Going private & My baby shelf

Ok, so I know that's kind of a random title but it seemed to fit the best. As I get closer to having the baby I've been thinking it would be best to go private. However, I want to make sure whoever wants to gets a chance to send me their info. Some people have gone private and I missed telling them I wanted to see their blog. :( So you can give me your email or just email me at mrripp64@gmail.com.

Since posts are more interesting with pictures I decided to put a random picture of me resting a cup on my belly. It really is like a little shelf, and my belly is even more of a shelf now. (p.s. I don't look very cute but I guess this is probably how I look most days :). Comfy clothes over cuteness I guess.)

October Update

Pine Valley Fishing Trip

Here is a little update of some of the things Rikky and I have been doing the past month. We finally were able to make a trip up to Pine Valley and go fishing! I've been wanting to go up there and do that for a while now. As you can see in the picture the weather was so nice and the resevoir was very smooth most of the time. Also, we were the only people fishing that day so we had the whole place to ourselves and we fished all along the various shorelines.

Obviously, the best part of fishing trips is actually catching some fish. We did a fish dance/song and everything (something my grandpa taught me to do whenever I went fishing with him as a little girl. It helps -try it next time :) .
I even caught a big fish this time! Rikky's fish wasn't as big :P but I woudn't have caught any fish if he wasn't there. He put a worm on my hook whenever I needed it (I hardly ever bait my own hook, which is sad considering I've loved to go fishing ever since elementary school), he got the hook out of the fish, and gutted all the fish (which I have never done). So I had the easy part. We both had a lot of fun though.

UNLV vs BYU Football Game

This is me and Rikky at the UNLV vs BYU football game. I decided to support UNLV instead of BYU even though I'm a BYU grad and I knew UNLV would get stomped. I had a fun shirt though that said, "Real Mormon's are Rebels," so that's probably the biggest reason why. On a side note, at this game a fast food place called Raising Canes promised to give everyone in attendance free chicken fingers if the Rebels made a touchdown off of the kick-off. Well, for the first time in a long time UNLV did exactly that. Raising Canes, however, failed to mention that the free food would only be given out during the next day (which happened to be Sunday and it happened to be a game where a lot of LDS people would be in attendance!). Anyway, that was a little sad but it's been fun going to several of the football games.

Prego

I wanted to put up a better pregnant picture of me. The shirt is tighter so it shows my basketball belly a little better. I'm about 31 weeks in this picture. Some people say I look small but I feel really big especially when I am bending over to pick something up off the floor, trying to sleep, or bumping my belly into things. It's been fun though and I'm grateful that I've felt pretty good so far. He's still kicking and punching like crazy so that must be good :).

Baby Cake - 3 for 3

My family did the cake test for me and Rikky a few weeks ago to determine if we were having a boy or girl (It's obviously a very scientific thing). Well, Rikky and I got a ...

blue piece!!!

And yesterday we found out that we are indeed having a boy! (yes Rikky is excited to be having a boy) Thanks to my friend, Amy, we have been introduced to this fun tradition. So thus far, in our family, the cake test has been 3 for 3.

First Baby Pictures

A week ago, I went in for my first Ultrasound. It was really neat for me and Rikky to see the baby move and see the heart beat. It makes it more real actually seeing the baby. The baby is kind of alien like now but I guess that's understandable :) . Anyway, we are excited to have our first baby pictures, and at about 19 weeks we will be able to find out if it's a boy or girl. We'll keep you posted.

It's Official!

I know some people already know, but for those who don't I am making the official announcement that I am pregnant -yeah! Rikky and I are excited. I am about 11 weeks at this point and we were able to hear the baby's heart beat a few weeks ago. (Sorry that this post is visually boring but I thought I needed to make the announcement soon.) I'll keep you posted!

Graduation!

Well, I finally graduated (again). I graduated from CSN's PTA program just last week. It's kind of weird to be done, but I still have to take my licensure exam to be an official PTA. I am also in the process of looking for a job. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult because PTs and PTAs are usually in demand. I will see though. So for right now I am just enjoying the time off! :)

TBI - "I'm just happy to be alive and breathing"

Yes I know I haven't posted for a while, but my life hasn't been too interesting. I also don't have any pictures for today (sorry about that), but I just wanted to make a comment on something I learned from my instructor who teaches my TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and SCI (spinal cord injury) class.

Last week a patient with a TBI came in and spoke to our class for about 45 minutes. About two or three years ago he hit his head while skiing on a 13 foot half-pipe (like the skate boarders do I guess). An hour after hitting his head he went into a coma. Now he is able to walk, talk, and understand pretty well, but still unemployed (Previously he was a very successful electrical or computer engenieer). He has short term memory loss, some physical deficits, especially on his right side, and some problems with mental planning and comprehension. However, he was still able to give a very appropriate, comprehensible, and touching presentation. Something he emphasized was that he was just happy to be alive and breathing. He asked how many of us ever take the time to realize and be grateful for air that we can breathe. He knew God had saved him. Also, he mentioned that when we are driving around and some stupid driver is in front of us we should learn to relax and just be grateful to be alive. I think I can learn a lot from that attitude. Sometimes I feel like I have problems, but it's all relative. Sometimes it takes people like this patient to put life in perspective.