proof

i'm already 26 weeks pregnant! baby is getting bigger & stronger every day. (the internet tells me its now the length of a cucumber, which seems pretty gigantic to me!) brian has felt lots of kicks and movement, which is so fun. i feel like there's less and less room for me in my own body every day, but i don't mind. and i think baby is pretty happy with its cozy home, too. i'm happy to oblige.

here's proof that i am, in fact, growing a baby.

...and that my bathroom mirror needs to be cleaned.

holly jolly

since its just one week (!!!) until Christmas, i thought i would share these delightfully jolly photos with you. i'm pretty sure this guy is the handsomest santa i have ever seen! he's cute.







santa, baby!

almost

its so close to Christmas! i can hardly believe its less than two weeks away. i've said it before and i know i'll say it again; days are passing by far too quickly. i can't wait to take a few days at Christmas to relax and enjoy some time with our family.

here's a little update on what we've been up to the past few weeks;

i've been falling in love with my bosch. its the best!



that looks nasty, i know, but it was some really delicious muffins. i promise.

we went on a sleigh ride! and it was delightful.


brian built a robot car at school! his group did a great job and it was a great little car. plus! he gets to keep it forever. i have a feeling our little ones will play with it someday.


and i've been baking up a storm, including shortbread and snickerdoodles. i also dipped about a bajillion pretzels in chocolate, and am now trying to hide them from brian so we have some left for Christmas.


also, brian was "the special visitor" at our ward Christmas party...pictures soon!

i mustache you a question

brian participated in movember this year, obviously. he grew one rockin' mustache.

here's the proof.





on december first, he shaved it off.



and then it hurt when he put aftershave on. owie.



and now i have a mustache-less man again.



the end.

an ode to the first of december!

i can't believe its already the first of december. i think its true that time starts to go faster the older you get.

we are so looking forward to Christmas, and the relief it will bring brian to be done with school and exams. he has a work term starting in january, so he gets a break from the books for 4 whole months! we're pretty pleased with the way things have worked out; since he'll be working and not in school next semester, our baby coming at the end of march won't mean a 3 week old during finals. and for that, brian is grateful. Heavenly Father sure has things figured out.

i got my Christmas present a little early this year! a couple weeks ago, i was laying in bed, reading and drifting off to sleep. brian came in and insisted i come out and see something. "i have something to show you!" i mumbled something about showing me in the morning; i was too tired to get up. (seriously. i was.) he begged and begged and finally convinced me. when i came out of the bedroom, walked down the hall and into the kitchen, i spotted a brand new bosch universal plus sitting on the kitchen counter, complete with the food processor attachment. i screamed. loudly. like a little girl getting the doll of her dreams. because, really, the bosch is the doll of my dreams. just today i made a gigantic batch of shortbread cookies and a couple of loaves of bread. i love my bosch. and i love my husband. what an awesome Christmas present!

i had a dentist appointment this morning, where the hygienist scrubbed my teeth & gums until they were sore. but now they feel nice & clean. you win some, you lose some, right? on the plus side, it was fun to feel baby move so much, mostly due to the sound of the dental tools. our baby is not deaf, and it definitely hates the dentist already. (sorry dale!)

Christmas is coming! we're so excited to spend time with our family. we get to see almost everyone this Christmas and we're pretty happy about that. wishing everyone the best during the best month of the year. merry december!

a recap, finally

i'm finally getting around to posting photos from my mama & tims wedding. what an amazing day it was! we were so happy to be with our family the day our mama & papa were sealed together. we are one big, happy family and we're so grateful to have one another!

and, without further ado, photos!

mama & tim!


the shoe game, because no wedding is complete without it.


mama & tim & all of their grandbabies. two more have been added since then and two more are on the way!


cute little man in a bow tie.


the party! including the awesome puffballs erin spent hours making. they looked so good!


hydrangeas & jelly beans everywhere!


my handsome man.


me & my wonderful sister.


our handiwork on the truck.


haylen got to ride a harley.


mama ate ribs in her wedding dress.


ali wore a funny hat.


and brian threw the kids around.


josh got a little bit dirty.


and all the kiddos destroyed the puffballs.






so we took a cute photo of mama & tim.


and mama & tim and some of the kids.


we had an awesome picture board.


and brian goofed around some more with our nieces & nephews.




we danced the night away.


and then bid farewell to the newlyweds!


what a delightful day it was!

currently;

listening to this:



making these:

quinoa burgers

and feeling our ever growing and ever active baby moving around. brian felt a kick from the outside this weekend! this feeling never gets old. we're so happy!

i caved

i'm so weak. i totally caved and joined 'pinterest.' it is actually quite useful; i've found some wonderful things and am no longer jamming up the bookmarks folder on my computer. the thing i use it most for is food & recipes. i found a recipe for tomato tortellini soup last week and decided to try it this weekend. it started getting colder this weekend, and that always makes me want to curl up with a bowl of soup and a book. (and that's just what i did!)

here's the recipe! its super easy and delicious. i mean, really, it has cream in it. yum.

• 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Additional shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

• Cook tortellini according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. Drain tortellini; carefully add to soup. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.

(found here.)


its soup season!

it's a...baby!

"you've got a little squirmer in there."

"c'mon little monkey; i can't catch you!"

"did you eat chocolate before you came?"

these are just a few of the things that our tech said to me on wednesday at our ultrasound. apparently we've got quite the active little one! my appointment ended up being about half an hour longer than planned because baby was moving around so much the tech had a hard time getting all the pictures and measurements she needed. what a monkey baby!

we loved seeing our little baby, and laughing at the funny antics. at one point, baby was curled up with its legs sticking straight up. it was amazing to see the baby move on the screen and feel it move in my belly at the same time.



isn't baby cute in black & white? we think so!

pumpkin bread

now, let me preface this post by saying something that may cause a bit of controversy;

i don't like pumpkin pie.

!!!!

this is absolutely astonishing to brian. he begs me to try pumpkin pie at every occasion it is available. so, i do. and i never like it. i don't know if its the texture, but it just doesn't do it for me.

this pumpkin bread, on the other hand, is crazy delicious. in fact, i'm almost sure i'm addicted to it. i've made it twice in the last week! (don't worry. we've given lots away. i promise.) it is the perfect autumn treat, warm & spicy. its so good. plus, it smells amazing while it is baking.

here's the recipe:

ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter, really soft, partially melted

3 large eggs

1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin

preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray two medium or three small loaf pans (i did three small) with nonstick cooking spray. in a medium bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, set aside.

in a bowl of a stand mixer, pour in the sugar. put the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that it is partially melted. pour in with the sugar and add the eggs. cream these ingredients together on medium speed for about two minutes or until fluffy. add the pumpkin and combine well.

in three batches, add the dry ingredients and mix gently until each batch is just incorporated. scrape the sides between each batch. pour a third, or a half of the batter into each of the pans. bake side-by-side for 50-60 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean and the the tops are golden. i also added pecans to most of my loaves, which was delicious!

shout out to emma for posting the recipe! thanks for sharing!




in other news, i'm now 19 weeks! i am totally starting to pop, which, i think, is 50% due to the growth of the baby and 50% due to the aforementioned pumpkin bread.



we're so excited to go to our ultrasound this week and see our babys fingers & toes & face! i'm hoping baby will perform for the ultrasound, especially considering that every day after lunch it does an acrobatics routine. its been so fun to feel baby growing and moving!
we love you, baby!

cute

i came across these pictures on the my computer today and had to post them.





baby jane is just one of the nieces & nephews who absolutely adores uncle brian. he's such a hit with the kiddos.

i really can't wait until our little one loves daddy the way the rest of the little ones in our life do.

my post of awesome

its awesome when i change the channel just in time to hear patrick swayze say his famous line, "nobody puts baby in a corner" and then do the final dance with her. ah. magic.

its awesome when i get to hear babys heartbeat. and feel baby doing flips and twists in my tummy. i love that sound and i love that feeling!

its awesome that we fiiiinally went out to the restaurant that someone told me to go to before i even moved here. barb & ernies; german buffet on tuesday nights! we ate our fill of bratwurst, spatzle, wienerschnitzel, the best chocolate mousse i have ever tasted...it was all delicious!

its awesome when i get to sleep in. yup.

its awesome when i watch our collection of things for baby begin to grow. shoes, sleepers, toques and a bib. we've decided not to find out what we're having, so i won't get too much more in the way of clothes. what i'd really like to start collecting is books for our little ones library.

its awesome that brian writes his last midterm today. yahoo!

its awesome that we got to see baby when i was only 8 weeks along, and we are so excited to get another look in a couple of weeks! baby will now look more like a human, instead of the adorable kidney bean we first fell in love with.



awesome.

dale & cassie!

these past few months have been so exciting. we've welcomed so many new members into our family! it seems to be growing exponentially these days. last weekend, we welcomed the newest member to the thomson clan; cassie! we were so happy to be able to spend the weekend celebrating the marriage of dale & cassie with a bunch of people we love so dearly. the wedding day was truly beautiful. dale & cassie; we are so so happy for you. we wish you all the happiness and adventures that marriage brings, and all of the challenges and blessings, too. we love you lots!

so here's some photos of the lovely bride and groom...because that's what you really came here for, right? (these two are going to have some seriously cute kiddos.)