Christmas cookies

Christmas Cookies!

Thursday

December 20th, 2012 

 

 

I have really been wanting to make Christmas cookies with Brody, I thought it would be something  fun for him since he LOVES helping me in the kitchen. Last Thursday we set our induction date for Friday the 21st, well today rolled around and we still hadn't made our cookies yet! So we all pitched in and made about a million it seemed, it was a lot of fun, I'm so glad we did it. It was our one last hurrah as a little family of 3!

 

Brody enjoyed frosting the cookies, at first he thought both top and bottom of them needed frosting. As you can imagine those cookies got to stay home with us :)

 



Getting ready to bring cookies to all our friends. We really wanted to teach Brody that Christmas isn't all about getting, its about giving too. We want him to grow up knowing that giving is important. He was such a cutie while bring them to everyone, he made sure to always say Merry Christmas. 

Our last stop was to Ian's parents house. Brody is staying with them while we have our baby, and since they could call us in at anytime after midnight we brought him over to Grandma and Grandpas to spend the night tonight. It seems so surreal, that it is actually happening. I still don't think that its hit either Ian or I how close it really is, I don't think it'll hit me until were at the hospital and its happening. It was so strange to tell Brody that the next time he comes home we will have his baby sister with us. He is beyond excited to met her, he keeps telling me that when he sees her at the hospital he is going to kiss her forehead and tell her how cute and beautiful she is :)

39 weeks

39 weeks

Saturday
December 15th, 2012

How far along? 39 weeks and 1 day. 

Total weight gain: 34 pounds. I don’t know what the heck happened, I hadn’t been gaining any weight then at my last appointment I gained 5 pounds!! Don’t know where that came from, but praying it wasn’t a huge growth spurt of hers. 

Maternity clothes? Still managing to get away with what I have.

Stretch Marks? No new ones.

Sleep: Sleep in a nightmare to say the least, I literally dread bedtime. I can’t ever get comfortable, I am so incredibly painfully sore, and I have to use the restroom a million times a night. Getting up to go to the bathroom is the worst, I feel like I’m 90+ years old with the way I move.

Best moment this week? Anya came to visit us this weekend; it was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed having her here, especially Brody; he is already asking when she is coming back!

Miss anything? I miss comfort, and being able to do normal things like just walk around without getting sore and warn out.

Movement: yes, but I can tell there’s no room at all left in there because she just pushes around, she cant actually move much at all. I feel so much pressure of my pelvic bones when she moves around, it’s like she’s pushing so hard on them. She still loves my left side too; I swear it always looks more pushed out then the right side.  

Food cravings: Pop like always. I have also been craving anything sweet, nothing in particular just something sweet.  

Food aversions: Nothing really.

Boy or girl: Girl :)

Labor signs: Even more contractions then before, still not consistent enough though. I’m beginning to wonder if this is ever going to happen!

Symptoms: Still the same list as always, but my acid reflex and heartburn have become worse. Every night before bed I take my prenatal vitamin and acid reducer medicine, but lately I have had to take my acid reducer pill during the day it’s so bad. Sometimes I even feel it in the morning, so it’s been a lot worse then it used to be. Also the acid reflex is out of control; I have had quiet a bit coming up at night (sorry nasty).

 

Belly Button in or out? Still out.  

Wedding ring on or off? Off.

Looking forward to: Having our baby girl!!

Fun facts: We had our very last doctor’s appointment on Thursday. I was checked as always and was dilated to a 3 1/2, still no real signs on labor though :( but at least I’m making progress. We also set our induction date for the 21^st, my due date, although I’m really hoping she comes earlier on her own. Throughout this pregnancy I really really wanted to go into labor naturally, being that I was induced with Brody I have never been able to experience this. So this time around I really wanted to. If we wanted to I could have been induced yesterday but we choose not to go that route, we wanted to at least give her a chance to come on her own. We do not want to have a Christmas baby though, we don’t want to curse our poor daughter with a birthday any closer to Christmas then the 21^st. So like I said we went ahead and set the induction date for my due date, I will just have to wait for our next child to go into labor naturally. Another fun fact, I am so incredibly hot all of the time. It is the middle of December and I kid you not I turn the air conditioner on whenever I can get away with it!! I have only turned the heat on once and that’s because I felt bad for Brody (I knew it must have been kind of cold to normal not pregnant people). Also a not so fun fact, I have no in all seriousness been asked twice if I am having twins, both happened to be women. Let’s just say I was not so thrilled by these questions, and I’m pretty sure it showed. What I don’t get is why women would ask that, isn’t that an off limits question, shouldn’t they know better. When they are pregnant I hope someone asks them that same questions, then we will see how well they like it. Anyways we are beyond excited to have our little girl in 6 days, if not less!!

 

 

I feel like my stomach cannot stretch our anymore, that there is no more room at all. It feels like its going to rip!!

38 weeks

38 weeks

Saturday
December 8th, 2012

How far along? 38 weeks and 1 day. I know I just did one earlier this week, but since I don't have many weeks left at all I figured Id better get back on track and do them on the actual right dates.
 

Total weight gain: 29 pounds. My appetite still isn’t what it used to be.
 

Maternity clothes? Same story as always.
 

Stretch marks?  I have 3 or 4 on my stomach, I cant tell for sure since I cant see that low haha.  
 

Sleep: Ugh sleep, we have a love hate relationship that’s for sure. Still having a very hard time getting even remotely comfortable and frequent trips to the bathroom tend to put a damper on sleep. I also get so incredibly sore at night, specially down there…so weird I know.
 

Best moment this week? The whole exhaustion thing makes it hard to even remember what we did this week! Brody and I stopped by the temple one day for a while, its always good to be there..such a wonderful place. Tonight was also our ward Christmas party, being around friends and Brody seeing Santa was fun.
 

Miss anything? Comfort, I’m so ready to have my body back!!
 

Movement: Yes, but its getting so uncomfortable I almost wish she didn’t move around as much. I feel like there’s no room left in my stomach, every movement she makes hurts! She sure loves poking her arms and legs out too.

Food cravings: Pop and orange Julius’s as always. I have also been having a sweet tooth lately, nothing in particular just something sweet!  

Food aversions: Luckily I can stand pretty much everything, much better then my first trimester let me tell you. Ground Beef still isn’t my favorite but I can do it.
 

Boy or girl: Girl :)
 

Labor signs: Lots and lots of contractions but unfortunately they aren’t consistent enough and not increasingly painful enough. And I know this my sound pretty nasty but hey birth aint pretty...lots of mucusy discharge, including brown mucus, no blood though. I was pretty sure before, but now there’s no denying the fact that this little girl has dropped and moved forward!
 

Symptoms: Still the same list as always except for the increase in contractions and brown mucus, if those are even considered symptoms. They are annoying if not! Can you tell I'm getting pretty touchy and irritable. I'm trying  not to be negative but its so hard when your so uncomfortable and miserable.
 

Belly Button in or out? Still insanely out. You can always see it threw my shirt its so much out!
 

Wedding ring on or off? Definitely off, and its not going back on till after delivery. I'm scared to death of getting it stuck, especially during delivery. I could just see myself trying to get it off and just freaking out because I cant. That’s the last thing I want to worry about, and the last thing poor Ian needs haha.
 

Looking forward to: Still seeing the rest of my maternity pictures!! Cant wait!! Also we are going Christmas caroling sometime this need week with some of our friends, it should be a lot of fun. And my sister Anya is coming to visit this next weekend, we are so excited to have her!!
 

Fun facts: We have our Christmas tree up and all the presents underneath it, all of which are for Mr. Brody. One day he was talking about them and asked where mine were, I told him that all the presents this year were for him. He thought about it for a minute then proceeded to tell me “But mom, Santa already wrapped your present, and put it in your belly” He sure knows how to make my heart melt :) Another fun fact, my sense of smell is out of control. The other night we were in our bedroom talking before bed and I noticed a smell, I couldn’t figure out what it was but I knew something was different. As soon as I walked into the bathroom and saw the empty box of bar soap in the garbage I knew what the smell was. Ian couldn’t believe I could smell the soap from in our room with the bathroom door closed! Maybe now he will understand why I am so sensitive to smells. Also if we did happen to change our minds and decide to get induced a week early we could have this baby in as little as 6 days!! Wow that seems so unreal to me, we are actually here, at the end…this is happening. I still don’t know if the reality of everything has hit me quiet yet, I'm sure it wont until it is actually happening. I do know that I am getting a little nervous, nervous for delivery and nervous about having a newborn. I am so excited but at the same time a little scared. I know how much our lives are going to change and it freaks me out a little bit. I think of how easy life has been the past couple years with just Brody, now were going to be back to hauling a car seat around everywhere, nursing every 2 hours, sleepless nights. But I know there is so much joy that comes along with all of that too, I'm nervous but happy for this all at the same time. I am ready but then I'm not. I want to hold her in my arms so bad but then I'm content with keeping her in my tummy. I think I'm just afraid of all the changes that are about to happen. I'm also nervous as to how this will affect Brody and my relationship, it seems like its been just him and I for so long its going to be so strange to have another child. I love Brody more then I ever imagined possible, as soon as I became a mom he became my world. We have such a close relationship, such a special bond, that I'm afraid I wont be able to love another child in the same way. I know this is just me being nervous but these are all the thoughts running through my head. Choosing to become a parent to another child is a huge deal, it changes everything but we are so excited for the change. From all my nervousness it may sound like we don’t want her but we do, we love her already and cant wait for her to join our family. I just cant believe it is happening!! The whole pregnancy I looked forward to these last moments, now they are here and I don’t quiet know what to think. I am very excited about delivery, but I have to admit I'm a bit more nervous this time then I was with Brody. I think its because this time I know whats coming my way, I know what to expect. I'm deathly afraid of having to have an emergency c-section! I'm afraid something might go wrong. I'm also nervous because last time I was induced and this time I'm hoping to go into labor naturally. I'm scared that I might not know what the right time to go into the hospital will be, what the beginning of labor feel like. How will I know? These thoughts are on my mind a lot lately, I am getting so anxious!! I really want to go into labor naturally this time though, I hope she comes by her due date so I wont need to get induced. I'm also so happy to have Ian by my side through the delivery, last time I didn’t have a husband there for me so this is a whole new experience for me. I'm nervous about him too, what If I'm in so much pain that I get mean, and he takes it personally and isn’t there for me like I need him to be. He can be a little sensitive about my emotions and reactions throughout this pregnancy so I'm really nervous that he wont handle to whole birthing emotions that well. I love him and don’t want to hurt him but If I'm in excruciating pain I may just snap at him and I just pray he knows I don’t mean it. Wow, I wrote a lot!! Sorry for my venting, I'm just getting so anxious and nervous and excited!!  

Me and The Mr. Brody in front of our tree after our Ward Christmas party. I forgot that its so small and didn't realize we would cover almost the whole thing haha.

 



Ward Christmas Party

 Ward Christmas Party

Saturday

December 8th, 2012

 

Tonight was our ward Christmas Party. Both Ian and I have been involved in the planning of it and let me tell you, it has been quiet the pain for everyone involved!! Our ward combined with another ward and with all the opinions involved it made it pretty complicated. So we were pretty nervous as to how it would turn out. In the end the food was great, there was plenty for everyone and the kids had a great time with Santa. Brody was very excited to go and see Santa, when he came into the room he asked me "Is that the real Santa??"

 

Waiting in line, luckily it wasn't too long.

 

 

Cute Oakley wanted to be in the picture. The other day Brody came up to me and said "Mom I wish I could marry you." He totally doesn't get the whole marriage concept so I explained to him that I already married daddy and someday he will find a girl he really likes and marry her. His reply to this was "Well I really like Oakley, maybe I could marry her." Haha I thought that was pretty cute. Oakley is pretty much the only girl friend he has so of course shes the lucky one.

 

Bro telling Santa what he wants to Christmas...Power Ranger and Star Wars guys!!

 

I can never get the dang kid to look at the camera. He smiles but his eyes are always somewhere else. Also Santas waving hand looks like its about to attack the camera! But hey its as good as I could get and it works!

 

 

Just a fun little side note, the red button up shirt Brody is wearing used to belond to his Uncle Evan, who is now 17 years old. It was passed down to Brody and he finally fits into it!

37 weeks

37 weeks

Tuesday

December 4th, 2012

 

How far along? 37 weeks and 4 day.

 

Total weight gain: 29 pounds. I have had a loose of appetite lately and as a result I lost 2 pounds.

 

Maternity clothes? Same story as always, I won’t be buying any since I’m so close to being done either.

 

Stretch marks? No new ones thank goodness!

 

Sleep: I don’t even know what a full night’s rest is anymore. It is almost impossible to find a comfortable position and even after I have found one it only stays comfortable for so long. It is getting harder and harder to move around too. For some weird reason I get so incredibly sore and achy at night (especially down there), which is what makes it so hard to move around. Getting up to use the restroom is a complete nightmare! It is painful just to get out of bed. And I always seem to be so incredibly hot, even with no covers on.  So pretty much nights are miserable to say the least.

 

Best moment this week? We had some pretty fun things this week. Saturday we went to our friend’s house and had steak for dinner (Ian was in heaven since we can’t afford our own). They have a projector so we grabbed some blankets popcorn and hot chocolate and all watched a Christmas movie outside, it was a lot of fun! Sunday I got maternity pictures taken and I of course made Ian and Brody be in some :). My friend who took our wedding pictures asked if she could take them as a gift for me, I of course said yes! It was a lot of fun and I think we got some really good pictures out of them. We had been planning to take them for a while but our schedules never matched up and I have been feeling so enormous lately that I almost didn’t want to take them. But I realized who cares how big I feel and that I would regret not taking them so we did it and I’m so glad we did!! The weather was perfect and the fall leaves were absolutely beautiful, weird being that its winter but it feels like fall here. Also yesterday for family home evening we went to the temple to look at the lights and nativity scene. Brody of course thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was the first time either one of us has ever personally seen a temple with the Christmas lights.

 

Miss anything? I of course miss being comfortable, that’s a given. And I miss  sleeping all through the night, other then those two nothing is really sticking out to me.

 

Movement: Yes, the movement feels different now though probably because there isn’t as much room in there. It’s more like lots of pressure, especially on my pelvic bone, than full out flips or anything crazy like that. She also sticks her little arms and legs out quiet a bit, especially on my left side. She loves my left side! I swear half her body is constantly trying to poke out my left side. Movement has slowed down from normal though, just lots of pressure and odd shapes pocking out that lets me know when she’s moving.

Food cravings: Still those dang orange Julius’s, I could drink one every night I swear. Anything peppermint has sounded really good to me lately too, not sure if it’s just because of the Christmas season or if it’s a pregnancy craving. And of course pop is still one as well.

 

Food aversions: Nothing that’s too bad, ground beef still just slightly iffy. I made taco soup last night with ground beef and eat some; I left it in large chunks on purpose though so I could pick mine out and pass it over to Ian.

 

Boy or girl: Girl :)

 

Labor signs: A decent amount of contractions have been happening. Yesterday was pretty bad as far as contractions go, they were happening pretty much all day and more painful then usual. Still no true signs of labor though. At our doctors appointment today I was dilated to a 2 ½ and 80% thinned. I also lost even more of my mucus plug yesterday.  

 

 

Symptoms: Only a few things have changed, the normal ones are still acid reflex, complete lack of energy, high body temperature, back and feet aches, belly button hurting, my insane sense of smell and my incredibly painful nerve on my right side. Some new symptoms are feeling incredibly sore down there, so not comfortable! Also my whole body just aches, I seriously feel like an old person! Just walking can be quiet the chore sometimes. Oh and I guess I should mention the return of my emotions and irritation. I have been so sensitive lately and so blunt at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ian said I’m not the easiest person to live with. I have been not as nice lately; everything seems to get on my nerves and I’m definitely not afraid to speak up for myself lately. I can tell I’m just done and my discomforts and irritations seem to take over at times.

 

Belly Button in or out? Out, like showing threw my shirt, insanely out.

 

Wedding ring on or off? Off. I managed to shove it back on for my maternity pictures. It was feeling pretty tight afterwards and I almost had a panic attack trying to get it off!

 

Looking forward to: Seeing the rest of my maternity pictures! I can’t wait to see them; the couple I have seen already are great. She always does such a great job. Also of course anxious for when the baby is going to come. How can you not be anxious the last couple weeks though, I mean really.

 

Fun facts: Brody is going to be the best, sweetest big brother ever! He is already so excited and so cute about it. He will randomly run up to me and give my belly a kiss and talk to the baby. He always asks me when the baby is coming and the other day he told me that he wanted her to come right now! I can’t wait for him to meet her. A random side fun fact about Brody, he has been going to the curiosity club every Tuesday. I bring him and drop him off, which I was a little nervous about at first, but he has a blast!! Another fun fact, last Thursday I noticed that I have dropped. The baby is definitely lower then normal, I felt like I was carrying her pretty high before. As I have mention before my body temperature is incredibly high, especially when I sleep for some weird reason. Well this morning before Ian went to school he was feeling my stomach and he was shocked at how hot it was. I also noticed that the sheets are always way warmer then normal after my belly has been laying on them. A few days ago Ian said he cant wait till my sense of smell goes back to normal, haha I guess hes tired of me noticing ever bad smell that no one else does. And one more, we had our weekly doctors appointment today, like I said earlier I’m dilated to a 2 ½ and 80% thinned. The doctor said they usually don’t strip the membranes till 38 weeks but since I’m so close and I’m already dilated he asked if I wanted it. I was nervous but ended up doing it; it really wasn’t that painful at all. I feel more cramps since I’ve had it but hey if it speeds up labor I’m all for it. He also said he wouldn’t be surprised if I went a week or two early (I hope he’s right!). So I guess I lied, I do have a couple more. We decided (at least for the time being) not to be induced early, but if I don’t have her by my due date I will get induced on the 21^st. We don’t want to curse our poor daughter with a Christmas birthday, or anything closer to it then the 21^st. Also I have yet to pack my hospital bag. I have hers all packed and ready to go but haven't even started mine. I think about it a lot but for some reason cant seem to make myself pack it! So if she comes on her own hopefully I'm not caught frantically throwing things into a bag.

I was dressed up more today since we had things to do but before I realized I needed to take a picture I was already in my comfy clothes...so you get the comfy version of me :)

FHE at the temple

 FHE At The Temple

Monday

December 3rd, 2012

 

This week for Family Home Evening we took Brody to the temple to see all the fun lights. We have never lived by a temple where they they do the Christmas lights so we were pretty excited to see it. He always loves going to the temple but tonight was extra fun for him, he was beyond excited!

 

The nativity scene was really neat, it has a talk from President Monson playing. Sometime we will have to go back to listen to the whole thing.  

 

 

I have always loved these palm trees, they are even prettier then normal all lite up.

 

Brody always has fun with this tree when we walk around the temple.

 We were able to get Brody to stop going 100 mph for a second to take a picture with me. As you can tell by the look on his face he was very anxious to get back to exploring! And just so we don't look like bad parents I tried to get Brody to put a jacket on but for some weird reason he absolutely hates wearing coats, its even a struggle to get long sleeves on that kid! Good thing its 64 degrees during the day here.

 Me and my little man in front of the beautiful temple, he was full of lots of questions for us tonight. We have been reading the scriptures with him every morning and ever since we started he always wants to increase his knowledge by asking tons and tons of questions. So far he can tell you where Jesus was born, who his mother is, who his father is, who his earthly father is and who baptized him all from reading the scriptures. He makes his Mama so proud :)

 

Daddy's little buddy :)

 

In the visitors center. This room has always been Brody's favorite, he loves looking at the model and seeing where everything was. Daddy enjoyed explaining some of the pictures of Jesus to Brody.

 

They had lots of gorgeously decorated Christmas trees.

 

 

We had such a great night. We are so blessed to live so close to not only a temple but such a beautiful temple with such wonderful memories for us.

Maternity Pictures

Maternity Pictures

Sunday

December 2nd, 2012

 

When Ian and I were planning our wedding I was completely set on having a professional photographer. Ian was a little iffy about how much it would cost but I came across this amazing photographer who just happened to be building her portfolio and gave us an amazing deal. She was so nice and so fun to work with we ended up becoming friends. So a while ago she asking if she could take my maternity pictures as a gift, I of course said YES!!! I was beyond thrilled to say the least! My mom has always been into photography so it is something that has become important to me, to capture those special moments. I knew we couldn't afford it without it being a gift so I was beyond grateful for her generosity. The weeks went on and I kept getting bigger and bigger (like all pregnant women do) and feeling worse and worse about how I look. I almost told her that I didn't want to do them anymore, I mean why would I want documentation of my monstrosity! I was freaking out about what to wear since I own practically no maternity clothes. Lets just say I had a mini melt down that day while getting ready. But I eventually found something to wear, got over my feeling enormous and we had a blast taking pictures!! I even roped Ian and Brody into being in some as well. I was so glad that I didn't cancel, these precious memories will be so sweet to be able to look back on. I love my little family and I even love my not so Little belly and am so glad we are all together :) What more could I ask for!

 

I don't have all of them yet but she was kind enough to give me a sneak peak with a couple.

 

I just love this family picture!!

 

I'm still getting used to living in St George and the weather. Here we are in December and from these pictures and the beautiful leaves it looks like its fall, not winter!

 

 

So here I am 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant...almost there :)