3 Years Later

And I love him more every day.

Happy anniversary my darling!

Movie Time

Last week, I finally saw Titanic.

I tried watching it once when I was 12 and got too depressed when the little kid got carried away by the water. 

You know those movies that are so good/moving/intriguing that you think about them for days afterward?

This is totally one of them. It's been in my head for a week! I loved it.

A few weeks before that, it was Warrior. Oh my gosh- so good.

A Beautiful Mind and The Guardian always do the same thing, along with a select few others.

And I have to say- I'm REALLY looking forward to Les Mis! I have a good feeling about that one.

Books do the same thing. Right now I'm caught up in Sarah's Key and I'm completely devouring it. I love it when I find a book like that where I don't have to force myself to finish reading it.

Needless to say, I'm LOVING this vacation time to read and watch movies and just hang out! It's perfect and just what I needed- I seriously cannot stop sleeping these days! Just give me a good book or movie and let me curl up by the space heater and my life is made!

By the way, feel free to tell me all your favorite books and movies, because we all know it's a sad day when you finish a good one!

Meanwhile in Siberia

a.k.a. Provo, Utah:

2 days till Las Vegas is all I have to say!

25 Weeks

Yes- I realize I wrote 24 weeks on the chalkboard, but really I took these an hour ago and I'm almost 26 weeks. Oops.

 This week has been characterized by:

-Bloody noses (weird)

-Kicks and kicks and kicks and flips and dance parties and gymnastics!

-Heartburn that leaves me feeling like my insides are on fire basically all day (in addition to the nausea. My intestines love me right now!)

-Being CRAZY thirsty all the time

-Gradually switching to more power walking and less jogging

-Being told I'm starting to waddle (attractive!)

 -Finding my first stretch mark, which may have actually just been a line from the seam of my clothes because I haven't located it since. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to get stretch marks anyways. Eh. Victory scars!

-Playing "kick daddy" every night. So fun!

-Headaches all the time.

-... remedied by naps all the time!

Otherwise, just stretching and stretching. Whew!

Also plenty of daydreaming about cuddling and squishing my little guy ALL DAY EVERY DAY!

Oh how I LOVE my little buddy!

And we can't wait to go to LAS VEGAS this week for Christmas!!! :) Party at Trevor's house!!!

A Few Things:

1. It's my mother-in-law's birthday today. I love her and she is fabulous in every way. And she raised a GREAT husband for me. Happy birthday Momma H!!!!

2. My abs have split right down the middle. It's weird. I didn't really know that happened. So that's that.

3. I have little to no to negative motivation to work out. This week I've been finally getting my booty on the treadmill at 10 at night... and I think tonight, I'll call it good with some walking. But hey, something is better than nothing I guess.

4. I do, however, have motivation to eat ice cream. And grapefruit. And Indian food which will be fantastic for my heartburn. Not.

5. Trevor finished his last undergraduate class today!!!!!!!

6. I've taken a nap every day this week. And it's been wonderful.

Alright, alright. No more procrastinating. :)

23 Weeks!

Well hello there, belly!

How far along? 23 weeks, 5 days

How big is baby? Size of a large mango- 10 ish inches and about 1-1.5 lbs!

Maternity clothes? Low waisted jeans are my friends. Still crossing my fingers that I can get through another month or two wearing my normal pants low like a gangster, buttoning them with a rubber band, and rocking my leggings like I have no shame. I'm carrying really low, though, which makes the whole pants buttoning thing a challenge!

Stretch marks? Hoping to avoid them as much as possible!

Sleep? Like a baby. Anytime, anywhere. Don't doubt my ability to sleep whenever and wherever I desire!

Symptoms? Oh- still sick. Trying to ignore the fact that I'm over 5 months pregnant and still sick. But the doctor says it's ok and not too uncommon, and baby is getting strong and growing great. So I'm taking it a day at a time, and more than anything just happy to have him coming and healthy! I only cry about it like once a week. So that's good right?

I also have total pregnancy brain. "I just want to read my tomato" and "I'm going to go fold the window"... best my brain can do apparently. And I only have to have people repeat assignments at work like 50% of the time... so there's that.

Best moment last week? Baby gymnastics practice every night before bed. He LOVES showing off!

Movement? ALWAYS! I watch my belly move all day long. So entertaining. He especially enjoys kicking my bladder.

Food cravings? Raspberry Creamies. Also yogurt is back on my list of tolerable foods! Sadly, probably never again my beloved cherry flavor. But blackberry? That I can do. Basically, anything anti-heartburn, since I basically feel like my throat is on fire all day every day.

Food aversions? Asian food. Mexican food. Indian food. Essentially, food with flavor.

Gender? BOY BOY BOY!!!

Labor signs? Just a growing belly for now!

Belly button in/out? In, but starting to stick out on top. I think my days of an innie are numbered.

What I miss: This answer will be exactly the same every time I do this survey: I miss zero things about not being pregnant. Any day of headaches and puking and exhaustion is better than a day of feeling great and not being able to get this baby on the way!

What I am looking forward to: Appointment this week! Love checking up on this little guy!

Milestones: I feel like my belly has pretty much tripled in size in the last 3 weeks. Which I'd say is a pretty remarkable milestone :). I'm loving that I get to show the bump off every day!

Life is good! :)

Thanksgiving Photo Dump

We just got home early this morning from a lovely drive across the nation from Kansas to Utah. Nothing to make you feel fabulous like sitting in a car for 20 hours after a week of Thanksgiving food! Add to that the pregnant girl puking in gas station grocery bags in the backseat (yes- still sick- no- don't want to talk about it!) and stopping to pee every hour and you've got a real party on your hands.

Honestly though, my brothers and husband were saints about it and didn't make me feel bad once. Not to mention they took great care of me the whole way. I'm a lucky, lucky girl!

Driving day aside (which was actually relatively comfortable as road trips go in my brother's new big car!), we had a blast in Kansas this past week!

A lovely round of the haha game... which will always be funny.

Trevor is a human jungle gym

I got to see my high school diving coach and one of my best friends from high school- so fun! 

My mom whipped up this PERFECT baby quilt and 2 receiving blankets with coordinating burp cloths. Love it!

We went to Kaleidoscope at Crown Center one day. It brought back tons of memories from when I was little. Best part: it's FREE!

Thanksgiving!

My sister's fabulous rolls. SO good.

Garrett and Heidi's wedding reception. Siblings!

We like taking prom pictures.

He's cute. 

Seth and his girlfriend Shelby. We love her!

Me and my cuddle bugs.

Trevor and Colton are best friends.

This is really how Colton sleeps. Could he be any cuter?

Thanksgiving grocery shopping time!

Colton and his aunts. We love him!

My hot sister and me at Crown Center

BFF's

Worst game of Rummikub ever. We went zero times.

Me and my guy!

I also got to see my drill team girls from high school. So sad we didn't take a picture! Love them (and we missed Caitlin)!

Now we're back and ready to go- at least for 3 more weeks till Christmas! Trevor has 9 days of classes left in his undergraduate career. Can we get a hallelujah!

In other (big) news... Trevor got his first PT school acceptance letter this week! HOORAY!!! SUCH a good feeling to know he's in somewhere (not that I ever doubted that smart guy). It's in San Angelo, Texas and he really liked the school! We'll see... the next months will be exciting!

21 Weeks!

So, today's big event is really that my guy is a quarter of a century old today! But we still have some celebrating to do and pictures to take, so that update will come later. Right now we're loving some time with my family in Kansas! 

Originally, Trevor and Garrett and Heidi weren't coming until Wednesday, but they were able to make it in last night. The longer I'm married to Trevor the more I love having him around... I was so glad they came earlier than they planned! Nothing is as fun without him here.

For now, here's a little update on my little buddy:

He's getting strong! I can actually see my belly moving when he kicks and I love it. Every kick is like a little secret between me and him. If you're talking to me and I suddenly start smiling ear to ear, that's why.

Nausea is declining at about the same rate as heartburn is increasing. I feel WORLDS better than I did even just a month ago, but I may be one of those girls who is sick through her whole pregnancy. Nasty and not that fun, but totally worth it my friends!

My skin is clear. This is basically the only pregnancy symptom I got the good version of. So you have to just let me have this one :).

I'm still running (okay, jogging)! I'm talking a 10 minute mile pace and walking breaks whenever my heart desires. But I still make it 5 miles a day, and I feel great about that. We'll see how long that lasts.

Still craving cottage cheese and oranges like no tomorrow. There are worse things, right? 

He likes to practice his flips right before bed. And sometimes he's still doing them when I wake up. Love it.

We've decided to decorate boat/fish/nautical themed. Red and blue and stripes and anchors and I'm in love with it! My mom and sister and I made the. Cutest. Quilt the other day. We walked around the fabric store and maybe I teared up because I got so excited for my little guy to sleep and puke and poop in his adorable fish blanket but we don't need to talk about how I can't control my emotions. Pictures to come.

We're LOVING having some time off of school (Trevor) and some time off of freezing Utah and crazy traffic (Danielle). We'll be staying busy with Thanksgiving, birthday dates, girls' night with the drill team girls, Garrett's wedding reception, and partying all week long. Prepare for a few massive photo updates!

When Trevor is Away...

Danielle will hide inside from the snow all weekend and get the crazy flu!

I'm talking passing out on the bathroom floor crazy here people- not fun.

Luckily the worst of it only lasted about 10 hours. The rest of the weekend has been achey and sore and full of chick flicks and rehydration. (At least I got a little shopping trip in the day before :))

This is the best ever. Totally underrated.

Whenever Trevor is away (which has only been a few times- we're lucky!) I'm a big wimp about it. I sleep in his shirt on his side of the bed with the lights on. In my defense, you would too if you lived in a house built in the 1800's, right?

Found these beauties at Papaya for $7.99 and naturally got it in all 3 colors. It's super long and has elastic cinched sides... room for baby boy to grow!

Tonight's big plan is to set up the Christmas tree while I wait for Trevor to get back.

And here's the thing... this week looks a little something like this:

Monday-Wednesday: Work, shop for Trevor's birthday, get my nails filled (call me high maintenance but it's only $17 to get them redone for the holidays- might as well, right?), and pack.

Thursday: Leave for KANSAS! For a week and a half!

Classic for a sick day.

I. Can't. Wait.

After that, just a few weeks until Trevor graduates (hallelujah!!!) and we leave for Las Vegas for Christmas!

Moral of this story: I have limited time to enjoy my Christmas tree. Might as well get started on it early. I mean honestly- I've been listening to Christmas music for weeks now.

Hooray for our winter wonderland coming nice and early this year!

Airplanes and Swords and Footballs, Oh My!

Hey there baby BOY!

This momma and dad couldn't be more thrilled!

Those Perfect Moments:

When you're already a hot mess because you feel dumb for messing stuff up at work,

And then you ask your husband if he'll clean the bathroom today because it's gross and scary in there
And you really don't want to do it,

And he responds with, "yeah sure". 

And then you maybe tear up and say, "really, you don't mind?"

And he says, "I never mind".

That, my friends, is true love. 

(Especially if you've seen our 130 year old bathroom.)

And then, when you watch your favorite movie (A Beautiful Mind) with him,

And he says, if I ever go crazy, put me in an institution. I'm big. If you went crazy I could just pin you down and it would be no big deal.

And when he brings up "how crazy it is that we're going to be super old together someday".

I'm glad we get to be crazy and old together someday.

One Question:

Why did it take me so long to see this?

Sincerely,

Hooked like every other girl in America.

18 wEEKs

... and growing right along!

Kicks are getting higher and harder, and people are telling me every day that I actually am looking pregnant.

I think baby is on a major growth spurt. I can't get enough dairy and beans. Which is probably a good thing because I don't like meat. I also have been craving oranges/anything orange flavored. Oh, and fudgsicles. 40 calories apiece is a nice bonus... can't feel bad about that!

 My dreams are CRAZY vivid and really weird. I mix up about a million things I do every day and people I know (currently and from a long time ago) into one super weird saga every night. Very exciting.

 Only 9 days until we find out if baby H is a boy or a girl! :)

I promise someday soon I'll start posting things other than my belly and chalk drawings. 

For now, here's what's happening in the Hansen house:

Trevor has his first Physical Therapy school interview in 2 weeks! It's in Texas and we are SO excited. It's a crazy process all this applying! 

I'm going home to Kansas in exactly 18 days for a week and a half. Can't wait to spend some time in the homeland. I'll be away from Trevor for his 25th birthday, but he'll come join me a few days later. 

We got Trevor a super nice Nomis brand snowboarding coat secondhand for $28 last night. I love me a good bargain! 

Life is good and things are getting exciting around here. It's going to be a crazy 6 months!

Happy Halloween!

17 Weeks

Ta da! Baby onion is doing lovely and wiggling around stronger every day. Perhaps we have a gymnast on our hands?

Dear belly, I love watching you grow. And it's funny that my belly button is turning into a weird shape. However, I thought this one wasn't supposed to happen until I'm SUPER pregnant. 

Dear self, you're starting to walk funny. 

Dear man working at Sonic,

You're right, that IS a lot of ice cream. And guess who's planning on eating the whole thing? The pregnant lady who feels really awesome about herself now thanks to your comment on the size of my Oreo blast. (And believe me. It was good.)

Dear second trimester,

You're being very good to me. Every week I feel better and better. I also have the appetite of about 3 teenage boys (see above paragraph). Baby is happy and growing!

Dear first professional massage ever,

You were amazing. My life is changed forever. My shoulders have never been so happy.

Dear bladder,

Hang in there. We've still got a long way to go.

Dear Trevor,

I love you. You're really fun. You take really good care of me. You crack me up every day. I'm so glad you're the daddy because you're going to be the best. Sorry girls- the best one is taken.

Dear world,

What do you think? Boy or girl? Only 2 more weeks until we know!