i got nothin.

reason for lack of posting lately? nothing. we just do nothing. life in the past week and a half has involved lots of burn notice, work, sleeping and family time.

i made valentines [i'm crafty again! maybe.]
i learned to determine the feeling of being regularly kicked by my little heirloom-tomato-sized baby [and i kind of love it]
i finished hunger games AND catching fire [which have been noted before but bears repeating as i still think about them daily]
we watched the super bowl, against my better judgment -- my favorite commercial was the google one
i worked
b went to school
i slept -- though my sleep these days is regularly interrupted by crazy, CRAZY dreams. i have now dreamt twice of unintentionally starving my baby and once of trying to put it back in after birth.

in two days we're headed off to california for my brother's mission farewell and i can't wait [for CA, not for my bro to leave for two years]. even though, you know, i was just IN california less than two weeks ago. we're getting really good at going to the airport, b and i -- in the past month, b has gone to seattle, san francisco and now LA and i will have gone to LA twice. not a bad spot to be in, i must say. looking forward to loading up at TJs and h&m. and maybe blogging more often ;)

the bump

when our friends the mcmullins moved to pasadena, melanie was pregnant with henry. there was an eccentric older couple at our church who were always saying odd things, and one of the first sundays the mcmullins went to church, the man came up to melanie, looked at her stomach, and said: "as they say in people magazine, is that a baby bump?"

we laughed about that a lot. and now i think about it often as i'm growing my own little bump. sometimes i think i look like a girl who's eaten a few too many burritos, but once in a while i actually look pregnant. i guess.

i'm 18.5 weeks. baby wells is allegedly the size of a bell pepper.

and fyi it's been tough to get a good belly shot. i guess that's how you know i'm not really that pregnant. here are a couple to give you a general idea:

and just for reference, here's what i looked like the day we found out i was pregnant. i guess compared to this i definitely have grown a bit:

oh and by the way my latest craving is cheese. if anyone wants to make a dish of 7-layer dip and bring it to my house, i'd be eternally indebted ;)

hello OC

i'm in anaheim for a giant trade show. i've driven past disneyland like 16 times already. it is SO SO good to be back in california...even though it's freezing cold here. just seeing the palm trees makes me happy.

except i've been crazy busy with this show, and then when i get back to my hotel all i want to do is read this book, so i'm uncharacteristically WAY out of my regular internet habits. i just checked my google reader and i have like 878 unread posts. oy. since everyone else is blogging, i thought i would too.

days at the show are long and i talk to a lot of people. and the fact that i have this baby inside me kinda wipes me out, so i try to take breaks as much as possible. mostly i hang out with this girl and do marketing stuff. blah blah blah. oh and did i mention i love being in california? except that i'm not so familiar with the OC and last night we traveled on every single freeway in the region just trying to find an in n out.

other highlights: south coast plaza. blowing off a night at d-land to see tracy & jolee. the fact that my parents are driving down to have dinner with me tomorrow. and all the free candy at the show.

that's all. be home soon with those elusive bump pictures :)

well, it's not a girl

it's a boy!!!

uh, to say i was surprised would be an understatement. b and i went in last night for an early ultrasound [i'm 16.5 weeks, but my MIL works at an obgyn office and they said they'd test me early] and the entire day i was sure it was a girl. since i got pregnant i've been planning on it being a girl. shoot, since i was BORN i've been thinking i'd have a girl first.

but, the ultrasound quickly showed that was NOT the case. i freaked a little bit, but now that i've had 24 hours to readjust my thinking i'm starting to get excited about it. [also got some help in this area from some wonderful emails from friends w/ boys...you know who you are and thank you! :) ] now if only i could come up with some boy names i like....

b is thrilled to have a little mini-me, of course. i on the other hand am feeling shafted because there are SO many more cute girl things out there than boy things [clothes, headbands, accessories, etc etc]. but i am determined to find things i like for our little guy.

to celebrate, we went out to dinner at sweet tomatoes [aka souplantation for all you californians]. i had won two free passes there from a twitter contest they did [WOO! i love winning things!!] and i was so so excited to use them as that restaurant is my one true love.

however, turns out my stomach has shrunk or is already getting squished because i only ate ONE serving of everything [my average is 3] and i thought my gut was going to EXPLODE. seriously. i could barely move and had to lay down for four hours after eating. wow. please remind me to monitor my portions for the duration of the pregnancy.

and sorry! i had a picture of the newly formed bump -- i swear, my stomach has popped out in just the past four days, so i actually look pregnant now and not just like i drink a lot of beer -- but b took the camera to seattle. BOO. you'll have to wait a week for a good photo.

that is all. hooray for boys! (?)

gotta love g chat

b is hilarious. we regularly converse via g chat or instant messenger while i'm at work all day, and lately he has been full of priceless gems.

monday:
me: how was chuck last night?
Brandon: it was great
i cried a little
me: lol
really?
Brandon: got emotional
missed LA
me: awwww
stupid utah
Brandon: my man crush on zachary levi came back
me: hahahah
you are WAY too into that show
Brandon: i know
it's everything i want to be
[see: b's GIANT obsession with the tv show chuck...although he hates reliving the botched chance he had to become real-life BFFs with zachary levi]

today:
Brandon: btw, kiffin means to smoke pot in german
[see: our favorite college football team, USC, set to hire some jerk named lane kiffin as the new head coach...RIP pete carroll]

i like him.

p.s. yesterday was my half birthday. no cupcakes were involved :(

about food.

i gotta say, for trying to be a healthy person, this baby thing has thrown me for a loop in no area more than my diet. i've always been the empty-your-plate type of girl, game for trying different cuisines and ethnic foods, but wow. lately i'm like a two-year-old who doesn't want anything but her white bread.

hello carbs! mmm. all i want these days is bread, pasta, waffles or rice. up till now my appetite closed down after one piece of toast, but lately it has been wanting all the carbs it can get. [did i just eat an entire loaf of pillsbury garlic toast? yes i did.]

major shout out to annie's organic white cheddar mac & cheese. don't think i could live without that stuff right now. saltine crackers are great too, by themselves or with my new peanut butter & nutella dipping. eggo waffles. great harvest bread samples with butter and honey. now if you'll excuse me i need to toast a waffle before going back to work.

p.s. i am completely against meat. and most vegetables. and yes, sometimes even cookies make me gag. tragic.

welcome to january

2010, huh? i decided not to make any official resolutions this year; instead, i'm going for more of a "lifestyle enhancement." just try to eat healthy [which may be tough, because all i want to eat lately are french fries or waffles -- not together, though that would probably be good too], exercise where possible, save money and get ready for this baby. much more relaxing than trying to stick to strict resolutions.

biggest event so far of 2010: b's beard. he decided to grow it out over his christmas break; at first i wasn't sure how i felt about the beard, but i ended up liking it. until he shaved it into a goatee [that lasted six hours...i hated it] and then into a mustache, "just to see what it looks like." the mustache lasted four minutes. he gets to have a beard or nothing. those are his only options.



nothing else new. back to work for me, back to school for b, still freezing cold outside. no bump, just some weird dreams and even weirder cravings.

however, i watched a cuh-razy movie last night called the cove. it's a documentary about where they get the dolphins for sea world and other parks around the world. basically japanese fisherman hunt thousands of dolphins near the town of taijii -- they send the good ones to the theme parks, and kill the rest to sell their meat.



this movie was bananas. i've been thinking about it all day. they did such a good job informing about this sad subject, and most of the movie is about a team of researchers trying to get illegal footage of what is going on in this secret cove [obviously, the local japanese government is way against people finding out what's happening, so they try to keep photographers away] -- it was so suspenseful! like a real-life spy movie. except a spy movie where you cry.

i could probably talk about the cove for days, but i'll just say this: i thought it was such an interesting, thought-provoking movie -- though it did seem to be a little propaganda-ish. sure, i love dolphins, but isn't this questionable fishing behavior just as bad as what goes on in the cow, chicken, pig, etc. industries? freaks me out. this world is a crazy place.

but i DO love dolphins. they've always been one of my faves. and after watching the movie, i feel a little guilty for doing this in 2006:



highly recommend the movie. go watch it and tell me what you think :)