House and Baby

HI!

I have so enjoyed this summer 2011. Thinsg are wonderful! Work has been so laid back, I've never felt better, and living with my Mom definitely has its perks! (no rent to pay, always good food & ice cream to eat, plenty of great company... sometimes). We could live here forever! (Just kidding Mom).

Actually we're really anxious to be in our own house before the baby comes in December. Qualifying for a mortgage loan isn't an easy process though. Well, it might be easy for most folks, but, for Jorge and I, seems like nothing comes easy. Because of a few "blemishes" on my credit history, my credit score is only considered "fair". And with Jorge being new in the country, he has NO credit score which doesn't help our situation at all. Our income alone won't qualify us for a mortgage loan eiether. So what does that mean? We have to wait to improve my score by cleaning some of the bad credit and obtain Jorge a credit score by getting him a... credit card. It seems so silly and backwards that to have a credit score you need to acquire debt? The idea is to not have debt or get OUT of debt as soon as possible, right? But I'm learning more and more that the creditors lending us the $100,000+ don't see it that way. They want to make sure we're responsible with the debt and loan they give us, so we have to prove to them we can handle it. Which means... credit card land, here comes Jorge!! (He LOVES to spend. L-O-V-E-S it!!!) LOL. However, we decided he will only use his card to buy gasoline, and will pay 85% of it off every month (heaven forbid we pay it off in FULL every month, which would be the responsible thing to do... but, not to the creditors who we want to give us money). In a couple months, it should be enough to earn Jorge a "GOOD" credit score, which will help us out immensely. So, my little house, wherever you are, wait for me! We'll be in touch soon where we can live happily ever after! (I hope!!!) The hardest part of this all is to NOT get excited about the extraordinary deals on some amazing homes. And sighing as I watch them get snatched up by some lucky, prepared and financially responsible with good- credit- score -person as soon as they go on the market. I just keep telling myself it will happen for us when it's meant to happen. I just hope it's sooner than later, but I trust that Heavenly Father will lead us to the perfect house to raise our little family in when the time is right.

Speaking of our little family, on July 13 (@19 weeks) we had our first (and probably only) ultrasound. I was SOO looking forward to see the baby moving, see the heartbeat beating and find out the gender of the baby. But when I went in there and laid on the table, I couldn't believe how UNCOMFORTABLE it was to have an ultrasound. They asked me to drink a lot of water (I can't even remember the quantity now) 2 hours beforehand so my bladder would be full, which would raise the uterus to take better pictures. But man, I couldn't stand it! I was practically in tears of pain as the sonographer, who showed little sympathy to my pain, jabbed the little wand thing over my belly taking measurements. It was hurting my back laying there holding my breath, and I could barely enjoy the process, which I had SO looked forward to. I didn't even care when she said that she said it was a GIRL (yay!). I was just wanting it to be done so I could pee. And boy did I. Luckily I made it to the bathroom, but went like a race horse three times before even leaving the imaging place. Oh the joys of pregnancy!

One special thing I do remember though was when the tech was measuring the the baby's femur bone and commented, "Wow, this little one has long legs!" Just as she said that, we watched as the baby started kicking upward in my belly with both of her long legs. haha. It was an adorable response! She'll probably take after her daddy. :)

The pregnancy is going well. She's growing more and more every day, and in fact is measuring 5 cm's bigger than average. Although looking at my belly you wouldn't think I was almost 6 months. I barely show. She loves to kick and squirm and roll and make waves through the majority of the day. She also seems to love the hiccups because of how often she gets them. Mom does not like to feel them however, what an annoying sensation! lol. I know she can't help it though. I've been keeping track of her heartbeat through the doctor visits. So far they've been:

6/6 - 14 weeks - 164 bpm

7/5 - 18 weeks - 147 bpm

7/13 - 19 weeks - 141 bpm (ultrasound)

8/1 - 22 weeks - 157 bpm

8/26 - 26 weeks - 152 bpm

9/26 - 30 weeks - 142 bpm

10/10 -32 weeks - 162 bpm

10/24 - 34 weeks - 139 bpm

11/7 - 36 weeks - 158 bpm

11/14 - 37 weeks - n/a

11/21 - 38 weeks - 138 bpm

11/28 - 39 weeks -

12/5- 40 weeks -
* sigh* Her heartbeat is the best sound in the world. :)

Here's a picture of the picture of her little profile. How cute is my little alien. LOL.

Busy month

June flew by! I enjoyed the whole month off from work. Here are the updates of what I was up to while I had my month off:

~ We had our first OB/GYN appointment on June 6th and heard the heartbeat for the first time. Fetal heartbeat of 164. :) I was thrilled and relieved to hear such a healthy and fast heartbeat, especially since I was so worried because of how little I could eat. I lost 30 pounds in the first 14 weeks being so sick with nausea. But good thing I had a lot of extra "reserves" for the little nugget to thrive off of, so it's doing well. We have our next dr. appointment on Tuesday the 5th. Meanwhile, I am 18 weeks along and HAPPILY enjoying my second trimester and eating again. :)

~ Holly and Nick's wedding was on June 10th! What a fun and special day. I can't believe my little sister is married! They were sealed in the Boise temple and afterwards had a beautiful reception at Eagle Hills golf course. We took lots of cute and fun pictures and I'll put them here.

Nick & Holly Warren!

One big happy family!

Cutting the cake at the reception

First dance as husband and wife

Throwing the bouquet (bouquets)

So funny that with all the single ladies there to catch the bouquets, Kelsey, Natalie, Kristin (future sis-in-law) and Ella (neice) all caught the one!

Jorge and Nick having fun on the dance floor.

The get-away car!!!

Other happenings this month:

~ I got to go to Moses Lake and visit Hayley & Carlos and their kids for a few days. :) It was so fun to relax and hang out with the family. I enjoyed the simplicity of just chatting, playing games together, reading books, watching the kids play outside, eating delicious meals, cheering on Fiona learn how to crawl, giggling at Ellia's tantrums and randomness and admiring Ava's maturity and playfulness. Such a great family!

~ The day I got back home from Moses Lake, I came home to a big plumbing problem in our apartment with water all over our bathroom floor, tub, kitchen floor... EVERYWHERE! Big sewage back up problems and the smell was so horrible we moved back into my Mom's house. We were planning on moving back in anyway, but the plumbing problems just moved the move out date up by a couple weeks.

~ The original reason we moved back in with my mom was to be able to save up some money to buy our first house! We are still in the beginning stages of house hunting.. .still working with a mortgage lender on how much we qualify for, but we would LOVE to be in our own little home before the time the baby comes. I don't see the reason in paying $750 in rent when we could pay $750 in a mortgage payment. Plus with the housing market the way it is now, it's an excellent time to buy. Jorge and I are excited for this adventure too.

Well that's about it for now. I start back work on Tuesday, but will blog again soon with the house hunting updates, baby updates (we get our first ultrasound in 2 weeks!) and ANOTHER sibling wedding coming up this month! Yay for weddings!!

Tchau!

January - June update :)

I really really stink at this blogging thing. LOL. I do hope to get better though. Seems like most people blog about their kiddos... so I'll soon get that same opportunity. Tomorrow I'll be 13 weeks pregnant and next monday, the 6th of June is our first doctor's appointment. 14 weeks seems so long to wait to have a first appointment, but with work and schedules that was the best we could do. GOOD-BYEEEEEEE FIRST TRIMESTER!! I'm excited to finally be able to hear a physical heartbeat and know there is something real inside me. Up until now it's felt so unreal. I mean, the biology of it all tells me I'm pregnant, and my sickness and constant nausea tell me I'm pregnant, but I can't wrap my head around the idea yet. I think hearing the heartbeat will be just what I need to accept it. Jorge can't wait to be a dad!! I'm excited to see him as a dad also. I on the other hand was so surprised about getting pregnant already. We planned for a baby later in the year or next year, but sometimes things don't work out the way you plan! So, we're planning for our first little one to join the Andrade family in December.

July-December update. :)

OOPS. THIS BLOG NEEDS AN UPDATE. haha. Thanks Christy. :) And sorry for no pictures. I've been bad at the picture taking lately.

Hello to the blogging world. I can't believe I've only written twice in one year. That's a pretty sad record, but hey, I DID say when I started this blog that there would be no promises. :) And after all those years of wondering why my friends disappeared after the first year marriage.... well, now I know why. When you have the most wonderful person by your side at all times, would you ever want to be elsewhere??? Not even the internet on the computer screen can keep my attention when I've got a cutey boy hottie hunk of a husband lookin' at me. haha.

So Jorge has been here for almost 5 months now. The transition back into married life has been marvelous. Jorge's transition to the United States has been interesting. He's got so much new stuff happening to him all at once, its enough to make a person crazy. And that's exactly how he feels sometimes. He's learning and adjusting to a new language, a new culture, a new CLIMATE, (he wears his scarf and gloves everywhere, haha) a new city, a new ward, a new family, new friends, learning how to drive a car. Did your head get dizzy imagining all of that?.... mine just did. Not to mention his constant worry about trying to learn the language, and trying to get a job. But, he is doing so well, if I do say so myself. He is diving in to it all, he is happy, and upbeat, positive and hilarious. He knows that if he puts the Lord and his work first, things will always work out for us in the end.

It's been so fun watching him through the process. The moments of laughter between the two of us, or shared with all my family around are priceless. The way he says blueblerry, instead of blueberry, or says Merry Christmas, when refering to just Christmas, Its so much fun. He's a great observer of people too. He gives everyone nicknames according to their mannerisms... for example, he nicknamed my sister Kelsey "yep" because she responds with the word "yep" to everything. He nicknamed my sister Holly "YAY!" because her response to everything is with the word YAY. He nicknamed my sisters boyfriend "I'm Ok" because he responds with "I'm Ok" to everything. LOL! He makes fun of my mom for sounding like a clucking hen when she calls to everyone from the kitchen "Come n' eat!" .... haha. These are things that we hardly realize anymore because of how often we hear them, but for someone learning a language, they pick up everything and bring to our realization how often we use common phrases.

Its been fun watching him discover the season of winter also. The first time snow fell to the ground he pulled up the blinds and pressed his face against the window and watched it fall in awe for about 15 minutes. Such a boy. LOL. He loves the snow. He loves to build snowmen, snow angels, forts, go sledding and my sisters will be teaching him to snowboard pretty soon too. :) We'll have to wait and see how long the wonder of it all lasts. haha. Meanwhile, he is practicing driving so he can get his license, continues to attend english classes 4 hours per week to better his English, serves diligently as secretary in the young men's presidency, volunteers willingly one night per week in the temple cafeteria, works unceasingly on his personal family temple work (we were able to baptize and confirm over 2oo names in the Boise temple last month) and is pressing on without discouragement on the ever difficult job hunt. But it seems that the Lord will bless us more and more when we are able to see his hand in our lives blessing us each day. Maybe not in our way, but in His way.

At preschool we did a reenactment of the story The Mitten, about how all the different forest animals crawl into a lost mitten to keep warm from the cold winter day.The kids got to wear animal masks and crawl into a giant mitten when it was their animals' turn. We performed it for the parents and they did such a good job! The parents loved it. :) And I love my preschoolers!

Today was Christmas. We all had a very merry Christmas too. Santa was VERY generous this year!! We got spoiled with a new ottoman for our living room and other home decor, like picture frames, and framed pictures. :) Jorge got tons of new clothes, shoes, pj's, hats... you name it, he got it. His favorite presents were probably the gift card to "Five Guys". He LOOOVES eating there. And also his gift card to Deseret book. He would buy everything in the store if he could afford it. Coming from another country where the church isn't prevalent just the idea of a store dedicated to selling only church items is a dream come true to him. LOL. (Makes him sound like such a nerd)! We've enjoyed our first real christmas together by decorating our own tree, making a dozen loafs of pumpkin bread and then ding dong ditching them at members houses in our ward, decorating Christmas cookies, trying to teach him the american christmas carols, drinking hot chocolate and spending lots of time under the mistletoe...... what? He's never seen mistletoe before. :)

Anyway, that is the past 5 almost 6 months of our life. Goodbye 2010. Thank you for bringing me my hubby. Hello to 2011! I have a good feeling about this year as well. My whole family will be spending the new year up in Moses Lake with Hayley, Carlos, Stan, Rexene, Rory, Cam and all their kiddos. FUN FUN!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to all my family and friends. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I get to see my husband tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe it! It's been over a year since we've seen each other.

Wow.

The immigration process has taken up the past year and a half of my life that I'm almost confused about what to do now! haha. I'm excited and nervous and anxious and smiley.

Wow, I really don't know what to say. So I'll stop typing now, go home and pack for my trip to Orlando to meet Jorge tomorrow. YAY.

Okay bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smile for us tomorrow. :)

Happy 2010!

Happy 2010 to all my dear friends and family!!

I am soo excited for 2010 to be here. I know this year will definitely be a good one, if only for one reason... that Jorge will arrive soon! We're counting down and hoping its only two more months!

A few things have happened since my last blog.
* Our immigration petition was finally approved. Now we are just working with the National Visa Center to issue him a visa.
*Christmas was a wonderful one spent with my family and being spoiled with furnishings for my new apartment. :)
* Kelsey, my cuz Jessica and I are all renting an apartment together until Jorge gets here. (then they get the boot). It's been so great living with family. Totally beats living alone like I did at my grandma's house for 6 months. Plus my mom is a superb interior decorator, so the apartment looks amazing! Thanks mom!
* I finally got offered full time at my job at the preschool! :) I am loving my 8-4 job and enjoy being with my 3 and 4 year olds all day long. We have so much fun!!
* I applied to be on the Biggest Loser... sadly I never followed through with it so I didn't make it this time around. But, my family has started our own biggest loser club and so far its going really well! :) Thanks to those family members who are my support system and my motivation!

My main goals this year:
1. Get Jorge here ASAP
2. Get back into school and finish!!(only one year left!!)
3. Lose weight!

Easier said than done for all three of them! But I know they can be accomplished.

1 year anniversary

WOW, I wrote this blog two months ago, and never got around to posting it. Here it is:

Well, it is hard to believe, but on November 28th, Jorge and I celebrated our first year anniversary! I don't really know how to feel about that... happy that time is going by quickly... sad that our first year of marriage, which we can never have back, was spent apart. I understand that it takes effort to make marriage work when you're together, but I learned that it also definitely takes effort to make a marriage work long distance. Sending emails every day, letting your spouse know you love them and are thinking about them on a daily basis can seem like a bit much. But it makes all the difference in the world to make that daily connection, even countries apart. I may not be able to see Jorge everyday or kiss him every day when I get home from work, but my stomach still gets butterflies when I see his name in my email inbox, and I don't get to hear him tell me he loves me every day, but I have over 1000 emails, text messages, and orkut love messages which DO tell me he loves me and with which I could compose a book out of! (We actually do plan on creating a book of our love letters and love story to keep within the family, which means all who wish to read them need to know Portuguese!). When I finally do get to hear him say those three words,"eu te amo" it just makes it all the more special. haha, it probably sounds pretty cheesy, huh?