April, please get here quick.

Since Thursday of last week, I have been having a miserable time with this pregnancy. It started with cramps and pain in my pelvis and got worse and worse until it reached my kidneys and made it impossible to bend, lift or pick anything up. It was the worst on Monday night so I got in to see my doctor yesterday and they ran lots of tests. Everything looks okay (cervix is not dilated, baby's heart rate is fine, etc.) but I was put in the predicament of not knowing what to do about work. Since 85% of my job is physical, I was stressed out about how I was going to be able to do my job without getting in everyone's way. Also, the pain has been so great I didn't want to be at work when I had to double over and take deep breaths until the cramps subsided. I'm sure the customers would find that greatly amusing. I really didn't want to go into labor at seven months in the middle of the Fiction aisle.
Luckily, my work offers short term disability for bed rest and my doctor approved me for it for the remainder of the pregnancy. This is a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that I now feel like my baby is safe and will grow without threat of preterm labor, and I can also enjoy these last few months of being pregnant and grow closer to her little spirit. The bad thing is the imminent boredom and the feeling that I'm letting my work team down. Post-Christmas at a retailer as big as mine can be a nightmare and we had a strong plan in place to get the store back to where it should be. I know the team isn't mad at me, but I still feel like I'll need to bring them cookies when I return to work after my maternity leave.
So now, day 1 of bed rest, I'm thinking of a list of things I can do to stay busy. Since I was 16 years old, I've never gone two weeks without working. I've always had a job, and usually a full time one at that. I'm not the type of person that wants to lay around all day (sure, it sounds good but when I go to do it I get bored and agitated quickly.) I've been on some websites that recommend ways to keep your sanity throughout the bed rest. They recommend coming up with a regimen and sticking to it so my day isn't spent floundering and wandering in and out of the kitchen snacking. I'm also lucky because I don't have to stay laying down 24 hours a day, I just can't do anything too strenuous. So since I'm not completely restricted, I have more possibilities of staying entertained.
Today I've made a list of books I want to read, pulled out some puzzles and have reconfigured my Netflix queue. I think one of the hardest things will be getting motivated enough to do my hair and makeup, but I will commit now to not let myself fall apart!
I'm sure I'll be updating this blog more frequently too....so all of you get to enjoy my boredom with me :)

Christmas 2010

What a fantastic Christmas! It was fun, it was exciting, it was perfect. On the 23rd I started to have some cramping and tightening in my pelvis while I was at work, so I called the doctor's office and was told to stay off my feet for two days. It was not easy to do, as I get bored easily, but it ended up being a good thing. I didn't move around much for the rest of the 23rd and most of the 24th until we went to the annual Gates' party at Uncle Kevin and Aunt June's house.
While we were at the party we found out Levi's cousin Enancia is expecting two months after me, which makes me SO happy. Cousins are so important and I hope our little girl and Enancia's baby will be friends. I don't know what I would have done without all my cousins. They're built-in best friends and you get to see them and stay in touch with them your whole life! Now I just need to convince Avery and Chris to start the baby-making process so our girl has another cousin to be best friends with :)
After the first party we headed over to Brad's house to open presents. I love this tradition and it's fun to stay up late with his family while we all open our presents from each other. I had Heather make awesome aprons for Julie, Sevy, Avery, and Levi's mom Maria. We also put together a "Grandpa Toolbox" for Brad and I think he loved it. It was filled with things like bottles, diapers, binkies, backup clothes, baby powder and shampoo, etc.
We left Brad's house after midnight and crashed in bed as soon as we got home. Christmas morning was great! We slept in until 8:30 and woke up my mom to go open presents, just like being a kid again! My mom made her amazing Christmas morning egg and sausage casserole and we opened all our gifts. We all made out like bandits and I'm so grateful to be part of such an amazing family. We got lots of cute stuff for the baby (Levi even got her this Ugly Doll, which I love!)
That afternoon Levi and I had lunch with his sisters at his mom's house and then came home to lounge around for a while. We also went over to Heather's house to see them and the kids. Wilson and Eliza were still on a Christmas High and were excited to show us all their awesome gifts. Later that night my mom made a delicious turkey and we sat around the table telling stories. It was great.
Well, I hope you all had a great holiday and I hope the new year is a time for happiness and prosperity for us all.
Love you!
Carly
Christmas 2010





PS For the record, I tried to put a picture of my mom from Christmas morning on here and was overruled. My mom is gorgeous but doesn't like any pictures of herself. What a shame!!

Bad Cats Part 2

Sometimes when Levi and I go upstairs to go to bed, we notice the room is unusually cold. It feels like the heater isn't working in our room. We've scratched our heads and tried to figure it out until a couple of days ago when we stumbled upon the source of the chilliness. Oliver the cat.

Oliver over the vent:

Oliver ON the vent:

I love how pleased he looks with himself. What a heat miser!
Also, since the cats don't like being in the bassinet at the same time, they've compromised and come up with a great solution: The bunk bed.


But how can I stay mad at these kitties? They are so funny and have made our lives so enjoyable all these years. Just look at Louie sleeping with Levi. He's like a living, breathing stuffed animal!

Ooohh this looks good!

I need to get as many date nights in with Levi as I can! (Actually, Papa Brad will probably be more than happy to watch the little girl while we sneak away for a movie a couple of times a year :))

Bad Cats

My sister Heather served a mission to Winnipeg Manitoba in the 90s and she has stayed best friends with one of her mission companions named Melissa. Melissa is such an amazing person and over the years I've been able to become friends with her too and I'm so glad for this. Melissa was kind enough to donate TONS of baby stuff to us, now that she is done (most likely!) having kids. One of the items we got is a beautiful bassinet. It looks so great in our room and I'm so excited to have a baby in there this spring.
In the meantime, we knew the cats might be interested in it, so we filled it with blankets so any cat hair that did get into it would get caught on the blankets. Good thing we did that because here's what we come home to every day:


Bad Cats!!
They're in for a rude awakening if they try getting in there when the baby is there! (For the record, I don't think they'll try. During the night one of them was in it and the other tried to join him which resulted some hissing. I think having a baby in it will cause them to be completely disinterested. Hopefully!)
Also, Louie has found a new favorite spot to lay. Anyone who sits in the new Ikea chair is treated to some snuggling from that black furball.

Holiday Update 2010

The last three Christmases have been very, um, sparse in the ways of decorations. Levi and I were both too broke and too tired to put in any effort.
This has been the extent of our decorations:

Thank heavens for Grandma Katie! This year, with mom living with us, we have been blessed with all her decorations, plus the motivation to get some of our own and our house is looking more festive and cute than it ever has before! Thank you Mom! (These pictures don't do any justice, because our house now has little Christmas knick knacks everywhere and they are so cute. Santa door knob hangers, wreaths, bells, lights, etc. etc.)


This year we even splurged and got a tree! We didn't think a tree could fit in our little living room, but with a little feng shui we've found it fits perfectly! The smell is heavenly!



I haven't posted any pregnancy pictures on here because it's still too horrifying to me how much weight I've gained. It will be nice when the baby is born to get back on a healthier regiment and taking the baby for long walks every day. Until then, Fatface McGee will have to suffice.

Just about 22 weeks!




One more item: Having my mom here has been great for hilarious stories. Here are two of my recent favorites.
1. My mom told us a story about when she was three and she and my grandparents and her younger siblings Christie and baby Charlie went to a neighbors house for a Christmas party. She remembers Charlie was put on the bed in the other room, probably to sleep, and she got an urge to take his chubby little arm and bite it as hard as she could. She said she remembers that it felt REALLY good to bite it! Poor little Charlie woke up crying and it wasn't until later that night that my Grandma found the little bite marks on his arm. Glad to know that a little sibling rivalry hasn't stopped those two from being super close. Uncle Charlie is the best!
2. My mom's legs have been hurting lately and I suggested she use my electronic back massager on them. It worked great the first night and she was so excited she proclaimed to Levi, "Carly gave me her vibrator yesterday and it made my legs feel awesome!" Levi almost spit out his drink as I quickly explained that it was a back massager, not a vibrator......Yikes!

Well, I hope everyone is having an amazing holiday season. Only 19 more days to go!

Thanksgiving and more.

The carnage.
What an amazing Thanksgiving! Amazing food, great company and good times. The food was so good, in fact, that I can't find a single good picture of us where we don't all look sweaty and bloated. The last thing we need is another famous fatty Thanksgiving picture floating around, like the one taken in 1995. Ugh. That picture will forever live in infamy.
Anyway, Levi & I were lucky enough to enjoy two Thanksgivings. We first went to his aunt's house for the Gates' annual Thanksgiving feast, followed by a second feast at Heather's house a few hours later. Surprisingly, we weren't too full and enjoyed the food at the second dinner as much as the first. This year I took the five layered Jello-Ice Cream dish over to the Gates' family dinner and they loved it. I'm glad they could be turned on to the goodness of that Utah dish! Funeral Potatoes might be the next step :)

Levi & Sevy at the first dinner.


Before we ate at Heather's house. Isn't her house great?

After dinner, Mom, Levi, Sevy and I went to Harry Potter 7 at the Downtown Edwards. Oddly enough, the theater wasn't packed this year. We almost always go to a movie on Thanksgiving and it's usually super crowded. Must have been the crappy weather. The movie was fantastic and I can't wait for the second one to come out next summer!

At the movies.

Today Levi and I (mostly Levi) put together the baby's crib and a few other pieces. It's so fun to walk past the future nursery and see the crib. I can't believe she's going to be here in just a few (okay, four) months! We found an adorably soft baby bunny stuffed animal at Anthropology and scored another great baby outfit at Kid to Kid. I also ordered a cute pair of infant shoes on ebay and they are about the most precious things I've ever seen!





Well, I need to go lay down. Strangely enough, I find myself more tired this trimester than any point in my first trimester. What's the deal??

PS It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house and I'm so excited! This is the first time in years that I'm actually looking forward to it and want the house decorated and Frank Sinatra Christmas music playing all the time! What are your favorite Christmas songs? Mine are "O Holy Night" "What Child is This?" and "Silent Night" because I've never heard a bad version of any of them. They all make me well up with tears.

Girlie Girl.

(I think I'm gonna like shopping for a little girl! $4.99 bargain from Kid-to-Kid!)

It's official: We're having a little girl!
Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound which confirmed what I already knew. I never once, not even for a second, thought we were having a boy. It was so neat to see our little girl, cuddled up with her bum in the air, covering her face with her hands, looking as snug as a bug in a rug. What a little cutie!
We were lucky enough to have lots of family there with us. My mom, Levi's dad and stepmom and Heather and Eliza joined us, but unfortunately Heather and Eliza had to wait in the waiting room. I was told that up to eight people could join us in the room, so we invited everyone and it turns out they only let four people in at a time. So ridiculous and it was very frustrating to know that Heather and Eliza were probably dying of boredom in that stupid waiting room. I'm so sorry, Heather! It means the world to me that you were there and I'm sorry the doc's office screwed up!
It's been so surreal to know what we're having. Saying "she" when referring to the baby has been so exciting and I've already started window shopping for cute nursery stuff (I'm thinking a red & white theme with damask bedding...we'll see!)
I have just been smiling all day today and I can't believe how incredible this experience has been. I'm so antsy for this little girl to join us and she will be the most loved baby this world has ever seen!

Check out these cute boots Levi's stepmom already bought for her. Squeal!!

Thank You

As we approach our five month ultrasound and are about to learn what gender our wild little baby is, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I NEVER thought I'd make it this far in a pregnancy. Th idea of feeling a baby move around inside me was as much of a possibility as, say, learning to fly a UFO. In short, making it this far along is only due to the faith, prayers and positive vibes of all those who were rooting for Levi and me.
The outpouring of love we experienced when we realized we had fertility issues was unreal. I always knew that people cared about us, in the sense that family and friends always care about their loved ones, but what we felt was much more beyond that. When we were doing our fundraising with the homemade bookmarks, I had dozens of requests for them from our family and friends and we were able to pay our fertility clinic bill outright. The fact that people were so willing to help us and send a kind word our way is something our baby will know all about, we'll make sure the baby understands how many people were cheering for him/her to come to earth and join our family.
This baby being conceived after we had given up on all fertility options and stopped taking all fertility medications is, of course, hilarious, but also a testament that now is the time we have been chosen to have a little spirit join us. Levi and I couldn't even celebrate properly the first three months, we were so scared of another miscarriage, but I now see that everything happens for a reason and we are finally meant to become parents.
Thank you to everyone who ever said a kind word, included us in their prayers and offered unconditional love and support throughout our trials. It will never be forgotten and it will always be an example of hope and charity.
We love you all!!

Love,
Carly, Levi and Wild Baby Gates

Halloween, etc.

Wow, it's been a little while since I last blogged. I feel like, since everyone who reads this is on Facebook, that I end up repeating myself often. All the Halloween photos I have are photos that have already been on Facebook, so I'm not sure if it's repetitive to put them up here. Hmmmmm.
Anyway, Halloween was an absolute blast. Levi and I have always wanted to create the cannibal pumpkins that we've seen on websites so this year we buckled down, spent about $30 on pumpkins and created two of the meanest pumpkins man has ever seen!



On the night of the 30th, we hosted a Halloween party at our home. The Gates clan (Brad, Julie, Seth, Sevy, Avery and Chris) and Heather and her cute family came over and we ate chili, potato cheese soup, pumpkin muffins, cupcakes, witches' brew, sugar cookies and more. It was a nice gathering and I'm always in awe of what an amazing family I was born into and what an amazing family I married into.
We watched a scary movie that night (A Spanish horror movie called The Orphanage, perfectly creepy Hitchcockian tale) and then said goodbye to everyone and went to bed. I was worn out!


Levi was a hipster idiot. We have throngs of men who dress like this in Boise.






This fall in Boise has been beautiful. The geese are out, the leaves are changing and the weather hasn't been too bad (yet). I went to a BSU game with some of my coworkers and had a great time.



Everything with the baby has been great. I feel great, just tired sometimes, and I'm still in awe that I'm almost 4.5 months along! Our ultrasound is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and hopefully they'll be able to see what gender the little Boise spud is! I'm 99% sure it's a girl, but we'll see.
Having my mom up here has been great. We hang out on my day's off and our house just feels better having her here. She's so funny and I find everything is less stressful with her around.
Levi has been busy at work and has had plenty of honey-do projects around the house. Our house is 30 years old and is starting to show it's age. We're excited to get the backyard back to life this spring. We found a new home for Morty so we are now dogless. It's a little lonely without them, but it's the right decision.
Well, I better get moving today. The only thing we've done since waking up this morning is drive to get donuts and then surf the web. Nice day off!

Post 262

(For some reason, the spell check doesn't work on this laptop, so please forgive any gross spelling errors!)
Wow, these last couple weeks at work have been insane. We are doing more and more with less and less. I'm sure every retailer in the nation has been hit by the recession, but, man, it is exhausting to try to do the work of three people. I can only hope that the economy bounces back soon and I can find my sanity, which I think I left somewhere near the Cultural Studies section.
Other than work, things have been great. My sister Heather had a hysterectomy last Friday and has bounced back beautifully. She even came to visit me at work yesterday! The benefit of working somewhere like B&N is that people actually want to come see you at work. Anyway, Heather has done a great job following doctor's orders and I'm so excited for her to be healed and healthy!
The pregnancy is great, from what I can tell. I was feeling depressed about my clothing situation so my mom took me to Motherhood and she helped me stock up on some essentials. I got three shirts and one skirt and I finally feel ready to face the impending weight gain. This in-between stage sucks, not quite showing, but definitely looking heavier. I should have stolen the fake baby bump from Motherhood until the real one appears :)I have an appointment on Monday and then a few weeks after that we will find out the gender. So excited!
Well, I'm off to do some crosswords in the bathtub. It's the little things that make life great :)

Letters from Angels.

If you ever need your day to be a little brighter, have Sydney, Kate or Rachel send you a card. We got these gems in the mail last week and we haven't stopped laughing about them.


The bottom part reads: "P.S. We're coming up sometime this month year." My favorite part is the "I hope you have a great time without us." She's such a doll!

"Dere Grama Katie Thank you for the munee. Love Kate"




"Dere Gramo I Hope you have a gode day at Boysee. Love Sydney."


(This one was to me) "I hope you carray your baby Love Sydney"