it's my birthday and I'll pose if I want to

I am 27 years old today. That is sounding dangerously close to 30. I'm not even sure why I care. My husband is 32 and I have many friends who are in their 30s but for me to be 3 years away from 30 seems so strange. I think in my head I'm still 23. For years before that I was 17 in my head. I guess my mind will catch up to actual time eventually. Maybe.

So I'm also 18 weeks along now. I saw my midwife yesterday and we got to see our little babe again. He or she is getting big! The baby now has these really long skinny legs. We go for the big ultrasound on February 9th and will hopefully be able to tell the gender. I'm ready to be able to call this baby he or she. We have boys named picked out but aren't decided on a girl's name.

I busted out the maternity jeans today for the first time. They don't really stay up but we went to an Indian buffet for lunch and I wanted my belly to have ample room so I could stuff my face. It was gooood. Oh and did you notice I actually did my hair today? That is a very rare occasion these days. It just takes too long to blow dry and straighten. I can't believe I used to do that nearly every day with even longer hair.

It's been a good birthday. I got to take a nap and Jared has been really sweet. He's changed all of Asher's poopy diapers today. :-) That is love.

Just in case there are any of you out there not reading Bloom and Progressive Pioneer, I'm here to tell you again that you should. Amy has a great interview over on Bloom today about simplicity. So many great things to think about it. Simplicity is definitely one of my goals for 2010.

I'm really lucky to be able to call these wonderful women my friends.

more of my hazel-eyed boy

Asher has really cool eyes. They have always been really dark and over the 18 months of his life have gone from newborn blue to navy blue to blue with a touch of goldish brown to their current hazel mixture of brown and gray-blue. Most people think they are brown when they just glance at him because his eyes are so dark, but I assure you the gray-blue is still there on the outside. And then in true hazel fashion, sometimes they look quite green. I keep thinking the brown is going to take over completely, but it hasn't happened yet. We shall see. They've pretty much stayed as is for awhile now.

How precious is this face?

Not that I'm biased or anything.

18 months--my how time flies!

Check out my adorable little boy! He's not a baby anymore I'm afraid.

I recently was looking at some photos of him from last winter and realized how much he's grown up. He's not the chubby little baby anymore. He's a running, babbling toddler.

Oh man, do we love him!

circa 1994

Me, my two sisters, and my cousin in the early/mid 90s.
How awesome are these dresses?
I remember loving this dress.

go see avatar

Tonight Jared and I had a date to go see Avatar. (Thanks for watching Asher, Amy!) I definitely recommend seeing this movie. It is an experience. And definitely go to theater and see it in 3D if you can. Very cool! I had never seen a 3D movie before. Avatar's 3D was very subtle and immersive. It really helped you feel like you were in the movie but it wasn't a constant thing either. It didn't get annoying.

But back to the actual movie. We loved it. It is epic and big and filled with beautiful images. There is action but there is also a love story and quieter moments. And for such a long movie, it is paced really well and keeps you interested.

I have a few critiques. I wish a few of the characters had more depth. I wish that they showed more of the native children. But overall, I think it is a great film. It is very moving. As Jared said, part of what makes it so good is that it draws on so many aspects of science and culture--biology, anthropology, linguistics, physics, religion, etc.

If you haven't seen Avatar, go see it before it leaves the theater. I really don't think you'll regret it.

the belly makes it's blog debut

I'm now almost 17 weeks pregnant and loving life in the second trimester. I'm not nauseous anymore. I have more of an appetite. I'm finally beginning to look slightly more pregnant and less like I just got fat. I figured it was time to start documenting the growing belly, so I had Jared snap a pic real quick in front of my new Ikea curtains. (I need to find somewhere with better lighting to take my belly pics though.)

My belly seems different to me this time around. For one I got a pooch much quicker this time. Also, I feel like my organs high tailed it north at the first sign of uterine growth. So although I'm pretty sure my baby is still pretty low, the belly seems biggest up higher where my innards are now residing. I can still wear and zip up my normal jeans which is convenient. Gotta love the low rise pants these days. I feel like by this time with Asher I was already using the elastic trick on my pants. Probably because I was working and wearing dress pants all the time.

Speaking of Asher, he hasn't been getting as much face time around here as usual. Here's a cute one of him from this morning. This plastic dome is from a toy of Isaac's that Asher has pretty much adopted. He plays with it a lot and then loves to put this on his head and run around. We think he's pretty funny.

bullet train of thought

• It's Wednesday already and I haven't posted this week yet. Darn it.
  
• I finally sent out the rest (which means most) of our Christmas cards on Monday. I'm the worst about mailing things in the actual mail. I ordered and received the cards way back in October or November and just never sent them. I'm lame. I'm choosing to blame it on the extreme blah-ness that was pregnancy-induced nauseous Katrina for the two months before Christmas.
  
• I still haven't gone through all the pics from Christmas. New goal: get them posted by the end of January.
  
• For my birthday (January 29th in case you wanted to get me something) my mom said I could pick out some clothes from Boden. I got a skirt, a shirt, and a sweater. My first Boden clothes. I feel so special and British. The sweater arrived today and it is perfect. Dark gray. Warm. Soft. Stylish. Classic. It's a long cardigan so it will allow for the belly to grow.

• Speaking of my parents, they are coming to Utah tonight. My dad is checking out a job in Logan. I'm not expecting this job to actually tempt them away from New Mexico, but they are checking it out nonetheless. Asher and I are headed up to Logan with them for a few days because we can. I've only driven through Logan once so it should be fun to see a new place. Too bad it's winter. I hear winters there are quite cold.
  
• Jared is teaching two classes at Westminster College this semester, which means he actually leaves the house for work 3 mornings a week. Other than that we continue to be spoiled by how much time we spend together.
  
• One of the Christmas presents Jared and I bought ourselves is a super duper soft blanket for our bed. It is seriously the softest blanket I've ever felt. We are currently using it instead of the sheet under our down comforter to that we can feel its lushness against our skin. Go to Target and get one. You will not regret. They come in all bed sizes. Just feel the blankets until you find the softest one and you'll know that's it. It makes leaving the bed extra hard though.
  
• Has anyone else been following the craziness that is going on with NBC late night? I don't even watch late night TV but I am totally intrigued by this whole debacle. I think it was a super stupid move to put Jay Leno on at 10/9. I never get to watch Law & Order now because it comes on too early. Now that they realize that mistake they are messing with poor Conan. Again, I don't watch any of the shows but from a television scheduling management angle, I find it all fascinating.
• Have I mentioned that I've been rereading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder? I have one more to read. They are just so good. I hadn't read them since I was a kid. I loved them then and I love them now. If you've somehow managed to never read them, you should. And if you haven't read them in years, you should read them again too!
• Asher has gone to nursery at church by himself the past two weeks. He's not technically 18 months old until the 21st but Jared and I both had to teach one Sunday so they let Asher stay. The teachers say he is really good so they don't mind that he's started going a few weeks early. He looks so little in there. I love how he runs to me when I go pick him up.
• I was asked to sing a solo in Sacrament Meeting in a few weeks. It's been awhile since I've done that. I'm singing an arrangement of Be Still, My Soul. The arrangement is beautiful. I hope I can deliver. There are some serious high notes. If you want to listen here is a link of Christina England Hale singing the same arrangement, it is track 5. I won't be sounding as good as her however.
• We watched 500 Days of Summer over the weekend. Very good movie. Not at all the typical romantic comedy. You should watch it. I love Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Everytime I see Zooey in something it makes me want to cut bangs again. I just love her bangs.
  
• I have lots of laundry to fold and I need to pack so I better be going. Oh yeah, I need to eat lunch too. Later!
  

must reads: the hunger games series

I still have some serious catching up to do in the photo department. Hopefully I'll get our Christmas pics up sometime next week. I've been far too busy burying my nose in my book to get any photo editing/blogging done. The past two days I've been reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire my Suzanne Collins and I think you should too!

I was supposed to read The Hunger Games for my book club in November and didn't get around to it. I finally got it this week and devoured it and the sequel! Devoured I say. I haven't been so engrossed in a book in awhile. There is one more book in the series but it doesn't come out until August! I already pre-ordered on Amazon though. :-)

These books are written for 7th grade and up so they are fast easy reading and oh so good. They are set in North America in the future. The United States is no more. Instead there is a country called Panem. It is divided up into 12 Districts and a Capitol. The Districts each specialize in an industry to support the Capitol. People in the Districts live pretty miserable lives while the people in the Capitol are the definition of frivolity. There was once a rebellion and to show the Capitols dominance and keep the Districts meek, they must now participate in the Hunger Games each year. A boy and girl (12-18) are chosen by drawing from each district and then forced to fight to the death against the other "Tributes". This is all televised and mandatory viewing for all citizens.

I don't want to give any more details than that. The stories are told in first person through the eyes of Katniss. She is a great heroine and you will come to love her.

Now I have to say that when I heard the premise of this story I wasn't super excited. I read it because everyone I know who's read it loves it. Now I know why. Although the subject matter is dark, the books are not depressing somehow. I mean there are definitely very sad parts, but maybe because it does feel quite removed from our way of life, it didn't get me down. They do definitely make you think. It is quite the ride. And there is even a love story which I am a major sucker for.

Don't be surprised if the wait to get these books at your library is very long. Amazon has the hardcovers on sale for only $10.50. I ended up buying them after I read the books because I know I'll read them again and these are gonna be classics. Now if only I didn't have to wait until August to read the last book.

december sledding

A few weeks back we took the kiddos sledding at Sugar House park. It was Asher's first time. He seemed to enjoy it but showed absolutely NO reaction when going down the hill. It was quite comical in a way. I think it was because we went sledding during his nap time. The only reaction he made the whole time was getting mad when the sled stopped. And he only wanted to be carried up the hill in the sled... there is a picture below of Jared doing just that.

The kids all had a good time except that they wanted to go the really big hill. But that hill was way too crowded. I thought the little worked out just right. Much easier to walk up.