This Pregnancy - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

My baby looks something like this at 16 weeks.

The Good

• I am THRILLED to be expecting another baby!  I've been baby hungry since Hannah started walking.
• This baby will be born just before Hannah's 2nd birthday.  They'll be two years apart in school, just like we hoped for.  I can't wait for them to be best buddies.
• Even though I was sick, I had such great support.  Aaron seriously saved me.  He put up with a grumpy zombie wife for three months.  He got up with me in the night, held the bucket for me whenever I threw up, and then cleaned everything up.  (I am still so sorry about that....)  He would go out and get me anything that sounded remotely appetizing and always did it with a good attitude.  He listened when I needed to complain.  He took on all of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry on top of going to school, work, and doing homework.  He is the best husband ever and this baby is lucky that it has him as a dad!  Also, big thank yous to my mom, Trish, Haley, and Becca.  You guys are the best!
• I'm feeling a lot better and I'm loving this second trimester.  It still has its symptoms, but it's so much better than the first.  It's nice to have some energy back and I've never been so grateful for my health!
• I've gotten to hear my baby's heartbeat twice now.  It's a sound I'll never get sick of and it fills me with daydreams of kissing soft little baby cheeks.

The Bad

• I was so sick during the first trimester.  Not just, "Ew, I don't feel well," sick, but "I don't know if I can get out of bed and crawl to the bathroom" sick.  I was sick with Hannah but not like this.
• My doctor prescribed me Zofran to help with the sickness.  It helped me be functional but it wasn't the "miracle pill" that people told me it would be.  Plus, I experienced quite a few side effects with it, so I kind of felt like I had to pick my poison.
• I don't like using this word lightly, but I feel like I was depressed during my first trimester.  I felt like a bad wife, a bad mom, a bad me.  I didn't feel at all like myself.  Feeling so miserable all of the time made me feel so discouraged.  I'm so glad those days are over.

The Ugly, more like random...

• I am starving ALL OF THE TIME!  I counted the calories I consumed in one day and it was over 4,000!  No matter how much I eat, I'm hungry less than an hour later.  I wake up most nights because my stomach feels like it's eating itself and I have to eat a midnight snack.
• I've become an insomniac.  Whether it's because I'm hungry or have to use the bathroom or for no reason at all, I usually wake up at least once during the night and it takes an hour or two to fall back asleep.  It's so annoying to be completely exhausted during the day but not be able to sleep at night.
• The second trimester has brought with it terrible headaches.  But my doc gave me permission to drink diet coke to help so I can't complain too much.  :)

I'm so glad to be through the first trimester and to be feeling better.  Now on to the fun stuff!  We find out our baby's gender in just a few weeks so make your guesses now!

Fall Flashback

I'm not going to spend too much time on this post, because honestly, I don't remember much about the last three months.  (I spent most of this fall as a zombie, remember?)  But I do want to record the most important stuff so I'll make it quick.

Aaron got a job offer!!!

On the last day of his internship, Valero Energy offered Aaron a full-time position as a chemical engineer starting in May.  We'll be back out in Benicia (where we were this summer) and we are so excited!  Obviously there are mixed feelings about moving away from family, but we know this is what's best for our little family and it's exactly what we wanted.  We love the company, the area, and most of all, the friends and family we left there!  We'll be moving back out to the Bay Area probably the first week of May so we're enjoying Utah while we can, but excited to start our new adventure!

Back to Utah

I wrote a little about this in this post, but it is good to be back!  It is so good to be with family!  We go up to South Jordan almost every week for some family-related event.  We love these people!

Picking apples with the Bytheways to make applesauce.

My little sister, Amanda, won state!  She's pretty awesome!

We moved into a little house on Center Street in Provo, where we are next door neighbors with our friends, Jake and Becca Taylor.  It's so fun to be near them!  All Hannah ever wants to do is go visit them and see their daughter, Avery.

Even with me being sick, we've been able to do a few fun things that are unique to Provo.... Aaron and I have gone to a few BYU football games, made a trip to Tucano's, went to the BYU art exhibit "Sacred Gifts" at the MOA, and spent lots of time with Provo friends.  

At a BYU football game.  Go Cougs!

At Sacred Gifts at BYU's Musem of Art.  It was amazing!

We've been able to hang out with our good friends, Jeremy and Haley Stevenson quite a bit.  (Ok, Haley and I get together pretty much every day.)  We love them and Nora is Hannah's best friend.  She calls her "Nona."

Halloween

Halloween was when I was feeling my very sickest, so it was pretty low-key at our house.  We just went to our ward's trunk-or-treat.  Hannah loved trick-or-treating though and I must say she was absolutely adorable dressed up as Snow White.

See what I mean?

Aaron was pretty convincing as Fix-It-Felix Jr.  He even found Wreck-It Ralph at our ward party.

I put on a cloak and called myself Snow White's evil step-mother.  Good enough.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was such a nice break for us.  I was just starting to feel better and it was awesome to have Aaron home for a few days.  We were able to go shopping, sleep in, watch movies, and really do just whatever.

Thanksgiving dinner with my family was small but just perfect.  There are so many things I feel grateful for this fall - the opportunity for Aaron to finish up school this year and the great job offer he received, being near family and friends for a little longer before we move away, being married to my best friend, my sweet little Hannah and another baby on the way, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, just to name a few.

My mom helped Hannah make a little turkey with her hand.

 Playing a little "Turkey Tornado" before dinner.

It was such a nice day!  Hannah went down the slide about a million times.

Cooking with my dad.  If you look close enough, you can see my little baby bump.

 Me, Hannah, Mom, Dad, and Aunt Chris

 The other side of the table - Amanda, Steven, Nathan, Aaron, and Hannah.

It's been a great fall, but I'm even more excited for the coming months!

Back From the Dead. Ish.

Oh hi!  Remember how I have a blog?  It's been a while, but I think I have a pretty good excuse.  In case you missed it, we announced it to the world with this picture.

I'm 15 weeks pregnant, due June 1st, and could not be more thrilled to be expecting our next baby.  I've been really sick with this pregnancy though so I kind of feel like I've been dead for the last three months - hence the lack of blogging.

There are so many things I want to write about, but it's just not going to happen today.  I am feeling so much better, but not 100% percent yet.  So I think I'll just make a list of all the things I want to write about and then maybe I'll actually do it.  Baby steps.

1. Basically our entire fall - being back in Utah, Aaron's job offer, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.
2. This pregnancy.  I didn't have a blog or any time when I was pregnant with Hannah, so sorry if you don't like pregnancy posts - I might go a little crazy.
3. A Hannah update.  She's almost 18 months and definitely not a baby anymore.  Tear.
4. How excited I am for Christmas!  My whole family hasn't been together for eight months so I'm basically counting down the minutes until my sisters get here.

Hopefully you'll be hearing from me soon.

My Favorite Weekend

My very favorite weekend is only a few days away!  This weekend I get to watch General Conference, where we hear God's word through His prophet and apostles.  I'm excited to gather with my family to hear our prophet and apostles speak, gain personal revelation for myself and my family, and feel peace from the Spirit. Hope you get to watch it too!

Summer 2013

I would not be exaggerating if I said that this summer was the best we've ever had.  There are a few factors that contributed.

1.  We spent our summer in the Bay Area.  It was new.  It was exciting.  It was adventurous.  I was worried about leaving Utah, but I actually ended up loving our new home.  We lived in such a beautiful area and being near the water was awesome.

2.  It was fun to "start over."  We moved to a place where we didn't know anyone and no one knew us.  We got to be our own family.  We made amazing friends and got to spend time with Ben and Alicia, who lived about 90 minutes away.  We miss you guys so much!

3.  Probably the very best thing about this summer was the fact that Aaron was only allowed to work 40 hours a week and didn't have homework.  That hasn't happened since just about the day after Aaron got home from his mission.  Our schedule was wide open and we got to be the ones who decided what to do with our time.  If we wanted to go to the park, we could go to the park.  If we wanted to go into the city, we did it.  If we didn't want to do anything at all, we didn't have to.  (Definitely missing this already.)

4.  There are so many fun things to do in the Bay Area.  And I'm proud to say that we were adventurous and did a lot of them.  Here's a recap.  This summer, we:

- Visited Muir Beach

.

- Got passes to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

- Went to Ghirardelli Square with Ben and Alicia.

- Celebrated Hannah's first birthday!

- Went to the Benicia Farmer's Market almost every week.

- Had Sid, Trish, and Brooke out to visit.

- Went to the Jelly Belly Factory.

- Attended the Oakland Temple.

- Ate lots and lots of delicious seafood.

- Got our mobster on at a Murder Mystery dinner hosted by the Callisters.

- Flew out to meet my sweet little nephew, Grey, and visited the rest of the fam.

- Went to two A's games and a Giants game.

- Visited the Fisherman's Wharf.

- Biked the Golden Gate.

- Helped out our awesome missionaries here and there.

- Went to the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

- Spent lots of time at the Benicia Waterfront.

- Cruised the Bay on a sunset ferry cruise.

I'm sad to see this summer end......here's to a fall that is just as wonderful!

Hello Utah!

Dear Utah,

Hello!  It's nice to be back.  But you don't feel quite like I expected you to.  I know you are "home," but I just don't feel quite as comfortable or at home as I thought I would.  I'm just bad at change I guess.  Sorry.

I'm so glad to be back near my family.  I missed them so much while we were two states over.  I am also loving the mountains and all these thunderstorms you're providing.  Thanks.  Speaking of thanks, thank you for this wonderful welcome home present.  It was divine.

This one, on the other hand, was not so great.  And it's getting worse by the day.   But I don't blame you.  Keep those thunderstorms coming!

Anyways, I'm glad you will always be my home state.  You're a good one.

Love, Me

You Know You Live In California When...

1. Being environmentally sound is next to godliness.

2. Rent costs you an arm and a leg.  You pay a pretty penny for groceries as well.  And don't even get me started on parking and gas prices.

3. Dogs are treated like children.

4. People think you're joking when you say you're a Republican or that you voted for Mitt Romney.

5. Homeless people have a great sense of humor.

6. You're going 10 over the speed limit and everyone is passing you.

7. You know better than to call California "Cali" or San Francisco "San Fran."

8. The freeways are so confusing that even Siri gets lost.

9. Your dairy products are proud of where they're from.

10. You've lived here for over three months and you still feel like you're on vacation. :)

A Visit to Portland

Aaron had a conference in San Antonio last week, so rather than sit at home alone, Hannah and I took a trip to Portland.  I've been dying to see my sister Lisa and her new baby, and the rest of my family was conveniently visiting at the same time (minus the Kimballs), so it was perfect.  

I can't describe in words how fun this trip was, so this will be mostly a picture post (with only a few of the millions I took).  My favorite things were just talking, playing games, and being together.

Lisa and me with our babes.

Could he be any cuter?!?  (The answer is no.)

Holding Baby Grey for the first time.

Hannah meeting her newest cousin.

Hanging out with the uncles.

Playing the piano with Uncle Steven.

My favorite little sister.  Look at her long hair!

Lisa made us delicious pizza.  Matt is the grill master.

One of the nights we went out to the Rose Gardens.  We explored the gardens and played a little tennis among the roses.

At the Rose Garden.

My mama and me.

The tennis players.

On Thursday, we drove out to Cannon Beach.  I love the quaint town and all of the little shops.  We shopped around for a bit, got some lunch at Mo's, and took a stroll on the beach.

Our message to Aaron.  It was so windy and cold!

Hannah loved the tide pools.

Haystack Rock

Trying to keep from freezing.

Later we went to Lake Oswego, which is just a few minutes from Matt and Lisa's house.  It was so beautiful and clear and it was the perfect night.  We took a picnic, let Hannah play at the park, and the boys played ping pong.

Hannah and me by the lake.  She was trying her best to jump in.

Hannah loved the playground.

Picnic by the lake.

Playing at the park with Uncle Nath.

Friday was our last day there.  It was so hard to say goodbye.  I'm so grateful to be part of such a wonderful family.  My parents and siblings are my very best friends.  We really missed Aaron and Dave and Heidi and their girls and I can't wait for all of us to be together again.

Thanks for having us Lisa!  You are an amazing mom and you, Matt, and Grey are the cutest family!