Surprise Date Night !!!

Well today is a leap year, February 29th, so I wanted to post. Plus this was just too special to post in my regular weekly posts.

So on Monday after work, as I was coming to the door there was a note on which said, "Please knock Penny." I then knocked and Steve opened the door wearing his suit and tie. He then gave me a hug and kiss, took my bag and coat, then let me use the restroom (that time of day of course after a train ride). As I came back out in the living room Steve seated me then poured us some sparkling cider. He then picked up the ring box, and kneeled by my chair and basically poured his heart out to me. ;) He let me know that he's really excited for us to be parents and that he wants me to be able to wear my wedding ring (my fingers are getting a little chubby right now and my wedding rings don't fit). He said he wanted me to have a ring to wear that meant something to us both and wasn't just a cheap $20 ring from Wal-Mart that would make my finger turn green. He then opened the box and showed me my new ring he got me, a size bigger than my regular wedding ring. It was perfect! He said he wanted diamonds on it because it looks more like a wedding ring, so no one will get any ideas ;)

Steve pouring us sparkling cider

The cute box it came in

My new wedding band to wear w/ 10 diamonds

We then ate our salad, then had steak and potatoes that Steve made. It was a yummy dinner! For dessert we had mint cookie ice cream and watched a little TV. It was a PERFECT date night. Thanks honey; you're the best! Thanks Carrie for helping him pick it out as well.

Side note......here is my belly at 13 weeks. We go to the DR in the morning for my 14 week appointment, then next time we'll find out what we're having......yeah can't wait! ;)

Valentine's Day and more

I can't believe February is almost over, but at the same time I'm kinda glad. I'll be starting my 2nd trimester this week, so I'm hoping that the sickness will stop soon. I still get sick in the morning and here and there in the evening, but my energy is better. I've had more energy to cook and clean and do more "normal" things per say. Steve has been a BIG help with the cooking, cleaning and whatnot. Thanks honey; you're the best!

Besides the sickness, I did finish my online class this past week, yeah!!! With this class done I only have ONE more to finish my MBA. I'm getting pretty excited to get done. I have to admit I'll be happy to be done w/ homework, considering I've been working on my degree for 3 years now (right after we got married). Only 8 weeks left, so by the end of April I'll be done. To celebrate my graduation, in between school semesters for Steve, and for our last vacation before the baby comes, we booked a vacation to Hawaii in the beginning of May!!! We're going to go to Oahu first, then Kauai. We're pretty excited to go!

On Valentine's Day Steve surprised me w/ balloons in the Jeep (at the trax station where I leave it while I take the train to work). He also had written cute messages on the windows. At the bottom of the balloons he had a new potato masher (since our last one broke and we needed it the night before), and some peppermint gum (it helps w/ the morning sickness). Then when I got home he had another message on the mirror and some pretty flowers. The surprise made my day!!! Steve was headed home from school so he picked up some strawberries and Nutella and I made some crepes for us; they were yummy ;)

The cute balloons Steve got me

The balloons, gum and potato masher ;)

Pretty flowers

Cute messages on the Jeep

It was nice to have the 20th off, thankfully I finished my project for class and was able to relax a little. It was also good I got it done because I had a lot of Relief Society things to get done this week, meetings and whatnot. Steve has been busy with school as well. His knee is doing better and he doesn't have to wear his brace at all now. He's been going fly fishing pretty much every Saturday but has thoroughly been enjoying it.

This past Friday Rose picked me up at work so I could ride w/ her to drop the girls off in Draper. After dropping them off we went back to our place, got Steve, then went to Applebee's for dinner. We then came back to our place and hung out. It was good to see her.

Saturday Steve went fishing while I slept in a little then did laundry and cleaned. When he got back we went to the Stake Center to help can and bag things for our branch. President Thorup had the idea to put granola bars in dry pack bags so we can add them to our "grab and go" kits. We were there from 1:30-4pm, thankfully we got done with everything by then. When we got home, I made some bread and stroganoff and worked on our taxes. Afterwards we went up to Dave and Joann's and watched a movie together called "Courageous." It was actually really good. Everyone should see it. Looks like there is another one made by the same people called "Fireproof" so we'll have to watch that one too soon ;)

Well, I hope all is well for everyone. Keep us posted. We go to the Dr again this week on Thursday, then we should be scheduled just before Easter to find out the gender of our baby. We're getting pretty excited to find out too! Have a great week, love ya! ;)

DR Visits and Birthday Fun......

On Thursday, February 2nd we went to the OBGYN for my 1st appointment at 10 weeks. We got to hear the heartbeat and talked to the DR on some things to expect and whatnot. It was technically our first time meeting him since we had been seeing the PA before. The nurse calculated my due date to be September 1st, but after i was thinking about it, I wonder if she calculated in that this year is a leap year. Not that it makes a big deal and I know for your first you usually go over anyway, but according to my calculations it should be August 31st. Regardless, we both really liked the DR. He had some emergencies come up and also a couple ladies go into labor and were ready to deliver, so he was a little more brief w/ us than he said he normally is. Next time he said he'll go over some more things. One thing he did say was that he doesn't want me to go out of town the last month (so all of August), so that means I won't be able to go to my 10 yr HS reunion or our family reunion, both in August. Oh well, I'm sure I probably won't be feeling like going anywhere at that time anyway. I also got my blood drawn, which the phlebotomist did an EXCELLENT job; I couldn't even feel it, thankfully!

On Friday, February 3rd at about 4pm at work I just got back from a quick break then strange things started to happen. I started feeling really dizzy, I couldn't see very well, my hands went numb, and I wasn't able to speak very well. I'm pretty sure that my last calls on Friday afternoon from 4-5pm probably don't make much sense either since I couldn't see my computer and my brain wasn't working very well. I endured and got through the last hour of work but I text Steve to come get me instead of taking the train because I didn't feel I could walk over to the train. Though I was really dizzy and lightheaded, I somehow made my way down the stairs and into the car. Steve immediately drove me to the emergency room after getting instructions from our DR to do so. They thought I was having a stroke so they immediately took me back to a room. Steve called Dave who came down a quick as he could and gave me a blessing as well. They got things under control per say and did a million tests and MRI and still didn't find anything. The ER DR was communicating with my OBGYN DR who just happened to be on call at Alta View Hospital (that's where he normally has his patients deliver). They were both pretty confused as to what happened but my OBGYN wanted to see me on Monday. We were there from about 6-10pm. After we got home I pretty much just went right to bed.

The next day I slept in and felt like I was been doing better. We took it pretty easy that Saturday, then had Stake Conference that Sunday. I also had a quick meeting afterwards but then we took it easy again. Since they still want me to come back in Monday morning to do more tests I told my boss and I wasn't sure what time I'd be in on Monday since we weren't sure what all they were going to do. Well, when we called the DR that morning though, he apparently wasn't it. We came to find out later that our OBGYN went to Hawaii. I guess he tends to forget when he's supposed to go on vacation until the night before :) Well we talked to the PA, who we've seen before, and she suggested we come in the next day for an ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok. So, I went in to work that afternoon, then took Tuesday morning off again to get the ultrasound. Thankfully everything looked perfect, so that put our minds at ease.

Baby McGrath, 10 weeks (head on the right w/ arm up waving) ;)

That day after I had gotten back to work I got a call from a nurse at my OBGYN. She let me know that my blood type is O negative (which I already knew), but apparently since I'm negative and Steve is positive they suggest that I get Rhogam shots at about 28 weeks and around delivery to help. So I will probably get to have more shots, lucky me.... not! ;) Here is some more info on it:

http://americanpregnancy.org/prenataltesting/rhfactor.html


That night I actually was feeling pretty good so I made us some potato bacon soup w/ carrots. Afterwards I wanted to wash up the dishes so I asked Steve to turn the hot water on on the faucet (our faucet was leaking the night before so Steve just turned off the hot water since that was the side that was leaking). Well, when I got done I told him he could turn it off again. As he was turning it off I went to bedroom to get something and all of a sudden I hear him screaming. As I come out I see the left side of the kitchen faucet was exploding w/ water. Apparently it had popped off and was now gushing w/ water. I took over holding it down to prevent it from spraying completely everywhere while Steve went to the utility closet to turn the water off completely. Well, he finally got it off, then we decided that we had better replace the whole faucet. Thankfully Dave was willing to come over on short notice and helped Steve replace the kitchen faucet and the valves too since they were just as cheaply made as the faucet. Thanks for helping us on short notice Dave; you're a lifesaver!

Yeah for a new faucet!

Wednesday I had some RS visits, and then did some homework. Thursday we had a RS meeting as well. Joann was going to watch Melanie in a RS program that night as well, so we invited Dave over for dinner. Steve made some spaghetti and meatballs which was really good. Steve and Dave then went and got movie tickets for us for the next day while I was at the RS meeting. When I got back I made some cookies, which we enjoyed w/ Dave, then he headed home.

Friday the 10th I took the day off for my 28th birthday. We slept in a little, then I had a chiropractor appointment. As with every morning, I still haven't been feeling very well so I've been taking Zofran every morning to help w/ the nausea. Thankfully it hasn't been quite as bad in the evening lately though. Last week I was REALLY tired in the evening though and went to bed a couple times early. It sure does make it hard to get my homework done when I can't stay awake at night. I've had a little more energy this week though, so hopefully that's a sign that it's almost over (the morning sickness that is).

Harry Potter movies (all in one), popcorn, dried pears, and goodies from mom and dad. I just took my Zofran and am trying to drink the breakfast drink (not feeling too well sorry).

Steve sent me this cute text on my birthday while waiting at chiropractors :)

After the chiropractor appointment we came back and I tried to work on homework for a bit while Steve tied some flies. We then went to a movie called, "The Vow" with Dave and Joann. I thought it was really good. We then went up to Red Robin for dinner. LuDean, Diane, Rob, Dave, Joann, Jeff, Kim, Isaac, Cameron, Alexa, Stacie, Phil, and London joined us there to celebrate. It was fun to get together. The waiter also brought out a slice of ice cream cake and they all sang to me. Thanks everyone who came, for the cards, texts, and phone calls, ; it meant a lot to me and made my day VERY special. ;)

Steve w/ his cute little pink fly he just tied

Saturday I had the WorldWide Leadership Training meeting at 9am at our Stake Center. It was really good. Anyone can view it online now if you want as well. They focused a lot on what our purpose is, which is to bring others to Christ and that families are very essential to purpose and the purpose of the Church. While I was gone, Steve took the opportunity to go fishing w/ his dad and Rob. Afterwards I went and did more homework during the afternoon, then that night Steve and I just took it easy.

Steve fishing and loving it!

This morning I had PEC at 7:30am, church, a VT training meeting that I was in charge of, then my RS Presidency meeting, all the while it's been snowing here. I then hurried home, got a quick bite to eat, then went w/ Rose to pick up the girls from Jared. We met him in Draper at Harmon's and just helped them switch vehicles, then she dropped me back off and she went home w/ the girls. Steve and I are now going to work on a 1000 piece 3D castle puzzle we found at Savers for 99 cents, yeah!

I've got to finish my final project, or start it and finish it I should say, and start and finish my final presentation. Thankfully I've at least been able to keep up w/ my schoolwork thus far even though I have been struggling not feeling well and being so exhausted. I'll be done w/ this class by next week, then one more class of 8 weeks and I'll be ALL done w/my MBA, just in time to enjoy the summer and get ready for baby ;)

Well I hope all is well. Keep us posted. Have a great week, love ya lots! ;)