It's a...

It's a girl! Jarod and I were able to see our fabulous Uncle Kent today (thanks Kent!) and found out we are having a baby girl. It was a little sketchy at first with Kent guessing a boy and the baby not wanting to spread its legs too much, but after further examination from many angles-girl was the consensus. We are very excited (we were secretly hoping it was a girl)! We have so many sweet baby girl things that would be great to use for one of our children and maybe we will get a little bit of a glimpse of what Hope would have been like through her little sister. Our next doctors appointment is next Wednesday and they said they can give us an ultrasound so we will wait and see if they agree (we won't say anything first just to make double sure). We will keep everyone posted and will get some pictures up next week when I can scan them at work.

Hard Worker!

So Jarod got a job! YEA! Its only a temporary job but its a job so we are happy about that. He is working for a commercial landscaping company being a laborer. It pays pretty good so that is a nice perk, but they start at 6 am and work 9-10 hours a day. Being out in the heat and working his tail off has pooped my poor husband out. He comes home covered in dirt, sunscreen, sweat, and can hardly stand up. So far his foreman has been impressed with how hard of a worker he is compared to a lot of the other guys. Hopefully he will adjust to the heat and get used to the hard labor, or I may have a crippled husband in a few days. I love that I have a fantastic husband who is willing to work so hard for his family. Love you Jarod!

One more hoop to jump through

I hate getting poked (who doesn't really). I had to get some blood drawn yesterday for a couple more tests that my doctors would like to run. They are mostly precautionary and such but one of the tests I really wanted them to do and the others were tests my doctor recommended once I brought up the first test. They are testing for obsure clotting disorders. When I was in the hospital after having Hope they did a ton of blood work but these other few tests were not really standard procedure and they were not checked with all the other clotting tests. There really is no reason to suspect a clotting disorder since no clots were found in the placenta, umbilical cord, and I never developed any clots but its good to rule out all possibilities so I am all for it (other than the poking and blood-sucking part; that part is not too fun). I have to wait a few days for the results, so I am trying to be patient and just trust myself that we are doing all we can to ensure the health of our child. On a happier note, my morning sickness has lessened a little in intensity. I still get sick and nausous and throw-up occasionally but thankfully its getting fewer and farther between. Also thanks to our wonderful Uncle Kent (its about who you know) we get to go see him next week sometime and find out what the little one is! My next appointment isn't until August 5th but they told me they would take me into the ultrasound than too, so we will see what Kent says and than see if the follow-up ultrasound says the same thing (two heads are better than one in making these judgements). We will keep everyone posted with results of all kinds!

New Calling-Scouts

Jarod has received a new calling in our ward. He will be the Varsity Coach in the scouting program. The Varsity Program is the scouting program for the teacher's quorum (age 14-15 young men). Jarod will be their scoutmaster and help them with all the Wednesday activities and merit badges and such. He is very excited and is working hard at getting organized. He has had some great examples of good scoutleaders in his life so he has a lot of ideas to plan fun things and keep the boys motivated at working towards their Eagles.

Great News!

Here is the newest addition to our family! It may not look like much but its a new little baby that Jarod and I will be adding to our family. This was taken at 8 weeks so its super small and they were measuring the length so you they are looking down on it but you can kind of see some little limbs if you look close. I am now 12 weeks along (and still sick so don't ask-hopefully we won't have a repeat of last time, my children just love me so much they can't leave me alone for one minute of peace-oh well). Our due date is January 15, 2010. We are going to the same clinic we went to before and love them. They are so nice and accomodating and try to make me feel better as much as I need. I will also be going to see a perinatologist (a doctor who specializes in babies in the womb). I will go to them for my 20 week ultrasound since they have a higher quality machine and are more apt at looking at babies in the womb. We may see them on and off after that in addition to our regular doctors appointments. I will have more frequent doctors visits as well, right now I am going every 3 weeks (mostly for my sanity) and we will increase the frequency as I get farther along. Once I am 32 weeks I will also start doing Non-Stress Tests (NST). This is where they hook me up to a fetal monitor and record the babies heart rate for a half hour or so at a time. It helps them see what is going on with the baby and make sure they are staying healthy. They will also check the fluid levels frequently with an ultrasound as I get farther along. Its reassuring to have so many things that we can monitor and make sure are ok, but its a little stressful too. We will probably induce me so that I can be monitored the whole time I am in labor. We haven't set a date or anything for that but will see how things progress and how I am doing as time goes on before we set anything in stone. I am trying to keep my anxiety in check and its been difficult sometimes. Since I can't feel the baby move yet I start to freak myself out and worry that something is wrong. One great thing is I received a fetal heart monitor in the mail yesterday. There is a great foundation called Tiny Heartbeats (their website is http://www.tinyheartbeats.org/) and they give heart monitors to mothers who have lost babies free of charge. These are doctor grade monitors, which usually cost several hundred dollars, but they let me borrow it during my pregnancy and I just send it back after I have the baby. They take donations-if you need a good charity to give some $$$ to- and also doctors offices can donate monitors so ladies, please pass this on to your doctors. Jarod and I were able to find the heartbeat last night and it was so reassuring (now I don't have to call my doctor's office everyday freaking out). We will make sure we keep everyone posted on our happenings. They are going to let us find out the sex of the baby early (because they love us so much at our clinic and they have an ultrasound tech in their clinic) so in a few more weeks we will know. I have an appointment next Wednesday and than the next one will be 3 weeks after that and that is the appointment we should be able to find out so only about 4 more weeks!

4 Years and Counting!!!

Jarod, I love you more everyday. Even though life is tough and unpredictable, having you as my best friend to share it with has meant everything to me. I love being with you and talking with you more than anyone else! I am so happy we are a family together forever!

Jamaica & Grand Cayman Cruise - Celebrity Century

Tanya and I decided that we needed to get away for a while. Our sanity was wearing thin and the feeling of being in the same old place doing the same old stuff was getting to be too much. Being the master planner that Tanya is she had already been looking at cruises and had found a five night carribean cruise at a great price. The more we talked about it the better it sounded. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise, we considered it an adventure. We decided we would set sail on Valentine's Day. We purchased the cruise tickets without travel insurance and then booked our flights, we were committed.
I won't get into travel details other than to say we took the red eye from SLC to Miami and set sail the next morning. As with many things, Tanya had to convince me of something I already wanted, but didn't know I wanted.

There were a couple of other ships leaving at the same time and we got to see them off. We also say a lot of amazing sites as we were leaving Miami-one being of course the famous Miami Beach.

Our ship was smaller than most of the others we saw, which was great! Less people and more room to breath. Our little state room was tiny and without a window. I thought we might feel clausterphobic but it was great. If you sat on the toilet you could wash your hands in the sink at the same time.

The food was magnificent. I have never eaten so well in all my life. During the day we would stop by the buffets and graze on our favorite foods. Or we might drop by one of the cafes or the pool side grill for a burger and fries. We had the late dinning which was convenient because we usually weren't hungry until later anyway. Our head waiter Martins was from India and our support waiter was from Honduras, his name was Santos and they treated us like royalty. Every night was a five course meal. Sometimes they would bring us multiple entrees if we couldn't decide which one we wanted more.

We had the time of our lives! We loved being able to relax and forget about things for a few days. We also went to Stingray City in Grand Cayman and we will post pictures when we get our underwater camera developed.