Nesting...

I sit here at 1:30 AM, after laying down for bed at 11-ish because I knew there was laundry sitting on the couch waiting to be folded and I didn't want to wait until morning (and by morning it's usually closer to noon when I finally roll out of bed). I was parched after finishing so I went to the fridge to get a drink and realized I hadn't cleaned the fridge in a while--the fridge is now clean. I am desperately fighting the urge to scrub the kitchen floor because I know if Sean wakes up and finds me on my hands and knees cleaning he will NOT be happy with me--cute husband.

This past week was good: at my 36-week appointment I was told by my doctor he was going to be scheduling an ultrasound 2 weeks from then to check the head measurements on baby to get the go-ahead on an induction...meaning...we'll (most likely) be bringing home our little boy next week! Between Sean, myself, neurosurgeon, and my OB, we've decided that this is the best thing for me and the babe. We have our 37 week appointment tomorrow (37w 3d, actually) and he's going to do an internal check-up--oh, boy!

I posted pictures on facebook of the house, the baby space, and random Thanksgiving pictures. I assume most people who read this have a facebook?...maybe that's assuming too much. I just don't know how to pick through them and get them on here without getting annoyed with how long it's taking. Ok--I'll do a few pictures--the rest can be found on facebook. :-)

36 WEEKS PREGNANT?!

Yeah--I'm just as shocked as you are. Next Sunday I will be considered full-term! He could be here as early as a week (though highly unlikely).

Here are some up-to-date pregnancy/life things:

*Officially have the "nursery" set up (if you can call it that, since it is in our bedroom)--you work with what you have when you only live in a one-bedroom apartment. However, my mom came for 10 days a little while ago and made it look absolutely adorable--pics soon.

*Maternity clothes no longer fit--go figure.

*Baby boy has "dropped"--meaning, he is preparing for delivery. I can finally BREATHE again and my ribs stopped burning. His butt protrudes quite significantly and I spend the majority of my days trying to push it down. He is simply running out of room.

*Still deciding on the name--at least we have it narrowed down to 2!

*CHRISTMAS IS OFFICIALLY UP IN OUR APARTMENT! My mom's Christmas present to us this year was buying us decorations and putting them up in our house. It looks amazing, obviously. We did it while Sean has been out of town this last week for work, so I'll post them as soon as he sees it (we wanted it to be a suprise)!

*Just found out that Matt and Shantele will be spending Christmas with us!!!! After the baby, this is the thing we are most looking forward to this Christmas holiday.

Halloween of '08 vs '09

Here are a few ways Halloween was different this year compared to last:

1.) We are in Texas, not Utah.

2.) We're married!

3.) I'm pregnant

4.) There isn't an old toilet sitting by our curb waiting to be removed by our landlord.

5.) A bunch of punk teenagers won't have the opportunity to defecate in said toilet.

6.) Due to lack of toilet, said teenagers won't have the opportunity to come obliterate the defecated toilet the following night.

7.) Subsequently, we won't have to pick up poo-covered, porcelain pieces strewn about the yard for 2 hours November 2nd.

Yep--this Halloween is infinitely better than last. Oh, this helps too: (yes, Bryn was a lobster)

Go horned frogs?

We proudly sport a Y sticker on the back of our SUV to pay homage to our alma mater--it's just something we decided was important for us to do especially since we were leaving Utah. I was especially excited at the prospect of it because I really am proud of BYU and all that entails--namely, sports. WELL. Here is where it gets interesting: We moved to Fort Worth, TX--home of Texas Christian University-aka TCU. Duh. I can't believe I didn't figure that one out. So, I thought about it for a while and thought to myself, "Fort Worth is a pretty large city--I bet we'll be, like, on the out-skirts or something." Nope. We live about 5 miles from campus. On top of THAT, our complex is drowning in TCU fans--from ages 19-60+. I'm talking serious TCU people. In fact, our neighbor is a recent TCU grad.

Here is why this is relevant. Sean and I were driving to Wild Flying Buffalo Wings or whatever that place is called, to enjoy a $.49 wing night (yes, please) when we noticed a car speed up quickly behind us and jerk to the driver's side and start making an obnoxious hand-gesture at us closely resembling "the claw" from Liar Liar. It took me about 2 seconds to process what they were doing. The two guys, probably around 26 or 27, cruising together in a feminine Lexus flashing us pulled up next to my windows to flash us the TCU "horny-toad" horn. Uh, what? Yes. In case you weren't aware, TCU's school mascot is a horned frog--a PURPLE, horned frog. So, while they were clearly mocking our Y sticker, we reveled in the fact that they were 27-ish, cruising together in a femme Lexus, and flashing the gesture for a purple horned frog--picture THAT in your head.

Kids say the darndest things

I just have to publish some of the nuggets my niece, Lucy has uttered recently:

"Uncle Sean, why you has boo-boos?"--said after she saw Sean at the pool without a shirt on.

"Bye, mommy! Me and my Auntie Summer are going to go to the post office to get her baby out."

Kristi, "Lucy, stop crying and get back in bed." Lucy, "But I am so, very sad."--Yes, life as a spoiled 3 1/2 year old must be SO tough

Sean toasted a pop tart and was trying to hide it from Lucy--it had chocolate filling--Lucy, "Uncle Sean, what's that?" Sean, "Oh, it's a poop sandwich." Lucy, "Oh, I love poop sandwiches!"

..and these were all in the past couple of days. Lucy is insanely precocious and quite the comedian--unbeknowst to her, of course. We love hanging out with her. Bryn is now about 8 months old and is so dang cute! She speed crawls EVERYWHERE and within the last month has nearly started walking. She is this chubby cherub of giggles and drool. Seriously, the best parts of my day are when I get to play with my nieces and try to explain to Lucy that the baby inside me is in fact a boy, not a girl, and can't be pushed out by sitting on my stomach. I think about how much I love Lucy and Bryn and have a hard time comprehending what it will feel like when I have my own baby to hold--I am so so so so so so so excited to meet our little boy!

Well, today was my much anticipated 30-week appointment. Much anticipated because I was able to find out about the results from the new MRI I had last week. Here is a break-down of the appointment: I gained a 1/2 pound from 2 1/2 weeks ago, but my stomach was measure 4 CM BIGGER! So, I'm measuring a little over 3 weeks ahead. What does this mean? Well, the obvious would be we're having a newborn who is the size of a 6-month old. A more feasible explanation is that baby boy could have had a leg up or something--I doubt it, but still an option. I'm going back in two weeks to see how I measure then. The next issue was that there was an extreme drop in my red blood cell count from my last lab results, aka mild anemia. I have had iron issues before AND it is hereditary, so I wasn't too concerned. The doc, however, didn't like the steep decline so I'm on some iron supplement and a strict lean, red meat and broccoli diet. I should have figured as much since I have been soooo lightheaded the past several weeks.

So, the biggen: MRI results. To those who don't want to read this long, boring paragraph, here is the short answer: things are "progressively worse" according to my doc. What does that mean? Well, everything that was "mild" or "moderate" on my MRI's from 2 and 3 years ago are now "moderate" and "severe". I never know what to say to people when they ask me what is wrong with my back. I know the general idea but I don't think normal people understand (I don't even really understand), but here are the technical terms: L5-S1: disk desiccation and moderate loss of disk space height--makes perfect sense to me since I was once 6'2 1/2 and am now barely 6'1--moderate to severe bilateral facet arthropathy and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, combined together is causing moderate to severe central canal narrowing and moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing--I am pretty sure this is a fancy way to say that the pockets that house the nerves for each vertebrae are basically growing in around my nerves, aka not good--disc bulge and moderate bilateral facet arthropathy at L4-5. Broad based posterior disk protrusion containing high signal annular tear with more moderate to severe bilateral facet arthropathy and hypertrophy with even more narrowing. So, not good. What does this mean for Summer and baby? My OB says a 99% likelyhood of a scheduled c-section. After meeting with the neurosurgeon next week I'll find out if they are gonna kill two birds with one stone and do some surgical proceedures while I'm already out for the c-section. Fun, huh?! I'm really not at all suprised by any of this--in fact, I knew this was inevitable. I am just so grateful my doctor took my minor side-note of "back problems" seriously. My OB and the neurosurgeon are both very conservative practitioners, so I know that any recommendation or order they give me is going to be the best option for me. But who knows--I could get to the neurosurgeon and he could say that I'm find to deliver normally. I doubt it, but there's still a miniscule chance! But really, I am not mad or sad! I'm a little discouraged because I am in a pretty fair amount of pain. But don't feel bad! I love being pregnant and I can't wait to meet our precious little boy.

Last little news on baby: I absolutely love that he moves so much and so aggressively that my stomach churns into the weirdest positions. I love when I push on him he pushes back. He is just so much fun in utero I can't imagine how great he'll be in person! I love him. :)

Here is a 30 week 3 day shot--I am ALL out in front--it looks so weird:

Fast food, anyone?

Hi all,

This is Sean. Recently my job has taken an interesting turn -- instead of sitting at my desk making sales calls all day to low-level food company employees, I'm using any means possible to try and reach executives at the major supermarket and restaurant chains. This includes sending out emails to random company email addresses that I find online; calling in to the company's hotline and asking for an executive by his first name, as if I were an old friend ("Hi, is Hank there? OK, tell him it's Sean -- yeah, just Sean -- he'll know who it is"); and/or cutting the brakes on all the company cars. Ok, that one's more of a last resort. I'm actually just trying to set up face-to-face meetings for my sales manager, but simply getting the right person on the phone is like pulling teeth. Nobody wants to take a random, shot-in-the-dark call from a sales guy in the middle of their lunch break anyway, and the fact that I'm contacting company bigwigs probably doesn't help. Recently I called the Vice President of Procurement for the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Corporation, and our conversation went something like this:

(Me) Hello, is Richard there?

(Richard) Speaking.

(Me) Hi Richard, this is Sean from iCiX.

(Richard) Who?

(Me) Sean...From iCiX...have you heard of us?

(Richard) How did you get this number?

(Me) Oh, your assistant Cindy gave it to me.

(Richard) Well, maybe you should be talking to Cindy.

(Click).

Ha ha. What a jerk. Despite the occasional potholes like my pal Richard, it's a lot more fun that just making sales calls all day -- I feel like a detective, trying to figure out how to contact these secretive, powerful, pompous men and women who want nothing more than to be left alone in their corner offices so they can pretend to work.

Oh, and to explain the title of this post, my boss and I met with execs from the companies that own Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut last week. Summer was mad that I didn't bring home any coupons. My bad.

Update...

We are finally in our apartment! It's an adorable, 1 large bedroom place right across the way from Kristi and Dave's apartment. It takes me about 20 seconds to walk from my front door to Kristi's. We love it!

I had my 28 week check-up today! I'm actually due in 11 weeks, though, which is an entirely odd concept to comprehend. I have put off buying anything major for some reason. I just keep saying, "Oh, I still have plenty of time to get things ready...", psh, not! I only have 11 weeks! LUCKILY, our crib, bedding, stroller, and car seat are all on their way (a HUGE thank you to my wonderful in-laws)! October 1-6 is going to be a very splendid time, indeed.

Oh, the appointment. I gained 6 pounds over 4 weeks--whoops. My doctor--who Sean and I LOVE--made many a joke about it but ultimately wasn't concerned because my blood pressure and pulse were a-ok AND I have only gained 22 pounds to date, so, assuming I keep to the recommended 1 pound a week until I deliver, that will put me at about the 33-pound weight-gain. I feel pretty good about that. There was, however, some potentially bad news: because of my back history (the short of it being 2 bulging discs, 3 collapsed discs, exposed nerve endings, and severe facet deterioration), an epidural may prove to be fruitless OR even worse, I may not even have the option of receiving one. On top of that, I may not be able to have a normal delivery. I have to have my last MRI results faxed to a doctor out here to interpret the results to see if delivering a baby could compromise my health. The doc's main concern was further exacerbating the bulging discs causing paralysis. I am really praying that I get clearance for a normal delivery--keep us in your prayers! Here's the 28-week shot (I have all the pics I took during different weeks in a new facebook album should you feel so inclined to look):

I want to add pictures of the things we are expecting in the mail from my wonderful in-laws! Here is the crib from Matt and Shantele:

Here is the stroller/car seat combo from Sean's mom--oh, and don't worry, it's called cowmooflage. Precious? I think so:

Stalking someone else's blog...

...I came across this. It's supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but you know I can't resist a good Q & A session. **Addendum: I have decided (half-way through this thing) to also include a copy of Sean's answers to compare--he will NOT have read mine...let's see how well we think we know each other!!! Enjoy:

SUMMER'S:

♥ What are your middle names? Michael and Anne

♥ How long have you been together? Well, we met over 3 years ago, made-out a week or so after we met, and pretty much just continued to do that over the next 3 years (sorry for the graphic nature)

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? We didn't become officially "official" until January of 2007, even though neither of us dated anyone else after we kissed for the first time.

♥ Who asked who out? He asked ME out for our first official date--however, I invited him to play water basketball (I destroyed him, of course) the first night we kinda met.

♥ How old are each of you? I'm barely 23 and he's 22--such young kids.

♥ Whose family do you see the most? Definitely mine! When we lived in Utah my little sister lived there, too--plus, this summer my little bro, Tores came and lived a vegabond lifestyle, bouncing from my house to Holly's apartment. NOW we live in Texas in the same complex as my sis, her hubby, and perfect children.

♥ Do you have any children together? He's on the way! He'll be here in December :-)

♥ What about pets? We had a toad named Bamboo for 11 months--he passed last year. :-(

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Probably food decisions. Seriously. I always want to eat out and he always wants to eat in. Does this even count?

♥ Did you go to the same school? We both went to and graduated from BYU--we went to vastly different high schools.

♥ Were you born in the same home town? Nope. I was born in Everett, WA and he was born in Scottsdale, AZ.

♥ Who is the smartest? Mmmm, this is an interesting question. Sean will undoubtedly test better than me and most certainly write a more cohesive paper. However, I will destroy him in anything pop culture, infant/child relations, and Guitar Hero.

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Him. Hands down. And I promise you he will agree. In fact, I may have him do this same Q &A BEFORE he reads mine. Oh, that would be fun!

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? In Provo it was definitely Costa Vida or Ihop--In Texas (so far) probably Jack in the Box (my heaven on earth).

♥ Who has the craziest exes? Him. Absolutely, hands-down. I guarantee he'll agree with that too.

♥ Who has the worst temper? Oh gosh, definitely me. He's a very subdued man, thankfully.

♥ Who does the cooking? Definitely me. When he helps he nearly always prepares a veggie--and it's usually steamed. He steams vegetables really well.

♥ Who is more social? Me? It used to be, at least. I do this weird thing as of late--if someone starts talking to me (Sean included), I will instantly turn red. It's completely ridiculous! Especially since I won awards for my extemporaneous speaking skills in high school!

♥ Who is the neat-freak? SEAN. But he's not neurotic about it. However, when it comes down to the physical act of cleaning a room, I will take the cake. I can mess up a room and clean it up in about 35 seconds.

♥ Who is more stubborn? Oh, that's a toss-up. We are both equally stubborn. You know, I'm actually going to say Sean wins this one. My reasoning for this is because Sean doesn't think he's stubbord whereas I know I am.

♥ Who hogs the bed? SEAN SEAN SEAN SEAN SEAN. He parasails in bed.

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Sean, definitely. I would bet everything I own to say there has not been a day when I have gotten up earlier than him.

♥ Where was your first date? Our first official date was to IHOP and the movies to see Prestige.

♥ Who has the bigger family? Me--I have a bigger immediate family and a bigger extended family.

♥ Do you get flowers often? Um, not really? I don't mind, though. He knows I would rather have food of some kind.

♥ How do you spend the holidays? We try to trade off Christmas and Thanksgiving every year...the other holidays are usually just spent with friends or by ourselves...

♥ Who is more jealous? When we were dating, me. Now that we're married, HIM.

♥ How long did it take to get serious? Um, it happened pretty fast which is why I think we waited so long to make it official (yes, I know that does NOT make any sense). We said "I love you" and meant it probably 2 or 3 months after making it official? I don't really remember.

♥ Who eats more? SEAN. He's such a freaking horse. Don't get me wrong, I can keep up with the best of them, too, it's just we'll eat a fairly large dinner where he'll eat 3 times more than the average human does, and follow it up with a heaping bowl of cereal.

♥ Who does/did the laundry? Only me. I prefer it that way. Although, Sean is really anal about treating stains, so I typically allow him to do that.

♥ Who’s better with the computer? We both equally versed in our particular brand--me, PC, him, MAC.

♥ Who drives when you are together? Usually me because I have horrible anxiety if I'm not the one in control. Also, after Sean and I had been dating a year his license expired so I drove everywhere for the next year or so out of habit. He is currently doing the driving because my freaking license expired on my birthday and I refuse to get a license out of the state of Washington. Real mature, I know.

SEAN'S:

♥ What are your middle names? Michael and Anne

♥ How long have you been together? Since August 2006...wow, that's kind of a long time!

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? Like, a DAY...no more than a week!

♥ Who asked who out? Technically I asked her out, but we hung out a lot before we went on an official date and that was Summer's doing :)

♥ How old are each of you? I am 22 and she is 23 years young.

♥ Whose family do you see the most? Summer's, but that's partly because there's 11 of them and 6 of us!

♥ Do you have any children together? One on the way (it's a boy)

♥ What about pets? Names? None yet, but we're planning on getting a dog and a cat eventually.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Umm probably money. Yeah, different views/opinions on money.

♥ Did you go to the same school? BYU baby! Go Cougs!

♥ Were you born in the same home town? Not even close. Scottsdale, AZ for me. Everett, WA for Sum.

♥ Who is the smartest? It depends...academics, definitely me. But practical knowledge (i.e. stuff that's more useful in the real world than knowing all the Roman Emperors or who won the 100 Years' War), DEFINITELY Summer.

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Haha. Me. I'm a Sensie. No homo.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Frick, everywhere?! Used to be Costa Vida in Utah, but probably gonna be Jack in the Box in Texas (it's like half a block away).

♥ Who has the craziest exes? Me. For sheezy.

♥ Who has the worst temper? I would say Summer, but I don't want to set her off...Kidding! I would say both of us at times. But not too often :)

♥ Who does the cooking? Summer, for sure. I can hardly pour my own bowl of cereal.

♥ Who is more social? Probably me, but that's just because I'm more willing to make an effort than she is. She's got mad social skills.

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Summer.

♥ Who is more stubborn? Me!

♥ Who hogs the bed? Ugh both of us. two 6'2" people should NOT share a Queen!

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Me by about 3 hours.

♥ Where was your first date? Oh crap, I'm gonna be in trouble if I get this wrong...RED LOBSTER! We both wore lime green. It was embarrassing. But she looked stunning, and the coconut shrimp was delicioso!

♥ Who has the bigger family? Bahaha Summer's fam is like mine X2.

♥ Do you get flowers often? No, never. :(

♥ How do you spend the holidays? ...Dangerously?

♥ Who is more jealous? Probably Summer. :)

♥ How long did it take to get serious? A couple months...it took us a while to figure out how awesome we both were.

♥ Who eats more? Oh my gosh both of us could eat our way out of a prison of cheeseburgers in about 5 minutes flat. But probably still me, even though she's pregnant and eating for two. (By the way, how awesome would it be to be imprisoned in a fortress of piping hot cheeseburgers?)

♥ Who does/did the laundry? We both do, but mostly her. Actually, almost always her unless I stain one of my favorite shirts, in which case I will immediately put a load in.

♥ Who’s better with the computer? I think me...but she's sneaky-good. She types like a teenaged MySpacer on speed.

♥ Who drives when you are together? ME. I'm a man. (It helps that her license is expired.)

*Summer again, I haven't read his responses, nor him, mine. We'll update you all later on our reactions (because we know you all care SO much).

Texans

We made it! We are now residents of the great state of Texas--well, currently we're living as transients in my nieces' bedroom--we'll be able to move into our place September 16th! We lucked out and are in the same complex as my sister, bro-in-law, and nieces. It is such a cute place and (holy cow) a huge step-up from what we came from.

Here are the things we love about Texas (so far):

1-Jack in the Box

2-People are SO FRIENDLY--however, anything is a step-up from Utah (no offense to my Utah peeps and homeboys)

3-SO MUCH BBQ

4-SO MUCH MEXICAN (food)

5-Living so close to my sister and her family

6-People don't drive like bats out of hell. People actually let you in when you put your blinker on.

Baby update: Baby is almost 25 weeks old! He's getting so big! And so am I (finally). I have gained 16 pounds thus far and if I continue on the recommended trend of a pound a week, I'll be in fantastic shape (not physical shape, obviously). I'll take all the moving to assume he's going to be insanely active--not a huge stretch to assume considering who his parents are (well, me back in my prime, rather). His heart rate at our 24 week appointment was 150 BPM and my uterus is measuring exactly on. I'm really excited to get registered at Babies R Us (primarily for family--my step-ma-in-law is putting on an online baby shower for me since all of my friends and people I would invite are in about 43 different states! She's going to do gift bags and what not because she is super cute and crafty--so if you want an e-invite, leave me your email!)

I love being so close to my nieces--Lucy is so smart and so sweet and the funniest person in the world. Bryn is beautiful, has the biggest smile and eyes, and a light bulb-shaped head--haha, no joke. The doc said that she had to wear a helmet--yes, I know--but it is looking like it may be shaping itself back to normal. Funny story: the other day Kristi made ravioli for Lucy for lunch and when Lucy started to cut into it she said--in the most horrified and sad voice ever--"Oh, NO... there's poop inside." She was not nearly as amused as we were.

I think that's the update. Sean is awesome and handsome and everything perfect. He absolutely LOVES Texas and loves being around the girls. I will try and get a belly picture on here in the next couple of days since it actually looks like a pregnant belly. Ciao, y'all!

Boy, oh, boy!

The Mosman genes prevailed--it's a BOY!! A bouncing, baby boy!

So, the official picture saying "It's a Boy!!!!!!!" to us, doesn't show it is a boy. We took the liberty of watching our DVD of him and took our own pictures--this is (obviously) his legs and, well, his parts:

And here is another--his parts are off to the right :)

So, a boy! We're so excited and were caught completely off-guard, as well as many of our family members. The night before I took the liberty of asking all of our immediate family members (and their significant others) what they thought we were having. Here were the results: Sykes clan voted 70% in favor of a BOY and the Mosman clan voted 78% for a GIRL. Sean and I both thought a girl--but Sean will claim the day of he knew it was a boy. I now want to talk about everything we were able to see and find out with the ultrasound!

The nurse, within 15 seconds announed, "Oh, you are absolutely having a boy" without warning us that she was going to tell us and then we glanced up and saw him, well, presenting himself...and only presenting that particular part. We asked how sure she was and she laughed. So, our first shot of baby boy Mosman was him making sure we knew what we were dealing with. So, it continued on and he just bounced around the entire time, mostly with is butt facing us--and a cute butt at that! He seriously would not hold still. In fact, we kept trying (for 15 minutes) to get a profile shot where he wasn't covering his face with his precious little hands--all to no avail. Every time the tech prodded at him with the doppler, he burrowed his head really deep into my cervix and toward my back (ow)! It was so cute and so annoying. Oh! Here is how everything is measuring thus far: his head is measuring at a whopping 22 weeks--keep in mind I'm only 20 weeks, his belly is measure at about 21 weeks, and his femur...only 19 weeks and 2 days! What the heck?! And then we remembered; Sean has miniature femur bones himself and gets all of his height (all alleged 6'2" of him) in his torso. Baby has dad's legs. The best news, however, was that our baby was perfectly healthy and everything is exactly as it should be. He's very tall and very skinny :)

So, here is my 20 week shot. I wanted to juxtapose it with my 16 week but I have no idea how to do that. So, here ya go!--And yes, I know that I don't look 5 months pregnant--apparently the Babies R Us teller thought I was buying my support brace for someone who WAS pregnant...

Gettin' The Finger

Wow. Utah drivers are reeeeeeeeal classy. I grew up a stone's throw from several multi-lane superhighways, but I've never been flipped off more in my life than I have in the four+ years I've spent driving the relatively meek Interstate 15 in Provo. Just this morning, as I backed out of my driveway on the way to church, I found myself on the receiving end of a one-fingered salute from a douchebag in a Suzuki Forenza. I know what you're thinking: Gee, I wonder if Sean has a theory as to why this is? Maybe something brilliant and insightful that I wouldn't have thought of on my own? Never fear, loyal readers. I have just such a theory. Here goes:

A) It all starts with peer pressure. Everywhere else in the world, outside of the Provo/Orem suburban area, "peer pressure" is a negative force that pushes teenagers and young adults to do bad things--drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, etc. However, in Utah Valley, peer pressure works the opposite way, forcing young people to live righteous lives in order to gain social acceptance.

B) At some point in every Mormon's life, the pressure of living a righteous lifestyle becomes too much to bear. But Mormons don't let off steam by heading to Vegas and sinning it up for a week or two, or going on a nice bender, or something healthy like that. We only have 2 places where we can let it all hang out without fear of judgment or reprisal: BYU Intramurals, and the airtight privacy of our own vehicles. (Ed. Note: We take out intramurals VERY seriously at BYU. I made brief mention of it in my first-ever blog post...I'm overdue for a column about Intramural pregame rituals and sundry other pathetic aspects of my life).

C) As such, our cars become hurtling containers of violence and angst, ready to be unleashed on pedestrians, other vehicles, small animals, etc.

This explains why, twice a week, I get the finger from temple-worthy members on their way to Home Teaching appointments. I generally try to give them a smile or a friendly wave, because I figure they're probably just nice people who are having a bad day. Plus, someone has to set a good example for our unborn child, because it certainly isn't gonna be my lovely wife. Summer is more likely to run someone off the road than give them a friendly wave. (Again, this is a side-effect of her all-around goodness everywhere else. I, on the other hand, can afford to be a kind and courteous driver, because I act like a jerk to everybody face-to-face). Friday night, on the way home from the Orem Owlz game, some idiot in a giant truck ( which happened to be bedazzled with stickers from the major Pittsburgh sports teams) passed her on the right with his middle finger hanging out the driver's side window. We met him at the stoplight, at which point he and Summer had the following exchange:

Summer: "Hey A-hole, learn how to drive!"

Idiot: "@*#% you!"

Summer: "Go shove it, you moron! STEELERS SUCK!"

Spoken like a true Seahawks fan. Leave it to Summer to emasculate a total stranger at a stoplight, make him question his loyalty to his favorite sports team, and sincerely think he's gonna get beat up by a girl--all at the same time! Ladies and gentlemen, the lovely and talented Summer Anne Mosman!!!

And yes, for anyone who's wondered this in the past, Summer WOULD destroy me in a physical fight. Let's just hope it never comes to that. :)

Sean

Pregnancy (Summer's perspective)

*Sorry about how huge our main picture is--I seriously suck at layouts and I have no idea how to fix and organize things.

On another note...We had our 16-week appointment today! Baby is doing good! Heard it's little heartbeat again--this visit it was about 150 BPM, whereas the last two appointments it was 161 and 160. It's so much fun to hear the heartbeat. 4 weeks and we'll know the flavor! AND, i'll be half-way done!

I'll begin by posting the most recent belly shot--here I am at 16 weeks:

There it is--NOT a flat stomach! I am looking a little dumpy these days, but I guess that is to be expected. I have gained 2 pounds to date--however, I was a little heavier than I usually am by the time my 8 week appointment rolled around. Pretty much as soon as my body figured out I was pregnant I started eating nearly everything in sight. I always ask people the same questions I ask every person and I have had a lot of people ask me--so, I wanted to answer all of those questions now!

Q: How did you find out you were pregnant?

A: I found out I was pregnant April 20th (our 4 month anniversary--go figure) when Sean and I were at my parent's house in Washington helping to take care of my mom who had just had vericose vein surgery. I was going to K-Mart with my little brother to get her meds and I decided to get a pregnancy test. My cute, completely unaware little brother (12 at the time) was like, "What are you getting that for?" I said, "Oh, I think I'm pregnant, but don't tell anyone." Sure enough, I was pregnant. And after 7 tests in 2 days, I finally believed it. And bless Christian's little heart--he didn't tell a soul.

Q: Have you been sick? What are your symptoms?

A: The short answer is: yes. What has been odd is that I have felt pretty crappy ever since I started taking birth control, so when I found out I was pregnant it was really just a continuation of that. However, I have NOT thrown-up (SO LUCKY). The closest I come to throwing up is when I gag--and I gag ALL THE TIME. Like, one morning there was nasty bird poop on our windshield and looking at it made me gag. Or, if I am in the WILK and there are cooking a pastry in the Sugar 'n' Spice and the smell is really strong, THAT makes me gag. Oh, and brushing my teeth is a nightmare. I don't even have to get my toothbrush near the back of my tongue to gag! I just gag all the time and it really freaks Sean out. I sound like the exorcist--it's pretty nasty. Other than that, I think I'm pretty normal in my symptoms (though Sean seems to think otherwise).

Q: Were you planning on getting pregnant? Were you not on birth control?

A: We had been talking about it a lot and were trying to decide if we wanted to at that time. All the while I was already about 4 weeks along. We weren't really shocked at all, but totally psyched! And yes, I WAS on oral contraceptive. I never missed a dose and took it at the same time everyday. I used to laugh at people who said that, thinking that was the WORST lie ever. Ha! It happens; Hence, baby Mosman due 12/2009.

Q: Any weird food cravings? Things you hate?

A: I haven't really had any specific food cravings except for maybe an added desire for Mexican food. I really think it's just the salt I'm craving. I can count on my hand the number of times I have eaten sweets since I have been pregnant. I just prefer salty stuff, which is normally NOT like me. One weird thing is that I don't particularly care for chicken at all. In fact, the texture really grosses me out. I'll eat it, but I really don't care for it. I hope that goes away after baby comes.

Q: What changes have you noticed from becoming pregnant?

A: Um, the list is innumerable. To name a few: my hair is stringy and lack-luster, however, my fingernails and toenails are freakishly strong and grow really fast (most likely due to the prenatal vitamin---which SUCKS by the way). I am very aware of smells (like previously mentioned). Both good and bad smells. My skin has reverted back to the days of a 15-year old. Horrible. I feel like I'm back in middle school. In the last week or so my hips have started to ache tremendously, which is a little sad because I always thought my hips were plenty wide to deliver a baby. Psh. I can no longer button any of my pants--well, there is one pair that I can button but it hurts really bad and makes it so I can't really stand up straight or bend over, haha. In the past couple of weeks people have said, "Oh, you have that glow!" To which I reply, "Oh, that's definitely just a sheen of grease covering my face because of the horrible acne." :-)

Ok, not to defend myself concerning Sean's post: Well, he's so dead-on that I really can't object to anything. Hahahahaha. I laugh because it is all so true. Poor guy. He's such a good sport.

Well, with all of that said, I just want everyone to know that I am so happy and ecstatic and thrilled to be pregnant--both Sean and I both. It is seriously one of the most amazing things I have experienced in life thus far. It's such an odd thing to think of another human life growing inside me (sorry for the lack of eloquence), yet, it's like a sense of pride. Does that make sense? Sean loves it. I love it. Our family and friends are stoked. This is going to be one very loved baby.

Some Silly Pregnancy Ptuff

Hey, all! This is one of Sean's semi-annual blog posts. I'm just here to clue you in on some of the oddities of Summer's pregnancy (from a husband's perspective).

1. She is absolutely OBSESSED with baby/pregnancy/motherhood TV shows. If I have to watch another woman deliver a placenta on TV, I'm gonna Unabomb TLC's studios.
2. Summer thinks she is a MONSTER. In her mind's eye, she looks like Shamu, but to date she has gained TWO POUNDS over the course of her pregnancy. Actual Summer quote, only seconds ago: (Stands up and looks in the mirror) "Hey honey, I'm fat and ugly, let's go to the gym!"
3. Angry dreams. I cannot tell you how many times I've been woken up at 3 in the morning by Summer trying to push me out of bed with her tush because I wronged her somehow in dreamland. Apparently in bizarro world, I'm an abusive, philandering misogynist who cheats with Nicole Kidman. Which is categorically untrue. (Except for the Nicole Kidman part).
4. Increased tolerance for...women's softball? No joke, we watched the entire Women's College World Series this year. And Summer has a whole bagful of jokes about college softball players (BYU's, in particular). Yet, somehow, pregnancy has forced her to respect their craft. So now, college softball officially has 2 new fans. (One of whom is the unborn child).
5. Yelling! Summer yells about 97% of her communication to me (or at me) these days. Not because she's mad, just because she has trouble controlling the volume of her voice. I get happy-yelled at, excited-yelled at, mad-yelled at, bored-yelled at, hungry-yelled at...you name it, she's yelled it at me. (By the way, one should never, EVER tell a woman her shoes don't match her outfit, even if she asks. Apparently this is a corollary to the famous "never tell a woman she looks fat" clause of married life).
6. Interestingly, Summer has no specific food cravings at this point. Her only caveat is that we "eat out." Every meal, if possible. I could bring her home a gourmet meal and she would have no desire to eat it whatsoever, but if I microwaved some EasyMac and left it on the floor of Carl's Jr. she'd be all over it like flies on dookie. It's really kind of amazing...I'm not even mad. (Shoutout to Ron Burgundy.)

Those are some of the notable ones. I'd list more, but I gotta go. Summer's yelling at me :)

Our travels as of late...

Oh gosh. I am terrible at blogging. I won't say that I'm too busy to keep on top of this, but rather too lazy. Here is an encapsulation of the last few months...

May...hmmm. Oh! We went to Vegas with some good friends for Memorial Day weekend. Vegas is so perfect and disgusting-I love it. Also, Vegas is MUCH better when you have a few days to stroll the strip, rather than cramming it all into one very late night. Here are a few pictures from Vegas:

Well, there we are looking pretty dope.

Ok, so June--June was pretty uneventful, I think. Oh, wait! I went to Texas! Sean and I are moving to Texas at the end of August for a year or so (maybe less, maybe more). My sister, bro-in-law, and 2 nieces are currently residing in Fort Worth, which is where we are headed. My bro-in-law has an oral surgery internship at a hospital there (total boss), and I figured since there really wasn't anything tying us to Provo after we graduate, why not? We're really excited for something new. Also, Sean is considering University of Texas' MBA program and the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition is a m

ere $16,000, no biggie. We figure we could save that small amount of chump change for somethin

g else. Here are some pictures of my Texas trip:

Sweet Lucy. This was in Dallas right next to the grassy knoll where JFK was shot

The top one is Kristi, Dave (hubby), and baby Bryn. Bottom is of two elephants and Lucy. Ha!

Sean's birthday was also in June but it appears as though I forgot to upload pictures from that. Kevin and Tores (brothers) and Holly (sis) were there to celebrate. We went miniature golfing and got FRIED for the first time this summer. We look like lepers.

I guess the big news is that we're pregnant! Everyone knows this already, but we haven't officially announced it here. I am 16 weeks today and got to hear baby's heartbeat again. In 4 weeks we'll know what flavor we're having; I am pretty sure it is a girl. Sean has no idea but would love a girl, too. He's so precious when you ask him about it--he says, "In my head I want a boy, but in my heart I want a girl." How cute! He'll kill me if he knows I put that up. So, I'll add my 16 week ambiguous belly (who knows whether I'm just packing on some pounds or actually pregnant) when I get home from class--yes, I'm sitting in class being BORED OUT OF MY FREAKING MIND. I'm such a good student. Here is the picture of when we found out:

Well, there's the update. We're due December 20th, which just happens to fall on on wedding day. Oh, so in 4 weeks we get to find out the flavor and THAT day falls on the day we got engaged. We're so excited! Belly pictures to come.

Modest May

I am so sad to inform that for the month of May, Sean and I will not be eating out. For any of you who know us, you know how much we love food, particularly food from restaurants--Olive Garden, Costa, Rumbi, Burger Supreme, El Pastor--you name it, we love it. This is an effort to not be so disgusting in appearance and to see how much money we can save. I don't really know what else to say on the matter except that I am somber right now.

Up-to-date-stuff: Sean and I are in the home stretch to graduate! We both graduate August 13th. SO HAPPY TO BE GRADUATING. But for me, it comes with a small price (well, in terms of dinero its quite a large price); I have to complete 24 credits by August, which means I am taking 9 credits in the spring and 9 credits in the summer PLUS 2 independent study classes--Stats 221 and English 312 (two of my last generals I have put off until not--so dumb of me). Sean has a class in the spring and a class in the summer--a nice break for him. By the way, he got a 3.94 last semester. No big deal.