We Have a Nephew!

This is little Russell, our new nephew. Isn't he cute? He was born May 21 and weighed 6 lbs 0 oz. I'm excited to be an aunt, and Ben's excited to be an uncle. And we are both excited to meet this little guy in a month or so. We hope our little guy will be this cute!

Requests Granted, Begrudgingly

I hope everyone is happy. This is me at 18 weeks. I hate having my picture taken. So, yes, I do look pregnant, or fat, it depends on whether you know I am pregnant or not. I had another checkup today- everything looks good. I've gained 3 pounds since last week, the doctor said that was great. :P But since I am a little more than a week further along, that puts me right where I should be. I'll just have to be a little more careful about how much cheese fries and steak I eat. She moved my due date. Grr. October 28, because that's what her little wheel said. I didn't bring up the fact that it's leap year this year, so her wheel thing is missing a day. So, I still say it's the 27th. And she stuck me with a needle. I hate that.

It's a Beautiful Day in Alaska!

I've been excited recently because things started to turn green here. It is finally spring! Much to my surprise, Ben got today off. We were invited to the Ellis' for a BBQ with pretty much the whole ward. The weather was wonderful- probably 65 degrees and sunny, and not even too windy. We took watermelon to share (which makes a day even better) and steak. I figured since it was the only time we would get to grill for awhile we should take advantage of it, and the sale prices on the steak. And it was good. We played whiffle ball. And Ben got showed up by his pregnant wife. Mostly I just enjoyed the sun and the company of other people. I think I got a little sunburned. The day was much better than planned- originally we were going to clean the house. We decided we would clean the house when it gets dark. (That's our new Alaska joke- you see, it doesn't get dark here). I'm very tired now, whiffle ball takes a lot out of a pregnant lady.

How Do You Measure Up?

I was forwarded this today, and it made me laugh. It's a marital test from the 1950's, it tells you how good of a wife you are.

It works on a basic merit/demerit system- one point for good things (unless more points indicated) and subtract one point for negative things (or more points if indicated)

0-24 Very poor (failures)
25-41 Poor
42-58 Average
59-75 Superior
76 and up Very Superior

Here are a few of my favorites:

Demerits
Wears soiled or ragged dresses and aprons around the house.
Wears red nail polish.
Seams in hose often crooked.
Goes to bed with curlers on her hair or much face cream.
Puts her cold feet on husband at night to warm them.
Smokes, drinks, gambles, or uses dope (5). I guess other hard drugs are OK.
Squeezes toothpaste at the top.
Slows up card game with chatter and gossip.
Eats onions, radishes or garlic before a date or going to bed.
Wears pajamas while cooking.
Fails to wash top of milk bottle before opening it.
Serves dinner but fails to sit down till meal is half over- then wants husband to wait for her.
Wears pajamas instead of nightgown.
Serves too much from tin cans or the delicatessen store.
Doesn't want to get up to prepare breakfast.
Smokes in bed or has cigarette stained fingers.
Walks around house in stocking feet.

Merits
Dresses for breakfast.
Lets husband sleep late on Sunday and holidays.
Laughs at husband's jokes and his clowning.
Has a pleasant disposition in the morning- not crabby.
Keeps snacks in refrigerator for late eating.
Has a pleasant voice- not strident.
Often comments on husband's strength and masculinity.
Gives husband shampoo or manicure.
Keeps self dainty, perfumed and feminine.

The full test and one for husbands can be found at http://flickr.com/photos/tiabla/sets/72157605047200616/

I scored a 62- it helps if you don't wear stockings at all.

It's a Boy!

Unless it's a girl. Today we got to go in for the official ultrasound! This little boy is growing fast. So, to clarify, the tech said he was pretty sure that it's a boy, but wouldn't give us a 100%, and said to come back in a month for a look-see to confirm that it's a boy. But, perhaps prematurely, I would like to say "I told you so." Once again, he was very active, doing plenty of acrobatics for us. He must like Sprite. The tech had a hard time getting a few of the shots because he was moving so much. He did settle down towards the end (the Sprite probably wore off) and then we had to jiggle my belly to get him to move into the right position; it was fun to watch how he responds to prodding. Everything on the baby looks healthy- the heart, brain, kidneys and spine. We even got a halfway look at his face. They had a 3D ultrasound that the tech tried, but he wasn't in the right position, kept moving and had his hands in front of his face. He looks like a pirate (his hand in the way made a big black patch where his other eye should be). I think he looks like Ben. I also finally got a due date!!!! October 27th! That's about 2 weeks sooner than the original (Nov 5) which is why they went ahead and sent us in for the ultrasound this week. We like the new due date, one because it is earlier, and two because that is exactly 2 years to the day that Ben and I had our first date (which is the day we met). We are very excited to meet this little guy.
I was amazed! The tech was zipping through the exam, identifying body parts and bones and organs, it was really cool. I was impressed by the size of our baby! He was much bigger than he was a few weeks ago when we had an "unofficial" ultrasound. Kortney says she thinks she feels the baby move sometimes, and I am not surprised, the baby was turning cartwheels and flips all over the place, he turned completely around and upside down faster than I can on solid ground! I'm kind of proud of him already, It was really cool to watch.

If the Motivation is the Food at the End, Does it Count?

Today I finally got out of the house, voluntarily, by myself, during the day. I felt good when I woke up. I am not going to jinx it by saying that maybe I'll feel good all the other days I wake up. I even decided the comfort of my pajamas and house was boring. I needed to get outside. I decided I was going to walk to Ben's work and surprise him by taking him to lunch. In a perfect world today would have been a beautiful day- the sun shining, the sky a wonderful shade of blue, 70 degrees, birds chirping, etc. But we live in Alaska. Today was 45 degrees and raining. Never fear, I have a waterproof coat. First I went to check the mail. Nothing. Lame. I realized that the sound of rain on my hood wasn't entertaining enough for the feat I was going to attempt. So I plugged in my iPod. Who needs good conversation when you have good music? After 15 minutes of recharging both myself and my iPod, I was ready to go. Mind you, I even put on makeup and earrings today. As I was walking I found it ironic that I was listening to Cake- at least I wasn't eating it. (Now I am going to admit to how much of a nerd I am) I was walking across many parking spots and I realized that I was not only walking in beat with the music, but my steps had become so uniform that I was stepping on every white line with the same foot. Too many years of marching band. The worst part was then I thought how cool Cake would be as a marching program. The walk was the perfect length for both my stamina and the weather. Any longer and I would have been exhausted and soaked. Ben was very surprised and even managed to sneak away for lunch at Arby's. I feel like the curly fries negated my entire walk. But I also rationalize that it was a trade for donuts that I would have eaten anyways. I had a very vivid dream about donuts last night and woke up super hungry, determined to get a donut. I wasn't, however, determined enough to wake up and take Ben to work even with the promise of donuts. So I figure I did myself a favor by walking to Arby's. As a side note, my poor hubby is sick. The worst part is that he won't kiss me because he doesn't want to get me and the baby sick. :( I don't think babies can get colds in utero.

Boy or Girl

Since I found out I was pregnant, I have had just one question, is it a boy or a girl? While I know that I will love either just as much, for some reason the answer to this question seems all important. I've also thought I was going to have a boy. Obviously not many people agree with me. We should find out around the end of June and then I can start planning accordingly. If I don't know how to be a mother, at least I know how to pick out cute baby clothes and decor. I've been very worried that when we do the ultrasound and if the doctor tells us it's a girl that I would be disappointed. Little boys are just so fun to play with! But I am starting to realize how fun a little girl would be. Little girl stuff is so much cuter! Little boy stuff can be quite cute, but then when they get older it has to be all boyish, and Ben is opposed to cute little baby boy things to begin with. The real problem will be not not spending too much money and not being able to paint any walls.

Mother's Day

Well, as my first Mother's Day ever, I would say it was pretty awesome. I never thought that I would be celebrating the first Mother's Day after being married with my little 4 inch baby swimming around. Ben woke me up for church with the most appetizing plate of breakfast I have ever seen. Bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese and bell peppers, and a pancake topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Unfortunately, I didn't get to eat all of it before it got cold, because my little baby likes to make me sick. At church we took all the primary kids into Relief Society to sing to their mothers. I was a little nervous about playing the piano for a room full of people over the age of 12, but I think I did ok. Ben gave me a paper rose too, it was cute. He also made lunch (grilled cheese), dinner (burritos) and dessert (ice cream and strawberries). He spoils me. We spent the day recuperating from our weekend getaway, which means when I wasn't eating I was asleep. I still have a hard time believing that I a going to be a mom. Maybe as my tummy continues to grow it will become more real. Apparently I am showing now, or so I was told at church. I'll have to take a picture and let you decide. I think I look more fat than pregnant at this point. But I am thankful to have a baby that is growing rapidly and so far very healthy!

I am also thankful for my mother, who not only listens to me whine on the phone, but (behind the laughter) has empathy for my pregnancy woes. I do feel sorry for making her sick all those months. I can only imagine all of the trouble us 3 kids were. I hope my children are better behaved than I was. I still don't know how she keeps up with us all, or puts up with us for that matter. One day, I am afraid, she will just turn her cell phone off and her 3 children will be lost, and she will finally have a quiet, uneventful day.

And I am thankful for my mother-in-law who raised a wonderful son that knows to make me breakfast in bed on mother's day. She is an inspiration to me, a super mom with 9 amazing children, and she still has a sense of humor and a clean house! Plus she can drive a 15 passenger van. That seems impossible to me!

Saving Whales, Losing Lunch

If you wanted pictures, you've got them. And if you didn't, then that's just too bad. This weekend, Ben and I decided to be tourists. We found a great deal to go down to Seward and go on a whale watching cruise, and I couldn't pass it up, because I've always wanted to do it. Besides, we'll probably never be in Alaska again. The drive there was beautiful ( like all the drives here in Alaska). We saw this moose and stopped to take pictures, like tourists. Ben had the camera and got pretty close to the moose before it decided it didn't want to be photographed anymore.Ben jumped out to take some pictures of the scenery, and I thought he was better looking than the mountains. Doesn't this picture just say, "Welcome to Alaska"?
Our hotel in Seward was right on the harbor, this is the view from the pool and the lounge. It was quite nice. We spent the first night exploring Seward. We went out on the docks and decided to have a real Alaskan adventure - seafood!And we learned some very important things!
1. Fried scallops are less slimy than oysters. We had to sample the local fare - fish and chip stands lined the city's main street, so we braved a combo basket. Kortney likes the whiter, less slimy meats. (Ben writes in black for this blog, Kortney writes in green)
I've never liked seafood, but felt like I had to at least try it. The halibut and the scallops were good, the rock fish was ok, the shrimp wasn't a favorite and the oyster was disgusting!

2. Navy ships have big guns!!! Two big destroyers were docked just outside the commercial breakwater barrier. They dwarfed all the fishing boats and tour yachts. They were BIG!
We also learned that we should pay attention to things that are out of place- like two giant naval destroyers docked in a little harbor. Apparently, there was a typhoon off in the Gulf of Alaska, so the destroyers came in because the sea was too rough. See #3.

3. Ben is a wuss :) Or at least he is too stubborn to admit that he gets seasick.We went out of he bay and into the great gulf to see some grey whales, and I started to get seasick. I was really bummed that my pregnant wife did better than me with the sea-sickness. She was trying out some "accupressure" wrist bands that are supposed to relieve nausea; but I think she is just used to feeling nauseous so it doesn't phase her.

Ben thinks the wrist bands are hocus pocus, but I wasn't the one throwing up in the stairwell. I was actually enjoying the 20 foot swells, because it's the closest I am going to get to riding a roller coaster for the next 5 months. Now we'll see if this video thing works. You have to watch it twice. The first time watch Ben, it's funny. The second time watch the horizon out the window behind Ben's head. That should explain why he got sick.

Ben is a real trooper though, and 30 minutes after losing his lunch, he was back to enjoying the cruise again. Of course, the captain did head out of the open water pretty quickly, because Ben wasn't the only one getting sick. Needless to say, we didn't see any gray whales. But we did see a ton of other animals. First the humpback whale. Whale watching is frustrating, because they aren't very photogenic. They don't get close to the boat (I need to get a zoom lens) and they hold their breath under water for a pretty long time. And the shutter lag on my camera is ridiculously long. But you can see it in these pictures. The coolest animals were the porpoises. The second fastest animal. I don't have any pictures of them, but we have some good video. Maybe we'll upload that one later. Or maybe you'll just have to come visit us if you want to see it. The only animal that cooperated for pictures were the Stellar Sea Lions. They just sat there. And we got pretty close.
The next two pictures are a joke. They are the mountain goats and the black bear. I guess lesson #4 is that you need a zoom lens to get pictures of wildlife on the shore when you are on the cruise ship. And the sea otters, they were the very first animal that we saw. Here's us, nearly freezing on the back deck that we got banished to when Ben got sick. But we were still having fun! After the boat ride, we filled Ben's empty stomach, and then headed to the sea life center. It was pretty cool. The octopus was pretty cool looking. There was a touch tank, where we got sea urchin hugs and tickled the sea cucumbers. We'll save that video for another time too.This video is Ben's favorite. He laughs every time. You need to make sure you have the sound on, or you won't get it.

It's a Baby!

It's a baby! We aren't scheduled for an ultrasound until the end of June, but Ben convinced the ultrasound tech at work that he needed to learn how to use the ultrasound machine. It was an amazing opportunity. We did it last Thursday, but kept it quiet, because we sent pictures to our moms for mother's day. Well, they got the pictures, so now we can tell everyone! I was only at 13 weeks, so we weren't able to tell if it was a boy or girl. I tried bribing the tech with a pizza if he would guess, but he said he wouldn't ruin his reputation. So we will have to wait another 2 months before we start buying pink or blue.

The ultrasound was amazing! The baby was very active, which was fun for us to watch. We saw it's little hands (one with 5 fingers, the other in a tight fist), head, ears, stomach, spine, arms and legs. At one point it even looked right at us and smiled, ok, so there was no smile and it kinda looked like an alien. Ben got some good practice with the machine and some really good pictures. It's good to know that I am having a baby and not a puppy.

The Dishes Are Done!

So, the dishes are done and now I am tired. Somehow I am tired and yet very bored. So why not post? Since nothing really interesting has happened in the last 24 hours, here's a little something I found.

Four Places I go Over and Over

1. The grocery store. I am perpetually hungry. There are 3 grocery stores in this town, generally I go to all three in hopes to save some money (they are within a block of each other, so it's not wasting gas).
2. Church. It's the one place I know, or at least hope, I will make it to every week. I quite enjoy playing the piano for kids 3-11.
3. The mailbox. I enjoy being spoiled by packages :) Although I am starting to wonder how in the world all this stuff is going to get back to Idaho. Also, bills must be paid. And that is my job, call me the business manager/financial adviser, if only it paid better.
4. The refrigerator. I am perpetually hungry. Gone are the days when I repeatedly opened the fridge door out of sheer boredom, only to shut it again and again without any food. Now, every trip, there is sure to be something that makes it to my mouth.

Four People Who Email Me Regularly

1. My mother. It usually involves pictures and occasionally gives me something to do.
2. My aunt Donna. It usually involves pictures/video of her granddaughter which is entertaining for a mother-to-be.
3. Kaci, a childhood friend. It's been so long since we last talked that we have plenty to tell to catch each other up on our lives.
4. Facebook. Telling me that someone has written on my wall.

Four Favorite Places to Eat

1. Coldstone. Out of all the places to eat that COULD be in Alaska, we have an ice cream shop. Just the smell of the ice cream there actually makes me kinda sick, it is so sweet. But I love the smoothies. And once by body is back to normal (haha) perhaps I will once again enjoy the cake batter ice cream.
2. Pizza Hut. I love pizza. If you thought Pizza Hut was expensive before, you should try it in Alaska. Now we buy Digiorno in bulk, because it's more affordable. On rare occasions we do go to pizza hut, where three grouchy dirty old women work. I long for Little Caesars.
3. McDonald's. I only wish I could convince Ben that french fries are a vegetable.
4. Is there another place to eat here? I suppose I could put the places I really love, even if they don't exist in Alaska, but that would only make me hungry and grouchy. Not really. Arby's. But I am angry they don't make chicken tenders anymore. I do LOVE Red Robin, but it's in Anchorage, it's our treat whenever we go to the temple.

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now

1. With Ben.
2. In Hawaii.
3. Anywhere where there are flowers, green grass and warmth.
4. Disney World or Disneyland. I am still in denial that I can't ride roller coasters.

Four TV Shows I Watch Over and Over

1. Grey's Anatomy. Yea! It's on tonight!
2. Crossing Jordan.
3. CSI. Something about hospitals, dead people and mysteries.
4. Glenn Beck. My pathetic attempt to keep up with the news. Mostly he just makes me laugh.

Four Foods I Really Want to Eat (I added this category)

1. Taco. Crunchy shell. Sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, no lettuce, a dab of guacamole and a little hot sauce. I never tire of tacos.
2. My mother-in-law's strawberry jam. And I would need pancakes to go with it.
3. Mindy Special. Pizza, with ranch dressing sauce, garlic chicken, bacon and chipotle seasoning. The only thing I specifically miss about Rexburg.
4. Cookies. I have all the ingredients. What am I waiting for?