Christmas in Coppell

We spent Christmas in Coppell with my family and it was really fun to see everyone, especially my sisters! We were able to fly standby (Thanks Aunt Beth) and it went over pretty well in regards to getting on flights quickly and we were happy to be in Texas! It rained for the first day or two that we were there, but the weather was at LEAST 30 degrees warmer than Utah!

Leading up to Christmas, we were hanging out with the McDades, and visiting some other people I hadn't seen in a while. We went to Torchy's Tacos and Anamia's of course. But mostly we were doing puzzles (like 4 500-piece puzzles), watching Christmas movies, and enjoying each other's company. It was nice to slow down for a little bit and relax.

We also got to go to the Dallas Stars game and Jake LOVED IT! He is now a hockey fan, and Miranda and Marla even got us the cutest 2T jersey for our baby. The game seriously was so fun and it was even better that we won. For medical school, we're definitely looking at cities that have hockey teams. :)

We were staying at Beth and Bob's house which was awesome because each night we got to go home and just be by ourselves! Nearing the end of our stay in Coppell, I felt like we were going back to Utah too early, but I didn't really want to stay in Texas for much longer. I asked Aunt Beth if she could list us on a flight to Cincinnati and she said YES! It didn't end up being that much more expensive, either, which was awesome. I planned on surprising Jake while we were at the airport (and I wish I would've been patient enough...) but I couldn't keep it in! I told him the next day after she listed us on the flight. Tracey had been posting pictures and videos of the family chopping down trees, of the sheep, and awesome fires . . . everything going on at the farm seemed too fun to miss out on. Tracey was in on the plan and off we went!!

Jake was super excited to see his brothers. We had a really fun trip, but it WAS FREEZING. Holy cow it was cold. It was like you couldn't go outside unless you were wearing a full on Carhartt suit, a hat, gloves, etc. It. Was. Freezing. The creek had actually frozen over and we played a little creek hockey . . .

We ended up doing many of the same things at the farm we did in Texas like playing board games and hanging out with family, but it was fun just to be able to see everyone in the holiday season. It was crazy because for both families we were like, next time we see you, we'll be parents!!!

It was a super fun Christmas. I love our families!

Baby Shower #1! #Photodump

 ^^ Olivia, of course, took these pictures! And I LOVE THEM.

My first baby shower was in Coppell so that all my family could be there with me, including my dad's family and then my awesome high school friends. It was December 30th and Jaidyn and her mom Jennifer hosted. The aesthetic was right up my alley . . . everything turned out so cute!

It was so fun to see all my friends and all the aunts on my dad's side. They came to WIN on the games we played. Olivia designed the games (with little help from me . . . My help was like, "Okay, let's move that word down . . . okay a little bit more . . . yeah, looks good). I have to show those off because they turned out so good.

It was also so fun to open up gifts with everyone. It's generally my least favorite part, but the gifts aren't *really* for me, so I got to celebrate with Jake for the little baby that gets to wear all the cute stuff we got. I'm also REALLY thankful for the diapers and wipes we got, even though no one's quote brave enough to buy us the cloth diapers we registered for! Hahaha 

Overall, it was a really fun day with great snacks and great people. Carli and Kelly were even able to come which was really fun for me. It's weird being pregnant in a completely different state from your family because they don't see you as you grow. They just saw me at 12 weeks when I was BARELY showing and then saw me at like 26 weeks and BOOM, big belly. We get to do it all over again on Saturday with a Utah baby shower! 

Finals! #27weeks

December is flying by. Sam had some extra tickets to the Christmas devotional (thanks to her dad, hahahahaha which has the best background story) and we were excited to go! Jake had never been to the conference center, so it was fun to explore it with him and look at all the paintings. The devotional was great too, even though President Monson wasn't there. It was also supposed to snow that night but it didn't snow until the next morning and only about 1/2 an inch... best winter ever.

Finals week is also about to be here! We have our last day of classes tomorrow, and then finals start on Saturday! Only one of mine is scheduled, but I think I'll be able to bust them out early so I can work the rest of the week until we try to fly home! I'm glad we're flying ... driving actually sounds pretty miserable right now even though we'd get so many good gas station snacks... my favorite part about driving. hahaha

We also got this awesome surprise from Jake's mom for Christmas! She ordered us (and herself) a sampler box from Fivemarys and it is AWESOME! We were so excited to get the box. So far we've only tried the ground beef and the M5 spice rub, but we are excited to try to ground lamb and other goodies! It also came with their ground beef recipe book which we've already tried two recipes out of and oh my gosh, yum. I am going to get spoiled by their ground beef... it's seriously DELICIOUS. We tried their chili and the sloppy joes and both were seriously so freaking good. 

And for pregnancy update... I don't feel like I'm that big which is kinda nice, but sometimes I still have a hard time getting out of bed. I've been feeling pretty great though.

-  I don't know how much weight I've gained, but I'm not feeling TOO heavy. I have an appointment next week, but they usually don't even tell me my weight / I don't look at the scale. 

- I have my glucose test tomorrow :O I'm kinda nervous even though I don't know if I should be... I just hope I don't have gestational diabetes and I hope I don't have to do the 3 hour test! I'm going to eat eggs and ham for breakfast 

- The baby is a wild thing during the day and then at night is totally calm and doesn't move much! But if I move on a certain side in the middle of the night he/she dances around to get comfortable. I've been getting a ton of video of all the movement lately! 

- My acne has been gone for a while now, which is SO NICE! Haha I don't feel like a pregnant 12 year old anymore! 

- Sleep is getting better now that I've figured out a better system! 

- Baby gifts have been coming in  the mail - SO SO FUN! I have the best friends! 

Thanksgiving in Cincinnati! #24weeks

This surprise trip to Cincinnati was VERY NEEDED and we enjoyed every minute of it! Jake mainly enjoyed staying up until 4 am with his brothers and dad playing games, and I enjoyed riding the horses and spending time with the Smiths, specifically getting closer to cute Ashley! We seriously had the best time.

We were planning on spending Thanksgiving with Sam's family because the flights to Cincinnati were soooo expensive. We even looked at routing through Vegas which was a lot cheaper, but wasn't really worth the extra 10 hours of driving. But then Tracey texted us asking if she could book us a flight... of course!!! We were excited to be able to spend the holiday with family!

We spent most of our days outside, or making hot chocolate inside! We got the horses out a few days in a row which was so much fun - they are really good horses when they want to be! Ralph just finished a new trail and the horses were awesome on it, even when I was a little sketched out!

Jake got a lot of work done in the garden with the other boys. They were getting it ready for next year... It took about 4 boys almost 4 hours to complete. I can't imagine if Tracey had to do that on her own!

We also got Buddy, the pony, out to play for a little but he is feisty! He will kick you in the shin if you're not careful... or even if you are careful. Just have to punch him right back! But we got his mane looking all nice for the ladies (AKA Rose) and then sent him back out to the pasture to continue being a punk.

On the our last day there, it was just me, Tracey, Jake, Brent, Bridge, and Lillie which was really fun. We needed to move the coop to the garden so they could 1) be safe 2) fertilize it for next year and 2) eat everything that's made its home inside the beds, and it was a MUCH bigger job than I thought it was going to be! We finished JUST before it got dark. We ended up catching all of the chickens and putting them in the coop, which took seriously about an hour. We even caught the devilish roosters (and by we I mean Jake and Bridger). Then we pulled the chicken tractor over, but ended up getting it stuck in the mud... Almost the entire Polaris was stuck, too! haha so we got out the big guns - the tractor, and that easily pulled it. We set up the fence, clipped their wings, and then we were finally done! Luckily it wasn't too cold.

I'm so glad we got to go out there - we really needed a little break before we finish these last couple weeks of the semester! I'm grateful for Jake, my amazing mother in-law, and a healthy little baby growing inside of me! Life is pretty awesome.

As for pregnancy things . . . I recently bought a fake wedding ring for the days my fingers are a little bigger than they usually are... haha still haven't figured out WHY they're bigger some days, but oh well! I don't feel like I've gained much weight, but I think I've gained at least 10 or so pounds. My belly is measuring 26 weeks and baby's heartbeat this past week was 140! We are definitely still leaning towards boy.