1,760 Miles Apart

This past weekend Austin was able to attend the ACC conference in Chicago! He was so excited to go, and get a better insight into the world of cardiology. While he was off enjoying his weekend vacation, I was left at home for the first time ever! We've almost been married two years, and this was the first time that I had ever been home alone. Not gonna lie, I was scared at first... but thanks to a priesthood blessing, and loving husband who made sure to check up on me all the time, it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be.

Here is Austin's weekend in pictures....

He got to experience the train in Chicago! We had heard some not so great things about the train, but it turned out to be alright :) 

The lovely Chicago weather :D and downtown life! 

Arriving at the conference.. I think at first he was a little overwhelmed with how big of a deal it was!

Enjoying all the free food, and drinks his heart desired! haha I told him to just show the vendors his badge that said "student" and then they would understand why he kept coming back. Poor med school student basically entitles you to all the free stuff you can get! 

 Nerds mingling with other nerds... I mean cardiac professionals mingling with other cardiac professionals at the heart hub ;D Austin made sure to get all his blood work done while at the conference haha 

 Austin isn't use to eating fruit so when he sent me this picture I couldn't stop laughing! I told Austin he is going to have to learn to eat more fruits & veggies cause doctors don't sit around munching on cookies... haha  

There were so many other things Austin experienced and learned at his conference weekend, but these are just a few of the pics he sent me.

While Austin was living the doctor life, I on the other hand did this with my weekend....

Followed through with some of the pinterest crafts I have seen lately

 Ate frozen pizza while Austin was off eating real Chicago pizza... if you know my love of pizza, then you would know how jealous I am that Austin got to do that! 

 I watched lots, and lots of movies haha  

 Towards the end of the weekend, I realized how bored I was because I found myself watching a woodpecker go at it on the palm tree outside our window. Seriously, I don't know why I was so fascinated with this, but I was! If you can find the bird in this picture then you get a prize cause he does blend in pretty well with the palm tree! 

 I also started on some baby crafts. Made a few burp clothes that turned out super cute, and were extremely easy! 

I worked one night, and spent a lot of time out by the pool, but other than that it was a pretty uneventful weekend. By the time Monday night rolled around, I was beyond excited to pick up my husband!! I am so glad Austin got to go, and he even had some bonding time with my dad who was also at the conference! It did make me feel a little guilty though about me leaving him for weeks on end in the coming months, but he will be so focused on studying he probably won't even know I'm gone! haha

Half Way There!!

I honestly can't believe we have reached the half way mark!! I am not feeling prepared... so much left to do!! I also thought I would be a lot better at keeping up with weekly pictures of myself, but I'm very critical of them once we take a few haha plus sometimes it's hard finding a camera man :)

I saw these questions on a blog, and thought I would fill them out for the 20 week mark!

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I don't actually know.. I will find out Thursday, but it will defiantly be a gain (cause I feel bigger!)
Maternity clothes? No, but I probably should invest in some maternity jeans. I can't button mine anymore so I'm usually rockin the belly band, or a rubber band haha 
Stretch marks? I think a few, but I'm trying my hardest to lather up my belly every day! 
Sleep: Still sleeping good :)
Best moment this week: Feeling all those kicks, and movements!! 
Miss Anything? Sleeping, or laying on my stomach... I'm starting to find it hard tanning my back side when I'm at the pool.
Movement: All the time, and I love it!! Sometimes I just lay on the couch with my hands on my belly, feeling all those movements. 
Food cravings: Lately I love snacking on plain old goldfish crackers! I feel like a 2 year old... also I'm getting my sweet tooth back... this could be bad for my weight gain.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes! 
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Extremely happy!! :D
Looking forward to:  DECIDING ON A NAME!! We have been testing out a few these past weeks to see if we like how they sound/if they feel right. 

Gifts Galore!

Can I just say how much I love getting gifts when it's not your birthday or Christmas! It's so fun! Over the past few weeks we have received some awesome gifts!

A few days after we found out that our baby was indeed a boy, we received a package in the mail from Ashley (soon to be Aunt Ashley!) I could not get over how cute the clothes were!! I love that she found a cute little BYU shirt for him to wear haha adorable!!

Then on Tuesday we got two more packages, this time from Austin's Uncle Greg. He always does such an awesome job picking out very thoughtful presents. We were like kids on Christmas day waiting to see what was inside.

I had to take a picture of the package because every time we get something from him, this is what it looks like. Such cool handwriting! 

A late birthday present for me. A bracelet to match a turquoise necklace he got me last year! 

 I was so excited to see more cute things for our little guy! He sure is getting spoiled :D I was also beyond pleased with the baby book he found. I have been keeping a little pregnancy journal/scrapbook on my computer, but I wanted an actual book for when the baby was born. I had been looking, but nothing really stood out to me. Well Greg found the coolest baby book I have ever seen! It has pop up and interactive things on every page. I can't wait to start putting in pictures, and journaling all the exciting things our little guy does his first year! 

 Last were these awesome flameless candles that were a late Christmas present. 

I told Greg he needs to send our presents late every year, because sometimes I think it is more fun getting gifts randomly in the middle of March! Austin and I are so grateful for all of our family members, and how thoughtful and kind they can be. We really are blessed, and love them all!!

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

This past week had some very exciting moments, and then some not so great ones... I guess that is life though. You can't just keep sailing by without a few storms to throw you for a loop. I will start with the best moment from last week :)

I felt our little guy moving!! I started feeling things that kind of felt like muscle spasms Thursday night while watching TV. The doctor had told me to start looking for signs of him moving around, and while at first I didn't want to get my hopes up and believe I could feel him, every day since I have felt those same movements so I know that it is him down there. I mostly feel him move when I'm laying down at night. Feeling these first movements has been one of my favorite things so far about pregnancy! I find myself getting paranoid if I haven't felt him yet that day, but once I do I just can't stop smiling :) I hope that they will get stronger soon so that Austin can feel these movements too! I also hope that we will come up with a name soon so I can actually start calling him something. For some reason I didn't think picking out a name would be so hard for us, but it is!

On Friday I was out shopping around and what do you know, my car decided it didn't want to start anymore! Austin and I soon came to realize that only having one working car isn't very fun... luckily we have awesome friends down here who were willing to help us out. Austin was able to borrow one of his friend's car to come pick me up so I wouldn't be stranded at Home Goods anymore. Baby bug got her first towing experience! It took two different auto places, and three days to figure out what was wrong with the bug. We found out that something was wrong with my key, and basically the anti-theft system kept kicking on, not allowing me to start my car. We got it fixed for a lot cheaper than we were expecting which was a huge blessing in disguise!

I will try not to make all my posts about pregnancy, but to be honest that is the most exciting thing going on in our life right now! haha Austin is studying for boards and school every waking hour of the day, and I am either sitting around at the pool/on the couch or I'm working. That is life right now :D

It's a Boy!

Monday was the BIG day!! The day we found out if this baby was a boy or girl! The days leading up to Monday were kind of torturous!! It was all we talked about, and Lexi probably got sick of us asking her what she thought it was haha. Since day one Austin has told everyone it was a boy, but as we were driving into the parking lot that morning all the sudden Austin bursts out "I THINK IT'S A GIRL, AAHH!" hahah Lexi and I were both taken off guard, but thought it was pretty funny to see him start to freak out. As soon as the nurse started the ultrasound, we saw that our little baby was standing straight up which is not good when trying to found out the sex. After a few minutes of trying to get it to move, and not having much luck, I started to freak out a little. I was not leaving this room until we found out!! Luckily after a lot of shaking my stomach, and poking around we got a glimpse. The nurse could tell we were on pins and needles, so I think she found a little bit of joy in dragging it out, even though Austin knew what it was before she said... It's a Boy! Oh my gosh I was freaking out inside!! Austin and I both knew it was going to be a boy, but having it confirmed was crazy! As soon as we got out of the room we were calling and texting everyone we could think of! We were just beyond excited!

 The nurse didn't want to stop taking pictures of out little guy! She said he just keep photographing so well! I guess that means he has a little Furniss in him because we all know Austin doesn't like getting his picture taken haha. We got to see all of his little fingers and toes, plus while she as looking at his profile we saw his little jaw moving, like he was sucking in. It was so cute!! 

This isn't even the full video from the ultrasound. I had to edit it down to when we finally found out, but you will see Austin and Lexi knew what it was before the lady would tell us. Plus I love Austin's fist pump towards the end haha 

After leaving the doctors we hit up In-and-Out for a celebratory lunch, and then it was off shopping! I'm not gonna lie I got a little overwhelmed while we were out. Knowing that we are having a little boy made it that much more real. Thinking about all the things we are going to have to buy, how we will decorate his room, what we are going to name him, so much to think about! Good thing I still have a few months haha. It was still fun looking at little boy things and even picking up a few toys/clothes.

Let the fun begin!! 

Wicked!!

One of the main reasons Lexi came out here was to go see the musical Wicked! Austin got me tickets for my birthday, so on Friday night we met up with some friends in Tempe to eat out and go see the play. Oreganos turned out to be the restaurant of choice! The food was awesome and the company was great :D

Brooke, Garrett, Ryan, Kali, Lexi, Me & Austin! 

After dinner we headed over to the Gammage Theater. While we waited, it was the perfect time for more photos! 

 Lexi really wanted her new shoes in this picture ;D

Wow the musical did not disappoint!! It was sooo good, and even Austin liked it! This was his first time going to a musical, so I was nervous because I didn't want him to have a bad experience, but it turned out that he enjoyed it. I think this means I can talk him into going to other musicals with me in the future ;D Lexi had a fun time mimicking Glinda on the way home, and the day after. Maybe that's cause she could relate to that character so well! haha 

Sista Sista!

Seeing as my sister Lexi is out of school right now, and I'm back to working part-time, it was fun having her come out for a few days to keep me some company. I don't think Austin loved that it was during his finals, but for me it couldn't have been better! We did lots and lots of shopping, eating, and just hanging out together. Here are some pictures highlighting some of the fun stuff we did!

The day before we picked Lexi up from the airport, my friend Khyra told me about this really good BBQ place called "The Pitts" that her and her husband like to go to. It was so funny because since moving down here, every time we would drive past this place Austin would tell me how much he wanted to try it, even though it looks like a dive from the front. Well with a good recommendation from friends, we gave it a try and were extremely impressed!

Austin and Lexi didn't waste any time chowing down on a rack of ribs haha Dig in!! 

As I said before, we seemed to do lots and lots of shopping while Lexi was down. We even took one whole day just to go shopping over in Scottsdale.

I scored big at TJ Maxx by finding these cute Petunia Pickle Bottom for half the price. Of course I didn't know whither to get a boy or girl... so I just got both! haha 

 So I finally caved, and got a belly band for my growing belly. I actually really like it, but I took this picture because of the slogan. "Flaunt your bump and keep your pants up." I don't know why I think that is so funny, but I do!! hahaha 

At night when we got tired of watching TV, we went on a few treat runs. I had to take Lexi to my favorite frozen yogurt shop, Yogurtology!!

The empty bowl speaks for itself...

 While Lexi was here, the weather was just perfect for laying out and going for walks! 

 I think Lexi really enjoyed getting her tan on haha 

We also made the mistake of taking Lexi to the dog store in the mall. We honestly fell in love with this little guy!! Even Austin fell in love, and usually he isn't mushy over dogs. If I weren't pregnant, I would have moved to Sage Stone just so I could buy this little pup! He was so sweet, and he even had a Dallas Cowboys collar on which means it was meant to be!! I think we spent a few days after that just talking about that dog. haha Never again can I go in that store....