Absolute deadline

Even though our little baby may be nervous about ll this coming out into the world stuff, kind of like his mom is, 2 weeks from today there is no way around it. We will have a baby! Our doctor let us know that after the baby is a week late they'll induce me to make sure unnecessary complications don't come up. Being induced doesn't sound like the ideal way to go, kind of intense. So even though I have zero signs of labor so far, hopefully that will change before the 2 week deadline.
I love watching my massive belly when he is moving around and I was thinking how nice it would be for the pregnant belly to not only expand really huge, but what if it turned into transparent skin too? Then you could see how he's doing and what he looks like. It might be kind of gross, but also really fun.

Summer Band

Apparently our neighbor has a band that likes to play in their backyard so everyone can enjoy their music. At first I thought it was nice, something unique to listen to instead of the radio. Lately when they've been practicing they decided against lyrics though and they just yell various things like they're pretend singing - euh uh. EUUUh ah ooh. Do you get the idea? Brandon does a great impression of the female vocalist if you want to get a better idea what they sound like.

Scera Shell Outdoor Theater

Friday night Brandon and I went to see The King and I in Orem. We had never heard of this outdoor theater before, but we saw some pictures and things in their brochure. It was really fun, a little windy so we bundled up in blankets to keep warm. The funniest part for me was trying to figure out where to sit before we got there. They have different sections and different prices for each section. I just knew I wanted to be in a section with chairs because I would get way to uncomfortable trying to watch a whole play sitting on a blanket with a big belly and aching back.
When we got to the ticket counter we decided to sit in section B, the further away, cheaper, but still chair seats. I asked the ticket kid if we could still see from those seats. He nodded and confirmed that we would be fine. Then we walked over the big grassy hill to see the theater and everything was a lot smaller than we had pictured it. They had some chairs for the "floor" seats, maybe a couple rows, a few rows of chairs for section A, and then 2 rows for section B. So yeah, we could see just fine being 8 rows from the stage and on hill. Brandon mentioned how funny it must have been to the ticket kid that I asked if we would be able to see okay from section B. I couldn't stop laughing. I don't know if I can adequately describe how funny this was to us, so it's okay if you don't get it. But if you're looking for a nice summer activity, it is a pretty cool place to check out.

Educated Voting

To assist you in determining who is more likely to pass out in the delivery room here is some background information to assist you:

When Brandon had to go with me to the ER for breaking a window and getting 10 stitches in my slashed wrist, he almost passed out while I was getting checked in and prepped. He was white as a ghost and had to go outside and lay down on the sidewalk.

I've passed out from pain before. I was running around getting ready for work one morning a few years ago and I smashed my elbow against my bedroom door. As I was walking down the hallway my elbow was throbbing and I started getting light headed. I reached my hand out to balance myself against the wall and the next thing I knew my face hurt really bad and I thought I had run into the wall. I opened my eyes and realized I had passed out and smashed my face on the floor. It was a painful morning.

Pointless shopping

I've wanted to purchase some new sandals recently but every time I try some on they are too tight or narrow. I keep forgetting that I have swollen feet. What's the point? So it's black flip flops every day, rain or shine.

New callings

We've been in our ward for a few months now and half the people just moved out, so Brandon and I both have new callings. Since we are in a BYU ward sometimes you get unexpected callings. Brandon is one of 3 assistant ward clerks. Or maybe it's assistant to the ward clerk, I'm not sure. He's the statistical guy. That's right, he's the one who walks up and down the aisles counting people. His goal is to make it through the first week without laughing.

Movie personality of the week

For those of you who don't understand why Brandon wrote a comment on my last blog about "his boys" it's because he spent labor day watching a couple Godfather movies with his friend's clearplay set up. And whenever Brandon watches some kind of action movie, he often talks about what his life would be like if he were in a role like the main character. ie: after watching Bourne movies he wants to be an assassin, and after watching Godfather movies he tells me of his plans to run his business through my art projects and turn it over to our son when he is old enough, after watching 24 he wants to be Jack Bauer. You get the idea. So this week I get to hear about our life in the mafia. It's quite entertaining.

High school art

My little brother has taken some ceramic classes in high school, which I always thought he did just to have an easy class. I guess he is really good at it though. He won awards and is having a piece displayed somewhere in town and gets to put some pieces in an auction. Pretty impressive.
He has the same art teacher I had in high school, and that a lot of our siblings have had. The art teacher remembers our other siblings, but not me. What a jip. I'm the only making a career out of it here! I guess I'm not sending her some autographed books anytime soon. At least my math teachers remember me. They kind of have to though, since they are a couple that live two doors down from my family.

He's really coming!

Has anyone noticed our baby could be here in less than a month?! The pregnancy thing is getting to be pretty uncomfortable, but I feel like I have so much work to do before he gets here, I'm kind of hoping he comes late. I feel kind of weird saying that because I think every person I have ever talked to about their pregnancy hopes their baby will come a week or 2 early. But even though I wouldn't mind him coming a week late, I have a feeling he'll be early. I guess I think if I'm this uncomfortable, he probably is too. who knows though? We'll definitely have reasons to rejoice either way.
I can't believe such a life changing event has such a vague date. He could come this week, he could come in a month and a half, either one wouldn't be that abnormal. (and Katy, don't worry, I have a back up plan if he comes early - either you and/or Brandon will finish the paintings for me) And then, suddenly my life will be completely different. We are way excited about being parents, however, it would be more convenient the better prepared we are. If it is even possible to be "prepared". I don't think junior really cares about that though. I think he'll come whenever he feels like it. He's in charge already.

Baby Clothes

We've been collecting baby clothes of all different sizes, some new, some used, all tiny and cute. The tricky thing is knowing when he'll actually wear them. If you look at the tags they give you a month estimate, like 0-3months or 6-9, or whatever, and occasionally include pounds, and they all look so similar. Not only that, but they are not consistent whatsoever and some items that say for 12mo, they look smaller than the 6mo? So if you ever see our little boy in clothes that look way too big or small, it's because I never figured it out. And I'm pretty sure Brandon's strategy for dressing him will be to put his hand in the clothes drawer and put on him whatever he grabs first. It could be interesting.

humans & robots

I really enjoy listening to science friday podcasts from npr, but I don't do it often enough. While painting today I listened to this segment about robots and how they are trying to give them more personality so people can feel like they have some companionship them. Isn't that what people are for? Do we really need to have conversations about our day with our vacuum cleaners? I mean, I know some people get lonely, but is talking to our appliances the best answer for that?

Beginning painting

I am a professional illustrator. You would think after a few years of doing this, I would have caught on by now that if I'm painting with watercolors from the right to the left, I will inevitably smear by hand in the fresh paint while painting the left side. I think I have told myself 10 times today to paint left to right. It seems basic enough. Apparently, I am just a beginner still and I can't seem to catch on to this basic concept. Someday...

Golf

This weekend was a lot of fun, we had friends visiting from out of town and we didn't do any work/homework. It was great. On Saturday some plans were made for the guys to go golfing. Staci and I planned to do something else, but then decided to tag along. Neither of us had been on a golf course before and they even gave our cart to us for free! (they probably saw my large belly and thought I couldn't walk the course if I tried, which may have been true) We loved cruising around the course in the carts. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, but sunny and gorgeous. We cheered everyone on, kept score, looked for the wayward balls, took pictures, and had a lot of fun as spectators.

Google Reader

I'm sure this isn't new to some of you who already use google reader or some other program that let's you know when blogs are updated, but I just tried out google reader and it is so convenient! Now I don't have to go through all these blogs that never get updated, hoping something new will actually be there. Google reader just tells me, it's like getting an email, only it's an updated blog! I love it. Brandon isn't as set on the idea because he likes how much time it wastes to go through each blog while he has absolutely nothing to do at work.

Another class

We attended a breastfeeding class last night at the hospital which was very informational. We were curious if they could really teach us for over 2 hours, but they did, and it was interesting too. I'm a little less intimidated by breastfeeding now and determined to breastfeed longer. However, as much as Brandon would love our little baby to become an NBA star, I kind of doubt I'll be breastfeeding until he is 3 and a half like Michael Jordan's mom.

Throatburn

I have always heard of heartburn, mostly from commercials, but I never knew what it was. I figured it was a burning feeling in your heart, or at least your chest area. That would make sense, right?
Well, I started getting this really uncomfortable feeling in my throat all the time. I thought it might be heartburn because it was a pregnancy symptom I was anticipating. Yep, that's what it is. I have no idea how it got it's name, but it's definitely a throat thing for anyone else out there who doesn't know what it is. And tums, or even a generic version of them, work great! They look like candy, and taste like it too. I'm glad one pregnancy problem has an easy solution.
And by the way, this is my 300th post! Wow, I've sure had a lot of random things to write about.

New scanner!

It's about time. I kept putting off buying a nice scanner because what I really wanted was a high quality Epson that could handle 11x17 paintings. Since those are $2,000 or more, I finally settled for the Epson V500. From looking around, this one seemed to be a good price and very professional. As excited as I am to have it, it is still sitting in it's box after arriving a few days ago. I'm a little nervous about the installation process. Hopefully it's not too bad.

Awesome new dessert

Here's the new recipe we tried yesterday. I highly recommend it. And just to warn you, it takes 6 hours to chill in the freezer, that was the hardest part. We had to try a little when it was only partially frozen, it was pretty messy, but still super delicious.

Brandon modeling

I was trying to draw this guy chasing a pig and it wasn't looking the way I wanted it to, so I asked Brandon if he would pose for me. After some prying I got him to agree.
I told him how to pose and he informed me that he could never catch a pig like this:
So we changed the pose to this:
Where would artists be without great models?

Dollar Theatre

The dollar theatre isn't going to be a $1 anymore - starting tomorrow, $1.25. And Tuesday .50 night is changing to .75, and I think it said $1.75 for movies on Fri & Sat. So you've been warned. See all the movies you can fit in today before it's too late.