Jan 11, 2012

This is what no homework looks like

It is so nice to just spend the night together....


Also, the sky out here is amazing.


There are lots of parks here! I can't wait until it gets a little warmer and greener....we will definitely be spending time at the parks.

Jan 9, 2012

How we told everyone

We considered telling the Glades at Ken and Kim's Christmas party with the family, then Kim's son announced their second pregnancy. That stopped that idea real quick. We didn't want to steal any thunder here. We decided that night that it was still really early on and that his family wouldn't be upset with a phone call later.... they are chill like that, and they already have 8 little grandchillins running around.

The question now was my family. We wanted to tell them in person, being the first grandchild and all, but would they keep a secret until we were a little farther along? We decided to go for it and see what happened. So here is how we did it. We were making a Christmas video for my missionary brother Justin in California. (I let him know of all this before hand.) We got my whole family together and just let them talk to him for like 15 minutes and then Mark announces the good news. Its kinda fun to see their reactions. Here is a short clip of the joyous occasion.




Well....obviously they were excited and wanted to tell the world as soon as possible. So we took almost all of Christmas calling Mark's family and texting people so that my sisters and mom could post their excitement. It ended up working out really really well and we had a ton of fun telling people.

For facebook and text messages we gave this picture and said "Cassie passed all her tests this semester. Merry Christmas."

We ended up doing 4 tests, but here is three.....because I know you all love seeing a good pregnancy test.

Ok, no more pregnancy posts for a good while.....

Pregnancy Questions? Answered

I am going to lay out this post in a question and answer format because people love to ask lots of questions when they find out someone is pregnant.


Were we trying to get pregnant?
Oh yes and man did it happen quick. There was lots of prayers and fasting and our answers came with "knock you over" strength!

When did we find out we were pregnant?
Aunt Martha comes pretty regularly in this home. Once I had missed by three days, I knew it was time to take a test. I took 4 over the next 2 days and all were unmistakeably positive.

How did we tell everyone?
Next post. Will be done today. Watch for it.

Do I feel sick?
Yes. Very lightheaded and some days very nauseous. For a couple weeks I only felt really sick when I was hungry, and I was hungry almost constantly. I would wake up 2 or 3 times in the night needing a snack. Luckily that is mostly gone away and I am left with my fair share of nausea and that joyous lightheaded feeling. Still, I feel my best between having felt sick from eating, and being sick because I am hungry.
Eating food = sick _________small window of feel good opportunity________ sick because want of food.

Do I crave anything?
Not that I have noticed. I just have LOTS of food adversions. I shop the grocery store in a completely different way now.... I walk down the isles, and when I see something I could stomach, I put it in the cart. Mark says feeding a pregnant woman is expensive. I do not argue.

How's my sense of smell?
I cannot stand the smell of my kitchen, its a terribly painful subject. I hate being able to smell everything within a 20 mile radius. Its quite incredible, really.

What other symptoms have I noticed?
Terrible low back pain - especially when I sleep. My sister in laws say its time to get a body pillow, so I shall.
Frequent urination - no further comment.....inevitable.
Very tender tender, almost painful breasts - I know you have two other questions in your mind.... yes I need a new bra, yes he loves them.
My stomach is so hard - This is so cool. This makes up for all the difficult pregnancy symptoms. I love to wake up and before I eat, just explore my new belly and dream of the little guy inside.

Have we met with a doctor yet?
I have gone into a health center to get the pregnancy confirmed but that's it. Since our insurance doesn't start til March, we needed it confirmed so that we could make a payment plan so that we could make an appointment. We are already finding out how fun it is to be caught in the medical system, insurance system, financial assistance system mumbo jumbo. Another painful subject. So! until we get it all worked out, I am meeting with a midwife. We might just stick with the midwife for the whole thing instead, since we will probably be paying for most of the baby with cash anyway. Also, I really want to do a waterbirth. We are still tossing lots of ideas around and will continue to fight our way out of the medical rat race and will come up with a more for sure plan later. As of now, I have an appointment with a very highly esteemed midwife on January 19th. She may be the only person that will be there to answer all our questions and walk us through this crazy process and help us get what we want.

When am I due?
August 8th. I'm only 10 weeks along and still in the crucial stage, so keep us in your prayers. :)

Do we want a boy or a girl?
Well, we really would love either. But if I had to absolutely choose, I would say girl. I think its because Mark has always been so sure that we will have a girl first. But, they're both favorites.

Are we excited?
WE ARE SO EXCITED!! We both love kids and were super excited to have our own. I think Mark is more excited than I am, if that is possible.

Are we scared?
Terrified.

Any more questions? I hope I answered all yours and then some. :)

P.S. I will do a blog post about our home after we get it set up. Unpacking everything is going really slow for this sick woman. Also, we found roaches in our stove behind the circuit board, and we have been trying to rid of the kitchen smell (or train my nose to like it). That has really slowed progress down.

P.P.S You may also be wondering about Mark's new job! Who better to hear it from than him! Give me a couple days of persuasion, I will get him on here.