A Busy New Year

Even though it's only the 17th, I feel like so much has happened already this year! I've just completed my second week of school and I feel like it's been at least a month already.  I can tell you for sure, I've done at least a month's worth of work :)

Aside from classes and a lot of homework, I turned in my student teaching application--which was kind of a feat to complete.  Next thing to do--apply for graduation! Practicum Feb 28-March 27, taking the Praxis test in March, Student Teaching from end of August-December then finally graduation.  Though it's all happening this year, it all seems so far away.  So much will happen between now and then...I'll feel pretty accomplished by the end of it all.  For now... I'm just going to focus on completing my daily/weekly assignments and exams.

We had an ultrasound right before we left to come home for Christmas.  Since we've come back, we've had two!  One last week at our doctors office and our last was on Tuesday for our (apprx.) 20 week anatomical scan at the hospital. While at the hospital, we checked into some of the classes they offer...but they've skyrocketed in price and are just not worth it.  We got the basic hospital information we need, a quick tour, and pre-registered at the hospital.  As we left, the labor and deliver nurse said, "Okay great, well, we'll see you soon!!"  ...soon? That was enough to shake me a bit, because I don't feel like it will be "soon".  But hey, I am half way through today!

Overall though-- the result of anatomical ultrasound: Everything looks good, healthy and normal as far as she can tell.  He was, once again, rather active and it was pretty fun to see.

Here are some of the pictures from the anatomical ultrasound.  There are captions of what you're seeing in the ultrasound in the bottom middle of the picture.

 Waving hello

 (This one's more like toes, seen on the right side)

 4 chamber heart, working great, with a normal heartbeat

 Leg side view

He was kind of difficult with getting a good profile shot...

 But we got a few :)  [waving] "Hello, everyone!!"

In other news... within the last week, I've started to be able to feel the baby move!  It's been pretty exciting and cool.  It took a little while to be able to determine what was actually baby movement, but it's becoming pretty clear now.  

(This is part of a pregnancy app I have that you keep track of baby kicks on.  I think it's to use if you want to make sure everything's okay if baby isn't moving too much, but I just used it to count little movements.  It didn't like that too much though...after I recorded 10 kicks within like 6-7 minutes it told me "Your baby is just fine, come back and count tomorrow" haha.) 

We thought we'd take a couple pictures before church on Sunday because I guess we really haven't taken many.  And people keep asking if I'm "really big" yet or if I'm "showing".  They're not really the best pictures, but hey...they're pictures! I wouldn't say I'm big, but I'm definitely showing.  I feel really big when I go to get off the couch, bend over, or put some clothes on... but everyone I see tells me every day "you don't even look pregnant!" ...which I guess is a compliment?  I don't even really know.

Speaking of church... this year our ward starts at 11 instead of 9.  And we're SUPER stoked about that, especially since many Saturday nights I work until close and don't get to sleep until about 1 am. Yay for sleeping in a little!

We're super excited about Nala getting the help that she needs.  Yes, it does sound like we're having an intervention or something...which we kind of are!  Nala's behavior has been really bad and just getting increasingly worse.  Obviously this is something we have to work out before the baby comes so after continually trying a million different techniques and training classes, we got a professional dog trainer to get this straightened out.  We were a little skeptical at first but it has a full money back guarantee and lots of awesome reviews.  We had our first meeting the other day and it was awesome. The trainer comes to our home, really gets to know Nala, works with us one on one and we can call, text, or email him 24/7 with any questions or concerns we have.  We have a lot of homework and it's going to be difficult, but it is AMAZING what 2 hours of training has already done for her.  Within the 24 hours of the training, she is already listening so much better to everything and really behaving.  

When the trainer first met Nala, he, like many others, was fooled by her beauty and adorableness.  He believed us, but once we actually started working with her, he had to admit.. she was a lot worse and much more of a dominant diva than he ever expected with one of the worst food aggression problems he's ever seen.  Nothing that's not 100% trainable, but it's good to know what we're up against.  He said we should for sure have her to being an awesome dog well before the baby comes.  They've never had a circumstance where they couldn't train a dog and had to give the money back.  I really think this program is going to work for all of us.  And I sure hope so!

We also went to a Miami Heat game the other day!  They come around here about once a year, and because they're playing the Jazz... the tickets are pretty cheap.  We went up to Salt Lake on Monday night and had a blast!  Last year, if you recall, we somehow, unbelievably, lost to the Utah Jazz.  Thinking surely this couldn't happen two years in a row, we went in fairly confident.  By the time it got to the half...and we were down by 15, we were both dumbfounded.  This time however, recognizing the pattern, instead of getting my emotions overly invested in the game only to be utterly crushed at the end, I decided to take half time to find myself some nice ice cream.  I decided to eat my feelings instead :) and I don't regret an ounce of it.  

They started to close the gap again in the 4th quarter but came up short.  It was literally as if we were just watching last years game on repeat.  Pretty unbelievable! But good for the Jazz.  And this time it was easier.  We has a great time, enjoyed each others company, I enjoyed my ice cream, AND we got a free Jazz blanket.  What more could you want :)

We got there early so we were able to watch some of the players warm-up:

Mario Chalmers taking some 3's

Rashard Lewis practicing free throws

(Should have had more players do this!)

Shane  Battier, still recovering from an injury,  didn't play

Miami Heat fans crowd around their entry portal in hopes of getting some autographs

Make no mistake, if we go again, and I'm not pregnant...we're pushing to the front of that crowd :)

There were actually a ton of Heat fans there

 But let's be realistic... these are our real seats :)

Heat Fans... Loud and Proud!

  But the view's still pretty great, and the company, even greater.  

All in all... we've got a busy year ahead of us! But a really good one at that.