14 Weeks

So, I'm officially 14 weeks today. It's actually hard for me to believe. I know I still have a ways to go, trust me...I definitely know. BUT, when you're feeling gross and sick and nauseous, etc the weeks seem to drag on and on and on. So I was happy to realize today that I have hit the 14 week mark. I am officially out of the 1st trimester. Woohoo! I do have to wonder though...does morning sickness really end at 12 weeks for anyone? Because that has never been the case with me. It lasted 25 weeks with Emma and 15 weeks with Matthew. I was hoping the 3rd time would be the charm and it would end that soon, but it just didn't happen. In fact, (in case you were wondering) the last time I threw up was just this morning. Ah, the joys...I am definitely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel though. Mornings are rough, but as long as I keep my stomach full and get a nap in, I am usually okay the rest of the day. And the one bright spot to the sickness is that I know everything is still going good. So, I'm okay with it.  :)

I have been to the doctor twice. She did an ultrasound both times and everything looked perfect. Baby is measuring right on and has a good, strong heartbeat. We find out what we are having on January 10 and I cannot wait!

Anyway, I decided to take periodic belly pictures this time around. I didn't take any belly shots during my other two pregnancies and honestly I kind of regret it now. In fact, I have almost no pictures of me pregnant and that makes me kind of sad. I was just always too worried about how fat I looked and I was just too self conscious to ever do it. So, I've gotten over that and this time I'm going to document....for my sake more than anything.

So, here is the first picture (as completely unflattering as it is) at 14 weeks. And on a funny note, I jokingly told Jon not to get my head in the picture, because I felt kind of dumb. I figured he knew I was kidding, but he obviously didn't. Oh well.  :)

I am definitely getting bigger. I finally had to put away my favorite jeans and pull out the bigger sizes that I outgrew when I lost weight earlier this year. And honestly it's been a little depressing to see the numbers on the scale slowly creeping up, because I worked so hard to get them down. But I know it's for a good cause. And I feel good about that fact that, at 14 weeks, I'm still below my pre-pregnancy weight with both other kids.

We are so excited for this new little one to join our family!

We got a FREE Wii!

And you can too! Here's how we did it.

We have been using Swagbucks for the last year, earning points that we just redeemed for our free Wii.  So, what is Swagbucks???  Swagbucks is a search engine, just like google, yahoo, bing, etc. However, when you search through Swagbucks you can win points (called swagbucks) that you can redeem for prizes...and there are TONS of options. We chose to redeem all of our points for Amazon gift cards that we then used to buy our Wii. It took us about 13 months to save up enough, but in the end we didn't pay a single penny AND we still have Amazon gift cards left over to use on other Christmas presents. (And as a bonus, we bought the Wii on a day that Amazon was offering a $50 credit with every Wii purchase, so we're going to use THAT $50 to buy an extra remote and another game...woohoo!)

Swagbucks is SO easy to use. They don't spam you or anything like that. We have had a great experience using their website and search engine. Really, there's nothing to lose! So, check it out. You can sign up here. When you sign up through my link, I earn every time you earn (which I greatly appreciate!). And when you sign people up you earn when they earn. Simple as that. No strings attached!

After you sign up, go to their home page and download their toolbar. This makes searching really easy. To increase my chances of winning I use the tool bar every time I go to a website, even my email, facebook, etc.

So, head on over, sign up, and start earning!

A Day at the Beach

 We have had GORGEOUS weather this week. Sunny, weather in the 60's and 70's. And for it being the middle of November, I'll happily take it. On Monday a friend invited us to the beach, so we packed up and headed out.

Matthew wasn't feeling great, so he sat and played with cars for awhile. 

The other kids went straight for the water.

 This one's for you Kristina. She got some serious air!

A perfect day at the beach!

One Little Indian

 Emma made this Indian costume at preschool today. She was one proud (and adorable) little Indian.

She's a sweet big sister too.

A Quick Trip to Idaho

 My  oldest brother got married November 6 in Idaho Falls, so I took a quick trip home to be there. I flew by myself, and boy was it NICE. I got to read and sleep and not worry about what my kids were spilling on the person next to us.  Totally relaxing and enjoyable. Once I got to Idaho it was busy busy busy. All of my siblings were able to be there so it was good to see everyone again. But with only a couple of days we had to cram stuff in. I squeezed a haircut in and then my sisters, mom, and I got to do some shopping. We also got to watch my little sister Abby in a debate competition. It really was fascinating, though I left feeling totally dumb...haha. They were using so many big words and talking so fast and debating issues that I knew nothing about. So, I have a super smart sister and I'm proud of her. The rest of the time was mostly spent visiting family...siblings, grandparents, aunts. It was good. And of course, we went to the wedding. The sealing was nice and I am so happy for them. After the sealing they just had a simple luncheon and that was that. Sweet and simple.  :)

Apparently I was enjoying myself so much that I forgot to take any pictures...not a single one. So I stole these from my sister...thanks Rach!

 Jared and Kaci

The happy little family

My mom and two of her sisters, Kathy and Karen...I love this picture

Me and two of my sisters...just missing Abby

Rachel and I (and her baby) took the shuttle back to Utah together. It was fun to have that last chance to visit, and of course to have the company for the long ride. We got to the airport and said our good byes at security. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the kids stayed with Jon's parents the first couple of days. Jon went to get them and they came home Saturday. Poor Jon was totally sick the whole weekend. He was a trooper though. Monday he took the day off of work and took the kids to the zoo. They LOVED it. Afterwards they picked me up from the airport. It was so good to be home and be a family again.

Being frogs at the zoo

Matthew is the fly and Emma is the spider, coming to get him....oh the morbid games my children play.  :)

Outnumbered

On (or around) June 3, 2011, Jon and I will officially be outnumbered. We can't wait!

Halloween 2010

I was a little disappointed when I realized Halloween was on Sunday this year, because it meant the kids wouldn't be going trick or treating...and they were REALLY looking forward to it. But, we had so many Halloween activities and got so much candy that I was really glad they weren't going trick or treating. And after their 4th Halloween party in 5 days, they really thought that Halloween was over anyway. So, it worked out well. :)


Jon carved our pumpkins this year, with a little help from the kids. Emma was excited, then disgusted, and then fascinated with it all. She had very specific instructions as to how the pumpkin should be carved.

Matthew wasn't really sure what to think.

This is Emma with most of her preschool class the day of their Halloween party. They got to go trick or treating to a couple places near their preschool and came home loaded with treats and toys.

Friday we went to Jon's work party at lunch. We borrowed some scrubs so Matthew could be a doctor, but he insisted that it wasn't a costume and refused to wear it. Luckily some friends had the same lion costume that Emma was going to wear, but in Matthew's size and they let us borrow it. I thought they made a couple of really cute lions.

Saturday was our church Halloween party. I ran to Old Navy in the morning to see if their costumes were on sale and was happy to find that they were all marked down to $5. I grabbed the monkey for Matthew and that's what he wore for our church party. Emma decided she wanted to be a butterfly(which we already have), so we pulled that one out and she was a "beautiful little butterfly". She thought it was hilarious to flap her wings.

It seems like we've got a tradition going of having two costumes per kid each year...remember last year?

Trick or treating to the classrooms at the church party. Fun fun!