WHOOP! Dayitis!!

I now feel I am OFFICIALLY showing at 21 & a half weeks. I can no longer wear a single pair of pants that I wore before the pregnancy (at least not without a button undone and the zipper halfway down). We were finally approved for AHCCCS, so the ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday, Feb 5th. (Insert impending doom music or glorious 'Alleluiahs' here...whichever you prefer.) The kicking is getting more and more frequent and more like kicking and less like gas, so it finally feels like somethin is a-cookin in the oven!

Toenails and Squirrel Monkeys

Just a few of the things our friends have done to make our lives a little more exciting include a trip to the Phoenix Zoo and a pedicure (by the Ever-AWESOME RUTH!!) For anyone who has not been to the Zoo lately, I highly recommend it! There are some awesome exhibits that allow you to get up-close-and-personal with wallabies and squirrel monkeys. Very FUN!!

DIE, WEEDS, DIE!!!!

Who knew that there was such a thing as a weed-burner? Not me, I'll tell you that. Personally I think it's more of a demoted flamethrower. Either way, this sucker took way too long and way too much propane to really get the job done. However, makes for a pretty cool photo!!

Counting My Blessings

Just as an update on our life: Both of us are still looking for jobs. Yes, that's right, I've been laid off for two and a half months and Ammon's been laid off for six weeks now. I've gotten a total of one interview (and one scheduled for this coming Thursday) from the rampant resume-sending-application-filling I've done and Ammon has had a total of two phone interviews. This of course is just a moderate frustration until you consider that we won't be able to get onto AHCCCS or receive food stamps for at least another 30 days (according to the lady at the DES office) and that Ammon still has not received any unemployment benefits (which was cleared up yesterday, so now we only have to wait 3-6 weeks for that money to come our way). However, through all of this paperwork, we did discover that Ammon's social security number is being used by some random woman in Northwest Phoenix and has been working under that social for over a year now. This of course could affect our taxes and our credit (which is on the verge of taking a significant plummet anyway).

I don't bring this up for a 'pity-us' session, but rather to rather to express my DEEP gratitude for all of the wonderful things I still have:

*We have the MOST AMAZING support system between our families offering to buy us dinner or groceries or pants and ward members and friends that have helped me with assistance programs or found some odd jobs for us to make a little money here and there or even take us to the zoo (there may be another post on that).

*We have two sweet 'little' dogs that help us escape from the daily stresses and put a little bit of goofiness back in our lives.

*We still have a comfortable home and vehicles that haven't given us any trouble. And although these are material things that might soon have to go the way of the bill-collector, I'm still very grateful that Ammon and I have our privacy and independence for a little while longer.

*A healthy baby and simple pregnancy. Throughout all the madness that has been going on, I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. I'm tired a lot and I've had some headaches, but overall it's been a sweet experience, especially when I get to hear that little heartbeat!!! It truly is a blessing to know that we have something so wonderful to look forward to.

*We know that there is more to all of this than all of THIS. The blessing the gospel has been to us, knowing there is a God and that he loves me (perhaps more than he wants my happiness), helps me get through each day with hope and a little bit of understanding.

***Plus, I have the most wonderful husband. The last six weeks have been the funnest in our marriage, and I credit that entirely to Ammon. I'm such a worrier, and he has the ability to constantly remind me, "If you can't do anything about it RIGHT NOW, you shouldn't worry about it." A few weeks ago, I was getting a really nasty headache, so he tucked me into the couch under my Honeybear Blanket, got me a glass of water, my pills and an orange and set up the space heater and started a movie for me so that I could fall asleep in the living room. If our roles were reversed I would have told him to stop whining and go to bed, but as I've seen multiple times in our marriage, Ammon is much more compassionate than I am. These hardships have so many chances to drive us apart, but thankfully we have only gotten closer.

I'm sure there are many other things that I could count off, but these are the top six. Right now, they're the six that have helped me appreciate life. Thanks again to all of you for your love and support!!

Showing?

So this is an updated picture of me, at 18 weeks. I feel like I'm starting to show, but Ammon and this picture tell me otherwise. I look like I've pudged up all over, but still no significant "baby-bump." As of my last doctor's appointment (two weeks ago), I'd still gained less than ten pounds, but the holidays were very unkind, so I'm sure the scales will be a-tippin at my next appointment. As for finding out the gender, I'm still waiting for my AHCCCS application to go through, so we won't be able to do the ultrasound till we get that all taken care of. If you haven't already, let me know your guess for the sex. So far, I've got thirteen voting boy and ten voting for girl. I've been thinking boy this whole time, but lately I've had mental pictures (and a dream this morning) that were all girls. We don't care cuz both will be fun!!!

Da Stash

Now obviously we know the true meaning of Christmas is to remember the birth of our Savior, who lived and died and was resurrected so that we may live again with our Father in Heaven. This has been especially engrained in us since we had little money to really go commercial. However, Ammon and I both just LOVE giving gifts and we LOVE Christmas and even with little income we gave ourselves a budget to get one another presents. Here are some of them including some CD's and DVD's. I also got a fleece blanket from Ammon's mom and we got a portable radio to put in our 72-hour kit from my parent's. (The karaoke system was a gift from our friend Justin Magnusson and if anyone out there wants be invited to our Karaoke party in the next few weeks, let me know.) I am proud to say (with the help of Ammon's brother Landon) we were able to get Ammon a new paintball gun. His old one was more than 12 years old and in desperate need of retirement.

And let's be honest, it's safer than a REAL gun!

Da Ornaments

Another tradition we are forming is getting eachother new ornaments. Here are the three: Ammon's is a Great Dane, Mine is a pair of Dancing Bears, and Ammon even got one for the new Baby: a little Baby Bear coloring.

Da Stockings

Every year we stuff eachother's stockings with goodies and for the longest time, Ammon and I really wanted to get a stocking for the future child/children of the our family. However, we just couldn't agree on any of them. Thankfully, one of the gals I visit-teach makes these little stocking candy-cane holders that are a perfect little addition to our stocking family!!!! I also included all of the fantastic junk that was in our stockings.

Puppy-Sitting

We have some friends in our ward that went out of town for the week of Christmas, so we had the opportunity to puppy-sit their 3-month old blue Great Dane puppy Payton. She is still recovering from a bout with parvo (apparently our neighborhood is just covered in it), so she looks a little skinny in the pictures. However, she is probably the prettiest dog I have ever seen and has overall been a very good puppy (except for that first day she refused to 'go' in the backyard, and that poor garden hose... definitely need to get a new garden hose). She and Bowser have become quick friends!!

New 'Do

So I promised myself I wouldn't cut my freakishly long hair until I got pregnant. Then I got pregnant and it just wasnt much of a priority. Then, after multiple attempts at trying to get all of my hair out from under me while lying in bed with some tired tummy muscles (because for some reason tummy muscles don't like an expanding uterus), I decided I couldn't wait much longer. Here are the before and after pictures. So far, I have gotten good responses, with the only exception being Ammon crying at the salon then staring at me for an hour after to try to remember his 'new wife'. Originally I was planning on donating it to Locks of Love, but I figured with our financial situation I would try to sell it first. So far no takers. If it hasn't sold by the end of January, it will be donated.