26 Weeks and Happy as a Lark!

Can you believe I'm already 26 weeks along?? You may be wondering what happened to our fun weekly vegetable pictures... Well... rest easy! They are being taken we just haven't quite gotten around to putting them in that cute little format that tells the week number at the bottom and therefore have not been put into circulation. Things up until now have seriously been a dream come true. I have heard the word 'pop' far too frequently lately as people glance down at my tummy... which now contains a basketball-sized uterus... yikes! No wonder it takes 6 weeks for that thing to shrink back into its rightful size!

Baby Murdock is now OVER 2 POUNDS!!! I don't know how I feel about the whole "mom has gained 18, baby has only gained 2" thing but I am right where I should be weight-wise and remember... I measured a week big at my last appointment, lol!! This amazing little one is not only on the charts in weight but can also open and close his eyes and breathe normally! I need a PROUD MAMA pin.

My recent vice has been found in the wee hours of the morning lately when I have been waking up just to feel him wiggle. I am absolutely in love. He has found two ticklish spots so far and uses them liberally when he needs a good laugh/earthquake. Michael is sure I am giving him brain damage when I laugh because of how much it makes him bounce... poor kid. He shakes when I laugh like a bowl full of jelly (name that tune??). He also enjoys kicking the inside of my ribs and just recently located my BLADDER... with his HEEL. He is one funny baby.

I do have to say that one of the hardest parts right now is keeping this little guy's supplies to a minimum... Michael says that we can't buy a lot of stuff before we move across the country because then we have to ship it. Not fun. So I normally pretend I didn't hear him and hide it in the closet. Last week I found little mittens on sale and absolutely HAD to have them... I mean... the BABY had to have them. Everything is just so CUTE when it is tiny!! We also used our Black Friday Kohl's Kash to get a $130 baby monitor for $7! Supposedly it's a really good one and I am thrilled to try it out. It even came with a little motion sensor pad that is meant to be placed under the baby's mattress so that you can tell when he is moving around! Beautiful idea.

Life outside of baby-prep world has been falling into place incredibly. When Michael was offered this job in Connecticut we were thrilled... and clueless... and a little bit scared! I really do think, though, that if something is right for you that things will work themselves out. It is one of the ways that the Lord answers our prayers. Well... we are moving in 2 weeks and as of yesterday had no prospective renters for the house. Talk about panic attack. The man that was supposed to come by in the evening called before hand to let us know that he wouldn't be able to make it and then we had a surprise interest that popped up and asked to come last night as well. As we took her on the grand tour of our place everything just felt right. She seemed reliable, enjoyable, and like she will bring something special to the neighborhood. I felt so good about it that when we sat down in the kitchen after our walk-through I offered her the place without a family pow-wow or anything. I could tell that all three of us were getting great vibes. This morning she called Michael to let him know that she had canceled her current contract and would be ready to move into our place on January 1st!! We will all be getting together on Saturday to sign contracts and make things official. I could not be more thrilled. Back to packing!

23 Weeks

Well Friends... we have an 8'' yam-boy in our presence!! Now is probably a good time to remember that the fruits and veggies our little one is compared to each week are for length only... he definitely was not the size of that huge smiling squash last week, that's for sure. The measurements are also still from crown to rump, so they don't include his little leggies! Word on the street is, though, that once we hit the third trimester (in just 5 weeks!!) that the measurements do include his legs so that will be fun.

Anyway, this week has been really exciting. I have decided that if I ever write a book on pregnancy (not in my future plans, but that's ok) that I am going to re-do the trimester system. Weeks 1-14 will still be section #1 and called the 'babymoon phase' because nothing really happens but everything is SO EXCITING. Weeks 15-20 will be called 'the pudge' - you have actually started to show but it mostly just looks like you ate too many doughnuts last week... you're still mostly waiting and anticipating. Weeks 21-40 will be called 'nesting phase' - you now know the gender of your baby, you look pregnant, you can feel him moving around 24 hours a day, and all you really want to do is make lists and clean out closets (weird). I LOVE NESTING PHASE!! On Thursday I was in a meeting at work and had my arms crossed over my little baby bump when something KICKED my forearm. Embarrassingly enough, I squeaked with alarm then felt silly when I realized that it was my wild child from within - just doing his daily jailbreak routine. No sweetheart - I will not let you out right now. I'm in a meeting. It has been really fun that Michael and I are both able to feel him pretty much every day now from the outside. He is one active little thing. Michael is sure that we are going to be naming him Sargent. Sargent Michael Murdock... don't worry future grandmothers - it has already been vetoed but I really like thinking of calling an infant Sarge - it makes me laugh every time.

Another interesting pregnancy thought - from what I have heard, pregnancy = crazy hormones. I don't know what the deal is but ever since I got pregnant I have been the woman of great logic and no emotion. Previous to pregnancy I considered myself a healthy emotional woman. I cried when I was touched, hurt, sad, happy, etc. Now, however, I am almost completely tear free. There have been more than a few instances that I have come close to getting in car wrecks/stressful situations and have experienced absolutely no adrenaline. I have also had a lot going on in my personal life and the lives of my loved ones that could possibly call for a tear or two... I have honestly cried 3 times since June due to sadness and once due to happiness (when I found out I was pregnant :-) Don't get me wrong - my heart is still in place. I still experience ups and downs... maybe my tear ducts are just broken? Michael is POSITIVE that it is because it is his son... I wonder if I'm normal? I have never heard of a LACK of emotion as a pregnancy symptom. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I'm not sure if I like it or not but I do wonder if it will adjust back once I start breast feeding, once I actually have a baby, or once my baby hits a certain milestone? Very interesting...

Baby Supplies...

Recently Michael and I went on a fun date to Target to get our baby registration taken care of. I took a list with me that I had found on thebump.com and we tried to get registered for most of the things that it suggested. I seriously had no idea that when my friends said that babies need "SO MUCH STUFF" that they could be so right! This little thing is going to be a 7 lb hoarder with all of the things it requires!! Later, I was talking to my DARLING cousin Larynn and she told me that she had OVER-bought and ended up with tons of things that every list suggested but she never touched. So my big question is... What are the necessities?? We can go ahead and take diapers, wipes, a crib, a stroller, and a breast pump as obvious necessities... but others??

22 Weeks and counting!

This has been a FUN week of baby progress! We have both felt him from the outside now and I am beginning to believe that he sleeps for approximately 1 hour per day as he is definitely wiggling for the other 23... at least!! I love feeling this little one squirm around to remind me he is there. I think this is exactly what is meant my the term 'love tap'. Yesterday, however, began the escape of the monkeys!! I am not sure what triggered his excitement (I probably ate peanut butter - he goes crazy when I eat peanut butter) but I am positive that he was doing everything in his power to figure a way out through my belly button. I actually looked down and watched him push on my stomach! It made me laugh... then we had a heart to heart about why he really does need to stay put for at least another 18 weeks.

A couple of weeks ago Michael and I had a garage sale to try and get rid of the things that we won't be able to take with us to Connecticut in a couple of months. Toward the end of the sale a friend of ours from the ward stopped by with her brand new baby boy, Lincoln. I had not yet seen Lincoln and had no idea that I was so unprepared for his reveal. She opened his little carrier to give me a look at his SWEET face and... the right side of my body went into baby-talking, bundle-cuddling, cooing mother mode while the left side underwent a severe heart attack. Lincoln is the first newborn little BOY that I have seen since we found out that I would be dressing my sweetheart in blue and it was a complete reality shock. Don't get me wrong - I would have him today if I could but actually seeing a baby is different that theorizing about whatever is moving around in your tummy. After a couple of days of wonderment and shock I realized that I really am going to be a mother and all will be well. I am sure every expectant mom goes through this at some point during her pregnancy and it is a wonderful thing to realize that you really will be welcoming a little person into your home. Can't wait to meet you little one!!

How Good is Your Sniffer??

It wasn't too long ago that I realized that I don't talk about the specifics of work at home, or to anyone, very often at all. I do a reasonable amount of general complaining and provide broad concepts but specifics are typically not bothered with... Until I got off of the phone one evening laughing at yet another incident centered around poop (I am the program director for a Home Health and Hospice company). Michael asked what had happened, I told him how one of the aides had forgotten to take the poop out of a towel before putting it in a patient's washing machine, and he thought it was hysterical... so I told him another one - more laughter. The more I thought about it the more I realized how funny my job really is.

Just this morning I had a nurse call to let me know that the aide that morning had not showered her patient while she was there and he didn't smell very pleasant. Knowing that this aide is very thorough but also VERY dramatic, I apologized to the nurse and called the aide to ask what had happened. The conversation went like this:

me "Hello Aide, did you see Patient this morning?"
Aide "Yes I did - at 7am"
Me "Did he get a shower while you were there?"
Aide "No he refused, why?"
Me "His nurse just called to let me know that he doesn't look or smell particularly clean and I wanted to know a little more about the situation."
Aide "Oh my gosh! Nurse is blowing things WAY out of proportion!! He smelled just fine! I will be in shortly to explain what happened."
Me "If you need to come in to turn in paperwork that is fine but don't worry about Patient. I will let his nurse know what happened."
Aide "Ya - she is blowing things WAY out of proportion, I'll be right in."

When she got here, Aide insisted upon demonstrating on me just HOW CLOSE she had been to Patient by pressing herself right up against me, smoothing my hair and sniffing my neck. She told me that her sense of smell was the strongest sense that she had and that she would have KNOWN if the patient had smelled bad... I decided not to mention the fact that the nurse told me his socks were saturated in urine, didn't want to insult the sniffer. Aide started to cry when I told her it was not a big deal, because she doesn't want me to think she does a bad job. Having been through 209 tearful encounters with this aide, I concluded the conversation as quickly as humanly possible as I watched my personal bubble shrivel to lifelessness on the ground and encouraged her to get to her next patient.

Note to friends: I don't care if we are BFF's, married, or close family - please never let me sniff your neck. Gross.

21 Weeks: More than Halfway There!

This week the baby is the length (crown to rump, so not including his legs) of a banana! You know that feeling like the days are dragging but the weeks are flying by!? There has been a lot of that going on lately. I am feeling the baby move around every day now but we still have not felt him from the outside. I have a theory that he really likes to be touched because it seems like every time he is moving around, putting my hand on my tummy stops him dead in his tracks; he seems to just immediately calm down. I guess that means we will see how things go these next couple weeks. I really want to be able to feel him from the outside when I see my family at Thanksgiving so that my Grandma and parents can feel him.

The What to Expect When You're Expecting site says that this is the time that my ligaments are supposed to loosen more, allowing possible bone growth in particular areas... namely my feet. When my mom got pregnant with me she wore a size 8 shoe... two babies later she wears a size 10. Needless to say, I am petrified (not that I don't love your feet Mom) that my 7.5's are going to grow to 13's by the time I am done with my children - even if there are not 6 children in the plan.

A couple people have asked if being pregnant has helped us to decide how many kids we want total. Honestly, no. Not really. If pregnancy didn't result in babies I'd be fine doing this over and over. I love the excitement and I love the responsibility. Pregnancy, however, DOES lead to babies and I have still never had one of those. We have always said that we would like 3 or 4 and I think that we are still on track there. As for spacing... I really want to have the first two back to back. As some of you may know, it took Michael and I 13 months to get pregnant with this baby, eventually doing so with the help of Clomid. 13 months may not sound like a long time when you can read it quickly in a sentence but it was pretty rough. We don't know if getting pregnant with this little one will resolve the problems that we had this time or if we will need Clomid again in the future, but right now we both feel like the smartest thing for my body would be to stay off of birth control after the baby is born. So, yes! We could have Irish twins or we could have them spaced a couple of years apart. We'll let my body decide. With our preference to have them close together, staying off of the pill was an easy decision. I think I am going to write a post on our journey to pregnancy. Everyone's experiences are so different but it really helped me to hear the details of other women's stories, both for emotional support and to know how to move forward in my own situation. My gratitude and love for this little boy is growing faster than my belly is. I can't believe it's more than halfway over already!

20 Weeks

We are steadily growing here in the Murdock house!! At my appointment last week our due date was moved up by two weeks (hence the missing pictures) making our expected due date now March 14th (also Pi Day, Savanna's Birthday, and Disneyland Day!!). I am pretty excited to have jumped a couple of weeks ahead in the countdown... and pretty relieved that this due date also confirms that Michael is indeed the father (we had been in different states for 2 weeks at the time of conception according to my previous due date...). I have now gained 11 pounds, which is on the high end of normal. I feel good about my weight gain so far since I have found myself gaining nothing for about two weeks at a time, then 2-3lbs the third week. Last week was week #3 so we should be set for a little while? Who knows.

I have loved everything about being pregnant and feel so blessed to be having this experience. We found out this last week that we are having a boy and it has changed my thinking entirely. I really did not have a gender preference for our first baby but was POSITIVE that it was a girl. I even had a crazy experience driving on the freeway where I asked the baby its gender and a pink streamer came out of nowhere and got stuck on my windshield. Now I'm just positive that God has a sense of humor. Very funny Big Man.

At my ultrasound I told the technician that I had not felt the baby yet and she told me that the reason was due to the anterior placement of my placenta - most people's placentas are posterior, which makes it much easier to feel the baby. Maybe the baby just needed to hear what he was up against or something because I felt him two days later and have every day since. It's a very interesting feeling to be honest. A mix between digestion and a squeaky water balloon trying to find its way out of your stomach. I love it. I'm hoping that Michael will be able to feel him soon.

It was also just this last Thursday that I felt uncomfortable due to my increase in size for the first time. I tried to tie my shoe laces and found that breathing and tying at the same time just were not meant to be. You'd better believe I made it happen though. I'm not about to have the hubbie start tying my shoes for me at 20 weeks! My goal is to make it to 30 weeks without any assistance with footwear or care. The baby is just going to have to suck in.

As I grow it makes me interested to know exactly what this little one looks like. Supposedly he has less that 1% body fat right now but pretty much all of his organs are in place. The next several weeks will consist of development of those organs and lots of chub! Knowing that the baby is a boy and seeing me grow has made both Michael and I SO excited to start the baby ball rolling. We went on a registry date to Target on Saturday night and were able to register for pretty much everything we need minus a crib. We also bought our first little boy outfit last week and are now spending our time dreaming of names and nurseries. We have a couple of names that we like but haven't decided on anything yet. I think that we will probably bring our top 3-4 to the hospital and decide on his name once we see him. In the mean time, my dad has decided to call him by every apostle name known to man... I don't know if just not devout enough but Dieter just does not fit this little future athlete!! As for the nursery - nothing has been decided yet (hence the lack of registration for a crib) but Pinterest has been my favorite place to poke around and I think we're getting closer. Pregnancy has been the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced. I cannot wait to meet this little boy.

GENDER UNVEILED!!!

Watch the video to find out if it is a boy or a girl!!!!

Guess The Baby's Gender!!

Tomorrow morning will be the big unveiling!! Take your best guess - do you think it will be a boy or a girl!??! Think long and hard... you have a 50% chance!!

Wordless Wednesday: Parents

These are my parents laughing on their 25th wedding anniversary:


They are who I hope to grow to become. Thanks Mom and Dad for all of the time you have spent on me. I love you so much.

Investing in Yourself - An Inspiring Quote

I just recently read this quote over on one of my FAVORITE blogs of all time, Hungry Runner Girl, and couldn't help but re-post it:

“We have to make an initial investment of energy to develop skills to the levels where we can accomplish tasks that inspire and hold our focus... that means doing the necessary training. The alternative is passive entertainment... which temporarily drowns out the chaos but produces no satisfaction or GROWTH. Those who DO invest themselves in difficult tasks... find the returns more than worthwhile. As Csikszentmihali reports, “The quality of experience tends to improve in proportion to the effort invested in it.” (source)

It's never too late to decide to invest time and energy in something new. You're really investing in yourself, your family, and your happiness.

Gender Myths Unveiled

Here are the myths that apply to me... there are a lot more that don't:
It's a boy if:

• You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
• You are carrying the extra weight out front
• You are carrying low
• Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
• Your hands are very dry
• Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
• Your urine is bright yellow in color
• You are having headaches
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number (30)
• The Key Test. If the pregnant woman picks up a key from the larger end, then it’s a boy.
• Ancient Chinese Gender Calendar. If you're interested in Asian legends, see the Chinese Gender Calendar. Using your lunar age and date of conception, the gender can be “guessed” with 50% accuracy!

It's a girl if:

• Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
• Your belly looks like a watermelon
• You are craving sweets
• You are craving fruit
• You crave orange juice
• You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
• You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread
• Your pillow faces south when you sleep
• Acne. If you have more acne, it's a girl.
• Interpreting dreams of the pregnant woman. Cigars, trucks, snakes, telescopes = Boys. Tupperware®, keyholes, any fish, almonds, Prada®, Vogue magazine = Girls.

Total Myths Say:
Boy - 11
Girl - 10

I still think it is a girl... even if I do have cold feet and dry hands. I guess we'll know for sure in EIGHT DAYS!!!

One of those "How did I get SO Lucky?" Moments

This is Michael. A couple of years ago I spotted him BBQing on the balcony outside of his apartment and knew that this was the man for me. Though it took him a little longer to realize our mutual destiny, he eventually had his moment of realization and got down on one knee.

Michael is my sunshine. He wakes up smiling and singing every morning no matter how late he stayed up the night before. He is the hardest worker I know but is somehow always able to find time for his family and friends without stressing out. Maybe the lack of stress is a male thing but I am always impressed when he gets home after a long day at school, takes the time to talk to me as we eat dinner, does the dishes, listens to me ramble on for hours about anything and everything, shows me his favorite youtube video of the day, completes his wife-assigned list of chores, then proceeds to start his 5 hours of homework at 11pm without me even knowing he had a long night ahead of him. It is impressive.

That being said, Michael also seems to always have some sort of personal checklist that always begins with 'see how I can make my wife feel wonderful today'.

Example #1) On Friday we went to a dollar movie and I think I only really saw half of it because I COULD NOT stop thinking about how bad I wanted a soda. I never drink soda without an occasion. On the way home I mentioned this to Michael but he knows I feel guilty whenever I drink 'the bad stuff' so he asked if it would be ok if we stopped at a gas station so that HE could get a soda... then proceeded to allow me to drink the whole thing guilt-free... because it wasn't really my soda anyway.

Example #2) For Christmas every year we do a 'heartfelt' gift exchange within my family where everyone gives each other handmade gifts to increase the sentiment of the holiday and decrease the expense. I have been on a rampage lately about getting my heartfelt gifts done by the end of this month... and somehow wives cannot craft without their husband being directly involved. Since my recent crafts have involved spray paint (which can cause severe birth defects if inhaled) and a 60lb bag of sand, Michael has involuntarily volunteered to help. On Saturday I began my day with a cleaning rampage while Michael went golfing (and therefore came home to a list of chores - I know, I am a fantastic wife) then embarked upon an evening of grocery shopping. When I came out of the grocery store there was a sweet card stuck under my windshield wiper from my husband telling me how much he loved and appreciated me. He had ventured out to Home Depot after finishing his chores to make sure I had my sand for that evening's crafts and had wandered through the parking lot to leave me a note on his way out.

Example #3) I had great intentions of making sure our guest room was nice and tidy before going to bed last night to prepare for the guests we are receiving today... but somehow got distracted and went to bed frustrated that the bed was still not made and the room was torn apart. Michael tucked me in at 11:15 before heading off to do 4.5 hours of homework and I spent the night dreaming of my catastrophic guest room. I woke up early to get everything tidied up and Michael had done it all in the wee hours of the morning while I slept like a baby! Sometimes this man is just too good to be true. I apologize to any and all former girlfriends... but I am more than happy you missed out!

Love you Michael!!

Week 16 - Oh how you've grown!

This week the baby is supposed to be the size of a turnip! Since it is fall and turnips are: a) not in season b) impossible to find when they are in season c) not as cute as baby gourds d) a waste of money since I would take a cute snapshot with it then watch it rot... we used this cute little 5" gourd instead! Compared to last week's photo, I actually haven't grown THAT much (thank heavens) but I'm definitely feeling large and in charge! Also VERY grateful that the baby weight is sticking to my tummy for now. HERE is what is going on with the baby this week if you're interested! I have gained 7 pounds so far and feel really good about that. Don't expect poundage updates after today if I stop feeling good about it... My goal is to stay under 22 pounds gained but honestly, as long as the baby is healthy I will be fine with whatever I gain.

The Vegetable Monster

You may or may not have heard about the somewhat-recent idea that was presented of turning the Cookie Monster into the Vegetable Monster as to set a better example for the kids watching Sesame Street... Since Murdock house entertainment revolves mostly around animated movies and children's entertainment (mind you, this is our first child on the way... that's just how it goes when your husband is in the animation industry) we were very well aware of the idea and I think I know why it happened. Once my good friend Leah Jesperson and I found out that we were both pregnant and due within a week of one another we decided to cut the sugar and only award ourselves one "treat" weekly. The challenge has gone WONDERFULLY for the last 2ish months and I really do feel 5 billion times better without the extra sugar running through my veins! And I feel like a SUPERSTAR mother-to-be (all you have to do is sleep a lot, exercise every once in a while and eat fresh to gain the superstar title before your child arrives).

Back to the Vegetable Monster... I think that the makers of Sesame Street shadowed a relatively health-conscious pregnant woman in hopes of inspiration for a new character and could come up with nothing but the sister of our friend Mr. Cookie Monster. She wakes up hungry, needs to eat an hour later, and still feels completely starved before she finishes her morning snack... Knowing that it would be confusing for children to understand the I Eat EVERYTHING Monster they tried to go with Vegetable but realize they were missing their complex carbs and threw in the towel. Needless to say, this is my creative way of mentioning that I am always hungry and have no other solution but to pull out another baggie of dried cranberries, string cheese, or peaches. If this doesn't slow down soon my husband may find himself married to a mansion of a woman.

15 weeks - The Bigger The Better

This was definitely a week of rapid growth for both the baby and the mama! Looks like this is really happening! PS. The shirt was a hand me down from a friend - definitely not an announcement of twins... as much as I wish it were!!

Tiny Michael was a STAR!!

We have all heard of the popular reading program for children Hooked on Phonics, right?? BUT... were you aware how closely related YOU are to the program?? Click on the following link and scroll down to the 2 minute Hooked on Phonics video for a cute surprise.

HOOKED ON PHONICS

14 weeks and counting!

I swear my tummy is larger than it looks in this picture. I even had a girl at work tell me that I look like I've been eating a little too much Cafe Rio lately. Haha! Oh well, all you can do is stick out that gut and continue counting down until your next prenatal appointment! Only 22 days till we know gender (for sure at least - I'm sure it's a girl.)

Glee Season 3 Premieres Tonight!!

When I graduated from college in August of 2009 I think I had probably watched a total of 9 hours of TV in my whole life... 7 of those being Touched by An Angel (movies and General Conference not included). Then Fall TV 2009 started and I became a totally different monster! Glee was my first "show". Glee led to an HGTV addiction and then somehow Modern Family and The Bachelor worked their way into my life... and I'm so happy they did! I used to think that TV was a COMPLETE waste of my life but it's good to realize that (in moderation) it keeps you connected to what's going on in the world around you... in one way or another... and is really fun to watch. Can't wait to spend my evening on the treadmill entranced in high school song, dance, and drama.

What's in my Bag??

Christina Sanford tagged me in her "What's in my Bag" post so here it goes... And I did think long and hard about whether to clean up and look presentable before dumping the loot and decided against it. A messy purse has more of what you need on a daily basis.


What you may spy: prenatal vitamins for the mornings I forget to take them with breakfast, a bag of safety pins, extra change, my wallet, my card wallet with all of my extra but necessary cards, chapstick, Victoria's Secret lip gloss, extra scooter key, extra Mercedez key, headphones, ipod (don't know why that's in there - I never use it), two jump drives (again - why??), Loreal lip stain, point and shoot, two pens, cheque book, phone list, orange and purple nail polish, sweet pea lotion from Bath and Body, and the ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY spiral notebook that holds everything about everything (ok... mostly grocery lists and drawings done while sitting in church - very important).

So that was just in case you wanted to be just like me and start carrying around 400 things that fall in the misc. category at the grocery store! Michael appreciates it.

I tag: Savanna, Megan, and Merrick

The Bump is Rising!

Here is the latest on the baby bump!! I am holding the fruit equivalent to the baby's size every week to give you some perspective! So here we grow from a plum to a peach to a lemon!

The Baby and the Belly!

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments!!! I have had this amazing feeling of peace and joy since I found out that I was pregnant and since I've been telling people it has just been augmented with feelings of excitement and anticipation!! I am 13.5 weeks along and feeling great! Thanks so much for asking. The exhaustion was definitely there during weeks +/- 6 through 10 but I'LL TAKE IT!! I have had no morning sickness, cravings, food aversions, or anything else disabling and definitely recognize that I am one LUCKY girl. Weird things I have experienced have been sciatic nerve pain on my left side (the bundle of nerves that runs up the back of your legs and into your spine) and round ligament pain. I was really worried about this because, as of right now, I am still planning on power walking the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at the end of January. At 7.5 months pregnant I figure that I can wear twice the glitter and won't feel bad if they have to pick me up on the clean-up golf cart if I walk too slow :-). Anyway, in discussing the sciatic nerve pain with a physical therapist from work he said that the best way to protect the nerve is to strengthen the muscles around it with... MORE EXERCISE! Since I have been trying to work extra exercise into my days things have felt great and I am one happy camper! They say that the second trimester is the easiest. I am expecting Hurricane Jonas to hit with the third trimester because I #1 was great. I guess I did have a male friend in college tell me that I had ideal birthing hips... I will have to go back and let him know that I have an ideal pregnancy stomach as well.

Thanks again for all of your love and support. There have been lots of little miracles throughout this process that have helped me to understand how important we all are. I'll share along the way.

The Trip of a Lifetime

You'll definitely want to watch this! It's only a couple mins long...

A Day at Disneyland from Michael Murdock on Vimeo.

Bye Bye BYU??

Today was the first day of Fall semester! Michael was so cute in his little backpack and gray shirt that I couldn't help but take a picture... I'll post it later. He has been on campus for a couple of hours now and it just hit me... this could be the end! The end of tuition, homework, late nights at the lab, all of it! I am so so SOOO grateful that Michael stuck with it long enough to figure out what he truly loves to do and put in the work to make it happen. It has been a little bit windier of a road than originally anticipated but I think that Michael will be leaving his college career with something that many people forget to build along the way: passion. He loves what he does and he loves what he has learned... despite the naughty words he has spit at his computer along the way. He is going into his last semester at BYU with the momentum of success as his motivation. There are great things waiting for him because he has put his all into what he loves. I am so proud of you Michael!! I am so happy you're almost done so that you can do what you want to do out there!! I'm excited to go through your syllabi with you tonight :-) Bring on the homework!! These next 4 months will FLY BY!! Love you!!

Memorial Park

This is a real picture of the park

Both of my parents grew up in the Bay Area - my dad in San Francisco and my mom in Walnut Creek. As my dad grew, his family had a yearly tradition of going camping at Memorial Park in the redwoods of San Mateo, CA. When Nick and I came along he decided that taking us to see Memorial Park would be the perfect vacation while Mom was off at girl's camp for the 200th year in a row. My mom put my hair in braids (in which I returned a week later... same braids), we threw the tent in the car, and the tradition began. After a couple of years Mom mustered up the courage to join us and we were able to enjoy Memorial Park every summer together thereafter. We made friends, swam in the water hole, played in hollow logs, raced banana slugs, ate pudding, played Racko, and went on lots of walks. Memorial Park was my very favorite childhood vacation memory. As time went on we moved to Vegas, participated in summer camps, and lost the time we normally found at Memorial Park.

I bet you've guessed what is coming next though, right?? WE'RE GOING BACK!!!!!!!! We have our campsite reserved for July 11-15, 2012 and I am going to the store today to buy the marshmallows!! The fun part is that this time I get to sleep in my own tent with a BOY and I don't have to go to bed early with the kids! I don't think I've ever been this excited about a vacation before. Especially since both my parents, my brother, and my sweet husband will be there with me!! Watch out dad... I am going to dominate you in Racko.

Michael and I

This was taken the last time I saw Michael! Our fun trip to Disneyland. Makes me miss him.

The Glee Project

All growing up I believed 100% that TV was a waste of time and that watching it was a lazy thing to do. I would catch an episode of something every here and there but never anything consistently. And then I graduated from college in August 2009. I honestly think that was one of the most life-changing events I have ever experienced. I felt great about my potential with a college degree under my belt and I felt even better about the freedom I then had. I felt like if I didn't wear shoes that I would probably start floating around with how light and happy life suddenly became. And somewhere between blissful thoughts of living off of ice cream on a permanent road trip, I found HGTV. I watched reruns of episodes until my eyes almost fell out. When Michael thought I was ready, he introduced me to my first series: Glee. I had never before had a show to call my own but then I did. We started inviting friends over to watch with us every Wednesday night and then had a big season finale party complete with nasty blue slushies and costumes. Once Glee ended I moved on to Modern Family, the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, and now... The Glee Project. The Glee Project is a reality TV show that started out with 40,000 kids auditioning for a 7-episode guest star role in the next season of Glee. We are now down to 7 contestants and they are all VERY talented. This is my favorite clip so far. Mostly because I LOVE SAMUEL and hope he either wins or gets picked up by somebody and goes big. You should definitely watch Samuel and Marissa's duet. It's only like 90 seconds long and so hot.

Comic Con

Today Michael is going to present BYU's Dreamgiver at Comic Con. From what I have been told, Comic Con is the big time... but how can one prepare to meet Spiderman himself!? Michael is in heaven. Click HERE and scroll down to 'animation continued' and you'll see their spot!

An Update on my Sony Goals

A while back I posted about my goals while Michael is away at his California internship... We are almost halfway through so an update is at hand. I apologize in advance for another long, wordy post but I am all alone most of the time so I have to talk to someone!!

Key: DONE, IN PROGRESS, BAGGED

Around the house:
1. Goal: Re-do the guest bedroom. Strip the wallpaper off of the one wall it's on (I'm not sure who decided that the accent wall should accent the ugly closet), paint the top half of the room, then learn how to install bead board.
Update: I originally thought that this would be a great time to strip wallpaper, do some painting, then learn how to install beadboard so that I could make all of my nail gun mistakes in our first house rather than our last. Then I realized that beadboard is really expensive, time consuming, and would probably earn a valid 7+ on my future 'pro's of staying in Utah' list and I don't want to add too many more points to that list just in case it wins and the winter still comes. SOOOO... the plan was revamped! I spent two days stripping wall paper (if anyone is interested in stripping wallpaper let me know, I have lots of great tricks) then met up with Merrick at Home Depot to pick out the perfect paint color... Morning Mist. It's a subtle sort of blue with a hint of gray that I just love. I brought it home, realized they had given me Gatorade Blue instead, took it back, got the correct one, and was graced by the wonderful and hard-working presence of Savanna and Jon! They once offered to help me get through my list, to which I smiled politely. Then Jon BET me that I would not take them up on his offer. After 12 hours of painting he wished that he had not provoked my competitive side. It actually only took about 3 hours and Savanna and Jon were WONDERFUL painters!! Thank you so much for your help guys!! Unfortunately the night ended with their dogs having an allergic reaction to something in my backyard that made them all bumpy and puffy. I felt awful. Click HERE for more info.

2. Goal: Have the 2nd half of our blinds installed
Update: They have been ordered and paid for, I'm now just waiting on installation!

3. Goal: Replace the bathroom mirrors and repaint the master bathroom
Update: After realizing that we could be moving out of this house as early as January I have decided that this project is not worth my time and money. You will see this phrase copied and pasted several times in the next couple of goals listed.

4. Goal: Decorate kitchen
Update: I have decided to combine this project with my 'travel wall' project so see #7 for an update there.

5. Goal: Refinish kitchen cabinets
Update: After realizing that we could be moving out of this house as early as January I have decided that this project is not worth my time and money.

6. Goal: Install new stair rails
Update: Merrick and I looked at stair rails at home depot... you have to actually cut them, sand them, and stain them yourself before they can be installed!! I would love to still do this project but I want the rails to be ready to hang. It's just not worth it to me to go through all of that work for a stair rail.

7. Goal: Put together our travel wall that we've been talking about for at least 2 years
Update: I have decided to put our travel wall in the dining room off of the kitchen just over our dining room table. I have printed canvases and collected pictures of different trips. I am still working on framing a couple of oddly-sized pictures before I am ready to start hanging things but it is well on its way!!

8. Goal: Decide what the living room is missing
Update: It's missing Michael. And possibly a rug... but again, no use spending mula on a rug that I may not need in 5 months. I think waiting for Michael to complete the picture is much more practical.

9. Goal: Decorate wall above bed in master and find night stands
Update: I'm still really excited about this project!! I definitely want to have it done by the time Michael comes home because I think he will love it. I'm going to spear-head this one as soon as my travel wall is complete.

10. Goal: Replace the bathroom mirrors
Update: After realizing that we could be moving out of this house as early as January I have decided that this project is not worth my time and money.

11. Goal: Secret office project
Update: Still deciding how this could be accomplished and if it is worth it. My brother in law has some stellar ideas that have re-kindled the fire on this one.

Personal:
1. Goal: Come up with at least 10 light staple-dinners
Update: I don't eat dinner when I don't have anyone to cook for... so this has been interesting. Not too much progress made but I'm not going to bag it yet.

2. Goal: Ride my bike 3 times a week
Update: For some reason I have not been able to talk any of my sweet house guests into riding bikes with me... And since I have had wonderful company most of my time without Michael, this one has been a bit tricky. Maybe I will just force the next batch of guests to wear bike helmets around the house until they give in. Watch out Joyce!

3. Goal: Say kneeling prayers (I've had a hard time with this one - I swear my 3rd grade teacher is still living under my bed just waiting to grab me. Call me crazy but she is there... Mrs. Galusha...)
Update: Mrs. Galusha still lives under my bed. It freaks me out.

Reunited Part 2

I was scorned by the motherhood gods immediately after my last post in the form of severe sunburn by the pool. You would think that this fair-skinned mother-in-training would have been able to handle an hour of happy sun rays but the abilities of tanning oil should not be underestimated. Luckily (??) I only put it on my front side so my back is still nice and pasty white. As for my chest, tummy, and legs however... think lobster. I was going to post a picture but it felt weird. Too much skin.

After spending an hour chatting with my long-lost bestie Mush while frying by the pool I took a shower and dolled up for my honey. He got home around 2:30 to take me to Disneyland to recreate the commercial I mentioned before and to spend some more good quality time with Ariel. I don't know if I have a Disneyland threshold but I certainly don't feel as if I am close to reaching it any time soon. We had so much fun playing with the camera and holding hands. I have only been away from Michael for about three weeks now but seeing him just made me realize how wonderful it is to be able to have him around all of the time. My hat goes off to all of those army wives out there that say goodbye knowing that their sweethearts will be gone for 1+ years. It takes a strong woman (and a large hobby budget) to handle that kind of time frame. And a tangent for all of those 18-year-old girls with boyfriends that are about to leave on LDS missions... don't. do. it. Say your goodbyes today so that you have moved on before he leaves... then you can love him again when he gets home!! Just don't tie your <3 down like that. Anyway, we held hands. That was where I was going with all of that. It was great.

After Disneyland we went and saw Zookeeper with Kevin James and I was actually SO surprised at how much I laughed. It was the perfect post-Disneyland movie. Tired brains could just watch and laugh mindlessly without having to thing about anything at all... except Michael. Somehow working on movies all day doesn't make him tired of analyzing everything he sees. If you do not have your feet firmly planted regarding your like or dislike of a movie, Michael can surely sway your opinion with his analysis. My family no longer allows him to give his opinion on anything they have already seen or may see in the next 15 years because his points of view taint your entire experience. I'll have to have him do a movie review on here one of these days... with spoiler alerts all over it. He holds nothing back. Anyway, I thought Zookeeper was funny. He thought it was funny but that the storyline was completely flawed so it was hard for him to concentrate... I thought it was about talking gorillas... how can that be flawed?? Anyway, we held hands during the movie and it was wonderful.

On Saturday morning we got up and got ready the slow way, where showering somehow takes 30 mins even though the water is only on for 9. Rachel (my sweet mother in law) had gone through her closet and had me try on everything that she was through with. I must say that I now feel cute and SOO relieved! My work pants were starting to cry when I pulled them out of the closet every morning because they are all so old. I feel like a new woman now... and I think it has something to do with the fact that I now own my first pair of BKE's. Dream jeans. I am so grateful for Rachel's giving attitude. She firmly believes that if you don't love it or you don't wear it that you should get it out of your closet. I went home so pumped to cut my closet in half! When I went in to go assess the situation though, I decided that I need an intermediate phase. SOOO... I am going to transfer anything I haven't worn in the last 6 months-ish into Michael's closet. If I don't think about it before he gets home in 5 weeks, it's toast (Toast = have my favorite SIL take anything she wants, have my beehives take anything they want, dump the rest at DI). If I do think about it, the article has earned its spot back among the ranks of my other clothes purchased in high school. Oh gosh - I have a tangent disease today.

After getting ready and spending 45 minutes hugging my new wardrobe we went off to the Orange County Fair to eat some roasted corn, go through the fun house, make Michael go on a bunch of spinny rides, and pet tons of animals. They had cows whose back end stood taller than Michael. I'm not exaggerating. Their bottoms were 6' tall!! Michael also promised to get me a miniature potbelly pig as soon as Tank and Ruby die. It might be a while but I'm not going to forget. After the fair we met up with Chad and Rachel for some KFC before they headed out of town to spend their 2 year anniversary in Vegas. We then took a long hard nap, waking up just in time to jump back in the car to head to the Sawdust Festival. It was a brilliant fair filled with glass blowers and people with dread locks. We had a blast. Probably because we were holding hands.


Michael bought me ice cream at McDonald's on the way home. :-)

Sunday morning we went to church then jumped in the car and took Carmageddon by the horns in our drive to Santa Monica. I spent some time in Santa Monica on a trip with some friends in high school and it has been a romantic destination to me ever since. Hopefully nobody from Sony is reading this blog post (does anyone read them when they get this long? I think not. My posterity will thank me later though, I'm sure.) because we definitely broke into Sony Imageworks so that Michael could give me a tour. We saw the normal things like the beautiful courtyard and cafeteria AND the top secret things like cardboard cutouts of the Smurfs and things like that. It was awesome. I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to know that Michael receives fulfillment in his work. That is worth more than any salary could ever pay and almost more than going to school for 12 years for an undergrad degree. I know that he loves what he does and it inspires me to spend my time on things that I love to do. I believe that passion is service. It feeds the souls of those around you. I wish everyone could do what they love to do.


After my top secret tour, Michael and I walked up and down the Santa Monica pier, then strolled down the beach to take a nap on the sand. It sounds like we did a lot of napping. We did. It was wonderful. On our way out we stopped by an apartment complex to tour one of their units to see what things look like living in LA. In three words? Small and expensive. In two words? Snow-less winters. In one word? Yes. I love California. I don't want to live in a place with barred windows where my children cannot play on my front porch (LA) but the California suburbs are to die for. We will see what happens!

The last leg of our journey included a sad parting of ways at the Orange County airport. Michael didn't know but I had already cried earlier that day so that he wouldn't see me cry when he dropped me off. We're almost halfway through his internship and I really am doing fine... but I married that man for a reason and living without him will never be my #1 or #100 choice. Only 4 more weeks till I get to see him again!!

Reunited

Michael and I had planned on me going to visit him, then canceled the trip, then replanned it just in time to book a flight, get off of work, and drive to the airport. I don't think I have ever been more excited to see Michael in my whole life. I am so grateful that we have been able to talk on the phone and video chat whenever we want... but there is something about seeing someone's face when you talk to them... I'm also definitely not complaining that Michael has been to the gym every day since he's been here and happens to look incredible. I'll have to sneak a picture next time he has his shirt off but for now, THIS is pretty darn close.

When I finally arrived at the airport in Orange County (aaaaaah, Orange County) last night I couldn't wait to get down to baggage claim to find my honey... but he was missing! It turns out that he had been waiting in line for a car wash with only 2 people in front of him for over 40 minutes. He wanted the car to sparkle for me - so cute. When he arrived (I only had to wait like 5 mins) there were flowers in the front seat. He ran up and gave me a big elaborate hug and kiss that I'm sure our spectators appreciated immensely. We then hopped in the car and went to grab some dinner at Panera Bread. After all of these wonderful events (and spending some solid time together after dinner... dot, dot, dot.) I have concluded that the three weeks apart were almost worth it. And we haven't even started the weekend!! Today I am practicing being a stay at home mom by sleeping in until 9:30, eating a heavenly breakfast, blogging, going on a walk, and laying out by the pool until Michael gets home at 1:30. I've decided not to throw the actual child part into my practice quite yet, don't want to shock the system.

This afternoon we're meeting up with some family at Disneyland and I am really excited. Michael also has this super cute idea of recreating a Disney commercial we saw a couple of weeks back while we are there. I'll post it when we get it done (though it probably won't be for a little while since he is going to have to edit it and stuff). Stay tuned!

I wish every day was freedom day!

I just love the Fourth of July. Christmas and Thanksgiving are wonderful but for me... Fourth of July is the bees knees. Though I love celebrating Jesus' birth at Christmas, there is a bit of a division between those that celebrate the holiday and those that don't. Fourth of July is a holiday of complete union. There is no stress of gift giving or money and you don't have to decorate your house; you just have to wear red, white, or blue and be American. I love ice cream and watermelon and BBQ's and fireworks and outdoor events and swimming and parades. I love being able to take my dogs to any 4th of July event because they are all outside... and having a dog is All-American, of course. I love softball and baby contests and sparklers and hot air balloons and the big huge bows that end up in every little girl's hair. And best of all this year? My parents came to town to celebrate with me since my sweet husband is in California for the summer. I missed riding the scooter with him but my parents were the perfect stand-in accomplices. Thanks mom and dad for coming all the way to Utah to play with me!!! And now for some pictures:

We started Saturday morning off at the Freedom Festival in Provo. I got so excited when I saw this storm trooper that I accidentally asked him to take MY picture instead of to take a picture with me and he was really confused as to how to press the button with his plastic finger:

Dad and I trying on some patriotism:

After the Freedom Festival we moved to Orem for Colonial Days. My mom loves to learn new things:

We tried to protect her from herself by locking her up for a while but she was able to get a hand free enough to smack me to let her out. Mother of the year!

Mom and I becoming colonial:
And then we went home and took a nap. Wakey wakey daddy!!!

All the while, my dad was sneaking away to do nice things for his favorite daughter. It was SO CUTE and MUCH APPRECIATED!! He fixed my car, worked on a broken light socket, sprayed down my house, fixed my lawn mower, took care of the dogs, and watered my lawn every day. A couple of cute highlights:


We took the puppies to the park to play:
And played Just Dance 2:

Had a fun All-American meal:

Went to see the fireworks at Thanksgiving Pointe on Monday. Here is the cow train:

And mom and I finished off the weekend by attending American Fork's Steel Days Local Band Night at the outdoor amphitheater last night:

I love my family and I love 4th of July. Let Freedom Ring!!

California Paradise

This past weekend was spent with Michael, Savanna, Jon, Chad and Rachel in the beauty of southern California. We left Utah on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Irvine around midnight (I think... I may or may not have failed at my companion-duties about an hour before we hit our destination!). We had a wonderful little sleep then woke up bright and early to go spend the day at DISNEYLAND!!! We have all been looking forward to the opening of Ariel's Undersea Adventure and the re-opening of Star Tours so the opening of the park gates could not come fast enough!!

So excited for Star Tours!!! It was awesome!! There are like 50-something different sequences that you can go through in the ride now. It will still make you motion sick but at least it's a different sick every time!! We were all really impressed by the improvements.

Savanna and I made our own seashell bras and headbands in preparation for Ariel and they couldn't have been any more perfect!! People asked us like 500 times where we had purchased them. They may not look like something that you would want to wear every day but with the rose colored glasses of Ariel's Undersea Adventure glued to your face... You would have asked too.

The ride couldn't have been more perfect!!! A lot of rides take the liberty of enhancing what was actually presented in the movies from which they are derived but Ariel did not and I LOVED IT!! Every single room was STRAIGHT out of a scene from the movie and it looked AMAZING!!! It helped too that the animatronics (sp?) were awesome and the music was darling.

Then Michael rode the Tron bike...

The whole family!! So happy!!!

I don't know how to turn this picture... But I was invited up on stage during Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. It was so funny! I think that the guy heard Savanna screaming and thought it was me so he came down in the audience and got me. I'll have to post the video later. I laughed so hard. They even gave me this personalized packed of Parmesan cheese!!

Traditional picture with the indian! I think he may need a name. Suggestions?

Petting zoo. I know, I know... this goat looks elated to be choked by random seashell girl for a picture that he will never get to see. Must be hard being beautiful.

This one looks even happier

Michael wanted to take a turn wearing our headbands...

BEST LUNCH EVER!!! We went to the all you can eat BBQ in Frontierland and it was incredible. We had to rent 6 wheelchairs afterward just to get around.


After Disneyland we all came home exhausted and Michael and I spent some time in the hot tub to wind down. It was so so nice. We slept in a bit on Saturday then started the day by spending some time at the flower district then proceeded to the garment district and Venice Beach.

I <3 hydrangeas!! Hint hint long lost husband!! ;-)

This picture was taken just seconds before the store owner grabbed Michael's arm and called him an F***ing cheapskate in Spanish because he decided not to buy them... she didn't realize he spent two years in the Dominican Republic hablando Espanol.


The two-headed turtle displayed in front of the Freak Show at Venice Beach. Back me up here Savvy... if you could go back would you see the Freak Show?? That's my only regret of the weekend.

The boys played lots of fun football while the rest of us bundled up and chatted

So hott

I can't wait to go back and see my honey/move to socal for the rest of my life!!!!