N&B

california visit

2012-01-03T23:55:00.000-08:00

over the last few weeks there was a lot of the above going on ... introducing baby stella to her cousins (and her aunts and uncles too)! we are very blessed people and spent 24 days in California visiting friends and family. its a 13+ hour drive (the plus is for the unplanned stops for baby care). but baby stella did awesome on the drive down! sleeping pretty much the entire time waking up to take a bottle (that i pumped in anticipation for her). we didn't make any special baby stops!

this was the typical view on the way down and in between bakersfield and irvine

it seems that California agrees with baby girl because she has really bulked up between two and three months old. she has chubby cheeks and arms that look like rubber bands are around her wrists ... i love love love to kiss those cheeks. she also is a very smiley girl ... which we love!

happy girl in her car seat (we spent a lot of time in the car unfortunately)

this face did come out sometimes ... and the double chin stuck around

baby girl loved all the attention and all her fun christmas gifts! unfortunately some of her cute outfits won't fit for too long since she has had a big growth spurt on vacation and has only been in 0-3 month clothes for a few weeks. we decided she needed to wear all her cute outfits as much as possible before it was too late!

grandma soelberg bought this fun little velvet outfit with a super cute hoodie!

baby girl is holding her head up so well now and is looking forward to sitting on her own! she also loves to stand on our laps. overall it was a super fun visit getting spoiled by our parents and spending time with our siblings ... can't wait to see them again!

wearing our duck outfit to represent our allegiance to the UofO ducks

doing adult things

2011-12-10T16:30:00.001-08:00

as a friend of ours pointed out last night ... we are are just moving right along with this thing called life.

we got married a little over two years ago, had a baby two months ago, and are in the process of BUYING A HOUSE! well to be exact ... a duplex - which means we will live in one unit and have renters in the adjoining unit. so we are not only buying a house for the first time ... but becoming landlords as well. whew ... we have a lot going on. buying a house is a complicated process and very time consuming but we are getting through it. we should close just after the new year.

in the mean time i have been painting and decorating the house in my head ... gathering ideas on pintrest and making floorplans online to see how we will arrange the spaces. we will move into the three bedroom unit and have renters in the two bedroom. this will allow us to have the baby's room and an office/guest room! yay! here are my visions ...

three bedroom whole house layout


kitchen and dining - finally space for our little square table and chairs! and there is a ceiling fan which is nice and a sliding glass door to the right (south) to the backyard ... and there are a lot of cupboards and storage space!

possible living room layout ... that's big blue up top ... there are a few silly little shelves on the left and i am trying to decide if we want to make it more of a built in ... and where to put the tv? make a built in around it? put it on the right of the fireplace?


the master bedroom ... the closets are a little small ... and there is an alcove that i plan on making a little closet for myself

the office/guest room will allow us to have visitors and Nate can have an office to grade papers and prepare lessons at home ... and we can have a place for organizing our important documents, etc. yay!

stella's room! super excited to paint the walls and hang the flowers i made for her before she was born!

i have been thinking about a color palette for the house ... i am so excited! a super awesome feature about the duplex is the TWO CAR GARAGE! woot woot. now we have covered parking for ruby our car, space to work on my projects even when its raining, tons of shelving and storage, AND we have a washer and dryer! i am beyond excited. not to mention that we have a backyard where we plan on trying our hand at a GARDEN come spring time and we will try COMPOSTING once we get our act together!

so many big plans! the main goal for this house will be to get really organized. we won't be doing many "upgrades" to the house since we plan on it being a rental in the future someday and so don't want to put too much money into it ... i keep saying "its our first house, not THE house." i want to work on everything having its place.

i am excited for the next phase of our lives and diving in to home ownership ... hopefully everything will go smoothly and the house will be ours! wish us luck!

5 weeks happenings

2011-11-11T12:52:00.001-08:00

this is how momma sees stella most of the time ...

on momma's lap ... her favorite place to fall asleep

surprised face after a bath ... we are slowly starting to enjoy the bath ...

this picture is the biggest reason i need a new smaller, lighter, faster camera ...

to catch moments like this ... this is how i found baby girl napping on the couch just moments ago

loving these cheeks and they are getting bigger and bigger!

documentation of her natural faux-hawk ... i swear her hair is getting lighter ...

and i hope her tendency towards being cross-eyed lessens

and this is what she does each evening when daddy gets home ... she is getting stronger and stronger each day holding her head up! when nate is holding her i can better see just how little she really is and it still makes me tear up because then i feel really acutely just how much i really love them both ... being a mom is so emotionally overwhelming!

we love the little pursed lips ... we have yet to catch the "oooo" look she does once in a while ... we love this little girl!

obsession

2011-11-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

i know lots of other people have been on the whole Pinterest band wagon already ... but i recently got on. and. i. am. obsessed.

so if you are on and you happen to see my 266 pins and counting or if you notice that i have repinned your pin, picture me sitting (probably in my pajamas) on my sofa with stella nursing or more likely sleeping on my lap. clicking "repin" is way easier than typing so its kind of where i am at on what to do while my sweet baby wants to sleep close to momma. i kind of love it once i get over the guilt of not doing anything else. i am so lucky.

4 weeks

2011-11-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

stella was four weeks old yesterday and its my third day "on my own" since nate went back to work monday. of course this all coincided nicely with stella's decision to want to be held constantly and desire to nurse continually from 8pm to 1am. so it looks like this week is a good introduction to the rest of my life.

of course i am grateful and ecstatic to be home with my baby girl ... i feel really blessed for the opportunity to be her mom AND that i get to stay at home with her. but today as my husband is calling me on his way home for lunch - hoping i have lunch ready for him when he gets here because he's in a rush - the baby is screaming because i put her down for a minute - and i was suppose to put the pot roast in the slow cooker earlier this morning ... i think to myself ... this is hard. which of course i knew it would be. but living it brings a whole new understanding.

mostly i feel guilty. because i want to be productive at home while my husband is at work. he's not putting pressure on me to "do it all" ... but i want to be able to do a lot of stuff on my TO DO LIST around the house. i wish i was a more organized and prompt person. i wish my house had a designated "place" for everything.

day one was great - i cleaned up our bedroom and did a few loads of laundry. i even folded it all and put it away. i set my goals realistically and achieved them. it felt good.

day two was alright - i went to the grocery store with the baby but didn't get to organizing the bathroom sink like i was hoping to because she was wanting to be held through her entire afternoon nap.

day three (today) didn't start off well but its looking up - i held stella all morning because she wasn't having anything else and managed to get lunch made for nate and i and dinner in the slow cooker ... but i was frazzled and on the verge of tears through it all. stella finally fell asleep while i held her and tried to eat lunch. after nate left we went for a walk using our new stroller for the first time! it is a beautiful fall day today and i was loving that we got to go out and enjoy the sun while its still here. as i write this i realize that this day is not going as bad as i thought it was ... (happy sigh)

... i am trying to take the advice of many a wise woman i know and enjoy these moments and just hold my baby ... i know it will fly by and i will be missing these days very soon.

cutest little face you ever did see

two week stats

2011-10-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

stella mae


fake smile - i can't wait for her real one! (her hands are up by her face always)

7 lb 11 oz - 50 percentile

20.5 in - 50 percentile

Post Delivery Story

2011-10-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday October 6 - Saturday October 8 2011 - POST DELIVERY:

Because I had gestational diabetes during pregnancy both the baby and I weremonitored and our blood sugar tested. We both were free and clear thenext day - no diabetes here! We did both however have fevers and remainedin the hospital until Thursday. Before being discharged from the hospitalthey did a jaundice test (one where they scan her forehead) and it came out abit high. The pediatrician decided a blood test for a more accuratereading was necessary. That showed a lower level then the first scan andso they went ahead and sent us home with instructions to come back in Saturdayto the clinic to check up on her.

This is where the stress began ... she basically slept the entire time fromThursday through Saturday. We had to wake her to try and feed her whichseemed like an impossible task. We would strip her down to her diaper andrub a wet wash cloth over her to make her cry and wake her up. We rarelyeven saw her blue eyes - they were always shut tight! She would fallasleep instantly when I tried to nurse her and because she never ate she didn'tpoop the entire time. I knew that newborns slept a lot but this seemedlike too much. My gut told me something was wrong and Nate and I werepanicked. Through my sobbing we spent Friday night praying and trying tokeep her awake as we constantly tried to get some food in her. I know ourprayers were answered as she ate more that night than the past few dayscombined and our minds were eased while we waited for our follow up appointmentwith the doctor.

Turns out there was some need for concern - she had lost a pound from herbirth weight and looked increasingly more jaundiced. We were re-admittedto the hospital right away and again I was a sobbing mess, although gratefulthat they were going to help us. She immediately was put under glowingblue lights - bilie lights - to address the climbing jaundice levels. Atthis point my milk had started to come in but since she disliked nursing so muchI was in a lot of pain. I began the process of relieving my swollenbreasts through pumping and we also bottle fed donor milk to thebaby. These were hard days because we couldn't hold her very much - we could only take her out of the lights for feeding and diaper changes. The good news was that she continued to be agreeable and not cry while under the warmth of the lights.


Grandpa Soelberg and Stella giving each other similar looks

All in all we were in the hospital from Saturday afternoon through Mondayafternoon. She still was not extremely enthusiastic about breastfeedingbut I was now producing a little bit of milk and could pump as much as possibleand supplement with formula. She was gaining weight and her jaundice levels were way down. It was sort of a "chicken and the egg" scenario - she was tired because she wasn't eating, she wasn't eating because she was tired, the jaundice made her tired and not want to eat, not eating made her more jaundiced because she wasn't pooping and ridding her body of the toxins, etc.

With Grandma Soelberg in the hospital

Each day at home she is getting more and more interested in breastfeeding and we are having more of the typical experience of having a newborn. She is waking up when she is hungry, we see her eyes more often because she is actually awake, and she is gaining weight! We get excited over poopy diapers in this house and when she cries out for food we smile and snuggle her because we are so happy she is improving!

As for me ... I had a second-degree tear and required quite a bit of stitching up,making the recovery a little challenging. I continually forget that it hasn't been that long since I gave birth and to take it easy. Just being around the house I am okay but doctor's visits and errands quickly ware me out and require a nap. But the good news is that I have lost A LOT of water I had been retaining for the past few months - 20 lbs off already which is half of what I gained during pregnancy. I still have another 20 to go plus an additional 35 of my own so we shall see how this goes.


i can't stop kissing those cheeks!

Right now I am thankful for a healthy baby that is nursing every 2-3 hours and getting even chubbier cheeks! I am also thankful to have my feet back! My feet have been swollen since month 5 and they got even worse a few days following Stella's delivery. But just two days ago they came back! I look forward to wearing shoes again!

The Birth Story (every detail)

2011-10-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday October 2, 2011:

We checked into the hospital at 7:00pm with the intention of inducing labor. I wasn't even remotely softening or dilating. The first attempt at induction started at 8pm with the insertion of a pill close to my cervix. The hope was that the drug would soften my cervix and start contractions. We did this every four hours for the rest of the night - a total of 4 times - with not much improvement.

Monday October 3, 2011:

I was dilated 1 cm by Monday morning and I was having erratic and unproductive contractions (that were not painful). Unfortunately the baby's heart rate was showing extreme highs and lows in response to the contractions so they decided to do a pitocin test to check more accurately her response to contractions. This was the first mention of a possible C-Section. Because my contractions were so erratic they gave me a low dose of pitocin with the hopes of observing 4 contractions in 10 minutes and observing the baby's heart rate in response. Thankfully, she responded quite well to the pitocin test so my doctor decided to give me and baby a rest for the remainder of the day and let the medications get out of our systems and see if I would have more regular contractions on my own. If not, we would try again with the insertion of the cervix softening drug and do Monday's whole process again. As a result we were able to get about 7 hours of sleep Monday night - a welcome change from the night before of being monitored and checked periodically through the night.

Tuesday October 4, 2011:

Around 7am the nurse came in to start the insertion of the cervix softening drug ... she guessed I was maybe dilated 2cm. Around 8:40am the doctor on call (my doctor had been on 24 hour duty on Tuesday and was now off) came in and checked me again saying that I was dialated 2cm and she could stretch me to 3cm (and I could feel it). While she was in there she stripped my membranes and decided now was a good time to break my water. I am glad she did it all at once but whoa ... that was super uncomfortable! Contractions started in about 2 hours later once they could give me pitocin and then the real fun began. While the pitocin did have the desired affect of stimulating contractions it did have some awful residual affects ... mainly coupling and tripling of contractions. This means I did not experience those oft described periods of "rest" between contractions. I can count on three fingers the number of restful minutes during my six plus hours of hard labor. I would build up to a really strong contraction and after peaking I would slowly start to come down off the contraction but before I hit that period of rest my uterus would decide that it wasn't quite ready to quit and it would start the up swing into a SECOND contraction and peak slightly lower than the first contraction. And if I was really lucky (which I often was) there would be a THIRD contraction to top it off. I had hoped to be able to move around while laboring - using a birth ball and a soaking tub - but was unable to due to triple contractions and all the monitors I was on - including an internal monitor for my contractions. To make matters worse I had a BAD case of the shakes. My entire body shook in between contractions. It was so bad that I felt a sense of desperation and started to fear the upcoming contraction - a really bad head-space to be in while in labor (in my humble opinion).

Needless to say I was exhausted. After six plus hours the doctor came in to check my progress. I had heard so much deflating news over the past few days that I was convinced that I was just suffering and that not much progress was being made. Part of it was I couldn't get my hopes up. I even expressed at one point that I wasn't sure that we were really going to have a baby today. The nurses assured me that I would - one way or another. I was ready to agree to a C-Section at this point if it was brought up again. Unknown to me the nurses were convinced that I was not progressing either and had started the paperwork for it. The doctor checked me and announced that I was dilated 7cm! The entire room - my parents, the nurses, the doctor, Nate, and I - all cheered! It was such a relief. At this point the nurse informed me that I had escaped a C-Section a second time.

I felt a sense of accomplishment at this point and felt totally at peace with the decision to have an epidural. My biggest fear was that I would have to be in that rounded position during a triple contraction or that my severe shaking would make the insertion of the needle impossible. I expressed my concerns and the wonderful anesthesiologist assured me that she would be able to do it as long as no sudden movements happened. The hospital had this amazing apparatus for me to get into position ... it looked like an upright massage chair where I put my forehead against it and a platform for my feet and I took a hold of Nate's shirt and held him close while arching my back. THE EPIDURAL WAS A DREAM. I have heard horror stories about them not working, leaving you unable to walk for sometime, only working on one side, etc. but I was sooo blessed to have it work perfectly. My entire labor I had been mostly uncommunicative - breathing and moaning through the contractions while holding Nate's hand against the bed rail while on my side with a pillow between my legs. It is important to note that Nate was awesome during the birth. He was there for me the entire time - I really needed to feel his presence there and he watched the monitors vigilantly. He had expressed concern about the sights and smells of birth and wasn't sure he would be able to get through witnessing it ... lets face it ... he was scared. But in reality he was a champ and wanted to be a part of everything. He pretty much saw it all and didn't feel like he needed to leave or couldn't handle what was going on. I was really really happy. Once the epidural had taken affect I was "back" - as Nate said - and was chatting up the room. I felt like I could actually do this. Another two hours went by while I finished dilating the remaining three centimeters ... which were actually really restful for me.

The baby was moving down slowly - the doctor assured me that my pushing was helping and although I couldn't feel it we were making progress. Unfortunately it was much slower then we all wanted and they were getting increasingly concerned. I had developed a fever and they were suspecting that an infection was brewing in my uterus and might be the cause of my erratic contractions. They told me if we didn't start pushing now and get her out soon we were looking at a C-Section for a third time today. The nurses and doctor decided not to mention to me that the size of her head (turns out to be 14 inches) and my pelvis were at odds and thus they were concerned that we weren't going to be able to deliver vaginally ... after all that work that information would have been hard for me to hear so I was thankful to learn that information later. As we began to get ready for pushing my mom grabbed my left leg and Nate had my right leg and I reached behind my thighs and bared down. I was unable to identify the strongest contractions from the weaker ones (because yes I was still having double and triple contractions) and we wanted to make sure we pushed on the strong ones. We got going on the pushing and I felt as though my eyes were going to pop out of my head. For pretty much all labor and delivery my eyes were shut as I channeled my energy into getting the baby out. I was trying to not get too light headed or feel like I was going to pass out. As pushing progressed the internal monitor was removed and I was on my own knowing when to push but by this time I had a good idea. I could feel the contractions at the top of my uterus and they weren't painful and then I could feel the pressure down below. I was now calling the shots in the room and telling everyone when to get ready because we were going to start pushing. My dad was across the room - out of visual range - and we put him to work counting to ten. He mostly did a great job except in the moments when he ran out of breathe and started acting like a personal trainer and trailing off with the counting. At that point I yelled out - "this is not a work out video - I am not pushing until you say ten, I am quitting at ten." He started to shape up then - hahaha.

Although I was told that everyone could see her head I wouldn't allow myself to think it meant more than just a spot on her head. In reality a good portion of her head was visible! I took my cues more from actions around me than the words I was hearing - when everyone got excited and animated I realized she was coming! When the doctor started to get on her protective gear I realized we were close and I pushed even harder. The doctor at this point said that she was going to use a vacuum to help her get out of there and I tried my best to make due with out it. In the end the vacuum is exactly what she needed. After about 45 min of pushing out she came at 7:05pm!

Finally here! And she has hair!

Its funny to say but it all happened so fast - she was out and up on my chest in one big motion. I was in shock that she was finally here. She hadn't yet cried and so they took her away for a moment and Nate went with her as they cleaned her up and got her crying - I could hear her right away and I cried also. Nate quickly brought her back to me and we had over an hour skin-to-skin contact. I was like a broken record saying "BABY" and "She's so beautiful" over and over and over again. She looked amazing - nice and full cheeks with smooth skin! No wrinkly new-born baby here! Other than the substantial bruise and a few abrasions on her head from the vacuum, she was perfect. I cried and thanked Heavenly Father for a beautiful and healthy baby girl. Nate and I are just amazed at how beautiful and wonderful she is. We love her so much. We still look at each other and say, "we have a baby!" or "can you believe that we did that? we birthed a baby!"

It truly is a miracle and I have a deeper and more profound respect for women across the world and the ages for sacrificing so much and being so brave. I feel honored to be counted among those women who are called mothers. I am also humbled by the responsibility of motherhood and am thankful for the influence of the Spirit to guide Nate and I thorough this journey of parenthood.

Stella Mae we love you more than words can describe!

Stella Mae Soelberg

2011-10-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

IV and monitors ... ready to go!

N&B ... while I was still waiting for the hard stuff to happen.

After 6 hours of hard labor ... 2 hours of hard labor off-set by the epidural ...

and 45 minutes of pushing ...

STELLA MAE SOELBERG was born!

Tuesday October 4, 2011

7:05pm

7 lb 14.8 ounces

19 inches

mom and stella about an hour after her birth ... needless to say I am tired.

N&B with STELLA! Our first family photo!

she loves to suck on her hands ... just as I saw time and time again in the womb!

with Grandpa David ... grandchild number 11!

proud papa ... Nate is such a good dad and loves his baby girl

chubby cheeks ... just like i ordered

(sorry for the cleavage)

since she was a GD baby we thought she might be bigger ... so NONE of her clothes fit her yet (sorry for the cleavage)

momma and baby ... i LOVE this girl beyond words

grandpa always has a statement to make


thinking hard as we leave the hospital (sorry again with the cleavage)

BIRTH STORY DETAILS COMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE

waiting on an angel ...

2011-10-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

This girl and my body don't agree with the doctor who wanted her to come a week early because of GD. I am currently dilated ONE cm only after inserting multiple "softening " medications since 8 pm last night and even a trial run on pitocin. I am not in pain I am just uncomfortable.

The doctor is giving me a break for a few hours to flush the meds out of my system and we will start again tonight. We are crossing our fingers that this second round will work and that contractions will start and be productive.

We shall see!

count down

2011-09-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

as of friday my OB has decided that Sunday night he will check me into the hospital ... so we could see baby girl in less than a week!

other good news ... my last day of work was friday! yay! it was a great job and a fun place to work but i am tired and ready to rest up for the labor and motherhood ahead. its really setting in how life changing this is and how much i love this little fortune cookie. we are so excited to have her be apart of the family and kick off our parenthood!

of course i have all sorts of ideas of how to spend this week - nesting, resting, and walking ... hopefully to get the whole birth thing going. most everything for baby is all ready to go and since we don't know her name yet I can't do any crafty name specific projects for her like i would like. but there are some wet bag/accessory bags that i want to quickly sew this week before she arrives, along with some christmas crafts/gifts and home projects (not too involved) that i want to get going.

i also have about three different books going on to keep me from wasting my life on the internet this week ... a natural birthing book (we shall see if i can go this route ... but i am open to options), a "how to help your baby be less fussy and sleep longer" book, and a good old southern story - "Gone with the Wind."

a fun week ahead ... including General Conference ... so hopefully i won't be too bored waiting for Sunday night to come along.

i will post a picture of the belly this week!

baby shower, birthing class, and 34 weeks

2011-08-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

i had a great trip out to see the family in the OC at the beginning of the month. my sister and mom threw me a baby shower and it was great! lots of fun items! baby girl has got some clothes! more than one baby girl deserves i am sure. between gifts and having girl cousins, we are really excited for the fun things to dress her up in! baby girl also has quilts and blankets galore - most are hand made and so so darling. we are really excited this little one will be kept nice and snuggly in the cold Eugene rain. and nate parents got us this sweet crib ...

i know ... i am obsessed with gray. it is just the right neutral - not too bland and boring, still a good base, but not too dominating. i just love it. i love the modern simplicity of it.

as i mentioned before, nate and i were going to be apart for 4 days for the first time since we have been married - we have our 2nd anniversary on Monday (woot, woot). i was doing fine on Thursday and Friday and even Saturday. but Sunday rolls around and i start getting sad about it. i had a hard time for the rest of the trip ... which i wonder how much is pregnancy hormones and how much were my real feelings. i haven't lived with my parents or in california in 10 years so its not like it had felt like home for a long time ... but i really really felt this time that this was not my home and that i actually did have a home someplace else ... nate is my home and my home is in eugene. i missed our small little life together and just seeing him. needless to say i cried when i finally got home at midnight on Tuesday. i love you babe.

in mom/baby health news ... this week starts the beginning of twice a week doctor's appointments - one for a mini ultra-sound to check the amniotic fluid levels and one for a non-stress test where they monitor baby girl's heart beat over a period of time. i saw baby girl yawn three times on the ultra-sound today ... her jaw was very easy to distinguish and it looked so crazy! she is moving around like crazy these days, especially at night (which makes me feel like she has her days and nights mixed up ... great). nate had his hand on my belly the other night and felt her doing her gymnastics and we were cracking up how dramatic the movements have become. we are amazed.

sleeping has headed into the challenging realm ... finding a comfortable spot is tough and sleep is starting to missed at odd hours ... guess that's all prep for when she is actually here! my nesting instincts are setting in and i have prepped the nursery for the most part. we only have one package of diapers so far (thanks Gennie) ... so i better get on that! its hard to stock up when you don't know how little or big this girl is going to be and what brand of diapers you will like! i have clothes ready to go by size all put away in the dresser and look forward to another baby shower here in Eugene in a few weekends.

we had a marathon birthing class last saturday. it was actually really good, contrary to what we had heard from friends. it was informative and good prep for us. it kind of gave us some confidence in the whole thing and was really good for nate. videos and all and he left feeling more confident in his roll of supporting me during labor and delivery ... i on the other had - being so close to giving birth - was just amazed that i was actually going to go through that. i am going to birth a baby. i feel a little more confident and hope that i can actually apply some of the stuff we learned on the big day.

in other news ... my OB thinks that the GD specialist won't let me go past 39 weeks ... we shall see what he says at my appointment next Tuesday where i will see baby girl again in 3-D. it feels to me that even just over the past week i have had a growth spurt - no, that's not a basketball under my dress these days ...

i did not intend on having the exercise ball in the picture as a reference point, but i guess it works. 8 1/2 months, I suppose this roundness is appropriate :) its especially crazy when you compare it to this 6 week shot:

side view at 34 weeks ... embracing the roundness that is me and my baby girl ... so excited to meet her!

we are also still playing the name game ... trying to decide a name is really intimidating! i know we are going to have to see her before we really decide but what if we don't know even after that?!

the most photographed baby in utero

2011-08-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

as of today - August 8th - i am 31 weeks! just a week shy of 8 months pregnant. a friend asked me the other day how far along and when i replied - almost 31 weeks she replied - "oh, only 9 more weeks to go - that's not too long" .... and that is when i started to have a mini panic. mostly about labor ... sort of about having a baby to take care of ... but mostly about labor. i have had two friends here in Oregon that have recently given birth and all i can say is whoa. but they are recovering and doing great - bumpy roads to motherhood and all. and there are all of you ladies out there reading this that have done it ... some of you multiple times! so i keep telling myself that millions of women have given birth in the course of history and certainly i can do it too. i feel blessed to be counted among you ladies and i am very excited to join the ranks of motherhood.

baby girl has been moving and shaking a ton these days, which adds to the reality that yes - there is a human being growing in my womb. the 3-D ultra sound images below (taken today) also help to solidify the reality! she is 3 1/2 pounds already (she gained an ounce this week)! she was sort of shy and had her hand up to her face the entire time we were looking at her ... we even tried to poke and jiggle her into another position without much success. this is what she was doing most of the time:

i love how you can see the definition of the hands and fingers so well! here is another shot where it's either her hand moving (so its blurry) or its the umbilical cord by her face. the other shots pretty much look like the one above or below.

i may have shed a few tears when i saw this girl's face. its so amazing how something so precious will be ours to love and take care of. i felt really really blessed to be her mom in this moment.

the reason for this super spiffy ultra-sound at this stage of the game is because i recently was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GD). not awesome. according to the doctors due to my family history i most likely will have it with any subsequent pregnancies (95% chance). i of course immediately worried that my pre-pregnancy weight-gain triggered my genes and the dietitian said that she didn't really think so. she said finding out this late in pregnancy was a good sign - keep the GD off as long as possible. of course losing the baby weight and the pre-pregnancy weight before another baby is desirable for all sorts of health and happiness reasons, it will at best delay the onset of gestational diabetes. with GD the pregnancy hormones keep my body from utilizing insulin to the best of its ability.

i get the joy of testing my blood four times a day with this little guy:

and have become quite skilled over the last four days. the trend thus far is that my fasting (over-night) blood sugar is high and so is my 1-hour post breakfast blood sugar (no matter what i do or do not eat). i can get my post lunch and dinner blood sugar down though with watching my carb intake (i love carbs of course) and limiting my fruits (so mean to a pregnant lady in the summer - right?) but we shall see. i might have to go on some medication at night to help keep the morning sugars low.

so they will be monitoring my blood sugar and checking up on baby girl via ultra-sound again in four weeks ... that will make a total of 5 ultra-sounds!

12 weeks - "are you really 14 weeks? nope you are 12 weeks" vaginal ultra-sound
20 weeks - "its a girl" ultra-sound - but she's measuring a tiny bit small
30 weeks - "just checking" ultra-sound - she looks good!
31 weeks - "gestational diabetes monitoring" ultra-sound - she still looks good!
next one - 35 weeks to check to make sure she is not getting too big

nate and i joke that she is the most photographed baby in utero on the planet.

the doctors won't let me go late for fear of the baby getting too big and if she is getting too big than they will induce early (eek!) so we will have a baby by October 11th for sure. Whoa.

anyway - since i gave you a shot of my insides, i figure its only fair to give you a shot of what we look like on the outside ... here i am in all my glory with baby girl at 31 weeks:

i wear dresses and skirts a lot these days ... so much more comfortable ... so i made sure to take a snap shot of me in one ... you know - for remembrance and all. my hair is getting so long and while i could definitely use a trim, its still really healthy and feels great. my skin - as i have mentioned before - is a whole other situation ... still awful.

i have a few other updates on projects i have been working on ... crib is up and running ... finally painted the baby's dresser/changing table ... and other projects ... AND i must show you the beautiful blankets/quilts made for me by some dear friends and family ... but all of these things need some photographs first.

one final note ... i am heading to So-Cal this thursday to see family and have a baby shower (yipee!) and its going to be the first time that nate and i have been apart since we were married 23 months ago. yeah we spend all day apart at work but never all day and all night. we are spoiled i know. i think it will be fine ... just weird. we aren't much of phone talkers so this should be interesting.

tackling the list + 6 month photos

2011-07-01T15:58:00.001-07:00

the list is getting attention folks! i am checking things off! but then again, i am also adding things to the list ... eek! is it okay to add things to the list just to check them off? i think adding somethings - like take 6 month photos and post or FINALLY post before and after photos of your sofa - are okay to put on the list just to check them off ... but go to the grocery store or do the laundry ... your just trying to make yourself feel better. so here is the progress:

- make baby gift for a friend (must be done before July 9th!)
- finish christmas craft (i know its early but i wanted to do it before the baby comes!)
- paint dresser (need hubby's help and a sunny Saturday)
- hang two frames downstairs 7/1/11

i hung those two little dark gray frames finally ... just to finish that wall off. nate asks me all the time, "are we going to leave those frames blank?" i tell him maybe some of them but i want to but pictures of baby in a few of them.

i like how it flows from nate's korean frame that says "home is a heaven on earth," to the frame cluster with a wedding photo (and baby one day), and ends with our beautiful Minerva Tichert picture of Christ (which i don't think i ever posted since i mentioned that it was being framed ... that is how lame i am people. this is why i need a list.)

i long for the days i can paint my walls. this whole setup would really pop!

- buy 3 wall-hangers for coat rack
- hang said coat rack
- photograph paper flowers i made for baby girl's room ... to show the blogosphere 7/1/11

i made these babies - copying a friend i made while living in DC who is now a brilliant designer in Copenhagen. she made paper flowers for her wedding and all sorts of other events (including the royal wedding.) I will be putting these up in baby girls room over the crib with some paper lanterns ... a few of these flowers are pretty big and oh so fun!

- re-pot some of our wedding 'babies' (succulents) that are starting to die one by one
- put away party supplies (from the end of may - i am terrible)
- organize my dresser drawers and sort my clothes into stages (this is to give me more space and to help me get motivated to get back to my wedding size after the birth ... this is a reasonable goal)
- hang our beautiful wedding clock
- organize the under bed storage in both baby's room and our room
- start looking for 8 x 10 frames at Goodwill
- modify my downstairs curtains
- post photos of before and after sofa 7/1/11

BEFORE

AFTER

now i remember why i haven't posted pictures of the sofa yet - even though it was almost 9 month ago that we worked on this project - because i haven't taken any good photos! have i mentioned how bad the light is in our house? yeah its bad. but you get the idea with how bad the sofa was before and how much better it is now. my mom is amazing. she basically re-covered the whole thing with me as her apprentice. she also made me these pillows during her last visit at the end of may. i love this fabric - i found it as a remnant at joanne's. it works perfectly with the gray and black and yellow we have going on.

- take 6 month pregnant photos and post 7/1/11

me and baby girl at 25 weeks (just over six months) i am a large human being. whew. can you believe i will be getting bigger? hopefully just in the belly area but yikes. i can't blame it all on baby girl but i try. can you believe i live with that chest either? the crazy part is that upon getting pregnant i immediately gained extra in the boob area ... right away. its shocking that there are non-pregnant ladies with this bra size and even more shocking that there are women who get fake ones this size and larger. i am all for some cleavage but this is just too much.

on other pregnancy related notes ... my skin is still the worst it has ever been and my stretch marks have migrated from the hip and thigh area to the base of my belly - fortunately or unfortunately (who knows which when it comes to stretch marks) they are in the underside that is getting harder and harder for me to see. i am also experiencing those sudden urges to pee and that phenomenon that women also describe as the baby pushing or dancing on their bladder. all of a sudden i will feel baby girl move and i suddenly have an urgent sense of needing to urinate. crazy. also ... baby likes black licorice.

... she could make lists for days ...

2011-06-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

its amazing to me how much stuff i get done at work. i make a list of things and i go at it. granted it make take a few days to cross some of those things off the list - i get interrupted and derailed a lot at work - but they get done. by the time i come home from work i am tired and lazy and have lost the motivation to work on my list of things to do at home. i feel triumphant when i actually make a nice dinner! tonight was one of those nights.

i need to make a list of the things i want to get done at home ... i am hoping that will help me kick it into gear and stop being so lazy.

- make baby gift for a friend (must be done before July 9th!)
- finish christmas craft (i know its early but i wanted to do it before the baby comes!)
- paint dresser (need hubby's help and a sunny Saturday)
- hang two frames downstairs
- buy 3 wall-hangers for coat rack
- hang said coat rack
- photograph paper flowers i made for baby girl's room ... to show the blogosphere
- re-pot some of our wedding 'babies' (succulents) that are starting to die one by one
- put away party supplies (from the end of may - i am terrible)
- organize my dresser drawers and sort my clothes into stages (this is to give me more space and to help me get motivated to get back to my wedding size after the birth ... this is a reasonable goal)
- hang our beautiful wedding clock
- organize the under bed storage in both baby's room and our room
- start looking for 8 x 10 frames at Goodwill
- modify my downstairs curtains

the great state of illinois

2011-06-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

i have never been to the midwest - i have been as far as Oklahoma but that is considered the Great Plains ... right? anyway, lets just say i have never been to the midwest as an adult and that i have spent most of my traveling time on the US coasts and abroad. lately nate and i had been talking about how living in the midwest or really anywhere would be an adventure. i really would love to live in every part of the country just to see what life is like there. visiting doesn't really cut it. you have to live an everyday life to really get the feel for a place. that is just me. will it happen? who knows! should it happen? who knows! if nate stays teaching at the university level it could happen.

but anyway ... we made our trip out to chicago and normal/bloomington, illinois this last week and had a wonderful time. it was action packed, yet a little bit low key and lazy ... a perfect combination for this lady with swollen feet and ever burgeoning belly. i seriously get noticeably bigger every few days. i feel like fortune cookie has growth spurts and i FEEL it. i FEEL my body stretching and i FEEL noticeably rounder. whoa. but i also started to finally FEEL baby girl move in my belly! just a few days ago (thursday june 16th to be exact) i was spending a lazy morning in my brother's house laying on the sofa when i started to feel a wiggly feeling inside. it happened three more times ... very distinctive movement going on in there. it was magical to say the least. sigh ... it makes the swelling and the labored movements worth it.

i digress (as usual) ... we did so much on our trip before that happened ... here were the highlights (a long list mostly for my remembrance - all images stolen from sara soelberg's blog because the nate and bethany soelbergs are not awesome about taking pictures ... we will have to work on this before baby is born) :

spent the night in seattle at the gleason's (some of the friendliest, most generous people i know) in prep for our early morning flight to chicago with my parents.
this trip was the first flight nate and i have taken since our honeymoon in sept 2009.
this was the first trip by flight that nate and i have taken with my parents ... we all really enjoyed it and i predict more occasions in the future.
flew into chicago o'hare airport for the first time (for me)
experienced their heat wave first hand, which was not so bad since we have been innundated with rain in oregon.
met up with joe (nate's brother) and went back to his house (which his family had just moved into the week before ... we are such courteous visitors) and saw sara, libby, and jenna for the first time since last summer! so so fun!
spent the next day at the Museum of Science and Industry with sara and the girls (joe had just started his new job) and explored space, the "smart" house (misnomer if you ask me ... we decided it should have been called the "recycled" house - which in my book is great), and an actual U-boat, and watched a cool tornado I-Max movie.
other highlights of the Museum day included poor jenna getting car sick and tossing her cookies in a the only thing we could find to give her - a fabric bag! word up - fabric bags are not good barf bags - go figure - but that's what we had on hand. she was a trooper and of course felt much better once she had done that and we were out of the car. another bonus to this episode is that i got to see sara in action ... she is a quick and resourceful mom and i was taking notes big time.
toured around Downer's Grove ... the cute suburb that the joe soelberg family live in and we fell in love. i could totally live there. cute houses on tree-lined streets ... where do i sign?

the village is quite and quaint with a main street to make my little heart pitter patter. just a few short blocks from their house is the train to commute into the city (but not loud at all), the tivoli theater with $4 movies and $1 bowling in the basement - as shown here:

there is also a library a short walk down main street which we visited with the girls and stopped in to grab a donut at a local bakery. while eating said donut we sat out along the street and listened to the oldies they were playing from speakers atop the old brick buildings. i loved it.
we also spent a day in chicago walking the miracle mile and seeing the sights. needless to say we caught the bus whenever my feet demanded it, but i was pretty impressed with the walking i did. its hard when you know that movement is good for the body but the feet might not be able to do it. sitting for train rides and then walking for long stretches made for some swollen feet but fun was still had at the classic millenium park bean and fountains as well as Ghiradelli's:

on the way to see steve (another of the soelberg brothers) who was the master of ceremonies at the Chicago Ragnar race we found ourselves in the middle of a "zombie walk" which apparently had no other purpose but to have thousands of people dressed as zombies and walking the streets of chicago. interesting, but really they had no cause? strange.

we ended the chicago day with chicago pizza ... super yum! deep-dish-delish is what i say!

then off we went to the south to a small city of Normal, Illinois. it was also delightful with delightful people we love there. my brother and his family moved there last january and braved their first mid-west winter. their new found friends swore that this winter was worse than usual ... those former North Hollywood-ites are hoping that's true. they just moved into new house they just bought and it is AMAZING. a beautiful beautiful home i would not mind calling my own ... and this is a big deal because its a new house (only 3 years old) and my preference is towards old houses.

located next to Bloomington, Illinois, there are quaint downtown areas with historic districts and old homes to make me swoon. there are also beautiful tree-lined streets and two Universities in this little neck of the world. its the biggest thing between St. Louis and Chicago. here are some highlights of this part of the trip:

drove around to view the historic districts and gawk at all the lovely old homes with porches and gabled roofs and even turrets on some!
helped do some unpacking and organizing in the house - they let us come visit even though they had just moved into the house a week before!
played with the kids and held the baby - ADORABLE - when he would let us (he's kinda a momma's boy)
went to State Farm Park and rode water slides and the lazy river (okay nate rode water slides with the kids and I floated the lazy river and sat on a chair with my feet in the awesome water feature filled kitty pool ... it was awesome)
had ice cream at State Farm Park and got a little bit of a sunburn (oh so welcome tho ... we are sooo sun deprived in the pacific nw ... at least were were until this week!)
went to Nauvoo, Illinois and saw the temple and it is beautiful and magestic ... next time i would like to go in and do a session with my hubby.
went to Nauvoo and took a wagon ride through the historic town of Nauvoo (i really want to go back one year for the pageant and stay a day or two).
made a list of all the things i would like to see in Nauvoo next time when i am not almost 6 months pregnant with swollen feet
saw a cute kids play about life in Nauvoo
learned how to be a cooper and make a water tight barrel
learned how to make rope and bread and weave a Nauvoo rug
had yummy food in an old timey shop
took a "short cut" through a few farms on the way to Carthage to see Carthage jail where Joseph Smith was martyred ... the whole scenario and the film depiction of what happens makes more sense to me now that i have seen the location.
the town of Carthage really is a beautiful community.

its funny that now that i am a little bit older ... mostly because i have found the person i want to spend eternity with .... and also because i soon will become a mother ... i am a bit nostalgic for a small town life i have never known. i have always been enthralled by the big city and the offerings of a metropolis. but as i grow up i realize that i am really just a home-body that pushes myself to go out and do all the fun things around. i am happy to hang out with the ones i love.

the vacation was wonderful and i am so glad we did it.

random happenings

2011-06-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend doing stuff around the house and enjoying an unstructured Saturday. Fun happenings included:

weeded our "patch of land" (back patio) and planted three dahlia plants
bbq with some of our favorite people
had kebabs at said bbq
also had s'mores at said bbq
wore maternity shorts for the first time
ate lots of watermelon and cantaloupe
finished making paper flowers for fortune cookie's room (pictures to come)
made korean food with one of Nate's students
ate strawberry's and cool whip
made travel plans for our trip to Chicago (we leave tomorrow night! woot woot)

My feet have already begun to swell periodically through the day ... but now my hands have followed suit ... especially since the temperature has gotten more enjoyable (read - warmer) ... i knew this day would come ... but so soon?
Due to said swelling i thought it might be a good idea to take off my wedding ring before we take a plane to Chicago and back this week. Call me crazy but i don't think the altitude will help my swelling.

Remove wedding ring = good idea
Remove wedding ring in the AM while puffy (even after a shower) = not a good idea

As a result of trying to twist and lotion and floss and ice and everything else that google suggested to get a stuck ring off your finger ... my finger became dangerously swollen ... the nice people at SKIES jewelers ended up cutting it off ... needless to say this day has not been awesome. (yes it was my grandmother's ring and yes it can be fixed and no damage was done to the diamonds or the setting, the band was simply snipped and spread for my finger to slide right out. just one more milestone or marker for me to use after the baby is born i guess ... get my swelling and weight down to wedding ring size)

i am really really starting to understand the physical sacrifice of bearing a child ... and i am only halfway through pregnancy ... reality is harsh ... yet i still feel lucky.

On the bus home from work today there were 6+ people trying to help some teenage girl find Planned Parenthood ... it was especially awesome when she turned to me and asked if i knew where it was ... umm i have no idea ... yes my parenthood was planned, but not by an organization.
Planned Parenthood ... it sounds like a misnomer or maybe a euphemism ... shouldn't it be Pregnancy Prevention - at least you could keep the double p initials going.

2011-05-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

just as we suspected

fortune cookie is a ...

girl

i have pretty much known this from the beginning ... which is so funny because since i was 16 years old i have felt that i will have 5 crazy male children that i will have no idea what to do with. but once this little girl started really cooking in my oven i could just tell she was the girl variety. we are beyond excited and feel very very lucky to be anticipating this great blessing ... i mean of course its a blessing already ... but whoa we are overwhelmed by the majesty and miracle of it all and pinch ourselves all the time ... we made a baby! and its still in there! and i think i actually felt it for the first time last night! it felt like a wave inside me! and then we saw her for an hour today and measured her every little tiny body part! she appears healthy and happy and was even playing with the umbilical cord in my womb! it was adorable (strange, i know)! sigh. we are in love ...

the next thing on my mind is how to make a pastel blue, green, and mustard yellow nursery girlie but not cheesy girlie (when i say "nursery" think multi-purpose baby room ... i won't be able to do a full out nursery like i have in my head ... but i will do what i can!) the queen bed is staying in the extra room (at least for the first six months of fortune cookie's life while we have family and friends visiting) and i love love love the Paisley pottery barn duvet i have in there in those exact colors. it was my first (and maybe my last ... you never know) "high end" linen purchase in my life. when i was living/working in DC i splurged and ordered it online. i have no regrets.

i like the idea of going with those colors for fortune cookie's room ... i think they are pretty and fairly gender neutral and then i can throw in pops and punches of girlie things .... like these:

pom poms and paper lanterns above the crib ... love this idea
i am thinking blues and greens with a punch of pink

more pom poms ... but these are made of t-shirt material ...
i like the texture and warmth
(again think pastel blues/greens/yellows and a punch of pink)

But I was also thinking of some oversized flowers in the appropriate colors ...
that would be soo soo soo fun.

eek! i can't wait! my mom and dad fly in tomorrow and we are going to get going on planning and prepping and sewing and crafting and just spending some good days together! yippee!

20 weeks

2011-05-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

here it is ... my 20 week progress shot. my mother-in-law likes to guess the gender based on how you are carrying the baby ... what do you think? BOY or GIRL?? we find out on thursday!

the year of the baby

2011-05-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

its probably because i myself am with child, but doesn't it seem like there are a lot of pregnant ladies around these days? every tv show i watch has a pregnant lady (either on the show or they are hiding the actresses real pregnancy) and i have lots of friends expecting too. everytime i look on facebook or a blog i see that someone else is expecting.

two thousand eleven ... according to the Chinese Calendar our babies will be the year of the rabbit which means that their sign is yin (as in yin and yang) and their "fixed element" is wood. It also means that rabbits are: "Gracious, good friend, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate, lucky, flexible. Can be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn."

Don't you love how it starts with a string of wonderful traits and then hits you with the negatives ... which seem so scary! MOODY! DETACHED! SUPERFICIAL! SELF-INDULGENT! OPPORTUNISTIC! STUBBORN!

And then i look to review my own animal sign to see how much seems to be "accurate" - the way the Chinease calendar works and because i was born before February 12th 1983 i am actually the year of the dog (while most of my fellow 1983-ers are the year of the boar) ... these are the traits it associates with those born in the year of the dog: "Yang; Fixed Element Metal - Honest, intelligent, straightforward, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, attractive, amicable, unpretentious, sociable, open-minded, idealistic, moralistic, practical, affectionate, sensitive, easy going. Can be cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, pessimistic, worrier, stubborn, quarrelsome."

Whoa. The good and the bad ... i would say it describes me pretty well. Then again i feel like my astrological sign - Capricorn - fits me to a T as well.

Next step ... look at Nate's animal sign and assess my feelings about its "accuracy" from there: Yin, Fixed Element Metal - Acute, neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. Can be over zealous and critical, puritanical, egotistical, abrasive, proud, opinionated, given to empty bravado.

hahahaha ... i would NOT say this accurately describes Nate very well. the only things i think it gets spot on are conservative, alert, practical, scientific, responsible.

But is his astrological sign more accurate? He is a cancer, which means: Loyalty, Dependable, Caring, Adaptable, Responsive, Moody, Clingy, Self-pitying, Oversensitive, Self-absorbed. This seems a little more true to Nate.

Since our little fortune cookie will be born in October that makes him/her a LIBRA ... this is what we might have in store - "Diplomatic and urbane; romantic and charming; easygoing and sociable; idealistic and peaceable; indecisive and changeable; gullible and easily influenced; flirtatious and self-indulgent. "

First things first ... find out if its a SHE or a HE. Only two days!

4 months and counting

2011-05-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

for the last few years i have not been much of a big picture taker ... not just of me ... but in general. but i do want to document this pregnancy which requires picture taking ... unflattering pictures taking. sigh. the bummer is my starting state was not ideal. i am trying not to dwell on it (although its hard to have this new body experience while you are already struggling with your existing body) and to enjoy the experience of a life growing inside me.

So here is "before" ... picture taken at 6 weeks.

And here I am at 16 weeks ... packing it on ... already. Its going to be a long summer :)

soliciting advice

2011-04-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

i know being a mother is one of those situations where you get advice from all sorts of people ... welcomed or not.

but in this moment, i am welcoming it. because its my blog and that means people i know and enjoy are reading this blog. people whom i admire and have gathered wisdom in motherhood (since many many of my lady friends and readers are moms already) and i would like to tap into that resource.

think of all the times people gave advice to you ... now give me your tried and true views. i realize that we all lead different lives and enjoy doing things that "work for us" so no worries - i will glean what i can.

i am asking because its hard to know what brand or style of "baby essentials" to invest in before you have had a baby ... and we all know that you need to be ready! which is why i am asking these questions now and not right before i am about to welcome our bundle of joy into the world. i like to investigate and be as prepared as possible. so please weigh in on some of these questions that are on my mind - feel free to leave a comment or email me if you would rather share your opinion privately. feel free to comment on one or all of the topics listed below.

that being said - here are my questions:

1) INFANT CAR SEAT: i think we have decided to invest in an infant car seat - not a convertible car seat - this first time in hopes that we will have more than one child in a "timely" manner that will allow us to re-use car seats. so that being said, is it the best idea to get a car seat that works up to 35lbs? ... here is my thought process. the pluses with an infant car seat is that they can be taken out of the car and into church or attached to a stroller while remaining in the seat. if my kid is weighing more that 22lbs do i still want this option or carrying the baby and the seat? am i going to want to carry my 35lb baby IN the car seat still, or will i be leaving the seat behind at that point? (are those wimpy never-been-a-mother comments?) am i taking my baby out of the seat at this point anyway? the reason i ask is because i am all about a more streamlined design for baby stuff ... i am not into the tons of plastic crap that surrounds baby everything ... and a more "pared-down" version of infant car seats tend to limit out around 22lbs. tell me your thoughts.

2) CLOTH DIAPERS: i know i know ... some people swear by it and some people have horror stories. i would like to try it but i don't have any friends that have (unless any of you have but i didn't know it - if so tell me please!) i hear/read that it is gotten pretty awesome these days but i fear that i will not be awesome/crazy enough to do it. any thoughts or feelings about the topic?

3) BOUNCER/SWING: again, i am all about limiting the baby stuff (especially because we live in an apt and have a few more moves in us most likely while baby is still under the age of 1). this one can probably wait until after the wee one comes to us and we see what personality preferences emerge. but these things can be bulky and super expensive ($50+ sometimes ... sheesh). i will probably need to thrift something like this if needed. anyway ... its always good to gather research.

4) ENTERTAINER: i love the concept of this thing ... babies love these things too and it helps strengthen their legs for crawling and walking ... but AGAIN bulky! does anyone know of a really minimalist version of this? i can add my own toys but a base would be awesome. just thought i would ask the people that know.

i think those are my only questions for now. i am busy checking websites and reading reviews. p.s. i am loving albeebaby.com ... they have some good price reductions and shipping is free over $100 and only $4.95 under $100. i hate paying for shipping.

glowing

2011-04-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

they often say that a woman glows when she is pregnant.

this is not the case for me ... unless you count that oil slick that covers my face each day.

seriously, my skin has taken a turn for the worse these days and i am break out city ... more so than when i was a teenager.

but lets end on a high note ... i am in love with bacon and egg (and sometimes avocado) sandwiches these days and i make one every morning before work to go with my milk and banana shake. i am also a big fan of bran muffins for my mid-morning snack. and popsicles - i am a big fan of those even though its still pretty chilly these days.

yeah for week 14 and not feeling so bad but still eating almost every hour! woot woot!

fortune cookie's debut

2011-04-07T17:40:00.001-07:00

i am happy to say that nate and i were spot on with the baby's "age" ... as of my monday appointment (april 4th) fortune cookie is 12 weeks and 4 days ... making our due date october 13th (don't worry its no a friday ... i looked ... a baby expected on a friday the thirteenth in october is almost more than i can take ... i am already bummed out about celebrating my first born's birthdays in the month of orange and black for the rest of eternity - no offense to Libras and Scorpios out there ... october is just not one of my most favorite months ... but i do take comfort that my sister and my bff and one nephew are all october libras)

i had a vaginal ultra-sound (can we say fun) so we could measure fortune cookie and it was a magical experience seeing the baby like that! you can see every little rib and bone! i was able to see one little hand (five fingers on at least one)! it is amazing how defined the legs and calf muscles are ... life is a miracle.

lots of moving and grooving in their, making it a bit hard to get some good photos ... we tried to get a good hand and a fully face shot with no success ... fortune cookie was too busy having a pool party ... such is life. here are the shots we got:

This last one is my favorite ... right before we snapped this photo the baby moved ... but he/she was in full downward-facing dog pose with bum in the air and all! adorable.

Food Diary of a First Timer

2011-04-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Usually I go to the grocery store once a week ... but pregnancy makes me confused about what I want to eat. I end up not buying enough food that I want to eat on my usual grocery trip and then have to go back again in the week ... totally throwing off my grocery buying schedule. I never know what I will actually end up eating and liking for more than a week. Sheesh.

For my remembrance - foods I like and dislike during pregnancy so far. (Don't judge ... I was trying to just eat anything that sounded good to keep from getting sick)

Yumm =
PB&J sandwhiches
BBQ potato chips (wks 7-10)
Chips & Salsa (wks 10 - 14)
Enchiladas
Thai Food
Any spicy Asian Food
Spaghetti
Mac N Cheese
Hot Dogs (usually no way)
Corn Dogs (again, usually no way)
Grilled Cheese
Chicken Noodle Soup
Pizza - pepperoni and veggie (no sausage)
Bread
hummus (wks 7-10)
pork chops
sweet potato fries

New Yum=
Eggs (wks 10-14)
Caesar Salad (wks 10-14)
Muffins

Yuck =
Italian turkey sausage (which I usually put in spaghetti sauce)
Apples (wks 7-10)
Oranges (wks 7-10)
Pineapple (wks 7-10)
Eggs (wks 7-10)
Most veggies (wks 7-10 thankfully I am back to eating broccoli, peppers, and salad at least)
Popcorn (wks 7-14)
Sweets in general except my favorite Safeway cookies (wks 7-10 and slowly getting over this)
bagels (wks 7-14)
wheat thins (wks 7-14)
fish (I had one craving ... I satisfied it and it was great ... and then I haven't liked the idea since)

Sometimes Yuck - Sometimes Yum=
Orange juice
Ice Cream (right now vanilla based flavors are good - which i usually go for chocolate - cookies and cream is the current favorite)
Lemonade (which I usually love)
Hamburgers

I have noticed that I am really prone to the power of suggestion ... feel free to tell me what was good or bad on your pregnancy list ... I just may want to try it :)

Despite it All ... I Just Knew (A Long Journal Type Entry)

2011-04-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

I wrote this on Feb 6, 2011 ... a few days after we found out we were expecting.

Coming up on a week of having a cold, I called my mom in frustration (because your mother is the best person to use as a sounding board) - mostly looking for validation in my feelings and thoughts. I described how I had a feeling I was pregnant but every time I took a test it came out negative and that I didn't want to take any cold medicine because I really felt like the tests were wrong. I was afraid that my cold was turning into a sinus infection and I did not want to re-live that experience from January 2009 (believe me it was AWFUL). My mom suggested that I go see a doctor and at first I didn't want to because I didn't want them to tell me I was wrong - that I wasn't pregnant and that I didn't have a sinus infection. And maybe even worse - that my body was all messed up and I wasn't ovulating (like my doctor in the past has suspected.) I just wasn't sure I was ready to hear it all.

Of course my mom told me to just go and get the ball rolling on the whole thing and by the end of our conversation, I was resolved to make an appointment with the doctor. I called an OBGYN and told them my story - I thought I was pregnant ... I was late but my period isn't regular and test came out negative ... but I still felt like I was pregnant ... AND I had a bad head cold that I was worried was evolving into a sinus infection but I didn't want to take anything if I was pregnant. They basically said - we can't give you any medical advice until we see you and you can't get in for a week or so. Then she suggested that I see my general practitioner and ask them to do a pregnancy test. So that is what I did .... and the next afternoon (Wednesday Feb 2nd) I was sitting in the waiting room waiting for them to call my name.

The nurse - Marci - was outgoing and fun and we chatted about my symptoms and then I said ... but I haven't taken any medicine because I think I might be pregnant. She squealed and said - "Do you want to find out?" ... Yes ... "Do you need to pee?" ... I could pee. As we briskly walked down the hall I frantically told her that all the at home tests I had taken had come out negative but it wasn't like me to be late.... blah blah blah.

I took the test and it came out negative. I wasn't heart broken but I was a bit confused. She gave me the pep talk of "its okay, keep trying" and told me the doctor would be in shortly to see me. In he came and I debated about re-telling the whole thing and decided that it must be noted in my chart or something that we just got a negative response to the pee test. We talked about my cold, he went to listen to my back ... and a techinician knocked on the door looking for the nurse Marci ... we resumed our exam and he agreed that I was heading into a sinus infection and that antibiotics were needed ... along with some cough syrup with codine and sudafed (available only by prescription in Oregon). He put in the order and then said good day and good luck. I thanked him and preceded to get my coat and scarf on to leave when Marci came running in saying "thank heaven's you are still here ... don't move!" So I obeyed and waited as the doctor and Marci came back in and said, "so you think you might be pregnant" and I said, "I wasn't sure if that was relevant anymore" and Marci piped in "yeah since I just told you that you aren't ... you must be a bit confused!"

Yes Yes I was.

The doctor sent me to the lab to take a blood test to find out for sure. So apparently the nurse that had knocked on the door was looking for Marci because she saw a second line appear on the pregnancy test - a very faint line - but as many of you know ... a line is a line. Once she found Marci they did another test and sure enough - a really faint line appeared a second time. They showed me the samples and said - "We think you are pregnant! Yay!" I had to tell everyone to calm down because I didn't want to get my hopes up. They were like - "Oh be positive this is great - you are pregnant - its so happy" and then I burst in to tears because I was so scared the blood test would be negative ... EVEN THOUGH I KNEW TWO WEEKS AGO THAT I WAS PREGNANT. Even before the 19th of January I thought I might be, but I dismissed it as wishful thinking. But after the 19th I was pretty sure, but the test kept coming out negative.

So they took my blood as I cried and they told me that the results usually took a day to get back from the lab but because they too were sooo curious they were going to put a rush on it and Marci would call me by 5:00pm (it was already 3:45 by then). I walked out of there in a daze and headed to the pharmacy down the street. My whole world had just potentially changed and I was sooo excited and overwhelmed and still reserved that it wasn't true. By the time I received my medicine and explained to the pharmacist that I no longer wanted the prescribed sudafed (doctor said to play it on the safe side and not take it which was fine by me) because I thought I might be pregnant ... Marci called!

Amidst signing for the medicine and talking to the pharmacist I heard Marci say that the blood test was similar to the other test - faint but for sure positive! I was definitely pregnant and there was no way I would have found out at home for another week or two. She said they would look closer at my blood to determine how far along I was and call me the next day. Again I was in a daze as I drove home to tell Nate the wonderful news!

I came home and told Nate that I needed a hug. We hugged for a bit and I took off my sweater and showed him my hot pink bandage where they took my blood. He asked me why they took my blood and I hugged him and said because they want to find out for sure if I was pregnant! He was super happy and squeezed me tight. We are soooo excited!

The next day Marci called with the results that they think that we are 5/6 weeks pregnant! That gives us an October 3, 2011 due date. Whoa. That is pretty close to what were were shooting for! By my estimations, we were more likely 3 weeks when we found out. We have since had a few baby doctor appointments and I have been overwhelmingly sick. Immediately it was discovered that I had a yeast infection and a urinary track infection - AT THE SAME TIME (seriously who does that).

Updated April 4, 2011:

A month after finding out I got ANOTHER Sinus infection ... only this one was on par with the sinus infection from 2009. I was down and out for a week and wished for death. Amongst all this I was nauseated like I have never felt before. All sorts of foods would sound good one week and the next week I couldn't stand the thought. I was totally off fruit for a month - it just didn't taste the same and I couldn't eat it. We met our doctor during sinus infection #2 and we really liked him. He gave me a strong anti-biotic (but still okay for baby) and it still took days to recover. That was awful. Then my on-going eye infection/irritation returned in my left eye and the eye doctor tried to help me. After two visits and a week, we got it straightened out. Then last weekend Nate woke up on Saturday with a terrible head cold and I woke up with a swollen right eye! Seriously ... can I get a break here? Pregnancy is going to kill me from discomfort.

We both recovered in time to keep our appointment to see the little flicker of the heart beat of our little fortune cookie. It was magical. After that appointment I shared the news with my co-workers and bosses and everyone has been really supportive and congratulatory. I feel very blessed. I have another ultra-sound tomorrow (Monday 4/4) to determine if we are 14 weeks or 12 weeks (like Nate and I think we are ... not that I want to drag this on any longer ... it already feels like forever) ... but my doctor wants to try to be as accurate as possible.

More to come ...... and it only gets better in the second trimester ... right?!

i'm spreading the news ...

2011-03-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

remember this awesome Halloween costume idea that i thankfully realized was inappropriate for church trunk o'treats???

well its too bad we won't be at this stage next Halloween:

that is because our little "bun" will no longer be in the proverbial "oven" ... if you know what I mean (wink wink)!

Yes we are having a wee one! And we are so so so excited about it. Its been tough to keep this one under wraps - because I am the WORST at keeping my own secrets (case in point - telling people Nate and I were getting married before he had the chance to tell a few choice family members).

We just saw the little flicker of the heartbeat today and it was magical. We have a follow up next week to get a more accurate idea of how far along we are (our doctor had to rush our appointment due to a patient in labor and ready to deliver) and when our official due date will be (sometime in October).

We are super duper excited to have a baby and feel really blessed that all is going well so far! Yay for babies ... more details to come!

"despite" or "in spite"

2011-02-18T19:40:00.001-08:00

First of all, did you know that "despite" and "in spite" are essentially synonyms and can be used interchangeably? who knew? well these people did. and so did my husband the English teacher. I like to look these things up ... "every so once in a while" (i say this all the time according to my husband, who thinks its hilarious ... its "once in awhile" or "ever so often" ... allegedly).

I digress ... even before I have had anything to digress from. The whole reason for that little discussion above is because I bought this piece of "art" (i use the term loosely here) despite of or in spite of the actual picture. But I LOVE the frame. Take a look at this beauty:

Oh did you need a close up of that crying child???? Here you go ... now you can see the tears and horror on his face. FRIGHTENING if you ask me.

Sadly I have had it in this horrifying state for many months ... waiting for the perfect painting to take its rightful place in the beautifully detailed frame. After some deconstructing - namely the removal of the horrid picture and the black velvet inner mat (not as bad as it sounds) ... i had it in its most vulnerable and minimalist state.

I love the chunky gold detailing. It looks hand carved in a kind of art deco way. It reminds me of Mayan art and hieroglyphs and I kept imagining a beautiful painting framed by the cream and gold. I love love love this frame. Its bigger than any frame I have ever owned (and I own a lot of picture frames people).

This fall I decided that it was time for us to invest in a decent piece of art - one that we would have in all of the apartments or houses that we would call home. I was also reflecting on my lack of ... let's say ... religious art in our home. Sure we have the Family Proclamation (a beautifully framed wedding gift - we love it) a watercolor of the Newport Beach Temple (painted by a woman in my parent's ward and given to me by my dad) and our wedding pictures around the house. But I really wanted something of The Living Christ in our home to reflect how important both He and His gospel is in our lives.

As I was contemplating this and worrying about it meshing with my "style" (as if I have a defined style) I was remembering my internship at the BYU Museum of Art in 2004/5 and recalling my first introduction to the artist Minerva Teichert ("She gave paintings to Brigham Young University to pay tuition so that children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other young people could attend college".) I am mesmerized by her style - the softness of watercolor impressionism with a hint of defined outlines and a modern aesthetic. One of my most favorite paintings is her painting of Esther. You can bet that if we are to ever have a female child, this print will be in her room. It is in the Women's changing room in the temple and I love to take a moment and take in its beauty.

I think all of my favorite paintings found in church buildings or temples are by her. I particularly love her Book of Mormon scenes, although her Pioneer paintings are splendid as well. Her paintings can be found in both the Newport Beach and Portland temples - the temples I have most frequented in my life. The picture below, Christ in a Red Robe is the first picture you see when you enter the foyer of the Portland Temple. After pondering and searching I decided that this is the picture that would be perfect for our home. Its a soft and tender scene of Christ and his love for us all. Teicherts style is also perfect for the frame. I feel like her paintings (especially the Book of Mormon ones) have a very native, new world feel to them ... just like my frame!

It will be on prominent display in the Soelberg home thanks to my wonderful husband who bought it for me MONTHS in advance of Christmas. So far in advance that I wasn't 100% sure he actually bought it for me.

Today I finally took it in to a frame shop to have it mounted and a custom mat cut and archival glass fitted. It wasn't cheap (although the frame cost me only $7 at goodwill) but I think its well worth the investment. We will have this in our home, no matter where that might be.

This beauty:

will be united with this beauty:

in less than a week!

I am so excited!

i mustache you a question ...

2011-02-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I am a copy cat. But imitation is the highest form of flattery ... right? I saw a ton of people do this for a Valentine, although most are kids valentines ... but I thought my husband would get a kick out of it so I threw it together using my best bridal shot and a free download of mustaches to choose from (i can't find the exact one i used but this one is pretty cute). Side note ... google mustache template ... wait, I did it for you HERE ... its pretty awesome.

Anyway, Nate smiled and laughed and then said sweetly, "look how pretty you are." Its a wise man that says "are" and not accidentally "were."

He in return wrote me a love letter of sorts. It was very very sweet. I may or may not have shed a few tears while reading it.

fully stuffed

2010-10-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

i have been working on projects since my mom and dad were here a few weeks ago doing some appreciated work with us (post on this to come). my mom showed me how to use my awesome sewing machine and i made two pillows to put on the chairs that i painted and recovered. they work for now ... i need to tighten them up ... but don't really feel like pulling them apart again ... one day I will make them perfect.

then i made this plush wreath for my front door using a foam wreath, some left-over batting from my sofa re-do (pictures to come), an old long sleeve shirt, some scrap fabric, and a few buttons.

i pinned the flowers on with straight pins in case i change my mind or want to reuse them.

other things not photographed that i have finished include painting the tv stand, sewing curtain ties, painting a mirror to go in our bedroom, and painting our dresser drawers. whew ... all good stuff - making our house a home.

its electrifying!

2010-10-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

its sort of hard to find halloween costumes for adults that aren't all sassy and sexy versions of everything - you know what i mean? nate likes funny costumes or being something ordinary that makes you laugh.

then we found a great idea online! check it out ...

and then we realized it was a bit ... shall we say ... suggestive. i don't think it would be appreciated at the church's halloween party. needless to say - we are still on the hunt.

ownership

2010-10-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

ruby is all ours! we paid off our loan about a month ago and received the title in the mail. after a lot of hard work we are free from a monthly car loan ... it feels amazing! and now if we could only know that feeling of freedom from school loans, life would be grand ... sigh ... we'll tell you about that in 20+years (sad face).

but for now we are celebrating the small victories! yay ruby ... your all ours baby!

the day i "bought" her (we can reflect here):

09.05.09

2010-09-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

One year ago ...
this boy ...

and this girl ...

went here ...

and did this ...
(only over an altar ...
not the little white wedding chapel shown below)

He felt like this ...

and she felt like this ...

First moments as Mr. and Mrs. ...

we were welcomed by oohs ...

and ahhs ...

and also giggles ...

Families. Are. Forever.

(Johnson/Emery Families)

(Soelberg/Winder Families)

One year down ... eternity to go! We have made some awesome memories already and we can't wait for more adventures - whatever the Lord has planned for us!

Happy 1st Anniversary! Love you babe!

in the house

2010-08-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

i have been waiting to get better "after pictures" but this will have to do since i have already started into my next project. it donned on my just yesterday that i have a limited number of rain-less days as fall fast approaches. it rains here like its nobody's business. so i am trying to kick it into high gear.

my feeble attempt at "styling" my buffet/sideboard ... its a lot harder than i thought it would be!

of course i have pictures on chairs still and my tool box(es) still out and about in the living room ... will it ever all have a place? argh.

BUT I LOVE IT!

caribbean blue

2010-08-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

here she is ... all dolled up in caribbean blue and its a great accent color for the yellow, black, and gray we got going on with the dinning chairs and table.

i felt like it was a little much with the all one color ... so i decided to dry brush it with some light gray paint i have for my next project. i like the way it turned out (above is before dry brushing and below is after) it makes all the details pop ... so i did this to the entire piece and it turned out great!

i will be taking after pictures tomorrow ... its finally in the house! I am now realizing I have no idea how to decorate such a thing (to be fair the things I got it for are still in CA right now ... so i have no idea what to do until December!)

primed and ready to go

2010-08-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

so her she is ... all primed up with some oil base primer that is such an awful thing to clean up ... i have oil based because that is what the paint guys at Home Depot kept stressing. even with water based paint to go over the top of it ... they said its the best. ugh ... i think i will go oil based once i run out of this quart just to see. (i like to learn the hard way)

here you can see my patchwork of painters tape around the hardware that WOULD NOT COME OFF ... i am still annoyed by this aspect of the buffet/sideboard.

all nine drawers waiting for a few coats of caribbean splash (don't be fooled by soon to come pictures ... the painters tape and caribbean splash are not the same color) ...

her body all empty and primed (kilz brand is what i used).

.... next up painting!

and while i was painting i stole a picture of my cute husband after a long day of work ... he lets me sleep in the wee hours of the morning and i let him nap when he gets home from work (sometimes.) is he listening to his student's oral homework assignments? or watching an episode of the Simpsons ... my money is on the later.

the buffet/sideboard BEAST

2010-08-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

i read a lot of design blogs - mostly those that revolve around DIY stuff because let's face it - i don't really want to look at stuff i can't have. sooooo i am determined to do things myself. i enjoy the process and the journey generally. generally. let me fill you in on my latest beast of a project.

Meet the buffet/sideboard:

she was a whopping $19.99 (no sales tax either here in oregon) - marked down several times over a period of weeks. naturally i snatched her right up and i did do a quick on site inspection ... maybe a little too quick.

I was seduced by her details and cool door hardware. she has an asian flare that i was looking for (my husband's influence) because of the piece that will hang above it and the lamps that will go on either side.

here are her guts:

here is her ugly side, also known as her rusted and splayed metal drawer slides and chewed up wooded drawer tracks:

another blemish: her hardware won't come off ... no matter how hard you or your husband tries to unscrew it

i realized the drawers were going to need some attention ... but did you know that drawer slides cost $11.99 a piece (center bottom slides)? there are 9 drawers in her ... that is $107.99!!! I found some options online if I buy 10 ... but its still $53.91 ... more than I am willing to pay right now. so nate had a great idea - paint it and get it all ready and if we really like it and want to spend the money on it ... we will ... sigh ... who knows ... but on we go!

going back ... to cali cali (and in time)

2010-08-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from our exciting visit to San Diego in June. I just recently uploaded the photos from Nate's camera and was overcome with a feeling of sadness that I had not documented our awesome trip ... even though two of my sister-in-laws did! I would like my own record and thus ... here is our trip in picture form.

I went to the SD zoo with Sara, Libby, and Jenna and we had a blast. It was fun because this was only the second time spending time with them ... the first time being the wedding. I am sooo grateful to have such great in-laws that make me feel like I have known them forever. Some of the highlights include:

The camels with saggy humps ... that's got to be embarrassing, right? I still thought they were looking pretty good ...

Good enough to have my nieces stand in front of them and say cheese! I am such a great new aunt - aren't I?

This sweet peacock was strutting around the zoo ... just free to do whatever he liked. He was soooo beautiful - I kind of like peacock stuff.

The peacock was hanging out with the elephants - they are such amazing animals! So big! And that trunk is so crazy - it amazes me every time I see one in action.

More evidence that I am an awesome aunt ... I got Jenna to pose like the statue of some crazy sumo elephant ... which in all honesty wasn't that hard to do. I would be really awesome if I could have talked Libby into doing it, but she would have nothing of the sort.

I also suggested to Jenna to put up her hand so that the orangutans might do the same to her (classic move right) but no luck ... the animals weren't as open to the idea as Jenna was. Isn't she just sooo cute!

Jenna try to "connect" with Clyde. He's content with the burlap sack on his head.

Clyde's face was soooo huge - those cheeks! and his eyes are sooo tiny ... he's chillen with the brulap sack on his head still.

Of course we saw the baby panda bear and it was so cute because he was frolicing around while mom ate some bamboo.

Mom panda eating bamboo.

Here is the seciton of the post called: "WHO KNEW!"

1) WHO KNEW that the California Condor was so dang ugly and looked exactly like a vulture! All those days growing up and hearing about, "Save the California Condor" and I was picturing some beautiful majestic bird! Not that ugly birds aren't were saving ... but still ... WHO KNEW!

2) WHO KNEW that there were turtles that had snake like heads! Funny enough its called the snakeneck turtle and lives down under in and around Australia ... of course it would. That's where all sorts of strange creatures were cut off from the rest of the world and evolved into strange strange things ... sooo awesome. Doesn't it look like a long neck dinosaur (also known as little foot or a brontosaurus)? Super creepy cool - I took these pictures to show Nate.

Then we went to the Mariners v. Padres baseball game in sweet PetCo field. It is super duper sweet! Right in the middle of downtown with all sorts of cool things about it. Here is nate with his Mariners stuff on ...

Super cool architecture of old and new buildings.

They have a sand box and a baseball diamonds for kids to play on during the game ... because lets be honest ... baseball can be tough to watch. Thank heavens we had yummy food to eat to keep us distracted thanks to Sara!

Overall we had a blast in SD seeing the Joe/Sara/Libby/Jenna Soelbergs ... it was great!

Nate turned 29!

2010-07-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

it was nate's birthday 9 days ago ... thanks to the counter over there yonder i didn't have to hurt my brain and think about how many days ago it was.

we are super lame and moved over his birthday weekend ... but we are planning an August party to make up for it.

oh ... and i made him a three tiered cake that leaned pretty far to the left. so far that it eventually fell over. i am that awesome. we kind of decided that nothing would top our wedding cakes made by my oh so very talented sister-in-law that we should just give up on cake making and stick with the things we are good at ... cookies (for me) and ice cream (for him).

i hope to get my act together by his NEXT birthday (the big 3-0) and celebrate it right ... i just hope he knows how much i really do love and appreciate him.

love you babe ... happy belated.

one of our sexy wedding pictures ...
isn't he sooo dreamy ...
i love this one of him ...
he totally pulls sexy off ...
i on the other hand, am not doing so well.

a change ... will do you good

2010-07-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

the n&b soelbergs are in the midst of a change ... a change that has been long awaited for me and hastily agreed to by my dear sweet husband. WE MOVED. not countries or states ... ACROSS TOWN ... technically, we moved cities ... back to eugene (YAY!)

the thing that really sealed the deal for nate was fourth of july sunday. we did not sing ANY patriotic songs at church. no "my country tis of thee," "america the beautiful," or ... gasp ... dare i say it ... no "star spangled banner." he leaned over and whispered those words i had been longing to hear ... "your right, its time to move."

but let me tell you the back story so that you might be as excited as i am ... because you should be excited. and let us remember what our current apartment looks like

here goes.

we lived in springfield, on mill street, in a small (and as of late ... very very hot) one bedroom apartment. its not a great part of town. let's just say that when we tell people where we are moving to and where we are moving from they immediately brighten up and say things like: "oh, you are moving to a much better area" and "have you had your car broken into?" ... so yeah its not the best.

why have we lived here for the past 9 months? IT IS SUPER CHEAP and we had almost NO MONEY. we have fond memories of 10 months back when we got married ... let us remember that nate was still in grad school and i had just graduated and planned a wedding. i was desperately looking for work and we were basically living off of the generosity of family and friends (aka wedding money). our post-wedding plans were to get nate graduated by december while scoping out english teaching jobs in south korea. in the mean time, i would look for work in any form.

as we all know ... we make plans and the Lord laughs and gives us other options. we really were going to go to south korea ... cross my heart we were! i became gainfully employed in nov and just as soon as we updated our passports in december in prep for going abroad ... nate was offered a job teaching at the UO. ... we couldn't say no (not because the pay is so great but because the opportunity was great ... we are talking resume building here people ... teaching at a university looks nice on the resume.) we of course are grateful for the Lords intervention and recognize that He knows much better than we do ... so we go with it.

so the point is this - we were to be living in our current apartment for 2 or 3 months ONLY. this is why i agreed to the conditions and location ... and lets be honest ... i didn't have much of a bargaining chip being unemployed.

so our plans changed but we weren't sure how long the teaching would go on ... so we stayed in the mill street apt ... until two weeks ago!

we moved into a two bedroom townhouse with a patio and TONS OF CLOSET SPACE. i have never seen such deep closets in all of my life (that are not walk-in closets). and i have 3 of them! it seriously is a dream.

i have been decorating the place in my head for weeks now but its taking me longer to get our stuff organized and in its spot than i thought it would ... come to think of it - this is my first time having an entire 2 bedroom apt to organize and decorate myself (with input from nate of course ... hehehe)

we have already purchased a super cool kitchen rack that has made our kitchen sooooo super great. before - lots of counter space but not a lot of cupboard space (a bar like area with no storage underneath) but with our new rack we can display all our pretty dishes and mixing bowls, as well as our not as pretty microwave, pots, pans, rice cooker, wok, blender, etc. we even hung a plant to make it feel all domestic like.

but as soon as i wrangle everything into its spot ... the decorating really begins! this means i have LOTS of DIY projects planned. i.am.super.excited. it also means that we have an extra bedroom and bed for visitors! we hope this will encourage weekend trips!

here are a few things that will be made over:

a new "buffet/hutch" ... post on this soon as it is becoming quite a frustrating project - a cool "caribbean blue" ... soooo excited
tv stand - i am trying a cool new stencil/painting process - dark grey
painting dresser drawer fronts (the base was painted months ago) - two tone paint here
painting my night stand to match nate's - dark grey
painting a new dresser for the guest room - light grey
hang curtains as a back drop in the living room
HANG PICTURES, etc.

domestic bliss is well on its way. the best part is that my husband is a skeptic at times but once he sees it come together he really likes it ... but of course i knew this about him already, which is why i insist on such things as moving to a nicer apartment/area, or buying a new bed, or painting the furniture.

(sigh) life is good (pictures to come)

more diy home improvements ... its coming along

2010-05-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

the weather broke ... for a week or so ... and we had some sunny days - hip hip hooray! SOOOOO i had the chance to use my valentine's gift (the power hand sander ... in case you forgot how romantical nate and i are) and sanded our cool kitchen table in preparation for a new paint job.

And shockingly ... i photographed the process ... sort of ...

i made sure to sand all the really visible and "vulnerable" areas really well (places that could be easily nicked and scratched) and only roughed up the less vulnerable spots.

halfway done on the table and i actually thought ... i should photograph this! i am super proud of that fact.

the final product ... i am pretty happy it turned out so well!

no that is not a rug ... it is my painting drop cloth ... i am still deciding if it needs one more coat of paint or something ... should i seal it? i don't know!

psst ... see those cool pictures in the back left ... those frames are new too ... i framed my friends fabulous screen prints ... i just love them ... and shhhh don't tell nate ... he doesn't notice stuff like that (truth be told he has already noticed these but it took him over a week ... he's just not too observant which i have decided will play to my advantage ... hehehe ... enter devious laugh here)

a view of the legs ...

and check out those awesome plates! thanks mom ... when she came to visit with my dad last month she bought me these pretties ... the plates were only $2! the down side ... only two of them in the store ... but they are soo pretty. don't you just love moms and stores like home goods and ross ... that is where the bowls, plates, and the yellow trivet came from.

the lighting in our place is not so good ... wish it was better and showcased my pretty wares sooo much better. sigh ... hopefully our next place.

in the rear view mirror

2010-04-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

the nathan and bethany soelberg family is not too good at the picture thing. we bring our camera, we just don't ever use it. we joke that in this day and age - having the ability to visually document your life in numerous ways - our relationship is somehow less legitimate due to the lack of pictures. we don't really think this ... this joke just illustrates how ridiculous it is that we don't ever bust out our camera during the fun times.

road trip turned international

speaking of the fun times ... we went on a road trip to seattle a few weeks ago for a friend of Nate's wedding. we had all day saturday to do something fun so we tried to plan ahead to fill the day up with fun things. we had heard the week before in general conference about the open house of the Vancouver, British Columbia temple located here:

and it turned out that the open house started the friday before you were headed up! so we packed our bags and made sure to have our passports on hand and planned a lovely day of driving to the temple (super close to the US/CANADA boarder) and over to Vancouver to maybe check out the Olympic venues or attend the aquarium.

Unfortunately we left later than expected and we did not plan for a wait on both sides of the boarder (coming into and leaving Canada). the temple was beautiful and wonderful and the drive wasn't even so bad ... but traffic on they way back into seattle was awful as well and we were scared that we would miss the reception - the whole reason we were in seattle to begin with! we were sooo late in showing up to the reception that we ran into it in jeans and t-shirts (needless to say i was soo embarrassed!) but happy to have caught the happy couple before they left for their honeymoon!

visiting parents and the northern oregon coast

my parents came to visit last weekend so we decided to take a drive up the oregon coast. it really is beautiful country round here and as spring is coming (slowly) to the pacific northwest the trees are a beautiful shade of green and the flowers are blooming. we headed north through junction city (where my mom's parents used to live and we use to visit everyother summer growing up) and then to corvallis (which I think is a really really cute town with great architecture) and then over to the coast. we were able to chat and take in some great views of the coast and some light houses. my mom took some pictures. we did not.

one of my requests on this trip was to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory ... it was super fun and yummy ... Tillamook cheese and ice cream is sooo good. we kept heading north up to seaside where we spent the night and spent a few hours at the beach watching people fly kites and clam digging. i had never before seen a live clam and its weird little "foot" that it sticks out ... totally freaked me out! the water was super cold but the sky was clear so we were happy. we look forward to going back when the weather is warmer. farther north we drove through astoria and saw some really beautiful buildings. the interesting thing about the oregon coast is that it is still remote and kind of rural. there is something about the small coastal town that intrigues me - like seaside, oregon ... home of seaside high and the seaside gulls ... what is it like to grow up in a tourist spot like that? its not overly touristy ... but it does get a lot more croweded in the summer i am sure. and Tillamook ... that town is adorable! sigh ... i am super facinated by places and situations i have never lived in. while i still really like the city, i do enjoy visiting small towns ... so many fun places to explore!

correction on ... A Word of Explanation

2010-03-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the eagle eye of a friend ... I have corrected the error ... looks like I put in the year I was born!

So yeah ... he really is 28.

A Word of Explanation

2010-03-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

I know at first glance the ticker above will make some of you gasp ... either out of excitement or shock ... so let me first get this out there: WE ARE NOT HAVING A BABY.

That ticker up there is keeping track of Nate - my husband, the "N" of the N&B - and his age. Why? You might ask. Because of this conversation:

N: What you looking at, babe?
B: Oh, just a friend's blog, babe.
N: What's that on the side, with a picture of a baby on it?
B: That is a baby ticker ... it counts down how many month, weeks, or days until your baby is born - or at least until the due date you put in ... whether or not you have actually had the baby is a different story. You can also have tickers for how old your kids are.
N: So why don't you have one for me on our blog?

Lots of laughing out loud by ME takes place, after which I say:

B: You are not serious are you?
N: Why not? You call me babe all the time - its like I am your baby right now.

B: Let me get this straight: You really want one to say Nate is 28 years, X months, and Y days? And you do realize that all of my friends will:

A) now exactly how old you are,

B) at first glance think that we are pregnant, and

C) will think - "wow he is almost 29, they better have a baby before he gets really old."*

And he still wanted me to do it. So there you go. My husband is just a little bit ridiculous ... but he makes me laugh a lot.

* p.s. .... this quote is not meant to offend anyone in my "vast" readership ... "to each his own" on the marriage and baby front ... however, I do admit to sometimes using the "we are old" argument with my husband when we are talking about the future and he makes it sound like we are going on 20 instead of the reality that we are going on 30.

before&after: gray is the new tan

2010-03-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

my very first before&after (a la Design*Sponge) ... and boy did i learn a lot! as mentioned before, i had to redo these chairs, but i am happy that i did.

here is what happened:

BEFORE:

two free chairs in great shape from our dear friends Ben and Jill

structurally sound and good shape to them

the cream fabric is a bit worn and well, we all know how hard
it is to keep 'cream' or white looking fresh over time

I REMOVE THE SEAT AND BACK CUSHIONS, PICK OUT FABRIC AND MATCHING PAINT AND THEN GOT RIGHT TO PAINTING ... IN THE EXCITED STATE OF MY FIRST TRUE DIY BEFORE&AFTER I FIGURE "WHO NEEDS SANDING WHEN YOU PAID EXTRA FOR THE FANCY PAINT WITH PRIMER ALREADY IN IT?!"

... AND NOW TO REMOVE THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT PAINTING:

although they looked good - you could scrape the paint off with your finger nail and since these were going to be kitchen chairs for everyday use, i knew i would first be devastated and then annoyed every time we bumped or scratched one of these guys ... and thus the scrapping and sanding began ... this is what you get for rushing ... yes mom, i have learned my lesson

bare and beautiful ... but not as beautiful as they will soon be!

AFTER:

not the best pictures ... but i am really happy how they turned out in real life

(ignore my messy in the background please!)

i chose the light gray of the leaves, which was an accent color
and not one of the main colors of the fabric

i am in love with this fabric ... i got it at JoAnne's for like $5 a yard ... i was going to get some other fabric that i was less enthused about when i came across this! the minute i saw it i knew it was what i was looking for - even though i didn't know it until i saw it.

i like how graphic-y (not a word, but go with it) the floral print is ... very modern and bold and not too girly ... nate likes it too! ... and i like the variation of size, shape, and shade that the flowers come in ... also i love love love yellow but have a hard time picking a shade i like for clothing or decor ... i didn't want anything that had a straight pattern in case i couldn't keep the lines straight and then i would hate that it looked all weird and off ... this worked out perfect!

Next before&after ... two more chairs! different shape and fabric but same paint color - to tie it all together. The cushions are done but the sanding and painting are slow coming ... hopefully in the next two weeks it will get done ... crossing my fingers for good weather and the motivation to just get it done.

2010-02-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

Not too good with multi-faceted life these days. Mostly we work, cook dinner, work on home projects, and try to plan our Sunday lessons ahead of time. A little update on us is in order:

- Nate is enjoying teaching at the University! We have come to the conclusion that the first few years of teaching will definitely require putting in more hours than one would expect. This requires me to be supportive, encouraging, and understanding when he leaves at 7 am and doesn't return until 7 pm.
- For my birthday last month we spent the weekend in Portland seeing lots of good friends and attending the endowment and sealing of our very good friends Ben and Jill. We also saw Multnomah Falls for the first time ... and although it was raining WHILE the Falls were spraying - we enjoyed it very much. We really want to go back in better weather and check it out.
- Unfortunately on our return from our weekend trip I started having progressively worse back pain and by the following Friday couldn't even bend over to tie my shoes. This necessitated a visit to a chiropractor. Unfortunately (or fortunately that I have the means and availability) I have been seeing the chiropractor twice a week ever since. Just as I am starting to feel better, I over do it and hurt myself again - it is very frustrating.
- I have been working on a few DIY projects (which I can't seem to leave alone because they are so much fun ... but then I hurt my back and have to set it a side for a week until I feel better and I keep catching myself in this cycle) that I will post when I have completed them. As a little preview - this is what I have been working on:

4 chairs to be painted and reupholstered
one square pedestal kitchen table to be sanded and painted
one side table to be sanded and painted

The list doesn't seem too long ... but I have learned (the hard way) that taking your time is very important. Doing it right the first time is better than re-doing. I bought fabric and paint and was a little too eager on everything and painted two of the kitchen chairs right away. A few days later, when moving the chairs around our tiny apartment, I nicked one of them and the paint came right off. One finger nail scratch later and I knew that I had painted in haste. These babies need a good sanding which would require removing the paint and re-painting them. I succedded in doubling my work :( Sigh.

I have, however, already painted Nate's bed side table ... a lovely shade of gray ... I love it. I purchased a staple gun and reupholstered two of the four chairs I have for the kitchen table. That was also a lesson in patience, having to redo one of the chair backs to ensure it looked right. I knew if I left it I would be self-conscious about it and hate it. So i took out what seemed to be a zillion staples and re-did it and I am soo happy I did. They are going to look great!

Pictures to be coming soon ... of before, during, and after! Wish me luck that it will turn out well and that my back will get better.

I am so into this whole furniture refurbishing thing that Nate bought me this for Valentine's Day, and I couldn't be happier:

(its an electric palm sander ... in case you were wondering)

happily ever after part 2

2010-02-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

happily ever after part 1

2010-01-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

I promise we did not get married in "The Little White Wedding Chapel" in Vegas.

This cute little chapel was found in Old Town Tustin - who knew!

Well into Month 4 ...

2010-01-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

and blogging continues to lag. Sigh. Life is so busy and complicated! But here is what has happened in the last month or so - in list format:

- I decorated our little apartment a wee bit for the holidays!

- We listened to Christmas music, baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and put together an awesome San Francisco puzzle.

- Worked at our Stake's Creche exhibit as ushers and were asked to play Mary and Joseph for a bit as well. It was really a fun experience to share.

- Shared our first Christmas together with our families! It was sooo much fun! Spent Christmas Eve and morning with the Soelberg and Winder Families (missed Ben, Katie, Jonas, Joe, Sara, Libby, and Jenna)! I really enjoyed playing Christmas Songs on pipes as a family - who knew I had musical talent! We also had a blast watching Jimmie open his presents and holding baby Annabelle ... it almost made me want a baby ... (but I knew those feelings would be tempered with a visit to the Johnson house on Christmas Day ... and they were.)

- Shared the remainder of Christmas Day at the Johnson house where all 6 of us, our spouses, and all 8 grand kids were running around like crazy. Its hard to get that bunch sitting still and opening gifts when there are soooo many cousins to play with! One trip to the emergency room and six stitches later marks a good holiday! Christmas dinner, done in shifts, was shared with the Johnson Aunt, Uncle, and cousins - it is always soo much fun to get together with them. Needless to say our house was full of laughter - not just from the kids.

- Nate and I had a chance (amongst the commotion of my niece Mikyla going to the emergency room) to exchange presents on our own and as much fun as both of our families are ... this was a well cherished moment for us. Heartfelt gifts were exchanged and there may even have been a tear or two as we both felt overwhelming gratitude to have one another. Our love grows stronger everyday and for that we are grateful.

- Before leaving Eugene/Springfield to head down to Southern California for the holidays, some not great news came to me at work ... while the company I work for generously gave me a holiday bonus, they informed me (and all the Administrative Staff) that our hours would be reduced to 32 hours a week due to lack of work and a struggling economy. I work for engineers and architects and the building/construction industry is not an area of the economy doing well (what is these days). With that news we felt we would not be able to live in Oregon much longer if Nate did not find work. Our plan was to return to Oregon after the holidays and set the wheels in motion for moving to Korea.

- Of course, once we sent in our passports for renewal and an update on my new last name, the University of Oregon came knocking and offered Nate a job! YAY! While staying in Oregon is not a long term priority or preference for us, we are eager to get our feet under ourselves and begin to start chipping away at our school debts. This is really great experience and the position offers a little bit better pay than previously anticipated. We feel really really blessed right now, especially at a time when so many people are searching for work. We give thanks to Father in Heaven for the blessing of work and testify of the importance of faith and paying tithing - even when you have almost nothing to give. So looks like three more months in Oregon for the Soelbergs!

- Another exciting thing for us - new callings in the ward! I have been called as the Sunbeam Teacher (3 year olds) and it is an eye opening experience. Lets just say that Nate laughed a little when he heard what was in store for me. Two weeks into it and I am slowly getting the hang of it. Nate is teaching the 16 and 17 year olds and its giving him a little bit of a tough time as well. Teenagers are a rough crowd - not much feedback or positive reinforcement for the teacher and they don't give you much to go on. Whoa - does that make us old feeling this way already? We both are getting small glimpses of what it is like to be a parent. Its kind of a thankless job ... but super important.

Sooooo that is the update!

Married Life: Month 3

2009-12-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

Three months into this whole marriage thing and we are loving it! (I know everyone always says that ... but now I know that it is true! ... being married is sooo fun!) About a month ago I started a job (and thus the end of blogging) and I am learning how to balance married life and working for a living. We are truly grateful for employment - of any kind - at this time of such great financial uncertainty in the world. Despite our great need of the job, I have to admit that I cried everyday before work that first week. Pathetic - I realize ... but we have been spoiled with how much time we have gotten to spend together these past few months. I was going through a morning period when I realized that one of us (or both for awhile) will always be working ... for the rest of our lives. Sigh. I know - that's life ... welcome to the real world ... its just the way it is ... etc. etc etc. It just seems so crazy to me that you spend 8-10 hours away from the people you enjoy the most. Working full time makes me feel like I can't be the loving wife I have always wanted to be ... dinner on the table and the house well kept - cliche but totally things that I would love to do (and have loved doing these past few months.) I hate the fact that I am tired when I come home and that we eat dinner and have maybe 3 hours to enjoy each other's company before off to bed and that "enjoying" time often includes doing dishes, laundry, and grocery shopping. (Believe me ... I understand I have no grounds to stand on for my complaining ... I know it becomes infinitely harder once you have children. But its my blog and my experience and I am belly aching about it right now!) My sweet husband said, "I think that is what being married is about ... realizing that the only thing you may have really wanted to do in your day - out of all the things you did - was walk to the corner together to mail a bill ... because we got to do that together." In his own way he was profoundly reminding me of the importance of this life and our committment to eachother. Sigh. I know its true. But I don't have to enjoy it all the time, do I?

Anyway ... a more exciting thing is to reflect upon the wedding day three months ago ... through pictures of course! These are some of my Bridal pictures taken at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach CA.

My mom altered my wedding dress (added some longer length sleeves to a strapless dress - the longer length sleeves prevented the whole "big arm" look really well I think!) and I really like how it turned out with the square neck and applique on the sleeves. I also really like how you can't tell its been altered ... she did a great job!

Another note about the dress - it was $100 at David's Bridal ... straight and simple and just what I wanted. I spent exactly 2 hours trying on dresses before buying. Never tried on a wedding dress until the day I bought one. So don't knock it before you try it ... that's all I am saying.

Nate thinks I look like I am morning my husband dead at sea on our wedding day in this one.

Can you believe i went out on a rock into the OCEAN in my WEDDING DRESS the DAY BEFORE our WEDDING DAY? I can't either. I was totally not worried about it ... like everything else about our wedding ... And the picture is amazing.

A frame that I painted and used at the reception.

This one is very VOGUE - strike a pose - to me.

More day of wedding pictures to come!

alabama, arkansas I sure love my ma and pa, but not quite the way that I love you

2009-11-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

totally just saw this on a friends blog and whoa! its super crazy cool. i am totally perplexed by these people but there is something folksy and nice about this love song. sort of reminds me of the whole juno soundtrack stuff ... just the good stuff of life and love.

this is the juno song i am talking about:

and this one too:

so yeah ... just thought i would share.

our first apartment!

2009-11-05T10:17:00.001-08:00

We moved in a little over a month ago and unfortunately we are still a little unsure about what exactly to unpack. With our immediate future plans sooooo up in the air, we don't want to accumulate anymore furniture than we have. In fact, we sold some of our furniture right when we moved (it was the start of the term at the UO so it was the best time to sell.)

So basically I am trying to justify our little apartment's state of affairs. So yeah ... its not much, but it is ours and I have done my best to make it home.

BEFORE
(aka - moving in)

(remember that face from this post? yup, told you i saw it almost everyday)

Stuff everywhere! This is our living room and the doorway
into the eat-in kitchen.

This is the opposite view - from the eat-in kitchen looking into the living room.

The eat-in kitchen was our "staging area" and still sort of is at this point.
We can conveniently store our packing boxes and bins behind the wall
separating the living room from the kitchen.

Here is our itty-bitty kitchen which of course does not have enough counter space.

The disaster that was our bedroom!

AFTER:
(aka: a little decorating to make it home)

Living Room

More living Room

This is on the wall behind the sofa - my thrift-store found framed mirror
(I found it at a Eugene Goodwill when looking for milk glass for our wedding)
and my dear friend Ally's two screen prints of a photo I took back in my DC days
of a light post outside the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
I love these prints and I love Ally - she is soo very talented

Living Room Corner ... trying to hide our storage bins :) underneath a scrap
piece of curtains, a lamp, a watercolor of the temple frames - under our
framed marriage certificate.

The entryway between living room and eat-in-kitchen. Thanks to my
old roommate Tiffany, we have a kitchen table and chairs to eat at!
And of course to help Nate feel at home,
we hung his Henry Weinhard's Root Beer sign -
the kitchen area seamed the most appropriate for it.

Eat-in-kitchen! Thanks Tiffany!

Itty-bitty kitchen ... not much change there ...
but I did hang a LARGE frame I already had and it fits perfectly above the sink.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE owls ...
I also found these two little guys at the Eugene Goodwill -
they were unfinished white ceramics which I snatched up while hunting for wedding milk glass. I hung these on the hallway wall across from our bedroom on the way to the bathroom -
not the best picture, but you get the idea.

My refurbished window frame turned bulletin board
hangs on our bathroom door.

Our blue and brown bathroom.

No photos of our bedroom because its not much to look at. We don't have any bedroom furniture besides a bed and box spring on the floor and two mismatched side tables.
We don't even have a dresser to put our stuff in ... we are that sad :( but we don't
want to buy one for fear we may be moving in a few short months.

So, that is our humble first apartment! YAY for new roommates!

bat(s), owl, and spider - hanging on a tree ...

2009-11-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

We are trying to get to know our ward better and so we try to participate in the activities. Our first major ward event was the Trunk-or-Treat at the ward building the day before Halloween. Nate and I decided to decorate our trunk - nothing fancy or expensive, we just used paper.

While buying trick-or-treat candy at Target I was admiring their cute Halloween decorations ... not overly scary and lame ... but not toooo cutesy either. Basically I fell in love with Skelanimals. Come to find out they are their own thing ... like website and all.

Needless to say I am hook-line-and-sinker in love with these cute little guys. I heart them like a 13 year old ... like the pre-teens they are targeted at. Sigh. Too bad I found out about them the day before ALL-HALLOWS-EVE!

So I decided this would be the theme of our trunk for the ward event. So I did some "grabbing" on my trusty MAC and printed me an Oliver, Timmy, and two Diegos.

Oliver the Owl

Timmy the Spider

Diego(s) the Bat(s)

So yeah. Next year (or some year in the future) I am totally gonna have a Skelanimal Halloween decoration extravaganza ... you know ... when all the hype has died down and they aren't at Target.

Muah-ah-ah-ah (enter creepy and lame laugh.)

All in all it gave me some good ideas ... but really, the trunk-or-treat was sort of a bust. No one else decorated their cars and in general it was a little anti-climatic. Here's to next year!

Lemon Pi

2009-10-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Nate and I just finished listening to a book on tape - Life of P i. I do believe that my friend Maya has been suggesting I read it for a few years now. I very much enjoyed it ... although I didn't like how the book ended. It left me feeling dissatisfied ... as endings usually do (as I think I have said before, I don't much like the end of books.)

It is the second book we have listened to on tape - the others include The Great Divorc e and Mere Christianity. My husband really enjoys listening to books on tape and the idea of reading books together. I think he got the idea from his parents who do the same thing. I am really enjoying it - it gives us something to discuss beyond our own lives, the news, and the gospel. Although, I must admit we tend to relate everything we read to those three categories anyway ... especially the gospel. Of course both the C.S. Lewis books are about religion and thus church doctrine informs our discussion of those books, but Life of Pi also has a unique perspective on religion. The narrator's voice is also exceptionally interesting and entertaining.

Anyway - its a good read. And no, neither of the two words referred to in the last post were found in this book. They are, however, found in the new Dan Brown book Lost Symbol which I am currently reading on my own. But I must say, I have been slowing down a bit on the reading of it because I am close to the end - only a 125 pages left. And have we learned about my reading habits ... yup, that's right ... I don't like the end of books. And so I will let this one drag out for a few weeks I am sure. Aggravating, isn't it?

heard

2009-10-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

i have been hearing two very interesting words quite frequently these past few days. don't worry, they have not appeared in the same sentence ... yet. don't you love when this happens? you learn a new word or a word that has been forgotten comes back into use ... or at least into your realm of the universe. i think reading for fun has something to do with it ... oh the joys of not being in school!

WORD #1

Main Entry: bur·gle
Pronunciation: \ˈbər-gəl\

Function: transitive verb

Inflected Form(s): bur·gled; bur·gling \-g(ə-)liŋ\

Etymology: back-formation from burglar

Date: 1870

: burglarize

WORD #2:

Main Entry: eu·nuch
Pronunciation: \ˈyü-nək, -nik\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English eunuk, from Latin eunuchus, from Greek eunouchos, from eunē bed + echein to have, have charge of — more at scheme

Date: 15th century

1 : a castrated man placed in charge of a harem or employed as a chamberlain in a palace
2 : a man or boy deprived of the testes or external genitals
3 : one that lacks virility or power s>

— eu·nuch·ism\-nə-ˌki-zəm, -ni-\ noun

the professional pictures are here! sort of ...

2009-10-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

my photographer just sent me the link to our wedding pictures! YAY! Check them out. I will have my digital copy sometime next week and then I will share them on the blog! Until then ... click through until you have had your fill!

the family dug up a few more wedding photos

2009-09-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my mother-in-law, we have a few more wedding photos to share while we patiently wait for the professional photos. Thanks Gennie!

one of our best!

Jonas reaching for my owl pendant I had attached to my flowers. How fun is that bouquet?!

Nate's oldest brother Joe and his wife Sara and their girls Libby and Jenna.

Sara made Libby and Jenna's dress - these girls are sooo super cute!

I throw this one in to illustrate my niece Brooklyn's great affection for Nate.
When we came out of the temple, her first question was:
"Uncle Nate, why did you marry Aunt B?"

Nathan, Grandma Soelberg, and my father-in-law Craig

The happy couple kneel down to talk to Jimmie and Jenna on the steps of the temple.

10 of our 13 nieces and nephews pictured here:
Hunter, Cameron, Libby, Jenna, Mikyla, Monica, Terrick, Joaquin, Jimmie, and Annabelle
(held by Kate - Nate's younger sister)

All 5 Soelberg kids!
(Ben, Joe, Nate, Kate, Steve)

Beautiful Temple, Beautiful Day

My sister-in-law Kate and her yummy 5 month old Annabelle

This girl is sooo smiley, I love it!

And our favorite picture of the bunch:

I love the attitude on my face (I was annoyed at the wind I think) and his discontent at the idea of holding back my veil all day ... hahahahaha! Also, check out the face on Nathan Soelberg ...
he makes it often ... I laugh everytime!

a few more pictures ... but not quite satisfying ... i know

2009-09-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

18 days and counting

2009-09-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

It has been 18 days since I gained a husband and became a wife and a Soelberg … sounds like a lot – right? But I must admit it feels really normal. Sure there are things to get used to – like sharing my bed and my bathroom with a boy, but generally it feels super natural for me. I am not sure Nate would agree … but maybe he would … I honestly don’t know.

I know you are all interested in seeing more pictures of the wedding … so am I … so hopefully we will get more photos from friends and family while waiting for the professional ones. I have sent out a plea to my family to share any pictures they may have snapped of the big day.

I also wanted to let you all know what we have been up to during our first few weeks of wedded bliss. Over 18 days we have been to the following cities:

- Newport Beach, CA
- Laguna Beach, CA
- Irvine, CA
- Bakersfield, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- Cococay, Bahamas
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Eugene, OR
- Silverdale, WA
- Port Ludlow, WA
- Des Moines, WA
- Seattle, WA

NEWPORT BEACH, LAGUNA BEACH, IRVINE
Your tired just reading the list aren’t you? Yeah. So am I. How and why did we cover so much ground? Well, we were married in Newport Beach, then we stayed in Laguna Beach at a cute little hotel on Pacific Coast Highway and went to the beach and ate breakfast at the Cottage each morning! It was very relaxing to hang out at the beach after the excitement of the wedding. We then spent Labor Day with my entire family at my parent’s community pool and topped it off with a BBQ. My nieces and nephews LOVE to play with Uncle Nate – oh, and my two older brothers also enjoyed playing with Nate, including him in a little game of catch while in the pool.

BAKERSFIELD, MIAMI, BAHAMAS
It was off to Bakersfield for a few days with the Soelberg’s and our second reception – we had so much fun and received a warm welcome from family and friends. I loved wearing my wedding dress again and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and decorations arranged by my MIL (mother in law) Gennie. We then headed down to Los Angeles where we caught a plane to Miami, spending the night there before heading out on a three day cruise to the Bahamas, visiting Cococay and Nassau. The islands were beautiful and the people-watching on the boat was even better. While we don’t quite think we “cruise people,” we did enjoy ourselves since we didn’t have to worry much about anything while on the boat.

SILVERDALE, PORT LUDLOW
Flying back out of Miami and into LAX, we spent one more night back in Irvine and then one last night in Bakersfield – we expressed are sincere thanks and appreciation and said “so long until December” to our families and headed out on the 12 hour drive to Eugene. After only two nights in Eugene we got back in Ruby (our trusty Scion) and headed farther north to the Seattle area to visit Grandma Craig in Silverdale (Nate’s maternal grandmother) and Jim & Denise in Port Ludlow (Nate’s Aunt and Uncle.) Due to health and other constraints, many family members were unable to attend our wedding and so we decided to go visit and spend time with them. We are sooo glad we did! We had such a great time and got to spend more time talking with them at their homes than we would have at our wedding.

DES MOINES, SEATTLE
While in the area we also stayed with some family friends of the Soelbergs from Nate’s “home ward” in Des Moines, Washington (a suburb RIGHT outside of Seattle.) The Gleasons and the Pedersens received us warmly and they are now some of my favorite people. We talked extensively with each couple about the past, present, and future, as well as the gospel and the Lord’s plan for us. It was wonderful!

Another reason for heading up North was to attend Nate’s 10-year High School Reunion at Kell’s Irish Pub in West Seattle. It was really fun to see and talk with old friends of Nate’s. There was a good turn out and he really had a good time, even though the bar was crowded and loud. Nate’s voice was gone by the time we left!

EUGENE
It has been a journey. We are currently house-sitting in Eugene at our single’s ward Bishop’s house while him and his wife are in Hawaii! We are so very grateful for their generosity in letting us live in their beautiful and spacious house out in the country! It has been really fun for us and has helped give us some more time to apartment-hunt and find the right place for us. We know that the Lord is leading and guiding us to the right place and continually blesses us as we strive to be like our Savior. We feel blessed and are filled with gratitude for the love and support we have and continue to receive from all we come in contact with. We pray that it will continue as we work to finish school and find temporary employment and make plans to live abroad.

More Updates to Come!

bliss

2009-09-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

A sneak peak into the wedding day ... more pictures to come when we get settled ... all I can say is that it was wonderful ... beautiful ... perfect ... in a word - BLISS.

Photos courtesy of Kelly - thank you!

seven days ... and counting

2009-08-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

While its been a blast being in the same city, and the same house even,
for the past two and a half weeks ...
its going to be great not living down the hall from each other.

It will also be nice to not be living with my parents (as much as we have loved hanging out with them) and sharing my mom's kitchen.

I can't wait for us to have our own place!

I am also super excited to not be sleeping alone anymore ...
seriously, its one of the things I disliked most about being single.
Going to bed alone and making decisions alone are the things I will miss least (at least at first ;\)

These past few weeks with finalizing the wedding plans, it is all sinking in.
I. AM. GETTING. MARRIED.

In all honesty I have thought a lot about how I would feel when this time came.

To be married in the TEMPLE is something I have always wanted
and I have often wondered what it would be like.

How would I know? What would I feel like?

I can't really describe either, except like this:

I have never loved anyone like I love Nate.
I love him in a complete way ... in a way that makes me want to be better
and I am excited to meet the challenges of life with him.

Each day (even when we fight) I feel like we grow a little closer ... he finds a new way to make me laugh (even without trying) and I feel my love and appreciation for him deepen.

I could not be happier!

guess who's coming to town??

2009-08-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

but who's counting?

2009-08-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

5 days until Nate is in Irvine!
YAY!

28 days until we are married!
Double YAY!

For TIME & ALL ETERNITY!
(whoa - right?)

I like us ... I hope you do too!

sneak peaks ... 31 days out

2009-08-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

Since most of the people who read my sparse (as of late) posts are old friends that unfortunately will not be attending the wedding celebration, I thought I would give you a sneak peak into what I have been busy working on. I feel like our wedding reception will be fairly low-key ... with basically all the decorations done by me. I have some very distinct ideas of what I like and its my first real opportunity to try out some my decorating ideas. As many of you know - I like very flowery, swirly, "baroque" (if you will), heavy decorations. Clean and simple lines are not really my thing. So naturally our wedding will reflect this. I do however subscribe to the philosophy that less is more ... so that translates to not a lot of things but the things that are in the room are very busy and ornate. Enough talk ... now for the pictures! Remember this is a sneak peak ... which means that these are process photos ... showing you the work I have been doing which includes, painting, printing and planting mostly.

Before:
Ikea frames I have been wanting for years now but never could justify more than one since I don't really have a real home to decorate. Now they are mine! YAY!

During: Priming the original black ... lots of nooks & crannies!

After: Ta-Da! Navy blue with a little antique white dry-brushing ...
we had to trim the canvas to fit the oval because of course Ikea can't make a standard oval dimension ... sheesh. Had fun picking the font (trying to match the invitation font) and trying to get it to look just right. Also had fun (read the sarcasm here) printing the individual letters as large as I could ... then ironed on the letters one at a time so they would overlap!

Before: My dad had these sweet gilted frames up in the attack that he had rescued from the dumpster at work. Can you believe people were just throwing these away?! The red and gold was not working for us though ... so I got to priming again.

During: Primer ... again.

After: Two frames done in the same way as the Ikea frames. They turned out really well!

After (again): This is how one of the frames will be used. Printed the sign at OfficeMax for $3! That of course is without mounting, which I will do myself. I will mount it to foamcore that my dad also rescued from the dumpster at work! YAY!

My beautiful map ... I don't want to give away all the fun ... so I will tell you about this after the wedding (for those that won't be there)

Succulent Lovelies: I potted all these succulents (they are desert plants in the cactus family) in vintage milkglass that I had scouted out in thrift stores. I really like how they turned out. No two are the same really ... different plants in different arrangements in different vases or bowls. These are the table center pieces which will have navy table cloths.

SO THERE IS YOUR SNEAK PEAK! HOPE YOU ARE AS EXCITED AS I AM TO SHARE OUR WEDDING ... EITHER ON SEPTEMBER 5TH OR AFTER ON MY BLOG!

P.S. Don't panic if you have not received your invitation ... they haven't been sent yet (EEKKK - i know miss manners is shaking her finger at me ... we are having a printer issue ... should go out next week I hope!!)

check us out

2009-07-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July was a blast! I have never been sooo close to fireworks in my whole life. I love love love fireworks and since last year I was in Europe for the holiday, I was super excited to see them this year. The added excitement of meeting Nate's family a few days after packing up my last apartment as a single woman (and there have been a lot of them ... so this is a big deal) made the fireworks show ever so much more exciting. All in all we had so much fun visiting with the Soelbergs and I am excited to be apart of that family in just a few months.

Two of his brothers were in town (we missed his oldest brother, sister-in-law, and the girls) and the four of us went rock climbing (my first time) and it was sooo fun! Nate's camera has the pictures we took with his family over the 4th of July ... and we left that at their house on accident ... so no cool rock climbing and fire work pictures just yet.

But we did have my sister-in-law take some fun photos of us while in Irvine.

The "Heisman" pose - it was Nate and my brother's idea ...
plus we wanted to do a P90X move.

Just getting comfortable with Korean culture ...
the peace-sign is big with asian girls... and my hippie father.

Trying to sit up straight without looking unnatural.

Nate showing me "the game plan" ... to what you might ask?
I have no idea.

This one is for all the sappy people ... who like the whole kissing thing.
(I'll admit it ... I like kissing pictures ... even if its hard to capture a good one)

UO Graduation

2009-06-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

my parents came out for graduation on the weekend of June 13th ... oh, yeah ... and to meet nate of course! at the last minute i made the executive decision not to sit in on the graduation ceremony. instead the four of us took a trip to the coast to have Mo's clam chowder and go to Haceta Head Lighthouse. i think it was a great decision. i have done quite a bit of traveling with my parents ... as the third wheel ... and it was really fun to hang out with them and have a +1 myself. sometimes i forget how much i enjoy my parents. we had a really good time hanging out.

don't despair - we did take photos in the cap and gown and hood ... so there is visual proof that i am a master!

the ever supportive parents - dave and linda

future husband (hehehe)

there is one good thing about having a very common
last name - you can find places named after you!
of course had to get a picture of Johnson Hall
(there is no Soelberg Hall, might i add)

overlooking the pacific at the Heceta Head Lighthouse

the "story"

2009-06-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

okay ... there have been requests for the engagement story ... and here it is:

we don't really have one.

i know. lame.

there was no getting down on one knee (per my request) ... no over the top declarations of love. there was just a conversation while talking about family that resulted in nate saying: "we need to get something for this" (holding on to the ring finger on my left hand.)

it started with a friendship that grew slowly over time into something worth going out on a limb for. the minute our friendship changed (which at the time seemed sudden, but looking back there was a very slow build up) ... something inside me just said "this is it ... and you've known it for a lot longer than you realize."

and then there was kissing and it was really all over for me. he kissed me the way i have been waiting to be kissed for my entire life. he held me close and kissed me like he meant it.

so then there was talking and planning ... and knowing it was right ... and realizing that we both felt that way.

after talking and realizing how we felt ... there were discussions about the future ... how he wanted to go back to korea and teach and how he didn't know what that meant for us, but that he didn't have to go back ... but he wanted to. and after talking around the issue i said, not even really knowing what i would say once he asked, "just ask me nate" ... and he said: "would you consider moving to korea?" to which I replied: "only if we were married" ... to which he replied: "okay." Funny enough, I think he was super relieved to hear that! He was scared I would just flat out say no.

so really our story is this:

there was just nate and bethany and a lot of talking about how we wanted to take on this thing called LIFE together. how we had never felt this way before. how we couldn't believe we had been missing it for sooo long (we have been friends since September 2007 for goodness sake.)

and then we couldn't deny what we both knew ... that we were meant to be together ... and how exciting that was .. and so basically we went from friends - to getting married.

we now joke that we need to make up a story to tell people so that they will feel more comfortable with our story ... we are fine with how it happened - because its right for us ... but we know that other's are a bit confused and concerned.

it sounds crazy, i know, but i have never been so certain about anything in my life. he makes me want to be better and i am excited to share my life with him. the future just seems brighter and more exciting because i get to share it with him. he is everything i have always wanted. i feel calm and good and happy when i think about us.

i can't wait to be sealed to him for time and all eternity.

the thesis is done ... the wedding is on

2009-06-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

it is official, ladies and (lets be honest ... only ladies read this blog) ... i am officially a master. sigh. it feels ... well cool ... but not as cool as i had hoped. the last five days before my thesis was due were horrible (to put it mildly) and tainted my experience a little bit. my thesis adviser out of the blue just told me (through another person - not even to my face) that my thesis just wasn't what he was hoping it was going to be - it just wasn't quite there. yup ... he said that to someone else who was suppose to tell me that. awesome - right?

sigh. needless to say i freaked out and told them it was not an option to stick around and spend the money and the time to re-write my thesis and that i didn't understand why this hadn't come up MONTHS ago. why was he dropping this bomb on me FIVE DAYS before it was due to the graduate school?

so the whole thing was anti-climatic because i basically said "you know its good enough ... just pass me and let me get on my way please!" ... the problem was that he and my reader and myself for that matter knew that i could have written a better thesis. i have the ability to do better. but the reality is this: i didn't have enough guidance, time, or money. that is the hard truth. there are real constraints in the real world and i experienced the cold reality of it.

i have come to terms with it. i decided long ago that i would never bleed for my academic or professional career. i would never let it define me or validate me. and i stuck to that - so that i am okay with and proud of myself for not letting this all get to me too much.

i think this healthy perspective directly correlates with my upcoming sealing in the newport beach temple on september 5th.

The Ring:

Speaking of which ... I know you ladies are all dying to see the ring ... so here it is! It was my grandmothers (on my mom's side) and I have always loved it. As a child I would hold my grandmothers hand and stare at it ... I always thought it was so beautiful. My grandfather came home one day over forty years ago and told my grandmother to go pick out a new ring since hers had broken or had been lost. My mom was a little girl at the time and remembers going to the jewelery store in Los Angeles with her.

A few years ago my grandmother passed away and my mom has been wearing this ring on her right hand ever since. Every time I am in town or hanging out with my mom for a few days I would always ask to wear it for the duration of my stay (on my right hand of course.) Then, when our visit was over my mom would ask for it back. I once asked her if she might consider letting me have it as my wedding ring ... if that was ever a possibility one day. She said I could if I wanted it.

But of course that was all said very casually ... so about a month ago I asked her if that was really a possibility and she said of course! I gave Nate the option of the ring, since I had already sufficiently scared him by telling him that I wanted a vintage ring. He had no idea how to go about finding and picking out such a thing. He also was very concerned that I was trying to make it easy on him by suggesting my grandmother's ring and said very seriously: "Bethany, this is a big deal. If you want a new ring, lets get you one. I don't want you to compromise on this because you are worried about the cost." So I looked just to make everyone (and myself) feel better. I tried rings on and was very overwhelmed by the shinny and overly crazy bling that is out there in the jewelery world. Nothing, not even simple diamond bands, seemed right or seemed to fit what I was looking for. Flat out I just didn't like any of the rings I saw. It made me feel better about the decision to wear my grandmother's ring. I know I will always be happy I picked this ring as my engagement/wedding ring.

We have considered adding to it, but every time we talk to a jeweler about it I get worried and don't feel good about it. Its unique and hard to add to without changing the look too much. Maybe one day we will ... but for now I am super happy with it!

Ring Details:

It is white gold with a center round cut diamond that is flush with the band and is almost a 1/2 carat. There are five "leaves" on each side that have little diamond chips in them. There are a total of 11 diamonds in the ring. We had it cleaned, resized, and almost all of the diamonds repointed (or basically the prongs that hold the diamond in were redone to make sure that everything is good to go for another 40+ years!)

correction & the holiday

2009-05-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

so nate - the linguist - has informed me that the title of my last post should more correctly read:

replace "i" with "we" & "me" with "us"

Anyway ... we went hiking up at Spencer's Butte yesterday with the ward for Family Home Evening. Neither of us had ever hiked the butte, despite our almost 2 years living in Eugene. It was a beautiful evening and while not a difficult hike ... we did break a sweat! It felt good since I have taken a time out on the gym due to the thesis taking over my life.

Here are some photos of us on Spencer's Butte:

Nate is doing the Oregon "O" around Autzen Football Stadium ...
he's a super fan of the Ducks.

replace "i" with "us" & "we"

2009-05-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

so i promised some pictures and i am now delivering! we took a few photos yesterday before going to the Portland Temple. we clean up pretty good, if i don't say so myself.

How did we meet you may be wondering ... well its pretty typical ... in our singles ward here in Eugene. The funniest part (okay one of the many funny parts) is that i pretty much was like ... yup my love life is taking a hiatus while i go to Eugene, Oregon ... because really? What are the odds?

We both moved into the ward in Fall 2007 to start graduate school and we became friends - pretty casually at first - and this Fall I would say we became even closer. Lots more long talks about life and the both of us trying to figure out how to be better at it. Of course looking back, this whole time we have been trying to catching each other's eye but not with any real intent. Really I think its all about timing and quite frankly, neither of us was in a place to be starting this "we" business. For the past year and a half we both have been focused on school and making ourselves into the people we want to be - the people who can be better halves to a pretty amazing whole.

Something started to get going in the more than friends department about six months ago - but I know I was denying questions about us dating and thinking ... "that's funny they think we are dating ... hehehhe ... hmmm I wonder? ... well anyway ... Nate isn't into me, he likes Asian girls" (hahaha - babe ... just teasing, but i did tell myself that at times.)

But something just happened in April and we were both just there. Maybe it was the fact that graduation is coming up in June and then that was it ... heading separate ways ... maybe it was just that neither one of us could finish school with the other as a distraction (although we are still struggling through this one finishing a thesis and a final project) ... maybe it was just suppose to be like this. I don't know ... but we are both crazy about each other and laughing about how we missed it for sooo long. People at church were like - well yeah ... that makes sense.

And most of all it feels right ... which is the greatest feeling in the world.

Nate is an amazing man and i am super lucky that he likes to be with me!

Some facts about Nate:

- age: 27 (his 28th birthday is in July)
- hometown: seattle, washington
- mission: Korea (00-02)
- school: graduated from BYU in 2005 (same time as me!) with a BA in Korean Studies and a minor in Asian Studies ... now he is a graduate student getting a MA in Linguistics with an emphasis in Language Teaching.

This is him trying to be all intellectual and interesting ... hahahaha

Isn't he cute?! He keeps his hair short - which I really like on him ... and he has a nice soft beard that I love because its very rugged (and it makes him look older :) which I also like!)

My turn! I don't post (or take for that matter) many pictures these days with school and all ... so per many people's requests ... here I am!

Nate posed me for this one ... i am suppose to be looking all mysterious i guess :) - hahaha

say hello to the boy ...

2009-05-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

This is Nate ... we are in his study room at the Library on campus, hence all the books in the background ... not the best picture ... we are working on it - i promise.