The Big Reveal

On December 8, 2011; Robby and I headed over to my OB to check on the progress of our little baby. We were so excited to find our if our little one was a boy or a girl. I was so sick of calling our baby "it". Robby was sure it was a girl and I flip-flopped on my opinion almost daily. I also really wanted to make sure our baby was growing healthfully and normally.

I've been under a lot of stress lately and I was really worried it might be hurting my baby. So all day that Thursday I felt like I was holding my breath.

Luckily, everything is going great. I loved watching the tech find all our little baby's parts and pieces and hear her declare them normal and healthy.

It's kind of hard to see, but those are tiny little feet. all ten chubby toes are there.

And that's an itty-bitty hand.











She checked on the heart, the stomach, the kidneys, the umbilical cord, and declared everything healthy and normal.

And what? What was that? Between our baby's legs? Are those little boy parts we see?

Yes! Yes they are! We're having a little boy!

This one's really hard to see, but this is a 4D image of his handsome face. He was all squished against the placenta. But I loved seeing it. And I love knowing that we're having a sweet little boy. I can't wait to meet him in person.








See you in 20 weeks little man!

Bump

I'm 17 weeks and starting to show

We'll find out in a few weeks if we're having a boy or a girl. What do you think? Do we have frilly dresses and hair bows or tiny baseball T's and neck-ties in our future?

Sugar-high cookies

We meant to make and decorate sugar cookies for Halloween too, but I got sick at the end of the night, so it didn't happen. We did eventually make the sugar cookies; though, and it was pretty fun.

I got these adorable cookie-cutters for my bridal shower.

I made a snowman sugar cookie for fun

I also though, since we're nearing Thanksgiving, I needed to make a turkey sugar cookie

Then we just frosted and ate the rest.

Yum!

The changes a year can bring

For Halloween last year, Robby and I started ring shopping. This year, I'm pregnant with our first baby. Needless to say, this Halloween was pretty low-key cuz I've been so sick. But we did go to IHOP and had pumpkin pancakes and Cinnabon pancakes. Then we got candy for the trick-or-treaters that never came. So instead, we watched tv and carved our pumpkin.

It's amazing how much has happened in this past year. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring. 

Balancing Rock

The last of our summer adventures:

You Know You're Pregnant When...

• TV commercials make you cry
• you want Chinese food or pizza or Thai food at 10 o'clock in the morning... or all three
• you wear out a path in your carpet between your bed and the bathroom
• you can smell what no one else in the entire house can... from 3 rooms down
• you walk into a room and can't remember why you went in there to begin with, then you cry
• you vomit so hard you blow chunks out your nose
• you grow 2 bra sizes in 1 week
• your boobs hurt so much that a hug is now a form of torture
• you have to buy new toothpaste, deodorant, and laundry detergent because you can't stand the smell of any of them anymore.
• you could eat the same thing for every meal for a week and then not be able to stand that food anymore the next week
• after you see a commercial for some food on TV, you can't stop thinking about it and you would give anything to eat that... NOW!

Add your favorites. I can't wait to hear them

Our Little Blueberry

I had my first ultrasound today. I'm 10 weeks and 6 days along. My due date is April 20th.

 

The baby was squirming like crazy during the ultrasound. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life!

Life Goes On

I don't have much to report right now. I started working at St. Luke's hospital here in Twin Falls two weeks ago. It's been a little stressful but I hope I can get the hang of it soon.

Robby's brother Jared came home from his mission last week so we went to visit him. His homecoming talk will be next Sunday.

Other than that, it's just been life as usual.

Blues

This post may be a bit of a downer, so reader beware.


Do you ever have days where you just wake up sad? Today is one of those days. I have every reason to be happy today: I don't have work, I got to sleep in, there was a thunderstorm today, and I took a candle-lit bubble bath during the storm while; outside, I could hear Robby cleaning the kitchen. I should count myself the luckiest and happiest person on the face of the planet. But I just feel sad.

As far as I can tell there's one basic reason why I feel sad -- besides hormones or something -- I'm a lottle-bit baby hungry. It seems to be all around me. 95% of my friends are having babies this year. I so wish Robby and I were in a position where we could have a baby. I know how much he wants to be a dad and I want to be a mom so bad it hurts. But it's just not even possible right now.

Every time I see a pregnant woman or that one of my friends is having or just had a baby or a sweet, little, innocent baby face my heart just breaks with longing. I would love to feel a little baby growing inside of me. I would love to know that Robby and I had created life together. Even though I'm terrifies of labor, I'm still sure that it's 100% worth it just to be able to hold that warm, cubby little one in my arms. My heart aches to me a mom. But it could be years until Robby and I are at the point where we can have a family. I know it will eventually happen, but it might not happen for years. I just want it so badly. I don't know how to suppress these feelings. I want to have a baby so bad sometimes that I just want to cry. Today is one of those days.

This is Your Birthday Song

 We went to Blackfoot over the weekend to celebrate the birth of the love of my life. I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband.

We started out with a little rock climbing

It's a little hard to tell, but I'm standing on the edge of a cliff here. We repelled down about 70 feet then took turns climbing back up the cliff. I only made it up about a 1/3 of the cliff, but my amazing husband not only climbed it twice but also lead climbed a really hard part of it. He's so impressive!

 On Sunday we celebrated Robby's birthday with his family. His wonderful mom made him pudding cake.
Recipe:

Bake a white cake
Mix up 2 packages of chocolate pudding
While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the cake about 1.5 inches apart
Fill the holes with half of the pudding
Refrigerate the cake until completely cooled
Spread the rest of the pudding over the top of the cake
Serve chilled

 Then Robby opened presents. Yay presents!

 Robby's parents got him Nesquik, a pancake turner, and cash. Awesome! And I got him a pair of Vibram Five finger shoes. He's barely taken them off since he got them. Win!

To top off the birthday celebrations, I made Robby a Chocolate Peanut-butter Mousse Cake
I Love Robby Williams!!! Happy Birthday love.

Chocolate Peanut-butter Mousse Cake

Original recipe found here

Recipe:
Ingredients:

8 oz (230 g) peanut butter cups; 4 oz cut into 1⁄2-in pieces, 4 oz coarsely
chopped
Freshly mixed batter for one 10-in (25-cm) Devil’s Food Cake layer (recipe below)
Peanut Butter Mousse
6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3⁄4 c up creamy peanut butter, at room temperature
3⁄4 c up powdered (icing) sugar
1 c up cold heavy (double) cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (essence)
2 c ups (480 ml) ganache (recipe below), cooled until thickened but pourable
Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/gas mark 4). Butter the bottom and sides of a 10-in (25-cm) round cake pan. Line thebottom with parchment (baking) paper and butter the paper.
2. Use a rubber spatula to stir the 4 oz (115 g) cup of peanut butter pieces into the cake batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top feels firm when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
3. Use a small, sharp knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan, and invert the cake onto the wire rack. Carefully remove the paper, then place it loosely on the cake. Let the cake cool thoroughly, then discard the paper.
4. To make the peanut butter mousse: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until smoothly blended. On low speed, mix in the powdered (icing) sugar until it is incorporated. The texture will not look completely smooth. Set aside.
5. In a clean large bowl, using clean beaters, beat the cream and vanilla on medium-high speed until firm peaks form. Whisk about one-third of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Use a rubber spatula to gently but thoroughly fold in the remaining whipped cream. The mousse will be smooth.
6. Invert the cake onto a serving plate so that it is top up. Leaving a 1-in (2.5-cm) plain edge around the top of the cake, use a small, sharp knife to cut out the center in one piece to create a cavity about 1 in (2.5 cm) deep. Break the removed cake into pieces about 1 in (2.5 cm). Use a metal spatula to spread about one-third of the mousse in the hollowed-out center of the cake. Put the cake pieces over the mousse, mounding them toward the center. Spread the remaining mousse over the cake pieces. It will cover the cake. Refrigerate the cake until the mousse is firm, about 30 minutes.
7. Ganache recipe
8. Use a spatula to spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cake. Scatter the 4 oz (115 g) chopped peanut butter cups over the ganache. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the cake, carefully wiping it clean after cutting each slice. Serve cold.

The cake can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Makes 12 to 14 servings
Mixing time 30 minutes for cake, mousse, and ganache
Baking 350°F (180°C/gas mark 4) for about 40 minutes

Serve with a tall glass of milk. Trust me, you'll need it.

Steps of the Temple

Thank you so much to all our loved ones who came and shared in this amazing day with us!

Tour

The Williams just moved to Twin Falls to start a new chapter of our lives. Robby will be attending the College of Southern Idaho to get his RN and I'll be his sugar mama while he's in school. 

We moved to Twin on Wednesday. The move went well. We pick up our moving truck the afternoon before and had most everything packed up by that night so we had to camp out on our living room floor on our last night in Salt Lake. Wednesday morning we finished packing and cleaning and were out the door and on our way by 11 am. 

Our whole life packed into our moving truck.

Robby was a beast I tell you, he moved our king-sized bed practically by himself. He's so my hero!

We got to Twin by about 2:30. It was a nice, uneventful drive. I drove my car and Robby drove the rented truck. We signed all our paperwork and started to move in. Here are some pictures of our apartment before we moved everything in.

We will now begin our tour of the Williams' new apartment. Please keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle as we begin our tour.

This is our front room. We have a lovely deck with a huge tree just outside so it stays nice and cool.

Here's our dining room

Here's the kitchen. I'm excited about all that counter space

Our little bedroom

The second bedroom that we will use for storage or for when company comes

The vanity area outside the bathroom

Nice white bath tub. The bathroom in our old apartment was pretty nasty, so I'm really enjoying how nice this one is.

Back hallway

We spent the next 3 hours moving everything in. And I just have to tell you: I am in total awe of my husband. He's so strong. He moved a majority of our stuff in because I'm just not strong enough to lift all those heavy boxes. I'm so lucky to have him.

For the next 2 days, we started unpacking and getting our stuff into some semblance of order. I think it's really coming along. I've even started decorating.

Living room. We're hoping to get a real couch someday, but the futon will work for now

Dining room. It's really big. We may get a bigger table someday.

Our cute little retro kitchen

One absolutely wonderful thing about Twin Falls is that it actually cools down at night. We've been able to keep our apartment 10 degrees cooler during the day as a result and about 20 degrees cooler at night. It was so miserable trying to sleep when it was 82 degrees in our bedroom. Friday night, our bedroom actually got down to 65 degrees and I got cold! It was awesome! Robby and I got to cuddle all night. I. Loved. It!

And since our apartment has been so much cooler, I've actually been able to cook dinner! For the past month or so, I've barely cooked because it would just heat up our apartment so bad. So, for about a month, we ate a lot of cereal and salads. But now I can get back to cooking again! Yay!

Ok, side note over, on with the tour:

The vanity is outside of the bathroom.

I am so loving having two sinks, counter space, and bathroom storage space. It's fabulous!

Bathroom. Nuf said

Second bedroom that we use for storage. And there's still plenty of space.

Both bedrooms have walk-in closets so we use the second one as a pantry.

I can actually see all my clothes in the closet now!

Our loverly master bedroom. 

Since Robby was driving  the truck, we had to leave his car at my parents' house. We came down on Saturday morning to spend the 24th of July with my folks. I love hanging out with my parents, but man do I miss our bed. We'll be heading back tomorrow after the 24th festivities which I will post about later.

And that concludes our tour. Thank you! Goodbye now! Goodbye! Thank you! Goodbye!