20 Weeks, A Fever, and A New Job!

So today, I am really wanting to go to church! I love being there and feeling the Spirit! It always helps me through my week. I can't though cause I have a fever, a hacking cough that is settling in my chest and I ache all over. I get a little upset when people are sick and go out in public cause I don't want what they have. So, I better stay home! I think I will read from the Ensign and the scriptures, but I thought a great way to start was by thinking of and expressing some of the things I am grateful for today!

I am grateful for an understanding Father in Heaven who knows me and my stuggles and helps me even when I can't see it!

I am thankful for the blessing of being pregnant! This has not been an easy time in our lives. We had not planned on moving foreward with this until after Tom finished school, but I feel like if we are obedient we will be blessed!

I am so grateful that yesterday I hit the 20 week point! I am halfway to seeing our little miracle! Pictures will come on Thursday!!

I am grateful for the days that I don't feel quite as nauseated as most other days!! Those are good days!

I am grateful for ultrasounds and we will be able to find out the gender (hopefully) on Thursday! We are very excited!!

I am so thankful that the Lord allows us to feel the movements of those little ones!! I can only feel them if I am lying on my back and there is some background noise going on, like the radio or TV. I have to really concentrate, but I can't deny that those little flutters are there!! I can't wait to feel them more strongly!

I am very grateful for friends and family that are going through the same thing I am right now and how close we have become because of it!!

I am grateful for parents who were so patient with me and taught me the right way! I am so excited for them to come stay after the baby comes!!

I am grateful for in-laws that are the best anyone can ask for! I am excited that they will be involved in our child's life!!

I am so grateful for brothers and sisters who love us and support us!

I am thankful for a job that helps me pay the bills and allows me to work with great people, even though lately it's so hard for me to be there!!!

Last but not least I am so grateful for a loving husband, a partner in this life and for eternity, a daddy for my baby, and the love of my life! He has had a hard time lately because he really wants to work in the electrical field. He is going to school to become an electrician. If you knew him, you'd know how perfect of a fit this is as a career for him! Because of the current economic crisis he hasn't been able to find work as most electrical companies have had to lay off most of their staff because of the lack of work!! He has always told me, ya make more money flipping burgers than you do doing nothing!! He promised me from the time we were engaged that he would support his family, no matter what! Well, today he starts his job at Auto Zone! He has worked there in the past for 3 1/2 years and vowed he would never go back! His friend is the manager of a store up here in SLC and offered Tom a job! Even though he hates the idea of going back to retail, we are so greatful he has a job and he is excited at the prospect of working with his friend!! His first day is today and he just arrived there ready to be put to work! It has been very nice having him be available for whatever needs to be done, but we are even more excited to be paying off bills!!

Thank you baby for being such a wonderful husband and example to our baby!! I couldn't have picked a better father for my children!! I love you so much and look foreward to the many wonderful things this life has in store for us!!

Tauranga, New Zealand!

Sorry this one is even later!! It's not cause I didn't want to share it! I have been so sick that I can hardly get out of bed for work, and when I am there, I can't be completely there! That bothers me so much, but I guess this is better late than never! We had so much fun there, and you will see a lot of pics with not a lot of commentary. The landscape was just so beautiful and that's what we took most of the pics of!! Hope you enjoy, cause we sure did!!

This is OUR Blog!!!

and with it being our blog, I feel like we feel like we should be able to share our thoughts, fears, dreams, concerns, happinesses and whatever else we feel like sharing. I got a very rude annonymous comment on here telling us that we don't know how lucky we are and that we should just be grateful for what we have and stop complaining about how long it took us to get pregnant! Well, first of all, we have NEVER complained, and second, I was telling of some fears I have because I have some infertility in my family, and I am sorry if this is stupid to anyone out there, but this was a valid concern to me!! I do realize that we got pregnancy fairly fast, because the chances of getting pregnant are so small anyways, but it was still hard for me to see those negative tests and anyone who has been in my position knows exactly how I feel! The numbers don't matter! It doesn't matter that it took someone else a lot of time, what matters is what I have felt and am feeling!! I am not sharing anyone elses feelings on this blog!!! That's why it says The Hughes Family at the top!! If you don't want to know what I am feeling, don't read it!! I have recently taken off the option to leave annonymous comments on our blog, just so that person knows, and I have deleted your comment because I don't need someone being so negative on here, it's not welcome!! We do know how blessed we are and are grateful for all the Lord has given us!!

Sorry for the rant, and most of you will not understand this, but there is one person that will, and I would appreciate if they didn't comment like that any more on this site!!

Melbourne, Australia

We flew to Melbourne after we left Brisbane! We stayed with Tom's aunt and uncle! They were so great and we appreciate all they did for us! We spent time at Victoria Market which is the largest outdoor market in the world.

We got to do work for Tom's family at the Melbourne Temple!

We found the whole experience of driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car a little weird!!

We went to Old Melbourne Gaol (Jail) It was really neat!

Us at a medevil castle close to Melbourne.

The rest is us at Sovereign Hill a mining Town within the place where Tom's dad was born called Ballarat.

Brisbane, Australia

We had a lot of fun in Brisbane! This was the first place we went. We stayed with Tom's brother Jeff and his wife Dee and their three girls, Arielle, Seraiah, and Tylah. They were so great and made us feel so at home!! I was sick most of the time and they took such good care of me!! It was great to meet them and be with them!!

This is the family at Daisy Hill Koala Center! It was fun! We got to see 3 Koalas!!

This is Tom and his brother and sister.

This was one of them!

Us at the Brisbane River!
We visited the Brisbane Temple!

The whole clan! They were a blast!!

My Prego Belly!

The start of my Prego Belly! I was in the temple in New Zealand and looked down and was like, "Holy cow!! Where did that come from!!" It's a lot more firm than my previous chub, so while I still feel fat, at least I can see things changing. I look a lot bigger to myself than I do to anyone else, but at least I can see progress!!

12 Weeks!

Sorry, this is a little late but we have been in Australia and I haven't been able to update! I am 15 1/2 weeks today and our next appointment is next Wednesday. When we went in for our 12 week appointment though our little one was doing very well! Moving a TON, it amazes me that I can't feel it! It was very neat to see though, and the heart was doing very well!! Not quite as fast as last time and the doctor said that's good cause the baby is getting bigger. I am still very sick all the time and just biding my time and praying to enjoy this time even though I am so sick! It has to end some time...right?? Even though I don't feel well though, we feel grateful for this gift in our life and know the Lord has blessed us throughout everything that is going on in our life.
This is our little one! You can see the face is on the right looking up, then below that is the torso. The baby was moving so much that we couldn't get pictures of anything else! Hope you enjoy!