Another round of Carson...

Well, I guess it's time to update y'all again.

The most recent happenings...

Went to Carson City to spend a few days with Jared while he is there working... 

 Spend the Sunday up at Lake Tahoe in the beautiful weather. 

Had a great few days being with Jared, and hanging out with his family.  Also got to see Jim (Jared's brother), Emily and the kids while we were there. 

Other than that, not much is going on. Just sitting around being a good incubator. I guess that's what happens. Going on week 25, almost to 26. 

Crappy picture... but it'll have to do... 

besides I suck at being cute in pictures... 

he just keeps popping out farther every day. 

Everything pregnancy wise is going pretty good. Just trying to keep myself busy while Jared is always gone. It's hard to keep finding things to do... I'm starting some sewing projects this week, in hopes that it will keep my mind off of missing my husband. The good thing is that the USA network has been playing  a TON of NCIS marathons lately... it keeps me entertained. Even though I've seen them all... multiple times. It never gets old. 

Jared and I have been throwing names around trying to get an idea of what we both like.  Here is our list, I'd like to know what you guys think. (We are positive that we are using Gene as a middle name, in honor of my Grandpa's late brother.)

-Alden

-Holden

-Mason

-Carson

I'm pretty sure we won't be officially naming him until he is born, I wanna see what he looks like first and see if we get that... "he looks like a ..." feeling.

Also I've been looking into different birthing options... I've always known that I want my labor/delivery to be natural because I know that my body was built to do it that way. And I recently came across this method called "HypnoBirthing". It essentially teaches you how to use self hypnosis and relaxation to create a natural pain relief. I got the book and have been reading it and I LOVE it. It talks a lot about how a woman's body is built and fully capable of having a calm, happy, normal labor with no pain, screaming, or drugs. It really is incredible. I would recommend it to everyone who is planning, or even considering, birthing naturally. I'm still practicing all the relaxation/breathing techniques and we'll see how the actual delivery goes, but I'm really excited to have found something that backs up what I've always believed about myself. 

Anyway, other than that nothing is new. 

P.s. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to wear maternity pant for the rest of my life... they are so FREAKING comfy. :)

Don't judge me.

Much love,

Rachel Lynn

Week 22!

***WARNING*** This post contains ridiculous amounts of complaining... sorry.

It's hard to believe that we are past the half-way mark in this pregnancy. It seems like yesterday we found out we were having a baby... and now, it's crazy to think that in 4 short month's we are going to be able to meet our little man.
I've been feeling pretty good throughout the pregnancy, but the one thing that I've had a hard time with is exhaustion. The first trimester it was expected, and it was intense. I was looking forward to getting into the second trimester because everyone was telling me how great it was going to be to have energy again and actually want to eat. Well, those things never came. I haven't had morning sickness, but the fatigue hasn't lessened. I'm so tired all the time, and if I spend too much time on my feet I feel like I need to go to bed. I take 2-3 hour naps everyday, and even if I relax and do little things here and there I still feel exhausted. It's frustrating because I wanna go do things, and I want to keep up on the housework, but it's so hard to have any motivation to do anything when I feel so tired. So I've been trying to change what I eat, and going to bed at a decent hour... I even get up by 7 in the morning to get up and get moving, but nothing has changed. I'm going to talk with my doctor about it at my next appointment... but it's just frustrating.
Also, at the 20 week ultrasound I found out that I have gallstones. They are big, and there are a lot. It's a little scary because it's something that I have little control over. I have to watch what I eat, trying to cut out fatty and salty foods... which is hard for me. I have to cut back on chicken... which I love. The hardest part is the pain. If I lay on my right side for more than 10 minutes, I get this searing pain under my ribs. It's almost the worst pain I've ever experienced. Also not knowing if I'm going to be able to make it through the pregnancy without having to get my gallbladder removed. If any of the stones try to pass... they will have to operate. So it's scary.
Other than all this craziness... I'm done complaining for now. You know sometimes you just need a way to vent.
I am still in awe that I am actually growing a human. Every time the little man kicks me I am surprised. But I'm so excited. Being a mother is the only dream I've had in life. Now that it is coming true, it's still hard to believe. But I love to just sit with my hands on my stomach and feel him kick me. He continues to grow, and his kicks and punches are getting stronger by the day. I'm also growing bigger by the day... I feel like a beached whale. I can only imagine how big I'll be by the end. Everyday my excitement grows... but I'm also a little nervous about giving birth and how my body will handle it.
I'm also not excited about being pregnant in the middle of Utah summer. It's going to be miserable. I will be spending as much time as possible at the pool.
Jared is starting school in the fall, and he is very excited. I'm excited for him because I know how much he wants to go to school.
All things considered we are doing well. Excited about life, and about what is in store in our future. We can't wait to meet our little man. :)

We are getting closer. :)

Much love,

Rachel Lynn

Christmas... and Arizona!!!

So I decided to keep going... :) I'm actually really just bored sitting and waiting for the new Bones episode to come on... so I've got a couple hours to kill.

Well, next in line is our awesome Christmas break.  After a couple LONG weeks of work in Sin City I was super ready for a break. Especially because I had been feeling so tired... pregnancy does that to you...  So we spent the week before Christmas at my mom's house hanging out with my family and visiting friends. It was a fun week. Busy, but fun. Christmas day was a blast, as always. We had all the siblings there for Christmas Eve and we had a fun night hanging out, having dinner, and trading gifts... we even watched White Christmas... ALL OF US. It was funny to see everyone snuggled up in parents living room. :) Now that we are older I think we all enjoy watching the grand kids open their gifts... they love it. But Christmas day was fun too. We went to church with my parents and spent time at my Grandma's. The next part of the adventure... Going to Arizona.

We had been planning to go down with parents to see Paul and Katie and the kiddos. It had been a long 7 months since I had seen them all... of course I did get to see Katie and Hannah for my wedding... but I was super excited to see Russell and Paul too. Plus, Paul and Jared hadn't yet met... except over Skype. So we were excited.
We left the morning after Christmas.... and drove all day... It was a good 10, almost 11 hour trip. The good thing though is that I had finally set Jared loose to learn to drive a stick after our honeymoon, because I didn't want to have to drive another 10 hour trip by myself. So we split up the time and had fun listening to music, a book on CD, and just being together with time to talk. But it was a long drive. We got to Mesa and headed to Katie's house. It was SSSSOOOOOOOOO good to see them again. Russell and Hannah were so funny and excited to have Grandma and Grandpa there. It was fun to hang out and play with them.
We spent the week doing lots of fun stuff. We went to the Zoo, we went to a cool park with a train, we went and saw the lights display at the temple and just had fun hanging out. Playing with the kids and getting to visit with Paul and Katie was really good. It was also really nice to be in the great weather. Shorts and t-shirts kind of weather in December makes me super happy. After a great week we had to go home to go back to work... and it was another long drive. But we made it home and got ready to head up north for work...

Pearl with her new pillow.

 On the train at the park with Russell.

Miss Hannah. She is so cute.

Russell on the train with Grandpa.

Mesa Temple

At the zoo... trying to decide where to go first.

Cute kiddos... :) 

Hannah having fun with Grandma.

Hoover Dam. On the drive home.

We also stopped at the temple in Vegas. It was gorgeous. :)