Baby Jeremy

I had another u/s today to check on how Jeremy is doing, so I thought I'd share all the lovely photos with you :) He's still definitely a boy, and boy is he big! They estimate him to weigh 4lbs 14oz right now. He's supposed to weigh right around 3. So, I'll be having a big baby. No surprises, and at least I have my sister as an example, so I'm not too worried. If Ashley can birth a 10 pounder, I can, too! Right?

The profile view

A little foot (also known as: what's been kicking me in the ribs for the past few weeks)

His face - you can see an eye, his nose, and his lips, along with his hand 

Another shot of his face. He was too cuddly to show off his full face at any point. 

It's getting closer! Just 9 weeks left, and I'll be able to take pictures that will be even cuter!

Excited

I LOVE this time of year! I have all my Halloween decorations up (or at least all the ones I'm putting up this year - fake cobwebs in the corners of the room have been nixed this year, because I shouldn't be standing on chairs to put them up!).

This weekend, Justin and I are going to a place called Apple Hill. It's a little less than an hour east of us (and slightly north), and apparently it's the place to go this time of year. All of our friends from around here have already been, I guess we're a bit behind! It's a giant group of apple orchards, and each orchard has different things you can come check out. If you've ever been to a really big pumpkin patch place (like Young's Farm in AZ before they closed), it sounds kind of like that, but way bigger, and with apples. I'm really excited to check it out! And if it is as fantastic as it sounds, I'm definitely going to take my parents there when they come for Thanksgiving. I've been reading the websites of some of the different orchards, and there is a lot to offer. They have every kind of apple food you can imagine - caramel apples, apple cider, pies, and even apple cider fudge! Stay tuned for pictures, because I'm certainly going to bring my camera this weekend.

Things have been pretty busy lately. Last week at Intel there was a big fundraiser event, including a kind of bake sale. I contributed a whole bunch of little brownie bites, so I spent quite a bit of time baking those up. According to Justin, they got rave reviews from everyone who tried them :)

On Saturday, I had a baby shower from my ward! It turned out really great. Good food, good company, and some silly games :) I got some more baby stuff, so now Justin and I can start shopping to fill in the gaps. Mostly it's just the big ticket items we still need - stroller, car seat, crib, dresser. A few smaller things as well, but it should be pretty manageable. I really want to get the crib and dresser so we can start setting up Jeremy's nursery! Another thing I'll be sure to post pictures of when I have them :)

I have a whole bunch of pictures of food that I've made recently, but they are on my camera, which is in the other room. Maybe I'll add some pictures later today for you all. If you want to be sure to see them, you could always follow my craft blog, where I'll post about each recipe in the coming weeks.

That's most of my big updates for now. Mostly I'm just really excited for this weekend to see if Apple Hill can live up to the hype. Hooray for autumn!

Picture Post

I won't give too much explanation for everything, because I have a lot of pictures to post! Here we go...

Wreath I made for August/September when there aren't really any holidays

Magnet board I made with a friend. Right now it has the following pictures on it: 

Jeremy Wayne! This was around 20 weeks.

Football blanket I made for Justin's birthday, so he can teach his son "how to watch football properly"

With ASU pride, of course! 

Case I made for my nook, so I wouldn't have to worry about taking it on the trip home

Some cute pics of Madie and baby Henry 

I love this face. Am I ready to be awake yet? 

Nope, not quite. 

Felt Nativity blocks I made for my Mom for her birthday. 

The wise men and donkey

The Holy Family 

Sheep, shepherd, angel and cow

The fancy shmancy cheap hotel we stayed at on the way back to Sacramento

Despite being so cheap, it really was fancy! Granite counters and shower!

And the most awesome tissue box EVER. 

The bed, and the handsome husband :) 

Right across the street was another hotel. One where you can check out, but never leave. 

On the way home, we stopped for a while in LA to explore China Town. 

Justin really enjoyed this particular delay :) 

I had actually heard of this guy! 

We didn't go in, but I couldn't resist snapping a pic of this. The restaurant from Rush Hour!

These dragons were poised above the street on the way out. 

Most of the pictures aren't super great, since they're from my phone. 

We had a fabulous trip back home to AZ, even though it was probably one of the more emotional ones. Apparently leaving is even harder when you're pregnant, hormonal and tired, and know you won't be seeing most of the family again until after the baby comes. It sure was good to see everyone though! Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the baby shower, but it was a blast! My sister and mom did a great job on everything, and I got lots and lots of adorable baby stuff. I can't wait to start using it all!

Projects for a baby!

Rather than bore you all with random dialogue about the various projects I made for baby Henry... ta da! Here they are:

Newsie hat I made for Henry

Bibs for Henry 

Tuxedo Bib 

Blue bib - this one I made to test out the pattern before making the tux bib 

I'm working on something very fun right now for my mom's birthday, so I'll be sure to post that after I give it to her (yep, you'll have to wait until the end of September!). I've also been making some crafts with a friend in the ward, but haven't taken any pictures of those. We're still working on them, but once they're done, you'll get another craft post. 

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!