BIG NEWS!!!

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

We have successfully entered Week 13, leaving the first trimester behind! Our baby is due on February 2, 2011, and we are VERY excited! I have been fortunate in not being very sick, however I have spent the past 3 months sleeping about 12 hours per day!

Changes since I've been pregnant:

• My sense of smell is impeccable!
• The smell of clean laundry makes me sick
• I can eat a LOT
• Corndogs and pickles are my new favorite (unhealthy) snack
• I never knew I would need so many bathroom breaks

Most of all, I'm just ecstatic about having a baby and we are so excited about becoming parents!

Quick story... During our last appointment, we were looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat; after the doctor tried to hear the heartbeat for 5 minutes with no result, he brought in an ultra-sound machine. I was in a bit of a panic, but the doctor soon calmed my fears and Jared and I were able to see the baby move! The doc said that everything looks great and the baby looks healthy, and we are so thankful to be expecting!

Currently, the baby is the size of a lime! How cute!

BEAUTIFUL NAUVOO

We were so grateful to have the opportunity to visit Nauvoo while my mom and sister were here. It was such a spiritual and special weekend for each of us and helped our testimonies grow! We were able to visit many of the historic sites in Nauvoo, the Visitors' Center, the Nauvoo Temple, Joseph Smith's grave site, and Carthage Jail. We felt the Spirit so strongly and are so thankful for the sacrifices of the early saints.

My mom, Michelle, and I were able to go back to Nauvoo the next week to do Baptisms for the Dead at the Nauvoo Temple. This was such a wonderful and spiritual experience for all three of us, and it was such a special day. One blessing that we received while at the temple was that we were able to meet Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was visiting the temple that evening and came in to meet those doing Baptisms. It was such an amazing blessing!

CHICAGO

My mom and sister were able to come visit us for 10 days this month! It was so great to see them and we were able to do so many fun things. I drove to Chicago to meet them and spend the first few days there (Jared had to stay home and work, bless his heart). We went sight-seeing, shopping, and enjoyed being with each other!

John Hancock Building

Our reflection in "The Bean"

Gehry Amphitheater

FARMERS' MARKET!

One of the best things about Iowa is that there are amazing Farmers' Markets! We went to one that is considered to be one of the largest open-air markets in the mid-West. It was great fun and absolutely huge (12 city blocks with over 200 vendors). The video at the end is of a guy making pottery at the fair. We walked away with a yummy snow cone and a beautifully crocheted baby blanket!

Afterwards we went to our new favorite "Sushi House" restaurant, where I ordered a whole plate of sushi... Our server thought we were sharing it, and looked at me like I was crazy when I said it was just for me. Raw fish is out during pregnancy, but I can still enjoy cucumber avocado rolls!

THE BIG 22!

Here's a birthday update from a few weeks ago - When Jared got home from work, I opened my wonderful cards and gifts... I was so excited to find Prenatal Yoga and Pilates DVDs along with new UGGs for this coming winter! I am in love with UGG boots, and I have worn out my current pair so badly that they have holes and tears up the back of them. They also used to be pink and now are the color of dirt. So, for the coming cold winter, my feet will be cuddled inside new boots! Jared then took me out to dinner at a place called "Sushi House," where I rekindled my love for sushi! It was amazing, and I'm sad that we can't just transport this restaurant to Logan. To finish off our night we rented Harry Potter (which about gave me nightmares) and ate cake from our favorite bakery up the street. It was a fabulous birthday!

THINGS TO DO IN IOWA...

EAT ICEEs!

MEET ME IN ST LOUIS!

To celebrate our 4th of July weekend, we headed south to St Louis, Missouri.

On Saturday, we arrived during the air show, which was part of the weekend festivities. The St Louis Cardinals baseball stadium is located right next to the interstate, which was also neat to see. We had planned to eat lunch at "Sweetie Pie's", which we had seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. However, upon arriving in the area of the "dive", all we could see were abandoned buildings, graffiti, numerous "homies" from "da hood." Needless to say, we braved the area and got out of our car...only to jump back in it less than a minute later.

Later that night, we went to Gateway Arch in downtown St Louis. There was a fair and John Legend also performed before the fireworks begun. The fireworks were great but our favorite part was the little girl sitting behind us. While the fireworks went off, she said things like, "I'm having so much fun!" and other funny sayings. You can hear her voice in the fireworks video. We enjoyed everything...except for all the smokers in the area. The traffic going home was horrendous, but we finally made it back to our hotel 90 minutes later.

Sunday, we attended a new ward in a very poor area of East St Louis. Testimony meeting was very touching and funny. First off, an older black woman stood up and rather than bearing a testimony, she announced that she loved everyone but had her "favorites" in the ward. She then proceeded to invite her "favorites" over for a BBQ lunch after church. Unfortunately, I dont think she understood that she probably made all of the "non-favorites" feel left out. Later, a young black man with a 6 month old baby stood up and bore a great testimony. He shared that he and his family had not been to church in a long time and their lives were getting worse. He then concluded that you can't blame God if you aren't doing your part. It was a humbling and spiritual meeting as we realized how much we actually have and how blessed we are. After church, we visited the beautiful St Louis temple, which is also located directly next to the interstate. It was a wonderful Sunday.

Monday morning, we visited the St Louis Zoo. It is FREE and was very impressive. Our favorite part was the penguin house, which allows guests to see penguins in their habitat just feet away from them. We also liked the leaping lemurs, which, as usual, provided hilarious entertainment!

We had a great time in St Louis!