Pumpkin Carving

So last year Joseph and I started a tradition of carving our own pumpkins for Halloween, something I had never really did growing up. It was so much fun last year and this year was just as fun!!!

Here's what we ended up doing with our pumpkins this year. Niether of us really did a traditional carving of a jack-o-lantern. Joseph's is a little more scary with its sharp teeth. He tried shaving the pumpkin with different carving tools this year, and I think it turned out pretty cool looking.

I wanted to have fun with my pumpkin this year and decided to carve it to look like Jack Skeleton from The Nightmare Before Christmas...I think it turned out pretty good. I wish I had bought a white pumpkin, that would have made it look more accurate, but oh well.

We now have them sitting outside our apartment door guarding us from all the ghouls and ghosts of Halloween :)

22 years and waiting for Thanksgiving

So...it's been like an entire month since I last blogged something...I am sooo terrible at keeping up on this!!!!

About 2 weeks ago I turned 22...that's probably the most exciting thing that's happened in the past month. I still don't feel like I'm 22, but oh well. For my birthday, Joseph and I spent the whole day together...which was the awesomest gift in the world. He had slaved away the days before to make sure that he didn't have any homework that would get in the way and spoil my day...isn't he just the sweetest.We played a little bit of video games...my request, not his...it was a go-kart racing game, the only video game I even know how to remotely play well. Then he took me shopping at DI...I wanted to see if I could dig up any good deals on just about anything. I didn't find any cute clothes for me, mostly because nothing really fits me any more these days, but I did score on some cute onsies and a sleeper for Ethan!!! I love buying baby clothes, it's like an addiction. After DI, we went and had lunch at Subway...got to love me a $5 foot long!!! It was pretty much scrumptious. We also went bowling with some awesome friends from our ward. It was pretty fun, although I have to say that bowling with a big prego belly is not the easiest thing to do, but it was still super fun. We then went to the temple, which was great. I always love going there, it's such a happy peaceful place. To end the day, we went to Cold Stone Creamery for some pretty divine ice cream...I had strawberry with a bunch of other goodness mixed into it...pretty sure it satisfied the craving that I've had for strawberry ice cream since like week 10ish of my pregnancy!!!! Overall it was a really great birthday, and I have my sweetie to thank for making it such!!!!
Well, not much else has actually happened in the last month. Joseph is still going to school and working and studying all day long, every day. I am just chilling and waiting for my little boy to get here. We have 4 1/2 weeks until his due date!!!! Can you believe it?!?!?!? I keep asking myself where all the time has gone, it seems like just the other day that we found out that we were pregnant, and now he can come any day!!!
I am very much excited for Ethan to come. We've got his corner of our room all set up with his crib (graciously given to us by my parents...thank goodness for hand-me-downs) and a rocker (also handed down from my parents). I washed all of his little, tiny clothes and am now just anxiously waiting for the day that I can dress him up in all his cute outfits...he's going to be one good looking little guy!!!
I'm also way excited for my mom to come out and visit me!!! She's the most awesome mom in the world!! She's planning on driving down from Seattle and spending a couple weeks with us right after we have Ethan. I am way excited to actually have someone to talk to during the day and do things with while Joseph is gone away at school and work!! Like I said, I love my mom!!!
Then, it gets even better...Dad is bringing Faith and Jed down with him for Thanksgiving weekend, and we're going to have our traditional huge Thanksgiving feast at our place!!! I love food!!!! Ethan's due the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping he comes a little bit before, that way I can actually enjoy all the deliciousness that comes with the holiday.
Needless to say, not much has happened in the last month, but a lot is about to happen in the coming month...and I say, "Bring it on!!!!!"

Found...Engagment Pictures!!!!!

As I was cleaning through some of our random stuff the other day I found a CD full of our engagement pictures!! I was so excited to find them and to relive all the fun we had while we were taking them.


My wonderful little brother, Sam, was ever so kind to be the one who took the pictures. He got a ton of different pictures, so that gave us plenty to choose from when it came to printing them. A huge thank you goes out to Sam for being super great about the whole thing and helping us out!!!

Joseph and I both wanted out-doorsy pictures, with all the trees and the prettiness that nature has to offer, so we decided to take our pictures at the Eau Claire Dells. It was such a perfect kind of day. The sun was shinning, and it wasn't too hot. I feel that everything turned out beautifully for our pictures!!!

So here are some of our more favorites. The one below is my absolute favorite!!! It's super cute, and Sam took it without us even knowing...we were just talking about what kind of pose we wanted to do...and bam...Sam snaps this one!!!

And this next one is Joseph's favorite!!! Neither one of us are super big fans of having to pose for pictures, so I am pretty pleased with how everything turned out and that we actually got some ones that we really liked!!


Oh and here are a couple of fun ones...Joseph just was so excited to be with me that he couldn't help himself!!!

 



Finding these pictures was super fun!!! I am so glad that I did, because the two of use were able to take a walk down memory lane and remember some of those days before we were married.

Coming Soon to a Family Near You...

I figured it was time for me to make a post about our little darling baby that is headed its way within the next 10ish weeks or so...

In late March we found out that we were going to be parents. I was way super excited about the news, and Joseph was too, but he was also kinda nervous about becoming a parent. Understandable...taking on complete responsibility of another human being is a lot to think about and try to digest...thankfully we get 9 months to fret and plan and prep for it :)

We went in for our first appointment in mid April, when I was 9 weeks along. I decided to go with the midwives that are here in town. I wanted a bit more freedom when it came to wanting a more natural birth, and to be completely honest, I wanted to see a female doctor.
The midwives are great by the way, and I feel like I am getting great, personal service with each of my appointments. Anyway, with the visit, we got to see out little baby for the first time and we got to hear his heartbeat.
We also got a huge surprise, was that there were actually two tiny embryos nestled inside my uterus!!! Sadly, only the one had a heart beat and the other was considered a non-viable twin, and I was told that it would dissolve and vanish within a few weeks. I have always wanted twins, so it was sad to have been so close to it. I had my tears, but in the end Joseph and I are grateful that we have the one healthy baby still.

Here are just a couple of the ultrasound pictures that we got with that visit. One is a back view of him, I believe, and the other is a side view of the little guy...I love how you can see his itsy, bitsy foot and hand!!!!

Because of the 'vanishing twin' I needed to go back in for another check up earlier than I normally would. The midwife just wanted to check to see how it was dissolving and how well the other was developing. So here is the ultrasound that we got from that visit. This was at 10 1/2 weeks. I couldn't believe how much he had already grown. In the picture you can see the umbilical cord already up near the top.

I had several other visits, ones that didn't include ultrasounds, sadly :(  Everything continued to go great, and our little guy just kept growing. Joseph and I were just waiting anxiously for the appointment that would tell us what gender our baby was going to be. Both of my parents, and several others thought it was going to be a girl, mostly because the baby was charting higher heartbeats, which apparently is more common for a girl. Joseph and I were happy with whatever, this being our first child and all that, it really didn't matter much to us. I had asked Joseph several times which one he really wanted, and he would always respond the same way, "A girl would be cute, but a boy would be fun."

After so much waiting, the 20 week appointment approached, and we waited anxiously for the news. Here was the magic shot that we were waiting for!!!! IT'S A BOY!!!!!! Way super excited about our little bundle of boy that we are going to be getting!!!!

Along with finding the gender of the baby, the midwife took a million and a half measurements to make sure he was developing on track, and then printed us a ton of the ultrasound shots that she took. Here are some of our favorites. There is a really good profile of his face and upper body...Joseph swears he has my nose...and then there is a frontal view of his face...love the hand up under his chin in the "Thinker" pose!!! We also got a good side shot of his arm and leg, and I love how his leg is all bent and ready to kick...and believe me he does!!! And then, one of my more favorites, the one of his little foot...just so precious!!

We decided on the name Ethan Ervin for our little boy. Ervin is Joseph's Grandpa Huckbody's name, and so we thought it would be nice to use it, and Ethan is just a personal favorite of mine. It was pretty fun to call the parents and siblings and tell them the great news of our little boy. I also am just way happy that I can say he and him and use his name instead of always having to say baby or it.

Since that appointment I have had a couple other visits just to check the heartbeat and make sure that everything is growing properly. My last visit was my glucose test visit. An hour before the appointment I had to drink this nasty tasting glucose stuff and then they took my blood at the appointment. This is done to test for gestational diabetes. Turns out that I don't have to work about that since the numbers were right where they should be, and they also said that I wasn't anemic, so that was good to find out. So far we haven't gotten any more ultrasound pictures since the 20 week appointment, but more should be coming soon...at least I hope so.

With just 10 weeks left now I can't believe how fast the last 30 have flown by. Every week seems like a new adventure with new aches and pains and fatigue like nothing else. Right now Ethan has turned so he is head down so he is putting a little bit of pressure on my lower back which makes it ache most days, but it's survivable. And then there is the fact that my bladder doesn't hold as much as it used to, so the bathroom and I have become very good friends lately. I started feeling him kick or move about around 19 or 20 weeks along. Back then it was just gentle flutters and nudges, but now he pretty much kicks and shoves all of my insides around and has even kicked my ribs a few times. He has also gotten to the stage of stretching, which feels super funny, and looks even funnier when I watch my tummy!!!

Joseph and I are so happy for our little guy and we can't wait to actually get to meet him in a few months. Thanks to all of you that have encouraged me along the way and that have supported us in this amazing adventure of parenthood!!!

Back to School..Yet Again...

Monday started the Fall semester for us out here at BYU-I. Both Joseph and I are taking classes this semester.

Joseph is up to his eyeballs in his accounting and business classes. He thinks he's a little geeky about it sometimes, but he really loves what he's studying and actually looks forward to his classes, even though they are hard work. What he, and many others like him, dislikes is the homework that takes him hours on hours to complete. He keeps pretty positive though by remembering that there is an end in sight and that all the hard work that he puts into his schooling with help him make it in the "real world."
I am only taking one class this semester and the class is only half of the semester. This is way, super beneficial considering our little Ethan is due around the end of November, so having a new baby and trying to finish up a semester strong would be kind of difficult.

We're both hoping that it will be a pretty smooth semester and that we'll both do well in our classes. So bring on the work...we're ready for it!!!!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...Oh My!!!!

So this past weekend, we decided to visit the zoo in Idaho Falls. I love the zoo, I love getting to see all the fun animals and stuff like that. I'm pretty sure it makes me feel like a kid again. The zoo itself was pretty small, but it was still super fun.

They had penguins, and so that was the first place I wanted to go. Turns out that we were just in time to watch them feed the penguins. It was so funny!! Several minutes before the feeder entered the penguin area, all of the penguins were lined up by the door...they knew what was coming!!!! Then they followed the feeder around, just waddling and chasing each other for the fish she was dishing out. It was so fun!!

We then went and checked out some of the different birds that they had. Joseph got a really good picture of the swans that were there. We also got to see a  colored macaw and a military macaw...such pretty birds!
And, of course, there were the flamingos! I even learned something, that flamingos are pink because of their diet, the different things they eat contain a pink/red pigment in them that changes the flamingos feathers. If they changed their diet, they would really be an unattractive grayish color.






 Wandering over to the Africa area of the zoo, we got to see the lions, and tiger, and also some zebras. I think the lions were Joseph's favorite. He got some really great ones of the lion and his lioness...I'm pretty sure they were posing for him.

The zebras were pretty cool, they had two new baby zebras this year so that was pretty neat.



When we went to look at the tiger, he was sleeping in the sun...not so exciting...but he was huge!!! I'm pretty sure his paw was about the size of a small dinner plate.!!



The last place we visited was the monkey house, where Joseph proceeded to make faces at some of the monkeys. It was kinda fun to watch the monkeys just swing around and play. Some of the monkeys I have never seen before so that was really neat as well. 

While at the zoo we also saw this pretty neat animal that was in one of the habitats...not sure what it is really!!!
We also found some pretty cool cut outs of some animals...so we were excited to see them...but it was more exciting to see the real things.
I also go a ride on a tiger :) hahaha...and Joseph just about lost his head to a lion!!!!
 
Overall, it was a pretty great day out at the zoo!!!!

Is That a Sword??? Why, Yes It Is!!!

So, I have a confession to make...my husband is a nerd! Don't worry, I still love him and all, and I did know this when I married him. He is a super big fan of the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien. I believe he has read the books several times, and enjoys spending long hours watching the movies of them. He is such a big fan or nerd...which ever you chose to use...that he saved up last year's Christmas money and this year's birthday money so he could buy one of the swords, as seen in the movies.

This is Glamdring, Gandalf the wizard's sword. One is first introduced to Glamdring in the Hobbit actually. It is found in the same cave that Bilbo finds his sword, Sting. So I guess you could say that Glamdring and Sting are sibling swords (there is another sibling to these swords, Orcrist I believe, and I think that is Joseph's next buy).
It was so funny to watch him come home everyday after he ordered the sword. He would run up to the door to see if we had a package sitting outside our apartment. I tell ya, it was just like watching a little kid at Christmas time. When Glamdring finally arrived, he opened it and then just stared at it...it was so funny to watch him. Joseph then promptly got the wall piece mounted on the wall, and now we have about a 5ish foot sword hanging on our wall in our living room.
When the sword first came Joseph carried it all over the apartment with him, I think he felt tough with it...I don't know. He would sit at the table and do his homework with Glamdring resting on his lap. When we would watch the Lord of the Rings movies he would take it down off the wall and just hold it. Sigh...I did have to draw the line with bringing it into the bedroom at night. I told him I would take my chances with any orcs and goblins that might break into the house :) 
My favorite thing is when we have people over to our house that have never been before. We get one of two reactions, they either just stare at it and don't say anything but continue to stare at it, or they ask, "Is that a sword on your wall?" Joseph is always more than happy to get it down from the wall and talk all about it, and he even lets some people hold it.
So, yes, we have a sword hanging on our wall. What can I say...my husband is kind of a nerd.