7 Months! Woo hoo!

I am getting progressively worse at not blogging, so I thought I'd throw something quick and painless on here. I am about 7 months along now, and I'm still alive! A few recent developments:

GOODBYE TO:

• My feet. I can't see them any more.
• Life without heartburn. I never realized how sweet life was.
• My wardrobe. Nothing fits any more, and I'm holding out as long as physically possible in NOT buying maternity clothes. Wish me luck on that one. You've gotta check out my little life-saver so far. EVERY PREGNANT WOMAN should have this: http://littlemissydesign.com/Products.html
• Eye contact. When I walk by people they say 'hello' and their eyes instantly drop to my stomach...EVERY TIME. I know know what girls with huge boobs feel like when talking to men. Speaking of which...
• Goodbye to...my chest. It was growing like mad, and now has gone back down in size a bit. DANG IT. Hopefully it will come back??
• Movie theaters, especially the dollar theater. We went and saw The Proposal and it was probably the most uncomfortable 2 hours of my life. They ARE NOT ergonomically correct for pregnant women.
• The enjoyable side of pregnancy. I have thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant lately, but everyone tells me the worst is yet to come...I'll just have to brace myself, I guess.

HELLO TO:

• A STRONG baby Bubba! He's kicking the heck out of me, all the time. I like it though, because that reminds me that A) He's alive and well (hopefully), B) I'm growing a human. Kinda cool.
• Peace of mind - Baby Bubba's Choroid Plexus Cysts have gone away, he's our healthy little boy now :)
• A nursery!....a very...very...empty nursery. We got the bead board up on the walls, but have no crib or decorations. Baby steps, I guess!
• The "I can't wait to see the baby!" mentality. Luckily, it's goodbye to the: "Holy crap I'm having a baby what did I do" mentality.
• Registering for baby items. I HATE IT. It's the most confusing thing I've ever done in my life. How the heck am I supposed to know what kind of stroller or crib I want if I've never had a baby before? UGH.
• Hearing the baby "swimming" in my stomach when I lay on my back. It's so cool!
• A Super-cute husband. Bubba loves feeling his little baby kick, he'll be such a good daddy!

Can't wait for next month! I'll post pics soon.

Kirkland vs Huggies

I need to take a poll. With a coupon, I got 216 Kirkland Supreme diapers for about $35. It's a great value, however, I am not sure how Kirkland stands up. I would love to start stocking up now little by little, but don't want to skimp where quality needs to count.

Has anyone ever used Kirkland diapers? Are they worth the good price, or is it better to stick to Huggies, a more trusted name brand? What is your favorite brand? What is a good price? I also bought Kirkland wet wipes, do I need to go with a name brand on those too?

HELP!

Love-a the Bubba

Sorry about the lame name, I couldn't come up with anything catchier.

I just was thinking about how amazing my husband is, and felt like blogging about it. Really, I have NOTHING else to blog about, and he's pretty darn incredible so it's about time I give him some credit.

For our 1 year anniversary I started a list of 100 things I love about Bubba, and I found it too hard to stop. I have kept the list going and it's in a little journal. I think I'm close to the 400's now and still have plenty more to go.

I won't bore you with details, but I just want to publicly say that he is my life. My heart hurts if I think of what life would be without him. He's patient, sweet, thoughtful, and he's the best friend I've ever had. Oh, and by the way, I think he's pretty smokin'. Just wanted to share that, I apologize, but I think I really do have the best husband around. Sorry ladies.

One annoying thing, though? He's really photogenic...and I'm not. Darn that Bubbster.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that he's really fun? What a catch. Love that Bubba!

What the...Choroid Plexus Cyst?

Yesterday I went to my new doctor, Lisa Gravelle. I changed from Dr. England because Alta View is really far away, and they were going to make me deliver at a 2 month old brand new hospital WAY out West in Riverton. I wasn't thrilled...at all...so I switched to Dr. Gravelle at te new Murray hospital. I LOVE HER!

Her bedside manner is awesome, she is young and super funny, and best of all? She came very highly recommended by multiple friends of mine. Bingo!

She was very thorough in getting to know me, Bubba, and how my pregnancy has been going. But then she asked the scary question that we all dread...

"Has anyone talked to you about your ultrasound?"

Nope. I figured no news is good news, but was a little wrong. I noticed that during our "gender revealing" ultrasound, the technician took LOTS of pictures of the baby's head/brain. I started getting worried but then she said, "Ok THERE is a good one!" as if she was taking so many because she hadn't gotten a good enough shot yet. That eased my mind but still left me wondering a tiny bit.

Dr. Gravelle explained that they found two small Choroid Plexus Cysts in Baby Page's brain. She said that technology is great, but it tends to pick up things that we can't really explain or know what effect they will have on the baby until later in the pregnancy. This is one of those things. She explained that the Cysts could lead to chromosomal problems, but in most cases the cysts correct themselves and go away entirely by 26 weeks or so.

She had us schedule a second follow-up ultrasound so they can do a deep, thorough scan of the baby's brain and body. She said she's not too worried, but just wants to be safe by doing the second ultrasound.

It's pretty scary to think that something could be wrong with our Baby's brain. I looked up an article explaining what Choroid Plexus Cysts are, and typically they are harmless. Once in a while, however, they can lead to serious Chromosomal problems like Trisomy 18 or Downs Syndrome.

Keep baby Page in your prayers that the cysts go away by our ultrasound at the end of this month. And if anyone knows anything about Choroid Plexus Cysts, please let us know!

We should all laugh a little more...

I saw this clip on Good Morning America this morning while getting ready for work. I thought it was adorable! I need to laugh uncontrollably more.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8490239

Half way there! Flash back, and current status

I'm officially 20 weeks, half way there!

Recently I was telling someone, "I'm almost 5 months along...only 4 more to go!" Then they reminded me of the harsh reality...

You are pregnant for 10 months (kinda). UGH. Add another month to the board.

At the time I LOVED saying that I was "one month along" even though I had only found out I was pregnant for a day or two. Now, I'd rather say "I'm one day along" to bring it from 10 months down to 9. Oh well, either way, it wouldn't be fast enough!

When I made it through my 1st trimester (breathing a heavy sigh of relief) I wrote some thoughts in my journal. I will flash back to then, and then will update you with the "now".

3 Months Along:

GOODBYE TO:

• The 1st Trimester...longest 3 months of my life.
• Morning, noon, and night sickness
• The worry in the back of my mind of miscarrying.
• Any dream of a flat stomach.
• The ability - and mainly desire - to eat anything I want.
• Sleeping through the night without peeing 3 times.
• Any desire I have ever had to work full-time. I am so over it.
• Diet Mountain Dew, and Crystal Lite Energy. Here's to caffeine-free days with sleepy eyes.
• The ability to have ANYTHING touch my stomach, especially elastic.

HELLO TO:

• Occasional dry-heaving when brushing my teeth in the morning.
• A growing baby bump! It's still small, but growing!
• Ever-growing curiosity, and complete confusion, as to whether it's a boy or girl.
• Underlying worry about finances, but also...
• ....Growing peace that it will all be ok.
• Complete, utter, despising, LOATHING to HEAT!!! I'm SO HOT!!!
• Easy mac, bagels, and Top Ramen. Heaven bless bland, processed food.
• A chest! I need to get a bigger bra! I'm LOVING it, I usually wear the smallest size possible in Victoria's Secret...and now I need to go bra shopping. WOO HOO!
• The most amazing husband on the planet. He amazes me with his tenderness, love, and selflessness more and more every day.
• Horrible re-growth, I really really really need to get my hair done.
• Hair and nails that I can't control any more. Miracle Grow has nothing on pre-natals.

5 Months Along:

GOODBYE TO:

• The curiosity...it's a boy!
• An even bigger baby bump, growing by the day.
• Easy mac, bagels, and Top Ramen. If I have to eat those any more I'm going to shoot someone.
• Any ideas that I once had for baby names. It's getting harder to come up with names I like, somehow.
• My wardrobe. I haven't purchased any maternity clothes yet, but not buttoning my pants is getting really old. I think I'll have to give in pretty soon.
• Re-growth, finally got my hair done after about 7 months!
• The 1st half of my pregnancy, it's gone by pretty darn fast so far.

HELLO TO:

• The baby room, it's coming along...(slowly but surely)
• A tipping scale. Luckily I've only gained about 8-10 pounds so far, but my baby book says I should expect to gain at least 1 pound a week from here on out. Here come the fat pants!
• Growing excitement on everyone's end, especially my mom's.
• Difficulty sleeping. How are you supposed to sleep well when you can't sleep on your back or stomach, and hate sleeping on your sides??
• Big feet. I swear mine are growing by the day.
• A very active baby, resulting in lots of cute little kicks all day long, and "bathroom fake-outs"...I swear he's doing back flips on my bladder, making me think I have to go "SO BAD!" then when I get to the bathroom, nothing but a tiny tinkle. Cheap trick, Baby Bubba.
• The final stretch of my pregnancy, I have less than half way to go. Woo hoo!

The verdict is in...

Well, most of you (including myself) were wrong.

It's a BOY!

So Bubba, my dad, and my brother were right...my mom and I were wrong. Though, really, I was only about 55% sure it was a girl, so I really wasn't too surprised either way. We are SO THRILLED and I'm so glad to know! Now we can do the baby surf room we wanted without trying to figure out how to make it girly. Now, all we have to do is come up with a name.

Any ideas?

Place your bets!

We find out the gender of our baby on MONDAY!!! We are SOOOO excited; we thought we would have to wait for another 2+ weeks. It may be too early to tell clearly, but we're going to try anyway.

We're taking a poll, what's your guess?

BOY or GIRL?

16 weeks and starting to show!

18 weeks and showing even more. Don't mind the horrible picture, it's the only one that shows my belly well. Cell phones do NOT take flattering pictures, it turns out.

The baby is a bell pepper this week! It's getting big!

Now the question is...is it a boy pepper, or a girl? Monday 3:45 will tell! WHAT'S YOUR GUESS??

Way behind, playing catch-up

Man, I haven't blogged in forever! I'm hoping that when I'm a stay-at-home mom and have nothing better to do (HAHA) then I'll be able to do 1x a week or something...but don't quote me on that :)

We need to go to bed, but I HAVE to blog at least briefly about what has been going on lately:

- I am now 4 months along. YAY! I am so glad to have made it through my first trimester. Not only was I soooo sick of being sick, but I can breathe easy knowing that I didn't miscarry. THANK HEAVENS. My baby is the size of an Avocado this week, and today we felt her kick for the first time! (We don't know for sure that it's a girl, I just keep dreaming that it is). I didn't realize what it was at first, it just felt like little bubbles. But when it kept "thumping" over and over in the exact same spot, I figured out that it's tiny little feet doing a little tap dance! Bubba even felt it, what a neat experience.

-Bubba turned 26 on Friday! He's such a big boy. We celebrated by working...all day long...then going to Tucanos, his favorite restaurant. Then we had a Page family traditional breakfast of Abelskeivers (or however the heck you spell it) on Saturday, and relaxed at our friend's pool. It was awesome. I was able to get him an awesome weight set that he's been wanting for a long time (thanks to my aunt and her GENEROUS connections).

-Bubba's business, Launch Sales and Marketing (www.launchsalesandmarketing.com) is going well. He's such a hard worker, I am SO proud of him. He is living his dream...and realizing how tough it is to run your own company.

-Bubba and I are still busy, busy, busy being Young Men/Young Women presidents in our ward. We love our Youth, and have been doing a lot of fun things lately. I can't wait to have teenagers of my own someday :) (once again, please don't quote me on this in the future.)

-We have been blessed, busy, happy, tired, have been having fun and laughing like crazy, and have been learning a lot about life, being pregnant, budgeting, growing a business, and surviving/living up the Utah heat. Life is good, no complaints here!

A few videos to document our adventure from the past...see post below for details

Blast from the past

I was cleaning out a box and found a photo CD from an underwater disposable camera that Bubba and I bought in Hawaii a little over a year ago. We originally went to Maui on our honeymoon in 2007, and got a free return flight because they had overbooked and we volunteered to stay back.

We returned a year later (To Honolulu this time) for a second honeymoon, of sorts. Unfortunately, it was pretty much the worst trip ever. We both got sun burned so bad it made me physically ill, Bubba got really sea sick, our hotel was a piece of junk, and Bubba came down with a flu so bad that I had to go out by myself some nights because he was too sick to get out of bed.

It was still fun, though, and hind-sight is always 20/20...so we can look back and laugh now.

The best part of the trip (for me, anyway...Bubba may have a different opinion) was when we SWAM WITH THE SHARKS! It was so cool. It's really expensive to do ($100 a person, or so) but we learned the power of timeshare presentations and got our tickets nearly for free, for attending one. 

We got famous shave ice from Motsumoto's (or however you spell it), then went to the dock. It was the craziest thing. They take you out on this little dinky boat, and drive you to the middle of the ocean (or so it felt like). Oh, did I mention one of our boat captain guys looked about 16?

Then, about 4 people at a time loaded into a light-weight, aluminum cage. Yes, light-weight. This is so it will float. Now, ask yourself, how long would it take a vicious shark to pound through a soda can? Well, just about as long as it would take him to blow through this cage. It's the same idea, not even kidding. Notice the bend where a shark was trying to EAT someone.

Anyway, so they put us in a tin can and float us out to sea. The boat anchors in the same spot every time, so the sharks know that when they hear the motor, they need to come to the surface to get dead fish guts...(and humans...) so they start swarming immediately. 

(**Note the vulture perched on the cage, waiting for someone to get torn apart by a shark. Yes, it's a vulture...[in my imagination, anyway].)

The 16 year old captain then proceeded to throw entire buckets of fish guts out to the sharks to lure them close to the cage. Which, in my opinion, is completely unnecessary. The sharks "smell" whether you're food or not by bumping into you (unless you're a mean shark like a Great White, in which case you just bite the human, taste that they are gross, and leave them to die.) so they were bumping our cage like crazy.

It took me a few minutes to get my snorkel on, so the first minute or so I was observing the sharks above the water. It was a little freaky, but not too bad. See? We're still smiling here. Ignorance really is bliss.

THEN I put my face under water...and saw the real story.

HUGE SHARKS...EVERYWHERE!

We started freaking out a little. Not a lot, but a little. (And yes, that is an window behind me. There is a thin piece of plastic protecting me from Jaws in this picture.)

Anyway, it was the coolest thing ever, I really loved it. Bubba still thought it was pretty freaky and isn't sure if he'd do it again...I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Notice how far apart the bars were. 

This shark kept eyeing Bubba, I think he wanted to eat him.

Needless to say, we somehow made it safe and sound. Though Bubba blew chunks over the side of the boat (and I swore a shark was going to eat his face while leaning over, but the 16 year-old captain guy assured me that they don't like the taste of stomach acid. What does he know, he's in the 5th grade), it was AWESOME, and I really think you should try it if you ever get the chance!

The end is in sight

I'm 12 weeks along, finally! I am in the final stretch of my first trimester. I have been PRETTY DARN sick lately and I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired...to say the least. I am so glad I've made it three months without a miscarriage, we'll see if I can hold out still.

We'll see if my sickness subsides after this first trimester, most people I've talked to were sick their ENTIRE pregnancy. Heaven forbid.

**NOTE TO BUBBA:

If I'm sick the entire pregnancy, this is the only child you're getting from my womb. The ONLY one. Better cherish it, and pray that I'm not sick the whole 9 months.

So, good news is, even though being pregnant right now is a bit of the pits, I'm still loving it and can't wait for 6 months to be over so I can see my little lime!!

Proof of the kidney bean!

I am 8 weeks and 2 days along today (though my little bubble things on the side of my blog say otherwise...), and was able to visit the doc for the first time. I originally scheduled an appointment with a different doctor who's office is a little closer to where I live, but didn't feel 100% about it because:

A) He wouldn't see me until week 12 (and for all of you who know me, know that I am very impatient) 

and B) He wasn't referred to me by anyone other than my insurance company and a random Gyno (whom I happened to like a lot, but was still random).

So I talked to Erika High, a friend of mine with two little boys of her own, and she referred me to her doctor whom she LOVES. 

Doctor England.

     Has a nice ring to it, eh?

I was so excited to visit the doc to PROVE to my mind that I am really and truly pregnant. (I have no belly, I have no kicking child in me, I really didn't have a lot of proof to go off of other than a faded little line on a pee stick.)

Good news...the kidney bean exists! It has a little heart beat, the beginnings of a head, and a whole lot of growing room! When we saw (and heard) the little heart beating so fast I could hardly believe it. It brought me to tears.

If anyone doesn't believe in God, you clearly haven't had a child yet. There is absolutely no way a human life form can be created without 100% divine intervention. It is too huge of a miracle to be created by "accident". 

It's so exciting to see and hear the little life form that has been recently created. I, now, can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl! UGH! The nurse thought it would be a girl...but it was purely a guess.

What a little miracle!

I've got the Egyptian Flu

Crazy news.
I have been feeling a little funny lately. Turns out, I have the Egyptian Flu. 

Never heard of it? 

It's basically where you are sick for 9 months then you become a Mummy.

SURPRISE!

We're pregnant! I am only 7 weeks along, but as everyone predicted, I am very bad at keeping secrets and just have to share the good news to everyone. It is very hard to find the appropriate time to tell everyone in person, so I figured my blog was a good way to pass the word along. (By the way, I got the whole "Egyptian Flu" thing from Michelle Lowry. I thought it was hilarious!)

I know it is VERY EARLY to be telling people, but I really can't keep it in any longer. We just hope, pray, and cross our fingers every day that I am able to carry to full-term, but we'll have to wait and see what the Lord has in store for us.

We are thrilled; couldn't be happier. We have been married for two years and feel that it is the perfect time for us to bring a beautiful baby into the Page family.

Around Christmas time we started discussing our "family timeline"; setting goals, assessing our lives currently, and planning for a family. We had made the decision that Spring 2010 sounded like a good time to have a baby. But then as I did the math, I realized that I would have to get pregnant this coming summer in order to make that happen. I felt like it may be too soon for me so we'd just take it step-by-step.

As the months went on I still wasn't sure if I was quite ready to start a family yet, so we let it drop. Then in about March/April...

BAM.

It hit us both. I'm not sure why, or how, but we just felt READY. We fasted and prayed about it, and felt like it was the perfect time to start trying.

It was an exciting decision.

The funny part is that we figured that it would take us at least a few months to get pregnant since it's my first baby and I have been on birth control for so long.

Boy, were we wrong.

We feel so blessed because we got pregnant within 3 weeks! It solidifies my testimony that Heavenly Father has a bright sprit for us to bring to this earth....ASAP. Now, we just hope that I am able to carry to term.

I have been feeling pretty good so far. The first few weeks I thought, "Boy, this is cake!" The only symptoms I felt were EXHAUSTION and more EXHAUSTION. Now that I'm a little farther along the nausea is starting to hit. I always feel punky; not nauseous enough to throw up necessarily, but enough to feel yucky 95% of the time. 

Oh well, totally worth it.

At first I was certain it is a girl. I always pictured our first baby as being a girl, but so far 100% of everyone who has guessed (including Bubba) thinks it will be a boy. 

So now, I'm not so sure. We could care less, of course, we are happy with either! 

What is your guess?

The best part about this all is that I am due January 17, which just so happens to be very close to the time that some of my friends are due! Lillith Bear is only 2 weeks ahead of me, Katie Jorgeson is about 3 weeks ahead of me, Shannon Cornelious is about 8 weeks ahead of me, and Jylare Smith is about 9 weeks ahead of her. Who else is pregnant? Am I missing anyone?

Tis the season for babies!

I have my first Dr's apointment on June 10, I can't wait to see the doc to see how things are going. 

It was perfect because the week after we found out Bubba's parents just so happened to be in town for a funeral, and my parents decided to make a last-minute trip to UT for Memorial Day. Fate brought us all together, you could say :)

Our parents overlapped in Utah for one day, so we all met out by the airport for lunch. I was so nervous and excited to tell them, I could hardly eat.

We all sat around talking and catching up, then we brought out a "graduation gift" for the parents. Bubba gave a cute little speech about how appreciative we are to our parents for supporting us through school, and how they graduated just as much as we did, yadda yadda. He then said, "we wanted to give you a little something to look forward to."

We had them open the gifts at the same time, and out they pulled a jar of Prego with a binky tied on. All four of them started crying.

My mom bawled.

It was so special. Our parents are SO EXCITED, but especially my parents since this will be the first grandbaby in the Francis family.

They are pretty excited.

So that's our fun news! Hopefully all goes well, and hopefully this whole morning sickness thing stays manageable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Here's the video of us telling the good news to our parents!

Dog vs. Sprinkler

The other night I was walking Ollie and he discovered sprinklers for the first time. The video speaks for itself.
(Sorry about the annoying laughing in the background, by the way. It was SO MUCH FUNNIER in person.)