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.

 

 

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!

 

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 :)

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!

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!