Baby Shower at Work

On Tuesday my work gave me a baby shower. I was overwhelmed with their generosity and all the wonderful things that we received. They did it during our lunch break and served pizza and salads. Everything turned out so nice. My good friends Caroline, Lisa, Alaina and Brett did most of the planning and then others helped out by bringing in some of the side dishes. It was a lot of fun! My friend Caroline made the giraffe in the pictures and Nancy put together the cute diaper cake. I came home and Derrick couldn't believe all the things that we received. Later that night laid everything out on the spare bed so I could take pictures. I am such a dork!

I think we are pretty ready for this little boy to arrive. We still need to get the car seat and stroller but other than that I think we are set for now. I'm sure there will be things that come up. We are trying to only buy things that we need for the first little bit so we don't have to pack everything back to Utah.

I am starting to realize that our time here in Michigan is almost over and I think it will be harder saying goodbye to the good friends I have made then I thought it would be. We have been so blessed during our time in Michigan. Things have worked out so well for us. We are amazed how our Heavenly Father is so mindful of us and knows what is the best thing for us even when we don't.

The count down is on...Only 4 more weeks to go! We are getting so excited to hold and love our son! We just hope and pray that he will be a healthy strong little guy!

4th of July festivities

Ever since we moved to Michigan I have always felt bad because I know how much my dog loves the 4th of July. It is probably his favorite holiday. His family always does a big get together ever year and I know how much he enjoys it. I must admit our 4th of July festivities have probably been disappointing since we moved to Michigan. Last year we went to a parade out in Mason that was really depressing and we swore we wouldn't go back. So this year there wasn't much on the calendar. We invited our friends the Clarks over for a BBQ. But didn't have anything else to fill the day.

We headed to Bob Evans for some hummy breakfast when we rolled out of bed (it was nice we didn't have to deal with a crowd because of the time) It sure hit the spot! We then just hung out at home, Deke watched a documentary but didn't get to finish it because the cable went out with 20 mins left in the show. He was a little disappointed. I made my dog's favorite 4th of July foods, baked beans and potato salad minus the celery and onion (and he was tons of help!!). He loves these foods and I new that if I had them then I could help him still love the holiday. Our friends came over and we grilled some steaks, which was a nice change (seems like we always do hamburgers). They have the cutest kids and I think having kids around on the holidays makes things more fun. When it got dark they did sparklers and a few other fireworks. Turned out to be just enough excitement for the kids, and I know I liked not having to deal with traffic that goes with going to watch fireworks!

In all it turned out to be an enjoyable day. Hope the 4th will stay my dogs favorite holiday! Hopefully Michigan hasn't ruined it too much :)

6 of My Many Quirks

1. I can be annoyed by the most minimal things. Some of the little things that drive me crazy is bouncing of ones foot or tapping of fingernails. One that lately really gets to me is when Deke and I are sitting on the coach watching TV, he will have his arm around the back of the coach and switch the channels. The clicking of the remote so close to my ear drives me crazy! I try to be patient and give him a few minutes but after a few seconds all I have to do is look at him and he knows. Something I need to work on I know!

2. I can be a horrible back seat driver. Deke has given me the name of MapQuest because he says that I always know the best way to go.

3. I am anal about laundry. So many of my clothes I don’t but in the dryer and am terrified that if I allow Deke to do it he will forget and shrink my stuff. Needless to say I am the one that does most of the laundry.

4. There are some things I just love but can’t bring myself to spend the money on them. One thing is professional product for my hair and smelly hand lotion or candles. I love it when I do buy it (or get it as a gift) but hate spending the money on it. There are so many other things I would prefer to spend my money on.

5. I am a little ornery if woken up from a nap. I would like to state that I have gotten better over the years (especially since I got married) but my family and roommates learned quickly that I wasn’t in the best of mood if I was woken from a slumber, that I oblivious needed. Sleep is precious to me, I am trying to get as much as I can NOW!!

6. When I workout I love to sweat! I go to the gym to sweat and workout and not socialize and just go through the motions. I get annoyed by those that stand around and socialize and occupy a weight machine for 30 minutes. I sometimes wonder why I even go and get annoyed with all those that are there. I guess when I am on a cardio machine I have plenty to watch and be entertained by! Deke and I love to share stories with each other what we saw at the gym that day.

I tag Alayna, Rachel and Jennica

Cankles

Well it is only the beginning of June and they have already started!! During the weekend I have better control over the ugly beasts. Sitting at my desk all day isn't helping the situation. Deke is already referring to me as cankles. It will be interesting to see what other names he will come up with. When I really started showing he switched to calling me prego and yesterday he started in with cankles.

Jen I remember when you were pregnant with Spencer and you worked at the bank and were on your feet all day long. I remember how painful your cankles looked and how I never wanted to experience that unpleasantness. I knew it was bound to happen because my fingers will get a little swollen in the summer time here in Michigan because of the humidity. I just was hoping it wouldn't be until at least July. I can't stand looking at them, they are so gross!

Oh the things we go through for the little ones. I know it will all be worth it when I hold him for the first time!

Surprise I posted...

So each time a finally post something new I make a new commitment to myself that I will post more often. But then when I think about posting, I really don’t have much to say so 3 weeks go by with no new post.

So what is happening in the Larson’s life?

Deke is super busy with school. How is this still possible? He is in his last semester of classes; I thought this school thing was suppose to get easier. Wednesday is his day from hell, he has 2 classes in the morning and then that night he has Bar Start. How he handles everything and still makes me feel like I am most important in his life is beyond me. Last Friday I came home from work to a very clean home. He had gone crazy! I tried to jump in and help but he wouldn’t allow it. He didn’t want me to have to do anything. He is too good to me!

I am feeling good. Nothing to unusual for a pregnant person I’m sure, but what do I have it to compare too. I’m trying to make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. Some weeks are better than others. I have this heart rate monitor that I programmed in fitness goals when I first got it. Every Monday you get a message letting you know how you did for the week. If you get pretty close to your goals you are rewarded with a Trophy. Well needless to say I have not received a trophy ever since I got pregnant. Oh well I guess I should change the monitors expectations so I can earn my Trophy!

My stomach continues to grow (the joys)! I am noticing that people only look at my stomach now when they walk by me. No more eye contact. I don’t know if I should be self conscious. Deke and I are starting to think of all the things that need to get done. The list is making us feel a little overwhelmed. Hopefully everything with the baby will go smoothly. We are really counting on him not arriving into this world until after Deke takes his last final on August 16th. He then has our permission to arrive as QUICKLY as possible. We are going to put our place up for sale at the beginning of June. Hopefully we will find a buyer before we leave Michigan so we don’t have to continue to pay for a place we aren’t living in. Where does all the time go? I can’t believe it has been 3 years since we left Utah. Our time in Michigan has just flown by. It is crazy to me that we are going to be parents to our little boy in 13 weeks. Way too much is going on but we are so excited to see what life has in store for us as we begin this new chapter. We have been so blessed with everything so far, we know that everything will work out!

I guess I had more to say then I thought this time around. Sorry to make this so long. Real fast wanted to wish my parents luck in all that they have going on too. They received their mission call on Wednesday and are headed to the Germany, Munich/Austria Mission. I think all us daughters were a little surprised with the location. Hopefully my dad can relearn his German quickly (he served his first mission in Germany) and help my Mom out! We will miss you immensely but are so excited for you!

Dr Appt...Yikes!

Well yesterday I had my 24 week doctor appt. Everything is fine. I had a shocker when I stepped on the scale. It was a little depressing actually. I was expecting to put on a little more than a few pounds but was blown away at the number. I knew I indulged a little bit in Chicago with all the yummy food, but I figured with all the walking we did it wouldn't be that bad. But it was... So, I have gone back to the drawing board and am re-evaluating all that I have been consuming. Hopefully the next 16 weeks I can keep things under control. The doctor didn't seem concerned he just said make sure I didn't have any more months like that one.

Other than my Dr appointment, nothing too exciting happening. We had a good time in Chicago. It was fun hanging out with Deke's little bro and wife. Did some things that were fun some things not so fun (I would not recommend going to the Science and Industry Museum if you aren't taking kids). I'm sure one of us will post some pics from the trip soon.

Happening in Michigan

Well Deke’s finals start this week, so needless to say I have been alone a lot lately. He is studying hard and staying up way too late! I don’t know how he does it but he manages somehow. I am sure we are both looking forward to when these finals will be over! We keep telling ourselves only 1 more semester. Atleast the end is in sight! Deke came home Saturday for dinner and I got up from the coach and my shirt came up a little and he was all oh you are starting to show. Tells you how much he has been paying attention to me. Just kidding dog, I know you have tons of other things on your mind right now. Just promise me you will pay attention to me when these finals are all done!

We are both looking forward to the week in Chicago coming up. We are excited to hang out with Grimmy and Special K and I’m looking forward to Chicago style pizza and a good old hot dog at Wrigley! I’m just excited to be away from Lansing for awhile. Hopefully the weather will be alright. I’m for sure not expecting warmth and sunshine as I was mistaken last April when we went.

I have all these plans to start getting things done around the house. I went through my closet a few weeks ago but now I think of all the other things that need to be done and feel overwhelmed so what do I do, absolutely nothing. Hopefully this week I can make some more progress with getting rid of some junk we have accumulated and don’t really want to transport back to Utah.