It's (Obviously) A....

BOY!!!!!
That's right, we're having a sweet, little boy!!

Our appointment for the full sonogram and finding out the gender was supposed to be this Friday, but it turns out only 3 of the 4 midwives from our practice are in town, and they have 8 babies due this week. Since midwives stay with you the whole time you're in labor, each baby is like a day-long project! So, they wanted to move all of us "non-due patients" toward the beginning of the week so we could get out of their way! :o) We didn't mind at all! It took us about an hour to even comprehend that we would be finding out the sex of our little one that day!!

Our little man was spread eagle--perfect for us to see. The umbilical cord was in between his legs, so the ultrasound tech (who was fabulous, by the way!) poked and prodded till it was out of the way, and said she could see tell right away what it was, but she wanted a shot that would convince us! Here it is: it's like he's sitting flat on his bottom with his legs spread out. His little "tool," as his Papa Dooley calls it, is ready to be seen and you can see his little hand above it. We decided he's trying to make himself look bigger :o)



We got lots of sweet pictures; they labeled them all for us so now we know what we're looking at after the appointment. It's amazing how clear it all was! She did scare us a bit when she said, "Wow, watch out! You guys will have your hands full! He's all over the place!!" Ugh!! We'll see if she's right!

He's in the 40th percentile for weight, which makes him a whopping 9 ounces...how funny! My sisters and I were always in, like, the 10th percentile while we were little, and Mitch's mom didn't have big babies, either, so hopefully he won't be too big when he's born!


Here's another sweet picture of his cute little face! I love it all! Check out the little button nose, his little lips and his chin!! He doesn't have any fat on his body yet; that develops in the next 10 weeks or so, but he sure looks sweet right now! I wanted to kiss his little face so bad! A little further down you can see his arm sitting flat against the side of my uterus, and if you look really closely, you can see his little fingers of his right hand lying on his chest; the dark little dots are his fingers, and the long little line is his thumb bone...can anyone see what i'm talking about!?

Luckily, our neighbors, Jake and Amy, brought their sweet six week-old cuddlebug, Burton, over for us to love on while they ran to the store. I just wanted to love on a little one, and that gave me the fix I needed! :o)

And the name? We picked one girl name and one boy name, so we know if he's not born "looking like" this name, he better grow into it, because we only had one favorite:
Nathan Patrick Dooley
I like it :o) My mom wanted to give this name to a baby boy, and all of us girls wanted to use it first: looks like we win! Nathan is just a family favorite name, but Patrick is his Grandpa Larson's, my dad's, first name and it's also Mitch's uncle Patrick's first name. We love keeping names in the family! :o)

7 times

Yup, that's the grand total. I have started this post seven times...SEVEN. Hopefully I get to finish it this time :o)

Mitch and I have had a pretty good semester: i've hit a few roadbumps in classes and such and had a few days where I haven't felt very well, but everything's pretty normal, and subsequently, pretty boring! Hence the gap between posts :o)

Mitch has made a hobby out of "inventing things," as I like to call it. It's not unusual for me to come home from work and classes and for him to say, "I thought about it all day while working, and I know how we can make this....it'll save us $130!!" (silly man, as if i'd ever pay full price for anything! He knows he's talking to a Larson here, right!?) Or, my personal favorite, "Okay, I turned this into this and now it's all pinned...but I need a sewing machine." The funniest thing is that everything is always safety pinned together...he doesn't like straight pins because he gets poked too much... :o)

Recently he's been preparing for a hunting trip in October. It's a big deal: they've found private land to hunt elk in, and i'm starting to accept the fact that we may be eating elk meat all winter! He has decided he doesn't want to carry a backpack.

So, he turned his regular pistol holster (I guess you bring a pistol for self-defense or to "finish off" a deer...gross.) that clips onto a belt or something into one that will hook to a belt and also strap around his leg, using extra buckles and straps from an old backpack. I'm always so impressed with his ingenuity when it comes to these things. He gets really creative with his little projects! I replaced safety pins with straight pins and sewed it up. It works great and he was really smart about the design! It took about an hour to stitch up.

He's now fascinated with how a sewing machine works--even my vintage family heirloom sewing machine! (I LOVE it...it works like it's brand new!) He always says, "it's amazing...they thought of everything!!) He's really tested my knowledge on how a sewing machine works!

Next he wanted a pouch for a first aid kit and his GPS that could go around the other leg. Pretty much the same design as the leg holster. We wanted something to close the flap on the top with that wouldn't make tons of noise and that would be easy to sew (velcro=too loud, snaps=too hard to sew...we went down the list). He tries to do these projects for as little money as possible (he's good at that, too!) and headed to Deseret Industries (a thrift store around here) to look for something to make the pouch out of that also closed easily and quietly. Since there are 29325850 Mormons here, he found a great scripture case that someone had turned in, black and complete with buckles. He brought it home and was just thrilled!

This one took about two-three hours to sew up, but we did it. He was so excited to try both on, and practice crouching like he was hunting, making sure they were comfortable. I love it :o)

The last project we've done is a vest with tons of pockets for ammo or deer calls or whatever else you take hunting. He bought a great vest when he was about ten and still had it in the closet. He can still wear it but it was too small in most places...so, we headed to the fabric store (I wanted to go to D.I. and buy an old shirt to cut up, but this worked too!) and bought half a yard of brown, ribbed, stretchy cotton fabric. We wanted black, but this worked too. I'm not a fan of sewing on ribbed, stretchy fabric, but who is!?

We cut the vest up the back (would've done it under the arms where the seams were, but there are pockets there...so we had to do it a harder way!) and across the shoulders and fitted pieces of fabric to as wide/long as he wanted them. He kept asking, "why do I have to try it on!? It doesn't have to be exact!" (Because I don't want to have to redo it!) It took about four hours to sew it all. It would've gone faster, but I was super stressed and trying to do other things, too.

We finally finished it and he put it on all proud...I wanted to make darts for the back, but then I remembered how much I hate sewing darts...so the fabric can gap out a bit around the collar, it doesn't matter. He said anyone who notices isn't manly enough to be out there hunting with them. I loved seeing him in all his gear--he was so proud because it was all made from his ideas. I love that! (Now maybe he'll feel the same way about me sewing baby room stuff!)

I couldn't get many pictures of him all dressed up (he doesn't like that phrase...) in his gear. Turns out the boy doesn't care for posing for the blog...oh well :o)

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!!

Well, i've been attempting this post for awhile now! I wish I had pics, but I don't...we've kind of run out of interesting things to take pictures of!

Our schedules have changed up quite a bit--mine, especially!

Mitch is busy working this semester as a maintenance man for our complex. I'm AMAZED at everything my guy can fix!! It makes me excited to own a house in 203957 more years, after we're done with med school :o) He's been reading a huge book about every other day, including the Bourne series and is loving it. He also joined World Gym and is working out every day! I'm so proud of him for trying to accomplish his goals and using his off-semester to do so! He has also made me so proud in taking care of our apartment so I can focus on school. Plus, I'm still not feeling "normal" (will I ever again!?), and it really helps to have a man willing to take over when I feel like spewing...

My schedule changed drastically last week. Long story short, my boss's-boss, Jim, told my two bosses at the ticket office that I could still work while taking only 6 credits, not 12, which is full-time. I found out last week that I would be let go this semester without 6 more credits.

PLUS, I had had a job interview for a 2nd on-campus job (the only kind available in Rexburg) that would give me 15 hrs/week. We did the math and found that my two jobs alone would completely pay our rent every month!! That is HUGE for us! So, I was excited about this job. It was offered to me the same day I found out about the 6 credits. Turns out they have the same requirements and I had to be going to school full-time...

So, TWO DAYS before the add/drop date I had to find 6 credits to add. I petitioned and called and emailed professors whose classes were shown to have open spots, but they all turned me down. I was kept up at night by nightmares of having to give up both jobs. I woke up the next morning to SIX professors who would let me into their class!! I picked two three-credit classes that ACTUALLY HELP me toward graduation, and off I went...I accepted the job, bought some books, picked up more grant money (it doubled due to my credits) and i'm still playing catch-up. I have -3 weeks to make up 3 weeks of work, but the professors are being very nice and understanding...that's why I picked 'em! :o)

So, my new schedule includes starting work every morning at 8 and working until 11, then 4 out of 5 days going to my first class at 11:30 and staying until about 4:15. Then I come home and do tons of homework and work evenings with the ticket office at events.

We are excited about this new job, but it puts a huge demand on me. I couldn't do it if I didn't know how supportive and wonderful (am I gushing? Oh well!) Mitch is, and how much he's willing to do around here!

Well, I guess it doesn't sound like a change worth four "ch-'s", but it reminded me of a song from Shrek 2, so it sounded good :o) Plus, it affects our day a lot, especially if you know me as well as the next guy and know that I HATE mornings. LOATHE them. DETEST. Ughhhh.... But hey, it's a job that pays the rent! :o) Mitch and I are putting ourselves on strict schedules this week, and planning our days out hour-by-hour. This should help with the whole "self-motivation" aspect.

Wish us luck! :o)

New trimester, new semester, new schedules!

Well, it's a new trimester for baby Dooley--hopefully this means the lessening of morning sickness will continue and i'll fit into my bigger clothes soon! (Hey, i'm more comfortable, so I don't really care how I look!)

A new semester for me (my first summer at BYU-I!)

And we have new schedules: Mitch isn't taking classes right now; however, the challenge is now keeping his time occupied with something that isn't completely useless. He's getting a lot of maintenance work from our complex, reading a lot of books, and he joined World Gym (yay, $10/month memberships! He loves it and goes almost every day!).

I'm supposed to be "off-track" -- out of the 3 semesters, this is my semester off, but since we figure it'll be harder to finish school after baby Dooley comes next semester, i'm taking 6 credits. I like the workload of going part-time! If only I could do this every semester and NOT take 4 more years to graduate! The weird thing is that this is my 5th semester, so I should be done in 3 more semesters...I'm sure it'll take longer than that, though :o)

A few weeks ago we spent a GREAT week with Mitch's family. We get to see them again for Ethan's graduation (!!!) over Memorial Day weekend! Can't wait! :o) Here's a picture from our drive: Mitch was scaring me right after this picture was taken (in Bighorn National Forest) by stepping over the guardrails...luckily he's not insane, so I didn't have to worry :o) We'd pulled over to let our brakes cool down after the hugely steep roads into the base of the canyon.

AAAAHHHHH....

It's another welcomed end to another semester at BYU-Idaho. I was all excited for it to get warm, but of course, the weather just teased us like always.

I wish I had pics for this post, but I don't, so i'll try and make it short!

We are so excited to see Mitch's family this weekend/next week! We'll get to spend some good time with them!

I am working at graduation this Saturday also...a gig I used to get out of by flying home! Not this year! I can't believe it starts so early--on the first weekend of the break, too! Oh, well--it's a job, and it's money :o)

Baby Dooley's doing great as far as we know--nothing unusual so far. We go back to the doctor at the end of April, which doesn't seem like it's that far away! We're excited to see how things are cookin' in there! I'm learning how to stay ahead of my morning sickness--eating until i'm full before i'm hungry, getting plenty of fluids, eating when i'm nauseous, etc. I'm not wearing my Sea-Bands nearly as much anymore--I always have them with me just in case, but it's good to not be totally dependent on them. I am worried about this weekend's long car ride, though! Mitch has been SUPER at helping me with EVERYTHING I don't feel like I have the energy to do: he cleans the house during my daily nap, does extra chores, and doesn't complain one bit! What a great guy :o)

Well, that's it! Everything's going great in our Dooley world!

Baby Dooley's blogger debut!

Here it is! SHE if you ask me, HE if you ask Mitch. (Girls are better, Mitch. Face it. I don't know what to do with a boy!) TWINS if you ask the grandparents. Especially my mom.

...PS--we're not having twins. I don't think we could handle TWINS + 7 YEARS of school for Mitch. Maybe one or the other, but not both! Plus, we were approved for Medicaid and WIC and we would lose Medicaid coverage on anything "abnormal", meaning a multiple birth!

It was so cool seeing the baby on the screen. I was told by everyone that it would make it more "real." Well, i've been as sick as, well, a very sick person, so everything was every bit real to me. However, it was really cool to see the movement on the screen and everything! Its little shoulders movin' around and its sweet little heart beating so fast. It made me very reassured to hear the midwife say that everything looked great and completely normal (after a nurse scared us to death on the phone...I told her stomach pain--from all the nausea--and she immediately suggested an ectopic pregnancy! NOT COOL!!!)

This is the first picture: they used a "head to rump" measurement (the X's and dotted line) to show us that it measures 1.83 cm!!
I love our little kidney bean! I think the appointment made me love the baby more, if that's possible. Maybe that's how it made it more "real" for me. It made it a person instead of a parasite making me sick and hungry every 2 hours!

Here's a second picture. You can see a little arm bud on each side if you look closely. We are so excited and can't wait for November 6th/7th! (We've heard both as a due date...we've been saying the 7th like the Health Center told us, but the doctor today told us the 6th...it was really a computer telling both of them, so I don't think it matters!) :I thought the internal ultrasound would hurt or be uncomfortable, but it wasn't at all. One second the screen was black and then almost immediately there was a BABY there that we could both see very clearly! We both saw the head and brain right away and we could see the umbilical cord. We've been studying pictures on babycenter.com of what it should look like, and it was a perfect representation!

This is the coolest experience ever! It makes me want to meet this kid! I wonder if it has thoughts before it has a gender. I mean, it has a brain that can tell its heart to pump blood and it already has its major brain parts, but I wonder what makes thought possible? I know its spirit is thinkin away somewhere and I hope its as excited to come here as we are to meet it! :o)

Testing my patience...again...

So it's not a secret that Rexburg, ID (yeah, if you don't live here, don't try looking it up...it's probably not on a map!) is not my favorite place in the world to live. Nope! One conversation with me will give that little fact away!

WELL, when I didn't think I could dislike this place any more than I do now...

this happened. This was kind of the last straw for me. Man i'm a downer!

Anyway, the city of Rexburg has this new rule that you have to have a parking permit to park on streets adjacent to campus. This is the first semester i've been here that this rule has been in effect. The permits are $35 for one year. Not bad.

We keep going by city hall trying to get a pass, but they sell out the day they get them. I don't know the reason for the restrictions on the numbers but it's looking ridiculous. Now they tell us that they're going to be out until spring semester, which starts April 20th.

The killer is that they can KEEP giving us parking tickets and we can't do anything about them. They're only $15/ticket, but 5 adds up. Like i've said, we've tried the whole time we've lived here to get one and we haven't seen any "in stock" yet.

I feel like something about this rule needs to be changed. We're like number 1293487509 on a "waiting list" to get one next semester, and then they'll send out emails and it's first come, first serve.

However, there's a kicker with that, too. Classes end for Winter semester on April 10th and start for Spring on April 20th. We'll be out of town most of that time, visiting Mitch's family. We can't have our lovely neighbors pick it up for us because they need our driver's licenses, which we don't want to travel without!

I feel like we're in a catch-22 here! My patience is gone and I'm afraid my hormonal self is going to lash out at someone in their tiny city hall to kick some butt when I get my next ticket!

Ugghhh....