Its a Girl!

Meet Olivia Adelle Arnold!

20 weeks old



We are having a girl! We had the ultrasound on January 28th and got to see her for the first time! She was shaking her little arms and legs and then posed for the camera a bit too. Sounds like her mom. HA! She checked out good according to the Doctor. We even could see the 4 chambers of her heart. Amazing. She weighed 14 oz then, so is growing strong. It was so incredible and beautiful to see her and watch our little girl inside me! We can't wait to meet her!
We will be looking forward to another 3d ultrasound that Matt wants to get where we will get even clearer images and a video. We will do that in a month or 2 i think.

Here are her feet and another pic of her from a top view.
























About 2 weeks ago my belly really popped out. I am 22 weeks now and this was taken last week at 21 weeks.







Hee! Gotchya!
This is a strap on belly that i tried on. A client of mine just launched a beautiful maternity clothing line and wanted feedback. I went in and tried lots of things on and she had me use the bump under the clothes to see how they would expand. It was so wild, i had to get a photo! If I get that big, i think i will be ok. It actually didn't feel that bad. But probably because it was made out of stuffed cotton and was not resting on my bladder! It was a kick to say the least! :)

Since I wore my 2 maternity things I had for meeting already and needed something for Sunday.. Saturday I officially went maternity clothes shopping for meeting and service clothes in particular and found some great things that I feel really good in! ( Thanks for the help Dayla!) Even maternity clothes shopping is fun!
Here is one of my dresses on my way out to service. This is my real bump. I think it looks a little bigger than real life in this pic, but I am starting to show now. (Pardon the cheezy self mirror shot. Matt was not home to snap this.)




We have been thinking now about what things we will need for Olivia including a "family" car like this. We took this for a test drive and liked it a lot. I think at some point we will be driving little Olivia around in it. It went back to the lot for now. :)



Other than that we are just starting to think about the things we may need for our little Olivia. Since we have nothing we will have lots of things to gather! Fun!

Olivia is kicking around now. At the meeting Sunday i cracked up because I felt her kicking around. Just little waves and rolls, no real kicks yet. It was so sweet. The talk WAS really good, i think she agreed.
I hadn't felt her too much , but as of Sunday I have felt her at least once a day. Always when I am still, which is not too often. Like at meeting, at bed time, and even during giving my clients treatments i feel her moving. I am sure its just when I am not as distracted. It is soo great!

I am feeling the reality of only 3 months to "get things ready" and lined up to take a leave from work and get my nesting done before I hit the final month! Needless to say it is keeping me busy. But all is lining up well for me to take time off while another Esthetician I am starting to train now, will be maintaining my clients. She will probably stay with me when I return to work as well. I feel really good about her as I helped hire and train her 9 years ago at a spa we worked at together. I also have another new employee training now for the web business order processing and a new marketing assistant that will be able to help me with a lot of "home work" that needs maintaining. Sooo needless to say I feel really good about getting things all lined up now before hand. I am hoping it helps me feel comfortable and calm when I take some time off from being as involved in the businesses, while it still being maintained to take care of Olivia and myself.

I am keeping busy with a few wonderful studies I have too and am looking forward to Jasmine#2 getting baptized at the upcoming Special Assembly Day in March! So many exciting things.

Here is Jasmine and I and Alberta (a special friend from the hall who no doubt be one of Olivia's many spiritual grandma's) on her study yesterday.





Speaking of grandmas. Our fam got together for a wonderful evening with Mom and Dad for their 35 year anniversary last weekend. We had such a nice time and got to share it with Olivia's soon to be grandmas, grandpas, and great grandmas, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was great! I think we should do that once a year.


All in all I am still feeling really good and loving pregnancy. I want it to slow down now though. I have had a few restless nights where I just can't sleep accompanied by some uncomfortable leg cramps, but nothing too bad at all. I am over running races for now, i'm not running much at all really, but still keeping up my normal exercise routines.

I look forward to my next OB check up with my Doctor next Thursday to see how things are going , talk about the ultrasound (since she was not the Doc to do that) and to hear Olivia's heart beat again.. i love that!

Matt is doing great with everything. Still super excited, proud, involved and glowing.... and can not wait to feel her kick!


Ok I am out of things to say... imagine that!?
Till next time.

lots of love.

Half way there!!!!

So I knew this blogging thing would not be easy for me. Sitting still and writing about myself??! So please be patient with my sporadic posting! All is well, very well!

So since the 1st of this month.. well I have grown. The pic I am posting today is from 2 or 3 weeks ago. I will get Matt to take another recent one soon. But here I have gained 13 lbs so far! As of today it's more like 18. Fortunately I am gaining all over pretty evenly so no major busting out anywhere yet. However, I did just this last week purge my closet of all my jeans and meeting skirts with no give in the waist, which left me pretty much nothing to wear. Ok a few things. But a good reason to go SHOPPING! :) I tried last month to get a few things just in larger sizes...well that worked for about 2 weeks. As of the last 2 weeks I have fully embraced maternity clothes and am bringing on that stretchy belly panel. Who knew it would be so comfortable?! Why did I even hesitate?



So far I am still feeling really good. I am still working out at Crossfit about 4 x a week. I haven't felt like running much except a little walk jog with my friend Jorge. A huge Portugese water dog that I borrow from a neighbor to jog (now walk/jog or just walk) with a few times a month. I fell in love with him in an instant, i think it was the black curly hair.. we just had an instant bond. He is so good and walks like he is on a runway. He knows he is gorgeous and he gets so many looks every time i take him out. It is comedy!




Since we are thinking the baby is a girl, I have been ordering books for sewing ideas to decorate the baby room and have lots of great fabric from www.runnergirlfabric.com on hold, waiting for confirmation. If it is a boy I will switch my selections. :) I already have some offers from mom and sisters in the hall to help me sew my projects! How nice!

Speaking of boy or girl Finally the week has come! I am officially 20 weeks along! And the 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for this Thursday at 11 am! This has felt like the longest month ever, waiting for this date! Finally the week is here and I just want to sleep til then and wake up Thursday! I can't imagine how impatient I will feel when my due date gets close! Hee..


I did go to a hematologist today to get some labs done for a potential bleeding concern, but all the tests came back negative and all looks great. I am very happy about that.

Also, today I visited with a friend who just had a baby 1 week ago. We actually grew up around each other. This is Naomi's baby girl Kaiya. She is beautiful and super healthy and calm. She is an Asian fusion baby... the cutest thing!! Here she is hanging out with a new "friend" who is as big as she is! It is a lavender filled super soft lamb that I brought her. I am sure she will grow into it!




That's about it for now... It has really been all about distracting myself till the 28th ultrasound appointment. These rainy days have been brought on some good nesting (storage finding/making) days.

Until Thursday.... ( I will send out a mass text to share the news and post when I calm down or my sewing machine gives out...whichever comes first :) )

lots of love....

Forecast for June 14, 2010

Today when reading the first of the new year's text, I peeked at the text for the baby's due date , June 14, and of all things.. look what it says!
Is that wild or what?! I was so excited! I think I am going to frame it and hang the test in the baby's room. Or at least save it in the baby book.

Sigh...

2010 off to a good start!

This is going to be one of the best years ever. One of the best years of our lives for sure! Exciting!

Well my first day of 2010 started with me taking a home gender test. After hearing the heartbeat and hearing lots of guesses at to what we are having.. I couldn't pass this sneak peek up! I read about it in a pregnancy magazine and decided to look it up and track one down at a local Long's Drug Store.



I had to wait til first thing morning to take it , per the very specific instructions. So I woke up at 6 am and took it first thing. And it said it is a girl!

It says it is 90% accurate but who knows really. We will find out for sure soon enough. Or as Matt says, "...when the baby comes out." I thought it was super fun and exciting!

Then me and baby made our way to Carmel to tun a 10k. It was a beautiful 6.2 mile run along the coast. I took it way easy and paced well. Kept my breathing steady and didn't get overheated. It was still a challenge but so good to be running a race with a baby! I saw a few strollers with dad's pushing their babies and thought, that may be me soon enough! Mom says that the baby is going to be used to all the bouncing around I do... uhoh. Perhaps I will be getting a jog stroller right away.




"We" came home really hungry since we passed up the complimentary pancake and egg breakfast they had at the race, since the line was sooo long and it really didn't look that great. So I came home and whipped up a Paleo break-feast. Man, did it hit the spot! Complete with no sugar, flour or dairy pancakes. Topped with coconut yogurt and rice whipped topping. Eating for 2 after a long run tastes sooo good!

4 month heartbeat!

Ok..How cool is this! I can't believe i was able to get this recording up here!
Matt and I went in for a 4 month check up and all looks and sounds good so far. I like it when Matt comes to the visits.. he asks good questions. I can't seem to come up with many. He heard the heartbeat for the first time. Last month, I didn't take him and he missed it since I didn't know I would get to hear it. Then I learned that they will listen to it every visit now. (Thanks mom!) So much to learn! :)My Doc said the heartbeat seemed about 150bpm or so. Which made me think it was fast since the range reached up to about 160. So it got me thinking about all the "stories" I hear, to determine if it is a boy or a girl. And I heard that a girl heart beat is faster than a boy's. Hmmm? 4 more weeks til we get the ultrasound to tell!

So far at this last check up I have gained 9 lbs. I think it is a bit but I think I had a few to gain. At least I am telling myself that. :) The emergency Manuel's Mexican ( and many other local fav's) restaurant take out dinners to fight the queezies is to blame, I am sure. Oh and all the gellato, fish and chicken burgers with onion rings, fish tacos and so much more yummy food in Maui added up fast! Well and that I have a growing baby inside me too!.. of course.
My eating has gone back to mostly clean food and it feels so good. I am trying to stick to a way of eating called Paleo. It is a "caveman" eating concept, pre-manufacturing days. Fruits, nuts, veggies and meat. No wheat, grains or dairy. It sounds restrictive but i am eating all of those things I want. Plus a few treats and loose days here and there, like Coconut ice cream , cooked sushi rolls, or a piece of Matt's real crust and cheese, pepperoni and extra mushroom pizza. Yummm. I ate this Paleo way pre baby and I feel so much better getting back to it.


Did you know you could post comments to the pages? Just click comments ( with the pencil by it) under the new post and comment. It would be fun to hear from you. xoxo

Entering... the 2nd trimenster!

This Pic shows me at 14 weeks, so just 2 weeks ago. I have a little bump, no one can tell yet, but i know i have changed. It will be interesting to compare pic's as i grow!

I glad to be past the first trimester. Things were going great, not "feeling" pregnant the first month and a half, then, whammo. Nauxsia hits. No bueno! Just for about a month straight I was car sick feeling , but no sickness, fortunately. I just ate and ate and ate to try to settle my stomach.. didn't help but kept my mind of it for a bit. Then right before we were headed off to Maui for our 9 year Anniversary, the queezies pass! Thankfully. The baby got to meet the UofA Wildcats for the first time. Even tho the little thing didn't even have ears yet! Well it was officially our first game as a family! :)
Energy is great, but now I am getting surprisingly exhausted at times and needing naps and rest stops here and there. So I take them.
I am still keeping up with regular exercise, my service schedule/bible studies, and work and home life.. and well that keeps me busy and extra tired now. But over all I am feeling wonderful being pregnant. I had no idea I would like it so much or be so pleasantly relaxed about the process. We have 4 more weeks until we find out the sex! So take your vote! I have no "feelings" either way. I always thought I would relate more to a boy but then as I have gotten older and a bit more girly, I think a girl would be great. Matt just wanted a baby, so he has no favor either way. I am going to take a home gender identity test that they have out and see what it says just for fun.
Well, so here we are at 4 months now. 6 more months to go!

A few photos, the week after

This is the 7 week ultrasound. I thought I was a little further along but nope, just eating lots. My Doc is Dr Moore and it looks like I will be able to deliver at Sutter Santa Cruz in the "spa" suites. I have a hunch that the experience will be a bit different than a trip to the spa!

The flowers are from Matt the day after we found out we are expecting. It was a nice assurance that he was really happy after the previous nights big surprise.

And look who went shopping before me!! Looks like our little one will be joining all those crazy Arizona Wildcat fans.