Approaching 20 weeks

Tomorrow I will be 20 weeks along! Sometimes my pregnancy feels like it is going by so fast and other days I wish I was past this pregnancy thing, holding my little baby and telling him or her how much I love them. But alas, I still have quite a few more months to go.

The second trimester has been good to me. The first week or so, I was still throwing up (again, not a big deal! I didn't even feel nauseous.) However, the past few weeks have been throw-up free and for the first time in a while, I could feel hungry without feeling so faint and nauseous. I started biking and exercising more.

As for the getting bigger part... some days I love my body! I will look at it and then excitedly say to Ammon, "Babe! I'm pregnant!" Other days, I feel so fat.  I know I'm supposed to get bigger but sometimes I can't help but worry that I'll never go back to how I used to look and feel.

My circulation has been affected ever since the second trimester. The other day, I sat at the carpet with my students. My legs were crisscross for the 20 minute meeting on respecting school property. When I stood up, both legs were completely asleep. One time, I crouched down next to a student who was struggling with a problem in math. Well, this student was struggling a lot longer than I would have liked. I think I was crouched for a good 5 minutes. As time went on, I started to feel very faint. I just have to be careful with how long I bend my legs. Which is tough, because I'm a leg bender, even at the kitchen table.

My lower back aches all the time.

My heart is racing like I'm always working out, when let's face it, I never work out anymore.

I've finally got boobs! Yeah they're sensitive, but I can't help loving them when I've been as flat as a pancake my whole life.

I am definitely more emotional. The other day, Ammon and I were watching Netflix on our tablet. Ammon leaned over to grab something and bumped the tablet. The tablet came crashing down on my forehead. I grabbed above my eye in pain and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face. It didn't even hurt that bad. Poor Ammon felt so guilty! I also totally cried during Interstellar. Matthew McConaughey was crying, so without even wanting to, I totally felt his pain (something I'm actually not very good at doing) and totally bawled with him.

My  hair is growing like crazy. In some places it's great, but in others, I'm like, "Seriously? I just shaved you!" haha.

I'm peeing all the time. Luckily, I can somehow manage to hold it in during the 8 hours I teach. But as soon as school's out... get out of my way. One day I was anxiously waiting to use the faculty bathroom when a parent was trying to talk to me about their child's math homework. I did not hesitate in telling them that I would meet with them after I used the restroom.

Pregnancy brain... what's that again? So far I think I'm doing just fine remembering things. Ammon might tell you otherwise. Okay fine, I forget some things. The biggest pb moment was when a fellow teacher turned to ask how far along I was. I completely froze! Was I 20 weeks or 40? I truly couldn't remember how far along I was. I had to tell her that I didn't know. What the weird!

 

Okay enough about pregnancy. Now onto other things.

Red Ribbon Week.
Can I just say that teaching 4th grade is the best? They are old enough that you can have serious conversations with them about drugs, but they're still so young and innocent that they will pledge with all their heart that they will "never ever do drugs-not even once!" I know the odds say that many of my students will try drugs and some of them will become addicted. But I want my students to beat the odds. So I made a BIG deal about it all week. I even recorded them on video when they placed their leaves on the tree of being drug-free.

Don't FALL for drugs. Leaf them alone!

Free pumpkins!

Making guesses. It pretty much went like this: the girls picked girl and the boys picked boy.

Halloween.
I survived.
4th graders hyped up on sugar is not as fun as I thought it would be. Just getting their attention and getting them to listen to me without touching their neighbor was a nightmare. Not to mention I had parents there watching my every move. I may or may not have lost it in front of them... nah. It wasn't that bad. I loved getting to see all their costumes and I think mine turned out pretty good. But I seriously had to go into school that day knowing that it was going to be chaotic.



"Seatbelts everyone!!"

Ms. Frizzle!

 



Ms. Frizzle costume with Liz

 

November 13th. The first snowfall of the season. It didn't stop my kids from playing soccer!

 

Teaching is still going well and I love it.

 

Monday is my 20-week ultrasound. I find out the gender and I get to see my little baby again! I pray that all is growing well.

october so far

October has been good to me. Attending General Conference with the husband. A pregnancy that is going well. Festivities with my students. Cardigan weather. Pumpkins. Fall Break. Breakfast in bed from the husband today. :)

Other things I'm looking forward to

-Another appointment on Monday. 

-Halloween because my costume is going to be amazing. (It's a surprise.) 

-Presenting at a conference in Park City with my bestie, Brianna! I can't wait to see her! I'm not entirely thrilled to present at a conference. I am extremely terrified of speaking in front of people. But at least I get free food for 2 days, a night at the Chateaux, and quality time with the girl I miss so much. 

The only thing worrying me right now is our car. It is in the shop right now and has been for over 24 hours. They still haven't called to say what's wrong. I just wanted to pass our safety and emissions test! Is that too much to ask for!? Yes... yes it is. Especially when your car is an '87 Reliant K. Sigh... please call back with some good news... please?

My first pregnancy photo! My bump looks bigger in real life. I promise I have one!

Making monsters with my students for a class party. 

Food drive bucket contest. We won 3rd place!

i'm pregnant!

So in case you didn't already know this... I'M PREGNANT!!
I officially started my second trimester today which is CRAZY because it feels like Ammon and I were jumping for joy with a (+) pregnancy stick just a few days ago.

Here's how the pregnancy has been so far:

-Morning sickness hasn't been bad AT ALL. This has been a huge blessing! I thought for sure I'd have really bad morning sickness. Before Ammon and I got married, I tried birth control pills for the first time. Every time I took one, I was up the next morning feeling painfully nauseous just wishing I'd throw up and then I'd throw up every 30 minutes for a few hours. So far, I've hardly felt nauseous and I've thrown up 6 times total. I consider it a miracle from my Heavenly Father!
-I love making green smoothies in the morning! (Some OJ, ice, frozen strawberries, a fresh banana, and some spinach and kale. It's the perfect thing to start my day with.)
-Mild cravings.
- I cried while watching What to Expect When You're Expecting. I totally recommend that movie if you're preggers.
-Tiredness like I've never felt before. Here's to going to bed before 10 consistently for the first time in like... ever!
-Snacking ALL THE TIME! I hate it when teachers eat in front of their students but I have been that teacher ever since day one.
-I cried while watching 13 Going on 30 (I know that movie has nothing to do with being pregnant but being pregnant has everything to do with why I cried while watching that movie.)
-ACNE!! So much acne! Everyone that knows me knows that I only ever get like one or two zits per period and that's it. Welp. Not anymore. It started with two. Now, for every zit that disappears, TWO appear! And I'm too tired and lazy to wear make-up so I've chosen to embrace my zitty face and count my blessings because at least I'm not nauseous.
-Exercising has been challenging. Simple tasks like walking up a flight of stairs leaves me out of breath. I just don't have as much energy as I used to and whenever I increase my heartrate, it leaves me winded so easily. I've been doing p90x every so often with Ammon to get some exercise in and sometimes I get frustrated that things just feel more challenging-especially in my core. And what used to be a simple 2-mile run is exhausting.
-I have been so blessed with a loving husband who is just as excited (if not more) as I am to have a baby. He is always there to get me an ice cold drink, a sandwich, a head massage, or anything else I need. He never complains. He helps out around the house. He does the smelly dishes and takes out the trash. He thinks I'm beautiful even though I've already gained weight. He never goes a day without telling me sincerely that I'm beautiful. Even though strong smells give him migraines, he never says anything when I've covered my head in peppermint oil. Gahh!! I love him so much!!

Okay. Now onto the most exciting thing that has happened-the ultrasound. I was a wee bit of a procrastinator when it came to setting up the doctor appointment and didn't see a doctor until I was 11 weeks along. Whoops... However, it was kind of nice because my first appointment was very exciting! In that appointment, I got to ask my doctor all kinds of questions, he took me in for a mini ultrasound where I got to see the baby moving. Ammon and I were freaking out! Our lil pumpkin was so active. It was the cutest little squirming thing I've ever seen. Then we looked at the heartbeat and then we got to hear the heartbeat! Everything was healthy and normal. It was the most amazing thing I've experienced. It was more amazing than skydiving or walking on the Great Wall of China. It finally felt real. There was a baby inside me! My doctor also took some pictures during the ultrasound and let us take them home.

I told my students today that I had big news. I used this moment to find out just how much they like me. I told them that I was moving and that I wasn't going to be their teacher anymore. They were so upset! It was the funniest thing ever. I let them wallow for a little and then I finally told them the real news. They were so excited. If you like getting attention-be a teacher. You get lots of attention. When I sent them back to their desks, half the class was crowding around me to ask more questions and the girls-oh the girls! They had this glow in their eyes and I could tell they were dying to hug me! It felt pretty great.

I love my job. I love my life.


For the final announcement photo, we set my camera on top of our car and used the timer.


Here are a few we took along the way:

 Other ideas for announcing:

Ice Blocking

These pictures were taken at the beginning of August.

When life was so simple. 

It was our first time ever ice blocking together. That, or I have a really bad memory.

We didn't last very long.

It started to get really hot.

For our last run, we held hands the whole way down. Super cute, right? (It's actually a lot easier that way. And a lot faster!)

Annual fireworks with Dad

For as long as I can remember, my dad goes all out when it comes to fireworks. 

Here's 2013 & 2012.

This year we had to do them on a Sunday.

Ammon and I worked every Friday night, Saturday night, and Monday night. So it was literally the only day we could do it. My family was so sweet to accommodate to our schedule.

So on July 25th, my dad hosted his annual firework show.

Opening a gift from my grandma before doing fireworks

Oh those boys.

Mosiah all ready to watch the fireworks

Getting the fireworks ready at Mapleton Jr. High

Nephi jumping over the firework

He does this every year.

Daniel jumping over the firework. Monkey see, monkey do.

I swear this never got old. 

Our fireworks abruptly ended when the cops showed up.
There were quite a few angry nearby residents.
The cop said we had to do our fireworks somewhere else because a public school is private property during the summer.
Yeah, okay.
We were all bummed. Just when we were getting to the good stuff.
So we packed up all the fireworks-never to be used again until next year.

Next year we won't do it on a Sunday. I think people get a lot more upset about fireworks on a Sunday.