Celebrating 4 years!

In honor of our 4 year wedding anniversary on Sunday...

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby

We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday


They said, "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong


You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love

The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night


Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together

I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'


They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong


You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love

The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

No, we didn't fall off the face of the Earth!

It has been awhile since I blogged, probably because I've been too lazy to upload pictures. Here's what we've been up to over the past few weeks.

BABY SHOWER!

My good friends Lesley and Sarah threw me a fantastic baby shower. It was an awesome welcome to the sorority of motherhood. Thanks for out-doing yourself, girls. It was even more fun than I had imagined! And for those of you who came, thanks for the laughs and great advice-- I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

A NIGHT OUT...

Brandon and I celebrated the holidays by going to see A Christmas Carol downtown. It was an excellent performance. Even though I know the story by heart, the message really touched me this year. After the show we had a 4 course dinner at The Melting Pot. Ever since our Daring Baker friends Matt and April introduced us to fondue I've been an addict. The Melting Pot only made my addiction worse...

NEW CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITIONS!

Since I'm 8 months preggers we decided to stay home and celebrate Christmas together. Even though we missed the fam, it was fun to create our own holiday traditions. On Christmas Eve we made Grandma Ruby's famous homemade spaghetti. Yummy! Then we read the Christmas story from Luke and sang Christmas hymns (Brandon played the accompaniment on the guitar). After we wrote down our Christmas present for Christ (a resolution to do one thing more Christlike during the year) and stuck it in our stockings we watched It's a Wonderful Life by the glow of the fire and Christmas tree lights. It was a fun peaceful little Christmas.

DOG SITTING...

Our neighbors are out of town for the week, so we're watching their long haired Chihuahua while they're gone. He's nearly 12 years old, so most of the time he just lays around. It's kind of fun to have 2 puppies in the house, but I'm in no rush to add an extra friend to our family. A baby on the way is enough for me.

Oh, and we're still working on the nursery. With a little luck hopefully we can finish up tonight and get some furniture assembled later this weekend. We hope you all had a very merry Christmas and are enjoying some time off with your families. Best wishes for an excellent New Year!

Soon 2 will become 3

Since it took us so long to get pregnant I really wanted to take maternity pictures to celebrate and document this moment in our family history.



It took some convincing, but eventually Brandon came around to the idea (and after the photo shoot he actually admitted that he had a good time).



I've posted some of my favorite pics, but it was hard to chose because our photographer was amazing.



For those of you in the Houston area I highly recommend Koni Frost-- she is fantastic. Here is a link to her website if you want to check out some of her other work.



PS-- I'm 32 weeks in all of these pictures.

It's a Christmas Miracle!

A sight we never thought we'd see here!

Last night something miraculous happened in Houston-- it snowed! I'll admit that it wasn't much by Utah standards, but it was kind of fun. While we were inside we opened all the blinds, plugged in the tree, turned on the fire place, and pretended that the snow lined roofs were snow-covered hills.


Notice how my jacket only buttons in one spot now.

Brandon and I also took Scout outside and tried to force him to frolic in the snow. He was not happy and ran straight to the front door (and stayed seated there until we let him back in the house). What a fun Christmas memory!


I think he's trying to tell us that he's not a snow dog. He's in for a rude awakening when we have to move back to Utah in a few years!

Well, I never!

I was tagged by my friend April. If you want to participate, just copy and paste in your own blog. Bold all of the things you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (I have caught lightening bugs before,which is way cooler in my humble opinion.)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (shouldn't petting count?)
26. Gone skinny dipping (I plead the fifth)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (both- more than once)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (kind of... when I was 17 my grandma bought me a brand new car- which I still drive BTW)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (I've made it through the New Testament and most of the Old Testament, but have yet to complete the whole thing)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (I have been called to jury duty, though)
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (ask me again in January)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (no way-- it smells really bad!)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument (learned? yes... mastered? no)

So there you go. A pretty good list of questions, but I think someone who loves Europe wrote this. How come there weren't any statements about South or Central America (or other foreign countries for the matter)?

Picture Update

I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures to my computer. Here's the past month or so in review:


Last year I forced Scout to wear a Halloween costume. This year I decided that I didn't want to fight that battle and settled on a scarf.


Me and the baby around 29 weeks.


Thanksgiving baby bump... no I didn't swallow the turkey whole!


Thanksgiving at the Larson's was all about...

good food,


good friends,


and super cute kids.

Work in progress...

Over Thanksgiving weekend Brandon and I painted the baby's nursery. We finally decided on a soft shade of pink (so soft that it needed 2 coats). Our next task is to panel the bottom of the walls with bead board. Our goal is to finish up this month so that we can focus on furniture assembly and decorating in January. Before you know it Baby Ruby will be here. Hopefully, her room will be ready in time...


P.S. This is what my guest room looks like while the nursery is under construction. Every time I see it I feel anxious. Disorder makes me neurotic.