thanksgiving in reno...

this year for thanksgiving (our first thanksgiving as a married couple)  we ventured up to reno to spend it with chris's family.  we left wednesday after school and lucky for us everyone was traveling from reno to vegas so our side of the road was very clear and we only had to pass maybe 13 cars.  the whole trip, including 3 stops for prego lady, only took 7 hours!! not bad eh?  we stayed with jeff and stevie so the first night we hung out and chatted it up.  thursday morning was spent getting ready for dinner at 4.  i mostly played with my little chunkster friend cadence... she is such a happy little baby and always smiles at me and laughs.  chris and jeff were busy watching 4 different football games... for reasons i wont mention but silly needless to say.  stevie was busy getting the phenomenal turkey ready.  at 2pm susan and the rest of the fleming clan came over and the real party began.  catherine and jeffery and scarlett soon showed up and at 4 we sat down to eat.

 there was soooo much good food!!!!  i made my overly sweet sweet potatoes... just the way i like them!  i also made the rolls my aunt joan always makes... i need a couple hundred more batches of practice before they come out perfect like hers.  stevie cooked the turkey and it was amazing.  i normally dont eat any turkey because its too dry but this was juicy and wonderful.  we also had green bean casserole and mashed potatoes and stuffing... etc.  it was all really good.  after dinner was cleared we played this dice game called farkle which was fun for me since i had the worlds luckiest first game ever!! i ended up winning the game with a 4000 point turn and killed everyone... i was never that lucky again but that game was awesome!

our amazing host family

the next day the twins went and played some golf... i slept in and was lazy around the house it was wonderful. friday night we went out to washoe valley to have prime rib with chris's dad and siblings.  another fun night that included watching "gaither christmas homecoming" which is this baptist singing group that do concerts.  their dad got them hooked on this video when they were growing up... so they sang along to their favorite songs... it was fun!  

saturday we went over to chris's mom's to look (and borrow) baby pictures of chris so i could bring them home and scan them... it was fun to look at chris (and jeff) as a baby!! super cute!  and then we  went to lunch with jeff, stevie, claire and cadence, jeffery, and catherine and scarlett at qdoba.  they have this queso burrito that chris loves! so we ha to eat there while in reno!  

sunday morning we went to a catholic mass with chris's mom.  it was really fun and neat for me to experience that and have a better understanding of what church was like for chris growing up.  then we jumped in to car said good bye and thank you to our hosts for being so awesome and hit the road.  it again only took us 7 hours to get home.  it was a really great holiday and we were glad we could make the trip up there!

beaver, ut in the fall...

we went up to our family cabin in beaver, ut to watch our church's semi-anual general conference broadcast.  we have been going to the cabin to watch every year twice a year for as long as i can remember.  its nice to get away from life's distractions and plop in front of the tv for 4 hours saturday and 4 hours sunday... and of course in between sessions we venture out and explore beaver.  this year jack and laura came down from idaho to join us and in between the saturday sessions we went for a drive up the canyon to see the changing leaves.  we got pretty lucky that everything was just beginning to change.  it made some trees look like they were on fire!  we stopped at this lake and were just in awe of how beautiful it was!!

isn't it beautiful! we stopped and let will run around and play with the rocks and dirt and took a bunch of pictures.  

after stopping for a bit we headed back to the cabin where gigi and meesha were waiting for us (gigi was sleeping when we left) and chris took the kids outside to play and look at the horses and take them for rides on the gator.  later that evening we got a lot of rain and when i looked outside i saw not 1 but 2 rainbows!!! a double rainbow!!! how lucky am i??

28-30 weeks...

30 weeks!!! i'm in the home stretch... with 2 months to go.  i'm still really enjoying being pregnant.  this week was a little scary as on monday my blood pressure was elevated and the doctor got a little worried when after resting for a bit it didn't go down very much.  he put me on bed rest for the week and wanted me to come back on wednesday for another bp check.  i was also scheduled to take the glucose test that monday and when i woke up that morning pregnancy brain got the best of me and i had some candy when i got up that morning... oh no... not just any candy... sugar babies... thats right the pure sugar candy.  needless to say my blood sugar test came back a little high.. haha.   the good news was my other blood tests (liver, proteins... etc) were normal meaning at this moment i dont have preclampsia.  i am still on light bed rest and have to go back in on monday for another appointment... hopefully my bp will be normal that monday so i wont have to go in once a week.  i did have to go in thursday this week for the forever long glucose test.  i showed up at 8:30 where they drew my blood and i had to drink the sugar drink, wait an hour, get my blood taken, wait an hour, get my blood taken, wait an hour, get my blood taken.  i had been fasting with no food or water since midnight and needless to say by hour 3 i was feeling very faint and blacked out twice.  the office was so nice though and let me lay down in a room with a tv and they kept bringing me water and what not.  definitely not a test i ever want to do again.  the results came back normal so i do not have gestational diabetes.   some other things i'm experiencing these days:

- i totally can't breathe.  after i eat i'm so cramped that i can't breathe.  when i roll over in bed i can't breathe. needless to say this big boy of mine is taking over my abdomen.

- as proven by the sugar baby incident i have lost my mind and can't remember anything.  i am getting better at writing things down when i first think of them or they are gone.

- the baby is one active little booger moving all the time.  especially being on bed rest he is dancing around like crazy.  not walking around and rocking him to sleep he just jumps.  especially when i lay on my side... it feels like he is jumping up and down stretching both sides of my body.

- my face has finally cleared up and i'm not breaking out anymore.

-i'm a little baffled at the idea that i still have 2 months and my belly is going to stick out that much further... 

- i'm seeing my first signs of stretch marks but they dont look too bad so far.

- my hair is dry which is amazing for a girl who always had greasy hair. its nice to not have to wash my hair 3 or 4 days at a time! way better than every other day.

we haven't and probably wont settle on a name till our little buddy shows his face, but here are the names we are seriously considering:

henry

andrew

daniel

joseph

we shall see.  as last time i will leave you with another silly photo shoot by chris.... he gets a little carried away with the camera

23-25 weeks...

it is now very easy to tell that i am pregnant!  this belly of mine has really exploded in the last couple weeks.  we had my 25 week check up this week and everything is good.  his heartbeat was good and everything else was fine.  it was a short appointment since i didn't even have any questions to ask him, but we did sit and chat for a minute about various things including old wives tales things people say that sound crazy to me... and they are crazy.. haha.  i love my doctor. he's a really good guy and funny and sarcastic.  i fully trust him and know that whatever he says he is looking out for my best interest and interest of the baby.  here are some things i am experiencing lately:

- this little man moves all the time! he is a very active baby.  he makes his presence known a couple times through out the day and then does the cha cha all night long.  usually i can sleep through it... except when i have to go to the bathroom and he makes it worse.

- i am having a harder time bending over because i can't breathe... this hard ball doesn't squish out of the way when i move so it just cuts off air supply.  

- i have experienced my first couple Braxton Hicks contractions.  at first i thought it was the baby moving around but then i realized wow that whole area is tight and it feels like there is pressure... or just uncomfortable-ness and then after 30 seconds or a minute it goes away... totally weird.

- the other day the baby stuck his bum out at me.  he rolled over and all of a sudden my belly was totally lopsided with this hard ball sticking out.  it was way funny.

- chris has now really felt the baby kick.  it was during one of the baby's morning dance sessions... chris felt it on my side... while i was feeling it on both sides.

- it makes me laugh when he moving or kicking and punching in both directions... i can just see my belly dance from side to side.

- i now waddle a little bit.  chris thinks its awesome. i'm just trying to walk.

- my face is finally not breaking out constantly anymore which is really nice!

-i literally feel like an oven with a bun in it.  i am so hot all the time! our house is freezing to chris and i am just dying! often i will walk in a room and think its super hot and my mom or someone else says "um no, its just you". 

we still haven't settled on a name but i think we have a few that we are seriously thinking about... some that stick out more than others.  thats all i have for today... or all i can remember since i have lost my brain.  here are a few extra pics... chris likes taking pics with our camera... and he got a little crazy this last time and kept making me pose while he counted down really fast... here's the result:

getting ready for the boy...

i have been dying to know the sex of the baby because i have all the projects i want to work on but had to wait till we knew for sure what the baby was.  the monday after we found out the baby was for sure a boy i went off to the fabric store to buy material for my first project- recovering the car seat my sister saved for me.  my awesome sister saved all her nice baby stuff so that i could use it in the future.  the future is now here, but i'm having a boy.  the car seat is black and grey and purple.  i decided to take out the purple and put in something a little masculine and cute! i found this really cute black fabric with grey stripes and yellow and white dots.  i bought enough so that i could recover the matching stroller as well.  here is the finished product:

i started by finding a blog online that explained how another girl had taken apart the seat, saved all the pieces used them as a pattern, and then sewed it back together.  i had already decided to save the black fabric and the grey piping as they were both in really good shape.  this made it a little harder to find a fabric i liked that would match until i found the one i used and really liked it. 

 since i was using so much of the original car seat (including all the batting/backing inside) it made the process easy.  some parts were frustrating and definitely a challenge but i had so much fun doing it.  i took pictures during the entire taking apart process so i could remember how things were supposed to go back together and i';m glad i did!! it came in handy many times!!!  here is one part i'm proud of: making this hole for the seat belt button and making the button hole for the strap to come through the button.  i had never done either before but it was really neat to figure it out.

i'm really happy with how the car seat turned out!! i think its so cute and will totally work for this little guy.  i also did the little infant head rest which really adds to the whole thing... 

after i finished the car seat i decided to tackle the stroller.  this one was more difficult as i wasn't sure how to take it apart. it was also tricky as it had this plastic window and these pockets for the support bars etc...

 once i finished the hood i took off the seat and after looking at it for a while decided it was WAY too complicated to take apart and put back together... not worth the trouble at all.  there were only 2 little strips of purple and it didn't seem like it would be worth the mess to take it apart for that. so i left it.  but even just changing the hood i think adds soooo much to it!!

after i was finished with all that i decided i wanted to make one of those blanket covers you see so many people with these days.  they looked easy enough to make so i went back to the fabric store and picked out some fabric to go with the black yellow and grey i already had.  i ended up getting a really bright yellow black and white stripped fabric with a black with grey circles to mellow it out a bit and then a black fabric with grey and white squares on it for another contrast.  i had seen someone use giant rickrack on the border and thought it was so cute so i did the same and only used it on the front edge.  i also put an elastic band across the back to help hold the cover down when its windy (as it is in february in las vegas).  i already had some white snaps and decided to use that instead of velcro for the straps to attach it to the handle. 

for the inside layer i decided to use left over fabric from the car seat so when the front of the blanket was flipped up it would match the inside.  i also used white minky dot for a border on the inside.  partly cause i think its so cute and soft and also to give it a little weight to help hold down if windy.  i was going to attach a little velco to the side to help hold it, but once i finished it was heavy enough to hold itself.  

overall i'm really happy with how everything turned out!!! i am now waiting for some fabric to come that i bought online to make bedding and what not.  we aren't even getting a crib until we move in the navy, but i need to make it now in case i never feel up to it after the baby is born.  i love sewing and am excited to be able to do all these things in preparing for our little guy to come!!!

19-21 weeks...

i think it is evident from the pictures above that red is NOT my color and blue is amazing.

this week we went for my 20 weeks appointment where they do a big ultra sound and measure everything and check that everything looks good and is developing as it should.  i was anxious all morning partly from wanting to know the baby was a boy for sure and also not knowing if chris would make it home from school on time for us to ride together to the appointment.  he had 2 screenings and half the time they dont show up which the first one didn't, but the second one did.  luckily the guy had already been down to the ER and chris was able to get through the appointment faster because of it.  once we got there the ultra sound tech took us back and first thing confirmed ITS A BOY!!! chris got a big smile on his face.  he's very excited to have a boy.  this will be the first spillers grandchild to carry on the spillers name as jeff and chris are the only boys of all the cousins on his dad's side of the family and so far jeff only has girls... so this is the first BOY!!! i am very excited as i have many projects i want to start working on but had to wait till i knew the gender for sure.  i will be very busy now!! 

here's my update from the last month:

-baby is kicking ALL the time!! after i eat lunch he usually starts swimming around and kicking me and when i am first trying to fall asleep he usually perks up and says hello.  chris and i have tried a couple times now to catch it so he can feel it which we have once... but its hard for him to feel it, especially since my heart beat is so strong right where the baby is sitting right now.

- i feel like my belly has exploded this week.  all of a sudden i feel so much more pregnant and my belly is sticking out a foot.  but i'm excited it is finally getting to that point.

- i have lost interest in foods i lived off of for the first couple months.  i can no longer eat cottage cheese and pears (together), macaroni and cheese, and occasionally cereal does not appeal to me. so i am now venturing out to see what i want.

- heartburn has kicked in! holy cow.  some nights are worse than others, but tums is helping a little.  my doctor gave me some stuff to try so we will see how it goes.

- it is getting harder to bend over to pick stuff up. i stand up and am completely out of breath and dizzy. its a nice excuse to ask chris for help more often now.

- my hair is growing way fast.  i just barely got my hair done and it already has grown an inch! that and it grows too fast on my legs which makes me shave more often.  its annoying and becoming increasingly more difficult. 

- i am sleeping fairly well, but every time i roll over i have to get up and go to the bathroom. 

- i get really bad headaches EVERY afternoon so my doctor prescribed me to drink a can or 2 of diet coke everyday... i will admit i was excited to hear thats i SHOULD drink some caffeine... i do miss my diet coke... haven't had any in like 7 months. 

here's the pics and update on the baby BOY:

the baby is looking really good and healthy.  he is definitely a boy! gave us a couple really good views to prove it! we also got to witness him sucking his thumb! it was so sweet!!!  

it was so crazy to see the 3D view! makes the baby look really real... with skin and eyelids and hands and feet... so neat!! we got one really good shot of the face! and the others the baby was being shy and looking away or kept putting his hands in front of his face.

he is measuring BIG.  like my due date should really be FEB 3rd, but they are keeping it the 11th.  so he is a week bigger than expected and at this rate if i make it to my due date he will be AT LEAST 8 pounds!! thats big for my family! we were all little 6 pound babies.  when she measured his femur she said he was going to be a very long baby as well.  that makes me happy! i hope this boy gets chris's height and not mine!!! 

we left the appointment feeling really happy and excited.  my health is good and the baby is looking good.  just have to wait a couple more weeks now (like 18) to see him!!! we are having fun thinking of names.. and my family is especially having a good time. 

 some suggestions we got this week:

lorenzo

bo hunkus

alex

fredrich

henry

mj

jack

and many more!!! some we like and some not so much- haha! but we aren't planning on settling on a name till the baby is born.  i want to see his face first.

11 days in reno...

four days after i got back from the cruise chris and i jumped in the car and headed up to reno.  he was on a 3 week break from school so we decided to spend half of it in reno to see his family.  we went up on thursday august 18th because chris's friend from dental school and from reno was getting married on the 20th.  on friday morning chris went up to lake tahoe with jeff to go golfing at edgewood golf course for casey's bachelor party.  it was an EXTREMELY expensive course but EXTREMELY beautiful... the whole time you are golfing you have this incredible view of lake tahoe and the mountains all around.  i spent friday morning with stevie and the little girls.  we went to the park and to scheels to look at the giant fish they have.  then we drove out to david's house in washoe valley to meet up with the boys and everyone else for a BBQ.  we had good food and fun company with catherine and jeffery and baby scarlett and david's girlfriend karon and her son josh and his friend. poor jeff ended up not feeling very well that night and was pretty sick :(

the next day chris and i spent the day with his dad and catherine and jeffery and went up the mountain to virignia city... we walked up and down the "old town" and looked in some shops... visited the old school and took its little tour and had lunch... chris didn't feel that great all day and had kinda a sour stomach... poor guy.

that night chris and i drove up to lake tahoe to meet up with jeff and stevie and their friends to see shakespeare by the lake... we saw twelfth night... which is hilarious! it was the based the movie "she's the man" on.  its a really neat setting as you sit in the sand on a hill in little beach chairs and have the lake as the back view of the show.  after the show chris and i had walked towards our car and decided to go to the bathroom before taking the trip back down the mountain... while waiting outside for our turn... this bear walked up the walkway towards chris.  at first he thought it was a big dog till he flashed a flashlight on it and saw it was a bear... and man walked up behind chris which scared the bear away... bizarre right??!! i was totally freaked and felt lucky it just walked away.

we woke up sunday morning and got ready to go to church out in washoe valley... it was a small little ward but fun to be there.  they have a full sized chapel but a really small congregation.  that afternoon we were picked up by susan and richard as they offered to take jeff, stevie, cadence, chris and i to the wedding.  we drove up to lake tahoe back to edgewood golf course where the wedding took place.  it was beautiful! kristen (the bride) looked amazing! loved her dress! we had great fun taking pictures in the photo booth they had for the guest book and eating food.  we danced a little but i wasn't feeling great and chris's stomach was bothering him... on the drive home... chris ended up getting sick. poor guy. 

 that night i made him sleep on the couch so i wouldn't get whatever he had.  monday morning i woke up shaking with the chills... looks like i got the flu too.  it is still the only time i have thrown up this whole pregnancy.  we didn't realize that everyone else had the flu too till his dad walked in the door at lunch time home early from work and had been sick all night.  turns out that chris, daivd, karon, her son josh and his friend all had the flu that day.  catherine ended up getting it later in the week... weird! it knocked chris and i out. we spent monday laying on the couch doing nothing all day.  

tuesday we headed out to jeff and stevie's to stay for the rest of our visit.  that night we made spaghetti and took it over to zack and katelynd's house.  they had both their new little girl twins home from the hospital and wanted to say hi and meet the babies.  wednesday chris went to work with jeff and i slept in! it was nice!! that night was claire's 2nd b-day so we headed to the park for pizza and cake and ice cream.

thursday we went back to zack and katelynd's for dinner and this time they cooked.  jeff and stevie came with us too... we have a fun little party sitting around holding babies and talking about the past.  that night zack kept freaking out at things i would say because it turns out katelynd and i have a lot in common... haha it was pretty funny.  friday morning chris went golfing again with jeff and when he got back we deaded up to lake tahoe just the two of us.  we sat by the lake and i read my book the whole time and chris would go out and swim and jump off the rocks and would come back and read for a while.  we left once the sun went down and got dinner at a little diner there in incline village.  

saturday we got up and went over to susan's.  we had an awesome breakfast and then headed over to the pool in their complex.  we played in the pool for an hour or so and then headed home.  on the way we decided to stop by and say hi to judy hicks since we were so close to her house... we ended up chatting for over an hour.  love that woman! it was good we stayed so long though since jeff called and said that brady (their dog) had gotten sick all over the couch... 

once we got home i discovered that brady had gotten into our room and found the big box of fudge we had just bought from cabella's earlier that week... she managed to get the box out from a bag within a bag within a bag... and ate the ENTIRE box including the wax paper wrapped around each piece... she is a little dog... lucky it didn't make her more sick or kill her but she was fine... that night we had catherine jeffery and daivd and karon over for dinner at jeff and stevie's. david and karon picked up macaroni grill for all of us.  we had a really good time sitting around the table just talking and laughing forever!  

sunday morning we got up and got ready for church.  we met up with zack and katelynd since it was their ward.  when we got to relief society they asked if anyone could play piano and no one raised their hand so i stood up and said i could.  i thought it was funny that i was the visitor and was the one playing.  after church we headed back to jeff and stevie's and had dinner and went to bed... we got up early the next morning and packed up and left. we stopped real quick at cabella's to pick up a new box of fudge since we didn't get to eat any of the last one... haha.. then drove home.  it was really  fun to see all the family! we may only get to go one more time for thanksgiving before we have the baby and are off somewhere new in the navy!