Valentine's Day 2013

It's difficult to compete with last year's bacon rose bouquet, but I still wanted to do something special for Zak this Valentine's Day. I found some Wizard of Oz valentine cards for kids, and went with that theme. I got a bunch of yellow candies with a few others thrown in a yellow container I decorated. I hid the cards amidst the candy (and hid a Justin Bieber card in which the Bieb asked Zak to be His). My bulk candies offered some extras that just wouldn't fit in the container, so that was to share at home. Zak goes to work shortly before 8:00 A.M., and I had to work at 8:45, so I tried to prepare most of it the day before, and then drop it off on a detour to work.

We got home about the same time, at which point he surprised me with a potted plant, which he knew I wanted, and some gourmet coconut chocolates, made especially for me.

He was named "Star Performer" at work, and won a restaurant gift card. We used it the night before Valentine's Day, thinking it wouldn't be as crowded. There was still a thirty minute wait, but the hostess gave us a notifying device, so we watched part of "Tarzan" on my tablet until our turn came. Life is so different from when I was little and one didn't have electronic devices everywhere to entertain. Dinner was delicious, and as always when multiple servings of the soup and breadsticks are offered, I took them, so I had delicious leftovers for Valentine's lunch. Zak had agreed to make dinner for us that night, so he grilled tasty burgers for us, and then gave me a nice massage. Oh, I do love my husband.

Expecting Baby

Zak and I have wanted and been trying to have children for about a eighteen months. Every time we checked, we found I was not ovulating. Meanwhile, we strove for our other goal of paying off debts. Shortly after we reached that goal, Mom recommended a specialist at a naturopathic clinic. We discovered some of the vitamins and minerals my body was lacking that would affect ovulation and pregnancy, and I started taking supplements to correct those. My next cycle wasn't starting on time, so Zak urged my to take a test (we bought ovulation and pregnancy testing strips in bulk several months ago), and astounded, I realized it said positive. I tested a couple more times before I was ready to even tell family, because I didn't feel any different, and it had been a long time coming. At nine weeks, I had my first prenatal doctor's appointment, and we got a tiny ultrasound, seeing Baby's arms wiggling. That's when it felt real. Ironically, before I had realized we were pregnant, I'd gotten frustrated and had Zak give me a priesthood blessing of comfort and counsel, where he puts his hands on my head in prayer and says what Heavenly Father wants me to hear. He told me that I knew what I needed to do, and encouraged me in those things. I had no idea we were already expecting. I'm nearly 14 weeks along now, and feel so blessed. We got to hear the heart beat this week. I still haven't gotten sick, but when I try to brush my tongue, I have to do it very carefully because my gag reflex is stronger, as is my sense of smell. I do have to use the ladies' room all of the time, and don't sleep quite as well as I used to sleep, but it is all worth it. We have been sent a miracle, and Husband is going to make an excellent Dad.