happy holidays

Happy Holiays from these guys!

our charlie brown tree

 

These past 4 years of moving from state to state, apartment to apartment, it's been wonderful. New adventures everywhere we go and making a home where ever we've ended up. And as much as we've enjoyed sharing small quarters together, that time is coming to an end very soon. The time has come for us to purchase our first home and the time I've spent on Pinterest will finally be used.  All those ideas for decorating will be copied now as I'm purchasing our own furniture and throw pillows and frames and lamps and rugs and all those little things that we don't have in our little apartment now. And even though this new stage is exciting, I will always cherish our first 4 years in small apartments together.

 

Our first apartment, we lived 4 months with no furniture. We ate dinner in our camping chairs we received as wedding gifts.

And in our second apartment---a basement apartment, not having any kitchen appliances besides a mini fridge or put our milk out on our front step in the snow. Oh the memories.

The third apartment, that was a huge step-up for us. We bought our first couch and we had a washer and dryer IN our apartment.

And for our last Christmas in an apartment, we have a beauitful tree for the first time. It isn't real, and there's no twinkling lights on it, but it's our christmas tree and it's perfect! With our collection of yearly christmas ornaments. I was excited for this year's.... See the cute couple and the expecting mama? That's us. :)

24 weeks

i was so sure that once I got pregnant that I would be a blogging maniac. Posting every single update and all, but this blog has been on the back burner. Not even the back burner because the back burner is still visible while i'm cooking. More like a lonely sock under the bed. Out of sight--- out of mind. So here is my 24 week photo, which was 2 weeks ago and let me tell you, 2 weeks has made a huge difference. These past few weeks have been a burst in belly size and it's official.... the belly button has gone from an innie-to-an-outie. I'm the creepy pregnant lady who keeps touching her belly button. I haven't felt an outie before and it's freakishly addicting to touch. Only those who have been pregnant would understand.

and this baby boy of ours is a soccer player. yep. quite the kicker. i've never been a soccer fan, but for  my boy, I will be his biggest soccer fan. and it will be more pleasant watching him kick a soccer ball than my ribs. regardless, feeling our boy moving is the best. i just want to take everyone's hand and place it on my stomach and say, "did you feel him?!!?" I'm bragging about my son and he's not even in my arms yet. The bragging has already begun...

13.1 miles and 21 weeks

Ever make a commitment to something because at the time the idea sounded awesome!..... but the feeling quickly died as the date got closer? Plus, other people knowing about this commitment makes backing out very difficult. Yeah, that happens to me all the time. But everytime it turns out perfectly and I'm so grateful I stuck to it. Well, before I got pregnant, my biff and I decided to sign up for a half marathon. Once our baby blessing came along, she gave me a way out saying I didn't need to do it which was very tempting to use as an excuse, but nope.... the commitment was made and I was sticking to it.

I ran a half in March and have been running ever since. I've read and talked to many people (especially the doctor) about running while pregnant and I came to my own conclusion that as long as I 1.) wasn't picking up running for the first time----which I wasn't and 2.) didn't push myself--- ha, I didn't even push myself before I was pregnant, that running throughout my pregnancy would be very helpful and I must say, running has been in more than one way.

To this past weekend now, I decided to run the half at 21 weeks pregnant. The run went surprisingly well, even though I had to pee the first 1/2 mile. I thought, even with my slow paced jog, that I would never come in last, but I was pretty dang close. There was even a point where this crazy speed walker passed my slow jaunt. Ouch, shot to my pride. But there's a saying runners refer to which helped ease that pain-- "It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." --Sheehan.

Anyway, it was one of my favorite runs I've done and I had my mom running beside me. This was our boy's first 1/2 marathon and all he had to do was relax while mommy did all the work.

half way milestone

There's a lot of new developments and here I am playing catch-up on my day off of work. Woke up this morning at 5:30, so much for sleeping in, and I'm in my robe watching the news and eating my homemade banana oat muffin--- which needs some work. Once the recipe is perfected I'll share. :)
We had our last ultrasound last week and all is well with baby boy. We saw everything in detail-- and I asked the doctor to count all his toes and just to confirm, he has 10 toes. A small mother's concern relieved. And finally... the moment I've been waiting for since that positive pregnancy test.....
Our boy is kicking like a mad-man! Last night we were laying in bed talking and I happened to have my hands on the right spot to feel him kick! We thought singing would make him kick again and it sure did. Probably him wanting me to shut-up but regardless, it worked. And out of impulse, I grabbed Ryan's hand and we just stared at each other wide-eyed until he says, "I felt him too!" We're all smiles. What a stellar feeling.

 

something about free food

We went to the Sun's game this week with David and Brittany--- on a work night too, we are so hard core. We had tickets in the loge section with a buffet dinner and ice cream. To be honest, and I can only really speak for myself and Ryan, we didn't care if the Suns won or not. We were just happy about eating all the food. And that attitude was a good one to have because, unfortunately, the Suns didn't win. :( The food and company made up for it though. :)

dinner theater

A few years ago Ryan and I went to a dinner theater. They are the best!--- eating dinner while being entertained by a show... is there really anything more you can ask for? Yes actually, having your husband be in the show.

Turns out a dinner theater we went to down in Tucson had tons of audience participation and Ryan's height made blending into the crow a little more difficult. He became the Frankenstein and practically stole the show. :) I've never been more proud of my Frankenstein. He was probably a lot happier with this get-up than last year's costume of Sonny and Cher, Ryan being Cher of course because he's a lot taller than me. :)

quarter century

Ok first off, a quarter century sounds a lot older than mid-20's so I'll be using the latter to refer to this year's birthday milestone. :) And how lucky were Ryan and I to both get Friday off for a weekend get-away. Original plans were to head to Sedona, but last minute change took us to Tucson where I got to see this lovely girl, my best friend for 10+ years, thank you very much. My birthday weekend wouldn't have been complete without seeing this stellar girl and hearing her blunt honesty of how much more pregnant I'm looking. Only she can get away with telling me that. After all, that's what best friends are for. :)

mother's intuition

I've heard it from my mother growing up that mother's...... just...... know-- it's the "mother's intuition". She would lovingly scare us how mother's know everything about their kids and we wouldn't be able to hide anything from her. She always knew what we were up to before we even had the time to get into trouble. Mother's intuition--- this made it very difficult for me to be sneaky growing up...Sigh....

I always wondered... How did she know??? I figured it out. It's a special power a woman receives ONCE she has a child... no wait.... once she is WITH child. I figured this out because I received the mother's intuition when i was about 10 weeks along.

I had a dream, actually two dreams, and both were very distinct. And in both of my dreams I saw our baby. And in both of my dreams, our baby was a precious little boy. Weird? Nope. Mother's intuition? Yes. We went in for our 2nd ultrasound at 13.5 weeks. We weren't expecting to find out this early, but the doctor got the clearest shot and before he could announce, we said, "It's a boy!" I was very humble and didn't say, "I already knew that."

Ultrasound picture looking between his legs.

Our doctor confirmed saying, "He isn't shy..."  --- Just like his father I thought. I'm in for a real treat if he's anything like his daddy. :)

Expectant Mother here!

Saturday morning Ryan and I are still laying in bed when we start to discuss plans for the day. "I'm too lazy. I don't want to do anything" I say, and luckily he agrees. Why feel bad for doing absolutely nothing? I don't. Once baby comes things will change drastically. But for now, we do what we want, when we want to. The thing is, we just don't want to do much which is perfectly fine by me. Our days of sleeping in and afternoon naps are close to an end...we're taking full advantage of this time.

- I do feel bad though, just a tiny bit, for the complete lack of interest I have in my appearance. I'm sticking with my yoga pants and baggy tshirts for now and as long as Ryan believes I look like a supermodel, why mess with the wardrobe? Thank goodness the peak of my pregnancy will be during the winter months. Right when I'm feeling like a giant blob, I will attempt to conceal myself with the oversized clothes. YES! Which is why whenever I take a belly shot, it will be on the one day I put about 75% effort into my appearance......Sunday's for church. :)

Let's just say I'm pretty stoked the bump is finally here. Ryan and I went to the grocery store the other day and I told him to park in the 'Expectant Mothers' parking spot. He refused since I wasn't showing yet. Pfff. We need to take advantage of that spot!!!! Next time, I went by myself and pulled into that parking spot with a huge smile on my face. I'm sure the customers in the grocery store parking lot think I'm a complete phoney. I made sure to rub my not-so-pregnant looking stomach as I walked into the store. Oh well. I only have 9 months to enjoy prime parking at the grocery store and this girl will take advantage of the situation.