Fall Pictures

A few weeks ago, my friend Kylee took some pictures of David and I in Emigration Canyon where we live. They weren't maternity photos, per se - just some fun pictures of David and I before we become a threesome in January. I thought my tummy was pretty apparent when Kylee was taking the photos, but apparently it wasn't. Her only comment about it? "You look like a little light bulb!" :) Here are some favorites:

 

I add this one first because it's the only true "maternity photo" that was taken. As you can tell, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing while David's making a cute heart on my tummy.

  This last one is by far my favorite.

Kylee has this wonderful way of making you laugh and feel comfortable so that your smiles and poses are genuine.

I will try to post a more recent picture of my 30-week tummy soon. I kept waiting for a good hair day or the weather to cooperate, and then our camera broke. Figures. :)

Can you feel the love tonight?

Unfortunately, David and I did not do the fun things we had planned to last weekend. We didn't go on a picnic, or to a concert; no, we stayed inside and cleaned the house in preparation for my family to come over and gave each other colds. Awesome! :(

This week was a little rough as a result of both of us being sick. David seems to get over being sick as quickly as he gets sick, maybe because he doesn't ever complain. I haven't recovered quite as quickly, mostly because I currently have no immune system. We've both been drinking wassail and orange juice and sanitizing everything.

This weekend we are doing fun things, though, sickness notwithstanding! David and I are going up Millcreek Canyon tonight to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, and tomorrow we're going to the Lion House with my family and then to see the "Lion King" at Capitol Theater! That's right, it's a themed night. We'll see how loud my 17 year-old brother "roars" in protest the entire night about being forced to spend time with the family. :) Have a great weekend, everyone!

School and babies

Things are going well in the Steed household. David's finishing up his third week at Westminster and is really enjoying going there. Unfortunately, one of his classes has turned out to be a profound disappointment, and it's also unfortunately the class he was looking forward to the most. It's a 300-level political science class, "Contemporary Political Philosophy," and the teacher is the biggest flake I've ever heard of. He told the class the first day that he really "didn't feel like" having a midterm or a final, or really any assignments at all because he didn't want to grade them. Their only assignment (and grade, pretty much) is a term project. The class is held twice a week, so it should be longer than normal, but the professor "doesn't feel like" lecturing longer than an hour, so the class gets out early every day. Half of me thinks, "Great, easy A." The other half of me thinks, "We're paying $12,000 a semester to go to take classes from one of the flakiest teachers in North America?!" Suck it up, buttercup. We all have to do things we don't like. If you don't "feel like" grading papers and tests, maybe you shouldn't have "felt like" becoming a professor in the first place.

I'll stop ranting now. I blame the pregnancy hormones. This baby is turning into a convenient little scapegoat: "I'm sorry I can't go, I'm just too tired;" "Oh, thanks for carrying that for me, I just can't lift it;" "I need chocolate, David;" "It's not my fault I need a whole new wardrobe, David!" See? Wonderful. Extra naps, extra favors, extra clothes, and extra calories. Woo hoo! :)

In other baby news, I'm still waiting to feel anything. When we had the ultrasound, the technician told us that I have an anterior placenta, which is a fancy way of saying that it'll take me longer to feel the baby move because there are extra layers of stuff in front. I thought I might have felt a few jabs the other day (the baby obviously appreciates bacon potato soup), but I haven't felt anything since then. It's so frustrating to not know what's going on in there. I look forward to doctor's appointments every month to hear the heartbeat; it's the only time that I have proof there's something alive in there other than the fact that the number of clothes that fit me are rapidly shrinking. I guess if I'm growing, the baby is too.

Have a great weekend, everyone! David and I might bundle up and have a picnic tonight and then go to a free concert tomorrow to hear a band comprised of a 10 year-old, a 13 year-old, and a 17 year-old. Should be fun!

Ultrasound pictures

Here are some of the ultrasound pictures of our little girl! The technician fortunately labeled parts for everyone's convenience. :)

It's a girl!

Happy news to share: David and I are having a GIRL!!! We're both very excited! I had my 20-week ultrasound yesterday, and we got to see our very squirmy baby! The technician took lots of pictures of tiny arms, legs, and feet (which I will post later, promise!), and the baby is perfectly healthy. David had her check the gender several times, just to make sure. He has his reasons: his parents thought he was a girl (going to be named Amanda) until he was born. Nevertheless, we are already sorting through names we like and whispering them and calling them and repeating them dozens of times in an effort to find the right combination. And no, I'm sorry, no one gets to know the name except us until the baby's born. You'll all just have to live with it and say nothing, even if it's Olga Mildred (which it's not, don't worry).

Back to school

David started his sophomore year at Westminster this past week, and has thus far loved every minute of it. He's taking four classes: Math, English, Contemporary Political Philosophy, and Speech. The campus is fifteen minutes away from our house in Emigration Canyon, it only has a few thousand students, small class sizes, and did I mention it's the only liberal arts college in Utah? David definitely puts the "liberal" in "liberal arts." He's right at home. His English teacher told the class the first day that he would occasionally make completely inaccurate or false statements and opinions, and that it was part of the students' grade to catch him when he did so. David's definitely at the right school - I think he's devoted his life to ensuring that everyone's statements and opinions are accurate and fact-based.

It feels very strange to me not to be going back to school. I've gone back to school in the fall for the past 17 years, and the fact that I'm sitting at a desk in a bank and not collecting syllabi and making a homework schedule makes me a little wistful. I might have to go buy some school supplies, just for me, in order to cope.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Raspberries, cousins, and errant felines

I don't know about you guys, but I had a busy weekend. My family and I did lots of fun things, but now it's Monday and I'm exhausted and need another two days off to recuperate from the weekend. How sad is that?

This past weekend was Raspberry Days at Bear Lake, so David and I drove up there with my family to enjoy some delicious fruit. The ironic thing is that there were no fresh raspberries to be found. The raspberry shakes were amazing, as was the raspberry pie, but there were no signs of any fresh raspberries. We passed a fruit stand on the way up to Bear Lake advertising fresh raspberries and we thought, "We're not stopping there, we'll get the real thing when we get to Bear Lake." We should have stopped.

There was a wonderful craft fair at Bear Lake, where I got a beautiful seashell bracelet and helped my poor, girl jewelry-challenged brother pick something out for his girlfriend. Aw, cute. :) We ate a chuck wagon dinner before seeing a play at the Pickleville Theater called "The Return of the Bandito;" or maybe it was "Bandito Rides Again." Anyway, the majority of it was hilarious; some of it was just too silly, and I really could've done without the Obamacare and "The government is taking over our lives, what will we do?!" jokes. But, after all, we were on the Utah/Idaho border, so David and I were the only ones who laughed disdainfully instead of appreciatively.

David and I didn't get home until about 1:45 am - much later than anyone had anticipated, and I hadn't arranged a substitute to play piano for me in Primary on Sunday. So, I managed to drag myself out of bed, go to church and play piano, and then come back home and crawl back in bed. My cousin Tyler and his family invited us down to their house in Lehi for dinner, so we again climbed into the car with my family and drove down there. A few more aunts, uncles, and cousins were there as well, so it was a lot of fun. We spent most of the time outside talking and enjoying the unseasonably cool weather. At one point, one of Tyler's kids got hurt playing on the trampoline with David. As all of us turn to ask what happened, Tyler says, "David beat him up - he started spouting conservative rhetoric and David couldn't take it." Oh, he knows David well, and don't worry - children are one group that David would not beat up for spouting conservative rhetoric. :)

We had a rather eventful morning today, though. Yesterday as David and I were watching a movie, a gust of wind blew open our back door. I got up, shut it, and locked it, and neither of us thought anything of it. Until this morning. I got up around 6:00 am to use the bathroom, and looked into the living room to where we keep the cats at night, and saw that the back door had again been blown wide open - and the cats were gone. Fortunately, Chloe - the tiny, paranoid, homebody - was sitting on the back steps, and she was more than happy to come back in the warm and dry house; our other cat, Riley, was nowhere to be found. I woke David up, and he and I searched the canyon for about an hour yelling his name before we heard him crying in the bushes about a hundred feet up the canyon from our house. David climbed through the scrub oak and found Riley shivering in the bushes, covered in burs. It took us the better part of half an hour to cut all them off of him and make sure he was otherwise uninjured. Then the stupid cat fell asleep instantly after what, I'm sure, he deemed a night of adventure and David and I still had to go to work after a morning of frantic and frenzied searching. This must be what parents feel like when their toddler goes missing, only to be found in the neighbor's backyard a few blocks away. You're at first happy and relieved that they're safe, and then angry that they ran away and caused you grief; there's a simultaneous impulse to cuddle and throttle, and you might do a little of both. I know I would/did. Just kidding, don't call PETA, or Child Protective Services. :)

So now you see why I need another weekend. I might spend my entire lunch break sleeping. It's a good thing there were donuts at work this morning. :)