Current Status

We recently had family pictures with my dad, Kathy and her kids. Although the day was rainy, we still got some cute shots. I was excited to get a picture of just Adam and I, to remember what is was like with the two of us. Soon we'll be three and it will change our family, which is an exciting change that we anxiously await! Adam is almost done with his first semester of the nursing program and is getting used to working nights at the hospital. Although it's not fun waking up at three to someone climbing into our bed... it is a welcome addition so that I'm not alone all night. :) Thanksgiving break is coming next week and I have never felt more ready for a 3 day break. As far as baby news goes, I started to feel "flutters" at about 16 weeks but they were very random and only a few times a week. Now they come a little more frequently and it is so fun! I wish Adam could feel them, but everyone tells me that soon enough he'll be able to feel the baby move. We find out on December 6 if it's a boy or a girl but haven't decided if we are going to wait until Christmas to tell everyone or not. I'm hoping it's a girl because it would be so fun to find that out on Briana's birthday (my little sister who passed away 9 years ago)! If it is a girl she will definitely have the middle name of Briana! We'll see soon enough.

Three Years and Three Months!

I love this picture because it characterizes how Adam has affected my life:) I tend to be more serious and a planner while Adam keeps me light hearted and spontaneous! We were married 3 years ago today and although we've had our ups and downs, we've grown closer together and love each other more than we did 3 years ago. Adam has been such a support to me, especially when things don't go according to "my plan". He works so hard in school and works to help us put money away for savings. I'm so proud of all that he has accomplished and continues to do. Also, we're three months along with this pregnancy and I couldn't ask for a better companion and best friend. He gets me hot tang at midnight, rubs my constantly aching shoulders and holds me when I'm not feeling so great. I'm so excited to see him as a dad and can't wait for our little bundle of joy to come in April. So, here's to celebrating three years and three months!!!!!

P.S. Cute story from yesterday:
We were at the mall looking at a few things and stopped by the maternity store to look at the price of some pants. Adam made me promise that I wouldn't buy anything and that I would just look. I tried on the pants and then put them on hold. After leaving the store, Adam kept telling me that I already had my anniversary present. I insisted that I did not and then he made me look all throughout my messy purse to find it. While I was in the dressing room, he had bought a gift card to the maternity store and then slipped it in my purse! Such a sweet heart and I love him so much!

My new parking space:)

So apparently I get my own parking space until April 26!!! By now most of you know that Adam and I are due to have a baby in April and we are so excited! Of course I still have my worries about something going wrong, but I'm hopeful and so thrilled at the same time! Here's the story about how we found out and how it's been going.
After our miscarriage we waited the allotted time before trying again. Of course I kept waiting to see changes in my body to let me know that I was pregnant. Well, I was pretty much convinced that I wasn't because I didn't really feel all that different and I only had a couple of days before my monthly visitor was supposed to arrive. It was Saturday, August 13th and we were invited to go to Lagoon with Adam's family. I figured that since I didn't feel pregnant I should go on the rides and not worry about it. My sister-in-law, Brooke, and I decided to go on the Samuri:) Adam thought I was crazy but I went anyway. After the ride I felt completely nauseated! I opted out on the rest of the rides that night because it wouldn't go away. On the way home Adam said I should just take a pregnancy test, but I didn't want to because I wanted to wait until Sunday when I should have been starting my cycle. I still felt sick throughout the night and decided to take a test in the morning. I woke up, took the test, and then prepared myself to see a negative. I didn't want to get my hopes up. I set the timer and then came back when it beeped. There were two lines and I quickly ran to show Adam!!!!! As excited as I was, it was then that I began to worry. I remember before I had a miscarriage that I thought nothing could go wrong and that everything would be fine. Now it was a different story because I had been down the "everything didn't go well" path and I worried about everything.
I called my doctor to set up an appointment and they asked me to come in at 10 weeks. I explained to the nurse what happened with my last pregnancy and she was so nice about it. She told me that I could actually come in at 6 weeks and have a viability ultrasound to see if everything was progressing as long as my insurance covered it. I called my insurance and they said they would! It brought me some comfort that I wouldn't have to wait as long but also worry that there wouldn't be a heart beat again. For a two weeks I kept waiting to feel sick and I actually didn't start feeling sick until a couple of days before my appointment. We went in and there was a heart beat! I made my appointment for nine weeks and then started school. Everyday brought its ups and downs. If I wasn't sick I worried. If I was cramping I worried. If I didn't feel pregnant I worried. Thanks to Adam, my sister, mother-in-law, dad and Kathy for listening to all of my worries and trying to reassure me. I made many phone calls for the next three weeks. I had a lot of cramping during week 7 and I was thoroughly convinced that something was wrong, but then I kept getting more morning sickness all throughout the day and the day of my appointment finally came.
I had to get a root canal at 1 and then had our ultrasound at 3:30. I was so nervous and nauseated. They quickly brought us back to the ultrasound room and I was on the verge of tears. She did the ultrasound and all I wanted to see was the FLICKER again. After a few seconds I saw the flicker and the nurse turned up the sound so we could hear the heart beat! It was such a comforting sound! I started crying and Adam just gave me a kiss and held my hand. We met with the doctor, did blood tests and then decided that our due date was on April 26. Although I still worry about little things that happen, I still have morning sickness. It's the worst at night right before I go to bed and all day on the weekends. I'm grateful to feel sick (even though it's not so fun) and I'm grateful for the love and support of my husband and family:) I'm gaining confidence everyday and I'm learning to leave it up to my Heavenly Father and trust in his plan. Again, we are so excited and thrilled to welcome a precious baby into our lives and home!

You are always on my mind......

If you were to ask me, "What are you thinking about right now?" 9 times out of 10 I would respond with something about my classroom, for my students or basically anything that deals with teaching. This is further illustrated through this experience. While Adam and I were driving, about a month ago, he turned to me and asked what my hobbies were. My first thoughts were all related to something about teaching. It took me a minute to think of something that didn't directly relate to my classroom or my students. While I realize that i should have other hobbies (which I'm now working on) I can't help but love to learn and teach others!
This summer has been my summer of classes. I have been in class since the week after school got out. I'll have a two week break in July and then I'll have one more class at the beginning of August. Some people think I'm crazy and that I should use my summer break for relaxation, but I can't help it: I don't have kids and I love LEARNING! My favorite so far has been BYU's Science Plus program and so here's a little about what I did for a week!

The class consisted of going down to Southern Utah in the Colorado Plateau region and learning all about the geology and biology of the area. We would start at 7:30 in the morning, eat lunch in the vans, have dinner at 5, present our findings from our assignments and then head to bed at about 9. If we weren't sleeping we were wandering all around learning about rocks, plants, habitats, geologic time and more! It was one of the most tiring things I've done in a long time (reminded me of my mission minus the religious part:) but I learned so much and I'm so excited to change how I teach science and use the inquiry method that I learned while I was there! It amazes me that we never cease to learn new things and I have a lot of years to keep learning! Therefore, if you have a hard time getting a hold of me it's probably because I'm in class:)

We're not moving!!!!!!!!!

We got a letter from the UVU Nursing Program today and found out that Adam was accepted!! So glad that we do not have to move somewhere else in January and that we get to stay around here for 3 more years:) I'm feeling very blessed and I'm grateful to see so many blessings lately. We are one step closer to our next phase of life.

Things not meant to be

Six weeks ago I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Adam and I were so excited and hopeful for a new addition to our family (not in the form of a dog:). We made our appointment for June to have my 10 week ultrasound and listen to the heart beat. Everything seemed to be going well. We went to our appointment today and found out that the baby stopped growing around 6 weeks and that there was no heart beat. They were hard words to take in, but that is what happened. I realize that there was nothing I could have done to change things and it's just something I need to learn to deal with. I'm doing okay. It's hard to let go of the dreams and aspirations we had but it was not meant to be right now. Thank you to my wonderful friends and family for support, hugs and love:) Adam is such a sweet heart to me as well. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful companion! I know that most people wouldn't blog about this kind of thing but it's kind of a therapeutic:) The Lord loves us and I know it'll happen when its meant to.

Mother's Day

Bitter Sweet day for me but enjoyed telling Adam all about my mom in the car ride up to Evanston! I'm noticing more and more each day all of the little things I do that my mother did all the time:0) They are such sweet reminders of her and her love! I'm planning on posting about them sometime this week. A big thank you to all my "mothers" who fill her role for me each day! I couldn't do it without you. Love you always and forever Mom! Jamie D.