That Third Trimester

I'm finding it hard to know how to start this but I remember back from my English classes that if you don't know where to start to just write what you're thinking and then you'll get somewhere.  I mean, I know what I want to say, I just don't know how to say it.  I guess I'll just say exactly what I'm feeling.  This pregnancy is starting to wear me out!  I don't think anyone can fully prepare you for what you'll go through and how you'll feel until you go through the experience yourself.  I mean, I love that I'm pregnant and I can feel this amazing little life inside me and all that.  It's just I've started my last trimester and it is kicking my butt so far!  I'm having a hard time looking for something positive between now and when the baby comes.  Everything is just going to get harder and more awkward.  Just to name a few, I'm having a harder time sleeping, driving, working, and getting off the couch.  I've also found my mean streak.  I've heard women talk about how they're mean when they're pregnant and now I understand.  My emotions are taking control.  I got lost running an errand the other day for a friend and I almost burst out crying because I was so frustrated!  And then there's my growing body!  I have gained about 30 pounds already and I still have 11 weeks left to gain!  I'm freaking out a little and definitely not feeling any type of sexy which doesn't help things in the bedroom, and that's a big bummer too!  And then sometimes I laugh so hard I have to run to the bathroom because I'm afraid I'll pee my pants!  Yuck!

Ok I know I am complaining A LOT and I don't sound very happy but I am really happy.  I think I am just really ready not to be pregnant anymore!  I want to meet this little guy and snuggle him and be done with work for a while.  I just can't find anything to look forward to these next 11 weeks.  Don't feel sorry for me, just tell me I can get through this, that time will fly, and I still look great despite the extra weight!  Or remind me that there is still lots to do before baby is here and give me a list to check off, that would be great too!   It's times like these I wish I had my family around.  I know they wish they could be here too.  Sorry for the depressing post but I think it's important to document how you're feeling when you're pregnant, the good along with the bad. 

On the good side, I think we have a name!  I don't want to disclose it yet but if you ask me, I will tell you.  And hopefully my next post will be something happy and exciting!  But I make no promises!

Remodel

For many reasons we decided to remodel part of our house.  Here are some before and after shots.
                     BEFORE                                                                                                                   AFTER

 

 

 

 

So yeah, doesn't even look like the same house since when we first moved in.  Besides the new furniture and some rearranging, everything else is redone!  The yellow walls were painted like 3 years ago and so that doesn't really count for the upgrade but the blue wall is new.  Totally new.  It's drywall that was hung, mudded, and painted and topped off with molding.  Fancy huh?  John wanted that badly because for one, he hated the ugly faux wood and two, it helps drown out the noisy neighbors.  Bonus! 
Then in the kitchen we did all sorts of new stuff.  We built a pantry with broom closet/cat litter box storing.  It isn't totally finished, we still have to build a door for the broom closet.  But shoot it gives us so much more room and bonus, our food isn't out in the open for all to see anymore!
And not to mention there are whole new cabinets doors in the kitchen.  We chucked the old ugly ones and John, with the help of his dad, made completely new doors.  He's amazing.  He also raised our oven and put a floor covering at the bottom to make it look pretty and to level it out (which it needed badly).
We had lots of help from family and friends which made it get done faster and made it so much easier to do!  It took a while to get it this far and there are still some tweekings in store (like touch up paint) that we'll have to get to next break we both have.  We still have more we want to do in the kitchen too.  We want to put a back splash of tile above the counters and then repaint all the green wall that's left to the same blue of the drywall.  We keep saying we want to add on more projects and tackle the upstairs but once this baby is here, I don't know that we'll have time!  I guess we'll see!  But doesn't our house look brighter and happier?  That dark paint was doing us no good!  We at least got this much done in time for baby and it is SO MUCH NICER!!!!  My husband is remarkable and I'm so proud of him and all the hard work he did.  We get to admire it everyday now!  My house just became way more livable!!!

3 Happenings Lately

#1  My family had a small reunion the first week in August.  We went to Park City and stayed a few nights in other people's condos that we rented.  We had a nice time just hanging out, relaxing, eating, and swimming.  I was the lucky one who didn't have far to travel which I appreciated because driving too long makes me uncomfortable these days.  My family came from South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and California.  It was so nice to see my nieces and nephews and everyone.  We had a little bit of bad fortune sadly.  My husband got sick and missed out on almost everything and my brother-in-law had to fly home after just one day because his brother passed away.  Regardless, we made the most of our time together and before I knew it, we were all headed our separate ways again.  I hate living far away from everyone.  I hope someday soon we can all live within doable driving distances.  On another downer note, I was a bum and didn't take any pictures.  Hopefully my Mom can upload hers and we'll still have some documentation of our trip.  It was so nice to be all together, I can't believe how fast time went.

#2  My handsome and still very young husband turned 31 recently and compared to last year,
http://shearjade.blogspot.com/2011/08/johns-30th-birthday-part-1.html
http://shearjade.blogspot.com/2011/08/johns-30th-birthday-part-2.html
this year was pretty pathetic.  He didn't want any money spent on him and not much of an activity this year either.  I am such a party animal (I think I get that from my parents) that it blows my mind that he doesn't want to do something fun.  I usually make him anyway!  I decided to work on his actual birthday because of work circumstances and instead celebrate the next day.  So, on John's birthday he pretty much did nothing all day.  He drove back to Park City to pick up some things that got left behind and read some books at Barnes and Noble.  Then he played video games, watched TV and played basketball.  Typical day really.  So I made some plans of things to do together the next day and instead we got busy starting our remodel up again.  Around 4 we called it a day and decided to go get some dinner with a few friends.  John wanted Indian food (which I don't care for but will support for special occasions) so we went to the Bombay House in Provo.  We had a nice time and that was pretty much that.  Definitely not as awesome as last year but John is happy and that's all that matters!

 #3  You may be wondering if I got John a present for his birthday.  Well, sorta.  All summer I've been complaining about how hot it is and how I can never get cold enough and how I hate sweating after getting out of the shower.  Blow drying my freaking long hair was getting so annoying.  So, I decided it was time to go short!  I wanted to wait til his birthday because that way I could make my cut his gift and I wouldn't be spending any money on him.  It may seem like a cheap gift but hey, I wouldn't be complaining about it anymore and I know he really wanted that!  All summer he has been excited and ready for me to do it.  I would come home from work time and time again and if I mentioned I had any news, he'd run down the stairs to see if I'd chopped my hair yet.  He kept telling me not to wait!  He likes it long, don't get me wrong.  He says he just likes me to like it.  So, the big question was, how short?  I decided I could donate it so I'd have to do at least 10 inches.  I was not afraid to go short.  Hello!  I've had short hair most of my life and let's face it, I just am a short-haired kind of girl.  So, thankfully I was smart enough this time to take some pictures.

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

So, what do you think?  I went a little shorter after the first cut.  I didn't realize I had so much!  I love it short and so far haven't missed the long hair one bit!  I can't believe I waited so long to do this!  I even think I'll go shorter, eventually.  Maybe add some fun colors too.  I can't decide.  It's a whole new canvas with lots of possibilities so stay tuned, exciting things may be coming.... to my hair....!!!

Well that's what's been going on lately.  The baby is still doing well and growing every day!  Less than 4 months to go!
 

WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know the pics look weird but that's because I had to scan them and well, ultrasound pictures just are a little weird. Oh we had such a wonderful experience. Not only did we learn the sex but we also learned that everything is growing normally and looks healthy and great! Cute little fella kept crossing his arms and legs! I can hardly believe this is really happening!!! What made it even better was that my parents and both my sisters were able to come to the ultrasound (as well as John). They all live out in different states and far away but my family just had a small reunion so I impatiently waited to do my ultrasound at 21 weeks so they could join in on the fun and it was totally worth it! It feels so much more real now and oh my gosh I cannot wait to meet this handsome little guy! Now we can really start to agree on an official name. EEK I'm just so excited!!

28 and starting out GREAT!

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. Woah! Where did the time go? I guess I'm not a kid anymore. I'm considered in my late 20's. What a year this has been, is, and will be. My 10 year high school reunion is coming up AND I'm having a baby! My family reunion is this week and we find out if this baby is a boy or girl in a few more days. I can't wait! Will totally be posting again soon so stay tuned!

Since John has been so busy with school this summer, we haven't had much time for fun. I desperately needed some fun! In the summer we like to host what we call 'sundeas on sunday' a few times each summer. It's basically an ice cream party. We get a tub or two of vanilla ice cream as well as bowls and spoons then we invite people and have them bring the toppings. We try to have 10-15 people and we usually get a nice variety of toppings. It's a lot of fun. Well we hadn't done it yet this summer and because my birthday happened to fall on Sunday, I told John that's all I wanted for my birthday! BUT this time we invite everyone we can! (he did get me a present too, a body pillow to sleep with because sleeping is getting more difficult...)

It was a BLAST! I got to see so many of my friends and a few that I hadn't seen in years. It was so fun and the time flew by much too fast. Sadly my parents were supposed to be there but they got car trouble on the way up and didn't make it in until today. BUT I still had a really fun time! I didn't get many pictures but here's a few,
Cade & Jessica

Juan & Rachel, Jake & Cody
Amber and Chrissy
Dave & Amber
Traci & Mark
Me and Brittany

Sarah & Mike

Ben, Jason & Angie and Kyle

Emily Leah Beau Bobby

Me and Emily

I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Independance Day

I have ALWAYS loved the 4th of July. Being patriotic just comes naturally. I love celebrating a holiday that everyone else in the country celebrates with you! And talk about fireworks, how amazing and fun are fireworks? I could do or watch fireworks every month, maybe even every week and never get sick of them. I'm sure my husband gets annoyed with me every time there is an opportunity to see them because I MUST be present! I even get stressed when I think I am going to miss viewing them or even stress out that my location to view them isn't the most perfect spot to view them from. See, I am obsessed! Not just with the fireworks, with the whole holiday. I could literally go on and on about how I love this nation and how grateful I am to those who lived and died for it and those who continue to build and repair it, but I won't take more time then just that.

So this 4th we spent most of the day with the Lewis family. John's father went through quite an ordeal this time last year but he came through and is alive and just as well. We are so grateful that he's alive and here another year! What an even greater excuse to get together and celebrate! We always have a lot of food at any of John's family gatherings, so eat we did! Once it got dark enough we did just a few fireworks with the remaining kids, it was great fun. I'm convinced any holiday is better around children. They make everything so exciting. They kept saying, 'this is the best day ever', priceless! I can't wait to have my own little hyper-active freaking out party animal child!

Here's just a few captured moments,

What's new

Well I haven't posted much in a while because nothing really new has been going on... Well except for the fact that, I'M PREGNANT!!! Ha ha you thought this was going to be just another ordinary boring post. Well, it isn't! At least, I hope you aren't done reading now that you've read the good part. I've got more to say! First off I will give some info because I'm sure there are many questions speeding through your mind right now. I am 14 weeks (3 months) and I have the most amazing due date ever, 12/12/12! Don't think we could have planned that any better! And yep, we got pregnant right away. Waited 3 months after the miscarriage and sure enough, we didn't have to wait any longer than that! I didn't feel as sick this time as I did the first time. But I have been sick! Tired, irritable, nauseous, the symptoms were all there but not nearly as horrible as last time. I never threw up either, (although I came close many times). The peak was around 10 weeks. I was glad to be sick because I took it as a good sign but at the same time it sucked. It was a love/hate relationship. I don't feel much sickness at all anymore and I am loving that! I am starting to get a little uncomfortable in my clothes and will probably need some stretchy pants soon... yip-ee!

My ultrasound will be August 2nd and yes we want to know what it is! My family will be in town and some of them will get to go to the ultrasound with me. It will be so fun to have some family be part of the experience! Oh and you may be wondering what I'm going to do as far as work. Well, I plan to work right up until delivery time and I think afterwards I will go back part time, at least until John is done with school. (He gets done in April) It may take him some time to get a job and I think it might be nice to work like 2 days a week and bring in a little extra cash just in case. Also, I might like getting out of the house once in a while. I will not be managing the salon once I have the baby but I think I have a good replacement lined up so, everything seems to be working out!

I feel very blessed and so excited I can hardly stand it! It doesn't always feel real to me even though I've been to the doctor twice and have heard that amazing heartbeat sound twice. Everything is looking good and I am a little overwhelmed that it seems to be going kinda easy so far. Of coarse I've still got a ways to go and I'm sure it does get harder as time goes on. But hey, this is really such a blessing. I know that everything I went through before was meant to happen even if I don't understand all the reasons why. I feel more prepared and ready. I feel excited and happy. I just can't believe I've been given this opportunity and I love this little baby so much already! John is just as excited as I am and we so look forward to becoming parents!!!

So there ya have it! Probably the most exciting news I'll ever share!!! But please don't let that turn you off from coming back to visit and continue reading ok?