Baby Number 2!!

Heather is going to be a big sister sometime around her second birthday!! The "due date" is March 9, 2011. We are very excited, but still trying to make it through morning sickness. This time it hasn't been as bad as it was with Heather. Luckily the bad stuff waited until we were (mostly) settled in. (I'm not gonna lie, there are still lots of things I need to do to feel completely at home...like hang up pictures and stuff.) We decided that this time around we are going to take a picture of my growing tummy about once every two weeks. (I was too embarrassed to take so many pictures of me pregnant with Heather, and I feel bad that we don't have very many.) So here's the first one:

I am actually showing a little (tiny) bit...the other show is mostly fat and bloatation. I think I'm showing a bit anyway. I know that there is something growing in there because I am at that awkward stage where the maternity clothes are still too big and everything else is a little too small. I mostly where t-shirts and Daniel's shorts.

We are super excited to welcome baby number 2, and can't wait to see what it will be like! Love you all!

PS. Cameo, when you asked me if I was pregnant at the Holmes' house I was pregnant, I just didn't know (I found out two days later). Sorry for "lying." Also, the reason I said I hoped I wasn't, is because I really did not want to be moving across the country and throwing up the whole way. (I am so grateful that didn't happen) So...that's my little confession. :)

Update

This past week was the first week we've had a significant change in schedule since moving here to Iowa. I began my orientation, which thankfully wasn't as long and boring as I had expected. In fact, the diagnostic test they offered on Friday was anything other than boring! We had 45 minutes to answer 9 questions on subjects ranging from RNA secondary structure to algorithm complexity to systems of differential equations. My coursework at BYU covered all of these subjects, but a few of them were not fresh in my mind. Thankfully, they allowed us to indicate on the test the things we didn't know at all vs the things we would have to review before answering confidently. The purpose of the test was to determine whether we needed any remedial coursework, and luckily I was among the half of the group didn't!

In addition to my orientation this week, we also had the chance to go to the temple. Our ward organized a pretty big temple trip yesterday. We are in the district of the Winter Quarters temple in Omaha, Nebraska, which is about 2.5 hours away. The ward "borrowed" a local ward building to use as home base. The primary presidency organized activities for children and babysitting for young families so that couples could attend sessions together. The Relief Society organized a lunch after the morning session and youth baptisms, and then the bishop held a small devotional over on the temple grounds. The trip was officially over at that point, although many families remained and took turns watching each other's children so they could spend a bit more time in the temple. Heather was really tired and Stephanie felt sick, so we decided to just go home at that point.

The ward does not sponsor big activities like this very often, so our next few trips we will either have to bring some friends and take turns going in as couples or just go by ourselves and take turns watching Heather. Living in Provo spoiled us bad! Not only did we have a temple within walking distance, but we had a lot of friends that were willing to watch or listen for Heather while we went to the temple. It will definitely be an adjustment to make such a big trip every month.

Flooding

This is in response to many of your questions. We have been experiencing a bad flood here in Ames. Luckily, our basement did not get flooded. But the water was awfully close to our house. Although our basement did not get flooded, our neighbor's (in the other unit in our duplex) basement did. I don't know how to explain that...except that we were blessed. We have been doing well despite having to boil our water. We are so grateful that we had a little bit of water storage so that we have been able to drink good water and not heat our house up too much. They also recently started handing out water to the citizens of Ames, so we have been ok. Things should be under control by next week. Although we will probably have a lot of standing water and extra mosquitoes for a while. :)

Here are some pics of before and after the flood.

Before (there are also pics of before the flood in the last couple of posts):

After: You didn't know we lived by a lakefront property did you?

Biscuits, Baby!

Today I decided to make some biscuits to go along with our crock-pot dinner. I pulled out ol' Betty, looked up biscuits, and found a simple recipe for plain baking power biscuits. They weren't too difficult--the only problem is that I rolled them too thin, so there were a lot and they cooked too fast and got too done. All things considered, they weren't too bad--until we tasted them!

Stephanie asked if I put too much salt in, but I assured her I had followed the recipe exactly. To be honest, I hadn't even really noticed the taste, since I took a bite of a biscuit with each bite of the main dish. When I tasted the biscuit alone, it did indeed taste salty--almost metallic. Then I realized that I hadn't made baking powder biscuits, I had made baking soda biscuits! Yuk! I had already eaten two! I had to lay on my back for a few minutes after dinner while the chemistry experiment in my stomach completed. Luckily it wasn't a repeat of that horrible experience near the end of my mission!

Here are some pictures of our new home in Ames--we will have some more of the interior once Stephanie has had a chance to finish making the window treaments.

Heather in our front lawn. We share a duplex with another young couple. We're on the right.

Another view of the front of our house.

The side of our house. We have a garage!

Rickety old back porch. It adds..."character."

Heather loves being outside.