Pregnancy Brain

I am currently suffering symptoms of Pregnancy Brain, so beware of the stuff that comes out of my mouth! For example, the word "psycho" doesn't mean the same thing as "psychic." Logically, I know this for a fact, but my tongue doesn't seem to understand the difference, so when I say "I must be psycho," I really mean "I must be psychic," even though the first statement may be closer to the truth. I also understand the difference between the words "mediator" and "meteor." When I told Brad that "you can see mediators in the sky in August," I really meant meteors, not mediators. And I am perfectly aware that we are celebrating "President's Day" on February 16th, and not "Pregnancy Day," even though my silly tongue seems to prefer the latter. Whatever! My tongue seems to have a mind of its own.

30 Pound Mark

I'm not even trying to lose weight right now, due to being 18 weeks pregnant, but since my appetite changed so dramatically during the first trimester, and even in the second trimester, my body is continuing to lose weight from before I got pregnant. It's seems pretty odd, because I can tell my tummy is growing, but every time I go on the scale I weigh less. It worries me sometimes, but at the same time I am happy as well, since I was so afraid I would gain a zillion pounds when I got pregnant. I spoke to my doctor about it and he said not to worry because the baby is growing fine. So I'm focusing on the positive side. It will be a heck of a lot easier losing weight after the baby comes!

Weight Loss Statistics:
Lost before Pregnancy- 18 pounds (lost 20, gained 2 back)
Lost during Pregnancy- 12 pounds
Total Weight Lost- 30 pounds
My Original Goal- 85 pounds
Pounds to Go-55 pounds

I suspect to gain weight as my pregnant belly continues to expand, but I'm hopeful that whatever I gain will be easier to come off, since I'm already at a good start. We'll see. It's not my number one priority right now, since I need to eat enough to keep my body and Chili Pepper happy.

Remembering the Holidays

I have been very behind on my blogging these last few weeks, so I thought today would be a good day to at least attempt writing a post. The holidays have come and gone, but the memories are still fresh in my mind and are worth sharing for posterity sake.

Here are a few of my holiday memories from Christmas 2008 and New Years Day:

The four of us woke up to a winter wonderland outside our windows on Christmas morning. The record breaking snowfall kept coming down all during the day and continued into the night. It was gorgeous peeking out the windows ever so often to see the white flakes descending from the sky. It was so beautiful and relaxing.

My hair was a mess on Christmas morning. I wanted to take a shower really quick before we opened presents, and so I did, but that was all I had time to do. Family members had different ideas about waiting for me to brush and blow-dry my hair, to make myself look pretty, so I gave in to the pressure and went to open presents looking like a mess. Oh well! SMILE!

Little Emma-Roo never ceases to surprise me. She asked Santa for the most unusual assortment of Christmas gifts this year. She asked for a nutcracker, rubber duckies, a scarf, and a gumball machine with real gumballs. Santa must have thought she was an extra good girl this year, because she got everything on her Christmas list. She was thrilled! "Santa knew just want I wanted," she exclaimed happily when she opened up the big white box from Santa.

I love how the simplest things make Emma spill over with joy. She's so cute!

Emma also received a Del Sol plush cat (the paws change color in the sun), and her very own picture collage with photographs of some of her favorite people from her daddy and me. She was thrilled! She also got play dough and a book from her grandma, a blue scarf and doll from her Great Aunt Laurie, and striped leg warmers from her Great Grandma Strabel.

Scott did not really have a Christmas list this year. He told us he wanted gifts from three categories: Legos, video games, and action figures. Well, Santa had other ideas for Scott this year. Santa must have known that Scott had also been hankering for his very own CD player for a while, so he could listen to John Williams music all day without having to use his dad's speakers. So, Scott got his very own boom box and first John Williams CD. He was thrilled!

Scott did, however, get other gifts from his daddy and me that were closer to what he asked for. He inherited a large classic Star Wars Lego set that used to belong to his daddy a long time ago, along with several Star Wars action figures that his daddy collected in years past. He also received a few new Indiana Jones action figures to add to his collection.

Brad was a brilliant gift-giver this year! He got me a really cute board game that I never heard of before called "Herd your Horses."

Oops! I mean Santa got me the board game. Brad got me a really nice set of DVDs that he knew I would LOVE: "Prince Caspian," the BBC version of "Sense and Sensibility," "Spirit," and one of our favorite musicals, "Meet Me in St. Louis." Lovely! He also bought me a Mormon trivial card came, which we played later in the afternoon.

The "Herd Your Horses" game turned out to be a great hit, by-the-way, especially amongst the kids. It's easy to play and very entertaining, especially if you like horses, like me. I love horses.

Brad got a brand new sixty piece socket set from Santa this year, as well as the treasured Jimmy Stewart movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."

I got Brad "The Dark Knight," two new books by M. Scott Peck, and long underwear with new socks. Isn't he lucky? At first I didn't know what he would think about the long underwear, because I hated it when my mother gave me stuff like that for Christmas. But Brad loved it.

Christmas day itself was a wonderful day. We all got new pajamas on Christmas Eve and wore them Christmas morning. Brad made us a wonderful Christmas breakfast, which included sausage, pancakes, eggs, potatoes, and orange juice. YUMMY!

The best part of Christmas was getting together with family and loved ones. All of Brad's siblings came over with all of their kids, so we had a huge household of people-- about 23 people in all, most of them children. Aunt Marian came with Uncle Gordon in the afternoon as well.

Scott and Emma had to leave a little after lunchtime to drive 45+ minutes in the snow to Eagle Mountain to visit their biological mother for the second half of Christmas. Brad asked his brother John to drive them in his big jeep so we wouldn't have to drive our little car in the snow. That worked out perfectly. I lucked out and got to stay at home-- nice and warm with all of the family. It was lovely! But still, it is hard having to part with Scott and Emma on Christmas day every year.

The day after Christmas looked like this:

It had snowed so much! I loved how pretty it was. Brad got right to work and unburied our car and shoveled the sidewalks. After he came back inside the house, we noticed that our electricity went out. We did not think too much of it, because the electricity kept going off and on Christmas day, but it never stayed off for more than five minutes. We soon discovered that on this particular day things were different. The power did not come back on.

We did not have electricity for more than SIX HOURS! Having no power meant that we also had no heat, so Brad made a big fire in our fireplace to keep us warm. Brad and I stayed huddled together in the dining room for most of the afternoon, playing "Herd Your Horses" by the fire and lighting candles so we could have better lighting. It turned out to be quite a lovely afternoon despite the circumstances, and Brad and I enjoyed spending alone time together.

NEW YEARS DAY:

Every year on New Years Day our family goes bowling. It's an old family tradition on Brad's side of the family. After bowling we then go over to Aunt Marian's and Uncle Gordon's house for food and games. Here are some pictures of us at the bowling alley:

Hooray! That was my first time breaking 100! I did surprisingly well. Emma in particular did a spectacular job, beating Scott for the entire game. Brad and I are surprised by her skill, especially since she seems to have a natural knack for curving the ball as it goes down the lane, often times diving smack into the middle of the pins. She's quite impressive, even though both she and Scott still use bumpers. I personally think they do not need bumpers any more, especially Emma. Most of the time her ball did not even lean toward the gutters.

Overall, our entire family had a wonderful New Years and Christmas Day. Life has been going well for our family.

The Highlight of my Day: December 2008

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in December:

December 1, 2008: Tonight we talked about Christmas traditions with Scott and Emma. The kids have lots of good ideas of what we can do each year!

December 2, 2008: I didn't barf at all today! Hooray!!! And I was able to eat all my dinner, plus seconds, without feeling sick afterwards.

December 3, 2008: Bradley and I had a break from the kids again today. It was nice spending alone time together.

December 4, 2008: We got our piano tuned today! It sounds wonderful now!

December 5, 2008: My sister Susie and my mother flew in from CA to visit me this weekend! I am so thrilled to have them here.

December 6, 2008: Emma was baptized today! We had an absolutely wonderful day. We had a party after the baptism, and we went to Wheeler Farm and Temple Square. It was fun!

December 7, 2008: I was well enough to go to church today! HOORAY!!! And my mommy and Susie came with me. I loved being with them.

December 8, 2008: We had a small snow storm today! It's a winter wonderland outside. SO PRETTY!

December 9, 2008: Brad and I went Christmas shopping for the kids.

December 10, 2008: I went to lunch today with Amanda and Margaret at Applebees. I had a huge salad and I was able to eat it all without getting sick! :)

December 11, 2008: I went to my second prenatal appointment today. I saw my baby kick his or her legs on the ultrasound. So cute and amazing!

December 12, 2008: We had a house full of children tonight. It was nice having everyone over, especially for Scott and Emma. They love their cousins.

December 13, 2008: The snowfall was so pretty today! The snow came down hard and covered our lawn in a thick white blanket.

December 14, 2008: Emma made me laugh hysterically today when she attempted to eat icicles off the bottom of the car. ICKY!

December 15, 2008: Tonight for FHE I read "The Hot Cocoa" story to Scott and Emma, which Emma seemed to enjoy the most. We drank hot chocolate afterwards.

December 16, 2008: This morning Brad and I woke up early to make raspberry muffins together. They were so yummy!

December 17, 2008: I went to lunch with Margaret, Amanda, Charlotte and Aksel, Bruce and Loralee. We went to Applebees and I ordered yummy orange chicken.

December 18, 2008: Margaret and I went to Scott and Emma's school to watch them sing in the Christmas program. They were so cute!

December 19, 2008: I had a nice, relaxing Friday evening alone with my sweetheart.

December 20, 2008: Brad bought me a full sized spiral Hymn book at the Distribution Center today, so I can play Christmas songs on the piano during the holiday season.

December 21, 2008: I enjoyed the Christmas program at church today. In YWs, we ate popcorn balls and read Christmas stories. It was nice.

December 22, 2008: Brad didn't have work today! I took advantage of having the car and went shopping by myself. I drove for the first time in a snow storm! It really wasn't too bad.

December 23, 2008: We watched "Horton Hears a Who" today, after we finished doing chores. It was nice being all together as a family.

December 24, 2008: We did a lot of traditional things today, including having a large Christmas Eve dinner with family and reading Christmas stories. Right before bed, our family opened up 1 present each, all of which were new pajamas.

December 25, 2008: We had a wonderful Christmas! I loved being with family today, and getting lots of fun Christmas presents. Brad got me a whole bunch of DVDs that I really wanted! It was so cool!

December 26, 2008: The power went out today, so Brad and I spent most of the afternoon playing my new board game "Herd Your Horses" in the dining room next to the fireplace. In the evening we went to the Bruce and Loralee's house to watch "Prince Caspian" with them.

December 27, 2008: My all time highlight of the day was seeing the looks on Scott's and Emma's faces when they saw me at Smith's Grocery Store. Priceless! Other than that, Brad and I went to Walmart today and bought me full size body pillows for me to sleep with at night. They are so comfy!

December 28, 2008: I liked getting emails from my aunts and sister today. I liked hearing how their Christmases were, and hear what's going on in their lives. It's great keeping in touch with them.

December 29, 2008: Today was a rather depressing day, but I'm trying to focus on good things and not the bad, so the highlight of my day was cuddling with my sick hubby and trying to help him feel better. I liked feeling needed.

December 30, 2008: Once again, it was sweet cuddling with my hubby while he wiped away my tears. Even though I was feeling sad, it helped me knowing that he loved me and cared for me.

December 31, 2008: We have a houseful of children tonight! Actually, we only have four, but it's more than we've had all week since Scott and Emma were gone for 6 days. They stayed up late to welcome the New Year while Brad and I tried to go to sleep.