What's not to love?

Even though we haven't had too much going on lately, I am loving life! I'm not going to post any pictures with this one but just say what we've been up to.

School
First off this is Derrick's last quarter of school and we are way excited for him to graduate and start work at Microsoft! He is A LOT less busy than he was last quarter and so we have a lot more time for each other and other people. Last quarter we would do our companionship scripture reading in the car, I did almost all the chores, we didn't have as much time for our calling as ward missionaries and life was crazy. Now, Derrick has so much more time and it is wonderful!

Baby
What can be more exciting to a girl than getting married or expecting her first baby? I am loving life but I really can't wait until the baby comes. People tell me to enjoy myself now and that everything will be so different but I'm too excited! Planning baby shower stuff, getting baby things, seeing other people with their babies...I can't wait. I'm not feeling uncomfortable yet, acid reflux has gone away and Caleb is moving more than ever. We can now see him move from my stomach, not just little kicks, but actually moving...it is the coolest thing ever. We've also been lucky with Derrick's job offer because he's going to get a 4 week paid paternity leave. Can't get better than that. 2 1/2 more months to go!

10K Training
Derrick made a new year's resolution to train for and run a 10k this summer. He has a calendar printed out and on the wall of what he's supposed to do everyday. He's on his 3rd week now of training and has kept up really well with the schedule.

Salvadorian Food
Derrick and I went out with a friend from school to get some Savadorian food last week. We had pupusas and some other stuff. Really good!

Family Dinners
We are so luck to have Derrick's Aunt Mary and Uncle Mark in San Jose. We get to go over to their Sunday family dinners whenever we want and we always have a good time. We went there this last Sunday and also played a game afterwards. Going there is nice since we aren't close to either of our parent's.

Piano
I feel like I've been on a roll with music lately. I had quite a space of time where I wasn't writing anything and then all of a sudden, one day, things just started coming to me. Those are the times that make creative hobbies worth it.

In Conclusion
I am so grateful for my life. I just read my friend's blog where she wrote about things that made her happy. It touched me because it reminded me of how happy I am. I don't know why but Heavenly Father has given me more than I can ask for. Life is wonderful!

Tummy Pic #2

Here's the updated tummy photo. I really am getting big. It's been so fun to feel Caleb kicking. What I think is funny is when I feel him kicking on polar sides of my stomach at the same time--like he's stretching or something. Derrick's now not only felt him but has seen him kicking too. It's so fun!

Acid Reflux?

Since morning sickness I've been good until now. I'm pretty sure I am getting acid reflux. For the past 5 days around mid afternoon my throat will start burning and get a throw-uppy taste...blah! It lasts the whole rest of the day and unless I'm eating I'm feeling the burn. I wake up in the morning fine but then it comes again. At least I'm still a comfortable pregnant even though I feel like I look huge.

Facebook

I just created my facebook account and that took a good 4 hours. I'm sure it will be easier now. Oh, and anyone that I didn't find feel free to add me as a friend and search for Danielle Cooper Isaacson.

All Things Christmas

Christmas Day
Wow we did so much on our Christmas trip to San Diego! Christmas day we opened presents in the morning, had yummy omelets for breakfast and spent time with my dad's side of the family for dinner.

Like every other girl in my ward, Derrick got me Wicked tickets for Christmas on February 25th!!!! I can't wait. Dun, duh, da, da...da. For those who know the music backwards and forwards like me I hope you could have figured out that was Defying Gravity :)

Coronado
We stayed with my grandparents, who live in Coronado, one night. We went to the Hotel Del and saw the huge Christmas tree they put up every year.

The next day my grandpa gave us a personal tour of the Naval Base there in Coronado or North Island. Derrick was like a kid in a candy store looking at the aircraft carriers, planes, helicopters and buildings.


Friends
I was able to see some of my friends from high school who were able to meet Derrick for the first time because they were on their missions when we got married. I was so glad Derrick met them and we had a lot of fun talking and playing music for each other. My friends are in a band (that I used to be in for about a year). Here's a link to their myspace. I like the song called Loving Without Argument.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=4424426

5k
Derrick ran a 5k with my 14 year old brother Andrew. They both did great (especially Andrew who beat Derrick by 3 minutes) and one of Derrick's new year resolutions is to train to run a 10k.

Holiday Bowl
My dad gave Derrick and I tickets to the Holiday Bowl. Oregon University vs. Oklahoma State. We didn't have a team we were really hoping to win so we cheered for Oregon since we sat on the side of the stadium with the Oregon fans. We were at the 30 yard line and about 30 rows up from the field. The seats were great and Oregon won! Go Ducks!


San Diego Zoo
My parents also gave us tickets to the zoo. They won the tickets in a raffle and gave them to us and bought Jenna a ticket so she could go too. We saw everything except the panda in only about 3 1/2 hours.

Huntington Beach
Before we headed back home we stopped in Huntington Beach for 2 days to visit grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle. We ate yummy food, watched movies, played games and opened Christmas presents. Caleb got lots of love, or should I say presents. Baby things are so cute! I can't wait until he's here. Getting all the baby stuff just makes me more anxious for him.

Thanks to Everyone who made Christmas so wonderful!!!

Drum Roll Please

Alright, here it is. A few people have wanted to see this so I am posting my belly for the first time. It is showing now and people come up me saying, "I didn't know you were pregnant." At least they know I'm pregnant and not just gaining weight :)

Oh, and I am definitely feeling the baby moving and kicking now. It's not big but it's something. This morning is even the first time Derrick felt little Caleb kick, that was exciting. We're already both enjoying this whole baby thing.

The Nutcracker

Through Stanford, Derrick and I got cheap tickets to see the San Francisco ballet perform The Nutcracker. We had never been inside the Opera House before and it was beautiful.

While there we saw a few friends from the ward and from our housing complex. Oh, and there were a ton of little girls! They were cute to see dancing around during intermission, trying to be like the ballerinas they're watching on stage. Here's us in our seats:

Hornblower Cruise

For one of my work parties, Derrick and I went on a Hornblower Cruise around the San Franciso Bay. We took a bus up to San Franciso and hopped onto a ship. We ate an amazing dinner, talked to friends, danced and walked around outside to look at the city's skyline. We went under the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge. It was a beautiful, clear and cold night.

Here's the crazy part: we got off the boat at midnight, home around 1:30am and Derrick stayed up until 6am doing TA work he had to get done. We wake up at 7:30 to get ready for church. After almost a week, he's finally recovering. We're both enjoying Derrick being on break.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Derrick did a family home evening lesson for us in April where he made a power point presentation. He edited this picture used it as the intro to his slide show. We both love it. For those who don't get what it is here's the real picture.



Here's a few great quotes that I love:
"Hi, I'm Michael Scott. I'm in charge of Dunder-Mifflin paper products. But I'm also the founder of Diversity Tomorrow... because today is almost over." - Michael Scott

"Whenever I am about to do something I ask myself 'would an idiot do this?' and if the answer is yes then I do not do that thing." - Dwight Schrute

Michael: Stanley, that's fricken brilliant. How do you know that? Did you learn that on the streets? (stutters and shakes head) I'm sorry.
Stanley: Oh, it's ok. I did learn it on the streets. On the ghetto in fact.

Abraham Lincoln once said that ‘If you're a racist, I will attack you with the North.' And those are the kinds of goals that I carry with me in the workplace." - Michael Scott

"I never smile if I can help it. Showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life." - Dwight

Christmas Party

We can't believe how many people attended the ward Christmas party this year! It was the place to be on Friday night. I ate too many desserts and ran around the building trying to find a Children's Songbook (I ended up finding one hidden in the library). After that, I did have fun playing the piano for the kids while they sang Jingle Bells and Christmas Bells in their cute little blue choir outfits. Here's Derrick and I at the party (sorry it's a little blurry):

Sugar Cookies

I made sugar cookies by myself for the first time this last week!



My mom always made them growing up and I had no idea how much of a learning curve there would be. After trying a few different techniques I finally figured out how to make them come out well. A few people have been asking for the recipe so here it is:

Cut Out Cookies
1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.

1. Cream softened butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix flour, soda, cream of tarter and salt together in a bowl then add to cream mix.
2. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
3. Roll dough on floured surface. Cut cookies with cookie cutters.
4. Bake 400 degrees 6-8 minutes (It was always exactly 8 minutes for me). Remove and place on cooling rack.

Here's a few tips I learned:
-Don't be afraid to use a lot of flour for the floured surface. I even kept putting flour on top of the dough to prevent the rolling pin from sticking. The cookies still turned out well with the extra flour used.
-I have an ultra thin spatula to pick up the cut out dough shapes which helped a lot.
-After you're done with the first round of cutting out cookies, brush the flour off the best you can, roll the dough together and roll it out again same a before--lots of flour on the bottom and add flour as needed on the top.
-As soon as you pull the cookies out of the oven take them off the pan--they won't squish together like other cookies will and if you let it cool a bit before taking them off they start sticking to the sheet.

Frosting:
1 stick margarine, softened
1/4 cup milk (I think I used just a little less)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Remember to use coloring dye and festive sprinkles for decorating!

I love having a piano!

I recorded my first song on our new digital piano. This is only the second time I attempted to record this song and it would have taken about 10 more tries to make it perfect but I only wanted to try it out. Also, something happens when we import it from the piano to the computer--it makes it sound fake. Sorry about that--it sounds much better on a real piano.

Here's an arrangement I did of the song Beautiful Savior. My mom told me last year that my Pop-pop (mom's dad) got teary eyed when he heard it at one of my sibling's baptism. I guess he knew that song from when he was younger. Sorry if any of those facts are wrong but that's what I remember my mom telling me. So, I arranged it for my Pop-pop.

It's a Boy!!!

Forget what the Chinese calendar said, my mother instincts and dreams were right. Derrick and I just got back from getting the ultrasound done and we found out that's it's a boy and he currently weighs 10 oz. We are so excited and it was really cool to see how much bigger he is. The baby is still very active. Whenever the sonographer got the sensor in the right spot to take a picture he would move and she'd have to replace it. My tummy was pretty sore by the time she was done (she was looking around for about a half hour, I didn't know it would be so long).

For the first 10 minutes or so she was taking pictures, then she pointed out all of the parts of the baby to us for about 10 more minutes and then took more pictures for another 10 minutes. I was so happy to see the baby but I can say I was very relieved when she said she was through.

Here's two pictures of the cutest baby boy around. They make me smile every time I look at them.

San Diego

I was able to go visit my family last weekend because my Uncle Chris offered me a free plane ticket he needed to use. The last time I saw them was Thanksgiving 2007...almost a year. While there my dad and I went to lunch with his parents at a Chinese restaurant. That night we went to my favorite frozen yogurt place and came home to watch the new movie, Emma Smith Story. The next day I went shopping with my mom in the morning and in the afternoon we went to the Hall of Champions. That's a museum in Balboa Park with a lot of famous sports people and teams (well the Padres and Chargers mostly). Here's a picture of Mom, Jenna, me and Andrew outside of it.

In the museum there was a BYU helmet signed by Lavell Edwards (for those who don't know, he was BYU's football coach in the 80's and 90's and one of best coaches BYU ever had). Here's me next to that.

That night my friend from high school, Lauren, came over and it was so fun to see her again. It has been years since I've seen that girl! We talked with my family then watched the movie Leatherheads. Sunday I went to first hour of church, said hi to a few people and headed off to the airport.
Lastly, here's a picture of me and Andrew before church on Sunday. I can't believe how big he has gotten since a year ago. I'm officially now the shortest sibling, just like my mom.

Daddy, don't go

I heard a story about when Derrick's was really little. His dad, Paul, was at BYU getting his masters in computer science, just like Derrick. One night Paul was leaving home to go work in the lab and Derrick sweetly said, "Daddy, don't go." I can imagine a father's heart melting at those words.

Well, tonight Derrick went to a study group then he came home and had to leave immediately for another one. I had a blah day at work and was doing nothing but chores since I got home. So, when Derrick was leaving for the second time I just started crying because I didn't want him to leave and he said, "Daddy, don't go." I knew exactly what he was talking about and I knew exactly what little Derrick felt like. Sometimes I really wish Derrick wasn't in school but I know it will be for the better.

Here I've included a picture of Derrick with the dad he loves so much.

First Grandbaby having First Great-Grandbaby

Here's the picture of the exact moment when my parents told my mom's parents that Derrick and I were going to have a baby. My dad just e-mailed it to me and I thought it was the cutest picture. The first words out of my grandma's mouth were, "Five generations of girls!" She couldn't be convinced that we could be having a boy. My great grandma is living in Pennsylvania and turning 95 next year. We already have the 4 generation picture and wouldn't it be awesome if we could make it 5?

We were able to get a good picture because the news was let out at the end of my cousin's wedding day (I realized that sounds like it could be a bad thing but it wasn't at all). My cousin used the same photographer we had for our wedding. So, when my parent's asked if he could take a picture of my grandparents, he was happy to.

Next week on Friday we find out if we're having a boy or a girl!!!

We Bought a Digital Piano!!!

Here it is. Isn't it beautiful?! I saw this Yamaha on good old Craigslist a few days ago and picked it up last night in San Jose. It even came with the stand, bench and a nice set of head phones. I can't even describe how happy I am to get a piano in my home. It's still hard to believe it's really mine. Every time I see it I want to play it (and unless something else is pressing I've been following my desire).

Derrick is excited too because he likes to hear me play :) I'm glad we're both happy with this decision to get a piano.

Now and Then

Here's me now:

Here's Derrick 2 years ago:

Inability to walk:

Danielle 1 1/2 days

Derrick 4 weeks

How it happened:
Danielle: Tripped on edge of sidewalk
Derrick: Falling down stairs while moving.

Derrick wins for more bruising and injury!!!

That was the summary. Here's my full story.
On Monday night we were walking back into the apartment building and I slipped on the edge of the sidewalk and sprained my ankle. Derrick carried me in the building and there was a pumpkin carving party in the lobby. They asked if we wanted a pumpkin and I did so even though I was in so much pain I still wanted Derrick to get it. So he set me down by the elevator, got a pumpkin and set that in the elevator. Then when we got to our floor he put the pumpkin outside the elevator, carried me into our apartment and went back and got the pumpkin. Thanks Derrick! You're the best!

Next we called the 24 hour nurse helpline and they said I should go in to see a doctor but since I could walk on my foot a little bit I decided to wait until the next day and see how I was doing. One bummer was that I couldn't have ibuprofen to help with the swelling because of a certain little someone inside me. That's ok baby, I still love you!

Tuesday I woke up and couldn't put any pressure on it whatsoever. So I made an appointment and we spent 3+ hours being checked by the doctor, getting x-rays and going to a pharmacy to rent crutches. I ended up having no broken bones and by Wednesday I could walk on my foot again but with a very noticeable limp. By tonight, Thursday, I'm almost walking normally. I'm so grateful for everyone who prayed for me because I had no idea how I would handle work on Wednesday. But I got through that day fine and I am feeling significant improvement--even though it still looks pretty bad.

Extra, Extra

Here's another one of Derrick photos. His injured leg looks like it's part of a dead mans body.

Date Night

On Friday Derrick was interviewing at Oracle all day. On his way home that night I called him and he said that he wanted to put aside homework for a night and take me out on a date. I was so excited because since he's started up school again he hasn't had much time for anything but an occasional clip of some tv show or the news, and that's usually while we're eating dinner. We decided to go to Maggiano's Italian restaurant. We went there for my birthday this year and loved it and we knew we had to go back. We got lost on the way there, couldn't find parking for about 15 minutes and then had to wait for a table for over a half hour. Being pregant and hungry don't go well with each other so while we were waiting for a table we went and got a milkshake to split. As Derrick's grandpa says, "Life's short, eat dessert first." The wait was worth it though, when we ate the fried zucchini I felt like I was in heaven.

When we got home we watched about a half hour of Lord of the Rings and went straight to bed. It was a long week for both of us (I worked all 6 days this week!!!). Thank goodness it's Sunday.

Sunday Dinner

Tonight some friends from church, Justin and Brenly, invited us and another couple over for dinner. It was so fun! They made dinner in a pumpkin and it really got me in the fall holiday spirit. Then for dessert Brenly made a mint ice cream with grasshopper cookie crumb crust. So delicious! We love spending time with friends and are so grateful for the people who reach out to us.