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