hallelujah!!

well, we had another appointment yesterday, which brought another sonogram, and guess what! The baby turned on her own! She is officially head down, has dropped half the way (whatever that means) and so I guess that means it's very unlikely for her to turn again. I'm 1 and 1/2 centimeters dialated and 60% effaced, but really that doesn't indicate any time frame. It's just good to know that things are on track now, so yay. my due date 4 weeks from today!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight will be carving pumpkins, trunk-or-treat, parties, lots of fun! And then sleep, lots of sleep. Have fun and be safe!

our poor poor car

well, the summit is on its last limb. luke had to take the car to topeka the other day and at one point when he turned left, the switch decided to stay on ... forever. so, we are eternally turning left! we had to put duct tape over the left turn signal in the front and we took out the bulb for the signal in the back. since we're eternally turning left, that means we cannot switch it to turn right or use the emergency lights. we have to hand signal. it's fun ... anyway, i guess we knew it was coming because the wand for the turn signals has been loose for a while (which means something inside there is loose) and it doesn't beep anymore when we leave the lights on after turning the car off, so luke and i have both drained the battery, including today. in fact, we would be at our pre-admission appointment at the hospital right now if it hadn't happened again. thanks to friends (ali) who are willing to give rides home/jump the car for us. otherwise we'd have to miss our 4:30 OB appt too!

anyway, i know everyone loves the summit, but start saying your goodbyes. you never know, the next time you see her could be the last.

Halloween Bunko!

Every year around Halloween, my sister Lori and her husband Chris host a Halloween Bunko Party, which was held last night. Bunko is a dice game that is a lot of fun. Lori and Chris provide various simple costumes at the beginning of the night and this year Luke was a nerd and I was a "bather." Luke did a pretty good job of being in character for the pictures. Lori always has a great spread of snacks and treats as we play, then at the end of the night there are several awards pertaining to different scores of the game. Luke ended up with the overall highest points, so he went home with a bag of caramels (they're already half gone) and I came home with a pumpkin carving book/kit for rolling the last Bunko of the night. We both had a lot of fun!! Thanks Lori and Chris for a great night!

The boys got a little more into their characters than the girls... (Lori's taking the picture)

The first picture we've taken together in MONTHS.

still sideways

apparently the baby is just too comfortable. i don't blame her. i feel pretty comfortable in my body too (well, i did until it started hosting another person -- and yes, i say i am a host like someone would a parasite). she's still turned sideways in pretty much the same position she's been in for a while now. i know there is still hope and the doctor gave me some things i could do to at least feel proactive in getting her to turn. we'll see what happens... pray for head down!

luke and i had a random 'argument' today about what is defined as soda. i told him that it isn't soda if it's not carbonated. what do you think? i was drinking hi-c orange drink from mcdonalds and he called it soda. his argument is that soda that is flat is still soda, but i say it was made with carbonation! that's why it was called soda in the first place! anyway, i'm adding a poll to satisfy our disagreement (he said i could), so what do you think??

also, can i just say how much i LOVE fall?? we were driving downtown (home from the doctor's) and i think it was the first time in a while that i had really looked outside. i think my favorite (besides its beauty) is the crisp cold smell when it's dark out. i just love it. i probably mention it every year, but that is the reason i decided to make this new background. i like it.

yay for autumn and the season of holidays it brings!

hotcoldhotcoldhotcold

hot flashes are a myth. i am just constantly hot. today it has been especially bad, where just walking from one classroom to another makes me sweat. also, when i sleep, i have to frequently switch the side i'm sleeping on because i get so hot. it's fun. i'm glad that luke doesn't get cold easily because we sleep with 2 different fans on every night.

i haven't had much to blog about lately because i've just been working then going home and resting most of the time. last night i was at my sister lori's and her little girl elise was reading stories with us. she picked up a book and brought it to me and sat in my lap... she kept trying to scoot back so she could be closer to me, but my belly wouldn't let her! it didn't keep her from trying though... it was so funny (and a little sad for me).

this past weekend i went to the maple leaf festival with my parents and sister kelly. we met lori, chris, ava, and elise there and we had a good time. in the almost 17 years i've lived here, that was my first time experiencing the maple leaf festival! of course by the end i thought my legs were going to fall off and my belly was going to explode.

coming soon: the things i enjoy about being pregnant.

SONO #4, Anniversary

Yesterday was my 4th sonogram! This one was really thorough because they wanted to take all of the important measurements, etc, so it was about a half hour long. The nice sonographer even turned on the 4D camera for me and I cannot believe what technology can do! You shouldn't be able to know in such detail what your baby's face looks like before she's even born! Also, she took a picture that shows without any doubt that she's a girl, but I'll spare you of that one.



They found that she is about a week ahead in size (though I am guessing that may just be because she's going to be a big baby) and she actually is turned the wrong way right now. So, please pray for our little one that she will turn on her own in the next 2 weeks. If she doesn't, they will do something very painful where they give my uterus a shot to relax it (apparently the uterus is made to harden when it's pushed on) and then they will manually turn her over. And you know it's not pleasant if the doctor uses stronger words than "pressure" and "uncomfortable." It's going to hurt. PLUS it only has a 50% success rate, so there's still a great chance that after that I would have to have a C-section. They basically said that she's too comfortable in there (I guess I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so she has a lot of room in there), so she's not feeling the need to turn yet. So, we're praying and hoping that she will turn on her own before my next appointment in 2 weeks. Isn't she beautiful??


This past Sunday was mine and Luke's FIRST anniversary! I cannot believe a year has already past, but at the same time I can hardly remember life without him. I am so grateful to be in a happy, eternal, and loving relationship with my best friend. It was a great opportunity to pause and look at how much "us" has developed since that beautiful day in Nauvoo a year ago.



I woke up to a sparkling clean apartment, the smell of orange rolls that Luke had made (it's kind of a Sunday tradition that we enjoy), and Luke was setting up General Conference on the TV. For dinner we made one of our favorite meals, smothered burritos (a recipe my mom gave us - thanks!) So basically we celebrated with food and had a great relaxing day watching Conference and enjoying each other's company.

yummy generic brand orange rolls, our favorite!

yummy smothered burritos!

i never would've thought....

CHECK THIS OUT!!

Just make note that it does not specifically say Independence! It could be in any of the Kansas City suburbs, so no panicking! I am SO excited about this!!!!

______________________________on another note____________________________

Today marks ONE WHOLE YEAR that Luke and I have been married. It feels like we've been married so much longer than that. More on that later because I'm watching General Conference on the TV.

one day at a time

i've decided i'm not going to complain about all of the not fun things i've had to deal with in pregnancy. people say the 1st is typically the worst and i'm going to hope that's true. i will say that i am measuring 6 weeks ahead of schedule, so i have to have a FOURTH sonogram on Wednesday the 8th. we'll see what they say then, but i'm guessing i won't be having the baby too early. it all depends on how big she actually measures when we have the sonogram.

today has been an interesting day at work because almost every kid has acted out besides the girl i primarily work with (thank goodness). she has actually been extremely cooperative and willing to work today. we walked 8 laps around the gym this morning, which i think took all the fight out of her :) it's like President Hinckley would always say, that the best medicine is to go to work!

last night i decided to make pumpkin gooey cake because i'd had the stuff to make it for a long time. it is really not a healthy dessert, but is probably one of the most delicious desserts i've ever had. you can also substitute the pumpkin and have banana or pineapple gooey cake, etc, but i imagine you can't beat the pumpkin. so basically, i highly recommend it.

and... sunday is mine and luke's first anniversary (and it's General Conference weekend! yay!)!

a night of firsts

Tuesday morning I woke up at about 3:15 a.m. to throw up. In the following 3 hours this would happen 3 more times... and well, it happened several more times within that 12 hour period. I couldn't even hold down water and my temperature was slowly rising. Once my temperature got to over 100 degrees, we decided it was time to go to the ER. I was admitted to a room in the OB at about 9:00 p.m. where they hooked me up to a baby monitor and an IV (for hydration) and gave me some medicine in the IV for nausea so I could start to hold down at least something. The first place they tried to do the IV didn't work because I was so dehydrated (that makes your veins smaller), so they ended up putting it in my hand. Anyway, we were out of there around midnight and they put me on a clear liquid diet for 24 hours, so now I'm just at home resting and trying to be as nourished as possible on my water, 7up, and chicken broth. I felt MUCH better by the time we left the hospital and am slowly feeling better and better. I should even be back to work tomorrow.

So, last night included a lot of first time experiences for me. It was my first time going to the ER, first time being admitted to the hospital, first time to have to ride in a wheelchair, first time to have an IV, first time to be hooked up to a baby monitor.

I'm glad to be home and that I'm able to hold down liquids now, so yay.

Eternally connected

I was sitting on the loveseat after school today, finishing an episode of Friends from Season 7 (Luke and I have been working on watching the whole show all the way through), when little Baby Girl started kicking me right in the middle of my belly (about 2 inches above my bellybutton) several times. After about 20 seconds of kicking, I put my hand on the spot where I felt her, only to feel her not kicking but rather pushing back on my hand. For about 10 more seconds we were connected in that way until I felt her shift to another position. I cannot begin to describe how powerful that 10 seconds was. I can't really explain it, but it's pretty easy to forget that not only is that a real soul inside of me, spirit and flesh, but it is my daughter. I am a mother and through the power of God have provided for this child of God to have her turn on earth. It makes me wonder how much she already understands about who she is and her relationship to me and Luke. It makes me wonder if she just likes the sound of Luke laughing or if she responds because she understands that she's his baby girl. It makes me wonder how much she still remembers from the preexistence where she dwelt with God. Maybe she already knows me and I'm the one who has just forgotten. I cannot wait to teach her that she is a daughter of God and to teach her about her incredible divine worth. I already love her so much and can't even imagine how exponentially that love will grow in the years to come. I hope I'll always be able to remember these feelings of gratitude to my Heavenly Father as the time grows closer and closer to finally meet our little one.