5 Weeks

It's strange being pregnant and then having a small baby because you measure you life in weeks.  15 weeks pregnant: you're out of the first trimester!  20 weeks: you can know the gender.  32 weeks: your baby would survive if born.  38 weeks: full term - have the baby already!

Then after they're born it's a weekly, almost daily change, in the things they can do.  My baby sneezed 5 times in a row just now and then smiled at me.  He's five weeks old yesterday and he's changed so much.  And I take so many pictures I just need to share some :)

Three days old

Week and a half old

Three weeks old

One Month Old!!  Look at that little belly :)

Pregnancy... better than winter

I'll explain the title of this post in a minute, but first, WOW it has been a while since I've blogged.  Not for lack of thinking about blogging, but somehow it just didn't happen.  Anyway, some of the things that I did while I was away was; get married, graduate with my masters, move to a new state, and have a baby.

Really though what I wanted to talk about was a topic that everyone who has been talks about and yet no one talks about.  Pregnancy.

First, my pregnancy was really pretty easy.  I was sick for about 6 months but overall I was really healthy.  The sickness brings me to my first point:  Don't listen to anyone who tells you that they know what you can do to cure morning sickness.  That's complete and total bull.  You're different.  Embrace being different and good luck finding your own cure.

My next point is about your legs.  I'm sure everyone has seen those pinterest posts about how it's winter now (not right now but in the story...) and that means 4 months without shaving your legs.  Let's try 8 months while you're pregnant.  It's better than winter.  Not that you don't want to, but at first it's being nauseous bending over, then by the end you can't bend over at all so it's just not happening.  Better hope you have a husband who loves you (mine made fun of me).

Next:  "Normal weight gain is 25-35 pounds." HA.  BAHAHAHA.  That is just designed to make you go into panic mode every time you visit the doctor and they weigh you.

Anyway, lots of things about pregnancy were not as advertised.  But at least you get something cute at the end of it.  Case and Point:

Quotable Quotables

I just recently went to New York City and walked through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Modern Art. There was a lot of art that I really loved, and a great deal of art that I really didn’t care for. Honestly I’m not a modern art person. I recognize that it is a big genre but I kind of feel that if I have enough talent to make a canvas of one solid color and just cut the corner off, then it shouldn’t be counted as art. I know that art is very much a personal preference but I have no talent for it so whenever there’s something that I could do… I don’t think of it as art.

I mean seriously?


But this is an aside to my thought about the whole art experience. All through these museums there were quotes from the artists. There was an entire Picasso exhibit in MoMA and next to every painting was a quote about it.

This got me thinking: Are my thoughts quotable?

I was talking to a friend of mine and she said that now sometimes she thinks in terms of blog posts. Like “this would be a great thing to blog about and the title would be…” After going to these museums I was taking pictures (my form of artistic expression) and I realized that while I take pictures I think to myself about what aspect of the picture I want to focus on, why I’m taking this specific picture, and what it all says to me. For example, on the way home from NYC I was on the airplane and the clouds were so fascinating. I took about 50 pictures just of the clouds while I was on the plane, trying to accent certain formations, and make sure I got all the different colors I could see. And I was having thoughts while I was doing it about how the clouds hold together, how it is different when we’re on the ground, and what it meant to me in terms of the Lord being everywhere and creating these beautiful things for me to see. And then I wondered whether anyone else would care to hear my thoughts? If I were to die a famous photographer (HA!) would there be anything interesting/fascinating/enlightening to put on my little quote tabs?

Basically I have no idea. I mean I find my thoughts interesting, but that doesn’t speak for anyone else. And then we have the problem that inherently comes with observational scientific experimentation (proving a science theory through only observation); an environment is changed because it is being observed. You can never completely observe something without affecting it. Meaning, once I began wondering if my thoughts were profound enough, I started trying to think more profound thoughts about the pictures I was taking. It was so weird! Although I’m pretty sure my thoughts are still not good enough to go in a museum, it makes me wonder whether Picasso and Monet and these other artists thought about their thoughts before sharing them.

How well do you know me?

My friend Elizabeth recently did this test for all the people who read her blog where she listed 7 truths and 3 lies about herself to see how well people knew her.  Well I thought that was a great idea, so I decided to do it.  Hopefully the people who actually read this rambling thing will think it's interesting too....

It was kind of an interesting exercise in self reflection though to even figure out 7 things about myself.  Because I of course could write I'm a girl which is true, but basically as boring as the socks I'm currently not wearing.  So being the scientist I am, this was an experiment in Heidi-land.... and awaywego.

1. My favorite thing to do as a child was to climb trees.
2. History is my favorite subject in school.
3. I have been known to eat entire cheesecakes, rolls by the dozen, and bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
4. I graduated Magna cum Laude from ASU.
5. My favorite activity is watching movies with friends.
6. I am an avid cake decorator, bead-er, and jewelry maker.
7. I have never lost a game of air hockey (I don't count games where the table cheats)
8. I am the youngest of four.
9. My favorite thing to take pictures of are people.
10. My favorite place to visit is Washington D.C. (am I supposed to put two periods here??)

So there we go.  Haha all the interesting things I could think of about myself....  Enjoy.

Mother-Lovin'!

Do you like how I totes just psyched you out about what I was maybe going to start talking about?  Like srsly were you freaked that I might start swearing and possibly be enraged??  Whew, well you can breath a sigh of relief because I'm not.

It is in fact something quite the opposite of that.  We were talking today in church about the qualities that make a good family (specifically qualities in our mothers) and also about charity and how the two intertwine.  So I thought I would take justamoment to acknowledge the traits that the amazing women in my life have taught me to admire.  This list of women begins first and foremost with my mother, but includes many other surrogate moms, sisters, and amazing friends.

* One of the things I have always valued that my mother taught me to appreciate was the humor in all situations and how humor can enrich your life.  Some of my favorite memories involve my family laughing together.  It's helped us through a lot and has brought us much closer together.  (ironically, while humor is valued greatly in my home, my sarcasm has often gone "too far" in my mother's eyes.  Hence the ridiculosity at the beginning of this rambling :)

* My mother seems to have an unceasing amount of love for anyone she comes in contact with.  She is giving with everything she has with anyone she brings into her circle.  She so readily loves and cares and I admire that a lot.  It's something I aspire to.

*  From the very beginnings of my memory cleanliness, in all areas of my life, has been beaten instilled into me by both my parents.  My dad was more dictatorial about this instillment but it was my mom who took the time to explain why it is in my best interest to be this way.

This Mother's Day list could go on for a while.  I am very blessed by the women in my life, they are all amazing and I strive to be like them.  They are all so supportive and their faith in me keeps me warm at night :).

Oh I'm sorry, I forgot that you're special...

I'm going to be honest about this, I was having kind of a hard time at church yesterday.  My mind was listening just enough to only catch onto the odd things that were said.  Most these comments were offhand but my wandering mind caught on them and could not let go.

Whoa, okay that sounds truly terrible once I admit it.  I was paying attention, I promise, my thoughts were even church related, they just were perhaps not on the topic the teacher was trying to present....

Anyway, my inattentiveness aside, one of the comments I heard and could not stop pondering was about the attitude of the people who watched Jesus grow up and could not accept that he was anything special.  The comment was something along the lines of "they were so close to Him they forgot that he was special."

This got me thinking that we do this all the time with the people who are closest to us.  For some reason we begin to take for granted the aspects that make a person special, unique, and amazing, and focus instead on the quirks that are nails on a chalkboard annoying.  Ha.  Well that's disappointing.  "I'm sorry, I was so busy hating everything you do that I really did forget that you're special!"  My bad....

So in that spirit, and the spirit of Easter and new beginnings I thought I'd say some things that I find truly special about the people I love.  But I don't want anyone to get a big head here... so I'm not naming names about these special attributes.  You're not that special.  So if you know it's you, perfection, know that I love you.  If you're not sure if it's you, assume it's you, feel special, and know that I love you.  If you don't think any of them are actually about you, pick your favorite, and know that I love you :).

*  You can talk to anyone.  Truly.  I'm in awe of that.  Because I'm awkward.

*  I hope I get to be you when I grow up, because your pictures are amazing.

*  Do you really need to be right all the time?  It's annoying but still the coolest thing ever.

*  You make me laugh, all the time.

*  You're on the crazy train often, but it teaches me how much you care about the things in your life, I hope I have half as much to care about.

*  You make everyone feel special, including me.  I adore that immensely.

*  You enjoy having fun almost as much as me and are willing to go on any adventure with me.

*  You know yourself so well, your confidence is inspiring.

* You persevered through harder times than I can imagine.

So many more things but I'm getting dangerously close to telling stories no one wants to hear.  But I think a resolution to be less mindful of the annoying, and more observant of the special is definitely what I need in my life.

Remembering Lent

Easter has come and gone.  And with it my Lent resolution to abstain from desserts, candy, and chocolate.

In some ways it was a really long forty days.  But surprisingly it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  Overall I was surprised at how well I could do without the things that truly, I do love.  And truthfully I didn't cheat!  There were some days that I had some dessert, but I justify this through my mini-Easters.  (In real Lent, Sunday doesn't count towards your abstinence because it's a mini-Easter)  And, many of my meals were chocolate mint protein bars but I don't count those as chocolate because I'm pretty sure everything about those bars are fake chemicals.  I feel actually really proud of myself for sticking to it like I did.  Although honestly that may have been in part because almost every one I know knew that I was doing this, so cheating would have involved going against the intense stubbornness my character is ingrained with.  I was perhaps too open with this resolution...  haha.

My most academic thought about the experience (are you ready for this) was my surprise at how often I was presented with this type of food.  I really didn't realize how often I go to activities, friends cook, or I make myself desserts, have candy, or are eating chocolate.  It was honestly almost every day that someone around me had the forbidden fruit as it were and offered it to me.

I also realized that I am WAY more picky than I like to tell myself I am.  Haha it's much easier to refuse desserts, that honestly I don't like under normal circumstance, when I was "observing Lent".  There really are a lot of things that I had NO problem giving up.
BUT.... on the other hand there were things that I realized I like a lot more than I like to tell myself I do.  Seems to me there really is something to that whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing.

Overall, it was a pretty cool experience and something I'm glad I did.  I do need to thank Stephanie, for being SUCH a good friend and eating double helpings of everything we encountered just for me :).  What a true friend.

And in case anyone was wondering I broke my fast with lovely, chocolately, fantastical brownies.  My favorite.