first ultrasound!

Yesterday we had our first doctor appointment with the actual ob. He is awesome. I AM SO RELIEVED. I was afraid that Jeff and I would be reenacting Knocked Up and spend the next few weeks going from one doc to the next until we found one that I liked. Luckily, Dr. Chalmers is awesome. I don't know if he does this with every patient or if he just had extra time because I didn't have to get all the tests done (they were all done with the Fert Doc in Arizona) but he sat in the room and just talked to us for probably a half hour. Not just baby stuff, but what was going on in our lives, where were planned on living, etc. Then he asked if we had any questions about the pregnancy or if I had any ideas about how I wanted the delivery to go. I was glad he asked about that because I have been thinking about that part of the whole process since we first started trying over 2 years ago. When I told him that I didn't want an epidural and that I wanted to spend some time in the tub he was really cool about both. Even though he is an ob/gyn he has done over 100 water births! So, it sucks that the hospital here doesn't allow them, but at least he isn't close-minded about how deliveries should go. And he was AWESOME about me not wanting an epidural. He listed some of the risks that I have read about but I am glad Jeff heard them from a doc, not just me. Also, he said that he thinks it is a neater birth experience all around if a woman goes into it wanting a natural birth but also educated (as much as is actually possible) on how bad it is really going to hurt. So without hesitation he promised that we would not hear one word from him about getting an epidural. Such a relief! We aren't going to use a Doula, but I did ask the doc if he works with them and he said that he does and he thinks they can be great.

The ultrasound.
Okay seriously, probably the most amazing moment in my life thus far. And I am not being dramatic. Technically, it is still and embryo, and not even a fetus yet- BUT WE COULD SEE THE HEART BEAT! And then he checked to see if we could hear it and that was amazing. Jeff had the biggest smile on his face- it was cute. Dr. Chalmers said that at this stage, hearing and seeing the heartbeat and everything else looking good means that the possibility of miscarriage is reduced to about 1%. I like 1% a whole lot better than 15-20%. After the ultrasound, I haven't had any more moments where I start to wonder if I really am pregnant. Or the urge to run into the bathroom and take a pregnancy test. For the 5th time. Now we both know that I haven't just conjured all this up in my head!

Oh yeah, a couple of other things. The cyst on my right ovary is gone! Yay! And he used the wand and it wasn't a quarter as bad as at the fertility doc. THANK GOODNESS.

book (re)view

Right now, and for the past month, I have been reading The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir. I really like Alison Weir as a biographer and I really like Queen Elizabeth I too, so I figured I would love the book. Usually how fast I get through a book shows how much I like the book- that I am only only on page 107 after more than a month is not a good sign. But honestly, it reads really well. And it is interesting. I just can't seem to stay awake to read very many pages at a time. The author sort of skimmed over Elizabeth's life until right before she became Queen. I think they should have title the books something like The Life of Queen Elizabeth I because there really isn't much about her before she was Queen. But Weir is honest about Elizabeth and how she was and how she was perceived-- she doesn't make everything all bright and shiny and perfect the way some movies tend to, so I like that a lot about her biographies. I'll let you know what my final thoughts are about the book when I finish all 488 pages. At this rate it will be sometime in March!

I finally posted all my saved drafts.

They popped up in chronological order mixed in with my other posts from the past 2 weeks-- nothing too excited but I guess if you're bored it might be worth it to go back through and read them. (and my pregnant announcement got moved back so that it is in chronological order as well).

happy thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year has been about the same as Thanksgiving every other year.

However, I did beat Jeff once on Dr. Mario on Super Nintendo so that makes it a pretty successful day.

Everyone is downstairs watching Hairspray and I promised Jeff I would head down there pretty quick so I will write more tomorrow.

favorite aunt AND uncle

My sister's middle daughter, Annie, is 4, almost 5, years old. She is my niece that has a lot of the same silly quirks as I do. When I went to visit during Halloween she was my buddy, we had a lot of time to hang out. At one point during the trip, she was being babysat by one of Ang's friends so that Ang & I could go to lunch and shop without any kids. While she was there she kept telling Angie's friend about her uncle that was visiting. When Angie's friend brought her home later she mentioned it, wondering if Jeff was coming too, or something. That's when Angie told us that ever since I cut my hair really short, Derek calls me Uncle Kristina.
Well, last night Angie called to tell me about the conversation that had just taken place in the car.
I don't remember exactly who asked Annie the question but one of them asked, "Annie, who is your favorite uncle?"
She replied, "Kristina."
Then Katelyn, 6 years old and so much wiser, interjected, "Kristina's not your Uncle! She's an AUNT!"
So then Annie was asked, 'Who's your favorite aunt?"
She replied, "Kristina."
I WIN! This favorite Uncle/Aunt thing has been a competition between Me, Jeff, and Thomas since before Katelyn was even conceived. All it took was Thomas leaving on a mission and a short haircut and I have usurped the throne of favorite uncle AND aunt. I didn't even know that it was possible.
Jeff, however, reminded me, that he is probably still Katelyn's favorite uncle.

1st doc visit

Actually, this should count as half of one visit because we just answered and asked questions. We met with Mary, the Dr.'s Assistant. She was really nice and not all formal or fake. We got in right at our appt. time too. She told me not to worry about the spotting- as long as it doesn't last longer than a day. Even though that is what my mom, sister, sister in law, and mother in law all said, it was a huge relief to hear it from someone in a white coat and scrubs. How silly. Yesterday I just felt really crappy. For FHE we watched a talk from April 2007 General Conference about Gratitude and she talked about not only being grateful for the good things in our life, but the hard and trying things too. I was so afraid that I would soon be struggling really hard to be grateful, especially if I had a miscarriage. LUCKILY, so far, so good. Jeff started fasting for me and the baby last night- I didn't know that until today. It may be shallow or dumb but I have more faith in his faith than my own. If that makes any sense. It just makes me feel really good to know that he is fasting because I know how much faith there is behind it. He didn't even want to tell me he was-- kind of like telling someone what you wished for when you blew out the candles or saw a shooting star. I am glad he did though. Plus, I think it is really sweet.

Anyway, we found out today that I am 5 weeks and 6 days. Our next doc appt. is a week from tomorrow so I'll be exactly 7 weeks. The due date she estimated is July 16th.

no school, no school, la lala la la!

Jeff is home for the rest of the week! Yay! I am excited to get to hang out with him until Sunday! AND his grandparents are in town again- last time they were here Jeff didn't ever get to watch The Price is Right with us. I love watching it with his grandparents because they get as excited for the contestants as I do when they win. When I watch it by myself if just feels sort of lonely. Kind of like when you watch a funny movie by yourself and don't have anyone to laugh with so you are sitting in the room laughing out loud all by yourself. Awkward.

I am trying to come up with a good craft to do with the 3 oldest nieces during the break. Right now I am leaning towards sock monkeys, but they may not find them nearly as cool as I do.

This is going to be my first Oliverson family get together flying solo without Angie. I am guessing that anybody who spends the time to read this knows me already, but just in case, my sister and I married brothers. Jeff and I met a couple of weeks after Angie and Derek got engaged. Therefore, I have never had to spend a holiday completely alone at the in-laws because we switch Thanksgivings and Christmas with each family on the same schedule. This year my ma and pa are going to Ang & Der's for Thanksgiving AND Christmas. I just keep telling myself that we all get to be together at Christmas. PLUS this year since we already live at my in-laws we automatically get a good bed to sleep on. Other holidays/ weekends we've spent with the whole family, I've ended up really emotional because I don't get much sleep. 9 times out of 10 if I get really emotional more than once a day it is because I am tired!

Anyway, this one was full of tangents. Oh well!

found a doc, i hope.

So I/we have our first ob appointment tomorrow. I am going to Dr. Chalmers. I called the hospital this morning to see if they even allow water births (they don't), and also to ask their opinion on finding a good doc. They suggested Dr. Chalmers without me even mentioning him- found out yesterday that he is in our ward and newer to the area. Hopefully this means that he doesn't have a ton of pregnant patients yet.

The hospital does have a tub of some sort that women can use as long as their water hasn't broken yet and showers in every room. That's better than nothing and it will eliminate a few discussions Jeff and I would otherwise inevitably have had.


TOTAL SIDE NOTE: I dreamt last night that Dennis Rodman wanted me to marry him but I had to learn how to play basketball first. Weird. I guess that's what I get for skimming through Jeff's latest issue of Sports Illustrated. And no, in my dream/nightmare he wasn't in drag.

Gwen's masterpiece

I can't really take any credit for this quilt in its completed form. I helped Gwen pick out the fabrics, cut and arrange the blocks and then did some ironing. All the rest is her mania- not mine, for once.

I do, however, think it is beautiful.

I should have been a hippie

Jeff and I have already gotten into 2 discussions since finding out that I am pregnant. The first is whether to go with a certified nurse midwife or ob/gyn and the second is whether to have a doula. Well, technically, the outcome of the first led to the second. If it was completely up to me and we were living in our own house I would choose using a midwife at home. Jeff says no way. Since that isn't an option, I've agreed to go to a hospital (there aren't any birthing centers in our city). I still would consider a certified nurse midwife but Jeff feels sketchy about that too. I still want to check out the one covered by our insurance, but I am guessing I will end up with an ob/gyn. Since I will probably end up with a doc who isn't around until the end I really want to use a doula. There are many reasons, one of which is that I am high maintenance. I don't want an epidural or any medication. I don't want anything speeding things up or slowing things down. And unless the baby is 12 lbs and it is physically impossible for anything but a c-section I don't want one of those either, obviously. In a perfect world I'd love to have a waterbirth with a midwife. But if it turns out that I am on my back with a doula and a doc I will be okay with that too. Jeff thinks I am stressing about things way to early. But that is pretty much how I work- I stress in reverse. The first thing I woke up thinking about and losing sleep over was whether my mom would be willing to stay and help me figure out how to breastfeed, etc. Now it is the whole birthing thing. As soon as I find a good doc then I will start worrying about the weight gain and inevitable stretch marks. Then I will worry having a preemie. And honestly, after that I don't know what is left. Hopefully not much. In this moment I don't really feel pregnant. And I didn't yesterday either. I have gotten used to being hungry and having to pee more often. More than once I have considered taking another pregnancy test, just in case, but I am so scared that it will say negative that I haven't actually done it.
So, point being, I should have been a hippie because then all my highfalutin' ideas about natural childbirth would be normal to those around me. And I would be too stoned to worry so much about all the other things.

relatively painless

So I think we lucked out. Big time. Unless this week never repeats itself this whole nursery thing should be okay. There weren't a ton of kids and the kids that were there were relatively well behaved. At least there weren't any screaming cryers or whiners. It helps that the ratio of boys to girls was about 5:1. The other people in there said that it used to be crazy. Like 5 times as many kids and straight chaos the full 2 hours. LUCKILY, the ward got split and so we'll have the same number of adults to about a quarter of the little ones. Not too shabby. AND Jeff and I get to hang out the whole 3 hours of church. I'm still not used to Relief Society and all the women talking about raising kids, organizing family stuff, etc.

All 3 of the men in nursery are at least 200+ lbs. The kids in nursery aren't gonna be intimidated by anybody since they've got these guys on the floor playing trucks with them!

Crazy dreams

Last night I dreamt, among other things, that Lori and I were measuring our waists. Her belly was 10 inches smaller post-baby than mine was pre-baby. Do you think it's possible I'm stressing about the inevitable weight gain? Just a little?

Although I probably shouldn't put too much stock in the meaning behind my dreams because I also drove a semi through a bunch of trees and almost crashed into an electric line and house next door.

Awesome.

first day in nursery.

I don't know if I've mentioned that Jeff and I got called to be nursery workers at church.

This Sunday is our first Sunday with the kids.

Say a little prayer for me, please. (You could say one for Jeff too, if you want, but I honestly don't think he'll need it as much as I will.)

good morning sunshine

Yesterday felt like a busy day. Gwen came up and visited me for the day. I've realized that we aren't very good at just sitting in the same room doing nothing together. We both end up on a laptop or in some other way preoccupied. Maybe she knew this as well when she set the goal to have a quilt sewn & bound and only needing to be tied before she left my house yesterday. In one day. *It actually went really well. I like the pattern we used. It's amazing how much faster it is to have 2 people working on a project, she would sew, I would iron, etc. I didn't take a picture of it but Gwen promised that she would so I will link to it when that happens.

Jeff has his Content Literacy Praxis exam this morning. I don't really understand that test because sometimes I hear that you have to pass it in order to teach and then other times I hear that you have 5 years or something like that to pass it. Either way, I hope that he passes it this time just so that it is one less thing he has to worry about. Jeff has been awesome to commute 45 minutes each way everyday so that I don't have to live in the cold again. I love that it is November and I can still wear short sleeves, I don't feel trapped inside like I have the past few winters. It's awesome. Hopefully, I am a lot less ornery too, so it is worth it for him!

We went to sleep last night sometime before 10 pm. So hence the reason I am awake before 9 on a Saturday. I don't think I have seen 8 am on a Saturday in a really long time. I honestly don't really know what to do!

*I had made plans early in the week to go out to dinner in the evening. Gwen, not surprisingly, didn't want to come, but wanted to stay and finish the quilt sooner. Thus, I left for about an hour and a half and she continued to trudge along. So my "really well" may be her "really hell".

pa.thet.ic.

I have finally been motivated enough to start walking on the treadmill. I walked for about an hour yesterday and it was really boring. But what is even more pathetic is that I woke up this morning and my legs were sore. Are you kidding me?! A little bit more than a month ago I was on my feet walking for 10 hours a day, no sweat. I feel like I have just turned to mush or something.

AND

My hair is in the horrible in between stage because I am attempting to grow it out like Olivia on Law and Order SVU this season. But, after looking at our pics from Kentucky, I'm thinking I need to just chop it off sooner than later and end the suffering. Probably Monday.

Mom and I are incapable of taking a really cute picture together because we start laughing or being stupid or something such that one of us always looks drunk or is making a dumb face or something. Needless to say I like the picture with mom's hand across my face the best out of the 10 jeff attempted to take of us together.

starving. 5 times a day.

Okay so I have realized that I am not used to getting and/or being hungry. Normally, I either just didn't get hungry very often or if I did get hungry but didn't eat the hunger went away. Not so anymore. I keep getting hungry, really hungry, and the feeling doesn't go away until I eat something. Not a complete surprise, right, but it's driving me crazy. I guess it's a good thing they put me and Jeff into nursery at church because I may have to steal a kid's snack, I don't know if I'll be able to make it all 3 hours.

I weighed myself today. Then added 25-30 lbs. Then got really scared.

I walked on the treadmill today for 60 minutes. I have about zero patience for walking. I was really bored. And that was while watching half of law and order and without a trace. I don't know that I am committed to waking up really early to walk with jeff's mom outside though. We'll see.

I forgot to post picture's of Angie's girls on halloween!

This picture cracks me up!

it was the day that never ends . . .

Yesterday was one of the longest days of my life. Seriously.

I didn't manage to fall asleep after waking up at 3:40 am for longer than 20 minutes at a time the rest of the day. I did, however, manage to waste the entire day trying to take a nap. But I will brag that I made chicken noodle soup for dinner. (It is a way easy recipe that Ang made when I was visiting her-- I think I ate about 10 bowls of it while I was there and I have been craving it ever since).

Last night we helped with the YM/YW combined activity. They did a road rally/amazing race activity. It was our job to sit at the Del Taco and when the kids came they had to do the Macarena dance and sing the song. We realized on our way to the Del Taco that we didn't know the words-- but that was okay, none of the kids really did either. We had them sing it opera style, rap style, with their tongues sticking out, etc. I felt really old when some of the younger ones had never even heard of the song before. Ever. Note to self: if you ever plan on sitting in Del Taco for longer than it takes to inhale a bean burrito, bring a pillow. I was getting so anxious by the end because I was tired and by the time it was over I was hungry again. But the kids had fun and it was nice to sit across the table with Jeff for a couple of hours and just talk.

I'm pregnant!

11/14/07

I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant!

Yay!

I don't know how long we're going to wait before we "tell" people so I am just going to write drafts and then publish them later!

Okay, so we did all the Fertility Doc tests in the month of September. Found out that my FSH and LH hormones were not at the correct ratio and that I had a cyst on my right ovary. Fert doc suggested clomid. But we moved Oct. 1 and while searching for health insurance discovered that if I wrote anything about fertility I would be denied and that we could just forget about it being covered. So that sucked. Jeff and I had decided to just wait a few months, see what happened, get our acts together spiritually, etc. But I did plan my trips to SLC, Nebraska, and Kentucky so that I would be home during that time I could potentially ovulate. (I still have never had a positive result on an ovulation predictor). GOOD THING I DID. But I was all bummed out that week because Jeff got strep throat towards the end and one night he was pouting because he felt like I was not being kind to him that day so by bedtime he wanted nothing to do with me. So our every other day plan didn't work out like I'd hoped.

Tristen kept commenting that her mom got pregnant after her HSG because it flushes everything out. I kept thinking, "that would be sweet," but honestly didn't know that I could be that lucky.

Also, on my drive home from my Grandma's funeral I listened to a book on CD by Orson Scott Card, entitled Rebekah. (She is now my favorite woman in the Bible, p.s.). In the story, she and Isaac were trying to get her pregnant for years. Finally, she tells Isaac that he never prayed for her to actually get pregnant. So he does. And it works. That is EXACTLY what happened with me and Jeff. We had always prayed asking for Heavenly Father to help us be patient, and to help us deal with what was. Finally, the month October, we prayed for me to get pregnant. And now I am!

So anyway, we went to Kentucky during the week I was expecting my period to start. And I had an idea of when I would start spotting, etc. So I kind of did, but not really. I didn't know what was going on. Part of me thought that I could be pregnant but then the other part of me didn't want to get my hopes up because after 2 years and 4 months it doesn't really feel like "trying" anymore. More like "practicing." But I was having weird minor cramps, etc. so I knew something was up but just didn't know if my cycle was all out of whack again or what. So finally, on Monday (Nov. 12) afternoon I asked Angie what she thought and she told me to just take a pregnancy test when I woke up in the morning because at least then I would know if my body was just being stupid again or if I was pregnant. But I started spotting that night so I got really bummed out and went to bed thinking my period was going to start.

So Tuesday morning, Nov. 13th, when I saw that it hadn't, I took a pregnancy test I had here at the house. It is the same brand as the ovulation predictors that I've been using and so when I saw the 2nd line I got really excited. . . but it wasn't as dark as the test line so I didn't know what that meant and it didn't show up right away like I expected it too. (I guess that is why the package says to wait 2-5 minutes). So I yelled down to Jeff to come upstairs because luckily he hadn't left for school yet. He came upstairs and I was pointing to the stick on the counter telling him what I though but didn't know for sure, etc. I must not have been making any sense whatsoever because he got all confused and said, 'Wait, what does this mean?" So I simply said, "One line, not pregnant. Two lines, pregnant." He got a big terrified smile, gave me a hug, and then I don't really remember. He left and I ran to call Lori who has become my fairy-godmother in all things trying-to-conceive related. She said that any line at all means it's positive but that I should go to the store and get another test to make sure. So I did. I bought 2 packs of 3 just in case. Then I went to the quilt shop to kill time until I needed to go to the bathroom again. When I finally took the other 2 tests Jeff called me about 2 seconds later- before I'd even had a chance to look at the results. So that was cool because I was on the phone with him as I discovered that they were both positive.

So I was on the phone with him freaking out, holding the 3 tests in my hand, shaking like crazy. It was awesome.

Before I got pregnant we planned on not telling anyone for a couple of months, at least. That lasted about 20 seconds before I was flying down the stairs to show his mom the positive tests. Still shaking. I didn't let go of those things for about 10 minutes. Then throughout the day I caught myself going back upstairs just to make sure they still were positive. Our parents are both really excited and the family and few friends we've told have all been really excited for us too. I didn't get a thing done all day because I was so sidetracked. I really don't know how long I will last because every person I saw at the store this afternoon I wanted to tell them that I was pregnant. So, we're telling the rest of his family at Thanksgiving and pretty much after that I think we're not even going to pretend to keep it a secret anymore. We'll see.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning, and have been been unable to fall back asleep. I started thinking about when the baby is born, and living with his parents still, and where we'd put everything, and if the baby slept in our room would Jeff's snoring wake them up, and would my mom be willing to come stay at his parents house with us, and what if I can't learn to breastfeed, and how is his family about breastfeeding, will I have to go upstairs every time? and what if I have to have a c-section, and the list goes on and on.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now-- if not, I guess I just have a great excuse to take a nap this afternoon.

I've been tagged.

So angie tagged me with the task of listing 6 "little known" things about me. Here goes:

1. There are certain phrases and sayings that play in my head when I here specific words or in certain situations. Some come from Sesame Street, others from movies, and the rest are probably just stuff I heard over and over growing up. Some examples:

Whenever I am in an awkward situation where people around me are contentious, I think, "And I just stay out of there way. J." It's from an old Sesame Street clip. I blame that little quirk on my Pa.

I can't here the word "Forever" without hearing Squints Paladoris from the movie Sandlot saying it over and over- "For-ev-er. For-ev-er. . . "

Whenever it's dark and then someone flips on the light the phrase, "And then there was light," goes through my head. Again, I blame that one on my Pa.

I could go on and on but hopefully you get the point.

2. I hate feeling like my hands are dirty, or sticky, or anything in between and I have a hard time thinking about anything else until I have a chance to wash them. For example, I am practically incapable of eating a meal without a napkin or paper towel because I have to be able to wipe my hands immediately after practically every bite especially if I am eating something with my hands. Or if I touch any money- coins make your hands smell gross and dollar bills are just nasty and disgusting and probably have gonorrhea on them. Or if I pet a dog. Or if I hold hands with a small child- that commercial with the kids whispering to each other their "dirty secrets" definitely doesn't help!

3. When I was little I couldn't say my R's. Speech therapy about halfway through elementary school solved the problem but when I get really tired I revert back. "There" becomes "thew," "birthday" becomes "buthday," "here" becomes "heo," etc. (Jeff finds this particular amusing, especially when it happens when I am working hard to convince him of something and it is totally undermined by a mispronounced consonant!)

4. I suck at multiplication tables. I still don't know my 12 times tables past 12 x 5. And the 13 times tables aren't even a possibility.

5. I hate the smell of popcorn. It makes me want to throw up. I can eat about 2 handfuls at home if it's warm. At the movie theatre I can eat as much as a bag of sour patch kids allows with a half a patch to 2 popcorn puffs ratio allows.

6. If I cry really hard (or throw up), I am left with little red dots all over my eyelids and around my eyes. After I have had a good emotional outburst I always check in the bathroom how many dots I have-- it's become my demented litmus test to how upset I was and/or am. For example, my cry on Monday left me without about 10 and as of Tuesday night before bed there was just 1 big one left.

So that's 6. Kind of embarrassing. No wonder my dad calls me "Quirkstina."

Oh, I'm supposed to tag some people . . . lori, tristen, jace, and gwen. Have fun!

catching up. (on everything but sleep)

I can't sleep.

I haven't been doing too fantastic with blogging the past couple of weeks. I blame it on being sick and being out of town. Jeff and I are home from Kentucky now and will be here until a couple of days before Christmas so now I don't have any excuses.

Our trip back from Kentucky went fine-- it feels like a really long day when you drive for about an hour to get to the airport, fly for about four hours (if you're lucky) and then drive again for over an hour to get home. Thinking about it that way it is not a surprise I did some bawling on the phone to Angie on Monday about our parents decision to move across the country. I gave myself all day Monday to feel sad and sorry for myself and woke up Tuesday feeling okay about it.

I took my first machine quilting class on Monday morning. All I managed to accomplish during the class time was stenciling in about half of the blocks- I am going to machine quilt little airplanes, fish, sailboats, paw prints, etc. The funny thing is I walked into the class thinking I would be machine quilting straight lines in the seams of the blocks. And I am still doing that- but it became just an afterthought compared to all the rest of it! I bought material yesterday to make my nephew-to-be a baby blanket and teddy bear so that if I completely botch up the quilt I can just give them the baby blanket and bear and call it good.

My mother-in-law and I spent part of Monday looking in every craft store we could think of for foam pieces to make little turkeys as name placeholders or whatever they are called for Thanksgiving. No luck. Actually, there was hardly anything anywhere for Thanksgiving. So I was confused because do stores really think that people are that on the ball that they have Thanksgiving stuff planned and purchased over a week in advance? Come on! I was feeling pretty fantastic that we were looking as early as we were- and it was still too late! But I will say that a new Roberts Crafts opened up within the past few weeks and it is pretty awesome. It is also a very good thing that I do not need any sort of scrapbook supplies at the moment or my scrapbook supply purchasing addiction and checkbook would be in a world of hurt!

kentucky so far

I am not that smart sometimes-- when I bought our plane tickets I didn't notice that our flight consisted of taking off and landing 6 times and switching planes once. Luckily, neither Jeff or I am afraid to fly-- but it was stressful for me to worry about who was going to come sit next us 3 separate times because Jeff had to have the window seat. Of course it was a big guy on our longest flight because I am cursed- so when Jeff fell asleep I pushed the button on the arm rest just to see if it would make the chair recline. It did. Jeff didn't appreciate his head rubbing along the side of the plane as he reclined but it made it so his shoulder wasn't pushing me closer to the unknown old guy with hairy arms. I was happy because then I could actually sit back in my chair without feeling the hair on the old guy's arms sitting next to me. Needless to say on the next flight I was relieved when a not so big guy in a suit coat sat down next to me, once again, in the middle seat.

We finally got to *Louisville and then took about 2 hours to get to my parent's house because we needed to drop something off in another town so we took the long way home. The roads out here do not make any sense. They all seem to have about 5 names and change as you are driving on them. But the houses are awesome. As we were driving through the towns I kept picturing every house looking like a Pottery Barn catalog inside. So we were finally able to find the house we were looking for and then eventually made it home. Mom and I were cracking up at all the turns and U-turns and wrong turns we were making. Dad and Jeff didn't find it nearly as amusing.

Yesterday my parents drove us through the property they are developing. And then we mostly just drove around and hung out at the house. It is so quiet here. It is really pretty too.
And the houses don't have any fences between them. I keep trying to figure out what parent's do with their kids. Do they let them just run around? When I was asking my parents about this my mom brought up a very good point-- that just because you have a fence around your backyard doesn't necessarily mean your kids are going to stay within that fence.
I haven't taken any pictures yet but I will.

*I have always pronounced Louisville: Lou-ee-ville. On the flight into Louisville the flight attendant kept pronouncing it Lou-vull. I thought she was being funny, atleast until yesterday when I heard it pronounced that way about 8 times. So now I don't know if she was being funny or if that is just how everyone east of the Mississippi pronounces it.

nevermind about the passport

I thought that when I left AZ I brought our "important papers" with us. Such as our marriage license, birth certificates, etc. But, I didn't. I have a few ideas about where I put them, but I am not for sure. This seems to happen just about every time I need them for something-- I probably should get a safety deposit box. In the meantime, I have ordered new copies and am just crossing my fingers that they get here in time for me to renew my passport since my name changed when I got married.

The good news is that I am feeling a lot better today- Jeff was a sweetheart last night and left the room so that I could fall asleep before he was in bed snoring!

bluh

I did not get one single thing done today. Unless you count watching every single show I DVRed last week while I was out of town AND today's Heroes episode. I feel like crap and when I went to the doctor the strep test was negative so I have a stupid make-your-throat-bright-red-and-swollen-and-achey virus but not strep. AKA I get to just deal with the annoyingness and no medicine will make it go away. wahoo. I need to get my new passport tomorrow so that should be a pretty sweet picture- especially since I am broken out like crazy.

Fantastic.

snow white and the girls

Here is the picture I promised!

stupid daylight savings

First, can I please just say that yesterday felt like the longest day of all long days? The combination of daylight savings time and then moving back and forth through 3 time zones messed me up big time. At 7 o'clock last night it felt like 11 pm. I don't even know what time I went to bed last night I just know that it had been dark for about 8 hours already. This morning, I woke up when Jeff got up and tried to fall back asleep but then I opened my eyes just enough to see how bright it was outside. It looked like it was noon because the room was so bright. So then I realized I was probably missing Price Is Right (pathetic? Yes.) so I got up, got dressed and headed downstairs. Then I looked at the clock. It was only 7:24 am. *Way too early. Price is Right wasn't even going to start for another hour and a half! I sat around downstairs until Jeff left and then came back upstairs. Now I just have about 50 minutes to kill before the show starts.

And I am still trying to figure out why the heck Jeff woke up so early in the first place!

*I don't expect anyone to be too extremely sympathetic because I recognize that with kids 7:24 a.m. feels like noon and most people with full-time jobs are on their way to work.

heading home

This is my last morning visiting ang and the girls. I have had a lot of fun this week. Last night angie and I were able to go to a movie after the girls were asleep and derek was home with them. We went to the movie Dan in Real Life. It was really funny. My favorite part is when Steve Carrol's dughter screams at him, "You are the murderer of love!" I remember feeling like the world was going to stop turning when my dad would tell me I couldn't go out with one guy or the other. Now, after working with teenagers all summer I can totally picture them being so dramatic and it made the movie even funnier. I love going to movies with my sister and/or my mom because our senses of humor are so similar that it makes the movie even funnier. (Although the reverse is true-- if it is a sad movie then it I end up crying more). So, point being, I really liked the movie but I need to see it again with someone besides my sister to see if I like it as much as the first time.

wonder pets

okay so I promise I will start blogging about normal "adult" things when I am not at my sister's house anymore. but in the meantime: If you have DVR or TiVo or whatever it is called, look up Wonder Pets. I just watched an episode with my nieces called Save the Puppy and I was cracking up.

*Gwen- keep recording it until this episode gets saved-- I think this may be the television/musical equivalent to your cuteoverload.com.