Duties of a Dad

Lance set up the crib over our break this Christmas. My new book on how to prepare a dog for a baby says we should allow the dog to roam around the nursery so she can familarize herself with the new furniture and surroundings. Sofi decided she was going to help!

Mele Kalikimaka

Since I came down with the flu before Christmas, we decided to spend the holidays with just the three of us.

Here are some highlights:

CHRISTMAS EVE

We visited the Dog Beach so Sofi could have some fun playing in the ocean and we could get some sun and enjoy the 70 degree weather. A definite surreal experience - hanging out on the beach with surfers Christmas Eve!

Our neighbors invited us over for soup, homemade bread and fruit compote. We had a pleasant evening. We did plan on going to the 9 p.m. Christmas Eve service at the local church but the baby thought I needed to go bed instead. Lance and I read the Christmas story from the New Testament while sitting in front of the Christmas tree instead. It was the most peaceful and spiritual experience I can ever remember having on Christmas Eve.

CHRISTMAS DAY:





We slept in and then woke up to exchange gifts.

I thought our tree turned out lovely this year. What do you think?





My favorite gift was the book Sofi gave me on how to prepare her for the baby.


Lance's favorite was the Zelda Princess Wii game he got. (Though, Santa didn't deliver the Wii until New Years Day).

Sofi's favorite was her new flying squirrel toy. Funny thing was she was able to pick it out of the packages under the tree. In fact, she dug through all the packages to find her squirrel then made a run for the door outside so she could play with her new treasure.



Sofi was upset that we had opened all the gifts. Here she is pouting under the tree.

Lance made homemade panacakes with fresh berries and whipped cream for breakfast.

My good friend, Margaret, had us over for a turkey lunch in the afternoon. We played her Wii and worked off some of the stuffing we ate.

We decided to use some of our movie passes we got as gifts this year to go see Disney's Enchanted movie. Four thumbs up!

Productive to Outright Lazy

We have a plethora of pictures to post, along with a video from Christmas, Thanksgiving pics, pictures of our little girl in utero, and our after Christmas trip to California Adventure. Yet, the last post we made was before Christmas.

I wish I could say it is because we are too busy. But the reality is - we have NOT been busy for 2 1/2 weeks. As soon as my first term of graduate school was done (December 10th), I was the most productive person ever. I shopped for Christmas, wrapped presents, sent out Christmas cards, mailed packages to distant relatives, did loads upon loads of laundry, made a few visits to the temple and even baked a few Christmas goodies.

We also set up the crib in the nursery, started thinking about what we need to buy for the little Miss, read three books, and started to organize our garage. I also made plans on how to better organize my scrapbooking materials AND which sewing projects I want to finish before Baby arrives.

90% of this happened BEFORE Christmas. Once Christmas hit, I officially burned out. Since December 25th, I have been watching movie after movie, making easy meals, casually walking the dog, taking many naps, playing games with Lance and letting the laundry pile up again.

I wish I knew why. I am guessing that school starts again today and I wanted to get as much "down" time in as possible. After this semester is over, I will only have two weeks before my due date and then life will change as we know it. Don't get me wrong - We are so excited for our daughter to come. BUT, we have had almost 6 years of just the two of us and reality is sinking in that we probably didn't take advantage of the time we had. I blame law school and first year associate work at a big firm for that. :-)

So, hang in there. H0pefully I will get the pictures out of my camera and posted before too long.

Sugar and Spice

We went to get our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a girl. We both were convinced Baby Nemo was a boy so I had the tech check a few times to make sure that the vital male parts were missing. The tech swears it is a girl and has a grainy picture to prove it.

So - Yeah! Poor Lance is going to be outnumbered three to one (if you include our dog).

We are still trying to let the news sink in. I am finally starting to get nervous about being a parent and having this little life join our family. As excited as I am, I have had fleeting thoughts, such as "What are we getting ourselves into?" I am sure every first time parent has some jitters.

Only 20 more weeks before Baby Girl Smemoe is scheduled to arrive. We can't wait to meet her. We are also enjoying the last weeks we have to sleep in a little late and go on dates without having to find a babysitter.

Thanksgiving...Just a Little Appetizer

Like I said, I really needed to do something besides research a paper or take multiple online quizzes. So, here is a small appetizer to wet your taste buds for the real deal.

We went to the San Clemente beach with the whole crew (all 11 of us) the day before Thanksgiving. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

Alex LOVED the sand. Here my little nephew just gets started to get himself dirty. When we left the beach he was covered head to foot in sand.

Lance taking a little snooze on the beach.

Luke, my dad, myself and Adrianna posing for a family photo. You may be able to notice the little belly starting to poke out.

Reasons for Wanting a Girl...or a Boy

I decided I needed to take a break from homework to write a bit more on our blog for my sanity. We find out on Dec. 19th if we are having a boy or a girl. Deep down inside, we really will be happy to have a healthy baby, no matter what the sex will be. However, I have started to make a list of silly reasons why I would prefer one over the other. Hope you enjoy!

Reasons for Wanting a Girl

1. I can sew cute dresses for her and do her hair with pretty bows. Basically, share my femininity. (For which my friend Sparkey says is one of my "talents," whatever that means.)
   
2. When she is old enough, we can go to the American Girls store in LA - Because I secretly want to go there myself now but would feel silly going there as an almost 30 year old without a child.
3. We can have Jane Austen movie nights while Dad is off watching football in the other room.
4. I can give her the middle name Dorothy after my mom. (Can't say Dorothy works if it is a boy.)
5. We can have another girl in the family because heaven knows, I feel outnumbered on both my side and Lance's.
   

Reasons for Wanting a Boy

1. He would most likely have a better chance of inheriting Lance's mild manners and less likely to inherit my emotional side.
2. Overalls. Little boys look so cute in overalls.
3. Someone to enjoy watching football with Dad so I can get off of the hook during football season.
4. Easier teenage years. I was a teenage girl once - not looking forward to that with a daughter.
5. Someone to rough house with the dog. She got along quite capitally with my nephews during their visits.

Either way, we can't wait to find out!

End of Semester Crunch

I feel bad because I haven't posted in a long, long time. My semester ends this coming Monday so I am basically doing homework whenever I am not eating or sleeping. I promise to post some great pictures from our Thanksgiving adventure with my family and more updates soon.

For now, hope you enjoy some shots from our annual Christmas card shoot yesterday. Thank you Jenny for taking the pictures. You can't tell but my belly is getting bigger and is starting to definitely "show."