Easter Weekend 2014 & 16 Weeks

What a wonderful weekend!

My sister Veronica came up for the weekend. I love me some sister time. We spent Saturday morning shopping, the best. And then came home and colored eggs, and made an adorable Easter cake.

Sunday we got up early for church and brunch with family. And then you know I had Justin drive straight to FroYo. It was divine.

We spent the rest of the day lounging about and dreaming over house plans while my MIL made a delicious Easter feast. It was a great day.

How far along: 16 weeks
Gender: I'm fully convinced its a boy now. But we'll see soon!
Weight Gain: I haven't weighed myself in awhile. It's depressing.
Maternity Clothes: Yes yes yes, more yes.
Stretch Marks: None
Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: Doing good lately. No midnight bathroom trips. But I have been waking up 5 minutes before my alarm goes off…. which I hate. If I'm going to wake up I wish it would be an hour or two too early because then I can go back to sleep for a little bit!
Best Moment This Week: Eating Frozen Yogurt again. Baby M and I enjoyed it a lot.
Miss Anything: Laying on my stomach… I can still do this but it's uncomfortable.
Movement: Nothing yet! =(
Cravings/Aversions: I just am thirsty all the time. Orange juice and water.
Queasy or sick: Nope!!
Looking forward to: May 7th!! May 7th!! I can't wait to find out what we have in there!

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday with those dearest to you, and have an amazing week!

Room & Belly Laughs

First let me say I could not be more happy that today is Friday. It has been a long long week for me and I am ready for my weekend! Also, I gave up ice cream and frozen yogurt for Lent and there is nothing that sounds better to me than vanilla froyo with rainbow sprinkles. You know where I will be after church on Sunday.

Anyway, it has been a little while since I have posted about what I have been reading.

I read Room by Emma Donoghue at the recommendation of a fellow book lover. I was warned that it was intense and about a boy who's mother is impregnated by her kidnapper, and who has spent his whole life living in this one room. I was intrigued and sped through it. I think I read the whole thing in about 4 hours.

Once again I feel that the Amazon description gives away the whole story so I don't recommend reading it if you'd like to maintain a little mystery, but here it is:

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

Also at the recommendation of a friend, I just finished Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy. Another super quick read. You could probably read he whole thing in one sitting but I chose to space it out over the span of my pregnancy so far. I really enjoyed. I laughed, I cried, I grimaced, I nodded in agreement, and shuttered at what is to come. It was great. I definitely recommend if you're in the process of making  a human.

Revealing the naked truth about the tremendous joys, the excruciating pains, and the inevitable disfigurement that go along with pregnancy, Jenny McCarthy tells you what you can really expect when you're expecting! From morning sickness and hormonal rage, to hemorrhoids, granny panties, pregnant sex, and the torture and sweet relief that is delivery, Belly Laughs is must-read comic relief for anyone who is pregnant, has ever been pregnant, is trying to get pregnant, or, indeed, has ever been born!

I'm just now realizing that both of these books have to do with motherhood, not on purpose at all. But I guess it's my sub conscience or something!

Also if you're following along with my 30 Before 30 list, these two books make 8 and 9!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Easter Sunday! See you next week!

What I'm Loving Lately

I've been missing Wednesdays lately. But don't worry, we're back.

I am loving that Doodle is finally better! After a few more days of Poop Central, including a day where Shadow was in on the action, it was determined that it was a worm. The medicine was administered and everyone got better. $1600 later. Thank you veterinarians.

I am loving that we are signing papers for our house today! Woohoo! I'm so ready to close up that portion of our life!

I am loving Otter Pops. They seem to have shrunk in size since I was a kid though.

I am loving my belly bump! I am officially showing. I love it. It's much better than just feeling chunky.

I am loving that I got back to yoga yesterday. I took a little hiatus during my first trimester, and am just now making it back. Yesterday was hard. I am out of shape. I'm trying to take it easy and pace myself, but it sure does feel good to be back at it.

I am loving country music. I always love it actually but when the weather gets warmer there's nothing that beats the radio blasting and the windows down. I especially am loving the new Luke Bryan song, "Play It Again."



Speaking of the weather, I am loving that we are getting a little bit of sun! We're only into the 60's but if the wind isn't blowing it feels so nice!

I am loving my new maternity clothes! Seriously love them. The comfort of stretchy pants with the look of wearing jeans. Love.

Honestly you all, I am just loving life lately! I am in a happy place right now!

Weekend Recap and 15 Week Update

What a great weekend we had! We are finally settled into our new place and we got to have a regular weekend and it was so nice!

Friday night Justin and I made homemade Mac and Cheese (one of my all time favorite things) and watched Shark Tank. We're real cool over here.

Saturday morning I got up and met a friend downtown for the annual Autism Awareness Walk. Working in Special Education this cause is especially dear to me. It was awesome to get out and see some of my students outside of school and spend a little money for a good cause! =)

After the walk I met up with my sweet friend Karissa and her mom, Momma Haxby. They are from Boise and I don't get to see them that often. We did a little shopping and then had lunch. It was so nice to catch up with her a little bit, and to talk baby and pageant life!

Also Momma Haxby gave us Baby M's first gifts! The sweetest cuddliest little blanket and Dr. Suess' ABC Book! I'm a big reader so I love that one of Baby's first gifts is a book!

Last night my in-laws got home from a vacation and Baby M received another gift!! Such a spoiled little baby already!!

This baby lamb is the softest thing you have ever felt and winds up and plays music too. She is so sweet.

And now here we are at 15 weeks! Can you believe it?!

How far along: 15 weeks
Gender: I'm leaning towards boy these days. Can't tell you why though!
Weight Gain: about 8 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yes! And it was one of my best decisions in a long time. I am so much more comfortable now!!
Stretch Marks: Not yet!
Belly button in or out: In still
Sleep: I'm doing really well in the sleep department lately! I haven't even had to get up in the night!
Best Moment This Week: I think I've popped! I finally have a real baby bump! So exciting!
Miss Anything: Still beer and sushi…
Movement: I haven't felt anything this week. Hopefully more soon!
Cravings/Aversions: orange juice!
Queasy or sick: Nope!!
Looking forward to: May 7th!!

Things I learned while moving

As you know I had the pleasure of moving last week. Which is always so fun. #sarcasm But I thought I would pass along some of the nuggets of knowledge I learned while we were going through this experience.

10 Things I learned while packing:

1. Don't make fun of your husband when he does not know how to use the tape gun. He will not appreciate it and the situation will get serious really quickly. I guess it could be kind of difficult if you've never used one before.

2. Moving is easier when you have friends and family that love you and are willing to help you. Or free beer and food to give them.

3. Label, label, label. Do Not Drop, Very Fragile, Do Not Stack On. Whatever. When other people, specifically a lot of boys, are helping you move, it's best if they know exactly what's in the boxes so they aren't playing football with them. Seriously. Also, label what is in the box and what room it belongs to. And do it on each side of the box. It will make it so much easier when people are helping you unpack, or if you're looking for something in your storage unit.

4. You have more junk thank you need, period.

5. Buy (or get from the liquor store like we did) small boxes. For some reason I first went for the large and medium boxes. I figured, we have a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff needs to be put in a lot of big boxes. What I learned is that all of my plates stacked on top of each other is very heavy and does not fill up a large box. Lots of smaller boxes was much much more helpful for packing up the kitchen.

6. You need more tape than you think you do. I think we went through 6 rolls. And we don't even have that big of a house. And more boxes than you think you do. And more black markers. They get misplaced and its annoying to not be able to move on with anything else until you label the freaking box in case you forget whats in it.

7. Have everything ready to go before you ask people to come help. Or at least as much as you can. I thought I had a huge stack of boxes so I asked the guys to come make a run to the storage unit. It took them about 3 minutes to move the "huge stack" and they were like, "oh ok glad we came over for that." Not really, they are all great and wouldn't say that, but you get the point.

8. Get wrapping paper. I sent my dad out for newspaper to wrap breakables in and he came back with a box of wrapping paper from u-haul. It was so great. My hands didn't get dirty using it and it was super cheap.

9. Putting blankets and towels into boxes is a giant waste of space. Instead use the blankets and towels to cushion bigger breakables and wrap them around pictures and mirrors.

10. Almost everything we own fits in a 10x15 storage unit. Depressing. I wonder how much it would go for on storage wars.

Goodbye old house! 

Bump Update: 14 Weeks

How far along: 14 weeks
Gender: Don't know yet. We scheduled the ultrasound today though! We'll find out May 7th!
Weight Gain: about 8 lbs
Maternity Clothes: I bought 1 dress, I haven't worn it yet but I'm going to have to cave soon.
Stretch Marks: Not yet!
Belly button in or out: In still
Sleep: Still have to get up about one time to go to the bathroom but I am finally starting to feel more rested and not exhausted anymore.
Best Moment This Week: Hearing the heartbeat today at our doctor's appointment.
Miss Anything: Still beer and sushi… I don't think this will be changing soon.
Movement: Nothing for sure, the doctor says I should soon though!
Cravings/Aversions: Craving: Jamba Juice, otter pops, peanut butter. No aversions right now.
Queasy or sick: Nope!!
Looking forward to: May 7th!!

The Crappy Week

Oh hey, remember me? I used to blog here. Sorry about the leave of absence.

Last week was my spring break, and while that may sound like I should have tons of time for blogging, that was not the case.

Because our house (is almost finalized) sold, we decided that spring break would be a great time to move. Now some of you may know this, some may not, but we decided to save money for a little while, while we decide if we should build or buy, and live with Justin's parents.

Some people sound shocked and appalled when I say I'm moving in with my in-laws. Especially with a baby on the way. And while I'm sure I will have even more great stories to share, I think it's actually going to be pretty great and not the nightmare you are all imagining. I really like my in-laws, and we have the run of the entire basement which is a pretty good size.

So anyway, that's not why the week was crappy. The week actually started out alright. My dad had surgery that went well and when my siblings were in town visiting him we got a lot of work done on the house. Almost completely packed up!

Then Monday and Tuesday Justin and I finished up the packing. (Don't worry, there's a whole post coming about the great things I learned from packing.) And we moved over to the in-laws house on Wednesday.

So here's where the crap starts. If you are easily grossed out you might want to stop reading here.

Wednesday I gave Doodle a new treat. It was one of Jax's (in-law's dog) treats. This was a mistake. After coming home from a friend's gender reveal party Wednesday night Doodle had pooped in the house. I disciplined him, cleaned it up, thought it was the end of it. It wasn't.

In the middle of the night I wake up with a bloody nose. I took care of it but went back to sleep with tissues stuffed in my nostrils. In the morning Justin woke me up to kiss me goodbye (he was taking Doodle to the groomers and then going golfing) and tells me there's something on my pillow. With tissue still hanging out of my nose I tell him I know, it's blood, and honestly I don't care at the moment and went back to sleep.

Well then I wake up a little later and come to find out…. oh that blood on my pillow? Not blood. Doodle decided to come sit by my head in the night (probably to tell me his but was exploding) and got poop on my pillow. And I slept with it. Awesome.

I go upstairs to take care of that situation, shower, eat breakfast, chat it up with my MIL for a while, come back down stairs and I smell poop. If you're a HIMYM fan, I was thinking, "Where's the poop Doodle? Where's the poop?"

I found it in another room. More poop than I have ever seen come out of my dog at one time, and diarrhea. I spent the next hour and a half, not even joking, cleaning up dog poop and cussing out my husband for being golfing and drinking beer while I was pregnant and on all fours scrubbing poop away. My mom told me it was practice for when the baby actually gets here. Not cool.

Anyway, I won't bore you all with the gory details, but that's how the last 5 days have been. We took him to the vet and are trying a million different things, but it's Poop Central over here. Doodle has been confined to days on the deck and nights in the bathroom and his spoiled poodle self is not loving life. Please pray for a quick recovery. For all of our sakes.

There was some fun snuck in a few places. My baby sister came to spend a few days with us here at Poop Central and was such a trooper, and I spent Saturday with my siblings and mom in Moscow which is always a great time.