Busy, Busy, Busy

I guess it's been awhile, eh? There are a few things that have been keeping us quite busy this past little while...(Even though I hate this picture, I love my husband, so this is the one I picked to post.)

First, I got to walk at graduation on May 1st for a Master's degree! I had a lot of family there, and that was great. The whole thing was half exciting, half REALLY anticlimactic, as I am not actually done until early to mid August. (Why do they only do one graduation the whole year? I walked for my undergrad in August, when I actually graduated.) It's making it a little tough to stay motivated through the summer to finish my giant capstone project. However, that brings me to the next item-my internship. I started my summer internship at the SLC VA hospital by the U. They have kept me incredibly busy so far, and it looks like it will be like that all the way until August! I come home totally exhausted, but really enjoy my days while I'm there. I find myself actually a lot more comfortable stepping in there than I thought I would be!

Jeff is now in the very last phase of the testing/hiring process with SLC PD. The background investigator came to our house the other day, and now all that he has left is the chief's interview. We are trying hard not to expect it, but his chances are looking good all around. He probably won't find out until the end of May or later... Ugh! Everything there takes forever. Jeff, though, being the amazing dude that he is, has already put it for some other tests to get the ball rolling now in case he needs to look elsewhere. He's always prepared!

Between that, Jeff's work and testing, moving our families and prepping for baby, Jeff and I don't get out much (oh yes-don't forget the Jazz's contribution to that - Go Jazz!) We don't mind too much, though. We're now looking forward to our next OB appointment, which is on the 19th-we SHOULD be able to find out the gender of our little baby. We're hoping!


Also, a little shout out-happy birthday this Wednesday, Jeff!!!

Baby's first photo!

We finally had our first appointment this past week. It went really well, the doc says everything looks healthy and good so far. The baby's measurements showed that our date calculations were dead-on. Official due date, Nov. 5th. That baby was quite the active little bugger, literally doing somersaults throughout the ultrasound. We had an excellent picture there, but had a really hard time capturing a good one cause baby moved around so much! We did get one really good one I scanned. (We couldn't see the gender yet, but ever since then we've said "he." No idea why.) If you look close, s/he's on his head, with the flat bum at the top and a leg and foot sticking out to the right. There's a faint arm right above the head, too. It's all there!


We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat, too, and everything became much more real! Jeff and I are both really excited. (Though I think I may be most excited about getting near the end of my first trimester.... The nausea's finally eased up.)

Um... Was that picture never showing up, cause it showed in the email version that was sent from the site... Here it is again in case.

San Hore-hay

This weekend, Jeff and I got to go to St. George just for a little weekend away. He took work (so they would pay for our gas, yay!) and had to serve papers down there on Saturday. We left Friday and got there late in the evening. We decided to go for a long walk (across the street) for some frozen custard and turn in... My pregnancy sleep is important these days. Sat. we had breakfast, and while Jeff served papers, I read a book by the pool. That was worth the entire trip to me! I am so sick of the cold and randomly reappearing snow that the 73 degrees was totally worth the whole drive. We had lunch, and then when Jeff was done we went swimming. Can you believe I actually woke up a little sore the next day? Man, looks like I'm letting all but my walking muscles fall into disrepair (walking everywhere is my exercise of choice thanks to the nausea and fatigue.) We ate at Famous Dave's that night-yum-and spent another tired night at the hotel. Yes, genius me forgot her temple clothes, so that changed our Sat. night plans. Sunday for church we went to the most child-packed ward ever! I swear I didn't hear a single word from the pulpit. (We also got Harry Potter 7 from the library to listen to in the car-can you believe Jeff still hasn't read it?) After church, we headed out and made it to Provo just in time for dinner at mom's-always awesome! We even got to bring home leftovers this time cause my brother is out of town. We skipped out early and slept a bunch at home.
Here's the beautiful red rock view right from our balcony.


This week brings some action for us-I've got a huge presentation that will finally be over, and then I'm about done with classes, just 2 finals and that's it! I finish with classes in 2 weeks or so, and then all I have left is my summer internship-yes! (and giant capstone project, of course.) I can't wait. I find I'm always excited for school to begin again and always excited to be done again. I'd like to say that I'll be done with school forever come August '08 (I am NEVER gonna get a Doctorate) but I have a feeling somewhere down the line I'll be doing something else ridiculous that interests me... Maybe culinary school or a teaching certificate... Knock on wood! At this point, I'm ready to be done forever.

Also this week is our first prenatal appointment, finally! We're really excited and crossing our fingers lots. We're kinda shaky on exact dates, plus if there's something unusual going on, this will be the first we'll hear. Wednesday is the day!

Hotel Monaco!

This past week-end, we got to stay at the Hotel Monaco for free (sweet!) We decided to do it Friday so Jeff would be close to his early morning test on Saturday, and then I watched the first session of Conference from the comfort of the most amazing pillow-top king size bed ever. It was really nice to just be away for a night while we are in the middle of so much other junk. Jeff surprised me with an AMAZING dessert from Bambara (totally delicious, yet small and $10) and then we got to wear the sweet leopard print robes. (Sorry, I saved it sideways.)


The rest of the pictures from the weekend are too scandalous to post. (Kidding! ...but I wouldn't be if we had actually taken more pictures... kidding! ... am I?)

We had then planned to have lunch at Bambara between sessions (we've wanted to eat there for awhile) only to discover at 12:30 on Saturday, that they are closed on Saturdays during lunch. Sad! So, we ate at the classic Olive Garden. (We checked the one downtown-1 1/2 hr wait, back in our hood-15 min. wait.) We watched the next session at Jeff's sister's house.

Then, to top off the night, after priesthood, we actually spent $155 on groceries. Ouch.

Sunday, we spent the day at my mom's for the good old conference breakfast-yum! Everything that is right for my tongue and wrong for my figure was had-cinnamon rolls, bacon, eggs with green chili sauce... I brought fruit salad to round it out a bit. Then, deli sandwiches... then dinner... then strawberry shortcake. I actually came home sick AND was sick the next day all day from all that I ate. A trip to mom's should never be so long... the food just doesn't stop coming.
(Wasn't Conference fabulous this demi-year? I was often tearful... but maybe that's just because I'm pregnant.)

PS-Jeff has been doing awesome in each stage of his testing processes so far... he actually received a conditional offer from both the Airport police and SLC PD. Meaning, as long as he passes the next 6 million steps, he's a shoe-in for either. We're praying!

Bye bye backache

I've had quite the easing up of backaches, but no subsiding in nausea. I'm also pretty sad about the fact that some of my favorite things now taste quite sub-par to me (like lemon pudding, pickles and salt & vinegar chips. Sad!) Plus the sight/smell of most raw meat makes me want to run away. Jeff's been really great about half-cooking dinner with me these days. Still two weeks to the first doctor appointment... meanwhile, the fetus is actually looking like a human instead of a mini-manatee. Here's the 9 week photo. (hopefully)

9 Weeks Pregnant

As for Jeff, he successfully passed the Physical tests for both the Airport Police and Salt Lake City PD. He has another test for each this week. (Each has a series of about 7-8 components in the testing/hiring process...) Jeff and I are really excited, though we don't want to jump the (very long) gun. Prayers please!

As for me, I am nearing my last semester of classes. I got accepted to do my summer internship at the VA hospital! I'm pretty scared and excited about that. Once that is finished in August, I will be done! Trying to tie up all the loose ends before summer is much more difficult than I thought. I finished my comprehensive exams, but now I must work on my capstone project... As you can see by my long post, I am doing everything possible besides my project... Eesh.

On a brighter note, we also get to stay at the Hotel Monaco Downtown this week-end. We got a free gift certificate and decided to use it for Conference week-end with good cable and a close location.

Massages are my new best friend.

Wow!! I went to go utilize the maternity massage that my husband bought me today. (I figured it was a good time after bowling and CPR training.) I went in early, a little apprehensive-I've never had a professional massage, preggers or not. The lady that was my massage therapist was very friendly and had that perfect soothing-type voice. She set me up for an hour Swedish massage, and man, was it fabulous! I got the full shebang with stretches, massage, oils, lotions, steaming towels, front and back, feet, hands, face, scalp. Pretty great. She said they are recommended once a month now, and twice a month later in pregnancy! "Yay" said my body, "Ow" said my wallet. Either way, I'd highly recommend them to any ladies out there that are pregnant.

In other news, Jeff made me a shirt that says "Baby on Board" and drew a little baby "right where the baby should be." It's classy.

Aye, mon dos.

I called to make an appointment and they said they didn't want me 'til 10-12 weeks! I understand there isn't too much to be done, but I haven't been at all, not even to confirm my pregnancy (not that there's a doubt in my mind about that) It boggles me a little bit, though, because the first 2-3 months are the most critical-why don't they want me to come in and teach me how to NOT make my baby one-legged or autistic? Luckily, I'm a good girl and I've been reading a million pregnancy books. Guess I'll just keep doing that until my first appointment on April 16th. (That seems like forever!)


In the meantime, I've been having just a few symptoms, namely fatigue, "morning sickness" and backaches. Although, we should definitely be calling it evening sickness-I never toss my cookies, but I have to eat every two hours or so to fend off the nausea, and then in the evening it comes no matter what. I can't decide if it's better to throw up or just feel constant nausea for half the day. Maybe I'll experiment...

Cutest story ever-the worst symptom I've been having by far is the backache. I can not sit in any position for longer than 15 minutes before my back is hurting! I could deal with both the other symptoms without even thinking if I could get rid of the back pain. I must've been complaining about it a lot, because my wonderful husband came home yesterday with a surprise for me-a sixty minute massage at a place called Maternity Massages-just for preggers like me. How sweet is that? He's a good, good dude.

BOOYA

We're freaking pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are pregnant!

Wow-I can't believe we are pregnant! We've been trying for only two months, and here it is! I am as pleased as can be, but I don't think anything could overshadow Jeff's excitement.

We haven't been to the doctor yet, but according to my high-tech calculations, I am almost 5 weeks along and we are due about November 5th. I'm doing great so far, just pretty tired all the time and I already need to carry around snacks, but otherwise great! Hopefully we'll have more news soon!