Christmas Around Arizona

We spent our Christmas week in multiple places this year. Flagstaff, Show Low, and Mesa. We hung out in Flagstaff until Wednesday the 23rd and we left to go to Show Low after I got off work. We stayed at my mom's house so that we could be there the next morning for the festivities on Christmas Eve. The main events were that my brother Tyler was calling home from Spain where he is serving his mission right now. It was so great to get to talk to him. He sounds so much more different but is still his good old self. After we talked to him, the whole family, other than my mom and me and my sister, went up to Sunrise Ski Resort and went skiing for the whole day. Nate was so excited to go. He hasn't been since high school.

They came back and had an awesome time, and were really sore and tired. While they were gone I went and did some last minute Christmas shopping. It was crazy and being on my feet for 3 hours was probably not the best idea. I got everything done though and went back home and just relaxed. It was a really good Christmas Eve.
On Christmas morning we got to sleep in a little bit and then we got up and opened presents. It was fun to be with the little kids who get all the cool toys and just to be with all of the family in general. After presents, we got things ready so that we could eat our dinner. We had just the family and my grandparents and another couple that my parents knew come over and had a total of 15 people there. It was really good. After dinner, Nate and I headed into Show Low and visited his family and some of our friends. We were out for a while and didn't get home til late, but we love going and visiting everyone there.
The next morning, we got up and headed for the valley. We saw my grandparents some more and then Nate got in touch with one of his old mission companions who we went and met with for dinner. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them together, but we just had a fun dinner. It's always fun to see people Nate knew before I met him and hear their stories.
After dinner, we went to see my family from Colorado! My dad used his time share at a golf resort in Mesa for their Christmas vacation. We went and played the Wii with them that night. It was already a little late when we got there so we didn't stay for very long, but we haven't seen them in so long that it was so awesome. On Sunday, we went to church and then we met up with my Dad again after church. We went to my sister's condo and had dinner with them. We played more games and went on a walk together and just spent time together. We had such a good time seeing them but of course all things end eventually. We had to drive back to Flagstaff so I could be at work the next day so we said our goodbyes and got on the road. We did a little detour on the way out and stopped at the Christmas lights at the temple. I use to love doing that as a kid and it's always so beautiful.It was a great holiday and I couldn't help but keep thinking that this is our last Christmas together as just us for a very long time since next year we will have a baby with us.

Slacking again...

Sorry I have been such a slacker at my blog lately. There really hasn't been too many exciting things going on with us. Nate is done with finals except for a playing final he has to do when school starts up again because it got canceled due to the snow storm. He decided to pick up extra hours at his job on campus so that will help us out a lot and I am so proud of him. He is such a good hard worker and I love him so much. I am keeping busy at work and just waiting for the baby to come. We are excited to be able to go see our family next week and hang out with everyone for Christmas! Other than that, we haven't been up to too much.

32 weeks

Well, I have now hit 32 weeks. I only have 8 weeks left until my due date. He could come earlier. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and everything was measuring good so far. His heartbeat was still really strong too and his movements inside of me are definitely stronger. He can't seem to sleep or keep still for very long now. I did have to schedule another ultrasound for next week though. In my first ultrasound they found some scar tissue in my uterus (i think) and want to check it to make sure it didn't grow or see if it got pushed out of the way. If it is worse, it will determine whether I have to have a c-section or not. Keep your fingers crossed for me that all will go well. I can tell I have been starting to drop a little in the front and I am starting to notice some Braxton Hicks contractions every once in a while. I am just getting excited for him to come. I am wanting to get all of his things ready so that no matter what and when, things will be ready for him when he comes home.

Big Snow Storm

On the first weekend of the month, we had a huge snow storm hit Flagstaff. School was canceled for two days and I got to leave work early one day and have one day off. That part was nice. We probably got around 2 1/2 feet of snow! Crazy! Nate decided to make the best of it though. He and two of his friends, went out in the middle of the storm and made a little fort. It was way cute. Thanks to my friend, here is a picture of them right after it was built.

They were very proud of it. I wasn't there to be able to see the finished product, so Nate took me back later and I got a picture with just him. We decided we didn't want to go out in the snow, we just took the picture from far away. The fort stayed up for a while and then we drove by one day and saw that someone had kicked it down. Oh well, it served it's purpose.
As for another story, the storm was really crazy that night. There was lots of wind and Nate and I were sitting at home and we heard a little bang like something had dropped, but we just thought it was the people above us dropping stuff so we continued on with watching our show. A few minutes later we get a knock on our door and our friends came by to tell us that a huge brand snapped off the big oak tree that was right in front of our apartment. It fell right in the walkway and thank goodness nobody was there because it probably would have killed someone. So Nate called it in to see if someone could come move it and as he was talking to them, the other biggest branch on the tree snapped off. It landed practically right in front of our door and covered up the walkway and the stairway that went to the apartments above us. The crazy thing was we were standing right there like 5 minutes ago, so we were glad nobody was there again. There was one more branch that looked like it might fall but it never did. The next morning they came and got the tree cut down and taken care of. We were scared though because of how close it was to our apartment. Crazy night. But Nate had fun and was really excited about the snow.

Birthdays

Nate and I both celebrated our birthdays this month.

Mine- I got up and got ready to go to work that morning and Nate was all ready to make me breakfast and everything, but there just wasn't time. As I was leaving to go to work, I started feeling a pain figured it would go away when I got to work. It only got worse. I couldn't even sit in my chair anymore and it hurt to stand a little bit. I get my baby appointments done at the clinic where I work, so I went downstairs and they got me in to get checked. They wanted to make sure I wasn't going into early labor, so I was hooked up to a machine for a while to see if I was contracting, which I wasn't. It turns out I had a bladder infection. They sent me home and told me to rest just to be sure that's all that it was. So I stayed in bed all day and luckily Nate didn't have very many classes going on that day and was able to be there to help me with anything. He was really sweet. I couldn't go anywhere to eat, so we ordered Outback Steakhouse to go and Nate went and got it and brought it home for us to eat. It was a nice relaxing birthday to say the least, minus the pain I was having. For my presents, I asked Nate if I could just have some money to buy some Christmas decorations, because I don't really have anything good and we bought a bigger tree this year so I need more ornaments. I also got my picture frame from black friday. I can't believe I am 22 now. crazy!

Nate's - Nate's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year. He got to call the shots for most of the day which was fine with me. He asked to go to the Grand Canyon, which we did, and he was able to sleep in. He was a little sick too with some chest pains, but thankfully the medicine that he got made him alot better so he could do what he wanted on his birthday. I got him an ipod that he has been wanting for pretty much the whole time we have been married and then we found these baby onsies online that he wanted to get for Kayton. I surprised him by getting the baby onesie and then I got a matching t-shirt for him to wear so they had a father son outfit now. I don't have a picture of it right now, but it's blue and has a red box on it with some caution tape that says "I'm the tuba player your mother warned you about". He picked it out and I just ordered it. He loved it. Happy birthday honey!

Our nontraditional Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was very nontraditional for us. We got up and got ready for the day and then we actually went out to eat for our Thanksgiving dinner. We had tried to plan dinner with some friends around here but plans kept changing, so we just decided to go out to eat instead of buying all the food and making a whole meal for just the two of us. So, we found a place on campus that took our meal plan money and got all dressed up and went there. They had a brunch buffet and it was so good. I especially like that with the cost of your meal, you also got a free 5x7 photo with the photographer that they had there. I am excited to get that. It was the first time that we had both not eaten Thanksgiving dinner at home, but we were ok with that this one time. Next year we will make sure that we do things proper with the baby.

After dinner, Nate wanted to go to the Grand Canyon for his birthday activity. We are only like an hour and fifteen minutes away, so we got in the car and went. It was nice to have that alone time together and everything was gorgeous when we got there. We had alot of fun but couldn't stay for very long because it was really cold and windy and starting to get dark.

When we got back, we went and hung out with our friends Zack and Kelly and watched GI Joe with them and then just stayed up late talking. We had also planned on going to do a little black friday shopping in the morning. Nate, the wonderful husband that he is, knew that I was exhausted and needed to sleep because I had to work that friday, so he went to Wal-mart and toughed out the crowds for me. We really wanted the game rock band, but that was out by the time he got there, so he got me a collage picture frame that I wanted and then saw this amazing deal on winter coats that we were both in desperate need of and got one for each of us. I was so grateful he did that and told him that he never has to do black friday shopping ever again, unless he wants to.

We enjoyed our thanksgiving, but did miss being able to be with all of our family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ugly Sweater Party

For Nate's RA job a couple weeks ago, there was a Christmas party for all the RA's on campus. The theme was to wear an ugly sweater so we were off to the thrift store and got some sweaters that weren't too bad if I do say so myself. There wasn't much that happened at the party except there was a gift exchange between all the different halls. Funny story, all the RA's at family housing had no idea they had to give a gift to someone, so when it was their turn, they gave the other group hugs. Very original. They got a box of movies that had something to do with a family member like Sister Act for sister, Stepmom for stepmom, and a few other ones. It was alot of fun. Nate and Joel and Daniel and another guy even got together to pass time and make the party more interesting and did a few barbershop quartet songs together. They sounded really good. I was impressed. Sorry the pictures are so dark.

Campus Heights baby shower

Some of my awesome friends from around here decided to throw a triple baby shower for me and two other girls that live here or did live here who are pregnant. They did such an amazing job and we had so much fun. It was fun to play the game of melt the chocolate in the diaper and guess which candy bar was which. I have never played that game before and it really is disgusting. They decorated everything so cute and just worked really hard and we appreciated it. Thanks Brit, Kimbi, Mary and Jaynah!

Nate's concert

Nate had what we think will be his final band concert at NAU on the 23rd. He was excited for it to be over and I am very proud of him for sticking it out all semester. He shouldn't be required to be in any more playing classes or have to take anymore private lessons after this semester which will be really nice and then he can have more time for the regular classes he needs to take. Good job honey!

26 weeks

Here I am with almost exactly 3 months left until my due date. It's crazy how fast time has gone by and how much more we still have to do. I am not sick anymore which is fabulous, but I can definitely feel the weight gain. I am starting to get uncomfortable sitting for so long, but I know that it is just going to get worse from here. We are so excited though. I can't contain myself.

As for a quick little update, you can see in the picture that I don't have my glasses anymore. It was time for my yearly appointment and I just decided I wanted to go back to contacts again. YAY! I love them, but I still have my glasses for back up which is nice. This week also hasn't been the best for Nate. He got sick with what we think was the Swine flu. We never took him in to get tested, but we are pretty sure that is what he had. He started feeling bad on Saturday and was confined to only the living room and the bathroom for most of the week. He slept out there and I was able to be in the bedrooms without worrying too much about getting sick. Thankfully , I never got sick and Nate will be going back to school tomorrow. It was a great blessing.

I have been super busy at work this week because the girl who was doing Accounts Payable at work, was called out on bed rest for her pregnancy, so I have been filling in and the new girl is starting tomorrow. It will be a big stress relief taken off of me and I hope it all works out well. That has basically been our lives for the last week.

Halloween Time

For Halloween this year, I got to dress up twice. Once was for my work party and the other was for a party my friend and I threw for all of our friends. I didn't get pictures of either, but for work, I was a pregnant cowgirl/hillbilly person and then for our party, It was suppose to be a couples type theme, but sadly, Nate got sick so at last minute (poor guy) so I had to come up with a different costume that wouldn't require my other half and I went as a band geeks wife and wore his band stuff from EAC. Everyone else at the party dressed up so cute. Here is everyone.
Sheriff and her prisoner (Jared and Janina)
Bert, Ernie and rubber ducky (Mike, Mary, and Jack)Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Robbie and Britnee)
Toast and Fried egg (Amber and Joe)
Captain Kirk, Hines Ward Steelers fan, Pirate Girl (Pat, Kimbi, Riley)The Milkman and pregnant woman (Zack and Kelly)Adam came stag as well with a mask on. I don't know what his character was
Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell (Brad, Jaynah, and Addie

We had alot of fun just hanging out and visiting with everyone. There were two more couples there that I never got to meet or take pictures of, but we had a great party. Thanks so much Jaynah for letting us use your house!
Happy Halloween!

The First Snow

I am not going to lie, I am not a big fan of the snow coming down. I love snow itself, I just don't like the coldness and the ice and everything else that comes with it. We had our first snow the other day and Nate was so excited for it. We didn't get very much, but it still made me sad to know that it was coming.

More baby stuff

I have been a bad expecting mother. I can't seem to control myself from buying some things. This week, I picked out some bedding for the crib. It was just too good of a deal to pass up. It got here yesterday, so I wanted to show it off.
I also found a diaper bag that both Nate and I agree on from JcPenney's and it's got a big bag, a little bag, and two diaper changing pads and a wipe holder. It's huge and I'm so excited to use it.
We already have so much stuff just because of people already freely giving us stuff. We are going to have to do some serious rearranging in the next few months or else all the stuff we will need to use will not fit in our apartment. We have about half of it in our storage unit already so that it's not in our way until the baby comes. It's going to be crazy, but we are so excited!!