Merry Christmas!

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We got the best Christmas present this year. The last ultrasound lasted 2 minutes... just enough time to measure and say "we can't do this now". This one was so much better. The technician took time for us to look at our SON from every possible angle and we were able to watch him move around a lot. It's amazing how much he's grown just in the last 2 & 1/2 weeks...he's filled out and I'm already convinced he's the cutest baby to ever exist! At every stage of my pregnancy it gets so much more real, and this was a big one. I'm so excited & thinking about how blessed we are to have this little one straight from heaven to my belly and soon to our home.

Ultrasound

So sorry I haven't posted... our internet has been down for a while. We had our 20-week ultrasound on Dec 5th. It was so cool to see our little baby... in fact, they said it was actually too little to tell much, but looks healthy! She started taking measurements right away and questioned me on my dates: apparently we were at 17 weeks, not 20...ooops. She tried to sneak a peak to see boy or girl but the cord was between the baby's legs. I'm kind of relieved because the books all said that I should have been feeling the baby by then, but I was just confused about whether it was gas or baby. Now the baby moves so much I sometimes wish it would know when it's naptime. My adjusted due date is May 15th. We're having another ultrasound this Wednesday, merry Christmas Eve to us!

Neutral Baby

Grandma Sorensen wanted to be sure to give the very first gift to Baby Huang so she made this adorable cuddly blanket & we got it in the mail just a couple weeks after we announced the baby. Justin wanted to know how she knew it would be a boy; grandma thought blue was more neutral than pink, and of course she's right. She must think like me - I really can't stand all gender neutral baby stuff in yellows & greens (although green is by far my favorite color). This is probably the biggest reason I insist on finding out the baby's sex. Thank goodness for modern technology. I can't imagine letting the it be a surprise at birth; it will be just as surprising in a few weeks when we have the ultrasound. It will also help us focus when it comes to narrowing the baby names - we think we want to meet baby before we pick a for sure name.

Congrats to Blake & Sara! We visited with them and their darling little Jacob last night & it made me even more excited.

Cambria

Justin & I made a last-minute trip to Cambria on Friday & stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge. We liked the place a lot. We had a big room with a fireplace & ate a complimentary hot breakfast in the garden with the butterflies & bumblebees. We spent the morning roaming the gardens & nursery. We'll definitely stay there again. We also took Tour 2 at Hearst Castle, which we both thought was more interesting than #1. We walked the beach & collected green rocks; we don't really know how to tell Jade from anything else, either way we found some pretty pieces to polish up. It was a really fun & relaxing getaway.

You guessed it... I'm about 13 1/2 weeks pregnant now, we just made the announcement to our parents & family on Sunday night. We found out at 7 weeks & it was really hard for me to keep quiet so long but you know how Justin is! On Oct 10th we went to our 1st OB visit & got to hear our baby's heart beat...that was very cool! We're really excited. How am I feeling? Well... I think I'll not write about that part in hopes that I'll have forgotten in a few years when we're considering baby #2. At least the nausea is beginning to lighten. I'm due April 24th.

I've had several people ask me if we actually got the house, I forgot that last time I'd posted we were only in escrow! Yes, we moved in on Conference weekend. Justin & my dad spent many long nights making the 3 bedrooms move-in ready. Thanks, dad! We also had lots of help from Justin's dad & Uncle Eddie. We moved everything else into the garage & Justin is now working on getting the kitchen useable. We set up a makeshift kitchen in the 3rd bedroom. We bought a big plasma from a friend for cheap & Zeb is enjoying having it in his room for now.

Melissa & Brady - August 13, 2008

Click here to see photos via Flikr. Choose a set, then choose detail view.

We flew to Washington for Justin's cousin's wedding. He helped his uncle finish the beautiful deck & decorate for the backyard reception & I was the photographer. They are a cute couple. I'm so glad I got to meet Justin's cousins & get to know them a bit. I had fun hanging out with Charla & Bridgett. We also had fun picking blackberries & the aunts made all kinds of yummy jam which we flew back home with us. Seattle is pretty; there are trees everywhere. It actually started sprinkling when we were downtown taking photos but it didn't seem to phase anyone but me.

Eternal Marriage

Justin & I spoke on this today in sacrament meeting. I was glad for the topic because we just had our 3rd wedding anniversary! I'm so grateful to be married to a faithful man who makes me want to be a better person. I'm glad we started out by making sacred temple covenants and that helps us to love each other even more as time passes and as we experience all things together. When studying for my talk I found the story of the silverware & loved it: if you want something to last forever, you treat it differently... it becomes special because you have made it so.