Thanksgiving-40 weeks

I know bare pregnant stomachs are kind of gross looking, but I wanted to capture just how big my tummy is!! Today is my due date November 27, Thanksgiving Day, and still no Cheyenne.  I have been feeling really good (until I stuffed myself today and now I am having a hard time breathing).  Tomorrow will be my last day of work at the bank, and then if I haven't had it, Monday night I will go in to the hospital at 7 pm to be induced.  They will give me cervadil to soften my cervix and Jeff and I will stay the night there.  My mom and sister are flying in that night to Atlanta and Sissy Jenkins in my ward is kind enough to pick them up for us.  Then the next day at some point they will break my water and give me pitocin if I need it.  We will probably end up having her sometime in the late afternoon of Tuesday December 2.  That day is also Jeff's grandpa's birthday, so that will be fun for Cheyenne to share that special day with him.  We will let everyone know what happens when we have her though.

Jeff and I have been a little bummed out that we weren't going to get to be with our families this year for Thanksgiving.  We have had such fun Thanksgivings since we have been married always being with at least one side of our family. Most of my family was in Kansas at my sisters house and Jeff's were in Bellingham and Utah.  We were thinking about just going out to eat, but we decided to cook our own little dinner.  Last night we went to the Super Wal Mart in Hartwell and got all the fixin's... turkey (breast), stuffing, rolls, potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, etc.  Today we slept in and then cooked the turkey (with several calls for help to family), and then cooked the rest of the food a little later.  The missionaries also came over and we had our own little Thanksgiving.  Afterward, we went for a walk then watched Home Alone, to get us into the Christmas spirit.  The food was sooooo delicious (although I wish I had my mom's rolls), and the day was an overall success:)  This Thanksgiving I was most grateful for my wonderful husband who I love more than anything in the whole world and our new baby who will be born very soon.  I am also so grateful for the gospel in our lives, it guides us everyday and is something that is so consistent and we can always rely on it.  This is especially important as we are young and moving to new places we know that is one thing in our life that will always be the same no matter where we are!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we will let everyone know when the baby arrives!! YAY!!!

Meridian football reunion...

Some of Jeff's friends from high school play semi-pro football in Canada and they made the all star game which happened to be in Atlanta!  We were really excited to see them and we also used it as an excuse for a last getaway with no kids:)  Jeff and I left after work Friday night and filled up our car with gas for under $30.  We stayed at Embassy Suites (we got a great deal on expedia) in Atlanta right by the perimeter center mall.  Our original plan was to go to the temple on Saturday (the hotel was right by the temple), but Jeff couldn't find his recommend, so we didn't end up going.  We still got to drive by it though and it is very beautiful:)  Friday night when we got there, we went to McDonalds and got some ice cream cones, then went back to the hotel and explored around.  They had an awesome pool and exercise room, so we decided to go swimming.  We had races in the pool and it felt so good to be breathing hard getting exercise I decided I would get up early and workout.  Saturday morning I went to the treadmill and started to walk.  I had been wondering if I would be able to run if I tried since I haven't run in forever.  I have never walked on a treadmill before so once I started walking, it only felt natural to start running.  I was kind of surprised.  I had been running about two minutes when I started to feel a lot of pain on the inside of my pelvic bones, but my lungs and muscles felt fine so I just concentrated and kept running.  I was able to run for about 7 or 8 minutes which I was really proud of, then I decided that was enough and went to do some lunges and I lifted weights with my arms.  It felt so good and I decided that my next pregnancy I am going to try harder to stay in better shape throughout the whole thing, because I think I wont be so miserable.  Anyway, then I went and woke up Jeff just in time for an amazing breakfast provided by the hotel.  It was SO good!! The best part was that it was included in the price of the room.  When we went back to the room, we decided to go to Ross and TJ MAXX.  We were looking around there and I started to realize it may not have been such a good idea to run on the treadmill.  My muscles felt fine, but I honestly think I may have cracked my bones down there.  I had never felt that kind of pain before and it hurt so bad, I literally could barely walk.  Then I started to get worried that I may have bruised Cheyenne's head... so I called my mom and sister but they said the baby was protected and that she was probably fine.  The plan had been for Jeff to spend the day watching football and I would spend the day walking around the mall, but I knew there was going to be no more walking for me.  We went to Robeks and shared a wrap and got AMAZING smoothies, then back to the room where we took a long nap! Then Jeff and I ended up going to the mall for about an hour (it was all I could take).  It was so fun being in the mall with the christmas decorations up and the music playing.  Oh I forgot to mention that I can tell Jeff and I live in a small town, because when we got off the exit for our hotel, we got so excited to see each store.  I felt like I was driving down the strip in vegas! We were like look there's Target! Old Navy! Ross! Macy's! Best Buy!  We were just so excited to see new stores.  Haha, I felt like Country mouse visiting City mouse.  Anyway, after checking at like four different resturants in the mall that all had over an hour wait we finally settled at our favorite Outback Steakhouse for dinner.  It was so good and we were so full when we left but we still managed to stop by Coldstone for some really good ice cream.  Jeff decided to go with his usual sweet cream and brownie and I got half dark chocolate mint and half gingerbread.... you gotta try the gingerbread ice cream there, soo good...  needless to say I felt a little sick that night from stuffing ourselves, but the taste was worth it!!  The next day we slept in through work out time and got up just in time for the yummy breakfast.  Then we packed up our stuff and got ready for the day.  We went to Chase Cantrell and Joel Pears (Jeff's friends from high school) football game which happened to be at the exact same time as the falcons were playing (unfortunately) so we had to sit through lots of traffic.  Jeff almost hit one of the cops directing traffic and needless to say he was not very happy with him.  I thought he was going to attack us.  When we arrived at the game we had no cash, and of course they didn't take cards or checks, so Jeff had to walk three blocks to an ATM machine.  Then we finally got in just in time for them to announce the players.  We sat by a few of Jeff's other friends from high school Jarrod Karuza, Corey Culp and Chase's cousin.  It was really fun to watch and Chase and Joel were the best ones out there by far!  The only down side was that it was the first FREEZING day of the year in Atlanta and we did not come prepared with our skinny little jackets.  Half time we got some hot chocolate to warm us up, but it did no good!  After the game we all went out to eat at Hard Rock Cafe.  It was really fun to spend time with them and to catch up on all of their lives.  Jeff said that even though he hadn't seen them forever it felt like nothing had changed and he had just seen them the day before.  That's the best part about good friends.  I was bummed Chase couldn't bring his wife Krystal and their brand new baby Peyton, but hopefully we will be able to see them this summer when we go home.  We had such an awesome weekend and it was a nice break between football and basketball.  

Fall in Georgia

Pretty much our entire yard is covered in leaves and it is so beautiful!! You can't even see any of the grass and when you look out the window during the day, it looks like it is snowing leaves!  I don't think I have ever lived somewhere this colorful in the fall, if I have then I don't remember.  Washington stays mostly green all year round, and Utah pretty much skips fall and goes straight to winter with the snow in September!  When you drive down our street all the trees are different shades of yellow, orange and red.  Jeff and I both think it is so beautiful.  We took pictures after church one day.  I put most the pictures up with Jeff in them, because I think he looks so sexy in his church clothes:)

Poker Chip Football

 About two or three weeks ago, the missionaries gave Jeff some poker chips they had at their house since they weren't allowed to have them and Jeff had really been wanting some.  I had no idea he had wanted them so bad or I would have gone to Wal-Mart and bought him some, I am sure they probably cost under 5 bucks (my husband is so easily pleased).  The next night I was cooking dinner and I kept hearing Jeff in the living room blowing air through his nose.  You know like when you think you have a booger or something in your nose and you keep blowing air like to try to get it to come out.  Anyway, it had been going on for a good three minutes and I was starting to get really grossed out (which happens very easily since I have been prego).  I was thinking umm are you serious?  So I called out, "Jeff do you need me to bring you a kleenex?"  He called back, "no."  More air blowing.  Finally I grabbed the box of kleenex and brought it in there saying "that is really gross."  Jeff looked up at me all confused, and I watched him for a second and the sound was him sliding the poker chips across the table.  We both got a good laugh about it, especially since I was so grossed out.  Anyway, this has been Jeff just about every single day since he got them.  He comes home, sits in front of the tv, turns on the football game and practices the plays he sees with the poker chips, or he'll make up new ones.  For family night he tries to teach the missionaries and I all the formations and defenses.  He gets very specific and can hold my attention span for about 5 minutes.  Then Elder Nay and I begin to steal the poker chips and play checkers with them on our checkered tablecloth.  Jeff does not like this.  Jeff pretty much eats, breathes, and lives football.  I am so glad that he loves his job so much and is always trying to learn more and more.  He is so excited to be an offensive coordinator one day and already has his whole play book created.  I was actually really excited for football season to be over last friday, but then the next day he had basketball tryouts and I am kind of thinking I wont really see him any more than I did during football season.  I am excited for Cheyenne to come and entertain me and keep me busy while he is away.  It was more fun to go to the games when Jeff coached at Kearns, since I taught there and knew most of the kids, but oh well.  I am excited for a change of season and to start going to basketball games, by the end of basketball season I will be sick of basketball and excited for football to start again...

A temporary decision...

First of all I want to thank everyone for their stories and opinions about being induced.  I didn't realize how many people felt so strongly either for or against it.  I think with my blog and facebook I got over 30 comments about it, and I promise I read all of them at least twice.  It was really interesting reading about people's experiences and what they would do if they could do it over or if they had more of a choice the first time.  I wanted to write each person back and ask questions and have conversation about each situation, but unfortunately that would have taken forever! So I really did enjoy each of your comments and thank you for taking the time to help me decide what to do!  Jeff and I talked about it, but Jeff really just will support me in whatever I decide to do and obviously has no opinion about being induced since he has never had to think about it before.  I talked to my sister a lot who researches stuff about labor like crazy and is like super mom and super breastfeeder, etc... haha, anyway she has taken the time to learn a lot about things having to do with labor more from a natural point of view.  I also talked to my brother who is an anesthesiologist (I have no idea how to spell that, but he gives epidurals) and he has gone through lots of medical school and is also one of the smartest people I know.  Anyway, along with all the stories from everyone, I decided since I waited this long I can at least wait until my due date.  I was looking at some of the early ultrasounds I got and two of the ultrasounds had my due date as November 25, one as November 27 and then my estimated due date by my last menstrual period was supposed to be December 4.  My mom and sister are coming in for the delivery on either November 30 or December 1, and Jeff has a basketball game on December 1, so if it hasn't come by December 2, we will go ahead and induce labor then.  So the latest she will come is probably December 3rd.  That's the plan so far, I might change my mind to wait longer, but I am really doubting that, because the last couple of nights have been pretty miserable, I don't know why.  Anyway, just thought I would let you all know that we have come to a temporary decision and that I am really thankful for everyone taking the time to share your thoughts with me!  I threw in some 38 week pictures of me, hopefully I am almost there:)

Induced...

I went to the doctor today (I am 37 weeks).  I told him how I was pretty excited to have the baby and he told me that they will schedule me to be induced at any time from a week before the due date.  Meaning if I chose to, I could be induced on November 20th (or anytime after).  I asked if I just wanted to let the baby come when it was ready, how long he would let me wait and he said only one week, then they induce.  I have heard varying things about being induced.  Around here its pretty popular... I would say about 3/4 of the people I talk to who live here were induced and most of them love it.  You get to have the baby early, you know when you are going to have it, etc.  However, I have also heard from others that being induced can increase your chance of having a c-section (I asked the doctor about this and he said slightly but not enough to be worried about).  Also, I have heard there are other negative things about being induced.  I know for a fact that I DO want the epidural (I know when you are trying to go natural, being induced can make that nearly impossible) no matter what.  I am just considering all views.  It is so tempting to induce because I am really uncomfortable, I am really excited to see her, I don't have stretch marks yet, but I have heard they can come during the last weeks, I think pushing out a small baby would be nice... but these are all pretty selfish reasons.  The reasons for not inducing is that its kind of exciting not knowing when its going to happen, supposedly its less risky, and my mom and sister could be there for the birth.  Also, I am working and making and saving money until I have the baby. I just don't know.  So tell me how you feel, make it long or short, I am interested in your opinions.  If you have been induced, what was your experience?  Give me advice if you would like:)  I only have to let them know 4 or 5 days in advance so I have a while to think about it... it caught me off guard, I never thought I would have the option of choosing what day I would like my baby to be born!  But I don't know... is this a good thing or a bad thing...

Baby Shower by Mail

Jeff's Mom and three sisters were so thoughtful to put together this baby shower by mail for us!  It was so fun coming home and almost everyday I would go get the mail and be disappointed that there was no mail.  Then I'd drive up our long driveway and there would be a box on the porch, plus all of our mail sitting on top!  It would make my day every time it happened!  Then I would have to try not to look at the package and put it in the pile in our living room and resist the urge to open them all right then.  We were supposed to open the presents on Saturday November 1st, but we decided to wait until Sunday, because the missionaries come over on Sunday so one of them videotaped and one of them took pictures.  We taped the whole thing, but even I thought it was boring, so I am not going to post it on here.  We tried to put it on You tube so we could put a link to it, but we couldn't figure out how, so its on our computer and if you come visit us you can watch it!! We were so spoiled with so many great presents, we are more than prepared for little Cheyenne to get here:)  It was also fun to have Jeff there to open presents with me, he loves to open presents:)  Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent us a gift, we really really had a fun time opening them and putting them into the nursery! Thanks to Jeff's sisters and mom for throwing the party!!