Thanks Momma DaNell!

We loved having you here!!

Being the amazing seamstress that she is, she whipped out a bunch of baby room items, and a cute new valance and bed skirt for our room while she was here. Above is a picture of the baby's curtain (glued to a modified set of blinds - love pinterest) and valance. The bed skirt and bumper pads are made out of the same material. Super excited to get the room painted and the crib done so we can put it all together. I think it will look super oober cute.

Also, here is our not hot pink basement with side bathroom... In case you were dying to see it.






Stupid couch

Um.. here is our kitchen and "main room" that is so awkward that we don't know what to do with it. I don't like this level.... nothing works and we don't have the right furniture and the kitchen was so not thought out when it was built. BUT... it does the job, so I'm content. Maybe someday we will figure it out and make it look nice and usable.



I have never taken pictures of upstairs. Its just two bedrooms with a bathroom in the middle. Once we get it all organized with cute little baby stuff, we will take pictures.

Also, we survived the STORM (capitalization for scariness effect) Ok, it wasn't that bad, but it was a little scary. We realized it was going to be bad when the locals (the locals that usually don't worry much about storm warnings) are checking the weather on their phones every 5 minutes. We were in Wichita for a birthing class. They ended it early so everyone could get home before it got bad.... and nobody was getting anything out of it the last hour because they were nervously looking out the window. Anyway, pretty much everything missed us. Closest tornado was in Hesston, about 10 miles away but it didn't do much. And, no hail...no flooding... just lots of crazy lightning and wind. Super thankful for those smart people that watch weather patterns and can warn people, and those people, like our ward member, who stay up all night driving around watching and reporting tornadoes and then fight house fires from lightning. Do these people get enough credit? They are amazing. So normally Kansas gets like 130 tornadoes a year....they got 99 in one night. That means we're done right? :)

Well life is still good in Kansas! We are very blessed!

Love me some Easter weekend

Projects project projects.... that's the name of the game in the Glade house right now.

Also, we got a new camera. YAY! I'm going to enjoy documenting our life much more now.

I made a purse (no picture yet) I like it, but it was definitely a learning purse. It took me forever, but I loved working on it.

Last week we watched General Conference, which was amazing by the way, and I started a reversible blanket for our baby boy and grew a bigger belly while Mark modeled the crib.

Friday we started a garden... in our tiny little apartment porch.

Mark got free pallets and wood and we made them into planter boxes. We are very proud.

And we filled them with free dirt from a ward members well fertilized plot. Yay! They also fed us dinner that night.

These are our starts. We are going to try to start all of them inside. I hope it works.... neither of us are gardeners, but we want to be.

Saturday Mark cut out all the beautiful oak for the crib while Cassie went baby shopping with some girlies from the ward and got all these cute clothes. (no pic of the wood yet) Then we ate with a family in the ward.

Tool pajamas.... so adorable. He will also have a cute little monkey blanket that I didn't get pictured.

Sunday we took it easy, worked on the garden a little more, read about our Savior and gained even more appreciation for His atonement, walked around and pictured the arboretum, and had dinner with a family in the ward.

Wild turtles... awesome

Notice we didn't eat dinner at our house at all this weekend. Love this ward.

Also, I love my new camera.... and I really love Mark. He is amazing.

Some things we have learned in Kansas

Mark and I put together a little list of some things we have learned in Kansas, or just funny things. Maybe we will keep adding to it and it will be a fun little list to look back on and laugh someday.

• Kansas state government is about 10 years behind everyone else.
• Make sure you drive down the correct long driveway when going to dinner at your friendly ward members house, or some farmer might drive up with a shotgun hanging out the window pointed at your face.
• Only open one door at a time or else everything inside your car will blow away.
• They don't cater to pregnant woman with clothing here like they do in Utah, basically there is one option, and it's in Wichita.
• Cops will pull you over for buckling your seat belt in your own housing complex parking lot....because your car was already in gear.
• People ask about your religion by asking the location of your church, because there are so many different churches in the area.
• We live on a hill! Don't get too excited, its the only one in Newton and probably wouldn't pass the hill test in Utah.
• Besides the man with the shotgun, people are really friendly.
• Warsh means wash.
• Mennonite people are amazingly friendly and great cooks, but they absolutely hate our missionaries. Poor guys
• Guns guns guns and more guns. Everybody loves their guns. Every door has a little no guns sign on it.
• People will pawn anything.... It's also fun to be friends with pawn shop owners. :)
• Though AGCO employs so many people in the area, they remain religiously devoted to John Deere. Which is ok because AGCO mostly sells overseas.
• The odds of seeing a tornado... or actually being hit by one are very very very incredibly slim. But the weather does take an obvious turn... and its kinda creepy, super cool but kinda creepy. Can't wait to see more crazy weather.
• Mark apparently looks a lot more like jimmer than we thought. Aside from being called jimmer at church, mark also has the name of Kevin. (because one of our friends couldnt remember his name and kept calling him kevin) The kids just can't seem to let it go and are determined to rename him.
• You dont know flat until you haven really experienced flat...and flat is so much more flat that you could ever imagine it to be.
• Kansas is really pretty in the Spring. :)

Awe.... we could go on forever. Its been quite the adventure. Sometimes it feels just like home, sometimes it feels like we are in a foreign country. We went out for a picnic the other day. I tried to take some pictures of the fields..... a camera just can't quite capture the splendor. It really is amazing. Here are some pictures I got before a bug flew down my shirt.





I'm sorry, someday I will have a nicer camera. As you can tell, its flat.....woah really?! Kansas is flat? Yes its flat, just look at the pictures again. Anywhere that hasn't been farmed is a little hilly, a little.

Well, we went to a nice park/lake/walking trail/camping/swimming hole area. It was awesome! It will definitely help fulfill our outdoor and camping urges... not completely but it will help. Here is a picture of part of the swimming hole.... then Mark had to save some kid swimming from a goose attack, and then we left.

It was the kid and his friends own fault. Stupid teenagers were pestering the birds and the male attacked. When it went for the first kid it was hilarious. He got under the water enough and dodged him til he got to shore, but the other kid couldn't swim very well and was bleeding pretty good. He could touch just barely but was pretty flustered so Mark was a hero and walked out to help scare off the bird and get him out of the water. Yay for heros! Boo for stupid punks. Geese are not something to play with.... Oh ya that's another thing... there are SOOOO many geese out here. It's awesome to see huge flocks overhead or in the fields. I'm talking thousands.

Kansas is really cool. It's really growing on us. Still not home and still really miss our family, but we really like it and have loved our experiences and our friendships out here.

Thanks Glade family for including us in family dinner!!! We loved it! Even though it made the hormonal pregnant lady cry later because she misses you like crazy and hates seeing the little ones grow from a distance, we loved seeing you. We talked it over last night, and I think we have decided to visit home earlier then planned and both of us want to come home in June, my brother comes home from his mission then too! We will know for sure when it gets closer.... pray for a smooth pregnancy that will let me travel.

Well hey there little man

We confirmed your gender last week and got this sweet little picture of your genitals. :) You're a squirmy little dude and the ultrasound technician had to chase you around to make sure you have all your necessary parts... but these parts, your pride and joy, were the easiest to find.

Here are some more cute little pictures of you at almost 20 weeks old.




As far as we can tell, you are perfectly healthy in every way and you already weigh 11 ounces! Technology is amazing now days. We got to see your little 4 chambered heart pumping blood correctly with this colored movement sensor thing. And we saw your kidneys working correctly that way too! Amazing. Your brain looks fully functional and proper and your arms and legs are proper lengths and moving like crazy! Keep it up little champ. I just can't wait to kiss those cute little feet.

We thought maybe you were a boy at the last ultrasound but the technician said sometimes the cord can be deceiving at that stage, so we waited to find out for sure... we still called you a "he" most of the time though, even though it wasn't for certain. Like in this shot, sure looked like a wiener to me!



Well, you are quite the mover and I absolutely love feeling your kicks and punches. Most of the movements still feel like tickly little strokes, but I get a few good kicks each day. I can feel you getting stronger. Sometimes you make me jump right out of my skin when you decide to do a whole sumersault as fast as possible. I can't even describe the feeling, but I love it, even when it startles me. You used to mostly move in the morning, but you are adjusting your schedule a little and now I feel you more at night. You bonded with Daddy the other day and gave him some of your best kicks. Sometimes his hand calms you, but you still showed off a little. That really put a smile on his face. I can't wait for you to meet him, he is amazing. You are one lucky kid to have him for a father.


I just ordered some cute new pregnancy clothes the other day. I'm really excited about them and think I will do a "half way" photo shoot in some of them. I still fit in pretty much all my clothes.... except my skirts, but I am definitely looking to be more comfortable and fashionable. I bought short sleeve, lightweight shirts. I am already feeling really hot and its not even april! The other day our house got up to 80 degrees. We are working to get that air conditioner fixed so that your mother survives the hot summer in Kansas.

I'm thinking chocolate brown and blue for your room.... I know, real original right? But I'm a simple kind of gal and can't venture too far out of the box in a rental house. You won't ever question your gender though, or your dad's interests because your room will be full of trucks, tractors, and tools! Maybe a motorcycle or two as well. I'm thinking something like this picture below. I hope you like it and that you don't think you are destined to be a construction worker. I mean you can be if you want, but I am thinking maybe you will want to be an engineer and an extreme hands-on hobby type of person like your dad. He can't wait to teach you all about tools and tractors and electric vehicles and controllers and stuff.


Also, I am buying some cute little wooden tools for your room. I think they will make a cute decor, and probably excellent chew tools.... I mean toys. Well we might have to get ones with less seemingly sharp edges for at first, but you will enjoy them more when you are older. I found them on overstock.com. They are out of stock right now, but have no fear... they will be yours as soon as they are back.



I babysit a little 6 month old 3 days a week, his name is Dean. You like to kick him when I hold him. I think you guys are going to be really good friends. There's a bond there, I just know it.

I'm starting to get used to these pregnancy pains. I just have to take it slow and easy and ensure that I don't get constipated or that my bladder doesn't get too full. Lots of things can really trigger the pains, but I am learning. I am also figuring out how to get comfortable at night. I take up a lot of room on the bed with my necessary pillows like the boppy, but luckily your father likes cuddling with us and the boppy. He takes such good care of us and is so excited to be a dad. I like being pregnant with you and am so excited to be a mom. Pregnancy is really neat, such a divine calling. Not always comfortable, but its absolutely amazing.

19 wks

Well everyone is really excited to meet you in August. I know Grandma Walker is already on the hunt for fabric and ward members here already plan to take real good care of you and me. You are going to have some amazing people in your life... and you will probably be way too spoiled.

Simply Beautiful Love

Just the way God intended it.

I love our love Mark. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband. Thank you for all you do for me and our family. I get to spend eternity with you.... thats incredible.

Chicken Tiki Masala

Yum....

One of the main things we miss about Logan is Tandoori Oven. I have tried Indian food, never thought I was the biggest fan of it, but this place just knocked our socks off. We kept hearing about its glory and had to give it a shot. It was life changing. It is a good thing we did not try it until our last semester... or we would not have left Logan amongst the financially living.

I have been craving their Chicken Tiki Masala since we left and got even more jealous when reading my friend Angella's post about finding a supposedly equal (I can't trust you til I try it, sorry Angella) restaurant in Seattle. To my great delight, one of Mark's Indian coworkers invited us over for dinner and said he would be making the very dish! Again it was heaven on earth and I determined to make it myself! I talked to his wife all night about the art of Indian cuisine and learned one important rule.... if you wonder whether or not you have put enough spices in, you haven't.

Then! I ran across a recipe for Chicken Tiki Masala in my Star Valley Ward cookbook! Ward cookbooks are the best and I need to thank that woman for sharing her incredible recipe. Anyway, I made it! And boy did it turn out amazing! Confidence boost X 4000! I don't need that little gas station restaurant in Logan! I can make my own! Of course we don't have a Tandoori to cook our meat in, or an outdoor grill, but the stove did wonders. Happy day!



Now we just need the basmati rice and it will be complete. And maybe someday we will try the vegetarian tiki masala for you Wattersons up north! :)

Finally have internet!....no more ipad posts

I will be more willing to blog now. I love the ipad, its amazing....but blogging on the computer is just much more....easy.

After we get back from our temple trip/weekend getaway I shall blog. Happy Day

A Mark update

I fear this blog knows too much about me and not enough about Mark so I am going to try to fill you in on his going ons.

Mark, so far, is liking his work. He did a lot of training, just getting to know the tractors, the first couple weeks. They sent him to Phoenix for a week to work with another member of their team and drive around all the tractors they have there. He was able to drive all the tractors AGCO offers except one. In Phoenix, they give the farmers in the area tractors to use as long as they try out the guidance systems and give them feedback, and allow AGCO employees to drive them around their fields whenever they want. Pretty sweet deal for the farmers seeing as simple tractors usually run around a quarter of a million dollars. When he was in Hesston for the rest of those weeks, he was usually in classes for tractor technicians, so he got to know the tractor systems a little better. Lately they have given him other smaller things to test while they wait for the next updates to test from the company that designs the guidance systems. He really enjoyed being out in the field testing. The last few days he has been a little bored because the company they were waiting for pushed out the arrival of the new updates, so he has been trying to find other things to do.... Like find a lost camera, fix the Kabota, build wiring harnesses, etc. haha if you know Mark well, you know he likes to stay busy.

He is really liked by his colleagues. I think they are very impressed with him. I have had the opportunity of meeting several of them already when they invited us over for dinner. He has also had the opportunity to share the gospel quite a bit. There is only one other lds person on the whole Advanced Technology team. He has really liked talking to several of them about what we believe.

Mark is REALLY excited about the baby and absolutely loved going to the ultrasound where he was super impressed with the equipment and how knowledgable the technician was. He does such a good job of making sure I am always comfortable. He is also really excited to build a crib for the baby and shop for a car that is car seat compatible.

Mark is really into electric vehicles and has researched them a lot lately. He has many plans to build one one day. In a quiet moment when he is not busy, he can be found mentally designing this future project.

Mark was just called as the ward executive secretary so will start to be really busy with church. The day he was called was quite the day for him. He was given the calling in the morning, spoke in sacrament, set apart after sacrament and then taught the lesson in elders quorum. We then had home teachers over and fed the missionaries. It was a really busy day but he is excited for the calling. Since a lot of members have to drive quite a ways to church, all church activities and meetings are generally held Sunday and Wednesdays. I already have to be there on Wednesdays for achievement days so it works out great. And we live so close to the church which is awesome.

Mark continues to be the most amazing husband and future father. He likes Kansas so far but can't wait to see family again. He is staying really busy but loves not having homework and being able to just be home when he is done with work.

Consider this now a baby blog

Because our little one is already a star....

I have been having some MAJOR lower abdominal pains, especially at night. So, we scheduled an ultrasound yesterday to check for cysts and make surer baby is doing alright.

Good news... The baby is amazing and healthy, and there is only one in there! It is quite the little mover. The technician said she would be surprised if I don't start feeling its movements soon, because it moves so much. Also, no cysts on the ovaries! Thank goodness.

Bad news.... We still don't know where the pain in coming from. We are thinking either my crazy bowels again or extreme round ligament pain. We will keep you informed. Also, no for sure on the gender.... Sorry. Also, we have a video of the whole ultrasound, and I cut out a little 2 min blip to post, but the iPad won't let me upload it here. If you want to see it, email me.

Hope you enjoy a few of our favorite ultrasound pictures of the new family member. I took out the pictures that showed between the legs.... Can't have you making your own guesses! Nor am I going to tell you what we think, we will keep the suspense til an ultrasound technician can say for sure.

Goodbye pink walls

take all your patch jobs with you.

you would look cute as an accent wall in a little girl's room.


but covering a large basement front room?



now that's just over stepping your boundaries.

The brighter side

I'm sick of being sick. Today is like the perfect storm of every pregnancy symptom herefore experienced, but all at once. I would classify it as a very bad day.

Water makes me puke, but somehow pancakes do not. Strange? Everything is strange right now.

My house is nowhere where I want it to be and still needs a lot of work and organization. It doesn't help that I am a walking (more like sitting or laying) pregnant zombie half my days.

I am starting to really miss our families....and the mountains....and the snow.

Mark is leaving me in Kansas... Alone in kansas.... for a week long training.

I still hate the smell of our kitchen.

The brighter side? The lovely brighter side? The continual tender mercies of the Lord side?

- The gospel is true and we can feel the Lords constant guidance.

- We heard our beautiful baby's heart beat yesterday. What a miracle life is. It's unbelievable.

- Mark has a wonderful job making enough that I don't have to jump right into work to further sustain us. I can endure 1st trimester from the comfort of my home.

- We have a couch downstairs... And it will soon be a comfy hangout pad without pink walls.

- The ward here is amazing and are super nice and super welcoming.

- Mark gets to play with tractors and people really like him there.

- I at least have some good days and can eat most food most days.

- There may be no mountains but this place has beautiful sunsets and sunrises everyday.

- There are 50 different churches in Newton. Everyone is so openly religious and loving and don't care if you go to a different church. It is so fun.

- We found an amazing midwife who will see us until we get insurance and will be our support through the whole thing! She also works with an incredible doctor who we will also be seeing.

- Mark met an elementary principle who says she will be looking for my name and can't wait to get me in to substitute.

- BBQ is better, and cheaper, in Kansas.....yummy!

I want to look more toward the brighter side, the happier side. Happier even when it seems like days are being masked by the seemingly bad.

I love that all good comes from our Heavenly Father. Start counting all the good and then you realize how loved you really are. It throws me into a more eternal perspective. I wish I could just constantly have that perspective. Wouldn't life just make so much more sense? Wouldn't our trials seem so manageable and seemingly easy?

Have you ever met someone like that? I have. Am I one of those people? Absolutely not.

Still....I am going to more often strive for that happy, eternal state of mind. I'm going to start by stepping into the brighter side.

A couch tale

11:30 AM January 14, 2012
Mark and Cassie enter a sketchy furniture store on Broadway street in Wichita. (Why is it that Broadway is always the sketchy part of any city?) The store is dim lit, all windows covered, but actually looks pretty nice inside. Mark and Cassie walk around their LARGE assortment of cheap furniture (much of it marked down further because of little scratches or tears.)

12:00 - Cassie falls in love with one of the most expensive pieces there. A nice brown sectional with a reverse-able chaise!

12:15 - Mark is finally convinced. The furniture looks nice and comfortable and was the exact colors they wanted. It will last a long time and will look great in a front room when a larger set is needed for the family.

12:30 - The couch is loaded into the truck by two jolly drunk men who proceed to tell us what a ?@#&*# deal we got and how their boss must be @#%$@!*$# crazy to put the price low and how they were @#$*@$%#^@ going to come to our house to hang out with our bad %#$^@$ sofa. (I don't think I used the symbols right, you get the jist.) They then proceeded to walk to the back for their weed (actual word used) break. Mark and Cassie "Let's just get out of this place, then we will feel better about life."

12:45 - Mark and Cassie leave with their nice new sectional.

1:30 - The beautiful chaise is downstairs and looks amazing! Main sofa is in the door and plans are being made to fit it downstairs.

1:35 - First attempt to fit the couch downstairs...fail. Wall and pleather is slightly scratched, slight frustration is being shown.

1:45 - Second attempt to fit couch turned a different way. More scratches, more dents, more frustration and realization that furniture has never existed downstairs because there is no way to get it in. Hormonal pregnant women runs upstairs in tears. She really wanted the couch downstairs. Logical Mark weighs the options....wants to make wife happy.

2:30 - Decision is made to take only option of getting it downstairs, take the $600 piece of junk apart.

3:00 - Thousands of staples are all pulled and the couch inside is exposed....deliria begins to set in. Everything is funny now, even as they realize how cheap the furniture really is.... Hammer is now taken to the inside supports. Mark and Cassie are amazed at how many large staples were used in the process.
3:15 - The main bottom beam is taken out and the possibility of wiggling the couch around the door frame and down the stairs seems possible and exciting.

3:30 - The couch is completely stuck in the door frame and Mark and Cassie are separated, possibly forever, by a couch.



3:35 - Mark crawls under the couch onto the landing and he and Cassie proceed to push the couch out with all their might. The couch makes one huge budge but now both Mark and Cassie are stuck behind the couch. Mark finds a very small opening below the couch and proceeds to wiggle out while Cassie laughs at the predicament.

3:45 - Couch is finally back upstairs, wall looks unrecognizable, door frame is completely marred, but Mark and Cassie are reunited. Much rejoicing, hugging, and kissing takes place.

4:00 - Pregnant woman will not give up, Mark too has become completely dedicated and couch is taken apart even further.





5:00 - Couch finally, with a few more wall dents, makes its turn and is carried down the stairs. Yeehaw!!! Mark proceeds to put the couch back together and Cassie uses a dremel to cut off every freakin staple on the pieces of wood.

8:00 - Couch is finally reassembled, with less parts and less staples. It is flipped over, cursed at, and left for the night.

January 16, 2012
Mark and Cassie now feel very thankful to have a couch downstairs and are less mad at it. It looks quite nice actually, just ignore the pink walls. It may never make its way out of the house, but at least they can enjoy DOWNSTAIRS for at least the next 11 months.


With dented walls and doors frames and scratched furniture, we are still trying to pinpoint the lesson that we were supposed to learn. Maybe its to always ask the landlord if furniture fits downstairs, or that couches don't come apart very easy, or realizing that you will be stuck in the basement forever can be really frightening, or always measure the door frame BEFORE you go shopping for furniture, or don't buy from shady places with dim lighting..... well, we learned it all and have the scars to prove it.

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.

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.