I've been tagged!

There have been various “tags” floating around on my friend’s blogs. Thanks to Julie, I was finally singled out to complete one! And, the topic is "My husband." :)

What is his name? Taylor Kenneth Housley

How long have you been together? I met Taylor in August 2004, but since we've been together...January/February 2005 (it was official in February)

How long did you date? Well, we got married in December of 2005....so....about 11 months

How old is he? 24

Who eats more? Before I got pregnant or during? :-) Just kidding...Taylor eats more in one sitting, and I snack more (which is another pro about carrying a diaper bag...I can stash my snacks in there!).

Who said I love you first? Taylor...in my apartment complex's parking lot!

Who is taller? Taylor

Who sings better? Mmm.....me.

Who is smarter? Book smarts-me, street smarts-Taylor

Who does the laundry? Well after Taylor shrunk my clothes, he is never touching the laundry again. Sometimes I wonder if he did that on purpose... ;)

Who does the dishes? When I cook, Taylor does all of the dishes. It works out well :)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Right now Taylor does, but that's because it's a straight shot for me to the bathroom when I sleep on the left--and trust me, that's a big deal in the middle of the night! Once Isaac gets here, we're switching sides so Taylor can be closer to the door.

Who pays the bills? Taylor

Who mows the lawn? HOA

Who cooks dinner? I do

Who drives when you are together? Taylor always drives

Who is more stubborn? Oh that's a good question...we both are stubborn, but I think I win.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Oh I totally win this one.

Who kissed who first? Taylor kissed me first

Who asked who out? Haha...Taylor did ask me out first, but then I had to ask him out for Valentine's day...yes, pretty lame, therefore, I probably should explain. We were hanging out and I got a call from another guy and I knew he was going to ask if I was available for Valentine's Day, so I silently mouthed to Taylor, "Are we going out tomorrow?" And Taylor said yes so I feel like I technically asked Taylor out.

Who proposed? Taylor-of course. It was great and wonderful and about 2 years ago on September 28...:-)

Who is more sensitive? Um, definitely me, add pregnancy hormones and you have a scary, sensitive mixture

Who has more friends? Taylor definitely keeps in touch with more of his friends, but at this point, his friends are my friends and my friends are his, so it doesn't really matter.

Who has more siblings? Taylor--I have one, he has five

Who wears the pants in the family? Lame question. I'd say we both do. Although, again, the pregnancy hormones may play a role on more than one day, but we are equal.

I would like to tag:
Ali Stewart
Kellie Black
Cori Jeide
Holly Smith

Doctor Update

Another week means another doctor's appointment. Again, progress is still being made. In a nut shell: Isaac has dropped--funny side comment...the doctor is measuring my stomach and then is feeling where the baby is and goes "There's his head, he's dropped." And I, being the ever clever one, says, "How do you know?" Taylor starts laughing and the doctor just kind of looks at me and Taylor says, "Well that's what he went to school for..." DUH! That's not what I meant...I wanted to know what his head felt like, I wasn't questioning the doctor's comment...anyway, it was pretty funny. Back to the visit in a nut shell: so he's dropped, I'm still about 50 percent effaced, but I am dilated to 1.5 cm. Yahoo! What this means: probably nothing. But again, we're happy that progress is being made.

Ha ha...joke is on Taylor!!

Ah hahaha...I seriously think this is so funny. So...as I mentioned in the previous post, Friday was our "2 year proposal anniversary." Yes, I know it sounds weird to put it like that..."an anniversary"...but, whatever, that's how it's going to be. So, I leave for work on Friday morning and say good-bye to Taylor and say "guess what today is??" and he, being ever so smart-mouthed says "September 28" knowing full well what I was eluding to. So, I decided to have some fun with this.

I was sitting at work thinking about this and thought--there is NOTHING wrong with wanting to remember the day that we decided to get married. So I went to my co-workers for some ideas. (Ok, interjection...I find nothing wrong with remembering the day...now acting on it is probably a little much) But Taylor was being so stubborn about it when I would mention it that I thought I would make a BIG deal about it. So my co-workers and I came up with an idea--well the best that we could in ten minutes. I went to Albertson's and bought a BIG balloon in the shape of a heart that says "I Love You." And, side note, I make a lunch for Taylor everyday and take it to him at work, so I thought it would be HILARIOUS to tie this big ole balloon onto his brown sack lunch and surprise him. Yes, it was hilarious. Well, hilarious for me, not for him. I walked in and when he saw me he just shook his head, but when it clicked that I was doing it because it was our "2 year..." he about flipped out. I still can't get over the fact that he wouldn't take a picture with the balloon...come on! He was saying things like "You're not leaving that here..." "I'm going to pop it..." "If it happens to blow away, it's not my fault..." It was priceless!!

Taylor sends me an email later saying, "Men are not supposed to get balloons." My response was that it was either a balloon or flowers. Haha...the best part about this whole thing was that I was making a joke about the whole fact that I like to "remember" the day. Now, if Taylor would just go along with remembering the day and not giving me grief about it, he wouldn't have had to have the embarrassing display of receiving a balloon at work. Now, if he does this again next year, I'll have a singing telegram booked. :-)

2 Year Anniversary of our...

Today is our two-year anniversary of when Taylor proposed to me! Ahhh...cute. :-) I think it's fun to remember this day, I can remember it perfectly. And every time I remind Taylor of it he always shakes his head and goes "It must be a girl thing..." But I'll spare you all of the details of the proposal and enjoy it to myself. :-) Just note that today, two years ago, Taylor proposed. Now, two years later, we're preparing to have a baby.

Another bit of information...I came to the realization yesterday that I could never be on the TV show Fear Factor. Never. Before yesterday I thought I could do it, it's all a mind game, but after the incidents of yesterday I admitted to myself that I could never do it. I came home for lunch and there were literally a hundred, if not more, of whats called "Box Elder Bugs." Yuck. They may be harmless, but they are ugly critters. They look like miniature beetles, they're about half an inch long and are black with red on their backs. Yuck. Well, they were seriously plastered all over the front of our house along with the neighbors. ALL OVER. I pulled up and sat in the car looking at them, mustering the courage to go up to the front door. I literally got up half of the stairs and turned around and got back in my car. Laugh all you want but they were all over and they fly too! So, luckily Taylor's work is just down the street so I called him and went and got the garage door opener. Again, laugh all you want. (But to my defense, you weren't there, you didn't see how many there were, you're not pregnant, and it's not your house!! All I could think about was opening the front door and all the bugs coming in...yuck...I'm not as thin as I'd like to be--I can't just slip in through the door!) So, after getting the garage door opener I was able to get inside alright. :-) Taylor got home later and I called to see if the bugs were still there and he goes, "Yeah, and you're a wuss. They fly away when you walk up to them." Rude huh!?!? :-) No, I know I am sounding like a wuss and I probably shouldn't be admitting to all of this, but seriously, how would you react if you drove up and saw hundreds of these little black bugs all over??? When I got home at 5 they were all gone...I don't know what it was due to...we think the construction right next to us is the primary culprit...we'll see how today goes...

But yes, I would never make it on Fear Factor.

Doctor Update

Good news, I'm making progress!! I feel like the "Tortoise and the Hare" and I'm the Tortoise. I'm getting to the end...slowly! :-) I actually went into the doctor expecting no news, but we left with news, so that was pretty exciting. I am currently about 50 percent effaced, which is more than I thought. For those who don't know, you usually soften, efface, and then dilate. I am in the effacement stage and hopefully next week I will be more effaced with perhaps some dilation. The doctor said that being 50 percent effaced at 38 weeks as a first time mom is great. I feel very comforted in knowing that my body is doing what it needs to do all on its own. I am hoping my body will continue making the progress it needs to make so that I don't have to be induced or pushed along to make labor happen. Hopefully, if all goes well with my check up next week, we could be facing any day...meaning, if I am more effaced, starting to dilate and my cervix moves more anterior (I guess right now it is posterior and they want it to move more to the front--completely normal) by next week, then it could be any day...yahoo!!! Get this baby out of me, I am ready for him to be here!

BYU fans all the way

So, Taylor and I are such BYU fans that we went out and bought a digital box just so we could watch the BYU football game on Saturday! And let me tell you, it was SO worth it! We signed up for it and purchased it on Friday so we could watch the game Saturday...we were very excited! I don't know why I have started caring all of a sudden--well, don't get me wrong--I like watching the games but I didn't think I'd care if we couldn't watch it but for the last two games we've had to listen to it on the radio and it is definitely not the same. And for Taylor, he has a really good buddy who is a starter on BYU's defense, so it's extra fun for Taylor to watch the game. It's pretty funny to be sitting there watching and hear Taylor go "That a boy, Brian!"

This was one of our first weekends in a long time that we didn't have any set plans or anywhere we needed to be--it was FABULOUS! Taylor's dad and his wife came up Saturday afternoon and took us to dinner and then we watched a movie--it was a pretty good movie, I even stayed awake for the whole thing! Then it was a good Sunday accompanied with a good nap and Taylor's happy because the Dallas Cowboy's won last night. :-) See, I told you, it was a do-little weekend and it was great!

We did get the pack-n-play all set up--that was a productive moment. It's so nice, I'm almost as excited about the pack-n-play as I am about my diaper bag! :-) I am going to the doctor today...38 weeks and counting...I'll post an update on it later.

Surprise!

Today my office threw me a surprise baby shower. I definitely was not expecting anything--because they definitely didn't need to throw me one--but looking back, it's pretty funny how sneaky they were. Like, "How are you spelling Isaac?" "What else do you need?" "Have you gotten one of these yet?" etc, etc. So, some of the exciting new things included a baby bath tub (or, better put: a chair to place in the tub for bath time), a saucer (I think that's how you spell it--basically allows the baby to stand and be entertained) a high chair, newborn diapers, baby medicine....needless to say, it was great. I feel blessed to be working with such a great office--I've only been at the office for two and a half months, so I really felt undeserving of this surprise.

Another exciting thing going on at work is a new training I am going through. Currently, a loan officer takes an application and then gives it to me to process the loan. I process it and then submit it to underwriters who authorize the loan. A lot of pressure is being put on the underwriters right now given the market and the need to be thorough and not put our company at risk. Well, First Horizon has a program that all processors can go through to be certified as underwriters. There are five levels and I am currently a "Level One Decisioner." I started the training today, which basically included two conference calls, and after I finish a certain amount of files that I personally underwrite, I'll advance to the next level, and so on. I find it fascinating and really enjoy the material. Eventually, I'll be able to process and underwrite my own loans. Right now I can begin underwriting certain loan types, and as I do those well I gain added responsibility and capability of doing other loan types. (I can do the very conventional loans now, like a 30 year fixed loan, as I perform well on those I will be able to underwrite some of the government loan types). I really like the added responsibility this program offers because this is something that a person can advance at as much as they want--so I hope to reach the highest tier that I can to be as marketable as I can. Then, down the road, if I need to transfer to a new location, i.e. we move, I will be able to say that I have the experience of processing and underwriting. I think it's pretty cool. :-)

Never a Dull Weekend for the Housley's

Friday: Our weekend started by going our separate ways...that sounds so much more dramatic than it really is! (Hint, it was intentional!) :-) Taylor went camping with the Elder's Quorum up Mink Creek which is just south of Pocatello. He went with some guys in the ward and had a fabulous time. I tried to convince him to take the camera for blog purposes, but he wasn't having it. As for me, my sister and her husband came up for the night and stayed at my grandparents, so I went up to Blackfoot for a yummy dinner! After dinner I decided to come home (my grandparents tried to convince me to stay the night) but I knew if I stayed in Blackfoot I wouldn't get the things I needed to get done Saturday morning. So, back to Poky for me just to have a very lonely night! This was my first night alone without Taylor in our new house and I HATED it. I had to fall asleep with a CD on because I couldn't stand the quiet. Luckily it was just one night and I survived.

Saturday: Taylor was home around 9:00--I was awake at 8:00 waiting for him...ok, clarification, I wasn't waiting for him, but I was awake in bed wondering when he was going to come home because he didn't take a key with him so I knew I would have to listen for him to let him in. Anyway...random detail I'm sure you didn't care to know. But once Taylor came home he changed and went and helped a family he home teaches move. While he was gone I got some necessary things done around the house. By the time he got home we had to drive up to Idaho Falls to go to a work lunch party...that sounds awkward...basically, my office had a party and we met for lunch in Idaho Falls. They were continuing on with going to the Riot Zone in Rigby (go-karts, mini golf, climbing wall, etc.) but Taylor and I had to hurry back to Blackfoot so Taylor could go golfing with my Nana and Papa. (Have I lost you yet? I warned you...never a dull moment!) When we lived with my Nana and Papa for the month of May, Taylor always talked about how he wanted to go golfing with my grandparents. Well, here we are in September and they finally got out. Can I just tell you how amazing good my grandparents are at golf?? Oh my word, I know I'll probably get in trouble for this, but they are in their 70's (I didn't tell you exactly how old...give me credit) and they were incredible. That's all I'm allowed to say about that..if you can catch my drift. :-) Here are some pictures...I simply went along just so I could drive the golf cart. It was my Nana, Papa, Taylor and my brother-in-law Tyson.

Following golf we went to dinner with my Nana and Papa and Heather and Tyson. It was a fun dinner. I don't know what to tell you about it that was fun, it just was. You'll have to take my word for it. Heather and Tyson had to take off right after dinner but made the sacrifice to stop at our place on their way out of town--it's the first time they've seen it since we moved to Idaho. So it was really fun showing them around--especially the nursery!

We stopped in on our good friends, Heather and Karl, later that night...they are the ones who just had a baby boy four weeks ago who is soooo cute! They seriously are the best friends, you cannot be around them without having a reason to laugh. They are genuinely good, awesome people. We sure like them and have a good time with them. I keep telling Heather that I can't wait to have our boy here so she and I can hang out and have our little boys play. So after being there until about 10:00, I still needed to go to the grocery store, and guess who finally came with me?? Taylor! I got him to go with me...and I think it'll be the last!! I sure love his company but I can do without the side comments of what to buy! :-) Haha...

Sunday: We had a wonderful ward conference. We were blessed to hear from our great leaders in the bishopric and Stake Presidency and learned that we have stake conference in five weeks where Elder Richard G. Scott will be there.

Taylor and I sat down and made some goals together. I'm really glad we did and so far we've stuck to them! :-) (It's been less than 24 hours, but hey! So far so good!) We made some couple goals and individual goals and have placed them in a spot where we see them daily. I think making goals is very important, especially when you can make them as a couple and then as an individual. I look forward to keeping our goals.

And on a side note...I am so excited because I have created a project for myself. I am going to crochet two baby blankets for Isaac! I plan to do a fun one that will be small--perfect size to put over him in the car seat--and then to also crochet a baby blanket for Isaac's blessing. I think doing a blanket for the baby blessing will be a neat thing that we can keep forever that will have some sentimental value because it will be "made with love from MOM."

Pregnancy Update

I had another doctor's appointment today. I had to have the B strep test...? I don't remember what it is called, but about 30 percent of pregnant mom's carry an infection that can be passed onto the baby during delivery if not treated. So, between 35 and 37 weeks they administer this test--which is very easy, no pain, very fast--they simply "take a swab" of you and that's it. In, out, fast, easy, no worries. So, that was pretty much the highlight of my doctor's visit.

I am currently 37 weeks which is considered full term...wahoo!! I keep joking that Taylor and I should go on go-karts or go for a bumpy drive so I can have this baby already! But, last night I was thinking and told Taylor that I really want to carry Isaac full-term...for two very legitimate reasons. But then I had a rough night and a very rough day. I was up for what felt like most of the night, and could not get comfortable, and then I had a full day of pressure!! I had such extreme pressure on my lower abdomen that I thought for sure Isaac had dropped. (For first time mom's it is common to have the baby "drop" into the pelvis area two to four weeks before their due date...however, with subsequent children it doesn't usually happen until right before labor and delivery) So I kept thinking that the doctor better tell me Isaac has dropped because if this is the pressure I am feeling and he hasn't dropped--I am in trouble. Well, I am in trouble. Isaac has not dropped, and according to the doctor "still feels quite high." WHAT!?!?! I'm telling you, if you were there and had seen my face you would have laughed!

Needless to say, the doctor estimates that Isaac weighs around 6.5 pounds right now (which really is probably no indicator of how big he'll be at delivery), that I am dehydrated and need to drink more fluids (a.k.a. more trips to the bathroom), and that my cervix has started to soften--which really is no big deal in the sense that I am not in labor but it is a good sign that my body is doing what it needs to do. (A.ka. there is no indication that I am going to go into labor anytime soon). A part of me really wanted the doctor to tell me to get right over to the hospital because I was in labor...I had it all planned out in my mind--having to call work and tell them I wouldn't be coming back in because I was in labor and phoning my mom and telling her to get on the next flight out...but yeah, at least I was realistic and knew that wasn't going to happen.

As for the pressure, it has subsided throughout the day and I have had many more contractions. Nothing regular, but definitely more activity. I'm feeling great and have less than three weeks to go! My next doctor's appointment will be Monday.