Trying to have a round two....

Justin and I have been molling over the decision on when to have baby #2 for a while. There are so many issues to discuss. Do we make enough money, would they be far apart enough in age (I read that they believe it's best to either have another baby before the first is 15 months or after they are 23 months. Before 15 because they are really too young to be jealous of the second child because to them it seems like the second child had always been there. And after 23 months because by then they believe they are stable enough with their relationships with their parents that they aren't as worried about their younger sibling.), are we ready emotionally and comfortable enough with our relationship to add another person (I didn't worry about this. Justin? A little more so). Justin is always the logical one. I think I probably would have been pregnant a long time ago if he didn't make me think about all the factors that play into it. BUT.......FINALLY.....we decided it's time.

On July 20th I went to see my midwife to get my IUD taken out. I was so excited to see her. My midwife, Nancy Moy that delivered James was still working there and I always planned to go back if she still worked there. I was actually pretty nervous to get it taken out. I started to worry that it was going to be really painful. I got my IUD in 7 weeks after I had James so I wondered if maybe why it didn't hurt was because I was all stretched out from giving birth. But come to find out, it's really only painful for people who have never had a baby. One of my best friends got one in who hadn't had a baby and she said it hurt incredibly bad. She said the doctor said that it was like giving birth but instead of pushing a baby out it was pushing it in. Why the hell would he say that?! I would have been like 'NO Thank you' right then and there. But Nancy said to me I might not even feel it come out. I still braced myself for it but then she said "Done." and I said "It's out?" She told me that 50 percent of women who get an IUD in (that haven't had babies) body's wont except it. It either pushes it out or is very painful or they can get weird cysts. Crazy. I was pretty surprised she remembered me though. I mean she delivers a lot of babies and she has been doing it so long. She told me she has been a midwife for three generations for one family. She gave birth to a mom, son and his son. She doesn't look old enough to have done that. Maybe they all had kids really young. All the worry for nothing though, painless.

But now there is much more to worry about. Taking a mulit-vitamin because you can prevent on rare kind of birth deffect by taking it. Figuring out when I'm ovulating. Oh yeah and I had my first period in like over two years. Weird, I should have been expecting it but I just haven't had one in so long. Anyways so there are Ovulation calculators, you type in the first day of your last period and it gives you a guestimation on when you will be the most fertile. It's pretty awful waiting around for those "Special" days to arrive so you can jump on it. So Justin really really really wants to have a little girl and I do to. Probably not as bad as he does though. I just feel like I will be unbelievably happy with whatever I have but I do want to have at least one girl. I need to have all the girl experiences like shopping, prom dress shopping, going to get our hair and nails done together, dance recitals. Things like that. But you are actually more likely to have a boy than a girl. For every 1,000 girls that are born 1,050 boys are born. It's said that God created us this way because the men go off to war and die. So I was reading and there is actually some scientifical studies done on how to help influence the sex of your child. Some of it talks about controlling the environment in which the baby is concieved. Like making baking powder dueches and stuff (haha) but another part of the theory is WHEN you have sex during your ovulation period. The Y chromosome which is the male bearing sperm is faster than the X chromosome, female bearing sperm, but the Y sperm actually dies faster. So it's a race really. If the Y sperm can't get to the egg in time before it dies then the X sperm will have a better chance of making it. To be very acurate at this you supposedly have to be monitor your basal temperature so you know the precise moment you are ovulating or are going to ovulate (because your temperature rises as you get to your fertile peak or something). The theory states that to try and concieve a girl you have sex 2-4 days before you ovulate. The Y sperm will not be able to live long enough to reach an egg during ovulation but the X sperm has the potential to live within yourself for a couple days. So as long as you don't have sex the 2-4 days after, right when you ovulate, there should only be the X chromosomes around to attatch to your eggs. Interesting. Anyways, so then you are trying to find the most perfect month to give birth in, because I don't really want to be huge and miserable all through the summer, because when you are pregnant, you are a walking heater, night sweats and all. And then at the same time I want a good space in between birthdays and far enough away from holidays. So much to think about. All I know is that I'm ready though. Ready to go Au Naturale! Wish me luck!

Our Anniversary Trip

Last week was our first anniversary. I can't believe it has already been a year. Pretty unreal. So to commemerate our marriage and since we didn't go on a honey moon we decided to go on a trip together. Just me and Justin. And leave James with my mom. At first we planned to go down to Zions, to do the hikes down there. Tent it out. But as it got closer we were talking to my dad about it and realized that it would probably hit around one-hundred degrees on any given day this time a year. My dad owns this nationly renowned Fly Fishers retreat called Falcons Ledge on the way up to Altamont. There is a chef that stays there and cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday, which is awesome. So we headed down on friday afternoon and did a little hike once we got up there to waste some time before dinner. We got attacked by a thousand horse fly's and I fell in a river. Not too enjoyable. But then we went back for dinner and ohhhh....my heavens....that chef is a genius. Salad and freshly made bread for an appetizer, marinated pork tenderloin, mashed red potatoes and steamed cauliflower for our main course and tiramisu for desert. Fantastic. I'll go back just for the food.

The next day we had to guide teach us how to fly fish. There is an area called six lakes, with actually seven lakes, where we learned. We fished on four different lakes and I caught two fish and justin caught three. Sooo exciting! I mean, I really don't like fishing, I'm not even an outdoorsie kind of person but it was so exciting to catch a fish. I was the first one to and mine ended up being the biggest too. I was pretty ecstatic, to say the least. We ended up fishing for like six hours. And we had to option to go home whenever we wanted but time actually went by fast. Came home to Teriyaki flank steak, grilled zuccini and a baked potatoe and rhubarb pie a la mode. Awesome. (As you can probably tell, I got pretty excited about the food) The next day we went to Rock creak damn which was overflowing this time of year and was really cool to watch. Then we hiked the trail past it. We hiked in hopes of reaching the grandfather lakes. We hike almost seven hours total! We should have done a little more research before attempting this hike. It was beautiful anyways but the grandfather lakes were about eight miles away and we hike a little over six. If I would have known this we would have kept going but oh well. Another day. Salmon, asparagus, potatoes and new york cheese cake with wild berry compote. AMAZING.

The following day, and my favorite day, we had a guide scheduled to take us down the Green River. This was soooo much fun. I would do this again and again and again..... Fly fishing on a river is a complete different game. So relaxing, super enjoyable, don't have to be awesome at casting. And I caught a whopping 14 fish, with Justin bringing in the tail at 8. HAHAHAHAHA. It was pretty funny actually, the guide was like super impatient with Justin and basically only helped me. And Justin accidently hit him twice with the lead waiter when he casting. The guy looked pissed. hahaha funny though. We got home so late that we got some Cafe Rio on the way through Vernal. Why does Vernal have a Rio and we don't? The next day we just ate breakfast and headed home. I was so excited to see James. Luckily we were so busy that I didn't really have much time to think about James. I swear he had gotten bigger since the last time I saw him. Which (side note) probably isn't so because James has actually lost weight since his 15 month appointment. He is now in the 1st percentile for weight at 19 lbs. I swear I'm not starving him. He eats more than me some times but still he only fits in 12 month old clothes. Oh well, guess he didn't have much chance at being very big.


Overall, it was great for us to get away. After this I realize how necessary it is to go on an anniversary trip. Couples need it to reconnect and talk and just get out of the routine. Not to mention our romantic area of life has been ON IT last two and a half weeks ;) We will always go on an anniversary trip from now on. Even if its just to stay at a family cabin or go camping. I feel so in line with him again, like our thoughts are the same. Though part of me feels like it was yesterday that we got married, the the other part of me feels like we have been married longer than that. We have been together for five years. The end of may it was five years. Now, that is a long time. Being with Justin is all I have ever really known. And he becomes more and more the person I want to be with everyday. He has really evolved into this amazing person. When we were first dating I think a good portion of the attraction was the bad boy, rebel attitude and look he had. His confidence and complete indifference for anything anyone thought of him. He made me feel fearless like he was. But as childhood and high school and immaturity has gone I realize how much I respect him. How much he actually influences me towards what is right, when I thought that would never be the case. I thought I would always have to be the example, the moral compass, the instigator of personal growth but he is just as much of a mentor to me as I try to be to him. I look around at so many other people who got pregnant before they got married and realize how lucky I am. So many of the fathers just aren't motivated to better themselves, refuse to get jobs or go to school. So many aren't even involved or lend any help and support to the mothers. I can't help but feel undeservingly blessed. Blessed to be married to someone that I know through and through. Blessed to be supported and loved by him. Blessed to be in a family of love, faith, and opportunity. Blessed to be in a such a safe community of truly good people. Blessed to be in a church of forgiveness, understanding, order and truth. So Blessed. Justin is truly my other half. I love him more than I knew how. Happy Anniversary Justin. I love you.