19 weeks already

I am shocked that we are already at our half way mark! WooHoo for that accomplishment. We had an ultrasound last night and our sweet baby seems to be growing and healthy as can be at this point. As most of you know I was 99% sure we were having girl and Andrew was sure it was a girl up until a last week when he had this dream of a curly brown haired little boy. So I called my mom to see if she still thought we were having a girl (we call her ultraSandi because she is always spot on about what gender your baby will be) she told me that just that morning she had a little boy pop in her head but was still hooked on a girl. AH I was so confused... boy or girl, boy or girl? Kept running through my head. So at our ultrasound we told the tech that we wanted to know the sex of this baby. As we were watching the ultrasound this little baby is one crazy babe. It was rolling, tumbling, punching, kicking, and flipping all over the place. The tech had a really hard time trying to get everything done because baby wouldn't sit still for not even 5 seconds. I'm nervous for the handful this monster will be.
So boy or girl you ask??..... it happens to be a............

BOUNCING BABY BOY!!!

I'm in shock that is the world used the most for this pregnancy.. we should probably just name him that! The tech told us that my umbilical cord was all over the place and they didn't have the best equipment so she was a little unsure because he wouldn't stay still as stated earlier. She told us to check on my next ultrasound to make sure, but we're are pretty positive it's a boy.
We are super excited and nervous. I guess that means no bow making or any cutisy things to be put on a baby girl, but that day will come. We have so many boys in Jess's family and my poor niece Mia has no girl cousins. I just hope that our little boy will be as cute and fun as all our nephews. The more I think about a boy the better it is. I loved having older brothers to look up to and watch over me. So I love that fact that he'll be an older brother to those siblings that are someday to come. We don't have any official names yet, but they'll come.
So I'll post some baby bump pictures on my next post it just popped the other night. Weird how it can do that.
Anyways everyone have a good Memorial weekend! We're going to New Hampshire with some of our best friends so we'll post those pictures when we get back
XOXO

Pics I promised... kind of a long post

Sorry some of these are side ways.
This is Susquehanna River in Harmony Penn where Joseph and Oliver received the Aaronic Preisthood and then baptized one another. It was a little hike down a trail to get here, but it was really peaceful. It was really quite surreal to know that you walked the same ground that the Prophet walked. We also saw the corner stones of the house that they lived in and translated the plates. It was sooo little you could hardly believe that's where it all took place.

This headstone is where Joseph and Emma's first baby was buried.

This is Emma's parents headstones. On the other side it looks like the baby's. All old and worn out.
This little brook was on the way down the trail to the River. I just loved the way this picture looked all covered in moss. Just thought I'd add it in.

Us by the Susquehanna River.

The site of where John the Baptist gave the Aaronic Preisthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
Andrew and I got free tickets from DirecTV to go to a Yankee's game. We aren't the biggest fans, but hey for good seats that are free who would pass that up. It was just nice to do something out of the ordinary for us. One of Andrew's co workers got the other 2 tickets and they were good company. We had some pretty sweet seats and the baby pistacho enjoyed the hot dog.. or two!
From this picture it looks like we are really far up but we could see everything really clearly.

So these are some of our Young Women.... so the one in the middle isn't active so we went to watch her soccer game. The other two are sisters and then we are missing one other Young Women.. yeah that's right we only have 3 active YW.
Here is us watching the game. The other lady is Claire, she is the Young Women's president and actually served in Andrew's parents mission in Brazil. She is awesome and has been so much fun to work with.

Claire, Ashely, and Emily. Just a side note, Claire had her baby boy on the 12.

This is when I went to the zoo with Kelly and her daughter Elanor. Obviously these are the penguins.

A red panda

Elanor loved this fountain, it was her absolute favorite!!

So just a small update. We went to Syracuse for Andrew's cousin's baby blessing. It was really nice to see family and be there for them. We drove around and went to Joann Fabrics. My dream come true! We had really fun seeing them and their sweet new baby. The blessing was great and we enjoyed lunch with them after. On the way there we went through Scranton Penn.. Andrew's dream come true. He is obsessed with the Office and he took a bunch of pictures and ate at a diner that was delicious! Andrew will have to post his pics, I'm not sure where they are, but we had a lot of fun. On the way home that's when we stopped through Harmony Penn.
On to more exciting news, Andrew's bike got stolen, our gas got siphoned along with our gas cap being stolen.. and better yet, we're pretty sure it happened at church, and I got another parking ticket when baby sitting. Oh the joys of New Jersey, you've treated us so well already! I told Andrew that my Idaho mind would not be a very good criminal mind because never in a million years would I think to steal copper out of A/C units to sell for money, or siphon gas, and so many other things that I have learned about being here. I'm nervous to get hardened but I am afraid it's coming.
Other than that we are doing well. Andrew still loves his job and he is starting to get more responsibility with his calling so that will be interesting when it gets full blown. Our baby is growing at the right pace. I had a doc appt on Tuesday and everything looks good. I haven't even gained one pound, but I am defiantly starting to round. I'm thinking I might have to get some new pants for this little belly. In 2 weeks we find out the sex, so I'll have more to post then.
XOXO

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL, AMAZING, FABULOUS MOTHERS OUT THERE!! I HOPE YOUR KIDS BEHAVE TODAY AND THAT YOU ALL GET SOME REST. THANKS FOR BEING THE BEST.



As for Andrew and my mother, thank you for being our number one supporters our whole lives. Thank you for all the many small and many big things you have done for us. We couldn't be more grateful or appreciative of EVERYTHING you have done. We love and care about you so much and would never be where we are today without you! Happy Mother's Day
XOXO


Love you so much,
Jess and Andrew

The Zoo and NYC

So my friend Kelly and her daughter Elanor have been my companions the last 2 months. Kelly just barely had a baby on the 24 of this month, so while the time was passing by for her baby to come we tried to do fun things. We used to go walking 3 times a week and Elanor would feed the ducks. I have adopted her as my niece since we are all alone here. I just love that little girl!
So we decided to go to the Zoo in West Orange. It wasn't that big, but Elanor had a blast. Her favorite was not the animals.. oh no she loved this little fountain that was toddler size. It was super cute and funny. Every time we would be walking by it she would run straight for it no matter how far we were from it. She could spot that thing from the other side of the zoo. It was a really good time. It got me out of the house and Kelly too. There was a train ride that just made a loop through the woods and whenever they would ring the bell, Elanor would plug her ears and would say "the train is really loud." It was really fun and I think Elanor had a good time!
Also I guess I should add to the title the zoo, NYC, and a baby because Kelly had sweet Abigail. She is sooo beautiful and a sweetheart. I stayed the night when Kelly had Abigail so Elanor wouldn't be alone. Elanor woke up around 3:30am and when I went in to get her she told me "mommy and daddy are at the hospital having a baby."
The next day I went over to babysit for a little bit while Michael, Kelly husband went to go alone to the hospital. I asked Elanor (who had visited baby Abigail earlier) if she liked baby Abigail and El's response was "I like her just fine!" It was so funny I will never forget that coming out in her little high pitched voice. So anyways that was the Zoo and a new baby.

My old roommate who I lived with in Beauty school actually lives in Connecticut. It's about a 3-4 hour drive, so they decided to come visit for the weekend. It was so nice to have a familiar face around. We decided to go to NYC for Saturday. There was a lot we wanted to do, but plans kept changing, just due to tiredness and walking. We went on the Staten Island Ferry and that was my first time. The day was so perfect. The weather was nice and the company was good. We went and ate some good food, walked around downtown and went to Macy's That place is HUGE! We had so much fun and wish they lived closer, maybe one day huh? It was also nice for Andrew to have a couple around that we both feel comfortable with. Couples here are hard to find here that are in our stage of life and that we both like. I think we all know what I am talking about. So it was nice and relaxing!!

As far as MY sweet babe goes, everything is well. I am officially in the second trimester and have felt pretty good for the most part. I have been more tired then anything, but sometimes still sick. I have felt more at ease about the issues I had posted earlier. I am starting to look for a birthing class to take. I am 15 weeks and have a doctor's appt in 2 weeks and hopefully in another 2 after that I can get an ultrasound to find out the gender of our little pistachio! Boy or Girl what do you all think?

So as far as Andrew and I, Andrew is staying really busy and life just got more difficult since Andrew got called to be the 2 counselor in the Branch Presidency. I know that that is a big responsibility anyways, but back in Idaho and Utah things are so much more organized and "lighter." There is no way I could possibly explain our branch. It's pure CHAOS! If you ever come to visit you HAVE to visit for at least one hour in our branch. Then you will get a glimmer in to our hectic lives. It's been one crazy ride and I have loved every minute of it. I have grown so much in such a small amount of time. As hard as it's been here, I have felt blessed to be a part of it all. It's a lot of responsibility and hard work, but my kids that I teach are incredible and so worth the hard ship. Now my husband's life just got crazier as well. So pray for us, we need all the prayers we can get. We love you all so much and miss you everyday!
XOXO

PS... I promise to post pics of everything when we get back from our weekend adventure.

An update along with a few questions

Today was my third doctor's visit and I must tell you, my doctor is AMAZING!! He is really funny and nothing like a Ob/Gyn doctor you'd expect. He answers all my questions, jokes around with me, and keeps me on track. The doc told me that I am 12 weeks 4 days so according to him I am due OCTOBER 24!!! The big day can't possibly come soon enough. Andrew is a big number person. By that I mean every important date has to make sense. So he is really really hoping that the baby comes on 10-10-10, and I am really hoping that baby pistachio will come on 10-21-10 since that's my grandma's birthday! The doc said everything looked really good and I am scheduled for May 11 for my next appointment.

So I may sound a little personal, but I am seriously nervous for the whole birth. I start getting some anxiety thinking about it. So I asked the doc if I could start doing some sort of stretches or exercises to "stretch" for when the baby comes. I am FREAKING OUT about tearing.. I didn't even know that was possible up from a few years ago. He laughed because he knew I was panicking. He told me everything would be fine and to relax that that wasn't for a few more months. He also said that there wasn't anything (such as stretches) that I can do to prepare.. so now I am asking if any of you know or think has helped to prevent tearing.

I also discussed my fear of any drugs during pregnancy and during birth. I am a very firm believer in keeping the baby as healthy as possible and to not let the baby get a "feel" for drugs. I told the doc that epidural wasn't even an option for me. The needle scares me more than the birth itself. So natural is the way for me to go. Anyways at this doc appt I told him that I haven't been feeling good especially this last week and he kept me right on track by saying "Jessica you told me you don't want drugs and since you have vomited limited times let's keep you on the path you are determined to go." Oh how grateful I am for him. He kept me strong. I was just having a weak moment and he is totally right that I haven't been as bad as maybe I think.

I have decided also that I was going to try my hardest and lose weight while I was pregnant. I DO NOT want to get any bigger than I already am. The doc told me it was possible and to be strong. So far as of my 12/13 weeks I have not gained any weight. In fact I lost 2 pounds.. WOOHOO! No worries I am just being really healthy and strict with what I am eating. Bad news is I don't feel the same weight I feel extremely bloated and uncomfortable. I am ready to look pregnant instead of ginormous.

Last week I had a case of the crazies... It was totally awful! My poor poor husband. I was crying for no reason and once I started I couldn't stop. Like literally I would all the sudden by happy, but couldn't stop crying. I've never had so many tears in my life. Every little thing would set me off. Plus I didn't feel good so that might of had something to do with it. Who knows. I am really good today and actually went out did some errands and hopefully can continue feeling comfortable here. Living here has thrown me for a loop with being preggo and 2000 miles from my family. It really has been hard, I know we're suppose to be here, its just really emotional for me. I miss my family so much and can't wait to visit home. There are a lot of stresses right now so I try hard to just relax and breath. Easier said then done. I am trying to go home in July and plan on staying there for the whole month. I really miss my nephews and Sunday dinners at mom's. Blah anyways I can't think about it, but if you have any ideas on how to overcome my feeling blue please feel free to offer. I would like any ideas you have!

Well sorry for the long post, but I needed to write.
XOXO

A Weekend in D.C.

Andrew and I decided it would be a blast to getaway this last weekend with it being conference and all. It was so nice not to have to prepare lessons!! With us living back east there are sooo many options we have for places to travel. Andrew and I have both been to Washington D.C. when we were younger so we decided that it would be a blast to go there together and "reminisce." Andrew had a half day at work on Friday, so we got a head start on the traffic. It's about a 4 hour drive, but with the traffic and some rest room stops, it took us about 4-5 hours. We arrived late in the evening and headed straight to the hotel. We stayed right up the street from the White House. We unloaded our luggage and went for a walk to the White House. It was such a nice night out and around 10:30 there were still thousands of people out. It was nuts, but we kind of expected that.
We woke up early Saturday morning and went to go get in line for the Holocaust Museum. The line was like wound around 3 blocks. Luckily we got tickets for the 1:00 showing. While we waited we walked up to the Washington Monument and down by the tidal basin. The cherry blossoms were absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! It was the main attraction and it was the perfect time because they were at their peak. All the vendors were there and it was a zoo.
The Holocaust Museum was of course very humbling. I remembered a lot of it from when I was younger, but it meant so much more this time around. I cannot even imagine the things that people went through. WOW it seriously blows my mind. It was also a zoo, but amazing. After that we headed to eat a very pricey hot dog. Everything is pricey there. So we hit everything free that we could. The Air and Space Museum, and some of the Smithsonian Museums. It was so relaxing and the most amazing day. Our feet were about to fall off by the end of the night. We went to the hotel and relaxed for a few hours then decided to eat and go for a drive. After an hour of driving, we went to go see the temple. As soon as we got close it was like a huge white mountain just dominating the sky. It was way cool. All lit up at night and glowing. We parked in the lot and walked around the Temple. Andrew took pictures and I got a few wimpy ones with my phone. It just took your breathe away.
Sunday we drove around some more. We also went to the Arlington Cemetery and there were soooo many tombstones. It's crazy to think how many people died there and all the suffering that happened. We ate some lunch and headed back home. We took a different route home that took us quite a while to get home, but the scenery was VERY worth it. The homes and small towns were breath taking. We stopped at Gettysburg since it was on the way home and it was really cool. I love that old town feel! I really love it out here, but am not excited one bit about the tourist and the heat. (when I say tourist I am not referring to ANY of you!) Actually it's kind of weird to think about the fact that I am not a tourist here in New York. HA it's surreal.
Here are some not so great pictures of our trip.. don't judge

The White House of course


The Washington Monument


The Lincoln Monument


Awww the beautiful D.C. Temple



HA us at the temple


The cherry blossoms.. well one of them


One of the six cannons they brought to Gettysburg from D.C.




Also today is a very special day. It is my one of my most favorite persons birthday...The one person who never gives up on me.. the one person who talks to me whenever I need someone... the one person who loves me unconditionally.. the one person that gave me life. My dearest Mom Happy Birthday to you! I hope you know how much Andrew and I love you SOOO much. Thank you for everything. You are my shining star! Have fun in California. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER!
XOXO

6 crazy weeks

I know it's been a while since I've last blogged, but it has been one wild ride the last 6 weeks. So I guess I'll start from the beginning. This is going to be long... beware!
Well Andrew and I are settled in, but like everywhere we live, our second bedroom is still a disastrous box room. We are working on it slowly, but surely. We love our place except our phone reception! It is perfect for us and in a great location. We live in a small town Harrison New Jersey which is like a part of Newark, New Jersey. Newark has some really ghetto places and at night you do not want to be anywhere near there. Harrison is full of Peruvians, and we live right in the middle of the Peruvian community. They always stare at us as we enter our building only because we are the only white people that live on here. It's pretty comical. We live right next to resuturants, salons, barber shops, tailoring shops, 99 cent stores, and much much more. We couldn't ask for a better location.
Andrew's job is going AWESOME! He is loving every minute of it and is very good at it. People at work are already really impressed with his work and have given him more responsibilities that others didn't get to do until months after working there. He is such a hard worker and it shows. So he is in contact with a lot of AD agencies everyday and puts their ads in DirecTV's slots. (I really hope I explained that right.) His accounts are the busiest so he ends up working really late sometimes, but if you know Andrew you know that he LOVES to work so it all works out ok!
Originally I (being Jess) moved here to Harrison with a job already locked in. I was going to work in NYC at Wachovia (which is a bank here in the East) After exploring this little town of Harrison I stumbled upon a Wachovia right around the corner from our house and decided that I would rather stay around here. So I was in contact with the NYC branch and letting them know that I'd rather work here. The manager was really nice about it and totally understood. Well somethings got confused and in the end after, weeks and weeks of talking with multiple people, they told me I would have to work in NYC for 6 months before I could transfer. Now I know that sounds like a great opportunity and how lucky I was to even have a job, but then something crazy happened....... I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant at the time!!! So I knew something was up when I was feeling really sick all the time. Sure enough the pregnancy stick showed positive within 2 seconds. I just knew that I wouldn't last 6 months of 14 hour days on my feet feeling awful and then having to ride the train home with all the stops and winding around. Just thinking about it makes me sick. It ended up that I turned down the job and am currently not working.
Andrew and I both got callings at our branch, but first let me tell you a little bit about our "branch." I call it a twig instead of a branch because on average we have about 70 active members. It is VERY DIVERSE! We have people from literally everywhere in the world. Their stories are really amazing and they are soooo awesome. It is actually the first time I have felt so welcomed into the church. I can't even begin to tell you the love that I have for these people here. There are only 2 young women and 3-4 young men. The primary went from 1 child to 12 children in one week. A lot of them are brothers and sisters so it was kinda crazy how fast our branch grew in like 2-3 weeks. So Andrew got called to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher and Jess is the 2 counselor in the Young Women and also the only Primary teacher, but the primary is temporary. In this branch I'm not quite sure what temporary means though so I am expecting to be there for a while. My heart truly belongs in the Young Women's though. The two girls that are in there are sisters and have had a very very hard life and they are only 12 and 14. They are really hardened, but such good girls. Coming from Idaho and being such a girly girl I sometimes don't know how to go about talking to them about things like standards. There is NO organization in our branch and it's been a whirl wind to say the least, but such a cool experience. We feel so blessed to be here right now.Andrew and I actually got to go to the youth temple trip to do baptisms for the dead and had such a blast. The youth loved it and thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I know that I have already mentioned that I am not working right now, but to be honest I feel like I am not working for a reason. There are a lot of things to be done for this branch and I have already put my not working to good use. Also there are a lot of expecting mothers who know I am not working so they have asked me to baby sit or to help them run some errands and I have been more then willing. I just feel like maybe I am not working for their sakes. Does that sound silly??? maybe, but I feel grateful for not working. I've been walking in the mornings with a lady and her daughter and have loved getting to know her. I've been designated to be the hospital runner if the baby comes and husbands aren't around. So this is my work....
My birthday came and went and Andrew got me stuff that I've been asking for! What a good husband he is. We went to Hibachi which I am a huge fan of and have been craving. So that was really fun and then I got really sick... awesome.. thank you to my little baby pistachio. I'm due sometime in October. I'll let you know more when I know more! So 23 and preggo, never thought I'd say that in the same sentence, but what a fun birthday, thank you to my wonderful hubby.
While Andrew was at work the other day, he was sitting at his desk when all the sudden some people were jumping out of their chairs rushing to the window. A guy from the building next to them actually jumped out the window and fell on the building next to them. That happened at around noon and the body wasn't taken away until 6pm when Andrew was leaving to go home. Wow how crazy for that to happen and on my birthday too. I just think that's so sad to be that upset with life.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, a few weeks ago when we found out we were pregnant we decided to celebrate. So we went into the city ate at a really nice steakhouse and then went to go see Wicked. Oh my heck it was so good! We got some seriously good seats and I was really impressed. It was my first broadway play and I will defiantly be back.
We really have had some crazy experiences but this blog would just be toooo long to write them all down so I think I might start blogging more to share some of these funny stories with you all. So conference is right around the corner and we decided to go to DC for the weekend and going to hit all the museums for the fun of it. So look for that next week. Alright here are some pictures of what has been happening here.
I tried to download the video tour of our apartment but it wouldn't work so I'll try later.
XOXO

Here is the baby at 8 weeks 3 days, as of this post I am around 11 weeks

This is Rockefeller Center where Andrew works

Here is some of the town of Newark, New Jersey