Phew its January already!

Nathan putting together the glider rocker- thanks Grandpa, Grandma and aunt Jill- its perfect!

Christmas oranges- mine's the chocolate one, since I'm allergic

The candy cane cookies we left for Santa- its Nathan's mom's recipe and its super yummy! I made them with Kenzie and Kholer (niece and nephew), which was no small task!

December flew by and we have now welcomed in the new year. For Christmas we stayed down south and just had it with the two of us, it was our last Christmas with our family consisting of two members- next year Lentil will be with us. We also went to the movies on Christmas day (which evidently is what every other family did, since the theaters were PACKED!) We saw Sherlock Holmes, Nathan had been wanting to read the books and since he got them for Christmas he was pretty excited. He has really developed an appetite to read since we've gotten married, and he has already planned on what books he wants to read to Lentil for bed time stories (Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings are at the top of the list, I was thinking Dr. Seuss, so I guess we'll be doing a little of both!)

I am now officially in my third trimester and boy do I feel it! Lentil moves around like crazy- I wonder if she'll have a hyper personality? I have been feeling somewhat off these past two weeks and at my dr's appointment on Monday they found my body has some kind of infection. They aren't sure what kind of infection, but I am now on some antibiotics- and hopefully I'll be back to 100% soon. I almost feel like I'm back in my first trimester with nausea and food aversions. I also took the Gestational Diabetes test on Monday and I'm happy to report NO baby diabetes here! The drink actually made me even more sick and I was INCREDIBLY grateful that my dr's office only does a finger prick- they don't draw blood for the test. Nathan is getting more and more excited as he is constantly telling me how many weeks we have left. He is going to be a great dad!

Happy December!

Even though Lentil won't be here to enjoy this christmas we couldn't resist getting her a stocking, her stocking is the one in the middle
Here is a pic of one angle of our living room with our tree and stockings- we still need to hang our black shelf up next to the painting. I decided to post a picture of a portrait I did for my best friend's birthday (its of her daughter) mostly so Uncle Paul can see that I'm still doing art. And Finally....here is a more up to date picture of me at about 25 weeks- not my most favorite photo but its shows the tum tum

We had the opportunity to go travel up to Logan last weekend for a baby shower which was a blast! It was incredibly fun seeing my friends who I've missed so much! I also got to see one of my best friends on her birthday, since she threw the shower! We were hoping to be able to see some family while up there but the weather would not cooperate, and we ended up leaving early to drive back to Salt Lake. Nathan and I also battled snow storms on sunday when we had to leave preventing us from seeing more family- we felt bad that we were unable to visit some family but safety was our priority. I think we took a big sigh of relief when we finally made it home. We are also leaning towards staying south for christmas.

Lentil is getting bigger every week, and I feel like I've swallowed a basketball. I painted my toenails the other day and it took 20 minutes! Somedays I feel like I've already got my waddle on. I can't believe that I'm under the 100 days left mark and frankly its quite nerve wracking. However, I am really looking forward to the day I no longer have a human growing inside of me, yeah- still not my favorite. Who ever said God prepares you in that nine months to be parents was lying! (Nathan and I joke about that all the time)

Thanksgiving and More (wish I could come up with a better title)

Thanksgiving came and went and we had such a wonderful time! We had the opportunity to have two thanksgiving dinners and see both sides of our family. Nathan ate thanksgiving dinner with his parents, something he hasn't been able to do since his high school days. He also had the chance to play volleyball with his family that morning, I sat out due to my serious lack of hand-eye coordination, but it was really fun to watch them play!

We also had the chance to celebrate my mom's birthday, she would have been 50 this year. Of course the crazy daughter that I am, I took black "over the hill" balloons to her grave. I figure I would have given them to her if she was still alive. We shared funny memories of her and had some ice cream, it was such a joy to celebrate her amazing life.

We went through my mom's storage locker and moved stuff down to our house with the help of my grandparents. Finding a place for everything and trying to make it still look like our house has been an interesting challenge. We really enjoyed having my grandparents down here for a few days and we greatly appreciated all their help with moving in furniture. Our house is finally starting to look and feel like a home.

Lentil is growing and becoming very wiggly. I don't think I will ever get used to feeling a baby move inside me- it is the weirdest feeling I've EVER experienced. I'm not sure if I love being pregnant, I am very grateful for having such a relatively easy pregnancy but it certainly has effected my self esteem. Its worth it, but hard at the same time. Thank goodness for my supportive husband who tell me everyday, many times a day, how much he loves me. Lately I've really needed it.

Getting Lentil's Room Ready!

The finished changing table

Nathan putting the finishing touches on

the changing table

The cribs done! Complete with extra firm mattress

to make it extra safe

Nathan putting the crib together

Peeling off labels/stickers on the changing tables

(sweet outfit yes I know!)

Putting the changing table together

Getting everything out of the boxes, can you believe we fit it all in

our car!?! Needless to say I think it was the most entertainment

the Target employees had all evening!

Up and Down, Up and Down

This week has been such a emotional roller coaster week. This week marks the one year mark of my mom being gone which has created feelings of sadness and dissociation. Trying to deal with feelings of grief while being pregnant is no easy task. One minute I'm weeping and the next minute I'm giggling because Lentil is using me as a punching bag. I think the hardest part of dealing with the feelings of not having my mom around is that I'm pregnant with our Lentil who will be my daughter, and I was my mom's first. I miss the mom/daughter bond that I'm creating with Lentil.

On a happier note, Nathan was able to feel Lentil moving for the first time, which is making this pregnancy less one sided. We are still debating around names- its a good thing we have four months left, we'll need all of that time to decide on a name. We are soooo incredibly grateful for Lentil and the healing she is bringing to the family. She has already blessed this family in more ways then she'll ever know.

Another happy tidbit that I'm excited to share is that my little sister's art is featured in an art exhibit in the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City. We are so proud of her and we can't wait to check out the exhibit! She has three pieces in the Art Beyond Boundaries Exhibit, which features work from artists who have disabilities. Here is the website for more information- http://library.utah.gov/events/art2009.html

Our little Girl

On Friday we had the opportunity to find out the sex of Lentil during the ultrasound appointment. This was as exciting as christmas morning for us, especially since we had a wager going on- whoever was right predicting the sex could pick the theme of the nursery. This was also Nathan's first ultrasound appointment. We really enjoyed seeing Lentil move around, she was especially wiggly because Stephanie ate some candy before we went in to make sure she wouldn't be shy. She kicked her feet around and waved multiple times, giving us beautiful photos for the assessment.

Lentil even had one arm above her head, just how Nathan sleeps, and the other hand on her cheek, just how Stephanie sleeps. That really made us smile! The only thing Lentil would not show us was her face, she had her chin tucked down on to her chest, with her head down. No matter how many different angles the doctor tried, Lentil would not look up. Lentil just kept tucking herself further and further against Steph's pelvic bone so it was impossible to see her face. Lentil is already showing us she doesn't like photos taken of her face, so she is already taking after Steph.

We are excited to have a little girl on the way, now if we could only figure out a name!!!!

I'll keep this short...

We're having a GIRL!!!!!!