Halloween - Top That!!

We had a Halloween party at my mom and dad's house. Here's Saide the super cute fairy and her mommy, Miranda.

My mom and dad were a nun and a biker dude. Yes, my dad is wearing a semi-see-through tattoo shirt.

Kenny & Miranda. Office Space guy with Flair and Devil.

And Ben and I: Mac guy (possibly the easiest costume ever) and pregnant witch.

A few days before Halloween, we carved pumpkins with Brittany & Jesse (and Carter!). We had apples and caramel, molasses cookies, and hot apple cider. Well, I ate apples and milk....yum.....

Here's Ben concentrating super hard carving his pumpkin......

I know I have a strange husband.

And Jesse
And lovely Brittany! I just noticed she's using a giant knife to carve her pumpkin. Go Britt! I'm glad she didn't cut off a finger.

I didn't carve a pumpkin, because I like to do my favorite thing - roast the seeds! Oh my gosh they were SO good!!!

Then Jesse tried to stick Carter in a pumpkin, which made us laugh and made him cry, so he took him out. It was pretty cute for a second, though.

The end result: some pretty cool pumpkins.

I almost forgot to mention the coolest part of the evening (in my opinion): watching Teen Witch, my ultimate fave 80's movie. It's Halloween-y, right?? I LOOOVE this movie!!

Favorite songs include (not making these up): "I Wanna Be the Most Popular Girl," "I Like Boys," and this gem: "Top That." Watch this, and it will make your day. Does anyone else remember this? I know Miranda does!!! Leah, do you remember it??

Ahh this makes me so happy. One of the weird parts of this movie is the super up close french kissing scene between Brad & Louise. I remember being really grossed out by it as a kid, and it is no less disturbing now! They're actually using tongue, and the camera is RIGHT THERE! It's gross. Sorry if that's too much info for you. If you haven't seen this movie, please do. It's good fun.

Lastly - Brittany and Jesse --- YES Brad is Chip from Friends. A lipper from the Chipper!!

Gestational Diabetes

Yep. I've got it. I was really worried when my blood sugar was too high after the first test, then dreaded the second test. For those of you who just had to take the first test, thank your lucky stars! Here's what the second glucose test is like: You fast for 8 hours (!) then go in and they take your blood. Then you drink an even nastier glucose drink than the first test. It's super concentrated. It burned my throat going down, and the baby was kicking around like crazy, saying "What is this? Crack?!" So then you sit there for an hour, then they take more blood. At this point I had a major migraine and couldn't even read the book I brought (thanks anyway, Amy!). You may be thinking, "Boy that sounds icky. It must be over soon." And you would be wrong! Next comes another hour of sitting around with a room full of sick people. I was trying really hard not to throw up, and my head was spinning. So after an hour they took even more blood. Remember, this whole time, you can't eat a thing. Really hard for a pregnant lady. I eventually asked them if I could lie down on a bed so I could sleep. This was much better. I highly recommend this to anyone who has to do this. Ask if you can sleep between blood draws, and then it isn't as terrible. Anyway, after another hour they took more blood, then sent me on my way to go be sick in the comfort of my own home. I took the day off for this test, which I believe is torture specifically designed for pregnant ladies. I had to fast for a total of 12 hours, except for the icky glucose drink and a little water. Whew!

I got the results the next day, and unfortunately I failed the test. My blood glucose was too high. I have gestational diabetes. For those of you who don't know about this, it basically means that I have diabetes until the baby is born, and then it goes away. I may get it later in life, but I may not. I have to be on a really strict diabetic diet, and test my blood four times a day. I have been waiting to blog about this until I had a more positive attitude about it. I was really upset at first. I cried a lot, I worried about the baby, and honestly, I kinda felt sorry for myself. This has been really hard so far. I've been really nauseated, I've had daily crappy migraines, and now I can't even have a cookie to make my day a little easier.

However, with more thinking and praying and getting used to the whole idea, I have a much better attitude about all of this. I am still worried about the baby a little. I still don't like poking my finger all the time (it does hurt). And I am really really bummed out I can't have pumpkin bread and gingerbread cookies and all the delicious holiday treats. (What a terrible time of year to have to abstain from all the good stuff to eat!!!)

BUT...it could be worse. I am thankful that we were able to get pregnant. I am thankful that the baby is healthy. I am thankful Ben and I have jobs and a safe place to live. I'm thankful for my wonderful friends and family. And although this new diet is a lot of work, and really not fun, I am thankful that it will go away when my sweet little boy arrives.

As far as the logistics of the whole thing goes, I basically have to eat a lot more protein and veggies. I still get fruit, and every once in awhile I can have a bite of a cookie. Woo hoo!

Pros to this whole thing: I get really proud of myself when the little blood monitor thingy says a number within the range I'm supposed to be. I like to try to do well at things (which is why I was so irritated when I failed the other two tests. Failed?? What? I don't like that). I also get a little black case that has all my little diabetes gadgets in it. I carry it in my purse. I hate the thing, but I really like getting new tiny things to use. Is that strange? It's all organized, with a place for everything. I like that.....Yeah, that sounds weird. And that's about it as far as the positive side of this.

My super cool sister Miranda helped me out a lot and gave me tons of ideas of stuff I can eat. She organized and wrote out several meals for me, since I was at a loss for what I could eat. Now I feel like I kind of have the diet under control. My numbers have been fine, and I'll feel even better after our next ultrasound when I can see the baby and make sure he's doing alright. There's a risk with diabetes of the baby getting too big, so they'll check on that.

Basically, this really stinks but I'm trying to be positive. Only ten weeks until we have a little baby at home!! I can't wait to meet him!

Four Years!

Ben and I celebrated our four year anniversary on October 8. It was a great day. We both took the day off from work (last anniversary before the baby!) and relaxed and spent time together the whole day. It was wonderful. We went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant, and went out to a movie. (We saw "The Invention of Lying" if you're curious. It was pretty funny. Not totally fantastic. But we both like Ricky Gervais so there were good parts) We're going to go on a fancier date right before the baby's born, so we kind of went low-key for this date. It was great to just spend time together and think about the exciting changes coming up, and look back at our wonderful marriage. Marrying Ben is the best decision I've ever made. It wasn't a hard decision. I was completely confident he was the man for me. He was and still is an incredible man. He's a wonderful, helpful, understanding partner. He listens to me and makes me laugh. He surprises me with how incredibly patient he is.

On our anniversary he wrote me a gorgeous, thoughtful, clever poem. He printed it out for me, and it is in the shape of a (my) pregnant tummy profile. It is beautiful. Just like he makes me feel every day. I am so in love with my sweet husband. He makes me feel pretty all the time. Even when I was joking around dancing the other day and he sweetly told me it kind of reminded him of a chipmunk. He is perfect for me.

Here we are when we first started dating in 2004.

I can't even explain how excited I was to be dating this wonderful guy! As you can see by my "I heart Ben" shirt, I was totally smitten. :)

This is when Ben proposed to me. We were so excited!!!!!!

Our wonderful wedding day. Married for eternity to my sweetheart.

Our honeymoon in Fiji was so much fun. We are so incredibly sweaty in this picture. We climbed to the top of this giant mountain at sunset. The really old man leading us did the whole thing barefoot. Impressive!

In Paris last summer on our sort of "Babymoon." I'm glad we've had a lot of fun times before we had kids, but now we're really really excited to be parents!!

Ahh and now here we are four years after our wedding day! We had a great anniversary. Wow I look large!

I am looking forward to many more years of happiness with my sweetheart!!!

Hungry

Pregnancy is pretty interesting...I am so hungry all the time!!! It's getting pretty annoying to have to eat literally every hour. On the days where I get too busy at work, or have stuff to do and forget to eat, I will definitely get sick. Ew. So I eat while I work. I take snacks out to recess with me, or (these past few days when I've been subbing) I eat while I'm teaching. It's pretty obnoxious, but it's worth it to me to do everything I can do avoid throwing up. I am so tired of it. I have to bring a giant lunch with me to work.

I like having a tummy though. It's fun. I like how it looks, and all my clothes are stretchy and have elastic. Awesome! I get up every 3 hours or so while I'm sleeping, though, because I have to pee all the time. I keep hearing it will get a lot worse, too. Woo hoo!

I'm curious to hear people's ideas about baby monitors. I have no idea what kind to get. I registered for one that looked good, but I don't know anything about them. What do you look for in a baby monitor? What kind do you like?? We just have an apartment, so we don't need one that can go upstairs and downstairs. We just want a good quality one.

I'd also like to give a shout-out to Vicki Gallegos!! Hello Sister Gallegos. My dad told me you read my blog, so I just wanted to say hello. I hope you've been well. Your daughter is lovely, and I'm very impressed with the Star Wars Halloween costumes you made for all your kids when they were little. Becki put up a pic and they were so cute! Anyway, hello there! :)

Cable!

Last week we got cable! We are so excited! Okay, I'm much more excited than Ben, but he actually really loves being able to watch all the shows we didn't get before, like Colbert Report and the Daily Show.

Also, now we can DVR shows that are on late, like Conan and SNL, and watch just the good parts. Personally, I've been watching Project Runway

(Beckie, now I will finally know what you are talking about and I couldn't be more thrilled) and I've also been watching A Baby Story and crying at the end EVERY time. I don't why I put myself through it, but I love to see the whole process.

I love that we can pause TV, and watch only the shows we actually like. Woo hoo! Also, Amy, now I won't have to bug you and say, "I missed Top Model. Did you TiVo it?" :)

It's kind of funny that you get two reactions from people about this. They either can't believe that we have waited this long to get good cable and a DVR (we only had like 13 channels before), or they aren't into TV at all, and don't see what the big deal is.

We got Verizon Fios. It was really ridiculous how long it took the guy to do the whole thing. He was here for over 4 hours! And we didn't even get internet and phone. However, the guy had to do all this wiring and it took him a long time. He was nice though, and it all works great now. My cutie pie little niece Saide and my sister came over Monday night, and I found some little kid shows for her to watch On Demand, no prob! (She likes to say, "Watch an Einstein???")

I am a fan of this new setup, since I see myself being up at all hours of the night with little baby Harvey Harvill (we're not really naming him that; don't worry) and also I won't be working, so I'll be home a LOT more. Cable and I are good buds now. I won't be all addicted to TV though, and I won't just sit the baby in front of the TV all the time. But a little won't hurt.

Here's what I'm not a fan of: vomiting. I'm able to keep it kind of under control, with a lot of work. Still on my meds, and now I have to eat just about every hour, or I get sick. Gross.

We are VERY excited to meet our little baby boy, though! Can't wait!!

Sorry for the lack of tummy pictures! I am 25 weeks along now.

This is what I looked like at 17 weeks

And here I am at 23 weeks (pretty much the same as now)

(That picture hanging on the wall is crooked...I'm not just leaning weird)

Almost to the third trimester!!!

Back to School...and Travel Systems!

I went back to school/work yesterday, and I have really loved having a regular routine again. This summer was fun (I nannied and tutored) but I have just really liked getting up at the same time and going to work again.

I don't remember if I said this yet, but this year I'm not teaching. I'm working as an assistant for first and second grade instead. I will work until winter break (mid/late December), and then the baby will be born around January 10. I'm actually really excited about it, since it means I get to work a sweet 9:00-3:00 schedule, and not stay late doing teacher-y stuff. Of course I actually really love that stuff, but right now I am too tired and hungry and busy to do it. I have baby planning to do!! I also get to help out other teachers, which makes me happy. If I get to make their lives easier, it is great. I also can't help but stay a little bit after I'm done working to chat with Amy...which is also really fun. :)

On to a pregnancy update: I have been feeling alright, with the Zofran consistently in my system. This drug is pretty incredible. However, I still have random sick days. And I have to tell you they really stink. Around once a week or every two weeks, I have a "puke day," and I am sick 2-3 times in that day, and then I am better the next day. Actually this last week it lasted two days in a row. Ugh. And then the next day I'm great. (??) Pregnancy is so strange.

My New BFF

On the days where I feel well, it's AWESOME! I am just really tired, and a little nauseated at night, right before bed. Also, I still get migraines, but they're a little more under control now. My feet also hurt a lot now that I've been standing more at work. But hey anything is better than vomiting. Seriously.

I really love having a pregnant tummy. Now that it's obvious, it makes me really happy. I look at it all the time, I can't stop touching it, and Ben talks to the baby. He actually reads scriptures to him every night. He tells him, "Baby, tonight we're reading Helaman Chapter 3..." and on like that. It's really sweet. I love my sweet wonderful husband. He is so patient and great. He makes me laugh all the time. We actually have a first name picked out, but we're still working on a middle name. We're not telling anyone until he's born though. Don't try to make me tell you! I won't do it! :)

I've also been feeling him move lately, which is great! It's a great feeling. Sometimes it's when I'm eating, or drinking water, and I also feel him when I'm listening to music, if it's loud enough where he can feel it. It is good to know he's in there moving around. I know eventually the kicking becomes bothersome, when babies get bigger and stronger. Right now it's really gentle and sweet, though.

SO I need some mommy advice. I think most of my friends that read this are moms, so you guys have to help me. I have been researching travel systems, and since it's such a major item, I want to know your advice and ideas. What is important in a travel system? What brands do you like? I've heard good things about Graco... What should I look for? What do you like or dislike about your stroller and/or car seat? Please, do tell! I've read some reviews online of specific ones, but I want to hear about it from people I know.

This is one I've been looking at....

Anyway, I will put a belly picture up some time soon.... I always want to see one of my friends when they are pregnant, and now I see why they sometimes put it off...I love how the tummy part of me looks, but sometimes I always end up looking really dorky in the profile belly pics... I'll do it soon though I promise!

Baby Boy!

We had a great ultrasound appointment yesterday. They said our little baby looks healthy, and we found out it's a BOY! Crazy. My side of the family doesn't have any boys, so it will be fun to add a boy to the mix. Here's our little boy:

That's his profile. Doesn't he a have a perfectly round head? He's adorable already!

Here's the creepy skull picture, or our baby from the front. He's snuggling up with his favorite buddy, the placenta. :)

We were so happy to hear that he was developing well. We can't wait to meet him!

We also bought a crib last week, and put it together on Sunday. We got the crib and mattress for only $100. Total! Woo hoo! We found it on Craigslist. The funny thing is that when I went to pick it up, it turns out the lady selling it was a parent of a kid at my school. Her little girl is going into first grade, so she could have been in my class if I was teaching in the fall! Isn't that funny?

Here's Ben putting the crib together.

As you can see from the pictures, this little girl enjoyed putting stickers on her crib when she was little. My wonderful friend Amy and I took them off with the magic of Goo Gone. Thanks Amy!

Now here's Ben making his "angry dad" face. He's practicing.

The finished product!! Isn't it cute??

There's even a little drawer underneath.

I'm excited to put our little baby boy in it! Next we are going to (well, Ben is going to) paint the room. His room will be blue and brown. We'll paint the walls a light blue, and I'm making brown curtains. Wish me luck! I've never made curtains...or used my sewing machine....

Exciting stuff!

News!

Well, a lot has been going on lately, because...

I'm pregnant!!

Woo hoo! SO excited. I'm 16 1/2 weeks along, due on January 10. So much to tell...where to start? We found out back in May, and we didn't quite believe it at first. Ben and I have been waiting and praying for this for quite some time. So when we finally saw the test that exciting early morning, we didn't just jump up and down and say, "Yipee, we're having a baby!" Instead, we held hands and looked at it, then back at each other, then back at the test, and said, "Do you think it looks like a line? It kind of looks like a line....What do you think??"

I went to work that day and taught my sweet little first graders, and went immediately after school to the doctor's office to take a pregnancy test there. It's not a real doctor appointment, you just go into the lab and take a free test. It's like peeing on a stick, but someone else gets to look at it to double check. The lady, of course, doesn't know what answer each person is hoping for, so she just handed me the piece of paper, folded in half, and kind of walked away. It said, "Your pregnancy test is positive. This means that you are pregnant." Isn't that hilarious? If you don't know what a positive pregnancy test means, you probably shouldn't be procreating. Anyway, there was more information after that, but I just skipped out to the car and called Ben at work. "It's positive! We're having a baby!!" Super excited. And of course he's sitting at his desk at work out in the open where other people can hear him so he calmly responded with reserved enthusiasm. I love Ben so much. He got to act much more excited when he got home, of course.

Then the real adventure started. Here's how it has gone so far:

Weeks 0-6: Didn't even know I was pregnant. Ignorant, healthy bliss. :) Okay, I was actually really, really tired but I just thought I had a cold or something. And my super-human sense of smell kicked in.

Weeks 7-8: Super-human smelling senses are out of control! I can't open the fridge without gagging. At our school, kids eat lunch in the classroom. Every kid that came up to me holding a tupperware of cold spaghetti asking, "How long should I heat this up for, Mrs. Harvill?" had me wincing and trying not to puke. Pretty uncomfortable. Everything tastes disgusting, and all I want is beef jerky. Weird. We went to our first Doctor appointment at Group Health, and so far we LOVE everything about it. We chose to go with a midwife, and it's great. You get nice, long appointments, they are always right on time, they send and answer emails about every little question, and they're just really nice and incredibly knowledgeable. If anything is abnormal or risky, you have to see a doctor, but the "Certified Nurse-Midwife" is fantastic for us and this pregnancy. Loving it. At this point we were really anxious to be farther along, so we would be more at ease about staying pregnant. It's really scary the first few weeks.

Weeks 9-11: I was feeling really nauseated every day, and threw up every other day. Pretty miserable and not eating a lot. It was no fun. At 10 1/2 weeks, we got to hear a heartbeat!! It was incredible. I cried of course. Now I cry at everything. Even So You Think You Can Dance. "What is there to cry about?" you may ask yourself. Oh, nothing rational. Just me being a big crying baby all the time.

Weeks 12-15: Nonstop, miserable, several times daily vomiting. Want to die. Absolutely disgusting, miserable, want to sleep all the time crappy daily life. Sorry to be a downer, but it really was terrible. I also started getting my migraines again. They were absent for a few weeks, then made an appearance around 11 1/2 weeks. Ugh. Terrible. I really hated being awake. I was constantly nauseated, and nothing worked. Please don't ask if I tried ginger. Come on. I tried it and puked it up. See this terrible attitude? I hate being this person. I really disliked feeling so miserable and being bitter and sick and miserable. One high point is that I actually got to see an ultrasound at 13 weeks and got a few pictures. It was incredible to see our little baby's feet kicking around, and twirling his/her arms around. He was kind of a spaz! He didn't stop moving! I loved it.

Here's how the baby looked at 13 weeks:

So the baby is facing forward, and you can see the head and the dark place where the eyes are on the upper lump, and the bottom lump is the tummy (I think). The baby's hand is right by the head, saying, "Hi mommy!" Can you see it? I'll put up a better picture when we get one in a few weeks.

Week 15: My life (well, pregnancy) changed forever during a visit with my wonderful midwife Karen. I told her about my woes, and she suggested (and prescribed) a medication called Ondansetron, or Zofran. It is used to prevent nausea, is safe for the baby, and it works for me!! It has changed everything. I have completely stopped throwing up. The day I took the first pill was my last trip to the icky world of vomit. I have started being able to actually eat real food, rather than just crackers and stuff that won't make me sick (that was a very short list). I am eating, I can exercise, and I am actually happy. I am so excited about the baby, and I bought my first maternity clothes!! Yipee! I have a little bit of a tummy showing. I'll put up pictures later... I am far too sweaty today (It's over 100 degrees here! In the Seattle area. Ridiculous).

So now we're at 16 1/2 weeks, and on August 13 we get to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. SOOO excited about that! We bought a couple of little baby things, and we're looking at other stuff. I am really excited to start posting about the different decisions we get to make, and ask for ideas from everyone. (Beckie, how cool is it that we're only like a few weeks apart? I was so excited when I read that you were pregnant too.)

I kind of dislike reading posts without pictures, so sorry about the wordiness of this one. I am excited to write more in the coming weeks!! Yay!

Birthdays & Sunshine!

Ben and I both celebrated our birthdays in June. For Ben's birthday on June 13, we went out with a bunch of friends. We had ice cream at Cold Stone, and then went to a movie (Angels & Demons - it was good, but kind of violent. A few too many old men dying. I'm kind of wimpy, but I don't really like seeing old people die. Other than that, it was good).

Birthday Boy & his wifey

Jason, Cindi & Heather

Melissa & Matt

On my birthday on June 17, which was also the last day of school (woo hoo!) we went out to dinner with Amy & Nate. We went to Benihana, and it was really good!

I can't believe the school year is over. We had to clean out our ENTIRE classrooms. We took everything off the walls, and piled everything in the middle of the room. It's a huge mess now. Whew!

Anyway, then last week we went on a family vacation to Lake Chelan. We had a whole week of sitting on the beach reading books, laying by the pool, and driving around in the boat. Ahhh it was relaxing. I actually didn't take any pictures the whole time I was there! However, I took a few cute pictures of Saide a little while before we left, and since she is adorable, here they are.

Now just picture her dancing around and singing, "She's a maniac, maniac on the floor! And she's dancing like she's never danced before!!" She actually sings and dances to that song. She is the best! Hope you like these pics, Miranda! You are such a fun mom :)

This is How We Do It!!

Wow, I haven't written anything in a long time. 

My best friend Crystal was in town for a little while and that was great. I only get to see her every once in awhile, so it was a lot of fun. 


One night we went out to The Crescent Lounge in Capitol Hill for some Karaoke with our friend Lindsay. I loooove Lindsay. Every time we get together, I wish we could see each other more. One of our fave songs to sing is "This is How We Do It" by our good friend Montell Jordan (or as Crystal always accidentally calls him, "Montell Williams") That song is so fantastic. You can't beat it! Favorite line: "To all my neighbors, ya got much flava" Ha ha!! It was even a Friday night, like he sings about in the song, so all conditions were perfect...Except for the fact that we got there pretty late and we were pretty tired and then we saw it was going to be a really long time until they called our song, so we just hung out and sang along with other people, then took off. It was still fun! 

It was pretty crowded in there, and we ended up sitting by the bathroom, which had a sort of complicated locking system, so the whole time we were there, we were explaining how to lock the bathroom to girl after girl...It was nice to be of service but a little obnoxious. :) 

Here we are at the karaoke place. 

I almost forgot my other favorite part of the night: nachos at Rositas in Greenlake. The nachos there are SO delicious. In fact, I was so excited about these nachos, I was thinking about them and looking forward to eating them all day while I was teaching...This is really embarrassing, but while one of my students was telling me a story about her pets, my thoughts drifted to these delish nachos, and when she was finished talking, I said, "oh, that sounds yummy" and my little students laughed at me. I said, "Um, I mean cute. Your animals sound cute." Oops. I fell under the nacho spell. They're really good. Trust me...

After we ate, we went to the park at Greenlake and sat on the grass for awhile before getting our Karaoke on.  

Overall it was a really fun night with my fantastic girlfriends.