Welcome to Baby Land...

Okay I really couldn't wait to post these, so here they are: some shots of our almost-completed nursery! All that I still have to add are the valances, which my mom is so kindly making for me (out of this DARLING print that is white with blue stars... ahh, so very cute!), and I will probably add a photo somewhere of pregnant me. Is that self-interested? My friend Leah took some very cute shots (I say it like it's a rare thing because it is... there are only so many occasions on which one feels cute while prego), so at some point I'll frame one and hang it on the wall somewhere so my kiddo can see what it was like when he was on the inside, hah.
Any who... here you go!

Walking through the doorway...

Those aren't real photos in those frames. I am waiting until baby arrives to
put his picture up all around....

That dresser is FULL of baby clothes!

I love our crib! Well, I love all our furniture. You'd never know it was 16 years old and once used by Hannah, who was ever so kind to share with her new nephew :)

Changing table and tons of baskets for storage! And yes, they are ALL full!

I think the bedding is just precious. I love toile.

Rocker and bassinet, which will probably spend most of the next few months in
our bedroom, actually.

Shot of the whole room.

Don't these just make your heart melt?

I love it.

Well there you have it! As I make little changes I'm sure I'll post shots of those, too. Thanks for stopping by! And thank you to Danny and my parents and sisters for helping to create such a great living space for the little one.

See you after the baby is born!

The Waiting Game

Hello world! This might be the last chance I have to jump on and give the blogging world an update -- for a little while, anyway. At least, until I'm home full-time for six weeks with nothing to do but take around-the-clock care of my little guy. Wait... that doesn't sound like it'd leave much time for blogging, either. SO, I guess I'll take advantage now.

Well, we are just about ready to welcome our little boy into the world. Here I'll prove it -- look at my HUGE belly...



Crazy, huh? My once-little body has grown in ways -- and places -- I never thought it could. Ever. Pregnancy has been a wild, wonderful ride. In many ways I will be sad to have it come to an end, but I am so very excited to meet our son and to watch our family grow. Not to mention, I won't much miss having to pee every five seconds, I can't wait to have caffeine again, and it'll be nice to actually accompany Danny on a run or hike -- with the little one in the stroller or baby carrier, of course :) I don't think we can yet imagine all the sweetness and magic of having a child, but I am positive it will be everything we've ever dreamed.

Anyway, I won't bore everyone with details and updates from my most recent doctors visits, but we're looking at not more than just a few days... so be looking for baby pictures soon! Wish us luck! OH! And we haven't picked a name yet, so leave your ideas here if you have any!

Welcome, 2010!

Hi Everyone! I apologize for my recent blogging hiatus; I assure you it was not intended to make you feel left out -- we are just a very busy family! Anywho, after repeated comments (ahem, Mom... ha ha) about how "Fun Fall Things" was a little outdated, as we have now seen Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's come and go, I decided it was time to take a few minutes on a lazy Sunday afternoon and write a new post to the world.



Christmas was a delight, as Christmas often is. The food was wonderful, the company was heavenly, and the time off work to sleep in was ever so priceless. We have enjoyed Danny's winter break from BYU for the last couple weeks (we are gearing up for school to start again tomorrow), and were able to spend time with family, with each other, and getting things really ready for the baby (coming soon, by the way: pictures of our almost-finished nursery, and some darling pregnancy shots by Leah Wasson).

... I'm not sure we'll ever feel 100% ready for parenthood, but getting the baby's room almost done, crossing things off my shopping list, reading countless books about "baby's first year" (thank you, Mom and Dad), and getting ready to pack my hospital bag -- just in case -- are all helping me feel a little more prepared, at least on the outside :) Danny is endlessly patient with me. He massages my aching back, wakes up in the middle of the night to work out the nasty charlie horses in my legs (I guess he doesn't have much of a choice when I wake up screaming in pain, but still, he's very patient about it), puts on my shoes and socks for me since I can literally no longer reach my feet, and is ever so compassionate when I complain about heartburn, having to pee constantly, and being pummeled from the inside out by our very active little boy (we are very excited to have you HERE, Kiddo!). I think more than anything I am looking forward to seeing Danny in dad-hood. He will be SO great at it!

As we count down the days til baby arrives, we have found ourselves enjoying another new adventure:


We were finally able to set up our saltwater tank! -- something we've been wanting to do for years. When I met Danny, he had an impressive 80-gallon freshwater aquarium up and running. After a few months, we decided to take it down in favor of setting up a saltwater tank instead. However, when we realized the cost of this not-so-cheap-and-highly-addictive hobby, we knew we would have to wait a while before getting it going. Meanwhile, we moved twice and were thankful to not have to deal with moving the huge tank again. Anyway, around Thanksgiving Danny found a smaller tank and stand for sale, and the price included the sand and rock, which is a major part of the cost. We decided to go for it, and consider it an early Christmas present to ourselves. Since then, we (well, Danny is the mastermind, but I help) have successfully established a beautiful little underwater world in our loft -- complete with two Clownfish (like Nemo, if that helps), a purple and blue striped Wrasse, a cute little Yellow Watchman, a cleaner shrimp, a starfish, crabs, snails, an anemone, mushrooms, and half a dozen corals. It is quite the hobby. Until you've tried it, I don't think you can understand how compelling it is (I know I never did). I often feel like people wonder a little how it is we can have so much to say about our fish, and the only other people who get it are the other weirdos who have fish themselves. But really, it opens your eyes to this whole new little world, like having 24 gallons of the ocean right there in your home for you to marvel at everyday. I know it sounds a little tree-hugger strange, but it is really, truly so neat. Our next project is setting up our 80-gallon tank again, but this time with a planted freshwater system, as that is much cheaper than saltwater. We are excited for the relaxing feel it brings to the room and enjoy the time we spend together working on it.

Well, sorry to go on and on about that. In other news, did I mention we are having a baby in four weeks? Oh yes, and we saw Avatar twice this weekend! It was wonderful both times, although I recommend seeing it in 3D. We loved it -- the visual, the story, everything. I am certain there are things about it which will become the new standard in film-making. It was wonderful.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by to read about what's been going on in our lives. We are very excited to meet 2010, and are sure it will be a fantastic year! It is always a blessing to be able to start anew, to try to be better, and I am thankful for the opportunity to do just that. And I will try really, realllly hard to keep my blog more updated... especially as we get ready to welcome baby! Have a happy Sunday, world!

Fun Fall Things

Well, these pictures are a tad out of order, but that's alright. Here's a little of what we've been up to this month...

My father-in-law, Mike, celebtrated his 60th birthday -- with all the grandkids!

(sorry, this one is a little fuzzy because no one can sit still...)

At a recent Lone Peak game, where we watched Hannah and the

Chevaliers perform at half-time!

We brought along our favorite little friend, Ruby, who enjoyed searching for the Starburst Danny had hidden in his coat pockets...


They are friends :)



Again, blurry, but this was a terrific show!

Isn't she darling?

Danny and his parents and siblings. I love them.

Yes, I took this prego picture of myself, in my mirror. No one else was home to do it for me ... But anyway, check out my baby bump! Getting bigger everyday. My belly button is about to pop inside out!

We bought a hutch for our kitchen that we absolutely LOVE! Adds so much warmth, not to mention storage space!

Our favorite nephew, Carter, and Grandpa at the birthday party.

My honey and me at Wheeler Farm a few weekends ago...

Life is good.

Anywhere you go, let me go too

The other night while working on homework Danny was playing some piano classics over the speakers. One of these on the album was Phantom of the Opera's "That's All I Ask of You," one of my all-time favorite love songs. It's been stuck in my head since, and while I don't think of myself as a very cheesy, sappy sort of person (most of the time), I just really love the words:

Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you
Say you need me with you, here, beside you
Anywhere you go let me go too
Love me - that's all I ask of you

I am very thankful for my sweetheart, this week and always. We met two years ago last month, and so we spent a good deal of time over the last few weeks reminiscing about those giddy early days of our relationship. I am thrilled to say I only love him more with everyday that I know him... marriage will do that to ya if you let it. I would follow him anywhere. And I am catching glimpses of the wonderful daddy he will be. We watched the recording of the ultrasound together the other night, and Danny kept saying things about how cute the baby is and how much he can't wait to meet him. It was all I could ever want to hear :) Speaking of the ultrasound (drum roll, please), who wants to see pictures? I happen to have a few...

Leg and foot...

Spine (toward the top you can see an arm, and at the bottom is his tailbone and leg -- he is sort of curled in a ball)

Best of all, his face. Isn't he darling?

We love him already and can't wait until he's here.
I am grateful for my growing little family!

It's a BOY!

Yessiree! You've probably heard the news via Facebook by now, but in case you haven't... We are having a little boy! The ultrasound went wonderfully well, my doctor made a thorough inspection of baby's whole body (and I am happy to report that our little man is free of everything from spina bifida to a clubbed foot to a cleft lip), and Danny is beaming: he is so proud to be having a son! We loved the time spent viewing the ultrasound images. We got to look at his brain, his heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, legs and arms, hands and feet, his back and bum and other boy parts -- Dr. Melendez put it, "He is definitely a boy!" -- Danny loved that, as you can imagine, and best of all, his little face. I will post pictures soon (again, when my Internet is up... or maybe I'll just have to put the pics on Danny's computer), but I just wanted to mention that seeing his face was so neat because we got to look at it from a few different sides, and I just kept thinking how much I could see Danny and me in his little nose and chin and lips. It was wonderful! He looks like a little angel. Well, okay, so, Danny and I were both hellions as children... but maybe that will skip a generation?

Shortly after the appointment we took the news to our families, and everyone's reaction seemed to be, "I knew it would be a boy!" Since then, I've spent most of my brain energy coming up with nursery decorating ideas and picking colors and designs. And my fantastic mom has gone to work doing the same. It will be a thrilling project, that's for sure! I will take and post pictures as we go.

I will write more later, but I just wanted to report on the events of the last few days. (I find myself needing to write down special things like this before my pregnant brain forgets the details.) I am very thankful for what appears to be a healthy little boy (he certainly FEELS healthy... very squirmy and wiggly and throwing kicks when I least expect it. I tell Danny it feels like I'm being tickled from the inside out), and for a most loving, supportive husband and family. Not to mention, this may sound strange, but Danny and I are grateful to have another way by which our lives can be tied tighter to Brianna and Carter, Mark's wife and son. Carter will be less than two years older than our boy, and we hope they will be lifelong little buddies. Somehow we take a lot of comfort in that. Miss you, Mark.


Talk to you all again, soon! Goodnight!

Countdown to ultrasound!

I've been meaning (and wanting) to get on and post again for awhile, but Danny temporarily sabotaged my Internet on my laptop at home (he built -- yes, built -- himself a new computer and stole my wireless for his... it won't last though, we just need a new... cable... something or other, of some kind. Anyway...). So here I am sneaking in a few minutes of blog time while he is still at school. It's hard to find a chance to get on his computer because, yes, electrical engineering students spend just about all their free time doing homework (he is wonderful, isn't he? Such dedication). Just wanted to give a quick update!


Tomorrow is the big day: My 21-week ultrasound! Hooray! I can't express how excited I am. We can't wait to see our baby -- even if it is just on "video." Not to mention, I feel like I'm about to be unleashed into a new fun world of being able to pick names and decorate (finally!) and start building a little world for our new little one. Anyone want to place bets on what the gender will be? Just let me know :) I'm also open to name suggestions, should you feel the need to give your input.

Well, you'll be hearing from me again after tomorrow I'm sure. And just as soon as I can get my own computer up and running again I do have pictures, believe it or not, that I want to post. I realized the other day that other people's blogs have so many pictures and mine has so much.... writing. Boring! Just kidding, I love to write. And I would love to share more pictures with the blogging world... but they are, after all, on my computer, which, yes, has no Internet by which I can upload them. Ah well.

One final thing, I just wanted to mention today how dearly I love the Richards family, my family. Danny's brother Mark passed away two months ago, on July 24th, and the family has been on my mind all day. Danny misses his best friend, and I am grateful everyday to know we will see him again and we will be a family forever. And in a season where life is lost, I am thankful to be getting ready to welcome new life into the world.

Talk to you soon, all! Enjoy the Office tonight!