Pregnant!

We are expecting a little baby BOY due Aug 20th! Some of you know what a long process it has been for us getting this far as we've waited patiently through fertility treatments and some discouraging disappointments along the way. Which explains my procrastination in making this announcement. I kept telling myself, if everything is ok after the next Doctors appointment, then I'll tell everybody. But we've had several ultrasounds and everything seems to be right on track so were starting to let ourselves hope and get excited! I'm about 18 weeks now (I think, I lose track time goes by so fast and then so slow sometimes) and I'm starting to show even through my baggy sweaters, so I decided this is a good time to share the news! Thanks to everybody for all the prayers in our behalf. =)

Edward's Toys

I know this is overdue, but I thought I'd blog about some of Edward's Christmas presents he bought himself. He is so nostalgic about toys he had as a kid, and I can kind of relate. (I love collecting children's books that I enjoyed while growing up, partly because someday I hope my kids will enjoy reading them also.) Anyway, I rushed home from a work Christmas party to meet Edward so we could go to the Saturday night Stake Conference session together, and when I walked in the door I was bombarded with Nerf-darts. Edward was crouched on the floor in his suit and tie with one of these bad boys... and it fires off a LOT of darts in rapid succession!

This lovely (not) toy now has a permanent location next to the couch in our family room. I kept moving it but it kept reappearing, so I finally asked him what the deal was. (Plus our home teachers were coming over that night and I was a little worried about what kind of reception he'd planned) Turns out he's been using it to shoot our two cats whenever they scratch on the screen door or furniture or hop on the counter. (I used to just squirt them with a water bottle, but that requires getting off the couch, and Edward is much more inventive ;) Our house has an open floor-plan so Edward can aim into several different rooms from his spot on the couch. And I get to pick up darts I find scattered all over the house (good practice for when I have kids:). The second toy he bought himself was a "Sock'em Rock'em" that he said we could use to solve arguments (better then rock, paper, scissors eh), but it's still in the box. (must be cuz we never disagree, lol =)

I love that Edward has such a youthful spirit and finds the joy and pleasure in simple things. He makes me laugh every day. He'll be such a fun loving Dad to our kids. I'm a very blessed gal.

Flower Clips!

For a RS Super Saturday craft we learned how to make these cute flower clips (again from my talented friend Stacy).

I made a bunch of Halloween ones to pass out to the gals I work with. And we made these cute Christmas clips as a gift from the leaders to the YW! They are fun and easy once you get the hang of it! Here's an online tutorial I found incase anybody wants to give them a try : )

New Moon

Ok I just have to say I really liked this movie! It was such a pleasant surprise considering the first one was such a flop. It was a fun girls night out! Thank you to Stacy, our extremely talented friend who made our shirts! Edward (my Edward) just rolled his eyes when he saw me wearing it.

Pumpkin Contest = )

Every October Dr. Bailey's office (An Orthodontist in Surprise, Az) does a pumpkin decorating contest for all the Dental professionals in the area. The office with the "best" pumpkin gets a catered lunch from anywhere they choose. But the BEST part is that all the pumpkins are donated to Phoenix Children's Hospital to decorate their halls and rooms! I had a couple patients cancel today, so I ran to Michael's to get some supplies and a Styrofoam pumpkin. Suzy had the cute idea of doing Cinderella's carriage! Here's the finished product as of when I left today, (Steph was going to "bling" it up some more with a few more rhinestones)...

I love it! We put gold glitter glue all over it and stuck rhinestones down the crevices. Robin found, printed, and cut out the door, and we added a Cinderella sticker. My project was the "vine" wheels and gems. Usually I have a hard time doing crafty projects in a group because I want it to be like my vision, and I can't handle ugly ideas, but we all worked GREAT together (like we do with everything:) and it was a lot of fun! I hope the kids like it!

Found the answer to the mosquito conundrum! (see earlier post)

Supposedly people that get "stressed out" easily, emit a smell that repels mosquitos. Who knew? Check it out at Wall Street Journal. I guess I'm just calm, cool, and collected ; )

Wall hangings (for Lisa : )

My cute friend Lisa has a theme inspired blog with such creative ideas! I'm stealing her latest post idea "If Walls could Talk", and sharing some of my home decor. I have to agree that the pictures in a person's home tell so much about the people living there!

First I dug up a horror from the past. This hideous Picasso pic was hanging front and center in Edward's living room when I met him. After we were married I quickly took it down. I hate it. It's just plain ugly.

I just LOVE this tree picture! It is Ansel Adams "Oak tree Sunrise". It reminds me of something out of Pride and Prejudice. It hangs above our couch in the living room. (It's kinda like your Tree picture Lisa, it's just missing an inspirational scripture!)

This picture was a Christmas gift

from our good friends the Abercrombie's. Bethany is a very talented artist and does illustrations for children's books. She drew this picture of the temple Edward and I got married in! It hangs in our living room also. (Sorry the photo is so blurry, I was in a hurry, Ha! I rhymed :)

We found these two photos in a travel magazine. I loved them because the little tug boat says "Nancy" on the side! Edward clipped them out for me and found me these cute frames so I could hang them in my bathroom! (Yes, we have separate bathrooms for now, it helped solve a lot of squabbles when we first got married ; )

These pictures hang in our family room. The picture of Christ I made for Edward when we were dating and I worked at a framing/matting company. The print came from a calendar by Greg Olsen. The frames on the side are bordered by small pictures of the Savior, and hold "The living Christ" and "The Family Proclamation", they were wedding gifts from my Aunt Yvette!

These two hang in my yellow laundry room. The cross-stitch was a wedding gift from a sweet lady, and the "Home" mantle I made at a family reunion craft project. The words were printed from a color printer onto a Wallpaper design (in two separate sections, you can only see the line if you look really close). I painted the standard wood mantle black. After the paper was pasted to the board, an enamel seal was sprayed on to finish it! (You could do it easy Lisa!)

Below are prints I've purchased impulsively, but have nowhere to hang that fits! Maybe someday!

And finally, my "Wish List":