Our Love Story pt8: The First Summer

Read previous entries here.

You guys, Nathan and I always have fun, but those first few months together were some of the funnest of my entire life. Mostly because we had very little responsibility and tons of free time. I was a part time nanny and he was still working part time at Haagen Dazs. Every other free second was spent with each other. We were inseparable! We went on hikes, had picnics, ate a lot of pizza, watched Hot Rod 9,000 times, talked for hours about our childhood and teenage years, I went to Nevada to meet his family, he went to California to meet mine, we celebrated every anniversary, we went to the Zoo, we explored down town, we met each others friends, we danced to the Hairspray soundtrack at 2am, we went on endless drives all around Utah, we played in Park City, we went to concerts, we ran through the sprinklers, we spent 4th of July at Lake Mead, we watched Flight of the Conchords, we celebrated my 20th birthday, we got to know each other better than we ever could have imagined and thennnn... we fell in love.

Nathan had told me several months ago that he loved me. He told me he didn't mind waiting to hear it back. Just a few weeks into that summer together I knew I loved him. And when I told him, he pounded his chest with his fist and said, "Yes!!! I am so awesome!!!"

We soaked up every bit of each other. He quickly became so much more than my best friend. He was everything to me. We were still very young, but I knew I could see myself marrying this guy.

This summer was also the summer Nathan came fully back to the church. He told me he wanted to serve a mission though he knew he had a little bit of work to do. I knew I would support him no matter what. I also knew I was screwed. There was no way I could break up with this boy I loved so much. I was totally going to send of a missionary.

The idea excited and terrified me all at the same time.

Look who decided to show up..

Thanksgiving morning I woke up, threw some clothes on, and noticed something different.

The smallest beginnings of a bump were there!

I know this is not a huge bump, but I am incredibly excited because it makes it feel more real! Everyone has been telling me for weeks to take "belly shots" and I was like, "belly shots of what?!" So I finally felt justified in my first belly shot. I am 14 weeks here (15 tomorrow) and I am more than ready for my stomach to be huge! I am sure I will regret that statement later, but I just want this baby to be here!

Yesterday we heard the little one's heartbeat for the first time. It was incredible. It gets more and more exciting each day. Hopefully I will be able to start feeling the baby soon and we can find out the sex in a few weeks! Ah!

I love this little one so much already. I used to be positive it was a boy. But now I am kind of doubting that. Time will tell. Honestly I could care less if it came out as a Velociraptor. As long as it's mine! :)

I am feeling much better these days.
Nausea is almost completely gone.
Still get bloated and stomach aches but nothing like it used to be thank goodness.
Exhaustion is just as bad, if not worse.
I can be found during my lunch break taking a nap with my face smashed against my keyboard.
Getting bloody noses ALL the time!
Burnt tongue feeling is leaving.
 Skin is insanely dry.
Appetite is slowly coming back, but a lot of things still taste bad.
I am getting round ligament pain which is no fun but not too bad.
Did I mention exhaustion? Because I am not kidding. I could sleep all day if I was allowed.
More and more excited every day :)

my favorite drivers this morning

+ The middle-aged business man who gave me the double-bird for switching into his lane. No I didn't cut him off. Not even close. But when we got to the light I looked into my rear-view mirror and there were his two middle fingers just for me. Classy.

+ The girl in front of me who was driving 65 in the fast lane. Then she sped up to 95. Then slowed down again to about 60. Then back to 90. Then I just finally switched lanes. I couldn't take her indecisiveness.

+ The guy who tailgated the highway patrol man all the way down Bangerter. Then when the officer turned off, he slowed down. Power trip.

+ The two jolly fat men riding together in the carpool lane. (This one is sarcastic. They made me laugh).

+ The car that tailgated me forever and when I finally got out of his lane, he slowed down and then got behind me in the other lane. When I switched back to the fast lane.. he followed me again.. and tailgated me.

+ The bus that made me miss 2 green lights. TWO!

I think my commute is going to literally drive me insane.

A Very Merkley Thanksgiving

I've got the Monday blues hardcore guys. This weekend was amazing. And I don't want to be back in Utah yet. I especially don't want to be back at work. I'm a whiner.

Let's cheer up and I'll tell you all about the amazing weekend I had!

Thanksgiving was spent with the Merkley's up in Idaho. We were so freaking excited for this weekend because ALL the Merkley siblings and sibling-in-laws (Except for Greyson) were going to be together for the first time in a long time! Everyone was there at our wedding, but it was a rushed weekend. Now we would all be sleeping in the same house and hanging out together. It's a hard thing to accomplish considering how far apart so many of us live. Autumn and Greyson live in New Zealand. New Zealand guys. It's already tomorrow night in New Zealand. That's how far away that place is.

Autumn flew into Salt Lake and the 3 of us drove up Wednesday afternoon. Everyone was there by the time we got there and the fun began! It was basically 5 straight days of eating, talking, laughing, youtube videos, staying up late, badminton, SNL, hot chocolate, rain storms, Pier 49 Pizza, birthday celebrating, early Christmas presents, old family pictures, home videos, naps, and lots of nephew squeezing.

I love my in-laws. They have never really made me feel like an "in-law" though. I have always felt apart of the family. Nathan first took me home to meet them 5 years ago. I was some little 19 year old girl. They didn't need to take our relationship seriously, but they opened their home to me and made me feel like family. When Nathan left on his mission, they invited me to all family parties and trips. It felt just like I was with my own brothers and sisters all weekend. I am so thankful for that. I love how big the Merkley family is but how close they all are. I really hit the jackpot with in-laws.

I won't ramble anymore. We took a bajillion pictures this weekend. Here are some of my favorites.

Giving of thanks

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. Mine was filled with some of the people I love most in the world and the weekend is just barely starting! Just a few awkward photos to tickle your fancy.

family explosions

It's been an amazing weekend! My parents and brother came into town on Saturday. We met up with them and Marshall and Jessica at my Nana and Papa's house where my other grandparents happened to be staying and 3 aunts, 2 uncles, and 12 cousins joined in! It was a loud and wonderful time! Plus we ate a lot of food. Here's some low quality pictures for you!

I know what you're thinking. There was a billion people there and these are the only pictures I took? Shame right. Pure shame.

Sunday Nathan played Mario before church. And then my parents and Cameron came over for dinner! Cameron stayed for a sleepover where he and Nathan played video games while I watched. It was pretty intense.

Monday night we celebrated Cameron's birthday with the Rosenlof side of the family! Can't beliebe my little brother is 14. He is also taller than me and has a deep voice. It's weird.

Here is a cousin picture with grandma and grandpa that Nathan and Marshall weren't allowed in.

We got Cameron a skateboard and my dad tried to be cool

Musically talented husbands

Last but not least, we picked Autumn up from the airport! Doesn't she look so hot in this picture? She flew from the rgeat land of New Zealand to drive up to Idaho with us for Thanksgiving. I love having her at our place!

Our Love Story pt7: The Second First Kiss

Read previous entries here.

I had been living in Provo now for about 7 months. It had almost been a year since I met Nathan. I was also freshly dating a boy from one of my classes. We'll call him Vanilla Ice cream.

This boy was a complicated fellow. He kept me hanging on, not because I was in love with him, but because he was a masterful game player and kept me guessing and confused and trying really hard and chasing him. It was stupid. But I was 19.

This boy lived in Salt Lake so after our dates, I would drive to see Nathan and vent my frustrations with Mr. Vanilla Ice Cream to him. He would always make me feel better.

Somewhere in our dates, it came out that I used to work at Haagen Dazs and so we went there to get some ice cream. Nathan was working. Vanilla said he could tell Nathan liked me. I just laughed it off. But apparently, Vanilla liked taking me there because he liked to rub it in Nathan's face that he was with the girl he liked. Little did he know, this was working to his disadvantage. Because the more we went to Haagen Dazs, the more I realized I wanted to be with the guy scooping me ice cream instead of the guy buying me the ice cream. He wasn't as smooth as he thought. He also called Nathan "spanky the ice cream man" and thought he was super funny.

On March 7th 2007, I was in Salt Lake at class having a crummy day. Vanilla Ice Cream made a point to tell me, "I hope you don't think we exclusive, because I am dating other girls too." (Don't worry, I found out later that he wasn't. Just another one of his games). Of course I knew we weren't exclusive, but saying it like that just made me feel so stupid and unwanted. And then, I locked my keys in my car. I was grumpy. But a few of us old Haagen Dazs workers decided to meet there at lunch for a mini-reunion. Nathan of course came and we all had a lot of fun.

I am not sure why I said it or what made me decide it was finally time, but I told Nathan about how my friend was taking me back to Salt Lake later that afternoon so I could bring my spare key and drive my car back home. I asked if he wanted to go out with me that night. He smiled and said yes.

A few hours later I was back at his door. I remember very little of what we did that night, except for one thing. I was sitting on his bed and he was standing next to it. I told him how Vanilla Ice Cream was driving me crazy and how I really didn't even like him and that I just wanted to be with a nice guy. He was smiling the whole time like he was making fun of me in my head. I finally looked at him and said, "What?!" And then he kissed me. Our second first kiss. And I didn't cry this time.

Not one single tear.

The first trimester

Yesterday I started the second trimester of my pregnancy.

Here's a pictorial representation of what the first trimester looked like for me..

The last picture pretty much sums it up. 

It's been a long 3 months. Mostly the last 7 weeks. It's worth it though! Every time I want to be whiney I try to think of how blessed I am. It usually helps. Unless the hormones take control.

Lows of the first trimester:

-6 straight weeks of constant nausea. I mean constant. Morning sickness my butt! It's all day sickness

-Burnt tongue. I guess it's a common pregnancy thing. But about two weeks ago my tongue started getting that "burnt"feeling, like I just drank really hot chocolate. But now it doesn't ever go away.

-EVERYTHING tastes bad. Everything. Even Nutella. And water!

-I cry about everything. Like watching the family win on America's Funniest Home Videos. Or listening to the last song from High School Musical 3. Or watching the acceptance speeches at award shows. Or when Nathan washes the dishes wrong. Or when  I have to go back to work on Monday. or when the speaker at church isn't speaking loud enough. Serious guys.

-Baaaad back pain.

-Constant bloat. It looks like I am already showing. Nope, not showing. Just a big, bloated belly!

-Always tired. I took a nap pretty much every day. Even when I slept over 9 hours a night.

The highs:

-Obviously.. finding out!!! We were so excited!!

-Buying baby clothes.

-Buying baby books and toys.

-Telling all my loved ones and seeing how excited they were.

-Seeing my baby on the ultrasound. That moment blew my mind. I thought my heart was going to explode! 

-Nathan spoiled me rotten.

-Lots of Del Taco. I craved that and Zupas and that was it.

-My friends and co-workers took a lot of pity on me. They brought me lots of morning sickness remedies and gifts in general.

-I AM GROWING A FREAKING HUMAN!!!

-All the future thoughts of the little baby and what they will look like and how life will be. I daydream a lot.

-Fun talks with Nathan about how we will raise our babies. Our future just got a whole lot more real. But in a really fun way.

-I have an excuse for everything. "Sorry, I can't. I am pregnant."

-Guys!!! I am gonna have a little person who is half me, half Nathan and who is all mine to love forever! I am seriously cannot wait!

Here's to hoping I start feeling better soon.

Happy my second trimester!