FINALLY

So I lied. Are you surprised? Because you shouldn't be. Just so you know, I did actually scan the pictures last night, so I didn't totally lie. Anyway...

Here it is: the long-awaited belly post, which I have been actively avoiding for a few months now. Why? Because of THIS:

This is my cute mom 9 months and 1 day pregnant with me. (Side note: Isn't that mu mu awesome? Thank heaven for cute maternity clothes nowadays). See that cute little belly? Well, considering the fact that I am basically just my mother's clone, I always assumed that I would have a cute little prego belly like her. After all, everything from my morning sickness to my second trimester burst of weight gain was identical to her experience. So why, then, at 28 weeks, do I look like THIS?

(I'm totally sucking it in, too).

I promise it looks a lot bigger in real life. Just ask the girls at church who keep sweetly commenting on how big I'm getting.

I have three excuses that I repeat to myself on a daily basis.

#1--I'm having a boy. My mom was (obviously) having a girl. Thus, we would carry our babies differently. I realize this is totally bogus, but I can believe whatever I want.

#2--My mom has a good inch and a quarter on me. She's 5' 8'', I'm 5' 7'' if I try really, really hard to be.

#3--I have an extremely short abdomen. As in I can't ride on go-carts because my ribcage starts rubbing against my hip bone (which is extremely painful, by the way). So there's really nowhere for this little boy to go but STRAIGHT OUT. And he's doing a marvelous job of it.

There you go. At least I don't look pregnant from the back (although I make Jon check every day just in case). I've got three months left, and frankly, I'm terrified. A large portion of this is probably because we haven't purchased a single baby item yet. Not even a bib. I hate shopping.

And no, our child still doesn't have a name. I made Jon study a baby name book while we were at Daniel & Wendy's, but that was a joke. So far he's stuck on names that sound like Roman generals (Thaddeus or Maximus) and "Desmond", which he likes solely because our child would be known as "Des Blood."

By the way, did you know that there is a tiny town in Pennsylvania called "Intercourse"? And that it is, ironically, populated mostly by the Amish? The things you learn when you get lost while picking up the lawnmower you bought off of Ebay.

Double Posts Today!

Aren't you lucky? You'd think I was trying to make up for something. Like the fact that I still haven't posted a belly picture even after bullying one out of Jennie. Ahem.

So here's my excuse:

Yep, that's my house. And Jon's scanner is still at our old apartment, so I can't upload the picture I need. However, our apartment will be emptied and cleaned on Saturday. THEREFORE, I absolutely WILL post a picture on Sunday.

In the meantime, here is a picture of the front of our house for Aaronhead. Not that he even checks my blog. That little tree out front had gigantic white blossoms on it, but I didn't manage to get a picture until they were gone. Oh, and the lawn looks a bit patchy since Jon had to cut it with a weed whacker (we don't have a lawn mower yet).
PS--I'm feeling slightly more affectionate toward the blue door.

Absolutely Terrifying

I consider myself to be a relatively tough girl. I don't mind snakes or rodents (crickets are another story). I love camping, hiking, and rock climbing. I don't panic at the sight of blood (ask Christine--she'll vouch for me). HOWEVER...there is one thing that absolutely terrifies me. It's so bad that I can't even watch. What is this horrible occurrence?

Watching my piano get moved down a flight of stairs.

Or two flights, as was the case this time.

In the past, I've hid myself in a room where I (hopefully) wouldn't be able to hear the sound of a piano crashing to the ground below. However, my mom demanded visual documentation of this event, so I pulled out the camera and prayed for the best. My friend Sommer and bro-in-law Timmy got to stand by me while I nervously laughed, snapped a few pictures, and then had to avert my eyes.Thanks to Jon's clever thinking (he had been having dreams about pianos crashing down stairs for the week previous), Dad Blood, who drove 6.5 hours to help us, and the fabulous men from our ward who showed up, the move was amazingly smooth and easy. My piano made it safely to its new home with just a few minor battle wounds.By the way, if you help us move my piano, we buy you and your family pizza and rootbeer floats for dinner. That way we don't feel guilty when we make you help move us again in 7-10 years.

Unlinked doesn't mean unloved...

You may have noticed that I dropped all my links to other people's blogs. This is not because I won't still be checking them WAY more often than I should--I just realized that I can just as easily view all the links in my Bookmarks folder without having to list them for all the world to see. Basically, I'm protecting all you people's privacy. Aren't I sweet? And I'm still debating whether or not I'm going to make this private. Don't worry--I'll give plenty of notice if I do.

Quick update: The house is still a disaster--deep cleaning is taking way longer than I anticipated. But we're in New York this weekend visiting Daniel (Jon's brother) & Wendy, so I can pretend that I don't have a house full of boxes to unpack when I get home. And I beat Jon at mini-golf today. It may have only been by one stroke, but if you've ever mini-golfed with Jon before, you'll realize that this is a huge accomplishment. As in I'm-hanging-the-scorecard-on-the-fridge type of accomplishment.

Called to Serve!

This is Aaronhead.

The first time I talked to him he told me I had a man voice. (Okay, he actually said that my voice was deeper than he expected, which is basically the same thing). He also insists on calling me "Megaman" which I still think is just a subtle way of poking fun at my voice. His birthday is the day before mine, and two days before Jon's, which makes him automatically awesome. On May 27th of this year, Aaronhead will turn 19. Which means, in Mormon world, that's he's going on a mission. Last night he got his call. And the winner is...

Chile Vina del Mar Mission!

He reports August 13th, which may or may not allow him to meet this baby who may or may not be named after him. We're very excited for him, and very proud. Congratulations, Aaron!

Ten Billion Pictures

If you don't care what our new house looks like, you can just stop reading here. For anyone who does, here are the pictures! This should give you a general idea. If the layout is confusing, you can come visit us and we'll give you a grand tour.

Upstairs
Master Bedroom, Upstairs Bath (there's only one upstairs), My Beautiful Tub

Hallway, Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2

Main Level
Stairwell, Entry Bathroom, Living Room

Full shot of kitchen/dining room, another view of kitchen, breakfast nook (and all our stuff)

View from our deck (off the dining room)Basement
Stairwell (I was too lazy to move the suitcase), Bathroom, Laundry Room
Family Room, Another view, 4th Bedroom, Our "Backyard"

So there you go. We're excited to finally be moving in on Saturday. In the meantime, I'm scrubbing walls and baseboards (I am my mother's daughter after all). Oh, and a slight disclaimer--I know those two bedrooms are really cute, but they're not going to stay like that. It's just not my style (especially the baseball lamp/fan). I want something more neutral and classic, not crafty/country style.

This last picture is just to give some perspective. This is the view from our dining room window. What you're seeing is our neighbor's deck, less than 10 feet away. The joy of living in a townhome...

Life is crazy...

Yes, we are still alive. Tired, but alive. After a few unexpected complications yesterday, we were able to close on our house this morning! Yay! And now I'm exhausted and am going to take a nap. Just thinking about cleaning, packing, moving, and painting makes me want to sleep for 12 straight hours.

Posting may be sparse for the next two months--we'll be busy moving into our house, plus I've taken up teaching piano again (I'm nuts, I know). Add four callings on top of that, and getting ready for a baby...yikes. But then we get to spend two glorious weeks in Hawaii without ANY of that.

Side note: I think the church should automatically release new moms from their callings for at least 4 weeks prior to their due date and 6 weeks after. So I guess it wouldn't be a "release", just a "don't feel guilty about pawning your responsibilities off on someone else" break. By the way, any tips on being ward organist with a newborn? Adrian? Christine?