I have no self control these days. I blame Lilah

When I first found out I was pregnant I immediately ran to the scale to document my "pre-pregnancy" weight. I've never been one to obsess over how hard gravity held me down, but I think with knowing I would be gaining weight, I've been in a constant state of panic about those dreaded L.B.S! I keep telling myself "I don't wanna be one of those women that gain 60 lbs". But I feel I have no control over this situation. Lilah has already taken over!

In the beginning I was so sick that eating was not even an option so my scale stayed steady. But now that I'm feeling rather fantastic, I can feel little Lilah yanking on the umbilical cord demanding some major nom!

I eat pretty much the same way I did before. I haven't noticed that I eat any more or less. I still pretty much like the same things I did before, minus the sweets. Still can't do sweets! (Hope this doesn't mean Miss Priss will be a sour puss)

I keep getting asked if I've had any cravings. I never know how to answer this question. Do I lay in bed at night and think "dang I must have some fried chicken right now" then the answer is no. If while I'm out and pass by Back Yard Burger and smell the deliciousness and think "okay that smells REALLY good so lets go through the drive thru" then the answer is yes. I don't really "crave" anything. I just want food.

I don't know what it is about being pregnant but I swear food taste better. Maybe it just heightens your senses, but food be GOOD!

Here is a list of my current obsessions:

• Chinese Crab Rangoons - I LOVED these before I got knocked up, but I could eat this everyday all day long. I.Cant.Get.Enough!
• Fruit Popsicle's - I still don't like ice cream, but give me a Popsicle and I'm a very happy lady. I like the packages that come with orange, grape, and cherry. I will admit (kinda embarrassing) I eat two every night before bed. 
• Chocolate Shake - I know I said I don't like ice cream, and I  DONT, but recently I've been having a secret relationship with a chocolate shake :)
• Sonic's Diet Dr. Pepper with Vanilla - Can we say YUM??
• Mc Donald's Sweet Tea - Nuff said right here!

Overall I feel I'm doing pretty good. I'm definitely not depriving myself, but I'm not over doing it either. It's just hard to feel okay about gaining weight. It will all be worth it in the end when I finally get to hold her and look into her big beautiful eyes!

Taylor's Top 2 Tuesday......err Wednesday ;)

I have been so swamped at work that I didn't have time to do my blog yesterday. I figure better late than never, right?

  The topic is: Top 2 Favorite Items for 2010

1. My iphone.  I had a blackberry before and I really liked it, but then when my dad got the new iphone 4, he handed me down his "lightly used" one. I didn't even care that it wasn't brand new, it was a FREE iphone :) I love all the applications and games. I really enjoy my facebook being at my fingertips! I'm a total FB junkie!

 

   

2. My Dyson. This may sound silly but I really love my vacuum. It was a Christmas present from 2009 and the highlight of my year. If anyone knows anything about me, it's that I'm a bit of a neat freak and the Dyson is a total enabler! 

 

It was really hard to pick only two. There were lots of things I loved in 2010. Here is a list of the runner's up:

1: My vanity mirror. I got it for my birthday (in December) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I didnt count this due to the fact that I only had it 2 weeks in 2010. 

2: My camera. Yet another "hand me down" from my dad. It's amazing though. He got himself a really nice professional grade camera and when I "borrowed" his old one and hadn't returned it for almost a year he told me I could just keep it! 

3: Picnik! I didnt include this as its nothing I own, but rather a website I frequent :) Check it out, it's amazing!

Crafty Ideas for Baby Lilah Faith

I first want to say that I am secretly THRILLED that the Husband and I are having a little girl. Don't get me wrong, I would have been just as excited with a little boy, but being such a girly girl that I am - it was fate that I have a little princess.

I've always been a crafty person. I love painting and making things. It comes naturally to me and I love being creative! So it's probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that I've started a craft "to make" list :)

I've looked into purchasing all these things, but I always feel like "I can totally make that" and then I have to do it just to prove that I can. Here are some of the things currently on my list:

Baby Leg Warmers:

Okay I know Miss Priss is due in April, but I thought what a fashion statement for her to wear a little onesie with a pair of leg warmers. So cute! Obviously I'm not the only one with this idea ;)

I've "Googled" the how to on this and have started my search for socks that I can transform into baby leg warmers!

Tutu Onesie

I was given a newborn onesie that had little ruffles on the bum and I thought, why not take it a step further and just create a onesie with a sewn on tutu? Totally girly and adorable, especially for some pictures! Something along the lines of this:

Embellished Onesie

I don't want to go too crazy with Lilah's wardrobe so I thought a couple embellished onesies that are more of an everyday style that aren't too flashy. Looks easy enough, just sew a ribbon at the rib cage. I don't want too many monogrammed outfits so this would be minus the name or inital.

Personalized Burp Cloths

I've seen other girls get these at baby showers and have always thought they were super adorable. They are made from plain old cloth diapers. You just add your personalization to it and then you have an adorable burp cloth.

Cute "Diaper Panties", as I call them :)

This one will be a toughy. I might have to breakdown and buy these as I have no clue how or where to find these. The personalization part wouldn't be difficult, but sewing/making the "panties" is way beyond my crafting skill!

Now the hunting begins to find my fabric and ribbons. I might need a quick lesson in sewing too, as I typically use my glue gun for everything.....

Most Fabulous Birthday!!

I really don't care for my birthday. I never have. It's so close to Christmas and there really isn't anything fun you can do that you haven't already done before. It has nothing to do with my age, I just don't like a big fuss made over it. I would rather get a "happy birthday" and get the day over with.

This year was a different story. For some reason I wasn't dreading my birthday the way I usually do. I actually decided I wanted to celebrate and have a party. An ugly Christmas sweater party. I don't know why this thought hadn't occurred to me before, as I love themed parties! Patrick was a very good sport and actually wore one too. He was so excited about his sweater it was really surprising to me, and my friends that he would be so into this!  I was having so much fun with my friends that I totally forgot to even take pictures of all their amazing outfits, but here are mine and Patrick's!

I made these. Can you believe it? By the end of the party i had lots of cotton balls falling off, but it was totally worth it. I really wish Patrick's lights would have worked. We were most excited about them, but when i went to put the batteries in, they didn't work. FAIL!

Oh well. Now on to the presents. :)

Patrick is an amazing gift giver. He always puts a lot of thought into what he wants to get. He may look big and tough, but he really is a love bug on the inside. :) I love this about him.

Seeing as we are pregnant with our first baby, a little girl, he wanted to get me something that I could remember this special birthday by. So he got me some charms for my Pandora bracelet.

                       Our baby girls initials. Lilah Faith Rutherford. 

                                 And a baby shoe with a pink gem!

He did a very good job. I LOVE them! I nearly cried when I opened them. What a sweetheart he is!

The next gift is from my parents. I have wanted a vanity mirror forever and I finally got one. It's amazing. I love that one side is a standard mirror and that the other is a 10x zoom. I get stuck in the mirror for hours! It makes waxing my eyebrows SO easy!

My best friend Crystal got me some amazing gifts!! I just realized I forgot to take a picture of my favorite one!! Arg, I will have to post it later. As everyone is well aware I LOVE elephants. She found this beautiful ring holder that's in the shape of an elephant. My words will do no justice as to how cute this thing is. The long nose is pointed up, which is the part that holds your ring while you wash your hands, take a shower, etc. It's so amazing and I love it. She also got me a beautiful green scarf. I love scarves, and I love green :)

She also got me some new, what I call "hobo" gloves. I get so cold at work and like to wear them so that I can still type. Plus I'm very claustrophobic and cant wear regular gloves so these work perfect for me :) She knows me too well :)

I love my husband, my family, and my dear friends. You all always know how to make me feel special and loved. Thank you!



Thanks to all that came out for my birthday and made it the best birthday I've had in years! I love you all!

Where is the Holiday Spirit?

I'm hoping this Christmas will be an eye opener for some. I guess people tend to get their priorities out of place and can only see what's right in front of them. Or they forget that at the end of the day the little things that may aggravate us or the things we may not entirely agree with, don't really matter - or shouldn't. It really surprises me the things people choose to make an issue, especially around Christmas, when family is most important. They also forget that their actions and words hurt more than the people they are intended for.

I refuse to get my spirit down. I choose to surround myself with the people I love most and who accept me for who I truly am. I refuse to filter my words or change who I am to make someone else happy. I would never ask for anyone to be anything other than who they are.

I really hope you realize that all this is not worth the price that will end up being paid. Just because you have an opinion about something, doesn't mean its always necessary to voice it. I know you won't always agree and we won't all always get along, but family is family whether you like me or not.

Loooooooong Time :D

Okay so my life has been super crazy and I have PURPOSELY not updated on here for a while. Patrick and I got some surprising, yet exciting news that I have been dying to blab: We are PREGGERS!

We got pregnant as soon as I got back from Crystal's bachelorette trip (mid July). It was completely by surprise! I knew instantly I was pregnant as I immediately started in with morning sickness. I hadn't even missed "Aunt Flow's" visit but knew something wasn't right. Patrick convinced me to take a test and I did, which didn't immediately turn positive. I quickly just tossed it aside and summed it up to having a bug. Later that night when I went to get ready for bed, I glanced at the stick, which now read positive. I was in total shock and couldn't even speak so I just handed it to Patrick. (no clever story on how I told my hubs) He said "what do these lines mean", and I said "that means we are having a baby". I instantly got excited and he instantly started to panic! The test was faint so we decided it would be best to take another one just to be sure.

I woke up the next morning SO sick thinking I couldn't already be testing positive and having morning sickness ALREADY, could I? It just didn't seem possible. So on the way to work I stopped by Walgreens to get a stick to pee on. Patrick insisted on getting the EPT brand, because its ERROR proof - bah silly boy! Since I was so sick the only thing I could keep down was water, and I had drank a lot of it on the way in. I got settled in at work and took the test. I let it set for the allotted time and I saw what seemed to be yet another positive reading. This one was even more faint than the one before. I then starting thinking, okay maybe I'm just wanting to see the line and its really just not there, but I think I can see it. So I was back to square one, doubting my positive stick and still wondering if this was really happening. Luckily the package came with two!

So I decided to wait and use the last stick the next morning with fresh, just woke up pee! Let me tell you the third time really is the charm. I peed on that stick and it went BAM florescent positive. No mistaking this one!! I am def knocked up!

So here I am newly pregnant and wide eyed with excitement! I call my OB to make an appointment as I officially have no clue what I'm doing or need to do from here. I tell them my story and they try and argue with me about how far along I am and when my last period was. HELLO it's my vagina, I know when my last cycle was! After arguing with them for a couple minutes I said the heck with it, what do I know, and said okay fine whatever book my dang appointment. (they were telling me I was 8 weeks and not 4 - as my suspicion was theirs as well, being to early to test positive or have morning sickness) I go for my appointment they do an ultrasound and guess what I'm 4 weeks, as I told them :) 1- Candace 0-OB!

Everything has been pretty horrible so far. I think I've had every symptom in the book, nausea/vomiting, bloating, horrible constipation, irritability, complete exhaustion, migraines that feel like they are going to kill me, lower abdomen soreness, and horrible booby pain. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited to be a mommy and to meet my little nugget, it's just been a rough start. Maybe me and pregnancy aren't going to be BFF"s. I'm okay with that as long as my baby is healthy!

Okay there it is in all it's glory. Everyone is now caught up to current day with my pregnancy. I'm just starting to feel better. nausea is almost completly gone and I have my headaches under control. My energy is slowly coming back and I find my self getting more excited everyday. I'll try and remember to post a picture of my most recent ultrasound at a later date!

Oh yea we are due April 24th 2011. I am currently 14 weeks 5 days!

Washington State

I would have to say Washington is my number 2 favorite place I have ever visited. It is absolutely beautiful, almost breathtaking! We went to Pike Place Market and did some shopping. We went to a glass blowing museum, and went up in the Space Needle. I got to meet my cousin's Tinker, Dave, Chrissy, Melissa, Jason, Paula, Emma, Olivia, and Jacob.

Washington Fact: Mt Rainer is actually an "inactive" volcano. You can see it from anywhere in Seattle, Tacoma, and Puyallap. It's massive and beautiful. 

Things I found interesting:
 1.  Lots of buildings had "Tornado Shelter" signs. I wasn't aware Washington got many tornado's..... this did not help my anxiety!
 2.  There were also lots of signs that read "volcano eruption evacuation route" just in case the Inactive became Active!
 3.  Their interstates have an exit not only on the right but on the left too, its very confusing.
 4.  Our GPS did not know its way around Seattle or Tacoma. It was really annoying.
 5.  They had lots of one way streets with this sign......bizarre!

Pike Place Market was fun. It had lots of individual vendors selling their crafty things, and of course a fish market.

I took this picture for Patrick. Alaskan King Crab, Deadliest Catch style :D



The Glass Blowing museum was pretty cool too. We wanted to blow glass ourselves but we werent allowed :(

I really enjoyed the space needle. I thought I would be scared since it was so high up, but I surprised myself and even stood right by the windows going up in the elevator.

Some random pictures: