New House

Blake and I are so lucky and excited about our new house!  We've been working on getting it for like two months and it finally happened!  Blake has been dying to move in and start working on the yard and make a movie room and all kinds of things.  Seriously, it's like watching a kid wait for Santa Claus only ten times worse.  I am so happy he gets his house he's been hoping for.  We are both loving it so far, even though it's not exactly luxury.
Blake's co-worker told him about this great deal he had on the house he was renting and asked if Blake would be interested in taking over when they moved out.  It is a super good deal and so we got excited about maybe moving in.  There was another family that had first dibs but they couldn't sell their contract in time.  So we got a chance to try to sell our contract.  We tried for a couple weeks and when we went into the office to ask a couple of questions they told us we could just end our contract a couple months early, which was a huge miracle because we only had a few more days before the lady would sell the house to another buyer.  The landlords are super super nice.  The lady sent us away with freshly baked brownies and they were so sweet.  The office told us that on Friday afternoon and we were totally and completely moved into our new house by the same time the next day.  It took a lot of work, let me tell you.  My back and feet were aching like none other and I had to be careful not to lift too many heavy things because I want my baby to be okay.  Our friend David Hansen and his wife Kelcie (who is very pregnant, only about a month to go) came to help us move the heavy stuff with the men's big strong arms and their extra truck on Saturday.  It was kind of sad sleeping in our apartment for the last time on Friday night because this is our first place as a married couple and we've had all our newlywed experiences here.  But I'm mostly over it now because I love having a house!
Our house has three (or four if you count the small one) bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, and a basement with a washer and dryer. There are a lot of little "charms" to the house. Like the funny wiring and squeaky wood floor with a plank that flies up when you step on it and a tiny kitchen space, but I guess it gives it character.  We are not sure how long exactly we can stay there because the house is for the landlord's family.  That's why it's super cheap is because they let their grandkids, nieces, and nephews live there when they get married. Lucky for us none of them are getting married any time soon!  So we for sure have it until December and then they'll give us a 3 month notice when they have family that wants to move in.  So we could possibly be there for a couple of years, who knows!
I have been loving having a cute little kitchen that I've been baking bread and muffins and all sorts of things in.  I got to do laundry in my own house for the first time yesterday! It was so fun!  We set up the crib and the dresser in the baby's room which I am so excited about once we really get to start getting baby stuff set up.  Blake mowed the lawn and worked on making the garden area presentable and has been having the time of his life.  I took a video while we were moving in, but now everything is up and clean and mostly organized so I should take another one.  It's just that I'm in my old apartment cleaning to get the internet because we don't have it at our new place yet.  So you may have to wait to see the clean, home-y version of the house.

Apple Jacks

I just got the strongest craving for Apple Jacks.  I don't even like Apple Jacks and I've only had them once or twice in my whole life.   This baby makes me so weird.  Most things I read say that about now in my pregnancy (I am 18 weeks along) I should be getting the appetite of a truck driver.  Of course all pregnancies are different, but this baby is super picky! I was not sick anymore at all once I hit about 12 weeks or so.  But I don't want to eat anything, yet I want to eat just that. Anything! I want the weirdest things, and that's the only thing I really want to eat.  I'll think I want something and then I'll have about two to five bites and be done--completely sick of it.  I used to be like this when I was a little girl, but it's weird experiencing it again.
I just had a dream I was rescuing a family of rat baby friends from a flood and my "bayou cousin" or something.  It was so real and so exciting that when I woke up I wanted to go back to sleep to finish it because I was having such a fun adventure packing up all our bags and sneaking out my window and stealing the car.  My dreams are super vivid, I have tons of dreams of babies and kids (ones I actually know and ones that are dream babies), they are much better plots, and they make me much more scared/excited/happy/whatever the dream calls for.
Yesterday I was watching a Shirley Temple movie (yes, I still like to watch Shirley Temple. Don't hate.) and there was a montage of the movies where Shirley finds out one of her parents have died and she busts into tears.  This was the weirdest experience of all.  Every time she got a pained look on her face and started her very natural looking crying, my tear ducts switched on and I started welling up with tears.  As soon as the scene changed, they'd switch right off!  So it was like, oh no I'm gonna cry! oh no, I'm not! in like five second intervals.  My emotions are just plain funny.  Whenever Blake does something really cute and sweet I start crying.  When Blake says one of his normal "you could take this as offensive but I don't actually mean it that way" things that every guy says, I start crying (even though he's so cute and innocent about it that I never minded that much until I got hormonal and now I try to hide that my feelings are hurt because I'm embarrassed for myself).  When something that normally would make me cry happens, I start bawling uncontrollably for about three minutes and then, all of a sudden, I stop!  That never happens to me. Usually if I start crying, I can't stop the tears for a long time. Now I get to a point where it just hits me and I think, eh I'm over it. So weird!
And now my once super cute belly button is now even with the rest of my belly and I had to say goodbye to it in case I never see the cute one again.  I can only sleep really well if I can sleep on my stomach, but I swear that when I do my belly goes flat for a few days and my baby stops moving.  I'm always scared that I smashed my baby.  I have a beard of acne on my face, my hair is growing super fast, and I hate brushing my teeth but they feel dirty so fast now.  Other than that, I don't really have any gross or weird things going on with my body so far, so that's nice.
Blake got to feel the baby kick for the first time a week before last Thursday which was fun.  We get to find out if it's a boy or a girl a week from Thursday (yay!).  Oh and we got to buy our crib and dresser! (Thank you Dave and Miriam!)  We haven't gotten to set them up yet but I am still so excited we got them haha.  They are so pretty...
I'm sure there is plenty more in store for me to get used to in this pregnancy.  I am not really looking forward to the third trimester and being super uncomfortable and crabby (which I know I will be).  I have really been enjoying this second trimester.  I seriously feel so good.  And I am excited about having a baby and I'm super jealous of everyone and their babies right now because I just want to hold mine now!  But I'll wait for mine to cook for a while longer. I want a good happy healthy baby.  Blake always says, hi baby! come on out and play! and I tell him, no not yet! But still, I just can't wait! Ah!

Pregnancy Announcement Pictures

A Last Look at my Tiny Little Tummy
(and I thought I was showing by then!)

haha that is the ugliest looking orange shed I've ever seen

Thanks Jono for taking the pictures for us and keeping your mouth shut!

And Baby Makes Three...

Blake and I are going to have a baby! We are so excited and could not be happier about it.  Like my old post said, I have had baby fever all my life, but I really got it about a month after Blake and I got married.  My baby fever was so bad that I had word vomit -- I couldn't keep the subject from coming out of my mouth no matter what.  I even prayed that I could control myself from talking about it too much so I wouldn't bother Blake so much but it was so hard!  I was constantly saying, "Blake how many kids do you really want?"  "What baby names do you like?"  "Do you like this crib?" "Are you sure you want to wait that long before we start trying?"  "I think maybe I should get off birth control a month earlier than we want to start." I kept coming up with ways to convince him to whack some time off of how long we were planning to wait and I was constantly looking at baby registries and writing down baby names.  I loved when Rachel (who was pregnant at the time) would come over so I could talk baby talk with her and get it out of my system without having to lay it on Blake all the time.  Finally, after a few months, Blake and I were praying about what we should do about school and work situations and when he was finished praying he said he thought it was time for us to start a family.  Oh yeah! I was so excited haha.  (Warning: Possible TMI)  I, of course, had already figured out when I would be ovulating for the next few months and planned out a baby making week.  Blake didn't like this.  He said it felt like I was using him when I'd say, "Blake we haven't had sex yet today!" Or something to that effect.  But anyway, it worked out!  We got it on our first try, woohoo!
We found out I was pregnant at the end of January before church.  I had taken three tests the month before even though I knew there was no way I could be pregnant, hoping that the birth control would have made a slip (haha I told you I was crazy!).  I took one five days before my missed period when I actually could be pregnant and it was positive!  The line was a bit weak and I waited a couple hours before I told Blake so when I told him and went to get my test to prove it, the line had disappeared!  So of course he didn't believe it and I had to prove it to him again later in the week when I took another test.  That one came back loud and clear.  Still, I went to a clinic to get a test done for medical insurance reasons and Blake said, "wow now you're really pregnant!" I said, Blake I was pregnant when I first told you!  And then even when we went to my first doctor's appointment, we heard the heartbeat (oh my goodness that would so cute and so cool!) and he said "now we really know you're pregnant!" I could have punched him!

Blake thinks we're having a boy but has always wanted a girl and I think we're having a girl and I always wanted a boy.  But I've been way into looking at girl stuff and girl baby names.  The names we think are at number one right now for the name is Elizabeth if it's a girl and Joshua if it's a boy.  We're still thinking though and if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share!  If anyone has anything bad to say about our names, feel free to keep it to yourself. :) Problem is, I don't like most of the nicknames for Elizabeth and Blake doesn't care for long names.  I HATE the nicknames Liz and Lizzy and I don't like Beth.  Do NOT call her those names.  If you must call her a nickname you may use Elle or Ella.  For other names such as Betsy, Betty, or anything else...we'll see.  You may use Bitsy if she's a cute.

I have picked out some cute bedding that I like. But the problem is I hate how they put up a cute picture with all these adorable accessories that go with it and don't tell you where to get them or make them available to you.  Like this:

Blake has been really cute about everything.  He is going to be such a good daddy.  He helps me with the kids I babysit and they love him.  He had his first experience changing a diaper while I had morning sickness because I just couldn't handle the smell that day and he said it wasn't that bad.  He still gets super grossed out by people's horror stories about their babies having poopy blow outs or spitting up or whatever, but he knows that it isn't so bad when it's your own baby.  He talks about what he wants our kids to be like and be involved in, about what he wants to do with them like how he wants a daddy's girl and a boy would be fun to wrestle and teach to play ball.  He wanted to buy a toddler's basketball hoop we saw at Walmart even though we don't know if it's a boy or girl and either way they wouldn't be able to use it for at least a couple years.  He said, "No way. My baby can use it."  He kisses my belly and talks to it.  Whenever I'm eating something unhealthy or doing something he doesn't want me to do he says, "Stop that, the baby doesn't like it." And I say, "The baby loves it!"  He says, if it's my baby it'll love rollercoasters.  If it's my baby it'll hate cheesecake.  He is very involved and likes to talk to me about pregnancy and baby stuff. Not a ton, but enough that it makes me a happy girl.
I am 14 weeks along today.  I felt fine until I was 5 weeks and 3 days along and it hit me all of a sudden.  I was sicker that day than any other day and I was so worried it was going to be a horrible pregnancy.  I prayed that it wouldn't be too bad because, honestly, I'm a big wuss when it comes to that stuff.  Luckily, I got it pretty easy, considering.  I never threw up and I started having good days now and then around 10 weeks.  I figured out as long as I eat something before I get out of bed and force myself to eat every two hours, I felt okay.  I hated eating.  I had to force myself to gag down anything I had to eat or drink.  I ate an entire big box of saltines and a pack of 48 granola bars in one month.  It's all that could make me feel better for a while.  It's so nice to be able to eat normal food without getting super sick!  I lost four pounds by my first check up but I've gained more than that back now.  I am much, much better now.  I feel so good! I keep getting colds though, which is not fun, but I guess it could be worse.  I barely started showing about 12 weeks and my belly is getting noticeably bigger every few days.  It's kind of fun!

12 Weeks

I cannot wait to meet my baby and see what he or she is like.  I can't wait to see how the baby's personality and looks turn out coming from me and Blake.  I can't wait to hold my baby and take care and buy it lots of cute, fun, lovable things.  I can't wait to have my baby.  I can't wait. I love my baby. So much already. Love. :)

Half Anniversary

Over the weekend Blake and I hit our six month mark!  Yayuh!  It's been a wonderful time and we've grown so much together already.  We have learned new things about one another, had some challenges, had some fun times, and already started some family traditions.

Things we've learned about one another:
When Blake rolls over in bed, he doesn't lift the blanket up and turn over. He grabs the blanket and turns over, thus pulling it off of his wife who gets cold.
Sarah likes to make Blake watch old movies.
Blake can still make me laugh so hard it hurts my stomach.
Sarah won't let Blake drink caffeine, watch rated R movies, watch modern unrated theatrical versions of movies even when they're the only ones on Blu-ray, watch T.V. on Sunday, or even watch the Superbowl on Sunday.  What a meanie.
If I tell Blake I need anything at all, he jumps to the rescue.
Sarah likes to kiss and snuggle a lot.
Blake gets very grumpy when he gets up too early or is very hungry.
Blake is so funny and good with babies and kids.  I can tell he is going to be such a good daddy.
We are on the same page with almost anything we discuss.  We are so similar and communicate really well which is very important in any relationship.
I can't trust Blake to feed himself during the day, especially if he goes to work early.

Challenges:
Blake's biggest challenge is probably finding out that Sarah gets upset about things a lot more often than she did when they were dating (which was nearly never).  Now he tries to tread lightly.
Sarah's biggest challenge is probably getting used to Blake not being a boyfriend with a relationship based on romance.  (He's still romantic and thoughtful, but now he focuses way more on being practical. But who doesn't see that coming with any marriage? And really, that's a good thing.)
Together, our biggest challenge has probably been trying to find as many fun things to do as we used to before we got married and poor.  Now we watch way too much T.V., sit in our apartment too much, and see way to many movies.  All our friends are recently married, recently engaged, or recently pregnant; therefore too preoccupied to hang out with a poor married couple.  Or single and feel weird hanging out with married people.

Fun times:
We have gone on a road trip to Missouri, a cruise to the Bahamas (for our honeymoon--it counts.), and a few trips to Roosevelt to visit family.  We have had lots of laughs, hosted a couple dinners/parties,
I've learned how to cut Blake's hair (still kind of learning).  We babysit together which is really fun.  We have learned to make dinner and treats together, played games and sports with each other (I win the games, he wins the sports), we go on walks together, we did a bike ride together on one one-seater bike, and we still kiss a lot.  Blake is so funny and knows how to have fun.  And we have still never spent a night away from each other.

Family traditions:
We read scriptures every night.  And we pray together ever night.  We have been so good with this!  I think we missed one night in the last six months.  And that was at the beginning and we just forgot.
We have Family Home Evening together every Monday night.  We have missed this a couple of times, but we are getting better.  We always end up getting really into our discussions and lessons and talk about how we want our family to be concerning each subject.
We will always have dinner together as a family and I am going to be a good cook!  And I am going to let my kids help me cook and be a part of dinner time.  I also, apparently, am going to have to get used to making my husband lunch to take to work with him.  Maybe I'll get him one of those construction lunch boxes you see in the old cartoons. Like this:

For Christmas we have decided to get up super early when the kids get up to open presents.  And we're going to put the presents under the tree the night before instead of as we wrap them so when they come up on Christmas day they're like "Woah!!!" That's what Blake wants. And I said okay!
For Easter we decided I'm going to make roast and mashed potatoes and gravy the way my mom did (the way Mimi taught her).  Blake and I are definitely getting some sweet candy and treats from the Easter bunny this year.  I can't wait until we have kids that will get excited about it.

Blake, I have had the most wonderful time being able to see you every day and night and know I never ever have to leave your side.  I love you so much and I can't wait to see what the next six months brings.  Thank you for being the most wonderful husband in the whole world and telling me you love me every day in so many different ways.  Happy 6 Months!

P.S. We need to start taking some pictures together! I don't have any to put up of us!

I love my cotton candy drink

he's so cute

The night I got my haircut we went to La Jolla Gardens. Yummy.

Always working on something

Blake tried out like ten different types of facial hair one week 

This is the only picture of both of us together I have since we got married

I set out the bowl and cereal for him and when I woke up I found the cereal written into I <3 U after he left

On our 6 month day this is what we did--I learned how to sheet rock!

My handsome working man

Probably the most crafty thing I've ever made in my whole life--a cookie bouquet with Airheads grass haha

The Office

I'm a big fan of The Office. But when Michael left the show and Robert California came on, I refused to continue watching. I was okay with Michael leaving I think, but I do not like Robert California's character one single bit.  I didn't like Jo before him, I have never liked Toby (he's just not funny. at all.), I do not like Gabe, and Ryan's character has morphed so much so often that I don't even take him seriously and he's stupid now.  I like Erin. She's my favorite.  Anyway, then I wanted to know what would happen between Andy and Erin so started watching again after a few months.  Now I only like Dwight. Jim and Pam have both lost their charm, nobody is funny, there are a few funny moments, but it's just not what it used to be. It's a shame.

For your entertainment:

(*spoiler alert)

Smells I Love

besides from the typical--rain, dryer sheets, etc...

Blake's Cologne (Aqua DiGio, Victoria's Secret Very Sexy for Men)
Blake's truck
hotels
the movie rental store in Hugoton, KS
dirt. good clean dirt.

babies, baby spit, baby hair, baby soap, even Desitin (maybe that's weird, i don't know.)
cut grass

roast (i think it smells better than it tastes. I do like the taste, but I love the smell, especially on Easter morning.)
new houses
Christmas (there's just that Christmas smell. you know?)
shampoo in long soft hair
sun block at the pool (in the air, not on someone's body or in the bottle)

bonfires (until it's been on your clothes and in your hair after the fire is long over)




warm summer breeze (yes, there is a smell to it) ('specially in the evening)

I used to wish they could make smellivision, but then I figured it's probably not the best idea.