P.S.

Go me for blogging so much!!

The Beginning of the Baby's Room

We've finally started getting the baby's room ready. We recently moved into a bigger apartment (thank goodness...and pics to come later) and it's taken weeks to get everything organized. So far the baby's room has just been a depot for "stuff" that we don't know what else to do with. Over the weekend, however, Toren's parents bought a crib for the baby, which sent me into full baby-prep mode. Luckily, Toren was also inspired and agreed to assemble the crib.

I decided on doing a jungle them for the room, and I think it's adorable. So far all we've done is the crib, but I do plan to paint a dresser and a couple bookcases and hang some pictures. I might even paint a wall. I'm sure I'll take a picture of the finished product, but for now, enjoy the adorable crib.

Since I haven't washed the bedding yet (I will, but I was to excited to see what it looked like and had to put it together), we decided to let Baxter try out the crib. He was thoroughly confused, though I'm confident that if we'd given him a few minutes in there he would have snuggled right down for a relaxing nap.

Seattle Baby Shower

My mom was in town last weekend, so my family in Seattle threw me a baby shower. We had so much fun. Besides getting tons of baby loot (thanks everyone!), it was so good to see family that I don't see nearly enough...and my mom. We played a few of the traditional baby shower games, the worst of which was guessing the measurement around the biggest part of my belly. I nearly died when I found out it was just over 42 inches!! And I still have time to grow!! All in all, though, it was a fun night enjoyed with some of my closest family and friends.

I spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out with my mom. It was a real treat for me (literally). She spoils me like crazy! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful mom. Thanks mom!!

The Most Wonderful Day of the Year

I've put it off long enough. It's time to blog about CHRISTMAS!!

This was the first year Toren and I had a REAL Christmas tree. Our first Christmas we enjoyed a fake 3-foot tree from Walgreens before we went to Washington and Seattle for two weeks. Last year we were living with Toren's parents. They left for Arizona on Christmas day, so they didn't put themselves through the hassle of decorating.

But this year, we had a beautiful 7-foot Noble Fir.

We decorated it mostly with inherited (hand painted by Toren's grandma) ornaments and a few scraggly ones from Toren's childhood (I strategically put these ornaments in the back). Having our apartment decorated really filled us with the Christmas spirit. It was wonderful.



The weekend before Christmas, we met up with my family in Seattle (Mom, Dad and John flew home from Hong Kong. Laura drove back from school. And David had already been living there). First they surprised us with all sorts of knock-off goodies...like my amazing Jimmy Choo purse, and then we just spent lots of time laughing and catching up. It was great. Toren went back home on Sunday night, but I spent a few more days (mostly shopping and eating) with my family.

Most of the ladies of the family enjoying a Chipotle lunch and our new purses from Hong Kong.

My mom drove me back down to Portland on the morning of Christmas Eve, where she accompanied me on an ultrasound appointment.

That night we spent with Toren's family (minus Blake, Maren, Braden, Brent and Mallory). We enjoyed a Christmas Eve feast and watched a Nativity movie.

And then Christmas morning came....

Our stocking loot.

Baxter was SO excited about his new bone he wouldn't even let me get close enough to take the stocking off.

Toren got a pre-Christmas gift this year: a Playstation 3. So all he wanted when Christmas actually rolled around were games.

And all I wanted was a Sonicare (and HP 6 of course!)

Toren's mom gave him this perfect 6-month BYU football jersey. Toren is already daydreaming about the first game he'll get to take his little son to.
(P.S. I don't think I even announced it yet, but we're having a BOY! We are ecstatic!!)

Baxter probably got the best gift of all. (It's a Pez dispense for pets. The dispenser freaks him out but he'll endure it just long enough to get the Pez!)

After opening presents and trying out all our new gear, we went to watch Avatar (of course in 3D) and spend more time with the family.

All in all, it truly was the most wonderful day of the year! And though I've only really mentioned the worldly aspects of Christmas, it also wonderful in spiritual aspects as well. It was a humbling time to reflect on our many blessings and give thanks.

Our Little Sweet Potato

My cousin (who is also pregnant right now) showed me this site called thebump.com. Among other things, you can see what size your baby is in relation to fruits and vegetables. When I saw her adorable little lemon I just had to know what ours was. And I found....a hairy, bumpy sweet potato! It may not be the cutest vegetable in the world, but I sure love our little sweet potato. I mean, who couldn't? Just look at it!

And Baby Makes Three!!

That's right...we're having a baby!! I'm just about 17 weeks and due May 22. Toren and I couldn't be happier. I just stopped throwing up daily, so maybe now I can keep my blog a little more updated.

Ape Caves

Several weeks ago Toren took the Young Men on an adventure to Ape Caves and I got to tag along. The ape caves formed when Mount St. Helens erupted almost 2000 years ago. As lava flowed from the mountain, the lava on the top cooled and hardened but the lava below continued to flow, creating a tube. It is through this tube that we climbed. It's pitch black inside and impossible to maneuver without flashlights. There were several times we had to climb over huge piles of lava rock or jump down dips in the cave. It's only 1.5 miles long, but it took us a couple hours. Of course, the boys had to explore ever little offshoot they could fit into, which added to our time.

The Young Men and their Fearless Leader

Mount St. Helens and Me

Entering the cave....

Beginning the trek.

Bouldering like a pro.

Not the best picture of me, but look at those lava rocks!

We're so happy to have made it to the end!