Utah Trip

I'm going a little out of order here, but I want to write about our fantastic Utah trip Andy and I took from April 24-May 4.  Of course it would have been much more fun if Cameron had been able to join us, but someone in the family has to work. ;)  We booked the trip in January, before I was pregnant.  I was a little dismayed to realize the trip would land right when my morning sickness peaked with pregnancy #1: 13-14 weeks.  I was so sick right before I was supposed to go, I almost cancelled the trip.  Thank heavens I didn't!  We had so much fun.  I think it was so good for me to be in a bigger house with different smells.  My mom was so sweet and spoiled me.  If I even mentioned anything sounded good, she'd go buy it.  It was so relaxing to feel like a kid in the house again instead of running my own household.  I really started to feel much better really beginning with this trip too: awesome!  It was so special for me to watch Andy develop relationships with family members.  One of the hardest aspects of living away from family is that Andy doesn't really know them.  He hadn't seen my family since August! After a little residual clinginess wore off after the first couple of days, he fell in love with everyone.  My mom is the cutest, chasing him around the house, playing games with him, always giving him drinks, etc.  I loved watching my dad swing with him and jump on the tramp with him in the backyard.  Andy adored Abby, who loved to play with him and always helped me with all the little things, like bathing him and getting him ready for bed.  Sara got to spend a few days with us, and of course he loved her too.  Rachel and Christine weren't really around that trip, or I'm sure he would have been enamored with them too. :) Andy was especially excited to have a DOG in the house.  Every time we came home, we had to look for her, and Andy would call out, "Josie?!"  Unfortunately for Andy, the feeling wasn't mutual; Josie was pretty terrified of him.

Andy's favorite parts of grandma's and grandpa's house were having a giant house to explore and run around, getting really good at going up and down stairs, grandma's puzzles (he's a puzzle fiend!), Josie, the trampoline, going on walks around the block (my dad correctly assessed they should actually be called "runs"), and most of all, being with family!

I wasn't very good at taking pictures, but we did a lot of fun things.  Our first day there, we went to visit my Grandpa Winterton, who had recently relocated to an assisted living center.  It actually turned out to be a tender mercy that we went that day.  I guess it was a particularly good day for him--my mom said he was more alert and capable than most other days.  A couple days later he took a turn for the worst and eventually passed away on May 7.  (I actually went back to Utah for his funeral.  Separate post to follow.)  It was a sweet experience to sit and visit with him and my Uncle Vern.  He was pretty much blind, so he didn't really get to see Andy, who was napping in his stroller.  But we had a nice chat.  He was particularly excited about all the food they were serving him there!  It was a hard visit for me, because I hadn't realized how much he'd deteriorated. I hadn't seen him for many months.  Still, it was so good to see him.  He gave me a kiss and a hug.  I told him we're expecting another baby.  We took a picture together. (Which I am devastated to realize somehow didn't save on my mom's phone?)  I'm so glad we got to see him one last time!

Greg and Kathy generously took Andy for a day!  I'm sure he was in heaven.  They took him to an aquarium and did all sorts of fun things with him.  My mom and I had lots of fun baby-free time getting pedicures, buying chocolate, going to Costco, and browsing City Creek.  Later, my whole family met up with the Lees for dinner at the Dodo.  Yum!

My whole family went to the zoo for a day.  If you don't know, my family is pretty much obsessed with the zoo.  We have a pass and go all the time!  Andy was more excited than in times past to see the animals, but still wasn't as into it as I thought he'd be.  However, he absolutely loved the carousel (couldn't stop smiling) and loved running around while I chased him, after I was foolish enough to take him out of his stroller.

My mom and dad were sweet enough to make me a "real sunday dinner," because they know I love it! Roast, mashed potatoes, etc.

We visited my Grandma and Grandpa Messick.  They loved seeing Andy all grown up!  Surprisingly, he didn't break anything in their house.  My favorite comment was by Grandma: "Wow, he's sure a live wire."  Yes...yes, he is.

We also got to visit some more friends and family while we were there.  We got to visit Andrea and Addy and see their beautiful new home!  We got to visit the Halford clan and see Nichole's beautiful new baby, Jacob.  We got to visit my friend Amy and her darling two boys! We also got to go visit Monique and see her beautiful new home.  It was so great to see these great friends!  I can't believe I didn't take pictures.  There were so many other people we wanted to visit too, but time was limited.

We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway.  Andy was obsessed!  He loved the ball area and could probably stay there all day.  He also loved the "under 3" area.

We browsed Fashion Place and paid the Dodo a second visit because it's just so good.

We had such a fantastic trip!  It was so tough to leave.  I've never been so homesick after a visit.  Thanks to my sweet family for helping so much with Andy and making it the best trip ever!

I was absolutely horrible at taking pictures, but here are a few:

Grandpa Messick

Grandma Messick 

Andy-size couch at the Children's Museum. 

More Children's Museum.  We need to get this kid a bike or something! 

Andy loved all my parents' bike gear; I found this cute pic on my dad's phone.

Sheer delight.

Baby Boy: Due Oct. 26!

I guess I haven't officially announced on the blog our incredibly exciting news: we're expecting another  baby boy on Oct. 26!  We couldn't be more thrilled.  We're so grateful that our family is growing.  What a blessing!  Yes, this pregnancy is definitely the reason for my blogging hiatus, and I have a whole list of catch up posts planned to make up for lost time.

We found out I was pregnant just a few days before we left Amsterdam.  The timing was actually perfect--I knew I'd start getting sick about a week after we moved to Texas, so I had a little time to get all unpacked and eat all the delicious food I'd missed before I got too sick.

(Warning: If you don't want to listen to me complain and whine incessantly, go ahead and stop reading now!)  The pregnancy so far has been really rough.  I felt like I was pretty sick with Andy, but it's been far worse this time around.  I'll just preface this by saying I know there are plenty of people who get far sicker than I have. I feel lucky I wasn't in the hospital all the time like my poor mom and other women who have it far worse and literally can't keep anything down.  I've thrown up a couple times a day, and that's if I just eat bread, crackers, tortillas, bagels, etc.  And even those really hurt my stomach.  Zofran didn't help at all.  Most of the past few months, I've probably only kept down 600 calories a day? I've lost a chunk of weight.  And until recently, I couldn't really keep any fluids down.  Maybe 8 oz. of water a day if I drank a sip every couple hours.  The fatigue the first month was particularly horrible.  I couldn't stand for longer than a minute and pretty much spent all my time laying in bed.  It's really hard to manage when you have a busy toddler running around that needs your attention and help. Let's just say Andy has watched a lot of TV!  Cameron was an angel through it all.  He's had to run everything since we moved back.  He had to do all laundry, all cleaning, all grocery shopping, and completely take care of Andy during the weekends and evenings.  All that on top of a stressful full-time job!  I spent most days feeling so depressed, feeling like there's no way I could possibly do it one more day.  Needless to say, it hasn't been our best few months, but we've pushed through!  I'm happy to say I've turned a corner.  My sickness was completely gone by 16 weeks with Andy; I'm 16 weeks now, and though it's not completely gone, I'm doing so much better.  Yes, I still throw up a few times a week.  And if I eat anything other than grains, it makes my stomach pretty upset the rest of the day.  But--wow--what a difference!  I feel like I can do this.  I've never enjoyed drinking full glasses of water so much!  And I have the energy to take Andy to the park!  It's wonderful to finally feel like I can be genuinely excited about this pregnancy and to feel like I can live some semblance of a normal life.

Here are some pictures of our handsome little man!  (Yes, we were impatient and got another early gender ultrasound at 15 weeks and a few days, just like we did with Andy.)

Love seeing how big he's gotten!

Sweet little fingers!  And definitely a boy! 

8 week ultrasound; sweet little bean.