Hello Baby: Week 28

How far along: 28 weeks! 

Gender: BOY!!

Weight gain:  I think 10 lbs. 

Maternity clothes: When I go to work I just wear sweats, t-shirts, loose shirts, hoodies, pretty much whatever is most comfortable. This has made it really easy in the maternity clothes department. However on days when I don't work it is starting to get harder to dress, mostly with pants. Shirts I still have a lot of loose ones that are super comfy. 

Stretch marks: Same old stuff. 

Belly button in or out: Innie 

Sleep: It is going good. A lot of waking up and moving from restlessness and aches and pains. If you know Andrew and I you know we can sleep in pretty late.. but now-a-days my legs get so achy I have to get out of bed and move, usually at a more normal hour.

Best moment this week: We went to St George for Thanksgiving with Lisa and Richard, Kate and Jace and their cute little kiddos and my sister, Emily. It was such a great break from work and everyday responsibilities. I love not having to think about what to make for dinner or what I should be doing when all I really want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV. haha. Thanksgiving was a great day full of cooking and chatting and then some Black Friday shopping. Andrew went to Walmart for movies and the girls went to Down East. We also got to go to the temple and do sealings for family members on Thursday. It was wonderful. I had never been inside the St George temple and it was absolutely stunning! So much history and beautiful architecture and details. 

Miss anything: Being able to breath when I bend over.. Haha. At work I am always bending and moving and it puts even more pressure on my lungs which causes breathing to be really difficult. It is a weird feeling and I obviously don't like not being able to breath. 

Movement: So much movement. I love it. It is getting stronger and more frequent by the day. It is the coolest feeling. Most of the time just me and my little guy know its happening which makes it even sweeter. It is our little secret. and then the other half of the time I LOVE showing Andrew and having him feel baby. He is starting to make my belly move so much more. I find myself staring at my belly waiting for it to move like jello. I think I have felt his foot but I'm not sure if I have felt other body parts or what it is. I thought I felt hiccups the other night but it wasn't for very long so it might not have been. The movement is almost always on my left side. 

Cravings: Chocolate. Still Mexican. and probably just sweets in general. 

Queasy or sick: Nothing has really changed. Still acid reflux, achy back and legs but other than that I am doing great. I have been feeling a lot of pelvic pressure, which is just weird and annoying. It almost makes me feel like he is going to fall out of there..haha if only thats how easy it will be. 

Looking forward to: Andrew's birthday is on Saturday so I think that will be a fun day full of surprises and getting to hang out with my man. I am also just looking forward to Christmas and my last day of work!!! I was supposed to have my 28 week appointment today but the doctor had to reschedule.. I'm assuming someone went into labor... so now I will go in on Thursday. I am doing the glucose test. Yippppyy. I am crossing my fingers I don't have gestational diabetes. 

Most of pregnancy I have been really nervous about having a baby. I have wanted to be a mom for so long but now that it is really happening it is pretty scary. Lately I have started to feel the excitement creep up on me. I am so glad. I can't wait to hold this little guy in my arms but then again I can. He can keep cooking for 12 weeks. Pregnancy has been everything and nothing like I expected. I feel that motherhood will be exactly the same way.

Week 27- We put up our Christmas decor!! YAY

Week 28!!

The girls on Thanksgiving :) 

My handsome man!! 

Our cute little family. 

Aren't we just the cutest? I love it.  

Emily and I on Thanksgiving. 

Our beautiful Thanksgiving Day cookies.
 We spelled out things we were thankful for and placed them all over the table.  

Culver's anyone? haha

Driving home. Zoii would try to sneak onto Andrew's lap.
But she would get stuck and end up needing help.

Andrew, Richard, and Emily went on a ride and came back realllllly dusty.
I had to get a picture of that scruff with all that dirt.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now it is time for the most wonderful time of the year! I love the spirit of Christmas. It is a magical and beautiful time. 

Love you little one. 

love,alex

Dear Baby: Weeks 12,13,14!!!

Hello my sweet crisp apple.

You are growing big, although I can't really tell yet. I feel like I did pop a little over night but I would be the only one to notice. It really just looks like I am bloated or maybe put on a pound or two in the belly region. But even then I haven't really gained any weight..so thats something.

I am feeling great. Still really tired but not as tired as the first 12 weeks. I feel lots of cramping in my belly, which I hear is just my belly and ligaments stretching to make room for you. I get really irritable late at night.. just before I go to bed. Which is either the pregnancy talking or the "I don't want to go to work" talking. It is hard walking up at 7:45 or earlier. I live for the days when I get to sleep in longer. I really just live for sleep these days.

My sciatic nerve is causing me the most problems these days. For both of my jobs I am standing and moving around a lot for most of the time. Sometimes moving, lifting, and doing a lot of stuff, other than just sitting. I live for the sitting times too. After standing for so long my sciatic nerve really starts to get to me. I get achy and tired realllllly quick. I always want to just come home and sit for a long time. When I do come home and sit for a while and then try to get up its hard to walk. My legs like to give out on me. Fortunately, Andrew's Aunt Julie showed me a stretch I can do to help it. I do it every night as well as other basic stretches and yoga poses. I really feel that it helps to keep it at bay.

We went to Lake Powell 2 weeks ago. It was wonderful as usual. When we were docked and getting ready to leave the marina I got a little nauseous by the rocking of the boat but once we got moving and then to where we would anchor for the week I was great. I was mostly just exhausted by the end of each day and there were a few days I just felt crappy but nothing too bad.

We told the Turnbull's about you, at Lake Powell. We told everyone not to say anything until I did and I knew that would be realllllly hard. Val accidentally slipped to Curtis which was actually pretty funny. She told him not to make the pregnant lady lift something so heavy. And he got this shocked/surprised look on his face. It was funny. Then once we got moving I put on a shirt that I had made that said "Baby's First Lake Powell" and pointing to my belly. It was really cute. We tried to get Jerryne to see it first and we really had to push her to look at me but when she finally did she freaked out. screaming and all. Then Amanda and CJ found out and got all excited too. We sent Sydnee a text of a picture of me wearing the shirt. It was fun letting everyone know and I was glad to finally have everyone around me know and not have to try to keep secrets.

We found this whole camp set up and had to check it out! It was so crazy! 

I loved riding around on the sea doo's and on the boat. I didn't do any wake boarding because I didn't want the possibility of falling weird and something bad happening, especially since I wasn't very far along at the time. It was a beautiful trip full of relaxation, fun, family, and friends. I loved it.

Yup this is Lake Powell 

After getting back I have just been working my buttie off at the fabric place and down east. It has me feeling exhausted a lot but it hasn't been too horrible. I just love vacations. I never want to come home from a vacation. I love planning them and going on them and enjoying them but I really don't like coming home from them, especially when it involves going back to work. (how everyone feels I am sure)

I love all the amazing sunsets we get to see. 

One day we got a lot of rain, was great to watch. 

Andrew wake boarding. Richard is pulling him. 

At Lake Powell we took pictures of our vans and a pair of baby vans we bought to announce to the rest of the world that we were pregnant. They all turned out so cute and it was really hard to pick a picture to use. We were excited and nervous to announce it to the world but it was fun to read and hear about everyones reaction.

This is the picture we posted. 

We are so excited for you little one and so is the rest of the world. I can't wait to hear your little heart beat again in 2 weeks. and I am SO excited to see you in a month and a half when we go in for the big ultrasound.

You are already loved so much.

Keep growing strong and healthy.

Love, your momma.

P.S- This next week will be your first time in California, I CANNOT wait! :)

Dear Baby: week 6 into week 7

Hi there.
You are making me a little nauseous lately. Not too bad just every once in a while and when I don't eat frequently enough. I am still feeling really lucky. This week my allergies were SUPER bad and I'm thinking it has turned into a slight cold...in JULY. ughh. at least its not horrible. thank you for that.

We told immediate family this week. They all freaked out, of course. It was pretty awesome!

Your Grandma & Grandpa Brown, Uncle Nathan, & Uncle Aaron:

I sent my mom and dad a small package. I had drawn on some paper "SURPRISE, Grandbaby #5 coming February 2015" and then I attached a binky with some string to give it some pizzaz. I was a little nervous about my mom opening it without me knowing it but luckily it worked out PERFECTLY! I had told her I was sending a package that was for Cameron since he was coming home from his mission that same week. So I called her after I got off of work on Monday June 30th and she was sitting at the table opening the mail! AH PERFECT. So I asked all casually so did you get my package? and she said "Yes, I didn't know you were sending me something" and of course I said uhm I told you I was sending something for Cameron (I was really trying to contain my excitement and nervousness). So I told her she should open right then. And she did. and she FREAKED OUT. muahahaha 

I am pretty sure the first thing she said was ALEXANDRIA! oh my gosh. and there was screaming and then the boys (Nathan and Aaron) in the background being like what whats wrong. and mom told them. THEN dad walks in through the door. How perfect was that timing???! So mom tells the boys to not say anything and then she hands the paper to my dad and he starts fffreaking out too. Yelling again. And lots of oh my gosh. thats awesome. YAY! It was so perfect. I was pretty nervous it wouldn't all work out and I wouldn't be able to hear their reactions but it was awesome, I don't think I could have planned it better. 

Your Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen & Uncle Aaron:

For the Fourth of July weekend we went to St George to hang out with Andrew's parents and to relax a little. That whole week we were trying to figure out a way to tell them. Finally on the drive down there we thought it would be awesome if we could find a shirt that said something about being a dad for Andrew to wear. After we got there at midnight we went to Walmart looking for a shirt. and we found the PERFECT one in a size small. hahaha We decided that would probably add to the funnyness of it so we did it. The next morning once everyone was up and walking around the kitchen Andrew changed into the shirt and then just came in and talked with is mom. It was hilarious because she noticed it, laughed, and then kept talking about what they were talking about. Andrew was like wait a second, why would I be wearing this shirt? And thats when it finally hit her and then his dad caught on. It was hilarious. Then the freaking out and excitement began again! It was awesome.

This was right after we told them. Andrew and the awesome shirt. 

Aunt Anna & Uncle Jordan & Cousin Ryder:

We told Anna and Jordan when we went to hot tubbing. Andrew would always joke about us being pregnant so when he said something about having a baby on the way they didn't believe it until I said well the really funny thing is that it's true. And then it was like wait what? Are you serious? haha and then freaking out and excitement! I was great. 

Aunt Justina & Uncle Curtis, Cousins Taeden & Caleb: 

We told Justina when we went over to pick something up from her. She and the boys were at home so I told Andrew that while I was talking to Justina he should give Taeden his phone with a picture of the pregnancy test and tell him to show it to his mom. Well we were chatting and Andrew did it and right away she knew what it meant and started screaming and freaking out, of course. She then told Curtis that night. It was a perfect way to tell her! 

Aunt Emily:

Emily I just ended up calling on the phone because we were headed down to Utah and she was going to go on a camping trip with Justina and Curtis that weekend and I really didn't want any one else telling her before I did. So I just called and said that I'm sorry I have to tell you this over the phone but I wanted to be the first to tell you that I'm pregnant. Then LOTS of screaming ensued. It was hilarious and I think it kinda freaked out her roommates. 

Aunt Kjerstin & Uncle Adam & Cousin Haizlee:
To tell Kjerstin I sent her the picture of Andrew and I with him wearing the #1 Dad shirt and then said Guess what. Being Kjerstin and always guessing that the news is I am pregnant, she didn't even look at the picture but instead just said "your pregnant!" and I of course was just like Actually yes I am! Haha and She started freaking out and Haizlee got really excited. They said that February was the perfect month to have a baby and it would be even better if I had the baby on the 18 (Haizlee's birthday). That is very possible so we will see what happens!

Uncle Cameron:

Cameron found out on the car ride home from the airport when he came home from his mission. haha and later I got a text message from him saying "so how long have you been married?" and I said four years and he was just like oh interesting. He was like wow so you can wait that long to have kids. hahaha yes you don't have to have a honeymoon baby or even a two year baby. its whatever you and hubby and God decide. 

Needles to say everyone is VERY excited that we are having a baby. We are really excited and could not feel more blessed with all the love and support we are feeling from everyone.

Other then some more nausea my symptoms are pretty much the same. I still feel like a zombie most of the time. and like a bloated whale. so thats all good. I'm hoping I stay feeling pretty good and no other symptoms show themselves or get worse. Crossing my fingers. I can't image being as sick as some women get and having to still work.

This past weekend was the Fourth of July!!! YAY. We went to St. George with the Sorensen's. It was amazing just relaxing and swimming a lot. I was so happy I got to sleep in and take naps.

You went on your first seadoo ride around Sand Hollow. I forgot how much I enjoy just cruising around on a seadoo. We will have to do more of that at Lake Powell this year.

Well I love you my little blueberry! Crazy to think that is how small you are.

Keep growing healthy and happy!

Love, Mom&Dad

Beach Cruising

On March 7th we headed to California. It was a glorious trip. I am in love with California. It is gorgeous and don't even get me started on the weather, let's just say I think it's not too shabby. Anna, Jordan, Ryder, and Aaron also traveled with us. It was the perfect break from colder weather, even though I can't complain much about our weather because it has been pretty great considering the fact that it is winter.

When we got there we headed straight to the beach were we road bikes along the shore... OH MY GOSH, it is my new favorite thing. ever. I love the beach. and I love bikes. put them together and you get one amazing calming, soothing, tranquil, enjoyable afternoon. I decided Andrew and I need to move to Santa Monica (ha.ha.) so I can ride this trail everyday. It's just magical.
Okay am I talking it up too much? But really.... it's the best.

After riding we headed to a fabric store that I could have spent hours rummaging through and spending a TON of money. I love fabric. have I mentioned that before?? By the time we were done there it was time for a relaxing dinner at our favorite spot, Gladstone's.

Every time we travel to California we have to stop here. It is right on the beach so you watch the sunset as you eat and they have the BEST clam chowder ever. and I am obssesed with clam chowder. Our left overs then got wrapped into a swan and a ninja penguin.

On Saturday Lisa threw a baby shower for Anna and Ryder! It was fun to see all of the cute stuff she got for the little guy, eat some really yummy food, and catch up with everyone in Cali!

That afternoon family came over to hang out and eat more yummy food. It was so much fun to catch up and just chat. We hadn't seen Nicole and Dave for a long time and we hadn't even met baby Zen. I loved meeting her! She is just the cutest! And lucky for us Lynette was visiting them so we got to catch up with her as well. I love family time.

Sunday we had Church and then just hung out at home. I got lots of snuggles from baby Ryder and enjoyed just relaxing, talking, and watching funny clips on YouTube. We also saw Frozen for the second time. It's adorable, if you didn't already know.

Unfortunately, on Monday we had to go home. After staying up late it was difficult to get up and get ready to go but luckily our flight was delayed a few hours so we didn't have to wake too soon and we got to relax a little longer.

It was a wonderful weekend and we are already trying to find a time that we can go back. I think we are both dreaming of a day when we could potentially live there.

Until next time California.
love, alex&andrew

Lake POWELL 2013

After the Brown family left, our summer vacations weren't over just yet! The day we got back from St. George, Andrew's brother Aaron flew in so that he could go to Volleyball camp at BYU for the next two weeks. We hung out with him on the weekends and when the camp went to seven peaks we met up with him and got to play around for a few hours.

I went on the orange slide for the first time. This probably isn't a great accomplishment for most, like Andrew, but it was for me. I finally convinced myself to do it. The line was short so we went up and we had to wait for like 10 minutes because the life guard wasn't there. Turns out that someone had just gotten hurt (they just hit there head on the side of the slide wall so nothing too crazy but..) but luckily I didn't know that until after I went down. It was a scary experience but I have to admit it was fun and I have already gone on it again! ha yay me.

We even taught Aaron how to do his own laundry at a laundry mat! He is going to BYU-I in the fall so we thought it was important to show him how that type of thing worked because his complex has its own laundry mat. It was really funny and fun to teach him how it works and some of the unwritten rules, like you don't have to sit there and wait for it like some movies show.

On Aaron's last day of camp we got to go watch him play! He was on the top court of the camp so they got to play the BYU team! It was fun to see how they compare. If you didn't know, Aaron is a really good Volleyball player. Andrew played as well and so did their dad. He played on the BYU team back in the day.

When the game was over we left for LAKE POWELL 2013! It was about time for that to happen again :) we had been waiting for a while!

I think I say this every year but Lake Powell is truly magical. It is SO beautiful and peaceful and the perfect way to spend a week. We look forward to this the moment we come off of the lake the year before to the moment we get onto the lake. Being surrounded by the red rock and beauty of God's earth is a real spiritual experience. I also love that you can disconnect from the rest of the world. No facebook. No cell phones. No instagram. Just us and about 15 other people and the beauty of the earth.

Richard brought all the boys shorts from back in the day.
 shorrrty shorts. look at all those legs! 

At Trails End - this is the place we eat after we get off the Lake. 

This year I failed at taking pictures.. at least on my own camera. I took plenty of pictures using other people's cameras except for my own! gr. I will just have to get a copy from everyone.

This was a pretty relaxing year. We had the Sorensen's, the Turnbull's, Julie and Val, and for the first three days we had Andrew's Aunt Joyce and Uncle Rod and Cousin Katie with her son Trevin. We went to West Canyon which was so nice. There weren't a lot of people this year, probably because the water was so low. But it made for really nice water wake boarding in the morning. For two of the mornings I was able to wake board out of the canyon because everyone else wanted to wake board in the channel so they could do their tricks. It was AWESOME because I had perfect water! It was glass the whole way out. I loved it and really made me enjoy my run! I think I am slowly getting better at wake boarding. It is hard that we just do it once a year but every year I think I get a little more comfortable than the last! Now I just need to try snowboarding.

Andrew was jumping and throwing tricks the moment we got on the lake. and then he went head first into a wake and might have gotten a slight concussion.. or something like that. He was really hoping to get his backflip down this year. Maybe next year sir.

This year Julie and Val brought some paddle boards and I was SO excited about it. I have always wanted to paddle board even though I thought I would be horrible at it. But it turns out it is not too hard unless you have really bad balance or a wake that comes rollin in. HA I was working on staying up with that. I don't know how people do it in the ocean! It might take me a while to learn to balance on that. I also did a little bit of kayaking which was equally as awesome and relaxing.

We also had a few wave runners. Let's just say it was a.w.e.s.o.m.e. Every year since coming to Lake Powell I have slowly been getting more and more comfortable on them. This year, on one day especially, I went all out and it was awesome. I kept trying to see how fast I could go on it and then we started jumping tour boat wakes. Which let me tell you are the scariest things on the lake! I thought I was going to get eaten by a wave! but it was awesome! Andrew and I had a lot of fun going out for rides on them and exploring the beautiful canyons!

On Sunday we held our own church service and then went for a hike in another canyon. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! My jaw was dropped the entire time in awh.. or because I was in freezing cold water. But it really was incredible. You know those pictures you see of the small slivers of canyons and you look up and they are just like rolling hills but they are rocks that are horizontal? Yea, that is what we were walking through. It was one of those hikes I will never forget. These next pictures are all from the hike and honestly the pictures do NOT do it justice.

All of these pictures were taken with the GoPro so thats why they are a little funky

amazing right??

Like I said, the pictures do not do it justice 

this was the end of the hike 

that is the end and if you can see it that hole is where we had just come from

On the way in we were helping each other climb this
 so on the way out we were helping each other down

On the way back to the house boat there was a storm chasing us. 

This is from a morning run but its the same landscape of the picture above just with sun! 

I also got to read the book Divergent by Veronica Roth. Andrew had already listened to it on tape and said that it was amazing so I knew I had to read it, especially because the movie is coming out next year. and he was right,  I.could.not.put.it.down. It is so so so gooood. I think I read it in two or three days. I had to finish it so that I could pay more attention to the people around me. HA. If you liked Hunger Games you will LOVE this book. It is a trilogy like Hunger Games. And has a strong female main character. Honestly you just need to read it!

It was a good year at Lake Powell. We are already counting down for next year.
Hopefully I will get more pictures and post them later!
love,alex&andrew

p.s- if you went to Lake Powell and have pictures, SEND THEM TO ME! thanks :)

A Graduate & An Eagle!

You guys. Life has been busy. the awesome kind. and it is just getting started. It's just going to get better this week. I have been wanting to blog but I did something silly.. or at least maybe one day it will be silly. I may or may not have washed my camera SD card. or it is sitting on the floor in st.george just waiting for someone to find it. I am hoping for the latter because it has some pictures of an awesome weekend.

I guess I can just post some of the few photos I took on my phone. This is probably why I tend to always take pictures with my phone these days. It takes a lot more for me to loose that thing.

We went to California at the beginning of the month. It was a wonderful getaway. Can I just tell you how amazing the weather there is? I was actually cold at times! These days I am lucky to not be sweating.

We went to California for Aaron's High School graduation and Eagle Court of Honor. It was so fun to spend time with family and really celebrate the accomplishments that Aaron has made. We were running all over the place all weekend.

Guys, I made that dress!

We got there Thursday afternoon and were headed to Aaron's graduation shortly after. It was the first graduation I had ever attended! I never attended my own because I graduated early and was at BYU-Idaho already. It actually wasn't as long as I thought it would be but I think sitting with the right people and having lots of snacks really helped ;)

Graduation was outside. how AWESOME is that?!

Friday we spent the day getting ready for Kiana's bridal shower, picking up Aaron at a volleyball tournament, picking up Anna at the airport, and getting a lot of Tito's Tacos. It was a busy day full of good people and funny conversations in the car.

Lisa & the bride to be! 

Saturday was Kiana's bridal shower. This was a great day celebrating this beautiful bride to be. As she was opening her presents, I saw a ton of things I need to go buy...ha. The party turned out b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. Laurie and Lisa did an amazing job. It was a tea party theme with gorgeous flowers and delicious food. I would love to have parties like that all of the time, but man did I realize how much work that takes! It was wonderful to celebrate love and marriage with such wonderful people.

Sunday was church and Aaron's Eagle Court of Honor. I have only gone to one other court of honor so that was exciting to see how things were done and really celebrate the amazing accomplishment these boys have made. Andrew even got to give a little speech about what you go through to receive your eagle. It is amazing to me how much hard work these young men put in to receive this award. It really is such an important accomplishment. I feel that it really says something about a man, knowing that he worked that hard.

Growing up I was always so jealous of what the boys got to do and learn in boy scouts. I really wanted to have those experiences and learn all that they were learning. Yes I had girls camp, which I actually only went to twice, but really, that is SO different. I cannot wait to have boys of my own so that I can help them through the scouting program and really get a chance to experience it with them.

I love polaroids, just like this one. 

Like I said, buuuusy weekend. But it was fun. bundles of fun. I love little trips like that. You leave wanting more because you aren't sick of it yet. Although I don't know if I could ever get sick of it. There is a lot of that coming up this month. I can't wait for it all to begin but at the same time I know that it is just going to FLY by and I will be left wondering where all of the time went and wishing to have it back.

I can't wait to enjoy every moment and just let it all sink in and hit that happy spot right on top of the head.

how is your summer going???
I hope it is as great as ours.
love,alex&andrew