The Home Stretch

Wellp! Here we are, week 34! Or 35. Or somewhere in between...My due date has skipped about in the last little while. My original date was April 3rd, then at the ultrasound, the tech said her head was huge (rude!) so they moved it to the 25th of March. But at my last appointment, I was measuring closer to the April 3rd date. So basically, to quote Mr. Incredible, "We'll get there when we get there!"

I'm feeling really good, and grateful to be feeling that way. So far, I haven't had any swelling unless I get too warm and I've been in pretty good health. I had a cold for about a week, which wasn't a whole lot of fun, but I got through it. The only complaint I have? These dang stretch marks. Curses! But, in an odd sort of way, I have come to terms with them. Heck, I've earned 'em! :] So even then, its not really a complaint. I know a lot of women have a hard time, and I was prepared to have a really hard time, but I feel like I have been blessed with the tender mercy of having a relatively pleasant pregnancy. Maybe this is preparing me for the inevitability of my daughter being a super girly, dancer/cheerleader, and boy crazy type of girl. :]

Tyson is doing well in school and is loving his classes. He's developed (no pun intended) a passion for black and white film photography, and loves spending time in the dark room developing the photos he's taken. I've had the opportunity to go with him the last couple of times to take interesting photos up at the State Capitol building in Salt Lake. That place is awesome! And huge. We also took my dear friend Dani's engagement pictures up there yesterday, which was a great experience for all of us.

I'm greatly anticipating the arrival of this little one. Lately, I've been feeling completely overwhelmed with the upcoming events, but I am so happy that it is happening. I'm so grateful to have a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, and feel so blessed that our Heavenly Father is entrusting us to raise one of his precious spirits. It will be a daunting task, and one that I don't feel nearly qualified for, but I am so looking forward to each moment that is to come. She's already so precious to me, and a stinker :] and I just can't wait to meet her! Well, I can. She needs to cook just a little longer, please and thanks!

And, for your viewing pleasure, this video by Julian Smith. He is hilarious. And clean. Which is not a combination easily found! Our other favorites of his are "Jellyfish," "Hot Kool Aid," "Racist Coffee," and "Malk."

We're Getting There!

I'm finally in the 3rd Trimester! Woot! I'm 30 weeks along, and I am definitely starting to feel it! I love this being pregnant thing...it was definitely hard to be happy about it whilst being sick for the time I was, but I truly am enjoying it now. Except for the fact that I can hardly bend over to put shoes on. That's not completely super. :]

Tyson got into the Photography program at BYU!!!! This is super exciting news! This means he can be taking all the classes he needs/wants to and we've got a rough estimate of how much longer he'll be in school. This semester, he's taking a black and white photography class, where he's using a film camera and will be developing pictures in a darkroom. Sweet. He's enjoying his classes thus far, and the next few years are going to be really fun for him. His business did pretty well this Christmas season as well, as they had a booth in a store at the University Mall. They sold quite a few, and it was really cool to see people interested in his work, as they are beautiful pictures.

Baby Ruth is still growing well and is very active. We like that we can actually see her moving around now, even though it sort of looks like there's an alien in my belly. She's big enough now (and I'm pretty sure she's got a personality already) that she enjoys getting right up under my rib cage while I'm sleeping and kicking as hard as her little legs can. And each time, I wake up saying "Whoa, baby!" She also has her own time schedule, which makes me laugh. A couple of weeks ago, our alarm clock didn't go off, and I started awake at 7:26 (four minutes before I usually leave for work) and did the fastest getting ready procedure of my life. Tyson had to drive me, and about halfway there, she finally woke up and started doing somersaults and kicking my internal organs, as if to say, "Um, why are you up? I'm not ready to be up." I love the little personality we've given her already.

My last doctor's appointment went well, which I was extremely happy about, because it was that glucose test. The one where you drink that nasty drink that tastes like orange soda that was left out for a week. Glorious. But I passed it, which means I don't have to do the 3 hour one. However, she also tested my Iron, and it was at a 10.8. Normal Iron content, she said, is between 11 and 12. So I'm taking an extra Iron supplement on top of my prenatal. The fact that my Iron is low is honestly not surprising. It always has been. I've tried to donate blood 4 times, and only succeeded once because my Iron was too low. And I haven't had beef since about 18 weeks along, so it has been greatly diminished.

My mom told me that while she was pregnant with me, she love love loved ice cream, and she thinks that's why I've always loved ice cream. Well, this baby is going to be the same way! I love ice cream! A couple of Saturdays ago, Tyson went skiing, so I was at home watching Law & Order: SVU and decided, "Hmm...I want ice cream." So I ate a big bowl...and then another one...and then half of one. It was awesome. I was ashamed. :]

So, all is well in the Rollins household. We love our life and we can't wait til Baby Ruth gets here in just a few short weeks!

Almost Through With Trimester Two!

I'm a poet and I wasn't even aware!

Week 23! Its crazy how time is flying...Baby Ruth is growing like mad, and moving like a fiend. She's especially active right as I'm finally relaxing for bed...she's gonna be a turkey, I can tell :] Tyson is able to feel her move and Emma and Kev felt her this last weekend while we were in Vegas!

And yes, we are naming her Ruth. Ruth Anne to be precise. :]

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas with my family and it was a blast! For Thanksgiving dinner, we went to the Garden Buffet in the South Pointe Hotel/Casino and man, was it delicious. And I got to eat sushi! (no fish in it, but it was still spectacular). We also got to walk through the cactus garden at Ethel M chocolate factory, which was beautiful. It was so nice to spend those days with our family.

Friday morning, Mom, Emma, and I got up and left around 6 to get in line at Jo-Ann's Fabric store, because their flannel was $1.29 a yard, which is a screaming deal. We only stood in line for about 10 minutes, and we were in the store, so we didn't completely freeze. We couldn't get a cart right away so while Mom watched for an available cart, Emma and I packed around about 10 bolts of fabric. My arms are still sore! But we finally got a cart and loaded it up with our bolts and waited for our numbers to be called. I got enough fabric to make 6 blankets :] and I will post pictures as they go!

We ended up needing to leave a day early, however, because the Storm of the Century was a few days late. It was SUPPOSED to come through on Tuesday, but decided to hang out until Sunday, so we took off on Saturday. We're extremely grateful we did though, because we woke up this morning to a thick blanket of snow.

So anyways, that's what's new in our lives. Also, Tyson submitted his portfolio for the Photography program at BYU, so keep your fingers crossed!!

Are We Going To Have Trucks or Dolls At Our House?

We had our first ultrasound today! Our baby is looking really good and healthy, which is awesome :] Baby's head is a little big, which leads the doctor to believe I'm about 20 weeks instead of 19, which puts our prospective due date at March 25th. Sweet! We got to see the little feet, and hands, and face, and the gender!

Do you wanna know what we're having?

Nah, I bet you don't....

Oh, you do?

Well...its a......

GIRL!

We are so excited!! I have to admit, I'm also extremely worried. Because here's the thing...

I have a problem...and its sorta hard for me to admit...you see...

I can't do hair.

There, I've said it and its out there! I can't do hair! I've had short hair for so long and I struggle just to put it in a ponytail! Oh my poor poor daughter...I hope and pray she has curly hair like her Daddy, that would be a tender mercy.

But other than that, I'm so excited! Oh man, to be having a daughter! A cute little girl! I already know what I want her room to look like :] Here's two of the bedding sets I really, love:

I'm also keeping my eye out for anything with forest animals...because I love deer and foxes and owls.

But anyways, we've got her name picked out, so if you would like to know that, I might tell you :] We'll see ;]

This Is A Pretty Good Story

This is pretty good story...I may or may not have stolen a bit of the title from my dear, sweet cousins Emily and Elisabeth. :]

It's not so much of a riveting and heartwarming story as theirs, but its a good story, nonetheless. (Also, I love finding ways to use that word. Its a great one!)

One day, in July, I woke up feeling very strange. I usually do feel strange, but this morning I felt extra strange. Partly because it was 6 o'clock in the morning on my day off and partly because my stomach was doing flips. Odd.

So, I decided on a whim to take one of THOSE tests. You know which ones I'm talking about.

My little drowsy head was still very groggy when the test result came up, and I had to look at it twice. I looked at the screen, then in the mirror, then back at the screen, then back at the mirror. Um.

I casually walked back into our bedroom. "Um, honey?"

Tyson (still sleeping): "Grumble grumble, huh?"

Me: "Heh. I'm pregnant."

Tyson, literally leaping out of bed: "What??"

Yep! That's the pretty good story!

We're having a baby!

Well, I'm having a baby, I mean, I'm the one who is pregnant after all. But we're going to have a baby! We're going to be parents! (Weird.)

I am basically stoked. And can't even believe how blessed we are. I mean, the fact that our Heavenly Father is entrusting us with one of His sweet spirits is incredibly humbling.

I cannot WAIT to see this little sweet bean. (This is what I lovingly refer to it right now. My little sweet bean.)

Most everyone thinks we are having a boy. (Which would be great because, well, I don't know how to do girl hair.)

Very few think we are having a girl. (Which greatly leads me to believe we are having a girl.)

I was pretty sick for about 2 months, but I'm coming out of it now, for which I am very grateful. (This baby was FREQUENTLY referred to as my little sweet bean while I was sick.)

I cannot eat beef. It basically is the most disgusting thing ever.

I love love love Cafe Rio pork. Yikes.

I also love pickles. Typical.

We have names picked out for whether it is a boy or girl. And they are normal names. And they won't be spelled weird. (Because what child wants to have to go to the first day of school for the rest of their lives and have to correct the teacher on the pronunciation of their name?)

We don't mind sharing our name choices, because frankly, I'm set on the names and nothing anyone says can change that. :]

We are very excited, and feeling very blessed to be welcoming Baby Rollins before Easter!

Also, we find out the gender of my little sweet bean on November 9th!

Uglies

Well, I've been non-existent in the blogging world so here is my attempt to jump back in!

Tonight, I tried a new recipe I found on allrecipes.com called "Uglies." And truly, they lived up to their name. They were ugly little things, but they were DELICIOUS!

They didn't take long to make, but they were sure, yummy! We had them with tater tots and campfire sauce.

Campfire sauce is that stuff you can get at Red Robin, but my brother-in-law, Jayden, taught me how to make it. Basically you make regular old fry sauce, then mix in barbecue sauce. Delectable!

Anywho, here's a link to the recipe if you'd like to give them a try!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Uglies/Detail.aspx

Meet Kylee

This is dog 20482 at the South Utah Valley Animal Shelter. She is a 3 year old Jack Russell/Corgi mix. We went to the shelter this morning, and met the sweet sweet dogs there. Two in particular stood out to us as our possible future dogs.

Jenny was a Chihuahua mix (no picture available, sadly) who looks just like my best friend, Kat's, dog, Turbo. She was shy, and reserved, and didn't bark at all.

And this sweet girl is 20482, or as we have named her, Kylee. She was in the back with the bigger dogs (next to the GIANT bloodhound). The dogs around her were leaping and dancing, and barking, but little Kylee just walked to the front of her pen to greet us. She almost looks like she's smiling! She's a sweet dog, and we're crossing our fingers to adopt this sweet dog.