Springtime Happenings

I have managed to escape my couch on occasion during the last four months. Here's a little of what we have been up to.

 I gave Kelson & my dad a kayaking trip in La Jolla for Christmas. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it while Dad was here, so Kelson took his friend, Micky. I would have gone, but I was not feeling so good. I stayed back on the beautiful La Jolla beach while they paddled around. We all had fun.

 The day we found out we were expecting again, we celebrated with a trip to the San Diego Zoo, a first for me. It was a beautiful day, and we saw tons of animals.

Leopard

I'm not sure exactly what Kelson was pondering while looking at the giant tortoises.

Look at me! I'm a monkey!

This was really interesting. They raise the cheetahs with puppies, and it makes them more well-behaved for doing school shows and such things. If the dog behaves well, then so does the cheetah. This lady was feeding the cheetah from her hand like a puppy.

Elephants!

 Kelson made me a delicious, personalized cranberry-apple pie. Yum!

 A few months ago, I started serving as the Beehives (12-13 year old girls) leader in our ward. We have been having all kinds of fun. This was the night we made strawberry shortcake.

 I spent a few weeks at home in Oregon while Kelson was up in Canada, and I celebrated my 25th birthday while I was there. You can't beat birthday lunch at El Erradero.  I have apparently gotten old enough that it takes three people to light all of my birthday candles. My family thought that was pretty entertaining.

 While Kelson was gone, we finally found out where we are moving this fall. Hawaii! We will be heading there in September. The night we found out, Katy and I celebrated with Hawaiian pizza.

 I made two trips to Utah while I was home, one for my brother's law school graduation (Congratulations Jeremy!), and another for my cousin, Anne's, wedding. I got to spend lots of quality time with my adorable niece and nephew. They sure love playing at the park with Grandma!

Here's a preview shot of Kelson's trip to Canada. Real post to follow. This is what sunrise looks like from Kelson's ship. Beautiful!

\

Our Little Miracle

When I wrote my post about our experience with miscarriages and asked for your prayers, I never could have anticipated the response that I received. Countless people have expressed their sympathy and support, and so many have said that they have been praying for us. I have been humbled and filled with gratitude by this experience. I want to say thank you to all of those who have joined us on this journey.

It was just a few weeks after I wrote that post that we found out that I was expecting again. Of course we were thrilled, but I was also very scared. I tried very hard not to become too excited or attached, especially because it seemed that things were going poorly from day one. I really didn't think that the pregnancy would last long. I was blessed with a strong feeling that things were going to be okay, but I didn't know if that meant that the baby would make it or that I would have the help I needed during another miscarriage. A few weeks went by, and it came to the week before Easter. I was six weeks along and started having a lot of problems, and I was sure that I was done. I went to the doctor feeling like I had completely given up inside. I just wanted the doctor to tell me how soon it would all be over. That was when I saw this little guy for the first time.

The baby was only half a centimeter long, but that little heart was beating right along. The doctor said it looked perfect. At the doctor that day, I was overcome with hope and gratitude. I felt the Spirit remind me that with Heavenly Father all things are possible. I had forgotten that for a little while.

The adventures weren't over yet. I had to go back in for another ultrasound two weeks later to see if the baby was growing. I was terrified, and to make things worse, Kelson was leaving for 10 days a few hours before my ultrasound. I went to the doctor by myself, and this is what I saw.

At 1.65 cm, the baby was measuring just right for 8 weeks, and its little heartbeat was music to my ears. Again, I said lots of grateful prayers. At this point, I finally started to believe that we might actually get to keep this baby. I would love to say that everything was relaxed and easy after that, but baby kept us on our toes through the whole first trimester. I have seen the baby two more times, and it is still doing great. Kelson finally got to see the baby at our 14 week check-up a month ago, and he was thrilled. That was the first time he had ever seen or heard any of our babies, although I have seen them all. I wish I had pictures from the latest ultrasound so you could see how much baby has grown. It actually looks like a little person instead of a jelly bean!

I am so excited that we can finally share our great news with everyone. We held it in for the most part until 14 weeks, which seemed like forever. From the lack of blog posts for the past few months, you might guess that we haven't been doing much. The truth is that I have spent way too much time laying on our couch trying not to throw up (often unsuccessfully). I have spent almost all of the last 16 months either pregnant or possibly pregnant, and I was starting to feel like I would be stuck in my first trimester for eternity. I am happy to say that at 18 weeks I am finally starting to feel better. I even have the occasional day where I go all day long without any nausea. Those days are wonderful. I have moved on to being starving all the time now. Seriously. It is ridiculous.

All three times we have found out we were expecting, I told Kelson by giving him a Padres baby outfit. This is the first time I told him we were pregnant, last year. His reaction was priceless.

This time, he was a little less shocked and a lot more excited.

That photo is actually from last fall, but I can guarantee we are just as happy this time.

I don't know why we got to keep this baby and not the other two, but we are feeling incredibly blessed right now. I absolutely believe that part of the reason for our miracle is that so many people have been praying for us. I believe in the power of prayer and that with faith anything is possible. Thank you for helping us get our miracle.