Check out the baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSHOCytneA

YOU be the doctor? Can you tell if its a boy or girl?

Surreal

Well, today was my last college class of my undergraduate education. I have one take home, open book final then I am completely finished with college. This feels kind of weird, not real. I'm definitely ready for the semester to be over but what will I do when I don't start classes again in January? ...Oh wait, that's right, I remember now. I am going to finish my paintings, finish my sewing projects, read books that I choose, grow a healthy baby, plant a garden, SLEEP IN, actually keep up with the dishes and laundry, probably have to work a little (like at a job-ugh), exercise regularly, get current on world events, give service, study my scriptures meaningfully...etc. Wow! I have a good feeling about this. I am thinking that these next 4 months will be my only time in life to really just do what I want and enjoy this freedom. So far I have no hard personal evidence that life even continues after school but the plans I have are really appealing. I think I'll give it a try. I have said many times recently that I will be totally happy with my bachelor's degree and never go back to school but... If I know myself like I think I do, I suspect I will find myself a student again someday. I can't believe I am going to allow those words to be recorded but we shall see. All I know is I will be seeing a lot less of this...

In other news, only 4 more days until we find out the gender of this baby! Will it be a Timmy or a Suzie? We will find out on Tuesday! For the last 2 weeks or so I have felt isolated baby movements. However, they were faint and hard to differentiate between other gastric movements. Last night though, I felt little Timmy moving all over! It is the most amazing feeling! He was poking and prodding on one side so I put my fingers there then I felt him move over to the other side! I love it! During the night I even woke up feeling a tight pressure on one side and with my hand I could feel either a head or a bum protruding from my abdomen. I even woke Mitchell up for that one! It is so fun to feel the baby moving around in there! I am in awe that what I am feeling is my child! I don't think that has completely sunk in yet. I really think feeling baby movements is magical! Every time I sit down all day today I feel him move around. I'm a happy momma.

Mitchell is also looking forward to this semester being over! He took 4 graduate level computer science classes this semester, when 2 is plenty to stay busy. Next semester he will be taking 2 so the load will be a lot more manageable. Let's hope. Mitchell has such a generous and wonderful boss! Today he gave us a huge gift that was literally an answer to our prayers. He offered to continue to pay for both of our health insurance premiums even though mine will increase considerably because I will have graduated. What a wonderful answer to our prayers! We weren't totally sure what we were going to do because the monthly premium is going to cost more than our monthly rent! How grateful we are for his kindness and his concern for us. Thank you Dr. Olsen! Well, thats the current news. Thanks for tuning in.

Summer

It's been a while since I have posted anything about our niece Summer! She is doing great! Her surgery went very well and she is recovering quickly! She loves to smile and play with Daddy. She loves to holler and sing when Mommy is on the phone with Aunt Melanie and her favorite thing to do is be cute. And she is darn good at it! Here she is showing you all that she is just fine!

Thumbs up!

Change of plans...

Get your votes in quick on the boy or girl poll! I thought the midwives wouldn't want to do the ultrasound until my next appointment, the first week of January. However, this morning she told me to make a special appointment for the 20 week ultrasound and gender check for the week before Christmas! The appointment is at noon on the 15th of December! Hooray! We are so excited! Of course, we'll keep you posted!

Black Friday...

Hello! It has been quite a while since we have updated! Life has gotten busy with the end of the semester and with applying to 4 different PhD programs for Mitchell. It has been a wonderful week off for Thanksgiving though. We have enjoyed sleeping in, spending time together and with family. We have cooked too much food, eaten too much and wasted too much time but it has been a wonderful contrast to the busyness of the last several weeks.

Last night after a wonderful feast at Grandma and Grandpa Harris' house we drove past several stores in a strip mall on our way home. We scoffed as we noticed that there were shopping die-hards camping in tents in the parking lot outside of Best Buy and other stores. We swore up and down that we would NOT be going out in the frenzy of Black Friday. Heh, heh. Well, we did end up shopping today, though at 5:30pm most of the frenzy had died down. We happened to go out to get ice cream and drove past Office Max and remembered that we have been needing to get a more comfortable chair for our computer desk. For the last year and a half we have used a kitchen chair and it gets really uncomfortable after a while. Mitchell usually goes back up on campus to write code or get homework done because our chair is so uncomfortable. It seems like a waste to have gotten such a good computer if he can't use it. We walked out of the store with a great chair! It was a great price too! Hooray for Black Friday and hooray for new found comfort!

This is the chair before...ugh.

...and after...ahhh.

Speaking of comfort...I am feeling so good lately! No more of the "morning" (more like all day) sickness! And I decided to make the switch over to maternity pants and I have once again found the meaning of comfort! Sometimes I wonder why people wait to get into the maternity pants!?! Amazing! Many people have requested a baby bump picture. I will finally post one now that the tummy looks kind of round and not just chubby. Sometimes I laugh when I look down and see a round belly where my flat tummy used to be. I will say I have definitely felt life in there although it is hard to differentiate between normal gastric movements and baby movements. I suspect that soon I will feel a strong kick and know for sure that Timmy is making himself known. :)

Plans for later tonight: set up and decorate the Christmas tree! Read the children's Christmas books that we have acquired over the last year and a half! Oh...and there will probably be some hot chocolate involved too!

I'm Winning

Go all you people who voted Boy. We're up 4 to 2! Keep it coming. I, Mitchell Harris, haven't posted at all lately because I've been busy with my graduate application. That's the story. The truth is that now that I'm supposed to be doing them right now, I'm avoiding the work by posting here.

Two presents and a gift!

Wow! I cannot believe that October is over and we are coming up on November so quickly! I guess it's true that time flies when you are having fun and when you are busy, we are definitely doing both! This semester has been a busy one, we are both taking a heavy load of work along with other activities and responsibilities. We still make time for the fun though! We have enjoyed attending all of the BYU home football games this year and we cheer our hearts out!
Every year Grandma Harris hosts a big Halloween bash. It is a really big deal and all of the family comes! This years party was a big hit! There were so many creative costumes! There were pumpkin farmers and pumpkins, a prom queen, Cruella Deville, Andy Warhol, a cowboy, a couple of skeletons, an 80's workout girl, Harry Potter....I can't remember them all! Grandma always plans fun games and activities and, of course, a delicious meal! What a great tradition! Mitchell and I went as presents and had a lot of fun! We even brought party favors and noise makers for the kiddos. They loved it! Thanks Grandma for your patience and hard work!
Yesterday Mitchell and I went to our 12 week prenatal appointment. We were expecting to hear the heart beat but the midwife couldn't find it very easily so we were thrilled to get to see another ultrasound! It is magical to see the little being that is growing inside of me! This ultrasound was a lot more clear than the one at 7 1/2 weeks. We could see the head, ribs, heart beat, hands and feet! I know every mother thinks that whatever her child does is the cutest thing ever, I am apparently no exception. While we were poking around in "Little Timmy's" (as Mitchell affectionately calls him) environment, he pulled his legs in and then jumped! I keep thinking about how cute it was for me to see him move around! It will be amazing when I can actually feel the movement! For the record, we don't yet know if it is a boy or girl. I am hoping for a girl and Mitchell is hoping for a boy but it is just easier to refer to "it" as a "him." Don't worry, when we find out we'll let you all know!

Baby's Heartbeat!!

One of my friends loaned me her fetal doppler this weekend! Mitchell and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat at home! It is a wonderful sound! I was able to capture a short recording of it and I thought I would share it! I seriously can't stop listening to it! Thank you Kim!

What would you do?...

What would you do if you harvested your garden one Saturday morning and this is what you got? That would be a LOT of sandwiches and salads for just 2 people!

We decided to make delicious salsa!! Mitchell and I worked on slicing, dicing and mincing all of the fresh veggies together and this is what it looked like. We borrowed a canner and ended up canning 5 quarts of salsa! We kept another 2 quarts fresh in the refrigerator too! It is sure yummy!

New addition...

I want to announce a new addition to the blog! We have a baby ticker widget on the left of the screen if you will notice. :) Yes, there will also be a new addition to our family in May!

Fall is coming!!

Hello! Yes, we are still alive. Sorry for the loooong lull between posts. There is so much going on that I really should have blogged more just to record it all! I can't believe it is the end of September already! Whew! Where does all the time go?!? I had my first Fall moment today as I was walking home from visiting teaching and a little breeze had that Fall smell. It is coming whether we like it or not! The leaves are starting to change on the mountain, that is always so beautiful! I can't wait to take a drive up in the canyon with Josh Groban singing to me while I take in the beautiful scenery around me!
Ok, so here's a little summary of what has been happening this past month. I had my birthday! As my brother and my dad so kindly reminded me, I am now a quarter of a century old. I am totally ok with that! 25 has treated me very well so far! I can't wait to see all of the things that will come my way in the next year! On my birthday Mitchell kindly treated me to lunch at Tucanos! Oohh, Yum! It was my first time and hopefully not my last! It was yummy! It is a Brazilian churrasco, or grill. They slow grill different meats on a spit then bring the whole hunk of meat to your table and cut off slices. It was so fun and delicious! We went to a movie together and thoroughly enjoyed the day together.

Here is the strawberry shortcake cake I made for my birthday! It was so good!

The week after my birthday I went to Texas to visit my best friend! It was so fun! She lives in Arlington, near Dallas, and this was my second time out there to see her and her family. I got to meet her adorable 18 month old daughter for the first time too! It was a great trip filled with fun! We shopped, pampered ourselves, played with the baby, went to the zoo, ate sushi, and got massaged...and did I mention we shopped? Haha, it was a really fun trip and a necessary last hurrah before school started.

Here we are! Aren't we cute!?!

Mitchell and I both hit the ground running once the semester started! It has been so busy so far! Good thing we both love to be busy and productive. We don't like not seeing each other as much though. This is my last semester!! I will be a registered nurse by 2010! What a long road it has been but I have loved it! Mitchell is full speed ahead with his Master's degree. He has already proposed his thesis and is pending a third publication in a top tier conference! He will likely be done by April but for sure by August! I am so proud!
I am doing my clinicals this semester at the local hospital here in Provo, no commute! I am assigned to the medical/oncology unit and I am loving it. I had a brief panic thinking that I don't like hospital nursing but it was short lived. The nurses I work with are wonderful and our patients are so sweet.
The highlight of this last week was raspberry picking with my visiting teacher! We went to a family's home about 20 minutes away who have an acre of raspberries that they allow the public to pick for $2 per pound! It was so fun and a great deal on delicious berries! I even came home and made 80oz of jam!

This is 4 pounds of raspberries. It only took me 45 minutes to pick all this!

OH!! How could I forget!!?! We MOVED!!! While I was out in Texas being pampered with my best friend...Mitchell was home slaving away moving all of our stuff from our little apartment into a house! We have definitely upgraded! We live in a 2 bedroom house with a yard, a garden and the best part....a washer and dryer! Oh, the extravagance! I seriously have not gotten over the feeling of complete luxury every time I do laundry in my own home! Ahh, no more laundromats!
Well, I continue painting. I am trying to finish the forest one very soon. Any suggestions for my next painting? We are doing very well and life is great!

Progress

These painting pictures are mostly for my own records to keep track of my progress in my pursuit of painting. However, I am pleased so far!

More Pictures

Here are Summer's latest!

After lesson #3

I am happy with the progress! This is a really fun creative outlet and hobby. While I was painting tonight I remembered the talk that Elder Deiter F. Uchtdorf gave in the Relief Society General Broadcast last September. He said, "the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul...you dont need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty." I loved that talk and it is taking new meaning as I put paint on this canvas and create something beautiful and of my own.

My Lumber Jack

Since I have gotten started oil painting recently I have been really excited about it! My sweet husband is extrememly supportive and encourages me to pursue my interests. Today, though, he topped all! He actually constructed for me an easel to use at home! What a great guy! Here are some shots of the progress and the finished product.

Summer Lynn Colvin

Ok, I couldn't help it. Here are more adorable pictures of my lovely niece!!

The proud Uncle James.

"I'm tired...yaaaawn"

Ok, Lindsey. I dare you to tell me that flower is not cute!

So Much to Say!

Oh my goodness! Has it been this long since an update?!?! So much has happened! My only excuse is that we have been out of town and I didn't have my laptop to download the pictures. Do you buy that excuse? Can I be off the hook? Ok, here goes...

Before we left town over a week ago Mitchell and I invited some friends of ours to have a campfire and make smores. It was so fun! This little family is adorable! They have a little 2 and a half year old boy and twin 1 year old girls. They are precious. I was going to report that the fire with 3 small children was disaster-free but I remembered that one of the little girls had a blow-out up the back and into her hair and down her legs to her ankles. It was quite a mess. Thank goodness for disposable wet wipes! This explains why the twin pictured is wearing her brothers jacket for pants. We all had a good laugh over it.

Sunday the 28th of June was a momentous day for our family. At approximately 1:30am my great-grandmother passed away at the age of 93. We are happy that she is now with many loved ones and is free of the pain that her worn out body was causing. We will miss her and look forward to the day when we will meet again. Later that morning at about 9:30am my little sister gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl! Summer Lynn Colvin! She is absolutely beautiful and I fell in love with her before I even met her in person! She is little, weighing in at 7lbs 3oz, and has a full head of thick dark hair. She is beautiful and we love her so much!

On Monday the 29th of June my mom and brother flew in from CA. We shopped and hurried and sight-saw and were busy preparing him to enter the MTC on Wednesday the 1st of July. We successfully purchased a missionary wardrobe and got him all ready. He is one good looking missionary!

Immediately after dropping James off at the MTC we packed our bags and headed for CA! My grandparents will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in August this year so my mom (while staying so busy with so many other things) planned a family reunion for my dad's side. We stayed on the beach in a rented beach house and my grandparents were there with each of their 4 children and their spouses. In addition, all of the grandchildren were there except for 3 and the first great-grandchild even made an appearance! It was a fun time with family we don't get to see very often. On Wednesday that week we had a photographer come down and take some family shots. Here is a link to her photo blog. A few of the pictures are there.

While in CA, Mitchell and I took a day to run off to Palo Alto and visit Grandma Peterson. We always have a great time visiting with her! She, again, got out some photos and we talked about family history. She shared some great stories with us! We are so happy that she is willing to share those stories and experiences with us. Before we left her house Mitchell dazzled us with his masculinity by fixing her car. He whipped out numerous tools and popped open the hood and crouched under the dash. When he was all done one problem was fixed an another identified and a part on order. It was a great visit.

Now that we are home we are enjoying the summer time to relax. Both Mitchell and I are only working part-time until Fall so we have lots of free time to spend with each other and enjoying fun activities.

I also decided to take oil painting lessons with a couple of girl friends this summer. It is a fun thing to look forward to each week and a great way to maintain social interaction with other married girls my age. I am really not an artist but I am pleased with my progress so far.

Mitchell is enjoying his work so much more now that he is back working with his old professor. It was a great switch to go back there. He is loving the current project and making good progress. In fact, just today Dr. Olsen told Mitchell that he is really happy with his progress and he likes where it is headed. That is a nice pat on the back for all of his hard work thus far!

Sorry for the long post but I warned you there was So Much to Say!

Back

We're finally back from vacation. Soon we'll be posting on all the fun things that we've been for the last 2 weeks. So what is this then? This is a cheap post so that everyone can stop saying, "You haven't posted anything in a month" and will instead say, "You haven't posted anything GOOD in a month!"

Exciting News!

Here is what is going on in my world today...laundry, relaxing, reading...etc. My sister Lynn is working a lot harder than me though! She's in the hospital having her baby girl, today!!

She looks about ready don't you think!?! Sorry, Lynn, I suppose this isnt the greatest picture of you but I am proud of you for being brave and for being a mommy!! Yay!

She's having lots of good contractions! Woo woo!! We are cheering for you!

Still working on it...

So I am still working on this wall hanging for Lynn and she is still working on starting the labor process. I think I got the better deal of the two! Here are the finished tiles and I layed them out in my prefered configuration.

This configuration happens to be 12"x36." When I looked online to price out a stretched canvas of those dimensions places were charging $35 dollars! Wow! I thought I could do better and it turns out I could. I went to Big Lots and lo and behold...what did I find!?!? This beauty...

So, I realize it's not the most attractive piece of art out there but it doesn't matter a bit because it is stretched canvas exactly 12"x36" and it was a bargain of only $10! Then after a trip to the art store to get the matte medium (with a 40% off coupon thank you very much) I am home again with this project. This is how it looks so far. I am going on faith that the matte medium really does dry clear! **crossing my fingers!**