Primary 2011

I was recently asked by our ward historian to provide a little something about my experience in Primary for last year. I can't believe that I have been the Primary President for an entire year now! Here is what I provided. I don't know if it is exactly what she wanted, her directions were quite vague, but I tried my best.

2011 Primary

By: Karli Jaeckel

                The year 2011 was a busy and exciting year for me. After moving up to Rexburg, ID in January to attend school, I was called to be the Primary President no longer than a month after moving into the ward. This was the start of many firsts for me, including the first real calling I have ever held. Little did I know, this experience would hold so many blessings for me.

                Throughout this year I have fallen in love with the primary children that have been in our ward. Being a married student ward, we have many kids filter in and out of our primary and nursery frequently. There is an interesting dynamic in a ward of this type. While there are over 20 kids in nursery most Sundays, there can as low as only 6 kids in primary. Last year however, our ward decided to pull up any child over the age of 3 to attend sharing time. This was motivated by end of the year program approaching fast. We needed more of those little voices to sing all the songs we had learned! Our primary grew to a total of 9 kids. While this may seem like a small primary (and it is) and therefore a small calling, you couldn’t be more wrong. Although there were only 9 kids, they are all under the age of four. Boy those 3 year olds can be a handful at times!

                The primary program was probably the hardest part of the year for me. Putting together something that included 9 very young, energetic kids, was a difficult task. However, with my awesome presidency, chorister, and pianist, we made it work. That Sunday, after sacrament and after the program came to an end, I experienced the most satisfying, spirit filled, feeling I have ever felt. Each primary child did their parts perfectly! They all were brave enough to stay on stage for the entire 45 minutes. They all sung their best and remembered most of the word that they had worked so hard on. I was so proud of them all. As much work as that all was to prepare, the feeling I felt at that moment made it all worth it.

                While being in this ever changing calling, I have learned so much about our gospel and about how the church is organized. Just being able to attend ward council every week has taught me so much. It is amazing to me how much love a bishopric can have for their ward members. I never knew that individual families were spoken about in such detail every week within this meeting. It made me understand why our church is growing at such a rapid rate and why no matter what ward you attend within the LDS church you feel that immediate sense of love. I definitely have a much stronger testimony about the church and the way the church is put together. It is truly an inspired organization and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience, learn, and witness more of it.

                One worry I had when I was first called to this position is not being able to attend Relief Society every week and take part in the lessons. That was before I found out how much my testimony could grow in preparing for and attending primary each week. I have the spirit and the children to thank for this. The small comments they make each week and the direction that the lessons naturally take due to the spirit teaches me things that I could never have learned anywhere else. I am so thankful that I have been able to partake in this primary experience.

                This new year, 2012, we have a total of 10 primary age kids (without moving up nursery kids). This is a huge group for us and I have recently heard that we are the largest primary in the stake! I am looking forward to what this year will bring and am thankful to still be able to be a part of the primary organization.

               

Dear Baby Brody,

I think I am beginning to experience bits and pieces of what it feels like to be a mom. Feeling you move inside me gives me so much comfort to know that you are growing stronger and stronger everyday. I go to sleep thinking about you and wake up thinking about you. Even though you are the most active during the night, the lack of sleep actually doesn't bother me. My favorite part about recent nights is being woken up by one of your kicks or turns and being able to just lay there, with my hand on my growing belly, feeling all your little movements. Your dad feels you move all the time too. Whenever we are relaxing, he always has one hand on my stomach, just in case you make a little kick. He talks to you too. I don't know what he says to you because he puts his mouth real close and whispers things to you. I ask what he says, but his reply is that it is just secrets between you and him. He loves you so much, and reminds me of that everyday. Getting your room ready for when you arrive is one of my favorite things to do lately. I love organizing and reorganizing all of your cute clothes, toys, books, and supplies. I can't wait to finally meet you in April. I wonder what it will feel like to not have you inside of me anymore after so many months. While organizing our large storage closet the other day, the tub I was stupidly standing on tipped over, causing me to crash right on my bum. What normally would have been a small fall, was one of the most terrifying things that has happened to me in the past 6 months. I realized how important it is for me to be more careful, since I need to take care of my little guy inside of me. I sat on the couch, very still until I felt you move, reassuring me that you were okay. I look forward to when you are here so that I can look at you and know for sure that you are healthy and perfect, just the way you should be. It's weird how you can love something so much without even laid eyes on it yet. That is the way I feel about you. You already make such a difference in both your dad's and my lives. You make me feel important and special. I am so lucky to be able to have the opprotunity to be your mom.

Love always,
Your Mommy

Brody Jaeckel

It's a boy! We are so excited. Jeff somehow just knew it was going to be a boy the whole time. My mom recently bought us a bunch of little boy outfits. Seeing those in the spare bedroom closet makes everything even more real. I feel like little Brody is all I think about nowadays, even though it seems to be so far away that we will actually have a real baby in our home!

This is me at 21 weeks (as of Friday).

This is Jeff at 30 new movies (as of Black Friday).

Even though I didn't take ANY pictures except the one above, we had an awesome Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Quincy came and stayed with us for ten days and it couldn't have been a more perfect and relaxed holiday. I've missed her and my family so much. I can't wait until we join her in Provo next year when Jeff attends BYU. (He applied this last week, so we are crossing our fingers that he gets accepted again.)

I'm just trying to get through these next two weeks of finals. Jeff is busy at work and getting prepared to start back up at school in January. We both can't wait to get some time away for Christmas on Dec. 21st! Brody kicks a lot. However, I am the only one who can feel it so far. Jeff can't wait to be able to join in this excitement. Here is the proof that Brody is indeed a little Brody.
 

Our doctor has a sense of humor.

The ultrasound went great. It was one of my favorite days of pregnancy so far. We even got a little video of him moving around and stretching his legs. All the tests went great and he is in the normal percentile in everything. I can't wait to meet him in April!

Update: Showing nothing but love handles.

My week has been filled with midterms, acid reflex, a cold, the need for a nap, and a lack of a husband. Jeff has been working so hard this semester (he's off track, which means he starts back to school in January- our school is weird) trying to build up our back account before he has to cut back on hours at his job once school starts. I am so thankful that I married such a hard working man. I tell him to quit almost everyday because I rarely get to see him. I go to school/work at 8:00 every morning and get home and 5:00 every afternoon. On most days he leaves for work here at 4:00 and doesn't get home until 1:00 in the morning! We just barely miss eachother and it is so sad. But we are making it work and I am pretty proud of him for not giving into my persuasion. However, he has agreed to cut back to 3 eight hour days per week once school starts, which will be glorious. I can't wait.

On the subject of the baby- it is growing. Hence the 11 lbs that I got to see on the doctor's scale the other day. It is a very hard realization for me to see the numbers higher than I've ever seen them before while I've been busier than ever and eating less than normal. (I rarely feel hungry- I basically have to force myself to eat because I know that I need to & on top of it nothing ever sounds or tastes good.) With all this I am still gaining weight and my pants are tighter than ever. I try to remember that this is all normal but it is still so hard for me to get used to it. I think it will get better once I have a "baby bump" to show for it all and not just a fatter stomach. Haha, but seriously.

To everyone- I will take pictures when I'm ready. I do not want anyone to throw up to the sight of my non-cute-bump. So just hold your horses. Hopefully the pictures will come within the next two months.

Also, mark your calendars- we find out if we have a little Jeff or a little Karli on November 18th! Ah! I can't wait <3

Week 14- Start of the 2nd Trimester

So first thing Doctor Prince told me at my appointment is, "Well, you've made it through the hard part." As I sat there smiling, I was feeling rather lucky. While he meant that this was the end to morning sickness and extreme exhaustion, I have been lucky enough to not have experienced even a small portion of either of these. I honestly don't feel different at all (aside from my pants feeling a little bit snug recently). At every doctor's appointment I half expect them to say, "Just kidding, you don't REALLY have a baby inside of there." & I wouldn't be all that surprised. (Well except for the fact that that would be quite a strange joke.) I am looking forward to showing. Right now I am beginning to just feel fat. I tried wearing just a regular t-shirt and jeans the other day- that would be a no. I wore my fleese over my outfit the entire day.

However, one thing that is making this all feel a little less like a dream is our second bedroom. My parents had saved my sisters' crib from way back when and brought it up to us the last time they visited. Jeff and I (mostly Jeff) put it together the other day and boy is it weird to walk past that doorway and see a crib in there! Our conversations frequently consist of new baby name ideas. Which is WAY harder than I ever thought. The countdown is getting smaller towards the day we get to find out if we are going to have a boy or girl. I hear from multiple people that not being sick means that its a boy. Who knows though..we'll just have to wait and see!

Boy or Girl?

One thing that we are constantly wondering about is if our little one will be a boy or a girl. We still have awhile to wait.. about six weeks but we can't wait to find out! It's so fun to think about that this little person will someday have similarities to each of us. 

Kar's B-day.

Have I told you what an awesome husband I have? Yes, well I will tell you again. On Thursday I got home from school and on our table was a huge German Chocolate cake complete with "22nd" written in chocolate chips. There was even 22 candles on the cake!!

He also surprised me with a Kindle!! I was so shocked. I am so excited to use this nifty little gift. He is definitely very thoughtful. He had even used his saved up Plasma money for it. I had no idea. 

& the cake of course, was delicious. He got my favorite to go with it- Expresso flavored ice cream. Yum!

Then on Saturday we went out to eat the Applebees. It was so fun. When you are used to considering "eating out" as stopping by the Taco Bell drive thru, places like Applebees are like a dream. (Thanks Jenae for the Birthday gift card- You rock!)

These past few days have been filled with Happy Birthdays wishes, cards, and gifts. I feel so loved. I can tell already that this twenty-second year is going to be a good one for sure!