on the move...

Well, our little guy has definitely been moving around a lot the past few days. He's crawling around as I'm typing!

Some things that make him move:

Sitting at the computer, typing (I think it squishes him a bit when I'm bent over.)

Talking on the phone

Don talking to my belly

Resting/laying down (They say that the baby moves around more when the mom is at rest and is put to sleep by the rocking motion when she is walking/moving around.)

Loud noises (The other day, I got bread out of our bread container and the metal lid accidentally fell on the counter and made a loud noise. This was the first time I felt him JUMP like he was startled by a noise! Scared the poor little guy!)

I've had my first person in public ask to touch my belly. More of this to come, I'm sure... :) It was a lady that I ran into at a store. I was wearing a thick sweatshirt and she said she felt "flutters." I think it was wishful thinking on her part b/c I can rarely feel him on the outside unless he gives a good, hard kick (4 or 5 times this has happened) and Don hasn't felt him yet. I didn't tell her this, but let her think she felt him!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

(mountains by morning light)

(Joshua trees are scattered near the base of the mountains. It looks like a little cross of white snow in this one!)

(Didn't see any wild donkeys, but did see several signs like this one!)

Yesterday, it actually rained and snowed pretty much all day. It was really cloudy, too. This morning, Don was on his way to work and called me. I ended up taking his advice and going for a drive at approximately 7:00 a.m. It was early(I'm on vacation!), but it was WELL worth it. We don't normally see views like this out here. This is the first time I've seen this much snow on our mountains! One of the ranges (behind our house) is called the Sheep Mountain Range. Today, I could see why, because the range was covered in fleecy white! We hardly ever see snow up there!

(Sheep Range)

Brr! After my photography shoot of the mountains, I warmed up with some hot chocolate with LOTS of mini marshmallows ( A nice surprise - there was a coupon on my cereal - I got them for free when buying Rice Krispies yesterday!) ;)

rock-a-bye baby

Here is our new rocker (glider). The first night we got it, Don helped put it together. I tried it out while reading a book and almost fell asleep. Hopefully, it'll do the same thing to our little guy in the months to come! Very comfy! After we ordered it, I was reading one of my baby books - Baby Bargains, and it recommended Shermag brand rockers, giving it a high grade. I can see why! Love the color, too. It matches our crib and changing table perfectly!

Also, here's a close up view of the crib skirt/animals. I dropped the mattress level down a bit to see them. Off to do a little comparison shopping on mattresses...

Knitted socks from Nana Patti

Thank you, Nana Patti, for the great little knitted socks. They are so cute and you are so talented! Our baby will love them!

(Picture to come soon.)

Uncle Jason came for a visit

Our baby's soon-to-be Uncle Jason came to visit us. (pictured here at Jason's Deli - yummm! The food was delicious and I definitely ate for two that day. :) )

We were glad to have him here for a couple of days. It's always great to be around family, especially since we live so far away now. While here, he took some baby bump shots of me in our little nursery.

One of the nights that he was here, our rocking chair arrived. We had picked it out online with gift certificates from family and friends. It wasn't in the same "line" as our crib and changing table, but the wood color matches perfectly and wasn't hard to put together! It is so comfortable. The first night I sat in it, I almost fell asleep while reading and rocking...I'm sure it'll do the same for our little guy once he is born!

top names across USA

Updated list of popular names for

2008:
http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2008


Top 10 Boy Names:
Aiden
Jayden
Ethan
Jacob
Caden
Jackson
Noah
Jack
Logan
Matthew

Top 10 Girl Names:
Emma
Sophia
Madison
Isabella
Olivia
Ava
Madeline
Addison
Hailey
Lily

(Our baby name "hint" (not much of a hint): Our lead boy first name and the middle name are not on the top ten of the boy's list. )

faster than the pony express!

Wow! This cute little horse traveled faster than the Pony Express! He was sent from Michigan on Saturday and arrived Monday morning. He did not get caught up in any holiday delays at the post office!

So cute and sooooo floppy and soft! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

kicks and flutters

I have been feeling a lot of kicks and flutters! The other night when we went to church, he was moving around so much that it almost made me laugh! It kind of tickled my belly. He was definitely wide awake! Also, two nights ago, I was laying down reading a magazine and had one hand on my belly. He kicked hard enough to make me jump and it was one of the first times that it was hard enough to feel from the outside!

Congratulations go out to Don's sister and hubby. We just found out that they are expecting in June! Exciting news!!!

oh, BOY!

It's a BOY! :) We were so excited to find out the gender of our baby! Now, on to the hard part of picking out a name. I thought that it would be easy...but there are a lot of names out there! It's also a big decision since it is a lifelong decision. We'll also come up with a name for a girl...just in case. I've heard several stories where they say it is one gender but it pops out differently.

The ultrasound was pretty obvious and we trust the technician. However, the umbilical cord was also wrapped between our little guy's legs. Our doctor said, "Aw, he's a modest little fellow." He was hiding from pictures. We can stop back in at any time to do another "gender check" to see if they can get a clearer picture, so we'll probably do that sometime in December.

Update: We went in on December 11th for a quick gender check ultrasound b/c the umbilical cord was down there last time. The ultrasound technician said, "It's still a boy!" :)