Becoming a........

This just in, breaking news on the King home front. This past Thursday we had the big appointment with the OBGYN. Its kind of funny the whole pregnancy thing, there are a few big moments before the baby actually comes. The first time you find out you're pregnant, when you start to show, and then when you find out what it is. Its a big day if not for the fact that you get to start calling them a he or a she and not an it. We have a great doctor, his office staff is awesome, the only problem is he doesn't have the biggest office in the world. You throw in a family with five kids under the age of 11, things can get a little hairy. This is the exact situation we found ourselves in as we walked in. As we sat down I looked over at Jody right when the kids started to overturn the furniture and thought, "Do we really want to have this thing?"
After another scolding look from my wife, it was our turn to go in. I have to give props to our doctor, he grabbed that ultrasound mouse thingy, whipped out the gel and started to go to town on Jody's belly. Pretty soon a blob appeared on screen, that's always the coolest things to see. This little baby just chilling out, relaxing all cool. The doc started to go through all of its body parts, making sure everything was in the right place, no extra toes coming out of their head or anything like that. Thankfully our baby is perfectly healthy. Once he was done he got the ultrasound machine ready to take pictures and said,"all right lets do this, lets find out what this thing is!"
I really don't know what to expect when we would find out. We both talked about how we really didn't care what we were having just that they were healthy. Also it was kind of strange to be staring at a video screen trying to see our babies unmentionables. But we finally got our baby to corporate and were having a little baby girl. Were pretty excited not just to be having a girl but now we can narrow down our names. I swear that's all we talk about but have no idea what we want to name her. So I will be adding a poll so you can vote for one of our favorite names (don't be shy to add in a few of your favs as well). We have some pictures from the doctor so here they are:

UPDATE TIME!

Hello Friends. Yes indeed it has been quite awhile since i have last posted. It is so aweful that i procrastinate so much because so much happens and then my posts are FOREVER long.

Anyway back to the purpose of my post. Ty and I are doing great! Ty is loving school although senior-itis has begun to set in for him. He is so good, I think i had senioritis when i was a freshman!! Good thing he wants to be in school for the rest of his working life, since he wants to be a professor. What a good man. All i can say is i PLEAD for our children to get most of his traits. He is so honest, he loves school, he is a great student, he doesnt have one mean bone in his body, he is just so mild mannered and easy to get along with. What a great person he is!!

Pregnancy life is pretty good. No complaints here. Well other then I get the most WICKED headaches. But its really cool now because I am starting to feel the baby move! I was thinking at around 14-15 weeks that maybe i could feel something fishy going on in there, but i was just never sure. But I am thinking for sure it is little baby movements. We are pretty excited to find out what we are having, we get to find out Nov. 5 so like 3 more weeks and we can start call "it", he or she!! I have a strong feel it is a girl, but who really knows. I am now 17 weeks along and I cant believe how fast it has gone. I am ALMOST half way through this pregnancy, ALREADY?!! I am really debating on if i should put a baby countdown thing on our blog. I think it is fun when i see other peoples blog and see how far along they are but i am afraid i will look at it everyday and it will drive me crazy to find just how much longer we actually have to go.

I guess I will post a few pics of my ever growing belly. I seriously dont think I should be THIS big already (esp since I saw mindy's pic of her preg belly today and she is TINY!, Not to mention that she is almost a month ahead of me) Anyway, here goes nothin.

This is around 9 weeks or so
I think this is at 11 weeks (I try to take pics every two weeks or so)

This is 13 weeks

This is at 15 weeks (already huge)And finally, this is today. 17 weeks along. Holy crap, I think I am having twins or something!!! I just hope it is starting to look like a pregnant belly instead of a beer belly (not that i drink). One day when i was about 14 weeks or so I was buying some maternity jeans at JC Penney and the cashier said "well you aren't pregnant are you?" And i said " ya, I am, Im not showing that much yet, im only 14 wks" she then replied "oh, you just look like you have gained weight". SHE SERIOUSLY SAID THAT!!! Honestly, in what senario would make that ok to say to someone? So hopefully, look like i am carrying something of value other than extra twinkies and dorito's some people may think is only in there!!

We three Kings

So from my last post if any of you were concerned for my health, everything is ok. I went to the Dr and they did confirm that IM PREGNANT!!! We have known just over a month, but yesterday was my first appt and we actually heard the heartbeat!! The Dr didnt think we would be able to because I am not that far enough along, but sure enough, it was there and suprised me and Tyler. Man I tell you, it puts everything into perspective when you actually KNOW there is someone growing inside of you, it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. So here is the run down:
I am currently 9 weeks along. That puts my due date March 30 (my good friend Kathryns b-day!). It seems like FOREVER away, but i hear the time goes by fast. I have been feeling great, a little tired and a little moody but not much nausea at all (THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER!!). I swear, that was my #1 worry about having a baby; it wasn't the possible hours of agonizing child birth, the eternities of comittment; the financial struggles; the fact that this child is SOLELY dependant on Tyler and I; no, it was the fact that I could struggle with morning sickness. I cant tell you the stress I had over that one. But hopefully I will miss it all together (I pray for it everyday) Other than that, things are great. We are really excited and nervous!!

much going on!!!

Well hello there. I dont know why everytime i start out my posts i feel the need to say hello, and then i procede to say how long its been since our last post and that i will try to do better. But today i shall just stat out by saying HELLO! Ha

Well much has taken place since Ty's post i do have to say! First off, i chopped my hair!!! Ok may not CHOPPED but i cut it to just below my chin exactly one month ago. I am so glad i did it. Now i just need to get a trim, it's grown probably an inch (i'm not even kidding) since then. Pretty exciting.

It seems as though we are gone every weekend. Our ward thinks we are inactive i think. We do feel bad about that, because we do have important responsibilities to fulfull. But the things we have been doing are:

Babysitting in Gunnison for a weekend

Logan

Bear Lake

Jackson

Family BBQ's

4th of July fun

24th of July fun

Hanging out with friends and family

I swear there have been more things, but Ty isn't here for me to ask about them. Also we are still in the quest for grad schools, but we will be in that quest for quite some time. We still havent' really narrowed any down yet. Who knows!? But i do have to say Ty is a TROOPER. He studies for the G.R.E. EVERY SINGLE DAY. Today he told me "I am actually getting more questions right than i am wrong!" Which is a pretty big step since he hasn't taken that kind of math in like 6 years. I just love that kid!!! And i finally took the plunge and starting taking guitar lessons!!! I am very excited for this. I have been wanting to play for years, but i just dont have the gumption/talent to teach myself. It is SOOO nice because it is at Summerhays Music in Orem, which is like 1/2 block away from work and my lesson is at 5, so its basically on my way home, SO CONVENIENT!!!

As for now, i am going to post some pictures of our adventures. Oh ya, its been kinda weird lately. I have been feeling different. Lately a little queazy, headaches, moodiness and very tired! Strange! Hum, oh well

My cuty-patooty niece Lauren

The crew (Mandi and Chad were there too) at Jackson. And yes, Blake is wearing ONESIES

The beautiful and wonderous Teton mountains

Ty and I before our 1 1/2 mile hike around Jenny Lake, the hike sign LIED it was more like 5 1/2 miles!!!!

Our first little friend we ran in to. Well he is OUR friend but you can obviously see what he thinks of us!!


Our second friend we ran into, I have no idea what he is eating but he really was THAT close and didn't even flinch at us!!

Mine and Ty's future family vehicle

The Quest for Graduate School

Hello to one and all! I figure jody does a lot of the blogging in the family so I figured it was time that I start lifting my weight when it comes to that department. So the goal of this post is to let all those that care have an inside look into where, when, and the why of graduate school. It seems crazy but after six years of school and mission I will finally graduate from BYU this December.
Its pretty sad, this past weekend was new Student Orientation and is it me or do incoming freshman seem to get younger every year!?!? It was pretty funny, I was on campus today getting my hair cut and groups of freshman kept coming by the barbershop, just staring at me. It made me nervous because I didn't know if the lady was giving me a bad haircut or something! I started thinking and lets see these kids or 17 or 18 that means that when I was freshman way back in the Summer of 2003, they were 11 or 12 years old, that just was so crazy to me, but I digress from the purpose of this post.
It seems like for the past six months we've been looking at graduate schools, trying to figure out which one is the best for us. The game plan is to go on get the masters, then PHD and hopefully become an American History professor someday. To do that requires years of school, the exact number I really don't want to think about! After months of research and hours of searching on the Internet, I think we have finally narrowed it down to a few schools. At first we didn't really care where, as long it was some place cool and not Indiana ( I think I told Jody too many horror stories from the mission to convince her to move to Indiana!) Schools like George Mason in Virginia and the University of Florida in Gainsville both had the emphasis we needed but they were too expensive. Just to move out there would in the thousands of dollars range but maybe someday we'll have a huge move like that. We narrowed the group of schools to West/ Southwest so here it goes the positives and negatives of each school.
1. Arizona State University-Tempe
Positives: For one Phx is a great city with pretty nice weather if you don't mind the 115 degree days. It's a big school so it has the library size and rep you need to make it in the academic world. Since I went to High School there we would know a lot of people and we also have family there so that makes it nice.
Negative: Its pretty much over a 100 from may until October which can get pretty annoying.
2. Unviersity of Arizona:
Positive:They focus on Social and Cultural history which is what I want to do and its also a PAC 10 school so they would have everything I would need.
Negative: Tuscon is nice but I hear some parts our kind of ghetto and there's not much going on, so I hear. They also do a lot of with Western History and Mexican history which is cool but not really my thing.
3. San Diego State University
Postivie: Its freaking San Diego, what's not to like, we went there on our Honeymoon and we loved it. They also focus on Social and Cultural history which is great.
Negative: Its San Diego which means it would cost an arm and a leg to live there which means we would have to start selling black market kidneys or crack to survive.
4. The University of Utah
Positive: Its close, we wouldn't have to move very far, if we even moved at all, I think I would be tempted just to stay in Provo and take the bus the two times a week I would have class. They also have a professor who does sports history which is what I want to do when school is all said and done. And it would be cheap because we would get instate tutition.
Negative: Its Utah, I've spent my whole life bleeding Blue and it feels like it would be the ultimate betryal if we went to Utah. Also it would be kind of anti climatic to just move to SLC but you can't be choosey when it comes to grad school, if you get in you go!
5. Utah State
Positive: Again, its in Utah so its cheap and we might even just move in to my brothers condo when they move. They have a good history program with some solid professors and it wouldn't feel as bad as going to Utah when it comes to sports and rivalries even though they hate BYU with a passion.
Negative: Its Logan, not a whole lot going on. They also do more west and environmental history, i'm all about going green but it just sounds kind of boring.
6. Texas A&M
Postitive: Its a good school with tons of research materials, and from what I can tell College Station seems like a really nice town. Another positive thing is that the studnet body is a little more on the conservative side which is rare and would make grad school a little easier when it comes to picking topics to research.
Negative: I still don't know a whole lot about it and its pretty far away but Texas is awesome so it wouldn't be too bad.
7. University of Texas
Positive: Its ranked in the top 20 and its UT so it has major academic street cred. And I here Austin is a pretty sweet place to live.
Negative: I really have no chance of getting in, thanks to Stats and Nutrition 100 my GPA took a hit and I'm going to have to retake them this fall.
There are a few other schools were thinking about but they're still in the early stages of figuring out, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions just let us know!

I need some serious advice!!

Ok not REALLY searious, but something has been plaguing my brain for at least a year. You see, a woman is defined by so many things in her life, her personality, religion, her associations ect. ect. Those things are very important indeed. And the choices we make in life that involve those things previously spoken of gravely affect your life. These decisions i can make. The decision to marry Ty, was CAKE; the descision to have kids and when, easy peasy! Buts its these unimportant, trivial, non life changing decisions that rock me to the core!! It takes the waitress at least three trys to actually get our order! So here is my question to pose to you. WHAT THE CRAP DO I DO WITH MY HAIR!!! I have been wondering, short, long, medium? What color? I have had my natural color for a couple of years. Here are some pictures and I shall throw out here and it will be up to YOU America. This ever important choice is now on your shoulders...Dont do me wrong!

Short?

(p.s. i have had much shorter hair, but i couldnt find a pic)

Medium?

Long?

Should I leave it brown? Add anything to it? Too hard!! I just.... can't... do it!!!!!

Whirl wind adventures

So i know, it has been a while and we have a TON to update about. So i will shortly get you all up to speed on our lives.
I turned the big 2-4 on April 10! Man I havent really ever thought about being 24 before, but here i am, livin' the dream. Ty was so cute. He fooled me in to thinking he wasnt going to do anything special for me and he ran off to work before i even woke up :( But then I walked into the bathroom and he wrote me a cute message on our huge mirror saying how much he loves me. Then I go into the kitchen and on the counter was a bouquet of tulips (my fav) and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (also one of my favs) and a Martha Stewart magazine. SO CUTE!!. Then I suprised him and came home early and found him baking me my favorite cake (german chocolate). And for Ty to be cooking... Lets just say, thats a BIG deal. It tasted wonderful. He also got me a new pair of jeans, a shirt and a wallet. It was a great birthday!!

Ty had finals finally!!! He did GREAT in his classes, i am so proud of him! Now he is working full time until the fall when he goes back to school.

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on May 2. How grateful I am to be married to my best friend. I feel so happy to know that our relationship and our love for each other grows everyday. I could never imagine before I met Ty that I would ever feel this way. Words cant explain how much I love him!!

The same day we had our anniversary we took a road trip to Cali. Interesting things that took place on our trip:

• We had to replace ALL 4 tires and alignment the day before costing us almost $600.00
• On our drive down in the middle of NO WHERE we saw a random couple riding a dirt bike 100% BUCK NAKED!!!! (can you just imagine if they wrecked, OUCH!)
• Our hotel was a smoking room, the AC didnt really work, there was a spider and a spider webs in our bathroom, the bedside lamps didnt work, if you touched the carpet with your bare skin, im pretty sure your skin would dissinegrate (however you spell that) and oh ya, did i mention we had two seperate beds?!!! What a romantic get-away huh
• We went to tide pools at laguna beach. AWESOME!!!
• We saw a heard (a pack, school, bunch, i.e.) of dolphins really close to the shore and a few times they actually JUMPED out of the water. WAY AWESOME!!!
• Disneyland/Cali Adventure for 2 days
• We left like 10 shirts at the scary hotel :( Luckily we called them and they actually shipped them to us really fast... Still smelled like smoke.

Fun times!!! Now we are back home. We did take our camera and i will post some pics soon of our vaca. As for now, TTFN!!