Halfway there!

I am now 20 weeks and cannot believe it.  I cannot believe that this pregnancy is already halfway done.  In some ways that makes me sad, because I don't want this to be over.  So far I love being pregnant.  I love knowing that there is a little baby inside of me, growing and just hanging out.  Obviously I am excited as can be to actually meet this little guy, and be his mama, but for now I am loving having him inside of me.

Belly:  Until just a couple of weeks ago it felt like I was just getting thicker and thicker rather than really having a belly popping out.  That has changed recently and there is definitely a belly there now!  It feels like it is always growing.  Some mornings I wake up and think that it grew overnight.  So far I haven't gotten any maternity clothes and am just wearing looser regular clothes.

Here I am, 20 weeks along. 

And the progression:

Smells:  I have always been sensitive to smells and now that sensitivity is just heightened.  I can smell everything now although it is mostly smells that already were gross to me that I hate now--like cigarettes, B.O., onions and garlic...and hamburger.

Foods:  There is nothing too crazy here.  If I hated foods before I was pregnant, I still hate them, and same goes for what I liked.  But I have been especially loving Thai food lately.  I could eat at Mekong and Sawadee every.single.day.  Other than that there have been moments where I really wanted Olive Garden salad or a delicious steak.  Oh, and Paradise cookies.

For the most part I have been feeling great.  There are minor aches and pains but nothing unbearable.  I wake up several times a night with really bad charlie horses, which I had no clue happened when you're pregnant!

I still have not felt this little guy move, so I am hoping that will happen soon.  We go in for our 20 week ultrasound with our doctor on Monday and are excited for that.  

I am still just so grateful to be pregnant and for this little baby growing inside of me. So fun!

A little crafting

Here is a sneak peak at a small something I am working on for the little guy's nursery.  Whenever I try something that involves sewing it is a little risky. Risky as in there is always a huge risk that I will get frustrated or overwhelmed and never finish it. 

The project isn't finished but I have the bulk of it done and am feeling really good about it.  None of this would have happened if I wasn't lucky enough to have a super nice sister who also happens to be really good at sewing.  Tierra let me use her sewing machine, re-taught me how to do a blanket stitch, let me use some of her wonder under when stupid JoAnn's sold me interfacing instead, and encouraged me to keep going whenever I would freak out and want to quit this dang project.  I'm not sure how she got all of the sewing talent and I was left without it, but lucky for me she is always willing to help out. 

And for those wondering, those are also the main colors that I am going to be incorporating into the nursery.  I'm sure there will be more pictures to come.

Gallery Wall {Part My Own}

I have been determined to somehow get a gallery wall somewhere in my house.  With so many windows on our main floor there really is not a lot of wall space and I definitely didn't have anywhere for it down there.  So I finally decided it had to be upstairs somewhere but had a hard time deciding just where. The actual hallway was way too long and intimidating, so I started with the smaller wall, at the very top of the stairs.  It ended up being the perfect size.

This really was quite the project and took me more hours than I anticipated, but part of that is due to my indecisiveness and slow-to-complete project pace.  I am really happy with the final product though and am loving it each time I go upstairs. 

The price breakdown wasn't too bad either.

Frames:  $18 - Most of the frames are from the D.I. (besides 2 that were from TJ)

Spray Paint:  $0 - I used what I already had. 

Vinyl W:  $8 - I ordered it on etsy and had to buy a couple sizes to make sure one of them worked.

Prints:  $2.50 

Total:  $ 28.50

I am still hoping to buy some sort of print for the center square frame, but that can wait.

The Yurt

This weekend we headed up to the yurt again.  We have done this for the past few years and love that it has become a yearly winter tradition.  So Friday afternoon we put on our snowshoes and loaded up our packs and started our hike.  Luckily Marcus is the sweet husband that he is and he packed in some of the heavier stuff so that I could have two pillows stuffed in my pack.  :) 

We went to the same yurt as last year and hiked in with Kate + Jake and Tommy + Rilee met up with us a few hours later.

There was a lot of fresh snow and it was beautiful.  It was also really cold and super windy, but luckily as you hiked you warmed up.  After we hiked the 2 miles to the Yurt we left our packs and snowshoes and hiked on to Lily Lake.  We decided to go through some deep powder and without our snowshoes we ended up completely exhausted. 

On the way down Marcus let me sit in the sled, with my pack on my back, while he pulled me half the way to the car.  So I basically sledded home, hah.  After I got out and walked we loaded up a bunch of our packs in the sled and he pulled those.  I guess that's one of the benefits of having such a tough husband. 

 We also enjoyed some sledding, a huge breakfast, lots of fun games, and just hanging out.  Besides being the worst night's sleep ever, we all had a great time and can't wait until next year!

Week Night Date Night

Last night we grabbed a quick dinner and then headed downtown for a Ben Kweller concert.  The weather was CRAZY and so scary to be driving in with all of the snow coming down and the wind blowing so hard at the same time.  But we made it to the concert and we had a great time.

Marcus has always loved going to concerts and as soon as we started dating that was one of the regular things we did together all of the time.  I am so glad that as time has passed, we still love going to different concerts and just hanging out together.

Like usual, it was a great show.  Very entertaining and all of our favorite songs.

I Love My Valentine

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day!  Sadly I was sick with a cold so our plans had to change a little bit.  By the time Marcus picked me up from work to take me to dinner I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed.  Luckily I have the sweetest husband who quickly cancelled our dinner reservations (he had made reservations at the Kyoto -- a delicious Japanese restaurant that he took me to on our very first Valentine's together).  Instead we went home, changed into sweats, and went to the drive-through for some quick dinner (two different places--Kneaders for me, Barbacoa for him), and headed home to watch a movie.

I have been wanting to watch Temple Grandin for awhile now so Marcus had already tracked it down from Red Box and had it at home waiting for us. 

This movie did not disappoint at all.  I was so surprised by how good it actually was and I would recommend it to anyone.  It was inspiring but entertaining at the same time and really well done.  It even had me crying a few times, but I quickly blamed it on my cold (watery eyes you know?).  Claire Danes was adorable in a role that would be hard to play.  Marcus and I both thoroughly enjoyed it and were happy we spent the evening watching it. 

Happy Valentine's Day Marcus--I love you!

It's a...

BOY!!!

We are so dang excited.  Marcus was so hoping for a boy so he got what he wished for.  For some reason I have been thinking that this little baby inside of me has been a girl, so when the guy said "It's a boy" I was definitely surprised.  Still so excited though and think that little boys are SO cute and love that my other kids will have a big brother.

I love the idea of knowing now what this little guy is.  It makes it so much more real and so exciting.  The ultrasound was amazing to me and I loved just watching him.  He had the hiccups and was so active.  He was moving around the whole time and loved to suck his thumb and kick his cute little legs.