Cha-cha-change

Changes in my life caused by the little minion* currently residing in my uterus:

1. Eat immediately before going to bed or wake up at 3 or 4am VERY hungry. I now start and end my day with a bowl of cereal. No wonder we're going through milk faster! (Last night I also snuck in a taste of the cheesecake I made yesterday. Nothing like cereal and cheesecake for a midnight snack!)

2. Justin can no longer do the dishes after I go to bed or he'll wake me up. Pregnancy is making me a very light sleeper, between being uncomfortable, being hungry, and just plain having insomnia. Sadly, he pretty much only ever does the dishes after I go to bed, so it looks like I'll end up doing the dishes from now on :(

3. Limit ice cream intake or regret it later. I thought I was past this, because I've been able to eat small servings of ice cream without any problems. The blizzard yesterday, however, proved how wrong I was. Which is why I didn't eat right before going to bed. Apparently feeling icky at 10:00 does not mean I won't be starving at 4. I swear my world revolves around food right now...

4. Eat lunch twice or three times. Or four. I eat a lot right now, I think to make up for losing 10 lbs in the first trimester from morning sickness. Like I said, my world revolves around food.

5. Hug from the side. Yep, my belly is officially getting big enough to be in the way for things, like hugging Justin, or putting things into the grocery cart. It's kind of exciting, but also kind of scary knowing I will have to adjust how I do SO many things in the next few months.

6. Put lotion on growing areas every day in an attempt to keep the itchy dryness away. The belly, the area just to the north of the belly... ;-) It helps, but I don't think there's anything I can do to make it completely go away. I sure do regret the nights I forget (I put it on right before going to bed. After eating a bowl of cereal.).

Life is full of change right now, and it's very fun and exciting (and also sometimes uncomfortable or painful. But let's focus on the positive!). Each little change is just a reminder that, oh yeah, we really are growing a tiny person, and he's still sticking around! Sometimes it's hard to believe that I'm still pregnant. Not in a why-am-I-still-pregnant-get-this-kid-out-of-me way, but in a holy-cow-we're-still-pregnant-and-we'll-actually-have-a-child-of-our-own-in-a-few-months kind of way. I feel so lucky and blessed, and still pray every day that Jeremy will continue to grow strong and healthy.

*Minion is in no way a negative term. It's a term of endearment. You know, like when you call a small child a demon llama. Wait, that may just be a my-family thing... 

Jeremy's Stocking: Day 2

Here's the progress after day 2:

Today's progress won't be as impressive, since we're feeding the missionaries tonight, so I have to clean the house and make a dessert of some sort. I didn't end up making the cheesecake yesterday (I forgot to pull out  the cream cheese to soften until I wanted to start making it, and by then it was too late to let it soften AND have time to bake! D'oh!). I'll probably end up make symphony brownies. Easy, and always delicious. Cheesecake will have to wait for later in the week.

Photo Phail

So, I brought my camera with me on my trip back home, and left it in my bag the entire time. Oops! But I did have an absolute blast! It's always good to see family :)

To make up for the lack of photos there, I've tried taking lots of pictures of my projects since getting home.

Since getting back, it's been nice to relax and do things just because. Like making these cookies for Justin to take to work:

I don't know what inspired me to make them the intel logo, but it was really fun decorating them! 

I've also done some things not just for fun, but with an actual reason. One of Justin's coworkers had a close family member pass away, and Justin was asked if he was good at picking out cards. He said not really, because his wife usually makes cards when we need one. So, I was volunteered to make a card for her. It was actually kind of hard. I'm used to making cutesy cards, and cute isn't really appropriate for that situation. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out though: 

In other news, I finally took my first "belly photo". Mostly because I saw a picture on Ashley's blog of her at 18 weeks, and wanted to compare. Here's hers: 

And mine (taken yesterday at 18 weeks and 5 days): 

My analysis of the comparison: I think my belly is sticking out almost as far as hers was at that point, but I don't look quite as obviously pregnant, because of how long my torso is. 

Yesterday, Jeremy's stocking kit arrived, and I was very excited to get started! Here's my progress after day 1:

Okay, it doesn't look like much yet, but that's already several hours' work right there. Of course watching America Ninja Warrior slowed me down a bit, but hey, I got to see the first American to ever make it past the ultimate cliffhanger! 

In addition to working on the stocking, today I'll be making cheesecake! Next Monday is National Cheesecake Day (any slice 1/2 price at Cheesecake factory), and I decided to start celebrating early. I'll be making four little mini cheesecakes and freezing 3 of them. The 1 I leave unfrozen will be eaten when we feed the missionaries tomorrow night, and the rest will come out next week for the actual celebration of cheesecake. Hopefully I can keep myself from eating them for that long! 

That's all my updates for now. Justin is still doing great at work. One of his main buyers that he works with actually commented how helpful he always is, which was neat. It's great that his hard work is being recognized so much. He is really a great employee, and people keep noticing. I'm very proud of him!

Exciting News

Although I think most people who read my blog already know, for those who don't, Justin and I are expecting! 

Jeremy Wayne is due to arrive this December!