Our Little Bundle

Mark and I are expecting our first little one!  Our little bundle of joy is expected to come July 6 and we couldn't be happier!  We have been so excited to let everyone know our exciting news...because we are pretty thrilled ourselves :)

This whole experience has definitely been a whirlwind of emotions, as I am sure it will continue to be.  Mark and I are so happy to be starting our family together.  I love that boy more and more everyday.  We are so grateful for this little bundle to be on their way.  There are days when it truly doesn't seem real to me at all.  It is hard to imagine that another little person is growing inside of you.  What a blessing...

The only downer is that me and the little one's bodies seemed to take awhile to "get along" with each other.  I hit six weeks and I felt pretty much useless to the world.  Pretty much all I could do was move from the bed to the couch.  It was kind of a miserable experience.  Any movement at all was no fun and, well we'll just put it this way, I am fairly positive I watched EVERY movie we own (thank goodness we have a lot!). 

To be completely honest, there were definitely days when I didn't quite know if I ever wanted to do this again.  I hated having those thoughts but it is hard to keep your motivation and optimism when you've gone days without even drinking because you can't keep anything down.  It was pretty sketchy for awhile but we made it through. 

Mark was such a trooper.  I can honestly say that I never heard him complain once.  I couldn't do anything to help him with his life (no lunches to take to school, no dinners, no grocery shopping...I think you get the picture) and I felt guilty that he had to worry about preparing for his finals and take care of me.  What a guy!  He was so sweet about everything and tried so hard to help make me feel as comfortable as I could be.  I definitely couldn't have done it without him. 

One of the best Christmas presents I received was the restoration of my good health.  Ever since Christmas night I have felt so much better.  It has been such a blessing to be able to interact and just do things once again.  It has given me such a different perspective on things and I am so grateful for good health once more.  And at least now I know there is an end to the all-day sickness, weeks 6-12 = no fun, but I am completely aware that it will be ALL worth it.  I wouldn't trade this little one for the world. 

Another great early present that we received was to see and hear our little one for the first time.  Before we left for Utah we had our first ultrasound and were able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time.  What an experience...I don't really know how to describe it other then it was a pretty amazing.  We did have to laugh because our little one was bouncing all over the place!  To describe it in one word, it was adorable!  Maybe I won't think it's quite as adorable once I can feel them moving, but it was pretty cute watching them.  The most important thing is that our little one is healthy.  That's exactly what we want. 

Unfortunately, after we have told our family we then almost immediately have to follow up on all of the little "fibbs" we have said over the last couple months.  The biggest fib of all is my "work life."  The day after I got my job, Mark and I found our this wonderful little person was coming.  I had been feeling fine and didn't have any reason to think that it wouldn't continue.  However, within a week I was already feeling pretty queasy but it was bearable.  But after working six days - yes, I said six days - I could barely even sit up, let alone walk around to the different classrooms I worked in.  I had called in sick - with the "flu" - for two days and was only getting worse, so Mark and I decided it would be best to let them know the situation.  I wanted so badly to be able to at least go down to the school and talk with them because they had done so much for me already, but it just wasn't a possibility with how I was doing.  So I ended up talking with the vice principal (whom I had been working with mostly) and she was supportive.  She had just had her first child this last summer so understood the situation and just said to take care of me and the baby and not worry about the rest.  Such a blessing to have them be so nice about it all, but it left me feeling pretty guilty for awhile still. 

Mark and I laugh about it now, but it is funny how things work out.  I tried for three months to find a job with no luck and then I had three different positions open for me within a week.  I accepted one, and within another week and a half I was unable to perform the job!  Uggg...kind of cruddy timing, but it was an interesting and definitely "eye-opening" experience, however short it was, and I am grateful for that. 

We were able to tell our families for Christmas about our little bundle of joy.  This will be the first little grand baby in my family and the nineteenth in Mark's family.  Unfortunately, Mark doesn't have anymore grandparents on his side but I still have most of mine.  It will be the first great-grand baby on one side and the twenty-third on another.  Crazy crazy!

I could probably ramble on and on about all the different aspects of our excitement for our little one but I will close it up for now.  I am excited that we can finally talk about what's really going on in our lives once again.  Thirteen weeks down, twenty-seven to go!

Thanksgiving

Wow, I am a sad at how awful I have been about blogging this last month.  Although I must admit, there hasn't been too much to blog about.  We have just been plugging along and basically living for the time when Mark can be done with his first semester and we can go home and spend some wonderful time with family. 

I guess as far as "catching up" goes, Mark is doing incredible in school.  I just want to brag about that boy all the time.  I am so proud of him.  We just found out minutes ago actually that he got a 100% on his last exam in one of his classes!  Who does that?!  The kid is a genius.  He finished his classes yesterday and has three finals next week and then he will be done.  WOOT WOOT!  His next semester doesn't start until January 17th, so he will get a nice - well deserved - break :)

Nothing too exciting to report on my end.  I wish I had more to say, but mostly I have just been incredibly antsy to go home and spend time with our families.  I have been really lucky during the last four and a half months since we've been here to not be too homesick.  I feel lucky in that, talking to so many women that have been in my position before we left for Denver, and I was bracing myself for a lonely and kind of miserable time.  Luckily, I have been immensely blessed to have a husband that is so incredibly thoughtful and supportive and always manages to find or make time to be with me. 

Thanksgiving though kind of hit me hard.  Once we set down to (our pretty pitiful I must say) Thanksgiving dinner I was sad not to be with family and at how "normal" our meal felt knowing the feasts that we had both grown up having.  In fact, once we sat down to say the prayer, I just started laughing to keep from crying by how silly it felt.  But we concluded, things can only go up in years to come.  Luckily, I felt like I set the bar pretty low for future Thanksgivings :)

However, this year we have SO much to be thankful for.  It's hard to even imagine how much has changed for Mark and I in the last year.  For Thanksgiving last year we spent it together with my family, but we were still just dating at the time.  So we got engaged, married, I graduated from college, Mark got accepted into pharmacy school, we've lived as a married couple in three different places already, moved to a new state, Mark started pharmacy school and I got a new job.  WHEW!  That is a whole lot of change for one year! 

There has been so many "ups" for this last year.  I feel like we have been incredibly blessed.  I am so grateful for our wonderful families that have supported us in every thing that we have done this last year.  We couldn't have made it without you!  I am also so grateful to the friends that we have, most of whom we left, but we talk and think about all of you frequently.  I am also so grateful to have the plan of our loving Father in Heaven.  I certainly don't know where we would be without His guidance throughout all of these HUGELY major decisions we have made this last year and in the years to come.  There is so much peace within the gospel. 

I could easily make this whole post about all of the things I am so grateful for this year but I will save the rest.  Mark and I had planned to go up to Estes Park (the same place we had gone to visit the Stanley Hotel in October) on Friday and stay the night (NOT in that hotel though).  But Mark had an exam on Monday and we thought that maybe we should just stay home instead so he could study.

Saturday, we had reserved tickets to go and see The Christmas Carol downtown.  I absolutely LOVE going to the theater.  It was fun to go and just get away for a couple of hours, even if it was just to go downtown.  The show was great and I was glad we went.

Saturday also happened to be our nine month anniversary.  After the show, we splurged and went out to dinner.  It was nice to go out to dinner.  Again, so grateful for Mark and that we can do these things together.  Love him.

And I really hate to say it, but that afternoon was pretty much the most exciting thing we have done in a month!  We are doing good though.  Can't wait to go home on Friday!!!

P.S.  I am so irked with myself, but I haven't taken a single picture all month of anything!  So unfortunately, the story of our life is all I have to share :)