24 Weeks!

Well, there's no denying the bump now!

I was getting ready for church this morning and realized I have ONE skirt

that fits me still!  Ahh!

It happened so suddenly, guess that means I need to go shopping :)

 



And, to my dismay,

my belly button is poking out now!!

 



 

I am FINALLY 24 weeks, and that means viability!!!

Meaning a baby can, if worst comes to worse,

survive outside the womb.

Being a labor/delivery nurse and seeing all the sad things

that can happen during a pregnancy,

It was hard for me to get super excited until now.

I felt like I was holding my breath until reaching this point.

That definitely doesn't mean that everything's going to be

perfect from this point on, but it's still an exciting milestone to reach :)

NOW I feel like I can start thinking about my nursery!  And

that's exactly what I did last night. 

I cleaned out all the junk we'd been storing in our spare bedroom

and had fun organizing babe's adorable little stash of goodies!

Oh my goodness, I would of course love a boy,

but just look at all those cute little frilly dresses,

it melts my heart!

 

Though most of this time is exciting, I'm now also starting to feel

the uncomfortable-ness of pregnancy.

1.  I have to roll out of bed

2.  I have HEARTBURN!  It's the most terrible thing in the world!

I've never experienced it before, but the second I get horizontal,

it feels like firey acid is oozing up my esophagus, it's a nightmare.

3.  I am a sloucher.  I have the worst posture ever, and this big

old bump in my abdomen is making that extremely difficult.

So I guess maybe that's a plus??  She's making me sit up nice and straight.

4.  Worst of all, I've been having a hard time catching my breath.

I know to some degree this is normal since everything is shifting around in there,

but that mixed with my sometimes hot temper and sometimes crazy pregnancy hormones

makes me panic!  I came home from Wal-Mart the other day bawling

haha because they had such terrible service that morning and half

of the produce bins were empty and I got so irritated

and frustrated, and that mixed with not being

able to breathe very well made me have a melt down.

I'm fairly certain Chris thinks I'm a nut job...which is kind of true.

 

Although pregnancy is not always a walk in the park,

I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Babe's little punches and kicks are getting SO strong

and each movement really feels like a gift.

I could lay on the couch for hours just watching and feeling.

Chris said last night that he doesn't know what I'm going to do to entertain

myself after my belly is gone.

Hmmm....I think a new baby will keep me plenty entertained :)

I cannot wait to meet this little girl!!!

Happiest Place on Earth

Chris and I had been counting down the days until our family reunion for MONTHS,

and the time finally came!

It was a loooong day of travelling after a long night of work,

but we finally made it to beautiful California!!

 



 

The first stop for our poor little pale faces was a stop

by the outlet malls to find us some new shades.

 

Then, of course, we had to stop by Baja Fresh, which Chris loves

and after introducing me to the delicious fast food Mexican,

I have found the love as well.

Chris was jealous because we both ordered burritos and mine

came out twice as big as his.

 



 

We spent the first few days seeing friends, hanging out in Laguna Niguel

with Chris's brother and his family,

and going on a fun double date with my sweet in-laws!

We went to a Korean BBQ restaurant, and to say that Chris

was in heaven is an understatement.

He went to Korea on his mission and is always craving

some good, authentic korean food, but it's

difficult to find in Oklahoma.

Well, we tried out this new place, and Chris swears

it was as good if not better than anything he'd eaten in Korea.

We also had a special surprise when the chefs and a photographer

came to our table and wanted to take pictures for a new ad.

They brought out all of their fanciest, most expensive meats

to take the pictures, and then gave it to us for FREE!

(Too bad it had to be after we had finished our real meal and were completely stuffed)

But it was fun, and if you're ever in LA, be on the lookout for those ads,

because we're pretty much celebrities  now :)

 



My sweet mother in law and sister in law threw me the cutest

baby shower!  It was fun to see friends and family,

and it got us SO much more excited about our little babe.

Unfortunately though, we opened presents on the lawn in the backyard,

and after just half an hour in the beautiful 80 degree weather,

our poor vampire skin got FRIED.

Luckily Chris' parents grow fresh aloe in the backyard

and I got to experience the gooey stinky fresh goodness for the first time.

 



I've never had dessert at Claim Jumper,

and Chris has been telling me since we've been married

that the Chocolate Chip Calzone is the most incredible thing in the world.

Needless to say, it did not disappoint.  So good!

 



 

After our fun few days with Chris's family,

MY family finally got into town from Utah!!! 

It was so amazing to see them, it'd been a year since I'd

seen any of them.

We spent our first day at Disneyland!

It was so fun to see how excited all the little nieces and nephews

were..... (And Chris, haha)

This was the first time that Chris and I had met our newest nephew, Haakon.

And WHAT a doll he is!  Too bad he and his siblings were all

so deathly sick the whole time, but I love his little

droopy sad face in this picture!

 

Chris and Haakon spent some quality time together :)

 



I'm not sure how much poor little Risa enjoyed her trip,

she was so sick and this is how she looked most of the time :)

Still so cute, though!!

 



Mama and Chris :)

 



My FAVORITE temple!  Apart from Timpanogas of course.

So beautiful!

 



Paradise :)

 



On the airport on our way home, I looked at my ankles,

and they were HUUUUUGE!
It must've been the week long of nonstop walking

at amusement parks.  Shocking....

Those sausages could barely squeeze into my shoes!

 



The last day in California left my poor Christopher broken :(

He was sunburnt, had scrapes all over from a little mishap

trying to climb a rocky cliff at La Jolla coves,

his nose was bleeding from a scab,

he had itchy rashes up and down both of his arms from

some weird sunburn/poisoning,

and just before leaving Seaworld, he popped a saltwater

taffy into his mouth that ripped out a huge filling :(

My poor baby!!

 



And for a bonus feature, my mama caught me giving little babe

a taste of the California sun,

and my belly looks like a little soccer ball!

 



 

Overall, the trip was absolutely amazing!

We had such a wonderful time seeing our sweet families,

we wish we lived closer to them!!