27

I've always been a little bit confused as to when the 2nd trimester ends. I've seen girls claim the 3rd at 27 & 28 weeks. I've found that when I push things back rather than up everything tends to move at a faster pace, so I didn't claim the 3rd until this week, and you know what? It's a glorious feeling.

Quite a few things went down during week 27 and it was a delicious one. The most exciting and important one is that one of my baby brothers opened his mission call on Saturday! He has been hoping with all of his heart that he went foreign and Spanish speaking. At first he claimed that he wouldn't go if his criteria wasn't met exactly, but eventually his sweet soul softened up and he knew that he would go wherever he was needed.

Saturday evening everyone and their dog (literally, we had 5 dogs terrorizing the house) gathered in our basement to watch him open his call. I always worry when pre-missionaries open their letters in front of lots of people because what if they're disappointed and just can't hide it. It's okay to be disappointed, for at least a second. I mean, I wouldn't have looked forward to a mission call to Iowa personally. But, Micah was brave and literally invited everyone he knew.  I was hoping and praying that 1) he would be excited about his assignment and 2) he would be here when Elles was born.

Well, I got both of my wishes. Micah will be speaking the espanol in Mexico (Acapulco is included in his mission -- we are SO going to pick him up) and he'll get to know Ellie a whole 2-3 weeks before he jets off. I couldn't contain my squeals and tears. I was one happy sister. He acts tough, but has the cutest little soft spot that I know she'll fit right into. My brother have a (super rude) running joke about how I'm telling everyone that I'm pregnant just so I can get chub. Micah said he wouldn't stop until he felt her kick. It took at good 30 minutes of coaxing, but she finally obliged. It was sweet. 

We're so proud of Micah and the decisions that he's made. He'll make a wonderful (albeit stubborn) missionary.

We'll also be counting this pic as my 27 week picture. Looking straight down, it doesn't seem like I'm that big. I'm nervous that I still have such a long way to go. I'm going to look like the good year blimp between this growing baby and my marvelous swelling abilities. Ah, such is life, right?

As far as the rest of the pregnancy, I feel so lucky. Everything is going swimmingly. I'm sleeping like a baby and have an amazing talent at not actually waking up when I have to pee. It's one of those hidden talents I suppose. I will not lie though, the high temperatures and humidity is kicking my tail, especially the humidity. It's basically a double whammy of bucket loads of sweat and horrible awful smells in small enclosed spaces. We left our dogs in the car (in the evening, calm down) only to come back to a hot box reeking of doggy breath, and not the cute puppy kind.

Ellie and I have a new game where I'll shine my phone flash light on my stomach and she'll kick at it. I find it completely amusing, her for only about 45 seconds. I'm just glad she's not all the way blind. She's getting huge, I can feel it in my bones literally. She doesn't hurt  or wake me up at night, but if I sit for too long she'll make my right ribs go numb. 

Is it weird that I wonder whose pregnant or will be pregnant with my daughter's best friends? It is weird. I know it. I'm just hoping that they're mamas that I can be friends with too. That would just make life a little more fun. I'm also jonesing to know what she looks like in a bad way. It's a pretty safe bet to say that she'll be blonde and blue eyed, but there's just too many variations that I just can't quite sit still. 

I was going to add more to this post, but that would make it ridiculously long, so I'll write another one tomorrow. I'll just leave you with this adorable little apple of my eye. Ellie is so lucky to have her as a cousin.

JUST SOME THINGS

Last Saturday j.rue and I went up to Logan to go to the temple, j.rue had never been before and it's been several years for me. I was super excited, I love traveling to temples. We really are so blessed to live within driving distance of so many. Well, we got up there, I proudly handed the worker my recommend and...I found out it had expired on May 31st. It was June 1st. I was not happy.

Luckily j.rue has some cousin that live up on Logan that were available to hang out with us 2 hours earlier than planned. The boys kept themselves busy chatting about, actually I don't know what they were busy talking about, boy things, giving the three of us ladies a chance to catch up. Karalee and I are due exactly 1 month and 1 day apart from each other. It was so fun swapping pregnancy stories and comparing symptoms. Our impromptu get together inspired a larger scale Ruesch cousin get together later this month. I'm hoping there will be toasted marshmallows involved, and since it's at our house, I actually know there will be.

I know that my blog has turned into a total baby blog, and I do apologize for that. It's just what takes over 80% of my thoughts during the day. The other 20% is work and you just really don't want to hear about that, promise. I just can't wait to meet her and the only thing that keeps me sane is doing what I can to feel prepared, which totally will never happen (the feeling prepared part), but it's all about the process, right? So at this moment in time I've added these additional details to the nursery prep:

-deciding between two lovely paint colors. this or this.

-settled on this mobile (i think).

-ordered this print and her two sisters.

Everything else is still up in the air. I know that I don't want a themey room, so I figure if the colors pretty much go together? I still don't know. I think this room planning is giving me too much anxiety. Which, honestly, how dumb? She won't be in there for a while after she's born. Plus she's a baby. I just need to calm down and get the basics done. Really, I'm a little ridic.

I have two more things for you.

1. I just went about two weeks without seeing my niece. I hated it. It just blows my mind how fast little people change, and she's done her fair share as of late. Miss Brookie Jayde, slow down, k? Oh she's a fun girl.

And to close, I've been dreading the postpartum body. I know it's horrible to worry about such little things when you've just had a baby, but I do. I just can't help it. I also know that it's totally up to me how I choose to handle it. That's why I love coming across posts like this. Uber Chic for Cheap is doing a whole series on dressing a postpartum body. Please and thank you.

A TREE HOUSE DATE

Last Friday my most favorite (and only) niece and I went on a date to the Tree House Museum in Ogden. Her mommy had some major painting to do and I had a free day, so it worked out perfectly. We sang lots and lots of primary songs on the way there and gave three cheers once we pulled into the parking lot. She was a little bit excited, but I'm pretty sure she was mostly excited to get out of the car.

As soon as we got in there she was oh so polite and waiting in line with me to pay and the second we were official, she was off. I spend a solid 2 hours chasing her around oohing and awing over all of the wonderful treasures she'd found. Her excited face really is the best. If you ever get to see it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Brooklyn's most favorite part of the museum had to be the baby hospital. She picked out her baby and didn't let it out of her sight until we had to leave. She stayed busy giving her lots of kiss, feeding her, and wrapping her up in a blanket and throwing her head first into her bed. It was all glorious fun. 

As I'm sure you'll notice almost all of my pictures have some kind of blur to them, because that's what Brookie is, a blur. Literally.

Once we decided that we were both good and tuckered, we made the trek back home. Again, more singing was involved, but this time my partner fell asleep on me. It was time to take that tired baby home.

Later that day we had play date part 2 with uncle j.rue. Lots of apples were eaten and blue's clues were watched.  On the way back to her house we sang about 12 lovely renditions of "hey jude." Lips were puckered and our "na nas" were perfected. It was a lovely day. A snowy one, but still lovely none the less.This little girl was oh so excited to get back to her mommy though.

I don't know if you remember, but Brooklyn and I are kindred spirits and birthday sharers. I'm really never going to let her forget it :)

A POST ABOUT NOT A LOT

Have you ever just wanted to write a blog post, but didn't really quite have anything to write about? That's kind of how I'm feeling today, but as I look over my past year of blogging, I don't really think I did it enough. There are weird gaps and things that will be forgotten that I don't really think should be. So I'm just going to write a little. Let's see what I come up with...

This is us at Cheesecake Factory last night. Jeremy looks like someone just said something surprisingly awkward...or like I just farted on him...and I, well let's just say that dark restaurants and bright flashes are not complimentary of my pasty exterior. If I could have 3 wishes from a genie the first would have to be a good singing voice, I don't know who I would exactly want to sound like, I'm still working on that part. Maybe Mindy Gledhill or the girl from Civil Wars. Something light and dreamy. Second, I would wish to look good in every picture. I have a gift of being in all the wrong angles (wrong leg popped, droopy lip, you get the idea). The third...I haven't decided yet. Thinking of your 3 wishes is very serious business and should never be taken lightly.

Sometimes when I'm driving home I think about my 3 constant wishes. Ever since I was about 10 I've dreamed of having a star worthy vocal chords, so I just figured that one made the cut. The pictures thing is fairly new. I'll let you know in 10 years if it had what it took to stick around.

I've decided that Jeremy and I eat at Cheesecake Factory just enough, but not enough you know? When we're together we get to some serious scheming and this is our latest...We're thinking that we should go to Cheesecake Factory at least every six weeks. When there, split the Chicken Costaletta (the most divine dish) and finish up with a slice of cheesecake and a shake. Meaning, the cheesecake is mostly for me and the shake for him, with a few bites in between shared.

After dinner last night we spend the rest of the evening running to my mom's and his mom's, movies needed to be exchanged before final packing was done. We walked into my in-laws and their house was empty, meaning a lot empty. It's definitely surreal having their house packed up and only a week left of their company. I think it really hit me Monday. I had a little cry fest on the way home. It's going to be hard and different, and well, I suck at changes. So, not to dwell on the sad, when we were over there sitting all together in the empty family room, the infamous Brookie Jayde took it upon herself to provide the entertainment. She was babbling, and running, and spinning, and tumbling around like she owns the place. I hope as she gets older and the world gets to her that she can keep her strong willed spunk and enthusiasm. Oh we love that girl.

I was looking through my phone, camera, and ipad last night and realized that about a good 70% of my pictures are of her. Between her momma and everyone else who loves her, this girl is going to live a well documented life. Here's a few other from over the past year that I just love:

Oh! I love her.

And looky what we have here my friends, a blog post, pulled out of nothingness. 

Happy Thursday. It's a Thursday-Friday for me so I love it that much more. Be safe driving in the snow tonight, it's supposed to come with an angry wrath upon the freeways at about 4 pm.

Staycation '12 and not to brag, but I'm a bracket filling out champion

I would write about it, but I figured if a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'm covered. Oh and if you don't like pictures, please scroll to the bottom to hear about how awesome I am. Okay go.

Yes, all 3 of those chins are mine.

{taken from melinda's blog -- cute closed-eyed husbands}

Obviously we ate a lot.

p.s. i picked 2 HUGE upsets over the weekend. Norfolk and Lehigh. You may all now get in an orderly line and shake my hand one at at time.

oh, and happy first day of spring. but I feel that after the news I just told you, this is irrelevant.

follow me on twitter: @chelseablythe