Belly

Some days it is big, other days it is small. This day was a big belly day. 7.5 weeks to go!

Happy 3rd of July! (and prego belly pics)

Joe and I both had Friday off, and we had the kids all day as well, so we decided to have an early holiday since we wouldn't all be together on the fourth.

The day consisted of a morning hike to donut falls, an afternoon of playing in the sprinklers and the cold-hot tub, a bbq in the back yard, a trip for ice cream cones for dessert and finally, a couple packs of sparklers before bedtime. Check out the pics. Oh, and for the first time (even though I'm 28 weeks), my belly has popped out.

Gracie busting out a modeling pose.

Joe and the kids.

Donut Falls.

Donut, I mean, prego belly.

Sprinklers are so fun!

Leonard and Moses in their new pool. They've obviously outgrown the utility sink.

The new fence Joe built! (and check out the corn in the background!)

Two hot dogs. Not just one.

Moses and Leonard

We'd like you to meet the newest members of the Bravo farm, Moses and Leonard!

Basically what it comes down to is that Joe and I shouldn't be allowed to go to the farm store together, and even more we shouldn't ask the lady all the questions that we think will talk us out of it, but really results in us leaving with a little happy meal sized box with two ducklings.

Get this... they'll eat all the box elder bugs in our yard and provide pest control for the garden. They'll live in the coop with the chickens and eat the chicken feed. And, they'll love to swim in our little pond. I may even lead train them so they can eat bugs in the front yard too. Or, I can rent them out. ;)

Stay tuned for pictures of Moses and Leonard learning to swim (turns out we have to teach them in the bathtub).

They're gonna put me in the movies, they're gonna make a big star outta me.

I'm totally famous. People from friends parents in Idaho to my step daughters preschool teacher have been telling me how they saw me on Fox 13 news last night and this morning. Well, though I do enjoy being in the spotlight, this one really wasn't about me.

My work (the Utah Society for Environmental Education) runs a program developed by the Northwest Earth Institute in Portland Oregon that gets groups of people together in book club type groups to talk about various topics ranging from healthy children to living simply. The Voluntary Simplicity course was something Fox 13 was interested in highlighting (with the economic times and all), so Cath Edvalson (my coworker Nicole's mom) and myself were interviewed after we finished up our discussion group.

Simplicity has many meanings and can range from buying less, gardening, eating lower on the food chain, eliminating stress to raising chickens. Whatever it is that simplifies your life and makes you happy, go for it!

Check out part one below and click here for part two highlighting Cath.

The Plantains have Spoken!

We went to the doc this morning for an ultrasound and found out we are having a girl. Joe's family in Venezuela already knew this however because the plantains (banana like fruit) were all splitting, which means whoever in the family is pregnant is having a girl. They also knew I was pregnant before I did. Talk about being in tune....

She was a little wiggle worm the entire time. I'm thinking in a few weeks when I start to feel her move more consistently it just might drive me crazy! It was amazing to be able to see her.

Here are some pics. My favorite is the little foot...

She wouldn't move her hand away from her face for the pictures. I'd say she's shy, but being a product of Joe and I, I doubt it.


Cross-legged sitting.... cute little legs and feet.

Long Overdue Annoucement, Due in October

Some of you may have heard through the grapevine, or some of you may have heard from Joe or I, but we are proud to announce that we (I) am pregnant!

I'm only about 9.5 weeks along, but have already seen the ultrasound, and we have a little kidney bean with a heartbeat! Well... now it is about the size of a grape.

As for the questions... Yes, I am sick, but hopeful that it will subside in the next few weeks. Due Date?: Oct 2. Do we want a girl or boy?: Doesn't matter to us, but Johnny wants a brother and Gracie wants a sister. They, by the way, giggle every time I tell them how big my belly is going to be.

Here's some cool info on the development from a website called babycenter.org. Its facinating!

My new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Simplicity in the Time of Zombies

As some of you may know, the staff of the Utah Society of Environmental Education (USEE, where I work) is working toward simplifying our lives, not just at home and pertaining to the environment, but in the office as well. We discuss issues that come up in our lives on an almost daily basis, have been participating in the USEE Discussion Course - Voluntary Simplicity, and also have read the book Getting Things Done by David Allen to try and streamline our days in the office.

Simplification is on my mind always, and also seems to be more and more of a trend lately. Whether it is to relax a bit in your life, to save money, to free up time for other things, etc, simplification is a good idea to consider and has been popping up everywhere.

A most unexpected place I read about simplification was on the back of a book about Zombies called The Walking Dead (by Robert Kirkham and published by Imagecomics. Something you may not know is that the USEE office likes Zombie literature... well, Jason and I do, and we are trying to convert Nicole. Here is the quote.

"How many hours are in a day when you don't spend half of them watching television?

When is the last time any of us REALLY worked to get something that we wanted?

How long has it been since any of us really NEEDED something that we WANTED?

The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled, no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV.

In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living."

I know it may seem a little silly with the zombies and all, but simplification may not only be beneficial for us in the present time, but also for whatever the future has in store. Personally, I'm not going to wait until the Zombies come before I start living. :)