A Little Update

Just wanted to give the people a little update out there. Last weekend we moved from Millville to Hyrum. Not the most wanted move, but the house we were renting in Millville got sold and the people that bought it kind of wanted to move in, so we didn't really have a choice. But now that we are moved in and a little more settled, I think it will be okay. Plus, I finally got to decorate my house for something! We moved during the holidays last year and we were out of town for a lot of December and January, so I never decorated my house for the holidays. I forgot how cute my Thanksgiving decorations were! They made me so happy!

(For those of you wondering, I don't really decorate for Halloween. Don't have any decorations, plus I don't like Halloween...maybe next year when I have a 10 month old to dress up...)

Another plus for the new place is that we are in our own house, not sharing with anyone and so we celebrated by rocking out to 80's pop music while hanging things on the walls in our house. Yeah, we're cool. (Also, Nate would probably like me to also note that our new house has a two car garage that we can park the car in the very middle of.)

I don't have any pictures of the new place, but once I put the nursery together, maybe I'll take some pictures of everything else too.

As of today we only have 8 weeks to go! Woohoo! I'm so excited to meet our little girl, and Nate would like her to stay in as long as possible. I can tell she's getting squished in there by the little feet that she sticks in my ribs when she tries to stretch out. I think she's going to be a tall girl!

And just so you have ONE picture to look at, my latest belly photo, a week ago.

This is 31 weeks, 7 months! Only 2 more to go.

Trip to Maine

A couple of weeks ago Nate's boss invited the employees (meaning the other two besides her and her husband) and their families to visit their home in Topsham, Maine. For those of you who don't know where this is, because I sure didn't, it's at the southeast end of Maine, the biggest town nearby that you might be able to find on a map is Portland. Maine is beautiful in the summer, and the air is very clean, which is one of the reason's Nate's boss lives there.

Day 1: We went to Popham Beach and the forts nearby that were built during the Revolutionary War and used again during the Civil War.

 The view of the bay from the fort. There is a lot of water in Main, and lots of little islands.

 The fort behind us walking up to it from the beach. It was never really finished all the way, and there isn't really much to protect in Maine, but it's there and we saw a Coast Guard ship come past while we were there, but it was too fast for us to take any good pictures of it.

 Nate in the courtyard of the fort.

The view of the fort from across the water where the other fort is located.

 This fort is really spread out, this is just one building, which looked to us like the officers quarters because it was the only one with individual rooms that had each had its own fireplace.

 The main building, you climb up like 12 flights of stairs to the turret at the top. I'm sure when it was in use it was a really good vantage point, but now the trees are too tall and you can't really see anything out of there anymore.

Day 2 was kind of a lazy day and just kind of hanging out but that night we did have lobster. And I mean each person had their own lobster. We went to this little store right on the coast that is combination gift shop and lobster store with a big tank in the middle of the store. We got a 2 pound lobster for each person and went home and cooked them and ate them.

You seriously put a bowl in the middle of the table and tear apart this lobster that was alive like 12 minutes ago and have at it. It was delicious.

I was pretty proud of my efforts.

Day 3 Nate and I got up early to catch a bus to spend the day in Boston. It was only a two hour trip each way and it awesome to not have to drive. The bus even provided a movie and snacks. Awesome.

 We spent the day on the Freedom Trail, which pretty much takes you to all the important landmarks and buildings that you would want to see if you found yourself in Boston. This is the Massachusetts State Capitol Building.

 Nate and one of his favorite Revolutionary people, Ben Franklin.

 This is the old South Meeting House where apparently a lot of meetings took place, like when and how the revolutionaries decided on the Boston Tea Party.

Nate can now say that he's been to Boston Gardens, you walk right past it to get to the USS Constitution.

 This was by far the best part of the trip for us, which is why there probably is the most pictures. This is still a naval base. We had to show ID and go through security to get in. The people that are tour guides are actual naval personnel that are stationed at the base.

 Our tour guide who hasn't been in the Navy for very long and anyone considers themselves lucky to be stationed here, even though you have to dress in the uniforms they wore during the Revolutionary War.

 For anyone who doesn't know how much Nate and I are history buffs and center any and all trips around what cool history stuff we can see while we are there, you know now. And for anyone who doesn't know the story of Old Ironsides, you should read about it. It is still a commissioned ship of the US Navy. If needed, the people stationed here could sail her out of the harbor and into battle.

 Stove where they cooked all the meat on board.

 The sailors slept on hammocks suspended from hooks on the roof, and usually ate sitting on the floor in this same room.

 Officers quarters. The doors around the room are to little private rooms the officers slept in.

 Nate being the helmsman.

I don't remember what this building is called but it used to be where all the legislatures met and the governor worked before the Revolution. The Constitution was read out of that balcony soon after it was written and signed, and is still read out the window every year. On the street below is where the Boston Massacre took place.


On Sunday we went to the local ward, and only about three people asked us if we were moving in to the area. It was fun. Later that night, Nate's boss had a "Bridge Dance." They have a bridge driveway over the creek running past their house and the neighbors lay down a wood floor with a stage at one end and line dance on the bridge. It was a lot of fun and I think they went easy on us knowing that a lot of us didn't have a clue what were were doing so we could keep up!

The last day we wandered around the local town and shopped and ate then headed to the airport where we were supposed to catch a 4 p.m. flight to New York to catch our connection at 7 p.m. to Salt Lake. Jetblue was so good to us sitting in Portland! Not only did they make sure we got onto the later flight to New York after our original was canceled (very great considering our connection was with Delta! The Delta guy at the counter was also awesome enough to change our late flight out of New York to the one the next morning) but the also went and ordered pizza and gave us airplane snacks knowning we were also starving with nothing to eat! We finally left the Portland airport at 11 p.m., got to New York and the Delta terminal at about 1 a.m. and after missing our connection at 7 the night before, took the 7 a.m. flight to Salt Lake. Worst flying experience EVER. Probably mostly because I was pregnant, tired, and hungry and there is nothing to eat at the Portland airport which is all of 10 gates long. Also, nothing is open at JFK at 1 a.m.

Overall, it was a fun trip, if a little awkward to be at Nate's boss's house where we were the youngest adults there by a good twenty years, but they were very nice and we ended up having a good time, if only the plane ride home could be forgotten...


Also a baby update...

21 weeks

I have an appointment in two weeks to HOPEFULLY find out what we are having so that I might be able to start getting ready for the baby. Note to all expectant moms out there...neutral stuff...not cute...

To Knowing Nothing

The verdict is in! And it's....

A BABY!

The baby already sits just like daddy with its hands behind its head and its legs crossed in front of its stomach. No matter WHAT that tech or I did we could NOT get the baby to move out of this scrunched up position. We'll try again in four weeks.

So...keep on guessing!

And although some people think so...NO we are NOT joking. The tech also said this only happens in about 5% of people. Usually after a bit of jumping around in the office they can get the baby to move. I could have done cartwheels down the hall and couldn't have made it move.

And of course, as soon as I left the tech's office and we stopped trying, the baby started kicking like crazy. This did NOT make up for it.

The Really Big Thing is...

For the benefit of people who actually read our blog... 

Announcing...

Baby Laursen! Due December 18, 2011

And for everyone who know me and knows how I feel about getting fat...

 Me at 15 weeks 3 days, about a week ago.

We are super excited to find out what we are having (besides a baby...) in about three weeks!

Nate's 30 by 30 list

http://skippyn8tion.blogspot.com/2011/06/filling-bucket.html

Just to prove we didn't fall overboard

I recently heard that people think we are dead. Is that what happens when you move to Millville? No one knows you exist anymore. Well, at least I know we were loved. Since we went on a cruise since everyone last head from us...this is of course what that post is about. First of all, we had a lot of fun. Don't let people tell you we hated it. But also, don't let people convince you it will be the best vacation you ever had. And lastly, don't, under any circumstances let the cruise company book your flights. They can't handle it.

First, we told them to take care of it, paid for it and didn't hear from them for like two months. We found out what our flights were going to be about a week before we were scheduled to leave. And after much discussion with the nice lady on the phone who assured us that we would be flown into Miami (the port we were leaving from) so that we could have the day before we left to visit the campus of the University of Miami (one on the list of school's being applied to for Law School), we were flown into Fort Lauderdale anyway. Which we could have done all on our own and spent far less money, we just couldn't figure out how to get from there to Miami in enough time to get to the school. Needless to say we were annoyed. Fine. We got over it.

We got to Fort Lauderdale and took the airport shuttle to the hotel listed on our travel information papers. We hadn't gotten the name of this hotel until about 2 days before we left, and only because we kept checking the Carnival website everyday, not because someone called and told us the info was there. So we get the hotel, which is pretty nice I'll give them that, and they have absolutely no record of reservation for Saturday for the two of us. But after calling Carnival and being on hold for a while, we found a reservation number to find they did have a reservation at the hotel for us for Sunday night. When we were supposed to leave on Sunday from Miami at 4 p.m. Awesome.

We did get this worked out and made it to the boat just fine. After waiting in a long line to get on the boat, we finally got on the boat and finally set sail. Our room was great, if a little low and forward on the boat, but who really wants to pay more for a balcony I'll probably never sit on? The turn-down service made animals out of towels every night. Obviously everyone on the boat was fascinated to try and figure out what we would find everyday. Here's an example...

Super cool right? I know.

After a day on board to get to our first destination (which actually wasn't as bad as I thought. I was worried I would puke my guts out, great image. Sorry.) we were so excited to get to Cozumel, Mexico. It is beautiful! The water is so clear and blue. It was amazing. And then we hurry to get on a boat to go across the water to the mainland to get to the Mayan ruins in Playa del Carmen. Didn't really spend much time on the actual island of Cozumel. Twenty minutes tops. Oops. But I'm a history nerd, so what did you really think we'd do? Shop? Ha! The ruins it is!

 This is the door to the city, which was surrounded by a wall, all the way around, with the ocean making up the fourth wall. There was a door on each side that looked just like this, and this was the only way in or out.

 They were pretty amazing with their math, and being able to follow the sun and stars to figure everything out. It's also how they built their buildings. It was amazing. Our tour guide knew a lot of stuff about them to tell us, but that was his job so...

 Best part. The bay the city sits in is surrounded by tall coral reef that protect it. It's almost impossible to enter unless you know where it is. When the Spanish came and tried to invade the city, they of course didn't know it, and standing where I am you can see 3 dark boat shapes in the water where the boats sank after hitting the reef. There are something like 300 more ships of enemies and the Spanish surrounding the city in the water because of the barrier. Great place to build a city! I found it fascinating, made want to dive to look at the boats, not the fish. Sorry. I'm nerdy. If you are getting bored with me spouting out random facts you can just skip down to the bottom...

This reef also creates a great little private beach that we spent a lot of time at as well. The water was warm, even though the day was only in the low 80s, which was by FAR the warmest day of the week. This was probably my favorite stop of the week. It was amazing. I learned and had fun. Who knew?! I would easily want to go back and spend a week just in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. Awesome!

 This is our boat. The closest one behind us. Yes. That's how many boats were there that day. And this is literally how long we spent on Cozumel.

After this day we headed down to Belize, but I haven't gotten those picture developed from the waterproof camera yet, so you'll just have to wait. 

See? Not dead!