Update: The past TEN months

Hello! I have missed blogging! It feels good to be back. Hopefully I can stick to it especially after the baby is born. Here is a little recap of the past ten months and some random things for myself to remember-- since this is technically like a journal for me.

Enjoy!

How far along? 40 weeks, 3 days (overdue)
Total Weight Gain? 20 lbs
Maternity Clothes: I haven't had to buy any! I've been fortunate to squeeze into most of my regular clothes. But let's be real here-- I wear leggings almost every day now at this point haha.
Stretch Marks: Just a couple on my sides, barely there at all. I have been lucky!
Sleep: Sleeping is difficult. My belly feels so heavy it hurts when I turn over. And I tend to turn over quite often. I also get up to pee at least once a night without fail.
Miss anything? I miss my body not being achey all the time.
Food Cravings: No real cravings. Just pretty hungry quite often.
Anything making you queasy or sick? No such sickness or queasiness.
Symptoms: My face has broken out a little bit but probably from emotional eating ;) the end has been emotionally harder than I thought it would be!
Belly button in or out: Out! Definitely out all the way I love it because it's so funny!
Rings on or off: On. My body has been really great at not swelling too much. There have only been a couple times that my ankles have gotten swollen.
Happy or moody? Mostly happy every day! Except now I am a bit more emotional than I have been lately.

5 weeks vs 40 weeks

I can't believe I'm at the end of my pregnancy (well, past overdue!) and I'm barely getting around to writing anything down about it. I feel terrible that I haven't done better at documenting the past nine months. But for the most part I have been really blessed and lucky to have had an amazing experience. 

[This was in April, we went to AZ- I was barely pregnant and we had no idea!]

[a couple weeks before Mother's Day and still didn't know we were pregnant yet!]

I was only sick up until about week 17. However, I did get pretty sick. Although I only threw up one time (from the glucose test- HA!) I was really really nauseous there for a while.. I even had to cut back at work because I was too sick to function! Luckily that didn't last forever.

I ate carrot sticks and snacked on almonds, string cheese, and fruit like apples and bananas during that time. Carrot sticks seemed to help a little bit, strangely enough. And after I was done feeling sick, I have continued to snack on almonds, string cheese, yogurt, granola bars, fruit snacks, and fruit. I have struggled a little bit at figuring out how to control my blood sugar levels because I tend to eat sugary things and then sometimes it will make me sick-- so I have to be sure to eat sufficient protein along with a carb whenever I feel like my sugar is getting low, or whenever I am craving a snack. I have especially loved eating citrus type things. Cuties, oranges, orange juice, and lemonade have all been appetizing to me. I have LOVED eating cuties and oranges lately. And earlier in the pregnancy I l loved drinking orange juice!

[Sometime in May: I remember thinking, "no way. no way. no way!!!"]

["better buy a more expensive test to make sure... YEP!"]

[about 9 weeks pregnant: our confirmation appointment! so amazing]

The sickness hit me hard at around 6-7 weeks. At that time we were in Moab for a family vacation and I was absolutely miserable. I remember barely eating anything at all, but cantaloupe and pieces of rotisserie chicken were easy for me to stomach. That was a sad vacation for me, but I am glad everyone else had a good time ;)

[This is how we announced to our extended family in Moab-- it says, "great grand parents"]

[About 6-7 weeks pregnant here at Moab]

[This day was a miracle that I had enough energy to hike out to the falls with everyone!]

[6-7 weeks pregnant and soooo sick while in Moab]

I lost weight for quite a while and didn't start to gain it back until about week 24-28 weeks. At that point I began gaining about 1-2 pounds every four weeks. It wasn't until week 37 that I gained 5 pounds in one week! That was over New Years... guess I enjoyed a lot of treats at that time haha!

[39 weeks]

[40 weeks]

Now at 40 weeks I have actually lost 2 pounds. Apparently that is normal at the end of pregnancies. I have also been dilated to a 2 for the past four weeks as well. My belly measures right along where it should and my doctor said that he imagines the baby is definitely average size, if not a little bit bigger. I believe him! She feels huge inside of me! She kicks and stretches and I can feel her all the way from one side of my belly to the other, and all the way up in my lungs too!

[Drew and I as newborns! What will our baby girl look like!? Can't wait to see!!]

I will go back to work at the Children's Museum in March sometime most likely, but as for now I am happy and excited to be at home with the baby. We have everything ready for her! The car seat is in our car, our hospital bag is packed and ready to go, her nursery is finished, and our house is clean. Now it's just a waiting game! I have been trying to stay busy and luckily people continue to order custom paintings from me so I work on those when I feel like it, but if I don't keep myself busy that is when I start to get a little bit emotional. 

[Decided to paint the stripes just last week, haha talk about last minute!]

Drew and I just finished watching Parenthood on Netflix (I LOVED it, and totally bawled during the last episode), and now I need to find another show to watch!

We have been so lucky to have such wonderful people in our life. We were given a crib for free, we got tons of stuff from our baby showers, and I even won a couple giveaways on Instagram! (Specifically a newborn bundle from Lou Lou & Co., a natural nuttersuten pacifier and pacifier clips from Madeline's Box, and a nursing cover from Cover Me Ponchos! I have been so lucky! 

Over the past nine months we have traveled to Moab for a family trip, Fishlake for a dual Hansen/Jensen family trip, Richfield for the 4th of July, had a gender reveal in Cedar with both our families, attended Drew's friend Taylor's wedding, threw our annual friend Halloween party with our buddies in Cedar, moved from our apartment into a cute townhome, had Thanksgiving in Richfield, celebrated Drew's birthday in Cedar, had Christmas half in Richfield and half in Cedar, got to paint some great murals in the St. George Children's Museum for their holiday exhibit, celebrated New Years Eve with our friends the Peterson's in St. George, celebrated my birthday with my family, and now we are just waiting for the arrival of our sweet precious little girl who loves to squirm and move around in my belly all the time! We love the life we have been given, and we are so excited for what is to come!

[12 weeks: On top of one of the lookout points over Fishlake!]

[About 12 weeks pregnant here at Fishlake]

[Freezing wet & rainy day out on the lake]

[SURPRISE!]

[First purchase for the baby... boy or girl?!]

[Happy First Father's Day to Drew! He loves Jimmy Fallon.]

[about 14 weeks pregnant here]

Fourth of July at Grandma Carol's

[conversation between me and Kambry... so funny!]

[About 15 weeks pregnant here when we found out the gender!]

[SO EXCITED!!!]

[I made delicious gender reveal cupcakes!]

 

[I filled the cupcakes with pink pudding]

[20 weeks: Gender Reveal was in August]

[Our families guessed the gender, then we gave them each a cucpake...]

[We tie-dyed onesies afterwards to end our gender-reveal celebration!]

[We had a feeling it was a girl the entire time]

[Probably 12-15 weeks? Not sure]

[17 weeks]

[almost 20 weeks here. hi baby girl!]

[about 20 weeks]

[24 weeks]

[25 weeks]

[25 weeks]

[26 weeks]

[27 weeks at Staheli Farm]

[Corn Maze at Staheli Farm!]

[27 weeks at Tuacahn, When You Wish. So good!]

[The Vincent's famous Halloween Donuts!!]

[28 weeks]

[Our Annual Friend Halloween Party]

[28 weeks, Mummy Family Picture]

[29 weeks]

[30 weeks]

[31 weeks: Got to meet Al Fox!]

[Maternity pics at 31 weeks by Shalli Aldred. LOVE them. Check them out here.]

[A funny baby shower game at my friend Laura's house from our first shower in St. George]

[My mother-in-law and my mom at my first shower!]

[Polaroid from the first baby shower in St. George]

[Little snippet of my baby shower in Richfield. So spoiled!]

[My aunts stayed after to help me make bows for my sweet little girl!]

[33 weeks: We got to be in the live Nativity at Tuacahn. Such a neat experience.]

[One of many nights I would paint and eat a festive treat during the holiday season haha]

[Made this sweater for the holidays!]

[34 weeks]

[just something funny.. haha 35 weeks]

[Drew's Birthday Dinner with his fam!]

[Went to see Star Wars for his birthday as well!]

[Made gingerbread houses with our friends! Homemade gingerbread!]

[Such a fun tradition-- hopefully we can do it again next year!]

[36 weeks]

[Christmas in Richfield]

[My birthday breakfast made by Drew!]

[1.6.16, my birthday! 38 weeks]

Who-Ville Post Office Mural I painted for the St. George Children's Museum

The one on the right in the red dress was me- haha pregnant.

Another Who-Ville mural I painted in the St. George Children's Museum

Thanks to everyone who is a part of our lives. We couldn't do any of it without you!

Love,

Kate

ps. almost forgot to mention how grateful I am also for all the support I get from those of you who order custom paintings from me! I have constantly been busy with those precious requests and being able to provide something for someone with so much meaning and love behind it is such a beautiful thing! Oh and I also have been able to do some artwork for Petal Lane. I've been able to do their watercolor quote line for magnet boards. You can see some of them here and here. 

Adjustments

Alright here is what's been up. I started a new job at the end of December/first part of January and it didn't work out because it wasn't my niche. Before I left, I quickly found a new job and now I am working at the Children's Museum in St. George as the Education Specialist and I absolutely love it! On the side I am working with a few different people and businesses doing custom paintings for them. I am also hoping to have a website of my own someday so people can order prints of my originals paintings as well as custom ones too! I am really excited.

There has been a lot of adjustments lately and I have missed blogging so very much. I hope to get in a routine where I can be better at blogging. I know I keep saying this, but I just gotta do it!!

On another note, if you love somebody tell them. And live every day like it's your last. Life is too short not to.

Love,

Kate

Donuts, quotes, and ideas

Life is happy and people are really beautiful. I love learning about people and their stories and discovering why they are the way they are. 

Friday night was a fun one. I went with two of my coworkers to get some donuts from a cute new food truck called "Bites Donuts" and we visited for a while. Then later that evening my friend Lindsey came over and we brainstormed about the future. We are thinking of starting some sort of blog together that includes anything and everything from our favorite treats, to DIY, to decorating, to outfits of the day. Think we could do it? I need ideas.

Also, I just discovered that some of my paintings (water color quotes to be exact) are now being sold on this website... So that's pretty cool.

Love,

Kate

I'm back!

Woops. I haven't blogged for quite some time and I sure have missed it! My lap top broke so that has been some of the reason why but now I'm back!! My sweet dad fixed it for me. He's wonderful.

Let me just review how our life has been since the end of November.

Thanksgiving was spent in Cedar with Drew's family. I made my Grandma Carol's homemade chocolate pie and it turned out perfect. Plus everyone loved it! I was so happy.

We had a delicious meal and Drew's mom was so sweet to make sure I got marshmallows on my sweet potatoes. After we ate dinner we played their new game called "Wits & Wagers." It was a pretty funny game. Before we knew it "Black Friday" at Walmart had already begun. We decided to drop by just to see if there was anything that stuck out to us. Well we ended up leaving with a 50" TV, a waffle maker, and an air mattress for future visitors all for around $250! For not planning ahead very well, we sure killed it!

December came and went super fast it seems. I opened up some extra time for painting custom orders for Christmas and I absolutely LOVED it! I had great compliments, reviews, and happiness from those who received them. It was such a joyful experience for me! I want to continue to accept custom painting orders, but I need to find the time to do so right now because my life is a little in the air a the moment. But let's get one thing straight-- it is my DREAM to be able to create art for people around me. So I'm going to keep doing that slowly until I can put more energy into it!

Drew and I got a whole week off for Christmas break so we spent the whole week up in Richfield (Christmas Eve, and Christmas day included). Then we spent the weekend in Cedar with his family and had Christmas with all of them on Sunday morning after his sister got into town. It's so fun to be able to share each other's families around Christmas time!

Unfortunately, I started feeling sick that week of Christmas and suffered from illness most of the week. It hit me hard on the day after Christmas and I had to go to the instacare. BLECK. Turns out I had a respiratory infection (my chest hurt really bad) and I thought I'd get better after I got some medicine in me, but no.... I got worse and Drew did too. The weekend with his family for Christmas was a little rough because of how sick we were. But we did bare to get family pictures out in the freezing snow! [Taken by my lovely and talented friend Lindsey] It made for some great memories though.

Now that it's January I look back and can't believe how fast the Holidays went by. It sure was fun spending time with family! We spent New Years Eve at my good friend Laura's with her cute young family playing games and eating fondue-- chocolate and cheese! It was simple and fun.

With the new year came a new job for me and a new roommate for me and Drew. My sister Kambry moved in with us! She is attending Dixie this semester and she and Drew are taking a golfing class together just for the heck of it. We love having Kam in our home! We have lots of fun together. Plus the spirit that she brings into our home is lovely and peaceful and happy. We are definitely blessed to have her with us :)

So far this month [January] we have had my family spend a weekend with us when they moved Kambry down. My mom baked me a lemon blueberry cake which was perfectly delicious. Kinsley (my other sister) spent some time with us as well as my grandparents, Micki and Doug. We went hot tubbing with them and went to the batting cages at Fiesta fun with Kinsley while she was here. Also this month Drew and Kambry spoiled me like CRAZY on my birthday and I felt loved by so many all day long. It was wonderful. We went out to dinner and got Waffleluv afterwards for a fun treat.

That about sums it up. Kambry's birthday is coming up next week and we are looking forward to going home for the Super Bowl.

I'll post some pics in the next post. Beware of picture overload.

Until next time!!

Love,
Kate

Pssst!

I am taking orders on custom paintings for Christmas for only a few more days! <<Last day December 7th>>  If you or anyone you know would like one, please contact me!

Send the picture you would like to my email.

kate_j777@hotmail.com

MUCH LOVE and THANKS to all those who have ordered already!

Love,

Kate