It's been over 7 years...but we're finally doing it!

We're engaged!

Over 7 years and lots of love later, Nathan and I finally decided we wanted to set a wedding date and make our engagement official. I'm so thrilled! We went shopping last week to look at engagement rings, not really expecting to fall in love with one so quickly. But after 3 hours of looking at Shane Co., we found my ring and are absolutely in love with it.

First we chose the band:

Then we chose the diamond:



And this is how gorgeous it turned out:



We are thinking we will get married in July or August this year, and it will definitely take place on the 28th of whichever month we choose. The 28th is very significant for us, since our first date was on the 28th, and our first kiss and becoming an official couple occurred on the 28th of the following month! Since then, several other important things in our relationship have occurred on the 28th (both on purpose and by coincidence,) and so we will be married on that day as well... We are also hoping that Cale is born on the 28th! (of March, of course..he better not come on April 28th!!)

Anyway, we are thrilled. I'm so happy that through everything we have been through together, the good and the bad, the worst and the best times, that we made it through everything even stronger than we were before. I love him with every part of my being and can't imagine a better life partner.

We'll update with wedding and baby info as it comes!

Updates!

It's been a couple months since I've posted, so I figured it was about that time. So much happened at the end of 2009, and I can't say I'm sad it's over. It was quite a stressful holiday and I'm glad to be starting fresh with a new year.

Christmas is usually one of my favorite times of year. I love spending time with family (we have 4 sides of the family to visit!)and Christmas Day is the best! But on December 22nd, my niece's 4th birthday, my mom's husband Jesse took a spill outside on the front porch. He landed on his cane, severely breaking 5 ribs. No one was home, and it was a miracle he had his cell phone in his pocket so he could call 911. The ambulance transported him to the hospital and he was in a great deal of pain. He didn't puncture a lung, which was a miracle, but his accident caused quite a change in our family's holiday plans. Jesse spent over a week in the hospital, and then was transported to a rehab center where he still remains, 15 days later. The rehab center is anything but comfortable for him. They treat him like crap, neglect him when he needs them most, and considering he is completely immobile, it makes life there terribly uncomfortable. My poor mom hates leaving him there and has cried on my shoulder many times about the abuse he endures there. Unfortunately, there isn't much they can do except wait for him to be well enough to come home...which they are hoping will be in the next couple of days.

In the mean time, my mom has been frantic trying to make her house handicap accessable, since Jesse will need to be in a hospital bed in his own home for at least another month. She had someone come in and install handicap bars in the bathroom and shower, and has had loads of support from her Relief Society sisters with meals and house cleaning services. Unfortunately, Jesse just recently started a new job, so he isn't being compensated for any time away from work...in fact, they are worried he could lose his job completely at any time.

Needless to say, Christmas this year was pretty much non-existant with my immediate family. My mom did a great job of having us over a couple days after Christmas (she didn't have to do that) and she put on a happy face for as long as she could, but broke down at the end. I felt so bad for her.

Now that December is over and we are finally in a new year, I am really hoping for a great new start for my mom and Jesse. They've had a rough month.

I can't ignore the good things in life, of course! For those who are interested in a quick update about the baby, things are great! I'm about 27 weeks now, and Cale is crazy active. We changed his middle name to Everett, and changed the spelling of his first name from "Kale" to "Cale." I'm getting so impatient waiting for him to come, but it has been a blast setting up his nursery.

We also just found out that my sister is pregnant with baby #2. Of course the family is thrilled, and I'm excited that Cale will have a cousin just 6 months younger than him. Hopefully it's a boy for Cale to play with!

Despite our crazy end to 2009, I hope that the rest of you had an amazing holiday and made some great New Years Resolutions! What a great way to better yourself than by making goals.

Happy 2010 everyone!!!

-Michelle, Nathan, and baby Cale

Well, dreams aren't always true!

So, that "dream" I had...that VERY realistic dream where my baby told me to stop calling her a boy?!? Yeah...I was fooled!

That's right....

IT'S A BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound this morning and there was no denying it. We are (very obviously) having a boy! We were shocked! We both thought we were having a girl and were so excited, but he is just a doll. We got a few good pictures, but I still can't wait to get my 3D/4D ultrasound right before Christmas!

My family is so excited to finally add a boy to our huge family of girls.

Here's a couple pictures of our boy:




We love him and can't wait for him to be a part of our little family!

Time is Flying...and not so much...

I am having a hard time deciding whether this pregnancy is going by fast or not. Most of the time I feel like WOW! I'm already over 17 weeks pregnant which means I'm almost half way. And then I think how it's going to be November tomorrow which means in 2 months it will be 2010 and the baby will be due just 3 months later! And then there's the side of me that can't believe I'm ONLY 17 weeks and therefore have 23 left to go. I want to meet my baby so bad, but I also know how important this experience of pregnancy really is, and I'm trying to savor every moment of it.

So here's an update.

*Today I am 17 weeks, 2 days pregnant.
*I'm 90% sure I felt the baby move for the first time last night. It was the sweetest feeling! It felt like fingers tapping on my tummy. I've been waiting for it to happen again so I can decide if that's really what I felt last night.
*I get to find out the sex on November 24th. That's only 25 days away!!!! It's all I think about and I cannot wait!
*We bought our first major baby purchase a few days ago -- The crib! It's adorable and I can't wait for the shipment to come so we can start setting up the nursery!
*I think we've finally made a decision about the names. If it's a boy his name will be Cade Levi Carlson and if it's a girl it will be Hadley, but we haven't chosen a middle name for Hadley yet. We are thinking Alexia.

So here's an updated baby bump picture. I took it this morning. I'm finally feeling more pregnant and less fat. Yay!

"Mommy, I'm a Girl."

It's no secret that I've always wanted lots of children, and up until the day I found out I was pregnant I've never wanted anything but girls. I've had hundreds of girl names picked out since I was a little girl, but could never even bring myself to the thought that I could have boys one day.

When I found out I was pregnant, Nathan and I instantly thought we were having a boy, and we were in love with that idea. We have called him a boy every time we refer to him, we had his name picked out and have called him "Cade" for months now. I didn't know why we were so sure he was a boy, but I didn't care. I loved my little guy and have never regretted that he wasn't a girl.

Then, about 2 nights ago, I had the most intense dream that I've ever experienced in my life, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

I dreamed that I was very pregnant, 5 months or so, and all of a sudden I looked down and I was holding an infant in my arms. She looked so familiar and I didn't know why, but I just stared at her for a while. She was tiny, days or weeks old maybe, and she couldn't speak. But her eyes were wide open and she was staring at me, right in the eyes, and wouldn't look away. I stared back into her eyes, and although she couldn't talk, I could hear out loud exactly what she was thinking. She said, "Mommy, it's me, and I'm a girl. Please stop calling me a boy."

And instantly we were flying into the future, and landed in my doctors office, and I saw myself receiving my 20 week ultrasound. I heard the doctor say, "It's a girl!" and the baby said, "See mommy, I'm a girl. My name is Hadley."

I was in awe. I didn't have anything to say back, but even in my dream I knew that the moment would soon end and my baby girl would have to go away. I knew that I wouldn't be able to see her again for a few months so all I could do was just stare at her and take every part of her in. I stared at her beautiful blue eyes, her tiny toes and fingers. I tried to remember that sweet voice that she had, and I remember how bald and tiny she was.

And then I woke up.

I felt refreshed, so happy, so in love with this tiny thing that is growing inside of me, and while I don't care whether it's a boy or girl, one fact about my dream reassures me that it really could be real: I've never considered the name Hadley in my life. I had heard the name once a few years ago, but haven't thought of it since, and never considered it as a name I would name my child. But I absolutely love it, and if she is a girl, then obviously her name will be Hadley.

As 1st Trimester Comes to a Close....

A part of me would like to say that the first trimester of pregnancy has gone by quickly...and in a way I guess it has considering I didn't know I was pregnant for the first 5 weeks. But man, I'm about to be 13 weeks along and I can't help but think that I still have 27 weeks to go! I just want to meet my baby already! I'm impatient by nature, and have wanted to start a family for so long that I just want him/her to come out asap and be healthy.

What I'm looking forward to: No more sickness!! It's definitely minimized, I'll admit...but I'm still throwing up every time I brush my teeth. It's awful.

Anyway, here's a picture I took of my growing belly this morning. I'm 12 weeks 5 days pregnant, and look like I'm 5 months. It's ridiculous.

Announcement! Announcement!

That's right! Those are 4 (count them) FOUR positive pregnancy tests! Nathan and I are having a baby!

For those who are interested, here's the crazy story about how we found out!

On Friday, July 31st, I went to the doctor to get some new medications for my migraines. The medicine wasn't ready at the pharmacy right away so I decided to wait and pick them up the next day. So after work on August 1st, I went to pick up the prescriptions and I noticed that each of them had a warning label on them that said not to take the medication if I were pregnant. I didn't think that I was, but for some strange reason I couldn't bring myself to take the medication until I found out for sure. So I went to the store, bought a test, came home and took it immediately.

To my shock and huge surprise, the test had a faint positive result....well the "positive" line was clearly there in bright pink, but the "control" line (the line that says the test is working) was very light and it was brown in color, not pink, so I wasn't sure if the test was even working right. I freaked out and asked Nathan what he thought the test meant. His jaw dropped! (He didn't know that I had gone to purchase a test.) But we both had doubts about the validity of the test, so I drove to the store again and this time bought a three-pack of tests that were a different brand.

I didn't really have to use the bathroom again that soon, so I was only able to pee enough for one test. The test came out positive in under 5 seconds. I was shaking so bad! It was such a happy/scared/what-am-i-gonna-do feeling, and I didn't know what to do. I went back into the computer room and put the test down on Nathan's desk and told him it was positive. At first I didn't know what to say, but eventually I broke out into tears. Nathan was so supportive. He thought I was crazy for crying. He said "why are you crying? We wanted this!" and I knew he was right, but I also knew there was no turning back. After a few hours of talking about it, I felt better and actually started to get excited.

I started searching the internet for baby stuff. I discovered that at that point I was about 5 1/2 weeks along, my due date would be April 1st (yes, April Fools Day!) and that the Chinese Calendar said I would be having a girl!

The next two days I took the remainder of my pregnancy tests, and both came out positive again. I scheduled a prenatal appointment right away and had my first doctor appointment on August 5th. The doctor confirmed that I definately was pregnant, 6 weeks along, and confirmed my April 1, 2010 due date.

We are so over the moon about this whole thing. We cannot wait to be parents and I can't wait to find out if I'm having a baby boy or girl. I have my first ultrasound on September 1st, and I'll get to see my baby and hear it's heartbeat. I can't wait!!

Side note....for some reason I can't stop calling the baby a "he..." not sure if that's just coincidence or mother's intuition but I have a feeling I'm having a boy, and even though I've wanted a girl my entire life, I actually kind of want a boy now!

I'M GONNA BE A MAMA!!!!

**UPDATE** I had my ultrasound on Sept 1 and they realized I was a little less pregnant than we thought, so they changed my due date to April 9th, 2010. The baby was moving like crazy and had a great heartbeat. It's laying on it's side, but here you can see the head, eyes, mouth, arms, and legs: