Happy Leap Day!

Well, I figured I should write today since this day only comes but once every four years. Also, it's been a couple weeks since I last wrote and the next couple will probably be pretty busy for us as well. For Matt's birthday this year, I got tickets for us to go and see the Lion King which is being performed in Richmond. That's what we will be doing this Friday night, after which we will be driving up to Matt's parents because the next day Matt's cousin, Michael, is having an open house for his recent marriage there. Unfortunately, we will have to leave that same night after the open house because I have to be back on Sunday to do Singing Time in Primary. I'm pretty certain I'll be exhausted after the weekend but hopefully I'll be able to catch up because the next week is spring break for Matt! So during spring break we are going on a cruise out of Baltimore as a babymoon/first anniversary celebration. We are so excited to go, I'm a huge advocate of cruises as vacations, especially if one of your goals is to relax.

I'm officially in the second trimester of my pregnancy, thank the heavens. I'm 15 weeks as of Sunday and while I'm still tired a lot of the time, I'm feeling so much better. I've been able to go to the gym more and even go to the store all by myself. I had a doctor's appointment at the beginning of the week and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. They found it right away with the Doppler and baby's heart rate was 160 bpm. It's pretty surreal to hear a second heart beat coming out of your body. In a month we will find out the baby's gender and we can't wait. The doctor said my vitals were good and that I've gained 0.8 pounds so far. I still don't really think I'm obviously showing but the weight on the scale is increasing so there's something afoot.

15 Weeks Along

For comparison, here is the picture at 13 weeks.

Honestly, it's hard for me to not freak out about the weight gaining thing. I was pretty chubby all growing up and have had bouts as an adult as well so I'm sensitive to the issue. Gaining weight was one of the things I was most worried about when I thought about getting pregnant. I know it sounds so vain, but I remember so clearly what it felt like to be overweight and it's something that really gets in your head and stays with you into adulthood. So even though I know logically that I'm supposed to gain weight, it's hard not to have a mini panic attack when I step on the scale and find that I weigh more than the last time. Especially since for the first three months there was a distinct decline in the number on the scale.

On to happier things. My appetite is returning, though with the acid reflux and indigestion, the portions I eat are smaller than they used to be. One thing that I've really enjoyed, and have had a couple times is...

Yep, a cherry Icee with a soft pretzel and fake cheese a la Target. I don't know what it is, but it's just so satisfying. It really reminds me of being a kid, too. I would love to go to Target with my mom and get an Icee while we were shopping. I also have fond memories of being at the mall with my mom and getting a soft pretzel with cheese dip. I guess growing a child has made me nostalgic for certain foods I ate as a child. Anyway, I hope everyone is having a delightful Leap Day!

Some *little* Big News

So I have kind of disappeared from the blogosphere for the past couple of months, but with good reason. In the middle of December Matt and I found out that we were going to be parents! We were really excited (and terrified) when we found out. I had been really tired and nauseous for a couple weeks before taking the test but I also got a sinus infection and was on antibiotics so I thought maybe that was contributing to the nausea. I didn't really want to get my hopes up but I think some part of me knew. We found out the week before Christmas when we were staying with Matt's parents and so they knew right away but we wanted to wait to tell my family when we flew to Oregon the next week. We were already aware at this point that Matt's younger sister, Kara, was expecting, but on Christmas morning we also found out that Matt's oldest sister, Ashby, was also expecting. Then when we went to Oregon to see my family we found out my sister, Carrie, is also pregnant. Carrie and Ashby are due about a day apart. I'm due a couple weeks later. So there will be four babies that I'm related to born within a month and a half of each other. I know, crazy!

My official due date is August 20, 2012. So today I'm 13 weeks. Thankfully. This brings us to the reason I've been so out of it lately. Once I hit about 5 1/2 weeks, I started feeling super sick all the time. Unfortunately, this started when we got to Oregon on Christmas. I spent most of the week in bed which really put a cramp in the plans I had for what to do while we were there. Thankfully I have a very understanding family who was just glad that I was home. But that was the start to the next eight weeks of basically feeling like death all the time. Every pregnancy is different so it's impossible to know ahead of time what it is going to be like for you and what it will be like for others who are pregnant at the same time as you. For me it meant basically being in bed and not being able to do anything without dry heaving or throwing up (TMI?). Though I was hungry pretty often, nothing ever sounded appetizing so eating became a serious chore. The thought of sweets made me want to hurl which meant that I didn't have any of the delicious treats during the holidays. I guess it helped me to not gain extra holiday weight. And the whole not being able to eat thing has ironically helped me to weigh less now than I did before I was pregnant (or even when I got married).

I always had these grandiose ideas of how I would experience pregnancy and how I would try to be fit and exercise daily and eat well. Let's just say that showering became exercise for me because by the time I was done, it was game over for the day. I have to say, though, I am very blessed to have good friends in Richmond. One of which has continually gone out of her way to check up on me, bring us meals, treats, and bread, and visit me while I have practically not left the apartment since returning from Christmas break. Those little acts of kindness and concern often brought me to tears because I'm so used to being able to take care of myself that asking for and being offered help has been a tender mercy.

At 11 Weeks- I couldn't believe how clear this picture
was. I mean, I can see the nose.

Thankfully, during the past week I have started to feel more like myself, I've been able to clean and cook some meals and do a little baking. It's pathetic how much of an accomplishment that feels to me now, but just being able to stand up for any length of time feels miraculous. Though I'm not completely back to feeling human, the little glimpses I've had this week have really bolstered my hope. My mom told me that she had been really worried about me since there are some women who are ill their whole pregnancy, including my dad's mom. I had never been told this but apparently, she was terribly sick with both of her pregnancies. She was so sick with my dad (the youngest) that they encouraged her to abort him. She nearly died from having him and once she had the doctors told her that she could absolutely not have any more because she would die from it. It really made me appreciate her, the grandmother who died a few years before I was born. Anyway, it really relieved my mom to hear I had been having some good days because it's always been a concern for her that one of her daughters would take after our paternal grandmother.

Matt and I love how you can see the little hands and feet!

So as of now, I don't think I really look that pregnant even though the baby is the size of a peach. I can still fit into my old clothes (some even better than before), though I usually end up in sweats or pajamas. Matt and I can't wait until the end of March when we find out what gender the baby is! Matt gets so excited when talking about having a baby, he especially is excited for the little fingers and toes. At this point, I'm just grateful to be getting out of the first trimester and crossing my fingers that the second will be the "honeymoon trimester," as I've heard it termed. But here are a couple of pictures of me at 13 weeks. Nothing glamorous, I just wanted to be able to track the belly.

Sorry, it's a little blurry

Crafting Fun

Recently I decided that I wanted to get back into crafting. So I have a couple of projects I would love to show. Take into consideration that my photography skills leave something to be desired.

First I made a bulletin board/white board of sorts. Since I'm currently having a love affair with Pinterest, there are tons of ideas floating around that I want to copy recreate.

To make the cork portion, I cut down the tiles to the size of frames that I bought. I took a stencil and painted a border on two of the sides and let it dry. Since I was doing a four frame set, I did this again. Make sure that the glass is no longer in the frame, otherwise you can't actually use the cork as a bulletin board.

To make the "white boards" I took fabric swatches that I had lying around and wrapped them around the backing of the frame, as if I were upholstering a chair seat. Using hot glue, I secured the fabric to the board. Then I put it back in the frame making sure that the glass was on the fabric since the glass is the part you write on with dry-erase markers. 

Original frames

Completed white board frame

This is how the whole thing looks on the wall.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. It was also a pretty quick and simple project. Just as a tip, make sure that the fabric is light enough so that you can see what you write on the glass. 

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we fled the cooling weather in Virginia for a warmer Arizona climate. Matt's parents generously made it possible for us to spend Thanksgiving there at the home of Matt's oldest sister, Ashby. We had such a great time! On the morning of Thanksgiving, we participated in a Turkey Trot being put on in Ashby's neighborhood. There was a great turnout and our crew had made custom Turkey Trot T-Shirts for the event.

The whole crew (minus Stacey's husband, Cade)

The happy couple

After the feast, some of us adults took the kids to see the Muppet Movie. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. We were sad to see the trip end, we love being with family. We headed back to Richmond for the home stretch of the semester.

*All photos courtesy of Ashby Hatch*

Halloween

So for Halloween we went to our ward's Halloween Party on the Saturday before Halloween. The Primary was in charge of it, and since I'm one of the choristers, I went early to help set up for the party. Part of the activity was putting together care packages to send to troops in Iraq so there was kind of a patriotic/ARMY theme. It was great fun and turned out very well.

This is me with my little ARMY buddy.
He is one of the great kids in Junior Primary

My husband decided to be Captain America, so I suppose
it was appropriate that I dressed up as a n ARMY soldier.

An Overdue Update

So there are many things to update you on. I'll try not to be longwinded since I know that would be super boring.

First off, my birthday (yes, I realize that it was nearly three months ago, but who's counting?). Matt and I went up to northern Virginia to stay with his parents for the weekend. Matt had bought me tickets to see...

I had never seen it before and it was being performed at the Kennedy Center in D.C. the weekend of my birthday. I loved it. It was very moving and I'm so glad I got to see it. 

This is us right before the show

On Saturday (my actual birthday) we got to watch General Conference which we loved, and then I got to open presents (yay!). Karen and Bill really made my birthday special, especially since I'm so far away from my family.

I got a great new purse, some books, earrings, and a temple bag. Definitely a great birthday! A Stringham family tradition that came from Karen's family is an ice cream birthday cake. It's delicious! Karen made it and colored the frosting purple since it's my favorite color.

Thank you all for making my birthday so special. And special thanks to my wonderful parents for making it all possible!

One Year

I've been quite remiss in writing lately and I apologize. I need to update the blog but something very important happened a year ago yesterday. A year ago on November 6, 2010 I decided to join LDS Singles for a month- that same day I found the profile of one MattfromVA. I sent him a message telling him that he seemed great and uI would love to get to know him better. Little did I know then that that simple message would drastically change the outcome of the next year and my life. It truly is the small and simple things that being about great things as Alma tells us in the Book of Mormon. I am more and more in love with Matt every day. I am convinced that a sweeter, kinder, and more loving man does not exist. I love him so much and thank my Heavenly Father every day for bringing Matt into my life. Here's to the first of infinite best years of my life.
Cheers!