Impending Baby-ness

This child is as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster. I know this because when I was at that legendary loch the first time, the monster eluded me there, even though I knew in my heart that he was real. 

I also took about 500 hundred pictures of a floating stick off shore while I was there. And this was in the time BEFORE digital cameras... So needless to say, paying to develop those masterpieces was well worth it. I should find some and post some for your viewing pleasure one day. But not today.

I am also probably just as water-logged as that poor mythical beast. I am like a modern-day plesiosaur by the end of the day and even regular sandals can't handle these puffer fish that have become my feet.

Regardless, this baby is going to be here soon! And though I have more definitive proof than I had or ever will have of Nessie, AKA an actual human inside me, to show for my belief in that statement, it still does not seem real. I know he HAS to come at some point. But that is still so vague that it's still kind of imaginary to me. 

I would also like to petition for a new time frame of a 4th trimester to be instituted into the pregnancy mantra. Because my 3rd trimester has flown by. No problem at all. Loved it. However, these last 2 weeks of pregnancy are basically taking 3 months in my mind, hence the naming of the 4th trimester. Just so women are prepared mentally to go through this mind-numbing period.

In other useless news, I have started getting the, "You're still here?" questions at work and church and such. Yes I am still here. Though every time that you ask me that, I get slightly closer to answering in the negative or saying that I have had my baby already and that I just love work so much that I chose not to take any time off. Oh and that I am just fat too. Thanks for pointing it out. That would probably go over really well. 

So I guess what this post has shown and hopefully made clear, is that I really have nothing useful to say right now until Tucker gets here. But do prepare yourselves for baby overload once he finally makes his appearance. Just know that I am healthy and so is our son and we couldn't ask for anything more than a happy, healthy baby to come into our lives :)

Until then, au revoir!

Babe's Birthday

So my gorgeous husband had a birthday this last week!

He is now 26 good-looking years old and I cannot get enough of him.

It was quite the week for us in celebrating his birth! We started out by seeing Man of Steel on Monday night for FHE. Soooo good and a million times better than Iron Man 3.

Then Wednesday on his actual birthday I made him some delicous burgers for dinner (his current pregnancy craving) and went and got ice cream at Farr's. It was the perfect relaxing night together.

Then Friday we went to the Salt Lake Temple with a couple young men from our stake to do baptisms and came home to some wonderful pad thai and spent time with the elders serving in our ward.

However, Saturday was the day of the birthday cake. And it was an epic one. I told Ryan I was having breakfast with one of my friends, Amy Salmon and so I snuck out of the house with all my cake supplies, which is not easy when Ryan had decided to do work downstairs on his laptop instead of his office.

Amy and I made a spectacular Batman cake. It was a really good yellow cake with chocolate custard filling and the fondant on top was a site to behold as you can see in the pictures. Then of course we had to have sparklers as the candles and we sang to Ryan once a bunch of our friends came over for some cake and ice cream. I think I got an A+ for planning out a great bday week for him.

So, here's to my amazing and hard working and super studly husband! I would be remiss to go a day without telling you how much you mena to me and how grateful I am to you for all your hard work! I cannot wait til Tucker gets here and he can learn first hand what an amazing man he is blessed to have as his Father.

I have the best husband in the world and I couldn't be happier :) Love you babe!

San Francisco Wedding Weekend!

So my dear brother-in-law got married last weekend to the most amazing woman. We are so happy for them and just love them to pieces.

So the wedding was in San Francisco which meant another fun trip for Ryan and I to go up for it with the family! Let me just say, flying at 35 weeks makes your feet swell. And Tucker hated flying. He would not stop squirming the entire time and I felt bad about it. But the only other alternative would have been to drive about 14 hours to get there.... And that would never happen in this life. So we flew.

And what an adventure the weekend was. I think we had every airline mishap happen that was possible. They all worked out in the end but it was still kinda funny to look back and see all the problems. First my father-in-law missed his flight because he forgot his wallet at home and had to go get it. Then my luggage got lost for a while and I was without clothing or anything for the first day we were there. And we all know how easy it is to share clothing with non-pregnant people when you are almost full-term. Then my sister-in-laws flight got delayed for about 3 hours for no good reason and she made it barely in time for the rehearsal dinner. It was a bit of a fiasco. But in the end everyone got there and Southwest got me my luggage back and gave me a voucher towards another flight :) Thursday night at the hotel was also quite the adventure when we realized that my mother-in-law had forgotten to book another room for that night. So 8 of us slept in one hotel room on a mixture of 2 queen beds, a cot-type bed of unknown size, and 2 air mattresses (one of which wouldn't hold air and my nephew was not happy). It was definitely an interesting and fun night to be all crammed together.

Our first night there we had a great time over at Madeline's (the new sis-in-law) house and had some bbq and got to meet a lot of her extended family. Then Evan took Ryan and I to a great lookout point over San Francisco called Indian Rock. It's really quite beautiful. It was dark though so I didn't get any pictures of that. But you should definitely check it out if you are in the area ever.

Friday was a fun day where we got to go to the stables where the reception was going to be held and got to do some last minute set up and prep work. These stables are just gorgeous. I love them and it really made me miss my horseback riding days. I hope someday I can get back into it.We finished the nametags which were adorable. They were caramel apples and they were wrapped in celophane and then had a parchment scroll on there with the guest's names on them and then a ribbon that signified your dinner order. Super cute. Then we went back to the hotel and got some lunch with Ryan's parents and waited patiently for the airline to deliver my luggage so I could finally get ready and have on clean clothes. It finally came however and we got all ready for the rehearsal dinner.

The rehearsal dinner was at a lovely country club around Walnut Creek and it was a beautiful setup with delicious food. We had a great time meeting with family and friends from both sides and then the toasts and comments were of course emotional.

Afterwards, all the boys went out for the bachelor party. Ryan arranged for a limo to pick them up and they went to an improv show. They had a great time there, Ryan got picked from the audience to give material for them to do skits on. He was so proud. And then they had an adventure when their limo's tire blew out and they had to wait around for a different one to get them. They played harmonicas with homeless men, saw someone get pepper sprayed, you know, the usual. And then they went and got midnight sushi and finally went to bed around 3:30.

Well the next morning we girls had fun getting ready for the wedding. We got to the Oakland Temple and got to enjoy a beautiful and emotional sealing ceremony. It was just a wonderful way to see this couple begin their life together. Then it was time for pictures outside the temple and the usual hunger strikes to set it. Thankfully the pictures didn't go too long and we went and had a fun lunch with everyone before the reception.

Onto the reception. A word to describe it? Gorgeous. It was one of the most elegant and classy weddings I have ever been to. And of course, I didn't take too many pictures so you can't see all the awesomeness of it. But there were beautiful flowers everywhere and candles and lace. Just lovely. They had a cocktail hour with delicious lemonades and food trays. Then we had dinner with filet mignon and salmon. Then dancing and toasts and a wonderful hot chocolate bar with different desserts and wedding cake. Needless to say I think Tucker was confused as to what the heck was going on while we were dancing for hours. By the end of the night my poor feet were so swollen and sore that I think they still haven't recovered.

Either way, we were so happy to be there and share in the new couple's day with them. Maddie and Evan were both just so beautiful and we are so excited for them.

Well on our last day in San Fran Ryan and I were some of the only ones left since most eveyrone else had morning flights. So we went around the city with Ryan's aunts and some cousins. It was so fun. We went to Union Square, CHinatown, Little Italy, Lombard Street, and Fisherman's Wharf. It was a lot of walking again but it was worth it. It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun seeing everything and eating some delicious food.

Then it was time to head back home. When we finally landed in SLC it was almost midnight and I don't think I have been that tired in years. But, like I said, it was a weekend that we definitely needed and had a blast with family and friends :)
This is not a comprehensive look at all the photos because I don't have all of them yet. But I might update it again if I can remember to later on. Either way, enjoy!

Might be a tad grainy but you can see how beautiful her dress is! :)

Walking around Walnut Creek

My beautiful siblings-in-law

Yes that is the speed limit at the Oakland Temple.

All the boys with their Mother on the dance floor.

Ryan and his beautiful cousin Rashea

Waiting outside the temple for the newlyweds to come out

I love that they are holding hands :)

Limo ride back to the train to head on home. My feet were way too swollen to walk.

My husband is back and we're having a baby soon

Ryan is back.

No more grumpy posts full of downer metaphors about produce.
I know that this post is only about 2 weeks post his return but still. Better late than never.

My sweet joy of a husband has returned from the Holy Land and it was the best moment to finally be with him again at the airport.

Once I got up to Salt Lake for my conference, I was literally counting minutes until he got home. I HATE being apart from him. Anyways, the first couple days of my conference were long and full so they passed easily enough. But then it was the glorious day of Wednesday which meant he was coming home! He had been texting me from Paris (thank you iPhone) and it was so nice to know he was getting closer by the minute. Well then, it was the last layover in Minneapolis that was the real kicker. I got to have a legit phone call from him without losing signal or internet! Best feeling ever! Well I wanted to head to the airport then. I was done waiting. So I got all dolled up and headed off to the airport and waited.

Torture.

There were 4 or 5 missionaries coming home that day and all their families were there with signs and balloons and petting zoos to welcome home their sons. I was crying when those elders came down the stairs for goodness sake and I have no clue who they are. Then a guy proposed to his gf in front of me and of course I cried then too since I am a basketcase.

And then, the joyour moment when my bearded man from the Middle East came down the stairs :)

It was so wonderful.

I can't give you a better description because there aren't words for that moment. But I think you can imagine. 

Well then it was time to get the baggage and get some food and head back to the conference in Salt Lake. 

Ryan was saddled down with lots of gifts and everything from our friends in Jordan and Egypt. But he, being the most amazing man on the planet, got me the most wonderful gift I could have asked for. He got me a replica mosaic of the Via Dolorosa map from the Church of St. George in Madaba.(http://www.seetheholyland.net/madaba/) if you want more info on that. But it is beautiful. The perfect combination of a map and art. I absolutely love it and I still can't believe that I now have it. I have loved this map for years and now it's part of my home. 

My beautiful new mosaic!! :)

My bearded hubs :)

Anyway, we have cute little baby clothes for Tucker and the cutest little blessing outfit you could imagine. Needless to say we are excited to have our son with us. But I won't post a picture of the outfit since you can all just see it when it is inhabited by my adorable son :)

But we got caught up on everything, shared our stories with each other that Skype wouldn't allow us to tell one another. And just enjoyed being in Salt Lake and hanging out with each other.

We had a lovely dinner and meeting with our friend Mazen from Jordan and it looks like he and Ryan will be going into business with one another in the future. 

We had a great time with Ryan's family who came up for a really fast little trip and got to go to my future sister-in-laws bridal shower. 

We sat by the pool, got tickets for a play next month, got our bikes ready for summer, listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen and Journey and bought a grill. We are officially cool people now. 

Memorial Day was great, we had 4 missionaries over for dinner and grilled up a ton of meat and some pineapple and veggies. 

Enjoy the pictures of the nursery finally!
I still freak out sometimes when I think that I am having a baby soon. I have contractions all the time. Not the painful ones but just the extreme tightening that make my tummy look deformed. Everything is ready for the baby's room. It's kind of just the final countdown now. All I need to do is get a box of wipes and a pack of diapers and he is free to come into the world. Ryan and I are beyond excited for this little man to come. We want him to stay in for as long as he needs but we are definitely excited to meet his sweet little self. 

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we are having a baby soon :)

Little things called lemons

I love lemons. Always have. Always will.

However, these past 2.5 weeks have been one big lemon that I am trying hard to make lemonade from.

It's hard to be positive when half of you is 7000 miles away, you're 7 months pregnant and Skype has decided to come between you and your spouse. And as much as I love my beta fish, he is not very good at doing tricks yet so I can't say he has helped much. Although he is a great glaring partner. We have stare-offs quite regularly that usually end up making me smile. 

In FOUR days Ryan will be boarding a plane back to me. That means I have almost conquered this unbearable mountain. 

But you know what? There have been a lot of positives over the past couple weeks.

Ryan and I have come to appreciate each other in a way we didn't really have to before. Because yes we are one of those couples that NEVER spends time apart. This is our first time being apart for longer than, oh probably, 12 hours. So yes, three weeks and not really being able to talk to each other on a phone for longer than 10 minutes without cursing Skype has been a little difficult for both of us. But once he is back, I know it will all seem like a distant lame memory.

 I realized once again what awesome friends I have. They have reached out to me and taken care of me even when they didn't know just how lonely I was feeling at the time. I had a FANTASTIC baby shower that I just loved beyond belief. Of course it helped that it was Batman themed and Ryan had Mother's Day flowers delivered to me right in the middle of it. Yes I cried. I couldn't help it. I will continue to try posting some of the pictures of it but sadly Blogger has mood swings and doesn't like my phone uploads right now. 

And you know what else? I actually have learned to appreciate my job. My mostly dull job has kept me mostly sane. I am really grateful that I could come here (yes I am writing this at work) for 8 hours a day and now that I have become an expert at keeping myself busy here, I can slide right into that routine after I have eaten a lonely breakfast and usually shed a tear or two on my drive here. 

But most of all, I don't know what I would have done while Ryan was gone if I hadn't had  my little man to keep me occupied and up most of the night. No he is not born yet but man oh man he sure can kick. And he is a night-owl. Definitely takes after his Father and probably Batman. But that's fine with me too because when I am asleep, Ryan is awake and I have been able to email back and forth with him some nights. That makes it great. I love our little bun :)

Anyway, the final hurdle is about to be jumped. I am so glad that I am heading to SLC this weekend to stay there until Ryan gets back. It is my company's huge conference and that will keep me busy until the blessed Wednesday that Ryan finally gets home. There will be much rejoicing 

So I guess you could say that this experience has at least made a large batch of mostly sour but slightly sweet lemonade. 

One that I will promptly pour down the sink once my husband is back :)

While Ryan has been gone...

Well there is nothing like living a lonely life in Provo. So I figured that I should update the blog to assure you all that I have not spiraled down into a land of depression. I am doing just fine and I am just eagerly counting down the days until I am reunited with my bestest friend :)

But on the bright side, Ryan is FINALLY in Jordan and I get to talk to him after a week of one sentence emails and final freak out when Ryan was in Alexandria and the road back to Cairo got blocked because of a protest and I didn't know where he was or if he would make his morning flight to Amman. So yes, after a long and stressful day of waiting and lots of tears, I finally heard from my sweet husband and he let me know that he was all safe and was going to make his flight. I am so ready for these next 2 weeks to be over. I love my husband and I am so over him being  gone. But at least I can Skype with him every day and hear his sultry voice and Heaven knows how much I love hearing Arabic so it just makes my days worth waking up for. Ryan is busy spending his days working over in Amman right now. He is gearing up for interns to start arriving this weekend and, thankfully, next week is his last full week there. Then it's just a couple random days and then his flight back here to Utah! If you couldn't tell, I am quite excited about that last part. I am so ready for him to be home! 

 I think we have officially decided that next summer, after I quit working, we will just head over to Jordan for a couple months before Ryan starts his PhD somewhere. We need one last family outing before that to get Ryan geared up for another degree program :) I love having such a smarty pants for a husband. 

Speaking of smarty pants in the family, I have found another way to ensure that Tucker will be a brilliant astrophysicist. I have found a baby swing that has a built in star show and it will be the first of many steps to lead him down that path of awesomeness. I know its weird, but I always have loved astrophysics and I dearly want one of my children to work in that field since I didn't. So there you have it. I am going to be an overbearing, but awesome, mom. 

With that said, I have been working hard getting the baby's room all ready to go. It is 95% done now! I have his bed all put together, clothes organized and put away and the dresser top is covered in all things baby. I also made a cute little name to hang on the wall. All we have left to get are our glider and diaper bag and some diapering supplies. Hopefully this next week the rest of these things should be delivered! I would post some pictures of it but sadly I am not going to do that until Ryan gets home because he has said he wants to be surprised with it all. So just hold out another 12 days people and you can see my son's room in all its glory. 

I have also been so blessed by so many amazing people in our ward. Ever since Sunday when they all found out that I was home by myself they have taken the time to reach out and invite me over for dinner, to hang out, brought over goodies and treats and just all around been amazing to me. I really am so thankful for them because it makes me feel like I am not really all that alone. It's pretty great.

In other words, today has been a pretty good day :)

A World Apart

I dropped off Ryan at the airport. I cried. He cried. I'm sure Tucker cried.

Worst feeling ever.

Now it's snowing for some unknown reason here in the Salt Lake Valley and I am bummed out beyond belief. But it is very appropriate for how I am feeling today. 

Ryan lands in Cairo in about an hour so hopefully we can Skype or something. But I sure do wish I was with him. I woke up at 3 am this morning and realized that's when he was landing in Paris. So I sent him an email and low and behold right after that I got a very much desired text message (thank you iPhone messaging) and I got to text him for about 20 minutes before he had to get settled into his next flight. 

Well I have no idea how to describe how much I miss my husband right now. But I sure am hoping that these next few weeks go by quickly. I am so ready for May 22nd. It will be the most glorious day ever.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to putting my stroller together tonight and going to the gym. 

As you can tell, my life is so exciting while Ryan is gone. Feel free to join in.

Alright sorry for the downer post. I promise I won't be like this all month (hopefully).