Ummm 8 weeks or less? Say whatttttt!?

That's right people. I'm 32 weeks. That means 8 weeks until my due date. But really the babe could decide she was sick of being cramped and that she was done cooking and come earlier. Holy smokes

I think about it just about everyday now what it will be like to have our own baby. What it will be like to be doing loads and loads of laundry daily. What it will be like to be on a schedule. What it will be like to only get a few hours of sleep a night. What it will be like not to be able to get ready in 10 minutes anymore. What it will be like to take vacations. What it will be like to go anywhere! Everything is going to change. I know I don't know how much yet but I know it will be crazy here for a while.

Speaking of crazy. I thought this week and next week were going to be so nice and relaxing with no volleyball but boy was I wrong. We had my birthday, 2 baby showers, Jonny leaving for Arizona and the craziest, busiest work week since I started 2 years ago.  Also, I have started working on getting the nursery organized.  I took a before picture and next week I will post the before and after. The before looks like a tornado went through it. Hopefully the after will look a lot better.

So lets start with my birthday. It crept up on me and before I realized I was 24. Man. I sure don't feel 24. Maybe after a kid I will though. Ha. My co workers are the best. They bought me these amazing sugar cookies. They seriously are so good. One of my co workers wrote '24' on them so I guess there was no lying about how old I was.

I really do work at the best place. Sorry everyone else. My work is the best. After work we had 3 private lessons. We are so grateful that we have knowledge of volleyball but more importantly that people trust our knowledge enough to want to pay for individual lessons. After the lessons Jonny and I went out to dinner to my fave Mexican food place here in town. Of course Jonny had to ask if they sing to birthday girls....

Yep he thought it was pretty funny. They sang for like 5 minutes! Longest birthday song ever! 

Jonny got me a camera for my birthday, our anniversary and pretty much everything for the next year because it was expensive! It's a canon 7D which takes photos and videos.  I told Jonny that I really wanted a nice camera before the baby came so that we were able to take lots of pictures. And now we have one that will take videos and pictures. I'm pretty excited to learn all about it so we can start using it when she gets here! Jonny also got me this book to help me :). He is the greatest. 

Sunday was Father's Day. Obviously. It's so fun to think that this will be Jonny's last Father's Day where he doesn't have a child. Jonny and I are so lucky to have the most amazing dads to look up to and learn from. I know that Jonny will be such a great dad. 

Tuesday I went and dropped off Jonny at the airport.  He flew to Arizona to visit his brother. I wish I could have gone but I didn't want to miss too much work. With leaving for a week to visit Utah and then leaving a few days when we take our trip to New York in a couple of weeks and THEN coming back and taking off for maternity leave, I just felt like that was just too much. I miss him and want him to come home!

Wednesday, my young women and leaders threw me a baby shower for mutual. They are so sweet. 

I loved the decorations so much that I begged a leader for me to take them home and use them in the nursery. I can't wait to hang them up. I will make sure I take a picture and blog about it later. The shower was perfect and we got lots of cute and definitely useful things. Thanks so much everyone who came and brought gifts and more the ones who put it on!

The next day was my big Russellville shower. I am so blessed to have so many people who love our baby girl already so much to want to throw us a shower. Thanks to my amazing hostesses! It was perfect. People showed up and it was a very enjoyable night. We again, got showered with gifts that will be so great for our little girl. We loved everything but I am in LOVE with the hostess gift. Let me tell you. My co workers have been sneaking around finding out what I love and need. I thought I was just confiding in my friends opinions but really she was just getting information. I have been researching this diaper bag, looking it up daily to see if the price has changed, asked a whole bunch of different people and read a lot about it online. I am so excited to use it and I think it is adorable!  What do y'all think!?

I feel in love with this diaper bag the second I saw it at my friends Ashley's house in Colorado. She has the same kind of bag but a different pattern. I immediately went home and started researching it. It's a petunia pickle bottom bag. It has some seriously cool features. It has a magnetic main compartment closing for quick closure as well as snaps for more secure closure. It has a front zip and fold out changing pad that is detachable for easy washings. In that front pocket also has a place for diapers and wipes so you don't have to dig around inside for them. The whole outside and inside is a wipeable material in case of spills. I love it! I just can't wait to fill it up with everything I need and use it! 

This weekend has been fun and very productive. I did all the baby's laundry. My friends came over on Saturday to help organize the nursery. We got all the clothes hung and put away. We got things stored away in the closet. The nursery is coming together. The last thing we need is crib sheets so I can put the rest of the bedding on and to hang the decorations. We also need to go shopping and get a few more things. Speaking if shopping...after our last shower, I have been looking on the yard sale Facebook pages around here and getting wicked good deals on the things we still need.  I bought a swing, play mat and bouncer for $80. Brand new the total of those 3 would be $200. All of the items were barely even used. The swing was at a grandmas house that was hardly used with her one grandson. The bouncer and play mat came from a lady that said her son barely ever used them because he didn't like them.  The swing is battery and wall operated. It swings side to side or front to back. It plays sounds and has a mobile. I was so proud of myself for getting such good deals. Take a look. They all look brand new in person!

The bouncer is a little hard to see because of the lighting but they are all jungle themed. I didn't want to get things that were the big items or toys that were for girls in case our next baby is a boy. I think they are perfect and I'm so happy with them!

Well that's pretty much a sum up of this last week. But before I can be done, I got to do my weekly pregnancy update :)

31 weeks and 3 days

31 weeks and 5 days...I think I look bigger when I don't wear shirts that are snug or that I don't hold close to my body for pictures

31 weeks and 6 days

32 weeks!

Total weight gain so far: I am at a total of 16 1/2 pounds weight gain. I go back right before I leave for New York. I will get an updated weight then. 

How far along are you: 32 weeks

Maternity clothes: Definitely.  There are a lot of ore pregnancy clothes that I am beginning not to be able to wear like dresses. Every Sunday I think I can still fit into some dresses and get bummed everytime. Ha. I will learn eventually. 

Sleep: Sleep is pretty amazing. I still don't wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I must have a wicked big bladder or something. 

Best moment this week: Our two baby showers!

Miss anything: This week I miss Jonny since he has been gone. We aren't away from each other often so when we are, I don't sleep as well, I get bad dreams, and every little sound in the house stirs up scary thoughts. I just want him back!  I give big props to army wives. I don't know how they do it...

Movement: Yes.  Today in church I told my friends to watch my stomach. They thought it was so funny to see her squirming around in there. Then they felt her move (it's not really kicks as much as rolling) and they thought it was so weird! Haha. It was pretty funny.  That same friend also felt her hiccups the night before. Pretty magical thing if you ask me. 

Food cravings: No.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope. But my sense of smell is out of control! I'm glad things don't make me sick. 

Have you started to show yet: Yes.  

Gender: Girl

Belly button in or out: Flat? Not in or out.

Labor signs: Nope. But I have had a few Braxton hicks. Nothing hat hurts though. I can just feel my stomach tightening. 

Wedding rings on or off: On.  And no swelling. 

Looking forward to: Our trip to New York in just a week and a half. I sure hope I can keep this baby inside me until after we get back!

Utah vacation, baby shower, 40+ hours of driving and more!

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!

 

Short but sweet

Short but sweet is the perfect summary of this week.  The weekend was amazing! I felt refreshed after being able to spend some time out by the pool catching some rays and sleeping in.  I only had 4 days of work this week which was nice because it made the week go by faster.  Jonny's coworkers threw us a "short but sweet" baby shower (see more below).  Everything about this week was short but sweet. including this blog post. 

 

Not much went on this week besides lots of volleyball (surprised?).  I have been packing and cleaning during my spare time.  I feel ready to leave today which makes life at work peaceful instead of stressing about all I have to do at home.  I just can't wait for the next week.  I am looking forward to seeing friends and family and spending lots of time in the car with my two loves.  Weird to think about that...

 

Here is the weekly update.  Only one more week and I will be in the 30's.  2 more weeks and I will be in the single digit countdown.  Holy crud.

 

 

Here I am at 28.5 weeks

These are taking this morning (29 weeks).  The one on the left is how I look just walking around (not fitted) and the one on the right I kind of fitted to my stomach to see a little bit more definition.

 

This picture is ONE week difference.  After last post, I realized that I really did grow overnight.  Now it is fun to compare days and weeks.  This was wearing the same shirt.  You can see how much I popped in one week.  Crazy!

 

Total weight gain so far: 16 pounds total.  Doctor said I should be gaining close to a pound a week from here on out.  Holy smokes.



How far along are you: 29 weeks

 

Maternity clothes: Yes.  I am starting to fill them out too!

 

 Sleep: So tired every night.  The start of this last week I was waking up in the morning with lower back pain.  So I decided that I would try out using the body pillow.  Let me tell you...A-MAZ-ING! I have found the optimal temperature where I am not sweating and Jonny isn't freezing.  Sleep has been wonderful!  I actually feel refreshed in the morning. 

 

 Best moment this week: Having another little baby shower.  This time it was thrown by Jonny's coworkers.  It was small, short and sweet.  It was perfect!  And Jonny was there which was fun because if anyone knows me, I do not like opening gifts in front of people.  I feel like I am not very good at giving good impressions.  I pretty much love everything I get but for some reason I can't show that on my face like I feel it on the inside.  And knowing that makes me try to hard and then it seems fake.  I just don't like it.  On a happier note, THANKS to everyone who came and a special thanks to Jessica and Judy for throwing it!  So nice of you :)

 

Miss anything: I miss being able to lay on my stomach while out by the pool.  I was out by the pool this weekend for memorial day and it was great!  Except the front half of me has the start of a nice tan and the back pretty much has nothing.  I tried to come up with something to help me be able to lay on my stomach.  I did wrap a pool noodle around my stomach like a little donut which helped but still not the most comfortable thing in the world.

 

 Movement: Yes and still enjoyable.

 

 Food cravings: Nope

 

 Anything making you queasy or sick: Not at all

 

Have you started to show yet: Yes. Getting bigger everyday.  Literally...I grew overnight last week.  It is crazy how much I am growing. I am glad I am taking pictures.

 

 Gender: Girl

 

 Belly button in or out: In

 

 Labor signs: Nope

 

 Wedding rings on or off: On

 

 Looking forward to: UTAH! We leave today and will drive to Utah.  We will stop in Fort Collins and see our friends and then off to Utah for a week to see family!  On our way home, we will stop in Steamboat Springs and spend some time with Jonny's brother.  I cannot wait to have a short but much needed vacation! :)

3rd trimester....what what!

That's right people, I have officially entered my 3rd trimester!  Woot!  I am actually kind of sad about leaving the second trimester behind.  That really was the best time for pregnancy so far.  Here's a recap of some things that happened during my second trimester that I will miss:

 

---Energy! I hear this goes away for the last couple of months and pretty much until the baby sleeps through the night and we start getting sleep.

---finding out the sex of the baby.  This was such an exciting time.  We counted down the days to find out. 
---getting a "baby bump".  I am going to miss my small little baby bump especially as I start to get ginormous.
---dumping traffic control.  That's right.  My company back in December sent me to traffic control school to learn how to put up barrels in a construction zone.  For 4 months after that, I drove up a down 20 miles of the interstate checking barrels to make sure they were still in place.  If they were knocked over, I had to get out and replace them.  That was quite an experience.  I got a few honks here and there but I think I gained a better understanding of what goes on out on the job.  I wasn't showing really then (at least not through my sweatshirts) but my boss got other people certified and replaced me as soon as he could.  I really kind of miss it because I felt like I was in "the know" but on the other hand, I am really grateful to be back in the office with the two girls.
---3D ultrasound!  Seriously, the best thing during pregnancy for me is being able to see the baby during an ultrasound.  It's reassuring that everything is going well especially during those early weeks when you aren't feeling as much.  This time, we got to see our baby in 3D (see picture below).  It wasn't the best picture the tech could have gotten but our little girl was just soooo stubborn and would not move her head away from the side of the placenta for the tech to be able to get a good picture of her.  The tech said that the baby loved being spread out but smooshed at the same time.  Whenever I moved around to give her more room, she would stretch her neck out and kick her feet and then huddle her face right back up against the placenta.  It was still fun to be able to see the 2D of her moving around.  It really makes it reality to see and feel her moving at the same time.  Sometimes I get so busy that I know she is moving but I don't always think about what it means.

---being cold.  This whole pregnancy so far I have been cold.  I have a feeling with the humid summer coming up soon that will most likely change.  I just wish that I could have a swimming pool in my backyard to go sit in whenever I want.  I have had multiple friends offer their pools whenever I wanted which will be nice. 

Looking back at some of the things from second trimester just made me realize that it has been great but what is going to come in 2 1/2 months while outweigh that all.  Last night as Jonny and I were laying in bed talking, the thought of us really being parents and taking care of this little baby became a little more real.  I thought how long Jonny and I have been uncles and aunts and how awesome it is to be able to play with them but never be the bad guy.  We never had to change the diaper, put them down for naps, put them in timeout, discipline, or anything that would make them not like us.  We just play with them and give them back to their parents when any of those happen.  Last night was one of those moments.  I thought about how they will be given back to us when they are hungry or tired or crying.  I had a brief moment of fear before I fell asleep that I wouldn't know what to do.  I wouldn't know why she was crying or when she is able to start eating certain foods.  I just hope what everyone says about "you just will know" will come true.  I know that Jonny will be a great dad but sometimes I hope that I can do a good job too.

One last thing from this week.  As most of you know Oklahoma got hit by that huge tornado.  They were thinking that some parts of Arkansas and Texas might be hit too.  Luckily, that didn't happen (as far as I know).  Living in Arkansas we are technically a part of "tornado alley" which is kind of scary.  However, Russellville is kind of in a valley surrounded by a few mountains that makes tornados hard to get inside.  A tornado hasn't hit Russellville in years and probably won't happen often which is nice to know.  But that doesn't mean we don't get the thunderstorms.  Thunderstorms in the south are nuts.  The lightning is so bright it lights up a room at 2am and the thunder is so loud that it sounds like a bomb is going off in the bathroom.  The other day, we had a bad storm come through that literally woke Jonny and I up in the middle of the night because it was so loud and so bright.  The next morning as I was driving to work I saw this tree.  It was 2 houses down from ours and the tree was split in half.  It was crazy to think that a thunderstorm did something like this.  Trash cans were flown all across the street.  It sure felt like a mini tornado had made its way through, just without all the casualities and destroyed homes.

A weekly blog post wouldn't be the same if I was missing the weekly update right?  Here we go!

 On the left is yesterday at 27 weeks 6 days and on the right is today at 28 weeks.  Is it just me or does it look like I grew overnight?!?

 If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you saw this picture the other day.  On Tuesdays, people put "Transformation Tuesdays" on Instagram where they put a picture of what they use to look like and a picture of themselves now.  I thought I would do that with the first picture I took when I found out I was pregnant to the beginning of my 3rd trimester.  Most likely I will do another one when I am about to pop.  I guess I just get so used to being pregnant now that I forget my stomach has changed so much.

Total weight gain so far: Hopped up to 16 pounds this last doctors visit.  I have to be constantly reminding myself that gaining weight right now is a good thing.  The baby is growing a lot every week!

How far along are you: 28 weeks

Maternity clothes: Yes.  And this last week I was able to wear my maternity swimsuit for the first time.  Me and the swimming pool will become best friends this summer.

 

Sleep: So tired every night but sleeping great! 

 

Best moment this week: Being able to see our baby girl and knowing everything is looking great!

Miss anything: I miss my family, Shardlows and Neeleys! Sometimes its hard being away from family especially when you are emotional.  Can't wait to see them! :)

 

Movement: Yes and loving it.  It's stronger but not too strong.  I keep hearing about how at the end it starts to get a bit uncomforable because they are so big and you run out of room.  I was able to let some of my friends feel her move too which was exciting.

 

Food cravings: I'm pretty sure they will never come. 

 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.  I hope that ended in the first trimester.

Have you started to show yet: Yes.  Getting bigger everyday!

 

Gender: Girl

 

Belly button in or out: In

 

Labor signs: Nope

 

Wedding rings on or off: On and no swelling. I hope with the hot weather coming that it will stay that way too.

 

Looking forward to: NEXT WEEK!!! That's right! We leave in ONE week!! Oh my gosh.  I am so excited.  I think it will be so much fun for us to be able to see friends and family and to get away from our normal routine for a week.  And that week will be jammed pack with fun things to do!

twenty-seven weeks

I keep saying that my weeks are crazy but seriously...this week was INSANE!! Jonny and I didn't get home any day this week before 8:30pm.  That means straight from work we headed to the gym and were there until about 8pm every night.  Wednesday I had mutual and Jonny went out with the missionaries doing his calling.  This week alone, we did 7 private lessons, had 3 volleyball practices and church Wednesday night.  Luckily, we don't have much going on tomorrow except I am going on a 5 mile hike with our girls for a camp certification at 9am!  I would complain more that it is so early but most likely I won't be able to sleep in anyway.  Last Saturday, we didn't plan anything until after 9am so that I could sleep in.  I woke up at 7:30.  Awesome.

Last week Jonny got a call from his sister Emily.  She said she had received this little boys fourth grade class project.  The project is similar to "Flat Stanley" if anyone has ever heard of that.  Basically, he sent out this notebook that he called his travel log.  He sent it to someone out of state that he knew.  They were asked to send a postcard back to his school so he could track his book while they kept the book and filled out some pages.  He wanted to know where it went and to describe the town/city/state.  He wanted to know what the weather was like and what we did for fun.  Once you filled it out, you sent it to someone else in a different state.  Emily received it from her husband's missionary companions that lives in Washington DC.  Emily asked if she could send it to us since it had not yet gone to Arkansas and if we would be willing to write in it.  The only thing was that it needed to be done and sent back within a week.  So we agreed and I am glad that we did.  It was so much fun writing to this little boy who I know is so excited to get his travel log back.  I also loved looking at where it went and all the cool pictures that people put in there about different states.  If I enjoyed it, then I know he would too.  I took a picture of the five pages we did.  Whatcha think?

 

   

 

  

 

Also, this week some co workers from Jonny's school asked him if they could throw him a shower!  So the last week of school, they are planning on throwing us a small casual shower.  It was so nice of them to want to throw us a shower just for Jonny.  We feel so blessed with all of the love our friends and family have for us and for this little baby.  She is going to be so dang spoiled.  Heck, she already is and she isn't even here yet!

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for.  Drum roll please...................

THE WEEKLY UPDATE!! :)

 

 

*Upper left is 26.5, upper right is 26.6 and middle bottom is today at 27 weeks :)

 

Total weight gain so far: 11 pounds according to my last doctors visit on 5/7.  We don't own a scale so the only weight updates I get are from the doctors.

How far along are you: 27 weeks

Maternity clothes: Yep.  But I do have a belly band that I have learned to utilize while I still can.  Its kind of nice wearing my old clothes that I haven't been able to fit into for weeks.

Sleep: I need more of it.  I have been so exhausted.  I think a lot of it has to do with how busy we are but I also want to think some of it is because I hear the tiredness of pregnancy comes back in the 3rd trimester (which is next week!)

Best moment this week: Getting our pack n play in the mail that my Mom and Dad bought for us!  Having a baby is like Christmas almost everyday.  It's awesome!

Miss anything: My body.  I know I still have 3 months to go to want that back more but I kind of miss it.  I also miss being able to go out in the sun and just getting tan.  I went to the state soccer tournament last weekend and sat outside for a couple of hours and got a little sunburned.  I can count the number of times I have burned in my life on one hand! It just doesn't happen.  I have heard that your body does weird things when your pregnant.  I guess skin sensitivity is one of them...

Movement: Yep.  I even got kicked the other day that kind of hurt.  It made me stop in the middle of my sentence.  I figure this will happen more and more as the baby gets bigger.

Food cravings: Nada. Zippo.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.  My tummy feels upset sometimes after eating something spicy but that's about it.

Have you started to show yet: Yes but I hear almost everyday when I'm asked how far along I am or when the baby is due, "you don't look 6 months pregnant" or "are you sure there is a baby in there?" I guess I should take that as a compliment but when I hear it everyday, multiple times a day, it gets old.

Gender: Girl

Belly button in or out: In but kind of flattening out

Labor signs: Nothing

Wedding rings on or off: On and no swelling.  I hope with the hot weather coming that it will stay that way too.

Looking forward to: Our 4D ultrasound is on Monday!  I have had my thoughts about this but I am getting more and more excited as it gets closer.  I just hope that she cooperates a little better than she did in the anatomy scan.  She almost didn't let us find out what she was in that.  I hope we can get a good view of her cute little face! :)

26 weeks

To say that this week has flown by is an understatement.  I seriously had to think yesterday what day it was because I couldn't believe that it was Thursday already.  Normally, I feel like every day is drawn out and then it comes to the weekend and for some reason those fly by in 5 minutes.  Crazy how that is. 

Anyway, this week has been busy...which I am starting to think that will be a weekly/daily occurrence for, well, a LOOOOONG time.  I don't think I will really get a break before the baby comes and we all know that it sure won't happen when the baby does come.  I better start getting used to it.

We will start with Monday.  Monday afternoon, after work I drove up to Bailey's house (who I mentioned came home from BYU in my last post) and hung out with her for a couple of hours while Jonny and her boyfriend Brock went golfing.  Jonny picked up Brock in his car from Baileys house a little before I got there.  Then we left Baileys house in Baileys car and made a couple of stops before meeting up with the boys for dinner.  After dinner, we had to go back to Baileys house to pick up my car.  We ended up going inside for some dessert and staying to watch some basketball.  It started getting late so we thought we should leave.  We both hopped in Jonnys car and went home.  Yep...we got all the way home and it finally dawned on me, while we were sitting IN FRONT of our house that we had drove two cars there and one car back.  Awesome.  Since it was 10pm and we were exhausted, we decided that we would just leave my car there and Jonny would just drive the motorcycle the next day.  For the next two days, we left my car up there because we kept trying to find a time where we would be able to go get it.  It is now an ongoing joke between us and the Stokes.  PS...I have an excuse called "pregnancy brain" that I can blame that on.  I want to think its contagious and that is why Jonny forgot too but I am not sure... :)

Tuesday was my doctors appointment.  It was the dreaded glucose test.  Luckily, right before I left I was told from a friend on mine that had twins 3 years ago that it just tasted like strong Gatorade.  I had hope!  Turns out...I LOVED IT!   I chugged it and enjoyed it.  I actually wanted more.  I then was sent to the room to have my check up.  She measured my stomach and I was measuring right on.  She listened to the heartbeat and it was so strong! We then talked about the different possibilities for labor and pain.  I went from "wanting to do it natural but not being against an epidural" to "pretty sure I am going to be getting an epidural."  Just the thought of that much pain hurts me already.  Ha ha.  I am not going to try and be superwoman and do it natural, at least not with my first.  Maybe later...

After all of my routine check up things, they sent me back to the waiting room to wait out the hour.  Jonny has gone with me to every appointment except this one because of a meeting and the 22 week on because he was sick.  It was lonely and weird without him.  So I texted him and asked him if we was going to make it home before having to go back to the school for practice.  He told me no and I asked if he could keep me updated.  This was his response...

 

I love this man so much. 

 

He ended up finding jumper cables and having to jump his motorcycle at the school and then again at the church after Tuesday night basketball.  Pretty funny.

 

 

Wednesday, I was on Facebook looking at a page called "Pope County Baby Swap" which is exactly that, well baby item swap.  It's a Facebook page that was started to allow people to go on and have a huge online garage sale.  It is awesome when it comes to getting good deals on baby stuff.  First of all, I live in a small town where some people know Jonny because of the school and second, a lot of people out here have one or two kids and then get rid of all their stuff.  So I found a good deal on a breast pump.  $30 for a double electric Madella with cooler and 8-10 plastic storage containers.  Brand new, those things cost $260.  I would say that's a pretty dang good deal.  I bought it from a lady that I found out once I went to pick it up that she has a son in Jonny's PE class this semester.  So she told me she was happy to give me a good deal on it.  Pretty awesome.

 

 

That is just about everything that happened this week.  Enjoy the weekly update of pregnancy below!

 

 

 

This was at 25 weeks 3 days.

 

***These two pictures were taking today.  I was wearing a flowy shirt so to give the full effect of my belly I decided to take two.  One with the tighter undershirt showing.

 

 

Total weight gain so far: 11 pounds according to my last doctors visit on 5/7

How far along are you: 26 weeks

Maternity clothes: Yep.  Learning to love them.  I do want to go shopping but have to think I will only be able to wear them for a few months...

Sleep: Pretty good cause I have been so dang tired.  I have been waking up sweating the last two nights though.  I have a feeling that will only get worse.

Best moment this week: Probably getting some vacation/baby shower plans ironed out.  Just 3 more weeks!

Miss anything: Playing volleyball.  I can do some stuff still but I really miss being able to jump set and dive.  I will need to play some after the baby as soon as I can. 

Movement: Ha ya especially after drinking that glucose drink.  50 grams of sugar = one hyper baby!

 

Food cravings: Nothing.  Still waiting.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really queasy but I have been able to notice my increased sense of smell.  Sometimes its a blessing but mostly a curse.  Anyone else agree?

Have you started to show yet: Yes.  I still forget I am pregnant sometimes.  I guess its because I'm not massive yet.  But I have noticed that I think I can fit in places that I can't actually fit into anymore.  Like in between a chair and wall...it looks small enough for me to fit until I try and end up hitting my belly.  Weird feeling.

Gender: Girl

Belly button in or out: In

Labor signs: No

Wedding rings on or off: On and I haven't really had much swelling at all.  I hope that continues.

Looking forward to: Summer to get some closets organized and cleaned out.  I think about all the work that needs to be done and get overwhelmed.  Luckily we have the summer where Jonny won't work to get most of that done.

It's Friday! :)

Friday is always the marking of a new week in pregnancy! 25 weeks now.  Sometimes I still can't believe that our lives will be changing before we know it. 

 

This week has been super busy starting with last weekend.  Saturday we did a fundraiser to raise money for the girls to go to girls camp this summer.  We bought 325 DOZEN of Krispy Kreme donuts.  We got up and started selling at 8am Saturday morning.  At 10am, there was the annual Party in the Park which is community outdoor party where people come and set up tables to sell things, arts and crafts, and anything else fun.  Except it was raining and it had to be moved indoors which wasn't that fun.  Our girls every year help run the crafts tables while our young men help set up/take down chairs and tables.  So we decided that we would be able to try and sell the donuts there.  Not so successful.  When they left the Party in the Park around 3-4pm, we were in the hole $600.  That means not only we hadn't made a penny but we were actually costing the church $600 more than usual.  Some leaders and girls went back out to the street corner and in just 2 hours, sold all but 70 dozen and were profit of $600.  The next day at church, the remaining 70 boxes were sold.  Overall, it was tough but lesson learned...325 dozen is A LOT!!  Just take a look at the picture.

 

 

This was our young women's presidents expedition packed to the brim!  She and her daughter went down at 4am to pick them all up.  She had to take out all of her back and middle seats from the all to fit.  That was one packed car!

 

 

Saturday night we met up with our good friends Molly and Neylon and went and had dinner with a couple that is moving from Springville, UT to Russellville this fall!!  We got into contact with them because Neylon is a peditrican and Nate (the one moving here) was just hired to be a family doctor.  During Nate's interview, he was explaining that he was LDS and Nelyon said to him that he has some great friends that are LDS.  So Neylon gave Saysha, Nate's wife, my number and we started talking and planning to meet up....hence the dinner.  They are great people and we are super excited for them to come here! :)

 

Sunday was just another normal Sunday for the most part.  Jonny was asked to speak but ended up not speaking because they ran out of time.  He had meetings before and after church (I guess that's what happens when you are the Elders Quorum President...).  After he got home, we hung out for a little while until we went over to the Bishops house for dinner.  His oldest daughter came home from BYU for the summer and I wanted to be there for when she got back.  We have become super close and I just love her!  She is on the left and her little sister is on the right.  They are just dolls!

 

 

Then Sunday night after dinner, we went to our weekly hang out with some other young couples in our ward.  The guys get together with a few investigators and the girls get together somewhere else and just have some girl time!  It's always so fun and something I look forward to every week!

 

One busy weekend that felt like it just rolled over into the week.  Volleyball after school practice started back up for Jonny 2 days a week.  Since most of the other sports are done, we are getting asked by multiple different girls for weekly lessons which is great!  I am just touched and blessed that they have that much respect as coaches for Jonny and I to want to have private lessons.  I guess between work, volleyball, lessons, church and trying to find time to be together, life has been busy!  Maybe it's just preparing us for what is to come in a few months....!

 

Keep reading for the weekly update... :)

 

 

So here is me at 24 weeks 4 days.  It's crazy what stripes can do for a pregnant girls belly...

 

 

Total weight gain so far: 8.5 pounds (So I got this idea from my cousins blog and I like it for journaling purposes...not so much for telling people how much weight I'm gaining...)

 

How far along are you: 25 weeks

Maternity clothes: Yes but I am still able to fit in almost all of my pre-pregnancy shirts.  And I was sick of wearing the same bottoms when it got colder so I finally put on my jeans and used my belly band!  That belly band saved me!! I have learned to love it.

Sleep: Pretty good so far.  I have my not so good nights.  I just wish Jonny could sleep better because we all know when the baby comes, it won't be so good.

Best moment this week:

Miss anything: I miss just the ease of everything.  Bending over, sitting up, going hours without having to pee, knowing my size of clothes, not having to pack a couple snacks everywhere I go, etc. 

Movement: Yes.  I was just telling my co-worker yesterday that sometimes I get caught up in life that I feel her but I don't think "that's a little human inside."  I think it becomes more real when I see her move or when I'm not so busy that I can sit and just rest my hand on my stomach.

Food cravings: Nothing.  I wonder if I ever will...

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  But the thought about the pain of breastfeeding gives me the heeby geebys.  I will definitely breastfeed (if my body allows) but I know it hurts at first and I don't deal with pain as good as others.

 

Have you started to show yet: Yes.  So the two pictures above are to show what I look like in a sweatshirt that I didn't form around my belly and then the same sweatshirt with me forming.  Kind of crazy that you can still see the bump even without needing to form!

Gender: Girl

Belly button in or out: In

Labor signs: No

Wedding rings on or off: On

Looking forward to: Seeing my parents, siblings and nieces/nephews and the two baby showers that are coming up in June! :)