Gender Reveal

Happy 20 weeks baby P! Every week really is an accomplishment and something to be grateful for.  So I made my appointment for my 20 week ultrasound on November 30th.  I really thought I'd be anxious to find out the gender but I was fine until the morning of the appointment. It was a mixture of excitement and a bit of being worried.  I'd be lying if I said I don't tend to get nervous every doctor's appointment or ultrasound.  Thomas was able to come with me and I started to get reaaaaally impatient in the waiting room, especially since we waited an hour to finally be seen. Rude. 

The technician stated that she was going to get some of the baby's measurements before telling us the gender.  I actually really enjoyed this part.  It was so neat to see the baby moving and to see the profile, legs, and arms.  It was even more amazing that she could see the baby's bladder and the four chambers of the heart.  How is that possible?!? Not only is it incredible that she could see inside me but also inside my baby? It was like inception.  

Anyways half way through she tells us that the umbilical cord is in between it's crossed legs making it hard to see the gender.  I even had to change positions and try to move the baby.  Talk about stubborn.  The technician then said she would continue to take the other measurements since baby P wasn't having it.  She takes more measurements and then all of a sudden she goes "THE LEGS ARE UNCROSSED...ARE YOU READY?!? It's a boy!!" 

Woah. I can honestly say I was so blown away.  I honestly thought I was having a girl. I've always wanted all boys for various reasons but I know sometimes Heavenly Father just laughs at certain "plans" we make so I just convinced myself I was having a girl and I was seriously ok with it.  But now I am so so ecstatic I'm having a boy. I think about him all the time.  It really made it real for me and I get giddy thinking about his future and Thomas being a dad. I feel so blessed and currently I can feel him move in my belly.  I thought it wasn't going be until after I gave birth and was able to see baby P's little face that I'd think that all that terrible morning sickness I experienced was worth it but I already feel that way.  I get weepy thinking about it. Ok so I get weepy ALL THE TIME.  I cried when the mash potatoes were gone at Thanksgiving (it's a true story), I sobbed when I watched dumbo for the first time and am currently crying while watching Juno.  Seriously?? Oh well. It makes me feel like I have more of a heart and that I'm less robotic.

He looks like an actual baby now!

Below is our gender reveal video that our good friend Scott made us.  We talked about it the night before for about 20 minutes.  And by talking I mean formulating ideas for it.  I am so so pleased with the end result! I love this video so much. I even catch Thomas watching it by himself....makes my little heart sing.

xoxo

Lubbock!

So about 4 months ago I bought a plane ticket to visit my sister Jackie in Lubbock, Texas.  Saying that I am in love with her kids is seriously an understatement.  I facetime them everyday and this past summer, I finally decided to put my hate aside for Texas and go visit her. Jk. They've lived there for over two years but the plane tickets are pretty pricey so it's just been something I've put off but I'm so so glad I finally went! As I was flying in, it was exactly what I imagined it would be.  Brown and flat.  The weather was pretty nice though compared to Utah where it's getting pretty dang cold.  When I arrived to their cute little home, this was waiting on my bed for me:

So cute right? Jackie is always so creative and thoughtful. She was always known as the perfect one in our family.  And this is proof. (side note: lemons may look random, but I have to use them in my water because mucus in my throat is a major problem..sorry TMI)

I spent the week watching the kids, eating Jackie's delicious meals, playing with their new bunny Leo and just spending time with them.  It was low key but so perfect. I really did enjoy every minute.  Here are some more pics:

Family picture with all the kids including Leo. Those faces!

My precious Stela. She's kind of my favorite. She has the sweetest heart.

Lucas and Leo. That smile is going to get him in trouble when he's older.

Jackie and I. We hate this picture but I couldn't NOT post one of us. We're 6 years apart but still super close and I'm so grateful! She definitely took care of me. Love you Jack!

I also got to see one of my companions Hermana Spencer! It was so great to catch up and talk for a few hours.  We forgot to take a picture but it's okay because surprisingly enough we see eachother like every 6 months even though we live far from eachother.  

I'm going to miss Lucas asking me why he can't see my baby yet or Stela constantly pointing at my belly asking if the baby is ok or Sofia constantly making me art pieces. Never would I have thought I'd visit Lubbock, Texas.  Pretty ugly place but the people are pure gold.

xoxo

Halloween

...the holiday I never really cared about, to be honest.  And it definitely was something I wasn't paying attention to until about a week ago during church when they announced our ward Halloween party.  I knew the other Bishopric wives would be dressing up so I felt a little obligation.  Which is fine because it made me do some last minute thinking and shopping (heaven knows I need anything to get me out of the dungeon aka our little basement). I thought finding a couple's costume would be easy. False. It's harder. Maybe because it was last minute and we're on a budget.  So I found two shirts on amazon that went together and we went for the "we put effort into this but not enough to win a costume contest" look.  I decided to make it a little more fun and make it into "dia de los muertos" style.  Sadly, Thomas had his 3 hour LSAT class so I couldn't put make up on him.

If you know me well, you know I suck at life when its comes to the arts. So the thought of doing my own make up was horrifying.  As I started to put the white make up paint on, I had to redo it because I wasn't doing it right.  How did I even get that wrong???? So you can imagine that I started panicking when I actually had to the more detailed part.  Turns out, that was easier. So it's not the best, BUT FOR ME IT WAS THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MY YEAR THUS FAR. Besides growing a baby.

Sorry if you can't really see the shirts...mine has a baby, Thomas has burgers and fries. Supes cute, right? The only way I got Thomas to even buy these shirts is promising him that this is his costume for the next 10 years....men I tell ya.

I tried to go for the dead look. No smiling. Also this shirt ended up being HUGE on me because when I ordered it, I thought it was a sweat shirt. Minor detail. But it was too late to return it.  

We got honorable mention in the costume contest which is fine since we're basically disqualified for being in the bishopric.  The party was fun and it was great to see the YSA dress up. Plus we ate lots of chocolate. Win.

Not too bad for last minute, eh?

xoxo

Trimester II

The day has finally come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Can you tell I'm excited by the exclamation marks?) I am officially in my second trimester. Is it weird to congratulate myself? Probably. Nonetheless I am so relieved to be in this phase of pregnancy.  I heard its the best.  I already feel like I have a bit more energy, not as bad morning sickness and seriously within the last week I really feel baby P grew because my belly is looking more preggo.  Thank goodness. Could it be all in my head? Maybe, maybe not.

Really I just wanted to write this post so you can all see the new and improved layout that my friend Hannah did for me.  Isn't she awesome?  She's pregnant too and ready to meet her little girl any day now.  Hopefully by Tuesday though because I made a bet with Thomas and I'm pretty sure Hannah wants me to win.  Hannah has been awesome to hang out with.  Even though we are in completely different phases of pregnancy, it's always nice to chat with someone about all the weird pregnancy quirks and everything else pregnancy has to offer.  She isn't working either so each week we go to each other's house and just chill.  I mean we could sit on the couch and not do anything and we are both content.  I love it.  I'm so grateful for her friendship!

Things to look forward to:
*Our ward halloween party with the YSA next Tuesday. Yes, we have costumes. Pictures to follow.
*Less than 3 weeks I'll be going to Texas to visit my sister and her cute babies. So so excited.
*My first maternity jeans should be coming in the mail any day now. Stretchy pants, yes please.
* My oldest sister Melody called me earlier today saying she met the CFO of Ju Ju Be's (which I never heard of) and she's hooking me up with one of their diaper bags which are BEAUTIFUL.

Loooooove it.  I'm a lucky girl.  Thanks Mole!!


xoxo

Love is all you need

 Not sure how many of you know this, maybe because I've calmed down as the years have passed on but I love The Beatles.  I've always felt this love for the 60's for some reason.  The music, pop culture, history and even the fashion (I really do think the fashion trend now is totally 60's influenced).  I love The Beatles' classic songs but also their really really weird songs that make you feel like you're on drugs even if you aren't.  Yeah I said it. So when I heard about The Beatles Love Show in Las Vegas about 8 years ago, I freaked.  Vegas is only like 6 hours away! Easy. Well, every time I planned to go it just never really worked out.  I probably had mentioned that it was my dream to Thomas and kind of brushed it off.  I guess in my mind even though I really really wanted to go, it just probably wouldn't happen for awhile.

  So about a week before my birthday, Thomas and I were having dinner and he randomly blurts out that he has something to tell me. Looking at my confused face, he proceeded to tell me that he wanted to tell me what he got me for my birthday.  I initially think "well that's weird since we still have a week to go but since when am I ever patient, let's hear it!" So he tells me he got tickets to The Beatles Love show for next weekend and he wanted me to mentally prepare because remember I'm in the "I hate food because it makes me want to puke but give me food because I'm sooo hungry" phase and I'm just so exhausted all the time. Growing a baby is a lot of work, I tell ya. Anyways so you would think I would be sooooooo pee my pants excited but my first thought was "we can't afford this.." "I'm sick as a dog, the last thing I want to do is be in a car (which is one of my worst enemies right now) and get even more sick for 6 hours" "Thomas has school and work which means he'd be missing out on money we so desperately need" blah blah blah.

Since when did I become the nagging wife? Good thing Thomas is always so patient and loving.  He just calmly says that he bought the tickets with his first paycheck at his internship earlier this summer and has kept it a secret the last 3 months.  He then says that I can take my motion sickness pills and sleep the whole car ride while he drives the 6 hours.  At that moment, I stopped with all those worrying thoughts that crowded my excitement and as I looked into my husband's face, I realized never gave him the reaction he deserved.  He had been planning this for months and I'm sure he thought of a ton of reasons not to do it but he wanted to make my birthday special.  He sacrificed for it. And that's what made it special.

The show was magical.  It was colorful, weird, fun and memorable.  They did an incredible job.  As the show went on, the more and more excited I got.  I just didn't want it to end.  Except I really had a pee the last 40 minutes so I was having a complex. Also, poor Thomas sat next to a drunk woman who kept singing so loud and then yelling at her husband that she needed to pee and that she was hungry.  They ended up leaving after 20 minutes...thank goodness but who pays that much money to see a show only for 20 minutes??? Beyond me.

I can now say I've seen The Beatles Love Show.  I'd definitely recommend it. Here's an awful colored picture of us:

We thought the picture would look a lot cooler but really it didn't.  I also feel like I'm in the pudgy phase of my pregnancy.  Look I know I'm going to get bigger but you have to remember that I've already gained 35 pounds BEFORE I was pregnant because my stupid thyroid decided to stop working therefore I don't fit in 90% of my clothes anymore. I hate pictures but I'm working on it. I'm really trying hard to be confident again but it's a process. 

**GOOD NEWS UPDATE: I am now 12 weeks.  I heard baby P's heartbeat for the first time last week.  Nice and healthy.  My blood results came back in and my thyroid levels are back to normal so the medication is working!  Which is great I can tell people that because honestly I haven't felt much of a difference because the whole pregnancy thing took over.  My poor body...it really is a trooper.

Anyways thank you for the birthday wishes, cards and gifts. All so sweet.

Heres to being a quarter of a century!

Love and Peace<3

Pregnancy

so this might be long winded and very detailed but it's my blog so i can do what i want.  here we go....


it actually started around november of last year.  i felt like i was gaining some weight, which was the worse because my wedding was a month away.  i had several speculations of why:

1. birth control...even though my doctor denied any weight gain while taking it...seriously lady?
2. maybe i was getting more and more comfortable with thomas and probably ate too many hot cheetos with him.  i knew it was love when he said he loved them too.
3. it's the holidays. it's colder outside, more desserts and cookies, etc.
4. stress. my new job position required a lot more out of me which is great but hard when you're trying to plan a wedding and what not.

anyways now fast forward to july.  we went to st. george for pioneer weekend (for those who have never lived in utah its july 24th and it's a legit holiday) with our friends hannah and stephen.  it was just a little getaway where we played some games, ate, and had good conversation.  thomas' parents have a house there so it's nice we can go there anytime we want. i like st. george more and more each time we go down.

well we were going to go swimming but i was suppose to get my period that weekend and who likes swimming on the first day of their period? no girl ever. i'm always really regular like to the day and still nothing.  i got a little concerned and took a pregnancy test the following monday we returned. negative. hmm. maybe i'm just being impatient. maybe i'm stressed and that's why it's delayed? k just relax, ceecee (thats my childhood nickname fyi)

5 days past and still nada. so i take another pregnancy test. negative. what the what?  i started to get really worried. maybe there really is something wrong with me.  at this point i had gained about 35 pounds which is a lot of weight to gain in less than a year. talk about a hit to my self esteem especially when i up'd my exercise route and had zero results.  i started to do my research on my symptoms. 3 things. poly cystic ovarian syndrome, hypothyroidism or pregnancy.

i made an appointment on monday august 10th with my doctor to have a "well woman check up."  i told my doc the symptoms i was having and she asked if wanted to take a pregnancy test.  i thought sure why not?  i'm pretty good at peeing on demand.  i took one and waited.  she comes in and asks "so do you want to be pregnant or not?"
 "uh what?" that question caught me off guard.
 "well its really really faint but the little pink line is there so technically that means its positive."
 she said the only way to know if i was for sure pregnant was by blood work to check my HCG levels aka pregnancy hormones.  i had to take blood work anyways to check to see if my thyroid was functioning properly. after my appointment, i got my blood taken and they said they'd call later that afternoon to tell me the results.  longest 5 hours of my life.

i got the phone call during a meeting and for the first time ever, stepped out to take it.  she says that my thyroid levels are abnormal and she wants me to come in two days later on wednesday to discuss treatment.  also, i'm pregnant. my levels were at 26.7 which falls in the 1-2 week range. who finds out that early?!?!

so as any girl would, i freaked out the next two days.  i went to my wednesday appointment and we discussed my thyroid problem.  i was officially diagnosed with hypothyroidism which means my thyroid isn't producing enough hormones for my metabolism to function at a normal rate hence the weight gain.  now onto the pregnancy. the first thing she says "people with hypothyroidism have a very high rate of having a miscarriage and i need you to know this so you are aware...actually its hard to get pregnant and stay pregnant so you already beat one of the odds!"

i still wasn't sure if this was good news.  i had a million thoughts run through my head. more like a million emotions.  i wanted to be happy but i was worried.  am i setting myself up for disappointment? do i tell anyone? do i just accept that miscarriage is my fate? am i going to freak out the next few weeks at any change that happens within my body since i've never experience pregnancy before?

i go home and decide to tell thomas because he deserves to know and i needed support.  he was so good to me.  he was genuinely happy and excited. for about 2 weeks, i wrestled if i should tell my family and close ones especially since thomas and i were going down to california end of august and we were going to see both of our families.  we decided to do it with the disclaimer that i have a high chance of having a miscarriage because for some reason it made me feel better to tell people that.  maybe because it was saying "be happy for me BUT don't get too attached because we don't know whats going to happen."  it was more for me than anything.

i started telling people in my married student ward (thomas got called into the bishopric of a BYU singles ward back in April so technically we are in two wards now) and the sisters were so sweet about it.  my visiting teaching companion kayla asked "so what made you decide to go public about something that many people are very private about?" *so maybe that wasn't the exact question but it was something along those lines.  

heres my answer: i decided to go public because i wanted support in whatever the outcome is.  i believe in miracles. i have faith. i was taught to believe even if things don't make sense. i know everything happens for a reason.  it's been scary to be honest.  each day not knowing. i've definitely grown closer to my husband in these last few weeks.  i started feeling morning sickness when i was almost 6 weeks and i'm still experiencing it.  i have a love hate relationship with it.  hate...well for obvious reasons.  love? because i know my baby is alive.  i had my first ultrasound last tuesday on september 22nd and i was so sick to my stomach that they wouldn't find a heart beat or see anything.  but they did.  baby p is still hanging on.  i will be 11 weeks on friday. i am currently taking one pill for my hypothyroidism that doesn't affect my baby but will hopefully help (i haven't seen a difference because the whole pregnancy thing is taking over aka gaining weight, fatigue, etc.)

i like to think that heavenly father made my two pregnancy tests i took at home negative so that i'd go to the doctors to get a proper diagnosis.  i'm grateful for this whole experience.  it has made me be grateful not necessarily for my circumstances but just to have a spirit of gratitude.  i'm grateful for my husband who has an INSANE schedule but always make me his #1 priority.  he definitely takes care of me.  i'm grateful for the sweet sisters in my married ward who have brought me several dinners since cooking makes me want to throw up yet i have to eat literally every hour. i'm grateful for the support i've felt.  i feel your prayers each day.

heres to more faith. because i need it.

A year full of firsts

  remember how i've always been horrible at writing in my journal? if you don't, i'm pretty sure i have at least 10 journals each one containing one entry stating that "this will be the year i will write in my journey each day!" fail.  i think the only time i was somewhat consistent in writing in a journal was on my LDS mission in colorado.  probably because i felt guilty i was ready to go to bed while my companions were fiercely loyal to writing about their day whether it was great or terrible.  i always admired that.  so here i am, adding to the statistic of mormon women bloggers. really, this is just a way for me to document things so if you want to know more about my life then perfect.

a year of firsts:

•  my first year of marriage aka it's been the best because of thomas. mush.
•  first time traveling outside the country (besides mexico...but i'm mexican...so it doesn't count) to Aruba. 
• i saw my first vegas show, the beatles "love." life changing. go watch it...now.
• i turned 25...that counts as a first, right?
• first time blogging...as you can tell by the layout, i know nothing. so hopefully as the blog progresses, i'll learn to make it look trendy.  i thought there was suppose to be a picture of a dandy lion but apparently it's not there anymore?  see, i'm terrible.
•  my first pregnancy

.....i'm sure there are more but what really made me want to start a blog was the whole pregnancy thing and how that all came out.  well the G rated stuff. jk. but seriously.

i'll start with my pregnancy then go down the line of other memorable things that have happened this past year.  i'll try to include pictures because really, who doesn't like pictures?

enjoy!