Christmas Dress

Merry Christmas to all!  I am so excited for this upcoming holiday.  I get to go home and see family and Eric finally gets to take a vacation.  This is Aja's Christmas dress and she wore it to church the other day.  I thought she looked so pretty I had to take a few pictures.  She looks like such a big girl in these pictures.  She definitely is not my baby anymore.  I shouldn't dwell on it for too long, I will have a new baby in less than 2 months.  WOW!  Way to many diaper changes and sleepless nights coming my way.  What more could a girl want for Christmas?  I hope everyone has a great end of the year!!!

Happy T-DAY! Gobble Gobble

That's right!  I tricked my family into coming down to San Diego for Thanksgiving.  I think my Mom was a little scared of how our dinner was going to turn out when I didn't even have a pan big enough for the mashed potatoes.  She forgot she was dealing with a child who 1-cooks like once a month, and 2-only cooks for 2 people.  I don't ever make over 5 lbs of mashed potatoes for dinner.  But as you can see we survived the small kitchen and lack of cooking supplies and it was tasty!  Johns got drunk on Martenelli's and the holiday was fab.

I made Johnson pull out the turkey giblets this year.  I had my first traumatizing experience with this last year, and I figured it was his turn to discover this not so appetizing experience. Especially with me being pregnant.  He still ate the turkey so it seems like it didn't do too much damage!  And of course my mom the "fascinated nurse" was dissecting all the turkey organs to see the anatomy.  The heart was really cool to see, but I am a nurse!  I don't think others appreciate seeing their dinner organs.

We took a harbor cruise down through the city.  It was pretty cold here, definitely not the beach weather my family was hoping for.

As our boat pulled away from the ramp, the captain called a man overboard setup.  Some crazy tourists went out on a wave runner in the middle of the winter with no wetsuits.  The water is probably about 50 degrees right now.  They were over 100 feet from the wave-runner and one of them could not even swim so she was holding on to the others back.  They were so cold they could not swim back to the wave runner.  So we had to wait about 15 mins for the harbor police to come pick them up from our boat.  Everyone on our boat was crammed to one side staring at them.  I am sure it is something they will never forget.

Aja is having one of her newly discovered toddler tantrums in this picture.  She was such a calm baby I thought I might not have to deal with the classic terrible 2 tantrums.  Dream on! is all I can say.

We showed my family the San Diego tower.  They have been down here 3 times and never seen it...so it was time.  The view in the tower is amazing.  And it is always cool to see what Johns does.  ATC is really fascinating!  I am impressed with these guys.

Aja loves her "papa".  He is always teasing her...not a surprise if you know my dad.  He finds pleasure in teasing and torturing others.  Yet Aja is still drawn to him.  They cuddled on the couch for a half hour and read books.

LOVE YOU FAM!  THANKS FOR COMING TO SPEND YOUR HOLIDAY WITH US! 

Hooray for holidays!

I am so excited for the upcoming holidays!  I have always loved holidays but it is extra fun now that we live out of state and it is a chance to take vaca!  My family is coming down over Thanksgiving weekend, which means they will get here tomorrow.  We are going to have 8 people staying in a 2 bedroom condo.  Sweet!  And then we are going to visit Utah over the Christmas holidays.  I will be very prego but that will not stop me from having fun (or sitting in a car twice for an 11 hour drive).  I also am planning on snowboarding, snowmobiling, and sledding when we go to Utah, I don't think Eric is so hip on the idea!  He will let me dream though.  I am having another ultrasound tomorrow which is cool.  I am measuring small in belly size (which I guess is not so cool, but I also measured small with Aja so I am not to worried about it) so I am going for another ultrasound.  I am always happy to see the new little one, it makes it worth it.  Here are some recent pics of us on the sky ride at the zoo, and that is about all we have going on here right now.  And as you can see there is no snow and green leaves on the trees!  It will be a shock to go to Utah!

Aja recently discovered pizza!  I don't know why my child has not had pizza before the age of almost 2 years old, but she loved it.  We found a Little Ceasars down here which we are stoked on...we are always fans of a $5 dinner.

YAY FOR OBAMA!

I am so excited that Obama won the election!  90% of the people who read this blog are Republican so I apologize ahead of time and ask that you will still be my friend.  I am not necessarily a Democrat, but I really like Obama and think he is a going to be a great presidential figure for America, which we desperately need after Bush.  Johns and I watched the election last night and I couldn't believe how fast he won.  One minute he was slightly ahead, and 20 seconds later they had declared him the next president.  It was pretty amazing! 

I also want to say the Prop 8 was passed, which means that California once again only recognizes marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  Hoorah!  The church has been working hard to support that Prop for the past 6 months.  Every day in the last 2 weeks people in our ward have been out sign waving and making phone calls encouraging people to vote.  So A+, all that hard work paid off.  I regret to say I did not do any of it, but I supported with my vote,  hee hee!  Sign waving with a kid just didn't seem like my sort of thing.  Hopefully our country has a better future and economic status ahead!

Natural History Museum

We went to the Natural History Museum.  They have a ton of museums here in Balboa Park and they are free to residents on Tuesdays.  It is pretty sweet.  I always love cheap, fun activities. We have tried to go see about one a month.  This one was our favorite so far.  We learned a lot and got a lot of exercise, Aja kept us running the whole time.  She is getting to that age where I think I lose her every time we go anywhere.  She loves to hide...every mothers nightmare.

Look at that belly, I can't quite suck it in anymore!

HAPPY HALLOWS EVE!!!  We had a great time this Halloween, Aja actually got the concept of trick-or-treating and loved it.  We originally had a Elmo costume for Aja that I bought last year on clearance thinking I was so smart.  I thought this year..."I am so happy I am on top of things and I don't have to buy a costume."  Well, 2 nights before Halloween I tried it on her to see how it would work and she freaked out.  She cried the whole time we had it on her.  So 2 nights before Halloween we were one of those procrastinating fools running around to every store in town looking for a costume.  I don't think Johns and I will ever be the organized, put together type.  So we better get used to the last minute craziness.  So Aja was Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty...and she was so cute! 

Here is a picture of us trick-or-treating in a neighborhood in our ward.  We got together for a Halloween party with a few couples in our ward.  We had dinner and then went t-o-t (I am getting sick of typing that) together.  Johns was a doctor, which means he had no costume plan until 10 mins before we were supposed to leave the house.  And I was a pregnant nun!

After the Halloween party we went over to our ward's trunk-or-treat.  We decorated the back of our car.  Kind of a lame attempt but it was fun.  Johns wouldn't let me stick tape on the windows because we got them tinted a couple months ago.  So the decorating options were slim.

Aja looks like a natural Rupp in this picture.  My goal is to try and not have such sweet tooth children as I was as a kid.  But because I still eat a lot of candy, my attempt will most likely fail!

Eric and I carved these pumpkins the night before Halloween.  They were a lot of fun.  But also a lot more work than I thought.  It took me like 2 hours.  I had to show them off because of the time we spent on them.

So here is a belly picture for all those wanting to see me chub out.  This is a pic of me and Diana (a friend in the ward).  We are due a week apart.  It has been fun to have someone pregnant right along with me.  I didn't get that on my last pregnancy.  I started my 3rd trimester exactly on halloween.  It seemed like an appropriate day.

I lived through another Primary Program!

YES!  I have finished the primary program once again.   This is my second year of writing the program and being in charge of it.  It was fun, but I would not mind retiring.  I do enjoy working with the primary kids, they are fun (most the time).  But it is always a weight off my shoulders to have the program go well and to be free of it for another year.  Whew!

The padres came to visit...

The in-laws escaped from Utah to come visit Cali...and just at the right time.  It snowed in Utah and was 30 degrees one day.  I am so sorry all you Utahns.  I shouldn't say to much, I will be joining that crowd soon.  It was fun to have Johnson's parents down here.  Thanks for visiting, we loved it!

Kevin, Wendy, and little Aja at the tidepools on Point Loma.  It was a sunny day with an insane wind.  My hair got bigger and bigger as the day went on.  Aja loves her "papa" and "gma" as she said the whole time they were here.  

We are eating brunch on pacific beach.  MMM good food and scenery.  Who could ask for more.

So here is a picture of my rapidly growing belly.  This little lady kicks a lot more than Aja ever did.  She has a few times throughout the day where she squirms away.  You can already see my stomach moving around.  hmmm I wonder what my 9 month mark will have to offer.  I might be bruising from the inside out.  I was really hoping for another calm child but my luck might have run out!

There was a guy sculpting this castle on the beach.  It was about 10 feet tall...really cool!   That is the next hobby I am going to pick up.

Duck pond

We found a duck pond by our house this week.  Ya, we have only lived here for a year and a half.  I tried to teach Aja how to feed the ducks bread, but every time I would give her a piece she would eat it.  We will have to work on the sharing concept.  Every time the ducks would quack, she would quack right along with them.  It was cute!  The Miramar Air Show was going on the same time we were there.  So between the jets and airplanes flying overhead and the ducks she was pretty entertained.  

I am happy the Air Show is finally done.  We live about a block from the Miramar base, so we got to hear them practicing every day for a week.  And those jets are not very quiet.  They scared the crap out of Aja a couple of times when we were outside.

Ultrasound

Here is a picture of our ultrasound.  The baby is healthy and a girl, so we are excited!  I am now 23 weeks...over half way.  Yay! 

A week at the Johnson's

Aja is just showing off her rolly legs and baby gut.  Mine is getting bigger than hers now, but for a while she looked more pregnant than me.  Here are some of her new activities...putting on our sunglasses, playing with Johns cell phone, and wearing his shoes.

Aja had a sick week as you can tell by the snot running down her face.  I love how she is clinging to her medicine in this pic.  She loves to carry her medicine bottles around and she will not let you take them away.  I have an addict in the making.

Aja holds her binky to the side of her mouth and tries to talk.  It comes out all slobbery sounding, not that you can understand her to begin with.  I think it is time to retire the "ginky" as she calls it.

We went swimming and sidewalk chalking at our condos.  Aja loves to draw!

Aja loves this little bunny.  She drags it around everywhere with her, including outside.  And then she forces you to kiss it.  It is gross, but she is just to cute to resist!  I try to wash it as much as she will allow me to sneak it away.

Johnson got a bee sting on his forehead while biking!  The bee got stuck in his helmet while he was biking and attacked.  A couple days later his left eye swelled up and it has been like that for a couple of days.  That is the third bee sting our family has had since moving to San Diego.  There are too many bees here.  And I have been pooped on twice by a bird.  Maybe we are just unlucky people!

The Latest...

Holla out to all!  Well, here is the latest news for us.  We had our 18 week ultrasound and the baby is doing great.  Of course the baby curled up in a ball making it really hard for the technician to get the measurements they wanted.  Both my kids have done that.  I am hoping it is a sign that I am going to have another calm child.  Cross my fingers!  They also told us we are going to have another little GIRL!  Sweet.  That is actually what I was secretly hoping for this pregnancy.  So Aja will have a little play buddy.  And I don't have to buy anything!  Can't complain about that.

Here we are hanging at Oceanside!  It reminded Johns and I of the road trip we took here in college with our USU buds...we hooked it up here in San Diego.  This beach was fun.  There was a pier, a park, and awesome sand.  Perfect beach conditions.

Showing off the belly.  I am showing a lot faster on my second pregnancy, just like everyone told me.  For every centimeter my belly grows, I think my butt gains one right along with it. And I bet you all wanted to hear about it.  Aja is hanging out in the background.

Aja is starting to pick up some fun eating habits!!!  Like...dumping her bowl out after she is done, or throwing all her food off the tray. We are just lucky if the bowl doesn't end up on her head.  We are now having to bath after half her meals.  It is hard to let them start feeding themselves and having no control of where the food really ends up.  The spaghettio's pic is my fav!