33

i can't believe another week has flown by.

I feel like this whole pregnancy has gone by so fast,

and it has finally started to slow down this week.

this week has probably been the longest.

also, the most achey, painful sleep-deprived, emotional, and hardest.

Amelia has grown so much, I can feel her in three places at once now.

and she throws crazy fits and tantrums

jeremy bends down right to my tummy and sternly says, "be nice to your mother!"

sometimes she listens,

but most of the time she just kicks harder.

and jeremy cracks up.

really? this is how we are disciplining our children?

everyone already knows that baby girl has him wrapped around her finger.

I also had a few contractions this week.

they're pretty rough.

I laughed at myself for considering childbirth without pain medication.

still, I'm sticking to my plan.

laugh all you want!!

stretch marks also showed up this week.

they're at the bottom of my belly, and also at the top of my thighs.

I was a little devastated

but my friend miriam said,

"mommy badges of honor is what they are! wear them proudly, only we get this privledge!"

very true.

and my sweet baby has been so healthy and growing so perfectly,

i would take stretch marks any day for that.

i've also been really grateful for the position i'm in to be able to support her.

not only are jeremy and i in a safe place financially,

we just bought our home,

we live in a safe neighborhood

i'm one year from graduating,

we have such a great support system in our family and friends.

and we're married and in love.

we are so lucky to have all of these things so we can give the very best to her.

i feel so blessed that I don't feel the I have to compromise the best for her because we weren't ready.

and i am also so thankful that we have had 9 months to get ready for her. :)

I know the next 7 weeks will fly by fast.

everyone has also told me the last weeks are the hardest.

I'm trying to stay positive and focus on how much I love feeling her move.

even though we are all so excited for her to get here,

I'm sure part of me will miss it so badly after I give birth.

until then,

i'm living for her next kick.

showered by the sweetest future nurses

Last weekend, the girls from nursing school threw me the cutest shower.

Jessica and Melissa have been planning this since pretty much the first week of semester!

It was so sweet and such a perfect conclusion to our second semester.

the food was amazing!

it was a ton of sugar, but so tasty.

we always tease these girls, saying they should be in the relief society presidency

because of all their amazing talents

(cooking, baking, party planning, etc.)

sweet little alicia made the fruit pizza on the right -- perfect, right?

here are a couple of gifts.

I tried really hard to not make weird faces for these pictures,

but you can only do so much when you're pregnant.

{swaddle me wrap; cute outfit; another cute outfit}

we played "guess the price" on baby items,

and I was really embarrassed with my score (5).

Saray got the high score of 9/10!

the girls packed up the items in a cute basket for me to take home,

and I was so excited for all the useful and sweet things!

{swaddle me blanket, outlet plugs, baby wipes, nursing items ;), baby wash, binkies, wash clothes, etc. etc. etc.}

Jessica's cute grandma also made us a sweet pink blanket!

these girls showered us with cute outfits, our first pack of diapers, fingernail clippers & gloves so she doesn't scratch herself, nighties, sunglasses, easy sqeezy feeder, etc. etc. etc.!!!

I always tell everyone this,

but I am so grateful I can truly call these girls some of my closest friends.

I don't know how I would survive nursing school without their support and enthusiam!

good thing we're all baby crazy, huh?

and academically speaking too!

I was so anxious and such a mess my first semester and these girls carried me through.

I'm so glad I get to share a career with these wonderful, loving, classy, intelligent ladies

and I'm so blessed to be loved by all of them.

I'm pretty lucky, what can I say?

{from left to right: Alicia, Miriam, Mikyla, me, Melissa, Jessica, Saray; row 2: Christie & Becca}

{thanks to Jerley, Nicole & Sara too!}

xoxo.

32

and a half.

yup, today is the last day I have to wear these scrubs until september. and then i will have a 3 month old!

these few days, i've just been a little crazy.

like the other day, I actually slept the entire night, without waking up to readjust, waking up to pee, waking up from cramping and not being able to breathe. I woke up and, for a second, thought maybe I had dreamt this entire pregnancy! and then i sat up and felt how heavy my front was and remembered. and smiled, because i do love being pregnant and carrying my sweet daughter around.

and then last night, i was exhausted, and i woke up every hour, and had such a hard time falling asleep. i hurt, i cramped, i cried, my nose got stuffy, my mouth was super dry, i couldn't breathe, etc. I probably slept for a total of 3 hours before getting up at 7 am to study for finals.

 

 

or like how the roles were switched on sunday morning, and jeremy was exhausted and i was wide awake. I bellowed the star spangled banner in attempt to wake him up (...may have forgotten a few words...). I was interrupted by his alarm, which he took his chance to mumble "give me ten more minutes" and rolled over away from me. "but you didn't even let me finish singing to you!!!" I protested. needless to say, i was a little huffy.

or when I was driving (i have no idea why?) and jeremy says, "babe, 50 is just the recommended speed limit."
I get a little defensive and say: "i'm already going 10 over!"
"well I usually go 70 around here"
silence
finally, i snapped, "well I don't remind you the speed limit and try to change your driving habits, so leave me alone!"
jeremy has taken back the driving role lately.


regardless, things are going great with amelia. she likes to remind me that she is in charge, like i could ever forget. we had our first every 2 week visit- I somehow didn't gain any weight, but my uterus is exactly 32 cm. perfect.
still can't wait for june 16th.
but i may or may not have a plan for the second she turns 37 weeks. :)


xoxo.

thankful

ever been so happy that everything makes you excited?
so happy that your long long day doesn't even seem long anymore?

we did our clinical lottery for next semester today.

I got my first choice for both rotations:
maternity (out of peds and geriatrics)
and public health (out of oncology and psych).

I have stressing about this all semester.
when they called my name,
I literally got teary-eyed.

I am so so thankful and happy and relieved and grateful.

done for a season

oh my. heck.

I never thought this day would come.

I'm so exhausted, my excitement may be a little diminished.

today was my last day of clinicals

(for the semester).

I'm done until next september.

I'm telling you waking up at 4:30 just completely DRAINS your body.

my patient actually went into the OR for surgery today

(hence my blue scrubs and giant vest to protect amelia ray from the live fluroscopy)

maybe a little immature for me to relate everything I saw in there to what I see in grey's anatomy

but yes, of course I wondered if they were all secretly having affairs with one another.

the OR is complete with white walls, huge bright bright lights, and of course ia frEEEEzing cold.

I'm a little surprised as to how well I have adapted to seeing medical procedures.

seeing cuts through the camera

and a ton of blood

and the suction taking care of all of it,

and moving through different pleuras

and removing bones,

etc, etc, etc.

holy gageebizes!

pretty sure it got me excited to be a surgeon

(since how, you know, christina yang is my idol, and also my nickname in clinicals)

one thing the last couple of days did confirm though:

being a surgeon would be cool for a couple of days...

but being a nurse is my dream.

as challenging and long and stressful and hard this semester has been,

clinicals, sim labs, and didactic courses have confirmed my love for nursing.

and really, it's not that bad. I'm just exhausted all the time.

I just love that I can be proud of what I'm doing.

we all went out to eat afterwards in celebration.

VA2- still the cutest little family from last semester

(minus christie & alicia, and plus jason)

afterwards we were walking to the trax station,

when all of a sudden Dan screams out "AH! my bus!"

and literally bolts it down the hill and across the street,

leaving Miriam and Diana and I to laugh our guts out.

I never wanted to forget this hilarious moment,

even though the girls said no one else would get it,

it was kinda a "you had to be there" sorta thing.

Isi called a while later, and I tried telling him the story through my laughing gasps,

Isi says, "wait, so he fell?"

no, but that would have been even more hilarious

Isi: "I don't get it. Why is this so funny?"

31

it's pretty awesome that I get at least one stranger everyday asking me when I'm due.

still a little taken aback though,

just the concept that I'm big enough for everyone to "know for sure"

i always want to psych people out and say, "no, i'm not pregnant... do i look like i'm pregnant?"

just because I think that would be hilarious to see their reaction, ya know?

but I'm always far to excited/flushing with pride/happy that someone asked to remember.

one of these days,

I'm going to mortify some poor soul. :)

i'm loving the attention, and i love feeling her grow;

good comes with bad though.

i'm pretty sensitive to some comments, even though i try to laugh them off.

a nurse at my work said to me,

"you're looking pretty edematous... in your face, and in your hands"

I just gawked at him.

in my head: I'm in nursing school, I know what you really mean!!!!!

(edematous= swelling)

wth?

who says that?

and then poor jeremy has to stand by and let me buy another outfit to make myself feel better.

don't worry, I'm a bargain shopper :)

the best part of 31 weeks is that Jeremy can FINALLY feel everything I'm feeling

every kick, every roll, every push

he actually thinks, "wow, she's moving a lot lately."

um no.

she's just big enough for you to actually feel now.

she's been pretty active from the very beginning. :)

stubborn, with attitude.

sleep: what sleep?

I haven't slept the whole night for a while

it's fine, I take naps

or zone out in phases of exhaustion during the day.

sometimes you can catch me when i'm giggly,

plenty of other times, i'm pretty grouchy.

my house is a giant mess.

part from lack of habitual cleaning,

part from a million half-started crafts I can't complete until school is over,

part from our frantic remodeling before the baby comes.

(ps. master bedroom is now a beautifully painted green :D )

yes, with a capital D smiley face :D

another great thing about 31 weeks

is that we have another doc. appointment this friday!

remember how I mentioned we're down to every two weeks?

we have 3 of these,

and then we're down to every weeks-

only 4 of those!

and that's if our babe doesn't come early!!

isn't that amazing?

ps. diabetes screening= negative

iron test results= not so bright.

but we'll survive. :)

pps. remember how I totally lost nursing school SAC elections last semester

and was totally disappointed,

but pretended I didn't care all that much?

yeah, meet the new VP for 2012-2013.

thaaaaaaaat's right.

me.

:D

showered by the sweetest family

i always talk about what a lucky girl i am for landing my amazing jeremy for a husband.
i don't think i talk about how blessed i am to marry into the family i did as often, though.

they are the best! gigantic, loving, generous, gracious, wonderful, supportive family. ever.

this past saturday, the bodtchers planned the prettiest shower for me and my amelia. and down to every tiny detail, it was beautiful. thank you julie for putting it together and loving me (and amelia) so much; and thank you to everyone who helped make the shower so amazing.

here are a few adorable pictures:

pictures of jeremy and i as babies and toddlers everywhere,

just so everyone could imagine what amelia will look like.

haha aunt melissa jane found this idea on pinterest

ridiculously adorable.

and jeremy may or may not have taken a party favor and saved the picture in his car.

 doesn't that just crack you up?

the beautiful looking and delicious brunch.

the picture is missing the quiches (which I pretty much scarfed down by myself)!

willow tree (my favorites!) from sweet anna

cutest outfit from aunt collette!

cute outfit we got in newborn and 0-3 months so amelia will be able to grow into them. :)

from the sweet immediate aunts and uncles:

a 2 in 1 bouncer/swing!

a high chair from the bodtcher side!

we also received tons and tons more because we were so loved!

(I just didn't put all the pictures up of my cooing face)

adorable clothes from a ton of aunts,

aunt cheryl made an adorable ruffle skirt and looked everywhere to find a matching top,

a set of dr. seuss books from aunt shauna!!

great-grandma jackson bought amelia her first barbie,

my mom got a million onesies, adorable bigger clothes, binkies, and red pocket money

a baby bjorn carrier from the jackson side,

darlingest books and hair pieces from grandma julie,

etc. etc. etc.

we are so blessed!

all our loving support.

see what i mean?

we are spoiled spoiled girls!

my two moms.

cutest picture ever right?

my great examples of motherhood :)

cute picture with baby kinlee!

she was born a few weeks after jeremy and i were married!

look how big she is!!!

CHEESE!

thank you to everyone who came to love us.

i am so blessed to be able to call you family,

and so is my daughter.

we love you. :)

xo

30

dear amelia ray bodtcher,

30 weeks means you're only 10 weeks away from being in my arms.

you are already spoiled

by everyone

and I love feeling your summersaults inside me.

at our last doctor's appointment

my uterus was 30 cm, perfect for you how far along we are!

we also took the diaBETES test!

that orange drink that made us sick?

yeah it's not good stuff.

I did eat 3 cookies right before though...

we might be in trouble if our blood test comes back positive.

haha!!

(I know, I'm already the psycho mom that you'll have to babysit)

things are going great out here.

we've only got 2.5 weeks of class and 3 finals left.

and then it's all YOU time.

I'm so excited to nest your nursery!

I love you a million times

and we all can't wait for you to get here.

truly celebrating Easter

How did Jesus Christ die?
What happened to Jesus on the third day after he died?
Where do our spirits go after we die?
What does resurrection mean?
How did the Nephites (who lived in America) know that Jesus was resurrected?
What did Jesus want Nephites to touch the prints of nails in his hands and feet?
What will our bodies be like when we are resurrected?
Why does Heavenly Father want us to have both the Bible and the Book of Mormon?


of course this is going to be a religous post, it's Easter Sunday!!
if you don't know the answer to any of the questions above, feel free to ask the 8 year olds I teach in primary! they've got it down! or, you can email me and ask for a scripture reference :)

today was a wonderful success with my children. I'm pretty sure many teachers wonder if they are actually connecting with their teachees, and if they are actually making a difference in their lives. I've been kind of struggling the last 2.5 months, just praying that I will somehow be able to get through to these sweet angels. today was the first (yes, first!) time I felt like my lesson stuck, like they comprehended more than just that I brought them a treat, like they really understood the resurrection of our savior. ah!

on another note, in celebration of Easter, Jeremy and I both packed a basket for one another. He's never forgotten an Easter basket for me, but this was the first time I packed one for him. :)

sweet thing: we both had a children's books tucked in each other's basket, guess we're stocking up for a baby?

may you have a wonderful Easter, and may you never forget the true reason why we celebrate.

xo.

both end in trouble and start with a grin.

fell in love with a new song today.
no idea what its about.
makes my heart ache a little,
and makes my soul want to dance again.

being stubborn

true love= waking up in the morning, just happy.
nothing special, nothing exciting going on
just happy to see each other.

we made it up from dreamland, still in each other's arms
that's what his eyes tell me.

true love is bickering about hilarious things and loving each other's stubborn personalities.
(ie. finally asking the home depot salesman where a peephole is, after walking around the store 3 times)
true love is deciding to repaint the molding in your entire house white because your wife convinced you to.
true love is coming home from work to a spotless kitchen and family room, with 3 loads of laundry done (yeah, I got to do that on saturday).
true love is telling your pregnant wife that the baby inside of her is resting her feet on her lungs, getting a nice massage, and that's why she can't breathe at night.
true love is admitting your fears.


and isn't it wonderful that I get to tell you what I share with my husband?
true love is also agreeing to compromise on the journey.
it's not always so easy between the two most stubborn people born to earth.

and maybe that's why we're still so in love.
we won't give up.

 us, as toddlers. Jeremy already as relaxed as can be, and me already as high-strung as possible.
don't you think we would have been great friends?
me, bossing him around? :)