this is for nancy and grandma and grandpa

since clint has "mastered" the chicken fried rice recipe...he's moved on to sushi. he gets so excited about making it. he gets motivated to do this about once a month. so last night, we go to walmart. and we get all the necessities. sushi rice, rice wine vinegar, seaweed papers, etc.

we get home and he gets everything out. he cooks the rice in the fantastic rice cooker...thanks to grandma and grandpa. you all know how obsessive he is. he cuts the avocado up perfectly in slices. and gets out the sushi kit nancy got us. wraps saran wrap around the wooden placemat thingy...etc.etc. all the steps. i had to get a picture of him with the rice. my camera went dead before i could get a final product picture. but this proves that we use all the stuff you got us :)

the best part. he spends like an hour or more making all these. they look beautiful. and he cuts them...mixes up his soy and wasabi...and takes one bite of his "spicy crawfish roll". he looks at me...and says, "maybe i should have washed off the fish". i knew it was bad at that point.

he says something about how it smells "kind of funny". but of course, he continued eating it because he had spent so much time and money on it. basically, he eats a whole roll...and then throws the rest out. it killed him. i think he ended up eating cereal or something. :)

the baby's room

while i was in new york, clint decided to surprise me...and paint the nursery.

we had talked about a robin's egg blue color that we both really liked. mom used it in the guest bedroom at home...and ever since...i've loved the color. it's very light. very airy. i didn't think he ever really listened when i talked about things like that...turns out, he does. :)

so i got back on wednesday around 4. he wasn't home yet. when i heard his truck pull up, i walked out through the garage to say hi to him. it was then i realized that some of the stuff that had previously been in our laundry room was now in the garage. i looked at him, and he smiled. we walked up together to see what he had done. he not only painted...but he moved all his "office" stuff downstairs, into the little bitty laundry room.

i feel sorry for him...because he uses his desk daily. to pay bills...to check email...to do everything. and now, he's been forced to a small room off the kitchen. he says he's fine with it...but i still feel guilty. it was only a few months ago that he bought a flat screen tv for the "office". he can't use it in the new office because there's no cable wire.

funny story with the paint. he went to walmart to get the paint. he chose the color...the guy mixed it...and when he opened the lid to see the color...it was pink. yes, pink. clint's response to that..."i don't know what that means...i don't know what you'll make of that". the guy did the same colors again, in a new bucket of paint...and out came robin's egg blue.

go figure. i'm pretty sure we have a girl. that has to be what it means...right?

i'm thinking a cream silk-like bedding. with a brown monogramming. something like that. i have lots and lots of brown dupioni silk left over from bridesmaids dresses...so i'm thinking of using it too. maybe as an accent color. like pillows and a curtain. a long curtain. but i want most of the other stuff cream. so that i can re-use it.

here is a picture of the wall color. i think it will look great with the dark floors. i've found a baby bed online. it's cherry. and it's fabulous.

a new belt...

so overnight...i went from urinating five times a day....to urinating thirty five times a day. possibly fourty five. what in the world?

i feel like i need to wear a belt with a roll of toilet paper attached.

just thought it was something to share. even though it's not really...and none of you care to know it. the changes my body has seen already...at only 15 weeks...well, it's pretty unreal.

i read where you can feel the baby move for the first time between 16 and 20 weeks. i can't wait for that. mom got us a heartbeat monitor. so we've heard the heartbeat several times. clint is able to find it...i never can.

more later. must get in the bed. back to school/work this week. yuck yuck yuck.

new york...new york

so i'm heading to new york city in the morning with mom and spencer. barb and heather are going too! it's going to be an all girls week of shopping, shows...and lots of great street food! my very favorite!

i think that this will be the first easter that clint and i don't decorate eggs. it's just always been something we like to do.

i never thought i'd be "that" girl...but i can't help but already know that i'm going to miss him while i'm gone. when i was a kid, i would get so homesick. i couldn't even spend the night at friends houses. as soon as everyone got their sleeping bags out...i was on the phone with mom and dad. it's been that way pretty much all my life. until college. and i guess this is really my home now. because i can already feel it creeping on...

it sort of feels like it's back again. i guess that's good. i guess it's a sign that i really enjoy being with him. it's not like i can't function without him...it's just that there really is something about him. something about how fun my life is. something about having him near me.

keep us in your thoughts as we fly tomorrow and wednesday. have great easters. love to you all.

jonathan's party

clint and i went to camden this weekend for jonathan wright's engagement party. the party was at mom and dad's. it's always fun to go home for those kinds of things because i really love all of my parent's friends. clint and i enjoy visiting with everyone.

i realized at our wedding how blessed i was growing up. my parents had the best friends...they love me so much...just like if i were their child. so many of them opened their homes for parties during our engagement and during the weekend of the wedding.

the party was great. decorations were fabulous...and food, of course...was wonderful. i had dessert first, then the meal...then more dessert...then more meal. :)

at some point mom's cute high heels got stuck in the kitchen floor vent. it took her, clint and debra tolin five minutes....plus one screwdriver to save the shoe!

again, we had a great time. mom...thanks for the stay. love you.

13 week visit

so i went to the doctor today. i was expecting another terrible visit with the dreaded snap-front robe. instead, the nurse said he would only listen for the heartbeat today! wooohooo!

it sounded like galloping horses. very, very fast. "too fast to be yours" is what the doctor said.

before he came in all i could think about was how concerned i would be if we couldn't hear it. it was in that moment that i realized how much i want this. and how devastated i would be if something were to happen.

i will go back on april fourth for my 16 week visit. he won't do another ultrasound until 24 weeks. he said that usually you can tell the sex at 20 weeks...but that at 24, you can see the brain, the heart, the spine, etc. and that he likes to make sure all the organs look good. so here's to...12 more weeks of not knowing if "plus one" is a girl or boy.

and like clint always says...i really don't care. more than anything else...our prayer is for a healthy baby.

have a great weekend...

13 weeks

so meredith has been asking for a belly picture.

here you go mere. enjoy it while it still resembles a belly.

little rock marathon

on march 2nd clint ran in his first marathon. he had trained since september, i think. running during the week...with long runs on the weekend. after many months of preparation, he ran the little rock marathon on sunday morning/afternoon.

the best part of the race...the end for sure. i was a nervous wreck the entire time. i caught him around mile 19...where he was walking due to a cramp on mile 18. it wasn't pretty. his exact words at that point, "this is the dumbest thing i've ever done". so from mile 18 to mile 26, he walked/ran. which was smart...because he knew it was the only way he'd finish.

luckily, he finished...and was okay. well, a little sore...a lot sore. and a lot tired. but i was still very proud.

clint's day off

clint ran in the little rock marathon on sunday...and wisely chose to take off on monday. this was a pretty big deal because he never, ever takes off work. but he did. and i was so thankful that he was going to get to rest. his joints and muscles needed time to rest. it was a very, very long 26.2 miles.

when i got home from baptist, he had rearranged the living room. he was so cute. he met me at the backdoor to guide me into the room to show me what he'd done. like a little kid. then as if that weren't enough, he'd cleaned the entire house...and had dinner in the oven. and he'd gone to fresh market...of all places to get dinner. he had the table set and everything.

but the best part of everything he did involved two large, clear tupperware containers. he bought them for the baby. one for clothes and one for toys. we've already been blessed with leap frogs and books.

as my dad always tells me...i'm a lucky, lucky girl.

thank you clint for a wonderful surprise after work. :)

more on the marathon later...

typical...

so last night clint and i decided to rent a movie. he's wanted to see "into the wild" because he read the book...but it wasn't out yet. so we chose something else. we had two movie stores in maumelle...until about a week ago. our favorite store closed down so we are forced to use the big name store.

apparently, everyone in maumelle wanted to rent a movie last night. so we're standing there in line. and we get about even with the ice cream freezer. you know the one that has the butterfinger ice cream bars...the snicker bars...and the toll house ice cream between two cookies with the chocolate chips on the outside of the ice cream. yes, those cookies. so without realizing it, i must have sort of slunk out of line. and i'm leaning to my right toward the ice cream freezer. trying to see the price on those little pieces of heaven. you see, i don't ever carry money with me. i rarely have cash...and clint never lets me pay for anything. so i'm completely scheming some way to talk him into buying one of those cookie sandwiches for me. but they're 2.99...and i know that's expensive for 50 fat grams that are going to go straight to my waist. it seems that's where everything is headed these days :)

i lean back to my left...and just raise my head...and i've no more made eye contact with clint...when he smiles...and shakes his head "no". i started laughing...and said, "how did you..." and he laughed...and said, "because i know you."

that's what this is all about. it completely made my night.

the only thing that could have made it better? one of those ice cream cookie sandwiches. :)