loves.

♥ going to jordan landing to see a movie with sean... in the biggest most amazing theater EVER!
♥ this amazing lemon yogurt cake. i may or may not have had 2 slices for breakfast this morning.

♥ wearing my easter apron.
♥ getting good stuff in the mail. like baby announcements :)
♥ cadbury minis.
♥ laying on my back for an hour last night, watching my belly move when she does.
♥ cloudy days.
♥ watching house hunters before bed.
♥ reading this hilarious book. it's frightening how much i can relate to becky.
♥ watching sean freak out when i pile the groceries into the cart. he always thinks we're spending WAY more than we are... and then he breathes a sigh of relief at the cash register. men.
♥ cutler's turkey avacado sandwhich. heaven.
♥ the amazing season of LOST we have happening right now.
♥ cute hair days.
♥ shannon telling me all the time how close we are to march. and then april and may and then BABY! she's very excited to have another niece, i think!

dinner.

sean's: sauce. cheese. pepperoni.

mine: sauce. cheese. red onion. olives. green peppers. tomatoes.

personal pizzas are totally the way to go in this family. he gets what he wants. i get what i want. we're both happy.

see the recipe here {like you really need one! they're the easiest things in the world to make.}

blah.

remember this lovely test? i got to go back and do the long version of it because apparently some levels of something were too high on my lab work from the first time. this was my morning:

8:30 drive to clinic.
9:15 give blood & urine samples.
9:20 drink twice as much of the gross drink {glucola} as last time.
9:30 feel super icky {praying that the glucola isn't coming back up} for about 30 minutes.

sit around at the clinic for an hour with sean...

10:20 give blood & urine samples.

sit around at the clinic for another hour with sean...

11:20 give blood & urine samples.

sit around at the clinic for another hour with sean...

11:45 start feeling SO SO sick... pukey, shaky, sweaty, dizzy {i haven't eaten for 12+ hours}
12:20 give blood & urine samples.
12:25 inhale a bag of chex mix.
12:35 start feeling better... well enough to inhale a salad from cafe rio :)

you know you've been at the clinic too long when you've seen several patients walk in and then leave several hours later in a wheelchair after having outpatient sugery.

on the bright side, we did get plenty of time to play tetris on my phone, make up ridiculous middle names for the baby, people watch {always fun at a doctor's office}, take some dumb pictures and explore the clinic!

{i apologize that ALL i ever post about is pregnancy... but it's pretty much our life right now!}

seriously amusing.

{yes, i'm immature}

hello, 3rd trimester.

nice to meet you. please go by quickly.

♥ ariel

smelly opera.

last night i went to another random concert with my mom that we read about in the newspaper. it just happened to be another byu performance, which was kind of fun because it was a lot of the same singers. it was a bunch of different opera scenes... some VERY good... some ok. but seriously let's get on with the interesting parts of the night...

1. so the guy who sat in the seat right next to me STUNK SO BAD. it was unbearable. i know i'm more sensitive right now but it was just BAD. i overheard him talking to the people next to him, saying that he usually wears a suit & tie to events like that, but he had to come straight from work. and it was very apparent to me at that moment that he works at a VERY STINKY restaurant. and he must have eaten the food too because every time he breathed i could smell it stronger. nice, right? so i suffered through the first half and then we moved at intermission.

2. on the way home, just as we were getting off the freeway, some disgusting man threw his cigarette butt out of his window. it landed on our windshield {scared the heck out of my mom, who was driving} and then fell down into the crack between the wipers and the hood. then it proceeded to pump cigarette smoke through the air system! it was soooo bad. we stopped the car and tried to get it out, but we ended up wedging it deeper down. when i got home like 10 minutes later, my clothes REEKED and sean wouldn't cuddle me because my hair stunk even worse. my mom was all distraught because she is going to the temple this morning with a friend and her car smells like cigarette smoke :)

so that was our fun/smelly evening.

i wish i had gotten up at 7:00 this morning.

today i have a doctors appointment. they are making me drink some gross drink so they can draw my blood and test for gestational diabetes. the appointment is at 3:30pm. i didn't get around to reading the instructions for the gross drink until i woke up this morning at 7:30am. come to find out i'm not supposed to eat or drink 8 hours before testing!!!!! wha???? this is pregnant women you're dealing with! is that a realistic expectation? you can do the math... if i had gotten up like 30 minutes earlier, i could have had some breakfast. it's going to be a LONG day. i should have made this appointment for like 9am. i don't have a problem not eating in my sleep :)

she flipped around and my belly shrank.

i kind of don't like it when i know baby is upside down {or right-side up, i guess... head up, feet down}. it makes me panicky that she is going to suddenly get really fat {she is supposed to be getting fatter now} and then not be able to flip herself around and then i'll have to have a c-section. yes, i'm aware that there is plenty of time for her to move all over the place... i just would prefer it if she would stay put in the correct birthing position :)

she definately is upside down {right-side up} and for some reason my belly is smaller when she's that direction. over the weekend i had to wear these pants unbuttoned & unzipped... and now all of a sudden i can totally zip and button them. weird. has anyone else experienced the shrinking belly?

also... 89 days!? geez, the time is flying now. monday marks the 1st day of my 3rd trimester. so much to do! so much to buy! i hope we get it all done!

presidents day.

since i didn't have to work today, i thought i would spend the entire day at ikea! ok that wasn't really the plan, but i ended up going there twice today. i've been looking for curtains for the nursery so i got ready early this morning thinking no one would be at ikea right when the store opens at 10 {i was wrong}. i found a couple of different options so i took them both home. during the process of trying to decide between the two, i dragged the curtains over my cute lamp and broke it into a million pieces. so then i went back to ikea, looked for curtain rods, bought a new lamp AND brought home some delicious cinnamon buns. have you ever had one from there? they're soo good. so that's how i spent the majority of my day. the nursery is getting so cute! i can't wait until it's all finished {and sean finally gets around to removing the couch that's currently taking up half of the room... hint hint!}.

our vday.

sean and i had a very simple valentines day this year. we agreed to forgo the gifts, and just spend the day together. {except i did remind him that flowers don't count as a gift and are a must.} so we went shopping. i needed new pants desparately. while my belly doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot bigger, my butt sure got the memo... and i was tired of wearing the same pair of pants every day. we of course ended up shopping for baby while we were at it. sean found THE CUTEST dress for her. i'll have to post a picture later. after shopping, we went to lunch and then took a nice long saturday nap. in the evening we went to a fabulous valentines party hosted by some of our friends. it was such a fun day, and so nice to spend the WHOLE day with my valentine.

valentine.

{wishing you all a wonderful day with your loved ones.}

xoxo

a first.

today for the first time ever, a stranger asked me when i was due! i thought it would never happen. i must be looking extra pregnant today.

of course after i said i was due in May, she replied with "oh... you look really small to be that far along...". but hey, i'll take what i can get.

what the?

check out this comment that was left on my photo blog...

the sickbed.

this is where i have spent the majority of the past 3 days. and yes, all 5 pillows are necessary for my comfort.

tomorrow is a new day. i'm confident that i'll be feeling better... and well enough to put in a full day of work!

also... a nose in need deserves puffs plus INDEED. seriously. they're amazing.

also... sean has been such a good nurse. he made me drink orange juice, picked up my tissues that were scattered all over the house, made sure i ate, ran my errands, and he's even sleeping on the couch tonight so i can get a good night of sleep. not that he's really the problem. i just toss and turn and can't breathe and feel self-conscious that i'm driving him insane all night. maybe he offered because i AM driving him insane all night! i didn't think of that...

you know what's not cool?

when you have a cold and you can't take any medicine to help you feel better.

sunday treat.

i made these yummy {and SO easy} peanut butter truffle cookies for a sunday treat this afternoon. they turned out sooooo yummy. and sean liked them too :)

rainbow.

did anyone else see that amazing rainbow and gorgeous sunset this evening? i'm so glad we took a drive when we did.

my favorite place.

pretty much every morning when i get up, i go into the nursery, turn on the lamps & sit on the couch {which will soon be gone}. i stare at the crib, the chair, the rug, the dresser. and think about May, when there will be a baby sleeping in that crib. i think about what she'll look like, what she'll wear home from the hospital, how our lives will be different. it's relaxing. and exciting. it's my favorite place in our house.

for two.

i tried this yummy recipe for breakfast this morning {used ham instead of sausage because i still have tons leftover from the cabin trip}. i loved it. i bet you can all guess how much sean liked it. at least he ate his applesauce. he had never tried applesauce with cinnamon sugar on top. i was amazed. that was a staple at my house.

thank you for the rain.

sometime last week Sean bought a book for one of his classes. when he went to do his homework, the book was nowhere to be found. he tore the house apart looking for it. he looked in the cars multiple times. he searched the office high and low. this went on for about 3 days. last night was our last attempt to find the dang book. he needed it for a test tomorrow, so if we couldn't find it we had to spend another $100.00 for a new book. we searched the house, cars & office once more. sean was extremely frustrated that we still couldn't find it anywhere. after i searched under the bed in our guest room for the 3rd time, i stayed on my knees and said a quick prayer. i told Him that we couldn't afford to spend $100.00 on a new book and asked Him to please help us find it. we still couldn't find it.

this morning on our way to work, i kept thinking "wow, i can't believe He didn't answer my prayer". i wasn't upset or anything. i just kept wondering why. as we got out of the car, i asked sean to find the umbrella that we keep in the car. it was raining and i didn't want my hair to be ruined :) he reached under the front seat and LO AND BEHOLD... he found the book. there it was. right under the seat he had looked under 3 or 4 times in the past days.

so this morning i am thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and answers my small, insignificant prayers. and i am thankful for the rain.

{image}

confessions and happy notes.

confessions:

1. i had to use a beach towel when i got out of the shower this morning. that's how long it's been since i did the laundry.

2. when i got home from work the past two days, i did absolutely nothing besides eat dinner, watch tv and go to bed. GROSS.

3. i've eaten terribly this week. and i've felt terrible as consequence.

4. i drank 2 cans of full-caffeine ddp on saturday.

5. i still haven't unpacked my bags from the cabin trip over the weekend.

ok now that you're all thoroughly disgusted with me...

happy notes:

1. even though i felt disgusting watching all of that tv, i was SUPER entertained by american idol. it's so good this year! i seriously love "norman gentle". i think he's hilarious. should he be making it this far? probably not. but i love him.

2. today i WILL unpack my bags, do the laundry and eat better!! i packed a lunch for the first time in who knows how long {a yummy salad with lots of veggies}.

3. the nursery is getting cuter all the time! i'm happy with my choice of bedding, which has been the inspiration for all other decorating choices. it's bright and fun and not too girly, although i have been incorporating some pink into the room. these lamps, this table & this rug are some of my favorite additions.

4. today is the day, ladies and gentlemen. the revealing of baby girl's name. you had to prove yourself worthy of it by reading this whole post! we weren't going to post it until she came, but we decided, what the heck! we're not going to change our minds. our little girl will be named:

Serena
From a Late Latin name which was derived from Latin serenus meaning "clear, tranquil, serene".
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian
Pronounced: sə-REEN-ə (English)

it's also a family name on my side. no middle name yet, but we do have a couple in mind.

the joys.

i nearly lost it yesterday when my hands were too swollen to put on my wedding ring. i blame it on the massive amounts of water i had to drink for that ultrasound. and the salty food i ate the day before. have i ever mentioned how freakishly sensitive my hands are to salt? if i eat movie popcorn, it's over. my hands get so swollen. anyway. never so swollen that i can't put on my wedding ring. poor sean listened to me whine and complain the whole way to the dr's appointment. i had to wear my emergency ring that i bought in hawaii for just such occasions.

good news though. by the end of the day {backwards, i know} my hands were back to normal and my ring fit again. WHEW! i'm not ready for that yet. maybe by week 35 i'll be able to accept it.

{has anyone noticed how often the phrase "poor sean" comes up in my posts lately? i must be a real joy to live with when i'm pregnant!}

baby's photo shoot.

today we had an appointment for baby's detailed anatomy ultrasound. it was SO much fun. it never ceases to amaze me when they put that little instrument on my belly and there's a baby inside. half the fun is seeing how excited sean gets. he doesn't get to feel her all the time like i do, so this was an exciting day for him! sean was really impressed that i could tell she had finally flipped around. she had been legs-down every time we had seen her on an ultrasound and i could totally tell because i always felt her kicking really low. i hadn't been feeling movement that low this past week so i was certain that she had flipped around. and the ultrasound confirmed it :)

♥

here are the photos. we got a lot {sean felt like he was walking out of one of those photo booths at an amusement park... it was a big long sheet of pictures} but i'm just posting my favorites. yet again, i apologize about the poor quality. they are photographs of the print-outs they gave us.

{this is actually 2 different shots of her feet}
{her cutie little profile}

{this one is hard to see. you have to turn your head to the right when you look at it. The "L" in "LIP" is right above her top lip. The "P" is right above her nose. and the "I" is right above her nostrils. her eyes are in shadow. cute, huh??}

♥

the ultrasound technitian said she had 4 chambers in her heart, 2 kidneys, a working stomach & bladder, good head & femur measurements, and that everything looked normal & healthy. the only un-fun part about the experience was drinking a TON of water beforehand and having to hold it until after the ultrasound. not fun for a pregnant woman. but so worth it for the cute pictures they gave us!

frosty morning.

{in heber}

stamp happy.

somebody from bermuda got a little crazy with the stamps. these were all on one piece of express mail that i received at work today, which contained two pieces of paper. and these were the old school stamps with a perforated edge that you have to lick. maybe bermuda doesn't have the sticker kind yet. anyway... just in case you were wondering what keeps my day interesting at work :)

doug tales.

my dad has decided to start a family newsletter... so for those of you who care to read about my family... here is the first installment!

{click on each page to view larger}

no good, very bad hair day.

i apologize in advance to anyone who has to see me today. my hair dryer died this morning. for those who have never seen me without my signature "utah pouf"... let me just tell you, it's not pretty. it's a slicked back pony tail for me today, friends. enjoy.

weekend.

we had a lovely weekend at the cabin with some great friends. thanks to all who came, helped, played, cooked, cleaned and made the weekend so much fun! i think my favorite part was the group game of pictionary... and how the girls played FAIR and won both rounds :) {somehow i mananged to get zero pictures of anything besides scenery while we were up there... oh well.}