Happy Birthday

HaPpY BiRtHdAy KaRi!

Happy Birthday to a great sister, wife, daughter, mother and friend.  I thought about trying to find a picture of us when we were little..like sitting next to each other hugging...but I figured I wouldn't waste my time because the truth is, we didn't like each other.  True story..Kari wanted my dad to take me back to the hospital and that is where the trouble started.  I did more than my fair share to not spark the friendship.  I stole $5 from Kari when I was 8, that really sent the friendship into a downward spiral.  I think if we wouldn't have been forced to share a room we might have gotten along a little bit better.  But as many of you know, Kari is a perfectionist and I wasn't the cleanest person so trying to share a room didn't work out so well.  She also blamed me for giving her head lice when she was in 8th grade; well, the fact that we shared a bed was probably the reason why.... One day Kari was home sick from school, I think I was a freshman so she would have been a Junior (side note: we didn't speak or acknowledge each other in the halls at high school) I came home from school and she was asleep in my parents bed.  I opened the door and she sat straight up in bed and said, "No Kami, you are not wearing my wedding dress!" I just closed the door and walked away.  I am sure she was dreaming...or at least I think she was.  

Anyway, the reason I share all of this is to prove that we have come a long way.  I can honestly say that my sister Kari is my best friend (my mom always warned us this would happen, of course we didn't believe her) and I know she would do anything for me.  I look up to her and respect her and hope to be as good of a mother as she is.  

My babies...for now

I know, I know...everything is going to change once this baby comes, but up until now these 2 have been my babies.  I love my dogs..even though they can be a pain in the A--.  :-)  They have brought me much more joy than anything else.  We have had Maddie for 6 years and Zoe for 2.  

Great things come in "3's"

So my only sister-in-law on Nate's side and my only sister are both pregnant with me!  It has been pretty fun and I can't wait for this baby to have 2 cousins so close to grow up with.  Wendy is due February 25th...just 10 days after my original due date and is having a girl.  Kari is due in May and is having a boy.  So, since they both found out the sex and we didn't I convinced Nate that we could buy some clothes and no matter what we would have someone to give them to!  (clever I know, the sad part is all the clothes are so cute I don't want to give any of them away) Anyway, I am so lucky to have these 2 to share this experience with.  It is going to be hard to not be able to see Wendy and her baby right when she is born, but hopefully we will make it to Oregon in April sometime so the cousins can meet and the Mom's can catch up and share stories.  Until then we have texting, email, facebook, and google video to get through.
Oh! I almost forgot the best part.  These babies will be number 2 and number 3 for Nate's family.  So far, Jake has been the only one.  So Kathy is going from 1 to 3 in a very short period of time...but don't worry, she is thrilled!

Pregnancy Story/Journal

I wasn't sure what to tile this post, I just wanted to get it written down before I forgot any details or dates.  We found out we were pregnant on June 9th, and the only reason we found out that day is because we had an appointment scheduled with a fertility specialist on the 10th and they told me to make sure I took a pregnancy test before I came.  I actually took the test on the 8th, and it was negative so I threw it away.  The next day I couldn't stop thinking about something my sister Kari had told me, "those tests change after you throw them away," of course I didn't really believe her because I was so frustrated and had almost given up that we would really get pregnant.  We had a miscarriage in March of 2008 and had not had any luck since.  So, I got home from work and started cleaning up the house, when I took the garbage out in the bathroom I decided to look at the test again and this is what I saw...

My heart started pounding instantly and I didn't know what to do.  I took it to Nate and asked him if it looked positive and he didn't know what to say. (I don't blame him, I was such an emotional roller coaster..) He said just take another test, well of course I didn't have any.  So, I went to the local pharmacy and bought a 2 pack.  I had to be sure!  I then took this picture and texted it to my friend Jennifer and asked if it looked positive to her...she said yes, which made me feel better! So, I called and cancelled my appointment with the fertility specialist and then just tried to breathe in and out and pray that this was for real.  I wanted to be able to surprise my family, but Kari knew I was supposed to go to the specialist so she called me to see how the appointment went and I couldn't lie to her so I told her we didn't go and she knew right away.  
I saw my Dr. the next week and they did a two blood draws two days apart to make sure my HCG levels were doubling.  They were which was good news.  We decided to send Nate's mom flowers since she is in Oregon.  The card said,  "Thanks for being a great mom, but we know you will be an even better Grandma."  She got the flowers and emailed me at work and thanked me for them....just a normal thanks.  She didn't get it..so Nate called her and she thanked him and then he asked her what she thought the card meant...then the light bulb went off and she got it.  She was very excited, of course.  
I had an ultrasound on the 26th of June to make sure there was a heartbeat and there was!

 It was exciting and I felt like I could relax...a little bit.  We went to dinner with my family that weekend to celebrate Fathers Day and Nate couldn't wait any longer he was ready to tell everyone.  I took my parents flowers that morning with a card that said, "we hope you are ready for # 9".  Well my dad of course ignored them on the counter, and my Mom didn't get home until about a 1/2 hour before we were supposed to go to dinner.  She called me and just started a normal conversation, then she said...there are some flowers here and a card but I don't know if I should open it, I said well if they are on your counter they are probably for you.  She called back in less than a minute and was crying, of course..I think she was pretty shocked.  So we got to dinner and Nate told everyone the worst day of Reghan's life would be here in February and showed everyone the US pic.  (Rick has tried to warn his girls that their life is going to change once I have a baby, we spend a lot of time with them and they get a lot of attention from us) 
We had our 20 week Ultrasound on October 8th, it was neat to see everything and all of the features.  We didn't get very good pictures from the one at the doctors office so we went to Fetal Foto on October 12th and got better pictures and a video.  (Of course, a lot of people think this was a waste of money since we aren't finding out the sex)  I am so glad we did it, the baby yawned during the video and it was really cool to see.  (I will post the video if I can figure it out)

The whole pregnancy has been exciting, I am ready to have this baby but I am also going to miss being pregnant.  Feeling that baby move inside of you is just something you can't explain.  

This was around 24 weeks

36 weeks

Fun facts and dates:


Thrown up: 2 times..same day and I am pretty sure it was the flu


First felt the baby move: October 2nd we were at the San Diego Zoo


I feel like I have had a pretty easy pregnancy, I have had some back and sciatic issues and I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes at 29 weeks, but it hasn't been that bad. I check my blood sugars and have to inject insulin in the morning and at night. 




Names and gender from the nieces and nephews:

•       Canyon: Wants it to be a boy, because we need more boys...doesn't care about the name
•       Rocky: Boy,  thinks the name should be Indiana Jones Rocky
•       Reghan: Girl, thinks the name should be Sarah
•       Tailor: Agrees with Reghan but her girl name comes out Tara..and if it's a boy-Scooby
•       Maggie: Thinks its a girl..but keeps changing her mind and names

 

Little Mother Maggie

Ever since Maggie found out I was pregnant, which was in June, she has been so worried about where this baby was going to sleep.  The nursery used to be a spare room and was not even close to being "baby" ready.  We remodeled the nursery and the living room and so it took a while for us to get the crib assembled.  When we finally got it up I went to pick up Maggie so she could be the first to see it.  I didn't tell her it was up yet, but when I walked in the nursery this is what I saw...

She was pretty excited to say the least.  I told her she could help me put the bedding in but we had to wash it first.  This is just the crib, I will post pictures of the finished nursery...when it is finished (hopefully soon) :-)

1st Baby Shower with Friends

I had my first shower with my friends on 1/9/10 at Jennifer O'Rardens home.  It was a lot of fun.  I got some great gifts to get us started.

The theme was yellow ducks and it turned out so cute.  The invitations were really cute also, I will have to scan a picture of one and upload it later.

I was so happy that so many of my friends could make it.  It was great to catch up with everyone.

We didn't have anyone to take a picture of all of us, so Carrie and Jen had to swap out.

All of my work friends...I am so lucky to work with people that I love.  After being there for 9 years they feel more like family than friends.