24 Weeks

How far along? 24 weeks :) yay!
Maternity clothes? Yep. Definitely. Pants are still fitting me when I stand up and walk around, but when I sit down I definitely gotta unbutton them haha. So yeah I mostly wear my maternity shorts and capris and leggings. I need to go buy more leggings because they are my favorite right now. Oh and skirts. So comfy.
Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty well lately, except for the nights when baby girl kicks like crazy so I can't fall asleep! The other night when I was laying down she kicked me in the bladder and I literally almost peed my pants. Haha it was such a weird feeling.
Best moment this week: This week and last week Thomas and I have both been able to actually feel her inside of me! It is super cool. I can't tell of course what body part it is that we can feel, but it's cool to touch my stomach and there is a harder part, and then we feel her move over. It's been fun :) I feel bad... she's probably like stop bugging me! haha
Miss Anything? Having clothes fit me normal... I have enough shirts that I can wear, but pants are getting to be an issue. Even if they aren't super tight, sitting down is the worst. They feel so much tighter when I sit down. Hence the reason why I need to go buy bigger sizes of leggings and skirts...
Movement: Yep. Yesterday morning I woke up to her punching and kicking at the same time. So it was on like opposite ends of my belly. Weird feeling... it was awesome.
Food cravings: I honestly think that the only actual craving I have been having is Fazoli's. And yeah they don't have Fazoli's here anymore. So basically it sucks! I literally think about Fazoli's spaghetti... and pizza... and breadsticks... everyday. So sad :(
Have you started to show yet: Yep. But I'm still small. I feel like my belly kinda "popped" out a couple weeks ago, and now it's not really growing. Haha oh well. I guess that is kind of a lucky thing. Jayne is definitely growing though! I can tell she is a lot bigger and her kicks and punches are getting stronger.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy :) but I cry quite often still haha.
Looking forward to: My next appointment on May 2nd! I wish it was sooner!
Anything Else? We love our baby girl. We can't wait to meet her!

23 Weeks, and random pictures

I am about 23 weeks now! Time is flying by. Kind of... Some days I feel like I should still be like 10 weeks pregnant, and then other days I feel like this baby isn't ever going to come! But when I think about how much our lives are going to change in about 3 1/2 months, I try and take things a day at a time. I am trying to enjoy the things I have right now that will change once we have a baby. But man, I can't WAIT for our sweet little girl to be here! Thomas is so excited to be a daddy. I love when he kisses my belly and talks to our daughter, or when he says he can't wait for her to be here. It is the sweetest thing :) I love our nightly routine/in the middle of the day... when he feels her kick. I love that he cares to be a part of her growing process and gets excited when he feels her move/kick. I seriously love my husband so much! I feel so lucky to be able to be with him for forever!

Yesterday I went to the doctor for another appointment. I LOVE going to the doctor! I always look forward to it. The people are so nice, and it's of course always good to find out that Jayne is doing well! They called me yesterday about an hour before my scheduled appointment and told me that my doctor had an emergency and wouldn't be able to be there, so they asked if I would be able to go to their office in Chandler. I was frustrated at first, because the office I normally go to is like 5 minutes from our house, but when she told me that if I couldn't go today I would have to wait until next week, I quickly told her that we would definitely be going today haha. It ended up not being too far... it's right by Chandler Regional Hospital, and like 5 minutes away from the Chandler Mall. Thomas came with me to the appointment because we got to have another ultrasound! I feel so lucky to have been able to do 4 ultrasounds now. I know some people have like only one or two throughout their whole pregnancy. I am really grateful for that! The appointment went great. It was crazy to see how big she is now! She has changed so much since my last appointment (4 weeks ago). Last time she was 10 oz, and now she's 1 lb. 3 oz! The doctor said everything looked great with her development, size, etc. That is always good for a mom to hear :) I am such a worrier.... I actually was really glad we ended up going to the Chandler office. It is super nice there! It's a newer office I guess. The nurse and doctor were so so so nice. I kind of want to go back there because they were awesome... but it's too far away to go every time. The machine they have there for ultrasounds has better clarity than the one at my normal office, so that was cool :) Jayne is starting to look cute and not so much like an alien! I almost cried when she switched it to the 4D instead of normal. Seeing her cute little nose and lips... it was the best. Thomas loved it too. I am so glad he was able to be there with me. The doctor also said my weight gain is good... which was good to hear haha. I was kind of worried I have maybe gained too much. I am hungry all the time! But I have really been trying to eat healthier lately. Mmm I bought the best grapes yesterday from Walmart. I love when I get lucky like that by getting the perfect bag of grapes. Haha oh the little things that make my day.... After the appointment, since we were close by the Chandler Mall, we decided to walk around for a little bit. It was a great day :)

She looks kind of like a Who. I love it haha 

Alright and I have some random pictures to post... I have taken these with my phone lately.

Thomas drew this picture during Sunday School like 2 weeks ago... seriously?? I wish I had his talent for drawing. I'm super jealous. 

My friend Annamarie and I made cute spring banners a couple weeks ago! 

My mom found this headboard for us at Goodwill for only 16 bucks! Score! I love it! 

Sometimes I have fun seeing if Jayne kicks the light :) Except sometimes she does it and other times she doesn't haha. So it doesn't work all the time. By the way my belly button is seriously going to pop out super soon... oh dear. 

Jayne got spoiled for Easter by Aunt Carrie and Aunt Christina! So fun! 

The hubby knows what I like :) Mmm chcolate cadbury eggs... sour candy... cookies and cream drops... and nail polish! He did good. 

Thomas and I babysat this cutie last night! This is our niece Josie. We had fun reading lots and lots of books, playing with toys, watching Elmo's World on youtube, going on a walk, and eating popsicles and cereal!

Growing Belly

I was just going through my pregnancy pictures from when I first found out I was pregnant. Here is a basically week by week look at how my belly has grown :) 

 Should have cleaned the mirror for that one... oops haha 

It's so fun that people notice I'm pregnant now! I don't mind at all when people ask if they can touch my belly. I love it, because this is a new experience for me! Jayne (did I mention that's what we're naming her?) is getting bigger every day. Her kicks are getting to be so big sometimes! I love when I look down and catch her kicking me. I smile so big every time. It's amazing to be a part of a miracle happening. I can't wait to go to the doctor a week from today. I always look forward to my appointments. I get to have another ultrasound, so I will be posting new pictures of our princess soon :) 

20 Weeks

How far along? 20 weeks! Halfway baby!!
Maternity clothes? My sister-in-law gave me a ton of maternity clothes the other day. So nice!! I was so happy.
Sleep: I haven't been sleeping very good lately. I wake up a lot in the night and I have a hard time getting comfortable.
Best moment this week: Feeling baby girl's kicks! She kicks all the time now! I LOVE it! Thomas felt her kick, and he got so excited. It was the cutest thing :) He loves his baby girl!
Miss Anything? Having a normal pee schedule... haha I pee all the freaking time. Sometimes it gets annoying haha. But oh well. It's not a big deal.
Movement: Yep :) Her kicks are getting stronger every day!
Food cravings: Not really. I just eat all the time haha
Have you started to show yet: Yep! Not a ton, but I am showing!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: I cry all the time haha. And I get more frustrated. But mostly I'm happy! Every time she kicks I smile.
Looking forward to: My next appointment on April 5th! I get to have another ultrasound :)
Anything Else? We are almost positive that we are naming our daughter Jayne :) We have had this name on the top our list for quite a while now. When she kicks I always tell Thomas "Jayne's kicking!" so I'm pretty sure the name will stick :)

We're Having a GIRL!

We're having a little princess! Ahh it's so crazy. I was so convinced it would be a boy because I wanted a girl so bad haha. I just knew I was going to be wrong.... But lo and behold, we are going to have a sweet little daughter! I just barely got back from my appointment and could not wait to blog about it. Alright here's the story. Sorry it will be kind of long. I wanna give good details on the whole experience. Let's start with last night. Thomas and I could NOT sleep. We tried going to bed early, because we both haven't slept great the past couple nights, so we wanted to go to sleep earlier than normal. We tried to fall asleep for like 45 minutes but we were both wide awake, so we watched a couple episodes of The Office haha. We probably only got like 3-4 hours of sleep. We talked about it in the morning and both felt like it was the night before Christmas because we were too excited to sleep. Thomas woke up at 6:30 because he was going to leave for work early so he could be done by the time I had my appointment (1:30). Ok I have to say this part because I thought it was hilarious haha. In our morning prayers, Thomas said "we're thankful that we can find out today what kind of baby we're having". haha I was dying. Seriously?? What kind? He cracks me up :) We looked out the door and realized it was raining.... Which stinks for Thomas because he's a pool guy, so he got soaked today, but he also got done way earlier than he thought because when there is lightning he doesn't have to clean the pool, he just has to empty the skimmer baskets and do the chemicals. Score :) At preschool today we had the kids guess what I was going to have. The majority thought I was going to have a boy. Kathy told them whoever guessed it right gets a treat after spring break haha. There was only one little boy who guessed a girl, the rest of the boys guessed that I would have a boy. So funny. I got home around 12, and Thomas and I soon after left to go have lunch at Chipotle, then walked around Michael's to kill time before my appointment. Alright so on to the good part... the ultrasound :) First of all, they tell you to pee an hour before the appointment, drink 32 oz of water and hold it. So basically I was dying because I had to pee so bad. The ultrasound tech started the ultrasound and said my bladder was very very full, so I was allowed to go pee. Yay! That was great news because I thought I was going to burst haha. Before checking the gender, although she said she knew the gender right away but she didn't tell us until the end because she wanted to get the baby in the perfect position to show us, she checked measurements and showed us the baby's heart and 4 chambers, brain, stomach, kidneys, and other body parts. It was so cool! I love having ultrasounds. For a second we could also see our baby drinking amniotic fluid. That was awesome. Baby girl was so curled up almost the whole time that I get to have another ultrasound in 4 weeks because they need to get good measurements of her spine. Yay! Haha that was great news. I'm excited to have another one. Finally after doing measurements and after getting her in the right position, I was like "is it a girl??" because I didn't see anything poking out haha, and she smiled and said yep! Aww it was such great news. It of course would be great news too though if it was a boy haha. 

It was of course so exciting to find out the gender, but just hearing that everything is healthy with our baby girl was the best news. She is measuring about a week ahead, which was also good news, and is 10 oz :) 

As of lately, it has been so fun feeling her (it is great to say her!) move around. I have felt a couple "kicks" (more like little taps) lately. It is crazy and wonderful :) I love my baby girl! 

 Here's the proof! 

Our little alien baby haha. She'll look cuter when she has more fat on her. 

 Baby girl apparently has really long toes that she got from her daddy! 

She was so curled up! She did move around a little though. The ultra sound tech was trying to wake her up, because apparently she was sleepy 

First Kick/Punch From Baby!

Today is an exciting day! I have felt the baby move around the past couple weeks, but today I felt a definite kick/punch! Two times! Maybe I am crazy and making it up..... but I'm pretty sure it was real :) so crazy! I can't help but smile thinking about this sweet baby in my stomach. I love him/her so much already it's unbelievable. Four days until our next doctors appointment so we can find out if it's a boy or girl!!!

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I've gained about 7 pounds total
Maternity clothes? I bought a maternity shirt like 2 weeks ago :) It is super stretchy so it fits me fine now even though my stomach isn't big yet, but it will stretch to fit over my belly when it gets bigger. I love it because it's super comfy and long!
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: I've been getting some gooood sleep lately. Most nights I fall asleep fairly easily and stay asleep the whole night (this is really good for me because I've always had sleeping issues)
Best moment this week: I'm starting to feel the baby move! My stomach feels like it's alive! It's such a cool feeling :) The little flutters are small, but I should start feeling them more often (and harder) pretty soon!
Miss Anything? Being able to sleep on my stomach. It's even weird laying on my stomach for a minute.
Movement: Yes! Little flutters! It feels like butterflies.
Food cravings: Not really. But when I am hungry, I am SUPER hungry. Like it feels like I have fasted for hours if I don't eat every 2-3 hours.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Have you started to show yet: Yes, a little bit! Well, to me it's a lot, but to other people it isn't haha.
Gender prediction: Girl maybe.... :) Every time I have a dream about the baby it is a girl. We find out 2 weeks from today! Yay!!!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: This week I was pretty emotional. I am always sensitive, but I have been extra sensitive lately.
Looking forward to: March 8th at 1:30 when find out if the baby is a boy or girl!!!
Anything Else? Today I woke up and really FELT pregnant. I felt like my stomach totally grew over night and it felt harder than before. There is definitely a baby growing inside... it blows my mind :) I am so happy!

Valentine's Day

Before I talk about this year's Valentine's Day, I'm going to reminisce on last year's Valentine's Day... because it was one that I won't ever forget! I want to document this because I don't think I ever wrote about it. Thomas picked me up around 5:00 for dinner. We were all dressed up because we went to a super nice/expensive restaurant, Maestro's City Hall. His brother, Aaron, had recommended it. The food was soooo good. They had this really yummy pretzel bread, we had shrimp, and we also got steak. It was definitely the best steak I've ever had. We had a great time enjoying this really fancy restaurant and enjoying each other's company. When the waiter came to give us the bill we thought, he said "I have some bad news..." I was like crap what is he going to say?? He continued to say "your meal has already been paid for!" What?? Thomas was so confused. We found out his brother who had suggested that we eat there had paid for our meal. So nice! By the way, the bill was over $100. So that pretty much rocked. As we left, we talked about what we would do next. As we were heading home, Thomas told me that his mom had told him that he needed to go pick up chairs from his aunt's house because she needed them. He said he was supposed to do it earlier but he ran out of time. I seriously was so clueless and didn't even think anything of it. He seemed so calm and didn't act like he was up to anything. We get to his aunt's house and go into the backyard where I find a band set up. Drums, guitar, piano, everything. I was so confused. There was a bench in the middle of the grass, and Thomas told me to go sit on it. Thomas played the piano and sang while Stephen, Brian, Ryan, and Justin played the other instruments. It was a song that Thomas had written about me. The words to the song were sitting on the bench so I could read along while he sang. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. I knew the proposal was coming after this :) After the song, everyone else left while Thomas walked down towards me (crying by the way... so so so sweet), saying cute things, and got on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I just remember smiling so big and giving him a huge hug and kiss and forgetting to even say yes haha. It was so funny. We went to each of our houses after that to see our parents, and of course put it on facebook haha.

Ok now on to yesterday... Thomas is so sweet. He got me a pregnancy belly band (he knew I would want something that had to do with the baby/being pregnant haha), baby lips lip balm (there he went again with the baby thing :) haha I love him), headbands to wear when I wash my face (I needed new ones bad), a loofah (yay and this one is a nicer one, not the cheapy 50 cent ones I usually get haha), and earrings! I LOVE the earrings. They are so pretty. He did so good picking stuff out! He kept asking what I wanted, but I told him I wanted it to be a surprised, because I had picked out all of my Christmas presents haha. He did a good job buying me things that I needed/will actually use. For dinner we went to the Cheesecake Factory. We love that place. So yummy. We went at like 4:30 so that it wouldn't be too crowded. We were seated right away, but it was kind of annoying because we didn't have a booth, so we were literally right next to another couple, but it's ok because their food is so good that it was nbd haha. We got a chicken caesar salad to share, and I got fettucini alfredo for my meal. It was so yummy. After we ate, we went home and changed (because we decided to dress up for dinner to make it more special) into comfortable clothes and we went to Freestone Park to feed the ducks! It was so much fun! Haha the ducks were going crazy. I love how it was just a simple thing, but Thomas and I always have so much fun together! We came home and... yeah! That's all I will write about :) I love Thomas so much and am very grateful for all he does for me.

Pregnancy Symptoms

I want to write things down (well type in this case) so I don't forget important parts of my life, like how I felt being pregnant! Here are some of my pregnancy symptoms (sorry if some are TMI... it's my blog... I do what I want :) haha)

*First pregnancy symptom I noticed was my boobs hurting. So annoying. They aren't as sore anymore though. Oh and they are growing..... lots... haha.

*I go pee all. the. time. Seriously. We went to Oregano's last night and I drank 2 glasses of water (have you been there?? their glasses are HUGE!) and I peed twice while we were there. And we were only there like an hour hahaha. Then I peed right when we got home, too. I think my bladder must be tiny or something. Also, if I wake up in the night, which has been hardly ever now lately thank goodness, I definitely have to pee.

*I am tired more often. I get worn out way easier. Especially lately because I've had a cold. I'm around preschool kids everyday who sneeze and cough on me. Lovely haha.

*Smells are more intense. After Thomas gets home from work he is usually sweaty and gross, and I used to not really care and run and give him a hug and kiss, but now I stay a little bit away haha.

*I have to eat snacks. When I'm hungry, it hurts. I eat snacks throughout the day (just went to the Superstition Ranch Market and got a ton of carrots, strawberries, celery, and apples! Loooooove it.) and when I eat meals, I eat less than normal.

*I. love. cereal. mmm I eat like 3 bowls a day at least. We always have at least 5 boxes of cereal at our house.

*Cramps. Sometimes I have some cramps in my stomach, on my side, or my back. But from what I've read, it's completely normal and it just means my body is adjusting and growing a baby of course :)

 I am so excited because we have gotten a few baby things lately! I know that it's early on to buy stuff, but I got such good deals that I couldn't pass them up!

 We got this dresser with the changing pad, and also a lamp, for $100. I love it!! It was a light wood color but we painted it white. Once we find out what we're having, and I know what colors the room will be, I want to paint the knobs so they are fun colors :)

 I got this petunia pickle bottom diaper bag for only 5 BUCKS! Apparently these are like super expensive... and even $50 for a used one is a good deal. So $5 is an awesome deal. My mom got this for me by the way. She rocks. I absolutely love it! 

I got this crib with the mattress for only $60 :) I love it! I was planning on buying a crib, but I really liked this one, and it is in really good shape, so I decided to save money and buy a used one. 

This isn't baby related... but I am so excited about our table and 6 chairs that we scored for $50! 

And we got this couch for only $60! It's so comfy! 

I'm excited for Valentine's Day coming up :) It's usually a holiday I don't care about, but it's different now that I'm married, and especially because Thomas proposed last Valentine's Day! I can't believe how fast time has gone by!

Baby update again... of course :)

I thought this would be fun to do :) Our lives aren't that interesting so basically all I am going to be blogging about now is baby stuff haha. I'll try and throw in some non-baby posts here and there :)

How far along? 13 weeks and 4 days according to the thing on the right ----> but I like to say I'm 14 weeks right now because the doctor said I was measuring like 4 days ahead haha.
Total weight gain/loss: It fluctuates all the time so I don't even know. I can't remember what weight I started at oops. But I have gained a little bit of weight I'm sure.
Maternity clothes? Nope not wearing any yet.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty good lately! The first few weeks after I found out I was pregnant I wasn't able to sleep like at all... no fun. But lately I have been sleeping great. Almost every night though I wake up to go pee. But then I fall back asleep so it's not really a big deal.
Best moment this week: I just love talking to people about the baby and I love when people ask me questions because it reminds me of how excited I am :)
Have you told family and friends: Yep definitely! I couldn't have waited any longer than I did haha.
Miss Anything? Hmm... no not really. Everything is basically the same!
Movement: Not yet... Today I might have felt little flutters but I'm not sure. Hopefully I'll feel some kicks in a couple weeks :)
Food cravings: I don't know if it's really a craving, because I loved cereal before I was pregnant, but I seem to always want cereal. I eat like 3 bowls a day.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! I have had a pretty easy pregnancy compared to some people.
Have you started to show yet: I think so! Some people said they can tell a little bit. It isn't a huge change, but Thomas and I can definitely tell which is exciting :) He's been losing weight recently and I'm gaining weight haha. Kind of funny.
Gender prediction: Girl maybe.... :)
Belly Button in or out? I have like an inbetween one haha. I wonder when it will pop out... obviously not for a long time though.
Wedding rings on or off? On and I just got them cleaned so they look like when I first got them! So great.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy :) I definitely have some moody moments though for sure.
Looking forward to: My next doctors appointment is on February 22nd and it will just be a quick normal appointment, and then 2 weeks after that (so hopefully on March 8th) I have another appointment with an ultrasound to find out the gender of the baby!! We are so excited!!
Anything Else? I wake up sometimes and smile when I remember that I'm pregnant. Thinking about the little human growing inside me is incredible! It is a miracle.

Baby Update :)

I am now almost 13 weeks pregnant- which means into the second trimester! It is crazy how fast this is going. January seems to have gone by in a blur. I got to have another ultrasound today! The baby was kicking and moving tons during it. It was so cool! Technology is seriously amazing. I have another regular appointment in 4 weeks, and then 2 weeks after that I get to have another ultrasound to find out the gender! Woo hoo! Here are a couple of the pictures from the ultrasound today :)

I also thought I'd throw in pictures of me and my changing belly. It is starting to grow a little bit!! And it's crazy seeing the difference between my baby today and when I was 9 weeks! 

 I LOVE this ultrasound because you can clearly see the babies hand! All 5 fingers are there :)

Disneyland

In the beginning of December, I got a text from my mom saying "Merry Christmas! We are taking the whole family to Disneyland!' Woo hoo! Thomas and I were stoked because literally an hour before this text we were planning a trip to go for our anniversary. 

Wednesday, January 9th we left and came back Saturday night. The trip was AWESOME! I had so much fun being with my family, and also going off sometimes with just my husband. I am super sad Mason, Donelle, Nick, and Payton couldn't come though. We missed them! Here are some highlights from the trip:

*Going to Cars Land! This was our first time going there and it rocked. It is seriously the cutest. They definitely did a great job making it look just like the movie! 

*Not having to pay for the hotel or our Disneyland tickets so we literally spent a lot on food because we could... haha. I had a jalepeno stuffed pretzel, a couple churros, a pickle, and we ate almost all our meals at Disneyland. Mmm their food is so yummy. I love the chicken caesar salads.  

*Feeling GREAT even though I'm pregnant. I was so happy about this. I got a little more tired than I usually do at Disneyland and had to take more breaks (especially potty breaks haha) but I didn't mind at all. And yes, I couldn't go on all the rides, but I didn't mind. I wanna keep this baby safe!

*Seeing my nieces and nephews get so excited about the rides. Landon and Elliot especially, because this was their first time there. They were constantly going and going, never stopping. They had so much energy! They are also super brave. They loved Space Mountain (apparently after they went on it, Elliot said "I want to go on this 600 times!") haha. They crack me up. I remember the first time I went on that ride I was probably like 7, and I was so scared and I cried. They are only 4 and they loved it... brave little kids!

*Having our hotel right across the street from Disneyland. That was really nice. I love staying at this hotel. It's great not having to walk far or have to wait for a shuttle to come. 

*Being at Disneyland for 3 days! We got there Wednesday at about 1 in the afternoon and stayed the rest of that day, then went all day Thursday, and all day Friday.

*Wednesday wasn't crowded at all! We hardly waited at all for rides. Thursday and Friday weren't very crowded either compared to summer. 

Here are some pics from the trip! 

 The whole group! 

 Thomas and I had fun going on all the little kid rides with my nieces and nephews :) Dumbo rocks! 

Ok this ride at Cars Land is seriously the coolest ride EVER!! So fun! 

I loved watching Jett on rides. He always had his eyes so wide open! He loved looking at all the colorful things in It's a Small World. 

Overall the trip was a huge success! No one got hurt, no one was sick, and there wasn't too much fighting/drama haha. Good times!! Thanks mom and dad for the amazing trip!! 

We're having a....

BABY! It seriously didn't sink in really until today when I had my ultrasound. Thomas and I are so excited to be parents! Ok sorry if this post is too personal, but I think hardly anyone reads it... and I am writing this as a journal. Let's start from the beginning....

Since Thomas and I have been married I have been wanting to get pregnant. I would ask him almost everyday if we could have a baby haha. Half the time I was kidding... because I knew we should wait at least a little while longer. Mostly I was serious, because my dream is to be a mom. Finally a couple months ago, Thomas said we could start trying to have a baby! I was so excited! I stopped taking birth control, and 2 months later I was pregnant! I am very grateful for how quickly it happened. I feel so blessed. 

December 1st was when we found out I was pregnant. Thomas knew even before me :) He was in the bathroom with the pregnancy test. I was too nervous to see it first haha. He came out of the bathroom with a huge smile on his face and said we were going to have a baby. Ahh! It was unreal. I took another pregnancy test just to make sure I would get another positive. I also took one about a week later because I was paranoid haha. Soon after we told our parents, and then we told our siblings during Christmas time :)

I first went to the doctor a couple weeks ago to do a urine test and blood work to make sure I'm pregnant. I hate giving blood... not fun. She had to poke me twice too because she didn't get the vein the first time. After the appointment I was standing waiting to talk to the front desk lady and schedule my next appointment and I started blacking out so I had to sit down. They gave me juice and crackers haha. So yeah that appointment wasn't too exciting...

But my appointment today was amazing! I had my first ultrasound and we got to hear the heartbeat. Thomas came with me of course, and we were just loving seeing the baby on the screen. It was amazing! It actually kind of looked like a baby! In the picture you can kind of see the baby's toes if you make the picture bigger. So precious.

I am grateful to have this perfect little baby growing inside me! It is an amazing thing. I am also very grateful that I feel so well! I hear about people throwing up all the time and just laying in bed all day... I feel so blessed to be healthy and hardly sick at all. I just have to make sure my stomach is never empty and I'm fine. Saltine crackers and pickles are delicious. I crave those quite a bit. And cereal always sounds yummy. 

Next week is Disneyland!! Ahh I'm so excited!!! 

Christmas

This was our first Christmas as a married couple... and it rocked!
The Thursday before Christmas, Thomas and I planned a Christmas party for some of our close friends. It was so fun! We had a fire outside, made s'mores, drank hot chocolate, had lots of yummy treats (and I cut up strawberries and bananas and arranged them into candy canes... found it on pinterest of course :) haha) had fun chatting, and watched A Christmas Story! Oh we also played this fun game where you put a paper plate on your head and you have to draw a picture (one person is in charge and says step by step what to draw). It was hilarious haha. It is a lot harder than it sounds. My drawing was terrible haha.
The next night, Friday, we went to Thomas' parents house. All his siblings were there, so it was awesome to have everyone together. We ate a yummy dinner (ham, turkey, potatoes, mmmm), did a nativity with the kids, and had the sibling gift exchange. We got Mario Kart and Beatles Rock Band for the Wii! So fun! We were super excited.
Saturday morning we went with Thomas' family to sing at a nursing home. They do this every year. I thought it rocked. The old people loooooved it. Seeing their faces was amazing. We could tell they were so happy to have us there. Each family took a turn singing a few songs. The little kids singing were the cutest haha. Thomas and I sang a song and then he sang a song and played it on the piano that he wrote. He is amazing. I definitely have a talented husband!
Saturday afternoon and Saturday night we had more family parties! The first one was at the park across the street from the Gilbert Temple, and it was for Thomas' dad's side of the family. We had yummy food and enjoyed talking to family. We then had Thomas' mom's side of the family part that night at the Moyer's house, and again had yummy food. Good stuff.
Sunday I didn't go to church because I didn't feel well. I starting getting sick on Saturday and I got worse and worse throughout the day. I had a bad cold. Uhh not fun. Luckily though I rested all day and that night I felt well enough to go to my dad's side of the family party at my Grandma Crandell's house. I always love this party because we do a white elephant gift exchange. People always bring hilarious gifts! I'm so glad I was feeling well enough to go.
Monday night Thomas and I went to my grandparents house for mexican food for dinner (tradition on Christmas Eve) and then went to my parents for our family party. We did our sibling gift exchange and did the nativity with the kids. Mason gave us an awesome present haha. He is hilarious. He made a Berenstein Bear's book into a book about Mason and I when we were young. He got little pieces of paper and changed words of the book. He totally spent a lot of time on it. It is so great! Haha I love it. He also gave us an In-N-Out gift card :)
Now finally Christmas day! Thomas and I couldn't sleep in! Haha we're like little kids... We woke up at like 7 or maybe even before that. I got him a tool set (so boring I know... but he needed one haha) and we got a mac mini! Super exciting. It was a great day. We went to Thomas' parents in the afternoon for lunch and to open gifts from his parents. Thomas was so excited- he got 4 piano lessons from this amazing teacher. He is soooo stoked about that. I got luggage and new pj's from his parents :)
Oh... my parents gift to everyone in my family is they're paying to take us all to Disneyland... holy crap. We are SO EXCITED!!!! We're going in 2 weeks :) 3 nights and a 2 day park hopper. We can't wait!!
I'm really excited to see Les Miserables by the way... I heard it's amazing. We are going to see it tomorrow night I think! We tried to go on Christmas but it was sold out... we didn't think about getting tickets ahead of time...
This post was super long and probably boring. My bad. It's more of a journal for me :) And I need to be better at taking pictures dangit!
More exciting posts soon to come :)

Thankful

Thanksgiving is a week from tomorrow- holy smokes! Where has the time gone? Seriously October went by in a blur. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! Plans are to sleep in, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in bed, then head over to my grandparent's house to eat glorious food and spend time with the fam! Thomas hasn't met some of my cousins/aunts/uncles yet, so that will be nice to finally introduce him to them. Just wanna talk about some things I'm thankful for :)

My husband. Duh. But really... he rocks. I'm so thankful to be married to him! Cuddling with him in bed, making him dinner, seeing his cute face every morning, going on walks, being silly/weird... and so much more. We have so much fun together.

My family. I have such great siblings and parents on both sides! We love spending time with our families on Sunday. It's definitely something we look forward to.

Our home. We live in a duplex... Thomas' parents are on the other side. They built it on like ten years ago for Thomas' grandparents to live in. After they died, they started renting it out to people. There were four girls living here before we got married, but we kicked them out haha. It is really nice living here! I feel safe and more at home since it is close by my parents... his parents are literally right next to us, etc. I am not a fan of apartments, so I feel super blessed to have been able to live where we do! Rent is cheaper than if we lived somewhere else, it is bigger (vaulted ceilings, 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms) and I just love it. It feels like a house instead of if we lived in an apartment. We go through the side gate and our front door is in the back of the house. We even have a doorbell. Haha I love it.

The gospel. I'm thankful that I belong to the true church and that I get to be married to my husband for eternity!


Friends. In particular, Courtney Cotter, Brian Nielson, and Stephen Moyer! We have so much fun with them! Courtney is like a sister to me and Brian and Stephen are like brothers. They rock.

My job. I am an assistant preschool teacher at a home preschool that is five minutes away from where we live. I love going to work! The kids are adorable and hilarious. Kathy, the teacher, is great to work with. She is an awesome teacher and so fun.

Thomas' job. He's a pool guy! He works for his brother-in-law. His schedule ROCKS. He can work basically whenever he wants. The summer was hard because it was super hot... But it's getting a lot better because of the great weather we're having. He gets home at like 2 at the latest each day. I get to spend lots of time with him :) I love it! I'm thankful that Thomas was able to get this job. It's always nice when family members own businesses.


School. It may be hard sometimes and I basically always have a butt load of homework, but my teachers are great and I have such awesome classmates! I feel like I'm really learning things that will help me a good mom in the future :)


Our bed. And comforter. Both were free! My brother and his wife got a new bed and gave me theirs before Thomas and I got married actually. We saved a lot of money because we didn't have to buy a bed! Oh and it's a king... which is awesome. I love big beds. My mom got me the comforter for Christmas last year. I love it! So pretty.

Dance. It makes me so happy :) Nothing else really to say... I just love it! I'm glad I've been able to do a technique class once a week.

Disneyland. It's the happiest place on Earth! I can't wait to go in January with my whole family! My mom sent a text last night saying that her and my dad are paying for everyone to go and stay 3 nights and get a 2 day park hopper. BEST PRESENT!!! I'm so stoked!!