The Great Ohio

Last week was spent in Ohio with my family visiting my dad's old stomping grounds and our extended family out there. The midwest is pretty great. Matt wasn't able to come because of work, and with Chase being on a mission it was an "all-girls party special" + my dad. A collection of pictures from our phones:

Dad's McKinley High School (the high school in Glee!). He said it really hasn't changed too much.

Pro-Football Hall of Fame. We didn't go inside, I just did some football poses outside to send pics to make Matt laugh. Check out my Heisman!

Woody's Root Beer Stand! Delicious!

Grandma Lonas made my dad's favorite pineapple upside-down cake.

Eating wild raspberries by the handful

Catching fireflies

 Kirtland temple

Road trip to Niagara Falls! We did both the Canada and the America sides.

Seesters

Looking back over to Canada

Niagara Falls is truly awesome.

Main Diner on the way back to Canton.

Amish Country!! I got some "Amish Origins Ointment" which heals everything from arthritis to sore throats.

Grandparents' pond

It was really neat being able to see places where my dad and grandparents grew up. We had a family reunion on Sunday with some cousins, second cousins, and a lot of people I kind of know but not really. Everyone is so nice it made me wish we all got to see each other more often.

I spent my last few days there with my cousin Hannah, her husband and their adorable new baby girl. Seriously can't believe we didn't take one picture of us. I LOVED every minute of it, and since Hannah had her baby just a few months ago, the fact that my belly is holding an actual real live baby is a little more real for her than for me. She took this picture of me in the grocery store with the 14" English cucumber (length of babins at 26 weeks!)

I had a really great week, but can't wait until I can bring Matt back there and show him the joys of the root beer stand, catching fireflies, sitting by the pond, and everything else that makes summertime in Ohio so perfect.

23, 24, 25 Weeks

25 down, 15 to go! I think I've mostly gotten used to the idea that a baby is growing inside, but then the other day I was thinking about it and got really weirded out that another human's brain was growing in me.

We are all registered for our Hypnobirthing childbirth classes! It is a 6 week series of classes that starts in August at the hospital where we're planning to deliver. I'm kind of excited for it.


Feeling: Good still. My stomach definitely gets bigger every time I look down, but it doesn't really feel like it's in the way yet, unless I drop something and realize that I'm not in the mood to bend over and pick it up... unless it's food. I'm still sleeping, moving around, and exercising pretty comfortably.

Food: Normal most of the time, but my favorites lately are spanish olives, feta cheese, wasabi peas, plain greek yogurt (been putting it in EVERYTHING), and movie theater popcorn. I've never really liked movie theater popcorn before, but now it tastes like manna from heaven. We've been back to the same theater (Jordan Commons) a few times over the last couple months since I've convinced myself it's the best. It's for sure more about the popcorn than the movie. Free refills on the extra large suddenly seems like man's greatest invention.

Dreams: How have I not been recording these sooner? Pregnant dreams are freaky. A few that come to mind:
-Going into labor when I was only 8 weeks pregnant and being told to push, while I tried to explain to the doctors that the baby was like the size of a pea. Also, all of our friends and family were eating in the delivery room and wouldn't leave.
-Before the ultrasound, I dreamt a couple times that the baby's body parts were all growing separately, and were supposed to come together later.
-I had a really terrifying dream that I gave birth to a litter of about 20 mini babies at once.
-There have also been some really great dreams where the babins is already here and we get to hang out with her, and she is the best and most perfect thing I've ever seen.

Movement:  Matt has been able to feel the babins kicking! She has been much more active at night lately. Feeling baby kicks together is quickly becoming one of my new favorite pastimes.

Maternity clothes: Trying to transition. My regular clothes are becoming increasingly limited, but most maternity clothes are still too big. Will definitely be shopping this week for clothes that fit. Also, major milestone: somebody who didn't know I was pregnant before asked when the baby was due. Loved it! Feeling very pregnant now.

Things that made me cry

(picture from 23 weeks)

During my first trimester, I wrote down some things that made me cry, partly to see if I would look back and laugh. I could just sum up this list and say "basically everything" but these are a few things I can definitely laugh about now:

• The Bachelor. But just the part where they were in Switzerland and they showed these little black baby lambs frolicking in a meadow. Can't take the cuteness! 
• Never Say Never. Yeah the Justin Bieber movie. What? In every concert they pulled a girl from the audience and the Biebs gave her a bouquet of roses and sang "One Less Lonely Girl" to her. And that day, there truly was one less lonely girl.
• Matt getting my food requests wrong. I said: take a corn tortilla, put some beans and cheese on it, and cook it on the stove. Nice try melting the cheese in the microwave and thinking I wouldn't notice. Tears ensued.
• Waking up hungry at 3 am. Staaaarving. Feels like I haven't eaten in 10 days and I don't know where my next food source is coming from. Super stressful... must eat everything in sight. The days of Matt and I casually sharing food and eating off each other's plates is temporarily over. Must guard all food with every fiber of my being. (I think I cried more over being hungry than anything else.)
• Love Story by Taylor Swift. Just kidding. This song made me cry way before I was pregnant, I just feel comfortable being open about it now. I always think I'm doing fine, and then the end gets me. Every time!
• The Oscars red carpet coverage. When the celebs started coming out of the limos. This I have no explanation for. 
• Commercials for: Kleenex, Gerber, American Family Insurance, Kraft cheese, hospitals, animal shelters, orange juice...

(Can you tell I was watching a lot of TV? A lot of time was spent feeling yucky on the couch.)

Even though these are some things I can laugh about, on a more serious note, it can be really frustrating feeling out of control of my moods. It was by far the worst part of my first trimester (okay maybe tied with extreme hunger), and it wasn't easy to talk about with my doctor. Maybe some of you can relate. I am feeling pretty much back to normal these days (see smiling picture, haha), but can't help but worry about postpartum depression. If anybody has dealt with feelings of depression during or after pregnancy, I'd love to hear some things that may have helped you.

Happy Two Years

Our 2 year anniversary was on April 24th, but we both ended up having stuff going on that night, so we agreed to postpone going out to celebrate until the weekend. Then, that weekend we totally forgot- Oops! It was a little belated, but I tried to put together a couple casual surprises the next week. We had a really fun night and talked about some of our favorite and funniest memories together. I feel so lucky to be married to a man that I still get excited to see at the end of every day and look forward to waking up with every morning.

Hard to believe how the last couple years have flown by. I'm so glad we had the amazing David Perry capture our wedding day on film. We watched the full length version last month, but here is the teaser he posted on his website. (Password to watch is "Perry" with a capital P.)

Our real video includes the song "The One Who Loves You the Most" by Brett Dennen.

When the sky is falling from above you
And the wind is raging from the coast
And you want someone who truly loves you
I will be the one who loves you the most

I love everything that we get to share together. He is my best friend in every way.