.what the H?.

2 things....Hiccups and Heartburn...Love the hiccups...hate the heartburn!

.still mornings.

Waking up to the blackness of fall-ish Monday mornings can be rather depressing...especially when you realize your husband left to go to the gym without you. How else are you supposed to get in your much needed exercise on such busy days as Mondays? It took a little motivational pep talk, but I finally got my girthy body out of bed and bundled up for a cold morning walk. I won't lie, when I walked out to the sight of snow I was ever so tempted to run back to my warm bed, but I'm so happy I didn't. Snow turns everything magical, even when it's 5:30 in the morning. I walked under the big trees that line the path behind the ol' folks home and just listened to the snow muffled morning sounds. It was cold and wet, but oh so awesome to be alone in that stillness. I hope this little dude loves snow and winter as much as his momma!

We filled our weekend with all good things. I spent one of my vacation days on Friday just for the heck of it. I didn't sleep in, I didn't veg, but you should see my to do list...all those crossed of jobs made it a heck of a day! Saturday, was the big Sullivan Halloween party, I'll elaborate more, but, know that we only do two things big in our family...St. Patty's day and Halloween, I love it!!

Also on my mind...
Jill and I have been talking about a boy in her primary class who she is convinced is possessed. Jill, is one of the most patient people I know when it comes to kids so you know it's bad if she feels this way about this boy. It's got me thinking about what kinda of kids Roy and I will have. Are we going to have the boy that everybody runs and hides from, will he be the nosy, rambunctious, but lovable type...really I don't know. But it made me wonder what I'm going to do to raise my children to be the most responsible, kind, happy, & unique people they can be all while taking into account they are all going to be different, and need different things from me and Roy.
Just some thoughts..

.back on back.

Here we are 6 months and some change and things are really starting to become, shall I say, weird. Pregnancy is filled with Do's and Do Not's of course, and for obviously good reasons, but the further I get along this journey the more paranoid I'm getting. One of the things I should be doing is sleeping on my sides...specifically my left side. This hasn't been a huge problem until recently. Nerves are being pinched and legs are getting restless and I find that the last place I want to lay is on my side. I'm a back sleeper...of all the positions one can fall asleep, I prefer my back so I'm horrified when I wake to find myself on my back instead of my LEFT side. Am I slowly depriving my child of life when I unconsciously roll over in the middle of the night? If so what is a person to do to stop themselves from rolling over into this position? Anyways just some paranoia that is rolling around in my head.

.nature, it's all around me.

Roy is downstairs putting on a coat of "nature's shadow" (don't judge me Kay) because the room just didn't sit well with me. I think we found a good solution to the problem though...I will keep you posted.
I'm at the moment listening to that Sample's song "Nature", and of course that just got me thinking about how much I LOVE fall.
This is how I feel about Fall.

It's just the best season and there is nothing you can say to change my mind. Last weekend we got out in the beautiful weather and just enjoyed us some nature!

Roy and Tom, pretty much as good as it gets!

Last year these aspen groves had dropped all their leaves before we could enjoy it. I think we caught the last end of them this year.

Autumn nature hikes...nothing better in my opinion.

The hike ends at this little pond/lake, and it never disappoints. Just like glass!

This morning we headed back up big Cottonwood for some more nature. Roy and my brother Casey had a little climbing rendezvous.

Roy is all geared up and ready to go.

I like to think of this next picture as the "manpri" picture. There was some excuse about seeing your feet better...???

Anyways, all good fun and all while outside enjoying my favorite version of nature....FALL!

.what will be.

Wouldn't you know that after all the painting and planning in the little dude's room I've changed my mind again. The "pee" yellow paint is gone and the white walls make everything brighter in that little basement room, but every time I walk in it feels almost sterile white...no warmth at all. Unfortunately, the idea to paint one accent wall is going to be a bit more difficult seeing as in my haste to get things done we already put up the vinyl decal (not an easy task). So yes, now I have made up my mind on what I want to do, but it might be too late unless I want to buy another decal...which I don't. I wish desperately that I had more creative bones in my body, and that I wasn't always in a hurry to think things through. Ha ha isn't it sad that this seems to be the most daunting thing on my plate right now...I'll answer that, yes it is sad and perhaps a bit pathetic. I think I like to avoid real pain in any sense, so I distract myself with the little details of insignificant things. But lets not go there (see what I mean).
Instead I'm looking forward to the weekend full of beautiful fall weather, a little rock climbing, some cleaning thrown in for affect, and maybe Roy will help me figure out what we can realistically do to fix that dang room.

.168 days.

6 months baby! I'm starting to look and feel like a weeble wobble.
Sometimes I take for granted that this pregnancy has gone so smoothly. There are hours at a time that I forget that I got a little man hanging out inside me, that is until he gives me a few jabs. I really enjoy when he's rolling around doing his thing, but I have belly button issues. My friend G-Ward will understand this: I don't like being poked in the belly button...not a fan, and when the little dude is kicking away sometimes he gets right behind the belly and ugghhhh that feeling is so weird! Strange huh? This leads me to yesterday. I had a dream that I went into labor early and our little man didn't make it. I was distraught when I woke up, and just laid there thinking how grateful I was that it was just a dream, but waiting desperately to feel him start his morning squirms. I can't tell you the relief I felt when he started moving! I told him right then and there that he could kick my belly button as much and as hard as he wanted to and that I was completely ok with it...just keep moving little man, just keep moving! A good reminder for me not to take the miracle of life for granted.


The weather has been dreary and cold, and I love it! Most people hate the idea of winter coming on and the long months of being cooped up inside, but I look forward to it. I associate so many good things with Fall and Winter, the smells, the colors, the feelings, and the memories. I've been craving a good outing up in the mountains to take in some of the beautiful fall color so I'm stoked to go for an Autumn constitutional tomorrow. I'm also looking forward to getting some baby registration done tonight...maybe Roy will let me hold the scanning gun for a bit (I have simple needs!).

.tuesday.

It's done! I gave my boss the news that I would not be coming back. In my head I had made this decision awhile ago, but today I had to say it out loud. Come January 20th I'm finished with this part of my life. To say that I'm not sad to see it pass, would be a lie. It's been a good place to be for the last 3 years of my life, but now I'm moving on to bigger and better things.
Happily I also found out that I will be getting my 2 months maternity leave even though I'm not coming back...it never occurred to me that I would get this little bonus (I know I'm totally naive). This is a genuine blessing!
Now I get to go home and do a little deep cleaning tonight. Bedroom walls and baseboards...here I come!!

....and we are done...sort of...not really.

Ha, if only! I woke up this morning feeling completely wasted. Not in the bad hung-over drunk kind of way, but more in the way that this was a crazy productive and busy weekend that left my body craving more sleep then usual. Although I imagine that at this stage most pregnant woman start feeling more and more like their body isn't getting all that good of sleep anyways. So yes, this morning I'm dragging and feeling oh so tired, but very happy. The little man's room is now painted a beautiful clean white. I know that sounds ridiculously boring and unoriginal, but trust me on this one...white was the way to go. With the painting finished we can actually start putting stuff in there instead of taking it out, and with all that furniture in there it's starting to look like we might be able to actually pull this whole thing off. Taking away our extra room we were forced to pack up about a million books that just had no place to go, and even de-junked a bit more. To me, becoming more organized is such a stress reliever...it seriously feels so good despite all the hard work.

You know what else feels good? Listening to Conference! I feel spiritually fed and enlightened, and that means more to me then having a new shiny white room, or having things organized!

Oh and one more thing...I learned how to crochet! I totally did it, I'm not good at it yet, but I have a start. So maybe I'll start with a washcloth, and move on to something more tricky like a beanie for the little man.

.falling forward.

Hello October! I know I say this all the time, but time seriously flys. September felt like a blip on the clock...one day we are celebrating Roy's birthday, and the next thing you know General Conference is here. The crazy warm weather hasn't been helping either. I have a sinking feeling we might wake up suddenly in a few weeks to the frosted chills of winter, instead of those wonderful crisp autumnal days that I love so much. I don't want to be cheated out of my favorite time of year...that would make me very sad :(

As I wait for fall to show it's face, I have been keeping myself busy by:
-burning dinner. We got home from work last night and smelled the wonderful aroma's of dinner as we entered the basement door. Sadly, as we made our way upstairs, those wonderful aroma's were tinged with the all to familiar odor of burned, blacked food. All my efforts to be prepared for our busy night ahead were thwarted! So instead of crock pot chicken, I made eggs for Roy, and I had grapefruit and zucchini. Don't judge me...bellies were full and happy and that is all that mattered.
-reading. I have been reading like a crazy woman! In a moment of panic, I placed holds at the library for about a dozen different prenatal books. Along with all those I'm finishing up the BoM by the end of Oct. I hope I don't burn myself out.
-being emotional. I think those emotional hormones are kicking in now. I've been fairly even keel up until the last few weeks. I'm noticing more and more the times I'm holding back tears. Music is my biggest weakness! I'll just be driving and suddenly I'm compelled to cry to songs that any normal person would be dancing to. I have a feeling conference is going to be one big cry fest.
-guitars. Last night my VT partner requested I teach her how to play the guitar...first lesson next Thursday. Maybe it's time I picked up the ol' Ibanez, and built up my calluses again.
-baby room. Finally with all the races over for the season we can focus on getting some things done around our house. Last night Roy completely gutted the extra room in preparation for some good quality painting. It will be the perfect weekend for this kind of project!!

So yeah we are busy...busy with day to day things, busy with trying to figure out how to make our future happen, busy with trying to be better everyday, and busy waiting and growing. But hopefully all this work is taking us somewhere!