Swollen Feet

The other day my mom asked me if I had taken pictures of my swollen feet for posterity. I had but I am just now getting to posting them. Keep in mind they are always swollen, but not always this bad. This was after Black Friday shopping, so they are worse then normal.

Doctor's Appointment

Today, I had another doctor's appointment. Everything is still going well. I lost two pounds but I think that is from being sick this week. My blood pressure is perfect and I am still feeling good, uncomfortable with this big belly, but feeling good considering.

I am dilated to half a centimeter and I have been having small contractions since yesterday morning. We aren't expecting anything to happen real soon, but things are progressing.

Sharing Time Part II

My Sharing time lesson was harder than I had expected it to be. The reason for this is that our numbers, which are normally small, were especially small today. We had four children today in primary! FOUR! And one of those four was a visitor!

This made my lesson really difficult since I had questions that I was asking them and they were not very forthcoming with answers. Luckily, the leaders pitched in and helped with answering some of the questions and the kids did a good job answering a good majority of the questions too.

All in all, I think it went well. Hopefully, next time we have a few more children there to participate.

Megan Denise Edwards

Patrick's sister Jennifer had a baby girl Decemeber 27th. She weighed 6 lbs and 2 oz. She is so small and so sweet. Both mom and baby are doing well.

Sharing Time

I am responsible for tomorrow's sharing time. It is my first one and I am a little bit nervous. Is it weird to be more nervous to give a sharing time lesson for around seven children than to give a Relief Society lesson to about 100 sisters?
Oh well, wish me luck!

Rachel Nell Erickson

This is my new neice. She was born Monday, December 22nd. She is such a cutie.

Christmas 2008

Patrick and I had a very mellow first Christmas Eve. We had plans to make gingerbread houses and have a fancy dinner. Unfortunately, we both got really sick and didn't feel like doing a whole lot. So, instead of a big fancy dinner we ordered pizza and watched the Chronicles of Narnia. Patrick, like always, fell asleep, so I took some pictures of him. :)




He wanted me to make sure and tell you that he laid down that way because I was on the couch and that he doesn't make it a habit to sleep in weird places.

Christmas morning we slept in late. As I was laying there I was thinking about how this might be the last Christmas for a long while that we get to sleep in as late as we want. Soon, we will be waking up early to open presents from Santa with our children.

When we woke up, we opened presents and I made stuffed french toast for breakfast. While we ate, we watched BOTH Charlie Brown Christmas specials. Patrick loves the Charlie Brown movies and has them all. He has been begging me to watch them all season.

Christmas Day we were feeling a little bit better. So we decided to go out visiting. We first went to my parents house, but they weren't home! They had gone out visiting too. After that stop, we decided to just go home and enjoy our time with each other, instead of spreading our germs. Here is a picture of us before we went out "visiting". Hopefully, next Christmas will be a little more exciting for us.

Brian Nathaniel Davis

Here is my newest nephew. Patrick's sister Susan had him on December 16th. Both Mommy and baby are doing well.

Christmas Decorations

Here are some pictures of our Christmas decorations. I LOVE our tree! I think it is so cute.

First, some of the decorations from around the apartment. I bought the Santa and the Elf this year. I thought they were too cute to wait for and they were already %50 off.





Second, some of the ornaments on our tree. Our tree has a "hearts and stars theme".

Video for Christmas

I created this video because I love this song and I thought it would be nice to have pictures that went along with it. I hope you enjoy it.

Finished

I just turned in my last final! I am know officially done with my undergraduate coursework. How wonderful is that!?! I am so excited to be done, but I know that I will miss it. I acutally liked going to school. Sure I would complain about all the assignments and tests, but I liked to learn about new things, getting new ideas and meeting new people.

I guess, I could always try for my masters degree, but I think I will take some time off first. Especially, since I have the most adorable little girl coming to help me enroll in the college of motherhood. So much to learn there...

Cancelled???

My Diversity final was scheduled for today at 12:10. Which was so dumb, because my class is a Tuesday class starting at 3. Why in the world would they change not only the time, but the day as well?

Anyway, I get to the school and I notice that my class is standing outside the classroom. My teacher then informs me that we are just waiting for someone to come open the classroom for us so we can take the test.

Twenty minutes later, we are still standing outside the class and my teacher says, if they aren't here in ten minutes we are just going to cancel the final.

ASU never showed to open the door. So my final was cancelled. Luckily, I didn't waste my time studying for the test.

It Will Fit! I Promise!

The crib we ordered online was finally shipped to the store today! After I got home from my final, Patrick and I went to go pick it up. When we were leaving I asked Patrick if he wanted to take my car since it is wider. He said. "No, it will fit in my car." I asked him if he was sure and he said, "It will fit. Don't worry about it." I decided to just go with it and off to the store we went.

We stood in line forever because of the lady in front of us ordered about 30,000 things. We finally get to the front of the line and they get our crib and we are headed to the car to go home, after shopping in the Christmas section a little. I needed some ornament hangers for the tree.

We first get to the car and Patrick opens his trunk.We determine that it will definitely not fit in there. So our next thought is to throw it in the back seat.

Well with cars on either side of us, Patrick had to pull half way out of the space so we could open the door wide enough and get the crib to squeeze in. Patrick tries and he tries, but the darn box is about one inch too big and therefore the door won't shut.

Our next thought is to put the back seats down and slide it in through the trunk. The opening from the trunk to the cabin is just big enough to fit the crib and we think that we are in the clear! Nope, wrong again. We can't close the trunk and we can't push the crib in any farther because the opening is a semi-circle (what a dumb design!).

Patrick has no rope, or floss, or bunji cords, or anything of that sort in his car, so with his creative ingenuity he rips a target bag and uses it to tie down the trunk. Needless to say we were glad that we didn't have very far to travel and we kept looking behind us to make sure everything was still there.

I love my husband! He makes me laugh when things like this happen to us. Here are some pictures I took from the camera on my cell phone.

Cleaning House

Why is it that whenever you start to clean out a closet or organize anything you end up with a bigger mess than when you started?

I decided that it was time to clean out our front closet. It wasn't too bad, but after our camping trip and some other things that never quiet got put back in the right spot it was getting to be a bit messy. I also wanted to go through all of my papers and get them organized. Also, all of our Christmas decorations were in there and since it is that time of year, we kind of need them.

Well, our closet is looking good as new again and we have most of our Christmas decorations up. We just need an extension cord to plug in our tree, which is so adorable! Now we just have to figure out where to put all of Joss' things.... Which I believe was the original purpose for the closet cleaning. :)

Yummy Alfredo Sauce

I was looking for an easy alfredo recipe and I found this on www.allrecipes.com. I cut up chicken pieces and added some cooked vegetables. It was really easy and Patrick loved it.

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 cups milk
6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

Two Babies In a Manger

I was looking for a good Christmas Story and I came across this one. I really liked it and decided to share it with you all.

Two Babies in a Manger

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.

Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city. Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel (cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia ), were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.

The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6-years-old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.

Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately -- until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib.

He made up his own ending to the story as he said,

"And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give Him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good gift." So I asked Jesus, 'If I keep You warm, will that be a good enough gift?' And Jesus told me, 'If you keep Me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave Me.' So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and He told me I could stay with Him -- for always."

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him -- for always.

And the Americans? They had learned the lesson they had come there to teach -- that it is not what you have in your life, but Who you have in your life that really counts. We all should give thanks for the people that "keep us"- in life - and for all of God's many blessings to us: freedom from want, life, love, togetherness, and for the enduring love of Jesus Christ, the one person who keeps us warm and safe for always.

3D Part II

We had another appointment yesterday. Everything is still going well. In fact, Dr. Erickson said that I make pregnancy look easy. I did ask him about my deep voice and if I should be concerned about it. He said that I more than likely have laryngitis. but that he wasn't worried about it. He said that it has been going around and to let him know if it gets worse.

We also had another ultrasound yesterday. I had a long talk with Joss on the way to the doctor. I told her that she needed to be cooperative today. She was very obedient and we have lots of pictures of her cute little face, even if the pictures are a little "creepy". It was so neat being able to see her little face and to she her moving around. I love my little girl. Also big plus, she is no longer breech! I can't believe that we only have seven weeks left until our due date. It is getting so close.

Here are some of the ultrasound pictures. They are all close ups of her face. She is too cute.

Baby Shower

Here are some pictures from my baby shower. Thanks to those that helped in throwing it! I really appreciate it. Also thanks to all who came to help celebrate.

This is the gift table and also the beautiful bouquet that my sister Heidi made for me. It is so cute!




Here are some photos of me opening presents. So many cute outfits! Joss will be so well dressed!





Here is a photo of the three birthday girls and some pictures of the crowd.





And lastly, a picture of the clothes line that Heidi strung up to hang all the cute outfits. Unfortunately, the outfits were too heavy and it would collapse.

Little Help Please!

Patrick has become a little bored with his lunches lately. I wish I could send him with our leftovers for dinner, but he doesn't have a refrigerator or a microwave to reheat them, and he hates to eat cold leftovers.
Anyway, I am looking for a little help with some lunch box ideas. What do you send your kids to school with? All I can think of are sandwiches or wraps. I know I'm totally lame. If you have any ideas, please post them. Thanks.

Doctor's Visit

Yesterday, Patrick and I went to another OB appointment. This time we had a 3D ultrasound. We were pretty excited to see our little girl again. Unfortunately, she was a little camera shy and decided to hold her foot in front of her face the whole time. Oh well. She has retakes in two weeks, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We did get two photos. At least we know that she has all of her toes!
She is measuring right on schedule, within a few days. She is estimated to weigh about 3 lbs right now. Everything else is going well too. Our visits will now be every two weeks. It is getting so close!

That Stinky Garlic Smell

Patrick and I went grocery shopping the other day and bought a seemingly harmless clove of garlic. Little did we know that the next day our whole apartment would be taken over by this powerful garlic smell!
I thought that if I just put it in a ziploc bag it should be fine, and it was for about a day. The smell came back! So, I put it in a tupperware container. Keep in mind that it is still in the grocery bag, ziploc bag and now in a tupperware container as well.
Today, I came back to the apartment after our Primary Program practice and the apartment smelled like garlic again! What is the deal with this thing? I'm not so sure I want to eat this garlic. How long will I be smelling like garlic if I do?

Job Search

Kelli is now unemployed. She was let go this morning. She needs a new job, if you know of anything, please let me know. Thanks.
We should be fine with everything for now. We just need something to help with the baby stuff.
Right now, I'm feeling okay. I'm excited to get a new job, I really didn't like where I was working and I'm happy to be moving on. I just wish that it were on my terms and not someone elses.

Bird Outside My Window

Patrick and I are "lucky" enough to have pigeons all over our apartment complex. They like to sit on our porch railing. Every once in a while I like to scare them away by hitting the sliding glass door. Today, they decided to get me back.

I was standing in our kitchen, looking through the cupboard by our window. While I was standing there one of the pigeons must have seen me standing there and decided to peck at the window to scare me, which it succeeded at. I of course then hit the window back and it flew away. The nerve of some birds!

Interesting Teacher

I have this black purse that I use all the time. It is simple and just the right size so it fits all the things I need without me having to rummage through eight hundred yards of fabric. Its great!

Well, the other day at school, I had it sitting on the table in front of me and I bent over to pick up my backpack when the class was over. When I came back up, I realized that my teacher had run from across the room to stand right in front of me! I looked up at him and he said, "Your purse! It's a smile! That's amazing!" I gave him one of those laughs that shows you get their joke, but you are ready for them to move on to another subject.

I then proceed to get my things together and attempted to exit the room. Unfortunately, my teacher had other ideas. He ran to his bag and got his digital camera. He actually wanted to take a picture of me with my purse held up to my face like it was my smile! I lucked out and the batteries in his camera had died. I guess I can't use that purse on Wednesdays anymore.

First Sunday

Yesterday, was my first Sunday teaching my primary class. Things went okay. They are a handful and I did have to confiscate an item. You would think by the age of twelve they would be able to not throw a quarter across the room. Apparently not though.
Next week we start practicing for our primary program. They are flip-flopping our schedule so I will only have four for my class time, since one of my boys goes to Young Men's now. This young man also happens to be the biggest handful of all. Hopefully, things will continue smoothly.

Doctor's Visit

This morning, I had another visit with the doctor. Everything is going well and we are right on track. We heard the heart beat and it is at 150. Next, month is our glucose testing and the month after that is our 3D ultrasound. Patrick is pretty excited for that. We are so thankful that things are going so smoothly and we know that we are really blessed.

She Kicks

Patrick has been asking me wanting to know when he is going to be able to feel the baby kick. I told him that I didn't know and that he was just going to have to be patient.
Well, the other night, I was sitting in class and Joslin kept twirling and kicking me. I looked down to give her one of those mommy settle down or stares and I saw my stomach jump out a little bit. I thought to myself, I bet Patrick could feel her now.
So, later that night we were laying down for bed and she started up again. I grabbed Patrick's hand and put it on the commotion and sure enough she kicked him. His face lit up! It was the cutest thing ever.
Unfortunately, now I get to walk around with his hand attached to my belly and him telling me to make her move. When I tell him that she is probably asleep he gets a little bit sad. I then tell him in a few months he can take care of her all he wants, especially at night! :)

New Calling

Patrick and I have been in our new ward for 4 1/2 months. He has had three callings and I just got called to my second. Is there something wrong with that?

Anyway, my new calling is the Valiant primary teacher. I have all the kids ages 8-12. Luckily we have a small ward and I typically have about 5-6 active kids in my class. This will be the first time I've been in primary since I was in primary as a kid, twelve years ago, so this could be interesting.

School Blues

School started last week for me. It's my last semester of classes and I can't be happier about it. Unfortunately, I have late, long classes. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I go to school from 3-9pm. This after I have worked all morning long. It makes for a very long day and Patrick and I barely get to see eachother those days. He is out the door by 7am and doesn't get home until around 9:30 that night. It makes us very sad. Luckily we only have 14 weeks left and we still have five other nights of the week, I think we have just been so used to not having to be apart so much.

Also, my beautiful daughter has decided that she is sick and tired of school already too. She tumbles and kicks all class period long. This is going to be so much fun as we get bigger. Let's just hope that when its her turn to go to school she will enjoy it.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

We are having a little girl. Her name will be Joslyn. We aren't positive about how we want to spell it, but that is the name. We also aren't sure of a middle name yet.
We loved getting to see our little girl again in the ultrasound and can't wait to see her in a few more months. (I can't believe I'm already over half way done!)

Three Months!

Today Patrick and I have been married for 3 months. I know it isn't long, but time sure has flown by fast. It seems like we were just going crazy with wedding preparations last week.

Married life is great though. Nothing is better than getting to wake up next to the man you love more than anything. I know that I am biased and all but I am pretty sure that I found the best guy in the whole world. He is the cream of the crop!