We're Moving!

Okay, so it is just two houses down from where we currently live, but it is still great. We knew that we needed a bigger place for when the baby comes, and this place is just wonderful. The best part is that included in the rent is gas and utilities! We will definitely be saving money, since paying for gas and utilities at our current apartment has been hard during these cold winter months! We were going tot have a basement apartment directly under the one that we now will be living in, but I will freely admit that I really wanted the upper apartment. It just so happened that the family that is moving out came over to our house and mentioned that they were possibly moving and that the couple who had wanted it had decided against it. We went and looked at it and came home praying to get it. The next day we heard through the grapevine that everything had worked out for the couple to move out, and Marc didn't waste any time. He called the landlord and we met with them that evening. They assured us that the place was ours, and that we could move in after the carpets were cleaned. YAY!!!

A little about the place. It is a portion of the upstairs of an old red brick house. Marc does better in the winter with lots of light, and this apartment has a lot of windows. My favorite part is the large built-in bookshelves! We also like the layout, which seems so roomy compared to where we are living now. I think that it will be less awkward to have people visit now. Many places are a step or two above where we are living, so we are happy with a little improvement. I like to joke that anything is amazing to us because our standards are low. We plan to move on April 1st, and I have already started gearing up for it. I try to clean and organize at least two things/areas a day. It is going to be mostly my job, as Marc is in school and has work and I have the time lately.

The most important part about this news is that I know that it is a blessing that came from Marc and I paying our tithing. With the economy how it has been, my hours at Kohl's department store have been reduced. Marc and I have had financial struggles as a result. Things were already tight, and this made them even tighter. We had forgotten to pay our tithing for a few weeks, mostly due to my pregnant brain. I would remember on Saturday, but forget by the time church rolled around at 1:30 on Sunday. Marc decided that we really needed to remember, so he put the check right next to the front door. We paid tithing even though things are really tight, and we felt happy that we had finally remembered. The very next day is when we found out about our new apartment. It is as if our Heavenly Father was just waiting to bless us and got the chance when we paid our tithing. I am so grateful!

Wow, have I been getting behind on this blog thing! I have been pretty busy lately. I will try to be better, but no promises. Besides, how could I follow a post like Marc's? Isn't he just the greatest?

I think that one thing I need to post is my new haircut picture, which is above. I am so happy with it! Marc was the one that got me to finally do it by setting up the appointment for me. It is fun and different and SO EASY to maintain. This will be good when the baby comes.

Speaking of our baby, he is getting more and more active every day it seems. And he kicks quite hard! Yesterday it seemed like he was doing flips or something. He really got going when I was at my friend Nic's performance. He played piano in a performance of the Mozart Piano Quartet in G minor. It was very good. I guess my son thought so too!

Marc's Blurp: A letter to someone special

So, I was thinking about my baby boy yet to come. Actually, I was really thinking about him yesterday when I was holding Amy's cousin's baby, Jacob. Jacob's 10 months old, and Amy and I have had the great privilege of baby sitting him on more than one occasion. Because we have had many occasions to baby sit him, I noticed yesterday that he has become cognizant of me as a person. I suppose the term for such cognizance, as far as the relationship between he and I, would be "uncle", though I'm certainly not his uncle. But I sure feel like it though. Yet, as I was holding his tiny, itty body in my lap, as Amy and I conversed with his parents and real uncles and aunt, I couldn't help but experience a brief, yet powerful, thing; it's what I can only describe as a imagination of feeling, pondering on what it will be like to hold my little boy in my arms.
It was then that I knew that I already love my son very much. I don't know yet what he looks like, whether or not he has black or red or brown hair, nor do I know what's the colour of his eyes. And somehow, I love him. He is my son and I am his father. I want him to always know that I love him and care about him. It's February right now son, but June will soon come, and thereafter begins the rest of my life with you and your siblings. I love you Ethan.

Your daddy,

Marc Alan Fuentes

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday was our ultrasound. Everyone thought that I was having a girl, but I guess that we were all wrong! My parents had been so sure that it was girl that they had bought some pink baby clothes. When I told my dad, he joked that I would have to dress him in pink. I'm sure that they will have a grand-daughter to give those clothes to someday. In the meantime, they will have two grandsons to have fun with!

During the whole ultrasound Marc was beaming and wide eyed. It made things real for him to actually see that there is a little person growing inside of me. It was so fun to see our little guy wiggling around in there. He kicked and moved his arms. We saw his little hands and feet, spine and little bottom. We even saw his little face, which as you can see looks like a little alien. Right when the ultrasound tech went to see his gender, he got tired of being poked and flipped over on his belly. Then he crossed his little legs and we couldn't see where we needed to. What a funny guy. The ultrasound tech then jostled my belly for a while until he moved a leg so we could see.

As you can guess, Marc is ecstatic. There is just something about having a son that is so special to a man. When we left the room, a nurse said "It must be a boy!" We asked her how she knew, and she said that she can tell by the father's face. We had our OB appointment directly after, and he said the same thing as the nurse when he came in. From both my measurements and the baby's, we are looking on schedule and healthy. There's just 4 months to go. The rest of the day after the appointment our little guy was being really active. I love to feel him move.
I can't wait to meet our little guy!

Thoughts about baby

It's been a week since my last post. I guess that I haven't felt like there was anything interesting to mention. Probably because I have been asleep or sleepy for half of it. My baby has been doing some serious growing lately! The baby bump is getting bigger every day. I think that this obvious evidence is helping Marc to really wrap his brain around the fact that a person is growing inside of me. He is so cute and sings to the baby sometimes.

All along, I have felt that we are having a girl. So have my parents, my older sister Annie, my cousin Emily, and my best friend Shelby. They are all convinced. We would be thrilled with either, but this is just the feeling we have. I guess we will see if we are right or not next Wednesday when I have my ultrasound. Marc and I already have some names picked out, but things have been interesting lately. We have wanted to name our first girl Gracie Anne since the beginning. We have just felt really good about that name. Yet the other day Marc came home and told me he had had an interesting feeling about the name while at work. He just felt that this baby isn't Gracie. Now this can mean two things: either it isn't a girl, or it just isn't our Gracie. This is another thing that we will have to find out. I think about this baby all the time, so I hope that it doesn't get old for anyone that might read this. I am just fascinated by the fact that I will get to meet a new person at the end of these 9 months that is part of me.

Flutter

So today something exciting happened. I think I felt my baby for the first time! Marc and I were at the USU basketball game sitting in the student section, and it was REALLY LOUD. I think that the baby didn't like that too much. At the loudest part of the game, I felt a little flutter in my belly. I am pretty sure it was the baby. We are getting pretty psyched to know whether it is a boy or a girl. We find out on January 28th.

Also, this week I have gotten so much bigger (at least to me). I have been pretty tired and it seems that every morning when I wake up I am bigger. To other people, this just means that they can see a slight baby bump. To me, it is a big deal. All of my pants are getting a little snug, which is really weird. I like my pants a little loose. I know it means the baby is growing too, which is exciting, so I just need to be better at reminding myself of that.

Me? Write a blog?

I suppose I should start with an introduction of our family and the name of our blog. Our family consists of 2 with one on the way due June 19th. Marc and I (Amy) have been married since June 28th 2008, when we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Utah temple. Marc and I met in our singles ward at Utah State University, where we lived in the same apartment complex called Mapleview. After the amazing success of our first date, it only took two days and we were inseparable. Marc is attending Utah State majoring in FCHD with a focus on financial counseling. He has another two years after this semester to go. I graduated this past May with a Bachelors of Science degree in Secondary English Education with a minor in English as a Second Language. We both love music, politics, space, laughing, summer weather, and spending time together.

I named the blog after two things. The first are an interesting set of experiences I have had with Marc's family. I'm sure that everyone has heard in-law horror stories. I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, ever since meeting them, I have gotten along well with his parents and siblings and I have felt accepted and included. I realized that in some ways, I have a similar personality and approach to life. I realized that things I do, feel, and say "fit in" with being a Fuentes. Second, there are things that even in our short marriage, Marc and I have things we do and say that I have come to see as being distinctly "us" and our family, that will continue to define us to others for years to come. Thus, for these two reasons our blog is entitled "Fittingly Fuentes".

So why am I starting a blog? Good question! Even after enjoying the blogs of my family and friends, I have been pretty reluctant to start one myself. I did not know if I had anything interesting to blog about. Finally, when I read my friend Valerie's blog, I found a good reason. She described the exact feelings I had when she said "I'm adjusting to what do to with the rest of my day. I had been in school so long I have no idea how to cope without homework and projects." This is me exactly. I worked really hard to graduate. I put in great sacrifices of time, money, and summers into it. I obtained my teaching license, but I did not find a job in or close to Cache Valley, where I need to stay until Marc graduates from Utah State. At the time, it didn't bother me because I was in preparation for my wedding. After that excitement was over, I started working at Kohl's department store in July. I thought that with all of my responsibilities I wouldn't miss school. But I do. And now, Marc and I are expecting a baby in June. Our plans for the future have changed and I am unsure if getting a teaching job in the near future is right for us. It is something I am still working out. The one thing I do know is that I miss writing. That is what I miss most about school. I don't write anymore. I have made it a goal from now on to write a little something every week. For my own sake, I hope I can stay on the bandwagon.