Week 2

1- I must say I am going to be the most in shape I've been in years!  And all while I'm pregnant??!  Haha I am loving it!  I didn't exercise my full routine everyday this week because my back was killing me on Wed & Thursday.  But I did exercise everyday! Woohoo!

2- Still loving and rocking my lists!  I was talking to my dad and mom the other day on facetime.  I told them about my new To-Do list kind of living and my dad said, "A goal not written down is just a dream."  So true.  And I do find that when I don't make my list 1st thing in the morning I rarely do what I have already thought through.  It just helps to write it down.

3- Finances are looking better all of the time.  We decided to cancel a few things that we have been paying that we really don't use.  We cut almost $100 out of our monthly spending and it's gonna help savings so much!  We did decide to go out to dinner for V-day and I bought some yummy stuff to make, but we are still sitting good on our budget :).  See we can still have such fun AND save money!

Highlights-
- I got my blinds cleaned this week!  It was one of the big things on my long list of bigger To-Dos!  It took a while (and may have been the activity that set off my achy back) but I was so happy when I got done!! I'm glad, glad, glad to have clean windows and blinds to look out of.
- I had tons of fun sewing with one of my besties!  She is only about a month farther along than me and we sew almost weekly.  I made a bunch of reusable wipes a few weeks ago, and this week we worked on making reusable nursing pads!  She had all of this super absorbent fabric and we mostly got the circles cut out.  So I'll update when we finish them this week.  I'm excited :).
- Doug and I started celebrating Valentines this weekend.  I decided to make him something special every day of the weekend, including today and tomorrow.  He has a young mens thing on Valentines so we decided to do our 'Go-Out' date on Friday.  We ate yummy food and I made a fancy cake (I'll post pictures later).
- Saturday we decided to go cross country skiing.  It is a little tradition of ours I guess you could say.  Normally we rent a little cabin somewhere in Island Park, stay one night and cross country ski the next day at Harriman.  But we decided we should save money.  So we just took a drive Saturday after a yummy breakfast.  And we got to bring Burley with us (another plus to NOT staying in a cabin).  Burley loved it.  It was beautiful and sunny, and unfortunately I forgot my camera.  Boo!  Oh well we had a blast!

Week 1

So this week actually turned out really well in terms of my goals! Here's how I did plus a few highlights of my week.

Goal 1- I exercised everyday (except Sunda)! And I am really feeling great! I find that when I exercise I have a better nights sleep, and I tend to crave the more healthy foods. And that's always a plus!!

Goal 2- To Do lists are my new best friend. I have been so much more organized each day. I find a lot more satisfaction in he daily tasks that need to be done when I make them my purpose. And I don't end up beating myself up at the end of the day when I feel like I accomplished nothing! My house is so much more clean and organized, and it doesn't get to the overwhelming stage when everything needs to be done and I have no idea where to start. I am doing better at little goals I set because they get put on the list and I love to do them just to cross them off!!
It was interesting in R.S. this week someone shared a comment. We were talking about finding our purpose in life and using our Agency to accomplish our purpose. And about how Satan tends to put road blocks in our way, one of them being that we get bored with the daily mundaneness of our tasks as wife and mother. Then this sister shared a comment that went something like this. "When we have daily tasks to accomplish I find that making the task at hand my purpose in life at that moment keeps me motivated, happy, and I even find joy in the task. We talked about finding our bigger purpose in life, but I think we accomplish that bigger purpose by making our scope more focused in smaller purposes throughout our day.". I loved how that applied to my to do listing and found I have been so happy to accomplish tasks this past week. The dishes werent daunting any more. My bed was made every single day! And in the morning right when I got out of it! I'm just loving this Goal number 2!!

Goal 3- Ohh we are doing so good! A week into Feb and we already found three things to cut out of our budget to save money. Plus I did my first of two shopping visits under budget and with full lists. Our household items were written down and purchased along with grocery shopping! That's a first! Haha but I have felt so good and in control with our finances.
We also did our taxes, which ended up not to be as big of a blow as we expected. With both of us teaching lessons we always find we owe the government so much and we didn't do as well setting aside money for taxes as we would have liked. But with all of our medical expenses, plus business expenses we find we owe less than we even expected. So we have a new goal to add into our planned shopping visits and snowballing payments. Our new goal is to pay taxes quarterly for our music lessons. Then we won't have a big chunk to pay when taxes come around, and who knows we may even get a return with a new child entering our family. That'll be a first! So we are saving saving saving!

Our weeks highlights!
- It was a busy week with almost something every night for Doug, so I worked hard to get dinners ready early and we had some good meals together. I love at least having the time to sit down at dinner and talk, even just for a half hour. Meals were a highlight this week.
- Doug had parent teacher conference which means he had Friday off! I had a Let's Play Music meeting Friday morning, but then we stayed in all afternoon and did our taxes! So fun I know haha.
- We played games with some friends Saturday night and had a blast! We love getting together with friends and I always wonder why we wait so long to do it again. So I'll try to plan the next game night over at our place!
- Burley got a bath and turned into a beautiful smelling puffball! Haha his hair is so long and he is always so fluffy after I dry him, I just love it.

Looking Down!!

I looked down today while I was getting ready and realized I had to lean forward a little before I could see my feet!  My belly always looks so much bigger to me, probably because I look down on it, than it does to other people.  Everyone keeps saying I don't even look pregnant :).  I'm sure they are being nice.  I think the bump has really started to pop out this last week and I can't suck it in anymore ha!  So Here's what I saw today at 16 & 1/2 weeks....

It looks way bigger from this view!!

And here's the side view.

My bloating has gone way down and so all thats left is real baby bump.  It almost feels like I was bigger in week 14 and 15 than I am now at almost 17 weeks.  Or maybe its the button up shirts that make me look so big :) Here's the proof.

14 weeks and 15 weeks.

I don't know what do you think?

Trying to be better!!

Lately we have had a lot of focus on Goals. What with the New Year and resolutions, and a whole month dedicated to the topic of goals in Church, I began feeling a little guilty. A lot of the time my goals tend to fizzle out after a day or two. I mean I am feeling pretty good when I can say I did something every day of the week! Then I usually let it drop soon after! I know I am not the only one who has this problem, but sometimes I wonder why I can't find the motivation!

Well today in church, one of our Bishopric members shared a quote that stated we needed to be accountable to someone for our goals. And the light popped on! I have such a hard time because yeah I know I should try harder.....but sometimes it's just so easy to pretend like I didn't even have that goal! So here is me being accountable :). I have three goals that I am going to report on every week. It will help me be a better blogger, and even if no one is reading this, it will help me to report to someone!

Goal 1 - Exercise! I would really like to have a healthy and fit pregnancy. I want to feel good and stay active. Of course I don't want to gain numberless pounds that will be so hard to shed!! Exercising will help me feel better throughout my pregnancy, have a smoother delivery, and whip back into shape more easily. I have a lot more time in the mornings and did pretty darn good for about a week and a half. I know I can do it, I have done it, so I have no excuse! I have a prenatal pilates program that I love, love, love too! So I will report back weekly on how my morning exercise routine went.

Goal 2 - To Do Lists! I have found that I am so productive and manage my time so well when I make a little list. They help me accomplish my tasks so efficiently that I can't imagine why I don't use them more. Plus lists should help me accomplish other goals, right? So every day I want to make use of my to dos! I'll let ya know how it goes :).

Goal 3 - Become More Money Smart/Debt Free! Doug and I have made this goal together and really come up with some great ways for us to be more conscientious of how we spend our money. I wouldn't say we are bad with money, or rack up the credit card debt like there is no tomorrow. For the most part we are pretty frugal spenders. We talk to each other before we spend money and have a budget that we rarely go over. But we aren't making much progress in the long term savings or becoming debt free area. So we have come up with some ways to make it happen rather than just talking about it.
We are going to balance our budget every week so we know where we are at. I don't check whether I am under budget for household items before I run to Walmart for shampoo, or vacuum bags. I never make a list of household shopping items, which means we usually run to the store when something pops in our heads, which results in mindless purchases that can rack up the total amount we spent. So in order to be more on top of knowing where we are at, we will look each week at the budget, and make a list for things we need or are running low on. That way I will get those items with my bi-monthly grocery shopping trips. Cuts down on gas, time, and mindless spending.
Another thing we are going to try is putting the credit card and debit card away when we reach our limit on the budget. We never use the credit card without paying it in full each month, so in a lot of ways it is just like using our debit or checks. However we both said that we never think twice about pulling it out to swipe it, even when we have no idea if we are over or under our allotted budget. So in the spirit of the cash system, Its gone when it's gone! We may even find that we never have to put the cards away, because we are more mindful of our budget.
And the last thing is the snowball effect. Many people use some variation of this technique and it really is the most effective for debt reduction. After all of our bills are paid, tithing is separated, and savings are transferred, we will use whatever is left over to pay extra on our smallest debt amount. Once that debt is paid off we will snowball its old payment amount into the payment of our next lowest debt. And before you know it you slash your debt with a power payment plan from hades!
So with being more conscientious of our spending habits, we should be saving more per month, and having extra for debt reduction! We will see how well the plan goes and I am super excited to get started. I feel empowered just thinking about knowing better where we stand with our finances before I run to the store. And knowing that we will always have that savings for a rainy day or emergencies is a wonderful thing!

So my little bloggy world, here's to keeping me accountable! I'm sure you will help to keep me in check and my goals on track!

Through the 1st Trimester!

Whoohoo!! It seemed like I'd never make it this far, but this week I am officially done with the 1st Trimester of my pregnancy.  I wanted to keep a journal of sorts for myself so here are some things I have experienced in the past 13 weeks.  And a little baby bump tracking too!

I missed taking pictures a few weeks but the bump is starting to materialize!  I'm sure I feel way more huge than I look to other people, and I'm going to need to start looking at maternity clothes before I know it!

Things I've experienced that I want to remember:

-The shear nervousness of waiting after our embryo transfer.  I get anxiety over several other things as it is, and this was the most consuming anxiousness I have ever felt.  I remember feeling totally positive one minute and then consumed with fear and sorrow that it didn't work the next.  But it was definitely worth all of my analyzing and agonizing!

-The pure joy and elation of seeing a positive pregnancy test for the first time in my life!!  I wanted to tell everyone the minute the line showed up.  At that moment I had such a peace and calm about the pregnancy.  I think it's probably the only time I didn't have one ounce of fear about things not working out.

-The terror I felt as I cramped and cramped at 7 weeks.  I felt so sure that something was wrong and to my dismay the next day after the cramps had subsided...bright red blood!  I was so scared I would loose the baby but at the same time so sure that everything would be alright. My prayers were definitely answered when everything turned out to be fine.

-Up until 10 weeks I had to take progesterone.  Unfortunately only the very expensive (like $350 for 2 weeks expensive) stuff had no side affects on me.  The oral progesterone guaranteed dizziness for at least 3 hours a day.  So for weeks, because we just couldn't afford to do anything else, I dealt with being so dizzy every day that all I could do was lay on the couch with my eyes closed!  Am I complaining?? :) No Way!!  Haha I would do it all over again and compared to other peoples pregnancies this was nothing!

-I made it through the whole 1st tri without one ounce of morning sickness. Once in a while I felt a little queasy, but only very mildly!  I have been so blessed to be able to still enjoy eating and being completely active!  

-Several food aversions :).  Not to the point of feeling sick if I ate the food, but just something tasting so off that I didn't even want it. Sadly the list includes Turkey Gravy (which is a favorite at Thanksgiving), anything too sweet (not a bad thing I guess), mayonnaise/miracle whip, soda, anything fried and probably a few other things I should have written down!

- I guess you could call them cravings.  I never have sat at home just dying for weird combinations or loved things I haven't loved before.  My cravings have been more like I could eat the same thing every day because it just tastes soooo good!  We went out to Craigo's Pizza one night and I ate 3 slices of their potato pizza and nothing else.  I didn't even want my favorite bbq chicken one (and they have tons more flavors I love).  Another time we went out to eat with my brother and I just wanted waffles or yummy baked mac n' cheese.  So those have been what my cravings are like.  I have eaten a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch probably 5 times a week for the past 3 weeks :)  Hey if I don't get tired of it, that's ok with me!

- Heartburn!  Oh my lands!  I have never experience heartburn with such a vengeance!  I cannot do anything fried or I suffer the consequences.  That means no hamburgers, french fries, chicken strips, chinese food, or any other breaded yumminess.  Which makes me a little sad, but I have been eating a lot healthier due to that fact.

-I haven't experienced too much fatigue.  It has been great!  Once in a while I have a day where I am just exhausted, but for the most part I have felt great and had plenty of energy!

-But oh have I mentioned the gas?  Noone does gas like a pregnant woman and I wish it would just go away.  It doesn't seem to matter what I eat I am always feeling the urge!  So I just I'll have to deal with it and hope it will ease up as I get farther along.

-I wanted to remember our last ultrasound at 10 weeks.  The Babes (my little nickname until we find out gender) was so much bigger and totally putting on a show!  Had the hiccups, was waving little arms, and bouncing around like he was in a little bounce house. (No I don't think it's a boy more than a girl but I have to say something so we will go with he.)  It's funny we have three pictures taken within a second and he is totally floating in one, then touching the wall of my womanly organ, and then bouncing back off with only part of his back touching the wall :).  Very entertaining and amazing!!  I'm sure we are just going to have a spazz for a child!

So those are just some of the things I want to remember.  I'll have to  do another post about the weird and wild dreams I have already started to have :).

Christmas Vacation!!

I'm trying to get caught up on blogging!!  Especially because I know it will never happen once the baby is here.  So here are the highlights of our Christmas 2011!

-We spent time with Doug's family the week before Christmas.  We were able to eat tons of good food, play great games, have good conversation and of course do the annual Hansen Family Nativity.  We forgot our camera that night but have some pictures on the rest of the families cameras that I will need to get!

- We then drove down to Logandale to spend Christmas with my family!!  It was a long drive but totally worth it.  And Burley was pretty fantastic on the way down.

- On our way down we stopped in Salt Lake to see Temple Square and all of the lights!  It was fabulous and my favorite part was seeing all of the unique Nativities they had set up.  As we were parking a light snow was falling which just added to the experience!

- Christmas Eve we enjoyed a wonderful feast!  It was followed by playing games like the Carol game and a new favorite Sardines!  We turned out all of the lights and played in my parents small house haha!  It was a blast and we played until midnight!!

- Christmas Day!  Burley was so excited to see what was in his stocking and now enjoys a wonderful squeaky toy Nana and Grandpa bought for him.  We were spoiled beyond belief and it was so fun to watch others open the gifts we picked for them.

- Our Present Scavenger Hunt!! Doug's family has a tradition of hiding clues around the house that eventually lead to a present.  We decided to do this for Logan (Doug did one for me and I one for him like usual).  But this was Logan's first time and he did pretty good!  I don't think he was expecting it at all because we tried to trick him with a gift card to his favorite burger place Five Guys.  He didn't know that wasn't his real present!! And it was so fun!

- Shooting with the family!  Dad got a new hand gun (which he cried over when he opened :)) and we just had to go shoot.  I'm not a huge fan of shooting big guns but I love 22s and would say I'm a pretty good shot!  My mom and I had little contests shooting empty pop cans and I hit more than I missed :).  Doug got to shoot my dads hunting rifle for the first time and I think he felt more empowered than he should have with that huge thing Ha!

- We went to Vegas to do a little shopping and see Sherlock Holmes 2.  It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed pampering ourselves a little at The Cheesecake Factory (definitely a favorite!)  

- We played more games than we could count.  Had endless Fruit Ninja wars on the Ipads.  Let it be known that I am THE ULTIMATE Fruit Ninja, even though Logan believes HE is.  

- I helped my mom get the binding put on her quilt so she can finally get it finished!! Last time I was there I started to put it together and on the quilt but I was so sick!  By the time I got finished putting the strips together I realize I had sewn every other one on backwards and was going to have to pick it out.  At that point I just laid on the floor and cried.  The flu was not fun to have then and I just told her to put it away and I'd do it some other time.  Well that was a year ago and now she can actually try to finish it and get it on the bed :).

- I got to go to a close friends baby shower right before we left!  It was so good to see her and they had great snacks :)  Yes a pregnant lady will always remember the food first!  We played a lot of fun games and enjoyed seeing all the cute girly things she got.

- Then we drove to Utah for New Years.  Of course it was just about dark when we started the drive which spells disaster for Burley.  He hyperventilates and wigs out when its dark and we are on a long drive.  The only thing that would calm him down was me to hold him tight and sing.  Since he falls asleep everytime I have a Let's Play Music class I thought I'd give singing a try.  Well I was singing for just about 4 hours!!  Once we got there we had a big party with the family.  Once again there was tons of food and games!  I was definitely wilting by 11:00, but we stuck it out and had our drink of sparkling soda and kiss at 12:00 on the dot!  Then we woke up early to drive home.  

Finally!!

We have wonderful news!!!  We are pregnant and expecting a baby in July!  It is still early and we always said we would wait till we were out of that scary stage, but I really can't wait anymore.  Most of you know already anyways so here is the story :).

As you know we went through a failed IVF cycle in June/July of this year.  We originally were not planning to freeze any left over embryos because of the cost, and because we had decided that if the IVF didn't work we would know that we needed to move on and focus all of our efforts on adoption.  But when it came to the final decision while we were in the midst of the procedure, we felt that we should freeze them.  What if IVF worked and we wanted a baby brother or sister later on down the road?  It just felt right so we froze them.

When the cycle didn't work we felt like it would be impossible to ever use those little frozen embryos because of the financial side of things.  We needed to finish paying for the failed cycle before we ever decided to do anything else.  I couldn't even think about spending more.  Well our Heavenly Father is so very mindful of us and knows a better plan that we need to learn to trust in!

A wonderful couple had offered in the past to help us with adoption expenses should we need it.  One day after our failed IVF (a day when I was feeling especially blue) she called to make sure we knew they would still like to help us out.  She mentioned infertility treatments and wanting to even help us with that if we wanted to go that direction.  I informed her of our failed IVF and thats when the light popped on and inspiration hit.  It wasn't coincidence that she thought of me and knew she needed to call me.  It wasn't coincidence that she brought up infertility treatments.  I knew she was a tool in Heavenly Father's hand at that moment and a huge miracle was taking place in our lives.

They made it possible to try our frozen embryos at the right time!   We did the transfer on Oct 29th with these little guys.

I waited agonizingly trying to talk myself out of testing everyday.  Finally 6 days after the transfer I told Doug, "I need to test or I'll go insane!  If it's negative then it's just too early and if it's positive then we will know and I can stop freaking out every day."  I never expected to see a positive only 6 days after the transfer.  I will never forget the crazy emotions I felt as I waited for another negative pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE for the first time in my life!!  Not like - you have to wait a while to see the line show up and wonder if it is positive.  Positive as in the line showed up the moment it got wet and there was no doubt about it positive.  I went running down the stairs laughing, crying and whispering for Doug too look (I would've yelled but I couldn't find my voice)!

 As you can see I was a huge test junkie and couldn't help but test every day until my blood test.  I just wouldn't believe it until I saw that I was still pregnant and the test was still positive!

And now we have a little baby on the way!  We saw it for the first time today!!  It looked like a little blob with a flickering heartbeat and it was the most beautiful little blob that we've ever seen!

It was so amazing to watch it on the screen and it is starting to feel more real now.  We pray each and every day that this sweet baby will grow and be healthy. That no complications will arise and everything will continue to progress.

So for now we are so excited, scared, in shock and overwhelmed with gratitude for this beautiful blessing in our lives.  I am continually amazed by the evidence of our Heavenly Father's hand and plan for us, but I guess I should just get used to it!  I know I will see it many more times throughout my life and that the more I look for it, the more I will see it.  Thank you all for loving prayers and faith in our behalf!  And thank you especially to that special couple who have made this all possible.  There is no way we can ever repay you!