An update that is way past due....

I haven't been into this blogging thing much, but I'm going to try to update a little more often now. We'll see if that actually ends up happening!

Big news in the Larsen family: We're having a baby! We are extremely excited to welcome a baby girl into our family sometime around February 26th, 2012. The whole 'being pregnant' thing is probably the weirdest thing I have experienced in my entire life. I never know what's coming next. We've had a few scares along the way, but all of the ultrasounds have reassured me that I have a healthy baby growing in there! My most recent ultrasound was on October 13th, and the baby is measuring true to my due date and everything looks to be developing normally. She sat still for most of the ultrasound, which the ultrasound tech appreciated, but we did get to see her more around a little bit, which was exciting. I absolutely love feeling her move around all day long. Sometimes she kicks a little harder then I expect which causes me to jump a little bit, but I'm starting to get used to feeling her move around. The doctor says that babies can sleep up to 18 hours in a day at this point in pregnancy (22 weeks), so that if I'm not feeling her constantly it shouldn't cause any worry. I downloaded an app on my cellphone that tracks how far along I am and tells me every Sunday the big developments that are occurring around then. It's been fun to watch over the last few months because of all of the development that is happening all of the time! Today it says "Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and tiny tooth buds are even developing beneath the gums. Your baby's eyes have formed, but the irises still lack pigment. At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash), your baby weighs almost 1 pound." How exciting is that?

Here's a picture that somehow proves that she's a girl:

Needless to say, we are EXTREMELY excited to meet this precious little girl!

Besides the exciting news about having a baby, Brad and I have been busy trying to get everything done that life requires right now. We are both working and going to school right now and try to figure out how to spend some quality time with each other when we can. Brad was hired by Gold Cross Ambulance as a paramedic in September and has been busy adjusting to that 48 hour a week schedule while fitting in a full time school schedule. Luckily, all of his classes this semester are online through UVU, so he can spend some of his downtime on the ambulance doing homework as well as his time off at home. He is also volunteering with the Sandy Fire Department and doing an internship with the Pleasant Grove Fire Department. He's sure been busy!

Here's a picture of his Sandy Fire Department patch:

Here's a picture of one of the first Gold Cross Ambulances. Brad thought it was funny because it looks like the car from Ghostbusters!

I'm back working at Elite Security and taking a full load of credits at BYU at the same time. I've had to learn to balance school, work, and being pregnant but I think I've finally gotten the hang of it. It was hard to learn that I had to listen to my body and slow down when I couldn't do any more, but now I know that when I feel like I need to take a break and lay down it is important!

We also took a vacation over Labor Day weekend to visit Brad's sister Amanda and her family for the blessing of their baby, Emma. It was an added bonus that it was on my birthday, too! It was so fun to travel to New Jersey and see their house and spend some time with them because we live so far away! While we were there, Brad and I took a train into New York City and walked around for the day. It was so fun to be able to see the city with Brad and do anything we wanted for the day. We saw pretty much everything you could see in New York that relates to firefighters, which was really neat because it was right before the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001.

Here's a picture from the FDNY 9/11/01 Memorial Wall:

I'm so proud to be married to a firefighter/paramedic. It's such an amazing profession, and is definitely perfect for Brad!

That pretty much sums up what's going on in our lives right now. We're sure excited for all of the fun things that are happening and can't wait to see what the future has in store for us!