The More the Merrier!

I've never been a very a good "journaler" or picture taker, but I figure documenting at least SOME of our first pregnancy will be worth something to us later on... so here is my attempt at recalling the last 35 weeks!

July 19, 2013:
Five positive pregnancy tests later, I was about 80% sure I was really pregnant. We weren't NOT trying to get pregnant, but I was so surprised it happened, literally, right away. So what did I do first?  
Step1: I called my best friend Dana Wright right away and couldn't stop laughing.
Step 2: I had to figure out a fun way to tell Collin. His second board examination was coming up so he had been stuck at the kitchen table studying all month. I was going to visit a new outlet mall here in Phoenix so I thought I would browse around to see if any cute ideas came to mind. If anyone knows Collin, they know he loves his Sperry's. The outlet mall just happened to have a Sperry store with shoes for all ages and I found the smallest pair they had and bought them. I came home and told him about all the stores, blah, blah, blah and was like "Oh, I got something for you..." and I pull out the Sperry bag and he gets so excited and then I pull out the really small pair of shoes.... He looked so confused and said "I don't think those are going to fit me." I said "they're not really FOR you.." (hoping he would catch on by now, but still looked really confused) So I said "COLLIN, I'm pregnant!" (I think he knew, he was just nervous to say it--his version of taking 5 pregnancy tests)

Dana and I up Camelback Mtn. 34 weeks and she's 19 weeks!

So here is a short version of the past 35 weeks:

- I started out working in the NICU. THANK GOODNESS the only kind of sickness I dealt with was a little bit of nausea that was controlled with crackers. Can you imagine having the nurse taking care of your precious baby loosing her cookies every 2 seconds?? It would have been terrible. Instead I just looked like a parrot stuffing those crackers into my mouth. I only "lost my cool" twice... once after a bike ride that I think I pushed myself too hard and another after driving back from Dallas--too much time in the car. Other than that, I have had a very fortunate pregnancy. Up until about 30 weeks I was running 5-6 miles like it was the easiest thing I've ever done. I was addicted and felt great!

Last ride I could fit in my jersey

- Around week 13 we told our families. It was hard not to let the secret out earlier, especially having Collin's family in Phoenix right around the time we found out ourselves! They're all in separate states so we had to think of a way we could reach all of them in the same day. Answer: Skype. So my friend Dana made up some iron-on lettering that said "I'm Going To Be A Big Brother" and I put together t-shirts for the pups. Then we got in touch with our families on Skype, held up the pups, and waited for them to interpret what the dogs were wearing and then they FREAKED! They were so excited and were not expecting it at all. I think they thought we were going to wait until we had a few years of residency under our belts.... Surpriseeee! Then to tell our grandparents we told them we got them UTAH shirts to wear for the season and wanted to show them. So on Skype/FaceTime we held up shirts that said "U (big U for Utah) are going to be a great grandparent". They were even more shocked than the rest of our family, tears everywhere! They were probably the most fun to tell. Valerie was fun to tell too. We just sent her an ultrasound picture and we get a call back "are you guys serious?" then it was just silent...Sweet girl couldn't stop crying. She's going to be an awesome aunt.

Christmas at the cottage

- During the first and second trimester, Collin was in other cities or states doing orthopedic rotations at different hospitals. He missed the gradual increase of my belly so when he came back, things were a little different but he says he loves my prego belly! Also at this time, our good friends Jess and Miles included me in on some of their date nights and adventure outings. Poor Miles became the third wheel... Thanks for taking care of me guys!

- Week 18: We found out Baby Barber was a GIRL!






- Week 22: I was actually on a date with Jess and Miles seeing Captain Phillips when I felt baby girl's first kick!

- I had two totally awesome baby showers! One was in Utah with family and one my good friends Brooktynn, Haylee, and Jess put together for me. We are so blessed! I don't know what else she needs. She'll be the cutest lookin' babe out there!

Best friends EVER!

- Week 33: Baby girl is a "small-normal" size and I get permission to eat an extra meal every now and again... I thought I was eating extra meals!

Valentine's Day Camping trip to Tucson

Sedona

 







 - Week 35: I'm already dilated to 1-2cm... What?? She has to wait at least 1-2 more weeks! Her essentials are still coming in the mail!

Now we're just trying to get mentally prepped for this new addition, but couldn't be more excited. I am READY to meet her and pumped to be able to breathe and move again!

30 week bike ride!

From the puppies' perspective... I'm sure they're wondering why mom won't run anymore and has a hard time moving in general, but I think they're going to be great older brothers. I think Mowgli will be the protective one and Baloo will be the curious, never miss a drop of food one.

Tuscon camping

The party is just about to get started!

I LOVE free stuff!

OK, so my wonderful, talented Chi Omega sister (cheesy? Don't care.) 

is doing a $50 Shabby Apple giveaway on her blog. 

If you aren't familiar with Shabby Apple dresses, you're missing out!

 

If  you would also like a chance to win FREE money, visit her blog ( Emi's Blog ) and follow the directions! Good luck!

And then we became a family of THREE!

Ask my parents, almost everyday I have been alive I've asked for a dog. Unfortunately for Collin, that constant reminder fell on him when we got married. I've been drooling over puppy classifieds online and sent him TONS of pictures of puppies that I want...trying to be as subtle as I could possibly handle. He's also wanted a dog, but tends to be more rational in his thinking and was waiting for a time in our lives when a dog would be easier to handle.

SO I graduated and I just couldn't take it anymore. I waited long enough. I NEEDED a puppy. So I started looking around and calling people to make appointments for a visit. Coincidentally, one of my best friend's parent's labs had just had a HUGE litter of puppies the exact same day I was about to go look at a couple of puppies. I called her and told her to put us down for 1 male chocolate lab! Then I told Collin we were getting a puppy haha Luckily he was just as excited as I was!

Also by coincidence, we got to pick him up on my birthday! BEST birthday present ever! (Thank you Isaacson's!) So without further ado, I will introduce MOWGLI!

 Mowgli at 6 weeks

 He sleeps ALL the time

 Seriously falls asleep anywhere

 A little blurry only because once he's awake, he doesn't stop moving

 A size comparison (That's Collin's slipper)

 Mowgli at 7 weeks

Stretching? No, still sleeping....comfortably I suppose

He is the best dog in the world and we absolutely love him more than words can describe! (Especially since he started sleeping through the night after the first week!)

I'm sure there will be many more posts to come that mainly revolve around him... Don't be surprised!

kelsi

Olympic Triathlon SURVIVORS

So last weekend we met up with the Barber's in St. George for a little R&R....kinda. We also decided it might be "fun" to do an olympic triathlon while we were there!

For those of you unfamiliar with what an olympic triathlon is, it consists of a 1500m swim, 20 mile bike, and a 10 k. Needless to say, our week of hard training a week before the race didn't secure our first place positions (weird, I know). But we had "fun" and it was a good learning experience! Now we know what to do for the next one...like maybe train hard for 2 weeks instead of 1 ;) 

But out of the whole triathlon experience, there are two things I can remember that made the whole 3 hours worthwhile....

1. Collin and I started at different times and when we crossed paths I noticed something "different" with his biking shorts. When we finished and I finally got to check him out, he had his biking shorts on backwards!! He biked and ran with the bigger part of the butt padding in the front! I couldn't stop laughing. He said "I was wondering why there was so much room". 

2. Collin then goes on to tell me that after his bike ride, he was so hot that he poured his entire water bottle over his head....only it wasn't water- He grabbed the water bottle with gatorade in it! He ran the 10 k drenched in a sticky mess! 

Oh Collin, you make me laugh.

 Collin- making it look easy...

Me- incredibly happy the swim was over

The rest of the trip consisted of golfing, shopping, eating, pooling, shuffle boarding, birthday celebrating (Val is the big 2-1 now!), girlfriend meeting (Ms. Katrina), and movie watching! We had so much fun with the whole family there. It was exactly what we needed before having to get serious with school again! Thanks Melissa and Greg!

Just Checking In...

We're just a couple of months late for our every 6 month blogging appointment (I'll try to do better in the future).... Life has been busy, busy lately but I am on my 21 day break so I figured I would take some time to give a little update....

So like I said, I am on a BREAK! Believe it or not, we were given a very gracious break before our LAST semester of NURSING SCHOOL! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, but so surreal... I'm afraid any mention of graduating could jinx the entire thing- "knock on wood"...

Collin is HALF WAY THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL!! He has done so well and has really enjoyed it so far. His third year will consist of following doctors of various specialties around at different hospitals... This  is when med school starts getting good. He'll get to spend the entire year in the hospital setting while putting to practice what he's been learning! Then fourth year will be some time in the hospital but mostly applying and interviewing for RESIDENCY programs! (Where does the time go??) Then he graduates and we start planning for a new adventure!

Right now Collin has a strict and strenuous studying schedule that will prepare him to take the Step 1 (the first half of the boards).... So from early in the morning to late at night, Collin is at the school....studying. I'm really so proud of him though. There's a reason why he signed up for this med school thing and I didn't... There's no way I'd be able to hang!

Well another reason I'm blogging is because I need to waste time before we go to my first midnight showing to The Avengers! It's going to be awesome... We've been so pumped for this movie to come out! 

Annddd then tomorrow I leave for Palm Desert for Girl's Week with my Mom, Grandma, and Aunts! It is an annual thing they have been doing for years and I've become an official part of the fun! Poor Collin gets left behind but hopefully he can be super productive with his studying without having me here to distract him... I'll be sure to bring something home for him!

 Tough Mudder 2012

 Phoenix Open Golf Tour

 Our BFF's, Jason and Dana, in Tucson for BANFF and some road biking

 Biking in Oro Valley

 Best place on earth...

Jason and Collin getting burritos before they passed out from being so HUNGRY at the Tucson 4th Ave Street Fair

we are STUDENTS.

So it has been forever since I've posted anything...mostly because I have no idea how to make our "blog" look fun so out of frustration I avoid adding anything. If anyone is willing to teach me, I will happily accept.

It seems like the last time we posted anything was around a year ago-ish so here are some updates:

- I got into ASU's Accelerated Nursing Program (Thank you Greg and Melissa for the surprise celebration dinner to Mimi's!). I started May 2011 and graduate August 2012. Yes, in a total of 16 months I will receive my BSN and my RN after I take the NCLEX (and pass!). How do we get to be done so quickly you ask? It is simple. We get no breaks! In fact, when we do get a day off our teachers schedule a test the day after so we spend our "day off" studying. If I'm socially inept when you see me again August 2012, you'll know why.
We started clinicals at the Phoenix VA for adult health. I have really loved being able to do the hands-on, real life nursing stuff. Half way through the semester we'll switch to mental health. Then next semester is peds, OB/ maternity, and community. Then our last semester is in the ICU. ( I can NOT wait!)
Other than school, I'm still in Young Women's and working at a home healthcare company. I kinda feel like I'm suffocating due to the lack of adventure we've been able to experience lately. But hopefully with it sort of cooling down now we'll be able to bike more and get out. Yes, we very much so miss Utah.

- Collin is doing wonderfully! He has started to feel the pressure of narrowing down his choices in what specialty he would like to pursue. We made a pros/ cons list of his top 3. After an opportunity to shadow Dr. Klatt (a peds ortho surgeon at Primary Children's), his top choice as of now is orthopedics. This means he has to study, study, study to do extremely well on his boards. Ortho is a very competitive residency, but it fits his personality. All they do is talk about sports during their surgeries (Needless to say he LOVED it!- Thanks Dr. Klatt!)
Collin is also busy working for Kaplan, coaching an inner city basketball team just because they needed coaches (heart of gold that man), 1st co. in the Elder's Quorum, and the man keeps me from frequent melt downs.
(You're asking if we ever get to see each other. The answer is usually sometime after 5pm.)

- Other news:

   - Collin got in-state tuition! YESS!

   - We had our 1 yr. anniversary in June... It still feels like we're dating. Thank you mom and dad for the gift certificate to Cheesecake Factory! (Otherwise we were finally going to be able to use our gift card to Chili's!)

   - Collin and I got to go to Utah to see Chelsey and Parry Cutler get married. Then a month later, Collin got to go see Scotty and Kaylee Anderson get married.

I think that about sums up the past few months. Overall, we have been very, very blessed and grateful for all the opportunties we've been able to take advantage of.

FREE Babysitting

Our ward here in Phoenix is awesome! We've built close relationships with other young couples and have really been able to feel more at home. Our callings in the Elders Quorum Presidency and the Young Woman have kept us busy, but we've enjoyed the opportunity to be so involved and the blessings associated with the service. Our testimonies have truly been strengthened. The best part about our ward is there are TONS of cute babies and if anyone knows us, they know we love babies. So naturally, we frequently offer our free babysitting services to anyone with a kid.
We recently were able to watch our close friends' little girl, Matti. She is the CUTEST little girl and really knows how to melt your heart with her big, blue eyes. I've tried really hard to make me her favorite, but she seems to have a thing for Collin... I guess I can't blame her. But here are some pictures of our day together at our apartment:

 Outfit change...

 I liked all of our stuff on the floor anyway...

 Backyardigans... I was singing the theme song the rest of the week

 And this is my favorite. She loves him!