4.29.2013

burgers & cards & 70+ degree weather.

we had the most gorgeous spring weekend. everyone in utah has already talked about it via fb, blog, whatever else......but i must chime in. they're all telling the truth! it was amaaaazing!!!!

we had a fun, busy, happy saturday together, just Jae, pup, and i. we joined in the bbq-ing fun for dinner saturday night at the oveson's. then played cards (i love playing cards. torrie - hand and foot??! i'm dying to play it!)

sunday was another lovely day. sleeping in, church, after-church nap, multiple NBA play-off games, pre-dinner walk with pup, dinner at home just us, then bedtime for all of us. we were pooped from our awesome weekend :)


and then, in typical monday morning fashion.....as Jae and i were getting ready for work this morning, i spotted a mouse. IN OUR HOUSE. (yes, i realize that rhymes, but no, it's not funny or on purpose or me trying to be smart....the fact is there was a mouse in our house.) i saw it, and turned around babbling something not totally coherent about a mouse in our house, and Jae said 'uh yeah, i saw that too'. i later noticed the little stink again in our kitchen, and it went under the door into our spare bedroom/nursery. i ever so carefully blockaded the entire doorway, as well as the doorways into the kitchen, just to make sure it wouldn't get out to another part of the house. we'll see what it all looks like when we get home....SO GROSS.

4.23.2013

15 weeks{ish} and big{ish}.

{i really will try to not just post about pregnancy/baby stuff for the next 6 months. it's just on the brain, ya know. and we've yet to get our internet hooked up, so blogging at home about 'real' events with 'real' pictures has yet to fully commence....}

so i'm somewhere between 15 and 16 weeks. or something. and i feel big. last night and today, especially. i got out of the shower last night and stood looking in the mirror at my bare belly for awhile (sorry if that made a visual - don't think about it!) and thought man...i feel big already. i asked Jae if i look bigger. his response is 'um, you're pregnant'. thanks Jae. i know that. but that's not really what i asked.

i am in NO way complaining! i am beyond excited to have this experience and know it'll all be so worth it in the end. but i'm just starting to realize how much bigger and more uncomfortable i'm going to be in the next few months. it's kind of eye-opening, i guess you could say.

anyway! now i bring to you a super cheesy, super lame-o, super took-it-by-myself-five-minutes-ago-at-work belly picture. do i look extra big for 15-16 weeks??!


PS: i had a dream last night that we had a baby girl and she had to be in the NICU after she was born. not sure why or for how long, but i just remember calling people to cover me in my church calling because i had to go stay with my baby in the NICU (i guess i was really worried about getting my church calling covered....weird). that's what i get for working at a children's hospital and reading about all these sweet, sick babes, i guess.

4.18.2013

thoughts on pregnancy {pt. 2}.



i have been very lucky......i have not been very sick. i've had nausea on and off since about week 6 or so, but have only thrown up once (right when we got to Hawaii, of course!). if i'm just careful with what i eat and how much/how often i eat, then usually i do ok. i've learned i literally have to eat something little about once an hour or so. snack all day, pretty much. keeps the hunger away (if i get too hungry i get super sick feeling real quick) and keeps the nausea away. most of the nausea is gone at this point, though, so that is a blessing.

the fatigue/lack of energy hit me around 6 weeks too. holy smokes!! it was all i could do to get up in the morning, work 8+ hours, and get home to crash on the couch for the rest of the night. i wouldn't necessarily sleep all evening, but i just felt like my body weighed 300 pounds and to get up and walk to any other part of the house (except maybe my bed) was a hugely daunting task. SO tired ALL the time! the last couple of weeks i've finally felt it lift up a bit and i feel like i'm getting some energy back. i can actually run an errand or two after work or take pup for a walk and i'm not hating life. although some days, crashing on the couch sounds delightful still ;)

i've been asked if i have any particular cravings or things i don't want/make me sick. i can't say i really have much of either. i don't really crave anything in particular, but i do tend to go for more salty things - fries sound good most all the time. bacon. chips. the sweets are still good, but i can't eat them a ton because i feel like i get more nausea when i eat the sweets. fruit is good too! and i seem to be pretty thirsty all the time. have water with me 24/7. and mountain blast powerade! love it. oh and then there are smells.........i haven't noticed the smells getting to me too horribly bad, but there is a (nice, sweet) co-worker of mine that happens to sit right next to me. she has this lotion that she puts on multiple times a day. it's not that the lotion smells bad necessarily......it's just SO STRONG. makes my nose hurt, it's so strong. ick.

headaches!!!!!!!!!!! you guys - the headaches. i read somewhere a few weeks ago that all the extra hormones floating around could cause me some headaches. well, let me tell you what! i'm not usually one to get headaches a ton. maybe a couple times a month. the last couple of weeks, i've been getting them about every other day. thank goodness for the tylenol! if i take it, it helps and they will go away, but it's like they just hit me out of nowhere and so frequently. hopefully this phase ends soon.

our last appointment (last week), we heard baby's heartbeat loud and strong. yay!! i'm currently somewhere between 14-15 weeks. i'd rather go with 14 just because when the time comes, i don't want to be expecting a baby when it's really not coming for another few days and then be hating life waiting for my over-due baby. know what i mean? so 14 it is. i am the exact same weight as i was 4 weeks ago. which seems strange to me. my tummy has definitely grown and my clothes are definitely tighter. my stomach is poking out...which is weird. i have one pair of maternity pants and a couple skirts and a dress that are maternity. i wore the maternity pants for the first time this week, and it was weird. i felt weird. i felt more comfortable! but weird. i've been meaning to take some belly shots, but haven't gotten around to it yet. we go back in 4 weeks for "the ultrasound" (!!!!!) to find out what baby is. holy batman, are we already almost to that point?? you guys - this whole thing is just so weird! can i say the word weird any more times in this paragraph? the more real it becomes, the more weird it becomes. 

a friend of mine had a baby this past monday. i read her birth story this morning. i was one paragraph into it and almost had to stop reading. the tears, anxiety, weirdness, happiness, gratefulness.......all of it started to build up just thinking - this is going to be me in a few months. i'll be writing my own sweet baby's birth story. wow. just got really real!

i still pray and hope and cross my fingers every day that this little peanut keeps growing and progressing and makes it to us in a few short months without any major difficulties. the fear is still in the back of my mind, but it's been pushed back a bit now compared to a few weeks ago. i am so happy to have this journey, and have it with my best friend by my side. Jae (lovingly) refers to me as 'pregnant lady', and although it's silly and sometimes obnoxious, it makes me super happy.


4.16.2013

just another manic (and snowy and rainy) monday.






city work/dump truck - tangled with my car :(
not the greatest start to a week. and now i'm car-less for a few days. 
but it could've been worse.

praying for those in Boston.

4.12.2013

it's friday night & i just got paid.

anyone else remember that song?
the good ole days of N*SYNC?
don't ask why i just thought of that song when i was pondering a blog post title. but i did! i didn't actually just get paid. but Jae did. so does that count as i did too? sure. so there ya go.

anyway........good news! we're hopefully getting some internet back at the Horrocks house in the next week or so. can i hear a hallelujah? it's been ok without it (i mean, we survived the last few months obviously), but it sure is nice to have it when you do! blogging made easier, here we come.

a few things of note this week:
*JAE GOT A NEW JOB!! heck yes he did. full time, benefits, PTO, decent pay (with room to grow), and he's off on fridays. after months of applications and interviews and hoping and praying. happy day! he starts monday :)
*it's all a little confusing, with my due dates and period dates and ovulation dates and all, but basically i'm somewhere around 13-14 weeks right now and baby's heartbeat was good and strong at our appt! May 17th - we can't wait for you to come so we can find out what little bean is!
*this week has been a looooong one for me. every day has seemed to drag on. not sure why time has been so brutal this week. but i'm not complaining that it's finally friday.
*i haven't gained any weight yet. which is weird, because i sure feel like i have. belly is starting to poke out (or to those that don't know - i just look extra frumpy and like i've put on a few lbs...lovely stage, it is!). i was given orders to gain 2-3 pounds in the next few weeks. ok, twist my arm, i'll eat some more ice cream i guess.
*we started this week out bitterly cold for "spring" (30 degrees and frost is most definitey NOT spring) but this weekend is supposed to warm up nicely - mid to upper 60's - i'll take it!
*we have two cute mustard yellow planters on our porch with cute yellow and purple-ish flowers freshly planted in them. we've never had our own flowers we've planted before (someday we'll have a real garden), and it's the little things like that that make our home feel that much more home-y. 
*alright, i admit it. i ordered my first pair of maternity pants. not that i need full blown maternity clothes yet - i'm not that far along. but my regular pants/jeans are just not so comfy lately. and when i'm sitting at work all day, they just dig dig dig into me! when i found some on clearance for $9 (!!) at the Loft, i went for it. i wasn't sure what to expect. i've obviously never ordered these types of things before and wasn't even sure what size to get. they surprisingly fit pretty well! already! not sure if that's good or bad....but there's definitely room to grow in them too. and they are COMFORTABLE. 
*tomorrow Jae has plans of working on the house with his brother doing manly things like baseboards and beadboard and using nail guns and such. i hope to spend some time cleaning, at the temple, and taking pup on a walk or two in the sunshine. (and eating some ice cream.) oh! and i got this lovely new shade of pink polish that i plan on trying out this weekend too. (sonia kashuk at Target...new favorite brand - thanks Kellie!)

 

got any fun plans for this spring weekend?
i hope it's great!


4.09.2013

one of those kinds.

this past weekend was pretty spectacular.
the last few weekends before that weren't the greatest, but even if they weren't bad, this one would've still beat 'em out.

for starters - conference weekend.
inspiration, spiritual filling of the soul, peace, love, snuggles (maybe even some *happy* tears).
saturday was the one year anniversary of both Jae and i going through the temple for the first time.
and sunday was our one year anniversary of being sealed for eternity in the temple.
that on top of an already excellent conference weekend with lovely spring weather??!

talk about a recipe for perfection.

my cute mom made us a cake with one candle on top (and sent the extra homemade chocolate frosting with us too...) to help celebrate our little anniversary.



we got lucky and scored some tickets to the sunday morning session (and it happened to be the one that both Pres. Uchtdorf and Pres. Monson spoke in....bonus!).

 
i was afraid we'd get stuck in pouring rain sunday morning when going to conference, but we didn't. it lightly sprinkled for just a few minutes as we walked in. being with my love in a place like the conference center, listening to our prophetic leaders and having the spirit so strong, confirming everything they're saying....well, let's just say i need that more in my life. it was one of those kinds of weekends you wish you could record and put on repeat.


sidenote: i read this post today on this similar subject and really loved it. 
thought i'd share in case you missed it.



4.08.2013

thoughts on getting pregnant {pt. 1}.

**this was written on february 6th. i wanted to remember all these thoughts and emotions and feelings, but since we aren't ready to tell the whole world about this yet, i'm writing it now, while it's all fresh in my brain...to be posted at a later date.**

i'm obviously no pregnancy expert, and i know everyone's situations are all so very different. these are just my personal thoughts and events of our journey.

this is probably way too much information for a lot of you (if not all of you..) but my cycles run pretty long. i was at day 33 and waiting for my 'lady time', as Jae calls it, to start. i wasn't getting too excited yet, because i've gone as long as 35 or 36 days before. you see - we'd been trying to get pregnant for about 9 months. a very, very small amount of people even knew that we had been trying (not even my parents). so i had come to know it wasn't really worth thinking about being pregnant or taking a pregnancy test until i hit at least 35 days. some months, i took a test anyway. just so i could stop thinking about it. always negative.

when we started trying, i didn't think it'd happen right away, but by the time 6 months, 7 months, 8 months rolled around - well i thought it would've happened by then. and i know - many people have much longer, harder struggles with getting pregnant, so i'm in no way ungrateful that it only took us 9 months. i just assumed it'd be a quicker process than that.

we found out we were expecting on monday, february 4th. like i said, i was only at day 33 of my cycle, so i was trying not to think too much of it yet. i got home early that day and decided to shower before we had to head to our tax appointment. i had a couple tests at home, so i decided to just go for it. get it out of the way. i took a test out, set it in the window sill, and then started the water for my shower. i didn't want to wait the 3 minutes while the water was running just to see another negative answer. so i got in the shower. about 5 minutes into my shower, i couldn't wait any more, and peeked out to look at the test.

two pink lines.
pregnant.




i pulled back the shower curtain and stood in the hot water for a minute.
really?? is this for real? is there some mistake?

i yelled to Jae to come in the bathroom. i felt my hands starting to shake. i was nervous! i told him to get the instruction paper out of the pregnancy test box and read what it said about what means pregnant and what means not pregnant. he did. then i told him to come look at the test. he didn't even know i had taken one. he got a smile on his face!

i was starting to freak out inside. my voice was even shaky! weird. anyway, Jae said we shouldn't get too overly excited until we knew for sure. well...the test said positive right?? but he was right...we needed to test again to make sure. plus, the test i had was a cheap, no-name brand. it could be a false-positive or something, right? i had no idea. i don't know about this stuff.

well, i didn't have any more tests, and we had to leave for our tax appointment. i'm sure you can imagine how distracted my brain was all during that. oh, and yes, because we have our own business, we owe taxes. we found out it'd be about $1200+ in taxes. and that was best-case scenario. there are a lot of other details and things to figure out, but i won't go into that. it's all just dumb anyway.

so we finished with the tax lady and i drove straight to walgreen's and picked up another box of tests. we got home and i immediately went to the bathroom. after the 3 minutes of waiting, we went to look together.

a plus sign.
pregnant.



it was for real! if i'm being honest, i wanted to take another 17 tests just to be sure-sure. sure. but i didn't. i just took two. and two in a row? it has to be for real, right?

it's now two days later. i'm still having a hard time processing it all. it's hard to believe. i have an appt with the midwife on february 28th....i'll be 8 weeks.

sooo weird.
was it this weird for everyone else the first time?
maybe i'm just a freak.

this thing we've been trying for for 9 months, and now in 9 short months (or less...) we'll have a baby. here. with us. it's just strange. and hard for my mind to wrap around.

 all i want to do is tell everyone about the baby! we've only known for not even 48 hours, but part of my wants to just tell people!!! part of me wants to keep it a secret between just Jae and i. we decided we'd tell our families in a couple of weeks, when we get together to celebrate our birthdays. it will be the perfect time, because we already have the excuse to get everyone together. but that's still two weeks away! i have a sister in China. i knew i had to tell her now. i emailed her a picture of the pregnancy test. we were on the phone with her when we did this, so we could hear her reaction and talk to her about it. it was so fun!! she's super excited for us. and sworn to secrecy for another two weeks until everyone else in the families knows.

as happy and excited and thrilled that we are.....we're a little stressed. a few months ago, we decided the time to end our lawn care/landscaping company had come. and Jae would find another, full time job (with a little thing called benefits) to more easily provide for us. i currently work full time and have our benefits, so it'd be a little tricky when it comes time for baby to arrive. and our business just wasn't doing what we wanted it to. well...here we are - multiple job applications and a couple interviews later, and still no job. oh, and yes, we can't forget about the $1200+ in taxes we owe to the government.

it's all a little overwhelming.
but we'll get there.

i feel like this sounds a little gloomy and not how i should sound when talking about finding out we're expecting. trust you me, we're SO SO HAPPY!! i know, without a doubt, we were given this blessing at this very moment in time for a reason. there's a bigger picture that we can't see right now, and i know i just need to trust in the Lord and everything will work out. i cannot wait until october.

we are so blessed.


4.05.2013

five (or ten!) things + a little announcement.

the amazing Casey did this little tagged post today, and i thought i'd play along to make a friday just a little more exciting!

the original tag: five things you didn't know about me.
(or at least most of you...i'm not that secretive or interesting people, come on.)
Casey decided to do ten instead......we'll see how many i end up with :)

.1. i am hungry from the minute i get up in the morning. doesn't matter if it's 5 AM or 9 AM. hungry!
.2. my official work title is a "clinical charge audit analyst I". figure that one out.
.3. when i got married, i made my maiden name legally my middle name (i didn't have a middle name before.)
.4. i would rather eat breakfast food for any meal of the day rather than any other type of meal/food.
.5. i have 4 sisters - i'm the youngest. the next one above me in age is 6.5 years older. when i was younger i always wished i had a brother that was in between me and my next sister up. 
.6. i have an obsession with office supply stuff. i absolutely love new pens, markers, crisp printer paper, sticky notes, and especially fine point sharpies!
.7. since 7 is one of my favorite numbers (we were married on the 7th), i'll make this my stopping point. so last but certainly not least.......


we're expecting!!!!! YAYY! we could not be more excited! little peanut is schedule to make his or her debut sometime mid-October!
{special thanks to miss Mary for her awesome help with our cute picture!}

have the happiest of weekends, friends!
i know we will :)

4.04.2013

ahoy matey.

i was told by a random passerby-er in the hall at work that i look like a sailor today.



{yes - i took these pictures while in the facilities. and yes - i left my badge on my hip for the picture.}

i like sailors and sailor-like things.
so i guess that's a good thing?
do i really look like a sailor though?

oh and hey guys, guess what??!
it's thursday!
that means tomorrow is friday!
yep - i know my days of the week.
cheers to a lovely weekend eve :)

4.03.2013

the forgotten sea creature.

i was scrolling through pictures on my phone, and realized i forgot one of the most memorable pictures from our Hawaii trip:

the octopus.


our friends have some friends that live in Laie, and they're basically professional fishermen. we visited them the last day we were there, and their son had just caught a fresh octopus that morning. it was still alive, in a plastic bag. so he pulled it out to show us. it was all tentacle-ly and slimy.

disgusting.

i felt you should get in on some of the disgustingness too.
that's all for now.
happy hump day.