Your Requests Granted...

I have had a few comments wondering about seeing pictures of 'the loot' & of some of the other people from the shower last weekend. So, I've decided to grant those requests. :) I certainly wasn't trying to keep anything from you (my loyal readers) it's just that a lot of the 'people' pictures did not turn out well (i.e. - people weren't looking at the camera, blinking, fuzzy photo, etc.) & 'the loot', well, I just wasn't thinking about putting pictures of that up. But here you are, enjoy!

Pink presents everywhere...

Some of Tim's family (see, nobody's looking or smiling, but this was the best photo I could find)...

Amy, my mother-in-law, & my mom...

My Aunt Lynnie & cousin Brittany...

Thank you again to everyone who came to celebrate with Tim & I in our joy as we await the arrival of our little bundle. What a wonderful day it was!!

Hello 3rd Trimester

Here I am at 28 1/2 weeks. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday & she's doing great! I got to hear her heartbeat & she's measuring just fine. My legs & feet from my knees down to my toes are still swelling daily, so we're keeping an eye on that - otherwise, all is well. From now until 36 weeks, I will go see my doctor every 2 weeks!! Grow baby, grow!!

What In The World...

am I still doing up!?! Last night I had to stay up late to watch this show. I didn't get to bed until midnight - but I actually did pretty well today at school - didn't even yell at the children! :)

Then tonight, after dinner with some lovely girls from MAT, I fell asleep. I knew when I woke up that was going to be bad news...and here I am - 12:15...have I gone to bed yet? No. Did I finish the laundry that I've been meaning to do all week? No. Am I tired? Maybe a little, but not enough to go to bed yet. Do I have to work tomorrow? Yes. Crazy girl. I've got to get a handle on this before it gets out of control!! I need my sleep while I can, right girls?

In other news (since I'm not going to bed yet - may as well update you on what I've been doing...) we ordered the infant carrier tonight!! I'm very excited about this. Thank you Nana for this gift!! While I was at it, I got an additional base so we will have one in both cars - again, thank you Nana!

So...now we wait. Wait for baby, wait for the furniture, infant carrier, paint & decorating. I think we will wait to start the paint/decor process until after a certain cute blond girl comes to visit. Miss Nicole, get your paint brush ready - Tim says he'd love some help. :) I'm also waiting to get sleepy enough to go to bed...

For The Baby...

On Monday we ordered our furniture for Ella. I'm SO excited. It will take up to 8 weeks to be delivered, which means that in theory, it will be here before she is. ;) So, here are some pictures from the showroom floor to give you an idea...

Here's our rocking chair - we also ordered an ottoman in the same fabric as the chair. (The fabric shown is what we ordered).

And here is her crib. It's a lifetime crib that converts into a toddler bed & then into a full size bed.

And today after school, I bought a jogging stroller (for walking:) ), a stroller that has a fancy brand name that I can't remember (Pergo - Plinko - blah, blah, blah), & a pack 'n play. I had a friend at school who was getting rid of her baby stuff & I was the lucky one to come upon it! So now all we need to order is the infant carrier that Nana is getting us, set up her room, & then wait for our baby to come!

More Shower Goodness...

Here are some more photos from my shower. What I didn't mention in the previous post was that most of my family was able to make it, all of Tim's family that lives in the area came (hooray, right Faith!?) & several of my close ID friends came to share in the joy. It was truly a wonderful & delightful day for me. Just knowing that all of these people came to show their love & support meant the world to me. So thank you to everyone involved in this, what a blessing you are to our lives...

My Andrea, me, Bethany, & Kelly

Same group, but we added a very important Stacie! :)

After the shower Matt & Ethan came home. Ethan discovered the chocolate fountain & here's what happened a few moments later...

Setting The Stage...

This weekend I had my first baby shower. Did you catch that? A baby shower for me...wow.

And oh my did they go all out. My Andrea, my cousin Stacie, Bethany, & Kelly out did themselves in throwing this party. It was beautiful, the food was delightful, & other than tearing up once (I blame Bethany) I made it through without crying! :) 

Thank you ladies for making & planning such a wonderful celebration for me & baby Ella. What a wonderful family & friends I have, although, I already knew that...

Here are the first set of pics-

The goodies

Some flowers & cute buggies that My Andrea made to go with them...

Super fun balloons:

Some of the presents on display...

5 Random Facts...

Miss Erin says I need a new post. I don't really have anything to report-so I thought I'd share 5 random facts about myself that you may not know.

**Disclaimer - you are not allowed to use ANY of these facts against me at a later date - don't even think about it...end of disclaimer.**

1. I can't STAND for my lettuce to hang over the sides of my bread on a sandwich. Even if it's shredded. I am under obligation to pull it off, in an effort to make said sandwich nice & neat...

2. I have discovered the 'perfect' way to paint my nails & I only like it done that way. Here's how it goes - remove old color, file, buff, push up cuticles, trim cuticles, wash hands - now we're ready. Add 1 coat of OPI Chip Skip. Follow that with 1 coat of OPI Base Coat. Next apply desired color - almost always needs to be OPI - few exceptions are ever made (2 coats of color are needed). Allow to dry, then apply 2 coats of OPI top coat - Laura says 1 coat is good enough, but I say 2 makes it much more shinny....After all is dry, add 1 application of cuitcle oil. Stand back & admire...

3. I like to celebrate sparkle Saturday, with an occasional sparkle Wednesday thrown in for good measure.

4. I have an Esprit sweatshirt that I got with My Andrea on a trip to San Fransisco right out of high school. I wear it several times a week & have since I purchased it. You can tell. It's the rattiest thing I own & the oldest. If Tim owned something that looked this bad - I would make him get rid of it (don't worry, he's pointed this out to me on several different occasions). However, I shall never part with this sweatshirt. For some reason I l.o.v.e. it. Tim shakes his head almost everytime I put it on. I threaten to wear it out in public, but I think we both know I won't do that. It looks especially attractive now on my pregnant belly - only covering up *most* of my tummy. Ironically, I'm wearing it as I type this post...did I mention that I love it?

5. During my first trimester, I suddenly took on a distain for cashews. I couldn't look at them, smell them, or even say the word. Really. Bleh. Now, I can see that they exist (although not in my house) & I can say & spell out the word - but I still don't want anything to do with them. I use to really like them PP (pre-pregnancy) but now, they are dead to me. Good news for you - you can have mine...

Have You Seen Them?

My toes that is? They were there a few weeks ago...Then last night while in the shower, I glanced down to see nothing but baby belly. Where are my toes? This is another new experience for me - 'Jessie no toes'. I can see them if I bend my legs in an interesting way but that kind of hurts. So I guess I must say goodbye toes - I'll see you in a few months.

Jessie For President...

My Andrea called me earlier today to tell me this funny story & I had to share it here with you. Here goes...

Today My Andrea & Ethan were watching TV & something came on about the war in the Middle East. My Andrea went to turn off the TV & that's when E started. He told MA (My Andrea) that he wanted to watch to see who was going to be president. MA told him that we had already voted & that our new president's name was President Obama. To which E replied...'Ah, I wanted Jessie'. :) Where did that come from? I didn't think he ever even saw my campaign signs. :)

Thank you for calling to share MA, I'm still laughing about it. And E, I appreciate your confidence, but I respectfully decline the nomination...

Week 26 & a New Pretty...

Here we are at the beginning of week 26...there's no hiding the fact that I'm pregnant. :) We had our check-up on Friday afternoon & all is well. Her heartbeat is very strong & the doctor said everything looks good. Yay baby - keep it up!!

And here is my new 'pretty'. This is my very fake wedding ring since mine is now too tight because of swelling. :( I am enjoying this new fanicful piece of jewlery however - it's very shinny. :)

Girls Night!

This past week while we were in Idaho, I was invited over to Bethany's house for girls night. These are girls that I grew up with in youth group & keep in touch with, so it was very fun to get to hang out with them again. They have girls night every so often & I'm usually a bit jealous that I don't get to play along - so thank you girls for having 'the night' be while I was still in town - I had a ball!!

Here we are in our 'nice' picture:

Silly picture (notice we are all doing the same thing except for Andrea & Kelly - I think they missed the memo)...

Playing games & lots of yummy food were also involved:

My Andrea, Kelly, & I trying to recreate a picture that we had found from early high school...

So sad...but with a silver lining...

Tonight I took down our Christmas decorations. I opted out of a tree this year since we were going to be gone, but I put all of the other decorations up. And now they are gone. So sad.

But to make myself (& my home) not seem so dull, I decorated for Valentine's Day. That's right. I did - judge me if you want, I like it.

Has anyone seen my ankles?!? They disappeared on the trip home from Idaho, and I haven't seen them since. Yes, some of the swelling has gone down, but not gone away. And now my fingers think that they should play along too. My wedding ring was digging so deeply into my finger today that it left 3 rings in my skin & made my finger look like a sausage. So sad.

But, again to make myself feel better, I know that swelling is part of pregnancy, I was just hoping it wouldn't happen to me. :) I am thrilled however that I have a happy healthy baby cakes growing inside of me. AND, Tim & I went shopping today, so I splurged & spent a whole $6.99 on a new wedding ring. That's right - a new one. Think the diamonds are real? I do...

The battery died in my camera so I can't get the Christmas pictures from it off. Not yet anyway...the battery is currently charging. Maybe later tonight? And, My Andrea, I was thinking, I don't think we took any pictures together this time. Shocking, I know, but so sad.

Silver lining here?!? The battery will re-charge, I know that I will see My Andrea again soon , so she will have to remember to have us take pictures together. (Everybody knows that I can't be trusted to remember anything these days...).

I don't fit in my office space very comfortably anymore...so Tim bought a lap top for me to use in the living room, car, or wherever I want. How great is that?! So, this blog is currently being brought to you from my living room...complete with pillows behind & beside me (that goes for cats as well). Thank you love!

So you see, all my sads aren't really too bad, since they all have something happy to go along with them. I'm hoping that the new year will be just the same.

Happy New Year everyone! May your year be filled with lots of love, happiness, & good health.

And Christmas Eve...

Christmas Day...

Here are some more photos from Christmas Day...

We're Back!!

...from a wonderful Christmas. We went to ID (& Nyssa) to visit our families & friends. We were there for a little over a week & enjoyed ourselves the entire time (except when we were driving through tons & tons of snow).

Here are some pics from our adventures...

Faith (my mother-in-law) & me at Tim's birthday dinner:

Birthday dinner crew:

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Matt, My Andrea, & I rocking out to Rock Band 2...such fun