What's your guess?

So we have an ultrasound scheduled for two weeks from now and I have been going through all the "old wives tales" to see what they predict the baby to be.  So, here is what we have found!

Week 16

#1. Chinese Gender Chart: According to the Chinese, we are having a boy!

#2. Carrying high? or carrying low? In all honesty, I have no idea... haha What do you think?  Low=boy High=girl

Week 18

#3. Moodiness? Well, I was definitely more moody in the first trimester but it has gone down recently.  However, this may be more of a question for Stewart than me ;) I will say girl to be safe

#4. Dreams about the sex of the baby: They say that if you dream about a boy, you will have a girl. And if you dream about a girl, you will have a boy.  I don't know if you remember or read it, but I had that dream that I had twin girls.. so it looks like it's predicting boy again!

#5. Clumsy or graceful?  Well, I am for sure more clumsy. Which means boy

#6. Morning sickness: Definitely a girl. 

#7: Mayan calendar: Boy!

#8. Baby's heart rate: Well, the first time it was above 150, pointing to a girl, but this last time it was between 137 and 140, pointing to a boy. This one just might a split,

#9. Craving sweet or salty? Salty for sure, so boy!

#10.  Feet colder or warmer/same? Same, so girly girl!

#11. Skin dry or soft? Well, my skin is always dry... so I will say dry so boy

#12. Rounder or wider? I think rounder.. boy

#13. What side do I sleep on? Well, I prefer my back actually (which I have been told probably isn't the best) and right side usually gives me heart burn.  So... left? haha I preferred left before I was pregnant anyway.  I will go with left and say boy, though.  

So... what do you think?? Most people have predicted boy but my mom is rooting for a red headed girl.  I personally have no clue! Stewart is convinced it's a boy.  I guess we will see in just a couple weeks! 

Baptism!

Last weekend we got to go to the baptism of one of our nieces, Kaci. It was the first baptism either of us have been to of a niece or nephew. It was a fun and spiritual baptism.  Afterward, we got to spend time at Lori's house to eat delicious food, spend time with family, playing some crochet, and later go swimming at someone's sweet house!

 Ste getting pushed around in circles by cute little Jackson

Lori and Boone- Lori is due with her first baby boy next month! 

They have four girls so they were ready for a boy! 

Ste and his mom playing some water basketball

A nice redneck truck

Pregnancy Dreams

Pregnancy has brought on some weird dreams....  Here are a few

So, I just gave birth to twin girls and went to my grandparent's house.  I left the girls upstairs with people and a couple days later I realized that I FORGOT I HAD BABIES.  I went upstairs and my grandma was super upset, the babies didn't have clothes on and their was poop EVERYWHERE.  I woke up feeling the biggest guilt that I forgot I had given birth, to twins.

I was told by someone that a guy was coming to torture me by electrocuting me and there was not way I could escape.  When the guy came I yelled at him and said, "If you hurt me, you hurt the baby!"  He then said that instead, I just needed to do 52 volleyball attack line slides in the living room.  I finally got it out of him who sent him to do this to me.  He said it was my mom.  I then approached my mom and asked her why she would ever do that.  She said she wanted her art back.  I asked her what art and that I would give her back whatever she wanted; she didn't have to torture me! Then she said, "You have already started your stash,"  while pointing to a hair ball hanging from the bathroom ceiling.

Stewart and I were walking on Green Avenue in Manson, at the turn to go down towards Lindsea's and Janet's.  So, we were walking and we found a small rattlesnake so we decided to take it with us.  Stewart had it on his arm then he had to run ahead a bit for something so he gave it to me, but I had to hide it in my sweatshirt.  So, I let it crawl up my sleeve.  It was hanging out on my back when we realized how stupid of an idea it was to have a rattlesnake in my sweatshirt.  Stewart then helped me get it out and it was flung under some apple trees.  Then this homeless man comes and starts trying to pick it and one of my cousins goes to talk to the homeless man and is totally all about him.  Stewart and I start walking away, then we turned around and saw a bunch of cops and firefighters pointed guns, bombs, and lasers at the snake.  And there was this super old man is holding this huge laser gun, trips, and accidentally blows up the area where the snake was.

Baby Poulsen

So, many of you know already but.....

We are having a baby!

Week 14! 

That's right, Baby Poulsen is due to arrive in November!!!

Week 5

We are super stoked!

This is Stewart trying to hide in all his excitement.  Or he is counting up how much a baby will cost.

Also, all those jokes at Marissa's bridal shower and the family dinners were actually all quite accurate at the time ;)

So, I wanted to tell the story of how we found out I was pregnant, while we are on the subject :)  Sorry if I share too much information for any of you ;)

At the very end of February I was having some nausea and pains in my bladder area.  It wasn't going away and I took an at home UTI test and it was positive. I also took a pregnancy test, which was negative.  (I wasn't supposed to start for another 2-3 days, though)  So, I went to the doctor the next day to check it out.  They also did a pregnancy test just to make sure; which was negative.  The UTI test came back as only a trace so they gave me meds to see if it helped-ones that were safe IF I ended up being pregnant though.  Well, the symptoms did not go away so I went to another doctor that they referred me to.  This was a fewish days later, and I hadn't started my period yet.  So, I told them my symptoms and the nurse and doctor both said they think I am pregnant, especially since the UTI test came back negative.  However, so did the pregnancy test.  They gave me a bladder relaxant that turned my pee a bright orange, super weird but kinda cool.  It helped but once I was done with the bottle it came back.  A couple days later went by and I was just finishing up the pills and my period had still not come.  I had been regular for months so I knew something was going.  Stewart and I were in our living room and he told me to just go take a another pregnancy test to see. I didn't want to watch as the pregnancy loaded (?haha) because I just didn't want it to be negative.  So I had Stewart watch.  And then I heard him say, "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Look."  And guess what, we finally got a positive pregnancy test!!! Of course, I was a cry baby about it.  I was so happy that I was pregnant and that I finally knew what was going on with my body.  We took another one a couple days later just to be sure, and we got another positive :)

We had an ultrasound last month where we got to see the little thing.  Of course, it was just a black tiny blob then but we could see the heart beating away.  We also saw the little Poulsen doing some sweet flips over and over again.  I was so happy to finally have a doctor tell me I was pregnant.

We went this week and got to hear the heart beating away at 155.  I still don't know if it has completely hit me yet that I am carrying around a growing child inside of me.  I am excited for what the next 6 months has in store for me, and I hope that this morning (more like night) sickness will go away now like everyone says it should.

 We have already felt so much generosity from family.  Stewart's sisters have given me maternity and in-between clothes as well as a crib. And yesterday, I just got two boxes of maternity clothes from DeAndra.  We are certainly blessed with amazing family!  Thank you everyone who has helped us recently, we love you all!

Favorite memories of mom

So, today I was thinking about my mom and remembered some pretty fun memories with her.  Here are some of those memories as well as some things I love about her. 

My mom always planned the best vacations for us.  

She would always make dinners we suggested or let us get some cool looking stuff from the Schwan man.  

Also, we shared some pretty great Schwan meals when I was the only one home and dad was busy out doing dad stuff.

She spent three hours with me trying to figure out how to hide bobby pins in my hair for homecoming senior year.

She would always encourage me to dress modestly, even if it meant her sewing a whole new dress or paying a little more. 

She also helped me on my most important weekend.  She helped me prepare for the temple- my first session and my sealing to Stewart. 

My mom and dad's example of marriage has always been something I have wanted for myself. 

She takes her responsibilities seriously.  Like, one time dad didn't change the clocks for daylight savings before you left for spring training. We were supposed to be to church half an hour earlyish for something but mom was just having one of those slow moving days and didn't want to go.  (She had a calling to play the organ) We finally made it out the door and as we were driving I mentioned to her that it was daylight savings.  I have never seen my mom feel so guilty and that she was going to hell for being late to church.  I have also never seen her accelerate so fast.  

I have never seen my mom laugh harder than the time she witnessed Jensley spitting up in my mouth.

She has always been the person I can count on to be understanding and supportive.

If you know my mom, you know she doesn't really go to the store.  When I had my surgeries in high school she made sure to get anything and everything I may have wanted to eat. 

She has always encouraged me to love and care for others, no matter who they were or what they have done.

Whenever we were sitting on the couch and I would lay my head on her, she would automatically scratch my head- my favorite.

She is pretty hilarious. Especially when she is sick and we play Pit and no one can hear her.  

When I hear the quote, "There are few things more powerful than the prayers of a righteous mother." (Boyd K. Packer) I can only think of my mom.  The Lord loves her and whenever I need anything I know I can ask her to pray or fast for me.  She has wonderful faith and understanding of sacrifice.  

Mom, thank you for giving me an amazing example and helping me prepare to be a mother myself.   I hope you know that I won't completely "slip through your fingers."

I love you!!!

Hawaii, ONE YEAR, and Yosemite

We got a nice break after the semester.  Stewart finished the Jr. Core and I finished all my classes of my undergrad!!! All I have left is my internship, which I started on Monday at the Utah State Hospital. I will be working with the girls youth and I am so excited.

After Stewart's last final we headed off to California.  We got in at around 1am and left to the airport at 3am for our flight to Hawaii!!! Stewart's parents were great and bought us a bunch of food to take with us on our flight.

We got in on Thursday and hung out with everyone who was there for a bit before going to the Dole plantation for some Dole Whip, dried pineapple, fresh pineapple, and do the biggest maze in the world.  Okay so I am not sure if it actually is... it's something like that.  We got split up from Linds, Travis, and KC.  You could tell many people have gone through because there were many shortcuts.  I tried to take them but Ste wouldn't follow me and make me feel guilty.  I did drag him into it and he wanted to make sure we got our moneys worth.

On Friday we had the endowment session.  I loved going with my family.  I also loved changing rooms.  I had never been in a temple that did that-other than what it is like in Draper.  It was amazing.  The grounds were beautiful too! But, what do you expect in Hawaii?

Mom got a pretty cool house for everyone to stay in for the weekend.  Saturday was the big day! Marissa looked beautiful and they sure seemed happy with one another.  So happy that my sister got to marry the man she fell in love with years ago.

Does it look like my mom and Ste are dancing to anyone else? They were trying really hard to get Kassidy to open her eyes into the bring sunlight because the photographer was yelling for her to look up. 

Speaking of marriage, Stewart and I hit our one year anniversary!! We spent the night walking around downtown looking at shops and scoping things out for the next couple days.  We were happy to spend it in Hawaii.  Thank you mom and dad!!! ;)

We got a backstage tour of Pearl Harbor by Spencer Webster from Entiat on Monday. Afterward we went to a restaurant and I about peed my pants when I walked into the women's bathroom.  I also almost made the lady behind pee hers, too.  Check out Aaron's blog if ya missed it. Also, I felt like a child because instead of ordering actual meal I ordered three sides... It was still delicious though

The next day we hung out on the beach quite a bit.  It was a lot of fun! We also visited Aulani, the Disney resort.  We had a pretty good lunch there too.

When we got back to the mainland we stayed with Ste's family for a couple days.  We spent a night in Yosemite and rafted the river.  I was in a raft with Monica's daughter and what I thought was going to be a relaxing ride, was actually a race that she thought we were having.  I kind of felt bad for not paddling (we didn't know when or where to stop so I was trying to have everyone catch up to us since they would only paddle if they were needing to change directions).  So Cali, who is 7, was at the front of the raft paddling away the whole time while I was laying in the back.  It was still relaxing for me at least!

 Half Dome.  His favorite. However, this is all he wanted to do when I told him to take a picture with me and and Half Dome.

"Don't give up on dinner."

The break was awesome to have before starting my internship.  The week has been full of orientation and me teaching the campus police how to kill a rattle snake without a gun.  I start Monday with the actual internship stuff and I am so excited.  They said the patients love the rec therapists and always look forward to the activities. I just hope and pray that I give these girls what they need from me.

Busy bees

In March Stewart and I got the chance to go to California to see all his sisters and grandparents.  Since they are all spread out across the country they don't always get together but we were able to make the trip and see them.  It was a quick trip but definitely worth it and it was tons of fun! We watched Sam play baseball, celebrated his grandpa's early birthday, witness a pretty sweet BBQ fire, hear some great stories about Stewart growing up, and just got to enjoy time with family.  It was so nice to get out of Utah and away from the weather to get some sun!  Oh, we also took advantage of Jack in the Box since Utah is too good to have any here.

My mom came down for her spring break and while she was hear we threw Marissa a bridal shower.  I decided that since most of the people going to the bridal shower can't make it to Hawaii, we would bring Hawaii to them!

We started with some Kalua pork sliders, pina coladas, fresh fruit with coconut dip, yummy brownies, and hawaii BBQ chips.  It turned out so good!

We then played pin the 'stache on Javier.  I made Marissa go last because we did it a little different for her...

 Before the party, Javier wrote out a letter to Marissa explaining how they met and his feelings for her.  I put one sentence on a piece of paper and had each person read a section of his letter to her.  I think that turned out well, she cried.

Presents were of course next and she got some pretty scandalous gifts, some soothing gifts, and some great stuff she can use while she is barefoot pregnant in the kitchen one day.

It was great to have my mom here to see her and spend time with her.  She got a condo up in Midway that she and my grandparents stayed at for a couple days.  Stewart and I joined them one night and go out to some delicious dinner at a little diner.

Conference weekend was pretty busy because Stewart and I were moving out of our apartment.  We moved into my grandparents' that weekend.  We are staying here for a couple weeks because we had to get out of our apartment early because someone was taking over our contract and needed in early.  We are still deciding where exactly we want to go but should have a place set up for sometime after Hawaii.

We are just finishing up the semester and I am so excited to be done with classes!!! I start my internship the Monday we get back from Hawaii.  I am slightly nervous but I am so excited.  I was told by my teacher that I shouldn't do it at this location because it isn't organized as the best TR program.  But after praying about it and really thinking if I was supposed to do it there, I decided that the girls at the hospital need me.  I have had a lot of experiences that have validated that decision.