End of October

Ryan finished yet another block (finals) week. Eight tests, to be exact. But the end of the week is always wonderful because then he has no studying to do all weekend! Since this baby is due in just one month from now, I've been feeling the time crunch and the need to get everything ready for her. So yesterday, Ryan was such a wonderful husband/daddy and spent 4 hours with me getting the room ready. Here is what it's looking like so far...
There are still a few things to put up on the walls, including a needlepoint project I'm going to frame soon, and her name above her crib. Plus we're waiting on the crib skirt to come in the mail (to cover up all those diaper packages and boxes under the crib). But other than that it's definitely coming together!

Ryan has started shadowing a doctor every wednesday afternoon until the end of the semester. His wardrobe is really lacking in nice clothes because he hasn't had a need for them except on sundays. By next summer, though, he'll need a full week's worth of shirts, ties and slacks for his rotations. I decided to take him to buy a new shirt and tie a couple weeks ago since Burlington Coat Factory has his favorite brand for only $10. Here's my cute student-doctor ready for shadowing... Doesn't he look nice? ;)

As some of you know, we have made it a rule in our home that Ryan is not to play ANY contact sports anymore... he tends to get injured every time. His school buddies decided to plan a flag-football game for this morning to get block week off their minds. I did allow Ryan to go... even though it was going against our original understanding... plus I knew he deserved some game time with the guys. Well he didn't end up getting hurt - thank heavens - but he did come home looking like this...
Tonight was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and chili cook-off. I won 3rd place for my white bean chicken chili! (I won't mention the fact that Ryan was one of the judges ... and I was the one that made the prizes) I can't tell you how many people commented on my big belly in some way. Whether it was people saying I should have dressed it up somehow, or they would jokingly compliment me on my costume as a pregnant lady. Needless to say, I felt/feel extremely conspicuous these days. Especially when I'm getting a braxton hicks contraction and my stomach looks all tight and distorted. You can literally see the position the baby is in and it feels so embarrassing to me! But oh well. :) It doesn't last forever and, honestly, I'm happy to be pregnant! I'm so excited for this baby girl. But still, I'm very much looking forward to the end of this process.

(picture at 36 weeks)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Baby Update

Too much information alert...

I went to the doctor today, at exactly 35 weeks. At this point, I am dilated to a 1, I'm already 50% effaced, and the baby is head down! My doctor says I have a good chance of going into labor before my due date - but I know better than to get my hopes too high. So we'll see what happens! We're so excited at how quickly it's coming though! Just one more month to go. (or less?)

Now I REALLY need to finish up all the things left on my list.

Those Mormons...

I love being a "mo-mo". And I love it when we're out on errands, or on vacation somewhere, when I see a little family or a couple that totally looks LDS. You know how you can just tell? Sometimes we'll pass another couple at Costco or something and we all smile at each other because we're all thinking, "Yep... we know."

Lately there have been things I see, hear or notice that make me think "I love being Mormon". Some examples...

-On our drive to church each sunday, we like listening to sunday appropriate music. We aren't lucky enough to have an FM100 in the Las Vegas area, and just about the closest thing to it is a christian rock station. But even that is too loud sometimes. So usually I'll turn my ipod on for the short drive to church. The station that our monster cable works the best with is 98.1 which is usually just full of static. But every so often if we turn it to that station in order to get the ipod going, we'll hear some music coming through. Recently, one sunday, we even heard the Mo-Tab singing a hymn through all the static! We were so excited! But even MORE exciting was the Kalai song "On My Mind" that was playing today. (p.s. If you don't know Kalai's music, you must look into it, or come to me for some samples. He is one of my all-time favorite local musicians) Sure... he's not exactly "sunday appropriate", and Ryan was sure to remind me of that. But it made me feel close to Salt Lake for a moment. :) So, THANK YOU, St. George radio station for reaching us in Henderson on sundays.

-Yesterday I went to the mall to find some things I need for after the baby is born. There was some kind of kid's Halloween party going on and there were tons of little kids in costumes running around. I saw one little girl who was dressed as a BYU cheerleader. It made me smile 'cause I immediately thought, "ha! You're mormon too."

-Last week I was telling my friends at work that I'm going to bring funeral potatoes to the office halloween potluck. One of the ladies looked sort of grossed out and said, "What in the world are funeral potatoes?!" My other mormon friend and I laughed because I forget not everyone in the world knows what those are. It's a shame though since they are my ALL TIME favorite dish. But honestly, it is quite morbid that we call them that... You can find funeral potatoes being served at any farewell open-house, pot-luck, christmas party, or pretty much any LDS gathering. So why do we call them "funeral" potatoes? Oh well.

It's a mormon thing!

Utah Utes v. UNLV Rebels

Ryan and I had a great time at the Utah football game here in Las Vegas! We went with our friends Alisha and Paul Dunlavy. (who, by the way, are pretty much the only other Utah fans we know here other than our Bishop) It was so nice to be surrounded by so many Utes and we were even able to run into a bunch of people we knew from Salt Lake! Pregnant bellies... And my goodness, were those benches uncomfortable for us! But it was worth it.
There were SO MANY Utah fans at the game. Walking across the stadium to get to our seats, and looking around at our section (which we were so sure would be full of UNLV fans) we were surprised to see way more Utah shirts than anything else. It was awesome (but not for the rebels who were celebrating homecoming with hardly any fans in the stands)! It's a little reminder to me that we really don't live that far away from Salt Lake City and people make this trip all the time. I shouldn't complain about the 7 hour drive when that many people followed their football team here for the weekend. :)

(HINT HINT to family and friends who need to come down more often....)

GO UTES!

... And hurray for buying our tickets with credit card rewards points. :)

What would I do without my girls?

Last weekend, my cute friends and ward buddies threw me a baby shower! I have been sooooo blessed by the wonderful women in my life. I feel very ready to have this baby and have been given so many of the things I need. THANK YOU to everyone who has helped and given me their support and love. Here are a few pics from the shower...

Isn't this the cutest cake ever! My friends Robyn and Tasha made it for me. The details were incredible - with the fondant, and the cute bear (made of cake and frosting!) on top. I almost felt bad eating it.... almost..........
Cami and Megan (from the ward and the office)
Alisha and her daughter Leila.
Marci, Sawyer, and Robyn.
Melanie, Anderson, and Janessa (and Melynda hiding in the corner).
Thanks again to the sweet friends who planned and attended the shower. I have the greatest support system here in Henderson and feel very blessed to have them in my life. I wouldn't have been able to handle the last year and especially getting ready for this baby without them!

I also wanted to throw this picture in... (Thank you Casie for letting me steal it off of your blog!) These are my two friends who are pregnant right now as well: Casie and Alisha. They're both expecting their 2nd babies (both boys) and are due in just another month! I'm so excited for the 3 of us to have babies at the same time and to continue to go through the motions together. It's wonderful having experienced mommies as my next-door neighbors.

It's coming together!

Here are a few pics of what we have going on in the baby's room so far...

I had thought that finding the perfect mobile for the crib would be impossible because I didn't buy an actual "bedding set" and I'm trying to piece everything together. I was pretty resigned to the fact that I wouldn't get one ... because I know it's not a necessity. But today I FOUND ONE! And I couldn't pass it up.
It's so perfect, it's like it was meant to be. I also bought the window valance that matches it (not pictured yet). But all in all, everything is coming together! :) It makes me happy.

The other night, while Ryan was studying, I was feeling really crafty and ambitious. I decided to make a bow holder to hang on the wall. So I scoured my apartment for what I would need and just made it up as I went! It's amazing what some hot glue, ribbon, left-over material from Grace's quilt, and cardboard can do.

Game Day

Saturday night was the BYU v. UNLV football game here in town and I gave Ryan tickets for his birthday present a couple months ago. We were able to go with a whole bunch of people from our ward and sit with our friends. BYU absolutely killed UNLV ... in fact, they almost tripled the Rebels' score. By the 4th quarter, most of the Rebels fans had left and the stadium was just a mass of blue and white. Sam Boyd stadium never has a problem getting BYU fans out to a game! There are so many of them already living here.
Some of my girl friends who were there: Casie Dekker, Robyn Larson, Rachele Larsen, Paige Reynders.
One of my pregnant friends, Casie, and I as we tried to find comfortable positions to sit on those hard benches! But Ryan was such a sweetheart and would rub my lower back for me everytime he noticed that I was particular miserable. Thanks, love. :)
I hope there will be a good showing of UTES at the game here next week! We are going to that one as well, but this time we'll be sitting in the UNLV section ... the seats were better ... We just hope the UNLV fans won't be too rough around us! We've heard stories of drinks being thrown and fights and law suits. Maybe they'll see the two pregnant ladies (another friend of ours and me) and be a bit more kind to us. ;)

Either way though, we LOVE college game days. It's been 2 years since we've been to a college game (Utah's) so we are very excited that our two teams traveled down to us this year.

$5 Date Night

Pizza dough from Fresh N Easy - $1
Cheese - $1
Sauce - $1
Tapioca pudding for dessert - $2
FREE DVD with Netflix trial month

We love cheap date nights - even if they mean staying in sometimes. Can't beat 5 bucks!

32 weeks

I honestly don't like either of these pictures for different reasons. I couldn't decide which was the lesser evil of the two so I just put both on.

Lately...
-I have felt the bottom of Grace's feet when she stretches her legs out - always on my left side - so I think she's always in the same position these days.
-I'm feeling braxton hicks contractions every single day and man are they annoying. I don't like how tight and uncomfortable they feel. I know - Lots to look forward to huh!
-It seems like Grace's hands are very busy. I feel lots of little tickles where I assume her head is (because I can tell where her feet and bum are most the time) and she likes to move her hands around a lot. What are you working on in there, sweetheart?
-Ryan is such a cute daddy-to-be. He loves looking at each shower gift and anything I find or make for the nursery. He likes being involved in all the decision-making which I LOVE.

p.s. CONGRATULATIONS to my sister and her husband. They had a beautiful baby girl yesterday - Layla Hope Montague. I can't wait to meet her at Christmas! (wish it were sooner)

Pink, pink, and more pink!

My sister, mom, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and aunt threw me an great baby shower this weekend in Salt Lake! The decorations were adorable, and the food was so yummy.

My sister-in-law, Jacey, made me this great diaper cake with lots of cute girly things tied to it.
The shower included all 4 extended families: Goates, Matheson, Symes, and Turners. It was an amazing turn out and I had a great time being able to see and catch up with so many cousins and aunts.
I also had a great time opening all the presents, of course - and my goodness, did Grace get a lot of great gifts! She is going to be one lucky little girl with all the handmade things, adorable outfits, warm blankets, books, toys, bath stuff, and matching stroller & car seat.
My cousin Allie Goates Venema whose baby girl is due 12 days after mine. I won't mention how huge I look compared to her............
During priesthood session I showed my sister Lindsey how to make hairbows for her baby girl. She's due in just 2 more weeks and I can't wait to meet little Layla. (lots of girls on the way these days!)
What a blessed little girl Gracie is to have all these cute things waiting for her. Ryan estimated that we now have over 400 diapers. Thank you to all the friends and family who gave us diapers! That stack will be so helpful.
I had to throw this pic in too... We bought and were given a few onesies of our favorite teams. Can't wait until next football season when she can sport these on game days (depending on who dresses her that day).

We had a great time in Salt Lake with our families! Next time we're there, we will be celebrating Christmas with our baby girl, family and friends.

We can hardly wait any longer...