Expectant Mother here!

Saturday morning Ryan and I are still laying in bed when we start to discuss plans for the day. "I'm too lazy. I don't want to do anything" I say, and luckily he agrees. Why feel bad for doing absolutely nothing? I don't. Once baby comes things will change drastically. But for now, we do what we want, when we want to. The thing is, we just don't want to do much which is perfectly fine by me. Our days of sleeping in and afternoon naps are close to an end...we're taking full advantage of this time.

- I do feel bad though, just a tiny bit, for the complete lack of interest I have in my appearance. I'm sticking with my yoga pants and baggy tshirts for now and as long as Ryan believes I look like a supermodel, why mess with the wardrobe? Thank goodness the peak of my pregnancy will be during the winter months. Right when I'm feeling like a giant blob, I will attempt to conceal myself with the oversized clothes. YES! Which is why whenever I take a belly shot, it will be on the one day I put about 75% effort into my appearance......Sunday's for church. :)

Let's just say I'm pretty stoked the bump is finally here. Ryan and I went to the grocery store the other day and I told him to park in the 'Expectant Mothers' parking spot. He refused since I wasn't showing yet. Pfff. We need to take advantage of that spot!!!! Next time, I went by myself and pulled into that parking spot with a huge smile on my face. I'm sure the customers in the grocery store parking lot think I'm a complete phoney. I made sure to rub my not-so-pregnant looking stomach as I walked into the store. Oh well. I only have 9 months to enjoy prime parking at the grocery store and this girl will take advantage of the situation.

baby & I growing

Wednesday was our 2nd doctor's appointment and when I thought nothing could top the first ultrasound of verifying a baby really inside growing, apparently every ultrasound is special in a new way. We went from a tiny blob that we had to look very carefully to see "what-was-what" to clearly seeing our baby's head, nose, hands, and feet. How does a mom-to-be really express the joyful and humbling experience of having her child develop inside of her? All I can say is I'm in love. <3

And here's the first belly shot. I even put my hand on my hip like I'm carrying a large load. I'm practicing the pose for the much larger belly soon to come. :)

lions tigers bears and views

Our anniversary weekend was a weekend of enjoying the beauty and history in Arizona. And I wish my stellar skilled photography captured the real beauty of the Grand Canyon, but I did my best. And that's all that matters right? As an born and raised Arizonan, this was my first time seeing the Grand Canyon (crazy right?) which was probably my favorite of all.

We headed up north for cooler weather and stayed in Flagstaff. We were able to sqeeze quite a bit over the weekend: Wuptaki National Monument, the Grand Canyon, Out of Africa Wildlife Park, and Montezuma Castle. There was quite a bit of driving between all these places, so we had plenty of time to talk and laugh and sing and eat in the car. We probably enjoyed our car time a little too much. :)

happy and awkward times

Happy 4 years and almost 2 weeks to this blissful marriage....which happens to be our last wedding anniversary without kids. This time next year we'll have a little Shideler crawling around the house naked and giving us new reasons to be up late at night and tired in the morning. Haha.

Speaking of the pregnancy, is it just me or is it an awkward time when the belly is just beginning to show a little bump. Not enough to say, "Oh, she must be pregnant" but enough to look like "I think she's putting on some weight." That's the stage I'm at. And now when I'm around people who know I'm pregnant, I can't help but laugh when they ask me, "Do you think you're showing yet?" Almost as if they want to hear my admit it first before they say anything about the stomach bulge. Ok people! I'll come out and say it, "I'm starting to show." No more beating around the bush. :)

surgeons and music

What is the best area for a nurse to work? I'm not really sure. I've only worked as an operating room nurse and although trying something else intrigues me at times, I'm sure I would come running back to the OR after doing what some nurses on the floor have to do.

One aspect of being in the operating room that makes things really interesting/entertaining, is being in tight quarters with the doctors. Don't get me wrong, a majority of the doctor's are very sweet and easy to talk to. However, there are those surgeons that make my eyes pop out and make me stop in my tracks to stare. It's hard to believe that a grown adult could fold their arms and stomp the ground like a little child... literally. Or have a tourrette's episode and start shouting profanities out of NO WHERE and then go back to talking about themselves. Very eye popping. I'm sure you can guess how my day was at work. :) Just a little pet peeve at work, dealing with adult-children.

We do listen to music during surgery. We try to keep it professional, but let's be real here, a majority of the time it's not. And we try to keep the music off when we bring the patient back, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.

I'm going to keep track of songs playing when the patient comes back that you have to run over and shut-off because it's just down right inappropriate. First song on the list:  Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan. Not exactly what you want to hear when you're going in for surgery. Great work week and it's only Tuesday.

baby's first ultrasound

 

The pregnancy test didn't lie.

We had our first doctor's appointment and our first ultrasound and even after sitting here trying to think of the words to best explain what we felt.... there are no words. We saw our little grape-sized baby's heart beating away and heard baby's heart beat. All I can say is, my heart smiled.  

 

Ryan has been quite the trooper, but he still has until the end of March to put up with me and my complete lack of energy. This girl loved her sleep beforehand, but 13 hours is just down right ridiculous isn't it? Don't even get me started on my lack of appetite.  I'm just super grateful that cereal sits will with me because pregnancy would be very difficult if I couldn't eat my cereal.

 

On another note:

 I think it was the day after we found out I was pregnant and I asked Ryan, "Do you want to do the dishes, or take out the trash?"

 

Without ANY hesitation what-so-ever he said, "Is this a trick question? ...... I'll do both"

 

:)

 

Such a sweetie. And quite the quick learner too.

I made some labels to the cutest, smallest, blurriest ultrasound. :) Cute baby huh!!!!

can we not go to work tomorrow?

So the day I pretty much knew I was pregnant and decided to take a pregnancy test, I thought I would record each of us finding out. It's all about documenting this stage in our life right? I love pictures, but there's something about watching a video down the road and this is a video I'll love watching many years from now.

I actually did the pregnancy test before Ryan woke up Sunday morning. We've had a few scares in the past and it's come to the point where I don't even mention I'm late. I figured I would take the test, and if it was positive, I would do something nice to share the news with Ryan.

I do have a video of me reading the pregnancy test, but I'm more interested in showing the daddy's reaction because it is BY FAR the SWEETEST and most PRICELESS video I've ever seen. I'm not bias.

Every time I watch this video I can't help but chuckle. Ryan is never speechless, but in this video, he's SHOCKED. Seriously, there's a good 10 second pause where he just STARES at me while I'm crying. Ha ha :) He's been ready for awhile to have kids and probably never thought this day would come. I'm just so glad I recorded this.

Oh, and I chuckle at the very end when I ask him, "Can we not go to work tomorrow?" Because finding out you're pregnant means you get a day off, didn't you know that? :)

it's positively positive. :)

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

Costco was the highlight of my day. Up and down the aisles throwing whatever the heck looked good in my cart. It helped that Ryan wasn't there to supervise or add up the bill while shopping. :)

Anyway, I had a pleasant conversation with a family in front of me while checking out.

I wonder if that's a characteristic people will say about me at my funeral because I've been told that more than once. That I am quick to talk to strangers and carry on a conversation like we were neighbors. Hmmm....

Back to the family.

I asked where they were from (they were African) and ended up impressing them with my Swahili. The grandmother was so excited she waved her daughter and grandkids over. Yes, I can say a few numbers in Swahili (they may not be in numerical order though). I told her how my husband and I went to Tanzania and picked some up while we were there. They were so impressed. And after talking with them, their sweetness and friendliness made me miss the African culture like crazy. But one thing I'm trying to work on (one of many) is being grateful for what's going on in my life at that moment. And this is the beauty I saw this past week.

And there were many comments from other hikers on my husband completing this in his slippers. That's my husband for you. Impressive huh?

Payson, AZ

It's Monday and I'm feeling it.

I went in to LA Fitness after work to open a membership. I thought I would ease into it by getting a guest pass for the next three days. Today was day one. I worked out for 15 minutes. ROUGH!

Did I really run a half marathon just 4 months ago? Because no one, including myself, would believe it. Use it or lose it I guess.

 Thursday night before falling asleep, Ryan and I are in bed talking. When I think about things in life that are THE BEST, this is one of them. He tells me, when you get off work tomorrow, we're going to drive up to Payson and stay the night. He's taken care of a hotel and already has an itinerary planned. I love my husband's surprises and our spontaneous weekend trips. And not to brag, but look at what beauty I got to see. Tons of pictures, of course, in the process of being uploaded.

I would say it's crazy, but after talking with others who have similar experiences, it's not that crazy I haven't seen a lot of the national parks in AZ. Being born and raised, I've seen very little really. Technically I have been to the Grand Canyon, but I was maybe 2 years old. Does that really even count? Didn't think so.

However, with Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, Check!