Getting Ready for Baby Z

Wow. It's been almost a year since I have begun a post on my blog. It's been a really big year for us, lots of changes and new experiences! Mostly what I have been doing is getting ready for this baby. No name Baby Z is what she is affectionately called these days. Sorry family! Everyone has been asking and honestly we don't really know for sure- it's really hard to decide.

There is so much to think about... Will she like her name? Can other kids make fun of it? Will it look good on a diploma (my Mother's criteria for her children) or on a resume? Will it work for her at age 6, 26, 46, and 86? Should it be a family name that we love or a new name that we love?

Don't worry, we are narrowing it down. Meanwhile, here is a little taste of what's going on in her room. Nothing fancy, just simplicity. My favorite decorating technique.

This cradle belonged to Daniel's great Grandmother who used it for all her children. It's over 90 years old! Cool right? Dan has fixed it up a little with some new white paint and a little tightening of the screws. It's as good as new! We love it. Thanks Zimmers for letting us use it!

She has to have a plant in her room- a small jade from one of my baby showers (pics of that to come soon). Some art by my Grandmother Nanna Margaret, a wooden blue bird from her Dad, and a silver pig bank. My favorite is the bird, Dan just had to get it for her.

Before:

After:

We've done a little painting. I think it turned out beautiful! Dan picked the color!

I'm up to my neck in clothes- thanks to family members sending me stuff and generous gifts. I don't know what to do with it all. Lots of pink! I need to go and get some neutrals like navy blue, grey and black...

Yeah, this stash needs to get WAY bigger.

I think I have enough blankets. I LOVE all of them!

So I attempted making a bumper for the cradle. It was kind of a rocky start, but I made it work! See finished product in the first pic...

I am feeling great these days! Just a little tired and I can't move very fast. It will be a good day when I can run up and down the stairs again, hop in and out of the car (now that is an interesting occurrence), and being able to sleep on my stomach! I'm due in about 4 weeks but I guess the baby could come any time... wish me luck!

BYU-I Graduation

He did it! It was over a month ago and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it- there has been a lot going on! Graduation in the new BYU-Idaho Center was unbelievable, it felt so similar to the Conference Center in Salt Lake it was hard to tell the difference!

We had lots of family there. Thanks again to everyone who came, it really was a great weekend.

Daniel and his brother Jody in front of the building where they both spent 100% of their study time...

Daniel's parents were so proud of him! So was I...

Here are some pictures of inside the BYU-I Center, awesome right?

Our Little Place

Hi family. I know you have all been asking to see some pictures of our apartment. It takes awhile to unpack and get organized, especially in a one bedroom! We still have a lot of work to do...

This is our living room

A book shelf in the dining room

The kitchen. Look! A dishwasher!

Our bedroom. There are two huge windows, we love it!

At the back of the apartment there is a built in office area.

Now for some views- from the office window.

From the balcony off the living room

We really love where we ended up. The apartment is great and spacious! We can't wait for the weather to heat up so we can get out and explore this place. Daniel loves his job and we are beginning to love Wyoming. Come see us!

Belgian Waffles and the Cowboy State

Hello Blog. Its been a very, very long time.

A lot has changed around here! We've graduated college, got a job, and moved- all in the last month. Daniel graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering, and took an awesome job in Wyoming. So we packed up, left Idaho (our home for the last 6 years) and started a new adventure!

We've been here two weeks already. We found a place to live almost right away but we weren't able to get our things until this morning! Living in a hotel has been ok, we've tried to make the best of it. There has been a lot of this going on. . .

Let's just say we have got to know Antonio and Dani (the continental breakfast specialists) pretty well. We probably have gained 5 pounds each from all the fresh belgian waffles, unlimited cherry pastries, fresh poppyseed muffins and crisp bacon every morning.

Wait, why are we moving into an apartment?

I promise I will post more pictures soon of our apartment and of Daniel's graduation.

We're Wyoming-ites now! Wyoming-ans? Wymoning-ists? Wy- OH I don't know.

Go Cowboys!

What does your Christmas look like?

My Life Snow Far

It's snowing today, hard. I'm on the BYUI campus avoiding the drive home on the icy roads. I came across these pictures from the summer, I love them. So beautiful don't you think? I feel so blessed to have the life I have. Wow, what a life!

Goodbye Wipeout, Hello Coco-Motion

It's October. Can you believe it? The summer went by way too fast and I am already longing to go back and take one more swim, have one more barbecue and watch one more episode of Wipeout. We had a lot of fun with my family this summer in Utah, here we are all together.

But, with the fall comes other wonderful things. Yellow leaves on my green ash tree, a garden FULL of pumpkins and gourds, and my coco-motion taking it's perma spot on my kitchen counter.

A lot has been happening here in the Burg. Dan is back in school, graduation in April! Can I get a couple WOOT WOOTS from ya'll at home?

I know you thought about doing it, and those of you who did do it, I high 5 you. He's doing great. He is enjoying the new material in class and playing on a intramural soccer team. Undefeated so far! It's fun watching him play keeper, he's not afraid to jump and dive for stuff. He even runs up and grabs the ball from the other team, it's awesome. His nickname on the team is BearClaw, nothing gets past him people, nothing. Pics to come soon. . .

We also have moved into the basement here at the Maple house, it's different from the upstairs but we have made it our own. I do really miss all the cupboard space up there, especially the three drawers I had for my tupperware. I know, it's ridiculous to have three drawers just for tupperware. Let me just say, it was FABULOUS. Now it looks like this:

Lids, containers and randoms all together. I've already had a few of those moments where I was murmuring quite intensely under my breath about the situation.

"Where is that dang lid that goes to this dang container?"

"Hey! I have been looking for that forever!"

"If I have to move this one more time. . ."

"FORGET IT! I'll just use a zip lock bag! So much for going green."

Very troublesome indeed.

Summer literally stayed until last week. We had 80 degree weather the whole month of September. If you know this region of the globe at all, you understand that normally around this time of year there are 3 inches of snow on the ground. Not only are the pumpkins perfectly orange, but we are still getting tomatoes, check it out. . .

I hope your fall has started off as good as mine!