My Hospital of Choice..

I have not really had anything to blog about in a while, and tonight I really need to keep myself 'busy'. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new job!! The Marcotte family (who owns the counseling center) is so wonderful. Tomorrow afternoon at 12 we will go to the hospital to have an Ultrasound of our little baby fetus and we will find out what flavor of baby we're getting =] !! I am so excited, but at the same time im very scared. I have been feeling my baby move from the outside, Dave has not yet =[ He always feels at the wrong time and my baby doesnt move tons and tons, I dont feel it atleast, the baby moves daily but I thought it would be a lot more than this. Maybe as im further along and the baby gets bigger I will feel it more often, and more strongly! I pee a lot. Its INSANE. Im 19wks today, and I woke up with a HUGE belly this morning!! I am so close to the 3rd trimester its scary! Tomorrow will make this all even more real, if thats possible, but we can start buying stuff and painting =] We have quite a few boy out fits and girl outfits and Im so ready to put one gender of clothing away and buy more of the others. Were starting to buy diapers already, not sure how I feel about that hahaha =] I still dont have much of an appetite, the only things I can eat and I want to eat are peanut butter sandwiches, and turkey/potato chip sandwiches. Everything else makes me throw up, or want to throw up (gross I know, sorry to share that). I can have juice and crackers too with out being sick =]
I preregistered for my hospital stay! I obviously wont be there for a bit longer (Oct 24) but my doctor told me I should do it soon and get it out of the way. It was fun to fill out the questions =] Somehow it made me feel a tiny bit relieved. The hospital im delivering at is Saint Alphonsus Medical Center. My doctor, Dr Bradford is such an amazing woman, she treats me like a friend and I dont know what I would do with out her reassurance that that pain under my tummy are my ligaments stretching out, and her wonderful smile and kind words. She tells me all the time that I need to eat more cause I have only lost weight from my prepregnancy weight (which im sure I have shared before), Im not sure how cause I feel about 3 times as big as I ever have hahaha But im almost excited to gain that first pound, it will help reassure me my baby is growing big and is happy and healthy. I dont want to squeeze out anything larger than 6lbs... But as long as its healthy ill deliver 15lbs =] Im a champ, I know it.
Well when I was choosing a hospital I was having such a hard time choosing between Saint Lukes down town and Saint Alphonsus. I have had friends and family deliver at both and they are both have wonderful maternal centers. Saint Alphonsus was the most expensive but luckily I have awesome insurance ;] Anyway I chose Saint Alphonsus because they have played such a huge part in the life of my wonderful, wonderful husband. A few years ago he was very sick and he stayed in the hospital for a few months. He didnt have a very good chance at life, or being healthy and normal if he did live but, he beat the odds. He fully recovered and is as normal as he would have been if he didnt get sick ;] David is so important to me and they took the best care of him, and I know they will take the best care of me. Thats where I would like to keep all of our hospital stays, at St Als (not that I expect any). Im excited that when im in labor that I can sit in the Jacuzzi, im excited that they give complimentary massages, Im excited that I will be staying in a queen size bed, and in a beautiful room. Maybe (probably) that wont be important to me than, while im screaming in pain and pushing a 7 pound baby out BUT, right now I know there is no better place for us to have our baby, there are no other doctors and nurses that could make me feel as good as these ones do. Im very excited to do this and as ready as any mother to be ever could be =]

Athena stayed with her 'boyfriend' for the last 2 weeks she was in heat and I hope that soon we will get the good news that she has babies in her belly. Dogs also experience morning sickness and im not looking forward to that. I cant wait to feel her babies move around in her tummy though! Im glad we get to go through this together (I know what your thinking.. 'wow its just a dog' but she is my family, we love her!!!)

That is all for now =]
15 hours until we get the big news and get to see our baby again!!

-- Laura :)

A Little Catching Up To Do =]

Ok so the good news is I love my new job!!! Im keeping both jobs since I dont work many hours at Wingers, so that should keep me busy! David got offered a job at Kuna Prison but he doesnt want it so he didnt exactly turn them down he just kind of is waiting to say yes/no!
It would be an alright job but, he would not be able to work it when school starts and he wouldnt be able to continue his internship with Ada Co just cause he wouldnt have time, so since Ada is who he wants to work for we will continue to make things work =] Somehow they do. Every time Dave looks at our bank account balance he is always asking why we have so much money still in our account (since I havent really started getting paid yet, and he is still technical unemployed), I tell him I can spend it if thats what he wants ;] I guess its another huge blessing; we pay our tithing, go to church, study our scriptures, and pray. We do what we are supposed to and the Lord blesses us in return. Yep it totally works that way! AND Dave and I get along better now than we did the week after we got married (and newly weds get along AWESOME), so, thats pretty impressive. Were like old friends, were still getting to know eachother but we know so much about eachother already. He is starting to like this baby idea....I think anyway? I guess there is no choice now so he better huh? ;]
Dave and I finished building our fence like 2 days ago and im so glad cause I was getting tired of Athena trying to sneak away. It was actually a lot of fun to it all together. (I would post pictures but my internet is being super slow at loading stuff right now=[[  )

Last weekend I had my sisters kids and we were all excited for a super fun weekend but, we didnt get to do anything cool (poor kids, I hope im still the cool Aunty). I was pretty 'whatever' about letting them stay up late to watch movies and TV until it was like midnight than I was getting after them to go to sleep (they are 8, 4, and 2?). Than the 2 year old Robbie got really sick the lastnight and he had a fever of 102.8 and I just held him all night long and so when he finally fell asleep I didnt want to crawl in bed and wake him up and since the kids were all in the living room, Dave was in Zachs room, and Athena she has her room, so I layed a pillow down in the hall and took a 'nap' there hahaha It was an expereince!

Anyways thats all the catching up I had to do =]
Hopefully ill remember to get some pictures up soon.
I have eaten a whole bag of tootsie rolls in the last day and a half. FYI.
Only 12 days until our next Ultrasound!!!

-Laura :)

My Life is a Blessing :)

My life is such a blessing. Everything I have is a blessing. Lately things have been extremely stressful around our house, with the baby coming, Dave not working, and it being the end of the school year, and me working only like 8hours a week, ect. Its been bittersweet. But, mostly bitter. Dave has been doing this internship for Ada County Sheriff, and he knows a lot about the department he works for. The only other person that knows as much or more than Dave is his boss. Dave works in the alternative sentencing and they said we are fitting you into next years budget so you will have a paid job with us than (the pay is AMAZING there). So good, thats great right? Yeah well what are we supposed to do until then? Well, we are making it work. I have been applying for EVERY job you can imagine, and it paid off! I got a job at a counseling center in Nampa, I will be working full time, which to them is 30+ hours, I get benefits, AND they already knew I was pregnant before I even interviewed! What a relief that I didn't have to break that news to them! So im so luck that they will work around my schedule! Huge blessing! David was thinking about taking this out of town job that would pay good but he would be gone for a full week at a time and it would be every other week! So thats a lot of goodbyes at the airport that I don't want to say. Anyway back to Ada Co. He applied for a Ada Co. jail guard job that he could do while doing his intern, going to school, and get paid awesome. So today he had to go to a physical fitness test and a written test. I know he smoked the physical and i'm waiting to hear how he did on the written, I know he will do AMAZING on it!!
We have dipped into our bank account more than I would have ever liked to but, knowing we can afford things and pay our bills is a huge blessing. These jobs are even more of a blessing and we have been waiting for them for a long time! Its all in time for the baby too =] Thats all for now. I have really bad insomnia so a nap during the day is the only thing that makes me functional and, its nap time! Yessssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!! I love nap time =]
I cant wait for kabobs tonight! Speaking of which I need to marinade to meat...
Doctors appointment tomorrow! CANT WAIT! Dying to hear my baby's heart beat again!
Only 18 days until we have another ultrasound, and to find out the sex!!


.. :)

Dinner Time....yummmmm

Dave and I are pretty good about not going out to eat but we eat a LOT of precessed foods. So this week were really trying to make stuff from scratch (whether its healthy or not). So we are making only our favorite thins but from scratch instead of boxes. Today I tried a new Alfredo recipe, and made our own garlic bread and stuff and it was pretty good but I made some changes to the recipe cause it was wayy to cheesy ;] Tomorrow I will be at work for dinner so Dave is on his own! Wednesday we are having kabobs (I could eat this EVERYDAY!), the kabobs we make are always really good we use: beef, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and potatoes...yummmmm. Really the only thing we are doing different is....We are making a new marinade for the meat =] Should be delish. Dave and I make home made pizza a lot and its always good, we make it all from scratch and put string cheese in the crust so we can have our own stuffed crust. Yumm. 3/4 of my sisters kids are staying with us all weekend and they love pizza so were going to make that when they are here so they can help me!
I was also going to make some cookies tonight but we were too full after dinner!
The other night we made home made ice cream, cookies and creme flavor! Its always better than from the store! I have a bunch of other new recipes I want to try, We need to branch out more, Im tired of Dave always having me cook the same things over and over. If he could he would eat Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy everyother night and have chinese sweet pork and rice the other nights. I hate making sweet pork! Its so messy and time consuming! If I had it my way I would make corned beef everyday!
Anyway...
I feel happier, healthier and more productive when I make food from scratch. Im excited to try new things, something were working harder on is food storage also...thats a tough one. Ive been doing lots of research on what I should store, ect. =] Ill let you all know how it goes for us =]

Skype Dates..

When Dave and I were dating but apart due to the fact he lived in OKC and I lived in Idaho, we had a lot of Skype dates, it made me feel like a nerd at first but it was so fun and so worth it!! It was not as good as actually being together but it was so much better than a phone call =]
My sister Molly is on a mission in Arcaidia and we got to Skype with her yesterday!! It was so cool! I got to see her face and have a nice conversation and show her my big belly! I even got to meet her companions and have a conversation with them. It was awesome.
I guess Skyping was really the way to talk to missionaries yesterday! Everyone I have talked to said they got to Skype their missionary, rather than using the phone! Technology can really be a blessing!
This really was the best Mothers Day, even though I had to open work and work all morning.. This is my first Mothers Day. I was not sure if it counted for me but I guess it did =] I have a 'Mothers Day Rose Bush' and its starting to bloom =], Dave took me to dinner and the fights over the weekend, and everyone at work was sure to say Happy Mothers Day and they all treated me extra special hahah (The cooks even let me pick the radio station).
Chase, my manager said Happy Mothers Day when I first came through the door and I said 'Thanks it kinda counts' and he was mad I said that, he said, 'NO! It counts! Youre mothering that child inside you right now!!' I thought that was so sweet! Its true! I am!
Another Mothers Day present I got was.... Athena came into heat again! So we get to breed her! and I get to take care of her babies till my baby arrives!!  =] She gives me great practice, She has to wear diapers so I get to change her diaper everytime we go out side, and in the middle of the night. Yesterday I had to make a run to walmart cause her depends we bought her were not fitting right! Thats real life. Time to get used to it =]

ANYWAY.. Im so glad I got to spend Mothers Day with my mom, and (skyping it) with my sister Molly =]] (and my other sisters, and Dad, and husband, and nieces and nephews). It was nothing less than PERFECT!

-Laura

Its a Hard Life..?

I HATE when people complain about how horrible their life is, Im sure I have fallen in this category before but I really try not to. Cause this is just life. These things/trials are here to make us stronger better people. God would not give them to us if he did not think we could handle it.
When Dave and I got married we just had the dream life. Lots and Lots of money, a nice apartment and later buying our own brand new home, nice cars, a beautiful and big expensive dog, We both worked a lot and went to school full time. We never had less than 10k in the bank so that was always reassuring. I had nothing to complain about. Now im not going to school and I cant find a job, I always wanted to go back to school but my credits dont transfer so I dont want to start all over again. Dave is not working, I cant get many hours. It stressful but were still taken care of. We have good vehicles, good friends, good family, money in the bank, and a nice place to live with nice things. We can pay our bills, pay our mortgage, and go on a nice date and still be ok. We have been incredibly blessed. Dave is going to buy me a new car hopefully this week, (if he can find the one he wants) its going to be another new SUV like we had before but this time he wants a new Land Rover instead of the Santa Fe we had last time. Im not complaining ill take what I get and be happy =] This will be the permanent car for the baby (I cant imagine having to put a car seat in anything besides an SUV).
I was always very skinny and tiny and fit, than I got married and we ate our every meal and we were to busy to work out very often and it really got the best of me (dont worry, im still wayy hott), So I have been working out often this whole year (starting in December) and I said I have to be back in fantastic shape before we have any kids. I had time since we were waiting to start a family. Well surprise, surprise =] we're now having a little baby. There were things I wanted to get done before starting a family and I didnt work as hard as I could have on them or even start some things I wanted cause I 'had time'.
I have some ink, yes this is a surprise to some but, i was rebellious before dave stepped in to the picture. Anyway, I have some ink on my hip area (this is what im concerned with), and I thought that I would have enough time to get that ink on my hip area 'taken care of' before a baby, obviously I cant and now when I have my baby everyone and their dog will see it, and im not thrilled about that. But this makes me who I am.
Taylor Swift one of the most beautiful and real celebrities EVER, wrote this beautiful song called Innocent and it is simply. AMAZING. In it she says:
it's all right, just wait and see
Your string of lights are still bright to me
Oh, who you are is not where you've been
You're still an innocent

 This is sooo true, everything I did in my past is exactly that. My past. It has made me who I am, even if im a huge brat sometimes or all the time I still know im a good person, I do what im supposed to, im a wife, a soon to be mommy, a homemaker, and hard worker. I know how to weed the lawn and take care of it, dust, sanitize, and carpet clean, and do the laundry and put it away. I love my family and my friends, and most of all I love Dave and taking care of him. I love when he asks me to help him with homework (which is not often), I love when he asks me to rub his back, and make him a snack. I love when he asks me to hold the flashlight while he works on the cars or to keep him company =] I hate when he asks for me to quit talking so he can work on his homework though... haha I always have soooo much to say to him. I love to bug him. 

Dave loves me even though im not perfect, and even though I have made endless mistakes in my lifetime. He loves all my imperfections and scars from piercings and ink, well maybe he doesnt love those scars or the ink BUT he accepts it. He is fantasic and sacrifices sooo much for me. I couldn't ask for anyone better to start a family with =] 

Royal Weddings

Everyone has been so mad about this royal wedding that took place the other day. Everyone was moaning and groaning cause they have been talking about it in the paper, magazines, and on the news. I dont mind it at all, and I have not once.
This is really important to the people in the UK. Its history in the making. Its beautiful. I dont care if they play in on the news, they always talk about whats going on in our country and our wars, ect. before they talk about this wedding. I really enjoyed watching the news the other morning (ok a couple weeks ago) when they were talking about sketches designers had made for Kate (Catherin) to look at and choose from for a wedding dress. They were so beautiful! She could not have picked a more AMAZING dress though. It was so simple, yet fancy. It was not bling blingy. It was perfect. She looked so amazing. I really know she married William for love and not fame or money. Marriage is such a complicated and beautiful thing. Its the craziest and best commitment I have ever made. I was 18 when Dave and I got married and we were only engaged for 3 months and before our engagement we only dated for about 3 months (most of that time Dave was away in OKC). Our wedding was beautiful it was how I wanted it (I didnt want a lot after a while, I just wanted to be married).
I want to renew our vows sometimes between 5-10 years (when we're still in our prime and young) I want to spend a LOT of money on everything and buy another dress. I want to put a lot more effort into it. I want everything done for us and everything to be ridiculous. I want our kids to be able to be there, I want it out side in the sun and maybe by the ocean! There is so much to think about.
Anyway, Marriage is so beautiful. I love weddings. I love seeing brides and grooms. Marriage is so sacred. Dave and I had a civil wedding and before this bundle of joy gets here we are going to the temple. We could go tomorrow, or today, anytime really. But, we feel that its not our time yet. I know some people probably think "if you can go than go!!" But whats the point if your spirit and relationship is not ready? You wont get the beautiful experience and knowledge its giving out. I cant wait to go, Well I can, Im just very excited. Dave is my husband, he makes me proud and takes care of me. He's amazing =] I LOVE HIM.

Originally I wrote this post and thought I had saved it so I closed the screen and when I came to reopen it I saw that nothing was saved. So this post was so much longer and had so much more detail and length. But I hope all the same I have shared my message =]]