34 Weeks...and I'm huge

I'm just 6 weeks away from my due date! So crazy! Its always weird to look back at previous pregnancy profile pictures and to realize that my tummy really is growing! I never feel like I am getting bigger until I see pictures, or until I realize that my clothes aren't as comfortable as I remember them being...

 

Baby is soooo active! I can't help but wonder if this is normal... of course, I'm sure its nothing to worry about, but I just wonder if this is how most babies are!  She is seriously allllll over the place.  In the evenings (lately), she is the most active, and when she's really busy, you can see her - it looks like I have popcorn popping in my stomach.  Or just a crazy baby doing internal TaeBo....can I count that as my daily exercise?

In other news, we are enjoying our hypnobabies class - we've finished 3 of the 6 weeks of class, and I feel like I am really gaining some useful tools for my "birthing time." It is such a cool experience to go into hypnosis (which sounds really kooky, but its just deep relaxation and visualization).  I can totally see how it will be effective for me!  I tried using some relaxation techniques earlier this week before I gave a presentation at a Board of Health meeting (because I was starting to get butterflies), and it totally worked! Once I let myself relax, I was able to let go of my nervous feelings and give my presentation confidently.  So cool!

Work has been kind of crazy this past month! At the beginning of September, I planned a PTA"Health and Safety Summit" for all Utah County PTA members, and it was a lot of work!  It turned out really well though - everything went smoothly, and we had a good turnout, so I was pretty happy with it!  I kind of like event planning, I'm finding out...

Speaking of which, I am planning a 5k for November!  I'm really excited about it - it has been really fun to get creative and just put it all together.  I am feeling so lucky to have a job that allows me to be creative in the ways I accomplish my assigned tasks.  Its been a cool experience to realize that I can think outside the box, and to have the funds needed to carry out my ideas.  So fun! I'm just hoping that I can plan everything out really well so that everything goes smoothly (I will have just had the baby, and so I probably won't be able to do much in the way of helping get ready for the run). Wish me luck!

Oh, and if you are interested, there are still some spots open in the race if you want to register (Its free)! www.coldturkeyrun.pbworks.com.

31 weeks and Happy 4th Anniversary!

 

I'm 31 weeks now, and am only 2 months away from my due date! I can hardly believe it!  Baby has been soo busy lately.  I would LOVE to see what she is doing all day, it seems like she is constantly moving! 

I posted this on my facebook, but this week, I was sitting in a training, and baby was all over the place! I tried to cover up all the movement by putting my hands on top of my stomach, but afterwards, this lady was like, "Is that baby just going crazy inside of you?" and then she told me that she had seen my stomach moving a ton during the training!  Hahaha.... kind of embarrassing, and sooo weird!  But I love it, I love knowing that she is an active baby, and somehow the constant movement is comforting to me. 

I'm starting to bump into things more with my tummy, and realizing that I can't get through narrow spaces anymore..   Oh, and also... I have started growing out of my early maternity clothes! Now THAT is weird!  and I'm able to wear things that I thought I'd never be big enough to fit in.  Pretty crazy.  

In other news, Richard and I had our 4 year anniversary on August 22! I can hardly believe we've been married that long!  It has been the most wonderful and happy 4 years of my life.  I love that man so much!  We have really grown a lot together, and I love looking back at how we have changed since we were first married.  We have been through so many great experiences together already, and I am so grateful to know that I will always have him by my side through future experiences.

Richard totally surprised me this year with our anniversary date.  I had absolutely NO idea what his plans were, other than we were going to go somewhere overnight.  We ended up going to Vegas!  I still have to laugh when I think about that - it was so unexpected!  Richard was really proud of himself though, for surprising me to the extent that he did. And I was super impressed!

He picked me up after work, and had packed my suitcase, brought me dinner, and everything.  He told me to prepare myself for a drive anywhere between 2 and 12 hours.  He really wasn't going to tell me where we were going until it was obvious we weren't going anywhere I had been expecting. He finally told me where we were going around the time we were passing through Cedar City! I could not stop laughing because I was so surprised and excited.  

Richard got a great deal on a nice hotel room, and we stayed there for 2 nights.  Sadly, it rained all day on our anniversary, so we weren't able to walk around the strip as much as we would have liked, but we did get to see the Venetian, Palazzo, and the Bellagio. It was kind of fun to walk around all the ritzy shops and imagine what it would be like to spend $3,000 on a single pair of shoes (that's more than we spent on our car!) 

Our hotel had a nice theater inside, and so we got to see the new Batman movie.  Oh, and of course, we tried out the buffet at our hotel, which had really good food!  You know what they say... when you go to Vegas, you gotta try out the buffet!

 

 We played a game where we tried to find the two worst looking foods, and the two best looking foods, and then try them all.  We did pretty well at finding some nasty-looking and tasting foods...  

Richard's gross foods

One of my gross foods

The view from our room

Gondola rides inside the Venetian hotel!

                            These sandals were cute... but kinda pricey!

Really interesting suit outfit in a high-end store...

Fountains at the Bellagio

30 weeks

Here's the latest tummy picture! I'm still feeling pretty good, just getting a little cramped!  Oh, and my feet are swollen and hurting all the time.  Other than that (which still isn't much to complain about) I feel great.  We've (still) been loving feeling baby move all the time, it is exciting every time.  Apparently, she is as big as a head of lettuce, is 18 inches long, and weighs 3.2 pounds (according to my "What to Expect" App).  She's growing up so fast! 

The past couple weeks have been crazy and fun!  We went to Oregon for a week, and while we were there, we did a family backpacking trip.  It was a blast!  Summer backpacking trips have been a tradition in our family, and they have always been looked forward to.  We haven't done a trip since the summer I got married (4 years ago!), and so we were excited to be able to go on this one.  I was a little nervous about going, being pregnant and all, but the hike was easy, and Richard was so kind to pack in our nice big air mattress so I could sleep comfortably.  We camped for 2 nights and it was perfect! I loved having that time with the family without any distractions or anything to do but just be together.

After we got back from our trip, the next day my sisters and mom threw me a baby shower.  It was so awesome to see so many of the people I love so much!  One thing I really loved about the baby shower was something that Rochelle decided to do - she invited people to write a blessing or wish that they had for me, and to find a special bead or charm to go with it, so that I could put them onto a bracelet that I could wear for positive energy and encouragement leading up to the birth, and as I step into motherhood.

We also did a girls' day with my mom and sisters - we went to the Pittock Mansion in Portland, and imagined what it must have been like to live in such luxury. It is a beautiful building! 

Then we came home and had a tea party with my Aunt Sandy and Cousins Birgitte and Kirsten.  We all felt sooo refined.  The tea was delicious, as were the finger sandwiches and scones and other little desserts.  We had so much fun making and eating that food!  And of course, we had to finish out the ultimate girl experience with a chick flick - Pride and Prejudice (the one with Kiera Knightly).   So much fun!

Rochelle took pictures of both the baby shower and tea party set up - look at her craft blog to see them!

Oh, and we got to see some of our best friends while we were there - I went out to breakfast with my best friend from high school, Michelle (love her!), and the next day, we got to see our friends Max and Rebecca and their ADORABLE baby Charlie (future husband of our daughter).  We went to the Original Pancake house in Portland (sooo good!) and had fun catching up with them. 

We had such a blast being in Oregon with the whole family! We were definitely sad to go back to normal life, but I feel like we really lived it up while we were there! 

27 Weeks

I have been slacking! It's been almost 10 weeks since I last posted... woops!  I just can't believe how FAST my pregnancy is going! The weeks are just flying by.  I'm officially in my THIRD trimester!  ..so crazy. 

We are getting SO excited for our baby girl to come!  It is just becoming more and more real as it gets closer and my tummy gets bigger. Speaking of which... here's the latest tummy picture:

A few things I've been thinking about lately: 

- I've known for awhile (pretty much since I got pregnant) that I want to do a natural birth.  I've heard really good things about hypnobabies, and feel like it would be the best method for me.  Richard and I are starting the class in September, and I am really looking forward to it!  

- I've been really grateful for a book that Rochelle let me borrow, called "The Gift of Giving Life."  It's a book with short stories and essays that are all focused on motherhood and birth.  I feel like my outlook and appreciation for my role as a mother (and for the mothers around me) have grown deeper as I have read and reflected on, and been uplifted by the stories in that book.  Every time I start to feel overwhelmed or scared at the thought of giving birth to our daughter, I read a few of the stories in the book, and the negative feelings go away; I have renewed confidence and motivation to be a good mom, and to have a good birth. 

- Starting a business - Richard has been working so hard for the past couple months to get things in place to start our cake business.  I am so proud of him and all his work to get it going.  It has really been an amazing growing experience and we have seen so many tender mercies already. It is kind of stressful, thinking about starting a business and having a baby around the same time, but I feel at peace about the way things are timed.  I know it is all going to work out, and it will be exciting to see how it all unfolds.  

18 weeks! Its a....

18 weeks pregnant

I'm still feeling really good - in fact, I think I just keep getting more and more energy!  I think I can do this pregnancy thing!   In the past two weeks, we've hit some exciting milestones:

1. We found out our sweet little baby is a GIRL!!!!  We are so excited!  I have been thinking it would be a girl for some time now, and so I was not too surprised when the ultrasound lady told us it is a girl!  We were kind of surprised that we could find out so early (16 weeks) what our baby's gender is, but when we learned that we could, we jumped at the opportunity (and we're so glad we did... we stink at waiting for surprises).  I can't wait to start making her little dresses and skirts and headbands....! If anyone knows of some awesome DIY baby girl clothes tutorials, I would love to know about them!

2. I started to think I felt baby kicking about two or three weeks ago, and in the days since, the kicks have gotten stronger, and I am positive I can feel the baby moving now!  Up until today, I haven't been able to feel baby kick with my hand at all, but tonight I felt her moving around, and so I put my hand where I thought she was, and she gave me a good kick!  It was awesome.

3. I officially have a bump, and have moved into maternity pants... I don't know why I didn't do that sooner, because they are AMAZING.  I have been pretty uncomfortable in my normal pants, and so when my sister Rochelle told me she had piles and piles of maternity pants, I got really excited. She gave me a few pairs, and it has just been dreamy ever since.


In other news, we have been LOVING the spring (summer) weather - it has been so nice and warm, and we can't stay inside.  Over the memorial day weekend, my brother Tayler and his new wife Heather came down from Rexburg to visit, and we all went camping with Rochelle and BJ and their two little boys.  We went to Hope campground up in Provo Canyon, and had a blast together!  It was R & BJ's first camping trip with their kids, so we were all glad that it was a good experience!  We had so much fun together, and especially with those little boys.

This weekend, Richard and I spent most of the time outside, it was awesome!  We went on a picnic date on Friday at Bicentennial park (a magical place), and then watched a movie back at our place with Rochelle and BJ (we love them).
 On Saturday, we spent the whole day with our good friends Nic and Janey Ratto (we love them too!).  We had been talking about doing a tandem bike date with them for a long time, and so we finally did it!  We went from BYU all the way to Vivian Park and back...a 23 mile bike ride!  It was a ton of fun.  Then, because we worked up such an appetite, we went out to Red Lobster with the Rattos (YUM), and went back to our house to watch a movie - Red Tails.   Overall, we have had a very fun and fulfilling weekend!  We love Utah in the summer!

16 Weeks!

16 weeks pregnant! 

In the past couple of weeks, I have been feeling great!  I have much more energy than I did during 1st trimester, and I have had more of an appetite.  We went in for my 16 week prenatal appointment on Friday, and heard Baby's heartbeat again (still a wonderful sound!).  Everything seems to be going well!  We also found out that we can find out our baby's gender on Wednesday!  Its so crazy to me that we can find out this early!  We are super excited and can't wait!  We want to know though.... what do you think it will be?  Cast your vote on the poll to the right! :)   And just for fun, we are willing to hear any name suggestions (no promises though).  

Below are a couple pictures of what we did this weekend, just to take advantage of my renewed energy.... We hiked to the top of Y mountain!   I am SUPER sore from climbing up that mountain... for anyone who has done it you know why - It is pretty much a steady incline the entire way! It was soo hard!  But we had fun, and are glad we did it.  

Week 14!

Its so weird to see the changes in my body since last week! Although I don't feel like baby has grown a ton, I can see that he or she has!  That makes me so happy.  My pants have gotten tighter in the past week, and I'm getting more uncomfortable in my normal clothes.  I can't wait to get through this awkward/chubby stage, and actually look pregnant.  Oh, yeah.  We are pretty sure that baby is a girl...but we won't find out for another month or so.

 I have been trying really hard to stay active during my pregnancy, and Richard has been helping me a lot to reach that goal - I went running three times this week, and Richard ran with me two of those times.  We've also been walking a lot - the path that goes behind BYU campus is GORGEOUS.  Every time we walk on it, it gets more and more beautiful and green and flowered.  We love it!  I'm still feeling pretty good, still tired, but happy!