pioneer day rodeo.

The night of the 24th, we went to the rodeo in Spanish Fork with the Swensons to celebrate Pioneer Day! We got to meet Sophie's (unoffical?) boyfriend, who I think looks like Justin Beiber, and we even saw Bernz and Wes there just like we did last year (we were even sitting in the same spots!). 

We left right in time for the bull riding to start (my favorite part!) because it was getting so late! We walked back to our car and watched fireworks along the way, and then bought me a new curling iron, because mine decided to stop working that day (see: bad hair day). It was such a fun night!

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25 weeks.

Yesterday, Zac and I spent the whole day setting up our nursery furniture my parents bought for us! It was so much fun, but so much hard work (I was out of breath for at least half of it). Now we'll wander in there occasionally and sit in the rocking chair and take it all in. We're having a baby, and soon! It's hard to believe that I'll be rocking a little newborn in that chair in about 15 weeks.

This week I've craved plain whole wheat bread all day long. I'll take 2 or 3 slices with me to work in the mornings and be in heaven. We buy the Great Grain brand; it's baked locally, and with 23 grams of whole grains per slice, it makes me feel better about my bread craving. :) I've also found that when I get hungry, I crave sweets and only sweets. And this week, I experienced my first bout of acid reflux. Twice. Tums are my best friends.

Since I found out I was pregnant, I've been putting Burt's Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Oil on my belly every single day to prevent stretch marks. I've heard that stretch marks are hereditary, and I've heard that moisturizing can prevent them. I'm not sure what to believe, but so far, no stretch marks. :) The baby is about 13.5 inches long now (more than a foot!), and about 1.5 pounds. It's getting so big! I'm up a total of 18 pounds, so I'm right on track! 

At my midwives' appointment this last week, my midwife was able to feel the baby's head! She told me that she would teach me how to feel for it when I'm further along. We've already felt what I think is the baby's feet kicking, pushing, and even rubbing on my belly (you can see its foot make a wave across my belly!), and it's so hilarious and surreal. Zac will poke the upper right side of my belly (the side where I get most of the kicks--at our ultrasound we found out why: that's where the feet are!), and the baby will play with him and kick back. I am already so in love with this little babe!

I'm getting more and more excited to have this baby right when the holidays start. A brand new baby for Thanksgiving and Christmas?! What a dream. We decided that we'll put our very first Christmas tree up in the nursery this year. And you bet I'm buying Thanksgiving- and Christmas-themed clothes for the little one to dress up in. :)

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bear lake: day 2.

Saturday was our second day at Bear Lake, and also the day where my baby bump turned 24 weeks! We headed out to the mountains, about a 30 minute drive from the lake house, to go shooting that morning, and Zac got to use his new gun he got for his birthday! It was 100 degrees up there, with no shade! I didn't shoot anything, because I didn't want to be that close to the loud guns with the baby. Eventually I sat in the car with the air conditioning blowing on me, and I was in heaven. 

In the afternoon, we went to the store (the only one in miles!) with Whit and JT and got some strawberries and sugar snap peas to eat, along with some drinks from the gas station. We had plans to rent a boat later in the day, but it had gotten really windy, so we decided against it, and went out to eat at Cooper's instead. And when it got dark and a little bit chilly, we watched What About Bob? outside on Zac's projector and a white sheet with the lake behind us while we ate red vines. We also heard some drunk people on the beach fall out of a moving car and swear at each other.

The next day, Sunday, the power went out, so instead of going to church and eating dinner, everyone packed up early and headed home! It was such a nice trip. I can't wait to take our baby up there next summer! I love that lake up there.

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bear lake: day 1.

We spent last weekend up at Bear Lake with Zac's family. We got there late Thursday night, and started off Friday morning with french toast for breakfast and a pinata in the shape of the Bear Lake monster for the kids! Later that morning, we all changed into our swimming suits and walked down to the beach to hang out on the lake and ride some wave runners. On mine and Zac's ride, we went as slow as we could, to keep the baby safe, and didn't hit very many waves like I like to do. Zac even took a kayak up the river by the lake house, and loved it! He was telling me how awesome it was that he saw a snake in the river.

For lunch, we went to LaBeau's and grabbed a burger and fries to share. We looked like scoundrels that whole day, but such is a day on the lake. Later that night, we went to the "Farmers' Market," which had a total of 6 or 7 booths, and only one of them was produce. You go, Garden City! We left pretty quickly and went back to the lake house where we ate tin foil dinners, played Loaded Questions while Lyle sulked while reading his book, and got our raspberry chocolate shake from LaBeau's! SO GOOD!

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24 weeks.

I'm posting late this week because I was in Bear Lake all weekend with my in-laws eating way too much food, hanging out on the beach, and looking like a scoundrel 75% of the time. I'll post pictures soon!

This week my baby is the size of a cantaloupe, which is weird to me, because I don't think my stomach is that big. Over the weekend, I gained 3 pounds (seriously), but I lost a little bit already, so I'm up 16 pounds total. Baby Swenson is still kicking a ton, and loves to kick (punch?) my bladder. Still no accidents, though!

This week, the wife of one of Zac's co-workers asked, "So what is it really like?" and I told her, "I've had it so good so far! I haven't thrown up once, and had mild morning sickness just in the first trimester. But the worst things are being so exhausted and sore and achy all the time." That about sums it up for me. I'll take it, though, because my appetite is excellent. I've decided that's my favorite thing about pregnancy: wanting and being able to eat anything! (I really, really love food)

Fun fact: today at work, while I was wearing the clothes pictured above, my boss came up to me, pointed at my stomach, and said, "What is that, a fruit basket?" I thought it was pretty clever. :)

This week I get to take the glucose challenge test and drink the dreaded sugary drink! Although, I've heard that it's not as bad as everyone says it is. I think I'll like it, but I'll let you know how it goes. 

We're starting on the nursery, and we've even begun cleaning out the closet in the second bedroom (it's a nightmare). We've bought a few things to go in the nursery like a lamp and a rug and a pillow), and we'll be getting nursery furniture this week! I'm so excited to get things set up and see how it turns out. I am in full nesting mode right now! 

Lately, I've been asked a lot, "Do you guys have names picked out yet?" We do! A boy name and a girl name. But we're keeping them a secret. :) We'll announce the name when the baby arrives. Any guesses? ;)

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to the lake!

We've got our bags all packed and my toenails are painted for a weekend up at the lake! Tonight we'll drive up to the lake house and meet Zac's family, and spend the next three days boating and eating and boating some more. 

If you'd like to see what we're up to until then, you can follow me on Instagram, @megswen. See you soon!

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over the weekend.

On Saturday, after not getting up to watch the sunrise together ("Hey Zac, it's 5:30, do you still want to watch the sunrise?" "No." *rolls over*), we went to the Farmers' Market for some produce, and ended up getting a fire grilled pizza from the Fiore pizza truck and the best olive bread we've ever tasted instead. Carbs.

After getting our fill at the Farmers' Market, we drove down to the Home Depot to get a chalkboard to hang up in our kitchen, because if my kitchen isn't the ugliest thing! We spent the afternoon painting the sides, and putting the finishing touches on our gold "S", and then hung everything up to make that wall look like we actually decorated it. I'm really loving it so far. We've decided that we're going to start decorating our apartment now. After more than a year of living here, and a new baby on the way (aka nesting), I'd say it's the perfect time.

For dinner, we made pasta with Giada's vodka sauce (without the vodka, because what Mormon has vodka lying around?) with our olive bread from the Farmers' Market and some mint limeade that we made a few hours earlier. The food was as good as a fancy Italian restaurant, and Zac has been looking up good olive bread recipes ever since. I think it's safe to say that he's obsessed.

When Sunday came around, we woke up early for church, and afterwards, we took a little nap and started making sugar cookies in shapes of woodland animals. The recipe was HUGE, and I was cutting out sugar cookies for a good three hours. And now we have a bunch of sugar cookies that I don't know what to do with. We'll probably give them out by the plateful (let me know if you want some; they're delicious!).

Later that night, in an effort to prolong Sunday as long as we could (we're not fans of Mondays around here), Zac set up a special movie-watching spot for us right in front of the TV while I made some salsa. We ate our salsa and watched Fantastic Mr. Fox until I was too uncomfortable, and then went to bed.

I think every weekend should be like this one. That would be best.

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