We finally made it through the dreaded 3 months apart while Skyler was in Seattle this summer. His return brought some exciting news with a job offer next year for Microsoft. It will be with the same manager/group that he worked with this summer. Skyler seemed pretty excited about it from the beginning so I think I was the one that needed convincing. I can say that a promise of vacations, shopping money, and the aspect of not having to work full time anymore did go a long way. :) We accepted the offer and will be moving to Seattle after Skyler graduates in April. Here is what we will be looking forward to.......

I still think I am a little nervous about the change since I've lived in Provo for 3 years and Rexburg for 3 years before that. Before then I lived in Mountain Home for most of my life.

We spent a couple days praying about it and felt like it was the best move for our family.

Now we are filled with tons of questions about where to live, how to transfer my nursing license, etc.

Here is what we do know about Seattle.

Fresh fish for when I'm done being pregnant.

Sea-Tac Airport is close

Fairly mild, wet winters and mild, dry summers. Translation : RAIN!!!

University of Washington has a great Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program if I decide to go back to school someday

Several Hospitals

Lots of Sight Seeing

Seattle Temple

Now we just have to wait for the baby to come and Skyler to graduate. :)

My Nesting Phase

The last couple of weeks I have started to realize that the morning sickness is probably not going away anytime soon. Since then I have tried to find activities that I can do to keep myself busy but preserve my energy.

I made these baby blankets with the help of my Grandma Robins and her fancy sewing machine with a touch screen. Even though these probably seen pretty juvenile to any professional seamstress it was easy enough to keep me occupied.

We also make a couple of burp cloths with some fancy stitching around the edges.

Here is the full size of one of my blankets. Skyler was even helpful and tied a couple of them for me.

I also for some reason have no problem spending money while I am sick. (according to Skyler)

Here are a couple of clothes I/other people have bought in the last couple of weeks.

I also found a cool website to crochet baby booties. http://allcrafts.net/crochet/booties.htm

Here are a couple of booties I am wanting to make.

Baby Update

Last week we got another ultrasound to see our little one's progress. We saw detailed pictures of her heart, abdomen, face, brain, and several other organs which are all growing on schedule. She weighs about 1 lb. 1 oz. and is measuring tall (like her dad) even though we didn't get an exact length. She is also going to be a belly sleeper like her mom since she was using the placenta as a body pillow for most of the time. We did get a second confirmation that she is still a girl as well

Here she is on the placenta with her bum in the air.

Even though this was the third ultrasound it is still a new and different experience each time we see her. It also makes us more excited for her to be here.

Pregnancy Update

I had good intentions of being more on top of blogging this pregnancy but I am not sure how it is already August. :) I am 19 weeks at this point and almost halfway done. I am told that this is the most comfortable time of pregnancy in the second trimester for a lot of people. I'm not sure that is totally true for everyone though.

I can honestly say I didn't think I would be battling morning sickness this far along. It started about 6 weeks when I went to the doctor and weighed 128 pounds. Since then I have tried everything I have ever heard mentioned or can think of. (Phenergan, B6 and Unisom, Zofran, crackers in the morning, eating small meals every 2 hours, not drinking until 1/2 hour after meals, preggy pops, changing vitamins, natural oils, peppermint, avoiding heavy foods, sleep, protein shakes, protein/granola bars, milkshakes, etc.) At 17 weeks I dropped to my lowest weight at 115 pounds. Later that week at my appointment they ended up keeping me there that day for IV fluids and Zofran. The doctor seemed pretty worried so they took blood and urine samples to send for testing just to see if anything significant showed up. I had to come back again last week for a check up. The doctor seemed somewhat relieved that I was more hydrated and had actually gained 1.5 pounds. (I know that seems stupid to be excited about 1.5 pounds but I was relieved as well.)

He also said I probably have hyperemesis gravidum which in simple terms means excessive morning sickness. (surprise, surprise). Apparently there is a genetic component to it which makes sense now knowing both my grandmas had pretty bad morning sickness and one lost over 30 pounds during a pregnancy. I have a couple of nursing friends that had it as well and needed hospitalization with long term IV fluids and tube feedings to gain weight. With my last appointment I was afraid we were at that point, but he said I just needed to keep gaining weight and they would monitor me closely over the next few weeks. (no pressure, right?)

I did find a couple of articles about Hyperemesis that were pretty helpful though. One of them had some funny cartoons and stories which interestingly enough doesn't help with the medical aspect of things but makes me feel a little better. Here is my favorite one for this week.

Actually, I just LOVE vomiting!

Some women are lucky; they don’t get morning sickness. There are some that have a little less luck; they get some morning sickness. Then there are the rest of us, the women with weeks of nonstop vomiting.

All that nonstop vomiting has a name: Hyperemesis. I have a feeling that hyperemesis is Latin for “Poor woman that vomits everything in sight.”

Since hyperemesis isn’t that well known, most people tend to ask questions such as “have you tried crackers?” or “I hear that ginger works.”

For many women, the only thing that works is having an 8-pound baby shoot out of her.

I know that people are trying to be helpful, but it is really hard not to go postal on someone offering “advice,” especially if you spent the night before in the emergency room, getting IV fluids for dehydration.

I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to say “Crackers? Really? That’s all it takes? Eating a few stinking crackers? I’ve been vomiting for five months straight and all I needed to do was eat a stinking cracker?”

We also took some "belly shots" this weekend while Skyler was home. Although I don't look very big it makes me feel better seeing something when I look at the pictures.

I do appreciate all the prayers in our behalf these last couple of weeks and I know it has helped. Hopefully in a couple of months I'll have a full size little one to show for my efforts over the last couple of weeks. :)

It's a GIRL!!!

The long awaited moment is here! We found out we are having a girl coming in December. We no longer have to refer to her as baby or it. :)

I was able to take my computer to the ultrasound and Skyler watched the whole process via Skype. She was very active kicking, moving her arms, swallowing, and touching her face which seems a little unreal still. The ultrasound tech measured her bones in arms and legs to make sure she was growing. Afterward we measured her head circumference and body to make sure they are on schedule. Last of all we tried to get a good shot between her legs to find out the gender. She was really shy and didn't want to be bothered so it took almost 45 minutes! I had to turn on each side, sit up, lay back, etc. and we used the ultrasound stethoscope to try to make her wiggle with no luck. Finally we switched to another ultrasound probe hoping she would stay in the same place. After another few minutes we were able to see a quick shot enough to see "girl parts". I had always thought that "girl parts" were just a lack of "boy parts" but apparently you can see certain structures showing it is a girl.

I know this may sound strange to some people but I had a feeling it was a girl all along. My family and several friends kept telling me how they guessed it was a boy all along. Call it the spirit or mother's intuition or whatever but I did have a feeling.

Here are some pictures of our sweet little girl

These are going to be jabbing me in the ribs in the next couple of months

Nice healthy spine

Since then I have thought I have started to feel her move. About 2-3 times a day I feel this little tap inside me body. I went back and forth telling myself it is probably just gas or stretching but I asked the doctor at my appointment and he said it probably is kicking as I described it. I think of it as a gentle reminder that she is still in there and making her presence known.

At one of the hospitals I work at there are Labor and Delivery equipment available for the patients when they come in since they labor, deliver, and recover in the same place. One day last week when I was there I had sent two patients home so I had some time to spare. I went into an empty room and used the doppler to listen to her for a few minutes. Here is a recording I was able to get on my phone. She is pretty active still so I had a hard time balancing the phone, doppler, and sound.

After my appointment I have had trouble not glancing at the baby clothes wherever I go. This week I went to the mall and decided to stop by one of the dress stores for little girls. I fell in love with the store and wanted to buy everything. I limited myself to the sale items to be safe. Here are the two dresses and bows I bought.

Wedding

Last month my college roommate got married in Idaho Falls. With being pregnant/sick and Skyler in Seattle there was a chance I would not be able to make it. With a ton of planning I was able to take a shuttle to Salt Lake, another to Idaho Falls, rent a car, and stay in a hotel near the temple. On Friday I was able to attend the sealing in the temple. This was exciting for me because it was the first I had been to other than my own. Although some aspects of it were unique the important parts were still the same. The spirit was very special and gave me time to reflect on my own sealing and what it has meant for the last two years. I can't describe how it feels to know that the things that happen in that room are eternal.

Afterward we waited outside for the happy couple and then headed to the luncheon. Here are some pictures that we had outside.

Roommates left to right: Casey, Heidi, Me, Jocelyn

Sight Seeing in Seattle

Last month I was able to visit Skyler in Seattle for a week. Although I wasn't feeling really well we were able to do a little bit of shopping and sight seeing over the weekend. Here is us eating dinner on the space needle one night. The restaurant sat at the top and rotated the full circle every couple of minutes so we were able to get a good view of Seattle.

I was also able to visit one of my favorite new shops in Seattle. It is called Lush and they make homemade soaps, etc. I bought a couple of soaps, bathbombs, and some chapstick. We took a short walk through the store trying to find the most appealing scents while I am nauseated. Here is a link to their website www.usa.lush.com.

Here are some pictures of some of the stuff I bought

I have had to keep myself away from blogging and Facebook for a couple of weeks in order to keep from spilling the beans....

BABY MURRAY due December 27th. 14 weeks down and counting

I think being a nurse has made me a little nervous every step of the way with this one. Each person I tell usually follows with the sentence, "It is good you are a nurse and you can know what to expect." Although it gives me a head start with all my questions I have still found myself calling the doctor's office when anything happens just to make sure it is normal. :)

This last week I enrolled in a study at work for new mom's. I get paid to go to appointments, answer questions, and get samples taken each visit. The study is supposed to look for signs of preterm labor and complications in pregnancy. With new moms they have no idea what type of pregnancy they are looking at. One of the benefits is an ultrasound with each trimester visit. My mom was able to drive down to go to my appointment this time. This visit they were measuring baby size, confirming due dates, and looking for any abnormalities. With all the morning sickness and exhaustion I have had this pregnancy it made it worth it to see my 3 inch baby healthy while it was kicking and swimming around. We are so excited for this sweet spirit to join our family.

Fun Married Dates

In a new adventure with our friends Sarah and Daniel Price we went out on a wintery day to a local nail salon. Daniel and I were not so sure about this but decided to make the best of it. We all got pedicures. Really though, it wasn't all that bad and actually felt very good. I have always been a fan of massages and having someone rub your feet and calves felt wonderful. I joked about getting glow-in-the-dark nail polish but ended up not getting any in the end.

Tiffany and Sarah got some pretty colors and intricately styled flowers on their big toes. In the end we didn't feel at that un-manly about it and even joked about a return trip. To offset the girl oriented activity we made a trip to Gunnies as well.

On another day with our other friends Daniel and Alexa Larsen we took a trip up Provo Canyon to Midway Utah and the Homestead Crater. It's a natural formation over a hotspring where the minerals from the spring have formed a roof over the water after thousands of years. All that is left is a 20 foot wide hole at the top. The water is 55 feet deep and 95 degrees. We had fun snorkeling and swimming around for over an hour and getting a nice mineral bath.

s

The dock and water inside...

The entrance to the crater...

After our mineral bath/swim we went to a local restaurant we had found called the Tarahumara. They serve wonderful made from scratch Mexican food. Another highlight of the place is a salsa-bar with about 20 different kinds of salsa. They have some ketchup salsa for the kids all the way to some blistering hot varieties that will satisfy any spice-junkie.

Our drive back included a stop at Deer Creek Reservoir. It was frozen over and a lot of brave souls were out on the ice fishing for a fresh catch to have for dinner. It reminded me of all the frozen rivers and bays I saw in Sweden. So my excitement was enough to get Dan to stop the car and we took a short little jaunt on the ice.

It's nice to have friends around to do fun things with.

Seattle Summers

The quest for an internship took many turns but the final one began late in November. I received an email from Microsoft Recruiting saying that they were coming to BYU in December and wanted to interview me. When they had been out for the career fair and info sessions I had talked to a lot of the guys and tried to make sure they would remember me, I guess it paid off. Computer Science interviews are notoriously intense with the recruiters usually asking you to solve one or more coding problems and write code in front of them. I tried to study up as much as I could and it turned out the recruiter didn't really ask a single thing for me to code up. He asked more about me and the projects I worked on and it wasn't as stressful as I thought it was going to be. My whole hope with interviewing with Microsoft was to get an internship here at the Lehi location. After the interview I wasn't sure where it was going to go or even if there would be positions available here in Utah.

They were quick to get back to me though and within two weeks I had been invited to Redmond Washington for the second round of interviews. I was excited and worried about where this might be leading but I think I let the excitement go a little to my head. Originally we had planned on getting an internship here so I wouldn't have to leave for the summer but this new direction didn't seem to be going that way.

Microsoft treats its recruits very well. They flew me out, put me up in a hotel with a car and wanted me to have the best experience possible. The next day I met with a very helpful recruiting coordinator. He was very inspiring and had good advice for the interviews. After I met with him I was whisked off to meet the group I would interview with. These are when the fun parts of CS interviewing got into full swing. In all of my four interviews I was asked to write up algorithms or different problems to solve. It was stressful but fun and everyone was great to talk to. They work on some fun things in the group I interviewed with and I was really excited to be interviewing with them. After my last interview with one of the main managers of the group I went back to the recruiting building and walked over to the Microsoft store for some souvenirs.

After all the interviews I didn't feel stressed, just felt great about the experience and that I had represented myself well. Then I realized how tired I was, interviewing is hard work. What really hit me about the place though is that it felt like where I wanted to be. Microsoft isn't just Windows and Office but a whole plethora of departments and the one I ended up interviewing with felt like where I fit in best.

My interviews were on a Tuesday and by Friday I was on the phone with the recruiter who told me I had the internship. It would be 12 weeks, in Redmond, paid, and they wanted me. We were excited but also nervous and wondering what the right thing to do was. Tiffany wouldn't be able to get a whole summer off so we would have to be apart somewhat but schedules permitting she or I could fly to see the other rather often. We both didn't like the thought of 12 weeks apart. The opportunity was great though and probably one of the best chances for me to get a great job after graduation. Eventually we decided that it would be good to take.

So now, as we're planning out our summer it will be a challenge and hard on us but we hope it will be worth it. I'll be making sure that Tiffany is well taken care of when I'm not around and that when we see each other we get as much time together as possible.

Our Late Christmas

As you can probably tell we have quite a bit of catching up to do........

This year we drove to Mountain Home for a short Christmas visit. We were worried about the weather/roads for several weeks leading up to the trip and were glad we didn't have very much snow during the drive. Growing up my mom has always been big on decorations and Christmas traditions so we tried our hand at a few of them this year.

Our family always used to make Christmas treats and deliver them in the days leading up to the holiday. One of my favorites was Rice Krispies Wreaths. I went online and found an easy recipe.

Christmas Wreaths

32 lg. marshmallows
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. green food color
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. almond
4 c. corn flakes

Melt marshmallows and butter on low heat. Add flavorings and stir in corn flakes. Stir until coated with flakes. Keep over hot water while dishing out onto wax paper. Form wreaths on wax paper and dot with cinnamon candies. Makes 12 wreaths. Works better if you make 2 batches rather than a double batch.

Here are some pictures of the final product:

Another tradition that might only be a Utah tradition was Temple Square Lights. We braved the freezing cold weather to make a short stop the week before Christmas.

We also had the "Robins Christmas Breakfast" tradition with Danish Pancakes for breakfast in Mountain Home. This next year I'll have to learn how to make them.

This year we also continued another Christmas tradition of having someone sick during the break. This year I came down with a cold right before we left and spent most of the week sleeping. We're hoping to break that one next year.

This year for Christmas Skyler got a set of waders from my family with a promise of a fishing trip sometime this summer. I got an interesting gift from my mom this year. I've recently taken up an interest in learning how to knit. I mentioned this to my mom and here is one of my Christmas gifts with strings attached......:)We got the hint!