Confessions of an anxious momma-to-be…

I'm back in Utah today after a couple of fantastic weeks at home.  It was harder leaving my mom and dad and my home this time than when we moved abroad...I think it's because I know the next time I see them I'll no longer be just their daughter...I'll be another girl's mother.  Which I am scared to death of and elated over all at the same time.  But, I'm pretty sure that we've been blessed as women to "know" how to do these mothering type things...and hopefully we adapt and learn as we go.  I just hope the learning curve isn't too steep…and the L & D pain isn’t too bad. ;)

Another reason could be that I'm also leaving my obstetrician, who I  really like.  With my medical background from school, you would think that I would have no problem with any doctor.  The years of work they have to do to get where they are should mean trust in a bottle (well, in most cases)...and usually it does.  Not so this time. With my own doctors it's just about me and my body. This is my baby.  And I've felt this whole new surge of needing to REALLY like and trust this doc.  

Plus, a big reason is that we're still in the middle of an international move.  We've been trying to close on this house we found in Vernal for what seems like forever.  But between the finickiness of FHA, the ever growing list of rules HUD applies and our unique work and living history...we're still without a place to live and only 6 1/2 weeks until our little girl is due.  But we're moving to our new town, Vernal, UT, on Tuesday after Jordan's brother's wedding...soooo, we're crossing every finger and toe we have that it will close next week.  Because we all know that babies don't care about the bank or the government's timetable...she'll come regardless!  Before I had ambitions of an organized and decorated house before she got here.  Now I just want a clean place to set up her pack n' play. :)

However, there are lots of wonderful things to not be nervous about...like how I scheduled our appointment with who Google says is the best baby doc in the area and their office had no problem fitting me right in…or how I received this package in the mail from J’s work, thinking it was a piece of equipment for J, to find out later that it was a care package from Pason.  They wanted to “thank me for my support during Jordan’s training.” Jaw drop.

 

I think the Air Force Wives' Clubs of a couple of decades ago were the only people I’ve heard of doing something like that…and this is just the company! With that little wonder and how they’ve treated us so far, it reassures me that this company treats their employees well.  I am so grateful our work decision is turning out…another reason is how I bought a virtually new pack n’ play at a garage sale for $25 and later found the same one at Target for upwards of 180 big ones (love me some bargains) and how the little miss will be in it right by us soon…another great one is how I get to see this big guy change outfits monthly in our new town’s main drag. This let’s me know that the Vernalites have a sense of humor and might accept our kind of crazy.

(Oh yes, that’s Dan the Dino in his fishing outfit to welcome summer.)

…and most importantly, how I finally get to be with my husband for more than once a month visits.  I am SUPER happy about that one.  Although, J may be surprised at how poorly baby cakes and I share the bed now…haha.

So, there you have it.  What makes me pretty nervous and what makes me pretty happy.  I’m sure it will all work out….but sometimes I need to simply feel a little justified in my insanity and know I’m not losing it!

Faja’s Day!!!

I’ve been feeling so blessed to have such a great Dad this Father’s day…

(I love this picture for capturing what kind of a Father my Dad is)

…and getting pretty excited to see Jordan as a Daddy in 8 more weeks. :)

I just KNOW he will be a wonderful one!

Happy Father’s Day week, everyone!

xoxo, MJ

Life is Cherry

This last week I got to go see J in Price, UT.  He’s out there training right now for his new job.  He’s working for Pason, a company that supplies and manages all of the computer systems, sensors and alerts for oil rigs.  Jordan seems to really like it and we’re so thankful that after deciding to come home from China, everything is working out well.  We are grateful the Lord has truly been watching out for our little growing family.

So, after not seeing J for another month, we were excited to spend this week together!  I also got to see his new truck, which I must say…he looks pretty spicey in. :)  It’s been fun to go on dates with the hubs and check out what such a tiny town has to offer…we even got into the infamous archeology and paleontology museum for fee, which is always nice.

Now we’re in Hurricane, enjoying family and taking care of some business.  Part of this morning’s business was all about unloading one of J’s houses of these beauties.

  

There are two trees there.  One has dark red bing ones and the other has some sort of yellowy-pinkish ones.  Not sure what those are called, but they are all sooooo sweet…

J got the high ones, and I got the low ones.  And I’m pretty sure we had at least 1/2 a bucket each while we were picking.

**Note to self…do not pick cherries in a white shirt, especially when your belly is protruding…it will be sacrificed to lovely red juices.**

We realized that it’s been two years this week since we first met each other on a blind date (thanks susie and gena!)  and life together is pretty cherry.

Yo Queiro Hablar Espanol….

Once upon a time a girl named MJ had way too many classes she wanted to take in her 9+ period day in high school. (Early morning seminary+zero period+7 normal periods+after school practice). There just wasn’t enough day time for her councilor to cram in a stinky old, mandatory Spanish class.  To give you an idea of how Spanish class rolled in her CA high school, she basically brought empanadas to class for a final, translated a few phrases from a popular Shakira song and learned how to say “my name is Mirrrrrrranda” in Spanish with the worst gringa accent ever (couldn’t roll her r’s-just kind of made a spitting sound)…and earned herself and “A.”

So, solution for the next year’s problem…why not take Spanish class as a home study course? It was that or give up a fun class. Considering the year’s worth of ease before, “how hard could it be?” she thought.  A WHOLE. LOT. HARDER.   It was then that she earned her first horrible grade and swore off learning languages forever...why would she need them in the USA anyways, riggghht?!  She even took an American Sign Language class in college to fulfill  language requirements as it had been rumored that being a part of the happy hands club was reminiscent of her Freshman Spanish class.

Then, this girl went on a blind date with a Latin American Studies major who swept her off her feet, married her and took her to live in Brazil and China.   Yup, Portuguese and Chinese baby.  She ended up falling in love with Portuguese, only to be moved to China where Chinese made her remember her disdain for the difficulties of language barriers.

Now this girl is back and realizes that Portuguese will never be very useful in the States and that she would never be fluent in Chinese even if she lived in Beijing her whole life.   Besides, she’s realized how much there is to love south of the border and wants to go back with J one day. Sooooo, she’s back to giving Spanish a try…and guess how she’s doing it for now?  Online/Home Study, of course.

Let’s just say that I hope this experience will be more fruitful than my estúpido high school one.

Domestic Desires

So, there are certain “wife/mom-type” things that I’ve pretty much stunk at, like  cooking, sewing, and most things remotely domestic.  It used to sort of bother me that I didn’t have domestic “skills” (does anybody else instantly think of bow-staff skills when they hear this word? Thanks, Napoleon.) most think are necessary, but I’ve slowly come to the following conclusions over the last year:

• I don’t have to be good or even know how to do everything in this vague category.  If it doesn’t come with time, it won’t come at all so I just shouldn’t worry about it.
• If I were good at cooking, I. would. be. HUGE…So, I should really count this one as a blessing.  Besides, with my major and everything, I would really like to focus instead on healthy whole foods for our family.  But J and I still have our sweet tooths, so we won’t be going too granola-y anytime soon.
• I want to learn how to sew.  I don’t need to be that talented in it, just know how to do it right so I can do a few cute things for babies, fix things that need fixing (like hems and other small tailoring fixes), whip up a simple window treatment on the cheap or make an occasional Halloween costume. Nothing too great, just the know-how to turn to when I need it most.
• I want to learn how to decorate a cake without it falling over or looking like I finger painted it.  Not like it’s a necessity, but it just looks like SO MUCH FUN (Cake Boss!). I can not wait to throw kiddie birthday parties.

So, to start on my first goal, my mom taught me how to sew on her new sewing machine with these Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths.  The irony of the Ice Cream ones make me laugh…they should make breastfeeding covers in that material…or maybe one with cows on it would be more appropriate = ).

My second sewing project was this rag quilt…it was supposed to be a “super-easy” quilt but ended up taking FOR-EVER.  It was fun though to feel like I made something substantial (don’t laugh!) and hopefully the bambina will get a lot of use out of it.

 This is the back side before I cut and washed it (I was stoked when my seams and X’s lined up…it’s the little things, ya know ;)…

And this is the front after I washed it…it fluffed way up!

(I’m slightly in love with the crazy, semi-not matching fabrics…they just make me feel bright inside)

My talented friend Kaity, had a great tutorial about felt rose buds, so I’ve been experimenting and having fun with them.  She has an awesome one on a felt activity book that would be fun to try later if I get really ambitious. Thanks Kaity!

Some of the experiments…I want to be able to mix and match them on different headbands (we’re making soft baby ones out of tights or knee-highs) or pins for outfits… so I got felt in every color and it’s my sit in front of the TV but still feel semi-productive project.

I’m also having fun with random ribbons/scraps and trying some pinwheels to make bows (not sure if that’s a real name for them or just making it up…haha) like these two I made for our niece, Ann.

Hopefully there will be more to come soon…but don’t hold your breath too much, I feel like preggo hormones give you ADD.

Noite Brasileira

I finally found an affordable pressure cooker so I could get my Brazilian food fix!!  So, we had a little family dinner and I made feijoada (Brazilian style beans) with fresh limes,rice,  cornbread and salad.  Rice and beans was a typical lunch for us most days (and a lot of nights too…haha) when J and I lived down there.  If you were to eat this dish at a restaurant, it would usually be accompanied by Pao de Queijo (aka: heavenly cheesy bread balls)…but I didn’t have the right kind of cheese, so I didn’t want to risk it and ruin the experience for the first timers in my family…it’s like I needed them to love it as much as I did.

Instead of Pao de Queijo, I made Brigadeiro for the first time.  These little balls of chocolaty goodness are a really popular sweet that is SOOOOO rich.  The girls in our department and I ate one after lunch almost everyday!  I like to think of it as a very Euro way of eating (they had a lot of European influences there) but it could just be called gluttony.  You decide. ;)

I only got pictures of the Brigadeiro…so if you want to experience  the rest of it, you’ll just have to stop by our house!

I had my best taste-tester there to help me out…

…don’t bother him, he’s thinking….

Yes, a success!  Thanks, Drewski.

Sweet Cheeks…

I got to see our sweet cheeks last week for our total fetal screening!  Everything went well and she’s a healthy baby girl…except the doctor scared me for a bit when he said he couldn’t confirm her gender since she was sitting like a lady!!  She moved after a bit and he confirmed it! (Not that there’s anything wrong with a boy…it’s just that the dresses I have wouldn’t look as cute on a him =) 

Here’s a few pictures of her at 25 1/2 weeks. I know that we’re entering the realm of parenthood where most posts become your kids stats…SORRY!  However, seeing that probably 3 out of the 4 whole people who read this are either her 3 Grandparents or Daddy, it won’t matter too much ;).  Besides, J is training in UT and hasn’t even been able to see these yet!!

He got a quick 3-D picture of her face for us…don’t worry, the streaks are just the ultrasound trying to look through fluid and tissue.

Get ahold of those cheekies!  I love her sweet little features.

This is her fist. She’s starting to pack some serious heat behind her kicks and punches.  I started to feel her kick and move pretty early at 16 weeks…back then it just felt like a puppy was pawing or licking me from the inside…and now I see parts of my belly suddenly jumping out when she moves!  At the appointment she was 1 lb. & 9 oz. and by now she’s probably about 2 lbs.  It’s hard to believe how fast she is growing now!

You can see her little foot caught in a kick here…The doctors always comment how active she is.  In China they couldn’t even get her to stay in one place long enough to get her heartbeat…which was scary at the time but kind of comical now…so I’m pretty sure she’s either going to be a dancer or an ultimate fighter…what do you think?