BBQ

Behind our apartment building we have a little park-like BBQ grill. Because I am going through withdrawals of my dad's amazing ability to BBQ almost everyday in the Summer back home, I begged Ammon to BBQ hot dogs for me last Tuesday. I wasn't sure if it was really going to happen because the weather over the mountains did not look promising, but it managed to stay sunny until we finished, although it was extremely windy. We quickly finished our hot dogs and took shelter inside. I am not sure about Ammon but I thought it was fun.

Brother Lance

Last weekend my brother Lance was nice enough to take a few days off of work and drive my car down to Utah for me. He came down on Saturday and flew out on Wednesday. It was really fun to have him around. We spent a lot of time catching him up on The Office episodes and the Bourne series that he missed while on his mission. We also went to the movies and bowling (we split, he won one and I won one, we tend to be pretty competitive with each other). I had to learn how to bowl all over again, it's a bit difficult with your own bowling ball attached to your stomach. Here are a few pictures of Lance and I at the bowling alley.

Oh and for those of you who live in the Ogden area, Ben Lomond Lanes has a 2 games for $2 deal on Tuesdays from noon to close. Those from Pullman will understand what a great deal that is if you bowl at Zeppoz.

Cousin Randee's Wedding and 36 Weeks

Ammon is on what is called a 4-5-9 schedule, which means he works 9 hours Monday-Thursday, 8 hours on a "A" week Friday and he gets the "B" week Friday off. So in other words and the purpose of my explanation is that he gets every other Friday off. This Friday since he had the day off we got the opportunity to go to the Ogden Temple with my Larsen grandparents for my 2nd cousin Randee's wedding. The temple was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and she was beautiful. I only got a few pictures of her and her husband Tyler, but they worked.




As for the 36 weeks in the title, that's how far along in the pregnancy I am now. I finally met with my doctor down here, so we all feel a little more comfortable about our little guy coming. My doctor was really nice and reminded me of a typical softball player. Not that that is a very good description for a lot of you, those of you from Pullman can ask me for a comparison and I have a perfect one. But unfortunately with her tomboyish personality came the not-so-gentleness of her. Regardless she is nice and very knowledgable.

Double Rainbow on the Palouse

My Beloved Stroller

As I mentioned in my last post Ammon and I decided to do a monthly budget for the baby. I had been wanting to purchase a stroller for some time, but before I ever got around to ordering it on the internet I always seemed to spend my budget money on something else. Go figure. Now I would love to say that I successfully saved enough to purchase my stroller but I did not. With a little help from baby shower gifts my mom and grandma Larsen gave me (money) I was able to purchase the stroller without going over MY budget. I even had enough to buy the baby and I a Boppy pillow as well. Once the stroller arrived I tried my hardest to withstand the temptation and need to put it together right then. Everyone, including me, agreed that it would be much easier to transport to Utah in the box. Well that lasted about 15 minutes and I had Ammon on the floor putting it together. He is such a trooper.

Since then Lance and his friend Robin took it for a spin with my nephew Cade as well and provided a seat for Wiley for about .2 seconds, enough to get a picture before he jumped out. Lance reported it was great at off-roading, which was promising because the path from our house to Brett and Rachel's is gravel and no one deserves a bumpy ride.

33 Weeks & Pregnancy Update

Here is a picture of my belly at 33 1/2 weeks. Ammon's sister Aubree straightened my hair the night before so it actually looked decent for the picture. THANKS AUB! I am now at 35 weeks and off of the medication they gave me to stop contractions, not that it worked the last two weeks anyway. I am officially off bed rest, although we are still pretty cautious since we want to see the doctor down here before I have the baby. Ammon took me out of the house on Saturday to meet my friend Nicole and her husband for breakfast. It was great to catch up with both of them for a little bit before we had to depart our ways. I even convinced Ammon to take me back out that night so I could get a card reader for my camera, hence the addition of pictures to these posts. I was actually good while we were at Target, I looked at the baby stuff, but didn't buy a thing. For those of you who know me well know that is very difficult, but I managed. Ammon has really taught me a thing or two about budgeting. I like to think I am a pro, but really I can't consider myself that since it has only been since March since we instilled the baby budget.

A move to Utah!

For those of you who don't know, Ammon and I have relocated to Utah for the summer while he completes an internship at Hill Air Force Base. We were unsure of if I would be able to make the move before the baby was born, but the doc okayed it this past weekend and we took full advantage (thanks Mom and Dad for letting me use your air miles). I am still on bed rest so I just sit at our apartment all day, I haven't stepped outside since Sunday when I got here, pretty pathetic huh? I am trying to be a good girl, so this baby doesn't arrive before I can meet with a doctor down here, which is a week from today. I wish I had some pictures to post, but unfortunately I had to leave my dad's card reader at home. Maybe Ammon will splurge and buy me one since my old one fails to work now. Ammon would claim that if I had a PC there would probably be a card reader in it, but I am perfectly content with my Mac.

I am excited to be in Utah though because that means I get to see my friend Nicole. Of course she flew out to California for training the same day I flew in, but she will be back this weekend and we are hoping to see her husband and her in the coming week, I can't wait. As for additional summer plans, we don't really have any. I have been researching on the internet for places to go in (northern) Utah that I have never been, once the baby arrives that is. So far that list consists of Willard Bay, Antelope Island, and a hike all the way to the "M" in Morgan (Ammon and I only made it half way last time). If anyone has any other suggestions I will take them.

The Guardian

My dog Wiley has this innate tendency to guard and protect children, most recently my nephew Cade. He loves to lay near him where ever he is, even if it is under Cade's swing while in motion.

House Arrest (Bed Rest)

I have decided that bed rest is for the birds (one of the many grandmaisms I have learned over the years). It really should be called house arrest, because no one will let me out of the house. It is so pathetic that I get excited to go to my doctors appointments every 1-2 weeks. I look forward to those and even find myself counting down the days. The worst part is that my wheat fields are a beautiful green right now and all I can see of them is what I get from the deck.

I spend a lot of time laying on the couch, surfing the internet (luckily for Ammon that does not include shopping), nap time is from 1-3, my sister-in-law Rachel typically comes over at 3:30 to entertain me for a while, and my parents and the TV entertain me until I go to bed. My dog Wiley does not leave my side the whole day and when I had yet another stay at the hospital last week he acted out and bit Lance in the head. I yearn to walk him and Ammon, Lance, and my mom yearn to have me be able to walk him as well. I guess you take things for granted until they are taken away.

One of the highlights of the last few weeks was being able to attend my baby shower. Don't worry I sat in one spot and did not move except to give a few hugs. I was able to get to see some of my friends that I don't get to see very often. My friend Jessica came down from Spokane and my other two friends, Sarah and Lauren, just so happened to be in town so I was able to see them as well. It was really good to catch up. Everyone was very generous and I am so thankful for all the good friends and family I have around me. The following picture is of the amazing diaper cake my extremely creative friend Sarah made me.

Preterm Labor

As I said in my last post, the day Ammon received his award for "Outstanding Computer Science Junior" I went into labor. To keep the story short, because it really is not all that entertaining, I starting having cramps at 6 am that morning and contractions shortly after. I mentioned to Ammon I thought I was having contractions, but in all reality at that point I had no idea what a contraction was supposed to feel like. I continued having contractions throughtout the day while I taught English at the high school. All day at school I told my mom I thought I was having contractions and she assured me it was nothing serious. Needless to say when I met Ammon for his awards ceremony he thought it was nothing but serious. He insisted I call the doctor before we went home, the doctor said go to the hospital, the hospital said I was having contraction every 1 1/2 -3 minutes. I was admitted to the hospital for what seemed like an eternity...3 days. They tried one drug...no success. Another drug...no success. Finally they gave me what you call magnesium sulfate. This concoction supposedly relaxes your muscles, one being the uterus, so you stop contracting. However the side effect is that you throw up, lose control of your legs, can only have about 1 tablespoon of water and hour, and lose control of your urinary tract muscles. I won't go into details for I believe everyone is creative enough to come up with a picture of what that looks like. The contractions did slow down, I narrowly escaped being shipped to Spokane, and was sent home on bed rest.