Books

I've never been an avid reader, that's just how I am. Growing up I always found other things to do to occupy my time. Then in college, I finally had books to read, they were just textbooks. Blah. However, now that I've graduated and have a few days off from work each week I've had a desire to read. And here is the report thus far.

1. A while ago, Grandma Gleed lent me this book about Emma Smith. I loved it! I learned some new facts, and got brushed up on some things I already knew. One thing that I didn't know was that Emma loved horses. It was when I read this that I decided that I REALLY loved the name Emma and wanted that for our daughter. :) I also learned that the twins that she and Joseph had were adopted. (I really liked the fact that the girl of the twins was named Julia.)

Reading this book while pregnant really put things in perspective for me. With the death of each child and how hard pregnancy was for her it really made me grateful that my pregnancy has been super easy compared to the things she went through. I have a greater respect for her and what she did for the gospel in the early days.

2. This was a book that Cam and I got for our wedding. It was written by a lady that my mom used to work with for a lot of years. I didn't have any intent on reading it when we got it, but after hearing Jamie say that it was a good read I decided to give it a chance. Since she is from Bear Lake, it was fun reading about places I knew like, Raymond, Preston, Montpelier and Ogden. It made the story so much more real for me. Also, some of the words or phrases she used were ones that I know that only Bear Lakers use. She's got other books and if I ever come across them I'd read them, but I don't think I'm going to search them out.

In between books 2&3 there was a little bit of a time gap. I checked a bunch out from the library that I was interested in reading but didn't scan them well enough before checking them out because they had a lot of bad words so I didn't read them.

3. This is what I'm currently reading. It's one of my sister Jamie's favorite books. I admit, it's good and I have enjoyed all 106 pages I've read but it isn't as thrilling as I expected. But just look at the cover. A rocking chair combined with the title of "Tending Roses," doesn't exactly spell out murder mystery.

Don't be too shocked, but reading is enjoyable. I'm in no way like Jamie, Jodi, or Emily when it comes to books but it is a fun hobby that I will continue with.

Look out Gladys Knight!

I've decided that I'm carrying the white version of Gladys Knight. This baby LLLOOOVVVEESSS music! She goes crazy almost every time! For example, this morning Cameron sang with the men's chorus at a group home for at risk boys and girls (like the one I work at) called the Heritage School. Well, honestly he didn't just sing for them, he was one of the two speakers! There were about 50 out of the 180 from the choir present. This was a non-denominational service for the kids there. The lady from Heritage quickly introduced the men's chorus and turned the time over to Cameron to introduce the rest of the program before his talk. His talk was wonderful. He spoke on trials. He shared two personal stories about two types of trials. The first type that you can control and trials that you can't. His example of a trial he couldn't really control was of when he broke his shoulder when he was a junior in high school. His trial from something he could control was when he stole the pinata from his Spanish class his senior year. (I think it was senior year, not sure.) He did a great job really putting life in perspective in just a few minutes. I was such a proud wife! One of the songs they sang was a gorgeous arrangement of the hymn "Did you think to pray." I was really excited to hear this one because Cameron has sung this one at home a lot and just raved about how good it was. However, the moment they started singing our little girl WENT CRAZY! I literally thought she was going to jump out of my belly right then and there. I've NEVER felt her so wiggly. It was so funny to feel her that much but it was very distracting. I couldn't help but laugh and hold my belly tight so that she wouldn't jump out. I'm sure the girl sitting next to me was thinking that I was being so rude and disrespectful for giggling through a spiritual hymn. If only she could have felt what I was feeling, she would have giggled too. The next few hymns she didn't move nearly as much but this time when she moved it was frequently on beat. What a girl! She's going to be a singer and dancer, that's all there is to it. She's got too much rhythm not to be.

One of my favorite things about being this far into the pregnancy is feeling her recognize things. I'm convinced she knows Cameron's voice because she always wakes up when he gets home. It's the sweetest thing! She's already a daddy's girl. She's obviously got the concept of, "I'm so glad when daddy gets home" down. She also moves a lot when he sings. Which means she moves a lot because Cameron is ALWAYS singing. Makes me happy.

As far as the latest pregnancy quirks go, I can't touch my toes anymore. Funny story with that. When my sister Darci was pregnant with my nephew Evan (I'm pretty sure that was the situation, I could have the kids mixed up but this is how I've always thought about it.) my other nephew Adam came to Darci one time and said, "Mom, can you touch your toes?" Darci couldn't very quickly to which Adam responded, "That's ok mom, you can't because you're a little fat huh." I've thought of that many times and in a strange way it's made me feel better about not being able to touch my toes.

Another thing is heartburn. I used to get it about once every day or every other day super bad but now it comes 3-4 times a day and isn't very painful, just annoying. My theory is because I'm now taking cayenne pepper capsules. I have no clue if that's the reason why but the heartburn didn't change until I started taking those pills. I don't know which type I'd prefer over the other, painful or frequent.

I'm sure with the kids to follow I'll want to know what pills/herbs/vitamins I did take while being pregnant and what I thought of them. So, here is the list.

1. Generic brand of a prenatal vitamin.

2. Juice Plus or Juice Festiv

3. B-Complex vitamin. I started taking this because a while ago I kept having really bad nightmares. I happened to mention this problem to Melody and she suggested I take more B-Vit. I did along with having Cameron give me a priesthood blessing and I've only had 1 since then and this all happened around Christmas time. It's worked like a charm!

4. Liquid trace minerals. I absolutely HATE taking this. I take about 25 drops with a meal once a day and it's disgusting. Needless to say I'm not as faithful at taking this as I should be.

5. Cayenne Pepper. Apparently this helps with blood clotting.

6. Pulsatilla. Somehow this was supposed to help her move from a breach position into a normal position. It apparently worked because at my last apt. she was head down.

7. Spike Nard. I'll start taking this at week 34. I haven't done much research on it but it's supposed to help have a good birth. It was also mentioned in the bible with Jesus so it has to be good. : )

8. Floradix. This is an iron and herbs thing. I've only taken the samples she's given me because it's really expensive so I only take samples when she gives them to me.

That's all! My top drawer where I keep all of these is quite the pharmacy! She said to keep doing the routine that I've started because the baby is right on schedule. She said that she thinks the baby is just over 3 pounds. At my last appointment I was 30 weeks and still measuring at 34 cm which is what I measured at 28 weeks. So my body is slowly catching up to where it should be. She said I have a bit more fluid but it's not a problem. Extra fluid makes me nervous because when my sister Jodi was pregnant, she was huge and had A LOT of fluid. That's how they knew something wasn't quite right with her baby. But, I'm sure it's just my paranoia.

I think that's all! I'm working on a darn cute quilt for her. I'll hopefully post pictures tomorrow. I was thinking that it would take me until she's born but it should be finished in a few days. So now I'll have to get a bigger crochet hook, then I can finish a crochet project I've wanted to do.

the latest projects

Being graduated definitely has it's perks. I've finally had time to get a few things done that I've been wanting to do. I've had a few crochet projects at the top of my list and here is how they've turned out.

I made headbands for Georgia, Amelia, and Eliza.

I made two different beanies for our wee daughter. I don't really know how big a newborns head is so that's why they are two different sizes.
I made some hot pads. Mostly because after all the previous projects I still wasn't out of yarn yet so I made these. They aren't the prettiest things in the world, but I was pleased as my first attempt. They were super easy too. I'd say they only took me an hour or so.
This is my other project. It still needs some work, but here it is so far. It's pictures that tell our story. We met on the mission, we dated, we got engaged, we got married, we went on a honeymoon, we lived in Seattle, and the last picture is one of our ultrasound pictures of the baby.

That's what I've done when I'm not working so far. My next project is going to be a quilt (made by hand since I don't have a sewing machine) for the baby. I haven't quilted in years so it could be interesting. Wish me luck!

Ode to Morgan

Today is a very special day. 23 years ago my one and only little brother was born. My life has been richly blessed because of him. I've thought a lot about him this past week so here are just a few things I've thought about and reasons why I love him.

Morgan and I have had quite the relationship. Growing up, I loved having a little brother to boss around. Sometimes I'd have the need to dress something up and be my little baby and when the cat wouldn't cooperate, Morgan was the lucky winner and was so patient with my constant need to mother. He was so good to take all my bossiness. I was probably the bossiest sister he had, but he always took it so well.

To my surprise it didn't bother me at all when I was dating David and Morgan came with us everywhere. David and I were seniors and Morgs was a freshman and we were the three amigos. I loved it! The three of us had a lot of fun playing basketball and just being random. It was in this little trio we had going that I ended up with the nickname of Jewee. It's kind of a weird name and now I only like it when he calls me it. Well, dad has called me that for a while too, so it's ok with him too.

I loved watching him wrestle in High School even though I was on my mission for his glorious senior year. He was so good to write me every week on my mission. I tried to be as good for him while he was on his mission but I'm just not as good as him. One thing I love about Morgs is that he is so good at giving compliments. He's pretty quiet (sometimes) but when he does talk it's uplifting. I'm trying to be more like him in this regards. He's always calling us his "beloved sisters" or just saying how awesome we are.

He's a hard worker at overcoming obstacles in his life. He is also such a joy to be around. I can't think of Morgan without thinking of much of a tease he is! I could go on for hours about times that he has teased me. A few examples are when he'd pretend to snore in the back seat of the car, sneak under the dinner table and pinch someones toes, hide in random places in the house to wait to scare me, teasing me about Benny, "my darling lover boy," and making scripture study a fun time.

When I told him while he was on his mission that I was getting married before he got home he of course felt bad but was still super supportive even though he'd never met Cameron before. What a good brother!

It's not just my life that has been touched by his goodness. He's the best little brother anyone could ask for. I LOVE YOU MORGS!

Cravings?

So, by way of a pregnancy update I frequently get asked what I'm craving. Honestly, nothing really. I can only remember one day that I wanted french fries REALLY bad, but other than that my appetite has generally stayed the same. However, If I had to pick a "craving" I have noticed a peak in my interest for marshmallows and toast. Not together, but individually. I've never cared much for marshmallows, but Jamie gave us a bag a little while ago and I've noticed that every time I open that drawer to get out the bread to make a toast, I see that little bag and I have to have a little handful. I've always loved toast so that's nothing new, I just eat more of it lately. Thankfully, fish has always been gross to me, and it still is. I'm definitely not one of those crazy pregnant ladies that now love they things they hated and hate the things they loved. Or one of those ladies that crave non-food items like pencil eraser shavings or weird combinations of food like pickles and ice cream or miracle whip and grape jelly. And ya know what, I'm ok with that! : ) My sense of smell has also increased. For the majority of my pregnancy I've hated the smell of popcorn. YUCK! But now I do think that my sense of smell is heightened. Right now popcorn is the only thing that comes to mind when thinking of negative smells, but I have noticed a slight increase in my ability to smell things.

Let's see, now that I'm almost at my 3rd trimester it's pretty undeniable that I'm pregnant. My belly is not usually this shape. The weird thing is that people still haven't noticed. For example, the person interviewing me for 2 different jobs a few weeks ago didn't notice. Then my first day of work with the girls at YHA didn't notice. Granted, I was wearing a super floppy red shirt while sitting down so it wasn't as obvious then, but really? Then yesterday at work this is the conversation I had with the kid Matt I was working with. Keep in mind this whole conversation took place standing up which makes my belly even more noticeable. I was also wearing a maternity sweater so it was pretty dang obvious yesterday.

Matt: "I noticed you have a ring, are you married? "

Me: "Yes I am!"

Matt: "That's great, do you have any kids?"

Me: "Kind of, I'm currently pregnant."

Matt: "You're pregnant? I couldn't tell. When are you due?"

Me: "The end of April."

Matt: "Really? That's so close, I usually can tell by now."

Was he just trying to be nice? I'm trying to take all of these incidents as compliments, but it's kind of hard because I'm not usually this big! Oh well, life goes on.

Youth Health Associates

So, on top of supervising JJ's visits, I got a new job. it is interesting to say the least. It is here in Provo. It is for the Youth Health Associates program. The first time I was there I just filled out papers which got interrupted the youngest girl having quite the temper tantrum. Apparently she was in with her therapist and got ticked off. She started throwing things and swearing. Some of the words she used I didn't even know what they meant! So that was quite the introduction to what I'd be doing. After all the papers, one of the lead supervisors gave me a tour and went over a lot of the rules the girls have to follow. I did get to interact with all 6 of the girls that night for about an hour which was fine. Then this past Monday I worked the afternoon from when they got home from school until 11 that night. I'm slowly learning to be surprised at nothing as well as growing a tough skin for people being mad at me. My co-workers are quite interesting themselves. For example, I worked with a lesbian all Monday night. She was a lot of fun to work with and I learned a lot from her. I guess I'm just used to the typical Provo.

As a bit of a background, all of these girls ages 13-17 are sex offenders along with having a lot of other problems. Most of them have been diagnosed with being bipolar as well as having anxiety disorders. All of them have severe anger problems! After talking with them, it's sad that none of them want to go to college or even finish high school. Their only goals in life are to get out of the program and get married and have babies. One girl was telling me the other night that she feels behind on life because she is 17 and doesn't have any kids. She was saying that her mom had her first kid when she was 12 and has had 9 others since then. Then her sister is 16 and is having her 2nd baby the same week as I am. It's sad the mentality they have.

Yesterday I went to school with them. The one girl that freaked out the first day I was there, is 13 and goes to a junior high. I went with the other 5 to the same high school. For the most part yesterday the girls were well behaved but the thing I struggled with is the structure of the school. Everyone that goes to the school is state owned. They are all either in programs like the girls that I work with, in the Juvenile Justice system, foster care, or proctor care. So everyone there is kind of scary looking and has quite the mouth. The schedule yesterday was supposidly a little different than it normally is since they were apparently testing some of the younger kids. This may be a factor as to why I thought it was so pointless, but the kid I worked with yesterday said that even with the weird schedule, that was pretty typical of a day at school. Yesterday the 4 classes we went to were each 90 minutes. Out of those classes, only one of the teachers gave a lesson for about 45 minutes. Which meant the rest of that class and in all of the other classes they just sat there and goofed off with other messed up kids. One teacher was on the computer the entire class, another teacher played catchphrase with 3 of the students, and the last period teacher sat back and watched a movie she put on about alcohol. During the movie, one of my girls decided she wanted to read a book called "The pregnancy book." I guess it's good she's reading something instead of some of the other things she could be doing. They are all failing most of their classes so I wanted to help them because we had PLENTY of time to get them caught up yesterday, they just wouldn't. Anytime I'd try to encourage them to get some of their missing homework done, they'd get mad at me which would prompt the teacher to remind me that my only job was to keep them there in the class and their job was to teach and help them get caught up. I was so frustrated!

It's hard because all 6 of them really do have a lot of potential. I just feel that the programs they are in are mostly just reinforcing their negative behaviors. Perhaps I just don't understand everything that is going on and what has been previously been tried to help them succeed. Maybe I get so frustrated since I just had years of classes that dealt with these exact issues and I'm full of different ideas and want to try them out but can't. It also made me a little nervous yesterday because Matt, the kid I was working with, was telling me different stories that have happened since he's worked there and I pray that none of that ever happens to me. He was telling me how he's been slapped, kicked, pushed into the walls, and punched. Not only would that hurt, but I'm pregnant! Kind of makes me nervous. I have a behavior management class tomorrow so hopefully I can get some of my concerns and ideas talked about.

Birthday Bliss

It's official, I'm the oldest I've ever been. I'm officially a whoppin' 26 years old. It was such a wonderful birthday and sadly I don't have any pictures to show for it. I told Cameron that the only thing I really REALLY wanted for my birthday was for him to get a haircut and for him to snuggle with me in the morning. He's so great, he did both. He got a haircut Wednesday night and he looks as handsome as ever. I woke up to him snuggling with me which was fantastic! He is the best cuddler. He can't sleep touching so it was nice of him to cuddle with me for as long as he did. I sure love him. He still had school that day so after he was ready for the day he let me open my presents. The first one I opened was two tickets to the concert that night of the Utah Symphony. Woo! The next one I opened was from his parents which was a gift card to a restaurant called Carrabbas that I had been wanting to go to for a while. The other presents I opened were more tickets for the end of the month to a Shakespearean show called "The Merchant of Venice." Look at us, we're so cultured! He also gave me two tickets for a movie called Captain America, and a bottle of perfume. The most creative gift he gave me was a library book. Yes, he checked out a book from the series of Sideways Stories of Wayside School. I LOVED reading these books when I was in about 4th grade and a while ago we were talking about them and how funny they are. Isn't he thoughtful to remember and creative to not buy it but to check it out from the library and wrap it up. We've loved reading it together.

The day was also full of wonderful phonecalls from my cute kiddos before they went to school my sisters, parents, brother, and friends. It's nice to feel so loved and appreciated.

While Cam was at school Jamie came down to hang out with me. We had so much fun! We went to lunch at Mimi's Cafe which was DELICIOUS! Then we went shopping at Burlington Coat factory and the distribution center to get nursing garments. After that we went to get pedicures. I haven't had one since my wedding so naturally I forgot how nice it is to have my feet soaked and scrubbed! We had a good laugh when Jamie's massage chair "mysteriously" turned on and started jiggling her. She really pushed the button with her elbow but didn't know she did. It was quite funny. After our pampering we went to the mall and shopped around. Our goal was to find a nursing bra but we only found them in black and I want white. After we were all shopped out at the mall we went to a store in Provo to get me some new undershirts. I was in need of new ones since the ones I had were all stretched out and safety pinned together. By the time we were done with that we had just enough time to run home and warm up our leftover apple crisp we got at lunch before Cameron came home. When Cam got home, we said goodbye to Jamie and headed to dinner. Dinner was absolutely delicious! The bread and salads were fantastic! After dinner we went to the Symphony. I loved watching this conductor because of his floppy hair. He'd get so into the music that his hair would flounce around. Also, this piano player was probably the best pianist I'd ever seen and He's only 17! He was also fun to watch because he'd get so close to banging his head on the piano when playing. It was quite entertaining. We had great seats and enjoyed the wonderful music.

After the Symphony we came home to our friend Chelsi who had brought over some brownies she'd made. Yum! It was such a wonderful day! I was so spoiled. I have the best family and friends!