Update

Well, I haven't written in a while because I'm afraid that my life is just plain boring. However, I figured, boring or not, I should update you all on what I've been up to.

Most importantly, the baby has not come yet. He is due in 3 weeks, and for some reason I am getting the feeling that he will come sooner than that. Maybe it is just all the excitement building up. As excited as I am about meeting my new little one, I used to absolutely dread the idea of giving birth. You see, I am a pretty big wuss when it comes to things like pain...and needles. Lately, however, I am not nervous at all. The only thing that worries me is something going wrong. Other than that I feel no fear or dread, just pure excitement! I figured that towards the end of my pregnancy I would be OK with the idea of giving birth simply because I would want this baby out of me, but that is not the case at all. Sure I am uncomfortable at times, but for the most part I feel great! I think I don't dread the idea of giving birth anymore because I am overcome with the excitement of finally getting to hold my little boy, and I am ready to do whatever I have to so that I can finally hold him! And, strangely enough, I am somewhat excited to go through the whole experience. I don't know why, perhaps just out of curiosity. I might be singing a different tune when the contractions come though...we'll see.

One thing has definitely changed since my last post. I have "dropped". I think I noticed it the day it happened (about a week ago). I can breathe again and I am no longer getting kicked in the ribs! My belly is very noticeably different. Curtis can even tell that there is a big difference, which is saying something because he is not the most observant kid sometimes. It is strange because my belly seems smaller, like I have gone backwards in time. I don't feel as big, and I don't look as big (notice I said "as big"...I am still huge). I have a bit more pressure on my hips...but it is not too bad. This is really exciting for me because it is just proof that the baby really is coming! I had to immediately look up what exactly "dropping" meant in terms of how much longer until the baby comes, and the general conclusion I came to was about 2-4 weeks for first timers. I noticed that I dropped when I was exactly 36 weeks...so that seems about right.

Curtis and I are starting to make arrangements for when the baby comes. I am planning on packing our hospital bag today, and I have the phone number to his work and the protocol for how to get ahold of him on a post-it note by the phone. Curtis carpools to work, so we are not quite sure what to do about that. It would be pretty inconvenient for the baby to come while Curtis is at work with no car. I suppose he should start driving himself, but we save so much money on gas while he is carpooling. Perhaps in a week or two he will have to drive himself. Hopefully though the baby will be nice and choose to come when Curtis is home.

In the meantime while waiting for baby I have been reading a lot and Curtis and I signed up for Netflix. We have only had the subscription for 2 weeks and we have already rented 6 DVDs and returned them. Of the 6 DVDs 4 of them were for me, I am watching "House" starting with season 1! We also rented The Prestige, which Curtis and I loved, and Flyboys, which was mildly entertaining. I finished all of my "pregnancy" books (which is good on account of I am not going to be pregnant much longer), and a couple of my "what to do with a new baby" books. I am about to start "What to Expect the First Year" but I think that one will take a while. I also have been reading Harlan Coben's "Myron Bolitar Series" which Alli lent to me. I finished the last one that I borrowed from her and had to run to the library to get more! The library is so close to our house, I have a feeling that I will be making plenty of trips there. Curtis and I are also reading Harry Potter, and we are getting close to finishing the 5th book.

These past few weeks Curtis has been on the midnight shift. At first I thought this shift was great! The plan was to go to sleep soon after he left at 11:00 pm, and wake up when he got home around 9:30 am. However, I found myself staying up reading until the wee hours of the morning (about 3 or 4 am) and then sleeping in until about noon or 1:00. I am not a fan of this because by the time I get up and get going, most of the day has passed me by. As time went on I started staying up later and later and found that I wasn't going to bed until after the sun came up! So this week I figured that I ought to change my sleeping habits. Fortunately, I had not yet gone to the library to pick up the next Harlan Coben book, so I had nothing to read at night. I forced myself to go to sleep around midnight last night and wake up at 8am. It is now 1:00 and I have accomplished so much! Curtis, however, just went to bed around noon, so I probably won't see him until about 8:00 tonight. I thought that because I would be sleeping while he was at work that I wouldn't be so lonely. But even now, although he is just down the hall sleeping, I miss him like crazy! Unfortunately for him I am weak, and occasionally will go into the bedroom and wake him up so that I can talk to him. For this reason I am pretty sure he is not a fan of the midnight shift.

Curtis has been so good about helping out around the house. He spends most of his day off doing all the scrubbing and deep cleaning that I have given up on trying to do. I feel bad that he does so much while I am sitting around the house all day, but on the days that I decide to try to do all the cleaning myself I end up in all sorts of pain. He never complains though, he is just amazing like that! And I suppose I can make it up to him once I am no longer pregnant.

So that's it. I am just killing time waiting for Nathan to decide he is ready to join the family. I am ready for him whenever he chooses to come. I like the idea of him coming soon because I am so excited to meet him, but I will be just as happy if he decides to hang out for a while and not come until my due date, at least then I will have family and friends here to help out. It is crazy to think that my next post could be the announcement of Nathan's birth...but maybe something exciting will happen before that.

Attention...Attention

I would just like to draw everyone's attention to my pregnancy countdown. Please take time to note that I have LESS THAN 4 WEEKS LEFT! Holy frijoles!

That is all.

Enjoying the Time Leading Up to a New Baby

So Karalee and I were going to get out yesterday. We live only about 15 miles from the infamous Tombstone, Arizona where shootouts at the OK Corral can still be witnessed, but also where you can buy your way into debt with all the trinkets and other tourist trap things they have for sale there. Over the Memorial Day weekend Tombstone is having one of many events they have throughout the year that include the shootout and other activities that center around reenacting the way things were there in the late 19th century.

Well, Karalee and I didn't end up going to Tombstone. I have just finished up a round of working the swing shift, so even though the event didn't start until 10:00am yesterday morning, right now 10:00am would be like 7:00am for most people (I mean, 10:00am is really early, by the way). So the time to get up and go rolled around, and I was too tired.

On top of me being tired, poor Karalee is definitely experiencing much of the difficulties associated with pregnancy. Granted, her experience is undoubtedly not as bad as some mothers' (like some mothers that might be confined to a bed or the hospital at the same time in the pregnancy--and worse) but she still has a lot of trouble sleeping and can never get in a position that is comfortable for very long--be it standing, sitting, walking, or laying down.

Karalee has admitted that at times she forgets she's even pregnant because she feels no adverse affects. However, much of the time she is sore or in pain. Some of the pain is almost as unbearable as it is inexplicable, although lately a lot of the pain and inability to sleep comes from a very active baby that likes to give shots to his mommy's ribs. In fact, Karalee is becoming more and more convinced that there is simply no more room for the baby in her womb and that's why he kicks so much. Sometimes, Karalee's tummy feels like the baby will push his rear end, or leg, or something up against the roof of her womb so hard that parts of Karalee's tummy will feel hard as a rock for a few moments in that place where Nathan is pushing.

So instead of getting out much because if Karalee's going to be uncomfortable she might as well be uncomfortable at home, she and I lounge around the house a lot. We are trying to enjoy each other's company as much as possible before the baby is born and our lives are radically changed forever. To enjoy one another's company we prepare for our primary lessons together, we occasionally go on a walk together, we rest, and we watch TV.

Karalee loved reading Harry Potter so much growing up that she insists that we read the books together. At first she wanted me to read the books on my own. I did read the first three books before we were married, but only finished the fourth book a few months ago. Right now, we're in the middle of reading the fifth book--she wants us to finish that and the sixth in less than a couple of months, because the sixth movie will be out by then and I have to read the books before I watch this movie. The books, particularly starting with the third, are decidedly more entertaining than the first two, which were very much designed for prepubescent readers, especially for being targeted for teenagers and young adults.

I have asked before if Karalee would read my books aloud with me. For now, she doesn't seem terribly thrilled about reading Ann Coulter, History books, or books on the constitution. Maybe she'll come around.

Of a truth, Karalee doesn't have all the time in the world to spend with me since, during the week I am gone for long hours at work. Also though, with no alarm clock to wake up to we usually sleep around nine hours--at least. Really, we're in bed for 9 or 10 hours, but only sleep 7 or 8. We'll wake up to go to the bathroom, the sun will wake us up, or Karalee is just plain old uncomfortable! So when I go to work we usually only have two or three hours together before I leave. Karalee is so kind to spend some of that time fixing a delicious meal for us to eat before I leave.

While I am at work, Karalee spends time looking for coupons of things we need to buy, finds deals for things to buy, communicates with family and friends, cleans what she can (which sometimes makes her back hurt), and watches a little TV. Sometimes she's just plain old miserable and in pain and doesn't feel like doing much. But, for being in her ninth month of pregnancy, she's doing quite well at keeping busy and doing what she can.

Last night, a co-worker of mine took us out. He was very gracious by taking us to a Mexican place to eat, followed by a viewing of the new X-Men movie in theaters (the movie was pretty good, especially for only getting mixed reviews by critics). We invited him to go to Cold Stone with us after the movie, but he declined. However, when people come to visit we usually try and get them to take a picture of us (although my cousin Michael came on Friday to give us some breads but we didn't ask him), so we have something to show our child when he's old enough to appreciate his pregnant mommy. Of course, Karalee is very reluctant to be in any picture (kind of like her mother), but relents out of devotion to her unborn child.

Here is the picture that Karalee "consented" to have of her posted. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!

35 weeks and counting...

I've given up on trying to take a flattering picture...it just aint gonna happen. So here I am, 35 weeks pregnant, as big as a house and still growing! I am now to the point where I am starting to freak out a little bit. "Full term" in 2 weeks? Already? Hopefully Nathan will be patient and stay put for the next 5 weeks...but it is pretty crazy to think that I am quickly approaching the "he could come at anytime" time.

I am starting to wonder whether or not I have everything that I am going to need. Crib? Check! Car seat and stroller? Check! Clothes? Check! Blankets? Check! Diapers and wipes?...working on it...What else?? There are other things that I would like to have, but I am just worried about the necessities right now. What am I forgetting?

Also, I am constantly looking for coupons for diapers, wipes, or anything else baby related. If anyone comes across any that they don't need please send them our way!

Overall I am still feeling pretty good. I get a bit light headed and dizzy at times, have the occassional abdominal pain, and get a bit short of breath at times...but all in all I think I have had a pretty smooth pregnancy up until this point. I feel very lucky! (Hopefully I didn't jinx myself...) Apparently I need to take more walks and eat better. I went from the doctors wondering whether or not I was gaining enough weight over the last 7 1/2 months to gaining well more than the acceptable "1 pound a week"...On hearing the news of my excessive weight gain these past two weeks I drowned my sorrows in chocolate cake...I just don't know where all this extra weight is coming from :)

A Very Important Reason for You to Come Visit Us: We Need a Photographer!

So often Karalee and I believe that nothing in our live is noteworthy--hence our reluctance to post a new blog. But now we have a "reason."

The most exciting thing recently is that Karalee and I spoke in church yesterday. To the astonishment of me, Karalee took up the bulk of our allotted time to speak (Karalee was a bit astonished too)! Karalee was very nervous and undesirous to speak and yet once she started speaking she was on a roll. Of course, she timed her talk the night before to estimate how long it would take to give it. She figured it would take her about 15 minutes to give the talk. She turned out to be correct.

Karalee spoke of the progression of faith, beginning with simply "exercising a particle of faith," (Alma 34) all the way up to having a sure knowledge. She cited her experience at girls camp--so many years ago--in which she took up the challenge given her there to know for herself that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She also cited frequently an emeritus member of the second quorum of the seventy, James O. Mason.

Since Karalee for most of the week alternated between promising she'd be sick on Sunday, making her unable to speak or insisting that if she did speak she would do so for five or six minutes, I weighed her many pronunciations of how her talk would end up. As she constantly spoke of either of the latter happening most frequently and only mentioned once that she thought her talk would last 15 minutes, I prepared as though I would have most or all of the allotted time to speak. So I very much over prepared my talk. I probably had enough content to speak for an hour! My problem then was preparing to speak for a much shorter period of time with all the content I had gathered.

I spoke of Moroni' desire in Ether 12:4 of a better world that we could live in through proper hope and faith. That better world will come in the form of the new millennium, but I postulated that the new millennium coming is dependent not on the wickedness of humankind but on righteousness. As parents-to-be I explained that one of the best ways to usher in the new millennium is to be good parents. I then cited M. Russell Ballard primarily for ways in which we can be a good (or better) parent.

Of course, we got the usual compliments from a few members of the ward, including the bishopric. The counselor in the bishopric that asked us to talk complimented Karalee particularly for not sounding nervous while speaking, even though Karalee admitted to being nervous and I could tell rather easily how nervous she was. Plus, Karalee did a little dance behind the podium throughout her discourse.

Karalee was so nervous, in fact, that when introducing us, mentioning that she was pregnant totally alluded her. I had to mention that we were pregnant, something that one of Karalee's visiting teachers found to be very cute.

So Karalee spoke for about 16 minutes, while I only spoke for 11 minutes. The ward choir also sang Grandpa B. Cecil Gates' song, "The Lord's Prayer." Karalee survived the ordeal of speaking, and I even managed to go to the restroom immediately before I spoke.

In other news, last week I finished up working 10 consecutive days. We'd gone so long without a day off, it felt funny having one. We'd also kind of forgotten what it was like to have a day off. Currently, I work the swing shift, and often the swing shift sees a lot of aliens and drug smugglers making their move north once the sun goes down.

Finally, in the madness of our schedule Karalee and I never manage to get pictures taken of us. She and I lament that we know of no photo containing either of our mothers while they were pregnant with us, and that demonstrably show a pregnant mommy. We don't want the same fate to fall on our children, but the time to take such photos is very slowly (and when I say slowly Karalee means very slowly) coming to a close. I suppose I could take pictures of Karalee by herself, but Karalee seems to prefer to have me in the photo as well. That's where all of you come in: please, don't compromise the future of our child: come to Sierra Vista and be our photographer. Our child, along with us, will be very appreciative.


Only you can replace this photo with one of Karalee and Curtis!

Blimpy

So I have reached the point in my pregnancy where I feel absolutely huge! I was feeling fine a few days ago, enjoying my pregnant belly, then out of nowhere I swear I doubled in size! Now none of my clothes are fitting, I can hardly bend over, and I just feel like a blimp! I was going to post a picture to show you all what I am talking about, but I don't think the camera could fit all of me into one picture...Is it June yet?

The Joys of Pregnancy

Being pregnant has had it's ups and downs, but last night I was reminded of some of the best parts of pregnancy! For the past few weeks I have been very much in need of a pedicure, however, a trip to the nail salon was simply not in the budget. I also can't reach my toes too well with a belly in the way, especially not long enough to paint them. I had resigned to having ugly toenails and wearing socks and shoes every day rather than flip flops (which I definitely prefer in this heat) until I read my friend Gina's blog. Gina had found herself in my exact same predicament, pregnant and on a tight budget with ugly toenails. Fortunately, Gina found a solution to her problem by having her husband give her a well needed pedicure. I decided to follow Gina's example and when Curtis got home last night I asked him to paint my toenails. Much to my surprise Curtis didn't put up much of a fight. If I would have known it was going to be so easy to convince him I would have thrown in needing a foot massage as well...

To make him feel a bit more manly about the task we made sure to turn on a basketball game for him to watch while he painted.

Curtis reminded me again of what a cute and thoughtful husband he was later in the evening. The night before I had had it with trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in without my back killing me. I decided to move out onto the couch where I had something to support my back. Curtis informed me the next day that he was not a fan of this new sleeping arrangement and so he moved all of the furniture around in our room so that the bed would be up next to the wall so I could lean against the wall. It is definitely not the best arrangement of furniture that I have ever seen, in fact I will make sure that visitors don't see our room now, but it was a very thoughtful gesture. (The only problem now is having to climb over Curtis 20 times a night to go to the bathroom.)

Curtis informed me this morning that we can now officially say that the baby is due "next month." Which is an exciting and scary thought. Though pregnancy can be uncomfortable and inconvenient at times, I am lucky to have Curtis around to help me out. He's a keeper!