Scrabble!

Mitch gave me the game Scrabble for Christmas. And we've been addicted ever since. We've played it 7 times in the last 5 weeks. Nerds, I know. I do get slightly annoyed because Mitch seriously takes 5 minutes to decide on a word every time it's his turn. I told him we're going to start using a timer. He didn't like that idea. Anyways, it's a fun way to pass the dreary winter nights. And I get to show off my mad spelling skills. Mitch always challenges me on my spelling of words and so far I've been right every time. Ha,ha. Really, he shouldn't doubt my spelling skills. Afterall, I did make it to the top 5 out of our entire school for the spelling bee when I was in 3rd grade. But, even with my mad skills, Mitch has still won 4 times and I've only won 3 times. Guess we'll see who wins the next game. I sure do love a little competition!

Little Women

I just finished reading Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, and I LOVED it. I rented the movie after I finished the book. Of course, the movies are never as good as the books, but I enjoyed it nontheless. It was nice to read an uplifting, happy story for a change. Oh yeah, I also finally finished The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne which I do not recommend. So boring ... WAY too boring. Not even worth mentioning. Now I'm reading Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. I'm liking it thus far.

Craving

I've been craving cottage cheese lately. I love it when it's really cold. I've already eaten two huge tubs of it in the last three weeks. That's normal when you're pregnant, right? Please say it is. Well, either way I ate the last of our cottage cheese yesterday. And today I was really bummed when I didn't have any for lunch. I'm going to have to make a trip to the grocery store today just to buy a carton (or two) of cottage cheese. Yum. (And yes, I make sure to buy the low-fat kind so that I don't store cottage cheese anywhere else besides the fridge. Ha,ha.)

I Have a Dream

I think we've come a long way since Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous speech. And I think we still have a long way to go. I hope that some day one of my favorite MLK Jr. quotes will be realized:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

What a great dream. I hope for the same thing. I want my kids to be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. But most of all, I want my kids to be the kind of people who befriend others because of their character and not the color of their skin. Imagine how different it would be for our children to grow up and not hear racial judgements or assumptions, but instead to understand that we're all loved by God and skin color makes absolutely no difference in His eyes, thus is should not in ours either. I think it can happen. But I think it has to happen one person at a time. Perhaps more emphasis on today's holiday would help bring about this change and our children will grow up only noticing the content of other's characters and not the color of their skin.

Homemade Hooter Hider

Have you heard of a "Hooter Hider"? It's a cover a mom uses when breastfeeding. I have seen them at Gardner Village for $40, which is a total rip off in my book. After all, it's just a square piece of fabric with a strap on it.

So, I made my own. I haven't sewn anything in years, so I was hesitant, but it turned out pretty good as long as you don't look too close. I made it reversible and I really love both of the fabrics. It only cost me $15 to make it. Total savings = $25. Can't beat that right?

We went to the doctor last week. Baby is now 2 lbs. 2 oz. Still slightly small, but not too small to be concerned. I passed the glucose test. No Gestational Diabetes for me, which I am thankful for. I feel pretty good. Just the usual aches, pains, Charley Horses, and migraines. No more bloody noses though thanks to the Usana Fish Oil. Mitch is still so good about trying to make me comfortable, helping me with things, and understanding when I need to take a nap after only being awake for an hour. He's such a sweet Hubby. Here's a pic of my belly. It's a little blurry, but it will have to do.

Definitely getting bigger. My brother said it still seems so weird to him to see me with a belly and he laughs every time he sees me walk in the door. Thanks, Dudin.

Speaking of him, he and his cute wife are moving to Colorado this weekend. I'll miss them; Jordan seriously cracks me up. But, we're really happy and excited for them. I'm sure we'll still see them as often as possible; they're only 5 hours away. I hope they love it there! We love you Jordan and Mickayla!!!

Do A Good Turn Daily

I did my good turn today. I went to Boy Scouts with Mitch. He's the 11 year old Scout Leader now, but he doesn't have an assistant yet, so I got to go to Boy Scouts for my first time ever. It was ... interesting. About halfway through I actually thought to myself, "I'm glad we're having a girl. I don't know if I can handle all the talk about boogers and farting." Ha,ha. They learned how to tie knots tonight. Here's some things I heard a few scouts say:

• "Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it, Pick their nose and chewin' it, chewin' it, chewin' it."
• "I'm gonna use this knot to tie up my sister!"
• "Why do we have to learn to tie logs together? If you're in the forest and you need logs, just whip out your cell phone and call someone to bring wood."
  
• "Who farted?"

And my favorite ... the closing prayer, which went something like this:

" ... We're thankful we could learn to tie lots of knots and tie stuff together like logs and chairs ..."

Hey, at least they're thankful for their new knowledge, right? Well, it was fun, entertaining, and pretty funny to be an assistant scout master for a night. And plus, Mitch looks pretty snazzy in his Boy Scout shirt. Who knows, maybe I'll get the privilege of being assistant scout master next week too.

2010

All weekend Mitch and I have been saying how weird it is that it's 2010. Shouldn't we be driving flying cars by now? 2010 always seemed so far away, so futuristic, and now here it is, staring us in the face ...

On New Year's we went to our friend's house for a party. It was fun and we played some very competitive rounds of Family Feud. Boys against girls. I really hope all of the wives let their husbands sleep in their bed that night; it got pretty heated. Ha,ha. And for the record, "My baby is crying" is indeed the same as, "my baby needs me."

Everyone brought their kids, which is fine, but it also meant that the party ended at about 10:30. And I was okay with that because I was SO tired thanks to my overworked, pregnant body. Mitch and I were last to leave just after 11:00. We had fun and ate a lot of good food. We always enjoy hanging out with our neighbors and friends. We came home and got ready for bed and by that time it was 11:45, so we decided to stay up and watch the ball drop. And then we both crashed in the bed and slept for a long time. We're so exciting, I know.

New Year's always makes me think of what I want to accomplish that year. I recently went to a class where the speaker said there are four areas in life that we should strive to find a balance between: mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional. So this year I decided to set a goal that corresponds to each area.

Mental = improve editing skills with freelance work and reading.

Physical = run another half marathon, probably Top of Utah again.

Spiritual = finally finish reading the Old Testament.

Emotional = revive my sewing skills. (Okay, not sure sewing counts as an emotional goal, but sewing can calm emotions or cause them, so I'm counting it.)

That's it. Pretty sure between my goals and our firstborn joining the family, I will have plenty to keep me busy. Oh, and to help me with the reading portion of my goal, I got these today with my stash of gift cards:

Books. Six of them. And 81 cents left over on my Barnes and Noble gift card. I was so happy. I LOVE books. I can't wait to read them.

2010 will be great, even if we don't have flying cars yet. Someday though, someday.