Thanksgiving

I bet every blog is going to have a post with the same title. For Thanksgiving we joined the extended Wheat family in Needles, CA, on the Colorado River. It wasn't too far from home and was still with family, which was nice. We missed spending the holiday without any of our siblings or parents, but since we only had a few days off of work we felt it best to stay close this year. I had a great time just chilaxin and Robert had fun golfing and four wheeling.
Dinner was delicious!

We all got Wheaties shirts.

The next day Ken, Robert's uncle, and his fiancee, Barbie, (seriously, what are the odds?) were married in a small ceremony by the river.

We find out tomorrow if our baby is a boy or a girl. The poll revealed that most of our friends and family (and maybe random people) think we should both just found out the sex of the baby. Robert has been walking around all day asking "Should I find out?" I of course tell him my opinion, yes, but also that he is a big boy and can make his own choice. So tomorrow will reveal two surprises, whether we are having a boy or a girl, and whether Robert actually decides to find out.

San Fransisco- The Sightseeing

On Wednesday and Thursday while I was at the conference Robert went and "hoteled in" at the San Fransisco PWC office, meaning, he went and and found an empty cubicle and did his work there. He had a great view of the the bay and (I'm guessing) got a lot of work done. So Saturday we both went out and did sightseeing stuff.

First we went to Alcatraz. Very fun way to start the day. We are the kind of people who make sure we see everything if we have to pay a lot to get in, so we were there for like three hours. We saw the orientation video, did the audio tour of the prison, went on a guided tour by one of the rangers, and went on the Agave trail. The highlight of the trip is seeing the prison because they tell you about the famous people who stayed there and about the escape attempts. We would really recommend the ranger tour because they take you to the back of the island and other places that you don't normally get to see on the tour, and it doesn't cost any extra. The Agave Trail wasn't long at all and you also got to go down to where most people don't go. The trail is closed most times of the year for wildlife conservation, but we were lucky enough to be there when it was open.

After Alcatraz we went to Pier 39 and I got clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowel. I have been craving it recently and I just had to have it while we were there. It reminds me of our honeymoon because we went on our honeymoon by Monterrey and I had clam chowder at like every restaurant because I wanted to find the best (Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach definitely won). So we ate, saw sea lions, and then wandered over to another pier and took a tour of a WWII submarine. That was cool. I can't believe how many men they would pack into that space!

We finished the day by seeing some more ships and then getting hot fudge sundaes at Ghirardelli square. Then we took the trolley back to our hotel. We were actually staying in China Town, so we also looked around the shops by our hotel. And that was basically our trip.

San Fransisco-The Presentation

Last weekend we took a trip up to San Fransisco where I presented my paper from Guatemala at the national American Anthropology Association conference held at the Hilton San Fransisco. Robert came with me and we had a great time checking out San Fransisco.

We got there Wednesday night and I went to the conference all day Thursday and got a feel for the presentations. I didn't present until Friday and I was really glad I had Thursday not to stress and just check out the conference. It was really really fun. There are hundreds of presentations each day so attendees just look through the program book and choose which ones sound interesting. The presentations were all broken down into sessions on a broad topic, and within the session were four or more fifteen minute presentations. Everything is really open so people just come in and leave whenever they want (but usually between presentations). I went to sessions on NGOs, working with migrant children in schools, violence against women, and saw some student films on child soldiers in Nepal and Italian/Texan traditions. It was such a cool experience and the attendees and presenters varied from student to professionals to professors (although there are very few undergrads, especially undergrad presenters). I was really glad I decided to go.

The rooms ranged in size from very small (like a small college classroom) to very large auditorium-like rooms. I went to check out our room the day before and was shocked at how huge it was. It was bigger than any of the other rooms I had been in that day. I was feeling pretty confident about presenting after watching so many people that day, but I was pretty bummed out our room wasn't more intimate.

The next day I spent most of the morning getting ready (btw, printing at Kinkos is ridiculously expensive). Our session started at 1:45 and we were suppose to have about nine presenters. I walked in the room at 1:30 and was enthusiastically greeted by two of the other students who had gone to Guatemala with me. They were happy to see me again, but probably most happy because they knew of only one other presenter who was actually going to be there and at least three that had canceled.(They also could tell right away that I was pregnant, which shocked me. I didn't think it was so obvious yet) I think they were just happy to see another person show up! Soon the other person they had known about arrived plus one more student. He brought news of another student who was coming, but whose flight was just barely landing at SFO. So when we started we had five presenters plus one on the way. Four people canceled or didn't show up, which made us a little nervous because now we had an extra hour to fill up.

Turns out time really didn't matter. Its pretty hard to present all your research in 15 minutes and a lot of people usually end of talking really fast or not getting as far as they wanted in their presentation. Since we had the extra time our prof. let us take as long as we needed without rushing us about ending on time.

They also let the audience ask as many questions as they wanted afterwards. Stink! Q & A is the worst part about presenting because you can't prepare for it. You just have to think on your feet and do your best. I had been so happy we wouldn't have time for Q & A. It also happens to be the most productive and interesting time because you are able to get feedback, so our prof. was thrilled we would get the chance. We finished the session only fifteen minutes before our scheduled time was up.

Our audience was pretty small, maybe ten people, but they were mostly older scholars and professors on Maya studies, so they were a pretty high caliber group to present to. We put our chairs in a sort of circle with the presenters on the top of the circle. By the end of the session more people had come and gone and there was more of division between "us" and "them. " I thought I did pretty well, no major mistakes, and I did good on the Q & A too. I'm really glad I did it and I am really glad it is over. It turned out to be pretty low pressure and it was great experience.

What Will Our Baby Look Like?

I'm sure every parent spends a lot of time thinking of this. Probably a lot are like me and hope that their baby is really cute, but then know that whatever the baby looks like it's going to be cute to the parents. I was looking at some of my families baby pictures to get an idea of Sandberg babies look like.

Here is Chris's (my older brother) first baby picture. I love this picture. It really captures the "what the heck is going on??" feeling that babies must feel right after they are born. But Chris turned out to be such a cute little baby. I wouldn't mind having a baby similar.
But of course, that's Chris. What about me? Here is me. Being a second child there are significantly less options for baby pictures for me.
I was pretty chubby, so I think was a cuter toddler.
Now I need to find some Wheat baby pics.

Will Robert Be Surprised by the Gender of Our Baby?

Maybe.
Actually, we'll see. I'm definitely finding out. I can keep a secret. Now can I trust everyone else to keep a secret too?

Home Improvements, Fires, and of course, Babies

This time of year has got to be the weirdest time of the year for people like me who come from colder climates and live in Southern California. You would think that November would be cooler than October, but yesterday it was 90 degrees here! Just when I was starting to feel comfortable drinking my beloved hot chocolate we get this November heat wave. Blame the Santa Ana winds.

Robert and I did some yard work yesterday and it was a beautiful day as long we stayed in the shade.

Here is what we were working on:

Before
Afterand we did the other side last week.We had to make a trip to Home Depot for the wood chips and were surprised to see the southern sky (opposite side of the house that we were on) full of smoke. There are fires burning all over Southern California right now, and a fire started burning yesterday in Orange County just south of where we live, in the Corona and Yorba Linda areas. You can see the progression of the fire on this LA Times Map. We live just north of the 10 freeway, so you can see it is actually getting pretty close. Good thing we live in the middle of the city and not in the hills. Last night we looked out our window and could see the hills along the south horizon glowing with fire.

We tried taking a picture, but the other light sources drowned out most of the glow. You can still see it though if you look closely. The fire was all along the ridge.So here is a pic from the LA Times
In other exciting news, we got curtains! No more sheets hanging on the windows! It's amazing how they make the house feel more like a home. Now I am excited to hang up pictures .More house pictures when we hang up our pictures and clean up a little. And lastly, we obviously have our camera working now. Here is me at 18 weeks.

It's Starting to Feel Real

Yesterday we went to Mervyns (I'm so sad they are going out of business) to check out their sales. I found a rack with little kid and baby clothes for $2! Except, I couldn't get anything because they were either very definitely little girl clothes or very definitely little boy clothes. I found a green little onsie that could go either way and snatched it up. Then I also got another green baby outfit that was on sale (everything was on sale) because it was cute and I really wanted to get baby clothes. When I got home I hung them up on the mirror in our bedroom and felt giddy looking at them. Having some baby clothes makes it feel so real. I really will be having a baby in another five months that I can dress and put those clothes on.

What I really should have been looking at was the maternity clothes since I actually do have a tiny belly now and my clothes are starting to get a little tighter. (It was dinner time though, and Robert and I were hungry) It will still be a little longer until I outgrow my clothes, but it's nice to have a little belly. Now Robert can see that I actually am pregnant and not just whining that I don't feel good because I want him to do everything for me. Robert is really cute about my little belly. When I first got pregnant I asked him what he thought about me getting big and he said he probably wouldn't like it. But now that I am getting bigger he loves it. He likes talking to my belly because, "Thats my baby in there!" I really need to find some batteries for our new camera (our old one was stolen) so I can take pictures of my belly now that I'm starting to show.

Another thing that makes our baby feel real is hearing his heartbeat. We had our latest doctor's appointment on Monday and it's just so comforting to hear his heartbeat and know that he (his heart at least) is doing okay in there. I've started to feel more activity in my belly area, but I don't really know what he feels like when he's moving. I can't really say I can feel him moving, but I probably do feel him and not realize it. So right now hearing that heartbeat feels like all we have to know he is really there. Our next doctor's appointment is December 1st and we get to have the ultrasound and see our baby!

Which brings up my next topic. Should we find out the gender of the baby? I really want to. I want to feel connected to the baby and instead of saying "Good morning baby" (like I do now when I wake up) I want to be able to say "Good morning baby Micah" or Good morning baby Julia." I also want to be able to buy cute baby clothes because after shopping at Mervyns yesterday I've realized there is really not much out there that is gender neutral and the baby would end up with a wardrobe full of green and yellow clothing.

Robert wants to be surprised. He figures we have a boy and a girl name, what else matters? We can buy clothes later, even have a baby shower later if we want to. We already want to go as gender neutral as possible since who knows if it would really end up being what the doctor tells us it is. Then we can also use the baby items for our next baby if the next one ends up being a different gender. Robert has even been so kind as to tell me that he would be okay with me finding out and even telling everyone else, but he would still want it to be a surprise for him.

Eeks, I'm torn. I really want to know. Robert really doesn't. I think it would be hard for everyone to keep a secret like that from him. But I guess if he really doesn't want to know...What do you think? Take the poll on the right.

Wow, this ended up being longer than expected. Congrats everyone who is still reading! And be sure to check out the last two posts too! It's rare that we have three posts in one day, but it may be ever rarer that Robert does a post!

Baby Names

I thought this deserved it's own post now since Robert already wrote that he is grateful for Micah or Julia. Our baby names that we have had picked out forever are

Micah Robert Wheat
or
Julia Grace Wheat

Now you know. And now there should be no confusion over Robert's "I'm Thankful" list.

My Thankful List

Ten things I (Robert) am thankful for are:

1) Melarie
2) Micah or Julia (whichever it turns out to be)
3) Jesus Christ and the Atonement
4) My Job - I just enjoy business
5) Technology (Internet, Playstation, TIVO, The MTN on DirectTV, telecommuting, GPS in golf carts, airplanes, wireless communication, blackberry, DVD Burners, laser sights, night vision, laser guided weapons, etc.)
6) Sports (BYU Football, Lakers basketball, Dodger Baseball, and Robert Golf)
7) America, Star Spangled Banner, US Armed Forces, and any Toby Keith song about sticking a boot up your a**.
8) PROP 8 and the understanding that at least 52.7% of Californians still have moral character and are willing to vote their moral conscience despite the accusations of being prejudice and intolerant. I still am surprised this actually past, good job to all of those who supported and volunteered to protect the sanctity of marriage.
9) Microsoft Excel - How simple it makes my job
10) EBay, NewEgg, craigslist, and Steapandcheap

10 Things I Am Thankful For

Welcome to November everyone! I love this time of year. To start out the Thanksgiving season I am creating my own tag. It's a really simple one on being thankful.

10 Things I Am Thankful For:
1. Robert
2. Our baby
3. Family
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
5. My washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher. ( I guess that's three)
6. Our house
7. Being able to sleep in on Saturdays
8. Public transportation (I hate driving to work)
9. The Internet
10. Books

I tag: Robert, David and Jen, Kevin and Ellen, Rick and Denise, Lauren, LaRee, Haydee and anyone else who wants to join in.

This pregnancy mind must be getting to Robert too. Yesterday he wished the trick-or-treaters a Happy Thanksgiving!