32 weeks

8 months.

32 weeks.

Holy cow.

Is this even real life? Are you telling me that I get to meet this little guy in just two months?!

I absolutely cannot believe it.

How far along? 32 weeks. Size of a head of lettuce (19 in, 3.7 lbs)

Total weight gain: about 16 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yeah, sometimes. I mostly have been wearing my exercise pants because I teach skating so often but occasionally I'll whip out my maternity jeans or a stretchy skirt...especially since it's getting so warm!
Stretch marks? A couple showed up on my hips :( But they aren't long...they're like dots. It's weird.
Best moment this week: My doctor's appointment! I now have them every two weeks instead of every 4 and once I hit 36 weeks, I have them every week. I love getting updates about this little babe as well as getting to hear his heartbeat <3

Miss anything? Just being comfortable. His kicks are HUGE now so when he's awake, he is AWAKE and moving around like crazy. It can get uncomfortable.
Movement: Haha see above.
Food cravings: Fruits! All kinds. Oranges are still my number 1. If I eat one, I have to immediately have at least 2-3 more to satisfy my craving.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing in particular...
Have you started to show yet: I feel like I should just delete this question haha
Gender: Boy boy boy
Belly Button in or out? Out. Still weird...
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: TIRED. Can that be an option?
Looking forward to: The fact that I only have a month until I graduate!!!

30 weeks + baby shower

Well, I'm officially 7.5 months! Time has flown by, yet stood absolutely still. I can't believe this pregnancy is in the home stretch, yet I feel as if I've been pregnant FOREVER. 

This last weekend, I got to fly home for the weekend! What a crazy busy weekend we had! I flew in Friday afternoon and flew out Sunday morning, with a baby shower on Saturday. It was incredibly fun to see everyone and especially nice to see my family - their first time seeing me pregnant in person! Mom teared up a bit...but are we really surprised? ;) haha love you mom!

How far along? 30 weeks. He's the size of a butternut squash this week! (17 in, 3.1 lbs) 

Total weight gain: about 14.5 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yeah, sometimes. I can still wear some of my "normal" (lol) clothes which is great!
Stretch marks? None on my belly! yaaaaayy
Best moment this week: Going back to the best state in the country and also seeing my family :)

Miss anything? Being able to put my shoes on without it feeling like an ab workout
Movement: Oh yes!! When I got home on Sunday, Kaleb was bonding with baby boy and every time he would put his hand on a specific part of my belly, he would start kicking me there. It was one of the sweetest moments we have had yet this pregnancy. Baby loves his daddy so much already! 
Food cravings: Still oranges and grapes and strawberries...I guess I should just say fruit. Also, the days leading up to going home, I was craving pho HARDCORE. My craving was satisfied Saturday evening after my baby shower. We have a staple pho restaurant that we would ALWAYS go to growing up and they have the best wonton noodle soup. I was in heaven - so was baby. I swear he started doing somersaults in there after I was finished eating.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Certain things at different times. Like this morning I was making breakfast and was chopping up mushrooms and gagged several times. I don't like mushrooms anyways, but the smell has never made me nauseous so that was fun.
Have you started to show yet: Uh yeah 
Gender: Bouncing baby boy!
Belly Button in or out? Definitely out. Still weird to me.
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy/Moody ;)
Looking forward to: The fact that on Monday (today) and Wednesday, my early morning class is canceled which means I get to have my morning to just relax!

So, the baby shower was adorable. My mother did an AMAZING job with the decorating and the food!

It was so good to see everyone - I'm glad you could all come! This baby is so loved, it blows my mind <3

Best friend did all the games and they were FANTASTIC - thank you for helping so much! 

Thank you mom for putting so much time and effort into this shower - you're the best and I can never adequately express how grateful I am for you! You're going to be the best grandma :) Love you!

So...I'm pregnant. 28 weeks

Oh hi there.

I remember when I used to post updates...and then I'm not sure what happened.

Oh yeah, I got pregnant.

Hello baby bump!

I have been obsessed with reading mommy blogs and birth stories...mostly because I'm anxious for my own delivery and so any information I can get now is great for me!

I've noticed that a lot of mommy blogs post weekly updates on their progress throughout their pregnancy. Even though I'm in the third trimester and pretty much almost done, I thought it would be awesome to look back and see my various stats during this home stretch.

So go ahead and read it. Or don't.

here we go:

How far along? 28 weeks (as of last Friday...I'm 29 weeks now haha oops. I'll post another update...maybe)

Total weight gain: about 13 lbs
Maternity clothes? I actually just bought my first pair of maternity jeans last weekend! I have been okay with just wearing leggings and exercise pants for the last 7 months, but I really started to miss wearing jeans and feeling...not pregnant haha. So I bought some jeans and OMG they are the most comfortable thing EVER. I'm grateful I haven't needed to buy maternity clothes for this long, but man have I been missing out! I also bought some cute v-neck shirts that are technically maternity tops but they don't cinch at the side, they're just wider and longer so they cover the bump. Again - THE BEST.
Stretch marks? Not on my belly! My chest on the other hand... #poorboobs
Best moment this week: Had a doctors appointment and everything is going great! He is measuring normal and his heartbeat is strong :)

Miss anything? Haha not having any pain in my back? That is the WORST, especially when I'm sitting in class for a long period of time.
Movement: ALL THE TIME!!
Food cravings: Grapes!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Eggs and I still aren't friends yet. I haven't been able to eat eggs since the first trimester.
Have you started to show yet: Ummm yes. I no longer get the looks people give of "is she pregnant or just kinda fat?" ;) I am carrying him more outward than round so you can definitely tell!
Gender: Boy!
Belly Button in or out? Definitely out! As someone who has always had an "in-y", this is especially weird for me.
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but lately I've been emotional. I've heard this comes back around during the third trimester. Awesome.
Looking forward to: I'm going to California this weekend for my baby shower! I'm so excited to be going home! It'll be the first time I'll be away from Kaleb since we got married so it'll be a little weird, I think :)

Thankful for teamwork

Guys. I love my life.

And I especially love my husband.

He is so patient with me.

And so loving.

And so thoughtful.

The list goes on.

But, now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I still have so much to be thankful for...and I can't hold it in any longer! (yeah sorry this is a mushy post)

I am especially thankful as of late for the situation Kaleb and I are in. I mean, we are newlyweds, I'm a full time student and working at the rink, Kaleb works full time and is enrolled in a class this semester, we have the CUTEST little house, we both have cars, we have Alani - the cutest little kitty! Again...the list goes on. We have SO much to be thankful for! 

But as weird as it sounds, I am most thankful for the hard times we have...with school, car problems, financially, THE SNOW. Ugh the snow...

But, these are the times when Kaleb and I thrive as a team. We work so well together to overcome the various obstacles we face. I have no doubts that we can take on the world together...and win.

He is my rock.

He is the love of my life.

He is my eternal companion.

And I am eternally thankful for him :)

finally, MY ENGAGEMENT STORY!

Remember when I used to blog like . . . all the time?

Me too.

Life got a little crazy.

like getting married.

But there's so much that happened before that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got engaged on May 11th

i look crazed. but it's okay. i'm engaged.

and it was MAGICAL. and i was completely surprised. kaleb did really well because i HATE surprises and he HATES keeping surprises from me.

We had been talking about going to the Tulip Festival for months and the week before we went he nonchalantly asked if I wanted to go because "we haven't been on a 'nice' date in a while". 

sure. okay. i won't say no to a "nice" date.

and the week before, i went and got my nails done on a lady date with my old roommate Elise. sly dog.

~i'm going to interrupt for a funny story that will make sense later~

Kaleb and I had been recently reminiscing about the day he finally held my hand. i told him how nervous i was because i thought my hand would be sweaty. ew. (don't worry, it wasn't) and he is proud to say that his hands don't get sweaty. i was way jealous because my hands get sweaty ALL the time. its gross.

~back to engagement story~

So, we go to Thanksgiving Point gardens and I'm stoked out of my mind because I've heard nothing but GREAT things about this tulip festival. We step outside and I already know this is true. It is just GORGEOUS. The colors, the scenery. It's all so perfect. 

We start walking around and look at a map and I point out the various gardens I would like to go check out. He agrees with all my choices and tells me that the "Secret Garden" looks way cool and should head that way. Okay. Cool. Sounds good.

I'm so distracted by all the colors and pretty flowers that I don't notice Kaleb freaking out. (At least that's what he told me.) I kept stopping, wanting to take pictures and go to these other gardens and he is being so amazingly patient with me and even humoring me and jumping into the pictures I wanted to take.

But i didn't mind too much because Kaleb was on his phone almost THE ENTIRE TIME. I was getting annoyed but right when I would say something, he would put his phone away. Sneaky man.

such a good sport.

We finally made it to the secret garden and I noticed that Kaleb's hand was SO sweaty. (remember my story earlier???) I commented on it and he just told me it was hot...which it was. it was REALLY warm that day.

This garden is beautiful! there's an archway for you to enter before you get to the actual garden where there's a fountain and beautiful trees and flowers. There were people in the garden, especially around the fountain. There was a little boy playing with the water so a lot of the bench surrounding the fountain was wet. We sat down at the fountain and took some pictures. We were sitting right in the sun and I was getting too hot, so I suggested that we get up and move to a different corner of the fountain, in the shade. and so we did.

I should have noticed how the garden was filled with people and then suddenly they were gone. but i didn't.

Kaleb rested his head on my shoulder and whispered "I really love you" in a low, shaky voice to which I replied "I love you too!" in a happy, chipper voice. Should have caught on to that. oops.

He then lifted his head up and said "Deanna, I love you. But, sometimes words fail to express how I feel."

cue Kaleb suddenly on one knee in front of me.

"but, Deanna, right now the only words I can say are will you marry me?"

While he was proposing to me, I asked him "ARE YOU PROPOSING TO ME?!?!"  not only once. but twice. i slapped my hand over my mouth in shock and whispered "Yes!"

at that point, Nik, Josh, Joey, and Schuyler all popped out of random places within the garden. They got it all on video! And the people that were in the garden was ushered out by the boys and came back in to applaud and congratulate us. I am a crying wreck and hide my face in Kaleb's chest, trying to figure out if this was all really happening. 

and it was.

PS, Kaleb was on the phone with the boys telling them our location. don't worry, he's not a jerk and on his phone when he's with me ;)

and here's the video of our engagement!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTggoaG4XYM

thanks again, boys!

and i'm now married to the man of my dreams!

my life is magical.

*post about the wedding coming soon!* 

twelvetwelvetwelve

12-12-12.

This is happening right now.

Unfortunately, I'm the loser that didn't screenshot my phone at 12:12pm on 12-12-12.

I'm really broken up about it.

(not really)

But, this is really cool.

And won't happen again until 1-1-2101

Which I will obviously be alive long enough to see.

So, I don't know why people are making such a big deal about today.

Psh.

:)

Happy 12-12-12!!

So much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving has come and gone.

But, I have so much to be thankful for.

Like Pacific Coast Sectionals happening at my rink in Provo. And seeing all my dearest friends compete again. I have missed SWP skating SO much. I love you guys and I'm thankful for the impact you all have had in my life. I'm thankful for skating and the discipline it's taught me. Skating is such a magical sport. I mean, who else can say that they can defy gravity? Not many. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Or the time China flew up to Utah.

Those three days you were here meant more than you know. I love my best friend and I love her visits! Thanks for seeing Breaking Dawn at midnight (ahem, 10pm) with me when no one else would ;) Thanks for making the drive back to California that much more enjoyable. I'm thankful for the friendship you've given me. No one understands me quite like you do and no one laughs at the same stupid things we do ;) I'm thankful for your loving patience when I call you in a panic about dumb things. You've always been there for me and I appreciate that more than you will ever know. You've been such a positive influence in my life and I'm so blessed to have the privilege of calling you my best friend. I love you, dneirf doog <3

I'm thankful for my family. Immediate and extended. And for being able to spend an entire week with them in the best state in the country. They are the best. I'm thankful for all the support they have given me the past 20 years. I'm thankful to have had them when I went through hard times this summer. I'm thankful for their prayers and unconditional love - I definitely feel it, even being 650 miles away :) I have missed my family! I love you guys so much!

I'm thankful for Kaleb, who flew down to California to spend Thanksgiving with me and my family.

 And for making the 9 hour car ride back to Provo with me. That drive is not easy, but he made it bearable and enjoyable. I'm thankful for his continuous patience - we all know I need someone who can be patient with me. ;) I'm thankful for his unconditional love and support in all that I do. I'm thankful for the kindness of his heart and for not putting up with my crap...in a loving way ;) I don't know how I landed such a magnificent guy, but I'm counting my blessings everyday I'm with him. Thank you for loving me! I love you!

I'm also grateful for these girls.

They make my day. Always. I'm grateful I chose to live in freakin' expensive Helaman Halls freshman year. I feel so blessed to call these girls my friends. They've got my back no matter the situation. They bring so much joy to my life. I know I am a better person because I know them and they bring out the absolute best in me. Amy, Caroline, Caitlin, Ali, Elise, Christelle, Heather, Erynn - you girls are THE BEST and I don't think you will ever understand how much you mean to me. Thank you for your friendship and unconditional love! I LOVE YOU SLUS SO MUCH.

Tis the season.
Happy Holidays and Happy Finals!