the third trimester

28 weeks.

6 months.

The Third Trimester.

2/3 of the way done.

1/3 left.

The time has arrived.

For endless baby shopping sprees, that is.  Shh.  Don't tell my husband.  [Just kidding.  I think he's just as apt to spend money on her as I am.  She's already got him wrapped around her itty bitty finger.  Not to mention the fact that he's probably reading the post as we speak.] [Heyyy boy heyyy.]

Last night, we did a tour of one of the hospitals we're thinking about delivering in.  It was crazy, you guys.  It made everything feel so real.  I had heard from a lot of moms that you have labor and delivery in one room, and then they move you to a completely different room for recovery.  But at this particular hospital, it's all in one room.  One very nice room.  And there's even a little couch in there for Tim to sleep on.  Assuming, that is, that I let him get any sleep at all.  I guess we'll see.  They even have wi-fi that you can access on their tvs, which means that we will get to watch Psych on Netflix.  And I find that thought very comforting.  Strange but true.

As controversial as this all is amongst moms, I am pretty much already planning on an epidural, unless by some freak chance I'm one of those supermoms that barely feels any pain from the contractions whatsoever.  I would just rather have some positive feelings towards the whole experience than decide I never want to have any more children after this baby because I thought I was going to die during labor.  Just me?

Oh well.  I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that no matter how much I prepare myself, probably nothing will turn out like I think it will.  And that's ok.  I'm willing to be flexible.  The most important part is that she comes out healthy.

I have another ultrasound on Monday, which I am stoked about, along with the glucose test, which I am not so stoked about.  Mostly because I have been having sporadic morning sickness again, and forcing myself to eat or drink anything never turns out well.  But how bad can a drink that tastes like a melted orange popsicle really be?  Heck, I eat sugar cubes for fun.

Whether you can tell from all my nonsensical ramblings or not, Tim and I are beyond excited for this little girl.  I spend so much time daydreaming about the color of her hair, the color of her eyes, her personality, her smile.  And then I ask Tim endlessly what he thinks she will be like.  He is so much more patient about all of this than I am.  But we are both beyond excited for her arrival.

Baby girl, hurry up and get here!  On second thought, take your time.  But know that I can't wait to meet you!

a prescottonian thanksgiving

Oh man I love the holidays.  Every year, my heart just feels a little happier during the holiday season.  And this year has been no different. [Except that this year, I didn't have to study my butt off right after Thanksgiving dinner was done, and that was high on my list of things to be thankful for.]

Last year, for the first time in my whole life, I spent Thanksgiving away from my family.  Except that I didn't really.  I just spent it with some new family.  Approximately forty new family members, as a matter of fact.  Thanksgiving with the Devey family was definitely something I was not used to, but it was incredible!  The amount of food in the kitchen probably could have fed a small army.  [And it did!]

This year, Tim and I drove up to Prescott to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family.  It was a smaller group, to be sure, but oh, how I loved seeing my family.  I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while.  My brothers and dad kept telling me how fat I'm getting, and my mom told me that if I kept gaining weight like this, I might end up in the hospital in a few months.  I would just laugh and roll my eyes, secretly pleased that my family loves to tease me that much.

And this year, my friends, was the year I truly became a grown-up where Thanksgiving is concerned.  I finally contributed to the feast!  I made candied yams, cheesy potatoes, and stuffing.  And they turned out pretty dang good!  [Even if I do say so myself.]  Of course, I may have had to call my grandma to ask her advice more than once, and I may have also made my mom tell me incessantly that I was doing everything right.  But hopefully that just means that next year will be that much easier. :)

And, of course, my mom my the table look cute, as always:

And my little brother decided that Thanksgiving was to be no exception where his odd picture-faces are concerned:

[He is actually really cute when he wants to be, I promise.]

And my parents looked lovely, as always:

My only wish is that I had enough leftovers to last us the next two weeks.  Or two months.  I'm not picky.

On Friday, everyone but my mom all piled in the car to go on a hike by Granite Mountain.  It was perfect weather, and it was so fun, but let me tell you - hiking is getting harder every time I go these days.  I feel like I'm carrying 13 extra pounds, or something.  Sheesh.

Tim decided he'd had enough holiday fun and woke up with tonsillitis on Saturday morning.  He then decided he'd rather spend two hours in Urgent Care to get some antibiotics than make the daily soda run to Circle K with my family.  Such a spoil sport, I tell ya.  [And he wouldn't even let me come to Urgent Care with him!  Some lame excuse about pregnant ladies and sickness...]

All sarcasm aside, I am so grateful for a husband who is so considerate of me, even when he feels terrible.  And I am grateful for him for a million other reasons, too.  He's pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to me.

My Thankful List is actually about a mile long [at the very top of which is our unborn baby girl], but I won't bore you with all of it.  Just know that I spent a lot of time being grateful this last week.

And now I can't wait to put up all of our Christmas decorations!

pain, love, and holiday fun

Important Announcement #2: Tim just hit the top of his head really hard on the bottom of our armoire.  Just like I did in the last post.

Logically, this means one of two things.  Either we really need to be more careful, or that armoire is just out to get us.  And I think we all know which is the more reasonable conclusion.

Here's a picture of Ellie and me at 26 weeks and a couple of days.  I just love that little girl more and more every day.

And isn't that skirt fun?  I won it during the ModestPop.com giveaway over at Katie's blog, and I love love love it.  It's been years since I owned any floor-length skirts and now I want like 20 more of them.  It is so cute and comfortable.  Plus I think the last time I won any sort of giveaway/raffle/drawing was at a piano recital when I was eight years old.  They gave me a tiny stuffed animal Pooh bear, which I loved, don't get me wrong, but that was like 15 years ago.  And a girl's luck has got to change sometime.  [Though I just remembered that I won a raffle for a two-night hotel stay like two years ago, so maybe my luck is better than I thought.]

Speaking of luck, I have the best, most reassuring husband.  The other day I was feeling legitimately concerned about my ability to be a good mom, because I know that even though I already love my little girl more than I can even comprehend, being a mom involves so much more than just loving.  It involves selflessness and time and talents, which frankly, I question myself about far too often.

I expressed all of my concerns to Tim, and he in turn gave me a priesthood blessing, which I wholeheartedly believe came straight from my Heavenly Father.  That blessing told me, among other things, that if Heavenly Father cared enough to help a child find a lost toy, then He certainly cared enough to help me with something as important as motherhood.  And I was reminded again how involved He is in the intricate details of my life, and about how much He cares.  A calmness washed over me as I realized that Tim and I will not be alone.  And we never have been.

via

Is anyone else getting ridiculously excited for the upcoming holidays?  Thanksgiving is this week, y'all.  I am so happy.  Growing up, my dad always had a rule that we couldn't sing, listen to, talk about, or even think about Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.  And while that may or may not be an exaggeration, he would be absolutely astonished to discover that I listened to Christmas music on the radio a couple of days ago.  And I liked it.  Shhh.  But don't worry, I am just as excited about giving thanks and eating gargantuan amounts of turkey.

Oh and I made this caramel apple cider and this peach cobbler last night, and they were a big hit!  And they were so, so easy to make.  Highly recommended.  Five stars.  Two thumbs up.

Happy Holidays, my friends!  I hope this week is magical for all of you.

keep calm and carry on

Important Announcement: I just hit the top of my head really hard on the bottom of our armoire.  And then I just sat for a few seconds in confused silence.

I just felt you all should know.

Moving on.

I guess it's been a few days since I updated y'all, because I just looked through the pictures on our camera and found a few treasures that I definitely hadn't posted on the blog yet.  And we all know that pictures are the only way to document anything truly important in life.

Like that wig.

I had been really wanting to dress up for Halloween, but since Tim worked until late that day I didn't really feel like I had a good excuse.  I didn't really want to go to a party by myself, and while sitting on your own couch in your own home alone fully dressed in costume might be considered socially acceptable by some, I wasn't sure if my [questionable] self-respect would allow it.

But when I heard about Chipotle's $2 deal for dressing in costume, I knew I finally had an excuse.  I stole Tim away at lunchtime and we had a romantically hippie lunch together over tacos.  [Let's just forget the fact that these costumes were originally from a church dance that we went to when we started dating in October 2010, because he really shouldn't need an excuse to wear that wig.  Am I right?]

 This last weekend, I had my first opportunity to go to "Time Out for Women" in Phoenix.  Tim's mom and sister invited me, and I, in turn, invited my mom.  A few times, I looked over to see my mom rolling her eyes [she doesn't really handle cheesiness or large gatherings of weepy women well], but overall we all really enjoyed the conference.

In my head, I mentally noted how many women were walking around pregnant, and was almost surprised to realize that I was one of them.  Mormons.

Oh and that?  That's my friend Ali.  Ali and I have been friends for a few months now, but we'd never actually met.  We'd only ever kept in touch via blog or facebook.  But recently we decided to meet up, and we had our first lunch date today at Sweet Cakes Cafe in Mesa and it was so fun!  It's crazy the way the 21st century works!  Ali is such a blast, and pretty much exactly as I'd imagined she'd be.

And because she is the sweetest thing ever, she made this cute scrapbook for Ellie and me.  [And since I am in the running for the Top 5 Least Crafty People on the Planet award, this gift is absolutely perfect for me.]

And, of course, we took the most flattering pictures possible.  We're good bloggers like that.

Speaking of craftiness [or rather the lack thereof], I recently decided to get in touch with my inner grandma and start crocheting again.  I should have remembered the first few times when I tried to make scarves that ended up looking more like the Eiffel Tower than they did any sort of article of clothing, but I am determined this time.  Never mind the fact that I've tried watching the same youtube videos approximately 527 times in an attempt to figure out a new stitch and failed each time.

Keep Calm and Carry On!

our story [part 12]

Read Part 11 here.  Or head over to the Love Story tab at the top to read the whole thing!  [Disclaimer: I have been kinda nervous about posting this one, so if you're not in a sappy mood, go ahead and skip over it!]

The next day was Friday.  I went to work, desperately wanting to hear from Tim but unwilling to make the first move.  I didn’t have to wait long.  Around 10:00am, I got a text from him asking if I would like to come over to his house that night and watch a movie.  The prospect of sitting close to him on a couch was an exciting one, so I happily accepted.

I drove home after work, ate a quick dinner, and immediately drove over to his house.  He opened the door and greeted me with a smile and a hug.  We talked about our respective days for a few minutes, and I once again appreciated his attention and insight.  Finally, we decided it was time to watch a movie.  After some deliberation, we settled on Transformers.  We sat down on the couch and he once again put his arm casually around my shoulders, and for the second time in not so many hours, I wondered if my lungs were functioning correctly.

Tim made a sarcastic comment about a character in the movie, and as I laughed, we made eye contact.  My laughing stopped abruptly as I realized how close our lips were.  My breathing became erratic as he touched my chin gently.  Then, with a smile, he turned his attention back to the movie.  We both went back to pretending that nothing out of the ordinary was going on between us, but the tension was unmistakable.  The eye contact happened a few more times, and each time our lips got a little closer, but each time, he would smile and turn back to the movie.

I wondered if I had been misreading his intentions.  Maybe he was nervous.  Or maybe he was just teasing me.  Or maybe…maybe he didn’t actually want to kiss me.  Just as I had resolved to stop worrying about it, he turned his head, rotated my chin toward him with his thumb and forefinger, and pressed his lips to mine.  After just a few short seconds, he pulled back and I opened my eyes.  We smiled.  He moved his hand around the back of my neck and slowly leaned in again.  Never had a kiss felt so sweet or so sincere.

He pulled back and looked into my eyes.  We both smiled and let out a little laugh.

“I have been wanting to do that,” he said softly.

It’s incredible how that first kiss opens the floodgates to every conversation you’ve always wanted to have together but never with the right opportunity.  How you felt the first time he held your hand.  That you wondered why he let go.  How he wanted to keep ahold of your hand but wanted to make sure you were in the same place as he was.  That he’d completely rearranged his schedule that night so he could make it to the lecture with you.  How absolutely beautiful he thought you were when he met you for the first time again.  When you became interested in each other.  Every little detail you’d both wanted to say but couldn’t.

Before I left, I offhandedly mentioned that I was going to one of Katie’s service projects early the next morning and invited him to come.  He told me that he would most definitely be there.

I drove home that night with a happy heart, warmth flooding throughout my body.  I had a really good feeling about all of this.

And I couldn’t wait to see him in the morning.