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Ten Things

  1. I was watching Home Alone 2 and eating some apples on Sunday when T.J. said to me, “How is it having a built in table?” I didn’t know what he meant at first, but then realized he was referring to me resting the bowl of apples on my belly. My table. Yes, I have now succumbed to using my belly as a table and the saddest thing about it is, I don’t even know when it started.
  2. I got a $10 gift card to Kohl’s in the mail, just a promotional thing. I almost threw it away but realized there were no tricks and it worked on sale items. So, I bought a maternity blouse that was $30, on sale today for $16, and with my card, it was only six bucks! SIX!
  3. I woke up with a sore throat yesterday. Horrible. If you only knew how many hot chocolates, herbal teas, soups, and smoothies I have had since then, you’d be amazed. I’m amazed. But it looks like it paid off because the sore throat is just about gone.
  4. T.J. skipped his first class this morning because he’s been up so late doing homework recently. It was so wonderful. Usually I go to bed without him and wake up without him/right when he’s about to leave. I wish he could skip class everyday.
  5. As you might have seen on my facebook, I’ve had a couple incidents with people commenting on my large belly. Yes, it’s big, and guess what… it is only getting bigger. So, here are a little ground rules that strangers should follow.
    • Just don’t say anything. You don’t even need to ask my due date or say congratulations.
    • If you insist on saying something, think it out first and stick with simple things such as congrats or when’s your due date. When I reply, you can just smile.
    • If you must say something after I tell you my due date, just say something such as congrats, great, oh boy.
    • That’s it. Nothing more to it.
    • Oh and strangers, please do not rub my belly or else I might rub yours back and that would just be awkward, don’t you think?
  6. I drove through the canyon with a friend on Saturday and it was absolutely gorgeous. If you haven’t gone on a fall drive yet, you need to do it soon because the leaves won’t stay like that for long!
  7. I’m going home next month!
  8. I am in love love love with the name Elizabeth for our baby. I can’t get past it, but unfortunately T.J. thinks it’s too formal, too long, and isn’t into it. I like the formality of it, plus it’s a classic name and sounds like it belongs to a beautiful girl. How do I convince T.J.???
  9. Why don’t they sell maternity skinny jeans at regular stores?
  10. Was I the only one mildly disappointed about the Modern Family episodes last week? They weren’t premiere material, I don’t think. But The Office was great… surprisingly great, along with Parks and Rec.
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The Rest

These photos aren’t exactly in order… sorry about that.

I was loving this Orangutan. He wrapped the sheet around himself and would hide underneath.

The one on the right looks like the happiest donkey in the world. Just hanging with his pals.

I couldn’t resist taking this photo.

FDR’s memorial is one of my favorites.

We got to visit the new MLKJ memorial! It was absolutely beautiful.

Claire sleeping beside all of her babies.

Found this treasure in Claire’s closet. It’s like the author was writing it just for me.

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A Taste of Motherhood

I’m back from my trip to DC where I visited my sister and her family. It was absolutely wonderful. Because of the age difference between Mary Beth and I, we haven’t had much of a chance to hang out and so this trip was so fun to finally feel like good friends.

We did a lot in the city such as going to the zoo, one of the Smithsonian museums, picnicked, visited a couple memorials, and had some family time. I fell even more in love with my nieces, Claire and Amelia. They are adorable and so funny. The funniest thing Claire said on the trip was to my sister, “Mom, when you have a baby brother in your belly, can you name him the Cat in the Hat?” Hilair. Amelia is just learning to talk, in fact she said her first real words, which happened to be, “Thank you.” Seriously. I told you she’s a doll.

Enjoy the pictures…

Here’s Mark and Amelia about to go on a bike ride.

Sweetest little girl I know.

Guess who’s kitchen this is….

Claire is growing up! She’s like a real kid these days!

The Pococks!

Pony rides at the neighborhood picnic.

Oldtown Alexandria… by far my favorite place in the area.

This is where I bought a vintage cape… you heard me right. I can’t wait for it to cool down so I can wear this awesome thing.

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Mexican Baby

Here are the last of the photos from my trip to McKinney a couple weeks ago.

Hannah and Me in front of the Dallas Temple. We’re twinners.

My cousin, Bob, with his new bike. He looks like Robert Downy, Jr. kinda.

My cousin, Bob, and my first cousin once removed, Bobby. When you have such a small family, you know how all that family tree lingo works. You can tell they’re Swainharts.

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It’s a girl!

Last week, I threw a shower for my good friend Heidi McQuay who is having a baby girl any week now! (I seriously love throwing parties, why can’t I do it professionally? You could just hire me to throw you a party, and then it’ll be the best time of your life. Maybe you want to celebrate a good grade, new shoes, or the weekend. It doesn’t matter… we can just have a party for anything!)

Anyway, it was good turnout… Heidi had a lot of friends show up from her home and from church but I think the highlight was, if I do say so myself, was the potato soup. It was just a Bear Creek soup mix, but man… after a long day of preparing for the shower, it tasted delish!

Congratulations, Heidi and I hope the delivery goes well! I can’t wait to meet little Evette!

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You’re not fooling anyone!

There is a commercial that keeps playing on my Hulu with these two woman who are supposed to be the same person. Really… am I the only person who thinks this was not planned out well? Not only are they completely different heights, their faces don’t look similar at all. Isn’t this obvious? I don’t understandddddd.

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It walked on my pillow!

I am currently sitting the Long Beach-JetBlue terminal and it turns out this place is like a trailer in the middle of an Alabama summer. Clarification: It looks like a trailer, made like a trailer, and is sticky and hot just like Alabama in July. But it has free wi-fi so that’s fine with me.

Oh, and there’s a bird walking/flying around. I don’t understand why no one else seems to care. I keep laughing at it and trying to take pictures of it, but it seems like me and the three year old girl prancing around are the only ones who have noticed there is a bird inside.

This morning a girl I bought juice from in the SLC airport told me she liked my outfit and then a couple seconds later said, “Oh, I didn’t even see your bump!” If you think that was the best compliment I have received since I’ve gotten pregnant, you are right. Thank you, airport worker, for making my day.

On the opposite scheme of emotions, I forgot for a brief second that in the rest of the world, I “look” too young to be having a kid. I keep seeing people look at me in the airport and I know what those wandering eyes are thinking. So, FYI: I HAVE A WEDDING RING ON & I AM A COLLEGE GRAD! And even if I didn’t have a ring and wasn’t graduated… stop judging, y’all!

Maybe they weren’t judging. But I’m just putting it out there.

Welp, this is me worrying that I won’t get a seat on the next plane and trying to take a picture on my computer without anyone noticing (it’s kind of awkward). Flying standby is awesome because it’s free but I’m getting nervous that I’m going to have to sit in this trailer a little longer than planned!

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Weekly Thought List

  • It’s been a while since I’ve done this but it’s time to start back up again.
  • When we got home last night, it was a little cooler and it felt AMAZING! I hate to wish away the summer, but being in the heat when you’re pregnant is certainly no fun.
  • We drove about 1200 miles in two days and I realized that, out of all the cities we drove through, I would only want to live in four of those. McKinney, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Provo. Alright… maybe I could live in some of those ski tows in the mountains that were gorgeous (and probably cost a fortune to live in). But that’s it.
  • Root Beer is better than Diet Coke. Plus no caffeine which is a plus.
  • I had a dream last night that I went into labor at 38 weeks (9 weeks away!!!) and the baby turned out to be a boy. I was so annoyed at my ultrasound technician and kept asking her why she told us it was a girl… I was going to have to bring my baby boy home in a dress! Weird.
  • My new favorite breed of dog is a Golden-Doodle. T.J. thinks it’s the ugliest thing he’s ever seen, but I think they’re adorable! They’re fluffy, the name is funny (a huge factor), they are big dogs, great with kids, the one below will shake your hand and put his head on your leg. #1 reason: they don’t shed! Sign me up for one, please.  (The one below is named Charlie, which was the same name of my dog growing up, so that also may be another reason I’m in love with him! Look at his cute eyes and fluffy fur!)

  • I haven’t had any sciatic nerve pain since Wednesday. I’ve been watching my posture, which I think has helped. Oh, please tell me it was just a phase…
  • I forgot that my belly is still growing. I was kind of under an impression that when it got big a couple weeks ago, it would stay at that level of hugeness. But no, it still has forever to go and that makes me absolutely miserable thinking about. Get this baby out of me!!! I feel like a whale!
  • I finished the second Hunger Games book and am half way through The Help. Maybe I cheated a bit and listened to The Help as an audiobook, but it still counts as “reading a book” right? The second Hunger Games book was incredible and so intense! I hear the third one’s ending is a bit of a let down, but I’m still excited to finish the series. And then The Help is SO good, but so sad at times. It’s crazy that it was just fifty years ago when all of it was happening. Bizarre.
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24 Hours of Driving Later…

… and we’re finally back home!

Hannah and I made it safely back last night. There were some crazy drivers, roads, and towns (or should I call them villages?), but I am in Provo and loving the beautiful mountains surrounding me!

I got a call from T.J. on our way back saying that he had a surprise for me. I finally got what the surprise was out of him: he made dinner for me! He has never done this. Well, there might have been an occasional grilled cheese or french toast when I was in my first trimester and couldn’t stand the smell of anything cooking. But besides that, this was the first real meal he has made me since we got married. It was chicken breasts with a tasty coating (he mentioned he put paprika in it… I was impressed that he even knew what paprika was!) and a side of vegetables. Of course the way he put it all together was adorable and artistic: the veggies were in this perfect circle (maybe he used the ice-cream scooper?) and there was a streak of mustard sauce going down the center like in a fancy restaurant. And the real surprise was the clean kitchen when I arrived home.

I have the best husband!

……

So, I am going to be in Provo for about 3 days and then I leave for my other trip to Washington DC to visit my sister Mary Beth and her family (this one also cost me nothing because I’m flying Standby)! I can’t wait to see my darling nieces Claire and Amelia! I can wait for the flight from Long Beach to DC though. That’s going to be a long one!

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This is Texas.

Do you get worried when I don’t write five posts everyday like usual? I sure hope you do. I hope you miss my mindless posts and ramblings.

Anyway, I am currently in Texas. Hannah flew me down so she wouldn’t have to drive back to Provo by herself. So, it’s pretty much the best deal ever. I get to see Hannah before all of her other friends, go on a trip for free, visit her family, and tonight I even got to see some of my cousins who I haven’t seen in eight years… they live just 15 minutes away. Awesome.

I will post a bunch of photos later. But for now, enjoy these two from our afternoon downtown McKinney. Hannah and I matched. I wore the dress version (thanks again, dear Hannie) and she wore the shirt version. I felt like a true TexMexan. I made that word up right now.

P.S. I apologize if my face gives you the creeps.

 

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