Grapefruit-a-palooza

The past month has been a whirlwind. We started out with family in town for Christmas and haven't really slowed down since. I spent 8 days in Colorado and just got home last Tuesday, I intend on writing about that someday...but for now I am still floating on the clouds of a lovely weekend with Chris .

Saturday morning came with no particular urgancy. It was a gorgeous day outside, the kind of day where the light is just right and it reaches into your house and cheers you up .

Chris and I have been bringing the nursery together a step at a time and it is almost done now. My parents gifted us with our coveted glider/rocking chair and it arrived this week so it was on our to do list for the weekend. It was a breeze to put together and is so lovely to sit in, I have told Chris that if sleeping becomes any more uncomfortable he may find me in the rocker at night. After the chair was assembled we just hung out in the nursery for a while, it is so much fun to imagine lil' G being here in 3 short months. My bunny (yes, I sleep with a stuffed animal....what of it) was kind enough to volunteer to be our tester for diaper changing lessons for Chris and experimentation with the Miracle Blanket for both of us. What a patient bunny. Loki was stretched out in front of the bookcase and Koda, in typical form, knocked over my whole stack of baby clothes so she could sleep on them.

We decided that the beautiful light outside needed to be enjoyed and we headed downtown for the Spirit of Yuma festival. It was mainly cheesy vendors and snow birds (old people) but we also went into some of our favorite antique stores on that street.

After all the shopping the baby needed a snack (see what I did there?). Lucky for us there was a fabulous crepe stand set up and a friendly man dressed as a pirate shared all sorts of crepe making secrets with us while he prepared our banana/strawberry crepe.


YUMMY

A few blocks away there was more activity going on at the Old Yuma Quarter Master's Depot so we ventured over to check it out.

It wasn't too thrilling but we saw some neat old cars and stopped in to say hi to some of the Marines Chris works with who were running a table at the event. It was 80 degrees out, yup in January, so lil' G and I needed a snow cone to keep cool.

It was the biggest snow cone I have ever eaten!

On the way home we stopped by a pick your own grapefruit grove that Chris has heard about. It was a great find and we left with 35 grapefruit for a whopping $4! They are really delicious and we will definitley be going back once we run out. There is something so satisfying about seeing exactly where you food originated and taking it straight home to enjoy.

If you think this sounds like a jam-packed but glorious Saturday you would be right but we didn't stop there! We headed out to church and enjoyed some beautiful worship music and a really nice message from a member of the congregation. Then it was back home for grilled pizzas with our friend Jeff. The boys played some Wii while I took a break and then we all headed to the movies. We laughed through No Strings Attatched and the comedy of me spilling half my popcorn on the floor and then headed home just before midnight.

Now THAT is a jam-packed Saturday!

Sunday was a bit more slow paced but we enjoyed another beautiful day in Yuma. Chris headed out for his Sunday haircut (no shaggy men in the Marine Corps!) and to a friend's for some help fixing his X-box. I whipped up some kick butt guacamole and we headed to Jeff's house to watch some football. I wore yellow and green and routed for the Packers because Chris's mom LOVES the Packers.

Jeff grilled some fabulous ribs and we had a nice afternoon with friends before heading home and collapsing in bed to watched recorded American Idol Auditions.

Sometimes I forget, in my desire to make friends in whatever town the Marine Corps sends us to, that I am lucky enough to be married to my best friend. It is weekends like this one that serve to recharge my soul and remind me that it doesn't really matter what the rest of the world thinks of me as long as Chris and I make time for our relationship.

Club Soda with Grenadine

I thought a lot this week about what I should write to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. I started several posts and deleted several posts and then midnight came and went and here I sit in the third morning of 2011.

2010 was a wild ride to be sure. Chris was gone for half of the year and while we missed each other desperately we both learned a lot about ourselves and our relationship.

While he was away I traveled quite a bit and enjoyed spending time with family and friends all over the US.

Chris completed his deployment in July and we headed to Jamaica to relax and reconnect after spending 6 months apart.

Chris headed back to work in full force and went on to kick butt at another training school that ran from September to November.

We relished "normal" life together full of simple things like movie dates and weekend projects.

And of course we celebrated the news that I was pregnant!

In November I was fortunate enough to spend a week with some of my best friends and it was a rejuvenating trip to be with them again.

Chris and I opened our house and welcomed my Grandma, Mama and Dad for Christmas. Gma and Mama beautified our house with new nursery curtains and freshly recovered/cushioned kitchen chairs and filled our tummy's with delicious food.

Dad and Chris spent a few hours figuring out how to hang the unmanageable corner cabinet that Chris and I had found at an antique store, it looks great in the nursery and I am so thankful I didn't have to help at all!

Christmas day was relaxed and comfortable and we were greatly blessed by the company of family and the generosity of so many people. Little G already has quite the pile of gifts, he is gonna be so spoiled!

We welcomed the new year with some squadron friends around a backyard fire pit, the boys drank beer and I drank club soda with grenadine (YUMMY!).

Looking ahead I am excited and ready for all that 2011 holds. Over the next four months our lives are jam packed with projects and plans.

I head to Colorado in a week for some time with friends and family (time to cuddle my nephew Noah again!)and a shower for the G-man.

In February we are heading to Phoenix to have my sister's talented friend Lauren take some pictures of Chris and myself (and the belly of course).

I suspect/hope March will fly by since it will be full of last minute nursery projects and weekly childbirth classes.

Since the Marine Corps has secret ninjas that research every ones important life dates in order to mess them up it is not really a surprise that Chris' squadron will be in Utah for training for almost the whole month of April.... he is set to return 2 days before Lil' G's arrival date.

Thank goodness for my Mama who is going to come and live with me to make sure I am not all alone if our bundle of joy shows up early.

I am not making resolutions for this year. When I do they often get overlooked and leave me feeling like a failure.

Instead I am entering the year with a heart towards praying more and leaving more of my worries at God's feet.

I am entering the new year with love for myself and my husband and for our unborn son.

I an entering the new year with hope.

Hope that I can be kinder to myself.

Hope that I get to see my little sister even more this year than last.

Hope that I can see other people's point of view more easily and not take things so personally.

Hope that I can be confidant enough in myself to know that I am a patient and supportive wife, giving friend and soon to be protective and loving Mommy.

Hope that the next year brings a healthy and happy baby and lots of time with Chris and our families.

2011 will be a memorable year to be sure and my wish is that you all enter it with as much hope as me!

Ice Cream with Cereal

I promised my sister I would blog this week and I hate to break a promise to my sister. I have been so busy lately and somehow the further behind I got in blogging about things the more overwhelming the thought became. So, this post is going to be bullet points about the things that have transpired over the last couple months and then I am going to *try* and jump back into blogging with more regularity.

In October....

*I felt less morning sickness but lots of exhaustion*

*We carved pumpkins and watched a REALLY bad Halloween movie*

*I was the Morton Salt Girl for Halloween*

*Chris finished WTI and so he also finished working 18 hour days and 6 days a week and I was very very very happy to have my husband back!*

I only spent one weekend in November at home...instead....

*Chris and I went to Colorado for 5 days to meet our nephew Noah and see some great friends, Andrew and Courtney, get married. We also wandered Golden, met lil' Willa and saw family and were sad to leave Colorado (as we always are).*

*We spent the next weekend in San Diego where we got to enjoy an amazing ultrasound and were able to see our perfect little BOY dancing around in my belly!*

*I spent 6 days in North Carolina with 5 of my favorite women on the planet. We talked (a lot!) sang karaoke, had impromptu dance parties and generally enjoyed being together. It was so rejuvenating for me and I am so thankful for each and every one of these ladies! XoXo*

*Chris cleaned the whole house while I was in NC (yes, this deserves a bullet point!) explaining that, "I don't want my baby Mama to stress about it"*

*Chris' Mom came for Thanksgiving and we ate a ton of food, watched some awesome movies, enjoyed a ton of Chex mix , visited her Dad in San Diego and spent some time with fun family out there*

*We ordered lil' man's crib and had a fun night setting it up together*

And now it is December...how did that happen???

*I made dinner every night last week (this hasn't happened since August, poor Chris!)*

*We had a fun date to Lowe's to buy paint and chair rail for lil' man's room*

*I drove to Phoenix with two great girlfriends for a fun day of shopping and adventuring (and a little bit of getting lost)*

*Chris painted the whole nursery and put up the chair rail while I was in Phoenix so I wouldn't have to smell the fumes (did I marry Prince Charming or what!)*

And so those are the main events since I last wrote. Now I shall comment on this whole "growing a baby" thing so if that weirds you out then this is your stopping point.

Being pregnant is a constant adventure wherein I have days where all I can say to Chris is, "I feel weird!". I have a nice baby bump that is growing weekly and I am excited that we are halfway done with this pregnancy. I started feeling lil' man occasionally in mid-November and at that point he felt like a little goldfish swimming around in my belly. Now we are getting to a point where I feel him more often and there are definite kicks and rolls going on in there, it is probably the coolest/weirdest feeling ever and I can't wait until Chris can feel him from the outside.

The whole time I said we were having a boy and it turns out I was right (love that) and we are both thrilled to meet him in April.

I think the most annoying thing that people (strangers mostly) say about us having a boy is that my "husband must be relieved/happy it is a boy". Let me set the record straight. Chris is not that kind of guy, in fact he was guessing it was a girl (actually he wanted twins...crazy fool). Chris wanted a healthy baby and didn't give a rat's tooshey what gender the baby was. I think it is sad we still live in a society where people think that a man can only desire a male child, dude, it is 2010!

That being said I can't wait to see what kind of trouble my two guys are going to get into together.

Also, we have name for lil' man and we love said name. However, I do not know everyone who reads this blog and I am not comfortable sharing both my child's name and pictures of him in the same place (sorry, but there are still weirdos in the world). Call me paranoid but I don't want strangers being able to identify my child by his picture and name. So, since I plan on posting scads of pictures I am going to hold back his full name. If we are friends/family in real life then you probably already know our chosen name and I will thank you ahead of time for not posting it here. That being said lil' mans initial will be G and so if I refer to G-man, G-money or lil' G you shall know it is baby! Thanks for understanding!