rushley & crew

14 weeks, 1 day (i seriously don't know how anyone takes weekly bumpdate pics, because i have the hardest time getting monthly ones on time!) How Far Along: 13 weeks, 3 days. Size: A jalapeno, a large macaron (mmmm now I want one!), a matchbox car, or a clownfish! Gender: Still thinking girl, but getting more confused about it all the time! Can't wait to find out in just under a month! :) If you want to cast your vote for which gender you think our baby is -- poll is on the right sidebar and ends April 24th-ish, when we find out! Name: Baby Girl is all set to go. Baby Boy can't seem to get a middle name. Little Love for now :) Movement: Nope, but my app says that Little Love can feel it if I poke my belly, so I do that sometimes. You know, because I love to bug my baby ;) Fun Fact: All of the other pregnant girls in the office have now found out gender. And ALL THREE of them are having boys! That has to mean I'm having a girl. I...

didn't snap a photo til 9 weeks, 6 days How Far Along: 9 weeks, 1 day Size: A canap é  (small decorative finger food), a jack, an eastern tailed-blue butterfly, or a southern pecan. I tried to look up whether a southern pecan was different from a regular pecan, but all I got was a bunch of pictures of "southern pecan pie." And then I wanted southern pecan pie . . .  haha! :) Gender: I'm still thinking girl, and Russ still refuses to guess :) We did sealings in the temple one night, and after doing marriage sealings, we got to be the parents in daughter sealings. I told Russ it was a sign ;) Also, my app will send me information about what's happening, and it always refers to the baby as "she," so, you know, another sign! ;) I'd be thrilled for either, though :) Don't forget to cast your vote for which gender you think our baby is -- poll is on the right sidebar and ends April 24th-ish, when we find out! Name: Little Love. W...

We've already: bought a lot of furniture from garage sales over the years. literally all of it. (except the cradle, which I slept in as a baby :) ) cleaned all the furniture spray painted the cradle We need to: de-junk sell the crib, changing table, and end table hang a curtain rod  buy/make a window treatment buy room darkening shades buy a new crib/assemble it buy crib bedding buy/make ~2 pillows for the crib get a dresser get/make a changing pad cover make a mobile decorate shelves And probably a lot of other stuff, but that's all I know for now! :) Can't wait to make this room come to life! And I'm already daydreaming about which Black River Boutique blanket will complete the look . . . everything in that shop is seriously the cutest! **ashleynicole

I've mentioned my involvement in the cultural celebration a few times on the blog, but now that it's all over, I wanted to take some time to write about all the things I thought about and felt throughout the experience. It's difficult to write about, because so much of it is just feelings, and the feelings feel personal. Guess that's the trouble with a public blog that also serves as a personal journal haha :) +     Youth are so cool. They are fun and pure and wonderful. I had SO much fun working with them every week. I loved seeing them work hard and improve. I loved seeing their bright smiles that could light up their whole face. I also loved the healthy amount of teasing that went back and forth between us all. It felt like a little family sometimes :) After every Tuesday rehearsal, we'd all dance to the Electric Slide together, and it was so fun! These kids just all have such great personalities and it was fun to get to know them through this experience. +...

On Sunday, February 7th, we managed to tell every member of our immediate family that we were pregnant. I was one day shy of being 6 weeks pregnant, and it took ALL of my self-control to wait a week and a half to tell them haha. Luckily, Russ didn't make me wait too long--waiting until I was 6 weeks along was reasonable :) We started out with Russ's mom . We had a busy day, filled with church and meetings, so we had to fit everyone in when we could. That meant we called Mom at the ripe old hour of 8:15am. She says that we didn't wake her up, but I think she was just being nice :) We talked for a few minutes about life and her week. She said her week was a little disappointing because she didn't make it on a flight to spend a day with Dad in California. Russ told her maybe we could make her week a little better -- "Ashley's pregnant!" Mom's reaction was so sweet. She was quiet on the other end for a moment, and seemed just so happy and a little emotio...

the very first time I ever put on this 2014 christmas present shirt :) How Far Along: 4 weeks 6 days Size:  A poppyseed! I can't even believe something so tiny turns into a full fledged baby . . . that is also tiny. Ha! :) Gender: Obviously not sure yet, but I'm feelin' girl. I heard "Way I Are" during a workout this week and at the part where it says "Baby Girl" over and over, I was thinking, "I'm totally going to sing this song to my baby!" Hahaha made me feel like Ross & Rachel singing "Baby Got Back" to Emma. But on that gender note, feel free to cast your vote in the sidebar on the right until April 24th-ish :) Name: I'm calling it Little Love or Baby Love at the moment :) Movement: Not yet, of course.    Fun Fact:   The Ovia pregnancy app lets you choose a theme for how you want the size of your baby to be told! The options are fruit/vegetable, Parisian bakery, fun & games, and we...

So obviously, it took Russ and I a while to get pregnant. But after giving all the credit to God for our little miracle, I give all the credit to the book,  Taking Charge of Your Fertility . If you struggle with infertility, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. And actually, if you're a woman, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The book is not a miracle worker, so if there is something seriously wrong, it can't make things happen for you. BUT the book does teach you how to know your own body, which is helpful whether or not you are capable of getting pregnant. And whereas most gynecologists will tell you to try for a year before you come in to talk about infertility, if you chart, you can know within about 3 months if you need to talk about infertility, and you can bring evidence into your doctor to tell them why you want to get started with infertility stuff right away. I'm one of those people who never ever tracked a period before trying to get pregnan...