Merry Christmas!

 

787 First flight happening right now

http://787firstflight.newairplane.com/ffindex.html This is happening right now. The first flight of the new Boeing 787. It's big, big news. If all is successful, it will be a great thing for Boeing, and for the possibility of returning to work there.

Christmas music and funny link

So it's that time of year where I love listening to Christmas music. Truth be told, I've been listening to Christmas music for over a month. The "angelic choral heard it a million times in all its different versions from Kenny G to Trans-Siberian Orchestra" bug usually hits just after Halloween. I've ramped up a Pandora station with tons of great holiday feeds. I love listening to them all.

I think this post is me stepping up on a soapbox proudly declaring that people should be proud to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. The Christmas season, bookended by Thanksgiving and Christmas, is just too short to fully enjoy the different flavors of Christmas music. **stepping off soap box. That's really all I have to say in this post.

OH! And here's a funny rendition of the Haleluia chorus if you're interested. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU

Our triplet nieces are home!

Last night, our little triplet nieces--Annie, Gracie, & Ruthie--came home from the hospital! They've been in the NICU since they were born in September, and we were so excited to meet them. With all the flu scare going around, we weren't able to visit them while they were in the hospital and so only knew them through pictures. It was so fun to get to hold them--they're super cute! :) We love our little nieces.

Grandpa & Ruthie

Little Gracie

The double football hold! :) Annie & Gracie

H1N1

Halloween!

The Jolly Rancher & the Jelly Belly.

We won the "Funniest Halloween Costume" at our church's Halloween party! :)

Yum. Jelly Belly. :)

Krueger Family Costumes. And yes, that is an elephant behind us.

We went dressed up to the Bean Museum at BYU.

Pumpkin Patch 10-17-09

We got to go to a corn maze & pumpkin patch with our nieces and nephews on Saturday. (Don't tell anybody, but I think I may have been just as excited as the little kids :)

 

99 Days!

We've hit the two digit mark--99 days before our little girlie's due date! AAAAAAH! :)

Cute little sidenote: She had the hiccups for the first time last night (that I'd noticed, anyway). Poor little dear, it had to have been about 20 minutes of it. Hic! Hic! Hic! :)

Little Dancer

Ok, so I know that all I ever talk about is the baby. And usually it's about her wiggles. But that's my entertainment, and just about the only noteworthy thing that seems to happen lately. :)

Wednesday night, David and I went to Acoustic Explosion on campus, where David's friend Dan Tengelsen & his bro Ben performed. (Fantastic, by the way! If you like Jack Johnson, you'd like them. http://www.tengelsenmusic.com/)
Anyway, the music started and girlie started doing a dance, bouncing all over. We left and she was quiet the whole way home. And then at home, I turned on some Josh Groban and was singing along. And guess who started dancing again? Yep. She's musically inclined. :)

Ultrasound Pictures

I finally got our little girl's first pictures scanned in. :) Enjoy.

Her profile. Doesn't she look like us already? ;)

Her thinking pose. :) This is her arm with her hand brought up to her face and her pointer finger is resting on her cheek like, "Hmm..." :)

A foot! (I dunno, it looks a little blurred to me. Almost like a dinosaur foot or something. She must've been wiggling when we took this one. :)

Her spine all the way down to her little bum.

We're having a girl!

Despite our predictions, we are having a girl and are mighty excited about it! David's mom and my dad guessed it--guess parents really do know all. :)

During the ultrasound, she was as spunky as ever. She wouldn't let the doctor get a good shot of her face. Every time he tried, she'd turn her head the other way. And when he wanted to get a steady heartbeat, he had to try a few times before she would hold still long enough for him to get it. :) She's as healthy as can be with all her fingers, toes, heart chambers, and everything else.

We love our baby girl! :)

A Sweet Baby Moment

Last night I was sitting on the couch when little baby started moving all over the place & kicking wildly. As usual, I started talking to the little squirt and then put my hands over my belly. The movement stopped. I took away my hands, and the baby was at it again. Hands back, movement stopped. It was so cool. I totally felt like the baby just wanted a little of mommy's attention & lovin'. It was a neat experience. :)


PS. I can't wait until Monday when I can stop coming up with creative ways to not say "it" & can just say he or she!

20 Weeks Pregnant Pictures

So my belly is finally showing! :) We're halfway there and get to find out the gender in one week--September 14 at 3pm. We'll make sure to post the ultrasound picture. :)

Look! You can see the bump!

In his spare time in Seattle,
David made this blanket for our baby.

Finally, you can tell that there is indeed a baby in there!

We got a great deal on a crib and mattress, so we bought them already. Today, David and our nephew Ellis set it all up. It looks fabulous. Now we just need all the cute stuff to go with it!

Our Baby's a Wiggler

At about 15 weeks, I felt the first little 'bloop' of baby movement, and now I'm at 18 weeks and the little bambino won't stop moving! I've noticed that it happens a lot at night, which could end up being a teensy bit problematic for my sleeping habits later in the pregnancy. But I suppose all my sleep will be disrupted by back pain, etc. anyway. :) Alas.

Anyway, we have one wiggly baby. David hasn't previously been able to feel the little bloops and blips (though he did get to hear them while listening to the heartbeat at our last appointment), but last night he felt one! It was so exciting. :) He can't feel them all, but at least he felt one. :) I'm excited for when he can feel them all.

As far as pictures go, I do need to take another belly bump picture, although I can't say I have much of one. If you didn't know what I looked like before, you might just think I have a chunky belly. :) But it's big enough that I can feel pregnant, even if I don't look like it to the world. :)

Happy 2nd Anniversary to us!

Can you believe it's been 2 years?

24 months worth of loving you :)

1. NAD ;)

2. You do the dishes for me, even when you haven't been around to get them dirty

3. You're always willing to give me massajes :)

4. You get really excited about physics stuff and somehow help me to understand it on my very elementary level
5. "And I get to kiss you baby, just because I can"
6. You're dedicated to your church callings
7. As we've discovered this summer, having you around makes for some extra laughs
8. You get so excited about the baby's heartbeat that you got the doctor to let you use the fancy machinery :)
9. You ask lots of questions and have taught me to be more curious
10. You get out there and talk to people and aren't shy
11. I get to hold your hand in public...and kiss, if I want :)
12. You're so cute with the nieces and nephews--you're going to be a great dad
13. You have goals and strive to accomplish them
14. You're so smart (even if you don't realize it all the time)
15. You'll go out of the way to do nice things for me, even if it means an inconvenience to you
16. You have a testimony of the gospel & you love the Lord
17. You're willing to go through extra schooling to help support our family
18. You sing with me at church and we sound so fabulous
19. You let me be your personal palm pilot, and I don't mind because it means I get to take care of you in your forgetfulness ;)
20. You listen to my rants
21. You listen to my quirky literary babbling
22. You like reading with me
23. You show me that you love me
24. You're my best friend

I love you, David!

Arrr, Matey

Did you know that the Krueger clan is a very motley crew? :) We had our annual pirate party this weekend. (And I highly recommend clicking on these pics for a better view of our faces--they're pretty classic.)

Funny story about our pirate parties...The first time I met David's family was at the first annual pirate party. The first thing his mom and sister ever said to me was "Arr, Matey!" We ate food with our hands, wore bandannas and eye patches, and spoke pirate lingo. :) And I didn't go running in the opposite direction--gotta love the Kruegers. :)

ConGRADulations, David!

It's official--David is now a man with a degree! He got his BS in Physics...now on to his Master's. He'll continue to go to BYU, but at least now he has more than just his incredible genius to show for the past few years in school. :)We call this his studious look. :)

Pregnant and Tired and the Funniness of "Words of Wisdom"

So since I've been pregnant, there's always at least one point in the afternoon when all I can think about is how exhausted I am and how much I would love to just lay down. In those moments, all I want to do is let the world know I'm tired...Facebook, Twitter, blog. (Ok, ok, this IS one of those moments.) It makes me laugh at the response I get. Well-meaning friends just can't help but give you their experienced words of wisdom: "Oh, you think you're tired now? Just wait until you have the baby!" "Oh yeah, get all the sleep you can now, because once that baby comes, you'll want it."

I can't help but laugh (on the good days) and cry (on the bad ones).

Oh yes, they speak the truth. And why shouldn't they pass their words of wisdom along? After all, they've been pregnant before, and I haven't.

But when I'm tired, so tired, and I can't go get "as much sleep as I can," because I'm a student and I have a job...Surprisingly, telling me that I'm going to be even more exhausted when I'm already feeling extremely exhausted doesn't make me feel any better. Shocker, huh? :)

My Little Brother Got Married!

Gregg & Jackie, married June 25, 2009.

I got to go to GA last weekend for my little bro's wedding. I was silly and didn't take any pics, but here are a couple that the photographer took. Hopefully I'll get more later. I know I took a good one with my brother!

I love this one of me, my dad, and my sis Abbie.

Pics from Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House 7-16

I HOME!!

I'm back in Utah for an extended weekend. It's so fun being home. And I find it really interesting how many things I took for granted. Like holding hands with Karen. It was just something we always did. Then I was gone for three weeks. And now that I'm back I realize how comforting it is to hold her hand and be able to give her a hug.

It's so good to be home.

Yikes

Would you believe me if I told you these are made for kids 0-6 months? High heels for infants? Weird...and slightly creepy...and definitely tacky (no offense if you think they're cute).

We need something new on this here blog!

Okay so life hasn't been too interesting lately. I mean, would your life be fun if your husband was gone and you were just sitting around being a lazy preggo bum all day? No, I think not. ;) But little exciting things....

1. David's gonna be home this weekend! Yay!

2. My best friend Shellie is coming out this weekend! Yay again!

3. I got a new phone. The battery on my old one would last for 20 minutes, even after being plugged in all night. My new one is cute :)

4. I only have a month left of summer term.

5. The 1st trimester nausea is going away. (Hallellujah!)

not in Utah anymore...

so I just spent an extra 45 minutes driving home from church because there was a gay pride parade going on in downtown Seattle that blocked the entrance to my parking garage. I might have been able to park on the street some place, but I would have had to pay on one of those meter things and then go back to the garage, which service I'm already paying for. Yeah, definitely not in Utah anymore...

Tahoe Trip!

So these aren't all of the pictures, but it's what I had on my camera and from my sister. There are better pics that other family members will send us soon. Enjoy!

First two days in Seattle

Here are a few shots of my little room.


Not even a check engine light with 360 miles to go held me back. I made it. 16 hours after leaving the family reunion at Lake Tahoe (which was way fun, by the way) I finally made it to my apartment, tired and exhausted. I organized my stuff in the little room and collapsed on top of the bed, unshowered, clothes on, lights on, and fell asleep. The room is tiny, compared to the spacious apartment my parents have. But it's got a bed, a shower, fridge, and hotplate. What more could I need, right? Oh, and the walls are very well treated acoustically, which I really like.

Somehow, after driving so long, I was only able to sleep four hours that first night. Some of it, I think, is that I had the reading bug. I had started Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and like usually happens when I start a book, everything else gets pushed aside, even sleep, and I read. It is now finished, and I highly recommend it. It's a fast-paced book with some interesting perspectives on science and religion. Okay, this is getting boring. I'll try to spice it up:

It's very exciting living here. I'm in the heart of downtown. Pike's Place Market and the Space Needle are literally only 3 minutes walk away. I haven't had to drive anywhere (except to bring Sally-that's our cars name-to the shop). I can walk and get wherever I need to go.

I kind of wonder though, if the excitement will wear off as the loneliness sets in. I know sad, right? I realized I'm going to be here by my lonesome on the weekends and on some big family holidays like the 4th and 24th of July. I need to find a hobby. Any ideas? I'm thinking of doing a baby blanket for our little one. I also want to explore Downtown. Well, everyone knows the pictures are the most exciting, so here are a few I've taken so far. Don't worry, they'll get more exciting as time goes on.

This is Mt. Shasta in OR? Maybe WA. This next one should be the Portland, Oregon Temple. But the two megapixels on the camera really shows (ha, or doesn't show I guess). The angel Moroni might be visible to the right of the center light pole.

A Little Announcement...About the size of a kidney bean, actually

Surprise! Here's our little 8-week old gummie bear...currently known as Poseidon until we find out the gender, at which point it might change to Athena (how often do kids get to be named after Greek gods, anyway?).
The little guy/girl did a little dance for us on camera and is growing just fine! :)

And just so you have something to compare me to later...here's as skinny as I'm getting for a while. Bring on the baby bump! I'm SO ready!