Drumroll Please!

As some of you may remember, a year ago one of the resolutions I made was to update my blog with a post for every month. Since then I have decided a better idea is probably to resolve to just post when I actually have good news or whatnot. Regardless, here is my 12th and final post for that goal, so read on to see what happened in December 2013!

The last month of the year, the last month of my “blog resolution”, and a busy month it was! I didn’t get around to half the “Christmas activities” on my list, probably due in part to a lack of planning, but let’s just say it was the pregnancy’s fault! I spent a lot of time in the kitchen making a bunch of different treats for secret santa/white elephant/office gift bags, which I actually loved doing, despite having to redo one batch of cookies 3 times! (Thank you pregnancy brain.) But they all turned out really good, so I was happy with it.

My first attempt at fudge - it was hard!

 

 

We made a trip up to Salt Lake where we went to the family history library (Dan’s new hobby), did a live temple session, and went out to eat and go ice skating. It was a lot of fun, I always love being up there at Christmastime to see the great lights on temple square! Let’s see.. we went to Catching Fire which was amazing and I can’t wait for the next one! We also made a last-minute decision the night before leaving town and went to a high school musical production of ‘A Christmas Carol’, which was actually not too bad.

Our Gingerbread house! At 23 weeks.

The Saturday before Christmas we flew to Texas to spend the week with Dan’s family. It was a long day in the airport, followed by a 5-hour drive to Arkansas on very winding roads. Needless to say it was the sickest I have ever felt through this pregnancy and by the time we got to his house I went straight to bed – no greetings for anyone! Thankfully it didn’t last and we spent the next few days in Arkansas feeding cows, watching home videos, and witnessing the baptism of a close family friend – we had never expected that day to come, so it was a welcome surprise when he first told us! Christmas day we drove back to Texas where the extended family lives and had dinner while catching up with (or finally meeting!) everyone. We went to a crazy medieval dinner festival, saw the Hobbit, and went to the zoo before it was time to head back to Utah.

Gotta love that "wide load" half-side view!

Sunday morning we flew into SLC then drove straight to my cabin in Montana – another long travel day but at least the roads didn’t make me sick! I was so excited to see my family and get to spend the next few days with them (I’m sure we drove poor Dan crazy). What with my current condition, and my track record for face plants and running into trees, I figured it was best if I stayed home while everyone skied but Dan got to go so it was all good. We also went shopping, fed the ducks, hot tubbed (as much as I could..), and went to HuHot (my favorite!). And if you know my family, games were played in abundance. J We are always having a good time together, and laughing nonstop. It was so much fun, so even though we almost didn’t make it out from the cabin roads and it took nearly 13 hours to get home, it was definitely worth it.

My cute dad hosting all the ducks! It was crazy!

As far as baby news: not much to report! I had a bunch of appointments as per usual, and things look good. Baby reached viability this month (24 weeks) and is definitely getting bigger and stronger! We love feeling all these acrobatics getting more and more pronounced, and the very obvious “alien” movements you can see on my belly! Though it is a bit of a hassle when I’m rolling over at 3am and trying to go back to sleep, or when it kicks up into my ribs. We still love this tiny human more than anything and are so excited to meet him or her in a few months!

November

My dad came down one weekend for a dental conference he had, so we got to spend a little time with him and eat some good food (one of the best parts of parent’s visiting, right?!) Dan also finally finished up interviews and recruiting, and got 2 internship offers! He ended up signing on with Ernst & Young so we are very excited for that opportunity next summer. 

The last week of November was American Thanksgiving, and since Dan only had 2 classes, I took off the whole week and we had ourselves a “babymoon”! Dan’s always wanted to go on a cruise so I finally gave in and we did a little 3-day one down to Ensenada, Mexico. It was pretty fun and of course, we loved the huge amounts of food available! It’s a good thing I’m already supposed to get fat or I would have been in trouble. ;) In Mexico we got to hold a little baby lion. It was soo cute, just a little scary when he snapped at me! Apparently, I also started showing more noticably this month as a number of the Mexicans were not afraid to comment on my current condition!

On Sunday (24^th) the day we were leaving for the cruise, my grandfather passed away after being in and out of the hospital for months. I was so glad I got to call him a few days earlier and chat, even though it was hard to understand him over the phone. He knew it was me though, and I’m told he was grinning ear to ear when I called, so even though it was hard for me, I’m so glad I got to do that! I also made an effort to see him when I came home this summer and I am so glad I did! For those who didn’t know him, my Poppa was an absolutely amazing man and I am going to miss him. But he lived a good life, and his time here was done. Thankfully, my parents made arrangements for Dan and me to come to Canada right after our cruise and so I was able to be there for the funeral. It was beautiful, and I’m glad so many of his family made it. We sure loved him.