So Excited

I can't wait until our ultrasound later today! I hope everything goes well...that all the baby's organs are developing normally. We're so excited to find out whether we're having a boy or girl...then we can start thinking of names. A lot of people have told us to just pick two names, but for some reason, Rigo and I have been having a challenging time thinking of names that we like. We're hoping that once we find out the baby's gender we'll be able to focus more on giving him or her a fitting name. Hehe.
Church yesterday was awesome, as it usually is. I don't know if it's the pregnancy highs and lows or what, but right when we pulled into the church parking lot, I said "Yay! We're here!" Haha...I don't think I've ever said that coming into church. Of course, I look forward to Sundays and rejuvenating my spirit, but I've never vocally announced it. Since it was Fast Sunday due to General Conference next week, we had fast and testimony meeting. My heart was beating so fast and so hard (more than it normally already does since it's beating for two) I almost felt chest pain. I went up to bear my testimony and right after I said "Good afternoon brothers and sisters" the tears were flowing like waterfalls. I just had to express how grateful I was for the gospel in my life and having the knowledge of where I came from, my purpose here, and where I'm going if I so live worthily.

It's so comforting to know that in the church, you don't raise your children alone. Our ward family is amazing and I know that our kids will be surrounded by great leaders, teachers, and awesome examples. It is intimidating sometimes when you're watching the news and you see so many horrible things happening in the world today (the Oakland police event was truly a tragedy and hit me hard), but what joy and comfort it brings to my heart to know that it will not only be Rigo and I laying the foundation of gospel principles for our children. I love how organized the church is! From nursery on up, how we tailor our lessons and activities to what individuals are going through each day in their lives. It is so nice to share those common experiences with others as well. I love being in Young Women and hearing the girls share their personal experiences and seeing the other girls nod their heads in agreement.

I think it's cool we are having an invitational Sunday at the end of April for all of the wards in the mission. The Stake leaders have been emphasizing the importance of being a member missionary and reaching out to those especially who have fallen away from church for some reason or another. Rigo went out on visits with the Elders Quorum after church yesterday, came home for maybe 15 minutes, then went out with the sister missionaries to visit more inactives. I am grateful for his example and the fire that he has as a returned missionary. It is truly our responsibility to maintain and help Zion to grow. Even with all the babies being born (I heard about 4-5 announcements yesterday of grandchildren born this past weekin Relief Society), there are so many who need to be embraced and welcomed into the fold. I hope that I can be an instrument to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in bringing others to the gospel and bringing home those who may have lost their way.

Humbling Times

As I was unwinding last night I turned on the TV and was watching Nightline and they were discussing the topic of genetic counseling. One man had a 17% chance of getting Alzheimer's and another woman had a 37% chance. I have to say, honestly, our Alzheimers/dementia patients are often the most difficult because they are so forgetful/confused that they take up most of our time. Keeping them from pulling out IVs, drains, monitor leads, tubes, etc., and keeping them from climbing out of bed and falling is a difficult task. We try as much as possible to stay away from restraining pts, but sometimes it's just not possible. You'll walk in and fix everything, walk out and not even a minute later they're climbing over siderails or your IV is gone. I think it was a touching subject because my grandma is getting more forgetful - early Alzheimers. It is sad that Alzheimer's is a progressive disease with no cure. The medications out right now can only slow progression of the illness, but there is no stopping it.

There was a gentleman who was under total care with a caregiver, and I was a little sad but yet grateful because my other grandmother, who has been through so much, is in a nursing home. She suffered from a massive stroke on top of all of her medical problems, and now cannot walk or talk. My mom has been asking me recently, what's going to happen when I get old and need someone to take care of me? I think she is worried because she sees what her own mom is going through and doesn't want us to throw her in a nursing home. Don't worry, Mom, we'll take care of you just like you took care of us when we were growing up. It is difficult to comprehend when your family is growing and you know you need to take care of them, what more of actually doing it. My mom has to juggle her 18 year old son (he's a handful alone, crazy teenagers haha), cancer surviving husband who still suffers post-treatment effects and needs follow-up, and diabetic mother who also needs a lot of attention. I visited my mom last night and found that she was sick with a cold/cough, so I spent some time with her. We went to visit a Filipino members' home and had dinner with them because they were inviting her. I see how my mom is neglecting her own health to serve others, and I admire her strength. She has a lot on her plate. I'm grateful for the love and care that she has for me and the rest of our family, I know she has worked hard and continues to do so now even though most of us have moved out. I love both of my parents so much, here's one of my favorite pictures of them from last year.

Okay, so the second highlight from the news was a family that was living in an RV. It was supposed to be a temporary move since they were not able to handle finances and were evicted, but jobs, as we all know, are difficult to obtain nowadays. Especially good ones. The father was optimistic, knowing that if he gets a job in another state they can just drive down and go. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to have a family of 4, and a dog, living in 300 square feets on wheels. Here I sit having a great job with benefits, a roof over my head with room to roam, a nice car, a beautiful baby growing inside of me, an amazing husband...gosh I could go on forever. How selfish and ungrateful I feel. I take for granted so many things in life, and as much as I try to be grateful, I know there is always something that I am forgetting. I acknowledge my Heavenly Father's hand in all things, but I could not express my gratitude for everything I have, spiritually and temporally. I don't want to be inadequate in showing my love and gratitude, so I hope to prove my worthiness to return to him some day through my actions. Faith without works is dead, right? Well, I hope my faith is never dead. I'm grateful to have such a supportive husband who keeps me on my toes. I think we are a great match. He truly is strong where I am weak, and I hope that I compliment him the same. One day at a time...I will try to be better each day. More humble, more grateful, more kind, more compassionate...more like my Savior who bled and died for me.

How can I not be humble when I see this picture and remember all that Jesus Christ has done?

New Baby, New Car

Rigo and I were talking about our growing family and decided that the '89 Thunderbird just wouldn't cut it for a newborn. It's 2 door (highly inconvenient for putting a baby carseat in the back, not to mention taking it in and out) and unsafe. No airbags back in the day. But it's been a great car, was all we needed to get from point A to point B. We're grateful we had even had a car to take us to and from work and daily errands. So we decided to start car shopping. And we picked one! A Nissan Murano! We've actually loved this car for years, but of course who needs a new car when you have a perfectly good one. Until you're pregnant and realize you have a soon-to-be newborn baby to protect. It received awesome safety ratings and is comfy and good-looking too. So we're happy. What a big blessing for us. Rigo and I are still so amazed and grateful at how much the Lord has blessed us and is continuing to bless us through everything we go through. I know that as we continue to be faithful and work diligently he will bless us with all that we need. And I know that he has blessed us with that and so much more.

We get to find out whether we are having a boy or girl next week, and we are so excited. Now THAT is the biggest blessing from the Lord, to have him trust us enough that he would bless us with the opportunity to raise one of his dear and choice spirits here on earth. I am continuing to prepare for the coming little one every day, and I can't help but have tears of joy when I sit there and ponder the miracle growing inside my belly. It could be that I'm emotional and pregnant, but you know, I'm super happy. My patients ask me all the time why I'm so happy and smiling...I tell them because there's a baby growing inside of me! What reason do I have to not be happy! Hehehe...then they get all smiley and say congratulations and we just have a ball. Hehehe. Through the poopy times and all. See, I already have those moments with adults...babies should be cake. Lol. Trust me, I've seen some horrible poops, bloody, infectious, and all. And it's WAY harder to turn and clean a 5-6 foot adult than a baby. So I look forward to those sleepless nights of feeding, holding, and taking care of our unborn child. I love that I can protect him or her in my belly and hold them all the time. A lot of my friends have popped babies out just this year and say it goes by fast so enjoy it. Oh, I will. It is going by fast. I'll be halfway through the term next week. What a trip. I will savor these moments and when that baby comes out, I will say...so you're the one that I carried and suffered with for 9 months. LOL. Right now is nice...4-5 months I know I will enjoy. In summer when I'm huge and swollen, whew...we'll see. But for now, I savor these good times.

Great News!

Rigo & I went to another prenatal appointment last week and heard the baby's heartbeat! It was awesome...healthy and strong at about 160-165 beats per minute. It was so exciting! I had the opportunity to hear it again yesterday...happy baby. Lol. I know a lot of people tell me I won't feel the baby until 20-21 weeks...but I'm telling you, I can feel the baby moving around in there and I'm 18 weeks. Not kicking....but just those little tiny movements that he or she must be shifting positions or something. Hahaha. I enjoy those ticklish bubbly moments. And it's not gas...I can finally differentiate. Lol. My tummy continues to grow...here's a pic I took last week.

So there's my 4 month belly!

More good news...my dad recently had a PET scan to identify if the cancer has returned, and the result was negative...clear so far! I'm grateful for the technology and treatment we have to check for abnormalities and treat them when found. It's been nice at work these last few days...the census has gone down, in TCU at least. So that's either or good thing or bad...good that people aren't getting as sick, or bad that people don't have insurance to come in if they are sick. I'm hoping it's the first.

I taught my first class in Young Women last Sunday. It was Ward Conference, so I the heat turned up when I walked in and members of the Stake YW presidency, High Council, and Bishopric were sitting there. But it turned out to be an awesome lesson on supporting family members. Thankfully, I wasn't too nervous and the girls were active participants so it was easy to get comfortable. And Bro. West and Bro. Sitauti were excellent contributers sharing there experiences as fathers and grandfather. It worked to my advantage having extra leaders there to touch us with their stories and feelings. I also showed the "Create" video made from an excerpt of Pres. Uchdorf's talk that can be found at http://reliefsociety.lds.org/. It is an awesome clip that is very inspirational. It was the perfect closing to my lesson...encouraging the YW to create loving relationships with each of the members of their families.

My cousin Janelle is having her farewell this Sunday, but we can't make it since Rigo is teaching Elders Quorum and I'm teaching YW. Oh, AND he's giving a talk this Sunday with the rest of the Elders Quorum presidency. Plus I'm working this weekend anyhow. My mom called me this morning and let me know she had the invitation for Janelle's farewell (which she's had for a month), but I found out just this week when my auntie e-mailed me. But that's okay...my mom's super busy taking care of her own mother, husband, and 18 year old son. I think it's awesome that she'll be serving in New Zealand for 18 months. Rigo's experiences from the mission have truly helped our family to be stronger and closer spiritually and temporally. The lessons he learned from serving the Lord and being around general authorities as well as such humble and faithful people in Venezuela continue to be valuable in our daily lives. I know I can credit his mission to helping make him the worthy Priesthood holder and patriarch of our home.

I think it's time for me to eat...again. Hehe. I have been eating every 2 hours because if I don't eat when I get hungry, I'll get nauseous. The blessings of pregnancy...hehe...I know it will all be worth it when I'm holding that bundle of joy in August.

Expecting...

Yeah...it's been a while...again. I don't think I'm a very good blogger. Haha. But as the title reads...Rigo and I are EXPECTING! We are excited to be welcoming our first child into the world in August. Baby at 13 weeks...I can see the head! He/She was about 8 cm.

My 3 month belly...lol. It just keeps growing. (My older co-workers who are grandmas tell me I'm too big for 3 months and ask me if I'm having twins...lol)

Maybe this has contributed to why I haven't blogged in a while. My first symptom of pregnancy was and still is forgetfulness. Being that I'm a nurse, there are tons of things to do at work and I typically keep up with it all in my head. But not when I became pregnant...people would tell me things and a few seconds later they'd remind me, and I'd have no idea what they were talking about. Lol. Ask Rigo, I have a pretty good memory, so this was very odd for me. I didn't even know I was pregnant. I took a pregnancy test a few days later as I had this feeling...and what do you know...it was positive! I asked Rigo to have lunch with me that day and as I went to meet him at his job, I sent him a picture of the pregnancy test while in my car. He said his heart stopped when he saw it on his phone...hahaha. He was soooooo excited.

We went out last night with our friends Adam & Shawna, who are expecting their first baby in April. That was fun...she's gonna have a beautiful (and big, from the looks of her belly, haha) baby girl. Just like Rojohn & Merilee. Yayee for baby times!!!

Other than that, I've just been working and trying to clear our second room for the baby. My energy is finally beginning to pick up since I hit my 2nd trimester, and I'm just grateful for all those days I was able to make it through work...which can be pretty tough. But I know the Lord answers my prayers every day and gives me just enough strength to get through each shift. Rigo has been so sweet and supportive, doing all the house chores after he gets home from work or school, catering to my every need, and running out to get me food after midnight without hesitation. Thank you hunny!

I honestly can't remember what's happened the last couple months...lol. It's flying by. I have the privilege of going down to Labor & Delivery and having my friends find the heartbeat with the doppler when I'm on break at work. OH! Rigo was recently called as 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency. I told Pres. Nelson I was waiting for him to get called. Lol. I really am grateful that the Lord is putting him to work...because I know as he serves he will continue to grow and become an even better husband and future daddy! I've also been called as a YW advisor...which is exciting because we have an awesome group of girls and a fun group of leaders too that I already love. I don't think I could handle much more than a Sunday calling at this point. I know how difficult it is to be in a Presidency and being pregnant and working...I don't think my body would agree with me. But I'm just happy to be serving! Ummm...other than that...I can't think. I told you my memory is not so good...my brain mass must be shrinking. Lol. So I'm going to get ready for work. Til next time....(hopefully not months later) Hehe.

Baby Ysella

Finally uploaded some pics. Loved the ones of my first niece, Ysella, so much, I had to make a video. She's so adorable. Enjoy!

And a few Christmas pics...

As my husband would say..."You're a keeper!" Hahaha...the love of my life.
Yeah, we got tired...The boys were so excited opening Christmas presents, they were racing up the stairs. Hahaha.

Happy New Year!

Hahaha...I guess I'm a little late. What can I say, I got caught up with all the fun holiday and family times. It has been a super busy past month or so since I last blogged. I don't even know where to start! Well, maybe I'll just work backwards. Some exciting news...my cousin Janelle was called to the New Zealand Auckland mission! And...Rojohn and Merilee found out they're having a precious baby girl! Poor Ro broke his finger on Saturday when helping my dad at the shop...I kept him company at Kaiser Hayward's ER for hmmm...4 hours! He asked me how I knew all these people we would see in the hallways when going back and forth to x-ray, and I said I work here of course I know these people! Haha...I haven't been to work since last week, and I don't miss it. Unfortunately, the budget mongrels of regional Kaiser stationed in Oakland have decided to take away our break RNs, and would like to take away our charge RNs. Now, in TCU, we have a patient ration of 3:1. That means if we have 15 patients in the unit, we need 5 nurses. However, when we take breaks, there has to be an RN to cover for us. This is where the charge and break nurse come in. The monitor tech also needs a break, and the charge nurse still needs to fulfill charge nurse duties, i.e. taking report on incoming pts, going to huddle with the supervisors and other charge RNs of the hospital, making the assignment, getting report on all the pts. in the unit, etc. Busy role! So...for example last week I happened to work day shift. I didn't take my lunch break until 2:30 in the afternoon...and I was off at 4:30. Sadly, I was the first person to take a lunch break. It's difficult to not have a break nurse because they are a valuable resource, they help us transport patients to procedures, to other units, help us take care of our pts when we get busy, and biggest thing of all, give us breaks! Anyhow...I just had to vent. I love my job and I've loved Kaiser from day 1, but I'm getting frustrated. They want to take away our lift team too, who help us turn our often huge (I've had pts over 3-400 pounds quite a few times already) pts, especially when they poop! I don't know...I'm grateful to have a stable job, I really am, but it's getting more stressful by the day. And TCU is known as the revolving door of the hospital, so we're already busy as it is.
So on to better news...Christmas and New Years was tons of fun. We spent Christmas with both families - first half of the day with Rigo's side, second half with my side. I got Guitar Hero from Doug, Rigo's lil bro! Hahaha that was the one thing I wanted. I think our parents got the best gifts though. Jubie and James came up with the kiddies for New Years, and that was cool. Even though half the family was sick, it was sooooo good to see them all and create more memories together. Ysella is the cutest baby girl ever! It'll be fun to have another baby girl around with Ro & Merilee. I haven't even downloaded the pictures from my camera, so I guess those will wait until later. With the new year, I'm just really grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father has given me. I have an amazing husband who pampers me and is continually showing his love and affection for me. He works hard and lives worthily as the Patriarch of our family. I have awesome in-laws who have taken me in as their own daughter. I have great parents and the best siblings in the whole world. We may not be perfect, but we keep each other going through the good times and the bad, and I love them with all my heart. I just can't imagine having a better family, and not having any one of them in my life, including my brothers and sister-in-laws. I just love you guys!
That reminds me, we officially moved into our new ward, Castro Valley 1st ward, and it's been awesome. The first Sunday we came we were so welcomed, and the Bishopric asked us to speak the following Sunday. So last week Rigo and I spoke on living a Christ-centered life. I thought it would be the easiest topic ever, but it was actually more difficult than I initially thought because there were so many things that I wanted to say and I really had to narrow it down for those 12-15 minutes. But, I guess they were good because a lot of people came up to us afterwards and said they really enjoyed our words and were very touched. I'm just grateful we're able to be instruments of the Lord. I've been trying harder to read the Joseph Smith manual before the lessons, and I am really enjoying it. I am more and more amazed by Joseph Smith and every time I read his words, I know even more surely that he was taught by God. Rigo and I get so excited when we talk about gospel truths and principles, I love that he still has that same passion and fire that he had when he was serving his mission in Venezuela. When I talk to him about what I read, he says "Of course babe! Who were the first missionaries?" And I reply "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!" Hehehe...and then we discuss and always learn something new. I'm sure we're going to love our new ward, everyone has been really warm and I can tell the members work hard and love to serve, so that's exciting. We'll see what the Lord has in store for us here!