What a difference just a few weeks makes

This is my christmas time belly... this was just after my 20 week ultrasound where I am about 5 months.
and this is me now! 6 months along... sliding into my third trimester now and feeling her move so much. I hadnt grown at all and then it seemed like she just popped out. I love having a belly now. I love seeing her move. Last night chris and I stared at my stomach for like half an hour because you could see her every move... theres an elbow... oh theres her foot... theres her knee in my belly bottom... she was even high-fiving chris and we like to think trying to hug him... it was like she was trying to push her way out of my belly. She is a strong girl. I cant wait to see her pretty little face. I registered yesterday at babies r us and had so much fun! I dont have any family in utah so my friend katey jensen was gracious enough to lend her experienced mom expertise. (isnt it so funny that her name is my maiden name?) It was a blast and I am officially stoked for this kids room. We move next saturday (anyone in utah with a truck wanna help? haha) and I am dying to get into the new apartment and organize and decorate. Thats all for now... i will let you know when my inny belly button becomes an outie or if i start wetting myself. Being prego is the best. :)

On the mind of the prego lady...

1. I wish Lorelai would be here for Easter... just a couple weeks early. April is a good month baby! Share mommy's birth month. Let's see if I can convince her.

2. I love lost. Chris and I watch it in bed on the lap top and cant wait for the final season to start. We watched 2 episodes of season 5 last night and ate almost an entire jar of salsa with corn chips. Ugh married life... you suit me all too well.

3. My husband rocks. AS IF i need reasons... but here they are anyway: he is taking the hardest semester of school of his life and is still finding time for work, he rubs coco butter on my belly so I dont get stretch marks, and when I asked him when I got to be cute again he rubbed his eyes and said "ugh... now!" and then came and jumped on me for a hug. Once again... being married to chris=the greatest thing on earth.

4. My hips kill me these days due to working 40 hours a week and getting my apt ready for a move in a week and a half. Oh and there's that bowling ball I keep in my uterus that is making my hips spread. I sleep with a pillow under my head, a pillow under my tummy to support it, a pillow between my knees so the hips will stop complaining and a pillow under my arm so I dont roll onto my belly. Overall I have decided that pregnant people should not work or sleep. They should mostly just eat. Oh and lose their hair... yeah its kind of ridiculous how much I have lost in the last 4 weeks. Not balding yet but just give it time.

5. Dont listen to mommy lorelai... being pregnant is the best thing ever. I am sure there are people out there dying to lose their hair and have acid reflux if they get a baby out of it. In the last month I have seen so many miscarriages in my office. My greatest fear now is a stillborn. I see it everyday- I face the reality that this little life is very precious and so very vunerable and could be lost at any moment. So regardless of the woes I am grateful that she is staying put for now. Grateful for every check up where Dr Glenn tells me my baby is heathly and perfect. Grateful to hear her strong heart beat and grateful when she kicks me in the ribs and makes me wanna puke. (She was breech for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy and just flipped it seems... all the kicking is in my lungs haha). Thanks hun... for sticking with me.

6. On a lighter and completely meaningless note- THE BACHELOR!!! This is the first season I have ever watched of it and I am so sadly addicted. I watch it while Chris is at his bishopric meeting... sounds horrible eh? Tenley you have got to be mormon... who outside utah even knows the name tenley?? I wanted Ally, Tenley, and Ella in the top 3 so my hopes are already shot. I swear if Vienna makes it another week I'll puke. Not so much because she is stupid and spoiled and annoying but mostly because I am suspicious that she is a transvestite. Did you hear my claws come out? Yeah so maybe its catty but she looks like a man.

7. The baby room colors: red orange lime green and purple... kinda like the picture above. BRIGHTS. I have a crib and rocking chair. Got it off of KSL- both for 100 bucks! and its pottery barn and practically brand new. I will post pics once we moved and have it all set up. Gotta go get dinner ready... nausea gone=lots of home cooking. Praises and thanks.

last christmas without lorelai hazel

Yup... 20 weeks along and wishing her arrival was sooner. Chris and I are going to have a daughter. Her name will be Lorelai Hazel. Lorelai is german and comes from a myth that a rock face resembled a woman so beautiful that sailors would crash their boats just trying to reach her. We saw the actual loreley (thats how it is spelled at the actual site) in germany this summer and fell in love. Hazel is hebrew for "god sees"and a family name on Chris' side. 

Lorelai's first christmas gift... i wish they made socks that look like shoes for adults... 

The very large and therefore crowded nativity in our front room. This is an awesome wedding present idea- thank you to Brother and Sister Groom for thinking ahead.

Our little tree stays lit each night until we go to bed. It is decorated with hand crafted paper ornaments that took chris and I an entire sunday. It warms my heart... lit trees in homes make me feel that "love is all around" christmas feeling.

Sunday pork roast. I LOVE being a wife on Sundays when my husband is at church all day for his calling. Not sitting by him in sacrament has been tough but the look on his face when he comes home to dinner and a clean house makes me feel like superwoman.

The prego belly... this dress made me look pregnant before i was so it shows it off best. I am half way to a fully cooked baby... come on spring!

pondering soul mates

My new nephew Kason...

Chris stared at the baby for like 6 hours straight... couldn't even be distracted by a soccer game!!

So Dieter (as in uchtdorf) gave a great little devotional on love where he stated that he didnt believe in soul mates. I was about to question his judgement... which probably was not a good idea since he CAN actually receive revelation for me... when he said that he did on the other hand know that after you get married your wife/husband BECOMES your soul mate. I know the point he was trying to get across was stop looking because you already picked yours so dont think the grass is greener elsewhere etc... but I decided it was proof that chris and I are soul mates. Dont worry... I am fully prepared to back this up with evidence.

1. I told chris I was tired of my long hair and that if i chopped it off I would actually style it more. His response? Thats what you said about your hair being blonde, then brown, then when you cut your bangs. How did those work out? ... Yeah remember how I said I currently hate my hair?

2. I love to cook and chris loves to eat... since the day we got married I have made that boy's breakfast lunch and dinner. This is not an exaggeration. But when I got pregnancy nausea to the point that toast smelled to0 spicy and couldnt stand to be in the kitchen chris fully took on the responsibility of meals... by budgeting for take out everyday ha ha.

3. When traditions or views come up that are different, we have FUN deciding how to compromise. Christmas this year will consist of advent and many other german traditions... but we are still opening most of the presents on christmas morning (instead of christmas eve as he had previously done). PS advent is awesome and I love any tradition that requires more food.

4. Chris felt our little one kick just a couple days ago. The baby is measuring large for my dates so I may be further along than previously anticipated, although my tummy is still rather non pregnant looking. We didnt expect it for a while and chris all but cried his eyes out. If I had picked the perfect reaction... the one that i would giggle about at midnight when i was still awake thinking about it... it wouldnt have been as good as this. He kissed my tummy for about 1/2 an hour.

5. Although this is definitely not a comprehensive list (including every reason may take me years and by then I would have many more reasons) this reason may be my favorite. Chris is my answer. Bad day at work? stressed out over finances? needing to feel loved, appreciated and even revered? chris is my answer. Needing someone to hold me? oh chris is THE answer. Chris has no suffocation or discomfort fears. He will gladly stick his face in my neck so hard he cant breath and cover his entire head in my hair all night... in fact its pretty much a ritual. All my wildest dreams about marriage couldn't have come close to the joy I have with him everyday. Like today... a tuesday before finals when he should be stressed out but instead took time to hug me in the kitchen for about five minutes and thank me for macaroni and cheese. So I post this not on our aniversary or for valentines... this post is for tuesday which is just one of my seven favorite days being married to chris mann.

BABY!!!!

I really wish these were bigger to show detail but here is a look anyway. These were just at 12 1/2 weeks. I am 14 weeks now. Out of my first trimester and I find out the preliminary sex of the baby on friday. What I mean by preliminary is that if its a boy- it will stay a boy... but if it is a girl, it could still turn into a boy by our 20 week ultra sound. I guess we'll see what happens. Top picture is baby's arm and hand. Second pic is the leg and foot... big feet. :)


These ones are too tiny... I will try again later when i can be more technically savy. Top pic is back of head and bum. Then Spine, then FACE!!!!! woah!!!! I am already wholeheartedly in love.

The quick update

So sadly grandpa didn't quite make it to the font. He was going to get baptized this saturday but passed away friday night at 10:15 pm in his sleep. But isn't it great to know our gospel doesn't end there? We can do work for the dead and both my grandparents have the choice to except it. Sad story but at least we can still have hope!

A Mann baby but I think she's a girl

SO..... I'm pregnant!!! 10 weeks actually!!! Working in an OBGYN office has its benefits and I have already had consultations, bloodwork, 2 ultrasounds, heard the baby's heart beat etc for FREE. Its crazy cool when you hear the heart beat- its SO fast compared to your own. Chris is positive its a boy but i am positive its a girl. I guess we'll see whose right. Another benefit of working in the OBGYN office is that I will be able to tell my gender in the next 2-4 weeks. NUTS. I couldn't be more excited if I tried. It is funny timing- I will be 11 weeks pregnant on our first aniversary (which is sunday). SUCK ON THAT ENDOMETRIOSIS!!! I had surgery in June and the Dr told me it could take a long time for me to get pregnant if i ever did. Well the Lord had 2 months later in mind. Now that i feel safe to blog about her I will be updating this thing a little more.

Update for family- my grandpa was given 2 weeks to live if he stopped Chemo and 8 if he kept with it. He opted out on the chemo. He wants to just "ride it out" which is really hard to hear. But do you want to know what makes it all ok?! My grandpa- who has been an avid christian but entirely antimormon his entire life- wants to be baptized this week. He has met with the missionaries just a few times and this comes as a complete surprise. Life is amazing. Families can be together forever. I love the gospel!!!!