babymoon

with all the school/work we've had throughout this entire pregnancy we thought a babymoon would be out of the question for sure but magically, the stars aligned and my parents gave us an early Christmas gift and sent us to a hotel for Thanksgiving weekend! 

we had plans of eating way too much food and drinking sparkling cider while wearing hotel robes.

and i couldn't stop thinking how much i would love to float around weightless in the pool for-e-ver! 

unfortunately, Hawaii had other plans in mind. like rain! 

it rained almost the whole time we were at the hotel but we didn't let that spoil anything! 

i still got to float around in the pool for a little while and we still ate some great food! 

i also had Matt paint my toenails since i can't even think about reaching my feet and i was sure to take a picture to thoroughly embarrass him!

plus, we took FULL advantage of the AC unit in our hotel room since we're still sweating buckets in our little apartment. 

yes, even in December. 

we had literally been in the hotel room for two seconds before Matt's shirt was off and the AC was set low.

and then he makes this little video.

and i never stop laughing at his little hip shake dance! 

so Hawaii couldn't get us down! 

this baby on the other hand, he certainly has a mind of his own! 

he didn't want to miss out on all the fun we were having so on Saturday he decided to scare me and be super lazy. usually he's active active active so i didn't like the fact that i couldn't feel him wiggling and squirming. 

then there was some bleeding. i thought maybe it was just normal and nothing to worry about since it wasn't very much blood but i called my doctor just to be sure and he sent us to the birthing center to get checked out. 

everything turned out just fine but for a second there i thought we were going to have a baby that night! 

and of course the only thing i could think about was the fact that we hadn't been smart enough to think to bring a hospital bag or the car seat with us. 

yeah...apparently those are the kinds of things i worry about when i think i'm going to be pushing a baby out of my lady bits. 

BUT...no baby arrived during the babymoon. thank goodness. 

and we still managed to salvage the rest of the weekend after our little hospital trip and we had a really great time for our last hurrah before Baby Mars gets here! 

*note: Matt is seriously hilarious! when we were gonna take that pic of our robe wearing/cider drinking he set the timer on his phone and then jumped on the bed and said "laugh like we're rich!" and now i can't stop laughing at that ridiculous picture! even though robes are probably the most unflattering thing for a pregnant person to wear EVER!

baby update listy list

a list of things that are going on in the world of making baby Mason! 

(this pic cracks me up! how cute is this guy?!)

- while no one has tried touching me yet i find myself getting stared at all the time while i walk around campus. apparently most girls that were going to school and then got knocked up drop out pretty quickly. so there i am, the prego girl still sitting in classes and people are weird around me. it might be all in my head but i feel like everyone avoids eye contact with me and doesn't want to sit or stand near me. i find myself wanting to scream "IT'S JUST A BABY GUYS, NOT AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE!" 

- Matt finally felt baby kick last saturday! baby was especially rowdy that day so i just knew Matt would be able to feel it and he did!! he put his hand on my belly and we hardly even had to wait before baby boy gave him a few hard kicks! Matt was so excited! he's been trying to feel the little guy moving all the time now and i don't know if it's just because he knows what it feels like now or if he and baby are bonding but baby always seems to know when his daddy wants some love and he goes nuts! 

- i'm experiencing one of the many joys of pregnancy right now - a pain in my left butt cheek that sends shooting pains all the way down my leg every time i take a step or lift that leg or turn in bed or twist my body. it's super amounts of fun, as you can imagine. i'm gonna talk to the doc about it at my next appointment because it was seriously so bad on wednesday that when i went to sit on our bed i started crying. it's probably a bad sign when you're in so much pain from sitting on a BED that you cry. from everything i've read this is totally common i'm just hoping there's something i can do to make it GO AWAY! 

- sometimes Matt and i wear matching shirts and have bump contests. cause we're awesome like that!

- my new sleep position is on my side sandwiched between two body pillows. not only does it help with the previously mentioned pain but its cozy, like i'm sleeping in a little nest.

- my very favorite purchase we've made lately is an ice machine! i don't get to indulge in pregnancy cravings like most prego people but one thing baby really likes is freezing cold water throughout the day. i used to bring my water bottle everywhere with me and snag ice from restaurants and stuff but now i don't have to! Matt was worried the ice machine would be a waste of money but now he realizes it so SO wasn't. we make a huge batch of ice almost every day!! it's just so nice to be able to walk around the freakishly hot and humid campus with my water bottle jingling because of the ice inside. i'm obviously very easy to please. 

plus, if you combine ice with diet coke with splenda in my new mason jar i will be the happiest girl on the island! 

- i was put on insulin to control this whole gestational diabetes thing and it seems to be going pretty well. all of my blood sugar numbers are within range and it actually helps me eat a little more carbs than before so i don't get too low. my tummy is starting to get really sore from all the needle pricks though. sad day. haven't doctors come up with a better way to take insulin already?

- baby LOVES music! i was making breakfast the other morning and listening to spotify when Billie Jean came on and baby started movin' and groovin', the natural response when listening to any Michael Jackson song. this baby is so my kid!

(20 weeks)

- i have caught my first glimpse of stretch marks starting to form. i want to be one of those girls that's like "stretch marks are my battle scars and i will wear them proudly!" but right now i'm just sad and hormonal and fat and i'm gonna complain about them for a little while mmkay?

- the past week or so baby has been so incredibly active! i feel him ALL THE TIME! part of me thinks it's so stinkin' cute and the other part of me gets creeped out that there's a living thing rolling around on my insides. i watch too many sci fi movies.

(22 weeks and you can't see my feet!)

4th of July - Hawaii Style

so i decided i should probably start posting on here again so my friends and fam won't be mad that they're missing out on things anymore.

i should probably start off with a WE'RE PREGNANT! type thing but that would be a really long-winded post and i think i should start off with something a little easier and shorter so i don't just quit blogging again, amiright?

so for now i'll just say...WE'RE PREGNANT!

(12 weeks)

so let's talk about the 4th of July!

usually this day comes and goes without Matt and i even noticing.

apparently we're old and boring already.

but this year i was not going to let that happen!

after about an hour of poking and nudging and tickling Matt I finally got him to wake up, eat breakfast and put his swimsuit on.

then something magical happened, Matt FINALLY jumped off of Laie Point! 

guys, i have been trying to get him to jump off the point for the whole 6 months that we've been here!

of course, he has to do this after i'm prego and can't join in on the fun but still, EXCITING!

he jumped 3 times because he just couldn't get enough after the first jump! now he's addicted!

after all the jumping we headed to our fave beach spot to do some snorkeling.

baby and i really like to float around and look at fishies! 

sadly, the conditions were really really terrible so we couldn't see a dang thing and ended up just plopping down on our beach chairs and enjoying the sun.

well, i plopped down on a beach chair and enjoyed the sun. Matt built a great white sand shark!

this kid LOVES to build things in the sand!

our kids are going to have a blast at the beach with him!

after all the beachy fun fun fun we decided to be true americans and hit up mcdonald's for lunch.

MURICA!

yes yes, i cheated on my diet but baby really wanted some fries and a few sips of dr pepper!

i just can't say no to this little stripey bump!

after coming home, cleaning up and running to the store for some supplies we decided to pretend we weren't completely exhausted and make a mexican feast for dinner!

the only craving i've had during this pregnancy so far is the overwhelming craving for mexican food and Hawaii is seriously letting me down!

there's only a couple places here that have decent mexican food but they're all 45+ minutes away.

but this meal we made...oh. my. amazing.

baby and i will have dreams of the fantabulousness of this meal! 

deliciously marinated fajitas, homemade guacamole, my sis-in-law's famous homemade salsa!

i say again, OH. MY. AMAZING!

and even though i love fireworks, we're usually too lazy to get out of the house and drive to where they are.

but this year we got to watch them RIGHT FROM OUR BACK PORCH as i stuffed my face full of fajitaguacamolesalsachips!

a little far away but still pretty cool to be able to sit at your house and watch a firework show!

so that's how the 4th of July is done - Hawaii style! 

ANNOUNCEMENT!

Back to School

so the first week of school was...all sorts of things.

rough, exciting, overwhelming, dramatic

let's bullet point this shall we?

- i'm not at MCC anymore. it's also been a loooong time since i've been to school. i feel stupid ALL THE TIME! i know it's only been one week and i'll get back in the game soon enough but man, can't that just automatically happen??

- making new friends is super awkward and weird. 

- it only seems to rain when i'm walking/bike riding to and from school. FYI sitting in class while completely drenched is very unpleasant.

found this little gem on amazon and while i believe it would keep me nice and dry (and incredibly popular) i didn't buy it.

- my feet are so sad here. i have blisters on my heels, sides of my feet, in between my toes.

i can hardly walk, guys. it's a problem. 

- i'm at school all day until about 2 PM and i haven't quite figured out how to eat lunch yet so i'm starvingggg every day! 

i should probably go to the grocery store and buy some more snackies but i'm also afraid of the grocery store and its prices. 

i was explaining to my sister that we tried buying a broom this week and found out it cost $12 for the broom and another $12 for the dustpan. we agreed that any broom that costs $24 should do all the work for you! agreed??

anyway, i'm hungry.

- please don't hate me for saying this but...i haven't become used to hearing the waves during the night. i'm not a very good sleeper and when you add stormy, super loud waves to the situation it just makes things worse.

i'm so sleepy!

- i really miss my puppy

now on to the good things!

bulletpoints!

- the view from across the street is unbelievable!

- we finally set foot on the beach!

- i'm getting way better at riding my bike! 

i named my little bike Lorelai because every time i ride it i feel like Lorelai Gilmore the day her Jeep died and she had to ride her bike everywhere.

the similarities are uncanny.

- we went to Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and had some of the best shrimp i have ever EVER had!

it was totally worth the 3 mile bike ride there and 3 miles back!

i can't wait to go again!

so to sum things up, Hawaii is a huge adjustment for me. 

i went from sitting at home all day every day for the past 3 years to having to do all these crazy new scary things!

but all in all, i'm super happy here! i'm super happy to study something that i love in a place that i love!

and i can't wait to do more crazy new scary things every day! 

that one time...

i moved to hawaii 

New Life

we have officially lived in Hawaii for one whole week and i still can't even believe it.

pictures to prove it!

 bye bye AZ

heel clicks for making it to our new home

time change woes

intro to humidity hair

food heavennn

the front yard

the backyard

our only form of transportation now

trying to embrace the curly humidity hair that gets worse every day

first Hawaii sunrise not completely covered by clouds and rain

cooking never seemed so awesome

Matt saying "how do i climb down there?"

my life now.

today, i successfully woke up around 5:30 AM, got ready, rode my bike to school in the rain and went to class soaking wet.

great start to a great semester!

aloha!

video of a year

this video is amazing and now Matt and i really really REALLY want to do this for our first year in Hawaii!

hawaii?

so...remember how i'm moving to hawaii?

yeah...i'm moving to hawaii.

i really don't get tired of saying that, ever!

in fact, matt and i will just randomly look at each other and say "hawaii?"

HAWAII!

ok but seriously i guess i should tell everyone why we're going.

ya know shark week?

ya know how i looooove it more than any other week out of the year?

well one day you will be able to turn on shark week and see MY face!

or at least that's the dream.

i'd also consider being a shark diver in hawaii any day of the week, working for an aquarium possibly as that weirdo that's diving in the large tank and answering kids' questions or...a lottery winner, obviously.

but seriously, i'm going to school at BYU Hawaii for marine biology which means i will be able to learn about oceany things while seriously living on the beach.

it's going to be unbelievable!

there's obviously a lot of  stressful things going on right now with trying to make preparations to move and start school and everything but i have gotten one very important thing out of the way already, where we're gonna live.

i found this perfectly quirky and great place that offers everything we wanted, will let our little pup live there and has views to make all of our friends and family ridiculously jealous.

like this is my front and back yard...

jealousy to the max amiright??

the absolute hardest part of this moving process so far is getting little puppy Padme ready for the journey.

hawaii is seriously ridiculous about bringing pets into the state.

they've never had rabies there so they make you prove a thousand times over in crazy insane ways that your pet is healthy enough for island living.

and if you don't do every single little thing right they make your pet stay in quarantine for 120 DAYS! 

do you know what my little antisocial dog would do if she had to stay in a quarantine facility for 120 days??

probably commit puppy suicide or something.

and do you know what i would do without her for 120 days??

probably commit people suicide or something.

so we're being extra careful to make sure she can make the trip and move into her new home with zero problems.

it seems like every day i think of something else we have to do before we move and it's ridiculously stressful but luckily i have matt around to remind me of what's really important...

WE'RE MOVING TO HAWAII!
24, you are definitely not letting me down.
i knew you were going to be my year.

who's got two thumbs and is moving to Hawaii??

THIS GIRL!!

don't believe me?

well here's my fo realz face.

i can't wait to hang out with the locals.

we obviously fit right in.