17,18,19, 20 Weeks

20 WEEKS! Halfway there!

Due date: October 1 still. Everything on the ultrasound measured within a few days so our doctor said we'd stick with this due date.

Sickness: Gone! I've been feeling pretty great the last few weeks. 

Cravings: Still loving the fruit and coconut water, and in addition to that I am finding any possible excuse to eat mustard, and have been downing dill pickle spears by the jar full. Also, cheese has been a go-to for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Aversions: Gone! Finally feel like I have my regular appetite back. 

Heartbeat: We got to SEE it at our ultrasound. Pretty cool. It was at 160 bpm.

Feeling movement: YES! It is the best thing. It makes me smile every time. Over the last few weeks baby girl's movements have become more and more distinct. I feel her moving around every day now. I love it! I can't wait for Matt to be able to feel her moving from the outside. 

Maternity clothes: Not yet. I know I should be glad that I still fit into all my regular clothes (most of them anyway), but mostly I just look/feel really chuffy! I'll be sticking with the loose flowy shirts for another week or two probably.

Names: Since babins is a girl, I think we do have a name picked out. Not making it official any time soon, but if we both still like it and feel like it fits her when she's born then it will be an easy decision. In the meantime, we usually just call her babins :) ( That is pronounced babe-ins. Don't let Matt convince you to call her babbins, or his personal favorite, bilbo babbins)

Now that I'm feeling relatively normal, I'm actually loving being pregnant (I would NOT have said that a month or two ago). The fact that a baby will be here is starting to seem more real now that we've seen her and I can feel her little kicks all the time. Sometimes I wake up feeling like I'm part of some weird sci-fi movie where people grow new people inside themselves. Then I realize that it's real, and remember what a miracle this all is.

Graduation Weekend Food!

Graduating in December at BYU couldn't possibly be less exciting. Since that isn't a popular semester to graduate, they don't do any graduation activities or ceremonies. They basically just mail you your diploma and tell you to come back in 4 months to celebrate. I had to go through this with my bachelors degree as well. The GOOD thing about it, is by the time graduation rolls around, all of those terrible memories of exams and writing are far behind you, so you're actually happy to go back to campus and give yourself a little pat on the back for finishing! So, my parents were in town two weeks ago to celebrate graduation festivities, and it was so much fun having them here! During those few days, we ate really, really well. To me, food is almost always the best way to celebrate :) I need to dedicate this whole post to food pictures, because it was just that good. Each meal just got better and better. 

I kicked off the weekend with some fish tacos from Blue Lemon. They were definitely different from the traditional fish taco, but I really liked them!

The next day we went to City Creek, and we all shared the Enchiladas Suizas from Red Iguana Express for a little snack. I still think Red Iguana is the best Mexican food in Utah, and the Express version in the food court is pretty good. The City Creek food court is about halfway between the COB and Matt's office, so we would walk to meet each other there for lunch a lot over the past year. Most of the time, we'd end up  splitting these enchiladas. They are that good!

That night, we went to the Copper Onion. Matt and I had both heard good things about this place so we were excited to try it. I loved it!! I would definitely like to go back sometime. I got the trout with spaetzle.

Matt got the hamburger. He loves the classics.

Mom and Grandma both got the meatloaf. They shared a little bit with me and I would not hesitate to say it was the best meatloaf I'd ever had.

 Dad got the salmon. REALLY good. 

For dessert I had this yummy warm blueberry pie with freshly made vanilla ice cream. I know it looks about average, but it was the best blueberry pie I'd ever had. Yep, two best evers from the Copper Onion. Make that three- the Meyer Lemon sorbet my mom ordered was also the best.

Matt had the cheesecake.

The next night, we went to Grappa in Park City. This time, I got the salmon. WOW it was good. 

Dad got the cornish game hen, Mom had chicken.

Matt had steak.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for a weekend of culinary delights!

Kid Reactions

Sharing the baby news with the  kids I teach has been hilarious.  Some of their reactions over the last month:

"Umm that baby is NOT big enough! You need to eat a LOT more!"
me: "It's still really small! It has a long time to grow in there. Don't worry I have been eating PLENTY. I am starving all the time."
"Why are you starving?"
me: "Because it feels like the baby is eating all of my food!"
"You know what you should do? Just eat broccoli all the time because babies hate broccoli. Then when you want to feed the baby you can just eat chocolate."
(Good prenatal nutrition tip from a 6 year old)

"How big is the baby?"
About a month ago, I showed them that it was about the size of my fist when it was curled up.
"Then how does it put food in its mouth if it's so tiny?"

"Will you bring the baby to show us after it's born?"
me: "Yeah, I might!"
Another kid: "No!! It will just crawl all over everything and rip up our papers!"

"You're chuffy!" (...after poking my stomach. I gather that this is a combination of "chubby" and "fluffy")
me: "Yep...that's how I feel!"

"I hope you're having a girl. I could never have a boy. Do they still have orphanages? I would probably drop all the boy babies off there if I had any."
me: "You'll probably want to wait to have kids until you don't care if it's a girl or boy."
"Then I guess I'll never have kids. Or get married."

One 5 year old made up a charming little song that goes like this: "Your belly isn't big enough! Your belly isn't big enough!" sung to the tune of Peanut Butter Jelly Time. This one really caught on yesterday and the other kids in the class love it. I try not to encourage it but it really does make me laugh.

"So you're going to get really really big and turn into a giant!!"

me: "Yeah more or less."

"How will we recognize you??"

(Other popular concerns have been about what happens if the baby gets too big and explodes out of my stomach, what happens if the baby also has its own baby inside my belly, what would happen if they poked my belly with a needle, etc...)

All of the baby talk has sparked a lot of interest with a few of the older kids (7-9) about babies and where they come from. I try to steer clear of those conversations as much as possible, but one of the little girls was really beating around the bush with this one:
"So what's it called when you get married?"
"You mean a wedding?"
"Yeah. And then the party where everyone dances?"
"The reception..."
"And when the man and woman go on vacation by themselves after the wedding?"
"The honeymoon."
"Right. The honeymoon. Soooo...that's when they spend a lot of TIME together??"

This same girl also asked me a couple weeks ago:
"How many fur coats do you have?"
"Zero."
"Boring! Ugh that is so boring! When I'm a grown up I'm gonna have a lot of fur coats. I'm saving up for one now. It costs a thousand dollars. But I already have seven."

Some of the kids have been very helpful with the name suggestions.
"You can name the baby WHATEVER you want! Isn't that cool!"
me: "Yeah it is pretty cool, but there are so many names it's hard to decide!"
"You should name it Princess."
"No, Bob. Like Bob the Builder."
"What about Coconut"
...and the name ideas kinda degenerated from there.

Overall, the kids have been really sweet and curious and they all ask me every week how big the baby is now. They love hearing about the fruit/veggie comparison and I usually show them the app on my phone that has pictures. This week is a bell pepper. It is so cute to see the wheels spinning in their heads as they try to imagine a baby growing in my belly.

Baby Girl!

Our sweet little babins is a GIRL!
Seeing her on the ultrasound was by far the best experience of pregnancy so far. I basically cried/laughed through the whole thing. She was moving around so much! I am in love with her. I have been giddy with excitement and daydreaming about her all day long. The doctor said everything looks great and she measured right on track. Feeling extra blessed today. We got lots of photos and a DVD recording of the ultrasound. I didn't get much work done today because I was busy staring at the pictures and I was anxious to come home so we could watch the recording of her again.

Here are a few of our favorite snapshots:

I love seeing her profile and imagining what she'll look like.

Skinny little baby legs!

 We love this one since she's waving at us!

Little Baby Morris

Baby Morris will be joining us this fall!

16 weeks along, and finally a little something to show for it :)

We are thrilled, nervous, excited, anxious, and thankful!

I'll post baby updates every so often to stay in touch with friends and family and help journal all these crazy changes.

Due date: October 1

Sickness: Mostly extreme hunger, and I mean extreme. Morning sickness has been worse in the second trimester so far.

Cravings: Frozen fruit, fruit, and coconut water. Seriously heard myself say "I love you" out loud to my coconut water in the car last week. I also have had some short but intense cravings for food in California... especially Juanita's tacos and pad thai from Pick Up Stix (did you know they don't have those in Utah?)

Aversions: Dry foods, and most desserts (what have I become??!)

Heartbeat: We heard it loud and clear for the first time at week 10! 150 bpm. Best sound in the world.

Feeling movement: Not yet, hopefully in the next few weeks.

Names: We have a pretty good idea if it's a girl, but are still unsure about boy names.

We tried to tell as many of our friends and family as possible in person or over the phone over the last couple months, but we are just finally going for-reals public, even though this whole thing still seems so surreal! 

Easter Sunday

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the reminder to reflect on Christ's atonement and resurrection, and the symbols of rebirth, new beginnings, and hope. I got especially choked up singing "He is Risen!" during Church- I have so much to be thankful for.
Loved having our Morris parents visiting for the weekend :) It's always nice to be able to celebrate holidays with family.

I should probably mention another two reasons why I look forward to Easter- honey baked ham and funeral potatoes. We had a big Easter dinner at Paul and Mary's (I think there were 18 people seated at the table!), and that food did not disappoint! 

phone pictures

Sometimes I take pictures on my phone, and then a long time later I remember them! Here are some fun things from October-January.

We've tried to make it a tradition to go on a hike in between sessions every General Conference weekend. We didn't get around to it this time, so these are from last October :)

I am a master of science. I got the hard proof in the mail! Later this month I'll finally get to put on the graduation costume and take some pictures.

In January my sister friend came to visit! Actually she came for work but she got to visit me for an afternoon. We went to Pizzeria 712 in Orem--yuummmyy!!!

And then we went shopping. I REALLY really wish she lived here.