Squishy

That pretty much sums up my physical state right now. I am one squishy lady. I want to be non squishy and so I am starting to think of ways to get motivated and get my squishy self into shape.

I don't love feeling squishy but I do love my squishy baby. He has ultra squishy cheeks and I love to squish his squishy cheeks up to my squishy cheeks and have a very squishy moment. I guess squishy isn't so bad ;)

Baby Boy Is Here!!!!

Introducing

Easton James Bacon

Born June 14, 2011 at 10:41 a.m.

8 lbs 4 oz and 20"

He is finally here and we couldn't be happier. He is healthy and happy and in my opinion pretty adorable. I am documenting the labor and delivery just so I will have an accurate account. Feel free to skip this part.

I started feeling contractions early Monday morning around 2 am. I had lost my mucus plug the night before and was having bloody show and so I was pretty excited and thinking I was possibly in labor. The contractions were strong enough to keep me awake and coming every 5-7 mins. This went on for several hours but I didn't want to wake Case because I wasn't hurting that bad and really wasn't sure if I was in real labor or not. Around 7 am the contractions all but stopped. I was so depressed that it was a false alarm. I had to keep myself busy so I started cleaning the house like a mad woman. Throughout the morning I had contractions here and there. They were strong and painful but not close together. Around 2 p.m. I was out and about shopping and the contractions started coming very close together. They were painful enough that I had to stop what I was doing and breath through it. By 4 the contractions had been 3 mins apart for 2 hours and I was starting to get very uncomfortable. By 6 I was very ready to go to the hospital. We checked in around 7:15 and they checked me right away. I was dilated to a 2 and so they had me wait an hour and see if I was progressing. In an hour I was at a 3 and by 9 p.m. I was at a 4. I was in pain and decided I might as well get the epidural. Why endure more pain than necessary ;) The epidural was magical. It did slow my progress down a little bit. I stayed at a 4 for a few hours. The nurse came to check me and decided to call the resident in to break my water. She left to go and get the resident and while she was gone I heard a pop and then felt a gush. My water had broken on its own and from that point on I progressed about 1 centimeter every hour. By 6 a.m. I was at a 10 and fully effaced but little Easton's head had not dropped. The Dr. decided to have me rest for an hour or so to see if his head would drop on its own. At 7:45 a.m. I started pushing.....and pushing, and pushing. I pushed for 2:45 mins before the Dr. came and decided I needed a little help. At 10:35 a.m. they got me ready with the forceps and by 10:41 a.m. Easton had arrived.

Labor and Delivery was nothing like I expected. I didn't know what to expect. I felt like it was never going to end, but it was relatively painless and my recovery has been pretty smooth. We feel so blessed that our baby is finally here and that everything went so smoothly. Easton is straight from heaven and has such a sweet and loving spirit. I look at him and am just bursting with love. Being a mom is amazing, emotional, and challenging, but so incredible and worth all of the sleepless nights. We love our baby boy.

39 1/2 weeks......still pregnant

Yes I am still pregnant. No I have not had the baby yet. Yes I am about ready to pop. I took a picture of my belly today, stretch marks and all, and I was horrified. It's massive. I am not posting that picture. I will post the one with my belly covered though. Impressive right? I am still getting bigger even though I didn't think that was humanly possible. Please hurry Baby Bacon.

Memorial Day

Grandma Helen's grave

My Parents grave

Casey and I drove down to Salina to visit my parents' grave for Memorial Day this year. It was freezing and super windy but it was nice to see my Grandpa Jack and Jer and Sarah and the boys. I haven't been in years to see the grave and so it was nice to pay tribute to the people I love the most! I look horrible in all of the pictures but such is life when you are 9 months pregnant ;)

Pregnant Diaries

Oh how I am longing to be done with this wonderful phase called pregnancy. It is such an amazing, crazy, and emotional roller coaster! I am so blessed to have had a pretty much textbook perfect pregnancy. Nothing has gone wrong, I didn't have to deal with throwing up, and besides being rather large, I really have felt amazing. All of that being said I am really anxious to be done with it.

I am incredibly emotional right now and every little thing makes me break down and cry. My feet are so puffy and swollen by the end of the night they look like they will pop if touched. I am so achey that everyday normal tasks are rather difficult and I feel like I am a freak show because everywhere I go people stare and give these looks like "you poor pitiful girl". (I have to add that lots of people are actually really sweet and tell me how cute I look and then they rub my belly which actually doesn't really bother me so it's not all bad ;))

I think the worst part and the hardest part for me to admit to is how jealous I am of all of my friends who have already had their babies. We were all due within a few weeks of each other and now their babies are here, healthy and happy, and I am still a beached whale feeling miserable. I know I should be patient and grateful that little man is still growing and developing but man its hard!!!!

I am so excited for this baby boy to get here I am forgetting to relax and enjoy the quiet lazy moments I get to have each day. I know these will be few and far between, if any, when baby gets here. I need to quit wishing away the days and just enjoy every second for the miracle and blessing that being a woman and having this experience is. Baby will come when he's ready and I need to just chill and be ok with whenever that is. Wish me luck!

Passion Tea Lemonade

I am in love with this drink at Starbucks. They use the TAZO Passion herbal tea and mix it with delicious tart lemonade. I crave this drink every time I pass by Starbucks in the airport. The problem is it is ridiculously expensive( just under $4 for a 20 oz cup) and so I decided to start making my own from home.

You can buy TAZO brand tea at most grocery stores. It regularly costs around $3.50 a box. I found it on sale at Target for $2.47 for 20 filter bags. For the lemonade I just use bottled lemon juice ie: Real Lemon ( I use the WalMart brand which is $1.68 for 32 fluid oz.) You can get 63 TBLS out of 1 32 oz bottle.

First I take 6 oz of H2O and heat it in the microwave for 90 seconds.

Next I take 1 tea bag add it to the water and let it steep for 2-3 minutes.

While the tea is steeping I measure 10 0z of H2O, 4TBLS of lemon juice, and 4TBLS sugar ( you can also use Splenda) and mix them together in a 20 0z cup.

After tea is steeped I discard the tea bag and mix the tea with the lemon sugar mixture stirring well to dissolve the sugar.

Finally I add ice to the top of the cup and stir again.

It tastes just as delicious as Starbucks and it costs approximately $0.25 to make.

Tip: If you like really tart lemonade instead of using equal parts lemon juice and sugar just add more lemon juice. Enjoy!!!

Pity Party

I am usually pretty upbeat and sunny, but lately I have been so negative. I find myself getting annoyed very easily or just feeling incredibly down. I don't want to blame pregnancy because honestly I have had a wonderful pregnancy so far. I am so grateful for how great I feel physically. Emotionally is another story. I have really been struggling with the way I look. I don't like calling myself superficial but maybe that's what it is. I feel like I used to be pretty cute and stylish with nice hair and cute clothes and fun makeup. Lately I feel frumpy, pasty, and so sadly out of style, that its hard for me to look in the mirror.

I don't want to have these feelings and I try really hard to accentuate the positive and look for the good but I have never felt so hideous in all my life. I feel like a huge part of it is I don't feel like I have the energy or the means to make it better. Obviously there is nothing I can do about my largeness right now. I am pregnant and carrying a tiny darling human being around inside of me. Its hard to feel cute when you are bigger than you've ever been in your life and are bound to just get bigger. I know there is hope after our little boy gets here but how on earth do you stay positive while going through the process? I want tips and possibly a pep talk. Or maybe what I really need is a swift kick in the butt!

I was reading a friends blog the other day and she was listing the simple pleasures in life. The little things that make her happy. Maybe that's all I need to do. Just shift my perspective on life and realize how unimportant being stylish and having nice hair really is and focus on what I do have and what makes me happy.

I love that I have a husband who makes me laugh. Even when I am feeling rotten he always manages to make me smile.
I love that I live so close to my sister and I get to see her often.
I love feeling baby bacon move inside of me.
Ice cream makes me happy.
I love TLC.
I love my snuggie.
I love my smiths rosebud salve.
I love serving in the YW's.
I love reading a good book.
Spring is one of my favorite times of year. Even when its raining ;)
I love 30 rock, but mostly Tina Fey.
I love having lunch with friends.
I love my bed and cozy pillows.
I love drinking a big glass of milk. It makes me think of my mom and smile.
I love making other people feel good.
I love Sonics happy hour.
Warm bread in any form can pretty much turn a bad day into a delightful one.
I love taking bubble baths.
Getting a pedicure is a tiny piece of heaven.

I already feel better after making this short list. There are hundreds more I could mention. I am so thankful to be alive and healthy. I am thankful for the many opportunities I have been given and the many blessings my Father in heaven has given me. I have so much to be thankful for including a wonderful support system of family and friends. Instead of feeling sorry for myself and letting Satan eat away at my self esteem I think I will focus on the many talents and traits that I have been given. It doesn't matter if I am roughly the size of a barge or if my teeth aren't perfectly white and straight. What does matter is that I have the gospel in my life and a wonderful husband and fabulous friends. Ok so no more pity party for this lady! Bring on the sunshine and happy thoughts!!!!