The ultrasound

Well we had the ultrasound this morning and it was so awesome! It was great to see the little baby. We could see him (yes HIM!) squirming around and making kicking and punching motions. Especially when the doctor was poking him to get him to move around a little bit. WOW!

At first it was a bit disorienting trying to figure out what we were looking at. I am so glad that the doctor knew what he was doing- he pointed out the head, hands, belly, legs, etc. Then we caught on that we were looking from the top down. The doctor moved the probe thingy to the side and then we could tell that we were seeing the baby from the side.

We went through and looked at all the important stuff- brain, heart, kidneys, diaphragm. We even saw the little bladder. And the most important part- we found out we were having a little boy! That was the only thing that we didn't need the doctor to explain to us (we're still laughing a little about that)... it was very obviously a little boy. :) We had given baby a pep talk before the visit and said that it needed to not be shy- and he wasn't!

It was amazing to find out that we were having a baby, and then to see it for the first time. And then everytime we heard the heartbeat was just the most wonderful noise ever. But to know that we're going to be having a little soon in just a few months... wow, it just blows my mind. :)

And just some pictures for you guys. We have a DVD but I'm not uploading it.

This is baby all curled up (sorry not better quality). The head is the round thing on the bottom, left side. You can see the spinal column and his little legs tucked in above the body.

And here he is doing bicycle kicks or somersaults. You can see his legs and feet stretched out above him.

Another picture of baby all stretched out
(hands are up by his head so you can't see his arms or hands).

I feel like pouting...

I was just wandering around on saltlakecitymommies.com and found a post about a chick trying to sell her house. It is the most darling house with a wonderful kitchen- and just the right size! And the worst part? It's exactly what I was hoping to pay for a house.

I want to pout.... and throw a temper tantrum (I want it I want it I want it). But Dave and I have already decided to stay put for a little bit longer and get everything in order first.

Dang.

(Anyone want to buy me a house? I'll trade you a 2 bedroom condo).

Remodeling/fixing up the kitchen

So Dave and I have had this idea for a while now on a way to get some more storage- and an almost real pantry for me- in our kitchen. We have a closet in our kitchen that has some shelves and also held our washer and dryer. We decided that if we could get a stackable washer and dryer then that would free up one whole side of that closet space and we could build shelves in there- and viola! a pantry!

So Tuesday we went out bought a stackable washer and dryer. It was that nights adventure just to get the washer and dryer up into the apartment and last night we spent the evening just getting it into placed and hooked up. You'd think (maybe for a moment) that this would be relatively easy. And it almost was. :) First we had to move the old appliances and clean the floor below. So we had this dance of appliance going on- we'd move one, then move the other, and to make room we'd have to move the third. Then we shifted the new one into place. There were a few mishaps with the water hoses (not tightening enough, not shutting off the water, fun stuff like that... it just helped to keep the floor clean). We had to make a run out to lowes to pick up the vent tubing (that connects the dryer to the vent) and also picked up a shelving unit to go on the other side.

So we get back home, get the whole thing connected and try to move it into it's finally position. Now we had measured multiple times to make sure that it would fit just where we wanted it to and also measured the amount of space left over. Turns out we were probably 1/8 of an inch off so we can't the whole thing into the spot we wanted. And even if we did find the 1/8 of an inch somehow to move it... well, the hot water hose is an inch too short. So now the shelving unit we bought is one inch too long (so frustrating!) and we have to go out and try to find a new one. The only problem is- most shelving units come standard at 36 or 48 inches long... so finding one just an inch shorter is going to be tough!

We're going to be so relieved just to get this thing put up and the kitchen cleaned up. And the old appliances sold. Know anyone who wants a washer and dryer? We're selling them for a good price!

Sometimes it's just nice to stay home

(Almost) All of us girls: Top Row (L-R): Phegda, Mama (Carol), Julie

Bottom Row: Xan (Alexandria), Sima, Me (Deb), Stephanie

Bottom (Midget): Bella (Sima's daughter)

This weekend was a pretty good one. :) I had a chance to relax and I still got a lot done!

Dave's sister, Sima, came into town from Texas. So Friday night all of us girls got together for a girl's night at Stephanie's (another sister-in-law) house. It was so much fun! The excuse was to get to know Phegda (the newest member of the family- just married to Alex in January), but really we all just sat around telling great stories and talking about life. I had so much fun! It was so good just to hang out. The only girls missing were Darcie (SIL- married to Nick) and Sophia (One of the two nieces, Bella- the other niece- was there). I wouldn't mind doing that more often! :)

Married into it: Phegda (married to Alex), Me, Julie (married to Mark),
Stephanie (married to Chris), Missing: Darcie (married to Nick), Sophia (Julie's daughter)

The Originals: Xan, Mam, Sima, and Bella

Saturday was more family stuff. Dave and I went up to Xan's house and hung out with (almost) everyone. That was also a lot of fun. We had a great spaghetti dinner and I had a chance to talk baby with the girls. Sima brought a lot of Bella's old clothes, so if our baby turns out to be a girl, it is going to be one well dressed little girl. :) If it's a boy... well, we'll just have to go shopping.

(Some of) The boys: Dave, Mark, Chris

Sunday was the usual- just a quiet day- a chance to relax with Dave. :) And the best part? Not having to get ready for the week because it was a three day weekend!

Monday I woke up and just felt like getting stuff done. It was fantastic! I think that the weather helped. It was the "warm before the storm." It was pretty mild for most of the day- I had a chance to open up the windows and air out the condo (and we even turned off the heat!). It probably wasn't THAT warm, but it felt great to have fresh air. Lately I have been picking the oddest things to clean/fix up. I have a list as long as my arm of things that I want to do to the condo. The goods news is that some of it I can do myself. The bad news is that some of it can get pretty expensive. So I'll slowly be tackling those and just picking my favorites (or must-do's). I've been on a detailing kick so I have been cleaning the stuff that doesn't usually get cleaned- wiping down the walls, cleaning the baseboards, wiping down the area where the carpet meets the wall (the vacuum just doesn't seem to get all of the dust from there). Dave (smart cookie) just stayed out of my way. Oh yeah- and I painted our room. Just an accent wall, but I think I'll like it. We'll see. :)

And the joys of home ownership... Our drier is broken. It takes hours to dry one (small) load of laundry. I don't know what is going on. Anyway, so I think that we are going to have to find a new (cheap) drier (classified ads for sure). Oh yeah. And our oven is on the way out as well. It's not baking at a consistent temperature anymore and well, it's about 20 years old (maybe). So we have to pick up a new one of those as well. And for the win... we need to replace the surrounding walls in our shower. I'm tempted to just try to do it myself, but we'll just have to see about that.

PS: Ultrasound- one week- get your votes in now! If you look closely at the picture of me and the other wives, you might see the beginning of my baby bump!

Anyway, hope you all have a great week planned!

Bragging Rights (once again)

Ladies, I'm sorry to break it to you (again), but I really have snagged the best man. Dave surprised me this morning with a bouquet of roses. I had no clue that he was even planning anything. Dave really is the most sweetest and wonderful husband and I am so blessed to have him in my life.

Okay, I hope I've made all you ladies out there jealous. :)

I love you Dave! Thank you so much for the flowers- they smell so wonderful!

Randomness

So it's been one of those weeks where I've been stressing myself out for needless reasons. Well, at the beginning of the week it seemed like the end of the world, but now I just feel a little bit sheepish because everything is going to work out just fine.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but Dave and I are back in the "staying at the condo" mode. I think we are going to continue working on it and do some cosmetic touch ups. But we're going to try to make it work for us for a few more years. And we'll see where we are at then. It's been an abrupt 180 from last week, but it will all work out for the best. :)

As for this weekend- well it's a three day weekend. :) A nice, long weekend. Dave and I really wont be up to much. Maybe just more house cleaning for me but I am getting the itch to start buying baby stuff. :)

So Silly but I'm excited

So there's this tasty burger chain from Southern California that has been slowly expanding East and North (basically in Salt Lake's general direction). And this morning I found out that In & Out Burger is opening up shop in Draper! Draper is still like a 1/2 hour (or 45 minute) drive for us, but it's a heck of a lot closer than the 4 hour drive it used to be!

I'm just thrilled. :)

Sorry for the long hiatus

Well the winter has returned here. We'd been having clear weather for the past week and on Thursday and Friday it even got up into the 50's- it was so nice! But this morning the rain turned to snow and it's grey and wet out there. Oh well. Maybe this will be winters last hurrah? (Knock on wood). I wouldn't mind rain for the rest of the winter/spring instead of snow.

Our weekend was okay- more stressful than relaxing. There are so many questions up in the air right now. What do we? How will this all work out? What's the best choice? How do we make this happen? Stuff like that. Dave and I have very clear ideas on what we want to do and where we want to go but we're having problems with the logistics right now. More like it's just me having problems with the logistics. I don't think of myself as a control freak but at the same time it is really really hard for me to just let go and know that someone else will make it happen or will take care of me. I feel like it's my responsibility to get things done. Time to revert to the saying that got me through rough spots before "Let Go and Let God." :)

We looked at houses on Friday night. We saw a whole bunch of immediate "no's" and one "this is more like it." But after much discussion I think we're going to wait and see what kind of changes Bean brings along. Who knows though- that could change again next week- it's one of the things that we are so back and forth on.

Speaking of Bean- we scheduled the ultrasound for February 23! We'll find out what we are having on that day! Just a few weeks now (2 to be exact). I am so excited! Both Bean and I are doing well- I've started gaining weight. I am a little over 17 weeks along- getting closer to the halfway point.

Anyway, that's about everything in recent memory. Oh yeah- last weekend we had to take Dave to the hospital. We had gone out to dinner and after dinner Dave slipped on some ice and scraped his hand up. He had cellulitis (where bacteria gets into the blood stream), so he had the red line running up his arm showing the infection. Scary stuff! He had to go on 3 rounds of antibiotics (2 IV's and 10 days of pills). Blech. Poor guy. He's doing much better now and his hand is well on the way to healing.