Just the Two of Us

I can't tell you how many times I've heard new parents say "I can't remember what life was like before they (their baby) came along". I've thought about this quite often. I think about what life will be like with a little one permanently in our lives. And of course it's a big change, and a great change, but I kind of don't want to forget what our lives have been like with just the two of us. It's been a fun time. We've been a couple for 8 years now! 8! That's crazy to me. Sure, we've done some traveling and a lot of fun things together, but I WOULD like to remember life before kids:

On weekends, we sleep in as long as our bodies want. That can be as early as 9am or as late as 11am. And no distractions. Except for the occasional birds chirping right outside our window or the neighbors who like to weed whack their lawn. Or, if we choose to wake up early, we go to the beach. Throw together some food in a cooler, put our swim suits on, and head out the door. We pack light. Then we relax at the beach for as long as our burnt skin can handle. We go surfing or boogie boarding. Take a nap in the sand. Not a care in the world except for making sure to turn every so often to get an even tan. Then maybe that night we decide to go to a movie. Actually, we tend to go to movie on any given night. Weekday, whenever. Look up the times and head out the door. We definitely like to go shopping. And when we shop, we are selfish shoppers. We get what we want. We treat ourselves to a new pair of shoes or a new outfit on a pretty consistent basis. Another thing we like to do is go to the bookstore and just read. Find a quiet corner and stack up on magazines and books. We could spend hours there. Just relaxing and reading and sharing with each other our new discoveries. We are pretty regular gym rats. Both of us like to get a good work out in 4+ times a week. Whether we go together or not, it seems like we spend quite a bit of time at the gym.

So as you can see, we have been pretty selfish with our time. We enjoy our time. And we have gotten pretty used to this time over the last 8 years. And soon we'll have to sacrifice a LOT of this time and share it with someone else. Like I said, I realize it's a positive change, and it will all be worth it, but I just can't help but acknowledge the fact that we've lived a pretty dang fun life the last several years with it just being the two of us. And I don't want to forget that since we won't get this alone time for...oh...about 20+ years.

Beach BBQ

 

I could be honest and title this "4th of July beach bbq", but that would be embarrassing since that was over a month ago. In all honesty, I just barely got this film back. I decided that from now on I would take my film camera instead of my digital when we go to the beach. A) to save my digital from the salt and sand and B) to bring some variety to my photography and channel my inner jonathan canlas.This was a fun day with a crowded beach, good food, good friends, and good fun. What more can you ask for on July 4th?

Oh - and the doughnuts....well, if you know, you know. If you don't know, just know that Spencer ate 15 of those bad boys that day. And now you know.

Pregnancy Firsts

The first time I knew I was pregnant (really the 2nd time, but meaning this pregnancy), I tested pretty early. I didn't care because I had ordered about 20 of the cheap paper pregnancy tests from amazon for about $6. So I had no reason to hold back. I think I tested 10 days past ovulation. Got a faint positive. Went to the kitchen where Spencer was on his computer. Put my hand on his chest and said "I'm pregnant!". He got up, gave me a hug, and said "You can finally be happy now!". Ha. That makes me laugh. Just goes to show how big of a role infertility can play in your life. But don't worry, he was happy too.


The first time we saw her was at 6 weeks, 3 days. It was my first appointment to confirm the pregnancy. I was a mess because that was the exact day I had had my previous miscarriage. The nurse was doing my vitals and said "we should be able to hear a heartbeat today!" And I replied by saying "IF there is a heartbeat". Again, at the time I had a hard time trusting that my body was able to conceive AND keep a baby. Seeing how nervous I was, they hurried me in and got right to the ultrasound. We saw the little speck (that was actually measuring 5 wks, 6 days) and they let us hear the heartbeat. The greatest sound my ears had ever heard. I honestly didn't even know you could detect a heartbeat that early!

The first time reality hit Spencer is a funny story to me. We were walking home from dinner at a restaurant down the street. I told him that our baby was the size of a lemon (don't you love BabyCenter's weekly updates?). He stopped walking and said "Are you serious? Woah, this just got real!". I guess he had that tiny speck still in mind.

The first time we found out the gender was a fun surprise. We were in Georgia visiting our friends Jesse and Natalie. I had originally planned to go to an ultrasound center the next morning to find out - and then reveal at Spencer's family bbq. Instead, Natalie told me her sister was an ultrasound tech at the hospital and was working in the ER that night. We arranged to meet at 11:30 that night. Thanks to her sister who may or may not have sent some patients back to the waiting room to get me in :) Spencer didn't really know what was going on when looking at the screen - but I had a pretty good idea of what I was seeing. We found out it was a girl, then proceeded to see the baby moving around. There was one point where she turned her head to us then raised her hand and waved. Such an amazing experience!

The first time a stranger approached me about being pregnant was exciting for me. I was tired of being in the in between stage where I just looked fatter and was relieved to know that I was finally looking pregnant. I was at Walgreens in GA and the guy at the cash register asked if I was expecting. He was so nice and asked me all sorts of questions about how the pregnancy was going, what the gender was, etc.


The first time I felt her move....well this one is tricky. I feel like I could have felt her at times, but wasn't 100% sure. But the first time I felt it from the outside we were in Covington Ward in Sacrament Meeting. I had my arms folded across my stomach when I felt her kick a couple of times. You will see that this girl apparently likes to move the most at church.

The first time Spencer felt her move was in Sunday School in our ward here in Hawaii. I had felt some pretty strong kicks and quickly told him to give me his hand. He understood that to be that I was feeling needy or something and he put his hand on my leg. I grabbed it and put it on my stomach and he immediately felt 2 or 3 kicks. In the beginning these little milestones get me so excited@


The first time I saw her move was at a 4th of July beach party. I was sitting in a beach chair enjoying the sunshine when I felt really strong kicks. I looked down and saw my stomach moving all over the place. It kind of freaked me out but I was so amused by it.


Those are all the firsts I can think of for now. I just started my 3rd trimester - the final stretch! Getting bigger and bigger. She's kicking and moving like crazy. There are times when I wake up at night and can't get back to sleep because she is moving around too much. But I love every second of it. The Dr. did tell me that I was measuring big for how far along I am. I already knew that after I met a girl in the elevator who was 8 months pregnant and about half the size of me. But such is life. More belly pics? Here you go....