Woah baby! This is going to be a catch up blog! Hopefully I won't have to do many of these. It took me pretty much all day to write. I just hope I can remember everything!
So since the last blog update, Jonny and I took a trip to Utah. That consisted of A LOT! So I will start from the beginning and go into full detail...
Friday May 31st, I took off a little early from work because Jonny was done with school around 2. That way we could get everything packed and ready to go and leave at a decent hour to be able to drive as far as possible that night. We didn't end up leaving because we forgot that we needed to change the oil in the car before driving. We left around 4:30 and we were just going to drive until we couldn't go any longer (hoping Salina, KS or maybe Wichita, KS...6-7 hours). We got to Tulsa which was 3 hours away when the skies started getting dark. We turned on the radio to find out that we were headed right towards a huge storm! I pulled out the radar on my phone and started to track it. This is what we saw...
That little blue dot down in the bottom right corner is us and we were headed to Wichita, which is up in the upper left corner. We were about to go through that nasty storm. So we kept driving and the skies kept getting worse. They got darker and had a green tint. There was cloud to cloud lightning which was pretty and scary all at the same time. Then it started to rain...hard. For the last couple of exits Jonny noticed that multiple cars at a time would get off. He thought it was kind of strange since we were out in the middle of Oklahoma somewhere. Surely all of these people were not getting off to go home in these little podunk towns. Jonny and I felt like we needed to get off and check out what was going on. We pulled over and went into this little gas station. We asked around to see what these people thought about keep going or staying and trying to "wait it out" a bit. They advised us to wait it out. Good thing we did. About 10 minutes after we arrived at this gas station, we heard the worker behind the counter say "rotation was just seen 7 miles west of here." West was where we were headed...
This is the screenshot of the storm when were sitting in the gas station...
That red was right on top of us but we had some hope that we could wait a little bit and go through the blue and green part before the next "system" of storms came through. \
After about 20-30 minutes of sitting at this gas station we thought, as well as the workers, that it was safe to start driving again. We walked outside and saw the sun! Something we hadn't seen in hours. Jonny and I both thought it had already gone down for the night because the sky was soooo dark! Little did we know that the dark skies were all because of the tornados! I am so blessed and grateful that Jonny and I had the feeling we did to pull over and wait where we did. We were definitely being watched over that day. We arrived safe and sound around 12:30 Friday night.
Saturday June 1, we were on the road again by 8 or so. Around 11, we had another "experience". Jonny had been mentioning that the car/steering wheel had been shaking more than he has ever noticed. A few hours into our next days journey, we were coming up on this truck hauling a trailer. A fast paced thump started. Jonny and I tried to figure out if that was the road, our car or this car that we were coming up on. Jonny switched lanes and it got a little better. Then he was coming up on the truck and trailer when the noise got louder. He thought the car next to him was the one making the noise. We were going about 80 mph and the sound gradually got loud and then a POP! I looked back in the side mirror and Jonny looked back in the rear view mirror to see a big chunk of the tire fly about 10 ft in the air. Jonny did an awesome job of keeping control of the car. Jonny and I then joked..."nope, that was definitely our car." Might as well try and make some fun of the situation right? He pulled over to the shoulder and got out. I tried to get out to help him but couldn't open my door. He saw that the tire was still on there and got back in the car to ask when the next exit was. I just so happened to look at the sign right before that happened and the next exit was 1/2 mile up. He said that we had a full spare in the trunk but he was going to go to the next exit to be safer. We got to the exit to find a gas station WITH a TIRE store!! That was the only thing at this exit. No houses. No restaurants. Nothing but a gas station with a tire store connected. At first we didn't think anything of it because Jonny still thought we had a full spare. We pulled over and got out and checked the trunk. We just had a donut. Good thing this tire store was here then! We asked for a tire and waited for it to be on. I think we paid $50 bucks total for a used (but practically brand new) tire and the disposal fee, labor and put on and take off. I don't know how we got so blessed this trip but man the blessings were a-flowin'!
Here is our tire...or whats left of it.
We have never seen anything like this before. Our tread just peeled off. Crazy! We are lucky this happened and not a full blown tire because going 80 mph, that probably would have flipped our car...yikes!
We finally made it to Fort Collins, CO around 3:30pm and got to see our friends! I love being able to drive out to Utah (not because of the long hours...even though Jonny and I don't mind that much but because we get to stop and see people on the way). We were able to see our friends, Kevin and Ashley that we haven't seen in a year. The last time Kevin, Ashley and us hung out, we looked like this...
Excuse the no make up and crazy hair. We spent memorial weekend last year with them at Table Rock Lake in Missouri. She was 7 months pregnant when we took this picture. This time when I saw her, the roles were reversed plus baby Ryder (Ashley's 9 month old baby boy)...
I thought it was funny that a year later can change so much. She now has a baby and isn't pregnant. A year from now, who knows where we will be!
Saturday afternoon/night we spent hanging out with our friends, catching up, eating and watching a movie. It was so fun to be able to see them and hang with our friends. We love the Sloans!
Sunday June 2, we got up and drove to Utah. We arrived at my brothers house, without ANY issues, and hung out, played and ate.
Monday June 3, we went to a hot springs in Ogden, UT. It was fun to be outside and in the water. The hot springs was, get this....HOT! They had a couple of pools, ranging in temperature. It was weird that I had to think about whether it was ok for me to be in and for how long. It was weird that I wasn't able to go down the slides. Kind of sad but its all for a good cause :) We played there for a few hours and then headed back to my brothers. Kids were whining, parents were tired, but what is a family get together without that right?
Tuesday June 4, my dad had a meeting down in Salt Lake so we all headed down (minus my brother and his kids) and the little kiddos played at an indoor play place while the adults just relaxed and watched. Jonny was able to go and meet his brother and play some golf with him while I stayed with my sisters and mom. We had some lunch and then went and ran some errands. Sandy took my to Joann's and bought me some fabric to make a car seat cover and nursing cover (THANKS!!!) and I love them. Then, I started to not feel well. I had a little 24 hour stomach bug which is never fun but definitely not fun while pregnant. The rest of the night was a blur since I was in and out of sleep and in and out of the bathroom. BOO! Slept alright and woke up feeling great the next day!
Wednesday June 5, my best friend Heather came over! She took off the day from work to hang out with me and my family! She brought material over too and we sewed the whole day (Thanks Jess, Sandy and Mom for helping! I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. More like I would have just looked like a deer in the headlights. Me + sewing = not good). It was fun to be able to spend some time with Heather and catch up. And we learned a little something about sewing. It was fun! Here is what my car seat cover looks like. I still need to add the handles on top but other than that its ready!
I am IN LOVE!!! I love the print so much! I love the yellow on the underside. I am just so happy with the fabric. We also made a nursing cover with the same material, elephants on top yellow underneath. I couldn't be happier about it. A million thanks to my sisters and mom for helping me! And thanks Heather for joining me! Hers turned out super cute too but I didn't get a picture of it. :(
Wednesday afternoon/night Heather and I took some maternity pictures with my awesome and talented brother in law. I took some alone and I also took a few with Jonny. When I get those from my brother in law, I will make sure I blog about them. They were cute but my brother in law kept making comments like "don't people take these when they are super pregnant" and "it looks like I just took your senior picture"...ugh thanks Dave? ha. I will most likely ask a friend here in Russellville to take a few more in 6 or 7 weeks right before she comes but at least we have some :) After the pictures, Jonny and I went and visited a friend we haven't seen in years! It was so good catching up. After we spent the night at Jonny's brothers house. I love family! Although we got there pretty late, we still hung out for a couple of hours. It was fun!
Thursday June 6 was crazy busy but fun! We started the day at Seven Peaks Water Park. I was getting my nephews and nieces all lathered up in sunscreen and when I turned around, my 4 year old nephew had taken off for the kiddy pool. Well lets just say, I went 4 hours with out a single drop of sunscreen on me. Not on purpose of course. By the time I realized, we were packing up to leave and I was noticing that my shoulders were so hot. Oh boy. I have already peeled. This skin of mine is SO sensitive! After Seven Peaks, we went back to my sisters house and showered and got all the last minute preparations for my baby shower in order. We left for the shower and had an AMAZING time!! It was perfect. I loved seeing everyone. Thanks to my awesome family, Mom, sisters, and aunt who helped plan and make that shower perfect. I didn't get pictures but my cousin who does photography took some pictures. I will post those as well when I get them from her. I did get these two at the very end of the shower of my beautiful sisters and the one with my cousin who is a week behind me in pregnancy. So exciting!
Not a great quality picture (taken with the iPhone) but like I said, when I get them back from my cousin I will post! :) PS: I have never realized how much I look like my sister (Sandy) on the right until this picture. What do you think?
Friday June 7, I spent the morning with my sister Jessica (on the left pictured above) and her two little precious girls. I just love my nieces and nephews, and my sisters, and my parents, and my in laws.....gawww family is the BEST! Jonny spent the day with his brother at a volleyball coaching clinic and then went and played a little golf. We were planning on leaving Utah around 4 but didn't end up leaving until after 7pm. Jonny and his brother kept leaving golf clubs, wallets, etc on the golf course. I think it was all a part of Dave's evil plan to make us stay longer in Utah. Ha! We arrived in steamboat around 12:45pm. We probably would have gotten there sooner BUT Jonny got pulled over. Yep. Pulled over at 12:10pm. He followed us for quite some time before pulling over because he was waiting for back up to arrive. Guaranteed he thought Jonny was drunk and that's why he called for back up. When he came up to the window, he told Jonny that he had been weaving over the line on curves. Jonny was fully awake and so was I. I know he wasn't doing it on purpose. I think we saw a total of 25 cars the whole 5.5 hour trip. The officer was really nice and let us off with a warning. The officer took his sweet time to come back to the car to give Jonny his license and registration back and Jonny was convinced that he was going to give him a ticket. I tried to tell him it would be fine and that he wouldn't but he didn't listen. Jonny said that was the first time he has ever gotten pulled over and not received a ticket. Blessing number 3 for this trip...
A quick thanks to my brother Jeff and his wife Shannon for letting us crash at your place for a few days, as well as hauling all your kids down to hang out more at Sandy's. Thanks to Sandy and Brian for letting us destroy y'alls house and for all the help with sewing and baby shower stuff. Thanks to my WONDERFUL parents and sister Jessica for driving 13 hours up from CA for a week to be able to spend time with y'all. Thanks to Dave and Cassie for hanging out with us late at night and being willing to let us crash at your place with such late notice. Thanks to Dave for taking my maternity pictures, which I am eagerly waiting to see and for Cassie for making time to cut my moms and my hair! I am so grateful for such amazing family! I couldn't have asked for better parents, siblings, in laws and nieces/nephews. I LOVE Y'ALL!!!
Saturday June 8 we spent the whole day in Steamboat Springs Colorado. What a beautiful town that is! The spring/summer/fall is absolutely gorgeous. The winter is too if you don't mind 100's of feet of snow. No thank you. I was awesome to spend some time with Jonny's brother, sister in law, 2 nephews and little niece. We went on a little hike to a waterfall that was stunning. Here is Jonny and I in front of the waterfall.
Then Jonny followed his 4 year old niece and 6 year old nephew up this rock until they got so high they couldn't turn back around. Whoops. They kept climbing and we had to eventually meet them at the top of another trail. It was one crazy memory. After the waterfall, we went and spent some time down by the river. The kids swan and the adults watched and talked. After, we went to dinner and that was fun/interesting. Things change a lot when you try and take kiddos to dinner :) Then we came home and relaxed in front of the TV. Thanks Jeff and Heidi for letting us stay with y'all. It was so fun to be able to see you and catch up. We love you!
Sunday June 9 was a LOOOOOONG trip home. 16 hours and 15 minutes later we arrived in Russellville. We walked through our front doors at 1am. I was happy to be home and out of the car but sad that I won't see some of my family for months.
We are grateful to my work who let me have the time off to be able to take this trip and for all those who made it amazing. I wouldn't change a single thing about our trip because we created so many memories. Even the scary moments will be something that we remember forever. Even the late nights getting to places or the early morning wake up calls from nieces/nephews. Sad the trip is over but now we have to get ready for the baby to come. Only 9 more weeks people (or less!!)
So here is for this weeks update. I don't have one for last week because I was gone. :(
30 weeks 3 days. So tired because I got 4.5 hours of sleep that night.
30 weeks 5 days. My eyes still were hurting from being so tired and plus I love my bow!
31 weeks with another bow that I am in love with. Loving the color and its lace :)
31 weeks normal picture.
And here is a side by side comparison view of a two days difference. I literally grow overnight. I can tell because when I woke up on Wednesday, I officially felt uncomfortable. It was the first day that all I wanted to do was bend over or lay down. Anything that would take the pressure off of my pelvic bone. I know that this will just get more uncomfortable as the time gets closer.
Total weight gain so far: Had my doctors visit the last Monday after we got back from vacation. I am officially into every 2-3 week visits. I had only gained 1/2 pound because of the travel/dehydration/stomach bug. Luckily my doctor understood and said everything was fine. I am at a total of 16 1/2 pounds gained.
How far along are you: 31 weeks
Maternity clothes: Definitely. Starting to not be able to wear some of my pre pregnancy shirts.
Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well :)
Best moment this week: Going back to Utah and seeing our families!
Miss anything: I miss not being pregnant and being able to go shopping. I miss laying on my stomach. And I miss playing volleyball. All of those things I look forward to doing after this baby comes.
Movement: Yes. She had her first (that I could feel) hiccups today! I felt bad that she had them because I know how annoyed I get of them but I know she just was just fine.
Food cravings: No. I'm getting used to not having them.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope. Except I had the stomach bug for the 2nd time this pregnancy. My skin is more sensitive and apparently my stomach is too!
Have you started to show yet: Yes. Getting bigger by the moment I feel like!
Gender: Girl
Belly button in or out: Flat? Not in or out.
Labor signs: Nope
Wedding rings on or off: On. My feet and ankles did swell a little bit on the drive home from Utah. Just the last 4 hours or so. That was my body telling me it didn't like being in the car that long. I don't blame it.
Looking forward to: Another baby shower! I am seriously so blessed with awesome friends and family. My "Russellville" baby shower will be next week and can't wait to be able to see all of my wonderful friends. I just love get togethers!
Until next time peeps....take care!
