Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Couple Surprises...

#1. Yes that's right... we're expecting!! We were both definitely surprised, but of course we are very happy. It doesn't seem real yet, although the sickness has definitely been real. I've told Ryan several times that we will probably just have to have one child. However....


#2.

Trust me I've looked at this picture many times, and yes there are two. This is the part that doesn't seem real yet. I think we both just about fell off our chairs when we found out. The lady doing the ultrasound said...."Did the doctor tell you you were measuring big??" Nope! "Well, you're having twins!". That is something we never expected to hear, however, we can't be more thrilled. I am excited, but also slightly terrified at the same time. I am only about 12 weeks right now, and know I have quite a ways to go. I thought I would answer some of the common questions I've been asked.


Are you sick? I think we already covered this, but yes. I feel as though I have been on my death bed.


Are they natural? This question kills me. Yes, they are 100% human babies. It is hard for me not to give a smart alec answer to this. I know that most twins occur because of invitro or fertility drugs, and that's what they are getting at. But this is not our case.


Do twins run in your family? If not, they do now! Since finding out, we have found some further down the line, but we don't know them.


Are they identical? We don't know the genders yet. The doctor said we will be able to tell better once we know this. They are in two different sacs, but I learned that if the egg splits within the first 2 days they can be in different sacs and still be identical. I didn't know that! The chance of this happening is small, but we had less than a 1% chance of having twins in the first place... so we'll see!


Have I been working/What am I going to do with work? Yes, I've still been working, but it has been challenging. I obviously have a little more strenuous job than the normal desk job, but I've been very blessed. I work with some amazing people that have been more than willing to help out with no questions asked. I plan on working as long as I can before I have to be put on bed rest or something. (I've been preparing myself for the worst).


This has already been a fun and exciting challenge, and there is absolutly no way I could've made it this far without my amazing husband. He has made me meals, cleaned the house, pampered me, and helped me be as comfortable as can be. I am one lucky girl!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Then on to Idaho...

After our cruise we headed up to Idaho to spend some time. We got to spend time with family, go boating, and Ryan got to go camping with his dad. My younger brother came back from his mission to Argentina. It was so good to see him!! He looks the exact same, but has sure grown up a lot! It was fun to hear him speak Spanish. He gave an amazing talk on that Sunday, and we had a fun day with family. It was good to have the whole family together. However, we had to head back for school and work. It was a busy two weeks, and it has taken us a while to recover! But we are back into the swing of things now. Ryan started on his Masters this semester and is as busy as ever. I'm just working and trying to survive my last semester as I get my bachelors online. We are loving our life though!

Day 6 and 7

This was our last full day on board, and it wasn't the best weather. We played mini golf, wandered around the ship eating, went to shows, and enjoyed the chocolate buffet. It was a nice relaxing day.

We were so sad to leave. We had way too much fun, and didn't want to get back to reality. We docked early that morning and then began driving all the way back home. The whole rest of the day we still felt like we were on the ship rocking.

Day 5- Cabo San Lucas

This was also one of our favorite days, but it was our shortest day on land. Cabo doesn't have a port big enough for the ship to pull in, so the ship anchors out in the ocean and little tenders come and pick you up and take you to land. We started our day off by getting on another boat and heading out about an hour to Chileno Bay. On the way we drove by Lover's Beach and the stone arch in the Sea of Cortez. Cabo has some beautiful beaches. We couldn't get over how clear and blue the water is. We also saw lots of sting rays swimming and jumping along. They just randomly jump out of the water and do some flips. It was pretty neat. Once we got out to Chileno Bay we hopped in and started swimming with the fishes! I had ever been snorkeling, so it took some getting used to. I think we both swallowed about a gallon of salt water. It was neat to see all the curious bright colored fish. They aren't afraid, and don't swim away from you!
After snorkeling, we hopped in a clear bottom kayak. We got to paddle around some different coves. Again, we didn't get many pictures because our camera isn't water proof and we didn't want to chance it. Once we got back to Cabo, they dropped us off on the opposite side of the tenders. We had to walk about 1/2 hour around the huge port past all the shops. We got some fun pictures on the way.This is on the beach. You can see the ship out in the ocean. That night was another elegant night on board. We were a little more sunburned and tired. It was fun though! We walked out on the deck and watched the sunset. It was amazing, and it was hard to make out the line between water and sky. We tried to get some people to take our picture...and this is the best one we ended up with.

Day 4- Mazatlan

Day four was easily one of our favorites. We stopped in Mazatlan and went on an amazing ATV ride through some parts of the town, and then through some beautiful hills and mountains. Again, it was extremely wet from the rain, so we got very dirty. We had so much fun! We didn't get a ton of pictures, because its pretty hard to take a picture while bouncing around in muddy puddles.
We stopped up on the top of a large hill and got to look down at Mazatlan. It was so green!!
We stopped at the beach. The water is so warm. You actually want to get in!The beach area we were supposed to stop and swim at was having a high jelly fish count so they didn't want us in the water. So instead we had this whole resort to ourselves. It wasn't too tragic. They served us lunch and it was delicious! After relaxing at the resort, we got to go shopping and try our bartering skills. Every vendor said "Honeymooners, I have good deal for you" (in a thick accent). Or "This look good on you" as they hold up a gaudy piece of cheap jewelry. I'm sure we got ripped off quite a bit, but it was fun none the less.Once back on the boat Ryan and I took a Thriller dance class (which we will not be including pictures of). This was our animal for the night. We weren't sure what it was exactly.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Day 3- Puerto Vallarta

Our first stop was in Puerto Vallarta. That morning we woke up at 8:00 am to 90 degree weather with 90% humidity, so our Utah bodies were nearly drowning. The first activity of the day was an off-road bike ride through some small villages outside the city. We were the only two in the group, so we got extra attention from our guide Hector. It was an interesting experience to say the least, but we got to see the "real side of Mexico". It was a gorgeous country area, and also very humbling to see how some people live. We got so many fun, beautiful, and amazing pictures...but I will try to spare you and limit it to just these.

At the start of our ride. Notice that the strap on Ryan's helmet did not work. It was really there just to keep his ears from burning. (look at how clean our legs are!)

The first village we stopped at.


A soccer field in the first village we stopped at.
(notice the donkey in the left keeping the grass trimmer)


The river we had to ride through twice. It is their rainy season so it had just rained a ton the night before.


The second village we stopped at. This was a tortilla factory that we were able to try fresh made tortillas at. (we were a little dirtier at the end than when we started)

That evening we went on an hour boat ride across the bay to see a show called Rhythms of the Night. They fed us dinner on the beach and then we saw the show after. It was such a neat place. It could only be accessed by boat, and had no power lines. The food was delicious, and the show was pretty neat. A few of the highlights were the dances with fire, and the huge snakes they carried around.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Day 1 and 2 at Sea

Our cruise left Long Beach on Sunday evening. We spent all day Monday and Tuesday on the boat eating, sleeping, and laying out. The weather was perfect! There is so much to do. You can really only be bored if you try. There are lots of shows, and we tried to go to a lot of them. Most of the ones hosted by our cruise director were hilarious. I don't think we've laughed that hard for a long time! We had so much fun, and slept like babies. We were on an inside cabin so it was pitch black, and then the rocking of the boat....perfect!
Elegant NightOur towel duck- I loved seeing what would be waiting for us each night for turn-down service!The water for the pools and waterslide was ocean water- which meant tons of salt. Ryan found this out the hard way.We were lucky and got a table for two, and some awesome waiters.Towel dog next to our nightly mints