Pregnancy Update: 31 Weeks

Halloween (October 31st) marked 31 weeks pregnant! I was so excited when I figured this out that I decided I needed to take a picture with a pumpkin and my pumpkin sized belly. Scott decided it would be fun to make the pumpkin look all cute since I would be taking a picture with it. Anyway, below are a few pictures of me 31 weeks pregnant:

Okay, so now that you have enjoyed some cute pics of me, let's talk about the pregnancy. Mostly, the pregnancy has been great. I had minimal morning sickness in comparison with being pregnant with Alexander, my energy level has been better, and my back pain has been less too! The hard part with this pregnancy has been ligament pain. For about a month and a half, I was experiencing intense pain over the entire section of my abdomen. It would hurt so bad that walking just a few steps would bring me to tears. It was difficult to do housework, go on walks, or even take care of Alexander. There were many tearful days, but luckily Scott did all he could to help around the house and remind me that I was doing the best I could. That being said, the pain has finally gone away! I will occasionally feel pain, but nothing compared to what I used to feel. I had planned to make a few things for the baby, but was in too much pain to do much of anything. Well, since I have been feeling better, I decided to make the baby a baby blanket (since I made one for Alexander too). So I made this cute tie quilt Winnie the Pooh blanket. I actually made it at a Young Women's activity with the girls. It was so much fun! And though I would have loved to have made tons more for the baby, it feels nice to have at least accomplished one thing.

Well, there isn't too much more to report. The doctor says I am doing well. She said that my weight gain looks excellent and I am measuring perfectly. It was such a relief to hear that because both my mom and my aunt gained a ton of weight during their second pregnancy. So I have been trying to make sure I don't gain a ton too. Luckily, since my ligament pain has subsided, we have been able to continue our morning walks. Alexander and I walk Scott to work every morning, and that is so much fun. It is nice to enjoy some fresh air and have a few more minutes with Scott.

An exciting thing has happened since I last blogged about the pregnancy...we decided on a name!!! This time it seemed to be even harder than last time to decide on a name. I think it was mainly my fault though. I would like a name for about a day, and then not like it anymore. I was really wanting to give Peanut the middle name of Russell because it is a family name. Scott's dad, my uncle and my grandpa all share the name Russell. I thought it would be fun to name him that, but it seemed so hard trying to find a name that went well with it. Well, we have finally done it! "Peanut" will be called "Jacob Russell Richins!" We both really like the name and it has seemed to stick. It will be fun to hold Jacob in our arms soon. Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time for Outstanding October :)

Halloween Fun

This month, I was blessed to attend a few Halloween Parties and have some fun on Halloween. So I thought I would just put it all together in one big post for you! The first thing I did during the month of October was attend a Girls Night Out Halloween Party. Scott watched Alexander, and my friend Kim and I carpooled to the party. I was really glad Kim came with me, because the only other person at the party that we knew was our mutual friend Jacqueline. I am a bit shy when I don't really know anyone, so it was nice having two friends at the party instead of just one. The party was great though. They had lots of yummy food, and we got to bring "potion jars" to decorate. I just found a cute acorn shaped jar and decorated it with jewels and stickers. I also brought a pumpkin to decorate too, because they were doing that at the party. But, alas, I was lazy and decided to save the pumpkin decorating for the hubby. All in all, it was a great night out.

The weekend before Halloween, a few of my friends threw a little Halloween Party at the clubhouse in the complex next to ours. So we all got dressed up as a family and went to it. There was yummy food and mainly just hanging out. It was a good time. Alexander had so much fun chasing all the other kids around and stealing food off everyone's plates (he truly has no sense of personal space! It was great to see him having so much fun! Below are a couple of pictures from that night:

Finally, our last Halloween fun occurred on Halloween! We really did have so much fun that day! Scott's work had a time set aside for Trick or Treating at the cubicles, so at 3:00 pm, we headed there to see Daddy. Scott got all dressed up, and then we went Trick or Treating at his co-workers desk. It was super fun, because we often come for lunch so we have seen a lot of his co-workers before. Alexander performed well too! He would pick a candy out of the bowl and put it in his little candy bag. We even got him to go "Rawr!" like a dragon! He is just so adorable! After Scott's work, we headed back to Russ and Diane's to meet up with Diane and Alliyah. Then we went Trick or Treating at Amy's work. They had decorated the whole area of her office like Candyland, and even passed out cotton candy! I was super excited about that! Below are some pictures of our fun at the work places and at Russ and Diane's:

After all the fun at the work places, we headed to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin for Alliyah. Alexander has really been fascinated with pumpkins this year. We have this ceramic pumpkin that we made that says "Richins" where the teeth go, and it lights up. Whenever he comes downstairs and sees that it is not lit up he points to it and grunts as if to say, "Turn the pumpkin on!" He loves it. So he had a blast playing with all the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. After all that fun, we went back to Russ and Diane's and had chili for dinner, then it was out to go Trick or Treating! Alexander had an absolute blast Trick or Treating. We started him out in the stroller (because we thought he was tired, but we didn't even make it a block before he wanted to get out and join the fun. So we put his monkey harness on him and he went crazy! He was running up and down the sidewalks, climbing stairs, and picking out his own candy. He had a blast! I think he could have gone all night, but after about an hour and a half of Trick or Treating, this 31 week prego lady was done. So we packed up and headed home. Below are some pictures of us at the pumpkin patch (I have also included a picture of the pumpkin Scott painted for our house, which has brought many smiles to Alexander). Unfortunately, my camera died right before we went Trick or Treating, so these last photos will have to do:

 

Well, that about covers all of our Halloween fun this year! It really was so much fun seeing Alexander get so excited about Halloween. Next year we will have two excited boys at Halloween :) Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time for a pregnancy update!

Fun at the Aquarium

Last weekend, we decided we needed to get out of the house and go have some fun. We thought that the aquarium might be closed for the winter (because they are moving to a new building), but to our surprise their move got postponed! So we went to the aquarium as a family for the first time in months. In fact, it was the first time Alexander had been in a long time. We have passes that go through 2014 because we got them super discounted. They have already paid for themselves (we only needed to go 3 times in 2 years to make it worth the money we spent), so it was basically a free day out.

Anyway, I haven't taken Alexander for quite sometime, because I am big and prego and he is very wiggly. I was nervous that I would have to chase him down the entire time or carry him up high the whole time. Well, I was wrong! He absolutely loved it. Of course, he ran from exhibit to exhibit, but most of the exhibits had a little step that he could climb onto to get a better view. His favorite exhibit by far, was the river otters. He just loved them. It was cute watching him watch them. Here are some photos of our fun time there:

 We had a blast looking at all the different exhibits and seeing him get excited. Scott is leaving for a work trip soon, in which Alexander and I will be without him for a week. I am really hoping to take Alexander back to the aquarium so he can get some wiggles out and so I can get out of the house! Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time for some Halloween Fun :)

Alexander's First Time Playing in the Snow!!!

Last week, Alexander had a blast playing in the snow! It was the first snow of the year, in October! Last year, I got a bit spoiled by the mild winter that we had. I couldn't believe it was snowing in October. Due to me being new to Utah, I hadn't adequately prepared for the snow. Alexander didn't have any snow gear. So we promptly dropped Scott off at work and went to Walmart to get Alexander some snow stuff. Unfortunately, they didn't have any snow pants, but we were able to get him a coat, boots, and some gloves (though I still need to find some waterproof gloves that will fit him). Anyway, after we got him all ready, he got to play in the snow.


Mostly, he loved the snow. He was trying to touch it and enjoyed how it felt to step in the snow. The only thing he didn't like was when he would try and crawl around and his knees would get wet (due to the fact that I couldn't find him any snow pants in his size).

After our fun in the snow, Alexander discovered a mud puddle where snow had once been. He had so much fun playing in the puddle and then got soaked. Here are some pictures of his fun in the puddle:

After the puddle play, it was time to head in for a snack and dry off. Usually, Alexander is always dressed when he eats, but he was soaked. So here are a few cute picks of him in his diaper enjoying lunch:

Well, that about covers Alexander's first time in the snow. Since then, we have acquired some snow pants. Now I just anxiously await the chance to play in the snow with him again! Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time for some fun at the Aquarium :)

Fun at the Petting Zoo

Wow! It has been almost a month since I last updated the blog! Normally, I would just add the rest of the details for the fun we had in October, but so much has happened this month! So I'd like to take a minute to share with you one of the fun things we did in October, the Petting Zoo! We went to Gardner Village with Russ, Diane, Amy and Alliyah to look at some of the fun Halloween Decor they have at this time of the year, and they happened to have a small Petting Zoo there! Amy suggested we go check it out with Alexander, and he LOVED it! It was so cute watching him touch the animals and run around the Petting Zoo. Overall, he loved his time there, though he didn't enjoy it when he was in the goat pen and one of the goats head butted Alexander until he fell over. Other than that, it was a great time! Here are some fun pictures of our time there:

The last picture shows his favorite part of the Petting Zoo! He just loved riding this tractor tire swing. It was so cute! Well, that about covers our time at the Petting Zoo. It was a ton of fun and we hope to return soon. Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time for Alexander's first time playing in the snow :)