Nick's Slip Up's!

 This week was an exciting week. Miss Ella Rose made her arrival and I got to meet her! Beth and Kelly adopted their fourth little one on Monday. I went over Wednesday afternoon to meet and cuddle her. Oh I was in heaven! She is such a sweet little thing! It was so fun to hold such a new little one and thinking that there was one of those in my tummy too. I could feel you kick as I held her and couldn't help but think about how soon I get to hold you. In only 19 weeks your dad and I get to hold you close and look at that handsome sweet face of yours. I'm so excited!  I drooled over Ella Rose for a while and talked to Beth for a few hours. It was so much fun. I sure love that Beth. She's the sister I never had. Pretty sure she will be loving on you just as much as I love that little Ella.

On Thursday I went over to Mollies for some girl time. With my back hurting I can't do my normal things to get out of the house like working and going to the gym so she decided to help with my sanity. We ordered Chinese, talked, and played with this handsome little guy for a few hours. It was so fun to catch up with Mollie and play with Cooper. He is a little over a year old and is such a little character. He likes to tease and knows how to make you laugh. I can't wait to see you develop and grow like I've got to see him grow up over the past year. 

On Thursday night your Dad, Grandpa Stika, and I went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. Chubby's! We ate some suuuper yummy food and got a lot of laughs. While we were there we found Uncle Taylor's picture on the wall. Chubby''s has a Chubby's challenge. It's something like 2 1/2 lb hamburger patty's sandwiched in between 3 grilled cheeses and a pound of fries. If you eat it in under 15 minutes you get it for free. How gross does that sound?! Taylor didn't quite make it but he did get his picture on the wall of shame haha Seeing his picture sure made me miss that boy. 

Speaking of Uncle Taylor, Grandma Stika sent me this picture of him. I don't know who sent it to her but it's him helping with the wards canning project I believe. Doesn't he look so happy?! I know it's hard for him to be gone and away from his family but I have no doubt he is where he is supposed to be. He is such an amazing young man. I'm gaining more and more of a testimony of how amazing missions are and what a blessing they are for not just the missionaries, but for their families as well. 

On Friday we had a BBQ with a few close friends. There was LOTS of elk meat to be eaten. Your Dad grilled up some yummy elk burgers and steaks to go along with my homemade baked beans (which of course, had ground elk meat). Mollie made a DELISH peach cobbler for dessert with some vanilla ice cream. I meant to take some pictures but all I took was a picture of this cute thing, of course!

After we all let the food settle a little bit we played a few rounds of a game who's name I can't remember! It was kinda like the game telephone but in pictures. It was SO funny! Your Dad and I are pretty dang lucky to have such a fun group of friends. It feels sometimes like we are almost outnumbered by all the babies running around. Can't wait to bring you along to join in on the baby fun! 

Saturday was a lazy day at home, which I was so not opposed to. As I'm sure you are well aware, your Dad is a huge sports fan. Anything to do with sports or politics, he knows about it! :) Anyways, there was a playoff game on Saturday that the Broncos were playing in. Since your Dad served his mission in Colorado he knows a whole bunch of Bronco fans. Matty McPherson brought over a couple pizzas and joined us for the game. It was so much fun to have him over. Probably even more fun for me to watch these two stress out with a close game in overtime! Even though the Broncos didn't win, it sure was a whole lot of fun! 

I'm sad I have to post the next couple of pictures. Yes, your mother got sick. You have been extra wiggly since I got sick and I think I figured it out. My coughing is so ridiculously loud and belly shaking that it must freak you right out! :) Okay, maybe that's not why, but if I had to hear these coughs from inside my belly, it would sure freak me out. It took your Dad 2 and a half days to get over his cold. Here I am on day 4 with no end in sight. Fingers crossed this fever dies down and my cough gets a little less 'coughy'. I'm surprised I haven't ruptured any blood vessels yet! 

This is me at yet another doctors office for my back. No one else deserves catching this cold so I wore the mask in hopes of keeping my germs all to myself. Nothing really new to report from this doctor but he did order an MRI. CT scans and X rays aren't safe while pregnant but MRI's are so hopefully we will get some answers soon! Work Med has to approve the MRI so we have to wait about a week until I can schedule it but we will get the ball rolling with that soon. The specialist did say though that since it is so painful for me to bend forward and bending back relieves the pain a little it sounds like it's a herniated disk. But he would expect more pain in moving my legs with that as well so in that sense, it might not be. We will just have to wait and see! 

Last but not least, here's a picture of your hot momma this week. After taking this picture it really hit me that this pregnancy is just flying by! Yes it's been hard on me as far as my whole back thing and sickness thing goes but I really have loved everything about being pregnant. How about I talk a little more about my pregnancy so far!

• As of this morning I have gained 4 and a half lbs. It sure looks like a whole lot more than that to me but hey, I'll take it!
• My cravings seem to be different every day but one thing I am always craving: McDonald's root beer (trust me, root beer from anywhere else just isn't the same!) The other thing that's been pretty consistent is Blueberry Eggo waffles. I eat them every single day. No fail. They're just so yummy! Other random cravings over the past week has included ice cream, chocolate milk, dried mangos, and chicken nuggets. See? No rhyme or reason, just random foods that aren't super great for either of us! Go figure!
• You probably don't want to hear this from your mother but it's one of my biggest complaints: My boobs! They are getting so big! Tomorrow is going to be bra shopping day if I feel good enough because I just can't wait any longer! I've always been well endowed but I feel like they're a little out of control. But hey, I guess my body knows what I needs to do to get ready to take care of you so, I will try to not complain :)
• Since I've spent a lot of time at home trying to take it easy on my back I've watched a whole lot of TV shows and movies. My favorite TV series lately are Pretty Little Liars (your Dad makes fun of me for that one!), anything CSI, Law&Order, NCIS, etc. Because of the time spent at home I am very grateful for cable TV lately! 
• Your Dad is the coolest father-to-be ever. He and I have so much fun talking about you together. We kinda just talk like you are here already cause hello, you already are in a way! If your Dad and I are cuddling and you decide you don't want his arm there you start wiggling around like a crazy baby! He can't feel you kick yet but it sure makes me laugh. You like your space already! 

This blog post is getting a little long but I can't go without telling you a few funny things your Dad has slipped up and said :)

The other day I was walking out of the bathroom and a rubber band flew by and hit my shoulder! Your Dad was laying there on the bed frozen! Once I saw his face we both started laughing. I turned to him and said "You totally just shot me!" Without skipping a beat he replied "How could I miss?!" Ummmm ... excuse me?! I laughed even harder! I ran over to the bed and tackled him. At least I tried to, I was laughing to hard to accomplish any sort of real threatening!

The other story I think I'll just post a picture of. 

Pretty dang funny huh :) Another thing that as my son you probably don't want to hear but ... Your Dad has always said he wish my butt was just a little bit bigger. Well, the other day I was making dinner and I could feel him looking at me. I turned around and asked him what exactly he was staring at. He replied with a smile on his face "Your butt is getting bigger!" Ahem? I laughed, rolled my eyes, and told him thanks alot! He said "No No No! Like, your butt is getting bigger, in a GOOD way!" I knew exactly what he meant but I still had to give him a hard time about it right?! Every once in a while I still make comments about it. Like instead of just scooting over on the couch I remind him that since I have such a big butt it takes time for me to scoot over :) And so on and so forth. 

As I'm sure you can tell your Dad and I laugh SO much and have a lot of fun together. We have a very lighthearted marriage. He is always there to listen and have serious conversations with but even when we do disagree on something we try to always stay positive and upbeat with each other and that, if you ask me, has been the recipe for success for your Dad and I. 

We sure love you little man. We can't wait to see your cute face at the doctors office on Thursday! Wiggle lots for us please! :)