Better Late Than Never

Our wintry trip to Utah last year was activity-based (snowboarding, snowshoeing, sledding) whereas their year was mostly social-based. We visited with lots of friends and family that we haven't seen in a few years. Sadly, I was a little forgetful in my picture taking, so I don't have pictures with a lot of the people we visited. But we/I saw and visited with Troy, Becky, Jadyn, Kurt, Desiree, Cliffie, Natalie, Lane, Bekah, Logan, Clint, Grandma Doris, Richard, Nancy, Kimmy, Christy, Shelby, Raven, Marnie, Cindy, Grandma Johnson, Dave, Audrey, Autumn, Jerry, Heather, Katy, Krissy, Kaelyn, Kelly, and Chante. Lots of socializing! It was wonderful, but I miss everyone already. I think heaven will be so wonderful because we'll have all the people we love in one place instead of feeling seperated or lonesome for them. That will be so nice.

(Sadie shown below jabbing Grandma Johnson; Grandma thought she was so clever and funny)

(Becky, Jadyn, Sadie, Ben, and Cliffie shown below playing ring-around-the-rosie)

(Sadie did not like sharing the piano with Jadyn!)

(Shown below: This is so classic of what Ben does when we're in Utah. After dinner him and his brothers all lay on the floor and dose off while the sister-in-laws, Natalie, and Cliffie talk about them.)

(Homeward bound... Sadie did GREAT on the flight home.)

Half-Way

Monday marked my twentieth-week of pregnancy.

This was my first thought: "Yes, I'm half way there!"

This was my second thought: "That's all? Hmmm....it seems like I should be farther along than that. Did I do the math right?"

But, yes, the math was done correctly, and despite already feeling like I've been pregnant forever, I'm only half-way there.

For documentation purposes and so my son will know how much suffering I endured to bring him into the world, this is what it's been like so far:

FIRST TRIMESTER: Very Hard!

Gagging - Thankfully I never 'got sick' (aka vomited, but I hate that word). However, I gagged at the smell of most foods, when I walked into the grocery store, with every diaper change, and at most food commercials. There were many times I had to abandon Sadie's diaper change to get fresh air before I could finish the job. A credit to her: she was rather patient with my strange behavior and gagging rituals.

Hungry - but, never able to eat. Every other day I would beg Ben to bring me a take-out meal from a restaurant, but other than that heavenly meal the only foods I could gag down were saltines and cereal. It was a very expensive first-trimester :) Interesting fact: I did finally get down to my original pre-pregnancy weight but not until I was pregnant with the second; I actually 5 lbs. during that first trimester. Which leads me to my next complaint:

Tired & Weak - Literally, I had to sit down in the middle of my showers to rest because I was so exhausted. I slept 12 - 14 hours each day, but it never felt like enough. The smallest task took enormous effort and a rather lengthy mental pep-talk to achieve. Many days the only times I pealed myself off the sofa was to feed Sadie and put her down for a nap.

Constantly Dizzy - It was so appropriate that I passed out on the day I found out I was pregnant because the entire first trimester was like that. Every time I went from a sitting to standing position I would black-out, and if I stood for too long I could start to feel the blood draining from my head after 10 minutes and knew my time was limited if I didn't find a seat quickly. That's an awful feeling.

Cautious - There were three 'incidences' where I thought I had miscarried. It was very worrisome! I was hesitant to announce the pregnancy because I was worried (even up until 14 weeks) that I wasn't going to make it. But, we would go to the doctor's each time it happened and they would show us the little beating heart on the Doppler and kept telling us 'everything looks good'. What a happy relief!

SECOND TRIMESTER: Lovely!

Thankfully, I'm feeling extremely healthy now. Almost too good! I still notice I need more sleep and I do occasionally gag during some traumatic diaper changes, but almost all other discomforts have subsided :) Sadie and I are going on our daily walks again, my passionate love of food has returned, my head no longer spins during altitude changes, and I'm much more productive. Hopefully, the good feelings will continue!!

I will admit though, despite all the complaining, the discomfort is definitely worth the end result!

Sadie Turns Two!?!?

How did this happen? It seems just yesterday she was born. I've heard people say that a thousand times, but now I know what they were talking about!

For any difficulties Sadie put us through the first year and a half of her life she has MORE than made up for in the last six months. She is a great toddler and has the funniest personality! I never knew I could love one little person this much. She is amazing!!

These are my top 20 adjectives to describe her:
adorable ~ demanding ~ small ~ clever ~ happy ~ complicated ~ sensitive ~ hysterical ~ strong-willed ~ affectionate ~ pensive ~ cautious ~ sociable ~ observant ~ lovable ~ coordinated ~ unique ~ gentle ~ smiley ~ passionate

Here are some pictures from her party. There weren't nearly as many tears as there were last year, thank goodness!

(These two are the best of friends!)

(She wanted the video camera in this picture :)

(My Mom's reaction to the baby announcement)

(Opening presents)

(Is he a cute little kid or what?)

Due to last year's disaster with the birthday cake we decided to have ice cream sundaes this year instead. However, we forgot to sing to her! So, we gave her more ice cream, sang to her, and let her blow out her candles after every one had left. We were impressed she was able to blow out her candles. I wonder what she wished for?

The Announcement

Sorry for all the suspense,
I hope it wasn't too intense!

But it sure has been fun for us
to create this big fuss.

This baby will make our life swirl,
but we are sure gonna love this little BOY!

We've officially told the family! I have to say it was great, at least for me, to be able to wait and see their reaction in person instead of just calling them on the phone. They were a little upset with us for making them wait, though. Hopefully they'll forgive us one day :)

Other versions of the poem:

Today we celebrated the second birthday of Sadie.
She has become quite the little lady.

She has a special announcement to tell,
it really makes our hearts swell.

As you may know,
Alicia is starting to show.

And in this coming June,
it will be a BOY to emerge from her cocoon!

Or, this alternate beginning to the poem above:

Despite the tragedy in Haiti,
we still celebrated the second birthday of Sadie.

Sadester & The Kimmo

Utah was fabulous, freezing, and refreshing. As always, our favorite part of the trip was visiting with wonderful family and friends. Sadie especially loves her aunts with a vengeance (Kimmy, Christy, and Natalie), and they are all so fun-loving and patient with her. She's one loved and lucky little gal!!!

Here are some cute pictures of Sadie and Kimmy. They are the BEST of friends!

(Shown above: Sadie tickling herself with Auntie Kimmy's hair.)

(Above: Sadie became a little over-zealous as she blindly smashes Kimmy's hair in her face.)

(Sadie can be seen above identifying Kimmy's facial features.)

(Sadie shown above pulling Kimmy's hair while Kimmy patiently endures.)

(Can you hear Sadie eagerly insisting on "MORE! MORE!" in the picture above? She can never get enough when it comes to play time with Kimmy!)

There's No Place Like Home

We had a fabulous time on our cruise!! Ben and I were total bums; it was so wonderful. I think I averaged 14 hours of sleep each day, read two wonderful books in three days, played hours of Sudoku, talked Ben's ear off, and ate lots of food.

And Sadie, just as everyone predicted, did wonderful. She went to sleep without fussing, bonded with my dad, played and laughed all day (according to reports), and seemed totally content.

However, by Monday she and I both became a little anxious to be reunited. I think four days was one too many for us and for our first time apart.

I think my favorite part of the whole trip was the excitement at seeing her again and watching her light up when she saw us. It was really, really nice to relax; but it is really, really, really nice to be back home, too!

(Ben and Alicia shown above in the Bahamas)

(Ben put up a bit of a fight when I asked him to pose for this picture, but he cooperated in the end)

(Did I ever mention they accidentally booked us a room with bunk beds? Lori, I will never forget how hard you laughed when I told you!)

(They were kind of cool, though)

(But, Ben was able to push the beds together, so it all worked out in the end :)

(And then, we came home and were greeted by this cute little face!)

Ahhh....life is good!