40 Weeks and Feelin' Fine

Here I am! I made it to the blessed due date--12/17/12. I can be done now right? In all seriousness it is a blessing that we made it to this point. Both Trevor and I were up to our eye balls in finals--he just finished his 1st semester of second year Podiatry school and I FINALLY GRADUATED!!!

Let's talk about that. I now have a Bachelor's Degree in University Studies with minors in Biology, English, and Marriage and Family studies. So the big question is--what do you do plan on doing with that? Ummm good question. I will let you know when I figure that out. I have all of these grand plans about graduate school but honestly with a husband in graduate school and a baby on the way those plans are not in the forefront of my mind. Which I am TOTALLY fine with. I am going to enjoy not being in school for a while. I am going to enjoy being a stay at home mom. I have been offered some jobs with the school district but at this time those opportunities just don't compare to raising our (hopefully soon) arrival. It has taken me way to long to get this degree but to say that I have it feels pretty good. I feel pretty assured that this is not the end to my educational pursuits and I look forward to learning more and more as I come across new experiences and opportunities.

To celebrate the much anticipated arrival of Baby Ella I decided to make her a birthday cake (from scratch even!). It was delicious and chocolaty and rich. I am speaking about it in past tense because it is pretty much down to the last few pieces. I was HOPING this kid would get the hint and show up for her own birthday cake but she is pretty content to stay inside. I feel great. I think this is the only time in my life I wish I were in intense pain (labor).

So the biggest challenge at this point is overcoming boredom. I am done with school, Trevor is on break, the house is clean, the nursery is ALMOST finished and now we wait. To say that we are impatient is an understatement. We went to the zoo and walked over 2 miles to see if things would start to happen. Nope, but it was nice to enjoy one of the last few days we will have without snow.

Here are a few pictures of me with the elephants. I thought in comparison I would look tiny--false. I look huge but that is okay. My nephew keeps referring to Baby Ella as "baby elephant". It is funny until I think about birthing a baby elephant--haha.

We have an appointment tomorrow to see if Ella is any closer to coming. My mom will fly out in 10 days and  Trevor goes back to school a week after that.

We have felt very blessed. I have had a wonderful pregnancy and have not experienced any complications. I know that right now the world is questioning if there is a God and if he really loves us at all. I know that He is aware of us--even in our darkest moments. My life is not perfect and I do not have a perfect relationship with Him--but that is a further witness to me that we can find hope through the blessings of the gospel. I pray that we may focus on the truly important things this time of year and not get so overwhelmed with the material aspects of the holidays. I hope that we all can find someone that we love to spend this Christmas season with and reflect on the blessings God has given us. That is what we plan on doing here in Cleveland.

Love,
Amy

Photo Op

Trevor loves photography and enjoys playing around with our camera. I love the Fall leaves out here and can't get over how beautiful it gets! We decided to take a few photos to document how gorgeous it is and to show how much weight we have gained. HA! :) Marriage and happiness will do that to you I suppose. Here is a sample of what we took. These were taken at the park across the street from our house. It is GORGEOUS and walking through it makes me forget I live in a city.

Enjoy!

I love this one of Trevor!

Some are not the greatest quality because I just copied them from my Facebook account. I'm feeling lazy!

Babymoon

After I got back from my trip to Oregon I realized that our time as a couple with no kids was quickly flying by. Of all of the advice I was given during this pregnancy the MOST advice applied to spending time with Trevor before the baby came. We dreamed of far off adventures to the Caribbean or a romantic trip to Italy.

Reality check--we live on a graduate students budget! Thankfully we were able to save just enough to travel to upstate New York and enjoy some of the sights. We visited some church history sights in Palmyra and stood in some sacred areas where the restoration of the gospel took place. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad we were able to spend a day there. We didn't get too many pictures but we really enjoyed our time there. We also had the chance to attend the gorgeous Palmyra Temple together.

A photo of the top of Hill Cumorah (I was about 26 weeks prego here)

Outside the home where Joseph Smith grew up

After we saw the sights in Palmyra we swung up to Niagara Falls! I had never been and Trevor had not visited since he was a kid. We stayed on the Canadian side and it was GORGEOUS. I am so glad that we went. We got in Saturday evening, had a yummy meal and walked along the falls that night. It was so nice to not think about school, work, baby planning, etc. 

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Niagara. I just wish we had more together as a couple! 

And of course we went on the Maid of the Mist. So AWESOME and so WET!

We ended our wonderful trip with some of my favorite Canadian treats! Ketchup chips, Cadbury chocolate, and of course Timbits!

I loved spending time with Trevor and I am so glad we took the advice to take a trip together. Our "Babymoon" was just what we needed to prepare for another busy semester!

8 Months Worth of Blogging

So I am not one to blog too much about my pregnancy, or to blog at all for that matter. However, after my doctor's appointment a week or so ago I was faced with the harsh reality that my pregnancy is quickly coming to an end. So I better document SOME of it while I still can!

When we found out we were pregnant Trevor and I were ecstatic! This euphoria was quickly followed by 18 weeks of nausea for me and 18 weeks of "What happened to my wife?" for Trevor. Okay, it wasn't THAT bad but needless to say I was one pukey puppy for a good while. As sick and yucky as I felt I still clung to the fact that I was PREGNANT and that there was a purpose to all of my incessant gagging. I tried not to complain much (for those who I did complain to I apologize) and overall felt very blessed.

Here is one of the first pictures I took of my growing belly. 17 weeks! 

The summer FLEW by and I am still shocked as to where it all went. I was taking classes and decided to work full time to help add to our little nest egg. I supervised a summer day camp from 9-1 and worked at a daycare in the toddler room (7 TWO YEAR OLDS!!!) from 2-6. Was I busy. Um, yes that would be the understatement of the century. Was I grateful to be busy? Come to think of it, YES! Many of my friends I spoke to always talked about how slow their pregnancies passed by. I felt/feel quite the opposite. Where has the time gone?!

Me at 20 Weeks

Baby Ella's 21 Week Photo

By the end of the summer things started to wind down. We found out we were having a baby girl when I was  just over 20 weeks. Trevor and I were both a little surprised--I was beginning to think boy, but in all reality like every other expectant mother I had a 50/50 chance so I just guessed. :) Finding out we were having a girl was so exciting and a little bit emotional for me. It was all starting to set in, but not really.

After my busy summer I went home to visit some family and enjoy a little time with them before I started work and school again in the Fall. While I was at home my mom and sister put together a little shower for me to celebrate our baby girl. It was so much fun to see everyone! When I got back home I definitely looked a little more pregnant.

Me at the Cleveland Indians Game (about 24 weeks)

30 weeks (Worst picture ever but whatever)

I will add some more pictures later. This is a huge post and many of you have probably stopped reading at this point. 

So here we are in mid November. I have 4 weeks left of my undergraduate career and the Holidays are quickly approaching. I also have only 5 more weeks of work left (if Baby Ella decides to come late). I am SUPER excited to be done with both school and work, at least for now.

We had a wonderful time at the shower that the Spanish Branch threw for us. We felt so grateful for all of the love and support that we received. We also had a shower tomorrow thrown by some of the student's wives--who are some of the most giving people I know! I often feel so undeserving of all of the blessings we have been given. I feel so grateful for the people Heavenly Father has placed in my life to help me prepare for motherhood. Being away from my family at this time has been a little bit more difficult than I would like to admit but we are far from short of support and love here in Cleveland.

I am 36 weeks pregnant today and slowly checking off things on my to do list. SLOWLY is the key word. Trevor often finds me on the brink of a panic attack as I keep finding things to add to the dreaded list. Somehow he always manages to calm my nerves and help me tackle the beast! THANK YOU HUSBAND! I couldn't do this without him.

Well, with only 4 weeks to go I hope that I will be able to update everyone a little bit more. At this point I am feeling my energy deplete and my muscles cramp. However, I am healthy and so is Ella so I really don't have anything to complain about. Hopefully I will get a few more entries in before Ella arrives. If not, keep your eye out for some pictures of the most adorable newborn EVER!

Flashback!

This little gem has been shared often but I love it more and more each year. Mostly because I miss my long hair and how young we looked. This was filmed in October 2009 in Jackson Hole, WY and Yellowstone. I thought I would share this to celebrate some very happy times together. Trevor proposed 3 years ago this month. Crazy how quickly time flies and how much can change in such a short amount of time. I'm a little bit thicker through the middle these days (33 weeks pregnant today!) and we are both a little bit wiser. I think. ;) So grateful for the time we have spent together and the lessons we have learned. We have a lot of very exciting things ahead of us. We can't wait to meet our little Ella this December and continue to learn and grow together. Also I apologize for the weird format. I have to get back to doing our homework and don't have time to fiddle with it anymore!

Oh, I'm Sorry...

Am I supposed to be updating this thing? I admire each and everyone one of you that has the motivation to update their blogs. I have thought many times about deleting this entire thing because I simply don't make time for it. Yet, every few  four months or so I decide to give a quick update on our lives here in Ohio.

I will do my best to catch everyone up! This summer was full of working hard and playing hard! I ran a children's day camp at a local park in the mornings and worked at a daycare in the toddler room in the afternoons. This made for one tired pregnant lady. Fortunately I had gotten over my awful nausea and my energy bounced back, only to be sucked out by the horrific humidity at the park. However, I was grateful for the work and we were able to save enough to purchase some of our bigger baby items (crib, stroller, etc.) What did Trevor do those 3 weeks he had no school? He played! Honestly, he was deserving so I didn't mind at all. Trevor has has started a love affair with disc golf. He probably goes at least a few times a week and loves this new past time. I'm glad he found a little outlet for himself--Podiatry school is insane and he works so hard.

We also had some visitors this summer. Trevor's parents and brother Spencer came out to visit us. It was nice to show family where we lived and see the local sights. JD and Amanda (Trev's brother and sister in law) also came for a short weekend. We were glad to have them. Trevor and JD went to Cedar Point while Amanda hung back with me and we indulged on a pedicure and lunch at Panera.

I also had the opportunity to go out and visit my family. Sadly Trevor had to stay behind as school started in early August so I took the chance to visit family and attend a beautiful wedding of a dear friend from high school. It was so fun to see everyone and enjoy my last visit with them before this baby girl arrives. I love my family and am so grateful for their unending support of me.

(Pictures to come)

Basketball and Blogging

My husband just proved his undying devotion to me and our unborn child.

He is missing the opening to the NBA finals to pick me up a food item I was crazy craving. If that isn't love I don't know what is!

I also told him he could pick up any game snack he wanted...but he was already halfway out the door when I said that so his intentions were completely selfless.

What a guy! 

As far as who we are rooting for--I'm not sure. If I were to talk to any Cleveland native I would say Oklahoma, because if you live in Cleveland and support Lebron it is almost like living in Eugene and being an Oregon State Beavers fan. Blasphemy.

I realize that I promised pictures but honestly I don't feel all that attractive at this point. I am 13 weeks today and just look pudgy, not pregnant. 

Here comes my husband. Love him. Gotta go!

MERRRRRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS!

As many of you already have heard we are expecting an early Christmas gift this December. Baby Tippets is due to join our little family around December 16th! We are so beyond thrilled to welcome this little one into our arms.

This is Trev holding the pregnancy test the night we found out. 

We went and saw the doctor yesterday to confirm that everything was looking good. Our little peanut was wiggling and moving like you wouldn't believe! It was kind of shocking--THIS was why I felt like puking my guts out every few hours? Totally worth it. Trevor commented later that the baby was moving so much because he/she probably has ADD--just like him. We laugh about it now but we may not be laughing when we have a rambunctious 3 year old running around.

 I measured at 10 weeks so we are on the downhill stretch for the first trimester. I LOVED the doctor that I saw. She was so personable and very supportive of how I wanted to experience labor and delivery, which I haven't really started to think about.

To those of you who only just found out--I'm sorry it wasn't sooner but we felt we should take some precaution and did not feel comfortable sharing this news until we had been in to see the doctor. After the ultrasound it all felt so much more real. We are going to be parents. Weird!

 So the reason I wasn't blogging was because every time I went to type something I just wanted to spill the beans. I will try and refrain from posting TOO much detail of this pregnancy because I know many of you would prefer not to know every nitty gritty detail. I will just leave that stuff for my personal journal.

Thanks to everyone for their support and prayers and love. We sure feel blessed and know that this baby came in perfect timing. (I will graduate in December--FINALLY!)  I thought I knew when the perfect time would be but God had other plans--better plans. I am feeling totally humbled already and admit that my impatience was a great indicator of something I seriously lack.

Here is our cute little peanut. The "Hi Mom" was inserted by the OB/GYN. Nice touch eh?

Hello Blogging World!

I haven't blogged in months--where did the time go? It went towards a new church assignment attending the Spanish Branch in Cleveland, a calling in the Stake Young Women's organization, a husband in the infamously difficult second semester of podiatry school, a part time job for me, plus 16 credits.

Whew! Don't get me wrong, we have had fun as well. I plan on blogging all about that in the next few days. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are alive and well (except for this awful cold I have been battling for two days). Is there a place in Cleveland that delivers homemade chicken noodle soup and homemade bread? Because that would be amazing.

Love,
The Tippets

I Crave Something Tropical

It has been cold and wet lately. Yuck. However, the weather in Ohio is not as bad as everyone said it would be (granted, I lived in Canada for 18 months).

Despite the mild winter we are experiencing here back east, I still crave sunshine, palm trees, and warm sand beneath my toes. This picture was taken on our honeymoon in Cancun. Sigh.

So to feel like I was on my way to a luau I decided to make a version of this.

Oh my word. So yummy.

I used a different bbq sauce (I think it was labeled as "sassy").

I added onions and would have added peppers but we didn't have any.

I served it over brown rice with green peas on the side.

I also baked some rolls because, who doesn't love bread? (Plus leftovers made fabulous sliders!)

I felt like I was going to a luau. Sigh. Someday right?

Also, whenever I think of Hawaii I think of Jack Johnson.

So here is one of his videos that I find quite funny.

New Year's Weight Loss Goal

Like everyone I hope to trim down a little.

This will be my REWARD.

Wish me luck!

I Got Therapy Today

I wrote this on Friday but I forgot to post it. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!


Today was awesome. So awesome in fact I want to do it all over again.

The day began with no work. This is huge considering I get up at 5:30 a.m. on a work day. I love sleeping in until 8:00. It is glorious.

Then I had breakfast in bed. Not because it was served to me but because I was too cold to eat at our kitchen table. 

After breakfast I worked on homework, which was watching a movie. I'm down with that.

Following homework I was joined by my lovely Russian friend Olga. We went and got manicures and pedicures. Not just any type of manicure/pedicure. This place was awesome. They had a menu of herbs and essential oils you could choose from to add to your experience. That's right. A menu of aromatherapy. Wow.

I chose the calming tea time: ginger root, green tea, and lemon. My feet were super calm after being rubbed down with those scents.

For the hands I told the adorable Asian woman to surprise me. She chose lavender and rosemary. I was fearful that I would come out smelling like an old lady and my favorite chicken rub but I didn't. It was amazing.

After my hands and heels felt more soft and supple than a baby's behind they were painted with this gorgeous polish by OPI called "It's My Year". 

What do you think of it? 

So the day got better. Yes it did. I gorged myself on Panera broccoli cheddar soup and chicken salad. Is there anything better than hot soup on a stormy day? Nope. 

At this point I felt pretty good. My nails looked fab and my appetite was satisfied. But H&M had something wonderful in store for me. I love that place.

Nothing better than a $5.00 skirt. That's right. $5.00. Ever girl needs a basic black high waist skirt in their wardrobe. So I bought it. And I kind of love it. 
(Note: I was going to post pictures of the skirt but I'm in my sweat pants and its cold. I will share it with you later.)

Came home. Snuggled with the husband while watching a girl movie. Made some popcorn and a Silk milkshake. Ahhhhhhh. I love therapy. Aromatherapy, shopping with a girlfriend therapy, breakfast in bed therapy, snuggle with the husband therapy. 

Beautiful

A fourth grader told me that I was beautiful today...

and it kind of made my day.

(Especially considering I hadn't showered yet)

Whoops.

2012

With only a few weeks into the new year I have learned (and relearned) quite a bit. 

Elder Maxwell said it best. 

 Since faith in the timing of the Lord may be tried, let us learn 

to 

say not only, “Thy will be done,” but patiently also, 

“Thy timing be done.”

That pretty much sums up what I need to learn this year. So what is my New Year's resolution? Are you ready? It is a really good one.  I think so. 

TRUST

My goal for this year is to trust in Heavenly Father.

Trust in His timing.

Trust in His will.

Trust in my own capabilities.

Trust in others.

Pretty simple but I think it will cover all of my bases. 

Good luck to everyone on your resolutions!