I Like Strawberry Lemonade

Details and pictures are up on our family site!

For those of you who haven't caught our new website yet, you can read about it on there

Soooo....I'm not going to use Livejournal or myspace anymore to keep people updated. New site:

http://hoffmandaily.blogspot.com

Go there to get updated! You'll probably have to hit refresh everytime you go. I had alot of trouble with it updating without hitting refresh.

Enjoy, leave comments!

There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel....we are dilated 1 cm and 25% effaced and Savannah has completely dropped. The doctor was able to poke her little head.

I am all smiles right now. Now I'm anxious to see how much progress we make between this week and next week.

Yaaaay!!!! :D

Everything is still right on track with Savannah. I'm still getting bigger and bigger, I'm not sure how much more I can go, I already feel like a whale. She's still dropping putting more pressure on my hips and lower back so it's become virtually impossible to be comfortable. Chairs not comfy, couch, floor, bed, nothing. I feel nauseas almost all day whether I eat or not. Between the pressure on my lungs and diaphragm and the air being so dry in the apartment my nose has completely dried out making my breathing really heavy. I've kept Adam up alot at night because of it, I feel pretty bad. We're going to buy a humidifier tonight which should help at least with the dryness. Braxton Hicks are constant nowadays. It's hard to get motivated to go out and do anything. The process of taking a shower and getting ready is exhausting, the thought alone makes me tired. Sleep is my best friend these days.

As crappy as I feel all I have to do is look at her ultrasound pictures and it's all good. We like to go back and forth on who she's going to look like, what body part she's poking out at times. I know October is close but it's hard to be patient. Especially now, my cousin (whose due date was 4 days after ours) had her baby yesterday. It was under scary circumstances and I wouldn't want that for us but still, it's hard not to be envious knowing everything came out okay.

Classes are over now, all I have left are finals on Monday and Tuesday. Not worried about them at all, I have some studying to do but nothing to stress over. I'm getting all A's right now so I could fail them all and still get B's in the classes. (Not that I plan on failing) I have no idea what I'm going to do with my time. It's been an awesome distraction from being pregnant. We have everything we need bought and put together (I'd like to throw in here that breast pumps are weird scary little machines!), I've already folded her clothes and rearranged her stuff 4 or 5 times, there's simply nothing to do but sit around and wait for the day.

5 1/2 weeks to our due date. So close, yet sooooo far away. (Luckily no one thinks we'll make it to our due date) :)

Adam got to wear the empathy belly at class tonight....


Having to bend over and pick something up


Trying to stand up


Tackling the stairs


Still no where near the real thing....my boobs are like 4 sizes bigger and my belly is out to the sides more....

It was fun to watch him lug it around nonetheless!

Not much to report....I'm increasingly uncomfortable and constantly tired. I can't seem to get enough sleep. Eating all the time on top of it. Our appointment yesterday showed no major changes, heart rate is still 150, size and weight is right where it's supposed to be. She's moving less and less with each day as she loses room. 8 weeks until our official due date buuuuut she will more than likely be here before that.

Birth class is going well. It's nice to be around other people going through the exact same things we are right now. Probably moreso for Adam than me. It's nice for him to have other guys who are in the same part of their lives as he is. It'll be interesting to see how many of us are on the delivery floor at the same time as we are all due within a week of each other. Ha, next week they get to wear the empathy belly, which for those of you who have no idea what that is, is the fake pregnant belly. I will definitely have pictures for everyone to enjoy of Adam wearing it. :D

Only two more weeks of classes and then finals. I'll be happy when it's over and I can just lay in bed and not move but in all honesty I'm going to miss it. I was hesitant about starting back up in January b/c Savannah will only be 2 1/2 months but I love it there and the classes are awesome. The MA professors are hilarious and for once in my life I actually look forward to going to class. Which is a big help when it comes to the work, straight A's.

I'm getting extremely anxious for everything. There's still so much we need to get and organize, we need to finish the dresser we're re-doing, clothes to buy and wash. We've been waiting until after all the baby showers so we know just what we need to get. Luckily the last shower is this weekend so we'll finally be able to (hopefully) get everything.

'Tis all for now!

Baby Shower #1 done. It was fun, we got some of the major things that we needed, some that we didn't need but wanted, plus clothes of course. I feel kind of bad, I'm sure I wasn't the most entertaining person to be around.

I'm trying really hard to stay positive about everything. Between the stress of school, not being able to sleep through the night anymore, not being able to breathe as well, having Braxton Hicks contractions, Savannah always pushing some body part out somewhere, not being able to bend or get up off the couch without help....it's becoming really difficult to be positive and my usual happy-go-lucky self. Especially knowing we have at least another month and a half of this. And the apartment is a mess because we've been working on painting an old dresser for Savannah and neither of us have any energy most of the time to clean so that stresses me out.

I have no doubt it will all be worth it in the end. It's just hard to see that light at the end of the tunnel.

No diabetes! She's just a chubby one :)~

We fully intend on celebrating by eating everything we damn well please at the fair on Sunday.

So after much looking around, we finally found a new vehicle. I miss my old car already, I loved that car. I originally want an SUV of some sort but we couldn't pass up the deal we found. And despite swearing against it for years, I am now driving a mini-van. It's awesome though. It's alot of fun to drive and there's so much damn space it's ridiculous. It's practically brand new, only 30,000 miles on it. And it's such a great family car, with only one baby it still seems like a bit of overkill but we plan on having more kids in the future and having all that space will be nice driving back and forth to Arkansas all the time.

Had my more intense Glucose test last Friday. I have a nice row of four needle holes in my left arm. Fasting sucks, I was shaking uncontrollably by the time I finally got around to eating. No word yet, I'm hoping we hear tomorrow or Wednesday but they aren't exactly the speediest of people. Savannah's starting to travel south which is cool cause that means we're getting ever-so-close but it causes so much pain. I can't cross my legs anymore, can't lift them up, my hips are starting to seperate and it's a smidge painful. I'm really glad that baby showers are the last thing we have to invite people to for now cause people are really, REALLY bad at rsvping. There's a reason people need to know. I'm glad my friends from high school aren't making me help out with the one they are throwing cause I'd go nuts.

Oh and it's Midterms at school so we're getting grade reports and I'm happy to report I'm getting straight A's.

Vacation was amazing. It was great having everyone else take care of everything, not having to worry about food or driving, anything. They had everything taken care of for us. So here's the day by day stuff....

Saturday: Woke up early early, caught our plane, got out there around 12:30 Washington time, 2:30 here. Adams Grandpa and Irene picked us up and took us to a really nice restaurant overlooking the marina. Obviously seafood is huge out there so I didn't eat much but what I had was really good. Went back to there place and pretty much took it easy the rest of the day.

Sunday: Went hiking around the mountains close by them. That was a blast. The drive is gorgeous and all of a sudden you look out the window and you're hundreds of feet up overlooking streams and trees. I did surprisingly well hiking. I only got winded coming back up. There were patches of snow everywhere which is hilarious when it's 85 degrees outside. We stopped at a quaint little italian place on the way back that had the most amazing ravioli I've ever had. I want more.

Monday: Drove to Seattle, checked out the zoo. It was alright but I like Omaha better. Most of the animals were either hiding or they were on veterinarian care so they weren't out. Then we went downtown and went to the Space Needle and looked around some other stuff down there. Adam and Ryan insisted they have sushi so we stopped at a restaurant so they could get some. You'd have to ask them exactly how good it was but I think it's safe to say they loved it.

Tuesday: Didn't do much until Adams Uncle and his family came. Went out to yet another nice restaurant.

Wednesday: Drove up to Victoria BC. It's a total tourist city but it was alot of fun. We had lunch at another great italian restaurant. Really good spaghetti. Did a bunch of shopping, then had dinner at a chinese restaurant. I wasn't feeling that great so Adam and I headed back to the hotel for the rest of the night.

Thursday: Had breakfast at a nice restaurant of course, checked out of the hotel, drove South a ways to the Butchart Gardens. It's Soooooo pretty there. Drove back to Victoria to have Tea at the Empress which for those of you who don't know is a HUGE thing to do there. It's where the queen of England has tea whenever she's there and you have to make reservations months in advance to do it and there's a dress code, it's a pretty big deal. I had the non-caffenated berry berry tea which was really good once it had some sugar in it. They also bring out these tiers of sandwiches and cookies and desserts. Good stuff. After that we caught the ferry to San Juan Island. It was nice to be out on the water. Had yet another nice dinner and watched the flag ceremony. Then headed to the resort.

Friday: Most of the other family members arrived. Got introduced to tons of people, I maybe remember a handful of them. All the food was catered the entire weekend so it was no doubt good.

Saturday: Adam and I went into town and shopped around for awhile, watched some of the boats at the docks coming and going. The weather was nice and cool. I didn't feel good at all though. We had vegetarian lasagna for lunch which was normal lasagna just no meat and loaded with fetta cheese. Well I'm mildly lactosintolerant and didn't have any of my medicine with me so all that cheese didn't set to well. Came back to the resort later that afternoon and just hung out until dinner. After dinner was tons of story telling, of which most of us youngins ducked out of after awhile. Adam went to play poker with his cousin and I went to pack up all our stuff and go to bed since I still didn't feel good.

Sunday: We had to wake up early yet again to catch the ferry back to Washington. Got back, drove back 45 minutes to the airport, and waited a couple hours til our plane left. The planes coming home were alot more turbulant than leaving but I was too tired to really care. Got home around 8:30, by the time we got our luggage, got back to our car, took Ryan home, stopped at the store for some stuff, got home, it was after 10. We more or less went straight to bed.



Not many pictures, we completely spaced out and forgot to bring our battery charger with us so it went dead and the one we tried to buy didn't work. But great memories nonetheless. We had a great time.

Baby Update: She's kicking and moving more and more everyday. She loves my rib for some reason. It's really weird when she streteches and you see her heel protuding from my stomach. Some bad news though, I didn't get the message until yesterday but my glucose test came back too high. I have to have the 3-hour glucose tolerance test this Friday. Have to eat extra carbs and fast and all that junk. I'm scared because I'm pretty sure I have gestational diabetes. It would make her being so much bigger than everyone else at the same point I am make sense. I won't let on how scared I really am but I'm terrified. BUT won't know anything for sure until after Friday.

So that's it. We're home, back to reality. Many things coming up that I don't want to do but have to.

We're home. Tired. Don't want to be back. Had an amazing time. Details later.

Had my glucose test today. I don't know what people bitch about. It tasted like orange soda, and I loooove orange soda. It sucks trying to down it in 5 minutes but at least it wasn't bad tasting.

The way Savannah is laying, she has a foot underneath my bottom rib and she pushes on it all the time. It does not feel good. It's also causing things to push on a nerve in my back, very very painful. I can't move very well anymore. Should make vacation reeeeaaaally interesting.

Speaking of vacation, we leave in two days!! We'll be gone Saturday through the following Sunday and I can't flippin wait! Much to do and so little time to do it though! These are just a couple of the places we will be staying for FREE:

http://www.lakedale.com/
http://www.fairmont.com/empress/

Not to mention the sightseeing and casino hopping we shall be doing.

So, Savannah is perfect, I'm miserable but couldn't be happier, and Adam is awesome.

The end.

I came to the realization yesterday afternoon while laying down for a nap that for the first time in my life I am 100%, truly, truly happy. Sure I've been happy with the way things were going before but I always knew it wouldn't last long. But this time...it's different. I have zero depression hanging around in the back of my mind. I have zero anger or hurt or questioning going on.

I still struggle living without my Dad, but it's not "Why him?" "Why me?" "It's not fair" anymore. It's more along the lines of "I've got to find ways to make sure my daughter and any future children get to know what I had."

I no longer have to deal with my Mom unless I want to. I'm sure everyone who met or saw her at our wedding thought how nice she was. Yea well that's what she does, she puts on an amazing front. I've seen it before, I'll see it again. That's not really her. But it makes no difference anymore, she's miles away.

I miss my Brother and Liz and the kids just as much as I did before but I realize that it had to happen. I had to be left here, alone, to learn, to grow. And it makes the time that I do get to spend with them that much more special.

I thought that I was doomed to horrible relationships forever and thought I would have to settle, I was afraid of ending up like my Mom. But I know I won't, I won't let myself, I have too much of my Dad in me to let that happen.

 And now, I have my own family which is such an incredible feeling. I can't even begin to describe it. As cliche and corny as it sounds I'm more in love than I ever thought I could be and I already have so much love for our daughter and she's not even here yet. I want nothing more than to see what she looks like and to watch her grow. Do I have fears of raising her and fears of her going through what I went through, of course. Everyone does. Do Adam and I still disagree over stuff? Most definitely. It's going to happen. Marriage is not easy. Anyone who thinks it's a breeze is doomed. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing. But it's not a fairytale. It takes work, constant learning, but the rewards are well worth it.

It's a nice feeling, not having any doubts or fears or worries controlling my life anymore. I can now enjoy life in a way I've never enjoyed it before. And I know that this time, it won't go away, unless I let it. I'm just plain happy. It's a good feeling.


*OH I forgot to mention, for the girls and fellow pregnant folk....my bellybutton has officially popped. It's a weird feeling.

Life is good. Marriage is good. Not a whole lot has changed outside of having to sign my name different. That's a pain in the ass.

Savannah is perfect. She moves all the time now. She gets the hiccups quite often, loves to kick me in the lower ribs and bladder. I have to have the glucose test in a couple weeks to test for gestational diabetes. I'm not that concerned about it, I get checked for regular diabetes every year anyway, the worst part is not being able to eat sugar that day or eat anything an hour before and then having to sit in a doctors office for an hour. I'm seriously considering hiring a doula for the delivery. Not knowing 100% whether or not my Mom will be here or my sister-in-law will be here, I would like to have someone there who can help with having a natural childbirth who's gone through it. There's alot of deciding factors that Adam and I have to talk through so we'll see. The major deciding factor is whether or not the hospital gives us free use of the tubs there or not. We start classes in a little over a month. It'll be fun to see Adams reaction to everything. I'm not sure they can really say or show me anything at this point that would shock me. Speaking of classes, I start Monday. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm excited but it'll be nice to be back in the swing of things and it should help the rest of the pregnancy go by fast. I'm ready for it to be over. But at least now I have another person I can complain about all the pregnancy stuff with. :D

Less than two weeks till the honeymoon!

Sooo that's pretty much it.

I didn't feel like going through the hassle of putting them up on here so if you want to see them you can go to one of two places...

www.myspace.com/daddysliltiffer

OR

www.babysites.com/sites/babyhoffman

Enjoy.

I've had a ton of people message me about Savannah and if she's okay. I apologize for not posting sooner but I couldn't get in for an ultrasound until this afternoon and although the doctor said she couldn't tell anything was wrong, I wanted to wait until after the ultrasound to make sure.

Miss Savannah is fine. My placenta is a bit low but it's no where near my cervix which is fantastic. She's not breech anymore, which is what think might have caused the little bit of bleeding I had, her squirming her body around. In even better news, based on the measurements the tech took, we're two weeks further along than originally thought. We won't know til our next OB appointment at the end of the month whether they'll change my due date. Alot of times they won't because first time moms usually go a few days past their due date, however if it's a two week difference they just may up it which is exciting.

Thanks to those of you who were worried and messaged me. It meant a hell of alot, more than you probably know. Savannah means everything to us and she isn't even here yet so the idea that something could have been wrong was almost more than I could handle.

OH and our photographer finally got our wedding pictures up. We get our book this week but if you want to go look through them here's what to do:

www.pictage.com
search for "adam & tiffany wedding" (you have to use &, not the word and)
fill in the info it asks for and you should be golden!

Caleb is amazing. He's starting to do family pictures which is AWESOME. His first 10 babies are free but he said even if Savannah wasn't in the first 10 he'd probably be able to swing us a major discount if not do her for free.

Aaaaanyway, I have a headache sooo I'm going to lay down.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with sharp pulling pains in my side, ones that I've never experienced before. When I got up this morning to go to the bathroom I had some spotting which that too has never happened during this pregnancy, not even implantation spotting. Miss Savannah is usually pretty active when I get up but she hasn't been.

We have an appointment at 2 to see if everythings okay. I'm really worried about placenta previa. My placenta wasn't 100% normal when we had our ultrasound and after the stress of last week and me more than likely doing waaay more than I should have been and lifting heavy boxes, lets just say it's very possible.

So...here's hoping everythings okay....

WHEW! It's done, we're finally married! The past week was a complete whirlwind. The rehearsal was a blast, the wedding was amazing. It was everything I ever dreamed it would be. There were minor glitches here and there but if you expect to get through your wedding day without one....well you're in denial. Our Pastor did an amazing job, I'll admit his sermon was a bit long and repetitive but if you've ever sat through a Catholic wedding, this was nothing. The reception was a blast, the hotel failed to tell us that our DJ had to shut down at 10 so we didn't get to do karaoke. It actually worked out because Adam and I were exhausted and by the time everyone got out of there it was almost midnight and obviously we had more things to do. It's still all a blur but it was amazing. I'm sad it's over.

To answer the ultimate question we get asked time and time again....as much I didn't think it would feel different being married, it does. In a good way. Do we love each other any differently, no. Do we treat each other any differently, no. It's the whole "you're my husband, you're my wife" thing. It's different. It's cool though.

We went on a shopping spree last night with all the gift cards we got. We'll probably never spend that much money at once again but we pretty much got everything we've needed and wanted in the last year plus some clothes so we're happy.

::Sigh:: Now it's life back to normal until October.

Speaking of which, for those of you who DON'T know yet, we're having a girl. Miss Savannah Reece is perfect. Very active, big feet. I'll get a picture up soon hopefully. She peed while they were recording the ultrasound. Definitely Adams daughter. We both somewhat wanted a boy but it'll be nice having a girl for her cousin Ahnaka's sake.

Thanks again to everyone who came! We're sorry we didn't get to talk to everyone more. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, we definitely did!

Forgot to add! If you have pictures PLEEEAASE send them to us, we'd love to see them.

Bachelorette parties kick ass. I love my friends to death.

My belly is about twice the size as my cousins and our due dates are only 3 days apart.

We find out the sex of the baby today, if it cooperates that is. Can't tell anyone til the wedding.

Speaking of wedding, yep it's in 3 days. Very, very, very anxious for it to be here. My brother comes tomorrow and I can't wait to see him and my amazing niece and nephews.

We went swimming last night, it felt nice. The baby liked it. It was kicking like crazy when we got out of the pool and laid out to dry for awhile.

Well! Things to do......