Book Club

Some of my friends from my French classes and I started a book club. Today was our first real meeting (two weeks ago everyone met to decide on what we were going to read). Our first book is The Phantom of the Opera in French (Le Fantome de l'Opera). What I hadn't realized was that it was written by the same author of a one of my favorite books we studied last semester (Le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune by Gaston Leroux). We had our meeting on the roof of the Salt Lake library. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside with friends discussing the book (which I actually haven't technically started yet, though I know the story very well). It was also fun to have Sam come and meet my friends from school. What a precocious child for attending a book club meeting at such a young age! If any of you French speakers are interested in joining, vous etes le bienvenues!

What's your best time?

When we lived in Farmington, once or twice a week I would drive Chris to work at 4am in order to avoid having to drive both our cars out to Bountiful since we both had places to be in the mornings. The drive to Bountiful was always dark and cold, and the only thing I could think about was how nice it must be to be able to stay in my cozy bed for a full eight hours. The streets at that hour are pretty quiet and empty, however there are a few regulars that we see. For example, often we would see a lady out walking her dog in her bath robe. I think a coat would probably keep her warmer, but for whatever reason, she settles on her robe. Almost every morning during our drive on Main Street to Great Harvest we would see people out exercising. What kind of crazy person wakes up at 4am to go running?! I know exercise is important, but so is sleep! I admire their determination to go running and walking so diligently, but I still think they're crazy! In my opinion and experience, in order to make your own personal exercise plan work, you need to schedule it at a time that motivates you the most. For me, on several occasions, I have forced myself to wake up early to go running. It'll usually last a couple days, and then I stop because I value my sleep. I have found that my best time to workout is between 3-5pm. That way I don't lose any sleep, it's not too dark or cold outside, and I still have the rest of the evening to do whatever I want. If you plan exercising at a time that is naturally the best for you personally, I think you will find the most success.

The Two Month Visit

So Sam went to the doctor today for his two month visit. Here are his stats:

Weight: 8lbs 4oz
Length: 21in
Head Circumference: 38 1/2cm

For his weight and height he is under the fifth percentile compared to full-term babies, but because he was officially premature (he was born at 36 weeks and five days) Dr. Groebs adjusted it and said he is in the 25-30th percentile.

Everything looks good and healthy for the most part. He's still kind of small, but still growing at an okay rate (he gained 8oz this past week). The worst part about our visit was the immunization shots. He had to get poked four times and it made him very upset. He was crying so hard that it made me cry too. I hate to see him so sad, but I know his immunizations are very important. It was a good thing that Chris was there to hold him while he got poked because I don't think I would've been able to do it. He has been a little upset this evening because of his sore legs, but we gave him some tylenol and he's starting to feel better, I think.

Il faut etre prudent!

The other day Sam and I went on a walk near Farmington canyon. On the way up 100 East, I saw two little girls walking home from elementary school. They saw me from across the street and walked over to start talking to me. They were super friendly and asked all about Sam and me: my name, where I lived, if I had kids in school, etc. Then they proceeded to tell me all about themselves. They were sisters, one in third grade, the other in sixth grade. They told me all about their family and even where they lived. I was surpised at how friendly and outgoing they were to me, a stranger. The thing that surprised me the most was how much personal information they gave out. If I were a sexual preditor of kidnapper, these two little girls would have been easy targets to do bad things to. It really scares me how many sick-o's exist in the world. Recently there have been so many stories in the news about kidnappings and child abuse--so much that it makes me so scared to be raising children in this world. I don't want to be a pyscho-overprotective mom raising our kids, but at the same time, their safety is the most important thing. Growing up we used to wander around the neighborhood and play out front without being surpervised without any worries. Now as an adult, I see the world differently and I worry for all these innocent little kids. I guess the only thing you can do as far as prevention is to educate your children about how to interact with strangers as well as what to do when someone they know makes them feel uncomfortable. To see what kind of problemed-people live near you, visit the Family Watchdog.

Girls Camp

Ever since last December when I was called to be our ward's camp director, I have been dreading this week. I knew at the time I received the call that I would be very pregnant, but having just found out myself, I didn't want to tell the bishopric just yet. Well, girls camp is here, and some how after lots of stress, crying, my first anxiety attack, and more stress I have mostly made it through okay. When I talked to my doctor two weeks ago, I asked her if she thought I could go. She said it would probably be okay for me to go which was not what I wanted to hear. I told her that I was hoping she would tell me not to go, so she changed her story and said, "Okay, you can't go! Do you want me to write you a note?" She's so cute!

All the other YW leaders have been really understanding for the most part and I have been able to rely a lot on my wonderful assistant camp director. In the end I decided to go up just one or two days just for the afternoon. The girls left last Tuesday and will be back Friday afternoon. I went up yesterday and was planning on going up again this evening, but I don't think my body can handle another trip up there.

The girls were able to participate in lots of really fun activities yesterday. I would have loved to join them if I wasn't expecting. They did some cute crafts, went horseback riding (we found out the hard way that a couple of our girls are allergic to horses), did some archery, had fun with a climbing wall, and flew through the trees on a zip line (which actually broke after one of our girls used it--oops!). At the beginning of the day, the gentleman who drove me up with his grandaughter had a pretty bad accident. As we were walking down to the flag ceremony, he tripped on a tree root and landed ever so ungracefully on his face. He scratched up his arms and legs pretty bad, and had to get stitches by his mouth (the camp nurse stitched him up right there at camp on our table).

Anyway, we had a pretty good day; however, I don't think I can do it again. I was so nervous driving up and down the dirt road, the elevation and the sun made me very tired, and I think I overexerted myself just by walking around to the different activities. This morning I could hardly get out of bed or walk because my body was so sore. So I don't think I'll be going back up again tonight. I did my part planning for the past six months, so I think my assistant and the other leaders can handle the rest under the circumstances. I am soooo happy this major stressor in my life is over! I think Chris is happy too because that means I will stop crying! The only thing I have left to worry about is our cute little baby who will be coming pretty soon, and that's an exciting stress to worry about!

A little late, but still good...

I know the month is just about over, but for those of you who haven't read June's Ensign yet, I wanted to give you a heads up. There are some really great articles all about the importance of strengthening the family as well as tips and ideas for those of you who are still playing the dating game. Go read it, and if you already have, read it again or share it as a family for FHE!

And the winner is...

Chris works with a guy at IHC who is always impressed at what food gets brought to him from home; usually it's whatever I can find around the house, or if it's Sunday, he gets the really good stuff. Well, they decided that they wanted the wives to have a sack lunch cook-off today to see who would get better food. I didn't have a lot to work with, yet still mangaged to win! Really, the other guy's wife never brought him his food, so I won by default. Maybe she was just intimidated by my mad sack lunch skills and was afraid to even try. Yeah, I bet that's what happened!

Hooray for Grants!

I just found out today that Chris and I got grants from the government to pay for school next year! Hooooray!! We got more than enough; the extra can go towards books and stuff. I was afraid that we would get less this year because we have made more money this year, but I guess it helps that we will soon be poor parents. This is such a huge blessing! Thank you US government!

Still after two years...

So I have been home from my mission for over two years now. For the first little while after being home I occasionally had a hard time finding the right words in English. In my Communications class I had at SLCC my first semester back, I often got marked down for using French syntax in my writing that sounded just fine to me! Well, apparently, I still have that same problem. Last night as I was doing my visiting teaching, I wanted to add a little thought to my companion's lesson. "Could I make a quick...shoot! What's the word? Ajoutation?" I couldn't think of the word "comment"! It was pretty funny. I still dream in French probably once or twice a week. I guess that's what happens with being a French major.

Soon-to-be Madame Taylor

I found out last week that I have officially been accepted into the U's Secondary Education Teaching program for Fall '06/Spring '07! Next fall will be my final semester of real classes (starting at 7:30am everyday--I really hope our baby sleeps through the night!), and then in the spring I will be student teaching. Then after two more Praxis exams, I will be a full-fledged teacher(if I can find a job somewhere)and a college graduate!! I was pretty nervous that I wouldn't get in because it's pretty competitive, and I know that a lot of schools are eliminating French classes and just doing Spanish--how sad! Anyway, I just wanted to share my good news!

What Would I Do Without the Internet?!

So it's been about a week since our internet at home isn't up and running, and I'm going crazy without it! We decided to switch dial-up companies inorder to get more Delta Skymiles, but in the process of doing so, it kind of messed things up. Chris called the PeoplePC people, and they're sending us something that will hopefully make everything better. I guess I just didn't realize how much I use and need the internet every day of my life! Usually I'll just use the computers at school (that's where I am now), but this past week was Spring Break, so that didn't work. I didn't rely on the internet five years ago when I started college nearly as much as I do now. I'm taking one completely online class, and then four other classes of mine use WebCT. Teachers and fellow group members rely on me to email assignments and information all the time. I'm going crazy without my slow dial-up connection!!

Yea for bellies!

Today after my last class two girls came up to me and asked if I was pregnant. That's a pretty daring question to ask if you're not sure. Luckily I'm not gaining weight for nothing, and I was able to tell them that I really was. I'm just excited that people who don't know that I am pregnant can start to tell just by looking at me! I used to feel like I was just getting fatter, but now it's beginning to look like a little pregnant belly!

Just as a side note, one of the girls that asked is also pregnant, but I didn't know how far along. She's way huge, and as I found out, she is only four weeks ahead of me; however, this could be because it's not her first child. Who knows, maybe I'll suddenly become huge in the next four weeks (let's hope not).

And as another side note, I think I felt the baby move again today! This pregnancy thing is pretty fun!

The Amazing World of Crepes!

This morning I decided to make crepes for breakfast. Whoever invented crepes was a very smart person! You can literally put anything on them. This morning we used Nutella, sugar, and jelly (not all on one crepe obviously). On Wednesday we ate crepes filled with spinich, ricotta cheese and chicken at a restaurant in Utah county. You can use fresh fruit, applesauce, ham, cheese...pretty much you can use absoluetly anything and everything! So give it a try with your favorite toppings! Bon apetit!

My Boyfriend the Psychic

So pretty much I think Chris can read my mind. It's starting to freak me out! Saturday night while I was at work, I thought to myself how cool it would be if Chris surprised me with that amazing-looking pizza from Pizza Hut that I've been drooling over lately (we have the picture of it with coupons posted on our fridge...ummm, it looks sooo good!). Well, I came home, and no, he didn't order it (I've said that we're not allowed to eat out anymore because we've been doing it too much lately), but he did say, "you know, I thought about ordering that pizza for you to surprise you when you came home." Yikes!

That same night I came home from work feeling pretty sick (my body ached and I was extremely tired). In my mind I thought, "maybe I should eat some scrambled eggs." Litteraly seconds later, Chris asks, "Do you want me to make you some eggs?" This incident happened just one or two minutes after the first incident!

And once again just a few hours later (the next morning), we were laying in bed, and I thought to myself, "I wonder what ever happened to that annoying woodpecker that used to interrupt our sleeping all the time." Again, Chris read my mind, and said the same thing using the exact same words! It's really starting to freak me out because this happens all the time! These three examples happened within 10 hours of each other. It's really kind of funny how he is constantly vocalizing exactly what I'm thinking word for word. He knows me so well! It's a good thing I don't have anything to hide from him because apparently I'm as transparent as glass!

A Good Birthday Present

Yesterday Christopher turned old...24 years old to be exact. We are now both considered to be in our mid-twenties. As a birthday present, we got a free ultrasound. Okay, it wasn't free because it was his birthday; it was free because we're participating in study at LDS Hospital. It's a study testing if taking extra vitamin C and E will help lessen the chances of having high blood pressure during pregnancy (HELPS is the acronym). I have to go next week to get my blood taken, and then two more times throughout my pregnancy. Each time I get a Target gift card to compensate. Anyway, the other perk was that we got a free ultrasound. We got to see our baby for the first time ever and it was pretty amazing! Our baby had the hiccups the whole time we were watching. It was shy and wouldn't turn around, so we just saw its back. The lady said that it's about 7 cm long right now from head to bum and it's heart rate was around 180. Its little legs were so tiny and curled up. According to its size and everything right now, they said that my due date looked closer to July 30th than August 1st. To say the least, it was pretty amazing to see! There really is a little human being growing inside me! Probably the first week in March we'll have another ultrasound and we'll hopefully get to find out the sex if the baby cooperates. It'll be nice to not have to call the baby "it" anymore!

My Christmas Vacation

Well, I guess I should tell you all about our cruise to Mexico. Saturday morning (Dec. 31st) we drove down to Longbeach, California. It was a long drive, so we didn't do anything exciting for New Year's Eve; we all went to bed around 9pm. The next day we got on our boat, the Carnival Pride and the first thing we did practically was eat. The rest of the week wasn't much different. I'm trying to be a good pregnant lady and eat only good things in good portions (no, I'm not eating for two; I'm eating for me and a very small person inside my tummy), but it was hard because they had pizza and icecream available 24 hours a day!! That's my kind of heaven! For dinner we were scheduled to eat at 8:15--a little too late for my likings; I like to eat around 5:30 or 6pm. Our waiters gave us so much food--often food we didn't even ask for. Tons of food was wasted, and I felt bad for all the poor Mexicans we saw in their one-room huts who would have loved to eat our leftovers.

We stopped first in Puerto Vallarta where we went on a hike. The next day we went deep sea fishing in Mazatlan. I got so sea sick on that little boat that I have been scarred for life! It was a 6 1/2 hour fishing trip, and I started throwing up within the first half hour! It was awful! The cool part of that trip was that we caught a Marlin which was 8 ft. 3 in. and weighed 153 lbs. The next day we went to Cabo San Lucas where we spent the afternoon souvenir shopping. We got a really good deal (we think) on a hammock.

The rest of the time we just relaxed and hung out. We got off the boat last Sunday and spent the day driving back arriving in Bountiful around 12:45am. It was a nice break from work and school. It was hard going back to reality the next day as the semester started up again.

I Have the Sweetest Hubby!

Tuesday was my first real day of school (I have only one class on Monday nights). I have classes from 9:10am to 3:20pm. I took the bus home, stopped by Mom and Dad's house to eat some yummy scrambled eggs, and then went to work till 10pm. By the end of the day I was exhausted mostly because I haven't gotten into the groove of school yet. Chris also had a long day. He baked at Great Harvest from way too early in the am (I think he goes in at 4am) till 11 or 12. Then he had to go work at InstaCare a few hours later until 9pm. When I came home from work, a beautiful bouquet of flowers were waiting for me on the kitchen counter with a handwritten note that said, "I just want to say that I love you!" What a cute boyfriend I have!

Here we go again!

So somehow taking 21 credits last fall wasn't so bad. I got the best grades ever! My theory is that once you have a lot to think about, adding just a little bit more isn't such a big deal. For example, Chris only had one online class last semester. This class wasn't a priority on his list of things to do. By the week before the final exam, he still hadn't taken his midterm exam! I would think that managing one class would be easier than mananging seven, but no, or at least in my experience, it was not the case for me. So I'm going to try it again. I haven't decided yet exactly, but I will be taking somewhere around 20 credits. I hope this semester goes as smoothly as last semester!

I'm Going to Be a Mommy!

So yesterday I went to my first doctors appointment at the Avenues Women's Center. I did all the usual stuff: pee in a cup, get weighed, and change into a lovely paper gown. I guess Cyndi didn't realize I was her next patient because when she opened the door and saw us she said to another lady in the hall, "Oh my gosh, it's the babysitter's daughter!" At first I thought it might be weird to have her looking at me in such a personal way, but I just tried to ignore that and listen to her blab (she sure does like to talk!). It was also wonderful that she knew our family's medical history so well.

I was told that I'm actually nine weeks along--one week further that I had thought. The due date they gave me was August 1st: Switzerland's national holiday. The coolest part of the visit was that we were able to listen to our baby's heart beat. Up until now it really hasn't felt like I'm really pregnant; I just feel like my tummy is getting fat and occasionally I feel like I need to throw up. After hearing its heart beat, it's beginning to feel more real. What a crazy thing that a little human being is growing inside my tummy!

Hmm...a certain person should call me...

So tonight I tried to call Rachael, but she didn't even have the decency to answer her phone! If she wants to hear some exciting news, she needs to call me back sometime between now and August! Happy birthday Joseph Smith!