June...

I don't remember much about the month of June. However, two major events stand out in my mind: Tara and Ryan got married and we sold Brian's car....

First of all, congrats to the newlyweds. We are so excited for you guys and all that is in store for you. Sorry for the delay on posting about this one.
And last, but not least: goodbye dear car! We loved having this Subaru for moving things and camping. Now we are just down to the little red Honda (much better looking than the Subaru, but not quite as versatile). Sniff, sniff, tear!

July in One Post

July, in a nutshell, was a fun and busy month. We had two family reunions and my birthday. Not to mention fireworks for both the 4th and 24th of July. In the second week of July we flew to Oregon to have a huge Everton Family Reunion with all the cousins on my mom's side. We had a blast spending time with cousins and siblings on the beach and at the beach house. I have to admit that although the Oregon coast is one of my most favorite places in the US, I failed to take very many pictures. Here are a few from the day we went to Cannon beach:

{haystack rock}{a cool coastal shot that we stopped on the road to snag}

{who could pass up a sign that ACTUALLY spelled our name right?}

We got our crib on the 24th and set it up that very day. There was some difficulty in getting the box to fit in our little honda, but we managed to borrow Brian's parents' car and it got the job done (thanks again guys!)

{my baby 'bump' is getting larger by the minute!}

For my birthday my mom came down to Orem and spent the day with me. We went to lunch at Rumbi with the sisters that live down this way and then spent the afternoon shopping for some maternity clothes. Up until that point I was stretching out some non-maternity clothes in between wearing my 3 maternity shirts. THANKS MOM! I love the outfits we found and now I feel cute even with this (constantly moving) tummy.

Brian did a great job with my birthday. He gave me some chocolates (my very favorite) and a pregnancy massage certificate. He really knows his stuff! We hit up the Old Spaghetti Factory after that and then went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" and LOVED it! Definitely a cute must-see. In the spirit of the movie, Brian got a dragon pinyata and filled it with candy for us to hit. We had a blast in the park together with only a few questioning looks from strangers.

Two days later we headed to Park City for the Nielsen Reunion and spent three days with Brian's family. We had a bunch of activities planned that kept us busy and we really loved seeing everyone. I regret that because so many people had their cameras out, I didn't even snap one photo over the weekend. Hopefully I can snag some of Jenny's to post.

Dreaming...

I dreamed about sewing last night. I was picking out fabrics and designing a quilt layout. Seriously? Most pregnant woman dream about their babies or strange things (I guess I have some of those too), but I'm dreaming of projects.

I did buy some fabric the other day (when all I meant to buy was thread for the rag quilt) and I'm still deciding what exactly to do with it. I think I'm going to use the yard of pink and yard of yellow for a car seat canopy but I'm not ready to decide on the fat quarters and charm pack yet. Any ideas?

Catching Up

We've been busy. Really busy. But why am I apologizing, I am probably the only one who even views this blog. Nonetheless, a new post is FINALLY here!

We have been enjoying a WONDERFUL summer together. My stomach is getting increasingly larger and we are preparing to meet our little bundle of love. We found out on May 24th that we are having a baby GIRL! And we have been looking forward to life with her here ever since! Here are a few pictures of our little girl:

{her cute little foot!}

People keep asking me if I have any weird cravings. Yes. Is it weird that I crave good books and crafty projects? I am obsessed with beautiful fabrics (that I can't buy) and the potential quilts I can make with them. I am just finishing up my baby girl rag quilt that I made from my mom's scraps (thanks mom!) and it has completely opened a can of worms: sewing.

Here is a picture of the (almost finished) blanket. It's fun that it's out of scraps even though the colors may be a little off. I'll try to post another picture of it after I wash it.

Other baby news: we have a crib! A gorgeous, cherry colored crib. Did I mention we have bedding too? Well we do. What do you think?

We also got this cute swing from my parents and are starting to feel more ready to have a baby. Another project we took up (no, it doesn't stop here) included painting our apartment. Well, maybe more like Brian painting the apartment. He was insistent that I not be too exposed to paint fumes so I was sentenced to the back room (with my sewing machine and the movie Emma to keep me company) while he did the painting. He did a great job. Thanks babe!

{how in the world are you supposed to tape off a ceiling like that?}

{oh how I love the RED wall!}

{my next 'home improvement' project will be to make curtains}

Happy Anniversary!

It's weird and crazy that we are celebrating our ONE YEAR anniversary today! I feel like we've been married forever, but it's also gone by quick. It's been fun to reflect on the past year and realize how much we've learned from each other. From lost jobs to the joys of moving and from fun weekends to Sunday afternoon naps- I really love this guy. All I can say is that we have one year down and many, many more to come! :)

I love you babe!

Baby on Board!

That's right! We are so excited to finally announce our pregnancy! :) After a few 'undecided' pregnancy tests, we finally read a positive one on March 3rd. It became quite a task to keep it from everyone for so long (especially with "morning" sickness), so we're happy to let the news spread!

The baby is due on October 30th (Halloween baby maybe?) which makes me three months pregnant. I have to admit that before I got pregnant I believed that "morning" sickness was something that only happened in the morning. I was wrong. Really wrong. For me, morning sickness started at 8 weeks and has finally started ending this week. Full nausea, all day, everyday. But I'm starting feel much better and have found an addiction to popsicles. I wouldn't say that I 'crave' them, but they definitely make my stomach feel better. Brian has been so great with doing dishes and making dinner when food smells get the better of me. He's such a sweetheart!

We finally got to tell our families over Easter weekend (also Brian's Birthday weekend). The Anderson side gathered together for our annual Easter egg hunt (for the adults, yes) and we slipped a baby pacifier into an egg. We had already told my parents a few weeks earlier (before the girls weekend) so that I could be sure my sisters and sister-in-laws wouldn't gang up on me and draw out my secret. Tara's fiancé, Ryan opened the pacifier egg and wasn't sure what to think. He pointed it out to everyone else and we just held our breath, waiting for someone to realize what it meant. My dad finally said that whoever the pacifier belonged to needed to claim it and we raised our hands. They all realized what that meant and congratulated us.

On Brian's birthday (which also ended up being Easter) we got to share the news with the Nielsen side. Brian opened some birthday presents at his parents house after dinner. Beth and Tara (Emil and Jakob) were both there and Jenny was on Skype watching Brian unwrap. In his first gift he pulled out a baby bottle filled with candy and I think we sort of confused his family. It took a few minutes to convince his mom that we were actually pregnant (Brian's brother David has been teasing her about them being pregnant and she didn't want to get excited until she was sure). We had fun sharing the news with them and then calling the rest of the family.

We are so excited to meet our little peanut, and all that comes with that. We got to hear the heartbeat last week and can I just tell you that I could listen to that constantly? I love it! :)

The Girly-Girls

Since all our husbands headed off to Vegas for a weekend of Mountain West Basketball, the weekend turned into a girls' (and kids') weekend. Between bedtimes and snacks and and naptimes and walks and dancing to the piano music, we managed to find (a little) time to put some cute crafts together. Between mess and chaos, I snapped a few pictures of the little tikes. Can I just say, I'm a proud aunt?

{She is such a drooler and ALWAYS grinning and giggling!}

{I don't know who gave this girl permission to walk, but she's doing it!}

{I never knew how photogenic Carly was until this weekend. Super cute.}

{We have loved having Grace out to play with all the cousins.

Such a doll (and a reader)!

{Oh, she getting so big! And watch out mom, is that a wedding veil?}

{The lone boy during our weekend extravaganza.

May I just say, the tutus may come and go,

but Buzz Lightyear is here to stay!}

I think we all managed to make at least one piece of jewelry and a giant closepin (for recipes or pictures) in all that mess. Bev and Ali taught us how to use mod podge and diamond glue to make scrabble and washer pendants. I would like to say I'll post pictures of mine at some point, but who are we kidding?

After bedtime on Friday, we pulled out the ice cream sundaes and partied it up. Lindsay introduced us into the tape faces (which I will not be posting for reasons known by everyone in attendance). Linds, what will we do for fun when you are back in Louisianna?

I think we should do this more often (maybe with the boys watching the grandkids...)!