Portland, again.

We ate at the food trucks at least once a day while in Portland.  One stand had the best Thai iced tea (my very favorite drink) and the lady that ran the stand called everyone, "baby."  I also had such good bi bim bap, Indian food, and the same falafel gyro twice.

Brian decided to get the famous Snitzelwich on our last day and it was amazing.

It had this super spicy sauce that would kind of burn your nose sometimes if you took a big bite, but it was the best sandwich ever.  If we go to Portland again, I'm getting one every day.

We took our food and sat in the little brick courtyard and watched people feeding the pigeons.

 Celebrating Brian's 32nd birthday!

 We took a drive along the Columbia River Scenic Highway to get to Multnomah Falls.  There was the coolest lodge right below the falls with a big fireplace.  I ended up relaxing by the fireplace while Brian walked up to see the falls because I was wearing shorts and it was so cold.

 We stopped along the way at the Columbia River Overlook.

 We went to the Pittock Mansion to see the sunset over the city.

Now we are in Eugene, Oregon visiting our friends, Laura and Josiah.  Eugene is  such a cool little college town, and the live within walking distance of so many cool places (like Voodoo donuts, the Eugene version!)  Tomorrow we are visiting the coast and I can't wait to dip my toes in the (freezing cold!) ocean.

21 weeks

How far along are you?  Well, I'm actually 22 weeks now, but I wrote some of this post at 21 weeks and forgot to post it!

Feeling:  Really good.  Struggles are walking long distances (It feels hilarious complaining to Brian about my "aching back," like a true pregnant lady!), and sleeping at night (hip pain!)  But energy-wise, really good right now.

Aversions:  Absolutely nothing.

Cravings: Lucky Charms.  We are in Portland right now and I bought a box and some milk for the hotel room and have been sitting in bed eating them like crazy day and night.  Brian is actually out right now buying more milk for my cereal!  Also craving Dr. Pepper still, and almost any kind of sweet foods.

Belly button:  So so close to being out!

Exercise: Still walking and have also been stretching/doing yoga more again, which feels really, really good.

Best moments: Brian can feel the baby move now!  And then it quickly switched to we can both SEE the baby moving!  It's so crazy and looks like a little bump! under my belly every once in a while.  If I'm at home, I will always drop everything to watch him bumping around in my stomach- it's the coolest thing.  Also we have loved shopping for baby boy's nursery while in Portland this week.

Names: We've pretty much narrowed his name down to two choices, and we call him by each one intermittently during the day to test them out.  

What do you miss:  Drinking a ton of coffee, super hot baths, and sleeping on my stomach.

We're pretty big fans

So, we want to move to Portland.  Just kidding!  But seriously, we love vacationing here.

We're here for 4 days before traveling down to Eugene to spend the rest of the week with our friends Laura and Joe.  The drive here really didn't seem all that long (and I drove for a lot of it!  Almost half?  Well, maybe not that much), and it's so nice to take a getaway trip to a city that feels so different from your own.  Compared to Salt Lake, Portland seems really big!  We love the moss growing on all the houses, the gorgeous trees already in bloom all over the city, and the beautiful houses and parks. And you know what the very best part is?  All. the. awesome. food. here.

 Baby bump in Portland

On the drive here, we stopped for biscuits and gravy and pancakes at this tiny little diner.  I've always loved truckstop diners ever since I was little and would see them on family vacations, and this one was super cute.  All of the customers kept joking with the waitress and she would call them all by name.  Do you like the deer head staring us down?

We've spent lots of time walking downtown.  I'm seriously surprised at how much I've seemed to slow down after hitting the midway mark in pregnancy.  I really felt like I was keeping up okay for the last few months, but after 20 weeks, I'm going much slower.  We've found lots of little places to sit down and rest, and luckily there are lots of food trucks to stop at!  The best part of being pregnant on vacation is that Brian will rub my feet when we are finished walking for the day.

22 weeks

 Shopping in the Northwest area in all the tiny little shops.

 Spending a couple of hours in Powell's after getting caught in the rain.

 Best ever falafel shawarma

There are so many bikers here in Portland, and bike lanes everywhere!  Also, there are so many more people walking around downtown than we have noticed in Salt Lake- it's always fun to get food and people watch at Pioneer Square, or just anywhere.

Liz, if you read this, know that the strawberry scone at Public Domain was life changing.  I'm going back to get another one tonight.

It's a boy!!!

Little baby Morris is a boy!!  It's the sweetest thing ever to feel a little baby flip flopping in my stomach and to know it's actually a "he"!  I keep envisioning a little tiny version of Brian, and I can't wait for him to play outside, explore, and come home covered in mud from his adventures :)  We went to our 20 week sonogram a couple of weeks ago and within the first couple of minutes the doctor said, "oh, do you want to know what you're having?" Then we spent the next 20 minutes of the ultrasound being extremely obnoxious, I'm sure, and repeating over and over, "Oh my gosh, it's a little boy!  Can you believe he's a little boy?"  We were just a teeny bit excited,

My little 1980's husband just being adorable.  I hope our little boy looks just like him.

Here is baby boy's tiny hand and little thumb sticking up.  During the sonogram, he kept wiggling or flailing his arms and legs all over.  It's so cool to actually see what those movements I've been feeling look like.  Brian said he loved getting to see that there actually is a tiny human growing in there and to see all of his little features.  It's so crazy to go from seeing a sonogram a few months ago where he looked like a little lump, to seeing hands, feet, and everything- we even saw him blowing bubbles at one point!

Baby boy was being a little shy and kept covering his face with his hands.  Here he is facing us with his hand in front.  He was pressed facedown most of the time so we couldn't get a clear picture of his profile, but we are planning on getting a 3d sonogram in about a month or so and hopefully he will be face up then!  The doctor said his measurements were great and that he looked like a healthy boy!  We could not have been happier to get that report, and I spent the rest of the day telling practically anyone who I came into contact with that we were having a boy- even the random people I was sitting next to at my school's cafeteria while waiting for my lunch order to be ready.  

Brian and I went out and bought him the little pair of blue shoes in the first picture and a furry little winter hat with the flaps that come down over his ears.  It's a challenge not to buy him a billion tiny man shirts and jeans (especially when walking through the baby boy section at Old Navy!  Oh the rolled up summer cargo pants in all colors!) but I want to wait until closer to when he gets here to see what he really needs.  We are trying to keep a strict budget when baby shopping and buy wisely (mostly used items) and it keeps me in a frugal mindset so I don't go overboard with shopping for him.  We have really only purchased a few things so far, and next on the list is his crib (from Ikea, we are thinking) and a really cool used hiking carrier from Kid to Kid.  It's funny to sit with Brian at night and plan out just exactly what kind of bottles, baby carriers, etc. we want to purchase... I feel like we've officially entered the parent category and it's so funny to see us in these rolls.  Brian felt a big baby kick the other night while we were having one of these conversations and he said, "Man, that baby is strong in there!"  Love.

Sunny and 60? Yes, please.

Sunday afternoon was a pregnant girl victory for me.  We went on a hike!  The weather was so perfect and I was dying to be outside and breathe in the fresh air.  We chose a hike that wasn't too steep (the pictures make it look steeper than in actually was- bonus!) and I stopped to rest about 15 times, but it was so worth it.  

 I was actually surprised at how much slower I needed to go. Brian and I have been walking every night, but as soon as we hit an incline, I started just inching along at a snail's pace.  If I would go any faster I would feel out of breathe and would just slow back down again.  Brian was really cute and kept finding flat rocks to sit on and take a break.  No matter what, it felt wonderful to be out walking in nature and I plan on taking more super slow hikes this spring.

Samantha wanted to follow Brian up the boulder but then got really scared when she had to come back down and started whining.

Top things we are looking forward to this week:

1. Find out the gender of the baby early tomorrow morning. Ahhhh I'm so excited to see that little baby on the screen!!  Pretty sure this is going to be me, ha:

2. Portlandia season 4 starts this Thursday and Brian and I are pretty much counting down the days.

3. We just booked our hotel for our Portland trip in a couple of weeks.  Roadtrip!  Oh. yes.

19 Weeks

How far along are you? 19 weeks.  Almost halfway there.  That's crazy and sometimes I want it to slow down.
Feeling: Really good the last month.
Craving: Coffee, but sticking to one cup a day.  Jimmy John's Vito sandwiches.
Aversions: Um... nope!
Gender: We finally get to find out this coming Tuesday!!
Exercise: Still trying to walk every night, even if it's just up and back down our street again.  I went to a new yoga class at my yoga studio and found out that the teacher used to teach the prenatal class there (but they stop offering the class because attendance was always low).  She was the nicest teacher and discreetly gave me pointers throughout the class.  After class, she even stayed after and showed me some great stretches and poses that help with labor- she had practiced yoga throughout her two pregnancies and had some great advice.
Best moments: Feeling the baby move around so much. The movements are getting stronger too- at first it really did feel like little flutter and now it feels like the baby is rolling around in there.  It always moves a lot during my morning biology lecture and I have found myself looking forward to that.  Brian is really excited to be able to feel the baby move and tries to put his hand on my stomach and feel it a lot, even though it's really too early for him to feel the baby on the outside.
Worst moments- HEAD. ACHES.  Also, up until now I thought that pregnancy brain wasn't really a thing, at least for me.  Lately, however, I'm not so sure- I think I tell people the same things over and over lately and I have to rely heavily on my planner every day to keep my schedule straight.

Well, I think the pregnancy sappiness has finally set in.  It started with a text message from my friend Laura.  All it said at the end of a conversation was, "You, my friend, are making a person." Then I got emotional and read that text message like 4 more times throughout the day.  After that, my friend Aly messaged me about a really sweet dream she had about Brian and I having a little baby girl (I wonder if she is right?!) and then I got teary-eyed and read that message multiple times also.  Aly just had a baby girl less than a year ago and we've practically been writing novels back and forth on how to make your own swaddling blankets and baby wraps, feelings during and after pregnancy, and all other baby related tips and tricks. I always look forward to reading those messages so much, along with messages from one of my best friends from Saipan, Kara, who is pregnant at the same time as me.  She is just a little ahead of me and it's really fun to share everything together.

Brian went to Idaho this last weekend to visit his best friend from college, Andy.  They went skiing two days in a row and Brian had such a good time.  This was Brian's second time skiing and he said he's getting better at it and feeling more confident.  He said that the first time around he kind of just launched himself down the hills and didn't really have any control or anything, but it sounds like he's really starting to like it now. 

A couple of weekends ago, we were supposed to go out to eat with our friends Jamie and Taylor, but we totally forgot that the Olympics were starting that night and didn't want to miss the opening ceremony.  We got Thai food instead and stayed in... complete with some figure skating moves with puppy Babz Rhonda in honor of the games.  Let me tell you, Babz loved it.

We ordered from Chanon Thai here in Salt Lake and it was fab

 Little plant on our windowsill trying to catch some sun.

Up they go

Brian took Samantha for a walk up in the mountains last weekend and took this gorgeous shot of the Salt Lake valley.

 Snow dog!  She really hates the summer heat and the winter snow is her favorite.

Jolley's Corner Pharmacy in the Foothill area is one of my very favorite places to go for gifts in Salt Lake.  One side is a pharmacy and the other is a boutique with clothing, gifts, and lots of children's items. They decorate for every holiday and season and they fill their display tables with banners, tulle, and overflowing gift ideas for the upcoming holiday.  The baby stuff is my fave too.  I got my friend's new little baby the sweetest swaddling blanket and crocheted booties there.  She is going to look so sweet swaddled up like a little burrito in her new blanket.

 On a walk this week at our favorite state capitol.

We tried to take a picture with Samantha but she was so excited about her walk that she literally couldn't contain herself. Then I got really mad that she wasn't sitting still for the picture and was like forget it! but then Brian took just one more and this is it. ♥