Ketchup.

So named because in this post, I'm playing a whole lot of "catch-up," which sounds like "ketchup." Plus, I'm pregnant. No limit on the food references these days. None whatsoever.

I guess we should start with the middle of September, when my entire stake (large geographical region of congregations in the Mormon church) was realigned. Our little neighborhood was removed from our existing congregation (or "ward," for the Mormon-term-savvy) and placed in a brand-spanking-new ward with a few other neighborhoods. I cried, hard. I felt depressed and resentful. I cried harder when I found out we'd be meeting from 3 - 6 pm every Sunday and would therefore be unable to attend family dinners anymore. I then went home from the meeting and cried some more. It was a hard pill to swallow.

Two days later, I was called to be the Young Women's president in the new ward. I now lead and serve all the girls ages 12 - 18 in my entire congregation. There are about two dozen of them. Talk about a shock. I burst into tears upon receiving the call (no surprise there). I had spent the better part of that day throwing up from morning sickness; for weeks prior, I had been mostly unable to clean my house, cook or function normally. I was not going to be able to handle this. Not on my own. Thankfully, God is on my side. Dill has been tremendously supportive. I have a fantastic bishop who is so helpful and understanding. I have the best counselors and advisers I could ever ask for. The girls are so cooperative, loving and intelligent. My morning sickness started to ease up the week after I received my new calling. I have been blessed beyond belief.

I am 13, almost 14 weeks pregnant now. Last week, I went to see the midwife for my second appointment. Being 12 weeks, I was confident we'd hear the heartbeat on the doppler. Well, after a few minutes of earnest searching, it couldn't be found. Of course, I was panicking slightly and ... you guessed it, verged on crying. But this minor scare meant an unexpected ultrasound, in which Baby #3 appeared to be healthy, happy and wiggling vigorously. The midwife said my placenta is anterior which makes it hard to hear the heartbeat this early on. Baby looks cute, that's for sure.

 I guess it actually just looks like a little blob, but it's a cute blob to me.

We did take a sneak-peek between Baby's legs and the tech and I made some hypotheses about what we saw. Since it's still so early, we'll hold onto our thoughts for a few more weeks until I have the BIG ULTRASOUND REVEAL!!! Haha, I almost don't want to find out what it is. I have one of each. But I'm also a control freak and the thought of not knowing makes me twitchy. So I'm sure I'll cave and find out. Should I bake the gender into a cake or something? That's what everyone seems to do these days.

Here I was a week ago, being a goofball. All I wear nowadays are maxi skirts and leggings. Real pants hurt too much.

And here's a real belly shot, complete with duck-lips. I can't take myself too seriously

Last but not least, Dill and I went to a fantastically fun Harry Potter party, hosted by the writer extraordinaire, Darci. It was a costume party, and I am a firm believer that if you're invited to one of those you BETTER DRESS UP. So we did. As Tonks and Lupin, which fits because I'm pregnant.

 

Final parting words: never buy a wig at Wal-Mart, no matter how tempted you are by the price, because they are ugly and make you feel hideous.

The End.