Weekend Events

Today is Friday and I think I speak for all mankind when I say, "HALLELUJAH, PRAISE ALL THAT IS HOLY I LOVE MY LIFE!" This weekend I have the following plans:

-Sleep in until my body feels like it wants to get up.

-Talk to Clay about the possibility of donuts for Saturday breakfast

-Try and convince Paul to build me a crib that I DESPERATELY want.

-Be bored of the superbowl but happy about the burger I get to eat (Paul's are the best!)

-Read Monuments Men

-Work on organizing my sewing room......(bleh)

Wish me luck!

Breast-feeding, Gender, Birthstones

So a question was asked by my cousin and I realized I never covered this- BREAST-FEEDING.

Yeah, not doing it. That is one thing my doctor was sooooooo adamant about all through treatment. And I have to say, even though she was extreme on a lot of things...I have to agree with this one. Lyme spirochetes HAVE been found in breast milk, and I'm sorry but I already feel like I'm taking a huge risk here being pregnant in the first place, I surely don't want to risk any more by breast feeding when I can keep my baby healthy and alive with formula! I'm so grateful for formula...and I really think it'll be great. Do I wish I could breast-feed? Of course. I would for sure if I didn't have this danged disease...but I do, and that is life. I will formula feed! Case closed.

I want to find out the gender very badly. I have to wait until my 20 week appointment, and that's like...lightyears away. Just joking, it's about a month away. FEELS like lightyears. The problem is, everyone ELSE wants to find out just as badly if not more! Siblings, friends, everyone is just- WHEN DO YOU FIND OUT?! Always talking about it. It makes it harder to wait!

If you're wondering- I have absolutely no preference, and I can say that with 100% honesty! I am just excited to find out for name choices, decorations, clothes, etc. And just imagining it! I'm just so excited for any kind of baby! :) Clay would rather have a boy at this point, but I think he has said he really only wants a boy because he loves our boy names we have picked out. No, I'm not going to tell you what they are!

If you're wondering what my thoughts are on what it is...I have no idea. For years I have had this gut feeling that my first would be a boy. I mean, I've been convinced of this for a long time! I've always said, "Oh I know I'm having a boy first...I just do"...well flash forward to this past month. Suddenly when I'm thinking about the baby, my mind will automatically say "she" or "her" and I'm not consciously thinking this. It just comes into my brain automatically! So...there's that. So you can see why I have literally no idea what I'm having. I haven't done any of those tricky wives tale things because Clay doesn't want to be excited one way or the other and then have it switch on him when we confirm it. I have a friend and a co-worker who are convinced it is a boy, and I have a sister-in-law who had a dream about our baby and it was a girl, and Lizzie said she imagines a girl (but to be honest I think many of my family pictures a girl...cause that's kind of a common occurrence to have girls in my family). We shall see!

I have been looking at birthstones. Mine is aquamarine, Clay's is peridot, the baby's will be Ruby. Well...I was telling Clay it'd be fun to get a ring with Ruby stones in it for the baby's birthstone. And he thought I meant getting a ring for the baby to wear. Ummm...nope! He still thinks it's weird. I think it'd be marvelous to wear a ring with my baby's birthstone! Boy's don't understand these things though.

Well, that's all for now. If you have noticed, I'm not really caring that much about putting pictures up. I only take pictures with my phone anymore, and post those straight to instagram. I think I will probably just write on here and do pictures on there and print books separately in the future. But of course a pic might end up here every now and then too.

Idaho Love

You guys, something miraculous happened that I wasn't sure would ever happen...

The other day my co-worker said, "It's snowing!!!" and I automatically (I think just cause I'm used to doing this) said, "NOOOOO!" but then in my heart and mind I said, "Oh good, I'm so glad...we need moisture for those farmers!"

Now incase you don't know this...it is a common prayer in Idaho church congregations, in homes over meals, and basically all prayers around the state, to pray for moisture. Our state relies heavily on the farming community and without moisture, well...its just not good cause we have to grow those potatoes somehow right?

I realized in that instant that something had changed in me. I love my fellow Idahoans more than I hate the cold. I've always been annoyed when people prayed for moisture in the winter. Moisture in the winter means one thing- snow. And I never much cared for snow.

Well, I now am happy about it because it means good farming and good economy and happy people!

This got me to thinking...I feel like this is the first winter I have been in the middle of where I'm not severely unhappy. It's been a bit of a mild winter, but definitely in the 30's everyday. I have to say one thing that probably is making a big difference: gloves. I got these GREAT gloves from Ross for $7 and let me tell you...I think it's the best $7 I've ever spent in my life. I no longer scream on my way to work how much I hate my life! Warm hands on a cold steering wheel makes so much difference in one's outlook on life. Trust me on this.

I realize too that I like Idaho housing. I like how cheap it is and I love my house.

Also, I love Idaho nature. Even though the little tickies still scare me, I feel like I can see the beauty that surrounds me. Idaho is FULL of so much beauty. I love it. This summer we did lots more activities than we ever did before and I can't wait to do more! I found a list of 75 things to add to your Idaho bucket list. It's a bunch of fun things to do in Idaho and I plan get started on that list!

Idaho is generally full of really nice people. I've always complained that people aren't quite as colorful here as in Oregon...but I've found that if I look deep enough, or get to know others well enough, I can find some colorful folk around here. But really, people are generally nice. Of course you have your exceptions, but I like nice people.

Of course I still love California and Oregon (my top two choices of living if I had a chance) but I don't know...I think I'm coming around to Idaho, finally.

At least I'm making great progress...I mean seriously, I'm writing a post called "Idaho Love" in mid-January...a VERY cold time! Good for me.

Happy happy fun things

So my friend Lori texted me and asked if I wanted to join in with her and her sister on reading through a list of books (we will be picking and choosing of the list) that are coming out this year in theaters. This is the link to the list:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/books-to-read-before-they-hit-theaters-this-year?bffb

We started with Labor Day because it comes out first and the movie looks good! I invited some of my other friends to join in and they are and its great! I totally read the book! I really needed some motivation to read...cause...sometimes I just get out of the zone.

I'll tell you if you're interested that this book was really good. I liked the writing style (pretty different) and the story. It's NOT plot driven, so if you need a lot of action and movement in a story...probably not for you. Very character driven. WARNING: I do not suggest this to anyone under the age of 18. It is narrated by a 12 year old boy who is going through puberty and there are some topics covered that really shouldn't be read by a youngin. Also, some adults might not like this (I mean...I didn't really love this, but I also didn't mind toooo much, but I didn't feel it overpowered the book so I was able to look past it), for instance my friend has a 12 year old son and was weirded out a lot by some of the scenes. After all those warnings...seriously I was very pleased with it! I like slow moving books that have character arch's and growth and things.

I am going to attempt reading Pride and Prejudice again...since one of my goals before my birthday was to read a Jane Austen book. We'll see how I do.

Clay has been an organizing maniac since the appraisal. That's all he wants to do. Make every nook and cranny in our house organized and clean of junk! He has thrown so much away. It's great, and it's...eh. He likes me to participate in this activity and sometimes (all the time) I just feel like laying in bed and watching tv. Oh well, it is good. We will have our room totally free for baby stuff by the end of the week I think! Not that we are getting anything huge...I will wait for garage sale season for that I think.

I heard the heartbeat of my baby last night because I'm a freak and worried so much that something was wrong because my belly shrunk. What a relief :) The baby was moving like crazy! I couldn't feel it, but the doppler was indicating movement with scratchy noises. I love hearing that heartbeat! And I love that my baby is active and moving!

I, myself, have been very active and moving (and lazy on my bed too I guess with the tv watching), but I make it to the gym pretty often! I feel pretty good about that. Let me tell you something- I DO THE ELLIPTICAL FOR 45 STRAIGHT MINUTES! You guys, this is a miracle. I've discovered something...ellipticals weren't meant for doing by yourself. I can't do it that long by myself. I think I'd be lucky to get 10 minutes in by myself...without thinking I'd rather die. But when you have a friend talking with you the whole time, it is easier. I know people that can do ellipticals by themselves for an hour and I have to say, you people are not human.

I have been doing great on my new "diet" thing. I seriously have been eating whole foods breakfast and lunch pretty much every single day since the new year. It is FANTASTIC. It makes me feel really good and its just great. It's really motivating to have someone to report to.

Overall life is quite good. I am enjoying it :)

Being Pregnant

Well, I have to say...being pregnant is very interesting.

It's joyous, cause everyday I remember- oh my gosh! I'm growing a person, my child! It's a miracle! 

Nothing quite makes me believe in God...like growing a human being in my body. 

It's also terrifying. I have days where I am so nervous. I constantly worry that this really isn't happening, or that it's going to be over anyday now. I don't think I'll stop worrying until the end (and probably for everyday till I die).

I have felt the baby move! Not every day, and mostly when I am very still for a long amount of time. I'll feel this little flutter. And I am told that is the baby :)

I wish I could have a doctor appointment everyday to hear the heartbeat. I hear that you can buy your own doppler (and I haven't just heard this I've researched it), and I actually consider getting one all the time, but it's pretty expensive and I should just have faith and wait till my monthly appointment. 

Incase anyone is wondering how this works with Lyme and such, a few things should be noted.

We have a marvelous medical professional who understands our situation, and made the time and effort to make a phone appointment with Dr Jones (east coast, big wig Lyme Doc) to discuss Lyme pregnancy protocol. She discussed it with him and has prescribed me the medications needed to minimize the risk of passing. 

The research shows that if you are on 2 antibiotics from before conception, and through your pregnancy, the chance of passing lyme is less than 1%. I am on these very antibiotics they suggest, and have been since before conception. 

We also have me on a pretty strict diet. I only eat processed sugar once a week at the most, and I still limit my gluten to once or twice a week. I eat whole foods for breakfast and lunch everyday of the week, and my dinners are mostly healthy, though I do cave sometimes and get Little Caesars...or Taco Bell...or something like that! 

We will have the cord blood tested immediately for Lyme and go from there! 

All of this...is done with the hope that our baby doesn't get Lyme :) If it does get Lyme, well, that will be a whole new discussion for me and Clay. 

I'm going to be honest with you too..because I feel like this was a direct blessing from God. Clay and I didn't get pregnant on our own, and there wasn't really an explanation for it. We tried and tried, and the doctor essentially said after analyzing our test results that he couldn't see a reason we wouldn't be getting pregnant after how much time had passed. We then went to a clomid and IUI combination. You can look those things up if you don't know what they are. But one thing to know about IUI's is, the sperm is washed before it is inserted to my uterus. 

What I later found out was that HIV positive patients often use IUI's to help them get pregnant without passing to a baby HIV. The washing of the sperm lowers the risk significantly. Both Lyme and HIV are infections diseases, and therefore one would deduce that the wash would help Lyme passing go down as well. Overall, I felt a great peace when I read about that...that this was all meant to be and that the IUI was always in our plan, to help with the Lyme issue. 

Anyhow, maybe you can see why I get so worried. It took so much to get here, and there is so much I feel like we have to lose. Pray for my nerves will ya! 

Overall we are so happy. All the time we just look at each other and smile and say, we are having a baby!!! It really is a joyous time :)

2013 goals by numbers update

So...people have asked how I did on my 2013 goals by numbers...

I have to be honest with you. I kind of lost track a bit around the middle of the year. I think the reason is....I had a lot to focus on. We were desperately trying to get pregnant, counting days, taking temperatures, seeing doctors, researching Lyme and pregnancy, feeling emotional, and then of course, GETTING pregnant-through really stressful ways (by the way), and then...well...being pregnant! Needless to say, the last half of the year I was really focusing on one thing and one thing only- GETTING A BABY IN MY BELLY! Then...KEEPING A BABY IN MY BELLY! Oh, and I should probably mention another biggy- Clay happened to PUBLISH A BOOK! I don't think I've told you how much time and energy that took from both of us. Wowee a lot.  

However, I feel I did pretty durn good, even though I did not even got close to meeting these goals. I still did a lot more than I think I would've without them! 

Here were the goals and what I accomplished (I think...again, I kinda lost track a bit):

Play 1000 songs on the piano- 336 played
Read 12 new books- 5 read
Make 52 new recipes- 39 made
Have 12 memorable dates with Clay- 12 dates
Read Genesis through 2 Kings of the Old testament- Genesis read (a bit of exodus)

I don't regret making these goals at all! I do think I like my birthday thing better-having a list of things to do before the end of the year...I think I will keep doing that each birthday, until I don't want to anymore!

Cleanin house

So we are getting our house refinanced which is VERY EXCITING!

We will get a lower rate, shorten our loan to 15 years, and hopefully get our danged mortgage insurance off!

Because of this...we had to get our home appraised. 

Now...you need to know something about Clay. When something like this happens, he gets stressed, and he gets to work, and he puts YOU to work. We slaved and slaved and slaved away on Saturday and part of Sunday.

Here's some of what we did:

deep cleaned kitchen
deep cleaned bathrooms
vacuum basement
rearrange basement
carpet basement bedroom
clean out closets
touch up paint
take down Christmas lights
sweep out garage
vacuum and mop hard floors & tile
clean walls of slobber
dust
put away laundry
carpet a closet

aaaaaaand I feel like I'm missing something. But seriously, it was a lot of stuff. We were both exhausted by the end and its all done and just like I predicted...the appraiser didn't lift up the toilet seats, pull back the shower curtains, OR open all our closets.

That's okay. It's good to have some sort of motivation for cleanin up house every now and then.

Our house is cleaner than ever, and it smells good. We are trying our best to not live in it.

Here's to hoping the appraiser decides our house is worth lots of money so we can drop our mortgage insurance! And here's to hoping the day we close on our rate it is lower than EVER! (1%? Lets hope for that...ha)

Really though, this will save us a TON of money in the long run...which makes us so excited. Giddy, really!

Healthy Body 2014

Alrighty, so I mentioned my new years resolution with Lizzie to eat more moderately and such. Here is what we've come up with:

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RULES:

1. Breakfast and lunch are whole foods

2. Go out to dinner only once a week

3. Small healthy treats are permitted once a day (no replacing meals though)

4. Small sugary treats are permitted once a week

5. Report every breakfast, lunch, and treat eaten to partner with pictures.

NOTES:

Whole Foods: Whole grains, fruits, veggies, no dairy, no processed foods

It is okay to go skip a day on holidays. Try to keep it to just one day.

If you go out to lunch or breakfast with a friend and can’t eat whole foods, try to make up for it at dinner and eat whole foods then. If this isn't possible, don’t guilt yourself, the majority of the time you are on track! It’s okay to not be perfect when we are eating moderately.

Remember that eating moderately is the way of the Lord and we will be healthiest and least stressed eating this way. It might not shed the pounds like a crazy diet, but it will help our body and soul be at peace and feel its best. We will feel closer to the spirit and be beautiful because of it.

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Now you may be wondering, "What is a healthy treat?". Well if you are a freak like us, you have tried many forms of natural sweeteners such as dates, coconut sugar, raw honey, pure maple syrup, etc, in order to sweeten things without using poison sugar. Because we have been so NOT moderate, we try these things to help us eat treats without the guilt...so anyway, we have decided that treats used with natural sweeteners, and no white flour are okay to eat in small amounts each day. 

We are on day two of this so far so good. ha! Hopefully we keep it up. I've also exercised everyday this year :)

We (Lizzie) are trying to get a good solid list together of ideas for breakfast and lunch that are whole foods. It's harder than it seems! So far we've done oatmeal, smoothie, soup, salad. 

Here's to a Healthy Body in 2014!

PS- My dear family...just doesn't understand hashtags. I will try to explain them. Hashtags are when you put the pound sign (#) infront of a phrase or word. When you do this, the REAL purpose behind doing this is to group like things. Group pictures, group phrases, etc. So my purpose on instagram for using the hashtag #healthybody2014 is that I can click on that hashtag and see all the pictures I have tagged. So all my "healthy" pictures having to do with this resolution, are grouped in that one spot and not jumbled through all the rest of my pictures. ALSO, other people can use that hashtag and add pictures to the group. So if you took a picture on instagram of say, a smoothie, and said, "Oh I love starting my day out right! #healthybody2014" Then your picture of your smoothie would show up in the same group as my healthy pictures. It's just a way to group things.

That being said, that isn't what a lot of people use hashtags for. They often use them in replacement of sentences just for fun or whatever...it's completely defeating the purpose. But the original purpose is to group like things, as I am doing :)

So hopefully that clears THAT up. 

Happy 2014, baby!

Oh man. I am convinced that this will be my best year yet. Really, best year of my life! Why wouldn't it be? I am growing a baby in my belly and come July, I will hold it in my arms and kiss it!

Ah. That is a beautiful thought.

Also, new goals are here! I and many of my siblings have often tried the all or nothing type diet thing..."NO SUGAR! NO GLUTEN! NO DAIRY! NOTHING THAT TASTES GOOD PLEASE!" cause we just never seem to be good at moderation. My dear husband even knows this about me and reminds me of it a lot how I just don't have control. Even though I hate when he tells me this, it is true.

Well this 2014 business is going to be great. It is the year I shall master moderation! My sister Lizzie rang me up this morning and we discussed all our thoughts and wishes for health and moderation. I am happy to say we came up with a list, and are starting the new year with some really healthy plans. It's not a diet! It's what I really think moderation is meant to be.

I hate when people use hashtags in replacement of sentences. BUT I think hashtags are really useful for grouping photos. Therefore, I started a hashtag on instagram called #healthybody2014. I will take pictures of food, of me exercising (i mean kinda), and tag it with the hashtag so all those photos will be grouped for quick motivation! I hope you'll all join me and use it as well. I like having others be healthy with me so that I feel stupid if I'm not healthy. You know? Peer pressure still runs deep in my blood :)

The only other resolution I have is to keep track of our budget and actually have solid real numbers I can say, "Yes, we saved this much" or "We overspent in this category this month" you know? I know, I'm an accountant- I should LOVE budgeting, right? Not so much. But this year, I will do it.

So, to recap, healthy body and budgeting. Those are my resolutions.

Hoorah hoozah! I feel good.

Happy New Years! I really am convinced it will be the best year yet.

PS. This past week my belly has popped out a bit! People are noticing other than me and Clay! It's kinda fun but kinda weird!

And I really just wanted to get this pic on there cause I love it.