It's a Cecret

A couple of weeks ago we hiked with a couple of friends in our ward at church. We did a relatively easy hike near Alta up to a lake called Cecret Lake.

It was really a beautiful hike, and while I was exhausted for days afterward (to be expected maybe), we were really glad to get outside and enjoy ourselves before the weather turns too cold (which apparently it already has...three nights ago it was too hot to sleep and now we need three blankets on the bed. What the heck?) Plus, it was fun :)

Anyway, if you're looking for a local hike you should totes do this one!

Inner Cordage Offer Groin Murder

Oook, I've finally given in and decided to write one of those ubiquitous posts about being pregnant that make people simultaneously want to slap the writer and rub their hands together with excitement. There are just some things you need to write down. I'm keeping a private journal of updates and such to give to the kid later down the road (my mom did this with us and I have loved rereading it every so often). Even so, it's not like I can write "Dear Baby, today you inadvertently caused my stomach acid to burn a hole through my brain stem." Some things you just can't let your poor future offspring know.

So here you go.  Today(ish) I am 24 weeks. I have 2ish (depending on who you ask) weeks left before I hit the 3rd trimester.  I won't regale you with my multitudinous symptoms, but there are two that plague me most. 

The first actually just started about a week ago: the vilest of heartburns that radiates up to my earlobes. And it's not like I need to cut back on the chiles: water does the trick just fine. So does being hungry...which I often am. Ugh.  

The second has been around since about week 13ish, and is slowly getting worse: Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. Ahem. Everybody get out your anatomical skeleton models. Now, see all the parts where the two illia and the sacrum join? Now imagine someone is trying to pry those joinders  apart with a clam knife. Or a hacksaw, you pick. Now imagine that's what you feel when you sleep, turn over, stand up, walk, put your pants on, stand on one leg, ride a horse, make toast, pick your nose (just kidding, who does that psh), etc. You get the idea.

Other than those things and feeling really tired all the time, I can't (well, let's be honest: I do) really complain. I generally get enough sleep despite the midnight pee breaks. I've gained 21 pounds from the beginning and have nary a stretch mark (knock on myself). Brag brag brag.

My favorite part is probably feeling the baby move. I don't find it creepy. I don't even mind when it wakes me up at night. It's the one sure fire way I have of knowing things are going OK in there, and I'm glad to feel it. Maybe ask me again in another couple of months when the baby is so big it looks and feels like an alien is about to burst forth from my abdomen.

We did get the official results back from our ultrasound a few weeks ago. I think I already mentioned the babe is a girl. The scan also showed all the appropriate number of vessels, chambers, limbs, facial orifices, etc. So everything is just swell. Bonus: she's measuring a little big (hence many of the "ish"-s).

Helloooo baby...

I do feel like "a legitimate sort of huge truck" (come on guys, watch The Hot Rock a few dozen more times), but considering how big I know I'll be later on, I really can't complain. I'll be full term December 14th-ish, so the holidays are going to be just one huge partay.

From a couple of weeks ago (I'm making a slightly less horrible face than the one from this week).

And that's about it for now. I'll bore you with the deets on our upcoming childbirth classes and such later.

Side note:  if I read one more birth story that says the baby "gave a lusty cry" I'm going to give someone a lusty sock in the face.

Also: whoever said none of your hair ever falls out when you're pregnant can go chew on the huge wad that comes as a result of my daily shower.

Man I'm bitter...

Free Love, Baby

I'm almost embarrassed writing this because it's pretty dorky, but with so many people I know right now being pregnant, I figured someone out there could probably use this information to their advantage. And hey, everybody loves free stuff.

So. We are kind of doing this whole "baby thing" on a pretty minimalist budget. Anything we cant afford, we will simply do without.  Fact: it builds character to grow up sleeping in a cardboard box.

We have accumulated a rather small pile of stuff so far, and all of it, outside of a few items we bought "in case of accidents" right after we got married (mostly baby-related medical stuff and a few basic clothes), has been free. 

I took advantage of a free clothing swap my church hosted last month to get more neutral-ish clothes, including some awesome bunting from Baby Gap that still had tags! I'm pretty proud of that one.

Anyway, out of curiosity I started looking around for other possible free stuff for babies that didn't require I sell my soul (or email/mailing address) to the devil, and I discovered the magical gift bags that many baby-related stores hand out like fliers for a blood drive. We've gotten a whole bunch of free stuff this way, and while I think we've pretty much exhausted our freebie resources (besides a few potentially sketchy online subscription freebie coupon-y things), I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.  And here I am to tell you all about it!

Keep in mind I hadn't actually intended to do this initially, so I didn't always keep everything.  Plus with the bucket loads of coupons and "magazines" and junk, there's always more than I'm showing here.

One of the first places I got free stuff from was Motherhood Maternity. I know this place is kind of expensive, but they *do* have the most comfortable maternity jeans known to mankind, so if you're going to get a pair, just get one from here and you're all set. Also keep in mind I think this is only in-store.  Anyway, they send you off with a packet of free goodies, coupons, samples, etc.  What you see here is pretty much all I kept, so you decide if it's worth it.

(I'm doing this on my phone and it usually throws all the pictures to the end, so if you don't see it here, scroll down and see... Pic 1)

That's a 5oz "natural style" Avent bottle (similar to the Tommee Tippee style if you know it).  Ah, free things.

I think I also got similar coupon-y things and a little bottle of Palmer's Shea Lotion for stretch marks for 50¢ from Zulilly.

The most awesome packages, though, come when you start registries, which is pretty fun anyway, so this is really an all-win situation.

I had heard that Buy Buy Baby had the best freebie packets, so we went there first. I doubt anyone will ever even look at my registry at that store, and we only put like 10 things on it anyway since we were mostly there for the free stuff.  But if you can get past the slightly ridiculous store name, hide your face and go in, because the gift bag really is worth it.

(Pic 2)

I didn't even keep all the samples because they weren't relevant (ie little toddler fruit snacks), but there were seriously a bunch, including a few "mom-related" ones that aren't pictured here.  The bottle is another 5oz natural Avent bottle, but I had to mail in for it using a voucher that came in the bag.  It takes a long time to come, FYI, so forget it if you're impatient.

Target also has pretty decent gift bags. Not nearly as much stuff, but still some cool things.  We actually ended up getting two of these because we went back to another Target to add a carseat/stroller thing that they didn't have at the other one, and the lady (perhaps because she was distracted) gave us another packet. But they had different stuff in them, so I'm not complaining.

(Pic 3&4)

Things of note in the first one: lion teething toy, Mam pacifier, diaper samples, and the blue thing is a refill for a diaper genie, which we aren't getting, but we can still use it I'm sure.

In the second one: diaper samples, and a 5oz Tommee Tippee bottle-- I have to say, most excellent. I now have 3 little bottles of super quality and didn't pay for them. Other than the bottle, this bag was pretty scant. Maybe they spent their budget on the bottles.

Anyway, last of all is Babies R Us. I was pretty disappointed by this one. 

(Pic 5)

Yep, that's it.  Wipes and milk storage bags. They also gave us a couple of sample parenting magazines, but who cares about those, really? Oh, and there was a mail-in offer for a free little cooler thing to carry bottles in on-the-go, but obviously I haven't gotten it yet. Hopefully it arrives before this baby graduates high school.

But the store we went to was also having a little game thing at the time (not sure if it's all stores though), where you got a little plastic tote thing  with formula in it if you registered for 150 items in one go.

Of course, we took that as a challenge and pulled it off (umm...nobody look at that registry until I remove all the extra sippy cups and superfluous electronics, mmkay?). But what we didn't realize was that the formula (which we were planning to save as emergency food storage for the baby), was two 32oz cans of liquid formula, which expires a week before the baby's due date.  So I guess if you're going to try for that one, don't get overexcited until you know exactly what's being offered (and we ended up giving it to my aunt, so someone still wins).

(Pic 6)

So I guess that's it. My recommendation is to register anywhere and everywhere (although I don't think Walmart does gift bags, if they do, tell me, and I have found my weekend entertainment), even if you don't plan on telling anyone about the registry, because hey, free stuff. In fact maybe you don't even have to be pregnant yet...no one has to know...