Starting in January...

I'm going to have 20 two-turning-three-year-old kids in my nursery class at church! That's more than a kindergarten class! Can I just scream and pull my hair out now in joyful anticipation?!? If you're in my ward and you're reading this, feel free to drop in at any time to lend a hand because I'm sure I'll be needing it!

I've already got some great ideas brewing for how I'm going to make it work (rotations/stations), but my ideas won't work unless we have at least 3 leaders in the nursery including myself (ideally 4 would be awesome!). This would require people to say yes to this calling. Why does everyone think nursery is so bad/hard? I've been in for almost a year now, and have really enjoyed it, except for the occasional really, really, really bad days. If there is good structure in the class, things run smoothly and it is not a difficult calling. Hopefully I'll have some help in my class come January!!!

25 Weeks and Counting...

Blood Pressure: 104/60

Weight Gain: 13 lbs. *I can only gain 12 lbs. in 15 weeks if I want to achieve my ideal weight gain of 25 lbs....pretty much an impossibility.

Exercise: mostly inside now that the weather is colder. Occasionally I can still get out and walk/jog if the weather warms up or if Matt is home (I don't want Caleb to get sick). Today was one of those days where I could exercise outside. I walked the first mile, then started a slow jog for however long until the cramping got too painful and I had to walk. 5 miles of jogging later, I quit not because of cramping, but because my legs were starting to feel like jelly. I haven't been able to run this much in at least 3 months, and it felt amazing! Definitely a tender mercy as I have missed the ability to be able to run. I didn't even feel pregnant as I ran and only remembered as I glanced down at my protruding belly.

Favorite Part About Pregnancy: Feeling the baby move. I especially love when Matt can get involved, i.e. see and feel the baby move.

Birth Plan: Natural if I can do it. (This is a whole other post in and of itself as I have always thought epidural is the way to go as seen in these previous posts. see #29 for the baby tag post)

Things to do in the next 15 weeks before the baby comes: Pick a name! & get Caleb's new room ready (we're going to buy a bunk bed for his room and bypass the toddler bed).

In Memory Of...

this duck
whose life tragically ended at approximately 5:28pm on our way home from church yesterday when our van hit it at 50 mph.

I saw the duck a split second before Matt did, who was driving, and let out an involuntary piercing scream, but there was no hope. The duck was flying about 2 feet off the ground across 4 lanes of traffic...he made it through 3 of the 4 lanes. The car driving next to us blocked the view of the duck until it was too late. It had been raining, so the roads were wet, and I'm just thankful that Matt didn't react more drastically to my earth-shattering scream by swerving and hitting another car. I've never killed an animal while driving, and this statement is still true as I wasn't driving, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for the duck the rest of the way home from church. His life was cut short, and it was all our fault. When we got home from church and were able to assess the damage it did to our car, I wasn't feeling so sorry for the duck any more. That stupid duck trying to fly across 4 lanes of traffic, 2 feet off the ground...he deserved to die, but why'd it have to be our car that had to hit him and get dented?!!

More Wedding Pictures

Picture taken with "Flat Lindsey" (my sister is on a mission). These are the matching blouses my mom made for us, and it happened to cover my pregnant belly relatively well.
Clayton & Kara with all their nephews and niece.

Being reverent at the temple while Kara and Clayton got married

Our handsome boys with Princess Sam

Utah Vacation

We were in Utah for the week of Thanksgiving in order to celebrate the marriage of this cute couple!

Here's everything we did:


On some outings, I forgot my camera, and other times the camera wouldn't work (it has issues if it is cold outside....maybe Santa will bring me a new one for Christmas ;o), so these pictures don't cover the whole week. I'll post some more of the wedding and reception at a later date.

Although it was a hectic week, I always have a blast with my family. Whenever we get together, it involves late nights of game-playing and talking, and then early mornings getting up with the kids. We rented a condo just outside of Salt Lake City up in the mountains, and because we flew this time, we also rented some cars to get around. (I think Matt and I have officially broken our vacation budget this year with a cruise in March--which we probably wouldn't have done had we known what else the year would hold, family vacation in June, impromtu vacation to Utah in July for my grandpa's funeral, and now this vacation! I'm definitely not sick of my family yet, so that's a good sign.)

On Saturday night, we got to meet Kara for the first time. I think she'll fit in great as we continue to get to know her better. There aren't any grandchildren/nieces or nephews on her side of the family, so I'm afraid our family might be a little overwhelming with three rambunctious boys and one sweet little angel. I'm really looking forward to some photography tips in the future as that's what she's majoring in at BYU.

Sunday night it snowed, so Monday we cancelled all other plans in order to take the kids sledding. Caleb was not exactly thrilled with the snow, but soon warmed up to it.

Tuesday we spent in Provo doing errands, visiting BYU campus and the new Hinckley center, and Matt and I were able to catch up with some dear friends who just moved to Provo 3 months ago. The girls attended a bridal shower that night for Kara.

Thursday was not our traditional Thanksgiving because we lacked my mom's yummy homemade cooking. We ordered out a dinner at a local grocery store. It was nice that we could have a relaxing day without having to prep all morning for dinner.

Friday, Nov. 27, Clayton and Kara were married for time and all eternity in the Draper temple. It was windy and cold, so the pictures afterwards were not fun. My mom made Kari, Ariane, and I matching white silk blouses, which turned out wonderfully. The reception was a few hours after the wedding. Having not had a nap, Caleb was wired all through the reception, and Matt and I pretty much took turns chasing down our son and trying to keep him out of trouble. Later that night, we went to Temple Square to see the lights.

It's good to be back home and back to our normal routine (although Matt's not excited to be back at work). Congratulations Clayton and Kara and thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!