30 weeks!

 

How far along: 30 weeks and 5 days :)

Baby is the size of a: Head of a Lettuce (18 in, 3.2 lbs.)

Total weight gain/loss: 10 lbs.

The bump: seriously so round and hard. I love my bump, I'm so happy that I'm so comfortable and happy with my body.

Symptoms: Some minor Braxton hicks, nothing terrible. some sciatic pain but besides that I feel great! I've been taking iron supplements and wow they have made the biggest difference. I thought I was tired because Charlie was going threw a growth spurt or something because I woke up tired, I wanted to nap all day and getting everyday things done around the house really felt so hard. I've been taking them for 2 weeks now and I feel the biggest difference and have so much more energy!

Food cravings: Apple pie :) we FINALLY got some from Cosco and I'm loving it:)

Anything Making Me Queasy or Sick: nope

Sleep: Same as always. I either sleep great or wake up on and off all night.

What I miss: nothing really.

Weddings Rings On or Off: off :(

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Charlie, still need to pick a middle name...

Gender: a beautiful baby girl!

Movement: oh baby does she move. I love it. I see her move constantly I just love love love it. especially around the evening around 8pm she really starts going crazy. Bella doesn't really care to feel or look but my niece Olivia put her hand on my belly and felt a huge kick and her face was priceless. I don't think she was expecting to really feel her.

Maternity Clothes: im loving my maternity pants and comfy pants lol. my shirts are still fitting pretty well.

Labor Signs: none

Best Moment of the week: oh man there was truly sooo many. but obviously when Doug and I got sealed to Bella <3 comment-3--="">

What I’m excited about/looking forward to: Charlie's room! its almost done and finally not a clutter. I organized her clothes in sizes. I just need to hang a few things up more. I'm also excited for my baby shower :) my sister is so excited and making it so fun! plus I cant wait to see all my friends and family. I'm also excited for the holidays and to enjoy them one last time with just Bella.

 

 

 

these last two weeks have been very exciting and filled with so many activities. my sister in law Tami had her baby shower, we got sealed to Bella, Doug and I celebrated our third anniversary and had a mini vacation just the two of us, and I was able to attend my friend Taren's sealing which by the way was amazing! I was so happy to be there for her and I wish everyone knew Taren and her story because her family is beautiful and she deserves to be this happy! I am full of joy :)

I started going to the doctors every two weeks too but I alternate between seeing my doctor and my nurse practioner every other visit though. I saw my nurse practioner Velma today and she said she was very happy with how healthy I looked. that my blood pressure was great and so was my weight which made me feel good. baby girls heartbeat was in the 140's as usual and she said she was measuring right on schedule. I asked her if I would just see the on call doctor if I went into labor on Christmas and she said yes but I could schedule to be induced a week early which is December 22 if I wanted. I told her I would think about it and talk to Doug about it. At first I was excited to have her before Christmas and enjoy this beautiful newborn baby in 9 weeks but after talking to Doug and thinking it over I realized we'd most likely get discharged on Christmas eve. I would feel pressured to go to our usual Christmas activities but I know when I have Charlie I want to be able to go home and enjoy our new baby and simply focus on her not on the Christmas hussle and bussle. also having one last Christmas with only Bella will be great. really though its not up to me, she might come that day or on Christmas on her own but I wont make her:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our sealing day!

I cannot believe that we were finally able to get sealed to our beautiful baby girl! Words cannot express how eternally grateful I am.

The day before our sealing I played "I love to see the temple" and hearing Bella sing along made my heart swell and I could help but tear up. 

Bella knows the temple is very special, and we told her we need to be reverent inside. We also talked about feeling the spirit (like a warm blanket) and she was so cute walking reverently inside. If you've met Bella you know she is just a ball of energy but inside and during our sealing she was so calm and reverent. I am a proud mom :) 

And of course the second we were out she was CRAZY! Seriously ball of energy X2! My friend Jammie took some pictures for us (thank you!!!) and she was being so  silly. I'm happy that she was reverent inside the temple and crazy outside the temple though. And she was like this the rest if the night! I think she was just happy. I know I am and that Doug is. I am grateful that families are forever and I kept thinking while inside the temple was about how Doug's and I job is provide Bella and Charlie with the tools to live with Heavenly Father again. I kept thinking of both my girls and how I honestly hope Bella realized how special and important that day was. How Doug and I have worked so hard on ourselves to be the best examples we can to them. I know telling them to love the gospel isn't enough but showing them is. I know telling them we love going to church isn't enough but showing them how much we truly enjoy going. I don't know how many times I've been asked if I still go or if I enjoy going for that long every Sunday and the truth is I'm an adult. If I didn't I wouldn't go. And the same goes to Doug. I think sometimes people forget that we have agency to choose and we choose to go. I know if we keep this up so will our girls. 

I can't wait to go back to the temple with Bella. I know I'll have to remind her of the blessing she'll receive if she keeps the commandments and I'll remind her of this day and how it truly is worth the hard work. 

I saw this picture today and it reminded me of my life and how my success is my journey to the temple. 

My journey was a mess but I'm making it and bringing my family with me :) 

This one is one of my favorites! I think I'll hang it on my wall :) 

Doesn't Bella just look so happy and proud!?

 

Also a BIG thank you to my friend Jammie for taking pictures of our special day. I'm happy I'll have these forever! 

My testimony.

Today was Fast Sunday and when a lot of members share their testimony's during sacrament meeting. I will admit I am a chicken when it comes to speaking in sacrament or in front of a large group of people. I Get super nervous and jumble up my words, say sentences backwards, and talk really fast. I need to work on sharing my testimony and I'm shy about who I share my testimony with because to me it is special and I basically I don't want anyone to rain on my parade especially with something so sacred. however I thought my blog might be a good place to start :)

We just had General Conference this past weekend and can I just say my heart is FULL. There are so many talks that I just loved and I cant wait to re-watch them so I can really take in what all these wonderful men told us. I feel like my spiritual to-do list is so long but that is one list that doesn't make my shoulders feel heavy. The biggest blessing I think that I got out of conference is confirmation that even though I am far from perfect and there are many things I need to work on that what I'm doing with my life is what I'm suppose to be doing. I love being a mother, and a wife and I love growing spiritually.
These last few months I have really been trying to work and improve my relationship with my heavenly father. I feel like as a member of the church we get into "spiritual slump." we improve for a while but sometimes we just start going threw the motions instead of improving. I found myself in a slump so I decided to pray to really learn how heavenly father speaks to me. I'm not sure why but every time he answers my prayers (and he does every time) I am amazed. I started listening to his promptings and can I just say my life has been so blessed and my family and myself have received blessings that we might have missed if I didn't listen. its nice knowing that I can make a difference by simply asking and opening my heart.
One of the things I felt prompted to do is to work on my testimony on the book of Mormon. Usually Doug and I read together and that's fine. and we have done a really good job with reading with Bella every night but I have been working on just myself with this one and I'm loving it. I know that as a mother I really want my children and my husband to know by example that I love the scriptures. I know that I can tell them all day long but unless I am constantly working on it and they see me working on this growing up that they will learn to love them too. I also know that by doing this every day it really invites the spirit into our home and helps us be a better family.
I truly love being a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I love how many small but significant blessings my family has received because of our heavenly father. I love how full and happy my heart always is and always will be because I have learned that especially when life is hard is when heavenly father is with us the most and when I can feel his presence sometimes just holding me up. He gives me hope, and teaches me to love and forgive. I know I am a better sister, daughter, mother, wife and friend because of the gospel and I know that if I continue to build my relationship with my heavenly father that I will only get better.

28 weeks and 6 days pregnancy update!

•  How far along: 28 weeks and 6 days!

Baby is the size of a: small cabbage <3 17 inches, 2.9 lbs

Total weight gain/loss: 9 lbs

The bump: large and in charge! Some times it's a little hard to breath but not too bad. I feel like she's running out of room too because sometimes when she stretches or moves it hurts!

Symptoms: I was starting to get really tired but I found out I'm low in iron and so I've been taking two iron pills a day and that seems to be helping. Also my back is starting to get a bit achey. Nothing I can't handle though :)

Food cravings: APPLES! I want plain apples, apple pie, apples dipped in Carmel. Yumm :) 

Anything Making Me Queasy or Sick: my iron pills lol 

Sleep: again I either sleep like a rock or I toss and turn all night. But either way I'm up around 5am...I'm not a morning person at all so to me be wide awake at 5 is crazy to me!

What I miss: Nothing that I can think of. Being pregnant doesn't hold me back from anything. 

Weddings Rings On or Off: off :/ 

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Charlie! We're still unsure on the middle name....

Gender: A girl! its been so fun saying SHE!

Movement: Holy moly does baby girl move! I read I should start tracking her kicks and to make sure I feel ten kicks/rolls every two hours and sometimes it's more than 10 in a minute! 

Maternity Clothes: still wearing my jeans, sometimes I wear maternity jeans just to be comfy though. 

Labor Signs: N/A

Best Moment of the week: just how excited Bella is to be a sister:) she told me we HAD to go to the hospital and I asked her why and she replied with "so the doctor can get baby sister out!" She's so cute! 

What I’m excited about/looking forward to: holding my little lady <3 seeing Doug's face when he first holds her, seeing what Bella says or does when she first meets her. 

The crazy world we live in...

A commercial came on TV for one of the real housewives shows (I have no idea which one.) and The guy interviewing the wives asked about one about how she admitted to her husband cheating on her and she replies with something along the lines of "I didn't admit to him cheating on me but we have been married for 38 years and it would be foolish of me to think he has  been completely faithful the entire time."
I wasn't even really watching TV (background noise) but I turned to the TV and couldn't believe the words that just came out of her mouth. It made me sad for her and for her husband. How little does she respect or expect out of him to think he has zero self control? and how little does she respect herself to be okay with her husband cheating?
 I haven't been married long almost three years but you can bet your bottom dollar that in 35 years I will expect my husband to be completely faithful and I to him. Not only because we love each other but because we respect each other and our children enough to not be so foolish. can you imagine the example we would be setting for our daughters if we didn't expect this out of each other? It reminds me of the talk to Elaine S Dalton "love her mother.'' I am grateful that in this crazy world we live in we still have amazing examples in the world. I am grateful for the amazing example my parents, Doug's parents, and my sisters and their husband have set.
 
General conference is this weekend and I'm so excited to hear all the talks. "love her mother" has truly made such an impact on my life. I remember when I first herd it I cried tears of joy because I knew that Bella had an amazing father to raise her. I called Doug (he was in Iraq)  and thanked him. he wasn't able to watch conference then but a few months after he came home they shared this talk in his priesthood class and after church he shared it with me and told me how much he loved it.
I thought I would share this wonderful talk :)