The Weekend When The Sun Didn't Shine

I started off looking forward to the weekend, the forecast was 80 degrees, I pictured myself spending the day at the beach in my new bathing suit that can cover this expanding stomach of mine. Unfortunately as the weekend approached there was no sun in sight at the beach, and I was a little upset with Mother Nature. Luckily we came up with a pretty fun plan B and spent the afternoon at Universal City Walk.  Then on Sunday after church we visited my Grandparents and Uncle Ryan in Long Beach. I always make sure I call him my uncle, especially when posting on his FB wall; he is the same age as my husband, but I want him to know that I respect my elders :) It ended up being a great weekend, I'm glad that we were able to get out together on Saturday and then spend time with family on Sunday, more important than the sun not shining.

It actually got sunny once we got to Hollywood

Uncle Ryan, Grandma Zoe, Grandpa Bob

21 Weeks

Half Way There

20 weeks have come, and 20 weeks to go! Starting at week 19 my stomach started making itself known, and this week Chad told me I am now really looking pregnant. I am still feeling really good, I love the movements I feel from this little guy swimming around all day. Today at church he was really active during Sacrament Meeting ( I hope that's not a sign of his future behavior) and Chad was finally able to feel it! I'm not sure who was more excited, me or him. It's fun for me to now share that experience with him. I have had a few weird dreams, each time my baby comes out talking. I hope that means he is going to be a smart guy :)

I find myself wandering around in the baby section of Target, amazed at all the things that go into having a baby. I sure hope that I am ready when he comes. My goal is to come up with a plan of projects to do during the rest of the pregnancy. I tend to procrastinate a lot and do not want to end up at week 38 with nothing done. I am still working full time but am able to work from home whenever I need which has been great. I get more and more excited each week to meet this baby. I had a friend who had her little boy last week and I love seeing her pictures and posts adjusting to the first week of mommy-hood. That's it for this weeks pregnancy ramble!

Motherhood

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 I'm not an expert in this topic by any means but I am lucky to be surrounded by so many great examples. From my own mother, my mother-in-law, aunts, grandmas, sister-in-law, friends, etc. I have many woman I look up to and strive to be like. There are also other places we find ourselves looking to: other blogs, websites, magazines, Pinterest and the social network list goes on. My Aunt April has co-created a website called Power of Moms which is an amazing place for mothers to share and learn about this journey they are in. She wrote an article {click here to read} today about Motherhood that really hit me. I highly suggest you all, mothers or not to read this article. It's amazing, after reading it I felt so lucky that April is my aunt, I saw this link reposted all over Facebook and am so happy to see the influence that women like her are having on the rest of us.

Easter Weekend

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Easter Weekend was fabulous. It started out having some of our volleyball friends over on Friday night for dinner. I actually cooked quite the spread, vegetable appetizer, sweet & sour BBQ chicken (home-made marinade), grilled corn on the cob with cilantro lime butter, coconut sticky rice, rolls, Brazilian lemonade, Banana Cream Pie. Just typing all that makes me tired.

Saturday was a gorgeous "summer" day at the beach, we spent all day at Chad's 1st volleyball tournament this year. He played well and I couldn't be more happy this is the sport he chose to play. I can't complain about sitting outside at the beach for 8 hours!

Sunday we went to church with my family and then enjoyed the afternoon in the backyard. Landon (my 5 almost 6 year old brother) had quite the array of tricks he showed us.

 He is an excellent bubble shooter

 He can jump and shoot simultaneously

 Between the legs was my favorite shot

He can do a toe touch

 And he can "shuffle"

 We had an Easter egg hunt, where teenagers still participated

 Dad's get tired after Easter egg hunts

After Hunt Photo of us kids

Mom made a delicious ham dinner spread with so many sides and desserts that after I was finished eating everyone in my family said I now look pregnant :)

Thanks to my family for an awesome day, I love being able to spend time with them. Hayley, Alyssa, David and Meggan were sure missed this weekend. I cannot wait for Baby Boy to join us in September, he is already so loved.

The Gender Verdict is in...

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 It's a Boy!!!

I couldn't be more excited, and I had to celebrate by going to H&M and buying the cutest things I could find! Today has been a day I will never forget, all of a sudden this pregnancy has taken on a whole new feeling. It feels so real, I can now refer to him as a him/he and not an "it". I constantly picture what he will look like, what his personality will be like, how much I can't wait to snuggle him and watch my husband teach him how to be a "good boy". When I think of a baby boy I am so excited, but I am nervous when I think how he will grow up and be a teenager and a grown man and I am his mom. It's a scary thought to raise a boy, but I know with the help of my husband, family, friends and God it will all work out.

When Chad saw the clothes this evening he said I can't believe our baby is the one who is actually going to be wearing these clothes. It really is an amazing feeling to be doing things for our son. These next 5 months (exactly 5 months from today) are going to be so fun getting ready for him, at the same time I can't believe I have to wait 5 more months to meet him. I'm going to start by "Baby Boy" board on pinterest with nursery ideas and craft projects to keep me occupied. If any of you know of any cute websites or places to shop for boys please let me know!!

18 Week Picture.  I made sure to dress in both pink and blue for the appointment, not favoring either boy or girl :)


Boy or Girl??

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This has been the hot question lately, everyone asking "do you know what you are having, yet?" When I tell them no not yet, I then get asked "What do you think it is?"

Well now it's your turn, I've created a poll on the right side of my blog, let me know what YOU think and tomorrow after the appointment I'll make the announcement!!

PS. I don't think I will sleep tonight, it feels like Christmas Eve!