March Madness + (13 & 14 Week Update)

In the middle of every busy season Dan's company throws a party because, why not?! This year it was at Whirlyball. I learned a new sport that day. It's like a playing lacrosse in a go kart. It was hard at first to get the kart going but once you got the hang of it, it was pretty fun! They had two courts for an hour so everyone had plenty of opportunity to play. Dan went in an didn't come out until their time was up! After that it was arcade games and laser tag. The had a bunch of pizza for dinner (Papa Johns) and it was a fun time! I was worn out by the end but we had a great time.

Since we lived in Texas this was the first tornado scare we've had. I'm at work early because I open but the clouds were getting so dark! We knew it was a severe weather warning but we were all thinking- lots of rain maybe some hail. Here's a photo of how dark it was, it's kind of hard to tell sorry! It looked like night.

It started raining pretty hard, but nothing I hadn't seen before in Texas. Then the tornado sirens start going off. That means if your outside get inside now. It was confusing because it didn't look that bad outside. Then it hit! Harder rain than I have ever seen before, the strongest winds I've ever seen. The rain was straight sideways and pure mist because of how hard the wind was blowing. It reminded me of the video footage I've seen of tornadoes and cyclones. It was scary weather but we weren't in the vault yet. The hail started. We felt safe just being in the building. Then the power went out. It's hard to explain but the pitch blackness freaks you out even more! We were like... maybe we should get in the vault... then the power was flicking on and off and on and off, all the alarms going off and everything is going haywire. That's when we all ran to the vault! It freaked us out. I flipped off the drive thru lights to close and ran! (I forgot to actually bring the canisters in and they were filled with a cup of water each! Oops... easy clean up though)

We all found ourselves in the vault with a weather radio listening, calling coworkers trying to see where they are and if they were safe. A majority of my coworkers were on the road at this exact time. There were about 10 of us in the vault and people were trickling in, soaking wet. It was too dangerous to stay in their cars because the wind was lifting and rocking it.

We had some lanterns and a grab bag in the corner, great thinking!

We stayed in there for about 10-15 minutes, the storm was moving pretty quickly. Luckily there was no one was hurt but trees, landscaping, power lines and some cars. The eye of the storm was less than a mile away so we got hit pretty hard. It was scary but we were all safe!

I went to the scout shop and had no idea there were so many things you could earn! ALL THE BADGES!

On the 17th we celebrated the Credit Union's 89th birthday AND St. Patricks Day. I helped a lot with the spread (okay mostly the fruit rainbow, but I wanted it to turn out awesome!)

The CEO cutting the cake.

The credit union's theme for this was 'Deflate your Rate' because of our newly lowered loan rates. Dan thought of this and it was too funny not to make it happen. We all had a good laugh except the patriot fans.

I got the sweetest St. Patrick Day/ Easter/ Baby package from my mom! And those booties on top? hand made by my aunt as they traveled through Europe last year. It's so weird yet so exciting to get baby things. This is really happening! And another success, I ate a hotdog today and pork ribs yesterday! My food aversions are going away! (and yes the hotdog was fully cooked and steaming hot, don't freak, I've done my research and taken many biology classes)

(I know some of you may say, "Hey, you're wearing a sweatshirt!" We forgot to take a picture before I changed out of my Sunday clothes, but honestly you're not missing anything. There's still nothing showing!)

For the majority of this week I've been feeling better pregnancy wise, however I did come down with a cold. Boo! I woke up Wednesday and my throat/lymph nodes/tonsils (not sure which or all of the above) were so swollen they were gagging me! As soon as my feet hit the ground I couldn't swallow and I was BFF's with the porcelain throne. When it wasn't stopping I called in sick to work, popped some acetaminophen and prayed it would make the swelling go down, then went back to bed. I was touchy in the morning but I was able to slowly eat and keep my breakfast down and slowly felt better as the day went on. Shout out to my friend who BROUGHT ME FOOD! Chicken noodle soup, mac and cheese and bread from Panera really made me feel better. What a nice friend! I felt so loved and the food really helped me feel better.

I had the cold for 6 days which sounds like a lot but I've seen improvements each day so I wasn't worried. Having a pregnancy compromised immune system I'm assuming it might take me longer to kick it to the curb. I did have a terrible headache one day that put me in bed right when I got home from work from 5 to 8 pm. Probably the worst headache I've had in a while unfortunately. Still some queasiness but it's slowly going away.

We went to our ward party which was a family game night and silent auction to raise money for girls camp. I donate a tray of magic bars and was so happy when they got bid on quite a bit! We snagged some awesome items and were happy to donate to a good cause. Plus it was fun to talk to people from church about our pregnancy now that the cat is out of the bag.

We had another bad storm just a week later! It started out the same wind, rain, lots of lightening, hail. I was outside on the porch talking to our neighbors and taking pictures of the hail when Dan yells from inside, "Hey you need to come in now!" That's when we learned there was a possible tornado touch down less than a mile from our house, headed our way. We were on the map to take cover so we did and hung out in our closet for a bit. Everything was fine but a storage unit that was wind blown. It was an EF 0 so mostly just a powerful little dust devil or twister.

We took my car in to get an oil change on Saturday so I spent the day car-less, at home baking and cooking all the things! I was not complaining. I was able to clean the house, make rolls for easter, make cookies for my primary class (and because you always need cookies), then I made a broccoli salad for easter as well. That night was the General Women's Conference. Jen (Dan's sister) and I met at Costa Vida before we went and watched it at my Stake Center. We were running a tiny bit late but found that didn't matter because they were having technical difficulties anyways! While they were trying to get it figured out we heard a big CRASH from behind us. One of the tables holding a bunch of beautiful cupcakes for refreshments afterwards had crashed to the ground. One of the legs wasn't properly locked and finally gave out. I felt so bad, but as it turns out they still had plenty for everyone. Jen and I just had to laugh afterwards at what an odd night it was altogether!

I teach the 10 year olds in Primary (which include most of my webelos) and I was really happy about how our Easter lesson went. I like to get them talking and they shared some great things. I brought them cookies too because, c'mon every 10 year old deserves a cookie sometimes! One of them said to the other, "Sister Robison makes the BEST treats!" and that made my heart happy. I've felt pretty exhausted teaching them while mostly being in my first trimester BUT it's also so rewarding.

We went to Jenny and Phill's to celebrate Easter and have dinner. We hid eggs outside for the kids and then did an adult egg hunt inside. Most anywhere in the house was fair game to hide 1 egg for our spouse. Somehow Dan found his egg first and won. I hid it in a dang good spot too so I was mad he found it so fast! He must know me and how my brain works! We had a delicious dinner, watched a church movie, relaxed and played games. We kind of played the bean boozled game... haha and I don't recommend especially if you're pregnant! I took a tiny bite of one that was rotten egg and I was THIS CLOSE to loosing my dinner. I have a lot of respect for those who actually play the whole game. Yuck!

We were doorbell ditched and found these homeless bunnies on our doorstep... Looks like someone hit the Easter candy clearance sale. This bunny is huge!!

My parents came into town! For my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary they're going on a cruise with my parents and all my dad's siblings. So my parents made their lay over in Dallas an extra day so they could spend some time with us! They came in late Thursday and we took them to Babe's for some fried chicken.

The next day I took off work and tried to show my parents a tidbit of Texas. We started the day downtown. We went to Sundance Square and showed them the Fort Worth Mural. We got side tracked by the Nestle Tollhouse cafe and the Schokolad Chocolate store. Then walked down to the Water Gardens. Sadly the big pool was under construction which was a bummer but it was still fun to see downtown. They must have brought the cold with them because it was a blistery windy day which was out of place for Texas.

After that we drove up to the Stockyards. We saw the cattle drive, looked through all the shops, saw all things Texan, the olive oil shop, beef jerky shop, candy shop etc. I took them to lunch at my favorite Tex Mex place, Los Molcajetes then we went to Sam Moon. I found corgi socks there! We relaxed in the afternoon until it was time to pick up for people at the airport. My grandparents and Neil & Jonica. We took them to Hard Eight for dinner which everyone seemed to enjoy! We went home, got a couple hours of sleep before I took my parents to the airport bright and early to fly to their departure port for the cruise. I'm sure they'll have the best time and it makes me want to cruise again!

One thing my mom brought with her was a baby blanket that my grandma had originally made and that she added on to. What a neat gift for baby! The yellow center in original with the characters hand sewn by my grandma, then the borders and crocheted edges were done by my mom.

This is just the sweetest thing, with a lot of memories and love put into it!

Which brings me to today! I am 14.5 weeks (3.5 months), in my 2nd trimester and about 35% of the way there. My baby is the size of a lemon but I can't seem to find it? I know everyone is different but I'm assuming with all my gymnastics and dance years baby is packed inside good and won't make a big appearance until later? I'm not complaining, I'm happy with what ever my experience is. (Plus just from what other moms have said, the less I feel like a whale, the more enjoyable? I believe them). I tried really hard in this picture to wear the right clothing that would show any type of baby bump. There is a tiny bump because I definitely feel pudgy all the time now. All my clothing still fits. I have a couple pairs of tight jeans that can become uncomfortable if worn for too long.

Mornings have finally been a lot better for me (knock on wood), I hope it stays. I only find cereal appetizing and I'm in love with milk BUT I can usually eat a good breakfast and not become nauseous. I just can't wait too long or eat the wrong thing. I still can't do beef. When we went to Hard Eight I got chicken which was great, I tried a tiny bit of pork ribs and was okay. The brisket looked disgusting (shhh! They might kick me out of Texas for that). Basically I've been playing it safe and just eating chicken. I've found the rare times I do feel nauseous if I eat a potato chip or two it helps a lot. Last Wednesday at work was rough because I went through the STARVING phase again. I ate cheerios, a bag of strawberries, popcorn, a banana and crackers all before lunch and was starving. I ate my lunch and the rest of my snacks and was still starving! One of my coworkers gave me some chicken salad which was a life saver! After that I was finally full. It was hard feeling like a garbage disposal. 

I'm hoping that we're closing the book on the morning sickness & nausea phase and kicking that exhaustion in the butt for now. I'm going to start some appropriate work outs this week and get these muscles working again. Wish me luck!