Trials, blessings, and random pictures

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for us, with some difficult things happening but also some amazing things happening. So to break it down for you:

Trials
:: Scott is in the middle of his first batch of midterms. He has been feeling stressed about them, but so far has done well. His hardest one, anatomy, is on Tuesday.
:: My great-grandma Lucille passed away about two weeks ago. She was almost 91 and lived an amazing life of influencing and blessing so many people. She has been without my Grandpa Ross for almost twenty years and one of the last things I ever heard her say was that she really missed him, so I am so glad that they are finally getting to spend time together again. My mom also said that if Cal is born late, it is because my grandma isn't done playing with him. Grandma Lucille was known for loving babies and always wanting to hold babies, so I'm sure she is excited to be one of the first to get to play with her great-great-grandson.

5 generation photo when I was a baby -- Grandma Lucille is standing in the back on the right. 

:: At my doctor's appointment on Monday, I found out that my son has some blockage in his kidney and has two ureters on that side instead of the usual one. Apparently this is a very common birth defect and sometimes goes away on its own. If it doesn't, it is usually corrected by surgery when the baby is about one year old. I had a hard time with this this week, I think mainly because I don't know exactly what to expect or what will happen. It seems like this isn't a life-threatening problem, so I am grateful that if he has to have a problem, it is this one that is usually not a big deal. However, I am kind of stressed about how things will turn out, so if you want to keep Baby Cal in your prayers I'm sure it will help. :)

Blessings

:: I am officially an RN! It feels great to be able to say "I'm a nurse." Now I just need a job.

:: The Giants are winning the World Series! They need to win one more game to win the series. Right now they are behind one run, so it might be a couple of games before they win, but we are feeling pretty hopeful and confident that it will go well. The Giants won the World Series for the first time in many years the year we got married, so it seems fitting that they are probably going to win the year our first baby is born.

:: We are still loving LA and the friends we are making here!

Pictures

:: Last weekend, Scott took me on a romantic date to see the sunset on the ocean and eat at a delicious Italian restaurant called Pomodoro (highly recommended, but make sure you make a reservation, because it is a very small restaurant). 

Beautiful sunset

Handsome bearded boy. :) 

:: This weekend we went to a Harry Potter party as Tonks and Lupin (Tonks was the only Harry Potter character I could think of that was pregnant in any of the books)

:: According to ultrasound, this baby is going to weigh over nine pounds. It's looking like that is a correct assessment. We're full term now so he could come at any time!

Giants! and other news.

I don't have any pictures for you this week, but here's what we've been up to...

:: I took the NCLEX on Tuesday. I won't find out if I passed for several weeks, but I think I did well. It is great to be done. I celebrated by going out to Indian food with my grandma and picking out a cute outfit for the baby to come home from the hospital in.
:: Scott made an almost perfect veneer in his waxing class on Wednesday. It is really fun to see him already developing new skills that he will be using in his work as a dentist.
:: Pregnancy hit me full-body with a 2X4 this week. I've been feeling pretty great although having some symptoms off and on, but this week I have basically been as sore and uncomfortable as can be. The good news is this kid will hopefully be here sometime in the next 33 days. :)
:: Scott got to play tennis with some dental school/church friends.
:: The Giants beat the Reds after a stunning 3 game streak that almost sent me into early labor. They are playing the Cardinals in the next round of the playoffs as we speak, and I am excited to see how everything turns out. I really want them to go to the World Series so I can have a party. :)
:: We *almost* saw the space shuttle. Unfortunately it was running 3 hours late and we took public transportation and became stranded in downtown LA. Fortunately we were with friends who helped us make the most of the situation and had other friends who saved us by picking us up.
:: I went with my grandparents to the textile district in LA and got to see my grandma's insane skills at picking out cute fabrics. We have some owl patterns picked out to make some things for the baby. We also went to Phillippe's, which is one of my favorite places to eat in LA.
:: Scott's sisters and some of our nieces and nephews came to town to go to the American Girl store at the Grove. I have always wanted to go there and never had the chance, so it was really exciting for me as well as the little girls. Camille got a new doll (Caroline) and the other girls picked out some cute outfits. We also ate a "fancy" 4-course meal in the cafe, complete with chairs and dishes for the dolls as well. The dolls got their ears pierced and their hair styled, too. It was a delayed dream come true for me. :) I hope one day I have a little girl that I can take there, because I don't think Cal is going to quite appreciate the store. :)

So, all in all, a pretty good week. This week we are looking forward to buying some things for the baby, going out to eat, studying hard (for Scott), reading a lot (for me), and watching the Giants win the next round of playoffs!!

The apartment.

We are loving living in our new apartment in Los Angeles. It is a serious upgrade from our little apartment in Wymount (and we are paying for it...) with two bedrooms, a dishwasher, and air conditioning (my personal favorite in my huge, pregnant state). It is in a nice neighborhood and within walking distance of several grocery stores (and a Rite Aid... for Thrifty's... and a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf... and the library... basically all we need!). We have really been enjoying getting to know this area and making friends with the people that live in University Village.

Our bedroom, dominated by my huge body pillow.

And the dresser. 

And the wall of Paris pictures. :) 

The baby's room... not quite finished, but getting there! We both love going inside and just looking at it. 

Wall decals. Scott loved putting these up. :) 

Baby's bookshelf... the lighting is horrible, but I was too lazy t o wait and redo it. 

Our front room. It's nice to finally have a big couch. :) 

TV land plus my To-Be-Read bookshelf.

THE LIBRARY! I love that we have on in our little house, even though right now it is tiny.

Dining area... again, horrible lighting but I am too lazy to do anything about it. We love our bay window.

Kitchen... much bigger than our last place and with a dishwasher, HOORAY!

This ugly blank wall (with some boxes of things to donate... awkward...) is going to be a huge collage of picture frames and photos once I actually get around to putting it together.