Babies are expensive!

Getting way dang close now......

Nick and I are almost completely outfitted for Tristan.  Of course, I'm sure we are going to realize how many silly but important things we are missing those first few days and still make many trips to the store, but I think we've done pretty well.  We went a little nuts and bought everything!

Then we were so excited, we stayed up late and put it all together.  There's this odd appendage to our bedroom that ends in a door that has been completely sealed off.  I'm assuming it used to be an entryway of some kind, but I decided it was perfect for a little baby area.  So we've got the basinet, rocker, carseat, bouncer and bags and bags of miscellaneous items stacked there.

And thank heavens for random people at Target!  We're looking through the baby stuff, and I see the swaddle suits, and say outloud to Nick, "I wonder if those actually work."  And the lady standing there holding one says, "Oh i love them!  they were great!  But they make my babies too hot in the summer because they are fleecy, so these might be better for you," and shows us the swaddle blankets.  I have to exercise self controll though, it's hard to see dang cute little boy outfits and not buy them!  It's pretty funny, when I was making my original list, it was at the end of the day at work, and I was telling my coworker about it, saying "oh, I need to buy tylenol, and mylecon, and diapers and a bulb syringe and a breast pump....." and she laughed and went, "oh you silly MA, most people are like, I have to buy outfits and blankets and toys!"

It's also nice that I finally have a belly and don't look weird shopping around the baby section.  In scrubs though, my patients still seem to have trouble telling, so it still gets awkward sometimes.  Maybe, I'll go early and put a stop to the weird questions.  We drove home from the temple down University Avenue yesterday, and it was like "kathunk kathunk kathunk kathunk" the whole way cuz of those stupid concrete slabs they decided to make the road out of.  All I have to do is drive up and down that incessantly and I'm set!  Naw, I'll keep him for a few more weeks!

Another random thought, when we went to the Timpanogos Temple yesterday we did sealings and the sealer was our sealer!  It was super awesome, until I got all faint and had to use the pregnancy card for the first time ever.  But! I'm almost done!  Whoopee!

Novels

Did you know there are about 15 bazillion literary agents and publishing companies out there?  Here I am, poor little naive me thinking that publishing a novel is as easy as Elizabeth B., no E. Bennett submitting her manuscript to D&G Publishing.

Naw, it's a little more complicated than that!  First you have to find an agent, because no publishing company of note will even take a glance at your work without one.  But each agent has specific tastes and perimeters on the material they want to read.  So finding a perfect match when there are pages after pages of results on google and writers.net is a task and a half!  Then they all say, if you don't hear from us in a couple months, it means no.  So basically, you wait and wait and wait and keep waiting... then wisen up and send it off to someone else.

Well, I'm sure eventually I'll come across somebody who seems interested in reading a probably cliche book by a first time nobody.  It's a good thing I love writing soo much!

I winned!

Just wanted to gloat a bit!


I've never actually played Monopoly.  Always looked really stupid to me.  But finally, the other day I caved and we bought the Spongebob Edition.  Wow, longest game ever!  I think it took us three and a half hours, and a couple snack breaks, haha.  See, I got all mad because at one point I realized he owned more properties than I did, so I started buying pineapple after pineapple to improve my properties.  And since the poor dear kept having to go to jail, when he landed on my $1500 rent spot, he ended up having to give me almost all of his properties.....and basically it was down hill from there.  Haha, he wouldn't quit though!  Finally he went completely bankrupt and I owned Bikini Bottom!

I love this picture.  See those two little property deeds over there?  Haha, those are Nick's.  The rest are mine!!

Haha, that was a lot of fun.  What?  I never beat him at Scrabble!

Ah that Pregnancy "glow"

First of all, the only thing I ever want to eat anymore is Dairy Gold chocolate milk.   Then, I have to pee a million times in the night, but the only way I can get out of bed is by rolling over and falling out.

I have never been defeated by a smell until yesterday.  The doctor asks me to perform a test on a patient, and I try walking into the room, and can't even get past the door frame.  I had to ask someone else to do it because it is considered bad form to barf on a patient.

And Tristan will randomly wake me up in the night with a karate kick to the bladder, or a head butt to my liver, or a pile drive to my spleen.  Silly thing really needs to turn over.....

And I'm completely brilliant all the time.....which really means I'm a complete idiot and you can say something to me and two seconds later I'll have forgotten.  My favorite was when Nick took the car for the day, and wasn't feeling well so went home to take a nap.  i texted and asked him to bring me something to eat, and he said he was sick.  So I texted back and said "don't worry, I'll go to the store so you don't have to."  Then I get a reply, "how are you going to do that?  I have the car?"  And funny enough,,,,,,two weeks later, I did the same thing again.  How do you forget you don't have your car??

Then there's the mornings when I wake up and my legs are completely cramped up to heck and I can't move and want to cry.  Or the trying to bend over to pull my socks up.......tie my shoe.....pick up trash.......even when I'm at work and I try to reach for something in a cupboard and realize, dangit!  My belly keeps getting in the way!  Ever tried shaving your legs while leaning over a bowling ball?  Sure doesn't work.  Tights are my new best friend on Sundays.  Thick, Black, Tights.  Which of course I"d had to modify to fit the bowling ball.......meaning I cut the front in half.  Sorry, I couldn't justify 18 bucks for a "pregnancy" pair.

It's kinda cute when patients stare at me while I'm getting their blood pressure, debating whether or not to comment on my belly because they can't tell if i'm just a little fatter or if i'm really pregnant.  It's hard to tell in scrubs.  If they are brave enough they will say, are you expecting?  Or, how far along are you?  Then there's the look of relief when I say yes and they realize they haven't just said, dang lady, you've got a beer gut.  Maybe I should act totally surprised and offended next time someone says anything, hahaha.  There was the one lady who said she couldn't tell by my belly, but I just looked pregnant.  And I asked her what she meant, and she told me she could tell in my face.  Great, I went around the rest of the day self conscious about my cheeks.

Ah well, two more months, right?

My sweet Nick

Flu season.......best time of years for the doctors office!  Strange how we thrive off of illness.......

But from about November to April, our patient cliental seems to quadruple as all sorts of people come out of the woodwork to get checked out for their sore throats, earaches, and various other pains in the butt.  This week has seemed exceptionally busy to me, especially since I am the lone MA working the late shift.  Last night when I got home, the week's craziness finally caught up with me, and I crashed on the couch.

And there I remained, happily sleeping for the next two hours.  When I woke up, I found Nick sitting at my feet, with a very guilty look on his face.  "I played solitaire the whole time you were asleep.  Are you mad at me?"  I was still half asleep and I didn't even get what he was saying.  So he scooted up to my face and said it again.  And I nodded.  Then he got all excited and said, "Just kidding!  I did the dishes, and washed the counters, and took out the trash, and cleaned the bathroom, and scooped the litter box, and cleaned the bedroom, and put away the clothes!  Are you so happy?"  Isn't he the cutest ever?

And on Valentines day, after he locked me out, haha, he took me shopping to JoAnns and got me some more scrapbook stickers and fun stuff.  He picked out cute baby boy stickers and letters and a new scrapbook since I filled the one he got me for Christmas already.  Then he watched the Parent Trap with me, and liked it!  Yep, he really is the cutest ever.  I'm not the best at scrapbooking, but he knows I have a lot of fun doing it.

I love you Nick!  You're the best!

Here are some samples of my pages......the ones featuring Tristan still need to be filled in, haha

Deceived

Cocoa belly butter......

I feel like Nacho when he was deceived about the eagle eggs......"Those eggs were a lie Stephen!  A LIE!  They give me no eagle powers!  They give me no nutrients!!"

I found my first official 3 stretch marks today.  Even though I have been using belly butter religiously.  And my lovely little What To Expect book candidly says that even though I think I've already exceeded my stretching capacity I still have 11 more weeks of growing to do.  How kind, right?  Ah well, I guess I knew the disfiguring dangers going into this.......

Thank heavens I have fewer days ahead than I do behind.  Could you imagine being an elephant?  They gotta be pregnant for TWO YEARS!

Valentines on the curb

After a grueling day at work spent in training for a new system, I rushed over to Barnes and Noble to pick up Nick's Valentine present.  Last minute shopper I know, but when you work from noon to 8 PM, it's hard to get to the store.  But!  Today, I started at 8:30 AM, so I finally had a chance.

When I called to let him know I was on my way home and I could drive him to his evolution test, he was running to school in a frenzy thinking he had missed the deadline to take it.  I said I had a surprise for him and would come get him when he was through.  He said that sounded great, and we said goodbye.  I was soo excited to get home and wrap his gift up and start making dinner.  But when I got there, I went to open my front door and......it was deadbolted.

Big deal, who doesn't deadbolt their door?  Us......you see, our door is kinda special.....there is no key for that deadbolt so our landlord warned us never to lock it or we wouldn't be able to get in the house.  So in a panic, I call my husband to see if he had left any windows open or if he had any ideas, but of course, he didn't answer.  I tried texting, and leaving messages....nothing.  And on top of it all!  I had to pee.  What a cruel thing to do to a pregnant woman on a holiday devoted to love!!!!

Probably he just was in such a tizzy about his test, he didn't think before he left.  Oh well.  So I called up our landlord, who said, pooh I really don't have a key.  And he called a locksmith, and I had to wait an extra half hour for him to show up.  Sitting in my car, my bladder about to explode, I was debating hiding the gifts away for another day.

Eventually the locksmith showed up, and commented on what a ridiculous lock we had on our door.  Took him a few tries and several tools to finally get it open, to which I was extremely grateful.  I ran in and made a beeline for the bathroom.  Then he offered to try and make a key for us, which sure didn't work.  Well, it kinda did, but he said it would be better if we never had to use the key because it would take just as long for a locksmith to open it.  Oh well, at least we have a backup should Nick ever deadbolt us out again.....

So, happy Valentines Day!

No matter how many silly things you do Nick, I will always love you.  Hope you like your gifts!!  One of them is going to be a key, hahahaha

The Sad Truth

Nick's mom is incredibly kind to us.  She always sends us little notes, treats and gifts for holidays.  We got a package in the mail today for Valentines with some new clothes and candy.

Nick pulled out a couple of shirts and handed them to me.  They were darling!  But when I saw the tags, my face dropped.  "We might need to exchange these," I said.  "They are the wrong size, they're too big."

"Just go try them on and we'll see," Nick said.  "You're going to get bigger."

"No, I'm not, I refuse," I muttered.  So I pulled off my scrub top and put the first shirt on, realizing as I was yanking it down over myself, it wasn't too big.

Nick covered his mouth to stifle the the laughter at my expense.  "I think it fits you, Sara!"

"Shut up, Nick!" I laughed, running to the mirror.  Sure enough, the shirt fit perfectly, maybe even a little snug.  "Wow," I said depressingly.  I guess Nick's mom knows me better than I do!  This is what happens when you wear scrubs all the time.  You never know when you are getting fat!  Good thing I have a legitimate excuse!  *grabs the bag of chocolate caramel kisses from mom-in-law*  Mmmmmmm

Natural vs Unnatural?

So I realized how absolutely pathetic I sound.  I blog about my pets.  Man I need a life.

Nah, I love my pets.  Last night, I was laying on the couch trying to finish a book I have been reading since Christmas and Nick comes to cuddle up with me.  Apparently it caught his attention, because he stopped me as I tried to turn the page and told me to wait for him.  So for the next hour or more, we sat there reading the last few chapters.

Afterwards, both confused and frustrated, we started arguing about the author's point in writing the book.  Like it's predecessor, the sequel offered no closure or ending.  Not to mention it is along the same lines as the Hunger Games which involves the torment of children.  It's called The Scorch Trials, the sequel to The Maze Runner.  Nick couldn't tell if the author was for or against Utilitarianism, and neither could I.  It's not clear, but it seems like a bunch of children are being tested (in horrific scenarios which sometimes involve painful and gruesome death) to try and save a world in turmoil.  Nick says it's wrong to torture a bunch of kids to death to save the human race.  I say, but they agreed to it and unless it's done (according to the book that is), mankind will end.

So he cooks up another scenario.  Say a terrorist plants a bomb that would kill 2 million innocent people, but will not talk.  The opposing government tries all sorts of ways to get him to talk, but no matter how much torture he goes through, he would rather die than tell.  Now, if he dies, all hope to find out where the bomb is is lost.  But! He has a wife and two year old daughter.  Do you torture them in the hopes that he will talk?  Two million innocent people to die at the hands of an evil bomber who will meet his just reward in the end, or! An innocent woman and child exploited and tortured for the "greater good".  Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?

I agree, it would be wrong to torture innocent people.  But I also can't get over the fact that 2 million people could die.  So I'm caught in the middle.  Maybe, they could "pretend" to torture them and get the guy to talk.  Ah, philosophical nonsense.  And this is why I got a technical degree......

Now, my other thought for the day.  On my way to work, I always pass by the hospital where I'm going to deliver.  And I have a little more anxiety about it every time I drive by.  Here's the thing, you're going to come out of it with a baby no matter what, so epidural or no epidural?  Act like a complete witch for a few hours (unmedicated sounds a little painful and I'll probably embarrass myself to no end), or get the large needle in my back, feel nothing, be a wimpy pusher but save myself the embarrassment.  Wow, I really have no idea.  Good thing I still have a few months to decide.

I'll probably pretend to be brave and tough, but cave an hour or two in.  Haha, that would be pathetic.  But as my good friend says, "next time you go to the dentist for a root canal, ask to go "unmedicated".  Sounds pretty awful huh?  Birth is traumatic".  But my other good friend says its an "amazing experience to be in control of the situation, to let your body do what it was designed to do.  Birth is not traumatic".  Pretty darn funny to listen to them argue their points.  Like I said, we'll see in a few short months.

Oliver's Second Wind

Sometime after moving out of my parents house, it dawned on me that I could do pretty much whatever I wanted.  Some kids might take that to the extreme, but I just went and dyed my hair red.  When I got married, already bringing Suki to the marriage, Nick and I realized we could own pets!

I had always wanted a hamster.  Nick thought that would be too much of a hassle, but one day, whilst perusing Pet Smart, I found myself admiring the little furries.  I guess Nick found them irresistible too, because he started pointing out which ones he'd be willing to take home.  I still wanted a hamster, but Nick insisted a fancy mouse was a better idea.

They only had boy mice, but the little guy was pretty adorable, so along with a little cage ensamble, we took him home.  We decided to name him Oliver.

Oliver had a rough first few days because Suki thought we had brought her home a treat.  We had to keep his cage on a tall cabinet in the kitchen where she couldn't get to him, and harness her up when we wanted to play.  Along with the cage we bought a little play yard and treadmill for him which he loved to no end.  He would run on that silly treadmill all day and all night.  And when we got him a rat ball, Suki had a blast chasing him all over the house.  Ah, he was a good little pet.

But I felt bad for him, sitting alone day after day in his cage.  So I convinced Nick that he needed a friend.  So off to Pet Smart we went.  They were fresh out of mice.  So!  To Pet Co.....they had about 2 million.  And after making us feel like complete morons for buying a high priced "fancy" mouse (I guess they are all the same and only work about a buck), the little sales dude sold us two more little man mice.

Long story short.....they hated each other!  They got territorial and started spreading their smell all over, then they would keep up awake at night squeaking to no end fighting.  So we decided mice were too fical and stinky, the time for a hamster had come.

I felt badly, but Nick assured me they would be ok.  The next day, we put them in a little carrier and Nick released them onto BYU campus.  I was sure Oliver wouldn't last 10 minutes having become such a pansy house mouse, but the other two were still crazy and would be fine.  To cheer me up, Nick took me to Pet Co and we perused the collection of little rodents.  Then Nick saw the guinea pigs and fell in love with a cuddly little brown girl.  We couldn't resist, so home she came with us.  We had planned to reuse Oliver's cage, but obviously the guinea pig was too big.  So we also brought home a larger cage (20 gallon aquarium) and assorted guinea pig things.  After setting it all up, I looked over and saw the empty mouse cage.

"Nick, you know, we could have technically kept Oliver..." I said.  "Do you think maybe we could go look for him?"  And feeling horrible, we threw our coats back on, grabbed flashlights and drove to campus.  Nick took me to where he had released them, and we started looking, calling out his name and probably sounding like complete idiots.

"Wait," Nick said.  "I hear something."  Sure enough, we could both hear rustling in the bushes, and two seconds later, the little fancy mouse popped into view.  It had been 10 hours!  And he was still in the same spot!  Took us about half an hour to catch him, but once we had we took him home and promised never to abandon him again.

Oliver was with us for another couple months before passing on, but that has got to be one of the funniest pet experiences I have ever had.  What are the odds?

Random shots of the kids

Aren't Sunday's the best?

Ahhh, there is no greater feeling than waking up on Sunday morning, realizing you have no work and nothing to worry about.  I'm sure that is going to change dramatically very soon here, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

Sadly, Nick and I have had to move 4 times in the short time we have been married, and we are hoping that this apartment will stick for awhile.  Because, apart from being a huge hassle and money waster, moving means a new ward.  Kinda stinks when you get settled into a routine and have to leave it.  Two wards ago, when we were renting a house, we taught the 9 year olds in primary.  There were only two, and they were both girls.  Now these girls might have well been 40 year old women for how opinionated they were, but I've never had more fun with a calling in my life.

Nick came up with the idea to to a challenge every week, something that they would work on and report back to us on Sundays.  And as a reward, I had them add a couple beads every week to a necklace.  They loved the idea, and were always soo excited to tell us what they had done and work on their necklaces.  The lesson teaching was a bit more difficult, haha but we adored those two girls.

I was very sad when we had to move again due to apartment problems and a lazy landlord.  We ended up in a basement in south Provo.  Our first apartment had been on this same side of town, so we were used to  the dumpy feeling....the scary bums that lived on the sidewalks.......among other things.  The one thing we forgot about, was the south Provo wards.  The church is true no matter where you go, but you can sure find some interesting characters this far south on the map.

For convenience though, since the church was across the street and the ward met at 1 PM, we decided to go to it instead of try a student ward, something we hadn't been brave enough to do yet.   And after just 3 short weeks, we realized it was probably going to be more worth it to wake up earlier on Sundays.  Nick's favorite reason for leaving was a gentleman who he played "stinky chess" with.  Meaning, he didn't ever smell good, and we had to avoid him every Sunday.  Nick thought it was bad.....ha!  try having a pregnant nose.  

So, to the student ward we went.  And let me tell you, I have never had a more pleasant experience in my life!  Aside from my own student wards back at BYU-Idaho, that was the best first Sunday in a new ward I have ever had.  Lessons were based on doctrine, comments were insightful, members were polite and welcoming, talks were prepared!  The only drawback......there were a million babies!!!  Cute yes, loud, definitely.  Haha, but I will be adding my own to the collection very soon, so it's good practice.

So, waking up to peace a quiet and a clear mind on Sunday morning?  Awesome.  Listening to church music, reading scriptures, just having a day of rest.  I love Sundays.  And one more thing.  I just remembered a tradition I'm going to have to carry on!  Sunday cereal.  When we were kids, and my parents didn't have a ton of money, or patience for sugar highs, we had Wheaties and Special K during the week.  But on Sundays, we had a special Sunday Cereal.  Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Puffs, Waffle Crisp.....anything just coated in sugar we could have Sunday morning.  The other tradition, my favorite, was every Sunday afternoon when we got home from church, my dad would saturate the house with the aroma of applesauce pancakes, a delicacy I always looked forward to.  They always were so big that the sides came off the plate, and  we'd eat them with real maple syrup and powdered sugar on top.  Mmm, I sure wouldn't mind one right now!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Tristan Trepidation

Yesterday morning a very large box arrived on my door step.  I knew who it was from and exactly what it was, but I pushed it into the living room and went to work without opening it.  Work was crazy insane busy, like it normally is, so I didn't think about it all day.  I stayed occupied rooming patients and taking nurse calls until 8 PM when I drove home to get ready for FHE with our friends, Karl and Amber.  When I walked in the door, I about had a mini panic attack.  Nick had taken the liberty of opening the box from his brother Chris and wife Eryn, and there before me sat an infant carrier car seat.

Suddenly it dawned on me that the squirming worm in my belly was actually a baby and that he would be occupying that seat in just three months.  Funny how such a big ordeal took that long to really hit me.

Not really sure how prepared I am.  But then again, who ever is?  You can read all the books and magazines you want.  Take all the classes you find, but I don't think there is too much that can really prepare you for those first few months as a new parent.  I tried registering at Target and Babies R Us and it took me about a week before I even got most of the basics covered.  Babies take soo much!  First they overthrow your body, then they empty your bank account.......then they steal your life......hahaha I'm just kidding.

It's true though, once you start having kids, they are yours forever.  You never stop being a parent no matter how old they get.  Intimidating?  Slightly.  But I'm also pretty sure there is no greater joy than having a family.  And I really can't wait to actually hold my Tristan.  It's going to be a different story though when I catch him painting the walls with diaper water colors or building sand castles in the litter box.

So!  Item one checked off the baby list: car seat.  Get excited Nick.....only about fifty billion more items to go.

Thanks Chris and Eryn!