As I sit here in my pajamas watching Brian play on his new Xbox One, I'm thinking about how awesome 2016 was. So many people have had negative experiences this year, and while not every day was a walk in the park for us, we've had it pretty darn easy and we've been blessed in so many ways. Last night we rang in the New Year at our house with great friends, great food, and hilarious games. Brian and I woke up early this morning, went to church (hallelujah we have 9 am church this year), got to attend the farewell of one of my young women before she heads to the Florida Tallahassee Mission, took a nap, and now I'm writing this. It's been a pleasant and relaxing day, and what I hope to be a sign that 2017 will be the same way. I feel guilty that I don't always wake up thinking about all the ways I have been blessed. I would like to say I would make it a New Years Resolution but no one ever keeps those, so I think I will skip that plan and just try to be more grateful for what I have.
Quick recap on December... For months and months, my stepmom and I had a plan for me to fly back to Maryland to surprise my dad for his birthday. It was a special one (but I'll forgo giving away his age here) and I bought my plane tickets back in August. We successfully pulled it off and my dad had no suspicions! I flew home December 1 and got to stay through the weekend before heading home Sunday. Mary picked me up at the airport, we did some shopping, and then she dropped me off at the restaurant and I hid at the bar until they were seated and I made my appearance. Not only did I have some time to finish last minute Christmas shopping and not have to lug it all with me at Christmas, but I also got to spend a day with my mom. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or maybe it's me getting older and finally starting to appreciate my parents a fraction of the amount they deserve, but this trip and Christmas time I was a wreck leaving the east coast. It's never bothered me this much before being so far from family, but maybe that's what it took for me to finally appreciate how blessed I am to have the wonderful parents and family I have. They are such a wonderful support system to Brian and I and I don't know where we would be without them!
Anyway, off topic. The next weekend we had our ward Christmas breakfast and I had the opportunity to go through the Ogden temple with one of my young women (mentioned previously, and our 2nd counselor in YW with me's daughter) before she heads off on her mission. I'm grateful to all the friends we've made over the last year in our ward, especially my fellow young women leaders. They are such a support and inspiration to me and they teach me so much. It was a great time to go through the temple and focus on Jesus' life during this holiday season.
On the 14th we had our last baby appointment. Baby girl is measuring where she should be, she constantly kicks and wiggles, and she likes to play chicken (as I call it, if she knows someone's hand is on my belly, she immediately stops moving). This week I was having spontaneous fevers again and the doctor had me monitoring it closely. They ran scans and tests and everything came back normal, so we're not sure what was happening. I'm trying not to be a paranoid first time mom and overall I've been blessed with a super mild pregnancy and not many issues. Ever since I've been feeling fine, but I have my next appointment this week so it'll be nice to have a follow up and make sure everything is still good!
The Saturday before Christmas Eve we had the annual Baldwin family Christmas party, and they decided to have it at the Syracuse Rush Aquatic Center again. No swimming for me this year, we didn't need the children calling out the beached whale! But it was nice to see everyone and celebrate the season nonetheless.
The week before Christmas was SUPER busy and somehow I managed not to lose it or forget to do anything important. Brian's big surprise this year came from his amazing friends. 4 of them wanted to team up with me and pitch in to get him an Xbox One. He's literally been bugging me to get one since before we got married (he tried putting it on our wedding registry...). So on Monday the 19th, I planned a big enchilada dinner and had all his friends randomly show up and surprise him. I don't think I've ever seen him so excited and it was nice he had a few days to play before we left on our trip!
Tuesday I had mutual for young women's and Wednesday Brian had ward mission visits, but Thursday we got to celebrate Christmas with a Kirk and Lindy. We went out to dinner and then exchanged presents at our house! We flew out on Friday afternoon back to the east coast and had a smooth flight. We even arrived half an hour early! Spending Christmas at home was so great and my grandma from Florida came into town at my dad's for the week so we got to see them and lots of family! After half the Christmas day in Maryland we packed up and headed to my mom and stepdad's in West Virginia. We were there until the 28th and flew back to Utah on the 29th. While in WV, my mom threw me a baby shower with friends and family from back home and it was amazing! Baby B is beyond spoiled and between the shower and Christmas, we came home with twice as many bags and suitcases as we left with. (*Side note: thank gosh we flew Southwest or our baggage alone would have cost us $200).
Baby Updates:
That Christmas trip marked our last trip pre-baby! The day after we got home marked 33 weeks and baby has grown to the size of a honeydew melon (Brian's favorite). She kicks and wiggles all the time and I can tell she's running out of room because my stomach is constantly moving now and you can see it 24/7 through my clothes. She's most active when I lay down flat at night, but luckily I haven't had too much trouble sleeping yet. People have started asking more and more when I'm due.. You know when a random person at the grocery store has the courage to ask I must look like I'm getting close to popping. My feet are always swollen now and I feel like I rotate between 3 pairs of shoes... All my cute winter boots are mocking me from my closet because I can't fit them on my feet. My back hurts constantly now, so much so that I think I've stopped noticing it because it's just the norm.
When we got home from our trip and I started organizing, I realized just how many things I don't have done. I've kept telling myself I had so much time and I made some excuses based on the fact I knew we would be having another baby shower at Christmas, but now I have no excuses and I've basically spent the last 3 days in the nursery. I would say the nesting phase is finally hitting but anyone who knows me knows it's just the planner in me coming out. Brian has been such a good sport about it though. He spent two hours in Target with me yesterday letting me be indecisive, is always ready to hang or change anything, and is always upbeat, happy, and excited. He's going to be such a great dad!
Because I'm the OCD person that I am, I'm not posting any nursery pictures until it's done, but I will include some of the Christmas and baby shower photos I have! When I get more of the decorations and all the cute stuff my mom made, I'll have to try and remember to add those too!
One last note: because I love the idea of goals and projects with every new year, I did set a goal to be better financially in 2017. Even with Brian in school, with as hard as he works we make a pretty great living for ourselves as young as we are. But there's always room to be better. Brian is a much more frugal and money conscientious person than I am, and it's no secret I'm the big spender in the family. With the baby coming this year and all the other big life plans we have, I've been doing a lot of reading (and Pinteresting) about budgeting. We came across an app called GoodBudget which allows you to have one username that everyone can sign into, you create your envelopes with a certain amount of money for each category, and you just add your spending to it every time you make a purchase. It is by far the easiest, most user-friendly, and detailed app I've come across. It's already helped us to see where all our money is going and adjust our spending (we spend way more in groceries and gas than I thought). If anyone is interested in managing your money better, I highly recommend this app!
I know the next month and a half is going to fly by and baby will be here and we are so excited!! 2017 is going to be the best one yet for sure. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year with family and friends!
*Future best friends*
