Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas this year. We almost didn't make it because of our Buick. We took the car into the shop before we left because the light for low coolant was on. Turns out, we had a cracked head gasket. To fix that cracked head gasket would cost us a cool  $2000.00 which made me cry(That is a regular occurrence now). We decided to buy a new car down in Vegas. So we left for Vegas and made it there in one piece. One of the first things we did was go see Mike's brother Nate, who happened to be in the hospital again due to blood clots in his leg.

These are the beautiful isolation gowns and mask we wore. They made us look like ducks. Nate is doing good and is home now. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get out in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner was yummy and delicious. I like Thanksgiving the best of the holidays because it involves food and family and you do not have to worry about presents. I made pomegranate salad and apple bars. I also made pumpkin cookies with brown butter frosting. Yummy!

Saying goodbye to the Buick. (Notice the baby bump. It is there.I promise.)

We spent most of our free time figuring out our car situation. We ended up buying an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera 1994. It's a hot ride. White paint, with red velvet interior. It only had 75,000 miles on the car, and one owner in its lifetime. So we like the car. The doors are very heavy but that's all good. It did smell like old people at first but I bought an air freshener.

(This is our new car. Sorry for the picture quality. It was taken with my cellphone.)

We loved spending time with Mike's family. One of the best Garrard traditions for Thanksgiving involves camping. After Thanksgiving dinner the dads take the kids camping for the weekend. They leave as soon as dinner is over. It was really nice because then we were able to spend a lot of time with Mike's sisters. Sarah and Erin are very into the black Friday shopping. They map out their plan of attack by looking at the ads and organizing their route for the night. I decided to not go. Staying out that late is rough on me, and we didn't have money to spend anyway. They had some good stories to tell the next day, though.

We left Vegas on Sunday morning. The drive home is always the worst. Our Oldsmobile actually had better gas mileage than the Buick. 25 mpg on highway. We felt pretty good about that. Now it is back to school which I hate. Two more weeks and I feel like it is never going to end. I love school but I am finding that I hate my teaching classes. Not a good sign.

We also had our anniversary a couple weeks ago. One year of marriage down, and eternity to go. I managed to fit in the red dress that I wore on our wedding day. That was pretty awesome considering the fact that I was 22 weeks pregnant at that point. It was a little snug but I managed.  I gave Mike a volleyball he has been dying to have and some new ties. 

Don't you love his forced smile? We went to the temple and Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Simple and complete. It's crazy to think how different life is a year later. We have loved every minute of our first year. A lot of people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest but honestly we would have to disagree. If anything, life has been easier. Maybe it's because we are so awesome. Anyway, we are excited for this upcoming year because of our new baby. If you have baby name ideas for a girl send them our way. Food for thought is good.

Here is a picture of us on our first camping trip. We were only a couple weeks pregnant at this point and didn't even know about it yet!

Baby G is a girl!!!

So Wednesday was the day. November 9th took way too long to get here. Mike and I were both excited. People asked us if we were nervous. That question stumped us, mostly because there was nothing to worry about. We were just ready. The ultrasound technician showed us all her little body parts and organs. It was cool to see the heart beating. We also got to see the separate chambers of the heart. We saw the brain and the separate lobes of the brain. The whole time we were just wondering what the gender was. It was great seeing everything else, but we just wanted to know. Finally she told us, and Mike and I just smiled big and were so excited. It feels good to know the gender of our baby. She had the hiccups during the ultrasound and wouldn't stop moving her legs around. She also had her hands tucked underneath her chin. Already posing for pics before she is even born. Baby G weighs 13 ounces and is 21 weeks. It is crazy to think that we are halfway done.

It is kind of crazy to think that the baby is alive and moving around inside of me right now as I type. I feel her moving around a lot during the mid morning hours which is a fun experience. No one else has been able to feel her yet. Still small and hiding. This whole experience is kind of surreal. I am still only somewhat showing. When I tell people I am pregnant, they always comment on how I hardly look pregnant. So, still small and only looking thick.

Mike and I had a pact that we wouldn't talk about names until we knew the gender, because it caused strife between us. Now we know and let the talking begin. We have decided to keep whatever name we decide on a secret until she is born.

Mike and I both registered for classes this week. I am probably going to be taking 13 credits next semester and working as a teacher's assistant for Brother Bennion, an English professor on campus. I won't be working at the call center next semester. Mike is taking 13 credits. (I think. I can't entirely remember) Either way, it is going to be an incredibly busy semester. Baby G is due on March 22 which is two weeks before the semester is over. Let's hope she decides to arrive late.

My senior year of college has been rough. This is mostly due to the pregnancy. Sometimes I feel like I am becoming dumber rather than smarter. The pregnancy hormones kill my thinking power. Not to mention I have pregnancy induced ADD. (At least that's what I have decided) So sometimes I get distracted and forget that I am supposed to be studying. No worries though; I still have good grades. One more semester of classes and then student teaching is all I have left. I can't believe I am almost done. It makes me sad. I really do love being a student.

My major is English Education. I will be teaching secondary education. I am excited, but something I have realized this semester is that I want to go to law school. It is something that I realized too late. I have been talking to a lot of people about law school. I also talked to a Garrard family friend who went to law school. It just makes me excited and jealous all at the same time.  I like teaching, but I don't love it. I know that law school is not a possibility right now but one day I will go. It is on my bucket list. It is going to happen!

So that is all for now, but I will post again soon. We have our one year anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Christmas coming up. Lots of fun events to come.

This is our baby. You can really see a resemblance.

Roadtripping

Well, I am in Las Vegas. My brother in law Nate is in the ICU due to a ruptured brain subarachnoid aneurysm.We found out he has blood on his brain at 5am Monday morning. Well we waited for news throughout the morning. It was an emotional morning. At 1pm we decided to leave for Vegas and we were gone by 2pm. We rented a truck. Not our best decision but you make mistakes when you are in a rush. It was just important to get to Vegas. We emailed our teachers and left. We have midterms next week which I am a little stressed about but the Lord will help us figure it out. We got to Vegas at 11:30pm and went straight to the hospital to see Nate. He is doing good. He had a successful surgery, they clipped the aneurysm and put a drain in to drain out the blood. He has a lot of blood in his brain because of the ruptured aneurysm and this is bad because blood is toxic to the brain. He is stable now but we aren't out of the woods yet. He has a fever and now we are waiting to see the effect of the blood on the brain. The blood could cause brain spasms and then lead to another aneurysm or stroke. We are here praying and hoping that he will pull through for his wife and three little kids. Nate's brain surgeon is only 33 years old! Crazy! We are blessed to have him and to be in the hospital with the best neurological team in Vegas.

This is Mike with his brother Nate who is in the hospital.

So we traveled. I am 18 weeks pregnant now. Not showing at all except for when I am laying down and you see this little hill of a tummy. Traveling still sucks though at this point in the pregnancy.  I definitely am more apt to car sickness. Which makes me super moody. Let's just say I revert to two year old temper tantrum tendencies. The sun makes all car sickness worse. I also have to pee like a racehorse all the time. I then try to not drink anything because I don't want to have to stop every thirty minutes. I then get headaches from dehydration. It is a vicious cycle. So traveling is the best. I am just glad that my back didn't hurt while we traveled and that it was a comfortable drive 95% of the time. Mike did all the driving too so that was great. If you want to hear more about Nate there is a blog my sister in law, Stacy, set up to keep everyone updated. Here is there link: http://newsonnatesnoodle.blogspot.com/

It's ALIVE!!

 This is what I look like. Not much of a bump. It just looks like I have gained a pound or two. Which is true. I have gained two pounds! Woohoo! Weight gain is a good thing. That is my mantra right now. BUT, good news is that the baby is ALIVE! Sometimes it is weird to think that I am pregnant because there is no real visible sign and I haven't really felt the baby move until today. This morning when was laying in bed I felt a weird moving thing in my stomach area. So I put my hand on my stomach and felt the baby moving against my hand. It was a strong little baby. I have felt it move a couple times now. I saw my stomach moving the baby is that strong! Well anyway, it made me smile and it is nice to know the baby is alive and kicking. lol

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. It went good. We set the date for our next ultra sound. It is November 9th. That is when we will find out the gender! I am so excited. Other than that the appointment wasn't too eventful. Just weight check, heart beat check for the baby, and any questions we had.

This week was my birthday. It was on Wednesday. It was very exciting. I received a new Kindle! Love my Kindle. Best thing ever. I got some belly bump sleeves. I also got a new cook book which I am excited to use. I also got a new top that I love from my family. I got some pretty flowers from my husband and he made me pancakes from scratch for breakfast. The pancakes were delicious. 

 We made cube steak sandwiches for my birthday dinner. The pic above is the yummy cube steak and vegies for the sandwiches. We also had Fufu berry Jones soda with it too.

 Brooke sent me some yummy Coco Bean cupcakes for my birthday. They were super yummy. My favorite one was the apple pie one. Delish.

 The weather is changing here. It went from 80 degrees to 30 degrees in a day. Sunny to snowing. Mike gets a little cold sometimes because I am always warm now so we don't turn on the heat. It is an adjustment but he is a trooper and hanging in there.

On October 6th, we had our first snow day of the year. But it melted away pretty quick and now is a cool weather with a warm sun, and beautiful leaves. It has been so nice here. Yesterday we went to Red Robin to cap off my birthday celebration and it was yummy food. I loved the onion rings and strawberry lemonade. So magnificently good.

Mike is doing good. He is working two jobs, and super busy with school. He hardly has time to watch football he is so busy. I am not that enthused with school this semester. I only like 2 of my 5 classes but that is life. Well, that is all here for us. Hope all is well with the world and those who read.

Family Update

Things are going well. We are super busy with school and work. I have two jobs. I work on campus as a Teachers Assistant for Brother Bennion. One of my favorite teachers that I have had at BYUI. I also work at the Rexburg Opinion Center. Tomorrow is my first day. I am taking 14 credits. A little scared to take on all of this stuff. Mike is working at the Rexburg Opinion Center too and he is taking 17 credits this semester. One of my classes is a teaching one. I get to go into the middle school and teach 6th graders. I was in the class room today and I definitely go a little emotional seeing all of them because they are my little brother Garrett's age. I don't usually tear up like that but that is one of the blessings of pregnancy. It definitely made me miss little Gair Bear. I had my second doctor's appointment today. I got to hear the baby's heart beat which was very exciting and it was a fast little heart beat. Doctor says everything looks good and that I should start showing again. I haven't gained weight yet(Which Mike is worried about because he wants me to gain weight for the baby) but it is normal to not gain weight until the 2nd trimester. I am not sure how I feel about baby bump pictures. I feel like they are necessary to document the moments but at times they can be cheesy. So if you care just let me know how you feel about it. I am thirteen weeks tomorrow. crazy. Tomorrow is the final end to the first trimester. Our baby is about three inches long and weighs about 1 ounce. The internet says it is about the size of a medium shrimp. Pretty picture right? Well that is the update on our lives. I may not be the best at this but I will try to update on pregnancy info.

Baby G is coming to town!

Well, I have been protesting blogging lately. Don't ask me why. I think it may have a connection with my aversion to facebook. Another story for another time.

Mike and I have been vacationing with the families for the past three weeks. Finals finished on Thursday and we left Saturday. A week and a half with the Garrard's and a week and a half with the Davies. It was a fun partying, talking and eating. We miss them all so much.

Well the Wednesday before we left, during finals week, I was feeling sick so I went into the doctor's office. Short story long, we find out we are pregnant!!! Yay! We decided it was time back in March to start a family. It just felt like something was missing or someone. The temple sure does the trick too. lol We weren't going to announce it until September, but it just kinda came out. Everyone was shocked and excited. I think my dad is still trying to believe it.

I have been feeling good as expected. Heart burn is definitely a burning fire. lol March 22, 2012 is the estimated due date at this point. I had my first doctor's appointment on Tuesday. The first ultra sound. Not going to lie, it was weird. Didn't quite believe that it was my uterus on the screen. Did you know that there is a yoke? ya, I didn't know that either. We got a couple of meds for the nausea and heartburn. Unfortunately the nausea medicine makes me sleep which is something that I try to not do in the middle of the day. My doctors were surprised that I haven't been tired at all. I am glad that I haven't been tired. One thing this baby does not like is working out. I am still working out and running regularly but the baby likes to make it difficult by causing nausea. I am a little over 9 weeks along. Our baby is the size of an olive.

I have been sick but no complaints here because it could be worse. I can eat anything that does not have a smell which is mostly foods that aren't good for me. Unfortunate but I try to eat good things. V8 juice has been a great thing in my life. Well, that is all for me. We are extremely excited about this and we are still having trouble believing it. lol

Happy Happy Birthday

This weekend was jam packed with busyness. Friday I woke up in a fury of focus. Attended my class, worked at the Office of Foundations, worked out, cleaned the apartment with Mike, grocery shopped, and then did some home work. Friday night I has a splendid time with my Heather. We went to the Paul Cardall Concert.

He is an LDS Pianist. This is his newest album that I love. I listen to it a lot when I study. I was really excited that he was coming to Rexburg for a concert. He recently had a heart transplant in 2009. He was born with half a heart and was given only a few days to live when he was born and defied all odds. He lived in the hospital for a year before the doctors found a suitable transplant for him. Anyway, amazing story and an amazing concert.

Saturday was another day packed full of focus. Mike was reffing volleyball that morning. I worked out and then got down to business on homework. I really can't complain about homework because I really enjoy it. I love learning and I love all my classes this semester. It is pretty amazing this semester. I spent pretty much the entire day from 9 am to 4pm studying and baking cupcakes. I still didn't get everything that I wanted to get done finished but I finshed all my homework for Monday.

Saturday night we celebrated Brice's birthday. Sorry I have no pictures. I need to be better about that. I made Brice cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Delish. Pioneer Woman recipe. You can find the recipe here.

Soo Yummy. They were a hit. We played ping pong and sat around and visited with our friends. We always love hanging out with our friends.

Today is Sunday. I am trying out my sister in law Stacy's recipe for garlic chicken farfalle. I will let you guys know how it goes. It sounds yummy. Less than two weeks till Washington. Can't wait! Until then we have midterms to deal with.