So our sweet little girl has decided my stomach makes a better pillow than my pelvis. Can't say I really blame her, but it is making me pretty uncomfortable. Dr. Brown said she is in the exact same spot as last week, she could even feel her little toes when she reached in to check everything. Thank goodness I didn't dilate anymore this last week! I'm still at a three, which means tomorrow I get to go in and have them try and manually turn her around. I go in at 4:00 and they give me something to help my uterus relax. Then at 5:00 Dr. Brown will come in and maneuver my stomach to see if they can get her to rotate. There is a chance it won't work or that she will turn herself around again, in such cases we will schedule a C-section for week 39. The procedure is apparently quite painful, according to several ladies who have had it done and shared their stories with me (Thanks for the encouragmenet guys!) =) But I feel like its something we need to at least try. I'm actually not so worried about the actual procedure, I'm more worried about what Dr. Brown told me I had to do to prepare...I can't eat tomorrow! She said I can eat a big breakfast and sip water occasioanlly throughout the day, but I need to have an empty stomach when I go in. No food? Is she crazy?! I can't even go a whole day without food when I'm Not pregnant! Oh well. C'est la vie, right? So, needless to say, I'm not going to work tomorrow. My doctor suggested I take it easy and take a long nap in the afternoon to help with the hunger. Also because I need to be relaxed when I go in.
I realized when I wrote the appointment on my calendar that tomorrow is April 1st. And there is a tiny chance that the procedure can cause me to go into labor. So if you get a text or a phone call from Matt tomorrow telling you baby Gertrude has arrived, I am promising you here and now that it is NOT an April Fool's Day joke! Wish us luck!
Saturday afternoon was the Carroll family baby shower. It was a small group, but we had fun visiting and eating and admiring all the cute baby things! We got lots more cute clothes, some toys, bath stuff, and a couple of beautiful homemade blankets. Here are a few pictures from the event:Then on Sunday we celebrated my dad's birthday. His birthday was last Tuesday, but Sunday was the best night for us to celebrate. The whole family got together for a yummy steak dinner. It had been awhile since we were all together! After eating, we played some fun games and then had dessert. It was so funny when we sang "Happy Birthday" cause Josh and Ian helped grandpa blow out his candles and then they helped him start eating the chocolate frosting off the cake. I wish I had pictures! We had to leave pretty early so Matt could finish up some homework, but we had lots of fun and Kutse and Sobaka got some much needed play time with their cousin, Sadie.
Have you had one of these yet? The famous bowls from KFC? They aren't exactly new anymore, in fact, they've been around for a couple years now. Anyway, I love them! I think they are super yummy and whenever we go to KFC, I order nothing else. However, I am picky about my gravy. I don't like the brown gravy, so I always order my famous bowl with the white gravy. Its so much better! Well, since being pregnant, I have not been able to eat chicken. For awhile there, the sight or smell of it would send me racing for the nearest porcelain god to begin my "worship". As time has progressed, I've been able to handle a little chicken here, a little chicken there. Mostly only if it it surrounded by other flavors. No plain baked chicken for me! Last night Matt and I got off work super late, so we decided to just pick something up for dinner. After months of saying "no" to KFC, the big red sign pulled me in, glowing like a beacon of hope. I started to crave the long-lost (to me at least) famous bowl. We pulled up and Matt ordered my famous bowl with white gravy and then the unthinkable happened. They were out of white gravy! I could have cried! Since I still wasn't ready to take my chances with plain chicken, Matt told the girl his pregnant wife really wanted the white gravy, so we'd just be going somewhere else. Then a beautiful, wonderful voice broke through the crackling speaker, "Hang on a sec, let me see if we can make some more". So yes, ladies and gentlemen, last night KFC made an entire batch of white gravy to fulfill the cravings of a pregnant woman. Three cheers for KFC and the wonderful teenagers who work there! Truth be told, I was only able to eat about half the chicken out of the bowl and my tummy was a bit upset afterwards, but I have never eaten a more satisfying famous bowl. It was delicious!
I'm a woman AND I'm pregnant so I have a bunch of thoughts going through my head right now. A lot of little things happened this weekend so I thought I'd briefly mention them instead of trying to write a bunch of different posts.
Have you heard this song? It is one of my new favorites and I can't listen to it without crying. I have owned Taylor Swift's new CD for awhile, but somehow it wasn't until recently that I really listened to the lyrics. Such a great song for moms!
Friday night Breezy and Suzy came up to Layton to hang out. They missed my baby shower and felt bad, so the sweeties brought us a basket of little gifts, including bath stuff (Hooray! We didn't have any yet!) and some onesies and a couple little toys. Then we played games and watched one of the dumbest movies ever created..."Hot Rod". Matt had been wanting to see it and Suzy owns it, so she brought it with her. Suzy and Matt laughed hysterically at the movie while Breezy and I laughed at Suzy and Matt. All in all it was a fun evening.
Saturday was our first (of two) prenatal classes. The teacher recommended if you still have to work a desk job in your third trimester to sit on a ball instead of in a chair. I gotta say, it is much more comfortable! My hips and back are a lot happier!
After class on Saturday we went to my parent's house and my mom and I decided to go get pedicures. Its been far too long since I had one! They massaged my feet and legs for about ten minutes and it was fabulous! Then, as my toe polish was drying, the lady came over and started painting my fingernails. "For the baby", she kept saying. It was so sweet! She even painted little flowers on a couple of my nails to match my toes.
On Sunday Matt was called to be the secretary in the Elders Quorum presidency. He was extremely surprised by the calling, but I know he'll do a fantastic job. Plus now maybe we can get to know some adults in the ward. Not sure what is going to happen with primary yet. With the baby coming, and without Matt there to help, I have a feeling they might release me too. The primary president hinted at this on Sunday. I think our class is going to be very upset. I hope they know we aren't leaving them by choice!
Matt and I have been searching for months for a changing table to match our nursery furniture. We found some really nice ones, but didn't want to spend $300 for one. I have become a KSL junky, searching every day and on Sunday...our waiting paid off! I looked and someone had posted the perfect changing table! It was the right color, the right style, and the right price. Hooray! We had almost given up and were about ready to buy another one and stain it ourselves to match. Thankfully my parents were willing to drive out to Herriman and pick it up for us in their suburban. We brought it home last night and it is perfect! Thank you mom and dad! And thank you KSL! Disclaimer: Every time I mentioned to people that we were looking for a changing table, they told us we didn't need one. Or they tried to make alternate suggestions. I just have to say that after 10+ years of babysitting for people with no changing table, a separate changing table, or a changing table pad on top of the dresser, I knew exactly what I wanted. I prefer the stand-alone changing table for many reasons. And having two dogs who like to "help" with everything, changing her on the floor every time just isn't an option. Plus its pretty. =)
Today I had my weekly doctor's appointment. Last week Gertrude was head down, in the right position, and I was dilated to a one and a half / 70% effaced (I know, this means nothing). Today I'm dilated to a three (woo-hoo, my mom was dilated to a three for weeks before birth) and 80% effaced. However, the little pill had turned around and is now breech. I know this isn't a big deal yet, but if she hasn't turned back around by next week, Dr. Brown is going to do it manually. Which doesn't sound like much fun. Most babies will turn by themselves by 37 weeks. My doctor's only concern is the more dilated you are, the harder it is for them to turn. So I am not allowed to dilate anymore until after she turns around. How often do you hear women in their last month actually say they want their progress to halt? Well I definitely do! Hang on Gerty, its not time yet!
Last week my mom was looking through the paper and she found a Gertrude Octavia. What do you think? Isn't that the best name ever?? After some prodding, she admitted she found the name in the obituaries. Nice.
As for the comments on my last post, I'm so glad so many women agreed with me! I was starting to wonder if I was expecting too much for a man to offer me his chair! I failed to mention the thing that got me so much about the incident is that the men have been treating me especially nice since I got pregnant. Offering to carry things for me, asking me how I'm feeling, even offering to pick things up for me I've dropped so I don't have to bend down. That is why I was so baffled when these same men wouldn't get off their butts and give a pregnant woman their chair! I am so, so glad I have such a wonderful husband! He offers women a seat on the train or wherever we are regardless of if they are pregnant or not. Moving on... The Good: Yesterday the women at work pulled together and threw a co-worker an emergency baby shower. We normally throw the shower about a month before someone is due, but Mickaela was told she has to go on bed rest. So last week when I found out the news (thank you blogging!) I contacted several women at work and we decided very quickly that she still needed a baby shower before she left us. We also decided to make it a surprise, and it turned out so fun! I think its awesome how quickly all the women came together to help support her! The shower was a blast!The Bad: The parts came from Hoover. They sent us the wrong ones. Again. But we temporarily made them work until we can get a new vacuum. Stupid Hoover!
The Worst: Once again, I am so, so glad I have the husband I do! Some of the men I work with make me remember how lucky I am on a daily basis! I don't normally talk about specific instances on my blog, but this morning's conversation blew my mind so much I just had to share. So last Saturday a guy I work with had his first baby (well, his wife did). Now there is one thing you have to understand about this guy. He's only been married a year and he got married at age 27. Now normally this isn't a bad thing. However, he got married at age 27 because most of the girls he dated didn't make it past the first date. Why? Because they didn't pass his "inspection". Have any of you ever heard the song "15 Pounds"? This is the best version I could find. I couldn't embed it on the blog, sorry, but you are going to have to go to youtube and listen to it yourself. I promise, it will be well worth your time to listen to it and it will help you understand the type of guy I'm talking about. (Don't worry, its not really 7 minutes long. The girl talks for awhile in the beginning and at the end. So go ahead and skip ahead. The song itself begins at 1:47 and ends at 6:33). Go ahead. I'll wait.
Did you enjoy it? Pretty entertaining, huh? Well, the guy in that song is the guy I work with. Somehow he managed to find a beautiful, stick-thin wife. His wife had a baby last Saturday and today was his first day back into work. He sat down and started talking to the guy he sits across from (who, unbelievably enough, is exactly like him. They both married stick-thin wives and are quite pudgy themselves.) So the first conversation they have is not about how his wife is doing. Its not about how his new baby is doing. Its not even about his lack of sleep! Its "Yeah, my wife is losing the weight pretty quick. She retained a lot of water, but she has a personal trainer to help her work it off. Her goal is to be back to her original weight in two weeks". TWO WEEKS?!?! I'm no expert, and I've never even had a baby before, but aren't you supposed to wait like six weeks before you even START to work out? Not to mention you are supposed to keep some weight on if you are breastfeeding, right? I just feel like I walked into douchebag city this morning! My real question is whose goal is it really? Is it her goal to lose the weight that quick? Or his "encouragment" that has stemmed such a speedy process?
So yesterday at work we had a meeting in the largest conference room. Well, since the entire company doesn't fit in the room at once, they split us up into our units (75-100 people). I happen to belong to one of the largest units and when it was our turn to go to the meeting, I was talking to someone and got in there late. Meaning=there were no seats left. I stood in the doorway beside the back wall for about ten minutes before I started not feeling so good. Keep in mind my unit knows me well, they all know I'm pregnant, and many of them looked back and saw me standing there. Maybe I've just been spoiled because my husband is such a gentleman, but I was amazed that not one out of over fifty guys offered me their chair! Finally, when I had reached the point where I was debating plopping down on the floor or just going back to my desk, a sweet lady I work with gave up her seat for me. A LADY! Now tell me, where have all the gentlemen gone??
Ihope everyone hadafabulous St Patty'sDay!Anyone who knowsMattknows that St.Patrick'sDay is hisfavoriteholiday (after Halloween)andthat he isobsessedwith all thingsIrish.So, of course,wemade sure tocelebrateyesterday! In myfamilygrowing up, mymomalways made us aspecial breakfast onSt.Patrick's Day. Wehadgreen pancakes andgreeneggs and greenorangejuice, are yougettingthe pattern here?Iwanted to dothesame, but being eightmonths pregnant andhavingto be toworkby 7:00am, itjustwasn't going tohappen.But I amexcitedto be abletostart this traditioninmy own familycomenext year! Soweboth decked outingreen. Matt worehisnew green St.Patrick'sDay shirt fromOldNavy and hisgreenbaseball cap withaclover on it andI wore agreenshirt and greenearringswith a clovernecklaceand I evendidgreen eye shadow.Iwas going togetpictures, but itdidn'thappen. Sorry. Fordinnerthat night wehadthe traditional cornedbeefand cabbage (Yummy!) withgreen mint browniesfordessert. And sinceSt.Patty's Day isknownas a drinkingholidayand we aremormon,we had bottledcreamsoda to drink.Sohow did youcelebrateSt. Patrick's Day?
My last day of work is April 15th. Yes, I quit my job today. Woo-hoo!! You see, Matt and I have been trying to figure out what to do about work once the baby comes. Originally I was going to take a couple months off and then go back to work twice a week and have the grandma's watch her. But we never felt settled with that decision. In fact, every time we talked about my returning to work, I felt sick. Not to say my mom or Matt's mom wouldn't have done an excellent job, it just didn't feel right. So after months of praying and considering all possibilities, we decided I need to find something I can do from home. That part is still in the works. But as of today, I officially only have 18 more days of work and I AM ECSTATIC!!!
I promised I'd keep you posted on the nursery as it continues to improve for Gertrude's arrival. Last week I washed all the bedding so her crib looks super cute! Then yesterday, Matt and I put the vinyl lettering up above the crib. I LOVE the way it looks! Thanks Tena, you're the bestest! Matt pulled out the camera to take pictures and Kutse immediately got up and posed right in front of the crib. It was super cute. Sorry the pictures are a little fuzzy, but hopefully you can still read what it says.Also, my mom made us a beautiful quilt for our bed. I'm super excited! We never got a quilt when we got married, so my mom has been working on it for the last year for us. As I'm sure you can see from the pictures, the quilt has been sitting in the crib since she finished it last week. We wanted to wait until after the dogs were bathed before putting it on our bed. So Saturday afternoon they both got a bath and Sunday we finally put the quilt on our bed. Thanks mom! We LOVE it!! Isn't it gorgeous?
And I don't mean dirt, like its supposed to. You see, our vacuum is broken. It has been for some time. Before you think "Ew gross!" don't worry, I have been borrowing the neighbor's. But I want my vacuum back! Its difficult having two dogs who shed and not have a vacuum at your disposal. Matt and I bought a very nice bagless (there's no other way to go when you have dogs) Hoover vacuum right before we moved into our house. It was on sale and we had a coupon, so we got a really good deal on it. Its been a wonderful tool for the last year or so until about two months ago. Matt went to clean out one of the filters and noticed the manufacturer had screwed up. They had glued in the filter! We checked online to make sure, and sure enough, the filter was supposed to easily pop out of the frame to be cleaned. So Matt called Hoover who told us we could purchase a replacement filter for about 89 cents plus $5 shipping and handling. We didn't exactly feel like paying five times the actual filter price to have it shipped and were told that any vacuum store should carry what we needed. LIARS! We spent the next week or so calling vacuum stores and being informed that none of them carried ANY parts for our particular vacuum. So, Matt called Hoover again. After being on hold for twenty minutes he was finally able to talk to a human. She knew nothing about vacuumes. She had a book in front of her with all the names of parts people could order, and that was about it. After trying to explain to her for another twenty minutes what part it was we needed, she passed Matt on to a supervisor. Only he wasn't passed directly, oh no. He had to listen to lovely elevator music for another half hour before he was able to talk to another person who had no idea what we were in need of. Finally she understood (or so we thought) and we paid to have the parts shipped. Another two weeks passed. The parts arrived in the mail...Hooray! Yeah, right. We opened the box and the lady had sent us a very random assortment of parts that weren't even filters, let alone the filters we needed. You would have thought my husband was a sailor that day.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you think the manufacturer of a product should know something about their own products?? Why was it so difficult to get a few simple pieces? Yesterday Matt called Hoover again. After talking to yet another person who knew absolutely nothing he was assured that she would have her supervisor call him back. We were losing faith in these people to follow through, but she actually did call him back yesterday afternoon! And the peasants rejoiced. She claimed she knows exactly what we need and shipped the parts. Thankfully she did not charge us again. But this is the last chance. If they don't send us the right filters, we will be throwing our vacuum away (most likely through the front window of a Hoover store). It may not seem like it, but I have given you the readers digest version of this story. Needless to say, Matt and I will NEVER be buying a Hoover again! I put a picture of our vacuum up as a warning. Do not buy this vacuum! Hoover screwed up with this model and glued in a filter that should be easily removable. And everywhere we've looked, places have close out deals on this particular model. Gee, I wonder why.
My question to you is what brand of vacuum do you use and do you like it? We need suggestions on what to buy next...
This has been an awesome week for baby showers! Starting with my work shower on Thursday, and then on Saturday my mom had a family baby shower for me from 12:00-2:00 and then a neighborhood/friend shower from 2:00-4:00! It was nice to see so many people that I haven't seen in a long time! Gertrude got so many nice gifts! Thanks again to everybody who came! We got lots and lots of clothes, some more blankets, books, diapers, and a pak-n-play. The food was super yummy (thanks mom!) and the company was great! It was a really fun day! Thanks to my sister, Kristine, for taking pictures! There aren't too many of people at the shower but plenty of my super cute nephew helping me open gifts. He was so funny! Whenever I got clothes, he threw them on the ground. But he wanted to play with all the toys I got and he was really excited about the blanket my cousin, Margaret, made for me. I didn't think I'd get it back! =)
My wonderful mother-in-law purchased a dresser for us on Saturday to match our crib so yesterday I was able to spend the day washing clothes, bedding, etc. and finally start putting things away. It was so fun!
I have been debating whether or not to join in on the fun, mostly because I will have a newborn in about two months. Woo-hoo! No sleep! But I'm feeling especially creative today. Besides, who doesn't love presents? So here goes:
The first five people that respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It’ll be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it’s going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry, a picture, or maybe even some creation I haven’t even invented yet. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
*Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!
P.S. I realize I have become a blogging maniac this week. Blogging every day (if not more). But you have to realize one thing: work has been super slow. When work is slow, my mind tends to wander, when my mind wanders, I think of all the things I could be blogging about. (Yes, I am addicted). So in case you've been curious about the flood of posts lately, that is why.
The fabulous Errin, Rose, and Tena from work threw me a baby shower during lunch today! It was super fun! Since there are about 70 women who work at WesTech compared to the 250 men, its become tradition to have baby / bridal showers during lunch for all the ladies when a female employee is expecting or engaged. We had crescent sandwiches and then everyone brought salads and desserts to share. It turned into quite a spread! We ate and visited and then opened presents. I feel funny being the center of attention, but we got some really great stuff! Another tradition is collecting money from people at work to go in on a group gift. So you can afford to get the person something really nice. We got lots of clothes, some books, a diapers, wipes, wipe warmer, blankets (including a beautiful handmade crocheted blanket from Gloria), and a couple handmade bibs. Then for the big group gift they got us a diaper bag, a diaper genie, a bouncer, and a swing! They had the swing all set up with cute pink bows on it. Errin told me I had to "unwrap" it and act surprised. Errin and Rose also made these super cute party favors with pastel M&Ms and baby girl rubber duckies. Here are some fun pictures:
I'm climbing up on my American Idol soapbox for a moment, so bare with me. I am very unhappy with the results from last night's show! Not one of my top picks made it through! I like Jorge, I think he is a great singer and he seems to have a really cute personality. But I thought Ju'not was better. I was sadly disappointed to hear he didn't make it into the top 12. Lil has a great voice. Incredible, really! But she has never been a favorite of mine. I think she has an incredible voice, but there is nothing about her that sets her apart. She has a very stereotypical "black" voice and I don't think she's any better than every other female R&B singer they've ever had on the show. I really thought Felicia and Kristen both deserved to be in the top 12 over Lil! I would have been happy with either of them, although Felicia was my favorite female from group 3. As for Scott...well...its really quite ridiculous that he made it to the top 36 let alone the top 12. I know, those of you who follow the show and have any idea who I'm talking about will probably think I'm a horrible person for saying this. But its true. Scott is the first blind contestant to ever make it this far. I think he is absolutely adorable! He has a sweet personality and an awesome story, but that's where it ends. The judges (I'm sure with coaxing from the producers) have been promoting Scott since day one. Why? Because he's blind. The show's ratings are dropping and they need some contestants with good stories to help promote the show. Now Scott doesn't have a bad voice, by any means. But when he is up there singing, my thoughts always turn to "He would give a nice solo performance in church." His voice is not even close to being on par with the rest of the people in the competition! It's nice, but I don't think he has a good enough voice to make a career out of it. Scott also plays the piano, and the judges kept saying "I hope people vote for you so they can see you perform with your piano". The time in Hollywood week it showed Scott perform with his piano, he wasn't much better. He feels the music, which is awesome! And when he sings, he does have a way of connecting to the song better than most of the other contestants, but that still doesn't give him an incredible voice. I knew Scott would be in the top 12. With the judges pushing people to vote for him, as well as all the pity votes and the "oh, he's blind, how courageous of him to be doing this" people, there wasn't much of a chance that he wouldn't make it. But it still bothers me. This is a SINGING competition. Not a "who has the best personality or who has the best story or who is the cutest" competition. But American Idol continues to have people every year who are voted into the top 12 who shouldn't be, robbing those who actually have talent of their chances.
I really hope they choose two, if not three girls to be added to the top 12 on tonight's wild card show. The girls have been robbed this year! Out of each group, two guys and one girl have been picked. My little brother, Brent, pointed out that this is probably because the majority of persistent voters are teenage girls. So of course they will vote for more guys than girls. But there are so many talented girls this year, its a shame so many of them have been passed over! I hope they bring Felicia Barton back. The judges all seemed to like her and I think she has the possibility of doing really well! I've also heard much talk of them bringing back Megan Joy Corkrey (the girl from Utah I wrote about earlier). I kind of hope they do bring her back. Because like I said in my post, she does have a unique voice and style, which I really like! I just hope if they do bring her back, she gets over her serious twitching problem on stage. As well as the few pitch problems she was having onstage the last time. I don't know who I want the third person to be, but I really want to see more of the girls come back who should have made it in the first place! Okay, I'm stepping down now.
ADDENDUM: I didn't actually see last night's episode. Jill wasn't home so I only found out who made it into the top 12 via texts from my brother. I didn't find out until just now that they also determined last night who was coming back for the wild card show. I just have one word to describe how I feel about the choices....LAME!
A couple weeks ago I mentioned I was trying to find a cute quote or something I could do in vinyl lettering on my kitchen wall, above the cupboards. I really appreciate those who gave suggestions! I work with a lady (the wonderful Tena) who has a vinyl lettering company and she is already working on some things for the baby's room for me. She is the best! So I don't need ideas on where to get the lettering done, but thanks to those who have already made suggestions. Now comes the fun part...narrowing it down to one. I'm trying to decide what I like best, so here are some options. Please vote in the poll on the right and let me know which one you like the best (please only vote once).
Option one: We thought about doing words, kind of like a family motto, spelling our last name. Each word would be a different font and separated by a bullet. "Confident * Appreciate * Relax * Respect * Optimistic * Laugh * Love"
Option two: Use president Hinckley's 6 B's. Again have each word a different font and instead of bullets separating the words, have bees. "(bee) Grateful (bee) Smart (bee) Clean (bee) True (bee) Humble (bee) Prayerful"
Option three: Just for fun, use lyrics from Hank William's song "Hey, good lookin', Whatcha got cookin'? How's about cookin' somethin' up with me..." And have a music note on each end of the quote.
Option four: Kind of a cheesy quote, but would work well in the kitchen. "The most indespensible ingredient of all good home cooking: Love for those you are cooking for"
Option five: Has nothing to do with the kitchen, but I love this quote and I think its funny. "Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused"
I'm still open to more options as well if anyone has any brilliant ideas.
