. X and Y.

I should have known that when I woke to the sound of rain this morning it was going to be an exceptional day! The ultra-sound at 8 this morning finalized what we had been calling this kid from the beginning...baby boy Hoffman. What a cool thing it was, seriously. When you go several months having not seen more than just a grain of rice and then to see an actual person is so cool! With the tech saying he is 200% boy...not twins, just definite boy, we are happy to report that we are having a little man come Jan. We will spare you the "bits" (as our friend Hayley would say, but here are some other pics for mostly our enjoyment!

*profile*


*alien face*

*self expanitory*
*more baby*
Anyways all looks well...2 arms, 2 legs, all 5 finger & toes...much excitement!

.mornings.

I woke to Roy cracking open the window this morning. He knows how much I love the smell and sound of rain. Sadly, it was just the sprinklers working through their cycle. We kept the window open anyways and listened to the rain birds instead, and it was almost as nice. It was one of those nearly perfect mornings for me. The ones where I just get to lay comfortably curled in the nook of Roy's shoulder and just be still. Eventually we start to stir and begin talking about family details, and plans. Those moments when it's just us (and of course the kid who has also started to stir by then) before the day has unraveled and we can just be, are priceless! It made me think of this:

.perhaps not.

I work with this kid who is just starting out in life as it were...you know, 21 years old, just starting school,...not that that should matter, because we have either all been there, or will be there. But I just had to laugh a little today when his 19 year old girlfriend came in with a picnic lunch for the two of them (they are currently consuming the goods upstairs in the file office). Yes, I realize I'm probably a cynic for thinking this, but my whole view on romance is very personal. I don't get the Billboard announcements of love and devotion, or the public displays of affection. To me if you have to dress it up and flaunt it, it takes something away from it. For me that part of my life is between me and Roy...right down to our conversations, and quiet looks. I guess its a good thing everybody is different and that we all have different needs, because the office picnic, is just not for me.

.on the docket.

Another Friday has rolled around, and what a week its been. We have productively been chipping away at our spare room, cleaning and de-cluttering, and as always it feels so good! What was once a room where everything was dumped and stored, has suddenly become a blank canvas where we will create whatever we want for baby. Roy spent all night Monday cleaning, and I'm so grateful for all his hard work, and it makes my job a lot easier. I spent most of last night cleaning out my closet packing up clothes that won't be needed until after this little nugget makes his debut. And now there is loads of space for Roy to move his stuff into (we have been using both closets)! The next thing to be attacked this weekend is the storage room to fine-tune our organization, and make room for even more crap. Also accomplished this week:

- saving-We've been really good at staying on our tight budget this month, and it has paid off with a growing savings
-walking-I take advantage of the cooler evenings and get some miles in with Cakes...always feel it in the morning...dang hips.
-reading-I took a small hiatus from reading. This past week I finally gave in a read the Hunger Games. I'm happy to report that I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd book.
-growing- The kid has grown from an avocado to a full turnip, and is slowly making my regular clothing more constricting (hence all the packing of the closet).
-birthday lists- With Roy's birthday right around the corner, I've been busy listing, and getting ideas from the MR. himself.

Consider the week accomplished!

.somebody's movin'.

Let the jabbing begin! This kid has finally decided to make it apparent to me that he/she is moving, and getting bigger and stronger. What a wicked cool feeling it is to actually know that what you are feeling is the little dude and not your mind playing tricks!

and that is all i got...

.take that.

Such a great thing happened today at my dr. appointment, that I just have to write it down. Basically I haven't had an ultrasound since I was 6 weeks because of some issues earlier on, but after that appointment I have been smooth sailing so they haven't bothered to check. This is completely fine except for the fact that I want to actually see the kid, and not just look at the lump of cells pic I got at 6 weeks. But I have been patiently biding my time until I can check him out (we are just calling it a he, because I feel better giving it a gender, even if it's not the right one) as a little person with hands, feet, head, mouth, ears...you know...the whole nine yards. So in the mean time I have just been satisfied listening to the rapid beats of his little heart. Those first few moments before they find the heart beat are agonizing for, because I remember on our first go around when they couldn't find it. Recently, like most new moms, I have been intently trying to determine if what I'm feeling is actually the baby, or if the tiny movements are all in my head. I can't wait for the day when I know that what I'm feeling is the baby...soon, very soon. So there I am at the dr.'s and she's listening to the heart beat, and there it is the rhythmic swishing of this little kids heart, it brings a smile to my face. Then there's are some loud thumps, and the dr. says oh it's kicking back. Again there are couple of thumps and I can't help but laugh out loud. Yes the kids in there, and he's actually kicking...how crazy is that? Yes I know...I absolutely just blogged about my kid kicking around inside his momma...I'm a dork...so sue me, but I just love the thought of that little avocado kicking!

.under the table and dreaming.

Can I just say how much I enjoy walking out into the coolness of the mornings instead of the thick heat. Ahhh I can feel it...summer is winding down, taking it's last deep breaths before autumn. It's like we are on the verge of something great...and we are just getting a little hint of what it is. That's how I'm feeling about a lot of things right now...like I'm on the verge of something great, but I'm stuck in a big transitional period of life. Everything is slowly changing, but we are not quite to that point where everything has changed...it's a strange, exciting limbo. Some of this change is also a bit daunting. I keep looking at our extra room thinking of how to take it from our all purpose room to a baby's domain, and to be honest I just want to throw it all out and start from scratch. I'm looking at our finances and feeling slightly overwhelmed with the concept of living off of one income. But at the same time I keep dreaming about what "the kid" will look like, and what fun we will have getting to know this new little person, and that always takes the edge off of the fear. So in the mean time I'm eagerly look up the progress of the kid weekly (I'm glad to report I'm growing something the size of an avocado this week), and try to get out and walk as much as possible, because lets be honest...I'm short, and when there's already very little room in your torso, you know even an avocado will start displacing things. So there it is...life and all its beautiful transitions!

.new places, new things.

At this very moment I'm blogging from my bed...how strange it feels to not be at a desk or sitting. I set up our wireless router finally. That's right folks...me, myself, and I! Nobody else helped me. It's strange that something so little can feel like such a big accomplishment, but it does, and it's a great feeling. So here I sit, or rather lie, basking in my glory and getting a little frustrated with Roy's MAC but the fact of the matter is...I'm feeling very happy!
And you get to enjoy some of these beauty's that have been lost in the dark archives of the MAC for some time. The proposal shot up Butterfield, and Jill leaving her mark, and also a few video clips of some Gemmi, Iian, Colette, and few others in Scotland.

.no more mail.

This week has been a doozy of a week for the finances, and I say this mostly because we have spent what seems like a million dollars on business stuff (in reality it was only a couple thousand). I have really been happy with how well we have done our first year in business. We have already done 3 races and have 3 others before the end of October...all of these without any advertising or a working website. It's definitely been a learning experience and every race we get seems to have some kind of different element that we have to adjust to or become creative with, which is great because eventually we should actually be in a place where we have everything we need. But in the mean time we have to spend money to make money...I know...right?...novel concept. Anyways we have prepared ourselves for this, but it's still hard to write those big checks.
So here we are spending the big bucks, or what seems like it, and I get Roy's dentist bill. I had anticipated this, but when I opened it it was for $168! I kept thinking it shouldn't be that high with insurance. I opened another letter with official IRS written all over it. Again not unusual as we are constantly getting business tax info. This letter was to inform us that we had been fined $178 because we had filed our partner taxes late. I'm new to this whole business tax stuff, and I'll be honest, I got the dates mixed up for the filing. I didn't think it would be a big deal because we owned nothing for the first filing. Apparently I was wrong...ouch expensive mistake! And to top it all off I opened one final letter last night from our family practitioner, and wouldn't you know another bill for $155...again where is our insurance coverage? So in the space of one week we had not only spent loads on the business but accumulated another $500 dollars in unexpected bills...NO BEuNO!
Here's the good news...Roy was assigned to deal with his health bills, and apparently the dentist bill was wrong and should have only been $66 dollars. And the Dr.'s office sent that bill in error and said that the insurance would take care of it. Huge relief! Now all I have left is to plead ignorance to the IRS and hope the are lenient. So in the end we aren't as bad off as it first appeared, but non the less we are definitely going to be living on the minimum this month...I'll take that challenge of $50 a week and make it happen!

.Anniversary goods.

Today marks 3 years since I married my quirky, unconventional Roy. Most of the times I think we are as different as they come, and its true...we have very little in common. With all are differences sometimes it doesn't make sense that we work, but we do...wonderfully...awkwardly we do! His differences give me such a variety in both experience and perspective. I love that he makes me laugh so hard that I cry. I love how ultra handy he is...he can fix anything. I love that he loves to read the D&C more than any other book. I love that he likes to shower before bed (being clean in the sheets). I love that he gives me all the AC in the car. I love his holy jeans, and glued shirts. But most of all I love and appreciate who Roy is and who he wants to be. He's not perfect, but he's working on it, and he's helping me in the process.

We splurged this year and got ourselves a matching dining table and chairs that don't wobble when you sit on them. I LOVE it! Happy anniversary to us BABE!

.Heber Weekend.

This past weekend was reunion time for my mom's family. She comes from a family of 8 siblings, so you can imagine it's quite the undertaking to gather them all even for a weekend. But gathered we did, and fun was had by all. Some of the highlights:

Canoeing on the lake-

I loved that the only picture I got of this young buck was near the volleyball nets. You can tell these guys are used to people.

The high ropes course-

Roy's girly tight pants

Roy's tight pants- which is actually a funny story because I had packed our bag Friday morning after Roy had taken off on his bike. When I got up to Heber he eagerly asked for a pair of pants, which luckily I had packed. Apparently, they wouldn't let anyone do any of the activities with shorts on up at the camp. Unfortunately, the pants I grabbed just happened to be a pair that Roy had never seen. They fit, but they were really tight...like girly pants. We still can't figure out where those pants came from, but we made them work.

And finally maybe a low light- Emory's snoring...my 7 year old niece can snore with the best of them, and needless to say we got very little sleep, but still very funny when you think about a little girl making that much noise.