Christmas in Utah - Part One -

For Christmas 2011, after living in Utah since April, we decided it would be a good time and reason to go visit my family and Justin's Aunt & Uncle. We had our own little celebration with Dad and Mom Furnell before we left. It consisted of dinner at Colton's Steakhouse and gifts after. Dad and Mom Furnell also opted to watch our furry children while we were gone, so Sadie spent her first night at their house on December 23. We took Suki over early on Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Eve was a busy day! After dropping Suki off, we drove to Kansas City for the Furnell family Christmas Party. At about 1:30 PM, we left the party and scooted over to the Kansas City International Airport to catch our 3:00 PM flight to Denver. Upon Arriving, we learned that they had called our names fifteen minutes earlier to upgrade us to a non-stop flight from KCI to SLC. Oh well, we still made our flight and we made it to Denver safely. 

If any of you know me well, you know that I am afraid of planes. I was born on the ground and that is where I want to stay! Not knowing what the weather would be like, we decided to fly any way. The flight on Christmas Eve from KCI to Denver was quite turbulent. Dropping several feet in the air is not a fun feeling for me! 

We reached the Denver airport on time, and we discovered that our flight to Salt Lake was 75 gates from where we arrived. So after making the hike across the Denver airport, I was relieved to sit and wait for our flight. The flight from DEN to SLC was much quieter, smoother, and overall awesome! We even left DEN

10 minutes late and arrived in SLC 30 Minutes early. 

Christmas Eve was a record flying day, in my opinion, for children under five and lap dogs (chihuahuas, yorkies,and other small mixes.) We only waited ten minutes at the terminal pick-up for my mom, sister, and brother to arrive to pick us up. Dinner consisted of our traditional Pizza, Cottage Cheese, Eggnog, and Green Salad.

More excitement coming up!

OH YEAH! The ultrasound revealed a little BOY! We announced it to our parents, Dec 23, 24, and 25.

ER Visits

Many of you, have probably already read my posts on Facebook regarding my recent trip to the Emergency Room. Those that haven't, I'm okay. We were at a family party in Columbia, MO, Sunday, when I started to get a pain in my back. Within 15 minutes the pain was so strong that I had to walk away from dinner and Justin and I went to the nearest Women's and Children's Hospital.

The pain got progressively worse because I was forced to lie down. They didn't perform an ultrasound, probably because I wasn't spotting and there was no abdominal pain. However, they did take my blood pressure, pulse and checked the baby's heart rate as well. After two hours of excruciating pain and being prodded at, they brought in the Resident OB who diagnosed me with a pinched nerve. I was sent home with 1000 mg of Tylenol in my system and a prescription for Flexeril, a muscle relaxer. The Tylenol never took effect so the hour long ride home was excruciating.

Upon arriving home, I asked Justin for a blessing and Dad Furnell was able to come assist. I had to keep telling myself to relax all night because of the pain. Most of the night I was trying to sleep while sitting up and leaning over two pillows to take the pain away. My wonderful husband was only able to get about two hours of good sleep Sunday night. Monday came and I called the my doctor to let her know what happened and how I was feeling. She thought that it might be a kidney stone, but had me take some Ibuprofen to see if it would take away the pain. Ibuprofen was the key! It has become my best friend!

I am so grateful to all the people who have been watching over me and attending to my every need. I am very grateful to be married to a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder who has the authority to give me blessings in times of need. In the blessing Sunday night, I was told that this is not a major complication and that I will recover in time. So, that is why, when the pain got worse, I knew not to go to the ER again, and that Heavenly Father is watching over me.

Today was the 20 week ultrasound. We were excited to hopefully know the gender of the baby, however, the baby was stubborn and would not flip itself over. It was fun watching it punch my stomach and stretch its legs a little. My placenta is still healthy and it is anterior. That is why I didn't feel the punches, just had fun watching. We will be going back on Thursday to have get the measurements and gender if baby is cooperative!

Its the Most Wonderful Time...

So lately you have read my posts about the baby, today I want you all to know that the Doppler was successful! The baby is still growing, and my belly is definitely getting bigger.

From now on, this post will be about the holidays and the importance of family. This Christmas, Justin and I have our own house to decorate, and our own presents to wrap, and two furry daughters to love and celebrate (and the baby on the way!) However, with all of these wonderful things happening in our life, we have managed to set up the tree. Yes... That is our only Christmas decoration up. A tree, no ornaments, no lights, just a tree. At night, our house is just a house on the side of the street. Dark on the outside, no lights from a tree inside to light it up. It's safe to say that we are hermits this holiday!

Life has been so busy! However, we are finding time to attend family gatherings, discuss future events, and to show love to our two furry daughters. This Christmas, I get to go to Utah (if all goes well at the appointment on Dec 20th), I will get to see my family for the first time since April. My little brother is grown up from the little 7 lb baby I saw before we moved. I get to eat food I'm used to. I get to visit my favorite restaurants, and fill all my cravings (especially the burritos from Cafe Rio!) But most of all, I get spend some time as a mom-to-be, with my mom. And maybe my dad can give Justin some pointers on pregnant women!