Merry Christmas!

Brian and I spent Christmas with my parents in Palm Springs. This is the first time in five years that I have been with my parents on Christmas Day. We were unable to go to Seattle since I am so pregnant. It has been so relaxing here. On Christmas Eve I didn't even get out of my pajamas. Although I don't know if I should be necessarily proud of that fact. On Christmas we woke up and opened presents. Savannah was the big winner with a ton of very cute dresses from Grandma!

For Christmas breakfast we ate tamales (SO GOOD) and then went swimming. I posted the picture that was taken from far away- I am the size of a house and a little self conscious. After a very long nap I woke up to Mom's prime rib dinner. We finished the night by going to the movies. We saw Valkyrie, which was very good. What an awesome Christmas. It was so different from the Seattle Christmas. Seattle had a major snow storm- almost blizzard-like conditions. Maybe it was a good year for us to skip since the airport was closed down for many days.

Here are some pictures from the last week!

This is my study group for the last 16 months. This was taken after a finance study session that lasted about 7 hours! Me (the pregnant Kelly), Kelly (the non-pregnant Kelly), Michael and Mark.

Brian and I at The Melting Pot. I have always wanted to go and he took me to celebrate finishing my MBA. The dessert was my favorite part!

My work Christmas Luncheon at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Orange County. I just thought it was a good candid photo of my baby belly at 33 weeks. I am not sure who actually took this picture. I was handing out the Christmas bonuses and someone must of grabbed my camera and snapped a quick picture.

This was taken at the practice for the Primary program. All the kids are so cute!

I am done (deep breath).

I took my last final at Chapman tonight. I had five finals this week which allowed me to complete the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program in a record 16 months.

After the exam I just sat in my car and cried. The past eight months have been the toughest of my life. After Brian and I found out that I was pregnant I put school in overdrive. My advisor told me to drop out. She said it was impossible to go to school more than full time and work full time- all while pregnant. I was determined. I just can't believe I actually did it.

It was a very tearful drive home. It was from joy and exhaustion. I know a lot of my emotions are due to hormones, but I am so overwhelmed by so many feelings. I believe this is what it is like to cross the finish line after running a marathon. I have been in school as long as I can remember. All of a sudden I turned in my finance exam and it was over. Looking back I don't know how I did it. I know it wouldn't have happened without Brian and my parent's support. Thank you.

Baby Shower Weekend

This weekend I was thrown 2 baby showers! On Saturday friends from church threw me a shower. It was at my friend Erika's house. It was so much fun and the food was SO good.

On Sunday a medley of friends came together for a shower. There were people from work, high school, Rainbow, and just friends! It was held at my good friend Kylee's house. It was such a fun afternoon filled with lots of laughter. It felt more like a reunion! Kylee's mom was so generous to let us have the party at her house- which is gorgeous!

My Mom rapping Humpty Dumpty! There were dance moves and everything. She totally won!

Thank you to everyone that came. It was such a special weekend. Now... I just can't wait until she comes!

Peter Moved to Dallas

Peter, my brother, is a News Anchor and Reporter for Fox television. He went from market #99 in El Paso to the BIG TIME market #5 in Dallas. He took the entire month of November off and spent it down here in Palm Springs. My parents drove with him from Palm Springs to El Paso, picked up his stuff, and then drove all the way to Dallas. At least they weren't cramped in the truck the entire time because Peter picked up his brand new car (2009 Honda Accord) while on the way to Dallas. He has an amazing loft on the 20th floor with a view of downtown Dallas. I can't wait to visit him. I am just so excited for him and all the wonderful things happening in his life.

He starts on Monday and soon you can see his stories on the FOX website at http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/.

Thanksgiving 2008

Brian and I are in Palm Springs for Thanksgiving. We participated in the 5k turkey trot with my Mom and Brother. My Mom and I walked and Brian and Peter ran. Peter said that even though I walked that I won my category since I was the only pregnant woman in the race!

Then we took a dip in the spa, watched the Macy's Day Parade and flipped through the paper looking for Black Friday sales. It is a really small group of just the immediate family that will be here for dinner.

4D Ultrasound

My Mom found out about 4D ultrasounds and purchased a sessions for Brian and I as a gift. It was so incredible. My Mom, Dad, and Brother (Peter is in town from Texas) were also able to sit in there too. The room is set up for an audience and the ultrasound is projected on the wall. We all said the baby looks like Brian. The lips and cheeks look like his baby pictures.

Washington-USC Game

Brian's friend Joe came down from Washington to visit last weekend. Although they knew it was going to be a blowout they still went all dressed in Purple and Gold... GO HUSKEY'S!

Need Advice

Right now it is 4:06 AM and I am blogging. If you know me well enough you will know that I never usually see any time between 1 am and 8 am unless something is wrong. Just now I woke up extremely sick. I thought I understood what hard burn was, until now. This was off the charts. I started throwing up (sorry to be so graphic) and it feels like I have something sharp piercing my throat. A woman in our Child Birth Preparation class said she eats ice cream and it goes way. So, I just took two tums and am eating ice cream.

I am not a heartburn person and I don't know how to remedy it! Everything online is medication suggestions, which I can't take. Does anyone else have any suggestions?I will try anything next time this happens.

Halloween 2008

This year Brian came up with a really good (and inexpensive) costume idea for us. A team from the BIGGEST LOSER! I really like that show. Last season Brian kind of got into it because of the yellow team. The guy on the team was pretty extreme. We taped a big pillow to his stomach to create a big belly. As for me, no stuffing was required.

This photo was taken at our wards Trunk 'R' Treat. Knowing Brian his eyes weren't open for the picture, but I am SO glad he dressed up with me. I was really surprised that he even did it. I will say we did sit in the car for at least 15 minutes trying to get him to go inside the church building. His biggest fear was that no one else would be dressed up!

I made those Frankenstein treats again, but thankfully I did not burn up my microwave

this year! Thanks for helping Rebekka!

And... Just for historical purposes... here is a photo from Brian and my first Halloween together. It was in Seattle, and I think the year was 2004. Yes... Brian is wearing black stretch pants... borrowed from his 5'2'' sister.

The Halloween Costume

Brian pulled out the Halloween decoration and costume boxes. It's always fun to look through holiday decorations and remember what I bought last year in the 'after' Halloween sale. I found a pumpkin costume for Lily. Lily usually doesn't mind dog clothes, but tonight she wasn't going for it. After I put it on she immediately walked to the bedroom and started pouting. When Brian and I followed her this is what we found:

We Miss Lily

With the crazy schedule Brian and I have had lately with mid-terms (9 between the two of us) my mom generously offered to babysit Lily for a long time. She loves Grandma and Grandpa's house because she is spoiled! (Yes- Lily knows them as Grandma and Grandpa- no grand kids yet). She gets tons of treats, toys, a backyard, a pool that she jumps in all the time, very long walks, and being able to sleep in bed with them! It probably would be the perfect situation for her if chance wasn't there. It has been 1 and 1/2 weeks and I can't wait until she comes back home! I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures of her. Lily has gotten considerably larger throughout the the photos... she just has a lot of skin.

Mom- Thank you for helping us with watching her. It really did help... a lot!

Her first day at the condo after we picked her up at the Airport. She is from Oklahoma.

Matching Shirts!

She was going to wear this at our wedding, but she quickly grew out of it!
After her bath.

Everytime she gets a new toy she rips the guts out of it. Then it gets stuck in her teeth!

October 20th- Last chance to register for California Residences

It's funny because I was looking for the California registration link to put on my blog to share with others, but I was shocked to see that I NEED to register. I was reading the guidelines (I pasted below), and I realized that I recently changed my driver's license to Kelly Rogers from Kelly Daut. (I know, I know... we have been married for more than 2 years... I feel really bad that it took so long). Well, the point of the story is that when I was reading the guidelines for registering if you changed you name on your driver's license you need to re-register. I didn't even think of it!

So... Here is the link to Register to vote. Remember you must register by October 20th! By the way... does anyone know how to change my name on my social security card? Do I need to do that?

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm

You may register to vote in California if:
-You are a United States citizen
-You are a resident of California
-You are at least 18 years of age (or will be by the date of the next election)
-You are not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction
-You have not been judged by a court to be mentally incompetent

You will need to re-register to vote when:
-You move to a new permanent residence
-You change your name
-You change your political party choice

Our Sealing

On October 11, 2008 Brian and I were sealed at the Newport Beach Temple. Here are some photos:

In-&-Out Urban Legend

Sorry everyone... my cousin just found out that the whole In-&-Out thing was just an Urban Legend. I usually am really good about shifting through all of the forwards I get, but maybe, deep down, I really wanted this forward to be true! I received it from multiple people. Too bad...

For all the In-and-Out Lovers

In-n-Out’s 60th Year Anniversary is Wednesday, October 22nd. All hamburgers will be sold for 25 cents, Cheeseburgers 30 cents, Fries 15 cents, and drinks are 10 cents!!! So mark your calendars!

Mid-Terms

I have five mid-terms within the next three weeks. Right now I am supposed to be completing a take home mid-term for my Future of Real Estate class. I was getting tired of writing so I checked out everyone's blogs. Thanks for the distraction.

One of the 5 questions on my take home mid-term is: Religion has played a major role in the development of cities. Please demonstrate this with examples from the period from Mesopotamia to the Renaissance and assess whether that role is still relevant today.

I have to write 1200 words for each question, so you can see why I am having trouble concentrating.

It would be interesting to get your opinion. Basically, religion played a huge role in developing cities in the past. The town would start with just a religious building, then markets would develop in a circular pattern around the religious building, then common dwelling were built around the market. Typically a wall was build for security purposes (more usual in Islamic countries... motes were created during the Renaissance period). So, my question is...

Do you think that our modern cities are still built around our religions?

I love Food!

The great thing about pregnancy is the satisfaction I get when I satisfy a craving. It is very strange how someone could just mention some type of food, something I may have not eaten in years or something I have never liked, and just could do anything to get my hands on it. I have had a strange cycle for food cravings that have lasted about 2-3 weeks each while I have been pregnant. Here is the progression...

Pickles- on everything

Bagels with whipped cream cheese and salt (sandwich pickles layered on top)

Polish Hot Dogs from Costco with lots of onions

Pizza with extra cheese

Any type of Candy (mainly bite-size Halloween candy)

and now...

French Pastries!

Today I saw someone eat a french pastry (the kind filled with whipped cream) and now I can't stop thinking about it. If ANYONE knows of a french pastry shop/bakery in the Orange County area PLEASE let me know. For some reason I imagine a french pastry shop looking like this!

I HATE VISTA!

Since Brian and I are both going to school full time our one laptop just wasn't cutting it anymore. I bought a new Dell laptop and it came with Vista. Well, I you may have heard, it is really hard to open Windows Vista documents on computers with regular Windows. I like to transfer my notes/homework/papers between my laptop and my home computer to print them. Well, it was driving me crazy since it was having so much trouble. A friend at school told me to just use the CD of Vista from Dell that came with the laptop and install it on my home computer without registering it. I thought you couldn't do that because of legal purposes. He ASSURED me that it is ok. That Vista encourages that so people are more willing to buy Vista since it has a bad reputation.

Well, I did it and things were great for about three days! Then, I get an email from Vista letting me know that my program has been installed twice and that it is illegal. I had 24 hours to contact them if this was an error. I was shocked. I didn't even register it... how did they know? I guess Bill Gates knows all... Well, I waited to ask my friend what to do and the 24 hours expired. Immediately my programs of Vista were shut down on my laptop and I was told to repurchase the program and install it with a new product key. I bought the $128.99 Student and Home Office Vista and can you believe it IT WON'T WORK. I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I am too afraid to call because technically I am a CRIMINAL!

Shopaholic!

On Tuesday I did another interview for Suzie Suh from CBS 2 and KCAL 9. This time it was on shopaholics and impulse shopping. They asked me to just give tid bits on how to become more financially secure. It's funny that they call me for financial tips for different stories. In reality I am just saying the same things over and over again:

Track your Expense- Know where your money is going

Budget your Expenses by creating spending limits

Don't forget to budget for period expenses (i.e. car registration)

Take proactive steps to reduce common expenses (get on the phone and negotiate down your monthly bills, print coupons, cut back on electricity usage, drive less)

Give everyone in the family (including parents) allowances for all of the little things they purchase

Save a minimum of 10% each paycheck for emergencies or unexpected expenses

Focus on debt reduction (cut up retail credit cards immediately!) visit a certified credit counselor at a non-profit agency for help setting up a game plan

Only carry 1 credit card in your wallet and have no more than 2-3 total

Write down all of your debit card purchases in your checkbook registry (where they belong) to avoid any Non Sufficient Fund Fees

Talk about finances as a family- Budgeting is only successful when everyone in the family contributes to its success

Even though I basically say this entire list each time on camera it is up to the reporter to pick and choose which one to put into the story. So... Here is the link to watch the video clip of the CBS/KCAL interview, but you basically just read it in my blog!

http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=78038@kcbs.dayport.com

New Bedding and More Movement!

Last night I felt Savannah from the outside of my tummy. It was the strangest feeling I have ever had. Each time she begins to kick I will have someone put their hand on my stomach to feel it too, but she ALWAYS stops. Brian is getting a little frustrated. When she starts kicking I will call for him and he runs in and puts his hand on my belly and nothing!

Also, this past weekend my Mom and I went out and found the cutest bedding. My Mom bought us two beautiful pieces of furniture. We decided that a full size crib would just be too big for our little one-bedroom condo. We got a porta-crib and a changing table to match. The wood is a dark espresso. So, try to imagine the lady bugs with the pale pink against the dark wood- it's adorable. The only disappointing part is that porta-cribs have a minimal selection of only ugly bedding, and the lady bug bedding didn't come in porta-crib. So, I bought as much as I could (hamper, diaper holder, mobile, paintings, rug, valance, and drapes). I couldn't get the actual bedding (bumper, fitted sheet or quilted blanket). I figured that I could just buy more drapes and try to make the stuff I couldn't buy... since I don't sew it will be a challenge! The changing table had wicker baskets instead of drawers so I thought I would change out the basket liners with the matching material from extra drapes.

Here is a photo from their website at www.kidslineinc.com:

Just a couple Political Cartoons