What once was, now isn't!

27 weeks

With the start of my new job, I have been getting home, eating, showering, and going to sleep soon after. I did not realise how tiring it would be, and it's a desk job. Other than that I really like working there. The commute is not that bad, just have to take a bus, sometimes two if they are too full.

(I bought these AE jeans before I was prego, and they still fit.

I LOVE them, they are not maternity jeans.

I think I can wear them all the way, we will see!)

After my first day of work, I came home and jokingly said,"Where's my dinner punk!". I'm the breadwinner now! Okay, maybe I shouldn't rub it in too much since that will be changing again in two-three months. It was a joke, and Mike always brings it up. LOL.

The pregnancy is progressing fine. I am tired, my feet are swelling a bit, balance is off, and my belly button is now an outie. Not all the way, but getting there. My stomach is growing every day it seems, pretty soon I will be as big as a hippo. I so don't feel like myself anymore. Things are just getting bigger, and rounder. I love feeling him moving, it is weird, but of course reassuring. He seems to be on a little schedule. I feel him very active at 11 am and again at5 pm and of course at night right before I go to bed. My dreams are freaking me out. I keep dreaming I am having the baby early, the seem so real.

Michael of course keeps calling the baby Ja'Michael, even in prayer time. I am not joking, and he keeps trying to sway people to his side. Of course people laugh, but come on. I am trying to be patient with him, but our baby will NOT be name Ja'Michael. School is going good for him, he is busy trying to plan his trip to Angola to do some research for his thesis.

25 weeks and 4 days preg.= 100 days to go!

Less than 15 weeks to go.

We had our first NHS parenting class. It was informative, but a little too long..Mike liked that the teacher continued to compare giving birth to dropping a "deuce". Now he doesn't think giving birth is that hard since dropping "deuces" is pretty easy. She talked much about giving natural birth and made me think I really want to try going that route, but I want to have an epid. on stand by just in case.

I started working today at the hospital. Mike is so excited that he is finally living the dream. My first day was cut short due to our NHS parenting class. Overall I'm just sitting at a desk audio typing. It wouldn't be that difficult but some of the doctors accents are hard to understand. I hope to be able to work for a bit, and have some extra spending money. Not only that but it will make the weeks go by even faster.

Baby Names! Yes we are still arguing some days on what to name our little one. Some of the ones still on the list are the following. Please note we are not anywhere closer to finding a name than when we found out the he was a boy!

Janie's List:

Austin

Ethan

Cole

Logan

Nolan

Owen

Ryan

Sean

Benjamin

Ian

Jackson

Mikes List:

Ja'Micheal

Dieon

Primetime

Jackson Micheal

Siete

Marcio

Portugal/Spain Babymoon

Way back in the month of Dec. Mike and I took a vacation to Portugal. It was a great way to get some much needed sun, and warmth. When we left Oxford it was very cold, no snow yet, but cold. We arrived in Faro, Portugal and the weather was a bit cloudy, but so much warmer. Yesss!

We visited many sites, and took a couple of day to lounge around the beach. In Portugal we went to a lighthouse, castles, a fort and a couple of marinas. Overall we had 3 great sunny and warm days, the other were overcast and rainy. We did end up being there on the coldest day of the year. Of course that would happen. The place we stayed was nice, twice as big as our flat. We had a kitchen, so a couple of days we cooked. It was nice.

The food: One of my favorite things was being able to eat the red meat. As stated before in my blog, the red meat here in England has a funky little taste to it. We went to the Butchers and got us some steak! Oh yeah! Not only was it very fresh, but it was cheap. We ate like kings that night. I did come across Blue Bell Ice Cream in Portugal. That was a very nice surprise. We went out to eat one of the nights, and I had some local fish. It was the best I have EVER had. The way they cooked it, with butter and lemon. A couple of mornings we hit up a popular and local little bakery. The pastries were insanely Delicious. We went back the next day as well. Freshly squeezed orange juice, and something that tasted like a kolache rocked my world those mornings. I couldn't be happier.

One of the days there we took a trip to Seville, Spain. I felt so much better being in a place that spoke Spanish. The trip was 2 hours to get there, but not much traffic. We saw the town walked around, went to the 3rd largest cathedral in the world (where we found out Christopher Columbus tomb is), ate a real Spanish paella. The only thing on my list that we did not see were some Flamenco dancers. I really wanted to see them, but we were only there for the day, and didn't want to drive back in the dark.


The following are some of our favorite pictures.

(Eating a paella.)

(Mike at our hotel)

(top of the tower in Seville, looking at the city.)

(Boats in Faro marina.)

(Mike's artistic shot!)

(Bull ring in Seville)

(Entrance to the church)

(The towner we climbed. No stairs)

(Lighthouse Cape St. Vincente "End of the World")

(A castle outside of Faro, Portugal.)

(A view from our hotel beach)

An old fort by Cape St. Vincente)

(A morrish castle in Silves, Portugal.)

(my artisitic shot.)

(Town of silves, the hills are covered in orange groves.)

Ella Jean Marie Walker

Yay. Today we have a new little niece. She is so adorable we love her already. Both baby and mom are doing good. Congrats John and Leslie.

Stats:

7 lb 13 oz....

20.25 inches long

We are so happy for you guys, and wish we were in California to celebrate with you. Cant wait to meet her.

Project

Mike has me working on a project this week. After a very successful outing this weekend, we found a really big baby store, Mothercare! Yay. So he has asked me to look at different stores and create an excel spreadsheet. That way we could see a list of all the things we will need for the first three months and their prices. I thought that this would be an easy thing to do, after two days working on this I am tired, and not done. Yes I do get distracted, and check my facebook, get hungry, get thirsty, catch up on an episode of The Office, take a nap. Oh well this can only help me learn to be more frugal, which is the opposite of what I do. Usually if I see something I like, I buy it and look at the price after.(Mike hates this about me.) I usually say I spent around 30 dollars, when its 39.99. He would tell me that I would always do this, and I did not really notice it until the other night when I went to buy some sour cream, he asked me how much it was, and I said under a pound. It was .99 pence. He caught me and called me out on it. I laughed, because it was so true. I am getting better, after all we are college students both without jobs. But I must say that at least I feel productive having this project. Not having a job, and having little to do, makes the day drag on.

Overall I am a person who loves gloomy weather. I enjoy the rain, and a cloudy day. I love it with a combination of semi warm weather, around 75/80 degrees. But since moving to England, I have missed the sun. Its cold when its gloomy and rainy. The last couple of days, we have had some lovely sunshine. With the snow melted, it looks and feels great. I am looking forward to the day I don't have to wear tights under my jeans to keep me warm. The bigger I get, the harder it is to layer.

Surprise! Surprise!

We woke up this morning to some deliveries. I was expecting one and got three.

My friend Becca sent a package of baby clothes, and a present for me. It was like Christmas all over again. Mike felt a little left out. Sorry hun.

The second package was from my Aunt Aide. It took us a couple of minutes to figure out who sent it! Inside I found some lovely pj's and robes, as well as tons of little boy clothing. I totally got teary eyed. She totally out did herself. I love her, she is a very giving Aunt, always has been. It made my day opening up these packages, and feeling the love from back home. A great start to the day, it is only bound to get better.

The snow outside is melting, and the forecast predicts it will get up to 45 F, but rainy all weekend. I don't think I will see sunshine until sometime next week.

Question for Moms out there? Did the area around your navel hurt around the second trimester. I have been feeling a strange sensation, not pain, but uncomfortable. I want to scratch, but it feels like its under the skin surrounding my navel? Any thoughts...

In other news, Mike totally freaked out last night when Jr. kick him hard. He freaked, and it was funny. He was talking to our little man, and it totally responded to him, or Jr. was readjusting his position in the womb. Either way, Mike felt definite movement. Yay. Makes me so happy. But his reaction was the best part.

I really have not sat down and written any resolutions for this coming year. But off the top of my head I know a couple of things I want to work on.

1. Learn to use coupons. I have heard how much people save, and want to learn the art. I started a list on my blog to websites I think will help me save some $$$.
2. Becoming more self reliant. As I was studying the visiting teaching message for this month. I strongly felt it was written for me. I rely so much on Mike, and need to become a bit more independent. Especially in March/April when he will be gone to Africa for 3 weeks. Yikes.
3. I really want to pick up running again. It was something I used to love, but have not done in over 5 years. Once Jr. is born, I want to get back into it.
4. Become more active in my callings, and visit teaching. I want to get to really know, love, and care for my sisters.
5. Read my scriptures every day.
6. Learn to become a mom.
7. Be patient.(Especially around April/early May.)
8. I really want to try and learn a new hobby, or take a class in photography, and develop that as a hobby.

Rambling thoughts of a Pregnant woman

I feel Fat. I just needed to put that out there and tell someone.

(23 weeks along)

Yes I know I am pregnant, and I am suppose to get bigger, but its not that easy. I feel like a hippo and I am only 23 weeks along. Yikes, I know the baby will get so much bigger, which means that I too will have a giant beach ball in my tummy by the time he comes out. I really shouldn't be complaining, but this is weird. It doesn't feel like me. This past week my eating habit were not helping my situation, but am determined to eat healthier this week. Overall I have done great, healthy and organic food, with the occasional sweet. Even over the holidays I managed to do good. But last week, I think my body was on sugar overload and wanted more. Along with that my new best friend, Heartburn has decided to show up, and stay. Tums help, but every time I eat something there he is.

Its Monday and I should be cleaning the flat, washing clothes, do my hair...but I have no energy. Up until Saturday, I have had tons of energy. Today I am chalking it up to a down day. Hopefully tomorrow it will all get done. The weather has been cold, windy, and snowy, so that has not helped me with my walks. But it sure is pretty to look at.

(Oxford City Center)

Baby Bowerbank- his kicks,turns are getting so much stronger. It is real nice to feel him move more often. Mike thinks he felt something the other night, but wasn't sure. It will happen soon enough. He seems to like moving the most right as I get ready for bed.

This past Saturday Mike and I headed out in search of a Baby's r Us. Compared to the ones in the states it was utter disappointment. Their selection of stuff was minimal. We took two buses to get there, sooo not worth it. This coming Saturday we are going to try Mothercare. Hopefully we will find stuff we like.

Names. Mike and I cannot agree on one. We still have time, but I am not sure if we will come to an agreement. He is stuck on "Deion Primetime Bowerbank", no joke. I absolutely hate the name. I am shooting for something more traditional/trendy.

**Sometimes I just need to vent, but I AM so happy to be pregnant, with all the up and downs that come along with it. We are blessed, and am greatful to God for this opportunity to become a mother.***