The 3rd Trimester

Next week I will be starting my 3rd trimester of my pregnancy. It has gone really quickly up to this point and now the days seem like forever! Luckily my life is completely insane and keeps me busy all of the time or it would be torture. I am finishing up my last semester of school and graduation is only a week and a half away! I literally cannot wait!! I have a lot to look forward to in the next few months and a lot of hard and scary things as well. This picture is one that I did for my photography class. I am really starting to love photography and I hope that I can make more time for it once I graduate. Life is good though and I am sooo excited to be a mom and a graduate!

Spring Break Bermuda/Florida

Finally I had a week to relax and be with my best friend all day every day. My spring break was very badly needed and so we wanted it to be something really memorable. Bermuda seemed like a safe, fun beachy place to travel and we had heard really great things about it. I was nervous to commit a whole week to a place I had never been, so I picked Florida for the second half.

Bermuda was BEAUTIFUL and the people are the nicest ever! I felt really safe there and everything was really clean and nice. You can't rent cars there but you can rent mopeds to take you across the 20 mile island. One day we went to all of the beaches and to the other end of the island. We went to a Palm Garden that was so beautiful and eventually goes out to the ocean. It was pretty calm tourist wise because the temps are still in the low 60s but that is just the way I like it. ;) Food is sooo expensive but they have really good food! Our hotel had natural caves down by the pool and it was really cool.

In Florida we stayed at a hotel in Ponte Vedra beach that was on the Sawgrass TCP championship golf course and it was so pretty there. The temperature was perfect in Florida, 70-80 degrees. At night we went we would go to JAX beach or Atlantic beach and have dinner, shop, have dessert and sit on the beach or listen to bands playing out in the street. Florida again has GREAT food and it was really fun to find great restaurants there (for half the price of the Bermudian restaurants). We spent one day in St. Augustine, the oldest town in the US. It was sooo adorable and had so many cool shops and historical buildings. I want to go back so bad!

It's a BOY!

The suspense is over... my little bundle of joy is a boy! That seems to be the pattern for the Duncan Family grandchildren so I should have known! It is so much more fun to have an idea of what the baby is like and now I really have a connection with this little guy. He kicks and punches all day long and so I am preparing myself for the most energetic and hyper little child ever... which I am nothing like. I would probably sleep all day if I had the choice... I am fully aware that this will never happen now but I can't wait to be a mom and to watch my baby boy grow up. I am 23 weeks now or as I like to say 5 and 3/4 months pregnant. 4 months to go!

I am also officially showing now... that is not so fun. I am starting to feel my ab muscles pull apart and it is the freakiest thing ever! I have nightmares of what my stomach will be like when the baby comes out and everything is just floating around in there! Ha I know I should be worrying about all the other things like LABOR but that fear I am sure will come soon. I am feeling better as of about a week ago from morning sickness; it was a long haul. So now I am feeling so good that I can't control my stomach's needs! If you know a way to make my pregnancy hunger turn off please tell me. I am sure the baby will thank you too!

My First Doc Appointment - My little bean

I am now 13 weeks and I have been sooo antsy to see the doctor! I just wanted to be assured that everything looked ok and that my little bean was growing the way it's supposed to be. Its body is about 2 1/2 inches long from head to rump and he/she looks so dang cute! Everyone said I would freak out or it would feel really real when I heard the heartbeat. But I still can't really comprehend what that sound is. It doesn't seem real! It just sounded kind of scary to me! The thing that made me so excited and kind of made it seem real was seeing the little baby move around. He/she started out upside down in this little curled up ball and then stretched and bounced around and waved at us. I think this kid is going to be a hyper one!  This little creature is so darling and I just want it to be ready for me now! I told Nate that I still don't believe it is in my tummy. I just think the doctors are keeping the baby in the big ultrasound box until it is ready for us to take home. I know I will be sorely mistaken in 5 months when I am supposed to squeeze that thing out of me but I won't think about that yet!

The ultrasound lady (sorry I don't know the technical term) strongly believes this baby is a baby boy. We were able to make out a little something between the legs but it really is too soon to tell. That didn't necessarily stop my mom and I from going and buying a few boy things. Don't worry, we kept the receipt! BUt I feel like that little buggar that keeps making me sick and wears me out all day long, is a little dude... so help me find me cute boy stuff!

I love you my little bean (I guess you are really a peach by now) and I can hardly stand the fact that I have to wait 5-6 more months to see your beautiful face. Please be easy on me in the second trimester, I would love to actually keep my food in my tummy for a couple of months :). Sincerely, Mom

I am going to be a MOM!

 Today I am 11 weeks Pregnant. I found out on November 16th with a little faded blue line and then a few hours later with 4 different pregnancy tests. Let's just say I was a little anxious to find out!

Was it planned? Well not right NOW, but yes I was planning on trying for a little squirt in May. So yeah.... it is a little sooner than expected but we are SO EXCITED!

When we found out we thought it was only fair that we keep the secret until we were able to tell the In-laws face to face in New York... That would be Christmas. I AM SOOOO NOT A SECRET KEEPER... well, at least not when it is about myself! I had to keep this HUGE thing a secret for 6 WHOLE WEEKs and it just about killed me! I had 5 family parties within this time and it was torture!

The worst part of it was being SO SICK and not being able to ask for advice or help and trying to act like nothing was wrong. I am way too big of a baby to be able to look okay when I am sick. My mom made me dinner one night and she made this delicious turkey casserole thing and I took two bites and started feeling sick and couldn't take another bite, I just played with it for a little bit and then snuck it on to Nate's plate. I felt so terrible because she totally just thought I didn't like her food! I ALWAYS like her food!

LIES LIES LIES.... I told SO many LIES to keep this baby a secret. I went to Disneyland with my mom and sister and I couldn't ride any of the big rides so I had to keep making things up! I told them I got food poisoning the night before and that I probably couldn't handle any "big" rides that day. I just knew they would figure it out but they were oblivious!

NOW that the secret is out, I am really happy and have so much support around me. So THANK YOU for your support with this pregnancy! I just pray this baby is healthy and that it is prepared to have me as their mom.
See you on July 24th Baby!!!

JUST A PREVIEW OF WHAT I MAY LOOK LIKE IN THE NEAR FUTURE....

Debbie's Birthday!

My in-laws are in Scarsdale, NY serving as Mission Presidents. They weren't too badly affected by Hurricane Sandy... if being without power for 12 days isn't bad! Debbie had to spend her favorite holiday, Halloween, in the dark with no trick or treaters.  Her birthday was soon and we felt so bad that they were so bored (no lights, internet or cable) and sad that we decided to pop in for a visit.

Tom told Debbie that they needed to pick up a missionary that would stay with them for the night so he could make his international flight the next day. Debbie was so worn out from having 16 or so missionaries stay with them at their house that week and she was so tired of not having power so when Tom told her this she wasn't thrilled. He asked her to go find him in the terminal and so her and Ryan came in to find the missionary. We walked down the escalator and we took her so off guard that she just kind of looked at us funny and said "what are you guys doing here?"
Nate said, "We are your missionary!"
She broke down into tears (as did I) and hugged us for the longest time. This was a much needed trip for all of us! Cute little Ryan was super sick but still came in his PJs to greet us.

We had to go upstate to a stake conference and got to stay in a hotel with them. They were so excited to watch the news! Our hotel was next to the Orange County Choppers headquarters and we got to have lunch there and see all of the "choppers." It was way cool!! Except I asked for the Margarita Pizza and the waiter came back and said "Would you like that straight up or on the rocks?" Ha. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the tool shed... That was just one of the many things he got wrong with our lunch. When the bill came we didn't quite have enough for the full 20% tip (don't worry it was still 18%) I looked at Nate and said "He knows what he did."

The stake conference was really great, especially the talks by Debbie and Tom. They are such wonderful mission presidents and those missionaries are so dang lucky to have them. I miss them and wish we could have them at home but New York must need them more than we do and I am just happy I can share such great people with the people of New York. See you at Christmas guys! love ya!

ALSO: I got to see Pete off to Chile! He was definately the cutest missionary I have ever seen!

Halloween!

For Halloween this year I was Rapunzel from Tangled and Nate was Flynn Rider. My mom and I made my dress and it was quite a big project for me since I don't know how to sew! But I think it turned out pretty great in the end. Nate's was darling too and it was all my mom's doing. We went to a Halloween Party at our Friends Hannah and Grants. I think we tied for best costume with Jaden and Sydney who were a box of nerds. It was a really fun night!

Then I got to wear my costume to work on Halloween and it was so much fun! For those of you who don't know, I am a gate agent for Delta. I got to work flights as a Princess and it was pretty great. All day long passengers called me "Princess" and people were even taking pictures of me while I was working. It was such a fun day and I will never forget my day as a Princess.

A birthday surprise for Mom

SO my mom turned the big 60 this September. The only reason I can post her age is because she really only looks 30 and acts like she is 16. My husband and I talked her in to going to Europe for a week and we decided on London and Amsterdam. The surprise for my mom was that my norwegian sister Anniken was flying out to meet us! So we jumped on a plane to England and hoped everything would work out when we got there. After a lot of expensive text messages, we were able to meet up without my mom suspecting a thing. We told her we were going to find the subway but instead Anniken and her friend Martina jumped out behind a wall and surprised my mom. She was SO happy! We hadn't seen Anniken for over a year and it had been way too long.

My mom loves YELLOW

We did a lot of shopping, rode the red bus all around town and saw lots of sights. My favorite shopping was out by the Olympic stadium, they had sooo many stores. We went to Wicked and it was just as wonderful as the American version. I loved it! Probably my moms favorite was the Borough Market by the Tower Bridge. It is just a giant farmers market. It reminded me of Pike Market Place in Seattle but way cuter. There is this old church behind it and it was my favorite! It was so darling.

My highlight of the trip, after seeing Anniken, was going to the Harry Potter studio tour. It has all of the real props and sets that were used in the movie. I was so starstruck!! I also LOVE butter beer and that was mostly the reason I went. :) The shuttle from the subway (the tube.... I only like American terminology) was a night bus, it was so cute. Then you can eat at a cafe and they bring you in every 15 minutes for your walk through.

My very very favorite part was seeing the real castle they used for the movie. It isn't a real castle like we would all hope but a pretty awesome alternative. It could probably fit in a large family room and every single detail is so perfect and real. It was so amazing! I wish someone would build it for real!

Then we left the next day for Amsterdam and we got in super late and only had one full day there. We stayed in the Hotel Pulitzer and I LOVED IT SO MUCH. It is really old and has pretty small rooms the are tucked up little stairways. But it was just so perfect to me, especially the bed. It was heaven. My mom an Nate had to rip me out of them the next day because it was rainy and cold outside. But they eventually got me out...

We went through the tulip market (I am sure there is a name for it but I can't think of it) and they were amazing! Don't be fooled though, only the ugly ones in the back are U.S. Customs approved so you can't take home the good ones. Then we had to buy some Gouda! I loved sampling every flavor and getting samples of their caramel waffle things. YUM. We took a boat ride through the canals and got to see the city by boat... well when I was awake that is... We ate at 2 really yummy restaurants that day and we even stopped to get fondu at Haagen-Dazs, it was so yummy.

We shopped around the city and then we didn't have anything else to do because it was a downpour rainstorm outside and we went home to get to bed. We woke up early so that we could go shop at the airport before our flight. The airport had H&M. It was practically a mall!

We had such a great time and I loved getting to see London for the second time (first time wasn't so great). Amsterdam is adorable and I can't wait to go back when it is sunshiny and warm. HappY Birthday MOM!