38 weeks

Week 38 has already come and gone as now I am 39 weeks! Week 38 was rough only due to a nasty chest cold. I woke up Monday the 12th with a lot of chest congestion accompanied by a mild fever that came and went for a few days. Thankfully the fever is gone, but I'm still working on getting this bug out of my system. Unfortunately Jeff has aquired the cold as well, but it seems to be taking a milder course. Being sick is no fun!! However, after a week of intense coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose I think my abdominal muscles may be better conditioned to help get this baby out! :) I just hope both Jeff and I have our strength back and can breathe normally by the time the baby comes.

I can't believe the baby is due in 6 days! We'll find out this week if he is as anxious to meet us as we are him, if his clock runs right on time, or if he needs a little coaxing to join our family....

Jeff's 26th Birthday

It has been nearly a month since Jeff celebrated his 26th birthday and I am just now getting around to posting about it! I decided to try and make this birthday extra special for Jeff because he would be turning 26 on the 26th. With help from many family members I put together 26 gifts for him to open throughout the day. I thoroughly enjoyed planning Jeff's birthday and know that he had fun opening gifts all day long!

34 weeks

I can't believe it's already been 4 weeks since the last picture was taken. I feel like I have grown a lot in the last 4 weeks - I don't know if I can keep stretching for another 6! :) Jeff and I went to the Dr. earlier this week and everything is continuing to go great with both the baby and I. We have an appointment again in 2 weeks and then every week after that until this little guy makes his grand entry.

Belly Bump Update - 30 weeks

It is about time for a prego belly update. This picture was taken just over a week ago when I was 30 weeks. I am now '31 weeks' which means I have about 9 weeks to go assuming the baby comes on or near his due date (October 24th).

Lately I've had trouble sleeping at night because I just can't get comfortable - however, I slept like a ROCK last night! It was wonderful. My back muscles have a subtle ache to them all day but have only really been a bother to me a few times. Jeff is great about helping me feel as comfortable as he can and treats me to regular back massages. I have had a few Braxton Hicks contractions so far which I think are pretty cool... I know you're all saying the true labor contractions I'll be having in a couple months won't be so 'cool' and I understand that. But, while these ones are pain-free, I'll continue to marvel at the occasional tightening and hardening of my entire abdomen to a flesh-covered rock.

Other than the minor aches and getting a bit more uncomfortable, this pregnancy has continued to be uneventful and has run smoother than I could have asked for.

Jeff and I are getting more and more excited to meet this little guy as his arrival draws nearer. I try to imagine this little person that kicks my insides around all day sleeping/crying/pooping (you name it) in our newly assemled crib, stroller, and carseat - but it is still so surreal. There is no rush to get him here - he still needs to cook for a while... but we are sure excited!

All Not Quiet on the Western Slope

My internship at McGladrey ended a couple weeks ago, and after getting all moved in to our new apartment (a post on that to come), Amy and I were definitely ready for a little weekend getaway. We headed out to the Western Slope, over Grand Mesa with the Loucks bunch. We all stayed at the beautiful Cedaredge house, then trekked over to Montrose and Ridgway State Park for the Woodis Family Reunion. I enjoyed some good food, good company, and several rounds of bocce before cooling off at the swim beach. The first pictures are from Friday at Uncle Steve's house, where we had a real-life Pig Roast... a few from the party/sing-along at Ridgway, then finally some views around the Cedaredge estate. Bear in mind, however, that my pictures are less than representative of the entire fun weekend. I think we'll go ahead and mark our calendar for the next reunion in five years. Florida anybody??

SNE Conference in New Orleans

During my last year at BYU I had the privilege of doing research with two of my nutrition professors. We studied College Students’ attitudes and perceptions towards cooking and pulled data from a cooking assignment they were required to do outside of class. Each of us took a different aspect of the assignment and created our own abstracts to submit to the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE). Each of our abstracts were accepted and we spent the last couple months creating posters to present in New Orleans during the conference. The Conference went from July 11th-15th. I got to attend several classes, listen to several keynote speakers, attend a workshop, and present my own research. It was interesting to hear what other professionals are doing around the country and throughout the world. I learned and re-learned a lot of interesting and useful information.

One of my professors lived in New Orleans for two years while she got her masters. This was very convenient because she could show us around town without getting lost or ending up in areas we didn’t want to be…

New Orleans is always a party - Mardi Gras float full of people going down the street in the middle of the day and it's not even Mardi Gras!

Downtown New Orleans is full of colorful, intricate French and Spanish architecture. The not-quite-so-colorful building was New Orleans' first "skyscraper" reaching four stories into the sky!

Riding the trolley car with Shannon and the others to get some dinner in Uptown New Orleans. The hot, sticky humidity does wonders to your skin, clothes, and hair.

Dr. Brown, Me, Dr. Richards, and Shannon in front of an Andrew Jackson Memorial and Catholic Cathedral.

Experiencing the heat, humidity, and smell of the city is enough for me not to get excited about planning another trip there any time soon… however, hearing jazz on every corner was a special treat.

All in all I am very grateful to have had this experience and to have gone through the tedious process of doing research to get there. I owe a BIG THANKS to BYU for allotting the funds for me to travel and spend five days 'continuing my education' and providing me the experience of presenting my own research to others from around the world!!

Intern Capstone Conference

Near the midpoint of my internship at end of June, the firm flew all the interns out to Chicago for a Capstone Conference at the Q Center in St. Charles, an hour or so west of the city. We listened to a lot of guest motivational speakers ("You are the future!") and broke up into teams for a video/podcast/presentation contest. My team did a video, and while the results were fairly unimpressive, I think I did a pretty good job editing the thing given the time constraints. My more creative ideas fell on deaf ears (the number of Anchorman and Beer Pong references between all the videos was an ironic and nauseating commentary on our generation), but it was a fun process overall. The theme of the conference was "Map Your Future" and the objective, I guess, was to point us in the right direction as we start our careers, ideally with McGladrey. I saw the Sears Tower and Wrigley Field from the plane, but that's the closest I got... hope to make it out to Chicago again someday.

Think of each of these pictures as Where's Waldo? and then try to find me in each one. Here's a clue for you: Y the long cranium?