, after our long vacation to Brazil the only time we could go was the following weekend. It was a long drive, but we're so glad that we went! She treated us to gourmet food the whole time we stayed there (now I know where Mark gets his "foodie" side from) and I was able to go to San Francisco for the first time.

My only requirement in San Francisco was that we got a sourdough breadbowl! Boudine's is the place to go! Yummy.

Clam Chowda'! Those are the only two pics that I got in San Fran...I was really not in the mood to be in any pictures!

I had to take a picture of the place settings that we had for breakfast one day...Grandma Libby is so cute!

See those two twin beds in the back?...that's where we slept!!! Isn't that funny?? Grandma Libby didn't want any hanky-panky in her house I guess! We were dying laughing.

Mark's uncle Jeff and aunt Sharon were there visitng that weekend too. We had a blast talking to them each night. Don't underestimate this crowd...they had us staying up until 2 a.m. every night! Grandma and Jeff are night owls. By the last night I was able to stay up without falling asleep a couple of times on the couch. We all laughed and laughed about who knows what.

Scrambled eggs, French toast, homemade syrup and jam, and Grandma's favorite--margarine!! It's her "secret ingredient"... I was thrilled, let me tell ya!

In the front yard before leaving back to Utah

We love you Grandma! Thank you for letting us come and see you! Mark is so in love with this area that we just might end up here someday. I was so impressed with how "with it" she is at her age (85 in December). She takes such good care of herself and always makes sure that she's put together and keeping her mind active. She's a great example to us.

Cousin visit!

2011-08-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

Last month my three cousins from San Antonio came to visit for 10 days. They're such good kids and we love them coming to visit every other summer. I couldn't believe how much they've grown! They are my mom's sister Susan's kids. Aunt Susan passed away when she was 31 from breast cancer and the kids were just six (Jack) and two (Rachel and Noah). We went to visit their mom's grave and made it look really nice.

After we visited her grave, we took my nephew Nico to the Provo Beach Resort. He had a ball of course.

But I think my mom had the most fun! She loves her (only) grandson.

I had to get a picture with the twins. Jack had taken off already, but this was their last day visiting. They're so big! They're 9th graders this year, and that's the age that I'll be teaching starting next week.

I love you guys!

Hugs and kisses!

Our new place

2011-08-24T08:21:00.000-06:00

After months of searching the Provo/Orem/PG/American Fork area, we found ourselves a great place in a great location with a great price! It worked out so perfectly.

Our master bath

Seperate toilet!

Walk-in closet = MUST

blurry :(...baby M.J.'s room

Our Master

Other side of baby's room. Walk-in closet #2

Our invisible washer/dryer

guest bathroom

That's our landlord with her 3 kids in the living room/dining room.

My favorite feature of the kitchen? The ice and water feature on the fridge door, haha

ohh the little things that make your life more pleasant!

We love it- I'll have to post pics of it with our stuff actually in it. We still need to put up pictures, get a washer and dryer, get a sectional couch, new kitchen table/chairs, and set up the baby's room.....

It'll be awhile before everything is done :)

Rio de Janeiro

2011-08-23T21:38:00.000-06:00

Okay folks, this is a post stuffed full of pictures. I have put this off for over a month now because the thought of covering Rio has been overwhelming! Rio was our last stop in our Brazil adventure.

"Corcovado"---The world-famous Christ the Redeemer statue! (Have you seen the movie "Rio"?) It was smoggy this day--as you can see.

We went on a "Jungle Tour". Our tour guide's name is Fabio. I wish I could say he was as cool as his name! It was fun to see the city and then go into the jungle area that surrounds it.

That mountain is called "Pao de açucár", or "Sugar Loaf". It too is on "Rio."

I loved the architecture of this building

Another view of the Christus (Corcovado Hill). It's a lot further/higher than it seems!

Dave and Brunette Shelly (She's always been blonde--until this trip. She didn't want to stand out too much!)

These are Rio's most famous "favelas"--or ghettos. In Brazil, the poor live on the hills and the rich live near the ocean. A middle class doesn't really exist.

On the Corcovado (means "hunchback" in Portuguese, describing the hill that the Christus was built on). It's made out of Sandstone and was built in the 1920s. The real date is in my journal...I promise I was listening to the tour!

Breathtaking!

On the jungle tour--a random waterfall. It was a fun little stop.

Ew ew sick sick picture of me. I obviously needed to wear a maternity shirt... at least he looks good.

Our sweet jeep.

Do you see the huge foot print?

My dream Brazil house--in the mountains but close enough to the ocean...

Front view...

Such a cool city!!

On our way to "Sugar Loaf" mountain.

We ride these gondolas up to the top

All of us wearing our Havaianas--a brand of sandals that everyone wears in Brazil. They're so stinkin' comfy too! I love mine.

That's the Christ statue above all the smog...

inevitable shadow pic...

view from the gondola on top of Sugar Loaf

Over Mark's right shoulder (our left) is Copacabana beach where our hotel is.

There's that bun again...

Fertility statues?? haha these pregnant lady statues were in every city that we went to. I wanted to get one, but I'd have to paint their bare bellies and shoulders. Just kidding, they were mucho $$. (In the gift shop on top of Sugar Loaf)

Views from top of Sugar Loaf

Back down to sea-level. Oh, hey there, you're cute!...

...So we kissed a lot on the beach. Rawr.

Our hotel is the one with the pentagon on it (shape with five sides, right??) It's a J.W. Marriott hotel so it was umm...super nice. It helps that my in-laws are like Gold or Platinum members; when we arrived they upgraded us to suites with ocean views. Cha-ching!

Can you say gorgeous?!

Oh man he's cute.

My Havaianas again

chubby, swollen ankles, feet, and toesies

Not my leg. This one's too sexy.

Saying goodbye to Brazil was so hard! When we went to the beach it was our last day there...

Before we left I had to get a picture of the coconuts they sold on every street corner. The water inside was so refreshing. I <3 you, Brazil!!!!

Meet...the Outtie

2011-08-19T16:14:00.002-06:00

It's about 3:45 on this lovely Friday afternoon and I'm scantily clad waiting to get my lazy bum to the shower. The StairMaster at the gym had nothing on me...(for a whole 20 minutes..)

Pathetic.

I have pretty much stopped running/jogging/granny shuffling...my bladder just cannot do it anymore. I went a week ago with my mum and it was seriously every 20 steps that I felt like I'd have a little accident.

I went to Newport Beach with my Clark family this week and that was...

beautiful

BUT

hard.

I will never be coerced to leave my Marky, no matter how much I crave the beach. It was AWESOME seeing my sister again after 3 1/2 months of her being in Jerusalem, but her boy-toy was there too, so I spent a lot of time missing my significant other.

We had a great night last night. He surprised me with....can you guess??

*deleted picture upon request of said husband*

Oh I'm not kidding (except the pair he got me is gold on black..). This is what happens when I'm away for a week.

He scored points though when something else was also in the striped pink bag.

Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume. I'm SOO picky about perfume, and boy he nailed it! I am still thoroughly impressed! Yummy.

I'm not sad, I promise

Just a little bored.

(I can't wait to start student teaching next Monday....there's only so much I can do to prep for Baby M.J.)

Introducing...The Outtie

The belly's gettin' more conspicuous--

and I love it.

I love him kicking and punching the day away.

It makes me giggle every time!

Yesterday I fell asleep for a couple of hours and when I woke up, I felt this

head

in my

rib cage

(just below my right "girl")

It was the most bizarre feeling having a baseball-sized thing that felt stuck there.

Do you like my bun?

Some things that I am grateful for:

2011-08-10T00:23:00.000-06:00

The Atonement. Oh man, I am not near perfect!
OUR BABY! I feel him more and more each day and I thank Heavenly Father for him every day! And he's a-growin'! Mark felt him on Sunday...fun!
My hot pad: one hour in the morning = a happy back
My new sewing class/machine (if you're interested in taking an awesome class, go to thimblesandthreads.blogspot.com). I go to class every Wednesday and it helps me feel somewhat domestic.
Our new apartment! We LOVE it! It has everything that we were looking for except for a garage. 2 bed/2 bath, washer/dryer, 2 walk-in closets, 1st floor, bright, and spacious. PERFECT location. Pictures to come. Boy it took many hours of KSL hunting and apartment visits to finally land here.
Mark scratching my back every night before going to bed--he's done this since we got married and it's heavenly every time
My new hair cut and color. I'm back to a brunie (natural) because that bleach did a number on my thick locks and this will free more $$ for our baby budget :)
Our new ward. It's a family ward, which means there are actually TEENAGERS and ELDERLY PEOPLE and BABIES in it. I'm really excited for this change.
Our new Subaru Forester. She is a black beaut. We're leasing her and are so happy with our decision. We searched high and low for the perfect vehicle for us + baby and she gracefully fell into our laps and it feels so good.
Our wireless Internet. We went over a week without any Internet in the vicinity and had just one Internet cord at our last apartment so now we can both surf the web at the same time. We're so fancy now.
Having a savings account and a husband who words so hard so we can be comfortable! The savings has dwindled with all of our said purchases, but it's all good! These are things we have been saving up for.
The gym being less than a half a mile away from our apartment. Sweet!!
My parents' pool. When I feel like I'm lacking sunshine, it's a hop, skip, and a jump to a pool that I know will happily greet me. The sun is SOOO GOOD when you're in a body of water :)
Food. Oh man I love my food now-a-days. Especially these "Cakebites" from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. They just opened one next to the mall in Orem and you better believe I got half a dozen tonight. Delish.
My fake eyelashes. I went a month without them and I'm never doing that again. They're SO worth the $35 a month.
That my sister is coming HOME to the UNITED STATES in FOUR DAYS from Jerusalem! I miss her so so so much; 3 1/2 months is a long time to be away. I'm so excited to spend all next week with her at Newport Beach with the fam. and Robbie, her very serious love interest (we'll see if I get more than 10 minutes a day with her when he's around!)
Student Teaching starting in 2 1/2 weeks! I'm so excited to get up there and share my passion for Geography with these 9th graders. I'm so lucky to have found a place that is only 10 minutes away from the school that I'll be teaching at.

Time for BED! Can't make these pictures look high-quality on my 5 year old Mac. Maybe someday I'll switch to having real camera pictures.

21 weeks, 4 days along. Over half-way!

Moving is the pits

2011-08-09T17:27:00.000-06:00

Like my dear new friend Holly, I haven't written in a couple of weeks, which is unlike me! The best explanation is that we have been moving all week.

Yeah, I know, it shouldn't be THAT big of a deal since we went from Provo to Orem, but I will never move again in this lifetime unless we are having a third child or have $$$ lying around to get a house and hire movers.

Are any of you too shy or too proud to ask others for help? Because I am. I was bitter the whole week when I SHOULD have just called up friends and asked. Plenty of people offered by saying "Call me if you need anything!"....but I'm not super excited to just pick up and call for that. And honestly, I naively assumed that since I'm belly-licious and obviously pregnant that people would assume that I do indeed need help! Mark tried to explain to me that people do need to at least be informed that help is needed. But deep inside I was hoping for a little help from above to have people feel "impressed" that they needed to come help me.

It would have been easier if my family would have offered and pitched in a little more, but the time that we chose to move was inconvenient for them. My mom brought us food a couple of times, and I really do appreciate that.

Luckily my sister in law Catherine called me and offered to help. She helped me organize the kitchen, and I really appreciated it! Then Mark's mom Kerri and sister Cassidy came to help me clean our old apartment on Saturday. I was so happy and wished that I had just called and asked earlier.

I guess I just expected people to show up at our apartment since I have done that to so many girls (PREGNANT and not pregnant) moving out of our complex. I think that comes with the territory of being Secretary of the Relief Society and knowing what seemed like everything about everyone (moving out dates, baby due dates, new job, sickness, etc.). And granted, Mark and I were out of town last Sunday when I'm sure we would have had people ask to help us. They all probably thought we had already moved. We'd been in the ward for over two years and I felt a little pushed to the side and forgotten. Mark says it's the hormones and I'm SURE he's right!!

I just wasted a whole lot of tears, and I'm not proud of that. But I am proud to say that it was the first major break down this whole time being pregnant! It's like my little guy could tell, because he keeps letting me know that he's here and alive and healthy by moving around all day long, and NOTHING makes me happier!

Fortaleza, Brazil

2011-07-23T10:31:00.000-06:00

When Mark served his mission here almost 4 years ago, the missionaries were provided with a meal from Habib's, an Arab fast-food restaurant (pictured below). Mark had to go since he remembered it being extremely tasty. I refrained and stuck to the French fries. Everyone said they tasted kind of like little pizzas.

Mark's favorite: beef with cheddar cheese. No thanks!

Outside of our hotel. The translation from Portuguese to English was definitely from Google translator.

My FAVORITE night of the whole trip. We invited a large family of Mark's converts to come to dinner with us. He re-activated the grandmother of this family, and baptized 3 of her 5 daughters. They were all able to come and brought their adorable kids. Despite the language barrier, the family was so extremely warm and inviting towards me, Shelly, and Dave.

Daphnie. Oh my gosh, she is just the chunkiest baby I have ever seen. She is only 5 months old. This is my favorite face of Dave's. He was obviously thrilled about Daphnie as well. She was just a solid little (big) thing! I was a little surprised when I saw her cousins and mom feeding her Coca-Cola and pizza as she reached for any adult food in sight.

Those THIGHSSS......

Mark in action. Those kids worship him. I asked how they all remembered him, and the grandmother said they have pictures of him on their fridge and that Kauwe, her only grandson, keeps Mark's BYU Football shirt in his room. Mark called this family once or twice a month every month after his mission until he and I got serious...

Kauwe is always surrounded by all these girls! His dad is not in the picture, so he has very few males around to look up to. He couldn't get enough attention from Mark. It was precious.

With the iPhone. They love that thing.

Still intrigued by it...

I couldn't get enough of this chunker.

We had the restaurant to ourselves. The owners were very grateful for our big group :)

Shelly dyed her hair for this trip so that she wasn't the only 5'9'' blonde woman in Fortaleza. She still stood out haha, but I think it helped a little.

These girls wanted picture after picture with us.

Kiki, me, and Kiki's sister (I need to ask Mark what the other sisters' names are!) and Daphnie. Daphnie's mom kept Daphnie quiet by breast feeding her, free of "hooter hider", for all to see. That's quite common in Brazil. I saw plenty of breasts during this trip.

This little girl (again, I forgot her name! I'm awful!) was only 4 years old when Mark finished his mission and "Freeman" is a really difficult word to say. She would always say it with a really exaggerated and rolled R, like "Frrrreeeeeeman". We all laughed about that for awhile during dinner.

We had such a fun time together!

I love Kiki! She's the youngest sister of this family and the most active in the Church. She's going to a community college and works at a factory. She holds this family together and she's only 19 years old. For anyone who lives where she lives to even go to college is NEVER heard of. She's Mark's most "golden" convert.

I'm so happy to be here, yay!

These girls gave me like a 30 minute Portuguese lesson. They were SO DANG CUTE!

This couple next to Mark is married and those are their daughters. They aren't as active now, but they are so sweet and humble and honestly it's a big deal that he's still involved and with the family. Mark said the men don't normally stick around in the ghettos where he served.

Group photo.

The lady in the pink is the grandmother who was baptized when she lived in Sao Paulo, then was reactivated when she moved to Fortaleza and Mark found her. She is the funniest lady I've ever met. She speaks the fastest and loudest Portuguese I've ever heard and assumes that you know exactly what she's saying. I got really good at just smiling and nodding at her :) Mark thought it was hilarious and filled me in between her breaths. She had a lot of funny stories about Mark.

Post breast-feeding picture. So funny!

You know that Daphnie is a big girl when she looks like a normal-sized baby with Mark holding her.

Liduina!!! The woman who started it all!!

He's going to be such a good daddy to our little boy! Excuse the cheese....

They are such good examples of being loving and non-judgmental. It was a tearful goodbye!

Our hotel.

Oh, he's cute! We took plenty of water-bottle trips to the market.

View from our hotel. It was beautiful weather until the last day when this picture was taken. It was rainy but really warm (of course). Thank goodness we went during Brazil's winter or I would have been toast.

This is a former slave jail where a huge 5 story market is held each day. We walked around the whole thing since Shelly and I are women and can't seem to look at enough clothes, purses, or shoes :) Thanks guys for being patient with us! Brazil imported over 3 million slaves during the 16th-19th centuries. Since Mark is a Latin American Studies major and lived here for 2 years, he gave us a lot of solid information about this area that made us appreciate it a lot more.

A cathedral next to the slave jail. Mark said that at nighttime it's a haven for prostitutes and drug dealers (just outside of it, not inside!).

We walked across the street to a military Fort that was built in the 1600s...it's the reason for Fortaleza's name. We got a soldier to show us a dungeon where they kept a woman for two years for breaking slaves out of the prison. Intense!

THis is where she lived, if you can call it that.

I don't know what that says..but i took a picture anyway.

Of course I fit standing straight up.

The young soldier. He smiled when I asked if I could get a picture with him. Flattered? haha he was cute.

That's the market/slave jail where it says "mercado central"

Mark said this is where the missionaries would shop a lot because it was cheaper than the indoor market.

THe stain glass was beautiful, but the feeling inside was a little frigid.

A delicious meal after shopping. In Brazil they like to keep all the fat on the meat. I wasn't a fan of eating straight fat, but Mark thought it was appropriate to indulge while there!

Out on the beach after our nap. Fortaleza isn't necessarily a tourist hot spot, and I found out a big part of that is because the beach and water are contaminated! icky!

Street food called "Tapioca", but it's not at all the tapioca that you and I are familiar with. It's really good though!

Another street food that I forgot the name of but IT WAS SO GOOD!! It's a sweet corn concoction (sp?) with coconut milk and cinnamon. Delish. We loved walking up and down the boardwalk people-watching and trying all the street food. I was shocked at my willingness to try things!

Next stop: Rio de Janeiro.

19 weeks

2011-07-22T12:14:00.001-06:00

My appetite is back.

Obviously.

Eating out almost every meal for 10 days in the land of Brazil (in many a restaurant like our beloved Tucano's...) did a number on the scale. My doctor scolded me at my appointment two days ago. No more treats for this cow.

Stretch marks have finally made their first appearances on my chest region. Boo hoo, but it was bound to happen with how many trips I've had to make to the bra department.

I'm excited to see you, little guy, in two weeks! (on the ultrasound, of course!)

Time to go to the pool!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Iguacu Falls, Brazil

2011-07-21T11:49:00.001-06:00

After about 20 hours of flying, we finally arrived at our hotel. We flew from Salt Lake to Atlanta to Rio de Janeiro to Iguacu Falls...it was a LONG DAY AND NIGHT! I thought I'd want to go to our room and take a nap....but once you see these pictures, you'll understand why I didn't entertain that thought any further. Our hotel was incredible. The jungle lied just outside our window, and it was the only hotel located inside the park.

Getting ready to get on the boat. I felt pretty sexy in that life vest

obviously.

Those falls are all on the Argentina side. Most people on the boat were speaking Spanish, so I assume they were from other countries in South America.

...taken the next morning...I had a fun case of stomach issues for the first three and a half days we were there. I have seen every toilet from Iguacu to Fortaleza, I swear. The hotel we stayed at was a 5 star joint. The employees that I came in contact with were all fluent in English...complete with English accents. They were extremely gracious and ordered medicine for me across town and then delivered breakfast in bed wishing me good health. I could get used to that!

The front of our hotel. Beautiful!

A map of the park. It's huge!! I had no idea how large the falls were or how extensive they reached across the park. There is not one picture that we took that captured even a quarter of the falls.

I fought back tears half the way, it was so breathtaking. These pictures don't do them any justice, that's for sure.

We walked to the end of that pathway. We got a little wet; it was awesome to be that close!

After our short trip to Iguacu (only about 24 hours), I was pooped out. Figuratively and literally.

TMI.

That pillow saved me on all the other flights we took. During our 10-day adventure, we had 9 flights. It wasn't too bad though. We only had carry-on baggage, and that saved a lot of time.

Next stop:

Rio de Janiero airport then...

FORTALEZA!

Do a Little Dance, Make a Little Love

2011-07-18T18:16:00.000-06:00

You're probably wondering WHY that song is stuck in my head...well, our little 5 1/2 inch baby boy is dancing in my belly! I am feeling him move around as I type this. Coolest thing ever.

If he has HALF of his daddy's dance moves, he'll be the King on the Dance Floor in no time.

Oh, and Make a Little Love. That's always a good thing.....IF you're married :) Babies come from it, which is wonderful.

I will have to blog and post pictures very soon about our trip of a lifetime to Brazil. Get ready!

Brazil, mission, buns, back, stinky

2011-07-06T09:50:00.001-06:00

So I guess it's Wednesday. Wednesday means that we leave tomorrow for Brazil. Am I excited? You betcha.

Iguazu Falls by Friday, Fortaleza by Saturday night, and Rio de Janeiro by Thursday night, in time to fly back home Sunday the 17th! I can't wait to see where Mark lived and served for 2 years. The other night during scripture study I asked him what made his mission special and meaningful to him. I wish I could have recorded everything that he said. It was a really neat moment for me to hear him bear testimony of his mission and what it did for him as a young man.

Enough of the cheese.

Here's my best attempt at a 16 week 5 day belly shot after el gimnasio.

This is my "yeah...I have a lot to do and this is ALL you're gonna get from me!" look. I just look chubby still. Bummer.

Yes I am already having back pain and can't sleep very well at night. But you know what? A nice run/walk at the gym is exactly what cures that back pain. I didn't work out yesterday and therefore....backpain this morning. I knew this would happen sooner rather than later because my lowest vertebra didn't develop all the way when I was a wee lil' babe. Plus, I was not very kind to my back when I was younger...cheerleading and gymnastics can do a number on any body part.

Well kids, I'm off. I promised I'd can peaches with my cute French sis-in-law Catherine in 40 minutes and I'm still STANKY.

I need you!

2011-07-01T11:42:00.000-06:00

Do any of you know of a website and/or blog where I can find panda paraphernalia (that word is spelled right..i just checked on dictionary.com!)?

I've checked JoAnn's fabric store for any fabric, but there wasn't any. I'll probably have to make up my own. If any of you have any ideas, let me know.

Muchas gracias!

Burgers, Mohawks, and Idaho

2011-06-28T10:32:00.000-06:00

This was my third year going to Island Park, Idaho with Mark's family. We always go up and take Mark's little (bigger) brother Ryan with us (ladies...he's single!) and we stop in Ashton, Idaho for Big Jud's burgers. They're the size of my butt. Okay, not both cheeks, probably just one, which is still pretty large. It's probably gross to compare the size of food to a bum, but it's the most accurate! We love this place ever since Big Jud's made its big debut on Man vs. Food.

Check those babies out! I literally ate 4 bites and I was done with my 1/4. Ryan ate the rest of mine (on top of his whole burger). Since Mark and I started dating, he's been considered the "lightweight" in his family since losing 60 pounds or so. In fact, we just found some of his old swim trunks from a few years ago (when he was an offensive lineman at BYU...things have def. changed!). Did I mention that he's been training for the St. George marathon in October? Rawr.

He actually wore these when he was a tank! 300 pounds of muscle and girth.

Anyway, the burgers were amazing, and I just had to record our eating adventure.

The guys were pretty excited about their eating progress...

And I feel like I conquered those fries almost single-handedly (which is why I could only eat 4 bites of the burger)

Naturally, we had to compare bellies. My FAVORITE picture all trip. Laughed about this for days. He seriously looks like Goliath. Anyone agree?

Great belly, honey!

Of course we couldn't go a lake trip without doing some fun hair-stylin'. Mark's been BEGGING me to buzz his head for MONTHS. I finally gave in, but only if....

....he did a mohawk :)

Resembles a troll?

Yes. haha I love him. It only added more attitude on that freezing lake. He did awesome surfing again this year. I was a little sad to pass that up, but I only have 5 more months of being pregnant then I can ride roller coasters, go tubing, eat sushi, and take Excedrin again :)

2011-06-27T15:45:00.000-06:00

I guess I wore blue today for a reason! We can't wait for a Mark Jr. to come into our lives. We saw him hiccupping during the ultrasound! It was pretty darn cute. I have always wanted to have a boy first, so I am just thrilled. Mark has been calling it "little guy" and "good boy" my whole pregnancy. How did he know?! I'd always correct him...."OR her..." "OR girl..." just in case. Well, good job honey, you have better intuition than his mother :) It feels so great to finally KNOW what the sex is.

You know what that means?.......

TIME. TO. SHOP.

Good thing Mark gets paid this week ;)

Baby boy? or Baby girl?

2011-06-27T09:12:00.001-06:00

We find out today! I'll post all about it later today or tomorrow.

My sad Ragnar story

2011-06-21T12:16:00.000-06:00

So my mom and I were at her house making tutus for her Ragnar team, "Deliverin' Divas", when she got a text by a chick on the team saying she couldn't do it anymore. It was the day before the race, and my mom asked my sister in law if she would run, but she said she "wasn't in running shape" (but she's in every other good shape that you can think of!) So then my mom convinced me to do it if I did the easiest legs (4 miles, 4 miles, 4 miles). I got excited. I went to Runner's Corner and got me some nice shoes and packed my stuff.

Right before my first leg. "Baby here"---Cheryl Howard insisted :)

My mom's car. That's a pregnant dummy on the top. We named her Annie--So funny! Got quite a bit of attention driving that thing around.

Our van. We were van 2. All these ladies are like hard core runners. I couldn't appologize enough for my slow pace...

and I'm off...

Finished the four miles in 38 minutes. It was really nice weather and I wasn't facing the sun= saved me.

So then 3 a.m. rolls around (did not get a wink of sleep..it was freezing outside!) and it's about time for me to do my second leg of another 4 miles, but it would be uphill. I got my head lamp and reflective vest on and was ready to go. We got a call from Van 1 and they asked where we were...my mom said "we're here!! What stop are you at?" ...it turns out we went to the WRONG EXCHANGE POINT! Like, 20 miles away from the right one. How does that happen? The team in van 1 went ahead and ran my leg for me so that we wouldn't lose too much time. We think it was supposed to happen (divine intervention?) because of how crazy it was that none of us caught that.

Long story short, I didn't run my last leg either because our team as a whole had gone so much slower than we had predicted, and it was Mark's grandpa's 80th birthday celebration that night in a fancy reception center. I couldn't miss it for obvious reasons, but I was also scheduled to play my violin as well. I was exhausted!!!! It's a little harder to make up pulling an all-nighter when you're pregnant, I discovered.

Cheryl Howard, the cute blonde in the pic, ran her leg AND mine, totalling 10 miles ! She was an animal! I'm so grateful for her!

I'd like to think that if I would have run all 12 miles that maybe something bad would have happened...then I don't feel like such a wuss :) I really wish I could have done the whole thing.

First belly picture

2011-06-21T11:55:00.000-06:00

Exciting things are coming up this week!

Island Park, Idaho family vacation! Boating, campfires, kayaking, reading, food, sleeping...sounds great to me! We're leaving Thursday, coming back either Sunday night or Monday morning in time for.....
Finding out if we're having a boy or girl! I have an appointment at 1:30. Can I just say that my doctor rocks? It really helps having a mom who is a labor and delivery nurse who is loved by all doctors, especially mine! I just hope it's not too early to tell. I'll be 15 1/2 weeks along... so let's hope he/she isn't too shy!

What are your guesses? Sorry, there are only 2 choices :) My "intuition" is....that it's either a boy or a girl, haha. I really have no feeling either way! I'm in a really good place right now mentally that I will be completely thrilled with either.

Here's a belly pic:
14 weeks and four days

I cry every time

2011-06-16T08:03:00.000-06:00

When this comes on, I'm a sobby woman! All the different bebes and music... ah! Pampers, you've nearly sold me! :)

Bladder & Giggles

2011-06-13T11:26:00.000-06:00

My bladder is going crazy. I'm convinced that this small small person inside of me is jumping up and down while at the same time tickling my insides. Yesterday was so funny! If I wasn't running to the bathroom to potty (I tried to put that as delicately as possible) a whoppin' Tablespoon every 15 minutes, then I was laughing...like, uncontrollably.

Mark and I were up at his mom and stepdad's house in Alpine enjoying a delicious dinner and our talk about me being a loser playing right field on our softball team triggered me into a giggling frenzy. I literally could not stop laughing! Tears were streaming down my face. Don't you love times like that? Luckily I'm super duper comfortable around his family so it wasn't too embarrassing.

But seriously, I think the baby loved the steak, mashed potatoes, salad, and grapes that I consumed because he/she was having a hay day making mama go CrAzYyyyy! I'm actually shocked I didn't wet my pants.

13 weeks

2011-06-10T09:46:00.000-06:00

Today is the day that the terrible first trimester is supposedly over. I hear all the time:

"Ohh! You're almost through the yucky part of being pregnant"

"You should be feeling A TON better soon"

etc.

Meh :(

I have indeed thrown up this week (every other day) and gagged through some smells and, of course, run to the toilet every time I stand up after sitting or laying down. So those things haven't changed much.

BUT...

On the days that I feel good, I'm so excited because that means I can get my sweat on and run errands and maybe, just maybe, even clean the apartment. Although, at this point since I have been pretty consistent at feeling really nauseated every other day, I'm wondering if on the days that I'm feeling awesome that I over-do it just a bit.

An example:

On Tuesday, I woke up, went to Zumba, ran on the tredmill after Zumba, and lifted my tri's and chest. I was pretty excited at this point.

THEN

I went up to my parents' house and read, swam, and laid out by the pool for a couple of hours in direct sunlight.

THEN

That must not have been enough for me to get my "wiggles" out, so I went on a walk around my parents' neighborhood with the dogs, about 1.5 miles, in Provo hill country basically. It was hot outside.

The results?

A Wednesday full of exhaustion, nausea, and throw up. Yeah....I think I get a little over zealous on these days that I'm feelin' like a rock star. I'm a little slow to catch on to these things, and so what did I do on Thursday? Basically the same thing, but the walk was a little shorter at the end of the day.

And honestly, it's 9:34 a.m. and it's one of those good-feelin' days. Maybe I'll tone it down a little at the gym and watch my water intake more closely.

But even though Wednesday was a little tough, it ended up being such an awesome day when my mom texted me to come to the hospital (it was slow at that point) to get an ultrasound. It was absolutely the funnest thing to see my little baby do a dance across that screen! He/she has legs, fingers, toes, elbows, knees, a chin, spinal chord, eyes, and I even saw the heart beating! When I wanted him/her to move, I would flex my belly a little and watch him/her move. It was unreal. I got to do the ultrasound myself and take pictures, so obviously the pictures didn't turn out very awesome. Otherwise I'd post them on here. I just wish that Mark could have been there. I hope the hospital is slow every Wednesday when she works! Okay this has been long enough.

Have a great weekend!

Running With Angels 5k

2011-06-05T11:39:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, May 21st, Mark and I woke up bright and early (6:30) to head up to Thanksgiving Point and do the Running With Angels 5k. My Dad's cousin, Pam Hansen, is the woman behind this race. She has been doing it for the past 6 or so years, and my family has always participated to support her. Pam does this race each year to raise money for the NICU at Intermountain Healthcare hospitals. Many of you know that my mom is a labor and delivery nurse at Orem Community hospital, and my dad is the CEO of Orem Community, Utah Valley RMC, and American Fork hospitals. So needless to say, this is an important event that we love to support. Pam lost one of her twins when they were born about 20 years ago, and wrote a book about the healing that took place through running. Since I was about 10 weeks pregnant, I had a hard time not getting emotional as I watched families from all over come to support this cause because of losing their babies. I was choking back tears throughout the whole thing.

On our way to Thanksgiving Point

Way to go Amy for waking up before 9:30 a.m.!!!!

There's a little fetus in there!

don't mind the white rolls :) I'd like to think that those are the remnants of my former 4 pack that I used to sport.

Good baby, don't make me sick please!

At the finish line before it started!

Thanksgiving Point is the BEST place to have a 5k! It's so gorgeous. I may or may not have stopped along the way to admire all the tulips and waterfalls :) Hey, I wasn't trying to win this race! I could tell that Mark wanted to take off, so I told him to go ahead. And what did I get for finishing?.........

ALL THE VITAMIN WATER I WANTED! I was a happy girl. And after the race, my dad took us to visit my mom at the American Fork hospital where she was called in to work that day. I was in HEAVEN looking at all the newborn babies through the glass. I can't believe we are going to have one of those in 6 months. I'm so excited to be a mommy and I will always come support those who have lost theirs in this race. All of you should too!

Arches National Park

2011-06-05T11:19:00.000-06:00

Me, Mark, and our friends Janice and Casey Fehlberg all decided one weekend (3 weeks ago?) to go to Moab! Janice and I had never been, so we were excited. Plus, it was still yucky weather in Provo so we gladly went south :)

On our way down

The men making a fire pit.

It was so crowded that weekend! We drove around for nearly an hour trying to find a spot to set up our tents.

Beautiful, colorful Janice

We love the Fehlbergs because they get us to do adventurous things. Mark and I always think about doing adventurous things, but the Fehlbergs just go out and do it! That's why we all get along so well :)

The men gathered old rocks and bricks across the field to make a pit. Looks so professional!

How many layers am I wearing?? A little much? :)

ahh...the fire....Our tin foil dinners were DELISH

That headlamp makes you look extra dreamy.....

Rawr. Nice Casey!

We didn't get to bed til pretty late that night, and for my newly pregnant self, that was quite the feat. I woke up twice to go to the bathroom in the night, but I have no problem with squatting in nature :) As soon as the sun came up, it was HOT. I quickly stripped out of my layers to a tank top and shorts. Bring on the hike!

Packin' up! Beautiful morning.

Nice back side, honey!
Our little tent! We'd never used it before...quite cozy!

You fit right in! This was the beginning of the hike to Delicate Arch.

Janice looks like an aerobics instructor. A sexy one.

I just wanted to jump into a pool at this point. But the Arch is a lot bigger than I thought!

Their children will be petite and cute.

Ours will be large. And cute of course.

I didn't know there was a line to take pictures...I guess I cut in front of 10 people. Sorry!

Janice and Casey

Mark and me.

We had an awesome time. It was a quick trip--not even 24 hours. I was lucky enough to throw up just before we left, and just as we got home. Finally after living in Utah for nearly 10 years, I got to visit the place that is stamped on most Utah license plates.

PLEASE pass the air freshener

2011-06-02T10:31:00.000-06:00

A certain side effect of being pregnant kindly waited to manifest itself until this week...now not only I, but Mark as well, wish it to go away as fast as it appeared.

It's amazing how much my body can produce. I am making every 10 year old boy jealous and this 25 year- old man I live with dizzy with disgust. Have mercy on me and all those around me!

PoP!

2011-05-29T17:08:00.000-06:00

I hit my 11 week mark on Friday. This is a problem, because it looks like I should be at week 16 or 17. And this is a recent development! It looks like suddenly my baby was like "hmm...I'm feelin' a little stuffed in here. Let's make some room in here..." *PoP* goes my tummy. Poor guy...(and mommy)...my lanky, solid FIVE FEET frame, with about NINE INCHES of torso means that it'll probably be a little cramped for the next 6 months.

But real talk. Did you know that in weeks 11-13 the baby doubles in size? (I'm pretty sure that's what I read the other day...) How crazy!

I love him/her so so so so much. And I'm especially happy that now I'm starting to feel much better. Haven't thrown up since Thursday (TMI? Get used to it! :)

*Pregnant belly picture coming soon, I know you're all DYING to see my chub

Seriously?? I passed??

2011-05-25T11:37:00.000-06:00

There's this test that all teachers have to take and pass in order to get a job. It's called the Praxis exam, and I took mine during my 7th week of being pregnant. I was feeling really really sick that morning. I was not only pregnancy sick, but had a virus as well. ANYWAY, I went in to take this test (I was tested on World History, U.S. History, Behavioral Sciences, Economics, and Geography) having not studied and went in with extremely low expectations. And I thought I was going to barf during the last half. It was miserable!

But I passed! Yay! K this really isn't a big deal because I guess the passing rate is pretty high, but I was literally SHOCKED when I saw that I did well (especially after talking to the chick in front of me about her taking it 3 times without passing). It really is such a relief because there's not really any effective way to study for all of those subjects and it's an expensive test. My BYU education has not failed me! And Heavenly Father definitely has a hand in this little life of mine.

A Talk for Sacrament Meeting

2011-05-22T00:45:00.000-06:00

So tired. Just finished writing a talk for Sacrament meeting tomorrow. The topic? The Priesthood. Whoo hoo! Of course this ward that I have been in for almost 2 years waits until I'm pregnant to ask me to speak when I already have issues with crying when I get up to the podium. At least the topic isn't "Eternal Families" or "Babies" or "Wonderful Spouses."

I'd be a real mess of all sorts of gooshiness about my bebe.

Seriously though, I didn't mention much at all about touchy-feely things, because I would totally SPEW.

Goodnight all my beauties who read my blog! I love you all so much!
(And you're all right, I guess my hair isn't THAT terrible. But I'll provide a hot hair pic. probably tomorrow. I was a bit dramatic. But I'm still getting it fixed Monday morning :)

Took a risk, and lost!

2011-05-20T19:45:00.000-06:00

I'm sure all of you have heard of a little company called Groupon. A few months ago, a coupon came up for $45 worth of treatments at the Aveda Institute here in Provo for $20. "Sure," I thought, "I'll use that!" The Groupon was bought, with the expiration date on May 19th. Well, a day came about a month ago (soon after finding out the news of my bebe) that I was itching for a good trim. I remembered this Groupon and walked into Aveda hoping to use it.

Of course there's a catch with this Groupon. You have to use ALL of it in one visit. A haircut is only $10 or $15. I decided I needed a trim right away and could use the Groupon later to get some color or something. Of course Aveda has a "special" for first-timers: If you buy any Aveda product, your haircut is free, AND you get a gift certificate for whatever amount you spend on product. "Sure," I thought, "I'll splurge this once and get some product and then I can add that amount to the $45 Groupon since I have a bum load of hair (which is more expensive...)"

So then guess how much I ended up getting on hair product? FORTY FIVE DOLLARS! That's 90 dollars for services at Aveda (for 65 dollars, but still...). Okay so that's just the background.

I made an appointment ON May 19th (yesterday) so that I could hurry and use the Groupon. Guess how much I ended up using? JUST the Groupon. No, I did NOT need that extra product. And guess what?

THE CHICK RUINED MY HAIR!!! The terrifying thing? She's "graduating" in a couple of months...beware! (I thought I was safe with her because of this fact.)

I thought, "It's eventually going to get warm and I want some nice blonde-age in my hair for fun." Yeah, well this chick not only ripped my hair out with her awful hair-washing and brushing skills, but she nearly BALDED me in the back of my head. It's thinned so much that it feels like a bird's nest back there. If I see any of you, I'll have you feel it. Oh, and she left the dye stuff in my hair a bit too long--I have PLATINUM BLONDE highlights on the top. It's horrifying.

I'm never buying a Groupon again. I've wasted so much money. This is the risk that one takes when going to a hair school.

How do I put this?

2011-05-16T20:46:00.001-06:00

I witnessed a beautiful miracle today! My appointment went extremely well, and I went through every emotion in the book. We got to see our little baby today and hear the heartbeat. It was amazing! I couldn't stop giggling and the ultra sound technician had to ask me to hold in my laughter so that she could zone in on the heart beat. Our little guy/gal was just too stinkin' cute!!!! and BIG (okay...like 1.1 inches instead of .9 inch)! So, they moved my due date to December 16th for now.

I don't understand how anyone could not believe that there is a God. It was such a special and spiritual experience. It becomes more real once you hear the heart beat and see the ultrasound, and I just keep saying quick prayers of gratitude in my heart for being able to go through this! I couldn't help but cry of course, and I can't wait to see my little guy(?) again! I walked out of that place on top of the world!

When we got to the BYU Health Center to get my lab work done, I was still smiling and admiring our cute little picture of the ultra-sound and told Mark, "You need to get my picture! This is the FIRST TIME that I have EVER SMILED while walking into the dreaded lab!" I'm proud to announce that I did not bawl my head off and I actually laughed through the whole thing because of how ridiculous I am. It doesn't even hurt, so why did I ever panic before?? It's all mental people--all mental. Plus, I had Mark there laughing at me and the phlebotomist was absolutely insane and told me about how she had once gotten run over by a car..... she was crazy! It was a really funny experience and I would do it again tomorrow if I had to! I knew that having a baby would make me stronger!!!!!

I'm already such a proud mama! I've shown the picture to everyone I've seen since the appointment, plus texted it to who knows how many people. All I want is a big, healthy, chunker baby. I mean CHUNK. And let me tell you ladies (since most of you are..), my husband was born in Plano, Texas weighing in at ....11 pounds, 1 ounce.
You see that, right? I mean, I am not as tall as his mama, so I shouldn't get a baby that big. But this is just fair warning for all of you if you see me out somewhere and it looks like I'm carrying multiples :)

Something cute: When Mark got home from work tonight, he was so cute! He came up to me and sweetly said, "Want to know something? I was actually a little disappointed...not disappointed, but bummed, that there was just one. I wanted to have more than one!" He went on to say that he's SO excited to be a daddy and can't wait for more. I frequenly tell him, "Well honey, make a lot of money and I'll keep havin' them!"

More fun to come! And I'll try to put up the picture. Stay tuned! :)

A certain someone....

2011-05-16T09:56:00.000-06:00

...will be joining the Freeman/Clark Family this year!

"COMING SOON!
December
2011"

That's right kids, we're pregnant! As of now, my due date is December 19th...pretty much the day that I graduate from college. Talk about timing! (If all goes well, that is.) I've been churning about how to announce it on my blog, and if you haven't noticed, I have been quite absent from my blog the past month or so.

I'm really bad at keeping things (that are happy and positive) in my life a secret, so all of my family and many friends knew quickly after we found out the news on April 12th. Remember my Boston trip? I found out the day before I left! Which was also my last day of college classes ever, which made it even that much more memorable. We are so grateful and happy!

My first appointment is in exactly 4 hours and I'm really excited! I know that I'm thrilled for a baby because I'm not too terrified about getting 7 viles of blood taken out of me today! ...Which is a miracle for those of you who know me. Freak, I'm the girl who passed out while reading Twilight when Bella passes out after getting her blood type in Biology class (true story...).

I'll let you know how it goes. Pray that everything goes smoothly! I'm 9 weeks along, and it's very evident that there is a baby, or grape-sized fetus, in there. I feel lucky though, because I've had many more friends and family members who were throwing up nearly every meal. I'm about every other day, but it's very inconsistent!

I'll keep you all posted, because I've been DYING to share all of my funny pregnancy stories. There will be many more to come! I'll write later about my appointment.

Pray for me! :)

Mother's Day Love

2011-05-08T12:25:00.000-06:00

This morning I woke up to the aroma of French toast, Banana's foster, and fresh whipped cream. It was beyond euphoric. With Unisom still in my system from last night, I literally stumbled into the kitchen where I found my cute man in his garments cooking up a storm for me. The table was set, and my very own "It's your special day" plate was where I normally sit, with a cute "Mom-to-be" card on my plate.

I wish I would have taken a picture! It was so darn sweet. He gave me chocolate covered nuts and a vacation this summer anywhere I want for 5 days. Spoiled?! Yes!

I can't help but think of my own mommy today and how wonderful she is. *Not in any particular order*

She taught me how to be a good wife.

She is the second person on my speed dial--can't help but talk to her every day!

She always serves me with a smile.

I don't deserve her selfless love towards me!

When I'm having a bad day, she knows exactly what I need to make it better.

She's always up for a good shopping trip.

The love between her and my daddy is such a special gift to us kids.

She's the best example of being extremely competitive, yet loving and understanding at the same time.

She sets her own goals, and accomplishes them.

She spoils me rotten, and doesn't expect a thing in return.

She's so resilient--anything tough in life is just another stepping stone for her and she moves on.

She doesn't get offended, but can be a spit-fire when needed.

If I need anything, she sacrifices her own time and agenda to help and doesn't complain.

She's hilarious!!!!!!!!! It's never boring around Dodie :)

She can feed an army! She busts out huge meals for all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents with the drop of a hat!

She's very easily satisfied and low maintenance--makes for a happy husband!

I love that she loves to drive big cars--Texas culture is embedded in her forever!

I love that she wears stylish TOMS (and other cute, trendy clothes); no one ever believes that she's a grandma!

She's beautiful!! My dad compliments her all the time on what a fox she is--and it's true!

She's an awesome nurse and loves her job.

She balances home and work so perfectly.

I could go on!

I love you mom!