Book Club & Other Stuff

I went to my first ever official book club meeting last night. We had read the book "Good Earth". I really didn't enjoy reading the book--but I thought talking about it a book club was really fun. They had some insights I didn't have. It was very interesting. There were some people with very differing opinions which always makes things interesting. The book was about pre-revolutionary China (late 1800's to early 1900's) and about this farmer who goes from dirt poor to really rich. He basically goes through the whole pride cycle and doesn't really value much beyond being rich and the land he owns. All of the women in the book got treated like crap which is I didn't really enjoy reading it--but, maybe that was really how it was back then. Who really knows. The one bummer about going to book club is that it is at 8:00 on 1 Tuesday night a month. I usually am in bed by 8:30 or 9:00 and I wasn't in bed ready to go to sleep until 10:30 last night and then I didn't sleep very good. So, I am extremely tired today. I also haven't gotten very good sleep for a couple of days so I am sure it is going to catch up to me soon.

Our next book next month is Twilight--which most people in the book club have already read, but it will still be a fun. I reread it last week again and loved it even more the second time through. I still need to read Books 2 and 3. I have read part of book 3, but none of book 2. So, I need to get on top of that.
I also want to know where all of the pregnant women out there get maternity clothes. I thought I always saw cute maternity clothes when I was not pregnant--now that I am pregnant--NO LUCK. I can hardly find anything that doesn't look like a tent or just extremely uncomfortable.

Still sick...thanks for asking

It is just a rainy Friday afternoon in Phoenix and I wish I was home taking a nap!!!
It has been kind of a long week for me. I haven't started to feel better--and everyone keeps asking me how I am feeling. I used to say, oh you know, not too bad. This week I just say SICK and thanks for asking. At mutual on Wednesday like 10 people came and told me I didn't look too good. Then the Bishop (who didn't know I was pregnant before) came up and said you look really tired and you don't look so good. I just sighed and said--I know, I am pregnant. He then took my arm and said bless you my child. It made me laugh--but that was when I decided to go home so no one else could tell me I didn't look too good. Then everyone at work yesterday told me I was looking really pregnant---code for "My goodness, what a big belly you have!". So I loved hearing that 20 times yesterday as well. Then I got home and told that to my sweet adoring husband and he said, "No offense, but you do look really big and pregnant today!" Thanks sweetie!!!!!!
So, after these two days of lovely hints about my appearance I decided I must look like this 24/7.
Attractive, yes I know. (I hope my tongue doesn't stick that far out.)
I guess I don't have that cute pregnant glow thing working for me--I just look fat and sick! I love my life!

Here are some real pictures of my peanut. They did a super intense ultrasound yesterday and did the expansive tour of the child. However, the baby was sleeping and wasn't so easily disturbed, which resulted in some very painful jabs with the wand for extended periods of time until the baby decided to move. Good times. Yes, it is still too early to tell gender, but they are doing ultrasounds every 3 weeks just to make sure everything is developing like it should. This was my 4th ultrasound and without a doubt my most painful.
To watch the baby kick and move its little arms is very exciting. I am 13 weeks tomorrow, so I am out of the most severe danger zone.
I am so grateful for this little person inside of me, even when I throw up, feel like crap, and get painfully poked and jabbed repeatedly at doctor's offices.
If you click on the ultrasound pics, they will get bigger and you can actually see the baby better. It's head is on the left side in all of them.

Some thoughts...

I have to write down some of my thoughts, while I can still remember them (my pregnant brain doesn't work like my pre-prego brain).
I was blog surfing today and I came across 2 blogs on my friend Ashley's blog that really made me think about my own life and my own struggles.
The first one was of a couple who are trying to adopt and they have their LDS Adoption profile linked to their page. It was such a sweet page about how much they want a baby and hope that someone will choose them to be parents. It really made me think.
The other one was a couple who just got married in August and then the husband found out he had a cancerous brain tumor in December. The whole blog was like a daily update of their struggles and what they have been going through. Shortly after the surgery, the nurses asked him who he thought his wife was--she thought he was just his special helper. After she showed him a picture of their wedding day he started to cry. Then, after about 2 months, she was reading her diary to him, and he realized again--for like the 10th time that his tumor was cancerous.
Anyway, both blogs were very tender and sweet and it made me think about my own life and how much more grateful I need to be for the blessings I have in my life. How important each day is and how many things I have taken for granted. We had wondered if adoption was going to be the way to get our family here, and we got pregnant. You could tell by these two families attitudes that they were happy and knew the Lord was watching out for them. We all have our own struggles and I need to remember that the Lord is watching out for me.
One of them listed a quote by Russell M Nelson about patience. It said that if we aren't patient we are telling Heavenly Father that our timetable is better than his. That is a definite lesson I need to learn in my life. This baby came to us in the Lord's time--not mine, no matter how hard I willed it to be otherwise. We have to remember who is in charge.

Okay, that was kind of a random rambling, but I just had to put those thoughts to words before I even forgot what day it was today.

Valentine's Day

So, here is a rundown of our Valentine's Day.

I got up at 5:00am. Left for work at 6:30am. Got to work at 7:30am. Worked until 1:00pm. Drove to my OBGYN appointment at 2:00 where Rob met me. Waited in waiting room until 3:00pm. Had a 20 minute appointment where he checked the heartbeat, gave me some prescription headache medicine, and told me everything looks great. 3:30 went to the Post Office to pick up my maternity garments they tried to deliver. Got home around 4:00. I cleaned up the house because I finally had the energy and some extra time. It felt awesome to have a cleaner house because I have had a really hard time keeping up with that, being sick and tired, commuting, working, YW, etc. Then Rob brought home a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and some cookie dough. We ate the pizza and then we watched Just Like Heaven. Valentine's Day and my birthday are the only days Rob will watch anything even closely related to a girl movie--so I have to take advantage of that.
Then, it was over at 7:30--Rob watched sports and I did laundry and then got ready for bed. It was an awesome Valentine's Day.
He bought me pink roses and a box of really delicious sorbets from Costco. They are Tropical Flavors and they are delicious. I had the lemon one last night and it was actually in a lemon. So, the coconut is in a coconut, etc. They were really good.

Kids, President Hinckley and Peanuts

So, I was blog "surfing" today (randomly looking at other people's blogs that are linked to blogs of my friends). Most of the ones I found had pictures of adorable children on almost every post. Every post also just expressed such love for their children and what a great blessing children really are.
This is my niece Lindsay at Halloween--She was Jesse from Toy Story and I think she is adorable.


It made me so grateful for the blessings I have been given. We have wanted children for such a long time, that when I found out I was pregnant it was a real shocker because we were not expecting it. But, the Lord knows what He is doing and He blesses you with the things you need when you need them. Even though I have felt awful for the past 2 months, it is so exciting to finally be able to share in that joy that children can bring.

I have also been really touched by all of the President Hinckley tributes and postings. He was such a great man and such a great example about so many things. One thing I truly want to emulate in my own life is to try and pattern my marriage after his. They were so happy and in love. My sister sent me this video about President Hinckley and it is just such an awesome tribute. About halfway through there is a picture of President Hinckley at Marjorie's funeral and his face is just so anguished. It makes you realize how deep their love was and how grateful he must be now to be back at her side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DONH655IR1E


I just feel very grateful for all of my blessings--and especially my little peanut. I was going to post some ultrasound pics--but it is so hard to see anything. When they are actually doing the ultrasound I can see stuff (arms, little legs, etc.) but with the actual printout still pictures I don't really see much. So here is a picture of our little peanut.

Tuesday night in Arizona

It is now Tuesday night in Arizona and I thought I would give a quick update.
We saw Jordin Sparks (American Idol winner) at Costco yesterday. She was eating a slice of pizza and drinking a coke. Everyone in the whole store was talking about her. She doesn't look as tall in real life as she did on the show.
We got to do another (3rd) ultrasound of the baby yesterday. The nurse kept laughing because the baby kept waving its tiny little arm and kicking its tiny little legs. It was very cute and fun. They are going to do an ultrasound like every 3 weeks or so, so we will always know what it looks like.
Everybody at my workplace keeps asking my coworkers if I am pregnant. I told them to say that I just can't stop eating and that they are all worried about my weight!! The funny thing is I have lost 2 pounds since I got pregnant, but I have a pretty big baby pouch going on.
That is it for Arizona. I am going to a book club tonight with ladies in my ward--should be fun!