5 months!

I literally became a pregnant lady overnight! Up until this past week I had the easiest pregnancy. Zero complaints. About a week ago I suddenly felt like my body was hit by a truck. It hurt to stand up, walk, and move at all! Since the pain was so severe and so sudden I called my OB and went in the very next day. My Doctor said it was perfectly normal and caused by my ligaments stretching to make room for baby. Also, that the pain will probably stay the remainder of my pregnancy. Awesome. To explain just how pathetic I was, Glenn pushed me around Target in a children’s shopping cart while we went to Target afterwards. I was walking slower than an eighty year old woman and it was worth any embarrassment. I’m not one who deals with pain well, so I have been visiting the chiropractor, icing 2-3 times a day, taking pilates, and sleeping with a pillow between my legs. I am determined not to be miserable. Any more pain managing tips are welcome! I have been feeling a lot better and don’t have too much pain until the evenings. The other night I was so stiff and sore again that my husband piggy-backed me up the stairs to bed. That is he picked me up and I informed him I needed a glass of water, then my phone, and to shut the curtains, and, and, and… poor husband just trying to be nice. We were laughing so hard by the time we made it upstairs and he was all keeled over. There is a perk of all this ligament stretching. Baby girl has decided to make an appearance this week and I finally have a noticeable baby bump! Along with my newfound baby belly, I have a disappearing belly button. I seriously looked down in the shower and was like, huh, I had more belly button just yesterday.

And for the happy news. I am finally feeling baby girl move!!! Last Tuesday night we were relaxing on the couch watching a movie and I felt this repetitive jabbing in my lower abdomen. I kept quiet at first because I didn’t want to be a tease and have Glenn feel nothing. After a couple minutes I was confident it was baby girl and I grabbed Glenn’s hand, placed it on the exact spot, and just smiled when baby girl kept moving for her Daddy. Glenn did a little happy dance on the couch. Now I notice baby girl moving all the time. She is especially awake and active in the evenings. I love knowing that my baby girl is healthy and active and growing. I am so excited for every pregnancy milestone and I am getting more and more excited to meet her every day! I just want lots of massages in the meantime :-)

I just want to take a second and say how blessed we are with wonderful family and friends. I know how happy baby girl makes Glenn and I. But, I really love the happiness and support from our family and friends as well. Completely out of the blue my sweet friend Stephanie texted me from JoAnn’s that she saw the cutest fabric and wanted to know if it was a print I liked. She made me the cutest car-seat cover and brought it to church like the next day. I don’t think she knew just how much that meant to me. And just a couple days ago baby girl got a package in the mail from my parents with a cute outfit, some hooded towels, and washcloths. It made my day! Thanks for all the love! I appreciate these sweet unexpected surprises so much. It makes me realize that this baby will be showered with love, and also how loved I am. These parents to be can no longer resist the clearance racks at Target. We always have to look. We ended up buying this super warm baby snuggle wrap thing that obviously she won’t need until next winter, but how could we resist, especially for $6! Baby girl is starting to accumulate some stuff and it’s just one more thing that makes it so real. Just four short months left!

 

Have you seen my green bell pepper?

I am in my 20^th week of pregnancy! I am so happy to be at the half way point. It is crazy how fast I got here, and how our baby girl will be here so soon. Other than my urge to pee every hour, I have truly been blessed with the best pregnancy I could ask for. In other pregnancy news, over the past few weeks I have started suffering from a ridiculous case of pregnancy brain. I have read that this is fairly common because pregnancy shuffles what gets your attention. Between surging hormone levels, new priorities, and baby constantly on my mind its normal that memory may suffer a bit. I just feel really silly sometimes for forgetting the simplest things. Here is a glimpse into my forgetful mind lately:

I was at Cheesecake Factory for a surprise birthday party the other night and someone asked me how old I was. Simple question, right? I didn’t know! I had to stop and think about it, try and do the math, and then still wasn’t sure of my answer and had to double check with Glenn when he picked me up.

I was taking a shower and seriously couldn’t remember whether or not I had already washed my hair. Normally this is the first thing I do in the shower, and I washed my hair maybe for the second time, maybe first time, I really didn’t know.

This past Saturday Glenn and I decided we needed to wash our car. He asked me to run upstairs and grab some rags and towels. I go upstairs, come back empty handed. Run up a second time, come back with towels. Sparing me a third trip up the stairs, Glenn finally goes and gets rags to wash the car himself. Since I clearly never remembered what I was doing up there.

Where is my green bell pepper?! This is the pregnancy brain moment that has bothered me the most. I know we bought a green bell pepper. I use them all the time, so even if I don’t have a current plan for how I’m using it, we buy it anyway. I was making crab cakes to bring to a Mardi Gras party, went to start chopping my green bell pepper, and it’s gone! I have no recall of using my green bell pepper, and yet it’s nowhere to be found. I’m still going nuts over my ‘missing’ pepper, and continue trying to figure out when and what I cooked with my green bell pepper. If you see it please let me know ;-)

Just cause I like us.

20 weeks, 3 days.

Happiness is a choice.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be happy. I have come to the conclusion that happiness is a choice. If you are stuck in a negative mindset, then you will only focus on the difficult and annoying, and ultimately be unhappy. On the flip side if you look for the positive in your life and in your relationships then you will always find that you have so much going right in your life. Simply, I believe that you will always find what you are looking for. It’s a choice to have a positive mindset and be happy! I wish I have some magical way of cutting out those negative circuits in my brain, but I don’t. “Happiness is a choice” is kind of becoming my new mantra.

We had a really difficult January financially and I allowed it to stress me out and consume my thoughts. We were literally out of money practically the second the month began. All I could think at times was how in the world will we survive this month? Struggling along with an empty bank account for the month felt impossible, and I just thought once January is over I will be so much happier. This was just one of those months filled with a lot of extenuating circumstances and unexpected expenses, like a $450 vet bill to retrieve our dog, an insane power bill, Glenn needing a crown at the dentist, and desperately needing to buy a new car. It’s no wonder we had no money. Honestly, when I look back on my January now I don’t think about our finances. I think about watching the 49ers win all their playoff games to make it to the Super Bowl. I think about homemade pizookie and redbox movie nights with my husband. I think about hours competing against my husband in virtual golf. I think about inviting our friends over for a barbecue and James Bond. I think about the snow. I think about my husband calling me to come downstairs right this instant, and my soaking wet fresh out of the shower self throwing on some pajamas and running downstairs to see my husband standing in our half inch of snow, scooping me up in my bare feet and dripping hair and kissing my face! I think about hearing our baby’s heartbeat, and learning we are having a girl! I think about a whole month I was able to spend every day with my husband and our sweet puppies. That right there is my happiness.

You will never know in advance what days will be difficult, but in the midst of those gloomy days are so many more happy ones. I was being spoiled and not recognizing that my happiness is a choice. My happiness was available to me right then and not just when our bank account was a little fuller. My happiness is my attitude. I understand that bad days are inevitable. Life will knock you down, and it’s ok to be sad sometimes. How we react to those days and choosing to focus on something positive rather than magnifying the negative is what matters. Happiness is a choice, and I am happy. This was my life lesson the month of January.

*On a side note we had an amazing lesson in Relief Society about a week ago. We discussed the talk “Of Regrets and Resolutions” given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I loved it! This talk touches on letting yourself be happy in your life. This talk kind of fueled the fire in brain and brought on some of this deep thinking of mine. Go read here if you are interested. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng

Baby GIRL!

Yesterday was the most amazing day!!! I woke up super early that morning and could not sleep because all I could think was baby, baby, baby. Waiting until 3:00 that afternoon was torturous. Glenn was so confident from the very beginning that this baby was a boy, and his insistence had me believing it was a boy too. Good thing he just wants to be a Daddy more than anything, because our baby is a girl! There was no question about it, baby girl was not shy and had her legs spread wide open! I was worried that Glenn might be a little disappointed because he was so sure, but of course he’s still thrilled. Just as long as our next baby is a boy ;-) The last time we got to see our baby I was 9 weeks along, and I was so impressed by the little tiny gummy bear in my stomach. Ten weeks later, at almost 19 weeks along made a huge difference. Baby girl was so active! I loved watching our baby do somersaults, roll over, and my favorite touching her toes to her forehead. I still have yet to feel any movements from baby girl. To watch her being a little gymnast inside me and knowing that everything is ok made me so relieved and happy. I was hoping if I could watch her move that maybe I would be able to feel something at the same time, but nope. She is weighing in at 9 ounces so hopefully real soon. During this ultrasound they did a full anatomy scan and baby is absolutely perfect in every way. I loved holding Glenn’s hand and watching in awe of our perfect baby girl for like thirty minutes. I could have seriously watched the movie playing of our baby girl moving around forever, it’s truly miraculous. We love this little girl so much already, and just can’t wait to meet the little princess!

Right now I am 18 weeks, 5 days pregnant! Throughout my entire pregnancy I have been feeling amazing, just extra tired. I have never been sick, I haven’t gained that much weight, and I have the tiniest bump ever! When I lifted up my shirt, even our ultrasound tech asked, where is your belly? It may sound silly but this appointment was so reassuring to me that I am right on track with my pregnancy, there is nothing to worry about, and I am right where I should be. I just need to keep appreciating how blessed and lucky I am to have such an easy and healthy pregnancy and that baby girl is being so nice to her Mama.

Nothing to hide.

Bending her knees and squishing her chin to her chest.

Toe to forehead touches. My flexible baby!

Three years ago today.

Three years ago today I went on a first date. Honestly, when I was asked out on this date I said yes purely out of convenience. Let me explain. This was also the first week of classes of my very last semester at Sacramento State. Seeing that it was my last semester before graduation I needed certain classes regardless of what day or time they were offered. This is how I ended up with a five hour break in my schedule and taking a ridiculous three hour night class. So when said boy, who conveniently lives less than five minutes from campus, offered to buy me lunch I said yes. Don’t get me wrong I was still very excited for this lunch. This boy was incredibly cute, working on his Masters, and liked small dogs. I had met him about two weeks prior to this date (but that’s another story) and thought this would be a fun getting to know you type lunch. We went to lunch at Dos Coyotes, and the entire time conversation flowed smoothly and there were never any awkward type moments. So the lunch date was then followed up by a movie at his house. We watched I Am Legend, you know because boys like to pick movies that hold promise for some quality cuddling. The quality cuddling ensued and I was surprised by how comfortable I felt with this boy. When the movie ended we started to talk again, more like I tried to start talking again. This boy mid-sentence, mid-word kisses me! Yes kisses me! My head was spinning, not in the I want to push him away and stop this kind of spinning, more like a wow, this was fast, you are a very to the point kind of person spinning. I went to class that night, and thank goodness it was just the first week where you pretty much just go over the syllabus in very thorough detail type of class, because my thoughts were very distracted by this boy and this kiss. This is the story of my very first date with my now husband. Little did I know that day that Glenn Fox would become my best friend, make me fall in love with him, marry me, and I would be exactly four months pregnant with his baby in another three years. What a lovely three years together it has been! I love my life with this boy and this date will forever be special to me. We would have loved to have gone to Dos Coyotes, but alas North Carolina just isn’t hip like California yet. In honor of our three year first date celebration and four months pregnant we of course had to do some photo ops today.

The necessary kissy photo.

The 4 month bump.

Still pretty tiny I know, but trust me there is a difference.

The sad and the happy.

Way back last November I took an unexpected trip to California. Unfortunately it wasn’t the happy kind of trip, but a bittersweet visit so that I could attend my Uncle Byron’s funeral. My Uncle had been in poor health for years, and even knowing that when I received a text from my Mother that he was on life support I had to get up and walk out of Relief Society so that a room full of women didn’t see me crying. I learned the news on Sunday and was on a plane to California on Tuesday. I wouldn’t have missed his funeral for anything and wanted to be there for my family. The funeral was such a sad day and my heart broke for my cousins and my Aunt Jeni as I listened to all the funny stories and the tears flowed. He was a smart, funny, loved man and will be missed by so many!

On a happier note while I was in California I got to spend some memorable quality time with my parents in Reno, Nevada. We drove up that morning so we could drop Rebekah off at school and then hang out for the day until the UNR football game that night. What to do with a day to kill in Reno? Lucky for us my Mom had inherited some property in Silver Springs, Nevada about an hour away. When we arrived my Mom who had visited the property before warned my Dad to stay on the pathway because the ground was very soft. Well like all good warnings most are ignored and we were stuck. Not just a tiny bit stuck either, but stuck stuck! The front wheels are spinning and spinning, sand is flying everywhere, and the entire back of the car is lifted off the ground. No amount of digging is going to get us out. A note about this property, it is in the middle of nowhere and neighbors are few and far between. Also it was freezing this day! So after taking some photos to capture the moment my Mom and I set off to walk to the nearest neighbor. We were lucky he was home and had a truck to tow us out and give us a lift back to our car. Maybe you had to be there, but I’ll laugh about this for awhile. After we were pulled out of our predicament we spent the rest of our afternoon safely in the warmth of Scheel's department store and riding the ferris wheel. As far as the game that night, the band was excellent, the football team not so much. We left near the end of the third quarter when UNR was getting their trash kicked and I had officially lost feeling in my feet. Trust me we were prepared too. I was wearing like 5 layers, and we picked up some hand warmers earlier while at Scheels. Oh and I still look like a college student! Some random guy scalping tickets gave me a free ticket to get in, and I wasn’t even asked for an I.D. when I snuck into the student section to say goodbye to Rebekah. Woohoo, although not that surprised. Thanks for the good times Reno!

My sister the college student!

This picture doesn't even do it justice.

My poor Daddy doesn't look too happy here.

A not so great attempt.

Finding the humor now.

Lovely isn't it! Like I said middle of nowhere.

Way lifted off the ground.

A friendly neighbor.

The hole.

Nevada!

Freezing, but having fun!

I just love this picture of my Mom in her zip up blanket.

This is a story about a Chihuahua and a breakfast burrito.

This is also a story about my extreme irritation and anger towards Southwest Airlines, without whom this story would not be possible. I arrive at the airport luggage and Rocky in tow and wait to check in for my flight to California for Christmas. When it’s my turn the lady begins to check me in and when I set Rocky on the scale she says to me I will not allow this crate on your flight. “Excuse me, why not? I have flown with this exact carrier on Southwest with no problems before.” She pulls out a tape measure, see too big. “No I don’t see, the crate fit under the seat just fine before, why not now?” No explanation. She tells me again I won’t allow this crate. “What are my options?” You can leave and go buy a new dog carrier. “I can’t leave now, I would miss my flight.” You can reschedule your flight for a later time. “There is no way I am rescheduling my flight!” You could buy our $45 Southwest carrier. Why this was the third option behind cancelling and rescheduling my flight is beyond me. With no other choice I was forced to buy the bright yellow, mesh, soft-sided Southwest dog carrier. I walk over and begin to work my way up to the front of the security line. I get pulled aside by the guard after walking through the security sensor and am informed they need to do a swab test on my hands and then run it through a machine. They needed to make sure that after holding my dog I didn’t have any residual chemical properties or explosive powders left on my hands. Yes, they honestly thought I may have laced my dog with some sort of explosive device. A smiley (well maybe not at this point in my day) young, innocent girl with her Chihuahua just might blow up an airplane. Needless to say I eventually got through security and made it to my flight. Phew! Finally on my flight, I’m not at all worried about Rocky. He will just sleep through the entire flight and not make a peep. I place him under the seat in front of me, pull down my tray, and begin reading. Maybe two hours into my flight I hear a soft whimper coming from Rocky. I lift up my tray and to my surprise see Rocky had chewed a hole through his cheap-o Southwest carrier (that was not cheap at all) and now has his entire face stuck! Yes his entire face is poking out and looking desperately at the lady sitting next to me chowing down on her breakfast burrito! Unbeknownst to me there was a breakfast burrito my seat neighbor had placed in a paper bag underneath the seat right next to Rocky for the last two hours! Rocky is a Chihuahua of course he can't resist a breakfast burrito! My neighbor was nice enough to try and stretch the hole in the carrier while I pulled Rocky's face back out. Oi! Thank you Southwest for this hilarious Rocky anecdote! This would have never happened with my nice airline approved, hard-sided carrier that we normally travel with. Truly thank you, at least it makes me chuckle now.