17 Weeks!!

On Sunday I will be 17 weeks! (Which you'd think is 4 months, but then you think 40 weeks equals 10 months, but anyways...) The only pants I wear are maternity jeans but I still wear my normal skirts, just keep them riding low. I was lucky enough to get maternity hand-me-downs from 2 of my aunts before I moved, so I have lots of options to choose from for free - plus, they're nice stuff!

Still haven't thrown up in a while, but food is still "eh." I hate liquid foods, I hate BBQ, I hate broccoli, and I've even lost my sweet tooth. But I LOVE milk.  And eggs. And steak. And I know my mother in law reads my blog, because look what she sent me for my birthday ;)

Here are some updates in pictures since it's been a while:

JAKE: We have soft places to sleep, but he likes the hard floors. And this is is signature sleeping position - he like's to air himself out ;)

He is the sweetest, even though he's getting rowdy. He loves Blaine.

See what I mean? He loves biting my clothes and my hands, but he loves just being around Blaine. Sometimes Blaine could use a break.

We take him out to the dog park in our complex and it makes me so sad. When he gets around other dogs I feel like he is my shy, home-body baby that just stays by my side and wants to go home. We're trying to get him more comfortable with interacting with other dogs.

They lady I visit teach called last weekend and asked Blaine to get some guys and help move this refrigerator, so that was funny to watch. The "3 Bs" tried to use their scientific knowledge and muscles (and youtube) to figure it out. 

A couple weeks ago Blaine and I each had the 24 hour flu on the same day. I woke up and threw up once at home, once on the way to school, then once in between 1st and 2nd period, and then once during 2nd hour. After that, I went to the office and was like, "I gotta go. I'm throwing up every hour." So I left and threw up twice on the way home. Once was on the freeway out in the country, but the other time was when I was on the big interchange of I-40, I-235, and I-35 and I had to pull off onto the shoulder on the overpass. 

So as usual, I pull over, open the passenger door, and crouch down. After I got done throwing up, I stand up and turn around and there was a man standing there. He was a sweet little cowboy with an Okie accent. He handed me a (sealed) water bottle and, full of concern, asked me, "Ma'am, are you alright?" I told him I was pregnant so he didn't think I was just a crazy drunk or something, and he asked me how far along I was and how much further I had to go. After I answered him he told me to call my husband so he knew where I was and then stayed in his truck until I pulled back into traffic. 

I felt so sick and miserable and your eyes tear up anyways when you throw up, but after that I just cried because I thought that was so sweet of a stranger to pull over and check on me. So 2 days later when I got back to school, I told that story to my students because we celebrate service acts of kindness. I keep the water bottle on my desk as a reminder for all of us. It was fun telling them the story though. When I told them that I turned around and a man was there, some kids asked "Did he try to jump you?!" and others gasped and said, "Was he an angel?!" :) This is a bad picture, but this is where it was.

This past week I turned 25 - yep, a quarter century. Not the most thrilling birthday I've ever had, but it was a busy Wednesday and we're trying to crack down on our budgeting skills a little more. But it was still good. My family celebrates your birth-week, essentially, rather than just a day. Its a big deal to have a day to celebrate you, so I always capitalize on it. Blaine didn't grow up with the same affinity for birthdays, but he's learned in our almost 5 years of marriage. This year my birthday was mainly about services and relaxation. My parents gave me a top quality down comforter for our bed, my in laws gave me gift cards to my favorite restaurants, and Blainey gave me 4 Groupons: 2 massages, 1 mani-pedi, and 1 for my hair and highlights. I've used 1 massage and my mani-pedi. I also treated myself to the fancy U-shaped body pillow for pregnant women. Blaine really enjoys it... and so does Jake :)

My students were especially sweet. A couple of them brought me little gifts and my 7th period class split up the responsibilities and we had a party - one girl baked the chocolate on chocolate cake, one person brought the OU plates, one person brought the drinks, etc. 

And the basketball girls cut up their own confetti and threw it at me when I walked into the gym - AND cleaned it up ;) This is the snapchat that the other coach sent me of the aftermath. Thats confetti in my hair, and some of the basketball kids guessed I was turning 30 or 32... so there ya go

And last Sunday we stopped by Blaine's school to pick up his project and he gave me a little tour. He's so handsome ;)

 his locker

 his work station

There was a lot of WEIRD paintings in there...

But also lots of Native American art

Lots of random tidbits, but thats the update for now.

Pregnancy Update: 14.5 weeks

I'm sad that I haven't taken weekly pictures and stayed up to date on every detail of my pregnancy. But I've been sick and busy and traveling. Hopefully I can get better. I've only taken one "pregnancy picture" at 8 weeks, but at that point, only our families knew. It's not the best picture and who knows how much of that is fat I already had and how much is a little extra "sticking out" tummy excitement, but there it is. 

The day I turned 6 weeks I was instantly so sick. I threw up most mornings - sometimes before I left the house, sometimes in a plastic bag in the car, sometimes on the side of the freeway. It didn't end there, though. Most days I just felt sick all day long and it would never let up. I was especially susceptible to motion sickness.

Eating was a catch 22 because all food sounded bad and the thought, smell, and look of it made me nauseous, but if I didn't eat, then of course I would be sick anyways. That all lasted for weeks. The transition from 1st trimester into 2nd trimester has been much better... so far, anyway. I do feel sick off and on a lot still, but the throwing up has been less consistent. 

Some days I would turn off the lights, lock the door, and take a nap on my desk during my prep period. I was late to work a lot, but luckily my first period is pom practice which offers some flexibility. Thats why I told the pom girls first, so they knew I wasn't just lazy and uncommitted. The next week, one of my 7th grade basketball girls came up to me at practice with a basketball stuffed up her jersey and said, "Look, I'm pregnant!" so I said, "Cool, me too," and stuck out my stomach. So she said, "Really?! I knew it. I knew it, guys!" Apparently she could tell that I was getting bigger...

I pretty much have no appetite whatsoever. Food does not sound good, and the food that does sound good usually doesn't taste good by the time I make it. Or, I'll buy all the ingredients and can't wait to make it, but then by the time I get home from the grocery store, I'm sure I will never want to eat that ever again. Food goes to waste here, pretty much. Because we are both SO busy and I cannot stand to cook now, we have eaten out a lot. Mostly at Cheesecake Factory and Outback. Not very good budget savers, but those are what my baby likes :) (Can't think of something to get me for my birthday next week? There ya go) 

Milk and steak have been my absolute favorites. I used to love cheeseburgers until I had my first ever experience with indigestion. My homemade staple has been a fried egg with cheese and avocado on a bagel thin. I have one a day. 

Things that I used to like but now hate include BBQ anything, broccoli, peppers... I just asked Blaine what else I'm forgetting and his loving, parental answer was "pretty much anything that is good for you and the baby." He gets annoying when I don't want to eat anything because I feel sick but he keeps pushing me. He's a good dad already though. My mom said she's glad he does that :) 

When we slept over in Denver on our drive back to Oklahoma after New Years, we had driven in the car all day and I really hadn't eaten much. So fine, you want me to eat something? Go get me a nice juicy steak from Outback. So after I ate my delicious steak, the sweet potato (which I usually love) and broccoli did not sound good. I ate a piece of broccoli and couldn't stand it. But Blaine tried to make me eat more, so after playfully debating back and forth for a while, I let him put some in my mouth and then proceeded to throw up within 5 seconds later. There went a $15 dinner down the drain.

Other than food, nothing else to report. I try to get a lot of sleep- 9 hours is ideal. I enjoy frequent bath/showers (laying down in the shower and plugging the drain). And I want a massage. All the time. More than usual. My parents gave me a back massager that you sit in for Christmas, so I've used that a couple of times so far. Oh, and I'm also slow and now have decreased reflexes. I've noticed these traits as I've played with Jake. Is that a normal? Maybe I'm just extra tired and thats how it manifests itself. 

But this is what I've wanted and waited for and am happy to experience all of this. 

Oh, and lastly, I started wearing maternity jeans last week and LOVE them :)

Pictures to come soon.

Christmas in Salt Lake

This year, we met my family in Salt Lake for Christmas. Blaine got out of school a week earlier than I did, so the plan was for him and Jake to drive out ahead of time so we could have a couple of days with his siblings before they leave and because we knew Jake would be too big for a plane... and we're still scarred from that horrible thanksgiving trip. But then a couple things came up, and so I ended up driving out with them and had to miss a couple of days of school.

Its about a 17 hour drive, so the first day we drove 7 hours to my uncle's house in Kansas. Its a small town near the Colorado border and is convenient because it is right on our way. It was especially nice of them this time since I only gave them a couple of hours of heads up since our plans changed so last minute.

The next day we went 10 hours to Provo, but first we stopped in Denver to eat lunch at Boston Market and then in Grand Junction for our first Cafe Rio dinner in 6 months. It was sorely missed, but thanks to my lack of appetite and pregnancy palate, it was not nearly as delicious as I had hoped.

Anyways, we were in Salt Lake for a little over 2 weeks so I'll just show some highlights of the trip. A lot happened and Jake grew a ton, but I'll just let these pictures do all the talking. 

Nowheresville: starting our long journey

We got pedicures for Alexis' 22nd birthday... can you tell I didn't shower?

I chose O.P.I.'s Plugged in Plum and LOVED it. I usually am not a huge purple fan, but in honor of Alexis' special day and favorite color, I gave it a whirl. Mom and Alexis got back scrubs while me, Liv, and Abbie got pedicures. We got a really fun bunch of girls to do our toes. They jumped in on our John Tucker Must Die quotes and even did a Kim Kardashian impression. It was fun... Come to think of it now though, we never took a picture of all of our toes. Sad...

We also all went to see Frozen together. The movie was good, a little sad, but I LOVED the music. Idina Menzel is the voice of one of the sisters and there are 2 songs that are phenomenal. I will be awaiting the Broadway premiere of Frozen. After the movie I got my picture taken with this Abercrombie model... ok, he's my brother, but he's so handsome and the cold temperatures don't scare him. We also went to Outback for dinner after the  movie since my baby's been loving steak a lot.

Me, Blaine, and Jake stayed at my grandparents. My grandpa was an orthodontist so he and Blaine bond over that. Just look at what Blaine found. We also found his old work magnets on the fridge. 

 Austin loved bonding with Jakey :)

One night we also went sledding. It was so freezing, though, that the hill had turned to pure ice. It was fun and they went far (I could not participate), but it hurt their bottoms so bad that we didn't last long. Blaine took Jake down a couple times, though, and he liked it. And when it wasn't his turn to go down, Jake would chase people as they slid down the hill.

 We went to Temple Square to see the lights and eat dinner at the Lion House. Blaine and I loved (well, Alayna loved and Blaine probably mildly enjoyed) going to see the lights every year when we lived in Provo. We didn't get any amazing pictures this year like we had in the past, but oh well. In addition to a million beautiful lights and music, there are also several nativitys from around the world. I ran over to take a picture with this Native American nativity as a joke since Blaine is half Indian, but then after we took the picture, my mom pointed out, "Thats a kiwi!! Thats New Zealand."

Thats the temple where Blaine and I got married 4 1/2 years ago!

Something new in the Joseph Smith Building was this photo booth in the Family History section. It was so awesome. I made my family do it. It was supposed to be your family arriving in America at Ellis Island, so we told everyone not to smile, to preserve the historical accuracy, but Dad, Craig, and Alexis didn't get the memo. And it looks like Blaine, Austin, and Aaron died on the ship along our journey from Europe. 

Everyone went skiing, but I couldn't go because I didn't want to risk a fall, so no pictures of that. I did get to participate in snowmobiling though and that was a lot of fun. It was just our family and we had our own little guide, who had a bit of a 'tude, but got better as the journey went on. It also turned out that he was from the same town that Blaine's Dad is from in Montana and knew a lot of Blaine's cousins. We got to wear this really awesome and flattering racing suits, but they did keep me warm. 

And lastly, just some random pictures of the trip.  

 Blaine got lots of baby practice in with all my cousins.

We weren't able to see everyone we wanted to while we were there, but we were able to see a couple of our friends. And when we did, where did we go? Zupas. Home of the ONLY salads I like. (Besides Cafe Rio, but that lost its magic with me for the time being.)

Driving home... bad weather, bad health.

 Lastly, we were also able to squeeze in a family picture with all 10 of us, but I'm not thrilled with how I look.