Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas!

       Instead of having us go up to Idaho to be with my mom on Christmas, she decided that it would be better if she came and stayed with us. So when my sister got married on Dec. 17th, my mom just rode home with us. She stayed with us for an entire week, then flew back home on Christmas afternoon. Lance and I made a list of activities that we could possibly do during the week she was visiting. Some of those included:
  • visit Pepperidge Farm and get cookies
  • make a lot of goodies
  • play games
  • watch Christmas movies
  • drive around and look at Christmas lights
  • scenic drive up Logan canyon
  • tour Utah State campus
  • Aggie ice cream
  • temple session
       During last week, it felt like we didn't do anything at all. But as I think more about it, I guess we did the majority of the things on our list. We went to Pepperidge Farm and got some TimTams. We made home-made chicken noodle soup, fudge, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and lots of other treats. We watched several Christmas movies.
We even made homemade noodles. SO GOOD!
       We drove around and looked at lights on Christmas Eve. We went for a drive up the canyon and did a little tour of Logan. But even with all that, the majority of our days were spend just relaxing, watching tv or reading. Still, it was nice not to be running full speed and to take some time to sit back and catch up.

Our stockings were full of goodies
       We ended up having a really good Christmas. I can't believe this is our second Christmas together being married. I know that isn't very long, but it's going by fast. And by next Christmas, our son will be getting big and growing up! We didn't set any alarms on Christmas morning and slept in until about 8am. But we woke up to the heat broken in our apartment. It was freezing and I didn't want to get out of bed.
I insisted on starting the tradition of getting an orange in our
stockings and reading the "Christmas Orange".
      Then we got up and opened the presents we had for each other and my mom. I gave Lance a few shirts, and a remote control helicopter. He gave me a cute hat/scarf/gloves set, and several more guitar hero games to keep me entertained this next semester while I don't have classes. Lance gets so excited giving other people gifts and watching them open them. I love his excitement for Christmas.
Lance cracked me up with his wrapping job.
Not too hard to guess what it is...haha
Lance with his new helicopter.
My mom and I. Too bad I'm pale and scary looking.
       We were going to drive my mom down to SLC for her flight, but it turned out my brother was in Logan visiting his girlfriend and was heading down at just the right time. My mom decided to catch a ride with him since she doesn't get to see him often. Lance and I still ended up going to Salt Lake to catch a movie with my dad and spend a little bit of Christmas with him. We saw Tron in 3-D. It was actually a pretty decent movie, but I have decided officially that I do not like 3-D. Normal movies it is from here on out for me.

     That night, we went over to Lance's parents and spent the remainder of Christmas with them. It has been a pretty busy holiday season, and we've spent a lot of time being with family, which is always nice. It's great to have a bit of a break from school and just relax. The heat in our apartment ended up being out for about 3 days, during which the temperature in our apartment dropped below 50 degrees. I am used to wearing sweats and lots of layers and blankets, so it didn't bother me too much. Lance, however, was freezing and was often seen in his hat and gloves. Fortunately, we spent most of our time at his parents house, so we only had to endure the cold during the night.
       Our baby is due in exactly 4 months, and we are so excited to finally meet him. People are constantly asking if we have a name picked out yet. As of now, we think we have a name. However, we are going to use it for a few weeks and see if it's a name we still like after a little more thought. We are going to wait to share the name until we are more sure about it. There are many names we have been considering and testing out. Once we have decided, we will let everyone know.

Here Comes the Bride

On December 17th, 2010 my sister Cindy got married to Josh Jensen. They have been together for 7 years and have the two most adorable little boys. The wedding was simple, yet nice and Cindy looked gorgeous as usual. I'm very excited for her to begin this new stage of life. They are now living in Boise, ID where Cindy is hoping to attend dental hygiene school.

We didn't think the hairdresser was going to make it in enough time to finish Cindy's hair, so she decided to have me do it. I love doing hair, but was nervous because I know having her hair look good was one of the most important things. I personally thought it turned out nicely. I'm just hoping Cindy felt the same way.





 

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Project: Crib

Ever since we found out I was pregnant, I have been looking on KSL for a good crib. I decided I liked the convertible cribs, but they were usually a bit pricey. But I knew that with consistent checking, there was a chance we would find a good deal. A few weeks ago, we found EXACTLY what we were looking for and for a great price.
We got:
  • a crib
  • mattress
  • changing table, and 
  • changing pad
for a wicked good deal (in our opinion). We called and within a few hours were on our way to Salt Lake to have a look. The only problem was that it was a light tan color, and I was really wanting a dark brown. We decided it was too good to pass up and that it would be a fun project to refinish it in the color we wanted. We looked into all our different options for staining, but it was obvious it was going to be WAY to big of a project and too much potential for disaster. We finally decided to just paint it. It was still quite the project and took many, many hours. But the finished product is beautiful and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

The before...This is the main headboard.

These are the side railings.
 
 Lance painting the sides.

We kind of invaded his parent's garage. Thanks!

The finished product. Isn't it beautiful?

 The changing table. 

 The start of our baby's room. Next step...decorating!


Friday, December 10, 2010

Half Way There!

I am 20 weeks today, which means that we are half way there. I just got back from a doctor's appointment and he said things are looking good. Our baby must have been working out or something, because his heart rate was at 160! On Wednesday, it was only 148. He's already above average in weight, so I guess it's a good thing he's exercising. We had our ultrasound on Wednesday, and we got to see our little man. They estimated that he weighed about 14 ounces, and I think average is around ten. It's already looking like he'll be a big one. Anyways, here's a few updates on the pregnancy so far:

  • I have never thrown up.
  • Between about 10-12 weeks, my stomach would start hurting really bad if I went more than an hour without food. Crackers and small snacks didn't help, it had to be food with some substance. 
  • I still haven't really felt him move. Or if I have, I haven't recognized it. 
  • I can still wear my normal jeans, but I do find my maternity ones more comfortable. 
  • I haven't had any cravings.
  • Sweets and chocolate haven't sounded as good to me as they usually do.
  • I sneeze all the time, especially in my car.
  • I can't eat as much in one sitting, but I eat more often.
  • My stomach doesn't like any sort of pressure on it. Even having Lance lay his arm across it feels like it weighs 100 pounds.
  • I sleep more and take much longer naps.
  • Back tickles are the cure for everything. :)
Overall, I have felt extremely lucky with this pregnancy. Especially at the beginning, I didn't feel any different and you would never know that I was pregnant. Sometimes, I even began to wonder myself. I am so excited that we finally know the gender and we are now on the last part. We cannot wait until April so we can meet our little guy.


He had his hands covering his face most of the time. It was difficult to get a profile shot.


He kept his legs pretty tightly together also, didn't want us seeing anything.


The spine pictures are my favorite. 
Here is a 3-D image showing his hands up by his face. But look how cute :)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Drumroll please...



It was SO good to see our handsome little man today. I never thought I would be the type to worry, but every time we go to the doctors, I'm always afraid I'm going to get bad news. Fortunately, that has not been the case thus far. Things are looking really good. He did not want to show us much. He had his hands covering his face, and his legs closed pretty tightly. But after some poking and prodding, we finally got a clear shot. I'll post some pics and an update on the pregnancy tomorrow. Almost half way there!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Homemade Stockings

Thanksgiving is over, which means that it is time to get ready for Christmas! 
Christmas checklist:
  • Set up the tree - check!
  • Start countdown calender - check!
  • Finish shopping - still working on that one
  • Watch Christmas movies - check! (But still need to watch more.)
  • Play Christmas music - check!
  • Put up Christmas lights - haven't quite gotten to this yet
  • Wrap presents - check! (At least, the things I've already bought.)
  • Make homemade stockings - check!


The first thing we focused on was getting the tree up.
 

Bobbi and the finished tree. Still need to add ornaments.


I love this picture of Lance!





 Sewing the stockings together.

 


Lance putting the detailing on his stocking.


Used rope to write our names.


Probably first and last time Lance will use a hot glue gun.




Lance and I with our finished stockings!


Monday, November 29, 2010

Birthday Bash

Lance's birthday was last Tuesday (the 23rd). Unfortunately, he was supposed to have classes all day then go straight to work, so we planned on celebrating it the day after. However, due to a major blizzard that was going to hit, all classes were cancelled after 2pm. Yay! We had a few hours together before he went to work in which we decided to touch up some parts on our crib. (Pictures coming soon!) He went to work and it was so slow that he got to come home several hours early. We were going to do presents the next day, but I had wrapped up his library book with the rest of his presents and he wanted to read it that night when I went to work.
Snow was blowing pretty hard on the door.



I accidentally put his old ipod in the washer, so I felt he deserved another. Plus I wanted mine back.



The wind was blowing so hard, the snow stuck off at an angle.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Saying Goodbye

1931-2010
      On October 31, 2010, my Grandpa Woolsey passed away. He had been very sick for quite some time, so it was not completely unexpected. In July, I received a phone call from my dad saying that we'd better head down to Escalante to see him because they didn't think he would make it through the weekend. Unfortunately, Lance and I did not get down to see him before he passed. Lance never even got the chance to meet him, and I deeply regret that. Even I hadn't been down to see him in several years. I have many wonderful memories of my grandpa. When I was little, my dad and I used to to spend a lot of time in Escalante. Here are just a few of the things that I remember:
  • Grandpa used to always ride this tan four wheeler around to do his chores on the farm. I loved the four-wheeler because when no one was using it, I could drive it around and explore.
  • My grandpa took my dad and I scouting for deer once. We weren't actually hunting, just trying to get a feel for where they were. My grandpa was driving this really old jeep while my dad and I were on the four-wheeler. I remember we were trying to climb a pretty rough and steep patch and we had to bail on the four-wheeler as it started to tip. Luckily no one was injured.
  • My grandpa, dad, and I used to go fishing all the time. I remember one time we were driving in the jeep and I had to sit in the back of the jeep where there wasn't a seat, just the hard metal floor. It was freezing, the road was rough, and I was sitting next to a can of gasoline. It wasn't the most pleasant thing, but it was worth it to go fishing with them.
  • My grandpa was such a hard worker. His farm had everything; they could pretty much be self-sustaining. The chickens would provide eggs. The cows provided milk and beef. They had vegetable gardens and fruit trees. They grew their own hay to feed their animals. They had horses, sheep, dogs, cats, pigs, and a number of other animals. 
  • The thing I remember most about my grandpa is the breakfasts he would make. He would always make the best eggs. I still haven't figured out how he always got them to be so perfect all the time. We would have fresh eggs, milk, butter, toast, bacon, sausage, all the makings of a fine breakfast. I can't remember spending a day at his house where he didn't cook me a fabulous breakfast.
 He was a great man and will be missed by many.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Called to Serve

It was a missionary weekend at the Hinton household. Lance's brother, David, got home on Friday from his mission to New Mexico. And Lance's other brother, Garrett, will leave for his mission to St. Louis this coming Wednesday. They allowed David to come home a few days early so they would have some time together and so we could get a family picture before the next one left. It was a fun filled weekend, and the entire Hinton family was there to welcome David home. It was the first time in over four years that Lance's parents had all of their kids home at one time. With 8 kids, that is not an easy thing to accomplish.


Everyone that was able to make it to the airport.

Here were some of the events of the weekend:
  • Everyone met at airport to welcome David home
  • Playing with 1 month old nephew Gavin
  • Lots and lots of food
  • Family game of football
  • Fun chats at the dinner table
  • Movies
  • Homecoming/Farewell talks during church
  • Huge gathering at the house for friends and family after church
  • Tons of yummy desserts and snacks
  • Family pictures
  • And lots of talking and just spending time together
It was a lot of fun meeting David for the first time and getting to know him a little bit. We will be sad to see Garrett go, but know he will be an amazing missionary. Welcome back David, and farewell Garrett!
Approaching mom
First embrace with mom
David and Garrett
David and parents