On the Move

The meaning of the title of this post is two-fold: First off we're in the process of moving and secondly, the baby is moving SO much these days!

My sweet sweet grandma died a couple of months ago and left her cute little house empty. My dad and uncles asked us if we would like to live there to kind of take care of the place for now. It's a win-win situation because they don't have to stress about keeping up the yard/house etc. and we get some nice little space to start raising our sweet baby in a couple of months. I'm not going to lie, even though I'm excited for the space and I know we will really be grateful when the baby comes, I am sad to be leaving the apartment at my parents' house. I have absolutely loved living here. I guess I'll probably survive being two blocks south. We should be in the house by this weekend. I'll take a picture of the house and add it to this post soon. Thank goodness for kind family that takes pity on us...otherwise we'd probably be homeless right now.

Update on our townhouse - the value seems to keep dropping so we won't be able to sell this spring/summer like we were hoping. That's the bad news. The good news is that we found a new renter who will move in next month and he will be paying us more than our current renters. That will be nice to get a little extra each month. The whole process of finding him and getting him signed was so smooth and quick and we are SOOO grateful for that.

Now on to the fun stuff - the baby! I LOVE this little girl! She is so much fun and I am getting so anxious to meet her. She moves around like crazy and as you'll see by my big big belly she is getting BIG. Well at least I'm getting big and I sure hope I can blame a lot of it on her :) My belly has had a major growth spurt in the last month and not even Nicole can say my bump isn't legit now. I am still feeling really good and loving every phase of this pregnancy. Since my last post I started on some new heartburn meds and my acid reflux is SOOOO much better now. I have felt a million times better. Prilosec is my new best friend. I can't believe we will be welcoming this baby in less than three months. I really hope we'll be ready for her!

24 weeks



28 weeks (Seriously check out the growth between 24 and 28 weeks!)


Now that is some major growth! I've started feeling some contractions in the last couple of weeks. They haven't been painful at all, but it's making me realize how close to the end I'm getting. I'm sure that when I get bigger and more uncomfortable it will feel like this pregnancy is never going to end, but like I've said before, so far it is flying by and I feel like two and a half months is no time at all.

Continuing with the fun stuff, my parents gave the entire family a trip to Disneyland for Christmas last year. We just had the trip last week and it was so so so much fun. We had a total of 29 of us, plus the three fetuses (feti?). We spent time at the beach (cold cold cold and windy) and a couple of fun and tiring days at Disneyland and California Adventure. The weather for the park days was soooo nice. It actually got a little too warm for comfort, but in my opinion warmth is much better than cold. When we were younger and we would go on family vacations my parents would get us all matching shirts so of course we had to have matching shirts for this trip! We worked together to come up with some SWEET design ideas and ordered some nice BRIGHT shirts; then we went to work. We were pleased with the final outcome. The shirts were as cheesy as could be and some of the in-laws were not too pleased to have to wear them, but most of us thought they were awesome. The kids loved them of course and that's the most important part. I don't have a picture of the whole family in their shirts, but I'm sure my mom's blog will have a post soon with a pic of the whole family. I wasn't able to ride a lot of the rides of course, due to the bambino, but since there were two other pregos (Noelle & Kera) and a bunch of little kids, we were able to stick together and find fun kid rides while the others went on the crazy rides. Thanks Mom & Dad for the awesome trip! Here's just a few pics of the FUN weekend:

Now that is a legitimate baby bump...

Ok, so of course I'll get to baby stuff in a minute but just to prove that I can talk about other things I'm going to tell a little about other things that have been happening in our life.

Last week we headed to St. George for our second annual Parade of Homes/Presidents' Day weekend with Jeremy, Kristi, Nicole and Osiris (and McKenzie this year of course). The weather was less than ideal - cold, raining, wind blowing and even snowing, but we still had a good time. I am proud to say that J & K and Taylor and I went to ALL 26 parade homes, plus one extra open house. J & K always go to all of the houses, but in my first POH experience last year I probably made it to less than half. This year I wouldn't commit to going to all of the houses until we had only three houses left to tour. N & O couldn't be expected to drag Kenz to all of the houses so they were allowed to go home for nap time when it was necessary. A lot of the houses were pretty regular, but there were a few really cool ones and it just made Taylor and me want to build our own house even more than we already did. Will someone PLEASE buy or burn down our townhouse already?!?! Geez! We also shopped (I spent a lot more money than I should have but it was oh so enjoyable) and ate WAY too much food; Dr. Black will definitely not be able to get after me for not gaining any weight at my next appointment. We stayed at Bryce and Cathy's awesome house and, as usual, it was lovely. I took my camera with very good intentions to document the weekend, but I was a slacker and never took the camera out of its case. We love this little St. George tradition and hope that it's able to continue for a long time!

Elmer turned one while we were in SG. I don't think he felt too bad that we missed his first birthday, but we did bring him a couple of toys and some treats. He is HUGE! I hope that he's done growing, but every time I think that he's done he has a little growth spurt and becomes a little more monstrous than before. He is the cutest and sweetest dog in the world...seriously.

Joshy got home from his mission in France earlier this month. He's still good ole Josh, teasing the kids and saying his little Joshisms. It was so much fun at the airport waiting for him to show up. Almost every one of my parents' posterity was there; we were missing just a few. So it was a big crowd with some very cute (and a little impatient) kids. It was all worth it when we saw him coming down the escalator. It's been fun having Joshy Squashy home and even if he puts racing stripes on his new Mustang we'll still love him!

I am absolutely LOVING working from home. It's a whole new world and it's one that I am very happy to be a part of.

Ok, now on to the baby! The last couple of weeks have been very eventful in womb-land. The most exciting news is that we had an ultrasound last Wednesday and found out we're having a beautiful baby girl! Ok, so the ultrasound tech didn't confirm that she'll be beautiful but I could tell in the pictures that she's going to be perfect. It is so much fun to finally know the gender! Time to get serious about names. Also, right after my last post I started feeling her move in my belly. At first I questioned if it could really be her because it started as legitimate kicks, not just weak little flutters like I'd been told it would probably feel like in the beginning. She's a strong one! The kicks and twists and turns continued to get more frequent and more and more strong until I became sure it was her. My stomach is pretty active/upset most of the time ever since I got home from my mission so maybe I missed the little stuff because it just felt normal to me... Sometimes the kicks are so strong that I'm certain that Taylor should be able to feel them. He tried to feel a couple of times with no success but two nights ago she was kicking hard in the same spot over and over so I had him put his hand there. Sure enough he felt a hard little kick! It was sooo cool and we were so pleasantly surprised that he was able to feel her so early on. It's my favorite thing in the world when I feel her move around...even when she decides it would be funny to press on my bladder for a few moments. Taylor thinks she's funny. I am so excited to see him with his baby girl. I am 100% positive she will have him completely wrapped around her tiny finger the second she is born.
We're more than halfway through the pregnancy now and I still feel like it is flying by. Overall I have been feeling a little better, but I still don't usually feel great. I think most, if not all, of my stomach issues stem from my acid reflux. It is constant and it is awful! It is getting progressively worse and I'm hoping to get some stronger meds when I go to my appointment in a couple of days. Acid reflux/heartburn is a miserable curse that I am trying to bear patiently.
I still stay away from chocolate and I've pretty much come to accept that I probably won't be able to stand it for the rest of the pregnancy. I really hope I learn to like, nay love, it again after the baby comes though. I don't sleep well at night. This is due to two lovely pregnancy symptoms - the constant need to pee and my achy sore stiff hips! My upper legs and tailbone area just hurt all the time, but especially at night when I just wanna sleep. People say to get as much sleep as possible now because after the baby comes I won't sleep anymore, but I think my body just wants to make sure I'm ready for what's to come so it's not letting me get a whole lot of sleep right now.


21 Weeks

I don't intend to post bump pictures every two weeks but since I wanted to do a post today and since my belly has grown exponentially in the last two weeks I figured it should be documented. I think I'm getting to the point now where people would probably assume I'm pregnant, even without knowing for sure, instead of it looking like I just ate way too much for lunch. I'm still able to wear my normal clothes, but they're not the most comfortable, so I'll probably be transitioning away from them and into some more comfortable maternity wear in the days to come. Our little girl continues to grow big and strong and we can't wait to meet her in a few months :)

The Bump

Ok, this is for Tyrel. I hadn't really decided if I was going to take bump pictures to document this pregnancy, but I've read a few times that I will regret it if I don't (I don't really know if that's true, but better safe than sorry I guess). Then Tyrel asked for a bump pic so I decided I'd better just do it.

19 Weeks


I'm 19 weeks along now and I feel like every week of this pregnancy goes faster and faster. I may not feel like that once I'm huge and uncomfortable, but for right now I'm just enjoying the experience. For the most part I've been feeling decent. I haven't been vomiting the last couple of weeks, although there has been a few times when I've come real close. I have gained a couple of pounds so that is good. We will FINALLY find out the gender a week from tomorrow. I feel like my stomach has started to grow noticeably bigger every day. I can still wear my regular pre-pregnancy clothes, but sometimes they feel a little too tight for comfort. I'm entering the awkward phase where I'm going to have to use safety pins and hair elastics to expand the waist of my pants/skirts until I'm really big enough for maternity clothes. I haven't felt the baby move yet, but I'm expecting it any day and I'm super excited for that!
We are so dang excited to meet this little baby in five months! I know our lives will never be the same and I just hope we're ready to give the baby everything he/she needs.

Moving right along

Well I'm 17 weeks along now. I had a doctor's appointment today and everything is going according to schedule. I got to hear the baby's fast little heartbeat again and see him/her in another ultrasound. He/she was not showing us anything to give any indication of whether we should start buying pink or blue, but it was still so fun to see the little cutie! I guess we'll have to be patient for three more weeks.
I have been feeling better than I did in the first trimester, but I've still had my pregnancy issues. The constant nausea is gone, but I still get sick plenty. My doctor's goal for me by my next appointment is to have gained any weight at all. So far I haven't been able to eat enough/keep enough food down for that to happen. Normally it would be a good problem for a girl to not be able to gain weight, but I know it's important to gain weight during pregnancy so I've been trying to figure out how to do that. I don't have much of an appetite most of the time. For about a week and a half I thought I was past the vomiting and I was even having some cravings and really enjoying food again. For some reason that didn't last and I'm back to food mostly not sounding good and not sitting well in my tummy. I have to eat pretty regularly or I get real sick, so I eat small amounts all throughout the day.
I have pretty constant heartburn/reflux but for the most part it can be kept under control with Tums and an uncomfortable wedge pillow (thanks Nicole - it really has helped)! The discomfort of sleeping with the wedge is better than the discomfort of not sleeping due to reflux.
I've pretty much focused on the negative, but honestly this pregnancy is flying by and I really feel like it hasn't been too bad at all! I am loving this experience. Taylor and I are getting so excited to meet our little baby Spike in a few months. I have now been working solely from home for a week and it is going so great. I feel so lucky that I will be able to stay home with the baby when the time comes. Any guesses about the gender?

Every woman with child should live in Blanding...

Some of you might think this is a bold claim, but wait until you hear my reasoning: I am just over 15 weeks along and I have had THREE ultrasounds! That's right, best doctor ever! He told us at our first appointment that he really likes to do a lot of ultrasounds so we should just plan on that - I say FINE BY ME! I have only had two appointments, but I had an extra ultrasound to double check the measurements of the baby last week. Also, I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that my appointments are costing A LOT less than all you pregnant city girls' appointments. I'm just saying... Ultrasounds. Are. Awesome.

updates Updates UPDATES!

Ok, so now I have no excuses left. I’m finally pregnant! Here come the blog posts. This first pregnancy post may be really long and boring for most, but I want to document my pregnancy for posterity’s sake so I’ve got to get caught up on the last three months.



So I thought I was 13 weeks along and due July 20th, but I had an ultrasound today and the baby was measuring over 14 weeks so the doctor moved up my due date to July 11th - woot woot! I really hope this doesn't just mean I'm growing a monster baby...I don't want to birth a 12 pounder.
I was actually pregnant when I wrote my last post, but I didn’t know it yet. We found out the next week. Most of you know this, but we had tried to get pregnant for a couple of years and were starting to get quite frustrated and worried. We had started the process of seeing doctors to see if anything might be wrong with one or both of us. The first weekend in November we went to SLC for Taylor to have some tests done at the University Hospital. We found out about three days later that I was pregnant. Needless to say, when we got the results from his tests a month later and everything looked fine we were relieved, but not super surprised. I thought about taking a pregnancy test the day before his tests, but I figured it was probably a week too early and wouldn’t show up as positive yet even if I was pregnant. I had started having pretty constant heartburn (I always call it heartburn, but it’s actually acid reflux I think) and a little nagging voice at the back of my head kept saying it might be because of a bambino in my belly; but I kept brushing it off because I’d been disappointed a lot in the last two years. When the heartburn didn’t go away and my stomach started getting a little upset too I decided to take a test. It was positive! So I took another one...and it was positive too! I literally couldn’t believe it; I showed the tests to Taylor and obviously he was so super excited. It seemed so unreal at first that it wasn’t very hard to not tell people; also I was so so scared of miscarriage. I was kind of a paranoid mess for the first few weeks. (Disclaimer: Not that it really matters, but the following time-frames are based on how far along I thought I was before the doctor moved me up). The real nausea started to set in around week 5 and it pretty much set up camp for a nice stay. During weeks 5-12 I would wake up feeling pretty good with only minimal nausea, but throughout the day it got worse and worse. By the time I got home from work most nights I was pretty much useless. I just laid around a lot and went to bed way early. People keep asking me if I’ve been overly tired, as that’s a super common pregnancy symptom in the first trimester. As I’ve said in this blog before, I’m an unnaturally tired person always. I didn’t notice any extra fatigue until I got a cold around week 8. Colds always knock me out and this one was no different. This cold didn’t want to go away and it pretty much stuck around for about a month. So my extra tiredness during that month was probably a combination of cold and pregnancy. All I know is that I would pretty much go to bed by 8:00 most nights and I didn’t feel one bit bad about it.
Luckily before I got pregnant I was in the habit of running/working out in the mornings so I have just kept that up. As far as working out is concerned it has worked out well for me that the mornings are when I feel best. My nausea seemed to get stronger and stronger as the weeks passed, so I was getting a little worried that it might never go away. I kept hoping that 12 weeks would be the magical time of relief. The days leading up to the 12 week mark were the worst I’d felt the whole time - I was pretty miserable. Well last week I hit 12 weeks (actually 13 it turns out) and luckily my nausea has gone WAY down. It’s still the most subtle in the mornings and increases throughout the day, but it is soooo much more bearable than before. I never have much of an appetite, but if I don’t snack pretty constantly I get really sick. So I’ve been eating LOTS of crackers, dried fruit and jolly ranchers. I have had zero cravings. For the most part the same foods still taste good to me, even though they never sound good when I think about them before eating. The one exception to my unchanged food tastes is chocolate! Pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant I started having the weird weird symptom of a very strong aversion to chocolate. I haven’t had chocolate in over two months and I just keep hoping I’ll be able to eat it again someday. It makes me sick to think about it, to look at it and don’t even get me started on the smell! Ugh. Sweets in general pretty much never sound good to me anymore, but nothing makes me sick like chocolate. Those of you that know me well know that I am huge sweets/junk food person normally. I LOVE to make sweets and I LOVE to eat them even more...well I used to - I hope it comes back. I also have a really hard time with smells, as I think is common for most pregnant women. It doesn’t matter what kind of smell it is, if I can smell it, it’s probably gonna make me sick. Perfume is one of the worst offenders. Candles, air fresheners, food, smoke, grease, dogs...all bad news.
Taylor has been so great through the first trimester. He’s been sensitive and patient when I needed it most. He’s dealt with my mood swings like a champ! He gives me good back massages and he doesn’t use cologne on the days when I’m gonna be around him during the day :). At the beginning we both felt like the baby was going to be a boy. My feelings changed quickly to a girl. I could not care less what we have, except that I can’t think of any boy names that I would actually consider using. Maybe that’s why I feel like it’s a girl... If anyone has good suggestions for names let me know. I’m real picky apparently.
The best news of the last couple of weeks is that I have given my notice at my job and starting on January 26th I am going to just do medical coding from home! Scary and exciting! I feel really good about it and I am so happy and grateful for the chance to stay home with the baby. We’ll still have insurance through Taylor’s job, so it worked out pretty perfectly. This year has already started out pretty much as great as possible, but if we could sell our stupid house in Sandy everything would literally be perfect. I know - now I’m just getting greedy.
Wow, when I said this post would be long I didn’t know it would end up this long. Sorry if anyone is actually still reading at this point. Thanks for everyone’s prayers and positive thoughts. We are so happy and excited for this step in our lives and we’ll keep you posted (not so many details from now on...at least not all at once). Here’s hoping for a happy and healthy baby!

I AM A BAD BLOGGER

Yes, I know I am a bad blogger. I have an excuse though - I really have nothing going on in my life or in my mind that is exciting or interesting enough to blog about. If you have a problem with it then start praying for me to have a cute baby (or even a not-so-cute baby for that matter) and then I'll inundate the internet with posts about him/her to the point that you'll rue the day that you wished for me to have a baby. Until then, I'll probably remain more or less MIA in the blog world. However, I do still love to check all y'all's blogs, so keep 'em coming!