Lagana Christmas 2010

This Christmas was filled with family time for me and Anthony. On December 23rd we drove to Anthony's sister's house in Port St. Lucie to have our Christmas with the Lagana side of the family. It was such a blast!!! We had so much fun watching our nieces and nephews open their presents. All of the adults tried to make each present seem like the most exciting thing in the world and I had to laugh when I noticed that my brother in law didn't even wait to see what it was, but would immediately make a big deal about whatever was being opened. He would exclaim: "OH MY GOODNESS, THAT IS SO COOL!!!!!!" or something along those lines.

We ate a lot of good food and then my sister-in-law, Happy, was generous enough to do a maternity photo shoot with us. She did such an awesome job!!! I totally love the pictures she took of us and I am amazed at how much work she put into editing and getting us the pictures so quickly. Thank you so much Happy, you are the best! Here are my favorites:



I can't get over my belly in this picture. It just looks so big!




I kept saying how I didn't personally care for the maternity pictures where the couple is looking very seriously at the belly, but I liked how this one turned out since we were smiling :)




I loved how this picture turned out, but it was extremely uncomfortable down on the ground like that! Plus I kept trying to make sure that my belly was pushed out since it would kind of disappear when I laid down.





I thought that this photo would end up as a goofy outtake when we took it, but I actually really like it.





I love, love, love this photo!!!





Anthony swears that he has gained a noticeable amount of weight since I've been pregnant. I keep telling him that until he gains as much as I have, then he hasn't gained enough!




Every time someone has asked us about what name we have picked out for the baby the answer has been that we are pretty sure it will be James, after my dad. Now that we have taken this photo (and another similar photo to be displayed in my next post) I think we can finally say that we have decided on James for sure!




This is picture is so sweet and artistic to me. I can't believe it is of us and not a photo in a pregnancy magazine.



Can you tell we are tired?

When things settled down from moving and Anthony's graduation, Anthony and I realized that we still needed to get Christmas gifts for each other. At first, we both couldn't think of anything that we wanted (aside from time off and and some sleep). We ( read: Anthony) has a bad track record with picking out gifts, so things usually aren't a surprise when we get gifts for each other. This year, Anthony let me know that he planned a surprise for me and that it was going to be good!! He meant to give it to me himself on Christmas Eve, but it actually came in the mail today and it looked like junk mail, so I opened it to make sure before I threw it away (!) Oops.

What did he get me? A gift certificate for an hour long massage in my home from a massage therapist that specializes in pregnancy massages!!!!!

What did I get him? A Homemedics Shiatsu massaging cushion with adjustable rollers and optional heat:


Can you tell that we are a little tuckered out?

Pregnancy Journal: 30 Weeks

I feel like someone has sprinkled miracle grow over my stomach! I am starting to feel big, although everyone still tells me that I don't look that big (which I appreciate and don't mind hearing!). All of the little day to day things that I never used to think about are starting to get...difficult. Things like bending over to pick up something off of the floor, for example. I used to just reach down and grab it up. Now, I take a deep breath and usually say something like "Dang it!!", like something really horrible happened, then I look for something to hold on to and then I squat down and pick it up as quickly as I can, but I usually still feel like I did it in slow-mo.

Speaking of slow-mo, I definitely am starting to feel sluggish. All I want to do is lay around and not move. Just thinking about small things (getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom, walking to the kitchen. etc...) can make me exhausted. Unfortunately, laying around still isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. On the bright side, I figured out how to sleep without getting bad back pain and hip pain!! I realized that not having enough support for my lower back was the culprit and as soon as I added another pillow underneath my back to my growing pillow nest I have been sleeping really well.

Funny pregnancy story: A couple of nights ago, the baby was really active, even more so than usual. I remember thinking he must be trying to do somersaults or something in there! I'm so used to it, that after adjusting myself in bed I went right to sleep. Anthony usually has his hand on my belly when we go to sleep and apparently after I feel asleep the baby was moving like crazy! Anthony was amazed at what was happening and thought it was so fascinating that he couldn't get to sleep because he wanted to see what the little guy would do next. Anthony told me later that he still can't believe that I slept through it :)

5 Years Ago Today

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary!! I can't believe that we have been married for 5 years already, it feels like yesterday. As I look back on that day, I am amazed at how happy I was without understanding how much it would only get better. Truly, each year I feel more and more in love with my wonderful husband and it makes me excited to think about what our life and relationship will be like when we have been married for 50 years!

Some of the things I love about my husband:

• He still gets excited to see me whenever we have been apart (like when I come home after being at work all day). After so much time together, we still prefer each other's company to anyone else's. When we are at home, Anthony will try to take whatever project he is working on into whatever room I am in so that we can be together. No living on separate sides of the house for us!


• He tells me how cute I am, how beautiful I am, how smart I am, etc.... almost every day! Every time he says it, it is so sincere, like he is still amazed that he gets to be with me and it makes me feel treasured.


• I have never heard him talk about, comment on, or even look at other women. Even celebrities! (Unless he is agreeing with me on something. And even then, I don't think he is really looking. I'm pretty sure he is just humoring me :)

So Happy Anniversary to us! I am happy that we had such a wonderful 5 years of just us in our little family and really excited to add to our family before our next anniversary. With both of us finally out of school, Anthony getting ready to start his new career, and both of us getting ready to be parents I really feel like we are moving into a new and exciting phase of our lives. We are so blessed!!

My Belly

Here are my most recent belly pictures, side by side. See how much this kid is growing???

Books and Food, What else do you need?

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I have started contributing to a new blog:

Cooking and Reading-The Perfect Combination

Me and three other gals will be posting regular book reviews of what we are reading and trying to share the best of the best of our healthy (or not so healthy but delicious) recipes. I will posting under the name "Gingerrose", so please add us to your favorites or subscribe to the blog through your reader if you are interested! So far it has been really fun and I already have a new recipe to try out this weekend :)

He Graduated!!

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anthony graduated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ignore the "Athletics" sign in the background, it will be photoshopped out eventually :)

Anthony was listening to the baby go: "Go Dad!!! Good job on graduating!!!!"

And of course, there had to be cookie cake:

Go Ant-Dawg, we knew you could do it!

Pregnancy Journal: 28 weeks

You get a two for one in this picture: a picture of my 28 1/2 weeks belly and a small sample of one of our new bathrooms in our new apartment! Isn't it big?? :)

I had my 28 week doctor's appointment yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised. I feel like my belly has grown so much in the past month that I was certain that I put on a lot of weight! Luckily, I only gained a few pounds so I feel very relieved and I feel much better about the upcoming holidays (since I know I will be eating A LOT of yummy food).

The heartburn has been getting better. I think it is a combination of changing my eating habits and the baby shifting a little lower and taking some pressure off of my stomach. I definitely feel like I have gotten some more eating room in there recently :) Of course, with the heartburn easing up comes a new pain: horrible pain in my hips and lower back at the end of the day and when I lay down. I've been trying out different stretches and sleeping positions to find what works and it has gotten a little bit better. I must say, sleeping has become a very complicated process. I have a wedge pillow that goes under my torso to keep me elevated for the heartburn, a regular pillow on top of that, a pillow between my knees, and a pillow in front of me to hug and rest my belly on. I really need to get a body pillow, but the super walmart near our new place doesn't have one! Any suggestions on where to get one would be greatly appreciated :)

The Finals Week Curse

I have started to think that Anthony and I are cursed somehow: we always end up having crazy things happen to us and crazy amounts of stress right around finals week (which is seriously the busiest time for work for me). Last semester Anthony's car got stolen, I had two migraines back to back, and my car died on I-75 in the middle of the night the day before finals started (remember? crazy!).

Of course, this semester tops it all! Last Monday our apartment got broken into while I was at work and Anthony was fishing!! Luckily our upstairs neighbor was home and was able to scare them away, but they had time to steal our laptop. Since our alarm was going off (we put one of those noise maker alarms on our doors) and the front door was wide open, the office maintenance people came and relocked our door for us and shut off the alarm. And then left. Without leaving a note, calling the police, or calling me. They did leave a message on Anthony's phone, but he didn't even get it until after I got home at 6PM. What if the thieves had come back and were waiting for me inside????

When Anthony got home we called the police and an officer came out to take a report. He saw our television and all of our electronics and told us straight out that they would be back to take the rest of it, it was just a matter of when. He also told us that the crime in the area was getting really, really, really, bad and even he suggested that we move if we wanted to keep our things. At this point, I wasn't even willing to sleep in the house, much less live there for the next three months! So, we took our valuables over to friends house that night so that they wouldn't get stolen and I started looking for a new apartment pronto.

As a result of all that, I ended up finding a place that had an apartment available and we spent the entire week checking out the area and then filling out the paperwork. Monday we made the decision to leave and Friday we had keys to our new place! Saturday was the big moving day and it was pretty grueling. I was soooooooo grateful for our family and friends that were able to come and help, especially since it was such short notice. Plus, this 7 month pregnant lady over here can't really carry anything and tires easily, so I felt really helpless!

Now, we just have a few rooms left to unpack and some decorating to do and we will be settled into our new place. We really love the complex and the area and Anthony is beyond happy to actually have a garage now for his boat and kayaks. Our dogs are getting used to going up and down the stairs in order to do their business (we are in a 2nd story apartment) and best of all, I have my own washer and dryer now. No more laundromat!! It is kind of surreal that last week I was living in one place and this week my home is completely different.

Anthony is graduating on Saturday, 3 more days!!! After that, finals will be over and hopefully we will have more time to breathe. Plus, I seriously need to take some more belly pictures. This baby is getting huge!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Anthony and I had a really great day with my family yesterday. We all went to my uncle's house and I decided to bring italian sausage apple stuffing. It was a hit!! I only see this side of my family once a year at thanksgiving, so it was fun to have everyone congratulate us on the baby and insist that I eat more food since I'm "eating for two". It was kind of surreal to think that next year we will be bringing our 8 month old for everyone to spoil!

Work has been really busy for me lately. Since finals week is coming up, I usually spend all day coordinating the testing schedule, talking to whiny professors and dealing with even whinier students who missed the deadline for scheduling their exam. In the past week I have gotten emails from professors that have included phrases like "STOP bothering me!", "Your requests are exhorbitant", "I don't know why student x is requesting to test at SDS, she looks normal to me", "I don't know why you keep emailing me, I have already filled out your lengthy form" (he hadn't by the way. At least, not correctly), "I'm confused and concerned by your online system. You need to improve it so it is easier to use" (It is basically the easiest online wizard you could ever use. It has instructions on EACH page and everything is clearly explained if you take a few seconds to read them). I feel like I am running some kind of customer service call center! I don't know how many times I have responded with, "I'm sorry that you feel fill in the blank. However, in order to administer your test we need such and such". There are times when I want to highlight, italicize and underline the word YOUR. Come on! We are providing a service, they should be thanking us instead of acting like we are bothering the heck out of them.

Anthony is completely done with his school work and with his clinicals and is counting down the days until graduation (14 by the way). He still has to keep studying all the time to get ready for his boards in February, but at least he has a few weeks where he can fit in some fishing :) I'm planning on working all the way until my due date, so it is going to be interesting to see how the timing of everything is going to work out. Anthony isn't going to be applying for jobs until he passes his boards, which he is taking the first or second week in February. So he will be doing job interviews and such right around my due date and will probably get a job right after the baby is born. Which means packing up and moving right after he is born...maybe this would be a time to consider professional moving companies? Either way, I am sure everything will work out perfectly. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much already, I trust that everything will happen the way it should.

I passed!

I got my lab results back today, and I don't have gestational diabetes!! I passed all four blood levels (you have to fail two out of four to get diagnosed) so I don't even have to worry about being "borderline" or anything. Whew!! I am definitely relieved, especially with the holidays coming up. Now I can plan on eating some pie on Thursday and not feel guilty :)

Pregnancy Journal: Week 25

This baby is getting bigger by the second!! I keep looking at my stomach and wondering how in the world can things get bigger and then, low and behold it does :) I had my 6 month doctors appointment last week and failed my glucose tolerance screening, so now I have to take off work later this week to go get the 3 hour glucose test done. Bummer!! I am not looking forward to having my blood drawn 4 times in 3 hours, that is for sure! After a lot of feeling down and disappointed, I've started to feel fairly optimistic about it. I did a ton of research and it looks like the screening isn't all that accurate. In fact, 85% of women who fail the first screening, end up passing the 3 hour one, so I have a pretty good shot at not having gestational diabetes.

Other than that bummer news, my doctor's appointment went really well. I am measuring exactly where I should be and my weight gain is right on target. The baby is active all of the time, which makes me wonder just how active of an infant we are in for. He seems to never sleep! Anthony still has a lot of fun feeling my belly and feeling him kicking and rolling around. Now we can definitely see him make my stomach move, which still is kind of crazy to watch. Sometimes I will be laying down and out of the corner of my eye, I will see the blanket move because of a really strong kick!

Anthony took his exit exam for graduation and he did pretty well! His instructor is the type that likes to make everyone feel nervous until the very end of the semester, so she hasn't posted any other grades. Now there are only a few little assignments he has to complete, about a weeks worth of clinical hours for him to do and he will be done! We are so ready for him to graduate :)