It's me, Tanner Michael Fullmer

Last week I got up in the middle of the night to pee. I'm in the bathroom in the dark, and Tanner walks by the bathroom and scares me. I gasp and he creepily backs up, stares into the bathroom and puts out both arms and tells me, "It's me, Tanner Michael Fullmer. It's me, Tanner Michael Fullmer." I then laugh and ask him if he's even awake, to which he replies that he doesn't know and walks away.
We've been staying really busy as usual, but life is great. I remind myself when I feel overwhelmed how great things are and how much we have been blessed. I had another appointment today, 24 weeks! I can't believe how fast the time is going by, full-time work and school probably contribute to how fast it seems. Sweet baby Eric is doing great, everything looks just perfect! He is measuring a few days small, which they said is not a big deal. He is moving all the time, I love lying there before I go to sleep and feeling him wiggle around. I played some Fleetwood Mac once and put the speaker on my belly and he starting dancing around, he already has good taste in music, we're so proud.
I realized that next month will put me into the their trimester, which I have to admit, made me really nervous. I just feel so unprepared, we haven't really had time yet to think about getting things ready. I'll have a lot to do during the holiday break. I'm so excited to meet him, but nervous for what a huge change this will be in our lives.
Most of my feelings are good. I am amazed at how much I already love this little guy, I feel like I love him more every day. I can't wait to see his personality. I love seeing Tanner get so excited, he doesn't think about it as much as I do, since he doesn't have the reminder of it kicking him all day, but he is starting to get really into it. He loves to feel him move and says goodbye to him every time he leaves, it is so cute. I can't wait to see Tanner hold him. I will try to update more frequently, here is the latest baby bump picture, it's grown a lot since last month!!

Who thought getting kicked could be so much fun?

Seriously. I just started feeling little Eric's kicks and punches on Monday and I am so excited! It is a weird feeling, having something alive in your belly, but so amazing. I can't help but wonder what he's like in there and how much he has grown. I'm guessing he's grown a lot in the last two weeks, or I'm hoping, because my belly is expanding rather rapidly.
My favorite was tonight because Tanner has been sad 'cause he hasn't been able to feel it, but tonight he did! I wish I could have caught a picture of the look on his face, it was so cute. He is so happy he felt it, I love it. He got a huge smile on his face and kissed me. It's starting to feel a lot more real now, I'm realizing that this little guy is really coming, and quick. I'm so excited and a little nervous, because this is going to be a big change for our family. And Tanner says I act like a cranky two-year old when I'm really tired. I'm gonna have to work on that. Something funny he said was during our prayer one night, he said "please bless Nina's womb...that she will keep it secret, keep it safe." I couldn't stop laughing, it was so funny. Another night he was tired and said "please bless Nina's womb...her spare 'oom." If you aren't geeky like us, you won't get these, but they're from Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. It still makes me laugh, even now.
This last part is more about my feelings about pregnancy so far, because I want to have a way to remember how I felt. More than anything I am so excited and can't wait to meet him. I want to see his face and look into his eyes and just love him to pieces. I can't believe how much I love him already and we haven't even met yet. I don't want anything bad to happen to him and just sit and think about what it's going to be like all the time. I am a little nervous because I know it's going to be harder than anything I've ever done. It's going to be exhausting and frustrating at times. I worry if I'll be a good mom. I even had a dream before we found out the gender, that we had a little boy, and we got home the day after he was born and I realized I still hadn't even fed him. Then Tanner was sitting by him on the edge of the bed and he rolled off the bed! It was traumatic and silly, I know, but still sad.
I wonder what his little personality is going to be like. I have a feeling he might be a little hyper because both ultrasounds so far they have told us he is more active than most and now I am feeling him move all the time. I worry about having the energy to finish school for two more months when he is first born. I know it's only two months, but I'm worried about having enough time to take care of him and getting homework done.
I feel bad that I have no energy. I think Tanner is tired of hearing about how tired I am. :) He is so great and I couldn't ask for a better hubs. I have these days of feeling great and motivated and I do so much that I wear myself out I think. Then I have days where I'm so tired, just the thought of having more than two things to do in the day makes me almost want to cry. I haven't been sick for a while, so I'm very thankful for that, it makes life much easier and pregnancy a lot more enjoyable. Most of all I'm just so thankful that we have the opportunity to welcome this wonderful little person into our family. I feel so incredibly blessed just that we're having him, that it makes me see even more that the material things don't matter. It really is all about families and I'm so thankful ours is forever.

It's a boy!!

So most of you know already from facebook or texts, but we found out this past week we are having a little boy!!! We are so excited!!! In case you can't guess how excited, just refer to my overuse of exclamation points!!!!!!!!
The past month has been a blur. School is keeping us both crazy busy and I admit I've gotten a little overwhelmed at times. But I've realized I need to just balance my life more and rely on the Lord and things will all work out. I was shocked on Friday night, I got home from work and showered and changed into my jammies. I walked past the mirror and did a double take 'cause I'm pretty sure my belly grew a ton just overnight! I even asked Tanner if it had looked that big the day before and he was surprised too. It's exciting to be looking more pregnant, it makes it all feel more real. We've been horrible about taking pictures, so these are the only ones I have now, but here is the baby bump:

20 weeks! Halfway there!

I might have already posted a picture of his crib, but I'll do it again, 'cause I love to look at it ever since our ultrasound.

Here are the exciting pictures, it's little Eric!! He's the cutest (little creepy in a way, but a good way) little skeleton baby I've ever seen. He was moving all over the place and kept his hands up by his face like he is here in the picture. I held it together for a while, but by the end I had to cry a little because I was so happy; plus I saw Tanner was teary eyed and that was too much for me.

He's so much bigger than last time we saw him, he's all squished! Tanner was worried the other night he's going to come out with his head sideways like that and told me I need to give him more room. If you can't see him very well, his head is in the middle, that's his hand and arm on the right, and the big circle in the bottom right is his cute lil tummy.

Here's his perfect little foot, five toes and all. This is where I finally cried. It's amazing, I can't believe he's really growing in there. I can't feel much still because of where the placenta is, but he's getting big so fast!

Last of all, proof he's a boy. :) Tanner and I laughed that they circled it for us. Tanner asked the doctor doing the ultrasound "Are you sure it's a boy?" She said, well, if it were a girl, nothing would be in that little circle, so yeah, I'm pretty sure. It made me laugh. Tanner is so excited, it's the cutest thing ever. He's going to be a great dad. I'll try to update more next month, they couldn't see a couple things last time, so we have to get another ultrasound next month, so we'll have more pictures, I'm excited to see how much he grows!

Lonely

Tanner is in Columbus, Ohio for his first med school interview. He left today and I'm picking him up late tomorrow night, but this is only the second time since we've been married that we've spent the night apart. And after I got in the car after leaving him at the airport, I totally cried. Cried!? Pa.the.tic. I'm totally embarrassed with myself. I totally have these thoughts that when we have the baby I'll be more laid back than other moms and not so uptight and worried all the time..but I realized my naivety when I was calling Tanner to make sure he remembered to get something to eat and I was so worried he'd get lost on his way to his hotel (in my defense, Tanner is horrible with directions). He is a grown man. I thought about this and felt like an idiot. How am I going to have kids and not drive them crazy? Luckily after the first few times I called him, I gained some insight into my behaviors and forced myself to stop. But it is lonely knowing I'll have to sleep alone, but it's one night, so I can make it, right? Tanner and I are always joking that I have 'separation anxiety,' we thought it was a joke, but now I'm not so sure. :) Anywho, pray for him on his interview, even though I know he'll do great! Also, he got an interview at the U in September, we are so excited, I can't stop telling everyone!!

End of summer

For our last summer huzzah, we decided to go camping with my nursing school pals and their hubsys! It was so much fun, we went up to the Uintahs by Lily Lake and completely forgot our camera, so the pictures are courtesy of Christie. Above is Nicole, Me in my hot pants, Ashley, and Rachel. This one is of Kaylee, BJ and Christie's baby, and she is pretty much favorite little person ever, just look at that face! How could you not love her? Tanner said on the drive home if we have a girl he hopes they're exactly like her. :) We had so much fun and definitely needed a little getaway. Other than driving some places our little Suzuki couldn't really handle and denting our car's frame a little, the trip was a success!

For those of you who don't know, Tanner has two major phobias-spiders and bears. Right after we got our tent set up, we realized there were strange markings on this tree directly outside our tent. Then we realized they were bear claws. Everyone started joking about it, then we all got scared and stopped.

Eric and Jeremy man-bonding
Me and Rachel, both prego! Rachel is due next month having a little boy, we are so excited for them! And she is such a trooper coming camping!! She even squatted to pee in the wilderness! At 8 months pregnant! I tried squatting for my first time, and totally peed on my pants a little bit, I was seriously impressed with her skills!

Christie and adorable little Kaylee. Did I mention she's the cutest thing ever?

Tanner and BJ catching fish like the manly men they are

Cutesy Nicole and Jeremy, just had their 2 month anniversary! Awww..

The boys getting their fishing poles ready! Eric, Tanner, and BJ

We're so grateful for so many great friends!

In other news, our little fetus is growing like a weed and starting to make my belly poke out. It's a little sad to look chubby, but really I'm excited to be showing, it's so fun! According to a website, it's the size of a large apple or something. Why do baby websites all compare baby sizes to fruit? Last month it was a fig, I know it's uncultured to admit, but I have never seen a fig and that means nothing to me. I hit the 16 week mark tomorrow, it's so fun! I can't wait to feel it move, that will make things feel more real. And I haven't been sick for a week, so life is great!
Tanner has a med school interview in Ohio Sept. 1st, we're hoping to start hearing from more schools soon. School started again yesterday, Tanner was definitely more enthusiastic about it than I was, but he's right, it's exciting to be getting it done and over with. We're both graduating in May, only two more semesters to go! Summer just didn't feel long enough, but it'll be good to finish and be done! Good luck to everyone else starting school again!

A few things

The new Hunger Games book comes out this month, I am soo excited! I need to reread the other two now.

Tanner scared me to death two nights ago. In the middle of the night he jumped to his feet on the bed, yelling that 'the spiders were going to get him, that they would get all the dragons, and surely eat right through his elbows.' Crazy, crazy Tanner. It took me a few minutes to calm him down enough to get him to lie back down and stop freaky sleep talking.

I go to the doctor Thursday and we are so excited to hear the heartbeat and for it to feel more real!

I'm so grateful for Tanner and how loving and wonderful he is.

Pregnancy really does make it harder to think straight. I find it's more difficult to find intelligent words, or real words for that matter, since the other night I told Tanner I got 'sticked,' instead of 'stuck.' At least I haven't been feeling too emotional lately, so when he laughs at me about it, I can laugh right along with him.

Busy Tanner

Poor Tanner has been swamped this summer. We've had fun, but it has been so busy. He has been doing his research 40 hours a week, while trying to tackle all of the secondary applications for medical schools. We're not complaining, it's good that he's getting secondaries, but honestly, how many essays do they need for medical school? He wouldn't start until fall of next year, but we're hoping to have an idea of where we're going by the end of the year.

For those who have missed them, here is Tanner's latest sleep quote I can remember:

(I'm climbing into bed after going to the bathroom)

T: [starts speaking jibberish rather forcefully]

N: [giggles]

T: "I'm so excited for tomorrow to get here, I wish it would just come."

N: "Why?"

T: "Because I'm going to drain all the oranges of their juices. Mmmm."

N: "Oh, where are you going to get all these oranges?"

T: "From the, um, from the droopy thing. Yeah."

N: "Goodnight Tanner."

T: "Goodnight. You're so beautiful."

He makes me laugh, he's such a goofball. Last night before bed he asked me what I was most excited about for Christmas. We talked about the food, the family parties, and the snow. I love that once the year is halfway through, he can't stop preparing for Christmas. We are also already preparing for Halloween. Tanner is going to be a Steve Zahn character, the question is, should he be the Sahara guy, or That Thing You Do!? Decisions, decisions. Maybe we aren't as busy as I thought. But really, which one?

That Thing You Do

Sahara