Who Wore It Better?: 25 Weeks Edition

Who wore 25 weeks pregnant better? Pregnancy #1 Sarah or Pregnancy #2 Sarah?

The details:

Pregnancy #1 Sarah

• is happy to finally look pregnant instead of slightly fat.
• has a round belly.
• has an old school phone.
• is having a girl.
• has no acne and crazy leg/armpit hair.
• feels great.
• is freakishly pale in July.
• is making a soft, "madonna and child"-like smile.
• is looking forward to her new baby.

Pregnancy #2 Sarah

• has been looking pregnant for a while, but is happy overall about how she's carrying the baby.
• has a lumpy belly.
• has a phone she wants to upgrade.
• is having a boy.
• has horrible acne and is almost a naked mole rat in shaved areas.
• feels sick and tired.
• has a tan in May? in Washington?
• is sticking her tongue out because she is sick and sassy.
• is looking forward to her new baby but does not know how she is going to manage two kids.

So----who wore it better?

Honestly, I do not know. I think I'm currently looking pretty great for being 25 weeks and feeling horrible and in my second pregnancy. And what you can't see in my bathroom selfies is my legs. I think my legs are in better shape this time around than last time. But the first time, I was not all lumpy yet. I am currently lumpy thanks to pregnancy #1.

You can tell me what you think of how I look if you want to. My feelings truly will not be hurt! I have a pretty positive self image and body image. But you don't have to say if you don't want to. ;)

Welcome Baby!

We are so happy! Our little girl Rachel was born on October 30. She is a tiny tiny thing. She was 5 lbs. 14 oz. and 18 inches long. Enjoy some pictures to begin with.


Welcoming my little girl.


The proud papa.


Changing a poopy diaper.


Our happy family in the hospital.


She has great brown hair and is so precious.


Rachel is such a beautiful girl.


We are so excited to go home!


Rachel was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. Her costume is WAY too big--literally mini mouse!


Those mouse ears may be the death of her, so I sat next to her and made sure it didn't eat her head in the car.


Rachel and Mom


Dad just loves his little girl.


That's my pretty girl.

We are so happy and are really grateful that everything went smoothly with her birth. My mom is here now and it is so fun to have some Grandma time with her. Of course, there will be more soon!

Finishing Some Projects

Yesterday at breakfast, Andrew asked when I was going to finish writing the Thank You cards.

After he left, I made the ten more I needed, finished writing the notes, and did not address them. They were mostly for my extended family, and they are all cheap-os, so I will just mail them with the birth announcements because they will understand my cheapness. So that project is done.

It felt really good to finish up a project. So I decided to finish up another one.



Burp cloths! Who knew that something you made just for your baby to throw up in could be so cute? These were my only sewing project for Baby Girl. Which, I decided, was too bad, because I enjoy sewing straight lines. I should have made a quilt. But I need to finish a ladybug quilt for someone's big girl bed (GASP!! She's not even born and is growing up so fast!) before I start on any new ones. Anyway, I finished these burp cloths this morning and it was fun and easy.

My next project to finish before Baby Girl comes is her blessing dress. It is so beautiful and getting so close! I will try to finish it today. I am crocheting it and I feel like I have gotten better at all of my crochet skillz.

A few months ago, I finished an afghan I have been working on for about five years. It is a pink and purple afghan made up of granny squares and then I crocheted them together. That isn't how you are supposed to connect granny squares, but I just made it up. I was originally making it for my first niece, but, as you know, I have a nephew. Everyone said, "Oh, it will be for your daughter!" (They usually meant that I would have the first baby, which was not so.) But it is for my daughter. Here it is.



Maybe I am nesting. I really hope that I am truly nesting (and not just returning to my normal, super-productive self--although that would be nice, too) because then she will come out soon. On Tuesday I did wash the floorboards and I still need to mop the floors before she comes.

Anyway, some of my future projects will include the aforementioned ladybug quilt, embroidering some hand towels my grandma had me start when I was seriously nine years old, quilted Christmas stockings, crocheting baby girl beanies for my Baby Girl and my cousin's baby girl, and the never-ending scrapbooking projects. I feel like projects just keep on adding up. Finishing some of these ones that have been waiting for ridiculous amounts of time (cough cough, hand towels!) will be great because then I don't ever have to do that craft again (not much of an embroiderer).

What are your favorite crafts and projects?

One of the Last Hikes As a Childless Couple

I'm ready to get this baby out of me.

Baby Girl, we want to meet you! And I want your knees out of my internal organs.

Our friend Kaleb told us that he took his wife hiking and the next day they had a baby. It was worth a try.

We went to the Lime Kiln Trail in Granite Falls. It was relatively flat so we thought it would be a good one.

A highlight was peeing in the wild. Love it (I really do, call me weird). Squatting in a blackberry patch did not get the baby out though.

This is especially for my mother-in-law--I'm still wearing pre-pregnancy clothes! Well, at least my jackets.

We did not make it all the way to the Lime Kiln. We needed to go home and shower so we could make it to stake temple night. So we turned around. I think there was about a half-mile left to the Kiln.

I am trying to look especially pregnant in this picture. I am especially pregnant--I was 37.5 weeks along on this hike.

On the way back to the car, we imagined what we would do if I had the baby on our hike. Imagine...

Andrew: "Hello, uh, my wife just had a baby."

Operator: "OK, tell me your address."

Andrew: "Well, we are about two miles in on the Lime Kiln Trail in Granite Falls."

Operator: "Where in Granite Falls? I didn't catch it."

Andrew: "We are hiking. Should we hike back to our car and meet the ambulance there?"

Operator: "Wait, what?"

Andrew: "Don't worry, I wrapped the baby in my shirt and a solar blanket. My wife is fine but her pants are a mess. Should I cut the cord with my knife?"

Fortunately, we did not have to call 911 because I did not have the baby on the trail.

The verdicts:

I did not have the baby because of the hike.

I still have a baby inside of me.

We may have to go on a steeper hike on Saturday.

Now go hiking, everyone!

The End is Near!

 I'm feeling huge. I'm 36 weeks. I can't sleep.

I've only gained 30 pounds, but it is a good motivation to never get truly fat.

The baby's head is down! Go go Baby Girl! Therefore, there is a butt lodged up in my ribs. It makes it hard to bend over. But, I can still touch my toes.

 I'm also getting all the stereotypical pregnancy symptoms. I'm sick to my stomach, have some heartburn, emotional, achy. I pee even more than usual. My abdomen hurts when I stand up.

 My pregnancy has been really smooth, but now I am done.

I'm still walking about three miles a day. Slower and slower and slower.

Come on Baby Girl! We are ready for you!

A Place To Sleep

My parents gave us the cradle that me and all my siblings slept in. My grandpa made it. It was getting old the finish was kind of nasty. So we decided to re-finish it for our little girl.


Andrew sanding the bed.


Me sanding and my beautiful garden behind me.


Andrew sanding with his graduation present (from my parents).

Don't we have a lovely patio?

After a lot of indecision between staining the cradle and painting it, we finally decided to paint it off white.


Andrew priming the cradle.


Andrew priming and needing a haircut quite desperately. Also, check out my beans--they did so well.


Me being Michaelangelo painting my Sistine Chapel. This was seriously the best way to paint the rungs.


Andrew Michaelangelo-ing.


Painting the bottom--almost done!


Yay! We are painting in our kitchen and there is horrible lighting!


Me putting the finishing touches on the cradle base.

It's done!




I love it.

Baby Girl gets to share a room with a desk, telescope, cello, and all sorts of storage. She is lucky. People put pictures of their cute nurseries up. This one isn't cute. I think you don't need a cute nursery when your baby is so darn cute. Her cuteness would overpower the cuteness of the nursery, making it obsolete.

And that was our big craft for the baby!

28.5 Weeks Along

I'm not very good at doing pregnancy updates, and I'm not sure if anyone else really cares besides me and probably my mom. I forced Andrew to take my picture cuz I looked so dang cute for church in my new maxi skirt from his mom. Also, I'm finally looking quite pregnant. One sister at church told me I looked so cute and pregnant and then later that day, another sister asked if I was pregnant (she didn't want to insult me). These are the first comments of positive pregnant affirmation! Yay! When I was in Utah last week, people just asked if I could look pregnant (I guess I didn't). So hearing people say I looked cute and pregnant was a good thing. I also realized that I am actually 7 months along. You know, when you think in weeks, the months thing is just confusing.





Oh for cute.

Also, do you like our family pictures wall? Andrew is working on photoshopping some new pictures for the collage.


So, cute bloggers do little updates. I'm not really a cute blogger, but here are some random pregnancy-related things to tell you about.

• I learned some German folk wisdom from Oma on Friday. "When the mother scratches her belly, it means the baby's hairs are growing." Of course, it sounds wiser in German. My tummy has been very itchy. We'll see if the folk wisdom hold true! But maybe I will have a baldy.
• I feel her kick throughout the day, but yesterday, I think I actually felt her body inside me. Andrew felt it first when he was squishing my belly. I don't push on my tummy cuz it makes me feel weird, but he has no problem squishing me or jiggling me. There was a hard thing and then it was gone. Dad is already a tease. So that was cool.
• I can still touch my toes, do push ups (45 today!), sit cross-legged on the floor to stretch or other floor things, and walk 3+ miles each day. My mom and MIL were both impressed.
• The glucose test was not all that bad. I just got a little dizzy and was WAY hungry. Also, I got poked more than I was supposed to and the person had to dig around a bit cuz my veins were hiding, so then I got bruises. My doctor's appointment is tomorrow, so we'll see how that went.
• Tomorrow is also our first childbirth class. I have no idea what that will be like. I hope that Andrew doesn't pass out while I am giving birth in a few weeks.
• On Saturday we bought some plastic shelving and cleaned up some of our crap. The bedroom/junk room/study is clean! It makes me really excited and happy every time I walk in there. We are having a baby and her half of the room sure looks like it! The other side isn't looking too bad either--progress!

And that is that. Being pregnant is fun.

Crocheted Sweater for Baby Girl Platypus!

I made a cute little sweater for a cute little girl! I am pretty happy with it. Now on to bigger and more challenging crochet projects!



The pattern (which I found on Pinterest) is from http://www.yarnydays.com/2009/01/bombay-love.html

Finally Looking Pregnant for the Fourth!

Andrew and I were very bored the evening of Independence Day. Holidays are really lame when you live far away from family. We didn't want to go to fireworks because Andrew has to get up so early and we were both pretty tired already. I guess we invite lameness and boredom into our lives. But, we decided we should do something at least. We went to Mukilteo Beach and just sat for a while. It wasn't necessarily fun, but it was nice. We also had a nice conversation about what we are most grateful for about living in the United States which then led into how people (leaders and common folk) need to be better critical thinkers about politics and current issues. Anyway...

I remembered that it was the 23 week mark! Since I am finally looking pregnant, we had to take some pictures (read: I forced Andrew to take my picture). I first saw them and thought, "Oh no! I am fat." Then I remember I am pregnant and it is ok, in fact, it is good to look like this.







So there you go! Happy Independence Day to you all and I am excited to celebrate with Baby Girl Platypus next year.

And Baby Is...

The poll is over! Four people voted for boy, eight people voted for girl, one person voted for boy manbearpig, no one voted for girl manbearpig, two people voted for a twin surprise, and five people voted for a platypus. Well, from the ultrasound, we learned a few things.

There is definitely only ONE baby in there. Sorry those who voted for twin surprise.

Baby sleeping in the fetal position. Only one baby.

The baby does not have a beaver tail and a bill. Sorry to those who voted for platypus.

The baby also does not have a snout. Definitely not a manbearpig of the boy or girl variety.

Baby's profile. No snout or bill.

Nigel screaming "MY COUSIN IS A MANBEARPIG!!!"

This only leaves us with a boy or a girl. Crazy crazy.

The ultrasound tech called the baby a stinker, scallawag, and booger because it was stubborn about not letting the tech look at its heart.

And that means we are going to have a sweet, sassy, little booger of a girl!

Even though you look creepy right now, little girl, we still love you.

Andrew is incredibly happy and gloating that he was right and I am really excited about our little girl!

What Will It Be?

We are having the BIG ultrasound next Friday. Hopefully the Baby Platypus will cooperate and will show us what its sex is. Considering that Andrew and I are its parents, it would make sense that the baby would not be shy about its private parts. So we are hoping.

But since we won't know for another week, let's take a look at some old wives' tales and see what the Baby will be.

• I'm not sure if I am carrying high or low. I don't really look pregnant right now. Just fat. It is pushing my guts out in my middle, but it is hardest at my abdomen. So I am going to say low since I know people who look like they've got a growth right below their bosoms. BOY
• The first ultrasound at 9 weeks gave us heartbeats per minute at 180 (GIRL), the doppler listener at 13 weeks gave us 145 bpm (GIRL), and the most recent doppler at 17 weeks gave us 140 bpm (GIRL--but just barely, since it is 140+ means a girl).
• I craved salty foods like any kind of french fry earlier in my pregnancy and now the only sweet thing I want is one chocolate each day. I could also eat popcorn all day. Since I crave salt, not sweets, the old wives say, "BOY."
• Chinese gender predictor on the internet which looks at your age at the baby's conception (I was 23 in January or February) told me (for both months) it would be a BOY
• A supposedly Mayan legend says that the mother's age and the year of conception factor in. I was 23 (odd) and Baby was conceived in 2012 (even), so it is a BOY
• I have never had a lot of zits, but lately I have. We also have just moved to a more humid place. GIRL
• I also look ravishingly beautiful despite my zits, so my mother-in-law says I am having a BOY
• I was hardly nauseous, indicating a BOY, but my sister was sick the whole time and she had a boy, so maybe our family is backwards.
• And a swinging pendant was totally inconclusive, since I couldn't get it to hold still and it kept going from circle to straight to circle, so that tells us nothing.

Other things to consider:

• Andrew told me it was a girl. He may be wrong or he may be right. His dad was right with all their kids. GIRL
• All my friends had a girl first. It would be a statistical anomaly if everyone had a girl first. What are the chances? BOY
• I don't know which it will be. At first, I thought girl, and then a few weeks later I thought boy, and now I really don't know. I don't care either!
• My brother Matt told me it would be a GIRL. He is a missionary and he has the spirit, so...

Basically, no one knows. Now, here are some pictures of me trying to be cool like all the other pregnant women on the internet.

Looking plumpy and hopefully soon I will look pregnant.

Sticking out my belly and arching my back so you can see how "truly" pregnant I am. This picture is definitely one that mocks all the "preggers" and "pregos" on the internet. Sorry that is you, but really, I'm not sorry.

I should have written "19 weeks!" in a cute font on the pictures, but I didn't. I'm not cute, just satirical.

Anyway, be sure you vote in the poll! Your options are boy, girl, boy manbearpig, girl manbearpig, twin surprise, and platypus. *Matt actually said girl manbearpig, so... Vote by next Friday!

Sarah's Graduation

I forgot to mention that within all the chilling and packing and panicking I did during the end of April, I also passed my thesis defense with flying colors! David (my adviser and boss) said it was an unusual defense because the other committee members were so positive. My defense was amazing. I got so many new ideas and was so excited to keep working and expanding my project.

Anyway, that meant I could walk at graduation!

And it began traumatically for me. My friend, Chase, had a little medal from the Humanities College, which he said they just gave to him when he picked up his cap and gown. Well I didn't get one! And I am pregnant! And I became irrationally upset about this. So I went over the the Josten's table and kindly asked if they knew where I was supposed to pick up my little medal. The guy was super RUDE and told me he didn't have time to help me. Chase was also shocked at the Josten's guy's rudeness. So then I was even more upset. Fortunately, a few minutes later, Dr. Conte showed up and gave me a medal. I was really irrationally happy that I got my medal. Moral of the story: Give pregnant women medals. They deserve it.

And then we had to wait for a long time before the procession began because of the lazy bums who didn't pick up their caps and gowns before! So the academic procession began about 45 minutes late. And I had to pee and I was really really thirsty. This was a bad day to be pregnant.

Academic Procession

At this part, all the future Masters walked from the Fieldhouse to the Spectrum while they blasted bagpipe music from the speakers around the university. First best part of the procession was the kids at the elementary school applauding us and holding signs. They were just happy to be out of class. Second best part was seeing Andrew, my parents, and Heidi (my MIL) applauding me.

Me--looking slightly like the pope giving a blessing or a Medieval Jesus with the Holy Hand Grenade--marching.

A much more attractive photo of me marching.

The future Masters entering the Spectrum. Hi family!

The Hooding

In this part of the graduation ceremony, the future Masters walk through a tunnel of professors and you line up. The professors put the hood over your head and then you walk to the stage and give them the card with your name on it. These photos were taken by David with his phone from a distance, but since he was sitting where he could actually see the hooding, these pictures are actually pretty good.

The hood going over my head. :)

Oh my gosh! Moses (the professor in the yellow) just told me how to fix my hair over the hood!!! Moses put the hood on me! (Why is this post full of religious references?)

Heading up to the stage...

"Master of Arts in History, Sarah L. B. Fassmann."

Receiving my diploma cover--thanks!

I'm so happy and my shoes are so great. 

Hi family! I got my diploma! And my cap is falling off my head.

 The Happy Graduate

Master Sarah--that's right. I'm so proud.

I'm so proud of this accomplishment! I have worked really hard over the past two years and especially hard during March and April to finish my thesis in time. I still need to finish revisions, but I am done!

And because it is awesome and I've already alluded to several religious things, don't you think I look great in my black robes of a false priesthood/academic robes?

Oh Hugh Nibley, you are so good for making everyone feel smart and stupid at the same time.