Oregon, continued

Kisses for Great-Grandma Fluffy
Ah, the snowman. It has been a practical joke gift passed back and forth between the in-laws and our family, so we felt it was only appropriate to give it a new home. We decorated for Keith's birthday the night before we left, so he'd be there to greet them in the morning.
Hugs for Great-Grandma Lucille
Fun with Grandma Jessie
Helping Aunt Kim with her computer difficulties (she had to sit ON Kim)
More Kisses for Great-Grandma

She was actually sleeping in more of a sitting-up position than the picture gives credit for, and her face was smashed against the mesh.
Starbucks is hiding in the hamper--the only safe place.

Jon's friend Darryl came for a visit--he was instantly right at home.

Camera #2

Thanksgiving was Grandpa's 93rd birthday, and he had a few presents to open.
Larisa baked a cake for everyone with a November birthday--Jon, Paul, Keith, me, Karen, and Grandpa.

Running with olives

Olive finger
Uncle Paul's tickle torture
Barbara, Aunt Kari (Jessie's sister), Grandma Fluffy, Jessie, & Paul
There was TONS of food, including smoked turkey, ham, and salmon
Dancing with Aunt Larisa & Curtis
Cat ears
Looking out the window

Pregnancy update

I cannot believe that I'm halfway there--20 weeks! This pregnancy seems to be FLYING by; I just know I'll blink and be holding a baby. As I mentioned, I finally dug out the maternity clothes, which are very comfortable--I think I was resisting because I was so tired of them by the end of my last pregnancy. I'm feeling pretty good, although I've had a surge of sickness in the last week or two. We have Christmas break plans for getting the office turned into a nursery, which will make it even more real. I'm really glad that my glucose test is after Christmas!!

Thoughts, timeline, ramblings

Here's the actual "story" of my trip...
In Portland I was able to get several hours of uninterrupted sleep (so weird), I saw mountains, and I felt cold (actual cold). I stayed with my friend/sister-in-law Kim, so we got to catch up and watch movies, and she threw me a birthday party on Sunday afternoon where I got to catch up with some good friends.
Monday I went shopping & to Starbucks, where I encountered actual customer service at both stores (the South is not as friendly as they claim). I got some cute maternity clothes that are more suitable for winter, and I actually started wearing them. I visited the hospital where I used to work, stopped by Multnomah, and hung out with the Budds. That night Kim & I went to Ikea (hooray) where I saw many things I had just seen at Sarah's :) . I resisted spending thousands of dollars (thanks to limited space in my suitcase), but I did find a bumper for Baby that was only $15. Yes, Baby is her current official name, and probably will be until she's born--fyi.
Tuesday I was carless, so I hung out at Kim's while she was at work. I watched movies, took naps, made phone calls & packed.
Wednesday through Saturday we were in Ontario, OR, which is about 45 minutes east of Boise. It was pretty relaxing--nothing really on the schedule except to hang out and spend time with one another. It was great to see all of the family on Thanksgiving--I think there were about 25 people at Jon's grandparents' house. There was one aunt & uncle missing, and some cousins, but overall it was an impressive gathering. Seeing all of that family made it REALLY hard to come home.
Saturday Emily was great on the flights once again--on both planes she was asleep before takeoff, and slept for about 45 minutes (half) of each flight. She even took a mini nap in the car on our way back from Dallas.
So we're back, safe & sound, and NOT ready to go to work tomorrow. I need a few more days!

Aunt Larisa reading to Emily
Karen using Jon as a pillow, Curtis having to sit nearby.
Emily's bed for the weekend was in the master...closet. Keith & Jessie headed to a hotel and let us have their bedroom, which had a big bathroom connected to this closet, which made a perfect room for the munchkin. I am VERY glad that we don't have to sleep that close to her all of the time, though, because I heard every cough and cry and sound.

More from the Budds (barely)

A cuter shot of Brennan and my birthday cupcakes.

Emily & Great Grandpa Steele

This was the first time that Emily willingly went to Chauncy, so we took a million pictures. I know that there are some better pictures on the other camera from later in the night when she was giving kisses. And yes, I did eventually wipe the Dorito cheese off of her face--at this point taking the pictures was my priority.

More Brooklyn

More pics from my birthday party

My mom bought me a maternity shirt that was a tad big, so I brought it up to Oregon to exchange it since they actually have maternity sections in the Old Navy stores.

I'm finally home and sifting through pictures. So far I've just uploaded the ones from my camera, so I may have to wait until tomorrow to blog those from Jon's camera (especially since that camera is at youth group right now).

Emily-isms

*Last week (before our trip) I was experiencing some late-arriving morning sickness. I had been sitting next to Emily, but had to run to the bathroom; she followed. As I was doing what I needed to do, she watched (much to my horror), and then said, "blah" a few times for good measure.
*Emily has been learning her animal sounds ("what does the dog say," etc.), and on the plane we were feeding her fruit snacks as entertainment. We are teaching her to say "please" when she wants something, so when she wanted another fruit snack, I asked, "What do you say?" She responded, "Oo, oo, oo" (monkey).

Cousins

Emily & Curtis

I like this book, but it plays a song, which gets veeerrry old.

Starbucks the cat gets a quiet break from the kids.

Travel day

Yes, we brought big duck and duck blanket.

Playing on the floor in all of our amazing legroom.
She looooved watching the planes and trucks.

I realize that I'm posting out of order, but I'm trying to get pictures from two different cameras. On Saturday we were up at 3am, and started driving to Dallas at 3:30. Luckily Emily slept most of the way there--she was only up for about an hour. We survived the 3 1/2 hour drive, and checked in for our 8:40 flight. The umbrella stroller was the best $11 we've ever spent--Emily loves to push and ride in it, so we didn't have any fights about carrying her or trying to chase her around the airport. We had a two-hour layover in Denver, where we let Em get some energy out. She was really good the entire day--she slept for a good part of each flight, and was entertained by fruit snacks, flirting, and ice the rest of the time.