18 Weeks

How far along: 18 weeks, 6 days

Maternity clothes: I definitely am starting to feel more of a need for them!  Jeans still fit, but they definitely get tight and hurt my belly sometimes!  I full on un-buttoned AND un-zipped my pants at the movie theater the other day LOL

Stretch marks: No

Sleep: I have still been sleeping pretty good.  I actually had a sleepover with my friend Ryann last night on air mattresses (her house is empty cuz they're moving to Houston next weekend), and our husbands had built a snow fort in their friend's yard and wanted to have a sleepover in it...and it was NEGATIVE 17 degrees last night! Crazy boys!!  We slept great in the warm house though haha

Best moment this week: Getting to borrow my friend's fetal heartbeat monitor!  I totally put it on my stomach and got the heartbeat right away!  The definitely doesn't happen most of the time for people since those monitor's aren't that high tech, and it's hard to get it in the right spot, but I somehow hit right on it on the first try!  Super cool!

Miss anything: Being in better shape!  I kinda let excuses get in the way of me working out, so I am going to start swimming next week since it's really good exercise (especially for pregnant women).  It's nice that I work in the same building as the university's swimming pools too!

Morning sickness:  Still no...definitely grateful for it too.

Movement: Yes, I really think I can say that I have!  It's still not a super obvious feeling to detect (what I think a lot of women say about the first movements)...but I'm starting to distinguish more and more what the baby feels like and what probably just gas bubbles feel like lol

Food cravings: OH ya...I am feeling hungry ALL the time...and will get the randomest cravings.  We were walking through Wal-Mart, and I wanted Pop-tarts really bad...and I never eat those lol.  I also want Del Taco like all the time, but I think that has more to do with the fact that Logan doesn't have one haha.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, not at all.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, for sure I would say.  Especially after I eat a big meal lol

Gender prediction:  Still hoping for a girl, but we will see!  Half of my friends refer to the baby as "she" and the others say "he"...I still am trying not to jinx anything and keep calling the baby "it" for now.  Luckily not for much longer!

Labor signs: No

Belly button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Feeling the baby more and more!

17 Weeks

How far along: 17 weeks, 6 days
Maternity clothes: None yet...luckily I get to wear workout clothes basically every day for my job lol
Stretch marks: Nope
Sleep: Sleeping just fine so far!  However, this morning, and a couple other times, I have had the most PAINFUL charlie horse in my calf muscle...so bad it woke me up and throbbed for a solid couple minutes...ouch!!
Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat again! It's always such a relief to know baby is still going strong in there...crazy how fast their hearts beat too (about 140-150 bpm!)  We also got to finally tell our best friends that we are pregnant..we've been keeping this secret in for a long time!!
Have you told family & friends: Yes, finally!  We are actually making it "Facebook official" tomorrow on New Years day!
Miss anything: Not really...maybe sushi, and also being able to take any decent medicine for colds/pain relief...you  pretty much can't have anything when you're pregnant!
Morning sickness:  None...thank goodness for that :)
Movement: Yep, totally think I can say that I have!  It's so fun, especially at night laying in bed.  I will feel a tight pressure on one side, and can push on it, and can tell there a hard "lump" on one side, and it's soft on my other side, and I'm convinced that's the baby hanging out there...so cool!
Food cravings:  Still love my Crispix cereal, orange juice, and bananas
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope...I've gotten really lucky with my pregnancy
Have you started to show yet: I definitely think so!  Sometimes it depends on the day, and also on the clothes I'm wearing, but I am definitely having a harder time keeping my stomach "flat"...good thing we're going public tomorrow so I don't have to hide anymore!
Gender prediction: Don't want to try and guess...I'll admit we want a girl, but I also don't want to feel disappointed if it's a boy.  We'll find out in about 2 1/2 weeks!
Labor signs: No
Belly button in or out: In
Wedding rings on or off: On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but I definitely have my moody/cranky moments lol.  Hesston I'm sure is ready for me to not be grumpy anymore!  I don't notice it all the time, but I definitely get impatient more easily, and frustrated with silly things.  It's probably the stress of my job more than pregnancy though haha.
Looking forward to: Finding out the gender! My ultrasound appointment is on January 18th, and I am so ready to be able to start shopping for baby stuff and making this whole thing feel more real!

Our Move to Logan

Our Move to Logan

About a month ago, we made our first big move as couple, from Provo to Logan.  Hesston was accepted into the Graduate program at Utah State for a dual Master's degree in Human Resources and his MBA.  I currently work for IHC so it worked out perfectly for me to transfer up to Logan.  It was a very exciting time for us to leave Provo for the first time (I had lived there for close to 6 1/2 years since I moved up for school at BYU).  We are now {somewhat} settled up here in Logan now.  We are currently in the process of buying our first condo, and then we'll stay there til Hesston graduates.  I'm so excited and feel so blessed to be where we are, and am grateful that school is getting closer and closer to being a thing of the past for us :)

Our big 20 ft. U-HAUL...we packed it to the brim!

The cute little donkeys that lived right up the road from my old job in Springville.  I would see them everyday on the way to work and always dreamed of getting to pet them.  On my last day of work, I tried to get close, but this was as good as I could get.  Aren't they darling!?!

Our behemoth of a mattress haha.  It was quite the challenge moving this thing!  Luckily I have a big strong husband and he has a brother who helps us so much with stuff like this!

These are the cute washcloths and dish scrubber that my good friend Retta from work made me on my last day.  They are hand crocheted!  She is such a sweetheart and I will miss her.

Our empty living room :(

Our empty bathroom.  I will honestly miss this!  I felt like it was the roomiest bathroom we have had yet.  Hopefully one day I will have an even bigger one :)

One last picture of our "first" place together (we had a couple temporary places when we first got married, but this one was the one we had the majority of our memories in.)  We lived here for a year and 8 months!  That's a long time for us! Lol

Leaving the gas station after filling all of the vehicles up.  The caravan is ready to go!

Driving through Sardine Canyon just before Logan!  My favorite :)  It was a very cloudy day...I was worried we'd be moving in the rain the whole time!

Emptying out the moving truck...so grateful for Hesston's brother Kyle for being willing to help us move

Annnnd...now the hard part of getting the behemoth mattress INTO the new place...basement apartments are definitely not suited for moving furniture in and out!

This is little bit embarrassing...we kind of moved everything in in a hurry, and all of our clothes just ended up getting dumped in a huge pile on the living room floor...I couldn't even walk through my living room!

My new job :)  I am loving living in Logan!

Our Mexican Riviera Cruise!!

All because of my wonderful grandma...

 

 

This whole cruise was her idea :)  Back in November last year, we were told that we should start getting our plans in order to go on a big family cruise from March 28th to April 4th.  It was going to be her Christmas gift to all of us. I was all for it!  Hesston, however, was a little bit on the fence.  Not because he is weird and doesn't like vacations, but because the week of the cruise was gonna land right in the midst of a LOT of serious things going on with work, school, and applying for the Graduate program at Utah State.  I coaxed him and coaxed him to do this because it would probably be our last decent vacation for a while.  He eventually agreed to deal with the consequences (UVU's Spring Break was a week AFTER the cruise, so he had to just miss a week of school).  Boy was it worth it though.  It was such a fabulous, relaxing, FUN vacation!  Hesston thought so too :)  And by the end of it all, literally on the last morning of the cruise, when we pulled into California Hesston had a voicemail on his phone from the director of the Master's program, and we got the incredible and relieving news that Hesston got in to Utah State!! 

 

 

Here are a bunch of pics from our trip.   It's quite the picture overload...I've warned you in advance ;)

 

 



Driving to California!

 Life Jacket Drill

Favorite headband :)

 

First Dinner Night!

 

 They had a giant TV screen and had kids playing Mario Kart Wii!

Our DARLING waitress Lilliana...she was an absolute doll!!

 Puerto Vallarta day!

 The boys working out together...they're buds :)

 Silly Alliyah :D

 Me, Kylie, and Alliyah

Shopping in Mexico

 One of my favorite outfits I brought on the cruise

 And my favorite swimsuit :)

 Going Whale Watching!

We dug out our own personal "hot tub" on the beach in Mazatlán.  Kingston and Zekiah LOVED it!

This guy handed me this lizard without any warning and then asked us to pay him for pictures with him!  Sneaky move, but I guess it worked lol 

 Flourless Chocolate Cake...I wish they had this every night for dinner.

Formal Night!

The whole clan singing karaoke...led by my Aunt Kris of course :)

My dreams of petting a donkey not only came true...they were surpassed by getting to HOLD a BABY donkey!!!  She was only 4 weeks old!

Holding this giant yellowtail up was harder than it looks lol

No cruise is complete without at least one sexy drink ;)

The love of my life.  If you can see in front of us, it was actually Princess Cruises 50th anniversary and we happened to be on their cruise to celebrate it!

Touring the galley...their kitchen is SPOTLESS.  Amazing, with how much food they have to pump in and out of there everyday!

The Executive Chef and Maître De

My cute Aunt Ramari!

Our awesome waiters Freddi and Lilliana...best I've ever had!

Me and my momma...she always walks laps after dinner.  Smart lady :)

Another one of me and my love

 Me and my little bro leaving the ship...sad day!

Just found out Hesston got into Grad School!  Best end of the trip we could have asked for :)