we're home

sneak peak of little cal.

give thanks

still no baby
so fun to have dad, mom, and katie
deek to the ward turkey bowl
jen walk/jog 3 miles in the morning {is this baby ever going to come?}
playground with reese
macy's day parade
dad and his love for holiday retail {bag clips anyone?}
turkey baked according to little america's suggestions {outcome? fantastic!}
phenomenal meal put together by mom
just the 6 of us around grandma & grandpa n's first dining set
pies, pies, pies....
relaxing quiet night
jen walk/jog 3 more miles. still, nothing...
many, many thanks to be given

final moments of family of 3

boy v girl: a comparison of two pregnancies

most importantly, can we just all agree that regina spektor is the greatest thing ever? except for the fact that her name is regina. also, i realize i'm a few years late jumping on the bandwagon, but guys, one of those years doesn't count since i had no access to radio and my internet was too slow to stream anything.

regina.

seriously, what were her parents thinking?

anyway, i can't stop listening to 'samson'. over, and over, and over, and over.... it's the number one song on my birthing playlist.

heck yes. i have a birthing play list and as of right now it only consists of 5 songs.

which brings me to the next thing.

truffles.

chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa.  i saw some in costco today and had an immediate and insanely intense craving.  but then i saw that it was $12 for a bag, and i thought to myself, "what the absurdity costco?" i can make those myself. and so i did.  and now i'm sitting here eating the batter with a spatula.

which brings me to the next thing.

birth.

yikes. that word is really freaking me out lately, despite having a fantastic experience birthing reese.

and just to put it out there, i'm attempting {attempting being the key word} to go natural. as in, no epidural.

more on that later.

and so i sit here, 6 days away from estimated d-livery-day, so beyond ready to be able to wear more than just those 4 shirts that still fit, yet not quite so sure i'm ready for him to make his grand debut quite yet.  i think i'm still in denial that a brand new human will be coming to our home.

my brand new human, no less.

in fact, i still have yet to pack my hospital bag despite there being, uh.... progress down there. it's my little way of making myself believe that the birth is somewhere far in the future. foolish, i know.  somehow it makes me feel safer, less scared of what lies ahead.

i hate the smell of hospitals.

too bad being a parent happens to be the greatest thing ever.

anyway, because in future pregnancies i know i'll wish i could recall all the little differences between having a boy and girl, i wanted to write down a little comparison.  just to see if there are any consistent reactions according to gender in the remainder of my pregnancies.  because yes, checkout lady at fred meyer, we are still planning on having more kids despite having "our girl and boy".

so here we go...

pregnancy with girl
felt like i had a slight flu with major bloating within the first week of conceiving.  lasted 3 days.
all day nausea and dry heaving from 6-13 weeks
bright red spotting from 6-11 weeks
things that especially made me want to sit over the toilet: meat, apples, garlic, alfredo/cream sauces, most veggies, and anything to do with christmas.
foods i couldn't get enough of: fruit, ice-cream, smoothies, taco time's veggie burrito, lucky charms, cinnamon toast crunch, cherry rainbows from paces, and milk.
carried low.
victoria secret effect was very apparent.
super emotional.
no swelling, despite the summer 3rd trimester
slept great entire pregnancy, only had extreme fatigue for the first trimester
no digestive problems
dark line on belly started appearing by 10 weeks

pregnancy with boy
felt slightly nauseous in the morning for 3 days in a row within first week of conceiving. also had diarrhea that lasted same 3 days.
all day extreme nausea and dry heaving from 6-18 weeks
only spotted red once at 4 weeks
things that especially made me want to sit over the toilet: lemon bars, mangoes, chicken, being anywhere near a garbage can, fridge, or sink {i basically couldn't step in a kitchen for 4 months. my poor family.} pretty much all food excluding cereal and candy for the first 4 months, the internet - particularly blogging. so weird, i know.
foods i couldn't get enough of: candy {never been a candy person before but gobstoppers were pretty much the best things ever}, prime rib, top ramen, ice-cream, mexican and thai
carried low
victoria secret effect not quite as much as with first pregnancy
not really much more emotional than normal
quality of sleep lower than normal
extreme fatigue 3rd trimester
ankle swelling during 2nd trimester {the summer}
*heartburn
*constipation and its' beloved cohort that starts with an h and may end with a roid. can't believe i just wrote than on the internet for all to read.  it is what it is.  pregnancy is so glamorous.
dark line on belly started appearing around 30 weeks

1st time around, 39 weeks pregnant with girl:

2nd time around, 39 weeks pregnant with boy {excuse the incredible picture quality}:

yup. pretty much the same looking.  which makes sense, seeing as i've gained the exact amount of weight both times.

and there you have it. boy v girl.

now it's just playing the waiting game. wish me luck!





*i was having a lot of problems with these symptoms until i started drinking herbal red raspberry leaf tea around 34 weeks. since then, all symptoms have disappeared. boo yah. i'm a believer. we'll see how it works in labor...

trick or treat it's halloween

thanks to our awesome friends, doug and marilyn, we were able to borrow this adorable minnie mouse costume for reese. is she not the cutest little thang you've ever seen?

she thought she was pretty hot stuff, being able to wear mommy's make up and all. and sidenote, mascara makes her eyes pop way, way WAY too much. she won't be wearing it again til she's 42.

she's such a cheeseball. apparently, she's been hanging out with my scouts a little too much...

it would be a mild statement to say she was ecstatic to go trick or treating and "get more candy!!!!"

we went into north end to this fairy tale-like place called harrison boulevard. it's a big long street full of big older homes and big beautiful trees and everyone goes big with decorations and treats. people come from all over the city to trick or treat there. it was one big ol' halloween wonderland. seriously just like the movies, only real. and big.

this one house had almost 100 carved pumpkins. isn't it amazing?

as it got darker the crowds got bigger and bigger.  by the end we had to wait in line to get candy.  most of the homeowners dress all up and sit on their porches to hand it out.

just getting going...

and by the end of the night she was drunk on excitment.  as people would drop the candy into her bucket she would yell, "thank you! i love you!!!!!" what's not to love about hundreds of strangers shelling out candy? i was so caught up in the magic of it all, i wanted to say the same thing. it was a beautiful night, sniff, sniff.

sheer childhood bliss. a girl and her loot.

the best part is that the next day she woke up remembering everything about the night before, except that the candy was still there. deek and i hid it and have pretty much been eating it all since.  she's clueless and i refuse to feel any guilt.  mwah ha ha ha!!!  oh the joys of having a 2 year old.

anyway, harrison boulevard was seriously beyond amazing and we'll be going back year after year. here's to new traditions!

a tale of carved pumpkins

once upon a time deek, jen, and reese decided to carve pumpkins to celebrate the upcoming pagan harvest festival all hallow's eve. to their horror, they realized that in their 6 year history of being an official "we," they had yet to carve pumpkins to celebrate the said day.  and umm, what kind of self respecting, self proclaiming lovers of halloween would they be if they had not yet carved a glorified gourd?

and so they set out to carve.

first they designed. and reese handed out forced cheesers left and right.

and reese was fascinated with the way her daddy kept stabbing at the pumpkin with a steak knife.  and slightly concerned. {side note: next year, just break down and buy the darn designated pumpkin carvers.}

and then the mad scientist chuckled her evil chuckle.

until she caught a whiff of the pumpkin guts. and then for the first time in her short life she gagged in response to a smell.  in fact, the rest of the night she couldn't go near the pumpkins until all the guts had been confiscated. and the 9 month pregnant jen tried to fit into an apron.

and at last they were completed and reese tried to mimic the face carved into her pumpkin. but ended up looking exactly like pictures of her padre as a child instead{ok deek's family, does she not look EXACTLY like his pictures as a child in this photo?}

and finally, the reesers gave a normal smile.  and wonder of wonders, jen caught it on film.

the finished products: