Nutty

I went out looking for nursery room furniture at thrift stores, and this is what I found:

Nutty!

They are my favorite! This one is going to be named Nutty (I really like naming things. My car is Ladybug, our stunted Christmas tree is Piper, and my two plants are Fischer and... uhoh, I forgot the other one.... its new).

This is Piper. He leans a little

to the right, and don't touch

the pinecones... they came

unglued...

I just put up some things for Christmas, since everyone else is. Yes, I gave in to the peer pressure. I am feeling very festive though, so it works out. I didn't go all out.... yet. We dont have lights, except on Piper (he plugs in, no extras necessary : ) Piper is economical like that)

But here's some of the pics of what I have gotten to do. Cheapo stuff collected for the past three years : )

My grandma made the crocheted

snowflakes : )

I hope hubby is cool with it, since it took me like 20 minutes to do it all, and he's at class right now. Poor guy, he always comes home to furniture rearranged and house changed up hehehe. Right now, our fat girl Hunneybun is attempting to squeeze through a little crevice in order to sit on my chest. She just succeeded, and I can't breathe now....

Anyways, I cant wait for thanksgiving and I hope you all get your plans smoothed out and have a great time : )

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Updates!

Solomon sleeping/hiding under the dining table

Fat girl (Her real name is Hunneybun) being cute

Once upon a time, I got to hang out with my husband and enjoy the coming holidays.... THIS year, however, it seems that things are a little bit crazier than usual....

Aaron officially got a job working at the Mac Store selling Apple products. He seems to love it : ) It may be the MOST tempting place to work though, since we have upgraded our phones and now he has his eyes on some headphones (in my personal opinion, his current headphones work just fine!). But he is working really hard to provide for our growing family, and doing a great job at it : ) Very proud of him!

This means, however, that he is taking 18 units and working almost full-time. CRAZY! We get to see each other, probably around 9pm. And then we both scurry off to finish our homework. It also seems that my professors decided to get rid of tests and replace them with essays.... Of which I am HORRIBLE at writing. I really am pretty terrible. I cannot write a logical sentence to save my life. Gun to my head? Nope, still horrible.

So though I am only taking 13 units and not working, my essay time has skyrocketed, and mind you, I am definitely no whiz at busting out 10 page papers in a day. Try minimum 2 days.

ANyways, the good news is, Aaron will graduate at the end of this semester, and I will be taking a year off from school to prepare for baby.

Baby Belly at 21 Weeks

Speaking of baby, we went in for our 20 week ultrasound. Baby's heartbeat was awesome! Anatomy was all there, and baby had some big lips and Savage calves (we have bodybuilder genetics in the calf region).

Baby at 8 Week Ultrasound.... (little blob in the small circle)

Baby Profile at 20 Week Ultrasound (sorry for the glare)

Head on Right, nose and lips facing upwards. Hand in front of face (the random blob).

Baby's calves (knees on top, toes on bottom, legs side by side)

And the most surprising news:

We are having a baby girl!!! Well, 90% she's a girl....

We have chosen a name, and now everyone is starting to call her it, so I think it's a keeper. We are going with Sydney. No middle name yet, but we are considering Sydney Anna, Sydney Kay, and maybe Sydney Grace. Not sure yet.

Okie Dokie- Other than that, we are just chuggin along, trying to stay on mission, looking to the future, and putting our noses to the grindstone. Thanks for listening!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Busy and soon to rest....

Well, it is mid October. Sorry it has been awhile- just cracking down on schooling and such. These past three weeks I have just been running from class to class to homework, etc. I def need a break, but it gets difficult when professors do online assignments and tests OUTSIDE of class grrr. oh well- on that note, this will be my last semester for a year. Hubby and I have decided it would be best for our family to take the year off and finish next spring. I will have one semester left, and baby should be about 9 months old, which will be much easier than a newborn!

Big decision for us, so now after December, I won't have too much to do. I am contemplating coaching again, and when baby comes, baby comes to track meets : ) Start them early right? Last year, I coached pole vault at a local high school, and LOVED it! This is my kiddos' senior year, and they improved so much last year, I would love to see them to their finish : ) However, I have to get past my new head coach. He is very different from our previous head coach, but I think he will be great as well.

On another note, I have been working on some nursery items! The walls are all painted a light and pretty seafoam green. I have installed some white bookshelves (thanks to my awesome sister Barbie!) that are mounted on the wall and off the ground. I am having a friend make the baby bedding, but that won't happen until after Christmas (she is super artsy and crafty and is making TONS of stuff for Christmas). Her site is dancingontheporch.etsy.com. Check it out. Also, I am working on some little crafts here and there for decorations. So far I've decided to put yellow pinwheels across one side of the room- which will be above the crib. I hope this works!!!

Okay, picture time:

4 Weeks

10 Weeks

17 Weeks

Okay everyone, you know the drill:

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Naming the Baby

Today I went through a list (A-Z) of baby girl names, including Armenian ones.

We have picked out a boy name: Samuel Jack Telloian. I like the way Sam would sound : ) Also, 1 Samuel is a beautiful story of Hannah, who wanted a baby so much. God gave her one, and she named him Samuel. Jack runs in both of our families. Samuel Jack kinda sounds like an alcoholic drink hehehe. That was UNINTENTIONAL!

Girl's names, on the other hand, are more frustrating. A girl can be so unique (not that a boy can't be, they are just a little bit more predictable in my eyes, therefore easier to choose a name for). I jotted down names that interested me, so here they are:

Roubina (Rubina)- my beautiful cousin's name that I love

Annie (Ani)- my mother-in-law's name that is so cute

Haley- I taught a little girl for about three years and we formed a close connection. She was so full of spirit : )

Hannah- classic

Heidi- different

Hollie- spunky

Janie- cutesie

Poppy- Our baby is due in the spring.

Renee- seemed dramatic and beautiful to me

Ruby- rockin. Hope our baby isn't cursed with red hair like me though....

Sasha- kinda russian

Sidney (Sydney)- very fun

Wendy- classical

Femi- this means love. I thought it was interesting

Houri (Houry)-another beautiful cousin's name- I absolutely love this one (probably my fave right now)

Mina- My second fave!)

Seta- Kinda cool. Reminds me of something in childhood, but I can't remember what.

Yeva- Armenian, but kinda Russian sounding : )

Help us!!! What's your opinion?

Racism and the Law of the Old Testament

So, I had an assignment for my class in college that I just finished. I REALLY didn't want to do it, but am so thankful I did. I now have more an understanding of the Gospel!

Okay, so remember Jim Crow laws? Blacks were separated from whites, and if they broke any of those laws, they could be lynched. The Jim Crow laws ended legally in 1965; however, in 1998, a black man (James Byrd, Jr.) was dragged behind a truck, decapitated along the way, and thrown into a black cemetery. The three murderers were white supremacists. The link to the story is attached.

For my class, I had to find a modern (within the past 20 years) lynching of a black person. This horrible story (which I remember hearing about as a little girl) came to mind, so I looked it up. As I was reflecting on the story and following the rubric for my short essay, I began to think about the "law".

My introduction was this (sorry it is lame, I am not a very good writer):

"The injustices and prejudices of the past do not escape our common era simply because they are illegal. The law cannot regulate beliefs. The law also cannot persuade someone to think a black person is equal to a white person: the white person simply must obey the law, or else suffer legal consequences. It has become more obvious that racial discrimination is still alive and well today, even though it has become illegal to act on such a belief."

So what became profound to me is this: the law cannot regulate a person's beliefs. Or we could say: the Law cannot regulate a person's heart toward God.

If you were to obey the Law of the Old Testament, you could wash your hands a certain way and eat certain meats and think you were okay in the eyes of God (Pharisee, anyone?). The white supremacists could (but didn't in the murder of Mr. Byrd) have obeyed the law and not hurt Mr. Byrd, but have still hated him because he was black (like many people still do today).

The New Testament describes (I've been reading in Hebrews):

"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second." -Hebrews 8:6-7

So, the Law had faults, which was it could not regulate a person's heart toward God. The New Covenant had to come. Christ was crucified so God could deal with our hearts. He does this by giving us the faith to believe the promise that we are cleansed by Christ's blood. Also, He gives us the HOLY SPIRIT to sanctify us (in easier words: to change our hearts and beliefs toward God). Cool huh?

I never really understood why the Law was insufficient, until now, I guess. Anyways, I hope you learned something too!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

I Want To Bake!

Im just saying. If I had a "second life", I would bake cakes. I really like buttercream, but I like the way fondant looks. Plus everybody likes the way fondant looks, but I would prefer to bake with buttercream. I even have a menu and a name for my bake shop. I know what kind of cakes I want to make, and I think I even know my own style- I just need practice! I need TIME to practice. And Money! But mainly, I need my creative bug to explode out from inside and land in my cake pans..... Also I need matching cake pans hehehehe. I have a wedding tier set, but no pan that is the same size as another. So much for layer cakes.... They will just take longer.

Anyways, if you want a cake for an occassion, nothing fancy, but beginner, it will be free for right now. Let me know what you would want, lets try to keep it simple! I need places to give away my test cakes too, since we have a strict NO CAKE policy in our organic pregnant home. But don't worry, I definitely try everything before I give it away to ensure quality : ) Don't tell hubby ; )

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Busy! What to do???

We got news that the class Aaron was attempting to have waived at Fresno State will not be. This means he will be taking 18 units. Our schedule is ridiculous now! Monday is a bible study, Tuesday is a bible study, Wednesday Aaron now has a night class, Thursday he has a night class, and Friday he has a men's bible study!!! Way too much! We are going to have to trim somewhere, so we shall see where to make the snip : ( 

It sounds easy, since we are in so many studies; however, when friends are involved, it becomes more complicated. The choice to snip out a "study" is more like snipping out those friends on that night. Not what I want to do!!!! But maybe it is necessary.....

Pray for us that we can decide what will be best in this season of life for us, and that our friends will graciously understand! 

Life is good though- we are having a great time learning in college- after all, we are finally out of the general ed and onto the interesting stuff we are passionate about- except for that feminist class of mine...... : ) Aaron and I are both in racism classes, which has been fascinating to hear about the origins of racism in America. I had no idea what was out there! I am totally ignorant to racism, it seems!

On another note...

I got to visit with my brother and momma last night. Mainly my brother was telling horrific stories of saving 14 year old boyscouts lost at night in the woods and homeless guys trying to sell drugs to 14 year old girls. It is tough being 14 these days! I love my brother, and he is a great storyteller. Every time I see him, he tells these epic stories that make me wish I could be in his shoes, at least some times : ) My babies are gonna love going to Uncle Jack's house to sit at his feet listening to his epic adventures.

No, not my brother, but you get the idea....

My mom (who I still call Momma : )) is always cringing at the dangerous situations her children are always in- from cops and swat swarming our neighborhood, to my brother boldly confronting a man abusing his wife, to my sister being chased in a parking lot. Our family is full of thrills! No wonder we all carry mace- Ye be warned!!!! Another prayer request: Pray for Momma that all her hair doesn't fall out from her children's crazy lives! She is so great though 

Okie dokie- Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

DInkey Creek-ey

Since Fresno had a nice heat wave this week, the hubby and I decided to escape for a few hours to our family's favorite retreat: Dinkey Creek.

 If you are a "flatlander", you may have seen bumper stickers around sporting "Where the Hell is Dinkey Creek?" Well, to answer that question, Dinkey is about 12 miles farther into the Sierra woods from Shaver Lake. There you go. Dinkey is a great place to run up for a few hours, sit next to the creek, maybe get enough courage to jump in the frigid water, cast a line for some rainbow or brown trout, or throw the stick and watch your dog jump from boulders into the pristine water. 

Hubby and I went and I quickly abandoned my reading for my college class and decided to snooze on the nice granite. Hubby was off doing his thing, which included trekking up the creek and singing and reading. Overall, it was a great refreshing trip.

Friends! You need to come! You can leave and come back and have a great time in about 5 hours. That's it! Free! minus gas. And fun water things. And snackage. But Free! Also, you can hit up the Pizza Factory in Prather on your way home for some tasty pizza tossed in the air right before you. It's next to the Canyon fork Market, or Mar Vals, whatever the name is these days. 

Last note- I am now 11 weeks pregnant! Woo! Hopefully this nausea and vomiting thing will be fleeing from me in the next week, since it will be bye bye first trimester and hello second trimester. Okay, off to our recent addiction: an episode of 24! (We might name our baby Jack Bauer Telloian if we have a boy, btw : ) hehehe)

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Humans, Education, and Sea Breeze

By the way, I had to google 'breeze' to make sure I spelled it right. I don't think I have ever used that word before.... Anyways, I am so thankful- why? Because I get to get out of this house!!!! aaah! I have been cooped up for about a month, feeling sick and exhausted. FINALLY, school has begun. I can now walk around and interact with humans instead of my felines. 

It feels like a huge gulp of fresh air!

Unfortunately, God decided to make this week the hottest we have seen yet, so walking around campus makes me feel like this:

Yup, that's me between Family Food Sciences Building and Kremen Education Building on campus. It was 112 degrees F today!!! Why do we live here again???

Anyways, we went to the beach on Saturday from 3pm to 9pm. Really short trip. We ate some splash cafe, walked a little on the pier, jumped in the water, ran out of the freezing cold water, and finally went and surprise visited Aaron's brother and his wife, Jack and Vickie. Tons of fun in 60 degree weather!

Our new friend :)

Me jumping with a bathing suit and a jacket on. It was cold!

Beautiful Pismo peir

Hubby 'posing'

Toes in the sand and ocean! I love the Pacific and the man standing in the Pacific with me. ANd the man who made the Pacific. Thank you Jesus for the ocean!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

The DIrty Laundry of the Mac Store

I finally took my poor old white MacBook in to see why it wont print anything. The genius bar folks at the Mac store are most awesome. I made a new friend, named Richard. He was wearing a kilt and his MAC T-shirt, and I HAD to ask where he got the kilt from. We started talking and soon became friends. He has an 8 month old, so congrats to Richard and his wife! I also met a cool lady named Kathryn Borba. She is a missionary leaving in October to Japan. She was studying her Japanese at the Genius bar next to me, and we were there forever, so we went and got a pretzel together and started chatting. You can learn more about her here.

The idea that came through my mind watching Mac employee with a blue shirt after another flutter around the building was, "I should start a laundry business in Fashion Fair with locker rooms for all of the employees at different locations so they don't have to do their laundry." We had a laundry service like that at Fresno State for athletics, which was pretty cool, so if anyone wants to join, maybe I might do it ; ) just a thought : )

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

8 Weeks!

Well, we had our first ultrasound on Thursday! It was such a cool experience. Hubby was there, and he was so awesome : ) I am very blessed to have a husband like Aaron. Also, our NP was super friendly, honest, and generally, nice. So I would recommend her to anyone. Anne Schattke, ladies and gentlemen, is great! She's at Kaiser in case you have Kaiser.

The little ultrasound picked up the baby quickly, and she rotated the screen our way. I was already crying by this point, realizing that in the next couple of moments it could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen, or the most tragic. Thank God, when she turned the monitor to us we could see the strong little heart pumping away!!!! She turned on the sound and it was like, "Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh" steady and strong. Oh that was so awesome!

She took some pics, checked out everything, and gave us the thumbs up. Baby Telloian is 8 weeks and 2 days, as of today. My due date is March 24, 2011. Here are some awesome pics:

The thing around the baby is the amniotic sac, so the NP wrote, "Me and my Sac." It was so cute. Left is baby's brain and right is babies bottom.

Here you can see the head (on the left) the bottom (on the right) and the arm and leg buds on either side of the baby's body.

The big gaping hole in the brain isn't anything to worry about. It is just the liquid in the brain forming into our baby's ENORMOUS brain hehehe.

Hope you enjoyed looking at our baby as much as we did!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Ive got a bug

A baking bug. I have always looooved baking, but when I got married, I got poor. And health conscience. And now, my baking has slowly fizzled away. I do have a friend, however, who bakes awesome and tasty treats every Monday night for our bible study. I was looking at another blog, Bakerella.com, and now the baking itch is coming back full force. Here is a cute pic of something I would like to attempt:

Oh baking, how I love thee! Anyways, budget and calories will determine if I actually act upon this nagging itchy bug for baking.

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Baby on the Brain

It has been too long since I have posted- many apologies! Since our gingerbread championships back in December, there have been some exciting updates in the Telloian residence.

We have successfully lived in our condo for over a year now. Not without much excitement, as it seems the police come visit every other day and arrest another neighbor. I feel safe, but the amount of silent time versus quiet time in this neighborhood seems to be diminishing!

Also, I finished my junior year of good old education at Fresno State, barely clearing my required GPA. One year left!

The newest addition to our family is about 8 weeks old and apparently is about 1 inch long at the moment with tiny hands and toes- Yes- we are pregnant! Hubby and I are so excited- however, we show our excitement VERY differently. I love to scrounge every baby website (trying to figure out the styles I like and what exactly a 'travel system' is) while Aaron sits at his desk with his head buried in a book on masculinity and fatherhood.

In the first couple of weeks, I was wondering if I really was pregnant, since I was just tired, but had no other symptoms. The answer came soon, and I was running back upstairs to go heave everything in the toilet. The term 'Morning Sickness' can be misleading, since mine doesn't go away. Ever. Unless I'm sleeping.

Overall, we are very thankful for the support of our families and this wonderful gift from God! On Thursday, we hope to hear our little baby's heartbeat. Now THAT is a prayer request!

Until later, expect much sickness, not a lot of productivity, but a lot of excitement!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.