Preston's Blessing

We wanted to bless Preston while Carl's mom and dad were still visiting from Ohio, so that means that we blessed Preston when he was just two weeks old! He did so great, and so did Carl.
I was a little emotional that morning while we were getting ready for church. My mom got Preston the sweetest little tux to be blessed in! The night before the blessing, we tried the tux on him. We knew it would be a little big since he was still so tiny, but it was HUGE! I should have taken a picture to show how big it was!
I am no seamstress - heck, I don't even own a sewing machine! But, my fabulous sister, Renee, had come to Rexburg from Boise for the blessing, and she knows her way around a sewing machine! She took the pants from the tux over to my grandma's house and altered them so that they weren't drowning my baby boy. I was so grateful for her talent and also that she made time for us to come and visit.

When we got to church, the chapel was packed! Our ward is huge anyways, but it seemed way more full than normal. The cultural hall was full of chairs all the way to the back. Come to find out, there were 2 baby blessings, a confirmation, and two returning missionaries giving talks!
Carl and Preston were up first. It was a beautiful blessing. As the men were gathering in the circle, I looked around at all of our family that was there to support us. It was wonderful seeing Brittany and Shaun, Renee and JJ and their daughters, my Mom and Byron, Grandma and Grandpa, Brenda and Josh and their kids, Mandy and Anthony and Mason, Shamae and Taylor, Danielle and Trena and Joe and Tilda. I'm sure there were more people there, but I was really touched by the love and support we had. Our little family has been so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. After sacrament meeting, we all met at Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen's to have lunch. My mom put together a wonderful lunch and we all had so much fun eating outside on a beautiful Sabbath day. 

It's a BOY!!!!!

We are beyond thrilled that we are having a boy! I think Carl is way excited to have a Carl Jr. running around. :) The baby is doing great! We had our ultrasound on Thursday, and everything looked PERFECT! I am praying for a healthy baby :) We got some great ultrasound photos. Baby's heart looked great - the tech kept saying how beautiful his heart looked! Got a DEFINITE gender shot ;) and we got to see his little feet and fingers!!! So cute! The only thing we didn't get to see was his profile and face! That little turkey kept putting his arms up in front of his face blocking it! We tried to get a profile shot for 20 minutes! We shook my belly, and NOTHING! That little stinker...haha :) But he was so cute just moving around! He was a little wiggle worm!

We kept it a secret from our family members until Saturday. My brother is home on leave from Iraq for 2 weeks, so we all got together on Saturday for pizza and laser tag! 

 

So, my dad was up from St. George,

my sister Renee and her daughter Lindsay were here from Boise, 

Mitch was here from Iraq - it was the perfect opportunity to reveal the sex of our baby :)

 

I made cupcakes for all the family. I carved out the inside of the cupcakes and filled them all with blue frosting. 

 

Then, I frosted the top of them with PINK and BLUE frosting - to throw them off! Then, we had everyone take a bite of the cupcake at the same time and then they got to see the inside of the cupcake with the BLUE frosting!

It was so much fun! For Carl's family - and for MacKenzie since she was in Arizona - we sent an e-mail with all the ultrasound photos and photos of the cupcakes! I hope they liked it!!

 
 Brittany and Shaun enjoying the cupcake!!!







We are praying for a happy and healthy baby boy and we can't wait to meet him! Now comes the hard part...a name! 

Oh! And, today marks 20 weeks for me! I'm halfway done! I can't believe it!!! So much to do!

Christmas

Since the weather thinks that it's Christmas time, I was feeling the need for some Christmas cheer. I decided to look at my photos from this past Christmas. Then, I thought I would post them for you all to enjoy. So, ENJOY! Oh, yeah - Merry Christmas!!! ;)

I'm going to go get out my Christmas stuff and put up my tree...

Me and Santa's Little Helper. Isn't she cute???

This was all that Mitch did the whole time he was on leave. LAY AROUND...Boring.

We were playing Hand and Foot, I think...I just thought this picture was awesome. :)

Byron and Mom waiting at the airport for Mitch to come home!



Trouble (a.k.a. Brookie and a phone) and Dad





Brookie (with a candy cane that I probably gave her...), Mackenzie and
Mom early on Christmas Morning.




Brookie with some sort of candy moustache.

Brittany, Dad, and Shaun at the airport in Idaho Falls, waiting for Mitch to get home!

Santa's Little Helper - you can't tell it from the photo, but she

was shaking her little booty. It was HILARIOUS!!!