How we’re growing?:  As of Thursday, we are officially 28 weeks pregnant and in the third trimester!  My pregnancy apps. suggest our little ninja is 2.5 lbs. and the size of a coconut.

How I’m feeling?:  Awhile ago, Liv suggested we name her baby brother “Garbage Truck Lurie,” and ironically, I’ve felt like garbage a lot this pregnancy.  The nausea’s been worse and I started throwing up again, which isn’t as bad as the headaches, fatigue, and constant sick feeling…

I’m hopeful this third trimester will be the best (pretty pleeease!) and there is good news, too… For one, I passed my glucose test!  I also had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound of the gnarly bruise-like cluster of spider veins (or varicose veins?) on my left leg, but found out they are not due to blood clots or DVT — just another lovely (and thankfully, superficial!) symptom of this pregnancy!

I’m also overwhelmingly grateful for sweatpants.  The minute I get home from work, I’m right back in my comfy sweats, everyday!

And of course, I love feeling baby’s kicks, wiggles, stretches, and hiccups.  He sleeps while I’m active and parties as soon as I rest.  No matter how tired I am at night, I can’t help lying there, hands on my belly, just feeling him move.

What I’m eating?:  With visitors in town, we ate plenty of good food — Isabel’s Cantina, Phil’s BBQ, Fig Tree Cafe, PF Chang’s, Blue Ribbon Pizza, Claire’s on Cedros… but my everlasting favorite is Chipotle.  (And Liv’s is sweets, ha!)

What we’re up to?:  On Christmas Eve/the first night of Hanukkah, I felt pretty terrible all day, but Jared was Super Dad, and helped me make the most of it — he even picked up Chipotle for dinner (#besthubbyever).

I bought M&Ms and pretzels, with this lovely idea of making adorable little Rudolph cookies for Santa.  We had fun at first, but poor Livi got her first burn.

And here’s my Pinterest inspiration vs. our cookies… Definitely a “Pinterest Fail.”  Ohhh well…

Around midnight, our power went out, and it was still out when Liv ran into our room at 6AM.  She was bursting with excitement that Santa had filled our stockings, hung a Poppy Troll ornament on hers, and he ate some of our beat up cookies!

Liv was overjoyed, furiously unwrapping all of our gifts and unloading all four stockings (last Christmas as an only child, ha)!

After wrapping paper angels, we made our way to Starbucks for decaf coffee and hot chocolate, which Liv was excited to drink from her new mug.

Despite dozens of utility trucks up and down our street, and frequent updates that the power would be restored soon, it never came back on.  We met Aunt Allison at the movies to see Sing (which we all loved)!  There were more presents, lots of playing, and quality time with our favorite New Yorker.

For dinner, Jared fired up the grill and busted out the pots and pans to reheat our takeout from PF Chang’s.  We even toasted marshmallows over the grill with chopsticks, officially deeming this “Campfire Christmas.”  We lit Hanukkah candles, and watched them burn all the way down, then drove around other neighborhoods (with power) to look at lights.  We all went to bed buried in blankets since the house had been without heat all day, and around midnight, I woke up to the sound of the heat kicking on — power was finally back, after 24 hours!

The day after Christmas, we headed to the Safari Park, which seemed to be one of the most crowded days of the year.  We didn’t mind.  We were just happy to soak up a few more hours with Aunt Al.

After Safari Park, we headed to Santee to meet up with the O’s — and Liv’s very first best friend, Molly! — visiting from Virginia.  We happened to crash their family photo shoot, and despite being camera shy, I got dragged into a couple pics, which turned out so incredible!  Steve Grosch and Teresa are awesome people (who are also expecting a baby boy soon!) and they’re clearly, crazy talented photographers, too!

On the 30th, Jared’s cousins, Lindsey, Sam, and 10-month-old Hannah arrived from Chicago for a long weekend.  Liv was over the moon to have a baby in the house and hardly let her out of sight.  She was excited to share her old crib and toys and help change and feed her — Big Sister in the making!

On New Year’s Eve, we headed to the Safari Park in the rain, which was as deserted as we’ve ever seen it — and it was awesome!

For New Year’s, Liv decided to wear last year’s Halloween costume as her “party outfit,” and opened her final Hanukkah gift from Nonny & Poppy — Paw Patrol pups!!!!

Our neighbors joined us for our little “party,” which we kicked off by lighting all eight candles on all three of our menorahs.

The plan was to put Liv to bed after the east coast countdown at 9PM, but baby Hannah went to bed, while Liv happily played in her room with Shay, and us grownups played Fibbage and Quiplash.  The girls played so well that we let them stay up for the central and mountain time countdowns at 10PM & 11PM, before Liv started begging to go to sleep!  By the time we got her to bed and cleaned up the party snacks, it was almost midnight, so Jared and I rang in the actual New Year, quietly squealing: “We’re having a baby this yeeeearrr!!!!“

Just when we thought we were through all of the presents, two more packages arrived from Aunt Amy!  I’m pretty sure no other human has ever been this excited about pink tissue paper or Minnie Mouse undies, haha!

We kicked off 2017 at one of our favorite brunch places: Claire’s on Cedros, before heading to La Jolla Shores.

I’ve been to La Jolla Shores many times before, but this visit was exceptionally beautiful and peaceful, despite the crowds.  (Let’s just not mention that Jared and Liv got pooped on by a seagull…)

Running with Cookie:  New Year’s Day marked Day #39 and the end of the Holiday Running Streak, but I’ve extended my streak with a “30-Day Stay Active Challenge” through my mom’s running group from January 1-30.  I’d like to keep run/walking everyday (as long as it continues to feel good!), but my big goal is to get started with prenatal yoga, and do more cross training, and strength training.

Weeks 27 & 28 in Review:

• Workouts:  14 run/walks, 1 elliptical, & 1 strength workout
• Run Streak:  43 days & 162.4 miles
• Miles with Cookie:  613.0
• Weight gained:  +15 lbs.
• Favorite foods/cravings:  Chipotle, all day, everyday  ❤
  
• Next appointment:  15 days
• Liv’s Highlight, verbatim:  “My highlight was opening all of the presents.”  She also loved toasting marshmallows over our grill during “Campfire Christmas” with Aunt Allison.
• Jared’s Highlight:  “New Year’s Eve — doing four countdowns and playing games, while [Liv and Shay] played.  I also loved lighting our menorahs and doing the candles*.”  

*In sharing the story of Hanukkah with Liv, I loved one explanation I came across: that by adding a candle every night for eight nights, we charge ourselves up with light for the year to come.  So we started a new tradition of choosing — and reaching out to — a person who brings light to our lives on each night of Hanukkah.  It was a meaningful way of focusing on gratitude and connecting with some of the treasured people in our lives.

• Meg’s Highlight:  There were so many highlights, but visiting La Jolla Shores was one of those magical life-is-so-good moments, flooded with gratitude, love, and hope for what lies ahead… Also, I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did when Jared got pooped on by the seagull!  (Hey, it’s good luck!)

Happy 2017!  We’re having a baby this yeeeearrr!!!!  ❤