HELLO THIRD TRIMESTER!

Fun stuff around here,

I am officially 27 weeks today!

27 week baby bumps!

Alex's sister Katie got her mission call this week! She is going to Salvador, South Brazil! We all got to be a part of the reveal via google hang out. It was extra fun and another testament to me that Alex's family couldn't be any more great! One second I am secretly jealous of the girls now leaving on missions and the next I am grateful this new revelation didn't come until AFTER I met and married my dream boy. The Lord has perfect timing whether we think so or not. Katie is leaving just after our baby is born, so our baby blessing will also be our farewell with her :(! She is going to get about a MILLION pictures of our child throughout her mission....lucky her! haha :) I can't wait to see the lives she impacts in the very near future!

I got a job! haha. Okay. At a call center, yes, but at least i won't be bored and lazy next semester when i'm only taking 6 credits. Jobs don't come easy here in Rexburg. The extra cash will be nice when diapers start appearing on our monthly receipts.

Alex's other sister Jenny and her husband, Steve just found out this week they are having a baby.....GIRL! So now our baby has  girl cousins on both sides of the family to play with!

Last Friday I went for my glucose screening test and FAILED. So i had to go back for the 3 hour test to confirm the results. And....it is confirmed. I'm diabetic and pricking myself 6 times a day. FUN. 

My Dad celebrated his 53rd Birthday last week! Love that man to bits!

This week I purchased two pairs of leggings to give some room to my ever growing belly. My belly button is growing shallow and it makes me laugh.

We picked out a Top 10 name list for our baby! Alex could probably bring that list down to 3 but i'm still trying to convince him of a few....so our list remains at 10.

This Christmas to start off Alex and I's FIRST Christmas married, I have planned a little surprise for him. Today the beginning of it came in the mail. I couldn't be more excited. I will post about it after Christmas!

Lately i have been feeling a lot more energy and have been trying out new recipes for supper and relieving my husband of his long episode of dish duty. Pregnancy is getting better!

This Saturday we made ginger bread houses with some friends. Alex made several contributions that consisted of the lovely "dog house" in the front, the "snake protectors" on the sides, a very helpful hand in holding the falling walls and then finally eating the entire gingerbread house in the matter of TWO days. Can't put perfectly good candy to waste right? Where does this man put all the food he consumes? The world may never know.

We are SO excited to be done with school and go home for Christmas. Even the way home will be a blast with this bundle of joy joining us!

Merry Christmas,

From the Stevens.

25 weeks and FIVE days. Less than 15 left? WOW

These past couple weeks have been crazy with school, holidays, family and a lot of FUN!

We crammed all our homework in and made it to Utah to celebrate Thanksgiving with Alex's family. EVERYONE was able to make it, even rare Michelle who goes to BYU Hawaii! She surprised everyone and showed up one morning exploding from a box! It was fun times!

Thanksgiving break included all of the following:

The Turkey Trot. Most of Alex's family entered the "Turkey Trot" which is a 4 mile run on Thanksgiving morning. Alex's family is full of talented runners to say the least and won a bunch of pies and a turkey! 

Ben my brother in law had a birthday and we celebrated by going out to eat at Banana Leaf! There was food on every inch of the table! GOOD food at that!

My nephew is a DOLL!

My sister in laws planned a family baby shower for me! The invites were ADORABLE! Everything from the invites to the decorations to the food included my pregnancy craving....GREEN APPLES :)

It was so much fun and baby girl got a lot of cuteness to wear. She is one lucky girl. And I am one lucky girl to have been adopted into such a great family!

While we stayed in Utah, Jordan and Heather so kindly lent us their apartment to sleep in! It was such a blessing! This pregnant lady didn't have to sleep on the floor and Alex enjoyed his ESPN nightly before bed...he doesn't have that luxury at home. haha. 

Turkey dinner! It was DELICIOUS! Everyone chipped in, even Alex made a pie! 

Tasha, my sister in law got to feel some kicks from my belly! 

We all exchanged our Christmas gifts! Steve my brother in law had us and got us a Wii! Yes, you heard that right. We lucked out! Steve manages a video game company...and let's just say, everyone wants Steve to pull their name next year. 

Thanksgiving was simply the BEST!

When we got home, the fun continued.

I had another doctors appointment! I got to have another ultrasound where I could feel AND see her move at the same time. It was magical. Baby girl is looking good and healthy. 

We attended Alex's sports banquet! There was free food and Alex got me...i mean himself another free shirt. It was fun to spend some time with his team for the last time.

For FHE we made a Christmas wreath! It started out being fun and then turned into me crying. I blame the pregnancy hormones. We got the ornaments from the dollar store so as we were putting them on, they started falling off one by one. It was frustrating but after a lot of glue gunning and Alex's help we came out with a pretty cute wreath that we were able to make together!

Alex entered into a raffle at school and won us TWO tickets to the Canadian Brass Christmas Concert on campus and $20 dollars to Costa Vida! 

We went to Canadian Brass yesterday night and enjoyed every minute! It was very well done. It made me even more excited for Christmas...if that is possible.

We only have one more full week of school left and we are heading home to Canada for Christmas! I am so excited to spend this time with family and friends. One of my best friends is putting on a baby shower for me on the Dec 20th! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!