The BIG reveal!

We pretty much had the greatest Christmas ever!  I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve but come Christmas morning, I was SO ready to open presents and finally reveal our big secret!!!  I hid all the pregnancy announcement presents ahead of time and our plan was to open all the presents and then casually be like, "Oh, here's some more...hmm, from Santa?"  My sister and Mark were both going to record their reaction (just in case).  Mark was a little antsy and kept wanting to do it but I made him wait like 5 minutes after all the presents were opened.  Here's what happened... (sorry the video flips sideways but I have no idea how to fix it!)

BEST. REACTION. EVER.  Seriously, she had me in tears!  I've never seen her that happy in all my life...if I had known she'd react like that, I'd have gotten pregnant years ago!  Haha, jk.  But she seriously is so happy these days!!  All she talks about is the baby.  She doesn't like me to do ANYthing that she think might be bad for the baby...she bends over backwards to get me everything.  One time I yelled and she said, "Shhh...you'll scare the baby!" Hahaha

We made a music video to tell Mark's family since we couldn't be there in person when they were all together.  We also sent it to Sean and Kara.  Everyone loved it!  We had so much fun making it and it's going to be so cool to show our child some day and be like, "Look how excited we were for you to come!"

I'll do another post with all the cute things we got for baby!  It's so awesome that everyone finally knows!  Baby Rawlings you are no longer our favorite little secret but now you're everyone's favorite thing to talk about!  You are already so loved and we all can't wait to meet you!!!

Christmas 2015

This year we had our Christmas pictures taken by a super sweet up and coming photographer in our ward, Joanna Taggart.  She has the cutest little girls and she is such a lovely person and so talented!!!  We were extra excited for pictures this year because...there would be THREE of us!!!

It's crazy to think I'm already in my SECOND trimester and no one in my family even knows!!!  This is the hardest secret I've ever had to keep.  I literally like hyperventilate inside sometimes from bursting to want to tell someone!!  Poor Mark has to listen to me talk about the baby every second because he's the only one I can talk to!  I don't think he minds too much though...sweet baby we are SO excited to meet you in 6 months!

14 Week Bumpdate

WEEK 14

Baby is the size of a lemon!

How far along?  I'm in my second trimester, 14 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss?  Well, I think I gained two pounds yesterday because I weighed 121 yesterday and 123 today.  What the... so that makes 13 total.  Yikes, I'm still doing the pound a week thing.  That will put me at 40 pounds total weight gain if I keep this up until my due date...unless I start exercising like crazy, which I might because I've never weighed this much in my life and it's kind of freaking me out.

Maternity clothes?  Lots of leggings...I can't remember the last time I wore anything with a button.  All my jeans give me a muffin top now if I struggle to actually button them and I would never be able to sit down!

Stretch marks?  Nada

Best moment this week?  We went to our favorite Cafe 50's tonight to use my free meal birthday coupon and I felt so giddy and happy!  Not to mention the food was SO good!!!  I got the Frisco Club with sweet potato fries and Mark got an omelette with sausage, peppers, mozzarella, onion and tomato and breakfast potatoes.  Oh and a bagel!  And then we shared a chocolate chip cookie shake :)  He kept letting me sip the shake at a perfect distance on the table while he had to stand up basically to get any, haha, what a sweetheart.

Miss anything?   ENERGY!  I am dying for the second trimester burst of energy to kick in.  I never feel like doing anything and it takes everything I have in me just to get out of bed so I can eat something before I get too nauseous from my empty stomach!  And exercising?  Housework?  Forget about it!  I just rest and nap all day and I'm still exhausted and fall asleep so easily.  How are people pregnant once they have other kids???

Movement?  No but my tummy makes lots of noises these days!  I always tell Mark, "Peanut is making noises!"

Food cravings?  Sandwiches!  And lemonade, pretty much anything with lemon.  I've started drinking hot lemon water every night and most mornings to help with my acid reflux and indigestion and it's really been helping!  It also helps me to drink water since I've developed a horrible gag reflex to plain water!  I have to have half lemonade, half water any time I'm thirsty!

Anything making you queasy or sick?   See above.

Have you started to show yet?  Yes, I truly have!  My bump is small but it's there and my boobs are HUGE.  HA.

Gender?  We are torn between wanting it to be a surprise now, haha but still surprise!

Labor signs?  Haha no

Belly Button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Mostly just impatient.  I mean, come on, it's been 14 weeks and NOBODY KNOWS!!!  Hardest secret of my life.  I'm actually so worried somehow it's going to get out before I can tell my mom in person.  Ahhh, no it will not happen.  I will deny it to the moon haha.

Looking forward to?  OMG CHRISTMAS!!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This month has been super busy already!  And so much more excitement to come!!!

Last week I celebrated my 27th birthday!  All day long I got texts and phone calls from family and friends who remembered my birthday...the little boy I sit for even called me and sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  I felt so loved :)

A few days before my little sister took me out to lunch!  We went to our favorite place, Aroma Cafe!

Is it just me or do we look like twins here?!

YUM.

I can't wait until sissy is just a few states away in Arizona and we can see her for all the holidays and she can escape to Cali in the summer and we can live it up on the beach!

For my birthday, Mark got me the most beautiful bracelet!  He always amazes me with his gift giving abilities.  How did I get so lucky??

He also got me an outfit that he picked up on his lunch break from work because he felt like he hadn't gotten me enough!  What a sweetheart!  It's super cute too...pictures to come later!

Oh and he also gave me something he made at BYU when he was studying Art a long time ago.  It's  a little book with drawings of his eye at different times of the day and CD's to go along with the different moods of his day.  The morning CD is so good!  He is so creative!

Then he took me out to a romantic candlelit Italian dinner with live music and the waiters all went around and sang!  We had a great time...

We got meatballs, pepperoni, tomatoes and bell pepper!  DELISH!

Look at that CHEESINESS!

We ended the night by cuddling up with hot cocoa and watching our favorite show lately, "Once Upon A Time"!  I wonder what life will be like for my next birthday!  So much can happen in a year...but this one has been pretty great!

13 Week Bumpdate

WEEK 13

Baby is the size of a peach!

How I was really feeling that day!  Oh pregnancy mood swings...

How far along?  13 weeks, it's flying!

Total weight gain/loss?  Still just 10 pounds, thank goodness!

Maternity clothes?  I'm actually going shopping for nursing bra's today!  None of my bra's fit me and so I never want to wear them but going without a bra is just as painful!  These things are HEAVY and when I bend over they touch the top of my stomach and it's so uncomfortable.  I need some support without being so tight I want to throw up, so it's new bra shopping for me!  On my BIRTHDAY by the way :)

Stretch marks?  Nope, but I've been totally slacking with my belly butter.  I'm going to start putting it on two times a day from now on!

Best moment this week?  Probably will be tonight because it's my birthday and I can't wait to celebrate with my love!  But so far?  Telling my sister I'm pregnant!!!  She cried and was SO excited!!!  I had never seen her so excited.  It felt SO good to tell someone!  I actually wasn't planning on telling her until like 20 minutes before she got here and I started to contemplate the idea.  The reason I wasn't telling anyone is because I wanted to tell them in person and since I'm going home the day before Christmas, I might as well wait 24 hours and make it the best Christmas ever!!!  Well, sissy came out here as she always does to go on a concert tour and she spent a day with me and I just knew I couldn't go the whole day with her without telling her!  I'm so glad I did too.  She won't tell anyone and now it's fun that she knows first!

Miss anything?   Sleeping comfortably...and I know it's just the beginning!  I feel nauseous on my  back and my boobs hang over to the side when I sleep on either side.  But of course my stomach is even worse.  I basically just roll around constantly the whole night!

Movement?  Not yet...hopefully the first movement will be at home with my family!

Food cravings?  OMG I was craving macaroni and cheese (the GOOD kind, homemade and baked in the oven with bread crumbs on top!) last night and so this happened...

HEAVEN

Anything making you queasy or sick?   Going too long without eating or eating too much...see picture above.  HA.

Have you started to show yet?  If you don't know me then probably no.  If you do know me and you look closely (especially when I'm sitting down) then YES.  Which is why I now have to wear baggy shirts or hoodies anytime I'm around family!

Gender?  It's going to be a su-su-surprise!!!

Labor signs?  No...I've started to fear going into labor already!  Sometimes I think, "Oh man, what am I in for?  What did I get myself into?" and wonder if I should schedule a c-section so I can sleep through it!"  I never would...it's a much harder recovery process and it's just not the natural way but I just think the fear of labor is so terrifying that a more painful recovery afterward, instead of a scary, sudden and super long painful labor might be less scary and painful overall?

Belly Button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On and I can actually take if off to do chores!  I pray I do not become one of those swollen balloon looking pregnant girls!

Happy or Moody most of the time?  This week, Happy!  Except for the one day we took these pictures.  See picture above.

Looking forward to?  Opening my birthday presents tonight and GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!

Two more bumpdates until my whole family will know!!!

12 Week Bumpdate

WEEK 12

Baby is the size of a plum!

So this week I decided to skip the usual bump pictures since we took these amazing pictures instead!!  I totally have a baby bump and am showing!!!  Ahhhh so exciting...

How far along?  12 weeks...one week to go until the 2nd trimester! Craziness!

Total weight gain/loss?  10 pounds...it's been staying the same for the past week or so but I'm not that confident I won't gain any more until Week 19, which would put me back on track since I was only supposed to gain 4 pounds this first trimester (and then a pound a week for the rest of my pregnancy).  It's all in my boobs I swear!  Ha and my little bump (above).

Maternity clothes?  Other than basically living in leggings and my one maxi dress, I have not bought any real maternity clothes yet.  I'm waiting until we announce because Al will give me hers and I want to wait and see what I should buy.

Stretch marks?  Okay, I thought I saw some purple stretch marks below my right breast and panicked.  But they are actually just visible veins...a new pregnancy symptom for this week!  They say especially fair skinned women start to get visible veins in their breasts and abdomen because your body is pumping so much more blood.  They will go away after delivery, thank goodness!

Best moment this week?  Last night (and pretty much all day yesterday) Mark and I were so lovey dovey!  We were acting like newlyweds with how touchy feely we were.  He suggested we watch a movie when we came home from Birk and Al's but I told him, "No, because I want to do something where I get to stare at your cute face!" so we played Head's Up for hours instead.  We were laughing so hard and I was laying in his lap and just staring up at him the whole time and felt so in love.  Pure bliss.  I even started to cry thinking we don't have much longer just the two of us.  He says we will love each other even more when the baby comes because the baby is a piece of both of us.  I hope he's right because I never want to lose what I have with him.

Miss anything?   Wearing jeans!

Movement?  Sometimes I swear I can feel something, usually when I wake up in the mornings and my stomach is empty but it's probably just my stomach growling!  I am so excited for movement!!!

Food cravings?  Not really!  Morning sickness is just about over!

Anything making you queasy or sick?   I feel nauseous every once in a while (when I've gone more than three hours without eating) but I'm pretty much good these days!  The mornings are pretty good, even though I always wake up starving and a little nauseous because I haven't eaten all night but as soon as I eat I'm good!

Have you started to show yet?  I can honestly say yes!  I am pretty good at hiding it (I have to have something in front of my belly when I sit because it literally just hangs over my leggings!  I don't know how I'll be at 15 weeks though!  I will be nearly 16 weeks when we tell my family!  Hahaha I'm going to have to wear a hoodie all day Christmas Eve!

Gender?  Surprise!

Labor signs?  no way

Belly Button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  Still on

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Oh man, this week I've been SUPER moody and emotional!  I cry at least once a day over something or other.  Sometimes it's happy tears but usually I just get really sad about something!  I always thought this might happen to me when pregnant because I'm already super emotional in general.  Mark has been comforting and hugging and kissing my tears away and holding my head in his arms all the time lately (perks of crying...)

Looking forward to?  CHRISTMAS!!!

Nuchal Translucency Screening

My mom's Christmas present!  She is going to FLIP!

Today was a really good day.  I got 6 more pictures of my sweet, beautiful baby!!!  We are so in love with this precious babe.

I had my Nuchal Translucency Screening with USC Perinatal Group in Mission Hills.  I had to fill out like a dictionary of paper work (you'd think I was adopting a child or something!) that I never actually finished before the ultrasound technician called me in.  She took me into a room with a huge TV on the wall and we got straight down to business!

She had me lay down and I asked if I would be getting a picture today.  She said yes and I was thrilled!  Then she put some warm goop on my belly and moved the ultrasound wand all over to find the baby (much lower than my first ultrasound).  For a brief second I panicked that there would be no baby in there.  But then we saw it!!!  So adorable and just perfect.  I got to stare at the TV while the technician moved the wand all over, drawing lines on the computer, measuring angles, and printing pictures left and right!

The whole thing only lasted about 5-10 minutes but it was the highlight of my pregnancy.  I got to hear baby's heart!  166 beats per minute :)  I wish Mark could have been there.  I left with 6 pictures of our precious baby.  I was so worried something would happen to them, I didn't want to put them in my bag for fear of them getting wrinkled (I didn't have an envelope or anything) but I also didn't want to carry them for fear they would fly away!  Haha, I ended up sticking them halfway into an old letter envelope I had so they would stay straight and tucked them safely into my bag.  Then when I got to the car I just stared at them all for a good 30 minutes and called Mark to tell him how cute and perfect our little babe is :)

OH and perfectly healthy!  Did I forget to mention that?!  Haha, yes after the ultrasound the doctor came in to share my results with me (today's ultrasound combined with my first trimester screen blood work) and baby is very low risk for everything and looking good and healthy!!!  We are so happy and in love with this little one...