The Griswold's

I did not marry Clark Griswold. Or at least I didn't think I did. It's not so much the lights, we have an appropriate amount on our roofline. But the tree, that's when I begin to question. There's that one scene in the movie when they are out in the middle of the forest and Juliette Lewis appears frozen as does the rest of the family as Clark finds the perfect, albeit slightly ginormous Christmas tree. I relived that moment in recent history. Minus being completely frozen because let's be honest, I live in Portland, and while it has been cold in recent weeks, it's not cold enough to frost your eyelashes.

Scott's idea of the perfect tree resembles that of Clark Griswold, the bigger the better. I like Christmas trees, I even like tall Christmas trees, I just have never thought that an eight foot tree would be considered shrimpy. This is the beauty that Scott and I ended up with. It's about 11 feet and somehow my husband feels like we should have gone taller, after all there is still a good 5 feet to the top of the ceiling.

Scott is 6 feet tall, just for reference.

Scott cut down our manly tree with an equally manly saw, or at least that's the story we're telling.

Then he strapped it to the Rodeo and we headed home, losing only minor branches and pine needles.


Merry Christmas.
love,
The Griswold's

Fall, Fetish and Fetus

3 F's that really have nothing to do with each other. However, since my posting is sporadic I figure I may as well fit as many things into one post as I can.

This fall was a great one. Oregon provided beautiful weather for September, October and even the first week of November. It was better than I could have hoped for. Unfortunately, Scott and I didn't participate in too many fall activities but we did go to a pumpkin patch. Well, it was more of a big space that had pumpkins strewn about and some fun kid activities. We walked away without a pumpkin but with two bags of homemade donuts instead. We have our priorities straight.

I tried to match my belly to the pumpkins. Not too bad, eh? This pic was at 31 weeks.

On to the second F. Fetish, as in shoe fetish. Zoe's shoe fetish that is. Zoe loves my shoes. She will find them wherever they are in the house and then take them to her bed or wherever it is that she wants to lay down and snuggle with them.

This is what we came home to the other night, not a record but pretty close.

And yes, she just lays right on top of them.


On to the third F. My fetus. He's growing, and he never stays still and I love it. It's bizarre to sit and watch my stomach look like an alien is trying to pop out of it. I don't feel like I've been pregnant long enough to be done in six and half weeks. I'm sure I'm going to want to retract that statement in a few weeks but for now it's the way I feel. I've enjoyed being pregnant.

Because you asked...

...here you go, a picture of me and my belly.

29 weeks tomorrow.

And just for fun, Scott and I were in Carmel last weekend

For Levi and Leah's wedding. It was beautiful.

Stay tuned for more posts, I'm going to try to turn a new leaf.

Mama's boy or Daddy's little girl?

Pink or blue. Today was the day we found out. I've been dying to have this ultrasound done. Not only so that I can start shopping for this little bean but also to make sure that everything inside is in good working order. I had a slight panic attack on the way to the office and Scott was meeting me there. So, I called up one of my besties and she talked me through my moment of irrational thinking. And assured me everything would be fine. And she made me laugh. I love her for that. Thanks Miranda! You see, that's the problem with being a pediatric nurse. We know too much. My list of things to watch for on the ultrasound was more than just girl parts or boy parts. It went something like this. I won't name them all or you'll start to think I'm neurotic.

1. 4 chambered heart. check.

2. Intact diaphragm. check.

3. Enclosed spinal column. check.

4. Intestines inside belly. check.

5. Appropriate sized limbs. check.


Phew! We made it through unscathed. A healthy, growing baby. I feel blessed. We feel blessed. Life is good.



Oh-- and about those boy or girl parts. May I introduce you to our little man...

A first

A momentous occasion occurred today. Well, you might not find it momentous but I will mark it in my book of firsts. Today I bought toilet paper for the first time since we've been married, 16 months ago. No, we have not been going without, Scott has just found it much easier to swipe toilet paper from his parents' year supply. And I am tired of cheap Costco toilet paper. So, today since our supply was almost depleted and Scott has not been up to TP thieving, I purchased a 12 pack. Of Charmin Ultra, my favorite toilet paper. Here's to wiping.

To be blunt

Pretty sure this picture speaks for itself...

But feel free to call me with questions. :)

It's about time

Well, we've been home over a week so I guess it's time I posted a few pictures. It's hard to choose just a few when you have more than a few hundred but here's a couple from each place we visited.

Here's a rundown of where we were. Hopefully I can get the pictures in the right order. We flew into Paris and spent 3 days there before heading south to Perigueux. After 3 days there we made a pit stop in Nice for a day before heading to the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. We spent 3 days in the village of Vernazza before heading to Rome. 3 days later we were on our way again to Venice. After 2 days in Venice we took the night train back to Paris for what was supposed to be one last day. That day turned into 2 after missing our flight home. So on departure day 2 we actually headed home and made it back to Portland after a good 24 hours of airports and airplanes.

We had a blast and loved nearly every minute :o)

The Notre Dame cathedral at night

Scott outside of the Louvre



The Eiffel tower (this was actually on the last day of our trip.)

One night we took a boat ride down the Sienne

Why I love my husband. He makes a great pack mule. :o)

All I had to carry was a small backpack and handbag.

One of the little villages near Perigueux

Looking down from the village of Domme.

This little village is built right into the cliff.

The view from our hotel in Perigueux

The harbor side of Nice

The old town of Nice

One of the many staircases on the way to our room in Vernazza.

Vernazza from the south

On the way to Monterosso, one village north of Vernazza

Vernazza from the north

On our way to Monterosso

The Trevi fountain at night

The Colosseum

In the Vatican Museum

Venice

I just erased the other pictures of Venice and lack the patience to re add them. Maybe another time. For now, that's a quick synopsis.

Au Revoir

Our paper chain is down to one link, our passports are in hand and we're nearly packed. Europe here we come!

That just happened

It's 9 o'clock. I got home from work a little before 6. Scott just went outside because he thought he heard a car running. He did. It was mine. In the garage. Whoops.

Meet Jackson

Jackson makes an entrance...

On the way to the hospital

Krystin looks good in labor. :o)

Krystin meets Jackson

First family photo

Krystin and Jackson

Bobby and Jackson

7 lbs 14 oz 20 in

Congrats Krystin and Bobby!!!!!

366

366 days of marriage down. Eventually we'll stop counting.

In a year we flew 16,000 miles.

Bought a house.

Got 3 root canals.

5 crowns.

Gained a pound or two.

Lost a pound or two.

Screwed in 3000 C9 light bulbs.

Picked a few hundred blackberries.

Watched 32 episodes of the Office

Ate somewhere near 200 bowls of ice cream.

Gained a pound or two.

It was a good year.

We ended it here. At the Ocean Lodge.

We ate some of this.
And played on the beach.

Watched a storm blow in.

Couldn't be happier.

On my mind...

In case you were wondering what's on my mind at this very moment:

Frogs. There must be a million of them outside our front door, I have yet to see one but I hear them, constantly. That in combination with the crickets. It's a chorus. Holy schmoly, they must be able to see what I'm typing, they just went silent for the first time in 72 hours.

Relief Society. Today I feel like a full fledged member. Even though my calling is in the YW. And I've been in the RS for a good 11 years now, I was even a Pres for a time. But tonight, for the very first time, I took dinner to someone who just had a baby. I think that makes it official.

Anniversary. I can't believe it's almost been a year! I'm so thankful that it was such an awesome year and not one of those, "the first year is the hardest" kind of years.

Laundry. I still have a large pile to fold on the couch. I hate laundry. Always have. But I do love to iron.

The frogs are back at it again.

Overheard

Conversation overheard in the hallway at church.

Woman #1: Man, I've had something stuck between my teeth that I can't get out.
Woman #2: That's the worst
Woman #1: Yeah, I thought it was floss but I use green floss and whatever this is is white.
Woman #2: Hmmm...
Woman #1: I tried tweezing it out but that only got some of it, it's been in there since Friday, driving me crazy.
Woman#2: Hmmm, you already tried tweezing?
Woman #1: yeah, maybe it's cat hair.
Long pause.
Woman #2: Well, that's appetizing.
Woman #1: Well, I am around a lot of cats.


Cat hair?? In between your teeth??? Since Friday???? Disgusting.