Big news

I can’t keep it a secret any longer. I’m pregnant. 10 weeks.

We didn’t want to tell anyone until 12 weeks however, due to the fact that I’ve had dozens of amazing women over at my house, bringing me meals, scrubbing my toilet, emptying my vomit bowl, and taking me to doctor’s appointment ever since 5 weeks, I figured it was already out in the open.

Wondering what’s going on? Well…

I’ve involuntarily joined a club. It’s a club my mom, gma, aunt, and great gma are all a part of. It’s a club I’ve tried to get out of but it doesn’t seem like there are any solutions. In fact, since I’ve joined, I’ve met a few others who are also a part of this club and survived it. It’s the severe hyperemesis gravidarum club. And all of them say the same thing, “I know you pray to just die…but I promise…the gift is so worth it.”

So since then, I’ve had a few dental wives come over and wave their children in front of me to show me how worth it it is. And my mom posted baby pictures all over the family room (yeah she came out and saved me for 2 weeks) and hung up baby clothes to remind me that I’m even pregnant and not just on my death bed.

What’s so awful, you ask?

Well it’s not even the vomiting every hour that kills ya…it’s the FEELING of ALWAYS having to vomit and never being able to escape it. I’m not talking about feeling nauseous; I’m talking about the feeling of having the vomit all the way up to your throat and the only reason you’re not throwing up is because there are no more blood vessels to pop on your face and it’s just too far a walk to the toilet so you’ll just hold it there for an hour. If you belong to this hyperemesis club—you know exactly how I feel and are probably smiling at this poor sucker right now.

It’s really exhausting—a true mental game. Thinking of surviving for 20-22 weeks like this just brought tears to my eyes. Serious. Dang—and now I’ll throw up because holding back tears takes so much effort which also seems to make me throw up.

So: I’m on bed rest. Yes, Katie Robison, who has every second of her day planned out, has created a permanent body mark on the couch and has watched every Disney movie, cartoon, and romantic comedy in the past 2 years (they make my dreams happy). What happens when I move you ask? I throw up. What happens when I throw up too much? I have to go to the ER for dehydration (which I’ve already frequented a few times).

Anyway—I’m sorry to all you good friends who I didn’t call and alert and those of you who text me and don’t receive anything back. Based on the advice of other club members, in order to survive, I just have to focus on surviving until tomorrow—and it takes focus.

Bit of good news: Due to the fact that I have no belly fat right now (don’t you dare message me that it’s this is a great weight loss program), I CAN FEEL THE BABY so much! Especially when I’m lying on my right side. (Here come the tears again…and the vomits). It’s been the most amazing feeling to just know that I actually have a baby inside me and that based on what everyone tells me, it’s so worth it. Although I’m not sure I can ever do this again—I’m SO EXCITED to be a mommy.

So, unless I don’t make it through this, you’ll probably hear from me again at 22 weeks when I’m getting dressed, walking, and brushing my teeth again.

This is how I pictured myself pregnant:

This is what I got but I’m usually laying on the floor after a vomit session:

Trivia: If you can guess how many times I threw up during this post, I’ll send you a package of all the food that makes me throw up...

Stage 2: Moving in...

Moving in was insane. I guess those last few days are always nail-biting-days just hoping that everything you've planned goes through. We had SO MUCH HELP from dental students, old friends, and new ward members. Hint: if you're ever trying to get help with a move--just offer food. It seemed to work!

I was lucky to have my dad fly out for a business trip the weekend right after we moved in. Since Jimmy was away studying-my poor dad was assigned tasks such as hanging everything up, building things, making trash runs, moving the heavy items for me, cleaning, and yes, even putting down shelf paper to which he yelled from upstairs "I'm not good at this stuff-is there anything I can put together?" Best dad award!
Ok I had to include a picture of our new washer/dryer. This is our first time EVER having our own washer/dryer. I just got goosebumps writing that! We had to stand in line on Labor Day Weekend to get the door-buster price, but golly it was worth it! (oh and the cute kid in the top left--that's our friend's little guy Taggart and he is ADORABLE!)

We bought a Home

Happy Birthday Katie!

Yes--on my birthday, we moved into our first home. This is her--and we love her and can't believe we moved from a dumpy apartment in California to a beautiful home in Las Vegas. Come inside...

This is the downstairs bedroom with a bathroom (double sink). But all I am seeing is my nice tan. Can't believe it's already gone.

Our iddy-bitty 1 car garage with a floor so clean you could eat off it.

One of the downstairs bathrooms

Master bedroom with double sinks? What? You mean I don't have to brush my teeth while Jimmy is shaving? SWEET! Roxy likes it too.

As you can see--this is Jimmy's favorite part

A view from the loft of the downstairs. I love the fan and other fixtures.

Dining and living room

Loft and master bedroom upstairs. Jimmy wants to put a ping pong table up there. I want to put a craft table. Hopefully it'll end up being a kids playroom (wink)

Kitchen with a desk.

Our realtor Linda--a true gem!

Front of the house tucked away at the end of a court

Vegas has brought many changes--and I promise to start updating this blog....hmmmmm...at least 2 times a month. Next pictures will be the move-in and what it looks like furnished (I just have to clean the house). Thanks for the prayers and love and help and advice purchasing a home. Who knew it could be so difficult!

1st Day of School

You're never too old for a "first day of school" picture. Good luck sweetie.

(P.S. It's 6:45 am in this shot)

Lake Shasta

We went with Jimmy's side of the family to Lake Shasta up in Redding California. The water was super warm, clear, and the days were sunny. Here are the highlights in photos.

Dear Summer--come back!

Scuba Diving--Cabo San Lucas

There are a few things we learned when we went scuba diving in Mexico.
1- You can buy anything in Mexico for cheaper than in the US.
2- When your Dive master says he can catch fish with his bare hands--believe him.
3- In Mexico, even though we are haven't dove in 3 years, we can still dive down 60 ft.
4- A $15 disposable camera without a flash still takes decent pictures from 60 ft down.
5- You can't smile or look cute with a regulator in your mouth
6- After diving in warm, clear water with friendly fish--we are HOOKED!

Jimmy with a puffer fish our divemaster caught

Me with a blowfish
Even though we look dreadful--we're really happy!

Puffer!

Sting ray in our face

Jimmy holding a blowfish

Jimmy actually ran out of air down below and somehow remembered how to buddy breathe. If you haven't tried this yet...I definately recommend it. It's such a rush.

Surfing-Capitola

There is a little hidden jewel in a small town outside of Santa Cruz. It's a cove where you can surf some small waves, be away from the crowded lineups, and learn new moves while trying to improve surfing skills without stealing anyone's wave. The vive is great. Capitola--we will miss you! Surfing one last time before moving--here are the pictures:

Here's me

Here's Jimmy
Jimmy again

Jimmy, Nikki, and Me. We will miss you Nikki!

I love this picture because the janitor here (the guy with the paddle board who looks like a janitor when he catches waves) dropped in on Jimmy (yellow board) and you can see me (blue board) dropping in on him (and him yelling at me). Oh the courtesy...

Sweet shot of me and Jimmy--can't believe we caught this baby wave

Gonna miss this!

Jimmy lookin' good

Jimmy and I agree; of all the watersports we enjoy, nothing beats the feeling of catching a wave and taking it for a ride as long as you can.

Mexican Riviera Cruise

We've been talking about going on a cruise for the past 3 years and finally did it. All I can say is I can't believe it took us so long. It was incredible--especially for the cost. The food, entertainment, ship's amenities, and people were fantastic. Of course Mexico was a blast and reminded us of the DR. It was relaxing, adventurous, new, and fantastic (I keep saying fantastic mocking the cruise director becuase he said "fantastic" every 5 seconds!)

Dinner! We tried duck, lamb, lobster, escargot and a dozen desserts. Amazing!
We went scuba diving for our first time since getting certified. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done in my life. The water was crystal clear and our divemaster caught puffer and blowfish for us to hold and touch. We pet different sting rays, saw eels and all sorts of tropical fish. Jimmy ran out of air underwater and remembered his training from 3 years ago and continued his dive, buddy breathing with the dive master. I can't wait to go again!

In Cabo we also did the Zip line excursion. There were 8 zip lines and the longest was over a half a mile long across a huge cliff. It went 50 mph.

We were super sweaty! It was so hot! Jimmy also got to meet Pete Rose who chickened out at the last minute from going on the zip lines.

Jimmy tearing it up at Karaoke

The casino. Nope--didn't spend a dime.

If you've served a foreign mission you know that Coke in another country is so much better! Why? Because they use real sugar and there is nothing like that cold, glass bottle against your lips on a hot day. Jimmy LOVED this moment!

I loved this mural! And I matched!

Puerto Vallarta city

If I could capture the smell here I would. It made us very nostalgic for the DR. It's humidity + sweat + diesel fuel. Sounds weird but we loved every minute of it!

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta

I thought this sign was funny: Do not introduce the fingers

Meet Natalie. We hung out with her and Jen at this pool a lot. She and Jen stuck alcohol onto the ship in a listerine mouthwash bottle and this contact saline solution bottle. I had to snap a shot of her in action.

Pina Coladas in our room

Eating escargot for the first time--not too bad

One of the formal nights

They would fold our towels every day into some cool creature. This was my favorite--the lobster.

Playing mini golf

This was the group we ate dinner with every night and hung out with a lot. So fun!

Our first 10 minutes on the cruise ship in Longbeach--ready to go!