The past week and a half has been wonderful. We celebrated Christmas here in Utah then went on our trip down to Arizona for Christmas!

A couple of days before we left, Nate and I decided to have our Christmas at home. (We didn't put up our tree this year since we weren't going to be home for Christmas.) 

After we opened our gifts to each other we went and dropped off some Christmas treats to our neighbors and friends. I made Peppermint Popcorn Crunch. It turned out really yummy!

When we got home, we got a knock at our door. It was the Durrant children, they live right across the street from us. They had a gift for us and we opened it while they were there. I'm pretty sure I started tearing up but I  didnt let the kids see. This is one of the sweetest gifts we have ever received! They went through each of the rocks telling us who was who, from the oldest child to the youngest.

Once the kids left I felt I HAD to try out all of my gifts! 1. Snuggie  2. Beanie  3. Fuzzy Socks  4. Pink Water Bottle  5. Adele Concert DVD & CD. Man, my husband sure does know me, and well!
 

We got to AZ a couple of days before Christmas. My mom asked as soon as we got there if I was pregnant, touching my tummy. I had to keep it a secret for a couple of days with loose shirts as to not spoil the Christmas surprise. I told her we were waiting till next year and for Nate to get a raise at work. Somehow we were able to convince them I wasn't pregnant yet.

Christmas morning, after most all of the gifts were open, we gave our gifts to my mom, my dad and my sister. They opened them to find the fun photo calendars like I have made previous years.

As they flipped through looking at the chosen pictures, my mom was the first to flip to June.  She saw the ultrasound first. She looked at it, looked up at me, jumped up and then screamed.

She started crying, along with April. My dad had not yet seen the picture and was a bit confused on what was going on. My mom yelled "They are gonna have a baby!" My dad yelled "What!" with the biggest smile on his face, holding back the tears. It was the best reaction from everyone I could have hoped for. They are so so so excited for baby to come into this world. They have all already planned to make a trip up when baby gets here! The best thing was we got it on video!

(quality on here isn't that great because blogger wouldn't let me post high res...which i realize i'm okay with because you cant tell how bad i look from just waking up!)

Our first family picture :)

We have such a great family and I cannot wait until they meet our baby.



I also got to see a couple of great friends while I was in AZ and we told them the news in person! First was Kelly (who surprised her family by coming home for Christmas from Belgium after a year of nannying.) It was so exciting to see her because it has been over a year since I have seen her in person! After her opening the door and jumping on me with a hug lasting forever, then another one because that's how much we missed each other, I pulled her aside and said, "I gotta tell you something." She knew instantly without me even telling her and the hugging continued, along with some squealing! It was so great! It was fun seeing her and indulging in the real Belgium chocolate she brought home!

(picture from Christmas 08)

Next was Clarissa! She planned a 5 year high school reunion for us with 2 of our best friends from high school. I went and picked her and her adorable kids up from home and as she buckled them in I stood behind her, waiting to give her a hug, holding my ultrasound picture on my tummy. She saw it and was so excited!! We talked about it the entire way to drop her daughter off at her sister-in-law's house. I was so excited to finally tell her because it was hard keeping it to myself. I can remember back when we were in middle school and high school, planning our futures and always planning to raise our kids together. Unless they move to Utah by chance, they are going to have to learn how to Skype :) Dinner was fun seeing Julie and Kelly (and Kenny, Kelly's fiance). It was just like old times, eating at BJ's - except we didnt get a Pazooki. It was great catching up and hearing about their lives now.

Then...

 

Now.

Before we left AZ I told my mom and sister that I wanted to go shopping for maternity clothes since I hadn't yet, and I wanted to with them. So we went and I found 4 great pairs of jeans and a cute coral color shirt! I always thought it would be so hard to shop for maternity clothes since 1. I am so picky to begin with and 2. I am tall, most jeans are too short on me. It was fun shopping. Nate came in my dressing room and put on that pillow thing to see how the clothes would fit when I get bigger....it was weird! The pillow was all bumpy and not smooth so it wasn't realistic at all. It just made me laugh.

We had such a fun time and cant wait to take another trip down before baby comes :)

How far along? 12 Weeks, 5 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 5lbs (from 163 to 168)
Maternity clothes? Not quite
Stretch marks? Nah
Sleep: Still waking up a few times, then staying awake if Nate is snoring.
Best moment this week: Our second appointment today where we heard baby's heartbeat!

Have you told family and friends: Some of them.
Miss Anything? Sandwiches.

Movement: Not that I can feel.

Food cravings: Hot Cheetos, Buffalo Wings, Fries in Frosty's.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just having an empty tummy or being too full.
Have you started to show yet: Yes...it's weird.
Gender prediction: Don't really have a prediction at the moment.
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time:  mixture of both.
Looking forward to: Sharing the news at Christmas with my family!

We made it through the first trimester! Yay :) Thats a big deal! Another big deal was our 12 week doctor appointment today. I was getting nervous at the possibility that something could have happened between last appointment and this one. But after about 10 seconds the doctor finally came across the heartbeat. It was such a relief to Nate and I. I was so happy to know that baby was still okay in there. We are getting anxious because this week we head to Arizona for Christmas with my side of the family...where we are telling our them the good news! We had these cute picture calendars made so when they open them, flip through, and flip to June....they will see our ultrasound! I am so excited but nervous that they will find out the couple of days we're their before Christmas day. Oh well, we'll just see what happens!

How far along? 10 Weeks, 5 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 0
Maternity clothes? Still in normal clothes.
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Waking up a few times, then staying awake if Nate is snoring.
Best moment this week:Our first doctor appointment where we had an ultrasound and saw our kiddo jumping around inside my tummy! It was amazing :)

Have you told family and friends: Some.
Miss Anything? Sandwiches with lunch meat, dairy, and sushi.
Movement: Only on the ultrasound, nothing I can feel yet.

Food cravings:Olive garden salad, cranberry juice, and Chinese food.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Dairy. Also having an empty tummy or being too full.
Have you started to show yet: Not yet.
Gender prediction: Boy.
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time:  mixture of both.
Looking forward to: Starting baby bump pictures!

Today was unbelievable. We saw our "kiddo", for the very first time! I think it might have been just as excited as we were because as soon as it showed up on the screen, it started moving and wiggling and dancing around! Nate and I have never felt something like that before, it just reaffirms the Lord's hand in this. We are so blessed to have this baby and are so excited to have it in our home! We already love it so much. Nate tries to talk to it; he must not believe me that it can't hear yet.

I had a dream about it last night, my very first one. I dreamt that I woke up in the middle of the night to check on it next to us in our room. It was perfectly content. I got to hold it in my dream and it made me so much more excited for when I get to.

Baby is already so loved, by so many people. We shared the news with the Gailey side of the family on Thanksgiving. (We have a habbit of sharing news on Thanksgiving; last year it was that we were going to get married.) Anyways, Anita and Jared said they somehow already knew. It must be easy to tell after having 3 of their own children. Michelle already knew too, because she overheard us telling Nate's parents. And Nicole and Troy...well, they were they only ones that were surprised! Nate had Gavin and Alyssa go tell their parents as a way to share the news. It was a great night. Now, if only we can keep it from the McGuire side until Christmas...

I feel so unbelievably lucky to have Nate as my husband, he always seems to do the right things at the right times.

Today was Gavin's (our nephew) baptism. It was the first family baptism I have been to and I loved it so much. It so special to see children make the decision to be baptized. I really enjoyed being there; it made me look forward to the days my children choose to be baptized. [I got a bit emotional]

After the baptism and the get together afterwards, we were on our way home from Salt Lake, taking Nate's parents to the airport. As we were driving home Nate said that he was hungry and asked what I wanted to eat. I told him with how i have been feeling, nothing sounds good anymore. Thats when he saw the sign for Kneaders. He mentioned it and i lit up! I have been wanting to eat there for a while and it made me excited to eat. It was yummy! I had Roasted Corn & Pablano Soup in a Sourdough Bread Bowl. It hit the spot and we drove the rest of the way home.

I wasnt feeling too well tonight so I decided I wanted to take a bath. Nate jumped up and walked me up to the bathroom. I went to start the bath and he told me to go get ready, that he would do it. When I came back to the bathroom he was in there, making sure the water was the perfect temperature. He added bubble and bubbles and made them very bubbly for me. I got in and he left. He came back a minute later, shut off the lights, and set down a platter of 3 lit candles. I thought, he is soo sweet! Well, little did I know, he was not finished. He came back another minute later with out master bathroom speakers and plugged them in. He plugged in his phone to them and put on my favorite Pandora station. Then he left. Another minute later, he came back with a pitcher full of hot water to add to my bath so it didnt get cold. Then he left. The next minute he came back with the pitcher refilled with how water and set it next to the tub for when I needed it warmer. He kissed me, and left. Still not done....he came back again, peeked his head in and asked if I needed anything else? What I was thinking was "a drink of water." What I said was "nothing." He had already done so much that I didnt want to ask him to do anything else. Right then he pops the rest of his body in and hands me a water bottle of cold water. How does he know things like this?? It made me feel so loved, blessed, and lucky all at the same time.

I love my husband with all of my heart, he is wonderful to me.

Best Date Night ever!

For the past couple of weeks my body has been feeling a bit different. After two weeks of feeling a bit sick and being a week late, I started thinking that this might be what we were waiting for. A few days ago I told Nate that I had a plan for Date Night on Friday (today.) I had bought a box of pregnancy tests on tuesday while I was grocery shopping and decided it was time to take one. I went back and forth for a couple of days on if I should do it alone and surprise him, or if i should wait and have him be there when i took it. I finally decided I would do it with him there. I wanted to be able to share the emotions together.

Tonight I got home late from a busy week of work and sat on the love sack to wait for him to finish up his game. Once he did we went to the kitchen and I said "Happy Date Night!" He asked, "what are we doing for Date Night?" I pointed to my jacket on the love sack and told him to look under it. He lifted my jacket and out came the box of tests. [he told m later than at that moment, he saw the box but it didnt register to him. He was wondering where the thing was that he was suppoed to be looking for.] He turned back to me fast and said "You're pregnant?!" I immediately started crying tears of joy and went to hug him. I knew I was, but I told him I wasn't 100% positive because I had not taken a test yet. He said, "Well, lets go do it."

We went upstairs and I did my thing. I went and layed with him on the bed while we waited for the full results to appear. It was time. We got up and he said "I'm gonna see it first!" and ran ahead. He was only playing though. We looked. One solid pink line and one very faint line. We looked at each other confused and Nate said "What does that mean!?" I told him that any second line, solid or faint, means you are pregnant. He asked me to take another to see if the lines would look different. I took a second test and the same thing appeared. I told him with the way my body felt and these test result, I know I am pregnant. We hugged and kissed and talked about things we would do.

The whole night was perfect. We stayed home, ordered pizza, and laid on the love sack cuddling and watched a movie.  I felt so happy to be with Nate, he is wonderful.

We are so happy, but nervous. We both want to be great parents. I love our little bean already and are so excited and blessed to be able to start our family.

I love baby. I can't wait to meet he or she. I just learned that baby is the size of a sesame seed. Cute :)

Dear Nate:

I feel so incredibly lucky that you are the one I get to be with forever. You fulfill my dreams of what my husband would be, including jumping on our bed just because. I love you.

Kris

Oh babe....how you make me laugh even when we are apart.
I love to daydream about you making me laugh...

 

My dad and Tre came to visit Nate and I for a few days last month, we had a blast!

I love my husband, obviously, but I get reminded all the time when he does super sweet things for me!

One night I came home from my Zumba class and on the counter were these BEAUTIFUL roses & lilies in a vase, waiting for me to find them.

(I love the detail, he asked them to put these jewels in!)

There was a card with them that was sooo sweet as well.
I definitely married the right man for me, he is my everything!
I love being married, but more importantly, I love being married to him.
He makes me laugh and smile every single day, without a doubt.

I have a new favorite meal to make!
Why have I never made it before??

 Shrimp Fried Rice...yes please!
(adapted from Simply Recipes) 

8 ounces small raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
3 eggs, beaten
4 stalks green onion, minced
1 cup uncooked rice, cooked in 2 Cups water
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots, defrosted
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

I only took one picture though because its kind of a fast process, things could burn, quickly!
So here is he finished product....

1 In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

2 Add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the cooking surface area so that they are not overlapping. Let fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

3 Turn the heat to medium, let the pan heat up again. Add the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the pan into the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

4 Use paper towels to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok.

5 Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas and carrots, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.

Monday, July 18th, our neighborhood got together for a movie & treat night!
We had lots of fun and lots of treats.

 

I absolutely love our neighborhood!

We have the best neighbors and so many fun little neighbor kids always around.

Since the invitation said to Bring a Treat to Share....you know I was on top of that!

I decided to make Magic Cookie Bars; I hadn't made them in years.

1/2 Cup Butter

1 1/2 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

1-14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

1 1/3 Cups Coconut Flakes

1 Cup Chopped Nuts

Start by pre-heating the oven to 325 degrees.

(I LOVE my Ninja! I would highly recommend it to everyone - It does EVERYTHING)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smushy smush...or chop - but that's not as fun

Smushy smush - not as much this time though

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. YUM

I love love love these bars, they are delicious and super easy!

After these were done baking, we headed across the street for the movie.

Okay, so the movie didn't start right away...

We had to wait for the sun to go down and the husbands (Nate & Nate) to get the projector set up.

(Meanwhile, they had some music playing)

And........

...some entertainment, for sure! They were so funny!

It was almost as if they hadn't heard music before...that or they are ROCKSTARS and nobody told me.

 

Definite highlight of the night :)

 But the sun eventually went down, and the Nate's eventually got everything ready...

(my husband is so hott)

  ....and then came the movie....

(can anyone tell what is is??)

It was a nice night, I got to cuddle up next to my hubby on a blanket and (almost) stay awake through an entire movie!

But, we weren't the only love birds enjoying the movie together that night...

(these two are inseparable - its SO cute)

 

"Oh no, she caught us eating all the treats"

"It's okay, just smile and pretend she can't see them"

What a fun night!

I absolutely love where Nate and I live, the neighbors, the friends.

It's great, I don't ever want to move.

I feel very blessed to live where we do!