I swallowed a beach ball!

It's crazy how big of a difference just a few weeks can make in belly size. Looking at pictures from 28 weeks and then 33 weeks my belly really grew and really rounded out. Like I hadn't noticed till, umm probably yesterday when I was working on scrapbook pages. See the difference?

Wow crazy big! Just a few more days till 35 weeks and a more up to date belly shot.

34 weeks! and Christmas recap!

Just a month and a half till we hit our "due date". This whole weekend has been so busy. Christmas Eve we went to my cousins house for a family get together. We all just hung out catching up, eating, let all the kids open up some presents, and then did a "White Elephant" game for the adults. It was a lot of fun and definitely nice to see family because even though we all live so close to each other we never get together for one reason or another.

Christmas morning I was actually the first one up at 6:30 and realized that I had left my bag with my camera in it at my cousins the night before. So I woke Daniel up, called my cousins, and went to pick it up before anybody else got up (I am currently the only one with a working camera). When we got home just as the rest of the family was starting to come down stairs.

We went through our stockings and started getting breakfast ready then after eating our yummy cinnamon roll breakfast we went back and started opening up presents. Steven and Rozlyn's stockings

Mom and Dad's stockings

My and Daniel's stockings

Everybody loved everything they got for Christmas and surprisingly there was a lot of gifts for everybody.
My sister got a Nook reader and some scary horror movies.

My brother got his very own lightsaber! He was so excited because now he doesn't have to borrow one from Daniel.

My dad got a new leather jacket and Daniel and I got home a "gift box" of different German themed treats.

I'm not sure what my moms favorite thing that she got was but I know that we got her some cool pink bunny footsie pajamas that she wore all day after getting back from church.

I think that Daniels favorite gift was probably the complete Star Wars saga on blueray but he was also excited about the Ergo baby carrier that he got as well (and the daddy diaper bag).

D got a couple presents as well. Clothes, a stuffed toy, $50, and a nursing pillow so he will be nice and comfy. I'll have to put up some pictures later since I forgot to get some when I had his things in a pile.

After we were all finished opening presents and everybody was home from church we just hung out playing game, watching Christmas movies, munching on snacks, and watching football that evening. It was just an easy relaxing day of hanging out enjoying the time together.

Yesterday my aunt/uncle, cousin and her husband come down and we had Christmas with them. Again it was just great to be able to hangout with family and have fun together.
Jack was my snuggle bug on Christmas and decided to take a nap on the couch with me.

The dog got a bone half her size and wouldn't let anybody near it.

As for the baby. D was pretty lazy all day on Christmas. I think all the food, snacks, and sugars made him sleepy and lazy. Monday he was much more active and today he's just been on the move! Daniel and I started the at home hypnobabies study, so far I am really liking it and it's a very hands on interactive thing for dad which he likes because he feels helpful. Hopefully it will be very helpful during the birth and work well for me. I have a friend that just had her son a little over a month ago and she did hypnobabies and had a fantastic birth. I'm praying I'll be just as lucky!
I have no appointments this week which is nice since it's just been go go go for the last month, but starting in January I have at least one Dr appointment each week, as well as a couple of classes mixed in there so it's going to be a(nother) busy month leading up to his arrival!

The Nutcracker

First just a reminder that the Anne Geddes Beginnings book giveaway is active now, so go enter!

So Daniel and I went to see The Nutcracker ballet this evening. It was so good! The dancers were great and the music was spectacular, we definitely enjoyed ourselves. Our seats were even upgraded which was a lovely surprise. We moved from way up in the back in the upper balcony down the "dress circle". Great view, close enough that we were able to see everything with no problems but not so close that I felt like I was having to look up constantly.

It was a great date night, getting to dress up and have a nice meal out with my hunny. I managed to fit into one of the dresses that I had prepregnancy, it sure made my belly look huge though.

This is the beautiful chandelier was in the lobby area of the "dress circle" level.

They had little nutcracker ornaments for sale.

Such a great evening!

Anne Geddes Giveaway (Dec 21-Jan 2)

Anne Geddes is an Australian born photographer (clothing designer and business woman) famous for her breath taking newborn photography and maternity photos. She has available for purchase her most recent book, published in 2010, of amazing photos that she has taken called Beginnings. The retail price for this book is $50 but it can be yours for *free* through this giveaway. The photos in this book are simply spectacular and for anybody who considers themselves to be a fan of her work it would probably be considered a must have. Here is a sneak of some of the amazing photos you will see in this book! (Photos provided by Barnes & Noble and property of Anne Geddes)


Beautiful aren't they?
So now you can enter for your chance to own this book, all you have to do is pay for shipping which should be only around $5! The entry form will be open from December 21, 2011 and close January 2, 2012. This is a long giveaway and gives you plenty of time to get entries in. So have fun and good luck!

33 weeks!

33 weeks down! And can you believe it only 6 days till Christmas!
This month seems to have just gone by so quickly, I can hardly believe that the new year is just 12 days away! At which point I will be able to say "I'm due next month" though I still have this lingering feeling that D will be making his appearance mid to late January, but what so I know.

At 33 weeks D is about 4.5 pounds, close to 18 inches from head to toe, and is comparable to the size of a larger honeydew melon. Though he is rapidly running out of room he's still quite the little mover and last night he and daddy were playing "grab the foot". D would press his foot out (far) and Daniel would grab at it, then D would pull his foot back in and a moment later stick it back out. It was cute, slightly uncomfortable for me, but really cute to see Daniel all excited about playing with him. D definitely has quite the personality for not even being out in the world yet...he must get it from his dad. Which means we could be in for it as he gets older!

This is definitely a busy week. Tomorrow Daniel has a casting call up in LA. He will not tell me what it's for but says that if he gets it I will like it. Wednesday we are heading down to San Diego to see The Nutcracker ballet! I am so excited about that, I have wanted to go see it professionally performed since I was a little kid and now I get to, so it should be a great afternoon/evening. Thursday is my mothers birthday. Saturday is Christmas Eve so we have church and then our usual family traditions that we always do and then Christmas!

And finally with in the next month I should have 2-3 reviews and at least one giveaway for you! I'm not going to say what they are so you will have to check back and see when they are posted but let me tell you that it's some good stuff!

It should have been your birthday

Today should have been my brother Jacobs 19th birthday.
It's hard to believe that it's been 10 months since he passed away, and when D gets here (you know assuming that he will come in February and not early in January) it will have been a year.

I still have such a mix of emotions about his passing. I miss him, but I don't miss him. I know that he is in a better place and that gives me peace but it's still strange not seeing him and his big goofy smile or hear his laugh.

I am not sure if the family is doing anything special for the day. I know Daniel had wanted to and suggested it to my parents a couple weeks ago but they were not open to the idea at all then so he didn't push it. We know that today is going to be 1000 times harder on them than anybody else and that we need to just let them do what they need to do to get through it.

Happy what should still be your Birthday little brother, RIP.

What a morning...

"What do you mean I don't have an appointment today?"

That's what my day started with.
I had an appointment scheduled for 9 AM this morning. Had a print out confirmation that the appointment was set up and everything but when we got there we were told "there's no appointment set up for you today, there was never one in the system, we don't know what you are talking about".

So yet again I got to argue with the representatives about what appointment(s) I actually have set up. But it got us nowhere. The only thing that they would do for me is leave a message to the nurse about the problem and have one of them call me back.
So I got home, without being seen, went and found the paper that very clearly had my 9 AM appointment confirmation printed on it and even went and showed it to my mom and asked her to confirm with me that the paper in my hand was in fact a appointment. Not a "reminder to set up an appointment" as they were trying to say they had given me.

Nope definitely a confirmation of a scheduled appointment.
So I got on the phone again and talked with another representative about how ridicules all this was and they are going to do an "investigation" into the issue and see what exactly happened. I made copies of the orders from my Dr to set up the appointment for today as well as the confirmation saying that I had an appointment today and will fax those to them as proof that I am not going nuts.
While on the phone with that representative filing a complaint my cell phone rang and one of the nurses was calling to see what was going on and to get me in to be seen (with a different Dr).

So I went in at 11 with no problems and just had a normal check in.
I'm annoyed that I wasn't able to see my Dr and that I was given such a difficult time when I knew I had a scheduled appointment but I got in, baby sounds great and my fundal height is right on target so that's all good. I also made sure to confirm like 6 different times, that I do have an appointment in the system set up for the morning of the 22nd. Last thing I want is to have this same frustration go on for a second time this month.

32 weeks!

8 months.
8 down 2 to go! Daniel and I were talking last night and suddenly he stopped and was like "It just occurred to me that you could really go into labor at any point now!"
It's definitely true, but hopefully he stays put till at least mid January when he would be considered full term as to avoid any health problems. Daniel is still convinced that his birthday will be February 10th but I'm not so sure.

Officially at 32 weeks I have come to that point in pregnancy where I do not want anybody touching me.
Daniel is the only exception, as well as my Dr but that's only because I have to allow that. But I am still annoyed with her at the time and thinking "gosh just hurry up". But really I do not want people touching me. No belly rubbing, no hugs, no nothing. I noticed that I started to become annoyed with it very mildly when the third trimester started but since a couple more weeks have gone by and I am becoming increasingly more uncomfortable on a daily basis I really just don't want anything to do with anybody. If that makes sense. I also notice that sleep is becoming a more difficult thing to obtain. I can not find a comfortable position to sleep in and all that peeing that I escaped during the first and second trimester...yeah it caught up with me.
I kid you not I am up every hour and a half to two hours to use the restroom and my bladder is always FULL! I don't know where it's all coming from.

D is still pretty darn active which I love but it's starting to hurt as he just continues to get bigger and stronger and run out of room. I think he knows it too because I swear he tries to stretch out sideways to expand his space. Little booger. It's so crazy to watch. Daniel and I will just watch and he shifts all his weight from one side to the other. He does favor my right side though and loves to get those little toes up in my ribs, though today it has been his little butt that he has been trying to push up there. Lucky for me though he doesn't particularly like to be messed with so if I just poke at him a bit he will usually move, but sometimes he's super stubborn and is like "nope this is my spot".

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just a couple weeks away and so exciting to think that next year this time we will have a little 10 month old running around getting into everything!

Keep on growing little boy, love you bunches!

The Duggars

*VENT*
I am sure that most people have read by now that Michelle Duggar who was expecting her 20th child has experienced a second trimester loss. At what should have been 19 weeks when they went in for a routine check up (what I assume after reading the article was their anatomy scan, since they should have been able to find out the sex) they discovered the heartbreaking news that their baby had passed away.

I can not begin to say how heartbroken I am for the family.
I know that my losses were early but the moment I knew I was pregnant I was in love with that little person growing inside me. That was my child and I would do anything to protect him/her. The moment I knew I was pregnant my dreams started racing about what they would be like, what we would name him or her, how we would decorate the nursery, etc.
When both those miscarriages happened I had to bury that dream and grieve over a life that had not even had a chance to get started, and a child that I already so deeply loved. (I miss those children that should have been but thank God everyday for my little rainbow baby on the way!)

What upsets me most about this situation and them being in the media light is the heartless comments that people make. As if it wasn't bad enough that people made comments about how "she should just get fixed" when they announced that baby number 20 was on the way. Comments are now being made like "well they should have expected it after what happened last time" or "maybe they should take it as a sign and just focus on and feel blessed by the children they have".
I don't understand such comments.
And what really annoys me about these commentators is when women who say "I should not be told what to do with MY body because it's MINE" then turn around and say the above about Mrs. Duggar "getting fixed". It's so hypocritical, you can try and argue that you say it because of the risk that it could possibly pose to future children/pregnancies but the fact is that it is still HER body and SHE is the only one who can choose what to do with it.
Just because you don't agree with their life style/parenting choice doesn't mean you should try and just tear them down. And I am sure that she has a doctor who talks to her about risks and complications.

I saw somebody say "Well I expected it to happen since her last baby was born so early and had so many problems". But just because she had one rough pregnancy does not mean that all or any subsequent pregnancy would have issues. This pregnancy could have been her easiest ever but sadly that is not what was planned.

I have no doubt in my mind that the family will get through this time together and be stronger because of it, because they have such faith in God.


(Please note I know people are allowed to have and express their opinion on things but I don't understand just plain being mean and heartless when a family is grieving.)

New Mommy Giveaway!

I hate posting so many posts in one day but I just have to tell you about this one... I was browsing through other blogs I follow and over at Aubut Family I found out that she will be doing a New Mommy Gift Guide Giveaway! Sounds like there will be a lot of great stuff up for grabs so you should check it out! The giveaway starts December 10th which will be this Saturday and then end the 20th. It looks like it will be a one winner takes all type of thing so get your entries in daily to be sure you have a good fighting chance cause like I said the couple things I saw that she has up for grabs in this giveaway are great and you will want them!

Christmas Baking!

I love cooking/baking always have, it's always been a stress relief for me as well. I spent yesterday baking and decorating cookies, making brownies, and fudge to pass out last night to the students and leaders as little Christmas presents. I made everything from scratch I might add! I had fun keeping busy and it all tasted fantastic!

Candy-cane and Christmas tree shaped sugar cookies all decorated.Peppermint "bark" fudge squares.Red candy crunch and chocolate chip "Grinchy" brownies.

I even made up extra cookie (dough) cut outs and put them in the freezer so when Christmas Eve rolls around and my family bakes/decorates cookies for Santa all we have to do is pop them in the oven. No worrying about having to run out and buying dough or making our own. Plus we usually end up with far too many cookies so having 2 cookies for each person to decorate will keep that from happening.

Simple prayers answered

As said before Daniel and I work with our churches Jr High program, and (just about) every Tuesday we have our youth group get together. Last night Daniel was playing with the worship team and I was sitting listening to them practice before the night started.
I always pray before the start of the evening that the kid would learn something that night and that the leaders would be able to help them understand but last night my prayer was a little different.
As the band started practicing one song (can't for the life of me remember the name) I just started praying that God would fill the place that evening specifically during that song. That the kids would just reflect on who they were, how they were treating others, where they were in their relationship with him, and that all of them would feel so moved by him that they would all be standing by the end of that song.

So our night started off with a guy vs girl game (the boys won, but I feel that they had a slightly unfair advantage, oh well), went over announcements for up coming events, then had the worship team come up and play two fast fun songs to get some of that energy out of them. Our head youth pastor then came up and started talking. His talk was great and you could just tell that it had the kids thinking about: who they are, how they treat others, and what their relationship with God looks like.
When he was done the worship team cam back up and started playing. Then they got to the song that I was talking about earlier. I was sitting in the back as usual (to make sure kids aren't talking and split them up if they do and I can lean against the wall which is nicer for my back) it was amazing to see how one by one each and every single kid there that night stood up singing.

It really touched me and just reminded me how amazing my God is and how he will show himself to you in such small ways. I mean I am constantly reminded of his goodness and how he answers prayer each time little D here plays my ribs like a xylophone (like right now) but it's still amazing when you pray something so specific and see it answered right then.

31 weeks!

We are in single digit weeks count down now with about 9 weeks to go! Little man keeps getting bigger and bigger we should (apparently) be having an ultrasound towards the end of the month with my Dr to see how his growth is doing but that will be at 33 weeks, this week D is about 17 inches in length and could be close to or more than 4 pounds! See just getting bigger and bigger!

I am still trying to decide if I want to have one last elective 3/4D ultrasound done. My Dr's office doesn't routinely do them and I would love to see his face again, but with only 9 (ish) weeks left till he will be here part of me thinks we may as well just wait...then again it would be cool to have one last picture and when he gets here see just how accurate it is. Decisions decisions.

So now that we are in single digit weeks, with 62 days to go, I amazingly feel less anxious thinking forward about his arrival than I did last week or even the couple weeks before that. Which surprises me, but I am sure that over the next couple weeks it will return and I will start getting anxious and running around freaking out that things aren't ready and I need more time, etc.

I can't wait for the end of next week!
Why? Well because once Friday hits Daniel will be done with his finals/classes and I will finally have some time with him before classes start up again and things REALLY get crazy. It feels like I haven't seen him at all lately which makes me unhappy, first thing we are going to do once he gets out of his Friday morning class is go to Disneyland! It will probably be one of the last times we go since walking/standing for long periods of time is becoming increasingly more difficult and well that's all you do at Disneyland.

Maternity Photos (in studio)

These are my favorite pictures from our maternity shoot this morning. I am planning to use one of the below pictures for our Christmas cards but don't know which one to choose. We had a lot of fun with our photographer, there were not too many pictures that I actually liked which was a huge bummer to me but at least I have 10 that I really like and such is the way of photography. You take over a hundred pictures and have just a few that are actually worth something, but those end up being the truly great ones. (Just a couple days till we hit 31 weeks, maybe I will have something interesting to post then.)

One:Two:Three:Four:Five:Peek-a-boo! This picture was actually a "mistake" she just hit the button while I was moving around but I really LOVE it. It's just so cute.Six:Seven: