Singing, Sewing and other such Sabbath activities

In an effort to improve ourselves personally and develop our talents, Jon and I have devoted our recent Sunday afternoons to the following activities:

I joined the ward choir.

For the first time in my life. It should be a lot of fun! This ward in Loomis is MUCH smaller than our ward in Fair Oaks. I think there were about 10 of us at choir practice this week, but I love the spirit in music :)

Jon made me a journal!

I have been needing one since I just filled up my last one and he offered to bind one from scratch! I picked out the cover paper at my store (Beverly's) and he did the rest! Seriously this is the most amazing journal I have ever owned. He did it ALL from scratch:

Also, check out my super cute new nail polish color from Jon above :)

Here he is working on the book. The awl broke while he was getting ready for the binding, so he resorted to a nail and hammer and it still turned out amazing!

Traditional Japanese bind:

True sign of an artist's work desk: cutting mat, paper, and chocolate ice cream.

Jon has also been working with me on ukulele!

No pictures of this yet. All I know are my basic major chords. Someday when I can play a song, Jon and I will video it for y'all.

I sewed!

Dang, isn't this fabric adorable??

Man I have been hankering to bust out my machine for a while, and with the move it has been dormant much too long. No pictures of the completely finished product YET, because it's a surprise for someone very close to me, but I promise it is adorable and quite possibly the thing I am MOST proud of ever sewing thus far in my life.

These next things are not "Sunday" things, but just what we've been up to lately :)
We participated in the YW service auction for FO 5th ward! Jon and I donated photography services (yes, we are still doing that). I was pretty happy with the flyer I whipped together! Unfortunately it won't upload, so you'll just have to imagine that it was amazing. I also really really really wanted this purse donated by Katie Roth!

But I was outbid like crazy. Jon even put that the purse would be "for the baby" yet people still outbid me! haha at least it was for a good cause :) We DID come home the proud owners of some plush owls handmade by one of the YW in the ward. Perfect for the baby's room!

In other awesome news, our bro and sis in law recently took their boys to Disneyland and we house-sat for them. Check out these SWEET bowls that they brought back for us! We are spoiled. The backs of the bowls are like Mickey and Minnie's bums respectively. Totally cute!

I also finished a wreath for the baby's room door! Since we're doing the nursery colors here at the in-laws in chocolate brown, orange, green and a touch of blue (to go with the quilt already on the bed that my niece sleeps in) I wanted the yarn wreath on the outside of the door to reflect the colors inside the room! The orange looks a LOT more vibrant in these pictures than it is in real life. The tag on the ribbon was paper hand dyed by Jon and I wrote the words "Love is Spoken Here" (can you tell I love primary music??) And maybe it's just me, but I feel like my love for the funk of the 70's also shows in this wreath... maybe it's the colors... or the slightly groovy handwriting I used...

In family news; Margo is as cute as ever :)

Baby Alston and I have officially entered the 3rd trimester!

I have been doing pre-natal yoga and LOVE it! As my friend Amanda said today, who knew it would take being pregnant to get me excited for exercise? haha!
Since I do my yoga in the morning before my hair and makeup is done, I opted for taking a pic of my mat rather than ME actually doing the yoga poses... You can just use your imagination.

Baby A is doing well and kicking and stretching ALL the time!
Jon got me a body pillow this week (heavenly!), and Margo (of course) thought it was for her...

We have also heard some great name/nickname suggestions for Baby A so far from our friends:

Tyler

Tori

Logan

Larry

LorenzoNickChristian (for boy or girl)

Sven.

So let's hear your votes! The future name of our child may just be the one you suggest.
You can also throw in your votes for BOY or GIRL in the sidebar to the right >>

Very Merry

On SATURDAY we had a Very Merry and Mad UN-birthday party for Jon!

Ben and Breanna were nice enough to let us use their our house for the event and Breanna was SO awesome in helping me plan, decorate, and really make sure that everything came together!

Last weekend she and I prepped by gathering supplies and making party favors. We went with GREEN (since it's Jon's favorite color) and branched off from there with blue, orange, red and BLACK (since this was an UN-birthday celebration).

Everyone was challenged with wearing a CRAZY hat to the party, and we all voted for the Most Funny, Most Creative and Best Overall. The prizes were a mini paint can that Breanna and I decorated each filled with one of Jon's favorite candies (Snickers, Twix and Reese's PB cups).

We had such a good turn out! Amongst the party goers were:

Ben & Breanna

Jake & Brenda

Spanky

Michelle (my sis)

Andrew Nielsen

David & Breanne

Brandon & Tiani

Matt & Julia

and Riley & Summer!

 We couldn't have CAKE at an UN-birthday, so instead we had everyone bring their favorite ice cream and toppings for an ice cream bar! I even had my very own chocolate fudge Soy Dream ;)

Riley and Summer thought the hats were optional. FAIL.

Michelle (who won for Best Hat), Andrew and Me! 

Ah I wish I had a pic of David with his beard hat! He won Most Funny :)

Jon and his BFF Spanky:

Brandon & Tiani - way to be creative, guys!



Breanna & Ben - the party wizards :)

Me with the Birthday Boy!

This is Jon opening his new SHINS cd from my sis - so exciting! Of course I actually had to have him recreate this event since I didn't have the camera ready the first time.

Thank you to EVERYONE for making Jon's birthday such a huge success! We really missed those of you who weren't able to make it :( Next time I am hunting you all down. You know who you are...

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY, JON!

may you have many many many more :)



27

Yesterday Jon turned 27!!

Since we have been house-sitting for my older bro and sis-in-law this week, I had to be pretty sneaky with improvising birthday plans :) I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!

The morning of Jon's birthday I woke up early to make him a cake (chocolate fudge with rainbow chip frosting).

I decorated the counter with a birthday banner and green streamers so that when he got home from work he would be surprised!

I had school that evening right after work, so I set out the present from Margo (new socks!) and a card from me (with a check of our returned security deposit from our apartment, heck yeah!) and let Jon enjoy his spoils (and take a nap) until my class was over.

 

 For dinner I took him out to Benihana! We hadn't been there since my senior ball in 2005, so we were long overdue for some amazing food that we watch our chef play with before serving. We had SUCH an awesome time! Everything was delicious and the group next to us was ALSO celebrating a birthday, which made it fun, although their version was full of a lot of sake bombs. It was just awesome to go on a date and enjoy his birthday together!

Jon was even given chocolate ice cream for dessert and was sung to! I'm sure he was most excited about the fact that he didn't have to share his ice cream with me at all ;) I had sorbet.

At Benihana when it is your birthday they take a picture of you with the person(s) you came with and print it out right there! Of course this is just a picture of the picture with my cell phone, but you get the idea:

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY JON!

I know this is going to be the best year ever :)

Happy Easter!

Due to house-sitting for my bro and sis in law this week, as well as moving and not having much internet access, my posts lately have been rare at best. BUT I did want to take this opportunity at Easter to post about my love for our Savior and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that I'm a day late, but I really think anytime is a good time to share the good news of our Savior!

Yesterday we were able to visit our Fair Oaks ward for sacrament meeting. I'm so glad that we did! We were able to see a few people that we haven't talked to in a while and the messages shared were very heartfelt. I know we have officially moved away, but I guess we needed to ease into the separation at a slow rate...

Then we headed over to Jon's parent's house (our new place) for Easter dinner. My niece had a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard and then she and I made deviled eggs together. Afterward we visited my family - where we were totally spoiled with Easter baskets and candy! Margo even got a new little purple food bowl. What a lucky pup!

But even with all of that, the best part was taking the day to remember the sacrifice of our elder brother to come to Earth, live as a perfect example for us, teach us to love one another, then die for our sins and be resurrected so that we ALL can have the opportunity for eternal life with our Heavenly Father. I am SO grateful for the atonement in my life and the blessing that it is so that I can do better every day and repair the broken parts of myself. I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who knew that we would make mistakes, and planned a way for us to pay the debt that we couldn't on our own.

I am also very excited for the blessing of motherhood and the opportunity that I have to be a parent with Jon to a little son or daughter of God and to teach them about all these miraculous things! It's hard to believe that in just 3 more months our little baby will be here! It is a wonderful life, and I am thankful for it every day.

HAPPY EASTER!!

To Purge

VERB

to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify

Recently this was the word-of-the-day at our apartment...

 Margo supervised as things were put in boxes and hauled away

until the place looked like this...

and then we turned in our keys and said goodbye to Orangevale.

At least Margo is ready for new adventures!

Marching Right Along

I feel like the year is going by too quickly and already I'm becoming an absent-minded blogger! Here is what we have been up to lately:

Jon is busy busy busy with school. He is one of the two executive editors this year for Sac State's literary journal and did the entire layout which has kept him very occupied. (It looks AMAZING!) Luckily it was sent off to print this week! I'm so proud of him for being so involved and that graduation is coming up in just 2 months. It really feels like we were just at BYU working on his bachelor's and now he is finishing grad school! I am thankful for the college years we have had to spend together and also glad to put them behind us :)

Margo has been her silly self as usual. I just love this dog!

She regularly plays with her toys (like her sock monkey below) rolls in blankets we leave on the floor and snuggles with us when we take naps. I am so thankful for her awesome attitude and keeping us laughing everyday :)

I am doing great! School has been awesome and I recently got an A on my midterm. Every time I take a new class I feel like I've found a new possible career path. I love learning new things and finding loves for things that I never knew existed before. Psychology has been totally fascinating and I definitely want to continue to study it after this. I probably wouldn't major in it, but the sections we have gone over so far in this general principles class are totally rad. I'm so glad to be able to go to school and have awesome teachers too. Deciding to go to Sierra when I started school again was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I love that Jon supports my education too! I obviously really need it...

Aside from school and work, we have also somehow found time to keep up with friends and family! This weekend we celebrated our niece's 5th birthday at Chuck E Cheese. Jon and I actually had a great time! I don't even remember the last time I was at Chuck E Cheese, and even though I couldn't eat the pizza and was too big for the maze / playplace of awesome, we had a fatty bucket of tokens all to ourselves for playing games and earning tickets. Let me tell you; I totally kick butt at skeeball and shooting hoops. Jon won at the basketball game 4 out of 5 times, but that last time I left him in the dust! I was very proud of myself. We also played operation, racing games, water gun games, air hockey and a team shooting pirate game with ghosts and zombie skeletons. It was pretty legit. Between the two of us we probably won a couple hundred tickets. They all went to the birthday girl of course who ended up with a grand total of 1,600! Turning 5 is the best.

Jon has also been playing indoor soccer every week on a league with friends in the ward, and we recently hosted a break-the-fast which was St. Patrick's day themed. We love irish food! We are also taking a religion class through our church institute this semester and - oh yeah - moving. When do we have the time to sleep? Good question.

In other news we had our 20 week ultrasound this week. (milestone!) the baby weighs 11 oz (as demonstrated by the bag of water below). We are not finding out the gender, but the ultrasound was still amazing! It was my favorite part of this pregnancy so far.

The baby looks awesome and we got a lot of good pictures. We saw the different parts of the brain, the heart, the stomach, and the baby was sretching out their legs and arms as well as moving their mouth and we even got to see the eyes! It was very cool. I don't think I ever realized just how detailed ultrasounds are. Jon says the baby has my lips :) We also had an amazing tech, so that was a great blessing. She was super fun and very informative. I am so grateful for good accessible healthcare!

And just for all of you baby bump picture fanatics out there (and those friends who don't get to see me very often) here we are at 20 weeks:

Thanks for keeping up with the Alston's! Next stop: St. Patrick's day :)



FACTS

Now that the news is out, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some facts surrounding Baby Alston and the upcoming excitement :)

Like, Fact 1) I promise not to turn this blog into baby-talk 24/7. I am taking advantage of this post now to spew baby news and then it's back to our regularly scheduled programming. YES the baby is going to be a huge part of our lives (forever...) but we are also US and it all started with me and Jon, so you will still see posts about the fun things we do and general updates - not just baby bump pictures. Sorry for all of you that are baby bump picture hungry!

Which brings me to Fact 2) I will NOT be posting sonograms on either FB or this blog. Ever. I assure you that the baby has a head, arms, legs, heartbeat and moves around regularly. Ultrasound pics will be for family :) I will also not post gross facts about what the baby is doing or use terms like "meconium" or "swallowing amniotic fluid" if I can help it. And there will be no creepy cartoon pictures of the dinosaur baby with the umbilical cord. I think all that stuff is fascinating - for me and Jon. Not everyone wants to see it, and if you've had a baby before then you already know how it goes :) Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Fact 3) I started feeling the baby move a couple days ago. It didn't feel creepy like I thought it might, and it didn't feel like butterflies either. I actually thought it felt more like a muscle spasm, but less annoying. Now that I know what I'm waiting for, I can feel it more often! The baby especially moves when I'm just sitting very still or laying down for bed at night. The baby also likes it when I eat haha.

Fact 4) Our baby was totally 100% planned! Everyone seemed surprised by this, but we just didn't broadcast that we were trying to have a baby, so I wanted to clear that up :) I always told Jon that people were going to think the baby was an accident because he was always so "anti-baby" but he would always say "That's fine, I'll tell people I lied because it was none of their business." haha. He is definitely nervous as anyone would be, but I promise you that this was a joint decision. We had actually been trying for almost a year, so although I was surprised when the test was finally positive, we were glad that it didn't take much longer. I feel SO blessed because I have had friends with many more challenges than us. No one really can explain how stressful and depressing it can be trying to have a baby...

Fact 5) I did not have ANY morning sickness at all. In fact, I didn't even take a pregnancy test until I was 16 weeks along. And at that time I thought I was more like 10 - 12 weeks. We went into the doctor for the first appt on Feb 24th and by ultrasound determined that the baby was actually 18 weeks! So I am almost halfway done. (What a blessing!)

Fact 6) Our 20 week ultrasound is on Tuesday March 6th and we will NOT be finding out the gender. We're going old-school and want it to be a surprise :) I think we're leaning towards the name "Margo Jr." for either a boy or girl.

Fact 7) Our due date right now is July 27th, although that may change by a couple of days once we have the 20 week ultrasound. I always said that I never wanted a Summer baby (because I get so much heat exhaustion anyway) so of course I should have known that it is exactly what I would get :) I really am excited because the baby's birthday will be close to mine, which is in August, and I LOVED Summer birthday parties as a kid! Plus, as a teacher Jon will most likely have Summers off, which means an awesome time for celebrating. It also will make it easier to decide when to start them in school. Good timing, baby. Good timing.

Fact 8) I know that this is something I don't really have control over, so I thought I would just throw it out there now and then I won't say another thing about it: I HATE the term "prego". It is one of my biggest biggest pet peeves. "Preggers" is up there too. It sets off something in my brain worse than nails on a chalkboard. That being said, I will not tear anyone's head off that says this to me in public, but just know I am cringing on the inside ;)

Fact 9) Margo has been fantastic so far! She regularly comes to sit or sleep on my belly now and Jon and I are pretty sure that she and the baby have telepathic conversations. I think she will be pretty jealous when the baby is here just because Margo is used to getting all of our attention. But I also think that she will be really protective and sweet. We have the best dog ever!

Fact 10) As of right now, I am NOT planning to go back to work after the baby is born - at least not as much as I have been. I have always wanted to be a SAHM, but now that I'm at a job I LOVE I just can't imagine leaving it altogether. I'm considering going back one or two days a week. My manager knows this and has been amazing :) I have the best job in the world. Of course when the baby comes I might be totally game-over and never want to work again, and she said that is totally fine. I'll keep you posted.

Fact 11) We will be moving. This month. It has been planned for a while that once our lease ended at this apartment in Orangevale we would be moving in with Jon's parents to save some money and catch up before we move to wherever Jon finds his career job. He also is graduating in May with his master's and we just didn't think it would be practical to stick ourselves in another lease when we can have more flexibility living in Loomis for a few months. If Jon finds a teaching job in the area then we will get an apartment or start looking for a house and stay around Placer/Sac counties. But otherwise it might be out of state and staying with his parents for now will be a better launch pad for us to make a possibly BIG move.

Fact 12) Our families have been so awesome in supporting us and being excited with us for this new baby! It has been an overwhelming last couple of weeks to find out that we're due at the end of July and we're catching up on doctor's appointments, lab work and physical exams. I am so grateful for awesome family who loves us and that will be able to support our baby too as we raise them in a gospel sharing home.

Fact 13) I have the bestest friends in the world! So far they have been more excited than I am! Between congratulations cards, scrapbook pages, maternity sewing patterns and baby blankets (more on that later) our little Baby Alston is already INCREDIBLY loved. I really appreciate all my friends for helping me feel motivated and creative.

Fact 14) Once the baby is here I really want to keep sharing our lives with you! BUT I am wary of baby pictures being posted online without a block. I know that when you are online at all (whether it be FB or email or blogging) you are taking a risk and having some of your personal info out there, but I have also tried to keep it limited; I don't add people I don't already know, I make our blog unsearchable, etc. However I am seriously considering making our blog private once the baby is born. I will keep you posted on if and when that will happen, but wanted to give you a heads up because I will need your email address to add you to the "approved reader's list" if you still want to have access. You won't need a google blogger account, I will just add your email to my list and it won't be shared with anyone else. This is still a few months away, so don't worry yet :) You can still stalk us freely for now.

Thank you for listening. I am glad to get that all out! Now back to regular posting :)

July, here we come!!

the journey

written and illustrated by steph

once there was a girl. she had long black hair and green eyes. she was looking for a best friend.

across town there was a boy. he had brown hair and wore chucks. he liked to play guitar.

the boy and girl ate tacos. he gave her his heart.

they were married in a castle on a hill.

they had many adventures.

the boy wrote books. the girl changed her hair.

 they even tamed a ferocious beast.

one day they decided that two and a half was not enough. 

so they will be welcoming a baby...

the end of this story, is only the beginning of another...