27 Birthday Wishes

Okay, we didn't quite get to 27, but my man definitely made lots of "wishes" tonight. It's his birthday week this week so we went to his favorite restaurant, Fogo De Chao and had an amazing meal as he told me about his birthday wishes. 

Usually during birthdays, we have the birthday person think of their "favorites" over their previous birthday year. Things like favorite movie they saw all year, favorite trip they took, favorite memory, etc. It's a fun little game that I'm sure several other people do. I decided to switch things up this year and ask him about his birthday wishes. These were his answers to the following questions:

Me: If you could have any car for your birthday, what would it be?
Blake: Dark grey Toyota Tundra, fully loaded (It was a toss up between that and his '69 Camaro SS, but apparently he doesn't want to be 'given' the muscle car. He wants to restore it himself.)

Me: If you could do anything or be anywhere for your birthday, where / what would you be doing?
Blake: His first answer was in Brazil, during the World Cup. I wasn't quite thinking about events. I was more thinking about things he could actually be doing right now. So he changed his answer to New Zealand or Finland, heli-boarding. 

Me: If you could spend your birthday with anyone in the world, excluding me of course, who would it be?
Blake: This was an even toss up between Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson, but overall, he decided the most fun he would have with anyone in the world would be Jimmy Fallon. Hahaha I would have never guessed that one, but what a blast!

Me: Who are the 5 top people in your life currently who you would want to spend your birthday with? (Excluding me and family)
Blake: He definitely added a sixth one in there, but I'm not going to say who he chose :) haha no way! But I know that most if not all of these boys would pick him too. I love that he has such great guy friends in his life. 

Me: What would be the best birthday present I could give you? (don't worry, it was G-rated :) )
Blake: Thanksgiving Day, Patriots vs. Jets game, after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

Me: If you could get a phone call from anyone from the beyond, giving you birthday advice for your 27th year, who would it be?
Blake: His mom's parents - He's never met them before. They died before he was born but he feels super connected to them somehow and is really interested in them. He's so sweet!! (I was thinking he was going to pick an athlete or a billionaire for some silly money-making / athletic advice, but nope, he chose his grandparents. What a doll!)

Me: If you could have anyone (dead or alive) sing you Happy Birthday, who would it be?
Blake: AC/DC or Journey. He also mentioned he'd want Jimmy Hendrix to play Happy Birthday on his guitar (similar to his National Anthem). So sick! My boy's got good taste!

Me: If you could fulfill your greatest football fantasy for your birthday, what would that be?
Blake: One-on-one coverage on Fitzgerald. He'd want to try to cover him and then lay him out if he caught the ball. How fun would that be?!

We had the best night. It was so fun getting to know my Blakester just a little bit better. I'm not sure what I can do with any of this information,  but it's seriously fun when he starts digging deep and shares his ultimate fantasies. Most of these I guessed. He's a pretty open book. But some I was a little thrown by. Jimmy Fallon? Who thinks of that?! How fun would that be?! 

I'm going to try to do this every birthday for him now. It'll be fun to see what new answers he comes up with as he gets older and his likes / dislikes change. 

Happy birthday to my best friend!!! Love you!

Pregnancy Journal 12-11-13

It's been a while since I've written any updates about my pregnancy. I'm really just doing this so I can look back here and remember all the things I went through during pregnancy, so I can know what to expect next time.

The last couple weeks have been amazing (other than the fact that I look like a cow). I have a lot more energy, I haven't felt nauseous for a while and no more weird cravings. I feel pretty much back to normal other than the fact that my bladder has become the size of a pee apparently. I wake up about 4 times a night now to pee. It's annoying!

Apparently I have to sleep on my side now, because lying on my back can slow the blood flow to the baby. Fun fact. I've never been a side sleeper. I've always been a back sleeper. So that's gotten to be a pain. But I'll get used to it.

I can eat chicken again!!! Yay! It might sound weird, but that's a huge one for me. I LOVE chicken! So that's been great. I can also eat pretty much anything again. It's super nice not having to deal with cravings and nausea so I don't have to watch what I eat anymore.

Enough about my petty problems though, let's talk about the baby!! We found out it was a girl, at least 95% sure it is. She was in the worst position possible to be able to tell. She was curled up and hiding all the "goods" so our doctor wasn't 100% sure. He did, however, say that he was willing to bet his reputation on it, so I'm okay saying it's a girl haha. It definitely wasn't what we were expecting, but we are so thrilled!!! Blake is a little nervous, because he doesn't know what to do or how to handle girls. Let's just say, I haven't been the best "practice" as far as handling girls. I'm a little on the difficult side sometimes :)

We're both ecstatic though. She's going to be one tough little girl! We go in for our next check up next week, so we'll know for sure then.

I started feeling a couple kicks last week. She's a mover for sure! Ever since I could feel her she hasn't stopped! Luckily they're just little butterfly kicks right now, but when she gets big, I can only imagine how fun that's going to be when I can feel larger kicks constantly. Must. Not. Pee. My pants! haha

We're about 21 weeks along now, so just over halfway there! It's getting closer and closer and neither of us are even close to ready. But I don't think anyone is ever really ready for their first baby. I look forward to all the trial and error with her.

That's all the updates for now, but baby is healthy and strong and growing fast! If we find out anything new at the Dr. appointment I'll update here!

Pregnancy Journal 11-7-13

Today we find out the gender of the baby!!! I honestly think it's a girl. Not because of anything specific like if my belly is high or low or anything like that, but just 99% of my dreams I see a girl. I haven't told Blake much about my dreams because I don't want to make sway him either way or get his hopes up. Most of my dreams are about miscarrying anyway, so that's super fun. Today at the OBGYN appointment I'm just hoping for a super healthy, wiggly baby no matter what the gender. 

I always thought it was so vague when moms were like "as long as the baby is healthy I don't care what it is." And while I totally understood it at the time, I was like, seriously, I know you have a preference at this point. Now that I'm pregnant and I get to find out the gender and people ask me the same thing, I say we're hoping for a boy, but as long as it's healthy, we'll be just as excited either way. It's so stressful having to worry about someone else now! Blake can take care of himself. He takes care of his inhalers, he let's me know when he's injured or sick, he eats healthy and takes care of his body, so it's super weird for me to have to worry about someone's health other than my own. 

Blake thinks it's a boy. He would love a little football buddy. Either way, even if it's a girl, they're going to be into football. You can't be brought up in a football-obsessed house like ours and end up not liking it *knock on wood*. 

I can't wait to see the baby again. Even if they can't tell the gender I just can't wait to see how it's growing and developing. 

On a side note, my mom always keeps up on all the department store sales and she came into work today and said Sears is having a huge sale, so we're going today at lunch. She asked what time my OBGYN appointment was so we can shop for baby clothes but it was after work, later this evening. She was bummed about it, but her solution was "we'll just buy BOTH!!" haha I love my mom. 

Latest cravings: anything with hotdogs - pork & beans with hotdogs, chili dogs, plain hotdogs (without ketchup), steak, anything with pasta and jolly ranchers (luckily Halloween just passed, so I've got lots of hard candies to choose from). 

Honeymooning in Mexico

I realize I haven't written anything about our honeymoon we took this past May, so I figured I'd share a few thoughts regarding one of the greatest weeks of our lives!

We started out going to Six Flags the Saturday before our cruise departed. We met up with some of our best friends out there and it was a blast! I think I forget how terrified I am of heights every time I go to that park. It's super fun, but basically that's as terrified as I get. Blake made me brave enough to ride everything though, so it wasn't so bad with my sweetheart was holding my hand the entire time. 

We had driven straight from Mesa to Six Flags, so we were pretty exhausted. We only stayed in the park until 5pm. We're getting so old!

This is me riding Goliath, my nemesis...

Then we spent all day Sunday just lounging on the beach - and by lounging I mean playing football :)

We ate at my all-time favorite restaurant - Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant - best. chicken. ever.

Then Monday we packed everything up, made some last minute purchases, and hung out by the pier where they dock the boats. We decided to book the Carnival Inspiration because it was super inexpensive, the perfect length and was one of the only ones traveling when and where we wanted. 

We were able to drop everything off at our state room and explore the boat while everyone was boarding. It was so fun! It was pretty chilly as we waited on the deck for the boat to leave the dock, which took over an hour past when they were supposed to leave, but it wasn't too bad with Blake keeping me warm. 

Tuesday we went on our first excursion - snorkeling in Catalina. The water was beyond freezing, but we had ways of warming up our suits haha, (Blake told me too!). We saw some super cool fish and the instructor had feeding time, where she would throw a handful of food and there would be thousands of fish swarming in that area. It was creepy at first but super cool. I'm not sure what any of the fish were because my face was in the water most of the time she was explaining all the different species, and I'm SUPER bummed I didn't have an underwater camera. Oh well. 

Wednesday morning we went kayaking at the bufadora (blow hole) - again, super bummed I didn't have a water proof camera, because the blow hole was amazing! While kayaking, we saw some sealions, jellyfish and super huge fish, that I'm convinced were sharks, but Blake assured me they weren't. I'm also convinced that the kayaking adventure was meant for experts, because I'm in shape and it was freaking hard! I started to become concerned that the little teenage girls weren't going to make it! They definitely gave up about halfway in. 

Dining was awesome. We both ordered 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts every night (per person). I only ate maybe a quarter of each, but since we're paying for it, we might as well! Lobster and steak for dinner? Yes please! Creme brulee and a brownie sundae for dessert? I'll never say no to that! Our waiter was awesome of course. He was hilarious. We definitely enjoyed our dinners with him. 

Some of my favorite moments on our honeymoon:

• Blake held me super close on his lap one night while we were alone on the deck and sang the Beatles "8 Days a Week" in my ear. It was so sweet!
• A guy played our first dance song by Journey "Faithfully" at the piano bar and dedicated it to us.
• The waiters started playing "That's Amore" at dinner and asked people to get up and dance - Blake asked me to dance and we danced around the table.
• We rented tandem bikes to cruise around Catalina. You definitely need to work up to that ride, because that was freaking hard! But super fun exploring the island with my man.
• Playing chess and getting worked by Blake was not so much a highlight for me, but it was for him so I figured I'd give him a shout out :)
• They had game shows every afternoon and one of them was "The Newlywed Game" where you are asked personal questions and have to answer for your spouse. Blake and I tried to get on stage, but were unsuccessful. I guess that was lucky, because when we answered the questions ourselves in the audience, we got every single one wrong. Haha they were super silly questions, so it didn't bother me. 
• We rented quads and explored Mexico together. It was kind of scary, but I felt safe with Blake there. We had tacos and wrote messages in the sand on the beach. It was so fun!
• They set up a mini golf tournament in the middle of the ship. Blake and I of course had to enter. Not only did I end up beating Blake, but I came in 3rd overall! Go me!
• Formal night was amazing. Not only was it fun to dress up, but my man looks so fine in his suit. I had a hard time keeping my eyes off of him the whole night!
• We fell asleep one afternoon on the deck holding hands in our beach chairs. It was the best nap I've ever had. 
• Blake is definitely not the dancing type, but he danced the night away with me salsa style during the dance party on the deck. It was so romantic!

It was one of the greatest weeks of our marriage and I can't wait to make more memorable moments with the love of my life!

Pregnancy Journal 10-7-13

Not much had changed for the last couple of weeks in my pregnancy. I'm still sick as a dog, I can't eat much and I'm exhausted ALL THE TIME! 

A couple more things have happened though, I've got a pooch now - the pregnant belly that doesn't look quite pregnant yet, it just looks like a food baby, or a horrible period bloating. No one can tell I'm pregnant, I just look like I've gained some weight. Which is very weird for me being as I've been a health freak since high school. I'm not bummed about it or anything, it's just different. Just something new I'll have to get used to for a couple more months :)

Also, we went to the doctor and saw the baby for the first time. I'm a firm believer that technology is a huge blessing, instead of a curse as some believe. This was one of the reasons why. We could see our little baby perfectly. It's little hands and feet, it's big eyes and rapid heartbeat. No genitalia yet, so nothing on the gender reveal, but we'll find that out at our next appointment. The doctor was able to measure everything to check for signs of down syndrome and other possible diseases. The baby is about 5.5cm long right now. Just a little guy. 

The doctor also showed me that my blatter was completely full, which was weird, because I literally just came from the bathroom. Yet another fun pregnancy symptom I've been enjoying haha. 

Blake was there the whole time (except when he ditched me when I had to give blood - worst. moment. ever.) It was so incredible getting to experience that with him. He was in the chair next to the table and he immediately reached over to grab my hand and couldn't stop squeezing it. This would be another moment where Blake was overcome by emotion. Once on our wedding day when he saw me in my dress, the day I told him I was pregnant, and the day we saw the baby for the first time on the ultra sound. I almost wanted to stare at Blake instead of the baby the whole time because I just couldn't help falling more and more in love with him. 

After seeing the baby, it gave me new perspective on things. I had been praying that my sickness would go away, that I would have more energy, that I would be able to eat normal food again and that I could get through an entire day without hanging over the toilet. My prayers have since changed. I pray for one simple thing, that our baby will be healthy and strong. I no longer care about how I feel or what it's doing to my body. All my worries and complaints were put to rest. I didn't think I could love something so much that I've never even met. I didn't realize how much love could be transmitted through an ultra sound screen. But I love him (or her). I love him more than I've ever loved anything besides Blake. I don't mind throwing up daily, or waking up with a throbbing headache, or not being able to sleep because I have to pee every 5 minutes, or not being able to eat whatever I want. I will go through that and a million other symptoms if it meant that he was healthy.

I am so grateful for this wonderful miracle in my life and I am even more grateful that I've got the best husband in the world to help me through it. PS I came home from a 14 hour day at work to a spotless house and fresh flowers on the dinner table. It doesn't get much cuter than him. 

Meet our newest addition for the first time... :)

Pregnancy Journal 9-19-13

I'm about 9 weeks along (according to my latest missed "time of the month"), and I'm feeling much better. The nausea is still there, very much so, but after last week, I don't think I could get much worse (as I cross my fingers and knock on wood). I at least have a little bit of energy.

I went to the gym last night. I just did some machines and walked on the treadmill. The whole time I was there I thought I was going to puke, so I had to take it super easy. I promised myself though that I'd try my best to stay active through my pregnancy, so that's what I'm doing. Blake has been nothing but supportive and encouraging this whole time. He's so incredible. 

A big reason I wanted to wait as long as possible to tell people we were expecting is because as soon as you say you're pregnant around young moms, they HAVE to give you their two cents about everything. I hadn't had any experiences like that yet because, well, no one knows I'm pregnant, until last week. I had been coaching gymnastics again for a couple weeks and I just couldn't do it anymore. Some of my gymnasts were as big as me if not bigger and I was expected to fully spot them in a back handspring or tuck. A couple times while spotting, I honestly thought I was going to throw up on them as they were tumbling. Images of that were playing over in my head and I just couldn't take it anymore. Plus, I don't think it's good for me to be lifting that much weight like that while I'm pregnant. 

I told the owner I had to stop. I felt bad because she really needed me, but what else was I supposed to do? She understood perfectly and just said if I started feeling better, I'm more than welcome to come back. My last day there, one of the girls who had been coaching there for years started talking to me about it and it came up that she had 3 children. Apparently with her 3rd child, she actually started having contractions while spotting. She ended up finishing out her day of 4 more hours of coaching and went straight to the hospital. 

She told me that she coached with all 3 pregnancies and felt perfectly fine. At this point I already wanted to either punch her in the face or sarcastically give her a blue ribbon for being awesome. Then she proceeds to inform me that as long as I stay active the whole time, then the nausea will go away. I wanted to laugh out loud. I am the most active person I know and I've been to the gym several times at the beginning of the pregnancy. You want to know what it did for my nausea? Made it worse. I love that people think staying active has anything to do with your pregnancy hormones. I've taken every anatomy class available at ASU and no where does it say that those are at all related. Staying active might help you swell less later on, it might help you sleep better, it may even make you happier, but it has NOTHING to do with lessening nausea. 

That is the exact reason why I don't want to tell people I'm pregnant. Once someone becomes pregnant or has a child or two, they become experts on the subject. I've heard the way my closest friends talk about their pregnancies and labor experiences and raising their children. They are pros now apparently. I had one friend who actually gave a cloth diaper kit to a new mom at her shower. Then she proceeded to say "You HAVE to cloth diaper. It's the best thing you can do for your baby." Well, it looks like I'm already going to be a horrible mom, because I am NOT cloth diapering. No thank you. That's great for some moms, but to push that kind of "advice" on someone in the middle of their shower, so inappropriate. 

So call me crazy, but I am not equipped to deal with that kind of "advice" just yet. I'm so looking forward to the future judgment of all my parenting mistakes. I guess I just thought that kind of stuff stopped after high school. Guess not. 

Pregnancy Journal 9-9-13

We ended up caving and telling our parents this weekend. It wasn't what we wanted to do, but I work with my mom, and she sees me hunched over a trash can for 8 hours a day. Eventually, she's going to ask questions. We haven't told anyone else yet, but we won't do that for a while. At least now I don't have to explain myself every time I sit at the dinner table and just move my food around with a fork. 

I can't eat anything!! I had a handful of Honeynut Cheerios this morning and a bite of chocolate ice cream. It's the only thing that tasted good. Both ended up making me more nauseous. I am so freaking hungry! I can't keep anything down though. Absolutely nothing sounds good anymore, and if it doesn't sound good to begin with, it's definitely not going to stay down. 

This pregnancy thing sucks!!! I'm stoked out of my mind to have a baby, but come on! Are you kidding me with this? Blake of course is as sweet and patient as ever. He is always so worried about me. I definitely couldn't do this without him. He's been so helpful. 

Goals for this week: Eat SOMETHING! Anything, really. I know that baby will be fine either way, but I don't know how much longer I can go without any energy. Today I'll try more smoothies. That shouldn't be too nauseating. You gotta love the miracle of pregnancy! haha