Pregnancy is a piece of cake...or I want some cake, I can't remember which

Here are some baby bump pictures from 16 weeks for your viewing pleasure.

Finally starting to get a little bump :)

Ugh...did I mention my back is ALREADY hurting? This isn't boding well for the next 20 weeks!

So it's true. The first baby gets all the news, all the posts, all the pictures. This second one is already a second-class citizen. So sorry baby. I am one tired mama! I am going to try and post at least a few pregnancy pics though...even though I sort of don't want to because I am only 20 weeks and I already feel like a whale. Speaking of which, I should probably take a 20 week picture. Note to self: Take a 20 week picture when you get home from work. Note to readers: This probably won't happen for at least another week.

In other news, we find out the baby's gender on Monday! So excited!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was an absolute blast. We were able to fit in seeing both families and I am so glad that we did! We stopped by to see my parents before their Thanksgiving dinner around lunch time. We just had hors d'oeuvres and watched football and basically had a very enjoyable time. It was such a beautiful day too, so Jared and I went and hung outside with Christian when he started getting stir-crazy.

Here's my Dad's turkey! Doesn't it look yummy?

Appetizers courtesy of my Aunt Sue and Uncle Mark



Look at this handsome man! Doesn't he remind you of Christian?



The Thanksgiving table

An up-close of the centerpiece. My mom made those candle holders out of goblets upside down and paint.AMAZING!

Trying to get CJ to smile at the camera

My handsome hubby

Look at that crazy hair

Just enjoying the sun

I can't help but kiss his face!

Everyone needs a picture like this once in a while. Mouth open, eyes rolled back...pure guacamole bliss

While my family was getting ready to eat, my mom passed out an envelope to each of us. Inside was $20. Our assignment was to do as much good for others with that $20 as we could by Christmas Eve and we would report back to the family with how we did. We have never done anything like this before, and I was so excited by the prospect! What a great way to kick of Thanksgiving and the Season of Giving to prepare us for Christmas :)

After we hung with my family for a bit, we headed up the hill to Jared's mom's house for our actual Thanksgiving feast. There was SO MUCH FOOD and what I had of it, was delicious. Jamie and Tim brought the creamiest, most delicious mashed potatoes that I have ever had, as well as homemade rolls. Honestly, since I am pregnant and was only craving carbs at the time, I may or may not have only had two or three servings of mashed potatoes and jello salad for dinner...but let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS!

When I was uploading pictures, I realized that we had zero of our fabulous family and only a few of the food. HOW SAD IS THAT!? I guess that's where my focus was that day.

Our feast



Do you see that jello salad? It was by far my favorite thing except the mashed potatoes. Even as I type this, I want to go home and make some jello salad to eat.





Here's our spread of pies. I made the lemon meringue, and I think the rest were from the store or Nation's. I don't think I actually had any pie, but it sure looks delicious!



Here's the problem with a catch-up post

When you finally sit down to try and "catch up" you realize how much you have actually missed and all of a sudden it becomes overwhelming! I was going to post about Christmas, but then I remembered that I never actually posted about Thanksgiving...but then I realized that I didn't post about Halloween either! FAIL! So I think I am going to start there and just go for it :) Here are some of the highlights from Halloween!

The pre-Halloween show started for our ward's trunk or treat. Elaine and Christian dressed up as Pebbles and Bam-Bam and had a blast. Halloween night was spent with Morgan and the kids. We went to Chipotle to get their cheap $2 "booritos" (AMAZING!), and fed 7 people for under $20 including drinks. You just can't beat that. Afterward, we came back to my neighborhood and hit a few streets. There seem to be less and less people giving out candy as the years go by! The kids still ended up with a great haul.

Bam! Bam!

Batman

Little Red Riding Hood

The caveman twins

Here he is actually banging his "club" on the ground :)

Cousins!

The scary vampire...who apparently loves suckers!

VENOM!

The marshmallow herself

Zombie bride!

October also brought the excitement of finding out that Jared and I were expecting again!

A Short Thought

I have a million pictures of Thanksgiving and Christmas that I need to post, but I just haven't gotten a roundtuit. :) But I have to share a thought I had during one of the talks at church yesterday.

Jared and I have been faced with some pretty big life decisions lately. And it's intimidating. And scary. And stressful. And anxiety-producing....for me any way. I feel like the heavens have been closed to me about what I/we should do. And yesterday, the answer was simple, all thanks to a speaker in sacrament meeting.

She was talking about faith and hope, and the thing that struck me most in her talk was when she said, "Sometimes Heavenly Father expects us to walk forward in faith, and to the end of the light, and maybe even a few steps into the darkness (Indiana Jones anyone!?) before we receive our answer. And it hit me. That's what I needed to hear. I felt my heart and soul filled with peace. I need to trust and have faith and know that Heavenly Father loves me and will take care of me and my family as we strive to live righteously. I am comforted.

The Final Day

What a month it has been! I definitely feel like I have found my voice again, so I consider this exercise a complete success. I have learned a lot and been reminded of all the blessings I have.

Today, I am grateful to be a mom, and we are excited to welcome baby #2 to the family around June 12th of next year. :D

The Apple of my eye

Is that how the saying goes? Now I can't remember!

Today's post is dedicated to my son, Christian. I don't feel like gratitude really sums up how I feel about this little man. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful, but it's so much more than that. He changed my life. I never knew such joy and love was possible. I want him to have everything he wants, and I have to keep myself in check because I know it's not healthy for him to have everything he wants! He can cry and scream for hours, and I can be stressed out of my mind, but the minute he calms down and gives me a smile, or a hug, or says, "Mama", I am filled with joy and everything else disappears. In my eyes no kid is smarter, cuter, more clever, or funnier than him. He can be such a pill too - especially as he is gearing up for the terrible two's, but really he is a great kid. He gets along well with people, he is easy going, a good eater, and full of love.

I am so grateful for the fulfillment that he has brought to my life and to Jared's. Our family feels more complete with him in it.

Day 28

As this little blog series is winding down, I have to express my gratitude for something that is immensely important to me -  the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For those of you who don't know, I was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is an absolute blessing, but even being raised with good morals and standards, I wasn't content to just follow blindly. I found for myself that what I am taught is true. I learned and continue to learn from my mistakes. I exercised the principles that I had been taught. I developed a relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. I learned what it means to feel contrition, to repent, to USE the atonement. I have felt the healing power and peace that comes from trusting in Him. I have felt temptations leave me and my burdens be lifted. I am not perfect. I am continually learning. But the point is that I WANT to be better, and He knows that I can be. He loves me. I know my role and my purpose in this life and that is not something to be taken lightly. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have, and that I have the opportunity to continually learn. I am grateful for a Savior that is so patient and full of love and who knows ME.

Today I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.