Week 13

So I know I don't look like it in the picture, but I feel like a balloon!!! I'm currently 13 weeks pregnant and according to parenthood.com  my baby is "About the size of a peach, your baby's body starts to catch up to the head. Eyes, which start out on the side of the face, move toward the center and the ears move toward the side of the head. The genitalia is developed enough to easily tell whether you have a boy or girl."

 Yesterday we went to another OB appointment and got to hear the baby's heart beat (150-147). My OB said that if he had to guess the gender based off of the heartbeat, he'd say it's a girl. So adding that to the list of people who have told us we're having a girl it now totals 5 (not counting all the random people from work who tell me it's a girl because of this that and the other that doesn't even make sense to me). 

So, since I won't be able to find out for sure until Feb, Matt and I still betting on it being a girl. But only the ultrasound in Feb will tell!! 

Other then that this month has gone by so fast for us! For me just because I 'm finally over the morning sickness (YAY!!!!!!!!)!! Matt because of school and work that just keep coming and coming. So far he's doing good in his classes, a little frustrated with one due to confusion between the teacher and the bookstore, but that should hopefully end soon. (The first day of class the teacher asked if anyone had their text books and they all said no... that it wasn't on the book list, and there were none in the bookstore. Long story short Matt ordered his online that day so he wouldn't have to buy a new one and is now trying to figure out how to do the homework with no book to reference. Hopefully he'll be able to make it to some of the office hours and get some help!!)

Other then that I've just been working on getting the nursery cleaned out and set up, and getting what few things we can get without knowing the gender, ie dresser, changing pad, sheets, bath tub and a few other odds and ends. I've been doing a lot of research and comparing on the expensive baby items so that I don't over pay and so that I can spread out the big expenses as much as possible. So far I've been able to save quite a bit by getting most of the furniture from Ikea and being given the crib from my wonderful Mom! So far the hardest part about planning the nursery is trying to make everything fit and still having the storage space that we need. Thankfully Matt was able to clean out the storage space above the downstairs door and we were able to store quite a bit of it up there, and out in the garage (which looks so much bigger now that most of his equipment is stored in the trailer). Matt has been a huge help with the cleaning part (even if he doesn't really think so)!! 

Let's see other then that I've just been trying to  keep busy and on top of housework and studying (granted I'm getting to the point where even opening that book is putting me to sleep.... ugh...)

But that's about all for now!! 

~Melanie 

September Days and Nights...

       Since Matt has been home life has been wonderful! It's been busy, had it's up and downs with Matt's stress level and being so out of control busy with school. But all in all I've loved having home to talk to and to be able to have my cuddle time again. While Matt was gone I didn't really think that I missed/needed it as much as I let my self think. Since I've had that again I found a new level of happy that I wasn't expecting to find when he came home. It's been so nice to have that again!!!
     
       Shortly after having the love of my life come home I was able to walk for my graduation from nursing school. I didn't think walking would be that exciting, but when the time came it was amazing!! I was able to show my wonderful family that I can do this and that I will fulfill my dream of being a nurse! I've only wanted this since I was 5 so ya know, it's about time that it finally happens right?? Now I just have to make sure I don't let my fear of failing cripple me when it comes to taking the test.

       Let's see other then that life has been pretty normal. Matt spends most of his days either at school or doing homework. And I spend my days working on Christmas Presents, housework, and studying for the NCLEX-RN. With it being a $300 test to take I want to make sure that I'm completely ready, but at the same time I feel like I'm letting my fear of failing take control. So I've decided that I'm never going to feel completely ready and I'm giving myself until October 31st to take the test. So what that means is that I've got to start cracking the books harder then ever. Hopefully it'll pay off...  (and now that I've just written that I'm starting to doubt myself, so it's time to get off the computer and start studying!!)

Since He's Been Home...

       This past week has been a busy one for us. I picked Matt up on Wednesday and dropped him off at school. And life has been amazing/crazy ever since. Because he had already missed two days of classes he was determined not to miss any more. I was expecting him to come home and sleep for a little while, but he had other ideas. So to school he went. I picked him up after his class got him some lunch then took him back to school. Thrusday was about the same, except we made a run down to  Matt's Unit in  Spanish Fork, where he almost wasn't going to be able to come to my graduation. But thankfully, because he was the Distinguished Honor Grad (Highest of all of the classes) He was able to put off reporting until Oct (Whew...). We also found out that Fort Sill didn't send Matt home with all the papers that he needed to report. So We've been trying to track all of those down and get everything all squared away and done. Hopefully sooner rather then later...Friday he went to classes as normal and then I kidnapped him for the weekend.

       We went up to Park City and had a mini getaway before both of us had to start getting back to reality. We stayed up at Waldorf Astoria and had a blast. It's such a nice hotel, they had free valet parking, chocolates (like real chocolate) on our pillows each night, a heated pool, and tons to do around it. We went up to Park City Mountain Resort and spent Saturday just playing up there (so much fun!!) We both got a little bit burned but not too bad. While we were there I got a job offer working were I used to up in Eagle Mtn managing a shipping place I worked at during high school. We really weren't expecting it but it was a really good surprise for us both!

       Sunday we walked around Park City Main Street saw some interesting things, walked around the open air markets and just enjoyed being outside talking and walking around. When we had seen all that we wished to see we jumped in the car and headed home. unpacking everything and putting Matt's pile of Military stuff away and getting it off of the living room floor (seriously didn't think that they sent him home with that much stuff until I saw it all over my floor)... Once that was done Matt started doing things that he needed to get done so he would be ready for school on Tuesday and I worked on cleaning up more of the house.  That night we went over to see Matt's parents, got some amazing raisin cinnamon rolls, visited with them and pick up Bray'Tac.

      Basically the moral of this post is that MATT'S HOME AND I'M LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     Anyways, time for me to start cleaning again...

~Melanie

Preceptor down, 5 tests and 3 clinicals left

       Well this week has been exciting, I finally finished all my preceptor shifts up at Alta View hospital. I was surprised by the mixed feelings. I don't miss the drive but I do miss all the nurses. It was so much fun to be up there. At times it was hard and I just wanted to quit and be done, but now that it's over I miss it. I was told by 5 of the nurses up there to talk to the nurse manager to see about getting a job there when I finish with school. And honestly I would love it. because then I would actually be getting paid for my work and I'd be able to keep working with all the amazing nurses up there. My preceptor was awesome and all the nurses were willing to let me do anything I could to help and learn. It was so nice to see that the nurses there were all willing to teach. Some of the clinicals I've been on before this semester have been retarded. because the nurses were so frustrated for what ever reason that there were even students there that I hated going to them. I hope that if I ever get the chance to work with students that I will be like the nurses at Alta view and be willing to teach and  help anyway that I can.

       But now that that is all done all I have left is 5 tests (two of them finals) and 3 clinicals left at the state hospital. Personally I would be just fine skipping all of those and just moving forward and trying to get everything together to take the NCLEX-RN, but without those I'm not eligible so I'll just do it and get it over with. :)

      As far as Matt goes, he's doing great! He's teaching the other cadets how to do the homework and tutoring them in everything as well. Because of that he did really good on his pre-test yesterday and he got 97% on his test today. He said that he should've gotten 100% but he made two stupid mistakes and he's upset about it. But he's doing really good. Oh and his fever is finally gone!!! YAY!!!! (Can I just tell you how much I hate not being able to take care of my husband when he's sick?? Drives me freaking crazy!!) But he's doing great now so that's all that matters! His knees are finally doing better now, so depending on how his PT went this morning I might be getting a similar pair of orthodics, granted it wouldn't be for a while but hey as long as it works and it's cheaper then the alternatives I'm all for it.

       But it's back to the homework for me so I'll write again later (probably after finals...)

Little update and questions!

       Matt and I are currently attending a Married-Student ward (BYU 139th) and we both enjoy it...for the most part. Matt likes it and is really enjoying it. I however lost a lot of my social-butterfly-ness in the last two years (slightly depressing). So any idea how to get a little of it back? I've thought about going to talk to the Relief Society president and asking her if I could be put in charge of some type of enrichment night thing (like teach basic sewing/knitting or something) so that I would be forced to talk/interact with the ladies in my ward...but I'm not really sure how that would go over with her (don't want to step on toes and whatnot...)

       Umm lets see what else is new... so far nothing really. Matt's still working on the panels for the Space Center. Last night when we were talking about them he found out that he needs to drill some more holes in order to mount it. So he's going to be getting that done sometime in the near future, and once that's done, we are going to be building the panels together. He has two that are exactly the same, just mirror-images of each other, so I'll do one and he'll do one. Mostly just to give me an excuse to spend time with him, but also to help lighten out his load. I'm also going to be building the boxes they will be mounted to as well as a drawer/hidden panel for the Galileo. Hopefully I can get it to work/look how I'm picturing it...but we'll see!

       OH! PS. Don't EVER stain outside in the sunlight. BAD BAD BAD idea. I, for some reason unknown to me, did this and now I get the lovely chance to sand the entire thing down and re-stain. Thankfully I only stained one of the pieces of furniture and not both. But if nothing else, it'll give me some more to do while Matt's doing all his homework/work. :)

       We finally figured out most of the Christmas presents for this year, and yes I'm making all but one of the ones that we've decided on right now...now we just need to figure out what to get for our nephews...currently I'm starting to think that a card with money sounds good... or else a gift card to somewhere... any ideas? They are 15 (?) and 9 (?).

Thanks!!

Life

Hey everyone!

       Life is still just going like normal for us! Matt is always busy with work and school. He just started a new project for the Space Center. He's going to be making the Panels of the new Galileo. I'm excited to see them when they are done! He does amazing work on them! Other than that there's really nothing new for him.

       I have this week off at school so I'm going to be working on some things around the house that I really want done. Like staining our furniture, touch up painting, finishing the drawers/doors in the hallway and finishing up all the Christmas presents for the Long side of the family. And of course, homework in between all that. I'm actually glad that I don't have class this week so that I can get ahead on my homework and get all the little things done around the house. :)
Oh! Question for everyone...I'm running out of ideas for dinners this week, currently all I can think to make I've made in the last two weeks or else it just doesn't sound good... I'm thinking about doing Haystacks for one of the nights but I'm not really sure of what else to do. Any ideas?
Thanks!!