New Camera!!!

We FINALLY got a new camera. We got the new Nikon Coolpix L120 in bronze. We decided to not go the DSLR route which is originally what I thought I wanted. But I figured that if I really wasn't going to make photography a hobby of mine then we probably shouldn't invest that kind of money. So we decided on this point and shoot because it has a little bit more functionality and a good zoom. I'm still learning about the settings and how to use it, but so far it's been fun!

The camera came on Friday evening. Phillip and I found the box on our porch after we came home from a date of Sarah Vowell, Henrietta's Table and L.A. Burdick Hot Chocolate. (As a side note, if you're ever in the Harvard Square area you should definitely hit up L.A. Burdick. Their white hot chocolate was so heavenly! I told Phil that we would have to stop in again before the weather starts getting too warm.) 

Anyway, here are some of the first photos we took with the camera. 

Phillip drinking his dark hot chocolate

I look strange in this one...but here's my face after finishing my delicious cup of white hot chocolate! (sorry for the extreme close-up)

Here is said cup of white hot chocolate.

Oh and this is the camera strap cover I made last night because I was feeling crafty! I will try and get a better picture of it...

Here it is taken with my trusty computer. 

We're both really glad we got this camera BEFORE the baby boy comes....this will be sitting right next to the hospital bag!

Our first diapers!

We got some free samples of diapers in the mail yesterday. Oh the perks of parenthood! Aren't they so tiny? I really can't believe his bum is going to be so tiny...well, for a little while anyway.

Oh and in other related news...we had an ultrasound today...and our baby boy is healthy! We had a follow-up ultrasound because in our 19 week ultrasound the size of his kidneys were a little larger than normal so they wanted to just make sure everything was back to normal. (Phillip is currently trying to scan the pictures we got...so if that is successful then I will post a pic here in a sec).  It was interesting seeing him so much more developed! He measured right on track for growth at 2 lbs 14 oz. 

Ok so the scanner didn't work...here are some pictures of the sonogram...

Here's his profile 

and here's a shot straight on! It's so fun to see his little face.

After the sonogram we celebrated and went to the S&S restaurant in Inman Square. I figured he deserved a little french toast for being such a healthy boy! 

Preparation for Fatherhood

Look who fell asleep this afternoon on Uncle Phil's lap!

This is momentous. Matthew has been a little bit scared of Phil ever since he came home one day using these huge metal things....crutches. Ever since then Matthew seems to get a little scared when Uncle Phil comes around. Whenever he sees me head back downstairs to our apartment Matthew always says "see phil?" then he'll follow me down the stairs halfway and then turn around and run back upstairs crying for Mom or Dad. I think it's a little game he likes to play with himself...but every time there seem to be real tears. He's such a funny little man. 

This afternoon he made the whole trip down to our apartment and stopped by for a little visit. He sat on uncle Phil's lap and after about 5 minutes was snoozing away!! Hopefully this means he will no longer cry at the sight of Uncle Phil. 

Oh and for the record, Matthew is probably overly tired because he's now sleeping in a big boy bed...

That's Our Boy

I've imagined what it would be like to be pregnant all my life. I believe I glorified what it would be like. I imagined it would be a euphoric experience between me and the baby filled with smiles and new discoveries along the way...all rainbows and butterflies.

It is not all rainbows and butterflies. I cry rather easily. Pretty much anything makes me cry...happy things, sad things, things in between. I have heartburn nearly everyday after eating nearly anything. I can't sleep at night because (1) I'm peeing every couple of hours or (2) I can't seem to get comfortable because I'm used to sleeping on my stomach. And 1+2 = a rather sleepless night. And as much as I love shopping, shopping for maternity clothes is just plain frustrating and often demoralizing. (Am I really going to get THAT big? I'm only 6 months along, this should fit me right?) My body aches in places it never has before and there seems to be no relief. Standing for more than a few minutes seems to be nearly impossible because my feet start throbbing. Breathing through my nose is becoming increasingly difficult. And there are loads of other complaints I have that aren't appropriate to share over the blogosphere.

But all the frustration and annoyances melt away when I'm laying in my bed late at night, or sitting in traffic, or sitting at my desk at work and I feel him. I feel him inside me moving, kicking, or jumping on mommy's bladder. That's our boy! A smile creeps up on my face and I think about this little life that has entered our family. This little life that Phillip and I created together. It's mind blowing to realize that WE DID THIS. But you know what makes this ten times more special? Having Phillip finally feel our little boy too. Putting his hand on my stomach and feeling those little movements going on in my belly and seeing the look on his face. Yes, that's him! That's our boy.

Mama sews!

I just made my first thing for my baby boy! I found this tutorial on how to make baby pants and thought I would use it to make reversible pants. They turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. I used an old shirt of phil's for the striped side and some old fabric I had stashed away for the other. I used a pair of size 0-3 sweatpants that I had already purchased as a template. So really these pants didn't cost me anything...which is awesome.

 STRIPES

POLKADOTS

These pants are tiny! I don't think I will ever get over how tiny baby clothes are. Every time I see them I just ooh and ahh. I can't wait to try them on baby boy Singer.

Guess what just joined our family?

Say hello to my new computer!!! Isn't she lovely?

I am so thrilled about it. I haven't had a computer at home for a long time ever since my trusty, grad-school laptop broke down last year. While Phillip's been gone during the week with his laptop I've been doing all of my "computering" (not a word...I know) on my ipod touch. This will also make my third trimester a little more pleasant because now I can work from home occasionally. Oh and maybe this means we will blog more?...We shall see.

Drum roll please...

We had our ultrasound this morning and it's a......

BOY!!!!

Sorry we didn't get a picture of his boy bits, but he definitely has them!! Here's a good profile pic.

The ultrasound went great. The babe looks healthy. He moves around A LOT (more than I can tell right now) and he kept opening and closing his mouth. It was so cute. I think I could have looked at that screen for hours!

Ok, so now that we know we're going to have this baby boy our next step is preparation! So in light of this, I want to know what everyone's must haves are for a new baby? Hit me up in the comments!

Christmas Message

Every year my dad sends out a Christmas message to the BYU-I faculty, staff and student body. You can read the message here and I have posted the video below. He's a natural on the screen, don't you think?

I really enjoyed his message this year of the gift we can give Christ, ourselves. I think it's something I will be thinking about a lot over the next few weeks.

I hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

New Drinkware

Aren't they pretty? We got 6 of the large ones from Bed Bath and Beyond and it has totally opened up a whole new world of beverage enjoyment for us. Phil and I have both commented how much better drinks taste from nice glasses. (sorry no pictures of the real thing...we're still in limbo between old junky camera and a nice baby ready camera...)

In other drink updates...I have a new favorite. Phil calls it a Mormon Mimosa.

1. Fill your glass half full of chopped ice (from our ice maker on our side by side)

2. Pour in a little of this in your glass( simply orange w/ pineapple!!)

3. Then top it off with some ginger ale

4. Enjoy.

Update

Wow! 10 comments? 10 whole comments?! I don't think I've ever had that many comments on a blog post before. I feel quite loved!

Thank you all for your kind words and congratulations. Phillip and I are extremely excited about this little addition to the family.  We've known for quite some time and it has been the hardest secret to keep for me! I wanted to tell everyone....including the nice gas station attendant! It's so liberating to talk about it freely, even though I'm pretty sure most people don't believe me...I catch people looking down at my stomach. Only I (and my pants) can tell the changes happening down there thus far.

The picture from the previous post is from our first ultrasound that we had this past Friday. It made the pregnancy so much more real to see the little one on the screen. And man! that ultrasound gel is so awesomely warm...I was expecting cold stuff. Bonus! And yes, that little white blob above the babes' face is it's fist. How cute is that?

So here are some of my thoughts/observations thus far on pregnancy....

1. Heartburn stinks. I have heartburn a lot and most of the time it's pretty bad. Sometimes it's so bad I feel like my chest is going to spontaneously combust. Fortunately I am starting to recognize what my triggers are...lemonade, orange juice, too much of a good thing...

2. Pregnancy is a great excuse to eat hamburgers and lots of them! I normally wouldn't advocate eating a hamburger once a week, but right now I'm craving one almost everyday! But I'm a good girl and only give into it maybe every other week.

3. I can't eat as much in one sitting. Before I could manage a hamburger and french fries or two pieces of pizza and some salad, but lately I can't do the fries or that second slice of pizza. Did anyone else experience this? I was always told that when you're pregnant you feel like your stomach is a bottomless pit and you never really feel full. Frankly, I hope that never does happen to me.

4. I have a weird aftertaste in my mouth almost all the time, but it's especially strong after I eat. Apparently it's called Dysgeusia. It's annoying. The most common recommendation for getting that taste out of your mouth is citrus juices! Catch 22...So I can either choose between heartburn and funny taste in my mouth. That's easy, I choose funny taste in my mouth. At least that doesn't hurt.

5. Naked pregnancy pictures are weird. I'm confused about the purpose of them because I'm pretty sure your kid doesn't want to see that. (This is just my opinion here)

6. Maternity shirts are awesome, maternity pants...not so much. I've found tons of shirts! So far GAP maternity has been my best bet. But I haven't had so much luck in the pants department. Most maternity pants are too short for me or they are too ugly. I think my best bet is to order some online...

7. I can't get enough ice water! I love the stuff. If I see someone else drinking water it makes me so thirsty! I was at a Relief Society meeting the other night and one of the women had a water bottle of ice water. It was pure torture! Phil and I have both agreed that the best water is Dasani bottled water. It's expensive to keep Dasani bottled water around, but if I had a choice, it's my #1. I typically just have water from a water cooler at work and from our fridge dispenser.
8. I'm exhausted. I wasn't prepared for this. One day I took two naps. But it's worth it. Totally worth it.

9. I'm still waiting for my hair to start looking better. I hear your hair can either get strong and shiny, or it gets stringy and thin. I'm crossing my fingers that for once in my life I can experience strong shiny hair! (Oh and while we're talking about hair...I'm getting much more little peach fuzz patches on my face. Joy)

10. Husbands are awesome! Especially mine. Phillip has been so great. So supportive. I couldn't ever imagine doing pregnancy on my own. I know a lot of times I usually just sound like a hormone pumped complaining crazy lady, but he puts up with me. He so concerned about me and the baby. If we're laying in bed at night just about to fall asleep and he finds out I haven't taken my prenatal vitamin, he jumps out of bed and gets me that vitamin and a glass of water. He'll even do the same if I'm having heartburn, but in stead of the vitamin it's my friend TUMS. He's even reading books about babies. Last night on the phone he suggested we get rid of the plastic cups we use almost everyday and go buy some glass ones. I loved this because not only was he concerned about my intake of BPA, but I've been wanting new glasses for a while now! (Thanks baby for my new drinking glasses!)