24 weeks

It's been awhile since I've updated on Little Man Haws, so I had Sterling take a picture. Unfortunately, they were all blurry so this is the best you get.

This pregnancy has been going great! Here's some things I notice:

-I notice my belly when I'm bending over Ruth's crib, and I make her stand up to pull her out.

-I also notice my belly when I'm trying to scoot my chair behind my patients head at work. There is a counter behind me and I don't fit quite as smoothly as I used to.

-Sterling notified me that I officially have an outie.

-I have to use the bathroom pretty much ALL THE TIME.

-Most people don't even realize I'm pregnant, but the wardrobe department is getting interesting. In this picture I have on an elastic-waistband skirt, a maternity top, and a normal-sized cardigan. Most mornings are a fitting session of what currently fits. Lately, I feel like nothing does. Luckily scrubs are always a good option when I have to work.

-When I have an object resting on my belly, it bounces when the Little Man kicks. He's more than a little bit active, and it makes sleeping a little hard sometimes.

- This picture makes me want to cut my hair again. I forgot how fast your hair grows out when you have a short style. That is not pregnancy related. Or maybe it is?!?!

There ya go! Now feel free (or, actually, feel obligated) Kayli to post a comparison picture!

List o' Life

Today Ruth and I had an entire day home together because Sterling went to a premed conference. It was a good day.

-I decided that being home all day is both good and bad. When I work I usually come home, feed Ruthie, play with her for an hour, and put her in the tub and to bed. I focus on her the entire time she is awake. When I am home all day I want to get some cleaning done, some dishes, etc. She has a new thing of squeezing herself between me and whatever I'm doing (the cupboard while cooking) and then incessantly whining until I pay attention to her.

-We decided to buy the Fisher Price nativity instead of buying a nice nativity that I would worry about every time we moved, every time a kid touched it, etc. for the next ten years. It came in the mail and Ruthie love LOVE LOVES it. She sat on the floor and played with it for at least a half an hour straight, and continued to go back to it several times throughout the day. I am so glad it is such a hit. She also likes the big canister (that used to hold animal crackers from Sams Club) because she can put all the figurines into them and pour them all out again. Genius.

-I went on a short walk today to enjoy the glorious sunshine. It was beautiful. Ruth got out of her stroller and played in the snow for awhile. Then she ate the snow, and I said "Yucky, yuck." which usually cues her to spit it out. She looked right up at me and gave me a huge grin. Nice.

-Ruth slept long enough today for me to clean the bathroom and the kitchen. It feels so nice to have that accomplished, and especially to be able to do it while she was sleeping. I vacuumed and did laundry while she was awake, and it felt so nice to have an entire day devoted to putting our home back in order.

-Twice baked potatoes and cookies with andes mints bits were a success for dinner. Yum, yum.

-I decided I don't really love cooking. But I do love sitting down with my family to a MEAL. On the days that I work, we decide between boxed items, like frozen burritos, pot pies, fish sticks and french fries, etc.---thats not a meal. (We do have leftovers on those nights frequently too.) I've decided I enjoy having a meal so much that it makes cooking more than worth it. It even makes me enjoy it, because I know that it creates a nice atmosphere. Maybe thats just because it's how I grew up. But I like that schedule, that routine, and the food is a plus---not a big fan of frozen dinners. Unfortunately, nights that Sterling doesn't come home, or that I work, I completely lose all motivation to cook. Recently, with Sterling's new job and schedule I have an exact time for dinner each night and that makes it much easier for me. Also, we have a dish washer now, so I don't have to wash every single utensil I get dirty by hand, and that is very, very nice.

-On that cooking note, I do like making bread always. Mostly because I am spoiled from my mom and I just really don't like bread from the store. Plus, I can make 5-6 loaves and freeze them so I only have to make bread every two weeks or so.

-I have been listening to Christmas music (Josh Groban Holiday station on pandora) for the past week. I know people think that for some reason celebrating Christmas interferes with celebrating Thanksgiving, but I feel like it is never too early to get into the Christmas spirit! Sterling has already agreed to set up our Christmas tree on Nov. 1st. I am so excited.

-I have to work an extra day next week and I am already dreading it.

-Tonight Ruth and Sterling were plugging their noses and talking with funny voices. Ruth was doing really well at pinching her own nose. Until one time I turned around and she has her pointer finger stuck right up her nose and was still talking away. It was so hilarious.

Winter by Storm

Ruthie was in LOVE with the snow. Not that I was there to see her first reaction. No, I was stuck in Weber Canyon for THREE HOURS. Yeah. Apparently there was a major accident. And since it is the lovely Weber Canyon, there was no way to turn around, take a different exit, or anything pleasant like that. I left my house at 5:30am to teach piano. As I headed down the 89, I thought things were a bit sketchy to be driving in, but the mouth of the canyon is always REALLY windy and especially bad, so I figured once I got past that I'd be good. I sat in my car, in park, listening to the radio for three hours, watching people occasionally get out of their cars, swipe off snow, and get back in. For the record radio station, I think we should listen to Christmas music year-round. Maybe I should have called in.  I survived on pretzels, water, and the candy bars that are supposed to be prizes for piano lessons.  It was a long three hours. Made longer by the pregnancy symptom of having to use the bathroom ALL THE TIME. Sterling offered several not-so-helpful suggestions via texts. My mom said I should've opened both doors and gone in-between. Only, it was blizzarding. That would have been quite the chilly experience. Haahaa. And welcome to WINTER!!!

So I Remember...

This weekend when we had our awesome fall break in Logan, Ruth finished getting all four of her canines, and two more molars. Which means she has two molars on the left side of her mouth, and one on the right. SEVEN TEETH in the last couple weeks. Now I'm just hoping the other molar comes in quickly (I'm pretty sure its almost there) and we can take a nice LONG break from teething. We like to take big steps, like EIGHT teeth at a time, instead of, ya know, the normal two. Haahaa.

Today Ruth was kinda fussy. I laid her down for two naps, which isn't completely uncommon, but kind of out of the norm. When she woke up from her second nap I figured we had enough time to get groceries before we had to pick Sterling up from work. Ruth was pretty clingy...but she's been that way a little bit lately with teething, so I didn't think too much of it. Until we were standing in the middle of an aisle, she made a noise, I held out my hands, and she puked. And again. And again. Until I was very worried because my hands were starting to be too full to hold any more. I had no idea what to do. Being the great mom that I am, my daughter was not strapped into the cart, so I couldn't leave. But since my hands were cupping throw up, I couldn't really push the cart anywhere. I asked one lady to ask a worker for wipes or something...but she seemed a little out of her zone. LUCKILY, a very wonderful, amazing, loving, AWESOME lady took one look at my hands, ran and got paper towels (which barely even soaked in a tenth of what was in my hands) ran back for more, and for a bag to put all the contents into, and stayed until my hands were sufficiently free to get wet wipes out of the diaper bag (which luckily I had brought in, because I don't always carry it on errands if I know its going to be quick). I love that lady. Then I peeled Ruth's jacket off, which got rid of most of the extra stuff. Then I went to the bathroom. Only you can't take a cart and merchandise into the bathroom. And I didn't want to carry all my belongings in with me and deal with holding all of it and leave the cart out. So I just considered wet wipes decent, paid for the apples and bananas that were the only things in my cart, and tried not to throw up on the way home with the smell filling up the car.

Ruth continued to throw up apple juice three times tonight, but after an hour laying on my lap watching netflix she fell asleep and so far so good. I'm just sitting here constructing the world's worst horror stories for what lies ahead tonight. Although I'm not even sure throw up is as bad as some of Amy's stories of Chad pulling off his diaper in the middle of the night and subsequent happenings. I just hope I don't have to change sheets more than once, I only have two sets.

And that is the wonderful events I wanted to remember for Ruth's sake. Or my own sake. Or just to feel like I have covered a new step in motherhood. Ruth's first sickness that was more than baby spit-up (which might've happened all of 3 times, she never really did spit up). And it was at a store, no less. And I survived. Luckily. Because of a really, really, really nice lady. So, thanks nice lady for helping me survive a new phase of motherhood. I hope I see you again soon when I have another problem that's a little too much for me, by myself.

Fall Break at the Parents with our Friends

Friday night we made tinfoil dinners in my parents fire pit. So delicious. The kids did really well not getting into the fire. Not so well at sitting in the kid camping chairs. I guess this is the one and only picture I took.

 For Fall Break we invited our friends Adam and Aleesha and their kids Liam and Lydia (Liam is a few weeks older than Ruth) to our parents house for some fun times! My parents house is the perfect get-away, and the weather could not have been better! I am so glad we got in one more fun weekend before the cold sets in.

Grandpa promised us a horseback ride since Adam has never been on a horse.

Handsome cowboy.

 Then we went to the American West Heritage Center's fall festival days.

Ruthie and her corn husk doll.

Helping to make apple cider.

Feeding the chickens corn from the cobs we picked out.

On the awesome train ride.

The wind from the awesome train ride was not helping this picture. Haha

The huge slide that the boys took our kids down! Ruth loved it and was very sad to leave. Also nap time.

A smaller slide.

Ruth was so tuckered out from all the fun she fell asleep in daddy's arms. She has never done that before.

 We also played an awesome game of Wise and Otherwise with my parents, cut Sterling's hair, the boys shot arrows, and stopped at Smith and Edwards on our drive home. It was a great, RELAXING weekend. Thank you SO MUCH mom for the fire, s'mores, tomatoes from your garden, horse back rides, and the AWESOME trip to Joanne's (where I got some great fabric for our little boy's blankets!) and EVERYTHING else!!! And thank you Adam and Aleesha for making the long drive to visit!!!

Cowboys

Mom I can't walk in these boots!!!

Our friends the Calders. Costumes are from the movie Coraline. I thought it was awesome!

Hottest cowboy EVER!!!!

Our friends the smurfs. I mean, the Schultz's. Haahaa.

Myah and Ruth weren't quite sure what to think about each other.

Doesn't every little cowgirl need a teddy bear?

Sorry these last pictures are blurry, trying to hold a baby and snap pics at the same time. I thought her little kitty outfit was SO CUTE!

Best Ever

Sometimes I think I am incredibly spoiled. Other times I KNOW I am incredibly spoiled. Today was one of those days. It was a REALLY good day at work. My sister Megan was AWESOME and picked Ruth up (because her son had an ortho appt in Ogden) and dropped Ruth off (because her daughter had soccer practice) so I didn't have to drive back and forth from Morgan twice today. Which was awesome. Plus, my daughter LOVES her, so that always makes the work day away from her better. PLUS, she gave me a big bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup to take home for dinner which is especially amazing when you've been at work all day and you are contemplating frozen burritos to feed your family. It tasted MARVELOUS.

THEN, my husband went to take a test and Ruthie had a marvelous time in the tub. I sat outside the tub, but by the end you would've thought I had been inside the tub. She was a little crazy-spaz and we had a GREAT time. It's always so sad when you pick your daughter up at 5:30, feed her until 6 ish, give her a bath, and by 6:50 her eyelids are closing on their own accord. That is NOT enough mother/daughter time for one day. But it always helps when she is a happy girl and I can thoroughly enjoy the hour.

THEN, my husband came home from his test and got me mozzarella sticks from Arby's and an oreo grasshopper shake from Jake's. It was heavenly. Divine. Just the perfect way to end a perfect day.

THEN, to top it all off my husband let me buy tickets to the Savior of the World at the Conference Center the week before Christmas. Now I am just so EXCITED! He's been once and I've been once, on different dates, but we both really liked it and are really excited to see it again.

Oh yeah, Sterling also took out the trash. And he kissed me. Lots. Before he turned back to his research proposal. Sigh. Best. Husband. Ever.

I've relapsed recently, I guess I've gotten past the SUPER tired part of pregnancy and I'm just at the kinda-tired-always part. But it means I can't go to bed without my husband again. Its hard. And I don't like it. And I do stuff like ramble on my blog instead. I should be doing something constructive, but its too late for that.

Oh, and my little brother broke his ankle. Nice.

Tour of Our House-For Kayli

This is our side of the house. The lady who lives on the left took down her Ute signs for Halloween decorations. Now I don't know how to describe our house to people, haahaa! If you go to the right of our house (past the trash cans) you go down and behind and that is where our second garage is.

 Just so you know, these pictures were being ridiculous. So in no particular order:

The piano is directly opposite the couch.

Our bedroom. No, I have not decorated it yet. It might stay that way indefinitely.

Best part of the bedroom!

Outside our front door the other day when it was raining. Beautiful rain!

Outside our back porch the other day when it was raining.

We FINALLY set up the shelves and unpacked our food storage. This is Sterling's study space in the basement.

My bookshelves with some books! And the fireplace in the corner that Sterling loves and I don't because I think it is annoying with a baby. We're never going to turn it on because it will be too hot for her to touch.

The basement. There is a door that goes out and into the driveway for the second garage.

Two bookshelves, with all our books. And Sterling's study area.

I had to put a picture of this up cause it is so random that there is a shower in the study room!!! There are half baths on the middle floor and basement, and she thought it would be nice to have a full bath downstairs. Only its not connected to the bathroom, haahaa.

The reason I NEVER want to move away.

Our list of places we want to apply to med school. In chalk so we can erase and add. Feel free to give more ideas!

The other reason I don't EVER want to move away.

This is upstairs across from the entry to the main bath. So we have our bedroom and Ruth's room and the bathroom and this upstairs. Kitchen and living room and half bath on the main floor. And basement.

We are SO INCREDIBLY thankful for the beautiful home and all the wonderful space that we have! It is SO NICE. Too bad we'll have to move in two years :(