Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went out to my Dad's house in Smithfield.  It was kind of nice not having to travel far and being able to be lazy that whole day.  I guess I wasn't too lazy because for some reason my sisters Adrienne & Allison and I decided to go to a step aerobics class at 7am that morning.  My friend Leigh from work teaches aerobics in the mornings and she didn't think anyone would come to class Thanksgiving morning so she recruited us.  Well she was wrong and there was a big crowd!  Luckily that meant we were in the back.... we didn't always know what was going on.  Being pregnant I took it easy, but it felt good to be moving around and getting a little workout.  Then I went home and made mashed potatoes and Clark made his famous rainbow jello.  He made it two years ago for my Grandma's thanksgiving party and it was a hit.  You can't go wrong with rainbow jello!  

This was a picture from 2 years ago.  We forgot to get a photo this year.  Hmmm that mustache looks familiar, I know I've seen it somewhere before....

Oh look it's that darn mustache again!  I think it's getting thicker.  Clark is very proud of his nasty mustache.  He has been growing it since the deer hunt back in October.  It is December 1st and he still hasn't shaved.  I may need to do it in his sleep.  

This was our pre-Thanksgiving dinner picture although my face looks like I already ate an entire feast!  I blame it on being pregnant....  Good thing we played Just Dance 3 after dinner.  I needed to work off a few calories.  I definitely ate my share of food.  I love Thanksgiving!  We are so grateful for our little baby and can't believe we will be parents soon.  It is a little scary, but mostly because Clark is graduating and we aren't sure where we will be in April.  It all depends on jobs.  Scary!  I just have to be patient and know that things will work out if we are doing the best we can.  I guess good things come to those who wait.  Although I hate waiting sometimes.  

I went Black Friday shopping up here in Logan this year.  I needed some things for Clark and now I am done with his Christmas!  People are crazy and I just laugh when everyone starts rushing the door when they open.  I don't think any "deal" is worth running, pushing, and almost killing people over.  I've decided shopping on-line will be the way to go from now on . 


I have put up a few Christmas decorations, but it just isn't feeling like Christmas yet.  We NEED SNOW!  I went to the local performance of The Nutcracker with my sister Adrienne on Friday.  It is kind of a tradition of ours to go to The Nutcracker each year.  We went to Ballet West last year and that was amazing.  The local version isn't as "professional" but it's still fun. I love the holiday season and spending time with family and friends.  We have a lot of fun things to look forward to in the coming weeks!  

Yellowstone Trip

We went up to Yellowstone over a month ago to see the wildlife and enjoy the scenery for a couple of days.  I didn't have to work on Columbus day (thanks Christopher Columbus!) so we went up on Saturday and came home on Monday.  It was a quick trip, but you don't need too much time in Yellowstone.  It is very pretty up there but once you've seen one buffalo you've seen them all.  Here are some pics of our trip!

Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt

The pretty fall leaves were pretty non-existent.  That's about all we saw

Buffalo.  I think he needs a tissue

Elk just hanging out in town in Mammoth WY

More Elk

The North entrance to Yellowstone in Gardiner Montana

The lower falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Clark and I hiked down to the top of the Lower Falls.  So the picture up above is where we were standing.  Then we drove down and looked at the falls from far away.  It was pretty creepy being above that much water.... I was a little nervous standing up there.  

Another picture of the falls.

The Tetons.  On our way home we drove through Jackson.  It was already getting late so we didn't stop except for dinner.  But I got this picture from the car.  It was cloudy so you can't seem them that well, but they are still pretty sweet.  

It was a fun little trip and the last time I was in Yellowstone I was a small child so I don't remember anything.  The bad part is driving in the car most of the time looking for wildlife.... Being pregnant and stuck in a car isn't always fun.  I think we stopped so I could go to the bathroom about every hour.  I was good at spotting bathrooms, Clark and his Dad were good at spotting elk, bears, bald eagles, coyotes, and wolves.  

Pregnancy Dreams Don't Lie

I had my 20 week appointment on Monday and we found out what is growing in my belly--boy or girl.  I've had two dreams about it so going in I just knew it was going to be a boy.  Clark said a girl, just because I felt so strongly it was a boy he said it will end up being a girl.  Last minute I think all of my sisters guessed boy, even though I swear they said girl to begin with.  When the ultra-sound tech showed us THE picture it was most definitely a BOY!  Now I've seen a few boy ultrasounds because I have 3 nephews on my side of the family and you can tell it's a boy, but I swear our little guy wanted us to be VERY sure he was a he.  The ultra-sound tech said "he is very proud to be a boy" and our doctor said "he's not shy at all".  Ha ha Clark was so proud of his son that day!  


I am excited to have a boy.  It seems like most girls want a girl and most guys want a boy but we were opposite.  I just really wanted a boy first and Clark thought it would be fun to have a girl.  But Clark is very happy it's a boy and he can't wait to teach him to ski and build stuff in the garage!  And I would have been just as happy with a sweet little girl.  I want one of each, so next baby needs to be a girl.  


After our ultrasound appointment we went to Old Navy because I just really wanted to buy an outfit.  Clark picked out a cute one piece that is black and white knit (of course he chose black) and I found a cute red and black checked onesie.  Clark said he would look like "Henry the lumberjack" in that shirt, and I thought looking like a lumberjack would be just fine so we bought them both!  


It is so fun to know what the gender is and it makes it feel even more real that we are having a baby in 4 1/2 more months.  I'm finally starting to feel him move and it is so fun.  Clark and I went to Warren Miller Ski Movie last night and baby was moving all around.  I told Clark the baby already loves skiing with how much I could feel him!  I'm going black Friday shopping and I will need to have some self control so I don't go crazy buying clothes and other baby stuff.  I need to wait for showers so other people can buy me stuff right?!  Clark is making the baby a crib and maybe a cradle so I won't need to buy that.  I was looking at crib bedding and I really don't like anything from the stores so I've been looking on Etsy for homemade/custom made bedding.  They have some cute stuff.  If anyone out there makes crib bedding or has an Etsy shop let me know and I will buy something from you.  

Pictures

Giving us the thumbs up.  I love this because as a child Clark was a thumb sucker and even still he will bite on his thumb or put it towards his mouth when he is concentrating, so it looks like baby likes his thumb.  

So this is the babies little foot off to the left.  If you look closely his second toe is bigger than his big toe.  The ultra-sound guy asked if either of us have feet like this and I do!  my second toe is taller than my big toe.  Baby has my toes.  It is genetic apparently.  My mom has toes like that too. 

October

I guess I better catch up on what we have been doing.  The months are flying by, I can't believe it's already Halloween.  Before you know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here!  

This wasn't in October, but I thought it was a cool picture.  It was taken on my phone so it's not the best.  We were up watching the USU men's soccer team play UVU (my cousin plays for them).  USU won!  I love the A and the Old Main building.  I will miss it if we ever move out of Logan. 

My work has an annual Trick or Treat Trot 10K, 5K, and 1mile run.  Clark runs our races every year and this year he dressed as a cowboy.  Don't ask me how he ran a 5K in wranglers and a thick button up shirt.  He wore running shoes, although it would have been impressive to see him run in those cowboy boots.  

After the race we drove with Clark's dad up to Yellowstone to do some sight seeing.  The last time I was in Yellowstone I was a small child, and I don't remember a thing.  So it was fun to go and see Old Faithful and other wildlife.  

Clark taking pictures of the Elk.  He has better pictures on his camera, I just haven't put them on my computer yet.  One day I will......

Buffalo.  They are everywhere.  People still want to stop and take pictures.  We just rolled down the window and snapped this one!  

We had fun in Yellowstone and on the way home stayed at the cabin in Bear Lake.  We decided to stop up Tony Grove in Logan Canyon to see the Fall leaves.  They were pretty ugly by this point but we still snapped a few pictures.  On the way down we got stuck in a cattle drive.  It was hilarious!

We were surrounded by cows.  They didn't want to move too quickly.  

Yep, there is snow on the ground up at the Lake.  Winter is coming!  

My sister Allison's family got a puppy!  Little chloe is so cute.  I texted Clark this picture and said "Can we keep her" and he said "not in my house!"  He doesn't like dogs.  At all.  Sadly I will never have a dog.  I can't get enough of her ears, ha ha!

Cute baby Elle.  I just had to include this picture my sister sent me of Elle.  She is adorable.  If I have a little girl, I hope she is as pretty as Elle.  I will get to see her at Christmas! 

Thriller!  Me, Clark and a bunch of my family members went to Thriller when they came up to Logan.  It was so fun and I loved most of the dances.  It got a little long, and some of the dances weren't my fav. but all in all it was a great show!  

Had to get a picture with a Zombie girl!  I look like a zombie girl with my scary red eyes.  and my hands are doing something creepy too.... Clark looks good though!

 The city of North Logan does a thing each year called the pumpkin walk.  Anyone can make a little "scene" using mostly pumpkins and squash.  Clark and I decided to go walk around the other night.  

Angry birds.  Pretty creative

The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I thought they looked exactly like the real characters.  

Candy Land.  My favorite game as a child. 

Gulligans Island.  Whoever painted the faces on those pumpkins did an amazing job! It was cute because their scene was in a sand box.   

I'm still working full time and that consumes most of my time, because when I get home from work I am exhausted and all I want to do is eat dinner and sit on the couch.  Sometimes we go for walks outside when it's not too cold.  At least I'm not sick and I feel great.  We find out what is growing inside my belly on November 14th!  I think it's probably a boy, or at least that's what I keep referring to it as.  
We have names picked out, and we really only both agree on one boy name so I'm pretty sure if we have a boy he will be named Henry.  I've always liked that name and it is my great grandpa's name.  I just like the idea of using family names.  If it's a girl we like Olivia, Harper, or Elinore.  Elinore is my great grandma on my mom's side and I love it.  I just worry my kids will be teased because they have "old fashioned" names.  Whatever, my kids will be cool and rock their old school names!  


Clark is on his last semester of school!  But that just means he needs to find a real job.  Anyone know of any awesome jobs for a cute boy with a degree in Business (Entrepreneurship and Economics to be exact).  He really is so talented and could do just about any job.  It's just finding that job that is the hard part.  He has been doing some cool projects with school and learning a lot about how a business is run.  I help him type papers and I have no idea what he is even talking about!  He is planning to make a lot of the baby furniture.  I think it is so fun to say that your dad made your crib!  


We are carving pumpkins tomorrow with some friends and I have a fun halloween shirt to wear to work on Monday!  I will probably blog about it after Thanksgiving..... 

Ice Cream and Pickles

So I've heard that pregnant girls crave ice cream and pickles, or at least pickles.  I work with a girl who is pregnant and she loves eating pickles everyday.  My own Mom said she loved pickles (especially the juice from the jar) and even V8 juice.  


Well I don't crave pickles or ice cream!  This little baby growing in my belly just really likes french fries.  But I can't really say that is from being pregnant, because when I was not with child I loved french fries with fry sauce.  SO I guess I don't really have any "pregnancy cravings".  I just use being pregnant as an excuse that I can eat some french fries when it's the ONLY thing that sounds good.  Chick-Fil-A is delicious!  


I've been so blessed to not have horrible morning sickness.  I flew to California over Labor Day when I was about 9 weeks pregnant and I was so worried I would be so sick.  I didn't feel 100% but I never threw up.  There have been a few mornings when I have thrown up, but then I feel fine.  I'm always tired, but I was always tired before I was pregnant so I can't say the tiredness is a direct result of the small human in my belly.  I'm just chronically tired, always.  


Tomorrow I will be 14 weeks.  I'm to the 2nd Trimester, yay!  Each morning I feel less and less sick to my stomach.  I feel great as long as I eat a small snack about every 2 hours.  When I leave for work every day I have my hands full of food!  Before my sweet Grandma knew I was pregnant I think she thought I was crazy with all the food I was leaving the house with.  PB&J's and fresh peaches are my saving grace.  


I feel like I'm pregnant along with every other girl in the Country.  My best friend Jennifer is also pregnant and we are due only a few days apart!  So fun! My due date is April 1st (I'm not joking).  Clark's birthday is April 4th.  I bet the baby will come on his birthday.  What guy doesn't want to celebrate his birthday in a hospital with his grumpy wife going through labor (I just assume I will be grumpy girl during labor).  


We are so excited for the new addition to our family that will be joining us in about 26 weeks.  That is only 26 more Fridays.  Scary!  Clark's brother and nephew flew to Utah for Conference this weekend and when Brad was leaving he said "the next time I see you, you will have a baby!"  


Now what you have all been waiting for..... The picture of our little peanut.  I was 10 weeks for my first Dr. appointment and ultrasound.  

Baby Pierson

Trick or Treat Trot

Everyone who lives in Cache Valley needs to sign up for this fun event!  The Child and Family Support Center (where I work) is hosting its 2nd annual Trick or Treat Trot 10K & 5K run and a 1 mile run/walk.  Participants are encouraged to wear costumes!  Last year was a great success and so many people wore fun, creative costumes.  There will also be little games like a bean bag toss, pumpkin walk, and face painting for the younger kids.  There will be a Monster Mash Dash for different age groups where the kids do a quick dash to see who is the fastest.  Last year my little nephew Max won (excpet I think he accidently went with the younger group....but still a win is a win right!)

It really is a fun event for families to get them excited for Halloween.  Plus the money goes to a great cause!  Go to our website at http://www.cachecfsc.org/ to register before September 23 and get a discounted price.  Or you can register the morning of the race.