i resolve :: 2014 edition

a new year. a new beginning. a fantastic chance to start fresh, to set goals, to look ahead, and to reflect.

i usually do a very specific goals or wish list of things i'd like to accomplish, either for a new calendar year or a new year for my age. however, as i've reflected on 2013 and as i look ahead to 2014, i'd like to take a less structured approach this year.

being pregnant, i.e. jumping into something very unknown to me, has helped this planner realize that sometimes it's better not to plan everything. learning to go with the flow has been a great, unexpected side affect of pregnancy, but it has also been challenging. i have learned that i can't do everything, no matter how bad i want to, and that's ok.

2014 will bring about some BIG changes. some excitement. some nerves. some hardships. and some great times. so instead of defining exact things i want to accomplish or feel, i'll leave them vague and therefore, definable as i go.

1. do things i've not done before. try for at least one a month. including: cooking, crafts, parenting, places, things, etc.

2. be kind. work towards kindness. make more happy. at all possible times, and even at those times that i think it may not be possible.

3. take deep breaths. relax. have down time. enjoy nature/outside/sun. less screen time, in fact, much less screen time. hoping baby ole will help drastically with this one.

4. simplify. donate what we don't use. don't buy things that are unnecessary.

5. work out. crossfit. lift. softball. these things make me happy and are good for me at the same time. they also provide a great platform for me to learn to push myself. to be astonished by how much more i'm capable of than i could have imagined.

6. make progress. forward progress. do not remain sedentary.

2014, we are really looking forward to you! we'll be having a baby!! by the end of the year, al will be just 4 months shy of his required 3 years experience in wisconsin. and loads more that we're not even aware of.

i'd greatly appreciate it if you could slow time down a bit, since 2013 FLEW by; i'll make efforts to help you with this.

baby ole :: week 32

this week included christmas; lots of them actually!

friday was our christmas with mom and tyler, and it was great! we ate, opened presents and played card games until midnight (way past my bedtime)! then saturday we had the nesset christmas at wayne & sheryl's and after dinner & gift exchange there, we headed to the perren's for johnny's 40th birthday party. it was a long, exhausting day but fun!!

then sunday we headed home because al had to work, starting a very long week in which he had to work 12 hours 2 of the days (including christmas). sunday also brought news that gina is pregnant!!! after following along very interestedly in her journey (and struggle) to get pregnant, i can't even begin to explain how happy i am for her (and matt)!! and what a large relief i got to breathe out with this news. see having to tell your very good friend that you are pregnant when that's all she (and you) had been hoping for for her family for quite a while is hard!! made even harder when this was the case for a couple of good friends and adding in a couple of miscarriages to family/close friends while you've been pregnant. it can be quite the load to bear.

gina is one day off from being exactly 20 weeks behind me in her pregnancy; which means, hopefully, that our little ones will be 5 months apart. she is also due very close to her 30th birthday as am i; looks like we'll (again hopefully) both be getting our first babies for our 30th birthdays.

although they aren't sharing publicly yet, one of those miscarriages i mentioned above is also pregnant (again) and has made it to the 8 week mark (one of the first big milestones!). having 2 of our closest friends both pregnant and due so close to baby ole is just great!!

i also learned on sunday that i was able to do well enough on the last couple homeworks & final in my class to push my B+ up to an A-!!!

i worked on monday, then tuesday (christmas eve) after al went to work i headed up to the cities for dad's side christmas. it was a night full of ping pong and good food/cookies! i was unsure if i'd even be able to play/move for ping pong, but dad and i ended up winning the first tourney! i probably played a little bit more than i should have but wasn't too sore the next day. also, in typical christmas eve fashion, on my way up to the cities the explorer started blinking "check charging system" with the battery light flashing, which means the alternator. after replacing the alternator on christmas eve for the past 2 christmas', i was not having it! i continued to drive, hopeful that it was just the cold weather affecting the sensor. i made it to christmas and made it home, so hopefully that's all it was.

christmas morning i spent with mom and tyler; we played some games and then i headed back to bloomer since i had to work thrusday and friday.

tator under the christmas tree :) 

 baby ole's presents to grama & uncle

 mom & judie's christmas program; 12 days of (alcohol) christmas

 we take our ping pong very seriously :)

 ugly christmas sweater day at work

papa wore his harding letter sweater from 1944!

How big is baby: size of a squash (via the bump) or bok choy (via my app)

Weight gain/loss: 20-25 pounds (really hoping to stay under 30 for a total!!)

Stretch marks: multiple on each side :(

Sleep: still flip flop a lot but sleeping well (hopefully this little guy is learning to sleep well too :])

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: nothing really, my apple a day has turned into an orange a day

Movement: movement daily, his kicks are more aggressive now and often startle me :)
 

What I'm loving: christmas cookies, which isn't helping my weight gain goal much...

Symptoms: heartburn/reflux returned this weekend, but i'm hoping that's just due to all the eating (out of routine), i also think i've been having some braxton hicks contractions now. i read up on them and i've likely been having them for a couple weeks now (they can start as early as 25 weeks) and just didn't know it. i especially feel them when i get up too fast or when i'm active. they are just tightness in the lower ab section and not painful, but do cause me to want to hold or push on the area.

also, while at johnny's birthday party saturday night, i was talking with meg & manda about how i had heard about the whole 'peeing a little' thing while sneezing, coughing, jumping etc. and that i worry each time i sneeze, since they're so big, that this will happen. they assured me i have that to look forward to for the rest of my life. :) well, i think we jinxed me because sunday while watching football i choked a little bit, coughed really hard and it happened for the first time :( not something i'm looking forward to dealing with...

What I'm looking forward to: the days off for new years as this weekend and the days off for christmas we tiresome and didn't include much for sleeping/relaxing. since we won't be celebrating new years much this year with al working and me being so preggo, i'm hoping to catch up on sleep.

Best moment of the week: christmases!!

How I'm feeling: feeling large :) i had to abort wearing my christmas dress on saturday because all the pants i packed to wear under them were significantly tighter than i remembered them being and i wanted to be comfortable. i know i will only get bigger and when i compare to bellies of others pregnant near me, i'm not as big but i'm just not used to it yet. bending over is becoming more problematic which includes putting on socks and shoes; sometimes i want to just wear flip flops. :]

baby ole :: week 31

single digits in # of weeks left... yikes!! :)

this weekend i didn't do much, and it was great! we had plans to run into eau claire saturday morning for the carseat check before al had to work, but it was snowing so we decided against it (there is a carseat technician here in bloomer, so we'll schedule a time to meet with her). and i was planning to go to the cities saturday afternoon to see mom and finish up christmas shopping, but with the snow and being tired, i decided against that too. i did go into bloomer on saturday once but otherwise didn't leave the house. :)

then monday was work, my midwife appointment (they seem silly these days: i go in, get weighed, blood pressure, they ask if i have any questions, listen to heartbeat, measure uterus, then done. but i'm sure it's good to have checkups just to be sure), then home to study for my final. the midwife was able to tell with some confidence that baby ole's head is down (that explains all the pressure & hardness down there) and he's mostly on my right side (must be his back). since my appointments are on odd weeks, i'll wait 3 weeks now for my next one to get on even weeks (which appeases this numbers person!).

tuesday was my final. it went ok; better than i expected but still hard. now we wait and see. but i'm SO happy to be done with school and homework and studying. it's going to be great coming home and not having that to do. but i have a bunch of cleaning and stuff around the house i've been putting off to catch up on.

countdown to christmas is on!

How big is baby: size of a pineapple (via the bump) or a bunch of asparagus (via my app); approximately 16.2 inches and 3.3 pounds; crazy!!

Weight gain/loss: 18-23 pounds

Stretch marks: just the one on my side

Sleep: still flip flop a lot but sleeping well (hopefully this little guy is learning to sleep well too :])

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: nothing really, my apple a day has turned into an orange a day

Movement: movement daily, felt hiccups for the 2nd time and they were longer this time.

What I'm loving: school being done, christmas cookies :)

Symptoms: heartburn or reflux (amazingly monday-thursday i had absolutely no heartburn; awesome!! let's hope this continues), and hip aches, return of some round ligament pain/pressure

What I'm looking forward to: christmas, short work weeks

Best moment of the week: school getting done (can you tell i'm relieved?) :) secret santa at work

How I'm feeling: feeling pretty good. i've been really tired this week, like beyond normal tired; wanting to sleep all the time after noon and tired while driving.

baby ole :: week 30

friday-sunday al and i both had off work!! friday night we had the brown christmas at uncle munk's house. it was great to see everyone, talk with them about being preggo, and the food & cookies were excellent!! then saturday morning we did cookie making with mom and then in the afternoon we headed to shane and jodi's house. it was a blast; we ate, watched some football, played rockband and the dogs got tired out! :) it was also tator's 5th birthday on saturday. sunday we headed home in the snow and got a few things done around the house including football watching and napping.

monday-wednesday were brutally cold and windy. especially the walk to school over the bridge. i also had lots of heartburn and a return of the round ligament pain. with the pain/ache in the front and back (due to the usual hip aches) i was definitely waddling and forced to walk slower. not what you want when it's freezing outside. also, i was very tired this week; like get home from school and fall asleep sitting up tired. but i've heard other people are too this week, could be the low temps & cold season or could be being preggo.

this is my last week of class, then just the final on tuesday! so happy to be done with school!!

 tator wanted in a shot too :) 

since i was feeling huge, i thought i'd do another side by side

so i could see if i was really that much bigger...

15, 20, 25, 30 weeks

How big is baby: size of a cucumber (via the bump) or a large cabbage (via my app)

Weight gain/loss: 18-23 pounds

Stretch marks: i think i have my first stretch mark :( it's on my side. i will be lotioning even more now in an attempt to avoid more.

Sleep: still flip flop a lot and wake up occasionally but usually go right back to sleep. lots of heartburn as soon as i lay down

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: nothing really, my apple a day has turned into an orange a day

Movement: feeling movement daily, although it's much less now than before. i've read that's because he has less room in there.

What I'm loving: christmas cookies! :) and the sunshine even though it's really really cold

Symptoms: heartburn or reflux, and hip aches, return of some round ligament pain/pressure

What I'm looking forward to: the end of school and christmas

Best moment of the week:  the whole weekend was pretty great although it flew by

How I'm feeling: the weekdays this week i was feeling ready to be done being pregnant; i feel huge (after taking christmas card pictures), my engagement portion of my ring was snug (i wore the larger of the 2 wedding bands this week, instead), and not being able to walk normally or bend over or... but this little guy needs to cook a while longer, so i'll endure it and try to enjoy it!

baby ole :: week 29

this week started with a little bit of black friday shopping with mom. but we do it later style. :) we left bloomer about 8 am and were in eau claire for 2 hours, then we came back and made our own turkey dinner mostly just for the left overs :) we hit menards, target and penney's (tried kohls but the line, as always, was way too long). we got baby ole a 9 cube shelf at menards for a good deal so we put that together and al carried up the changing table before he went to work. it feels good to have his room a little more put together; now just have to make up my mind on the crib.

saturday and sunday were pretty relaxing (i didn't even open my backpack...). i put up some of our (my) outdoor christmas lights but need some more and some longer extension cords. monday was back to work and school with hurting hips. but i got a 94% on my test!! we also got some snow this week, starting on monday. and happy birthday uncle-to-be tyler!!

both sunday and monday night i woke up in the middle of the night (when al got home) and was wide awake for several hours. monday night from midnight-3a. not good for this sleeper; i need my sleep, but during this time i felt baby's hiccups for the first time! tuesday i had another midwife appointment and asked about the sleep. she said it's likely pregnancy insomnia by way of the body preparing itself to wake up every couple hours with a newborn... :(

baby ole is measuring 2 weeks bigger (well the belly is anyhow) and he has a great, steady heartbeat! will start appointments every 2 weeks now.

 29w4d

i need to remember to take my pictures during the daylight

because this room has very little light.

here's an above shot of the belly while waiting for the midwife.

it looks a lot bigger from above.

candy cane belly & new boots :)

How big is baby: size of an acorn squash (thebump.com's sizes are kind of throwing us off so i'll list my app's sizes as well) or butternut squash

Weight gain/loss: 18-23 pounds (thanksgiving meals did not help this...)

Stretch marks: none, although my belly button is starting to stretch out

Sleep: sleeping ok when i'm asleep, but wake up for hours at a time in the middle of the night. flip flopping a lot, uncomfortable by morning.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: nothing really, still loving my apple a day

Movement: feeling movement daily

What I'm loving: looking forward to the end of school and christmas

Symptoms: heartburn or reflux, and hip aches

What I'm looking forward to: al has a 5 day weekend starting this wednesday until sunday! this includes the brown christmas (dad's side), cookie making with mom, time with shane & jodi, and christmas card pictures on sunday (hopefully i get them in time and then out on time)

Best moment of the week:  4 day, pretty relaxing weekend

How I'm feeling: monday i was over everything: school, work, being pregnant, but i remind myself that i'm lucky and this time will be over before i know it. the end of the week was better but thursday was bitter cold, with the windchill, so walking to school was terrible.