Pregnancy Update

First of all I need to apologize for not having any recent pictures. I can't find the cord to upload them anywhere. I am quite upset cause I have some cute ones from Disneyland and Ella's Birthday that I need to put up. When I say cute I mean of Ella and my family. I on the other hand am not looking so "cute" these days and try to avoid the camera at all costs. Anyway, here are the answers to some questions I am frequently asked.

How are you feeling?

Overall I would say I feel good. I have no major problems. I think just the normal things at this stage. I seem to be a lot more tired, I have a harder time falling asleep, and just feel big and uncomfortable sometimes.

Have you picked out a name?

I know a lot of people out there are timid about sharing the name before the baby is born for fear that others might "take" it. But I don't see a lot of you out there wanting to steal the name Viliamu. Hahaha As for now this is the name at the top of our list. My dad's full name is William Albert Given the 4th. The name was supposed to be carried on, but my dad had all girls, so that didn't happen. We have really been thinking about naming him the Samoan version of William in honor of my dad and grandfathers which is Viliamu.

How far along are you?

I am almost 23 weeks. Only 4 months to go!

Has this pregnancy been different than your first?

Yes, with Ella I never really felt pregnant until the very end. This time around, I got sick the first trimester. I never threw up, but felt sick to my stomach every day. I am just feeling more pregnant than I did the first time.

Have you had any weird cravings?

For some reason I can't get enough of anything sour.

Is your family excited to have a boy?

Like I said before my dad had all girls. Not only that, but he was the only boy, and neither of his parents had any brothers. Sita was the only boy in his family as well. So they are EXCITED to say the least. Both Sita and my dad are manly men. :) They already have all these plans for our son. What sports he is going to play, what position he will play, and what teams he will like. I can't wait for the day when he decides to take up ballet.

Does Ella understand what's going on?

I don't think Ella really understands what is going on. She will come up to my tummy and talk to her little brother, but sometimes she will surprise me with a smack on the belly as well. She knows she is not supposed to do that but she gets this evil little grin and does it anyway. She is already trying to steal the attention. :) She also tells me she has a baby in her tummy. The other day she had a tummy ache and she came up to me holding her tummy and told me her baby brother hurt. Hahaha She is going to be in for a BIG surprise!

In case you haven't heard...

It's a

BOY!

Due November 22, 2010

Made Me Smile!

It was 11:00 PM we got a flat tire on the freeway. I was sitting in the passenger's seat complaining to myself about the situation (mind you I didn't have to do a thing). When all of a sudden I look out the window at my husband on his hands and knees in the FREEZING cold rain changing the flat when I hear him start SINGING away. Really?!?...who just has a good ol' time changing a tire on the side of the freeway in the rain and cold at 11:00 at night?

One of the MANY reasons I love this guy. I hope our kids inherit his patience and positive attitude. I sure do love this guy!

Double Trouble

I was looking at this old picture of my lil' baby. It made me realize how time flies and how short a time we have here and blah blah blah....yadda yadda yadda. Yeah. All that stuff.

I think one of the difficult things that I have gone through as a parent is wanting my baby to stay a baby. Yes, I love watching her mature. Yes, I love watching her mind develop and personality mold. Yes, I love seeing her learn things she shouldn't do, watch her try to do them, pretend I'm mad at her for doing them, and laughing about it where she can't see me. I love that part of parenting.

But I also loved when she fit perfectly in my forearm, when she just laid on her back and didn't make much noise, and when all her food was free because Shalie breast fed her.

Shalie and I both missed that.....

so we decided to have another one.

We found out that Shalie's pregnant and due sometime in November! We're so excited! Ella doesn't seem to understand, but we're saying that she's excited because that's what parents do: pretend their kids feel the same way they do until they physically say otherwise.

Here's to late nights and early mornings. Constant crying and tons of diapers. Teething and a jealous big sister.

Here's to the best thing about this life. Here's to family and to our newest lil' member!

Picture Vomit!

Here are some pics I need on here for the record.

Some cute pics of Ella and her best buddy.Giving her daddy a "biiiiiiiiig kiss"!
I straightened Ella's hair for the first time the other day. She looked so cute, but I prefer the fro!
My little sis turned 23.She's gorgeous and single!Visiting auntie at work (The Garden Restaurant).

She loves to see the temple.

Our cute nephew Losepeli turned 8!

Sita was lucky enough to get to baptize him!I took Ella and my sister Maggie to Disney On Ice.
If you know Maggie it won't surprise you that she chose the Mater souvenir.
Ella of course chose Tinkerbell. Don't mind the snow cone all over her face.Nikki couldn't resist when I told her we were going.
Ella and I went to the Zoo last week. The weather was PERFECT!
Here we are on the train!The gorilla was sleeping with his butt in the air and Ella just kept saying "stinky poo".The Merry-Go-Round. Ella about choked me to death. She would not let go of my neck.Ella's favorite...the tigers!She loved the real ones, and apparently the fake ones too.She thought she was so brave.

She was mesmerized by the Mommy and Baby Elephants.I LOVE this picture!

A Small Observation

The other day I needed to go out to the car to grab something. As I headed for the door, Ella stopped me and we had this conversation:

Ella: Dad, you going to eBay?
Me: No, honey. I'm just going to the car.
Ella: Ella go to eBay?
No: No honey. I'm just going to the car. I'll be right back.
Ella: oh, no eBay?
Me: No Bear. I'm just going to the car.
Ella: ok...ummm...I wanna...umm...hambuger....and umm...some milk and...umm
Me: Honey, I'm not going to the store. Just to the car.
Ella: Ok. Love you dad
Me: (laugh) Love you too Ella bear.

As I walked to the car and back, I thought about this little conversation. It was funny because it gave me a little window into my funny little girl's mind. More importantly, it reminded me that my actions--whether intended or not--are being monitored at all times.

From that conversation, I learned that my daughter is aware that when I leave, most of the time it's to go to where I work, eBay. I know she doesn't understand why I go to eBay, but she does understand that when I leave her, it's a good chance that eBay's where I'm going. I can also tell that she thinks eBay's somewhere I want to be. She always wants to come with me to eBay. She's come inside a couple times and loves it even though all she's ever done is sit with me at my desk while I grab a couple things.

I also learned that she thinks if I'm not going to eBay, the next most likely place is to get food. For those who might have been confused by what she was saying on the conversation above, let me explain. She was putting in an order. Like I said in the previous post, Shay and I love food. Obviously, by Ella's observation, I go out to get food a lot--whether it be groceries or fast food. Just like when I ask Shalie if she wants anything while I'm out, Ella puts in her order. If I'm not going to eBay, it must be to get food. That's got to be a statistic somewhere at some fat camp: If going to get food is in your top 2 reasons for leaving your house, you're probably fat.

While it may seem like a pretty simple conversation, it really opened my eyes to what those 2 beautiful, little eyes see everyday. It also made me want to be better. While she may not have all the "whys," she does have a great grasp of the "whats." Ella sees me leave everyday and she assumes that where I go is a good place. A place where people want to be. A place where she wants to be. She also assumes that if I'm not going to that place, that I'm going to go get food for our family; to provide for them. Ella assumes that I'm only in good places and doing good things. I'm productive. I'm on the right path. I'm taking advantage of life.

It made me ask myself, " do I live up to those assumptions?"

All I could think of was, "you better."

Must be the universe talking to the Ripley's again. Leave it to a 2 year old to give you a better perspective on yourself. Children are like super clean, empty glasses, vacant of substance but so clean and innocent that all you can see is your own reflection. Life's full of irony.

Anyway, I was comforted by one thing. Then end of the conversation did bear one assumption that I can definitely admit to immediately:

Ella: Ok. Love you Dad

(Laugh)

Love you too Ella bear.

What's For Dinner and Are You Sure You Want to Eat It?

There are two things the Ripley's love: Food and Documentaries. We have seen virtually every documentary at the video store--bar the few rated R films (I'll have to blog about our debate with Rated R movies another time). We also eat out WAY too much.

So when people started to make documentaries about the food industry, naturally, Shay and I were all over it. While we loved these movies, they definitely changed the way we think about our food. Shalie's seriously thinking about becoming a vegetarian and I am seriously thinking about getting diet Dr. Pepper instead of regular to go with my 3 big macs, 2 cherry pies, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Anyway, you may have seen these, but if you haven't, you definitely should check them out:

Super Size Me

This is probably the most famous of the 3 and most of you may have seen it, but it's still a good one. Super Size Me is one man's journey to cardiac arrest by way of a McDonald's diet. His one rule is that everything he eats for 30 days has to be from McDonalds. If he wants breakfast, it has to be off McDonald's menu. If he wants some fruit, it has to be off the McDonalds Menu. If he wants some water, it has to be from McDonalds. It's pretty amazing to see what a Big Mac and fries can do to you. Be sure to check out the special features on this one.

King Corn

This is the story of two young Documentarians who wanted to find out about Americas number one grain and its effect on American Society. The movie demonstrates how much corn we eat and--more specifically--how much of our food is corn. They also go into how much money can be made farming corn, how different "farming" is compared to what it's thought to be, and how much money you can make growing it. It's crop full of information.

Sorry. I know that was corny.

:)

Ok. I'll stop.

Food Inc.

This is probably our favorite of the three movies. Food Inc basically covers what both Super Size Me and King Corn cover, but also adds even more to the crazy situation in our society. It goes over the power of the multi-billion dollar food corporations, their shady practices, and the deadly effects of unregulated food distribution. And, yep, it's directly related to the government (jerks).

These are definitely some great choices and they may even change the way you live your life.

Food for thought.