11 weeks and a little surprise!

 

How far along? 11 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain: up 5 pounds

Maternity clothes? Nada...but all my jeans are fitting very tight, and some I've even had to rubber band the button.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: I sleep wonderfully, but I do get up about 3x a night to pee.
Best moment this week: Dr. Appt today and a SURPRISE ultrasound!

Miss Anything? I am by no means a huge drinker, but I want a Margarita so. bad.
Movement: During the ultrasound, I saw the baby move and move and move! Squirming around like crazy, but of course I can't feel it yet.

Food cravings: CHIPOTLE!! And to get to the nearest Chipotle I'd have to cross the Pacific Ocean...So I've made my own cilantro-lime rice, at least a batch a week, and have already made my way through half a bottle of the chipotle flavored Tabasco.
Anything making you queasy or sick: A few weeks ago, but not anymore.
Gender:  ??? Not for  a few more weeks...

Labor Signs: No way

Symptoms: Growing belly! At night, I look HUGE, especially if I had pasta/rice/lots of carbs for dinner. I've also had some major pinched-nerves in my lower back that make it painful to walk (but just for a few days) and of course, sore boobies!
Belly Button in or out? innie
Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: hmmmm...both. But if you ask Keith, he'll say mostly moody :)

Looking forward to: Gender! I'm ready to start shoppin & planning the nursery!

Sooo today I got a wonderful, lovely surprise! ......

I want in for a normal 11 week checkup and was supposed to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time. (Keith couldn't come b/c he had some class for work that they would not let him out of)  :( :(

I got all the basics taken care of and got poked and prodded, and then she got out the little heart-listener machiney thingy...well, she couldn't find the heartbeat! She wasn't worried about that at all though...she said my uterus was tilted and the baby was so small that it was normal to not find it right away...but she wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok...

Well, I was a little disappointed because I wanted Keith to be there for the first ultrasound, but of course I wanted to make sure little cupcake was a-okay!

They wheeled in a little ultrasound machine, plopped some of the cold goo on my belly, and there was baby P! Definitely ok, squirming around like a little squirmy worm! It was the coolest thing ever! To see your baby's little arm move back and forth, and know it's still smaller than the palm of my hand..Amazing! Well, if you've had a baby, then you know what I mean!

Anyway, so I of course got to take home a few coool souvenirs! 

I wanted to call Keith right away and tell him, but then I thought of a cool way to tell him when he got home. I bought a cute picture frame and set it up on a normal shelf in the house to see if he would notice. He did, right away. He said he started to cry a little (don't tell him I told you!) and then he thought maybe that picture in there was the 'generic' pic they have in the frame at the store, and that he was going to feel really dumb if he was tearing up over someone else's baby! hhhaahaha lol. Nope! That's our baby all right! :)

It does make it seem so much more real now....

DIY Fringe T-Shirt

Today I was at the dog park with my friend Chelsea and I saw a girl there with a reallly cute fringe T-Shirt. I've been a lover of all things fringe for a while now (Or at least since I was a flapper girl for Halloween a few years back). I see fringe EVERYTHING around these days, from handbags to shirts to necklaces.
Anyway, I commented to Chels how cute that T-Shirt was, and the girl sitting next to me said they were selling some just like it at Forever21. Now I do love Forever21, but I also loves me some FREE s@#$! I thought to myself, you know what self? I'll betcha I can make my OWN fringe shirt for free-ninety-free! And so I did, and I'm sharing my process so that someone else can make a cool, trendy fringe shirt for much cheaper than buying one.
I started out with a cool T-Shirt that had been laying at the bottom of my shirt drawer unworn for a reallllly long time. It's one of those shirts that I loved the graphic, but didn't love the way it fit. Perfect for cutting up! Obviously a plain colored shirt works just as great here.

What you need:
-Shirt
-Scissors, as sharp as possible
-Ruler or tape measure
-Pencil

The first thing to do is decide how high you want your fringe to go up. I did mine about 3-4 inches. Before I started cutting, I took the tape measure all the way across and made tiny pencil marks to kind of guide me. Once you cut your first piece of fringe, that will kind of guide you as well. If you're not sure how high you want your fringe to be, always start with shorter pieces. If it's too short, you can always cut higher.

 Then you want to cut off the hem of the shirt at the bottom:

 Next, I just started cutting. I started off with fringe pieces that were each about an inch thick, and cut up to where I'd marked off. Don't worry if your lines are not perfectly straight, or if some go up higher than others. Once you're wearing the shirt, you won't even be able to tell.

Once you've cut all the way across with each fringe about equal width, you can eye it and then decide if you want your fringe any thinner. I wanted mine pretty thin, so I cut each inch-thick section into thirds.

After I was done cutting the fringe, I grabbed each piece, pulled, and twisted to give it more of a rugged, unintentional look.

 

I decided I wanted my shirt to have that 'off the shoulder' look, so I cut off the collar. I've found the best thing that works for me when cutting off a collar is to use the front as a guide. Follow the hem with your scissors, and cut both front and back at the same time so you'll get the same look on both sides. 

I also cut the hem part of the sleeves off my shirt to give it the same look all the way around.

  

And there you have it! A sweet looking fringe T-shirt, completely for free!

Goes great with fringe earrings!

I haven't put this shirt on in a whiiile and it's pretty tight on me, so I have a feeling I'll be retiring in again in a month or so til baby p gets here!

I'll totally be doing this to all my old reject shirts that I have in the bottom of my drawers! It's like getting new clothes and paying nothing for them!

From junk to treasure!!

xoxox

A normal day in February

February 3rd, 2012. Started out as any normal Friday morning, except for the fact that Keith was off work. While we were laying in bed trying to decide what to do that day, he made the suggestion that he'd made several times that week:
Why don't you go take your pregnancy test? I sort of groaned inwardly. I did NOT want to take that test. I was only a week late, and there was no way I could be pregnant! I'd only been off the pill two months. It takes a lot longer to get pregnant...right?
I finally gave in and decided to pee on the stick. This is not a private affair, might I add. Keith is standing there the whole time 'supervising'...reading me the directions, making sure the stream of urine hits for the correct amount of time, etc. etc. Yeah...that actually happened.
Then the timer started. I insisted on holding the test for the duration of the time. It was, after all, my pee.
You're supposed to wait like, two minutes or whatever, but for some reason I looked down after 30 seconds and caught my first glimpse of that clear digital display.
Keith hadn't seen it yet, and I walked into the other room staring at the test. When he noticed I'd left (he was pretty focused on that timer!) he came to see where I'd gone to find me in a bit of a trance. I looked at it, and then finally, so did he. We stared at each other for a good 10 seconds before we really reacted.
After we cried (I must admit, my teary-ness was more out of sheer terror than excitement at first) I swear his first words were: I have to call my dad RIGHT NOW!
After convincing him that we at least had to go to the doctor to get a confirmation before we told our whole families, I did give in and let him call his good friend back in Colorado.
As I was getting dressed to go to breakfast, I heard him on the phone in the other room and walked in the find him making me a doctor's appointment for THAT DAY. This is a man that cannot keep a secret to save his life, so I don't think he would have made it to the end of the day either way.
We went to breakfast, called/text a few more close friends, and then went to get a blood test. I had to wait until close of business for the results, so we went home to wait. Finally Mr. Antsy convinced me that we couldn't wait any longer to tell our parents (it's 5 hours later on the east coast than it is in Hawaii) and so I gave in (after taking the second digital pregnancy test we had in the house. Surely it couldn't be wrong twice.)

We called my mom first, and then his parents. (Who I think were a little suspicious at us setting up a spur-of-the-moment skype session). Keith's whole extended family is close, so while we were on Skype with his parents, we of course had to call everyone else.
I definitely wanted to wait at least another month to make a huge announcement on Facebook or anything since I was only about 5 weeks along, so since then we've just kept it to our closest friends and family.
But now the time has finally come for me to start blogging about it and posting a few belly pics that we've taken!
'Announcing' it on Facebook was fun, too. Of course, I had to find a fun, creative way to do it. We recorded our parents' reactions when we told them, and my very talented, creative friend Mallory Sunny put together this cute video:

If you haven't seen it, it's a must-see!

And of course, my lovely 'movie' poster that I put together, that was so.much.fun. to make.

I've seen so many cute pregnant/mom blogs, and I am definitely the type of person who wants to keep track of my pregnancy in a creative way. Plus, I love being able to update the people closest to me who are actually very far away. This is a special time in our lives, and I love being able to share  it with all of you!

And so, without further ado, my first 'belly' pic. Obviously, there wasn't much of a belly at 6 weeks, but we took one anyway, kind of just to track where I started out. (This one was from a few weeks ago, as of now, I'm 10 weeks along)

I've had one doctor's appt so far. Just the basic first appointment where they cram you full of paperwork, tell you what you can and can't eat, what classes you can sign up for, and do you have any questions, ma'am? No, I don't have any questions about the 500 pages of material you just gave me. And thank you very much, this will take all 9 months to read! OH! And give you your due date which I'd already figured out on my own and gotten right on the nose: October 6th.

In two more weeks, we'll have our second appointment where we get to hear little baby's heartbeat!
Here is my 10 week belly pic:

Still not a huge difference, it just looks like I've forgotten to work out for the past 10 weeks. Which I haven't, though I admit, my motivation to hit the gym was severely lacking those first few weeks when I was just tired, tired, tired, nauseous, nauseous, nauseous all day long. I'm feeling better these days, and do a lot of walking the dogs and riding my bike around our beautiful neighborhood.

Well, I could go on and on about being pregnant and how (still) terrified I am about being a MOTHER...but I'll leave all that for another post.

hawaiian rainy days

It's Tuesday, and I've already finished nearly everything on my list of things to do this week. Ahh, the perpetual excitement that is my life. And while there are tons of other things I could  be doing, I thought, why not blog? I'm a terrible blogger, and it's been way too long.

Today it rained, basically all day. Sad as it is, I quietly celebrated the rain and my excuse to wear boots, which I NEVER get to wear, even though it's technically the 'dead' of winter to this Coloradan. I never, ever thought I would miss being able to wear winter clothes, but guess what?
I DO!

Something else I don't have many excuses to do: Leave the house! My job hunt so far has been unsuccessful to say the least. I applied for a design job on Pearl Harbor that I [really reallly realllly] want, but have not heard a peep about it. I was so excited about it, and tried not to get my hopes up, but they were up, so now I'm even more disappointed that I haven't heard anything. Sadly, there are not many design jobs on the island. As much as I'd like to actually work in the field I spent 6 years of my life studying, that just might not be possible right now. So I will continue to hunt and see what my search brings me.

So what, you might ask, do I do with time while I job hunt? I design, of course! I figure I may as well stay polished, so I spend my days creating logos for imaginary companies and designing invitations to imaginary parties. I usually throw in a trip to the gym or a dog-walk, and of course, weekends are reserved for enjoying the island's natural beauty with my hunny.
For now, even though I really wish I had somewhere to go & something to do during the day, I'll try my best to enjoy the time I've got. It seems like life never stays the same for long anyway.

love,
hawaiian, coloradan, bored
me
xoxo

the day after christmas....

It's so hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone! We spend so much time preparing--sometimes for months even--and then it seems like it's over in a blink. 

I was anticipating Christmas this year, but not as I have for past years. This was the first Christmas ever that I've not had lots of family around. While Keith has spent at least six Christmases away from home, I haven't, so I think it was easier for him. 

He did so much to make it happy for me, though, from hanging strands (and strands...and strands...) of Christmas lights, to bearing my constant Christmas music, to sitting through several Christmas movies, when I'm sure he would have rather watched a History Channel special.

He even put off playing his new Christmas ukulele to clean the house (Spot-less!) for our dinner guests.

(He's a great santa, too. I saw a watch I really wanted MONTHS  ago, and he actually wrote down the style number somewhere so he could get it for me!)

So even though we didn't get to have a big family Christmas, we made the best of it! Most people say, 'but you're in HAWAII, what could be sad about that?' Well, trust me, nothing beats being around the ones you love, especially at the holidays.

This was our first 'official' Christmas as a married couple, since last year he was in Afghanistan at Christmas time. He's asked me several times in the past few weeks if I just wanted to fly home for Christmas. (I confess, I did spend a few days dragging my feet in homesickness, and I'm sure he was sick of my random emotions....) 

But I told him no way! He's my family now, along with our two little fur balls, and there's no one else I'd rather be with.

 

wherever life takes us.

8 months ago, I got a call from Keith from Afghanistan. I was in the shower, but of course, my phone was right within arm's reach. (If your spouse has ever been deployed, you can relate.) He was calling to tell me some exciting news.... we were moving!

He was given two choices: 

Pearl Harbor, where he would most likely not deploy for a long period of time, or Europe, where he most likely would. Easiest decision ever! I told him to call back right away.... We were moving to Hawaii!!

I was SO EXCITED by tried not to get my hopes too high yet until I actually saw some orders.

He came home a few months later, we got our orders, and then busy-ness set in! First we had leave, and a wonderful road trip to North Carolina. Then we had our wedding, and those of you who've planned a wedding, you know how much it consumes your life! 

Then, we had a ton of logistical move details to take care of, from driving our car to Dallas to setting up our flights to getting eons and eons of doggie import paperwork done. 

All our bags are literally packed. Most are already on their way to the island.

In two days, we'll be there too! I cannot believe how fast 8 months has flown...

Not until this last month have I realized how much I'll truly miss this place. At least 23 years of my life have been spent here! It's my first big move, and as much as I am thrilled to be able to live in a place I've always wanted to visit, I'm sad at the same time. It's bittersweet to think that I may never be a resident of Colorado again...

Not to mention all my wonderful friends, and of course, my whole family who I'll miss so dearly.

Thank God for technology! Just last night, I called my mom on Skype from the car just to show her that she can 'see' me wherever I am if she wants to!

She got me the sweetest present that I'll cherish forever:

The little caption card that came with it says: 'Apart or together, always close to me.' 

How true that is. We're only a phone call, a video conference, or even a plane flight away from all of our loved ones. 

I'm excited for this new adventure in life with my husband! As much as we drive each other crazy some days (More so lately, since we're living out of suitcases!) he is, literally, my future, and I'd follow him anywhere.

xoxoxo 

The Pope 'Ohana'

Life is fragile.

This weekend, Keith and I drove our car to Dallas to be shipped over to Hawaii. It was a quick trip--we were there and back in less than 48 hours. Just enough time to catch up with a friend and have an amazing Texas steak! It was nice to be back in Texas, if even for a small time...my hubby had never been, and even though he hates big cities, I think he enjoyed seeing the sights. 

On our way home, we stopped in Amarillo at a famous steak restaurant for dinner. It was fun & an experience all it's own! 'The Big Texan' definitely served us up some of the biggest & most delicious steaks we've ever had!

The rest of our trip home was definitely an interesting one. We got pulled over for going 72 in a 70...(yes, that's two over the speed limit...I chalk that one up to boredom...) Then we got lost...like, really, really, backroads, mud on the tires, wrong turn lost (that one I DEFINITELY chalk up to Keith being the driver...) And had a random motorcycle driver flag us on the highway & try to get us to pull over. Very odd indeed. 

We pulled into the Springs finally at about 2:30 a.m., so tired & ready to be home. What I saw next is something that will be forever engrained in my mind, and that I'll always wish I could erase. There was an array of emergency vehicles on the opposite side of the interstate, and we figured there was an accident. Naturally, you look when you know there's been an accident. This was one of those times where I wished I'd stared straight ahead--the two cars had hit each other directly head on, and there was barely anything left of either one. It was literally like something you see in movies--Just a giant hunk of metal, and the only way you could tell they had been cars was from the back ends. There were sheets covering where the windows would have been, but even without those, I knew that there was not much left of the people inside. 

Maybe it's because I was so tired, perhaps it was because I've never been close to something so tragic, but I immediately started crying, almost like a reflex. I couldn't stop it. I think Keith was surprised at my reaction, but he's seen a lot more horror in his life than I have. He tried to calm me down & explain to me that stuff like that just happens, & there's nothing you can do.

All night all I could think of was those people. Did they have time to think? Did they feel anything? Who were they, what type of families did they have, where were they headed? Did they have any idea their lives would end in a split second that night? My heart is still sad at the thought that someone's mother had to wake up to news like that.

I know it seems maybe naive that I would think so much about people that I probably never knew... People die everyday, every second even in terrible accidents. But it's just different, it hits you differently when you have to see it. 

I've been super duper stressed lately about different things--school, our big move, logistics, etc. Stressed to the point where I've developed a horrible canker sore in my mouth. 

My husband really put it in perspective for me when we finally fell into bed at 4 a.m. 

Is it worth it? Is the stress worth it when you know that life is truly but a vapor?

How right he is. It's not worth it at all. Why not enjoy the time we have & treasure the people we love, because life truly is fragile. Everybody can break so easy & I don't want to take any single second for granted. 

It could be gone in just a whisper....