Family Letter, Provo, Originally written 10/13/10

Hello all,
I've been working on this letter since Sunday and so I figure I better finish it up and send it. Which means I am deleting everything I wrote before and rewriting it.

Life is good all in all. I've barfed most of my guts up but there still seems to be enough in there to grow a baby because the doctor says the baby is doing well. Which means that its heart rate is right where it should be (150bpm at the last appointment) because that's about all the information we have about it at this point. I'll be getting an ultrasound sometime in November. And actually, the last week or so I've thrown less than half as much as usual. Plus I got some magical medicine which is the best for helping me to stop throwing up.

Brad is having a fairly easy semester, mostly because half of his classes are actually not engineering classes. This is good because he needs lots of time to work on his thesis. He's hoping to find a good job/internship for the summer here in Provo area. We are also looking at schools for him to apply to for next fall. Also, Brad has been very good at dumping the barf bucket and bringing me food in the morning so I can eat before attempting to get out of bed. Basically I can report that he's being very good to me.

I am still fitting into most of my jeans. I have a bunch of skirts, though, that don't fit at all. My jeans have a little more elasticity to them than my skirts so I think that makes a difference. I am showing, though!! Some of my shirts are really uncomfortable just because they feel tight around my stomach. My best friend Maren and I went to the DI and found some shirts for me that have an empire waist and are loose around the stomach area and these are much more comfortable (and cute!). People are finally starting to be able to tell by sight that I'm pregnant. For quite awhile there I just looked like I put on a few pounds. I'm glad to be able to finally prove to people that I really do have a reason for snacking all through Sunday School.

Some highlights of my days are going on walks with Maren and her baby Annie, reading good books, being able to rest when I need to, and having time to cook a good dinner. Maren and I started a book group with some wonderful friends/old roommates. For our first meeting we read Jane Eyre and for our second we are reading two books, The Secret Life of Bees and Charms for the Easy Life (we are all voracious readers so I think we can handle two books). I LOVE having time to read. So far The Secret Life of Bees is a wonderful book. I chose it for our group to read because it is about women in the South and I'm kind of really biased in favor of that topic. In it the girl's father punishes her by making her kneel on dry grits for hours. Dad, thanks for never using grits as a form of punishment.

Another good thing about life is that I'm starting to get an appetite for foods I did NOT want the last few months. Like pizza. Tonight we went to a business school event on campus. They had free pizza and drawing for prizes. I ate 5 pieces of pizza. TUMS are my best friend.

Love,
Amanda

PS Fun fact: According to baby site online, my baby is now the size of an avocado. Last week it was an apple, so apparently we are talking about an avocado that is bigger than an apple. Grow baby, grow!