42 days..

Yep.. only 6 weeks left until my due date. Woa.. John and I started taking our "prep for birthing" class. It is actually pretty good. I've been trying to exercise and do the stretches and exercises that are supposed to get me and the baby ready for labor and delivery. It'll be here before we know it! We are getting really excited and nervous all the time.
We have been apartment managers for about a year and half now.. and it started out great.. and because of different things (mainly a new owner and apartment management group) the apartments are turing.. south. We are seriously embarresed sometimes to say we are managers here.. we really have no power or authority to get things done for people.. and so things are not getting done and it's really frustrating needless to say. Well because of all this we are looking into buying a house again. We really don't know how much longer we will live in Albuquerque..but the possibility is there that John's job at Sandia could turn into a long-term career.. I really don't want to move out east so it would be great if we could stay here. We also know that if we do end up staying in Albuquerque we would move to Tijeras.. which is a the foot of the mountains east of the city. Beautiful and away from the city. So we are really looking into that possibility and getting excited about it. We are also looking into buying land have having a manufactured home made for us. Does anyone have any experience with manufactured homes? We don't know much about them. There is a company here in town that does them.. and it is different that a mobile home.. but i'm not sure how different.. so we will see about that.. We have a lot to look into and a lot of praying to do. I'm not sure if I ward will ever forgive us for moving out though.. I guess our ward was just demoted to a branch because we don't have enough active priesthood leaders. So sad.
Well things have been busy and good. This is the worst time for john and school. He always loses his motivation and homework discipline every semester around this time. Hopefully he'll get back on it soon. :)

John got Tagged

I got tagged. Here's the stuff

10 years ago....

10 years ago.... hmm.... I was living in scenic (not) stinky (true) Portales NM. It really was stinky we were literally surrounded by dairy farms. On days it rained the school would lift the no open flames ban so that teachers could light incense and smell-good-so-students-didn't-puke-in-class-candles. AND I got my DRIVERS LICENSE!!! Also I played football, not well, but I played. And yeah that pretty much sums up that year.. oh yeah I got to experience Corporal Punishment first hand at my school. Good times were had by all.

5 Things on My To Do List

1. Love Angela everyday with all my heart
2. HOMEWORK!!! (This will be on here for the forseeable future)
3. Be a good dad (WHOA!!!!!!)
4. Find all the gold brick on my star wars lego game
5. Finish the Book of Mormon, I meant to finish before I started work... then I hit 2nd Nephi

5 Snacks I love

1. DP
2. Chips and Salsa
3. Sonic Ice
4. Root Beer
5. Chocolate Covered Cockroaches

5 Places I have lived (Chronological)

1 Norman OK
2 Albuquerque NM
3 Farmington NM
4. Gold Canyon AZ
5. Farmington NM
(sorry this only brings me to the age of like 9... but only 5 were requested so the rest of my life will remain a mystery)

If I were a billionaire....

Honestly not a ton would change. We wouldn't be managing this apartment and we would have a hot tub. I would probably take the same classes. Scouts would be great because we would never do another fundraiser again! But I am completely happy with my life. Well, Angela and ______ and I would travel more often to more exotic places but that is all that would change.

5 Jobs (By coolness factor)

1. Sandia National Labs
2. Apartment Manager
3. Farmer
4. Stone Mason
5. WWF

7 Things You Don't Know About Me....

See this is tough "you" is pretty vague... If "you" happens to be Angela, David, Ganes or Max sorry nothing new. But let's see if I can't do somethings that will catch everyone off guard

1. I got two gold stars for a drawing I made of my bird, Rosebud, in 2nd grade
2. I got a blue ribbon in pole bending on horseback in 3rd grade (I never did better than like 48th on barrels)
3. I hate cauliflower... in any form really... well actually cauliflower compost is fine by me.
4. I experienced the 24th of October 1997 twice by crossing the international date line.
5. My normally drab imagination suddenly becomes alive in the morning when I try to convince Angela and myself why it is absolutely imperative that I stay in bed... it hasn't worked yet.
6. For my third birthday party I got exactly what I wanted... a ride on the AmTrak
7. I have travled at mach .86 my plane left late but arrived early

So this is me... I hope you enjoyed it

8 weeks and counting...

Well things are busy like always here in Albuquerque.. work and scouts and doctors appointments... and taxes (yikes!) John just recently started a job at Sandia National Labs for the Department of Energy in nuclear radiation detection. It is a great job and pays well and will give him great experience. This will be his full-time job for the summer too. So we can buy diapers.. yay! I will be taking over more of the apartment managment stuff... yikes.. But we really feel very blessed that he got this job.

Speaking of blessings.. I had my "big" appointment with the perinatologist last friday and that went really well. I've been having weekly fetal assessments on fridays and they have all been great. They are grading the baby on a 10 point scale for different things and so far (after about a month and a half) she is an A+ baby. It's awesome to get to see her move around with the ultrasound every week. This week they actually could tell that she has hair on her head! That is a shocker to me! I was bald until I was like one years old!

Here is one of the better pictures we've been able to get of her face.. we haven't seen it very much at all.. i guess she wants to surprise us.. she looks so sleepy.. just like her mom!

However.. I think that most ultrasound pictures don't really look anything like the real baby.. for example.. this is cute but the angle makes her look like an alien!

Speaking of aliens.. she is a VERY acive baby, which is so wonderful and makes me really happy..but today she is seriously moving soo much! She was head down for a couple of weeks and I'm pretty sure she flipped over today at lunch while i was on the phone with John and I really feels like she is trying to climb out of my belly! Well check out these buff soccer legs! See what I have to deal with!!

We only have 8 weeks (minus a couple of days) until my due date. I have been soooo exhausted the last few days I wonder how I am going to make it.. and keep working and doing everything else.. I am really ready to hybernate! I also have been having these anxiety dreams that the baby is born and we have just the things we currently have.. so we have no diaper wipes and no crib mattress (the crib is all put together.. just no mattress yet..we'll get there) and I don't know how to install the car seat.. I really need to figure out the car seat because I have a dream about that like every night! Haha.. We are really excited to be parents. We can't wait to meet her and get to know her for the rest of her life.

P.S. For all you "The Office" fans.. they are back on air this week (this Thursday night on NBC). It's the only show we really watch... it's the best.

Baby Booming

Well it's been a little while since I have posted. Life is busy and great! We have baby stuff and bags of diapers pilled up in our apartment now waiting to be organized and it is inducing baby filled dreams. Last night I dreamt she was born 8 pounds and 0 ounces and looks like John.

We have baby stuff piled up because I had my baby shower last Saturday. Horray! It was such a great shower. My awesome mom, sisters and little brother all came down for the weekend. It was so much fun. I got some awesome stuff too! We are getting so excited for her to be born. We still have so much to do and I feel like I still have so much I need to learn!! Here are some pictures from the weekend. Most of these are on Easter Sunday.

Here is my wonderful, crazy family.

I really love this one: :)

Great news! Truman is awake! Megan bonded with him this weekend. :)

Here he is eating off Megan's plate. yum celery..

MOre great news.. I can still see my feet!!!!

barely...

I got Tagged.. Twice!

10 Years ago
I was just finishing up the last semester of my eighth grade. Something you probably didn't know was I was actually expelled from school this semester so I was kind of home-schooling.. myself. I also hung out with my 5 year old brother a lot. But I would say that what I was really up to was a lot of CHANGE. I was finally learning from my mistakes, changing friends and really growing up and gaining a real testimony for the first time.

5 Things on my to do list
Transform our messy office into a beautiful baby room
Get my visiting teaching done
Finally mend all of John's ripped jeans
Organize my pictures for scrap booking
Read the Old Testament

5 Snacks I love
candy/ice-cream/cookies
fruit
bell peppers with cream cheese
granola bars
yogurt

5 Places I've lived
Cedar City, Utah
Ogden, Utah
Kingman, Arizona
Flagstaff, Arizona
Albuquerque, New Mexico

What would I do if I suddenly became a Billionaire
Travel.. and take my family (the Shupes) with me. I would also get John a plane and a sailboat, be a stay at home mom, open a hot-sprins spa/bed and breakfast (like 10 Thousand Waves in Sante Fe), and build multiple summer homes (close to family, in Vallecito Colorado, Hawaii, Hava Supai, Cinque Terra Italy... and other beautiful summer places)

5 Jobs I've had
Office assistant for a Podiatrist (foot doctor)
Financial Aid Assistant at NAU
Computer Lab Aide at NAU
Dairy Queen (for one day! I hated it!)
Dental Hygienist

7 Things you probably don't know...random/weird facts about me :
(this one covers both people that tagged me) :)

1. I am notorious for doing way too many things at once. I'll have a few hours and start seven projects, getting nothing really accomplished and sometimes making an even bigger mess!

2. I love to buy books. I have shelves full! I love to buy them but don't have or really make the time to read all of the books I have! And it takes me so long to get though a book because I am seriously reading like 8 books right now..I'll just read them a little here and there. I keep saying that someday I'll read them all!

3. I am actually kind of nervous about being a mom. I have always imagined it and known I have wanted to be a mother.. but of course never pictured how I would be.. who would be my husband.. what would I be like.. and now that I am here I feel like I don't know what the heck I am doing and I'll be this awkward person who is supposed to nurture and raise a child when I cannot even take care of myself!

4. This is similar to the book thing.. but I love buying scrap booking supplies even though I haven't actually completed a scrapbook page in probably more than two years.. I will get better about that though! I have committed myself to scrap booking for my daughter so she (and I) will have her life documented.

5. I become so much more dramatic and whiny (woe is me exaggerations) around John. We actually both do it to each other.. pouty lips and all.. and at our institute class we just learned that this is a form of abuse through manipulating your couple to give you sympathy.. haha. we'll keep doing it I'm sure!

6. I LOVE Spring and Summer... I seriously get soo excited this time of year when it starts to warm up and start planning summer hiking and camping and road trips. It's like I become alive again. I would never work a day at all in the summer if I didn't have to. I would have picnics and take naps in the sun everyday instead.

7. I have always wanted to be a runner. A really good, fit, avid runner. I really wanted to do cross country in high school, but was afraid to push myself that hard. I've wanted to run marathons but have never pushed myself to do the training.. but I have ran enough to know the runners "high" and still want to be runner. But why don't I do it? Why don't I push through the hard miles and finally loose my extra weight and become this awesome, addicted runner? I guess I am lazy.. and would rather take naps in the sun.


Now I tag: Bob, Rachel Jensen, Niki, Becky and Kami

Weekend in Colorado...

John just had another fun regional tournament for college bowl.. (the Jeapordy with teams). This year is was in beautiful Colorado Springs. His team did really well. They got 2nd overall, which means they cannot go to nationals this year. boo.. I'm actually secretly glad because I'll be really great with child then and won't be able to go. :( Here is the team:

I actually missed most of the games because I went up to Greeley to hang out with Rachel Jensen, one of my best friends for so long and her two boys. She just had a new baby boy, Hayden Charles, 6 weeks ago. It was so good to see her and spend the day with them. :)

We got back Saturday night and since John now has meetings at 6:30 in the morning with the young men's presidency this is how he spends his Sunday afternoons (he adverages about 5 hours for a nap.. you think I would be doing that.. I'm the pregnant one! ). :

Before we left I had my check-up with my regular OBGYN and my blood pressure was looking good.. even though I am still leaking a lot of protien in my urine I seem to be okay for now.. fingers crossed and lots of prayers for no preeclamsia and for good health! She also said all the kidney screenings came out okay... whew!! horray for healthy kidneys!

Here is my belly at 25 weeks:

And here it is at 26 weeks: There's defenitly no hiding it now!!

The Pregnancy...the first 25.5 weeks

Well, yep. I am pregnant. Most anyone who reads this knows that. We are having a little girl and she is due to appear June 1st. I'm thinking she'll come May 27th. John keeps saying riduculous things like June 12th or June 8th. No way. :)
Well once the morning (and afternoon and evening) sickness finally subsided I have been feeling pretty good. My energy is up a little more and my belly is growing every day. I feel her kick all the time and do sumersalts and she is sure stretching out my skin.
About a month ago we went in for my regular check-up and my blood pressure was just a little high so my doctor ordered a 24 hour urine collection. Let me tell you what a joy that was! I had to spend my whole day close to home and pee in this horribly designed "hat" and then keep it in a nice jug in the fridge. It was such a joy, let me tell you. So I drop it off Sunday morning at the lab and Monday while I am at work a nurse from my doctor's office (she works for a different doctor because my doctor is only there wednesday - friday) and this other doctor call and tell me my protien levels are really really high and I need to go home and be on bed rest until the next morning when can go to their office to see them. So of course we are so worried and stressed and thinking of a million things and start reading about preeclamsia and eclamsia and are feeling pretty miserable at this point. (Physically I feel pretty good though). So, we go in to the office the next morning and my blood pressure is the highest it's ever been (I say it's from all the dang stress! ) It was still not soooo high.. but too high for a pregnancy... and high enough that they send me over to Triage. So we spent the next 5 hours in this little room in triage and over there with their machine my blood pressure is normal, my urine is protien free and the three blood tests they did all came out normal. horray! Too bad it took all day for them to tell us that! So it turns out my protien level was 3870 mg (normal is 0, 300 is too high). Yikes! but now everyone is really confused that the blood tests were normal.. so they have me redo the dang 24 hour urine collection. so I had to take more time off work to essentially stay home and pee in a cup. Well, this time the protien level is 389 mg.. a LOT better but still a little high. jeesh. I'm still not exhibiting any of the pains or swelling that come a lot with preeclamsia so we are feeling a little better about things.. and of course after a lot of prayers from family and friends and fasting and priesthood blessings.. so we are feeling not soo stressed all the time anymore. Well my OBGYN then referred me to a Perinatal (high risk) doctor. We saw him on the 5th of February and we loved him. They did a long ultrasound and the baby is doing awesome. Whew.. So he's trying to figure out what the heck is going on (my blood pressure was great that day and had no protien in my urine). So he starts invesitgating my medical history a little. I don't really have much of a medical history.. but then it dawns on me that I have had something going on with my kidney's for a while.. i've never gone to the doctor for it but I know something is not right with my kidneys. My mom told me that when I was younger I had a lot of bladder infections and when I was in college I had a really bad one that gave me severe (can't move and sobbing) pain in my kidneys. Well I still never went to the doctor for that.. I just got a blessing from my friend and took two days of an antibiotic dose (I didn't know I was supposed to keep taking it) and then I was miraculously better. However, since then when I get UTI's they are so miserable and tenatious and take forever to go away as well as give me kidney pain. I even get kidney pain when I don't drink enough water.. well says Dr. Joffe "you may be chronically building up kidney stones, or you may have some disorder where your bladder regurgitates the urine back to your kidneys which will raise your blood pressure and cause the protien in your urine." Okay. so now i'm thinking I'll finally get this kidney stuff figured out! However he told me to start taking a baby asprin every day to help prevent preeclamsia and to take my blood pressure daily. He ordered about 6 tests at the lab, a kidney ultrasound and fasting renal (kidney) doppler (listened to the blood flow to and through my kidneys). I finished those tests about a week and a half ago and haven't heard anything which I am taking as good news. However I still had one last test to complete- I got to ruin another weekend by collecting my urine for 24 hours again. (at the least the "hat" design is getting better with each test!). Again I dropped the test off Sunday morning and gave them some blood, and again this other doctor's office gets is and calls me.. So I have to quickly cancel patients for the next afternoon so I can go back to the hospital, get more blood tests done (for preeclamsia), get my blood pressure checked and have a fetal monitoring ultrasound done. The baby is still doing great and my blood pressure is okay. jeesh! At this point I still haven't heard anything from the Perinatal Doctor and am just confused.. I have another fetal assesment ultrasound tomorrow morning and an appointment with the regular OBGYN. Hopefully all that will go well and I will know more about what the heck is going on. I still probably won't know everything until I meet with the Perinatal specialist on the 5th. Sigh. Other wise I feel okay. I do get dull pain in my right kidney... daily. I'm not sure how I feel about that. And the last few days my sciatic (psychotic) nerve is Killing me! Also I've been having bad sharp pains in one spot in my belly where it feels like my muscle is getting shredded apart. jeesh.. other than that, i'm good!
Tonight John talked to the baby for a few minutes in Spanish and told her he wants to feel her move and then sure enough he put his hand on my belly and felt her move a lot. :) This was teh first time he's felt her move. It was awesome. This pregnancy stuff is for the birds but we are so excited and anxious to be parents and can't wait to meet her. :)
Thanks everyone for your prayers and support!