Weeks 20 and 21.

Yep, that's right- another two-fer-one blog! :D So what've we (all three of us, that is!) been up to? Let's get this blog started!

Week 20:
This week started off pretty boring, to be honest. I just went to work as usual... but on FRIDAY (22 April), I turned 25 years old, and kicked off my "babymoon" (like a honeymoon, except to celebrate together before the baby comes) vacation in Solvang! We checked into our Holiday Inn Express hotel around 330 PM, and found out that our room had been UPGRADED! Woohoo! Our room was actually two-stories- the bed and a flat-screen television on the top/third floor and a couch, microwave, coffee maker, fridge, bathroom, and another flat-screen television on the bottom/second floor. It was wild. And oh, did I mention that we had a balcony that overlooked the beautiful Hans Christian Andersen Park?! Yeah, talk about awesome... We had dinner at Angelica Cafe, and then spent the rest of the evening walking around. It's totally a little tourist town. ;)

On Saturday, we woke up leisurely, and I went downstairs for breakfast that the hotel provided in their dining room. After Kevin enjoyed his oatmeal and mocha that I brought to him in bed (yes, spoiled!), we got ready for the day and headed out for the "tourist experience." Solvang ("sunny fields" in Danish) is a cute little town that was founded by 3 Danish-Americans who wanted to find a place in California where they could settle and their heritage could thrive. So now, it's known as "the Danish capital of America." It truly is quite lovely, with lots of greenery, Danish architecture, and clean air (something that is very much lacking in Bakersfield!). For lunch, we stopped at Solvang Restaurant, where we also had aebleskivers- Danish pancakes shaped into balls and topped with raspberry jam and powdered sugar. Whoa. We also stopped at the Santa Ines mission, another peaceful destination... and then, there it was: Solvang Bakery! Why is this significant? Well, I had been searching and searching for the perfect piece of birthday cake to celebrate my 25th, because I haven't had a piece of my own birthday cake in over a decade (yes, seriously)! And there it was: black forest cake. However, after dinner at Pea Soup Andersen's, there was no room for cake, and I had to save it for Sunday. BUT I WAS GOING TO HAVE MY BIRTHDAY CAKE, DANGIT! :D

On Sunday morning, at around 1 AM, I woke up to my baby moving a LOT... and I could feel him punching/ kicking my hand! I woke Kevin up and for about 30 minutes, he had his hand resting on my belly, waiting patiently for Lucas to move again. It never happened- just like allllll the baby advice sites said would happen. BOO! Later, when we actually woke up for the day, we went to Ostrich Land. Yes, Ostrich Land... where we got to watch poor, naive tourists feed violently hungry, ferocious ostriches and emus. Kevin and I got a serious kick out of it. As he put it: "Oh dang, yes, that was worth the 8$ admission fee!" Haha. In the late evening, we drove over to the Chumash Casino- no, not to gamble, but to get a "maternity massage"! Ahhhhhhh, it was really great, and quite relaxing. Definitely more "gentle" than my sports massages, that's for sure. Afterward, we STUFFED ourselves at SJ Spurs- kind of a bad idea, since I've been getting wicked reflux. And oh, somewhere in there... I HAD MY FRIGGIN' BIRTHDAY CAKE (and Kevin helped, of course)! :D

Sadly, on Monday, the 25 April, we had to pack up and leave our little oasis. We got home after another 3-hour drive, did some laundry, cleaned up after our bad cats, and relaxed before we had to go back to the grind the next day.

If you want, check out the rest of our Solvang vacation photos here!


Week 21:
The beginning of this gestational week (Tuesday 26 April), it was back to the same ol', same ol'... The biggest symptoms I've been noticing are: exhaustion (yes, still!), more huffing and puffing (short of breath easily), a lot more kicking (especially around mealtimes that I've seemed to have established- 7 AM, noon, 5-6ish), psycho maternal instinct nightmares/dreams, having to pee a lot, itchy skin (so I've been using a lot of the Palmer's body lotion), and sitting at work for hours at a time is getting more and more uncomfortable. My feet swelled a little while at work, and my co-worker, seeing me walking a little funny, said that I was "waddling already." :| Not to mention, the baby bump comments are coming from left and right, and some people have already rubbed my belly (I am not a Buddha, people)! Oh well, people have said and done worse to me when was "death-orexic" (as my husband put it), and I'm just glad my baby is healthy. I've been more and more tempted to find out what my weight is (since I know for certain that my thighs, butt, and arms have gained significantly), but like Kevin agreed, I just don't need to know right now. Period. However, Kevin did just put together my fantastic new LifeSpan TR 1200i folding treadmill that I purchased off Amazon! :D Can't wait to really put it to use!

Also, now that I am on the "downhill" of my pregnancy (20 weeks being the general "halfway point"), I've started really thinking about our birth plan. That is to say, how I want to go through delivering our baby. Like many moms, I would love to have a completely natural birth. However, I am just not sure how it will go, pain-wise... not to mention any sort of emergencies that might happen to come up. I will definitely be delivering in a hospital, but it's been so helpful to check out peaceful birthing sites that have stories about women who have had successful natural births.

If you've given birth naturally, and you just so happen to be reading this blog, would you tell me about your experiences? :)

Weeks 18 and 19.

Argh! I just haven't felt like blogging lately, to be honest. But let's see... I've been having the same sort of symptoms like exhaustion, insomnia, and cramps when I sneeze, cough, or stretch (and sometimes when I just turn the wrong way).

During week 18, Kevin and I went to a huge consignment sale called "Little Feet Repeats"! While there, we checked out all sorts of gently/never used furniture, bags, clothes, and toys. We ended up getting six receiving blankets, a swaddling outfit, two little outfits, a diaper backpack (in lieu of a diaper bag), and a few maternity outfits for myself. :)

As I write, I am 19 weeks, 5 days pregnant... and things are not easy. I will be honest, I am having personal difficulties with not allowing my fears overwhelm me. Will I be a good mom? Will I ever be able to run again? Will I ever be considered "thin" again? What if (UGH, I hate those two words!) I fall victim to the enemy again? Will my husband and I stay close after he is born? I mean, I know these things ultimately don't matter if I can just give birth to a healthy little boy, but I guess it's that perfectionist in me that God is still working on changing that keeps popping up.


At any rate, we had our fourth ultrasound on Wednesday... and our baby boy is DEFINITELY a little boy. :) So, on that note, we have finally determined his precious name- Lucas Dean. <3 Dean is a middle name that has been passed down through several generations in Kevin's family, and Lucas is just a lovely name and has a great meaning. I hope you like the name too, but if you don't... that's just too bad! ;P

Week 17.

My belly is getting BIG. And with that comes unsure comments and stares from people. It is strange to think that in basically 2.5 weeks, I'll be halfway through the pregnancy. And on that note, my emotions are rearing their ugly head(s). FEAR is taking me over- I know I've already gained a considerable amount of weight, and it doesn't help that I have so little energy and motivation to run, let alone walk.

This is where I am thankful for the Bible (though, I admit, I've had my meltdowns, for sure, which Kevin can attest to)! What does the Word say about fear? "There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love." (1 John 4:18, MSG)

Symptoms this week? They include: abdominal pain (round ligament pain/cramps), baaaad constipation, exhaustion, crabbiness and mood swings, bloating, having to pee twice as much, insomnia and pressure. I'm starting to feel the baby pretty clearly now. When I sit down, it's almost like he drops down. Bizarre feeling. Kevin likes to talk to my belly, even though I'm pretty sure the baby can't hear yet. :P He loves listening to his son swishing around in there too. Haha.

Ooo, so... we also got a CAT CAGE! How does this have to do with my pregnancy? Well, we realised that we needed to start locking the cats out of our bedroom at night, to get them used to when the baby comes- we don't exactly want the baby to get smothered in his bassinet by our too-affectionate cats. :\ But when we would close our bedroom door to keep them out, we would get NO sleep, as they would start loudly crying, meowing, and scratching at the door... :( So, we decided we needed to get a nice cat cage for them to sleep (or harass each other) in at night. They don't like it, but NOW WE CAN ACTUALLY SLEEP WITH THE BEDROOM DOOR CLOSED! :D

PS: We are registered at Amazon.com, Target, and Babies R Us!