Quick Update

Hello all. I just wanted to give you our quick update on the baby and I. I had my 24 week appointment today and everything went great. I have gained 4 pounds since my last appointment, which is exactly where I'm supposed to be. The baby's heartbeat was very strong and he is measuring right on schedule. As you can tell in my picture, I am starting to show a bit more than my last picture. Good times ahead!

Generosity

I just wanted to make a quick blog about something I was overwhelmed with today. Generosity. I have been so impressed and shocked with the amount of help we have been offered since we found out that we were pregnant. Case in point... a guy I work with asked me yesterday if I wanted some of his son's old baby clothes and his old crib they had just sitting in the garage. I said yes without thinking too much about it. I got to work this morning to find a beautiful wood, almost new crib and a huge box of super cute baby clothes just waiting for me in my office. I offered to pay him at least a little bit for everything and he refused to take it. He said they were done using it and were happy to pass it on to a deserving family that needed it. I feel so blessed. This is just one incident of people offering to help us or lend us their own children's clothes. I just wanted to send a big thank you to everyone! We know how lucky we are to have such wonderful families and friends that are willing to do even the smallest things to help us on our upcoming journey of parenthood!

Thanksgiving and the Crazy Day-After

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! James & I had a great holiday weekend! We were able to make it up to Salt Lake for the weekend and it has been a busy one for the books. Thanksgiving Day we went to Pleasant Grove to celebrate the season with my dad's whole side of the family. Too many Christiansen's to fit in one house, so my grandparents opted for a cultural hall. :) The food was delicious and the company was refreshing. We only see the whole family 1-2 times a year, so it's always nice to get together. After the dinner wrapped up, we went to see the new Disney movie, "Enchanted" with my parents, Ange (my sister) and Craig (her hubby). Can I just say... what a fun movie! I know I may be a 25 year old soon-to-be mother, but this movie made me feel like I was 6 years old discovering my new favorite princess. I just thought the whole thing was cute! The songs, the costumes, the characters... A+++!

Now onto the "Day-After"! As some of you may know, I am one of those crazy people that wakes up before the sun does just to stand in line for the season's best deals. What can I say? It's a family tradition. So we mapped out our course the night before and our Friday morning alarm clock went off at 3am. This year my sister & I were even able to convince our newby husbands to partake in the fun. We met at my parents house at 3:30am and made it to Kohl's before their opening at 4am. We did have to wait outside for about 20 minutes, but that wasn't too bad. The clock struck 4:00am and the race was on. After the 200+ people in front of us in line... we were off! We each had assignments and had them completed within the first 5 minutes. Ange, Craig & Travis had plans to hit a few other stores, so they immediately jumped in line and were out of Kohl's by 4:40am. James & I stayed at Kohl's with my mom and shopped a while. Big mistake! Don't get me wrong, we got some great deals! But because we missed the window of oppoortunity for short lines, we were forced to stand in line for 2 1/2 hours! Meanwhile, our other group that left early was able to hit Shopko and Target's openings at 5am and 6am and were still done before us! Oh well. We met at IHOP for breakfast and called it a morning. After a 3 hour nap, a few of us decided to give it another go. And we went until 8pm! James & I didn't buy a thing, but we sure had fun helping my mom complete every single thing on her list. Mission accomplished!

Thankful

All this talk about Thanksgiving has really got me thinking... I am truly blessed. Not just blessed because I get to eat my wonderful mother's homemade Thanksgiving meal tomorrow, but blessed for countless reasons. I am so thankful for my family! My wonderful husband is such an inspiration and support for me. He spends countless hours working and studying in the library just to ensure his graduation next spring. I'm sure he gets stressed with the pressure of supporting his family, but he would never admit it. My loving parents and father-in-law are also an amazing source of strength. When I lost my job a few weeks ago, neither of them hesitated to jump right in and help our lil' family. I'm thankful for modern medicine. It is so amazing to me how far we have come with our medical technology and medicine. Hearing my unborn son's heartbeat and watching his little hand wave to me during a "routine" ultrasound is something I will never take for granted. I am thankful for friends. I have the greatest friends in the world! Even though I have not seen some of them in months or years, we never lose touch because of the gift of communication. Which reminds me, I am so thankful for email! :) I am thankful for the gift of eternal families. Knowing that I will be James' wife forever brings joy to my heart everyday. It helps remind me of the smallness of the trials we bear here on earth. As long as we maintain our focus on the long-term eternal goal, the rest of this stuff is just... stuff. Because of the plan we also have the calming knowledge that we have only been temporarily separated from James' beautiful mom. What relief that brings to my heart!

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving holidays! We are such a blessed people! What are some of the things you are thankful for?