Sunday, June 28, 2009

16 weeks today

Is it possible that a lot has happened in a week without a lot happening?? Well that's how I would describe this week. I will save you a lot of the emotional details but I have constant pains in my tailbone that have been excruciating. I will be heading to the doc tomorrow and see what we can do. Seriously. I can't even walk. Actually I can't sit, walk, or stand so there ya go. I am only 16 weeks and it has nothing to do with the weight etc. of the baby but it is related to this pregnancy.




Anyway, I am really looking forward to this whole "your second trimester is a breeze" part. It's like I am a little slow at this or something. My emotions have been a wreck and I have cried at EVERYTHING these past few days. I am really just so compassionate at everything and I feel myself growing into motherhood each day. I know that I will read all of these things and then be completely STUMPED with the baby gets here :-) At least I'll get an A for effort.

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment :-)


This is Dusty during his Sunday nap. He was curled up with my preggie pillow and I had just taken out a load of warm clothes from the dryer and threw them on him. He just curled up in them and loved it. My mom used to do that to us. She would even get my towels warm for me when I was in the shower or coming in from the snow.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

15 Weeks 4 Days

Well I must say today was a good day. Some tailbone and back pain but nothing I can't handle. I woke up this morning and officially felt I had a "spare tire". I still just feel fat but it makes me happy just knowing that there IS someone in there. I am counting down till JuLy 7th to see if we can find out what it is!!

Dusty thinks that this picture makes me look a little bigger than I really am, but I sure feel every bit as big.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Beautiful quote on parenting

"Brothers and sisters, our children take their flight into the future with our thrust and with our aim. And even as we anxiously watch that arrow in flight and know all the evils that can deflect its course after it has left our hand, nevertheless we take courage in remembering that the most important mortal factor in determining that arrow’s destination will be the stability, strength, and unwavering certainty of the holder of the bow."

Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Friday, June 19, 2009

Online Savings Tip

So I have been chastised by a few people for not posting this tip.

Before I buy any product or service online right before I checkout I always open up a new tab in my browser and search for a promo / coupon code. For example if I am buying shoes online at Zappos I would Google "Zappos promo code" or "Zappos coupon code"...you get the idea. At the very least I am able to find free shipping or like 10 - 20% off my purchase. Sometimes I find amazing deals. Just spend 3 - 5 minutes looking for the best one and you would have saved yourself a few bucks or more.

Let me know if it works for you. I love hearing people getting good deals :-)

Friday, June 12, 2009

13 Weeks 5 Days

This week has been overall great. I still don't feel "great" when I feel great but I'll take it :-) Working full time sure is hard right now cause everything in me wants to just curl up and take a nap at around 3 pm. So, I go for a walk, call someone or do something at around 3 everyday.

I have been able to eat more which makes me happy. Dusty is great about giving me quick little massages throughout the day or at night when he is home. My tailbone makes it to where I can't stand up for long and sometimes I just have to catch myself from falling. It just slips of socket and I feel like I am 90 years old. I am really scared about adding 20+ pounds of pressure to my tailbone. I just hope my little body is up for the task.

I have been terrible with working out. Between dizziness, tailbone, fatigue and nausea working out just hasn't been on the list. I have been walking but I don't count that as real exercise. Maybe I should; I would feel a lot better.

Nothing else to report. It was so much fun getting to spread the word about being pregnant and hearing from SO many people! This baby already has so many people that are excited to see it come to earth. I REALLY REALLY hope I can find out the sex of the baby on my next visit so I can actually refer to it as a he or she and then eventually an actual name! I catch myself saying "it" and I hate that. AND so I can tell Marcie so she can get to work on my shower ;-)

This will definitely be the BEST Christmas EVER!!!

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Pregnant is the new skinny!!!

Dusty and I are proud to announce that we are having a baby!!!!!!


I can't even tell you how excited we are. I will be 13 weeks tomorrow and the doctor said everything is going smoothly and looks great! I went in yesterday just thinking that I was going to hear the heartbeat. Dusty couldn't make the appointment due to a test at school so we were going to call him as the doctor put the heartbeat on a speaker. Well, the little fish wouldn't sit still long enough for that so we got to do an ultrasound and LOOK at our sweet little baby!!!!


I was absolutely amazed and astounded that I didn't cry; I was just overjoyed. I have never felt a feeling like that in my life. What a miracle! What an awesome miracle! Since Dusty didn't get a chance to see the ultra sound the doctor said that we will get to take another look at our next appointment so Daddy can see too!! I can't wait till July 7th :-)


I wasn't feeling well before the appointment and TIRED was not even a word to describe me (I know, I know....just wait until AFTER the baby....) but after that appointment I went straight to BYU to show Dusty the pictures and I had so much energy and I felt GREAT! I had a brief glimpse of knowing how worth it all of this is. This sickness doesn't even matter. As my mother so wisely told me in a moment of agony one day this past week, "You are doing the most important work there is to be done in this whole wide world." It's so true. I am so blessed that the Lord has seen fit to allow me to come to earth and bear children and raise and rear them with ALL of the love I possess. I can't wait to hold my baby in my arms and meet each other properly :-)


Our due date is December 13th, 2009. I can't even believe that we will be having a baby before the year is out! What a Christmas present!!! If you get a Christmas card from me in August just know that I am trying to catch up and get ready before the tornado hits :-) Well, I have always been bad about that anyway, so don't expect anything! HAHA Just kidding.


I love you all and am so grateful you are all with us and supporting us with your love and kindness and prayers.


Please meet, Baby Rhoads......

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Hoedown Throwdown

Is it normal that I want to have girls so I can teach and do stuff like this with them? I LOVED teaching dance and having kids come in wanting me to teach them the "new dance" that was going around school. So I always took the last 10 minutes and got the music and taught it to them so they could be the cool ones at school. I love doing stuff like that with with girls and they love it too! I can see my niece, Makayla, learning this with Chauntel.

If you are really curious there is a how-to video on youtube. :-)

My mother...

I realize more and more why we probably had so much fun growing up. My mother. Sure dad was there to play with us, always had the video camera out, teaching us stuff, playing sports and all kinds of things, but mom just knows how to party ya know?

She is a little nuts so that might account for some of it, but I think the whole having 5 kids one right after the other just sent her over the edge. :-) LOVE YOU MOM

I catch myself saying, "I get that from my mother." a lot!!! I realized the other day that that's not entirely a good thing. haha She passed on MANY fabulous and amazing qualities but this is not a blog post about those. :-)

She love to play jokes, tell jokes, scare people, be witty, laugh, she can cut a rug and cut the cheese....sorry mom. HAHAHA Seriously she is just always the life of the party and people love to be around her.

Recently she and my brother Mike have been warring with each other playing jokes on one another and trash talkin. The other day when he came over in his dress clothes she took a huge water gun and soaked him right there in the living room. Oh, but it wasn't over then. She then proceeded to have my other brother, Jason of course, drive her to Mike's house at midnight so she could write LOVE MOM all over his windshield with green apple shampoo. She was contemplating Vaseline so he got off easy.

This is the picture she went home and emailed (complete with trash talk) to Mike after the fact.....The Green Apple Got'cha Caper

Yes, she's crazy but that's why I love her!!

It's OK if you don't know what to say.....

12 Weeks 3 Days

I have been meaning to jot down the funniest pregnant nickname I think I have ever heard.

Pregnapotamous.

Yes. You read it correctly. My brother Jason is probably one of the funniest people I know (besides the rest of my siblings) and he called the other day asking how the "little" pregnapotamous was doing. You know, it was too funny and for once I didn't have a comeback.

12 Weeks

I have one word for you: PAPER.

I have decided to go against the "waste not" conservationist in me and buy paper plates and bowls to help get us through the coming weeks. Dishes make me sick(er). Cooking is almost non-existent yet dishes pile up despite my not cooking. I don't know how it works but there ya go. With Dusty being gone all day and night (like till 11 pm or later) at school and me being unmotivated and feeling sick my nights have been pretty lame. I have made the realization that once I just get up and start doing something that I feel better, but it's the whole getting started part that feels so hard. I sit down often and my headaches are ridiculously painful.

Despite my headaches I think all of my relatives are sick of hearing from me. I make lots of phone calls right now. My sister is probably going to change her number. Good thing she really loves me. <3

**Neighbors beware** I just might knock on your door to hang out or stroll on over right about supper time to see what you cooked and then invite myself in :-) Just (kind of) kidding. One friend has brought over a few snacks on 2 different occasions and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. Nothing sounds good to eat, I don't feel like cooking but when I start to eat I feel better. It always just tastes better when someone else makes it, doesn't it?

I haven't really gained any weight maybe one or two pounds but I can't button my pants! (My brother asked me what was different than before I was pregnant. Yeah, I feel the love.) It is a weird sensation to know you are about the same weight but your clothes are starting not to fit. One of the best investments so far has been one of those Tummy Sleeves or Bella Bands. LOVE THEM!!

All in all things are good. Different but good. This is a beginning of a new chapter and something for Dusty and I to get used to and ease into. I am so excited to meet this little sweet child of mine! (OK. Who else starting singing Gun's N Roses after that??)