Jack! First Photos

 Just taking it easy.

 Ready to eat, chowing on his fingers. 

Basking under the glow of the heat lamp and looking good (minus the eye goop).

Spoiled

Last week I had a baby shower with the girls from the office. We went to the Olive Garden for an early dinner and it was delicious. It was fun getting together outside of work and getting showered with gifts at the same time. And I'm not exaggerating when I say they spoiled me. Here are some pics of just a few of my spoils from the evening:

I absolutely love these girls. I feel so very blessed that I get to work with them every day. They are like my second family and are just as excited as I am about this baby. It's been nice to have their support.  They have become great friends and, though I'm excited to take some time off from work, I will miss seeing them so often when I am on maternity leave.Thanks for the fun night out girls!

Paintball War 2011

Yesterday Brandt and I had the fabulous opportunity to participate with my office in the first ever Harris and Allen Dental Paintball War. What better way to build office unity and camaraderie than shooting paintballs at each other? 

We took a group picture before getting started. We were all friends at this point. Don't let those smiling faces fool you - underneath them is an inner thirst for blood. Being 11 days away from my due date, nobody wanted me on their team; I was considered a liability. So instead I became an unofficial referee/photographer. It was kind of fun running/waddling around the course watching all the action and not having to worry about getting shot at - although I did have some near misses when I got caught in the cross-fire. We played different versions of Capture the Flag as well as a mutants/humans game. Here are shots of everyone in action:

Everyone started out somewhat timid, but it didn't take long for them to up their game. By the end everyone was taking some pretty good hits. Kaylie took a direct hit to the neck, courtesy of Dr. Harris; Chris got a nasty welt on the collar bone, courtesy of Dr. Allen (interesting the doctors issued some of the worst wounds of the day, right? :) Someone got Kim right in the rump. Brandt twisted his foot all on his own...all in all I'd say it was a pretty good day of paintball!

And here's everyone at the end of the day with their game faces on. I am the loser in the front with no gun. Next year I'll have a gun; it will be intense. Afterwards, the doctors took us out for pizza - I think it was a way of convincing everyone to be friends again. And I think it worked - we're set to make this a yearly tradition. Although next year maybe we'll challenge another office so we can all be on the same team. Any takers?

The Story of THE Chair

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl with hazel eyes and long blonde hair (it may have been brown at the time - she changes her hair color a lot). Her name was Dani. One day, Dani was flipping through a Pottery Barn catalog while dreaming of her prince charming (his name was Brandt) and the home they would fill with all this great furniture. She saw a picture of a beautiful chair. It was love at first sight. It was the Comfort Grand Swivel Glider and it was beautiful.

 

♪ Isn't she lovely? Isn't she beautiful? ♫

It was classy, clean, and charismatic (and the white fabric was not at all impractical). It was absolutely perfect. In short, it was THE chair. She knew that someday that chair would have a place in the nursery and she would sit in it as she rocked her babies and sang them to sleep. She quickly added it to her wish list, knowing that she had some time to convince Prince Charming that $650 was a small price to pay for THE chair.

Years later, Dani and her prince charming found that they were expecting their first child. They immediately began making preparations and Dani remembered THE chair. Sadly, their finances were not what Dani expected they would be as Prince Charming decided to go back to school and pursue a Master's Degree. Plus he's a little bit stingy and didn't see the charisma that Dani saw in the Comfort Grand Swivel Glider. But she didn't give up hope; there had to be a way if she scrimped elsewhere that she could get her chair. They could eat Ramen noodles for a year if need be. There was still hope. But on one gloomy, rainy, no-good, awful bad day, she got online to gaze longingly at THE chair and noticed that those no-good Pottery Barn bandits had raised the price of her chair substantially. She quickly did the math in her head on her trusty TI-30X calculator and found that with the ottoman plus slipcovers and delivery charges, her chair would cost over $2000. She then calculated how many years of eating Ramen noodles it would take to cover the costs. It was then that her little flicker of hope burned out.

Distraught and angry as she was, Dani pressed on in her preparations for baby boy. She allowed herself to purchase the Kingston Nursery Bedding as a consolation for losing her beloved chair (plus it was on sale and she is a sucker for a good sale). Things were ok; she moved on from the disappointment of THE chair and began researching other chairs that could do the same job.

A few weeks passed, and Prince Charming informed Dani that he would be gone for about four days on a business endeavor (aka saving the world from noxious weeds during the day and camping out at night with his BLM comrades). At 5:45 am on a Monday morning, he kissed Dani goodbye and headed out for the week on his trusty steed (aka four-wheeler). That night after work, Dani was feeling lonely and didn't feel like going home to an empty castle. So she decided to stop by the local DownEast Outfitters and browse around. DownEast is an outlet store that carries discounted merchandise from name-brand stores, including Pottery Barn. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day and her spirits were high. Little did she know her spirits were about to get much higher.

Within thirty seconds of walking into the store, Dani's eyes caught something gazing at her from about thirty yards away. It had a very familiar look, as if she had seen it somewhere before. She cautiously approached. As she came into full view of the item, she gasped in surprise and wonder. It was THE chair's cousin, the Charleston Convertible Rocker. The resemblance to his cousin was uncanny. He was dressed in the same white slipcover and was ever so dashing. She carefully seated herself and knew instantly that she was in love. She closed her eyes as she rocked and imagined Charleston in her nursery, gently rocking her baby to sleep. She knew she had to take him home with her. She tentatively searched for a price tag, afraid of what she would find. With shaking fingers, she turned it over in her hands. Lo and Behold, it was a steal of a deal!!! MUCH cheaper than if she were to buy it from an actual Pottery Barn store. She tried to find something wrong with the chair to explain why it was so much cheaper, but alas, there was nothing wrong with it other than some black smudging at the bottom of the slipcover - nothing that a little Oxy-Clean couldn't handle. It had become - THE chair.

Frantically, Dani waved down a salesman. She didn't want to leave THE chair for fear that some bad guys would steal it right from under her. Finally, a tall, dark, handsome salesman walked over and asked if she needed any assistance. She grilled him about the chair. He informed her that in the two years that he had been working there, he had never seen rocking chairs come into their store. This was, as it would seem, a once in a blue-moon occurrence. It was meant to be.

Dani didn't know what to do. Normally, she would consult with Prince Charming first on such a big purchase. But he was unavailable for the next four days. Her chair would most likely be swiped by bandits by then. She had to make an executive decision. She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and handed the handsome salesman her debit card (but not before trying to knock a few bucks off the price, but to no avail).

Now, how to get it home? Being very much with-child, Dani didn't see how she was going to get this lovely purchase home all by herself. The handsome salesman was a bit greedy and wanted $45 to deliver it for her - even though she lived less than a half-mile away. No thanks, she told him; she would wait for her Big Strong Man to get back from saving the world from noxious weeds to come and carry it for her. The now-not-so-handsome salesman agreed to hold it until Thursday.

Thursday rolled around and as soon as Prince Charming arrived home, they jumped in the car and drove the half-mile to DownEast. He inspected Dani's purchase (although there wasn't much he could do about it by this point - the store only offers in-store credit if you want to return anything), found it to his liking, and, being the Big Strong Man that he is, picked it up with one hand and carried it to the car.

At home, Brandt immediately unwrapped it for a closer look.

Lucky for Dani, Brandt approved her spontaneous purchase. He agreed that Charleston would be a welcome addition to the family and a great fixture in the nursery. He would fulfill the important task of rocking their babies to sleep. He kissed Dani and praised her for her beauty, brilliance, and fine shopping skills.

♪ Isn't he lovely? Isn't he beautiful? ♫

 After soaking in some Oxy-Clean, the slipcover was as bright and white as ever. Dani accessorized with a beautiful blue throw she got on clearance and Charleston was all set and ready to go. Now they just needed to await the arrival of the young prince. And I'm sure the young prince, his parents, and THE chair lived happily ever after. 

Kiss Kiss, Wedded Bliss

Brandt and I were able to attend the sealing of Jill and Chris in the Twin Falls Temple this past weekend. I am so so happy for this girl. She has found quite the catch for herself.

After the sealing, Brandt and I tagged along with Nada while the Bride and Groom took pictures. It was my first time really walking around the Twin Falls Temple grounds. The landscaping is simple compared to some of the larger temples, but so beautiful.

Little Jilly-Bug is all grown up and married!

Congrats to Jill and Chris! We're so happy for them. And not at all jealous that they are now soaking up the sun in the Bahamas. Nope, not one bit jealous. I was glad that we were able to be there on their special day. Even if I look like a fatty fat fat in the wedding pictures. On a positive note I did get TWO new skirts for the occasion (not to mention a third dress to wear once I'm skinny again - I couldn't help it- Dillards was having a sale). It made me feel better about myself. Who needs the Bahamas when you have dresses with stretchy waistbands?

Empathy

For the past four weeks, Brandt and I have been attending our Prenatal Education Class on Wednesday nights to help us prepare for everything that's coming our way. "Graduation" was this last week - not that there was a test or a formal ceremony or anything, I just like to make it sound cooler than it really was. We did play an informal game of Jeopardy as a review, and I knew about half the answers (apparently that's enough to pass the class). My favorite part of class were the treats; every week I would look forward to my little package (or two) of Oreos. You may mock, but Oreos are one of those things I can't bring myself to buy (at least not yet). I figure I eat enough crap as it is and a whole bag of Oreos for Brandt and I wouldn't help. So this was a special treat. Dumb, I know, but definitely a highlight to the class.

The classes were really helpful. Although we went over a lot of things I already knew about, the anatomy of what's actually going on and the whole birthing process was completely foreign to me (a part of me wishes it still was). We watched these animations that explained what's going on and it makes so much more sense to me now. Then we watched the real thing - a video of a woman giving birth; it was not pleasant and I did not sleep well that night :) However, I think I am for the most part recovered from it and pressing on.

Our teacher asked for volunteers from the dads in the class to try on the Empathy Belly. Brandt, no surprises here, immediately volunteered. He strutted around in that thing like no man really should. It was great fun. When he finally took it off, I asked him how it was. He said, "Would you slap me if I said it wasn't that bad?" Not much empathy there. Granted, he only had it on for five minutes. Plus he's huge. So obviously he didn't get the full experience. Whatever. 

 

Our Belly Bumps at 33 weeks - First Day of Class (9-7-2011)

I think his belly is bigger than mine. Of all the pregnant ladies in the class, I was the furthest along and yet still had the smallest belly. I was worried about it for awhile because I keep getting comments on how little I am, but my doctor doesn't seem concerned with it, so I think we're good. It's definitely shot out there in the last couple of weeks since the above photo was taken. Maybe I'll get brave and post a baby bump picture someday.