We went to Colorado for Christmas this year. We decided to fly since the past two years we got stuck because of the weather. We had to wake up at 2:45 am to make it to the airport in time. I wasn't feeling well that morning (of course since morning sickness is still affecting me at 22 weeks!) so Brandon went and asked the ticket taker if expectant mothers get to board with families with children. EVEN BETTER! We got to board with the people with disabilities! We got to board the plane before anyone else. So we got to pick our seat.

We picked the first row. This was my first time in the front row on a plane ever.


Pregnant= disabled. I love it!
We then got to have a get together with some of my very best friends in Colorado. We exchanged white elephant gifts and talked for hours.

I got a nutcracker and it made me so happy! I seriously asked for Christmas decorations for Christmas. So this was perfect.

We had to wear our awesome sweaters.
April and Trevor and Canon and their white elephant gifts.
Left to right: Gardner, he is living in New York cutting hair... Kara, she is living in Denver teaching Kindergarten... April, she is living in Denver teaching yoga and is a Thai masseuse. Then me, pregnant, large, and in charge!
Christmas Eve we went to our annual dinner... Chinese food!

Brandon decided to finish off the soup.

We then drove around to look at Christmas lights. Here we are in the middle of downtown Littleton.
Christmas was amazing. We were all spoiled.

The presents were exploding in the living room. Can you find us?!

Christmas Eve Pajamas.

Brandon worked extra hours to make some extra money to afford this for me. A Mac Book Pro! It is so nice I am afraid I will ruin it! He also sewed this amazing laptop case for me.

We got my parents "proud new grandparents" shirts. It will be the first grandchild on my side!

Brandon and his duffel bag shaped like a Lego piece!

Family in aprons.

Enjoying our presents.

My little sister got a car! She got a Honda civic. Now all 3 of us girls have civics. So precious.

We then went shopping, ate a ton and went bowling!


This was the first game and I won! Brandon wasn't happy. I then won the second game as well! My score for the second game was 122! Who knew I could bowl? Cuz I sure didn't!


Family.Hubby and me.
Sisters.

April joined us.
Parentals.

When we returned, I soaked up all the time I could with Brandon before he had to go back to school or out of town for work. We hung out every night and it was SOOO amazing.

We went to dinner and got frozen yogurt.


We had 2 groupons to this yogurt shop that was 45 minutes from our house. So we used both and seriously got like a gallon of yogurt!
We then went to dinner (sushi... yum!) and to Tron 3D.
Then I gave Brandon a haircut. I have been begging him to let me try to cut it for months now. He has been very hesitant. I have never used hair-cutting scissors so this was my first time. But I finally convinced him. He said he loves it and wants me to cut it every time now on. HAHA!




Also I wanted to update everyone. I found out that I do have a blood clot in my leg. It is behind my left knee. It is painful and has given me some ugly and permanent varicose veins. I have to wear compression stockings everyday (I can't stand them) but they help with the swelling. It still hurts all day, but it is less painful with the stockings on. Here are some pictures of what my ankle looks like.
That is it! I will try to update more frequently now that I have a computer of my own!

I am late posting, I know. I have been without a computer for several months now. And with Brandon being so busy with school, I don't really get a chance to sit on the computer as he is always needing it. So posting on the blog has been delayed for sure. So here I will play catch up!

I will start with November. I turned 25 in November.

I got yummy cupcakes at work.

I got to open presents at night.
It is a tradition in my family to take a picture with all your gifts.
Brandon finally finished my statue of Christ! Now we just have to burn it or fry it or whatever. Still figuring that out.
Brandon got me roses!We spent Thanksgiving in Idaho with Brandon's family this year. It was just what we needed. A relaxing weekend. No crazy plans and stressful schedule to accommodate to. Nowhere to be. Nothing to do. I loved it. Plus this was the first weekend I got to see Brandon longer than 2 hours in about 3 months. So I LOVED IT!

We first went to my Grandpa's 80th birthday dinner in Idaho Falls.
My Mom and aunt Angie.
We told everyone what we having! We made a little card that says, "we found out our baby has 3 knees... a left knee.. a right knee... and a WEE KNEE!!!!" This is my parents holding the card. Bad picture I know.

We played games on Thanksgiving. I love playing games!

And Brandon played with legos for hours.
We went mini-golfing.
We got home and went to a movie! First date night in a LONG time.
Brandon had school and was really busy. I hung out alone a lot. Got addicted to some tv shows. When Brandon finally finished school for the semester we got to finish our Christmas shopping. We decided to go to a pizza buffet for dinner. WOW IT WAS AMAZING! It was like heaven for my pregnant body!

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.