Thought of the Day: Jolly Ranchers

So, lately I have been a BIG FAN of candy. It is probably the only thing I really have "craved". And it's not so much the chocolate kind... it's the sweet tarts, laffy taffy, gobstoppers, and jolly ranchers.

Jolly Ranchers tend to be the "free" candy available at my work (meaning they are in all the offices that have candy dishes). So I always steal a few and stick them in my pocket and suck on them during my shift. A nice little sugar rush. And they must have a massive stock of them hiding some where, because some of them have that weird, not so fresh, softer outside that eventually gets hard as you suck on it. I haven't died yet so they probably aren't toxic... just a little old.

Well the other day as I was picking through the candy dish for a watermelon, I realized there were a lot of 2 flavors.... GRAPE and BLUE RASPBERRY. That lead me think of how sad I was when they discontinued the all time best flavor in the world... THE LEMON JOLLY RANCHER.

I know what you are thinking... ew. It was usually lemon's left at the bottom of the candy dish. (Probably why the flavor was discontinued) But that was like my dream come true! I was the one that took all the lemons, because nobody wanted them. Why couldn't they have discontinued grape? It was always sort of the arm pit of the Jolly Ranchers to me. Plus who is a fan of having your mouth turn all purple.

Which led me to think of the OTHER flavor... BLUE RASPBERRY. What exactly is a blue raspberry anyway? Are there such things as blue raspberries? I understand that they probably didn't want to make it red in case some idiot got confused with cherry and watermelon, but why BLUE!! It stains your mouth, tongue, and teeth blue...which isn't exactly attractive when you are taking care of somebody's baby. So I can understand why they are avoided.

Anyway, I miss the Lemon Jolly Rancher. So tart, yet so sweet, and lemony refreshing. If only they other ones came close...

The Only Reason...

Probably the only reason I will go see New Moon:
Nothing wrong with a little underage eye candy right?

Go Team Jacob!

Spoiled Already.

So... my little baby boy is already spoiled.

He is the first Grandchild on my side, and the 2nd on Chris's side. My sister-in-law already spoils our nephew a ton. So she got a jump start with our little guy! When we found out we were having a boy we went to Chris's mom's house to tell her and there was a present already there...

These will be great for those middle of the night diaper changes. No unbuttoning and re-snapping required! (I am terrible with snaps for some reason... and buttons... forget about it!)

There was also this adorable Air Jordan onesie, hat, and booties set. So she sort of kicked off the baby stuff since I hadn't bought a thing yet!

The day after we found out I decided to go to the fabric store and get some flannel to make baby blankets. We have lots of adorable flannel blankets that people have donated at my work. I thought... I could do that. I have minimal sewing skills, but figured I could sew a straight line with my sewing machine. (I bought one a few years ago when I was motivated to sew my own scrubs, but got so frustrated and figured buying them was cheaper anyway.) So I went to the fabric store and found two adorable fabrics. One being:

This adorable golf print was my first gander at the sewing project. I read online how to make simple blankets and followed the instructions. It said to wash the material in the washing machine and then sew the blanket. So that is what I did.

Little did I know that I should have used a delicate cycle. My adorable golf print had lint balls all over it and the edges were all frayed. I was so depressed, but was still able to salvage it enough to make a blanket. It's the thought that counts right?

So the second time around I didn't wash the material first. So I hope it survives it's first washing... But here it is along with the ADORABLE onesie and booties that my little sister got for her first nephew!!

She said, "You got to indoctrinate them early". Ha ha ha ha :) Hope he ends up being a Utah fan! Go Utes!

He is going to be one spoiled little boy!

It's a....

So Chris and I finally got to have our 20 week ultrasound. It was so neat to see the detailed pictures they could get from an ultrasound. Not only did we get to find out the sex, we got to see his entire body anatomy.

I was relieved to find out that there are 4 chambers to the heart, 3 vessels in the umbilical cord, tummy's intact (no gastroschisis), no clubbing of feet, lip is intact, spine is intact, fingers and toes there, and he just looks like an overall healthy little boy! He is already measuring a week ahead, but maybe he is just tall since both his father and I have tall genes. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the ultrasound:

(Sorry son, to display this for everyone to see, but there is not doubt about it!)

(Hi little guy!)

(His feet that I have felt many times. Maybe he's gonna be a soccer player...)

(Waving to the camera!)

Half Way, 20 weeks, 140 days

So in honor of being half way through my pregnancy, I figured I would do the two things I do best on my blog.... Complain and update! So I thought of the best and worst things about being pregnant and decided to do another thing I love to do... Make a LIST!

So without further avail...

THE TOP 10 WORST things about being Pregnant

10. I can't eat Sushi. I miss it. I have even broke down and got a Tofu roll (I hate Tofu) so that I could have a "sushi" roll. It was delicious, but not quite the same. I also miss lunch meat, FISH, Shrimp, really anything that comes from the ocean/water, and caffeinated soda's (although I allow myself a little here and there... I still have to work night shifts!)

9. Charlie Horses. I know I probably need to stay better hydrated, but waking up to the intense cramping of your right leg is noooo fun! The last one had me limping for 2 days!

8. Needing to Urinate often. It can be inconvenient. Especially during the night. I am a nurse and have a "nurses bladder" (meaning I can usually hold it and don't have to go very often).

7. SLEEPING ISSUES. Like 4 hour shifts because of the needing to urinate frequently. Sometimes I can go right back to sleep, sometimes it takes me hours. Sometimes I feel like I could sleep for days, sometimes I can hardly sleep. Like I said.... ISSUES!

6. Scary things like bleeding episodes. Gratefully I only had the one (knocking on wood). I have truly been blessed not to be scared like that again!

5. Round Ligament Pain. Weird sudden sharp cramps you may get from standing up.

4. Sciatic Nerve Pain. It only is an issue when I sit for long periods of time, but it is no fun. I feel like a cripple sometimes!

3. BOWEL ISSUES. It started out with diarrhea the first 12 weeks, which my doctor thought was weird. But I do have some IBS. But then the Constipation hit. I would rather have diarrhea than the constipation! It is terrible!

2. The NAUSEA/VOMITING. It started out just feeling nauseated and not wanting to eat. Then the full blown all day and night nausea accompanied by sometimes violent vomiting. Now my gag reflex is so sensitive that I have vomited after simple things like, blowing my nose, brushing my teeth, and crying. I used to have a "I haven't vomited since (insert # of years)". That streak is long, long gone! Thank goodness I can take Zofran. I can't afford to lose any more weight!

1. The MIGRAINES. I have suffered migraines since I was little. I have always been a "headache" person suffering from them frequently. But these are full blown, nausea/vomiting, light sensitive, head pounding, misery hellish migraines. That's all you need, head pounding and throwing up combined into one! AND ALL I CAN TAKE IS TYLENOL!! Every time I get one I just wish I could die! But they do eventually go away... and it is all worth it right? (That's what I keep telling myself)

THE TOP 10 BEST things about being Pregnant

10. Telling People... especially Family and Friends! They are so excited!

9. Not having to clean the Kitty box. Already one of the worse chores. Now I just have a good excuse not to do it!

8. Not having to lift heavy items.

7. Getting sympathy/empathy from people when you are having a bad day, weird pain, back ache, nauseated. They are just more understanding.

6. Maternity Pants. Seriously... so comfortable! And I have a perfect excuse for why I need to wear sweat pants (or giving-up-on-life pants as Chris refers to them).

5. Shopping for cute baby things. I haven't really bought anything yet, but anyone who has ever seen a pair of baby shoes can understand! My heart melts when I see baby shoes! And I can get things like new carpet for the nursery (hopefully I still can!) I have wanted new carpet in the spare bedrooms since we moved in!

4. Being so excited that it is hard to think I have to wait 4 1/2 more months!

3. Having a wonderful supporting family who has said many prayers and put me on the temple prayer roll many times for some of the hardships I have had. They truly have helped me so much and I couldn't ask for better support!!

2. Feeling baby kick/punch/move. It is the weirdest, craziest, coolest feeling. Just letting you know that they are still in there!

1. Loving something so much that you have never met or even seen. Concerned about it's welfare. Abstaining from things you would otherwise enjoy. Enduring physical hardships. Just so that you can protect and provide the best environment for your little one. I am so excited to be a mom and love my little one so much!

Appendicitis Adventure

Crazy how one little word can bring so much chaos into your life.


It started last Tuesday when Chris text me to bring a mask home because he had the flu. I came home to find him in bed with sore throat, body aches, and a fever of 103. Alarmed because he looked so sick and I wanted to help, but wanted to stay as far away from him as possible at the same time. So I brought him some juice and medicine, than I set up camp in the spare bedroom so I wouldn't be exposed to his germs.


He was sick for the next few days in bed. I have been struggling with migraines as one of the many symptoms I have had during pregnancy, so I wasn't much help as I was recovering from one later that week.

Then Saturday evening Chris complained of abdominal pain. Great I thought. One of the hardest things to diagnose because the majority of your organs are in your abdomen so it could be a lot of things. He said it was in his upper abdomen, midline. I thought... Acid Reflux? He took some tums. Didn't help.


He finally broke down and took a lortab he had left over from his toothache. But, by about 10:30 he was really uncomfortable. So I said... Do we need to go to the Emergency Room? When he said yes, I knew we needed to go. He is the kind of person that avoids hospitals and doctors at all costs.


In the ER they worked him up more for the flu symptoms (Fever, cough) over the abdominal pain, even though that was the whole reason we went to the ER. They gave him some fluids, some pain meds, and some anti nausea meds. He felt a little better and they sent us on our way. We filled a prescription for some pain meds and he took one and went to bed.


We didn't get to bed until about 3am, but by 8 am Chris was in a lot of pain. This time it was more on the right side in the middle. I was a little worried we would go to the ER and the same thing would happen, so I looked at his ER discharge papers and they had recommended a clinic to follow up. I called the clinic and they could get him in at 10:30.


At the Clinic the doctor had examined him and said that she was concerned about appendicitis even though his white blood cell count was normal the night before and that morning. She sent us to LDS hospital for a CT scan of his abdomen to be sure. We could get him scanned faster if we went to LDS, so we were off.


As he drank the contrast his pain got worse and worse. He was only semi OK if he were completely still. As I watched him I just wanted to take it away. I felt awful for him. Finally, as he had tears streaming down his cheeks I wheeled him up to the ER an was like, WE NEED TO GET HIM SOMETHING FOR PAIN ASAP!!!

They took him back and gave him some morphine. He told me it didn't even touch the pain. They scanned him, and as we waited for the result, I started to lose count of the amount of morphine they were giving him. He said it just barely took the edge off.


Then the ER doctor came in and said... "You have appendicitis!" Relief washed over me. I was so thankful that we knew what it was and what can be done to get it fixed. It opened a whole new realization for me about how my patients families feel when they don't have a diagnosis and don't know what to do. I can't imagine. All I knew was there was no way I would leave the hospital with Chris in that much pain.


Chris had his surgery at about 6:00 at night.


He had great doctors and nurses at LDS. But I couldn't leave him in the hospital by himself. I had this gut feeling that he didn't want me to leave him even though I had discussed with him before his surgery that I would go home and get some sleep. So I ended up staying on a little cot. He had to get up to the bathroom a lot with the liters of fluid they had been pumping into him. And he needed pain meds. So we got very little sleep.

By the time he was discharged and we made it home I was on my last string. Not only had I had little to no sleep the past 48 hours, I had sat in the worlds hardest chair for probably about 12 hours. My sciatic nerve was throbbing, my head hurt, I was tired, I hadn't eaten or drank very much.


After I got Chris settled down for a nap and called my mom to come help me, I just lost it. Like mental/emotional/physical breakdown. I was sobbing, which in turn made me incredibly nauseated. Then I proceeded to lose everything I had just forced down. Chris had heard me and was concerned so he was calling me on the phone to check on me. But I thought he needed me so I rushed into our room. He just wanted to give me a hug. I told him I just needed a moment. I was done.


My cute mom came and helped me clean my stinky house and get us settled so I could take a nap. I was so grateful to have her. I just needed some sleep. I took a nap and felt tons better.

So Chris and I have been recuperating this week. Since we were in the hospital at the time that my 19 week Ultrasound was due, we had to reschedule. So baby gets to remain a mystery until October 5th! I CAN'T WAIT much longer!!!

*** P.S. if you haven't voted in the side bar of whether you think We are having a Boy or a Girl... you still can!! Until October 5th!***