16 Weeks

Our baby is now 6 1/2 inches long now and weighs 4 ounces. The umbilical cord is now becoming stronger and the ears are developing even more. And our baby is now forming nice layer of adipose tissue. Soon, it will be as fat as Mandy and Nate's baby.

15 Weeks

Our baby weighs about 2 1/2 ounces and is about six inches long. Our baby doesn't look like an alien anymore. The head is more erect and the eyes and ears are now situated in the right place. Our baby's heart pumps about 25 quarts of blood per day but when it gets closer to 40 weeks it will pump 1900 quarts of blood per day!

Thanksgiving

Dallin and I had a great Thanksgiving. I hope the rest of you did too. We went to Twin Falls for Mama's home cookin'. She had the table set up so fancy. We got to eat off the fancy china and got to drink out of sparkling goblets. Speaking of goblets, the turkey was very large and very tasty, and no we did not eat the giblets. Hee Hee. Diana, Shane, Ethan, Chance, Shanel, Sophie, Hallie, and Grandma were there. We just ate all the day long and sat around on our bums. Mom didn't sit around on her bum very much though. On Friday everyone came to Twin except for Cathy...she was there in our hearts though. Before everyone came though Diana, Shane and the kids and Dallin and I went bowling. I won with a whopping 137. I think that's my top score. After everyone got there we ate some more and then went to the movies to see Bee Movie, which by the way was very cute. The above picture is Chance's winning bowling move. Note the form he takes when he sends the ball down the lane. He really makes himself small to look like the ball to become one with the ball...a very wise technique.

14 Weeks

Our baby is now 5 inches long and weighs about 2 ounces. Our baby's skin is still clear...so clear that you can see the blood vessels right through the skin. That kinda reminds me of our see through fish. The ears are continuing to develop and they are starting to look like more normal ears. The eyes are coming closer together. The baby's bones are beginning to ossify, which means that if Aunt Cathy took an X-ray of our baby she could actually see the bones. And the baby might start to suck his/her thumb...which if the baby is anything like me it started sucking his/her thumb clear back when it was a zygote ball of cells and will continue to do so until first grade.

13 Weeks

Our baby is now 4 inches long and weighs about 2 ounces. The arms will continue growing longer. The liver will start to produce bile and the spleen is starting to produce red blood cells. Our baby is now beginning to frown, squint, grimace, and suck his/her thumb.

Hitched!

Dallin's grandpa got married last Friday night. It was a nice ceremony. Short and sweet, the way Dallin likes them. It was good to go and we are happy for his grandpa that he now has some company, a cook, and a driver. :)

Things I am Thankful for

Dallin, my family (on both sides), that we're having a baby, my comfortable and warm bed, the country that I live in, fall leaves, beauties in every season, that I'm almost done with school, variety, the food that I will eat on Thanksgiving...mmmmm...., rain and thunder, warm cookies, yarn stores, feather pillows, animals, the mountains, the ocean, good music of all kinds, hair stylists, medicine, warm sunny days...but not too warm, the smells of Hawaii, general conferences, my Savior, campfires, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, wildflowers, getting together with family, childhood memories, days I can sleep in, Chuck's cooking, children laughing, back and arm rubs, movie nights with Dallin, dishwashers, sour starbursts, snow on Christmas day, my health, strawberries and raspberries in the summer, Thanksgiving break.

(These are in no particular order. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!)

Skunked!

Last weekend Dallin and a few of his friends went fishing all day up to the South Fork. Dallin and one of his friends didn't catch anything all day and the other guy they were with just caught a white fish. I know Dallin is going to want to go again soon to blow that day off the books!

Troubled Teens

So, last night I got to do a few clinical hours at the Bannock County Jail. They have a program there called Short Stop. What happens is, parents bring their troubled teens that have been convicted of crimes to the jail and pretty much the inmates just scare the crap out of them. It was great, great fun! They had the teens come in and they told them stearnly to empty their pockets and take off their belts and if they had anything illegal in their pockets they would spend the night in jail tonight. Luckily, they all passed that test. Then they put them all up against the wall and they searched them and cuffed their hands and feet. Then, they marched them in front of the inmates that resided in the maximum security pod. The inmates yelled at them and said all kinds of cuss words at them and told them that jail sucked and they didn't want to be in there so to change their ways while they still could. I was hoping to see one of the kids start crying, but nobody did unfortunately. I think that it is a really good program for them. The officer said that 85% of the teens that go through this program never reoffend/enter the system again.

12.5 weeks

So, I had my first ultrasound today and apparently I'm a little farther along than they thought. I am now 12 1/2 weeks along and the baby will be arriving now around May 23rd. So, here is what our baby is doing this week. Our baby's big fat head is now not so big and fat. It now only takes up about 1/3 of his/her body. The baby now has fingerprints so he/she is all set for a criminal record. And our baby is covered in a very fine monkey hair. Baby is now 3 1/2 inches long and weighs about 1 1/4 oz. During the ultrasound the baby was wriggling around alot. It was wierd to think that he/she was moving but I still couldn't feel it. The lady that was taking the ultrasound said, "Oh, look now you can see the arms. Oh, he's clapping." It was kinda funny. The baby was kicking his legs alot too. The above photo is a profile shot. The head is on the right side. Pretty cool, huh?

11 Weeks and 3 Days

Our baby's eyes are moving closer together now. The ears are moving to their final destination. The intestines have grown so fast that they extend into the umbilical cord...GROSS! But, they will soon move back down to their home. The kidneys can now excrete urine. The nervous system is starting to mature and the baby now has some reflexes such as sucking. The baby is now 3 inches long and weighs about 1 ounce.

Old Fart!

So, at clinicals today my preceptor was introducing me to some other people in the office and she introduced me to this old fart and she happened to share with him that I was having a baby and the jerk actually said, and I quote, "It's a shame to waste all of that practical information from nursing school to just have a family." I couldn't believe he actually said that out loud to me. I mean I had only known him for what...like 2 minutes! It made me so mad and I kept thinking about it all day. I just stood there after he said it with my mouth open and couldn't think of anything to say. My preceptor piped up and said, "Well, that's the great thing about nursing. You can only work 1 or days a week if you want to." Luckily she thought of something.

Lub Dub...Lub Dub

So, I went to another prenatal visit and I got to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. It was very cool...and very weird at the same time. It took the doctor awhile to find it, but he finally did.

One More Thing

I forgot to mention that our baby is about 2 inches long, the size of a lime, and weighs about a quarter of an ounce.

9 weeks and 3 days

So, I thought it might be fun to put how our baby is doing each week. Here is what's going on currently. Our baby is now a fetus and the organs are continuing to develop, but are functioning. Our baby has a big fat head now. It takes up about half the size. Fingernails, toenails, and hair will start to grow. The fingers are no longer webbed. The baby is actively kicking and can swallow now. But no, I can't feel the baby yet.

Bryce Canyon

Dallin and I have had a request to post some of our pics that we took when we went to Bryce Canyon and Zion's National Park this last spring break. We are only going to put the best one on because it just takes too dang long to put a bunch. Hope you enjoy Beautyful Bryce Canyon. You better like it because I had too get up at the butt crack of dawn to take it!

Chad Interrogates

So, Dallin's brother, Chad, got to interview Idaho's senator Larry Craig. You will notice under the list of favorites sites the link to the news article. Check it out!

I have what doctor's call a little bit of a weight problem!

So, I had the worst shopping day of my life the other day. I wanted to find something nice to wear to my Grandpa's funeral because nothing I have in my closet in the black dept or even just neutral dept fits me anymore. So, I wondered to the Pocatello shopping mall where they have just the best shopping in all the world. I went into Maurices and started to fish through the racks for anything in the double digits. When I found some skirts that stuck out about 6 inches on either side of the hanger I thought, "These should definitely fit me." I went into the dressing room and proceeded to slip into the skirt. To my despair the skirt seemed to shrink right before my eyes as I approached the large protuberance right above my thunder thighs. Once I jerked it hard enough over my bum the next problem was zipping it up. By this time I've started sweating like a pig. The end result was least to be desirable. It just hugged me in all the wrong places. I was so glad to get it off me and back into my baggie sweats and big t-shirt. :) JK sort of. Then I hear the size 3 sales associate come to my dressing room and ask in her cutsy voice, "How did it work?" I lied and said, "It's a little bit too small." She then asked, "What size is it?" Like I'm going to tell her, so I lie once again and say, "It's a size 6." I don't think I've been a size 6 since 3rd grade. To top off the day, the only thing I bought was some Plus Size Nylons.
The End.

Happy Bird-day! (Like from The Office)

I wanted to give Mandy and Cathy a Happy Birthday blog. Cathy's birthday was on the 9th and she turned the Big Three O! I think it is pretty funny that she is 30 now. I'm the only young sibling left. I'm sure I'm going to hear about this soon. hehe. Mandy's Birthday is on Oct. 18th. Happy Birthday Mandy! I love you both oh so very much!

GO COLORADO ROCKIES!!!!!!

Fall Colors

Dallin and I went for a drive today to look at the beautiful fall colors surrounding Pocatello. There were so many trees that were vibrant in reds, oranges, and yellows. The mountains in the distance had snow all over them. We got to see some wild Turkeys. We took a bunch of pictures, hopefully I can post some for you all. It was nice to get out of church today and just relax in my sweats all day and watch conference. We should have general conference more often. I think I will write the prophet and let him know that.

Friday night Dallin and I drove up to Blackfoot for his neice, Mya's, 2nd birthday. It was fun to see family. She has three older brothers and when Melissa, Dallin's sister, asked one of her brothers what he thought Mya would like for her birthday he said to her, "She would probably like a b.b. gun." I thought that was pretty funny.

Workin' at the Res Update

So, Dallin still hasn't heard back from Fort Hall so he is going to continue working at the Sod Farm until he does. Hopefully we will hear from them soon.

The Twins

So, I got to babysit the twins yesterday. It was alot of fun. They are so cute and getting so big. They are running around all over the place. It is so fun to see their different personalities. Sophie smiled and laughed at me all day and Hallie just stared at me with big eyes. I couldn't get her to crack a smile for me all day. Sophie could make her squeal and laugh though. After dinner they were running around the living room making each other giggle and laugh. They would go over to the fireplace and look at their reflection in the glass. Then, one of them would make a noise and Sophie would fall over backwards giggling and squealing. They had fun trying on shoes all day long. They walked around all day with two different shoes on. Diana and Shane have done a lot to their house since I have been there. They have a new room that goes off by their stairs. I think it's going to be the twin's room. They have a new swingset and Diana and Shane's bathroom has new cupboards and mirrors. It looked like they had painted their bedroom too. Everything looks so good. Hope you guys all have fun in California!

Workin' at the Res

Dallin got a job offer at Fort Hall working at their clinic. They are only looking for someone temporarily so that will work out perfect for us. Since Dallin did his clinicals there they wouldn't have to train him. We are just waiting to hear back from them. Dallin put in his two weeks at the Sod Farm. This is his last week.

Huffin' and Puffin'

So, Dallin and I decided to go geocaching the other day. He told me to pick out the coordinates of where I wanted to go. I decided that since my bum has quadrupled in size that it might be a good idea to pick a cache that went over more difficult terrain. As we followed the trusting arrow on our GPS it pointed the way clear to the top of this ridge that overlooked Pocatello...and I believe Blackfoot. Dallin lead the way most of the time followed by our wonderful brother-in-law Steve followed by out-of-shape-big-bum-Jen. My heart was beating so hard that I could hear it in my ears. We hiked it at sunset so we got to see the sunset on beautyful Southeastern Idaho. As we got to the top we found the cache hidden under a pile of rocks. We were the first to find it! I thought that was kind of cool. Inside the cache was a barrel of monkeys, etch-a-sketch, and some foreign money. We didn't take anything because we didn't feel like hawling anything up the mountain. It made me a little frustrated though because there was a dirt road that went all the way up to the top. I hate hiking places that you can drive to. By the time we found our way back to the car it was pretty dark and I was tired! The end.

The Res

So, for part of my clinical hours in the community I attended a Fort Hall Indian Health Care Conference. I was one of 3 white people there. I felt a little out of place. At the beginning someone named Snookins gave a traditional prayer. The rest of the day was filled with health care topics that are specific to Native Americans. They kept saying throughout the whole conference that Indian women were beautiful and I kept thinking, "Hey! What about me?" I also felt a little funny inside, like climbing the rope in gym, when they started talking about all the history and those dang whites. No, they never actually came out said dang whites, but I still felt a little wierd. It was a good day to see some culture though and hear about their traditional beliefs.

Clarification

To clear up any confusion about the empty post and to inform my audience of readers of my intentions of putting the post back up there, I would like to make some affirmative statements pertaining to the aforementioned. After informing Dallin that the public has voted 4 to 1 to have that deleted post posted back up again he threatened to tell a story on me if I reposted it, so I have decided to forgo the repost. Although if I did repost it, Dallin might actually type something on here...there's a novel idea.

Pan Roasted Salmon with Tomato Vinaigrette ..mmmmmm

This is the famous recipe that Cathy cooked for Dallin and I the last night we were in Portland. It is very yummy!

Cooking time: 30 minutes
4 servings

1 pint of grape tomatoes cut in 1/2
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. of drained capers
2 Tbsp. of red wine vinegar
Salt
3 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil
4 center-cut salmon fillets with skin (about 7 oz. each)
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. of ground cumin
2 Tbsp. of canola oil
1 Tbsp. of minced parsley
1 Tbsp. of chopped basil

1. Preheat the oven at 425 degrees. In a bowl toss the tomatoes with the shallot, capers, vinegar and 1/2 tsp. of salt.

2. In a medium oven-proof skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and add it to the skillet, skin side up. Cook over moderately high heat until well-browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip the fillets. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the salmon is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Transfer the fish to plates and pour off any fat in the skillet.

3. Place the skillet over moderate heat and add the tomato mixture along with the cumin, canola oil and the remaining 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Cook, scraping up any bits stuck to the skillet, until the tomatoes just soften, about 2 minutes. Pour the sauce over the salmon, sprinkle with parsley and basil and serve right away.

Enjoy!

Greatest Superhero Ever!

Thanks to all those who participated in our poll. It looks like there was a neck n' neck tie with Batman and Superman. Batman and Superman won with both receiving a whopping 43% of the votes. We encourage all to participate in our new one. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Purple Nail

When I came home from work today, Dallin was at the kitchen table with his drill aimed at his fingernail. I was like, "What the h*ll are you doing!" He then proceeded to tell me the events of his 12 hour day at the good ole sod farm with a perty purple nail. He had smashed it pretty hard in some kind of machinery. Immediately I thought I'm just glad he still has a finger. All the stories I've heard in my past about fingers and farm machinery are not happy tales. So, I told him that I thought he needed to go to the doctor but he stubbornly said no. He then told me to drill through his nail for him. I have never ran a drill in my life and here he was asking me to control the drill and go slow through his FINGERNAIL. After about 2 minutes of that and Dallin yelling at me impatiently I decided that drilling was not our answer. Dallin asked for some whiskey and a biting stick, but I had some morphine that I had stolen from the hospital when I was doing my clinicals. J/K I then went and got a paperclip and heated it in our flame-thrower until it was red, smokin' hot and sat it on his fingernail until it burned through his nail. Dallin jerked in pain when the heat got close enough to his skin. There was still no sign of blood coming out of his nail so he had to finish the rest off with a needle. Dallin screamed like a little girl.

Here Fishy Fishy!

So, Dallin went fishing last night and brought home two 20 inch Rainbow Trout. Poor yittle fishy. He then proceeded to gut the gooey, slimy fish in my kitchen sink. I honestly don't know where else he would have gutted it. As he was slitting open their bellies he could see all the bugs they had been eating. He likes to play detective and look at the bugs so that he knows what flies to use next time he goes fishing. By next time I mean, the next day. One of the fishies had like 15 snails in him...yeah...shell and all. I didn't know that fish ate snails. If I was a fish I would probably eat snails because I eat everything as a human. We took a picture of the fish and I would like to post it for you all to see, but that might take awhile. In addition to no high speed internet we also do not have a digital camera. I know, you're all wondering how we function. Dallin and I have decided to become 1/2 Aimish. Once we get our film developed, I will promptly post the pictures. After we praise the Great Spirit and give thanks to the fish for sacrificing his life that we may never go hungry again we will have a wonderful feast. Oh, in addition to becoming 1/2 Aimish we are also becoming 1/2 Navajo. Chuck and Lisa, if you would like to show us how to cook yummy fish we will provide the fish.

Yummy Wheat Bread Recipe...and it's easy!

5 cups of warm water
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
3 Tbsp. yeast (heaping)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup wheat gluten (heaping)

Mix all ingredients. Add 7 cups of ground up wheat flour and mix. Then add approximately 3 more cups of flour and knead. Put in greased loaf pans and allow to raise for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Daily Drudgeries

So school is going okay. I am taking Nursing Leadership and Management in the Community and Senior Seminar. I got to go and apply for graduation a few weeks ago. The lady sat behind her desk with her glasses on the end of her nose and her trusty #2 pencil and went through my classes to see if she could find a way to tell me that I couldn't graduate because I had foolishly forgotten to take Economics or English Lit. I sat on the otherside of her desk patiently, sweating bullets, and looking at the clock tick away silently. Finally after five minutes of that she said, "Okay, that's it. You've taken all the classes needed to graduate. " I could have leaned across the desk and kissed her, but her makeup looked like it was on pretty thick and my better judgement told me that she might taste like foundation.

Dallin is working at Pocatello Sod. Which is perfect because the season is over with in November...just in time for me to be almost done with school and we can move away towards our bright futures. Dallin comes home looking so dirty. I seriously don't know what he does to get that way. He looks like a vacuum bag exploded all over him. He looks gray from all the dust. I hope I can get a picture of his dirtiness to show you all.

I Fixed It

So, apparently my favorite sites didn't work properly. For some odd reason it would take me to Wikipedia website. Hhhmm...strange. But I think they all work now. My apologies to Becky for not having Spiderman an option for my poll. I tried to go in and change the answers to include Spiderman and it wouldn't let me.

Beautyful Portland!

At the beginning of August, Dallin and I went on a holiday to Portland, Oregon to visit my sista Cathy. I thought to myself the drive won't be so boring. Once we cross the border it is going to be soooo beautyful. Well to much dismay we soon realized that Oregon looks for the most part like Idaho's ugly parts. It didn't get beautyful til we got within an hour and a half of Portland. But, boy howdy, was it perty. There were so many beautiful green trees and ferns. There was even green growing on the bark. We got to see Cathy's cute apartment, Cathy's flavaful neighborhood, Jake's eco-friendly Hot Lips Pizza place, her crazy cat Corky, the rose gardens, some beautiful homes, unique shops, the river that runs through the city, the ocean, some starfish, some mussels, and some spider looking crab things. We also went out to eat at a very good restaurant that sat right by the river and ate some good seafood. Cathy cooked us a very delectable dinner our last night there. Cathy will you email me the recipe? I hope I can put some of our Oregon pics on...if I can figure it out and if it doesn't take too long.

Very First Blog Ever!

Hola Familia y Amigos!

I just got home to mi casa from my Espanol for Healthcare class! Y I thought to myself, "Self, I'm a gonna go and create a blog like my amiga Mandy!" My esposa is watching the Boise State Football game right now...y you all know how much I love football. All of the espanol words in this wonderful blog is how much espanol I know...he he...not very much. I am so happy to start blogging. I realize that I am getting a rather late jump onto the bandwagon, but better late than never right. I am going to warn all of you who look at my blog page because it might be rather boring for awhile because we still have dinosaur dial-up internet so therefore it takes about treinte minutes to download a picture onto the internet. Welp, I'm interested to see what my blog page looks like. So...

Adios Muchachos!