Are you kidding me???....

I have been reading a book that explains pregnancy, labor, and delivery and getting myself prep'd for Levi's arrival. As I was reading with Rick last night I came across a section entitled: Release of your Membranes, your "Water Breaking" and we laughed at the "safety measures" that they felt the need to note to expectant mothers. Obviously someone had a question about this in the past so they felt the need to make special note of it. Here is the text from #5 "safety measure":

I blocked out a word in case anyone is sensitive to certain words... ha ha.

Can you believe that? So, if you are expecting.... consider yourself "educated" in safety measure #5.

The Awful Truth

Not only can we find all answers to life's questions on google, but we can find out if the human race exists and a 6 year old can learn the awful truth for themselves....

Sledding!!

Rick and I went sledding tonight. Well mainly Rick went sledding, I only went down two tiny hills on the tube so it wasn't dangerous for me while being pregnant... BUT IT WAS FUN!!! There is this huge section of hills at this school right by our apartment. I never realized how big the hills were until today when we went to conquer them! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

This is me getting ready for my second hill...

Woo hoo.... I love sledding!

This is Rick getting ready for the BIG hill.Rick going off this awesome jump...
Yep.... he popped the tube on that last jump

Christmas craft

I made a picture holder for both my parents and my in-laws for Christmas. I don't think they read my blog that often so I am posting these two days before they even get them. ;) I'm so impatient...I know.

I got them off this site that was SUPER CHEAP and the girl is the daughter of someone I work with so it was a great referal. I received my supplies and went to my sister's house (the sister I call Martha; Martha Stewart) to paint and decorate them. After my sister helped me this is how they turned out! You put printed pictures in the swirly things. I LOVE THEM! Sorry the lighting isn't the best.

Our New Baby Room

YAY! Rick worked hard to get my old dresser fixed up. It needed a track glued back in for the bottom drawer and some new nobs. I LOVE IT and now it completes our baby room. We still don't have "official" bedding for the crib so I just put down some blankets we've been given in the mean time.

LEVI! WE ARE READY FOR YOU!

The last week....

A few wonderful things have happened this last week that I need to catch you up on!

My cousin and best friend, Jessie, got married. Rick and I were fortunate enough to attend both her endowment and her sealing. Joe, her husband, is the coolest guy ever and we just LOVE him! It was so wonderful to be a part of this!

Jessie's endowment at the Oqquirrh Mountain Temple

Jessie and Joe... married at last! My friend from Australia came to see me while she was vacationing here. I love Ramona!

Ramona at my work... love the Christmas tree!

Thanksgiving came and went all too fast and Rick and I were able to spend some time with his family including his sister from Washington, Maris. Maris and Rick's sister-in-law, Kelsy, also put together a baby shower for Levi and me while the family was in town. Rick and I were so moved at the support and love we felt from the family. They even got us a CRIB in addition to everything else! It was wonderful.

Maris and Kelsy, the shower hostesses The theme was a tea party with little sandwiches and tea cups (which were the party favors). It was so much fun!
We set up the crib, although I still haven't taken a finished picture of it. I am sure I will and you will see it up here before too long!

The up-side of being pregnant!

I hear that after Levi's delivery I won't want to be pregnant for a long time.... however, I want to take this opportunity to document some of the amazing things about pregnancy that make me want to do it again very soon!
1. When you first see that extra line on the pregnancy test and your breath catches for just a second.
2. The look on your spouse's face when you tell him that there will be a new addition to the family.
3. The day you start feeling better after your first trimester and you realize what it was like to actually enjoy food
4. Feeling the first flutterings in your tummy and remembering that there is actually a human growing inside there.
5. Hearing the heartbeat for the first time and knowing things are developing normally.
6. Seeing that little body wiggle for the first time on the ultrasound screen.
7. Feeling the stronger movements inside as your baby grows.
and my most recent new found love....
8. Looking down and seeing my tummy move around on the outside because my cute little boy is so big now!

I'm sure there are more to come, but for now I am just so happy to be going through this experience! I can't wait to have little Levi come into the world and into my arms... YAY!

Big baby!!

I sure hope this doesn't happen to me!!! Wowzers!

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Sleeping and me

First off, I heard you get tired when you are pregnant, but I had no idea it was this bad!
Yesterday for work I had to attend a meeting with my boss for a histories project I have been working on. In that meeting were members of the 70 and other "high up" people and also a couple members from every single department in the church. I knew I was going to be tired especially because this meeting was right after lunch. About 15 minutes into the presentation I was fighting with all I had in me to keep my eyes open. I finally noticed I was slipping off when I started hearing my name and my division announced. The guy presenting was talking about work I had done that he was impressed with and called me by name in front of all these people. And what was I doing?.... SLEEPING! Wow.
My boss leaned over and said, "I didn't know you were famous." I just blushed and admitted to being asleep and apologized if I embarrassed him. He just laughed and said he knew I was asleep!
THEN TODAY... the office is dead because no one wants to work the day before Thanksgiving. My boss is here and a handful of other people. Well I was dozing and my head was doing that embarrassing nodding thing while I sat here at my computer. I decided I would lay my head on the back of my chair for just one second. Then I wake up to my boss yelling down the hall at me while laughing, "Wow! Alexis is OUT!"
Geesh... so embarrassing. I don't know why he hasn't fired me yet!
On a side note, since all of us secretaries had to work today and we were all dreading it I said it should be pink day. Just for fun we all wore pink and some of us curled our hair. Take a look below:

I shop at D.I.

After my excursion to D.I. last night I was so excited to share with everyone my great finds! I got two ties for co-workers, 3 aprons (brand new), a vase, napkin holder (very modern and matches my paper towel holder I already had at home), and a maternity shirt that I have received MANY compliments on! It has been years since I shopped at D.I.

Well one of the guys I work with overheard my excitement for D.I. and sent me this movie! It reminds me of my brother. I was inspired by him. He can find anything and everything you could ever want at D.I. He is the magic D.I. elf!



The sound isn't very loud so you may have to turn it up. The music doesn't actually start until he is in the car driving so don't worry if you don't hear anything right at first.

Halloween costumes

I know this is late, but I needed to post the pictures of what Rick and I dressed up as for our costumes. If you don't get it.... just look closely and think really hard! (The best is that my cousin is pregnant too so I made her a shirt to match mine and we had our hubby dress up to match!)

Chubs

My aunt was telling me stories about when I was an infant. She was talking about how fat I was. She said they would lay me on a blanket and watch me wiggle because I was so fat. I was laughing the whole time thinking about a picture I remember seeing from when I was a baby. I was wearing a pink outfit and I had bright pink skin and a huge stork bite on my forehead! Well I couldn't find the picture of just me but I found the family picture that was taken the same day.

There's no doubt... I was a chub! That just means I was healthy and had a good appetite!!

Would you push the "door open" button?

Imagine you are running late for work. Everyone on the road seems to be going slow and you hit every stoplight possible. You pull into the parking garage, grab your things, and hurry through the parking lot towards the elevator. As you are several feet away a girl that has called the elevator steps onto the empty elevator and turns around to see you rushing to get on with her. She stares at you as you run to the elevator and the doors shut in your face.... sending her on her way and leaving you to wait for the next one.

How do you feel? This happened to me yesterday and I felt so angry at her. I was so curious as to why she couldn't hold it for just two seconds so that I could get to work faster. Then I realized that last week I had been the same situation (late for work) but I was the girl on the elevator that let the door shut on someone else so that I could make it 30 seconds sooner to work. Now how do you think I felt? Terrible!

It really made me think about how I treat people when I am in a hurry, or even just on any average day. Since yesterday I have tried even harder to pace myself, be patient with others, smile as I pass someone on the street, and PUSH THAT "DOOR OPEN" BUTTON on the elevator. It has made a big difference.

Remember the primary song, "Jesus said love everyone. Treat them kindly too. When your heart is filled with love, others will love you." I hope that song gets stuck in your head and helps us all remember how to be more Christlike!

What people say to pregnant women...

So I have been laughing so hard at some of the things the men I work with have said to me.

One guy noticed my haircut and stopped to tell me how nice he thought it looked! I was flattered until he said, "Especially as your face gets more round, the shorter look is very flattering!"

Not too bad right? It is just funny because he said it in front of a girl that I had just told about how people feel they can make fat comments to pregnant women unnecessarily. She had front row seats to witness that.

Then within 10 minutes another guy at work walked by and jokingly said, "Woah, you got your haircut! It makes you look pregnant!"

HAIR CUT!

It is amazing how beautiful a good haircut can make you feel. I had a nightmare haircut about a week and a half ago. I had wretched layers and the lady "thinned" it too much and I had these crazy short fly-aways on top. I was able to make it look decent, but finally decided that it HAD to be fixed since I was beginning to think I was David Bowie!

My friend, Mitzi, had a referral card for her salon which would provide my first haircut there for free! I was anxious, but the girl I got was sooooo good to me and didn't want me to be sad about my hair anymore.

Well... we decided the only way to make it look decent was to chop it off! I was nervous but I LOVE IT!!

Thank you Mitzi for helping me feel beautiful again! Love you!

Double Chin??

Today at work I was helping an older gentleman with some questions over the phone. I have only met him in person a couple times. He looked me up on our online directory to call me today and noticed my picture that goes with my contact information. As I was getting ready to hang up the following conversation occurred:

Him: “Oh, by the way, that's a nice picture of you on the directory.”

Me: Hating the picture, but being nice I said, “Thank you. I don't think anyone really likes their work picture though.”

Him: “Your face is so much thinner in this picture. That must be because you are pregnant now.”

Me: With awe… all I could do was, “Ha ha ha ha ha. Um…. Okay.”

Him: “Oh don’t worry, you’ll get your face back in a few months.”

Me: “Oh good. Thanks.”

Who says that kind of stuff?? Especially to a pregnant woman!!

It’s moments like these that give me stories to tell and more excuses to laugh!

Wiggling and kicking....

Levi has been moving around so much lately! I love feeling him move and respond to sounds. It is truly a miracle to experience this process of giving life to a soul that God has chosen to send to our family.
Sometimes when Levi isn't moving and Rick wants to feel him I tell Rick that Levi is in heaven and the moment and won't be back until later. I'll let him know when he comes back. ha ha. It is good to think of it that way though.
Rick has been a very patient and kind husband. The other night Levi was kicking so much right as I was trying to fall asleep. After explaining why I kept shifting in bed Rick leaned over to my tummy and said, "Levi, your mommy is tired. You should stop moving around so much so she can sleep and be happy." It was so sincere and adorable. And... a few minutes later he settled down and I fell asleep. Good thing we already have an obedient son!
Rick's mom emailed me today and told me of a conversation she had with Rick as follows:
It was funny. The other day I asked how you were, Rick said great, then I said, "And the baby, I guess he is doing ok?" Rick said, "he is moving around lots and having fun!." Then I asked, "So...how do you know he is having fun?" Rick said, "because we are!"
I am so happy that Rick is happy and we are enjoying this pregnancy. I love being pregnant and can't wait to experience the birth of our first born son!

My hero... a WOMAN!

My Neighbor, Wendy, is such a champion. Tonight I was talking to Rick on the phone as he drove to school and I was preparing Orange Chicken for the crock pot. I was putting all my ingredients in and I got to my newly bought bottle of Teryaki Sauce. Now I would consider myself somewhat strong. I know I am definitely not weak, but this bottle would be my true challenge. I told Rick I was having a hard time getting the lid off and I even went upstairs to see if my landlord was home to help me. He wasn't and so I was left to get it off myself. I will admit... 15 minutes later... I still couldn't get it off. But BEHOLD... out my back window I noticed my backyard neighbor outside cleaning her grill. I ran to her and was about to ask if her husband was home, when she offered to try. She grabbed the bottle and gave it a little twist. OFF IT CAME! I felt like a weakling... I am blaming it on being pregnant! Go WENDY!! You are my hero!

Mountains!

I love the mountains in the Fall. The crispy air and beautiful colors. My sister invited Rick and I to join them for some good 'ol FHE fun on a Sunday evening up Millcreek canyon. It was the perfect weather and beautiful scenery.This is us on a Rock! And on another Rock... Eating Smores around the campfire, please remember I am pregnant... thus the bulge hanging from what used to be my mid-section! ha ha.

Jason stirring the fire and Rick playing some guitar

My cute nieces (Claire is a little scary looking)

My beloved sister and I... we are both nerds

And the photo of the year.... both of our faces are classic!

Matchy matchy....headbands

I know you can't tell very well in this picture because my camera phone isn't very good but my co-worker and I have matching headbands! My sister made me one because I modeled it for her online store and then my friend saw it and bought one. We wore them today to celebrate cute hair day. You can't see it in this picture but there is a cute bow in the back and it works really well with pony tails.

That's all. :)

Halloween cookies

Another Good Housekeeping halloween craft. I even stole some of the cookie decoration ideas from the magazine. First we frosted our sugar cookies with a thin layer of white buttercream frosting.... Yummy. Even my friend's cute little baby liked helping.Then we decorated with Wilton's cookie icing, black.
Jacquie is the best cookie decorator in the world! haha
I took a plate up to our landlord and landlady, I was so proud of what i did. I thought they turned out super cute.

Here are a couple more different decorations.

Pumpkin Tree

I saw this idea in GoodHousekeeping... the magazine. I was so excited to try it out.My sister wanted to do the pumpkin tree with me so we went together to get decorations and then she came over and we made our cute trees...We cut out our little ghost and spider hangy thingys... then it was time to shove the branches in our pumpkin. We used fake pumpkins so they would last longer. I'm a nerd... I know. Thanks for playing along Deb!Even our new little kitty liked the pumpkin tree.

Here is a better shot of the tree in daylight. I know it doesn't look like much, but it is sure a cute center piece to our table right now. The best is that after Halloween I can take these scary decorations off and put up these cute leaves we made... that way this decoration lasts all through the Fall season!