The Final S-T-R-E-T-C-H

Now that I am almost 39 weeks pregnant, I am losing all sorts of pride and don't really care. This whole baby-making thing has been hard so I don't care what anyone thinks of my huge body. I think its kind of entertaining. 

37 weeks

38 weeks

See, no pride left at 38 (and a half) weeks. This is a public blog, keep in mind.

It's Raining Presents!!!

While I knew that we had some great friends and family members, I think I really underestimated them all -- no offense to any of you or anything, we just didn't expect to be so well taken care of. My mom and sister did a shower in Utah at my cousin's house in Salt Lake and we got lots of cute clothes and some amazing homemade keepsakes. My friends and former/current coworkers had a shower here near Sacramento where we were again spoiled rotten (the baby was I mean) and then the ladies in my ward did a fun shower where I was again reminded that this is going to be one well-dressed little lady. I wish I had been better about pictures...I did a rotten job of documenting the showers.

The shower in Utah:

Favors

Food

Food

Cookie pizza bar...yum!

Rodeo queen girls at the Utah shower. Sad thing is that three of these girls are pregnant and I am the only obvious one!

Aw...there's the other bump:) Chris is due two days after me but it looks like she might get to meet her bambino sooner than I will.

Diaper cake from ward shower...I was really bad about pictures here...

Favors from friend and coworker shower in Sacramento

cute and DELICIOUS cake at Sacramento shower

Former and current coworkers at Sacramento shower...this is only a small sampling of the generous crowd.

My coworkers also surprised me and my boss with a small shower at work today. My boss and his wife are having a baby about six weeks after me and Logan.

I think of all the pictures I have yet to get, I wish I had one of my mom and sister, now that my sister is showing. What are the odds we will end of pregnant together again?! They are supposed to come out to Sacramento next week, maybe they will arrive before the baby and we can have a photo opportunity!

After all these showers there really wasn't much we needed. We have been so well taken care of! I had a couple of gift cards and didn't have much in the way of baby lotion, shampoo, baby wash, etc. So yesterday, I went to Target to load up on bathroom essentials for the baby and when I got home, we had another present on the porch...It was full of lotion and baby wash:) Our friends and family are amazing!

Maternity Pictures

Though much has been going on with work and home lately, I feel like growing a brain is the only thing worth documenting. When I went home in January for a baby shower, I had my sister take some photos of us. I think I have grown a lot since then. But I feel much less excited about pictures, so it is probably good we took some pictures when we did.

Holidays, Work Update and Belly Pictures

Since I reactivated my blog, I haven't been very good about updating it. Between traveling for the holidays and being at work a lot, I have been a little drained to say the least.

Just a quick recap: We went to both Idaho and Utah for Christmas. We bought a couple of new cars the day before we left so we ended up driving the new Ford Edge home. You'd think that would mean we would have more space for the drive...um no. We took out a lot of presents, luggage and a dog, so the car was filled to the gills. Then we ended up bringing way more presents back with us so it was even more tight coming back. I spent a week at home while Logan only got a couple of days in with the family before heading to Phoenix for the Arizona National Stock Show. The good news is, it will probably be the last time he has to do that over the holidays for a while...which brings me to the reason we bought two cars.

A couple of months ago I mentioned that we had more exciting news to come. Well, it's not so exciting now because most people know, but Logan got a new job! So, he had to get his own vehicle. Then while we were looking at cars, we found a dealer who could get us out of our Nissan Altima (which we were a little upside down in due to another crappy dealer experience) and get us into a car for Logan and an SUV for me and the kid. It really was a deal too good to be true. We got a really great deal....and then weeks later the dealership realized a mistake in their contract, so it wasn't such a great deal, but still a good deal. That issue is still unresolved. Man, I hate car dealers. They are ALL the same.

Back to the job. Logan left the American Angus Association to go to work for the Western Livestock Journal. We are super excited for the freedom the new job will allow and the opportunities for our family to perhaps spend a little more time together, although there will still be plenty of travel. His territory remains the same for now, but he will be doing only the marketing and advertising side of things rather than all of that plus shows, audits, etc.  We are really looking forward to seeing what the new adventure brings.

And, speaking of new adventures, I have some belly photos...

28 weeks

29 weeks

31 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

In all reality, I don't think I am looking a ton different from week to week, but boy am I feeling different. And as a side note, one good thing about these pictures is that they remind me of outfits I should never wear again. I am up about 23 lbs so far (ugh...but only up 1 lb over the holidays!!!! yay for small victories!) and it is really getting tough to move around. Every time I drop something I just stare at it on the floor for a minute trying to decide if I should leave it or pick it up. I have even resorted to asking the dog to pick things up for me. If I point to something of his and tell him to get it, he will. The same is not true for things of mine. He just stares and cocks his head at me.

I have had some pretty extreme heartburn and am really tired. My hair has been dull and limp, my nails have been brittle, but geez, my skin is GREAT! My complexion is almost reason enough to do this again. I pretty much sit at work all day and pet my cheeks:)

The hospital bag is all packed and the baby's crib bedding is almost done. After a shower in Utah next week and one in California the second week in February, I think we should be ready to welcome baby Ipsen. I think she is as excited as we are. She spends most of her days trying to kick her way out of my uterus. Really, I am terrified, especially after purchasing some creepy looking nursing bras today, but I am sure holding her for the first time will take away all the fear. That's what I'm banking on anyways.

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

This past week, my mom and stepdad and my sister and her husband came out for the holiday. It was great to see them and spend a few days hanging out with all of them. We didn't think to take any photos, which is really a shame because my sister is expecting also and it would have been fun to take a photo or two of us as our big bellies progress.

Ashlee had a retched head cold when she got here and on top of her morning sickness, I was really grateful to not be sick anymore. I guess I wasn't grateful enough because within hours of her leaving I came down with world's worst head cold. Ugh.

Other than eating too much too many times, getting sick and experiencing some insane Black Friday shopping where I didn't buy a thing, the weekend was pretty uneventful.

Winter here is in full swing and the fog has been crazy thick. So we have been inside, decorating for the holidays, finishing the baby nursery and preparing for Christmas. 

I also had my glucose tolerance test before Thanksgiving and still have some wicked bruising and knots in my arms where a really great (say that with sarcasm) phlebotomist butchered me. Let's hope I pass so we don't have to play that game again. 

Below are a few photos of the last few weeks to show how the belly is progressing...

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

Fat Lady Photos

I must admit as excited as we are to be taking this next step in our lives, watching the scale go up each week is not getting easier. But I guess that goes with the territory. Due to popular demand, I have posted some pictures of my growing body. I am confident my butt has grown more than my belly (refer to my hind end at 6 weeks compared to 20 weeks...those are the same pants).  She better be a cute little viking. Even if she is neon white.

I really had good intentions to take a weekly picture in the same clothes, but I have pretty much sucked at that. And I don't think that t-shirt even fits anymore.

6 weeks

This is the morning we found out. See, I started with good intentions.

7 weeks

8 weeks

This is when I started getting sick.

10 weeks

12 weeks

14 weeks

The end of this week is when I stopped being sick. Funny, this is also when I started to gain weight. Coincidence?

18 weeks

I swear I took a picture at 16 weeks, but I can't find it. 

Maybe when I started getting fatter it was easier to ignore the camera.

18 weeks is also when I first felt her...I think.

20 weeks

This is when I am CERTAIN I could feel her.

21 weeks

This is when I first experienced heartburn. Awesome stuff.

22 weeks. Definitely getting harder to hide.

23 weeks. I just took this one today. 

The dress (and the awesome glare) makes it hard to really see anything.

Looking back,  I feel stupid for feeling fat at 12 and 14 weeks. I am sure that in another month, I will feel stupid for feeling so fat at 23 weeks.

In other notes I'd like to remember, my skin, hair and nails look good. Mostly my nails. So I guess that partially offsets the additional 12 lbs I am packing. My lower back hurts when I sit or stand for too long and I sleep like a rock from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. I am sure that will change eventually, but I am really enjoying for now. 

I have read a lot that it isn't good to sleep on your back, but I wake up on my back all the time. Each time I do, I wake up Logan and he gets chewed out for not checking on me. Now, he nudges me several times a night to remind me to get off my back and move to my side:)

That's all for now. Stay tuned for next week!

Back At It and Happy As Ever!

So, it has officially been a year since I last blogged and what a year it has been! We are sooo happy and things are wonderful. I left the blog on kind of a sour note but am glad to say our lives are as good as they have ever been and we are both anxiously waiting to see what our life has in store for us.

I have documented (with my camera) a lot of the fun things that we have seen, places we have went and things we have done over the last year, but unfortunately I don't have the time or ambition to play catch up in much detail, so a few crappy pictures from my phone will have to work. My last blog post was about the one and only real vacation we had had together. I admit I was pretty bitter that we had waited until that point in our lives to try and take a timeout. I think that if we have learned anything about marriage it is that spending time together and enjoying life is far more important than work or jobs, luckily we have both been enjoying our jobs as well.

While none of the things we have done this year have been impressive or earth-shattering, they are examples of how we are living life more fully, appreciating each other more and spending time doing things that matter to both of us -- rather than focusing on how much time we are apart or things we don't have or don't have time for. They are all things that we didn't do a lot in the first couple of years we were married. We have a long list of goals -- things we want to do and accomplish, but the things that have been keeping us busy this year are definitely a good start towards being the people we want to be.

In the past year we have:

Worked a lot.
We have set a goal to travel more together and we have spent a lot of time together in the company car.

Went fishing!
Logan got out his new fishing pole for the first time in three years and has used it several times! He went fishing in West Yellowstone when he was in Idaho visiting family; in Huntington Canyon when we were visiting family in Utah; in Hat Creek in Northern California; and on the East Fork Carson River near Reno.

Taught Sunday School.
Stevie is teaching the 16 and 17 year olds...they are tons of fun! (and, at times, a challenge).

Went golfing!
Logan got a new set of golf clubs for his birthday...and used them immediately!

Bought some cows
Horses and arena are next, we just have to find some more money and somewhere to put them...baby steps I guess.

Worked on our home.
We got new carpet in our house; a new bedroom set, painted and decorated the last spare bedroom; and are adding upgrades to the other spare bedroom as we speak. We also got a new bedroom set and love it!

Spare bedroom before...

Spare bedroom after...

It still needs some color. Maybe some red or turquoise accessories, but I haven't decided yet.

Celebrated the national passtime!
We frequented AT&T Park quite a few times. We are huge fans of the San Francisco Giants! We even had front row seats once.

We didn't match on purpose, but we sure were cute!

Got rewarded.
Stevie got a new boss, a job title change and a well-deserved raise! Woot Woot!

Picnicked!
Logan discovered a little lake in the Sierra Nevadas and we took a whole day to hang out, have a picnic and scope out fishing spots along the for Logan to visit.

Made a baby!!!!
Our little (or big) white viking will be here around the first of March and we can hardly wait!

There was some confusion at first.

This is after we found out that she was a girl. 

But I think I knew all along. Just kidding, I had no idea. I was just hopeful:)

We also have some other top secret news that we can't talk about yet, but stay tuned! I promise it will be exciting...