Happy Two Years :)

George and I are celebrating two amazing years together! It's strange to think that two years have gone by...time flies when you're having fun :) Since our actual anniversary fell on a Monday we celebrated the weekend before. On Friday after work we went to the Orlando Temple and then out to eat at Outback Steak House. We went there because we had a gift card to use, but we were pretty disappointed in the food. I didn't even finish my 6 oz. steak. I know what you're thinking...pregnant lady you don't even like food! Well since I'm not reliable, George didn't like his either. But it was pleasant to eat out with just the two of us, it seems like we haven't done that in a long time. We got a hotel that night just outside of Orlando so it'd be a short trip the next day to Blue Springs State Park. Florida has some amazing springs bubbling up from beneath. Manatees use them during the winter so it's off-limits to humans, but in the summer the manatees go elsewhere to play. The water was a refreshing 72F. The head spring bubbles up from 120' below and then flows down stream. It's so clear and beautiful...we spent a very relaxing day lazily tubing in the water, with a nice picnic break in the middle. We stopped for milk-shakes on the way home. It was delightful to get out and I felt good most of the day! I have to give props to George. I've been so busy with work and my church callings (and pregnancy) that I haven't had time for much else, so he planned everything for the weekend. He packed all our clothes, picnic foods, and booked the hotel. Pretty much all I had to do was get in the car. It was perfect and so relaxing!

The head spring - there is a hole beneath George that goes about 120' straight down, there were a few scuba divers that went to the bottom while we were there.

George lazily floating down Blue Springs.

I had to get a picture with us together. Our camera isn't water-proof, so here is one of us together...I'm just about 30' above George :)

I made this collage for our anniversary. Props to my brother, Mac, for building the frame. He actually made it for another painting we have, but until we get matting done it doesn't fit. I think it works nicely for our collage tho!

By far, the best and most exciting present this anniversary was finding out that Ichabod is a BOY!!! Now to just figure out some names and get ready for our cute bundle :) We are SO excited for this little baby to join our family. It was really fun seeing how excited George was with the news :) Beforehand we decided that if it was a girl I would teach an Albanian word to George each day for the rest of the pregnancy, but since it's a boy it looks like George will be teaching me Spanish! In just a few days I'll officially be 'half-way' YES!! We have a lot to look forward to in our lives with a baby boy on the way and a new career for George. We look forward to the adventure!

We ♥ Padres

My parents have been serving a mission for the past 18 months in West Virginia. They wrapped up their time there and came down to Florida for a little relaxation and visitation. They timed it pretty well, catching the last shuttle launch by Atlantis. It was wonderful to have their company in our home. I felt bad for being my pregnant self. I still like my rest and not my food. We had some great walk-talks and George got to take them up on a chopper ride. They visited the space center and we got in some great beach and pool time. George even taught my mom how to skim board! I tried it...not a good idea...maybe my center of gravity is changing?

The last launch for Atlantis - it actually lands this morning in an hour.

Dad & George at lift-off.

George showing off his skim-boarding skills.

Mom on the skim board, you go girl!!

The manatees showing off for us. There were about 10 of them eating on the edge of the river.

Mom & Dad taking an evening dip in our pool.

Lovely beach time! Thank you for making the trip down to see us. We LOVE you!!

On the pregnancy front...the past few days have been pretty good. The twelve weeks before that...not so good. I didn't know pregnancy could be so miserable. But recently I made it a whole week without puking, although it still happens occasionally. The nausea is there most of the time. We get to find out in less than two weeks whether a boy or girl will be joining our family. I put a poll up on the side bar if you want to vote. George still knows its a boy :) We've pre-named the baby Ichabod...much better than calling it "it" for now, don't you think? And I guess I'm showing, last week two strangers asked when I was due. Scrubs hide it pretty well tho :)

And on the school front...the last portion for CFI is taking more time/money than we thought, which stinketh. But after some bumps in the road George officially has an instructor and is flying as I type. We'll have a bonafide, certified, helicopter pilot instructor on our hands before we know it!

The Birthday Surprise...

The baby bomb is ticking.

Sara, my sis, texted me on Jan 22

Text #1 "I'm taking all the baby stuff to the (storage) container, bc Kaden says that ur not growing up ur baby yet. He's an expert." (Kaden is my wise 4-year-old nephew.)

Text #2 "Wait, Kaden says what if ur in Florida and u have ur baby. Now I just don't know."

I found out on my 28th birthday that I'm pregnant, ahhhhh! I had a pretty good idea before I took the test since I'd been nauseous and going to bed at 7 p.m. all week, but we wanted to save the actual test for my birthday. I begged George to let me take it earlier. Who knew peeing on a stick could be so exciting, haha! So at 5 am on my birthday I woke up feeling nauseous, and I had to go, so I took the test and passed! I jumped on poor George. He was a little confused at first because he's such a hard sleeper, but then it hit him :) We're going to have a baby!

Oh yes and my brother-in-law, Chris, refuses to have a baby of his own, so he feels it necessary to insist that everyone else have babies. And he kept warning me that he better find out first. So he had the honors of receiving my actual pee stick in the mail. I thought about sending him a sample of urine and a new test so he'd literally be the 'first' to know. Hahaha you are welcome Chris!

I've been nauseous since week 6 and throwing up since week 7. It's frustrating because nothing seems to make this 'flu' go away. Why is this a side-effect of pregnancy??? It seems so unnatural. I try to remember that all the sickness is not terminal, and it will end up with a cute lil bebe down the road. And they do say that nausea and vomiting are signs that the baby is healthy, so I can't complain! I've found that warm vanilla milk, snacking, baths, and resting lots seem to help some. Let's just hope this pukage goes away after the first trimester!

We had our first Doctor's appointment this week. It was SOOO neat to get to see our lil 2" baby and hear the baby's heart beating soooooo fast! 164 beats per minute fast! I could have stayed there looking at the ultrasound 'tv' all afternoon. The baby looked so relaxed in there hanging out. It was so neat, George and I could not stop smiling.

I'm 12 weeks along and our lil monster is due on Halloween! Oh yes, and George 'knows' it's a boy.

Easter Weekend

We started the weekend out right by getting Good Friday off work. A group of us went down to the Banana River (30 mins south) to go kayaking. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. I was hoping manatees would come tip over our kayaks, but no such luck. One of our friends from church owns Calema Windsurfing & Watersports and they were kind enough to let us borrow a couple of their kayaks. We rounded up the other four from other generous friends. It was so pleasant to be out on the water paddling, drifting, and enjoying life.

This is Susie, owner of Calema...she's a pro at windsurfing. Next time we go I want to try it out!

Every 6 months in April and October our Church has a world General Conference where we get to listen to instruction from church leaders. There are five two-hour sessions, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. It is broadcast via satellite/internet, so we gathered at Sarah & Trevor's house to listen to conference. We had a yummy breakfast bar with french toast, crepes, yogurt, fresh fruit, sausage, bacon, and cinnamon rolls. We also dyed easter eggs and prepared for the first annual Egg Roll Contest. My friend Aly's family does this every year and I thought it was such a fun idea that I wanted to do it too! And guess what...my red #1 egg was really number one, it dominated, or maybe it was just me that dominated :)

They turned out so pretty!

The Egg Roll in action!

#1

Easter is one of my favorite holidays because it has such a special meaning and is a fun low-key family holiday. On Sunday all of us pitched in to make a fabulous Easter dinner. It was quite the spread, in fact we are still trying to finish it! The ham and mashed potatoes were oh so good! And I was so excited because my dinner rolls turned out well this time. That evening we took a nice stroll and played a game of throw golf. It was a great weekend. I'm so thankful that we've made such good friends during our time here in Florida. I love Easter!

The Easter Gang

And I just had to post this because it's such a cute picture!

Prankster

My sweet George was making dinner for me on April Fool's...so what do I do to show my appreciation? Place a rubber-band around the sprayer on the sink, so when he turns on the faucet this will happen:

Fortunately he didn't get me back, so now at least I can rest easy until next year. It's against the rules to retaliate except on April 1st, right?