Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was great! Trevor and I went down to Arizona to spend time with my extended family, so we left Tuesday morning and stayed until Sunday morning. Everyone spoiled us so much! My Aunt Mandy took us shopping and got us several cute outfits for Alia, including the requisite duck-hooded towel. My friend Courtney gave me a lot of clothes too, including several outfits that her daughter never used, because she was out of newborn clothes as soon as she was born. My grandma also let me take some of the children's books that she had at her house for her grandchildren when we were all young, plus sent us home with some Christmas presents, so we'll have something to put under our tree (when we get one).

Thanksgiving was a blast. The food was delicious and after we ate we all took a walk around the golf course behind my grandparent's house to let our food digest. We also played the game Scategories, and some Wii sports games together, which was fun. But the best thing about Thanksgiving actually happened that night when Trevor and I were watching a movie together. Alia was kicking at me pretty consistently, so I put my hand over her to see if she would stop, and she didn't. Now, normally every time I've put Trevor's hand on my stomach, she's stopped moving, so I didn't hold out a lot of hope this time. But she surprised me by giving one final kick before stopping, and Trevor actually got to feel it! He gasped and smiled at me, and asked, "Was that her?" It was such a cute moment!

On our way back home, we stopped at the Grand Canyon because Trevor had never been there, and that was a lot of fun. We just went for a little hike through the woods until we hit the rim, and then took a few pictures, but by the time we got back to our car, I was exhausted. It might be because I'm in bad shape...but I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy.

Alia is now kicking me up in my ribs, thanks to my short torso, and sometimes it can be a little uncomfortable. In fact, the other day I was actually trying to nudge her back down, because it hurt, but she's a stubborn baby. I also felt her kicking the other day with my hand over my stomach and could actually feel a distinct body part pushing against me, rather than just a random thump, so that was really neat! I have my glucose test at my appointment this week, which involves a blood draw, so I'm really not looking forward to that, but it will be nice to have the test over and no whether I have gestational diabetes or not. The funny thing is, I'm so bad at getting my blood drawn that I actually scheduled the appointment so that Trevor can be there with me, in case I pass out (since I came pretty close last time!).

Well, only 3 months, 20 days, and 23 hours left to go! ;)

Halfway There!

Well, I've finally reached the halfway point in this pregnancy. Trevor and I had an ultrasound last Friday and it was confirmed that our baby is definitely a little girl. All her measurements looked great and she was VERY active during the ultrasound! The tech even remarked, "You might have a soccer player on your hands!" Then, at my 20 week appointment with my doctor, she was listening for the heartbeat and said, "You have a very active baby." So who knows...we may have a little spaz on our hands. Haha!

The pregnancy has been going great. I occasionally get acid reflux, but usually a Tums can solve that problem, and I still feel more tired than normal, but extra sleep takes care of that (the problem is trying to work that extra sleep in!). Trevor and I are pretty set on the name "Alia" and we're thinking about using the name "Yvonne" for her middle name, because it was my mother's middle name (as well as my dad's sister's middle name, and her daughter's middle name). So her name will most likely be: Alia Yvonne Koch. :)

Her profile (The ultrasound tech said that she had a pretty little face, which is what they said at my last ultrasound too!)

Her arms lifted up to her head

Touching her toes together :)

In this picture she has her hand over her nose

This was a nice "action shot" of her kicking at me

For Halloween this year, Trevor and I dressed up as pirates. I wore my costume to the school on Monday because everyone was dressing up, and my kids kept asking me what Alia's costume was. So I told them that she was a "baby pirate". Not very creative, I know. I should have said something random, like, "She's a kangaroo." My students love to touch my stomach and say hello to Alia, and they're always asking me, "How old is your baby now?" even if they just asked me yesterday. They're going to be so excited when I bring Alia in to meet them after she's born, although I'm going to have to tell one of my students that she can no longer scream, "Wake up, Alia!!!"

I guess I should also mention our trip to California a week ago. Trevor's cousin McKay had his homecoming from his mission, his cousin Katie had just had her baby, and his cousins Taylor and Colby had birthdays, and since they all live in California, it was the perfect excuse for a quick trip. We left Friday morning, drove all day, and got there for Taylor's birthday party in the evening. It was good to see everyone again, since we don't see the California clan very often. On Saturday we went and saw Katie's adorable little boy, hit the beach, and then Trevor and I went to Medieval Times for dinner because I had never been there. They came around towards the end and asked if I would need a to-go box, and I just laughed. Sure, it might have been enough food for a king, but I'm a pregnant woman, gosh dang it! So that was a lot of fun. On Sunday we went to McKay's homecoming and then celebrated Colby's birthday before hitting the road again! So it was a short trip but it was fun.

Landon borrowed his wet suit from the Hollands. At first he put it on inside out, and then later we found out it was also on backwards.

It was a cold and windy day, but that phase Trevor and Landon. They were pretty determined to go boogie boarding!

I bought this hat in anticipation of a sunny day at the beach, but instead of protecting me from the sun, it ended up keep a lot of the wind from hitting my face.

Trevor and Landon after catching some waves. They must have been freezing, but they were loving it!

Trevor and I at Medieval Times. It was dark in there and I didn't account for the longer exposure time, hence the horrific blurriness of the picture.

Well, that's all for now, so I'll finish off this post with my 20 week belly shot. It's exciting now that people can look at me and guess "Pregnant?" rather than "Two many french fries?" In fact, one lady the other day pointed at my stomach and said, "Oh, I almost didn't notice that. It's a girl?" So not only are people assuming I'm pregnant, they're now assuming the gender as well! Haha!