{family time}

We had a great Christmas at the Hoerth household this year. I love this time of the year, primarily because it means spending lots of time with my family and Jay's family, and let's be honest, I'm kind in love with both of them! We weren't as super busy as we have been in past years with lots of Christmas celebrations to go to in just one or two days, so it was definitely nice to kind of sit back and relax and enjoy our time wherever we went. I'm sad to see the holiday season come to a close, but that is okay because it opens us up to 2014 and I am SO ready to see what this year has in store for our little family! 2013 was a great year for me and part of me is sad to see it come to a close as I remember looking forward to it with so much hope that great things would happen (and they did) and now it's over. It literally flew right past my eyes and I know that 2014 is going to go even faster with a new babe in the house to keep us busy and part of me is kind of bumming about that because as much as I sometimes want to wish time away, an even bigger part of me wants to just freeze everyone in place for a little while longer. (Particularly with that 9 year old in my house because he's growing up just WAY too fast these days!)

The little man of course was spoiled for Christmas. I think he enjoyed most of the gifts that he received this year. It is increasingly harder and harder to shop for him because I don't know what to get. The child hardly wants for anything.

We got some cute baby clothes for Christmas as well! So excited about that! And let's be honest here... are they really THAT tiny?! The tiny man is definitely going to be spoiled as well. It's been a long nine years since we've had a baby in our family. Of course there have been baby's galore on all sides (well except for my dad's as the youngest is about to turn six I think- and now there is going to be one born in March and our tiny man in April), but Ayden's been the only grandchild for a long time so I know that the grandma's and even grandpa's are excited to get their hands on a precious new one! We are SO blessed to have such great and supportive parents!

I hate to type it or even say it out loud, but I think I'm coming down with a cold. I don't do well with a cold while I am NOT pregnant and am able to dope up with my usual cocktail of Dayquil or Nyquil and now that I'm knocked up, I can't have either of those. I can have some Tylenol, but when I went in search of that last night, all I could find in our house was Advil... which I think is a no no (I lost my list of approved medications). So, no go on the Advil (at least until I talk to my doctor). Instead I saw that we had some Children's Mucinex, so I went to trusty Google to see if I could take that while pregnant and sure enough, I can. Tasted nasty (no wonder Ayden doesn't like it), but I wanted to be able to sleep last night. I don't know if it is the cold or what, but I slept like crap anyways and just feel like I'm dragging lately. I can feel a headache coming on and that on top of already not feeling super great, ugh! Complain city right here today! Haha!

Most days I am digging the pregnant belly look, but lately I've had a few 'I'm feeling fat days' and I still have 15 weeks left to go! We are down to about the three and a half mark and I know that they are going to go by super fast, just not fast enough, lol! There I go again, wishing the time away, when just earlier I was wanting it to stop! Stop doing that because you can't get it back! And I'd be lying if I sat here and said that there weren't aspects of the pregnancy that I'm enjoying because there certainly are (mostly the tiny man moving and grooving in my stomach). I'm sure this is something that all pregnant mama's feel... but I am in love with the fact that it's just me and him right now. I don't have to share him with anyone. I know the moving and grooving is the one thing that I am going to miss the most after he is born and then I actually have to share him with other people.

We are just past the point of viability now, meaning should baby be born early, medical intervention COULD be done. Anything prior to 24 weeks and typically the doctors won't try and do anything to save baby's life as the chances of survival are next to nil. Now, that doesn't mean miraculously at the 24 week mark the baby would automatically survive if born, in fact, chances of survival still are not that great at this gestation; however, medicine has come a long ways in the last how many years, so it has been seen more and more these days. Of course I'm hoping our tiny man continues to cook all the way up until his due date, but it's just one more 'milestone' that we've passed and it just means we are one step closer to holding him in our arms and not in my belly.

I think that Drake has really been enjoying some extra time out of is crate this last week and a half while Jay and Ayden have been home. He is getting SO big SO fast these days and even though he still drives me nuts more often than not, I'm STILL sticking with the opinion that we did the right thing in getting him. I've heard from countless people whom I've talked to about getting a lab that say they are so good with children, even the young ones. I'd love for Ayden to really bond with this pup (and I think he already has quite a bit) and the baby to grow up with him as well. There has definitely been a number of times where I've gotten upset with the dog peeing in the house or whatever, but not everything in life can or is or will be perfect. That's just how it goes. He will be potty trained at some point... after all, he is only three months old and really, for the most part, he is very good about going potty outside. And Diesel, our other fur friend of the house... he still hates the dog. Haha! Someday... maybe someday they will get along with each other!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{before Christmas}

*Written prior to Christmas.*

Christmas is this week and I'm not really ready for it. It seems like it came upon us out of no where this year. I have yet to wrap Ayden's presents and Christmas is only two days away. I just don't feel like wrapping them though, haha! It will get done, it needs to get done, but this year I've been all about last minute stuff. Oops. Too much other stuff on my mind I guess.

 

We got our first big big snow storm of the year this past weekend. So happy that it happened over the weekend and it wasn't a weekend that Jay was supposed to go in and work and that he actually had the day off today so I could take it truck into work instead of my car because that made my drive seem that much easier. I called him once I got to work and told him that I thought we needed to switch vehicles because I much prefer driving his over mine, at least during this time of the year. Although the roads were not horrible this morning, I know that it would have taken me longer had I driven my car, and we are supposed to get more snow during the day, so the truck will help with my drive home. I don't know how he thinks he is going to get anywhere today with my car; however, because our snow blower is on the fritz and our drive is still a mess with deep snow that I KNOW my car isn't getting through. In any case, I made it to work safely.

Our weekend was low key. We switched up when we were going to have Christmas with my mom as we were going to have it on Sunday, but because of the weather we switched it to Saturday which worked out well, except for the fact that Jay couldn't make it because of the wrestling tournament. Either way, the rest of us had a good time together! We opened gifts, had a super yummy lunch, played Monopoly, laughed, took pictures... just had fun! Plus, my brother offered to drive Ayden and myself which was very nice of him given that the roads weren't perfect on Saturday either.

Yesterday was a relaxing day at home. We ventured out in the snow storm to go across town to get some groceries and then spent the rest of the day inside. Ayden and I worked on cleaning the toy room as it really was a disaster, Jay put plastic on the windows, we watched the Packer game, I did some laundry... etc etc etc... just a typical Sunday at our house. I need to be more conscious of the amount of work that I am doing, or at least at the pace that I am going because even just some up and down in the toy room for a few hours and I was a hurting unit by the end of the night. I have just about sixteen weeks to go yet and don't want to have to deal with horrible back and pelvic pain that entire time.

I got some good and exciting news at work last week. As of the first of the year, I will be a fulltime employee. I am very excited as the extra income will be greatly appreciated when the new baby arrives and the fact that my student loans are needing to be repaid now. I am slightly bummed (only for a selfish reason) that I will no longer get to enjoy two extra days off during the week. I 'worked' full time last year and by 'worked' I mean, I was a free intern that did all of my bosses work and it was fine. I don't mind working fulltime, and the plan was all along for me to go fulltime when the position was available. I certainly would have enjoyed two extra days off with the tiny man this summer after he was born, but that is okay. Working fulltime for the rest of this pregnancy is bound to make it fly by which is what I want, haha! I hate wishing away time by any means, but you know... I'm excited to meet this little guy.

I went through a small panic mode last week about having another kid and everything that it is going to entail. Sometimes I wonder if we should have waited a little while longer, but then I think... wait for what?! I don't know that the timing would ever be perfect to add another child and Ayden is only getting older and then why would I want to start all over again once he's a teenager. Certainly people do it... I mean, my dad had another one when my brother was already 12 or 13.... it can be done. Life is definitely going to change (for the better of course) with the addition of the tiny man to our family and I know that shortly after he is born it will be like he was meant to be with us all along. A pregnant woman is allowed to have some moments of panic, right?!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{2013 year in review}

For the past couple of years, come the end of December I've done a 'year in review' type blog post so I thought that I would continue the tradition and do another one for 2013!

 

January

I spent the very beginning of 2013 in the ER with the worst cold/illness that I had had in a LONG time. NO fun ringing in the new year not feeling well. I picked up my running again towards the end of January when I started to feel better, but I missed my actual 5k run that month because I was sick. I also went bridesmaid shopping in January with my sister and cousins and we decided on two different dresses for the wedding!

 

February

Victoria and I did our first run together of 2013 in February. We made personalized shirts for it and everything, but they didn't exactly turn out how we had imagined, so we didn't end up wearing them. Bummer! We also took our kiddos snow shoeing for the first time in February and had lots of fun! It is definitely something that I would love to do again at some point... although probably not in 2014. February also included more running, only this time most of it was done at the gym because it's damn cold outside in February in Wisconsin and there is often a lot of snow and ice still on the roads/sidewalks which makes it all the more difficult to run on.

March

First over 10 mile run in March and it was like a high of 10 degrees that day! Luckily it was sunny out!

April

I completed my first half marathon and then went and got a tattoo too commemorate it by! Yes... I got a tattoo for running 13.1 miles. 13.1 miles is a freaking long way to run, especially when you started out not enjoying running at all! Sometimes I STILL can't believe that I ran 13.1 miles without stopping. Definitely one of my finer moments. April was also the month that my strawberry addiction started and it pretty much stayed through the entire summer! LOVE strawberries (although right now I don't particularly care for them while being pregnant).

May

I GRADUATED! What a great month May was because I was finally done with school and celebrated graduation with my family! I was hired on as an employee at my externship and couldn't have been more excited to start my journey as a full fledged audiologist! I could not believe how fast the last four year had gone by and that I was finally done with school. It was certainly quite the accomplishment and I am SO proud that I finished it! Ayden and I also ran our first 5k together this month... it was a color run and it was a blast! He actually ran quite a bit of it with me and I told him towards the end that we needed to walk because my knee was killing me from my half marathon just two weeks prior.

June

In June, Victoria and I rocked out our very first 'adventure/mud' run at Edge the Ledge and adventure run it was! We were both covered in mud by the end of it and couldn't have had a better time together! It was definitely fun and challenging and I would love to do it again sometime! Ayden and I continued our training runs this month, even in the super hot weather! I loved running with him around the track every night and just hearing what he had to say!

July

We had family camping with my dad's side of the family this month! I always enjoy going camping with my dad's side of the family and this year was no exception. We went to a great place, had overall pretty great weather, and ate WAY too much good food! Plus, the company was pretty great as well! Victoria and I did another 5k run and I finished it under 30 minutes and allowed myself the piece of apple pie they were handing out at the end. I really pushed myself this race and it was the last one that I ran really hard. My sister, her boyfriend, Ayden, and I hit up the Milwaukee Zoo this month as well, got rained on for a little while, and had lots of fun seeing all of the animals, especially the gorilla who was having a bad attitude day, haha!

August

I found out at the beginning of this month that our family of three was going to become a family of four! I was SO excited to share the news with Jay and eventually Ayden because we cannot keep anything secret at our house for very long, haha! I had a slight inkling that something may be up because shortly before I found out I was pregnant, I was SO tired and SO hungry and that just wasn't normal for me! I also celebrated by 27th birthday by doing my very first Dirty Girls 5k mud run with my bestie, Victoria, ON my birthday while five weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, the day after said mud run, morning sickness hit and I haven't worked out since then. Ayden turned nine and we celebrated his birthday by going bowling with the family! It was a lot of fun!

September

It felt like September would never come this year... we were waiting for it FOREVER! I continued to suffer through morning sickness through much of September, but I also married my best friend... the man who has been my everything for the last ten years and we went on the most fabulous honeymoon together. Ten years together and we had never gone away without the little man before. It was a great vacation and I cannot wait to do it again (this time while not being pregnant and throwing up every day).

October

I continued to suffer through all day sickness for the majority of this month as well which really sucked. I had quite a few photo shoots to try and make it through and did successfully despite wanting to vomit during all of them, lol! Not that my clients needed to know that. It was also during this month that I got to see our peanut for the first time where he actually looked like a baby. I got to see him at the first ultrasound in September; however, he was more of a gummy bear at that point. The ultrasound tech gave me her prediction that it was going to be a boy, but she could only say with 60% certainty that was her guess. I did another 5k this month with Victoria, Ayden, and Alexis... only this one we walked. It went well! I missed being able to run it though.

November

We had a great Thanksgiving this month and certainly had enough to be thankful for! I photographed a wedding with my cousin and that went well. I didn't want to vomit the whole day... just most of it, haha! I did another walk with my mom and Ayden... only a two miler this month. It was the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and despite it being cold out, we had a great time together! We also added the fifth member of our growing family this month and adopted a chocolate lab puppy and named him Drake. He fits right in with our crazy household! (Although the cat doesn't care for him too much yet!)

December

We found out that we will be adding another little boy to our family and couldn't be more excited! And as busy as life had seemed for the last couple of months, December seemed to kind of slow down for us for a little while. We enjoyed Christmas with our families and look ahead to 2014 with just as much excitement as we did 2013!

 

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{slowed down}

I finally feel like life has slowed down for us for a little while, even with the holidays approaching. We've had two pretty low key weekends in a row and I'm not going to lie, I kind of liked not having any specific place to be or anything in particular that needed to get done. We've just kind of relaxed and worked around the house a little bit, enjoyed each others company, and got a few things done. And to be honest, with the cold weather that we've been having, who really wants to go outside anyways?! Not me! Although, Alexis spent quite a bit of the weekend with us and the kids did go sledding. (There really is a perk to having the high school football field right behind your house.) I didn't go sledding, but I went with them to watch them and took Drake with us, but we didn't stay out too long because he got cold fast. Poor puppy. But he needed some outside time. After a few times down the big hill, I shoo'd the kids to the smaller hill that is closer to our house and I took the dog home and watched them sled from the warmth of my living room couch. They were essentially in our backyard (if we had one) with only a chain link fence separating us. They had fun and I think it tired them out a little bit as well.

 

Overall I continue to feel alright. Not great, not horrible. Tiny man continues to grow and I'm feeling kicks and punches regularly now. The best part of my day by far. I sit and look at the belly and wonder how it can get any bigger and know that it is going to. How did I ever make it through my first pregnancy with Ayden. I don't think I'm a good pregnant lady, haha! I think one of the worst parts now is feeling so full all of the time and feeling like I can't get a full deep breath. The outcome is wonderful, the duration of the cooking, I'll make it through... but I probably won't enjoy it as much as the next woman. But the weeks continue to fly by and I know that January is going to be here before I know it, then February, and March, and then April. Because seriously, time does fly these days! It seems like one week is just starting and before we know it, it is over! And usually I am all for time to slow down, but right now I'd rather it speed up a little bit. I am anxious to meet our little man, but I'll let him cook for a couple of months yet! For the time being, I'll live vicariously through my cousin who just had her baby last week and her sister who has a four month old and enjoy the pictures they share! I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'll have children and not just Ayden. Another plus... I think Jay and I have come to a common consensus on a name. I'm kind of excited about that. I know it's a pregnant lady thing, but I find myself constantly rubbing the belly these days, just wondering about the tiny man floating around inside.

 

I finally broke down and purchase a pregnancy pillow. Best purchase so far if I don't say so myself. This thing is huge and I love it so far. It props me up in all of the right places and I don't have to wrestle with extra pillows or blankets all night long. I do tend to flop back and forth from side to side quite a bit during the night, but once again, I think that's a pregnant lady thing. One thing I wish we had at our current place was a master bathroom or another bathroom on the second floor. I tend to get up at least twice during the night to go to the bathroom and I can imagine that that is only going to get worse and it's quite the haul to go all of the way down the stairs at 2am. Thankfully, at this point the dog has stopped whining every time I come down stairs so I'm not feeling quite as bad, haha!

 

Speaking of Drake, he continues to do well at our house. He is growing like a weed and we are getting better at this potty training stuff. We still have accidents in the house, but fewer and fewer. I couldn't ask for a better son or husband to help take him out when they are home, especially in the winter weather. Even after a month and a half of having the dog, Ayden has yet to really complain about taking him outside to go potty (and people, it's not warm in Wisconsin right now, so that means, putting shoes and a coat on every time). And the little man continues to help! He is going to be such a great big brother... I just know it! He is SO helpful and such a great kiddo! Sometimes I wonder how I lucked out with him! Don't get me wrong, he is certainly not perfect all of the time... his toy room is a MESS right now and has been for the last several weeks, but for the most part, he's great! Sometimes in the last few months I've felt like I haven't been the best mother that I could be to him because I've been so out of sorts, but then something will happen and I know that I'm doing everything right. And sometimes, I just sit and stare. I have a nine year old... an almost nine and a half year old. How is that even possible? How have I had a child for the last nine and a half years?! I mean, really... it is just crazy! We made it through the newborn stage, we made it through the toddler stage, we made it through kindergarten... hell, I'm going to have a freaking middle schooler! Um, NO! Haha!

 

Okay, now that I've probably just re-written everything I've written in the last how many blog posts over again for the umpteenth time...

 

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{random facts}

Some random factoids you may or may not already know about me...

 

1. The ONE and ONLY place in our house that I am okay with being a total mess is my closet. Nine times out of ten, if you were to look in it, there would be a pile of clothes covering the floor of it.

 

2. I love strawberry flavored things, but couldn't eat strawberries, until this past summer. Then I just couldn't get enough of them! I was a serious strawberry addict! Then... I got pregnant and morning sickness struck and now I can't stand really any fruit. Hoping to add strawberry addiction back to the list next summer!

 

3. I don't wash the dishes at our house. Jay does. I do laundry.

 

4. Jay's not very good at keeping up with the dishes. I'm not very good at keeping up with the laundry. Oops. But they get done.

 

5. I used to swear that when I became an adult I wouldn't be a thermostat control freak. I am. Heat is expensive... put a sweatshirt on or two or three! I've become my mom, haha!

 

6. I hate winter. I hate winter driving more.

 

7. I'm terrified I'll go into labor while at work seeing a patient and/or my water will break while seeing a patient. And... I'll be an hour and a half away from my hospital. I know I have time to worry about that yet, but it's definitely a thought swirling in my head. (Someone please tell me why I chose a hospital in Appleton to deliver my baby at when I work right across the street from a major one in Sheboygan?! Oh, that's right, I love my doctor in Appleton.)

 

8. I stare at my wedding ring... A LOT! And still can't believe Jay and I are finally married!

 

9. I can't wear socks or jewelry to bed.

 

10. I hate admitting to Jay when I'm wrong, and it does happen. (Not very often though.) I'm definitely not good as losing arguments.

 

11. I hate shaving my legs and do it as little as possible. It's not like I enjoy hairy legs, I just don't enjoy shaving them. In the summer it's probably every other day, in the winter, it's more like once a month, haha! Hairy legs girl, RIGHT HERE!!!

 

12. I rarely drink alcohol. And when I do, it's typically in the summer, typically a fruity drink, and typically made by my honey or his dad while we are camping. And as a result, I've never been drunk. I plan to keep it that way. Alcohol just doesn't appeal to me.

 

13. I was in college for NINE years! That's almost as long as it took me to get from kindergarten through 12th grade! I'm now a doctor of audiology and absolutely love my job.

 

14. I'm in mounds and mounds of student loan debt. See previous number. I'll be paying it off for a LONG time. I wish we could afford for me to only work part time forever because I would love to have two days at home during the week with the new baby. I could not be a full time stay at home mom. I enjoy my job/calling and my patients. My family would suffer if I were at home all of the time. Working is what works for our family. (And pays the bills.)

 

15. I LOVE to read. Getting sucked into a good book is pure bliss. I don't read enough lately.

 

16. I also love to rollerblade. It may be a 'thing of the past' these days, but it is a TON of fun! I love to be outside and active... walking, running, rollerblading, hiking, biking, anything outside!

 

17. I drive a Ford Focus... what was once my dream car. I still love it. It treats me nice. Now I'd love a small SUV. We can't afford one. Jay just got a new vehicle. We'll be paying on that for a while. The next new car will be mine.

 

18. My hands are typically cold. Like ice cold. Even when the rest of me is warm, my hands are cold.

 

19. I have six tattoos. Two of which are on my wrists that I thought people would continually comment on. Most could care less. I like that. I will probably get more tattoos at some point.

 

20. I a hobbyist photographer. I love taking pictures for people, but I find that the more I do for others, the less I do for myself. I need to get back into the habit of getting my camera out for myself more often. I'm sure I won't have a problem with that once the baby is born.

 

21. I'm a runner. I grew up HATING running. Over the last year, I've grown to love it. I completed my first half marathon in April 2013. I ran 13.1 miles without stopping or walking. Sometimes I still can't believe it. I got a tattoo to commemorate it. I'm excited to train for another one after the baby is born. I think I might run a full marathon someday!

 

22. I like to change up my hair style and often go crazy with it. I've been everything from my original dark brown to bright blond, to black, and even purple. This is probably the longest I have gone in a LONG time without doing something crazy with my hair. I'm SO ready to just chop it off and go short again, but it takes longer to style when it's short and I don't have the energy for that right now.

 

23. I became a mom just four days after turning 18. I wouldn't have changed it for the world. Life may have been more difficult than it could have been for me/us otherwise, but I knew we'd make it through.

 

24. I suck at interior decorating. I'd love to hire someone to come decorate our house, but alas, cannot afford it. We've been living in our current house for over a year and a half now and have very little pictures hanging (mostly because the walls are super old and super thick and super hard to get a nail into).

 

25. I've worn glasses since I've been three. I've worn contacts for the last how many years, but still bust out the glasses a few times during the week. I'm pretty much blind without them. Well, not really, but I prefer to see things clearly, so generally either always have my glasses or contacts on while I'm awake.

 

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{observations}

I had half of my anatomy ultrasound post written out and then it didn’t save, so I’m starting all over, but with that  I am going to add in some other observations that I’ve made so far lately… like the fact that it is getting increasingly harder to get my socks on in the morning, or that I can’t walk as fast as I used to without getting winded A LOT faster. And this one is hard because I have a husband that is a speed walker and it took me years to get him to slow down to a somewhat normal pace and now I have to constantly tell him to slow down or just resign myself to the fact that he’ll always be twenty feet in front of me, haha!

If you don’t know me from on Facebook, then you don’t know yet that we are having another baby boy, of whom I’ve affectionately decided to nickname ‘tiny man’ for the time being. Jay is the main man, Ayden is the little man, and well, baby boy had to be something, so tiny man fit. We could not be more excited, especially Ayden. I get that he is old enough to comprehend that he’s getting a brother now and is definitely seeing and noticing the changes going on in mommy, but I don’t know how he exactly feels about everything so far. On the forefront he seems excited. I don’t know if it’s all quite real to him yet. There will definitely be some adjustments going on when the tiny man is born. I mean there is in any family when you add children to it. We will make it through.

Everything on the scan looked great. We could see the tiny guy moving and grooving. It was definitely unreal. We could see him opening and closing his mouth. He didn’t want to give us many face shots, but he definitely wanted it to be known that he was going to be a little boy. We found that out within the first thirty seconds of the ultrasound. The technician said it was a good thing that we wanted to know because she was going to have a hard time hiding those shots from us because they kept popping up. The good thing is that she wasn’t just semi sure with a percentage that he was going to be a boy, she was confidently able to say that he was going to be one. I kind of had that mommy intuition that it would be a boy. At this point I’m still kind of in awe that I am going to have two children. (Although, to be completely honest, sometimes I still just sit and marvel at the fact that I am the mother of one and that he is already NINE freaking years old!)

Now it’s time to get on the name wagon with the hubs and find one that we both agree on… and I think we are semi there. We talked about it a bit this weekend, I just need to know if he was serious or not. I know there is still plenty of time, but people, we are on the down swing of things now. Babes has officially been growing in the belly for more days than we have left to go in this pregnancy. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant (still can’t fully wrap my mind around it) and thinking about how long we had to go before bringing babes home from the hospital and that at that point it wasn’t even a for sure thing (not that it is a for sure thing right now either), and now here we are more than half way through! This whole thing is still unreal to me at times and then I’ll feel a kick or a punch and I’m reminded that nope, it is totally and fully real! And I sit in amazement again! I’ve literally become that pregnant woman who sits and stares at her stomach watching it move with the baby. I’m sure a lot of pregnant women do. I could do it for hours.

Over the weekend we bought some baby clothes. I was definitely excited to get a little bit of shopping done. We stopped at a local consignment shop to do our shopping. When it comes to baby clothes, I have such a hard time buying ALL brand new. And then I started to look through things and got overwhelmed. It has been SO long since we’ve had a baby in the house that I just don’t know how much of everything we are going to need. And then when I looked at some of the stuff, I just couldn’t imagine him being THAT small! Are they really THAT tiny? You forget when it’s been ten years! And my chunker monker was almost sixteen pounds by the time he was four months… he grew fast… how am I supposed to know if this tiny man will or not?! I don’t do well with the unknown people, lol!

In any case, we did leave the store with a few things for little brother and a few things for big brother (because big brother’s clothes are expensive brand new as well)! And best of all, we ended our shopping trip, which also included a few Christmas gift items, with lunch at Hu Hot. It was delicious (minus the fact that I could only eat one plate and that it gave me what I’m only assuming can be classified as heartburn).

Earlier in the weekend my mom came over to help decorate our Christmas tree. She did the same thing last year, only her excuse was the fact that she wasn’t putting one up. Because she is at her new place now, this year she did put one up. So she didn’t have much of an excuse to actually come over and help, other than the fact that she loves us! SO thankful for her help because honestly, Christmas tree decorating, well Christmas decorating all together, is on my list of least favorite things to do. I’m definitely ba-humbug when it comes to decorating, but mostly because I’m the one getting stuck doing all of the work. I don’t NEED a Christmas tree, but Ayden likes having one, so we do it. Last year we went all big full tree with long needles, which really ended up being a mistake because you couldn’t see the ornaments, so this year we went in the opposite direction and did a total Charlie Brown Christmas tree with barely any branches. And it is the cutest thing EVER! So far the dog has been good and left it alone. My amazing mom stayed after decorating the tree as well and helped me around the house a little bit. I got quite a bit done that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise which was good; however I think I kind of over did it because I was a hurting unit for the rest of the day. My back, pelvis, and lower abdomen area were pretty sore when I would try to get up and move around. Thankfully I felt better by Sunday morning. And the unfortunate thing is that I didn’t even think I was doing all that much to begin with. Guess I need to slow it down a little bit more.

The little man has his Christmas choir concert tonight and we are all very excited for it. He did great singing at last years (plus we had really good seats), so I’m excited for this years as well. Pus, because we live in town now, more family comes to see it which makes Ayden proud I think. And this year he gets to sing during the same time as Alexis’s as well, so we will get to see hers too which is great.

 

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{happy thanksgiving}

I figured after such a depressing post the last time, this one better be more up beat. I'm definitely having a better day, not quite as emotional as I was the last time. Like I said, writing is cathartic and I just needed to get it all out for me to feel a little bit better about the situation. Plus, I got some really helpful words from some other people. Life ebbs and flows, and we (I) were ebbing for a little while. That's all. I'm definitely sure there will be more ups and downs in life, in fact, I KNOW there will be more ups and downs and I'll just take them for what they are.

 

So, now on to Thanksgiving!

 

We had an overall very good Thanksgiving. Lots of yummy food, although I wish I would have been able to eat more than I did. I did end up stuffing myself pretty full at all of the places that we went to. I mean, the food was just SO good! I couldn't stop putting it in my mouth!

 

On Thanksgiving morning, Ayden, my mom, and myself participated in the Turkey Trot two mile walk and had a fun time! The drive to my mom's house was less than thrilling as we had gotten a bit of snow the night before and the paranoid driver in me had to take it slower than I would have liked, but we made it safely! The weather was cold, but we bundled up, put toe warmers in a shoes and hand warmers in our gloves and walked the two miles in no time! Ayden didn't whine once. It was a lot of fun! I'm glad that it wasn't windier where we were because we were right by the lake. Afterwards, we went back to my mom's house and I kicked both of their butts in a rousing game of Monopoly. It was tons of fun! Then we had a yummy lunch and just hung out for a little while before heading home and relaxing some more and then heading to Jay's parent's house for Thanksgiving supper with his family.

 

SO much good food at his parent's house as well! We chilled there for a little while too before I got too tired and wanted to go home. I was also pretty sore from the walk earlier in the day. Ayden spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's because Jay was going hunting on Friday and I was heading out for some Black Friday shopping deals! And deals I got! Actually, by the time we went shopping all of the doorbuster deals were either over or gone, but I didn't really have anything in mind that I needed to get. I did get quite a few things though and may or may not have gotten a few things for myself as well. I mean, who could pass up clothes 50% off at Old Navy! It was probably a good thing that I was only shopping for maternity stuff for myself this year and not other stuff because I really could have done a lot of damage, haha!

 

It was a long day of shopping on Friday, but it was a good day!

 

Saturday afternoon was Thanksgiving on my mom's side of the family which meant more good food and good company! I got all prettied up for the occasion and felt cute. I even blow dried my hair which was a first in about four months! It turned out good!

 

And Sunday... Sunday was for relaxing. We did not do too much yesterday at all. I organized the baby's room since it was sort of becoming a catch all place for left over wedding things and what not and I wanted to know what was all in there. I relaxed on the couch and cuddled with Drake (he still prefers my lap over his new comfy pillow), and edited some pictures.

 

Ayden and I also took Drake for his very first 'walk' yesterday as well and for being only a 10 week old puppy, he did pretty well. I can't believe that we've had him for about a month already. That is kind of crazy! Time definitely does fly fast! Even more so with the holidays looming and what not. I know that the next month and a half is going to go pretty fast too. I mean, it is only three weeks until Christmas and this week... this week is ULTRASOUND WEEK!

 

I cannot tell you how excited I am to find out whether this little nudger is a girl or a boy! (I don't know if I've mentioned it in a previous post or not, but the ultrasound tech at my 12 week appointment gave her best guess based on some images... she said she was 60% sure it was a... wait, did you think I'd tell you?!) We shall see this week (hopefully) if she was correct or not! I give props to those who can/want to wait to find out until the baby is born because first off, I am not that patient, I am too much of a planner, and knowing ahead of time (at least for ME) makes it a little more personal between me and baby. Baby has been moving and grooving more... well, I should clarify that I've been feeling it more and more lately and actually seeing my belly move from the outside. It really is one of the best things about being pregnant. I could sit and stare (and sometimes do) at my belly now just willing the baby to move. I've been waiting for this part of pregnancy for a long time. I think I posted about that in my last post.

 

Just a few more days!!!

 

CIAO! LOVE ME!