Monthly Archives: July 2012

lake moomaw

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We went to meet Michael’s family at Lake Moomaw this weekend for a little fun! It was our first time going up there, and with a name like Moomaw, who knows what to expect!

It was a really beautiful place. The water was actually a crystal blue, and there were places for picnicking, boating, and swimming.

 We sure didn’t anticipate that the lake would be HUGE and we would end up confused and looking for the rest of the family for about 4 hours. I’m so glad we eventually found everyone!

All our turmoil from searching was worth it when Dad took me out for an easy ride on the jetski! It was my first time on one, and I loved it! It felt just like a motorcycle on water.

We swam around and just ate and visited with family afterward. Cousin Brianna was there!

Here’s our post-lake picture!

And next time, we’ll be able to have even more fun because we’ll know how to get there!

32 weeks

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How big is baby? Almost 4 pounds and about 19 inches long!
Maternity clothes? Rockin’ them.
Sleep: I’ve started putting a pillow between my knees again (I had been doing it before but then stopped once I thought it wasn’t helping me anymore), and I think that it really and truly makes a difference. I sleep sounder and my hips feel better during the day.
Best moment this week: Spending so much time with Michael 🙂 He claims that we had a date every night last week (so he didn’t get much work done)! I am so grateful for all the fun we have together.
Movement: I think she’s completely lost her mind these past couple days and wants to bust out right through my stomach! Her energy level has definitely peaked. I think she might have been having a growth spurt before, because she wasn’t quite as active. But she’s back to her normal insane self again!
Food cravings: M&M cookies. Very specific.
Miss Anything? My swimsuit fitting! I bought a new one online, but it hasn’t gotten here yet and I am super anxious for it!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Gender: Girl.
Belly Button in or out? Still in, barely.
Exercising? Still ran my regular 20.44 miles, but some days are definitely a whole lot harder than others. I am just trying to do the best I can every day!
Mood: Happy and glad to be feeling a little less achy/exhausted/uncomfortable than I was for most of the past week!
Looking forward to: Seeing our family this weekend!

And someone wanted to show off something else that arrived in the mail recently…

blackberry weekend

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We had such a wonderful and BUSY weekend! It was only busy because it was filled with fun things though, and that’s the best kind of busy if you ask me. We had a dinner date out to a new-to-me Chinese buffet place (SO DELICIOUS!) and we even did our couponing at Target and ended up “saving” more than we spent- 60%!

On Saturday, we went to our friends’ birthday party for their little boy who just turned one! I won’t tell you how many pieces of cake Michael had… (hint: it starts with a “th” and ends in a “ree”)!

We also went blackberry picking! I really needed some berries to make jam, and we ended up getting just enough.

We wouldn’t have had even close to enough berries if Michael hadn’t been willing to be a wild man and climb into a lot of the taller brush.

And yes, it was as hot as these photos make it look, so once we were done, we went home and jumped straight in the swimming pool! Our little princess is always so wiggly after I get out of the pool (maybe because I drink a whole lot of ice water), but this time she even got hiccups while we were swimming. It felt so funny underwater!

I made my jam later that night, and it turned out soooo good. I think blackberry jam just might be my very favorite.

31 weeks

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How big is baby? About 3.5 lbs and 18 inches long!
Maternity clothes? Pretty much every day now, yup.
Sleep: This week has been the worst so far… but I think I am also a little bit sick so that might have something to do with it. I also feel like I dream about holding her every time I do sleep!
Best moment this week: Getting her crib all made up with the mattress and sheet and her little lamb, making her name to put on the wall with Michael (and no, it’s not going to say “munchkin”, but we’re keeping it a surprise for now), hearing her heartbeat nice and strong at the doctor’s office yesterday… So many good moments! I was also super excited to hear that she is head down! I know that she can still change position but for some reason it just makes me so happy.
Movement: Lots as usual. She’s my little dancer, wiggler, and hiccuper. It still never gets old for me to touch her and feel her push back on me. I love her so much.
Food cravings: Chocolate chip cookies!
Miss Anything? Sleeping well, but I know that this is just preparation for the real thing!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really, but meat is still not on the menu often.
Gender: Girl.
Belly Button in or out? Little girl can push part of it out pretty far depending on how she’s sitting in there!
Exercising? 20.44 running miles, but I’ve had some rough days and I feel like people are always looking at me when I’m out there.
Mood: Soooo excited to meet this little princess!
Looking forward to: Picking out/making the rest of the things for her walls and finishing up in there!

And as a tiny nursery sneak-peek… Here’s “Lambie”, waiting for her little friend to arrive! My mom bought this little plush for the baby, along with a couple of Eric Carle books (it was a Kohl’s special)! Michael has started peeking in her room and saying “goodnight!” and “good morning!” to this little lamb… I guess he’s practicing!

the piano

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It was already almost 3 weeks ago that we “adopted” a piano of our very own! I had actually been thinking about how nice it would be to have one, and it turns out that Michael was considering it, too, because he found this one on Craigslist for $100! It really is in excellent shape, and it was only about a half-step flat on every note. We had a piano tuner come, and he said that the last guy who tuned it left a note saying that he actually did it that way on purpose… in 1999! It stayed consistently flat for quite a while.

It sounded good before the tuner came, but now it sounds beautiful. I love hearing Michael play. It’s actually one of his talents that I have always admired.

I can read music (albeit slowly) from my years of choir and guitar-playing, so I am making progress and learning to play out of the “beginner” hymnbook that Michael actually gave me for Christmas the first year we knew each other.

I really look forward to the day that I can play songs for our little family can sing along to. Maybe one day I’ll even be able to play in church!

if you give a mouse a cookie…

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…or a guinea pig a box, you’ll be in for some good entertainment! We’ve been getting quite a few packages around here lately, and Maggie and Juni haven’t had a box to play with for while, so why not? I even cut a door in it and put their favorite blanket and stuffed caterpillar in there in case they wanted to sleep in it, but it turns out that both my pigs are too good for the “Box Hotel” and would rather just sleep under the blankets.

They begin by innocently greeting the box.

And even take a peek inside.

Until they conclude that the box is only worthy of being destroyed.

(The lump under the blanket is Juni!)

Their five-second attention span means that the fun didn’t last very long. At least I got some cute pictures out of it!

30 weeks!

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How big is baby? 17 inches long and weighing in at about 3 lbs!
Maternity clothes? Still mixing it up, but I’m wearing mostly maternity now. I am also super excited because I finally broke down and just bought a few things. I had been holding out for deals/ebay/lucky thrift store finds, despite Michael telling me several times that I could just buy some clothes! I did have some good fortune with my previously mentioned philosophy and got some clothes cheap… but it feels good to have just gone shopping, gotten things I actually like and know that I will feel good wearing them for the rest of my pregnancy. I never really realized how much the clothes you wear can affect how you feel about your body! (And Michael might have been even happier about me buying clothes than I was).
Sleep: Not so good this past week. There was one night that I just couldn’t sleep in our room at all, so I got up, walked around a little while, and ended up sleeping on our extra bed in the den (AKA “the pig room”). Luckily the pigs were pretty quiet for me and I finally did fall asleep.
Best moment this week: Michael has finally started coming up to me and just touching my belly. It makes me so happy!
Movement: She’s still a wiggle worm, and this week she has suddenly become a hiccup machine! She’s had them quite a few times and seems extra squirmy when she does. So cute. She is also still doing that weird “lump” thing I mentioned last week. I had Michael feel my belly and he thought it was her back pushing up against me, but then we decided that we are still undecided about what she’s doing in there. All I know is that she can push HARD.
Food cravings: Would you believe me if I said… none? I have seemed A LOT hungrier these past few days though.
Miss Anything? Sleeping.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Having an empty stomach.
Gender: Girl.
Belly Button in or out? In, but pretty much flat when she pushes up against it!
Exercising? 20.44 running miles.
Total weight gain: (I had a friend request that this be a question… so I’ll include it this week)! 13 lbs total so far.
Mood: Happy and so excited to only have 7-10 weeks left until we can meet her!
Looking forward to: Getting some of the big things for her room. I finally ordered her mattress and changing pad (along with protective sheets for both) a few days ago, and they should be here soon! I have this intense urge to get everything finished (can you say “nesting”)? I thought I had some signs of nesting quite a few weeks ago, when suddenly I could see dirt in places I had never even noticed before, but now it’s getting a lot more serious. The house is cleaner and more organized, and hopefully soon Munchkin’s room will be decorated, too.

ring-a-ding-ding

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No, that’s not your doorbell… It’s a RING on Lelia’s finger… from our brother, Jeff! (There’s no ring in this photo though, because it was getting resized!)

They actually got engaged on June 16th, but I am slow blogging about it. Better late than never! Their engagement involved sneaking out of the house after midnight, making s’mores on the beach, and finding a message in a bottle. And then Jeff was down on one knee, asking her to marry him. Sounds just like a Taylor Swift song, doesn’t it?

I am SO EXCITED for them, and while it isn’t surprising that they go so well together… it almost is shocking that my BFF is marrying my brother! How often does that happen? I am one blessed girl to be getting Lelia as a real sister.

I’m definitely looking forward to the end of December!

independence day 2012

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I was so excited for the Fourth of July this year, just because I was really looking forward to having a whole extra day to spend with my buddy! We also had been invited to a picnic with some friends, so how could we not have fun?

Whenever I have to bring something to share, I love taking the opportunity to experiment with my cake-decorating skills. I even made a recipe for white cake that I had never tried before! Everyone loved the cupcakes, and I have to say, I think I am finally mastering that traditional “frosting swirl”.

I love how these turned out.

We had a great time at the picnic, despite the crazy heat!

A silly-face photo is almost always required.

There were even HUGE freezie pops, and you know how much we love those.

We were going to go to the town parade (I’ve never been before and wanted to check it out), but we didn’t really leave the picnic in time to go, and this tired and hot pregnant lady ended up taking a nap instead. Oops.

We did make it to the fireworks, though! I had an especially fun time photographing them, since this is the first year I had a tripod! Here are some of my favorite shots.

After fireworks, we played with sparklers! It’s practically a tradition in my family on the Fourth of July, so I couldn’t resist getting some when we were at the store. I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow running around and waving them like crazy. This year I tried writing some things with the long exposure.

God Bless America!

29 weeks

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How big is baby? 2.75 pounds and 16.75 inches long from head to heel! Gettin’ big!
Maternity clothes? Yes, and all my regular church dresses seem to be getting too short to wear.
Sleep: Pretty good this week!
Best moment this week: Spending so much time with family, going to the temple, having a baby shower, having time with Lelia and her feeling Munchkin move for the first time… There were so many great moments!
Movement: Big kicks and still feeling her little lumpy butt (?) push out against my stomach. She also either really likes when I practice piano or is desperately trying to escape. Haha.
Food cravings: Dairy Queen (have you seen the Blizzard of the month? Any chocolate lover could not resist!), and hot dogs. Yum.
Miss Anything? Um… sub-90 temperatures?
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Gender: A little lady!
Belly Button in or out? Today I was putting lotion on and suddenly had a “where is my belly button?!” moment. It sounds weird, I know, and it is still there, but just a little bit. I can barely poke my finger in it any more.
Exercising? Keeping up with the running!
Mood: Happy, but I feel like everything is going so fast! I’m partly okay with time going fast, because then I can hold her and meet her sooner. But then again, I kind of miss back when she was just a little peanut and our secret from the rest of the world (and then I remember morning all-day sickness and don’t want to go back to that time)! I’m also just getting anxious to get the other things we need for her and finish up her room.
Looking forward to: Even more family time this weekend!