It's a GIRL!!

To all who have been waiting anxiously for the news:

As Todd and I sat in the room waiting for our doctor to come in, he asked me if I had any final guesses as to our baby's gender. He said boy, and told me that I therefore had to guess girl. I consented, but was not convinced. I had been feeling that it was a boy very strongly, but the thought of having a girl kept creeping up. I thought it was just me getting my hopes up. Who knows, maybe it was! Well, I kept thinking boy until the second he put the ultrasound on my stomach. I knew instantly that we would be seeing a little girl. It looks like my instincts finally came through last minute! (Phew!)

We found out that we were having a very modest little girl! She had her legs crossed almost the whole time. However, as the doctor pointed things out and told us that he was certain enough that we were having a girl that we could start spreading the good news. I called my mom right after and told her, while Todd called his parents and siblings to tell them as well. I had deliberatly changed our appointment time to today before our family picures so that we could tell the rest of my family while we were all together. Everyone was so thrilled, supportive, and happy for us.

Our little girl is already so precious to us, and we can't wait to meet her. We got to see her little face, nose, hands and feet today. She was definitely squirming around in there! It's amazing to think that I can't feel that much movement when it's right inside of me. But the doctor told me that she's getting big enough that I should start to feel her in the next couple of weeks. That feels like our next big milestone, feeling her move. I can hardly wait. 

We have had a special name picked out for her since we got married:

 Lily Fay Parris

I hope she loves it as much as we do! (Spelling of Lily is still up in the air.)

We feel so blessed and grateful to have this sweet little girl on the way. We are very nervous, but even more excited to see her cute face in person! Only 26 more weeks to go :)

Boy or Girl? Our greatest Christmas present EVER!

Hello all! So, as you may have heard, we have our next appointment on December 29, at which time we should find out our baby's gender! Although it's a couple of days late, we couldn't ask for a better Christmas present.

I've always wanted to be one of those moms who just KNEW what they were having even before the doctor told them. So, I've done a few things to help myself along, as sill as some of them have been :) Here's what I've done so far:

• Listen to my family and friends. I truly believe that some individuals are very intuitive (or just good guessers?) when it comes to guessing the gender of up-n-comin' babies. The final consensus of ALL OF THEM (Mom, sister, aunts, co-workers, best friend)? GIRL!
  
  
• Dangle a necklace over my hand and belly. So, this has been an interesting prediction test. My mom and sister helped me do this originally, and it went slightly back and forth (boy). Then, at work, my two co-workers both did it on me and it consistently went in HUGE circles. Consensus? GIRL!
  
  
• Chinese Lunar Calendar. I've heard from a few people that this calendar has proven fairly accurate. So I thought I'd give it a shot. You take your age at conception, and the lunar month you conceived, and find the cross-section on their chart. What did it say? You got it, GIRL!
  
  
• Old Wives Tales. I found a fun little thing online that combined a bunch of old wives tales and made a cute little quiz out of them. Final results? GIRL!
  
  
• Heartrate prediction. Our baby's heart rate was a whoppin' 160 bpm when we saw the doctor. According to this site that means? GIRL!
  


• JustMommies.com quiz. This silly little quiz also says? GIRL!
  


• Parents.com quiz. Another silly quiz that, you guessed it.  GIRL!
  


• Last but not least, Mother's Intuition. Ever since I was little I have known I'd be blessed with a little girl someday. When I first got pregnant I knew it was her! Then, I had a dream about a little boy, my friends found out they were having boys, and I felt like we were having a boy at our 10 week ultrasound appointment. So, I switched to thinking it was a boy. Well, I think I'm ready to stick with my original feelings. So, along with popular vote, I say GIRL!

Now that is a LOT of pink! :)

DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to continually change my mind about the matter!

As I was looking through my pregnancy pictures today I had fun noticing the little changes that are happening. Although it's not much, I am showing! Well, it's more of a "filling out" then anything, but that's completely OK. Wanna see comparison pictures?

 

Me at 3 weeks (left) and 13 weeks (right).

Anyways, I've just had fun with this pregnancy the last few days (not being so sick helps with that). I'm in the last week of my First Trimester! WOOHOO! Baby is growing fast and is very healthy. We couldn't be happier for our little munchkin.

Happy Holidays!

A Perfect Second Anniversary Weekend

We did it! On December 16 we made it to the TWO YEAR mark in our marriage. These last two years have been extremely eventful, and extremely wonderful. All marriages have ups and downs, which we definitely have experienced, but what matters is coming out of them with more knowledge and experience than we had before. We have a long ways to go in our marriage, and hope that we can enjoy every mile-marker as much as we have this one.

Todd picked me up from work on Friday and we headed down to Salt Lake City. Fortunately, we beat the traffic of all those heading to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert, the John Schmidt Christmas Concert, and other various events being held. We checked in to the Little America Hotel, then decided to walk over to the Grand America Hotel to see their lights and play their window game. Although the game was really meant for little kids (you go window to window trying to find a star in each display), but we loved it! Their lights there are very beautiful as well. They are all white, but use various sized bulbs to give it a "twinkling" look.

We still had time before dinner started, so we walked over to the Trax station and took it to Temple Square. Todd bought us some nummy hot cocoa (not to hot, not to cold!) and we walked around and looked at the lights for a little bit. We were attempting to take a picture of ourselves under the tree where Todd proposed to me, and cute girl asked if she could help us out. We figured it was for the best, as our self-portriat skills were a little lacking :)

Our attempt at a self-portrait :)

Todd proposed to me under that tree on 9-9-09 :)

So beautiful!

After walking around a bit longer we headed back to Trax and took it to our dinner destination... Ruth's Chirs Steakhouse. It was AMAZING. The atmosphere was perfect, the services was wonderful, and the food was beyond perfect. They even put rose petals on our table for our Anniversary. I can't even count how many times we were told Happy Anniversary! We enjoyed our time there very much.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to rest for about half an hour before taking off again to see Sherlock Holmes at the Gateway. The movie was great! Todd and I both absolutely loved it. By the time the movie finished it was after 12:30 am...WAY past my bedtime :) The only downside to all of this was that my cold slowly got worse as the hours went on, so by the time we went to bed I could hardly breathe out of my nose. Good times! But the rest of our experience made it way worth it.

Fresh country air does the soul good!

We had the chance to visit my Dad at his new ranch house in Hennifer. For those you who don't know where that is, head East on I-84 about 30 minutes and hang a right. It's BEAUTIFUL land up there. The house is on 22 acres with a gorgeous river running along the edge of the property. The best part? There's HORSES. I was in heaven! When we arrived on Saturday we were pleasantly surprised to see my brother, Matt, was there with Krysta and his daughter Paityn.



We decided to take the little munchkin down to see the horses. Really it was just an excuse for me to see the horses...but you all guessed that, didn't you? :) Here's Todd holding Paityn on the way down to the horses.

When we got to the fence Paityn was a little nervous. I crouched down in front of the fence with her leaning up against my knees. Once we got there, all 7 or so of the horses in that pasture gathered around us to take a look.

If there's anything in this world that makes me happy, it's horses! Todd and I have an ultimate goal of owning a horse ranch. We'll make it happen someday! (Kind of an odd picture of me...oh well!)

 When we got back to the house we began decorating my Dad's humongous Christmas tree. 18' tall and beautiful! Jen and Tim and their son Jayden came, along with Liz, Steve and their daughter Noelle. It took a few hours, but we finally got it done.

We ended the night with a fabulous dinner from Taggarts Grill. If you haven't been, GO! The food is amazing, and the service is even better. This weekend definitely put me in the Christmas spirit. I can't wait! We get to spend Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas Day with the Parris family. Best of both worlds. Hope you all have a relaxing and fun-filled holiday :)

Cooking with the Parris family... :S

Todd and I got quite a shock while cooking dinner for our neighbor tonight...

We made a chicken casserole and put it in the oven. As we were standing in the kitchen talking we heard a huge CRASH. We looked in the oven and the baking pan had cracked and crumbled! It gave us quite the schock. We couldn't help but laugh because we'd never seen anything quite like it.

Just had to share!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, we did it. Our tree is up! We're missing a star and some presents, but it's close enough for the time being :). Here's some updated pictures:

Our very first Christmas tree. This will be our Third Christmas together, can you beleive it? We got married a week before Christmas in 2009, so we decided our honeymoon was our celebration, and we lived with my Dad for Christmas of 2010, so we didn't get a tree there. We weren't planning on taking up so much room in our little apartment, but we figured that when we take down the tree we will just have to get a rocking chair to fill the empty space! Then we'll have a nice one for baby in June.

Things are going really well. I am 11 Weeks now, and can hardly beleive that I'm almost done with my First Trimester already. It's flown by! My next appointment is December 29, and I'm debating whether or not to call my doctor's office to see if they have any appointments for before Christmas. Then we would be able to share the news with our family and friends over Christmas weekend. That might be a little early though, so they might not let me. Atleast we'll know by New Years.

Well, I just wanted to share our tree with everyone. We're in search for the perfect star that's not too big or distracting. Wish us luck!

10 Weeks down, 30 to go!

Only 2 more weeks and I'm out of my first trimester. I can hardly beleive how quickly it has gone by! We had our second appointment today. As many of you know, Davis and Weber County experienced some extremely high winds today causing all sorts of accidents and power-outages. Because they were running on generators, our doctor's office had called most of their patients and asked to re-schedule. Somehow, I got to keep my appointment! We even got to go in early.

This second ultrasound was SO fun. Baby is almost 1.5" long, with a strong heartbeat. I didn't notice until we got home and watched the ultrasound DVD again, but baby was actually moving a little! We could see the little arms and head move. It didn't last long, but was pretty amazing to think that that little one is currently a resident inside of me. I may just be imagining it, but when I'm in bed at night and hold really still, I can feel tiny little flutters. Is that even possible this early? I have to really focus to feel them, but I think it's little baby starting to move around. :)

(Head on left, baby is facing up. 10 Weeks 4 Days, 3.69cm long)

It's been so funny to hear everyones guesses about our baby's gender. For the first 8-9 weeks, nearly everyone thought we were having a boy. Now it seems like most people think it will be a girl! They've got me all sorts of confused :) Some moms just seem to know what their baby's gender is, and I'm not sure if I'll be one of those. But who knows! When I was writing in my pregnancy journal the other night I had a feeling it would be a boy, but now I'm not so sure. Either way, we will be so excited!

We've chosen two names (the boy name hasn't quite clicked for me, so I need to give it more time):

For a girl - Lily Fay Parris

For a boy- Jack Hyrum Parris

I've had the name Lily Fay picked out since I was was about 15, so I was thrilled when it fit well with the last name of Parris! And Todd and I picked out Jack Hyrum back in January before we even got pregnant. We loved the name Jack, and found a middle name that we liked with it.

I will admit... while typing this blog entry, it has taken my compete attention to NOT say "he!" It has felt very natural to call our little one a little boy. I think that's the biggest reason I've thought it would be a boy. But at the same time, I've had the thought in the back of my mind that this baby is pulling a fast one on us, and will in fact be a girl. Silly? Yes, it is! But so what? I've decided to have fun with it :)

I have had some requests for a belly-photo update. Here you go! Me today, 10 Weeks 4 Days.

Not a great photo, but you get the idea :) My mom felt my tummy a few nights ago and commented on how she could feel the difference. Then, the next day, my coworker said I was starting to show. Later as we were decorating the Christmas tree, Todd said he could really notice it now too. It feels like it just happened over night! I went from just feeling like I'd gained some extra pounds to a baby bump over just a day or two. Really exciting though!

Last but not least.... our Christmas tree is up!! Well... it's put together with the lights and a ribbon, but we're getting there :) It's our first Christmas tree together, and we're so excited about it. We're going to go pick out ornaments tomorrow, and get special ones for me, Todd, and Baby. We figured we'd start the annual tradition now!

White tear-drop light with purple ribbon

Close up :)

We are goint to hang silver and purple ornaments tomorrow. Can't wait! I'll post more pictures when it's all done.

9 Weeks and Counting

When people told me how tired I'd be in the first trimester, I don't think I really beleived them. I do now! Luckily things should turn around here in a few weeks. I am looking forward to that second wind :)

Although it is much to early to be showing, I have noticed some changes in my body. If you look at my weekly pictures you might be able to tell that I've gotten, well, a little "thicker" around the middle. I'm trying to embrace this as a beautiful sign that a baby is coming...but I'm finding it a little difficult. I can empathize with all my friends who told me they just felt overweight for the first part of their pregnancies, because that's definitely how I feel! Oh, the sacrifices our bodies make for these little munchkins.

Luckily this semester of school is coming to an end, and I'll be able to enjoy a few weeks of school-free time with my family. I can't wait for the holidays this year! I'm feeling the urge to decorate, or just get those creative juices flowing in some way. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Preferably things that our cat can't destroy... tall order, I know.

During the first few weeks of my pregnancy I had many people notice that certain "glow" around me. I'm not sure what happened to that! Between bloating, acne, feeling emotional, and feeling tired all of the time, I am definitely don't feel that glow anymore. I'm hoping that things will lighten up in my second trimester, making it easier to be happy and connected with this baby-on-the-way. I sure hope that I'm not the only mommy-to-be that has felt this way.

Any tips, encouragement, or advice that you sweet ladies have to offer, I'd love to hear it. Todd and I are still so happy and excited to welcome little Baby Parris into our lives. We're just learning how to adjust to the many changes that come with that little bundle of joy :)

My next appointment is 12/1/11. I'll be sure to post my new ultrasound! We should be seeing fingers and toes by then. Can't wait!

To all of our friends and family, thank you for your love and support. We couldn't do it without you. We love you!

Love,
Todd, Jewely, and Baby Parris

Baby Parris due June 27, 2012!

For any of you who haven't heard the good news, we are expecting our first baby! Baby Parris is due June 27, 2012. I am now 6 Weeks and 4 Days pregnant. Here's a little summary up-to-date:

October 14
Tested positive and shared the amazing news with Todd.

October 15

We told my Mom the next day at her birthday breakfast. We said that we had another present for her, but she'd have to wait until June to get it. She was thrilled!

October 16

We shared the news with Todd's family. We tried to do it creatively, but it didn't quite work. But they were still excited and happy for us.

October 31

We told my family on Halloween! We draw Christmas names every year, and so I decided to sneak "Baby Parris" into the draw. My family was involved in some pretty deep discussions while we were trying to draw names, so I didn't think it was going to work, but Liz saved the day and made it work perfectly! Noelle drew the name, so Liz had everyone listen while she read "Baby Parris" so the rest of the family could hear. It took them a couple of minutes to get it, but when they did it was all smiles.

November 3

First doctor appointment! We had been planning on seeing a Midwife in West Point, but I felt so uncomfortable with her staff that we decided to try somewhere different. My co-worker recommended Circle of Life Women's Center, so we made an appointment with Dr. Beirer. It went wonderfully. He came in, answered all of our questions before we even asked them, and did the first ultrasound.

The baby is only 1/2 a centimeter at this point, marked in the picture above. We could see his/her sweet little heartbeat flickering on the screen. It was still to early to hear it, but seeing is beleiving, right? It's finally official!

November 4

Shared the news with everyone else! We made a couple of calls to family and friends, then decided to post it on FaceBook. We have appreciated how much love and support we have felt already. This is a very exciting and new adventure, sure to bring joy and frazzled nerves, but we know it will be worth it.

Here I am at 6 weeks. Although I feel huge already, I'm really not showing :)

So... here's the big question...are we having a BOY or a GIRL? Let me know what you think by taking the survey on my blog! We'll find out the gender in about 2 months.

Again, to all of our loving friends and family, thank you for all you do, all you have done, and all I know you will do to help our little family grow.

Love,

Jewely & Todd

Coming down the home stretch!

It's almost here...the end of Summer Semester! I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I signed up for full-time classes while working full-time, but luckily I've survived. AND I've managed to maintain A's in both of my classes. I'm extremely happy with my work as I am taking Cognitive Psychology (Psych 3500) and Abnormal Psychology (Psych 3010), my two first upper-division classes. They've been challenging but very rewarding. I take my finals August 5-6. Wish me luck!

Todd has been taking one class this summer, Intro to Public Speaking. Although it's only a 1010 class it has been quite challenging. He has had to do 3 speeches so far and has one more next week before his final exam. He's doing very well, and I'm proud of him. Next semester he will actually be able to start his Spanish classes! We will see at that point if he is happy in a Spanish Major or not. *Crossing my fingers.*

Life has been...well...interesting since my last post. Here's a brief update:
- I got promoted to Office Administrator at my job, and have helped in the hiring process of a new receptionist to take over my previous position. We are also in the process of moving offices and will hopefully have everything back to normal by the end of the week. I hate having things disorganized, it makes it so much harder to focus and get my work done. But if we can survive this week we will be in great shape! We're in a beautiful office with a great landlord, with plenty of room to grow.

- We adopted a furry little angel on July 16. Our little kitten came with the name of Fanta, and we haven't been able to find a better name so we decided to just keep it. She is now about 4 months old. She is a medium hair, black fur with white socks and a white patch on her chest. She has funny little white lines in her fur that go around her mouth and down her neck, making her look like she has a mustache. I love it! She is the best of both worlds- wonderfully cuddly and extremely playful. We have enjoyed having her in our lives and can't wait to watch her grow up!

- We moved into our own apartment in Layton. We have a decent sized one-bed/one-bath that suites us perfectly. We have been here for 7 weeks and have loved every minute of it. The apartment is clean, the appliances are new, and the complex is safe. We absolutely love our ward! They have welcomed us in with open arms. We have have made some new friends and met lots of different kinds of people. I've also been able to get back in touch with some of my best friends from Elementary, Jr. High, and High School. I've had so much fun spending time with them and catching up. They have been a blessing in my life both then and now.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

School...a love - hate relationship.

Well, I did it. I FINALLY chose my degree. It might make some of you laught because it's what I've really been in all along. However, not being content with boring old psychology I decided to look in every other direction to find something more interesting and gratifying. I'm just finishing my Associates in Psychology through Utah Valley University and didn't have any desire to to continue my education in that subject.

All of that changed just a couple of weeks ago. After Todd and I went and visited some good friends and talked about a struggle they had been dealing with recently, the wife (names left out intentionally) mentioned how well I would do in a Counseling career. My gut reaction was to say "NO WAY! I don't want to study that any more...let alone go to Graduate School for it." Luckily I held my tongue. I allowed myself to think about that for a few days. The more I thought about it the more comfortable I felt. Finally I realized how silly I had been the last two years.

I transfered to UVU a few years ago to study Psychology. I became disilusioned from it, but finally found my way back. My plan is to get my Batchelors Degree through Weber State University, then go to Grad School for a Masters Degree. Eventually I would like to get my Doctorite.

As a career, I would like to work as a Clinical Counselor, emphisizing on recovery from pornography and other addictions. I feel like that I could do the most good in that field, and what would be most enjoyable.

Wish me luck!

In Memory of Bruce and Virginia Merrill

I've been thinking about my Grandparents more over the last few days as I listened to my Dad and Uncles discuss how to divide their estate. My Grandpa died on February 13, 2011 at age 92, and my Grandma died on March 31, 2011, soon before her 93rd birthday. I am so happy and grateful they were only separated by a short 6 weeks, and can now be together again for eternity.

My Grandparents were very amazing people, as were the families that they came from. I love learning more about the heritage they have left us, and find new things all the time! One of Todd's friends served his mission in Arizona, on the Pima Reservation. I found out that he has heard of my Great-Grandfather, Philemon Christopher Merrill, and even saw the memorial dedicated to him in Yuma, AZ. It was wonderful to talk about the State my Grandparents lived in and loved. I feel a close connection to Arizona and would like to live there someday to feel that heritage more closely.

My Grandfather was a mountain of a man at 6'5", being one of the taller individuals in his area. He was a born entrepreneur and provider for his family. On top of that he had a genius IQ and started college at age 13. He played basketball for Arizona State University and graduated in Accounting. He has been a business man all his life and was running his own company up to 2 weeks before he passed away.

My Grandmother can be described in one word: angel. She raised her 3 sons with patience and love. My Dad can't remember a single time that she raised her voice at them. She was patient with my Grandpa and supported him through his endeavors. She was diagnosed with Dementia about 12 years ago. Her memory slowly degraded and her awareness faded. Even through her condition she maintained her beautiful disposition and never stopped loving her family.

I miss them very much, but am so happy that I can see them again someday. I can't wait for that time!

Life is like a garden...

I never understood what people meant when the said "life is like a garden" until I spent some time in one myself. I've been cleaning out my Dad's flowerbeds (slowly, but surely) and have had some interesting insights on my own life through it. Let me share a couple of them with you!

~ Sometimes you have to sacrifice good things to make room for better things. I noticed some plants growing that looked like tulips. I tried weeding around them, and when I accidently dug one up I made an amazing discovery. They weren't tulips...they were ONIONS! There were hundreds of little onion sprouts growing, disguised as something a little more lovely. Once I get the onions all removed, it will make room for some truly beautiful plants. Life lesson: Sometimes things we think are ok are really holding us back. Getting rid of those will help us make room for our more beautiful qualities!

~ Along with onions, we also have ivy growing every which way. Ivy is extremely beautiful when it is controlled, and completely overwhelming when not. Remind you of anything? Too much of anything can be damaging. Not only does the ivy look unkempt, but it has begun to choke out some of the other plants and flowers int he bed.
Life lesson: Maybe it's better to clean out things that are taking over our life to see other things that need some attention.

More insights later....as they come up :)

Spring!! Or not....

Mother Nature has played a trick on us yet again. She let us believe that we were finally goign to get some warm weather, then BAM, she dumps rain (and possibly snow) on us. But at least we got in some good fun on those sun-shiney days. Take a look!

I bought Todd a Ruger SR9c for his birthday (lucky boy) and we thought we'd try it out. We went with my Dad, Matt, Krysta, Paityn, and Meg up Bountiful Canyon on Saturday. Between us all we had 3 hand guns and 1 shotgun. Todd and I did well with out new gun, as you can see below...

See that forehead shot? Yes...that was all mine, thank you very much. Matt talked me into printing off this target, and my Dad made a bet to see who could take the first head-shot. Aweful, I know. Sorry all!

After shooting the handguns for a while we decided to try out some skeet shooting. For anyone who doesn't know, you fling a clay disk in the air and shoot it with a shotgun. Simple as that...or is it? It took us some time, but I think we got the hang of it. Todd and I both maxed out at 3 out of 5, not to bad for our first day! But I think it's safe to say that we've all found a delightfully fun new hobby!


Me shooting my Dad's shotgun




Todd shooting our Ruger SR9c



 Overall, it was an excellent day :)

Which path to take...?

Howdy everyone!!  Jewely let me have the first go at this.  This is the first time that I have ever blogged.  For the past few weeks I have been trying to decide what parallel path i should be taking in case the seminary teaching thing doesn't work out.  Jewely and I decided that being a teacher in secular education could be a good direction to take.  I was searching around today for some of the subjects that I could teach and I though of math.  I have always liked it and I am pretty good at it to. That is until I saw the math classes that I would be required to take to get that degree.  In a word: Yikes.  Needless to say I think that I will be looking into another subject to work towards.