Ooh, Baby I Love Your Way (post 20 of 30)

Here are a few other pictures from our time out in California as we celebrated Christmas with Adam's side of the family.

One of my favorites I snapped of Adam while in CA!

During our two week stay, we had two or three days of cloudy and chilly weather that felt like Steubenville but the palm trees reminded us we were on the other coast.  ; )

I was really touched by ths "Sister" charm Alicia, my sister-in-law, gave me.  The funny story behind it was that it traveled to and from PA in her suitcase back in May because she forgot to give it to me at the wedding! 

I absolutely loved this image on the cover of the missal at church.  Do you spy the tiny dove?

Last meal in CA.....can't wait until the next time we eat here!

We drove out to Long Beach to meet up with a friend from college for lunch.  We hadn't seen one another in several years and it was so nice getting caught up with Becky!!

On the way home, we spontaneously saw Star Wars in a theatre that had a ferris wheel in front of it.  Pretty neat!

Of course we had to go to our park and get a picture by "our tree" after grabbing some tacos from the Liquor store/gas station.  Mmm!

The boxes on the floor were all our gifts we had mailed or ordered to be delivered to Adam's parents' house.  We had fun wrapping everything once we unpacked!

 

Christmas Day Mass 2015

Sunday, January 3, 2016:  30 weeks 6 days

The last few days since returning to Ohio from California have been really rough and super uncomfortable in spite of the joy of spending time with loved ones over the holiday.  I was grateful my parents were here at the house to help as Adam and I hosted New Year’s Eve with my little brother (who drove all the way from Delaware!!!), aunt, and uncle!  Then, the next day, my older brother, his wife, and four beautiful children joined us for more New Year’s fun.  It was the first time they made the visit to our little house out here (with the exception of the two older children who were with us for several days this past summer only days after Adam and I found out we were expecting) in Ohio and I was overjoyed having them here.  Here are some photos of the holiday fun from the last couple days as we celebrated our first New Year’s Eve holiday in our cozy little home!!

Alisha had her hands full with the two pups!

We took the kids to Fort Steuben where a Christmas display was still set up for them to enjoy!

Mason pretending to give a lecture in one of my old classrooms from last semester.

See the doodles Clark is drawing on the board?  They were still there on the first day of classes!  It felt like the kiddos were with me on my first day of school a couple weeks later which was a looooong Marathon Monday.  Two of my classes are held in this classroom and I enjoy teaching in this one.

Working on the beginning of an Art Snack....

Such concentration!

There is a glimpse of my favorite nutcracker on the right (St. Francis!).

Writing letters to Santa at the Fort Steuben Visitors Center.

New Year's Day smorgasboard!

Again, who needs toys when you have cardboard boxes (and puppies)?

Otto came all the way from Delaware to see us too!

Completed Art Snack of a reindeer!!

 

Playing with some of the Christmas gifts and getting some assistance coloring from Uncle Pat!

The kiddos wore out these pups!

Clark and Nicholas enjoyed eating the Christmas trees Uncle Pat and I made (recipe coming soon!).

All the fun we had over the couple days caught up to Nick during mass where we dozed off halway through it.

On the first full day of returning from CA, as I unpacked, Mom and I had fun going through the busting at the seams bag of maternity clothes my sister-in-law, Alicia, sent back with us.  We spent at least an hour going through the clothes, trying on each one, in what Mom dubbed the Maternity Fashion Show.  ; )  I was even able to wear a new outfit for New Year’s Day and the next day thanks to Alicia!  We wound up with three separate piles when sorting the clothes:  clothes that are already too small, clothes I can wear now (as in the next five minutes) before they also are too small, and clothes that I can grow into as baby continues to get bigger.  It’s still so strange for me to have to wonder what I can wear on a daily basis due to the constant changing in my body.  My poor closet is full of clothes I don’t wear anymore and the things I still can squeeze into look completely different from how I am used to the way they look on me.  Things that used to be baggy and comfy are now stretched and snug as I try to wear them.  It’s hard to believe that within two months, I will be changing sizes again reverting back to older sizes/clothes.  There are so many little changes and things that I took for granted before engaging in this process.  I have a whole new appreciation for mothers and pregnancy that’s for sure!

Mom was also able to accompany me to my doctor appointment just before lunch on New Year's Eve.  We were in for a real treat!  I thoroughly enjoyed the doctor and if I could hand select which one I would like to be there on our child's birthday, it would be this one!  This is surprising for me considering he's a male doctore and I thought I would always prefer a female doctor.  Anyhow, that wasn't the treat...this was!

Mom was able to hear the baby's heartbeat "live" for the first time!!

I was so grateful for the time with everyone over New Year's in spite of the pain (and worry that accompanied it).  The day after New Year's day, on Saturday, was the worst though.  Throughout the day and later during the night, as I tried to tidy up around the house once the kids had gone to bed and visit with my parents and brother, I kept experiencing severe cramps and pains in my stomach moreso when I would bend over to pick up something.  I kept drinking water, going to the restroom, and elevating my legs (not crossing my feet), but it didn’t help.  I finally had to excuse myself around midnight to go to bed.  I think that the previous late nights and busy days were finally catching up to me and this was my body’s way of telling me to slow down…or maybe my pants were too tight which hurt the belly?  Who knows?!  After making myself go to bed, I then awoke with a sore throat and runny nose this morning.  It seems I caught Adam’s cold he had been fighting the last couple weeks.  We thought he had allergies while in CA but then it seemed to have turned into a cold toward the end of our stay out West.  Today is the first day he is not coughing as much so that is good!! 

Anyhow, Adam was a champ this morning for sure.  He took care of meeting my family’s needs that included getting breakfast for some of the kiddos, helping out my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, checking on the pups, and also looking in on me.  He’s going to be such a sweet father to our little one!  I did feel a little better this morning but admit more than a few tears fell as it physically hurt to swallow, sneezes kept coming followed by a runny nose, and I still felt the pain in my stomach from last night although to a lesser degree thank God!  All of these symptoms combined led me to cancelling plans to have a dear friend I’ve not seen in a decade and her three adorable children come over from Pittsburgh this afternoon but I do look forward to the day we can reschedule!  

Overall, it is frustrating to cut back on outings and social events and I am still not used to how slowly I have to move these days.  Mentally, I feel I can handle what I’ve always been able to do but physically I can’t.  I’m talking needing help rolling out of bed or needing to push off something or grab an extended hand in getting back on my feet when sitting on the ground or getting out of the car.  I wish we could get a discount on toilet paper at the rate we’re going through it these days (LOL!) thanks to my numerous restroom breaks and am growing tired of drinking water all day long….but it will be so worth it.  The Savvy Infusion water bottle Adam got me has definitely helped me with my water consumption because I can now have naturally healthy flavored water by sticking fruit into my water bottle!  I am currently drinking apple water which is very refreshing!!

Adam is doing a great job of making me smile even when I feel so out of sorts with my body these days.  Looking ahead at the bigger picture and being reminded of a thought from the start of last semester is what has kept me going today.  I need to look beyond the discomforts and pain of today and keep in mind that this is all for the innocent precious life growing within me.  As Mom and Dad said last night, “This is the time when baby takes over all aspects of your body”.  I feel so honored to be able to embrace this part of the journey and offer up any sufferings in the name of those who are unable to conceive or struggle with infertility.  Amen!  Give of yourself fully and hold nothing back so that others can receive all of you and not just a part of you.  

Last day in California and also the day I experienced my first earthquake just before stepping onto our first airplane!!