Lewis bakes

Today, Lewis and I were cleaning up the kitchen and were getting ready to throw away the brown sugar bag when Lewis saw the recipe on the back: moist oatmeal cookies. He wanted to make them right away. I was still making dinner and told Lewis that I would make them later tonight but he wanted to make them while I was finishing dinner.

He did a really good job! He kept questioning the amounts that the recipe called for. He was surprised that the recipe called for 4 eggs, 3 and a half cups of oatmeal (goodbye breakfast) and then 24 oz of chocolate chips: the whole big bag!! I had already used some of the chocolate chips for another recipe I made a few days ago, so it wasn't quite 24 ounces, but there were still a lot.

At the end of the mixing, before we were getting ready to put them on the baking sheets and in the oven, he double checked the recipe to make sure that he had done everything correctly. And that's when he saw it:

makes 6 dozen cookies.

He started freaking out. "six dozen cookies! Why didn't they tell me that at the beginning? That's 72 cookies!"

And it went on and on while I put the cookies on the cookie sheet. "They should have told me sooner! Why did they save that news until the end?! That's so many cookies!"

So now we have enough cookie dough to make 72 cookies.We'll be well fed for a while :)

boy or girl? finding out

On Friday afternoon, Lewis and I had our 20 week ultrasound appointment. The purpose of the ultrasound was to check the health of the baby and make sure that everything was going well, but we were also able to find out the gender. We didn't find out in the appointment. The technician humored our desires and told us to cover our eyes when she went to check the gender. We were spending the weekend in park city and wanted to find out there on our own.

At the end of the appointment, she printed out a picture of the legs (and what was or wasn't in between), wrote the gender on a sticky note, and put the prized papers in an envelope. We had a friend make us cupcakes; some were filled with blue frosting, others were filled with pink. When the appointment was over, we took the envelope to our friend, let her open it and then she gave us the cupcakes, telling us which ones we were supposed to eat.

Here's a little taste (no pun intended!) of what our weekend was like:

dinner at Tucanos! (before the trip to Park City)

the envelope containing the news!

the cupcakes we were directed to eat

filled with pink!

 

baby girl!

it's a girl!

My "motherly instincts" told me we were having a boy. I really was convinced. But then we found out it was a girl. So far, my motherly role isn't working in my favor. Hopefully that will change! Lewis said that at first, he thought it was a boy, but then recently he started thinking that he was going to have a little princess. And boy, was he right.

Oh, and they told me that I was measuring about 2 weeks ahead, so they might be moving my due date up. We'll see what the next couple months bring!

valentine's day

Yes, I realize that Valentine's day is still a ways away, but I couldn't resist already setting up the decorations for it. And by decorations, I mean a cheap wreath and a vase filled with the heart candy and flowers. But oh, how I love decorations, so I have to start somewhere, even if they're small!

For some reason, I have a fetish with making wreaths right now. I think I've made a new one for every month for the last couple of months. I can't ever pass up an opportunity to make a cute wreath for my front door. And sorry for those of you who really don't care, but I still wanted to share :)

 Simple, but hopefully sweet! And speaking of sweets, I really can't wait for valentine's day so I can spoil my husband with all kinds of sweets!

20

It's official. Lewis and I are half way done with our pregnancy now. Neither of us can still believe it. It's still surreal to us. But things are definitely changing. We are trying to imagine our lives with a little baby running around and are trying to prepare ourselves for those changes. Needless to say, we are excited and grateful for this opportunity!

So that's changed the last 4 and a half months?

Sickness: I haven't been sick yet. During my first trimester, and occasionally now, my gag reflexes were heightened, but I haven't thrown up. I count my blessings on that one.
Weight gained: So far, nothing. Last time I was at the doctor, I actually weighed a few pounds less that I did when we started. But we have a doctor appointment on Friday and maybe they'll tell me something different now.
Cravings: I haven't really had any legitimate cravings as of this point. There are some foods that I want more than others (chocolate - but it's always been like that) but I've never craved anything to the point where I can't function if I don't get it. People keep telling me those days are still ahead of me.
Food: While I haven't had any cravings, my appetite has definitely changed. Yellow starbursts have suddenly become the favorite, Cafe Rio doesn't taste as good anymore, cranberry juice hits the spot, and eating spinach is almost a daily occurrence now when it used to never happen. Those are just a few things that have changed in regards to things I like to eat.

Baby G at 20 weeks

 Oh, and what about the gender, you ask? Check back this weekend!

car show

The annual car show was this weekend, so naturally we had to make our way down there. Lewis and I have been to the car show every year for the past three years (I must really like him). We always have a good time and usually get to meet up with some friends who are interested in going also. This year, we met up with Taylor and Becca, since they live in Salt Lake and we don't get to see them very often.

The first car that we always see first when we go to the car show is the Cadillac. They must know that's Lewis's favorite car, so they put it by the door. Every year. We spend the majority of our time at the Cadillac section, wishing and dreaming about the time of our lives when Lewis can have (a newer one) of his very own.

Lewis inside his dream car

The Cadillac

My future "mom" car

This sweet truck with the ultimate tailgating truck bed.

I could add more photos still, but I'll spare you guys. We had a good time! With great company. And some great yogurt afterwards. Seriously, it was probably the best I ever had.

some cool family history!

A few days ago, I was on the family search website for our church going through my family history. Lewis and I will find out the gender of our baby in a few days, and then the name search will commence. We've been thinking a lot about names we like already and we both thought it would be nice to pick a name that has been in either of our family lines, so it has a little bit more meaning.

I was going through my line of family history and looking at names that we might like. I was clicking on the arrows to take me back through multiple generations, clicking randomly and not paying attention to who I was clicking on and why. I just wanted to see how far back I could go.

Eventually, I got back to royalty: Kings of England, princes and princesses. None of this was news to me. I knew that there was royalty in my family line. But THEN! Look at what I found! I will let the pictures do the talking. It is amazing to see who I found in my family line (sorry the pictures are so small. Just click on them, and they will enlarge so you can see).

Yes, that is Caesar Augustus, the Emporer of Rome

Joseph - Father of Jesus

And lastly!

Mary, the mother of Christ

You can imagine the surprise that I had. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I am related to Mary, the mother of Christ and Joseph, his earthly father. They are in my family line. What a shock this was. I still can't get over it.

24

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, my husband turned the big 2-4 this weekend! And boy, did we splurge on some good partying.

Since his birthday was on Sunday, we went out and celebrated the day before. On Saturday night we started the evening with a nice game of bowling. I always knew that Lewis has liked to bowl (especially since he was on the bowling team in high school) and thought it would be a fun activity to enjoy together. Plus, if we went before 6, we had a free game for each of us. Hooray for only paying for shoes! I started off the game pretty well, if I do say so myself, but then got progressively worse as the frames past. Lewis, however, showed me how it was done.

After bowling, we made our way over to P.F. Changs for some delicious Chinese food, American style. Thanks to the doctor he works with at his work, we had a $20 gift card and were able to spend a little more from our personal bank account. And the food was wonderful. Soup. Lettuce warps. Honey chicken. Mongolian beef. Rice (and the refills). And dessert.

And I ate until my heart was content. And even kept eating when Lewis was finished. And I was still hungry when I was done. Thank you, baby G.

After dinner, we went shopping at the mall to buy Lewis his birthday present. He has been wanting new cologne for a while now, and has been very good at not purchasing anything, because I gave a very strict order not to buy any wants until after all the holidays (Valentine's day included). So he has never been in to get himself some more. Saturday night, he was a very happy camper. He kept trying to decide between three that we liked, based on which would give him the most cologne for his money. I was telling him just to get something that he really wanted, and not to worry about the price like I always do. That was my job.

So he picked one he really liked and we went to buy it. Before we purchased it he wanted "one last smell" of the one he really wanted (more than the one he really liked). When he got that one last smell, he gave in and went for the smaller bottle that was about the same price. But he left happier than I'd seen him when it comes to cologne.

On Sunday, we celebrated the real birthday! I got up early and started making dinner (church is at a really awful time to prepare anything for dinner - always have to do it before). I tried to keep dinner a surprise, but he found the shrimp in the fridge and immediately knew. So before church I made the marinade for the shrimp, baked the potatoes for the twice baked potato casserole, and made the graham cracker crust for the double layer pumpkin cheesecake.

After church, we marinated the shrimp for about an hour, baked the cheesecake, cooked the potato casserole, chopped the pineapple (for the cinnamon-grilled pineapple) and then sauteed the shrimp. Unfortunately, I knew I didn't like any of the meal (except the potatoes) but Lewis ate almost everything, so I'm assuming that it was good.

Like I said, when it comes to holidays (birthdays included) I go all out. I like to celebrate. And celebrate we did. I am so lucky to have a husband as wonderful as Lewis. He makes me stronger, better where I'm lacking, and calm where I'm normally always stressed. I am excited to be able to bring a baby into this world with him and watch him be a father to the little baby that he already loves so much. He is one of the most selfless people I've ever met, and is always looking to make people happy. Lewis, I love you! Here's to many more birthdays between the two of us.

12 days of Christmas

This year for Christmas, I wanted to do something nice for Lewis. I just love holidays and tend to go a little crazy when it comes to how I celebrate. This year, I did the 12 days of Christmas for Lewis. We started a few days before Christmas, and he was able to open one gift a day. I put the gift for each day in a manila envelope with a printout that went along with the song.

Here's what the 12 days included:

1) one pumpkin pie
2) breakfast for 2 at awful waffle (cheap groupon - couldn't pass it up!)
3) a trip to the Utah car show (for the 3rd year in a row)
4) date for 4 to see The Hunger Games in March
5) 5 packs of "5" gum
6)a $6 pizza from dominoes (his favorite)
7) a 70% off massage
8) 8 layered jello
9) I can't remember what I did for day 9, but I promise it was good
10) trip for a pedicure (for 10 toes)
11) a trip to 7-11 for hot chocolate
12) 12 cans of coke zero

a new year

As 2011 has come to a close, I'm sure most of us have been looking back on the events of this year and the things we have gone through, as well as the goals that we set when last January rolled around. Lewis and I were blessed to have had a marvelous and fun-filled (and trial filled) 2011. So many memories make up this past year. Here's a taste of a few:

~ went to Texas in April for Addeline's baby blessing in April

~ Kara got a fulltime job as the office manager for Help International in April

~ watched the Mavs win the NBA playoffs in June

~ Lewis started a new job as an MA at a dermatology clinic in June

~ traveled to Moab to celebrate our one year anniversary in July

~ Lewis got scuba certified in August, joining Kara in the ranks

~ Lewis studied for and took the GRE in August

~ Kara graduated from college in August

~ went to Europe with my family, stopping in Italy, France, Spain and Monaco in August

~ found out we were pregnant in October

~ flew to Texas to watch BYU play TCU in October

~ went to Park City for Thanksgiving in November

~ celebrated Christmas in Texas in December

2011 was filled with wonderful memories and this year in 2012, we have a lot to look foward to, as well. In 2012, we will:

~ welcome home my brother from his mission in March

~ bring home a baby in June

~ apply for graduate schools in October

~ celebrate as Lewis graduates from college in December
and

~ find out where we'll be spending the next two years of our lives!

2012 seems like a promising year. Can't wait for more memories!