Countdowns!

14 days until Marcus' sister Diana comes to visit

31 days until Jordan comes home from his mission!

46 days until the last day of classes

55 days until Dad Smith and Mom and Dad Gilson come to Utah

56 days until Graduation

65 days until Mom Smith comes to Utah

79 days until Baby Boy Gilson is due!

91 days until LOTS of family are here to visit the new baby!

Can you handle all the excitement??

Quilting

I made a couple quilts for two of my friends that are having babies soon. I'm really proud of my first tries (although I did have lots of help on both of them so it's not all my work).

I made this quilt first for our friends Chase and Kami.
They're expecting their first-a boy-in early March.

My really good friend Kate is having a little girl the end of February.
I LOVE the colors on this quilt and the apples.

These quilts were so fun to make! They are definitely the perfect starter quilt. Thank you Patsy for teaching me how to make them! :)

My friend Mackenzie and I threw Kate a baby shower on Saturday. As usual, I forgot to take pictures. We did get one picture of Kate and I with our friend and old roomie, Kayla (who drove up from Arizona to be there. Kayla= AWESOME)!


In other news:

I'm 25 weeks along!

I'm starting to look more and more pregnant. I keep being told that I'm a very small pregnant woman and I barely show. I've decided I'm okay with this for a couple reasons. First, I'm not uncomfortable. I sleep through the night almost every night. Also, I am hoping being a small pregnant woman means I won't have a baby the size Marcus was. He was 10lbs 9oz and I have serious fears that I'm going to have to push a baby that size out of me. I have a lot of appreciation for his Mom. (And moms in general the more I think about labor and delivery).

AND in 2.5 weeks, I fly to North Carolina to see my family!

Oh. My. Goodness! I can not wait to hold and kiss this little girl!

Christmas and Birthday

Marcus, Brittany, and I drove to Washington for the Holidays. It was so much fun to get away for awhile. Marcus and were very spoiled this Christmas (as usual- our families are awesome!) We got to hang out with the whole family since everyone was home for Christmas this year. This meant that we got to see a lot of these cuties:


It was so great to be home and visiting with everyone. But I did miss this little cutie who was on the opposite coast:

Good thing I get to see her in February! :)

On January 3rd- Marcus turned 24! Winter semester didn't start until the 4th so we had the day off to hang out. We went to Red Robin for lunch, did some shopping, and then just spent a quiet night at home. I did make him a cake. It's not decorated for his birthday but it's exactly how he wanted it- no decorations or candles. It's a super moist chocolate cake with Rainbow chip frosting. It was delicious!

As usual, he was spoiled with presents. I got him a watch case and then replaced the batteries in several of his watches. I also got him a couple shirts and, as is tradition, a children's book- "The Rainbow Fish." Between the parents he received some books, a watch, a new pair of shoes, and a gift card that he used to buy a pair of shoes. It was a good birthday! :)

We're back to school and so far the semester is going well. We both think this semester will be easier than last semester. Then it's graduation and then we have our little baby boy! It'll be an exciting few months! :)

Baby!

I'm so behind on posts about Christmas and Marcus' birthday and I promise I'll post about those soon but first...

I'm 21 weeks pregnant and starting to enjoy it more. Sickness has left and now it's the more exciting time of pregnancy!

(as my friend Kate has said- taking these bump pictures is awkward. I have no idea how to stand/what to do with my hands)

We went in for our ultrasound yesterday and found out we're having a

We are so excited! Only 19 more weeks until we get to meet the little guy. It feels like it'll be the longest 19 weeks ever!

Finals Week

18 weeks

It's finals week here in the Gilson home. Marcus and I find this week to actually be less stressful than most weeks of school. No classes- just do some studying and go take a test. Then that class is finished forever! It's one of the best feelings to finish a test and know you won't have to ever look at anything dealing with that class again *cough* Physics *cough.*

Last night we had some friends over for a little Christmas party (naturally, I don't have any pictures). I made sugar cookies, Laura and Andrew brought over some delicious peppermint cupcakes, and Kate and Brock brought over hot chocolate with candy canes- Yum! We all just chatted, played some Uno (Laura and Andrew kicked mine and Kate's trash!) and Wii, and ate way too much sugar. It was great! :)

In two days, we get to go home to Washington for the holidays! We are so excited we can barely stand it. Marcus and I are excited to spend time with all of his family, read some books we've been wanting to read but haven't because we've been doing reading for classes, and we're (of course) excited for Christmas! Then it's only one more semester of undergrad and then we have a baby! Life is good :).

A picture for two

I was reading another blog the other day and she was talking about how you could get 50 free Christmas Cards through Shutterfly. I instantly became interested. I haven't actually used Shutterfly before but have heard a lot about it. (Ellen DeGeneres talked about it on her show the other day). I went onto Shutterfly's website to browse all of their Christmas cards in hopes that I would be able to get some free Christmas cards. Marcus isn't huge into Christmas cards- especially since it's still just the two of us. But I'm working on him! I'm sure it'll be easier once we have cute kids to include in the cards.

So it's actually very simple- you just have to be a blogger, fill out a little form, write a blog post about the promotion, and then you get 50 free Christmas cards. Here some of my favorite photo Christmas cards (they have like 800 so there is plenty to choose from!):

I like the simpleness of this card. Plus, those are our wedding colors and I just love the way they look together.

Again, I like the simpleness of this one but I'm not sure it would be my first choice.

This card is also our wedding colors and another one I really like.

I like how cutsie and fun this one is.
But I'm thinking it would be a better one when we also have kids in the picture.

I love the little snowflake border!

And the great thing is that Shutterfly does so much more than just cards! On Ellen's show, she showed a photo calendar she did through Shutterfly and I LOVED it. I love photo calendars. I hope to make one soon! Another cool thing they do that I had no idea about was wall art. You can take a picture, and they'll print it onto a canvas for you! My parents did this with a picture my dad took of the Salt Lake Temple. It's such a cool idea! And then they also have birth announcements. We might be spending some money on these come May :).

Anyways- I'm super excited about this promotion. But which card is your favorite? I need help deciding. Also, if you're a blogger- go here to check out this awesome promotion before it ends! Thank you, Shutterfly.

Now who wants to take a picture of Marcus and I for our Christmas card?

Countdowns!!

I am a terrible blogger. I have decided that the main reason is only about 5 people read my blog and I talk to them on a regular basis so I feel like I have nothing to write. But alas, here is list of countdowns to very exciting events- that I know the 5 of you already know about so sorry for the repetition. :)

15 days until this semester is over!
15 days until Marcus, Brittany, and I drive to Washington for the Christmas break!
23 days until Christmas!
32 days until Marcus' birthday! :) (I love that boy.)
32 days until we (hopefully) find out the gender of our baby!!
142 days until graduation!
164 days until our baby is due! (This means I am 16.5 weeks pregnant- 2.5 weeks into the second trimester. However, I still weigh less than I did before I got pregnant and often feel sick when I try to eat. Thank goodness for anti-nausea medication but I just hope it goes away soon. Also, my doctor is getting mad at me for not gaining weight so I really hope the nausea goes away and I can eat again soon!)

What an exciting time of year! :) Marcus and I have decorated our apartment for the Christmas season and I LOVE IT! It makes finishing up this semester with my awful Physics class a little more bearable.

Happy Holidays!