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Here is our Christmas Card for 2010. Plus some other shots that didn't make the card.

Merry Christmas!
Without the banner.Happy for baby. I might have stuffed out a little:). And Gunner wanted to be in the picture.

Serious shot.
Flip. Brandon looks like a giant.
Kissy Kissy.
Now the cats. They crack me up. They HATED taking pictures. So we held tuna in our hands and they started to lighten up. You can tell where the tuna is in each picture!!
Sniper became a little more relaxed.I know this one is blurry but it cracks me up. He really wanted the tuna.
Finally a good shot.




Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
OK remember my post about putting up Christmas decorations early and how it is the best birthday present ever? Well I actually got an even BETTER birthday present on my birthday.

We have been SOOO anxious to find out what we are having! What parents aren't anxious?! Anyways, we found out that our 20 week appointment where we find out what we are having is 2 days before Christmas. And if anyone knows my Mom, she is already having a hard time restraining from buying baby clothes! So we knew it would be too close to Christmas to have everyone wait. So we went to Fetal Studios on my birthday (the 18th of November). It is a place in the mall that offers gender determination ultrasounds as early as 14 weeks. So for a birthday present, we headed in there.

I was just over 15 weeks when we went. The little bugger was fast asleep when we started the ultrasound. The doctor was poking my tummy, jiggling my tummy, etc trying to wake the baby up. The baby would move them fall right back to sleep; not allowing us to see the private parts! The doctor then had me roll to my side and low and behold......

WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!!

(Here is the ultrasound we got. We decided to not expose his boy parts on the internet though!)
We couldn't be any happier! Now it is all becoming real. We can start planning, start throwing out boy names, and start deciding on nursery colors.

(I am going to live with 4 boys very soon. Weird!)


And as an update on the pregnancy if you are interested. And if you don't want details, I would suggest to stop reading now:

I am still sick everyday. I keep being told from doctors and nurses and friends and family that I should start feeling better any day now. And it never happens. I have tried 5 different types of medications and even natural remedies that are supposed to work, but nothing has seemed to work. I finally got Zofran (medicine they use for cancer patients to help with nausea caused from Chemo) and it is helping. I am still nauseous, still throwing up (TMI?), and still DEAD tired all the time. But the medicine helps the sickness not last as long. I guess that is a good thing right? I have also been told that you should ask your Mom and Grandma about their morning sickness because it is hereditary. Well my Mom was sick until 20 weeks or later and my Grandma was sick throughout her pregnancies, until the end. So it looks like I have a long road ahead of me still. Brandon hates seeing me be sick and wants to make it go away. But he also looks at it as a good sign that the baby is still growing and is still healthy. So I guess that is a positive way to look at it right?!

I have started to have swelling in my left leg. I have been told this isn't normal this early in the pregnancy. At first it wasn't painful, but now it is like a constant throbbing. It hurts to walk on my left foot. I can't bend my leg all the way. It feels like I am wearing really tight jeans that have no give. My ankle looks like I have elephantiasis (maybe I am exaggerating). I went in to the hospital tonight to get an ultrasound done on my veins. No blood clots. So that is a good sign. But now what? The doctor suggested to wear compression pantyhose. I sent Brandon to the store and he couldn't find any that mentioned "compression" on them. Does anyone know of any? Where do I find them?

I have been feeling the baby "flutter" inside of me now for a few weeks. But I think I felt him kick tonight. It was for sure more than a flutter. But it wasn't strong so it was hard for me to tell. Honestly, I can't wait until Brandon can feel them. He is just so cute with this whole thing!

My Mom got me some maternity clothes for my birthday and they are amazing! But it is what I wear under the clothes that are really bothering me lately (catch my drift?). What do you suggest?

I find myself contradicting myself a lot. During the day I have all desire to do something at night. I sometimes make plans or think of all the things that I can do. But by the time work is over, I have no energy or desire to do anything. I end up hanging out with myself on the couch in front of the TV every night. It would be very nice to hang out with others who are experiencing the same things as I am. Does anyone in the Utah area know of any groups or activities that are for pregnant woman? Not birthing classes as those are taken during your third trimester. But something like friend gatherings, hangouts, etc?

Anyways, My stomach is growing. I hate all pictures of me as I just look dead and fat. I crave anything with SALT. LOVE SALT SALT SALT!!! I like hamburgers, Mexican, Italian, and every single form of potatoes (fries, sweet potatoes, yams, tater tots, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, funeral potatoes, etc). I don't really crave any sweets. WEIRD since I have had a very big sweet tooth my whole life.I have actually had a really weird heart beat so my doctor told me to reduce my salt intake. WHAT?!!! How am I ever going to do that?!

Well OK I think I just wrote a novel. Good thing this is my journal so I can one day look back at my awesome thoughts. But for all of you, you got a taste of what it is like to be Stephanie! hehe.

Ok but seriously, I am done now. Thanks for reading. Love you all.

I lied. One more. If you have any boy name suggestions, we could really use the help:)

Ok now I am done.

'Tis the season for awesome Christmas sweaters, torturing of cats, cheesy poses, and huge smiles. That is right. It is time for all of you to expect our Christmas Card! If you don't know what I am talking about, check out these from the past 2 Christmas's.

2008
(Please notice the handmade fireplace in the background)


2009
(This fireplace is real)

We have gotten our "outfits" for our card this year. I am lacking creativity in my pregnant brain at this stage, but don't worry. We will think of an amazing idea. And you won't be disappointed.

A friend posted this on her blog and I am SOOO excited. Check it out. Shutterfly is giving away 50 free cards to bloggers who write about their cards. I love this idea. Even though I have access to a free and very talented designer in my own home, the cost of printing them and figuring out what type of paper or way to send them out is way too difficult. So this is perfect.

These are a few of my favorites:
(This one makes me excited to have a boy)

And this one. I love the design of this one.


And get your own free cards here:
http://http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/


All I can say is I am excited! Oh and Merry Christmas! I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!
We have been asked quite a few times how we told my family about us being pregnant. So I thought I would share that story here with all of you.

This is the first grandchild on my side and even the first great-grandchild on my Mom's side, so you can imagine how happy and excited my family is that we are having a baby! We were so excited when we found out that we couldn't hold it in. So we decided to make a very short trip to Colorado the weekend after we found out. We told my family the reason we were coming out was to celebrate my Mom's birthday which was still two weeks away, but we couldn't make it out in the next two weekends, so we had to come out that weekend to celebrate. Hence, the post a few weeks ago about going to Colorado.

We drove all night after I got off work on Thursday and arrived at my parents' house around 1 am. But everyone was working or was busy with something the whole weekend! So we pretty much hung out by ourselves all day Friday and Saturday. I was having a hard time keeping the news in!

We went skydiving for our anniversary and got videos of our dive, so we decided to tell them by having them watch our skydiving video with a little surprise at the end! Right when I am about to jump out of the plane, the whole screen goes black. Then music starts playing (You're Having My Baby by Finn on Glee) and pictures start popping up of us holding the positive pregnancy tests. Then it ends with an ultrasound that says, "Due May 2011."

We made plans to go to dinner on Saturday night. It was VERY difficult to get them all together. We had a very certain way, as stated above, that we wanted to tell them and it wouldn't work to tell them at dinner, so we had to organize it to get them all at my parents' house at once. The family was very confused why I was being so persistent that we drive to the restaurant together. I told them I wanted them to watch our skydiving video and that was our only chance to watch it all together. So they reluctantly agreed to watch it.

Here is the proof. I love it!
1. Recording of the families reaction to the video! (The part that they all get confused is when the whole screen went black. They thought they did something to the TV or sat on the remote or something! Then the pictures and song come up and they slowly got it!)



2. Shortened version of the video we showed them.
Since I am carrying a lot of extra "cargo" lately, I can't exactly work at Disney World right now. I could handle wearing a dress all day and just standing there, but I don't think my growing belly would look good in that tight dress. And I can't exactly trek around with 50 pounds of fur, being inside a sweat cave (aka a fake animals head) while playing Pluto. And I have to work by the end of January in order to keep my position as a seasonal cast member. So it is time for me to admit, that after 4 years, I will no longer be an employee of Disney at the end of the year. It is sad to say, but it is time to move on!

Ok, now with that off my shoulders! We decided to take advantage of the GREAT discount employees get during the holidays season, as well as the free tickets in to the park. This is our last chance! We called up our good friends Mark and Kaylinn Morrell to see if they were up for a spontaneous weekend trip to Disney the FOLLOWING weekend. They agreed. We booked a very cheap hotel room at Super 8 and were off!

We had a great time. The Morrell's share our love for Disney and know so many tricks and secrets that excite me all the more! We all haven't been since May (I know what some of you are thinking. May is not that long ago. Well for us when we are used to going 5 times a year and the Morrell's who used to work there and go everyday, May is a very long time). I think I aged 20 years since we went in May because man, I was dying! My feet hurt, especially my heels, my back hurt, my neck hurt, I had a constant headache, my shins hurt, my calves hurt, and the list goes on and on. I had the hardest time standing for that long. I don't know how women who are in their 8th or 9th month do it. I was beat! But we took lots of breaks which was wonderful.

There were many rides I couldn't go on, but there are many things that I NEVER do when we go there because I would rather do all of the big rides (that have long lines). So it was fun to do new things for once. Oh and Kaylinn decided to join me most of the time, so it was more like a man date and a girl date. We all loved it. Here are pictures of the event.

**DISCLAIMER: I love looking at all my pregnant friends' blogs to check out their growing bellies. But they all don't take lots of pictures because they say they don't like any of the pctures of them. I thought that was crazy until now. I look hideous in these pictures. I didn't want to post them, but I decided that maybe a little bit of sympathy at this stage would be nice:)

Mark and Kaylinn

The little kids choo-choo train.


Kaylinn and I went on tours of some of the factories there. They weren't really tours. They were like rooms with read to yourself signs. But still very fascinating. At the Mission Tortilla Factory they gave me a package of free tortillas for my birthday!

We met Rapunzel from the new movie Tangled. I CANNOT WAIT to see that one.
We watched Bugs Life. And had to take a picture of us with our bug eyes on.
We rode Toy Story twice! Waited 75 minutes but it was WAY worth it. It was pretty much the only ride I could go on, so it was even better.


YAY!! I knew I loved Disney, but now I love them even more because they love Christmas as much as I do! They put up all their Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving just like we did!
We met Santa! I think his makeup artist needed to work on bringing his mustache to life a little bit more.


We got to meet aka stare at Santa's reindeer!

We rode the Disneyland railroad a few times:)

They brought back the Captain EO show. I never saw it before, and I would be fine if I never saw it again:)
While I waited for everyone to ride Indiana Jones, I went and met Jasmine and Aladdin.

We splurged and ate at the Blue Bayou. This is the restaurant that is inside the ride Pirates of the Caribbean. It was so delicious. And they have the best atmosphere and ambiance ever. Just love it.


I got a dessert for my birthday!

The gang at Blue Bayou. Too bad you can't tell that is where we are at!

We also got to watch the World of Colors. This is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. And leave it to me to cry during pretty much the entire thing. I love Disney.

The pictures don't do it justice, but they play videos off of the water and bright lights to tell the stories of each movie.




Well that is about it. Thanks to the Morrells for going with us!

So I have been thinking this year that Christmas time is by far my favorite time of the year. Everything about the holiday makes me happy. I am in such a good mood the entire month of December (even despite the awful weather!). And having the tree up for a month is just way too short! You don't get to fully enjoy the holiday season. So... my birthday is in a week, so I told Brandon that what I wanted for my birthday is to set up Christmas decorations early. He agreed! Last night we had hot chocolate, homemade pizza, and Christmas music playing as we put out all the Christmas decorations. It was pure bliss.

So happy birthday to me! I LOVE YOU BRANDON!!!!



I have been dying to announce this. In fact, I have been dying to post this for 8 weeks; ever since the day we found out! So here it is:


WE ARE PREGNANT!


I am 12 weeks. We went to our doctor's today and got to see the babies heartbeat and see the little bugger movin' around. It made both me and Brandon cry.


So here is baby Marcum. Due May 11, 2011!!!!!!!!!!

(I know some of you already knew, but now it is official!)
We went to Colorado. We went to dinner at Outback. April, Sue, Brad, and Trevor joined us (my second family!)

We went to Garlic Knot. I have been craving it for almost 4 years! I just never seem to remember to eat there when we are in town. This time I didn't forget.
We went to the Dew Tour downtown.


The kitties turned 2. I gave them tuna. They loved it. Now they ask for it every morning. oops.


We went up the canyon one night. I lasted 10 minutes before I got too car sick. So we pulled over and played by the river. It was a nice break from B's homework.
I have made more flowers/headbands.

The end.
There have been many changes in my department at work, and unfortunately it has made things really slow. And my paycheck really small.

This is what I did for lunch one day. I'm not making money, so might as well spend it right?
I have looked back through the pictures on my computer since the last update and there are so many! So I will try to include everything here. I have tried to organize from the beginning of the summer to right now. Be patient as there are a lot. But I think they are pretty cool. So... it is worth it.

We planted flowers. My first time.

Brandon finished school at the end of April. 4 days later we flew to Mexico to spend 9 days with my family at an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta.

We moved in to ANOTHER apartment. Our old one was bad. Really bad mold 6 inches from where we put our heads to sleep. It was making us both sick. We had to threaten with an attorney to get out of the contract, but it was well worth it! We now live in a basement apartment in Pleasant Grove. Still middle ground for our opposite locations. We live a block away from Brandon's brother Chris and his wife Julia (who are moving away from us). No pictures of the apartment yet. Too messy. Too embarrassing.



Right after we moved, we went to Disneyland. Gotta use those benefits!




We played a bunch of mini golf. Brandon played some big people golf too.

We went to Lake Powell for a weekend with some friends.

We camped there. I highly UNrecommend it. It was awful.
We went to Idaho to hang out with Brandon's old roommates and their wives.

We went to MANY weddings. And bridal showers. We are officially broke after this summer of weddings.


We planned a ward "24th of July" breakfast as we are on the Activities Committee.

Tug of War

We had Brandon's extended family reunion in Idaho.





We had my extended family reunion in Bear Lake.

Shakes




Bubble Blowing Contest



We did some country dancing for a talent and then all the cousins wanted to dance with Brandon. I loved it.

We won the water balloon toss contest. These are our sweet prizes.





Yep that is Brandon braiding hair.


After the reunion, my parents and Brittney came to town.

We celebrated my Dad's birthday.
My Dad got a free Iceberg shake on his birthday. Just what he wanted!
All of Brandon's presents from the family (I might be wearing a couple of presents)

Sniper and Gunner are good. Sniper is a pimp sometimes.

We went to the Salt Lake Rodeo with Brandon's parents. My first rodeo!



We went to a Salt Lake Bees game with our friends Jessica and Bryan. We got front row seats.

My work had a Biggest Loser contest. The winner got $2000 so I was VERY motivated. I didn't win, but I did "lose" a lot. So it was worth it.

My boss bought everyone pizza after the last weigh-ins. This was only half of the stampede for real food!


We went skydiving. No big deal.

Brandon surprised me for our anniversary. It was amazing. Best thrill of my life.

Signing our lives away...


I couldn't control my lips. Or my drool.
We went to Park City after skydiving to spend the rest of the weekend to celebrate our anniversary and Brandon's birthday.

Hot Tub and Sparkling Cider

Park Silly Farmer's Market


Brandon and his presents
Homemade Ice cream cake
He got a free Iceberg shake on his brithday!
We have made a lot of big purchases lately. Necessary, but still painful to the checkbook.

Brandon's 1996 Lumina died on his last day of school. All summer Brandon worked from home so we worked it out. But now with him in school again, we had to get a second car. We bought a Hyundai Sonata. We got a screaming good deal. SCREAMING!!! (Get it?)



We bought a new couch.
We bought a new mattress. Yay king size! We also bought new bedding, of course, to go with the new mattress. We are still working on the bed frame and headboard.
We bought a new TV. We got it from a friend for such a good deal!

We went to the John Mayer concert with Chris and Julia!

We met up with Brandon's cousin Jeff and his wife Natalie.
We went to Park City again because we got two free nights at a really nice hotel.

We got a Groupon for a sushi restaurant up there. It was probably the best I have ever had.

Our total was $5.67. Thank you Groupon.Luxury Robes :)

We went to the Olympic Park and took a tour.


I had a reunion with friends that I worked at Disney World with.

I have been into sewing lately. Thank you to Brandon for teaching me how to use my sewing machine, You Tube videos for teaching me how to make flowers, and my friend Allyx for teaching me how to make other flowers, I have started these items!

I made curtain holders.

I made curtains for our kitchen.


I made headbands.
And hair clips.


I have made more than these. But I have given those away. But this is only the beginning. I plan on making more!



And that is finally it! Thanks for sticking through it.