Valentine's Dance

For the past few years Bryan and I have gone to our Stake's Valentine's Dinner and Dance. With a heavy emphasis on the dinner. We have never (ever) stayed for the dancing, mostly because it's so not Bryan's thing. But the dinner has always been fabulous! This year we had mashed potatoes with gravy (probably the best potatoes I have ever had) with cooked veggies (I had seconds on those) and...prime rib. That was soooo good! Oh, and caesar salad, which I took one from the place setting next to me, (I wanted more) thinking no one would sit there, so it was a bit awkward when a couple sat there and wondered where their salad was. Oops! We had a great time hanging out with Carissa and Adam and I ate way more than I should have! It's a free Valentine's date, and the food is better than any restaurant. And now I'm hungry again.

Below are pictures of Bryan and me at the dance. We never take a serious picture when it comes to things like these, so really, they are a bit goofy. And I omitted the picture where Bryan picked me up, because instead of turning us to the side, we were looking head on, and all you can see is my butt. Yikes.

Bryan thinks he has bad posture in this picture. Really, he is bending down to reach my short self.

Aren't we cute??

Bryan and I aren't super Valentine-y people. To us it's another holiday where people spend too much money on silly flowers and expensive dinners and stuff, when it's really the thought that counts. We love the day so that we can do fun stuff for each other and for our kids to show them how much we love them, but we don't go overboard. We're lucky we both feel the same way about Valentine's day - can you imagine the turmoil that would happen if we didn't?? :)

So for Valentine's Day I got Bryan some Red Velvet cookies that he loves (and are hard to find!) and a bag of Wonka chocolate (unfortunately there was no golden ticket inside). Bryan surprised me with the makings for chocolate/peanut butter fondue! We watched a movie together after the kids were in bed and indulged on cheesecake, strawberries, bananas, and marshmallows. It was delicious! I would have got treats for the kids, but they made out like bandits between Nana and school parties! Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Ultrasound!!

A couple weeks ago I had my ultrasound, and yes, it took me this long to figure out how to scan the photos! This ultrasound was different than any of my other ultrasounds for two main reasons: Bryan did NOT come with me to the ultrasound appointment and we did NOT find out the sex of the baby.

What?!?

Okay, Bryan did not come with me because he seriously missed his calling in life. He can see things on the ultrasound like it was clear as day (I still have to have the ultrasound tech point things out to me) and with our previous kids, he has always seen the sex of the baby before the tech does. She will just glide the thing over my belly and Bryan will say "Oh, I saw it." Very impressive! And so this time I didn't want him to know, and he didn't want to know, so I went without him.

Second, we didn't find out the sex of the baby. It was the first thing we both said after we found out I was pregnant - "we are not finding out!!" We did this for several reasons. We are excited about the surprise, and all my pregnancies have been relatively boring (except for Cole during his last couple weeks) so we wanted to shake things up a bit. But mainly - and this is the main reason for both Bryan and me - we didn't want to find out it was a boy and have to hear for 5 months "Oh a boy? I'm so sorry!" or "Oh I really wanted you to have a girl...what a bummer." We heard all of that when I was pregnant with Cole and it really diminshed the excitement for us. We weren't sorry or bummed - we love Cole and were so excited!

And, in all seriousness, I will be 100% happy with either a boy or a girl. I love my boys and love playing with them. They are good workers and great friends, and another boy will fit right in (and I'll be the "queen" of the house!). And a girl will squash my curiousity of what a Hjelm/Pearson girl would look like, and I could do all the fun things moms get to do with their girls. So please (PLEASE!!) don't express your sympathies or sorrow with us if it turns out to be a boy. My pregnancy hormones may kick in, and I cannot be held responsible for my actions towards you :)

With that said, I got cuuuuute pictures of the baby! The ultrasound room was redone in the past couple months since I had been there last (for my 8-week ultrasound) and instead of craning my neck to peer at a tiny computer screen, they had a huge flat screen right in front of me, where I could see the pictures up close and in detail (so glad Bryan didn't go!) and (the best part!) they had 3-D imaging! It was so cool, and even though my darn placenta (you know, that lifeline for the baby) was in the way, you can see part of the baby's face. I loved that baby even more when I saw those pictures because it made everything real, and made all those months of nausea and throwing up and exhaustion worth it!

You can see the profile and the stomach here. 

This is my favorite! The babies arm is by their head, and if you look close you can see the ear, nose, and lips. So cute! The 3-D pics looked really grainy after scanning, but I can tell this baby is going to be adorable!

Further proof my kids did NOT grow up on a farm...

Like you needed more proof.

Really.

Cole thinks every animal (with the exception of the lion) says "moo".

So here is my conversation tonight with Rix while I was making dinner:

Rix: Mmmmm....that chicken smells good!

Me: Um, it's not chicken. It's bacon.

Rix: Oh, that's what I meant (riiiiight...). That bacon smells good!

Me: Do you know where bacon comes from?

Rix: Pig?

Me: Yes! What about this hamburger.

Rix: Pig? (I shake my head.) Cow?

Me: Yes. What about sausage.

Rix: Pig!

Me: What about roast beef?

Rix: Pig! (You know, that magical animal that makes all meat under the sun. I shake my head.) Cow? (He seems unsure of this.)

Me: Okay, where does chicken come from (I'm giving him a chance to redeem himself.)

Rix: Pig? (I shake my head.)

Me: Chicken, Rix. Where does chicken come from?

Rix: Cow? (I shake my head.) Rooster!! (I laughed - he was so sure of his answer!)

Really. You don't know where CHICKEN comes from? *Sigh* We have a lot of work ahead of us :) And we haven't even got started on turkey or fish or anything like that!