Our Gender Reveal Party!

When Jason and I found out we were pregnant, we both knew we wanted to find out the sex of the baby before he/she was born. However, we thought it would be really fun to share the moment with our family. I had heard of people doing the colored cake reveal, but I wanted something that was a little more visible for everyone to see. I love balloons and thought they would be such a fun way to reveal our baby's sex.

Early Friday morning, we had our 20 week ultra sound. I was definitely nervous and praying for a healthy baby. The ultra sound went great - our tech was so nice and totally put me at ease. It was so fun to see our baby, as it had been two months since our last ultra sound.  Our baby was not cooperating and being stubborn (of course) and was on its head the whole time.  However, the baby was moving around like crazy and the ultra sound tech was not surprised that I had been feeling kicks for 3-4 weeks already. Our baby has super long arms (91st percentile...legs only in the 48th) and a 'big belly', already weighing in at 13 oz. She said our due date is closer to Sept. 23rd now, but they don't change due dates after the first trimester, so I'm still staying with the 28th. The doctor confirmed a 'perfect baby', which was all I wanted to hear. They then wrote the baby's sex on a card and put it in a sealed envelope, along with a picture of 'the parts.'

All day Friday I starred at the envelope with our baby's sex in it. It was torture to just have it sitting there. We had previous plans for Friday night, so we had to wait until Saturday night for our reveal party. 

On Saturday morning, we brought a big cardboard box to the local party supply store and asked them if they could fill the box up with balloons. They looked at us like we were crazy. We then explained how we had this card in a sealed envelope with our baby's sex written on it. We wanted them to open it, fill the box with the appropriate colored balloon depending on the sex, and the tape up the box. They then looked at us like we were even crazier. One guy even said, "Are you serious?" But, they did agree to go along with our odd request!

Finally the time came for our family to arrive. It was our first time hosting a big event in our new house, so that made the whole night even more exciting. Here is a picture display of the evening:

The box of balloons

Pink Lemonade and Blue Punch

Cupcakes made by my sister, Mel.
(All pictures are also courtesy of Mel)  

 Here we are making our tally marks for boy or girl:

I wore pink for girl; Jason blue for boy.

From 8 weeks on, Jason had called a boy. I had no inclination until about 12 weeks, when I started thinking girl. I really thought we were having a girl. However, at 19.5 weeks, I had a doctor's appointment, after which I started thinking boy. Then, after our ultra sound at 20 weeks, I thought boy even more. I still wore pink since I had thought girl the longest.

Right before we opened the box!
Final tally: Boy 7, Girl 8

 

 

We each cut our side of the tape, ripped off the center strip of tape together, and on the count of 3, we opened the box. This is what came flying out...

Love our reactions!

This is my mom's reaction...she has 3 daughters, 2 granddaughters, and is terrified that my sister (who is 6.5 weeks ahead of me and not finding out) and I are both going to have a boys.

Twin Boys?!

My mom, sisters, and nieces...and the boy in my belly!
We had all voted girl...and were all wrong!

Yep, definitely a penis...

 

 

We are very excited for our new adventure and to welcome Baby Boy Baker!

Celebrating

Well, I have disappeared once again since the New Year (just like I did last year between January and April). Last year I was busy in wedding planning mode. This year, I have been busy, too...just with some different things.

One year ago today, Jason and I celebrated our wedding day.

Still can't believe it has already been a year. It has definitely flown by! We are so thankful that our first year of marriage didn't live up to everyone's sayings of being 'very difficult.' We both adjusted very well to marriage, and while it has not been perfect and has had its challenges, we feel so blessed by this past year together and seeing our love for one another grow.

So, what have we been so busy with? Well, at the end of January, our offer was accepted on our first place! We are currently in renovation mode (making more trips to Home Depot than I would ever want to in a lifetime), and are hoping to move in this weekend! (Pictures to come soon). Meanwhile, we are bunking up with my parents, which has been such a blessing.

We have also been busy celebrating this...

Well, maybe it's just that I have felt too sick these last two months to actually feel motivated to blog. Nonetheless, we have been celebrating that we will be parents in six months, which we are thrilled about.

Also thrilled to be celebrating this...

Yes, my sister and I are less than 7 weeks apart! Could not have planned that if we tried. Never did I think that her and I would have kids the same age. So fun! She is calling them "cousin-siblings" since they will pretty much grow up side by side. We are so glad to go through this process with each other. We're convinced that it will be the hottest summer in years because we are pregnant. We are already making plans for our summer days floating in her pool.

So looking forward to celebrating this next year to come! So much to be excited for. We are blessed. Praise to our Great God!

2011 Recap

Well, here we are again...kicking off another new year and looking back on the one just past.

2011 was great and a very special and memorable year. Lots of change for sure! Last night as we were ringing in the new year, Jason looked over and said, "Do you remember what I said last New Year's Eve?" I responded, "Yeah, you said 2011 was going to be a great year." We then looked at each other and said, "It sure was."

Some 2011 highlights include:

January

Must have been wedding planning all month...

February

My bridal shower

Turned 27

March

My bachelorette party -wine tasting in Napa

April

Our April 2nd wedding...definitely the highlight of the year

Followed by our honeymoon to Maui

May

Finally able to relax and settle into our first place together

June

Celebrated my friend Kirsten's engagement in Tahoe

July

Our niece Adalynn April was born

Jason turned the big 3-0

August

Annual family trip to Tahoe

Started my 5th year of teaching

We switched churches and got plugged into a small group with other young married couples

September

My friend Kristina's bachelorette party to Santa Barbara

Jason's cousin's wedding
October

Our friends Matt and Mary then got married

Grammy turned 100

Took my first cooking class

November

Kristina's wedding

Started leading the young adults group at our church

December

Our first Christmas together as Mr. and Mrs.

2011 also threw us some tough curve balls. The first was when Jason's mentor (him and his wife also did our pre-marital counseling) was diagnosed with brain cancer in May. Then, the next month, Jason's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Both came out of nowhere, but we have seen God's hand of grace covering both of these situations.

With the new year also comes by blog-o-versary. Which means it's time to check in with my 30 before 30. Well, this year was a mini-fail with the 30 before 30. It's funny because I came up with this idea when I was single and had recently ended a relationship. I didn't want to get caught up into thinking I needed to get married, buy a house, and have 2 kids before I was thirty. There are so many other great things to focus on. Hence, I started brainstorming things I wanted to do before 30 (besides those indicated above).

Funny because by the time I finished writing my list of 30 things, I had already met Jason, and we had been dating for a month or so when I started this blog. I was still all about my 30 things, though. That first year I checked nine things off my list!

Well, then this year came, and I got married. And...I only checked three things off my list (and I had intentionally not put 'get married' on the 30 before 30). Mini-fail because I'm now 'behind' (in the sense that I should have half my items done since I'm at the half-way point to 30...welcome to my math teacher brain). But, not a huge fail because I did have one major (and great) event in getting married and then learning how to live life with someone else. Plus, a lot of the items on my list cost $, which was lacking after paying for half our wedding ourselves and then setting up our place.

So, I guess my plan is kinda backfiring on me. But, I'm still moving on with my list.

Here is the updated list with what I accomplished this year and my changed items from the previous year. I definitely have a few more things I want to change, but I haven't finalized those quite yet.

Travel

1. Austin (completed June 4-6, 2010)

2. Boston
3. Thanksgiving in New York

4. Greece

5. Canada

6. Cruise (completed January 2010)

California Tourism

7. Alcatraz

8. Wine tasting in Wine Country (completed January 9, 2010)

9. Monterey Bay Aquarium (completed April 7, 2010)

10. Hearst Castle (completed August 8, 2010)
11. Lighthouses of California (from San Francisco to Santa Barbara)

Adventure

12. Skydive

13. Hike Half Dome (completed June 17, 2010)

14. Run a half marathon (completed October 3, 2010)

15. Triathlon

16. White Water Raft

17. Hot Air Balloon
18. Ski in another state

Intellectual/Spiritual

19. Read The Chronicles of Narnia ('Attempted' Summer 2011)

20. Memorize a chapter of the Bible
21. Take a Bible class
*Deleted Read 5 Classics*

Entertainment

22. Sharks Game (completed November 20, 2010)

23. NBA Basketball Game (completed December 31, 2011)
24. Live orchestra/symphony
25. Circus
26. Eat 30 ethnic cuisines that I have never had before (Added 9 new countries in 2011)

Personal Development

27. Cooking/Baking Class (completed October 2011)

28. Learn to sew

29. Start a blog (completed January 1, 2010)

30. *Learn Photography* (new)

I am looking forward to 2012, which I'm sure will be full of unknowns, uncertainties, and surprises, but rich with our God's love and mercy.

Jason on Ice

* I have been given permission by Jason to write this post. Permission was necessary based on the content of this post, as it could be considered blackmail.*

Our church small group decided to go ice skating (dressed in our finest tacky Christmas sweaters) as part of our Christmas party.

Jason told me that he was a horrible ice skater, and when I thought about that, I was sure it was true. There is just something about his size that doesn't lend to graceful on ice skates.

Well, when he made his debut, he did not disappoint. It was more than I imagined. Check him out.

Jason on Ice

While this was the best video I captured, it wasn't his best act...but I'm sure he's glad that this was all I captured.

We didn't last long out there, but we sure had some great laughs (and bruises) along the way!

The Christmas Stash - 2011 Edition

Well, it is day 1 of 18 of winter break! So looking forward to the extra long break they are giving us this year. I must say that I really have nothing planned for my days off. I do plan on watching many Christmas movies since Christmas is a week away and I am yet to watch ONE Christmas movie. Christmas fail on my part. I haven't even busted out my iPod to listen to my favorite Christmas songs but have rather reverted to the 24 hrs of Christmas music that they play on 96.5 KQUIT, which just isn't the same (because it's not as good as my personal selection).

It's sad, but I feel like I just haven't had the time to get in the Christmas spirit this year. Jason and I have been so busy during this window between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jason just finished his second term of grad school, which was a crazy class on political economy and required tons of reading and many papers. (We are both very glad that class is over as of last night). This class also just happened to coincide with his busiest time at work, so he spent many evenings and weekends trying to juggle work, grad school, and all the other activities that go on with life. We started leading a college group at our church, which has been so great, but is another night out during the week. We also chose the *best* time of year to try and buy a house, so we've been squeezing the house hunt in as well! All really great stuff, though.

To go along with last year's post, I thought I would give you a preview of my 2011 student stash (gifts from my students). Jason definitely looks forward to this more than I do. When he called me after school yesterday, the first thing he said was, "What did you get?" I think he is beginning to question how good of a teacher I am though because the stash this year was much lighter than in previous years. But it is always so thoughtful of students to hook their teachers up during the holidays. So, here is what I came home with.

The theme of this year was probably home baked goods and scarves. Lots of treats that my students (or their parents) made. I also got three scarves, which is pretty fun.

I did get some chocolate, but not the 6 pounds worth that I came home with last year, which is probably a good thing.

A handful of coffee gift cards, which came at the perfect time, as I only have a few dollars left on my last card from the end of last school year.
There is always a selection of bath gels and picture frames, too. I love the little hiker ornament that has 'Mrs. Baker' written on it. It's hanging on the Christmas tree! No jewelry this year, though. Or taj mahal replicas.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Fall into Christmas

Well, it is officially post-Thanksgiving, which means...it is now the Christmas season.

The day after Thanksgiving is the first day I allow myself to do anything Christmas related (besides celebrate Jesus, of course). So, the fall decorations went away and the Christmas ones came out! Here is a preview of my Fall to Christmas decor...

Since this is the first year I actually I had my 'own' place to decorate, I was quite exited about it. I did have to go out and buy a few more decorations - thank you Target, Ross, and Marshalls :)

Jason and I went to cut down buy our Christmas tree at Home Depot the Saturday after Christmas. This was the first time I had picked out a tree at Home Depot...or anywhere besides the mountains where we cut it down, so it was very anti-climatic for me. (More later on my family tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree).
We went with the first tree the guy un-tied for us. It looked okay, and we figured it would look better once the branches fell and we had decorated it. Well, not so much. Next time we probably won't go with the first tree we see...unless we actually really like it. Home Depot fail.

Jason decided to carry our tree home since we live half a mile from Home Depot. We should have just put the tree on top of our car, as it ended up being heavier than he thought. Again, we
probably won't do that again. Home Depot fail.
Here is our tree all decorated. I'm calling it our bush because I am used to growing up with 13-15 foot Christmas trees. Home Depot fail.

I must say that a bonus of going to Home Depot is that the experience is very fast...and cheap. The whole process took us about 30 minutes and cost us $30. But, I love the experience of cutting down the Christmas tree, so I'm hoping we make that happen next Christmas season!