It's a...

GIRL!

We went and got an early ultra sound for a gender test on Thursday and found out baby Dueck is a girl! Nick thought it was going to be a boy but I kinda thought it was a girl and it is! We are so thrilled!  I'm so glad we had a clear picture right between the legs (but I didn't include that one).

Nick's family was in town and we wanted to tell them in a fun way so before going to the doctor in the morning I baked some cupcakes and then when we got home I injected them with pink frosting using a piping bag and tip. I then iced them with chocolate ganache and put a white question mark on top. (They weren't as perfect as I would have liked because we were rushing so we could share the news before we went to Les Miserables.) We had them all make their guess before taking a bite. Some of them were so surprised because when we first got there we told them that it was very obvious and they assumed that it was a boy but they were wrong. Haha! A video and some pictures are below.

For my family I took a picture of the cupcakes and one cut in half right before going to Nick's family and texted and emailed them while driving there.  My sister Rachel was up at my mom's and they even went shopping and got a few things for our little girl right after they found out!  It makes me so happy and grateful to have such a supportive family who shares in our excitement!

I love the look on their faces!

Here is our sweet girl opening her mouth (drinking or yawning).  You can kind of see her hand up in front of her face.

And here is her cute little foot!

We already love our little girl soooo much!  It's pretty funny how concerned Nick gets.  He gets all worried that she is being squashed/hurt when we're cuddling or I'm laying on my stomach (which doesn't even really pop out yet... I should start taking pictures of my growth though).  He's going to be such a cute daddy to our little girl!  We are so excited for her to join our family!  Is it June yet?... 162 days!!!

Boy or Girl?

Boy or Girl?

I am now 15 1/2 weeks along in my pregnancy!  At my doctor's office they do an ultra sound at 10 weeks and then 20 weeks (when you can find out the gender) but they have the option (to pay a little extra) to get an ultra sound at 16 weeks if one is impatient (like me) and wants to find out the baby's gender early.  I can't wait until next Thursday (12/27)!  I'm so excited!  I just hope that the baby is in a good position so it is possible to tell.

So I'm finally not feeling nauseous any more!  I'm so grateful it only lasted the first trimester and that is wasn't too bad.  I only threw up once and I think it is because I waited too long to eat in the morning.  When I was feeling nauseous from about week 7 to 14 I would snack on soup/oyster crackers and now I am sick of them!  During that time even just pictures or the mention of some foods would make me feel nauseous.  I had a few craving for pizza, mac'n cheese, and Twizzlers.  I have hardly been eating any sweets and desserts because they don't sound or taste good to me.  Can you believe that?!?  A carton of ice cream used to only last 10 days in our freezer and we've had one in there for 3 months now!  This baby is really starting to change me and my ways!  Some foods that have really turned my stomach are cheesecake, pumpkin, and garlic.  A lot of dinner recipes I make have garlic so I just cut it out (Nick hasn't seemed to notice).  I have heard that some women have a hard time with onions during pregnancy so I am very grateful that I don't have that problem because I use onions in my cooking all the time and I love em!  Well that's enough about food.

Am I showing?  I am a little bit but you probably wouldn't notice.  I've gained a little fat on my belly mostly because I have gone from exercising 6 times to maybe 2 times a week.  I just feel so exhausted and the nausea didn't help.  Ok, so I'm not completely inactive.  I have still been riding my bike or walking to work (2 miles from home)... but that is going to end soon when we get a 2nd car.  The weather has been getting worse (snow/ice on roads and sidewalk) so I can't ride my bike and walking is almost as dangerous (walking on ice is hard).  Since I'm starting to feel better I'm trying to get back into the swing of exercising.  Yesterday and today I woke up a little earlier so I could do some arm and leg exercises for 20 minutes before walking to work.  I love exercising because it gets my blood pumping and gives me more energy.  I also love increasing my strength and feeling like my body has more power and ability to do more.  I wish I could go running but the sidewalks are icy and I really don't want to fall... and its freezing out.  I'm excited to get back into running shape after the pregnancy (with a jogging stroller!).  But back to showing, I am starting to feel stretching and can feel the bump when I lay on my stomach. Still fit into my pants though! :) I'm actually excited to start showing because I always feel kind of awkward when I tell people I'm pregnant and I don't look it at all.  Maybe with the next baby I won't tell until I start to show.

More emotional?  You bet cha!  I tear up all the time especially when I see babies.  I just get so excited!  I was watching something on youtube the other day and Carter's (baby/kid store) had a cute commercial with a baby and child in it that made me teary eyed.  Oh and I cried while watching one of the Harry Potter movies (never done that before). Sometimes I just feel like I need to let the tears out.  It's weird.

Baby Gear: We got a car seat!  Nick's coworker/friend gave us theirs that is only 2 years old and in really good condition.  We also already have a crib!  My mom still has the crib that she used for me and it is still in really good condition because I was the only one in the fam it was used for.  It is a beautiful cherry wood with tall pillars and a canopy.  If we're having a boy I think we'll leave off the pillars and canopy since that seems like more girlish.  I'm so grateful to Andrew and my mom for these important baby items!  It really helps us out and I don't think I could have picked anything better!

Baby Crafts:  Once we find out the gender I am going to start making some things for our little one.  I want to make those cute little baby shoes I've seen on Pinterest, onesies with decals, changing pad and wipe container, and baby bumpers for the crib.

So take a guess!  Boy or Girl?

We are very grateful for...

...BABY Dueck!  

We are so ecstatic to have this little pumpkin join our family June 9th!

This is Baby Dueck at 10 weeks (I'm now almost 12 weeks)!  It was so fun to see the ultrasound!  Baby was active and waving at us!  We can't wait to find out the gender (I've got tons of crafts to do)!

We found out October 6th so we have only known a month and a half but it seems like forever (probably because I feel nauseous and tired)!  We are sooooo excited for June!!!

Spanish Fork Half Marathon

September 8th I ran in the Spanish Fork Half Marathon.  I made the decision to run a half at the beginning of August.  I was already running 4 mile runs a few times a week and 6 miles occasionally but I pretty much trained in a month.  This is the second half I have run.  I ran my first half back in April of 2009 in the Provo Half Marathon.  While running isn't too expensive of a sport/hobby, I chose the Spanish Half because I could opt to not have a shirt making entry $10 less making it only $30.  I've never seen a race for so cheap!  And I still got a medal! :)

I fell asleep the night before the race at about 11 and set 3 alarms.  I was afraid I wouldn't wake up in time.  I even had a dream (or nightmare) about it.  I was dreaming that we ran out of milk and went to a neighbors to get some and saw on the clock that it was 6:50 and started freaking out since the race started at 7 and was 20 minutes away.  I woke up right after that and saw that it was 5:30, just 2 minutes before my first alarm was to go off so I just got up anyway.  It was pretty cool out so I brought a blanket with me in the car and went on my way.  Luckily I had planned to get there at 6 cuz I made a wrong turn getting off the highway and took a little detour (driving to unfamiliar places in the dark if not my fav).  I picked up my pack when I arrived and went back to the car to keep warm, eat a few cheerios (I don't like to eat breakfast before running), get my tunes ready, and then went to the bathroom one last time.  Unfortunately I made the mistake of walking through the grass when I picked up the packet and went to the bathroom and got the morning dew on my shoes making my feet cold.  Next time I will take the sidewalk.  Ten minutes before the race I made my way to the starting line.  I stood about ten feet back so I wouldn't get trampled.  I jumped up and down a bit to keep warm and get my muscles ready and then I took off with the shot of the gun.

While training I was averaging about 8:10 a mile which is what my average was for my first half.  I thought I could do about 8min/mile since usually you run faster in a race.  A few weeks ago I bought an arm band so I could run with my iphone to listen to music and time my runs.  I have the mapmyrun app that says the mile, time, and pace at each mile. Well, at the first mile marker the little voice came on and paused my music and said the time was 7:02.  I thought "oops!"  I was afraid that I was going to get burned out.  I think I went so fast because I was trying to keep up with those at the front of the line.  So I slowed my pace down and finally averaged 7:40/mile.  In the first few miles a few speedy people who weren't already way ahead passed me (always a little discouraging when people pass you).  I think I kept up the fast pace just because I didn't want anyone else to pass me.  Toward the end of the race the runners get pretty strung out.  At one point on a windy road I couldn't see anyone in front or behind me.  The trail was good though.  It was all on the road and there weren't too many cars because it was throughout farm land.  I saw, heard, and unfortunately smelled a bunch of cows and horses but I really love running outside!  The earth is full of so much beauty!  I saw tons of sunflowers and the mountains looked amazing as the sun rose up from behind them.  I did see something funny/disturbing.  Since there were farms there were obviously large stacks of hay and right in front of a large pile was a toilet.  Weird/tempting?  But pretty sure it was not for the runners.  haha.  There were stations along the run with water and Gatorade.  I never bring water with me on my runs cuz honestly I'm just lazy.  I don't want to have to carry a water bottle and I usually run in the morning when it's cool so I feel less of a need.  I only took water twice because man it is really hard to drink from a cup while running!  Both times I had to stop for a sec, take a gulp, throw down the cup, and start up again.  By mile 7 I was still feeling good and happy that I had already made it a little more than half way which meant the rest of the race was literally slightly down hill.  By mile 10 I was just telling myself "just 3 more miles!" My legs were starting to feel a little jelloish.  Just before mile 12 I passes a guy (is it bad that it made me feel good?) but then a girl and guy came out of no where and passed me. Finally I saw the 13 mile sign and the finish line in front of me and sprinted through.  I was kinda bummed that I barely missed making it under 1:40, but I did get my personal best!  I was a little disoriented after that I almost passed up the volunteers handing out the medals!  So glad they called after me reminding me to get my medal!  haha.  I didn't stay long after I finished cuz I had to get back home, shower, and get to work (long day right?).  So worth it though!  I love running and am so grateful for a healthy body that allows me to do so! ... And for a husband who massages my feet and calves when they are sore. :)

So the tie-dye shirt makes me look hippyish but it is SO comfortable, doesn't show sweat (which I do a lot of), is what I wore for my very first half (made matching with my two other running buddies), and I haven't invested in actual running attire shirts (maybe when Nick's a doctor but for now my free t-shirts do just fine). 

STATS:
Time: 1:40:26
Pace: 7:40/mile
23rd of 161 overall place
7th of 88 gender place
1st of 19 division place (20-24)


More good news/updates!(since I haven't posted in over a year):
Nick has already had 2 med school interviews (University of North Texas and Creighton) and has a 3rd scheduled at the University of Washington!  The soonest we can find out about acceptances is mid October.  The interviews went really well so things are looking pretty good!  I can't wait to know where we will be next year!