4 +1 = 5

tanner and i just got home from a trip to patagonia. it was pretty awesome, but details will come in a following post after i go through all my pictures and get kristen's pictures as well. for now, all i'd like to point out is my awkward looking belly - 

yep, thats right. baby number 3 will be joining our family on september 17th!

 (looking pretty unflattering under my loose layers of clothes, but the little bump is still making an appearance!)

a phone shot of me a few days ago, at 12 weeks, where you can actually see the bump. i'm pretty sure i didn't show this much with eli till i was about 25 weeks along. dang it.

eli and isaac are excited, well, as long as its a baby boy :).

39 weeks + baby shower

i had my second baby shower over the weekend and it was so much fun. we had food that was all based on things i've enjoyed eating while pregnant and everything was so delicious. it was great spending time with family and some friends and of course being able to open up cute baby things!

also, i had my 39 week appointment today. we did an ultrasound cause at my last appointment my stomach measurement didn't grow as much as my doctor expected (which i didn't find out till today) but everything looks totally normal. my weight has leveled off, and the baby (according to the ultrasound) is currently 6 pounds 11 ounces and everything looks great! i am already dilated 2 to 3 cm and my doctor doesn't think i'll make it to my 40 week mark next monday. thats both scary and exciting so hopefully i can hurry and finish getting everything done i want to get done! and i wonder if my next blog post will be announcing a new member of my family... but we'll see!

38 weeks + eli

i had my 38 week doctors check up today. my body hasn't made any progress, which as exciting as it would have been to hear, i'm glad it hasn't. there still is too much to do!! my 39 week appointment is next monday where he'll do an ultrasound so that should be interesting to see if this week makes any difference. he did send my info over to st. john's hospital though just in case... which sort of made me nervous : )

anyways, here are some pictures i snapped of eli while we were at the park. i love this kid and love our outings.

baby shower

i had a great baby shower yesterday with friends here in santa monica. i love my boys, but man is it nice to get out and have a little social time with other girls... its very refreshing. my friend andrea was kind enough to host it and made everything look so cute. we ate delicious food, played some fun games, and then i got to open my presents. thanks to everyone who helped out! i seriously had such a great time.

top row: andrea (pregnant), bethany, me, stephanie (pregnant), courtney, natalie, and cutie little eleanor. bottom row: lindy, sarah, shauna, emily (pregnant).

36 week appointment

today i had my 36 week doctor's check up. i thought i was going to get a 3d ultrasound, but i guess it was just a normal one today. after asking my doc if he was going to do a 3d one, true to form, he said something about it not making a difference. yeah, my doc doesn't have the best bedside manner. but he ended up doing it but unfortunately the baby wasn't cooperating so we couldn't see anything anyways. the baby apparently weights 5 lbs. 13 oz. and everything looks good!

you may be wondering why i have posted a picture of matthew mcconaughey here (and this was the only picture that he actually had a shirt on). well, in the room that you get your weight checked (total weight gain is at 26 pounds...i know you care but i know i'll want to remember that for my future self), blood pressure, etc. done, there is a board with a bunch of pictures with babies, my doctor at the hospital with his patients and their babies... you get the idea. well, right before i was about to stand up to go to my room, i saw a picture of my doctor standing next to a big-grinned matthew mcconaughey holding a new born baby. nice. my doctor delivered matthew's baby. and i love how in some really weird, pathetic way, i feel like this somehow gives me a total connection with him. so yeah, i guess we are bff now.

33 weeks and counting

last weekend tanner and i got a new camera. we love it. this is actually our big christmas present to each other/from my parents, so we finally decided march was the time to actually buy it : ) . we went in thinking we were going to walk out with a certain package, but walked out with a body (same one we wanted) and lens that were both used (the guy who replaced them wanted to get an upgrade so he traded them in... so there is absolutely nothing wrong with them... and we all know i love a good deal), an additional lens, and new camera bag... all for way under the price we thought we were just going to pay for the body and one lens. score! we have had a lot of fun messing around with the camera to try to learn more about it, but i figured i'd start with posting these belly shots of me at 33 weeks (and yes i am purposefully not looking. it was cleaning/laundry day which = me looking nasty day) that tanner took earlier this week.

i snapped some pictures of eli on our walk this morning and will post more of these a little later

mmm, yum.

my only big craving while i was pregnant with eli was popcorn at the movie theater. it seemed time and time again we would walk in, the smell would hit me, i'd try to fight off the urge, and then after sitting down and making a couple comments to tanner he'd run back out during the previews to get us a big bag. at least i tried to fight off the buttery salty goodness.

i don't know if i would view these as typical pregancy cravings, but these are some things i have been eating a lot of lately ...

the main fruit that has helped my sweet tooth has been kiwi. unfortunately trader joe's hasn't had it the past two times i've been, and i've missed it cause it is oh so good. and i feel proud of myself for eating this when i could have reached for something else. did you know that kiwi has more vitamin c than oranges?

edamame is a favorite snack of mine. if i am getting hungry, i go in the fridge and grab a handful of these babies and it helps to hold me over for a while. okay, but can i be honest? i haven't had these in about a week... because i keep finding dead worms in them! isn't that discusting? i only noticed for the first time right before i was about to pop it in my mouth and saw something weird. so i tried telling myself that it was just what happens in nature and decided that then i would always pop them into a bowl before putting them in my mouth. and even after that have seen two dead worms. i think it will be a while before i buy costco edamame again.

i am a huge fan of mac and cheese. like, seriously, call me a kid but it is one of my favorite foods. tanner and i went mac and cheese scouting with some friends to different restaurants in the area to find the best we could. and i found the best at trader joes. it is inexpensive, and for popping it in the microwave it is a great treat... not for your heart, but for your tummy.

this blue agave sweetener has been a big help to me. it is better for you, and much sweeter, than sugar. i've been having this on bread/bagels with peanut butter or on cream of wheat/oatmeal, or cereal like wheaties to make it nice and sweet. yummy.

i guess its safe to say i have much more of a sweet tooth when i'm pregnant than when i'm not. often times at night tanner and i would put eli in his pj's, and then run to mc donalds or fosters freeze to get a blizzard or sundae or whatever other sweet thing sounded good. we would have to do this because i didn't want to have ice cream in the house so i wouldn't eat it. but that obviously wasn't happening. so to save us the late night runs, i bought plain vanilla ice cream, and have been using left over v-day chocolate to make my own little creations. my favorite is sticking a reese's into the microwave to get it nice and soft, and then mixing it into the ice cream. yum.

31 week doctor update

i am realizing more and more how i've spaced doing pregnancy updates ... hardly any typical tummy shots, and no doctor's office updates. i have loved reading what i wrote about all this while pregnant with eli, so i'm sad i haven't kept up with things. so i guess its better late than never (and maybe it will help me keep track of how far along i am/how much longer i have... which is something i've struggled with this pregnancy)!

i had a quick doctors appointment today (courtney, thanks again for watching eli last minute!) at 31 weeks. it was the usual hear the heart beat and he measured my tummy (totally average size, even though i appear small. my theory is because i have a long torso to work with so i don't stick out as far). i haven't gained as much weight with this pregnancy as i did with eli (thank goodness...i think there is about a 10 pound difference) so today on the scale i weighed in at 142, gaining four pounds this past month.

my next appointment is in three weeks (at 34 weeks), and then another two weeks after that. i am excited for the 36 week appointment cause i'll be getting a 3d ultrasound. when i got that done with eli it sort of freaked me out, but looking back on it, i still totally see a resemblance between eli now with his 3d ultrasound of him in my belly (click here to see). its crazy. so i'm excited to get a glimpse to see what this next boy will look like.

30 weeks (aka 7 1/2 months)

i haven't been the best at taking shots of my growing belly. so since i'm officially in my 30th week (+2 days to be exact) i had tanner take a picture on his phone of me while we were out on a stroll down our street before dinner.

people keep telling me how tiny my belly is for only having 2 1/2 months left, but i don't feel little! i am carrying this baby nice and low just like i did with eli.

my back has been starting to hurt when i've been sleeping which is a bummer... cause i know its not going to get any better. i've also noticed i am becoming a lot more tired, so hopefully i can force myself to start taking naps while i can.

eli puts his hand on my belly and says 'baby' multiple times a day, and always with a big smile on his face. its pretty stinkin cute.... and gives me hope that he will be a nice big brother (but we'll see how that all goes when the time comes...).

baby in my belly

last night tanner and i got in bed earlier than usual. i propped myself up on some pillows with a book, and tanner had the laptop on his lap working on some things.

as usual when i lye down at night, this super active baby in my belly thinks its party time. not just little movements here or there, but on a much bigger scale that make it hard for me to fall asleep. i first felt this baby move at 15 weeks, and only the first few times were the little "fluttery" feelings you sometimes hear it described as. ever since, it has been full on very noticeable movements. but still, night time seems to be his favorite.

so since i was in bed with my book propped on my growing belly, i almost started to get annoyed as the book kept jerking this way and that way and i kept losing my place with the little font used in the book. finally i put the book down, pulled my shirt up so my bare belly was showing, and watched. after the first couple movements i had tanner watching with me.

it was crazy seeing all the movement happening, where we seriously stayed staring at my stomach for about ten minutes straight, with me who kept having to tell tanner, "no, we are not going to film my stomach right now" and filled with tanner telling me to stop laughing cause he wanted to see the baby move.

i know that doesn't seem like much, but i keep thinking about it today. how simple pure joy can be. and how i have been so caught up in how crazy life has been lately, and with feelings of needing to get things ready for when this baby joins us in 3 months, but almost forgetting this tiny life inside of me and the magnitude of that.

i seriously have the best life. i often need to stop and remind myself of this when i get overwhelmed with unnecessary things. but really, i seriously have been nothing but blessed in my life, and i know that as crazy as its going to be by having another baby boy, he will be such a huge blessing and i cant wait to meet him so i can fully fall in love with him.

the end.

16 weeks

i went in for my 16 week appointment today (16 weeks and 4 days to be exact). luckily my good friend courtney was able to babysit eli during it and he had a great time playing with her and westin. it was a pretty quick check-up, just the usual pee in a cup, my doc checked the heart beat, and more blood work. i found out eli was a boy at 16 weeks back in utah, so it's killing me that i don't get to find out the gender for another 4 weeks. december 8th. thats the day... start leaving your votes now on if you think its a girl or boy.

this week has been totally crazy. tanner has been gone since sunday afternoon on a business trip so thats never a fun thing. eli and i drove up to santa barbara on tuesday and stayed till thursday afternoon. meanwhile, i have been in charge of managing team-twilight all by my lonesome. our head writer was out of town so i was writing every story, deciding when the stories should be published on the website, and pushing out a select amount to facebook. it may not sound like much work, but it is so insanely time consuming. luckily she got back last night and busted out like 20 stories that she has had saved in her newsfeed so i haven't had to do much today. i also am teaching relief society on sunday and don't feel prepared. at all. i haven't fully finished my lesson, have felt overwhelmed at the lack of time i've felt like i've had this week to really focus on it, and wont have a spare minute to work on it tomorrow... so i guess i'll figure it out. i also applied for new insurance for eli. eli's insurance past has not been a good one, and it is incredible the stress that comes with all things related to insurance. but i finished the application yesterday and submitted it so hopefully we'll hear back soon.

whew. tanner arrives in two hours (yep, his flight was delayed for four hours in colorado due to weather...i often forget everywhere else in the country is experiencing normal cold weather for winter) and i am so excited to see him even though i'm not picking him up till midnight. i am also already super tired and wish i could go to bed. but #1 on my list is to work on my lesson now that eli is asleep and the kitchen is clean, and #2... well, clean the rest of my apartment.

on a different note, last week erin so kindly came over and babysat eli while tanner and i got to go on a fun date. we went to go see a cirque du soleil show called kooza that was playing right off the pier. it was so fun, and very needed, to get out alone with tanner and the show was absolutely amazing.

eli and erin before we left for the show

in the tent right before the show started. my hair has been looking so stupid lately. im pretty positive that it's due to the fact i let it air-dry everyday because i'm lazy. i should probably not allow myself to do that anymore.

last doctors visit?

i had my 39 week doctor's appointment this morning and this afternoon i met with our soon-to-be pediatrician. my obgyn said that i am 2 cm dilated, and guesses that i wont make it to my due date! AHH!!! i know that a doctors guess is only a guess, and of course who knows, but i am still going to let myself get excited. and hey, regardless it motivates me to hurry up and get everything else ready-like right now. after he did the rather painful checkout, tanner and i met him in his office. he walked in and said (in his thick israeli accent), "okay so we have two options. you can let nature take its course and let this baby come when he wants, or i can induce you on wednesday." wednesday!! that is in two days. two! as tempting as that was, this being my first time i really want to let everything happen when it is supposed to happen...unless im like a week late and then screw mother nature, im getting induced.

my pediatrician is pretty much the opposite of my obgyn. first of all the pediatrician is a woman, but it was a different experience having her ask me quite a few times if i had any other questions before i left, whereas my ob tries to book it out of the room as fast as he can before i can ask anything. she is nerdy and sweet, so judging by the 15 min i spent with her, i really like her.

i have been feeling a lot (a lot a lot) of braxton hicks contractions yesterday and today so things are getting exciting. they dont really hurt bad, but i definitely wouldn't describe them as 'painless' either. oh well. well, its off to get things done! the nursery is done so maybe i'll post pictures soon of that....

doctor update

i am 36 weeks pregnant. crazy. i only have 4 weeks left till my due date!! i just went to the doctor this morning so i wanted to give the quick update--

baby's weight: 5 pounds 5 ounces
my weight: 160 (remember back when i was scared to pass 150? those were the good ol' days)

the doctor said everything looks perfect with the baby with his positioning and size so i dont have another appointment for two weeks. i wish i could go in again next week cause i am paranoid, but two weeks is good to!

updates

doctor-

i had my 34 week doctors checkup today. it was quick as usual, but i like our doctor so much more now. he was much more friendly and personable than he has been with our previous visits. but its about time! i only have six more weeks left till my due date!! when he measured my stomach he said i have grown a lot since our last visit, but for some reason i have only gained two pounds in three weeks which i think is weird. 157 pounds. yep. thats how much i weigh now. my next appointment is in two weeks (the day that jordan and brennen get here...yay!!) and thats when he is going to start the ultra fun vag exams and he'll do an ultrasound to see how big this kid is. i cant believe it is happening so soon! im having a baby next month! crazy.

beach-

on a different note, tanner and i had our first beach day this past saturday. one word - heavenly. i seriously couldnt be happier with where we live. our beach is only minutes away and the beach is awesome. we busted out our new beach chairs and umbrella, took some drinks and books, and had a great time. we were also wel

comed by two dolphins jumping around right by the surfers so that probably added to the coolness factor. i love the beach. 

glade-

lastly, i feel like i should make a shout out to glade cox. while glade was in between apartments he stayed with tanner and i for 9 days. we had too many late night runs to westwood (downtown hangout area for ucla students) to get some delicious diddy reases, pinkberry to checkout glades most recent crush, and some great quality time spent in our little apartment. i think glade enjoyed himself for the most part. i could tell he got a little weirded out when he asked tanner and i how our pregnancy prep class went and i said the word 'vagina' a few too many times.... and then tanner had to go and top off that conversation with saying the word 'fart' which if you know glade, you know he hates that word more than the actual 'f' word. anyways glade, it was fun having you. 

31 weeks

i took this picture a week ago while in park city. i dont know if it's the angle of the camera or the dress, but i appear much more prego in this picture than i am in actuality. i will probably really be this big when i am ready to deliver!

my baby

31 weeks

weight: 3 pounds 9 ounces

24 weeks




i love seeing how much he is changing and developing. dont ask me what all the weird stuff is in the pictures cause i have no idea.

overwhelmed

i am 30 weeks and 3 days pregnant. and i am feeling overwhelmed. i only have ten weeks left. part of me thinks thats still more than enough time to get prepared, but the majority of me is starting to freak out. i feel so incredibly unprepared for everything. i try to watch the baby birthing shows on tlc cause i like hearing other peoples stories and seeing what they have to go through...but watching it also scares me to death! i know every other woman has been able to go through with labor, but im scared im not going to be strong enough to do it.

to try to combat these little freak outs that i have i am trying to make sure tanner and i get prepared. we start our pregnancy/birthing classes tonight that i am looking forward to. i have been doing the typical reading throughout the pregnancy but tanner hasn't done any reading to learn whats going on so im glad he is going to these classes with me...mainly for my peace of mind but also so he feels prepared as well : ) we are also going to take a tour of st. johns hospital probably in the beginning of may (which is where baby boy will be delivered) which will be really helpful. depending on traffic the hospital could be less than ten minutes away so thats good to know that its close. like the freak that i sometimes am, i am printing out little packet things for both tanner and i that im thinking we will keep in our cars. just with the hospital and doctors phone numbers, map of the hospital, address (it is saved in my garmin...but we haven't saved it in tanners gps yet), and any other info i think will be helpful.

well thats about it. i could vent some more but i should probably stop rambling. if anyone has any tips on getting prepared please let me know!

me. myself. and i.

29 weeks!

doctor update

approximate baby weight: 3 lbs
my weight: 147 lbs (ahh im scared to pass 150!)

it was a simple check up this week. urine test. blood test to check glucose levels. and an incredibly quick meeting with the doctor. my first appointment with him was at 24 weeks and he did an ultrasound. he found something of concern in the baby's kidneys that he says shows up in 20% of baby's but almost always corrects itself. so i'm not too worried about it, but i am going back to the doctor in 3 weeks so he can do another ultrasound to check on the kidneys just to make sure everything is okay.

tanner and i also start our pregnancy classes in two weeks. every wednesday night for 5 weeks. i pray that this class will help us feel a little more ready for what we are about to go through in a couple months!

i have been meaning to post the ultrasound pics from last time, mainly the 3D one, but like the tech loser i am i cant figure out whats wrong with our printer. so i'll try again later so i can get them on here!

my insecurity

what's my insecurity? me.

as i mentioned briefly in my last post i have taken a few pictures the past few days. it was when i looked at these pictures when i realized that i had a false sense of reality with how i look! i thought i had pretty much only gained weight in my stomach, but a couple weeks ago tanner kindly told me my thighs have gotten bigger, and then looking at these pictures it is apparent that i've definitely gained weight in my arms and face! ahhh! i know i am pregnant so weight gain of course is normal, and a necessity, but i've never dealt with gaining weight in my face! depending on the day, and the time of day, my starting weight was anywhere from 124-129. I currently weigh 144!! according to my pregnancy book it is considered healthy to have gained 16 to 22 pounds by 26 weeks so i am in that range...but didn't think i would gain this much weight already cause i still have a lot of growing to do! (fyi-the baby is about 2 pounds now.)

i promise this isn't why i haven't posted pictures yet. i cant find the cord to upload the pictures we have on our camera to the computer...and haven't convinced tanner to take some time to help me find it. i really will try to find it tonight when tanner gets home so you can all see me and my weight gain craze.

and i cant forget to say that.... i have stretch marks on my ankles. my ankles!! how does that happen? they are faint but still. i have been using special lotion for my stomach, butt/thighs, boobs.... but i cant believe i forgot about my ankles.

so since my minor freak out last night i am really going to start working out. this morning i did a legs of steel-yes legs of steel...probably from the early 90s...and yes, it is a video. luckily tanner and i have a ghetto tv so we have a vcr built in - and then went on a 30 minute walk. but tomorrow i am planning on getting to target in culver city to get some pregnancy workout videos. if anyone has any workout tips please let me know!!