I made it!

Today was my last day of seminary. Yippee! As much as I loved (most of the things about) teaching seminary, it is really nice to know that I don't have to wake up early or spend lots of time preparing lessons for the next couple months. I just get to focus on getting ready for this little babe to get here, and that is a big relief. I know I will miss it though.

Still, I sure felt happy sitting next to the fire after I got home, eating homemade bread and jam, sipping hot cocoa, and watching the snow fall. Very happy indeed. 

 

Here are a few things I learned this semester:

1. Teaching seminary while pregnant, especially when you're in your third trimester, is much more difficult that when you're not pregnant. 

2. It's really hard to tell if/when anyone is getting anything out of your lesson, but often -- even when it doesn't seem like anyone is paying attention -- there is still progress being made. And that is both exasperating and relieving. 

3. Teaching is the best way to learn, by far, and the lessons you learn go way beyond stuff that has to do with the curriculum.

Like I said before, I know I am going to miss seminary, and even though I whined about it quite a bit I'm so thankful to have had the chance to teach. It was really good for me to get out of my comfort zone every day. And even if I often doubted whether my rascally students ever learned much from me, I think they did, and that makes it worth the work.

Two short stories, one wiggly baby

Apparently baby boy isn't a big fan of sharing his mom. Every time Dallin snuggles with me the little goose starts going berserk, almost as if he thinks he can get his daddy to leave if he kicks him hard enough. 

It hasn't worked yet. I just start giggling which wiggles him around and probably gets him even more excited. 

(30 weeks, 4 days)

Silly, silly baby.

In other news, I had a bit of an adventure yesterday. Baby's heart rate was a little high at my doctor's appointment, and since it didn't go down after a couple of minutes my OBGYN sent me to the hospital for a non-stress test. Everything seems to be fine, thankfully. It was probably a combination of my lack of a good breakfast (maybe having appointments so soon after seminary isn't a good idea) and the fact that he was very, very wiggly. His pulse would go down to a good rate, then it would go up when he was kicking at the monitors, and then it would go back down again. I wasn't having any contractions and everything else looked good so they discharged me pretty quickly after giving me something to eat and drink.

Even though everything was fine, being strapped up to a bunch of monitors in a delivery bed wasn't my favorite. My imagination started running wild and when I considered the possibility of delivering my baby so soon (an irrational fear, but a fear nonetheless) I got so anxious. If anything were to happen to this little babe of mine... I don't even want to think about it. I'm so thankful for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby that seems to be a-baking just fine. I hope he keeps on doing just that for a couple more months!

Five quick takes

1. I wore heels to seminary today and nearly fell flat on my face when I tried to bend down to pick up a marker I dropped. Bending over is getting hard enough lately... I should have known that trying to do it when I have an extra 2-3 inches to go and a shifted center of gravity would be a joke! Silly, silly Mikaela.

2. I wish all Christmas songs made me as happy as the Hanukkah Song. Pure gold that never gets old. The end.

 

3. If you need a laugh, check out the reviews for these gummy bears on Amazon. I've never really liked gummy bears, but I don't think I'll ever be able to eat one again. Ever ever ever. (Oh, and lest you think I was shopping for a 5-lb bag of sugar-free gummy bears, lemme clarify that I found this because someone shared it on Facebook simply for the comedic value of said reviews, just saying. Haha!)

4. Most of the food I consumed today was peanut butter kiss cookies. I feel like I should be ashamed. Unfortunately, I'm ashamed to say that I'm not ashamed. I blame my husband for not coming home for lunch today, thus sending me into pregnant-couch-potato-with-no-motivation-to-make-food mode. ;)

5. While baking said cookies yesterday I managed to burn my wrist on the edge of the cookie sheet. It's shaping up to be a nice scar, so that's great because what better place to have a scar than on your wrist, right? I promise I'm not depressed, just remarkably prone to accidents lately. Promise.

I'm going to miss this

My little man-child has been getting bigger and stronger the last couple of weeks. That silly boy seems to be under the impression that my bladder is a trampoline, my ribs are monkey bars, and my innards are punching bags. But not all the time... usually just when I'm trying to sleep or in urgent need of a restroom, of course. 

It's lots of fun. And while that sounds sarcastic, I sincerely mean it. I love feeling (and sometimes seeing) him wiggle around, especially as he gets bigger.

While I was sitting on the couch this morning feeling him do his morning workout, I started thinking about how quickly February is coming up. My due date is 11 weeks from tomorrow, or 78 days, or 2 months and 17 days... not that I'm counting. ;) That's not that far away, not at all.

Part of me can't wait to meet him, but at the same time I'm going to miss this.

I'm going to miss trying to figure out what the heck is going on in there when he is really squirming up a storm inside my belly, and wondering if I'm actually going to give birth to an octopus. 

I'm going to miss having ultrasounds and trying to see what (and who) he will look like. 

I'm going to miss the quiet moments when I can't help but stare at my belly, overwhelmed with awe at the miracle of life that is happening inside me and how blessed I feel to be a woman and a mother. 

28 weeks, 6 days today. I may or may not have changed back into my PJs after my
shower and have absolutely no intention of changing into anything else all day. The end.

And that makes all the unattractive, uncomfortable, and unpleasant parts of pregnancy (and there's plenty of all three) worth it, one hundred percent. 

Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

Yeah, I know this is what every blog post written yesterday, today, and tomorrow is about... but whatever. Happy Thanksgiving just the same! I spent the day stuffing my face with the people I love most, and while that sounded rather cannibalistic I think you know what I meant. Good food and good family... what else do you need in life, really?

I have a love/hate relationship with certain holidays such as Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. I mean, gratitude and love are both great things to feel and express. We should do that all the time, right? Not just one day out of the year. Yet I guess it is good for us to be reminded.

I've been trying to be more grateful lately. It seems like the older I get the more cynical I'm becoming, a trend I'd really like to reverse as soon as possible so I can avoid turning into a crusty, irritable, grumpy old lady someday. One of the ways I've been trying to remedy my cynicism is being grateful for my blessings, not comparing my life with others, and looking for the uplifting things in life. I believe that is how true joy is found -- by feeling and expressing gratitude. I know I'm a lot happier when I take the time to think about the blessings I've been given instead of wishing for more. Now I just need to practice what I preach more often.

28 weeks down, 12 to go

I can't believe I'm already in my third trimester. How the heck did that come up so quickly? 

Everything is still going well! I've been feeling really good lately, which has been nice since I have gotten a lot done on the nursery. It's all painted, the crib is set up, I've finally figured out how I want to arrange all the furniture, the four bags of clothes my mom gave me have been organized and put away in the closet, and now I just have some decorating and a couple projects to finish up before it's just right. 

I've been nesting like nobody's business lately, so I'm really thankful that we live in a house where I can paint, decorate, and fuss over baby things to my heart's content, although that means I've been spending a lot more time messing with the nursery than doing the dishes the past few weeks... Oh well. ;) 

Don't be too jealous of my incredibly attractive men's sweats from Walmart. 

He's still really wiggly and has been getting much stronger. It's crazy to be able to see him move instead of just feeling it. I caught it on video when I was waiting for a doctor's appointment last week. Glad he cooperated!

On an unrelated note, school is on break for the whole week so I got to sleep in until 7am. I woke up feeling happier that a bodybuilder directing traffic. It was glorious. Annnnd I get to do that all week. This pleases me very much indeed. The end.

Storytime: Mikaela's (lack of) adventures in Zion

This past 4th of July we went to Zion National Park, a trip we had planned for a long time. We love going there; this was our 3rd time since we got married. It is such a beautiful place with lots of great canyoneering and hiking opportunities. 

The first time we went, around the 4th of July in 2012, I had the misfortune of cutting off the end of my thumb the day we left while chopping up some cabbage in a hurry. It was pretty bad and there was lots of blood and tears. I have never passed out before (knock on wood), but when I saw what I had done and then felt the pain start to shoot up my arm I thought I was going down. No fun.

This greatly limited my allowed activities since I wasn't supposed to get my heart rate up (it would start bleeding again when that happened) and I had to keep it dry. I don't know how much you know about canyoneering, but there is always a lot of getting your heart rate up and usually some swimming in stagnant, dirty water. And it came to pass that I was thus uninvited to all canyoneering excursions.

I did still get to see some beautiful stuff, though, like this amazing view. 

But I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my poor thumb, which wasn't too bad since Zion is so beautiful, even without doing any "real" hiking.

Still, there isn't anything quite like canyoneering. When we went later that year I had so much fun. Here are a few shots from that trip.

Rappelling into the Narrows from Mystery Canyon. See the tiny people down in the river?

Birch Hollow

Orderville Gulch

Orderville Gulch

Not so bad, eh? ;)

After getting a taste of what Zion can hold for those without open wounds, I was really happy when we planned another trip for July of this year. Dallin scored a few hard-to-get permits for some of the best spots and it was going to be a sweet trip. That was the plan, at least...

But... as luck would have it, I ended up getting pregnant (yay!) and was a nauseated, emotional mess in the midst of some intense pregnancy fatigue (boo!). In other words, since just walking to the shuttle stop right next to our hotel made me tired, canyoneering was out of the question. 

I spent my time sleeping at our hotel, walking short distances, finding comfortable places to relax, and sipping on cold gatorade since that was one of the few things that made my queasy stomach feel better. 

I also took a few pictures, partially because it was a good opportunity to work on figuring out my camera settings. Still need plenty of work in that department...

Meanwhile, here's what I missed out on: 









On the bright side, if this pattern keeps up I should be healthy (and in one piece) for our next trip, right? 

I guess we shall see...

---------

(P.S. If you haven't been to Zion yet, you are missing out! They have a good shuttle system that takes you into the canyon from the cute little town of Springdale which makes it easy to get around, plus there are so many things to do whether you are the hard-core hiker type or not. Heck, you can even have a good time if you are missing part of your thumb or are in the miserable first weeks of pregnancy. ;) It's pretty child-friendly, especially since you can take a stroller on quite a few of the shorter trails, and this burger joint really hits the spot after a day of adventures. I highly recommend checking it out!)