Monday, February 13, 2012

Pregnancy post:)

Note: I have NO actually belly pics--not a belly pic taker i suppose. I am the official pic taker in the family--in fact Lance ONLY takes pics upon request so I am rarely in any pictures..rounded up a few of my growing self to post throughout. I carry baby EVERYWHERE vs. just in belly so I am ok with the limited pics:)


Wow- I have not blogged at ALL about this baby/pregnancy really so thought I'd throw an excerpt or two into the online journal:) This pregnancy has been so-oo different from my pregnancy with Ben. We announced to our family by having Ben wear a hand-me-down Big Brother shirt while skype-ing:) they all picked up on it super fast!
I was more sick early on from about 4-5 weeks up till about 16-17 weeks. I was in TX when Rach first put the idea in my head that I was prego. I was sick in mornings and woke up STARVING. Within weeks, I was throwing up several times a day daily till about 14 weeks and then down to a couple bad days/week till about 20 weeks.


It seems every symptom I had with Ben at like 8 months+ I started feeling at like 5 months with this one:) which is super awesome:)

19 weeks
I had a feeling she was a she:) prior to my 20 week appointment but I honestly did NOT CARE at all either way. In fact I would be super happy and super disappointed either way:) I am thrilled to be having a girl for SOOO many reasons and cannot wait to meet her but I was sad to not have another little boy buddy for Ben too:)

20 weeks

My tummy popped out quick between 18-20 weeks and then stayed the same till about 28-29 weeks.

Ben is so sweet! He regularly hugs and kisses my tummy and says "hi baby sisser", "wanna come play wif me?", "baby sisser soo cuuute!" etc. He loves to lay his head on my tummy and give it hugs--he is going to be the sweetest big brother ever!

33 weeks

Baby girl seems to move so differently than Ben did. Not so many distinct kicks, and she won't kick back when we try to get her to but instead she just does almost constant gymnastics/somersaults :) Ben insists on pulling my shirt up to "see" baby sister and tries to feel her move regularly-claims he does every time:)

35 weeks

Havent had cravings in particular. I am a food lover and still love cooking and baking just about anything:) I do occasionally crave Sprite--which is weird considering I stopped drinking soda in like 8th grade:) and not just a sip-I crave a large sprite from McD for $1.05:), fortunately my husbands frugality has worn off on me--a LITTLE :)-- and I don't indulge very frequently, maybe 10 x in 9 months--not bad:). Sweets for sure always hit the spot--frozen grapes and m&m's (not together:) in the freezer have been a favorite.

at 38 weeks, Ive gained almost 30 lbs!! holy moly! but thats ok--they are worth it! spraining my ankle--bad!--on super bowl sunday put a damper on my regular exercise routine, as did the 10 lbs of Christmas candy I made and ate to make myself feel better for not being home eating all my moms homemade candy--it didnt work :) and then the cold, cough/bronchitis, and sinus infection all in a row haven't helped a ton either:) haha

Got a sewing machine for my bday but dont know how to use it so I haven
t much--I decided with all the cute embellishments for girl stuff I better learn fast (boys stuff doesnt look as cute with ruffles and flowers:) --So i taught myself how to do a little bit and copied some fun ideas from online:) I am still a total novice--but Im learning and having fun with it:)

rit dyed and embellished cloth diaper burp cloths and onsies/headbands--forgive the dark/shadowy phone pics:)

Swelling was something I didn't have much of with Ben. I don't remember swelling at all with him until flying on a plane over Thanksgiving at 8 months prego and my feet/ankles totally doubled, but even that eventually went away within the week. This time my hands and feet swell daily--my feet are the worst! It's disgusting--see!:)
wow KANKLES:)

38.5 weeks
at Louisville Zoo--hot & lots of hills/walking:)
at BYU round 2 NCAA tourny game vs. Marquette ( to be posted about later:)


I CANNOT wait to meet her. She is still "her" not because we are keeping the name a secret but we just haven't decided yet...we are down to a few options so we'll see in 2 weeks i suppose?! I truly do feel good for the most part, still working 1-2x/week like normal, staying active with Ben with walks and playgrounds and play dates, making dinner every night, my house isn't as clean as I'd like but that's life. At least the pregnant belly part, I could do without sprained ankles, pinched nerves/spasms in back, cold/bronchitis/sinus infections, etc. If I were JUST prego I would feel so good which I know is a huge blessing as some are super miserable--Seriously though, I especially cant complain considering I am growing a human being inside of me!! I mean come on--a full term baby is inside of me! Such a miracle! and a testament of a loving Creator, Heavenly Father that it is even possible to make a baby and that I am privleged enough to carry a baby full term and be a mother.
I am very blessed and soooo excited to meet my baby girl!!

just SOME Ben-isms

These are just a few random notes I've taken in my journal--only some of MANY that I am trying to jot down to remember little details about my sweet little guy. This sweet boy has us smiling, laughing, crying all the time! He's the best!

11-11

Ben kicked me while I was changing his diaper and he got in trouble and I asked him to say sorry. He did but somewhat begrudgingly J Lance then came in and said “Ben, that was naughty” and he said “Da-ad, I said so-rry” in such a grown up, full of attitude way it was hilarious! :)

12-6-11, 1:30 am:

I hate nights when I don’t get to put Ben to bed. It’s rare and tonight was one of them. I went in to sneak a peek at Ben when I got home from White Elephant Girl’s night. I selfishly took one step closer to get a better look at my sweet sleeping boy. Just then he yawned, stretched and a HUGE cheesy grin appeared on his face saying “Hi mama! I missed you!!!” It melted my heart and I sat and rocked him back to sleep (which only took seconds) and then some before I could bare to lay him back down. Oh how I love him!

12-7-11:

I laid Ben down at 8:00 and then left on some errands and to pick some friends up at the airport. When I got home at 9:20 he was singing The wheels on the bus, loudly in his room. (LB was home but asleep by the way because he was going into work at 4 the next am :) I went in and said “time to go nigh-night bud, go to sleep” he said “ok” and I left….about 20 minutes later I hear “yo gabba gabba yo gabba gabba yo gabba gabba YOOOOOOOOOOOOO” I walked in there and said sternly but not loud or angry really “Benjamin!” he said “ sorry mama, sorry mama! Love you too! Nigh-night!” and squeezed his eyes closed really tight as if to trick me that he was already sleeping. I couldn’t be bugged, I gave him a kiss and told him I loved him and left….sooo sweet!

12-11-11

Ben has been saying “mur” before a lot of words and we have NO IDEA what it means. It comes before anything “mur car” mostly. We have subbed all other words in like “more car” “my car” “newer car” etc and he always says no, “mur car” or “mur—“ whatever….Lance has started plugging it in too—to try to figure it out :) Ben will ask for juice, “mur juice?” lance will say or when Ben is playing with balls..lance will say “look ben, mur ball”…sometimes he will say “yes, mur ball” and other times itll be “no, not mur ball dad”….someday we will figure it out :)

12-25-11

Ben LOVED Christmas. He kept saying “Wow” with every present. Just before pushing the button on his firetruck, every time he would say “you ready, its gonna be loud”. “Its awesome.” And “I love it” were also frequent quotes. Ben was fixated on candy canes this year…that is what he was most excited about getting from santa so I hung 12 on the tree. He was thrilled. Anytime anyone asked about his toys or what santa brought him his first answer was an excited “CANEE CANES”, even though he loved his toys, he loves himself a candy cane! In back of car on way home from church, ben couldn’t wait to get back to playing with his toys. After being silent for a minute he said “mom, I love Christmas”

12-27-11

the 26th and 27th, when I went in to get ben out of bed he said “Santa come, mom?” I wonder when he will figure out that it’s a one night thing each year :) regularly says “Merry Christmas Mom” throughout the days since Christmas.

1-15-12

Ben says “prayer time” RIGHT when we sit down to the table every night and after the prayer, which he regularly volunteers to give, he says “thanks guys!” EVERY TIME! Its pretty dang cute

*Ben in his Big Boy Bed:) I let him help pick out his Transportation sheets:)

1-20-12

A new quote of ben’s is “what a silly guy” –its not always applicable or in context but its always cute :)

1-25-11

Ben Loves the Nativity. Despite its seasonal topic he refused to put it in the Christmas bin and its not odd for him to watch it 2x/day. He sings “The King is Born” soooo sweetly during the opening credits and requests that Lance and I sing along. If we do, at the end he says “Good singing mom” or “good singing dad”. During the show he regularly has outbursts like “be nice Herrod!” or “Herrod is naughty!” , he regulary narrates the story like “mary in the garden”, “getting on the dontey”. “almost there mom..to bethel-mem,” “here he is, Jesus born” and shouts “NO ROOM!” with the inn keeper—and follows up with "thats not very nice"

--it’s priceless!!!

2-2-12

Ben and I were laying in bed watching a show in the morning (aka-me trying to buy some more time to sleep) and all of a sudden ben leaned over my tummy, kissed it, hugged it and started talking to baby sister: “wanna play wif me” “hi baby sister” “baby sister sooo cute mom!”

It was precious! He is gonna be the BEST big brother ever!

2-5-12

Today while getting some ingredients out of our pantry and walking back into the kitchen, I saw a cardboard box Ben had been playing with out of the corner of my eye and decided I oughtta side step to avoid it and I totally just fell—just while walking I rolled my ankle—BAD!! (clumsy, i know) I kinda screamed out a little because it hurt—BAD! And Ben came running in the kitchen—“what happen mom?” “its ok mom, its ok mom, your ok, here, lemme help you (offering his hand) be tough mom, be tough!, get up” haha—it was soo cute and hilarious how concerned he was.

cuddling with mom and her swollen ankle:)

2-6-12

Ben LOVES to sing, sings all the time and regularly makes up his own songs (he gets that from his dad:) He has done this since he was really young and I think it is so clever how he can change the words to songs to apply to whatever he wants or is currently doing. He'll sing about his best buddy Lakai-"la la la la la la la la-kai's song, Lakai's my buddy, Shanah's his mom, that's Lakai's song" to the Elmo's world song or "Book of Mormon stories say we're going to the park, boom boom" obviously just changing the end of that song:) or "we're going to the gym, we're going to the gym, we're going to the gym to swim swim swim".
One time when we were driving to the groery store, I started singing "we're going to the store, we're going to the store..." and he finished" we're gonna get a sucker from Je-er-ry." Jerry is the old gentleman who is a greeter at Kroger and hands out suckers. Now, I may of ONE TIME prior, at least a MONTH before told him his name was Jerry when I said "say Thank you Jerry" for the sucker but it was never reiterated and I coudn't believe he remembered! With my new budget goals and monthly menus, I only go to Kroger 2x/mo now so it's not like he sees the guy daily! Cracks me up!

2-10-12

One of ben’s new favorite phrases is “come on” either “come on mom” or “come on guys”, or “come on truck”—its not that cute just reading it but its how he says it—so cute!! more like "oh, come on" NOT "come on, let's go" :) --similar to the Sports Segment "C'mon Man"

2-20-12

Ben, unsolicited, not repeating after me, not because I asked him—said “I love you mom” "You're my best buddy ever, my BEST friend!"= PRICELESS!

**sidenote: Lance is the best dad ever and regularly takes Ben to do silly things that he LOVES! Ben LOVES motorcycles and our neighbor, who drives a harley that Ben is super fascinated with, bought him this sweet Harley Davidson outfit. Lance brought him over to the Harley store last monday when I was working, he's been there 100x and loves looking at all the cycles but this time he was all decked out so photos were mandatory, and I wasn't there so fortunately Lance obliged! :)

2-27-12

Tonight we were laying in our bed watching a show with Ben before bed and he looked over to Lance and saw his eyes closed, “you sleepin’ dad?” ,

“Im resting buddy, dad’s tired!”

“oh, you wanna snuggle wif me?”

“yeah buddy! Id love to snuggle”

Ben singing-“snuggling snuggle snuggle with ben” "Want me to sing some songs for you?"

Then he busted out in “I am a Child of God” and “Ginkle, Ginkle Little Stawr”

2-28-12

Ben laid on the bed watching a show holding his toothbrush in his mouth while Lance finished his stretches, flossed, brushed his teeth and got ready for bed. After holding toothbrush in his mouth for a LONG time he finally said “all done, I brushed willy hawd—for daddy”

*at the National Farm Machinery Show, like father like son...Ben LOVES this kinda thing and both boys were loving checking out the equipment...Nothing runs like a Deere:)

3-1-12

Ben said prayer ALL by himself tonight. It was my turn and when we all knelt down lance said “k mom’s turn, fold your arms” right when we all did he quickly started with the sweetest prayer: “Heavenly Father, Thank you for mommy, daddy, baby sister, thank you for food, thank you for toys, thank you for missionaries, help us to sleep tite and sleep AAAAALLLL night long, Jesus Christ, A-MEN!” it was so sweet!

3-2-12

Ben was playing blocks on the floor and he pulled his giant 4 ft bear down onto the floor by him. He was starting to play imaginatively with him, talking with him, and all of the sudden he said “its ok bear, mom, bear’s sad!”…why buddy…”because he wants to play blocks but his arms wont move”

3-15-12

Ben occasionally calls Lance "Babe" because I do and today when we dropped Lance off on campus, Ben said "Bye daddy, love you" and I added "bye babe" when lance shut the door, Ben said, "Its not BABE mom, It's daddy! say bye daddy, silly mom" haha

3-16-12

Ben loves all his stuffed animals. He regularly shares snacks, games, meals, etc with them all! Today- Jingle (the dog he got for Christmas this year), Monkey Face (x2-one was supposed to be back up but he has loved them both his whole life), Foo Foo (the bunny he help pick out for baby sister and is so kindly "taking care of" till she gets here), Caity Monkey (a R&B dancing sock monkey that Caity brought with her when she came at the beginning of December) all slept with him and shared oatmeal with him while watching Gabba Gabba--he LOVES when I humor him and include them and talk to them too, like at night if he is goofing off, ill go in there and discipline one of his animals for "monkeying around" or "barking too loud" and keeping Ben up--he thinks it's hilarious:)

As I read through some of these I realize that I have actually failed to capture the funny things my little guy says and does--its impossible! It's constant:) oh, how I love him!!

My Valentines:)

Valentines is not Valentines without Denise's sugar cookies:)


a couple days before Valentines, Lakai and Kabe were over for a few hours so Shan and Trev could have a Valentine date and I decided to let the boys do some cookie decorating:) It wasn't the most sanitary but they loved and thoroughly enjoyed just liking the frosting off of their plastic knifes:)

On Valentines, we started out with heart shaped pancakes:)

Kai came over while Shanah brought Kabey to doctor on the 14th so I wanted to do something Valentine-y with the boys. They made painted handprint Valentines for their families and colored valentine pictures--that was enough crafting for the boys and they wrestled the rest of the time:)


after enjoying some heart shaped PB & honey of course:) strawberries & pretzels (kinda hearts right?) haha

Ben is not really old enough to get it all but I love trying to make holidays stand out for him!:)
Ben LOVED his Mr Potato Head and Lance loved his shoes--at first, then he returned them, oh well, A for effort:) and i LOVED my roses---long story but made short, I made a bratty comment about Lance getting me beautiful roses from Costco where he works about 6 years ago and roses, or any type of fresh flowers for that matter, went from being a regular gift to non-existant:) so glad the drought is over!! yay for roses, thanks babe!!!