For those of you that don't know...WE ARE PREGNANT!!!

Darin and I are having a little boy in the middle of April. I haven't posted a blog in so long, so I know this is way over due...but we are 22 weeks along and are doing well.

I was really sick the first 15 weeks, and then have had a serious back problem (my SI joint is lose from the pregnancy) so I have been in physical therapy 2-3 times a week and am wearing a 4 inch wide belt around my waste to stabilize my pelvis...all sorts of fun! :)

Darin and I were both positive we were having a girl (we had given her a name and referred to her as a she the whole first 20 weeks), so you can imagine I was a little surprised when we went in for the ultra sound. I cried through the entire appointment because I was so certain it was a girl...so much for maternal instinct. Anyway, things are good, I have not really been showing yet, but I definitely feel pregnant, and can definitely tell things are not the same with my body as they used to be. The doctor told me at our last appointment that our baby is under the 25th percentile for weight, so she thinks he will weigh about 6 pounds or less...I was so thrilled, I tell my mom every day I would chose 6 pounds of baby coming out of my body any day. :) (now watch, he will weigh 10 pounds)

The happy family

Just before the blessing we took these cute pictures right outside Trevor and Rochelle's house. Addy (the little girl) LOVES having her picture taken...she kept running up to me after every shot and wanted to see the picture before I took another. We were at Target the day before, and we walked past some cameras, she asked me to take her picture and when I told her they weren't my cameras, she stood up in the cart and yelled at the top of her lungs: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME!!! :)

Trip to Seattle

Last weekend my newest nephew Rylan was blessed. I went to Seattle for the festivities, and had a great time...but most of all I got some great photos of my super cute nieces and nephews...ENJOY!!!

Here's the deal with BLOGGING: You Blog.

So my good friend Emilee posted a comment regarding me neglecting my blog...my biggest excuse is that I don't have any cute kids doing cute things to put up on the blog, so I'm working on getting some (there kind of expensive :).
I will be at my new nephews baby blessing in a couple of weeks with nieces and nephes galore...so look for a great posting then. :)
Things are good here, Darin is so busy with school and work I keep saying I feel single with no roommates. This is my busy season at work and I am in charge of a campaign called "Week Without Violence". My department puts together about 10 events open to the public to educate people about the effects of violence on our community...I work on it all year long, so I am including a link to the list of events and activities here.

Democratic National Convention

So Darin and I were sitting around the house last Wednesday at about 10:30 pm watching the commentary on Bill Clinton and Joe Biden's speeches at the DNC, and decided to be a little spontaneous. We jumped in our car and drove until 4:00 am where we stopped and slept for a few hours and then drove the rest of the way to Denver. We had an amazing time walking around talking to other Obama supporters, listening to bands and standing in line...We really enjoyed Al Gores speech, and LOVED Obama's acceptance speech, however I did not love that we drove back right after his speech and got home at 4:00 in the morning just in time to go to work at 8:00. We are both spending as much time as we can this fall volunteering for the campaign, but with Darin in School full time and working full time, and me in my busiest season of the year at work and teaching 2 classess at Salt Lake Community College we are a little limited.

When in Rome do as the Romans...

We stayed in the most BEAUTIFUL hotel!!! We thought about just staying in the hotel all three days in Rome because it was so nice...but eventually decided to visit the Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, Vatican, Trevi Fountain and the Sistine Chapel. We also spent a lot of time eating...and I constantly wondered how we would ever be able to go back to eating American food, but somehow we are managing.

FRANCE (Nice, Monte Carlo, Monaco)

The first thing we saw in France was a port where several multi-million dollar yachts were "parked". Some had helicopters on the back, others just had mini boat garages on the back...but ALL of them cost $100,000 dollars A DAY to be parked right outside of NICE. We probably won't be sailing our yacht their any time soon. :) We visited the second largest city state in the world (Monaco) where Grace Kelly was the princess and her son is now the prince. We also drove past the largest casino in the world in Monte Carlo where it cost 100 euro (equal to 150 American dollars) just to enter. Lots of people with lots of money...

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona had the most incredible architecture...we saw several buildings designed by Gaudi, and spent the morning eating Tapa's...it doesn't get much better than that!

Venice...the city of water

Venice was beautiful! We took water buses and taxis everywhere. We ate Gelato, Gelato, Gelato and spent lots of time in St. Marks square, Dodges palace and even took a beautiful Gondola ride with a man who'd been a Gondolier for 44 years.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Naples

Naples was the first stop on our cruise...and luckily they had just ended their year long garbage strike (still a little smelly!). Pizza was invented in Naples, and let me tell you, I have NEVER eaten such delicious food/pizza in all my life! Naples is also about 20 minutes from POMPEI the city under Mount Vesuvius which errupted in 79 AD and Pompei was preserved immaculately by the volcanic ash...It was so amazing!

Italy, Spain, France and Croatia

Darin and I left for the longest/farthest vacation either of us had ever been on July 31st. Our flight got canceled last minute and Darin pinched a nerve in his spine...so we were off to a great start. Because of the flight cancellation mishap (and the strong sentiments I expressed towards the airline), they flew us first class from Salt Lake to New York and then New York to Italy...Darin loved first class so much, that I wondered if anything on our vacation would ever be able to compare with the flight over. :)

Blogging...so much to learn :)

I finally started a blog (against Darin's wishes), but here we are. My biggest fear about blogging is that I'm not sure we can ever compete with all the cute blogs that include pictures of babies...so, that being said, I will do my best.