California and Such

Nicole and I were able to fly out to California for a week to see my brother Johnathon get home from serving a 2 year mission for the LDS church! I've never waited in an airport lobby for someone to get off an airplane before, and it was fun to see him come striding down the hall in his suit with his hands in his pockets while my mommy cried (and, let's face it, she definitely wasn't the only one).

^^^First time meeting Uncle Johnathon

Reunions are so sweet. It was great to spend so much time with my family. There were lots of family dinners and Me'n'Eds pizza and All-American Chocolate Cake from Costco and Nicole demanded to keep me in her sights at (almost) all times. Someone's developed some stranger/separation anxiety! Sweet baby.

Speaking of Nicole, she was much more receptive to going swimming this time around. We were also able to put her in this super handy baby tube, so she spent half the time chilling in that... but we all love holding her, so she didn't stay in there for long.

Aaaaaand now you get to see my beautiful farmers tan. Whoot.

 ^^^The only downside to splashing... sometimes, you get water in your face :P

Nicole's hands and feet got so wrinkly in the pool! I just about died. Cute, wrinkly baby feet and fingers. GAH!

We went to Morro Bay the very next day after Johnathon got home. It was Nicole's second time going to the beach, actually. I never mentioned on this blog that we joined Doug at the end of his latest business trip a couple weeks ago and stayed in a beachfront hotel in Pacifica for a day. It was rather chilly there, but it was very hot and sunny at Morro Bay.

And I neglected to put on sunscreen.

The backs of my legs were on fire for several days. You'd think that after living in California for 18+ years of my life, I would know to never skimp on sunscreen.

Oops.

On the plus side, we found lots of sand dollars and sand crabs, and I got clam chowder for dinner! Nom.

 ^^^HUGE sand crab!

The trip was worth every minute, even with the pain from the sunburn. Ha. Those ultra white legs of mine needed some sun anyways.

It was Ryan's (most likely) last time seeing Nicole and me in person before leaving for his mission in October to North Dakota. We all keep telling him that he's going to be freezing! He doesn't even know. I mean, it never snows during the winter in Fresno! He doesn't even know.

In California

A week ago we got back from a very (very, very) needed vacation to my hometown in California. It was so fun to see Nicole interact with all my family members. She loves people and thrived with all the attention. She had smiles to spare all week long, although all the action started to wear on her by the time we reached the end of our stay.

Here's a couple pictures I managed to take during the trip.

The camera didn't come out too often, ya know.

 ^^^ Stud

 

We just had to get a 4 generation picture. For the record, neither of my grandmothers seem like great-grandmothers... and my mom definitely doesn't look like a grandma.

 

 

We took a little trip to the zoo, where I convinced Carissa to volunteer to have a bird come take a dollar bill out of her hand in the Bird Show. I only had a split second to take a picture, it happened so quickly! I managed to get one that wasn't blurry AND the bird looks like he's smiling! Bonus!

 

 

Nicole has gone swimming at the Provo Rec Center more than once, but this was her first time going in an outdoor pool. She was fine for the first couple minutes, but after the initial novelty wore off and she realized that there weren't tons of little kids splashing around to distract her, she decided she wasn't too happy about being in the pool anymore.

 

And of course, she's nomming on that lower lip of hers! *insert laughing with tears emoticon

 

Thanks to some awful Vegas traffic (thank you, EDC) we pulled into St George around 11:15 PM and definitely did not want to travel the remaining 3 1/2 hours to Provo, so we stopped there for the night. We took the opportunity to pop by the temple in the morning. Such a beautiful building.

 

 

I told Doug that I really wouldn't mind living in St George... the red rock mountains are gorgeous. It would also mean that we're closer to my family. Why is traveling so expensive??!? This is when I resent the fact that I'm unable to Apparate. Or that we don't have a fireplace to use Floo powder with. #harrypottergivesmeunrealistictravelexpectations

 

Honestly, though, the trip was SO needed. If you were to ask Doug, he could tell you how much higher my spirits were by the end of our stay. I wish we could be closer, but I don't know if I ever want to move back to California. (Hey, family, why don't you guys move here? ;)

 

Like I said in a previous post... I'm pretty sure Utah has stolen my heart.

 

{Bumpdate} 17 Weeks and Shades

Today's bumpdate is brought to you by California sunshine (whoo!) and purple-tinted sunglasses!

Shirt - H&M // Sunglasses - c/o Firmoo

But really though... these sunglasses. They're purple!!!!! I'm also pretty sure that they're now my favorite sunglasses. I really like how I was able to chose what tint color I wanted, as well as the frame and other features. AND guess what? You can go to the same website I got these from, Firmoo, and try your first pair FREE!!!!!!! And who doesn't like free stuff? You can check here for details.

If you don't take advantage of that, then this lovely picture describes all I have to say to you:

I call it the "stank face".

Now. Back to the bump.

How far along: 17 weeks

Baby is: 5 inches, or about the length of an orange or baked potato

Symptoms: I still have headaches if I don't drink enough water. And I'll get random twinges from my abdominal area if I twist the wrong way or move too quickly after sitting still a long time. All part of being prego!

Sleeping: I'm still sleeping pretty well, but I have weird dreams nearly every single night. I don't remember most of them once I'm awake, but I remember having dreams.

Food cravings/aversions: I still want ramen all the time. Chocolate is also good, but I always want that. I've also become fond of dipping carrots in Cafe Rio creamy cilantro dressing. It's so good.

What I'm missing: Being able to go on roller coasters. Doug mentioned Disneyland the other day and I made a face thinking about all the rides that I would not be able to go on if we took a trip there right now.

Gender: We find out in just a couple weeks!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy :)

Belly button in or out? Definitely still in.

Maternity clothes: I'm still fitting in my pre-pregnancy clothes. I haven't even bought any maternity clothes yet. I should probably get on that though because, as you can see in the above pictures, my bump is starting to show a little. It's only a matter of time.

Movement: I swear I've felt some kicks. They're just the lightest little flutters and taps, but I'm pretty sure they're the movements of the baby! It's kinda cool!

What I did/got for baby: While we still haven't bought anything, I decided that while we're here visiting family in California that I should go through some of my old stuffed animals and take the ones that are in great condition for my baby to have. We have a nice bag of stuffed animals all baby-ready now!

What I'm looking forward to: The kicks getting strong enough for Doug to feel them.

Best moment of the week: Feeling the first little tap that I was sure was a kick. I was lying in bed concentrating on my baby and all of a sudden - *tap! It was so cute and unexpected! It's also been fun to see people I know from here at home and have them say congrats :)