Announcement Thursday and Friday!

Happy Black Friday!  By the clock, it's actually almost 1:00 AM on Saturday morning, but to me it's still Friday because I haven't gone to bed yet.  It's a wonder that I'm still awake!

I didn't get to blog yesterday because it was such a crazy Thanksgiving day.  Arthur and I woke up early and he started cooking around 8:30 AM.  He cooked straight through until everyone arrived at our house, around 4:00 PM.

I am a terrible cook, so I didn't do much of anything to prepare the food.  What I did was clean.  I cleaned the family room, the living room, the bathrooms and the dining room.  It was a joint effort in that way.  I can't even imagine what it would be like to have to do all of the cooking and cleaning by myself.  I admire my mother-in-law and my mom even more now after seeing how much work goes into one Thanksgiving dinner.

Arthur was a rockstar.  He cooked a 24 pound turkey, mashed potatoes, two kinds of gravy, two kinds of green bean casserole, 4 kinds of stuffing, sweet potato yams, corn, cranberry sauce and 7 different kinds of pies.  Everything was from scratch.  He never sat down once, all day.  He cooked straight through the day.  His only break was to take a shower, and during that time I helped him by watching the potatoes to make sure they didn't boil over.

Dinner was delicious and we had a big group.  It was Arthur's family, including his mom, his dad, his brother Eli, his sisters Sunny and Autumn, his Great Aunt Joan, and his mom's friend from work, Patrick.  Arthur is taking the picture so he's not in it.  Here's our Thanksgiving table:

After dinner, we played a game with the group.  We played Scribblish.  It's a really fun drawing game.  After the game we were either going to play Settlers of Qatan or watch Arthur Christmas downstairs.  I asked if we could take a family picture in front of the tree.  I also asked Patrick (the visitor) if he could take the picture.  I showed him how to use the camera, and I went downstairs with the group.  He took a couple of practice pictures and then it was time for our big reveal.  :)

The first picture is right after two practice shots.  Arthur said "Ok, this one is the real one... everybody say... 'GENEVIEVE'S PREGNANT!'  It hadn't sunk in just yet, but the pre-reaction is helpful to compare the other reactions to.  Thank goodness Patrick was good at photography, because he kept snapping shots and got a bunch of great reaction photos.  

Everyone was thrilled.  It was a great way to document the announcement, and I really loved how happy everyone was.  Arthur's mom cried, and we were excited most to tell her because our due date is her birthday (July 11).

After we told everyone, we sat around for a little while and I answered the normal questions like whether or not I am sick.  It was fun talking about it really openly.

All-in-all it was a great day.

Today I couldn't get up to go Black Friday shopping because I was too exhausted from the day before.  I slept in and lounged around the whole day.  I spent a little bit of time working on my picture frame for my mom.  I printed out a picture of each grandchild when they were less than 6 months old.  I put them each in a picture frame with 4 windows.  In the bottom right corner window, I put a picture of the words "July 11".  Arthur and I wrapped it up and we took it to her this evening.

After we went to Chili's for dinner, everyone was gathered in the living room.  I gave my mom the present and she opened up the frame.  She looked at it for a minute and couldn't understand what the "July 11" meant.  She asked me "What's July 11?  Are you expecting?"  It then hit her and she started screaming.  I looked around at everyone's reaction, and everyone was freaking out.  Adrienne and Leo started to cry and I got up and hugged everyone.  They were all so surprised.  Adrienne was screaming and cheering, she was so happy.  My  mom was also very happy, and was crying.

Brielle and Adam were freaked out because everyone was so happy.  It was great to be able to tell my family because I have been so ready to share the news.  :)

I didn't get any pictures of their reactions because it wasn't really the time or the place to take a bunch of pictures... but the memories are there, and that's what matters.

It turns out that my sister was really sick with Brielle, for her first pregnancy.  She said she also had headaches.  It's comforting to know that she went through those things too.  When we asked Brielle if I was having a girl or a boy, she said I was having a girl.  She also said that I wasn't having twins, just one.  It was cute to hear Brielle get all excited.  I got more hugs from her tonight than I've ever had.  I loved it.

My mom also called my Grandma Frazer (her mother) and I got to tell her.  My mom also called my Aunt Zebby and told her.  It was cool to know that my family knows.  I'm not going to announce it on Facebook, because I really don't think it's the place for me to tell people.  I will probably tell people individually, as the opportunities come up.  I'm not an extremely public person, so the individual method will have to be what it is.

The announcements were a success overall.  :)

How far along:  7 weeks, 1 day
How much time left:  32 weeks, 6 days
Top two symptoms:  Headache and exhaustion.  I took a lot of Tylenol yesterday because my headache was so bad.  My nausea can be controlled by eating.  Exhaustion comes in with not getting enough sleep and feeling generally gross in the morning when I first wake up and not being able to go back to sleep.  :\

Favorite thing I ate today:  Leftover mint chocolate Oreo pie!!  Yummo!

Mood:  Calm, not overly emotional.  I have been able to keep my emotions in check pretty well these past few days. 

Worried about:  Keeping this pregnancy healthy so I can make it to my due date.  Now that I've told everyone, I feel an extra pressure to make sure that I'm not miscarrying.  I know it's completely out of my control, but I can still focus on the positive things I can control, such as my diet and activity level.

Excited for:  Christmas.  Everyone talked about gift ideas when we told them today - and it was fun to think about some of the different things we might get for the baby.  :)  Hurray!!!

Wednesday "Friday"

Three day work week!  Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I get the day after off, it's a short work week.  I worked from home this morning and this afternoon I'm going to help Arthur go shopping for food for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner since we're having it at our house.  I'm really excited for the food! 

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday.  It was a pretty normal day, nothing out of the ordinary.  The good news was that my headache didn't bug me at all during the day, probably because I was able to eat some chocolate and keep it under control.  I still didn't take the medication that was prescribed to me, since I really haven't needed it.  I'm pretty proud of myself for powering through it and keeping my mind focused on the positive.

I found out this morning that I didn't get the job.  I am ok with it, because I was really stressed about how I would have balanced maternity leave with this really stressful position.  I feel like my preparation was not like I would have liked it to be, and I think my stress may have shown through.  It's ok.  I'm going to focus on the positive side, that I didn't have to make a decision and that I can look forward to other opportunities that come up in the next few months.  I can also stop stressing about how I would work a new job against my upcoming December schedule.  It would have been crazy!  I really do like what I do and I'm sad that I feel like I have to look for something different.  But unfortunately, I do.

How far along:  6 Weeks, 6 days - 7 weeks tomorrow!!
How much time left:  33 weeks, 1 day
Top two symptoms:  Terrible, horrible, no good bloating and nausea.  It's dumb that as soon as my headache went away that the bloating dropped in.  Ugh!!!

Favorite thing I ate today:  A tomato!  With salt!  It was so good!

Mood:  Normal.  A little annoyed at my bloating and a little frustrated that I didn't get the job, but overall - I'm ok. 

Worried about:  Getting my announcement stuff ready before tomorrow and Friday to let my family and Arthur's family know I'm pregnant.

Excited for:  Arthur's mom is coming over tonight and I'm excited to make pies with them.  I love to eat pie, I'm just not sure how much I will love making them!  I'm sure it will be a blast.  :) 

Movie Sunday

It's Sunday!  It's also my day off.  I am feeling better today than I've felt in awhile, but I'm still really tired.  It's chores day, and I'm struggling with getting started.  Mostly because of how tired I am and because of my back hurting.

I went to bed last night at around 11:30 and woke up the first time at 5:30.  I was proud of myself for sleeping for so long.  My normal wake up time is 3 or 4 AM.  I went back to sleep downstairs until 9:00.  I appreciated the few extra hours.

Arthur made me breakfast, and I appreciated that.  That was one of the many reasons why I married him.  He is such an amazing cook, and even if he makes something simple like eggs cooked in bread (called camel eyes), it is absolutely delicious.  While we ate breakfast, we watched a movie, "What To Expect When You're Expecting."

I really enjoyed the movie.  I laughed a lot, and it made me feel less alone on some of the dumb symptoms.  There are like 5 different pregnancy stories, and every one is different.  One person who is adopting, one person who isn't expecting a baby, one person who is trying, one person who is the girl we all hate, etc.  It's fun to watch some of the things that I am always thinking that I think no one else thinks.

After the movie, I started the laundry and since then I've been thinking of starting my chores.  Chores are a bugger.  I'm so tired and I don't feel like moving much at all.  I know that I was like that before I got pregnant, but now it's even harder to get myself going.

So, I took a nap earlier this afternoon for 1 hour.  It was nice to fall asleep and feel like I was more awake for the rest of the day.  So now I'm eating some lunch and I'll then go finish up my chores for the day.

After my chores tonight, Arthur and I will eat dinner and maybe watch Dexter.  It's a new week, and it's a short week since Thanksgiving is going to give me 2 extra days off (Thursday and Friday).  :)  Hurray for paid time off!!  :)

 How far along:  6 Weeks, 3 days
How much time left:  33 weeks, 4 days
Top two symptoms:  Exhaustion and slight head pressure.  It's better today!!  :)

Favorite thing I ate today:  The camel eyes Arthur made me for breakfast.  So good!

Mood:  Today I have felt physically better than I've felt in awhile.  It kind of scared me after we watched the movie today, that I wasn't feeling like crap.  I'm used to feeling awful all day long.  I have been drinking more water, and maybe that's helping.  My mood overall is ok, maybe still a little bit lazy.

Worried about:   The decrease in symptom severity today.  I looked up "symptoms come and go" on some of my pregnancy message boards and it looks like it's pretty normal.  I still worry that if my symptoms go away then I might miscarry.  I am still staying positive. 

Excited for:  I'm really looking forward to eating Thanksgiving Dinner.  Arthur makes the most delicious mashed potatoes and stuffing.  Sometimes he makes me Thanksgiving Dinner during the year with a smaller sized turkey/turkey breast, since he loves it.  I enjoy it even more on the actual day.  I'm also looking forward to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.  I love going out early and seeing the angry people grabbing stuff and pushing through long lines.  So awesome.

I think I might be...

PREGNANT!  My goodness, I never thought I would really have too many symptoms... but I think on week 6, someone slipped me a pregnancy symptom pill.  I am definitely pregnant now.

I didn't get to blog yesterday because we had an activity in the evening with Brielle and Mike after work.  Arthur and I bought tickets to Disney on Ice back in August, and we wanted to take Brielle to it since she loves Princesses these days.  She was so good, and so happy the whole time.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory at City Creek.  Brielle ordered Mac and Cheese, and she loved it.  She was saying "yum, yum, yum!" over and over again.  It was so cute.

Today was a really rough day.  I really struggled to get through it.  It started out rough, even.  I had a terrible dream that I miscarried... and I was so sad when I woke up.  I know that it wasn't real, though... and that brought me peace and comfort to know that I was actually still pregnant.  Even though I wanted this for so long, and tried and wished and hoped... I didn't really think through the other stuff that comes with it.  I know that when I wasn't pregnant, I told myself that I would embrace any symptom or event that came with it.  I obviously underestimated my ability to stay sane about it.  :)  I just have to keep focusing on the positive and it will all turn out ok.

Today was also rough for other reasons... I had some insecurity issues, some worries about not being liked, and some worries about whether or not I was a good enough friend.  I always think that certain childhood feelings of being left out, or being taken for granted would go away as an adult, and they don't.  I just have to remember that I am not in control of everything, and I have to focus on what I am able to be a part of.

My biggest struggle today aside from not feeling good enough, was feeling physically gross.  I was exhausted, had a headache, and was dealing with a mental block that was almost too big to see past.  I realized that I needed to take a break and so on my lunch I went out and took a nap in my car.  It helped a lot.  I was able to finish up my day OK.

How far along:  6 Weeks TODAY!!
How much time left:  34 Weeks
Top two symptoms:  Today I will pick three because I had 3.  Mental block, exhaustion and nausea in that order.  I tried to snack on saltines and beef jerky throughout the day and that really helped my nausea.  The mental block thing has got to go, though.  I also fought to keep my eyes open most of the day. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  A doughnut from 711 and a slurpee.  I needed a sugar boost after my nap because otherwise, I wasn't going to make it through the day.

Mood:  Today I was G-R-U-M-P-Y.  With all capital letters.  It was awful.  I really tried to stay positive, but being so grumpy didn't allow me to focus on much of anything aside from the stuff that was making me mad.  I will make a conscious effort to be happy tomorrow, and not grumpy.  :)

Worried about:   Thanksgiving at my house.  It's going to be a lot of stress, and I hope that I make it through the day.  Arthur and his mom will probably cook the most part of the meal and I might be able to help with a few things... also, I'll probably spend the day cleaning.  I'm *so glad* I have Thanksgiving and the day after off. 

Excited for:  This trimester to pass.  I am really looking forward to December 14, which is when I will get to hear my baby's heartbeat the first time.  And right now, I'm excited for sleep.  ;)

The End of the Beginning

I titled this entry "The End of the Beginning" because this is the end of the first week of knowing that I'm pregnant.  The fact that I got through the first week is amazing to me.

Today was a very long Friday.  I woke up early and had to be to work early.  That is tough on a Friday.  I had back-to-back meetings all day and I was just really looking forward to coming home and decorating the family Christmas tree with Arthur.

After work, I drove home and met up with Arthur.  He had to deliver a birthday cake that he made for his niece, so we had to go back out.  We delivered it and then went to Babies R Us.

It was really fun looking at the cribs and the clothes and different accessories.  We didn't buy anything, we were just browsing.  We both commented that we can't wait to find out the sex of the baby so we can start to buy stuff.  There is some unisex stuff, but most of it is either blue, green, pink or purple.  I need to have brown stuff, but haven't decided on a decor theme yet.

Pregnancy-wise today, I felt good.  Not too tired.  I find that if I lay down at any point during the day, I almost instantly fall asleep.  I have to try to remember to stay up and awake until it's actually bedtime.  :)

Tomorrow is going to be fun, Arthur and I are going to finish putting up and decorating the tree.  I love the cool breeze and the sunshine through the windows while we listen to Christmas music and hang ornaments.  It's one of my favorite moments of every year.  I usually do a lot of watching, but that's OK. 

How far along:  4 weeks, 1 day
How much time left:  35 weeks, 6 days
Top two symptoms:  Full/sensitive breasts and tired

Favorite thing I ate today:  Pizza Hut Bread Sticks.  OMG!!!!!

Mood:  Today I felt like I was not on the ball like I normally am.  I felt foggy and a bit disconnected.  I think it's because it was a Friday and I just didn't feel like working.  Overall, I was in a mediocre mood.  Not too happy and not too upset.  I'm finding more and more that it is easy pick out where the stress comes from in my life.  I need to avoid those areas and focus on the things that make me the most happy.  :)

Worried about: I stressed less about my period coming today than I normally do.  I think I worried about how I'm going to figure out telling my family on Thanksgiving.  We are going to be at our house this year so telling both families would make it pretty chaotic.  I wanted to keep it intimate, because I didn't know everyone was coming here.  We'll work it out, it will just have to take some bending from someone, somewhere.

Excited for:  Shopping online for baby stuff that I know I want, and not just stuff that is on display at Babies R Us.  I know that when I see the theme I want, I will grab it up.  I think I just need to know if I'm having a girl or a boy.  Sigh...