Shopping

I have largely tried to avoid buying too much for the baby in terms of cute little outfits and such because I know I could just go way too overboard, but we happened on a fabulous sale at Gymboree the other day and there was just no resisting.

The main attraction was a bin full of mostly summer accessories that were only 99 cents a piece. That's where I found these darling little shoes.

We also got this lovely outfit (the only item we got that wasn't in the 99 cent bin).

I didn't realize it until the next day, but it turns out that the outfit and the shoes actually coordinate.

Our other finds from the 99 cent bin include these hats, sunglasses, and this other pair of shoes.

Lots of fun for only a few dollars.

A pregnancy update

I am now 22 and a half weeks pregnant.

I am still feeling pretty sick a lot of the time, although not nearly so bad as earlier on. I am still taking meds to stave off nausea, but I am taking a lot less than before. I have only vomited once recently.

I can't really fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes any more, but I still feel like a lot of maternity clothes are too big. I mostly hang out in yoga pants. Kinda frumpy, but hey.

Since I am feeling a little better and more energetic, nesting has begun. We have spent a lot of time researching baby gear and have already purchased some of our important items. We got this lovely pack n play after way too much research and changing our minds a bunch of times about what we really wanted.

Originally we thought about just having the baby sleep in there for a few months while we worked on figuring out our next step in terms of where we will live but I ended up changing my mind about that and we got a crib. We also got a dresser and a little bouncer chair. Maybe it's a little early for all that but we are excited and overanxious for this little girl's arrival. Plus I love to plan ahead. We have also picked out a stroller and car seat but haven't purchased those things yet.

People have started asking me if I am pregnant. Since that can be a risky question to ask someone, I guess that means I am really starting to look it.

I first felt baby move at 17 weeks and 5 days. I was sitting on the couch before church when I felt it unmistakably. Since then, this little girl has been a real wiggle worm.

Everything looked okay on the big ol' ultrasound we just had.

Christmas vacation

I wrote before about the amount of wrangling it took to get the vacation time I wanted off work. After I wrote that, things got more complicated again. Work would not allow the pool nurse that I had gotten to cover one of the days to work for me, and I couldn't figure out any other switches. It was the day before I supposed to leave and things still hadn't worked out for that last day I needed covered. I thought I was going to have to call out. But at the last minute, someone agreed to work for me and it worked out that I could go the Utah without having to worry about work at all. 8 whole days work free with a travel day on each end.

We got delayed in Detroit on the way there but made it to Utah safely and mostly uneventfully.

We took hardly any pictures while we were there, but we really had a good time. We spent time with family, ate out, shopped, and relaxed.

Some highlights:

-Since little Marseille was such a gem and decided to make her debut the day after we arrived, I got to spend a nice little chunk of time holding her.

She loves her aunt

-We decided to go on our own little getaway one night. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Salt Lake City (this is not a picture I took. Just found it online. That's basically what our room looked like though).

We had a whole evening planned, with a nice dinner at Market Street Grill and we were going to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. But we had spent the whole day out with Zack's siblings. We were shopping and walking around a whole lot and I was worn out. So we ended up skipping the lights, grabbing some fast food that we ate right in our room, and dozing off early while watching Home Alone. Much less fancy, but still perfect. Loved it. Thanks babe!

-Christmas was just perfect. We saw "We Bought a Zoo" with my family on Christmas Eve, then went over the my grandma's to open presents and see some extended family. We spent the evening with the Noyces having a nice dinner and just enjoying each other's company. On Christmas morning, we opened gifts at the Noyces and got to talk to Sam on his mission in France. After lunch, we headed over to my parents for another round of presents, and we got to talk to Matthew on his mission in California. Then we enjoyed Christmas dinner and the family played some games while I held the baby. Our families were so generous and we felt very blessed by their generosity and by getting to spend time with them on the holiday.

-We got together with some high school friends for breakfast one morning. That night, some of the gals from high school threw me my first baby shower. I didn't know I was having a girl yet at that point, but we still had a nice time catching up and eating delicious goodies.

The whole trip was just lovely. I enjoyed it so much. We hadn't been back for Christmas in a few years, and it really is nice to be with family at that time of year. We had to come back before New Year's because I had to work and we passed that unremarkably. I turned into bed around 9:30 and slept my way right into 2012. We have an exciting year coming up and are anxious to see what it brings to us.

Growing belly

And, just as soon as I wrote that my cord was missing, my wonderful husband found it for me. So here comes some photos.

Per my mom's request, here's some belly pictures. They're kind of taken at random times.

The week I found out I was pregnant (5 weeks)

14 weeks and 2 days

15 weeks and 5 days

20 weeks and 4 days

In case you haven't already heard...

Yes, we have a little girl on the way. We are both thrilled. She tried to be a little shy during out big ultrasound, but she eventually decided to show us that she's a girl. I think we would have been fine either way but I am very excited about all the fun girly things out there. Plus my sister just had a girl, so it'll be fun to have 2 girl cousins so close together.

Also, I know I have probably lost the few readers that I had due to my few and far between posts of late. Part of the problem is that my camera cord has gone missing, so I can't include photos in any of my posts right now. That makes blogging a lot more difficult for me. Let me just say that quite a few posts/updates are forthcoming. I just gotta figure out where that cord is hiding.

Marseille

My lovely sister gave birth to this little gem on December 21st.

Meet Marseille Lynette Horner, my very first niece (no nephews yet). This little gal weighed in at a fairly hefty 8 pounds 10 oz, and she is just darling. She really couldn't have timed her arrival much better, coming the day after Zack and I arrived for our trip in Utah. I got in a few hours of snuggle time while I was there. I am so excited to be an auntie. Congratulations to Michelle and Zach.