Blog Addresses...

Today I decided I needed to start adding peoples' blog addresses to our page so we can be better at following them! I was going to email people first to make sure it's ok, but I got on a roll of adding them and didn't want to stop. So if you prefer to not have a link to your blog on here please just let me know and I'll take it off ASAP! Also if you don't see a link to your blog on here please let me know so I can add it! There were some blog addresses I couldn't find and I'd love to have them so we can keep up on what's going on in your lives better!

Remodel Accomplished!

Hi! I'm so sorry we haven't posted to our blog in FOREVER!! We are mostly finished with our condo remodel and we are once again living downtown! Here is a picture of our kitchen. We just had to use the camera on my laptop since we're having some camera issues, but it gives you an idea of how it looks. It looks a lot prettier in person or on a normal camera so we'll post some better pics later. 

Where the kitchen is now is where the dining room used to be. What did you do with the kitchen you may ask? Well, dum da da DAHHHHHHHH...I present to you the nursery...

The nursery is bigger than this picture makes it look like. We actually now have a white futon bunk bed on the wall across from the crib so we can have family come and visit. Obviously we haven't decorated it much yet but I'm working on that.

The best part of the nursery is that Benny surprised me by staying up until 4 am one night to get it all ready. He went out to the store in the middle of the night and bought the mattress, a new baby dress, and flowers for me so that it would be a big surprise for me the next morning. Isn't he amazing? I went and looked at the room at least 25 rooms that day alone. 

I know I've had many people ask to see pictures of me pregnant. Ben posted some on Facebook today from his phone which are fun photos but I look HORRIBLE. I don't know if it's that I'm in denial or if the camera on his phone just makes me look especially bland and huge, but here is one from my laptop camera that I think is a more accurate representation. I look especially red, but at least you can see that I do have facial features.

I am 32.5 weeks pregnant, which means we only have 7.5 more weeks to go!! We're so excited!!! We keep hoping the time will go by fast now that the remodel is mostly done. I really don't mind being pregnant. I'm so excited about having our cute little baby the being pregnant part seems like a small thing to deal with now that I'm not extraordinarily sick anymore. However, there are still things I am looking forward to after the baby is born (in addition to meeting our cute little baby of course)! I am already dreaming of the day I fit into my old clothes again and can increase my heart rate with a little exercise without feeling like I'm going to faint. I am also already thinking of all the raw fish and sushi rolls I'm going to eat. Oh ahi tuna how I have missed you! 

And now for the Benny and Leslie picture of the day...

Ben was sweet enough to take a break from studying so I could include him in a picture. If you think I look especially tired it is because our sweet little baby has made it nearly impossible for me to obtain enough oxygen. Poor baby, I know she's cramped in there but I still keep trying to move her downward so I can get enough oxygen to keep us both alive. I'm sure I look funny out in public because as I walk I massage my tummy to encourage her to move down. The need to breathe always wins out over my sense of propriety. My doctor said I'm a bit anemic and my blood pressure is especially low right now which explains any loss of energy/faintness I may be feeling. I say if I could just breathe I would have any energy I need! Ben noticed this morning my belly is a bit lower than it has been so we're hoping that's a sign that she's dropping into place. Yay!

Ben has been extremely busy with school and work but he's doing a great job of staying on top of everything. Right now he's exploring his graduate school options. He may go straight into graduate school after he graduates at the end of the summer. He's heavily considering a program he can do while he keeps his current job. That means two more years of a lot of work for him, but he says it won't be a problem. I'm trying to figure out how I can do the school work for him so he has more Leslie and Cassandra time :). 

We love all of you and miss those of you we just don't get to see often enough. We hope you're having a wonderful holiday season and that you know we're thinking of you. We'll try to be better about posting updates! After I have the baby we'll probably be more into pictures so we'll be posting a ton!

Remodel is Under Way!!

I have no idea how so much time has gone by since we last posted! My morning sickness has decreased a LOT in the past few days and we started remodeling our condo. Almost all the cupboards have been torn out and the bids are starting to come in to remodel our place! I am feeling well enough I'm attempting to get a little temp job and I think I have a job offer pending (they called and left me a message this afternoon but I got it after they closed). Ben is doing a great job balancing school, work and the remodel and I'm so proud of him. My belly is a tiny bit bigger, but still nothing anybody besides me would notice. Ben's parents are helping us a TON with our remodel and have even been letting us stay at their house. We are so grateful. I can hardly wait until the remodel is done so we can decorate the nursery!

We have the BIG ultrasound where we find out what the baby will be in two weeks! Oh I can hardly wait. I still do not feel pregnant and I sometimes wonder if there's really a baby in my tummy or if an evil virus has just taken over my body. Some people who know we're pregnant refer to us having more, and more babies after this one. All I've gotta say is slow down speed racer. I start hyperventilating when I think about just having one baby! Ben's mom was taking care of our cute little nephew the other night who's only 2.5 months old. He is a good baby, yet even he likes to cry, and cry, and cry - and did I mention he cries? Seeing as how the small amount of noise from the downtown concerts that comes through our condo windows drives me insane I have no idea how I'm going to  react to a crying baby 24/7. Blame it on my refusal to baby-sit much or my inability to understand anything little ones are saying but I don't consider myself a kid person. I fooled myself into thinking I am when we were trying to get pregnant, but now I'm wondering what crazy Leslie impersonator took over my thoughts at that time. Does the man upstairs realize how self-involved and high-maintenance I am? Because if he did I'm sure he wouldn't have allowed me to get pregnant. Sometimes I'm sure some information slipped through the cracks up there when the whole "should we allow that crazy Leslie girl to get pregnant" question came up. However, at the end of the day in spite of my lack of experience with children and my aversion to any noise I don't control I have to say we're SO excited to have a baby. It's scary, mind-boggling, and overwhelming but what an amazing opportunity. We love the babies!!

Wow, We Really ARE Pregnant!

It's official, we had our ultrasound! We were amazed at the detail of the ultrasound and how much the baby moves at this stage. We had a really wonderful ultrasound tech and she spent a lot of time with us so we could see everything possible on the baby. The ultrasound machine was really good and it was almost like we could see every detail of the baby - even the baby's face! We're excited for our next one (which is also when we find out if it's a boy or a girl)! I will post the ultrasound on here later today or tomorrow. It finally is starting to seem real that we're having a baby, though I still feel like it's a dream.

After taking some measurements they determined we're actually 6 days further along than the doctor estimated which moves our due date up to February 4th!! As of today we are 13 weeks and 4 days along. I'm still not really showing and I haven't gained any weight yet, but my tummy is so sensitive it doesn't like any pressure on it at all so I feel like I'm bigger even if I'm not! I thought I was showing a tiny bit for a while, but I think I was imagining things.

Ben has been really, REALLY busy at work but he's still been so good to me and has been fitting in running every day! My finals are officially over so I can now relax which I'm hoping will decrease my morning sickness. We went to Park City Saturday night with some friends which is the first night out away from our condo or Ben's parents' house we've done in a long time, simply because my stomach doesn't tolerate it very well. It was fun AND I didn't get too sick until we were almost home so I was so proud of myself!

Pass the Steak

I adore my husband! He's so amazing and I don't know how I ended up getting to marry such a wonderful person. He always takes care of me more than I could ever expect, but this weekend he went ALL OUT. He spent most of Saturday deep cleaning our kitchen (he even pulled out the fridge and stove to clean underneath them) and he cleaned the rest of the condo too. Seriously, I've never seen such a clean kitchen and our condo looks so good. He spent the whole weekend waiting on me hand and foot, including cooking all my meals and cleaning up after me. I can't even explain how great it was.

Weirdest thing I found out this week is that I am a prego steak lover. Ben bought some really thin, lean, small steaks and cooked them on the grill yesterday and today and wow did they make my tummy happy. They were almost as satisfying as sushi which is nearly an impossible feat these days.

Tomorrow is our ultrasound so we'll give you the best update yet tomorrow! YAY!!!!

5 More Days Until the Ultrasound!!

We can hardly wait until our ultrasound!! It's been a long wait. On Monday we are telling EVERYBODY else though we've already told a couple of friends. I officially have a bit of a pooch that I can't suck in which is so weird! I still get morning sickness quite a bit but I do have moments of feeling better which is nice. Benny takes extra good care of me so I'll be able to get through the next few weeks. We are officially 11 weeks and 1 day along!

Ben officially has taken over the full responsibilities of his new job. The girl who used to be in that position is having her baby in a day or two! It's definitely a complex position - they planned 3 months to train him because it's so complex. Ben is really enjoying his new job and he's doing GREAT at it. I only have 8 more days left of school and I can hardly wait to be done!!

Sushi: God's Gift to a Prego Leslie

Apparently the 1.5 days of feeling decent were just a small reprieve but that's ok because we're gonna have a cute little baby at the end!! Good thing babies are so cute. We've found that I can't travel in a car (driving or as a passenger) for more than fifteen minutes without it igniting my upchuck reflex so unfortunately we won't be doing any trips for a while. I guess during the gas crisis is the perfect time to not be able to travel so I can't complain. Unfortunately the drive to Sandy is longer than 15 minutes so it's always an adventure when we attempt that, which we did yesterday and will be doing today and tomorrow. Yuck I don't even want to think about it. Unfortunately this also means I can't plan any trips home yet because I don't think I'd make it on the drive to the airport, much less the airplane ride so that's kind of sad.

Thursday night our friends the Newmans were in town so we ended up hanging out with them rather than getting sushi. I much preferred hanging out with them, but I was still really wanting sushi the next day. I told Ben that and weirdly enough somebody later brought in a platter of sushi to his work and he brought me some home!! Oh that was wonderful. I ate it ALL. Yum yum yum. I also discovered the Happy Sumo VIP club where they have certain nights where you can get half off a lot of their simpler rolls. Since I can't eat the more complicated rolls right now this is PERFECT so we are going to take full advantage!! Plus it's close so I'll be able to make it there without getting sick. I know, I get excited about a lot of simple things right now, but since I can't leave the house most of the time I'm learning to just enjoy the small things such as fabulous sushi.

We're so excited you get home today and we'll talk to you soon!!! Love you!!!

Uphill Swing!

This is Leslie! I am so, so, so, so bummed that I missed the family call from Peru!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just barely missed it too. I miss you guys SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I even called and left mom a whiny voice message saying you all better get home soon. I was hoping you might be on your way back when I called, though I think I remember you saying you weren't coming back until Sunday.

And now for the big announcement......da dada daaaaaa!!!!! Are you ready? I have felt good for 1.5 days now!! No joke! Yesterday morning I was really sick, but then I all of a sudden started feeling better and I even got our house cleaned. I haven't even had energy to fold the laundry I did a week and a half ago so this was big. Then last night I slept normal hours and I have felt great most of today (besides when I get hungry). We discovered Egos as a possible way for me to get protein and they have really worked well. I credit part of my feeling well to the deliciousness and protein in the yumminess of Egos. However, part of it I think may be the end of morning sickness. I read somewhere that the placenta takes over the role of the hormones at about this time which can mean a lessening of morning sickness. I'm hoping this is a permanent thing because I'm loving feeling more like myself. Plus being able to eat real food is a bonus.

Today I even decided to cook and I made some deviled eggs. I wanted to get Mom's recipe but since I couldn't call you I just tried one that I had ingredients for. It has some crumbled bacon in it so we'll see how they turn out! They're chilling in the fridge just waiting for me. Yum! Speaking of recipes, oh how I need recipes. I have been craving your bean and olive enchiladas Mom. Or the chicken with all the veggies on top. Or Papa's soup and bread - oh how I miss homemade bread!!! I miss Sunday dinners in general and any home cooking from my home. This is funny because I normally can't eat a lot so it shouldn't matter what I eat but I want my parents' homemade cooking. Poor Benny, when I was feeling really sick on Sunday I got so sad because I wanted to be home and have my mom and dad cook for me! Well, next time I get pregnant I am going to have you all come out here and help me watch this baby and help me cook so I can get through the first trimester again. I'm not joking so be prepared! Otherwise there's no way I'm going to be pregnant again. I don't think I can handle a kid and morning sickness. I know there are women who do it, but apparently I'm wimpier than most. I think my ever-volatile blood sugar plays a big part in the sickness being so bad though.

Tonight Benny and I are going out for sushi!! That is the one thing I can eat no matter how sick I am, though I am only allowed to eat rolls with cooked fish when pregnant. I know, random declaration, but thinking about food is making me hungry!

Last bit of news is kind of funny. Before Ben and I told his parents we were pregnant we took another pregnancy test just to make sure we were still pregnant. I know it's goofy but you just never know in the first trimester. I didn't think about hiding the box because I did the test in Ben's old bathroom which is in the basement and RARELY gets used by anybody but Ben. However, I guess somehow two of Ben's sisters ended up using it, saw the test in the trash, and figured out we're pregnant. Then they told another sister, and Ben told the last sister. SOOOOO, basically all of Ben's family knows we're pregnant besides his brother who I'm sure will find out soon enough. So much for keeping it a secret. Now let's just hope everything works out because otherwise that's a lot of people to tell that it didn't. I'll feel better about it after we see the heartbeat on the ultrasound. AAAAAHHHHH I can hardly wait!! We'll post the picture of it once we get it.

To answer your question on the phone message we do have some tentative names picked out but they're not set in stone. Once we know if it's a girl or boy we'll probably be more decisive. From what I have read they can tell the sex with certainty once a person is 20 weeks pregnant, which means we're half way there!

We can hardly wait for you to get home so HURRY and come BACK!!!!!!!!

First Doctor Appointment and Other Adventures!

Saturday we went to the Farmers' Market by our condo. We got a huge bag of English peas, snap peas, and stir-fry peas for $3. Yay for Farmers' Markets! Ben also bought some boiled peanuts - something he learned to like on his mission.

I have been writing in third person but it feels weird to write in third person so I'm going to start writing in first person and we'll just tell you who's writing. Today Leslie is writing! Ok, now for the rest of the exciting news...

Saturday night we went out with Ben's parents to dinner and a movie. Apparently my morning sickness is still in full force because after dinner we were sitting in the back of Ben's dad's truck and I started to feel REALLY sick. Ben asked me if I was ok, but since I feel nauseous all the time I thought I'd be fine. Well, all of a sudden I definitely wasn't as I started to puke in my purse. Well, ATTEMPTED to puke in my purse. It ended up all over my lap. GROSS!!! Gotta love pregnancy. Fortunately I hadn't eaten a ton at dinner so it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Everybody helped me get cleaned up and we still went to the movie and ended up having a very fun night. Aren't you glad I shared that story?

The BEST news is we had our first doctor appointment today!! We REALLY like our doctor (Cheryl Stults' dad recommended her). She seems very knowledgeable and has great bedside manner, which is nice because it helped me keep calm. She is part of the University of Utah network which is GREAT because it means that's where the baby will be delivered. Not only is this the closest hospital to the condo, it is also where the Primary Children's Hospital is, and that's where they take babies who have complications. Hopefully that won't be an issue, but it's nice to know that all possible resources and the best children's doctors in Utah will be at the hospital where the baby is delivered.

The doctor gave us a ton of useful information, did some tests, and gave me some prescriptions to help with my nausea that are safe to take while pregnant. One of the prescriptions is just a vitamin that has been studied for ages so I'm probably just going to use that one. It's so nice to have something to try because apparently I've been losing rather than gaining weight due to being so sick. Surprising since all I do is sleep, eat, study, and sleep some more. Before we left I had blood taken for tests. OH MY GOODNESS I'm surprised I have any blood left in my body! There were at least 7 good size vials of blood that they took. Benny was great and took me to and from the appointment and stayed with me through the whole thing. He is so good to me and takes care of me 24/7.

We have an ultrasound scheduled for July 28th. The doctor wanted it to be within this next week but it was the soonest opening so we'll have to wait 13 days. It seems like forever!! As long as everything looks ok on the ultrasound we will start telling all other family and friends after that ultrasound! The doctor felt my uterus and said it feels around 9-10 weeks which is good because I am officially 10 weeks today so it sounds like it's right on track. She said the due date as of right now is February 10th. We'll know a better estimate after the ultrasound, but I'm guessing February 1oth is right.

Concerning the condo we are going to be looking at appliances, getting bids, and really just getting everything going on the renovation. I've been so exhausted I haven't really been excited about starting the renovation yet since I have no energy. However, it's better to get it done now than when I'm uber pregnant so here we go! I may be sending you pictures of ideas. Love you and miss you and we're so excited for you to get back from Peru!

We Love the Babies!

The past couple days Leslie's had moments of quasi-normalness. She ate a FULL meal last night, which is the first time that's happened in a long time. She also took a shower and blow-dried her hair and didn't feel like she was going to pass out from it. Then she went out for a couple of hours and didn't end up feeling really sick because of it. Is it possible the morning sickness is nearing an end? Or is it just a side benefit from her staying at home all day every day and sleeping massive amounts? Either way it's been great to have moments of normalcy.

Last night we had an institute dinner/relationship seminar. For dinner we went to sit at a table that had a couple with a newborn baby. The mother of the baby said, "Be careful, the baby has pollen - if you get too close you'll get pregnant!" We thought that was a weird thing to say, but funnily enough both us and the other couple that sat at our table were pregnant, so maybe she meant to say if you sit at our table you have to be pregnant. Or maybe pregnant couples just gravitate towards babies. I'm going to guess the latter is correct!

We're at 9 weeks and 4 days! We have some pictures to post, but we've lost our camera cord to put the pictures on the internet so we'll try to get a new one today so we can post pictures!

Cafe Rio Onesy

Cafe Rio gave us a cute little onesy that says "Future Cafe Rio Manager" on it. So sweet! A couple people there know Leslie's pregnant because she quit her job there early due to being so sick. Leslie is so looking forward to the first trimester being over so she will start feeling better. She's officially 9 weeks and 2 days - the countdown is on!!

We're Officially 9 Weeks Pregnant!

We are officially 9 weeks pregnant today! That means we're only one week away from our first doctor's appointment! We feel like the wait for our first doctor's appointment has been soooooo long. Leslie's been having a hard time eating due to morning sickness so she hasn't gained any baby weight yet, but we've read that's pretty normal. Leslie's actually happy about it because it means she's still comfortable wearing all of her clothes!

We had a really fun fourth of July. We went with some of Ben's family to a condo up in Park City and had a BBQ and rode the Alpine Slide. We also got to ride the Park City roller coaster and that was SOOOOOOOOOO FUN!! WOW does it go FAST!! We skipped the fireworks because we'd seen some the previous night at the Real soccer game that were pretty good and Ben's allergies were going crazy.

Ben's dad came up with a new way to do the renovation on our condo that'll cost us A LOT less than the other way and will look better. That means we'll have some extra money to do some extra nice things in our place we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. We are really excited to get the renovation done. We're guessing it'll take about 3 or 4 months to get the bulk of it done. Our place should look stunning by the time it's all done, and we'll have a nursery and a brand new kitchen/dining room!

Nothing else much to report! Ben's been really busy at work and Leslie sleeps half the day - literally. Both school and the first trimester will be over in 3 weeks so we are in the homestretch of both! Love you and miss you!!

SURPRISE We're PREGNANT!!

CONGRATULATIONS GRANDMA AND GRANDPA DREW YOU'RE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS AGAIN!! YAY!!!!!!! We are so, so, so, SOOOOOOOOO excited!!!! We made this site specifically for the Drew/Layman family (and extended relatives) so everybody can be part of our pregnancy. We are a little over 8 weeks along (see the countdown ticker below!). Our due date is around February 9th/10th but we will know for sure at our 1st doctor's appointment in 2 weeks. This is a bit of a secret for now. We are not telling anybody besides the grandparents for another month just to make sure there are no complications first. However, everything has gone smoothly so we're anticipating a full, happy pregnancy!

Since we love living downtown we are renovating our condo to make a nursery/den/guest bedroom. Ben and his dad are starting the renovation this Saturday! Everything is going really well for us! Ben is really enjoying his job at Cafe Rio and the challenge of being part of a rapidly growing company. He is doing really well at his job and Leslie is so impressed with how well he is balancing everything, including taking care of her! Leslie quit her job to help the first trimester go a little smoother and she is finishing up the last three classes of her 2nd bachelor's degree in Speech Language Pathology. As long as the funding goes through she will be doing a year long internship that focuses on therapy for children with autism starting in the middle of August. She will be starting her master's program next fall. We're not sure how that's going to work with a baby involved, but we felt that now was the perfect time to have a baby so we're sure things will work out! 

We're so excited to have a baby and we're looking forward to having you be part of his/her life! We love you BUNCHES!!!!