Merry Christmas

I am so excited for Christmas for many many reasons. This is the first time Olivia is really going to understanding opening presents. She will be receiving a couple of gifts from Santa so I can't wait to see how she responds to that. We started a few family traditions that I think everyone has enjoyed overall. But most of all I am excited to see my family and spend some time relaxing.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday.

Celebrating some sleeping success

3 weeks later and finally we have succeeded. Since last Thursday she has slept in her own bed the whole entire night without waking up. While it seems like such a small accomplishment, not getting interrupted in the middle of the night has helped my sleep quality significantly. Last week I was thinking to myself "Will we ever get Olivia to sleep all night." I guess I had been really sleep deprived for many many weeks or more like months.

I am really happy it. The Christmas holiday is coming up and vacations usually mess with the sleeping schedule but I am hoping if we are diligent it shouldn't be too back afterwards. I was super apprehensive about the sleep training because I felt guilty in some ways and too tired to stay determined but it paid off. Plus I was worried it was going to take more like 4-6 weeks to reach our goal.

I got to celebrate the little things.

Logan versus Boise

There are a lot of things I miss about Logan. I miss knowing where everything is since I grew up there. I miss being extremely close to the canyon and all those awesome outdoor activities. I miss my awesome parking pass I finally earned at USU. I was at USU for 11 years as a student and employee so I definitely miss knowing the campus and a ton of people there. I actually miss my married student ward where everyone was around the same age and stage of life. I miss my awesome Sports Academy pass where I could take Olivia swimming anytime. I miss not being able to find a baby sitter that I trust like my mom. I miss not being able to get anywhere in the valley in practically 15 minutes or less.

Things I don't miss. I don't miss the inversion. I don't miss my old job. I don't miss the crappy pay at USU. I don't miss my old boss. I don't miss main street traffic.

What I like about Boise. I like that it is a city but still has a small town feeling. They have all the stores and restaurants that big cities have. I like the greenbelt that follows the river throughout the whole city. I like how bike friendly it is. I like our place. I love my job and the people I work with. I don't like that I don't know that many people yet. I am looking forward to floating the river. I like that I found a birthing center an awesome midwives. I didn't have options like that in Logan but I did have a fantastic OB/GYN. I know people like the milder winters here but I actually do miss getting a ton of snow. I thought I would get stared at less here but I actually get stared at more than I did in Logan. I guess there must not be a big population of Asian people here.

How this pregnancy is different

My morning sickness didn't include as much vomiting and it stopped a little bit earlier than before. But I was a lot gaggier and my bladder is a lot weaker. At first my hair was growing out of control and now nothing. I was hoping to grow my hair out but it seems to have come to a stand still. With Olivia I could have got it cut every 4 weeks instead of the standard 6-8 weeks. With Olivia I was the classic tired, could sleep anywhere pregnant women. This time I am exhausted but have been suffering from the worst case of insomnia. I can't seem to get into a deep sleep. I don't have a huge meat aversion this time. I don't pee as much as I did with Olivia during the night. But I am also a lot smarter and slow down my water consumption in the evenings. I am not nearly as warm as I was last time either. It might be because it is winter instead of spring time.

That's it so far. Second trimester hasn't been quite as enjoyable but I am hoping that will change really soon.

Pregnant Belly

It is hard to believe until it happens but a pregnant belly does grow a lot faster after the first pregnancy. I don't love to take pictures but a friend of mine wanted to see my belly. I am only 17 weeks but my belly is huge. I probably wasn't this big until I was 25-27 weeks with Olivia. I can't imagine what I will look like at 40 weeks.

Olivia and her quarkiness

Olivia plays this game on my iphone called peek-a-boo barn. It is like a flashcard game with barnyard animals. An animal is in the barn and you can hear the noise it is making and then you let it out and you can see its picture. Last night she was playing the game and she called the chicken a chicken nugget. I thought it was hilarious.

Olivia grab one of my sweater belts off my sweater and wrapped it around her neck and then she grabbed Mike's scripture case and start cramming stuff into it and proceeded to tell me "Work" and "See Ya" and "Love you" and headed off into the bedroom. I guess that is what I look like when I put my scarf on and grab my work bag and head out the door. She is so observant.

December happenings

Olivia loves Christmas lights and decorations. She was so excited to put the tree up and she is the official Christmas tree light girl. She plugs it in every morning and it has to be lit the whole day. Another lesson learned is the tree cannot have any decoration that is breakable so our tree is very bare. We started doing Christmas crafts everyday and we try to make everything into an ornament and let Olivia hang it up and that has worked very well. Atleast she leaves the gifts alone.

She really enjoys craft time too even though Mike and I end up doing a lot of the work. She is very proud of the end product. It is nice to expose her to cutting with scissors, using the whole punch, glueing, painting and such. On the plus side she really has a good attention span.

Olivia is growing so fast physically and intellectually. It amazes me how much she comprehends verbally and how observant she is so we have to start being careful what we say to her. She use to be able to walk under Mike's legs with plenty of clearance and that is no longer the case. I am pretty sure that Olivia is going to be a lot taller than me.

Olivia happenings

Mike and I have been working on a very special project for the last few weeks with Olivia. Mike taught Olivia this very bad habit. Always falling asleep in the car for her afternoon nap. At first it is so simple and easy but then problems arise. She doesn't fall asleep or she wakes up when we try to take her out of the car which makes for a very grumpy Olivia. Then it snowballs into she is overly tired and really hard to reason with. Which is frustrating for Mike because he doesn't get a break either. So my suggestion was we needed to reteach Olivia how to fall asleep in her room again which was going to take dedication on both of our parts.

There is always the easy parent and the strict parent. Mike is the easy parent and I am the strict parent. I hate to hear Olivia cry but I just don't cave in as easily as Mike and I seem to be able to stick to a schedule a lot easier. On the weekend I started out by leaving Olivia in her room and told her that it was nap time and she should take a nap because it would make her feel better but she could stay up and play in her room but she had to be quiet and she had to stay for 2 hours. It wasn't too bad. Really she only cried for one day. About 50% of the time she would eventually fall asleep. Thankfully Thanksgiving vacation came and I was home for awhile and I could consistently put Olivia in bed. Unfortunately I had to lay down with her because we were went out of town but it was really useful in the end.

We got back from Thanksgiving vacation and now Olivia just knows that when it is nap time she needs to lay down and go to sleep. What a relief! And the best part is she has been sleeping for 2-3 hours. Unfortunately that was the easy task.

The compromise for the past 2 months is she could sleep in our room in her sleeping bag. But eventually she started climbing into our bed. There just isn't room for her in our queen bed and even if we had a king I am pretty sure she would be right next to one of us kicking us in the head or ribs. Then we started making her go to sleep in her room but she would eventually came back to our room and I always had her sleeping bag laid out.

Ever since I have been pregnant, good sleep is something that has eluded me for many many months. Plus I am the type of person that needs a good 8 hours to function so I am really grumpy if I can't get enough sleep. Last week Olivia woke me up 4 times in the middle of the night in about 90 minutes. I was really fed up. So Mike and I made her go to sleep in her own bed every night which was easy. Then she would wake up around 11:30 PM but we kept her door closed past 11:30 so when she would wake up and check the door and realize it was closed she would go back to bed. We have a child proof doorknob on the inside of her door. Then we would open it. Then she would proceed to wake up at 2:30 and if I took her back she would wake up at 4:00. One night I woke up at 2:30, then 4:30 then she fell out of her bed at 5:30. That was a very exhausting night. But I remained persistent with taking her back to her room every time and had the talk with her that she would earn a sticker for staying in her room all night and if she came back into our room I would bring her back to her room. Well the weekend was hard but well worth the effort. Right now she will stay in her room until 4:00 but I am hoping she will eventually learn that it isn't worth the effort to even come into our room. Plus I hate closing her door. I want her to feel like she has the choice. And she loves earning her morning sticker. My goal is to have Olivia in her room before we have this baby.

My second goal would be to have her potty trained before May. We haven't started yet but we are going to put Olivia back in cloth diapers after the holiday and I have ordered her some potty books and she really does well with a sticker system. Her night diapers are becoming less and less wet each morning. She loves to be like her cousins so I am hoping when we go back to Utah and she sees that her cousin is potty trained that she will be motivated to use the toilet.

My third goal is her dang binky. It is a love hate relationship. But we finally have her on a routine where she only gets it when it is nap time and bed time. And that is going to be sufficient for me. I'll probably let her have it for awhile and tackle that after she gets use to the new baby.

Funny Olivia

We went to Portland for Thanksgiving this year and we drove back Sunday morning. We work up earlier than normal and Olivia isn't the most cuddle, hugging person. Andy, Mike's brother, was trying to get Olivia to give him a hug but it just wasn't happening so I said you will probably just have to grab her and hug her. So he did and he tickled her and threw her around a bit and she loved it. But when he put her down she said "Funny. Andy." With a little scowl and maybe a little sarcasm in her voice. I thought it was quite funny.

i am thankful for

I am thankful for a lot of things but I just wanted to mention two of them. I am thankful for the beautiful angel that Heavenly Father sent to us. Olivia is a bundle of joy that keeps me on my toes and really can test my limits but brings me so much happiness. I love to watch her sleep and look at all her features and I can't believe how much she has grown in just two years and how much personality she has

I am also thankful for Jesus Christ and how much hope and strength he can bring me if I remain faithful and true.

I want a wife

No really. I have said these words before to Mike in my times of frustration so I thought this would be most appropriate to post because it is pretty funny.

Judy Brady was born in 1937 in San Francisco and was educated at the University of Iowa where she received her B.F.A. in 1962. She became a free-lance writer during the 1960s. The provocative essay reprinted here first appeared in Ms. Magazine in 1971 and has become a classic of feminist satire.

Why I Want a Wife

I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.

Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene from the Midwest fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is obviously looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife?

I would like to go back to school, so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I am going to school I want a wife to take care of my children. When I am through with school and have acquired a job, I want my wife to quit working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely take care of a wife's duties.

I want a wife who assumes the complete responsibility for our children I want a wife to keep track of the children's doctor and dentist appointments and to keep track of mine, too. I want a wife to make sure my children eat properly and are kept clean. I want a wife who will wash the children's clothes and keep them mended. I want a wife who is a good nurturing attendant to my children, arranges for their schooling, makes sure that they adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school. My wife must arrange to lose time at work and not lose the job. It may mean a small cut in my wife's income from time to time, but I guess I can tolerate that. Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care of the children while my wife is working.

I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep my house clean, a wife who will pick up after my children, a wife who will pick up after me. I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it. I want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife who is a good cook. I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and then do the cleaning up while I do my studying. I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school. I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and a change of scene.

I want a wife who will take care of details of my social life. When my wife and I are invited out by my friends, I want a wife who will take care of the babysitting arrangements. When I meet people at school that I like and want to certain, I want a wife who will have the house clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt when I talk about the things that interest me and my friends. I want a wife who will have arranged that the children are fed and ready for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. I want a wife who takes care of the needs of my guests so that they feel comfortable, who makes sure that they have an ashtray, that they are passed the hors d'oeuvres, that they helping of the food, that their wine glasses are replenished when necessary, that their coffee is served to them as they like it. And I want a wife who knows that sometimes I need a night off by myself.

I want a wife who is sensitive to my needs and who will not demand attention when I am not in the mood for it…. I want a wife who will remain faithful to me so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies. If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free.

My God, who wouldn't want a wife? "

This and that

Not much happening in the Durtschi household. Even though I am only 13 weeks my tummy looks like I am 5 months. I was pretty big with Olivia at the end so I can't imagine what I will look like if my uterus keeps growing at this rate. I have been having terrible lower back pain and I would love to go see a chiropractor and get some work done but unfortunately I don't have insurance until February but I will probably cave in and just pay for it out of pocket. Epsom salt baths have been a lifesaver. The round ligament pain has been a lot worse than the first time. And the area around my c-section scar has been pretty painful. I figure that scar tissue has a hard time stretching but I will definitely bring it up at my next appointment. So I am really looking forward to finding out the gender of the baby. It feels like a waiting game until that point but atleast I have Thanksgiving and Christmas to keep me occupied.

Olivia is growing up so fast and becoming very very independent and opinionated. It is nice and frustrating at times and I can't imagine what age 3 will be like. But Mike and I are trying to enjoy every moment. Sometimes I don't think Olivia realizes she is a toddler and she definitely thinks she is a big girl that can do everything on her own.

Pregnancy and clothes. Last time I was pregnant with Olivia it was the opposite season so I have a lot of capris and summer shirts. I have few winter items but I am feeling too cheap to go out and buy anything. I have a few maternity pants and boy do they make me feel unattractive. Sometimes I feel like I would have to pay an arm and a leg to get cute, fashionable and well fitting maternity clothes. But really I am just feeling sorry for myself because I have a very long way to go before I can wear normal clothing again.

So I have been craving Cambodian food and luckily for me there are several Asian markets in Boise. So I went out and picked up some items and have been quite successful making some Cambodian dishes. Not quite like my moms but better than nothing.

Pregnant with curly hair

My hair has always been super straight. Never really held a curl for that long. But with this pregnancy my hair started getting wavy and it seems like as more time passes the curlier it is getting. This didn't happen with Olivia so I don't know if I should expect it to go back to normal after I have this baby. And that worries me a bit. Oh well. The fun things about getting pregnant.

Happenings

We went to Park City this past weekend and it was so much fun. Unfortunately I forgot our camera and took zero pictures. Olivia loved that we got to go swimming everyday. She is such a fish. The only thing that sucked was the long drive to and from. It was a nice way to ring in November.

Olivia thinks laptops are touch screen because iphones and ipads are touchscreens. And one thing that drives Mike nuts are fingerprints on the computer screen. So it sometimes isn't even worth trying to do anything on the laptop with Olivia but it is quite entertaining watching her try to navigate the laptop.

And I am a very big believer that red raspberry tea supplements makes morning sickness not as bad. I took them before I got pregnant and the whole beginning but when I moved to Boise I really slacked and that is when I got really sick again. And there have been other occasions I forgot to take them for several days and I could tell by how bad my morning sickness got. While it doesn't totally make MS go away it is much much better than what it could be.

Chick Filet just opened on the BSU campus and I tried my first sandwich and I have to say that I am totally impressed. It was delicious. Now I know what all the rave reviews are about.

Thanksgiving is approaching fast. But I have already started listening to Christmas music. Olivia loves Jingle Bells and I love to hear her sing it. And it might finally snow in Boise tonight. I can't wait.

Hopefully I can end 2010 with a bang. Lot of things happened this year, good and bad but hopefully it can end on a high note.

Good deals

We went shopping last night for Halloween items and I am happy with all our purchases since we got them at a deep discount. Olivia picked out her costume for next year. We got some cute candy buckets, tablecloth, pumpkin carving kit with stickers for next year. We also did a little bit of Christmas shopping.

Another cool thing happened last night while we were at the store. Olivia was holding Mike and my hands while we were in the parking lot and she started to count and she counted from 1-7 all by herself. I think she would have made it to 10 except she jumped at 7 but we didn't know she was going to jump so she fell onto the concrete.

On a side note we got some baskets for Olivia's wardrobe and I actually folded and put away all her clothes. Which means less boxes in her room. We also bought a book shelf which put a huge dent in the boxes sitting in the garage.

And I finally pulled out the pregnancy pillow. I don't think I used one until midway into my pregnancy with Olivia but it was worth every penny I paid for it. I think at times Mike gets a little jealous because I hug and cuddle my pillow but it really does provide me the support and comfort I need to get some rest at night. I just want to thank Liberty for introducing me to the pillow

Happy Halloween

We carved our first pumpkin. Olivia dressed up in her pumpkin costume and she was a little terrified to go trick or treating but she was super excited to get candy. We only went to 4 houses on our block but it was enough candy to last Olivia. She loved the dots.

Should I be nervous...

Week 6-9 were a piece of cake compared to week 10. And I suspect it is just the beginning of this stage of morning sickness. I am trying to be a lot more proactive this time and try to eat every 2-3 hours but it really is a big pain in the butt to do that at work. I am in the mode of counting down to week 14-16. I remember being sick with Olivia until I was five months along but I think it started to wear off somewhere around week 16. So hopefully Thanksgiving can be enjoyable and I should be feeling awesome by the time Christmas comes.

And it seems like my sense of smell really picked up or more smells just make me sick. And this might be TMI but what about bladder incontinence when I am gagging/throwing up. I don't remember that being a problem with Olivia or after having her except when my bladder was super full and I had to sneeze. Being pregnant this second time around is totally different.

I know I have many many more months to go before the baby comes but the thought just came to me. Should I be nervous? How is this going to impact Olivia? How will I handle having two kids? There are days when Olivia pushes me to the edge, I can't imagine having a newborn and a toddler on those days. I read a book and half the people had an easier transition from 1-2 and others really struggled. I know I am just being a worry wart but imagine expecting moms and TTC moms think about this all the time.

Olivia amazes me

So I was lazy tonight and behind on putting Olivia to sleep but lucky for me Olivia took the initiative. She must have been tired because she found her pajamas and changed her own clothes. She even put her dirty clothes in the hamper. She got her sleeping bag and laid it out on the floor next to our bed and tucked her self in. Usually I make her sleep in her own bed but tonite I made an exception. I don't know if my two year is trying to outsmart me or she is just super responsible. Oh well. I will enjoy it for now.

On a side note I am halfway done with my Christmas shopping. :)

Christmas is just around the corner

We have less than 2 months until Christmas and I am not going to wait this year to buy presents. So my goal is to get 90% of my Christmas shopping done by December 1. I know I might be driving Mike a little crazy since it isn't Halloween yet so sorry in advance.

Anyone else already started or maybe already finished with Christmas shopping.

Olivia and Gatorade

My goal is to not post another complaint about pregnancy for today so this post is about Olivia and Gatorade. Mike bought me some gatorade last night and he told Olivia that it was juice and he gave her a sip. After she tasted it she called it popsicle juice. I thought it was cute.

Olivia is growing fast and her vocabulary is growing at a huge rate and she is getting better at forming her sentences. It is cool to see how much she learns in such a short amount of time.

She loves Toy Story 3 and watches it daily. Woody is her favorite character. Her favorite movie use to be Beauty and the Beast and she would walk around the house with her book and sing and pretend she was Belle. So imaginative.

She does and says a lot of funny stuff everyday but I am terrible with remembering lately and actually blogging it. I guess that is how it goes sometimes.

I told my boss. What a relief!

I told my boss today that I was pregnant and he was so awesome about it. He congratulated me and was genuinely happy for me. The Director of our department is actually retiring in December which means my current boss will be the interim Director and more than likely there will be organizational changes which will give me a more permanent and better position even though I am new to the organization. Talk about a lot of pressure.

My plan currently is to keep working and come back to work. Really I can't plan for anything else because there are no other concrete options. The thing that my boss said to me that made me feel so much better is to plan and work as if I was going to work after the baby comes and if I decide to quit let the department worry about that mess and not to take it upon myself to do that. Really I couldn't have asked for a better response. It really does make a difference in satisfaction in my job when my boss actually cares about his employees as people and not just workers.

On a side note, it is kind of funny to see the guys at work filter their comments and responses now that a lady is present in the room. I can't imagine what it would be like to witness an all male workforce.

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Heard great things about this album. Check out this post to get the details to purchase: http://www.utahdealdiva.com/2010/10/taylor-swift-speak-now-for-399.html

Pleasant surprise

So Mike and I love the birthing center. All the midwives are so nice and personable. I was too early to hear the heartbeat but luckily they gave me an ultrasound. It was so cool to see the baby. The heartbeat was strong and we saw it kicking it's feet around and jumping around like a bean. It was a nice surprise.

Olivia was very concerned when I had to get my blood drawn. She held my hand the whole time. It was sweet.

10 weeks. Finally double digits. I can only hope the morning sickness gets better but I am realistic that this could last until Christmas. But I have Thanksgivings to look forward too and Christmas and New Years and after that I will be twenty weeks and we get to find out the sex. Trying to stay positive even though I feel terrible and I sometimes wonder why did we do this again and then I remember that we will have a sweet baby this spring.

Complaining about pregnancy

So on the bright side I don't always have morning sickness daily starting last week. The bad news is when it is bad it is really bad. Yesterday was bad. Throwing up. Esophagus burning. And I haven't had a good night sleep in ages. I really miss that. And I have a love hate relationship with food. I hate to cook or eat it but if I don't then I get sick. It has been a long time I ate something and thought "Wow, that tasted really good." But then it does make me feel a lot better to finally get something in my stomach but only a few bites so I feel like I am constantly eating.

I lost weight. Probably all muscle mass but my tummy is definitely growing. My tummy is still too little to hold up maternity pants but my regular pants are getting a little too tight. I hate the in between stage. On the plus side I have my first appointment with a midwife. Hopefully I am far along enough we will hear the heartbeat.

Lazy fall days

I decided to bake some wheat bread today and wanted to make cinnamon buns so I doubled my recipe and they turned out fantastic. The wheat bread turned out great too. I was so proud I even took a picture before I put the frosting on.

Pocket size and perfect for Olivia

While Mike was unpacking yesterday Olivia discovered my pocket size hymn book and Mike's pocket size Book of Mormon. As soon as I got home from work yesterday she gave me the hymn book and we proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday." Her and the Book of Mormon have been inseparable since. She carried it around all last night, reading from it, singing from it, etc. She even had to sleep with it. I know. It was squeezed between her face and mine in the middle of the night.

To say the least, she loves it. It is the perfect size for her and maybe she senses that it really is such a special book.

Musings of an Instructional Designer longing to be a SAHM

My job is going really well. The work environment has been worth the move. After I graduated from USU I started working at the FACT center and it was the place to be. Then we got restructured and the role of an Instructional Designer got watered down and then we got restructured again and things changed for the worse. I was trained to be tech support for the LMS and have tech saavy skills in multiple learning technologies. Which was great for my position at FACT. The plus was I had excellent customer service skills.

Now I am at BSU and really this job is a job that most IDs would dream of. I don't have to deal with the LMS. My work is strictly instructional design. Wow. It has been a long time since my main focus at work was instructional design. It is nice to be pushed and stretched beyond my comfort zone. So this job is really expanding my work skills.

The conflicting feelings come from spending all this time and energy into building my career when in reality I want to be Stay-At-Home mom. I know it is a weak complaint but really I think about home atleast 5 times while I am at work. In a nutshell my brain is at work but my heart is at home. But I guess sometimes people have to sacrifice and do what they have to and not what they want. For me that is working to support my family until Mike can find a job.

Insurance and a Birthing Center

A lot of things have thrown me for a loop lately. At BSU medical benefits don't start until I have been employed for 90 days. At USU they started immediately. So the pregnancy thing was kind of a surprise so I have been calling all sorts of people to figure out COBRA versus short term insurance, dealing with finding out if pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition, etc. Big headache but I think I have it figured out.

So Mike and I would like to have a VBAC. Me more than Mike but he saw how the recovery from a c-section was a little troublesome especially considering I was stuck in the bed for a few days and had limited mobility in terms of rolling myself up and out of bed when the baby cried at night.

My old OB/GYN in Logan didn't have me schedule an appointment until I was 12 weeks so I figured I would be okay with this baby. I know a lot of people go in before then but I really liked Dr. Strebel's laid back attitude. I have been trying to find a doctor in Boise that will do VBACs but I think I have found a better solution - a birthing center with a midwife.

I found this place the Baby Place that has gotten fantastic reviews. Mike and I are going tomorrow to tour the facility and see if I can even get in. Idaho does allow midwives to perform VBACs but only if I meet certain stipulations like the baby cannot be breech, It has been atleast 18 months since I had my last baby, and the incision is a horizontal scar.

My experience having a c-section wasn't absolutely terrible but it wasn't ideal either. I think at a birthing center they will be more open to letting me labor at my own pace and doing it naturally. I was even considering a water birth.

I have read some birth stories and it totally freaks me out about the pain and all. I labored with Olivia for a really long time before I went to the hospital and I never reached the most painful part so I don't even know if I could handle it. The back labor was hard but Mike and I would like to get a doula to help us again. I think Mike got a little flustered when he saw me in that much pain and it helped to have someone else tell him what to do to relieve the pain. So if anyone knows of a great doula in the Boise area please let me know.

Pregnant :\

So Mike and I have been trying for awhile. Awhile being since March. With Olivia it happened the first month so I never had to wait and feel the disappointment of getting my period every month. Even though 6 months isn't a very long time it is when you are waiting to conceive. So I just tried to be healthy, lose some weight and get into shape.

Since we wanted to have another baby I have been very hesitant about trying to find another job even though the job I had in Logan totally sucked. A few things happened at work and I hadn't gotten pregnant and I told myself what the heck I am going to find another job. I can't stay in this crappy one waiting for me to get pregnant or for Mike to find a job so I can quit mine.

So I applied and I got this job at BSU. I accepted the job and like 2 weeks later I missed my period. What timing. I am so so happy that I was pregnant and I was happy to be moving and starting a new job and I was working out everyday and I felt fantastic. Then week 6 came and boom. Morning Sickness.

The morning sickness isn't as bad as it was with Olivia. I threw up daily with Olivia from week 6 until week 16. Sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. This baby I have thrown up occasionally. But being nauseous all the time is really hard. I sometimes feel like I would rather get super sick, throw up and feel better instead of constantly feeling sick. With Olivia I was tired all the time and I could sleep really well at night. With this baby, I am not quite as tired and I can't get my brain to shut up to get a good night sleep. The indigestion started last week but luckily I know to take mylanta instead of tums (which made it worse with Olivia).

I am super excited to be pregnant. Counting down the days until I am out of the first trimester. I am trying to be super excited and positive to be in a new city at a new job but lets face it - I'm pregnant, hormonal, irrational, tired, sick, and did I mention hormonal.

Settling in

So we move to Boise on Thursday and we are slowly settling in. I started my new job on Monday and it is awesome. It is nice to be part of a organization that knows what they are doing.

We moved into a 3 bd/2bath twin home with a 2 car garage so it is a huge upgrade from anything we were living in. It has a fenced yard and a half functioning swingset in the backyard but it is off the road and really close to my work.

We are about 75% unpacked. Our goal is to try to unpack 2-4 boxes everyday but it is hard to get motivated when we have been unpacking for a week. On the plus side, Mike finally put Olivia's bed together and I actually got her to go to sleep before nine in her own room and she slept there for most of the night. I say most because she woke up and came into our room but I finally took her back to her room and she promptly fell asleep. The past few weeks Olivia has been a terrorizer. Not really but for her it was pretty bad. I suspect it was because she was sleeping in our bed and she wasn't getting enough sleep or quality sleep just like me and Mike which meant everyone was on edge.

My goal is to get her back on a schedule and routine just so can all survive the next few weeks while we are in transition and just in time for day light savings adjusting. :( At this point in my life I have to celebrate every small victory. On a side note - we are expecting. But that is another post.

See you for now

My last day of work is tomorrow and I will probably be offline for atleast a week. Not that I update my blog much anymore.

Olivia is growing fast. She is starting to speak sentences now. She has been knocked off her schedule and we have been packing for the past few weeks so it has been so hectic. I hope that when we get settled in we can get her back on a schedule for everyone's sanity.

She doesn't have a bedtime anymore. She doesn't sleep in her crib so she sleep in our room on the floor in a sleeping bag. It is better than her sleeping in our bed.

Maybe one day I'll actually get pictures uploaded.

Happy Birthday Olivia

Olivia is 2 today! She has grown up so much in the past year. I can't believe how much happens between the age of 1 and 2. I took her to her well child care check up and she is the perfect weight for her height. All her teeth have come in. She talks really well for her age.

Mike and I bought her a little pop up tent for the house and she loves that and asmall pop up laundry basket. Never too young to learn responsibility. She dabbles with using the toilet. Her incentives are receiving "My Little Pony" stickers. She loves Disney movies especially the old school ones with music and talking animals. Her favs are Jungle Book, Aristocats, 101 Dalmations, Lion King and the Little Mermaid. She loves music and loves to sing.

We moved her to a toddler bed and she has been doing really well until recently. I just need to buck down and let her cry it out but I am going to wait until we move. She loves to climb everything. She loves to draw on herself with markers. And she loves the outdoors. Overall she is a very easy going child and is generally happy.

Mike and I are so happy to have Olivia in our lives.

It's official... we are moving

So Mike didn't get the second interview in Lindon so we are moving to Boise. I was offered a job as an Instructional Designer at Boise State University. It really is a blessing. The pay is higher and I will be able to work from home part time after I learn the ropes. We found a cute twin home that is 2.5 miles away from campus. There are a ton of engineering firms in Boise so hopefully Mike will be able to find a job and we will finally get to go house hunting.

We are scared and nervous but excited at the same time. I have been packing for the past week or so because I knew we would be moving somewhere just wasn't sure where until today.

We grew up in Cache Valley and we love it here but this will be a nice start to a new chapter in our lives.

Labor Day camping

We went camping with my sister Kanika during Labor Day weekend in Logan Canyon. The weather was perfect. We got to sleep with the fly off and watch the stars. It was a lot of fun.

Olivia has become quite the camper. She was made for the outdoors. After we set up the tent, I threw in the camping pads and sleeping bags and she proceeded to go in and try to inflate the pads herself and pull out all the sleeping bags so they could fluff up. I thought it was cute.

She was super excited that we were camping with Kanika but extra excited that Peter the dog camp along. She could barely contain herself when she woke up and realized Peter slept in the tent with us.


Olivia loves dogs. Especially Peter.


She was so happy to be camping with Kanika and Peter.


Olivia loves camping

Trigger thumb surgery

Olivia playing in the waiting room.


She still loves her binky.


Spinning on the doctor's chair



Just woke up.


Waiting to be discharged.

Olivia had surgery on both of her thumbs on Tuesday. She was first on the list but it took awhile to get her sedated. The actually surgery was short and she woke up very quickly and she didn't even cry. The nurse warned us that 99% of children wake up from anesthesia crying and such. But Olivia was a real trooper. The nurse also said she should be groggy most of the day and would be back to herself by that evening.

Olivia did ask a few times for me to take the bandage off but she acclimated to not having thumbs fairly quickly. I have been giving her children's motrin for the pain three times a day but that is about it. She hasn't complained about pain. The surgery didn't slow her down. After eating some breakfast and watching a movie she was up and jumping on the bed and climbing stuff. She took a long nap and that gave her a ton of energy as you can see from the video. She is still daring as ever.

Where does the time go?

So I had grand plans of updating my blog because so much happened in the last month but I got busy and my blog got neglected. Mike and I had an anniversary in August. It has been 5 years. We went to snowbird resort and it was a lot of fun. My little sister took care of Olivia and it was nice to have some alone time with Mike.

Work is always so busy right before Fall semester begins and we aren't allowed to take an time off. Plus my job changed a bit and I have to travel twice a week to Brigham City and help faculty on that campus.

Mike and I have been trying to take it nice and easy and enjoy the rest of the summer. We went on a couple of mountain bike rides in the canyon. We went up green canyon and logan canyon. I am not as fast or as strong as Mike but I think I do pretty good. The weather is ideal especially in the evenings. It is hard sweaty work going up but it is always worth the reward of coming down.

Mike's grandma passed away over Labor Day weekend. It was unexpected but she was old and lived a long time. And Mike says she is in a better place with Grandpa Kunz because they are finally together. It was sad and she will be missed but we will see her one day.

Big happenings are going on but I don't want to spill the beans until it is official. I had a job interview a few weeks ago so we could possible be moving north. But Mike has a job interview this week and we might be moving south. Things are happening so fast but I have been so excited I decided to start packing. I am happy that things are finally moving somewhere.

Olivia's new swimming suit

Olivia loves to swim and I noticed her swimsuit is getting way too tight and one day we were at Walmart and Mike found this swimming suit that is a 3T and it was only $3. Can't ask for a better deal than that. She loves it. She basically loves anything that resembles a swimming suit.

Olivia is growing up so fast.

This happened in August but I was proud of Olivia. We came home and she asked to pee and she actually performed. We have a little toilet for her but she prefers to sit on the big toilet like us. She is pretty kick back about it but I hope she is proud of herself.

She caught me off guard so I purchased 2 books on potty training. I think Olivia is really close to being ready. We practice all the time and she actually peed in the toilet again. I was planning on doing the potty training stuff gradual like slowly let her wear underwear for 2 hour increments starting in the fall and maybe around Christmas take a week and do it full time. She might actually beat me to the punch though.

Bodybugg bands

I bought some new bodybugg bands that are a little bit more fashionable and the plain black one is my exercise one. I was pretty excited to get them. If I had the time and the crafty bug, I would probably add gems to it.

Happenings

Olivia is growing very fast. Her 2 year molars are coming in and she has been chewing anything and everything for the past week. The corner of her board books, my ipod nano. I suggested to Mike that he just give her whole carrots for her to gnaw on and that seem to help a ton. She talks a ton know and in whole sentences. I don't always understand her but atleast the communication factor has increased. I don't know if it is the teething or coming back from a vacation but Olivia's sleeping schedule is way off. She is struggling going to bed and staying in her bed all night. My goal right now is to get her to go to bed without fighting us and slowly move her bedtime to 8 o'clock at the latest.

I have been reading Parenting with Love and Logic and it is really great. Thanks Brooke for recommending it. So Olivia can climb in and out of the crib like a pro but I am pretty hesitant to take off the railing because she still falls out of the bed. So I decided to leave the railing down so it is easier for her to climb out and I think Mike might take the railing off later this week. Then we do our nightly ritual and I told her she can sleep in her bed or she can climb out but she will have to sleep on the floor. I sucks listening to her cry but it sucks even worse when no one gets enough sleep and we are all grumpy the next day.

As soon as I put her in the crib, she climbed out and sat at the door and knocked and yelled out mommy, daddy, mike, open it, knock. She pulled out all the stops. But 15 minutes later she was out. And she was nestled right up to the door. It was like Ferberizing her all over again. The first 3 days are the hardest but hopefully it will work out. And she always has the choice to sleep in the bed or on the floor but she has to be in her room.

Really Olivia is awesome and we go through all these trials but I am grateful that she is such a good eater and is so polite. She is an awesome observer and loves to imitate everyone. She really is a free spirit like Mike and wants to do everything herself.

Tablerock hike

I have been meaning to blog about this a long time ago but life happens. Ever since I have been married to Mike, I have wanted to do this hike. The huge tablerock hike in Teton canyon. I always heard about how hard and treacherous it is but how absolutely amazing the views are. For awhile I wasn't in shape or I was pregnant. Probably the biggest thing was finding the time to actually do it. But we did it on a whim on our family vacation.

There are two ways up. The hard way which is about 4 miles of intense uphill most of the way. Or the long way which is about 7 miles. It is uphill but more gradual with switchbacks. We decided to go the hard way up and the long way back.

We woke up at 6 AM and there were some threatening rain clouds. In my mind I was doing the hike because I might not be able to do it for another year or so. We got ready and ate breakfast and headed up the canyon in hopes that it would clear up and lucky for us it surely did.

At this point I had done Insanity for 3 weeks and I was in pretty good shape and I took off like a bullet. I was with Mike, his brother Andy and Andy's wife Chrissy. They weren't doing so great. Insanity workouts are killer from the beginning to the end. You jump right into the warmups and kill it for about 40 minutes straight so my body was accustomed to this.

I think the elevation change had some factor on our pace too. Andy and Chrissy live in Portland which is almost sea level. In Logan it is about 4500 feet elevation. At the trailhead it was about 7000 feet elevation. And it climbs intensely. If I remember correctly we climbed about 2000 feet within the first mile.

Maybe I had unrealistic expectations because I didn't know what shape everyone was in. I was hoping we could go for a good record time. I was thinking 2.5 hours up and 3 hours back. Boy was I way off.

Chrissy got sick on the way up and she thew up multiple times. I think she had altitude sickness and she probably was out of shape. So we took a lot of breaks. Mike and I didn't get to the top until 1 PM. I am not sure what time Andy and Chrissy made it. I think they were about 45-60 minutes behind us. So basically we averaged 1 mile an hour. Mike and I hiked to Inspiration point which takes us to a ledge that goes straight done and slopes up to the Grand Teton. It was amazing.

Mike and I headed back and we met up with Andy and Chrissy and we didn't get to the trailhead until 7 pm. On a side note I was so looking forward to eating my sandwich at the top of the mountain. When we got to the top, Mike opened his pack and no sandwiches. They were left in the car. Needless to say I was pissed. I got over it but I was really hungry and I had worked really hard and no reward.

In a nutshell it was a freaking awesome hike. The views were amazing, the weather was perfect and the flowers were awesome. I love hiking with Mike. On the downside I was ultra grumpy at the end because I had been on my feet for 10 hours with not enough food. I would definitely do the hike again but next time I am going for my best time and not just completion. This hike was a huge accomplishment.

Feeling results

I am feeling and seeing results. I know I shouldn't weigh daily but I have been and I know females fluctuate between a range depending on their cycle but I am super stoked. I should be at my heaviest weight right now due to water retention but I am actually lower than my lowest weight range. I got to celebrate the small victories. And it is nice to fit into my pants and not feel constricted.



Here is my activity chart from my bodybugg. I thought it was interesting. My activity is high in the morning because that is when I usually work out between 6-7. Then it peaks when I have to walk from my car to my office. I work at the university and no one gets a close parking spot. I walked up and down the flight of stairs in my building in the morning then I took a walk through campus right before lunch, walked another flight of stairs and took another walk on the other side of campus in the afternoon. When I am at my computer it is barely higher than when I am sleeping. Then it is home and it is basically nonstop activity. I have to cook dinner and play with Olivia. I check my bodybugg and see how many more calories I need to burn before bedtime and it is always a lot. This always motivates me to take a walk with Olivia, run around, clean, dance or take her to the park instead of plopping myself down to watch tv or surf the web.

I haven't been able to reach my 2500 calorie burn yet. Missed it by 10 calories on Wednesday and 65 yesterday. I was thinking of changing it to 2400 so I can actually reach my goal but I might leave it just so I have something to push towards. I read somewhere online that the Biggest Loser contestants shoot for 6000 calorie burn each day. The first thing that came into my head was "Damn that is a lot." Here I am complaining about 100.

My plan is to take a run sometime to see the calorie burn. I can't wait to do an Insanity workout so I can really see how much I burn. I haven't ever taken a zumba class but I will post my results if and when I do them. I also started a blog about my p90X experience because I know it helps me stay motivated. Just in case anyone is interested: http://p90xdurtschi.blogspot.com/

Bodybugg

I am really on a fitness kick lately and instead of being resistant, I have totally thrown myself into it. I did the Insanity workouts for only 3 weeks and it was awesome and I noticed a difference. Mike wanted to do P90X so I stopped Insanity so we could do it together. I will be the first to admit that I haven't finished a complete Beachbody program but I do feel great. And I have found some great information, people to follow on FB and Twitter on my fitness quest which could be a post in itself. But here is my latest obsession: the Bodybugg

The first time I heard about the bodybugg was on the tv show The Biggest Loser. The first time I saw it was at the local gym where I have a membership at. They also do a Biggest Loser contest at the beginning of the year. The first person I knew that owned a Bodybugg was Julie. I started following Chalene Johnson the creator of Turbo Jam, Turbo Kick, Turbo Fire and Chalean Extreme for Beachbody. I read her review which can be found here: http://www.turbokick.com/wblog/?p=162. I really wanted one but boy are they pricey.

Lucky for me Mike said he would be willing to buy one for me for our wedding anniversary. Brand new that would have been a whopping $280 atleast but that includes a 6 month membership to the online program. I found one used on KSL for $200 but I was able to negotiate and get it for $170. I still had to buy an online membership which may have evened out the price but I don't mind.

It was quite the headache to get it registered since it was a used one but I finally figured it out and I have used it for almost 2 days now. There is a saying that knowledge is power. I have also heard that how you use the knowledge is the real power. And I am hopeful that how I use the data will help me achieve the results I want.

Things I have learned/realized thus far:

1. If I am going to go through the effort to wear the bodybugg, it doesn't take much effort to track my food and check my data regularly.
2. I was totally underestimating how much food I was consuming. No wonder I could gain weight so easily or not lose weight while exercising.
3. My goal is to get 10000 steps a day which is actually pretty easy. It is also pretty easy to rack up 2000 steps in a 10 minute walk. But boy oh boy is it hard to peel myself away from the computer twice a day to do it but the payoff is worth it. 4000 steps but just imagine if I didn't get up and take a break. I would have to make it up somehow.
4. I burn practically nothing while sitting at my computer. It is almost as low as sleeping. Which is a real bummer because I spend 8-10 hours on that sucker a day.
5. My goal is to reach a daily burn of 2500 calories. If I did nothing in terms of exercise my body would supposedly burn about 2000 calories. I will tell you that getting that 500 extra calories has been brutal.
6. I was totally overestimating how many calories I was burning during some exercises. When I did 60 minutes of weight training, I only burned 250. When I did 90 minutes of yoga, I only burned 300 calories. Hopefully the burn is substantial when I do a plyometric workout or an insanity workout. I will find out next week.
7. Since I have been keeping a log of my food intake it really helps me be selective about what I consume. And I realize how easy it is to consume 300 calories in junk food.
8. It is not easy to burn 100 calories unless I want to go run/walk a mile.


In a nutshell, I have all this awesome data. What I do with it can help me meet my health goals. Now that I have the facts I can't make up excuses of I didn't eat that much, I burned like 500 calories on that workout, etc, etc. I am glad that I invested in the bodybugg because it makes me more realistic/accountable to myself.

Island Park

Ava, Adie and Olivia on the pony at Grandma Kunz's house. Maybe there is a little cowgirl inside of Olivia.


Olivia and Ava asleep on the way to Cave Falls.


Olivia and her walking stick. I am glad Olivia loves the outdoors and camping. I can't wait until she is old enough to actually to do the hikes.


Olivia and Adie enjoying the camp fire.


Mike and the awesome fire he built.

I have a lot of posts to catch up on but I think I am going to do the most recent first this time. We went on a family vacation to Island Park. We camped in our sweet tent and Olivia even slept on her own camping pad and sleeping bag. The weather was nice and we got to see a lot of things. Friday - set up camp. Saturday - drove to the top of Sawtelle Mountain. It was about 9800 feet in elevation. The highest point I had been to until the following Tuesday. Sunday - Drove to Quake Lake and drove up to Sawtelle again and saw a moose with her calves. Monday - Drove to Cave Fall, let the girls play in the river naked. Tuesday - Hiked to Table Rock to see the Tetons. Wednesday - Olivia got to ride a pony and headed home.

Why Do you sometimes gain weight when starting a new exercise program?

This is a great article. I started following Charlene Johnson on twitter and reading her blog. I love her and her tweets. Very motivational. I am closing in on my 3rd week of Insanity and I haven't seen the scale move much but I feel fantastic. I am stoked that I will actually complete the first month but a little terrified to start the second phase. As Mike always say "maybe if you followed the diet you could lose weight." Maybe? Just kidding! I know he is totally right but working out everyday and planning five meals on top of everything else. That is a challenge I have yet to conquer.

Spicy...

Olivia is a pretty good eater. And she even likes spicy. If anyone has been to El Sol you know that the salsa has a little kick to it and Olivia loves to eat her. I do see her occasionally scratching her tongue because of the spiciness but she doesn't stop.

Last week we went to Sizzler and she started out dipping the popcorn shrimp in the cocktail sauce and licking it off. Then she upgraded and grabbed a spoon and ate the cocktail sauce. Personally I think cocktail sauce has quite a kick but I am starting to think she likes spicy food at the ripe age of almost 2.

Crimson trail

We did a hike over the 4th of July weekend. It was the crimson trail which is about 4 miles total. It was a beautiful hike and we got some great pictures. Olivia loves riding in the backpack.

French Braid

Surprisingly I love to do Olivia's hair. I have to sit her in front of the tv so it isn't a fight but I find it quite relaxing.

Insanity

I finished the first week of Insanity. It doesn't seem like much but once you have done 1 workout you'll know what I mean. I feel great. Mike brought me to work today so I could ride my bike home. I may even start biking to work. It is only 3 miles but atleast I get to move and enjoy the outdoors. Or more like enjoy the sweltering heat radiating off the black asphalt. Peace out.

Aquaphor

Olivia got into the aquaphor (similar to vaseline) and boy did she like squishing it in between her hands. Lucky for us it was minimal damage. So shiny and greasy.

Manti Pageant

We went to the Manti pageant in June and it was fun. We camped in a state park which made for a fun family adventure. We stayed in a tent and Olivia did really well. It was pretty hot during the day and pretty chilly at night. Olivia's favorite was the reservoir we were next too. Mine was catching minnows and doing an awesome trail run and mountain biking.


Olivia rocking sunglasses with Grandma before the pageant.


Olivia trying to wear her backpack. She is probably tired of being the passenger.


Manti Temple


Family picture. Not that great. Everyone is hot, sticky and cranky waiting for it to get dark.


Manti Temple. Not as nice as the day picture but still nice.


Olivia waiting for the pageant to start. It was a scorcher that day but it was freezing that night.

Portland, Oregon

We went to Oregon late May to help Mike's brother and his family move. Olivia had so much fun playing with Ava.

Olivia and her awesome dance moves

Olivia's booty shake makes me laugh everytime.

What else did we do?

So we have done a ton of stuff but I didn't always take pictures or bring the camera unfortunately. Mike and I did a super sprint triathlon in May and it was so much fun. It was freezing and my toes were frozen for all of the bike and 75% of the run but I can't wait to do another if I can find the time.

Mother's day weekend we went to park city and we spent a lot of time at the pool which Olivia loves.

We have gone on a few hikes and bike rides but no pictures to share. On the bright side Mike did order a sweet camera which should be arriving sometime soon. It is long overdue. We have a great cannon supershot but after 5 years and heavy use and being dropped several times it is time for an upgrade. We are hoping to get higher quality photos. I was inspired to get a new one because my friend Michelle had a nicer camera and I could tell the difference in picture quality.

We went on a hike to the wind caves about two weeks ago and it was so much fun. Olivia absolutely loves to ride in the backpack. Hopefully I will have more pictures and adventures to share.

April fun

We went to baby animal days and Olivia seem to have fun. I don't have any great pictures but we got some great video. This is a picture of Olivia and Mike on the train.


On Mike's birthday we ran the Salt Lake City half marathon and it was so much fun. Surprisingly. I was worried because I didn't train much. I was a lot slower than I had hoped but I am happy I finished. Now I know the pain of running 13.1 miles and I would probably do it again. Olivia stayed with my mom and Mike and I got a hotel room in downtown SLC. It was fun to walk around the city. Not so much fun to wake up so early. Here is a picture of Mike and I in the hotel room.

Random happenings from Spring 2010

Olivia loves boxes and she will climb into anything.


Olivia participated in a midnight easter egg hunt with flashlights. She had fun eating the candy. It was a cold windy and slightly snowy night.


Mike and I went to the Saturday morning general conference. It was great. It is a very special feeling to see the prophet walk in. The biggest thing I remember is the emphasis of parental responsibility on teaching their children values, morals, etc...


Just a random picture of Olivia wearing my heels.