Adventures in California

I haven't written in awhile, mostly because I was in California for 10 days last week!  My mom got married on the Lake in Tahoe and so Judd and I flew out to be there for the weekend.  Judd flew back on Sunday and I stayed until the following Sunday so that I could make it to my 10 year High School reunion as well as go to my California shower.  Between the two weekends my friend Laura Ramos came out with her adorable son Tate and we hung out on the Lake for a few days.  After I took them to the airport in Sacramento I headed over to the Bay Area where I stayed for a few days with my Brother, Sister-in-law and my nieces and nephew.  Finally at the end of a great week I came back to Sacramento for my shower and HS reunion.

Mom and Bo's Tahoe Wedding:

 Truckee:

San Francisco:

 California Shower:

 10-Year HS Reunion:

Little Man Bow-Ties

I write tonight while I also watch the Olympic Women's Gymnastics All-Around competition with brownies baking in the oven.  I'm sitting on the ground with ice on my lower back, babying my left hip/ lower back that has been killing me lately.  I wrote a few days about that I was going to see a chiropractor.  Three visits later I am feeling significantly better, but no doubt this is something I am going to have to fight for a little while.  One of the fun side-effects of pregnancy is the hormone Relaxin.  This hormone is amazing at doing what it is supposed to do - relaxing your hips in preparation for labor (along with other things read here).  As it relaxes your hips, it relaxes all joints throughout the body.  In the past two weeks this has become extremely apparent in how it has thrown off my lower-back/ left hip.  Between seeing a chiropractor (hopefully less and less), some prenatal massage, and consistent icing, I can definitely handle this if it means my body is doing what it needs to for labor.  I do have to throw out a quick funny story.  Yesterday as I was leaving the chiropractor she reminded me to ice my back.  (I had previously forgotten to for a few days).  Knowing I would forget, I made sure to do it right away.  I had just made a Costco run, so I had plenty of frozen meat in the trunk of the car.  Needless to say, I drove home leaning against a bag of frozen shrimp.  Done and done.

On another, less serious note, I've started a business!  My friend Laura Ramos and I discovered the art of making baby boy bow-ties for our little men.  With a little snap sewn on the back, these bow-ties convert the most bland onesie into stylish, wedding-appropriate attire!  Below are two examples of the bow-ties.  Check out my Etsy site, Little Man Design to get your own!!  (These will make great presents for all those little men you know!)

Wonderful, Beautiful Colorado Shower

This last weekend was wonderful, but also a whirlwind!  Friday night my good friend from college, Hannah Rodgers married her best friend David.  It was a beautiful ceremony and will be an even more beautiful marriage.  The wedding was an hour and a half south of Boulder, so Friday was a long day with a long drive at the end of it.

Saturday morning my mom came into town for my shower that was Sunday.  Her and I tripped around Boulder on Saturday and finished off the night with a great dinner at Foolish Craig's with Judd.  My mom loves the Food Network show, Dinners, Drive-In's and Dives, so this DDD restaurant was a must.  We were not disappointed.

Sunday was my beautiful shower that a number of my good girl friends collaborated to throw.  My friend Laura Riegel headed up the effort that was hosted at Laura Ramos' beautiful house. Stephanie Whitehill made the incredible decorations (and amazing virgin mojitos).  Jessie Walters and Laura Walter did two funny (non-cheesy) games.  My sister-in-laws' Nicole and Hope were in charge of crafts - painting bird houses, and making a guest book.  The guest book turned out amazing and I will cherish it forever!  Most of these girls, along with my mom and mother-in-law Cathy and friend/ professional gardener/chef, Leah Biber, contributed food and drinks.

I feel so spoiled and love from everyone that was there!  It was so fun to look around the room and see lots of women that I love.  I also cannot believe how adorable all of the little things are - this little man will be one sharp-looking guy!

I Passed My Glucose Test!

Today I took the infamous gestational diabetes glucose test and passed!  Phew!  This routine blood test is taken at 28 weeks to determine if the pregnant lady has gestational diabetes.  I was a little nervous about this test because I have been eating A LOT of sugar during this pregnancy.  I don't know what it is, but I need ice cream every night, at a minimum.  This morning's test was very simple and straight forward.  I went in at 9:30am for a routine check-up (which are now going to start happening every 2 weeks! because I am officially in the THIRD TRIMESTER!).  Right away I drank 8oz of this orange-colored drink that tasted like very sugary Gatorade.  Not great.  Exactly one hour later I had my blood drawn.  I typically hate needles and all things medical, but I am starting to realize that getting blood drawn truly does not hurt.  The doctors checked the sugar level of my blood after one hour, determining whether or not my body is having a hard time processing sugar.  Luckily my levels came in normal, because otherwise I would have found myself in a much more unpleasant 3-hour test in a few days. Now that I have passed this, I am going to go enjoy a bowl of ice cream :)

In other news, Judd and I just spent this last weekend up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a huge family reunion of the Nutting side.  It was awesome.  The only bummer was that Saturday everyone went white-water-rafting, something I chose to pass on.  Instead, however, I went on a beautiful hike with Judd's sister Nicole, their dad and Nicole's friend Landrie.

We had a blast throughout the entire weekend.  Judd has an awesome family and it was great to spend time with them.  Three of his cousins have kids (ranging 6 months - 4 years) so it was super fun to be around all of that energy.  I realized that this was the first major family function that I have been at that has involved little kids.  Most of the family gatherings that I am a part of do not involve little ones yet...not for long!

Although the trip up to Jackson Hole was awesome and absolutely gorgeous, driving 9 hours two times in four days was difficult.  In the last two weeks I have developed a consistent back-ache on my right upper back while sitting, and on the left side of my lower back while walking around.  While sitting in the car that long I could simply not get comfortable.  My midwife recommends chiropractic work, so I am going to see a referral who specializes in pregnancy.  I've always wanted to see a chiropractor, but have never thought of my pain as severe enough for the high cost.  I think this time it will be worth checking out.  If this back-ache hangs around it will be a long three months.  I will write how it goes! 

28 Weeks

Cravings

I've been thinking recently how there are a number of things that have happened during pregnancy that I did not expect.  Some funny, some odd and some that make sense, I guess.  Here goes:

During pregnancy I did not expect...
1. To not actually have a big appetite (the rumors are not true, you are not hungry all of the time).
2. That although I miss beer and wine, abstaining has not been that hard.
3. That feeling the baby kick is the coolest/ best feeling in the world - I wish he kicked all the time.
4. To be exhausted all day if I wake up before 8:30, regardless of when I go to sleep.
5. Heartburn to come out of nowhere. Just thinking about it can bring it on.
6. To give into cravings without a fight. I find myself buying Frappuchino's, Sour Patch Kids, Dairy Queen, iced decaf coffee, fast food, or whipped cream without a second thought. Pre-pregnancy, my self-control kept me from these irresponsible choices.
7. Shopping to no longer be fun. Maternity clothes are usually expensive, and rarely cute. Normal clothes just do not fit right. Short dresses (my uniform in the summer), are often too short in the front.
8. That sleeping would get harder, not because I have to sleep on my side, but because I get extremely hot at night.
9. That there are growing pains involved with the growing baby bump. Sometimes these round ligament pains are so intense I can't stand up straight.
10. To not "feel" pregnant until I started to show, and I didn't start to show until over halfway through!
11. That although I know he will be here in about 3 months, I don't think I (we) will fully comprehend this until we bring him home from the hospital.

Crazy Fires

Over 100 degree weather for at least the past week, combined with extremely dry conditions have resulted in fires all across Colorado right now.  There is a huge fire burning outside of Fort Collins, and another, even more devastating in Colorado Springs.  This was all close to home, but not as close as it became yesterday when Boulder put itself on the map.  A fire on the Flatirons that started by lighting has been burning since yesterday afternoon.  Yikes.  As I write this it is actually raining (hallelujah!) and I hope this storm can help the fight rather than ignite another spark from more lightning.

In other news, I am now officially 24 weeks pregnant, aka. 6 MONTHS!!  Crazy!  As normal as I still mostly feel, the bump is undeniable and is starting to get in my way.  In fact, I feel HUGE, but then I remember how much further and bigger I have to go...

I had my first stranger comment this past week!...and I am now officially recognizable to the public as pregnant.  I know this sort of thing bothers some people, but I think I'm going to continue to enjoy and embrace this entire experience.  The one thing I am not stoked on right now, however, is that I feel like my stomach has shrunk in two.  Peanut has grown so much recently that I already feel him kicking my ribs, making it harder to breath sometimes and taking over precious space where my stomach once was.  I can no longer eat a reasonably-sized meal without feeling completely stuffed.  My hope is to cut every meal in half and eat twice as often...although for me this is much easier said than done.  I may just have to get used to feeling a little more uncomfortable more of the time.  Oh well, such is pregnancy!

And the progress on the nursery!  Lots to do and I'm loving every minute of it!

Growing Pains

I am so excited and just had to post because I just ordered what is quite possibly the cutest diaper bag on the planet!!  Somehow I stumbled upon this on Pinterest, which took me to an Etsy vendor in France.  After reading dozens of extremely positive reviews, I am pretty confident that this is going to be a very worthwhile purchase.  Check it out!:

I'm also patiently awaiting the shipment of a variety of fabrics that I ordered online last week for many of my nursery projects.  Thanks to Pinterest I have found a number of DIY projects that will take up plenty of my time as I await the arrival of this little guy! 

Now that we know we are having a boy I have started brainstorming ways I can make the room a little more masculine, than neutral.  Of course, Pinterest to the rescue, again!  I found these awesome ideas for a vintage airplane-inspired room that I am super excited about.  Judd's grandpa and dad were both pilots and Judd has always loved airplanes (he also has his glider-plane license).  I love that not only is this going to be a very cute theme, but it is meaningful to this family!  Here is some inspiration I am liking:

I feel like this baby bump is growing at such a rapid pace these days!  I've actually been experiencing a good amount of growing pains - something pre-pregnancy I was not warned about!  I thought these baby bumps grew so gradually that you hardly noticed and then one day you were big!  Nope, I can literally feel pain in my side on a pretty regular basis right now as this guy grows.  This paired with some Braxton Hicks (contractions that don't mean labor) I have started to actually feel what a tiny, tiny degree of labor may actually be like - a little scary!   

Other than a growing mass that does not feel like my body anymore, I feel great!  I've been able to continue in all of my normal day activity, am eating normal and only experiencing mild heartburn occasionally.  I've had good friends all around my deliver their babies recently and this has gotten me so excited for the arrival of this guy!  I really can hardly wait.  I know, I know...it's still 4 months away...  Peanut has been kicking a ton recently though which still continues to be the coolest feeling in the world.  In fact, last night Judd felt him kick for the first time!!  It was awesome to see his face light up when he realized what he was feeling!  By the looks of how active this guy is already, I'm a little nervous/excited we are going to have one energetic little man!  Watch out!