{Our Spring Break}

So Jacob was home all this last week for Spring Break, 

and it could not have come at a better time.

We both needed to go to the dmv to get our new driver licences,

and Jacob had a lot of work to get done on his work sample for student teaching.

It was so nice having him here to help with Annie,

and help keep the house in order whilst I have been somewhat distracted.

Last week I got a call from my Dr's office 

to give me the results of my most recent blood draws.

It turned out that I was anemic (shocker),

and that I did not pass my blood glucose test. 

*If you've never heard of a blood glucose test, they give you this gross sugary drink,

and then tell you you can't eat or drink for an hour and then they draw your blood 

at the end of that hour, and test the levels to see how you body reacts to a spike in sugar.*

So, on Monday, I spent 3 hours at the Dr's office, 

had to fast 8 hours beforehand, drink another gross drink, 

and have my blood drawn every hour to get a better look at my sugar levels.

I finally heard back Thursday morning

that 2 of my 4 draws came back high, 

which  earned me a diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes.

Yikes! The D-word! 

Gestational Diabetes a form of diabetes that affects 5% of pregnancies in the US, 

where a pregnant women has become insulin resistant

due to the hormones that the placenta is producing.  

That's pretty much the easiest way to explain it. 

If you know me well, 
you know that in high school one of my nick names was
the CARB-ivore.

Bring on second breakfast!! 
Pancakes, Belgian Waffles, French toast, I could eat them for every meal!
And when I am pregnant, there is just about NOTHING
that can keep me from sweets!
(Heck, I would plan dessert before dinner every night, just ask Jacob!)

So when someone tells hormonal me,
'You can only have x-amount of carbs per meal,
or you could endanger yourself and your baby,'
All I hear is 
'No brownies, or your baby could die!'
Yes, that is over reacting just a bit, 
but I'm pregnant, sue me!

So here I am, 
eating the way they are telling me to for the health of my son.
I am doing my best to keep from temptation,
hiding the baking supplies in the back of the pantry,
avoiding certain aisles at the store,
and I have stopped following some of my favorite celebrity chefs 
and even some friends on pinterest, 
all to avoid the nagging urge to fire up the oven 
and throw myself face first into a full tray of brownies.

I haven't quite figured out if I will be able to
manage my glucose levels with diet alone, 
without medication or regular insulin injections,
but all I want is to know that my son will be healthy.
I may not get that peace of mind until he is physically in my arms,
but I'm going to fight and pray for it.
And I am not to prideful to ask for prayers
in our behalf, especially now when I am still transitioning.

{31 weeks Pregnant}

I don't know if I have really expressed this to you all yet, but, I LOVE being home with Annie again! My Annie has been the most independent little girl I've known since she was able to get herself around. It was a blessing and a curse; I didn't have to entertain her constantly and I could get things done easily, but when I wanted to sit and cuddle with her, she wouldn't have it. Just in the past few weeks though, I have noticed that she had been having some separation anxiety, insistent on cuddle time and being right by my side whenever we leave the house. In this picture, we were sitting and watching Sesame Street and she yanked on my arm until I can and laid down practically on top of her. 

I just passed my 31 week mark, and I am just plain tired. Luckily for me, I think Annie is going through a growth spurt! Which means she is taking naps again, which, in turn, means I can take a nap if I so desire! (We stopped putting her down for naps after we moved here because it was a daily struggle once she figured out climbing out of the crib) It also means that she is constantly hungry like me also, so I have another excuse to keep the pantry stocked with easy snacks like gold fish and fruit leather, yum! And the picky eating we experienced shortly after we moved in is slowly but surely dying down. 

{The Grand Canyon State}

So today I feel like we officially have arrived in Arizona.

Last Friday, I spent an hour at the DMV (yes only an hour), 

and got our license plates switched from Idaho. 

The next step is to go back and get our actual licenses switched.

There is no going back after that.

Arizona has really started to become home.

We are in a wonderful ward that has welcomed us with open arms!

Our favorite wards have been the ones where we felt needed

and felt a sense of responsibility right away. 

Jacob and I got calling about 3 weeks in, both with the youth. 

Jacob teaches Sunday school with the 13 yr olds,

and I am the secretary in the Young Women presidency.

This last weekend was the Cultural Celebration and Dedication
for our brand new Temple in Gilbert. 
With my calling with the Young Women, 
I was able to help them prepare for their performance the night before the dedication. 
There was limited space at the event, but I was lucky to get a ticket.
These wonderful kids, all 13,000, are never going to forget their experience there.
They sang and danced remembering hero's from the scriptures and more modern hero's 
like the pioneers and their Native American and Latin ancestors.

We had gone the past 70 days with out a drop of rain, 
and a downpour was forecast for the day of the performance.
The field went from a dust bowl to a mud bowl immediately!
But with the Prophet in front of them, and the temple at their backs,
we sat in the grass in the rain and just soaked in their excitement
and love for their new temple!
Only love and testimony could have empowered them
enough to stay and dance for hours in the rain,
Just as only their leaders love for them kept them there to cheer them on!

The top two are from the celebration,  the yellow shirts on the right being the youth from my stake!
If you look at the lights above the field, you can get an idea about how much rain was coming down on them!

The next morning, after we thawed out and dried out,

We made our way to the broadcast of the dedication. 

I feel so blessed to have come to this wonderful area at this time celebration new beginnings.

We were very nervous starting over in a brand new place where we knew no one,

but our new ward has been so welcoming and inviting. 

Annie and I have made a lot of new friends,

and just about every other day we are lucky to spend time with them. 

Arizona has been great to us so far!

I love being home with Annie Jane everyday again,

and Jacob is doing so well with his student teaching assignment.

We have said that we will go where the job is, wherever it may be,

but we are really hopeful that we can stay here.