Purchase Order

I forgot I never posted how we told our family we were expecting. When I was fifteen weeks along, we made a "purchase order" and mailed them to our close family. We made matching envelopes with the same stork picture and Storks, Inc. slogan. Brandt and I had a good time filling out the specifics of the order (i.e. "Terms of Delivery = Unpleasant). Then we sat back and waited a couple of days for the phone calls to come in :) Although I think I did end up telling my sister, Lindsay, over the phone because she thought something was wrong with me for some reason and was pretty distraught, and since she lives further away than everyone else she would have been a day late in getting her letter in the mail. So I think I ended up telling her by having Kate go and tell her that she (meaning Kate) was going to be a cousin, but I had to bribe her with candy so she'd do it because she wanted to keep it a secret between the two of us. So I think her exact words were, "Mom, ummmm, Dani says I'm gonna be a cousin and she's going to give me candy!" which was kind of fun because then Linds started screaming and Kate didn't know what the heck was going on.

*In case the writing is hard to read on the letter, let me share this cool trick I learned the other day. If you push Ctrl, then the '+' symbol you can zoom in on your computer screen. Then you just push Ctrl and the '-' symbol to zoom back out. You're all probably geniuses and already knew that, but I thought it was a pretty neat little trick!

I am now 23 weeks along. Things have been going really well so far. I've been very blessed and haven't experienced any nauseousness. I was nervous about that mainly because of  my job and where I have patients that are expecting to see me; I would hate for a patient to show up and have the receptionist tell them, "Sorry, your hygienist can't stop throwing up - come back tomorrow and maybe she can see you then." So luckily that's all been fine. My biggest symptoms so far have been tiredness and increased appetite - I usually go to bed early and I eat every 3-4 hours. And amazingly with my increased calorie intake and lack of exercise I didn't gain any weight the first trimester - but starting around week fifteen I've probably put on a pound a week.

I first felt baby boy move just after I hit fifteen weeks, and it wasn't very many days later that I could actually SEE him move and Brandt could feel it as well. And ever since then he's been moving all over the place. For a few days there I was convinced I was having twins because I thought there was no way one kid could be moving so much! It's kind of fun and makes the whole thing seem more real.

I have a feeling he's going to be a good boy (but I guess every parent probably thinks that about their kids right?). I feel like we're a team, him and I. For example: getting my braces taken off was a bit traumatic. I have a pretty high pain tolerance when it comes to my teeth but for some reason they were really sensitive that day and they had to do some final adjustments, plus fix my retainers, take off all the cement, etc. Every time they used the high-speed  it sent a shock straight to the nerve and I thought I was gonna die (ok, that may be exaggerating just a tad, but it was very unpleasant). But every time I felt my stress level rising, the baby would kick and it gave me something else to concentrate on. He kicked more during that hour than he usually would. It was like he was watching out for his momma. Or maybe it was just that my stress was stressing him out, thus making him freak out a bit. Either way I appreciated it :)

It's still hard for me to believe we're going to be parents in a few short months. In some ways I feel ready for this next phase, but then in other ways I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing! But I would guess you never feel quite ready to be a parent. We'll just take it as it comes and learn as we go. Should be fun!

And....They're OFF!!

Today was a fabulous day. After one year of treatment, I got my braces taken off!! Wooooohoooooo! I ended up getting them off six months earlier than my orthodontist originally thought, so I was pretty thrilled. The most thrilling part is that now I won't look like a pregnant teenager! Exciting, I know!

Before

That canine and lateral always bugged me. They just jutted out there like nobody's business.

After

Ta Da! I've wanted to do this for a long time and I'm glad I finally got it done. It was definitely a pain (literally, when those rubber bands would snap and break inside my mouth - killer! Not to mention I have no idea how many rubber bands I accidentally swallowed), but it was worth it. It's been a nice boost to my self-image as I am now in the "I don't quite look pregnant, just chubby and like I need to lose ten pounds" phase of pregnancy. So now at least the top half of me is lookin' pretty good :)

Today

Today is a special day. Mainly for two reasons.

First, today is our five year anniversary. It's crazy to think that we've been married for five years already. Time has flown by. So much has happened in the last five years and it's so funny to look back at our wedding pictures and remember that day; it seems like another lifetime! And those kids in the pictures...I can't believe they're us! We really look like little kids. Very tan little kids. I feel so very blessed to have Brandt in my life. Guaranteed, 100%, without a doubt, he is who I was meant to be with. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that Brandt is in my life - I really can't imagine life without him. I love him so much more now than I did five years ago - it's interesting how as time passes, your love for someone can increase as you go through life's experiences and trials together. We know each other so well, but every now and then I will learn something new about him and think, "how on earth did I not know that already?" It's kind of fun. I am so lucky that he picked me, and I can't wait to experience the next five years with him (I have a feeling their going to be a little crazy!) Love you babe!

And secondly, today is a special day because it marks halfway in my pregnancy. Which means that this morning we got to go in for our twenty-week ultrasound and find out the gender of our baby.  Not too shabby for an anniversary gift. And the verdict is in:

It's a BOY!

Granted, this picture doesn't prove that he's a boy; this is just a profile shot. I was going to post the other picture, but Brandt said we should protect his privacy and not plaster his wee wee all over the internet. So you'll have to take my word for it. I was actually 99% sure it was a boy (I've thought that our first child would be a boy for the last few years), so that wasn't a real shocker, but it was great to find out that all his other parts are where they're supposed to be and that he is growing and developing just as he should. He was very cooperative during the whole appointment and showed the tech everything she needed to see. We are very excited for this new phase in our lives. I'm not sure we know exactly what we're getting ourselves into, but that's probably a good thing :) We can't wait to meet the little guy...only twenty more weeks to go!

So you could say today has been a pretty stellar day thus far. Now, I just have to wait for Brandt to get done with his final and we can go celebrate!