Our Little Drops of Sunshine

12/21/12

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Wishing your Holidays are filled with love and laughter!

12/19/12

They said no matter how much one loves being pregnant, there comes a point when you are just ready to end it all and wish everyday that your baby will finally make its debut. I guess I've reached that point. I am now 38 weeks, my mom has arrived from the Philippines - almost everything is ready... I am so ready to pop. But as of my last doctor's appointment, I was still 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Not much progress - the doctor even said I might very well reach 40 weeks. Seriously... I think I've maxed out the definition of huge!

So my mom arrived on the 14th, and I feel more confident now that I can PUSH through this. She helped me set up baby's things except for the crib. She HAND-WASHED all of baby's white clothes - literally soaked in bleach and meticulously inspected every seam! She is one amazing woman. I've contemplated on an unmedicated birth because of her - all of us three children were delivered at home by a midwife with no pain medication whatsoever! I've pretty much convinced myself that if I thought about how she managed all three births, I can PROBABLY get past the labor pain and deliver Lorenz with no epidural whatsoever. Of course, I can change my mind, and I will find a good reason why along the way - and I've convinced myself that that is OK too.

Mama is here - bring it on BABY!

12/8/12

Homestretch

Here we go! I am counting down the weeks. My due date is January 2nd. But before then, I need to wrap up the semester with 1 theoretical exposition paper, 1 multiple regression methods paper, 1 family court case report, and 2 final exams.

I now have a huge whale of a body. But I guess it helps that I am not the only one wobbling around in the grad lab. There's Katie who is due on the 18th, and there's Sarah who is due on January 23rd.

with Sarah and Katie on a day we unintentionally all wore blue

My OBGYN, Dr. Dabling, has started seeing me weekly. This week, I am 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I was definitely not going to have my baby anytime soon, unless my body and/or the baby suddenly changes its course in a matter of 2 days. Next week, I just need to finish all my requirements and take those two exams by Thursday. I am praying my baby would let me finish everything first before he makes his debut, and also, if he could wait for my mom to arrive.

Side story, when I learned I was pregnant, I only had one capricious wish - that I get to have a "professional" maternity photoshoot. Carl welcomed the idea and we planned on doing that when I get to be 30 weeks or so. The "affordable" photoshoot was not easy to find and the fall leaves that would have been a pretty background were all gone and were now replaced by snow. And our last resort was to do the photoshoot at a studio... and here are some of my favorites of my 36-week pregnant body!

11/7/12

Rock-A-Bye Baby Boy Shower

I have AMAZING friends - and I will say that out loud many million times if necessary. When we announced that we are FINALLY pregnant back in May, we were overwhelmed by the response we got from everyone - EVERYONE was just happy and excited for us. I figured you would expect happy reactions when you announce that you are pregnant, but I guess our announcement was something that our family and friends - just like Carl and I - have long awaited.

Not to brag, but it felt like each of my friends wanted to host a baby shower for me - which melts my heart (and Carl's too). Half of my friends live in the Salt Lake area, and half live around Provo. There has to be a mid-point somehow. In the end, my friends organized a baby "rockstar" version of a baby shower in Daybreak at one of our friend's home.

Carl and I had so much fun - the love was definitely overflowing. We received all kinds of gifts for Lorenz - from clothes to diapers to bath essentials. But the most important thing we received that day was the affirmation that God has blessed us with amazing people, and that Lorenz will be surrounded be these amazing people. I guess you cannot ask for more than that - the comforting feeling that you know your child will have good people to surround him.

On a side note, I was able to enjoy all the food that was prepared that day. When they told me they were planning a shower for me, I initially asked if we can skimp on the sweets because I failed my first glucose tolerance test. But before the plans were finalized, I already did the second glucose screening and PASSED it! I was clear of gestational diabetes! I still had to watch that sugar of course, but I had no other dietary restrictions. So here's to a healthy, complication-free (so far) pregnancy!

10/16/12

One Big Happy Extended Family

It has been a great year so far. Carl's parents finally got US visas that allows them to visit the States, and they finally got the chance to see half of their children and grandchildren.

They got here in time for October General Conference, and it was a great blessing to be able to attend with them. It is their first time to attend General Conference, and what made it all the more special is that they were able to see it with their children.

And it was indeed a happy occasion when Jasmine and Scott's little boy, Paul William, got blessed because grandma and grandma were here.

9/20/12

Pregnancy Updates...

Transitioning back to school was interesting this time. As you might have heard, I officially earned my Masters degree back in June... but I am back in school for my FINAL degree of all. I started with my Doctorate program - and the most interesting part is, I am doing this with a big pregnant belly.

It's not like I am the first one to ever do this - considering BYU, you'll see plenty of women attending school and being pregnant (and having more than one kid) at the same time. Its not unusual. In fact, in my program alone, there's three of us. Katie, a 2nd year Masters student is 2 weeks ahead of me; and Sarah, a 2nd year PhD student is going to have her baby maybe a month after I do. So being in school and pregnant is totally normal - making me feel a lot better about my ability to balance everything from this point onward.

Going back to my pregnancy - I am almost through with the second trimester. My baby bump has started to show, and I finally started gaining some weight. I lost quite a lot of weight my first trimester because I cannot keep quite anything down, but now my appetite has slowly returned and now I am able to eat some more. Although I still gag at the smell of certain things, I have now learned to steer away from them and Carl has learned to eat around my aversions so he could still enjoy the stuff he likes to eat like KFC's fried chicken, spam, and bacon.

16 weeks and counting

We learned the gender last month, a week after my birthday and we are having a BOY!!! Carl was in cloud nine when the ultrasound technician confirmed the baby's gender... I was beyond belief. When we saw parts of our baby's body in the monitor, it felt so real. We got print outs of his hands and feet and face. Although the baby's profile was a little bit hard to make out of because his position was weird, we couldn't care less. He's not just a sound [of his heartbeat] anymore, he's becoming more and more real as we get closer to my due date. We decided to name him LORENZ - it's Carl's middle name, inspired by the prophet Lorenzo Snow.

Baby Boy Canlas in utero

We started getting things ready for the baby. A good friend gifted us with a new crib and mattress. We also benefited from some clothing exchanges. Baby clothes are as expensive as grown-up clothes - and they grow out of them really quick. So we figured its a practical move to get some used baby clothing to start things off - with some tender love and care, they'll look perfectly fine :) We also bought him his first pair of Vans (he's Carl's son I afterall).

Will be OFF THE WALL in no time ;)

8/14/12

Anniversary + Birthday Weekend Summer Getaway pt. 2

We woke up early the next day - my birthday. We called the hotel and we were told we can do an early check-in. YAY! So we headed to Park City, almost an hour drive from Provo. After checking in, we immediately checked-off the activities on our list.

There were a lot of summer activities at Canyons Resort. Although because I was pregnant, the activities I can do were limited. If it was just Carl, he'd probably take the zip line the whole day. We got a whole-day pass for the Gondola which took us up 7000 ft above ground. I was confident I could take that because its enclosed and it doesn't spin you like crazy. It was a little bumpy though. The Gondola ride took us at the base of the Alpine Lake Trail. We had lunch there, at the Red Pine Lodge, where Carl and I both had a big fat serving of burrito.

Carl and I at the top of Red Pine Gondola Ride

On the top of the trail was a man-made lake where you can fish or pedal boat. This is where our day got really interesting. Initially I wanted to try it out. Carl learned that the only way to get there is to take the lift. Carl wanted to take the lift - but I was hesitant because I was afraid I would fall. But I wanted to try pedal boating. You see the picture. We had to wait though, for maybe 30 or 45 minutes, because they temporary closed the lift (and the gondola too). Apparently they do that everytime there's lightning/thunder and they wait 15 minutes before clearing everything to operate again. It was a sunny day overall, almost 90 degrees... but up in the mountain, it was raining! It didn't dampen our mood at all. For weeks, I have been complaining about the heat - and now its raining! Can't complain... Until...

Oh well... I should know that advertisements usually lie. We decided not to pedal boat. There were mosquitoes everywhere. Nope... not doing it. We were already there, and there's no other way to go down but to hike. Good thing it was all down hill. But I wasn't prepared to hike, again I had no choice. We had a good time though. The other people in the trail were biking. We were the only one's "hiking." I got really tired though... but all the calories from our big fat serving of burrito was BURNED.

The happy hiker :)

We took the gondola again to go back to the hotel. We were so high up top that it felt like I can see everything everywhere in the valley. It was a very pretty sight!

When we got back to our room, I DESPERATELY needed a quick power nap. It was almost 4:00 pm when I woke up. I was STARVING. It was time for my most awaited meal of the year - a big steampot of seafood from Joe's Crab Shack! We had lobster, and crabs, and shrimps. WE HAD A BLAST. We headed back to Park City to get some night swimming before we went to bed. But it was RAINING like cats and dogs. We still tried to dip in the pool, but when Carl went in, he decided it was too cold. So change plans... swimming had to wait until the morning.

When we woke up, plans changed again. We decided to check out early and head to Salt Lake City to attend the temple. Remember Carl's birthday temple trip? Yup. It happened again. Carl thought the temple re-opens on the 11th. Apparently, the last day it is closed is the 11th.... So like last time, we killed time and then headed to L&L for lunch... We then watched a movie in Sandy, and ended our weekend with a visit to Jasmine's family... where a yummy chocolate cake was waiting for me...

I wonder what next year is gonna be like - Oh I know - its going to get better!

Anniversary + Birthday Weekend Summer Getaway pt. 1

Birthdays are amazing - and then you have anniversaries... what if you celebrate those two happy events together - need I say more. ITS PURE JOY.

This year, our anniversary and my birthday are more special than the others we've celebrated before. We initially planned this as our babymoon - that one last leisure trip most couples take before two becomes three. But then we thought, we don't really need one - every trip we've had so far, we've considered a "babymoon" especially because we've always hoped one day we'll wake up and I am finally pregnant. So... we just decided to go someplace near but still feel that we are somewhere far.

After weeks of brainstorming (YES we brainstorm things like this... we're such nerds), we FINALLY decided to spend the weekend in Park City. We booked a room in one of the hotels at Canyons Resort. This place is usually booked in the winter because snow sports enthusiasts flock Park City. But we found out its not exactly dead in the summer as bikers and hikers also enjoy the area. Pregnant lady that I am, I cannot bike or hike, but they had summer activities that weren't as strenuous so we gave it a go.

We didn't check in at the hotel until the morning of my birthday (the 10th). We spent our anniversary (the 9th) by treating ourselves to lunch at Tucanos where we had meat overload. I am TAKING ADVANTAGE of the fact that my appetite is back and my doctor is on the verge of pushing me to gain weight. We were so full after that and so we decided to go home and take a NAP...

We also went to the Provo Temple for an endowment session. It was a very special experience for us. We have been married for four years now... and we've been so many challenges, and we've overcome many trials. This year is very special, as most of you already know. Our special blessing is on the way and we're half-way through the pregnancy. We started out really anxious, but now we are over the top excited to meet this little baby. I cried a few tears while in the temple, for many reasons, one of those being grateful to the Lord for making us strong amidst trials in the many aspects of our married life. We are not a perfect couple and we've come across bumps along the road, but we're still here - together - and that's all that matters. We ended the day with a simple dinner at iHop... but before that I was surprised by a bunch of 2 dozen red roses waiting in the car seat - which I have no idea how Carl pulled off since the only time we weren't together that day was when he was in the temple dressing room.

Before we went to bed that night, Carl gave me my birthday presents. He gave me this little statuette of a couple holding a small child. I just cried. Like a baby. I remembering seeing those Willow Tree statuettes everytime I walk through the bookstore and tell myself one day I'll get one of those. And I finally have one - a perfect reminder that my little family is finally growing, and that this is God's gift to me. Carl also gifted me with a new handbag with a laptop slot. I'll be starting school AGAIN in a couple of weeks and my new bag is surely one that will used to its fullest. I am happy girl - tears and all.