Coming into the Homestretch

I REALLY want to try and be more consistent with blogging. I know, want to and going to are two totally different things. It's the thought that counts though, right?

Anyway....

We're coming into the homestretch and are down to the last 2 weeks! (Although technically she could come any day now. Eeeee!!!) I'm at the point that I am uncomfortable, the temperature continues to get warmer, and more often than not I am miserable. My hip that I had surgery on hasn't really bothered me up until the last few weeks, lately it's been killing me. I don't sleep well; either because I can't get comfortable or my mind is racing and I lay in bed wide awake. I cry over EVERYTHING and poor Nick has to deal with my hot mess of a self right now. I keep telling him (and probably everyone else that asks how I am lately) that I feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever!! He's so good and loving me and being as helpful and supportive as he can, but I would be willing to bet that he is more ready for me to have this baby than I am so he can have his wife back and not this crazy pregnant lady living in his house!
For the record, I feel like I've done a pretty good job being positive for the majority of this pregnancy (minus the last month, that doesn't count... why?.. because I'm 38 weeks pregnant and I said so ;)

On a positive note... I know the outcome is going to be more than worth it! Our little girl will be here before we know it. I know our lives will never be the same once she's here and although it will be hard at times and take some time for us (and the boys) to adjust, I am beyond excited!! Nick is already the cutest daddy to his boys and Brooklyn already has him wrapped around her tiny little finger. The boys are going to be such great big brothers and protectors. My parents haven't been able to contain their excitement to be grandparents since they found out. Me? I have no idea what the hell I'm doing but I'm sure I'll figure it out!! Haha! She is going to be, already is really, one loved little girl.

I've said before, I haven't LOVED being pregnant and up until a few weeks ago I didn't really hate it either. I think my biggest issue is not having control over my body or emotions. It makes me feel like I've lost all control when I don't have any control over the ONE thing I should have control over.. myself. Make sense?

Complaining aside, I am SO grateful that I am able to be pregnant (even on days I tell Nick that I don't want to be pregnant anymore.) I know a lot of women struggle with this and are unable to have children of their own. When I look at things in that perspective I feel guilty complaining about how uncomfortable, fat and swollen I am or the fact that I have to pee every 20 minutes. I really should be thankful that I GET to be uncomfortable because I am able to be pregnant and am sacrificing my body for another human being, OUR little human being. I GET to pee every 20 minutes because every time I feel her move, it happens to be right on top of my bladder. Feeling her move, reassures me that she's ok and one thing I have absolutely loved! I have been so fortunate to have a healthy pregnancy, and some days still have enough energy after work to clean the house or do the dishes so my hardworking (most the time over-working) husband doesn't have to when he gets home.

Nick has been and continues to be my rock through EVERYTHING. I love him more every day and honestly don't know where I'd be without that man. We've been through a lot in the time we've been together and we continue to build on those... obstacles, if you will, and keep getting stronger.

It's the final countdown.... 2 weeks and counting. Although Brooklyn, feel free to make that closer to a week rather than 2! That'd be great!! Your mom and dad would really appreciate it!!! Plus, we're so excited and can't wait to meet you!!

Random Thoughts

* Some people have absolutely NO filters when it comes to talking to you about pregnancy and NO personal space. I have my personal space bubble and when people that I barely know come up and just touch my belly, I don't like it.....at all. (I have yet to have a complete stranger do this, knock on wood). A couple comments I've gotten from co-workers lately have been... (Might I add: these are co-workers that the only thing I really know about them are their names)

One day randomly in the hall-
Co-worker: Are you gaining weight?
Me: Ummmm, yeah. That usually happens when you're pregnant.
Co-worker: OH, you're pregnant?! Congratulations. At least your hair and your skin looks good!
Me: Thanks???

In a staff meeting-
Co-worker: So you're having a little one huh? How far along are you?
Me: 26 weeks?
Co-worker: OHH! You're going to have a big baby!!!
(I wasn't sure what to even respond back with)

- On a positive "belly touching" note- Some of the girls I coach will come up to me as soon as I get to the field, bend down and start talking to my belly. I love this! It definitely makes my day, especially on the days that I'm not loving being pregnant.

* I (finally) figured out today that milk and I don't agree while being pregnant. I've never been a huge milk fan, but I do love me a good bowl of cereal. There goes that quick and easy breakfast. Dang...

* Feeling our baby move is THE coolest experience/feeling I have ever had.

* This retaining water thing sucks. Some days are worse than others...On the bad days, I seriously I feel like a giant marshmallow.

* Being pregnant doesn't suck (although it does have its moments). I haven't LOOOOVVVEEEDD being pregnant, but I don't hate it either. Nick asked me (on a not so good pregnant day) if I would ever want to be pregnant again. He didn't get the "hell no" answer he thought he was going to get from me, but he didn't get an ecstatic "YES" either. Even on the crappiest pregnant day I've had, I still seriously considered doing it again later on down the road.

* I have THE best husband....EVER. He really deserves his own post (which he still might get). Since day 1 he has taken such good care of me. When we found out I was pregnant, he has gone even more out of his way than before to make sure I'm taken care of.

• He offers foot/back rubs nightly.
• He does everything he can to make sure I am comfortable - especially trying to sleep at night.
• Whenever I mention something sounding good to eat he asks me if I want him to go get it for me. (I haven't taken him up on this yet, I'm saving the late night craving run for a serious craving).
• He puts up with my crazy moods, random crying, my occasional freak outs about becoming a mom, and he always accepts my apologies for my inability to control my pregnancy hormones and emotions once I gain composure of myself. 
• He has always told me how lucky he thinks he is, and how beautiful he thinks I am. Being pregnant he has expressed it even more. Especially on those not so good days, he makes sure that I am reminded of how wonderful he thinks I am, even if I don't feel so great myself. (I sure have him fooled, don't I? :)
• He is constantly thanking me for sacrificing my body for our little girl.
• He likes to put his head on my belly while we're laying in bed to talk to and have play time with our little one. Cutest.....thing......EVER!!!!! I swear she already knows his voice, because as soon as he starts talking, she goes crazy!
• He talks to me about his worries, stresses and listens to me when I have mine. We make such a good team in SO many different ways. I am so lucky to have him in my life- not just as my husband, but as my BEST friend, sole mate, partner in crime, and "baby daddy" :) I love you Domenic <3

Update

First off- I refuse to post "baby bump" pictures on here (or any social media site). I've taken some so I can look back on, but I'm a bit self-conscious as it is to just get ready for the day and go out so posting pictures of myself on top of that just isn't going to happen.

I've been really bad at keeping a journal, but there are little memories and milestones I want to document before I forget.

* Uhhhhh, no one ever told me that I would get pregnant in my @$$ before I even started showing in my stomach. Apparently this doesn't happen to everyone, but trust me people, it did happen to me. My mom keeps telling me to "embrace it," Nick keeps telling me how beautiful he thinks I am, even more now that I'm carrying our baby (He's a keeper I tell ya!!). For the most part I DO embrace it. I love, love love feeling her move, and love even more that Nick can feel her now too! There are days that I am completely okay with "getting bigger" and there are some days that I absolutely am not. Those are the days I feel bad for Nick. I'm either super pissy or I just cry. He is so good to listen to me vent about my (dumb) frustrations. We're usually laughing by the end of the conversation once I realize how silly I sound.
My feet are a little swollen by the end of the day and I can feel my bones shifting- mostly my pelvis and my hips. I told Nick the other day I felt like I got hit with a hammer, ahem, "down there." His only response was "WOW." I may have been exaggerating a bit, but still. I told him that any of those women that tell me "Oh I loovvveed being pregnant" will get punched in the face. I don't hate being pregnant, but I definitely don't LOOVVVEE it. Nick ran over to my parents house later to drop something off and when came back and said "I told your mom what you had said about punching anyone in the face that said they loved being pregnant." Apparently she is one of those women. Keep your thoughts to yourself Mom!! Haha, just kidding! kinda - I love you!!!  

* I can feel Baby Dodge move on a regular basis and I love it! I wasn't sure if what I was feeling at first was her, but I know now that it definitely is! My last Dr appointment the ultrasound tech was having a hard time getting all the measurements, etc that she needed because she would NOT hold still. Wonder where she gets that from...?? They also told me that my placenta is in front instead of behind- no need to worry but she said I probably won't be able to feel kicks/punches as much in the front as I normally would. I was a little worried Nick wouldn't be able to feel her, but she moves so much that we haven't had that problem. Nick likes to lay his head on my belly, talk to her and try to get her to move. The other day as soon as his cheek touched my belly he got a good nudge to the face. LOL!
   - Nick woke up yesterday and said he had some "playtime" with the baby during the night. He said he rolled over to snuggle up to me and when he put his hand on my stomach she was moving like crazy so they had some bonding time. I don't think I've wiped the smile off my face since.

*I have heartburn and acid reflux like its nobody's business. My doctor gave me a prescription to help with it and it does help, but if I don't sleep propped up during the night it tries to kill me! I've never had heartburn before I got pregnant so this was a whole new experience. Ugh.

I figured the rest I would sum up with this survey

How far along: 23 weeks! (tomorrow)
How big is baby: My app says 8 inches but every time I 've gone to the Dr, she measures bigger than what my app says.
Maternity clothes: Yes- I have one pair of my regular jeans that still fit. Most maternity shirts are still too big on me but my regular shirts are getting a bit snug. I need the warm weather here so I can just wear dresses and leggings!
Best moment of the week: Registering @ Buy Buy Baby (Ummm, that store is AMAZING by the way)
Name: It hasn't been announced yet ;)
Food cravings: Strawberries, Slurpees. I haven't really had any cravings- something will sound good and after I eat it, it doesn't sound good anymore.
Movement: lots!
Gender: Girl!!
What I’m looking forward to: Getting her crib set up.... ahem.... Nick ;)
What I miss: Not feeling like shamu, being able to fit into my normal clothes.
Next appt: March 13

You WILL Want To Read This....

I figure we have waited long enough to make it blog/facebook official. Many of you already know, some of you don't, and I'm sure a few of you have heard rumors..... My friends, the rumors are true!!! Drumroll please.......

COMING (on or around) JULY 3RD..... Baby GIRL Dodge!!!!

Nick and I are SO happy, excited, overjoyed and a bit nervous to bring a baby into this crazy world. Mostly me on the nervous thing- he's done this twice before so it should be a breeze for him, right? Rriiiiggghhhttt. When we found out it she was a girl, we were so excited! Nick was so cute and the expression on his face was priceless! Melted my heart, that man is already wrapped around her little finger. When the ultrasound tech left the room, Nick turned to me and said "I don't know what to do with a girl!!!" I keep telling him the same things he's done with his boys, girls are just a bit more sensitive... should be pretty easy being married to me, right?!

How we found out:

Towards the end of October, I had been really REALLY tired. My daily routine after work would be:

* Nap

* Dinner

* Bedtime

Awesome, right?

There were a few days I didn't feel very good and just chalked it up to fighting off some of the nasty cold/flu going around. We had talked about booking a trip somewhere tropical in the Spring/Summer, I found a really good Groupon deal and Nick called me from work asking me if I wanted him to book it. I told him we could wait a couple more days and we could finalize dates, etc. A few days later I told Nick that it might be a good idea if we went to the store and bought a "test." He was SO excited! Neither one of us could wait. That Friday, we went to dinner and did a little shopping. We cut the shopping short because we were both so excited. We got home, and I took the test.... It seemed like we waited forever! After the 3 minutes was up, I asked Nick if he wanted to go into see what it said. He told me to go check and he would be waiting. I picked up the test and there it was, plain as day... TWO pink lines!

 I was speechless, I was so excited and overwhelmed with emotion that all I could do was walk out to Nick with the test in my hand and a HUGE smile on my face. Nick kept saying "are you serious?!!" We both gave each other a big hug and cried tears of PURE happiness!

Don't mind the "I had been so tired I never got ready" look I have going on



Fast Forward a few months- I was REALLY tired at first, then I was REALLY sick (whoever named it morning sickness needs to be punched... I was sick all...day...long), that changed to kind of sick and back to being tired. Now that I'm in my 2nd trimester I've been feeling a LOT better. The only thing I've been dealing with now is heartburn- nothing a little RX from my Doctor didn't fix though!

I can't even describe how happy and excited I am! I can't wait to be a MOM! (The thought of this still feels a little weird to me.) Having step-kids is one thing, having a child of my own on the other hand... let's just say I've had a few breakdowns to Nick about it. He has been SO sweet and so patient with my "pregnancy hormones." He takes such good care of me and I can't wait to see how cute of a Daddy he is going to be with our little Princess.

Let the countdown to Summer begin!!!!! Let's hope I don't look too much like Shamu by the time July rolls around :)

Update- 1 year & California Vacay

January 19th of 2012, Nick and I went on our first date! He took me to dinner and then to the Jazz game. The rest is history! :) When we found out that the Jazz were playing at home on January 19 of this year, we HAD to go. (We're both cheesy and sentimental about that kind of stuff) We went to dinner at the Melting Pot and then headed to the Jazz game. It was so fun reminiscing about the past year and to think that exactly 1 year ago that night, we had our very first date. Who would have thought that 1 year ago I would have found my best friend and soulmate?!! Life is good! SO good!!!!

This past weekend, we took a trip to California to get out of the cold and to visit the Bello's. We left the below freezing temperatures (Oh, and let's not forget about the nasty ice storm we had the day we left that temporarily shut down the airport. Luckily our flight was only delayed an hour) and arrived in sunny California. The weather was beautiful all weekend long! The sun was shining and we had 60+ degree weather the whole time we were there.

Friday we went into San Francisco. We went to Alcatraz and then had lunch on the pier. I took a total of maybe 5 pictures the whole trip. My mom, the photographer, will be so disappointed. 

Saturday Rylee and I went on our annual "girls date" and got pedicures while Nick helped Vail out running a couple errands. Saturday night, we went to the Dunham School Crab Feed! We got crabs ;) and had a lot of fun! 

Sunday we went out to Truett Hurst Winery, where Nick proposed to me last summer! They people there even remembered us!!! We sat by the river (the exact spot Nick proposed), walked around a bit and then headed to another winery. 



I realized I am in need of some serious sunshine!!!



We got home Monday to a driveway full of snow and temperature half of what it was in California. Needless to say, I've been pouting since we left the Bello's house Monday morning.  

It was great to get away, and it WOULD be great to be home IF the snow stayed in the mountains and left the valley alone. I wish I could say that we have another trip planned soon, buuutttt we don't.

At Least it's Somethin'

I get so backed up with blogging that I end up having a hundred things to post and get so overwhelmed I just don't do any of it. Meh...

It's now 2013 and I already am 2 weeks behind. Let's just start with New Years and work our way to the present, shall we? I may backtrack here and there but bare with me on my timeline these next few posts :)

New Years Eve
We went over to our friends John and Erin's house for a little get together. It wasn't a huge party, but Nick and I decided were getting too old for that anyway. We had so much fun! We laughed a lot and ate a TON!!! 2012 was an AMAZING year for both of us, and we're even more excited for what's to come in 2013 and beyond!

Winter Fire School - St George
Nick had training in St. George this past weekend so I decided to go down with him to get out of the frickin' cold weather to just cold weather. It was 40 degrees in St. George and I almost felt like I needed to put my shorts on (not really, but it was nice compared to the ridiculously cold weather we've had in Salt Lake these last few weeks). I spent time with my grandparents while Nick went to his training classes. Saturday after class we headed down to Mesquite for some blackjack and some Popeye's. We had a lot of fun playing blackjack, but didn't come out on top. Nick and some of the guys he works with are borderline OB-SESSED with Popeye's chicken. I have never been there and as soon as Nick got in the car to drive to Mesquite, the first thing he asked was "Can we go to Popeye's?" I don't think Nick wiped the smile off his face the whole drive down there. I do have to admit, Popeye's was amazing! I had high expectations of this so-called Popeye's and I was not let down!!!! I can't wait to go there again!
It was a short weekend trip but we enjoyed every second of it. Driving home the temperature hit -3!!! NEGATIVE THREE DEGREES!!!!!! I'm over this cold weather....

Nothing else has really been going on the last couple weeks, and all I ever want to do is go home and wrap up in blankets because of this weather. Here's to hoping it warms up.... and quick!!!! We leave for California in 10.39 days, but who's counting? Oh. Right. I am!!!!

I have a few pictures to post but they're going to have to wait. (My computer is not cooperating at the moment)

The Happiest Place on Earth...

....according to some. I happen to be one of those people that think Disneyland is, in fact, one of the happiest places on earth. Nick and I thought it would be fun to take his boys for a little vacation for a few reasons-

1. They had never been on an airplane and were DYING to
2. Nick said he has been talking about taking them to Disneyland for the last couple years but it never worked out in the past.
3. We felt a little guilty taking a week long trip to Hawaii without them (Not really, but kind of ;)
4. Having some time away from everything would be a good bonding experience/family vacay
5. It's Disneyland... Need I say more?

We booked the trip back in June so needless to say October took ffooorreeeevvveerrrr to get here! I had always wanted to go to Disneyland during October because I love Halloween! My parents joined us, and I am SO glad they did. They were able to get to know the boys better and it made it easier so everyone got to do what they wanted as far as rides go.

Both Logan and Bridger were a little nervous for their first plane ride, but ever since we got off the plane in California all they've wanted to do was take a flight somewhere.

We spent 3 whole days at Disneyland and loved every second of it! We talked Logan into going on a few of the bigger rides (Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Matterhorn) but Bridger wasn't having any of them. We did however get them both on Space Mountain - Ummmmm.... I didn't realize how fast/jerky/scary that ride is and during Halloween they change it to "Ghost Galaxy." Nick and I both felt horrible after... I wouldn't be surprised if neither one of the boys ever wanted to go on it again.

  

Toystory-mania - This was more of a favorite for my dad and Nick than anyone else although we all loved it.

 

Carsland was AWESOME!!!! We went on the Radiator Springs Raceway ride a few times! While my mom and Nick went on Tower of Terror, Logan and Bridger talked me into going on the 'Mater' ride in Carsland. I get motion sickness pretty easy so I was a little hesitant to go. Bridger told me "You won't get sick, I promise. I'll hold your hand." He was right. I didn't get sick, the boys and I laughed the WHOLE time and it ended up being my favorite ride as well as the boys.






* Tower of Terror- My favorite ride!!! I think I went on it 4 or 5 times.

* Splash Mountain

* Grizzly River Run- I think this was Logan's favorite ride. We got drenched when we went!!!

* I LOVED the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion- LOVED IT!

* Pirates of the Carribean (I think it scared Bridger a little more than he would ever admit to)

Bridger LOVED Toontown. we took him through Mickey's House so he could meet Mickey. SO cute!

What would California be without a dip in the pool?







California Screamin'




 
I don't have any pictures of this, but on Sunday AND Monday we went to Ruby's Diner. Ruby's is one of my favorite places to eat and Nick and boys loved it too so we went twice. Since our trip, anytime we ask Logan or Bridger what they want for dinner they always ask if we can "just fly to California and go to Ruby's and then we'll come back." If only money grew on trees, boys.


 Monday we headed home, but not before stopping by the beach. The boys had never seen the ocean before. They LOVED it! It was so fun to watch them run in the waves, laughing hysterically. We had such a fun weekend and made a lot of great memories!! We are currently brainstorming where to take our next family trip!!!