Movie Reviews and Rambling

I'm sitting on our couch watching a movie that always puts me in a fall-ish mood and holding really still so I can feel as this baby sweetheart inside me wiggles around as he snuggles in for bed. I love that feeling and I just can't wait to snuggle him in person. I can't imagine many things better than snuggling your own baby and smelling that sweet newborn smell. Sometimes I wish Tenley wasn't so wiggly or that I still had any milk to nurse her so we could enjoy more of those snuggles now that she's older. :(

The movie I'm watching is "Penelope." I am not sure why I like this movie so much--most people probably just think it's okay or lame, but I think it's funny and really cute. And watching it just puts me in a happy mood and gets me excited for fall. Anyway, it's on Netflix if you haven't seen it.

Speaking of good movies, today we went to see "Guardians of the Galaxy." I thought it was going to be DUMB. I had no desire to see it. I said to Dalin: "I don't want to see a movie with a little raccoon as one of the main characters." But he begged me and finally I agreed. And I'll be honest, it wasn't half bad. I actually thought it was really funny. There was quite a bit of swearing, but a lot of sarcastic humor and some pretty great characters. If you like the computer-animated action-packed fights with starships and lots of space guns, then you'll like it even more. I thought the fights were a little boring because they weren't exactly realistic (as if the whole movie was realistic, but anyway) but I can see them being cool to a teenage or younger boy. Anyway, we liked it and even Tenley did!

Tenley has never been very interested in TVs or movies (at least not for a long period of time) and even though the loudness of the previews scared her a little, when I handed her to Dalin to sit on his lap, he covered her ears and then she had no trouble! She was completely captivated by the movie. I was handing her french fries as we watched and she was taking them without looking so she could watch the movie. She did the same thing when I offered her sips of lemonade. It was too cute and funny to just see her and Dalin with the exact same expression as they watched the movie and ate fries with him blocking her ears. I watched them a good portion of the time until Tenley fell asleep on Dalin's chest and we used my scarf to block her exposed ear. She slept for quite a long time, then toward the end, she sat on my lap and I covered her ears while she watched. We had expected a little (maybe a lot of fussing) and trying to get down the whole time, but she didn't even try. We are so lucky she's so easygoing!

Mesmerized. Clearly ;-)

After the movies, we stopped by Bath & Bodyworks (or as we accidentally call it all the time, Bed, Bath & Bodyworks) for shower gel for Dalin and for some candles/fragrance for our wall flower thing. Our kitchen has smelled horrible lately (I can't tell if it's just my nose, but regardless it's intolerable) and our Pumpkin Spice candle that I love seems to be running out of scent. Or I've just grown used to it, which would be a bummer. So we got one called Autumn Mums which smelled clean to me, and Heirloom Pumpkin because I wanted my fall scent back in the house.

So that was basically our day--we did stop by the BYU Farmer's Market for peaches, blackberries, and of course kettle corn and I made some pretty delicious tortellini with cucumbers and yellow tomatoes for dinner. But other than that, we've been relaxing and playing with our Tenley girl. She is seriously the best. I can't stress her awesomeness enough.

I hope you had an equally marvelous today. Tomorrow (on Friday when I'll post this) I am working at King Henry because they're having check-outs, Saturday we will hopefully be going to a BBQ with Gramma and Grandpa Gunnell who are up from Arizona, and Sunday (Dalin works:[ ) Tenley and I will be going to church and packing for New Hampshire!

I started packing like, last week, but little to no progress has been made for me or Dalin. Tenley is pretty much all set. Anyway, I just can't wait for the next few days! Hopefully doing cleaning checks around single apartments doesn't kill me too badly :-P

In case I don't get to write, have a great weekend!

Baby Names: Finding the Right One

Thinking of baby names. Another stressful part of life. Especially because those things are pretty permanent and you don't want to ruin your child's future because on a whim, you chose a name you thought was interesting.

First, you have to think of one you feel like you can live with saying for the next fifty plus years to your child. Then it can't be one that's been tainted by a former acquaintance (How often does that happen?--Someone ruins a name for you because they are too weird or annoying or mean). For example, Dalin likes the name Chelsea, but a couple of Chelseas in particular come to mind and, well, I can't name our daughter after those ones anyway (don't worry, I'm not Facebook friends--or real-life friends--with the ones I'm referring to so we're good). THEN your spouse has to like it as much as you do (or at least, you have to help it grow on them).

And then there's the matter of those around you offering their opinions, whether wanted (unlikely) or not. Guess what. You can name your child whatever you want. And newsflash--they are going to have to call your child by that name because they have no choice--it's their name. So don't be bothered by people's criticism. My parents didn't immediately like Tenley's name, but once they got used to the idea, they both admitted they love it. My 14-year old brother wasn't crazy about it. But he's 14, so I don't feel too bad. And he actually likes it now! Hardly anyone liked my cousin Caelan's name before he was born (I did), but everyone grew used to it and now associates it with the most adorable little boy you've ever seen. So people's minds change once they get to know your child, which is something to think about.

And if you really don't want to bother with the criticism, don't tell anyone your final choice until your baby is born. By then it will be too late, and most people are not going to tell you to your face that they don't like the name you chose for your baby. They'll pretend to like it, actually like it, or say nothing about it if they don't.

And who knows, you might change your mind about a name at the last minute. My sister was convinced their daughter would be called London. But when she was born, she just didn't look like a London. Within a day or two they decided on Brooklyn which we all agreed suits her perfectly.

Well, at least we agree on boy names so we are set if our next baby really is a boy (unfortunately we're only like 90ish% sure). But girl names is another story. We have plenty of options (from my list;) but I just have to convince Dalin about them. Either way, Tenley is going to have a little sibling and we cannot even wait to watch her become a big sister!

Have any names been ruined for you? I want to hear what they are! (But you can skip the why part or make it really vague if you'd like.)

We're Having A Boy...We Think

Guess what! We found out the gender of Gunnell baby #2 on Tenley's first birthday. We really wanted to know if she was getting a sister or brother. I thought girl, Dalin thought boy so as a wonderful birthday gift to me, my in-laws gave us the money to do a fetal photo session so we could find out before we go to New Hampshire!

I'm about 15 weeks (though measuring small--which happened with Tenley but even more off--then I ended up giving birth to an 8lb. 3oz. baby so I'm not too concerned) so it was a little early but the studio said they could tell from 14 weeks.

So we scheduled an appointment at 10:30am and arrived nice and early--Dalin, his sister Shaina, her newborn Brooklyn, and of course Tenley.

In the ultrasound room, the technician found the baby instantly and the picture was very clear, much like it had been when we'd done this with Tenley. We listened to the heartbeat (158 I think she said) and watched my little sweetheart kick around (I could totally feel the movement--I think it's because I'm small and just had a baby) and in just a few moments, she told us that Shaina and I might be right, we were having a girl! She looked a little more and said, "That's a million percent girl!" I was thrilled and immediately imagined Tenley with a little sister and was overjoyed by the news. She labeled the ultrasound and everything and starting poking around to get a between-the-legs shot.

Suddenly, she was like, "Hold on, I may have been wrong. I think I made a mistake." We were very quiet then, not because we wouldn't have been equally excited for a boy but because she had just said she was certain about it being a girl. Then the more she looked, the more she started to think boy. Finally she said, "It's definitely a boy!" We were happy, but again were reluctant to react other than to say, "Dalin was right!" because we didn't want to go through the same false excitement again. The technician got some great profile views but never got an ideal between-the-legs shot. She said she thought the umbilical cord had been covering him up before, but she was now "100% certain it was a boy." We were so excited but were admittedly a little worried she was wrong because she didn't sound as sure as she said she was. But she insisted boy, and in the end, invited us back after our New Hampshire trip for a free gender check...just in case.

When we left, we weren't sure what to do at first--tell everyone or not?!--but we decided we couldn't resist sharing the news, and besides, some of the ultrasound photos we left with seem to look clearly boy, like this one:

So we announced we're having a boy even though we kind of only feel 90% sure despite the tech telling us she was 100% certain. Honestly, I was just happy to see a heartbeat and know my little one is doing fine.

Regardless of what the outcome will be a month from now, it is nice to know we will be happy either way (I really and truly don't care as much as I thought I would). So we'll find out for sure in three weeks. But yeah, we're pretty sure our little bean is a sweet boy and we cannot even wait to meet him!

Now I'm curious, how many of you have had incorrect gender predictions? When did they tell you one thing and you found out the other? Do you think we're having a boy or are you not convinced? (I really wanna know!)

Yours,

August Birthday Festivities

We had dinner and Midnight Delight ice cream cake from Coldstone for my birthday with the sibs yesterday! Our church time went from 8:30am (horrible) to noon (better, but way harder for the babies), and adjusting to that for the first time yesterday was super weird. I didn't even get to sleep in because Tenley got up at 8am like usual. So after making scrambled eggs and dressing for church, we pretty much just waited until 11:50 and then walked to church. I taught Relief Society first hour and then was exhausted the rest of the time from chasing Tenley around the halls and up and down the stairs (she figured out how to climb up and down from things recently). I should be going to bed at like 9:30pm so I'm not so exhausted. Naturally though, that was impossible yesterday with a paper to write. As a result, I was up until 1:30am. Horrible idea. I knew it would be but we were so busy this weekend I had no time!

I am really happy and excited to celebrate Tenley's first birthday tomorrow! It's going to be a great day and we have a surprise that I will hopefully share later in the week! ;-) Today after my classes/first final, we brought Dalin to work for the night (Monday nights...they're pretty lame over here :[ ) then Tenley and I went to Babies 'R Us and Toys 'R Us for like the first time in a long time. I never went there to get stuff for Tenley before/after I had her but they have some pretty great stuff at both places. We spent two hours in the two stores combined. Mostly at Toys 'R Us as I tried to find gifts for Tenley's bday that she would love. It was hard. I haven't been a one-year old for a while...and Tenley seems to be a little different from the norm. I put a bunch of toys in the cart with her to see what she played with while we were in the store but that turned out to be less productive than I was hoping. She was mostly just interested in the things around her and the book I put in there. I guess it's good that she loves to read though.

Note: The above part was written yesterday, Monday, which is why the timing doesn't match up. The next part is from today, Tuesday, Tenley's birthday!

This has been an exciting day! It was Tenley's first birthday and we were determined to make it a great day. When she started crying this morning I went in and got her (instead of making her wait it out until 8am like usual--we didn't want her sad on her birthday!) and brought her into bed with me for cuddles and a little extra rest.

When we got up and got dressed, I gave her a bottle of almond milk (which she loves...) and then we went to Einstein Bagels to get some bagels for her, Daddy, and Mommy. We picked Daddy up from work and went over to Auntie Shaina's house to pick up her and Brooklyn. Tenley opened her first present in the car (it was the baby doll from Nana Searle). Then we went to the South Towne Mall in Sandy where the Fetal Photo Studio is! I'll write the details of that in the next post.

After that, we drove to the aquarium to use our free passes from the last time we visited a few months ago. We spent like $4 on snacks and drinks total there so that was pretty great. Tenley loved pointing at the fish and sharks and other sea creatures that she saw. She was definitely most entertained by the water animals. Shaina and I liked petting the stingrays and little sharks they had. We also really liked looking at the brightly colored little tree frogs in the rainforest section. They had some that were the length of a penny and were so cute! After the aquarium, we grabbed some lunch (Taco Bell for Shaina and Dalin, Arctic Circle for Tenley and me), and then we headed home to rest for a few hours and have Tenley open some presents before going to dinner.

Tenley loved the baby legos and play food. She also loves the baby doll, mostly so she can poke it's eyes (which close when the doll is laid down), and give it slobbery kisses. We also gave her a mother rubber duck with three tiny rubber ducklings.

We had dinner with Tenley's great grandparents from Arizona, her aunt and uncle, and some cousins at Marley's at the Riverwoods. The sliders there are delicious. I got a turkey-cranberry-avocado one and it was amazing. We took some pictures with the group and Tenley got a sweet pink Minnie Mouse doll and matching dinner plate from Gramma and Grandpa Gunnell. We love them!

Afterward, we headed back to our apartment for Tenley's birthday cake and to sing to her as a group, though I had sung to her several times throughout the day already to help her realize it was an extra special day. (Side note: we saw two baby dear on a little grass hill in Wymount on the way home...they were really cute;) I made Tenley a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting hoping it would be a little bit healthier for her. I had meant to decorate it with cute carrots and even a bunny but time got away from me. We had two cakes--a rectangle one for everyone to share and one in a tiny heart dish for Tenley to devour. She LOVED it! It made me so happy! She ate more than half of it and made a huge mess that I didn't even mind that much because it was her birthday (and the pictures GG took made them worth it:).

We decided to bathe her on the porch after, so we stripped her cake-covered clothes off and stuck her out in the tub in her birthday suit (conveniently because of the day;). The bath ended up being really fun for Tenley and for us because it was pouring outside so we got to enjoy the rain while Tenley took a warm bath in her little baby tub and played (for quite a long time!) with her little rubber ducklings in the water! She really, really liked them! And she was so clean and snuggly after that we put her in pajamas for the first time in many weeks since summer began basically then let her hang out with us for a while before bed (she usually doesn't need pjs but the nights are finally getting cooler!). She played with her toys (like really played! It was so fun because she was way more interested in her birthday toys than she's ever been in her old ones) for a while before bed and then we kissed her and told her we loved her and she went right to sleep.

That girl is such an angel. I cannot believe she has been in my life for only a year. She is one of the best things that has ever happened to me personally as well as to Dalin's and my marriage and family. She is the happiest, sweetest, (sneakiest;), and smartest little one year old I know and I'm incredibly happy that she is ours forever.

I am thankful daily--repeatedly--for the blessing it is to be her mom. She is truly fulfilling the joy of motherhood that my Patriarchal blessing mentions. I am sure that when her little sibling arrives, she will prove an even greater blessing than I could have imagined. Dalin and I sure think she's great and are so grateful she is the first in our family.

We love you, Tenley! More than you can possibly know!

Loving our little girl,

14 Weeks and Weekend Happenings

It's been a busy weekend and the rest of August is even busier. I'm excited for our plans but a little sad that our family of 3.5 all caught colds this week. Sore throats, stuffy noses, too much mucus, and headaches (at least for me as a result of the medication, which is an antihistamine) basically sums up how we've been feeling. Being pregnant and ill is the worst. My immune system is so weak, it's very annoying because I'm bound to get sick if I'm around sick people. So if you get sick, please stay like ten feet away because it is miserable for a pregnant lady--mainly because there are so few medications we can take!

Anyway, we didn't let the colds interfere with our schedule, however. On Friday, I worked at King Henry for a few hours (though I had to leave for a few hours to go to Urgent Care with Dalin and Tenley--so annoying because as far as we could tell, Tenley was fine, but she had to have her blood drawn as a safety precaution. If you didn't hear, she may or may not have (we really do not know for sure) put a used needle in her mouth as a result of a nurse improperly storing/disposing of them. But since we don't know, she has to get three blood tests over the next six months to be tested for Hepatitis and AIDs. It's ridiculous and makes me sad because either way, she's enduring a lot for either something very serious or for no reason at all). Then, Friday evening after Dalin got done at a work dinner, we hurried to William Ayer's wedding reception in South Jordan. It was wonderful and even though many people had left, we so enjoyed seeing those we knew and getting to eat some of their yummy turkey sandwiches and salsa. So good! Tenley loved the food, the snowcones, and dancing! She had a fun time. 

Today was my 23rd birthday. Yippee! Haha, I've warmed up to 23 considerably in the last few weeks, especially now that I'm pregnant and will be having a second little baby before next year! I'm so happy about that! Here are some 14 week belly photos. Sorry that we used our iPhones...we're a little lazy...

14 weeks!

Just a lemon-sized baby in there!

The first picture which we took with flash. The iPhone's flash stinks. 

Anyway, I think you get the gist from these pics. Tomorrow I teach Relief Society about eternal families, then next week is my last day of class, finals, Tenley's birthday, among other things ;-) I can't wait to tell you all about them.

Oh, also my birthday has been great despite us being sick. Dalin made me pancakes and I had breakfast in bed. For gifts, he got me some cute clothes (half are maternity!), a gorgeous bracelet with magenta stones, and a really cool, really sweet book he designed called "The Reason We Love You" by Dalin and Tenley. I didn't cry when I read it (which is surprising since I do tend to cry at random things more often--though not as bad as with Tenley's pregnancy, that's for sure) but I had a huge smile on my face and it made me really happy. I love it. And the graphics he chose (mostly stick figures) are hilarious! We ate at a delicious, authentic Chinese restaurant on Center Street in Provo and picked up a Midnight Chocolate ice cream cake that we are going to eat tomorrow after Church! Dalin had to work this afternoon, and though I missed him, I was glad we didn't have to do anything else because I was exhausted (I got in bed as soon as we were home) and then I did some reading, light homework, and played with toys with Tenley. We also played chase-the-other person and Tenley is surprisingly fast and it's scary when she runs (well, crawls) at you and attacks you. I gave her a peanut butter and fluff sandwich for dinner (I'm just a nice Mom, I can't resist even though fluff is basically melted marshmallows) and put her in bed. Now I just plan on picking up this place a little before Dalin gets home and we go to bed. I'm so glad Church is at noon now, let me tell you...even though that means I'm teaching first hour! Ah!

But I have had a great birthday (as great as it can be while feeling lousy) and I'm just kind of looking forward to my birthday dinner of lobster once we get to New Hampshire. 9 days! I can wait.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I can tell 23 is going to be great!

Love,