24 weeks

Matthew and I now laugh at the change that is slowly occurring in the pictures. I am finally gaining more pregnancy pounds which is somewhat of a relief and somewhat of a hassle.


We are looking forward to this Christmas break, so that we can spend time with family. This is going to be a short post, but I will be sure to add fun info from the break shortly!
ciao!

Mouse!

We had our 20 week ultrasound right before the Thanksgiving holiday, so we were able to share the good news in person with my family and over the phone on the drive with Matthew's.

Unfortunately, the whole experience was rushed because they were squeezing our appointment in early, but we were just so thankful for their flexibility. After measuring the major body parts, examining the skull and spine, listening to all 4 chambers of the heart beating, and tracking the digestive system, they told us that everything seemed normal and on track for our due date. We then took a look to find out that we are having a little BOY! It was all so amazing! He had his hands and feet all up towards his face and it made this whole pregnancy-thing seem so much more real. Even though when you see other peoples' ultrasound pictures they look like ink blot tests designed for psychologists, being in the actual room with the nurse made him real in those images.

Of course, the first question we get after telling someone we are expecting a boy is "Oh, what are you naming him?" Now we have our list of possibilities, but we enjoy having time to think it over and find one that seems to settle with us before announcing it. So to dodge the question our response naturally is, "We are naming him Moose! And Sandee so cleverly came up with the spelling - M-O-U-S-E. So unique right?" Bronco Mendenhall is named after a horse, so we can have a Moose. I have a hard time admitting that I was trying to be funny about the spelling and didn't even realize that I had actually spelled the name of a rodent. Oh well, I just can't help how clever I am when I am pregnant...hehe.

We are now at 22 weeks and the little guy is certainly getting bigger and creating more room for himself in my stomach.

Matthew can now feel him move too; however, he is less than excited about the fact that it feels like a fish flopping around on the edge of my gut. He seems convinced that the little guy is going to cause some damage to my insides with all of that flipping. I am trying to wean him off of calling our baby my "belly monster." Oh well, I guess it still makes me laugh too :)

20 Weeks

Three weeks have passed since my last post and picture, and there are definite changes happening now. I have finally discovered the true beauty behind my maternity pants, and started wondering what in the world I am going to wear to church that will be comfortable and warm.

We are looking forward to our ultrasound, and it seems like it can't happen soon enough. Even though the baby's arrival is forever away, it is certainly fun to have something so exciting to look forward to down the road. We had two ward friends tell us today their pregnancy news and I just can't seem to get enough of it.

First "bump" Update

So most people probably start this process a lot earlier, but not much has changed in my stomach in the last 4 months. I have gained some weight; however, I seem to be hiding things well. To be quite honest we have waited so long to tell people because we have just been afraid things could be going wrong since there wasn't much change. We have been to the doctor's twice and things are reporting normal though.
Needless to say we are beyond excited about starting our little family. That little heartbeat has not ceased to amaze me.

Halloween!

My favorite part about this holiday is getting to spend it with children. They make it so much more fun and just thrive on the excitement of having a unique costume and getting free candy. They have been bubbling over about it all week long.

I, on the other hand, had to leave my costume planning until the last minute as my time was absorbed with school projects and meetings and planning and whatever else life has been throwing at me. That being said, I was pretty excited about the outcome. Two days before our Friday party I had solved the problem. While looking at the things I had available in my closet I thought of Mary Poppins. That plus the perfect hat and shoes from Rora completed my costume.

The best part of getting to be Mary Poppins for a day is that people immediately associate you with warm thoughts. She is magical and lovable and therefore I was magical and lovable. Both parents and students associated me with singing and happiness.

I forced Matthew to join in for our ward Halloween party, so he made a chimney sweep and went as Bert.


Favorite quote from the week: I told them my costume was going to be from a singing movie. "Is it an old movie or one that we will know?" Ha ha, thanks a lot kids I am not that old. I responded to them that it was old AND they would know it.

Dead.

Children really do not have a concept of death. I observe them playing all the time: someone "dies" and moments later miracle of miracles the dead person rises to their normal playtime capacity. It is probably for the best and all. Death is a pretty gray subject. I mean as gray as it gets knowing that the person gets to rest from the trials of this temporal existence. However, today I decided to test a theory. I was curious to see what my kids (the ones I nanny) would do if I played real dead instead of the fake kind. After they killed me in a rousing game of Evil Witch, I became a helpless, dead weight, eyes-closed observer. Looking back on the experience I tried to imagine the series of events playing out from their points of view. In their innocent minds it must have gone something like this:
*imagine all this playing out with the mad giggles that only a 5 year old girl can produce.

The evil old witch has locked us up for the last time. We will use her poison candy to kill her! Eat this!

Ha ha! It has worked perfectly and she is dead. Now we will just continue the process 5 more times after she wakes back up.
...

She is still not moving. My hyperactivity cannot handle this much anticipation. Must hurry the waking-up process.

Lift her head up! Pull her arms out! She is a Bouncy! Jump on her! Oh golly, that has only moved her to the floor instead of the chair. She still hasn't woken up yet. Does she even know how to play dead?

Yell louder! Pull harder! Oh, lets poke her. Still nothing...punch her!

Witch wake up! Wake up or I will spank your bottom! I am going to do it. Slap! No reaction. Slap more! Still nothing.

Witch, we don't want to play with you anymore. We are going inside. We are going to do it. You better wake up and stop us.

Wake up! Stretch it farther that will work. Nothing.

--- and then they pulled out the big guns and I could no longer play along ---

Bella! Come lick the witch!

--- Bella, one of the family dogs, is one of the dirtiest creatures. She lives in a paradise and manages to get into everything. No more than 20 minutes prior to playing Evil Witch I saw the wretched beast gnawing on something that was beyond succeeding at playing dead. The smell wafted along the canyon breezes and made my nose hair curl. ---

That threat did the trick and I was up. Even though I was a little battle torn from the 5 minute experience, it still makes me chuckle. Oh the logic of children.

summertime means...

I love summer, not as much as late spring, but it is as close as it gets. There are so many exciting things that come along with the "summer package." Things that bring smiles, tans, sweat, road trips, and most of all dying brain cells from lack of use. This summer has come to me after a two year dry-spell. Studying year-round had left me in a desert of fun. I'm not saying that my "Endless Summer of '09" wasn't enjoyable; it just lacked some of the typical elements of summer and included an unusual element: studying and tests. That being said, this year opened the flood gates and allowed summer activities to come pouring back into my day-to-day. Here is what my binge summer-ing has included:

Puerto Rico

Nursing
*spending time with mom after her surgery

Nanny-ing

Dinosaur Day

The desire to accomplish still unfinished tasks
*painting and blogging

Nerves about an upcoming year of teaching

Costa Rica

Sun bleached hair

Lake Pineview

Replaced a car

Skydiving

Fantastic toes

And yet to come: St. George, Classroom set-up, and Washington DC

freedom...

So I guess it's about time that I started using this space to write things that might actually interest my friends and family. I guess the problem was really that I had no idea what to write about and no time to come up with things to write about. Well, here comes my first real summer in quite some time when I won't have the pressure of homework weighing down on my time. Bam! Time is no longer an issue. If only I had something good to write about. So I guess if you are reading this you must know a little bit about me. Get ready for some randomness. The kind of random that busts out of you in song when you least expect it. And not the kind of song that someone else could join in on, but the kind where it is just you letting your thoughts wander out in the form of a tune. Yup, that kind of random.

Yesterday it hit me. It was a kind of strange thought, but powerful enough to make me think "I guess I could blog about that."

Why I LOVE springtime in Provo:
Notice the beautiful color on those trees. Although the smell can be kind of intense, these trees are one of the most pleasing parts of my walks home in the spring time.

While I was enjoying that pleasing sight right outside my window it was interrupted by this:Notice that is in fact a parking enforcement vehicle. It drove by our apartment more than three times yesterday. This is one of the reasons I always dislike Provo no matter the season.