What I love about Sunday...

I love Sundays. The Sabbath is probably my favorite day of the week. For several reasons, including but not limited to the following:::

I get to sleep in (which means I wake up at 6, and then make myself go back to sleep until about 8) and still have time to eat some cereal and take my time getting dressed for church, which usually consists of several wardrobe changes!

My sweet husband generally has Sundays off. This means that for one day a week I get to spend the whole day with him. Priceless!

My sister makes delicious food. This happens pretty much everyday, and I partake of said delicious food most days but... the difference is that on Sundays I don't have to feel bad about mooching off of my little sister! Yay!

Sunday naps. Enough said.

Annnnd. Church. You thought I was going to forget that one didn't you?

Every week I get to go to a place where I can always feel the Spirit. I get to partake of the Sacrament. I get to sing hymns that touch me in a way that only music can. I get to hear wonderful and prayerfully prepared messages. I get to see what adorable things my nieces will be wearing. I get to spend two hours with some of the cutest and funniest toddlers in the world. I get to be in choir. I get to see the amazing people that I love so much, my ward family.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know who I am. I know God's plan. I'll follow Him in faith. I am so grateful for this gospel, this "good news." It makes my week, every week.

And now... I get to enjoy some of the priceless downtime with my husband. Eating this!

That right there, is what I call proof that my husband is the most wonderful. Half PB & J, half meat and cheese. Just because he loves me.

Happy Sabbath!

Quickening, butterflies, and popcorn popping…

I have heard many women describe what feeling a little, tiny human moving around inside of you feels like. The gentle brush of a finger. The fluttering of butterfly wings. Gas bubbles. Popcorn popping.

I could not wait for this wonderful experience. To me, as strange as feeling the baby move may be, it was stranger still to know that something was growing inside of me (something the size of an apple, avocado, or other various produce) and I could not feel it. I mean, really how is that possible??? Ryan and were talking about this very thing once and came up with a few explanations:

• Before, the baby was so small, and perhaps did not move as much.
• The good old boiling a frog scenario… The change came so slowly I just couldn’t detect it.

I’m no doctor or scientist, so why it is exactly that expectant mothers cannot feel their babies moving until the kid is as big as a tomato or whatever, I don’t actually know… but! I am so glad that those days are behind me.

I first felt the littlest Aguiar moving inside me a few weeks ago… probably around week 16. When I was just 12 weeks I read that the kiddo was developing reflexes and if I poked my abdomen, the tiny human inside would squirm around in response. Naturally, it took all my self-control to not poke my stomach all the time. I knew that my child was still way too small for me to feel, but I was in love with the idea nonetheless. Starting at about week 15, I would lay in bed at night, when I was all alone (I tried this when Ryan was present and it just did not work. He is too loud. And moves too much. Even when you tell him to stop). I would gently poke my tummy. Then I would wait and concentrate really hard on the sweet little baby I knew was hiding inside of me.

At first I couldn’t really feel anything. A few times I had some strange sensation I thought might be the baby, but having never felt such a thing before (I am a first time human grower.) I just wasn’t sure… Gradually though, I decided that what I was feeling was indeed the tiny kicks and movements of Baby Aguiar. I also decided to go with popping popcorn. It seemed the most fitting description. Pop, pop, pop. Plus, I like the idea of popcorn in my belly a whole lot more than the idea of insects (even if they are only butterflies) in there!

I’m officially 19 weeks, and now throughout my day I am greeted by little nudging hellos from inside my growing belly. It is the most wonderful thing. I have found that if I am leaning over or in any way confining my stomach, baby starts to protest. So, just like I sometimes bug Bella on purpose to hear her tell me “Stop! Stop Kewwie,” I find myself jostling or in some way disturbing the little kiddo within, just to feel the answering “Stop! Stop Mommy!”

I wish my little one was big enough so that others might also be able to feel the stirrings and kicking and general commotion that the little acrobat produces. It won’t be too long now, but in the meantime, I will keep enjoying the subtle reminders of the incredible gift I carry.

Pregnancy Rhinitis…

“Pregnancy Rhinitis refers to the uncomfortable condition of severe nasal congestion – a stuffy nose – that troubles many women during pregnancy.”

Yeah. Soak that in.

I love being pregnant. I cannot imagine how any woman could go through this and not believe in God. It is incredible and so completely worth every minor inconvenience when compared to the reality. As women, we get the opportunity to create life and grow human bodies; a responsibility taken on by Heavenly Father and Christ, who then shared it with us. Awe-inspiring.

I would not trade this experience for anything… but can I just say, that no one ever mentioned to me the distinct possibility that I might not be able to breathe out of my nose for the next 6 months. Not to mention, the sneezing, coughing, headaches, and ever-glamorous (Yeah. I just sang the Fergie song in my head to ensure that word was correctly spelled. Judge me, why dontcha!) uncontrollable leaking of snot. Slightly less awe-inspiring. But still… oh so completely worth it!

The gift of weeping.

When I was in Young Women’s we had a lesson on spiritual gifts. It was then that I realized how immensely gifted I am. Hidden in among the gifts of healing and being healed, of faith and love, was a gift I had never heard of before, but most definitely possess.

The gift of weeping.

There you have it. Anyone who has been around me, for more than an hour, has probably seen me cry. And as it turns out, all these years, I have just been perfecting my talents. Use it, or lose it they say… and let me tell you! This gift isn’t goin anywhere!

As I’m sure you can imagine… Pregnancy has only enhanced my natural gifts. For instance, before I cried over movies, books, good news, bad news… I cried when I was too tired, or when I had just had enough… things like that! Ohhhh. But now! Wooo baby. I cry over losing the remote. I cry when I find the remote. I cry when I hear Taylor Swift songs, not the sad ones, the happy, sweet and sappy ones… I cry when I forget my water bottle. The list goes on and on!

Its ok people. You can be jealous that I am so gifted!

Once Upon a Baby

(Note to the reader: I wrote this approximately a month ago, so some minor details are less accurate now... for your convenience I have included some corrections at the bottom. Thank you. Have a nice day!)

Much to the relief of certain family members of ours, Ryan and I are finally coming out. It is not exactly a well-kept secret, turns out a lot of people I know are big blabber-mouths! But that’s ok! I have found that this is the most fun secret I have ever gotten to share… probably because it is the most wonderful thing that has happened to me: I am growing a human.

Yes, that’s right. A tiny little lemon-sized* human currently resides in my uterus! For those of you, who don’t know, want to know, have nothing better to do, or just find my little parasite as exciting to think about as I do… Here is the story of Baby Aguiar:

Once upon a time, in a small and quaint little town, there lived a couple. The husband was not only a full- time student, but also worked two jobs. The wife was a school teacher. They had been married for about 4 or 5 months when they decided to take a crazy leap of faith, and start their little family. Then BAM! Baby Aguiar was on the way!

(Short story huh?)

Really though, that’s how it seemed. One day we decided to start trying and the next I had magic pee**. Magic pee that takes a plain ole pregnancy test and makes it say “Pregnant”. When Ryan tried to convince me that my pee is not magic, I simply asked if his pee could do what mine can. Winner!

We decided not to tell anyone that we were trying to have a baby, and when the time came to take the test, not even Ryan knew when I was planning it. Early one morning (October 20^th to be exact) I snuck out of bed and discovered the power of my magic pee! After doing a real quick and quiet happy dance, I took a picture of the good news, set it as the background on my husband’s phone, snuck back into bed and waited! When the alarm went off, I started “waking up” although I was positively bubbling inside! It took a while for him to look at his phone, do a double-take, and then for recognition to dawn on him.

A few days later we shared the news with our families. There was much crying and hugging and carrying on J

We decided, and by we I mean I… Ryan either didn’t care or didn’t really have a choice (you decide which)… to reveal our growing family by strategically placing this delightful picture in the midst of our wedding photos. The family all gathered round to see our wedded bliss with no idea of the curveball we had planned. We are bery bery sneaky (sock/feet loving butler from Mr. Deeds anyone).

Confusion, disbelief and shock eventually turned to excitement and pure joy once they realized that what they were seeing was actually true. Cassie (who knew she was the quickest one in our family!) caught on first and ambushed me with a tearful, smiling hug! Phone calls were made to our loved ones who live far away and thus we shared our wonderful news for the first time.

*Baby Aguiar is now the size of a large heirloom tomato.

** My pee is still magic! This is not really a correction... I just feel cool when I say I have magic pee.