"Is it okay to buy a bag to match your mani-pedi?"

This weekend has been busy, busy already and my dear husband has just been a saint throughout!

Our schedule started off with our 38 week appointment on Thursday afternoon. We are now driving an hour from Salt Lake to Provo for check-ups, since we've recently moved! Ugh. Doctor said my urine and blood pressure are looking better, belly is looking great and my weight has actually maintained for the last week-- which the nurse tells me is normal. At least with my blood pressure stabilized, we are not having to make the trip twice a week as he was having us do while I was being monitored for preeclampsia. 

Last night I had to pick Jordan up from work early [again] and drive back out to Provo [Springville this time, actually!] for our first of a three session birthing class. I wasn't sure how much Jordan would love sitting through 3 three hour classes this week, after he'd already attended a 5 hour class given by the hospital last month, but he's being great about all of it! We want to learn as much about my body and the baby as possible, we're just absorbing the knowledge like little sponges. Knowledge is power! After class we had date night-- dinner and a movie. We saw Admission, love Paul Rudd, but even his babe-o-licious-ness couldn't keep me awake until midnight. Baby sucks the life right out of me and makes me so tired! 

Thankfully we were staying near Provo at a friends house so we didn't have to drive all the way home. Also our second class session was this morning at 11, so it was great not having to make a million trips back and forth in just two days.

After class we went shopping a little for a new bed set and turned up empty handed...

...but my WONDERFUL HUSBAND did buy me this!!  

FASHIONABLE DIAPER BAG! 

I have been on a QUEST [  let --  me --  tell --  you!  ] for a gorgeous diaper bag ...   ...under $200!...  and they simply do not exist! Last week I finally decided I just needed to start looking for a regular bag with multiple pocket and zippers and what do you know!? We walk into TJMaxx and find this beauty just sitting there waiting for me! It's got two outside zipper pockets, 2 pockets [great for bottles] on one side inside and a zippered pocket on the other side. The kicker is that down the middle of the inside there's an attached zipper the length of the bag, so it is not only another zipper compartment, but acts as a separator splitting the bag in two more compartments! I can carry it any one of three ways; classic clutch, over the shoulder and it has a messenger bag attachment for across the chest.
It's like I dreamed this bag into existence! 

I love it so much! 

 I am going to be a super fashionista mama with bag in one hand and beautiful baby boy in the other!! 

Tonight Jord brought me home Dominos pizza and wings, my guilty pleasure! And we're off to watch a RedBox riiiiight now! Perfect little weekend. 

xoxoxox. 

Dino-love!

Throughout this pregnancy I've been eyeing a lot of baby room crafts on Pinterest and my early Maternity Leave has left me with the some time on my hands to take advantage of my innermost modern-day Martha Stewart! This week I started a couple wall art ideas and have so far finished one-- a dino button canvas I just LOVE! 

Here is my [p]inspiration 

And here is MY personal work of ART! 

I love, love, love this piece! 

I think it is just the right amount of rough and tumble little boy mixed with sweet baby love.

 It actually took longer than I expected because I am a little bit OCD [shout-out to my girl, Kelsey!] and had to get all the button placement just right. The small heart was the hardest because it's a specific shape and working on a smaller scale was harder with less room to work with than the dino or the larger heart. This project all-in-all, had I done it all in one sitting can be done in about an hour. You have to layer the buttons to get the shape right and I was especially careful to make sure ALL buttons are glued heavily and will not fall off as this will be hanging above Baby's crib; and I would not want any loose buttons falling into the crib, creating a choking hazard.

I was originally going to hang it with two other sized canvases I am working on in a hodge podge, multi-sized frames sort of bohemian way, but now that I see it I am considering making two more... except I already picked the simplest shaped dinosaur I could think of and I'm not sure I'm talented enough to do a T-Rex, Stegosaurus or Triceratops. Stegosaurus was initially at the top of my list, but I wasn't feeling too ambitious with my first craft attempt-- like ever! 

I'll post more this week as I finish my other crafty ideas. I'm so excited to see his room come together and to show you the finished room, it's looking great so far!   

Today my afternoon snack told me a very funny joke!

"SHARE SIZE," come on Skittles-- let's be serious!

More like "I'm a pregnant mama, back up off my 

Skittles bag, Jordan!" ...size. 

[Two posts about food in one day-- don't judge me!]  

CoooOOkie Crisp!

Throughout this pregnancy I've been really into cereal. Mostly the healthier stuff, like Shredded Wheats, Honey Bunches of Oats & Oh!s and whatnot. Every once in a while I want some sweet stuff like Marshmallow Mateys [because we do not spend the money on the real stuff!] and when I was out shopping last week I had really wanted some "CooooOOOOkie Crisp!" but was not about to spend $4 on a single 11 oz. box! Am I right? I mean seriously-- brand name cereal is so expensive!
I texted Jordan...

Me: Why hasn't someone come up with a generic Cookie Crisp yet?

Me: Do they have a monopoly on the cookie in the cereal aisle or something??

Jordan: --- no response ---

[He just doesn't understand my plight!]

Literally a day later I was at Smiths when I saw this... 

Me: OMG! Just what I was talking about yesterday! 

Jord: What!? You ARE psychic!

Me: I have NEVER seen a generic Cookie Crisp before... do you think God created them overnight just for me?

Jord: I really do. I think you have Midas Mouth.

Me: What? I better be careful what I wish for!


...but lets be serious-- I would never put fruit in my cookie cereal!
Who are they kidding!?

Maternity Pics-- Last Round

Pretty in Pink Blue! 

Not entirely sure why I was doing this weird amputee thing, but the rest is cute. 

After we finished up with the pics we went back to Jyls house for lunch with her and the kids. We all watched General Conference together while Jyl and I edited photos and Jordan entertained the boys. 

What a great afternoon with family! 

Maternity Pics-- Baby Clothes

For Round Two we moved outside to the park. 

Actually this is a little hidden alleyway off Main Street in AF. 

 Looking down at my little angel

Maternity Pics-- In the Bedroom

Jordan's Aunt Jyl did us a HUGE favor and took our last minute Maternity Pictures. I mean, Baby is due  in 2 weeks. We wanted to wait long enough to get a big enough bump for the pics, but not push our luck too far. With this weeks blood pressure scare-- we knew we couldn't put it off any longer! 

For the first batch of pictures we took cozy couple pics in the bedroom 

They turned out so adorable and I just love the intimacy of these shots. 

First Picture of the day.

 Jyl was just adjusting the settings and looking for the light, she said not to pose or anything, so THIS face of Jordan's reveals it all. 

Ready or not here Baby comes, Jord! 

I love, LOVE, love this next one... 

I love the bright colors, but I also love it in black and white.

Reading to Baby so he'll become a baby genius! 

 ******

 One day little Baby will look at these pictures and know he was created with so much LOVE! We prayed for him to come into our lives and could not be more excited to meet the little soul God has blessed us with!  

"Tryin' to Catch Me Ridin' Ghetto!"

Jordan and I were super lucky to have inherited a gorgeous framed artwork of Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" several months ago, when Jordan's Aunt moved out. It's rather large and we never had room for it in our apartment, so Jordan kept it at work; which may have been a worse offense than his BYU allegiance since his bosses are die hard Utes fans! 

Well, now that we're getting all moved in to our new house we thought we'd find a home for it here. Last night after dinner we stopped by his work to pick it up and were really hoping it'd fit in the trunk with the seats down. No luck! I noticed that Jordan had some wire in his trunk and thought, 'we can make this work!' So while I stepped into the office to go to the bathroom [for like the third time that night!] Jordan tied the painting to the top of the car with three separate pieces of electrical wire. Perfect! Only problem... he tied it all through the windows and I was not yet in the car. Jord said he'd just untie the one side so I could get in, but I ain't no sad pregnant lady-- I can still do some things I used to be able to! I was convinced I could just climb through the window into my seat. With a little bit of help, I easily made it trough the window, like one of those popular teen girls on every cliche 80's flick hopping into her boyfriends convertible as he honks outside school for her. 

In actuality, I probably looked a lot more like THIS!

[I seriously hope you watched that video because it was hilarious!] 

Our drive home was about a half an hour on the highway and we didn't have too much faith in the short wiring even with Jordan's master Eagle Scout knots; so we drove in the slow lane with our hands out the window holding the frame in place so the wind wouldn't catch underneath it. It was a very cold night out last night, but before our little fingers froze completely we remembered Jordan had a pair of gloves we could share. 

We made it home! 

Didn't take us much longer than usual, but now we're not even sure we have a good place for it... of course! 

The First Part Last

37.5 weeks! 

Here is the last part first  --Spoiler Alert!--  Baby and I are fine. 

Now you can read the following story without anxiety! 

........

 When I woke up Monday morning my biggest concern was that the doctor was going to check my cervix at my 37 week appointment. Yuck. Sorry, but I just don't love the idea of someone grabbing all up in me!  Bleh! Little did I know how my morning would turn out... 

Jordan and I went to our appointment and my weight was great, Baby's heartbeat was right on target, my blood pressure was in range, my belly was growing accordingly, but then the doctor said, "There's protein in your urine..." 

AND?? 

That is a big indicator of a condition called preeclampsia. I tried not to freak, but I've heard of preeclampsia before. A professor of mine back in college had a pretty severe case with both her boys. She had shared her experiences with the class because we were reading a book, The First Part Last, in which a teen mother goes un-diagnosed of preeclampsia and bleeds out and dies after giving birth! Yikes, right!? So this is what's in my mind when my doctor says the "P" word.

Our doctor tells us I'll have to do a 24 hour urine catch so a larger sum of my urine can be tested for protein to confirm or deny his suspicions. This is Monday. We get the jug to fill from the hospital, will return it Tuesday after work, it'll be tested Wednesday with results to the doctor Thursday morning. If they come back positive, he says "You're coming down right away and we're delivering your baby Thursday night!" 

YIKES! 

In the meantime, I've got from Monday to Thursday to really freak out. Though I'm trying not to because the stress wont do any good for Baby or me, I know. However, you know I can't help but get on Web MD right when Jordan and I leave the doctors office! What would you do! It seems like all the questions never come to your mind while you're at your appointment, you only think of them once you've left and have nowhere else to turn but the all knowing internet. We're driving home and I'm crying because of all the possibilities of things that can go wrong if I have this condition. Jordan finally says he's going to take his phone away if I don't get off the internet because we don't know anything yet and it's all just freaking me out too much. 

Monday I was really a wreck. But by Tuesday I had settled down a little, I was still concerned, but had some weight lifted off my shoulders after learning that preeclampsia is something that happens in 5% of first pregnancies. The stroke and seizures I was on the lookout for are only a big concern if it goes undetected for a long period of the pregnancy and since we had the jump on figuring out what was up with my body-- we are in a much safer place to detect and treat right away. 

Thursday morning I called the doctor because I couldn't wait for him to call me. His nurses said I was at a 249 ml protein content, 150 is normal for regular non-pregnant people, 300 is high-normal for pregnancy; but they wouldn't induce unless I were in the 1,000's. So I am in the higher pregnancy range, but still fairly normal. My blood work also came back fine and my blood pressure has remained in a healthy range. [I told Jordan we could go to Wal*Mart to check my pressure on our own, since we can't schedule doctors appointments everyday! "If it puts your mind at ease, babe."]

We had our follow-up appointment yesterday and our doctor said it was no longer something he was majorly concerned with, but we should still keep an eye out for lingering headaches as they are an indicator of rising blood pressure and I could still develop the condition; it just may have been to early too detect this week. 

Scary, I know, but Baby is almost 38 weeks which is great because he could be delivered and be just healthy and fine! Fully developed! He is moving about a storm still. All I can do now is pray, listen to my body and trust myself. I believe our bodies work with us and I'm just being extra careful to note any  differences I may feel and not feel embarrassed if I'm that girl who is calling the nurses everyday! 

Better safe than sorry. 

.....

I'm done with work and here I am smiling again! 

Good thing I decided to take Maternity Leave a week earlier than originally desired. I'd thought I'd try to work right up until the week before due date, but as things got closer [and I got less mobile!] I began to think a little extra time might be needed. After all, I've worked really hard and I deserve the extra break, especially with the new house to get in order! So I've got [HOPEFULLY] two more weeks until Baby comes and plenty to keep me busy; though I promise I'll relax and take it easy!  

A magician never reveals her secret!

I came home yesterday afternoon and as I walked up the stairs I heard the classic splash of the turtles frantically freaking out and jumping from their sunning rock back into the water in attempt to burrow in the tiny rocks and hide in fear from the big humans. I laughed and went over to feed them a snack and call them "little pansies" or "scaredy cat-turtles" as I always do because they do the same nose dive routine every single time either Jordan or I step foot in the room. After I put down my groceries and went to give them a treat I noticed only ONE turtle. We have TWO-- Magic Man and Esther [who do you think named who?] I pulled out the floating sunning rock and looked around and still only found Magic Man, I mean-- it's not a very large tank, only 10 gallons, so Esther can't have actually found a hiding spot.

She had escaped.

 AGAIN!

See, we came home from church on Sunday afternoon and were walking upstairs to change and get some lunch. Jordan went toward the bedroom to change and I, of course, went directly to the kitchen [yum!] Suddenly I hear Jordan call from the hallway, "Honey..? Come see this..." I look down the hallway and see Esther in the corner of the doorway to our bedroom-- a good 20 feet from her tank. She had escaped while we were gone and was out exploring for who knows how long!? Jordan and I were bewildered at how she had possibly managed to get out of the tank as the difference from the top of the rock to the top of the tank is taller than she is, but she must have used the heating lamp as a lift and then once up to the lip of the tank, just let herself free fall to the carpet below. All I could think was, 'Thank Heavens she didn't hurl herself down the stairs!'

So back to yesterday-- I get home from grocery shopping and notice she's missing. I do a good once over of the hallway and all attached bedrooms and when I don't find her I call Jordan to see if he has any thoughts on where she might be. He tells me to check under the fridge and oven because she loves dark cozy places. I search high and low... mostly low because I mean, come on- after all, she is just a tiny baby turtle and even though she has proven she is a master Houdini when it comes to escape-- how high could she really have gotten. I find a head flashlight [yes, like miners wear, we got them in our stockings this year from Jordan's parents. They have actually come in particularly handy on more than this occasion.] So I am crawling around the kitchen all commando-style-- 9 months pregnant, mind you. I don't see her under the fridge or oven, didn't get into the pantry under the door... I start to freak out because it's been at least 20 minutes of this search and rescue mission with zero results.

I break down and start crying [remember, I am 9 months pregnant and if I can't take care of a turtle, how can I be expected to take care of a human baby?] I get to my knees and pray that God will help me have a clear mind to think of where she could be and find her safely before she dries out and dies. I am sure I am overreacting about the dying part, but I don't know how long she's been missing since I can't be sure if she was even in the tank when I fed them in the morning because I didn't know I needed to be taking tabs. Crying only makes things worse because now I can't see anything through my tears.

I tell myself she'll be fine, that even if I can't find her before I have to leave for my appointment Jordan will find her when we get home. Telling myself things will be fine has never been an easy task-- as I am not very convincing. You really have to know me to know all the scenarios that were playing out in my head... She somehow managed to fling herself down two flights of stairs and is in the basement curled up under something awaiting her inevitable and ever impending death-- where would I go if I were a hurt turtle preparing to meet my maker? Or she's gotten INTO one of the pillows on the floor through the pillow case opening and is now suffocating to death and I'm like Liam Neeson on a strict time limit to find my turtle daughter before it's too late.

This is my mind. Ask Jordan. I really think these things can happen. I seriously checked the basement, I'm not kidding. Two separate flights of stairs and 3 levels below where her tank is. But if she got out of her tank-- there's no telling what she's capable of!

After about a half an hour of tearing the house apart, I throw in the towel and get ready for my doctors appointment. I called Jordan to let him know I've had no luck and we'd have to worry about her later. I'm on the phone with him -- when -- I hear scratching coming from somewhere near me... 

"I've got to go, I'll call you back. I hear Esther!" and just hang up on him.

I am gently searching through all the pillows and blankets on the floor, again. See I knew I wasn't crazy! Nope not there.

"Esther?? Esther?? Make noise for mommy, where are you?"

I check the laundry baskets even though they were on top of the dresser and there is literally NO WAY, Houdini or not, that she could have gotten in there. Nope. 

I hear a little more scratching and now I wont give up until I find her. It's coming from the dresser! But how? it is flush to the floor and I've searched behind it twice. Again with the tiny scratching of my baby attempting escape, but this time not so smart as her previous tank escapes. I figure she's gotten under it somehow. I have to carefully tilt it upward to see underneath and still don't see her, but I'm sure she's under there so I lift it completely on one side and THERE SHE IS in the very front corner! 

*Sigh of relief.*

She looks fine, only a little dry on her bottom shell. When I plop her back into her tank she swims around with ease and looks un-phased.

I removed the sunning rock until I am able to readjust it so it's at a much lower level. I called Jordan to tell him of my triumphant rescue and say, "Magic Man ain't so magic. How did Esther escape twice and not him? I'm going to rename her Magic Woman!"

Jordan still insists Magic Man is deserving of his name because what if he actually had escaped along with Esther, but magically transported himself back into the tank when he heard me coming up the stairs? One way or the other-- at least one of our turtles is a magician and one of them is a jerk for abandoning the other either when Esther left the tank or when MM didn't transport her back with him!

Turn the other cheek, caballo!

Had our apartment check-out on Friday and we'll see how much of our deposit the greedy property management company tries to keep-- but we're already out three of four bucks...

The week prior, we had packed up the storage unit [each apartment unit has a little closet unit in the laundry room] because we needed the lock for the trailer. We left only our laundry detergent, fabric softener and half a roll of quarters in case we needed any undies during the week. Upon return last Friday to meet with management and get the last few things we'd left in storage, I found our quarters were missing! The funny thing is they were in a plastic bag, in the powdered detergent box with the lid on, behind the closed [but no longer locked] storage closet door-- for less than a week. I mean, come on people! The annoying thing is that someone was looking for anything of value because they didn't even give it a few days without a lock before snooping in our closet. Just obnoxious. 

So I left an equally obnoxious note... 

My Spanish is a little rusty-- but they'll get the point!