23 Weeks

23 weeks along and feeling great! But really, pregnancy is no big thing at this stage..  until nighttime rolls around. I still have the hardest time sleeping because my hips ache so bad when I lay on my side, but other than that I hardly even know I'm pregnant until I look down at this big bump of mine! It's still so crazy to me that there's a real human baby inside there. And the other best thing about this stage of pregnancy is feeling her moving all the time, she's an active one and it's wonderful!

Baby News! ...and other stuff

It's 5 am (on a Saturday) and I can't fall back asleep, so what do I decide to do? Blog!

So much has been going on lately and one thing I feel kinda guilty about is not announcing the gender of my baby!! I always thought I would be one of those girls that does all the cutsy announcement pictures, baby bump pictures, gender party, baby buying/decorating, etc. But nope, not one bit. I'm not even a mother yet and I already feel like a failure :( ...Just kidding, I'm not really too worried about it. I've been getting really busy lately and it's actually good to have my mind on other things than to be thinking about pregnancy 24/7.

Let me backtrack a little bit. First off, we got home from New York a month ago (I can't believe it's been a month now!) and had a wonderful two weeks of summer before jumping back into things. To begin with, we had to find an apartment. We apartment shopped like crazy before settling on a cute little old house in south Provo. We are just renting the upstairs and so far no renters in the downstairs yet! I was going to post a picture, but now I'm second guessing myself. Probably not a good idea on a public blog.. so if you're reading this, you'll have to come visit me!

Secondly, Preston went back to school for his last year and I got a job! It's my first full time, paid job (doing advertising) and I actually really like it! It's very stressful, busy, and crazy but it's doing what I love so it's perfect for me!

First day of work/school pictures:

My diploma came in the mail a couple weeks ago and I thought I should do something with it ha so I'll post it on my blog and give myself a pat on the back. Crazy how 4 years of tears, stress, long hours, (and all the great things that come with going to school of course) all boil down to a piece of paper and me being able to say I have a degree. Not going to lie, I'm going to miss it a lot. Definitely not going to miss the homework, but I loved going to classes and I loved a lot of my teachers.

Signed by President Monson!

Finally... the baby news!!

We found out last week that our precious little baby is a GIRL!! We're so so excited! Now we just need to get shopping and picking out a name... names are tough! Not that anyone would admit it, but I always wonder if people ever regret the name they choose for their baby..? I don't think they go throughout their whole life regretting it, but maybe in the couple weeks after they have it??

Anyway, back to what I was saying, baby Phillips is a healthy, active, girl and we've got a lot to do before she comes in January!

This was our poor attempt to do an "It's a Girl!" photo:

This is the extent of everything we have for our baby so far.. yeah like I said, we've got a lot to do :)

(by the way- that little newborn diaper is the sweetest thing I've ever seen)

I finally took a baby bump picture, so here I am at about 20 weeks. This is a few days before we found out the gender. I know I've said this all along but my belly is so much bigger than it looks in these pictures!!

Our ultrasound tech was a nice lady but boy did she give us some scary pictures to take home! haha I think I would prefer some non-x-ray pictures please!

Weekend in Cape Cod

This post is going back to the beginning of August. Preston had just finished his internship (like that day) and his parents flew out to New York City to see us and to take us on a weekend trip up north. I'm slightly obsessed with the northeast and could not stop smiling the whole drive out of the city. I LOVED seeing all the trees! Same thing as when we went to New Canaan earlier in the summer. The northeast just has such a charm to it.

Oh by the way, heading up to Cape Cod from New York City on the weekend is probably the worst idea. We were stuck in traffic for hours!! Same story on the way home on Sunday. Luckily I loved the scenery and being in a car again so I didn't mind too much, but it really was a looong drive.

Our first stop was a little restaurant that we ate at on the way to Newport. I had to get a picture of the view from the back.

The first night we stayed at a bed and breakfast in Newport. It was kind of a creepy old place to tell the truth, but it was an adventure! Newport is known for all its mansions, so we spent some time going to look at different mansions and even toured the Vanderbilt mansion, The Breakers, in the morning!

Newport pier

The morning we got up bright and early to tour the mansions. This is looking off the cliffs from some of their backyards.

I'm not sure which mansion this is but I thought it was GORGEOUS!

These are the gates into the Vanderbilt mansion

You can't take pictures inside the mansion, but here was one we took on the balcony. How would you like waking up and looking out at that view each morning?? By the way The Breakers was amazing! There was so much detail put into everything. 

After our morning touring the mansions we headed up to Cape Cod! The beach was beautiful and Preston laid down in the sand and was dead to the world for like a half hour haha. He had literally pulled all nighters for the past week up until then so he deserved a good nap!

It was a bit windy but I had to get a picture of the grasses and trees around the beach

That night we spent the night in Plymouth (yes the pilgrim Plymouth) at a perfect bed and breakfast. We were in heaven! In the picture below you can see the Mayflower in the back on the left hand side. There's a better picture further down though.

On Sunday we went to church and to see the Mayflower before heading back home to New York. This is actually just an exact replica of the Mayflower- not the real thing- but we were amazed how tiny it was! It looks big in the picture but it was pretty small to fit so many people.

After this we headed back to New York for one more week of my internship and then it was time to go back home to Utah!!

19 Weeks

It's been a long time since I've blogged- or even really been on a computer but now I'm back! It's kind of too bad because here I am half way through my pregnancy and I really haven't documented a thing, dang it. AND I had some blog posts I was writing in New York and never finished and now New York seems so long ago, so I probably won't even finish those.

So as much as you all hate it, I am going to play catch up (small scale) on these next couple blog posts starting with the beginning of the end of the summer- when we went to Cape Cod while we were in New York. But before I upload all those pictures, I wanted to do a pregnancy post because I've always secretly looked forward to answering the "pregnancy questions."

How far along?? 19 weeks

Size of the baby: about 6.5 inches and 10 oz

Maternity Clothes: finding maternity clothes is the biggest headache of my life. I have spent so much time trying to find cute maternity clothes that I don't have to order online. Anyone have any advice?? Back to the question- one pair of pants that I found at Old Navy. I wear them almost every day.

Weight gain/loss: Gain. I wasn't gaining much over the summer because I wasn't going to the gym but now that I'm back at the gym I'm gaining muscle and baby weight so yeah definitely gaining.

Sleep: I would give anything for a good, comfortable night of sleep. I shouldn't even be complaining because I know it's just going to get way worse, but I don't see how my shoulders or hips could ache any more. Help!

Stretch marks: none yet!

Best moment of the week: finally getting internet in our new house!

Movement: I think I feel the baby but I'm really not sure. I can't wait to be able to feel it and know that it's my baby moving around!

Symptoms: Things haven't been that bad lately. I still get nauseous in the morning but nothing like first trimester. Also I've been moving a lot of things into our new house and I get bad backaches..

Food cravings: nothing new- I've always got random cravings even before pregnancy so I haven't really noticed anything different.

Gender: We find out on Tuesday and I am just dying!!! (also getting a little nervous- I always picture myself with a girl so I think it'll be a little shock if it's a boy)

Belly button in or out: In, but barely. I guess I should say about surface level :(

Anything make you queasy or sick: Everything used to, but now it's mostly bad smells.. that's about it.

Labor signs: I would hope not!

Wedding ring on or off: On

What I miss: laying on my back comfortably, sitting on the floor comfortably, laying in the sun comfortably, and foods I shouldn't eat like eggs benedict, tuna fish, and deli turkey.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender!! And feeling baby move- more distinctively

Nursery: We have a little room for it and I'm getting so excited to start getting stuff once we find out the gender. I have a color scheme all picked out for a girl, but still thinking about what I would do for a boy nursery.

Emotions: My emotions have been pretty crazy, but they kind of always are. Sometimes I just feel like crying for no reason, and sometimes I just get moody- like in the mornings when I get up and my body hurts everywhere.

Don't want to end on a bad note, so I'll mention that even though I am uncomfortable sometimes, for the most part I love this part of pregnancy- things are great. And I think every day about when my baby comes and when I'll get to hold it for the first time and witout fail that gets me a little choked up. I can't wait to meet my baby!!

Hi Dad!

I sent this picture to Preston after my doctor's appointment last week with the caption "Hi Dad!" Pretty sure Preston's never been more proud of anything in his life. He's been giddy all week. I can just tell he is going to melt when he first holds this baby in his arms :)

I've been trying to take a good belly picture because in my opinion I am huge! It doesn't show as much in the pictures, but people have got to be thinking something's up. I haven't told anyone at work so I always wonder if they notice that I have a big belly that's always sticking out. Anyway, here's my lame attempts at a bump picture:

12ish weeks, 12.5 weeks, 13.5 weeks

Our Baby

I'm so excited to announce that we're expecting!! I couldn't hold it in any longer because I feel like this pregnancy is already such a HUGE part of my life! And I guess unknown to me, I was already giving little clues in my blog like "packing snacks" and "not feeling very well anymore," so I'm just coming out with the news now!

It all started in May... well a little before that obviously ;)... I had been having really bad cramps, but my period just wasn't coming. I had been taking Ibuprofen, (I know, terrible mom) but one night they were just really bad so I got up at like 4 in the morning to take some stronger medicine, but I had the thought  "what if I were actually pregnant?" so right then and there I pulled out a pregnancy test (I was stocked up because I'd already had a few times of thinking I was pregnant) and there in my little bathroom in the early morning I found out I was indeed pregnant!! I remember I was so shaky and excited/nervous/skeptical.. I just couldn't believe it was for real this time! I didn't want to wake up Preston yet because it was still so early so I went into the living room to wait. I was seriously just watching the clock and pacing in circles because I wanted to make him breakfast but I couldn't start it too early. At like 6 in the morning I went to work making German pancakes, which we have most weekend mornings. I was trying so hard to be quiet and not wake Preston so he wouldn't come out and ruin the surprise. Luckily he happened to be sleeping like a log that morning so I was able to make my complete tray without him waking up!

And underneath that little paper that says "For the new daddy" was this pregnancy test!

Boy was he excited! Preston's always a little skeptical, so he was like let's just take another pregnancy test to be sure before you get too excited. But we were pretty positive that I really was. It was a fun time for us that morning just talking about all things baby. Great to have that moment because in the next couple days he became obsessed with finding out just how much having a baby would cost and insurance coverage and all of that. He really is the responsible one in this relationship!

I'm now about 13 weeks along and to be honest it has been HARD. Moving to Manhattan during extreme morning sickness didn't go so well. We had quite a little journey those first couple weeks before I had a doctor and nausea medicine. I was throwing up like crazy, had absolutely NO energy to get out of bed besides going to work, and wanted a home cooked meal more than anything. One weekend I tried to leave my bed and go out in the city, I ended up throwing up on people in the subway, and we decided that I had better get some help. Since I didn't have a doctor yet Preston took me to the urgent care and we found out I was super dehydrated. They gave me a whole bunch of IV's and I finally got some nausea medicine, and since that point there have obviously still been many bad times, but I've been feeling a thousand times better. These days I'm starting to feel almost normal again. I've heard that second trimester is a breeze compared to the first and third, and I am so happy to be going into that. (By the way, sorry for the gross details)

I've had three ultrasounds that were seriously the coolest things in my life. At this point it's still hard to believe that I really have a baby inside me because I can't feel it yet and my tummy isn't a bowling ball yet, so seeing my baby moving around inside of me on the screen and hearing its heartbeat was indescribable. And you better believe I got choked up and couldn't really respond to the doctor during it because I didn't want her to know I was crying. I guess I should just stop trying to hide it because I literally cry about every little thing these days... reading people's blogs, watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, watching Bachelorette, reading a book, walking down the street... you name it.

Here's some pictures of Baby Phillips growing:

Our little ghost: 7ish weeks?

Becoming more human-like: 9ish weeks

Profile shot: 12 weeks

And so it begins- the mommy blogger haha I'll try not to overload everyone with pregnancy posts :)

Anyway, we are SO excited and can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl. I can't wait to have a big belly, buy baby things, feel it move, and bring our baby home for the first time. Preston can't wait to change his first diaper (haha he really never has), play with the baby once it's a little older, spoil it, and have a little buddy.

Oh and I forgot to mention our baby is due January 28th!

Manhattan Midsummer Updates

I thought I'd catch up a little bit with what's been going on in NYC the past couple weeks. The majority of my week is taken up with work, walking to and from work, walking to and from the grocery store, walking to pick up my laundry, etc.. you get the point. But, occasionally I get out to do some fun things. I'm not a big picture taker lately because I think I've mentioned I hate Iphone photos, and that's all I ever have with me these days. So here goes...

About 3 weeks ago Preston's brother and his wife came out to New York and we were able to spend the day with them (correction- I spent the day with them and Preston met us for lunch and dinner). It was so great having them here! Here we are eating in Madison Park after getting amazing prime rib sandwiches at Eataly. I'm drooling thinking about them...

Me and the other girls here went to the MOMA one day. It was actually way cool. There's a lot of super famous paintings there, obviously, and it was cool to see them in person. We were so disappointed though because we had really wanted to go in the Rain Room, but there was a 4 hour wait and the museum was closing in 4 hours, so that was a huge bummer.

I found a running path! And it's alongside the East River (2 blocks from my apartment) and it's absolutely wonderful! I wish I could go run more often but it's seriously been so hot here I think I would die. Last week I went during a storm and it was so exhilarating running in the rain, I loved it!

I have been getting eaten alive by mosquitos :(  And the worst part is I think it's in my apartment while I'm sleeping. So I have to wear bug spray 24/7 now or else I look like this:

This was only night one of the attack. The next night they doubled it. I couldn't sleep a wink because I was itching so bad. I just wish I was safe from them in my own apartment! :(

.....I thought I had more updates, but I guess I've forgotten! Preston is working like a mad man and I see him pretty much only for like a half hour in the morning while we get ready together, and for like ten minutes when he crawls into bed with me at 3:00 in the morning. Last Saturday I thought he was going to get off early so I was waiting for him outside his work to go to dinner, and he got thrown a last minute assignment. I wandered around town until about 9:00 and he finally got off and we were able to catch a late dinner. It was a miracle! We sure will be happy when this summer is over (never thought I would say that about summer.. sad). 

And one more thought before I end. My friend Ellee found this article about New Yorkers and it is SO true! If you're familiar with New York City you should look at it. One of my favorites is Pretend Like Crazy Stuff Isn't Happening While It's Happening. Working in Union Square, I see my fair share of crazy things. I guess that's all part of what makes NYC so exciting, you are never without things to see :)

Show Some Love

I finally got a Bloglovin account! So you can follow me there... or in google reader still because to be honest I don't know if that is really going away. That rumor has been going around the blog world for like 6 months. But, I like Bloglovin better anyway so far so it all works out!

P.S. I just went through and added a whole bunch of blogs I follow and noticed that a lot of my favorite people never post anymore, and the highlight of my night is eating my dinner and reading through my blogs, so please please please write more blog posts :)

And here's this ugly code that I think I had to post to "claim my blog."
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4704463/?claim=3yq3w49tu6q">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

New Canaan for the 4th

Happy Independence Day!!!!

We sure had a happy one thanks to the kindest people I've never met. Our friends have some family friends who live in New Canaan, Connecticut that offered us their whole (gorgeous) house and their car  since they were going to be out of town. They even left their car at the train station for us to drive home in when we got there. Seriously it's hard to believe there are that generous of people out there in the world. I had been so sad that we wouldn't be with family or in Provo for the 4th, but this year turned out to be one of my favorites!

We got there the night before the 4th and were able to spend the night in a great bed for a change. :) The next morning we attended the church breakfast. Luckily no one asked us who we were. Then we headed out to the beach for a little sun. The beach we ended up at was kinda rocky, but it was still fun and there was plenty of shade for the boys.

Justin and Camille

Ellee and Clark

Notice my 4th of July towel. I was excited about that.

   

After the beach we went back home and played in the yard, had a yummy barbecue, (prepared by the boys) and played games. Then we went up to this big park/field for fireworks! New Canaan is amazingly beautiful. The trees, the houses there, and the downtown area were all so cute. I did not want to leave. Also the fireworks were fantastic! I thought Stadium of Fire was like THE place for fireworks but apparently even a smaller town like New Canaan knows how to throw a 4th of July celebration, and the fireworks were just as good as stadium of fire... maybe even better. And even though we didn't have Kelly Clarkson we had the absolute cutest band playing "rockin" music all night!

Oh yeah and this is us conked out after the beach :)

Walking up to the park

The Credit Suisse boys

The Credit Suisse wives

  

Waiting for fireworks

The band :)

Aren't these gorgeous?!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!