November Update

Here is how the last month has gone!

Adam: has continued to enjoy his job. He has also taken part in planning their department Christmas party. We’ve been especially grateful for the sick leave as well because all three of us got a super nasty stomach bug.

Ashley: My biggest news is that I’m pregnant!! It's been a longer journey than trying for Eli but we got there in the end. We found out at the beginning of October and since then I’ve been super nauseous every day. Luckily I haven’t thrown up, which I didn’t with Eli either, but I definitely feel like I’m more nauseous than I was with him and the things that helped with him aren’t helping now. Adam has been SO helpful and most days will come straight home from work and directly start making dinner since that’s usually my worst sick time which is very inconvenient. Gosh I miss cooking! Eli has also been pretty good and is very familiar with the phrases “mommy sick” or “mommy sleepy” haha. We’ve been watching a lot of Netflix and DVDs. I had to switch to maternity jeans a lot earlier than with Eli, partially because I’m already a bit overweight, so I am showing but there is a layer of fat and skin before the hard tummy part (thank you Eli for that haha). I’ve had a couple appointments with my OB as well. I was really worried that I wouldn’t find someone who would support my desire for an intervention-free hypnobirth but I did! She has been fantastic and super excited for me to use hypnobirthing again. So I am currently at 12 weeks and hopefully that means that the nausea will be gone soon.

Eli: is growing up so much!! He talks a ton and about 75% of it is understandable to people other than us haha. He is a very active little boy and has recently found a love of jumping and dancing. His memory is very good so I feel like he constantly surprises me with things that he knows. He seems to be excited about the baby as far as he can understand. He loves looking at the ultrasound pictures of baby. Although ever since putting out our little nativity, I am slightly worried he is confused. We told him which piece was "baby Jesus" but we've also talked a lot about the baby in mommy's tummy and recently he said baby Jesus was in "tummy" soooo...he might think I'm pregnant with Jesus hahaha. He is such a sweet boy and loves the gospel. He loves looking at pictures of Christ and he talks about how he loves Jesus. He also really likes pointing out temples either in pictures or in person when we've visited the visitor center at the Idaho Falls temple. Some of his favorite things to do is to video chat with people, play with daddy, and play with our little electronic keyboard (he usually will command us to dance to whatever he plays on it haha).

top left: Eli loving on Daddy whenever he's home, top right: Adam's oldest sister and some of her family came for a quick visit, bottom left: enjoying a ride on Daddy, bottom right: just being a cutey :)

Girls Weekend: Right before Thanksgiving, I got to take a quick trip down to Las Vegas to party mommy style with my best friend Kayla! And it was baby-free! We walked until our feet wanted to explode but it was so much fun. We got to see a lot of the strip and then in the evening we went to a show. You might have seen IMomSoHard on Facebook or YouTube but if you haven't, it's basically two moms that do hilarious videos about being moms. When we heard they were doing live shows, we knew we wanted to go together if one happened to be near one of us. So, we got tickets to their Vegas show! It was SOOO funny (if a bit less censored than their videos). It was a mixture of improv and standup and it was perfect. The next day we basically laid in bed all day watching netflix because we both (but mostly me) could barely walk haha. Then Monday was some quick shopping and then my flight home. I'm so glad we could get together and I am so grateful for Adam happily willing to hold the fort at home.

Thanksgiving: This year was a bit crazier than usual as my parents and Stephanie's family came to stay with us! But it was so wonderful having them here. Sadly my other sister wasn't able to make it but maybe another year. Eli was over the moon to have Grandma and Grandpa Tanner as well as his cousin Anders here. He still asks for them almost daily haha. My parents did a night drive and got here around midday so when Eli woke up from his nap, he got a surprise seeing my dad walk upstairs from the basement. I really should have videoed his reaction because it was priceless haha. For the holiday itself, my dad did his usual bbq turkey and we made all the fixings. Other than a mishap with the turkey timer malfunctioning, all went relatively smoothly! The kids didn't mind the wait a bit as they were quite content playing with each other and the grandparents. The next day we just quietly spent at home putting up Christmas decorations and then Stephanie and her family went back to Provo. My parents stayed until Sunday morning which Eli would have chosen them to stay forever. I am so grateful that we have the living space and means to host people for such a fun holiday and hope to do it again.