New Definition of Baby Hungry

"The second trimester of pregnancy often marks the end of morning sickness and the beginning of the kind of insatiable hunger not often seen outside of a high school football team." What to Expect When You're Expecting

Yesterday my food intake included:

11:30 AM: Huge bowl of cereal

12:30 PM: Several brownies

2:00 PM: Eggs and toast

3:00 PM: Glazed donut

5:30 PM: A 6-inch Subway sandwich

6:30 PM: Another 6-inch Subway sandwich

7:00 PM: Another glazed donut

8:30 PM: 2 kiwis

11:00 PM: Another huge bowl of cereal

At first glance, this doesn't look like too much food. Until you realize I woke up at 11 and then had 4 nice sized meals in twelve hours with several snacks in between. First trimester is nausea, this trimester is an unquenchable appetite. I felt starving all day yesterday, but I was definitely not short on food. Pregnancy is a weird thing.

Jeff assured me the other day that my belly is getting rounder. My sister let me know a good 2 months ago that I was starting to "thicken up." I've been taking pictures of myself every week. I am 17 weeks today, but here's my picture from last week.

We get to find out what we're having on January 12th! It's getting so close. Vote on our poll what you think we're having.

A Homemade Christmas

Jeff's family does a sibling gift exchange with one of their siblings. This year it was Jeff and Bryan's turn to exchange gifts with each other. If you remember, last year was "An Infomercial Christmas." This year, it was decided to have "A Homemade Christmas." We are thinking of making a tradition out of the themed gifts.

Christmas Eve we spent the day making gingerbread houses. Please notice Bryan in the picture below.
Ben and Austen
Tana, Dirk and Mary
Our gingerbread house only lasted about 20 minutes before it crumbled.

After a delicious dinner, we had Christmas Tea and Recital. Another fun Excell tradition. Ben sang while Tana played the piano. Austen said the first Article of Faith. I wish I would have recorded it. It was adorable.
Mary played the piano while Bryan played the guitar.
David recited the poem, "The Touch of the Master's Hand."
Mary threw us a little surprise with a very skilled hula dance.
I played the piano while Jeff juggled. We didn't get a picture, though. Since we all performed, we got to drink Wassail out of teacups!
Now you might notice Jeff is looking a little bit tired on Christmas morning. That's because another tradition is to stay up until 3:00 in the morning on Christmas Eve to play Super Nintendo games.
This is Jeff opening my gift to him. I got him Windows7...which ended up crashing his computer. Merry Christmas, Jeff...
Ben, Tana and Dirk opening up one of their gifts.
Ah! And here's our homemade gift to Bryan. We made him a computer bag. Yes, you can click on the picture to make it bigger and admire our sewing skills.
And Bryan gave Jeff a scarf (I forgot to take a picture of it) and then he made aprons for me and Mary. You can also click on this one, but please only look at the apron and Mary. I hadn't showered yet when this picture was taken.
It was a fun first Christmas with the Excell side. I can't wait to see what next year's theme will be.

A Christmas Getaway

Jeff and I had wanted to go on a "babymoon" after we found out I was pregnant. We couldn't afford much, so we had looked into going to Las Vegas for a weekend. After looking up hotel rates and figuring in paying for gas and food, I felt guilty spending so much money on us when we needed to be saving our money for the baby. Just as we were deciding a babymoon was out of reach, my mom called with some great news! She invited me and Jeff to Las Vegas with them for A WEEK for the Vegas Bowl. It was a dream come true. We got a guilt-free vacation twice as long as what we were planning on.

We saw the Cirque Du Soleil show "KA." It was incredible the things they could do. That was one of my favorite things we did.
We took pictures every day in the car. We were on our way to church for this one.
We ate at a brand new buffet. I think it was in a hotel called Aria and the restaurant was called "The Buffet." You'd think they could be a little more creative in Vegas. Everything was green and very modern looking.
That night my mom wanted to take some "romantic pictures" of me and Jeff. I was so tempted to dip my whole body in the water, but one of the signs said, "Do not use hot tub if you ...(then it listed a bunch of stuff and at the very end it said)... have been using drugs or are pregnant." Shucks.

Then we got to pretend we were in Harry Potter and jump on a gigantic chess board.
We saw The Lion King. Their costumes were way awesome.
Our room had two small beds. They were bigger than a twin bed but smaller than a queen bed. I'm not sure what they were, but by the third night we decided to sleep in different beds.
Here's my 15 week pregnancy picture.

Ok, ok. So we were really bowling. But I couldn't resist. And my dad couldn't resist taking his picture under the Brigham Young Cougars sign at The Orleans hotel.

On the way to the football game, one GPS was not good enough directions for my dad. We listened to two different machines assure us we were on the right track or make a "legal U-turn" if we strayed.
The GPSes did their job. We got to the game in time to see the jets fly over the field, the huge flag blowing in the very strong wind, and best of all, kickoff. Luckily we were sitting around interesting people to keep me and my mom entertained. The guy in the middle of the flag picture stood up every time any little thing happened. I don't care when people stand up because they can't see, but this kid's view was fine. And my view was great, too, until he stood up. Then I saw nothing. Oh, I did catch glimpses of the game when he would run off to find the cotton candy man, and then the necklace man, and then the donut man, and then the hot chocolate man.

And behold: my other favorite...BYU fan.


It was a super fun trip! We are so happy my parents put up with us for a week. Thanks for all the buffets, the shows, and the last minute Christmas presents. It was the best babymoon a couple could ask for.

Safety First?

I have a funny strategy when I am buying things. Especially the expensive things. Take for example my first car. My dad and I went to many a car lot in search of the perfect teenager car. We came across a black Lancer. I instantly knew I wanted it. No questions about it. I would have bought it right on the spot, but my dad made us at least take it for a test drive.

Another example: our current apartment. I heard the rent was $275 and without even looking at the place, we were signing the paperwork.

My buying strategy goes a little something like this: Do a little internet research on the product in question. Decide price range. First cute product found within price range is the perfect fit. Then, my heart is forever set even if a better option is found.

Such was the case of the craigslist crib. Jeff and I decided to buy a crib for one of our Christmas presents. We decided the most we would pay for the crib would be $250. I looked online at Target and found some cute cribs that were in our price-range...until I clicked "check-out." With tax and shipping, the cribs were at least $300. Dang.

Then came craigslist. Because a crib is an item we will have for a long time, and I feel it should be very safe, I was a little against buying a used crib. But my frugalness kicked in and I surrendered to craigslist. Much to my surprise, a crib for $60!

And, oh my goodness! It was all in one piece. I e-mailed the seller, and we were over to check it out within a few hours. We walked in the door and the crib was not set up. It looked nice enough, and in no time we were out their door with a new crib! I was so excited the whole way home. What a good deal! We saved so much money! It's in great shape! And then we set it up, and I began to regret my rash decision.

Second Trimester!

Today marks the official first day of my second trimester!

As I was sitting in class the other day in a desk like this:

I looked down and realized those desks were not designed with a pregnant woman in mind. Let's hope I figure out a way to squish myself in there at 8 months.

I went to the doctor a few hours ago and got to hear the baby's heartbeat again. I am always so in awe by the heartbeat that I can never remember what they tell me the baby's heart rate is. So when my doctor came in, I asked him if he could remind me what the heart rate from the first appointment was and then the heart rate just barely. To which he said, "Sarah, you can't tell the baby's gender by the heart rate." He knew just what I was up to.

But for what it's worth-it was 180 at 10 weeks and 162 at 14. 140 and above is said to be a girl. We'll see if the old wives' tales are right.

The doctor also told me not to worry about the whole lunch meat thing. He said there has been no real research done on it and he's never seen a baby born with listeria. Good thing, too. I broke down and ate a Subway sandwich right before my appointment.

Also, I fell yesterday. I was on my walk and i saw a little patch of ice but I thought to myself, "That doesn't look too bad. I'll just step on it and then hurry and step onto the non-icy part." Unfortunately, the icy part was on a slight downhill slope, causing my foot to quickly slide down it before I even realized what had happened. I awkwardly started laughing, because if anyone saw me fall, I guess that was my way of letting them know I was okay. I tried to get up really fast, but my legs kept slipping. Lucky I didn't hurt anything. I think I fell pretty gracefully because somehow my pants managed not to get wet but the sweatshirt sleeve I caught myself with did. The the rest of my walk home, I felt like everyone I passed had seen me fall. It was really embarrassing. But at least it wasn't caught on camera, right?

Amp Commercial

Over Thanksgiving break, my brother-in-law Dallas created my vision for an Amp Energy Drink commercial. My brother, Abe is the star of it. Thanks everybody for helping me out! The presentation is this week.

Studious Sarah

If the class average on a test was 94%, can I still be proud of myself for getting 100%?

It's finals week next week! Weirdly enough, I have been focused, ambitious, organized, and found time to clean the house! Usually I clean the house finals week to put off studying, but this semester I cleaned because all my work is done! Who am I becoming? And why is this just starting to happen my last year of college?!?

Also-for the moms out there-when did you consider your first trimester over? I am 13 weeks and 1 day today. I read on babycenter.com that it's the first day of your 14th week, and I was wondering if that means today or next week when I am 14 weeks. Because I am now in my 14th week. It's just all really confusing. But I want to celebrate. And I have to start sleeping on my left side. So let me know! Thanks.

Of Mice and Men

There was another incident similar to this one.

I love cereal. Especially since I've been pregnant I just can't get enough milk. Cereal has always been a staple in my diet, and anyone who's been to my parents' house can tell you we are just a cereal family. Growing up, my friends would stare at our pantry in awe at all the different kinds of cereals to choose from.

Over the past few weeks I have been making a cereal collection of my own. Jeff thinks it's a waste to keep buying cereal when we already have 5 full boxes in the pantry. He just doesn't understand the need for a good breakfast selection. Throughout my collecting, some of the half empty boxes started getting shoved to the back of the pantry.

Jeff decided to take a stand and not let me grow my collection any longer until I had eaten most of the cereal in our cupboard. So I've been making my way through bags and bags of cereal. Then I discovered one of the half-eaten bags of Golden Grahams shoved in the back of the cupboard. Perfect! Just what I was craving!

I eat cereal by pouring a little bit at a time so it doesn't get soggy while I'm eating it. So I had done a couple of pours and then I noticed a little dark brown something float to the top of my milk. My mouth was full and I immediately spit it out into my cup. Then I stared. In no way did it resemble a golden graham. And I immediately assumed I wasn't the only thing that's been making my way through those bags. A MOUSE! It HAD to be a mouse!

To top it all of, I was having flashbacks of the barber asking Jeff a few months ago if he's seen any "remnants" of a mouse in our apartment. We hadn't seen anything, but she said she had, and she would take care of it...take care of it by sending the mice up to our apartment!

I told Jeff about my morning and he thinks it was just a burnt piece of Golden Graham. I didn't keep any evidence to argue my case. It remains an unsolved mystery in the Excell home. Unless the mystery gets solved, I don't think I'll be eating any more of my current cereal collection.

The Last Hurrah

My good friend MacKenzie is soon to be a missionary in New Zealand. I decided to go up North this weekend so I could go to the temple with her for the first time. I had not been up there since August! So I was definitely due for a trip to visit my family, too. I got to spend most of Saturday with my sister and mom. We went "shopping." Which for us is going into one store and then going out to eat.

Caroline was being such a doll all day. It's so easy to make her smile.
One of my cravings hit while I was up there: Schlotzky's Deli. My sister has been very good at not eating deli meat throughout her pregnancies because I guess it can give the baby some kind of something that I don't know too much about. I had been avoiding deli meat until this trip. I couldn't kick my craving. All the moms out there, let me know if you ate deli meat while you were pregnant so I can justify myself.

Saturday night was the temple night. I just love going to the temple. I think it was my first time going without Jeff but my mom volunteered to take his place. After the temple we went to Marie Calendars. We were loud and obnoxious but it was so fun to have the roommates from Junior year all together again.

Kenz and Leslie's mom did a lot of bonding. They discovered that somehow they are related. I was trying to make connections, too but nothing ever panned out.

I am so excited Kenz is serving a mission. I know she will be a great missionary. When I was little I always told everyone my favorite primary song was "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission." Well, I didn't go on one so now I get to live vicariously through Kenz. It has been fun to see her prepare for a mission and she has been a real example to me. Kenz, I know New Zealand needs you! I can't wait to hear about the coconut trees, penguins, and companions. Congratulations! You'll be awesome.

You Might Be A Bad Wife If...

You say, "Honey! What do you want for dinner?" And your honey says, "That's weird. Why do you want to cook me dinner?"

You force your husband to drive you to the closest Olive Garden (45 minutes away) because you're having a "craving."

Your husband has to ask, "Are you going to shower today?"

You cry when your husband says he doesn't want to go mini-golfing.

When you're checking out at the grocery store with your love muffin, you realize the cart is only filled with your food preferences.

You have had nightmares of your mother-in-law chasing you around town because she thinks you're not taking care of her son.

Your husband thinks you have a secret diary of everything he's ever said so you can use it against him one day.

My parents thought I was a bit of a drama queen growing up. Whenever I was acting bratty, they always said, "Is this how you are going to treat your husband?" To which I always replied, "No. Because I get to choose my husband and I'll want to be with him." And then my dad would quote his favorite quote, "That which you persist in doing becomes easier to do. Not because the nature of the task has changed, but because your ability to do has improved." And then I probably said, "Oh please!" and ran off to my room. Well. Once again parents, you were right. Looks like I'm morphing back into that drama queen you once knew. At least I caught it before I became too unbearable. Husband - sorry for turning into the 13 year old I once was. I will try to be less of a bad wife.

Chain Reaction

Here I am. With really long hair. I have been wanting a haircut for quite a while but I've been putting it off.

Here is Kelly Ripa-who I have been religiously watching on Regis and Kelly for the past 2 weeks because she is adorable.

Yesterday I thought, "Kelly has cute hair. Maybe I should cut my hair like Kelly's." I was off to the salon at 3:00.

I swore I would never give my hair to locks of love again because I always end up butchering it. I had no intention of donating it, but the lady who cut my hair said it ended up being long enough to donate after all. It's nice to finally change my do.