What we've been doing

Not taking pictures (obviously).

I went to Sacramento to see the Lion King with my girlfriends the last Saturday in June. My friend upgraded out tickets for us so we towards the front. The costumes were amazing and the woman who played Raffiki (the baboon) was incredible. I highly recommend it. It follows the same storyline as the Disney movie with some additional songs and scenes. Worth it for the costumes (if nothing else).

We went to Bakersfield for the 4th of July. Joe Eribarne, the man Nick worked for over the internet/fax machine while in college and who we were going to go to work for when Nick lost his job with Harris and Sloan passed away and his funeral was the 3rd. I'm grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and eternal families. I don't think there is anything quite like a funeral to remind us of our beliefs.

We opened a Health Savings account! For those of you who don't know what that is (as I didn't until recently), it is a savings account to use for medical expenses. It's meant for people with no medical insurance or with high deductibles. In 2009, $5950 that you put into the fund is tax deductible. It rolls over from year to year and can be used for any medical expenses (except premiums). We'll us it to pay for our new baby (I don't even want to think about how much that will be). It's a way to write of medical expenses that aren't 20% of your income (which I'm pretty sure is the requirement to put them on your taxes).

We also met with someone to discuss a rollover for Nick's 401K from Harris and Sloan and life insurance, as well as Roth IRAs for our future. Am I really ready for this stuff?

It's a girl!

That's it. She's coming and there's no stopping her. This pregnancy has been pretty easy, I don't even realize I'm pregnant most of the time. My due date is November 5th. I'm hoping to not have to deliver until November 3rd (scheduled C-section so if she's stubborn like Grant was then it shouldn't be a problem waiting until just before the due date). We have no names yet because Nick won't talk about it until the 3rd trimester. I love the name Grace but I think I've decided it's too much like Grant to actually name her that. Bummer. Now I'm stuck. Teaching has made it somewhat difficult too... too many memories associated with names.

Books Books and more Books

So I've learned something about myself. I get into something and I can't stop. Somedays (unfortunately) it's TV or video or computer games. Occasionally, it will be something constructive like geneology. Lately, it has been reading. I love to read. The latest in my quest for knowledge (or something like that)...

Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreth (I think). I read this for book club in April. It was the last book I finished before I started the other 4 in the last 10 days or so. It was a super fun easy read. IT IS A COMPLETELY different story than the movie. It's about a family with 12 kids, and the things their dad/parents taught them. It's a biography but readable as fiction (I'm not a non-fiction fan AT ALL).

The Note by Angela Hunt. It was okay. Worth reading but not on the top of my request list. It's about a reporter who finds a note written by a father to a child right before his plane crashes. The reporter is searching to find the child to return this lost note and final message from the father. As she does this, she grows and learns about herself also.

The Fabelhaven series by Muller (I think). I've read the first two of these and just started the 3rd (of 4) tonight. They are children's books (like upper elementary probably). The series is about a preserve for enchanted creatures (like faires, goblins, witches, trolls, etc). The main characters, a teenage girl and an 11ish yr old boy, go to stay with their grandparents who are the caretakers for this preserve. They get into a lot of trouble as they discover the truth about Fablehaven. They are fun to read but not at all on the same level as Harry Potter. Definitly kids's books, whereas Harry Potter could have been directed towards adults.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini. Beautiful. Difficult to read. It is about the treatment of women in Afghanistan through the eyes of a "bastard" woman and a girl who lost her parents to a bomb. It is by the same author as the Kite Runner and I'd say is more difficult to read but just as rewarding if not more so. I love the bits of history that he includes about the rule of Afghanistan and what their people have been through. If you can handle a little disturbing to reach a redeeming end, I highly recommend (I almost quit with about 50 pages left because I couldn't take it anymore. I'm very glad I finished).

Weekend in Ventura

For Memorial Day weekend we went down to Southern California for a weeding and extended our stay in Ventura with Nick's best friends parents. We went to the beach, even though it was freezing cold. Grant thought it was really funny when the waves were coming, but wasn't quite sure what to think about when the actually hit him. He was completely shivering after 2 minutes of putting his feet in like this.

On the way home, Grant was perhaps dirtier than he ever has been to date. We stopped and saw Grandpa while he was working and he held Grant and got construction dirt all over him. Then, we stopped for ice cream in Fresno (and a break because Grant was driving us nuts!) and he got dinner and ice cream all over his face. We let him crawl around all over the ground outside Cold Stone and he got filthy (you can kind of see the tops of his feet). To top it all off, he also had a major poopy diaper that we changed soon after this picture was taken. Welcome to boyhood Grant (and Mommy).

Grant's First Birthday Party

My first attempt at decorating a cake. Who knows if I will ever try again (it's supposed to be Lightening McQueen). It tasted good at least...

First bite of cake...

Yum this is good...

Wow! It's so much fun to get cake everywhere!

(Fairly) Recent Happenings

Grant's first experience with a balloon. He was overly tired at that point, and so super goofy, but he just thought it was the funniest thing.

Already a Daddy's boy, Grant loved to sit on Nick's lap and "drive" the boat.

Grant ate dirt for the first time while helping Mommy and Grandma plant flowers. Yummy!

Not only does Grant now know how to open cabinets, he has started to pull everything out of them. How fun!

Thoughts on my pregnancy

Hum... where to begin. I guess with "It's ALIIIIVE!!" This ultrasound is from 4/20... I was 12 weeks along and the baby had a heartbeat of 171. I sure do hope that the baby is still growing because my belly sure is.

So, the pregnany was unplanned -- "concieved in a moment of passion" as my mom puts it. I think it was Karma's way of punishing me for being so judgemental of people who have their kids close together. I was never going to be one of those crazy moms! (That's what I get). Grant and this baby will be 17 months apart. Aside from them being close together, I also really wanted to wait until the new hospital opened next May. Maybe other women will and I'll actually get a room to myself.

As Nick reminds me, we wanted more kids, so this isn't the end of the world. And, I'm pretty bored with just one. Maybe this really will be a good thing...

I am due November 9th. At least, that's what the doctor measured from the ultrasound. I thought it was closer to the 3rd. Maybe we didn't get pregnant when I thought we did (which means, it wasn't my fault). In any case, the baby will be delievered two weeks early, probably while my mom is in Hawaii. I may actually have to be a big girl this time and spend some time in the hospital alone.

It has been a fairly easy preganancy. I was a little bit icky feeling, but I have nothing to complain about really. I feel tired but sometimes I think it's because I'm sleeping too much (trying to bank it now before the baby comes) =)

I can't decide if I want a boy or a girl. I was thinking boy, especially because Grant will be so close in age, but I did this stupid "Chinese" predictor thing on the internet and it said boy and I was kind of dissapointed. Maybe that's just because I want all of my nieces' clothes. Do I really want to deal with a girl and hair and hormones and all that crap? Hum... good thing it's not really up to me.