Growing bump!

So many changes... so little time. Corissa is now in her third trimester and still feeling great. Our little Ellie is an active girl! She likes to stretch out in mommy's tummy and stay that way for a little while. Last week she wore mommy out with all her moving, kicking and stretching. Mommy loves every second of it!!28 weeks
30 weeks

Nursery

Corissa has had an idea of what she wanted our little girl's nursery to look like for a while now and with the help of her parents this past week Ellie's room is just about ready for her arrival. (not that we want her to come early, but we are more prepared now than we were before) We have 3 bedrooms - our room, a guest room and a computer/storage room. With Ellie on the way we needed to consolidate the guest and computer room for her to have her very own nursery. It took a lot of cleaning, organizing, storage bins, labels, and a trip to Goodwill to get the rooms ready but we finished just in time. Corissa's parents came down and spent 2 and 1/2 days (their days off work) with us to work on the room.

BEFORE

Spencer had great foresight and had the whole house painted in a very pretty tan color. This has been great but not what we wanted in the baby's room.
The closest has never had doors... until now.

Testing the paint... looks like we got it right on our first try!
Apple Tree (green) and Moon Dance (yellow)

Time for primer!
Corissa's brother Christopher also came to get in on the fun and work on his newest niece's room.
Moon Dance looks good Rob!

So does the Apple Tree!

The room is ready for chair rail. Corissa got the idea from their friends house where they did chair rail high up and used it as a border instead of the usual chair rail height.

The chair rail turned out great!

Finally closet doors!

Here's a before and after shot.

They even made time to paint the guest bathroom.

It looks so nice and fresh!

BIG

THANK YOU TO LORI & ROB O'LEARY

and CHRISTOPHER too!!!!

We really appreciate all the work you did for us!

Ellie has a happy place to grow, sleep and play!

Still growing... and growing...

Ellie has been quite the little kickboxer lately in mommy's belly. Corissa said that yesterday she felt like Ellie was about to kick so hard that her belly button was going to pop out! Mommy and daddy love to feel Ellie moving and can't help but stop everything just to see her or feel her one more time. Her heart rate was up to 170 today at the doctor's visit. She was really working hard in there. Ellie measured in at 1 pound and 6 ounces (give or take). Mom and baby are both doing well and both are continuing to grow.

What's in a name?

Now that we know we are having a baby girl we can start the name game. We both tossed out some names we liked but now it's time to get serious and pick one. Who knew this would be so difficult?! It's a lot of pressure.... this kids got to live with this name forever, or at least until she's 18 and can change it to Princess Consuela Banana Hammock (Friends reference for all those who don't get it). Corissa's number one pick was shot down by Spencer but with no real alternatives. That means it's back the think pad or at least back to Corissa's sticky notes with names. Then we found it... ELLIE It means noble, exalted, sun ray, and shining light. It's perfect for our little girl!! Now for a middle name. This one's easy. We both wanted a name that meant something to us and so Corissa suggested using the middle name of her best friend Lindsay who is also the one who introduced her to the Gospel. Done! LOUISE We loved the way the names sounded together and Corissa even cried when she pictured holding our baby girl and calling her

ELLIE LOUISE

We love it!!

For our 22 week update - Ellie is kicking up a storm and Spencer was able to feel her for the first time today. It's fun to watch Corissa's belly move! She has a hard time sitting still and not giggling while Ellie moves around. Corissa felt her for the first time a few weeks ago at church but the past two days have been really fun and active. Corissa is feeling great and her belly has really popped out. We'll take a profile shot of the bump at our next doctor's appointment.

The results are in...

We found out this morning that we are We are so excited!
Corissa is happy she gets to play with headbands and tutus and

Spencer is loving the idea of having daddy's little girl!!

Sweethearts Weekend

Corissa's mom and step-dad hosted us at their home for the weekend and then on Monday we drove up to the Grand Canyon for some sight seeing. It was a sunny beautiful day but still only in the 40's. We packed a lunch and ate along the south rim and went for a little hike down Bright Angel Trail. We also went to the Hermit's Rest and saw the Abyss along the way. It was an amazing cliff that was beautifully covered in snow. Then we went to the Watchtower look out and saw the beginning of the Colorado as it enters the Canyon.

We both took Tuesday off work to make it a nice four day weekend and on our way home took the scenic drive from Flagstaff to Sedona and we stopped at Slide Rock along the way.

Greer cabin trip

Our friends invited us up to Greer to hang out in their family's cabin and you can't pass up a chance like this. The cabin is amazing and the snow was awesome too! We headed for a huge hill for some sledding (videos below) and played lots of games, ate tons of yummy food and just relaxed! Thank you to the Clarkson's for the invite!

cute snow bunnies!

Becca and Caleb

Krystal and Steve playing in the snow



Spencer heading down the hill face first!
Yes... he's crazy... everyone but Corissa tried it.