The joys.....

.... of being pregnant.

It's officially 6:24 a.m. Anyone who seriously knows me is completely aware that I am NEVER awake (by choice) this early in the morning. Wait, it gets better!! I have been up since 4:30 a.m. This is insane! I usually go potty around 4 a.m. and can get back to sleep around 5:30 however, this morning, it just wasn't happening, probably for a number of reasons:
1. We are starting to move today. I get busy thinking of all the things we have to do.
2. My feet are majorly swollen. I can feel the tightness in them. It's an ugly sight.
3. This little lady inside me has been moving since 4:30 a.m. She is very strong and I can feel my whole tummy shift every 15 seconds. This has been going on for 2 hours now. But alas, I am grateful to feel her move and know she is not being affected by my swollen feet.
4. I get claustrophobic in my own body. This happened once or twice with Ava, but it wasn't so bad. I get claustrophobic every day. Towards the end of the day, I cannot even think about being pregnant because I start to sweat and breath really fast and I think I'm going crazy. I get paranoid because I can't suck my tummy in, pop my back, arch my back, or even hunch over. I feel overwhelmed.
5. Nate and I are extremely poor. Those of you who are students can completely sympathize.... I have been fortunate enough to only work a couple of days a week, however, I will be going on maternity leave, and half of our monthly income is going to be gone for a couple of months. This causes me to have some more anxiety.
6. I have major heartburn. Every night, all night.
7. My brother is being deployed to Afghanistan. He leaves for Camp Pendleton this weekend, is training for a couple of months, and will leave in October for about a year.

There are a few more things that are contributing to my insomnia, but I think you are starting to get the jest of things.

I am a worrier, and tend to go crazy over things I cannot control. This is NOT a pregnancy issue, this is a Claudia issue.

But I also lay awake thinking of how blessed I am to have such a hard working husband, such a wonderful supportive family, and how I could be so lucky to be blessed with such a sweet daughter and another one on the way.

Our Weekend

I know this is the time that everyone blogs about their 24th weekend, and I'm no different. Hee hee. I think I'm actually blogging because we actually did something! We went up to Heber Valley Camp with Nate's family. It was simply lovely to be up there. The main reason was it was a good 15 degrees cooler than Salt Lake. But it was just nice to enjoy the outdoors with the luxury of cabins and flushing toilets. We got up there Friday and just hung out and played games. I will be completely honest and tell you that it's nice to be around family because they love taking care of Ava and I get a chance to just sit.
Saturday we went on a little canoe onto the lake. Ava loved it! Then we went to the challenge course. Nate, his brother Ryan, and his mom all did the course and it was a blast to watch them. They also went on the zip line, and I was a little disappointed that I couldn't go, but there's always another time. I must say I am glad to be home. I have so much to do this week. I've got to finish packing and I am now going to the doctor every 2 weeks and my brother is leaving for Camp Pendleton this week.... crazy.



Oh, and I did post a prego picture. Oh, and there are some of you out there who haven't invited me to read your blog! Mainly Alexis and Aubrey.... so if you read this, my e-mail is ncacash@yahoo.com and please invite me to read your blog!!!

Marshmallow

Last weekend we had a nice little get together for my brother who is leaving for Afghanistan in 2 weeks. He is now officially active duty today, so last week was just perfect to visit with friends and family..... my lovely younger brother, Collin, flew in from Indianapolis for the occasion. Collin and I have a special relationship. It consists of saying or doing absolutely anything to annoy the other person. We can't help it, that's just how we function. Luckily, it's all fun and games until he tells my husband that I look like a giant MARSHMALLOW! You see, I was wearing a white shirt and brown gouchos, and my tummy is quite large at this point. Then Collin proceeds to tell me that if I was wearing a brown hat I would be a SMORE. Yes, I am so lucky that my brothers continually point out how large and in charge I am. The joys of being the only girl in the family.

On another note. I am quite large and in charge. People keep telling me that I look like I'm ready to pop. The other day, this lady came into work and had 4 kids with her. She didn't look very old and she was really cute, and she was also 9 months prego. But she looked TINY! So my fellow co-worker turns to me and says, "Wow, that lady wasn't very big. You're baby is going to be huge! She's practically going to fall right out!" I turned to him and said, "Tommy, those really aren't things you want to say to preganant lady." And so the comments begin.

I am bigger with this baby. I can feel it. She consumes my whole body and now I am starting to retain water like crazy! My feet are swollen everyday and even my maternity clothes are getting too small. I am praying that I go early. In fact, I'm praying that I have this baby on 09-09-09. Wouldn't that be awesome? That would be 2 weeks before my due date, and I went 2 weeks early with Ava, so I guess we'll see.

So, for now, I will remain a giant marshmallow.

Hairstyles

So, Ava's hair has been getting longer (yahoo!) and I have been able to do some more things with it. We usually sit on her Princess couch and she watches Mickey Mouse while I do her hair. Sometimes, I'll get out my mannequins and she'll do their hair while I do hers. Here is her hair do this past Sunday..... I wish I could say I was creative enough to come up with it on my own, but I saw it on a lady's blog and I just had to try it!

4th of July

We love the 4th of July. We always go to the parade on Magna Main STreet at noon. We sit in front of 5 Buck Pizza and enjoy all that Magna has to offer. This year, 5 Buck was having a hot dog eating contest. (Nate's sister's in laws own 5 Buck) We convinced Nate to enter (his entry fee was paid for by the owner so what did Nate have to lose?)plus he could win money..... Nate reluctantly agreed to do it, only because we nagged him so much. What are wives for? Anyways, it was a blast watching Nate eat all those hot dogs. He tied for second and won $10 plus 3 months worth of free pizza.... I knew he could do it! In the evening, we always go to the Cash's for a BBQ. I usually make fruit pizza, but this year I made the fruit pizza into cookies. It was yummy! Then at night, we go to my parents to watch the Magna fireworks!
I am grateful for this holiday and for all the sacrifice and courage it took for us to have our freedom. I always get teary eyed when I see the flag or when I hear our National Anthem, but even more so this year because my brother is being deployed to Afghanistan in a couple of weeks. He just got back from Iraq a year ago and volunteered to go to Afghanistan. He told me that he wanted to go so that maybe someone with a family could stay home. While he is there, we won't have any contact with him and won't know where he is or how he's doing.... He's been training intensely and my freedom means so much more to me knowing that my brother is fighting and willing to sacrifice his own life to keep us free. God bless America.

Trek

We had a lot of fun on trek. We didn't get to go as the Ma and Pa due to my current condition, however, we still had an amazing experience. I didn't walk (bummer... I have been preparing all summer!) but I did get to do all the music and to help out with the food. All in all, I helped make 625 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 625 hoagie sandwiches, and helped serve breakfast and dinner (lunch was the sandwiches, and they ate that on the trail.) It was fun to see all the preparation that went on behind the scenes and just how much sacrifice and service goes into making this a special experience for everyone. I learned the value of service and how it's needed everywhere.
We arrived at camp early Wednesday morning. That day, the youth pulled for 12 miles.
Our camp that night was full of cow pies. It was lovely. The next day, Thursday, they walked about 9 miles. We had the Women's Pull that day which was a neat experience. They women pulled the handcarts while the men watched. As they approached their destination, I was playing some hymns on the violin. It was so moving to see these women struggle. One ward had to pull a girl in a wheelchair, and the last ward only had 3 women pulling, one of the women was the trek master. As soon as the other wards were done, some of them ran to help the last struggling ward. I had tears streaming down my face the whole time because I can't imagine pulling a handcart day after day with your husband and children in it. But that's what the pioneer women had to do. In the Willie and Martin Handcart Company, the men were too sick or dead by the time they reached Rocky Ridge, so the women had to pull. So, moving on.... In order to get to our camp, we had to go through hundreds of cattle. They would just stand in the road and stare at you. It was so funny. That night, camp was really nice except it rained the whole night. Luckily, Nate has bought us a really nice tent and sleeping bags and we stayed dry. In fact, I slept outside the sleeping bag most of the night because I was so hot.
On Friday, they walked about 8 miles and when we got to camp, you could see the storm clouds brewing. That night, we were having a fireside on the Rescue of the Atonement, and as kind of an object lesson, everyone was blindfolded and led into this big open field by members of the Stake YW and YM. They were turned in all different directions and sat down by themselves. All they were told to do was to follow the music. I was in a truck a little ways off and was playing hymns... and they were supposed to make it to the truck, blindfolded. Then the winds started blowing. I wish I had a picture of the sky because it was so black and it was so cold, but Heavenly Father spared us from the rain. The people had a hard time hearing the music because of the wind, but eventually some started to come. They would stumble and fall, but once they reached the truck, they could choose to get a piece of candy or to go and rescue someone else. IT was just amazing and I wish you could have been there to experience just what went on that night. After everyone was "rescued" we started to have a testimony meeting, but it just started pouring and the wind was INCREDIBLE. It destroyed 3 tents and it rained and rained. Some of our YW came into our tent while Nate secured theirs. That night, it was really cold, and again, I thought of those pioneers who didn't have shelter or warm sleeping bags or porta potty's to go to. They had nothing, but yet they had their burning testimonies that kept them going.
Saturday was the final day, and they walked about 5 miles. Everyone had blisters and some were sunburned, but you could not deny the spirit that was felt. I was so lucky to be able to go and to serve in whatever way I could.

It's Official

We will be moving back to University Village on July 31! We are in apartment #214... which is kind of funny because last time we lived there, we were in apartment #314. Bring on the packing!





P.S. A LOT more updates to come. Probably later tonight.... stay tuned folks.