Living in the (801)

It has been almost 2 months since my last post and my how lots of things have happened. Brace yourself for a novel. Though I will try to abridge it and just share the important details.

June 8th we blessed our sweet baby boy Jace. He was rocking it in his kilt. I love how our pictures came out. They are just so great. All of our family came down for the blessing. They also helped us get as much of our house packed as we could.

All ready for church

My whole family came down for the blessing. Tyson and Yulia completely surprised us. They just showed up at church before the blessing. It was so fun to have all of them here. 

Paul's parents down for the blessing

Cute little Jace in his festive kilt. Fun fact: my dad was doing family history and found some connections in my family line that tie back to Scottish kings! 

June 9th we finished loading up the moving van and moved up to Cottonwood Heights. We are renting a basement apartment from Paul's Aunt. It is perfect for us. We have a back yard to play in, there are TONS of trees and parks everywhere, and we are right next to the mountains, so hiking trails are in abundance.

Tallus showing off his muscles while he helps load the moving van.

The last load of stuff in our empty apartment.

We went to the Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving point on June 14 to kind of sort of celebrate Jace's one month mark, (it really wasn't planned that way, but we can pretend).

Jace at 1 month old. He is in his kilt because we went to the Scottish festival

Since being here lots of crazy things have happened. Jace smiles for real smiles now. He still has some gassy smiles, but he will look at us, and respond to us with smiles. He is trying so hard to laugh, but they still come out as grunts combined with cute little coos. He can hold his head up for a pretty decent amount of time, he kicks like crazy. I think Jace is going to figure out how to roll over pretty soon. He is always kicking and wiggling like crazy when we put him down for tummy time. We are still working on getting Jace into a routine. He sleeps in his crib occasionally, but he will sleep SO much better if he is in bed with us. When we have energy and drive, we put him in his crib and don't mind getting up twice as many times in the night to get him. But when we are exhausted we just give in and let him sleep with us. Jace will almost sleep through the night if he is co sleeping with us. But when he is in his crib he gets up like every 2 hours. In my mind sleep wins out every time. We will get to the point where Jace sleeps only in his room, but while we are still adjusting to everything, I really don't mind that he sleeps with us.

These are two of Jace's first smiles that are really real ones. He is such a cutie and I love it when he is happy. He tries so hard to laugh when we tickle him. It will be fun to hear it when he really can laugh. 

Jace loves to make tons of faces and I am on a mission to put a page in his baby book called Jace's Faces. This face is his pouty face. Its a hard one to catch. I think it is so cute and love it when he makes this face, but it is also sad because he only makes it when he needs something. 

Jace had his first experience swimming this past month. Paul's Aunt and Uncle have a pool and they had all of their kids and grand kids over visiting, so we went over to visit with all of his cousins. Jace did not so much like the big pool because it was kind of cold, but he did enjoy the hot tub which was turned down to more of a lukewarm tub for all of the little babies. He had a washable swim diaper on and I am pretty impressed with how well it kept everything in. This little stinker pooped in his diaper in the pool, and nothing leaked out! Hurray!

Paul and Jace with Paul's cousin-in-law and lots of cousins' kids

We went to Taylorsville Dayzz with Paul's family. Jace watched his first set of fireworks. He actually watched them. He didn't cry and was enthralled with all of the flashes and colors in the sky. He also got to watch his first thunderstorm. We stood out on our patio deck and just watched the pouring rain and thunder and lightning. I am glad its not scary for him. Paul and I love to sit out and watch storms. Hopefully Jace will enjoy doing that with us.

Jace actually looks like he is smiling in how did that happen? This is his first experience with fireworks!

My brother Tyson and his wife Yulia had their first baby. YAY for cousins. Jace has his first girl cousin on both sides. Cute little Gloria is teeny tiny compared to Jace. He is a monster! He was 2 pounds heavier at birth and now he is seriously double the 6 pound ball of cuteness that Gloria is.

Doesn't Jace just look massive compared to Gloria? He is only a little about 5 weeks older than her and look how tiny she looks compared to him! This is my cute first niece ever Gloria. 

My Daddy and his two first grandbabies. Crazy that they came a month apart. Jace wasn't too happy in this picture, but Gloria is all cute and composed!

Paul's youngest brother came home from his mission. Jonathan is the last Burnett boy to serve a mission in Paul's immediate family. Jonathan just got back from the Philippines, and it has been fun to tease him, and help him adjust to the life outside of a mission.

 Jonathan Burnett home at last after two relatively short years in the Philippines

This year as the first year we celebrated the 4th of July with our family since being married I think. Usually we just stay in Cedar City. It was different being up in the big valley. It was pretty cool to see fireworks in every direction though. Paul and I drove home right in the middle of everyone lighting off their fireworks. We are glad we didn't buy and ourselves. Everyone elses' fireworks were enough for us.

We got to travel down to Cedar City to see the baptism of one of our close family friends. While living in Cedar City we got really close with the Olenslager family. They have all girls and Paul just loves to tease them to no end. Payton, their youngest girl got baptized and we made the journey down to support Payton in her decision. We got to spend all day with them and their family and had a blast.

From left to right, Kylee O, Paul, Payton, (the girl of the hour), Camden, Kylee B, and Ashlie

We LOVE these girls. They are practically family. We decided they are like nieces to us. Always and Forever!

On an emotional level, I have decided that being a mom is kind of tough. I love it, don't get me wrong, but holy smokes, going from full time teacher to a full time mom is a HUGE change! The no social life has been a little tough, but I just recently started going to play dates at the park with some moms in the ward here. Even though Jace is too young to enjoy them, at least mom gets to socialize and Jace gets to go for a walk in his stroller, (which he loves).

Paul and I have finally started a routine for our morning. We actually get up and exercise together. It has been so great. Hopefully we will start to see ourselves get back into shape and get our bodies back to where we were pre-baby. Living apart and being pregnant took a toll on both of us.

Paul is getting ready to take another CPA exam in the next few days. Fingers crossed that he will pass and not have to re-take. He has certainly studied more this go round so hopefully all goes well.

Well this is us up to date. I will really try to be better. As a stay at home mom I should have time to update my blog a lot more than I have been, [yeah right ;) ]

Baby Jace, and the Story of His Birth

        WARNING: This blog post is my birthing experience of Jace. I have in no way tried to make it appealing for all readers. It is my memory and set of experiences of what happened.  If it is too graphic for you, stop reading or toughen up a bit. There ya go, you have been warned ;)

     After being a week "overdue" I was starting to get a little bit anxious about our baby finally coming. I was handling it really well, but eventually had a few meltdowns worried that Paul would have to leave before the baby would be born. The midwives came to visit us on Tuesday, May 13 which would put me one week overdue. We had a nice visit, and I was a little emotional and they checked everything then left. Every week they have said see you next week. But this time they didn't. I didn't think much of it until that night, then I started to think about it and realized they hadn't said that, so I became hopeful that baby would make it before Paul had to leave. I scheduled a prenatal massage for that night, and had her work on the labor reflexology points. That night Paul and I finished our Harry Potter marathon that we started on Sunday, and I started having a few contractions here and there. They were not consistent and didn't get more intense, so I tried not to think much of it or get too excited incase nothing happened.
     A little after midnight I woke up to contractions. I went to the bathroom and experienced my "Bloody Show." I figured that is what it was but I wasn't sure and it made me a little nervous. I went back to bed and tried to sleep, but my contractions continued to be regular. They were at that point between 8 and ten minutes apart. I tried to rest and sleep and was able to stay in bed for another hour or so. I then started to get a little more nervous as I continued to have more "Show" each time I used the bathroom. I didn't know what to expect or anything so I had Paul call the midwife. Good thing Paul called and not myself, because I was losing my midnight snack halfway through the phone call. She had us track the contractions for half an hour then report back to her.
     My wonderful husband Paul stayed up with me and played Farkle while we tracked the contractions. They were between 2 and 5 minutes apart-ish at that point. Lily had us try to get some sleep and see how things went. I thought she was crazy because they were so close, but I trusted her judgement and I didn't want to have the midwives hovering over me while I was laboring. I tried to lay down and was able to sleep for maybe 45 minutes, but laying down made my contractions more intense. I let Paul sleep and just got up and paced the house breathing through each one. I tried to eat a coconut water popsicle to give myself some electrolytes since I had now lost my "lunch" about 3 times and was able to eat about half of it before I thought I might make myself sick again.
     At about 6:30 I finally woke Paul up and had him call Lily again. She had us track contractions again and they only continued to get stronger and stronger. We tracked them together for half an hour then reported back. She said she would send over her attendants to check vitals. At this point I was getting anxious and wanted to fill up the birthing pool or get in the shower to help myself relax and ease the contractions, but Lily told me to wait. so I did my best. I continued pace the house and let myself sink into the trance of "laborland" where I was basically zoned out of everything but listening to and working with my body.
     Sara showed up finally showed up around 7:40, mind you this is partially from Paul's perspective because I was zoning in and out each time I had a contraction. He talked me through things and paced with me a little bit and I was able to breath through most of them. After Sara checked vitals I asked her when I could get in the water, and we finally started filling up the tub, but I had to wait for it to be filled and I seriously felt like the pool would never finish filling up!
     At this point I truly started to question my ability to go through with all of this because the contractions began to be very intense and even squeezing Paul's hand made it hard to get through. Thankfully the pool was nearly full and Sara let me get into the water. I am grateful that the midwives weren't over at my house tracking my every contraction because I was able to relax and do my thing. When Sara did show up, I thought it might bother me or that I might not be able to relax quite as much. Especially since I like to pretend I am tough and don't like other people to see me in pain,  but I was able to stay relaxed and keep doing my thing even with other people watching me.
     There was a night and day difference, truly, between being in the water, and being out of the water. As soon as I got into the pool I could easily manage the contractions. They just felt more like pressure. Also, I felt like it was time to start pushing. Slowly but surely our son started to make his entrance into the world. With each contraction I was able to breathe and push and work with him, and in between each contraction I was able to relax and almost sleep. It was great. I was able to put myself "into a state of deep relaxation," as quoted from my hypnobirthing cd track. As I think back on it, I really just remember breathing and pushing, then just total calm, then more breathing and pushing, and more total calm. And it wasn't even pushing pushing. I was just breathing with my body while it kind of did its own sort of pushing thing. I don't think I opened my eyes very much through most of the process. Paul sat in the tub with me and dabbed my face with a cool washcloth which was a huge blessing for me. In the beginning, Paul didn't want to really be in the tub because after the baby is born, it is a little gross, but he was such a champ and sat with me the whole time.
     Slowly but surely baby made his way. My body started to get tired after a while especially my legs, but thankfully the water made it so there was less resistance and work that I had to do, so I didn't run out of energy. I felt a pop and mentioned something to Lily. She said, "did you feel the pop in your head?" or something like that, and my cheeky response, while i was still zoned out and in labor land, was, "no but I sure felt a pop in my vagina!" That pop apparently was my water breaking. The baby started to crown and Lily said, "Kylee reach out and touch your baby, he is almost here." I said something along the lines of, "I think I will wait until he is here." Lily did have a mirror that she put into the water so that Paul could look down and see that there was a baby. Glad I didn't look, 'cuz man that would have been weird to see! Somewhere during this phase of labor someone made a comment about keeping calm or something, and Paul started to sing "Soft Kitty" from big bang theory to me. I laughed in my head, but I was relaxed and zoned out so my outward appearance was just a small smile on my face, but Paul saw it and knew that I had acknowledged his comments. Multiple times the midwives asked me, "are you sure this is your first baby?" I am interpreting that to mean that I took things and handled them very well?? Anyway, several more contractions, pushes and breaths....
     And then, baby popped out. It was a weird feeling beyond explanation. I remember pressure, and a little bit of a burning sensation, then a pop as his head came out. Then another feeling to push and breathe and another set of stinging burning sensation mixed with pressure and another pop and the rest of him came out. I was still trying to remain relaxed so my eyes were closed as he made his grand entrance. Don't know what it looked like, but poor Paul got to watch it all!
     Lily snatched up the baby and plopped him on my chest and I just got to sit and look at my cute little messy babe. He started breathing while he was on my chest and I remember feeling like I had just witnessed the most beautiful and perfect experience in my life. The spirit was so strong, and amazing, but I didn't cry. Which is impressive, because I cry at everything. Paul says he almost shed some tears, but didn't quite.
     Paul and I just sat there for a minute with the baby while they checked his heart beat and the umbilical cord and his breathing. We mentioned to each other that he needed a name, and we actually checked to make sure he was a boy, which he was, and decided that we didn't know what to name him yet so we would wait a little bit. The midwives told me it was time to get out of the water so that I could pass the placenta, blech! Good thing they had me get out when they did, because basically soon as I got out of the water, before they were ready, here came the placenta! Sorry to be graphic but man it was all over the floor! They had just pulled me out of the tub and tried to get me to sit on a birthing stool with a bunch of pad things under it, like the ones you train your dog to pee on instead of peeing in the house. Guess I didn't want to feel like a dog because that placenta just popped right out before I ever got to the stool. No worries, the floor was covered with lots of plastic wrap so it wasn't a big deal that I didn't quite make it in time. They had me sit in that stool after the placenta popped out to "check" me. They said I tore just a tiny bit, but it was hardly anything and would heal quickly. That was a relief for me, because a lot of my friends tried to scare me with horror stories of tearing all the way. No stitches for me, YAY.  Paul got to hold the baby and cut the cord. It was really cute to watch him because he was so hesitant at first and worried about hurting the baby. He did a great job though. Once the cord was cut he took baby and carried him while I got myself cleaned up. Well not really cleaned up, just cleaned the placental painting that was up and down my legs off, and put on my "sexy" panties. Who knew you could describe a depends as sexy panties, (midwives say they are sexy because you can rip them right off), guess that is sexy. Anyway, yeah, I got to wear a depends. Weird. But hey it was actually kind of nice to not have to worry about my insides leaking out onto my bed. Depends have you covered man, like all the way around not just a little!
     While I was laboring, one of the attendants made the bed in the other room, so by the time Paul and I were kind of cleaned up, we could get into our own bed and snuggle with our little baby. We finally decided that we should let our parents know that we had a baby. I feel like everything happened so fast that we didn't even call them to let them know we were in labor. Truly though, I am grateful that Paul did not call or text our parents. I was able to labor in my own space and not worry about delivering a baby to appease everybody. We sent a text to just our parents and let them know. We didn't say much except for that Baby Burnett was born at 10:05 on May 14th. We had no name still, and the midwives hadn't taken him to be weighed and measured so we didn't want to tell the whole world quite yet.
     The midwives had me feed him for the first time before they took him and weighed him and measured him. That was interesting, breast feeding for the first time. But it was nice to have someone to give me pointers and advice because I really didn't know what I was doing. Sometime during all of this Paul jumped in the shower, which I am sure he was ever so grateful for. After they checked our vitals one more time, the midwives left our room to clean up a few things, and Paul and I had some time to ourselves. We sat and pondered for a minute about the name that we wanted and what we felt like we should name him, and made our decision. We both felt like Jace was what he should be called, and we had both had separate experiences over the past week that had brought that name continually into the forefront of our minds. The rest they say, is history. I don't remember how the rest of the day went.
    I took a shower at some point, which was heavenly, and also weird not having a massive belly to be in the way. It was also weird because instead of my massive hard belly I had a gelatinous belly that flopped all over the place because my muscles hadn't tightened up yet. Point of all of that, I got a shower. I fed Jace a few times, and basically rested in my recliner a  good portion of the day. Lisa came to visit for a few minutes, our neighbors came over, and we were brought dinner by the relief society president. I don't know if I took a nap or what I did, but thats ok. I remember the important parts.
     Those first moments with Paul and Jace and myself just sitting in the tub together gave me a feeling of completeness. Our family is starting to take shape, and our son is here with us. I feel more love than I thought possible. I can't wait to see what the future brings for our little family.

 

Our first few moments looking at our son. Look how little he is!

Paul was so supportive through the whole process. I am so grateful that he is such a trooper!

Just lookin at my baby. Man my farmers tan is awful!!!

First picture ever taken of Jace with clothes. He looks really chubby because of how he is swaddled. He really isn't too chubby yet. 

Jace Boy with his eyes open the day he was born. He really likes to have his eyes open. Unless he is sleeping. From the minute he started breathing, he has had his eyes open lots and lots of times. 

40 Weeks and Then Some!

     As of today I am a few days "past due." I am still trying to decide how I feel about it. I know that a due date is a rough estimate and that it can be + or - 2 weeks of my due date that baby will actually come. It is a little hard not worry so much about the educations people have drilled into our minds about babies coming right on their due date, and if they are late you need to be induced and all of that nonsense. Our official "due date" was May 6th. It has only been 2 days since that day and it has gotten easier each day to not worry so much about what everyone else thinks.
      I did have contractions the night before baby was due. Strong enough that they woke me up in the middle of the night. I was excited that something might actually be happening. But after getting up, using the bathroom and laying back down in bed they stopped. And baby's "due date" came and went and there was nothing else of it. The midwives stopped by and had an appointment with Paul and me and we just took their advice of not expecting anything for a week and let it sink in.
     Thankfully we didn't have any melt downs or freak outs, but I think both of us were a little disappointed that it wasn't going to happen as quickly as we were hoping for, but we are trying to stay positive and optimistic that when our baby is ready he will come. Since then we have just been positive and hopeful that each day we will be closer to having our son in our arms.
     It has been really nice to have Paul here with me. I feel like we have had time to reconnect with each other and grow closer as a couple before we have our baby. I just worry a little bit that baby will be 2 weeks "late" and Paul will have to leave for SLC shortly after his birth. I feel peace in my heart though that everything will work out and that I should stop worrying about timelines. So I try harder every day to humble myself and have the faith that Paul will be here and be able to spend some time with our son before he has to go back to work up North. Until then we are just hanging in there waiting and trying to be patient in all things.

Paul's Masters Graduation

     Paul completed his Masters degree in accounting back in December, but SUU only has one commencement ceremony in the spring. So if he wanted to walk and do all that fun stuff he had to wait until May. He was able to take a day off of work so he could come down Thursday and prepare for his graduation on Friday. His brother Peter also graduated on Friday in the same college as Paul, (it was really nice to only have to sit through one convocation rather than two).
     Paul's parents came down so they could attend both of their sons graduations. They stayed will us and it was fun to have them, but I feel bad that they had to sleep on the floor/couch. After being in social Siberia with myself for the past 2 weeks, it was really nice to have people in the house! It was a little overwhelming going from just Kylee to Kylee plus a husband plus the in-laws, but after I adjusted to noise and clutter it wasn't bad at all.
    Friday we had graduation pretty much all day. The processional was at 8:30 so naturally we had to be there at 8. Then the commencement was at 9. Ann Romney was the main speaker and she did a great job. I was very grateful to have the opportunity to hear her speak. Although sitting in those stadium chairs just about killed me. My feet got super swollen and pretty much haven't gone down since then. Aside from that, after commencement we all had lunch together at the All American Diner. A classic diner in Cedar City that all the locals have to eat at at least once in their lives.
     After lunch we ran home to have my dad load some of our stuff into his trailer. He came down to pick up my sister Kalena from school and some how I convinced him to bring the trailer and take a load of Paul and my stuff up to Salt Lake. We had him take a bunch of our big stuff and it was pretty great. Our house is slowly getting emptied of its contents, but its nice to have less "crap" to worry about packing a month from now.
     Dad left and we rushed back over to SUU for the business convocation. THANKFULLY it was way shorter than they planned! I didn't have to sit for much longer than an hour which I was truly truly grateful for. I don't think I could have lasted much longer than I did anyway. We finished graduation and went to Peter and Jessica's for a little bit. Then we went to dinner, came back to Peter and Jessica's and played games for multiple hours. Finally the gang finished their game of T-birdopoly and we could all go home and go to bed.

     Saturday the boys went and played golf. Jessica and her family, (Peter not included), went to visit family, and Julie and I went hiking. I was hoping that if I went hiking it would put me into labor. We hiked half of the incredibly steep, infamous "C" trail to no avail. I hardly had any Braxton Hicks contractions let alone real ones. I was hoping though, that I would at least feel sore the next day, but sadly I wasn't sore either.
     After everyone got home we prepared a picnic lunch and had a great time at the canyon park. We even convinced Rex, my father in law, to play bocce ball with us, (he is not a big game fan). After our picnic, Paul and I went to visit Shay, Ray, Ada and Dion. Shay and Ray were visiting from Manti and we just had to go and see them while they came to visit. After visiting with them we picked up pizza and had a party with the family. We chatted for a while then went out to ice cream.

     Sunday was a lazy morning. Paul sort of let me sleep in. That is one of the things I have had to get used to with him being home with me. He gets up way early and I just want to lay in bed a little longer. He did let me stay in bed a little longer than his sense of usual, but not much. Paul's parents went to church with Peter and Jessica, so Paul and I had some time to ourselves before we went to church. It was nice to decompress and relax after having company all weekend. I am grateful that Paul has been able to be home with me, and I am even more grateful that he will get to stay with me for the next few weeks. Now all we have to do is be patient and wait for baby boy to come. Hopefully it is sooner rather than later, but I guess we will find out!

37 Weeks

    I am still managing to hang in there. I am actually feeling pretty great right now. I baby must have shifted positions because exercising hasn't been a problem for about a week and a half now. I used to have the hardest time even walking a mile. But I have been able to go 2.5+ miles the past few days and still have energy for weights and some floor work. Maybe its the surge of energy that you get right before labor. Or maybe its not :) Either way, I am grateful to have more energy and motivation to get myself out and moving and get things done around the house.
      My principal finally replaced me at work. I don't know how I feel about it quite yet. I am excited to be staying at home, but I have made so many amazing friends working at Three Peaks that I know when it truly comes down to it, it is going to be really hard to leave them all behind. But hey, adventure is out there, and its time to start my next one.
    I have continued to work on some of the hypnobirthing relaxation techniques and I have to say it is really quite interesting. On my walks the past few weeks, I get Braxton Hicks contractions like crazy (especially when I am trying to speed walk), which tends to make my walk a little more uncomfortable than it needs to be. But this week I started using my relaxation techniques and putting myself into a relaxed state, even while walking, and I do have to say it works. I could tell I was having contractions, but they didn't phase me. I was able to enjoy my walk, and just be at peace in my mind, and relaxed all over. I know that I will need to continue practicing them if I want to be relaxed during labor, but I feel like I have had a few good practice rounds.
     Baby is doing good. He is just chillin. I have sat and "talked" with him, and I know he isn't ready to come yet. I tried to convince him to come a little early but I know he isn't ready. I can feel that he is excited to join our family, but he just needs more time to prepare for the journey to join us. He is responding to me and to music more these past few weeks than he has before. I was listening to the radio a few days ago on my way to work and Pharrel Williams song "Happy" came on, and at the part where it says "clap along if you feel like a room without a roof" my little man totally started to kick and wiggle to the beat. It was the cutest thing. He must have been having a good morning.
    My family came down to take their foreign exchange student to visit Zion and Bryce Canyon. I took a day off of work so that I could spend some time with them. It was certainly quite different going on lots of walks and sight seeing with a big ole belly. But I enjoyed being able to spend some time with my family. My mom and I worked on baby boy's kilt for his blessing day. Its pretty much all finished except for the pin that will hold the whole thing together. Now he just needs a sporran and a shirt and he will be ready to go!
   

Yes I look like a schlum but I needed to take a picture this week before I forgot. I have been lazy and not as photo happy the past week. He is definitely getting bigger. But that means he is coming soon!

36 weeks!

     I actually managed to get my next post up before a month has passed by! I am really going to try and write down how I feel over these next 4-5 weeks so that I can remember for myself what the last leg of pregnancy was like. I know I still have at least a month before little boy is born, but I totally feel like he could come sooner than that and I wouldn't have a problem with it.
     I thought I was getting used to Paul coming to visit then leaving, but my hormones must be reaching an all time high as pregnancy progresses because I swear it gets harder every time he leaves. I guess it is a good sign that I don't like him to leave; just means that I love him like crazy.
     My belly is starting to get unusually heavy. I feel like I might tip over if someone accidentally pushed me forwards! But I do have to say one thing that has been kind of exciting is that thus far I have managed to evade getting tiger stripes (stretch marks). :) I am sure that one of these days I will sneeze and they will pop out all over my body. But for now, I am grateful that my body hasn't changed too too much all at once.
     I haven't been craving a whole lot this past month. I was on a carrot kick for a while. I had to eat lots of carrots with this delicious dip that my best friend Lisa Walters introduced to me. But lately it has just been all things dairy. Milk, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream. I have tried to be really good about it, but at the same time, if I can't stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer no matter what I do, I don't hesitate to have a few scoops of it.
     I am still pleased to announce that I can do my 10 pushups in a row with out stopping. My stomach muscles clump together and turn my stomach into a concave hump when I do pushups so I can't get as close to the ground as I would like without hitting the baby. But I can still do those pushups even though they are semi modified now.
      On of the hardest things for me during this pregnancy is not being able to be as active as I once was, or as I would like to be. I was running around 2.5 to 3 miles up until around 32 weeks. But then I did something to my muscle. I don't know what. Some people thing it is sciatic pain, and some think it really could be a muscle issue. But anyhow, I can't run anymore let alone walk a lot. If I even just walk 2 to 3 miles I get really sore in my leg and have to take 4 to 6 days to recover from it. I am still doing some crossfit stuff, but at the same time, it all depends on how my leg is feeling. I am swimming laps twice weekly which has been good, but I am now at the point that my friends old stretched out race suit doesn't fit my belly very well so unless I find an alternative swimming suit I might have to be done with that here in a few weeks. I did attempt to ride my bike the other day, and I must say it was actually quite enjoyable. I surely could only bike 5 miles before I was completely wasted, but it was refreshing being able to get my heart rate up a little bit without having to worry about my leg hurting. I did look like a goof I am sure because I had to ride my bike a little differently than a person without a big belly would. But it was still enjoyable nonetheless.
    I am starting to feel like I will get all my baby-to-do list done before little boy comes. The list still feels a mile long, but I try to get at least one thing off the list now every week. Every day is hard. Especially with the longer projects. But slowing things are getting done.
      Joys of this past week are just being able to spend some time bonding with the baby. I have been looking into hypnobirthing a little bit. I haven't taken a class. I am just going to read the book and see what I think, but I found a relaxation MP3 from a hypnobirthing coach and have started to teach myself to meditate. Its actually harder than I thought it would be. I think I am a very alert person for the most part, so to let myself sink into a deep relaxation is kind of a challenge. But I do feel like each day that I practice I am able to relax a little bit more. So I guess it is a good thing I started practicing early. Maybe I will actually be able to relax during labor and what not.
    Paul was able to be here for General Conference this past weekend and it was so nice. I was grateful to be able to cuddle with him and listen to the words of the prophet. I am grateful for all the wonderful messages we received and all the guidance and counsel that I was able to take from their talks and use for my own life.
     Guess we will see how things go over the next few weeks!

36 weeks exactly. Feeling pretty good but a little large :)

I am feeling like I could pop at any time, but unfortunately I still have 4 weeks to go! Can I get any bigger??? Geez I sure hope not!

35 weeks, and the count down begins???

     Today is the day I have completed 35 weeks of pregnancy! Wahoo!! I want to start counting down, but at the same time, I don't know if I do. I don't want to get too excited about things that could be happening the next few weeks especially if our little man decides he wants to come late. I have really been thinking about the birthing process a lot the past few weeks and am excited for what is to come.
     Paul and I are going to have a home birth and I couldn't be more excited. I am starting to get annoyed of all the people saying, "Why would you ever do that?? Thats crazy. Don't you know that its not safe. What if something happens?" Gosh. I have done my research and I feel great about our decision. I don't feel like I need a medical intervention to have a baby. If something happens, yes, I will go to the hospital. But I don't need a hospital to birth a baby. My midwives gave me a book to read and it talks about the process of giving birth, and is basically a birthing class course all summed up in a book. I just finished it the other day and am feeling a little more ready for this boy to join our family. I think the biggest thing that I need to work through right now is the fears and ill educations that I have associated with birthing and being in labor. Everyone makes it out to be this horrible, painful, never to be forgotten experience. When I truly believe it can be an empowering, humbling and spiritual one. It all depends on if I let my fears take over what I know and believe to be true.
     My goal for the next few weeks is to start clearing my mind and let go of all of the worries that people keep trying to push on me about how my birthing experience should go. I understand that it will be painful, but its nothing that I should be afraid of or fight. I know that I am capable of anything I set my mind to, so birthing a baby naturally, at home, is just one of many things I can and will do in my lifetime.
     I have finally started getting things done for our little baby boy. I completed a swing cover for our baby swing. The one that was on the swing was super babyish and just not my style. This one is brighter and happier and cute. I finished sewing all my cloth diapers and soaker pads too! I can't wait until I can start using them. Now I just need to finish his quilt for his bed and finish a baby blanket I started making with all the scraps from his diapers. I am feeling productive, and it has been great to get so many things done the past few weeks. I did write up a list of things that I want to deep clean before baby comes. I figure I will get all the sewing projects done first, then knock out the cleaning projects one at a time until I have them all done.
     No rememberable cravings these past few weeks that I can think of. My back hasn't been hurting as bad so that has been way nice. I am still a little sore occasionally, but my back doesn't ache all day and all night like it did before. My feet are deciding to swell and un-swell depending on the day. Some days they don't go back down from the previous days activities, but some days all my shoes seem to fit just like they did before.
      On a happy note, I can still do 10 pushups in a row and feel good about it. Weighted squats are getting a little trickier just because the extra weight does put some pressure on my back. But I am finding different ways to hold the weights that don't put so much strain on my back so that is good. I have started to do a lot of isolation work outs with my abdominals. I am trying to keep them strong and ready to go for when I am in labor. I hope that if I have a good strong core I will be able to have more strength and stamina for helping our baby boy join us.
    Paul has been able to visit every weekend for the past 3 weeks. That has been such a huge blessing for me. I don't realize how much I miss him and rely on him until he comes to see me. I enjoy every minute he is there, (even if all we are doing is watching march madness while I work on a sewing project and Paul does finances). I think the days I am really counting down until are the days that I get to move up and be with my husband again.
    I know that I am going to miss Cedar with all my heart. I have made lots of friends and great connections here that I will miss. Especially all my friends I have made working at Three Peaks, and serving in my callings in the church. But I am way excited for the adventures that are to come as we start a new life together up in Salt Lake.

33 weeks.  Still fitting into a shirt that isn't a maternity shirt. And sadly it looks better on me when I am pregnant then when I am not! Don't mind the clothes in the back ground. Laundry is a miracle if I can get it done more than once every 2 weeks!

34 weeks. I am definitely getting bigger every week. But I am thrilled that my hips still fit into pre-pregnancy pants. They for sure aren't massively comfortable, but they add variety to my wardrobe. 

34 weeks again. But I figure a picture is a picture and it will be good to be able to remember what I looked like. I know they are all selfies. But when Paul isn't home to take a picture its too hard to get anyone else to do it. Besides, most of these pictures are pictures I send to Paul so he can see how baby is doing even though he isn't here to see me every day. 

35 Weeks! Pee breaks all the time! I was doing great at only needing to pee once in the middle of the night, but I have had a couple nights where it has been twice. I am still feeling good about that though. The two timer breaks are only every so often so thats good!

The finished project of the baby swing. The other one had cutesey animals on it and it was just so babyish. But this one is a little brighter and more fun to look at. Plus it is soft and I can take the cover off and wash it when it gets dirty.