Fall, change, and babies

Well, for the 4-8 of you that have been anxiously awaiting this blog- be excited, it's going to be fantastic. Fall is one of my favorite times of year (it and spring need to duke it out). It makes me sad Vegas does not have real fall colors, I think that's what I miss most about Provo. Fall is also a time of change, and there have been a lot of changes going on in our home. I am just going to forgo talking about Aspen Grove, because it was a long time ago and I never got anyone's pictures. I know, lame. It was a wonderful vacation and I had a great time con mi familia. The rest of our summer passed fairly uneventfully- I got my cast off and went back to work (which explains my lack of blogging, though I realize this is not a real excuse because many people work and yet find the time to do other things, like blogging and keeping up on what's going on outside in the real world), Aaron continued in his new clinical setting, and I got pregnant. You know, the usual. We found out I was pregnant pretty quickly, as we've been trying for a least a decade. I was pretty nervous (and still am), but things are looking really good. At our first doctor's appointment he did an ultrasound (per my request- again the nervous issues) and it looked like a little turtle with a fluttering light in the middle. Pretty amazing. At 12 weeks I saw a perinatologist and they did a fancy ultrasound (aka transnuchal) and the little one was bouncing all over the place- I have a feeling it might have its father's spring for life. I still try not to get too excited, because (as learned from past experience) it is a long, hard fall from cloud nine. For those of you who are worried I am an unhappy prude, not necessary because it is impossible not to be excited about having a baby and I am extremely happy.

This is at 12 weeks. And yes, we are already dorky parents and these pictures are up on our fridge.

Now to explain the beautiful rose at the top of this blog. My creative husband did that last night actually, and yes it is a pumpkin. Pretty cool, no? We carved pumpkins two nights ago and it was so fun, I think we've carved pumpkins every year since we've been married. This may mean that we truly are the world's biggest dorks, or that we really need kids, but either way, it was a blast, and I must say, we pretty much rocked it (Aaron especially)

This is me with my pumpkin- it was an albino pumpkin- all white. (For all of your dying to know if it was white inside, alas, no it was not, it was orangey-green and had a slightly sweet smell to it). I roasted its seeds and they're pretty good. I know, you can barely see me.

Aaron carved this pumpkin- it was ginormous! And -ready for the grossest story ever? - when he went to pick it up to bring it inside he found: now, don't keep reading if you have a weak stomach because this is nasty; tons of crickets living in/eating the bottom of it! Luckily I was not outside when he picked it up, but I knew there was trouble when he said, "Lindsay, you do not want to see this." Which, of course, I then had to look and was thoroughly disgusted. Apparently, the nasty little grotties were hopping all over his feet. I felt some trepidation at him bringing the pumpkin inside (after he had sprayed it with bug spray) but there were no little gross friends inside the pumpkin- they had just eaten a fair amount of the outer bottom. Even with this mishap, the pumpkin is still awesome and the eaten up bottom kind of adds to its Halloween vibe. Sorry, you can't see the nastified bottom in the dark.

Okay, more changes. We got a new air conditioning/heating unit, the cost of which is too painful to even speak. ;) We haven't had a real chance to use it yet, but it has to be better than the old one because it was the perfection of inefficiency. Aaron also finished painting the front shutters of our house blue. I know no one will really notice except for perhaps Matt and Maggie, but it does look a ton better. Notice our cute Halloween decorations? AND the not yet carved pumpkins in the front (pay special attention to the white one). We would like to pay tribute to our family out in California who provided us with said pumpkins. Philip and Julie just visited us a few weeks ago and it was wonderful! Aaron and I both had to work at various times during the week, but it was so nice to have them here! There was lots of bike riding that I was not a part of, and that was alright for me, my pregnant tummy, and my bum which would invariably have gotten sore.

Alright, last but certainly not least we have one last babies to cover: Shane's new dogs. This is about 2 1/2 months late, but we got to spend time at Pine Valley with the family over Memorial day and Shane came down with his cute little mini Dautson (I know, misspelling) puppies! As most of you know, the Ripps are generally not dog people, but those little dogs had our hearts won over in about 30 seconds. It was so nice to, well, first be in Pine Valley, but also to spend time with family. We hiked up a volcano, which turned out to be more strenuous than some of us had bargained for. It was a fantastic weekend.

Now, in closing and all seriousness, I would like to thank my family and friends for all the love and support they have given me this past year. I know the year's not over yet, but I feel like it needs to be said (it could also be hormones). This year has been extremely difficult for me, and would have been much worse if not for all you people. Thank you! (Especially to this wonderful man who lights up my world.)