A Great Birthday

Today is my birthday and it has been wonderful! Jared has gone out of his way to make sure this birthday was the best ever, and he definitely succeeded. On Friday night, he told me that we were going to West Yellowstone, MT until Sunday. He had arranged with my mom for us to stay in their time-share there, so we drove up for the weekend. It was great! The condo was really nice and we really enjoyed just spending time together and getting away from Rexburg for the weekend without having anything to do. Yellowstone is closed until the middle of December, so there wasn't a whole lot to do in town, but we still had so much fun!

The kitchen in our condo.

Jared having a face-off with a bison statue.

When we got back to Rexburg on Sunday, we went over to Jared's parents' house and had an amazing dinner. Mary Ann made some delicious lasagna and garlic bread, and then we had the most incredible cake. It was four layers of chocolate with a whipped, cream cheese frosting in between each layer and all over the outside. It was all so good! (I didn't take pictures of the cake because we ate it too fast.) While we were there, Jared gave me my presents. I got some much-needed maternity clothes, the new Pearl Jam cd, and Twilight on Blu-Ray. I was so excited for all of it. He is so good to me! After dinner, the Woodruffs came over and gave me some really cute baby clothes, and then the Kunzs came over and visited for a little bit.

As if all of that weren't enough, there was even more celebration today! I went to work, and Angie and the kids had decorated their house with a banner and balloons. They also gave me an Applebees gift card and a really cute baby book. She is the best boss and such a great mom! Later, she had the two-year-old call me and sing "Happy Birthday" on my voicemail. It was really cute. When I got home, Jared had flowers for me and a little surprise that made me laugh so hard. There were also flowers from my friends, Lex and Vanessa. I also got a really thoughtful card from my dad and some really sweet gifts from my mom. I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life! I love you all and I thank Heavenly Father for you every night. Thank you for making my birthday the best one ever!

Time to Shop!

We had a great trip to the doctor today! We got to see our little baby moving around and got to check on everything and get tons of pictures. We also discovered that we are having a BOY! We are both so excited! I am ready to go out and buy tons of little boy stuff and Jared is ready to go buy toys and "test them out" to make sure they are fun enough for our little guy.
I was really nervous at first because the nurse tried to look right away, but his little legs were in the way. I started to worry that we would have to wait 20 more weeks to find out what he was, even though it was nearly impossible to wait the first 20 weeks! After she took pictures of his head, spine, heart, legs, feet, and almost everything else, the baby moved around enough so we could FINALLY tell what he was. I think Jared went into a little bit of shock and I couldn't stop grinning!
We are SO excited to have a "Mr. Peanut" now and even more excited that he seems really healthy. He is a pretty big boy (14 oz already!) and he still has a great heartbeat (139 bpm). We just continue to pray that everything keeps going well and are now going to start preparing for the moment when we finally get to meet him. Hooray!

This is a picture of his cute little foot! (Probably the one he kicks me with all of the time.)


This is the proof that he is a boy. There is an arrow pointing to his little peepee (as my mom calls it).

This is a picture of his face. He still looks a little like an alien, but so cute!


This last picture is of him laying with his arms over his face. The nurse needed a few more shots of some things and kept poking my belly to get him to move. I think he was getting tired of the photo shoot and just covered his face.

So Excited!

The countdown is on! We only have six more days until my next doctor's appointment, which means only six more days until we (hopefully) find out what we are having. I am so excited! There is still time to get any guesses in, too!

Peanut Update

I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is still great with baby Peanut. It has a very strong heartbeat (144 bpm!) and I have finally started to feel better, too, which has been wonderful! We have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for November 9, and we should find out the sex then. I keep trying to guess what it is, but I know it will be what I least expect, so I am mostly focusing on keeping us both healthy. We are both so excited and can hardly wait for baby Peanut to finally get here!
I am curious to see what everyone else thinks Peanut is (boy or girl) so feel free to post your guess.

Camping

Last week, the kids I nanny all had the flu, so I had the whole week off. It was really nice to have a break and rest and use what little energy I had to clean my own house. Also, Jared only has one class on Fridays, and it isn't until 3pm, so we decided to go camping on Thursday night and come back Friday afternoon.
We went to a great place right outside of Driggs, ID at the base of the Tetons. It was beautiful and the weather was really nice. We got to the campground (I am pregnant, after all) and pulled in to a nice spot that was near the bathrooms, but not too close. We built a fire and drank hot cocoa and sat and talked for a little bit, but I got tired pretty fast, so we decided to go to bed.
For some reason, I was terrified of bears the whole time we were out there, which I think started to annoy Jared a little. Every time there was any kind of noise, he would say, "That was just a pine cone falling from a tree, not a bear." I felt bad, because I am usually a pretty happy camper, but for some reason, I was being ridiculously paranoid.
The most exciting thing that happened was at about 2am, we were both woken up by this horrible, bleating screaming. After my heart stopped pounding, I listened closer and it was cows! There was a herd of cows scattered all around the outside of the campground and they were lost in the dark and crying to each other, ALL NIGHT. Needless to say, we did get a little sleep and we still had a lot of fun. The weather is supposed to drop about 30 degrees on Wednesday, so I think we went just in time. The next time we go, it will probably be with our little baby!

Here are a couple of pictures of our camp-out:

This is our camp site. I forgot to take pictures, so the tent was already taken down.


Here is my handsome hubby!

One of my favorites!

September

We have had a wonderful month! Jared started school on the 10th and has been very busy trying to get another 4.0. On top of school, he is also working two jobs, so he hardly has any free time. I admire his dedication and focus and I am so grateful for him.
We also had a house full of guests this weekend, which was really nice. My mom and Glenn came on Friday night to visit us for the weekend. On Saturday night, Lex and Vanessa came and stayed with us too. We went to dinner and played Scattegories and then watched a movie. It was so fun!
On Saturday morning, Jared and I went to the doctor for my monthly checkup. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat which was really exciting, and the doctor said that everything is going really well. He also said that I should start feeling better, which I can't wait for! My mom and I went shopping and bought a couple of little baby things, which just made me more excited for Peanut. I can't wait to be a mom!

Our little Peanut

We are having a baby!! We have known for about a month, but waited to tell everyone until we had been to the doctor and made sure everything was ok. We went to the doctor yesterday and everything was great! I am healthy and our baby is too. I am due on March 29 and we should find out what it is at the end of October.
I also had an ultrasound and we got our first picture of our baby. As you can tell, it looks like a peanut, so that is what we are calling it until we find out what it is. Also, during the ultrasound, as the nurse was taking pictures of Peanut, she pointed out its face and it started moving its little arms. Jared was so excited because our baby "waved" at us. It was a really great doctor visit! It was nice for me because it was reassuring to see that everything is fine with Peanut, and it was good for Jared because it made him "feel like a dad." We are both so excited and can't believe how lucky we are.


This is Peanut lying on its side facing the camera.