Here it comes...

2013

This past year has been one to remember.

John and I spent our first year of marriage together. We lived in a tiny back house, with no heater or air conditioning. The insulation was horrible so when it was hot, it was hotter in our apartment and when it was cold, we could see our breathe inside. Despite our apartment's quirks, we love that place! It is where we began. Also, it has avocado, orange, nectarine, guava, loquat, and lemon trees! 

John and I graduated from Cal State Long Beach. Him with his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and a 4.0 I might add. (Such a smart, hard-working man I married) And me with a Bachelor's in Child Development and Family Studies. 

We found out there is a baby cooking in my belly. The first few months were horrible. I couldn't eat or drink anything without vomiting (averaging about 15 times every day). I lost a bunch of weight, had to go to the hospital a few times, and was sick ALL day, EVERY day. Things started to get better at about 16 weeks, until all the sickness was gone! I felt baby kick for the first time about 18 weeks and John felt the baby at about 20 weeks. My bump has definitely popped, but I also have a ways to go in the bump growing department ;)

John took the LSAT and got accepted into BYU law school. It took 4 months of intense studying, every day to prepare for the LSAT. He took the test, and although he didn't get the score he was hoping for, he got a fairly good score. BYU law accepted him! Not only was his score their median acceptance score, but his high GPA and amazing personal statement boosted their interest, and his experience volunteering in the Long Beach courthouse self help center is what won them over. I'm sure his semester interning in DC for a congressman helped as well. (Did I already say I married an amazingly smart and hardworking man?)

Not only was 2013 year filled with some great memories and milestones, I learned a lot. 

The beginning half of the year I worked as a nanny for a 5 year old boy and a baby girl. Being in the home rather than in a school setting, I worked at a child development center for 4 years before, with kids shed a whole new light on a lot of things for me. I have always had the desire to be a stay at home mom. I have loved working with children, especially with the intent of helping to nurture their social development, as well as cognitive and physical. One thing I always found hard was children who spent their whole day at school. It was basically always out of necessity since most of the parents were going to school and working to support their family. I never blamed them, I just desired to be someone their children could receive the love and support needed while they were not with their parents. That was the basis of my experience while working at the child development center. Being a nanny changed a lot for me. It made me really see how hard it can be on children who don't have a parent at home. I saw the insecurity felt and the lack of attention given. The family I worked for was amazing. Both parents worked, both had high paying jobs. The mother was a career women, and by that I mean her career came first before her family. And I hated that. Children learn and grow through the love and attention of their parents. Teachers and care givers really are supplements to what the parents have to offer.

Living off of one income is always a hard choice, even if the parent who works makes a lot of money, it's an even harder choice if living off one income makes the budget tight. I guess what it comes down to is what you find important. I have learned, more than ever, that money cannot replace the benefits of being at home with your kids. I know that every family is different and in some families it is not possible, but with our family I want to do everything possible so that my children have the benefit of having me there and present in their every day lives. 

2014

A year bringing us some HUGE changes. 

John and I will become parents sometime in the end of April or beginning of May. Baby girl's due date is May 1st. This will be a big change. Our lives will not longer revolve around us. No longer will we be able to go and do what we want, when we want to. (Not that we do much now because we are so cheap... I mean frugal...let's be real we are cheap). Speaking of our cheapness, for those of you that do not already know our baby's experience is gonna be a little different than the norm. First off, we are going to be using cloth diapers, partially to save money and partially because my mom makes them. We understand that cloth diapering is not for everyone, some people cringe at the thought of it, there is more work (laundry) associated with it, but there are tons of benefits to it, one of many being the money saving. Also, unless things are given to us, our baby is not going to have a bunch of "stuff". While I was a nanny for a baby I realized how much stuff the baby industry pushes and how much they honestly do not need most of it. Of course if we are given things that we would not necessarily buy, we will gladly use it, but besides the essentials, a few toys are all I see necessary. (Plus we are cheap are don't buy a ton of stuff for ourselves so why would we teach our children any differently). I also realize that once baby comes all of this might change, but we shall see. 

John and I will be moving to Utah sometime mid summer. We want to wait as long as possible before school starts up for John because we know moving, especially that far, with a baby is gonna suck! But we have a family reunion the end of July in Utah, so we will probably do it just before then. I am SO excited to move. I have never lived outside of Southern California. I mean I live within 30 minutes of where I grew up, this has been my bubble and I am excited for the change. The change in weather, people, and culture. Even though, being a SoCal native makes me SUPER nervous for the months of snow. It will be a new and exciting adventure. And it is not like we are moving some place that we know no one. We have friends and family that live in the Provo area, so while there will be new friends to make, we will have the comfort of people we know when we, meaning me and the baby, get lonely while John is busily studying himself to death. 

John will start the 3 year venture of law school. He is going to be busier and probably more stressed out than he ever has before, but he has this weirdly deep love of school (seriously I have never known someone to be a week after the semester ends and wishing for a new semester to begin again), so I know he will do just fine. Also, the law school has a spouses association so I will have a group who know exactly what I am going through, having a law student as a husband is apparently pretty lonely at times. 

How far along: 22 weeks 6 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Last time I weighed myself I was up 9 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight, but that was almost a week ago.

Maternity clothes: I am still rebelling.

Stretch marks: nope nope!

Sleep: I wake up to pee like twice a night and sometimes baby's kicks wake me up.

Best moment last week: I'm pretty sure baby girl had the hiccups. Her whole body kept moving, it was pretty cool.

Movement: ALL THE TIME! ALL. THE. TIME.

Food cravings: I don't really have cravings but if there are lemons around, I will eat them, all of them.

Gender: GIRL!!

Labor signs: nope

Belly button - in or out? Still in, but it is on it's way out

What I miss: Looking cute in most clothes.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing how big this bump is going to get!

Milestones: I can see baby's movements on the outside a lot more frequently. Seriously so trippy!

December is the best month EVER.

I think December is one of my favorite months of the year. I love being able to wear boots, and scarves, and long sleeved shirts. I love hot chocolate and herbal tea, and wrapping up in blankets. It's just all so COZY!

And of course, I love Christmas and everything about it. I love Christmas trees, lights, and the music.

This year I have done 25 days of Christmas for John. So basically everyday we do some sort of Christmas centered activity. It has been loads of fun and I think so far my favorite things we have done are:

Portraits of the Prince of Peace in Long Beach
Where different churches on this street get together and tell the story of Christ's birth through live Nativity scenes. The churches were also opened with different special musical talents going on inside, including harps and a bell choir! (AWESOME!)

Christmas Prank Calls
We called some of our family and as soon as they answered started singing a Christmas song and just hung up when we were done. It was silly and HILARIOUS!

Lights at Naples
Tonight we are going to a neighborhood in Long Beach called Naples. It's in the marina and all the houses are huge and on the water. Plus their Christmas lights are amazing.

We have done tons of other stuff but those were a few of my favorites.

Being pregnant during December means my favorite month of the year gets an exciting twist to it.
Putting on those boots I love to wear... not so easy when a baby bump makes it difficult to bend over.
Getting all cozy and cuddling up with a blanket is also not the same, because belly bump makes sitting in one position for too long really uncomfortable.

But it also means fun memories are attached to the month.
On December 16, John felted baby girl's little kicks for the first time. It was pretty awesome. We were just sitting on the couch watching a redbox movie. Baby girl was moving around like she always does and I looked down and saw my stomach move! I immediately grabbed John's hand and placed on my stomach while we waited. He felt her and he was like, "Was that her?!?!?!?" And then she kick, kick, kicked her daddy! haha John thinks she doesn't like being bothered and that's why she kicked him ;)

Baby kicks are pretty neat to feel and there is no best way to describe it.

This month John and I also had our one year anniversary! We went to The Melting Pot. If you have never been there I seriously suggest going. It was SO yummy! I mean four course fondue dinner... hello! So delicious!

Also, John got his acceptance to BYU law, with a partial scholarship. SO after baby is born in April or May, a few months later we are moving up to Utah for the next three years. Next year is going to be filled with lots of BIG changes and it's going to be great! :)

How far along: 21 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 9 lbs! I'm out of the negatives from my crazy morning sickness!

Maternity clothes: I have a couple shirts that I wear, but I had those from before i was pregnant. (They were cute and on clearance, don't judge me!) I am rebelling against maternity pants still, even though I totally need them. But I just use a rubber band to "button" my pants.

Stretch marks: nope nope!

Sleep: I sleep ok but I get SO uncomfortable. I have to change positions SO often! And not being able to sleep on my back or stomach is just not cool.

Best moment last week: John finally feeling baby girl kick was pretty awesome

Movement: ALL THE TIME!

Food cravings: I don't think I have been having any cravings... I'm just hungry ALL the time.

Gender: GIRL!!

Labor signs: nope

Belly button - in or out? Still in, but it is on it's way out

What I miss: Jeans being comfortable. They are seriously the WORST now.

What I am looking forward to: Crazy big kicks.

Milestones: John felt baby girl. 

Our Little Dancer

Friday, December 6, 2013. The day John and I found out we are having a little girl. 

Our decision to find out the gender:

 It has become pretty popular for people to not find out the gender at the mid-pregnancy ultrasound and wait for the birth. I know of at least 3 people that have or are waiting for birth to find out the gender. Some reasons they did/are doing this are to be old fashioned (we haven't always been able to find out before the birth), for the ultimate surprise at the birth, to stay away from the stereotypical onslaught of pink or blue, and I'm sure there are other factors as well.

John and I decided, without hesitation, to find out the gender for a few reasons. I think our families would have a heart attack if they had to wait to find out. This is John's parents second grandchild so the excitement is still definitely there, and I am my moms only daughter. So us having a baby is big for both our families. Also, my mom is making us cloth diapers, and other baby gear, and so knowing the gender makes fabric decisions a little easier.

And the biggest reason of all, I think we are both impatient and don't have it in us to actually wait.

We knew it was a girl:

For the longest time anytime anyone asked us what we wanted baby to be or what we thought baby was we had no answer. Neither one of us had a clue. Then John had a dream it was a boy so for a couple days he decided he wouldn't go against his dream, so he would say boy. I was still completely unsure and didn't even have a guess. Then John was reminded that his family has a tendency to have dreams of the opposite gender that the baby actually is.

The night before we went to find out we were talking about it and no matter how hard we tried we just couldn't imagine a boy. When we actually pictured baby we could only imagine her as a girl.

Our baby girl!!

The day of:

We left work early on Friday to get to the hospital in Anaheim, where the baby will be born. (Baby girl will be born in Anaheim, the city of Disneyland, where it all began for John and I.)

My parents met us there, so they could join in on the fun. (Even though they told me I could only have one other person in there with me, my hope was that they would let them in anyway). They called me in first, by myself, so the tech could get all the pictures my OB needs. And at that time she told me I could only bring one person in....bummer! It took a LONG time for her to get all the pictures because baby was moving and wiggling around like crazy. The tech told me any time she would get a good shot baby would move right as she took it. She had me try lying on my side and then my back again. It was quite an adventure.

Finally, the time came to bring John in. She asked me if the other people were by parents and when I told her they were she told me she would sneak them in (Yay for people willing to bend the rules).

She's grabbing her feetsies!

They came in and she turned the screen towards us and we could see our little one for the first time. (We have had a couple ultrasounds before but they were on not as advance machines and it was early in the pregnancy so the baby just looked like a little bean) The tech showed us her head, brain anatomy, arms, legs, her bladder, all the while baby was moving around SO much. The tech was even surprised at how much she was moving! It looked like she was dancing and running in place. Then, the tech revealed that our little dancer is a girl! John smiled in relief, he was terrified of having a boy.

Her little foot. 

I am so happy we know we are having a little girl. Being able to say "she" rather than "it" makes everything all the more real. Being pregnant is weird, because even though you take a test and it says you're pregnant, it doesn't make it real. Having crazy morning sickness, seeing the little blob, and even hearing the heart beat didn't really make it feel real to me. Once I started to be able to feel this little dancer it started to become real for me. But seeing her so well and knowing that my "it" is a "she" makes it so much more real. It shapes her personality a little bit more for me, along with seeing how much she moves around! 

This little girl is gonna be crazy loved :)

Boy or girl??

I am 18 and half weeks! Almost halfway... pretty soon there will be a little crying, pooping baby that spits up on everything hanging around John and I! It is also gonna be super adorable.. I mean John Sellers is its father ;)

Speaking of "it" on Friday we find out the gender! Woo! Now people keep asking me what I think it is (like I should have some intuitive knowledge of the baby's gender... I don't). Truly I have NO idea. BUT John had a dream the other night that baby was a boy! And then after he told me about it I had a dream that we were looking at an ultrasound pic and it clearly was a boy. I am pretty sure I only had that dream because John told me about his though so we will see. 5 days and we will know... But what's your guess? Is baby Sellers a boy or a girl?


Oh and we definitely have a wiggler aboard. I finally definitely felt some movement. Nothing huge and John is convinced I am just feeling gas. But it's the baby and it's pretty amazing. :)