twin boys!!

i finally have his address!

SR Teemant, Jaan K
Ship 13 Div 052
Recruit Training Command
3420 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3510


Please send Kris letters. Lots of letters. Please don't send any packages...not while he's in boot camp anyway.

Thanks!!!

off to boot camp

Kris was originally set to depart for Basic Training, or "Boot Camp" as it is commonly known, on November 12th, but due to all the local Navy officials being out of town for a meeting or something, they moved his ship date up to the 10th. We were hoping that Kris could leave sooner so that he could come home sooner...yes. But we were not excited at all for this unexpected change. This does not mean that he comes home 2 days sooner. It just means that he is out 2 days longer. Dumb.

Anyway, I dropped him off in Salt Lake on Monday night where he had to stay in a hotel with other recruits because he had to be up at 4:30 am to hurry up and wait at MEPS, I mean, to get all his paperwork done, sign his contract, swear in, etc. I was able to meet him at MEPS in the morning to watch him swear in, and his dad came up too, which was really nice.

Here are some pictures we took at MEPS:







Afterwards, I was able to meet up with Kris at the airport to say "good bye". We weren't sure if I would be able to go past security and hang out with him while he waited for his flight. Turns out that I WAS, so from about Noon until about 4:40 pm, we sat around the airport with a bunch of other recruits. Someone, I don't know who actually, but someone at MEPS put Kris in charge of everyone so we all had to stay put together. Definitely no room for one last private conversation or anything, but hey, it was still really very nice to be able to spend a few more hours with him. And it was kind of an honor for him to have that responsibility.

Here are just some photos that we took together while waiting at the airport:






And a couple more of him boarding the plane:





Kris called me for a minute while he was on the plane, and for another minute once the plane landed.

And then when he got to boot camp in Great Lakes, IL, he was allowed to make one final phone call which was a grand total of 32 seconds. I thought it would be 20, so 32 was really good. It was scripted and he basically said that he got there safely, he'd be mailing home a package of his personal belongings (the clothes he wore there, his cell phone, etc.), and that he'd be able to call in about 3 weeks (YAY!!! I think that will probably be the only other time I actually get to talk to him while he's there. It will mostly just be communication thru writing letters. It's not like they get much freedom while in boot camp.) But he sounded great. Even though he just had to read a script and couldn't say anything from his own mind, I kept telling him that I loved him and that he will do great and stuff like that. It's like we were having 2 different conversations with each other. It was kind of funny. I thought I would break down after that call, but it was actually the opposite. It made me so happy to hear from him :)

Keep him in your prayers. Please write to him. He might not have enough time to always write back, but I'm sure he'd really, really appreciate your letters . I don't have his full address yet. But as soon as I do, I'll post it. But go ahead and get started on the letter...you can address the envelope later :)

And as one last thing, I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to my good friend Miranda who kept me company and had an up-beat attitude all of last night. If it weren't for her, I'd have probably spent the whole night crying in my room.

Pictures

Our sister-in-law's parents offered to do a photo shoot for us before Kris leaves to boot camp. These were taken yesterday and I am about 15 1/2 weeks pregnant. These are just some of our favorites...













Thank you Dave & Marilee Royle!

13 weeks

This is the last week of my first trimester! And the week that my odds of miscarriage drop significantly!! I am also happy to report that my nausea has faded quite a bit, so I seem to only feel sick once or twice a day instead of ALL day. I still get tired easily, but at least I can stay up past 8:30 pm now! I am so happy right now and can't wait until my appointment next week when we get to hear their heartbeats again :)

This will probably be the last appointment that Kris is able to go to with me :(

He goes to Navy boot camp on Nov. 12th, and somehow the days seem to fly by. I wish this month would never end because I know I will just miss him way too much. He'll be gone for 8 weeks at boot camp and the next time I'll be able to see him is during his boot camp graduation in January. We might only have a couple of hours together, or we might get to have a day or two...we don't know yet. But really, right after boot camp he has to go to his "A School" which is basically additional training where we won't get to live together for another 14 weeks. Hopefully we can work it out that we can at least see each other on occasion, but that is also up in the air depending on how often he gets "liberty" (time off) and for how long.

Until then, we are just enjoying every spare minute together. I am excited to have so many days of my paid time off saved up because I will be off from Nov. 1st thru the 12th...which will be awesome.

3rd anniversary

This post is late, I realize. But I started it several days ago if that means anything. Anyway...

On August 25th, we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. We didn't do too much because I had to work all day and by the time I got home I was already tired. But we exchanged gifts and then went out to dinner and a movie. It was a really nice evening despite the fact that I fell asleep during the movie. That's one expensive nap!

Thinking back on when we got engaged, a funny story comes to mind that I'd like to share. I'm a little rusty on the details because I'm not one for journaling and my mind can't remember EVERYTHING. But you'll get the idea!

First a little back round. When we started dating in California, we both knew it was just a summer fling. So when the selling season was over (pest control) and Kris told me he was going to move back up to Utah, I was devastated (even though I knew it would happen eventually). We decided at that point to just be "friends" for the last 2 weeks until he went home, but that didn't last long. We still spent every day together and he was the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. The last night we had together before he went home, we talked about marriage for the first time. Phew. At least I knew that this guy was serious enough about me to bring up the "m" word, and that we could make a long distance relationship work if we had to. This was mid-October.

So the next time we saw each other was for Thanksgiving when I went up to Utah to spend time with him and his family. We even took engagement pictures at that time. I thought for sure I would be coming home with a shiny new engagement ring. Wrong. Come the last day of my trip, still no ring. But he bought himself a new computer. (He swears that he didn't buy the computer "instead" of the ring...that he had money for both. It just wasn't the right time yet.) LOL.

So with that in mind, Kris came down to California to spend Christmas with me. This, I thought, was it. I was finally going to be an engaged woman. But then he proceeds to tell me how sorry he was, but he might as well let me know so that I wouldn't get my hopes up. The ring wasn't ready so I was going to have to wait a little longer. Should I believe that? I don't know... So I waited until he got in the shower one day and started to peek through his luggage. Needless to say, without much "peeking" I felt this perfectly sized box-thing through the front pocket of his backpack. Should I open the bag? No...YES! I couldn't help myself! And there it was - a beautiful little gift box which I assumed housed a jewelry box. Should I open the gift box? OF COURSE! I had to be sure, after all. Plus, I wasn't going to ruin the wrapping or anything because the box top came off easily like a shoe-box cover. He would never know! And there it was - the jewelry box...the perfect size for a ring. Should I open it? Absolutely! I already went through all this trouble, LOL, not to mention I needed to make sure it wasn't hideous. And if it was... (Yeah right! But hey, I needed to rationalize it to myself somehow!)...I needed to practice having a happy expression despite the ugliness.(We never went ring shopping together...I left that part of it up to him.) So of course I opened it and it was prettier than I imagined! The next question: Do I try it on? Well, long story short, I did end up trying it on.

Later that night when Kris purposed on the beach (so romantic!) I totally acted surprised and actually kept this sneaky story to myself for probably over a year. One night when we were out to dinner, I told him that I had a secret that if he didn't guess before we left the restaurant, I wouldn't tell him for 30 years. Well, after our extended dinner stay and a game of one-billion questions, he laughed so hard when he found out what I'd done. Thank goodness for a great sense of humor! I love that guy!!!

the story

I am awake. It's not even dawn. After the third time of getting up in the middle of the night for my new-routine-restroom-break, I am unable to fall back asleep...probably because of the news we received yesterday. TWINS. I am still in complete shock!!

I know many of you are wondering, so here's the story...

Kris & I have been married for 3 years now and have (until recently) unsuccessfully tried to get pregnant during that time. Last September, we finally gave in and decided to see an infertility specialist to see if they could figure out why we still weren't pregnant. Many tests later, it was determined that our chances of conceiving were slim to none without some level of intervention.

So our journey of infertility treatments began. After countless prayers, dozens of "negatives," thousands of tears (and the lowest point in my life), 1 surgery, several rounds of Clomid, 3 IUI procedures (and with this last one, 2 shots of hCG), and not to mention lots of hard-earned (and well-used!) cash...we are FINALLY pregnant!

Words cannot express the joy we felt. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for his hand in this miracle.

Once I took a home pregnancy test and saw the positive test-result, I was scheduled for some blood work to check my hCG levels and make sure they were rising appropriately. My numbers were excellent, they said, but didn't necessarily indicate multiples. I always knew there was a chance for multiples because of the medication and procedure, but the chance of that is so slim that I talked myself out of believing I would ever be pregnant with more than one. Plus, the fact that I had 3 eggs during each previous round of IUI, and both the first and second trial were a failure, I seriously doubted that more than one egg would be fertilized this time...I was only expecting one. I was so ecstatic at the prospect of having one child...that finally being pregnant with one baby was an absolute miracle in and of itself. So when we had our first ultrasound yesterday and the first thing he said was that there were two, I was (and still am) in complete shock. Kris wasn't as surprised as I was though. From the get-go, he has been whispering to my tummy every day, "Grow babies, grow."

It was determined that the babies are fraternal twins. It looks like each baby has their own sack and that they don't share anything except for my womb. So only time will tell, but it could be 2 girls, 2 boys, or one of each. We were able to hear the heartbeats of both babies - this was so exciting, and most definitely reassuring. The Dr. said that both babies look beautiful and healthy, and that this looks like a very healthy pregnancy. Lets pray that it continues that way!

I have been very tired lately, and had some nausea and an overall feeling of being sick. But I am happy to report that up to this point so far, I am tolerating the symptoms well. And although it can be very uncomfortable, it makes me so happy to know that my babies are thriving within. So I say, BRING IT ON!!!

twins

Kris and I are so excited and happy to announce that we are expecting TWINS!!! My due date is April 22, 2010. I am too excited to type right now, so more details on this miracle to follow...

food, fun, & fireworks

Two of Kris' brothers are in the military and have been out of state for several months. One of them was able to plan it out and come up to Utah for a few days to celebrate Independence Day with us all. The other one was not, so everyone was pretty bummed that he wouldn't get to be here. Well, on the 4th we went over to my in-laws for a BBQ. To our great surprise, the other brother flew in too (we didn't think we'd get to see him at all before his deployment)! Food, family, and fireworks were really good.


Then the next morning we all got together again for a nice Sunday brunch. We totally forgot it was fast Sunday (shhh) until we were at church and realized it was a fast and testimony meeting. With all the brothers dressed up and together, we took a few pictures.


Then on the 6th we all went to float down the Provo River (one of my favorite activities) but we got a really late start so a lot of the ride was shaded. FREEZING! But I think everyone had a good time anyawys. Afterwards we went up Spanish Fork canyon and did a little bit of shooting. It was tons of fun. For only my second time shooting, I think I did pretty well (the first time was a few years ago and I don't really remember much about it).

labels and loopholes

Part of my morning "get ready" routine is to put on some yummy smelling Bath & Body Works body spray. (I am allergic to most perfumes and many body sprays and scents, but I love their Sweat Pea and Cucumber Mellon products!) Well this morning as I was putting the bottle back in the cabinet, I noticed some fine print on the back label. It said "This finished product was not tested on animals." So, does that mean that the unfinished product was?

more fun with the fam

Here are some more pictures of us having fun together while some of my family came up to visit last week:

Playing Ticket To Ride...Judy won BOTH times!

Playing at my work in the party rooms








At Cabela's looking at the giant aquariums and all the "stuffed animals"