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.

Watch Me Grow: 32 Weeks

I took these pictures of Rory on Saturday right after I bathed her.  I use the blowdryer on her hair and it makes it so fluffy it just sticks out everywhere.  I think it's so funny.  Her face kills me in these!

Rory is 32 weeks old.  She has been such a sweetheart lately.  She's been extra cuddly and always has to climb up by me whenever I'm on the couch.  I love how happy she is to see me whenever I get home.  She makes me feel like the most important person in the world!  

Bryce and I are really focusing on her training these next few months.  We have set a few goals of things we'd like to teach her before the baby comes.  Aside from the usual training we do with her on a daily basis we are also going to hold 2 scheduled training sessions a week.  We've made it a goal to be diligent with these and to work really hard on teaching her to be  a good, calm, obedient dog.  The main thing we really want to teach her is to stay calm when visitors come over.  We have a plan to teach her to go to a "down-stay" position when someone knocks on the door and not move until we give her the okay.  It will take some work but she is super smart.  I'm sure with some diligent effort from her and us it will be achievable.  I'll be sure to note our progress over the next few weeks! 

Weekend Recap: General Conference

               General conference weekend is the best, isn't it?  I look forward to it so much.  There are always messages that are exactly what I need to hear and I always get the boost I am needing.  Saturday, Bryce and I stayed home and watched the morning session together.  I made cinnamon rolls for the first time ever and they turned out pretty good for a first-timer.  

Bryce had to go to work during the afternoon session but he was still able to listen to conference at work.  We texted back and forth about parts of the talks we liked.  It was a fun way for us to still "listen together."  I was also able to get a lot done around my house during the talks.  I did all of my usual Saturday chores, caught up on all my laundry, and scrubbed all the walls and cabinets in my kitchen.  Later while Bryce was gone to the priesthood session with his dad and brother I took Rory for an extra long walk.  I don't know where all of my energy came from since I've been feeling so tired lately, but it was appreciated!


   

Sunday we went to my parents for lunch and listened to the afternoon session with them.  I think Rory had more fun than we did.  She really loves my mom and loves playing at their house.   Rory also made a new friend with my little brother and cuddled with him during the last few talks.   After conference was over Bryce and I took Rory out to the cottonwoods near my parents home.  I took lots of pictures, of course, and we worked on some training with Rory.

 

After we worked with Rory for a good while practicing coming and fetching we went to Bryce's parent's house.  We visited for a few hours, ate yummy dessert, and even got to pick some pumpkins from their pumpkin patch.  We arrived home feeling blessed, uplifted, and spiritually enlightened.  President Uchtdorf shared this thought in his talk that I loved:

"Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we stand up, dust ourselves off, and strive forward."

I loved this message.  I was so touched by his whole talk, you can watch the whole thing here.  I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and to be able to listen to general conference twice a year!  This was the best weekend I've had in a while.  I obviously look forward to General Conference so much for a reason :). 

Did you know it's my favorite month??

   I'm so happy it's finally October!  October is my very favorite month of the entire year.  It's the month of my favorite holiday, my birthday, and my favorite kind of weather!  I love the October smells of cinnamon, apple, and pumpkin.  I love all of the colors of the changing leaves.  I love the crisp air and wearing boots, scarves, and sweaters.  I love scary movies and the spooky atmosphere from the drizzly, rainy days.  Basically there isn't anything about October I don't love. 

I tried to get Rory to take a picture with me to show our enthusiasm about it, but she wasn't feeling very cooperative.  

Bryce was gone at another football game for athletic training tonight and while he was gone I finally had time decorate our house for Halloween.

I didn't do too much and kept things pretty simple.  I printed a Halloween poster, bought a few small pumpkins, printed a Halloween garland, and cut out some paper bats.  I'm really liking the October version of our house, maybe I'll leave everything up year round ;)

While I was taking pictures I noticed even my coat rack is looking festive thanks to the little orange flowers I added to my black and white tote.  Happy October Everyone!

P.S. I changed the name of our blog to the "Leishman Chronicles".  I've been thinking since half the posts are about Rory and the baby it really isn't just "Bryce & Kami" anymore, it's a little journal for our whole family.  I also got around to redesigning the blog and gave it a whole new look!