Halfway Catch-up!

So it's been awhile since I've updated! Things have changed. And by things I mean I'm getting HUGE!! Actually until I looked at the picture we just took of my belly I had no idea I was this pregnant. But I am! And its going great. Now that all of that morning sickness is gone I'm at the point that the books call "comfortably pregnant". I don't know if I would use the word "comfortably" but it's not so bad. We're at 23 weeks now, almost 6 months along. Our due date is still Feb. 2, 2010, which really is just around the corner if you think about the holidays and everything. Preston is growing and developing as he should. He apparently knows kung-fu, and I'm very proud and supportive of, but I do so wish he wouldn't practice in the middle of the night. Actually his most active time is in the morning right when I get to work (about 5am) and then at night when we have some tummy time and talk about things like Project Runway or So You Think You Can Dance and read with Patrick. He's around 11 inches now, and weights about 1.1 pounds. I wish I could say that I still crave fruit, because I do so miss those days. Instead now he seems to want things like hot pockets, chips, donuts, ding dongs... basically he wants to eat like a college student. But I try to keep things under control. So without futher adu, here's the belly shot....

Other then being pregnant things are continuing as normal. My work schedule changed, so now I work from 5-2, which means Patrick gets company when he's up for work at 3:30am. Can't say its happy smiling company though. It's only for a month though, then in November I'll be working 6-3. I'll probably still go to bed at 7:30 though! The other day after an especially horrible day of work Patrick brought me home this:

As a matter of fact that IS a Hannah Montana balloon! And there were chocolates, but I'm almost positive by the time the pictures were taken those were a thing of the past. He takes good care of me. Even if it means getting mozzarella sticks and strawberry shakes and telling me that I dont look fat, just pregnant. I love him.

We've found a way that we want to decorate the babys room. Actually Patrick picked it out ages ago when we first got pregnant. We havent started decorating yet, just getting ideas, and working on cleaning up the room before we decorate. I havent bought much yet either, just some onsies, socks, and a baby blessing outfit (it has a baby sized vest and tie!!). My goal is to get the room done before we're at 8 months. So I've still got time! This is what we want to do:

The wall decals we're going to order from a website we know if, and then we'll just paint before putting them up. Then as far as other stuff this is what I'm thinking:

And this baby mobile:

Shouldn't be hard to make, just a matter of cardstock and printing off some of the ? marks. Hard part will be finding an old mobile that I can use to construct it.
But I'm excited about it all! I can't wait for it to come together!!

IT'S A BOY!

As shocked as I am, I'm SO HAPPY.

He was moving around non-stop from the moment the ultrasound started, which was fine with me because I didn't feel a thing. The tech had a hard time getting him to hold still so that she could get a picture of his heart/stomach/other parts. Im pretty sure it's because he was interupted in the middle of his workout since his muscles will be huge. We did get to see him wave, and open and close his mouth, and then when we wanted him to move he decided he'd take a face down nap.
He's got a nice sized head and round belly, so he'll fit in perfect around here :D


And if your wondering if we have a name picked out, of course we do. His name will be Preston. And I love him.

Enjoy the pictures!!!!!!

PROFILE

ARM/HAND

AN UNDERNEATH, THROUGH THE LEGS SHOT

FURTHER PROOF THAT IT'S A BOY.

Boy VS. Girl......

**UPDATED 9/1/09**

OK, the time has come. Next Wed. (9/9/09) at 4pm we have our sonogram to determine the size/weight, and most important the sex of our baby!!!

So I want to know what everyone out there thinks we're going to have. And just so everyone knows everything, I'll post some important details regarding the baby and the pregnancy. That way all guesses will be educated ;D

Here goes:


CRAVINGS

Hot Pockets

Mustard
Tostinos Pizza
Fruit
Cereal

KEEP THAT AWAY FROM ME!

Chicken
Fruity Gum
Cranberry Juice
Popcorn (only the microwave kind though....)
Cookies/most desserts

Other important facts-

* I've had 3-4 dreams that we're having a girl. She's looked different in every dream, but still, a girl is a girl!

* Patrick has had several dreams we're having a boy.

*My morning sickness was purely afternoon based, 2-7pm from week 4-about week 14

*My Aunt Carla who has accurately predicted the gender the last 3 or 4 babies born in our family believes we're having a girl. With a track record that good who could doubt her?!

*At Girls Night last week we did the "ring game" where you put a ring on a string/necklace and hold it above your hand. According to the ring I'll have 3 kids. 1st one a girl, the next two boys. It should be noted that the 3 girls there who already have babies did the ring test and it predicted their 1st kids accurately (Natalie- girl, Suzi- boy, Samantha- boy).

* The Chinese calendar says we'll have a girl. The Chinese calendar is around 94% accurate according to online reports.

* The baby's heart rate is about 180/bpm. The old wives tale states that higher heart rates indicate a girl.

*(update) I had a dream last night that we were having the ultrasound and the technican said we would have a girl. But then later in the exam, said Oh, I was wrong, its a boy. And I was really really happy about that. And since that dream I can't help but think about if it would be like, and it seems really fun.

*(update) Someone at work today said I was carrying low, which she said makes her think I'll have a boy. Someday I'll have to post a picture to get a second opinion.

So there you have it! You've got plenty of time to think it over and make correct predictions.
If you must know, I think we'll have a girl. Patrick predicts a boy. But does it really matter?!!!

So while you were doing THAT, I was doing THIS...

My Weekend....

Friday was Jimmy's birthday, so we had a little family party/dinner for him. Being the strong lover of corn dogs that he is, I decided that I would put some of my recent food network knowledge to use and make homemade corn dogs (thank you Rachel Ray). They turned out pretty good! They were a little spicy...might have something to do with the cumin, franks red hot sauce, and Cayenne pepper that was in the batter. But everyone seemed to like them! Everyone except the unborn child inside of me. But unless it end is "hot pocket" she/he hasn't liked much this week.

Saturday after watching a solid hour of Platinum Weddings with Patrick I took The Kids to go see a movie, Aliens in the Attic, and then to McDonalds for some good ole' fashioned fun and french fries. Oh how I love french fries...
Andrew got Jimmy tickets to the Cardinals pre-season game Saturday night, and since they are huge Cardinals fans they wanted to go all out, and that included face painting. John helped Andrew and then Patrick and I went to work on Jimmy. This was the result, which I think turned out pretty good!!

Later that day/evening I had a girls night (Krissa, Amanda, Natalie, Samantha, Suzi and the babies). SO MUCH FUN. I love those girls! We laughed a whole lot. Oh and there were snacks! Cant wait for the next one in which we might maybe may watch The Hannah Montana movie. And of course eat more. I think its noteworthy to include that I stayed up until about 11:30pm that night. That is a HUGE deal!!! I go to bed at 8, mayyyyybe 9 on the weekends. But it was so worth it. Especially when I learned how afraid of the dark Natalie is...... :D

Sunday was church and naps and eating and of course spending time with this guy:

Sorry Patrick...its the first picture of you that I found on my phone. Although you beard does look pretty good in this picture....Dunno why your nose is so red though!

Good weekend, went too fast of course, but this week is going to be great. Birthday parties, swimming, date night, shopping. It'll be great.

Whatever you say, don't say "I knew it".

Cause if you say "I knew it" then it makes me sad, like I don't have anything to tell you. When REALLY i DO have stuff to say.

Like:

* My blog got a makeover (Krissa is made of awesome)

* We got rid of Bindy. Sad.

* Im on my last week of school, then I get a break, then another 9 weeks begins... dun dun dun.

* We're addicted to Lost.

* The Percy Jackson and the Olympian books are pretty great. All 4 that I've read so far at least.

* Im going (with friends) to the So You Think You Can Dance tour!!

What else....what else.... ohhhh yeah

* And we're pregnant again. (This is the part where you DON'T say "I knew it", even if you did know it.)
Sorry we didn't spread the news around earlier. Its only because of last time and how much it sucks to have to tell people if something goes wrong.
But we had a doctors appointment today, and we're at 14 weeks, which means we're out of the danger zone and NOW I can start being excited and tell people. Not that I wasn't excited before, just scared...
And too busy throwing up to be excited.
Hopefully that part is slowing down a little.
Everything looks "PERFECT" according to Dr. Mikel. We got to hear the heartbeat today, which was very much a relief, and in 4 weeks at our next appt he'll give us our referal for a sonogram so we can go find out if its a boy or a girl.
If you ask Patrick it's going to be a boy.
But if you ask MEEEEE it's going to be a girl.
Whoever's right it wont really matter, its just nice to have everything going well.

So I apologize if you've asked me recently if I have any baby news and I told you no, or changed the subject. But I know you'll understand.

Oh, and we're due on Feb. 2nd. Groundhogs Day. And mostly because I hate the movie Groundhogs Day the boys & Patrick have decided we should name the baby (boy or girl) Bill Murray Jr.
This wont be happening.
I dont think.

Last weekend we drove out to California for a little mini-vacation in honor of my cousin Nicole getting married. Fun fact: Nicole and I got engaged on the same day! Lots to look forward to in that trip: windmills, traditions at Del Taco, cool nights, family, wedding cake, Smidget (hahah!), Patrick meeting my grandparents, the beach, and an awesome hotel with great pillows, AC that can run all day and night and a complimentary breakfast that was fabulous.

We left Friday after work, and arrived around 9pm. Saturday we visited with family, who I miss already, and then went to the beach!! After we were sand-ed out, and hot we left to get cleaned up and then have dinner over at my grammas. We spent the rest of the day over there, then once I was sleepy went back to the hotel. Sunday morning was spent lounging around watching Hocus Pocus before we had to leave for the wedding. The location of the wedding was about an hour from the town where we were at, and consisted of going up and around winding roads, passing a smelly chicken farm, and driving through a small town that didn't have much to look at. The wedding was beautiful, and everyone was so happy. The drive back wasn't so bad, at least not for me since I was asleep in the front seat. Monday we left and came back about 2pm back to the heat, and work and normal life. It was pretty great. Next time maybe we'll get to stay longer, but its always nice to get away and relax, even if it is for just a few days.

The beach! SO COLD! But while everyone was standing getting their toes wet Andrew and I ran past them and just kept runnin. We're tough.

This is how I spent most of the time at the beach, sittin under the umbrella relaxing, watching people.

Patrick packing up

The reception area for the wedding

Where the ceremony took place. It was so pretty!! So many tree's!!

Walking down the isle

My grandpa and Nicole

The ceremony

The Newlyweds! Side Note: Nicoles husband John looks like Neo from The Matrix. True story.

The back of her dress- beautiful!

So happy together

Behind the Music....Jessica Reynolds

So for school, the first day in every class we have to post our Bio. Which is a good way to get to know each other.
And I wrote a Bio that I like. And its gotten a positive response from my instructors, but my classmates have said things like "you have an interesting sense of humor...." and "hmmm... thats...nice..". Maybe its their use of " ...." that make me hesitate
So I need some outside opinions. It's ok, right?

It was a dark and stormy night in California when I was born 27 years ago. Only instead of being dark and stormy it was a bright and sunny April morning. Dark and stormy makes it more interesting though! April 30^th, 1982 the day that I was born, was the first of many times that people exclaimed “oh my, such red hair”. It was only later in life when people would ask, “where did you get your red hair?” that I would reply with “on sale at JC Penny!” My name is Jessica Reynolds. I grew up in California with an older sister and three younger brothers, but all my real growing up was done after we moved to Arizona when I was twelve.
It was in Mesa Arizona that I finished Jr. High, High School, some college, and where I plan on staying for maybe the rest of my life, we’ll see! My family all lives in Arizona, and since both of my parents have passed away, family is a big priority for me, and its important to me that we stay close.
I just celebrated my one year wedding anniversary, which I think means now people can stop calling us “newlyweds”, or at least I hope so! My husband Patrick and I actually met in an unusual way, or at least in a way that makes some people raise their eyebrows in surprise. We met on MySpace. I wasn’t on there looking for love at a High Speed connection, but how could I resist when I found someone who loves watching The Office, Arrested Development and scores of different movies just like I do?
We don’t have any kids yet, but we are kept plenty busy by our puppy Bindy who’s favorite past time is a toss up between licking the insides of shoes, and bringing toilet paper out for all to enjoy!
Besides working and cleaning up after a puppy I love to read, do puzzles, watch movies, go to Target and just spend time with those around me.
I most definitely look forward to furthering my education. At the moment I’m planning on majoring in Psychology, but that may change, unlike my hair color, which by the way is still red.

Day 3 of Year 1

One of my most favorite pictures. EVER. 
With my favorite person. EVER. 

Day 2 of 1 Year.

He makes me smile when no one else can.

The 1 year countdown :D

As of Saturday, May 30th, Patrick and I will have been married for a year. 

So I thought that for the next few days I'd post some of my favorite wedding pictures. 

With the exception on Friday/Saturday since we'll be in Vegas celebrating our anniversary. 

I can't believe it's been a whole year. . . . . . .

Im happier then I've ever been in my entire life. 

Extreme Home Makeover!!!

We got our house painted!!
 Prepare to be shocked and awed....

BEFORE....

                                                                         AFTER!!! 

 

                                                                   BEFORE....

                                                                            AFTER!!!

                                                                BEFORE....

                                                                           AFTER!!!

It looks like a whole new house!! We LOVE it. And best of all its inspired us to make other improvements. But its such a relief to know this part has been taken care of and turned out great. 

By the way, HECK NO we didn't do it ourselves!! We helped the economy and hired someone :D 

And best of all the woodpeckers have not returned since their holes were patched up and painted over. 

"Burn Baby Burn"

Michael Scott "Hypothetically, if I were to ask you to go camping and... you know what hypothetical means? So if I were to hypothetically ask you to go camping with me, would you go?"

Andrew decided that for his birthday on Friday (April 17th) he wanted to go camping. MORE than fine with us since we've been wanting to go for quite some time. So Friday we loaded up drove, and ended up at a perfect camp site between Payson & Heber. Nelson Fire Road to be exact.

The first thing you must know is that it was cold. And im not just being a girl and exaggerating. It was cold. You'll notice in the pictures below the presence of jackets/sweaters and everything. Even when the sun was in the two-thirds easterly quadrant, which would make it about.....2 o'clock in the afternoon.

It was my first experience cooking with a dutch oven, which was FANTASTIC except for the part where the following morning my hot chocolate tasted like beans....

The boys stayed busy building things like a swing, and log tables for me to set stuff on, and a fort, and I stayed busy reading and napping.

But of course we all made time for things like Pine-Cone Baseball, which i would like to say im quite good at. I may be going pro at any day!

The downfall of the trip was 2 fold.
1. The cold cold nights. 2 pairs of socks, pants, long sleeves, a hoodie, a beanie plus the hood of the hoodie on, a mummy sleeping bag, and a wool jacket on top of my sleeping bag and still I was cold. So the following night we rought it in the Escape. MUCH warmer. Which was nice until...
2. Patrick got sick. No, not food poisoning because the rest of us were fine, and we ate all the same things, just some sort of stomach bug. It was the first time in our lives that we were sad to see the time was only 12:30am when we thought it had to be close to 4am. Bad night...lots of trips out of the car, lots of times setting off the car alarm due to having to open the door so quickly.

Needless to say we returned to civilization early on Sunday morning.
We took videos, and I will post them. Because we're too cool for everyone not to see it.

Jimmy climbing the tree.

Still in love, even in the wild!

Jimmy in the fort "studying"

There's always room for one of these pictures




How I spent my time. Check out my bling!

The swing. And the football Andrew threw right when i was taking the picture...

Building the fort

My shelving units

Our campsite

Slow. Slow. Quick Quick

So... My sister calls me up one day and says "don't plan anything Wed. afternoon, I have something I want to do for you and Patrick". She wanted it to be a surprise but did give some hints. Like:

*wear socks

*the kids will be there for the first part

*it doesn't involve food

*its not really a pampering activity

*you may or may not feel like going running after your done



So Wed. afternoon she picked us up and still didn't tell us what we were doing. She wanted to blindfold us on the way there, but that would have ruined the whole surprise because we both would have just thrown up everywhere due to extreme car sickness. Surprise! Your covered in vomit!


The whole sock thing made me guess things like Ice Skating. Bowling. A giant game of who can create the most static electricity. But it wasn't any of those things.


It was dancing.


She got us a giftcard for 2 free dance lessons at Fred Astaire Dance Studio. Not

that that's not a great gift, cause it is, but its probably not the best gift to surprise someone with. There was no time to prepare any type of pep talk to those of us who needed it. But it was ok. It was a 20 minute lesson where we learned how to do the Foxtrot, Rumba, and Swing. Not like pro's, but we learned basic steps. We looked good. We looked like this-

Ok, maybe not EXACTLY like that. It was more like this-

It was fun. We had our 2 free lessons. Cant say that we'll continue with our dancing career. Mostly because to continue lessons there its about $500 for 4- 45 minute lessons. But it was fun while it lasted!!

Joint Effort

Patrick = BLUE Jessica = PINK


(xoxoxo to Patrick for playing along with this idea)



Do you drink alcohol? No / Not even a little.

Are there​ any bruis​es on your body? Nope/ Only the one im going to have from getting blood drawn earlier today.

Do you like your life right​ now? Yes/ ohhhhhhhh yes.

What or who do you hate? People wanting a free handout because of the bad economy / People who have Britney Spears tickets.

Do you have a best frien​d that is a girl? My wife / Patricks not a girl.....

How are thing​s betwe​en you and your frien​ds?​ Distant, but good / Good as gold right as rain.

Do you forgi​ve or forge​t?​ I thought you were suppose to do both. / An elephant never forgets.

What are you think​ing about​ right​ now? If there is something chasing me (*note- he's playing a video game, not actually being chased) UPDATE- there WAS something chasing him / Lots of things: texting, patrick, bad dreams, my ring, doctors visits, miley cyrus songs, hsm3.

What time did you go to bed last night​?​ About 9:30/ About too late o'clock! Maybe 8:45.

What are you curre​ntly doing​? Freeing the slaves/ Thinking about how selfless Patrick is to free the slaves. Also, that Lincoln did the same thing, which pretty much makes Patrick the president.

What did you do today​?​ Ate candy grahams, shocked my wife (literally), picked a fight on a video game / Went to work where i called about 700-ish people, made candy grahams, got shocked (literally. TWICE.), made dinner, sang some Britney songs- but not the bad parts, went to the doctor, emailed, text'd, banished Bindy to Mordor, and made fun of Wolverines eyebrows.

What are you liste​ning to? The crikets outside / Patrick saving the world. Oh and Miley Cyrus is providing the soundtrack to that.

Who/What does it remin​d you of? Sleeping outside / War of the Worlds.

What did you do last night​?​ Gave a blessing, made cookies, watched the office / layed in bed and cuddled while watching Friends, made dinner, read a little.

What are you doing​ later​?​ Thats a toughie... eating more candy grahams / taking a shower and going to bed. SOOOOOO SLEEPY!!

Do you like/​love someo​ne?​ yes / Heck yes!

What would​ you chang​e about​ your life right​ now? I wish i had God of War 3 OR had an Automatic transmission car / Bindys potty training skills.

Last awkwa​rd momen​t?​​​​​​ Talking to a nudist. A 57 year old Jewish Nudist. / unknown

Do you know anyon​e who has been arres​ted?​​​​​​​ Yes / Sadly yes...

If you look strai​ght ahead​ past your compu​ter scree​n,​​​​​​ what do you see? Stairs / ditto

Where​ did you get the shirt​ you are weari​ng?​​​​ My wife bought it for me (p.s i bought it at Goodwill) / Kohls

What song do you want playe​d at your weddi​ng? Already had it / Been there, done that.

"Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head"

Yesterday Patrick and I decided that we were going to go on a date. After about 6 minutes with "Mr. Movie phone" I decided I wasn't really feeling like going to a movie, but that going out to dinner sounded nice. So then we decided we were going to go out for a celebration dinner. I'm still not sure what we were celebrating. Being alive? Not having a negative bank account balance? The fact I went 24 hours without taking anything for pain? We didn't really come up with anything solid, but because it was a celebration dinner we went all fancy and went to...

And here is what we learned-

1. We're not old! Everyone else who goes to Red Lobster is old, but not us!

2. We know nothing about fish. We don't know how to cook it, pronounce it, sometimes eat it. Our fish knowledge does not expand much beyond Red Fish Blue Fish 1 Fish 2 Fish.

3. When the wait staff at Red Lobster is "in training", they must shadow another waiter. The end result is something that resembles a lost puppy. I kinda wish we'd had our laser pointer to distract the lost puppy.

4. The following phrase is vital "The sun is shining, but the ice is slippery." Oh man I hope I got that right....

5. Lobster does not taste what lobster should taste like. It tastes dirty. You know, kinda like its a sea creature that has been frolicking in the sand in saltwater claw in claw with its lobster mate.

6. We like trying new things, but like having shrimp to fall back on when the new things fail us.

7. I love Patrick more than anything or anyone. He takes such good care of me.

"What I should be seeing that I'm not seeing..."

Yesterday was my 1st doctors appointment.
Yesterday we found out that our babys heart was no longer beating.


We went into a room for the ultrasound, which was really exciting. I laid there and looked at the screen and saw that there really was a tiny baby inside of me! It had a big head, tiny arms and tiny legs. It looked perfect.
And then Dr. Mikel said "what i should be seeing that im not seeing....is a heartbeat".
He sent me for a 2nd opinion ultrasound this morning that confirmed his findings. That was the last time I'll ever see our baby.
Tomorrow im going in for an outpatient surgery where they will suction everything out of me, and it shouldnt take longer than 10 minutes. 10 minutes and it will be like the past 10 weeks never happened.
Being the good doctor that he is the first thing Dr. Mikel said to me is this is not your fault. You didnt do anything wrong. Sometimes things dont work like they are suppose to.

You just never think these things will happen to you.
Are we ok? No. How could we be? Not yet at least.

The only cure for something like this is to have a baby. So we'll try again.
But its going to take a long time before I stop thinking things like "what would our babys laugh have sounded like?" and things like "what could I have done different?"

Im heartbroken.

I miss our baby.