End of the semester

I know, you may be thinking your eyes are deceiving you because this looks like a new post! Well, indeed it is. I am SO behind on posting what we've been up to, so here come a few very brief updates on what's been going on at the Cook home!

I finished my last semester of college! That is still pretty surreal to me. In the last few weeks I made a special effort to soak up everything about the school and my classes. Luckily I'll still be on campus frequently since Tom has a couple more semesters. This last semester was so fun! I had a lot of really fun classes that I thoroughly enjoyed. Even though I graduated, it still hasn't quite hit me that I'm done! I guess when Tom goes back to school and I don't maybe that will happen? We'll see.

Without further ado, pictures! Not many and they're not great, but pictures nonetheless.

I took a foods class this semester and it was one of the best decisions I made for classes ever! I learned so much and really increased my confidence in the kitchen. I don't have pictures of our fourth of July adventures (although it was one of the best yet!) but I did get a picture of my very first made from scratch apple pie:

I don't even like apple pie, but I loved this. It was that good, a great recipe for sure.

Moving right along, we moved! It's kind of a funny story how we found our new place but we are now renting the upstairs of a house from an 86 year old woman. It's saving us a lot of money every month (and I mean a lot) in rent and other expenses, so we can handle the odd things that we didn't anticipate about living with good ol' Reldie-pies.

The moving process took place over a period of 3 weeks. We were still in school, so it was very slow going. Just one or two car loads here and there. Then one weekend we recruited help from Tom's parents, our good friend Coty, and amazing cousin Ethan to move all the big items of furniture, clean the apartment super well, and get us somewhat settled into our new home.

It was bittersweet moving out of our first apartment! We have had so many wonderful memories there, it was our first apartment after all! But we were both very ready for this move which is an upgrade in so many ways.

Another big experience for me this last semester was teaching piano lessons! I took a Piano Pedagogy class which is another one of the best decisions I made with my classes. Not only did they prepare you for the business side of piano teaching, but every week we actually taught a student! My student was so great. Her name is Amanda and it was such a great experience to teach her. I learned oh so much from teaching piano. At the end of the semester we had a fun recital themed "Music From Around the World". Each child represented a different country and Amanda chose China.

I'm sad that the only picture I have isn't very good - her eyes are closed and it's a bit blurry! But it captures the idea just the same.

It was such a great semester, full of memorable experiences and a whole lot of growth (and I don't just mean baby bump!). I have loved being a BYU-Idaho student, this school holds a special place in my heart and I'm glad we get to stick around for a little longer before heading off to bigger adventures!

It's a....

BOY!

We are thrilled to announce that we are having a boy! Baby boy is perfectly healthy, measuring at 1 lb and right on track for his due date. Heart, brain, kidneys, cord insertion, and everything else they looked at are perfect. We couldn't be more excited to have our little boy first!

At the beginning, baby boy wasn't very cooperative - legs closed nice and tight. But eventually, he opened up just enough as the nurse passed by that she said "Oh I know exactly what your baby is". Then she went back, and this is what we saw:

 

Yep, that's a boy alright.

 

There's his little foot!

It was much like when I just knew I was pregnant, the way I felt about this baby being a boy. I didn't have a reason to, I just knew it was a boy. If I had been wrong I would have taken it just fine, but something told us we were having a boy and we were so so so excited about it.

When we saw him and knew he was a him, it just felt so right. Of course he's a boy, our little boy.

As for names, we've already decided, kind of. We had decided long ago that our first boy would be named Ian Timothy Cook, after 2 of the greatest men that we know, and 2 of the big reasons why Tom and I ended up together.

However, yesterday when we called my Dad to tell him the exciting news, he told us that baby's due date (November 6th) was my grandpa's birthday. Grandpa Andersen was one of the most incredible men I know of, and I have felt strongly that he knows our baby. Grandpa Andersen was born November 6, 1914, and our baby's due date is November 6, 2014 (exactly 100 years!), so if baby comes on his due date we will name him Tanner Verlan Cook after Grandpa Hans Verlan Andersen. 

We just love both options - we feel so blessed to have so many great men in our lives to name our children after and give them another great male role model to look to as an example of worthy priesthood holders.

The above picture is his profile - see his hand above his perfect little lips and his nose? His head was kind of buried in my pelvis so it was hard to get a good picture, but I could just stare at this picture all day. And I sort of do. I feel an overwhelming amount of joy and gratitude that I can't get over. Our baby boy is so healthy, so magnificent, so perfect. I love him so much already, it's hard to explain.

I still can't believe it - we're having a boy!

Cast your vote!

Tom and I aren't going to do anything fancy schmancy to reveal the gender of our baby...that's not much our style (though I always thought it would be, ha!). BUT, we are so so so beyond excited to find out the gender of our sweet little baby tomorrow! At 2:30, in case you're wondering, so that's about 22 hours from now. Yeah, who's counting? This mama!

Currently the tally is 4 boy, no girl, and 2 "we'll be happy either way"s. Let me just clarify that I will be happy either way as well, but I do have my very soft opinion of what our little babe is. What do you think?!

Dear baby

There are many things that I maybe should be doing. Like that assignment for my class that I don't really get and am frustrated with, or the folding of the whites that awaits when I step in the bedroom or tackling the ever growing mountain of dishes I see from my view here.

But right now, I just want to sit and be with you. I don't know if you grew a whole lot real fast or if you moved up or if you just all of a sudden discovered use of your limbs, but I feel you moving often and I can't get enough of it. The first time it happened, I doubted whether it really happened or not because it was so faint and fleeting. But I can't deny it anymore, you are a mover and a shaker. I feel you kicking and stretching and it brings me so much contentment and excitement and pride all in one tiny second. I am proud to have a movin' groovin' baby inside me.

You like to kick when I'm going to bed. It's never very painful, sometimes just surprising. You also like to kick in the mornings after the rush has slowed and I'm getting settled into work.

Last night as Dad and I were laying in bed talking, you began your nightly exercise routine. I asked Dad if he wanted to feel it, but to be honest I was a bit hesitant because I wasn't sure if he would be able to feel it and I didn't want to disappoint. But you gave a few real good kicks while his hand was on my belly and it was just a nice moment for the three of us. Thanks for doing that for us, little one.

Just now as you were having a dance party, I got curious and just watched my bare belly make temporary bumps and hills as we played our own version of Whack-A-Mole. Feeling you move inside of me makes this all so real. We're half way to meeting you, and I feel closer and closer to you as time goes on, but you moving is by far the best thing to this point. I know you've got to sleep and stuff but feel free to kick me anytime. I love knowing you're there.

We find out just what kind of baby you are in 8 days! I can hardly wait to call you by the name we've chosen if you're a boy or girl, to pick out baby clothes, and be able to use either he or she instead of saying "he or she" when we pray for you. And oh how we pray for you. And for ourselves, it's a daunting task to be assigned to be your parents! We could not be more thrilled and humbled, and so grateful to Heavenly Father for you. You are oh so loved, sweet baby.

Temple to Temple Relay

We did the Temple to Temple relay a couple of weekends ago! It was so much fun. The weather was wonderful, our team was awesome, and afterwards we went to Costa Vida, and I think that's all that needs to be said about that.

Since my 10K I haven't been running as much and especially since I pulled my groin muscle (that's one thing I have definitely suffered, the affects of relaxin in my pregnant body making it so easy to overstretch!). I was supposed to run the shortest leg - 2.6, but ended up only running 1 mile of a different leg and couldn't do anymore. I think Tom picked up an extra few miles between the dividing of other legs of the relay cause he's awesome and can bust miles out like it's nothing. Yeah, my husband is awesome.

The whole team at the Rexburg temple at the start of the race. It was raining, but it cleared up nicely for us :)

Nate dawg running the first leg even though he had bad shin splints. What a champ!

Can we all observe how happy Tom is while he runs? Few things make him happier and I love watching him!

Kenna set her PR by running 7.9 miles! She's training for a half-marathon and obviously has the Cook running gene. I love this picture so much, Kenna is the best!

While waiting to cheer Kenna on, we took this picture and didn't realize till after that neither of us smiled with our real smile. Cute.

Naturally, we found the nearest dog. This boy was such a sweetie and we named him Buster and fed him Wheat Thins. I can't wait till we can have pets!

Almost the whole team at the end, the Idaho Falls temple. What a fun day!

Yeah, I had to show off my belly. If people can tell at all they think I just ate a big lunch or something ;)

That may have been our last Temple to Temple relay at BYU-Idaho! That's sad, but we have loved participating in it whenever they offer it. It made for a super fun weekend!

On Being Pregnant

Most of the time, I don't really believe I'm pregnant. I haven't felt the baby move yet, I've only seen him/her once, only heard his/her heartbeat twice. I've struggled with feeling guilty about not being more aware of the life growing within me.

Maybe it's because I wasn't sick at all. I had a total of maybe 12 days where I felt like I would be sick and was sensitive to smells, but I never once threw up. I know, a lot of people hate me when I say things like that but gosh I wish I could just share my pregnancy with others without them getting mad.

And I mean what is that about anyway? Since when are pregnancies all supposed to be the same? I lost weight when I got pregnant and just now am back to pre-pregnancy weight. At 18 weeks. Does that make me an awful person? Do I not deserve something because I wasn't pregnant in the same way?

Sorry, that was a little rant. I'm just tired of feeling like my pregnancy isn't good enough.

Wow, those are words I never thought I would say, never even knew existed.

This pregnancy has been a strange thing for me, not at all like I imagined it to be. I think I always picture things happening in my life, and I imagine that I'll be a certain way. But in reality, I'm much more passive about things than I like to admit. I sort of let things happen without getting worked up over them. Not that I'm not excited or anything! Just...I don't know what it is.

Like my wedding day. The night before, I slept fine. I ate breakfast that morning, took a nap after the sealing before my reception. Looking back, my wedding day was one of the most perfect, beautiful days of my life. But at the time, things were just happening and I was content to let them happen, it wasn't a big deal. Am I making sense here?

Probably not.

I guess I'm just sharing my feelings. Isn't that what the World Wide Web is for these days? ;) I just wanted to say that I finally get it - each pregnancy is different. I just wanted to say that I am humbled and honored to be a mother to this sweet baby, and I can't wait to meet Baby Cook. We find out the gender in 2 weeks and I know that will help make it more real, when we can call him/her by name. But I'm not taking baby bump pictures every week like I thought I would, and I'm not reading every baby book ever written like I really thought I would. I haven't started buying anything for the baby, which I assumed would happen, and though there are times (like after doctor's appointments, or when Tom and I talk about the baby) that I think deeply and affectionately and anxiously about our child, my life has continued very much as normal since getting pregnant.

I hope that's okay with everyone. And even if it's not, that's fine, because I'm fine. I've had to work this out with my Heavenly Father and accept that reality, once again, is different from my outlandish imagination, and that's nothing to feel guilty about.

My thoughts on being pregnant? Pretty neutral. Being pregnant is great and I like it just about the same as I have always loved my life.

A year and a half

The other day, as we were driving home from Utah, Tom mentioned that we had been together for a year and a half. It fit in with the conversation, but it totally caught me off guard and I've been thinking about it a lot since he said it.

That was us a year and a half ago, just about. That was the first "normal" picture we have together, and I don't care to share the real first one. I should point out that normal means we're both making regular, happy faces.

I loved Tom quickly. I knew early on that I wanted to be with him. Our relationship was unlike any that I had ever experienced and even if it forced me to be patient, every day felt right, felt natural, felt good. It was good to be with this man, and I didn't want that goodness to ever leave my life.

Eventually, we officially started dating. Then, we got engaged and ours is my favorite engagement story. Then we got married, and our wedding day was perfect in practically every way. Since then, we've started our family and are anxious to meet our little one in November.

Am I making sense here? Probably not. What I'm trying to say is that every day continues to be right and good and natural. Being in love with and being married to and preparing to be parents with Tom continues to be the best, most good (in the truest sense of the word) part of my life.

For the first time in my life, being with someone for a year and a half doesn't make me want to sit down and wipe away the sweat from effort and burden of "making it work", like I so often felt in the past. A year and a half with Tom doesn't feel like enough. And that's because it's not! We have eternities ahead of us. I can't even comprehend it but I get so excited thinking about spending it with him.

Basically, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it. For a whole year and a half now.