It's Official

I have become a crazy pregnant lady who dances on the x-box kinect and bounces on an excerise ball all day.  I went to my doctor yesterday and got the unfortunate news that baby is not coming anytime soon, so now my life consists of dancing and bouncing on a ball.  I might try some old wives tales tonight to induce labor but who knows, I guess this is just another chance for me to learn that I am no longer in control and that he will come when he is ready. Oh well for now I will just wait and continue to bounce on my ball and wait for the green light.  Hope your Christmas break is going great!

The Little Things

This week I am particularly grateful for a couple of things....

 1. That I am officially considered this! Going to school at BYU has had its challenges but the pros of going to this school have FAR outweighed the cons.  I feel extremely blessed to have parents tell me they would only pay for me to attend school here.  Although BYU isn't for everyone it's exactly what I needed in my life.  I will forever be grateful to parents who helped jump-start me on a path to a successful life.  One where religion and school go hand-in-hand.

 2. These lovely things

I know what you are thinking, I am a total freak to be grateful for these.  However my two things go hand in hand.  This week my morning sickness has decided to strike back with full force and I have spent every single day throwing up.  I tried leaving the house yesterday only to find myself throwing up in the Taco Bell parking lot...sorry to anyone who saw.  Therefore I am extremely glad that I am done with school so that I can run down the hall/ live in the bathroom until my body decides to stop getting sick or this baby comes.  I personally am hoping for the later.  Anyways I am greateful that I can be sick in the comfort of my own home and I am not a pioneer who has to dig a hole or visit an outhouse. 

So today I am choosing to see the joy in the little things, because it helps me from going insane wondering when this baby will decide to show his face.  Good news is that he has a week to decide if he wants to come on his own before they force him so let the official countdown begin!

The True Meaning of Christmas

I have been wanting to write this post for awhile but I didn't really have the time with student teaching and I honestly didn't know how to bring it up.  However last Thursday I stayed up till 11 (a lot later than my 9pm time that has ruled my pregnancy) but I could not put this book down. 

Literally I bawled throughout the entire book.  Now I'm choosing to chalk this up to the fact that this short story is amazing and filled me with the spirit as opposed to the fact that I am pregnant and literally tear up at everything most things.  But this book presents a sweet reminder of the true meaning of Christmas and what matters most.

Although most people know that the true meaning of Christmas is in the name, Christ.  However this story presents something about Christmas that I hadn't ever thought about.  The first thing that the angel says to the shepards is found in Luke chapter 2, verses 10-14.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ^agood tidings of great ^bjoy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is ^aborn this day in the city of David a ^bSaviour, which is Christ the ^cLord.

12 And this shall be a ^asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men.

Verse 10 holds the key...fear not.  What a simple yet profound phrase.  Because Christ was born each of us has nothing to fear.  I have nothing to fear because I know that he knows and loves me.  I am never alone, he is always looking out for me and will never leave me.  As long as I remember this I truly do have nothing to fear, none of us do.  When this thought hit me I was filled with a immense sense of peace and joy.  How can you know this and not be happy or full of peace?

This book helped solidify my appreciation for Mary and Joseph and all the challenges they faced bringing the Savior into this world.  It also helped ground me to what matters most this season, my relationship with my Savior and giving to those around me.  It also brought me peace on a topic that has continually come up and is at the forefront of my mind these days.    

Throughout this pregnancy the topic of having a baby so close to Christmas has constantly come up. In the beginning my due date was Dec. 29th so people would ask me if I was worried I would go into labor early and have his birthday on Christmas.  Then once we found out that the latest I would go is Dec. 23rd the questions changed to if I was worried about him not feeling special enough with his birthday so close to Christmas, and if I was worried about there not being enough difference between his birthday gifts and Christmas gifts.

From the beginning Jake and I have not been worried at all about this issue. We have  had a lot of talks about how magical we think it is to have a birthday in the month of December.  We both have a strong belief that you make a birthday special but that a birthday doesn't make you king/queen for a day or mean that the world centers around you.  Sometimes that means celebrating it on a different day or receiving gifts that count for both birthdays and Christmas.  Growing up in the church you realize that the world doesn't celebrate Christ's birthday on its actual day.  We choose to celebrate with the world at Christmas even through we know it is likely sometime in April.  I guess I don't feel too bad if we happen to celebrate his birthday on a different day and plan to remind him about Christ if it is a issue for him.    

We also grew up going to school on our birthday, working on our birthday and doing everyday things that go with growing up and everyday life and plan to raise our children with the same understanding and expectation.  With Jake having a birthday Nov. 29th, he frequently got larger gifts that counted for both his birthday and Christmas.  My birthday is 2 days after Valentines day so the older I got the more I also got large gifts that counted for both my birthday and Christmas.  So both of us have the understanding that it is ok to give large gifts that count for both Christmas and Birthdays.

This is just how Jake and I feel about birthdays.  I understand and know people who feel completely opposite, but for me this is why I am more excited about his birthday being close to Christmas than I am worried.  This book helped me find comfort in my belief about having a birthday close to Christmas.  There is nothing better than sharing the celebration of your birthday with the one person who will never let anyone down.  Having a birthday close to Christmas keeps the emphasis on what matters most in life Christ, being charitable and being surrounded by family.  Maybe I should strive to have all my kids birthdays close to Christmas...for now that is way to far out in the future I just want my first baby here before I think about another one.

I think everyone should read this book and think about the true meaning of Christmas, their relationship with Christ.     
 

Tis the Season

This week has been an extrememly interesting week for us...no, unfortunately no baby yet but I'm hoping he decides he wants his birthday sooner rather than later so fingers crossed!!!

 Monday started off with Jake developing Kidney stones and finishing decorating the outside trees with Christmas lights because the weatherman said we were supposed to get a ton of snow-which we didn't. 

Tuesday was Jake's Birthday so we decided to go out to dinner even though he wasn't feeling too great.  I felt guilty because we ended up going to my favorite place to eat, but I didn't suggest it so I don't feel too bad. Great news is that Jake found something new that he loves so now we can go as much as we can afford I want!

  Jake hates that I make him takes pictures but I am trying to get in the habit of taking way too many just enough pictures of our life once the baby comes. So here is a picture of the birthday boy at Zuppas.

Wednesday consisted of Jake not leaving the house because of his kidney stones, and me researching ways to induce labor because I am sick of being pregnant and just want to meet my baby already!

Thursday was pretty much the same with Jake not leaving the house and me dancing to try and get the baby to come out. The major plus to this day was Jake wanted Zuppas again so I got to eat at my favorite place twice in once week! Being this pregnant the only thing more epic then going into labor is eating my favorite salad.   

Friday was a some what disappointing day.  Jake still sick so he couldn't leave the house and I had been secretly praying, and wishing that at my doctors' appointment she would tell me I was in labor and had to be admitted right away to l&d or that my water would break and she would still send me to l&d; those were the only 2 acceptable outcomes.  Instead I didn't see my real doctor because she was delivering someone elses' baby (jealous) and I came to the hard reality that Heavenly Father was not sending my baby to me while Jake was drugged up and in so much pain he couldn't leave the house.  So I decided to change my prayers from the baby needs to come now to get rid of Jake's kidney stones as fast as possible so then the baby can come.  At 10 I decided that I needed a cheery limeade from Sonic so Jake left the house and we both got one because you can't share those and then we looked at Christmas lights!!! So far its only been 2 days of my new prayers and nothings happened but I'm going to keep trying...

Saturday was a great day! Jake woke up smiling which meant that he was feeling a lot better.  I had an amazing baby shower.  Everyone was so nice to go to so much work for us.  I am always in awe of people's generosity.  Between my amazing shower in Hemet in October and the one I had in Utah we literally have everything we need minus the actual baby.  Jake and I went out later that night to look for Christmas gifts for each other and ended up only buying the baby things for Christmas which is pretty typical these days.  We intend to get something for ourselves and instead buy the baby stuff.  But we did find these cute things to put in his stocking!

We went to the Disney store because what child doesn't like that store and found these little soft animals.  Jake loved these two animals as a child and since I refuse to buy our son princess dolls we go with what Jake liked as a child.  But I have decided that I am going to need to cut Jake off from buying stuffed animals for this child. It was like puling teeth to get him to only buy these, our child is going to have more crap than he knows what to do with.  Which at times doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

Sunday consisted of Jake waking up in more pain...I think we pushed the limit going out and walking around the mall and me trying to finish washing all of baby d's clothes (wishful thinking).  But I did find a Christmas gift I plan to get once the baby has come

These lovely green jeans. They are not like anything I normally wear but I can already think of 10 things I can wear with them and the idea of being able to wear normal clothes again so soon has me feeling extremely bold!
Since it is literally impossible to go to church this pregnant we both just stayed home.  Last Sunday ended with me in tears because I was so uncomfortable sitting for so long.  So I decided that until the baby comes I can no longer sit at church. My guilt lasted about 3 seconds until I talked with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who both confirmed that going to church in the end never happens because its so painful. So we are going to take the day to watch Christmas movies, finalize everything we can before the baby comes and to spend the day wishing Jake's kidney stones would go away so that this baby can come!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful week and a great Sunday!