29 weeks! (almost)

Tomorrow I will be 29 weeks! That means only 11 more to go before my little boy makes his debut in this world! I can't wait! I had my appointment today and am VERY happy to report I passed my gestational diabetes screening test! The cut off for blood/glucose levels is 140, I barely slid in there with a 137. He said since I'm young and healthy, he'll give me a pass and just watch my growth very closely. If I were older or had a history, he would have made me do the 3 hour test anyway. Woo Hoo!

Noah's heartbeat was strong and right where it should be. He was very cooperative and came to the Dr when he put the Doppler on my belly so the Dr didn't have to go looking for him. I also found out today I have to start doing kick counts. Every day, twice a day for one hour I have to count his movements. If I get 10 in one hour, we're doing great! I think we won't have any problems, I get 10 in 5 min some days.

I was commended for doing my prenatal water aerobics and told that it is probably 6 times better for me than anything else I could possibly be doing.

I noticed about a week ago that I've got a varicose vein popping up in my right leg and I was very unhappy about it. Luckily they tend to go away after delivery and I was told to always put my feet up when I sit down (like I needed another excuse for that!) and eat LOTS of protein. I'm doing my best to at least minimize it's appearance anyway.

I'm still feeling great, however the little bit of extra energy I felt in the second trimester is slowly dying away now that I'm in the third. I'm back to going to bed by 9 or 10, only now it's impossible to get comfortable while I sleep so I'm not even getting out of bed early. I feel exhausted when I wake up from all the tossing and turning I'm doing. Sigh. Pregnant life is much harder than I imagined. People tried to warn me but I didn't listen. Of course I would do it all over again but I no longer think it's a cake walk. :-)

Abra is throwing me a baby shower and it's just around the corner (Jan 9th)! I can hardly wait for that! We have a tour of the birth center coming up on Jan 5th and we start our childbirth education class on Jan 14th! So much to look forward to. My next appointment is Jan 12th and after that I start going every two weeks. It's coming so fast I feel like I hardly have time to breathe anymore. We also have all our appointments scheduled through the end of February. I was going to go ahead and do the last one on March 2nd but she didn't have March open for scheduling yet so I'll have to wait. As it stands I have the "last one" on February 23! 8 days before he's due. Anyway, I'm going to go put my feet up as the Dr ordered! ;-)

~T

Just pictures

Some have called for more pictures so here they are. Anything recent and not so recent that I think you might enjoy. A side note, I should be posting an update tomorrow after my Dr appointment. I took the gestational diabetes screening test on Friday so the results should be in when I go tomorrow. Wish me luck, I'll keep you posted.



I was about 12 weeks with Tasha at 38 weeks?I don't remember exactly


Cowgirl for Halloween 22 weeks 3 days


24 weeks 5 days


27 weeks 6days


19 weeks 6 days






Most recent additions to Noah's room


Sign I made when I knew it was a boy


Some cute new things I received in an online gift exchange.

Pregnancy Update

I thought since I'm about 25 and a half weeks along now, it was time to update again. I was at the Dr this past Tuesday and so far everything is great! Noah's heart beat was good and strong and I'm nice and healthy as well. My uterus was measuring at 26in but he didn't seem too concerned about that so I guess it's no big deal. I have been having some problems lately with my wrists and he told me I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome and gave me a prescription for wrist braces to wear at night. They aren't the most comfortable but they do help with the pain. I'll put up with them for now :)

With Thanksgiving just a few short days away I'm very excited to be cooking my very first turkey dinner. Sarah will be coming so it'll be a small group but a group nonetheless. My next appointment is Dec 15 and I have to take the dreaded gestational diabetes screening test. Ugh! I don't look forward to that. I am looking forward to Christmas just two weeks after my appointment though!

Noah is a VERY active little boy. He hasn't kept me up at night yet but I'm sure it's not too far off. He loves to kick and punch all the time. I'm able to see his movements now as well as feel them. A few lucky family members have been able to feel him as well! It's very exciting. Ryan loves to feel him moving and sometimes gets impatient if Noah's not moving when Ryan wants to feel him. It's cute. He'll start poking and talking to Noah trying to get him going.

It really is just the most amazing and magical thing to be able to feel this little boy growing inside of me. I cannot wait to meet him!

Happy Holidays! We love you all.

T

20 Weeks!

Noah's foot, his toes are pointing to the left.
Noah's profile, you can see his little nose and lips and chin! So cute!
Another of his profile, I just can't get enough!
So we got our 20 week ultra sound on Wednesday! As you can tell, it's a boy! We are sooo excited! His name is Noah Ryan Sams. It was the most wonderful thing to see him again in the ultra sound. He was just moving around like crazy in there. I've been able to feel him moving since about 18 weeks but I can't feel all his movements so to see just how active he really is was amazing. The tech was taking measurements of his heart and other organs and he just kept flipping around showing off his little bottom. It was very cute. He weighs 12 ounces right now and is about 10 inches long from head to toe.

It's so great to finally know and I am still in awe of the fact that we have a son! I can't believe how much I love him already. I hear it only gets worse after he's born, lol. Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone on that.

I had to go back to working full time for now. We had a staff member leave so while she's looking for someone to hire, I get to work all day. Yay me...I also had to change my hours so now I work 10-7.

It's crazy to think I'm halfway to the birth of little Noah, it feels like it's gone by really fast in some ways and really slowly in others. I know some people will be curious so just to let you all know, Ryan and I just really love the name Noah. It's not a family name or anything. Obviously Ryan is after his daddy, I wanted to make it meaningful but also give him his own identity. So there you have it, Noah Ryan.

We are choosing to decorate the nursery in a Noah's ark theme. Fitting, right? The walls, as you've seen are yellow and I think we're going to add another color but it's a surprise what it will be right now. (meaning we haven't picked it yet) It's hard to find a really cute Noah's ark crib set so I think we're just going with an animal themed one and we'll add in the other elements to tie it all in. I am so excited to see it all put together!

I'm still feeling great although I think I might be getting something from one of the kids at work. I just feel blah. It is flu season and I'm doing everything I can to avoid it but we'll see. I hope everyone is doing great and can also avoid getting sick this year. We hope to see you all soon!

T

16 weeks on the 16th!

I'm 16 weeks today! I've had quite an unnerving experience these last few days. My Dr appt was supposed to be next week but they called me in early because they didn't like the symptoms I was having. He says nothing to worry about so I guess I'll trust him, in a few days I should get the results back from the test and know for sure what it was. We shall see...I won't get into too much detail, I'm sure it's nothing you want to read about anyway.

So after that whole shebang we were able to nail down an appt time for our big ultra sound! We will hopefully be finding out the gender of Baby Sams on Wednesday, October 14Th at 8 am!!!! We cannot wait! It's driving me crazy just knowing I still have four weeks. Luckily for me time seems to be flying lately. It seems like yesterday I was in awe that I was 12 weeks along and now it's already been 4!

On another note, I've talked to my boss about the possibility of me working part time through March! She seems to be OK with it for now, our numbers are down quite a bit so she's overpaying for staff right now anyway. I'm just so worn out by the end of the day that I don't have the energy to do anything at home. The house doesn't get clean, meals don't get cooked, it's not pretty. Ryan does do A LOT to help out mind you but then I feel guilty that he's always doing everything. So I'm hoping this would solve much of our problem! I should find out here pretty soon if it'll work for sure. She also said it might only be temporary until enrollment goes up again. I told her I'd be willing to talk about it more at that time. I'm hoping it'll stay slow until spring. I need my rest and I would love the extra time to get EVERYTHING ready for Baby Sams! Here are some recent and not so recent pictures that I've failed to put up before now...slacking again I know.

T

Temple trip
15w 6d preggers!
Our growing collection of Willow Tree
We put up a shelf!

12 weeks 6 days!

Tomorrow will be 13 weeks! I'm so excited for the second trimester. Yay! We had another ultrasound today. We opted for the nuchal translucency so we got another picture! We still don't know the gender but hopefully soon! My next appointment is in 4 weeks and I'll be 17 weeks. Then I should get another one three weeks later at 20 weeks where we can presumably find out boy or girl! Ryan changed his guess today to girl. I think because someone told him the dad is always wrong lol. He really wants a boy! I personally don't care, I'll be happy no matter what I just want to know. I feel like I'm repeating myself, sorry if I am. The nursery is all set up and ready for decorations! I plan on taking the whole day off when we find out so we can go register and all that. I can't wait to put the room together.

Pictures pictures pictures!

So we're pregnant! 9 weeks and 6 days, we're due March 3! We're pretty excited about becoming parents. We had our first appointment and ultra sound today. The baby is measuring at 10 weeks so only a tiny bit bigger than it "should be". It's been hard to keep our little secret but I'm sure you can all understand why. We don't have a preference as far as gender is concerned, we're just happy to be having a baby.

I've been lucky so far and haven't gotten sick really. I get occasional nausea when I brush my teeth or go longer than a few hours without food, but I feel great! I'm tired ALL the time but that's about it as far as unpleasantness goes. Here's hoping I don't suddenly become ill tomorrow. =)

Ryan has been reading parenting books all over the place, it's really cute. I can't wait to see what a wonderful dad he'll be. It's such an exciting time! Hooray! I'll update often I promise!

A week already!?

I can't believe it's already been a week since we went to the Temple! I feel like it was just yesterday. I'm still waiting on pictures to put up but it was a wonderful, beautiful day for us. Thanks to all of you who were able to be there with us! I also want to say a special thank you to those that helped out with preparations and food and what not. You are amazing and I love you!

The last week has been pretty crazy around here! We have family and friends coming and going so often I sometimes feel like I should be working in a hotel. It's awesome to see everyone though and I love every minute of it. I'm taking two days off this week to spend some time with family and hopefully rest/relax from the constant activity that is my life.

Ryan is still working at Big 5 and mostly loving it, lol. Some days are better than others. I think the worst part for both of us is I'm home on the weekends and he ALWAYS works! Sometimes I think people think I made him up because he's never with me when I go to things. Oh well, maybe someday...

That's all for now folks! Thanks again and we love you!

Nonstop!

I feel like I have been running nonstop for the last month or so. I can't seem to get caught up on anything! We have so much going on right now and so little time it feels like. I can't imagine what this feels like when you have kids! Insane I'm guessing.

It's only a few more days until we go to the temple! We are sooooo excited! Can't wait for this weekend. My mom will be coming into town on Friday and I can't wait to see her! I feel like it's been forever even though it's really only been a few months.

Ryan and I finally got the second bedroom completely cleaned out, closet and all! It's been a long time coming. I think we are now absolutley, officially unpacked! And it only took a year lol.

I'm starting to get frustrated with my work situation though. I love the kids (most of them anyway) but the adults are starting to get on my nerves! Some days I just want to quit! Too bad I can't but who knows, pretty soon I may be looking for a new job. If you know of anything in the area...

I'll be on more often hopefully as things wind down and summer comes to an end. Not that I want that to happen, it will just be less busy I think.

We set the date!!!!!

It's official! Ryan and I just had our final interview with the Stake President today and we've called the Temple and set a date! We are going to be sealed on Saturday July 18, 2009 at 9:30am! Well, that's when our session starts, the sealing won't actually be until around 11 or 12 I guess. It's such an amazing feeling knowing we're doing all the right things and we're on the right path. Both of us feel like we're in the best place right now and that life is fabulous! I know some of you might think I'm speaking only for myself but I assure you, Ryan feels exactly the same as I do. We wouldn't be here if he didn't. I would love to extend an invitation to those family members who are able to attend. The space is limited though so don't feel bad or break your neck trying to be here. You'll be with us in spirit and we know that. We will be sealed at the Columbia River Temple in Richland. Guests are asked to arrive at 9am. Please send an email or comment if you think you'll be able to come, I need to call the Temple a week ahead to give names of those going. Thank you so much to all of you who have been so supportive and excited for us. It's been a long journey but we're finally here. We love you all!!

A note to Ryan's family: Although you would not be able to witness the actual ceremony you are invited and more than welcome to come and celebrate with us if you would like. We'd love to have you there.

Yay me!!!

I got to eat my very first home grown salad today! I was so proud of myself I had to share. Here's a picture of it. So it's about 90% peas and 10% lettuce but hey, I did it all on my own. It was delicious by the way.




On another note, Ryan is getting the M. priesthood tonight!!!! I can't wait. It's so fabulous. Now as it stands, we're tentatively planning on July 11th for our temple day but I still have to do a LOT of stuff to get completely ready for that. So I'll keep you updated but that's when I would like it to be. I should be able to schedule it this week sometime after I schedule our interview appts. I'm avoiding the 4th of July week for those that are planning on being out of town, etc. Talk to you soon!

We're getting closer!

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I've done a status update on when we're going to the temple. Ryan interviewed with the bishop last week and he has an interview with our stake president tomorrow evening for the Melchizedek priesthood. He will be able to receive that on June 14th. Once he gets the priesthood, we'll set up interviews for our temple recommends. It should be within two or three weeks after he gets the Melchizedek priesthood! So we're looking at the end of June, beginning of July for us to get sealed! We are so excited!!!! It's going to be such an amazing day. We hope all who are able will come and celebrate with us when we go. I'll let you know exact dates when I can. We want to thank all of you who have given your love and support to us, we appreciate it so much. We love you all!

Tiphanie and Ryan

We finally finished

First things first, a couple of weeks ago I told you about Ryan's car and people wanted to see the damage so here it is. Beautiful huh?

These next pictures are of the house after we finished painting the living room! I'm so excited, it turned out awesome! I love it. The stars say, "Faith, Hope and Love" in case you can't tell. I'm super happy with it, now we just need some new curtains. The blue ones no longer match. Oh well.



All in all, it's been a strange two weeks or so. We've had some bad news but we're still pushing on. I'm sorry to say my grandma died Tuesday night in her sleep. The funeral will be Friday the 15th so I'm heading over to the west side for that.

I was diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome on Tuesday as well. Weird day. The medication to treat PCOS makes me horribly sick and I'm miserable all day. I constantly feel on the verge of throwing up and often find no motivation to even get out of bed. I hate it but with any luck, it won't be long before my dose is reduced and I can have a normal life again. This condition will also make it almost impossible to get pregnant when the time comes without the help of fertility treatment. Score one for me. I'm finding a lot of help in the few friends that I have that also have this syndrome and for that I am grateful. It's more common than I thought and so there is plenty of information out there.

Luckily today I was able to soldier on through the "morning sickness" as I affectionately call it and finish the wallpaper border. Ryan painted and I did the border, hooray for team effort! Let me know what you think of it.

Update yet again

I don't know how it ends up being so long between postings these days but it happened yet again. So in the last month and a half, we've put in a garden, created our picnic area and pretty much finished creating our backyard oasis! It's been fun, busy but fun. We still have a few finishing touches left to put on and we need to get the stinking rose bush out but all in all, I'm very happy with it. Our front flower bed is also complete now with daffodils and hyacinth and the house looks great. If only we were as excited about getting everything inside looking great... It's definitely not as fun to do that but we'll get there. We are planning on painting the living room and putting up a border but it might be a while before I have pictures of that to put up.

On another note, Ryan's car was graffitied last night while it was parked in his mom's driveway next door. That was awesome. I think there were at least five or six cars on our street that were also hit so it's not like we were targeted or anything which is good. Some gang sign or something.

Ryan and I have ended our two and a half month no mammals diet so we'll be eating those again...that sounds awful doesn't it? It was way too inconvenient, when we went somewhere to visit or certain places out to eat, it's not easy only eating chicken, turkey and fish.

That's about it for now, hopefully I'll have good news next time! Until then.


The eye sore that is our rose bush


Our front flower bed


My garden!! My peas are coming up already


After all our hard work!

New Toys! Great Deal!!!!!

So I got a new Cricut this weekend and I've had a lot of fun playing around with it and making some pretty neat stuff. I made a couple of cards with it and then two page accents (among other things). I love how they turned out and I can't wait to make more. I'm most excited about the card idea, I've wanted to make my own for a while but never had everything I needed and didn't really want it enough to go buy everything. Now all I need is a piece of paper and my Cricut! I love it. Everything you see started out as just an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. I used several pieces of different colored paper to create the layers. Don't be surprised if you start getting home made cards for all the holiday's from now on! At the bottom there are also a couple of cute ones of the dogs. They were being so good while I was playing with my toy and I thought it was sweet how they were all on the couch together like that. I hope you are all doing well.

P.S. I feel it is my duty to mention that I found the Cricut on sale at Jo-Ann's for $99. As of today, they're still on sale for that price so if ever you were in the market for one that would be the price to get it for! Reg. about $200 with tax. What a steal!

Birthday time!

So I just celebrated my 23rd birthday last Tuesday and I wanted to put up some pictures! It was such a wonderful day. I worked which wasn't the best but what can you do? I came home to Ryan making dinner and a table full of presents. Every girls dream! He even baked me a cake although he wouldn't let me take a picture because he thought it looked bad (it didn't) but oh well. I was ridiculously happy with my day over all. So without further ado, here are the pictures of my presents. Hurray!

Time how it moves along

It started snowing the morning we were leaving!














Enjoying our cake














On the balcony of our hotel room.

I've been feeling a little sick for the last couple weeks and blame that for the lack of updates. I'm doing a little better today so I've come armed with photos and updates!

Ryan and I celebrated our first anniversary by driving to Leavenworth for the weekend. We went Valentine's weekend so it was a little early but still wonderful. We drove up Saturday, walked around town for the day and then went to a hotel in Wenatchee for the night. It was awesome just getting away without the dogs and being able to enjoy each others company. Maria was in town so she took the dogs for us and I can't thank her enough.

The night of our official anniversary, we went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant called Casa Mia. I loved the atmosphere there, it was quiet and romantic but still a place you could take the kids. We had our cake after we got back and then spent a quiet night in. It was a wonderful celebration.

On Thursday Bella was spayed! She's still recovering so she's quite mellow and a little out of it but she's doing great. Maggie has been much better about playing with both Bella and Tube now and it makes me happy to see them all together.

Enjoy the photos!

Welcome little one

This is Maggie. Maggie is a three year old Cocker Spaniel who came to us from a shelter. She's still trying to adjust to life with Bella in a new home but I think she'll fit in well. She's a very sweet little girl who loves to play ball. Maggie had some mats when we got her so we had to get her shaved pretty short to get rid of them. We don't plan on keeping the coat so short in the future. She's very mellow and loves to please. We just love her to death so far and hope she adjusts well. She's the perfect little addition to our family.

Ta Blut said his first words to me the other day. He came up to me and said, "Hey teacher"! He needed to use the bathroom but I was still proud. I was still hoping for truck but what can you do?

I'm so excited for this month! Valentine's Day, Tube's birthday, Amanda's birthday, our first anniversary, my birthday, my mom's anniversary, Ryan's mom's anniversary. The list is quite long! The most fun will be Valentine's day simply because I can celebrate it with the kids and they're so excited to give out valentines. It'll be a lot of fun. It's a good month. PLUS! We get to file our taxes which means money back! Hurray for that. I love this time of year. Spring is just around the corner which will have to be another topic for another day. Until next time...

Mystifying Day

I woke up this morning to snow. Not too uncommon in the middle of winter but I was a little disappointed. By noon, the day had gotten above freezing so the snow was almost gone. Now, it's two-thirty in the afternoon and it's snowing again. What a mystifying day. I know, not what you all tune in for but that's what I think about in times like this. I'm bored, I have finished yet another good book, cleaned my house, watched my DVR shows that I missed during the week and still have a few hours of daylight left. I refuse to go outside in cold weather like this. I much prefer the heat and I'm looking forward to summer so much. So I'll sit here at my computer, waiting for Ryan to call or text trying to find something interesting to do online.

I do have a report on the work situations you were all kind enough to comment on. The five year old was suspended from daycare for three days so I won't have him Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of this coming week. Good news for now but doesn't help the situation in the long run. The boys mother has been offered numerous resources from the school district but refuses to accept them. It's really sad when you come across children like this because it becomes undeniably obvious it's not the child's fault. There should be a test you have to pass to bring children into this world. Oh, that I could make the rules...

The Vietnamese boy, Ta Blut, has made progress! One of the other teachers was working with him on Thursday and trying to get him to say the letters of his name. After about six or seven times of her saying the letters with no results, he began to repeat what she was saying. He made it all the way through his name with no problems! He said the letters very plainly and clearly. We were all very excited. It's so nice to see the positive result of all your efforts. Well, that's it for today. Hopefully tomorrow holds more excitement for the Sams family.

New hope

So this last week was a little bit crazy. I encountered a most infuriating situation at work. I teach the little guys, two and a half through three (when they turn four they move up) but lately I've had to take on a five year old who can't control himself. Why he became my student I have no idea but I can't argue, I'm not the boss. He disrupts my class and picks on the smaller children constantly. Well on Thursday, I sat him in time out for running around the classroom, yelling and playing during the learning activity. I was instructed by my boss that I was to "let him play. You won't get anywhere by putting him in time out so you should just give him what he wants so you can go on with the rest of your class."! I was speechless! How can you reward this five year old child for bad behavior and expect him to learn anything?! You're teaching this poor kid that throwing a fit gets you what you want and you don't have to behave well to be rewarded. Is that really the message we want to teach? Not only this but now I have 9 other three and four year old's asking why they can't play too. How do I explain to them that he only gets to play because he was bad? I can't understand this logic at all and I don't agree with it either. It's ridiculous.

This week we also got a new student, he is 4 and Vietnamese and VERY cute. He's not in my class but has bonded well with me so I get to spend a lot of time with him. He speaks no English so we communicate through pointing, gesturing and nodding or shaking of the head. He is learning to recognize words and gets excited when he does. He loves to learn and does a victory lap around the room when he finally understands something. He is learning so quickly and it's so amazing to watch him. I cannot wait to hear his first English word. I have a hunch it will be "truck"! He loves to play with trucks. He gives me new hope for the year.

New Year!

This has been a great year so far for Ryan and I. We celebrated Bella's 1st birthday on January 10, her actual birthday was the 7th but she didn't mind. We're slowly but surely getting the second bedroom organized and empty. We have plenty of room in the shed for everything but we can't bring ourselves to put away boxes that we don't even remember what's in them. So the process has taken longer than we thought. Oh well. I got my hair cut yesterday! It's really short but I really like it. So far I'm hearing that other people seem to like it too. They could be lying though, you never know. We are going to go to the temple at the beginning of March!!! I cannot wait for that. I'm so excited. Our anniversary is coming up, February 17! Hurray for February. We are also going on a baptism trip on January 24. It will be Ryan's first and he's very excited, as am I. We are planning one sometime soon where we can go and do the names we've found from his side of the family too. We've got like six generations of Sams or something and that will be awesome. I have a great feeling that this will be the best year ever for us! We have so many plans and hopes and I have no doubt they will all be reality very soon. I've included some pictures of the last couple weeks. We hope all of you are having as wonderful of a year so far as we are! Much love and blessings to you all.

Sarah and I

Ryan and I in front of the tree

Ryan with his mom and Nicole

At a friend's going away party

Bella's Birthday

My short hair!