Hoover Dam

I have been begging Michael for months now to take the Hoover Dam Tour, and there has always been some good reason not to go. This weekend my cold finally gave up in torturing me, I wasn't nauseous, and it wasn't too hot, So we went!

We parked on the Arizona side, its free!

We didn't know it at the time but this is a Spillway. It originally was one of the diversion tunnels they made to build the Dam.

Another angle of it.

This leads to Lake Mead. The tower is what sucks up the water (I didn't know that.)

Isn't this guy sweet? He carried my purse the whole day. My prego brain didn't think about using a backpack.

This is the Hoover Dam Byway. It is scheduled to open this November. (Part of me doesn't want to go on it and another part of me says I have too!)

This is underground beside the dam. It's inside of the Spillway. (ps. This room vibrated cause of all the water rushing thru the huge pipe. kinda made me nauseous...

This Diagram shows how the Dam works. The tour guide said we were in the top tunnel.

This picture is of the only time they had to use the Spillway back in 1983. The water level was 7 feet from the top of the Dam.

These are the original tunnels they mined out to make the spillways.

The Power Plant

This is where the tour spit us out.

The Dam was covered in these pretty informational plaques. Everything was dated back to the Art Deco Period. I loved it! It was like walking back in time. I didn't get any pictures of the floors but they were beautiful designs too.

This picture show how they built the dam so that the canyon walls absorb the pressure from the water pushing on it. It's impressive how well designed the Dam is. I wouldn't have thought they would know how to do that back in 1931.

I told him not to squint... lol.

All in all the day was perfect. Michael and I soaked in all the information we learned, and how we have a totally different opinion of Hoover Dam.

My Hero...

I have been sick with a cold for about a week now. A week. And that's on top of being a weak nauseated mess of a pregnant woman. (I'm not complaining, I'm ecstatic that I'm pregnant!) Do you know what happens in a week of not being able to clean?

Chaos.
Complete Chaos.

My Mikey-Man not only cleaned the entire house, he has taken such good care of me. He brings me anything I ask for, gets my every craving, gives me back and neck rubs, cheers me up and makes me laugh, and cuddles with me...

AND
Did I mention he hasn't complained once!?

He loves me.
a lot.

Baby Update No.1

I totally stole this from my friend Sarah. She is due on x-mas! (which I think is super exciting!)


How far along: 8 weeks (on Sunday, August, 29th)

Total weight gain/loss: +5lbs (even tho it feels like I'm losing cause I'm hardly eating...)

Maternity clothes: Not yet. Baggy shirts help with the bloating tho...

Stretch marks: None yet. Maybe I should start looking for some good cream. Any suggestions?

Sleep: Tons of it. I can practically fall asleep anywhere. Sleep is my best friend right now.

Best moment this week: Sleeping. Its the only time I'm not car sick.

Movement: None. Except when my tummy growls...?

Food cravings: Fresh food, grapes, apples, bananas, yogurt. I made Michael go get me Salt and Vinegar Pringles last night. I was introduced to pizza with hot sauce and ranch dressing. mmm...

Aversions:Re-fried beans. ugh. Used to be my favorite food. Now on the bad list. Trash. It stinks no matter whats in it... oh... lets not talk about it...

Gender: Who knows. We are excited for anything. The Chinese Calendar says girl, and so does the needle test. Also the power of my sister-in-laws say its a girl too... So I guess we will see.

What I miss: Energy. Eating like a normal human being. Not getting car sick at every turn, and strength.

Milestones: Had my first ultra-sound last week. I never thought it was a crazy thing until it was done to me. So weird to see that little heart beat. Weird that its inside me...

Extra: Got a cold, and it won't go away. Starting to finally feel better, although my cold symptoms are still going strong. The only good part of having a cold while pregnant is that my nose is clogged up so I can't smell too much. (which is a good thing, since most everything smells bad.) 3 more weeks til I can do the Intelligender test. The Hormones are really crazy. I feel like I'm on a roller-coaster, I get really really annoyed/mad then go to laughing my guts out then to sad... I'm sure its keeping Mikey-man on his toes.

Kudos to Moms that are pregnant. I can't imagine going thru this and trying to take care of a kid at the same time.

Past info: I didn't think I was pregnant. Michael took me to Wal-mart to get a pregnancy test. We got a couple other items too so I wouldn't feel so uncomfortable... All the way home Michael was getting more and more excited, and I was worried that he was just getting his hopes up. I took the test and was shocked at the answer. Totally Shocked. The box said to wait 3 minutes. Lets just say that it didn't take 1 minute for it to pop up as positive. We were completely amazed at what we found out, that we didn't sleep a wink that night. (Tip: If you think your pregnant, do not take the test right before going to bed. Trust me, its not a good idea. Just wait til morning.)
I was almost 4 weeks pregnant when I tested positive. I started getting nauseous at week 5. I haven't "lost it" yet. But I have had too many close calls to count them. Michael has been super sweet and has brought me anything I have requested. He has cheered me up when I'm tired and weak feeling. I miss him a lot when he is not around.

It's a Worm!

Or a peanut! But right now it feels like I have a worm...

Guess What!

I don't know what to say.

I'm Pregnant.

Yup.

Due April 10th

Looks like a shrimp at the moment...

I don't think its hit me yet...

Tomorrow is my first Ultra-Sound... I will keep you updated!

Sweet...

So today I made this.


I couldn't get this quote out of my head.(Thanks Emma) So I just went with it.

I think I'm leaning towards the one of the ones on the right... I can't decide....

Stripes...

Love Love Love this...

I found them here!

Bear Week...

I know it's Shark Week, but have you heard about all the bear attacks lately?

The first bear attack happened a month ago (end of June) in Yellowstone. (It actually happened while we were taking our wonderful vacation in Yellowstone) An Elderly man, was a part of a team that was studying grizzly bears. He went back to the site where they tranquilized and tagged the teddy that ended his life and that's when he met back up with the not so happy bear. Sadly the elderly didn't win, and was found dead. They later tracked down that bear and killed him.

Sad story, but man o man, we saw 3 different bears while we were in Yellowstone... In fact they attract such crowds that to these teddy bears its probably like a buffet. And trust me a bear can definitely out run a human. Those buggers can move when they want. Grizzlies are not even the largest bear out there... Take a look here to see the size scale Here is a brown bear size scale and a Black bear.

Now there has been more reports of bear attacks and its only mid-summer! One of the victims of the a recent bear attack (that lived)said, as soon as she went limp, that's when the bear started losing interest in her. Well I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be VERY HARD to go limp when being attacked by a bear. Another camper was not so lucky...

So what are making these Bears act out? Or is it the Humans crossing the bears comfort line? They say that the tranquilizers could be making the bears more aggressive, but that only applies to the old man situation. Are these campers making too good smelling of food? Who knows....

While Shark week is an awesome experience that will definitely get your blood flowing, Bears (for most of us) live in our backyards, and are definitely a bigger threat.

Ode to Mac...

O Mac-N-Cheese

How I love you...

Your Creamy Cheesey-ness,

Makes my tummy oh so happy...

You never disappoint,

I can't go wrong

When I order you for lunch...

JHS

This weekend I attended Jeanna Hayes' Photography School. It was AWESOME! She is an awesome photographer, and a great teacher. She taught everything from how to shoot in Manual to tips in positioning your subjects to photo-editing. She even organized a mock photo-shoot for us. It was a great learning experience!

I love photography, and I think with some(a lot) of practice I can get closer to her level.

Thank you Jeanna Hayes for all the hard work you did. It changed the way I think when I'm holding my camera.

Hair Cut

This weekend I learned how to cut Michael's hair...

Isn't he handsome?

Even I was impressed at how well I did.