Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Merry Christmas, Here's a Sickness

So, I am late in posting and I don't care. And, I have no pictures because I'm the lamest. I really don't like how I'm looking right now, so maybe pictures will happen post pregnancy. If I ever figure out how to put video up on the blog, maybe I will put up some video of this Christmas.

Mom and Dad Kimball came out for Christmas and stayed with us. We were very glad to have them around! We went up to my brother Jake's for Christmas Eve with my family. Jake and Jill made an awesome dinner of Thanksgiving food. We mostly lounged around and then ate and chatted with the brothers and sisters. After dinner, all of us adult children went into the little front room and opened the gifts that we got for each other. Matt got an electric nose trimmer from Sarah and some chocolate body spray. Both Matt and Sarah thought it was hilarious. Johnny got me Sleeping Beauty on DVD, which is what I asked for.

Mom and Bill got us some fantastic gifts this year. They got us a stroller that our car seat fits into. Norm and Rand our giving us their old car seat. Plus, Mom and Bill got me a Boppy. Which Jill claims is awesome and I will love it. I am forced to believe her until the baby is born and I am able to use it. Plus, Matt and I used some of our credit card points to get a pack n play for free! Now we have a place for the baby to sleep, sit, and stroll. We are very blessed to have so many gifts for the baby coming to us.

Christmas day we spent with the Kimball's at our house. It was a difficult pregnancy day for me, unfortunately, so Matt was left with making Christmas dinner by himself. We were suppose to do it together, but I spent most of the time in bed because the baby was moving and really hurting me. Matt is a trooper and did a wonderful job making dinner; it was delicious. Plus, Matt was making dinner most of the other nights that his parents were with us. He is super husband/son.

We had DJ and Carlos for presents this year and we gave Acquire to DJ and a Wii game to Carlos. I think that DJ really loves his new game. Or, that is what I am going to believe anyway. Matt got a jigsaw from Anne and I got WallE from Carlos. I had never seen WallE before and it was actually really cute, I liked it. I asked for Disney movies this year and I got a lot of them! Mom and Dad Kimball gave us a DVD player (we have never had one, just a playstation and an xbox), and they got us a bunch of Disney DVDs. It will take us a while to watch them all. We wanted to up our kid dvd collection since we have a child coming our way soon. We were very lucky with all the gifts that we received this year.

Matt and I also bought one large gift for each other and one small gift. I got Matt a table saw and Get Smart on DVD. He got me a Singer sewing machine and Dr. Horrible on DVD. I love my gifts! I wanted a sewing machine so that I could hone my sewing skills and make things for the baby. I haven't finished reading the user's manual (yes, I am one of those), but once I do, I'm going to start trying it out. I will probably need help from my Mom while I am relearning sewing because I haven't done it in a few years, but I am very excited! Plus, Dr. Horrible, where's the bad? There is no bad.

So, I can't have a vacation without getting sick. It just wouldn't be me. I started feeling a sickness coming on on Sunday. I still tried to be strong and went to church and all, but by Sunday night, it was over, I was just not feeling good. I've got either a really mean cold or a version of the flu. I went to the doctor's on Monday to make sure that I didn't have strep throat because we know people who have had it, but luckily, I don't. Just a virus; a virus that hates me and wants me to suffer. It is now Wednesday and I have not been back to work. Matt has been sick too, so we were both home on Monday and Tuesday. Matt went to work for a few hours this morning and then came home. We both have tomorrow off work because of the holiday, which is nice because then neither of us have to use PTO. Hopefully, I will be feeling well enough on Friday to return to work. It has been over a week since I've been to work and I've been in bed for three days. I'm growing tired of being in bed all day. I've already made my way through two seasons of Smallville. I start on the third season tomorrow. I think that Matt has grown tired of Smallville, but I could watch through all the six seasons that we have.

Happy New Year Blog Viewers!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Poisoned!

Matt and I were poisoned last weekend. We think that the culprit was Tucanos because we both ate there and both got sick at the same time. So, Tucanos is now on my list of places that I will not eat. We were both sick all day on Saturday and got almost no sleep on Friday night because we woke up sick. I have to say that being pregnant and food poisoned is very unpleasant. Luckily, we survived.

Sarah and DJ came over on Sunday for dinner and games. I like to invite them over about once a month so that I have someone to play games with me. Matt is always willing to play games with me, but it is more fun to have more than two people playing a game. Matt and DJ made some new characters on our Wii using a mii characters website that shows you how to create weird characters like the terminator guy or a guy with a hamburger for a head. I'm thinking that someone has a little too much time on their hands if they are sitting around figuring out how to make a hans solo mii character. But, Matt and DJ had fun making and naming the characters so all the mii creator's hard work is put to good use.

Mom and Dad Kimball flew in yesterday. Matt and I are both very glad that they are here. We were worried that they weren't going to make it in because the Seattle airport was all closed and the roads were all snowy, but they made it. And, then they left today to go to St. George to see Grandma and Grandpa Kimball. They will be back tomorrow though. I wish they were back now. I like it when they are here. Mom is all helpful with cooking and stuff and she is always willing to play games with me and she is really funny. I got lucky with my in-laws. Good thing that Matt has an awesome family that I get along with.

Went to the doctor on Friday. The baby is doing great, but I'm anemic. More meat for me.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

4 Things Tag

I'm only doing this because I love my sister Marie. I'm not passing it on though. This one stops with me.

4 Things I love about my husband:

1. He goes with my bits. If I says something crazy, he totally goes along with it and says something crazy too.
2. He is very handy. He is always fixing things around the house and I never have to worry about hiring out for little problems.
3. He's tall.
4. He takes care of me and spoils me. He has been wonderful at taking care of me this whole pregnancy, he is my favorite.







4 Jobs I have had:


1. Pancake Flipper/Cook at BYUH Cafeteria
2. College Newspaper Staff Writer
3. Receptionist at Makau
4. Technical Writer for Dental Software







4 Movies I've watched more than once:

1. Lord of the Rings, Return of the King
2. Moulin Rouge (everyday for an entire summer with Marie)
3. Scooby Doo (oh yeah!)
4. Juno (watched it a ton since I got preggo)
.
.


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4 TV shows I watch:

1. Heroes
2. Chuck
3. The Office
4. House







4 Places I have visited:

1. Alaska
2. Florida
3. New York
4. Colonial Williamsburg







4 Places I have lived:

1. Minnesota
2. Provo, UT
3. Hawaii
4. Springfield, MO







4 Foods that I like:

1. Pizza!
2. Lasagna
3. Cookies
4. Gyros







4 Places I would like to visit:

1. Europe
2. Hawaii
3. Mexico
4. New Zealand

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

25 Weeks

Well, I am twenty five weeks along and only 15 left to go. Yay! I feel like I've been counting down to the day that I am not pregnant anymore. Probably because I am. Some women love pregnancy and say that it is a beautiful miracle. I say that the baby has demented their mind and made them forget what pregnancy really feels like. Because babies have an evil conspiracy to make women have more babies and the only way to do that is to make them forget the horrors of pregnancy. Evil babies!

Luckily, I have this blog to remind me of the week-by-week unpleasantries of pregnancy. I have sheltered my viewers from the especially yucky parts of pregnancy just because it is too ucky to discuss.

The last couple weeks have been almost uneventful in the pregnancy. I would have to say it is the most normal that I have felt in six months. But, as I am in the final stretch of my second trimester, I realize that the third will make me almost as miserable as my first trimester.

Yesterday, my nausea returned in full force. It was like the beginning parts of pregnancy all over again where nothing sounded good and I felt horrible. Plus, the baby decided to test her boundaries and see if she could turn upside down. But, she only made it half way there and laying horizontally inside me. It hurt like the dickens and she gave me all new stretch marks to add to my collection. I have so many now that I can't even begin to count them. I blame my mother for those genetics. Plus, my baby is mean. I can't imagine that being squished in a horizontal position that limits her space is comfortable, but she did it anyway. Which leads me to assume that she did it just to injure me. Mean baby.

Additionally, the baby has learned to kick my bladder. This means that I feel like I need to use the bathroom even when I really don't. She also kicks me in the middle of the night so that I have nightmares about being beaten and I wake up, only to realize that it is just my fetus beating me from the inside.

I've recently realized that I lose my breath when I bend over, if I can bend over at all. My ever growing belly likes to prevent me from bending over at all. Plus, I can't stand on one foot any more because one foot cannot support my weight and immediately begins to swell when it is used too much.

My back hurts me on a daily basis and continues to get mad at me for the weight I am putting on the front of me. I'm thinking that my back might start an anti-baby campaign from all the pain that the baby is causing it. I'd be in full support of such a campaign if I didn't already love my baby.

I know that I still have a long way to go before this baby stops living inside of me, so I'm hoping that maybe things won't get worse. But, I hear that when the baby is born, she will just present a whole new set of problems. I'm starting to think that kids are just this long and painful process of giving that never gets returned. I will NEVER be payed back for all this physical pain that I am going through. Plus, I will have to raise the baby and give more to her and I'm thinking that there won't be a good return on that either.

In light of all this realization as I am experiencing this "miracle" of motherhood, I want to take this opportunity to thank my own mother. I didn't realize all the physical sacrifice that she put in to giving me life. Plus, she took care of me for like 18 years. And, I was not an easy child to take care of because I was sick all the time. And, believe it or not, when I'm sick, I'm a little bit of a complainer. I don't handle not feeling well well. My Mom is one amazing woman! Not only because she did this for me, but because she did it for my six siblings as well. She either must really love pain, or she must really love kids. It is hard to tell which one wins in her book.

I wish that I could say that I would pay my mother back for all she has done for me, but in reality, I can't because I'm not willing to devote 18 years of my life back to her. I'm busy preparing to devote those years to children of my very own. So, she will have to settle for my occasional help with random tasks like setting up her Christmas tree or helping her scrapbook. This does not even begin to settle my debt though. I'm hoping that there is some great reward for motherhood in the next life because someone should be paying women back for all the crap they go through. So, Mom, I love you and thank you for all you have done and all you continue to do for me. Maybe, when you are old and decrepit, I will take care of you... or pay to put you in a home, and then I can begin to pay you back for all you have done for me.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Christmas According to Becky

I saw this on a friend’s blog, so I tagged myself and decided to do it. I don’t often do tags, but I thought this might be fun.

1. Do you like hot chocolate or egg nog?

Matt and I just got a Cocomotion at Walmart, so I’m going to have to go with hot chocolate. Egg nog is good in small amounts, but really can’t be consumed in vast quantities like cocoa can.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree?

Santa always wraps presents! Santa hasn’t come to visit me in over a decade though, so I’m thinking that I’m on the naughty list. Maybe he will come back someday when I have children. Here’s hopin.

3. Colored or white lights on the tree/house?

I don’t really have a preference for the tree. This year we have a prelit tree, so we have white lights. I like the blue lights on the outside of the house, but Matt and I are not outside light kind of people. We are much too lazy to be putting up and taking down lights on our house.

4. When do you put up your decorations?

Decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving. I usually have the day off work on this day and so it seems like the perfect time to put up decorations. Plus, I want to get the most time with my decorations as I can and if I don’t take advantage of the entire month of December, then what is the point?

5. What is your favorite holiday dish?

I’m going to have to go with Dar Dar Dar. Delicious Jello salad, mmmmm… But, I like my newly invented variation better than the Derington tradition.

6. What is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood?

I don’t actually remember Christmases from when I was really little. So, I’m going to have go with my teenage years. One year, Mom and Bill gave all of us kids money to buy presents for each other from them. It was all very complicated, but we all hit the mall together and shopped all day and it was a lot of fun. I used to really like holiday shopping with my family.

7. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Absolutely! We always opened a gift on Christmas Eve. I think it used to be a pair of pajamas when we were little, but when I got older, I usually opened my stocking because it had good snacks in it.

8. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

At the parents, we decorate with a bunch of family ornaments that have been collected throughout the years. Rarely, did we have fancy/color themed Christmas trees when we were growing up because us kids were notorious for breaking the ornaments. But, Matt and I have a red and silver tree this year. We don’t know if the glass bulbs will survive many more years as we have a baby on the way, but it is nice to enjoy it this year. Plus, we don’t have any family ornaments because it is our first Christmas at our home.

9. Snow! Love it or dread it?

I love the snow when I’m playing in it. I hate the snow when I’m driving in it. I am a very nervous snowy driver. This may be due to the fact that my car does not do well in the snow. But, it is fun to make snowmen and have snowball fights and such.

10. Do you remember your favorite gift?

My black coat. Mom and Bill bought me a floor length, black coat with a hood. I loved it so much that I wore it all Christmas day. I still have it and I still love it. Best coat ever.

11. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Family. I love the time I get to spend with my family and that I get to give gifts to my family to show them how much I love them.

12. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Pumpkin Pie! It is delicious and wonderful. DJ made a really good pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I had three pieces, but I’m wishing I had eaten more. Mmmmm… pie.

13. What tops your tree?

A star is suppose to top my tree, but our tree top is not sturdy enough to support the star. So, right now, nothing tops our tree. Alas!

14. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

When I was young, it was all about what I was getting. But, now that I am older, I really don’t care what I get, I just think about what I am giving. I prefer giving because it is a chance for me to be nice to my family and friends. It is a lot more difficult to give because I have to think of gifts, but way more rewarding.

15. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Silent Night. It is a classic Christmas song and can be so beautiful when sung correctly. My husband has a wonderful singing voice and I wish that he would sing me Christmas songs more often, but alas that it is usually me who is singing around the house. And, I don’t sing well, so it doesn’t sound that great. He used to sing for me when we were dating, but I guess that wears off with marriage.

16. Candy canes?

Sick! Candy canes are hard pieces of villainous candy, specifically designed to slice the eaters tongue! Don’t be fooled by the seemingly innocuous candy cane when it is really evil!

17. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized?

What do I care? People will think of Christmas however they want to. I like it for the time I get to spend with my family and that it is a reminder of my savior’s birth. If people want to commercialize the holiday, then it is inevitable.

18. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

I like Elf because it is really funny. But, I remember the old Muppets Christmas movie that I loved as a kid. Doesn’t get much better than the Swedish Chef making Christmas dinner.

19. Can you ice skate?

H-no, but it hasn’t stopped me from enjoying trying. Really I just lack the balance and muscles to do it properly, so it is a lot of work. But, as long as I am doing it with friends or my husband, then it is fun.

20. Are all your Christmas presents ready yet?

All my Christmas presents are bought, they just aren’t wrapped. I should probably get them all wrapped, I’m just lazy.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Baby's Birthday Party

We had a little fiesta for Baby on her birthday. I made lemon pound cake (seen below) and some of the fam came over to eat it and sing to Sarah.


Here's a pic with me and my sissas. Apparently, it was 'wear grey day' and we all got the memo.


This is me and my Baby posing with the cake.

Signature Derington Girl face. Though Sarah looks the sauciest.

Here's a pic of all the fam that came. It was a very exclusive invite list. Not everyone can celebrate the birth of Sarah. Especially not siblings with wild children.


The meems and the baby, being weird.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Happy Birthday Baby!

My Baby is 20 today! She is the prettiest Baby that you ever did see, so here is a picture blog post dedicated to her beauty.













Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Post Thanksgiving Update

Well, this is my post Thanksgiving belated post. Apparently, I am the worst at posting in a reasonable amount of time from an event.

Matt and I had Thanksgiving with his sister Anne and her husband Carlos. It was at Carlos's sister's house in Orem. We opted for this Thanksgiving dinner because my parents were indecisive as to their Thanksgiving plans until two days before Thanksgiving. I like a definite plan, so I went to the dinner with a time and location already set. I've spent a few Thanksgivings without my family though, so it wasn't too unusual. When I was living in Hawaii, I would have dinner with the ward, which was cooked by the wonderful folks in the cafeteria. This years dinner was so much better than those Hawaii dinners.

Matt and I went over early in the morning to help Anne get the turkey ready because we were in charge of stuffing and we wanted to stuff the bird. Matt and I have taken to adding cranberries to our stuffing. I think that they add a delicious tartness to the stuffing. If Matt had his way, I think that the stuffing would be made of the giblets completely. He was very insistent that they be put in the stuffing. It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't bad either.

I helped as much as I could in the kitchen with all the preparations, but I was spent early on in the day and had a lovely nap at the same time as Carlitos. That left Matt in charge of making the mashed potatoes. They turned out a little garlicy for me, but everyone else loved them and that is what matters. I woke up in time to hear an argument going on in the kitchen about whether or not the turkey was done cooking. Apparently, Anne didn't know what the little plastic red button in the turkey was for, so she pulled it out when she was prepping the turkey, so we didn't have a visual indicator of whether the turkey was done inside. It was pretty funny. We all made fun of Anne for her mistake, but the turkey turned out great so it didn't matter. I got to carve the white meat off of the turkey, which was fun. But, I left the dark meat slicing to Matt; it is much more involved.

It was a little strange being with new people for Thanksgiving because in my family, everyone wants the white meat. There is usually only dark meat left once the meal is over. But, in the Kimball household, it is the dark meat which is coveted. There was tons of white meat left over, but no dark meat. It was like being in upside down world. I even went to my parents house a couple days after Thanksgiving and they had made the dark turkey meat into a salad for sandwiches so that it would get eaten without people knowing that it was the dark meat. I took one bite and knew that I had been tricked. I cannot be fooled with dark turkey meat! It is just gross to me.

A dish that was absent from my usual Thanksgiving feast was Dar Dar Dar (named by my strange brother Mike). It is pretty much a jello salad with whip cream, cottage cheese, and pineapple. It is a family tradition to have it at Thanksgiving and meals where Mike is present. But, Matt's sister Anne did make a pistachio pudding fruit salad which had Dar Dar Dar qualities only with more fruit, no cottage cheese and lots of marshmellows. This fruit salad inspired me to create a variation of Dar Dar Dar because Matt doesn't really like my family's recipe. So, two days ago, Matt and I made a salad with pineapple, mandarin oranges, apples, cottage cheese, pistachio pudding, and whip cream. It was delicious! I have to say that it was better than Dar Dar Dar (even though saying this will bring curses down on me from my family who charishes the original). Maybe, someday, I will try to bring it to a family dinner and try to convert them. Or, maybe I will be stoned for changing the recipe.

After dinner, nothing much else happened on Thanksgiving. We played Ticket to Ride and Matt and I went home. It was a good day.

The day after Thanksgiving, the dreaded Black Friday, I went out just a little to go and get Matt's Christmas gift. My wonderful brother Johnny came with me for muscle support. He was my lifter and toter. Then, Matt and I put up our Christmas tree. Our tree is currently our only Christmas decorations, but I figure that the longer that we are married, the more decorations we will collect. I'm excited for the coming holiday!