The Niu Family

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Home again... home again.

Well hello family and friends. Can I just say that the second trimester of pregnancy is fabulous!! Wow. I've never felt so good... besides some nasty heartburn. Life has been great. We are anxiously awaiting April 7th, the day we find out whether we're having a boy or girl! Yay!! By the way this baby is moving it feels like we may have a little football player coming to the family. I've had strong feelings that it will be a boy, but I would be absolutely thrilled with a little girl. It's just all so exciting!! My tummy popped about a week ago. It's been interesting to see all the many changes. We couldn't be more excited for Baby Niu.

During the first week in February I had the opportunity to fly to Sacramento and spend an ENTIRE WEEK with my family. It was heaven. It would have been perfect if Jon could have come, but work and school took over. I'm so grateful for how hard he works for our little family. It was Dad's 50th Birthday. We had quite the week of celebrations. Enjoy lots of pictures from my visit to California!

Dad you look so lovely.

Love them.

What a sweet face! You'll see lots and lots of pictures of this baby girl.

"They're brothers... The Wishes Brothers." Oh dear, Hilly.
I couldn't stop laughing!

Great-Grandpa Hogge playing with the girls.

Dad's Family.

So, these next set of pictures are what happens when it gets late and we get tired...

Mari's best crazy face.

Mindy's best.

Sarah's best.

And Hilly's best... actually she had too many to choose from,
but I think this was my fav.

Aaron's impression of the Prince from Tangled.

Bradford was just too cool.

Dad is just so handsome. It was so different coming from
snowy, ugly, cold Utah to beautiful, sunny, green California.

I spent some time with Grandma Hogge baking and cooking.
We made Beef Wellington for the family.

We also made this divine Zebra Cheesecake.
I love spending time with Grandma Hogge.

I also HAD to bake with Mari, of course.
We make Mom's chocolate chip cookies with lots and lots of sprinkles.

Alice approved of the cookies.

For part of Dad's birthday week of celebrations we went to Leatherby's.
This is Alice's new smile. When you tell her to say "cheese" this is what she does.

Mari showing us her gigantic mouth... takes after Aunt Mindy.

I, of course, had to have my Black 'n Tan.

Alice just kinda shared with everyone. How could you resist such a sweet face.

And she thought it would be fun to spoon ice cream into Aunt Mindy's hands.

Another tradition we have is going to downtown Sac to eat lunch with Dad.
He works close to the Capitol. After a light lunch, we walked the Capitol Park.
It was a gorgeous day!!!

Goofy Sarah.

Dad loves his girls.

Alice wanted to carry around the bag of chips... and so she did... everywhere.

Beautiful sisters.

It was the perfect week.
I felt like royalty being chauffeured to my different destinations, taking naps,
spending quality time with family and eating lots and lots of delicious food.
And thank you Mom for all the pictures!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Big News!

We are pregnant!!!!! I have been SO EXCITED to tell everyone. I am about 4 months along and everything has been going so well. My first trimester was accompanied by much nausea and exhaustion. I feel blessed to not have thrown up once. I strongly dislike throwing up. However, there were days/weeks I would feel sick ALL THE TIME and would have welcomed some release by throwing up, haha. Now that I'm into my second trimester I feel pretty good. I'm learning that the exhaustion will probably never go away. Mommy's body making a baby = exhaustion. But I'm loving feeling a bit normal again. I'm not showing one bit. I wish I was, but I'm sure I'll start showing soon and once I'm 8 months I'll wish I could be smaller, haha. I may feel/look a little bloated some days, but my tummy is pretty much as flat as it was before I got pregnant. We heard the heartbeat a couple weeks ago and it was such a precious experience. Jon's face lit up. He will be an incredible Daddy. We felt blessed to know there is actually something in there. The heartbeat was strong and clear. Doc said Mommy and baby are very healthy. I've been having lots and lots of dreams about a little baby boy. I guess we'll find out in another month or so. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted. Yay!! We are grateful we were able to get pregnant our first month trying. The Lord has really blessed this family. Due date is August 21st, our 2nd anniversary!

Monday, January 10, 2011

The Holidays and a Wedding.

The Holidays were filled with lots of fun and traveling this year. We had a wonderful Christmas. I got my beautiful Chris Madden serveware and lots of other fun things... and the hubby got his iPad. When he opened it he thought it was a joke, haha. I immediately said, "Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, and Happy Graduation." We love our iPad.

After spending Christmas in Utah we drove up to John Day, Oregon on New Year's Eve to visit my Great-Grandma West. Mom was born in John Day and as a family we used to visit the beautiful, little town each summer. Grandpa Joe (Mom's Dad) passed away a few years ago. I haven't visited John Day for 5 or 6 years!! It was definitely time for a visit. Luckily, my sweet husband suggested we go before the wedding. Grandma West is timeless. She is in her 90's and still sharp and beautiful. It was so good to be with her. We love you Grandma West!

While in John Day we stayed at my great uncle's cottage. We felt like royalty!

After a relaxing weekend in John Day we headed to Eugene for the wedding! Yay!! I was so happy to be with my family. We all stayed in a beautiful home and enjoyed each other's company... food, games, movies, sleeping... bliss.