26 Weeks

Paul and I went to a wedding a couple weeks ago and I had to document the occasion of wearing full on make up and I even spent a few extra minutes with the hair straightener! I still wear light makeup and comb my hair for work, but it's my five minute routine so I can sleep in as long as possible! Then after work it's into the sweats and baggy shirts I go!
At 26 weeks along or shall I say 14 weeks to go (eek, exciting and scary) I am feeling pretty good and have a decent amount of energy. I wish I was "showing" more as my tops are getting shorter and tighter, but not in a distinctive baby bump way. I think I might start wearing those T shirts that say "baby on board" or something about a "bun in this oven" because I think the overall population is waaaay more friendly toward prego peeps than to overweight gals that are getting out of breath by just breathing!!!! It's not a cute compliment to hear, "Wow, you're 5 months along? I can't even tell you're pregnant." Umm thanks? My parents got me a maternity shirt for Christmas and I try it on every week, but alas, it is still looking like just a whole bunch of extra material in the front... Oh well!! (I'm trying to force a bump pic below!)
Paul and I have been getting Henry's room ready. We set up the crib on Saturday and it was actually a very smooth process. Simba and Teddy approve! We also got some storage bins from ikea and I'm not sure if there will be room for some sort of rocking chair eventually.
We also registered last week and had fun looking around and scanning EVERYTHING!. There is SO MUCH stuff for a baby! We are going with a jungle and monkey theme.


We can't wait to meet Henry ______ Lopez. Middle name suggestions are welcome! We have been reading lots of books to prepare, saving money to cover my maternity leave, sometimes I sit in his room and think about him and Paul has even read him a story or 2... I am definitely at the sentimental/hormonal stage!!!!!! We are so excited to be parents and Knuckles will be a great protective big brother. He always wants to sit near my stomach and lay on me-I think he senses some changes are coming.
We definitely have baby on the brain... can't wait until he's in my arms!!

A little boy and flowers!

At our 16 week ultrasound we found out that we are expecting a little boy!!!!! We are so excited to no longer call the baby "IT"! We are so excited for him and to buy him things!!
As soon as the nurse told us, Paul asked if I was sure about the name Henry? So we will see what name this little guy ends up with! I thought I was sure, but we have time :)
The very next day Kreesh sent this beautiful bouquet to congratulate us. Thank you Krids, this was so thoughtful and you were very fast acting!
The next week was Valentines Day and Paul surprised me with a bouquet at work. So the house was fragrant and very enjoyable! Thanks for my flowers you guys!

The Nursery

We had a busy weekend painting the nursery. It was so nice to have my parents in town to help! Picking the colors wasn't too bad, I knew we wanted 2 shades of green and Paul knew he wanted what I wanted!! We went with a darker color on the bottom and a chair rail to separate the colors...the chair rail was slightly trickier than anticipated. But Paul, Katelyn and Roy Boy put their heads together and got it done while Merv and I supervised!! We had some fun dinners out and a great time just hanging out. I sure miss having my parents close by. Thanks for all of your help and for the washer and dryer!!
Things are going well, still getting nauseous and I didn't realize my emotions were getting the best of me.... until I cried during The Lion King and then during American Idol. In my defense, the Mufasa scene is super sad and I think I've always been emotional over it!
I have an ultrasound on Tuesday and we're very excited to see the progress of our little one!

Announcing:

Drum Roll Please...It is time to announce baby Lopez! Paul and I found out we are expecting just before Thanksgiving.

We headed to Phx to share the news with my parents. We thought it's be cute to take a family picture and Paul said, "Say cheese" then he took another and said, "Say Kim's pregnant!" We were hoping to capture my parent's surprised faces...but they held their smiles for the pic and through their teeth murmured, "Whaaaaaaat?!!"

We decided to wait until Christmas to tell Paul's side of the family on Christmas Eve. We had Paul's parents unwrap a gift that included a little note and a Utes One-sie. The note read, "To my grandma & grandpa, you'll hold my hand for a while and my heart forever! I can't wait to meet you around July 15th!" (I can't get the video of this to upload, but I'm working on it!)

I am currently 13 weeks and with minor night sickness and lots of crackers-- we're doing just fine! The ultrasound on Wednesday was amazing. Paul squeezed my hand as we saw our little baby for the first time! Hearing that little heartbeat was such a relief and an eye opener of our new life to come. We have been trying to start our family for a while now and are so grateful that the journey has begun! I took about a dozen pics of the ultrasound so I could include it in this post... tried different angels and without flash... but any way you slice it, it's shaping up to be our precious lil alien!!!

A great end to 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas morning, just me and my Boo! We exchanged gifts, had some cinnamon rolls, watched our new movies then headed to the big tamale feast. Gramma Ana didn't disappoint!! The fam feasted on hundreds of tamales, home made rice and beans--the whole nueve yards :)

The next morning we headed to Phoenix. After a few icy roads, we were in the clear and Knuckles makes an excellent co pilot. The entire week was bustling with a whole lot of... nothing!! And I loved every minute! We slept in, stayed in our pajamas and barely combed our hair! There was some game playing of course and we finished a ridiculously painful puzzle-then tragedy struck!! It was dismantled before dad could take a picture. I'm not quite sure what one does with a picture of a puzzle??


Another highlight was Alyssa and Kyle and kids coming over for games and of course some New Years fireworks that we set off in the street! Then we watched the ball drop on TV and I promptly fell asleep at 12:05! Party animal, I know!!
When reflecting on 2010, it was a year full of awesome vacations, lots of family and Knuckles became a part of the family. I can't wait for the adventures 2011 will bring :) ... to be continued!!

Thanks G 2010

This year we were going to drive to Seattle to enjoy the holiday with friends and my sis, Krystle. Then the weather wagged it's snowy finger in our face and sent us south instead. Since mountain passes were closing, we decided to head to sunny Phoenix and hang with my awesome parents and cousins Alyssa & Kyle. So we hopped in the truck and made the 11 hour journey!

Here we are enjoying the "snow" every half hour at the mall in Gilbert. It was quite a festive atmosphere and only required a light jacket. Gotta love that AZ weather!
We were privileged to have a visit from Elvis!!
Here's Spencer and Mom as we walked to the park, there are a couple in the neighborhood. We had to walk off that delicious turkey, pie and strawberry fluff!
Here we are racing the boats, but the controls were interfering with each other...so basically we'll say I won!!
Family pic with the palms!
Knuckles was a great traveler; he stayed in his little bed and laid down. He would lift his little booty and shift his weight when we went around corners...cracked us up.
Hope every one had a great holiday, it's so nice to share it with loved ones!
PS we also braved the stores at 3am on black Friday...no major traumas or black eyes from the mobs and we even got a few things on our list!

Lopez Life Lately

Hello to my 2 fabulous blog fans out there!! I haven't updated lately because not a lot is going on. For the past 3 weeks I have been "working hard for the money" & putting lots of overtime and 12 hour work days in for new software implementation for the U of U Hospital. This week we have actually been using the software and there are lots of glitches and it will take time to get used to... but I am back to my regular work schedule at least... but there is hardly time for personal emails which is just plain wrong!! Paul kept up on most of the chores, dinner on my late nights. I'd make an occasional "list" for him... he's not so sure he likes being a house wife and definitely despises a "honey do list" --but I even drew boxes for him to be able to check off, who wouldn't love that?!?!! : )
On the Friday before Halloween, I wore a Boston Red Sox jersey to work...any excuse to wear jeans to work is fine by me! I only ran into one Yankees fan that I had to handle.
Knuckles told me he wanted to be a Ninja for Halloween and we went over to gramma and grampy Lopez's. I jumped up to pass out candy at every door knock to check out the costumes. My favorite of the night was a chubby cheerleader with pig tales...she reminded me of myself at 9 yrs old and she got some extra pieces of candy from me!! Little Ninja Knucks enjoyed his costume so much that I decided he likes clothes and his mama likes a good deal and is thrilled that TJ Maxx sells little pup clothes for only a few bucks!! He practically begs me to put him in his new sweater and it keeps him warm on these brisk fall nights.
He turns ONE soon---on either the 6th or the 9th...Hey, he was adopted don't judge me!! I'll have to find his paperwork so I can give him an extra raw hide for his B-day or I'll feel like a bad mom!Not that I obsess over my dog or anything!!! ..... October was full of work and hardly any play. I'm excited to enjoy the up coming holidays and looking forward to doing some crafting and treat making.
Lastly, I'd like to dedicate this blog to my dear dad, Roymundo Louise. He inspired me to update my blog by saying, "Hey! Update your blog, the St. Marten recap was so last September!!!!" Thanks dad, enjoy!!