I thought it would be fun to show how I have grown over the past 2 months. Dallin sure is growing fast....The progression is 5 months, to 6 months, to 7 months today. It is so crazy how fast he is growing, but at the same time it feels like I have been pregnant forever! We feel so blessed to be able to be parents soon and can hardly wait for Dallin to come. We are going to start to get some stuff for the nursery next week, so we can finally start pulling it together. There is so much I want to do for him and I feel like time is just ticking away. I am finally realizing the great responsibility that it is to become a parent. It still feels surreal, but as I was looking at some little baby clothes that my sister gave to me to use, I was imagining Dallin wearing and it finally hit me! I am going to be raising another human being! He will be relying on me for everything, for food, shelter, education, love, etc... What a big responsibility, but one that I am so excited to fulfil. We are so excited for him to come!

Business is Booming

Wow, things are getting pretty hectic around here. I am getting so busy with the business, but I am loving it nonetheless. We are in the midst of the busiest time to the year and we are doing really good. Jamie, one of my business partners, and I are busy designing the new prints for our new aprons that will be coming out in 2009. I think design is one of the things I love best about being able to have our own business. I can create whatever I feel like and test it out. Often times, I have to redesign the print 10 or 11 times before I get what I really want. Jamie and I are working on some really cool prints and designs for our new lines and I am so excited to see what they will look like. Want a sneak peak??? Here is a picture of the print I just finished yesterday. It is not to scale, but it gives you an idea of what it could look like....

It is so much fun learning how to use Illustrator. I love working with it.

Joe and I have been getting sick like crazy. I have been in the nursery for just a few months now and it seems like every Sunday I get sick that night. I am really getting frustrated with the whole situation. Kids come to nursery sick every Sunday with runny noses and coughs. The parents are not supposed to bring them to nursery sick, but they do anyways. I have said something one time and it just blew up in my face. The parent basically said he was teething and that is why his nose was running. She wouldn't take him out of nursery. I am not a bio-chemist or a doctor, but I know a cold when I see one and when your snot is green, it is mean bacteria going on in there, not just "teething". I think I have taken all that I can. It is affecting my day to day functions, especially my ability to function completely in our business. It is not fun to have to run errands, do inventory at the cart, make sure they have everything they need, ship out product, update the website and design new aprons, when you feel like you are ready to die. Well, not literally:) I am being a little over dramatic, but I am pregnant so I feel the urge to be dramatic today...:) Things will look up as soon as I get released, but I just don't know when that will be. I would like the calling otherwise, but right now being pregnant and getting sick all the time, makes it really difficult to be even mediocre. We will just have to see what happens I guess.

On a happier note, Dallin Carter is growing like crazy and he is sure active. He is always kicking me and moving around. The other day I was lying in bed and he just started kicking me like he was practicing karate or something. I mean, his legs were kicking one kick per second for like an entire minute. I am not exaggerating. I had never felt him kick so much or so quickly my entire pregnancy. It was pretty cool, but also pretty uncomfortable after a few seconds. I am really starting to feel him stretch now. He tends to stretch right on my bladder and into my lungs. I swear that is what it feels like. I get short of breath all the sudden and feel the intense need to pee all that the same time. Pregnancy sure is full of the unexpected. It is not boring to say the least:)

We can hardly wait for him to come though. I want so badly for him to arrive. We have yet to buy anything at all for him, but I am sure after Christmas we will start buying some things we need. It is just a like too surreal still, but I am sure it will only get worse. I am a lot more relaxed about the whole thing knowing that if he came today, he would be able to survive most likely. That makes it easier to get excited and not worry that something bad could happen to him and that it would all be for nothing. I am sure every soon to be mother worries about this, and I am glad that it is being relieved slightly as it gets closer to him coming and he is growing more and gaining strength each day.

I get really excited for Dallin to come when I see my new nephew Calvin. Calvin is just a couple months old, and he is so adorable. I love to hold him and see him smile. It must be so much fun for Crystal to watch him grow each day. She is a great mother to him.

Well, things are crazy, but I am so excited for Christmas to come. Mom and Dad Hansen are coming out after Christmas and I am super excited to see them. They are so much fun to be around and we have a blast every time we see them. I feel so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. I know that the family I make with Joe will always be close to them and that brings me a lot of joy. I think that thing I love most about Christmas besides the wonderful season, is how much it brings families together. I love to see those that I haven't been able to see in a little while and the feeling in the air is just so magical. Yes, I can barely wait for Christmas. I am so excited.