Christmas Decorations

While we are headed to Carston for Christmas, we decided to enjoy the season and decorate our apartment this year. Kudos to Steph for doing some great work.

Steph made this great board at a Relief Society activity. I added the nails.

This is our Nativity scene. Every year Steph gets some additional pieces from her Grandma Watson.

This was all Steph's genius.

And, the all important tree.

Baby Boizelle

So a quick update on Baby Boizelle. It seems to be growing well (as evidenced by Steph's increasing roundness). It also seems to be an active little bgirl. Last night the baby was rolling around a ton. I was even able to feel it! It also seems to follow in paternal footsteps and has a good kick. I'll have to get it a soccer ball for its first birthday to ensure it has good athletic taste.

The bgirl status will be dropped on Tuesday when we go in for the gender ultrasound. At least, we hope for a good enough picture. I might let modesty slide just this once. Anyway, we'll be sure to post and let anyone who reads know.

Por Fin!

For those of you who don't speak Spanish, por fin means at last. Steph finally has her permanent residency! After 19 months, it is finished. At least for two more years.....

On Thursday, we went up to Spokane for Steph's interview. It went well and turned out to be no big deal. Steph had been having nightmares of a dark room with the single light bulb and an interrogator. Instead, we had a really nice guy ask us some standard questions. I guess it was a pretty convincing case that we really were a married couple. The ultrasound picture definitely helped.

Now that Steph has residency, we are totally clear to head to Canada for Christmas! That is, providing the weather cooperates. She is really excited to head home. I am also looking forward to Christmas with the Quintons.

20 weeks!!

Today is my 20 week mark. Looking back, 20 weeks didn't take very long. The time seemed to fly past. We had our ups and downs, of course. Being sick--definitely a down. Possible miscarriage--downer. Feeling baby kick for the first time--wonderful. Having Jon feel baby kick for the first time--definitely a highlight. It's strange to feel baby move inside me. Sometimes when I shift my weight one way, baby shifts the other way and I rather feel like I'm leaving my stomach behind. And I now understand Lauren's comments about Eric's poking and Morgan's kicking. Being kicked all the time is not all that pleasant. Baby kicked me hard in the bladder yesterday and I actually had to go to the bathroom! It's getting strong!

Looking back at the first 20 weeks was great! Looking forward at the next 20 is a bit uncertain. I know I'll start looking like a whale and experiencing all the other fun problems that come along with whale status (like not being able to bend over to tie my shoes), but I also have a gender discovery to look forward to, as well as the baby itself! Not to mention that I'll soon be able to start shopping for baby stuff. On the whole, I'm content with my pregnancy and looking forward to another 20 weeks with my unknown midget. (I'll check back with you again in ten weeks and we'll see if I'm still happy! lol)

Who woulda thunk!

I forgot to mention in the last post that I'm in fairly major trouble with my ob doctors because I haven't gained a single pound yet. Sheesh. You'd think four months of yummies + a baby would have equaled at least half a pound. Heck, baby probably equals half a pound by now. This wouldn't be so disconcerting if I hadn't tried all last month to gain some pounds only to find out last week that the scale hasn't budged. My doctor threatened to interfere with my diet if I don't gain some major poundage by next month. So, for the last week I've been overeating everything on my plate. It's disgusting. I'm so stuffed all the time I can't even remember what hungry feels like. I only have three weeks to gain at least 5 or more pounds. Had someone told me a year ago I'd be having this problem, I would have laughed out loud...

On the other hand...it's nice to have an official order to eat as much as I want, whenever I want! Don't worry, I'm not bulking up on Doritos. If my parents are reading this, Dad is probably thinking how much he hates Dorito breath and mom is probably making a mental note to remind me that what goes on, must come off! lol This is becoming a medical emergency, mom! I have to eat! :P

Merry Christmas to us!

The day has finally come! Our baby, which has been an "it" its whole life will officially receive a gender on December 22, 2009.

In a gesture of good will, my ob clinic allowed us to schedule the visit before we left for Christmas break on the 23rd. It was a tight fit. We get our ultrasound on the 22nd, but we have our dr's visit in the early morning hours on the 23rd. They couldn't fit the two visits into the same day.
Jon and I both think it's a boy, and we've been unconsciously calling it a "he" for a week or so now. According to Murphy's law, that means it will be a girl. Oh well! Whatever "it" is, we'll be thrilled.

We've also felt our little "it" kicking! In fact, now that I know what to feel for, I'm surprised that I couldn't feel it kicking a long time ago. It kicks a lot and they're pretty strong. Two days ago, it was kicking really hard. I told Jon and he laid his hand on my belly to see if he could feel it. After about 15 minutes, his patience was rewarded because baby laid a solid kick right under his hand. Jon said it felt like a hiccough. He's pretty stoked about it. Most dads don't get to feel baby's kicks for a long time yet.

And, in other news, we officially received travel documents! My self-imposed exile from my motherland will come to an end on December 23rd when I cross the border for the first time in a year and a half! Hurray for spending Christmas with my family whom I haven't seen in a long time! My brother's got all his fat and pregnant jokes primed and ready for the occasion and I'm sure that for every present I receive, I'll get at least two pieces of baby advice, but I'm ready and willing to take it all! I love my family.

P.S. Our blog is now open for everyone to read. This came about in response to my mother's comment that she has never seen our blog because my dad's the only one who can access it, and, judging by his blog, he hasn't been on since...well, probably never! lol Love ya, dad!

Life as usual

I am unashamed to say that life in the Boizelle household is proceeding much the same as usual.

I am still working full time. I got Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day) off work yesterday, which came as a surprise to me. I get very random days off in this job, but since I was able to sleep in, I wasn't complaining. Baby is doing great. I'm still not showing very much yet, although it won't be long. It's becoming more and more difficult to get comfortable at night. Compound that with Jon's late night homework escapades and I'm not getting much sleep. Poor Jon has taken to crashing on the floor in our second bedroom so as not to wake me up at 3 or 4AM. If I catch him doing that during one of my numerous bathroom runs, I make him get into bed to sleep. I can't imagine what will happen when I actually have a huge belly. I'm already sleep-deprived.

Jon's classes have him busy round-the-clock, literally. I wanted him to cuddle with me last night, so we set an alarm for a half hour nap. After the alarm went off five times, I heard him stagger out of bed. Much to my surprise, he woke up back in bed at 1:39AM (and woke me up as well) without a single memory of waking up at 11:00 and leaving the room. He doesn't remember getting up at 1:39AM to work on his homework, so he thinks he might have fallen asleep in his homework chair. We're still not sure which one of us was imagining things last night. Anyway, that's pretty much Jon's life right now. He either stays up really late, or gets up really early to do his homework, works, eats, and sleeps. I know most of you can sympathize! He's very good about coming home for dinner when he can, so that I get to see him at least an hour a day, but I'll be really grateful when grad school is over. Busy season's got nothing on grad school!

P.S. We're still waiting on pics from our neighbor, but when we get them, we'll blog about our Halloween party. It was pretty much awesome.