Here she is!

So I finally got around to scanning in our ultra sound pictures. Here she was at 10 weeks.
And here she was at 20- what a cutie.

Merry Christmas!

We bought our Christmas tree early this year. Somehow we have created a tradition of naming our trees, and this year's edition is Shaq. It's the first time we've had a tree this big, so we will probably need to buy a few more ornaments.

Speaking of bigger things- here I am at 25 weeks. My tummy has really grown- I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and I had gained 9 pounds in 5 weeks! Whoops, I'm really not sure what happened. Oh well, I just hope it doesn't happen again. She still kicks a lot which is wonderful. I bought some clothes for her this week which was so fun. I'm trying to not think too much about what we need until Christmas is over, but I know time will go by so fast and she will be with us before we know it.

Friendly Competition

So this year marked the 2nd Annual Thorpe Family Gingerbread Competition. Last year was kind of a trial run, so this year we all had a better idea of what we were up against. The competition was pretty fierce. Actually, we had a great time and ate a lot of candy (we bought way to much- like $60 too much.)
Dad's creation started out as Lake Sammamish with speed boats on it. Then it turned into a guy in a bath tub and ended up being the Lake Samamish Monster. Definite points on creativity.
Mom did kind of a mosaic thing that was a Poinsettia with a candle in the middle. It was really pretty and cool- she probably had the best use of candy.
Kara and Josh made a Monopoly board. It was awesome- Kara even made the "go to jail" guy out of taffy or something. Their's had the most details and they were the last ones working- way to endure to the end!
Megan made a cop car- how fitting. She had the best use of real-life experience.
We were all giving Selina ideas right and left, but she came up with this little beauty all on her own. That's her singing on a stage (with purple hair) with back up singers. All those gummy bears are her fans. It was pretty clever.
I don't think Al had much of a plan, but it turned into a pretty cute little robot. He also helped Spence with some details on his. Al was a team player.
I was pretty adventurous this year and tried for a Southern-style steam boat. After all the major construction I got kind of pooped out on the decorating, but it turned out pretty cute.
Last but certainly not least was Spencer's creation. If I had to pick an overall winner it would be him for sure.

If you haven't seen the movie Hot Rod, this may not make much sense to you. But that is the famous moped bus jump. His scene was complete with grandstands, buses, the am radio station and Rod Kimball's quiet place. Also note the inscription on the ramp as well as the fire works. Way to go Spence- stay sweet!

Happy Turkey Day!

So the Sunday before Thanksgiving we woke up to an interesting sound. I actually thought it was puppies, so I looked out the window and saw 7 or 8 wild turkeys roaming around our parking lot! They gobbled and everything. I thought of them as I ate my Thanksgiving dinner- yum.


Thanksgiving was fun- Josh, Kara and Megan came up from Utah for the weekend. My parents were getting ready to move, so unfortunately we had to do some packing and stuff. Almen got a little carried away.
We went to Bellevue Botanical Gardens. If you are ever in the area around Christmas time, it's worth it. Actually it's free, so it's really worth it. They do up the whole place in Christmas lights but they make everything look like flowers and plants. It was really cool.



Our next stop was Snowflake Lane. Right in down town Bellevue they set up snowflake lights and decorations and stuff. Then every night at 7:00pm they have a bunch of toy soldier drummers. They pipe in music and the kids walk down the street and drum a long. It 'snows' and they hand out candy. We have gone the last few years and it's a fun way to start off the Christmas season.

It's a Girl!

We are so excited to announce that our baby is a girl. Neither of us really had any feelings either way, so it was a fun surprise. We got a DVD of our ultrasound and we have watched it a few times since then and we just love her already. She looks like a lanky tangle of knees and elbows. She is kicking more and more- mostly when I'm sitting in the car or on the couch. She must be getting extra squished or something. I wore nylons to church today and she did not like that at all (neither did I actually.) Thanks to all our awesome friends who called, texted or sent us cute gifts. We miss you all!

Soccer player?

So last night we were watching TV and the baby kicked. It was so fun- I had felt a few flutters on the inside, but was never really sure if it was baby or the nachos I had for dinner. But it was definitely baby this time and the kicks were strong enough that Spence could feel them from the outside. It was amazing to be able to share the experience together. I have felt him/her a few more times today, so it looks like we have a mover and a shaker on our hands. It is so nice to feel that little life in there and to know that it's doing ok. We are very excited.

Happy Decemberween

I absolutely love this time of year. There is nothing like shopping for a Halloween costume and being able to buy a Christmas stocking at the same time. Even though it's mostly green here, we did get some beautiful fall leaves and some crisp fall air. We made caramel apples with the family and carved pumpkins. Here I am in my awesome Halloween

costume- Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch. We didn't have anyparty plans, but I had to dress up for work. I'm not going to lie- I'm pretty dang proud of that hair. I tried to talk Spence into being the Grinch, but his heart is two sizes too big (buh dum ching!) He did carve an awesome pumpkin though.

The bump has arrived

So last night I had to loosen the drawstring on my lounge pants. It was at that moment that I realized- wow, I really am getting big. It seems like in the last week my belly has really started to poke out. So here I am- 18.5 weeks along. I can't believe we are almost half way!

Just FYI- we go in for our ultrasound on Thursday November 5th at 9:30 am. 

It was such a beautiful fall day that we decided to go out and take advantage of it. Snoqualmie Falls is just 15 minutes from my parents' home. It has been raining buckets over the last few days, so it was really full. This was actually the very first thing Spence and I did the first time he visited me here when we were dating.

Last weekend my Dad took me out on the Harley (so fun!) and we went further past the Falls and found a railroad and train museum. Basically, it's a bunch of rusty, busted up train cars on an old track. But I guess it's historical- so we headed there next.

I hope you can see from the pictures just how crappy these looked. Some even had plants growing out of them- right from the metal.

Our final stop was a giant tree trunk. I am not really sure what this thing is all about- there was no information board or anything. People in Washington just really like trees I guess.


As I am writing this post I am realizing- we really need to make some friends. Or our old friends can just move here and we can take them to these super-cool places in person.

When's that BABY due? BABY!

So I decided to add a baby count down gadget, but the ones with the floating babies kind of freak me out so luckily I found a different one. Just so you all know- we will be finding out if the baby is a boy or girl on November 5th in the morning. If you have a guess or wager, let us know!

She works hard for the money...

So I got a job- hooray! We have been here a month and I have had a few interviews, but surprisingly no one wanted to hire a pregnant girl who would quit in 5 months. So finally I found a place who would take me. It's a dentist office in Bellevue and I am handling some stuff in their front office as well as assisting in the back. It's a great job and I'll never be bored. The dental industry pays well; I get nights, weekends and holidays off; and we get cheaper dental care. All around, not too shabby. 

Boating in October

So we have been here in Washington for about a month now and it has been great. Spence is loving his job and we are enjoying my family. Some how my Dad talked us into going out on the boat with him last weekend. Air temperature: 51 degrees. Water temperature: 54 degrees. It was so cold! Luckily, we borrowed a dry suit from a friend so Dad and Spence both stayed warm and dry. But not as warm and dry as me. Being pregnant, I had to sit out in my hoodie, ear muffs and quilt. It was awesome though. We are already looking forward to boating all the time next summer- no dry suits required!

We are official bloggers!

And by 'we' I mean me, because Spencer has a job and lots of stuff to do. But we are excited to share some Seattle adventures with everyone. I'm still trying to figure out how to do everything on here, so if you have any tips or good web sites for gadgets, let me know. Also, if you have a blog tell me so I can add you to my little list I will make that shows how many cool friends we have with blogs. Hooray!