Almost there

I haven't posted much about this pregnancy, and now it's almost done. Here I was at 26 weeks:

 

And here's 36 weeks ( a week and a half ago.) What a difference 10 weeks makes, eh? And in another 10 weeks I'll have a sweet little 6 week old baby!

 

I'm getting more and more excited about this little boy. We still don't have a name picked out, but hopefully we'll know when we see him. I'm pretty much ready as far as preparing for the little guy goes, and I'm definitely ready to stop being pregnant! I dream about labor almost every night and wake up disappointed that it's still weeks away. But in the meantime, I'm trying to focus on my other baby

Daphne will be 17 months old this week. She is such a joy and a treasure (mostly.) In the last few weeks she got 5 new teeth all at once, and we finally weened her from the bottle. She has been such a fun little companion as she learns new words, forms opinions and asserts her personality.

 She started our her life as the most un-cuddly, un-affectionate child, but she's growing into those characteristics more and more every day. At night and naptimes she likes a good snuggle before I lay her down, she works so hard to arrange herself around my huge tummy and then hold on for dear life. It's pretty funny. She also likes to pat my tummy and poke my belly button, but I'm afraid the poor dear has no idea what she's in for.

 She loves to put on her coat and get in the car. She likes to take everything out of mommy's wallet and pretend to talk on the phone. Her favorite toy is whatever item I happen to be using. She likes to brush her hair and mine with whatever she can find that resembles a hairbrush, i.e. doll brush, bottle brush, toilet brush. And yes, she is getting some hair. But only in one strip right on top of her head. Mohawk? Yep.

Planning a career in bank robbery to help pay off dad's student loans.

 She loves babies and I'm so excited for her to be a big sister. I just hope and pray that I will be able to give her everything she needs while I'm juggling a newborn. Bryce has been so amazing getting up with her early in the morning and taking over when he gets home, not to mention listening to me complain about various aches, heartburn, hormones, etc. I constantly remind him that he has no idea what it's like to be pregnant and he should count himself lucky to be male. But the truth is, I definitely wouldn't put up with me, or someone acting like me for so long. My kids have the best dad!

Bath time is her favorite. It's only my favorite when she doesn't poop.

Last Days

With my due date rapidly approaching, we're trying to cram in as many baby-free experiences as possible. Unfortunately, I have very little energy for anything but complaining about my swollen feet and aching everything. Anyway, for our final wekend we went to the Indianapolis Greek Fest for some tasty food and a little culture...

Watched BYU get creamed with a bunch of friends (Thanks Rick and Christie) and spent several hours indulgently reading at Borders. By next Saturday, we should be snuggling a sweet little baby!

39 big ol' weeks!

How many more days?

Last year when I was teaching, and hating it, and really ready to be done Bryce helped put things in perspective. He reminded me that I could do ANYTHING for 65 days, or 42 days, or however many days were left of school that day. That was my mantra that got me through the hard days.

Within this last week or so pregnancy has become extremely uncomfortable, and I think I've experienced everything a person needs to experience while gestating. I won't go into the list of discomforts, most of you have been there or will be eventually. But bottom line- I feel ready to be done. Really ready.

I can do anything for 21 days. Deep breath. I can do anything for 21 days. I might spend those days moaning in agony stuck on the couch, but I can do it. Right?

I was making cookies tonight and as I started splattering and spilling ingredients all over myself I made the comment that I probably needed to put an apron on.

Bryce looked at me, then in all seriousness said:

"Will any of your aprons even fit you right now?"

I'm trying to chalk this up to a skewed male understanding of how aprons work. As any woman knows, a generic tie-in-the-back apron will pretty much fit anything. They're one size fits all. Thick or thin, rotund or slim, most aprons will fit any person.

I'm trying not to let his comment (which under the surface meant "you've become enormous and absolutely nothing else fits you right now") make me feel bad about eating those cookies that I just made. They look too delicious!

Anniversaries

Last week we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We didn't do a whole lot of celebrating. We pushed our car several blocks in 95 degree heat when it broke down on the way to the service center and attended a class at the hospital where I'm going to deliver. So, the actual anniversary was kind of lame. But my fabulous husband had gotten us tickets to Symphony on the Prairie for this weekend.

I've been a Prairie Home Companion fan pretty much as far back as I can remember. For those of you who aren't familiar, PHC is a good old-fashioned radio show that airs every Saturday night on NPR. It's about an imaginary town in Minnesota and the show includes skits, crazy sound effects, musical preformances and pretend commercials. I've always wanted to go to a broadcast, and this one out at Connor Prairie coincided so nicely with our anniversary.

It was a fantastic program! Thousands of people with picnic baskets and camp chairs being serenaded by Garrison Keilor. We got seats in the shade and nice breeze kicked up to relieve us of this horrible heat. We packed a cooler of IBC rootbeer and pulled pork sandwiches and it was a perfect two and a half hours, and one of my favorite things Bryce and I have ever done together. Thanks Love!

Today is an anniversary of a not-so-fun kind. One year ago today I miscarried at 10 weeks pregnant and it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Not physically; it didn't hurt much at all. But it was terribly taxing emotionally and it tooks months before I even felt like my normal self again or could focus on anything. In fact, it pretty much took until January when I found out I was pregnant again.

I still feel sad about that baby I lost and it breaks my heart to think I'd have a 5-month old today, but things always work out in the end. I'm so grateful that in just about another month we'lll be having our baby girl and for a healthy, mostly comfortable pregnancy. I can't wait to meet her!

Spokane

We got to go home for one wonderful week. All my siblings made it home, which made the visit extra special. We spent a lot of time just sitting around enjoying the beautiful weather but we had a little excitement too.

We went out to see the Palouse Falls. I'd never been out there and the falls were raging. It was a spectacular sight.

My brother Daniel and his little family

Sweetest little girl ever.

Mom and Dad ( it was a very windy day)

The girls

The whole gang

Anna and I reliving our high school days with matching tiaras, cheer leading fleeces and, my favorite, the identical Pizza Hut name tags. We contemplated trying on our cheer leading skirts, but opted for dignity rather than depression. We plan on doing this every time we both go home for the next 80 years or so to document our progression through life.

Saw a couple of my little brother's baseball games. He's a total all-star!

My mom and sister + sister-in law threw a baby shower for me at Grandma Daines' house. It was beautiful and so sweet of them. I loved getting to visit with so many friends I haven' t seen in a while.

Mom, her sister Chris, Ali and Ann

Grandma, aunts and cousins

Friends from the good old Belle Terre Ward

Bryce's mom and sister

High school friends Celeste and DaNae
There was also 4th of July, lots of hikes and craft projects and the usual stuff. But the best part of going home was getting to see so many friends. Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit with me!

I'm outta here!

Beach towel, sunscreen and a stack of good books. We leave for JAMAICA on Monday morning and I am ready!

Last night we tried to take a picture of the fireflies. There are so many, it looks like someone is dumping gold glitter all over the trees. But fireflies don't show up very well against the black.


Sometimes when Bryce is supposed to be mowing the lawn, he ends up playing around taking silly pictures. Usually they're of his dog, but sometimes he experiments with other subjects.

And here is the tummy at 26 weeks.

So I hope you all have a nice week. The Fortners will be in paradise!

You know you're a nerd when...

This is Bryce's current mouth wash of choice. It has fluoride, so it's better than all the other mouthwashes we have in our bathroom cupboard.

A few days ago he wakes up and has to tell me about a dream he had...

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"I dreamt that I was really excited because Listerine came out with a new CINNAMON flavor, and I couldn't wait to try it! But then I found out it doesn't have fluoride so I was super disappointed."

ADSad

I guess you know you're a nerd, or maybe you just know your husband is a nerd when he dreams about the excitement and disappointment associated with new oral hygiene products!

But the good news is, Dental School is halfway done!

asdgf

Here are the friends and classmates that Bryce has made it through with: Matt, Ryan, Eric, Rich, Brad, Rick and Trent.(Not pictured: Scott, Brett and Jonathan)

The support staff. The wives that have made it through together: Jenna, Lindsey, Brooke, Rachel, Melissa, Christie and Kimberly. (Not pictured- Kim, Jamie and Candace
I sure am grateful for all these people and how fun they have made this Indiana experience so far!
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And of course, our growing family. And I mean growing!
sdfADF

Oh yeah, and Hazel as decided she would like to follow in Bryce's footsteps...

ITCHY!!!

I itch all over and I think it's going to drive me crazy! For the last 2 and a 1/2 weeks I have been getting patches of hives all over my body that itch continually.

It's not bug bites or poison ivy, it's not an allergic reaction to a new laundry detergent or bath soap. It's also not PUPPS or any of those syndromes associated with pregnancy that make you itch. So, nothing diagnosable so far. All my OB gave me was a recommendation to see a dermatologist.

And the dermatologist can't get me in until July 2nd.

I can only slather my entire body with Benadryl cream so many times a day! Has this ever happened to anyone else while pregnant?

And, how do I make it stop?

Wedding

This past weekend I got to go out to Denver, Colorado for my little cousin Mindy's wedding.

Mindy is just about one of the sweetest people I know. Always happy, always loving and always serving. She and her new husband are definitely destined for eternal bliss.

Besides the sealing itself, highlights included hanging out with all the zany Daines women...

(Anna, Aunt Mickey, Aunt Marsha, Aunt Diane, Aunt Suzanne, Randi, Mom, Aunt Gail and Grandma at Sweet Tomatoes, a favorite lunch spot when these ladies get together)

Seeing my mom, and seeing her tear up while patting my tummy because, "That's my grandbaby in there!"

And of course, my beloved snister.

Highlights not pictured: playing speed scrabble with Grandma (and yes she beat me,) all the amazing food at the family dinner and reception and seeing the Rocky Mountains again. I've missed them!

I hate the word belly

So here is tummy picture

17 weeks and well on my way to HUGE.

Major craving so far:

Mustard

On a hot dog, a pretzel...or just by the spoonful.