Picture Palooza

I realize it has been a while since I posted, so I am making up for it with lots of pictures to get you up to speed on our lives! Yipee!

I made Thanksgiving dinner for my Dad and brothers last Sunday and it turned out delicious, but I was so busy cooking that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I posted most of the recipes I used on the recipe blog if you want to check them out.

Last Tuesday was my youngest brother's Eagle Court of Honor. I am so proud of him and so grateful for all he does for me. He is so great with my kids and such a good example to them, not to mention that he takes Morgan out with him on Sunday afternoons and cleans my car for me - just because it is dirty (this cold weather is really putting a damper on that one)!


This is what I find my kids doing all day long during their play time...

They love to raid the library bag and read those books, but they I also find them in their rooms unloading the bookshelves as they find more and more books to read. Sometimes they each have their own book that they are "reading" (in reality it is just reciting, but they both get an awful lot of words right!), sometimes Morgan is reading to Chloe, and sometimes they even have stuffed animals and dolls that they are reading too! I love watching their love for reading blossom almost as much as I love reading all of my favorites to them from when I was a kid - and remembering most of the words by heart!

For Thanksgiving, Seth played football with the Young Men of our ward in the morning while I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for breakfast (thanks Angie - they were delicious!) and then I turned on the parade for the kids. We made a quick stop for some early "Black Friday" deal shopping which resulted in a free pumpkin pie - yay! We went to Grandma Tate's Thanksgiving dinner at noon. Seth had to be at work by 3, so I took the kids up to Grandma Colleen's Thanksgiving dinner after we dropped him off at home. Then, it was off to Grandma Becky's for a grandkids sleepover so I could look through the ads and plan out our Black Friday attack! I met Seth back at home around 10, we did some online shopping and went to bed around midnight. 30 minutes later, I was up sick with food poisoning...which lasted until about 4:00 when I finally was able to sleep for 30 minutes before my alarm went off and we headed out for our shopping! We got some great deals and are happy we went - even though Seth was not happy when we were leaving the house before 5. Sorry, no pictures of Thanksgiving, food poisoning or Black Friday shopping!

Last night was our annual Gingerbread house decorating party. My wonderful Aunt Marianne makes gingerbread houses for each family - more than 10 houses - and we all get together at her ward with candy and frosting in tow to create our masterpieces.

When Seth and I first started dating, I took him to the party with me and she had made us our own house to decorate. My family had a hayday teasing us and by the end of the night our house was lovingly referred to as, "The House That Love Built". The inscription was even written on the back of the house. Ever since, this has been a very important part of kicking off the holiday season for us - and don't worry - we have "given back" all the teasing you can imagine as each cousin/sibling brings their significant other to the first house decorating extravaganza!

Now that there are a bunch of little kids, it pretty much ends up being the parents who decorate the houses (moms really) while the kids run around the gym and play together. I wanted to get my kids involved in a way that was on their "level" so I started by having Morgan sort the M&Ms by color and he even helped me put a couple on the roof. I had to giggle because every one he put on had the "m" side up. He just loves to see the first letter of his name!

After we finished 2 or 3 rows of M&Ms, he was off to play. He'd periodically check back to help put in the gumdrop fence...

and place the "cobblestones" for the walkway...

but mostly he just played! He was very proud to call the gingerbread house his own after we had left, though, and was willing to pose for some pictures with the house when we got home.

He especially liked the gumdrop and candy cane mailbox...

so much that he ate it before he came in our room to wake us up this morning!

Chloe enjoyed the party for a whole different reason...the candy! She was in heaven...I was busy decorating the house, so she was free to roam the gym asking for candy from all of her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents - who, of course, were happy to oblige! Here she is with a fistfull of sour nerds in her mouth - she ate half the box.

And here is her "candy high" face. She and her cousin Thomas were so cute sharing candy with each other. They sat together at the table for at least half an hour sharing. Chloe couldn't open the Taffy and Thomas wanted chocolate, so he would unwrap the taffy and break off a piece for her, and she would return the favor with a couple of M&Ms.
She wanted Seth to hold her and watch me decorate, he didn't notice that she had taken my decorator frosting bag and started sucking the frosting out of it until I got out the camera to take a picture though. If you have never tasted decorator frosting - it is nasty! Of course, her baby had to come along to share in the fun!

I wanted to get one picture of both kids with the house when we got home, but as soon as I stuck Chloe next to the house, she stuck her fingers in the frosting covering the "ground" which made Morgan want to do it too! Seth quickly whisked her away and said sweetly, "What cute little snow angels they made in the yard!"

How Time Does Fly

At my doctor's appointment yesterday, it really hit me how fast time has flown during this pregnancy. I know I didn't think that when I could barely move from the couch and had to take my daily Zofran to function like a normal human, but I don't know where the time has gone these past few months.

I am about 31 weeks - which is pretty far along when you consider that my pregnancies historically have only lasted 39 weeks, but what really hit me was scheduling my future appointments. I scheduled my next appointment 3 weeks out, an appointment 2 weeks beyond that, and an appointment 2 weeks beyond that - and you know what? Two weeks more would be past my due date, so those are all the appointments left this pregnancy. WOO HOO! Even the lady scheduling my appoinments was surprised that there were only that many left! "But you are so tiny!" she said - which made my day because I no longer feel tiny! I have gained a total of 21 lbs. and only have 8 weeks (fingers crossed) before this little girl gets here. Hopefully that means I will not hit the 35 lb + weight gain with this baby! :) Here's hoping!

So, I have 8 weeks to get through Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, Holiday parties and festivities, Christmas, sqeezing in a family "getaway" for a few days, New Years, 3 more Dr. appointments, and all the rest of my baby prep list! No biggie, right?

P.S. Thanks to everyone for their support with my doggy woes. She is a sweet girl and will be missed. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Bittersweet

The prospect of another child and the fact that we are staying in our tiny house for a couple more years have been weighing on my mind for the past few months.

Since Seth started school, our poor doggies have really been negected when it comes to getting out and running around (I take sole responsibility for this neglect, but give me some credit - I am 7 months pregnant and 2 kids plus 2 dogs are more than I can handle on a walk by myself - honestly, the walk itself is just about more than I can handle!). This makes for 2 very stir crazy dogs that fight playfully with each other all day long, have started barking at passerby's more frequently and are constantly wanting to go out and come back in.

So, after much reflection and thought, I suggested to Seth that it may be in everyone's best interest to find another home for one of the dogs (this was a while ago). Everyone seems to think that dog would be Callie, but, despite my recently developed fondness for her, it is actually Roxy. Callie was our first little baby and I just couldn't bear losing her. Also, while Callie is the better behaved dog at our house, Roxy is better behaved for and around other people. My thinking was that someone who took Callie in would likely not want to keep her as she is certainly a handful, but Roxy would be a joy to have in a one-dog household and would probably adjust much better. Seth was not keen on the idea at first, but after thinking it over, realized that it would really be better for everyone and agreed to put our feelers out. He did have some specific conditions, however, involving "visitation" rights and occasional opportunities to dog-sit, which narrowed the selection of possible owners to close family and friends.

I had nearly given up on the idea of becoming a 1 dog family, but last week Seth came home from work and told me about a friend at work who lives close-by and was interested in taking in our little Roxy-Roo and letting us dog-sit about once a month. It seems that she will be able to provide a great life for Roxy and give her the attention she needs and deserves. After mulling it over for a couple of days, we have decided to give it a try. We have one more week with her, before we give her up for the trial-run that will likely become permanent, and it is very bittersweet.

On one hand, I am excited to be able to answer the door while holding back only one barking dog, get rid of the kennel from our back landing, not have to break up dog-fights all day long, not have to hear growling every time one of them wants the spot the other one has, and spend less money on dog food, bones and toys. But, on the other hand, I am sure going to miss those floppy little ears, her saggy face, the warm furry ball at my feet when I get into bed, the way Chloe excitedly says, "Roxy-Roo!" whenever she sees her, and the endless doggy kisses (okay, maybe I won't miss the slobber so much). In fact, as I sit here typing, I can't help but get all teary just thinking about it. In fact often when I see her lately, I get very emotional. She has definitely become a part of our family and we will definitely feel a void when she is gone.

Red

We are wearing our colors proudly today! Morgan picked out blue pants to wear (that coordinated with the shirt he also picked out) and I made him go and change into his "UTAH" sweatshirt and tan pants! I am so glad that Seth is once again a UTE so we can be a red family through and through!

Go UTES!

A Recipe Request

In preparation for Thanksgiving, I have posted a recipe request on my recipe blog for your favorite Thanksgiving recipes and turkey tips. Since I know not everyone who reads my blog looks at the recipe blog (though you all should - it is so awesome! I know some amazing cooks who post fabulous recipes!) I thought I'd open up the request.

Click here to read the request and then post your Thanksgiving recipes on the recipe blog as a guest (Login as Username: fofguest Password: guestfof and make sure you sign your name so I know who to thank) or in the comments to this post and I will make sure they get posted on the recipe blog. If you want to be added to the recipe blog as a contributor, just email me your email address and I will send you an author invite.

I will be posting some of my family favorites as soon as I round up the recipes! Happy Cooking!

Poofy Vest Day

I love my little kids in their poofy vests!

And don't worry, there's one waiting for baby sister when she gets here !

Baby Bump - 29 weeks

Here it is, the long awaited picture of my baby bump! :) I had to a self portrait since Seth is never home when I am up for having a picture taken of my growing belly

This little girl better appreciate that I am willing to, not only take, but post these pictures for her!

The Wielding of Scissors

Morgan has come a long way since that first day of preschool only 2 months ago. I remember being scared to death watching him use scissors that day, so today when he found some scissors I had gotten for him a while back, the nerves came flooding back and I demanded that he sit in my plain view so I could prevent any chopped off finger tips. To my pleasant surprise, he has mastered the scissors...as long as he picks them up the right way.

He chopped up 5 or 6 sheets of construction paper - first, into strips, then into smaller pieces, and even attempted a star and a curve. I was very impressed by how straight his lines were - there's the perfectionist in me. Sure it was a waste of perfectly good construction paper that he eventually started cutting up right into the garbage can to save time on clean up, but I was so proud of my little boy for mastering the wielding of scissors

And, as a sidenote, have I mentioned that Chloe has turned into a climbing machine? We have a counter height table in our kitchen with chairs to match, and somehow she has figured out how to climb up the chair and onto the table. Seriously - this is extremely dangerous - but apparently she doesn't care! I thought that since she is so high maintenance with all the girly stuff, she wouldn't be doing the daredevil boy stuff - think again!

$2.02

That was how much a gallon of gas at Costco was today. That is cheaper than a gallon of milk at Costco (or anywhere else for that matter - even on sale)!

I didn't need gas today since my 27 gallon tank (yep, that's right, it's enormous!) was more than 3/4 full, but I was so excited to see gas this low that I couldn't resist! I remember thinking that $2 a gallon was depressing, but when it is half what you were paying only a few months ago, it seems so very cheap! Now if it could just go back to $.94/gallon like it was when I bought my first car...a girl can dream!

Same Old Stuff

I could sum up this post by just saying that my kids are super cute, I am feeling a little overwhelmed because I constantly take on too much, and Seth is busy with school and work, but then that is pretty much every post on my blog just with more detail. And, since we all know that I am not a woman of few words, I will give a bunch of random details.

Today, Chloe came in wearing Morgan's vampire teeth and said "rahr!" as she pretended to bite me. Apparently she is learning some "boy stuff" from Morgan amidst all that girly girlishness. Later I realized that while Chloe was rahr-ing at me, Morgan was "coloring" on Seth's handheld device with Sharpie marker instead of the stylus he had been using minutes earlier. Silly, silly boy (we got it all off, so I can think it is silly now). Chloe didn't want to get dressed this morning until I told her she got to wear a pretty dress and let her explore the ruffles, sparkles and velvet. Then she was very excited. Once she was all dressed, she walked around her room swishing her big poofy skirt. The girl will do anything to hear she is pretty! I realized this morning that Morgan is officially night-time potty trained. Since it isn't really something kids have a lot of control over, I didn't push it or expect it and just let him pick between pull ups and undies each night when he got jammies on. Lately, he wears undies to bed most nights and he hasn't woken up wet for at least a month (so long I can't remember). A very happy realization for me today! Little baby girl Tate is a kicker - she loves to kick me and gets really excited when she hears her siblings around and especially when she feels them up against her. I have never been one of those pregnant ladies who enjoys the kicking and I'm still not, but it is so sweet to know that she knows what is going on by the things that stimulate her activity. Every night after tucking him under the covers, I give Morgan kisses and say, "I love you!" The other night, he was directing the bedtime routine and I asked him what I do next as I tucked him into bed and he gave me kisses. Then I asked what I say next and he said, "I love you!" "That's right, I told him, I love you!" as I turned off the lights and left the room, I heard a sweet little boy voice saying, "I love you too!" as he always does. Nothing is sweeter to me than those little words.

In other news, after cleaning up the house nonstop during our week of the flu, I decided that I really really really really like my house when it is clean. I like that I don't feel embarrassed inviting someone inside when they stop by randomly. I like that I can see my shiny and beautiful floors (thank you H2O mop!). I like that it motivates me to prevent messes (ie. dirty doggy feet coming in from the back yard without being wiped, forgetting about the cereal bowl that Chloe threw from her high chair while I was in the shower and its remnants on the floor, etc.). I like that my laundry is out of sight and out of mind - because it is mostly clean and put away. I like that clearing the table for dinner is a 2-5 minute process not an hour plus project. I like that I feel I can invite people over to my house for whatever and not feel like I will have had to spend all day cleaning to get it ready. But most of all, I love how I feel when my surroundings are nice and neat! To clarify: it isn't that our house used to be germy and disgusting or anything, it is just that we have so little space that clutter would collect and multiply because it didn't have a home and where there was clutter, clean up became such an overwhelming task, that it didn't get done as often as it should have (with the exception of my kitchen counters which got/get 409-ed a ridiculous amount of times each day).

Here's a shout out to a couple of things that have made this clean house dream become a relative reality (if you stop by my house and I invite you in, please keep in mind that I still have 2 kids and 2 dogs and am pregnant).

1. Our wonderful garage! This project has been such a long time in the making that it is almost weird to think it is nearly finished. We have a door and 90 percent of the siding complete, so it has become the home to many things that have been difficult to find homes for. Not only that, but we can have visitors over in large numbers or for meetings or activities, or on days when I am just not up for holding back 2 large and very strong dogs, because the dogs don't seem to mind hanging out in the garage for a short period of time here and there. This means that I don't have to listen to them barking and scratching at the back door from the time I put them out and let someone else in until the time our visitors leave. If nothing else, that makes the whole garage worth it! :)
2. My new laundry system. After coming up with the concept, creating a pattern, picking out fabrics, picking out hooks, and finally getting Seth to hang them with me, I have a laundry system in my laundry room that is manageable and doesn't involve mountains of laundry taking over my family room or 20 minutes of searching in the morning for clothing that I know is clean...somewhere in the pile! Yay!
3. The H2O Mop, of course!
4. Preschool! Yep, that's right, a couple of hours each week where I can have only one child to clean up after instead of 2.
5. Good old fashioned devotion! I am kind of obsessed with my clean house now...which is great because it motivates me to keep it clean - which takes much less time and effort than cleaning the whole thing at once.

So, there you have it. Not much is new or exciting around here, but life is good!

Go Utes!

Seth has wanted to take the kids to a U game all season now that he is once again a UTE, but it just hasn't worked out with his schedule or the sold out student tickets. He bought the kids matching U of U sweatshirts to sport their colors, so we had them all decked out in Red today in honor of the game. They looked adoreable! We went to my Mom's to watch the first half of the game before rushing home to get kids to bed and watch The Office. Here we are sporting our colors while watching the game! Keep in mind that oversized sweatshirts and pregnancy aren't exactly the most flattering combo (therefore, this doesn't count as my belly shot I've been promising)!

Nausia set in...

...Tuesday night, right as the polls were about to close on the West coast. I thought I was just more upset than normal about the choice that we the people made for our Commander in Chief, but it got worse and worse throughout the night. Turns out, it wasn't post-election blues...it was the stomach flu (which Seth informs me is not the "flu" at all). Yep, I got it...the dreaded flu...and just so ya know: the stomach flu is SOOOO much worse when you have a baby inside kicking your upset stomach! We'll just say, I haven't been that sick in a very long time.

In other news, my 18 month-old daughter told me Monday, "ear hurts" as she grabbed her ear. Being the laid-back mother of two that I am, I thought kids her age don't really recognize where pain is coming from well enough to verbalize it. I had Seth check her ears anyway. He couldn't get a good look at the one she had pointed to when she told me her ear hurt, but the other one was totally clear and she had no runny nose. Yesterday she was really clingy, and then today she grabbed the same ear and said it again, "ear hurts". Turns out, she has an ear infection in that ear. Again, I am adjusting to all things girl, including the accurate verbalization of feelings.

Latest Happenings

My blogging absence has been due to the flu: Morgan flu, Chloe flu and Roxy flu. The worst of the 3 being Roxy flu which has lasted the entire week! If only I could train Roxy in the art of the red bowl! Luckily, I think everyone is finally over it and we can get our lives and laundry routine back to normal. Whew! So here is my catch up!

Monday for FHE we decided to make sugar cookies, decorate them all Halloweeny and take them to our buddies. We had so much fun cutting out the cookies with cookie cutters (sadly, this is the first time either of my children have experienced this), frosting them and sprinkling them...at least the first dozen or so. Then the kids were done and I was left with oodles of cookies to finish all by myself! Of course that was the night everyone started throwing up, so we didn't want to chance infesting our buddies with the flu and kept the dozens of cookies. I did send a bunch that I knew the kids hadn't helped decorate with Seth to work, though, and they enjoyed them.

Morgan had his preschool halloween party on Thursday and got to wear his farmer costume, which he loved, and then we went out to lunch with Grandpa Mark at the Olive Garden after the kids modeled their costumes for him. Yum!

Friday, we spent the day cleaning up more doggy flu messes and doing lots and lots of laundry until it was time to get in our costumes and head to Grandma Becky's for chili in pumpkin bread bowls and more costume modeling. Since we knew that Chili was on the menu, we didn't change Chloe into her costume until after dinner, but she looked darn cute in her Halloween outfit!

Chloe's first encounter with Trick or Treat - so, if I say "trick or treat" they put candy in there?

We met up with lots of our buddies at Trunk or Treat and then went Trick or Treating for about an hour before heading back to our house for donuts, hot chocolate and hot cider. It was so much fun! By about 8:30 the kids were ready to hit the hay from such a long and fun day. This is the first year that I have really enjoyed Halloween since I was in Jr. High. It was so cute to watch the kids go trick or treating. They were in heaven! Morgan was so polite saying "Thank You" at every door and was running ahead with his buddies to every house they spotted with the lights on! Chloe liked trick or treating more than I could have ever imagined! Seth carried her on his shoulders for most of the time and she would not let him skip any of the houses the other kids got to go to. She would point and say "treat" incessantly until he would give in and take her up! She said "trick or treat" at every door and was so pleased that the result was candy for her pumpkin! Morgan got in the stroller and told me that he was ready to go home and get donuts and hot chocolate, but Chloe was still wanting more! As I watched them trek up to every door, I just kept thinking how darling they were getting all excited about all of this candy. They made it out with a HAUL! We have so much candy I don't even know what to do with all of it.

Seth loves Halloween - especially Trick or Treating. He would go whether we had kids or not! This year he dressed up as white trash and yes, he had his own bag of candy!

This was Seth's outfit of choice for answering the door to trick or treaters after the kids went to bed. Even though Seth has more hair for the clips, the ears look much cuter on Chloe I think!

Saturday was the funeral for my Grandpa Bell (paternal Grandpa). He had been battling 2 different forms of terminal cancer in hospice care for the last 6 or so months and so we were grateful for the end of his suffering. I didn't expect it to be such an emotional day for me, but I found myself completely exhausted from all of the tears and juggling two very candy-wired children by myself as Seth had a mandatory training for work. It was so nice to remember all of the good times with Grandpa - many that I had long since forgotten - and to spend time with family that we very rarely see.

Anyway, that's what we've been up to! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! And seriously, is it already November? Crazy!