Another Day on the Slopes

Andy has been getting out skiing quite a bit lately. I think he knows his time on the slopes will be limited once the baby comes. On this particular day he went skiing with Larry at Alta. It was a snowy day...

Flag Football Anyone?

Andy joined a team and has been playing flag football on Sunday afternoons. It's a great group of 30-something year olds who just want to go out and have a little fun on the field. I go to all of the games but usually spend most of my time talking to my friend, Katie. Sorry, Andy...I have seen some good plays, though.

My New Accessory

After waking up in the middle of the night, three times, with an unbearable throbbing right hand, it has been determined that I have carpal tunnel syndrome. I was a little surprised to hear this but it does make sense. The carpal tunnel is a bony canal formed by the wrist bones on three sides and a ligament that runs across the wrist on the other. The swelling and fluid retention that's so common during pregnancy can increase the pressure in this relatively narrow and inflexible space, compressing the median nerve that runs through it. To help alleviate the pain, I have to wear this beautiful brace at night and as much as I can during the day. (We did a science experiment with making butter--that included a lot of shaking of the jar--and my students thought I had to wear the brace from shaking the jar too much. Too cute!) The good news: The symptoms will slowly go away after the baby is born.

Let's Not Forget About Cooper

Just wanted to include some cute pics of Cooper playing in the backyard. He has been spending a majority of his time in the backyard playing with a tennis ball. I guess he likes to do his jaw exercises. :)


He plays hide-and-seek with the ball,


chews the ball,



licks the ball,



sleeps by the ball,



and is just plain cute next to the ball.

35 weeks...

Time is just a ticking away! It won't be much longer and we'll finally get to meet little Emma!! On this particular day, at 35 weeks, I was looking a bit like a torpedo...

You R.O.C.K.!

Our school threw us a baby shower this past Friday. It was a complete surprise to me but, I guess, Andy knew about it the whole time. We received a lot of items off of our registry, including the pack 'n play--the last big item we needed. We just had to show off one of our favorite gifts. First, though, a little background. Our school has a school-wide behavior system utilizing "You Rock" tickets. If students are caught showing (R)respect, (O)organization, (C)cooperation, (K)kindness they receive a white "You Rock" ticket. If an entire class shows off their "rockin" behavior, they receive a golden "You Rock" ticket. A name is drawn from each class on Friday and those students receive a prize. Classes can also use the "You Rock" tickets for their own classroom behavior system. So, that's a little background. Here is a gift we received from a staff member at our school:

U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix

Last night we went to the Park City Mountain Resort to watch some Olympian snow boarders do their thing on the halfpipe. It made me dizzy just watching all of the twists, turns, and flips. This was the last stop before the 2010 Winter Games. It will be televised today (Sunday, January 24th) at 3:00 EST on NBC. They will also be naming the 2010 Winter Games Team. The highlight of the evening--seeing Shaun White.


Pictures just don't do it justice as to how massive the halfpipe really is.


Okay, he's really hard to see, but that's Shaun White (in the air) to the northwest of the Delta signage.

Finally...More Snow!

After what seems like a 3-week break from any white stuff coming from the sky, the snow finally remembered where Park City is located. It's about time! With the fresh coating of snow, we've been out making up for lost time:


I'm still trying to get out and exercise each day. I can't do quite as much as I used to, but it sure feels great to get those endorphins going. (I have been having to wear Andy's snow pants. Mine are all packed away in a box, awaiting next year.)


About 33 weeks...



Cooper loves his sticks.



Andy and Cooper skinned up a run at the Park City Mountain Resort and skied down. The dog loves the snow!

Big Bummer

With all of the excitement of the upcoming arrival of our little girl, we decided to throw in looking at houses, too. For some reason, we like to do everything at once! We finally decided to make an offer on a house we had looked at 3 times but, unfortunately, we were a day late. Somebody beat us to it, darn it! So now it's back to the beginning again. Bummer.

Happy New Year!

Wow, I've been slacking on the blog. I guess we've had baby on the brain a lot lately. Everything continues to move along smoothly. Our midwife is quite impressed with how well things are going so that's great! At our appointment yesterday we learned that Emma has gone through a growth spurt. Maybe that explains why I have felt like a marshmallow lately. It sure is getting more difficult to get off the couch and out of bed. I've resorted to rolling out of bed.

We started back at school this past week. It hasn't been too bad. The kids were a little groggy on Monday but that sure didn't last long. I have already started putting some things together for my long-term substitute. I'm really excited about the sub I got. She is a retired teacher from the Park City School District and is really familiar with our school and a lot of the staff. It makes it a little easier to go on leave when you're well-assured of the substitute.

Winter has finally (kind of) arrived here in Park City. We've only gotten one major snowstorm and could really use a few more. Andy has been doing a lot of skiing, both at the resorts and in the backcountry. Sometimes he comes home and says how awesome the snow was and all I can do is listen and feel a little twinge of jealousy that I can't be out there with him. Cooper and I have been doing a lot of snowshoeing and walking, though. You can tell it's ski season around here because it feels like Park City's population has doubled in the past few weeks. It's going to get even busier with the Sundance Film Festival starting on January 21st. Last year I saw Robert Redford and Chris Rock. I wonder who we'll see this year....

I have included a few photos. Enjoy!


We had a really nice dinner with friends a couple of weeks before Christmas. This was one delicious dinner, starting with appetizers and a beet salad. We had the works--turkey, casseroles, cranberry sauce and, of course, dessert.



Andy on one of his many backcountry ski trips.



I went back to WI for a week over winter break for a baby shower with friends and family.




31 weeks!!!

26 weeks...

Things are going great! Our latest doctor's appointment confirmed that everything looks and sounds great. My weight is right where it should be. Thank goodness because, lately, I've started to feel huge. We've decided that I will deliver at the University of Utah hospital. Parents and teachers at school have started giving us a lot of stuff so now we just need to get the room organized. Our goal for this weekend--to find a dresser for the baby's room.

It's a Dog's Life

Hi thare, it's me, Cooper. For those of you that don't no me, I am the spoyled dog of the family. I wanted to get on this blog thing and rite a few werds of my own. You see, sumthing funny is going on around here. Thare are tiny clothes laying on the couch, along with a fun toy that I am not allowed to play with. Mom's belly is also getting bigger. She duz seem to be eating a little more but, wow, I didn't no a belly could expand like that. Dad is always feeling her belly, sumthing about kicking and moving. Thay seem pretty excited whatever it is. Evry so often thay tell me that I'm not going to be #1 enymore. I'll be #2. And just what duz that mean? I've always ben #1 in thare werld! How can I move to #2? Life is just not fare. Don't get me rong. I still get out on 1 or 2 walks per day. I still get treats after my walks. I still have all of the necessities, like food, water, and shelter. I still get to go on car rides and hikes. I still get to play with my frends, like Trey, Lucy, Max, Abbey, and Gibson. I am still very much loved. I just think sumthing is going on that I'm not so shure about. Oh ya, they tell me I'm going to be a big bruther. A what? I don't even no whut a bruther is. Enyways, just wanted to share my thots. I am also sharing some pichures of me with all of my stuffed animal frends. I'll probly rite again sumday. I kind of like this riting thing. It makes me feel better.


Here I am with all of my stuffed animal frends.



Here I am giving my frends a hug.



Here I am trying to tell Dad he's ruining my photo oppertunity with my stuffed animal frends. He thinks I am giving him kisses.



I give up. Fine, he can be in a pichure with me.

Go Utes!

We had season tickets to the University of Utah football games again. I wanted to post a few photos from some games. Overall, it was a pretty good season. Our last game was yesterday against BYU (BIG rival) down in Provo. We lost in OT but will still make it to a bowl game this year.


There was a game on Halloween so lots of people were dressed up, including Sloan and Andy.



The last game of the season was cold. Brrrr...




It's kind of hard to tell from this photo, but we had great views of the mountains (on the left of the photo).

It's a Girl!

What an exciting day! A parent of one of Andy's students (who is a doctor in the field of maternal-fetal medicine) offered to do an ultrasound for us, including some 4-D shots. Amazing! We hadn't found out the sex...until today! It looks like Emma Millicent Tullis will be entering the world around March 12th. We can't wait to meet our little daughter!






Yep...it's a girl!

Pumpkin Carving 2009

Ahhh...the holidays are just around the corner, the leaves are falling, winter is coming...soon, and that means one thing--it's pumpkin carving time! This past Friday we had about 15 people over for dinner and pumpkin carving. Good times!


Ben was in town so the "banana" clan was together again! ("Banana" is short for Ben, Andy, and Jana all put together.)




Andy sketching out his design.



This was one of my favorites--the puking pumpkin.




Notice Cooper on the left, scrounging for food.