Halfway Done!

I am finally LOVING pregnancy. I'm 20weeks today and I feel almost 100% normal. I'm celebrating the fact that I haven't had my head in a toilet for over a month! I have a ton of energy and so does our baby girl, I feel her kick all the time now. I started feeling flutters at 16weeks and the last 2weeks she has been kicking somewhat on schedule. Phil got to feel her for the first time last night during her "evening session". So special.

Sleeping is starting to get interesting. I'm already having trouble getting comfortable and waking up twice a night to use the bathroom, (I think this is too much for only 20weeks). Phil doesn't seem to have a problem sleeping through my tossing and turning. I really want to upgrade our queen to a king and get one of those giant maternity pillows.

I bought my first maternity dress, I still fit in most of my clothes but it was fun to go shopping. Strangers are finally asking me if I'm pregnant. I'm also noticing people being nicer to me... I can live with this! At first I was embarrassed and a little prideful, "I don't need help!" but now its kinda fun and actually starting to be necessary.

I've had the "pregnant waddle" for a while. My balance is fine I've just had terrible hip pain since 11weeks that causes me to limp. I'm glad I finally have a belly to go with the waddle, before I just looked stupid. My hips wont allow me to run anymore, I wasn't the best runner anway, but I try to make it to the gym at least 3times a week for zumba or the elliptical. Im trying to workout as much as I can while I can... a friend who is a few weeks ahead of me has warned me the third trimester is slightly miserable.

I've got lots of little nursery projects and lots of good reading to do. Darling Miss Charlotte mailed me some great books:

1.Real Food For Mother and Baby
I remember Ruby reading the book Real Food when we were roommates, she taught me a lot of great things about the benefits of eating REAL FOOD, now the same author has more insight on "eating for two" and "baby's first foods".

2.Ina May's Guide To Childbirth
I've been fortunate enough to witness 3 natural childbirths and I hope to deliver our sweet girl INTERVENTION FREE! Obviously I am keeping an open mind. I've had friends who have been lucky enough to not need intervention and have had those that had no choice. I'm not going to freak out if I can't have a natural birth but its my goal. The same day I got Ina May's book I saw her on tv. Phil and I watched the documentary called, The Business of Being Born. I can see how this film might scare some people but I felt very encouraged at the end.


Phil is working a LOT. He worked 76 hours last week. I miss my guy and I spend a lot of time alone but for some reason I'm not completely freaking out. I have always been an extrovert and needed people around me constantly but lately I've been content working on my projects and resting. When I get antsy I remind myself that in February when I am no longer able to sleep when I want I'll miss these "boring days alone". Other than my nursery projects reading and working out I've also decided to start baking bread...TODAY. Beka emailed me a great recipe so I'm going to try it out for dinner. I've never liked baking because I dont follow recipes. wish me luck!

Beginings Of A Nursery

First thing...pick out a crib. I decided I want neutral gray walls with a white crib. I plan on transfering our kids from the crib to a twin and skip the toddler bed so the 4-in-1 cribs aren't necessary(they all turn into doubles, havn't seen any that turn into twins have you?)

I like this clean "box shape". nothing fancy about it, just clean.

Another box shaped crib that I love because of the extra storage. Our little girl's room is TINY. I need to get creative with storage.

I also really like the old school cribs... very simple and small, good for a tiny nursery.

I knew I wanted simple solid gender neutral baby bedding. My goal is to buy nice bedding once and use it for each babe(genius idea executed by Jenn). I had this picked out before I knew the gender.(babybedding.com) Gray walls, organic red bedding and simple gender specific accents that can be replaced if our next baby is a boy.

Deciding on the "girl" accents was hard. My original theme is no longer on www.fabricworm.com so I decided today to just buy something and stick with it. I'm happy with what I decided. VERY LIMITED PINK! My mom and grandma were a little disspapointed with how much I dislike the idea of PINK EVERYTHING :-) but they are good sports. They almost died when I said "red and gray nursery" but I think with this post they'll get the idea. I ordered this bundle, one yard of each. I'll figure out a way to make curtains, accent pillows, wall art... little things to make it feel like a baby girl's room. I need all my talented sewing friends to come over and help me!

I can finally feel my baby! Its a crazy feeling. She is very busy, I feel lots of "flutters" everyday. I can't wait until Phil can feel her.

CHING IS A SHE!

I'm officially 17weeks and carrying a baby girl!!!

Yesterday we found out the sex of our baby! Phil had a meeting and couldnt come with me so we compromised and had the tech conceal the gender in an envelope for Phil and I to open when he got home from work.

The ultra sound experience was amazing and surprisingly stressful. I was sent to a fetal diagnostic clinic, not my regular doctor. As I sat in the waiting room I started getting anxiety. I knew finding out the gender was going to be exciting but I also knew this is when I would find out if our baby has all of its major organs, 2 legs, 2 arms, no cleft pallet and a strong heart. Dr. Chun the comedian/MD let me know our "kid was a winner". He also let me know I'm going to spend the next 20years not in charge of my life. I can't even express how thankful I am that little ching-ling so far is growing as she should. I'm starting to understand what most mom's already do, "having kids is like having your heart walk around outside of your body," my little babe is still IN my body but I am not in control of her development... I can eat healthy, sleep, exercise, read all the baby crud but there is so much out of my control! I'm not used to this.

Finding out we are having a Miss Ching sorta feels like I found out I am pregnant all over again! It is so much more real now! A baby girl! "I'm going to have a daughter, " it just sound weird when I say it out loud. I looked at baby clothes today but I didnt allow myself to buy anything...for some reason its still so surreal.

We got a dvd with photos and 4 short videos. For some reason blogger wont let me upload more than one...look how cute and WEIRD/alien but still cute she looks! Streeeeeeeetching and grabbing her ears. I've watched these over and over!




I guess we have to start saving for a wedding!

Heatbeat, Vomit and Guests

Today Phil and I got to hear little Ching's heart beat! It was a beautiful little sound! We scheduled our gender appointment for Sept 12th. SO SOON!!!!

My pregnancy has been a roller coaster. First trimester was miserable. My morning sickness was all day long. I couldn't see, smell or eat food. 90% of the food I ate I would throw up...there was this terrible mental battle if I eat I get sick, if I don't eat I'll get more sick. As person who loves to cook food, read about food, write about food and watch t.v. shows about food I was stuck in an 8week depression force feeding myself peanut butter toast.

One of these depressing evenings Phil decided to have a left over pork chop as a late night snack. The smell of his little snack sent me straight to the bathroom to up-chuck the minimal substance in my body. Phil came in to bring me water and then the smell on his breath initiated a 2nd round of heaving. I went straight to bed. When I felt Phil crawl in next to me there was a strong smell of peanut butter. I asked him why he smelled like peanut butter and he said, "babe I ate a spoonful of peanut butter instead of brush my teeth so I can sleep next to you". ha ha ha very sweet and SMART!

I'll be ending my 15th week on Wednesday and I'm still battling nausea. This time its only at night and happens when I eat too late or get too tired. I struggle grocery stores. The smells are too strong, I usually end up grabbing a plastic produce bag and hold it as my vomit-exit strategy.

I don't think I've had too many hormonal moments... I find myself snapping at Phil when I get hungry, I realize how unreasonable I am and quickly apologize. Phil is good at handling me...he never takes anything personally.

I don't think I'm showing yet, I just look bloated. My clothes still fit but feel most comfortable in stretchy dresses...good thing I live in Hawaii. I'll be wearing stretchy dresses everyday!


We had an amazing week with Abby and Denny. It confused my brain to have them here then have them leave. I felt like I got a little piece of home back and then it was torn out of my hands! ha ha ha. ok i dont need to be so dramatic. I'll let A&D blog about their trip.

This is what we do on the weekends. We set up shop and chill at the beach. Im looking forward to all of our upcoming guests!

A Pair of Babies

Our last night in Corvallis we spent the night at Pete and Jenn's. We woke up to Emma and Mo crawling on us and and a nice graduation card for Phil signed by Pete, Jenn, Emma, Mo and "?". It took a while for it to sink in that Jenn was PREGNANT! That evening we left for Kelley family vacation. The next morning I woke up and found out I was pregnant. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY! I almost told Jenn before I told Phil ha ha ha. Anyway the following week Jenn helped us move to Hawaii. PREGGO SISTERS DUE AROUND THE SAME TIME!

Jenn had special plans of how she wanted to tell the Kirkbride family and the Kelley family on father's day but she was flexible to change her plans for me....such a nice lady. There was no way I could wait until father's day to tell the Kelley family and it would be waaaaaaaay more fun to hit them with a double whammy. The evening after I found out I was preggo Pete proposed a toast to Chuck and Nancy for their anniversary congratulating them on many years of marriage, 4 kids and 5 grand kids(currently they only had 4) Chuck and Nancy immediately realized Pete and Jenn were announcing another baby and everyone started yelling, it was a great celebration. Jenn revealed a "big brother shirt" that Mo-Mo was wearing. After the crowd settled down Phil and I present Chuck and Nancy with an Anniversary card and gift we had purch ased ahead of time and signed the card Phil, Jenna and Ching(just like Jenn did to Phil). It was such a special memory I will never forget! Lucky for me Pete happened to get video on his Iphone.




It was hard for me to have to tell my Family and our bestfriends over the phone....I almost drove from Seattle to Corvallis/Lebanon just to tell. Thank goodness for technology and we were able to Skype a lot of people. I figured out how to take "screen shots" on my phone and I realize now it would have been fun to take photos of everyone. But here are a few people we told and their reactions:
My Parents Were excited, in disbelief then over-joyed!! I've been looking forwa rd to this moment for years! I loved telling my parents.

Telling Abby and Denny. LOVE Abby's Face!

Telling the Riley's was also fun. I look bad but NATHAN LOOKS AMAZING ;-).

We had to wait a week to Brad and Sharon so Jenn could tell them her big news first. I got nervous they would find out about me before I could tell them so I frantically started texting people telling them it was a secret...ha ha ha ha. This special call took place while we were driving. I love technology!

We got a lot of amazing reactions! I'm kicking myself for not taking screen shots of everyone... It was a very fun and special time telling friends.

As far as telling the DAD-to-be...I had thought about it for years how I would want to tell Phil but to my surprise I was way to shocked and nervous I didnt even care about being creative. I just woke him up gently and reminded him Mo-Mo is going to be a big brother(a topic of humor to us at the time) and was going to be a role-model to his cousin Ching. Phil kept asking me "really, is this for real" We had a special tearful moment and then I made him go outside with me where Pete and Jenn were alone with the kids to tell Jenn ASAP! I was dying and Jenn's reaction beats any birth announcement I've ever seen. Screaming, jumping, running....that would have been a GREAT video!

In The Middle Of The Ocean

So far marjority of my first trimester was spent throwing up and sleeping so I don't have any exciting andventures to post. Despite all the nasty barfing I'm happy that I haven't had any irrational hormonal emotional explosions. I totally anticipated being the crazy pregnant lady crying about everything...maybe this is still in my future.

During the work week Phil and I both start work at 6am, I get off at 2pm and nap until Phil gets home. Phil gets home between 6:30pm-7:30pm. We usually eat dinner outside, watch a show then go to bed. BORING.


Phil is loving his job and has made a few friends. I'm really happy and excited for him. One of his friends is a local guy, his wife just had a baby last week, I cant wait to meet her and snuggle their baby. I have crazy baby fever...waiting for Ching is soooooooo hard.


Our weekends consist of going to the beach and working on the house. Everything is very expensive here so we try to keep our weekends simple and save the "touristy stuff" for when friends get here to visit...we don't exactly want to go to Pearl Harbor 8 times so we're saving up these kind of events for the future.


I'm finally starting to feel like a human again so I hope to be more outgoing the 5hours I wait for Phil to get home. :-) It has been really nice having an old friend from home living here, some of you may know Nicci. We lived together for a short while back in college, she has been here 8years. We've gone on a few adventures and we have many more planned.

We've had a few hangouts with Sean and Jessica, the pastor in Kailua that Doxology is affiliated with. They are a lot of fun, appreciate good food and have 3 adorable little kids. We like them a lot and hope to join their community. Its a 20minute drive to the other side of of our giant 500sq.mi. island and they meet before Phil gets off work...we have some scheduling to figure out.

The weather to most is amazing and always 86 and sunny... but to me its too hot. I cant wait for winter when its in the 70s. I'm stranded in the middle of the ocean!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you looked at a map lately? Hawaii is soooooo isolated. I'm missing Oregon summer LIKE CRAZY! Its the best time of year to be an oregonian and I'm missing it! I'm missing the rodeos, strawberry picking, festivals, bbqs, long nights, fires. You dont have fires here. The coldest it gets at night is 75. We need to buy a water feature or something to sit around?! ha ha Im not complaining about living in paradise...when it hits fall, winter, spring I will LOVE IT...BUT nothing beats an Oregon summer.

The Highlight of My Week:http://youtu.be/Hmk1m_AiIf0
I had my 2nd appointment on Wednesday and got to see Ching again! Our littl babe was very busy until I brought out the video...but you can still see its cute little heart beat. My official due date is Feb 22-24th.

The Highlight of Phil's Week: http://youtu.be/_P9J1t8EymM
Saturday we set up our beach station at Ewa Beach. Phil brought his trout pole and took a stab at some shore fishing. The locals at the beach told us the fish was an 'ulua' and they couldnt believe Phil caught that off shore. Our neighbor at home said people try months and years to get these guys, especially the size Phil landed. This made Phil very excited. We had an excellent dinner Saturday night!

Fresh Start and NEW LIFE

Well I've given up all attempts at updating my blog with the lost memories from Fall 2010 and Winter/Spring 2011. I've accepted defeat but I will not fail my friends and family again as I have NEW REASONS to blog.



Phil has graduated college....

Phil has started his career....

We have left our lifelong home/family/friends in Oregon....

We Live in Hawaii....

And we are starting our fresh new life with another HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!!!!

IM GROWING A HUMAN!!!!We are proud to announce I am with child and happier(and sicker) than ever! Meet baby "Ching" we love him/her and can't wait to meet him/her shortly after we celebrate our 5th anniversary in late February.
our little babe is smiling...aawww



Its funny to reflect and ask "how can our life be any more different than what it was a few months ago?!

school-work on the Fridge!

When you were growing up did your parents hang your artwork/report cards on your fridge? Where do adults hang their construction paper crafts now? I guess my parent's fridge has been exchanged for my blog.

I'm proud of this small 'snipit' from my company's quarterly newsletter:

Promotions

Jenna Kelley was recently promoted to the position of Lead in Complaint Issues, and has been with CentralDispatch starting out as a Processor in 2007. Showing her dedication and talent for customer service, Jenna moved into answering phones within a few months. We were fortunate to have her assist in Complaint issues starting in 2008 where her true colors shine as she continually adds to our team with ideas of how to tweak and improve services for our customers as well as her fellow co-workers.

Jenna’s high standards for herself translate easily into her work performance and she is an asset we value very highly in Complaints. Keep up the Great work Jenna! We look forward to the opportunity to work with you in continuing to make CentralDispatch a provider of quality services, with quality people.

~ Mollie, Customer Service Supervisor

In The Market For:

I'm jealous of Ryan & Holly's and Grahm & Charlotte's. I want one too!

Wine, Rain, Craft

I organized my yarn collection this week while drinking wine and watching wheel of fortune. It is the rain's fault. I found multiple projects that I started circa 2003 and never finished, mainly scarves. I turned a few partially made scarves into these:

The trend back in 2003 was looong scarves. Lucky for me the recent trend is short infinity scarves. Project 1 COMPLETE

Meet Kevin. He is a sweet little monster. A partially made scarf folded in half. Great idea.

Kevin is also a Kindle Kozy

Kevin the Kindle Kozy. Place your orders now! Project 2 COMPLETE
This little monster belongs to Crystal.

This new winter head wrap was also a partial scarf. Project 3 COMPLETE
Warm ears=happy filipino
Project 4: Hat.
Phil doesnt seem to like it that much. you can have it.
Project 5: I'm currently working on turning a partially made hat into an octopus? sure!

Science+Coffee=Our Dear Friend "Nessy"

RUBY!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME HOME NOW! oh Hey Lewis, you can come too :)

RAD! By an old friend.

Wore It Deep (The Tree Ring) from Destin Cretton on Vimeo.