Ultrasound

Well, as many of you, if not all of you know we had our ultrasound on Tuesday. And...we are having a little baby girl! I am happy and somewhat relieved to announce that I am, in fact, not giving birth to the devil as previously suggested by a member of my immediate family...who will remain nameless. (shhh, I have been a little "moody" lately) My mom, sister, and grandma came with Dan and I to the ultrasound. It was a full crew - very fun! Well, not so much fun for me until the end. I misunderstood the ultrasound tech (who really was one of the sweetest ladies) and thought there was a problem and was incredibly worried/stressed the whole time. I don't know why I didn't ask for clarification until the end, but I was just trying to process the whole thing - which turned out to be unnecessary. However, so far everything with her is going well - and we are very thankful for that, she is actually developing right on schedule. She was on Tuesday exactly 21 weeks and 0 days developed and that is exactly how far along I am - or was on Tuesday. The ultrasound tech did a quick 3-D picture of her little face for me (I think because she felt so bad for the misunderstanding - although I was, somehow, the ONLY one in the room who misunderstood) and to actually see her was a very surreal thing. It still has yet to really sink in that in a short time I will be a mother...oh my goodness!! So right after the appointment the girls and I went to the fabric store to pick out some cute material for some receiving blankets. I am hoping to not procrastinate preparing this little girl's nursery, so I...I mean WE need to pick out colors and get on the ball!

Calling all Moms!

Who has used or has friends that have used cloth diapers? I am trying to convince Dan of the cost savings...I think he is almost there. Also I would love any suggestions on brands, types, etc. Jumping the gun maybe, but it is a much bigger upfront cost than disposables :) Any and all suggestions are welcome, would love the comments most if there aren't calling me crazy!

I love DAN!!

Nothing is better than a husband who will run to the store first thing in the morning when it is freezing cold outside to get milk for your cereal and then goes down stairs to play guitar hero and sings along while he is jamming....Yes, honey you DO rock! Today is going to be a good day!!

Heart Beat

So yesterday we had an OB appointment. This was our second one. Dan came, I told him I think husbands are supposed to go, right? Anyway, we got to listen to the heartbeat. It took what seemed like a few minutes to find it, although I am sure it was less than 30 seconds...my midwife said, "don't worry, the baby is really small so sometimes they are hard to find." Well hurry up, please! She found it and our baby's heart is beating within the normal range of 120-160 :) She did tell us what it was exactly but I can't remember...does that make me a bad mom? I had a couple ladies ask me what the heart rate was and I felt guilty that I could only say, somewhere between 120 and 160. Still feels a little surreal, out of body, are WE really having a baby? I've had a couple pretty good days - sickness wise, just sick at night which is a good thing! Definitely looking forward to a better 2nd trimester when I actually re-start some sort of exercising! p.s NYC Marathon is this Sunday, and I secretly...or not so secretly couldn't be happier that I am not running! Good luck to my gymnastics amiga Sarah G, run like the wind!!

This is what I have been doing

So I realize I haven't blogged in a while. I've been busy...busy with "morning" sickness and keeping secrets/lying. It's been a long couple months, but now I don't have to keep the secrets or lie any longer! Let me correct some of my responses and answer some of the most commonly asked questions.

No, I don't have a weird strain of the flu that lasts an abnormally long time. I DO know what's wrong and I'm not feeling better. My training is not going well. The 13 miles I ran last week wasn't hard...because I didn't do it! And although my midwife said I could run the marathon, I think I will just defer until next year.

I am just over 12 weeks along. I am experiencing morning sickness, it hits the worst in the evening. Baby Ricks' is due date is May 4th, but we are holding out for a cinco de mayo baby. We are going to find out the sex. We don't have names picked out, in fact that part really stresses me out, so I'm not even thinking about it yet. We don't have a preference for a girl or a boy-honestly, and I have no motherly instinct as to which it may be - although the Chinese calendar and my friend Roxana from work (who did a quick examination of my hand) both say it's a boy. I do have cravings...but only for a Sonic Limeade. And yes...my Mom is excited!!!

Andy's Birthday

My little brother turned 22 in August. This is our family's classic party shot, around the kitchen table. My other brother Ty was in town (well in Pueblo - - for IFS training before he goes to pilot training) with his wife Makamae, and Dan's parents were visiting from Rexburg. The cute girl next to Andy is his girlfriend April. We love April, she is lovely girl!

I don't know what was up with my camera, makes the pictures look yellow. This is another one of Andy and April.

This is another of our family's classic photo shots...the stair shot. I think this is one of the funniest pictures ever! April brought her dog Jax then with my parent's dog Maizey and Andy's/my parent's dog Sage and our little Brindi, pretty impressive we could get them to stay put long enough to snap a few pictures. My favorite is Jax...you can barely see is head, I just imagine what he was thinking...WHY are we doing this? Anyway, Happy Birthday Andy! I am pretty sure I still owe you a present...maybe a pair of new shoes...since those soles are finished!

2nd annual

Welcome to Dan's parents to Colorado Springs again for the 2nd annual trip! See how cute Dan's dimple is :) After we picked them up from DIA we headed over to Boulder and ate at Chipotle - Blaine and Rita's first trip there!

We ate mexican food twice that day...Amanda's Fonda in Manitou Springs for dinner. It's the best! Seriously, if you come visit us, we will take you there! In the picture with Blaine and Rita are Dan's aunt Cheryl and cousin Scott who just got back from his year long tour in Iraq.

We took Brindi with us on a hike. We hiked the Palmer Trail, it is one of our favorites! If you come visit us we will take you there too :)

Blaine and Rita are so adventurous!

Giving Brindi a drink of water. She is such a good dog and she loves hiking! Good, because we are going to do a lot of it over the next years!

Looking forward to next year!!