It's a BOY!!!

and we couldn't be happier.

What do you see?

Yep, that is the very first picture of our baby that is coming March 14th, 2010. We are so incredibly excited and already feel like this last 12 weeks is creeping by. I can't wait to have this baby!
Here is the ultrasound we had last Friday at about 12 weeks. You can make out the alien head on the right, arm buds and chest on the left. The little feet are supposedly in there somewhere too. We got to see the heart beat but won't hear it til our next appointment on September 25th.

I hardly feel like I'm pregnant because the only major difference I feel is that I'm extremely tired. I probably shouldn't say this because most other women will hate me, but I really haven't been sick. I've had the occasional nausea when I wake up before I eat anything but other than that the only sicknesses I've been fighting are colds and the stomach flu.
We won't find out what we're having til the end of October but I'm curious to know what everyone thinks so I'll be putting a poll on the sidebar. Let us know what you think!

On another note, we have a whole lot of blogging to catch up on so look for our Summer 2009 post coming soon.

Mexico!!

I know it's been a while so I thought I'd come back with a bang-our trip last week to Mexico! We went with the entire Carter family and had such a great time. It definitely went by way too fast.
We went to the Grand Mayan Resort in Nuevo Vallarta. Here we are at the entrance to the resort.


The resort was AMAZING, and had so many things for us to do! There was a lazy river that circled around the entire pool area, a waterslide, and a wave pool. There were also a few restaurants in between all of this. Our hotel room was on the 6th floor with an ocean view. Here's our view from our balcony of the resort, and the beach is just within a one minute walk from there!


Another view from our room of the pool area:


Aaron and I on our balcony:


Looking in from our balcony into the living room/kitchen area of our suite. On each side of the room are doors that led to the bedrooms and bathrooms. It was so wonderful!


We really enjoyed the pool area--here's a few pictures of it, I'll be adding more that are on Dee's camera when I get them.
Lani with Landon on her back in the pool, and Aaron and Wes looking cool in their matching straw hats:


Wes (left) and Aaron (right) up on the fountain platform--they're such dorks when they're together


When we weren't just hanging out by the pools outside, we did venture out into the city for different activities. One of the days, the guys went golfing at a course nearby--Here's Wes, Jim and Aaron


Aaron taking a swing:


On another day, Aaron, Hillary and I went and did a canopy tour! It was so amazing to zip line through the trees, and some lines went across a canyon over a river! And don't we look awesome in our gear?
Aaron and Hillary, ready to go:

Here's me coming in:


Aaron pulling himself up:


Here's Hillary riding UPSIDE DOWN! The guides would offer to go with you, and while they held onto your legs, they let you hang upside down--I got to do this too but didn't get a picture of it:


In between each zipline would be a little hike to the next one, so it was actually really tiring, especially because it was super hot and humid! But it was all worth it for those amazing views.
The 3 of us:


While we waited for our bus to take us back from the canopy tour, there was a small petting zoo next door that we got to check out. Here's Aaron, holding this tube-thing that the zoo guide gave him--it had food in the bottom of it, so when we went to see these cute little monkeys, they would jump right onto you and go for it! It was really funny



On another day the whole family decided to explore other beaches in Nuevo Vallarta, and we found one that had some cool shops and restaurants nearby.

Here's Hillary and Aaron boogie-boarding, and Wes is off to the right surfing:


Aaron and I lounging:


The whole Carter clan: Lani, Wes, Landon, Me, Aaron, Hillary, Dee & Jim


We went to a different part of the city during the week and found this street that had tons of shops and restaurants on one side, and the beach on the other--it was beautiful! We got some really nice sunset shots there:



Another fun thing that happened in Mexico was Aaron's 25th Birthday!!! Wes and Lani couldn't join us because Landon wasn't feeling too great that day, but the rest of the family went to downtown Puerto Vallarta (about 30 minutes from Nuevo where are hotel was) and ate at Pipi's Restaurant. It was great!

Aaron and I decided that the chips and guacamole at Pipi's is probably the best we've ever had! Chips and guac is one of the main reasons Aaron and I look forward to going to Mexico :)



And since it was Aaron's birthday, of course the restaurant waiters had to sing happy birthday! But there was a little extra Mexican twist on it, not just the standard singing and leaving. They brought out this free flan dessert on a plate (which was AMAZING by the way), and instead of just leaving it in front of him, one of the waiters decided to stand right next to Aaron and SHOVE a spoonful of the flan into his face while they sang! Since they came in so fast, and was SO unexpected, Aaron didn't know how to react except to just take a bite when they served it to him! After he was rapidly fed a few bites, and while they were still singing loudly, the guy starting putting the whip cream on his face!!! Isn't that bizarre? It was SO funny, we all were cracking up, including Aaron--he was a great sport about it. We just couldn't believe that they actually were doing these things, it was so unexpected! It was definitely a birthday dinner to remember!


The fam at dinner:


The trip was amazing, we miss being there! More pictures will come, Dee has some good ones on her camera that I wanted to include too. There, I think I've made up some ground from my previous blog drought! :)

Explanation

I realize that it has been forever since I last posted but there is a good excuse. Aaron and I had a great deal with Comcast for cable and internet but 2 months ago our contract expired and they jacked up the price. Thinking we could save money by just using the internet at work, we cancelled our internet at home. Since then I have been totally swamped at work, moving to a new property and getting things set up here, that I haven't had time to blog. Things are settling down a little bit and I am trying to make time after work to stay and use the computer. I will do my best to post more (a lot has happened that i just need to post!).
In the meantime, for all those wanting to buy Mary Kay products at wholesale, I am placing an order in about a week. That gives you a few days to figure out what you want (go to marykay.com) and email me or comment on what you want me to order. Like I said, I will give you the wholesale price on anything you want to order so just let me know. If you live out of state, I'm happy to ship to you. I usually order once a year and stock up on items that I use so maybe you should too!

New Things

Ever since we moved to Roseville we have been looking for a cute little patio set and finally found one we love at Cost Plus World Market. Yesterday we went and bought it and set it up. We love it and already ate dinner outside, enjoying the beautiful weather. Our patio was always so bare but now we feel as though our patio is an extension of our little home. It's great!


Also new this week, I got glasses!!!

For the last couple years I have noticed that it has been more difficult for me to see far away. I have been missing street signs and driving at night was horrible. Once I got vision insurance through work I went to the eye doctor and found out that I am 20/100 in my right eye and 20/70 in my left eye. I am so happy to finally be able to see!!!

Our Last Day With Brad

Brad reported to the MTC on March 4th, but our last day to see him was the weekend before since we had to work during the week. We decided to meet up in Manteca so he could also say goodbye to the Carter family. We had a great time hanging out and bowling. The whole time I was trying not to think about saying goodbye, but the inevitable came. I was so sad and miss him like crazy!
Bowling




Right before the goodbye

We love you Brad!

Utah!

At the beginning of February Aaron and I were able to take a short weekend trip to Utah to visit family and friends. We stayed with Mindy and Tari in Salt Lake the first night we got there (we arrived at midnight) and then spent the next day seeing Mandy's new house in Heber City and meeting Jonas. Aaron and Jonas had a lot of fun.

Mandy really wanted to learn how to make Mindy's infamous salsa so we all got to learn. Man is it good!


Tari and I

On our drive back to Salt Lake. It was snowing!


That night, we were able to meet up with friends in Salt Lake for dinner at Red Robin. It was so great to see Melissa and Justin, as well as their significant others. Michelle also came up from Provo.



We really missed Sheryl :(
After dinner we went down to Pleasant Grove to see Anna, Chris and Kayden. It had been 8 months since we had last seen Chris. We stayed the next 2 nights with them before we had to come home. Don also came up from Provo and we had so much fun eating out, bowling, and just hanging out. We made sure to eat at Cafe Rio and I had a realization. I might like Costa Vida just as much. I'm glad it's only 10 minutes away.
Eating at CPK


Bowling. Mindy and Tari missed us so much they had to join us. We're glad they did.





Hanging out at Chris and Anna's



Kayden is cute as ever and it was so good to see him walking! We slept on a blow up mattress in Kayden's room and when Kayden came in his room Saturday morning he was so confused, and maybe a little scared, at these two strange people who had taken over his space. It took him a little while to warm up to us but on Sunday morning he wasn't at all surprised to see us there and was happy to come hang out on the mattress with us.
We realized while we were there how much we miss Utah. It is such a great place and we hope to be able to visit again soon.