Baby Charlotte Update

Well, the end of my pregnancy is drawing near. Hooray! I had a doctor appointment this morning (they're weekly now), and Charlotte seems to be doing wonderful. I've started to lose weight which the doctor said is good at the end of pregnancy since this isn't a point where I want to be gaining weight. We talked about the pain I've been having in my left leg along my shin. For those of you who know me pretty well, you know I am GREAT at worrying. Everyday I would ask Adam if he thought I had a blood clot. We went for a long walk last night (and by long walk I mean a mile or so long hike) and that helped make the pain go away. The doctor said that the pain was good (yeah, I don't know how I feel about that choice of words). He said that I've gained about 30% of my original body weight, and it would be strange if I wasn't having aches and pains because of it. He suggested I just keep walking every night for at least 30 minutes. No problem! I slept like a rock last night.
The doctor visit cleared up another fear of mine today...how big is the baby??? My mom (bless her heart) had BIG babies. I came out a whopping 9 lbs., and I was about 5 days early. She was lucky enough to carry the twins full term, but each of them came out weighing over 7lbs. That was at least 15lbs. of baby inside of her at one time. And then, the one who beat us all...Dallen. That newborn wasn't really a newborn in his 10lb. 11oz. glory! YIKES! I think that I am very much justified in worrying about having big babies knowing my mother's history. Well, the doctor did a little guessing from his measurements and feeling around and says she's probably about 6 1/2 lbs. right now. He doesn't think she'll weigh more than 7 1/2 at birth. Whew! I think I can handle that! :)
The doctor also thinks that I'll have the baby between 38 and 39 weeks...that's next week folks! Now, I know doctors can be completely wrong. She may be perfectly content to cook in there until 40 weeks or later. I've already started dilating and effacing, and the doctor says most women don't dilate so early during their first pregnancy. If everything goes smoothly, and I haven't had the baby by my next doctor's appointment (this next Thursday), the doctor says that we can schedule to have me induced so that my mom will know exactly when to drive up to Ohio. That means this baby will definitly be here before 40 weeks (Ma, start packing your bags). Hooray!

Rascal Flatts Concert

Friday, Adam and I went to the Rascal Flatts concert with our friends Dan and Amber! Neither Amber or I had ever been to a "real" concert before, so when we found out that Rascal Flatts was coming we jumped on the opportunity to go. It was so much fun to do the double date night.
Taylor Swift opened for Rascal Flatts. I really love her music and was just as excited to see her as I was to see Rascal Flatts. I was the only one in the group who knew her songs though, and Adam thought he sounded pretty good singing along with her in his girl voice. The rest of us felt differently.

Rascal Flatts put on a great show! It was so entertaining and fun. The band has so much energy and definitly knows how to project that into their audience. Adam didn't think he'd know very many of their songs and was mostly going because he's a great husband and knew I wanted to go. It turned out that he knew every song they played and was surprised because he didn't know that all of those songs were theirs.

I am so happy that my first concert experience was a good one. I think everyone had a fun time singing and watching Rascal Flatts perform!

Zach's Visit

So this is all overdue since Zach left a week ago from tomorrow. Adam's brother Zachary came up to visit us for a couple weeks during Adam's summer break. It was so much fun to have him here! I have to admit that I was a little jealous because I had to work while he was here so I didn't get to hang out with them a whole bunch. There aren't a lot of pictures from his trip because I wasn't around to take them, and Adam doesn't think about it.
One of the Saturdays, we went to a lake to ride some paddle boats. We got there about 30 minutes before they start renting them out so we killed some time by skipping rocks into the lake and chatting. It began raining, make that pouring, 5 minutes after we got out on the lake so our adventure was short lived. We'll have to make another trip for paddle boating!

Adam and Zach definitly got their fill in of video games and movies. I think Adam was secretly in heaven because I'm not very fun to play video games with. I get lost and can never keep up, and I usually die. Zach is a much better partner, and he's more willing to watch all the action packed movies that I don't care for so much. Adam even admitted to me today that he's really bored now without Zach around during the day. Zach and Adam also visited the Science Museum. They said they enjoyed it despite the fact that they were the oldest people there without kids.

So, there was a lot of brotherly love happening during the visit. As you can see, Adam is pretty much squishing Zach in the picture below. There was a lot of picking on him while he was here, but Zach's a good sport. It was so much fun having him around. We played a lot of games in the evenings, and Zach would keep us entertained with his hilarious sense of humor. We were laughing so hard, our sides hurt.

Thanks Zach for coming to visit us! We had so much fun, and we miss you.

Anita Renfroe

In search of a little giggle today, I ran across this video on a friend's blog. I thought it was worth sharing with all the moms I know. Enjoy!



Then I ran across this while searching for other videos by Anita Renfroe (I think she's hilarious). It's a response to the above video:

All these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good...

D&C 122:7

This post could turn out to be a long one if I were to write out the entire story. Let's just say that the above scripture really seems to have set the tone for our day. I'll do my best to just get down the highlights:

The plan:
Adam will take the Mazda into the autoshop for a tune up at 8 a.m. He also will drive a friend of ours downtown for a 9 o' clock interview where I work. In order to do this, Adam drops me off at the bus stop this morning so that he can have the Toyota to drive our friend downtown.

Obstacle 1:
Our friend sleeps in and they don't leave until 8:45 a.m. They now have 15 minutes to make a 30 minute drive. No big deal since the co-worker she has an appointment with is running late as well and hasn't even arrived at the office yet.

So, 45 minutes goes by (yeah, way too long), and I get introduced to...

Obstacle 2:
I get a phone call from Adam...and he doesn't sound too happy. I ask him what's wrong, and he tells me that he wrecked the car. In the meantime, someone comes into the office that I have to check in and write up a parking validation for. I tell Adam I'll call him back and hang up the phone. My head is spinning at this point as a thousand questions for him run through my head, and I regret not having asked if everyone is okay (there were four of them in the car). I quickly finish taking care of the guest and call someone to cover reception for me while I call Adam back.
The damage:
The two left wheels are bent out of shape and the car isn't drivable. Luckily, no one was hurt. He sent our friend to walk to the building where I work (I guess they weren't too far away) so she could make it to her interview. By this point I'm a bit annoyed that Adam wrecked the car, especially since the other car is in the autoshop already.

What a little communication can solve:
He then asks me to get him the number of our insurance agent. I tell him that the number is on the insurance card in the glove box. He then tells me that it's not and that he left the cards at home. Realization dawns on me...he's in the Mazda, not the Toyota. I asked him what car he was driving to make sure, and I'm right...he's in the Mazda. I asked him why he didn't take the car into the autoshop earlier. He said that they didn't have time since our friend slept in.

The moral:
My co-worker told my friend during the interview that "everything happens for a reason" (in reference to them both running late this morning and the car wreck). I know that my friend wasn't too happy about having slept in, but I told her that I was grateful for it in a way. If she hadn't slept in, Adam would have had time to take the Mazda into the autoshop. They would have been in the Toyota for the wreck, and we would have been without any cars for a couple of days. It's amazing how everything can still turn out all right even when everything seems to be going wrong.

Cankles

Pregnancy is like nothing else I've ever experienced. It takes everything that I am familiar with about myself and transforms it into something I'm not used to. My first adventure was going blind (if you're not familiar with this you can read about it here). There have been good things too, like the fact that my used-to-be-thin nails grow extrememly fast and rarely break. This past week I've experienced something I never thought I would: CANKLES. For those of you unfamiliar with what a cankle is, it's an ankle that is as big as your calf. It's hard to determine where you calf ends and your ankle begins.

Well, some mild swelling started about a month ago. Nothing to exciting really. Then, when I got home Wednesday night I took my shoes off to discover this:

Adam and I laughed so hard at how mishapen and swollen my ankles and feet were. The next day I decided to wear shoes without a strap across the top to see if that would help. When I took my shoes of last night, this is what I saw:Never in a thousand years did I expect to look down and see this! Again, my toes didn't swell because they were in the shoes. Those shoes I had worn were new ones that were bigger than my usual shoe size. I was hoping that a bigger size would be more comfortable, but even these shoes didn't fit on my feet by the end of the day!

This morning my feet were still a bit swollen, but I decided to wear tennis shoes to work, hoping that it would keep the swelling out of my feet just like the shoes had kept it out of my toes for the past couple of days. Here's today's picture:

Yeah, my feet didn't swell so badly, but my ankle sure did. It swelled so much that my ankle is actually bigger than part of my calf! The tennis shoes were extremely uncomfortable and made my feet burn, so I won't be doing that again. I think I'm going to just start wearing flip flops to work even though I'm not supposed to. Thanks goodness I only have a few more weeks of being pregnant! Then I can get back to my familiar ankles and feet...

A Rematch huh?

Ok, it is 1 in the morning, and I have been cramming like crazy for a test I have to take in less than 7 hours, but I took a break to get on the blog. As I gaze through my red and sleep deprived eyes, I discover that my wife has chosen to share the spoils of my victory with all who read. I see that there was some battered pride in my defeat of one so wise in Disney/Pixar facts and figures. I am not one to boast (much) of my win of the ages, but I wish to dedicate it to all males that fall under the opression of chick flick movies and late night "feelings" talks. To all those that have spouses that get mad when they lose, yet also get mad when you don't try your hardest. I'm not implying that my spouse falls under that criteria, but I have heard in distant lands that they do exist. If any knows where the medium is between "winning" and "letting them win" where both parties can remain happy, please respond to this, I have yet to find that level. I also read in many of the comments (oppressors) that a challenge has been made to repeat merely because I had help. I am not one to turn away a challenge. I will study Disney like my life depends on it. I will know the odd facts that no one else knows, like what was the name of Gaston's sidekick, cause I missed that dang question last time and it really bugged me!!! I will spew forth the knowledge as if it were common knowledge and I will achieve victory!!!

Also, do not let my spouse fool you into thinking that she always loses. There have been many a times that I have LET HER WIN. Plus, she always wins the "who can scratch their spouses back the longest" game.

Turned Tables

I have a game that Adam HATES to play. I got the game before we were married, and it was quite the hit with my college roommates. Adam loves games. He wins most games. So, what game could he possibly detest so much??? Disney Trivial Pursuit!Adam is just like his dad...he wins every game he lays his hands on (except when his dad is playing). I have gotten used to losing most of the time. Oh, I try to talk myself up during the game and step on him, but I've found this only strengthens his competitive side and before I know it, I'm left alone with my hurt pride...another loss.
Last night for Family Home Evening we pulled the game out to play it with the missionaries and another sister in our ward, Rachel. Well, Adam put up a bit of a fight when I suggested we play it, but everyone else seemed okay with the game. So, we decided to play boys against girls. Well, those boys put up a good fight, but when we had earned 5 of our 6 pie pieces, their chances of winning looked pretty slim (they only had 2 at this point). We got stuck on those darn hard pink questions! After several wrong answers they caught up to us. How? Their secret weapon...Elder Richie. He knew a lot more about those Disney movies than I had banked on! It was kind of funny because both Adam and Elder Foster looked at him like he was some kind of alien when he'd throw out an obscure (and correct) answer. Well, they got the best of us a girls and we had to walk away defeated! All I can say is, I demend a rematch! Adam vs. Laura....I don't think he deserves to bask in Elder Richie's glory!!!!!

34 Weeks

Independence Day

My favorite holiday is Independence Day. I love the parades, cook outs, fireworks and relaxing nature of the holiday. With finals coming up for Adam this next week, we saved all our celebrating for the evening rather than making it an entire day event. We met at Dan and Ambers for some good hotdogs, potato salad, chips, cream cheese dip and cool treats! I think Adam's favorite part was the tasty treats...Amber didn't want hers, so Adam got two. This is Adam's so called "happy face." I don't think he's very good at expressing his emotions...After stuffing ourselves with food we headed over to Tri-C, the local community college, to watch fireworks. They really put on a great show every year. We played some card games, but the only lasts so long with cute little Grace around. Besides, I think she had more fun with them than we did!
Adam and Dan were enjoying the attention of getting their picture taken. It was pretty much impossible to get a normal expression from the two of them:Luckily they were good sports for the group picture. Happy Independence Day!!!!

Ma

"A daughter is a mother's gender partner, her closest ally in the family confederacy, an extension of her self. And mothers are their daughters' role model, their biological and emotional road map, the arbiter of all their relationships." ~Victoria Secunda

This morning I got a call from a co-worker who was running late. He told me that last evening his mother-in-law had passed away in her sleep, and he had been taking care of some things for his wife before he came into work. I have never met his wife, but immediatly my heart dropped because she is expecting her first child come October. The death was unexpected. Her mother was young and had no serious health problems.

After hearing this news, I couldn't help but think about my own sweet mother. She has been my best friend since my teen years, and I would always turn to her for advice and counsel before anyone else. It would be terribly difficult to lose her at any time in my life, but I think it would be the most heart-breaking at this point in my life since I am now pursuiting the role of mother for the first time. I look forward to my mom coming up after my baby is born to be reminded of all the things she's already taught me about being a good mother and to just be a quiet strength. I know that I will call her countless times a day looking for advice and a good laugh. I couldn't have asked for a better example for a mother. She is selfless, talented and beautiful. She balances her life with an amazing ease that I know I will never be able to grasp. I pray that the Lord will guide me to be the kind of mother she is and that I will get to have many more years of her wisdom in my life.

Thanks Ma, for being my best friend!

For anyone who likes English and grammar:

What do you call Santa's helpers?????


subordinate clauses!


Bahahahahhahahha!!!!!

So...I know it's a really lame joke, but it made me laugh so hard when I heard it! Here are some more to make you chuckle:

. how do you catch a unique rabbit?
unique up on it


2. how do you catch a tame rabbit?
tame way


3. how do crazy people go through the forest ?
they take the psycho path


4. how do you get holy water?
you boil the hell out of it


5. what do fish say when they hit a concrete wall?
dam!


6. what do eskimos get from sitting on the ice too long?
polaroid's


7. what do you call a boomerang that doesn't work?
a stick


8. what do you call cheese that isn't yours?
nacho cheese


9. what do you call santa's helpers?
subordinate clauses


10. what do you call four bullfighters in quicksand?
quattro sinko


11. what do you get from a pampered cow?
spoiled milk


12. what do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
frostbite


13. what lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches?
a nervous wreck


14. what's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
anyone can roast beef


15. where do you find a dog with no legs?
right where you left him


16. why do gorillas have big nostrils?
because they have big fingers


17. why don't blind people like to sky dive?
because it scares the dog


18. what kind of coffee was served on the titanic?
sanka


19. what is the difference between a harley and a hoover ?
the location of the dirt bag


20. why did pilgrims' pants always fall down?
because they wore their belt buckle on their hat


21. what's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver?
a bad golfer goes, whack, dang!
a bad skydiver goes dang! whack.


22. how are a texas tornado and a tennessee divorce the same?
somebody's gonna lose a trailer!

Home Sweet Home Tag

I was tagged by Beckee to do this tag about the home. I was excited because it's different than most of the tags I've received lately. Pretty much, you have to take pictures of different areas of your house "as is"...meaning NO cleaning.

1. Laundry room:

2. Closet

3. Toilet

4. Kid's room/playroom - Okay, this one is a little embarassing. We're in the middle of painting/putting the nursury together. So...all the furniture is in the middle of the room. I promise I'll put up completed pictures once it is done.

5. Fridge

6. Sink - Sporting my cereal bowl from this morning's breakfast!

7. Favorite shoes - Everyone needs a cheap pair of flip-flops!

8. Favorite room - I don't know if this is our favorite room, but it's the one we spend most our time in.

Let's see...I tag Heidi Clarke, Erin Anderson and Ashlyn Hurst