Baby boy names...

Jeff and I are open to hearing any boy names that you may like and are not planning on using in the future... here are the few names that we like: Mason, Alexander, and Ezekiel. open to suggestions!

Estimated due date: January 31, 2011
Countdown: 10 weeks
Gestational Age: 30/31 weeks Nov 22-Nov 28
Trimester: 3rd
The baby is as big as a: Butternut squash, 18in 3.1 lbs

My body:

Movin' on up, my uterus can now be felt four inches above my belly button. This means that my uterus is pushing all the internal organs, that used to be there, somewhere else. So my stomach feels like it's in my chest and my lungs feel like.... hmmmm... they don't even feel like they're there anymore... I guess that could explain why I've been short on air lately.

Indeed, in an effort to provide spacious-enough accommodations for my soon-to-be bouncing boy, my growing uterus has compressed my lungs, limiting their ability to fully expand when I take a breath and causing me to feel like I've just run a marathon when I've only climbed a flight of stairs. While this shortness of breath during pregnancy may feel very uncomfortable (at times), my baby is blissfully unaware and unaffected. My baby boy gets all the oxygen he needs through the placenta. So I'll try to relax and take a deep breath.

According to "What to Expect When You're Expecting" it says that, "that out-of-breath feeling may get better toward the end of my pregnancy, when my baby (and its uterine home) drops down into my pelvis in preparation for delivery.  Until then, I need to be sure to stand straight as I can (given the weight I'm carrying around) and sleep propped up or on my side so that my lungs have more space to... well, breathe."

My Baby
As far as growth goes, my baby's still on a roll, measuring an impressive 18 inches and weighing in at more than three pounds.  I can still expect my baby to gain at least three to five pounds, possibly more, before we meet.

My baby's brain is working overtime these days, developing faster than ever. Connections between individual nerve cells are growing at a frenetic clip, and he can now perceive information from ALL 5 senses.  Sure, he can't smell anything right now, but that's only because he is still submerged in amniotic fluid and needs to be breathing air to get a whiff of anything. Lucky for me -- and my baby -- I will be one of the very first scents my baby breathes in, a scent that will quickly becomes his very favorite (hopefully).

So what's my little boy doing all day while I'm busy feathering our nest for his arrival? Making faces, hiccupping, swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little hands and feet along my uterine wall, and even sucking his thumb.  In fact, some babies suck their thumbs so vigorously while in the womb that they're born with a callus on their thumb (what a sucker!)

projects...

So you remember when I said I wanted to learn and do some creative crafts? well I made a binnie for Jeff and a scarf for my friend Karissa, however I forgot to take a picture of the scarf, so maybe she will take a picture of it and send it to me so I can post it. Karissa came up this weekend and stayed with Jeff and I, we had a lot of fun, one of the activities that we did was make binnies on a loom... it was much easier than crocheting it on a hook (since I have yet to figure out how to start it and how to finish one)... so the brown one is the one I made for Jeff and the green one is the one she made for me; even though we were both trying to make a hat for Jeff, the brown however fit his head better because it was bigger.

We also watched the documentary movie "BABIES" it had its funny parts, because babies are just so cute and predictable... but as a whole the movie was long and kind of boring, there wasn't much of a plot and there was hardly any speaking involved, unless you count languages that I do not know like, Japanese, Mongolian, and Namibian... I did however understand Californian but those parents didn't speak much to their child.

I think what I will do over the Thanksgiving break is make hair bows with my nieces as an activity to do together, and then for Christmas give them something else... I wish I could write what kind of gifts I am thinking about doing, but then I'd be giving away the surprise, because I know they read this here blog...

So one of the many gifts that my friend Karissa gave me this weekend was a Knitting guidebook- basic and special techniques for knitting winter projects.
Projects in this kit include quick crafts, plan-ahead projects, and long-term projects. Since Christmas is just about a month away, I'll have to get started on some of the plan-ahead projects so that I can finish on time.  Some of these projects both quick and plan-ahead include:  beaded box ornament, soft-as-a-cloud baby booties, classic Christmas stockings, felted winter tote, ruffle scarf, throw pillows, cosmetics bag, and lace centerpiece.

Now if I can figure out how to read and do the instructions I will be set.. I may need some professional help though (in more ways than one!)

Thanksgiving! I am so excited because in three 3 days Jeff, Travis, and I will be in Nevada with the rest of my family till about Sunday morning! The last time we were all together was over the summer when we had a family reunion in Missouri, but this will be one of the first times we've all been at my parents' house... now to only convince Dustin to be there at least Wednesday before he has to go fly somewhere for work, who knew Thanksgiving day would be one of the busiest travel days of the year? more than Christmas?! sucks to be a pilot, but at the same time so wonderful! Sorry Dusty! We are leaving Tuesday night and arriving early Wednesday morning, there is suppose to be a huge storm Tuesday day lasting until the night, but I hope it doesn't impede our travels, or worst I hope it doesn't impede my sister and bro-in-law's travels, their 4 young daughters traveling from Vancouver, WA... if the weather is bad they won't come... no! 

Sunday, a day of Rest and Worship
Friday, a friend from work, Jo a semi-Lutheran from a small farming town in Wisconsin somewhere, told me he was interested in coming to church with me.  Recently we've had a few discussions here and there about the church, or at least principles that the Lord teaches, such as forgiveness, patience, love, and worship. I haven't had much of an opportunity to share about the restoration or what makes "us" so much different than other religions... He is an interesting kid, in the sense that he is very naive and somewhat redneck in his upbringing- whether that's how he was really raised or that is just how he is... I do know that his brother, the one he lives with is VERY ANTI-MORMON... so anti in fact that him and I could be friends, but as soon as he finds out I'm "mormon" he'd tell me to leave his house and never come back and probably get angry at me for not telling him I was mormon before we became friends! (apparently this has happened before, not to me, but to someone). So this bit of information isn't very good, but isn't impossible to work with.  I've been praying for opportunities for me to gain his trust and for us to become friends, being able to talk about important things, spiritual things, principles that can influence his life for the better and help him find meaning in his existence.  He told me the other day that I remind him of his mother (he is a mama's boy), that he felt it so easy to talk to me and for me to understand, and give wisdom and advice where appropriate.  He is a good kid, and being 18, fresh out of high school, coming to Logan, UT (where I think is a small town) he thinks is a HUGE city! Perspective is everything! A person who has never heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Mormons", LDS, Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon, or Joseph Smith, especially in our day and age, with technology the way it is and missionary work ever so populating and growing, it is surprising that he had never heard anything about us. His mom is very religious, but no one else is in his family, when I asked him if he was Christian, he asked me what that meant.  Some of the other people at work have been not very helpful in explaining things to him, instead use sarcasm and jokes to laugh about church history and other restoration facts- using big words (although may be normal everyday language for members of the church or even common knowledge, to an outsider it only confuses them more and make them more unwilling to learn, especially when sarcasm is involved, instead they think you are making fun of them... also coming to find out that Jo didn't understand sarcasm, it wasn't something he had ever heard of or witnessed in his life).... In some ways he is like a very small child, and possibly a small child from another country or another planet! 

Today, Sunday, he said he was going to come to church with us, but like most "investigators" I try not to get my hopes up because most times out of naught they never show up.  He didn't show up, he lost track of time and instead went to Harry Potter 7.  Next time :) 

I do have high hopes for him though, even in the short amount of time that I have known him he has grown and we have become friends.  Hopefully one day he will really have a desire to know the Lord and want to be in His Fold!