Long Time No See

Haha, so if the only way you ever received updates about my life was via the blog, you are probably wondering how long can a person possibly be pregnant, and you probably didn't hear I had a baby with extra parts. So to clear the confusion- I have a (very cute*) little 7 and a half month old boy.... not named Alexis. His name is Bentley and as with most babies, he learns new tricks about every week. This week we are discovering the world from the viewpoint on all fours! Although, so far he's more prone to use his tip toes instead of his knees. There is no forward motions as of yet, but he does freeze in amazement at his accomplishment, and then promptly cry because of his frustration.
So the rest of the update: we are living in California!!! I really really don't know why it took so long, but we finally said to-heck with the cold and joined the rest of the wise in the warmth. Ahh, it is lovely! Again, I am amazed with how long we actually stayed in Idaho. Well, you know, we gave it a hearty shot. We tried to make it there, but you can only endure so much abuse from the weather and your employers before you are driven out by your basic need to survive. So in our pursuit of happiness, we have found a place just like home (well actually it is home) in my parents house- yep back to the roots, and we are getting cozy! Haha, we have had to make many adjustments, as have my family members, but in order to save for a place of our own, we must do what we must. We love my parents for their patience and kindness.
I finally have had my stars align, and since Jesus loves me, I now have (almost) everything I could ask in a nursing job! Benefits, a reliable schedule, a place in the call rotation, my coworkers love me, I can really go on and on. I only say almost because Med Surg (although it has many benefits) is not my ending destination. So after my experience here, perhaps I can settle in OB somewhere. For now, I am super happy with the blessings that have been showered on me.
They don't stop there though, Dave also has employment! Sears has hired him to the automotive department! He has a good job there, and good people to work with. It is so nice to have the peace of mind that employment can bring. We have been on both sides, and for sure I am grateful for work! As far as big picture goes, Dave is looking forward to (hopefully) attending Cal Poly so that he can really get deep into the Electrical Engineering carreer path!
We are learning that really no one wants to hear about us, but that Bentley is the topic of interest, so we will refocus on him. He is learning to sleep through the night, at least we think so. Rather, we are learning to let him cry so that eventually he can sleep through the night. Not as easy as it sounds. But someone said Bentley had me wipped, and I thought Oh HECK no! I'm the mom!! So from then on, we make sure he is safe, then put in the earplugs! Its been nice! And he still loves us in the morning, so it must be ok! He makes us laugh with all his reactions to the whole new world of pureed foods full of new textures and flavors. He just loves it! So much he is really frustrated when we don't replace the food filled spoon fast enough! He has somewhere picked up the head shake, so he is constantly telling us no, although it doesn't fit the situations. So we are working on the yes nod. So far, he just stops in serious contemplation and then focuses on something easier.
He can professionally roll front to back and back to front now, so he is no longer safe ever and now requires more diligent monitoring. He can also proficiently place his binki in his mouth and hold his own bottle. And he can pick up a cheerio with either hand and then shove his fist inside his mouth and hope to catch it. Sometimes it works. He's got the cutest nose scrunch but we can't tell what he does it for yet, and he's got the most serious of furrows to his brow. He's a rather serious kid (go figure) but he will on occasion bless us with a giggle, and then we all work really hard to look as rediculous as we can to entice another giggle out of him. It's also very fun to just watch each other in this process. The other thing he is amazing at is the poop face. He cracks us up. Again- so serious! Dang that boy can stink up a room though! Whew! Our son is so impressive. We are totally taking advantage of letting him know that he is the cutest son we've ever had. We know that will have to stop at some point, but for now it is true and we are totally allowed to say so! Dave is still the best husband I've ever had too. I will always be able to say that.
I don't have the opportunity to put pictures on this one right now, but my facebook does have some new photos if you're interested. Anyway, till we meet again- sorry it's been so long. I can't promise any time frame on the next one either. Love you all, dear family and friends!

BOL Update!!! (Big-O-Long)

YAY! I am full term today! I know that may confuse some of you who are thinking "But your due date isn't till June 3rd!". I have news: after 37 weeks the baby's lungs have fully developed and if there aren't any further complications, they won't send her straight to the NICU like they would have if I had her last week! That's good news to me!
Dave and I are packed and ready to go any time now! I have officially started 'nesting' and cloroxed everything that would stand still yesterday, wiped the walls from at least 4 feet and down, cleaned the baseboards, dusted everything, and sterilized until I was pooped. I still have the bathrooms and a few more things to tackle. I knew that this happened later in the pregnancy, and somehow thought I would be the exception to avoid it but no. I woke up on my day off and had some strange superbug vision I didn't go to bed with; suddenly I could see every bacteria and dirt particle crawling all over everything! Moms are amazing! Part of this might be due to my term-ness, part might be due to the subconscious awareness that these 4 days of being off work are my last until I deliver (with I think 2 or 3 exceptions scattered here and there) because my schedule says I work and work and work, and it's not over till the fat lady screams! Example: I work the 1st and 2nd of June from 7-7 both days and then my due date is the 3rd. I know I sound crazy, but am I really supposed to be sitting at home thinking about it? Going over and over in my mind every impending detail? No way, distract the crap out of me and I'll face the music when it comes!
Speaking of all the gory details, I think I'd prefer to just skip the messy parts. I'm not talking about Labor itself exactly, I am just saying that I would be happy as a clam if I would just contract and then go to the hospital. I'd be just fine if I could skip the water breaking and any mucous (I don't want to see it, I don't want to know when it's out, I don't want to have anything to do with it!) I have been thinking: there's no great place other than the hospital for the water to break. At home, ew no, I don't want to clean it up. Perhaps I could be ok with it in the shower or toilet (contained is good, I think) and an easy wash off. Grocery store? NO. Oh at work could be funny as heck, but still ew. And I don't want to have to finish charting with a patient wristband and belly monitors on. Not a good time.
Some people experience a false breakeage of the waters called "maternal loss of urine", you guessed it, moms pee their pants. Now Dave has really put some good thinking into this and has decided that if I "lose" my urine in a patients room, I should simply pretend my water broke, and get out in the hall, change into the hospital scrubs, and quickly request an assignment switch with a savvy coworker who will tell the patient again that I am now in Labor and Delivery with my water broke. You never can think of the good things to do or say until after the event unless you are prepared. Thanks sweetie, if that happens I will do it! It seems better than fessing up to my patient that I just wet myself. Again, ew.
I know God's in control and all, but I wish we could put our 2 cents in about when would be a good time to schedule this shindig. I'm thinkin the 3rd (the due date) is right in the middle of Dave's Midterms and Finals, so not really a good time. If I go this week, Mom and Dad are still gone, not a good time. However, there is a long weekend between these events that would be great: If I had the baby Friday night before Memorial Day, we'd be set! That would be a good time. Oh well, it's out there. God knows the desires of my heart, its kind of out of my hands now.
Here's a good one: my nightmares. Let me background by saying that I refuse to deliver at the hospital in Rexburg. I work at EIRMC in Idaho Falls (30 minutes away) and WILL deliver there. So I keep having nightmares that 1) I delivery by my self in the car, 2) I have no epidural or pain control at all (of which I am a big fan) and 3) she comes out a HE! Ah NUTS! heehee. So I'm hoping thats just some big joke and that we won't really have to take our son home in a dress.
I haven't posted her name either, sorry: Alexis Paloma Hill. Paloma means Dove in Spanish, and we're hoping she will be a peaceful child. Why do I hear laughing in my head? That might end up the butt of jokes as the family asks how we slept at the camping trip. Yeah we know. Again, we are hoping, and we are also very aware that God has a sense of humor. At least her name isn't Paloma Grace. That really would be a set up. If this baby has been naughty and comes out a boy, the name is to be announced (as soon as we figure it out) and he will be grounded big time!
I would post maternity pictures for you, but they are on their way to me so I don't yet have them. In the meantime, you can visit photosbyjanese.com and see how fat I am. Thanks Auntie!
She did a great job. Except for the photo-op, I have attempted to keep this fatty out of the photo frame unless the need for editing is minimal. Wish I looked as good as Shawntel but I don't, sorry 'bout it.
Anyway, as the days get closer and the house cleaner, the husband and wife get scared-er! Every evening ends with an: "I can't believe we're about to be parents!" spoken by a wide-eyed one of us. We've so far enjoyed our quiet home (except our elephant heard of upstairs neighbors) and one of us (not it) has enjoyed his restful nights. Our world is about to take a flip and we are well aware of it. I guess we have no option, there's really no way to turn back now, or put her back once she comes, right? Yeah I didn't think so.
We're also getting excited to meet this little one. Its a bit strange that we've been more than connected at the hip and neither one of us knows what the other one looks like! She knows I'm kinda dark but pink sometimes, but other than that, I just taste funny to her. I can imagine she looks like us, but what features and what family traits she'll inherit we are clueless. Dave and I have a wide spread of physical family characteristics she could be: Brown, green, blue, grey, or hazel eyed. Brunette, blonde, or red. Pretty much her skin WILL be white, we know that much! Tannable? Thats questionable. Freckled? Perhaps. Iam assuming her ears will come from daddy. He's got unique ears that our nephews have inherited, I think they're cute, so I hope she does. Pretty much it looks like someone took their fingernail to the back of his earlobe, so there's a long curved crease. Dave won't know whats coming when everyone is checking out his ears from now on, hee hee hee!
I'm pretty anxious about my mom not being there. Growing up you have your ideas of what your wedding day will be like, etc. Well whenever I've thought of delivering my babies, I never ever ever assumed mom wouldn't be by my side. It just made sense, she's my mom, and she's a delivery nurse, and she's my best friend, so of course she'd be there. I guess I never factored in the fact that she might be in a different state, or maybe even a different continent as the case may be. Hmm. That might put a damper on things. She's kinda irreplaceable if you know what I mean. Love her. Luckily I should have my sweetheart by my side (I hope he's not in the middle of a final when I need to get ahold of him!). If he is, I've arranged a fast car with lights from the Chalmers- awesome people some of you might know. We had a bbq with Kent and Stacie last weekend and they said they'd rescue me if I needed it. Always good to have a back up plan.
So is this enough of an update for now? I told you I have a 4-day stretch of days off, so I told mom I'd update my blog for the first time in ages. I know, I am not so good at it, but you all know I am a busy woman, so don't expect these super frequently and just appreciate them when they come! Thanks for your love and especially your patience. No, especially your love, I need that more. We'll post again when we have pictures, either of the belly or the baby- we shall see!!! Wish us luck, and please keep us in your prayers!

YAY!

It's a GIRL!!!! We tried another ultrasound and doc confirmed that it's going to be a baby girl! Dave and I are so excited! We don't have a great picture of it, but we checked and checked and triple checked and the three lines came up every time. Now, I know- there are three lines that indicate umbilical cord too, BUT as the Doc said, "Its either female parts or cord but it's definitely not a boy! If it is, he should be embarassed!" So I told this lil Guida inside me she's grounded if she comes out a boy and surprises us all!

The instruction is now to save the tags on whatever we buy for her... Just In Case!

ALSO...
Dave and I are once again excited to announce that we are an auntie and an uncle! Brian and Ashley Hill had their baby boy on Thursday Jan 21st at 6:24 pm and he is 5lbs, 10oz and I think 17 inches long. He definitely has characteristics of mom and dad and has decided to take the quiet route for now (he doesn't cry much). He is very sweet! We are so happy to welcome him to our family!

In the meantime...
Dave is doing the school thing and could use any prayers you can offer to stay on top of his work and understand his new major's subjects, and he continues to work for BYU-I. I am doing the work thing, still doing two RN jobs and getting closer every month to paying off some of these stinking bills! Ay the responsibility of adulthood! My belly is getting bigger and almost to the point that I can take pictures of it and not look simply fat. Dave likes to oggle it every once in a while and he swears "it wasn't that big yesterday!" Haha, its a good thing I'm pregnant otherwise I'd have to whack him!

Anyway...
We love you all and are excited to share this eventful life with those we love! OH! NAMES!!!
Ok, well we are debating between two names for this lil girlie inside me:
Aislynn Renee (like Face, or Ace-Lynn) or Alexis Paloma (Paloma is the Spanish word for dove).
It might come down to picking it out after she is born to see which fits her best because they're both favorites and we can't decide yet. Wish us luck!

Oh Baby!

Dave and I are dying to know whether this baby has a pink or blue belly button. After hoping for so long it was a girl, we did an ultrasound at 15 weeks and had suspicions it was a boy. So patiently we waited to do another one until after 20 weeks to double check. In the meantime, we wrapped our minds around the idea of having a baby boy. Now that we wouldn't mind either, we did another ultrasound yesterday (Jan 18) and we STILL can't tell what on earth we are having!!! I clearly saw female 3/4 times we checked, but that fourth time Doc said he thought he might have seen a male part. In truth, the legs were crossed and it was all difficult to see anyway.
We have plans to try yet again on Thursday, so wish us luck! We will share the news when we have a "better picture" of what we're having!

May I Have Your Attention Please?

Long time, no post, I know, I KNOW! Sorry, life's been KRAZIE!

This morning on the Eve of Christmas, we each had to reveal exactly how much weight we have lost for our biggest loser family competition. Drum roll please!

And the winner is.... WENDI!

Beginning weight was 153.5, today was 136.5 a total of 17lbs losing a complete 11.1%!

Starting from the top:

Big Steve (dad) 193.5 -> 176 totaling 17.5lbs = 9.0%

David Hill (pookie) 196.5 -> 181.5 totaling 15lbs = 7.6%

Branden (ole red who was told he couldn't participate) 143.5 -> 134 totaling 9.5lbs = 6.6%

Steven Brian (le younger) 181.5 -> 171 totaling 10.5lbs = 5.8%

Amber Hill (el prego who has a 'handicap'/disqualification thanks to Dave) 173.5 -> 164 totaling 9.5 lbs = 5.5%

Alisha (blonde beauty) 143.5 -> 139 totaling 4.5lbs = 3.1%

Total pounds lost = 83.5 lbs!!!

Total percentage lost = 48.7% !!!!!

*** Side note: there have been instances where we weighed less than we do today and if that were the case, Big Steve, Wendi, and Amber all would have been hard competition for the top! So on we go looking forward to another weigh in the summer (after I have a really big amount of weight loss) when we will again compete for the prize. Of course, we all walk out winners as you can tell, now that we have shed pounds and are much lighter, healthier and happier! Perhaps next summer's photo shoots won't be so depressing!

Merry Christmas from all of us! We will likely post again soon!

Yay, Baby Update!

This is Baby Hill- no gender is known yet (unless someone reading this can see it and I can't). We should find out what it is in January or February. This is our baby's first picture- taken at 10 weeks, 0 days. We saw hiccuping and spontaneous movement. For those not used to seeing an ultrasound, there is a darker oval shape in the middle of the photo, the head is the white on the left inside the oval, the body curves to the right from there, with a nub for a right arm visible, and a circle from the bottom of the baby making the right foot (we assume). It is a profile shot.

These two photos were taken at 11weeks, 4days and I performed the abdominal ultrasound myself. Doc was out of town and as Dave said it: While the Doctor's away, the Nurses will play! This active lil one jumped from side to side on my uterus like a trampoline. It is very active! However, when Dave and I were watching it, there would be periods when it would stop and rest... what did I do? I gave a really loud HA! and the baby sprang right back into life! It responds to me! YAY!

This is showing the head on the right side and the lighter white circles are all four arms and legs! We see strong heartbeats and it's mouth moving, arms and legs waving, spinal curling and extension- wow! In this one, you can actually see the lens of the eye, as indicated by the lighter formed circles in the eye sockets that are dark. The nasal and oral structures are also apparent!

This lime is what babycenter.com says a 12 week old fetus should measure up to. It is about a 1/2 ounce weight, and over 2 inces long from crown of head to base of rump. What a big baby! My weeks rotate every Thursday, in case you were curious!

Not an ultrasound, but this is what we all look like today- my belly just looks fat to those who don't already know I'm pregnant, so it's not so cute. Dave likes it though- he'll stop me at various times and stare at my belly and say "Awww! Look at you, Lil' Momma!" and then get a little misty eyed and hug me. I love that.

We are a Happy Family!

Conference with the Cousins