Temple Square Outing

Last weekend, Vance and I had plans to hang out at our friends house. On the way, we stopped at temple square to take some pictures. Mason absolutely loved it. We had fun trying to keep up with him as he ran back and forth between flowers and fountains.

On the way back to the car, we stopped on the Conference Center grounds to take a picture of my belly. I was only 16 weeks at the time, but I look like I'm 25 weeks! My belly has popped already! (Since the pics above are so small on here, I feel they just don't do jutice. But it is one thirty in the morning, so this will have to do!)

17 Weeks

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

16 Weeks

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

A True Miracle

A week from sunday, my family was informed of a true miracle that took place. Mike and Gretchen have been struggling for 6 or 7 years now to have kids and they have done everything in their power and in the doctor's power to make this all happen. They have taken fertility meds for years, Gretchen has had surgeries, they've done artificial insemination many times, and they were just about to finally try invetro fertilization. Gretchen had been giving herself these hormone shots everyday to help her body prepare for this procedure. She then went in for a check up and was told that they needed to bring everything to a hault and get certain other things figured out first. She stopped taking the shots, stopped all the fertility treatments, and they were hoping to start everything back up soon. Well, for some reason Gretchen decided to take a pregnancy test simply because "the thought came to her." She had one at home (probably from all the many she's taken, all with a negative outcome) and took it last Monday night. It was POSITIVE! She called her doctor the next morning and they immediatly got her in for a blood test. It confirmed she was pregnant!! They also told her that her hormone levels were so high that she either was having more than one, or she was pretty far along all ready. They did an ultrasound to find everything out and they discovered she is having one baby and is already 9 weeks along! The entire doctors clinic was waiting outside their door to hear the verdict. They all just stood there in complete shock and amazement that she was really pregnant, and already 9 weeks along. Let me remind you that they had stopped all fertility medicines and so this happened all on it's own. An absolute miracle for their cituation. My family is so excited some of us just cried at the amazing news. It is so much fun being pregnant with her and only being 5 weeks apart. She is due March 23, 2009 and we are all soooo excited!! Congratulations Mike and Gretchen, we are so happy for you!!!

15 Weeks

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl!

14 Weeks

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

13 Weeks

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Terrible Tuesday Turns Terrific!!

Tuesday was a day that I do not want to remember, but I must brag about. Lets just say I have an amamzing husband, and I'll eventually tell you why, but I have to explain first. The whole day, everything was going wrong. I watch a boy named Dylan Monday through Friday and he likes to cry. He's been doing better, but not on Tuesday. It was probably the worst he's ever been, and I've been watching him for almost a year now. He took his morning nap like usual and everything seemed fine. He woke up from that around the same time Mason did from the night (like usual) around 11:00 (yes, Mason sleeps in everyday until atleast 10:30, usually 11:30 - going to bed at 10 and not waking up at all during the night. We're VERY lucky!) So I got both of them changed and let them play for a while. By this time the cat was all hyper, jumping up onto everything, knocking everything over, breaking things, chasing a fly around the house (which she did eventually catch and eat - gross!), and so on. So that was quite frusterating. Then I fed the kids their lunch which neither of them would eat very much of. Everything I tried got denied. I finally gave up. Dylan did not like this idea and decided to let me know by screaming non-stop for a very long time. I tried EVERYTHING to clam him down and make him stop, but he just refused. I gave up and just decided to put him down for his usual afternoon nap before he left, he seemed real tired. He was still screaming. Well, this went on for well over an hour, and I was completely exhausted by now. Pregnancy sure takes everything out of ya! Finally he fell asleep and it is now time for Mason to take his nap. I lay him down and all is fine a dandy. He falls asleep and then all heck breaks loose with Dylan again. He just wakes up screaming, just like before. Wakes Mason up, so he's crying too. I finally get Dylan up and try feeding him his bottle one last time. He was still so tired that he just laid there and tried to drink, finally not cring. Mason falls back asleep. A few minutes later, Dylan's grandparents show up to get him. I had all his stuff ready so I just needed to put him in the car seat. Of course he just starts screaming again. I try to hurry so they don't come in and wake Mason, but they got to the door faster than normal. Mason wakes up, and Dylan leaves. Mason eventually did go back to sleep so I could take a short nap before I had to get up and get ready for work, but first I had to vent. I e-mailed Vance and told him all about everything just so I could get it out of my system. This was his reply: Relax!! Tonight is your night to relax. I will bring home a movie and what ever treats you want. I will massage your back, feet and legs (that is always my request!) and I will either stay home and play with Mason and take care of him, or I will take him somewhere so you can scrapbook or do whatever else you want. If you feel like hitting something the cat is your best bet. Love you. And that is exactly what he did. He brought me home a movie and all the treats he knows I love. He also brought me home a comfy new pair of capris to wear around the house (very important when pregnant!), and a book I've been wanting for a long time. TWILIGHT!!! (I read over half of it yesterday and hope to finish it today. I've never done that before, and I've never finished a book that long before. I'm so excited!!!). He is soooo sweet! I am so grateful to him. He always knows how to make me smile. (I laughed so hard at the cat part. We all know we would never hurt our cat, but it was just a funny and random comment.) Thanks babe!! I love you!!!!

The Bountiful Car Show

Sometime in June, I surprised Vance with the idea of going to the car show that was on Main Street in Bountiful. He had no idea about it, and I had just heard about it that day on the news about an hour before he got off work. When he got home, we ate and then I told him that we should take a walk. I kind of hinted that I had a surprise for him (since I knew he would love going to the show), so we got ready and started walking. On the way, I finally told him what we were doing and he was pretty excited. There were tons of cars displayed on the streets so we walked around looking at them. Then we watched some of them show off and peel out for a second. It was fun to watch. Surprisingly, we didn't take very many pictures. If fact, we didn't start taking them until the very end when we realized we hadn't taken any yet. Oops! I guess we were too distracted with all the awesome cars. Mason seemed to enjoy the outing too. In fact, he seemed so facinated with everything going on around us, he hardly made a peep the whole time!

We didn't know who this boy or the dog were, but we couldn't resist taking a picture! There were so many Great Danes there that night, it was incredible. Both Vance and I LOVE big dogs, especially Great Danes, so we got excited with each one we saw. Mason was quite excited too, but not nearly as much as he was nervous about the whole idea of a dog's head the size of his whole body!

12 Weeks

The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

One Year Old and Over Two Months Late!

I realized that I haven't even blogged Mason's birthday party yet, so even though it's now over two months late, here it goes! And since it's kind of a big deal, I better not skip out on this blog entry. It was a very fun party although everything did not go as planned. The worst part of the entire thing was Mason's mother bringing Mason to his own party almost an hour late. Can you believe that? (She does have very good reasons, however.) We then had to wait for other ingredients for the food to arrive, so it started even later. This caused everything else to be post-poned so everything was kind of rushed, which I hated. We couldn't take too much time opening his presents or watching him eat the cake because we had to get the jello slide going before the sun went down (that's right - JELLO SLIDE!!). So after eating dinner, we quickly helped him open his gifts. We quickly went into singing to him and watching him dig into the cake while everyone got started with the slide. As you can tell, he really enjoyed the cake. It took a little help and persuasion for him to start eating it, but once he started, he just kept eating until he had cake on pretty much every part of his bare skin. Including his toes! At one point he stopped to do "Patty Cake, Patty Cake." That is why there was frosting and cake all up his arms, from 'rolling it!' Everyone seemed to enjoy the jell-o slide. How could you not?!! It was a bit cold at first, but no one seemed to mind. From left to right: Phil and Steven

Vance and Ben

Mark and Jesi

Chloe and Kristy

Malory and Carter

After playing at the park, we went swimming at our place. Taylor and Carter in the kid pool

Birthday Boy in the kid pool, and the Adults in the big pool

After swimming, we went back to our place and ordered pizza and just hung out. Overall, it was a very successful and fun party. Thanks to everyone for all your help with the food and other preparations (like making all that jell-o!) and your generosity in giving Mason awesome gifts!

Raspberries Please!!

Last night when Vance got home we decided to go to Artic Circle and get food and then take it to the park to eat and have a picnic. I needed to get out of the house! We ordered our food and went up to what used to be known as Rocket Park. I think it is now Tolman Park or something. Anyways, they had just watered the lawn, and we didn't want to sit at a table, so we drove around a little and found a grassy area by the baseball field that wasn't wet. So we got out our blanket and had our little picnic! I have to say I was quite dissapointed in the food. It did not satisfy my craving too well, but at least it didn't come right back up! After we ate, Vance played around a bit with Mason and we then had to be on our way home again so Vance could do his homework. In the second to last picture, let's just say Mason is learning about gravity! He was standing on the hill and took a step backwards down the hill. Oops! When we got home, Mason and I were eating grapes and I guess I was paying too much attention to the TV because the next thing I know, my leg is being slimed by him! I look down and Mason is giving me "raspberries" as Vance calls it, or "zurts" as I call it, on my leg! It was so funny and I'm not sure where he picked up on that one. We (along with his cousin Carter!) used to do it to him all the time but we haven't for a while. He would press so hard that he couldn't get any air through, so I had to lift his head slightly so it would work. He then went as quickly as he could from one of my legs to the other. Back and forth. He then went over and did the same thing to Vance! Of course we didn't have our camera ready, so no pictures were taken (with much regret) but I'm sure he'll be doing it again soon. Now Mason can pass it on to his cousin Taylor!

Our Growing Baby!

I apologize to anyone who finds the next few posts rather boring, but I thought I would share the development of our baby, week by week, with everyone because I find it rather facinating and amazing how we all started and became human beings. So to do this, I need to catch up to where I am currently at in the pregnancy. I have tried to do this as one big post, but the computer would not cooperate with what I wanted it to do (long story). So I am doing each week as a different post so it will look closer to the way I want (just FYI, I am copying and pasting this from a website, so that is why it says "...your baby..."). So here are weeks 4-11!

4 Weeks

This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until ten weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development. Right now your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of her organs and body parts will develop. The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow so that the developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week.Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion her as she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty.

5 Weeks

Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

6 Weeks

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

7 Weeks

Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

8 Weeks

Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

9 Weeks

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

10 Weeks

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. Tiny nails are forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

11 Weeks

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

Almost Week 12...

We are almost at Week 12, so I will just continue to post each week as they come. There were a lot of things I wanted to do during my last pregnancy and I didn't do any of them, so I am trying to do better with all of that with this pregnancy. Some of those things were to keep a record on how I am feeling each week, what progress the baby is making, how big my belly is getting, important info from doctor appointments, etc. This is an exciting time in our lives and it seems to be flying by so quickly. February 14 seems so far away when you look at it as 198 days away, or 6 1/2 months away, or 28 weeks away; but we know it will be here before we know it. We're excited!!

200 Days!!

OK, so for all of you that check my blog on a regular basis, or used to and just got sick of checking because I wasn't doing anything with it, I'M SORRY. Although I keep telling myself I have a good excuse, in the back of my mind, I hate that I am such a slacker lately. Just for those of you who don't know, we are expecting our second baby!! (In fact today is our 200 day mark!) So that is one of the many reasons this blog has remained the same for the past "long time." I have to admit that this pregnancy has been glorious compared to the last one, but I still have the constant lump in my throat, churning stomach (otherwise known as nausea) and MAJOR fatigue all the time. Besides working two jobs, this seems to take all my energy and desires to do much of anything. I am just as shocked as some of you at the fact that it has taken me so long to announce this exciting news on my blog. But the truth is, I'm still in shock with the whole idea. This was not a planned pregnancy, and the timing couldn't be crazier. I had finally decided to start working as a CNA again, so I just got a job with a Home Health and Hospice company and was so excited about it. My schedule is Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-8 and Saturday mornings from 9-2. It is just enough to get my break from being home 24/7 but not be away for too long. I had been working for them for not even two weeks when I found out the surprise. I have to say my boss was quite surprised too! Anyways, so I finally make a big decision (that took me forever to finally decide to do) and as soon as I do, I'm pregnant again. Sound familiar to anyone? Last time I got pregnant, I had finally decided to go back to school and get my Medical Assistant; which I was SO excited about. Then I couldn't even finish the first semester due to constant pewking. So that obviously did not work out! This cycle is quite interesting, and I think I'm learning a lesson from it! So back to me being pregnant again, I am currently almost 12 weeks along and I'm due on February 14, 2009 (Valentines Day). Even through all the surprise and shock of it all, we are getting more and more excited everyday. I just have to say that I am grateful more than ever for the 9 month gestation period because I definitely need it! I am planning on posting more things soon, but we'll see what happens! I am way behind and there are a ton of things I want to post from months ago so you'll just have to bear with me for a while, or just not read this blog for a while...you choose!