17 Weeks

photo taken at 16 weeks, 3 days

+ today I'm 17 weeks! (thursdays are my turn over days)

+ baby GIRL is the size of an ORANGE (or an onion. but orange is cuter.)

+ three words: round ligament pain. i started out just getting the pain when i would sneeze or stand up too quickly, but it's become more constant and keeps me up at night! i'm learning that with pregnancy, if it's not one thing, it's the other. this is the new normal!

+ this week was so exciting because we finally found out the gender and finally got an ultrasound on Tuesday! we went in at 16 weeks 5 days for the gender ultrasound and it was amazing! it was so cool to watch her wiggle around in there and we got so many good shots. her little profile is my favorite picture ever. i am so excited to finally start planning for this little girl!

+ appetite has, for once, been surprisingly regular! this whole week has been pretty normal for food, but i'm usually basing what i eat off how it smells, so there are still some things that keep going back and forth (all of the sudden, guacamole smelled rancid and i couldn't stand to sit by it, let alone eat it, when last week i was eating avocados and chips and guac every day!) but, i've been eating a curve ball from ernies just about every chance i get! which isn't too different from pre-pregnancy, since their sandwiches are amazing, so who can tell if that even counts!

+ having tons of fun planning all things baby girl. we've got a few names we've been throwing around for quite awhile, and trying to match them up with different middle names is what gets tricky! we have always loved the idea of picking any name we like as a first name, but keeping the middle name a family name. we want all of our kids to have middle names, that are family names. so with limited options, we have to get creative! so far, we've resolved to not settle on any one name until baby girl gets here. we want to meet her and see her first and make sure we pick a name that fits her just right!

+ next appointment in a month will be the anatomy scan and we'll get to see how accurate my due date is and make sure baby girl is growing just right! i also plan on getting the alpha-fetoprotein blood test to check for signs of things like spina bifida and downs syndrome in the baby, which of course i'm a little nervous for, but it's not like it will change anything! we are already so in love with this little lady.

+  listen i'm 17 weeks, i'm like, a month into the second trimester, and i'm still waiting for it to be glorious...? haha i didn't feel a huge increase in energy, although my morning sickness has gone away (hallelujah!) but... everyone says this is supposed to be the best?! maybe it's the RLP (round ligament pain) keeping me from enjoying all this but seriously.

BOY or GIRL!?

WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!

Devin and I are both so beyond excited! A daughter! A sweet baby girl! I can't contain myself!!! Our gender check ultrasound appointment finally arrived yesterday and we went first thing in the morning so we wouldn't have to wait another second, and I'm SO glad we did! I would have built up way too much anxiety had I waited a few more hours!

That ultrasound was easily one of the most amazing things I had ever seen or experienced! Seeing our baby girl up on the screen, watching her little tiny heart beat out of her chest! I was so hoping she'd be active when we went because I wanted to see her move and she did! She crawled away from the wand (doppler? whatever it's called) at one point haha it was so adorable, and she was moving her hands all around - but she clearly likes them to be up by her face and mouth. It looked like she was almost sucking her thumb! Even the shots of her alien skull were the cutest thing I'd ever seen. ever. We got some pretty clear shots, and she's 100% girl, but she's still a person and those are still her parts, so I only posted her sweet little profile and tiny little foot!

I went into that appointment with zero intuition. No idea what this baby could be, and truly feeling split right down the middle. I kept telling people that I've always wanted a boy first, because I wanted that big brother figure, but that I'd be more surprised if it was a boy, and if I ultimately had to guess, I would say girl. But it could go either way! (obviously...)

I left that appointment thinking of course it's a girl! of course! it's her! that's my daughter! of course it's her! it had to be her! And I haven't stopped smiling since. 

Naturally, we went immediately to Target to celebrate and buy baby girl some cute clothes. We can't wait to meet this little girl in just a few months!

We're so glad you could make it, baby girl.

We ordered this 36" balloon online and it came with 2 packs of confetti - 1 pink, 1 blue. We got it filled with helium on our way to the BBQ and the balloon wasn't completely opaque! You could see the pink confetti inside! We were so upset but decided we would just leave the balloon inside and pull it out at the last minute and pop it right away, so if people did see the confetti in the balloon, it would only spoil the surprise by a few seconds.





Devin popped it with a steak knife (haha!) and the confetti exploded all over us (and ben!) and it was really cool! It's hard to get the confetti to show up well in pictures though.







Everybody loved it! I wish the balloon was better quality, but we still got the result we wanted! The guesses have been split pretty much right down the middle! Now, Devin's side is even with 3 boys, 3 girls, and my side will have 3 girls!




Coop wanted a sister ;) so he was happy to wear this pink bandana for her. He's a pretty good sport. I can't wait to see how he is with a baby! I think he'll be so great. 

16 Weeks

+ today I'm 16 weeks, 3 days

+ baby is the size of an AVOCADO

+ ironically eating avocados on and with everything lately (avocado toast with tomato every single morning, don't mind if i do!)

+ aversions: i sauteed some mushrooms the other night to go with our burgers (we've been grilling burgers for dinner like crazy over here - so good.) and i usually caramelize them with onions, but I didn't, and when i put a bite of mushrooms in my mouth while we were eating, i almost immediately threw up! i had to run to the trash can and dry heave! maybe it's just because there was no onion... i hope so at least! it was so gross.

+ feeling really good! nothing too crazy or weird lately, maybe this is the sweet spot! i do get sharp pains sometimes when i stand up too quickly, so lots of round ligament pain over here. I need to remember to sloooow dooowwn.

+ still wearing regular clothes, but I've got a few maternity things I keep in rotation for those days when I feel like I need them.

+ appetite is picking up finally! ah! the eating part has been the biggest struggle for me this whole pregnancy, and now that I finally feel like eating regular size meals throughout the day, I'm just trying to focus on keeping them on the healthier side! (but i did hit the easter clearance candy last week, so...)

+ we find out the gender on TUESDAY! I can't contain my excitement! I just want to know!!! I still don't have a preference. I think I will be more surprised if it's a boy, though. Both my sisters got girls first, and my mom has 4 sisters, but the Ashby side is completely dominated with boys, haha! So I don't think the genetics help here. But we've been having a lot more boy guesses lately, and now it seems about evened out - I can't wait to settle it and know for sure! What do you think it is?!

Katie, Lately

when coop sleeps, he's either sprawled out, or curled up in this tiniest little ball. 

this spring (and winter for that matter) has been so uncharacteristically warm for Utah, and these trees are killing it. have you smelled them? they're heavenly. this beauty is right by my mailbox.

he always gets a little uppity when we put him in a bandana...

over easter/conference weekend devin and my sisters' husbands all decided they wanted a guy's weekend in ogden to shoot guns and play video games, so we took it upon ourselves to have a girls weekend! we went shopping, went out to dinner, painted our nails, made face masks, watched movies, and stayed up waaayyyyy too late talking and laughing. it was seriously the best. and scarly was such a fun addition to our weekend. she's gaining such a huge personality and she's the sassiest, cutest little thing. i absolutely love her.

and check out that bed head! hahaha i am obsessed with her.

 

what katie lately post would be complete without a snuggle selfie?! this is the best part of my day. he's just the sweetest thing.

 

we had a pretty low key easter, and did a small bbq and easter egg hunt with devin's family. these kids were so cute flying their kites and racing for easter eggs! ben was so focused on the candy, it was hilarious. i love these kids! and i can't believe by next easter, there will be two more babies in this group! chloe is due at the end of august, and i'm due at the beginning of october! it's so exciting.

 

sometimes it's okay to be outnumbered. especially when it's me vs. these two. anxious to find out if i'll be in a house full of boys, or if a little lady will level the playing field for me! we find out soon!

soft pretzels are what my dreams are made of. so of course target has them. of course. target has everything. target is life.

Buckhorn Wash 2015

Devin and I have frequented this area on camping trips since we were first married. It's one of our favorite spots to come on a short weekend trip, and this year we decided to bring along some friends!

 

it was really hot as we were setting up, so coop kept jumping back in the car to be in the shade!

 

this trusty kelty tent was one of our first big purchases together. we spent a lot of the money we got at our wedding on camping gear - and we're still so glad we did!

it was too late to set up a fire, but on friday night, after we got all set up, we sat around and talked until we got too cold!

Devin and I drove down on Friday afternoon to secure a spot and get set up. We found a great spot that would be big enough for our group, and then headed back into Price to get some groceries and meet up with our friends, Derek & Pieper, who would be camping with us. They ended up being a few hours behind, so we called up some old friends who live in Price and ended up going to dinner with them. We hadn't seen them in about 2 years, and it was so fun to catch up and eat some good food!

After dinner with them, we got our groceries and met up with Derek and Pieper, then the 4 of us drove back into the wash and finished setting up camp before going to bed.

 

i'm telling you, this is my favorite way to wake up by far! under a massive pile of blankets, snuggled up to these two!

 

hot chocolate every morning

devin and i didn't think we were early risers, but i guess we can be. we would get up and make hot chocolate in the mornings while we waited for others to wake up.

this desert is so pretty, and the weather was amazing the entire time.

crosby's inaugural camping trip! he was a total champ, and we love finally have 4WD!

I can't even tell you how happy we were to wake up in a tent the next morning! We had a pretty sleepless night, because we had to keep blowing up our air mattress (we're afraid there's a hole in it!), and it was really cold, but when we woke up in the morning, we were snuggled up under a pile of blankets with cooper cuddled between us and we were so happy. This is my favorite part of camping! I love waking up in a warm bed with a cold nose, haha I think it's so cozy. We were both just so happy to be camping. And Cooper was psyched, too! He loves the desert, even though he hates sand in his paws.

this is what happens when you go camping with climbers...

coop's all for getting his picture taken. lily? not so much.

i'll stop taking pictures of him when he stops being so photogenic

i didn't climb, i just worked on my chaco tan.

aaron's attempt

derek's attempt

devin's attempt

so i wore this maternity shirt... and i just don't fill it out yet haha but there's a bump there!

me, cheryl and pieper. i love these ladies.

Shortly after we woke up and began cooking a big breakfast, Aaron and Cheryl arrived with their adorable boxer, Lily! They weren't able to come down the day before, but we were so glad they made it down early enough for breakfast! We ate pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage and hot chocolate, and then a big boulder in the distance caught the boys' eye and we decided to hike to it and see if we could climb it! The boys attempted, but we didn't have crash pads so nobody dared to go too high, but it was fun anyway!

two kahr's, one kimber, one glock, one beretta, and one AR-15... oh wait. it's actually a .22 (but i could have fooled you, right? that gun looks pretty serious...)

me and my bump with the M&P 15-22 - this was my first time shooting this gun (devin bought it in january) and i loved it. it's just a .22, so there is zero recoil. it's wonderful.

craving everything tangy and sour on this trip.

When we got back to camp, we packed up our lunches and drove a few miles out to an open area to do some shooting! Devin has been so antsy to go shooting outside, and the last couple times he's tried, plans have fallen through so he was so happy to finally be able to shoot! We brought our 4 guns, my brother in law's gun and devin's dad's gun and we all had a great time taking turns trying them all out! Devin helped me work on a few things with my grip and I already feel like i'm shooting much better! (Don't worry - we got the OK from my doctor to shoot guns before the trip. She said I'd be just fine!) Guns and shooting have turned into such a huge hobby for Devin, and it's something I really enjoy, too!

We hung out there for a few hours shooting guns, eating lunch and relaxing while the dogs hid in the car (cooper is absolutely terrified of guns, poor guy!)

this picture so accurately describes aaron and cheryl haha i love them.

 

a little in love with this tiny family i've got!

After shooting, we stopped at the San Rafael River and let the dogs go for a swim. Cooper loves to swim and had so much fun chasing rocks and sticks. Lily was a little hesitant to get wet so it was funny to watch her try and keep up with cooper, without getting too far in the water, haha!

On our way back to camp, we stopped at the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel- it's a huge panel of red rock covered in pictographs and petroglyphs from 1000-2000 years ago! Every time we come down here, we stop, and it amazes me every time.

When we got back to camp, it was time for dinner. We made enchilada soup and chicken quesadillas and it was SO good! Devin and I will definitely be making that a ton when we go camping from now on! After dinner, we started a fire and spent the entire rest of the evening there.

We roasted tons of s'mores (I think I ate 3!) and talked well into the night. It was so fun and relaxing after a long day in the sun to get warm around the fire and talk about anything and everything! We've got some pretty cool friends, and we're glad they came camping with us!

 

see those puppy eyes? he didn't want to leave!

little grand canyon - the wedge

 

15.5 weeks and looking about 7 months... haha

also, NOT wearing a maternity shirt here... but i guess i'm in an awkward phase because my regular shirts do this, and my maternity shirts drown me. awesome.

 he's a little scared of heights and wouldn't go too close to the edge

Aaron and Cheryl ended up leaving late that night (they had a tent mishap), and the next morning when we woke up, we made breakfast and packed up camp pretty fast. On our way back out, we stopped at The Wedge, which is also called "Little Grand Canyon" - the view is incredible!

Then, we reluctantly went back home, but gratefully took some long hot showers, and gave cooper a much needed bath! He's been exhausted ever since. I can home with the faintest chaco tan line across my feet, so I'd consider this trip a total success.