I want to Clean...?

Okay so I woke up today and I feel like I just HAVE to clean! I am thinking that everything is so dirty and I just need to spend my day cleaning!!!! Ahh. I guess it is nesting, but guess what? I am on bed rest. Oh well for the cleaning. I am having to force myself to sit here in bed.

Things to Do
I have been doing okay with bed rest. It is really good that I am only on it for a couple more weeks at most because it has not even been two whole days and I already feel like I should be done. But I have found a few things to do. I have sewn some more diapers for Natalie and they are super cute! (I am allowed to be sitting and doing things!) And I have made some more flower clips. A lady came and bought three of them, which is great, but I still have too many! Like A LOT!  But those things have kept me pretty well entertained. Then I have my computer and spend too much time online, but oh well. I have been working via the internet and that has been pretty good. Other than that I hang out with Sama and watch TV or something. He has been getting everything for me. I feel so ridiculous asking for my computer charger or something that is only across the room. I am not supposed to be getting up and down for those kinds of things. It feels so silly and I feel like some lazy queen commanding him or something! Poor Sama.

School
School is OVER!!!!!!! Well, for the semester! Yay!

Christmas
Change of plans for Christmas. My mom is coming earlier since I am going to be induced if I don't go into labor on my own. It is so nice to know that she will be here! I am really looking forward to it. Our friends who we were going to spend Christmas with decided to go to Mexico last minute. They are in for a really, REALLY long drive, but they are excited to go so that is great. We have a few other friends that will be here and I would really like to invite them for Christmas dinner or something, but I would pretty much be obligating other people to do all the work. Sama asked if we should invite them, so maybe he doesn't mind, but I don't know. I guess we will plan on a quiet Christmas morning with my mom here. I think it will be nice. Well quiet unless Natalie comes before then. Maybe! I honestly would love that.

Natalie in 2010

I am officially on bed rest. It is definitely no fun. I went in to get my blood pressure checked this morning and it was high. Higher than usual that is. So then I had a bunch of other tests, but thankfully those were all normal and Natalie is quite healthy!

So I have to check my blood pressure four times per day and if it gets any higher, then I have to call my doctor and probably go to the hospital. I have an appointment on Monday to see how things are going. But my doctor pretty much guaranteed that Natalie will be born this month.

Sama's mom will be coming earlier than planned because she is no longer going to Canada for Christmas. So she will come a few days early, but probably not until after Christmas.

I am feeling kind of overwhelmed because I know for sure that Natalie is coming in the next two weeks. The house is a mess and I still need to pack for the hospital. To do that I need to do laundry and be able to move around and such. But I can't. Sama was so nice and cleaned up a little for me even though he needs to study. But tomorrow he will be done with school!!!!! Oh and we still need a carseat.....!!! Add to that all the things I would have liked to do for Christmas. I am getting Sama's present online, but I guess I will have to enlist someone's help to get his stocking stuff. Luckily we weren't planning on doing a lot anyway and don't have concrete plans.

So....that is really all that is on my mind right now. I hope everyone is doing well!

22 Days!

So Natalie is supposed to get here in 22 days. Of course we are hoping it is sooner. As in any time in December would be awesome! Sama's mom is coming the 30th and mine on the 7th. I am especially hoping for my mom's sake that she isn't late/too late. For Sama's mom too, but I think her schedule is slightly more flexible. I will be 37 weeks tomorrow and since that is considered full term, I am hoping for her to come really soon. Maybe that is selfish, but oh well. I want her here and as long as she is healthy I am good. I really don''t want to be induced if I can avoid it though so even if she doesn't come this month I am hoping she will get here before our moms have to leave. But I guess I really have no control. Just writing out what I am hoping for!

Flowers
I have been making those flowers that are so popular for little girls to put in their hair. I love them and didn't want to pay for someone else to do them when they seemed so simple. So I bought some of the supplies and have been having a lot of fun....maybe too much fun! Does anyone want flower clips? Haha. I have too many! I am going to sell some of them at cost on Craigslist I think. I know there is a ton of people selling them, but we will see if I can get some of what I spent back. Natalie doesn't need as many clips as I have made and I still have A LOT more supplies. Haha. I only have one friend with a little girl right now and she just made a bunch of her own too, soooo.....I am kind of stuck. But it is a fun hobby at least! I also have a ton of ribbon, so bows are next :)

little flowers. I like these best :)

I bought too many pink flowers.....

I made my own flower petals from fabric! I am pleased with myself about this. Sama got excited thinking they were potato chips though....Sorry to disappoint!

Feeling Better (for the moment)

I woke up feeling motivated to get a lot done. I kind of started being productive, but it just didn't last. Then I was feeling tired/not that great so I slept for awhile. I think I just needed to eat a regular meal instead of the mini snacks I had been because when I woke up and finally ate I felt so much better. Thanks Sama for helping me with dinner! 

Two More Days!

Just two more days of finals. I am so happy!!!!! Like really, REALLY happy that this semester will be over! Sama will be working more, but I think that is a good thing. Work is so much less stressful than school :) Then on Friday we will be getting together with our friends, who I think are quite stressed and might be happier than I am that school is almost over for awhile. So school is ending, we will get to relax and do fun holiday things, and Natalie can come at any time. Yay!

Progressive Dinner

Thanks to my new neighbor (new as in I just met her for the first time last week) for planning a fun night for us last Sunday. We got together with our neighbors and had a really good night getting to know each other and then we played games at the end. It was a nice night and I have some new friends :)

I think that is all for now. Happy Tuesday everyone!

Oregon Jobs!

Oregon
Sama is going to Oregon for the next step in an interview process! We are all really excited. Probably my family, especially my mom, more than Sama. He is one of two candidates. I really hope that he gets it! I would LOVE that.

Pregnancy
Also, here is my most recent pregnancy photo. Me at 32 weeks! Time seems to be going quickly now!

Baby Shower
My baby shower is tomorrow. I am sure I will have lots of fun pictures to post from that soon. I am really excited about seeing so many friends and I am sure it will be a lot of fun!

Birthday
My birthday is on Monday as well. I can't believe how old I am already. I am sure I will be saying that every birthday from now on. But oh well. We will be having just a little celebration with a few of our friends. Dinner and cake! Pictures from that to come as well!

A Great Life

My new job working from home is going AWESOME! I love the company so much and I am making awesome new friends and it is overall a great experience for me. I get so excited sometimes that I can't sleep. I have been working hard to get the word out about this company and setting up presentations and having an overall great time. It is based on commission and I haven't actually made any money yet, but I feel really confident because of my experiences so far. I think even if I never make money, this is already becoming an experience that I will be so happy that I have had. Part of it is just putting myself out there more and meeting new people and sharing with them my enthusiasm about something I love. The company is totally dedicated to helping people! I love that. Have I mentioned that I love it? If anyone (no matter where you live) is interested in working from home or interested in safer, high-quality, environmentally friendly brands, PLEASE let me share with you what I am doing.  There are so many benefits!

Where will we be living next May?
Sama got his first job offer! It is in Michigan though and we don't really want to go there. But it was still EXCITING!!! They offered him a large salary (exciting for us as we are currently poor students) as well as a car and all kinds of awesome benefits. If it were in Oregon or Washington that would be so good, but oh well. Still waiting to hear back from some other companies. Hoping that things work out with Intel. Because then we would be in OREGON!

Natalie
We had another appointment today and baby is doing fine! My blood pressure is still high. It went up from last week, but not by too much. I am realizing I have to be careful. I have been putting so much thought and effort into my new job and am loving it and I don't want my blood pressure to go up from my excitement and from working so hard at it! I think I need to have a meditation hour and do more yoga or at least something like that that will help me relax. I absolutely don't want bed rest! No way. Please no bed rest! I am not near that point yet, but I feel like it could happen if I am not more relaxed on my own. It is just hard!

Anyway, I wanted to write that we got our crib today!! Some of you read my post about my dilemmas in which crib to get. It was really stressing me out! So as soon as my parents sent us money (they generously offered to pay for the crib!), I ordered the crib. I ordered a Babi Italia from the Wal-mart website for $148. With tax and shipping we paid about $170. I feel really good about it. I realized with the help of friends and family that we didn't need an expensive crib, just a safe one. And this one has lots of extra certifications.

I wasn't able to set it up yet because I had a presentation tonight and the crib came in the late afternoon. My presentation went long because I was talking with my team about how to improve, so when I got home it was late. Oh well. We are so setting it up tomorrow! I did at least open the box to look at the color and it looks good so far!

Family
I just want to write that I am so so grateful for family. I love having a close relationship with my family in Oregon and I am grateful for the relationship I have with my husband. He is struggling a little with school right now since he has been gone on job interviews and is always having to play catch-up with his school work. I wish there were more I could do for him, but it is nice to be able to be open and talk with him about the things that are going on in our life. Tonight I feel such great love for him and I am so happy!

Magic 8 Ball

Tonight was the Halloween party at church and I had a really good time. I got to know the women I visit better and meet a couple other families in the ward too. My dad's chili recipe didn't win any prizes, but it was still good! And really spicy :) Also...I dressed up! There was a Halloween parade/contest for the kids and I didn't think they were doing one for the adults and that was the end of the party, so I went to leave. When I came back in to grab my crockpot that I had brought my chili in, the adults were having a contest too! I was too late. I don't know why, but I am a little disappointed. I like parties and things! Anyway, it was a really fun day. Here are pictures of my costume! Simple but fun (I think). I stole this idea off the internet when searching for pregnancy costumes. It didn't cost me anything except a few cents to print the signs! In case it isn't clear, the back says "it's a girl." Also, this is me 30 weeks pregnant!

Package
My mom sent a package for us/baby in the mail and we got it today! We now have money for the crib! I'm so ordering it this weekend! Also, she sent us a Baby Mozart DVD, a maternity shirt for me, a birthday card for Sama, birthday money for both of us (our birthdays are really close together--mine is in a couple weeks!), and A MONKEY! It is so cute and SUPER soft! I was really excited about this! Here is a picture of Natalie's first (stuffed) monkey! My dad bought one kind of like this when I was born too! Which reminds me. My mom's first baby was a girl (my older sister), she was due January 5th (my due date), and she was born in the same hospital I will be delivering in! Crazy! But cool.

That's all for now. More fun things coming up soon! Have a great night everyone!

We Have Concrete Out There? Yes, Yes We Do!

So it has been like 3 months since we moved into our little duplex. I am loving it here even though it is quite old, but I kind of like all the little quirks that go with old houses. We did a deep cleaning of the inside when we moved in, but the outside I only just got around to a couple days ago. I wish I had taken before pictures, but oh well. Anyway, there is not a lot to be done since I have limited tools and we are only renting. In the back we have a little patch of grass that had a ton of dead grass that needed to be raked up. So I did that. And there is also a little square of concrete, which was totally covered in dirt and leaves. Apparently Sama didn't even know we had concrete out there! That is how bad it was. So, I went out a couple days ago and cleared out as much as I could. The grass still looks wretched, but the concrete area is nice and clean! I also cleaned up our front porch. It was not as bad as the back, but definitely needed some TLC. I couldn't get a picture of that because it is just too bright out front and all I get with my camera phone is shadows. The more pictures I take, the more excited I get about buying our new camera! That will be on Black Friday though :) Anyway, here is the photo of our little concrete square that you wouldn't have known existed until a couple days ago!

English Classes
We have awesome neighbors here, which is another great thing about our duplex. We are friends with a couple on the other side of the duplex as well as a Mexican family next door. My neighbor used to teach the mother of that family English, but was no longer able to after getting a new job. She asked if I would be interested/willing to do it and I said yes! Today was our first lesson and I think considering I have never really taught English it went pretty well. Our biggest barrier is that we have ALWAYS spoken in Spanish together. The only time I ever used English was if I didn't know the word in Spanish and was asking if she understood what I was trying to say. So we kept switching from Spanish to English and since she is at an intermediate speaking level, it would really be better to stick to English only during these lessons. I am really glad I speak Spanish (though not completely fluently), but I am also kind of envious of my neighbor who was teaching her before I was because she only knows a tiny bit of Spanish and so they are forced to use just English. The good thing is that the neighbor I am teaching gets a lot of practice outside of these lessons. She helps her kids with their homework and she also still talks to our neighbor in English when they see each other. I am hoping I can do a good job teaching her. We'll see!

Orchestra
I started playing the violin in elementary school, but I gave it up after about 4 years. In that time, my only lessons were in school, and I didn't practice enough to really excel at it. Then after I graduated high school I went to an orchestra concert with a friend and shared my desire to play again. Hearing pretty orchestra music makes me want to play. So what did this awesome friend do? My Christmas gift that year was a violin! I was so happy and started lessons again with a lady in the ward. Then I went to Southern Virginia University and took lessons there. Then I took a couple semesters worth of lessons while at BYU. Unfortunately I never stick with it long enough to make much progress, but I still love it. I have since gotten a really nice violin (the one my friend gave me was such a great gift and completely wonderful, but also an inexpensive model). I owe the nice violin I have now to my parents and to my brother Adam for giving up the bass. My parents had bought him the bass from a violin maker who stands behind his products 100%. I was able to trade the bass in for a beautiful violin. Anyway...I have been wanting to play again lately. We can't afford lessons or anything right now and with a new baby on the way, I don't think I would be able to continue for long anyhow. But, our stake is having a Christmas fireside/concert and anyone can be in the orchestra no matter what level he or she is at! I was hesitant to sign up thinking I might regret it or not want to stick to it, but I shy away from so many things because of that fear. So I just went ahead and signed up! Go me! I need to replace one of the strings on my violin, but then I am all set. I am going to go do that today and start practicing. On my own that is since I don't know exactly what I will be doing for the concert. But I feel really good about participating and putting myself out there a little bit. I am glad they offered places for all levels of players. I think it will be a great experience! Now, on to the store to buy violin strings!

Cribs
Thanks to all those who commented and left advice for me about cribs. For now we have decided to go with a more inexpensive model from Walmart. I hope to order it soon and be done with the stress of choosing a crib. I don't know why it is so stressful, but it is to me. Thanks to my sister for her comment that any crib I go with will be fine. I am sure it will. Still, I am excited to have it over with once we order the crib, which should be in the next couple weeks. By the end of November we will have purchased nearly everything we will need for Natalie. The main things we still need are the cloth diapers and the crib. Actually the crib isn't a necessity yet since we are using a pack n play in our room at first, but I still want to get Natalie's room all set up! There are a few little things like crib sheets and such that we need, but besides the cloth diapers we are pretty much set.

Cloth Diapers
I am still totally excited about using cloth diapers. I haven't been researching them quite so obsessively as I was before, but I still am excited about finally buying some and using them for the baby. I think I need to narrow down my list of the ones I want to try so that I can spend just a little less. But really, I want to try almost all of them! Oh well. I can always try more later on. And then I will just sell the ones I don't like.

San Antonio
I don't know if I wrote about Sama going to San Antonio or not. But he did go there for a job interview at the beginning of the week. They paid for him to fly out and treated him to dinner and a nice hotel and all kinds of cool things. He said it was a really good experience and that the interview went really well. My mom (and my sister a little too) were not thrilled at all that he went. Texas? Why Texas? You don't want to live in Texas, do you? The answer is no. No I do not want to live in Texas. But I would consider it if it were temporary. It is a really good company with amazing benefits. They treat their employees really well and pay them really well. Plus they will pay for him to do his masters. But overall we are wanting to stay in Utah for him to do his masters and then move to Oregon or Washington. Being close to family is definitely a priority for us. Plus Oregon is awesome! I love Oregon. I am sure there are other wonderful states and places to live, but I am an Oregonian and would rather go back there than trying out other places that are far from my family. But whatever happens will work out for us. I am sure that Heavenly Father has a great plan for us and knows what is best for our little family. And all the better if Oregon is a part of those plans! I miss my family!


I think I am done writing for now. But there are so many exciting things going on! I love my life!

Updates

Okay, I got the computer to work a little better so I am going to write about a few things that have been going on with me.

Ward Conference
Our ward conference was on Sunday and it was really good! I especially loved our bishop's talk. He challenged us to make this next year the best year we have ever had. Whatever we need to be working on, we should make goals accordingly. He also gave specific challenges including attending the temple often, memorizing 20 scriptures, and memorizing 5 hymns. He shared experiences that other members of our ward had shared with him as they worked on these same goals last year. I know this synopsis isn't near as powerful as the actual talk he gave, but I still had to share because it was so significant to me. I am convinced that he is who Heavenly Father wants as our bishop and I am grateful that he was able to accept this calling.

Car Trouble
So Sama had his trip to San Antonio  yesterday and today. There were several people in his major that were also invited and one of them offered to drive to the airport. I was so grateful for this because it meant I didn't have to wake up at 5:30 to drive to the airport. I still had to drive to the student health center where they were meeting, but no biggie because I could just drive right back home and go back to sleep. In general I just don't like to drive long distances. As a side note, part of this problem was because I needed glasses. I still passed my eye exam for my drivers test, but I had to be all squinty. Anyway, glasses are so much better, but I still don't like to drive. So, yesterday morning we went to meet up with the other people who were driving and Sama and I both got out of the car to hug goodbye and trade places. Then we both shut our doors....and one of us also locked them. It is both of our habits to lock the doors, but we can't remember who did it this time. Not that it matters anyway of course.

You know that crazy feeling you get when you realize you locked yourself out of your car? It is really amazing to me how we keep trying and checking all the doors and thinking that there must be an easy way in when there just isn't. One of the guys said that BYU has a locksmith service, which was so good to know because we didn't have to pay for it! It is actually just the campus police with a locksmith kit, but that's all we needed! But we didn't want to make the other guys wait so they left and we went to the airport on our own. It was unfortunate though because the guy who came to unlock our car was super slow! Not once he actually opened the car, but he had to walk around his car like three times gathering things and then a couple more times for who knows what before finally getting over to our car. Oh well. I am glad there are even services like that. So I ended up driving after all and it was fine. We are going to be making some extra keys now! Obviously we both have keys but that didn't help us because they were both in the car.


Tiredness
I have actually been able to get a lot done in the way of cleaning and organizing the last week and a half or so even though I have been in pain from my pregnancy and a little tired. So now I am in the mode of getting things done and want to keep that up because it always feels better to get things done and I just feel like I am accomplishing things. But the last two days I have been super sleepy. And then I can't sleep that well because there is so much I want to be doing! I actually have a little more energy now, so I am going to go out and do the grocery shopping. Normally this would have been done yesterday, but I was just too tired!

In general I have been feeling (mood wise that is) really good lately! I am happy about this because who doesn't like to feel good?! Physically things are not that great, but all the discomfort and pain is totally worth it because in about two and a half more months we will get to meet our new baby! I love her so much already and I can't wait!

Tomorrow Will Be Better!

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a great week so far! Mine has been going really well. I volunteer at the library on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and even though I am not always in the mood for it, I like being productive and helping out!

Headaches and Migraines
Last night I stayed up too late reading and at some point my eyes really started hurting and that almost always leads to headaches! But did I want to stop reading? Nope! So I didn't and went to bed with a headache. Then I woke up with a headache. And went to the library with a headache....you get the picture. I am feeling much better now, but it took half the day!

I usually get migraines once a month or so and I had a couple REALLY bad ones since I've been pregnant because I can't take my regular medicine for them. But it is actually kind of a blessing that I haven't been able to take my regular medicine because I think it also caused more frequent headaches because of the caffeine. I normally take Excedrin Migraine (great stuff!) and when I got pregnant I started taking Excedrin Tension Headache instead because it doesn't have asprin in it. But it still has acetaminophen and caffeine in it. It was when I was taking that that I got some uncontrollable migraines that only an IV treatment at the ER fixed. So about 3 weeks ago I ran out of my Excedrin and didn't want to spend money on more and used just acetaminophen. I am getting fewer headaches! I still think caffeine works great on the really severe headaches and migraines, but it is nice to realize that I don't need it as often as I thought. I'm really glad I realized that I can manage most headaches with just acetaminophen. I think my migraines will come less because of this, but we will see.

Food
I try to eat healthy because I want to be healthy and being pregnant I especially want to make sure my baby will be healthy. As I mentioned I had a headache today and just didn't feel good. I usually get nauseated along with my headaches, so it is hard to eat well. Plus it is hard for me anyway because I tend to want foods that are less healthy. Anyway, I didn't eat that well today and was feeling really bad about that. I didn't eat junk or anything, I just didn't eat a variety of foods. Okay, I had Cheerios and Rice Krispies cereal like 3 times. Only in the late afternoon/evening did I finally eat more things. I tried to make up for it with lots of fruit, but I am still feeling bad about this. So, tomorrow will be better!

Doctor Appointment
We have a doctors appointment tomorrow to see how the baby is doing! I am always excited about this. No ultrasound this time, but we will hear the baby's heartbeat and the doctor will check to see that everything is going well. I feel like everything is fine, but it is always nice to have it confirmed. I hope we get that confirmation tomorrow too!