Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Fun at Lake Chelan!

Mitch and I spent the last week in Chelan, Washington. Our brother-in-law's parents have a lakehouse up there and their family graciously invited to host ours. It was SOOOOO much fun! I can't imagine a more relaxing way to end our seven week break before the semester starts! Especially because this semester will probably be the hardest semester so far for both of us. We're both taking online classes and then, just as midterms end, our baby comes! So, needless to say, this was a much-needed relaxation! :o)

We spent the week relaxing all day on the beach/park by the waterfront. At first, I wasn't too excited because I figured there wasn't much i'd be able to do. However, it was SOOO fun watching everyone else jetskiing, tubing, etc. and riding on the boat that I hardly noticed!

Mitch had never ridden or driven a jetski before and was so excited to try it! They'd had tons of fun with four wheelers before, but not jetskis! It was so fun watching him having fun on them all week. He, his brother Ethan, and their dad had so much fun spinning and riding crazy fast all week. In fact, by the end of the week, their dad voted them more fun than four wheelers!

(This is a picture of Mitch and his dad on their first jetski ride! They were so good at driving them right off the bat!)


Danny (our brother-in-law) and his family are experts at everything boating on Lake Chelan. Their lakehouse was a walk away and they took us all over the place. What perfect hosts! It was fun to see them in all their expertise, teaching us and showing us how to do one of their favorite family activities. One day we boated up this long, narrow lake to the very end. We had tons of fun jumping off of one of the short cliffs and into the (freezing cold) water! Danny showed us how it was done...
Then Mitch and Ethan jumped off a 50 foot cliff, twice! It was awesome watching my brave boy jump right off!The cutest part of the week was a little family of baby ducks. There was a mama and her five babies. They loved being fed anything we had and would climb all over our legs, towels, etc. We even held a few of them!
Mitch managed to have a lot of fun last week, despite his ankle that he sprained pretty badly while we were staying with his family at a bed and breakfast on the way to Chelan. It was swollen all week and is just starting to get better. Poor guy!
We had SO much fun, and Danny's family was a blast to hang out with all week! Thank you, Bean family! :o)

Constantly learning to adapt...

...that's what the past few months have been all about. A good friend just posted an entry about her thoughts on pregnancy and how it's made her feel, and I realized that, 1) she had practically read my mind, and 2) I haven't done that anywhere yet! And, since we're 10 1/2 weeks from our due date (!!!) and I also happen to be terrible about journaling, I thought i'd at least write something here.

I remember feeling insecure about my body before I got pregnant. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. Hello!? I hadn't grown much at all since about 8th grade, I could still wear jeans from my freshman year of high school, and I could shop in the kids' department and get away with it.

This picture was taken about 8-9 months ago, before I had any idea how much my body could change in such a short amount of time! (By the way, the massive "movie gun" as I call it, that i'm holding is apparently--as explained by my husband--and AR-15. He wants one really bad! He loves exploring his dad's massive arsenal and hopes to have one just as impressive one day!)



I guess it's always easy to find something to be insecure about. When I started "showing" I was thrilled: finally, all the puking, nausea, heartburn, and weeping was going to be worth it, because I actually had evidence that all that work was being put to use creating something amazing. However, all I got were looks of, "wow, you need sit-ups!" I called this belly my "lunch belly" because it looked like I had just eaten way too much and was still trying to squeeze into clothes. (The second part of that statement is true...oh the things I grew out of, so much faster than expected!).

Towards the end of last semester (end of June/beginning of July-ish) it was pretty obvious that I was pregnant. And I totally milked it: I wore the empire-waist shirts, etc., mostly for my own comfort. I didn't want anyone to think I was just out of shape, but that I was, in fact, pregnant. (Again, I had the body of an eleven year-old before I got pregnant! In fact, on our honeymoon, someone thought I was eleven!!)

This seven week break between semesters has been wonderful. I fully enjoyed my second trimester. The nausea subsided as soon as the second trimester started (almost to the day!), I finally had a belly I could show off, and it made me feel like all the work i'd done so far was going to be worth it, and that I didn't just have some tapeworm or disease or something. I've also changed a lot physically. I have to smile when people can't refrain from saying things like, "you're huge!!" (because again, they've known the eleven year-old version of Alaina and nothing else!). I don't take offense to it, because I remember doing the same thing to people.

I don't mind people touching my belly. I think it's funny, especially because our little man is quite territorial. He doesn't like anyone in HIS space--he even gets mad at the bathroom counter when i'm trying to put on mascara. We laugh and say he's going to be "that kid" that's terrible at sharing...

We loved getting to see him in the sonogram, in all his details and boyishness. It was hilarious seeing one of the views on the screen, where he's spread eagle and pointing to his boy parts...yep, he's a boy alright. Don't worry, Nathan, we took note!

I can't believe how insecure i've felt about my body, especially after spending a great week at Lake Chelan with Mitch's family. The only downside was seeing all the skinny, cute girls in our family in their swimsuits! I felt huge all week.

And the worst part is that, through the past seven months, I don't feel huge when I look down at my belly from an aerial view; it's in the mirror or in side-shot pictures like this that I feel gigantic. This picture was taken last night at 29 1/2 wks.


The ONLY thing that keeps me going through this--well, the only two things--are 1) little Nathan kickin up a storm and squirming around all the time and showing us his little personality, and 2) my wonderful husband, always telling me how much he loves my belly and complimenting me every day. I never believe him, but it still helps! :o) I don't know what i'd do without Mitch! He's just the best, and he never stops telling me how much he loves me. I am so glad I don't have to do this alone! I always have him to support me and always impressing me with how thoughtful he is.

I loved vacationing with him over the seven-week break. We have two last trips scheduled before we add little Nathan to our family, and we couldn't be more appreciative of the time we have left just to be together. We're sleeping in as much as we can before school starts and enjoying having a spontaneous schedule before we worry about diaper changes and feeding/sleeping routines.

I guess the lesson i've learned is that doing this for our family is what makes it worth it. If it were just me wanting a baby for myself, I don't know that it would be worth it for me right now. I know there's a bigger plan out there for us than what Mitch and I can see, and this little man will make our lives that much more wonderful.
By the way, we had our first anniversary on the 13th. It has been one wonderful year and we still act (and feel) like newlyweds everywhere we go...sorry, people of Rexburg! :o)

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Home Sweet Kansas!

We just got back yesterday evening from an amazing trip to Kansas City to spend 9 days with my family! It flew by so quickly and I can't believe I hadn't been home for a year!!

My parents are moving (slowly, but surely), and my dad is in between jobs right now, so the stress at home was high. They've been handling everything really well, though, and hopefully will be able to move everything fully (it's only six blocks away) by the goal date of 25th-ish (can't remember the exact date!). They're so ready to be DONE and in the new house, but after not moving for 16 years, there's a lot of work to be done in the old house, and a lot of storage, etc. to go through.

Mitch and my dad worked and worked (and WORKED!) hard all week! He and my dad built a room from the ground up, which got painted the day we left (so yesterday). They have plywood subfloor in at the moment and will put the hardwood in after they paint, then the trim can go up and it'll be done! This room was built in the back of the new garage and connects onto the dining room and will be a beautiful home for their grand piano. They're painting it sage green, which I think will look amazing against the brown piano wood! Mitch worked hard and learned a lot, too, and amazed me all week by the energy, self-motivation, and knowledge he has. I had no idea he was handy at all until after we were engaged! Growing up with a dad who is very handy made that an awesome perk--it wouldn't have been a dealbreaker by any means, but a perk definitely!

My mom and sisters and I spent the week sorting through things that had been in storage forever, doing other "to-do's" around the house, and getting Natalie and Melissa's room packed up, gone through, and ready to move. Their furniture is being moved over today, I believe. My mom and I also bought all the fabric for our little man's room! They're giving us a really nice crib that happens to be a few inches longer than a standard crib, so I figured why not just make the bedding myself!? Plus, I don't want anything too babyish that will need to be redone by the time he's 2-3 years old. So, now I can get started! The fabric is beautiful and my mom was wonderful to drive the two of us everywhere and scout out the best deals, along with who had enough yardage for us, etc.

I had a wonderful baby shower while I was there. It was so fun to see everyone that I haven't seen in so long!! Thank you to everyone who came and made it wonderful! Mitch is jealous of our little man because he has more clothes than Mitch now... :o)

When we got home we had a quick dinner out (since we left ourselves with NO food waiting at home!), went grocery shopping and ran other errands. As much as Rexburg still doesn't feel much like home, it was good to be back in our apartment, which DOES feel like home to us!

Grocery shopping was a bit awkward because we'll only be in town until Saturday morning, then it's off on a trip with Mitch's family to Lake Chelan in Oregon! Woo hoo!

So, until then, it's all about unpacking, washing, repacking, celebrating our first anniversary on FRIDAY, and driving to meet Mitch's parents! It's going to be a busy week!

(PS--my family wasn't much for pictures this weekend, considering we were working all week and not exactly looking our best! Sorry for lack of pictures!)