Christmas

I can't believe its' been nearly two weeks since I last posted-well i guess having a baby and visiting family for the holidays will do that. We are all doing well and have been having a terrific holiday season thus far..new years is still around the corner. We spent Christmas with my folks and the kids got to act out the nativity-it was so sweet. Ofcourse Whitney had to be Mary-Amber really didn't care for the whole thing but she found a way to quietly pop her head into the scenes as if she belonged in each one and Brooke played the part of baby Jesus (even though she's a girl.) Christmas morning was as expected with kids overwhelmed by presents and wanting to play with all of them at once. We played family games and enjoyed each others company. My favorite moment was when my grandmother shared her testimony of the gospel with the family over christmas dinner. Thankyou to Mom for doing such a terrific job hosting our family for Christmas and keeping sane through it all. May we be lucky to share more Christmas memories in the future.

All Five of us

So here is a picture of the whole family- Mom thought she had taken one with her camera but we later found out she didn't-so thanks again to my sis-in-law jess-for sending this one to us so we could share it. I wonder when we will ever get a family picture of us with Amber cooperating.

So far so Good

Just to give everyone an update on Brooke-she is doing great-she has proven to be an excellent baby-nurses well and sleeps a few hours at a time at night-which has been nice for me. Though some is because she takes a whole hour to nurse. I just hope she continues to be an easy baby-at 2 weeks is when my babies are the crankiest. We have really enjoyed joe-since he got to spend the last two days playing hookie from work to be with us. He has been a tremendous help and its fun for him to see what occurs at home on a daily basis.

Meet "Brooke Naomi"

I went into labor early Friday morning about 1:00 a.m. and delivered Brooke at 11:15am. She was 9 lb 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She looks like both amber and whitney and i can't really say what color her hair is-mom says it's red like amber's but it looks to have some blonde in it too-so we will see what happens in the next few months-if it falls out and grows back in a different color or what. Anyway I didn't have to be induced-but they did have to break my water because it wouldn't go on its own. But that's okay i had my epidural by then and so i didn't feel any pain-but I tell you what they gave me just enough so that i could move my legs and I totally felt to push-only for 30 minutes and out she came. Brooke and I are home now and we are both doing fine-and are being mugged by all family members present, including grandma and grandpa-speaking of which-happy birthday dad-you now get to share you birthday with Brooke. Here are some cute pictures of the new baby and our new family.

Still Preggos-she must be very comfortable or very patient.

Well it's wednesday and still nothing-had dr. appt yesterday and he wants to induce me on saturday-so at least we will have a baby by then-unless i chicken out at the last minute. I am just getting to the point where i am in pain all of the time and each day goes by it gets worse-at least the baby is in a good position to be born anytime-I am dialated to a loose 2 and my cervix is really ripe-something it has never been in the past-i have a feeling when I go in labor-it will be fast with this one. I am still hoping she comes on her own-I like the surprise of it all-not knowing when it's going to happen until wham it just hits you and your in the hospital delivering. So here's again wishing that she will come sooner than saturday-. (Grandma lucked out-yesterday was her b-day-Joe's dad's was Monday) So she had so many chances to be born on one of her grandparents' birthday-maybe she still will-my dads' birthday is Friday-two days!!

Still have my attached basketball

Well here I am again-still anxiously waiting-before i wasn't sure if i was ready for our new addition but now I can't wait. I guess I was a little nervous about how things will change once we have another baby in the house and how it will affect our everyday lives-things like- hopefully getting her fed and bundled up every morning in time to catch whitney's bus and to pick her up. And packing all three carseats in the backseat of our camry-and how that's really going to work out. Not to mention waking up throughout the night to crying and praying she isn't a collicky baby -especially since we are in an apt again. But I am now optimistic that whatever happens will happen and most things wont be in my control and I just hope that she is alot like amber was as a baby-so easy. These are all just my last minute thoughts and I am trying to enjoy life in the present as it is and am spending some one on one time with the two i already have. Whitney is surprising me everyday-she can read a lot of words and tries to spell them out on paper by herself-although she does beg for help sometimes. Amber is not potty trained yet-but she is talking a whole lot more-at least we can actually understand more of it. I still can't figure out if she's going to be left or right handed-she keeps switching-but I still think she favors her left when coloring. Well I am rambling again so off I got to get some rest.

Snow and Sleds

We got some more snow last night and when Joe heard the forecast, and being the great dad that he is, he had to go and purchase a sled to play with-I mean for his kids to play with. Anyway it's those little things that remind me how much I love him. He loves to see his kids get all excited-he can't wait to open birthday presents-He has to give his presents first thing in the morning-which is good that Christmas present opening is in the morning (unless it falls on sunday and we have morning meetings). So the kids are super excited to play with dad- and dad is anxious to buy yet another sled before that happens. With all that said, I almost feel obligated to post now so you all aren't wondering if I am in the hospital. If I don't post for three -four days you will know that baby has finally decided to come out of hiding. And ofcourse some of you lucky ones, will get phone calls with all the details.

Snow arrived-Baby didn't or hasn't yet.

We got snow last night and the girls woke up to a few inches and were so excited. I bundled them up early so they could play in it while we waited for Whitney's bus. We are supposed to get more snow on Thursday so we will look like a wonderland soon. Whitney can't wait for there to be enough for a snowman...I just keep thinking about road conditions and hoping that Joe doesn't try to speed when it's time to get to the hospital-it's been his habit in the past-even though we have tons of time to get there since i am such a slow laborer. I got a Dr. appt today so maybe we won't have much longer to wait. At least if my water breaks in public people will think the poor woman just fell down on the ice-j/k....like the giant belly isn't a dead giveaway. Anyway just thought the girls looked so cute-had to take pictures and share.

Full Moon??

Well we managed to not have the baby yet-we got past Joe's birthday and Thanksgiving. I was afraid that I'd be in the hospital during one of them since our past history shows that I usually go to the hospital on a holiday. Joe keeps looking up at the moon-says it's almost full and is thinking that maybe that will put me into labor-but then he also wants me to wait until monday to have this girl because then he can take all next week off. It's funny how we really don't have much control over these things.

My doctor says if i am ready that he will induce me on tuesday- but I have never been even close to ready when my other doctors have given the same reply. I go in and am not dialated enough or even effaced and to make matters worse my cervix is way in the back-so usually i have had to wait for nature to take her course. I really wouldn't mind if the full moon actually kick started it all off-anyone else hear of such a phenomenon? Oh and I really don't want to go to church and face all of the looks and remarks about how big my basketball is getting-(there is a picture so you can all see for youreselves) and when is this baby getting here? It's like you've all been through the same frustrating end of pregnancy, can't wait for it to be over feelings-why ask me the annoying questions you wish you could have avoided when you were me. Well with any luck next time I post I will have a little bit of heaven sleeping next to me.

Brrrr....It's getting cold

So our forecast for the next week is high in 40's with lows in the 20's. I am feeling it already since we've had some rain off and on too. Whitney keeps complaining about having to wear long sleeved shirts but I am pretty ruthless about keeping her warm. And no, i don't dress her up like the poor kid from the "christmas story" movie...that would be joe, if he ever got her ready to go outside. I mean he will just layer the girl to the point of no movement if i didn't intervene. It's really funny how he is more paranoid than I am about germs and keeping the kids warm. My one comfort is knowing that after he piles five blankets on the kids at night-they are both big enough to kick them off if they get too warm. Anyway just felt like talking about the cold weather and how excited i am to see snow but how i am dreading to have to bundle baby up everytime i step outside. It's getting through all of the layers to change baby's diaper and then rewrapping her all back up that's the real hassel.

More Books

It seems to me that my family members are all avid readers i thought I would share a list of a few authors and their books that I have come to enjoy and hope you will share some of your favorite authors/books. Some are christian authors-not necessarily LDS:

Lynn Austin-I really liked Fire by Night in her civil war series
Tracie Peterson
Ann Moore
Judith Pella-Lone star legacy series
Chris Heimerdinger- Tennis Shoes Adventure series
Stephenie Meyer-haven't read her books yet but i have heard they are great so i will be starting on one of hers and let you know how i like it.

Most are fun reads- and not really deep reading. Anyway that's a few that i've read from lately-except the tennis shoes series-when is vol 11 coming out????

Books

I don't buy Novels because I never read them more than once-except for David Copperfield and Pride and Prejudice. I have to admit I read those ones twice, once in HS and once in College. The only books I think I would purchase would be Church books like the Miracle of Forgiveness or something that discussed Doctrine to use as a reference and maybe a good cook book-so pretty much just instructional books. What about you? Do you buy good reads when you find them-do you actually read them more than once? I hate the predictability of it. But some people find comfort in already knowing the book ends on a good note. Anyway just wanted to know what everyones thoughts are on this as some gals in my ward have a book club going and we are discussing books that some have read more than once and I am like-why not read a book you haven't read three times already? There is a thing called a library-and books come free there. (sorry to sound sarcastic) Comments????

Halloween

We had a lot of fun trickortreating and trunkortreating.

First amber was to be Annie but didn't want to put on her dress-so we convinced her to go as a cat and that didn't go well-so we took out the dress up trunk and let her pick her own outfit and finally got a winning smile from "the teaparty" lady.

Whitney went as Tinkerbell-go figure. Here she is on the cakewalk strutting her magic stuff.
yummy donuts!!!

Ten things

Okay so i saw another blogger had posted a list of ten things they splurge on and ten things they save on..so i decided to do the same and challenge everyone else to share their comments or put your lists up on your own websites.
Okay so the ten save on items were the easiest for me since i really am more of a saver than a spender
1. Food- 10for10 cereal deals at Albertsons plus add coupons and we get our cereal for about 50 cents a box-we buy at least 20-30 boxes enough to last us until the next sale.
2. For craft stuff and coloring supplies-we hit the $ stores.
3. Diapers and wipes-we buy the walmart and equate brands
4. Oil changes-we go through all of those coupon books we get in the mail and find the best deal
5. Make-up $30-40 and I am good for six months-honest.
6. Haircuts-i cut the girls hair and joes myself.
7. Movies-we usually check them out at our library versus renting/buying them. Free yeah!!
8. Cleaners-i buy the concentrated Mr. clean multisurface and fill old windex bottles to use around the house. I can't believe how much i save doing this one. I go through cleaners quick.
9. Ink for our printer-i buy a refill kit-its so much cheaper (5 refills for $10 vs 1 new cartridge $17)
10. Laundry detergent-we buy the arm and hammer brand-it works great for us-and our clothes come out cleaner with this than other brands-it's nice when the cheaper stuff works great. You can also sprinkle it on your carpet and then vacuum to deodorize a room.

Okay here are my ten items i splurge on

1. Hair cut-for a trim i go to the ten dollar place but for a hair cut i splurge.
2. Cars-spend the money and buy the most reliable car within your budget.
3. Face wash-I love oil of olay regenerist line, works better than anything else i have tried. A little goes a long way which is one reason i don't mind splurging for it.
4. Dance shoes, okay ballroom shoes-buy nice brand and they last 10 times longer and are more comfy.
5. Crayola washable crayons-the cheap ones aren't really washable-didn't need to learn that lesson twice.
6. Nylons-I have tried buying the cheapo kind-but they run so easily.
7. Bras-if it fits perfectly i try not to look too carefully at the price tag. (Especially when my size is hard to find)
8. Whitney's jeans-and Joes shirts they are both irregular sizes in these that we have to pay more for them.
9. Date dinner-we do not go to mcdonalds, if we are going out to eat that means a place which makes better stuff than i can make at home.
10. Appliances-I figure you get what you pay for here.

Apple Festival

We took the girls to apple festival this weekend. We packed a picnic and headed off to the nearby farms involved. The girls got to ride a little train-Amber had to get off half way through because it jounced her around so much that at one time she was facing backwards and anothertime she fell into the barrell completely unseen by us-and had started to cry. We made up for that though in letting the girls go down a giant blowup slide they had set up-they really enjoyed that. Also they had to pet the draft horses being used for the hay rides. We picked raspberries- and paid a really decent price for them, yeah!!! I mad freezer jam that very night. We also bought apples ofcourse but decided to skip the long lines weighing pumpkins and buy them at the store instead-a little closer to Halloween. We also witnessed a pumpkin being launched 1/4 mile by a canon -men and their toys. It was a full day and the girls were easily put to bed that night.

Bigger and bigger

I am only two pounds shy of when I had amber, so I wonder with two months left to go how big this next baby is going to be. Hopefully I won't grow too much more, I am already uncomfortable. Fall weather is here and I am loving it, Halloween is around the corner and the spirit of autumn can be seen in all of the color changes in the trees-it really is lovely. Our house hasn't sold yet-so hopefully that means that right buyer just hasn't come along yet and not some other reason. We are both anxious to be in a house again. I would say to anyone who is in a house and has complaints about it-they should move into an apartment half it's size for two months. We are going to visit my parents this weekend for conference so it will be nice to get out of this little box for the weekend and feel a little more freedom.

Go Cowgirl

Here is whitney mutton busting in the rodeo in June-she got second and we were so proud of her especially dad and grandma. She got to ride again in September but the sheep ran her into the fence early on and she was a little shaken after that one. I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

First Day of School

Here is Whitney on her first day of schoool-you can tell she looks real excited-she really was. She begged to ride the bus to school and luckily there is girl in our ward that catches the bus with her-they are even in the same class. Her favorite color is blue and she insists on wearing that color as often as possible-Joe actually tries to get her to like pink-it's funny. It takes us about five-seven minutes to walk to the bus stop.

Amber has cries half the time when whitney leaves for school because she misses big sister-other times she leads whitney to the bus and waves so anxiously i wonder at all that she cried in the first place. It's been a whole week now since school started and whitney loves her teacher and has gotten used to how things are. The second day she came home with a stamp on her hand that said "i need to bring lunch money tomorrow" She had gone to breakfast-we had a discussion about not needing to eat two breakfasts-but if she was feeling like she really had to eat it was okay. She said her friend ruined her day because they were late to class because of it. Funny.

Birthday and Bathtime

Here are the girls in the bathtub back at our house-i say "our" because it hasn't sold yet-Aren't they just adorable in all the suds. Whitney likes to take showers now so I had to capture one of the last times she will be playing bath time with her sister. Amber finally turned three and she finally went potty on the potty chair for the first time this week. I am going to take her shopping to get her big girl panties this week and hopefully by the end of the month-no more diapers.

Tag your'e it

The fun middle-name game!
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Here goes:
This is the only time that i wish i had ashley's middle name.

D-Dance is my passion after my family and church.-easy one
A-my first name is spelled with an A-even though I am not a boy. got teased about that one the first day of Kindergarten.
N-Nightowl-I hate mornings and i don't think that will change anytime soon.
E-I love to EAT-no secret there-i think my whole family,even extended is the same. My family loves to eat.
T-Teamwork- I like the connection when you move together in unity towards a goal. I think with any new team-it's rocky at first but when you are finally insync, its awesome. My marriage is still rocky at times but we have our good moments too.
T-Terrible twos have now passed and I am wondering if Terrible Three's is another phase i was unaware of until recently......
E-Empty my house is almost empty-it needs occupants to refill it..

Okay so now i know you will be dissapointed-but i only know three other people who have blog-and two of them have a name that cooincides with a letter in my middle name-the same letter-so i guess the only person i can tag is arica since ashley has already done the tag thing. So arica you are tagged.

Moving

Okay so Joe was offered a great job out of state and we are excited to make the move and be there as soon as we can. We will be in an apartment until our house sells so we will have to downsize our living for a while-not as many toys to pick up is okay by me. This week we are finishing packing up all of our stuff and saying goodbye to friends. Whitney will start school next week-first day of school is the day after we move so things will get really crazy. I have to make sure to keep out her back pack with all the things i will need to register her with. Hopefully she gets am school-the school does full day but only for those who need it (It's more geared to catch up kids that are behind). Hopefully everything will run as smoothly as it possible can given the situation. Crossing fingers.

Garden Harvesting

I am so happy. The last few days I have been able to pick some tomatoes out of our garden. They took forever to ripen and my mouth has been watering all summer waiting for them to turn red. I also picked some corn today for dinner. We kind of went crazy with our garden this year and planted a good variety of things: Carrots, Cucumbers, Radishes(I hate radishes-but joe wanted to try them), Onions, Corn, Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Cantaloupe and Watermelon and Strawberries. Everything has grown well, except the carrots are a bit small and ofcourse the strawberries won't produce until next year. Its been really nice not to have to buy much from the produce isle. (just salad and apples/bananas) Joe wants to grow twice as much next year. We always try something new each time and learn what not to do the next go around. Maybe our next house will have a few fruit trees and spot already reserved for a garden. I would love to have peaches or apricots. Wishful thinking but can you blame me-we are forever a greenthumb family now.

The OH NO!! episodes with children

So after reading about some mischievous doings by other children, I thought I would make a post of the worst messes my children have made thus far-and which child was responsible.

1. One bottle of Hershey syrup spilled on carpet in apartment: it all came out-i was about 7 months pregnant with amber and scrubbed for at least one hour-then steam cleaned it the next day. I was determined to get our deposit back. -Whitney

2. One half gallon of paint-spilled on carpet in front room-child with it from the elbows down, after stripping child of clothes and hurriedly putting them in washer i grabbed our steam cleaner and started suctioning like mad-when i thought i had cleaned it all up, realized that child had decided to make the wall, fireplace and wooden built in hutch her creative canvases-with a final wipe off on the handrest of the couch. Needless to say not all of that came out-with exception of the tiled fireplace and wooden hutch-worked on that one first.---Amber

3. 3/4 bottle of baby oil gel in toddler's hair-washed her hair three times with baby shampoo, then with my shampoo. Then with dish detergent-that seemed to get the most oil out. She smelled like lemon scented joy for the next week. -Whitney

4. 90% of maple syrup bottle poured-not spilled-on carpet. Steam cleaned it three times..still sticky..used laundry detergent mixed with water...still sticky...Finally took someone's advice and boiled water as hot as i could and poured it over then toweled it up as good as possible. When it dries, i will let you know if it is still sticky.-Amber

5. Markers from eyesight level down-scribbled all over the walls-on some of the carpet-and all over two half-dressed children. Can't count how many towels went through that night or how loud the girls screamed as dad hosed them down in the shower. Didn't know whether to laugh or scream as I entered to find that mess. (Photo above tells some of the story) Amber seemed to have given whitney the 80's hologram makeup look to her eyes-in purple and blue and I think their bottoms were covered with all of the ink from the two brown markers-Joe couldn't stop laughing about that part. -Whitney and Amber

Hope this was enjoyable to read and that it makes you feel that you aren't the only parent who on occasion wonders if there will ever be a time when "too quiet" doesn't mean you are going to find a crazy surprise when seeking out children.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Yes-we are having daughter #3. Joe was really hoping for a boy but he loves his girls and will fall in love with this one when she comes. I am excited because we are already prepared for a girl. We also put our house up for sale today-we will most likely be relocating for work..not sure to where-but we will keep everyone updated.

Family Time

Thanks to Joe's sister for taking this picture of our family. It is like the only one we have of us. This is when we went camping for Joe's family reunion in June. We stayed in Teepees and the kids had so much fun swimming at the hot springs and playing with their cousins. Ofcourse we all came home with a good sun tan (or burn).

Whitney's Party

We had Celebrated Whitney's fifth birthday with a Neverland Birthday Party. As she loves Tinkerbell she dressed up as the pixie herself and invited her friends to dress up as their favorite characters: We had a mermaid, some pirates, Wendy herself and a few lost boys including Peter Pan. We started off by greeting all of the kids at the indian camp and passing out headdressses. Then we played pin the star on the wand at Pixie Hollow. Here is a picture of the kids playing cannonball blast at Skull rock..they had to pop the balloons to find pieces to a treasure map..after putting it together they found the treasure chest buried at Mermaid Lagoon behind the waterfall (our bathroom decorated w/fish and shells-we hid the chest in the bathtub behind the shower curtain). Then we divided up the loot (gift bags filled with $store coins/jewelry and pirate booty) and had cake and presents.

Getting better

Well as most of you know we are expecting our third finally and everything looks good and feels that way too since i have been sick for the last month. I am finally feeling to where i can eat some things so i am grateful for that. Our dance concert went well enough..we had a few mishaps (wardrobe malfunction in one dress-girl back exposed-it could have been worse). I have started a new dance team of my own..sort of. I am working with the owners of a studio. We had try-outs last week and we didn't get enough guys try-out so i am going to try to do some recruiting this next week. Our first practice is this weekend-a get to know you short practice. Still it will be nice to get started..we plan on being in the summer parades this year..so we have a lot of work to do before next month. Also Whitney turns five next month and is so excited about her birthday. I told her she could get her ears pierced-don't know what daddy thinks about that one yet. Girls must be girls. I will let you know how everything works out. Right now i am busy trying to plan a neighborhood block party/bbq for next weekend. Yikes.

Chalk and Dirt..all you need for a good time!!!

So this last week has been really nice so the girls were able to go out and play. Here is what they did. Yes..we took baths almost everynight that week. I still don't know if amber had tried to eat the dirt or if that was from the dirt fight they had. I just couldn't resist the photo op of getting that messy face. And I still haven't gotten all of the chalk out of whitneys' capris..the bum looks like a rainbow of colors. Oh well..thats life as a mother of two very creative and sometimes very naughty children.

Ballroom Competition

My team did very well at our ballroom competition. My routines that were brought up beat out the other college's ballroom team of the same level.(They are doing the Jive (black)- and rumba(teal)in the pictures) I was very proud of our team. I competed in Paso Doble.(red) We took second place-so that was exciting. I also had to fill in a spot in our standard routine.(blue/white) A special thanks goes out to my mom for sacrificing her time for me that weekend and helping out/taking care of my family-love you mom!! And thanks arica for the stunning costume choice!

new genealogy link

make sure to check out my new genealogy link to the right. I will try to update it with as much information and pictures when i can.

Once there was a snow man!!!

We actually got snow this year at Christmas time so Whitney and Joe went outside to build a snowman. Here they are in action.