*Family is BEST!!

My mom has one sibling.. a sister named Suzanne. She has always been my favorite aunt, and so special to me! She has always been so supportive of me. I remember calling her to tell her that I was FINALLY getting married. From the other end of the phone she said, crying "I'm jumping up and down in the aisle at Wal-Mart!" She and her girls (daughters and daughter-in-laws) are so much fun and great to be around. When we get together we tell stories, laugh...it is always a great time being with them.

Today these wonderful women threw me a baby shower. I am always amazed at how generous and loving these girls are to me. They are always so supportive and excited to be a part of my life. We had lunch, sat around and chatted and then opened AMAZING gifts! It was so fun to be with these great women that I admire! They are all such great examples of what a mother should be and I can only hope to have learned a little from each of them as I have watched them with their children!
I love you ladies.. thank you for all that you do for me! My little girl is so lucky to have each of you in her life to love her. Thanks for loving me so much and for being a part of my life! AND thanks for the great day!

*My SO cute nursery!!! It's finished (almost!)

So this past weekend Brice and I finished the nursery (minus one or two more things we need to do, but for the most part it's done)! It is so dang stinkin' cute. Every time I walk by I have to look in! I keep telling Brice how cute it is, and then he just smiles at me. He tells me that I have told him how cute it is, but I just have to make sure he knows!!! In case he has forgotten to take a look as he passed by. (Here are some cute pictures!) Sorry... i needed to edit them a little, but didn't have that much desire at the minute, so sorry for the big ole light there!This picture here is the wallpaper boarder. This is what her bedding looks like. It is so cute. It says princess on it. This isn't the best picture of it, but the walls are so cute with it on there.

You are all welcome to come by and check it out for yourselves and see how cute it looks. Now it just needs a cute little girl to be sleeping in there! I can't wait til she comes. Come baby, come!

*Party, Party, Party!

Today was such a fun day!!! Today I had 2 baby showers!! My first shower was given to me by two very sweet friends in my ward Kathleen Anderson and her totally awesome daughter Brooke Booth! It was a ward/neighbors shower. It was so fun and I was so spoiled!! I got so many wonderful clothes, hand made blankets, toys, books, lots of baby essentials!!! They served a really yummy quiche, muffins, a yogurt bar (yogurt with granola, and fresh fruits), o.j. and water! It was so much fun. I have tons of pictures (i will have to add them later). It was so much fun, and I have such great neighbors and friends!!! It was fun to get to visit with each of them.

Mom and I then came home, unloaded my loot, got stuff all together and headed to my good friend Kari's house. She and Mom were giving me a friends shower. We got there and got all set up and then friends started arriving!! What a lucky baby I am having! I got so many great gifts. I am so spoiled. I loved today. I have so many great fiends... the only problem was not being able to visit a lot longer with each of them! What a great day!!

Mom and I came home and unloaded once again. It was fun to get to show Brice all the fun, awesome stuff we got! Mom then went home, after spending the day with me, and Brice and I went to get some dinner! What a fun day! Thanks to all my friends and neighbors for all their generosity. Thanks for making me and my sweet baby feel so spoiled! Now we are ready for baby! Come baby, come!!

*The Man that is MINE!!

Okay… I really married a gem. On my way home from work I called Brice. He told me that I couldn’t come home for an hour, or I would ruin his surprise! This actually was good for me! I had a couple of errands that I needed to run so I went to go do what I needed to do. While still in the middle of my first errand, Brice called me to tell me that I could come home. When I did get home I walked in and the house smelt clean. Brice has come home from work and done house work before. However this time he had something else to tell me.

A month or so ago I made comment on how I wanted to deep clean the house before the baby comes, but I just don’t have the energy or desire! Brice told me that he was going to hire a cleaning crew to come and clean, but I freaked out cause of all the clutter I have laying around. Brice said to me as I walked in tonight “I hired a cleaning crew, they have come in today and cleaned the house from top to bottom. You can’t complain or stop me cause they have already come and gone!”

He is really so thoughtful. He knows this has been something that I have wanted to have done before the baby comes, clean the base boards, scrub behind the toilets…you know all the nesting things every woman wants done before she brings her first child home. I just haven’t had the energy. He has them set up to come once a month for as long as I want. They call a day or two before they come to make sure you need them to come, and you can either cancel or say “yes come!” Could I ask for anyone better? He is such a sweet heart and always looking for ways to make me happy and make my life easier!! I love you honey. Thanks for being so wonderful to me!!!

I had a couple of friends ask me who he called. Since I am not technology savy... I will just have to spell it out for you. The company name was American Housekeeping. Their web site is http://www.cleanhouseusa.com/ and the phone number is 801-967-5454 in SL. They did a great job and I would recommend them!!!

*Weekly Visits

I had a Dr. appointment today. 36 weeks today!!! I'm now on my weekly visits. However because of my "Advanced Maternal Age" (okay... can I just tell you how much I hate this phrase. Just call me old!) I now get to have a non-stress baby test and an ultrasound at each of my visits. This wouldn't be a bad thing except for the fact that my visits will now be at least two hours!! Really....my boss loves this!!!

So Brice and I get to the doctors office, and the MA hooked me up to the monitor. They need two sizable movements to make sure the baby is moving sufficently. After the MA hooked me up to the monitor she then handed me a capri sun fruit punch and told me to drink it! She told me the nurse would be in to check me in 10 minutes. When the nurse came in she asked if I had been given a drink. I said yes. She said the baby was asleep, she put a little vibrator against my tummy and told me it would help the baby wake up. She said she'd come back in another 10 minutes.

She came back...there had been one sizable movement. She said that after forty minutes, if we didn't have the movement we needed we would have to go to the hospital for another test,she would come back in another 10 minutes. I was poking my belly, shaking it.. everything I could think of. She continued to monitor until the forty minutes was up and then took the printout to my doctor. She came back and said that they had the info. they needed and we would now go do the ultrasound.

We got downstairs to the ultrasound machine and she started to do the ultrasound (this was to measure my anmiotic fluid to make sure the baby still has enough to support her), the baby started in with hick-ups!!! Are you kidding me...if she would have done this earlier... child already has a mind of her own! Plenty of fluid was the result of the test. Did really get to see much on the ultrasound, the nurse was only trained to measure the fluid. We did get to see her hand up by her face, could see her ear and nose.

Then I got to experience the checking of the cervix. My good friend told me it wouldn't be fun. She was right!! My cervix is soft, and I have started to dialate...but only half a centimeter. Baby not coming this week! I get to go through this again next week. I'm going to eat some serious sugar before going again!!

*It's all about me!!

Today was all about me and being pampered!!! It started with getting my hair done! My hair has gotten so dark in this last trimester. I'm hoping it goes back, or I might have to think about becoming a burnett! Anyway, after getting my hair done I then went and had a pedicure. This was WONDERFUL! My feet and legs are so swollen! It was so nice to have someone rub then and massage my legs and feet! Not to mention that now I have pretty toes to go with my elephant stumps!
Tonight my sweet sister-in-law Melissa planned a great girls night/baby shower dinner for me. Mom came and met me here at the house, and then we meet up with my in-laws at Chili's. We had dinner and they SPOILED me with so much fun, cute baby stuff. They gave me cute clothes, a baby bouncer, and a couple beautiful blankets! I love this baby shower stuff! :) It's even better then Christmas.
After dinner we went and saw the movie Mama Mia! It was a fun movie. What a fun evening!!! After the movie Melissa brought me home and saw my nursery! Of course I was having so much fun being the center of attention (soon to be upstaged by my cute little daughter!!!) that I forgot to get any pictures! Anyway....Thanks Miss for such a fun night!

*Baby Check

Why is it when you are in a hurry...NOTHING goes your way. So I had a staff meeting today, I also had a baby check. I thought "I'll just show up a few minutes early and maybe get out a few min's early." WRONG!!! So after sitting in the waiting room for 20 minutes, then Medical Assistant calls me back. After weighing me (yes this is my FAVORITE part of the visit!) and letting me give my urine sample, she then tells me that somehow I was scheduled wrong. My appointment was for 8:30, Dr. Cannon doesn't get in until 9. How does the receptionist NOT KNOW THAT????
The MA asked me if I wanted to go and come back. I told her I would just wait. After another 20 minutes the nurse came in to tell me that Dr. Cannon had gotten called to the hospital on her way in and would be another 20 minutes!! She then asked me if I would like her to check me. I said that would be great. She then told me that starting next week I would have my visits would go to weekly. That I was expecting. What I wasn't expecting was what she said next. Because of my "Advanced Maternial Age" (becasue I am 35) with each visit they will do a non-stress test on the baby and an ultrasound to check my anmiotic fluid. Oh joy. So each visit will be about 2 hours. My boss is going to love this!