Bought a House!

We were looking at a house that fit our budget and but was only 1530 sq. ft. Debbie convinced us to keep looking and we seen a floor plan that we really loved for a house to be built. It was with a company that we already do the granite for. Mike told us to try and see if they would let us do it for a little less in exchange we do all of the surfaces (granite). We went in and were able to get the home in our budget but then the realtor told us about a program out there that would allow us to not need to pay mortgage insurance. We decided to get a few more upgrades to make the house a little more comfortable for the long run. We think that we will be able to stay there for a while since it's got more square footage and more storage then the other house had.

When I told Debbie I was glad that they pushed us to look a little more she said she didn't feel comfortable with the one house we were looking at but didn't want to be pushy. I love how both Mike and Debbie are good about that. They will share their opinion but then let us make our own decision.

Now I'm just hoping that it will be done before baby get's here. It will be nice to try to move most everything before he/she arrives. Also I'd love to be able to have family stay with me in my new house when they come for the baby blessing.

As for Mike and Debbie's house... They will probably close on selling the Cedarview house to Melanie by the end of this month. They have been looking for a house with a lot of sq. footage and horse property. They haven't had much luck yet. In about a year and a half's time they found 3 houses worth buying. The first one Debbie and I called "the perfect house" I had gorgeous curb appeal, great for entertaining floor plan, but it was a short sell I think with an offer (not worth the hassle). Second we found the house with the man cave which had more storage then the first one. They put in an offer and got excepted until the bank noticed they said it was going to be a second home which they needed to do to get the loan approval. We looked at many others that were just trashed or not quiet what they wanted. Lastly right now we found one that is a lot older but has the sq. footage, storage, shop, and horse property. They were excepted, but then when it came down to the inspection there are a lot of problems. So Mike is trying to see if the guy is willing to fix some of them before he buys it. Mike mentioned that he was pretty envious at how easy it was for us to get our house as opposed to them and they might have to go looking again.

Opening Question

It's kinda funny that the most common opening question I get these days is "So how are you feeling?". Even from friends that I see every week that know I've for the most part haven't felt sick. I've mostly felt tired or bloated.

Also we kind of wanted to work really hard to pay off the truck before baby gets here. Now we are kind of thinking it might be better to use the little we do have to put towards a down payment on a house. Especially since Mike thinks that the interest rate for homes will go up. It'd be better to lock in a good interest rate and find a cheap enough home that we will have lower payments than what we are paying for rent right now.

Work

So we recently decided that It world be smart for me to get a steady job so that we can pay off the truck and save for the baby. Yaay for job searching again.... Not the funnest. I wish I could have continued the literacy job up here. I really enjoyed that job and the pay satisfied me. I'd like to find a job that is comparable to my skill and hard work. Is that too much to ask? Also I'm kind of sad about how many hours Ryan is putting in. I know that it is really starting to take a toll on him. He is easily there 11 hours a day. I'm sorry but in my mind that is overhaul for sallary hours. And it's their slower season so that's not their excuse. Cause my dad said that his salary guys easy get lots of over time in the Summer but it makes up for their shortage of hours in the Winter. Okay that's my rant for the moment other than that life is good.

Also with his job I never know when to have dinner ready. Most dinners take a while to fix and he usually comes home while I'm about half way done. But the the days that I prepare ahead it's a fun game trying to keep everything warm or reheating it in the microwave.

Second Baby Appointment

I kind of thought they would do more when I go in for appointments. They are pretty quick. Now on the'll have me go in a cup. I got to hear baby's heart beat which was pretty cool. Although for some reason it wasn't near as cool as seeing baby in an ultrasound. I think it's cause I'm a visual person. The Dr. said that the heart beat was fast so that might mean a girl. We'll see for sure in eight weeks though. I'll be happy with either. Just happy to have a baby of my own :-D

Then I also drew blood. I wasn't looking forward to this. I always have to look away. But It's not near as bad as I thought/remember. It just feels like a prick. The thing I don't like most about it was leaving the needle there. When it's an IV for when I have a baby it will be better since it'll be a tube that is left in, not a needle.

First Ultrasound!

It was way fun to be able to see baby and baby's heart beat. Even when she first showed me the small blob that was baby before zooming in it felt just a little more real. It's also re-asuring to see the baby's heart beat was strong and healthy.

Baby is measuring at eight weeks and two days when I really was counting that I was 7 weeks and four days. So my they moved up my due date. It was originally Aug 17th and now it's the 12th.

To me baby's head almost resemble a cat's head. From what I've been reading I'm guessing that the dark spots in baby's head is what will later form into his/her ears. Then maybe the two things near his/her bottom are the paddle like feet that will later form into legs and feet. Mmm Just guessing?

I'm not totally ecstatic for my next appointment though, blood work, needle :-/

This is probably what baby look like if I had that good of a picture :-D

Picture by

Lennart Nilsson

A brief of 2011 (our Christmas letter)

Ryan and I have been living in Boise for about seven months. We really like here and the neighborhood that we are in.

We like our ward a lot, and have met a lot of great families here. We are currently teaching the 10 and 11 year olds. I have the 10 year old girls and Ryan the 11 year old boys. There was one boy in my class but they moved him to Ryan’s class cause they felt bad leaving him with the class of mostly girls. I look forward to next year, we will be teaching the eight year olds together.

This year I learned how to grow a garden. My father in-law Mike has been staying with us when he is up here running the business (more about that in a moment). Since he was here with us I had the chance to learn how to grow a garden from him. I had quiet the abundance of green beans and cherry tomatoes. I know to plant less of those next time around hehe.

Mike stays with us when he comes up here. He is part owner in the granite company that Ryan works at (hence how Ryan got the job offer). He still spends time down in Vegas because my mother in-law is still finishing up her masters degree down there. So until she is done he spends some weeks in our third bedroom.

Ryan has been taking a break from school for a bit till he gains residency and learned the business more. He plans to attend BSU in the Fall.

We're going to have a little one.

So originally I wanted to wait a year and Ryan wanted to wait two years. I kinda didn't want to wait that long but we decided on two but then we had a roller-coaster of insurance no insurance. Well more so work didn't supply it so we paid for it ourselves. Darn economy. Well when we decided that we would be moving up to Idaho it was time to start a family. I thought we might get insurance pretty soon. Well we had to wait 6 months and then one more month. I was SO done playing the waiting game. Many people would tell me oh enjoy your time together because once you have a little one you won't have much alone time. For this baby lover I just wanted a kid. I want to be able to hold that little baby more than just for a little bit before it goes home to it's mom. I want to see them have a mixture of our personalities and facial features. I am yearning to hold a little one of my own. I look forward to teaching them.

So we finally decided it was time to start our family. I kinda had a feeling that I might be prego from what I was reading on the internet and so I decided to take and EPT a day early cause I read that they are sensitive enough. Luckly I have not had much of the symptoms (or should I say the worst one) :-D I do sometimes feel slightly light headed but once I eat I'm good. The first week after I found out I definitely felt hungry more often and more tired. Also when I moved certain ways I had a tinging of pain but not bad at all. It's crazy how once you find out you are already considered four weeks along. Now I am 6 weeks and I am pretty sure I wake up every night to go to the bathroom. In the evenings is when I feel the most tender. I like to take baths but I don't like putting the strain on my tummy when I wash my hair so I think it is showers for a while now.