Baby Victoria (?)

This morning Cristy and I had our 17 week appointment and heard our baby's heartbeat again. It was much easier for the Doctor to find it than last time, and we were pretty excited (158 bpm).

Cristy is still very healthy and has only gained four pounds so far (but not for lack of want or try). Cristy eats 6-8 small meals a day and is very conscious of her and baby's health :)

We set up our next appointment and were also told it is time to find out the gender. Our big sonogram/ultrasound appointment is December 8th at 4:30 PM. Barring any shyness on Victoria's part, we will finally confirm that she is, in fact, a girl. The next step will be naming her Victoria.

Also, last night Cristy told me she was invoking "mommy's right," which apparently is when one gets to do whatever she wants so long as she is Mom (or woman, in a broader and more realistic sense).

I tried to pull the whole "well what about daddy's rights" thing and she laughed at me and went to bed. So, maybe Victoria will end up being Loqiesha or something else from the bazaar. But for now, at least, you all know what I will be calling our daughter :)

~The Moreiras

CORRECTION: Family

The following post was recently added to our blog:

"Liz, Grant, and Hallie are definitely our favorite family members.
We Love them more than anyone else."

For those of you who have not already inferred the truth of this message, let me make it publicly known that this message was posted by none other than one Grant Campbell, of the Ohio Campbells. Though it is true that Grant has a beautiful baby girl and wife, we cannot affirm that the they are our favorite family members.

In light of this situation, however, we would like to declare a competition. Whichever family is first to visit baby Victoria (after her birth) will be anointed "Favorite Family Member" for the week. Due to certain traveling restrictions, we will expand this competition to include distance waivers, depending on the creativity of the proposal (e.g., if Mando decides to send a life-sized cutout of her family by proxy of being here in person, this may be considered appropriate for the award, dependant on final consideration from the judges, and so forth).

If we remember (or someone reminds us) we will post this contest again the month before the birthing. There is only one rule: CHEATING IS ALLOWED. That is all.

~The Moreiras

Halloween Partays in Da House

Our Ward had its annual Trunk or Treat the evening before Halloween this year. Families bring stews, soups, or chilies and and we all dine well that evening. This was our table (the candy corn was gone before the night ended.)

The first counselor in our Ward won the informal costume competition. He's around 6'6 and, well, typically a little less round than this. The sandals made the costume (and it was a hair see-through).

These guys dressed up as LDS Missionaries--pretty impressive. Then I realized that they were our missionaries for the Ward and I felt less impressed.

The Spoomers told me if I was older I would understand their costume. Any takers on that?

Halfway through the night I realized that our friends the Bees dressed up as Bees. How clever!

And the Taylors, who will be moving to the same neighborhood as us in January (hopefully!), dressed as Sting and a Princess (because the female wrestlers costume was just too revealing). Not that Stings' tights weren't too revealing...

Cristy's visiting teachee Janelle and her daughter

The Salters (we will live one building over from them soon). Best Family Costume! Try not to read too much into the subtext here ;) Let's just say they are brother and sister in the Gospel and leave it at that :)

Cristy and I last participated in this a donut eating contest before we were even dating. Though she got the upper hand in that contest (despite my attempts to block her out with my booty)...

...Nathaniel would go to any extreme to win this one (to include giving her donut an extra little spin with his forehead).

Now Nathaniel thought he had a pretty good Alaskan Crab Fisher costume, but others thought he looked a little more like a.) a garbage man, b.) a construction workers, c.) a snowboarder, d.) a prisoner, and my personal favorite, e.) a sanitation worker. Cristy had far less problems being recognized as a football fan.

The following night (Halloween Saturday) we attended an adult birthday get-together. Nathaniel discovered that the local black widow (she is pregnant) has arms enough for plenty of men. Her husband, left, is bald and dressed as a man with hair.

The Taylors again, with Sting going a little more risque with the beater and his wife going as a state champion gymnast, which she was in Utah.

Also, don't forget this important message about Emo kids. Tell your kids and your kids weirdo friends.

At Times, Titles Can Be Overrated

A little behind, but here the picture blog is nonetheless...

Here Cristy opens up her present from the Campbells in Mexico. Thanks Campbells! Cristy also got a tortilla warmer/holder (and, she opened her presents three days early).

A day before her birthday we got to go to the Washington DC Temple and watch our friends from the singles ward get married (yay for Nancy and Scottie). They dated off and on for many years, then he was baptized and they were married. We had fun escorting the family around the Temple Visitor's Center, a very important assignment.

Cristy loves Nathaniel so much that she chose to look at him instead of the photographer :)

And Nathaniel, who has taken lots of photos in his life, knows not to smile until the photographer starts counting down. It works, unless your spouse is taking pictures on the sly :)

The next day, the big 3-O for Cristy, we celebrated by running a half-marathon in Baltimore, about an hour and a half north of DC. My father's gift to us was a hotel close enough to the race that we could walk, which ended up being a life-saver because of street closings the day of the race! Thanks Dad! (PS We didn't win race, and we accidentally gave away our race medals to a homeless guy.)

One week later we celebrated Cristy's birthday with my family. We were slotted to go rock-climbing, but they wouldn't let us because we couldn't remember how to tie the belay knot :( Lessons didn't start for a few hours so we modified our plans and went to a covered driving range instead. Below, Cristy shows off her LPGA form (or her best Babe Ruth impression...)

This range was special because it scored your balls, each which contained a chip inside.

Here Nathaniel takes a practice swing (read: not a wiff).

I'm not sure what my sister is doing, but she may be trying to swing at the ball. Not sure though.

This is my Moms face right after she finds out that Cristy and I are pregnant :) We told everyone by scrap booking the half-marathon, wherein Cristy included an e-mail Nathaniel sent to the race director asking to let his pregnant wife run in the race, even though the race was officially closed.

A few days before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out some pumpkins to carve with some friends.

Some had warts and due to the weather, some were already spilling their guts :(

Nathaniel had his last soccer game for the year and Cristy showed up for the game.

On a lunch break, Nathaniel took his camera around DC to snap some photos of buildings he had not been in yet. This one is the African American History Museum (I think).

Upskirt Tree (Holly)

You could probably have heard this guy coming from a mile away (get it? heard him coming ha ha ha...)

Hanging monkeys--for real.

A youth art context winner--something to do with literature in today's society. Makes Nathaniel feel great about what his kids will think about literature.

Nathaniel's work.

A tree that hadn't quite switched to the fall yet--you could say it was fifty-fifty on the decision (hahahahaha)

You can see the Washington monument in the distance if you squint your eyes....

Here's the strange picture for the blog. These pythons (rock something pythons) have been found in Florida and are extremely aggressive towards humans and can swallow an entire deer. Yeah...a deer (i.e., anyone in your family).

Here's another one that went for a cow on a farm and attacked the electrical fence to get there. It died from shock. Look at its multiple rows of teeth!!!!!