Watch me Grow!

Who is this girl? That hot bod belongs to yours truly at 26 weeks (2 weeks ago). It was not a good day for me, so you don't get to see my face. And actually this picture I didn't even edit, Erik took it without my head. haha. But look at that butt and those thighs! Holy cow! And just 2 weeks later here I am at 28 weeks. Look how much I have grown! It's crazy. I think I really sprouted these past few weeks. Like people actually believe me now that I am indeed Pregnant. It's nice to now have strangers look at me like, she is pregnant and not just fat.


It's crazy to think I am in the 3rd Trimester. Wow, time flies! I really enjoyed the 2nd trimester so I am hoping that it's goodness can last just a little bit longer. Im sportin my first pair of maternity jeans purchased on tuesday. (finally) It feels good to not have my pants falling down all the time and wide open at the button!

I just got back from my Dr.'s appointment and found out that since my last appointment which was 2 weeks ago I have gained 5 pounds!!!!! Woah! I know this is a lot in a short time, but considering my slow growth in the beginning I didn't think this would be a big deal. The dr. seemed a little concerned with it though and told me that I shouldn't be eating as much. WHAT? I have NEVER been told that in my whole life. I was kinda proud...and then kind of offended. lol. I don't know what to think. Because I only eat when I am hungry, but that is a lot more frequent these days. I know what I eat is important, and could use an adjustment. But, I dunno I think her advice may have come a little pre maturely and who knows maybe I just had a growth spurt and in a few weeks I will level out again. You know? I am not sure how serious I am going to take this advice. Because I feel like I don't eat enough food, at least good food. So I guess I just have to find a balance. I might not change a whole lot until I see how things go next appt. Eating is such a challenge for me, i really don't enjoy it and I have to make a huge effort to eat enough, which I feel like I have been doing. (protein shakes help) So i feel like if I stop, it might get bad. Just thoughts, I dunno.

Other prego symptoms of late:

-feet hurt after standing a lot

-a lot of bloody noses. (gross i know, and annoying)

-some back pain, not as bad as I thought it would be at this point.

-some sharp upper rib/side muscle pain. (feels like the cramps you get when you are running) But thank goodness just taking Tylenol and applying a little heat helps those a TON! And they are not very frequent. They scared me the first time though, but I knew it wasn't like contractions or anything, it was way too high. Now i know that it was just everything in me expanding getting ready for this big girl to grow. (hence the growth spurt)

-Im surprised how less emotional I am, like i don't cry or have as many meltdowns as I did in the 1st trimester. (knock on wood) those will probably come back.

-I cant' really sit on the floor for very long anymore, which is such ashame because I am totally a floor person. But it hurts my back, I have to sit with something to support me.

-Bending over is starting to get painful each time I do it, I need to remember to not just fold my body, but to bend my knees. Leaning over, all that stuff is quite uncomfortable. (and i know this is JUST the beginning of this!)

-I get itchy

-I can't really see my stomach bellow my belly button very well anymore.

-I am very clumsy, it scares me actually. There have been several times that I have almost fallen down the stairs. It's amazing how off your balance becomes.

-Along with that, i am so absent minded. Which is something I pride myself it not being. I think of myself as a very observant person, and someone who remembers everything. Woosh that's going and it's going fast! Erik laughs at me, i wont remember things he swears he told me, i leave the grocery store without my paid for groceries, i tell a cashier (different day) as she is ringing my items up that i left my wallet in the car (cuz i couldn't find it in my purse) so she should put my transaction on hold, she then informs me that my wallet is in my hand. Wow, it's scary! I am becoming my mother...and now I know that this is probably not how my mother always was, that she did have a brain like i did, I can't imagine what will be left of it once I have 6 kids!

Well that's it for now! And I am really sorry, I always tell myself I am going to do a short post with pics and that's it...never happens. Sorry! I wish I had a cute blog that just has 2 pics and 3 witty lines and that was it. But for now you get to skim my never ending posts, and at least I can use the excuse that it is my journal and now i have all the details recorded of my pregnancy. :)

Girl Time!

This post is really late. But I just wanted to post these pics so i can delete them out of my email inbox! lol. And to say how much I LOVE my ward and the area I live in and all the wonderful girls I have become friends with. I feel so blessed! Here are just a few of the fun nights I have had with some crazy girls over the past few months. (not to mention our weekly girls night, where we get together to talk, laugh and snack! It's the best!)We all braved the storm a few weeks ago and went and saw "Dear John" opening night. The movie was of course a tear jerker! I enjoyed the book a lot more though the movie was still good. I would highly recommend the book for sure! (Thanks Marci for the awesome collage! haha!)
This was back in November at the premiere of "New Moon" This movie exceeded my exceptions and was amazing! Gotta love Twilight baby! My favorite part of the night was when I pulled out my treats to share (smarties) and asked if anyone wanted some and I got the response "Maybe if I was three" from Sara. Thanks girl, yeah I know, I'm a sugar addict! Who doesn't like Smarties? Pure sugar melting in your mouth! I also love this picture because every time I look at it I think, Why is Marci grabbing my leg? haha, she isn't really but it looks like it! lol
And this craft night was even further back in November, in fact I may have already posted this pic. Oh well. These are our lovely centerpieces that I think most of us ending up ripping apart and using the vase for something else! lol. But it was still fun!

Thanks girls! I can't wait for many more memories! I already think about the short time we have left in Dental school and how I don't want it to ever end! I know it will go by so fast, so I am trying to enjoy every moment!

Back in the Saddle again!

Can you say $5.97? That's right my total + tax after rebates (i really didn't even use coupons)was $5.97!!!! I am so proud...Im back to doing deals baby...back and better than ever! ;)

Diaper deals are my new favorite. I can't imagine having to actually pay $12.00 for a package of 40 diapers...that's crazy. I vow to never do it! This is seriously where i get my High from...it feels great! Rite Aid rocks!

Also see my Valentines Day post below! And coming very soon...more belly pics!!!

Last Min.Valentines Day Idea

So, I am feeling nervous to post this, because I feel like by sharing what you do to celebrate Valentines day really puts yourself out there and is kinda scary. haha! But- I know a lot of my friends around here and I have been talking about how we have no good ideas, been there done that with everything so I was thrilled when I found this idea today, and twisted it to make it my own and felt obligated to share. With Valentines day being on a Sunday, we have all day to entertain ourselves at home and celebrate. So I wanted to come up with a fun activity we could do. Erik already suggested we look back at our past scrapbooks I have made (since we've been married) which I think will be fun and makes me feel good to actually go back and look at all my hard work. I think it will bring back some good memories and stories that can help us celebrate us.

And here is the other activity I found, I will try to explain it the best I can.

The basic idea is here at the blog: Or So She Say's So go read that and then come back here.

*disclaimer-I don't really love the way she explains it, I don't think you have to play this just to say "dirty" things. lol. So skip the first few paragraphs- start where she say's "Here's what I made."

Basically, it kind of reminds me of that game Mad Gab-kind of. You type up and cut out a bunch of random words, including love words, romantic, silly words, plus all the essential words to string them all together. (I was terrible in English- pronouns, conjunctions, whatever!) You can make up your own or just steal the ones that Or So She Say's did. (that's what I did) She printed them out on magnet paper. I am too cheap and lazy to run out to staples so I just printed them out on card stock. Then you cut them all out and you have a whole slew of random words and you can string them together to make sexy phrases, silly phrases, romantic phrases, etc.This alone Erik would have fun with for a while cuz his sense of humor is perfect for this, he is really good at making up phrases with random words and thinking he is hilarious! But this alone could also tank and get a little old fast.

Anyway, but as I was cutting the words out and i thought of something. I started writing a list of categories. (see below) So I thought we would pick a topic like "sweetest" and then with all the words spread out on the table we would take a minute to secretly create a sentence and then reveal and see who comes up with the "sweetest" phrase. Then do the same thing with all the categories I came up with and any more Erik comes up with. I think this game will create a lot of laughs and a some "aww!" moments.

Here are the topics/categories I came up -that I am willing to share ;). Feel free to take mine and make your own:

-Best pick up lines

-Sweetest

-Sexiest

-Silliest

-Most honest-true

-Strangest

-Old Fashioned

-Most Romantic

-Random

-Lovey Dovey

-Typical/ Cliche

-Meanest

-Hallmark card

-Dirtiest

-Goofiest

-Most endearing

-Angriest

-"I've" said/heard this before

-Cinemark

-Common phrase

-happiest

-Corniest

Does that all make sense? Feel free to ask questions to clarify. Oh I also just wrapped mine up in tissue paper with a tag and bow. (not too cutsie) But you could make it really cute!

Who knows, maybe I am the only one who thinks this is a good idea. It sounds good in theory. I will let you know how it actually works out. Steal it if you want to and let me know how it goes! ;) However you spend your Valentines Day, I hope it's a good one!

Here is also Valentines Card I made yesterday. I thought it turned out really cute.

Best Month of my Life

Okay, I know it sounds a little melodramatic, but this has seriously been one of the best months of my life and I think I owe a lot of that to the "Feeling Fabulous" challenge i did with the blog somewhatsimple.com. Remember I mentioned this before? Well January is over and it has been a month to remember.

So with this feeling fabulous challenge each week in January you printed off a checklist of things you should try to do daily and for each thing you did you got a point. You totaled those points each week and submitted them to the blog for a group competition for a prize(and bragging rights). Well I never won, far from, but the girl said that about 60 women all over the country did the challenge a week and it was my goal to get in the top 10. Well this was the last week and I hadn't got top 10 yet, so I was determined, but once I added up my score I did not think it was high enough to make it. But, sure enough i ran downstairs and checked this morning and guess what? Final week of the challenge guess who was #10 in the top 10?!?! ME!!!!!! Yay! I literally started jumping up and down squealing! It feels soo good. My score increased each week and I felt really good about my own accomplishments but i really wanted to see my name on that top 10 as a public statement that I rock! (I know I am too competitive!) But ahhh! I am so happy!

So I want to thank Stephanie over at somewhatsimple for putting on this challenge. It really really helped me get off on the right foot this year and establish some great habits and really push myself to get a lot of things done each day. I would also like to thank Amy over at theidearoom.blogspot.com for this post here about staying organized with to do lists etc. This has also really helped me. (see my cute notebook a few posts down.)

I just have really noticed a difference in my life this past month. I think it helps that I have received the greatest blessing of all to be expecting a little baby girl in May, that knowledge and blessing alone gives me tremendous joy, but I would like to think that I am not just happy because I have everything I want. But, that I am happy because I am choosing to be happy by living a better life. I think I have really gained a testimony this month of routine and schedule. Something my mother has tried to instill in me for years now. Not to say I don't have the occasional day where I sleep in...or the days where I consider myself to have gotten up early (8:30) is early by any means...but it's routine. It's staying motivated to not just waste away my time while I wait for this baby to cook and have nothing else to do.

As I get up and get going, starting off the day with something good to eat, some exercise and then my list of all the things I want to accomplish it has been amazing at the joy I feel as i hack away at my endless to do list. I love crossing things off and telling Erik all that I did that day. I love that he comes home now to mostly a clean and organized house. I love that at least a few times a week he comes home to a great, well thought out, home cooked meal. I love seeing his smile and hearing how proud he is of me when he comes home to this picture. I know these are simple things that most of you awesome mothers and wifes have been doing for years but I feel like although I had my moments before, that I am now having a time where I have internalized this and just made it so easy and so simple to do rather than all dramatic! It's not a big deal to keep things clean and to do all these things (especially when you have all day like me, home alone with no children.) You just have to keep moving, don't plop on that couch, and stay busy. Anyway, this post is so long and there are no pictures so no one will read it but I really wanted to write about this for me.

Heres to a fantastic month. I was really worried about leaving my Mom and the rest of my family after Christmas break to come home and be all alone again with Erik gone all day, but these little things have really challenged me and helped me have one of the best months of my life. I have never smiled so much in a month, never cried so many tears of joy, never felt so lucky and so blessed, never felt so close to my Heavenly Father, never felt so much love for my husband, never felt so proud of myself, never had the bed made so many times, never done so much when I could have done so little. And I know that these are all connected. I know that this is how our Heavenly Father wants us to live. I know that when we are staying active and busy, setting goals and accomplishing them, it makes it so much easier to live the gospel and to make time for the things that are important in our lives. I know that a clean and organized home makes for more peace and love to reside there. I am so grateful for a supportive and patient husband and most of all for a loving and supporting Heavenly Father. I received a blessing from Erik at the beginning of this month that I could do this, be happy and stay productive and boy have I felt the Lord's power and influence in my life this month. I have also been blessed with a great pregnancy so far that has allowed me to for the most part feel awesome and do all that I need to. I would seriously recommend printing off the feeling fabulous checklist on the somewhatsimple.com , or starting a to do notebook, or anything like that for yourself. It has really helped me and made me feel truly fabulous! Hopefully I can keep it up this month! :)