Things Are All Coming Together...

Well, for the past couple of weeks, my mom and I have been getting my room ready for Audrey to join me in there. I went through my whole closet and got rid of a bunch of clothes that I never wear anymore and put away clothes that are for the summer. I also just got rid of a bunch of junk that I just don't do anything with and taking up a lot of space. Tonight we are going to Ikea to get some more things for Audrey. I am going to be putting her dresser/changing table in my closet. My mom painted the inside of my closet white and I think Bryan going to draw her name on the wall in there. The closet doors don't work in our house, they always fall off of the lining or whatever it's called, so mine are completely off and I have curtains to cover up what is in my closet. I am going to get these new curtains at Ikea to match her stuff and tie them back. My closet is set up so that you hang the clothes on the side of it instead directly in front of you so that makes it so I can put the changing table in there. I only have a bassinet up in my room right now. Julie and Jenny used this instead of the crib for like 3 months after the boys were born, so I can wait on putting up a crib.

My dresser broke sometime in the summer so I am going to get a new one at Ikea tonight as well. I just been using tubber wear containers to hold my jeans and stuff. I am pretty excited to be getting a new dresser so I won't have to use those anymore. Everything will just look a lot nicer and put together than it has been in a couple of months. I am getting really excited to start putting all of these things together.

26 Weeks

Yesterday I had an appointment at St. Vincent. They were measuring the baby today, so I got to see a lot of the baby and how much she has grown. Her heart rate was 140 bpm and she is 1lb & 15oz. I have gained two pounds since my last appointment so I am now up to 12lbs that I have gained so far. At one point during the ultrasound of the baby, the nurse turned the picture to 3d. That was really cool to see Audrey in some kind a 3d form. I got to see the definition of her nose and mouth. At one point, she was smacking her lips and swallowing. Then out of the blue she smiled! The nurse got a picture of that. That was just really neat and made my day.

After the ultrasound of the baby, we got to my favorite part, checking my cervix. They had a hard time measuring my cervix this time as well. It kept fluctuating short and then long. . The doctor is not worried about it though because the shortest it is measured, it about the same as before, about 1.8. She still wants to see me every week until I get to about 28-30 weeks.

After my appointment, my mom and I went to the library to get some books for me to read. I am trying to find things to do while I am on bed rest. More than just watching movies. I am knitting Jenny a scarf and my mom threw out the idea that I make a blanket for Audrey. I have yet to go to the store to find so yarn so that I can get started on that.

I have finally made up my mind!!!

After months of trying to find a name for the baby, I have finally settled on one. We are going to name her Audrey Kay. Nickname Auddie for short. Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress. I love anything to do with her! I gave her my middle name Kay. I am so relieved now that I have a name for her. I can start to bond with her in a new way now by calling her by her first name!

23 Weeks

I had an appointment at 10:15 yesterday morning out at St. Vincent Hospital with Dr. Jacobson. When they called my name, it was the same nurse that I had the very first time I went to St. Vincent to check my cervix. This nurse asked if she could use my pictures to show that she knew how to measure a cervix. Well, when I was at Sunnyside before I went to St. Vincent the first time and my doctor called me to tell me to go there, she told me that my cervix measured to be 2.3 and when I got to St. Vincent that very same day, this nurse measured my cervix to be 1.8. So, needless to say, this nurse measured my cervix again to be 1.8-1.9. I don't think this nurse hows to measure the cervix because all the other nurses always measure it to be 2.3 and 2.4.
Anyway, the doctor came in and told me that I basically need to be on complete bed rest until I get to at least 28 weeks because this is the most critical part. We don't want her to come out now because she could have very major complications. The nurse came in while I was talking to the doctor and took my blood pressure: 126/85, I think. Pretty good compared to my sisters'. She also did the test thing with my urine and found out that I could have a bladder infection, so the doctor gave me a prescription to take for a couple of days. I am supposed to call the nurse on Monday to talk about the 2nd urine test I did while I was still there.
I got all the paperwork that I need to send in about me being admitted when I go into labor. I will be going to St. Vincent when I go into labor. I wish that I wasn't though cause it is so stinkin far away.
Last night, while I was laying down watching a movie, I felt her kick me and the stuff that I have been reading said that I might be able to see my stomach do little waves from the baby moving. Well, I looked down at my stomach and that is exactly what I saw. It was the coolest thing ever to be able to see that. I kept seeing my stomach go up and down.

22 weeks

I had a prenatal appt. today at Rockwood at 8am in the morning. Jacob came and picked me up at about 7:40. It was a good appointment. I really like the doctor that I have at Rockwood. Since now that I go to St. Vincent, I do not have to visit the doctor at Rockwood but I had a bad experience at St. Vincent last week. The doctor that I would normally have, Dr. Jacobson, wasn't there so I had the doctor that substitutes for her when she is unavailable. Dr. Jacobson specifically asked me to come in every week to check my cervix and make sure that it isn't getting any shorter. Well, the doctor I had told me that I can just come back in two weeks. He was not very informational at all. When I went to go make my next appointment, the receptionist asked me how I liked that doctor and I told her that he wasn't very good at all. She said that a lot of women complain about him. I told her how he told me to come back in two weeks instead of next week so she told me to go ahead and keep the appointment that I had with Rockwood so that I was getting checked every week. I weighed in at 116 lbs today. I am still 2 pounds underweight. My blood pressure was 104/64, which is good compared to my sisters who had complications with high blood pressure with their pregnancy. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, she had to keep moving the thing around because the baby kept moving around, wouldn't stay in one spot. She measured my uterus and that is looking good as well. She still wants to see me because over at St. Vincent's they are more concerned about me being a high risk pregnancy. She wants me to be able to enjoy every little thing even if my pregnancy is a little different than normal. We watched a pre-term labor video and then made an appointment with for next time and got all my paperwork for that day. I see her again on the 31st, which I look forward to. I have my appointment at St. Vincent next week and hopefully that will be a better one than the last.

East to West

This song has been a comfort for me. I love this song a lot.

East to West
By: Casting Crowns

Here I am Lord and I'm drowning
In your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where you found me
And it echoes in my mind
Keeps me awake tonight

I know you've cast my sins as far
As the East is from the West
And I stand before you now
As though I've never sinned but today
I feel like I'm just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way

Jesus can you show me
Just how far the East is from the West
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scar[r]ed hand to the other

I start the day the war begins
Endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again
Your [T]ruth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way

Jesus can you show me
Just how far the East is from the West
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scar[r]ed hand to the other

I know you've washed me white
Turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through
To get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel
But by the truth your word reveals
I'm not holding on to you
But your holding on to me
Your holding on to me

Jesus, you know just how far
The East is from the West
I don't have to see the man I've been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
(The arms of your mercy I find rest)
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scar[r]ed hand to the other(x2)

(Just how far, the East is from the West) (x3)

From one scarred hand to the other

Nada...

Nothing to exciting has happened in my life lately. I decided to go up for my Uncle David's funeral. I wasn't going to because before my uncle had passed away I told Thao at work that I would switch shifts with her since she had to do something on Wed. night. I knew that they would ask why I would switch shifts in the first place if I wouldn't have shown up. Well, I decided the night before to go up with Julie, Nathan, Jaden, Jenny, Bryan and Gabe (my parents went up the night before). We left around 6:30 in the morning. I called work in the morning to let them know what I wasn't coming in. When I had gotten up there and to the funeral, I was so glad that I had made the decision the call out of work. I wouldn't have ever known what an impact that this was going to have on me. When we got to the service and saw my uncle's box on the table (he was cremated) I immediately started to cry. I had no idea that is was going to hit me that hard that my uncle was gone. He was actually gone. I was glad that I had gotten to go up and say my last good bye. It was also neat to see Miriam and Naomi again. I hadn't seen them in like 10 years. Here are some pictures from the service and the cousins all together...



My uncle was in the air force so here is them holding the flag out...



Here is the guy presenting the flag to my cousin...



The 21-gun salute...



Grandpa putting Uncle David in his spot on the wall w/ Grandma and Dad looking on...



And, all of us cousins...




Jacob turned 24 on Mother's Day this year. He said that we could celebrate his b-day on Tuesday since that is really when we celebrate b-days anyways and let my mom do what she wanted for the day. Well, nothing ever turns out the way that we planned cause later on in the day Julie and Nathan took Jaden to the hospital and found out he had peunomia and RSV so my mom went up to the hospital to be with them and Jacob, my dad and me went over to Jen and Bryan's to have dinner. He was in the hospital for five days. Hopefully, he won't have to keep going through this. He has been sick on and off since Feb.

Tuesday was really low key. We ate out at TGIF's and then came back for a party. I made chocolate cupcakes and he got quite a bit of presents from everyone. It turned out to be a good birthday party.

Uncle David Passed Away...

I found out last Sunday that my Uncle Davis has passed away. Jacob and I were at Ikea when Jenny called and told me that he had died. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't believe her at first. She had to be kidding. I guess he was working out at the gym and went into the sauna after he was done working out and had a massive heart attack while he was in there. This is still very hard for to grasp. It still doesn't seem to be true. I haven't cried yet just because it is something hard for me to believe still. My dad went up to Seattle on Wednesday to help out with everything and he said that Neiko (my uncle's dog) hasn't come out of my uncle's room. He just stays in there. I guess when my dad got up there, he came out of the room for a bit cause he thought my dad was my uncle. When I heard that it made me cry because it now does seem like my uncle is really gone. It was hard hearing that. This is just a really hard time for all of my family...

Pictures from Gabe's B-day

Gabe's 1st Birthday!

Saturday April 5th was Gabe's 1st birthday party. Jacob and I got over there around 9-9:30ish to help out Jen and Bryan get ready for the party. I helped Jenny make the cupcakes. Gabe's party theme was stuff on the farm so the cupcakes that we made were chicks, pigs and sheep. The pigs were the easiest to make. I think that they all turned out pretty good. Jacob with with Bryan to go get the pizzas and a few other things that they needed. Betty and Gary (Bryan's parents from Idaho) were one of the first people to arrive. Pretty soon everyone showed up and we all got pizza and salad to eat. After that Gabe opened up his presents...or should I say MOM and DAD opened up the presents. Gabe was not interested at all. He was crawling around doing other things while they were opening up the gifts. Jacob and I bought Jaden a gift too because that is what Christina did at Jaden's b-day party was bring Gabe a gift so that he wouldn't feel left out. I had Jaden's gift sitting by me and Gabe thought it was his so he came over and started opening that one. :) After we did presents, Gabe got to have his piggy cake. It was his first time having sugar and he wasn't sure what to make out of it but after the first intial taste, he went to town on it. That doesn't really surprise me at all, the guy is a chunky monkey! Bryan went to get him hosed off after he was done while everyone else got their cupcakes. Everyone started to leave around 3:30 or so. Jacob and I stayed around for a bit after everyone left but then left ourselves to go on our date night. Gabe's birthday was fun and I am glad I got to be a part of it!

Jaden on the Slide

Here is a video of Jaden on the slide. We put a mat at the end of it so he would have a soft landing. It doesn't have any sound which sorta bums me out. He was laughing and everything which would have been nice to have on the video as well. Oh well.





Oh, and tonight while Julie was upstairs doing something, I was down in the basement with Jaden and we were playing with his toolbox that counts. Well, I pushed a button that made the thing say one and then right after that Jaden goes on to say two and three. I was so excited. I yelled for Julie to come down so that I could show her. It was so cute. I was so excited that I was able to hear Jaden say something for the very first time!!

Hash Brown Casserole

Jenny made this a few weeks ago. I tried and really liked it. I made it for my family the other night and they all loved it as well. Here is the recipe…


-1 bag hormell diced ham
-1 30oz bag of shredded hashbrowns
-1 can of cream of chicken
-1 cup of cottage cheese
-1 cup of sour cream
-1 tsp of garlic salt
-1 tsp of black pepper
-1 ser of lawry salt
-1 cup of shredded cheese

Blend cottage cheese, sour cream and soup until smooth. grease pan. pour hash browns in pan. Sprinkle garlic salt, lawry salt, and black pepper and ham over the hash browns. Pour cottage cheese, sour cream and soup mixture over the top of the hash browns. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Back again....We'll see...

Where to begin? Well, Jacob and I celebrated our one year anniversary at the end of January. We took that time to reflect back on the year we had together, where we have come from since then. We went to Olive Garden first for lunch. I love going to Olive Garden and having their Zuppa Toscana soup. I could eat that stuff by the bucket loads! We then went bowling and played five games. I beat him three to two games. He claims that he let me win. I don’t think so. I can’t quite remember what we did after that. I think we went downtown to Pioneer Place and went shopping and saw a movie. I don’t remember. Oh, but I do remember the reason why we went downtown is because we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. I got something new there and it was delilious. Jacob wasn’t thrilled with what he got and wanted mine but I wouldn’t let him! :)

Julie and Nathan has moved in the house with Jaden in the fall I believe. They moved into the basement. That was working out for a while except that my room was right above where Julie and Nathan were sleeping. I am a night owl and love to stay up at night. That was not working out for them because they could hear everything that I was doing upstairs. I was getting yelled at practically everyday because I was doing things that I have always done before they had moved in. Well, around Christmastime, we decided that I would move down to the basement and Julie, Nathan and Jaden would move into the two bedrooms upstairs. That has been working out good so far. I am able to stay up as long as I want without having to worry whether or not I am being to loud. My room is starting to feel like everything is coming together. I feel as if I need to buy everything new just because I had moved into a new room. I don’t have anything up on my walls yet, but when I do, my room is going to look good. It has been an ineresting journey having them live here in the house with us. I am so grateful that I get to see my nephew everyday. It is such a joy being able to watch him grow everyday. Though it does has its downfalls, because I do love to have the whole house to myself to be able to do whatever I want and when I want to do it. But I’ve gotten use to it. Jaden loves to come in my room with me and do whatever it is that I am doing. He especially loves to close the doors on my entertainment center while I am watching tv or a movie. :)

Another major change that has happened in my life, is that I watch Gabe on Tuesdays now. This has also been fun to be able to do, being able to watch grow up as well. I love being able to be this involved in both my nephews life this much! Calie has surprisingly been so good for me while I watch Gabe on Tuesdays. She used to be bad for me when I watched her before. She would get into things and just be a little mischief. But now she has settled down alot and lays on the couch with me when I watch tv or sits outside the shower door while I take a shower. So unlike what she was before.