Santa Fe Vacation!

After the doctor appointment we rushed to the pharmacy to refill my pre-natal vitamins, stopped by campus to drop off my final, made a pit-stop at the house, the gas station and Subway and we were on the road to New Mexico by 1:30. (To re-cap the events to give a concise picture of what my day was like: Wake up in Portland at 4:30 am, go to airport arrive at 5:30, flight back to SLC 6:50, throw up twice, arrive in SLC at 9:30, drive immediately to Dr's appointment arrive at 11:30, pharmacy stop at noon, campus stop at 12:15, previously mentioned stops between 12:30 and 1:30, driving until 11:30 pm, complete exhaustion and bed 11:35 pm.) Highlights of our trip include: bunny pancakes with Paula and Lydia, Blue Corn Cafe, finding out Tecolote isn't good food (like the Food Network portrayed), eating at the Pantry, meeting up with Brad's friend Mikel Evans at the Pyramid Cafe, Isotopes Baseball game, watching Kung Fu Panda with the family, Brad eating at Blake's, my massage, eating at Maria's with Brian and Tia, playing with Ben and Lydia, going to story time with Tia and the kids, go to the Talent's house for a BBQ with Brian and Tia, Tia's and my adventure at Olive Garden, Brad's sharing of things he has learned in philosophy with his mom, not having to answer the phone or door (like we do at the motel), sleeping in and enjoying time with the family. The one major downside is that there is no air conditioning anywhere which is a big change for Brad and I since we blast the air all day in our apartment. This is one of the main reasons for the adventure Tia and I had at Olive Garden.
After we had all gone to the dark, cool movie theater to watch Kung Fu Panda we came home to a very hot house. Tia and I were both starving and roasting to death and both a little grumpy because of these two situations. No one else seemed to be hungry or bothered by the heat. I quickly realized that no one was very eager to cook anything because they were not hungry and it would make the house just that much hotter. Brad told me that I should take the gift card we got from my parent's for his birthday and take Tia and go to Olive Garden (I was also specifically craving pasta). So, I suggested this to Tia who loved the idea. So we grabbed Ben, without putting pants on him, and ran out the door...we could not wait to be somewhere cool and to be eating some yummy pasta. Once we got there we had a very friendly waitress named Sara. She could tell it was a girl's night out so she pushed the alcohol really hard. We had to refuse several different offers of wine and margaritas, etc. It was funny aside from the fact that we would have refused seeing that I'm pregnant and Tia is nursing and we were trying to stay within the budget of a $25 gift card. To Sara's dismay we both ordered water. Then Sara went into her sales pitch for appetizers, which we again refused repeatedly...we only had $25 to spend! So she finally asked for our order and we both got delicious pasta dishes. We ate bread sticks and soup and salad and talked and told stories and vented our problems and frustrations. We were having such a good time. We worked our way through our pasta dishes that were so yummy and we were both so happy to be eating and to not be dying of heat that we didn't ever think about the bill that was soon to arrive at our table. But come it did, and then a horrible realization hit both of us...what if the bill is more than $25?! I didn't even think about bringing my wallet, I didn't bring anything with me! Tia made the same confession...neither of us had any money, or a cell phone, or pants for the baby! We had been so eager to get out of the house that we had forgotten that you typically need money to pay for services rendered! I picked up the black folder that contained the bill, flipped it open and discovered that we had overspent by 58 cents. Tia ran out to her car to see if she had any spare change...none. And because neither of us had brought our phones, Tia had to get in the car and leave me alone at the table as she ran home to get her debit card to pay the extra 58 cents on our bill. I sat there, hoping that the waitress wouldn't walk by, but of course she did. I lied to Sara, I told her that Tia went to the bathroom to feed Ben and that she was paying so it would be a few minutes until she could take the bill. Finally, Tia returned, and we made our escape from Olive Garden with images of us washing dishes left behind. As we drove home we giggled about how silly we were and then saw a perfect bumper sticker to explain what had happened, it read: "I do not suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it." We plead insanity from heat, hunger and being pregnant/a mom of 2.
Also on our trip we all enjoyed a pleasant night out at the ball game! We drove to Albuquerque to watch an Isotopes baseball game. They were playing the Cubs. We didn't eat dinner before hand so we got hotdogs and hamburgers and pizza along with huge drinks and ice cream...it was a great game. Once the sun had gone down we really enjoyed the breeze and the 75 degree weather too. It was really refreshing to be able to sit outside, which is something I have really missed since we've worked at the motel. And our home team even won by 4 points, go Topes!
Our plan was to leave Sunday morning so we would be back in Provo Sunday night. But when we got up the trip had just felt too short. So, Brad borrowed some church clothes (I had brought a dress) and we went to church and spent the rest of the day relaxing with the whole family. It was the perfect way to end our vacation. Unfortunately what it meant for Monday is that we had to get up at 3 am to make it back to Provo in time for Brad to get to class. So up we got, and we made it home by 1, finishing the trip the way we had started it...with a Subway sandwich.

Baby Ruth

After my "Flight-o-Puke" on June 17th, Brad and I had a very busy day planned. My plane landed in SLC at 9:30 so we had to grab my bag and hurry back to Provo so we could go to my Dr.'s appointment which was at 11:30. This is the appointment that I've been waiting for because it is the 20 week appointment where you get an ultrasound done and they hopefully tell you what gender your baby is! We arrived in Provo around 11 and went straight to the office hoping that they would just let us right in. We ended up sitting around for a few minutes but it was fine. We went in and the ultrasound started and the sonographer said, "Are you sure you are 5 months?" I said I thought so, but wasn't positive. She double checked dates and said, "You're suppose to be 21 weeks but the baby is small." This made me nervous and the pause that followed this seemed to last forever. Then she said that she would just re-do the dates and make measurements to ensure she was right. She measured the femur and said from that measurement there was no way this baby was 21 weeks. She said I was only 17 weeks along which meant my due date is now November 20th. Both Brad's and my immediate reaction was relief and acceptance. Having a later due date means that I will finish my student teaching by Halloween and then have 3 weeks to relax and prepare for the arrival of the baby! I also won't have to worry about going into labor while up in Jordan and then trying to get back to Provo in time to get to a hospital. The sonographer said she was really surprised that we were happy about a later due date, that most mom's are totally bummed that they have longer to go than expected. After she said that I was a little bummed because it means I am no longer half way through this, but in the end it's only 3 more weeks and those three weeks are truly a blessing. Then the sonographer asked if we wanted to know the gender (of course) so she would try to find out even though it was a little early to tell for sure. She explained to us everything she saw and said it's a girl. Then she suggested that if I wanted to go baby shopping to keep the receipts so we could return stuff if we found otherwise in a month when I come back for my real 5 month ultrasound. So, in essence, a trained professional said her best educated guess was that we're having a girl. We've decided that, if indeed it is a girl, her name will be Ruth. We haven't decided on a middle name quite yet, but we're very excited for Baby Ruth to come! This picture is of her head, on the far left, and her ribs in the very middle, and then her forearm and hand above the ribs like she's sucking on her thumb. (The clear white parts are bones!) The sonographer also told us that the baby is now the size of 2 sticks of butter. So forget the whole turnip image for 18 week mark...a professional told me it was two sticks of butter, not a turnip!

Katie's Oregon Vacation

As previously mentioned I went on a wonderful week long trip to Oregon, sadly leaving my husband behind in Provo to finish his finals. (I was lucky enough to have a professor who gave me the study guide and final to take with me...it was a closed note final too!) I was worried about flying mostly because I have been so sick with my pregnancy, but my first flight was uneventful. I arrived Tuesday night, June 10th and spent a very relaxing week with my wonderful family. I realized while there how lucky I am to have such a great family that I love so much. How cool is it that I get along with both of my brothers, my sister-in-law, and my parents! The first full day I got my hair cut and dyed, and then went to the Chinese Gardens with my bros. We also went to the Pita Pit for lunch where I had the best philly steak sandwich ever! Then we went back to Tigard to meet up with Megan who was getting off work. We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and had a great time eating and chatting. Then we went back to play a fun game called "Last Word." The next couple days were not as eventful but it was so great to sit around and talk with my mom about anything and everything. Grandma Lents arrived Friday; everyone thought she was flying in at 8 PM but we got a wake up of our lives when Aunt Sandy called at 8 AM and said that grandma was already on the plane! Luckily dad and I got to the airport in time, although all the walking made me fill pretty sick. Friday night grandma took us out to Olive Garden for dinner for father's day after which we went to an office supply store to buy graduation presents for Matt and Joe. (Matt graduated from high school June 6 and Joe the next day). While there I had a moment of genius and remembered that Brad loves a specific brand of clicky pens that are impossible to find in Utah. I have tried to find these pens for him on several different occasions, i.e. Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries, without ANY luck. Needless to say I was thrilled beyond belief when I found a box of 12 of these pens in this store. (I gave him the pens when he picked me up from the airport as a Father's Day present...he was nearly speechless!)
Saturday was Joe's graduation from PSU. The plan was to wake up early and be gone by 7 am. Unfortunately the nature of morning sickness is that I am generally sick in the mornings, which made our graduation plan dubious. I had all intentions of going and suffering through, because by now I wasn't vomiting EVERY morning. Unfortunately as I got up this was not to be a non-vomiting morning...and I didn't feel any better once I had. I really wanted to go but the idea of sitting in an auditorium from 8am to at least 1pm seemed very difficult, so my family went off without me and I slept until 11. When I woke up I was feeling much better so I made a fun "welcome home" poster for the boys and brought down the candy posters that I had hidden in my room. (Mom had the great idea to make funny happy graduation posters for the boys using candy bars. Friday night mom, grandma and I made up the posters) I also wrapped their presents. By the time I finished all this everyone was arriving home. We spent the rest of the day eating, playing Settlers and watching silly movies.
Monday was another especially fun day because mom, Matt and I went shopping! We went over to Target and found lots of fun maternity clothes. It was kind of weird because I've been able to comfortably wear my normal clothes until just this week, now if I want to wear my normal jeans I have to keep them unbuttoned!
Tuesday morning was my flight out of Portland. I was very sad to go because the week had flown by so quickly, but I was really excited to see Brad again. The unfortunate part about all this was that I had bought the cheapest ticket home which meant my flight was leaving at 6:50 am, which meant leaving the house no later than 5. By some luck I was actually feeling okay that morning when I got up so I ate some toast, hugged everyone then dad and Matt took me off to the airport. As I was standing in line waiting to check my bag I started feeling queasy. By the time we took off I was feeling really dizzy and horribly nauseous. As we were ascending I pulled out the Target bag from my purse. I opened it up, leaned forward in my seat and pulled the bag over my head so no one could see my face. Needless to say that was one of the most embarassing moments so far in my life. (I forgot to mention that the flight was packed so I was surrounded by people who all got to hear the show.) The mortified girl next to me pushed the call button for the flight attendent who I told loudly,"I'm pregnant" then more quietly said, "I just threw up." I lifted my bag which she snatched and ran back up the aisle. A minute later she returned with another garbage bag a huge pile of napkins and some water. A woman across the aisle looked at me and said, "It's okay, the same thing just happened to my daughter." After this I felt fine for about 30 minutes. Then we began to descend into SLC and for some reason the change made my stomach very upset. So I grabbed for the bag the flight attendant had brought and once again pulled it over my head. I heaved and heaved and this time everyone tried to keep their conversations going and not stare at me, which I appreciated. But for some reason the girl didn't push the button so once I was done I pushed it and had to sit there with my bag of puke until the attendant showed up. She once again whisked the bag away and brought me a replacement. So the beginning of my day was pretty bad, but the rest of it was nice. Read the above entries to see why I say so.