30 Weeks!

I Last Friday for my birthday, Chase and I shopped a little and got the cutest lamp for Kate's room. It is DARLING. Then we went to Benihanna for dinner and he surprised me with friends waiting for us! Lauren and Sean, Emily and Alex, London and Matt, Sarah, and Avery. It was so perfect! I loved every second. Em gave me a darling gold frame "one fine day." Avery gave me the carseat/nursing cover I wanted, and she didn't even know! Lauren gave me a new makeup bag that I so needed. Then we got cold stone after and it was delish! On Sunday, Connie gave me a baby carrier and we got some money to put towards the stoller, and of course some cute baby outfits. It was a great birthday! 

This week I feel like I am looking full term! I think she has dropped low and farther out a bit. I also have linera negra, but only slightly. I have actually had this for a few weeks but it is very faint. I have started to get more uncomfortable when I sleep, but not enough to wake me up. I just roll over. I sometimes wake up on my back, which is frowned upon for circulation reasons, but I can't help it in my sleep! Kate is as active as ever, but its more slow movement, fewer kicks and jabs. She is about 3+ pounds and 18 inches at this point. I am now down to appointments every two weeks so I am excited for the next one! My weight gain has also tapered off. I gained 25 pounds between week 15 and 28 (about). But I have stayed right around 170 for the last couple of weeks. If I could max out under 180 (35 pounds gained) that would be ideal! 

I keep having the image in my head that she will come early. Not too early to be safe, but just early. maybe because I am hoping for 10 days before the due date, but I have been a little anxious about getting things ready to go. I have revised the birth plan, packed the diaper bag (2 weeks ago), planned my hospital bag contents, pre-registered at the hospital, researched pediatricians and insurance (but not quite decided), etc. I am hoping to have carpet in no later than mid March so the nursery can be put together. 

The house is coming along nicely. We are still working on painted trim before we get carpet, and a few other minor things that Chase can knock out of Spring break (next week). Chase has been so busy with school this week that there is almost no time for anything else! He left the house at 7 yesterday and got home at 11:30. He left the house this morning at 7 and is going to spend the night in Ogden so he can study longer and take his physics test Friday morning. If I had to guess, I would say this has been the hardest week for him since he started in August. Lots of test and studying. He was also just asked to help coach the Bonneville girls golf team. So he will be getting volunteer and leadership hours (about 4 every week) in addition to some rest, relaxation, sunshine and free golf! I am so proud of Chase. I hope he know it. He is sacrificing a lot, we both are, but he carries a heavy load these days. 

Last night when he came home late, I was half a sleep. He said, I just need some snuggles. He was so sweet to me, He expressed heartfelt gratitude for me doing my part so that he can do his. I think it is the most I have ever felt his gratitude for me. Which makes me just want to do more for him to support him and ease his burden. There is only so much I can do for him at school, but I can pack him snacks and lunches, I can have good food ready for him, laundry done, minimize his responsibilities at home, and just love him. This has been a great week for our marriage. I am learning how to love him better and he is showing so much thoughtfulness and gratitude for me, even when we only see each other for a few minutes each day. I sure love that boy, and I always will. 

28 Weeks - Hello Third Trimester!

I will say it yet, again...time is flying! I can't believe 28 weeks is already here. I am definitely hitting the nesting stage, but I can't do a whole lot until our house is finished! Everything just takes longer than anticipated when I can only do so much and Chase is at school and we are trying to save money. But it will all work out. We finally got our front door installed yesterday and we started caulking and painting the trim. We need to pull the trigger on carpet and get it scheduled for the second week in March. We have our first baby shower on Saturday at my mom's with her ward and my family and I am so excited! I am sad I won't get to put all of my stuff away until after the nursery is ready, but it will be so fun to see people and get things ready for Kate.

I am feeling really big in the last several days. I have gained nearly 25 pounds. I am really hoping to stay under 35, but it is crazy how fast it is coming on! I need to eat a little better, and exercise more, but I am not too worried about weight. I just don't want it out of control. I am going to run the Huntsville half marathon in September and I am really looking forward to training for that some time in June! In other news, my adductors are really sore, especially after I have been sitting for a while. My feet have been a tiny bit more swollen at the end of the day. And that's about it. Heart burn has all but stopped. I do get uncomfortable at the end of the day when my belly feels really tight and big, so I like how I feel more in the mornings.

Kate is either a sleep allllll day, or she is a gymnast. The last two days she has been moving non stop! A few days before that she was pretty inactive. I love feeling her move though. I try to guess what she would look like and what body part I am feeling. I think she will start to move less in the next few weeks as she runs out of room, and that will make me kind of sad! I am looking forward to this Friday when I get to see her again at my appointment. But I also have to do the glucose test, which I am not looking forward to.

Look at that cheek!!! This is from my 28 week and 3 day appointment. The glucose test wasn't bad. And Megan went with me so that was fun!

I recently made a list of things I want to do while I am on maternity leave to make the most of the time and it is going to be so fun! Of course, my biggest priority is to bond with and get to know Kate, and spend extra time with Chase. But in addition to training for a half marathon, I want o do lots of hiking, get back to my pre baby weight of 145 by the half marathon, spend time at the pool, and really enjoy summer. I am also reading much more now and I want to keep that up. Right now I am reading The Dog Whisperer to help me understand and train Alfie better. It's interesting enough. I am going to read another birth book after that.

Life is so good! This weekend was Valentine's day and Chase got me a card and chapstick, and I made him a card. We are taking our new budget for the year pretty seriously (and I love it) so we are doing small gifts. Anyway, we drove home and talked the whole time about kids and how we want to raise Kate. And it was so fun! Chase stopped in the middle of a sentence, put his hand on my leg adn said, "This is so fun, I love talking about this." I really think we will make a great team. It was fun to relax in St. George for a couple of days with the Fowler's but time I get alone with Chase is so precious. I find myself mourning the loss of our pre-kid marriage. But we have talked about how we can make sure parenting makes our marriage stronger, and does not take away from it. Chase will be such a good dad, and I think I will be a pretty good mom, and I think together we will have so much fun raising kids. Just like we have had fun for the last five years. He is definitely my favorite person, and my most precious relationship, and always will be.

27 Weeks!

I cannot believe how fast time is going by. I am showing enough now that a few strangers have asked how far along I am. I haven't had a stranger rub my belly yet though (and hopefully I won't!). I have gained about 20 pounds but I still feel like it is all in my belly and boobs. I still feel great. I have a little heartburn, but nothing terrible. I sleep with a pillow between my knees to help my back that is sore sometimes. I do feel like my stomach muscles and pelvic floor muscles are stretching a lot. When I stand up at work to walk to the bathroom, my who-ha feels like it is gaping wide open! And my abs are really tight. I think I have braxton hicks contractions most days. The bottom half of my belly will get really tight and feels like a lot of pressure, but nothing painful. I haven't been really good about exercising, but I walk Alfie about a mile around Tolman Elementary every day and do a set of body weight squats most days. But I really cannot complain. I have had such an easy pregnancy so far and I am really enjoying the miracle part of it. The slight discomforts are definitely worth it. I love laying in bed in the morning and feeling Kate move. I love when Chase gets to feel her move. I love when I think about having her hear with us.

In the last few weeks, Chase and I took some formal maternity pictures with Lauren and I loooooove them. Here are my favorite ones. My mom got me the dress as a surprise, and the winter wonderland in the yard was perfect. We also got our big baby purchase last week; our stroller! I got the City Select and I am so excited to take walks with Kate in it! Most everything else we are getting borrowed, or really cheap. In about a month, we will have carpet in the house and we can put the nursery together!

Tonight is Chase and I are celebrating Valentine's Day early (we will be in St.George this weekend and the 14th is a Sunday). I am so excited. I love holidays that are about Chase and I. My favorite is our anniversary, followed by Valentines. We don't really do gifts and stuff. If we do, we just go shopping together and pick something we want or need. I just adore spending one on one time with him. In fact, I have been mourning the loss of our pre-kid marriage for a few months now. We just have a lot of fun and I want so badly to keep this going. I do think we are both prepared to make having a baby improve our marriage, rather than detract from it. I just find myself counting down the days until I get to meet my baby, see Chase meet his baby, and also see our relationship change for the better. I will always look back on our nearly five years of marriage before kids with such fondness. I have said this before, but I don't know if I know very many couples that are as happy as we are. In fact, I can't think of one. Of course, I hope everyone is as happy as we are, but it's hard to imagine. I am so glad that I get to have Chase as my children's father. He will be so amazing, I know it. There is definitely no one I love more, want to spend more time with, adore and need than Chase. He is perfect for me. And I am so glad he is my Valentine.

Meeting Kate

Everyday the whole reality of the situation sets in more and more. I feel so unprepared for motherhood. Pregnancy has been a breeze really, and I am actually looking forward to labor and delivery; what an unparalleled human experience! I am excited to see her and love her and share her with Chase. But there are some parts that I just feel unsure about. I think getting the house done will help me feel better, and getting showers and pictures and things planned. And things like insurance need to be arranged, and finding a pediatrician, etc. But then there is the part when all of that is done, when Chase and I take Kate home and we are just a little family. I want to do everything "right" so that I don't make the big mistakes, or too many little ones. I want my baby to love me and love others and be kind and grateful and to be an adventurous little soul. I hope Kate loves her grandparents, and gets the opportunity to know her great grandparents. I hope she adores her cousins and aunts and uncles. I hope she loves to read or sing or run or get dirty or hike or clean or garden or collect rocks or cook or travel or alphabetize or anything else she tries. I guess I really don't care what she loves, as long as she gets the chance to do it, see it, feel it. I hope she has good health, and if not, I hope she does the best with the little body she is given. I hope she is just like her dad, and if not I hope she loves whoever she is. I hope she finds amazing people in life to be mentored by, and if not, I hope she can perceive good from bad, right from wrong. I hope every person that is a part of her life will be willing to love and accept her and help her and be a part of her positive life experiences. And if not, I hope she can be the positive influence in others lives. I hope she loves life, and learning and being. I hope she wants to do some things that I can teach her, but I hope she loves her own individuality more and can teach me who she is. I am feeling more and more that having a baby, a daughter, is not about molding or creating or teaching. It is about discovering along side Kate who she is, what she is made to be and do. I am sure I will learn from her more than she will learn from me. I used to think that when people said they are excited to "meet" a baby, that it was a poor way to say they are excited to see or hold or love a baby. But I get it now. There really is a life blooming in the tiny little body of my baby. I want to learn her personality and her likes and her dislikes and her communication style and her body language and I want to see her develop. I love this baby girl so much already, but I can't yet feel the painful kind of love I know is coming. I can't wait for the mother's love to hit me square in the chest when I meet Kate Reynolds for the first time, and for everyday thereafter.

Happy New Year!

2015 Has been a really big year for Chase and I. Although we moved into our house in December of 2014, we have been working on our house this whole year. It has taken 99% of our disposable income, free time and effort. I am so, so happy with how it has turned out. I am so looking forward to having it done! Especially right before we bring Kate home. I think we will have everything but the carpet and kitchen backsplash done by the end of January. And by the middle of February, when I start the third trimester, it will all be done!

This year we also got our puppy! We started thinking about a puppy in April. Alfie was born March 25, 2015 and we brought him home on May 9th. It was a sweet way to remember our miscarriage due date, April 30th. He has been the sweetest puppy. I adore him. I love that he is part of our family. He is not perfectly trained, but he is very well behaved, does not chew on things he shouldn't (99% of the time), is perfectly potty trained, and is a snuggler.

And of course, Chase quit his job and decided to go back to school to prepare for medical school. That was a big shift for us, but it is going really well. He did great his first semester back, and is still really excited about his plans. I am really proud of him for making that jump. It will good for our family in the long run. And in the mean time, I am still very happy with how things are going! I am sure loving him being home during the break. I love coming home to him being there (and my handy man gets so much done while I am at work!). So I am not looking forward to the late nights during the coming semester.

And finally, five days after Chase started school, we found out we were expecting a baby! The last four months have been nothing but fun. I am so grateful that pregnancy has been smooth for me, and more so that Kate is healthy. The timing really is perfect and I am so excited to see her sweet face and share her with Chase. I am hoping that 2016 will be the first Mother's day that I spend as a mom, if Kate comes a few days early. What a fantastic year 2015 has been, but I am sure 2016 will top it!

21 Weeks

This week we enjoyed a little time off for Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve skiing at Snowbasin and it was the best the snow has been this early in the year for a long time! I loved it. And I did not feel inhibited by my baby bump at all. I was cautious, but I was able to ski as aggressively as I usually do. That night was went to Grandma Nolene's for dinner and gifts. She gave us a card table and chairs that I am so glad to have, but never would have bought for myself. We also visited with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas and they gave us a lifetime table, so we are all set in the table department. That night we stayed at home and headed to Connie and Tony's in the morning. We had breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls, SO good! This year we mostly got clothes, and we got them a pack n' play for Kate so that was exciting. Then we went to my mom's house for second Christmas morning in the afternoon. She gave us some money and some clothes, all good things. We got her an Apple TV for the basement #Netflicks. Grandma Jan and Grandpa took turns visiting. Of course, Bean family drama made it's way into the picture unfortunately (the Bean family party on the 23rd was kind of a drag). We are just glad to have our grandparents still around. Then we went to the Calton Christmas dinner. It's always good, but for some reason this year, including Thanksgiving, gravy was left off the menu. Sad day. Then we headed to my mom's to see Fowlers for a minute, back to Reynolds to see Clark and Hailey, then back to my mom's to sleep. Then next morning, Hudson got his big dump truck. Too cute. 

This year Chase talked a lot about how Christmas is his favorite time of year. I love it too, but I think I can get complacent sometimes that we have to run around so much. But this year, I enjoyed it more and complained less, for Chase, but it really helped everything go more smoothly. This year I finally printed Chase's mission book and it turned out great. He got me a shirt I wanted that says "baby mama" on it. It's cute! 

It's been so incredibly enjoyable to have Chase around these last couple of weeks. I am kind of dreading him going back to school and coming to home to an empty house again. And he has been amazing with getting the house closer and closer to finished. He is about 80% done with the floors and they look amazing. This week, we get our final bathroom counter and appliances!

On the baby front, I have now gained about ten pounds. So much for not gaining any weight in the beginning! I feel Kate move less frequently, but it is more obvious when I do. I think she might have more regular sleep cycles now. I still feel pretty good, very few symptoms. And I now show 100% of the time, but my size varies quite a bit from day to day. I am really excited to get past the 24 week mark, when fewer things can go really wrong. 

Oh! And Avery got engaged on the 19th! Jackson Walker is his name. We keep walking around saying, "Misses Walker, we need your help here!" from Miracle on 34th Street. He is a good guy, decathalete at BYU, from Idaho Falls, and he makes Ave happy. 

20 Weeks!

Today marks 20 weeks and half way through this pregnancy! In the last week or so my low back and hips have been really sore. I might have even had a couple braxton hicks contractions (I'm not sure, but maybe). Everyone says that the second trimester is the best, but my first trimester was so easy that I am now feeling the effects of pregnancy more. Mostly, I am showing more and my clothes don't fit quick right. I have now gained about 8 pounds (153 pounds). Some aches and pains, but I can't complain! I am enjoying it. 

Chase has been able to feel Kate move on two difference occasions now. I feel her almost constantly. The last couple of days the movement has slowed a little bit, but I still feel her several times per day, mostly strongly in the morning. 

Our big 20 week ultrasound is tomorrow and I am really excited! It will be good to get a confirmation of the gender, good health and due date. Up to this point, I have been measuring early. At the 12 week appointment I was 5 days early, and I forget to ask at the 16 week. With any luck, we will be looking at something closer to May 1st so Chase can spend the whole first week at home with us.  

Update on the house; we got kitchen counters yesterday! And we are getting our upstairs bathroom counters today. Chase is hooking up plumbing to the kitchen sink as we speak, and getting started on the wood floors later today. Chase finished finals last week and he has four whole weeks off! I am beyond excited. I get to see him more, and sooooo much will get done on the house. 

Speaking of Chase's school...wow. I cannot express how proud I am of him! He committed 100% to getting good grades and he did it. He had his hardest schedule, and his best GPA ever. He also managed to get certified in phlebotomy, work at Sonora Grill one shift per week, and volunteer at the hospital on Saturday mornings. His resume is going to be outstanding as he applies to med school in 18 months.