Mother's Day

This mother's day was really nice.  Scott had to work that day so he headed out in the morning and then came home about an hour later.  He said that a co-worker of his offered to cover the first 6 hours of his shift so he could spend time at home.  How nice of that co-worker!  So, Scott got Kylie when she woke up and they made me breakfast in bed.  I had some delicious french toast and then we headed off to church.  Scott wore his work clothes as he had to leave straight from sacrament to work.  It worked out that he was able to come because the teachers in primary were singing along with the kids for their mother's day song and he was able to watch Kylie while I did that. 

Kylie and I came home, took naps and then headed over to have dinner with my mom.  We had dinner and Scott joined after work and it was fun.  I'm so glad that I've been feeling better because I was able to make these cute mother's day pictures for grandma Becky, Nadine and Roberta.  Hopefully they liked them.  Kylie was actually very cooperative when I did them.  It did help that I sat her in her chair so she couldn't move around a lot, but the fact that she didn't try to eat the paint is always good.

Scott put together my mother's day gifts the day beforehand and they were fun!  There's this company called Edible Arrangements and they make elaborate arrangements out of fresh fruit.  Sometimes they dip the fruit in chocolate as well.  Here's an example of one:

 

These are fun, but super expensive.  So, instead of buying me one Scott decided to make me one!!  It looked awesome and I really appreciate the time he took to make it for me.  He also hand-made chocolate covered strawberries.  It was sweet to have these hand-made treats from him.

It is still a little surreal to realize that I am a mother of two children, even though one of them is still in my belly.  I am definitely still learning on how to be the best mom I can for my kids and I'm sure I'll keep learning for the rest of my life.  I am very grateful that I am in this stage of life and all the love, learning and happiness that it entails.  I am especially grateful for these two kids of mine who make me a mom.  It really is the best job in the world.

Yard Work Fun

This winter has been very mild here in Utah.  It's only snowed a handful of times and the snow would melt in just a few days.  Right now, it is has been cold and rainy the past two weeks, but earlier in April it was quite warm.  We decided to take this little box in the backyard and turn it into a little garden for Kylie!  We planted some peas, lettuce and a green pepper (which we're pretty sure has died).  We were going to maybe plant some tomatoes, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  I also haven't finished painting this cute garden sign for it.  Hopefully I'll get it done soon.  Also, Scott was mowing the lawn one day and Kylie really wanted to be next to him, so she helped him push the lawnmower for a little bit.  It was super cute to watch.  Her favorite thing to do outside is play in a dirt pile on the side of our house.  She loves to just sit there and dig it up with her hands, so I'm thinking of buying her a little bucket and shovel.  I have a feeling that once it warms up for the summer, that we'll be spending a lot of time outside.

Baby Sister or Brother?

Today is the day we get to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl!  We found out at 16 weeks with Kylie, but decided to wait until 20 weeks with this one.  With Kylie, I always had this gut feeling that she was a girl so I was super excited when I found out she was one.  I have to say that I haven't had any sort of feeling about what this baby is so I am very curious to find out.  Scott and I are both fine with whatever gender it is.  It would be fun to have a boy so that we will have one of each, but it would also be fun for Kylie to have a sister.  We can't wait to find out!

Like with Kylie, I decided to look at the ways to guess your baby's gender. 

Guess #1: Position of the bump: This is one that I'm not sure about yet because I don't think my tummy is large enough to notice if I'm carrying high (girl) or low (boy).  We'll find out if it's true later! Verdict: Undetermined

Guess #2: Craving sweet or sour: They say that if you are craving sweets often, then you are having a girl and if you crave salty & sour foods, then you are having a boy. Verdict: Boy

Guess #3: Skin changes: If you have glowing skin, then you are having a boy and if acne is popping up everywhere, then you are having a girl because she is stealing your beauty (haha).  Verdict: Boy

Guess #4: Heartbeats per minute: If the heartbeat is below 140, then it's a boy and if it's above 140 beats per minute, then it's a girl. Verdict: Girl (147 at the latest appointment...although the baby was moving so much that the doctor had a hard time getting a really good heartbeat.)

Guess #5: Morning sickness: If your first trimester was unbearable (throwing up constantly), then you can blame your little girl.  If morning sickness wasn't that bad, then you can thank your little boy.  Verdict: Girl (Um yeah, no question about this one. I had to get an IV for heavens sake!)

Guess #8: Ancient Chinese birth chart: There is this chart that you can look at that bases your baby's gender prediction on the mom's age and the month of conception.  Verdict: Undetermined (This one is a little confusing because I got pregnant at age 28 and then turned 29 this year, so when I put in my birthday, it would go off the fact that I'm 29, which would be a girl.  However, some charts I've looked at will say boy and go off of the fact that I was 28 when pregnant. I'm not sure which one is the original one as there's so many different ones out there now.)

 

Easter Weekend

Scott's family came up from California and Vegas the first weekend of April.  They came to go to a session of general conference, but it also happened to be Easter that weekend as well!  It is a little different to me to have those combined and I think I prefer that they be separate as you get to really invest in each one when they are.  Luckily, I was feeling a little better by the time they arrived, but I still had to be careful about eating and taking medication often.  Kylie sure had a lot of fun with her cousins and it was sad that Scott had to work a lot of the time they were here.

On Friday afternoon (April 3), we went to the Thanksgiving Point farm.  It was actually pretty fun!  Kylie thoroughly enjoyed the horses they had there and loved being able to ride one.  She rode the smallest horse and just laid back and enjoyed the ride.

On Saturday (April 4), we did an Easter egg hunt.  I thought Kylie would be more into picking up eggs, but she cared nothing for them. Ha.  It was pretty funny to see her out in the grass and just stepping over all the eggs on the ground.  She just wanted to run around and wouldn't even let me take a picture, hence the blurry and crying pictures. Brita, Kristene and Becky did a great job of dying, filling and hiding the eggs for the kids.

Sunday (April 5), everyone went to the morning session of conference.  Kylie and I headed over for the afternoon session and dinner.  Monday, Lane and Scott had work off and we all tried to have a picnic outside, but it was super windy and cold. We spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games.  It was sure nice to see Scott's family and spend some time with them. 

Expecting

Last year, towards the end of the year, I started having these feelings that we should try for another baby.  I'll admit that I was a little baby hungry seeing friends and people in the mommy group on Facebook having babies.  I was also a little nervous to think about having another one as things were going so well with Kylie and she wasn't even 18-months yet!  Scott and I talked about it and decided I would stop my birth control in the middle of December.  I was on a different birth control before having Kylie and it took almost a year to get pregnant when I got off of it, so I didn't know what to expect when getting off of this new one.

Around the end of January, I started to get really sick.  I got pretty sick with Kylie, but it was eased with the help of medication.  This time, the medication helped only a little and I was still sick pretty much 24/7.  It actually got a little scary, as one week I could hardly leave my bed.  I could barely eat or drink anything that I became pretty dehydrated.  Instead of going to the doctor or hospital, Scott was able to bring some things home from work and give me an IV of fluid.  I felt better, but it took me about another month to really recover.  Brita and my mom were helpful in being able to watch Kylie a few times, so I didn't have to worry about her.  It was definitely a scary time and Scott was even worried about going to work and leaving me by myself as I had a hard time reminding myself to eat and drink.

10-week picture!

When you're not used to having to eat every hour, it can be hard to remember and having nothing sound appetizing just makes it worse.  It actually took Scott getting pretty worried for me to really try hard to take my medication faithfully and eat and drink every hour.  It's only been the last two weeks where I've felt really good and I don't need to take my medication as often.  It's definitely about time as I'm almost 20 weeks!  I am so excited to find out the gender in two weeks.  With Kylie, I had a feeling the whole time that she was a girl, but I haven't had a feeling about this one so I'll be surprised to see what this baby is!

Over Easter weekend, Scott's family was in town and we took advantage of people here to help us set up our announcement picture.  We used Brita's kitchen and other random things we found that worked out great.  I have to say that the idea for this picture was all Scott.  He wanted to do something kitchen/food related and I think we made something super cute (we also used Becky and her photoshop abilities).  We announced on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and I'm glad that people know. We have some exciting times ahead and I know that Kylie will love to have a sibling to play with.

Here are some outtake pictures.

Up close of some of the details. You can't see in the big picture that the clock is set for what the due date is.  Also, more up close on what the cookbook says as well.

Keep Moving Forward

Scott is going to have a very busy next two years.  He is going to have to balance homework, working part-time, being a husband and being a father.  It's going to be busy and tough, but I know he can do it.  I hope that I can help ease some of those burdens for him.

When Scott first graduated with his bachelor's degree, he applied that same year for the nurse practitioner program at the University of Utah.  He did not get in, but he really didn't have a lot of experience as a nurse and the program is a very competitive one.  During the next year, he increased his nursing experience (even becoming a charge nurse) and applied to BYU and Westminster College.  He did not get in to either school, but he was able to see what he needed to improve on for next time.  It seems that third times the charm as Scott applied to BYU one more time and got in the master's program (he would have applied to Westminster again if he hadn't gotten into BYU)!!  I am so proud of him and it seemed that BYU looks highly upon re-applicants.  I love that Scott is determined and even though he can get down when things don't work out, he doesn't give up.  He looks to see what the next step is to move forward.  I learn so much from him every day.

Scott has actually been in the program for a week now! He has school 3 days a week for 7 weeks for this first semester, then he has a break until he starts the fall semester.  He has 3 classes where one is mostly about figuring out if he wants to do a project, research or thesis based paper at the end.  It's crazy to me to think that he could write this thesis that could potentially be published!  It's just so awesome he's finally in school to become what he wants to be for the rest of his life.  Being a nurse practitioner is what he wants to do and he's on his way.

Like I said before, it will be a challenging two years for all of us, but I know that we can do it.  It will be tricky to become a lot more financially conscious (even maybe taking out some student loans) and find the balance between school and family.  All I know is that no matter how hard it will be, it will all be worth it in the end.  Congratulations, Scott!!  We love you!