The Bump

So, yes. The announcement was a little late and I apologize but blogging is just never at the top of the to-do list. I usually blog when it's late at night and there's nothing else to do because Dave is still at the library studying for another big exam of some kind. So here's a pregnancy update for those interested...

Everything has been so wonderful! Seriously, so far it's been a breeze! I know/hear so many horror stories of women who swear they almost died the first trimester or so, threw up everything from here to mars and swear off any more children. I have to say in my own humble opinion, they're usually the only ones you hear from. So many people since finding out how great things have been for me shared their great pregnancy stories and I think,"Why did I never hear about these?!" Dave's mother said she only threw up once with all 9 pregnancies and it was only after, "Greasy food and a bumpy car ride!" And she was not the exception! I heard half a dozen more stories from family and friends who had a great time!

So, let's just be clear pregnancy is not created equally! (Let it also be known, I realize I am very blessed and I cannot imagine going through what the above women go through.) I was terrified and now that I'm at 15 weeks, I almost out of the clear zone and haven't had much to say about anything. Life has been normal and in fact just grand! I think all those "crazy hormones" everyone talks about have actually made me a lot nicer! I just feel happy all the time! (well, mostly all the time). I hardly believed I was pregnant - even with the ultra sound and later hearing the heart beat - until 3 days ago when my baby must have had a growth explosion and I suddenly have a baby bump!

A pic to prove it! (P.S. Don't tell Dave. He begged me never to take tacky pics of myself in the mirror and post it all over facebook, haha. He said he'd take them all for me but he's never home for the better daylight!)

Ta-da!

Some of you may have already had a little birdie tell you, but for those who haven't...

We told our families over Christmas and it was such a wonderful, fun surprise!!! So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here's to 2013.

ah the dog park...

So I've mentioned the dog parks around here a few times and talked about how much fun they are and how neat they are. This is to prove that I'm not just "one of those" weird dog lover girls.

The dog parks are 30+ acres of wild flower fields, ponds, rivers, wooded areas, off the path trails, and mowed grassy areas for play. It's kind of amazing that these dog parks and preserves are sprinkled all over the area. You wouldn't think to find this bit of wild land in Chicagoland.

My favorite part of all though is going and seeing every single breed of dog you've ever read or heard about. Above is a completely accurate depiction of an average day at the park. You see huge mastiff's, groomed poodles, feisty puppies, greyhounds, pinschers, spaniels... really just everything.

There are the ball lovers, 

The groups of meet-and-greeters,

Those who comes just to sun and relax,

The spunky teenagers,

And of course most all are treat lovers.

The dogs that come are so well behaved. On this mutual ground, they all meet for 5 seconds and are immediately best friends, running, chasing, and playing. It's kind of amazing and often I wish we were more like that. There are very few scuffles, none that have ever been very alarming. It's like a giant play group for people and their best friends.

We love the park, the chance to get out and enjoy a walk in the woods and it doesn't hurt when you learn cool new tricks like catching Frisbee's in the air :) My dog's the best.

Visitors from Kansas!

Let's start this now by saying my mom and dad are absolutely the most beautiful, romantic, loving, kind, generous, fantastic people and parents on this planet earth. I am completely in love with them and their oozing goodness. I feel so very blessed to be their daughter and lucky enough to have them come visit us for a couple wonderful days.

My sweet mother.

The first day we showed them around our neck of the woods. We visited the windy, cold beach. Notice how brown the water is. Thank Ms. Sandy storm for getting Lake Michigan all hot and bothered.

There were plenty of fun rocks to be discovered and many geology conversations to be had.

(Do you love my sweet mama's hard working hands?)

They insisted Lucy sit for this picture with them. I loved it:) 

 After the beach, we grabbed popcorn at a factory near us and went to explore this beauty. Dave and I had driven by a few times and admired it but never really had the guts to get out and check it out. It's quite overgrown and doesn't look lived in, although there is the occasional car in the drive. It's the most magnificent mansion, really just out of the movies and I can't imagine not living in it. (It's not even for sale.)

The garage.

A very large greenhouse. Notice the trees growing out of the roof. 

The side of the house. The protruding section is the library.

The back. Notice the lawn furniture. The house is still furnished. 

The beautiful  pool.

I missed taking a picture of the sprawling lawn. Seriously, it is just beautiful. I was really was just snapping and running for dreaded fear of getting caught. I have my good share of authority figure fears. My dad? They are non existent which is the only reason I had the guts to explore in the first place.

We then went to the dog park. A whole post is coming on that fun place later :) It has lots of trails and woods to explore. My adventurous papa led us on a trail of his own out and around the dog park. We couldn't make our way back in so... we just hopped the fence. He just hoisted my mom over his shoulder, her laughing all the way. Do I not have the most fun, wonderful parents ever?

The next day we took the train in to Chicago. It's so much fun and much less stress.

Beautiful Macy's all decorated for Christmas. Yes, already. This was Nov. 3

A most popular Chicago tourist past time is the river and lake architectural boat tours you can take. I do recommend them. A fun story about the above building - Merchandise Mart. This 4 million square foot building opened in 1930 was owned by the Marshall Field family and later purchased by the Kennedy's for $13 million and sold for almost $550 million. Until 2008, it had its own zipcode and was the largest building in the world until the pentagon was built.

We also visited iconic Chicago sites including "The Bean" in Millenium Park.

It was the most wonderful couple of days to have them visit. We absolutely loved having them. The days were busy, the sites were breathtaking and company was fantastic, but mostly it was amazing to see my beautiful parents in love and loving life and realize how very lucky I really am.

during the day

You may wonder what I do during the day. Yes, I'm still unemployed and looking for a job. It's a tough gig out here. [I mean just the other day a girl I know, Broadcast Journalism graduate from BYUI just got turned down for a part time library job so you know it's tough when that happens.] But let's be honest. While I'm actively looking for a job, I don't wallow in self pity over here - uh, uh sista. Lucy and I are busy livin' life!

We hang out. Lucy always gives me her full attention. Love it when she sits all the way on her bottom. 

I stare in to her beautiful eyes. (Isn't she adorable?!)

Play ball in the field by our house.

Go to the dog park and meet friends of all shapes and sizes.

 And, we get girlie. What's not to love about painting fingernails?

Letting them air dry so patiently...

The finished product.

August 1st we celebrated her 1 year birthday! Of course we don't know the exact date, so we estimated and decided this was a great day for a birthday in honor of my grandparents. So Lucy, Happy Birthday!

Parties are so exhausting.

 And what's a party without treats? Special doggie donuts.

She is really SUCH a lady when she eats. Slowly, daintily and gets all the crumbs. 

So yeah, we're really loving this life.