New Moon

What I really wanted was a picture of me at the movie theater, hugging a poster for New Moon. There wasn't one, anywhere. Sad, huh?

I LOVED it! I thought it was awesome! Better than Twilight. Better acting, better special effects, better make-up and costumes, better flow to the story ... just all around better. I loved Twilight, don't get me wrong, but it seems most of the rough edges and kinks were smoothed out in New Moon. Parts of the movies moved faster than the book, which I appreciated. Less of Bella sitting around and crying. Less of her moping over Edward's gorgeous face and never getting to see it again. Good job on the werewolves. And the Volturi. Those red contacts were creepy! And what a cliffhanger of an ending (well, for those few people who haven't read the books). Well done!

We drove all the way to Rochester to see it on a humungous screen, since theaters around here suck. Cory, being such a good sport, came with me. He estimated that about 10% of the theater was male. The baby cooperated for the movie, for which I was glad. We enjoyed dinner afterwards, which I promptly threw up in the parking lot. I guess dinner and a movie was too much to ask. But at least I saw the movie without incident. Now I'm ready to go again!

20 weeks

Yep, it's official. I'm definitely pregnant.

I think I feel more pregnant than I look in these pictures. I'm at 20 weeks, so about halfway done. In that first month of being so sick, I never thought I'd get this far. I couldn't fathom being pregnant and sick for one more day, so even one more week felt like an eternity. But here I am, halfway done! I can't believe it. Now we've got to think of things like a registry, names, etc. I find myself talking to him all the time. Sometimes I still can't believe I've got this little miracle growing inside me!!

We're made the decision to stay here through mid-April. For lots of reasons that I won't get into -- but the main one was insurance. We'll stay here, I'll continue to work and be insured, Cory will also continue working at the school, and we'll have the baby here. Then in mid-April we'll pack up and move back to Utah. A cross-country drive with a 2-week old... wish us luck. Better than going at 6 months pregnant and in the middle of December, right?!?! It will be adventurous, that's for sure.

And we're starting to think about getting stuff for the baby. So I'm open to suggestions from all you experienced moms. Stuff you can't live without... stuff that seemed cool then wasn't worth the money... pretty much any advice you want to throw my way!

We're having a...

BOY!!! Kudos to all you readers who guessed boy. Cory and I were both convinced we were having a girl. Everyone I work with thought it was a girl, my OBGYN thought it was a girl, my acupuncturist thought it was a girl... but nope, it's a BOY! After a little bit of initial shock, we couldn't stop grinning at each other. He will be the first grandchild on my side, and the first grandson on Cory's side.

Baby is healthy, which is what I'm most thankful for. I've been half worried that baby is starving to death, since I so often throw up my food. But nope, baby is growing and quite active. We could see him kicking, squirming and rolling. I think I've been feeling a little bit of him squirming, but no kicking yet... and watching him on the screen, I'm sure that's going to change. The ultrasound tech said he was very cooperative, and she got all the pictures and positions she needed.

It was so neat to see all the little parts on the screen. His little femur bones, his spine, his heart chambers... everything. So precious. We feel so blessed!

And now for the best part... pictures!

Nice profile shot

Cute baby feet

And my personal favorite... the alien picture

We're just so excited. We've told all our immediate family members... but my mom wants to be surprised, so if you're reading this, don't tell my mom. We'll see how long we can keep the gender a secret. I'm sure I'm going to slip up and call "it" a "he" and the surprise will be out. But in the meantime, we'll see how long it lasts :)