The Powell Family

March 4, 2009

What Not to Say to Someone Who is Pregnant

This is for all those people out there that might forget to think before they comment on the size of a pregnant women. Is anyone else out there amazed at the things people say?? Some of these comments were from when I was pregnant with Allie and a few are from now. I'm sure everyone that has ever been pregnant has heard at least one of these. I've learned to just laugh...

* "How far along are you honey? Oh you poor thing, you have such a long way to go!" (In case I didn't know I look gigantic...this confirmed it.)

* "Are you sure there is only one in there?"

* "Oh my goodness you are so swollen. Look at your ankles...they are sagging over your flip-flops." (I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.)

* "Are you sure your blood pressure is normal. You just look like you're getting sick! Your arms are even swollen!" (Unfortanely it wasn't until after I lost all my water weight with Allie that I realized my arms really were quite swollen.)

* Them: "How far along are you?" Me: "22 weeks" Them: "Oh so just barely." Me: My thought(Are you kidding me! I'm over halfway lady! I've been pregnant since September! Barely would be like 4, maybe 8 weeks! There's a living being the size of a banana in me!)

* Them: "How far along are you?" Me: "22 weeks" Them: "Oh don't worry you always stick out faster with your second one!" (Apparently I "stick out". I didn't have a problem with it really until someone tried to make me feel better about it...now I might have a problem with it)

* "You look like you're ready to pop!" (Unfortunately lady I still have like 10 weeks left!)

Oh the funny things people say...that they shouldn't say...

22 Weeks

A couple people have been requesting belly pics and I have been quite reluctant to post them, but here's one I took the other day. My friends and I were taking pictures for our graduation announcements, which turned out way cute, and I thought I'd better get at least one belly shot. I'm feeling really good so I can't complain. After my clinical shift for school yesterday I got home and took my scrubs off and realized my legs were quite swollen. Ugh. And so it begins...I pray that it's only my legs this time and not total body. There's just something about a squishy forehead that's just not right. Nicks comment was, "My play toys are back!" He had a lot of fun when I was pregnant with Allie making designs on my legs and feet. They were so swollen you could push in on them and the dent would stay for like 15 minutes or so. He has promised me that he will still love me when I'm big and swollen again. I think we have decided on Brooklynn Michele, but maybe still deciding on the middle name. Allie and Brookie. I think it's way cute. She's been moving a ton and Allie has had a lot of fun tickling her and pretending to hold her. I'm so grateful things are going so well! We are blessed!

Here are a couple of the pictures we took on Saturday:

February 4, 2009

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

I had my big OB ultrasound today and we found out we are having a... GIRL!!! We are so excited to have another sweet little girl in the family! Allie was so proud telling everyone she was going to be a big sister. When we brought her in the room and she saw the big TV ultrasound view she said, "That's my baby!" I can't wait to see what fun these little girls have together. Allie said she would share her toys with her sister, but we'll see how that goes when the time really comes. All I could think about when I left was that I need to buy more bows and headbands and skirts and dresses...the list went on and on. Nick was rooting for a boy, but he is happy either way. We'll get a boy eventually. That's our big news for the day! I haven't updated this in forever...maybe when school gets out...my fingers are crossed for sooner....

January 17, 2009

One my favorite smells...

is waking up to bacon, eggs, and chopped potatoes sizzling on the grittle and piping hot waffles in the waffle maker. That is what I woke up to this morning. Mmmmm. I know I should be on here updating the past couple of weeks, but I'm going to brag about my husband instead. I worked Thursday night and didn't get to sleep yesterday during the day really since I was home with Allie. Meaning? I was exhausted going to bed last night and then Allie didn't sleep well, which means I didn't sleep well. I woke up at 10 this morning smelling those wonderful smells. Allie was on the couch watching a movie and Nick was hard at work cooking away. He said he didn't need any help and for me to go relax. What a guy. Truly I am not worthy of him.
Oh and P.S.: he brought me home a dozen roses the other day...just because. He knows I love it when he does that. Thanks sweetie I love you!!

December 26, 2008

It's About Time!

That's probably what most of you are thinking! We have had a crazy busy couple of months so I'm excited to finally sit down and get you up to speed. I apologize for some of the long posts, but it's for journaling purposes. You might have to get caught up while your children are napping or when everyone is asleep late at night. Or, you might just want to look at it in shifts. There's quite a bit to get caught up on. You have to go back a few pages and it starts with the Gilbert Days parade...was that really over a month ago?? I have enjoyed reading all of your blogs and decided I had better do my part to get up to date on mine. My goal was to get it up to speed over the break so now that it's done maybe it will be easier to post a little at a time. We hope you have had a great holiday season so far and hope you enjoy getting caught up with our family!

Finally!!

Finally...we can tell you what we've been keeping a secret since we found out in
October!!

We are so excited to announce we are adding another member to our family!! We found out the middle of October but have kept it quiet until we found out everything is going ok. We had another appointment on the 18th and things looked good so we figured we should start telling people! I will be 13 weeks on Sunday the 28th. My due date is July 5th, but I will be a repeat C-section so I will deliver the end of June. Two of my sister-in-laws are also due in May and June and my cousin, Brittany, is due the week after me! I'm really excited to be pregnant with these girls! Unfortunately my SILs are sticks so they probably aren't the best people to be pregnant with since I certainly am anything but a stick while pregnant, but we are excited to have cousins close in age again. When we told Allie she said, "Allie has a baby in her tummy too, Mom!!" and lifted up her shirt. She lifts up my shirt and says, "Oh cute mom!" I told her to enjoy it, because it certainly won't be cute for long. I think she will do really well with the baby. She is always pretending to hold babies and changes her stuffed animals "diapers" frequently. She goes through quite a bit of wipes. I am excited to see how she will react to a real baby in the house. When we asked her what we should name the baby she waited a minute and then gasped before saying, "Baby Jesus, Mom!" Hmmm....maybe we could put a spanish twist on it an pronounce it Hey-Sus?? So that is our exciting news! We will keep you posted on the happenings and if I get really brave maybe a belly pic or two. Fingers crossed I won't swell as much as last time! We are so excited to be adding another child to our family and feel very blessed. We waited until my due date would be when I was done with school. Did I mention we were so excited??!!

Christmas Day!

WARNING: This is a long one. Remember I use this for journaling purposes so while you might get bored we find it fun to look back on.

We had a very merry Christmas this year. It started by watching the Disneyland Christmas parade. Did anyone else besides Matt and Lauren know Disney had this? It was our first year to watch it and Allie loved it! After it was over we opened presents. We decided since Allie was spoiled rotten for her birthday and she wouldn't remember this Christmas probably anyways, that we shouldn't blow a lot of money. Allie got a mini backpack with her name on it and Sleeping Beauty. Santa got her this cheesy tiny plastic guitar that plays a Miley Cyrus song. He must have known what a nightmare it is in the checkout line because we can't get her to put the dang thing down. Nick got me exactly what I asked for: a box of dark chocolate covered almond clusters. Also, keeping with tradition, one of the Willow statues. This one is called generations and is really sweet. Nick got exactly what he wanted too: a Glenn Beck DVD and his book "The Christmas Sweater". Nick absolutely loves Glenn Beck. We then went to my mom's to open presents. Allie got a lot of clothes (which she needed really bad) and some more books from Grandma and Rick. Chris got a Wii and a lot of fun games and controlers to go with it. He is way excited! We recently had family pictures taken at Val Vista lakes professionally and they turned out really good so that's what we gave my mom. We got...drumroll please...a new camera!! I had been asking for one so I'm so excited!! It's a Nikon P80. It has 10.1 megapixels, it can zoom up to 18x, and it has a really great flash. We liked our other camera, but I wanted one with a little more megapixels and a better flash. It came complete with a case, extra battery, and 2G picture card. There is a definite difference in the pictures we took at our house on Christmas and the ones we took with the new camera after we got it. Thanks Mom!! We love it!! After my mom's house we went to my grandma's for dinner and opening more presents. Allie got pajamas from my grandma and a baby doll with snap on clothes (so cute) from one of her cousins. (We don't do gifts as adults anymore, but the little kids draw names. It is cheaper this way and let's be honest...what do you get an adult for under $20 that they don't already have? We have all agreed it is less stressful this way.) My cute little great-grandpa was not able to be with us since he has been placed in a rehab center. ***** Way long story, but in October he was put in the hospital to amputate half of his big toe on the left side (I think that side). We finally got him home after two weeks and he did the same thing to the other foot (ripped his big toe nail off due to an ingrown toenail. He's a tough 'ole guy!) Unfortunately at 95 years old there isn't much circulation down there so he had to go back the week before Christmas and have the other big toe and the toe next to it amputated due to gangrene. Too much info for your stomach?? Sorry. Anyway, we thought we'd be able to get him home for Christmas but the care facility wouldn't release him since he was only put in the day before. We are hoping he will only be there for like a month. He has a PICC line to put antibiotics due to an infection in the incision and he basically needs to learn to walk again since both big toes are gone. That is where you balance when you walk. So we are praying hard for him and hoping he will be home soon. Poor grandpa. Up until this point he has been quite independent. We are very grateful to my grandpa who lives next door. He has been helping him live independently for quite a while now. He also has been the one to change wound dressings a couple of times a day for a couple of months. He probably has done more wound dressing changes than I will ever do. Thanks grandpa for taking such good care of him and grandma for cooking him dinner everynight!******** Back to Christmas, after my grandma's we went to the Powells and had dinner. We opened presents there too. We got a big framed picture of George Washington praying next to his horse in the snow. Nick loves this picture and has been wanting it for years. Thanks Susan and Kelly!! They also gave us a cute holiday decoration. His aunt and uncle in Utah sent us the classic Christmas DVDs and a racing t-shirt for Nick. Thanks Mark and Mel!! Allie got a teepee from grandma and grandpa complete with a matching pillow. They also gave her a toy lantern and flashlight that work, toy binoculars, and a little toy canteen. She can have a campout in her teepee now! What a cute idea! It is a perfect little fort because you can set it up fast and it folds down really nice too! She also got a little puzzle. Nick's aunt and uncle gave her a really cute warm blanket. I hope I didn't miss anything! We had a great time spending the holidays with family and feel very blessed to be so close to everyone. We are grateful for our Savior and for the sacrifice he made coming to this earth. We love our Heavenly Father and are so grateful for his sacrifice of giving his son to all of us so that we may live with him again.