Dreaming of summer

This time of year is usually the hardest in Utah. The time where you really wish you could go to Hawaii every year. The end of February. Summer just feels so far away. March is a tease. April showers bring May flowers and then there is June gloom! There are the moments were it gets up into the 50s-60s (like this weekend!) but then a storm will soon follow. Luckily bed rest has made me not too depressed about our horrible winter because I can't do anything anyways. That doesn't stop my day-dreaming of the joys of summer! The warm nights, long days, swimming, hiking, and bike rides. I think it has to be my favorite season. Whether in Utah or California, summer is the best :)

summer by ashleykirkland8 featuring rainbow sandals

Valentine's Day and other happenings...

We usually combine Valentine's Day and our anniversary because they are only 2 days apart but this year was a little different because I can't really do anything. So we celebrated both with lots of candy, donuts, DC, takeout and movies!

 This is what I gave Casey for our anniversary. This picture is not the best quality though. I did 4 maps cut into hearts of where we met, said I love you, got married and went on a honeymoon. It was super easy (I am craft challenged). And he loved it!

Lately we have just been getting ready for this baby! Casey has been putting together baby stuff. My sister comes to visit almost daily. Casey's sister brings her kids to play with us! and I finished crocheting  my scarf. I was so proud of myself. 

a couple of things I miss

Being on bed rest makes me miss a lot of things that I used to take for granted. 

To name a few...

#1. EXERCISING! and being active

Driving and listening to the radio

going aimlessly shopping (target, tjmaxx, the mall)

Decorating my house (mainly the nursery)

GOING TO MOVIES!
 going to a restaurant on a weekend night

CHURCH

BYU sporting events

day trips to Salt Lake or Park City

going to the Temple

this list could go on and on..... But one thing that I do not miss is WORKING WHILE BEING PREGNANT. That one was never fun. 12 hour shifts, stressfully running around with a few extra lbs attached to your belly = not fun (I think it actually may have contributed to my preterm labor). I do look forward to working when I'm not pregnant. I think it will feel good to be finally making some money instead of always spending it.
Nonetheless...
I am very grateful that I am able to have a baby. After trying for a year and a half I was quite relieved to find out I was pregnant. Even though the last part of this pregnancy has been kinda rough I really have nothing to complain about. I was never very sick and my baby is still very healthy! My body just thinks he needs to be pushed out sooner than we would like (hence the contractions). Let's just plan on cooking him for a couple more weeks and then we can call it good !!!!

It's Oscar Time!

For those who know me know that I am kind of obsessed with all things movies. I love going to the movies. I always know what is out and what is upcoming. Casey gets me a subscription to Entertainment Weekly every Christmas and I usually read it cover to cover each and every week. So you can only guess how excited I get for the Oscars! and the countdown begins...6 more days till February 24th! At this point I usually have seen most of the movies up for best picture and I have read a lot about the hopeful winners. Here is some info on this years lineup and some of my predictions...

BEST PICTURE

 This is a hard one. I guess the winner of this category has never been a picture that does not also have a nomination in the best director category. Which is why I am hesitant with my choice. I want to say Lincoln but I am going to have to go with Argo. 

BEST ACTOR

I don't think anyone in this lineup even comes close to Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln. He was amazing. 

BEST ACTRESS

Out of the nominees this year we have the youngest ever and oldest ever actresses nominated. I don't think either one will win though. I would say that it is going to come down to Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings playbook and Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. My choice is Jessica Chastain. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

One of my favorite actors is up for this one: Christoph Waltz. He is amazing in Django. I want him to win but I don't think he will.  All of these actors have actually already won Oscars. I'm going with Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I'm going to have to say that Anne Hathaway's performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" will seal the deal for most voters in this category. My choice: Anne Hathaway

BEST DIRECTOR

This the where there was kind of drama this year because poor Ben Affleck did not get the nomination when he should have. I wish I could say he was going to win. Since that is not an option my choice is Steven Spielberg 

As for the other races I am not going to bore you with what I think. I like to throw a little party and fill out ballots for a prize. It's more fun to watch the whole show when you really want to win. Let the countdown begin...6 more days! I'm looking forward to it :)

Baby Shower Time!

I should have posted this earlier...with being on bed rest you would think that I would have more time to blog. But for some reason I am able to fill up my days with crocheting, visitors, watching tv shows/movies, and readying good books. So it's Sunday and I have finally gotten around to posting about my baby shower that happened 2 weeks ago. I am so blessed to have wonderful friends and family that helped put this shower together. Luckily we already had it planned for my house which worked out well with bed rest. I had to stay in a chair the whole time and I felt bad not being able to mingle with all the girls :( Nonetheless, the shower turned out great! 

A special thanks to: Mercedes Attig, Oakley Peterson, Kelly Heinz, Christy Kirkland, Becca Anderson and of course my Mother! 

 My mom surprised me and came into town for the shower. I had no idea!! It's always better to have your mom with you. 

Our good friends the Attigs came up from St George to stay with us. Here are the boys putting together the crib!

all the yummy food!

Becca made her amazing coconut cupcakes!

the whole gang!

 Mercedes and Oak (and lil Scar)

nursing friends forever! Hay and Kels

 Casey's mom Christy, my mom and Case's Gma Anna

 little Vera!

 our photo booth. 

I only stood up for a few minutes to take these pictures. Then back to the couch!

Mom and Linda (our good family friend who came up as well)

 Sister-in-laws! Kell and Jen

 Sistas! Mac and Becs

4 years !

4 years ago I married my best friend Casey Kirkland. Now we are expecting our first baby! It's crazy how time flies. I'm so excited for the next chapter of our lives to begin. Here's to 2013!

How I ended up on bed rest...

So here is a little update on my pregnancy status. I'm not sure who actually reads this but I'm kind of using it as my own journal. Sorry in advance for the length of this post.  So last weekend I accompanied Casey to Las Vegas for this sales conference with AtTask. The second day into the trip I started to have contractions and bleeding. I was hanging out with my friend Amanda near her house in Henderson. She said this happened to a friend of hers and it ended up being preterm labor. I usually have braxton hicks contractions so I wasn't thinking much of it until I saw the blood. And the contractions felt a little bit different (more pressure and cramping) and they were more regular. Long story short I checked myself into Labor and Delivery. After being hooked up to monitors and them checking my cervix sure enough I was in preterm labor. My cervix was "way too soft" for only being 28 weeks. It was funneling as well. The next step after that is it will dilate then you have your baby! not good. 

So I was admitted for the night. Casey came to the hospital and spent the night with me. We had no idea that we would be stuck there 4 nights! The perinatologist saw me every morning along with my OB. The first 48 hours I was on this IV drip of Magnesium Sulfate and lets just say it is the worst thing in the entire world. It feels like you literally have been run over by a truck--flushing, hot esp in the face, blurry vision, double vision, flu-like symptoms, nausea, weakness (like I couldnt even lift my legs). Along with that I got a catheter! so fun. and my blood checked every 6 hours because it can be toxic. OH and I had to live off ice chips for 2 days. They started to taste like metal eventually. I was also on a couple of oral meds to stop the contractions. Procardia, terbutaline and indocin. So the next few days I was on constant monitoring for contractions and the babies heart beat. After they stopped the Mag they were just trying to figure out what combo of meds would work best to calm my uterus down. 

I forgot to mention that they were totally preparing me for having my baby in that hospital. They gave me the steroid shots Betamethasone to mature the baby's lungs in case he were to be born. Oh and they had the NICU dr. come in and talk to us. He kept saying "so you are GOING TO HAVE YOUR BABY IN THE NEXT 24-48 HOURS"....we were like what?!?!?! ummmm we don't live here so that is NOT our plan! It kinda freaked us out! I guess they were just trying to prepare us for if it did happen that way. 

So after 5 days in the hospital they decided that I was stable enough to discharge back to Utah. My mom had flown up and was going to drive with us. We left the hospital tuesday morning, got all of our prescriptions filled and drove back to Utah. I was so anxious just to  get home. I seriously didn't care if I had the baby early I just wanted to have him in Utah NOT VEGAS! 

I met with my Dr.-- Heather Harrison the next day and gave her the low down. She put me on bedrest. I asked her what does that mean. She said, "You can get up to use the bathroom and get yourself food. 10 min showers once a day and that's about it. No housework or cooking. And no going out". She said she might give me a pass every other week or so to go to a movie but that I would have to be dropped off at the curb, walk straight in and put my feet up. 

Talk about a life changer. I am the kind of person that is very active and always on the go. On my days off I usually go the gym, do laundry, clean, grocery shop, meet someone for lunch, run errands, etc. NOW I can't do any of those things for 5 more weeks. And I can't work either.  The good thing is that I don't really feel much guilt for being lazy because my #1 job right now is to grow my baby. Plus I have plenty of friends and family around to entertain me. Seriously I am so thankful for all those who have been praying for me and calling me just to check up. It really makes a difference. 

So that is the update on my pregnancy status! Sorry it was so long! As for now I am just trying to keep myself busy. Some things I have planned:

1. finish the Book of Mormon

2. Watch all the movies from the past 25 years that won an Oscar for BEST PICTURE

3. learn how to crotchet

4. Read more books

5. write in my journal daily

6. sleep in till 10am daily - it makes the day go by much faster!

7. organize our bills and important docs into folders

8. Watch tv Season (Scandal, 24, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives)

That's about all I can think of right now. If anyone has any ideas for me let me know!!

Here are some pics from our wild time in VEGAS...

This is what the Mag Sulfate did to me. I literally could barely open my eyes. 

 St. Rose Siena Hospital. At least it was a nice Catholic hospital!

I was so excited once the catheter was out and I could go to the bathroom on my own!

my awesome escort wheeling me out!

so excited to get home!