Thoughts at 28 weeks...

This post is in no way intended to be a complainy post about pregnancy because heaven knows we wanted to be pregnant for a long time before it actually became a reality. This is more of a "i had no idea" what it was going to be like post...because really, you can't know until you experience it first hand (as i sit here typing this realizing how uncomfortable it is getting to sit in a chair and breathe at the same time :])

disclaimer: I have had a fairly easy pregnancy. i only got sick a little at the beginning and had one (throw up...gross) incident (in which my husband freaked out with disgust). The above picture was taken a week ago, and since then, i feel like i've gotten huge. yikes.

You know those pictures of cute pregnant girls (no i'm NOT looking for compliments and reassurance)that you see on facebook, instagram, pinterest etc....they make pregnancy seem so...easy. like your clothes always fit you, you never get heartburn, you ALWAYS shower and get ready for the day etc. I have learned that that is not always the case...DUH!

Here are some things i've learned about pregnancy (my own, i realize everyone is different) that i had no idea about until i got here. 28 weeks. 12 weeks out from having a KID! a kid people!

.you know that point when you are like "i should probably start eating better and working out more"?? and you do. and you start to feel better about yourself, maybe you drop a few pounds even...yeah. I've been at THAT point for like a month or so. Where i keep thinking "i should really do (this) better or (this) better" and surely that will make me feel less like the michelin man. NOPE!! no matter how much i TRY to exercise (which hello is like exhausting some days)and eat better, there will ALWAYS be a growing belly, a face filling out, clothes that get tighter, and cravings for sonic's chocolate banana milkshakes. i've come to accept that it's ok to feel this way, but somedays it's kinda hard to love what you see bc your body truly has been taken over by this little human you are growing (which is amazing)and you don't always feel super...pretty. or normal.

.cravings are WEIRD. its like this. you see something on a commercial, or someone mentions something, and you HAVE.TO.HAVE.IT. like sit there and think about it A LOT have to have it. I've tried to supress these cravings by not giving in right away. If i am still thinking about it rather consistently a few days later, i will succomb and go get whatever it is thats on my mind (ie starbucks chocolate creme frappachino, cinnabon cinnamon rolls, sonic milkshakes etc).

.maternity pants are a little bit heavenly. i know a lot of people try to stay in their own clothes as long as possible (and i admit i do too, the shirt above is not maternity, and i have been able to extend some pieces of my wardrobe for quite a while) but seriously, when it comes to pants...just give in. that glorious belly band, however ugly, is amazing on your stomach.

.i genuinely had to ask myself, and then my husband, if i had cankles today. WHAT?! depressing (for the record, i don't. i think. eek)

.getting up with a baby in the middle of the night should be no problem in 2 months because as it is i'm up ALL NIGHT LONG! i toss and turn and flip sides constantly. not to mention up to go to the bathroom. I know this will only get worse in the coming months. and ps...what i wouldn't give to sleep on my stomach for just.one.night!!!!

.its getting hard to climb in and out of our honda. insert a little bit of huffing and maybe some grunts. awkward. but true.

.eating is an entirely new game. I've never had to think so hard about what i REALLY want to eat. and once i get to the eating part, i take a few bites and am done. its annoying. especially when out to eat. so instead i tend to overeat at restaurants which leaves me feeling like death for HOURS after. not worth it.

.heartburn. i have never ever had heartburn or indigestion. ever. until now. i have gone through 2.5 bottles of tums. what the?!

.people stare at pregnant girls. i'm a little bit shy in big group settings, so when i see them starting at my stomach, and then my face, it makes me uncomfortable. even though they probably don't think twice about it, i instantly think they are judging how puffy my face is, or how awkward my stomach looks etc. i'm an idiot.

.sometimes Chris will look at me and say "you're pregnant" with kind of a suprised look in his face. I'm 99.9% sure thats his way of saying, "whoa, your stomach is getting large". It's not a bad thing, bc sometimes i feel the same way. its just kind of...funny.

.i still try to suck in sometimes while taking pictures or in certain outfits. it doesn't work. this goes hand in hand with not really feeling super different, until i look down and realize that i have a huge stomach RIGHT THERE. or i go to put a shirt on that CLEARLY will fit because it always has, and then it waaaay doesn't fit.

.lastly, feeling a baby move is really super cool. if i had to try to describe it to someone who has never felt it, i would say its kinda like that rumbling gassy feeling when you have a stomach ache and your stomach is churning and moving all over the place...except not painful at all. and when you eat anything sweet or cold its like a party in your stomach.

that's all for now. if you stuck around to the end of this list, i commend you.

Sister

Sometimes, at the end of the day, I get a FaceTime request from this little 4 year old sister of mine. We chat about roller skating, her bedroom, her new pumpkin pale for halloween, and life. You know...the good stuff.

Couldn't love her more if I tried.

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday was a hard day...my dad was out this way due to business meetings in nashville and had tuesday night available to come visit us. It was heavenly, even if for just a night, to have a piece of home with me all the way out here in kentucky. The hard part came when I had to hug him goodbye the next morning and he returned to nashville for his meetings. To say that I was emotional yesterday is a complete understatement. insert random breakdowns and lots of tears throughout the day (i'm blaming pregnancy a little....)

SO, i decided that instead of dwelling on the things i'm missing, i should concentrate more on the things i'm thankful for. Because really, the picture above says it all doesn't it? So it got me thinking about some of the things that I have to currently be grateful for....

.that i was able to see my dad, even if it brought on feelings of homesickness
.the cool fall weather we have been having all week and that we have been able to leave the windows and doors open. love.
.the $20 portable screen door that i bought at home depot.
.that chris is willing to work so hard to make ends meet. money is such a huge stress...like all the time...but chris takes it all in stride and continues to work hard
.for a good friend telling me that sometimes its ok to relax, let go of stress, and enjoy myself a little
.netflix. probably the best $7 we spend each month (sadly). except now i'm all caught up on the shows that i was watching and well...thats depressing. ha.
.for little baby kicks that reassure me everything is ok with baby girl
.for fun baby gifts sent out with dad from soon to be grandma.
.our puppy marley girl. she has gotten very protective over me since being pregnant and is always nuggled up right next to my stomach. we're practically best friends these days. really.
.sub teaching orientation on tuesday that HOPEFULLY means i can get subbing within the next 2 weeks. fingers crossed.
.that in almost 12 weeks we will be ready to welcome baby girl. surreal.

Thankful to have so many things to be grateful for. Hope you do too :]

The Great Move...

to kentucky....bowling green to be specific. it came as a "shock" (i guess i have to use shock lightly because applications were sent in so its not like i was completely taken by suprise, but still...)and yes i cried. a lot.

To go back in time and explain how this all came to pass, we must start on Friday April 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th. We were living with my parents, entertaining the thought of Chris going to grad school, not totally sure of our next move, truckin along and trying to figure things out. Chris had put in an application to Western Kentucky University for a couple different reasons. He had a connection with a professor at WKU in his chosen major (who ironically moved the first weekend we were here...jokes on us)he didn't have to take the GRE to be considered, out of state tuition was only about $30 more per unit instead of thousands, and it was only an hour away from his entire family in Tennessee. We figured he would get in, but the reality didn't totally set in because it seemed pretty far away. Back to that friday. Chris was at work. We had enjoyed a delicious lunch of in n out with some of my college roommates who were in town earlier that afternoon. I was home babysitting my younger siblings. A pretty uneventful Friday night. Until i found out I was pregnant. and suprised chris after work. Shock. Excitement. Nervousness. Panic. Joy. We were going to have a baby. Less than 24 hours later we found out Chris had been admitted early for grad school at Western and would immediatly be able to register for classes. While i was of course so excited for him, my heart broke. I knew that it was the right move for our future, but it didn't make it any less difficult. (don't even get me started on breaking the news to my parents of moving right after telling them they were going to be first time grandparents....talk about heart breaking...) July 5th we started our journey across the country and arrived in the south about a week later. The first of August we made our way up to Bowling Green, stumbled on a great 2 bedroom duplex, and here we are.... The south is definitely a new experience for a girl born and raised in (the great state of) California. Since being here I have: .survived multiple thunder and lightening storms (they are terrifying)

.dealt with humidty. not a fan. .fallen in love with southern white cheese dip .adjusted to thick southern accents .seen lots of amish/mennonites .facetimed with family as much as possible .gotten bigger and bigger as baby girl grows

.and sent Chris off to his first day of grad school

While everything is still so new, and a little bit hard and heart breaking sometimes still, I know that it will be worth it in the end. I figure that this will be a good way to keep my family and friends back home in the loop. Until next time...later y'all.

2012

How is it possible that it's almost April of 2012?? I remember as a kid thinking how SLOOOOOOW the year took to go by (mostly because i was always counting down until my birthday and Christmas) and now it seems like the year flies by before i can blink. guess that means i'm getting old. boo.

We are pretty boring. I read all these fun, insightful blogs thinking of how exciting and glamorous everyone's lives are (seriously, does nobody else work these days?? kidding. kidding) and then think we are pretty boring (i guess thats the trap of blogs huh...oh well).

We pretty much sleep, wake up, work, watch our shows, and repeat the process. We have managed to sneak in some fun things here and there though, with some exciting things to look forward to.

.we celebrated our 1st anniversary! woohoo! it was on a sunday (boring city!) so we went to church. and now that we are in april i can't even remember what we did on saturday to celebrate (probably went out to eat somewhere yummy).

.we got a puppy (for christmas) and have loved (and hated) potty training and making her all ours. She is quite cute and we love her to pieces. Chris can often be found repeating "i love her. I really love her" on different occasions. should i be worried?? marley girl successfully nuggles in right between chris and i almost every night and is pretty content to be on our heels wherever we go. can't complain :]





.we moved from our little apartment into my parents old house and have been there for about a month now and will be moving (most likely back in with my parents...see i told you, we're glamourous) until we figure out what we are doing with our lives.

.i worked in real estate for a whopping three months and decided i mostly hated it (the office part, not the real estate part) and promptly quit with almost no back up plan. luckily things fell into place and i am now working as an instructional assistant to a 4th grade boy with asperger's who loves video games, batman, and snack time. I LOVE hanging out with him for 3 hours each day and hope that he loves it too. I also work at my uncles tax office. he hooked us up with a sweet tax return (hello dolla dolla bills!) and we are really tempted to buy hawaii plane tickets but go back and forth between being responsible (boring city!) and splurging on a fun trip.

.chris is moving up the ladder at olive garden and will hopefully be working towards management positions in the near future. also, he wants to move to kentucky for grad school. once a southern boy, always a southern boy. he receives compliments on the weekly, and our favorite one came in last night...



it's all good unknown guest, i think Chris is "damn good people" too

Other than that, we have enjoyed a super mild winter (woohoo!!), bought a new car, and are looking forward to a long weekend trip to DISNEYLAND!



I hope to update more and not always do "life updates" when i post.
Shout out to my best friend britt in spain, thanks for the reminder that i haven't posted since last year :] love ya!