Yesterday, I got home from errands and grocery shopping with Joe and immediately retired to the recliner with my new book (My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult). Ten minutes later, at 6:25 p.m., I was OUT. Completely asleep. Only a call from my sis Beckie at 8:30 was enough to rouse me, at which point I managed to stay awake for a little bit and hang with Joe, eat some cereal, and talk with my bro on the phone. But then it was back to bed at the usual time, and that was it for the entire evening.
Tonight, I got home at around 5 p.m., lay on the bed complaining about weariness, and of course, fell asleep. Only when Joe tempted me back to life with a virgin margarita did I rouse enough to get off the bed, and only then because I was dying of thirst and a sweet/sour frozen drink sounded like a gift from the gods.

Tomorrow, I will be 7 months pregnant. This third trimester has only been going on for a week, but I already feel like I've been hit by a bulldozer every afternoon. I sit/lay every evening, thinking, "I should be working on a project/cleaning a portion of my home/cooking dinner for Joe/working on editing photos/making a scrapbook page/going for a walk... but all I can do right now is remain motionless and let this sleep overtake me...zzzzzzzz..."

Don't get me wrong: I truly have had a blessed pregnancy, and it is really fun to observe all these phases and changes I am going through. But honestly-- will I ever get ME back again? Passion, drive, creativity, energy, motivation, desire to DO something? People tell me that having a baby will just take more of this away from me, and I'm not sure what to expect. Do I just need to learn to let go of expectations? Not try to be more than my poor body will let me?
Or am I babying myself WAY too much, and need to get off my bum and get moving?

I feel like I only have a little more "free" time left, and I am getting sad that I might be "wasting" it... but honestly, the exhaustion that has been hitting every afternoon is compellingly powerful. Irresistible. Like a drug, it drains away ANY thought of activity or action. Sleep... blessed sleep..... must sleep....

*sigh*

I Slept 14 Hours Last Night.

Ah, welcome to the third trimester!! I got home yesterday evening at around 6:00 pm, sat to watch Simpsons with Joe, and promptly fell asleep. At about 8:30, I moved to the bed, intending to keep Joe company as he played on the computer across the room... but no. I was asleep again in minutes and didn't fully wake up again (not counting the bathroom wake-ups) until my alarm went off at 8:30 this morning. Crazy. And it felt NECESSARY.

I did feel a bit bad abandoning Joe on a weekend night... leaving him to eat pizza and play video games all night with no wife to go out and do fun stuff with.


And on a related pregnancy note, I went to the bathroom EIGHT times yesterday. At least. And all of them were pretty much urgently needed. What am I in for????

All worth it, though. This kid is gonna be GREAT!


And another random side note, non-pregnancy related: I am SO happy to have my sis Beckie living so close to me. Really... and not just because I just texted her to buy me some skim milk on her way home from Mac Grill tonight, though that IS nice and handy...
No, I am thrilled because she and I love so many of the same things... and she makes me laugh... and it is like having a built-in best friend just blocks away-- something I've missed since Utah. (Of course Joe counts, but I'm talking GIRL friend. Totally different.) I hope Beckie doesn't feel smothered or worn out by my calls and invites since she's been here... Like I said, I'm just so excited. :)

is the name we are going with for our son...

Ready for a long explanation??
Joe's dad is Joseph Moroni and my husband is Joseph Ammon. We wanted to keep the tradition going, but we have enough Joes around... And with it not being a Jr./Sr. thing, it gets tricky to keep them separate. Family and friends used to call their house and ask for "Big Joe" or "Little Joe." After awhile, this became silly and inaccurate, since both were BIG. These days, I call my dad-in-law "Papa Joe" and my hubby just "Joe". When I talk to my mom-in-law, we call them "MY Joe". *smile*

So you see, while the tradition is really cool, we are ready to NOT add another Joe. So in keeping with the pattern, the middle name "Noah" is scriptural in origin, but is also VERY nice as the primary name.

Long story short, our son is Joseph Noah, but we'll call him Noah. Means "peaceful", "comforter", or "rest". Not bad! Maybe he'll live up to that meaning and be mellow and serene. If he ends up anything like me, he won't be.

{if you like the letters pictured above, try this website to make your own "sign lettering" words using Flickr}

Basic, Photo-less Update:

For your reading enjoyment, or just for updating purposes, here is me right now:

1. Major heartburn since lunch. It is coming sooner these days and staying stronger. Fight, Rolaids, fight!!
2. I am now 26 1/2 weeks along, or 6.5 months. I've gained 14 lbs., and my belly is noticeable but not HUGE.
3. Noah bumps and nudges several times a day, which is fun.
4. School is finally settling into a routine. I am implementing the seating charts tomorrow, FINALLY, after a first week of madness, inconsistency, and frustration. I even have access to my district's server, finally! (Two weeks late.)
5. My home is still in that 85% done phase of rearranging. Left to do?--Hang pictures. Buy fun curtains. Organize the project room. Set up the baby's part of the project room. Clean out my hallway. Put away leftover home decor. Organize art-making space. Organize papers. Clean/paint laundry room.
6. I learned how to make banana bread. It's dang easy. Why haven't I done this sooner??
7. I am trying to get myself out of "coping mode" and into "thriving mode"... feels like i have just been barely making it through my life since we got back from Utah.
8. I am craving AUTUMN so much. Enough with the heat!
9. I'm loving maternity clothes and preggy bellies. SO EASY!
10. I have been devouring good books over the last month: Harry Potter7, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Water For Elephants, Into the Wild, Uglies, Pretties, and soon I will check out Specials and finish that trilogy. LOVING THESE BOOKS!

...And there it is. Four days left of school this week. Gonna try to do more than just collapse at the end of each day. Gonna try to make my siblings' birthday presents. Maybe send a few little pieces of mail out. Order and organize even a small portion of the remainder of my to-do list.

Gonna go eat another Rolaids.

That's all for now, folks! Thanks for checking in!

My Lambson Family-

I LOVE going back to Utah for so many reasons. One that I want to focus on tonight is the chance I get to be with my dad's side of the family, laughing and feeling like I never left nearly five years ago. When Joe and I took our road trip to Utah and Nevada in July, we made it a point to see as many of our families as we could, basically scheduling in wall-to-wall visits with Southerlands, Tanners, and Lambsons, among several of our dear friends as well. Here are my favorite photos from my side of the family:

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Darla have been like second parents/best friends to me for years. It was SO good to see them for a long afternoon visit.

Kamrie, my beautiful cousin, is nearly grown up!!! Yikes!! She is as sweet and fun as ever, and brings me such joy when she hugs me like I'm still her favorite girl in the world. Lucky me!
(Katie wasn't in town this day, so I missed getting to see how lovely she is becoming. Sad!)


Baby Karlie isn't a baby anymore!!! She is in that 6-to-7 year-old transition, where teeth are missing and life is about swimming pools and slip-n-slides. Oh, and the new dog Bella, possible the coolest dog that has ever existed.

Jake, now age 11, found out that the one thing Bella can't resist is his stinky, foul, dirty socks. She is ADDICTED!!! It cracked us all up!

(seriously, we almost kidnapped this dog. She was irresistible. If we weren't about to have a baby, we'd probably have gone out and bought one of our own as soon as we got back to St. Louis!!)

***

My Uncle Dave is my dad's other kid bro, and he and his family let us come by for a lovely afternoon visit on their porch. We caught up, told stories, and nibbled on veggies and dip throughout the time we had together. It was so nice!

This is SUCH a Dave face. he has a fun, wry sense of humor and a take-it-as-it-comes outlook on life.

Aunt Dale is such a positive person. She is always so interested in other people's stories, and has a lot of great ones herself.

Cousin Megan is starting to come across as a GROWN-UP!!! When did that happen?? She is headed to work in this picture, hence the all-black hostess gear.

Jeremy got done with his painting job while we were at the house, so we even got to see him! The whole family in one visit!!

And last but never least, my beloved Grandma. I love how it feels to be at her home. I love making her laugh. I love to go to her water aerobics with her in the early mornings in the outdoor pool surrounded by American Fork Mountains. I love that living in Utah helped me develop this relationship into something deep and lasting.

***

And there are so many other photos to share-- of friends, of camping, of our touristy moments.... This is just the first of many posts about our trip out West. Hope you aren't bored yet!

My Southerland Family

Joe's dad's side of the family is a wacky, brilliant, sarcastic bunch that we fit right into. It was so fun to get to see nearly half of the whole bunch while we were in Utah and Las Vegas, and hang out at several of their fun homes during the process... here are some pictures:

Joe and Aunt Margaret hanging out at Aunt Reva's home in Salt Lake City (we also got to see Margaret's home in Las Vegas that she is renovating!).
Cousins Jeanette and Vaughn, acting pretty much like they always do.

Joe with Aunt Phyllis at hers and Scott's home in Las Vegas.

Uncle Scott in the pool with his two favorite little guys. This man was BORN to be a grandpa!!

Cousin Nanette with her cute family in Mesquite, Nevada. They were so gracious to feed us a tasty lunch and let us use their shower between our HOT camping in Zion's National Park and the rest of our drive to Las Vegas. Lifesavers!!!

Cousin Aubrey and her cute family-- all boys!! here, they are at Aunt Reva's house in SLC.

Aunt Reva and Uncle Sam with their son Mark, hosts to the Southerland family BBQ while we were in town.

My Tanner Family...

Joe's mom's side of the family is a riot-- so close-knit, with the majority of them living right in Salt Lake City so they get to gather at Grandma and Grandpa's house quite frequently. When Joe and I were out West, it was a delight staying at G & G's house, hanging out with as many Tanners as we could get our hands on. Enjoy a sampling of them in the following pictures:

Grandpa has the most amazing garden...

One of the best additions to my life has been my new grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Tanner-- aren't they WONDERFUL?

Uncle David and Aunt Stephanie with their newest daughter Claire.

Uncle Todd and Aunt Kathy

Cousin Kristen's little devil Max. This is one of my favorite pictures ever.

Some Recent Photos: Holmes and Nelsons...

April is my former roommate, the one I posted bridal photos of last month. They were married in the St. Louis Temple and had their reception in St. Louis as well. Between the wedding and the reception, they made time for us to meet in Forest Park and take some more photos of just the two of them. I LOVE when brides and grooms schedule this-- so much more freedom and control over the quality of pictures they get! They were fun to work with, too-- endless smiles!



Isn't it romantic?

After the Park, we drove to the "photo op" spot of Saint Louis in a downtown plaza, where you can see the arch and the old courthouse behind them.
***
And the Nelsons are Joe's cousins from Salt Lake City-- We got to hang out with them and take their family photos while we were in Utah this July. Aren't these blonde boys so CUTE?

They wanted "feet" pictures... I love the contrast in size, and how the littlest one is falling over in the second one!


And see how delighted the youngest kid is in the stairs pic? That's 'cause Grandpa is standing behind me, playing peek-a-boo with him. It got the whole family laughing!

Okay, that's all folks! Thanks for looking!