My Talented Sister

My younger sister Tori has always been creative and in the last year or two she has turned her  talents to learning how to sew.  I know how to sew, but she has taught herself to sew really, really well and she can make some really beautiful things.  Her most recent project has been purse making.  She opened an Etsy store to sell her purses this weekend and I highly recommend heading over there and taking a look.  She has made these adorable clutch purses that can double as a wallet and small purse that you can toss into a bigger bag or just take as a clutch.  She blogged about her new store today if you want to see some more pictures.


My First Six Bags


I happen to know that she has a bunch more purses on the way in the next few days or weeks, so go back often.  

Fall Colors

There is a somewhat little known fact that Squaw Peak Road continues far past the little make out point all the teenagers go to and actually goes all the way over the mountain down into Hobble Creek Canyon.  Bill and I decided it was imperative that we drive the whole road to see the full extent of the changing of the fall colors this year.  Last year we just went a little ways up the road in my car, but this year we took the Jeep.  It was awesome.  A little bumpier, or a lot bumpier, than I we would have liked, but the colors were beautiful and if you're up for a 30+ mile 2 or 3 hour drive, I would recommend it.  Only if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle though.  This is not for low clearance cars.  We saw some and wondered how in the world they made it.  Here's a few of the pictures we got.  Not a one of us in the bunch, just pretty colors.

Laying on my stomach

One of the things I miss on a rather frequent basis being pregnant is laying on my stomach and my back.  I used to go to sleep on my stomach but wake up on my back every morning.  Now if I wake up on my back it is accompanied by a serious lower backache.  If I lay on my stomach it just feels terrible.  Well the other night Bill built me a nest of sorts with all the pillows on our bed so that I could lay on my stomach without squishing the little guy.  It was awesome.  He's the best. 

As of today I am 22 weeks.  According to my midwife at my appointment yesterday, I am measuring 27 weeks in size.  The wee one isn't, just me.  Gotta love it.  There's no question as to my pregnant state these days.  I feel cute though.  I think it's fun to be pregnant.  There are plenty of somewhat annoying aches and pains and I'm sure by the time it comes to a close I'll be very happy to just have this baby, but I love how excited people are for me and all the fun conversations I have with friends and random strangers.  Babies just bring out happiness all around and I think it's great. 

Free Baby Clothes!

 Some people in the Marriott School put on a free kids clothing exchange every year and Bill and I went to it this morning.  It was amazing!  We came away with three bags of baby clothes that are in fantastic shape for free.  How cool is that?!  The entire gym was full of tables with clothes for every age of kids.  Apparently they spend the whole year gathering donations from people and then Kid to Kid also donates a bunch of clothes to help the student families invited to attend.  Talk about generous! 

Our favorite find of the day? Crocheted chuck taylors.  Score!

One Week Down and Halfway There

Here's to a successful completion of my first week of school.  It was busy!  Classes weren't such a big deal, but adding a TA job plus my standby transcribing one makes for some busy days and late nights.  For the most part my classes are great.  I have one I'm still trying to get into and one I would rather drop, but we'll see how that all goes.  I'm taking an intermediate tennis class and by sheer luck I have the assistant BYU men's tennis coach as the instructor.  He is awesome!  It's essentially like getting tennis lessons for free. He has already tweaked a couple things in my technique that were causing me problems and my strokes are working out so much better.  I love it!  It's a two-hour class twice a week, which seriously wipes me out by the end.  It's only for the block so hopefully I will still be able to play reasonably well by the time it finishes.  The little guy is growing like crazy so we'll see how big I get in the next two months, but I'm having a great time with it.

Our apartment is close to 1.5 miles from campus.  Bill and I decided that we would walk to campus every day.  If we have a reason to go back a second time then we can drive, but the first time walking is it.  It's really having a positive effect on our exercise habits, but with that plus my tennis class and Bill's volleyball and racquetball classes, both of us are really tired today.  We did our best to stay in shape in Las Vegas, but the hot weather definitely slowed us down.  It's definitely a fast way to get back into shape. :) 

Today is officially the halfway point of my pregnancy.  I'm so excited!  I can't wait to see this little guy.  So many things need to happen between now and then, and I have a feeling the time is going to go so fast.  I did just jump over one huge hurdle, figuring out who I want to go to for prenatal care here in Utah and how I want my delivery to go.  There is a midwives clinic attached to Orem Community Hospital that I just learned about.  They have access to everything doctors do at that hospital, but are also midwives so are very supportive of letting me make my decisions about induction, pain management, epidurals, etc.  My sister delivered at that hospital and I was really impressed with them, so I'm super happy with this information I now have about the midwives clinic.  I am going to schedule an appointment soon and I'm hoping for the best with it.  I just don't care for the idea of cookie cutter birth plans that so many of the OBs in the area have where when and how I deliver is so much more about their convenience than what I want or what is good for me and the baby.  This feels like a way better option and I've gotten great recommendations about this place. 

Purple is 18 weeks, blue is 20.  Apparently I haven't grown any these two weeks.