With Child!

I haven't posted anything about my pregnancy for a long time. This is a picture of me 15 1/2 weeks along (I'm now 17 weeks). My belly is growing quickly! I've already started putting an elastic through the button holes in some of my pants to give me a little more room in the waist. I'm finally starting to feel pregnant--especially since I felt the baby move for the first time a few days ago!

This pregnancy has had lots of similarities with my first, but there are some differences.

Similarities:
-My nose is ALWAYS stuffed up. No matter how many times I blow it, it feels like there are dried boogers around the edges that I simply can't get rid of. It's often bloody when I blow it.
-I have to pee ALL the time. I think I have the smallest bladder in the world anyway, and pregnancy only makes it worse.
-I get a lot of headaches. They've been a lot worse recently, but I realized that it's because I started taking prescription prenatal vitamins. I went back to my old ones and things haven't been bad at all.
-I'm always hungry. I really have no self-control when it comes to sweets (but this happens preggo or not), so I need to work on that. Last time I gained around 50 pounds, so I'm aiming for a lower number this time, especially since my doctor warned me that I should try and watch my weight. I've never been told that in my life!

Differences:
-With Ada I got a little nauseous at the beginning and even threw up several times, but this time I haven't been sick AT ALL. I'm a very lucky girl!
-Lately I've been feeling very tired. I didn't have a problem with that with Ada, but now I struggle to get up every morning and I've started napping almost daily.
-I haven't really had any cravings this time. Last time I would hear about a food that sounded good and I couldn't get it out of my head until I ate it. I have a pretty normal appetite now.
-This only has to do with my mindset, but I always forget that I'm having a baby. Ada occupies me so much that I don't think about it too often. But that will soon change with a big belly and kicking child!

Because of these differences, everyone says that I'm going to have a boy. We find out on Feb. 12, so we'll have to see! I'm not going to even attempt to guess because I was wrong with Ada. I'll be happy with either a boy or a girl. I do want Ada to have a sister, but maybe this isn't the time. I can't wait!

Crazy little monkey

Ada is starting to get quite the imagination. She's forcing me to be creative, too, because she requests a lot of things that don't seem possible. Most of this involves dressing up her stuffed animals. She loves to dress herself up, and now she loves to dress up her toys too (see the snowman post). Here are a few examples (and a few pictures):

-She loves putting bowls on her head and calls them 'hats'. She kept trying to put one on her Elmo's head, but the bowl was way too big. She was getting really mad, so I found a little plastic container that was about his size and that satisfied her. Except I had to put her coat on him too. So here is a picture of Elmo looking like one stylin' astronaut.


-She loves shoes and boots and always wants me to put them on her animals. She was begging for these galoshes to be put on Elmo, but I put them on her bear because he has bigger legs and they actually stay on him.


-She always wants to put her binkies in her toys' mouths, and most of the time that's impossible. I finally attached one to her rubber ducky with a hair elastic so she would finally shut up.

-She loves putting her animals in her high chair, and the other day she put her 2 1/2-inch plastic Elmo and Cookie Monster in there and was begging for them to wear her bib (she calls it 'beeb'). I just had to set it down and stand them up in the neck hole to make her happy.

She is very demanding lately! We try not to spoil her and try to ignore her when she has fits. But she's so fun and always makes us laugh. She loves to climb on everything, especially chairs (which she calls 'chairies'; she likes to add a 'y' or 's' to lots of words). She loves to pretend to read books, sometimes to her animals. One sad thing is that she won't let us sing to her anymore. She associates it with going to bed, so she starts shaking her head and repeating 'no', even if it's nowhere near bedtime. We can sometimes get away with fun songs with actions, but I do miss singing to her. Hopefully it's just a phase.

Finally, here's a slideshow of her portraits from JC Penney. What a cutie!

What a day!

Yesterday was one of the busiest days I've had in a long time. Apparently Sunday isn't supposed to be a day of rest when it comes to being at church. Actually, the whole week leading up to yesterday was pretty busy. Ada had an appointment for pictures, I had a hair appointment, I had Book Club, Ada had a doctor's appointment (and I have to go back this week so she can get ANOTHER shot because they were all out of one of them), I went to a Women's Conference with Sherri Dew (I didn't go with her, she was the speaker), and I helped host a baby shower. I was also doing things throughout the week to prepare for Sunday. So the big day finally came. In the morning, I went to Sacrament Meeting at Primary Children's Medical Center to accompany someone in a musical number. It just so happened that Elder Dallin H. Oaks was in the audience, so we were pretty nervous! But all went well. Then I had to go to church early, as usual, to practice the organ and play prelude. Being the Ward Organist isn't always fun, but someone's gotta do it! Tyler and I had to speak in Sacrament Meeting, so I was running back and forth from the organ to the stand. Ada sat with Jordan and Morgan, and was a very good girl! As soon as Sacrament Meeting ended, I had to rush to Primary to fill in as the pianist. Then right after church we went to Layton to eat with Tyler's family. Ada went to Nursery, so she didn't get a nap. She slept for about a half-hour in the car, but that certainly wasn't enough because she was fussy all night and most of the morning. Sundays are tricky for us. But everything turned out well and I'm glad it's all over.

We received the sobering news about Pres. Hinckley on the way home. I was sad because I felt almost like I'd lost a good friend, even though I've never met him. I will definitely miss him. I'm anxious to see what it's like with Pres. Monson as the new prophet.

Noteworthy

*Ada is 18 months old today! She is growing up way too fast. Some funny things about her lately:

-We took her to JC Penney yesterday for some pictures. I knew it would be a struggle since she's now a walker, and it was to some extent. But there were lots of great pictures of her. Unfortunately, we have to wait 10 days to pick them up. We went there because they're much cheaper than Kiddie Kandids, but we ended up spending more than we would have there! But we got tons of pictures. They'll be e-mailed out soon, so I'll have to post them as soon as they come.
-She is learning her colors so well. She knows yellow, blue, red, green, orange, purple, pink, black, and white. She still likes to call everything yellow sometimes, but she's doing a good job.
-She pooped in the tub a few nights ago for the first time. Not a pleasant experience.

*We went to IKEA last night. We got a desk lamp w/ light bulb, a floor mat, 42 scented tea lights, a shoe horn that looks like a cane (for my parents), a duster, an ice tray that makes star-shaped ice, and five canvas CD holders, and we only spent $25! Okay, we did spend almost half that much on food too, but we did get a nice, big bag of meatballs!

*My mother actually got a job. This was very surprising to us, since she has been unemployed for around 33 years. She's working at the elementary school for 3 1/2 hours every morning in the Title 1 program. She helps kids with reading and other subjects they're struggling with. It will be very good for her.

*I made another amazing purchase this week. I bought some trouser jeans from The Gap for $15! Now isn't the best time for me to buy pants, but I've been wanting some in that style, and I couldn't pass up that price! The only problem with Gap pants is that they're always too big in the hips. That's what I get for having no curves I guess.

*Tyler is doing a great job with his weight loss endeavors. He's already lost almost half of what his goal is! I'm having a tough time helping him out, though. My sweet tooth makes things difficult. We were bad and had sticky buns for breakfast yesterday. I'd say that he's helping me more than I am him. I'm hoping to gain less weight this pregnancy than I did with Ada, so this is a good thing for both of us.

Lewis, save yourself the pain

Whose belly is larger? I am 14 1/2 weeks preggo. Ada is...well, Ada. The poor child has inherited her mother's gut. According to all my family members, Ada has the same physique (and temperament, for that matter) as I had at her age: a tiny body with a large gut. Unfortunately, my gut never quite went away when I got older. People don't believe me, but ask anyone in my family or any of my friends. Lewis is here to stay. Lewis is what I named my gut. It came as an inspiration to my friend Sabrina while listening to Radiohead one day. After I had Ada, I lost all my 50 pounds of pregnancy weight, but Lewis was a little bit more prominent than normal. Now that I'm expecting a second child, he's growing at a much faster rate than he did the first time around. I fear that when I'm done having kids, I'll look like a perma-preggo. Does anyone know of any good deals on lipo?

A Jolly, Happy Soul

Ada has found a new obsession. Besides her beloved Elmo and Cookie, her favorite toy right now is her 'nano'. It's this snowman decoration that Tyler's mom gave us a while ago. It's made of Styrofoam and felt and it's almost as big as Ada is. She actually snapped the thing in half, but because the felt is surrounding the Styrofoam, it's still in one piece. Tyler and I aren't very fond of it, but Ada sure is!

The other day we bought her some princess shoes from the dollar bin at Target. She loves dressing up, and she had fun walking around the apartment in them. When she was finished, she wanted me to put them on the 'nano'. After telling her several times that he doesn't have feet, I finally put them on the ground and placed him on top of them. She then went into her room saying, "Coat! Coat!" I grabbed her coat, thinking she wanted to wear it, but she, of course, wanted me to put it on the snowman. I had to take a picture. It was then nap time, but Ada wouldn't let me read to her or anything. The only thing that would satisfy her was to put her snowman in bed with her. What a silly girl. It's so funny to watch her drag it around the house. I almost put it away with all the Christmas decorations, but it's one thing that makes Ada a very happy girl.

Everybody Likes the Nursery

A miracle happened in our home yesterday: Ada slept in until 10:20! She was actually awake around 8:20 because she woke me up, but by the time I finally forced myself out of bed, she was back asleep. Tyler and I decided that since she got so much sleep, we'd try putting her in Nursery instead of taking her home early for a nap. She doesn't turn 18 months until the 22nd, but we figured she was close enough. Tyler didn't have any trouble dropping her off. As soon as she sees something fun, she forgets about Mom and Dad. After church when I was walking down the hallway, I heard loud, sinister laughter. "That's Ada!", I said to the girl next to me. I peeked in and the leaders were blowing bubbles. They kept laughing because Ada was laughing so hard. She was having a ball! They said she was really good, so we were so glad! It was the first time Tyler and I have both stayed the whole time at church in a very long time.

My family will get a kick out of this post because they probably all think of me when Nursery is mentioned. First, my dad had to make up a special song about Nursery to get me to want to go when I was old enough. It is fittingly titled, "Everybody Likes the Nursery". Second, I'm notorious for being naughty in the Nursery. I don't know if this is a real memory or something I made up in my head, but as far as I know I stole my friend Michelle's cookie when her mom was substituting and I had to stand in the corner. When my mom came to get me, I said, "I was naughty in the Nursery." For some reason my family members still talk about that. I was the naughtiest child my mom had (at least when I was little), so there are plenty of stories that are still frequently mentioned and laughed about.

Too Funny

Last night we ended up eating dinner at home and then stopping by my parents' house later. We didn't get there until after 7:30 and stayed until almost 9:30. I kept trying to get us out of there so we could get Ada to bed, but my dad kept telling us stories about his grandpa's mission. When we finally got to the car, I apologized to Tyler for staying so late. "That's okay," he said. "I like hearing George talk about hookers and naked women."

Best of 2007

I thought it would be fun to think back on the best of the best from last year. Here goes nothing...

Best Movie: Since I hardly saw any movies, I'll go with the only one I've seen in a theater since before Ada was born: Becoming Jane. I love Jane Austen, and although this was very sad, it was fun to see what her life was actually like.

Best Album: Probably the only one I purchased all year (and we actually downloaded it): In Rainbows by Radiohead. It's similar to their more recent work, but it has some great mellow songs.

Best Book: The best book I read all year wasn't new, but it was so good: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I absolutely loved it. It's about a German girl living with foster parents during WWII. One thing that makes it interesting is that it's narrated by Death. I immediately fell in love with the characters and once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down. I was bawling at the end.

Best Purchase: On December 31 I bought a tan, wool skirt at Banana Republic. It was regularly $78, but I paid $28! Too bad I can't afford anything else in that place. Thank goodness for the outlet!

Best Sports Moment: Even though BYU beating Utah and UCLA were pretty exciting, I'm going to have to say the first two rounds of the playoffs for the Jazz. Game 7 against the Rockets was fantastic, and there was something to talk about after every game against the Warriors. Those were some fun times.

Best News: The upcoming arrival of Baby #2!

Best Vacation: Probably our national park trip, but we loved Las Vegas and Austin.

Best Moments: Ada's first birthday, Ada learning to walk, Jazz games, our date to the Homecoming Dance, and being with all of our family members for Christmas.

2007 was a great year, but 2008 looks to be even better with Tyler graduating and a new baby coming!

Who needs a vacuum?

Ada has been so funny lately. Several times a day, she'll find a tiny crumb or something on the floor, give it to Tyler or me, and say, "Kucky!" It's like she's a little detective who walks around staring at the floor holding a magnifying glass to her eye. I don't know how she sees everything, especially with the type of carpet we have. The other day I was in my bedroom trying to put one of those tiny clear elastics in her hair and I dropped it. I couldn't find it, so I got another one. Well, today I saw Ada walking out of my bedroom with something in her mouth. It was none other than the elusive elastic! I'll have to start hiring her out to find stuff for people.

She's getting so big and smart. I can't believe it. We're trying to teach her colors. Although most of the time she calls everything 'yellow' (it must be her favorite), she can correctly identify blue, red, purple, pink, and green. She also knows her last name now. She still has a little naughty streak in her (today she scribbled on the cabinet with a crayon), but she's lots of fun. I love it when she learns new things.