Christmas Break

Disclaimer: please attribute any misspellings etc. to a baby in my belly that will not stop kicking the computer.

For Christmas Joe had two whole weeks off of school! It was awesome having him home. We really didn't do anything terribly exciting but it sure was nice having him around, I'm feeling a little annoyed that he had to go back to work but ya know that whole pay the rent and medical bills and food stuff, yeah we are just glad he has a teaching job =)

Although he had two weeks off he ended up being given the opportunity to participate in a two day inservice on new technology the state is putting out and getting paid for it- so with a whole lot of doctor's bills coming our way what do you think Joe spent Tuesday and Wednesday of his first week off doing? If you guessed inservice you were right! But he said it was actually pretty fun and if being a teacher was that easy all the time there would be a lot more teachers!

Wednesday night Joe's immediate family came up which meant 7 of us in our 2 bedroom apartment- good thing it is on the roomier side (or at least I think it is but maybe I am just comparing it to student apartments). We have one air mattress and they brought one and we pulled out the crib mattress for Samantha (we didn't want her teething all over our pretty crib). So everyone at least had a place to sleep! That night Katie and Trudy threw us a surprise "baby shower" with just us but lots of fun little presents and there was even Snickers cake (joe's favorite) and ice cream.

The next day we took it pretty easy, John and Trudy went and visited some family and some of us went for a walk in the park that is practically right next to where we live. I seriously love having that park right there. And the walking loop is just about the right length for me (well i'll be honest at the moment it is getting a little bit long and I don't go on very many walks. Although earlier on in the pregnancy I went about three times a week and would lengthen my walks by doing some of the pretty neighborhoods around too). Then that night John took us all out for dinner at Famous Dave's. I got brisquit which was pretty good (but every time I get brisquit I think of Rudy's- you've ruined me papa!) Then that night we got pretty wild and crazy- we got a free redbox and watched cars 2. In the morning Joe and Trudy made the fam Norwegians for breakfast (one of their family traditions) and off they went to West Yellowstone for Christmas.

This year for Christmas we had decided to just stay here since on Christmas day I was 35 weeks along we didn't think it the wisest decision to spend 4-6.5 hours in a car one way depending on what family we went to. (Of course we made this decision a while ago, ya know when I was less pregnant and emotional) This was my first Christmas away from my family (even though it was our fourth Christmas as a married couple, let's just say I care more about holidays and Joe loves me, and who in their right mind would say no to Singapore and Thailand?) and it was rough for me- I am super obsessed with traditions and pretty darn attached to my family so it was hard to not be with them. Christmas eve I was getting ready to make us a pumpkin pie and ended up sitting on the floor crying because I wanted to be in Utah making pie with my mommy and then spending the evening with our family instead- the worst part of that moment was that it was still early enough and the roads were good that both Joe and I really did consider jumping in the car and just driving although neither of us said it at the time. So I cried for a while and then made pie (which tasted yummy the next day but not as good as when mommy and I make them together). That evening we had pizza for dinner (if you think that sounds pathetic then you don't know about how my family does Christmas) and then we drove around the neighborhoods in our ward looking at all the Christmas lights.

We have a fireplace in this apartment and so we bought a log and burnt it just cuz. Then Joe read us the Christmas story- we may not have acted it out but rest assured there was all of the traditional "wait, where do we start? no we skip that part" and of course when we got to the angel bit Joe even couldn't help but chuckle, and the rejoicing dance still took place ( i guess that Joe is pretty indoctrinated into our family's ways huh?). And when we were done we made s'mores! and they were yum.... and Joe ate a lot of marshmallows. It was sad not being with my family but we still had a fun Christmas eve.

Even though Christmas was on a Sunday this year our church wasn't until 1pm so we still had a pretty lazy Christmas morning. I told Joe the night before that it was his job to make sure all the lights were on before we went out in the morning which worked out well anyways because it gave him a chance to start the muppet christmas carol (his family has one part they always play). We got into our stockings which had magically been filled by Santa (and made by me! I couldn't find any in the stores that I liked and this way was about half the cost).

Then we had some cereal before we started opening presents because thanks to little miss I wake up STARVING. Then of course it was present time! It was fun, we didn't do anything extravagent but our presents were fun/ needed. I think what makes me chuckle the most though is that I have wanted a garlic press because I love cooking with garlic but hate having garlicy hands for days after so Santa got me a garlic press (Joe was very careful to point out that it was from Santa not him).

Then we made traditional Christmas breakfast (about the only time we have bacon in the house) and got ready for/ went to church.

Funny side story- I was taking care of the waffles and had Joe cook the bacon and then the eggs, he couldn't get over the fact that I was really going to let him cook the eggs in the bacon grease (what little you get from turkey bacon). Finally I just said- It's Christmas! and he was ok with that =)

After church we made Christmas dinner- It was yummy =) Turkey breast, baked potatoes, cooked carrots, rolls, etc.

Isn't my china pretty?!

Joe had the next week off too which was nice. He got a lot of planning for school done and some grading and we also squeezed in a dentist appointment before the benefits expired with the year. Guess what? No cavities! we were both surprisingly proud of that fact (Maybe it's all those years of going to Dr. Farley's but I kinda felt like I was a good girl and wanted to choose a toy from the bin!).

For New Years Eve we were kinda lame but who cares? We pulled the "it's midnight somewhere" thing around 9 pm, drank some Martinellis and went to bed.

Now Joe is back in school =( lame because I miss having him around during the day but awesome because he has a teaching job (happy dance). I will be 37 weeks tomorrow and am progressing smoothly so pretty much we are playing the waiting game. Will she be early? Will She be late? Who knows. And for those of you that keep asking- we are reserving the right to change our minds so we are not sharing any names that we may be considering =)

Thanksgiving etc.

Disclaimer: I wrote this right after thanksgiving but couldn't find the camera to upload the pictures for a while and then I just didn't get around to it so here you go, not even current but here is an update sorta!

The policy of Joe's school is pretty much that they push the kids really hard and then they take a break so for Thanksgiving he had the whole week off which was awesome! We decided to go down to Salt Lake and spend the week with my family and it was lots of fun! I love my family and spending time with them, it's so much fun =) We went down on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and stayed for a week. Sunday we went to church with my parents and then had Sunday dinner with them and my Grandma Cole and my cousin Matthew and his wife Angie. I was so excited to show Grandma my latest crochet project.

Side story here:

When we were in Utah at the end of August and Joe got hired over the phone (yeah!) my mom and Grandma had just sorted through Grandma's basement and had found a box of yarn and a partially completed blanket that my Great Grandma Cole had been working on when she passed away (before I was even born).

This white part is what she had done- her work is so intricate and beautiful!

In the box was also this pink yarn that is the same weight as the white that she had already done and she had already dug out the end of the yarn and stuck the right size crochet hook to match the white in it. Pretty much mom and I decided that it was just waiting for me to finish the blanket for my little girl =)

I decided that first of all there was no way that I would be able to match her gorgeous work and I wanted to really keep her work as the star of the blanket so I decided to keep it really simple and use the pink to finish the two edges. I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out although I can't take the credit for it really. But it is a really cool blanket of stories- my great grandma started it, my grandma taught me to crochet and I got to finish it =)

Return to normal blog post here:

So I brought the blanket down to Utah and showed it to my Grandma Cole while we were there. On Monday Joe and I went over to Grandma's house and got to go through her collection of baby blankets- She has something like 25 (I didn't count so I am sure that I am wrong, it was a wild estimate) and she has crocheted the edging on a baby blanket for the first child of each. It was so much fun getting to look at all of them, there is such variety and they are all sooooo cute! But what was the most fun for me was getting to look at the intricate crochet work on each of them. I went through and chose out about 10 to pair down from there and I think each of those had a different crochet pattern on them! Seriously people it is really impressive. I had so much fun getting to just look at them all and talk to Grandma =)

Ultimately this is the one I chose:

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Grandma!!!! We love you!!!!!!!

I honestly can't remember exactly what we did the rest of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday- I know that Mommy and I were running around doing stuff the whole time but I couldn't tell you exactly what (unless I really sat here and thought pretty hard but I think u will survive without knowing). Wednesday Mommy and I got to make our pumpkin pies together! Yeah!!! So fun! Making pumpkin pies together is a tradition that my mommy and I have and pretty much we don't let any one help us, it is our special thing and it is lots of fun!

Thursday of course was Turkey Day! We spent the morning cooking etc. and had the meal at Mommy and Papa's new house this year. It was a pretty small group of us this year- just 12 I think but it was fun.... and that meant there was more leftover pie for us!!!!!!!

Friday Mommy and I did some Black Friday shopping, nothing too extreme ( we didn't leave til 10 am) but hey if you can get a good deal why not? We figured that all of the crazies were pretty much done by that point. We also did some baby shopping that may not have necessarily been on sale but I needed and it was more fun to buy with my mom so I did =) I guess it should be noted that Papa and Joe spent Thursday morning and Friday working around their yard and at Grandma's house- good work boys =) Friday night we started decorating Mom's house for Christmas- so much fun for me- i love going through their Christmas stuff =)

Saturday morning Joe and I got on the road and took a detour through Logan to go see my brother Adam and his family. It was fun to get to sit and talk with them for a while and Adam made us scrumptious sandwiches for lunch- yum! Then on to Boise we went.

We decided that since I will be 8 months pregnant for Christmas we probably didn't really want to drive for 5 hours to visit family- not that I couldn't but it would be extremely uncomfortable so we are spending Christmas as our own little family in Boise this year. In the past we have always traveled to spend Christmas with my family and we were in little apartments so we had a two foot tree. We weren't really planning on getting a bigger tree but we got out our little tree and the thought of spending Christmas around it got pretty depressing so I started searching Craigslist. We found a big (it turned out to be bigger than they had said) pre-lit gorgeous tree (not just crepe paper) in our price range! Yeah!!!!! So we rearranged our living room to fit it in and expose our fireplace for the Christmas season (it is wood burning so we haven't used it but it is cool to have for Christmas). Maybe in the future we will actually buy a tree topper or more ornaments but this year I dug out my collection of dollar tree ribbon and we put on what ornaments we have and the lights make it look pretty =) so it is fun. Maybe I will do a Christmas photo tour of our apartment sometime and show off all of the cool things we have but I better make our stockings first.

I know this is getting to be a long post but I just have to squeeze this in- the first weekend in December Joe and I found ourselves driving yet again but this time to Rexburg because Joe's best friend Jake Walz (the guy who set us up) FINALLY got married!!!!!! for real he did we were there and saw it happen!!!!!! So we went and were sooooo happy for him and Jen, they are so cute together and it was fun to see them so happy. And after the reception we were able to stop by and see most of White Christmas by the Playmill (put on in IF) It was great to get to see even more friends. It was a quick trip but was totally worth it!

And just for kicks and giggles here is a belly pic for those of you who care to look:

Hee hee this is Joe wearing an "empathy belly"

Concession

I am finally conceding. Here are a couple belly pictures. Any unkind comments that may come to mind just remember that if you share them with me you will have the wrath of a pregnant woman upon you. =)

This one we took when we moved to Boise I was either 19 or 20 weeks I honestly can't remember.

Two months later I am significantly larger. She moves a lot and enjoys kicking her daddy. I haven't reached the too uncomfortable stage although sleeping is getting much harder. I had another Dr. appointment last week and everything is going great and now I am down to two week visits which is crazy to me!

Here I am at 28 weeks.

ok, ok, I know I am really bad at updating the blog. Here's the thing- I do pretty much the same boring things every day and so I feel like I don't have much of anything to say most of the time. Things are going good for us and we are pretty well adjusted to living in Boise now. Joe is still enjoying his job even though it is a lot of work. The end of quarter is in like a week so it is crunch time for the kids to play catch up and then sometime the following week is parent teacher conferences. He pretty much works an 11 hr day on average. It's always fun when he can come home early though.

I pretty much stay home and find things to occupy myself. I go on a walk a few times a week (which may not seem like much of a feat but combine being pregnant and having bad knees- my options for exercise are limited). And I clean around the house, cook, and then I always have projects going- it's in my nature I don't handle doing nothing very well. Thankfully I am crafty. I was originally planning on maybe substituting some but I have had some really negative experiences with being a last minute sub in the past and I just don't know that I could handle something like that in combination with being pregnant- needless to say the fear has gotten the better of me. Also by the time that I felt settled enough here to do it the schools in the area already had an established sub list. I should have just gotten on it right away but I didn't so that is life.

Like I said we're pretty boring people and that is why this blog hasn't been updated in a while.

What a Week!!!

Ok, so it took me like two weeks to get this written and posted but here it is!!!!

Sorry that it is kinda a novel!

Some of you may have already heard about our week or atleast parts of it, but we have had quite a week full of wonderfully crazy events. I will do my best to give you the low down- here we go!

(P.S. as you read this keep in mind that I was also 19 weeks pregnant )

Sunday Aug. 28, 2011

We taught our last primary class for the summer and then got on the road to Salt Lake to come spend a couple of days with family, we had monday-wednesday off from Playmill and my sister Robyn and her family were also in town from Wisconsin visiting so we wanted to make sure that we got to see them. After sitting for three hours at church and then sitting for 5 hours in the car I quickly realized that sitting for extended periods of time while pregnant is not so fun. But i got to see my family which was great =)

Monday Aug. 29, 2011

Joe was waiting to hear back from a high school in Idaho Falls about a phone interview he had the previous week and he felt strongly that he needed to go in and introduce himself to the principal so that they had a face to put with the name so he got up way early and followed the prompting by driving up to Idaho Falls only to find out that that was not the job for him so back down to Utah he came. We were bummed out of course but this was job number 5 that didn't work out and while we have been heart broken and frustrated and confused we have tried our best to just follow what we feel prompted to do and just trust that the Lord has a plan for us. While Joe was driving back I did sneak in some little shopping/ browsing with my mommy and sister which was fun. When Joe got back I had found another job opening that was just posted and so he sent in an e-mail application with all of his information. Then we enjoyed the rest of the day with my family.

Tuesday Aug. 30, 2011

My mom, sister and I got up and went and got manicures and pedicures (we all miss asia....) and while I was there Joe sent me a message saying that he had gotten a call asking him to do a phone interview about 45 min. later and of course he said yes! So he spent that time quickly reviewing all those terms educators like to hear and looking up some stuff on IB since this school focuses on that. When we got back he said that he felt like it went really well and they had said they would either call back later that day or the next. The rest of the day we spent adventuring with my family. My mom had found that they were doing free tours of the Governor's Mansion and that was the last day for the season so we went and saw it. It was really cool, if i remember correctly it was built in the late 1800's and it has a lot of fun quirky history. We weren't alowed to take pictures inside but here we are outside.

Then we went to Gardner Village, Robyn had never been and I think it is just a fun place to go and walk around even if you don't buy anything.

hmmm.... i'll have to try and figure out who had those pictures..... Robyn? Mommy?

Wednesday Aug. 31, 2011

Well, the school didn't call back on Tuesday but then this morning the vice principal called back, and what did she say? Oh you know just what I have known all along, that Joe had all of the qualities that they were looking for and that he should expect another call later today either with a few more questions or to extend a job offer.... the next two hours were very tense and in the mean time I am thinking " We have to get Robyn's family ready and out the door so that they don't miss their flight. If Joe gets this job we are going to drive straight to Boise to try and find a place to live because we have to be back in west tomorrow and then Joe would start on monday... etc. etc." Well at about 10 am they called back and finally someone got smart and offered him the job!!!!!!!!

*Insert happy dance here =)

By 11 am we were in the car and on the road to Boise to try and find a place to live since Joe had to start work on Monday morning at 9 am. We got to Boise a little after 4 and went to find the school to at least glance at it and then use that location as a starting point for finding a place to live not too far away. So funny story (well it was to us but maybe you had to be there... I'll let you decide). We were sitting at the intersection and the gps on my phone (because i am directionally challenged, and it has come in handy alot lately) tells us that the school is ahead and to the left. So we look up and to the left and see a school with a big old cross on top and the fence in front has a sign for North Star Charter School on it. It was a really long light. We started laughing and talking about how it had never occured to us that it might be a religous school but that it didn't really make a difference, I mean I went to Catholic school for a while. Then the light changed and we went through the intersection only to realize that there was another sign on the building that we just couldn't say that stated that that building was actually a Lutheran Pre-school. I guess that North Star just uses their fence for advertising! So then we drove ahead a little bit and found the school which seemed really nice from the outside. We managed to go see a couple apartments that evening before offices closed and then we went to dinner and got a hotel for the night.

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011

We got up bright and early and saw a couple of places then ended up applying at a place that we had actually seen the day before. We got on the road and then got a call from the complex saying that we had been approved and could move in on Sunday (thank goodness!). We drove like crazy (so sick of driving at this point) and managed to get to West Yellowstone by 5pm because we had two closing shows of Joseph to do that night! It was quite the whirlwind but we did it!

As if we haven't had enough things going on I also felt the baby for the first time tonight. I was sitting there during the show, it was the reprise of the song of the king (the Elvis one) and the music swelled and got really loud and then I felt the baby. The best way that I can think to describe it is that when swimmers get to the end of the pool and they do the somersault thing to turn around. It felt like that was happening inside of me only on a tiny scale of course.

Friday, Sept. 2, 2011

We got up really early (not something I do well or often if you know me...) because we had to be in Rexburg by 9am for my last doctors appointment before moving (thankfully we knew that we would be moving one way or another at the end of the season so we had scheduled on last appointment right before we would have to move to give me a little time to find a new doctor wherever we ended up). This was a 19 week appointment instead of the typical 20 week but they still did the ultrasound and all that. It was fun. I love looking at my baby and hearing the heartbeat =) We got to find out the gender right away because the baby was being very cooperative for that but then refused to give a profile picture for the rest of the appointment. Anybody curious what we're having? Chances are that you have already heard one way or another since I am slow about getting this post up. But drum roll please......

We are having a little GIRL!!!!!!!!! She was not being very modest and the very first thing that came up on the screen the moment that they put the ultrasound on me was that she is most definitely a girl! She also gave us a high five and thumbs up it was cute =) They said that everything is looking great (and they really did check everything trying to get her to turn to get a pretty profile but she wouldn't let them, the best shot they got she had the umbilical cord right in front of her face). Right now she is measuring in the 32nd percentile (but all of the girls in our family are small so I wasn't surprised) and weighs about half a pound. =) Our little girl =) One funny thing I have to share is that when we were leaving the doctors office Joe made me promise to not go to crazy, hee hee hee. He knows that I like dressing little girls up.... but I will be good.

Then we picked up our moving truck and got on the road and then had to stop because the truck was so bad and then John (Joe's dad) switched us and vehicles and he took the truck back for us and got a better one while we went ahead and got on the road to West Yellowstone so that I could get packing (since we had done exactly none at this point). I had Joe's help for a bit then John got there with the truck and we recruited the Playmill boys to come help us move the furniture and stuff we had packed at the point into the truck. Joe told them they had to help or else we wouldn't tell them what we were having- it worked really well! After Joe went to work (thankfully it was my night off!) Trudy came over and helped me for a while and with the help of those people I had packed the entire apartment in 6 hours flat. That's right, I'm a stinkin amazing packer. That night was the Playmill dinner after the shows and so we shared our news about our little girl with everyone at that point. Everyone was excited for us but I will admit that about 2/3rds of them thought that it was going to be a boy.

Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011

Joe got up really early (I had had such a week, keep in mind I'm pregnant and had this week, that my body finally said "I'm done" and I could hardly move) and went over to the apartment (we stayed at John and Trudy's since our place was packed up) and got all of the rest of the stuff packed into the truck and then cleaned up the apartment to move out standards. The nice thing was that we had cleaned so much when we moved in that we knew even if all we had done was wipe everything down it would be better than when we moved in. Then there was a matinee of Dirty Rotten (my off show) so I did the laundry and then came over to the theatre for our last two shows of the season which was High School Musical. Then after the show we had to clean and strike all of our equipment. Thankfully between last summer and this summer I had developed a much more organized system so this went relatively fast. Then home we went and crashed into bed... we were probably asleep within about two minutes.... I kid you not.

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011

Well, our plan was to be on the road by 9... the thing is I always tell myself with loose timelines that if we leave within an hour of that time we are doing great. And so when we got on the road around 9:30 I felt like we were doing just fine. It had been such a long week and I was so exhausted that I wasn't too sure about me driving for 6 hrs + by myself and so John and Trudy were nice enough to come along to help us as drivers which was great. We got to our apartment complex just after 4pm then signed a never ending lease. Joe has a couple of cousins in the Boise area that came and helped us unpack the truck in literally 45 min. It was amazing and we were so grateful for their help because there would have been no way we could have done it by ourselves- especially since I am pregnant. Once we got the truck unpacked Laura and Kevin (Kevin is Joe's cousin) even had us over for dinner so that we didn't have to worry about it. So sweet!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Joe's first day of work as a teacher!

So pretty much that is the sum of the crazy journey that has led us to now living in Boise, ID! I know that that was a lot to read but that is what happened! Joe did the math and for all the big trips that we did in that week it added up to 2057 miles that we put on our car. Thank goodness we have a reliable car! It was quite the whirilwind but we feel very blessed to have this opportunity and to have things work out so smoothly (for the most part). Joe is really loving his school and is working really hard and long hours but I think he is doing great. The school is a public charter school which he really likes because the students care more and parents are more involved but you don't get the snobbiness that sometimes comes with a private school. I'm adjusting slowly (I'm not the biggest fan of change in general) but figuring things out. We really like our apartment and ward so that helps too. We still have to figure out insurance and doctors which is never fun but we'll figure it out!

Just a little* update

Tuesday night was Playmill Prom. This is more of a pseudo Halloween dance that the Playmill cast has every year one night after a show. You get put into couples and come up with a costume pair. Obviously since Joe and I are married we get to be each other's prom date =) It's always hard to figure out what to be because you want it to be creative so that you win... and this year we did! We dug up a couple of trench coats and hats and went dressed as flashers with a special message. It was pretty funny everyone was anxious to see what message we had under our coats but we made them wait a while before they got to see. Most people guessed that we were secret agents which I can see but then they laughed even harder when they found out what we were.

Once we had everyone there we decided it was about time that we showed them the message under our coats and this was their reaction:

Because this is what they saw:

I think that Joe might be just a little bit excited, what do you think?!

(Some people thought that this meant we are having a boy- we don't know yet but this was a gag gift a Playmill player gave us a while ago so we had to incorporate it)

And no this is not a prank- although it would have been a pretty good one =)

I am 14 weeks pregnant and we are expecting our little bundle of joy (mixed with worry and sleep deprivation) around January 27th 2012. We feel very blessed that Heavenly Father is entrusting us with one of his precious little ones and we can't wait to meet him or her.

Nothing much to say but I'll say it anyway

Well folks I don't really have much of anything to say we are still in West Yellowstone working at the Playmill and that takes up most of our time. I really should be more outgoing and make Joe take me on adventures around but... I like to sleep... alot..... and so when u are at work until 11:00 pm or so u sleep in when u can. So mostly we don't do a whole lot other than spend a ton of time at this place:

Yesterday though we did run away to the grand old town of LaGrande Idaho.... look it up clearly it was a BIG get away.... Actually though it was fun as it always is. Every year our friends the Walkers have the Playmill group out to their place for a BBQ at their place for the 24th. It was filled with good food and fun times as always =) After we had devoured our way through all the food we headed over to the Merrill's house which is sorta in Rigby but not really.... another BIG town.... (if you don't know that I am sarcastic then u should

understand at this point that both of these towns are tiny- I was in the country folks.) Once everyone got there the blowing up of things commenced. Firstly dry ice bombs. If you have never seen this before go drink some two liters of soda and find someone from the country.... they will show you what it is all about- but let them do the blowing up so that you keep all of your appendages. Basically you take an empty two liter of soda, put some dry ice in it, add a little bit of water and QUICKLY put the cap back on then either throw it far away and run to a safe distance where the cap will not hit you when the bottle explodes, or put it inside a homemade cannon to shoot it in the air to watch it explode, or before you put the dry ice and stuff in you tie the two liter to a rock so that once you are ready to go you toss it in the water and it creates a depth charge. If anybody doubts that I have been initiated into Idaho culture this mini-tutorial should convince u. Don't worry mom I let the Idaho boys do it. I will never concede that you can call Jello a salad however.

Then of course we did traditional fireworks because well.... who doesn't love fire? =)