This week's events

-Having my whole apartment clean for the first time since we moved in (there was always one dirty room)
-Remembering Brother's birthday, which I always forget. Happy birthday, Brother!
-Buying tons of pastries because they were half off last night, and I can't pass up a good deal (mom would have been proud)
-Eating them all
-Getting two coupons just beacuse the student manager is afraid of me, and I made him feel bad about making me come in to work early
-Having a freakishly lumpy belly because Sad Eyes likes to put herself in weird positions
-Finishing a few sewing projects
-Trying to replace a zipper on a dress, and realizing that the dress is now way too small for me
-Getting our crib sheets delievered, but no crib
-Brandon finishing our picture
-Packing to go to California with the Harpdogs tomorrow; there will be a pool at our condo so I am excited

This weekend's new thing

Today Brandon and I decided to splurge and we went shopping for a rocker for the baby's room. First we went to Babies r Us, and the only fully upholstered rockers were $400. Even the cheaper wooden ones that just have cushions on them were $250 and up. So we went to a furniture store to see if they were any cheaper there. One store was having a big clearance sale and we found this nice, comfortable, leather rocker/recliner for $199. I looked at Brandon and said "I want it" and it was sold. Also, I promise my belly is bigger than it looks in this picture. And I think I need to get my hair cut again soon.

All done!

I took all of my spring term finals today, which means all I have left of school is a 1-credit class in the fall, then I graduate. I am so happy about that! Now I can just sit back, relax, and have a baby. Because after the baby comes, there will be no more relaxing. Ever.

Today we went and got fabric for the baby's room. We tried to do that on Monday, but when I found out that the fabric I wanted cost too much, I started crying and we had to leave. That is how hormonal I am these days. Believe me, it's not fun.

We are bold

Well, at least when it comes to colors. Here are some of the projects we have been working on the last few weeks. The headboard is the one that I found in our dumpster and cleaned up. When I found it, it was silver and had a missing knob on the corner. So we sprayed it bronze and replaced the knob with a curtain rod knob. The dresser was this weekend's project. It is a hand-me-down from Brandon's family and it used to have mismatched handles and ugly milky white stain. On the other hand, it is a really good dresser since it has solid wood construction and dovetail joints. So we sprayed the handles bronze to match our bed and painted it LIME green. You can't tell from this picture, but there is a little bit of lime green on our comforter, so that's where the weird color comes from. Anyways, we really like it and I am excited to get started on decorating the baby's room. The baby has been busy lately with kicking Brandon in the face and making me eat weird things. She is a little hyperactive, but at least she will be athletic.

The rocks

About a year ago, I was in a geology class and my professor used to bring rock samples to class. It always amazed me that every time we talked about a certain rock, he could magically pull out 5 different samples of the rock. It made me wonder how he did it. Do all geologists have magic rock collections that they can pull out of nowhere?

Then Brandon became a geology major. Now every time we go hiking, our rock collection increases by 15 lbs. It started taking over our apartment so we bought Brandon a 6-foot tall shelf just for his rocks. He has already filled half of it. He spent last night dilligently washing his rocks and scrubbing them with a toothbrush so that they will look pretty for the shelf. It was very cute. He could easily teach a college course with the samples that he has, not to mention the 500+ pictures he took of things like convolute bedding and cross stratification. Now I know that geologists aren't magic; they're just nerds. And I am SO glad he is majoring in something he loves so much. Maybe someday he will love me as much as he loves his rocks. (just kidding)

the ultimate burgers... yum

Lately the baby has been making me crave spicy things even more than I already do.

Today I was wanting burgers and fries, and I made some that were awesome! I was so proud of them that I had to take a picture. Mine had bacon, pepper jack cheese, grilled onions and a grilled serrano pepper. I think I should have added 3 more serrano peppers but it was still good. So here are my pretty little creations (Brandon did make the buns, so it wasn't all me).

Birthday shopping

Of course, I couldn't go without showing off what Brandon got me for my birthday. He got me these shoes (yes, they are zebra-striped AND shiny) and the toenail polish that I am wearing. When I got them, I said, "Great! I have been worried about looking too mature lately." Being pregnant was beginning to make me feel old. These will definitely reverse that, along with realizing that I am only 21. We also got more plants to put in our little garden. Now we have basil, thyme, serrano pepper, tomato (growing out of the fish's mouth), and jalapeno. Brandon made the fish pot in our ceramics class.

He even took me to get some body spray, but they were out of the kind that I liked. Oh well. I still love my birthday presents!

A little birthday miracle

I had a great birthday yesterday. Brandon posted about everything we did, so I won't repeat anything. But he did leave out one part. After we had dinner at Tucanos, we came home and found a dryer sitting out by the dumpster. Well, in 2 weeks, we are moving into an apartment with washer/dryer hookups and we already have a washer from Brandon's parents. All we needed was a dryer, and we were going to buy one on Monday. As I was calling my friend to help us move it, the owner of the mysterious dryer drove by and informed me that it worked very well but they had just gotten a new one, so it was up for grabs. So I sat on it and Brandon rode in circles on my bike for about 30 minutes until our friend got here and helped Brandon carry it into our kitchen. While sitting by a dumpster on a dryer wasn't what I had in mind for finishing my birthday, I am very glad that we found it. And now Brandon and I will have a dryer to make our kids sit on when they get in trouble. Thanks, mommy, for staying for my birthday and making it awesome. And thanks, Brandon, for sharing me with her.

More naming fun

By now, everyone knows about the joke that Bethany played on me with my baby name. That episode reminded me of another naming joke she played on me years ago.

I was 12, and I had just gotten a new rabbit. Bethany thought it would be really funny to convince me to name him Herpes. I fell for it.

Unfortunately, Ashley gave it away by giggling and saying, "When I have a rabbit, I'm going to name it HIV-Positive." I DID know what HIV was. After that I figured out that Herpes was an STD, but not until after I had been calling him Herpes for at least a week.

It's a girl!

And she is beautiful. I saw her little face, hands, feet, and her four-chambered heart. So, everything is there, except for a penis. She is a little small for her age, but I kind of expected Brandon and I to produce a very small child. She moves a lot and she yawned at us. I couldn't tell if she has sad eyes yet. Anyways, we are so excited!!!

Also: Yes, we have a name picked out. No, we aren't telling anyone what it is. So don't ask.

Our eventful weekend

Actually, our weekend started out being pretty uneventful. But on Saturday, Brandon had a filling fall out, so we had to make an emergency trip to Idaho to get that fixed (his uncle is a dentist). We got to Idaho at around 1 AM that night. Mother's day was fun-- Brandon and Mia brought me breakfast in bed and I got a tomato plant at church (they were giving out plants to all the women for mother's day). After church I asked all the little Harpdogs what kind of baby they thought I was going to have. I got the best response from Cameron-- "If he's a girl, then he won't be very fun." We shall see. I called Mom the Bomb and we planned out what we are doing this week when she is here. That night, we drove home and now I am just getting ready for Mom to come. This weekend will be even more fun!

So excited

I am very excited about this week. Mom the bomb is coming to Utah and we are going to party. In fact, I have been telling everyone that I work with how excited I am to see her every day. Sometimes I even start jumping up and down because I am so excited. On Thursday, we are going to my doctor to find out if I'm having a boy or a girl (please vote on what you think it will be on the side). Mom will even be here for my birthday! I think it is going to be a great two weeks.

Dear Bethy,

Here is the room I would like to stay in.

Beds with just a headboard always look comfortable, and they are cheaper than the headboard/footboard set. This one is courtesy of Pottery Barn. The seagrass gives it a good texture. If you want a footboard alternative then you can put a bench on the end.

I like this comforter from Target. It is a fun color but not too bright and it compliments the brown really well. I wouldn't go with the matching sheet set, though. Too geometric. I would stick with solids.

If you are looking for accessories, lamps are an easy way to go, especially in a fun color like this one from Pier 1.I would end with sheer drapes (floor-length), because I like how much light they let in.

If you are painting, I have ideas for that too.

Of course, these are just suggestions.

And we're back

So we did it. Brandon and I went camping for 5 days in southern Utah and Colorado. It was fun, but there were definitely points where I wondered what I was thinking when I agreed to spending 5 days outdoors when I'm 4 months pregnant. Oh well, we got through it and it was definitely worth it. Here are some pictures: Bryce Canyon hoodoos. This was the prettiest place we went to, but it was in the 40s for alot of our visit, and I was pretty grumpy.

Okachomo bridge, in Bridges National Monument.

Brandon, cooking dinner over the fire. We camped in La Sal National Forest, and it got into the 20s that night. Again, I was very grumpy.

Canyonlands National Park. This was at the end of our 6-mile hike. I was pretty tired. And this was a waterfall that we found near our campsite in Canyonlands.

Other highlights included:

Almost crying because we had to drive down a really scary cliff (seriously, I was freaked out)

Realizing that Moab is a horrible place to camp because it is crowded and they charge alot for sites

Being kept up all night by a crying toddler in the site next to us

Learning that a 4-year-old girl CAN go down ladders and walk along cliffs as long as she is on a leash

Learning that ooid, loes, and facie really are words

Having so many mood swings that Brandon didn't know what to do with me

Running out of a slot canyon because we were afraid of a flash flood

And many, many more stories.

Yay, spring

Spring is finally here. I am done with all of my finals but one and the weather is nice. Yesterday Brandon and I went hiking and I realized that I will have lots of things to do when I'm not in school. I'm excited about everything I will get to do this summer. I need to:

Learn how to sew
Learn how to take good pictures
Learn how to use photoshop well
Plant tomatoes and maybe a few other things
Move into our new, TWO bedroom apartment
Figure out how to decorate baby's room using only gender-neutral colors
Find a place to keep Brandon's rock collection (it gets 10 lbs bigger every time we go hiking)
Learn how to cook
And lots of other things.

As for this week, Brandon and I are taking advantage of the break to go on a road trip. We will hit Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Escalante, and either Capitol Reef or Bryce Canyon. It will be fun, and there will be rocks. Lots of rocks.

Ridiculous

Normally, I'm not a Utah-hater like the rest of my family. There are several things I like about it. I like the mountains, the national parks, getting free food from Grandma, and the ice cream. But waking up to this in the middle of April really makes me want to kick Utah in the face and run back to Texas. I think I will spend the rest of my day shopping for plane tickets.

Our little Easter

I was very excited for Easter this year because it is the first holiday that Brandon and I have been able to celebrate all by ourselves. In the morning we looked for Easter baskets. I must say, I was impressed with what Brandon got me. I tried to pick something out of it to eat and I just didn't know where to start. It all looked so good. After church I started making dinner and put the ham in the oven. To my surprise, Brandon started throwing things together and made a glaze. It made the ham DELICIOUS. I never knew I could like ham so much. I was impressed again. So here is a picture of our baskets: Yesterday I had to walk around with my pants unbuttoned all day because my belly is starting to stick out. So that I don't flash people, today I got a belly band to cover it up. I don't know whether to blame this on the baby or on Brandon and his delicious Easter goodies. Actually, it's probably my fault for wearing super tight jeans. Anyways, Fernash has been asking for a picture so here's one, belly band and all. It doesn't look like much yet.


Brandon went on a field trip on Saturday. When he got back, I found this scandalous picture on the camera: I asked him about it and his response was: I had to put something in there for scale.

I didn't ask who brought their barbie doll on the trip.

Good old Daily Universe

Last week, BYU's trusty newspaper "the Daily Universe" had a typo. It was the issue that covers General Conference, but on the front page, instead of saying something about the LDS church's quorum of the twelve apostles, it called them the quorum of the twelve apostates. It was obviously a mistake, and I thought it was pretty funny.

Apparently, though, the DU did not have a sense of humor about it. As soon as they found out, every single newspaper bin was cleaned out and replaced with a sign that said "paper recalled because of a printing error." I was surprised that no one followed me home to steal and burn the copy that I had from that morning. I was expecting an apology to be issued in the next day's paper, but there was none to be found. I also expected there to be a few Readers Forum letters about the typo the next day, but they didn't publish any of those, either. They sure tried to destroy the evidence.

I did hear, though, that the typo made the evening news in Salt Lake. So much for covering your tracks, DU. I think an apology would have been more effective.

Bouquet

If anyone was wondering what the flowers on my blog are from, that is the bouquet that I made for my bridals on Tuesday. I was so excited to find roses in my colors, then I almost peed my pants when I found ranunculuses, too. I was very proud of this bouquet.




So I had a fun little romp in my wedding dress, but I decided that's the last time I am going to put it on. It is getting pretty tight. At least the pictures turned out well, and Brandon had a fun time staring at me for two hours.

Dear Bexar,

I nominate you for Best Blog award. Not only did you title your post about having another baby "Oops, I did it again," but you topped it off by telling everyone that we are trying to populate the world all by ourselves and that's just how we roll. I laughed out loud. Keep up the good work.

Love, Shady