Hiccups

When I get hiccups, the world knows about it.  They are violent, loud, and really quite painful.  The first time I got hiccups in front of the twins, I thought I had scarred them for life.  They both stopped playing and looked at me like they weren't sure if they should laugh or cry.  They both stared at me with those big adorable eyes until the next one came out and then Owen erupted...in laughter (which I guess convinced Elsie that she didn't need to cry and she went back to her activity).  The problem in this situation was that Owen's laugh is the most adorable, contagious sound in the world, so I started to laugh, which made my hiccups even louder.  Then he would try to imitate the hiccup and we were both in this cycle of hiccups and the kind of laughing that makes it hard to breath.  Can you tell I miss those kids?  Anyway, Owen's reaction was the best I've ever had from anyone.  People always made fun of them when I was growing up and no one ever seemed to understand just how painful they can be.  

When you're pregnant, you hope and pray that the little child you are preparing to meet will come out with only your best qualities and that the ones that tormented you in youth can be left behind.  Well, baby girl Zeller got hiccups the other day and Brandon's response was "she's definitely yours".  I've never seen my stomach move so much.  So now I have this sweet baby inside who seems to start everyday with a violent round of hiccups.  It's quite uncomfortable if I'm completely honest, but I can't really feel bad for myself in those moments when it's my fault AND I know how much more uncomfortable they are, and will be, for her.  So, to my unborn child, let's hope the horrible hiccups are the worst thing I've passed on to you. 

A little about us...

Brandon and I met in September of 2008.  I had just moved into an apartment on Cambridge Street that happened to be a couple of blocks from the house Brandon had just moved into.  We had had A LOT of help moving in and were making dinner for everyone who had helped, and I was in charge of the turkey.  I googled how to cook a turkey and felt pretty well prepared, but when I tried to pre-heat the oven, it didn't work (google had not prepared me for this).  I became slightly hysterical trying to figure out other options for dinner, but there just weren't any, so I bit the bullet and called Brandon's roommates.  None of them were home, but one of them thought his new roommate (Brandon, in case that wasn't clear) might be home and gave me his number.  So a few minutes later, I showed up on Brandon's doorstep with a massive raw turkey and thus began our story.  It became apparent quite quickly that I had NO clue what I was doing, and as it turned out, Brandon loves to cook...especially turkeys.  He pulled out what can only be described as a tool kit, and taught me how to cook my first turkey.  We had a good time talking and hanging out that day.  The rest is history.  We had a slow start...went out and became friends through the fall and by November were finally dating.

In January he took me to visit his family in North Carolina, which was a lot of fun, even if it was a little overwhelming after only dating for a couple of months!

 Things only picked up from there and we were engaged on February 18th...

and married in the Idaho Falls temple on May 16th.

We spent our first summer together in North Carolina where Brandon interned for the Attorney General.  We had a really fun summer, spending a couple of weekends at the beach with the Zeller family and getting very well acquainted with the heat and humidity of North Carolina.

In the fall, we returned to Boston for Brandon's 2nd year of law school.  By October we were in need of a break from the city, so we drove up to Vermont for a day and went apple picking.  We had an amazing time driving around, going on walks and enjoying the beautiful New England fall colors.

Our first Christmas was spent with my family in Idaho, but we decided we needed to do our own small Christmas in Boston first.  We didn't want to spend the money to get a real tree since we wouldn't be around on Christmas day...so we decorated our case of toilet paper.

The next summer, Brandon interned with a firm in Salt Lake City.  I taught swimming lessons, which kept me busy, but was exhausting.  Apart from our jobs, we had a really fun summer.  Brandon grilled every chance he got and we took advantage of the mountains close by and went hiking on a regular basis.

We returned to Boston for Brandon's last year of law school and we tried to take advantage of our final year there.  Here are a few pictures of our favorite places around Boston and of some of our adventures:

 Memorial Hall on Harvard campus.  Besides being generally beautiful, it has some great gargoyles and the admirable motto "Humanitas Virtus Pietas."

 Harvard Yard.

Beacon Hill...ahh, I love this place.  Brandon and I loved to walk down Charles St. and window shop.  It is lined with very expensive, but fun boutiques, chocolate shops, restaurants, markets...

The public garden...another favorite of ours.

And of course, Fenway Park, I deeply love and miss this place.

Last fall we went to the Harvard/Yale football game.  It was very cold and the benches were slabs of concrete, so we didn't stay for the whole game, but it was an experience we felt like we needed to have.

Eating lunch at the Top of the Hub, this was our first date since being pregnant.  I couldn't go anywhere near restaurants or movie theaters for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and we weren't sure how this would go, but it was a lot of fun and the food was amazing!  And of course the view wasn't too bad either.

View from the Top of the Hub.

Spring break in New Hampshire.  Because the pregnancy had been so challenging, we decided to stay close to home for spring break and ended up at a bed and breakfast in the White Mountains.  We weren't expecting the snow and we not at all prepared for the cold weather, but we still had a lot of fun and were happy to be out of the city.

I have a strange love for covered bridges, I just think they are really fun and was thrilled when we found this one.

Brandon in front of Austin Hall on HLS Campus.  The inscription on the top of the building quotes Exodus 18:20- "And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do."

During the month of May we were basically homeless while we waited for Brandon's graduation, so we went camping for a few days in the White Mountains with the Lloyds.  It was a little cold at night, but other than that it was so much fun.  It was hard being in the mountains and 6 months pregnant though because I wanted to do a lot more hiking than the pregnancy really allowed.  Regardless, we had a great time with great friends.

The Lloyds and us at graduation, can't believe that day finally came...and went (I cried).  It seemed forever away and now it feels like it was so long ago.

After graduation, and by "after" I mean immediately following graduation, we (and by "we" I mean Brandon, his parents, and my mom) loaded up the Uhaul and left Boston.  It usually takes about 15 minutes to get outside of the city.  I knew I was going to cry, but figured that once I couldn't see the city anymore I would get control of my emotions and I'd be done.  What I didn't realize is that we would be driving out of the city on the day of Harvard graduation, at rush hour.  It took 2 hours.  And yes, I cried almost the entire time.  It didn't help that I had had to say goodbye to the twins and Andrea for a second time that morning (they were like family to me and so hard to say goodbye to).  Boston had been my home though, for 4+ years and I loved it, still do, I made amazing friends while living there, found and married my husband, fell in love with the Red Sox...Boston will always be another home to me, so I feel like crying while driving away from such a home is completely justified (especially while pregnant)!

And now here we are, in New Orleans and about to have a baby. 

I've never fully understood why people want to see pregnancy pictures, but people do and keep asking me to post one on facebook...which will never happen.  So to those who want to see me with a massive belly, here you go.  We are now at 36 weeks and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl, but not so anxious that we want her to come before my mom gets here on September 1st.  I keep telling her to just wait until September 2nd, but she's getting quite cramped in there and I don't know if she'll be willing to wait that long.  Brandon and I were talking the other night and he rested his head on my belly.  It took her about 30 seconds to shift positions and start kicking him in the head...she does not like to share her space.  She does the same thing if I hold another baby, within a few seconds she'll get her feet in position and kick until the baby is gone.  It's funny, but also kind of painful, so I try to give in to her demands.  Brandon constructed her co-sleeper (which had terrible instructions) in less than 30 minutes.  Andrea had warned us about the instructions and how complicated it could be to put together, so I was really proud of him for doing it so quickly.

Brandon finished the bar at the end of July and is now working full time which he enjoys, but it has been a big adjustment for both of us.  The bar was awful and we're so glad it's over, Brandon handled the stress of it all very well and we're happy to have survived it.  Despite the challenges that his new schedule has brought, it is a welcomed change that our evenings and weekends don't revolve around his study schedule and that when he comes home from work, he's home and we can spend time together and have dinner together.   Also, it should be noted that Brandon has decided that most things needing to be chopped, should be done with the meat cleaver...including watermelon.  

I think he thought he had proved a point by showing me, but I still use a regular knife to cut our fruits and vegetables, and I think it works just fine.  

So there it is.  Our "somewhat" brief history and how we got to where we are now...starting a family in New Orleans.