Christmas and some additional info

We spent Christmas Eve and the next morning in Provo with my family and then made our way up to the Stewart's for Christmas dinner. At our various family Christmas parties we told our news to anyone who didn't know. Apparently I had a lot of people convinced that I never wanted kids. It's not that I never wanted them, just not until recently.

Alissa sent baby a Christmas present, and while the dogs think they look delicious, I cannot get over the fact that I have baby toys. For a real live baby to play with. I don't know if I can sufficiently say how crazy that seems to me. I mean, besides my pants getting tighter and feeling yucky all the time, there is so far no tangible evidence to suggest that we are really going to be parents in June. But there are occasionally little things, like these toys, where I think ho-lee-crap, we're having a baby! We seriously couldn't be happier.

And since I've been pretty scarce with any details, here's a little recap of the past few months for those who are interested:

• I found out I was pregnant in October when I went in to have surgery on my wrist. They sent me home after my prego test came back positive.
  
• I didn't break the news to Nic in any sort of creative way. I called him in the hospital parking lot and told him I didn't have the surgery because of the pregnancy test. His response: "Are you shitting me?" To which I answered: "No, I'm not shitting you!!!" This is possibly one of my favorite conversations that we've ever had; you just have to imagine the two of us ecstatically cursing during one of the most life-changing exchanges we've ever had.
• My mom was supposed to pick me up after my surgery, so I called her at work to let her know there was no need. That's when I told her the news over the phone while she was at work. I'm really not good at telling people about this.
• Josh and Jess were in town right after I found out, but we were still too nervous to tell anyone. Sorry guys, I told you I'm not good at this.
• I told Alissa after she picked me up from the airport in California. And if anyone needs someone who knows how to treat a pregnant lady, Alissa is your woman.
  
• Nic eventually told some of his family members, but the majority of people didn't know until December after we had an ultrasound and saw that everything was going well.

I just started my second trimester and I think I'm starting to feel better. For a while there I was super nauseous all the time. I managed to only actually throw up twice: once at my desk at work and once at home. Now the main thing is that I'm just tired all the time. If you didn't know I was pregnant, you wouldn't be able to tell--but that doesn't stop me from feeling rotund all of the time.

Nic has been amazing and has taken good care of me. I think he's worried that I'm going to be disappointed if baby turns out to be a boy...right now I refer to baby as Baby Norah, because, well, I want a little Norah. But we also have a boy name, so I promise I'm happy either way. Shopping for girl stuff if just so much more fun.

All of this is to say that we really truly are thrilled and excited. I could do without this whole pregnancy thing, but we're looking forward to the baby part. So hopefully my lack of enthusiasm about this part hasn't given anybody the wrong idea about how happy we are overall. The end.

Sup's got his snow boots on

I wish I could get this excited about going outside.


The only problem is coming home and removing the snowballs.

Wherein I spill the beans:

I'm pregnant. With a baby.

Due June 29, 2010.

Remember Thanksgiving?

Yes, we did celebrate Thanksgiving, I've just been in slow motion lately. But I wanted to make sure to give a big thank you to Mike and Emily for letting us and the dogs come stay with them in Cedar City.

I made pies, Nic fried a turkey, and Mike and Emily supplied the rest of our amazing dinner. And I'm not trying to offend anyone when I say that it was the most stress-free holiday ever.

We also went riding at Three Peaks and I got to ride Mike's four-stroke dirt bike, which was SO much fun that it inspired me to trade my bike for one that's easier to ride. Now we cannot wait to get down there again!

Birthday wish

For my birthday, Nic picked up the Ugg boots I ordered for myself and got me a new motorcycle! It's been too snowy to ride, but my new bike starts with the push of a button AND is complete with a kickstand and headlight. According to Nic, the motorcycle I had before was way more high performance, but all that meant to me was that I kept fouling spark plugs and could hardly ride it. This bike is like the golf cart of dirt bikes: perfect for me!

Besides my new boots and new ride, I had just one birthday wish. Anyone who has seen Nic in the past few months could not miss his growing chin hair. Pictured here in all its glory, it got to the point where I could braid it. Ewww. For weeks I've been asking if I could just chop it off; but the more I asked, the more he resisted. So finally, as my birthday wish, he let me take the scissors to what I called his Fu Manchu. Best birthday wish ever. Don't be mad Nic, but thanks for indulging me.

While I was out

As I lounged in Laguna Hills, Nic was making himself busy by:

Hauling Mike and Emily's Landcruiser to Cedar City and then taking an overnight trip to Vegas for SEMA.

Babysitting Korbin so our neighbor could pick up his wife and second child from the hospital. How adorable are they? Apparently Moxie kept trying to lick his face so Korbin had to tackle her. Usually kids just run or cry. Or both.

I don't think I've mentioned that we bought a boat. Well, my parents funded the project and Nic is supplying the labor. He gutted the whole thing over the weekend, which is so much more awesome because I thought I was going to have to help and it ended up getting done without me.

It may not look like much now, but after Nic is done with it it is going to be AMAZING. Major bonus: On our boat, dogs are totally allowed. I will call it the Puppy Barge.

He didn't send me a picture, but Nic also installed a stair lift for my Grandpa Brinkerhoff, who is suffering from Parkinson's and also recovering from a twice-broken hip. He spent his entire Saturday in Bountiful making it so my grandpa can get in and out of the house safely. Nic is by far one of the very best people I know. Seriously.

So You Think You Can Dance dance dance

So I'm lame and didn't bring a camera with me to California, which means there are no pictures of the GINORMOUS swap meet outside the Rose Bowl. But here's me and Alice, the sweetest, nicest baby that will ever trick you into thinking that you can have your own babies and be just fine. I kind of don't think she is for real--but then there she is being all pleasant and charming and perfect.

Between talking, shopping, and lounging, we officially decided that from now on, Alissa and I MUST attend each SYTYCD tour. Because we're twelve. And because we can. Have I ever mentioned my love for Phillip? I heart him SO much!


Here's a taste of his awesomeness:



A big thanks to Alissa (and Jon!) for a great vacation. I can't wait to come back! Seriously, can I come back now?

At least I tried

Because we haven't had a Christmas tree in two years, I made it a point to buy one at the end of last season so I would have it this year. Unfortunately, I've just discovered why it was 75% off.

Because he's the calm one

I prefer not to get my arms pulled off and having to apologize to small children, so Moxie was not invited to Halloween at work. Sup, however, had one of the best days evar! I can't even count how many people told him how pretty he is--which is Sup's FAVORITE thing. And the fact that he got pet for about two hours straight means that he was the happiest dog who has ever been happy on Halloween.

If only Moxie could learn to control the crazy.

The Wilcoxes

It's not often that all the Wilcox children are in the same vicinity...well, more appropriately it's not often enough that we get to spend time with Josh and Jess. Thankfully, they have a little R&R this month and are spending a lot of it in Utah. How cute are we in our white and blue? You know that I was really excited to see them because I even went to the football game just to enjoy their company.

Unrelated discovery: Turns out Josh's beard matches my hair color perfectly.

Hobbes in a box

Sundays are always interesting because we're home a lot more than usual. I don't know if this throws our pets for a loop, or if this is really how they spend any given day.

Keeping the peace

We had a full house this weekend with Alexi, Dug, and JJ staying over. All four dogs had a party; however, Alexi was bored out of her mind. Turns out my house isn't all that exciting for teenagers.

Nic seems to be some sort of magnet for all things canine. He hasn't been able to sit in peace for four days--and I'm pretty sure that JJ slept on his head each night. It seems that the only time JJ wasn't attached to Nic was for this picture. I think he had sneaked downstairs to harass the cats...

Semantics

Me: Hey, how come you didn't call me back?
Nic: Sorry, I was putting out a fire.
Me: What, are Cory and Justin arguing or something?
Nic: Babe, I was literally PUTTING OUT A FIRE. I told you I was welding.

Crafty

Per Debbie's request, here is my most recent sewing project. I can't count the number of projects I've started and then promptly forgotten, but this one was different (in that I actually finished it). I think I liked it because it involved very little measuring and a lot of random cutting. Just my style! I got the pattern off of etsy, just in case anyone is interested.

Teenagers!

This picture about sums up how the weekend with Colman and Alexi went. I don't remember when I first turned TOTALLY UNCOOL, but apparently I'm wallowing in the depths of lameness because I couldn't get these two to do a single thing with me this weekend. Movie? No. Shopping? Nope. Do you want to do anything? No, we'll just stay at home and not hang out with you. How about Cafe Rio? Well, you can just order it and bring it home...

Whatever. I say that THEY are the lame ones for not wanting to do anything. We'll just see if this holds up when Josh and Jessica come to visit. My guess is that they'll be a little more motivated to have some fun. Nic and I are just chopped liver I tell you!

Minneapolis

I'm too tired to even worry about rotating pictures: That about sums up my week in Minneapolis. I can't say much about convention because, well, I like my job and there seems to be a universal rule that blogging about work always ends badly. We came away with some REALLY good stories though. But here's some visuals from my week in Minnesota (stolen from a coworker's Facebook page).

We did a lot of walking from the Marriott to the convention center and back again. The best part: Thursday there was a farmers market and the streets were FULL of homegrown goodness.

This is actually after we had torn everything down on the last day. We're smiling because it's over.

Celebrating at Dave and Busters, where I won 1,000+ tickets. Come to find out that 1,000 tickets is mere chump change.

The saddest part: Moxie and Sup slept by the door all the first night waiting for me to come home. And all this time I thought they only loved Nic!

Nic didn't fare much better: I was gone five days and came home to five ramen noodles wrappers, which is funny because I don't cook while I'm home, so what's with all the ramen?

Dear child who left a ball on the playground:

I'm sorry that Sup found it before you did.

Overheard on O'Fallon's Way

Random man talking on his phone while walking down street: "Fine. But you know what? One day you're going to want me to get you something, and I'm gonna be like 'no! remember that time that I was stranded and you wouldn't get me gas for my pocket bike?'"

Four years

Oh Nic, I like you so much. Happy Anniversary!

"A glorious day"

I intended on helping Nic wash his car for the first time, but it became quite clear that I was the third wheel. I had no idea that this was such a milestone. Nor did I know that a car wash can take more than an hour. I'll say one thing for Nic: He is thorough. And slightly crazy.

I asked Nic if I could describe this moment like his car was getting baptised, but I didn't expect him to say yes. So from now on you can rest assured that Nic's car is saved.

And Nic? Nic is a happy man.

He promised me a new freezer

I got this picture message from Nic today with a text that read "got it." I called him and this is how the story was relayed to me:

Nic: "We were driving on the road by the shop and Justin asked me if I wanted a freezer and I said HELL YEAH!"

Later I texted him back asking him not to clean off the writing on the front. I'm very excited that the freezer Nic picked up for me off the side of the road is actually a frezzer.

Reno: More awesome than I expected

Nothing says summer like letting it all hang out at Hot August Nights. These guys know what I'm talking about.

And as it turns out, the dogs in Reno love me.

And I LOVE them. But that doesn't mean that I can take them home. Even if they are for sale. And even if I pout. A lot.

There were also a lot of cars at the car show. Lots and lots of cars. THOUSANDS OF CARS. An ungodly amount of cars! If Nic were writing this, it would be all about those beautiful cars; cars that are worth millions of dollars. But did I mention that there were puppies for sale?

Here's a Coronet that is not nearly as cool as Nic's.

And here's a Mater truck that is also not as cool as Nic's Mater truck is going to be.

And here is some proof that we were actually there together.

To top it all off, we went for a chilly swim in Lake Tahoe. This is me before I shriveled up and died from the cold.

A word of advice: If you're ever thinking about a weekend trip to Reno, please know your geography better than we did. Just because Nevada is right next to Utah, does not mean that you just head west for a few hours. Plan on a solid nine hours and try to leave before 4 p.m. on Friday.

Something to look forward to

Because Nic is so handy

As we tore out our master bath last weekend, I realized that I haven't mentioned that we finally got our main floor finished. So yeah. We finished it like months ago. That just shows you how on top of things I am. I love love LOVE the new floor though. I highly recommend that all laminate be replace with natural stone or something equally awesome.

My favorite part about our new floor is that it stays cool. That's why I can count on finding Sup enjoying its amazing coolness each morning. I have no idea why he insists on laying with his feet elevated on the wall. He may have been dropped on his head as a puppy.

Minus the new car smell

The past month has been an exciting one for Nic: He got the Coronet running! And even though Olive and I don't always get along (Alissa, you know what I'm talking about), I have to say that our little Nicolas has some serious talent and I'm SO excited for him. I mean look at how this car started out:

It's nuts! He made an entire new vehicle. BY HIMSELF. He even sewed the seats. Who does that?

The puppies are in love as always. All they are thinking is: You mean Nic really likes this? I HAVE to sit in it! Let me in! What? Erin who?