Halloween 2011

Fairy Princess Deziree

Obi Wan Kanobi

Scooby-Doo

We had some fun celebrating Halloween. Ben decided he wanted to be a Star Wars character, Obi Wan Kanobi. Gavin wanted to Scooby-Doo, and Deziree a princess. I was trying to convince them of all of us dressing up as Phineas and Ferb characters, but they didn't go for it.

The kids went trick or treating at David's work and around the neighborhood. They got more back than we gave out.

Mexico

As some of you know David and I went to Mexico. It was like a second honeymoon for us. It was a good time to go. I'm not pregnant or nursing, so I don't have a child attached to me. We were there a week.

We went on a tour of Chiten Itza. While on the tour they took us to a Canote. It was basically a cave with water in it. I was amazed to find that there were fish swimming around in it.

 They also took us to a tourist trap (place that sells lots of souvenirs) and to lunch. The food was alright. And the souvenirs were overpriced. They even were trying to sell us liquor with our picture on it. We did end up buying a cartouche with my name spelled in Mayan letters.

 Here are a few pictures of the pyramid.

 This picture is of the arena that they would play their game of ball in. If you look there is a circle that is where they would have to hit a ball into, without using their hands. We also found out that the winners would be beheaded after the game.

 This is a little Mayan girl. She came up to us selling little handkerchiefs that had embroidering on them

 This is of some nun place.

 A picture before we go out to eat. They had 7 restraunts to chose from. We ate at the Mexican on the first night and got to enjoy the Mariochi Band.

 David on the beach.

 Tiff on the beach.

 An abandoned building on the beach. It looked interesting so I took a few more photos of it.

 What we saw off the balcony.

 We played a big game of checkers. I won when David started to loose and he gave up.

 We went on a boat tour through the lagoon, and snorkeling. I kept needing to stop and take the snorkel out of my mouth. I have an awful gag reflex. It was cool to see the reef and fish. David even got bit by one.

 A scene of the lagoon.

 A pirate ship. Arg! To get on we would have had to pay for dinner.

At the resort we had lots of fun. They usually had things to do. We played ping-pong (I usually lost in the first round), I read, we had virgin pinacoladas while laying out. Every evening they had some entertainment. We opted out a few nights because it wasn't very clean entertainment. One night they had some traditional Mexican games to play. I won a pair of earrings!

It was a hard adjustment to come back home. But I did miss the kids. Thank goodness that my mom was able to take care of all three of them.

Incognito

Alright I have been ignoring my blog lately. I moved closer to family, so the whole motivation of updating it is pretty much gone. I have been sewing up a storm lately. I sewed 5 bridesmaids skirts for David's brother Adam and his soon to be wife Ashley. (Sorry no pics, I was just thrilled to get them done.) My poor children were totally ignored that week. Dez got to watch Tinkerbell multiple times. When I would go downstairs, she would demand it to be put on. Even if I told her it was my turn to choose, she would throw a royal fit. Sometimes it gets her what she wants, but most the time it does not.

Deziree had her birthday. She turned 2 on Mother's Day. We got her a whole lot of Maisy books and a Maisy doll too. She was always stilling Gavin's Maisy. She knew it was her birthday. When I came downstairs with her presents all wrapped, she said, "My birfday, my birfday. It was torture for her to see her presents all wrapped and out of reach. Gavin was still asleep and we wanted him to be able to see her open presents.

 I subbed in the nursery, and I was trying to get her to say Happy Mother's Day, but instead she said, "Happy, my birfday." 

We ended up doing her cake a day later. Strawberry cake with strawberry frosting, and to top it all off fresh strawberries.

We ended up going to the zoo with Ben's class. As we were waiting for Ben to get off the bus, We went to the gorilla exhibit. When Dez saw the gorilla she pointed and yelled, "Big Monkey, Big Monkey!" she was excited to see the gorilla.

 A favorite of the boys was the elephant that made noises. We had to go back twice because there were so many kids at the elephant the first time.

See how many kids there were the first time? lots!

Had to see how the kids measured. I am so glad their arms are not as long as a gorillas. They would definitely be able to reach things that I purposefully put out of their reach if they were as long as a gorillas.

This turtle came up to the fence and was gnawing on it. It was definitely pretty big in person.

I tried to get the giraffe in the back ground. Deziree was concerned that it would get close to us. Ben had to hold her where she was.

 Ben lost his first tooth back in February. He is very close to losing his second tooth.

 This dress Dez is wearing I made out of an old pair of pajamas my sister-in-law didn't want anymore. The accessories are of Deziree's own choice.

 Dez loves Hello Kitty. I thought she would like a Hello Kitty shirt. I picked up a cheap shirt from Wal-mart. Used the Hello Kitty Cricut Cartridge, and some t-shirt vinyl from this website. He seems to have good deals on any vinyl.

And another dress I made from pajama pants. I added a few tuxedo ruffles and a waistband. My sister-in-law said Dez looked like a clown in it. I like her in that dress.

What else is going on? Dez is wanting to potty train herself. I am so not ready for that. Gavin right now has something going on with his bladder. I took him to instacare last night the doc said most likely it is a virus in his bladder causing him to urinate blood. His bladder is also inflamed making him need to go frequently. I tried putting him down and 8:00 last night. He was up every few minutes to go pee. Couldn't even stop long enough to fall asleep. Once I gave Gavin ibuprofen for the inflammation, he fell asleep on the couch. Hopefully this will pass soon.

Our Lovely Week

This week wasn't a good one. Wednesday night Gavin woke up screaming. I went in there, and there he began to throw up. Every hour he was up. We had to clean up vomit several times. About the fifth time he got up, I hurried and jumped out of bed. I booked it as fast as I could. As I turned the corner, I slipped and fell. I felt a little disoriented, and was a bit stunned. I was determined to get in there before he threw up yet again. I started crawling so as not to fall again. This bug hit Gavin hard, taking him out of commission for 2 days. Thank fully we got a good night rest Thursday night.

Friday, Deziree decided that it was her turn to be sick. We stayed up late letting her throw up a few times before we went to bed. Also to make it easier on us, we put the pack'n play in our room for her to sleep in. She wanted her own bed, but settled in pretty good. David said he would get up with her that night. Anytime she moved or rolled over, he would sit at the bed just waiting for her to vomit yet again. I got some sleep, and am thankful that David gave up his rest for me. Deziree was eating just fine Saturday morning.

Saturday, it was my turn. My stomach felt a little achy, but I was functioning fine. I attributed to little sleep. Well my aunt had a boutique at her house. I wasn't feeling so hot, so I came home. After eating lunch and getting a nap. I came upstairs and sat on the couch. There I stayed, until my kids went to bed. My stomach was cramping, I felt a bit lightheaded, and a whole lot of queasy. Luckily I didn't throw up, but I wasn't functioning very well. Today I decided to eat instead of fasting because of being sick. I didn't eat much, but when I ate my stomach would cramp up.

While at church Ben said he wasn't feeling good. I am not taking that lightly. We all ended coming home after Sacrament Meeting. Ben is acting okay, but we will see tonight if we end up getting up with him. That is when it has hit hard with the kids.

By the way I am sick of doing laundry due to throw up.

Top 10 of 2010

In no specific order

1. We moved into a house. One of the best days. It was so nice leaving that apartment after 3 1/2 years in it.

 2. Ben started kindergarten. I admit, I had a very hard time the first few weeks he was gone. He loved being there every minute. He made lots of new friends.

 3. We went camping as a family. We went to Carley and had a blast. The boys enjoyed making fire, and pumping the pump.

 4. David got me a bigger table. He even refinished it too. As much as we have eaten on it, it was so much better being able to spread out a bit.

5. Visiting family. We enjoyed our yearly trip out to Utah for a week. This year we were able to celebrate David's mom's birthday. We weren't sure that she was going to last that long.

 The kids also enjoyed playing with their cousins.

6. We moved from Minnesota back  to Utah (yeah no picture!)

7. We had Christmas with family
8. Gavin is potty trained! It is so wonderful not to be kicked while changing a diaper.
9. David got a job with Zion's Bank
10. Gavin started preschool in a co-op. Despite putting up a battle every time he went, he did enjoy being there and did learn things.

Thankful

I am grateful for many things. Besides the standard answers of church, husbands, kids, family, and having enough for my needs, here are some things I am thankful for that make me, well me!

I am grateful for my ability to sew. I really enjoy sewing. I love to create somethings from a flat piece of fabric into something that has form and that one can actually wear. I am grateful that I can challenge myself and try new things to sew.

I am grateful for books. I love to read. I like that I am immersed in a different world when I read. Sometimes a break from reality and the mundane things I do every day. I have to limit myself on how much I read, because my kids do get ignored. However they do get food, water, and diaper changes (you know their basic needs taken care of).

I am grateful for dancing. I love to dance. It keeps me happy. I know when I am having a hard day that putting on music and dancing helps. It is sweet to dance with Deziree. Dez loves to dance and giggles while she does.

I am grateful for being able to scrapbook. I love that it documents my life and my families activities together. It is fun to see the kids look through what I have done and see what they used to look like. Sometimes they don't think that they used to be a baby. The boys have a hard time recognizing themselves when both have worn the same clothes but a year or two apart.

Sewing

I have been sewing a lot lately. I have actually been enjoying it. Usually I will do one or two projects and then move onto something else. I have basically left my sewing machine out since we moved. Well it also helps that I have no where to put it except to leave it out. My first project since moving was those curtains behind me in the picture. 

One day I was frustrated with my kids. David came home and literally sent me to my room. There I toyed around with ideas of what to make with this polka dot fabric.

 I made my pattern almost from scratch. I did use a shirt pattern for the top part, and the sleeves. I am pleased that it turned out so well.

I just finished this apron that my sister Tanya designed. I was really excited when she shared her pattern with me. I went to the fabric store about a month ago for this fabric. Now that Halloween is over, I had time to sew this up. It wasn't easy with a little helper who knows how to turn off and on my machine. She would just grin thinking that she was helping me. Thanks Tanya for sharing your pattern!

Here is the link to my sisters Etsy store.