because you requested...

Because you asked for them, here are some Belly shots!
I think I'm in the "awkward belly" phase. I'm not big enough (even though I feel like I am) for other people to totally know that I'm pregnant- I'm in the stage where they wonder if I have a huge pot belly. So- whenever we're out in public places, I either try and cover up my belly or dramatically stick it out and hold it in such a way that no one could question if I'm pregnant or not. I don't know if it's working- but it makes me feel better! :)

(don't mind the bad hair day please- remember, we are still on this "extended vacation" in CA- everyday is a holiday still, so no worrying about hair! As long as it gets washed every other day that's great!) :)

IT'S A...

Boy!!!!!

Brett and I are so excited and couldn't be more thrilled with the news.
I am 4 months pregnant- which is a little early to tell, but the doctor was confident with the gender!

We can't wait to meet this little guy- and his 4 cousins that will be born this year! :)

(My sis Carrie, & sis in laws-Denae, Julie and Kim are
also due this year!)

My family has been waiting hours to play a game...

2010 ended great for our little family. There were some un-knowing times, like when we didn't know if Brett was going to have a job, or where we were going to move/live- but as always God is always in control and things work out better then I could have planned or imagined.

Christmas came and went in a blur. I tried to soak up every moment I could, eating every holiday treat my expanding tummy would let me, looking at lights, enjoying the festivities of both of our families. I am happy to report that I once again took champion in the Crowley girl arm wrestling contest :) {we missed you Brooke} And I am unhappy to report that Kate won in our annual "hiding the ornament iguana in the tree and looking for it to win $20 contest"
- wow, what a long title.

As the year came to a close and we graduated college, planned for a future apartment, job, baby and move we realized we have so much to be thankful for- and we are excited for the years ahead and the adventures that are awaiting!

These next pictures are in no particular order.
I hope you enjoy the randomness and un-organization of it all.

Right after graduation I came home and was a part of one of my best friend's wedding. She was a beautiful bride- and it was a beautiful wedding! {I'm not sure why I have a chicken neck, as in i'm sticking it waaay far out. Was I afraid of not getting in the picture? How embarrassing.}

Currently why we are waiting to go back to UT for Brett's job and to move into our new place, we are loving spending time with family here in CA. This is what we do with our new found freedom of no school, homework or responsibility- we sleep, eat, go out to eat, eat some more, read, play with cool toys our families got for Christmas, take the dog on runs, shop {window shop really}, play card games, hang out with family. It's the best. This is today at a local Mexican restaurant that is amazingggg. - it was 12 pm and we had nothing else to do except go get lunch. This life is awesome. We know it won't last forever though so we are soaking it up.

14 weeks and 1 day today!!
I feel enormous. But it's been such a fun adventure so far! Now that it is actually the year our baby will be born- it has become a lot more real to us that we will be parents in 6 short months!!

Another highlight of our break was going with our niece, Lexi, to get her ears pierced!
I didn't remember how big the hole-punching guns were, I was scared when they brought them out! Lexi was so brave though, and she smiled through the whole thing. {Thanks Ddawg for the photo- as you can tell hers is all professionally done compared to all the other photos in this post}

Christmas Candid's

Clark and Abby during the annual talent show. Brett caught marshmallows in his mouth while they were being thrown at an alarming fast rate. To bad I don't have a picture of it-
it's quite a unique talent!

Our other holiday games included a "Minute to Win it" themed New Year's party. It was hilarious and so fun. I bombed my challenge- once again, sorry no pictures!

Carrie and I washing dishes after Grandma's Christmas feast

I think Caitlin had a LOT of sugar this night, and it was Christmas eve so her smile is extra big.


Brett and I are so thankful our families could drive 14 hours in the snow and freezing temperatures to watch us graduate. Idaho is definitely not where anyone wants to be mid-December, so we are thankful for their sacrifice to come support us! {And those who couldn't come we felt your love and support in spirit} :)

BYU-Idaho College Graduates!!


Mom and Dad came to Rexburg a day early because they planned a snow-snowmobiling trip in Yellowstone the next day. I'm so glad they were able to do something fun with all the snow!

Travis making a snow angel. {One of my favorite pics- my brother is hilarious}

Mom and Travis bundled up enjoying Yellowstone!


Welp, that's the update for now!!
Thanks for tolerating the Random-ness.

{p.s. This post is titled what it is because I have been rushed through this whole post! My family has been yelling my name for the last 10 minutes to come play games, but I just wanted to get this done, so I yelled out to Brett what to title this post and that title is what he said- so there ya go}

Can I shoot you?? I promise it won't hurt

As I said before we are currently packing everything in sight in our apartment. Sometimes it gets difficult knowing whether or not to pack something, like certain dishes, hair stuff, and clothes- however this is a story of something that I am very happy to say is now packed away...

The other day I was packing up our closet that had a lot of random toys, games and other stuff in it. As I was packing I came across Brett's air-soft gun, it looks something like this:So I'm packing up the boxes and decide just to throw this gun in the box. Before I pack it, I wanted to do something fun and so I cocked it and shot a cardboard box that was in the room- it made a huge hole, so i realize how powerful it is!

Brett was out in the living room, he heard the noise and came back to see what was going on- when he saw what I did for some reason he though that meant I was game for anything he wanted to do with the air-soft gun. All of the sudden he gets a big smile as he's playing with it and says, "Let me shoot you"-
"WHAT?!" I say, thinking he really must be joking, but then he says it again, "I'll just shoot your leg you have jeans on."
"No way!" I say- still thinking he has to be joking. But then as he keeps repeating it I'm realizing that he's not joking at all.
"It really doesn't hurt that bad- my brothers and I used to run around the house and shoot each other all the time" he says, like it's no big deal and like I am a crazy for not wanting him to shoot me in the leg.

As I realize more and more that he is not joking I start to run out of the room for fear of my life. I found that this is kinda like the same reason why you don't run from a bear. They chase you. Boys and bears have a lot in common. Brett thought that me running meant fun, and that he could chase me because I was going to let him shoot me. I was now a moving target.

Realizing he was chasing me, I began to be in fear of my life. He clearly did not understand that I did not see this game as fun. I did not grow up with brothers shooting me with air-soft guns. I grew up playing barbies and tea-parties- something I don't think Brett understands.

After I run out of the room we are both standing in the living room, with a small coffee table between us. I'm begging him not to shoot me, but I'm slightly laughing because I still can't decide if this is serious or not. Seeing me laughing, Brett thinks that it means it's ok and that I'm down with him shooting me. Seeing him prepare I run into the bathroom and into the shower.

Now I'm so panicked that I'm close to tears- I'm standing in the shower peeking out from behind the curtain now pleading with Brett not to shoot me.

I guess something clicked and he realized that I was really serious and that I didn't want him to shoot me.
All of the sudden Brett's eyes got as big as a puppies. I can tell he's in total shock once he realized how scared I was- he set the gun down and started apologizing over and over.
Once I sensed the area was safe I came out from the shower and I explained my feelings of fear the whole time and Brett felt awful.

Looking back it was pretty funny. It's been fun seeing how different Brett and I grew up just because he's a boy and I'm a girl. I love him and I'm so thankful that he's sensitive enough to not have shot me that day. :)

The Latest... {with no pictures, sorry}

Our life has been busy, crazy, crazy busy and all in between.
I am dragging myself through finals as I prepare to graduate this week- I still can't believe it, I can't imagine a life without homework and essays, and tests, but I bet that life is going to be wonderful... I might forget how to read, write, and do basic math but as long as I'm not doing homework- life will be bliss. I just know it. Well, it will be until our child asks me to help with homework and I can't read the directions- then I will be embarrassed, but then again maybe not.

While we are both preparing to graduate- we are also packing like crazy!! Brett is the best packer in the world. I am so serious. He fits anything and everything into every nook and cranny of the box and he packs so fast, he is like a professional. Seriously, if this new career he has doesn't work out I am really considering starting a "Packing by Brett" business... He would change the packing world!

Now to the other "lately's"... since we are packing, and my turbo-packer husband packs like a maniac, in his packing frenzy he packed my camera battery charger. So- I am out of batteries for my camera hence I have no pictures to show. But I wanted to throw in some details about the latest of my almost 11 weeks pregnant self.

~ The snack that I could currently eat morning, afternoon and night are the Target brand of roasted, salted almonds. I buy a whole jar and it's gone in 2 days. They are to die for.
~I'm still not throwing up {thankfully} and my nauseousness has pretty much ended as well. Wa-hoo!
~ I feel huge already- and I can't wait to get a belly. I've been asking everyone I know who has had a baby when they started showing, just to see if I'm on track.
~ I smell everything, and for some reason our dishwasher has smelled horrible to me these past few weeks, as soon as a cycle is done, I open it up and dump baking soda in to neutralize the smell- it's really been helping.

That's about it! Brett & I are so excited to be parents- we love any chance to watch our friends and families babies, we watched this adorable guy on Sunday and we loved every minute of it!

Other then that we are enjoying the season of Christmas-although we have no tree, no lights, no decorations up, so really I feel a little like Ebenezer-but we try to get the spirit with Pandora's Christmas stations and we cannot wait to be home in sunny, snow-less California spending the holidays with family. And without homework. Oh, what a life!

I have some explaining to do.

I have been neglecting this blog lately.
Why?
Because I have been tired, sometimes emotionally moody, nauseous, craving weird food, and gagging at the thought of some of my used-to-be favorite foods...

Because we are 9 weeks pregnant of course!!! :)

We are so excited for this new adventure. Right now the due date of our little one is July, 6 2011.

We have been so blessed in our lives, especially these past few weeks. Brett has a job at a great company starting early next year in Salt Lake. We are also graduating college in 3 weeks, I can't believe it! No more homework? No more tests? I can't imagine, what is that life like?

we are so excited for our up coming adventures. Spending the holidays at home will be wonderful. Sunny and wonderful. Not to mention one of my best friends is getting married that week so it will be one loooong week of partying! I love weddings. I love the dress, the cake, the flowers, and my most favorite; spending the day watching the bride and groom goggle and gaggle over each other all day- I can't wait.
Count down till home- 18 days. Oh ya baby.
Although- thinking of leaving this cute, wonderful little farm town also brings a tear to my eye. We love so many people and parts of this town... But we will visit! (maybe? Or maybe they visit us?)

Thanksgiving Thankfuls

I love this time of year. It's perfect- there is enough time before Christmas to enjoy the season and get excited for the holidays, but the fact that Thanksgiving is here is so wonderful!!
I love the day of feasting and enjoying company.

I have a lot to be thankful for, here goes;
A wonderful husband
The Church & my testimony
Family & Friends, including parents who are such a good example to me
My heat dish
Good food
Pandora Christmas stations
snow boots & winter gear for the 4 degree weather currently outside
Mother Nature's creations
animals
Hope
Modern Medicine
Ice cream

and finally...
A husband who LOVES to shovel snow!! :)