Happy 13 weeks to us!

Today we're 13 weeks pregnant and so happy to (finally) be entering the second trimester.

If you read my last post, I should update that I think I found the source of my evening sick episodes - my prenatal vitamin. I called my doctor's office and I'm temporarily taking a trusty ol' Flintstone chewable vitamin until I'm brave enough to try my prenatal again. I'm also happy to report that I'm on day three of keeping all my food down!

Here's a week five photo for comparison ... I'll periodically post them all but I don;t have any more time because Corey I are about to leave for a walk. enjoy!

Advice needed: pregnancy sickness

Weak stomach warning!

I'm dangerously close to starting the second trimester of pregnancy - the oasis that brings most pregnant women out of the land of nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and acne, and into the land of energy, "the pregnancy glow," joy, and settled hormones (or at least that's what I've heard).

Well, I can't wait that long! The past week (I'm in week 12 of pregnancy) has been the worst for my nausea and vomiting and I'd very much like to cure myself. My nice little reminder of pregnancy has turned into a mean old nag. Here's how it works ... morning and noon I feel "ok," I make sure to eat lots of small meals and get plenty of fluids. Although I feel crummy, I keep it down. Dinner is another story - I usually feel surprisingly well, and I eat a small-ish meal (like a bowl of mac and cheese, or soup and bread, etc) about 30 minutes after eating, it all comes back up.

Any advice?

Our toilet is starting to cower when it sees me coming.

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The photo above is my view on the way to work on a typical autumn day.

Expanding by the week ...

July 30, at 5 weeks pregnant, my profile looked like this.

At 7 weeks, on August 13 ...

At 9 weeks on August 27 ...

And today, at 11 weeks, on September 10.

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My sister gave me a BeBand. It's my new favorite fashion accessory, as my tummy is already quite crowded in most of my pants. At this stage in pregnancy, the BeBand works by letting me unbutton my pants and fitting this super elastic tube-top-like thing over the waist of my pants. It keeps them up (yay!) and keeps them flexible with my constantly growing midsection. It's invisible when I wear a longer-style shirt but if it did show it'd just look like a camisole showing under my shirt. And it's oh so comfy.

Thanks Caitlyn!

Montana wrap up

Phew, it's been a busy week. I'm going to attempt to conclude out Montana trip photo tour in one post. There's a lot of cool stuff to include, so wish me luck! Here we go ...

Thursday morning the boys and Grandma Katy headed out to the golf course for a round of golf.

After lunch we drove out to Flathead Lake.

We enjoyed the views while relaxing with a few snacks and drinks.

For dinner we drove into Three Forks, MT, and found a casual spot for pizza. They had a neat patio too.

Friday morning we had breakfast at the Buffalo in Whitefish, MT, then tackled the hike to the top of Big Mountain (now known as Whitefish Mountain). We did the long trail (minus the additional loop at the top) for a total of about 4 miles ... all the way up the mountain.

This was at the very beginning of the trail I had entirely too much energy.

After a little hiking ..

We found some great views for a few photos.

I quickly got very tired. Turns out, I was also very sunburned. So much for thinking the trail was mostly shady.

My mom looks way too zippy. No fair.

Once we arrived at "the top," we took the ski lift down to the bottom.

The views were great but I'm afraid of heights and I didn't really "enjoy" the ride.

At the bottom of the mountain, Corey found the down hill luge.

He went very fast!

Once we got all the adrenaline out of our systems, we spent some time at The Lodge in Whitefish. They're right on Whitefish Lake and the weather was awesome!

Saturday morning we rented kayaks and paddled from Whitefish Lake, down the Whitefish River. The night before, there was a TV show being filmed on the lake - kinda neat!

Floatin' and paddlin'

We had to paddle though a huge storm drain thing ... it reminded me of Disney Land.

It was such a scenic ride it was hard to see it all before floating past.

My dad spotted these bear tracks in the water. It's larger than my dad's hand, so it's pretty big. I made the photo black and white so you can more easily see the print.

Saturday was also Grandma Katy's birthday!

We took her out to dinner before departing for home the next morning.

Thanks for hosting us, Grandma! We had a wonderful time!

A new life

Corey and I are going to be parents!

We're due April 1, 2010, which happens to be Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. Yes, we're over-the-moon excited. This has already been an amazing journey and yet I know the best is yet to come.

I've got a mini-library of a few baby books, so I've been tracking the baby's development - did you know the baby is the size of a lime right now?! fascinating! The books also include pregnancy symptoms ... just in case the nausea and vomiting aren't enough of a constant reminder - ha!

Speaking of nausea - ginger ale and cranberry juice is my new favorite drink. I call it my "magic potion" because it always seems to calm my stomach.

Speaking of stomach - wow I can't believe how my body has changed already. Since this is a G-rated blog I'll just say that my tummy area sure seems to be thicker and rounder than it has ever been. As strange as it may sound, I love it.

Speaking of love - my sweetie husband Corey is amazing and I can't imagine traveling down this road without him. He'll be a wonderful father and I'm so lucky that this baby will have him to look up to.

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For those of you that know me all to well ... you might like to know that I've already started sewing for the baby. Surprised? I didn't think so. Photos coming soon.

Road trip by the numbers

2,003 - total number of miles traveled in our car

100 - miles I drove

1,903 -miles Corey drove

35 - average miles per gallon (MPG), thanks to our trusty Ford Focus

8 - nights we slept away from home

9 - lakes or rivers Corey skipped rocks into

5 - lakes/waterfalls/rivers Corey bathed in

16 - miles hiked

8 - miles we kayaked or canoed

8 - miles Corey and Dad rafted

4 - times we crossed the Continental Divide

4 - number of bears we saw

what a memorable and fabulous vacation!!!

Going to the sun

Wednesday morning we checked out of Many Glacier Hotel and headed through Glacier Park, via Going to the Sun Road.

It's impossible to drive over the pass and not see many of these vehicles - they are restored historic busses with roll-tops so they're convertible too! Tourists can buy a seat for a tour through the park.

Ford restored them and now they run on propane. Neat!

While driving over the pass we couldn't resist the photo ops.

Once we reached the top, we took a hike to Hidden Lake.

Along the way we saw mountain goats ...

And big horn sheep.

Hidden Lake was well worth the hike.

The beauty in the park will always amaze me.

While taking photos, this little guy wanted to join in the fun.

Once we got to Apgar, a town on the southwest side of the park, the boys skipped a few rocks and we enjoyed Lake McDonald.

Corey and dad opted for adrenaline with a white water raft trip down Flathead River.

Mom and I got the location for good photos - so we met them at "Bone Crusher" for some action shots.


They tossed ...

And turned and got very wet.

But they survived Bone Crusher!

Looks like they had fun :) Corey and dad are in the front row - Corey on the left, dad on the right.

At one point in the ride, a 70-year old woman in their boat, fell out in a rapid and had to float down the river until they could safely retrieve her. This is no Disney Land ride!

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Wednesday evening we arrived at Grandma Katy's house, where we spent the next four nights. While in Kalispell/Whitefish, MT, we kayaked, hiked, golfed and shopped ... stay tuned for more photos.