Down and Dirty

Today Andy participated in the USMC mud run. He was nervous being that he isn't the biggest on distance running, but he ended up kicking some major booty. His team was made up of two guys from our ward, Andy, and one of the guys sisters. They ended up coming in so early, that I wasn't even prepared to take their picture, because I thought it would be at least another ten minutes or so, so unfortunately all of the pictures with the sweet obstacles are of the girls team from our ward. The course was 4.5 miles long and included 40 different obstacles including a ten foot wall (which everyone said was the most challenging), water/mud obstacles up to 6 feet deep, over and under logs, 45 degree incline mud hills, etc. Andy had a blast and said he would do it again next weekend if he could. We look forward to participating next year, so after the baby comes, I will have some toughening up to do.

The girls from our ward about to start.       

Ready, set...

GO!

Here is where I realized they were already passing me, as I was staring at the obstacle behind them.  Brother Nininger yelled out to his son who was sitting with me, and so I quickly grabbed the camera and ran down to get some shots of them and the last obstacle including the finish line.

They completed the race in 50-55 minutes.  Woo Hoo!

Here are the girls, and some of the "better for pictures" obstacles.  

Boy or Girl?

A couple of people have asked what we are having. Well, we really really wish we could tell you. Only problem is, early last week at our 20 week ultrasound, I was actually only 19 weeks 5 days, and the baby was on the small side, only measuring in at 19 weeks 2 days. Didn't think that would matter all that much, after all, they scheduled me then, so it should have been fine. Well, the sonographer was unsure what the baby was. She said if she had to guess, she would say boy, but she wasn't sure. Then again after Stella's first ultrasound they thought she was a boy too. So because the baby was small, and not everything was able to be checked out as thoroughly as they would have liked, we have to go back. Thank goodness, because I have to know what this baby is. I can't take a guess and run with it. I really have to know. So, in three more long weeks, we will hopefully have seen something to tell us one way or the other. When we do figure out the answer to boy or girl, have no fear, it will be posted here!

Stella has a special trick that she does all the time. People get the biggest kick out of it. People have even asked her to do it for their friends after they have seen it. So funny. She loves to "fly" like a cheerleader with her dad, and usually does it in the pool, but we never have the camera at the pool, so I am glad we could catch her in action in our messy apartment. Please excuse the mess part, packing has sort of taken over all 800 square feet of our tiny little abode. Enjoy this little glimpse into what Andy and Stella love to do all the time, no wonder she is such a Daddy's girl, he does so much fun stuff with her!

Pack it all up

We are starting to pack now for our move at the end of this month.  We are very lucky, and a wonderful family in our ward has offered us part of their home.  We are looking forward to living in a nice safe neighborhood, having good company around all the time, and leaving the noise of apartment life behind... for now at least.  Living with the Gilbert's will be a blast, and we cannot thank them enough for their generosity.  We are excited.  Packing up is the problem.  I can only make little amounts of progress every day because Stella is impossible to pack with.  But she does love having boxes around.    

Stella cannot seem to stay still for more than a second.  She is constantly on the go now,  as you can tell from these pictures.  I love that she is so mobile, because now when I walk out of a room, she doesn't cry, she just follows me.  Very handy.  

Silly!

Stella loves to smash her face up against the glass door of our entertainment center.  I was finally able to snap some pictures of her while she was doing it.  So silly! 

Let the "OH SO FLATTERING" pictures begin

One thing I was not good at while pregnant with Stella was documenting "the belly".  I am trying to be better about that this time, being that I feel so much bigger this time around, and wish I had more pictures to reference from last time.  Sorry I look grumpy in this picture, I took the picture myself using the timer, and it is apparently a lot harder to smile when no one is there to yell, "say cheese".   Anyway - so here I am at 19 weeks.  I have been feeling the baby now consistently for three weeks, which is always reassuring, and it appears this child will be just as active as Stella.  The first time we heard the heartbeat, the doctor even mentioned how the baby was kicking of course, and then flipped in the middle of while we were monitoring.  At least this time around I can picture a baby inside of me.  With Stella, I could only picture a big blob, even up until I delivered, it was very hard to imagine that it was actually a baby inside of me.  This time though, I feel a kick and picture a little foot, rather than some sort of round monster, so that is nice.