settling in

As of today we've been in California for about a week and a half and so far, so good! Number of times commenting on 'Oh my gosh can you believe this weather are we sure it's January?': at least a hundred. Number of times I've attempted driving on the freeway: a big fat zero. No thank you...not ready for that yet. Baby steps.

Aaaand speaking of babies, I'm now at 29 and a half weeks pregnant! Really I've had it so easy so far with the exception of the worst heartburn known to man and some rib and back pain that has made it pretty uncomfortable to sit through car rides, movies, church, you name it. Other than that it's really been smooth sailing and I'm so grateful for that. Switching doctors was a bit of a hassle though, and I was actually really sad to leave the ones I had in Idaho. We had an incident last week when we went in to have our first appointment with our new doctor, and long story short, our new insurance policy won't kick in until the first of February and that means that the few check-up appointments we have this month won't happen until then unless we want to shovel out a few thousand per appointment. Which, yeah right. Despite Andy's greatest efforts over the phone, our insurance agency informed us that nothing could be done. I felt so helpless. My eyes got all foggy and next thing I knew, heavy, hot tears were falling town my face faster than I could wipe them, rudely ignoring all of my throat-clearings and upwards-looking to try and keep them in. And I was hyper-aware of the line of people waiting behind me, which made it even worse. I'm sure they were thinking "oh you poor, overly-emotional, first-time-mom," and, (raises hand) yeah, that's me...but I just felt so nervous and inadequate and clueless and I couldn't help it. Because this is my first go at this, and while I knew I felt fine and everything seemed fine, I still wanted that reassurance from the doctor that it all really was fine. It's not like we were talking twisted ankles or broken fingers here, but a baby. My baby, who I already love so much. And I just needed to know that he was okay. Luckily, a call to my doctor back in Idaho reassured me that I would be just fine to wait until February as long as I was feeling okay and nothing out of the ordinary was happening, and I was able to calm down. The emotions...sheesh.

Also, we have our name choices narrowed down to three. Two, sometimes. Some people have names picked out by the time they find out the gender and some before they even get pregnant. And I really admire those people and their confidence in baby-name-picking, but I am not one of those people. Ahh! We'll get there. Again, babyyyy steps. As for now, I'm really enjoying finishing up my online baby registry and re-watching some of my fave shows on Netflix. Living the life!

big changes!

This new year is going to bring a lot of changes. A few very big changes. One being the new baby and the other being a move. Andy was given a great opportunity to take a job that requires us to move to Orange County, California. When he first brought it up I was all "no...nope...definitely not." Just because I really don't know much about the area except..traffic. But as time went on I realized the huge blessing this opportunity really was for us and our growing family. Initially, we planned on moving in April, but around Thanksgiving we decided that it would be best to go ahead and move in January before the baby comes. So it's been a quick transition. Something I've never been very good at is changing plans last second. I like to know what's ahead of me and have time to mentally prepare myself for what I'm about to face, and I didn't really get much prep time in this case. But I think that it's been good for me. I really need to learn to go with the flow a little bit better, and what better way to do that than to up and move your whole life to a place that you know little to nothing about with one month's notice?? I'm kinda sad to leave little old Rexburg if I'm being honest. I've truly grown to love this tiny town, and I'm grateful to have spent the last several years of my life here. It's such a unique and special place to me. I was able to attend an amazing University and meet some of the greatest people I know. I'm sad to not live just a short drive down the road from my friends and siblings. I'm also sad to leave a job that I love so much. One thing I'm not even a little bit sad to leave behind is the below zero temperatures (currently -9). So good riddance to that.
I'm excited to start new somewhere. It's always kind of a cliche but I really love the concept of new beginnings, and I'm excited to go explore this new place and make it a home for a little while. Here's to a new year and new adventures!

22 weeks

A few weird/not awesome things about being pregnant:

-People touching my stomach. There, I said it. I just do not like it even a little bit. How would you feel if I rubbed your stomach??

-Waking up at least 4 times every night. What is "a good night's sleep"? I don't know anymore.

-Eating Tums like they're candy because acid reflux from hell. 

-Separating abs. (???)

-Emotions. all. over. the. place. Andy started singing "Christmas Shoes" in the car the other day and I started to ugly cry. He wouldn't even stop when I begged. Cruel and unusual punishment.

A few awesome things about being pregnant:

-Buying/being given baby things. It's all so teensy and cute and I can't wait to have our little boy here to put it all to good use!

-Back/foot rubs. You pretty much get one whenever you want. (Thanks Andy) 

-I need water all the time. And more water=better everything: skin, overall health, etc. It's a win-win.

-People are so nice to you, even more so than usual. They give you snacks and offer you their seat. Maybe it's because they pity me, but I'll take it.

-Extra long naps are accepted, if not encouraged.

-Stretchy pants, every day.

boy oh boy

It's a boy!!! And oh my gosh we couldn't be happier about it. Now can it just be March already?