Our Baby Boy!

Introducing Ethan Cameron Fox. He came to us at exactly 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 30th 2010. He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long. He has been such a good baby and is so patient with us. We can't get over how sweet he is!

The Birth (from Terral's perspective)

I thought it would be fun to write the birth story from both my perspective and Mary's. It all started on Wednesday the 29th. Mary was tossing and turning in bed that morning. We had slept in although we were both planning on getting up. Right now I know it was divine intervention that led to our sleeping in since we haven't had much sleep since. She was uncomfortable and was apparently having very small contractions. She didn't tell me about it until later that day when she had a few random contractions. We both passed them off as Braxton Hicks contractions and didn't think they were actually leading to anything. That night I was working late on a project and Mary came in and said she had what they call a bloody show. The description isn't pleasant but it basically means that real labor is right around the corner. She also told me that she had been having regular contractions for a little while. They were about 8 minutes apart.

At this point we didn't really know what to do but since it was kind of late I thought that we should go to bed while Mary would be able to get some sleep before she couldn't. She, of course, began to worry about all the things we would need to get ready for the birth since we were planning on having him at home. She wanted to clean the bathroom, at least since she would be laboring in the bath tub. I protested a little bit because I though that rest was more important for her than a clean bathroom but she said she probably wouldn't sleep if she was worried about it. I knew from experience that this is true.

After we cleaned the bathroom the contractions had continued to strengthen and were more regular at about 7 minutes apart. We decided to call our midwife who lives in St. George so that she would have a heads up. She told us to call when the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart and about 40 seconds long. We went to bed at sometime after 12:30 a.m. but between the excitement and the contractions getting stronger it was impossible to sleep. We finally just got up to prepare. It wasn't long that Mary couldn't do much because the contractions were getting strong enough that they took most of her concentration. I was supposed to be coaching her though them but there were so many things that we needed to do and she seemed to be doing perfectly on her own so I went out and shoveled snow so the midwife would have a place to park. I also began getting out all the baby stuff and preparing towels, etc. Right when I got done with the snow Mary had called the midwife because the contractions were getting less far apart and longer. The midwife thought that if she left right then, she would have to wait here for a long time (which is not that unusual). She said just to call back when the contractions were more intense.

Mary had labored in and out of the bath tub, but decided that the tub was better so at this point we were pretty much in the bathroom the whole time. She was working pretty hard with the contractions and I could tell that they were intense. She looked at me and said, very sternly, "call Janae!" I called her and she began getting ready. From there the labor was getting pretty serious pretty fast. I thought that there would still be several more hours so I wasn't too worried about the midwife getting here on time. I was, however, worried about the snowy roads since the weather was so bad. Mary had begun making a little bit of noise though the contractions and she would squeeze my hand but she handled it very well. What I didn't know at the time was that the urge to push had begun. Soon after that she was pushing and I thought it was just some hard contractions.

We had read all about the different stages of labor and the last stage usually accompanies self-doubt. They all said that the mother would say something like, "I don't think I can do it!" Mary never said anything like this. The only thing she said was, "where's Janae!?". This was part of the reason I didn't think that labor had progressed as far as it really had. Our midwife finally came and checked Mary. She told us that she was dilated to a 10 and that he was well on his way. Only a few minutes later he was crowning. Janae asked us if we wanted to drain the tub and have the baby in the other room where we had everything laid out and ready to go but by that time it was too late to move. Little Fox was almost with us. Janae asked Mary to straighten out a little bit and either lean back or squat. As soon as Mary got on her knees to straighten out he started coming. Mary made some smaller pushes and then one big push and he was out. Our midwife was there to guide us but we pretty much delivered the baby by ourselves. Mary reached down to get him but he came out so fast that he sort of slipped through her hands and into the water. We were not planning on doing a water birth but that's just the way it happened. I picked him up and handed him to Mary. I can't exactly explain how it felt but we were both very happy. After that I got the shakes so bad that when I put weight on my toes I bounced up and down like Tigger!

We are very grateful and we feel very blessed to have him with us!

More on labor...

Just a quick update: (5:15 am)

Mary is in the tub right now laboring. She is doing great. I am supposed to be helping her with coaching, etc. but she asked me to set up the camera and get some other things ready. I decided to write an update. We called Janae back since the contractions are getting pretty strong now. It takes most of her concentration and she needs to be lying down during the contractions. I'm not exactly sure how far apart they are but they are getting closer, stronger, and longer. She seems to be progressing rather quickly.

It Begins

So much for catching up on things before the baby gets here. :)  I can hardly believe it, but I'm in labor.  I kept passing it off as prelabor or Braxton Hicks or something, but it's continued for about four hours now, so I guess I just have to accept it!  I can hardly believe that by this time tomorrow our little boy will be with us.

Last Thursday (the 23rd) we had a midwife appointment.  She checked to see if I had dilated or effaced, and there wasn't any progress.  So we traveled to Delta the next day to celebrate Christmas with my family.  Terral was quite nervous about that at first, but then we both felt good about it.  We ended up staying until Tuesday.  On the way home I was quite uncomfortable and I knew something was in the works.  Up to that point I hadn't experienced any Braxton Hicks or anything.  Even though I could tell the process had started, I was still expecting it to be at least a week before I really went into labor.

This morning (or rather, yesterday morning) I woke up quite a bit because of an uncomfortable crampy feeling.  At one point, I thought, "I should look at the clock in case this turns out to be something."  When I did finally look at the clock it was around 10:00 am.  We somehow slept in quite late because we hadn't slept all that well at my parents' and it was very overcast this morning so we didn't have sunlight to wake us.  I guess it's a good thing we did, though.  It's probably the last long sleep we'll have in a long time!

I had mild contractions the rest of the day, but they were really sporadic and I didn't keep track.  Finally sometime after 11:00 pm I decided they were coming close enough I should probably start tracking them.  We called Janae (our midwife) at about midnight.  The last set had been about 8 minutes apart and we thought we should give her a heads up just in case.

I told Terral I really wanted the bathroom clean before we went to bed, so he suggested that I read the Book of Mormon out loud while he cleaned.  (We were on 3rd Nephi chapter 18)  We finished cleaning together, and then Terral gave me a wonderful blessing.  Finally we went to bed to try to get some sleep while we could.  I almost drifted off a few times, but eventually I decided the contractions were intense enough and close enough there really was no way I was going to sleep.  Especially not when I kept thinking of things we needed to do before Janae got here.  So we got up, and now Terral is out  shoveling snow while I write this post. :)  Of course our baby's birth coincides with a winter storm when we've been having such mild weather.  I think the majority of the snow has passed though, so traveling should be manageable for Janae.

I can't explain the emotions I have right now.  I've done as much preparing as I could in these months leading up to the birth, but now I feel so unprepared.  Well, I guess that feeling has mostly subsided since the blessing Terral gave me.  We've got all the essentials.  The projects I wanted to do will just have to wait.  I've got something more important to concentrate on now. :)

Merry Christmas!

 

We want to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!  

We took the pictures for this card when we were in Oregon with my family, so my belly was quite a bit smaller.  I definitely look pregnant now (pictures coming soon!), but I don't really look like we're at 38 weeks.  I blame it on my long torso. :)  We visited the midwife today, and she checked me to make sure we are okay to travel to Delta for Christmas.  I'm not showing any signs of progress, so she gave us the go-ahead.  The due date is in just two weeks, which is mind-boggling to me, but most first-time moms go past the due date, so we think he'll be joining us a little later.  Hopefully that will give me enough time to finish all the projects I want to before he gets here!  But babies don't read calendars, so we're just excited to meet him whenever he's ready!  Hopefully soon I will feel caught up enough at home that I can do some catching up here.  

In the meantime, we hope that you all find the magic of the season as you celebrate the birth of a baby boy--our Savior.

Button, Button. . .

So the other night, Terral and I decided to do a little relaxin' and pick up a movie from Redbox.  After the movie we were just kind of laying on the couch, not wanting to move.  I know you've been there.  Anyway, I can't remember how our conversation started, but something Terral said made me start to giggle.  My giggle made Terral chuckle a bit, which made me giggle some more, which. . .well, you know how it goes. : )  Everything was hilarious.   In between laughs Terral said something about me shaking the baby with my laughter.  I put my hand on my belly and tried to picture him in there while I was laughing, and I started laughing even more.  And I kept laughing because every time I laughed I felt my belly button poke out. 

I just wanted to record an example of how this little boy has already brought joy into our lives.  I wanted to document this pregnancy so much better than I have.  So just for the record, Little Fox, there have been numerous times when I feel kind of down or stressed about school, and then I feel a certain movement from you and suddenly there is a smile on my face.  It's almost magical how those smiles come out of the blue. So thanks, buddy.  We love you.

Some Summer Fun

So, I'm thinking my updates are just not going to happen for a while.  Instead, as a mini sort of catch-up on some of our summer adventures, I will simply refer you to Terral's Unshoes blog.  He wrote about our recent backpacking trip in Ashdown Gorge, hiking in the Barracks, Green River, and a little fun we had on the Virgin.  That way you can at leas see some pictures if you happen to be interested. :)

Quickening

I love that word.  I think it sums up the miracle wonderfully.

For at least a week, I've been thinking I felt the baby move.  I really wasn't sure, though.  Was I looking for something that wasn't quite there?

On Sunday, we went to my nephew's baby blessing.  At the gathering afterward, I was holding little Lucas and sitting next to Terral while we waited to get our picture taken.  Suddenly I felt those little taps from the inside!  I was pretty sure this time, but a part of me still held back just in case. 

The next evening there was no doubt.  Our baby was saying hi!  And even though everything I've read says the husband  usually can't feel it for a few more weeks, Terral was able to be a part of this family communication.  He was so excited!  We sat in bed just watching my belly, and we saw it move!

I think we will have an active one on our hands.  Just like daddy.

Three Years

Yesterday was our third anniversary.  It actually is kind of surprising to me that it's only been three years.  Haven't we always been together?

The past two years we took a quick overnight trip to Crystal Springs, but this year we didn't really feel like going anywhere because of all the travelling we have done and will soon be doing.  We didn't really have time to plan anything, so we just kind of took the day as it went. 

My mom had been visiting us to help organize and make room for the baby (hopefully more on that soon), so we started the day of with squeegie eggs (otherwise known as golden rod eggs) and wishing her a good journey home.  After that we started a painting project for the nursery which lasted into the early afternoon.  We just got all the prep work and the first coat done, but it feels good to have it on its way!  Doing it together made it more fun.

Later, we had a yummy picnic at the pond, also known as The Lake at the Hills (silly city council people--I think that's who named it anyway).  It was only the second time I'd been there, and we had a really good time just relaxing and playing in the water.  Then we felt like renting a movie and using some awesome coupons to get a meal at Quiznos--so we did. :)  Oh, and we bought some chocolate and our anniversary present. 

We don't get each other separate presents for our anniversary.  Instead we decide together on something that we would both like and find useful.  The first year we got a food processor.  This year we bought a circular saw.  I'm excited for the projects we can do now!

It was a wonderful, relaxing day, and I was so happy to spend it with the man I love!

It's coming. . . sometime

I keep meaning to update our blog.  I have several posts in my head, but they keep failing to materialize.  I have time to post when I'm at work, but I don't have most of my pictures.  When I'm at home, Terral is usually working on the computer, or else I have stuff I need/want to do around the house. 

I'll try to do better!  I really want to post regularly just so we can have a record.  I'll work on that.

Too Many Spy Shows

Right now I am reading a fictional book about a spy and Mary and I sometimes watch TV shows like Chuck and Burn Notice which are all about spies. Apparently I need a break because I had a dream the other night about my whole family being spies. For those of you that know my family well this dream might make you laugh.

In the dream we were a private team of operatives so we were not employed by the government so we were kind of like mercenaries. Somebody had invented a device that you could put in a car and improve gas milage dramatically. You could run on one tank of gas for several months. The oil companies bought it out and held very tight control over it and only sold it to special people and you had to have a certain kind of car. One of the few cars that they would install it on was a lamborghini. Our mission was to obtain one of the devices that we just called the generator and figure out how it worked so that a knock-off could be built and sold to the masses. In order to get the generator we had to have a special car. We found that a fancy hotel was giving away a lamborghini so we decided to steal it! (Don't worry, we planned on returning it.)

Each member of the family had a specific role. My dad was the guy that would engage small talk and distract certain people while the car was being taken. His objective was to get them talking and forget about everything else. My brother-in-law Chris and I were the guys that did the dirty work. We were the ones that had to infiltrate the hotel and steal the car. We had to disable alarms and all that sort of stuff. Chris is an engineer and so he could figure out the alarm systems and stuff. My two brothers Jaymon and McKade would pretend to be customers of the hotel and were in charge of keeping a lookout for Chris and I. My mom was the controller and the getaway driver for the team. She watched and listened to the whole operation from a safe distance. My sister Heather was the negotiator/persuader. If we needed to sweet talk somebody into letting us in the door or anything like that, it was her job to do it. I don't really remember what Mary did but I think she helped Heather. I also don't remember what my sister Erin did but her husband Corey was like a guard. He was the muscle of the group! I also vaguely remember Mary's sister Lynae being involved as well. The funny thing about this is that we could all probably play these roles in reality!

In the dream we successfully stole the lamborghini but I stopped casually to chat with a friend that I saw at the hotel. The funniest part of the dream was that we had to push start the lamborghini when we took off! That is all I remember. I don't know if we ever got the generator.

Update

So, in case you haven't guessed, we're really excited to be parents!  And we're really glad to let everyone know finally! We had a hard time deciding when to spill the beans, but after hearing the heartbeat yesterday, we knew all systems were go!

I've been writing posts about the pregnancy, but I didn't publish them until now.  If you're interested in knowing what went on before, just click on the baby label.

By the way, I'm twelve weeks along, and our baby is due in January.  Oh, and I've thrown up a grand total of 4 times so far.  Not bad!

Miracle

I heard a miracle today.  It's growing in my tummy.  Who knew a fast little heartbeat could mean so much?  I'm going to be a mommy!  And Terral is going be an awesome dad.

Fun in the Rain

Well, this week we were supposed to be enjoying sunny Lake Powell.  A wrench was thrown into that plan when we found out the boat we were going to take is broken.  Fortunately, we found that out before we left.  Anyway, we were feeling a little bummed about it, so we decided to do something fun over the weekend, in spite of the rainy forecast.  The smell of the rain was reminding me of mountains and childhood trips for some reason, so we decided to head up the canyon (where it was even colder--call us crazy if you like) and have a little picnic.  Terral's parents came along to give us some good company.  Aren't they cute?

It certainly was chilly, and we definitely heard some thunder, but we had a really good time!  We cooked up some chili to warm us up, and Terral and his dad started a fire for us.  We were protected from the rain and hail by the pavilion, and our jackets and blankets kept us warm.  We saw some deer fairly close.  Terral and Chaco had a blast running around together.  I love it when Terral's inner child comes out.  Here he is swinging and playing with Chaco. :)

I risked my life for that?

Last weekend I went on a Youth Conference trip to Salt Lake City. We had a great time mostly walking around on Temple Square going on tours, etc. I think the highlight of the trip for me was the room in the Church History Center dedicated to Native Americans.

We had a few adventures while we were up there so I though I would share one.

After we finished everything that we had planned we stopped to eat dinner on the way home and then it was off to Cedar City. It was just about rush hour and there was some construction near the point of the mountain so it took us about 10 or 15 minutes just to get onto the freeway. After we finally got on the freeway we came to a complete stop. After we had been there for a few minutes I happened to look over to my right and noticed that there was a big construction hammer sitting on the side of the freeway. For some reason I said out loud, "hey look, there's a hammer on the side of the road."

I was riding shotgun with our Bishop. He got pretty excited and wanted to see it. I pointed it out and he promptly said, "go get it!" I hesitated for a second but then I thought that since traffic was totally stopped I might as well. He repeated his desire for me to "get it" several times during these few moments. I went to open the door but it was locked. By the time I got it unlocked traffic had started moving again. Our vehicle was not in the far right lane but in the lane next to it. As I looked back I saw that cars in the lane that I would have to cross was moving more quickly than ours was. It would have been too dangerous to even try. With more urgency the Bishop exclaimed, "GET OUT AND GET IT!".

Since he wasn't going to budge the car until I got that hammer our lane was still stopped while the others were moving slowly. I looked back and noticed that the car in the lane next to us was halfway in our lane and was blocking traffic so I couldn't get run over. I jumped out of the car and ran across the lane to the concrete barrier where the hammer was. I picked it up and turned around to go back to the car but to my surprise it was not there! The Bishop, for some reason, decided to get a head start on me since he was blocking traffic.

I took off running (not very fast since I had twisted my ankle a few days earlier). I thought that he would come to a stop when I caught up to him but traffic was now moving with or without me! He slowed down just enough for me to open the door and dive in as I was running along. Of course just a few seconds after that traffic had stopped again!

Assuming that my Bishop really wanted that hammer and just couldn't get it himself I said, "here is your hammer". His response was something like, "I don't want it, it's your hammer. You were the one that got out to get it.". Since the car in front of us was part of the group they were all very curious about why they looked out the window and saw Brother Fox running down the freeway chasing Bishop's car!

Bike

A couple weeks ago I got a call from one of my friends that recently graduated.  I was surprised because she had moved up north, but she was passing through Cedar on her way back from California.  She told me she had an old bike that she used maybe twice while she was here, and she had just decided it wasn't worth it to her to try to get it up north and fix it.

Terral knows a thing or two about bikes, so we went over there to check it out.  I do have an old bike, but Terral has said it would cost too much to fix it up and we'd be better off just getting a new one.  That hasn't happened for several reasons, one of which is of course money.  Our temporary solution was for me to borrow Terral's bike whenever it worked out.

Anyway, we went over, and even though the bike had sat out under the car port for years, it was still in way better condition than my old one, so we took it home.  Terral put some air in the tires and tightened up a few things, and now it's rideable!  There is still some fine tuning to be done, but I've enjoyed riding it to work in the mean time.  Terral's bike is huge, and this one just fits me better.  Plus we can actually ride together now.  Don't you love it when serendipitous stuff like that happens?

Thanks so much Charity!  I will definitely put it to good use.

Nine Weeks

We had our first appointment with our midwife yesterday.  I was really excited for this milestone.  We had a few questions for her, but nothing like our consultation.  Everything checked out fine.  She said my uterus is about the size of a small orange.  It's going to be bigger than a melon when we're done!  It's hard to see how I'm going to stretch that much, but I trust that Heavenly Father designed me well. :)

I found out that I gained five pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.   I can expect to gain a little more than the average person because my BMI says I'm underweight.  I don't mind gaining more weight as long as it's good weight.  I'm trying to eat well in spite of the fact that eating is just not fun most of the time, and I have good intentions to exercise.  So far all I've done is walk and ride my new bike a bit, but we plan to go hiking and swimming quite a bit this summer.

I've only thrown up once so far, and it wasn't near as bad as I'd feared.  I don't even know how many years it was before that that I threw up last, but the memories are definitely fuzzy.  Anyway, I rode my bike to work and something wasn't right with the chain.  Add to that the cold wind and the motion, and it was just more than my queasy stomach could handle.  The bright side is that I started to feel better rather quickly.

We went down to St. George for the family adventure after lunch.  It was so nice to feel the sun and play in the water!  When we were done we went to Heather and Chris's for a barbecue.  One of their sisters-in-law made a spinach artichoke dip that was heavenly!  I actually enjoyed eating, and it was so great!

We're doing really well, and we're excited for the rest of this journey.  I feel so very blessed.  I keep trying to tell Terral how thankful I am for him, but I still don't think he really understands.  There are just so many things that could be different.  I feel blessed that all of our family members are supportive of our choice to give birth at home, even though they wouldn't choose to do it that way themselves.

People think that it's strange, radical, or hippy-ish to do a homebirth, but we just feel like it's right for us.  It makes sense on so many levels.  We've read all kinds of literature and we came to the decision together, and that's huge to me.  It would be so hard if I felt one way about it and Terral felt another, but we're totally a team on this, which is why I think it will work well.

Another blessing is that our midwife lives really close to the temple.  It's so nice to visit her and then visit the temple and feel the rightness of everything. Yesterday we did sealings.  I love to hear those promises again.

Next time we visit our midwife, we'll probably be able to hear the heartbeat!  I'll definitely keep you updated.

Til next time.

Crazy Family Adventure

My sister and her husband recently bought a house in St. George near the Virgin River. Since they live a few blocks from the river we have been running the river every time we visit them. Well last weekend most of my family came and a some of my brother-in-law’s family decided they wanted to try the river as well. We ran a small section of it and people were floating on anything they could find that floats. Chris brought his air mattress that has a slow leak that he can't find. It goes flat by morning so they don't use it but it works perfect as a raft! On the second round of rafting we got all of the guys on the mattress and stood up. Once someone lost their balance everyone else fell.

My dad drove down river to pick us up. The original idea (at least in my mind) was to shuttle a few of us back to the top to get vehicles but somehow, someone decided that since we were going to run it again we should all just get in his truck and go back to the top. My dad’s truck fits five people if you squish in a little bit. There were 18 people that came down the river and both my parents that dropped us off! Twenty people in a Chevy S10 was quite a sight!


After I snapped this shot I jumped in and then we picked up two more adults that had started walking! 20 people total! In case you were wondering that is an air mattress below my kayak and the pool floaties.

I think the ride back was more of a wild ride than the river itself! Most of the ride back is on a dirt/sandy road but we had to drive through a small, high-class neighborhood. I wish we had pictures of the looks that we got!

We looked a lot like hillbillies but in the end we had a great family adventure that we probably won't ever forget!

Originally posted on Unshoes Blog

A Pee Story

Warning:  The following post discusses bodily functions.  

Well, another sign of pregnancy has become established.  My trips to the bathroom have become more frequent.  The frustrating part is that it doesn't often seem "worth it" because the amount is so small.  I was expressing my frustration to Terral, when he replied, "I'm sorry, I know exactly how you feel."  (For those of you who don't know him well, Terral seems to have a very small bladder.)  I said that I was glad he could sympathize, and he said, "Now that you're pregnant, I feel like you're becoming more like me!"

Dreams

Two months sounds longer than eight weeks to me.  In apparent celebration of the 1/5th mark, my brain decided to dream about a baby last night. :)  I've dreamt about pregnancy before, but not about actually being a mom.  It was pretty insane.  Anyway, in my dream we had a little baby boy.  Who knows what that means, but I admit I have thought of our baby as a he more often than as a she today.  But there were some weird elements of my dream beyond skipping the whole rest of the pregnancy and delivery.  I was feeding my baby mushed broccoli when suddenly I realized that he was a newborn and not old enough to eat solid foods.  Boy did I feel stupid.  Luckily I woke up and I realized I still had lots of time to prepare to feed our child properly. :)

I've heard that pregnant dreams can be pretty wild.  I normally have weird dreams (does that qualify as an oxymoron?), so I'm not sure I'll be able to tell.  But there definitely has been a change in subject matter as of late.

Speaking of dreams, it's time for bed again.  Sweet dreams!

(*edit:  I've since had a dream that we had a little girl, so your guess is as good as mine!)

Good News Tuesday

Yesterday was a really good day.  Completely different from Monday (the day before) when I was feeling tired, overwhelmed, discouraged, pressured, and a little scared.  Part of the reason I was feeling that way was that the grant I had been awarded was taken away because they decided I wasn't eligible after all.

Tuesday morning started with a meeting with my mentor teacher.  The meeting went really well, contrary to my nervous expectations, and I felt like it was very productive.  Plus, I got two pieces of good news.  1)  I don't have to wear only collared shirts like the email said.  This is excellent news for one who will necessarily be wearing maternity clothes.  2) She's willing to work around my being gone on a family vacation in Oregon even though it's the week before the school gets out on break and we will have a concert sometime close to that.

After my meeting, I came home and we had lunch before we headed to St. George to talk to a midwife.  We had called every single number we could get our hands on, and she was the only one to call us back to make and appointment. (Well, besides the one who called to tell us she isn't practicing anymore.)   We had a really good meeting with Janae.  We were both really comfortable with her, she answered all of our questions and then some, and she was just real.  She seemed very knowledgeable and she gave us reasons for why she does the things she does.  She also let us know different options we have, and she encouraged us to talk to several different midwives before we decide who we'll go with.  She thinks new parents should make educated decisions, so she gave us a list of books and websites we can refer to.  I could go on and on about all the reasons we liked her (Terral and I talked for quite a long time about it), but one of the biggest things is just how we felt when we were there.

After the meeting, we got some more lunch (to stave off my queasiness) and sat down to eat it.  Terral got a call from another midwife, and we were able to meet with her shortly after.  It was a completely different experience.  She was nice enough, but the minute we walked in the door, it felt like walking into a wall.  We immediately knew that she wasn't the right midwife for us.  We stayed for a while and asked questions so as not to be rude, but we left as soon as we felt it was acceptable.

We have one more meeting with a midwife, but we're pretty positive that we've already found the one for us.  We have felt so guided in this decision, and it's been a huge blessing.

We rounded off our good day with a visit to the temple, and then a visit to Heather and Chris.  Who could ask for more?

A Girlie Getaway and Other Events

In celebration of school getting out, we got together with my family to do a big FHE and have some girl time. Terral and I carpooled up with the Downwards. Playing with kids and good conversation made the ride seem a lot shorter. Ryan saw Terral with a marker and immediately wanted faces drawn on the bottom of his toes (something his grandma D does sometimes). Both the kids were entertained by this for a good half hour at least.

Sorry the pictures aren't that great. They are the natural result of a cell phone camera and a moving vehicle.

After the drive, we had a wonderful FHE at the Lisonbee's house (more on that later) and then it was off to the Thompsons' for all the female folk. The menfolk kindly stayed behind to watch the kids and put in some new windows the next day.

We had a fabulous time exploring Nae's new home and hot tub. We exchanged clothes, talked, laughed, ate chocolate covered fruit, and pampered ourselves.

I was especially pampered at one point with Diane rubbing my feet, Sarah massaging my head, Rach doing bodytalk, Lisa matrixing, and Lynae feeding me strawberries. Okay, so it was a little staged, but we really did have fun making each other feel special.

Lisa brought some facemasks for us all to try, and we couldn't help but take a picture. Don't tell me you aren't glad we did. ; )

Since it was Mother's Day weekend, I had prepared a few gifts. For my sisters, I made seed tape flowers. I got the idea here. For mom, I made a sugar scrub (adapted from this) and a crochet scrubber (pattern found here).

Terral and I spent Saturday evening with Sarah and Kyle. We went to a dollar theater to watch Percy something-or-other and the Lightning Thief, which actually wasn't bad. It was better than expected, and Terral and I felt we got our money's worth. :)

After church on Sunday, we had a tasty Mother's Day meal with Sarah, Diane, and families. Terral did a fabulous job barbecuing the lobster and corn. I actually did try a bite of the Lobster. It wasn't very fishy, but it was kind of rubbery, and I decided I was very well satisfied with my chicken.

Thanks for making our holiday weekend so fun family!

Week Seven

It's amazing to read about how fast babies grow, especially at this early stage. It still kind of boggles my mind that I'm pregnant! The signs are there, and there really is no doubt, but I look and feel so much like my normal self, I have to keep reminding myself that it's true.

I thought it was noteworthy that my little blueberry sized baby is developing his or her vocal cords this week. This is a very momentous occasion!

It Starts

I had my first urge to throw up Saturday morning. Apparently it wasn't a very good idea to have egg for breakfast. Sunday was mostly fine. Today I had just had a banana for breakfast and was reading my student teaching handbook in our warm car. I think the heat brought on another wave, and I had a hard time keeping that banana down. Thankfully, nothing has come up so far. :) As unpleasant as it is to want to throw up, it is comforting considering the spotting I've had for the past week.

Unshoes

Well, school is out, and it feels great! At least, as much as it's sunk in so far. ; ) I'm trying to get our apartment in order so I can concentrate on other things. We have a lot of stuff. Isn't it crazy how it all adds up?

I'm still planning on doing my handmade stuff, but Terral has beaten me to it. He's just opened up a new Etsy shop called Unshoes. We're excited about it, and I hope you'll check it out.

He's been wanting to make sandals for a while now. Chacos were his sandal of choice, but he got frustrated with them because you're not really supposed to wear them in sandy places or they wear out fast. Well, avoiding sand is not really an option with us, and it's just impractical to re-thread them every time we take a trip. Besides that, Chacos are expensive, and they're kind of heavy. So Terral came up with Unshoes.

Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/unshoes

Have a fantabulous day!

Awesome

During spring semester, I was asked to sing my recital duets at several functions.  The last one was some sort of event for important people.  I never did really find out exactly what it was.  But they fed us free food, so I didn't mind not knowing. :)   After we sang, we got a surprise.  The man in charge said they'd get our certificates to us in a couple weeks.  Certificates?  "Oh, you didn't know?  We're giving you gift certificates to Milt's."  Sweet!  The certificates proved to be good for either Rusty's or Milt's, which are owned by the same people.  For those of you not familiar with Cedar, they are a couple of Steak and Seafood restaurants that I never thought I would eat at simply because they are rather expensive.  And I don't care for steak or seafood, but that's another discussion. . .  So the sum of this little story is that I sang for my supper.  And I basically got three meals out of two songs, since I got enough food at Rusty's for lunch the next day.  Really, it's five meals if you count Terral's two.  Not bad, eh?  But as cool as that is, the meal at Rusty's represents something even better.

We saved the certificate until April 29th.  We decided to use it to celebrate.  And what were we celebrating, you ask?  Some very special news.  Earlier that day we found out that I'm pregnant!  So the following pictures (unfortunately taken with a cell phone in bad lighting) are of some super happy, slightly dazed, expectant parents! 

Funk

I was trying to come up with a word that describes some of what I've been feeling lately, and funk popped into my head. Eh. It works. Thankfully, there have been a few fun & funky moments to lighten the funk. (sorry, bad joke--just gettin' the dumb out)

This week has honestly been a lot better. We haven't had any snow yet (*yay*), but more importantly I've just felt lighter inside. You know how sometimes it just has to get worse in order to get better? Well worse was last week, and better is this week. The end of the semester seems so much more of a reality. It should--it's only two weeks away. I still have a lot of homework and projects, but I now feel I have the power in me to complete them. It was hiding for quite a while there. Sometimes it's just so hard to buckle down and do what you know you have to, when there are so many other things that you want to do that are also important and that would improve your life. Unfortunately, the things that I felt I had to do have timelines, so they have kept pushing the other things back. I hope I'm not being too confusing here.

It's been a long time since I've really posted. I've done a couple fill-ins, but nothing that's really me. I've kind of felt that it would take too much time to set up the background for what's going on in my life. When school gets out has become a too-frequent part of my thinking and conversation.

Although I've let some things I want to do (to live, really) be on hold, I have forged ahead into some new areas. Last semester I was introduced the world of craft blogging. I found so many good ideas! But I put off "crafting" at first because "I should be concentrating on school, etc. right now". Finally I just decided to heck with it and I started crocheting again. I don't think I had crocheted anything since before my mission. It felt so good to be making something tangible again. It started out with a few gifts, and then I started getting requests from my friends. I've sold a few things now, and it's turning out to be a multi-faceted blessing. (Random note: that word reminds me of my mom b/c she always told me that girls are multi-faceted like diamonds.)

I've been taking pictures of the things I've made, intending to create a craft blog where I can record what I've done and feel a sense of accomplishment. :) I decided I wanted to do that in January. Here it is April, and I'm not really any closer to it--except that school's almost out. (You see? There it is again.)

Well, now that it's out in the open I guess I've put some more pressure on myself. It's all about accountability when it comes to goals, isn't that right? Maybe I'll even go so far as to give myself a deadline. Let's say I'll have it by the end of May. That way, any of y'all who care to can start to give me flack if I don't get on the ball.

Now you know one of the things that has been making school feel so interminable. OK, I'll stop my rambling now. ; )

April Fools

It seems Mother Nature has a sense of humor. Ten inches worth.

V-day in Appropriately-Red Rock Country

For Valentine's Day, Terral and I felt like getting away. We took the opportunity on Saturday, since I had rehearsal on Monday. We headed south about 25 minutes to get a taste of spring. We've picnicked by Silver Reef before, so that was our original destination. Part way there, Terral asked how I felt about exploring a little. Since I was not at all opposed, we exited at Leeds, found a random dirt road, and went hunting for some sandstone. We ended up in Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Neither of us knew it was there, so it was a fun find. The signs aren't incredibly visitor friendly, but we enjoyed discovering things on our own. We had a lovely lunch, and then we got to know our surroundings a bit better.

A disadvantage to going somewhere with just the two of you is that there is no one else to take a picture of the two of you. Single shots aren't that bad though. ; )

I love the fact that it felt so nice outside, but you can see the snow-covered mountains in the distance.


I found this little puddle with a couple rocks in it. One of them kind of looked like a writing tool, and I was inspired. . .

What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.

The sand was so smooth, soft, and inviting.

We found a cool canyon. . .

an awesome large-scale rock garden. . .

a seasonal waterfall. . .

and a beautiful pond.

It was a wonderful day.

NATSAA

Every other year the National Association of Teachers of Singing holds an Artist Award competition. Contestants prepare fourteen songs that fit specific criteria and the judges choose fifteen minutes' worth of songs.

The contest was on Friday. I placed third. : ) The guy who won has been singing professionally for three years. The girl who placed second is a second year grad student. I was one point behind her.

Yeah, I feel pretty good about that.

In Love Again

Tuesday evening I went to Salt Lake with the department chair, his wife (our accompanist), and four other students. We sang in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was awesome! First, I sang "Uzh Vecher" from Pikovaya Dama with Charity. Then I sang "Mira, O Norma" from Norma with Theora. Sarah and Kim finished it up with the Flower Duet from Lakme. The acoustics in that room were awesome. Before we left, I had decided to just have fun with it and stop the stressing, and I can't even tell you how much fun it was. It was so great just to be performing and making people happy without being under critical scrutiny. (I love my teacher, but. . .) The high C at the end of "Norma" just felt so good! I wish I could have been that open on my recital, but I guess I'll just be grateful it was decent.

So many people came up to us afterward just gushing sincere compliments. We surprised everyone! "Wow" was an oft-repeated word. The first man to come up to us told us his wife was going to hate him because he'd told her not to come, and now she'd missed out on hearing us perform. (I later found out he is the lieutenant governor, Greg Bell.) One of the servers was a music student at the U. He (reluctantly) told us that we did really well and that he had no idea there was such talent "down south".

I don't want to sound full of myself or anything. This is the first year that I can honestly, critically tell myself that I really am good at singing. And I feel okay about not qualifying that. People were complimenting us, and I was just so happy to have made them happy and to feel their sincerity. It was amazing. I can't tell you how good it felt. And it was so good just to get away from school and opera rehearsal for a day.

Another ingredient to the "love potion" has been my practicum. Visiting the high schools has gently reminded me of my love for singing and teaching. I pretty much had no idea what I was doing when I was in high school, but I loved doing it! Now I have a really good foundation and I can focus more on what I love to do, and not so much on how to do it.

I just wanted to remember this milestone. Singing at a Rural Legislators Conference may seem like small beans, but somehow it made a huge difference for me.

I feel like I've finally found my voice.

Artwork

I have had a blog for some time now but I didn't really do anything with it. I have decided to start it up again and post some of my non-commercial/fine art type work. If anyone is interested here is the link.

Feel free to take a look and leave a comment.

Why I Love My Husband, Part II

So a couple days ago I was at work. I won't go into the details of what happened, but an unreasonable and haughty lady ended up yelling at me and my friend/co-worker. It was sooo uncomfortable and embarrassing. And she was the type of person that just thinks they're right and won't listen to reason. So we apologized a couple of times for what she was mad at (after which she of course had to repeat herself) and finally she left. We were both rather shaken up about it, and we talked for a bit. I told my friend that really we shouldn't worry about it too much because she was just one person, and tons of other people have really enjoyed the exhibit, and she just handled it badly, and that's not our fault. Well, I knew that my friend was the kind of person to take stuff like this to heart (not unlike myself) and I felt really bad for her. Most of the bad vibes were directed at her, and she had just gotten done telling me about all this other stuff that she's going through right now. Stuff that just makes you go, "how can people be so mean?" Stuff that should be easy to shrug off because it's so obviously messed up, but that really just hurts.

Anyway, after my friend left, I just couldn't concentrate on anything and I just kept thinking about it. Finally I called Terral. He happened to be on campus and said he could come over to talk to me a bit. So I spilled out the whole story and he mostly just listened, but that was what I needed. He let me know he didn't think I should worry about it because it was the lady's fault. I felt better, and I was able to get back to doing the things I needed to.

Later that evening at home, the subject came up again. I told him all the reasons that I was hurting for my friend. I had left her a message afterward, hoping to cheer her up, but I hadn't heard back. I thanked Terral for being so good to listen to me and help me feel better. His response?

"Well, you're carrying a lot of weight for your friend right now. The least I can do is carry a little weight for you."

And that's why I love my husband.

You're Invited. . .

(Click to enlarge)

I figured I'd better at least post this in a timely manner. :) This is part of what's kept me away from the blog for so long. I have loved being in school, but I really am looking forward to being done with it. And my SENIOR RECITAL means that the end is near! It's actually going to happen. This is my last semester of classes, and then I student teach in the fall. And next December, I will be the proud recipient of a Bachelor of Music and a secondary education level I license. Whew.

I know most of you won't be able to actually come to the event, but the beautiful part of this invitation is that it's for all y'all. :) My recital will be webcast, so you can watch and listen from the comfort of your home if you so choose. Here is the link: http://www.suu.edu/pva/music/webcasts.html Webcasts happen in live time and are not archived, so the date and time do still matter.

Hope to see you there!