It's a.....

Tom and I are very excited to announce it's a GIRL!  Tom was VERY shocked, and I was a bit surprised....we had a great time with our party and are SO excited to welcome a cute little girl into our family!

Vote

Hey friends and family!  Make sure you put in your vote.  Voting will go through Saturday at 12 noon, before I place the answer on the blog!  We are finding out the gender this weekend and would love to hear what you all think we're having!

Tom thinks it's a boy...I am completely undecided and Elliana, well of course she thinks it's a girl!  Right under the picture on the top of the blog is where you post your vote.  The question won't show up, but you can see the answers, either Boy or Girl!  Have fun!  And I'll post the answer Saturday!

15 weeks 2 days

 I've had a few friends ask for baby bump pictures, so here you go.  This is me at 15 weeks 2 days.  I still haven't gained any weight, and I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow, I'm very anxious to see the baby.  It's always a relief to see and hear the baby!

Our Trip to Idaho

 We went to Idaho Falls for a week and had so much fun!  While we were there Elliana LOVED eating Gigi's homemade wheat bread and ate so much they had to make more!  Here are a few pictures of them making bread.  Elliana loves to help, and especially help her Gigi, they are buds!

 They are pouring in the freshly ground wheat, Elliana even helped with that....or rather held on tight to Gigi, it was noisy!

 Playing in the flour that spilled.

 How do you not just love that face!

 Showing off her pretty apron!  She did not want to get messy!  She hates being dirty!

 Smiling for the camera!

 Looking at the finished product in awe.

 I didn't taste the bread, but heard it was just delicious!

 My Aunt Leslie came to visit, and loves books, so she brought a few Halloween books to read to Elliana and Sammy!  Elliana was in HEAVEN!

 Getting ready for Boo at the Zoo with Telaine and Ryker!  Elliana had so much fun!  She was a pirate princess.

Being a ham again!  We had lots of fun in Idaho but we were so excited to come home and see Tom (daddy).  We were even able to surprise him and come home a day early!  It was so nice to be back together again, and he had no idea we were coming, til I told him to get in the car to come pick us up!

Job

I got the job!  I am so excited, I was so nervous for my interview, but I did well and got a call the next morning! I start on Tuesday.  I am so sad to be leaving Elliana at home, but with Tom in school full time, we just need some extra money before the baby comes.

I will be working in the Church Distribution part of the Deseret Book and I think for me right now that is a good change, because it will be a lot less stressful!  I am very excited to start and will blog about my first day after it's over!  :)

Interview

I'm so excited to share that I FINALLY have a job interview!  I am very excited and can't wait.  My job interview is on Halloween.  Extra prayers on my behalf would be most appreciated!  I'm very nervous, and it's been quite a few years since I've had an interview.  Just wanted to share my exciting news!

Pictures

I finally have a few pictures to upload!  Elliana today was watching me as I was getting ready and insisted on having her hair like Mommies.  So we decided to straighten her hair.  It turned out adorable and makes her look SO grown up!  She loved it and was turning her head and flipping her hair all day long!

 Tomorrow at school they are having her Halloween party and so we needed to try on her costume to make sure it fit.  She loves it and I think she looks pretty dang cute!  She's going to be a pirate princess!

Hope you enjoyed the new pictures of our little princess!  She's the light of our lives and we love her very much!

Baby

Tom and I went to the Dr. on Wednesday morning and all is well with the baby!  I am 12 weeks today and finally starting to feel a little better most days.  I definitely still have my moments of feeling very sick, but today is a good day!  We heard the babies heart beat and it ranges from 155-160.  We are so excited to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  Neither of us have a clue what it is.  I think the plan is for us to wait and find out what we're having on Christmas.  So I think what we'll do is have the Dr. write down what we're having and put it in an envelope and mail it off to my sister-in-law Heather who will then get a gift for us for Christmas, either pink or blue so we'll know what we're having.  I just don't know if I can wait that long....because the Dr. said that he'll tell me at my next appointment what it is, and that's in 3 1/2 weeks, and Christmas is a LONG time after that, so I just don't know if I can wait!  We'll see.....

That's all for now; pictures to come soon!

BYU Football

Tom and I have some great friends across the street the Orme's!  They have some extra tickets for the BYU Football game tonight, and we're going to go!  We aren't going to take Elliana since the game is so late, but I am SO excited!

I've decided that it's SO nice to live close to family.  Last night Tom was working late so Elliana and I got together with my cousin Ty and his wife and kids.  It was so fun to go over and hang out, eat dinner and play games.  They have a little girl Crystal who is close to Elliana's age and they are such good friends!  I love living by family!

Hair Pictures

Here are a couple pictures of my hair!  I love it!  It's so fun and easy to do!

Quick Trip

Tom and I decided to make a quick trip to Idaho Falls to see our families!  It was SO fun to go home for the weekend!  We were able to leave Thursday evening, and came home last night (Sunday) late.  On Thursday, we played games with my family, and then went to bed.  Friday we were able to see Tom's mom at work, then go see my mom at work.  After that, Tom went to lunch with his brother Jared, while Elliana and I hit the hair salon. I DESPERATELY needed a hair cut and my Grandma was kind enough to fund it for me.  Thanks Grandma!  I don't have a picture, but will get one soon, it is SO cute, and I love it!!!  After Tom had lunch he went to the library to study all afternoon and got home just in time to wake Elliana and I for dinner.  We had pizza and watched the BYU vs. USU game.  It was so fun to be able to watch the game with so much family!

Saturday we spent the day with Tom's family, chopping wood.  It was hard work, but we got it all done, so his parents can have wood all winter.  We finished our work and then we were able to play games.

Sunday we spent the day with my family watching conference and playing games again.  I love being with family, I just wish I felt better so I would be more pleasant to be around, and not feel so sick all the time.

We're doing pretty good all around though, and can't complain too much.  My dad had to work out of town all weekend, but we ended up stopping at a gas station on our way home and got to say hey for a second.  It's always nice to see my dad!  There's nothing like a daddy for a girl!

I loved listening to conference, and feel spiritually uplifted!

A baby.....

So here's the story for those who want to know....

About 3 weeks ago, I was having lunch with my cousin Laura and told her how I felt like my stomach was growing, if you've never been pregnant, you won't know what I'm talking about, and you'll probably think I'm nuts like my husband.  I said, I'm almost positive I'm pregnant, we were getting ready to go to Lagoon, and I decided to wait and take a pregnancy test.  Thinking it's nothing, there's NO way I am pregnant.  I'm not ready for a baby (thankfully you have 9 months to prepare).

A few days later, I took a test, it was positive....so of course, I took another one, it was positive too.  I screamed, called Tom, and he was taken about, why was I crying. My hope was that Elliana would at least be sleeping consistently through the night.  Tom is working with an OBGYN right now for his rotations, they take our insurance so we scheduled an appointment.  Sure enough, there's a baby.  I'm 8 weeks, so still really early, and the only reason I'm sharing so early is because a few people have had to know, because I'm SO SO SO sick!

Morning sickness, night sickness, day sickness....you name it, I have it.  I've lost 13 lbs, and just feel SICK all the time.  I have a really hard time getting up and going, and I spend a lot of time laying down.  Zofran is my new best friend, and I take it religiously every 6 hours (that's an anti-nausea medication).  It helped a LOT at first, now it just takes the edge off.  Elliana is excited kind of, but yesterday we had another Dr. appointment and I told Elliana we were going to see the baby and she responded "no thanks Mom, I don't want the baby".  At least she was polite?!?!  I think she'll be a great big sister, and I'm hoping life will get a LOT better in the next few weeks if I can stop being sick.

I've had lots of people ask if I felt like this with Elliana, and the answer is no.  I had a few sick days where I didn't feel well, but it was more towards the end.  With her I was just really tired....could sleep all the time.  This time, I'm not super tired (like more than usual), just sick.

So, there you have it.  Baby Duncan 2 is on the way.  My new due date I was informed last night by my husband is April 30.  I do plan on having a VBac and my Dr. is VERY supportive of that, which is great, because not everyone here in Utah is.

Elliana has something to say...

Elliana has something to say....watch the videos to see what it is.  We couldn't pick which video was cuter, and I can't get them to turn the right way.  I'll post the story later.

Preschool

Can't believe it, but my baby started Preschool!  My cousins wife is teaching preschool at her house in Provo and Elliana gets to go!  She LOVES Preschool and asks every morning if she can go to school.  I have a few pictures I'll share, but first a cute little story.  On her first day (which was Tuesday) they were finger painting another girl in the class named McKall was finger painting first, Elliana was freaking out.  So Laura (teacher) thinking Elli was upset it wasn't her turn said, it's okay Elliana you can go next.  Elliana freaked out more, yelling, "No, I don't want to pain, I don't want to get messy").  Sounds just like Elliana!

 Yes, she did pick out her awesome princess backpack ALL by herself!

 So excited to go to school!  Love her little hammy grin.

 Picture with Daddy right before Daddy went to the hospital for work.

 Picture with Mommy

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures of my little girl all growing up!  Hopefully later today I'll get a chance to blog about Lagoon!

Raspberry Jam

Thanks to Laura (my cousin) and Grandpa Cook (my cousins Grandpa) I made raspberry freezer jam for Tom! I only had to buy the pectin, and the jars to put it in, a cheap way to do it!  Thanks Grandpa!  Tom is in 7th heaven....he's kind of weird because he would rather eat store bought raspberry jam, than homemade strawberry jam.  I know, CRAZY!  We still have quite a bit of strawberry jam from last year, but now we'll have raspberry jam too!  I'm pretty impressed with myself for doing it....I've helped my Grandma make jam before, but never done it by myself.  It wasn't too hard, and I actually quite enjoyed myself, it makes me feel very domestic!  Now, if I can only clean up the kitchen....

Nana's House

Nana is my grandmother, my Mom's mom.  Elliana LOVES Nana, and LOVES going to Nana's house.  Last night we drove up to Nana's house (she lives in South Jordan).  Tom had a test at the U of U first thing this morning, so we decided to save him some drive time this morning.

I think it's adorable how much she loves Nana's house.  There isn't really anything to play with....but she LOVES going there.  We had KFC for dinner last night and Nana made cookies that Elliana loved, we even got to bring some home.  Nana had to go to the grocery store and took Elliana and I with her, and let Elli pick out some candies.  She woke up this morning and was SO sad because Nana was still sleeping.  It was adorable.

Here's a cute new picture from Nana's house.  Her hair is a mess, so don't look...but she's pretty adorable!

After we left Nana's, we went to the South Towne Mall and let Elliana ride the carousel, which she of course LOVED.  It was so cute to see her as she saw the Merry Go Round from the car window, she started shaking she was SO excited!

Our New Home

I'll lead you through a picture story of our house!  Hope you can all come visit soon!

 After trying to do this many times, I lost one of the pictures...Anyways, our front door, you walk down the stairs you see and enter a hallway, to the left (where we're going with the next picture) you find the living room and kitchen.  To the right, you find the bedrooms, laundry and bathroom.

 Our family room!  It's quite spacious and we love the bright red wall!  The TV is set in front of a working fireplace; but with Elliana in the house, there will be no wood burning fires in this house!  We have a really nice dark wood floor that we LOVE!

 Another view of the living room; looking a bit towards the dining room/kitchen!

 I have to say, that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kitchen!  it is so nice, big, spacious with tons of storage space! And what you can't see is that I have a HUGE pantry.  Next to the fridge which you see on the far left, there is a back door, where we can head outside to our back yard and grill.  We also have a little storage area in the car port, where we are able to keep tools, strollers, scooters, and our freezer!

 So we went to the right from the bottom of the stairs and the first room you run into, is ours....which there is no picture of yet.  We're still getting it all put together and set up, it will come later.  It's big and we are able to have our king size bed and our dresser and a bookcase.  It's nice!  Anyways, the above picture is Elliana's room.  It's small, it fits her bed and toys, and her dresser, but it's a bit cramped!  She thinks it is the perfect size and it's right next to our room.

 If you keep heading down the hall to the left, you'll run into our 3rd bedroom.  This is just a partial view of the room, but this is where Tom spends his time studying.  In there we also have our guest room (with a queen size bed) and our exercise bike!

Just to the left of the 3rd bedroom you get to the bathroom.  It's a small bathroom, and we're sad to only have one, having lived with 2 for the past year, but it works and we LOVE the cheap rent!  Directly across the hall from the bathroom is our laundry room, nothing special, so I didn't take a picture.  Hope you enjoyed a tour of our house!

The Help

About a year and a half ago I read the book The Help.  It was one of the most amazing and inspiring books I've ever read.  The slavery issue is something that is so hard for me to comprehend having lived in such a highly populated African American population.

This book was SO well written and I believe a first novel for Kathyrn Stockett.  http://www.kathrynstockett.com/ Visit her website here if you haven't read the book.

Since Elliana is gone Tom and I decided to use some movie passes we had and go see a movie.  We, or rather I decided that I wanted to see The Help.  Tom wanted to see it too, but it wasn't his first choice of movies.

It was the GREATEST movie.  I highly recommend it.  It was one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time.  Probably since The Blind Side....but I think it was even better than that.  I laughed, I cried...I felt so much joy and such sadness.  It truly was amazing and I would go see it again in a heartbeat!  So inspiring.  I hope if you haven't read the book you will, and if you haven't seen the movie, you will.

My Baby...

My little sister Alexis came to stay with us for about a week and the day she was leaving she came to talk to me.  She asked if I would let Elliana go home with her and my parents for a week.  At first thought the answer was NO WAY!  I would miss her way too much!  I called my dad and he said, I'm fine with it if you are.  After him further thinking it out he called me back to suggest I come up too since Elliana is such a mama's girl.  That is probably the grossest understatement of the CENTURY!  She is SUCH a mama's girl.  I talked to Tom and we decided it would be good for her and me...that I would be able to accomplish so much and that it would be good for her to be away.

I am dismayed to say that she is having a blast and we're missing her terribly!  She is loving it.  I can't lie though, Tom and I are very much enjoying sleeping in and just having fun together, it's almost like we're newlyweds again.  I have been able to get SO much done, and now the only really big thing I have left to do is change out all our electrical plugs.  It's a major pain in the rear and I hate it, but hopefully I will get it all done this next week til I get Elliana back on Thursday.

I finally got Elliana signed up for Preschool and she is SO excited to start.  She cried when I told her she couldn't go to school yet.  She is going to go to my cousins wife's preschool.  Her cousin Crystal will be in her class.  We went backpack shopping together and of course the girls got the same backpacks.  They have so much fun together and as mothers we love seeing them play together and have so much fun!  I'm having a bit of a hard time letting her grow up.  So much has happened in the last few months.  I mean really... : potty training, big girl bed, riding a scooter, dressing herself, the "all by myself" stage, and now preschool!  She's growing up so fast.

 This one above is Tom's favorite!

 I love the one above of her clapping, it just captures Elliana!  So happy, and fun loving....The one below I love too, she was chasing Jessica and I with the squirt bottle, trying to get us wet.  She had success.

I got back her pictures from her 2 year shoot and I wanted to share a few of our favorites!  Hope you enjoy! I love you baby girl and miss you EVERY day!

YAHOO!

Just a quick little post on my AMAZING husband Tom!  We got results yesterday for his big, huge board exam and he passed!  He did well and I am SO proud of him.  He put in a lot of time and a lot of hard work, but it all paid off and now we can breath a sigh of relief!  We haven't been able to really celebrate yet, but as soon as we get back to Utah I'm taking my wonderful hubby out for dinner!  I love you Tom, and Elliana and I and your whole family are SO proud of you and all you have accomplished!  Way to go Tom!

Getting There...

I really am making progress and getting there in putting up pictures of the house on the blog!  We made a trip to Idaho Falls and it has delayed me a bit!  I promise next week they will be up!  Keep looking back!  Love to all!

Em

Lots of Pictures

I have lots of pictures so please enjoy!  They are from our last days in Parker, Elliana's 2nd Birthday Party and Elliana and Zharius playing with Jessica's jewelry.  I was cleaning out Jessica's closet, with a little help from Jessica of course!  : D

 Zhar was trying to give Elli a love, instead the toppled over and landed in a heap laughing on the floor

 Happy Birthday Elliana!  Thanks to Amber Shaw my good friend in Denver for making Elliana's cake!  It turned out so cute!

 The kids ate on the floor, on a plastic table cloth so they didn't get chocolate cake all over my house!

 Elliana LOVING her cake and ice cream!

This was our last night in Denver with the awesome McAllister family and her brother Jordan!  We miss them all so much and hope to see them soon!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!  I'll be back in Utah and Wednesday and will get pictures of the house posted soon!