Watch Me Grow: 35 Weeks

  

Rory is 35 weeks old and officially turned 8 months old as of yesterday!  She has been loving all of the fall leaves.  It's been windy and stormy and all of the leaves have blown off our trees into the yard.  Rory is in heaven.  Rory would stay outside and play in them all day if I let her.  

We had her sleep in our room last weekend and both nights when I got up to pee around 3 a.m. she followed me out the bedroom door and went straight into her crate to sleep the rest of the night.  She is a big fan of her crate and apparently likes sleeping in there better than in our bedroom with us. 
 

Rory's new favorite spot to nap is under the crib.  Bryce and I were in there putting a few things away and Rory made herself at home, crawled under the crib, and took a little nap.  It was pretty cute.  I'm curious to see if this will continue, especially when the baby is here!

Pregnancy Update: 28 Weeks (Third Trimester!)

How far along? 28 weeks! I am finally in my third trimester.  And two things to note: I'm actually doing an update on the start date of the week instead of halfway through like I usually do, and I made Bryce take my picture so I didn't have to post another bathroom shot (hooray!).

How big is baby? About the size of an eggplant; weighs about 2 1/4 pounds and is a little over 14 and a half inches long.
Maternity clothes? Yep mixed with regular clothes.  I'm wearing regular jeans in the picture above but the pants I wear to work are mostly maternity ones.
Stretch marks? Still nothing yet.  I use Bella B Tummy Honey Butter every day.  It is supposed to help prevent stretch marks and had great reviews so I figured it was worth a try!

Sleep: I still wake up quite a bit to go to the bathroom but I've been able to fall asleep again quicker so that has been nice!

Best moment of the week? Today during Stake Conference Claire started to get wiggly and move around everywhere.  You could see my whole stomach bounce around every time she moved.  Bryce and I kept watching and had a hard time not laughing out loud.

Food cravings? Still Costa Vida...and we still haven't had it yet!  We are going to get it this weekend for my birthday date though.

Symptoms? Heartburn, fatigue, and the awful round ligament pain is back.  It's getting harder to bend, walk for long periods of time, and get out of bed and things, not from my belly being huge but from the ligament pain hurting so bad.  I've also started having Braxton Hicks occasionally, so that's been fun...

Movement: She always moves so much when I'm trying to go to sleep.  Most of the time I think it's cute except for the nights I am way tired and keep getting woken up from her kicks.  I swear sometimes she's playing the drums in there or something. 

Gender? girl!

Belly button in or out? Partially out.  I think I'm definitely going to a have a belly button that pokes out.

Wedding rings on or off? on.
Anything making you queasy or sick? No, nothing recently.

Happy or moody most of the time:  I've been pretty happy but I also cry way easily.  I cry in movies, from reading conference talks, listening to music, talking to Bryce about our baby Claire and getting to be a mom...basically anything can set me off these days.   

Miss Anything? Hmm...maybe some of my clothes but that's about it.
Labor Signs? No labor signs but like I mentioned earlier I have been experiencing Braxton Hicks every now and then.
Looking Forward to? Halloween and my Birthday on Thursday!  And I am so thrilled to say I am in my third trimester.  I can't believe I only have 12 weeks left! 

Weekend Recap & A Sunday Drive

It was another busy weekend for the Leishman family. I feel like I'm always saying that? Friday night Bryce and I went to the Bountiful Temple. We are really trying to meet our goal of making it to the temple once a month this year. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to sit through a session without getting super uncomfortable or having to pee--pregnancy is so glamorous ;)-- but we are going to try.  We know it will be more difficult getting to the temple once the baby is here too so we're taking full advantage of these last few months of the year and are making it a point to go.

Saturday I spent the day at my mom's.  We ran a few errands together and I also had her make bread with me.  I'm having the hardest time getting my bread to turn out as good as hers and I get so frustrated every time!  I asked her to show me again so I could figure out what I was doing wrong.  I found out a few things that could be affecting it so I'm going to try to make it this week and hope it turns out better!  

Saturday night we had the adult session for our Stake Conference.  I am so glad we went, all of the speakers did amazing!  I don't know if it is the pregnancy hormones or what but I cried in almost every single talk.  Poor Bryce doesn't really know how to respond to my constantly changing emotions these days.  After that we picked up a few things at Walmart for our costumes and then went home and finally made dinner at 10:30. 

We attended Stake Conference this morning (which was full of even more great talks!) and decided after we got home we would take a Sunday drive up to Snowbasin.  We walked around a few hiking trails, let Rory explore her little heart out, and took lots of pictures to commemorate the last bit of fall before it inevitably fades to winter too quickly!

Watch Me Grow: 34 Weeks

Rory turned 34 weeks old this past weekend.  She and I have been going on lots of walks together lately.  She loves them and gets so excited when she sees me grab her leash.  She is a good motivator to get me outside, especially on the days when I'm feeling yucky.  She has been going through a weird phase recently.  She will be super mellow and calm all day long and then between 9 and 10 p.m. she gets these huge bursts of energy.  She starts sprinting around the house, jumping, barking, and gets overly hyper.  We usually have to grab her and put her in her crate until she calms down.  We're trying to take her on two walks a day to see if it helps.  So far....it hasn't made a difference but we're hoping it does soon!

 

Dear Baby

October 8, 2013

Dear Baby Claire, 

I had my target ultrasound today and it was so special! Your daddy was able to come with me and we got to watch you on the ultrasound for almost an entire hour. We received the best news and were told you are extremely healthy and have no abnormalities or problems to be concerned about. You weigh about a pound and a half now. If you continue to grow at the same rate the doctor estimated you will weigh about 7 and a half pounds when you are born. Of course that is only an estimate so we will just have to wait and see. Big babies tend to run in my family, so I am curious to see the size you end up being. 

We were lucky enough to see a few close up images of your sweet little face during the ultrasound and I think you are already so adorable! You have the cutest little round cheeks and it looks like you have your daddy’s chin. I wonder if you will get my brown eyes or your dad’s green ones. I’m hoping for green and I’m really hoping you get his eyelashes too. They are super long and have the most perfect curl. I always tell him how jealous I am of them. You will be beautiful no matter what though. I cannot wait to finally see your face! 

We are getting so much closer to your due date. I am now 25 ½ weeks along. We only have a little over 14 weeks left. Thinking about how much closer we are to meeting you gives me butterflies, the good kind that flutter around in my tummy from excited anticipation. There are so many holidays and things to look forward to in the next few months so I’m hoping this means the remainder of the pregnancy will go by quickly! 

My birthday is coming up on October 31, (on Halloween)! I will be turning 24 years old. I always wondered how old I would be when I would have my first baby. I don’t think you could possibly be coming at a better time. I think 24 is the perfect age for me to become a mother! I’ve been really blessed and been able to accomplish a lot before reaching this next milestone. I worked hard to finish my schooling and graduated from college. I received a great job in my field of study and after two years of working I received a promotion to the job I’m currently at. I married your daddy in the Bountiful Temple and we will reach our two year anniversary when you are just about two months old. Life has been so good to me. But even with everything I’ve accomplished, next to marrying your dad, you are what I consider to be the most important goal I will have achieved. I hope you know I express my gratitude for you in my prayers every single day. I am so lucky to get to be your mom. 

See you soon little one. 

Love, 

Mom

 

Brian, Laci, & Lydia Rose Family Pictures

My sister Laci had her baby girl she asked if I would take her newborn pictures and a few family pictures for her. I am extremely inexperienced and it is a little out of my comfort zone, but I was excited to get some practice so I told her I would give it a try. I don't mind taking pictures of my little family and our day to day activities but taking other people's pictures is still pretty intimidating for me.  I'm flattered my sister trusts me enough to practice on them :)  

I ended up having so much fun!  Lydia was such a good baby the whole day and she is adorable so she made the job pretty easy.  Here's a little sneak peak of some of my favorites pictures I got of Lydia, Brian, and Laci (really this post is for Laci and the grandmas haha).

    

Weekend Recap

We didn't do too much this weekend but we had a nice break from the usual work and school.  After Bryce and I got off work on Friday we spent the night at Lowe's picking up supplies for our dining table Bryce is building. 

Saturday Bryce had the day off so he was able to get a lot of work done on the table.  He is hoping to get it finished in the next week or two and I am SO excited.

Rory was right by Bryce's side all morning while he worked.  She loved following him around and being his little sidekick.  I'm pretty sure he liked it just as much, if not more than she did.

While Bryce worked on the table I spent Saturday afternoon taking pictures of my sister Laci's family and her new baby Lydia.  I will post those pictures separately because there are a lot!  Saturday night Bryce and I finally watched The Great Gatsby.  It is one of my favorite books so I had high expectations.  At first I wasn't really liking the new version of the movie but by the end I loved it.  I thought the casting of all the characters was perfect!  Bryce thought it was pretty good but he thought the cinematography of the film was a little too much.

And lastly, probably my favorite part of the weekend was hitting 27 weeks in my pregnancy.  This is the last week until I am in my third trimester!  We're getting closer and closer to meeting our little girl.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the next 13 weeks will go by really fast with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  Here's to hoping!

 

Watch Me Grow: 33 Weeks

Rory turned 33 weeks old this past weekend.  I can't get over how cute she looks since we got her groomed.  Her fur is all the same length and it is nice and soft again.  She weighs about 48 pounds.  She still hasn't hit 50 pounds yet but I am guessing she will within a few more weeks.  I have really focused on her training over the past week and I am happy to say she is making good progress.  She will now go to her crate on command and she is doing really well with the command "stay".  She will go to a "down stay" position and wait there while I walk to our door open it, step outside, and come back in.  She is getting so good and doesn't move until I give her the okay.  The goal is to have her obedient enough to do this when visitors come.  She'll get there soon I hope.  Even though she gets overly excited we are glad she loves people and isn't mean or aggressive towards them.  She is the sweetest dog and we love having her in our family.   

Weekend Recap

   

   The most exciting event of our weekend was probably that we finally got Rory groomed!  She looks so adorable.  We can see her eyes again and she can see where she's going!

  

Friday night we went to the Newgate Mall to get Bryce a couple new pairs of jeans.  We felt like high schoolers.  We were seriously the oldest people there, but we had fun.  We even stopped at See's candy to get a couple of their suckers.  They are the best.  I prefer butterscotch while Bryce likes chocolate best.

After we finished our shopping we got Panda Express take out for dinner.  We're high rollers ;)

While Bryce was at work on Saturday I crocheted this cute little pixie hat and matching booties for Claire.  I can't wait to see her in them!

Today after church we made Dinner in a Pumpkin.  Bryce's family had a tradition of eating Dinner in a Pumpkin every Halloween.  I had never even heard of it until I had it at his house while we were dating.  I loved it and wanted to continue the tradition in our family.  We go to my parent's on Halloween still for my birthday dinner so until we start staying home with our kids we decided to just pick a day in October to make it.  It's really good and makes a perfect fall meal. The recipe I use is pasted below, if you try it out I hope you like it as much as we do!

1 small-medium pumpkin (unless you have a big family, Bryce's mom always used a large pumpkin since they have 6 kids)

1½ lbs ground beef or sausage

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 can sliced mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1-1/2 cup  cooked rice ( I used 2)

Wash the outer surface of the pumpkin. Cut a circle off the top just like you would if you were making a jack-o-lantern. Remember to put your knife on slant when cutting the top so the lid won't fall in while the pumpkin is baking. Clean out all of the seeds and stringy pulp. 

Brown meat and add chopped onion.  Once the meat is browned add the brown sugar, soy sauce, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms, and cooked rice. Mix well.

Place the cleaned pumpkin on a cookie sheet. Scoop mixture into the pumpkin and put the pumpkin’s top back on.  Place the stuffed pumpkin in a 350 degree oven and cook for 1-2 hours. Check after one hour, the cooking time will depend on the size of your pumpkin.  It is done when the pumpkin is tender and your casserole is bubbling all the way through.

Pregnancy Update: 25 1/2 Weeks

*Baby Claire's Profile*   

*Baby Claire's face* 

 

How far along? 25 and a half weeks (the picture of me above was taken at exactly 25 weeks though)

How big is baby? About the size of a squash (13 1/2 inches) and weighs about a pound and a half.
Maternity clothes? Yes mixed with regular clothes.  I'm still mostly wearing regular shirts and lots of leggings.
Stretch marks? Nope, still nothing yet.

Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty good the past couple weeks but I'm still tired all the time.  I guess that just comes with the territory of pregnancy.

Best moment of the week? Having my target ultrasound yesterday!  It was so amazing.  We got to see our baby girl on the ultrasound for an entire hour.  She is growing perfectly and right on track for her due date.  I was relieved to learn that everything is functioning the way it should be and there are no abnormalities.  We even got a few 3d pictures of her face.  I know ultrasounds always look weird and alienish, but when it is your own baby they look adorable!

Food cravings? Reeses and Costa Vida.

Symptoms? Still lots of heartburn and like I already mentioned earlier I'm still really tired.  The weirdest thing happened this morning though, I had morning sickness for the first time and threw up.  I ate a banana and it tasted really good.  I even told Bryce how good they were.  After I finished eating it I went to the bathroom before I left for work.  When I was finished and washing my hands I just all the sudden started gagging and dry heaving...and well yeah you can figure out the rest.  Afterwards I ate a piece of toast and I felt fine.  It was super weird.  I'm hoping it was just a one time thing and doesn't start happening all the time.

Movement: She's still a little wiggler all the time!  It was fun to watch her move around on the ultrasound yesterday.  It's crazy that she already looks and moves like a baby.

Gender? girl!

Belly button in or out? in.

Wedding rings on or off? on.
Anything making you queasy or sick? I guess the banana I ate this morning, but I didn't really feel sick while I was eating it. 

Happy or moody most of the time: I've been really happy lately.  I am just getting so excited to meet my little girl.  I love her so much an I can't wait to finally hold her.  

Miss Anything? Hmm, still the caffeine would be nice to combat my exhaustion.  
Labor Signs? Nothing yet thankfully.
Looking Forward to? It's not baby related but I'm getting excited for my 24th birthday coming up on Halloween!  I'm also looking forward to entering my third trimester in 2 and a half more weeks.  Yay!

A Tuesday Off

Today I had the day off of work, which doesn't really happen for me in the middle of the work week unless I'm sick or it's a holiday.  I had my target ultrasound today and the appointment was right in the middle of the day so it was easier to just take the whole day off. My doctor's appointments with my OB are usually on Fridays after work, but this one wasn't with my usual OB and could only be scheduled Monday through Thursday.  I really wanted Bryce to go with me to this appointment and today worked out the best with his schedule.  It turns out a Tuesday off was just what I was needing. I was able to get so much done!  First of all I was able to sleep in until eight thirty, and it was soo nice!

I straightened up my house, put a roast in the crock pot, showered, and got ready for the day all by eleven o' clock.

Then I took Rory out for a long walk and we enjoyed the lovely weather.  After we got back from our walk I quickly ate lunch and then left to pick Bryce up and head to our appointment.

 

Our appointment went great!  Our little girl is looking perfect and is still growing right on track.  If you can't tell I am holding up a picture of our baby girl's face.  I think she is pretty cute.  I love her so much already. Our appointment was about an hour long and they recorded it all on our dvd we take to every appointment.  I'm excited I will have some fun footage of our little girl I can watch whenever I want.  We were able to get some really good pictures of her too. All of the detail you could see was amazing!

After the appointment I dropped Bryce off back at school and did a little shopping.  Unfortunately, the shopping wasn't really for anything fun just a few groceries and a garbage can with a lid for our bathroom to keep Rory from getting into it.  I did buy a bag of Reese's though to make the trip worthwhile. 

I spent the rest of the day at home getting a few other things finished that have been on my to-do list for a while.  I even took the time to paint my nails.  The shade I chose is called "Lady Godiva".  I thought it was very fitting for fall.  Today was just too good.  I loved my day off!  Hopefully it will boost my spirits enough to get me through the rest of the work week.