Halloween Par-tay!

So here in Utah, basically no one does anything on Sundays.
Halloween is on Sunday.
Utah+Sunday Halloween= everyone celebrating on Saturday.
And guess who has to work all day Saturday?
Yup, Me.

I was kind of really bummed because I love going out all dressed up and going to a good Halloween party but I have to work both tonight and tomorrow night which meant that on the rare occasion that I was actually invited to something, I couldn't go (YOU try to find someone to cover on a Friday or Saturday night, it's impossible)

Thankfully, my cousin and his wife were throwing a Halloween party for their kids last night (Thursday) since they didn't have school today and they turned it into a family party! I was on call at work so I was worried they would call me in, but as luck would have it, they didn't need me. So we headed off to the party!


Bryant playing with baby River. He's going to be such a good dad!


What A chub! I love it!


We had fun with baby Jackson too! Check out all that hair!

Outside they set up tables for the kids to carve pumpkins and had hot chocolate and Hocus Pocus playing on a projector.

I only stayed outside for a bit because it was really chilly.


Bryant wearing my little sisters witches hat.

I stayed inside where all the food was, which was a mistake. I had a bowl of potato cheese soup, a bowl of taco soup, a couple cookies and cupcakes, and fried turkey. Oh boy, I should have known better! Being pregnant has contradicting symptoms: your hungry ALL THE TIME so I eat like a cow, but then you get heartburn, man oh man did I have heartburn! It kept me up most of the night, then when It went away, the leg cramps started. Geeze louise, you just can't win can ya?

My mom hanging out with River. She's super excited to be a grandma in a few months!!!

It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got to go to at least one Halloween party. I get to wear my costume at work tomorrow, which will be fun, (I'm going to be a cop and Bryant is going to be a robber! But being pregnant, I should probably carry around doughnuts to justify the "fat cop" thing haha!) And we are trying to make plans to go out with a couple we know that we have hung out with a few times before. Last Halloween we went to dinner with them so I think thats what we will go again this year, seeing as they are alright with going out on Sunday haha!

(my cousin as a mummy)

Happy Halloween everyone!

It's nice to treat yourself once in a while

(note: this was written last night, Blogger was having issues loading photos)

Today was going to be a stressful day.
Bryant had to work this morning, then run the school to take a mid-term.
I had to write a 3-5 page mid-term essay then another 2-3 page one.

I like writing, I just don't like being pressured into page limits.
You ask me to write a 3 page paper, it takes every little space and margin I can stretch to make that three pages. You tell me there is no page limit, and I choose the topic like my South African paper on the Kalahari desert I did last semester, you get a 10 page work of genius...

I knew I was going to be stressed.
I knew Bryant was going to be stressed.
We needed to take ourselves out for the afternoon.

A couple months back, Bryant surprised me with a gift card to a really nice and fancy restaurant in Provo called the Chef's Table.

I've been there 3 times. Once on a date with one of my best friends for senior prom, once while Bryant and I were dating, and today.

We had originally planned to go for my birthday, which was on a Saturday, and we knew the gift card would cover the lunch prices but not the dinner prices. Come to find out, they don't do lunch on Saturdays. This bummed Bryant out because he had planned this whole big scheme to get me down to his work all dressed up and then surprise me by taking me to lunch.

Well, the weeks went by and we never had a free afternoon together to grab lunch. Until today. Bryant got off work a bit early so he would have more time to go take his test. He forgot his wallet and I knew he would need his ID in it to take the test so I told him I would meet him at the bookstore I work at when he got off. I showed up in my Sunday best with the gift card and told him we should just take an hour and go get a really good lunch before things got crazy this weekend.


Bryant got the nut crusted halibut, as you can tell by his plate, it was really good. (And that he doesn't like cooked vegetables)


I had the chicken salad sandwich with a garden salad and vegetables (unlike Bryant, I ate all my vegetables...)


The view.
My only complaint is that the trees are too high to see the mountains.

Bryant took this picture of the rose at our table. I think it turned out pretty awesome considering it was with his camera phone!

After lunch, Bryant headed off to school and I headed home to hunker down and get started on my paper. Later that evening when I had finished and Bryant came home, we went to visit my family (and maybe grab some dinner up there)

When I walked in, there was my little sister and the cute little neighbor girl coloring in the living room. My brother's friend Tanner came over with a bunch of little baby bunnies that his grandpa had bred. Of course the neighbor girl had to run and grab her family to come see!

And other neighbor kids started showing up too. This is basically what our yard looked like every day the summer Ace was a puppy. My family is the central hub of the neighborhood kids for two reasons: 1. We have a swing set and 2. There always seems to be cute little animals at my house.


There's no better way to relieve stress than eating good food (especially if your preggo!) and snuggling an adorable baby bunny!

I probably should listen to my husband more...

Bryant's a smart guy.
I'm a stubborn girl.
Sometimes, my stubbornness makes me really stupid.

So, if you know anyone who is pregnant, go ahead and ask them what the biggest annoyance is.
Go ahead. Ask.

One of the biggest annoyances to me is not the weight gain, not the moodiness or the desire to eat anything in your path. Not the morning sickness or the aching hips at the end of the day.
Nope.

It's having to wake up 2-3 times a night to pee.

I hate having my sleep interrupted. I hate everything about it. I hate getting up, seeing that I've only been asleep for an hour. I hate turning on the computer room light, then the washroom light, then the bathroom light. I hate turning them all off and when I get to my bedroom I can't see a thing as I stumble to my side of the bed while tripping over my books that line the floor.

The other night as I was coming back to bed after a 3:30 am bathroom run, I banged my knee against the end of my bed frame. It woke up Bryant and he suggested that we switch sides until I have the baby. For safety reasons. His side is a straight shot from the bedroom door so It would be easy for me to find the bed in the dark, rather than feeling around to my side.

I was pretty mad at injuring myself and I grumpily told him that I was just fine and that I didn't need him to switch sides with me.

Over the next couple of nights, he repeatedly asked me to switch sides. He was worried that I was really going to hurt myself or the baby one of these nights. That just made me more mad that he thought I couldn't be careful enough.

Well, like I said, my stubbornness makes me stupid.

Early this morning around 5:00am I had to make a dash to the bathroom. On my way back I knew that I had a few books and a half full glass of water somewhere on the floor on my side of the bed. I decided the best course of action so I didn't knock over my glass of water and destroy the book (which isn't mine, It's borrowed from work) would be for me to crawl up the middle of the bed to my pillow. I felt around till I could feel Bryant's feet, so I figured a couple inches over and I wouldn't crawl over him and wake him up. I got up to the pillow and rolled onto my right side to settle in when suddenly, I was crashing flat on my back to the ground with my head banging the corner of my bookcase and my elbow taking the brunt of my falling body weight.

Before I was even able to realize what had just happened, Bryant had pulled me back up onto the bed and cradled me as I began to sob. I was so mad that I had miscalculated how far over I was on the bed and my head, back and elbow were in some serious pain.

"We are switching sides" Bryant said.

I wasn't going to argue. I know I should have listened to him in the first place.

My head still hurts where the corner met it along with a terrible headache, and my elbow is pretty bruised and scraped (thanks to the tile floor). All because I didn't listen to my husbands good advice.

Little kicks

So when we went to the doctor's earlier in the week he asked if I was able to feel the baby move at all. I said that I had felt little bubbles and almost like a teeny tiny fish or something was moving or "fluttering" in there. He said that that was most likely the baby, but I just shrugged it off thinking that when the baby really began to move, I would realize it.

Then, yesterday afternoon, there I was on the couch, catching up on the afternoon news and doing some facebooking on the laptop when I felt it. I felt a little poke a few inches below my belly button. I stopped typing, trying to decided if I was imagining it or not but then there was a 2nd definite poke about and inch to the left of the last one.

"yup" I thought, "that was a poke!" not a flutter, not a possible gas bubble, it was most definitely a poke!

I sat there for a few more minutes trying to see if I could feel any more but nothing happened. I went to work, nothing the whole time. Then I came home and watched TV with Bryant, trying to see if I could feel anything then. Nothing.(a little over 16 weeks today! Finally into the 4th month!)

Finally, I went to bed but wasn't really tired so I pulled out a book and lay down on my side. About an hour into my reading, I felt a flutter. But not a light little one, I mean a definite movement. I knew it was the baby moving again! For about 10 minutes I would feel different little flutters. Almost like something was "wooshing" around in there.

Today it happened again as I was laying down again this afternoon to finish up my book, those little flutters started up again. It was so fun to just sit there and enjoy feeling that my baby was alive and well in there! I can't wait for it to get stronger so that Bryant will be able to feel it's little kicks and jabs!

Speaking of Bryant, he convinced me today to go on a Sunday drive up the canyon (it doesn't take much to convince me since that's one of my all time favorite things to do!)


It was gorgeous up there!

(don't worry, those ugly roots in my hair are getting fixed this week! I think I'm going back to blond, it's easier to keep-up!)

You haven't really experienced fall until you've experienced it in Utah
We had to stop and walk around for quite a while even though the ranger at the entrance said that since we didn't buy a pass we couldn't park anywhere, but I get really car sick and if we didn't stop, there were going to be problems...

On the way home, we decided to stop at wal mart and buy how to train your dragon. While we were there, we saw this and just HAD to make use of the photo op:

Yup, That's me...riding a dragon (well, a pretend dragon)

See? I didn't even cry!

Yesterday was my 16 week checkup (with the new doctor)
Everything looked and went great!

We were finally able to hear Baby Stoke's heartbeat! We got to see it on the ultrasound last month, but we weren't able to hear it. This time it was loud and clear at 147 bpm! Perfect!


Also, I only gained half a pound in the last month!
Only one half!
Woo Hoo!!!

The doctor said that as long as I wasn't losing any weight, it was nothing to be concerned about seeing as the baby only weighs a few ounces. It just means I'm not gaining any "extra" weight other places (lucky me! you can go ahead and be jealous... until I start ballooning, then you can go ahead and make fun of me...)

Bryant was a little bummed because he was hoping we would get another ultrasound since this was a new doctor, but they said that they would do an extensive one next time, which is when we get to find out what it is! (no worries Miranda, I'll be sure to post it!)

Also, I was finally able to get all my blood work done.
The lab tech wouldn't do it until I could giver her a urine sample first (gross, I know but i'm writing about it anyways) However, murphys law that basically, anything that could go wrong, does, kicked in.

Being pregnant means that I was up 3 times the night before rushing to the bathroom and I had gone twice before my appointment. Then, when I need to go, I of course, can't. So I hit the drinking fountain pretty hard, sat around for a half hour until I could giver her the sample. Then she was able to draw my blood.

I'm such a wimp when it comes to needles. My parents once tricked me into going into the hospital to get some blood drawn and I hid myself in the bathroom for almost a half an hour.

So I sat down in the chair and tried to look brave. Bryant saw through it though and came over to hold my hand. The lab tech didn't even give me a warning like a "ok, 1,2,3!" or a "ok, just a slight pinch here" nope, she just jammed that needle right in my arm.

The initial stabbing didn't hurt too bad, but after a few minutes, I realized my arm was really starting to hurt, and that it was taking her a really long time. I decided to brave a look and I realized that she had 3 vials filled and still had 2 more to go. I didn't think they would take that much blood. I suddenly got light headed and realized I wasn't breathing.

When she was all done, I looked and Bryant and said "See? I didn't even cry!" and he said "I wasn't worried about you crying, I was worried about you passing out!" The lab tech laughed and said "honestly, so was I there for a second!"

Thanks for your support guys...

Anyways, it was all over and I felt just fine, till I got out to my car. Thats when I suddenly felt extremely worn out and, you know, just kind of blah.

But it was all over. And I survived.
I'm so tough, I bet that epidural is a piece of cake! (don't tell me otherwise, you'll just freak me out, let me hope and dream here)

Woah Nelly, It's begun

I think it's finally begun.
You know, that finally "feeling pregnant" part of being pregnant has begun.

So far, it had just been morning sickness, and just a little extra weight around the middle.

I knew was pregnant, but I didn't feel pregnant yet.

But boy oh boy it's begun.

Sunday, I wore this dress:


I am 15, almost 16 weeks along (4 months! Geeze louise!)

This is the same dress when I was only 7 weeks along:

I think thats a pretty big change, considering I was about 117 Lbs in this photo, and 127 in the one above it (eeek! This is the most I have ever, ever weighed in my entire life!)

But what made me really happy, was that at church, people who have never spoken to me in the year and a half I've been here congratulated me on being pregnant.

The other night, as Bryant and I were unwinding and watching some TV I was thinking about my next appointment, (which got pushed back, read on for details) and I suddenly though "holy Moses, I'm pregnant i'm carrying Bryant and I's child. A child that we will raise into adulthood. There was no going back.

Thats when I felt pregnant.

And over the past couple of days, I've had to deal with the unpleasantly painful side of being pregnant too. Being at school is torture, instead of worrying about how accessible the closest garbage can is in case I get sick, I know get really uncomfortable and my back begins to kill! Work is torture because I'm on my feet the entire time I'm there running around and my feet and my hips are in agony at the end of the night. Not to mention, I get 1 break if I work over 5 1/2 hours and I'm STARVING by then.

And even trying to sleep at night is torture because the muscles on the side of my stomach feel like they are being stretched and pulled all night long so I'm constantly rolling over trying to relieve some of the pressure.

And I know this is only the beginning. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable I'll become near the end of this pregnancy when I'm the size of a small elephant!

But its all completely and totally worth it!

In other news, I had to switch doctors. This may be temporary, but we'll see I guess.
The problem was that my other doctor didn't accept baby your baby, which is the temporary insurance I am on while I'm applying tor my other insurance. Which means that last month when I had my first appointment, all they were able to do was take my blood pressure and do an ultrasound. They couldn't do any blood work, which is crucial to make sure everything is OK with the baby, and because I am very anemic and my blood and iron levels need to be monitored.

Lately, I've been feeling sick, my parents were worried because I look really pale and I'm overly tired all the time, which are signs that my levels are low (remember how I said I once came minutes away from needing a transfusion? Yeah I want to get this checked out)

Well I finally got approved for my insurance, however my card wont be here for 10-14 days and my appointment was for yesterday. I called a different doctor and they accepted baby your baby and said they would be able to do all the tests that needed to be done (I mean, I'm 4 months along tomorrow and all I've had was an ultrasound, I'm getting a little anxious to make sure all the other stuff is OK)

Then I called my doctor that I had seen last month. They said that since I don't have my card yet that all they could do was take my blood pressure. Seriously? Lame sauce. When I asked if I would be billed for that or If my insurance could back-pay, she said I would be billed. The grand total for getting my blood pressure checked??? 350 big ones! Yup! 350 dollars to do something I could go into any pharmacy or grocery store and do myself for free! Thats a big old serving of lame sauce!

So I told the nurse that I would have to cancel my appointment and make one somewhere else. I wasn't waiting till I was over half way done with my pregnancy before I got any sort of prenatal care. Then it got funny, the nurse immediately started freaking out, telling me that If I went somewhere else, they would charge me TWICE as much. I asked " they will charge me 700 dollars to take my blood pressure?"

"yes, anywhere else is going to be expensive, we are the cheapest doctors you will find"

I kind of giggled a bit and said, "well, I actually already found a doctor who accepts baby your baby and they will be able to do everything that needs to be done and I won't be charged for it. I'm 4 months along and I haven't had anything done yet at your office"

Suddenly, I felt kind of bad because she sounded defeated when she said "oh... 4 months? Ok I understand, I'll cancel your appointment tomorrow"

To make her feel better, I told her that I would go to this months appointment at the other doctor, but that I would call her this weekend to schedule next months with their office.

I don't know if I will or not. This new doctor gives you the choice of a doctor or a midwife, but they kind of push you towards the whole, natural birth thing, which I'm just not into. (Think and say what you will, I just like the idea of a sterile hospital, and yes, I know I'm awful, but I want the epidural and pain meds, I don't do well at all with pain)

So I have my 2nd appointment tomorrow, and even though I HATE HATE HATE needles and any pain, I am actually really excited. I was worried because the only time they had available was only an hour before my class, but this morning as I was struggling to get out of bed (after all, I had minimal sleep with all that pain along the sides of my abdomen last night) I realized it is fall break at school! (it felt so good to roll, over, shut my alarm off and head back off into dreamland...) So I won't have to worry about being late to class.

Bryant thinks they will do another ultrasound there since they are a new doctor. I kind of hope they do too. I think Bryant hopes they will do one so that there is a chance of finding out what it is. (Our other doc said they can sometimes tell around 15 weeks, but that the only other ultrasound they would do would be at 21 weeks, which is next month) I would love to get another ultrasound, just to see the baby again, but it would be fun to find out what it is so I can start planning! Woo!

A survivor

I love to watch animal planet.
But unfortunately, being pregnant makes me all weepy and hormonal when I watch it now.
Especially the animal cops show where they rescue animals that have been neglected or injured or abused. I always have a soft spot for those animals, I almost think that dogs that have to go through something like that turn out to be the best dogs because they understand and are grateful for your help.

Today Bryant and my brother Colter and our friend Tanner went to the high school after church to play some football and I got bored sitting at home and I could hear my dog Ace making his funny growling/gurgling/whining sounds outside which means he's bored too so the two of us hopped in my brothers truck and took off to go watch the boys play.

As we were sitting on the bench watching, I bent down to pet him playfully on the nose and my fingers brushed against the rough patch of fur and the memories of him being a puppy and being so sick came flooding back.
(watching the football game)

Ace was the result of an accident between my parents german shorthair Rusty, and their black lab Sadie. I, of course was in love with all the puppies (but who doesn't love puppies!?) but both Bryant and I fell head over heels with one of the two males. We named him Ace and took him everywhere and played with him all the time.

One day, we were running to the post office and I waited outside on the grass with Ace while Bryant went in to mail a few things and I noticed that he just wasn't as active as he usually was.

When we got home, I started to notice that his lips were a bit swollen, and he had become very lethargic. I researched it a bit and read that dogs can be allergic to bee stings and the symptoms were swollen faces and lethargy. Seeing as there was a hornets nest in the back yard where Ace was playing, I figured he had been stung. So I brought him in and gave him some bennadryl and took him back out the rest of the liter.

(wanting to get in on the action!)

The next day he was much, much worse. His lips and eyes were swollen, he sat limp in my arms, he had bumps running all along his ears and he was beginning to lose his fur around all the places that were swollen. I called the vet, they were closed, I called the animal hospital, they were closed. That night Bryant and I decided to bring him in with us and put him in a box. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink and wouldn't sleep. Finally, I picked him up in the middle of the night and had him curl up next to me and he slept the rest of the night.

(out camping earlier this summer)

The next day Bryant and I both had to work so my parents took him into the vet. He had juvenile cellulitis, AKA the puppy strangles.

Puppy strangles occurs in puppies under 4 months old. There is no known cause and it is characterized by swollen lymph nodes, lethargy, scabs on the face and muzzle, and fur loss.

(polishing off some cream at strawberry days)

The vet gave him a shot and sent my parents home with antibiotics. They said we got there just in time and that he would recover, but that the fur he had lost would never grow back. We spent many a day feeding Ace, cleaning his scabs, trying to get him to take his antibiotics and loving him back to health.

When the puppies became old enough to be put up for adoption, they were going fast! But poor little Ace was our ugly (dog)duckling. His face was all patchy and he looked like he had been pretty chewed up. I was worried that no one would want him. On the other hand, I was also worried that someone WOULD take him and then I would have to give him up.


(recovering, notice the gray patch on his nose where he lost some fur)

Thankfully, this was around Bryant's birthday and my parents realized how in love we were with our little fighter. They walked in with a big paper bag and who should stick out their little mangled head? My baby Ace!!!

(watching the food network with me, he's to big to sit on the couch anymore)

My parents were really being so generous because we live in their basement apartment so that would mean that Ace would have to stay here with their dogs too. And I am so grateful they let us keep him. He's such a sweetheart and has the best personality for a dog. He really is one of my best pals!

I think we make such a good team. I think his near-death experience helped us to bond better when he was a puppy (which make him such a cuddle bug now!)

(he jumps on the couch when Bryant walks out, I think he does this just to tease him!0

And the vet was wrong, most of his fur grew back and he turned out to be a one handsome dog!

8 years ago today...

8 years ago today was the worst day of my life.
Not the "I locked my keys in the car and my washer went out and then my dog chewed up my new pair of shoes" kind of worst day, but I mean literally, the absolute worst day of my entire life.

I remember exactly where I was.
I was 15 and in in the 9th grade.
It was after school and I was staying late in my English classroom working on a project for my Lord of the Rings book report with my partner.

We finished up and (as this was pre-cellphone era for me) I used my teachers phone to call my house to let my dad know I was ready to get a ride home.

Instead of hearing my dad's voice on the other end, I heard my grandpa's.

"Brooke this is Grandpa, your dad is in the hospital. We'll come pick you up and take you and your brothers down there"

My heart sank. I didn't know why he would be in the hospital. Was it a car accident? A heart attack? Maybe it wasn't that bad, just stitches... yeah it could just be stitches.

My teacher, (who, I'm pretty sure, was born with a rock instead of a heart...) asked if I was Ok. When I told her my dad was in the hospital she just said "a lot of old people have to go to the hospital when they get a cold or something..."

What? You seriously just said that? First off, my dad was 39. Second, he wasn't the kind of guy to go to the doctors, let alone the hospital for "just a cold" are you kidding me? My grandparents met me outside the school and my brothers Colter, Sawyer and I were taken to the hospital. We met my mom in the Emergency room.

She explained to us that my dad had had a stroke.

It happened that morning right after we had left for school and they hadn't figured out what it was until just before we arrived. My dad had all the symptoms of a stroke, but the doctors just wouldn't believe that someone that young could have one.


A stroke is normally a blood clot in the brain preventing blood and oxygen to get to it. In my dads case, the blood vessel blocked itself in a way. Blood broke through the wall of a blood vessel, which pushed it out, creating a blockage. The doctors said that there was no reason that this happened other than it was basically just a freak accident.

Things began to get scary.

My dad was getting worse, and the doctors were planning on life-flighting him to the hospital in Salt lake for emergency surgery. I remember feeling so scared that I was going to lose my dad that night. Something in my heart and the back of my mind told me that I needed to be prepared in case this was his last night.



By this time, my aunts, uncles and cousins had shown up and we decided that we needed to give my dad a priesthood blessing. I remember that almost immediately after the blessing, I felt that horrible scared feeling leave me and a feeling of peace washed over me, and not only over me but over the whole room. I suddenly felt that everything was going to be ok and that my dad was going to pull through.

Soon after, the doctors came back to check on him and realized that he was beginning to stabilize. They were not going to have to life-flight him!

Those first few days were the hardest. My dad was paralyzed on his left side, couldn't swallow, couldn't walk, could barely talk. You never imagine seeing your big tough dad so sick. It breaks your heart.

It was weeks in the hospital, then many more weeks in rehab. When he was finally able to come home, we were constantly worried about him. Even just watching him eat was nerve wracking because his throat was still partially paralyzed. Our lives had changed so much.

But 8 years later and my dad has made so much progress!

It's incredible looking back and remembering the way he was, lying in a hospital bed for weeks, paralyzed on one side, feeding tubes, IV's and all sorts of monitors all over him. Then you see him today and he is a modern miracle. He now walks with the help of a cane, he went back to college and got his degree in fine art, he can still go hunting, camping, take airplanes, ride the Indiana Jones ride over and over at Disneyland, paint and draw, go to concerts, build fences, attended my wedding and a million and one other things. Things that many people who have had strokes never get the chance to do again.


I am so proud of my dad. He's such a hero in my eyes and I'm so grateful that he was there to scare away boyfriends, get mad at me when I was past curfew, attend all my dance competitions, come to my high school graduation, take art classes with me, be there to watch me be sealed to my husband and in 5 1/2 months become a grandpa.

What would I do if I didn't have him to be a grandfather to my child?

I love you Dad. Thank you for being so strong and always being there for me. You really are the best dad in the whole wide world and I'm so grateful that you are here with us today.

Mom's are the best

It doesn't matter how old I get, or the fact that I'm about to become a mom myself, but my mom always makes sure that I'm healthy and happy.

She's the best!

I've been sick for a couple of days.
Mostly just horrible migraines and dizziness.
I even called in sick today at work, which I never like doing.

I'm also super anemic. Which means I don't have enough iron in my system and my body has a hard time reproducing it's blood supply.

In fact, when I was hospitalized with pneumonia, there was a serious debate weather or not to give me a blood transfusion.

Ever since, the doctors have told me to take iron supplements, never pass up green beans or red meat (but who would pass those up anyways?) and I get a finger prick test every now and then.

My mom was worried when she saw me yesterday, she said I looked too pale and was worried my anemia was getting worse, which is known to happen to pregnant women, and would explain the dizziness.

So today, she brought me what she called the "baby smoothie"


It had bananas, blueberries, flax seed, fish oil, spinach, and a fiber supplement in it.
It started out purple, and tasting like bananas. It ended black and tasting like spinach.
It really didn't taste too bad at all. It was just a little chunky, which made it tough to swallow. It's like beans, they taste fine, I just don't like the texture of them.

I dared my sister to take a sip in exchange for helping her do her homework. She got a weird face and just said "interesting".
(my mom)

This wasn't my first rodeo with a healthy smoothie my mom has made. For after school snacks she used to make smoothies with tofu in them. And really yummy sandwiches with spinach and apple slices.

I'm so grateful for my mom. She always makes sure I'm feeling ok. When I was living down in Provo, she had this "mom sense" that would let her know when I needed a visit from her and she would bring groceries or flowers.

When I was sick as a kid she would run out and buy me a sprite and make toast.

And let's not forget my dad here, he used to grab me cough medicine in the middle of the night or let me drink his coke.
(my dad and I)

Needless to say, I am feeling much much better tonight. My headache is gone and with it my dizziness. My mom said she's going to make me the smoothie again tomorrow (with less chunks) and I'll take it if it has made me feel this much better this soon.

I love you mom and dad. You guys are the best and thanks for always looking out for me (and you too Bryant, who always buys me Reeces peanut butter cups when I'm sick and doesn't make me watch football, I love you too!)

This baby takes after his/her mama

Have you ever thought about what you would choose to eat if you knew it would be your last meal? I'm pretty sure I know what I would want.

Enchiladas with sour cream and cottage cheese
Made the way my mom and grandma make them, stacked like pancakes.

It's probably my all time favorite dinner ever.
Soooooo Good!

I've always really loved Mexican food. Tonight, there was nothing in the fridge, not like I really wanted to cook anyways since I was feeling under the weather this morning (had to leave work early, I almost passed out!).

Plus, Bryant and I haven't really been on a date in a while.
We usually sit and argue who decides where we get to go. But tonight Bryant suggested we go to a Mexican restaurant called Maria Bonita's. We had been once before with my family but it's been a while since we've been back.

I had forgotten how GOOD the food was!
This was our appetizer and it was so big that we decided next time we will just get this and split it as our whole meal! We actually got this on a misunderstanding. We thought this was the nachos, but it's actually a really thin tortilla that's been fried and crisped on bottom, then chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, and other yummy stuff on top. This was actually our favorite part of the whole meal.,

We both got enchiladas. They were really good too, not as good as my mom's or grandmas, but really good.


The place was pretty packed when we got there seeing as it was after priesthood session, but by the time we got our food it had kind of cleared out, we were actually some of the last people to leave for the night.


The lady who waited on us was hilariously adorable. She was a bit hard to understand but I thought it was so funny when she came to take our order. She looked at me and said "oh hello princess!" and shook my hand. And she called Bryant "champion".


We will definitely be going back more often.

In other news, I'm 14 weeks along!

(check out my Halloween decoration in the window! Woo!)


I've definitely been feeling better, every once in a while I'll be a bit sick first thing in the morning, but I found that the trick is to eat late at night and eat first thing in the morning before I do anything else. This morning though, I was really sick but it was a combination of a migraine, lightheaded/dizziness and nausea, (which was most likely from the migraine)

Weird.

Anyways I'm finally and officially in my 2nd trimester!
I can't wait for our next appointment in a couple of weeks.
It will probably just be blood work and stuff, but it will be nice to know everything is going great.

I'm pretty sure this baby already likes Mexican food as much as me...