Wish me Luck!!

Today I have a doctor's appointment. It is my 28 week appointment (27 1/2 technically) and they are testing me for gestational diabetes. I am pretty darn sure that I am going to fail it. Not because I am down on myself and am thinking negative ... just trying to prepare myself for the worst. Part of my problem getting pregnant in the first place was my insulin levels ... coupled with that, my age, my weight, and my family's history of diabetes ... let's just say that there are a lot of red flags in the air.

I have prepared a whole list of non-carb foods for my menu today ... just in case I am borderline. I don't want my menu to throw me over the edge! Wish me luck!!!

Remodeling project x2

Awhile ago Joe and I were having a conversation with our sister in law. We were talking about her gold fish. She mentioned that a goldfish will grow to the size of the container that it is put in. (We laughed and joked that the fish would get wedged inside of the bowl ... that doesn't make sense!) I figure now that we are like goldfish -- our stuff grows to fit what it is put in. Joe and I fit totally fine in our one bedroom apartment in Ephraim. We were content in two bedrooms and now that we have "upgraded" to three ... we have filled the space nicely. I told Joe that when we eventually had kids -- we would have to move! There was just no space for them here. Well we are at the having kids stage and ... moving just isn't in the ... plan. SO we had to find a way to condense two rooms into one so that there was room for the baby. My stamp room -- formally upstairs -- got boxed up and reassembled as 1/2 of the computer room, (this was a huge accomplishment for me. The room downstairs is smaller AND I have to share it ... oh the sacrifices :) ).

When Joe and I bought our crib set, we settled on white. I don't think, however that the white crib will go well with the white panel board that is on the wall. For that reason, and a couple of others, we pulled the panel board out about a month ago. We didn't take a picture of before, but here it is now. the board was covering the light blue and what we can only assume was "help" given by the previous owner's four year old. We also decided that if we were going to update the room -- we might as well redo the base board. When Joe was demoing the base -- he found major mold in the corner of our room -- right next to the master bath. We didn't know the extend of the damage, so all we could figure to do was stop using that bathroom and see if it dried up. The next day, the floorboards were just fine and dry. We decided to demo that piece of the wall to see how much damage we were looking at. Joe pulled out the wall today and everything under the tub is soaked. All that we can figure is that the sealings in the bathtub were bad.

Joe started to demo the bathroom -- just to make sure that it was a bathroom problem, not a leaky shingle problem. We are about 99% sure that it is the bathroom. The damage of the bathroom indicates however that this problem started long before we got here. We just didn't have the motive/resources to fix it before now. Our plan of attack is to rebuild the baby's wall, and SOON after rebuild the bathroom. I am excited for the makeovers that my home will be getting in the near future (who wouldn't be excited to get rid of the pink bathroom ...) -- but I am amazed at how pulling off the white paneled walls turned into a major overhaul of our upstairs living space. At least we get to learn a lot along the way! ...

The Early Bird ...

I can't remember a time when it was easy for me to sleep on Christmas Eve. I generally toss and turn all night long -- waiting for Santa to come! There are stories of me sleeping in when I was young -- 4 or so -- but I think they are just myth. Apparently my mom would need to come and wake me up.

I was worried about this year, but we went to bed late and I was hopeful. I woke up once but refused to look at the clock. I fell back asleep and when I woke up again ... I was so proud of myself! I figured that it was 6 a.m. at the EARLIEST! I looked at the clock ready to pounce on Joe -- 2:45 (which really means it is 2:25). GRRR!!!

Finally at 4:30 I got up to go to the bathroom, grabbed a flashlight, and read a chapter in my book. We were up by 5. Maybe next year I'll be able to sleep in ... but I doubt it!

Belly Shots

After I told my Aunt Charri that I was pregnant she said that my mom got huge -- and wondered how big I would get.

I am a whale.

I feel like there could be three of them in there ... and can only imagine what I will look like in March. Heaven only knows what I will look like if I go late. Here are some pictures of my belly along the way:

October 12th belly. 16 weeks


October 31st belly. 18.5 weeks


November 9th (birthday) belly. 20 weeks


December 16th belly. 25 weeks

I was shocked at how much I have grown in the last five weeks. Co-workers have told me that I have "popped" in the last two weeks or so. I have been getting more and more comments from friends that "You look so cute!" or "It has been so fun watching you grow". When I tell them that I feel like a balloon they tell me to just wait. I don't know if I like those words of wisdom. :)

A friend, bless her heart, told me a couple of weeks ago that she was sorry I was pregnant. (She is the same one that asked Joe if he wanted a baby--referring to HER baby that was acting up. What she didn't know is that he had just left me to go to church alone. I was having an emotional "why me" breakdown at the time. She doesn't always think before she speaks ... but honestly who does?) She meant to say that she was sorry I had to be pregnant so that I could get a baby. She apparently does not have easy pregnancies. I have reflected on that comment several times and I have really enjoyed being pregnant ... for the most part. The only reason that I am excited for March is that I am more than excited to meet my little man. I haven't really been sick -- just when I blow my nose (weird!). I am starting to get more and more uncomfortable -- but then I feel an elbow or foot and it makes it all worth it. I will deal with my growing bump because I know what the end result will be.

I love my little man ... and I am more than happy he is almost here!!

Grandma Karen

I love my Grandma Fautin. She is my mom's mom. She has been a major part of my entire life. She and my grandpa would come over every Christmas and share it with us. We couldn't open our gifts until Grandpa and Grandma arrived. They always came over for our special birthday dinners -- where she would pull us aside and give us a ten dollar bill. She and my grandpa were my BIGGEST supporters in the extra curricular activities I was involved in. They didn't miss a choir performance. When I was young we would spend every Sunday night at their house for dinner. We would play basketball in their backyard. We always played horse; the order was youngest to oldest. When someone got out first -- they had to go and start doing the dishes, (when Rayma was "initiated" into the Fautin family -- she got out first and had to go do dishes!). I was one of two grandkids that she nicknamed and it actually stuck. She called me "shag" ... (I don't know that she realized what this meant!)

My grandma has always had major health issues. She got her first pair of hearing aides when she was in her mid-30's. Her vision was awful. She saw similar to a horse with blinders on.
She had poor balance and fell frequently. Her last fall was awful causing her entire face to bruise. She had major stomach problems and could eat only "liquids" for awhile. Through all of these problems she always was very light-hearted and ... spunky. Don't give her a hard time or she will give one right back. A couple of weeks ago I was at her house and her physical therapist came over. Through all of her exercise routines she was spouting jokes like nothing was wrong. She was in the hospital a couple of days ago and when the nurse walked in she said ... "so you are the spunky one I've been hearing about".

Last night at 6:00 she was able to rejoin my grandpa and mom who started their next journey in the spirit world a couple of years ago. She finally can walk well -- she can hear -- talk -- and see without any problems. I am so happy for her. We will miss my grandma OH SO MUCH!

We were talking about where she is and what is happening to her now and my 8 year old cousin said that she can't be in heaven now. We asked why and she pointed to her body and said that she couldn't be in heaven because she is right there. The bishop of their ward took the opportunity to explain a bit of what happens when we die. All I kept thinking was that we are so lucky to know what we do about death. It makes the transition so much easier.

Love you Grandma ... see you soon!
Jen, Joe, and Baby :)

7 days ...

Only 7 more days until my countdown is in the double digits! Whoop ~ Whoop! It has gone by so fast ... and I am excited to meet the man that keeps kicking me in the stomach.

The Biggest "Game Players" ... Loser

I have been hooked on The Biggest Loser for years! I enjoy watching the show and seeing people change their lives. I have been watching it since season 2 ... What a great opportunity these people have to change themselves. Most of the contestants are on the edge of losing their life because of their weight. Many, if not all, have emotional issues that run so deep. They get a new chance. Every season the chance to win $250,000 is a driving force -- but I am pretty sure that they are all there for the right reason ... to lose weight. Many that don't "win" ... recognize that they really do ... "win". The 13 players that get sent home throughout the show weigh in to win $100,000

This season there is a ... player ... that is there to win the game. I am not sure if she is even there for the right reason. She says that she is ... but she has been "playing the game" the entire time! Vicky aligned herself with Heba and Ed and has made it to the final four. She pretended that she was weak at the beginning so that people wouldn't see her as a threat ... and now she has a 1 in 3 chance of "winning".

Last night's weigh in ... disturbed me. How the weigh in works is that the bottom two people, the ones that lose the least percentage of weight for the week get "voted out". Heba and Ed are married. They ended up BOTH being below the yellow line. At first I was excited because I don't like either one of them. They are mean! One of them will be going home! One of them is out of the chance to win $250,000. Joe and I started talking and we firmly believe that they did it on purpose. If they were both in the same competition they could only win one sum of money. SO they wanted to spread themselves out so that they had a chance at winning BOTH sets of money. The reason I think that they pulled this is because ED gained 2 pounds last night. You don't gain 2 pounds on the last weigh in. The trainer even recognized MAJOR game play involved. Sneaky ...

The one contestant that has been there for the right reasons is Michelle. She is the lone member of Jillan's team and she is amazing! I hope she wins. She doesn't have as much to lose anymore ... so I am nervous. I am ROUTING for her!! GO MICHELLE!!! She is the only honorable contestant left in the game.

Tetris

Joe and I have been contemplating our "theme" for the baby's room. We were looking at different sets and were amazed at the prices! The ones that we really liked were close to $200 AND they were not all that original. We decided that we would take color inspiration from one of the quilts we saw and have a theme based on color instead of airplanes or sail boats. The colors we chose are: blue, green, orange and yellow.

We went to Joannes to purchase fabric that we liked. We found 6 different prints that we thought looked good together. Our plan is to make a quilt, bumpers, bed skirt, window coverings, diaper holder, and whatever else we feel like. At $0.99 a pattern ... we couldn't go wrong. We got home and started designing the quilt. We wanted it to be easy, (I mean look at our "to do" list ... ) but original. I started mapping it out. I was struggling a bit to make the pieces look right together. Joe asked if he could try. A little irritated I handed him the notebook. I mean ... I am the quilter ... the creative one ... my baby... my project ... (okay the more irritated I get the more irrational I get! ) Joe came up with this {brilliant} plan to make a tetris shaped quilt. We have six different colors and he placed each color with a different shape. I was still a bit bothered by the fact he stole my project that I wasn't very open to the idea. Together we made the quilt work ... and I am happy to say that it turned out perfect!! Joe and I finished the tetris part of the quilt last night and just need to put a couple of borders on it. Some good friends in my ward offered to help me quilt the top of it. I love it I love it I love it!! The pictures don't show the richness in color of the quilt. You will have to come and see it once it is all completed!

Just Curious

Joe and I have been debating names for a long long time now. The names that we really liked when we got married ... are not in the picture any longer. We had a girl's name picked out ... but we are assuming that our little man doesn't want to go by Cara. SO we have narrowed it down to two names (for now) Parker and Ryan.

Now understand that there is a 99% chance that your vote won't sway our decision ... I am just curious which one you think is cuter.

Ryan Boucher

or

Parker Boucher

Not a Soccer Player ...

I don't want to be the kind of parent that "pushes" our kids into things that we think are cool. That being said ... our boys will be Lacrosse players.

A couple of years ago I had a couple of students that played for the Bingham Lacrosse team. I had never been to a game before and didn't know what to expect. All I knew was that it involved sticks. I told these four gentlemen that I would attend their lacrosse match. Joe and I went to watch them game and it was THE coolest game I had ever watched. These boys were decked out in pads and playing hockey ... but on the soccer field. At that moment I leaned over to Joe and told him that our boys won't play football -- that they'll play Lacrosse! We went to a couple more games of theirs throughout the year and learned about it a bit better. It is a very fast paced game, (not like football) that keeps them running the entire time. I wish that it was more popular when I was in high school. (Girl's lacrosse isn't quite as physically "mean" as boy's. That's okay though ... )

I am not forcing my kids to like this game -- but I REALLY want them to!!

The Best Feeling ... Except!

It is not the first time that I have mentioned that I am a worry-er. The first time that I felt Darwin, (this is what I call my future baby ... until we pick a final name. Joe usually changes his name everytime. It ranges from Charles to Carl and Edwin or something random,) move I was overjoyed! If he is squirming around inside ... I know that all is well. I don't have to be paranoid any longer. This is the best feeling ever -- except ...

When it is 3:30 a.m. and you are trying to sleep. I woke up today quite early. Dozed a bit until 4 and then I was really awake. I tried to go back to sleep ... and every time I got close I got a nice swift kick in the stomach. Around 5:00 I decided to get up and I have been up ever since.

I am officially tired and ornery. SO SO SO ready for bed!! (This is NOT my belly by the way ... but look at the little foot!!!)