Expressions of Love and Baby Clothes

I love this video. I especially love Elder Scott's sweet story about his wife that he shared during Conference. I don't know if it is just the pregnancy hormones going crazy haha, but I got teary-eyed listening to his sweet story again. 

I have been thinking about Bryson a lot over the last couple days and how our lives are about to change in such a BIG way as we welcome a baby into our home. I feel so lucky and blessed to have married such a wonderful man and righteous priesthood holder. He is such a good example to me in so many ways. Last night, we went on our weekly "Dollar Scoop Tuesday" date to Baskin Robins and we just sat outside the store in our car, eating ice cream and talking and laughing about the funny, awkward things we did and said while we were dating way back when we were 16, 17, 18. It is crazy to think that we have known each other for 10 years now: since we were 14. I am so glad we have had 2 great years of marriage as "just the two of us" to learn how to become much better spouses to one another. There is no better teacher of patience, selflessness, and true expressions of love than marriage. As we were getting into bed last night, Bryson reached over and put his hand on my belly and said, "How are my girls doing?" and it just touched my heart thinking of sweet Bryson as the daddy to our baby girl. He is going to be the best dad to this little girl. She is lucky. I am lucky. We are a forever, eternal family. What more can I ask for?

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On another note...Today I went through all the baby clothes and organized them by size to see what we have. We have a TON of baby clothes. Honestly, there isn't enough room in the closet for any more!  Many of the clothes came from Bryson's aunt (which is a HUGE blessing), and the rest of it has come from baby showers and gifts from friends/co-workers/family. I think I have bought 2 or 3 outfits (because sometimes I cannot resist those PRECIOUS little outfits) and a couple plain white onesies. What a blessing! Thank you to everyone who contributed to this baby girl's wardrobe haha. :) :)

Here's the pile of clothes. This does not include the many, many onesies and pants we have, which are in drawers and not on hangers.

The closet before I organized. Lucky little lady, if you ask me. :)

37 weeks

Today, I am 37 weeks pregnant. That means, 3 weeks until baby is due! I guess 37 weeks is considered "Full Term," which means she could come at any time and be perfectly healthy. 

According to the baby website:

"Your baby is officially baked this week! That means you could literally give birth at any given moment. A terrifying, exciting and overwhelming concept, all rolled into one. Your partner is undoubtedly having the same emotional roller-coaster ride, so be sure to share your feelings and enjoy these last weeks (days?! hours?!) together."

Apparently, the baby weighs in at about 6.5 pounds already and will grow about half a pound each week for the next 3 weeks (or longer depending on when she decides to come). Bryson keeps saying, "I have a feeling you are going to go over your due date." Please no. But I'm sure that's what will happen. You never know, I guess. 

Take a look at the most recent picture from tonight. 

37 weeks

I am just starting to feel uncomfortable and I woke up this morning with . . . dun dun dun . . . swollen feet!! Ohhh it was a tragedy! What a horrible day to wake up to swollen feet and ankles - Sunday of all days - the only day I wear cute shoes! I couldn't even buckle the strap around my ankle on my heels. haha. It was a sad moment. 

And now on to a happy moment... :) :)

A girl in my ward threw me a little "baby shower" the other day. It was so perfect and low-key and fun, which made it even more perfect for me!! We have been SO blessed and people have given us so much baby stuff already - the closet is crammed full of clothes and blankets and all that good stuff. So, when people have asked me if I want a baby shower, I tell them I really don't need one because we have all that we need for the baby and more! So, this girl in my ward messaged me asking to meet up for frozen yogurt and ended up inviting several other girls from the ward to meet us there and have a little baby shower! They each brought a book for the baby to start building our little library. Is that not the cutest, sweetest thing you've ever heard? I was completely not expecting ANYTHING like that at all and I just thought it was SOO incredibly nice: nice of her to think of me, to coordinate it and then nice of everyone to come!! We all ate frozen yogurt, talked and I opened presents. I got some of the cutest little books and a couple outfits and other little baby things. It was fun to introduce Kaitlyn to all the super cute girls in my ward! They have all been so nice and welcoming to us! We honestly have an AMAZING ward - I could NOT be happier! We feel very blessed here! 

Jelly Belly Factory

Today, Kaitlyn and I went to the Jelly Belly Factory. The best part of the tour was the free Jelly Beans that you get at the end! We were so excited for FREE Jelly Beans! Kaitlyn was happy to see a toothpaste flavored Jelly Bean and she stole sampled about 20 of them. She also really enjoyed the sausage Jelly Bean. Yuck! 

Me and MY belly with Mr. Jelly Belly

Our cute Jelly Belly hats that you have to wear during the tour.

I also had a doctor's appointment today and had a quick ultrasound. I now understand why they do ultrasounds at 20 weeks when the baby is 11 ounces and still tiny and you can see the whole little body very clearly. We (Kaitlyn, Bryson and I) couldn't tell what we were looking at this time around at all haha. The doctor would say something like, "And there's the head," and it was just a big, black circle on the screen. Of course we all said, "Aww," but we had no clue what we were actually looking at haha. She said baby is head down with a heartbeat of 147 bpm, nice and average. I have another appointment in 2 weeks at 38 1/2 weeks and then my last appointment in 3 weeks at 39 1/2 weeks. It's all coming to an end! On Sunday, I will be considered "Full Term" at 37 weeks. Whenever she's ready to make her appearance, we are ready (at least we hope so!!). :) :) :)

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Tonight, Kaitlyn and I made BBQ Chicken Pizza for dinner! It was DELICIOUS! We used Trader Joe's pizza dough (because WHY wouldn't you?? It's cheap, easy and delicious!) and topped it with BBQ chicken, BBQ sauce, red onion, freshly sliced mozzarella cheese and fresh cilantro! Yum yum yum! We washed it down with our FAVORITE drink, Blood Orange Italian Soda. We bought one bottle for each of us - each bottle is 1 liter and yes, we each need our own haha. 

We also made pillows for Kaitlyn's couch and went grocery shopping. I love having my sister here to keep me company throughout the day. I don't even feel like she is visiting...it's just like old times in Provo haha.

Kaitlyn is very good at reminding me that I am "Huuuuuge." haha Today she looked at me and said, "I just don't think you can get ANY bigger!" I said, "I know! But you aren't supposed to say that to a pregnant woman! You're supposed to lie to me and tell me how tiny and skinny I still am." haha

"Huuuuuuuge!"

36 1/2 weeks. 3 1/2 weeks go to!

It's so big, it rests on my legs haha

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment and we will see the status of our little girl. My doctor said she would do a quick ultrasound to check for positioning and weight, and I am HOPING that will be true! I don't want to get my hopes up though, so we will see. :)

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

I feel like everyone and their mother are having babies right now! I know so many people who have just had their sweet, precious babies and I'm not going to lie, it makes me SO "hungry" for our baby to arrive! 4 weeks feels SO short compared to the 36 weeks I have been pregnant so far, but at the same time...4 weeks seems like F.O.R.E.V.E.R! :)

I have such mixed feelings about her coming early. On one hand, I am soooo ready to meet her, dress her up, kiss her little cheeks and see what she looks like. I also would love her to be on the "smaller" size versus a 10 pound, 2-week overdue chunker haha. On the other hand, I realize that she is MUCH easier to take care of while she is still on the inside than she will be on the outside! haha SO, I am deciding to take the next 4 weeks and ENJOY sleeping in, relaxing, and all that good stuff because I know my life is about to change in such a drastic way. When will I ever get to sleep in past 9:00 after the baby is born? Probably not for 20 years haha.

I added this picture because it looks like I might have dropped?? I don't know...

I feel like I have a lot to do to get ready for her to come. Kaitlyn will be here on Tuesday and I am putting her to work haha. She is most organized person I know and I am hoping she will help me with some stuff that seems overwhelming to do by myself haha:

Wash all baby clothes and organize closet

Nursery ready

Final shopping for baby stuff

Pack bag for hospital (include check-in form and birth plan)

Freezer meals

Maternity pictures (MAYBE. I'm usually not a fan, but maybe she can take just a few)

Other than those things, we will relax, sit by the pool, go on walks, eat ice cream (because I crave ice cream all the time) and talk, a lot. I also want to go to the Jelly Bean Factory because I have heard it's really cool.

So, that's it for now. I am feeling comfortable for the most part, very happy and incredibly grateful for so many things. I am grateful for my sweet, supportive and patient husband, wonderful family near and far, and healthy, growing baby. I am so grateful to be living in Walnut Creek. For the first couple weeks, living here was an adjustment (naturally) but I fell in love with the area very quickly. Mostly, it's the people here. I honestly feel that Heavenly Father guided us to the exact place that we need to be where we could meet some wonderful people! We are very, very blessed!

Little kicks

I have come to realize that there is no better feeling in the world than little tiny (or not so tiny anymore) baby kicks in your belly. What an amazing, sweet feeling. I love it. The baby kicks me constantly - and I mean constantly. Any time I am sitting down or laying down - she is kicking, squirming, punching...or all three at once. 

Bryson and I have been going to classes at the hospital where I will deliver. I couldn't help but laugh as we sat on the back row of "Breastfeeding For First Time Moms." I guess that shows how immature I am, I don't know haha. I had told Bryson that he didn't need to go to that class (for obvious reasons I think) and then I got an email saying, "Husbands strongly encouraged to attend." SOooo, he came. :) We got there and had to choose a baby doll so we could practice holding the baby in the correct position and all that stuff. Every once in a while I would just look around the room at all the men and laugh. I don't know - it's just funny to me...all those men being so supportive, but also wishing to be anywhere else but there haha.  I told Bryson afterwards, "I bet you never, ever in your life thought you would go to a breastfeeding class." What a supportive hubby haha. 

Tonight we had "Newborn Care" for 2 1/2 hours haha. Again, Bryson was ULTRA supportive and went with me even though it cut into precious ward-basketball night (new basketball shoes and all). So I had his basketball shorts, t-shirt, socks and new shoes all laid out...ready to go, so he didn't have to miss too much of game time after the class was over. Here is a video of Bryson dressing our "baby." :)

Welp, I am continuing to grow bigger and bigger as you can see from the pictures below. I finally broke down and bought a pair of maternity jeans at H&M. Even though I will only be wearing them for 4 weeks, but it was totally worth it! I LOVE them. Next time around, I will wear them much, much sooner! :) Overall, I have LOVED being pregnant and I think I will miss it in a strange way when that time comes. Ever since I started taking that heartburn medicine, I have been feeling 500 times better. I'm not swollen at all, just sometimes my feet at the end of the day after walking a lot. No stretch marks, YET (knocking on wood as I type this). At my 33-week appointment (2 1/2 weeks ago), I had gained 15 pounds total, but I feel like I have DOUBLED in size over the last 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm sure that number will go up by my appointment next week (I never weigh myself at home haha - I just don't want to think about it). 

We still don't have a name picked out. We have a top 3 and then Bryson keeps throwing out random names that he will "really like" for a day or so and then move onto the next one. I don't think she will have a name until we see her. Maybe never haha. The other day, Bryson said, "Maybe we can't decide on a name because it's really a boy." HA wouldn't THAT be something. I don't know WHAT I would do considering all the PINK stuff we have. Of course, that stressed me out a little bit and I told him never to say that again haha. 

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With love,

Hospital Bag Goodies

I have been slowly buying and accumulating all the things we need for when the baby comes. We are almost completely ready for her to make her appearance, whenever that will be, sometime in the next month and a half. I ordered diapers and wipes from amazon mom and diapers.com at a great price, and now the changing table is stocked...just waiting for those little baby buns. Bryson and I came home one night to 4 big boxes of diapers and wipes haha. I still need to wash all the baby clothes, organize the nursery, pack the hospital bags, find a newborn photographer hopefully, and of course we still need a NAME for this baby! :) I know I have a lot of time, but I am so intent on being prepared as much as I can be. I have a list of things for Kaitlyn to help me with when she gets here in like 10 days! Get ready Kait! :)

A few of the diapers (they are teeny and so cute)

I made a list of the things I still need to get and the list is getting shorter! These are the only things I still need to get from my registry:

Burp cloths (I have some, just need one more package)

Baby socks

6 Avent Bottles

Bottle brush

Nursing pads (BIG box, I have one small box)

Breast milk freezer containers

Thermometer for baby

Nasal bulb syringe

Baby nail clippers

2 waterproof mattress pads

Dreft (or detergent to wash all baby clothes)

Of course there are more things I want like more little hair bows and outfits and cute unnecessary things like that (because I have MORE than enough hair bows AND outfits already haha).

I know I have some time, but I have been slowly working on packing our bags for the hospital. I still have to pack a bag for Bryson and add stuff to my bag, but here's the pile so far:

I have been researching what to bring, what not to bring and all that jazz and on every list it says, "Bring snacks for your hubby." I found this cute idea on Pinterest to get some of the hubby's favorite snacks and attach cute little notes, just to make him feel as though the day isn't ALL about only me. So, these snacks will be packed into my hospital bag. This is a small preview in case Bryson sees this post. :)

I LOVED that on the hospital tour, they gave us a handout of "What to bring to the Hospital." On the Dad's list was Food, of course. It said, 

"Dads: Food - to keep you energized for the labor. Remember nothing smelly (makes her nauseous), nothing crunchy (noise may irritate her) and very important something for your breath (may make her nauseous)." 

Haha I just love the "Warning in advance," and the "Be prepared for an irritable, nauseous woman." Yess, I am SURE that will be me as far as the crunchy food goes because, as Bryson and Kaitlyn and all my family will agree, I already get irritated listening to people crunch their food. It's a weird pet peeve I have always had. I told Bryson to start practicing his humility and patience now haha. jk jk

Speaking of the hospital tour: it was a very...interesting experience. It was great to see where we will be going and what the rooms look like and know what to expect. BUT, I swear, I was the only person in the room (there was a group of 20 or so of us prego ladies and our hubbies) who ever looked the least bit scared haha. Everyone else was smiling and ooh-ing and aw-ing over things like birthing tubs and mirrors to "see" the view (NO THANK YOU) and I was standing there thinking in my mind, "Never mind, I don't want to do this anymore." haha. I think I even said it out loud to Bryson at one point and he goes, "Well, too late now honey!" haha. 

We saw the labor and delivery rooms, C-section rooms and the recovery rooms. Towards the beginning of the tour, they opened a room and Bryson and I peeked in and saw some people cleaning up after a birth that had just occurred. Oh dear. We both looked at each other like, "Okay, let's pretend like we didn't just see that." haha 

Then, we stopped by the "well-baby nursery" and the tour guide opened the blinds to the brand new little babies in the nursery who had just been born. They looked so ... real. I know that sounds weird, of course they are real. But I mean, they weren't little squishy alien-like creatures that I sometimes imagine my baby to be right now, they were soft, sweet, precious babies ... and it put everything into perspective. Labor (although I don't think I will completely get past the whole scary factor) is a beautiful thing because of the end product - your little pink, soft, sweet baby. So, I have to choose NOT to be scared or anxious or nervous and just be excited, grateful, hopeful. 

She will be here soon enough! About 35 days! Can't wait to meet our little nugget! 

Here is me at 35 weeks:

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With love,

34 weeks

6 weeks until baby girl is due!

That's a month and a half... 

That's 42 days...

According to the baby books, our baby measures about 17¾ inches, as almost as long as an American Girl Doll (!) and weighs almost 5 pounds, as heavy as a bag of sugar. 

The baby is constantly hanging out on the right side of my belly. She has a sharp, pointy body part (haha I don't know what it is) poking out of my right side constantly. She is very active and moves all the time - which I love. This week, Bryson and I have our first "class" at the hospital - the "Hospital Tour." I'm hoping it makes me excited and doesn't scare me haha. The doctor said at my next appointment, she will do a quick ultrasound to check for positioning! Excited to see our baby again! :)

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With love,