If we aren’t buying a car then I can I buy my coveted diaper bag?

Friday was a busy day for us. The Hubs had the day off so we decided to do two of our favorite things..eating and car looking :) About two months ago we discovered a local treasure of a breakfast place called Sil’s cafe. This place is legit. It is a typical greasy breakfast stop complete with first come first serve seat yourself rules (it was very confusing the first time we went there but now we have it down pat). Saturday’s are the worst though so since we had the opportunity to go during the week when the crowds weren’t as bad we jumped on it. Now this is not a diet place. The portions are huge huge huge. I unfortunately have fallen in love with their heated sweet roll (basically a cinnamon roll) but the size it crazy ridiculous. I think they just smoosh like 4 regular rolls together to form a “portion” and when I am finished it looks like I have barely touched it..but so yummy! The hubs always gets an amazing omelet so I of course have to steal some bites with him to counter-balance all the sugar going on, on my side of the table.

So that’s how we started our friday :)

From there, with full bellies, we rolled into the local GMC dealership to check out and possibly test drive the Acadia. Although we have two good working cars we had briefly considered trading in our Explorer for a more Gas economical car that could still give us room for all the baby stuff. We realized this would still be a ways in the future though. We had talked a lot about the Highlander (I am a total Toyota fan) but we also really like the GMC Acadia so we decided to check out both. Mostly just to see now what we really like so that in the future when we do decided to get a new car we will know mostly what we want. Although we couldn’t help tempting ourselves by bringing in the Explorer to see what they would give us for a trade-in…it never hurts to be informed..or maybe it does :)

We worked with an amazing and not pushy salesman at GMC and loved the ride and space of the Acadia. The GMC guy even let us drive the Acadia to the Toyota dealer to look at the Highlander while they were “checking out” our car. Let me say really quick, we really do like the Explorer but we were curious about what else is out there. And after getting in the roll-over accident in our old Explorer last fall both the Hubs and I get nervous taking our current one on long road trips even though it is totally reliable. After test driving both and seeing what each vehicle has to offer we both agreed we like the Acadia better. I refuse to get a minivan (not that there is anything wrong with them) and the Acadia gave us about the same space and an amazingly smooth ride.

Of course I have very odd tastes and I wanted the bottom of the line color (pure white) with the top of the features. Let’s just say my combo was almost impossible to find unless we had it built. However, the GMC dealership found 1 that had more features that we wanted but was pretty much our dream car. One problem though, it was way over our budget for what I had planned for when we decide to get a new car.  They weren’t willing to let us walk away though and we were curious as to what they could do for us (curiosity is not always good) so we let them fight it out and come up with an amazing offer. Basically they gave us huge discounts and knocked off almost $10,000 from the original quote. Believe me folks..this was really hard to walk away from. However, before we even left the house that day I was praying a lot for direction or self-control or whatever to keep us from making not wise decisions; and even though it was an amazing deal we decided to make a responsible decision and walk away. Who knew it would take us becoming parents to make us responsible :)

We could have totally handled it financially but both the Hubs and I decided that it would be better to wait longer and save more. We both didn’t want to get caught in the cycle of doing everything we can to get what we want right here and now, sometimes it’s better to wait. We decided this was one of those times. I was proud of us and though it was hard I am very thankful for a supportive hubs and guidance from my heavenly father.

It is amazing though that when you are looking at spending about $45,000 on a car other expenses don’t seem as bad. Case in point, I had really been wanting a certain diaper bag but really didn’t want to send $170.00 on one (which was what it cost). I had gotten an e-mail from Destination Maternity saying they were having a special to save 25% off one item which would bring the bag down to $130..but it was still hard to spend that much. However after our car excursion $130 didn’t seem like that much so I went ahead and splurged on it :) Maybe it’s still baby steps on being totally responsible and saving a lot of money but I am making progress! And now I get a cute new diaper bag that’s I can’t wait to get here :)

image from destinationmaternity.com

My MIL also got me an amazingly cute diaper bag (which I will have to post pictures of soon) so now I have options or can have them packed for different outings.

18 Weeks

 

How far along? 18 Weeks

Baby's size? The size of an sweet potato or bell pepper :)

Weight Gain? I am up about 1 pound from the last update so a total of 9 pounds right now. I think my butt and legs have expanded though. my weight is getting dangerously close to my high school weight (during my heavy days) and although I know I have a lot more muscle now and am carrying the weight differently than I did back in the day, it is still really hard to see the number on the scale.

Maternity clothes?   well obviously from this picture you can tell the answer is yes. I have decided that I am really not a fan of the belly bands…I don’t know if it is the fact that my old pants don’t fit the same or that it is more itchy but I prefer just sticking to the maternity pants. I still have a few pairs of jeans that I can button but I don’t like how tight they are when buttoned.

Stretch marks? none yet

Belly button in or out? still very in! I finally realized that I have a VERY deep belly button, like you still can’t see the back of it. My mom says it runs in the family and that hers never popped while pregnant. I highly doubt if mine will even get close to popping out.

Sleep? I am still getting up about every two hours to pee which is making it hard to get a good nights sleep. I realized today that I am approaching the time where I shouldn’t be laying on my back anymore..that should be interesting! I did buy a snoggle but I haven’t used it yet.

Foods I am loving? Still Watermelon and steak. We visited my parents this weekend and my mom and sister were laughing at my sudden love for red meat (they are the ones who like it and I always said it was gross).

Foods I am hating? None really right now.

Best moment this week? Getting to see my family and friends in Bako this last weekend and hearing their excitement over my growing belly and meeting little Hudson.

Movement? Not sure. I think I have felt some movement but it is hard to tell if it is Hudson or not.

Symptoms? I am still taking zofan so that has really helped with the nausea. I had my first experience with horrible back pain (it felt like I pulled all the muscles in my back and along the sides of my stomach..not fun). Maybe it was due to running 8 miles two days before or lifting very heavy watermelon..whatever caused it made me realize that I need to be more careful.

Gender? A Boy :)

What I miss? I am still really missing long runs. The hubs is training for a marathon and it kills me not to be able to join him for the 15+ mile runs. I did get to run 8 miles this last Saturday and felt really good so that helped. I also miss shopping for real clothes and having them fit the way they used to. I am unusual in how I like my jeans to fit (I like them to hang on my hips) and I am finding that fit is impossible with my ever expanding belly and hips. I walked through old navy and almost cried in the store yesterday because although I can still fit into a lot of “normal” clothes the fit is different. As hard as it is though, I wouldn’t give it up because all of this is producing the most wonderful little boy :)

What I'm looking forward to? The doctors appointment in about a week. We are doing the big ultrasound next appointment where they check all the organs and make sure everything is looking good for Hudson. I am trying not to get nervous (or borrow trouble) but I will be glad when I know everything looks good :)

Milestone: I’m not really sure..just reaching 18 weeks and almost being 1/2 way there feels like a milestone to me.

Emotions: As you can probably tell by most of this post I am having a hard time with my growing body. The hubs is really quick to remind me that there is a baby in there. It is hard because I am so so so excited to be pregnant and I can’t wait to meet Hudson but my old body image issues are coming back full force. I know some people love being pregnant but I don’t think I am one of them. I love the fact that we are having a baby but I really just can’t wait till he gets here and the pregnancy phase is over. I am hoping I will feel more positive once I start really showing and people can tell there is a baby in there.

* I have to say this before I end. I know that I am complaining a lot about the trivial things of this pregnancy and I am working on them not letting it affect me; but part of writing this blog is to be real and vent some and so I didn’t want to just sugar coat everything and make it seem like I am doing wonderful and feeling great. I have not forgotten how hard it was when we went month after month without getting pregnant and I am praying for all of you who are still going through that struggle. I almost didn’t write this post out of fear that I would offend those who are where we were about 5 months ago, but again I also wanted to be real. So just please know that I haven’t forgotten what it is like and I am praying and crying right along with each one of you!

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 Weeks

Baby's size? The size of an avocado :)

Weight Gain? I have gained about 8 pounds so far. This whole gaining weight thing is not very fun ..but totally worth it :)

Maternity clothes?   um yes, I know I jumped on the bandwagon early but I just hate feeling my pants get tighter.

Stretch marks? none yet

Belly button in or out? still very in!

Sleep? Um that one is okay. I am still getting up about 3-4 times to go pee during the night. Lately I have been waking up at about 3am wide awake and it takes me a while to get back to sleep.

Foods I am loving? Still Watermelon. Since the weather has been pretty cold I think my watermelon consumption has slowed down but it is still there :) I have also still been craving steak and yogurt.

Foods I am hating? None really right now.

Best moment this week? Finding out we are having a little boy :)

Movement? None that I am feeling yet but according to the ultrasounds he is pretty active.

Symptoms? I tried to stop taking the zofran to see if the nausea is still there and it is so I went back on. Other than that I have been feeling pretty good. Some round ligament pain though.

Gender? A Boy :)

What I miss? Long runs. Since it is starting to get nicer outside I am really missing those Saturday morning 8-15 mile runs. I have also been really missing coffee and diet coke!

What I'm looking forward to? Having my belly pop out..I was told the other day that I don’t even look like i’m pregnant. Also, working on the nursery. OH and feeling him move :)

Milestone: the gender reveal

Emotions: Pretty good. I feel that now that we know what we are having it has gotten a lot more real. It is so much fun to be able to call him by name!

It’s a ….

BOY!!!!!

That’s right folks I will still be the only girl in the household and I am totally excited about that! Last Thursday we had our 15 week appointment and I was really hoping that they would be able to tell what we are having. You see, the hubs is going to be out of town for our next appointment and I really wanted him to be there when we found out! I also really wanted to start planning and I felt like I couldn’t do that till we knew the gender. And my curiosity was killing me!!

First I have to say that I totally love my Dr! He is very laid back and never makes me feel dumb for the crazy questions I ask him. After I finished the dreaded part of the appointment (the scale) I went in the room and waited with the Hubs for the doc. I started getting nervous because I really wanted to know. When the doc came  in one of the first things he asked us was whether we wanted to find out the gender. After I enthusiastically told him yes he said it just depending on the position of the baby.

One thing before I go on, for some reason ever since the last appointment the hubs and I really thought it was a boy. So much so that I kept referring to the bambino as a he. I really didn’t care what we were having I just really wanted to know.

So back to the dr’s appointment. He started the ultrasound and guess what we were greeted with??? the back of the bambino’s head. That’s right..the little bugger had his back to us! He does have a lovely spine though :) I was really disappointed and the doc tried to see if he could see anything but no luck :(

Hope was not lost though…

The doc said that if we were really motivated he could do a vaginal ultrasound since it looked like that might be the right angle. I told him to bring it on..we were very motivated! Right away we could see the legs and then he spread them and we all saw it was defiantly a boy! Believe me, there was NO question :) It was really funny because the doc was like “Wow, he is pretty big for only being 15 weeks”, apparently we have a very well endowed little boy and the hubs couldn’t be more proud :)

It is such a relief to know and this weekend I finished registering.

Don’t worry I didn’t forget about the second half of the Maui recap..it has been a crazy week :)

Maui Recap Part 1

So I am finally getting my butt in gear and sharing our amazing babymoon with you all :)

Quick recap: the Hubs and I decided we wanted to go to Maui for the babymoon. We had thought about going later in my pregnancy but once we looked into prices and our schedules we decided to go the week before Easter.

Both the Hubs and I were supper excited. Neither or us had been to Maui before (I had been to Oahu twice) and we knew the place we were staying was going to be really nice. Also, this was our first long trip in one location together. Due to the Hubs leave situation and the fact that a lot of it is used up visiting family we usually do 3-4 day vacations. Maui however was a glorious 7 nights 8 days!

We left really early on a Sunday morning and I was nervous about the flight. It all went really well though and ended up not feeling supper long. Once we arrived in Maui we got our rental car and headed out.

Here’s the car we ended up getting which felt like of old people-ish to me but it ended up being really nice.

Since Costco is right by the airport we had to stop their first before heading to the resort. It was rather busy (probably because it was a sunday) but not horrible.

We made it to the resort with no problems and enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. We had rented a person’s time share week at the Westin Kanapali and it did not disappoint.

The view from our room.

The pool area.

The first day was rather long and by the time we got checked in and marveled at how lucky we were to get to stay here for the next week we also realized we hadn’t eaten in forever and were starving. Our next mission was to get food. We weren’t familiar with the area yet so we ended up at Melting Pot..I love that place so I was totally fine with that :)

Once we got back to the room we both crashed. The next morning (our first official day there) we ended up eating breakfast in the room and then heading to the pool for some nice layout and reading time. That was when I learned that in order to get shade we have to get out very early and reserve a spot. So after about 2 hours is the sun we were ready to explore the area and give our skin a break. We ended up walking about a half a mile down the beach to Dukes ( a very yummy restaurant) and had lunch. That was our first experience with Hula Pie, a Hawaii tradition, and it was yummy! It was like a mud pie with macadamia nut ice cream, Oreo crust and the most yummy hot fudge (my mouth is watering just typing this)! When we got our receipt for the meal it had a coupon for a free Hula Pie with our next purchase of 2 entrees (which ended up being really bad for my waist line because we literally had it probably 5-6 times and didn’t have to pay for it once). The funny thing was that the fist pie that we got our waitress forgot to charge us for it and when we told her she said not to worry about it so we didn’t have to pay for that either :)

The walk back from the restaurant was beautiful and we had our first walk on the beach. We also got so see some Whales..so neat. Here are some pictures of our wonderful walk:

I love climbing trees!

The water felt wonderful :)

The Hubs thought so too :)

After lunch we decided to head back to Costco because I forgot some things the day before. Instead of taking the route we did before we decided to take the more scenic route that would take a little bit longer. Come to find out this road has some beautiful views but was also very windy and at some parts turned into a single lane road with two way traffic. I was really glad the Hubs was driving!

We ended up finding a really nice pullout spot to get some good pictures and hike around.

Again my love for climbing came out as I got to climb so easy rocks..although I probably shouldn’t have worn flip-flops :)

As our adventure continued we came across a little green shack that claimed to have the best banana bread ever! Well I couldn’t let that statement pass so we stopped. We realized once we walked up that we only had 3 dollars in cash (it only took cash) but another nice couple gave us the other 3 dollars needed score our own loaf and it was warm :) We decided after some major taste-testing that it really was good banana bread.

Here’s the little shack.

We finally made it to Costco 2 hours later and took the shorter route back. We ended our night eating yummy pizza and watching the waves crash. I was in heaven and we still had 6 days left in this paradise.

I don’t want to make this too long so more to come..

Welcoming the second Trimester and Happy Mothers Day!

How far along? 14 weeks (and 4 days) :) I was going to post this on Thursday when I hit 14 weeks but time go away with me. Sidenote – I was so happy to hit week 13 because I thought that was the end of the first trimester only to be told that milestone is hit at week 14…luckily I survived the extra week :)

Baby's size? Little Bambino is now the size of a lemon.

Weight Gain? Yikes I don’t like this one! At my 11 week appointment I was up 5 pounds. Since then I have gained about 2 pounds so that makes a total of 7 pounds. I am still really nervous about gaining too fast!

Maternity clothes? Mostly still regular clothes but I do have one pair of maternity jeans that I love and now I am pretty much forced to use the belly band with my non-maternity pants. 

Stretch marks? None yet but I really do need to start putting on lotion or they are going to sneak up on me.

Belly button in or out? In and it still has a long way to go.

Sleep? Off and on. I am having more of a problem with waking up starving/nauseous in the middle of the night. I have been trying to have a snack right before bed but it doesn’t always help. I also have been getting up about 4 times a night to pee.

Foods I am loving? Watermelon. Like seriously! The hubs says I have an addiction since in a week and a half I have gone through 4 large costco watermelon by myself. Kind of pathetic but I figure it is better than being addicted to ice cream or something. I am also craving steak a lot..which is weird since I am not really a red meat eater. One funny thing, I am not normally one to drink alcohol (more because I don’t like drinking my calories) but the last few weeks all I want is a margarita..don’t worry I haven’t given in!

Foods I am hating? Some sweets are still affecting me like the thought of cupcakes makes me feel sick. Other than that I haven’t had anything else make me feel sick.

Best moment this week? Making it to the second trimester!!

Movement? None yet.

Symptoms? So I finally gave in and started taking the Zofran the doctor prescribed me and it is magic! When I take it my nausea is gone. I am going to try and wean myself off it soon though. I guess the only other symptom is a growing tummy and having to pee all the time!

Gender? Can’t wait to find out!!

What I miss? Long runs. Since it is starting to get nicer outside I am really missing those Saturday morning 8-15 mile runs.

What I'm looking forward to? Our 15 week appointment on Thursday!

Milestone: Getting through the first trimester and entering the second!

Emotions: Pretty good. Although I can’t say I am loving pregnancy, it is growing on me (literally) and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I am just really excited to find out if the little bambino is a he or she :)

Finally, I wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to my wonderful Mommy :) She has been such an amazing example of a Godly woman and mother. Every time I feel nervous about raising this little one I think of my mom and I know I will do okay. We have such an amazing bond and she is truly one of my best friends! I love you mom!

My First Race with the Bambino

Wow I have a lot to catch you all up on..so I thought I would go in order.

Back in January the Hubs and I signed up for the Salt Lake City 1/2 Marathon. It felt good to have something to train for, especially coming back from an injury. If you have never ran in a race (any distance) be warned..they are addictive!

The SLC 1/2 wasn’t until April 16th so I had a while to get back into long-distance shape. I had worked up to about 8 miles when I found out I was pregnant. Once I found out I was so worried that I would hurt the baby or do something to mess up the pregnancy that after a few shorter runs I stopped running altogether. I was still working out but a lot lower impact and mostly workout dvd’s. I had talked to the nurse on base and she said that although I might be able to run the 1/2, she didn’t recommend running that far during the pregnancy. I had pretty much decided that I wasn’t going to run but it is really hard for me to just sit on the sidelines. I finally came up with the brilliant idea of switching from the 1/2 to the 5K..I mean I should totally be able to run 3 miles…right??? The race people were really nice and let me switch it without a problem.

The weeks went by and I attempted running a couple times, but running while nauseous really isn’t fun. The only thing that kept me going was the cute shirt that I had made :)

The week before the race I was in Cali at the beach with my family. I flew in two days before the race and we were leaving the day after the race for Maui. It was a crazy weekend! One of the things I was really worried about was getting up early. It seems that the earlier I get up the sicker I am. A few days before I finally gave in and started taking the Zofran the doctor had given me for the nausea..it is magical! I totally didn’t get sick anymore and haven’t really since then (well expect the flight home from maui but that is a different story).

I was kind of nervous the day of the race because I realized that I hadn’t run at all for two weeks and hadn’t run more than 2 miles since I found out I was pregnant. I figured I could just walk/run and I tried to remind myself not to get wrapped up in the completive part and just take it easy. We got their pretty early because the hubs had to be there earlier for the 1/2.

The fun part was that the race started and ended in an outdoor shopping center in downtown SLC (the Gateway for anyone familiar with the area). Too bad it was too early for the shops to be open :) Although it was really cold waiting for the race to start, it went better than I expected. I think the worst part was that the first 1/2 was mostly uphill (gradual) and for someone who hasn’t ran for a while that was a little tough. I defiantly went slower than I did pre-bambino! I only had to walk up one steep hill and I did okay running the rest. It was so much fun and it reminded me how much I love running :)

I was tired but I was really careful not to overdue anything. When I left for the race that morning I planned for this to be my last race before the little bambino arrives. However,  there was a girl behind me who was about 6-7 months pregnant and when I saw her finish the 5k I made the goal of running a few more 5 k’s in the coming months and I am hoping to be able to run the Air Force 5k in September. The hubs is running the full and I had planned on running with him before the baby so it would be fun to still be a part of it. I am playing it by ear though and I will see how I am doing around that time.

So anyways, our little bambino has now completed it’s first race :) And just so everyone knew I had to make this shirt:

It might be hard to read but it says “Little Marathoner in training”.

Stay tuned for the Maui recap and a baby update :)