Now for some happy news

First, I'm still on bedrest but things look good. I haven't dilated any further and I'm only having 2 contractions an hour or so- which is a lot, but not enough to scare the doctor. I'm continuing to work fulltime, which keeps me busy and not too lonely feeling. And kenny has been a saint.
On to the big news: Kenny got a promotion, so to speak. Up until now, he's been doing his mandatory student teaching, meaning we're paying THEM to let him teach. The plan was for him to continue through mid april, then get certified/graduate and start teaching in the fall.
A couple weeks ago (BEFORE the hospital incident and our finances falling apart) his principal suggested seeing if he cna't certify early. they've been really impressed with him and want him to be a real teacher now, so the principal was gonna try to pull some strings to speed up the process. BYU is usually as stickler about such things and we had low hopes. Well, we found out late last week that somehow we broke the system and they're letting him certify early.
Soo.... as of Friday of this week, Kenny gets his own classroom to teach AND he gets paid for it! He's technically an "intern" and they'll be paying him the same that they'd pay a substitute teacher. Better yet, he no longer needs to tutor after school so he can come home at 3 every day instead of 6:30... great for his lonely bedridden wife. He'll be teaching Algebra 1+2 and pre-calc. Next year he's lined up to teach just algebra.
Really, I feel very blessed. God knew we'd need this money and that things were going to get harder before they get better, so he provided for us another way. Hooray for my amazing husband and for our many blessings.

The Short Version of the Story, plus an update

For those who don't know, I went into the hospital thursday evening for pre-term labor. I'll post the big long story as soon as I get around to writing it. It probably sounds worse than it is, though: they managed to stop the contractions with little harm done, then kept me around to make sure there weren't any more problems. They had me on Magnesium Sulfate for the first 36 hours in the hospital and it made me pretty wretched but it stopped the contractions. Ever since they took me off it, I've felt pretty good.
So, we are back from the hospital. They took me off the magnesium sulfate Saturday morning and just observed me all day Saturday. I was still having a few contractions but not enough to worry anyone. The baby is completely ok, with a healthy heartbeat and plenty of room to move around still. We had an ultrasound- he measured almost three weeks early, moving my due date up from May 20th to May 5th.
My current orders are complete bedrest, with bathroom privileges only. I am allowed to sit up, however, so that's nice. Being able to go to the bathroom on my own seems like a huge wonderful blessing, so I guess I'll be happy with that for now.
The doctor that was on-call (not my own doc) told me to get scheduled for an appt with my own OB tomorrow to discuss the more long term plan, so I can't tell you what it looks like until I've talked to her.

For the record, Kenny has been wonderful. He handled all the hospital-ness wonderfully and has been a wonderful help.

Pictures!

Alright, here's the latest batch of pics. First, we went to the park with Kevin and family last weekend and met a Nutria. Apparently it's like a beaver/rat... and it's huge! Check this out:

The nutria is as big as that goose! HE was fearless, too- he got within 8 feet or so of us and the puppy. Then Kenny got Lucy to pose for the camera:

Saturday I got a hair cut- nothing fancy or too different. In truth it's not much shorter and I doubt anyone would notice is, but my goodness did I lose a lot of hair! She "thinned it out" significantly... she just kept saying "my goodness, there's just so much of it!". It's true. I've got (or had) some thick hair. Maybe now I'll stop breaking my hair bands. After the haircut we got all dressed up for our fancy date. I wore my homecoming dress from 9th grade- that was 9 years ago! It's black velvet and stretchy enough that my belly (while it may have looked silly) still fit decently. Here I am trying it on:

And Kenny and I- isn't he handsome? (Sorry the quality stinks, the flash from the camera reflected off the counter we had set it up on)

We went to the Aquarium for dinner- the food was mediocre for the price, but it was a fun experience. Our table was right next to this tank:

Other pics are on my web album.

This is true love

I'm such a lucky lucky girl. I realize more and more each day how lucky I am to have the husband that I do.
Honestly, I'm so happy that God realized what a great pair Kenny and I would make, since it isn't something I saw myself at first (well, back freshman year). I am 100% content knowing that Kenny is the love of my life and that we get to grow old together.
For valentine's day, we decided to not celebrate til the weekend. Despite those plans, kenny came home yesterday with some potted hydrangeas (my fave) and some lindt chocolate truffles for me. We then had a candlelit dinner with Martinellis, he gave me a wonderful full body massage, then we took a long and wonderful bath together (hooray for a big bathtub! sorry if that''s TMI). We followed the whole thing up by taking turns rubbing my tummy and talking to our son, who was obviously responding to our touch.
Honestly, it was the most romantic evening I've had since our honeymoon, and it was completely unexpected. I love that he can make me feel loved and special and sexy, even when I'm 6 months pregnant, whiny, hormonal and needy. I love that I never feel judged. I love what a hard worker he is- he is blowing them away at his work/school. I love that he's not ashamed to still be a kid sometimes (just like me). I love that he needs me, and I need him. I love that he's just as cuddly as I am, if not more so. I love what a great puppy-daddy he is and I'm excited that he'll be the father of my children.
I love his hair, his eyes, his eyelashes, his nose... In short, I've got the perfect man to be my husband. What a great valentines day (and we still haven't gone on our date!)

Some House Pictures, finally

Alright, alright. I've lived here a month and a half and still no pictures. Sorry. So today I made it my goal to make at least a few rooms acceptable enough to be picture-able, albeit with our mediocre camera.
Click the welcome gnome to go to the web album:

I also took some new belly pics the other day. Note the growth between 2 weeks ago and two days ago:

Product Endorsements

I've recently discovered some new things I really like, and thought I would share.

Lifesavers Orange Mints
Apparently this new flavor came out in 2006, and it is delicious. Like a giant orange tictac, without the candy shell. I decided to try them the other night at the grocery store and I'm now addicted.


Raisin Bran Crunch
Lori was giving me a hard time the other day about how all my cereals (which I eat non-stop) are sugar-coated and unhealthy. So I decided to try something new. I'm pretty sure it's still sugar-coated, but I can pretend it's healthy. If you like the idea of raisin bran but hate how it gets soggy, then this cereal is for you.

Lamb
This is a hard one for me to post, since I'm pretty sure it would be offensive to at least half of my blog readers. My Aunt once recommended this book to me- the story of the life of Christ as told by his best friend, Levi (called Biff). I loved it- it was hilarious, and it made me think long and hard about Christ as a human being. However, it's definitely a little outside of the box... if you were offended by Monty Python's Life of Brian, this book is not for you. If thinking of Jesus doing typical teenage boy stuff (swearing, curious about sex, initially unsure of his divinity...) offends you, then don't read this! Mormons are definitely not the intended audience, but I think it can do us some good to think about Christ's real day-to-day life, his sense of humor, and his ability to love sinners. That, and it was the funniest thing I've read in ages.

That's all I got for now.

Working from home

Working from home has been easier and harder than I thought it would be. Here's the standard day:
We wake up at 5:30. I keep kenny pseudo-company while he gets ready, then he leaves at 6 am. I roll over and go back to sleep until 8:30. I get up, shower, take the puppy out, feed her, then eat some cereal. 9 am, I'm in my chair upstairs, "working" (though the first half hour of every day is spent catching up on blogs and forums and news). Over the course of the day I take clients calls while silently eating carrots, yogurt, oatmeal, frozen pizza and/or maybe another helping of cereal (I'm honestly polishing off a malt-o-meal bag every other day or so).
Note, while Kenny is gone I have no car. It's just me and Lucy.
I quit working at 5 pm and go back to forums and blogs and such. Kenny comes home at 6 or 6:30, at which point I attack him and won't let him leave my sight because he is the only human I have contact with. We cook dinner together, maybe go shopping (mostly so I can get out of the house- we don't really buy stuff most the time), watch either Friends or Firefly on DVD, then go to sleep around 9:30 pm. It's a thrilling existence.

I was anticipating not being able to focus. I think it's pretty undebatable that I am a naturally unmotivated worker. But I'd say I focus better at home than I did in the office. My mondays are always really hard for me to get going now, but I've been billing more client hours in Texas per week then I ever did in Utah.
What's difficult is the loneliness. If Lori or Becky isn't online to IM with me, I go crazy. All my social interaction comes through IM. Note: if you ever see me on IM and think it'd be nice to chat, go for it! If I'm not on the phone with a client (and sometimes when I am), I'm always up for virtual company.

I just realized I haven't left the house since church on Sunday, aside from walking Lucy to the mailbox right now. Maybe tonight we'll stir things up and go to Target for fun.

Random pic- Kenny and I at Butchart gardens on our honeymoon. Apparently I was pretty thin when we got married:

Amendment

I need to make an amendment to my post from earlier today. I must add to the list of things I am looking forward to: THE PUPPY BOWL!
That's right. Each year, millions gather around their TV for the biggest football game of the year. We gather around our TV to watch puppies play in a fake miniature football field. That's really all there is to it, unless you count the kitten half-time show.
Sadly, I'm very serious. Kenny and I have looked forward to this for over a month. Last year, Kenny went into it with low expectations, but I think he's the biggest fan yet. Before you knock it, flip to the Animal Planet during a superbowl commercial break and tell me you don't just adore the puppies. It'll be on all day.

Getting to know me...

I saw this on both Jolayne and Anna Rose's blogs and thought it might be fun:

Four Jobs I've Had (I added more than four)
1. Carousel worker
2. Old Navy Holiday Sales Rep (*shudder*)
3. File clerk at a doctors office
4. Receptionist
5. HTML programmer
6. Web Analytics Consultant

Four Places I Have Lived
1. Vancouver, WA
2. Provo, UT
3. Paris, France
4. Houston, TX

Four Things I Dislike
1. Bad grammar
2. Students not answering obvious questions in a classroom setting (ie, sunday school)
3. Loud sounds/bright lights (ie, rock concerts make me freak out)
4. Dramas on TV

Four TV Shows I Like to Watch (though we have yet to turn on the TV since we got cable installed a month ago)
1. The Office
2. Mythbusters
3. Dirty Jobs
4. Anything on Animal Planet

Four People Who Email/IM Me Regularly
1. Lori
2. Becky
3. Coworker Jeff
4. Kenny

Four Favorite Foods
1. Cold Cereal
2. Cake decorations :)
3. Crepes
4. Dip'n Dots

Four Places I'd Rather Be
1. In bed
2. Anywhere in Europe
3. Swimming (or floundering, whatever you call it)
4. Hiking (leisurely)

Four Things I Look Forward to
1. Having a baby!
2. Kenny's graduation (essentially effective April 11)
3. Quitting my job (a long LONG time from now:()
4. Love day (combo of valentines day/propose-iversary)

Random pic- the view from my apartment in Paris (July, 2005):