We're outta here!

YAY!! Tomorrow we are heading to Utah for 9 whole days! I am so excited to go. It was supposed to be a Labor Day weekend trip to meet up with some of Al's former roommates and their families and to attend the BYU season opener. Then... my mom called to tell me that her family is having an impromptu family reunion the following weekend. So, we're making a real trip out of it and staying through for the Prina family reunion. Al will be flying home to work next week (big thanks to my mom and dad for springing for that one) and then flying back up on Friday night so he can attend part of the reunion and drive home with us.

We have grand plans and get to meet up with a ton of friends and family. And I am beyond thrilled to be getting out of this *%@^*^@* heat. I'll have lots of pictures and updating to do when we get home.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

Staying Cool

Now that our pool has closed, desperate times call for desperate measures. After school yesterday we stopped to get an Icee (who knew I would have to have a DRINK budget when living in the desert) and then we ran to Home Depot to buy a sprinkler. I decided to let the kids jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler going under it. It was one of my favorite summer time activities as a kid and I was interested to see if my kids enjoyed it. It's good to know that some things don't change, even after 25 years. The kids LOVED it. They played on the trampoline for at least an hour without so much as a fight or word of complaint. Other moms know that this is a feat in and of itself.
Sliding around on the slippery trampoline:Best friends. I love these next two pictures and I especially love that they are such good friends! Luckily, our friends are taking pity on us and we have a couple of swim dates planned for the rest of the week!

My very own Knight in Shining Armor...

...or something like that! I love a man who isn't afraid to make a fool out of himself.

Farewell Favorite Summer Activity!

Yesterday was the last day our pool is open for the season. We're all bummed that our fun days at the pool are over for the year. I had to take some pictures to represent what we've been up to ALL summer long. Our kids have become incredibly comfortable in the water and we have had a blast this summer.

Daredevil Man: Loves going off the diving board and has even tried flips and dives (aka belly flops).

His other favorite attraction is the curly slide:at the top:On the way down (I had to try to get this shot about 20 times). Hilariously, he was screaming "CHEESE" all the way down in this picture:

Makenna playing in the outdoor shower:More shots:Under the dumping water buckets:I also haven't blogged about the kids' swim lessons this summer. We snuck them in with a session with a girl in our ward who is SUPER great and hard to get into. She is amazing and both kids can SWIM now. Carter pretty much has the freestyle stroke down and can swim the length of the pool alone:Makenna can also hold her own. She can swim a pretty good distance alone. We are still working on her "big arms" but she can get to the side of the pool alone.I feel like the kids could hold their own in an emergency situation. Ok, and one last shot of us. If you look closely you can definitely get a peek at my growing baby bump.
Finally, I must admit here that I am so jealous looking at all the fun activities my blogging friends have been up to this summer. This has pretty much been it for us (except for our regular weekly indoor activities). I am SO excited for cooler weather and have a million things on my fall/winter agenda for fun outdoor activities. I've even tried to take the kids outdoors very early in the morning to play but it is still way too hot to enjoy. Even though we still have weeks of hot weather ahead of us, we are counting down the days to cooler weather. (And in case you're wondering, I've been careful not to complain about the weather on the blog but it has almost killed me this summer).

Flutter, Bump...Kick!!

It's official. I've felt the baby move. Yay! Hooray! This is my absolute favorite thing about being pregnant (the list is short, I assure you). I've suspected it for a few days but it's been undeniable today. I know, it is really early. But, I've been able to feel all of my kids move really really early. Something about my uterus being tilted or something (or so saith the doctor). I love and adore feeling my little one move.

This also begins the obsessive compulsive part of my pregnancy. Once I can feel the baby move, it is a requirement that I feel him/her move every time I get up in the night (2-3 times most nights). Sometimes I lay there for a very long time. Several times I have woken Allen up in tears because it has been so long since I have felt the baby move. He is a patient man and usually gets me a glass of orange juice to get the baby moving and stays up to wait it out with me. Such a good man.

Anyway, that's all the news here!

Thanks Andrea!

A couple weeks ago Andrea posted a picture of her daughter in the CUTEST outfit. I went on the hunt and found she had purchased it at Gap and had to, had to, had to order the same one for Makenna. Stink, it is the cutest outfit ever. Actually, Andrea got the dress in brown, which I would have preferred, but I still think it's cute in this color (completely sold out in brown). I still need to make bows and am just waiting and waiting for the brown Mary Jane Crocs to be back in stock, but couldn't resist having her try it on today. The leggings TOTALLY make the outfit.

In other news, guess what I did this morning? Met with the interior designer I hired!! YIPPEEE!! Are you shocked that I hired a decorator? I just can't deal with picking out all the paint for the house by myself. I am SO tired of white walls, I could cry. Last night Al even said that we have GOT to get some paint on the walls. Must be bad if he's dying to paint. She is fabulous. We have colors picked out for the main floor and now she's working on fabric choices.

Tagged

I've actually been tagged for this twice. Once by Elisa and once by Celeste so I thought I'd finally play along.

Jobs I've held:
1. Administrative Assistant (about a million times for a million companies)
2. Press Assistant
3. Telecommunications Consultant (favorite, most cushy job ever)
4. Customer Service Specialist
5. Receptionist
6. Waitress
7. Retail store worker (my least favorite)

Places to go for a weekend getaway:
1. Anywhere cool, that's pretty much all I can think about right now

Movies I can watch over and over:
1. Pride and Prejudice (A&E version)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Kiera Knightly version)
3. You've got mail
4. Fiddler on the Roof

Guilty Pleasures:
1. Fountain diet Coke with crushed ice and lemon almost every day
2. Shopping
3. Pedicures
4. Weekly date night with Al
5. Reading

Places I've Lived:
1. Royal Oak, MI
2. Farmington, UT
3. Idaho Falls, ID
4. Littleton, CO
5. Provo, UT
6. Minneapolis, MN and various cities throughout my mission
7. Alexandria, VA
8. Wethersfield, CT
9. Bellevue, WA
10. Phoenix (area), AZ

What were likely the first things you thought of when you saw your significant other for the first time?
1. I loved his hair (longer and shaggy than he wears it now)
2. He has a great smile
3. He talks a lot (he visited with my parents for about an hour before we actually went out)
4. He has a hilarious car

Places I've been on vacation:
1. Hawaii
2. Hilton Head, SC
3. All over New England
4. All over Europe
5. Western Caribbean

Favorite foods:
1. Salad
2. Mexican food - I'm partial to really great enchiladas
3. Diet Coke
4. Homemade Chocolate chip cookies

If in a "jam" with your spouse, what tactics do you use to get out of the "doghouse"?
1. Lots of loving
2. Cook him something he likes
3. Give Al space - I like to deal with things immediately but he likes to think things through first

Websites I visit daily:
1. Hotmail
2. Bazzillions of Blogs
3. My banking website

Best First Kisses Landmarks:
I think I'm partial to mine and Al's first kiss. In my parents back yard, on the hammock.

Places I'd rather be right now:
1. Finishing Eclipse (!!!!)
2. Taking a nap
3. Out to lunch sans kids

Who sent this to me? Elisa and Celeste

Now I get to pick three other blog buddies to "survey":
I'm picking friends who are newish to blogging.
1. Melissa
2. Wendie
3. Kerry

Enabler Alert!

Most of you know my love for kids clothes and Gymboree. Well, Gymbo just came out with a brand new store called Crazy 8. Prices are on par with Old Navy and the clothes are really cute. They only have a few retail stores open right now but I just placed my first online order and will let you know the quality once they arrive. Here's a sampling of the cuteness:

Happy Shopping!!

Details, details!

Yes, it is true. We are expecting baby #3!! My due date is February 14 which puts me right at 14 weeks. We are truly thrilled to be adding this new addition to our family.

We're surprised that so many of you seem surprised. Baby and Makenna will be almost exactly 3 years apart. One of these days we should try to have a baby at a different time of year instead of in January and February.

As far as the pregnancy goes, it has been fabulously uneventful. I have been really, really sick but I expected that. My sickness mostly hits at night right around dinner time. This has been a blessing in many ways because Allen is usually home and can take over for me in the parenting and dinner duties. I am feeling a lot better but still have a couple of hard nights every week. We have had 3 Ultrasounds (5 weeks, 9 weeks and 14 weeks) and watching the baby change is nothing short of miraculous.

Last October when we had to choose our medical benefits for this year we opted out of the maternity benefit because I was 100% sure I didn't want to have a baby this year. By December I had changed my mind and we even called the Honeywell HR department but they would not let us add the benefit. So, we have been patiently (or not so) waiting to try for a baby for the last several months. I DO NOT recommend moving during the first trimester. That has been pretty awful and explains a lot about my frame of mind this summer. We have mostly just been surviving to get through the first trimester.

The kids are really excited. Especially Carter. He is very interested about how the baby got inside my tummy and how the baby gets out. I think I got a little too technical in my getting out explanation and he is really fascinated by the whole process and asks a ton of questions and then proceeds to be really grossed out. He is really cute and keeps coming up with baby name suggestions. The first time we heard the heartbeat he gasped and said, "Mom, listen. I can hear the baby snoring." Too cute. It is really fun to have him aware of what is going on this time.

I am sadly already starting to look pregnant. I am in total denial about it and keep squeezing into my normal clothes. I've only gained a couple of pounds but all my weight has shifted and I already look slightly pregnant. I didn't wear a stitch of maternity wear with Makenna until I was 24 weeks pregnant. If I make it to 18 weeks this time I'll be lucky.

Anyway, thanks for the congratulations. We will definitely keep you posted on the progress of the pregnancy. Our big Ultrasound is scheduled for September 18 and we can hardly wait!! Thanks again!

Guess What?!?!?

Can you tell what that is?

First day of School!!

I can hardly believe it is back to school time once again. It certainly doesn't feel like back to school (115 degrees today). Carter started the Pre-K program today at one of the local elementary schools. He will be attending 5 days a week from 1:00-3:30 p.m. Kindergarten in AZ just went to mandatory full days so we thought we would ease the adjustment by having him attend every day this year. He was really excited to get back into the classroom. We're anxious to see how he grows and develops this year. He suddenly seems so grown up. Sob!!

Before leaving for school:

In his new classroom in front of his cubby:After school with his first day of school treat (an idea I stole from my friend Kayla):

Friday Five (on Saturday)

1. What was the most difficult decision you've ever had to make? Whether or not to serve a mission was a big one (I really, really, really didn't want to go but knew I was supposed to).

2. What was the best decision you ever made? Marrying Allen, hands down and becoming a Stay at Home mom. I wouldn't miss their lives for the world.

3. What important decisions are you mulling over right now? Does picking paint colors count? Actually, I'm always pondering how many kids we want to have. And also when/where/how I will go back to school to finish my Master's degree.

4. If you could go back to school to learn a new skill, what would you learn? I really, really want to be a great cook someday. I think I can hold my own in the kitchen right now but I'm talking gourmet cooking. Obviously, this is not the season of my life to become a gourmet cook since I have small children but someday I want to be really great at it. I actually love to cook when I have uninterrupted time. This rarely happens since I usually have 2 kids hanging on my leg or wanting to help.

5. If you could have any super power what would it be? I LOVE Jan's answer to this question. But on the lighter side, I've always said my super power would be to not NEED sleep. Think of all the productivity that could happen all night long. I'd like the option to sleep when I want to but not actually need it to survive/function.

The Package!!

These are the contents of my "favorite things" package that Angie won in my one year blogging anniversary drawing. I ended up adjusting the treats I included because Angie just joined Weight Watchers and I would never, ever sabotage a friends' diet. Being a former WW girl myself, I included a couple of my favorite low-cal treats. Giving gifts is one of my favorite things ever so this was so much fun for me!

1. I box of Quaker chocolate covered rice cakes (surprisingly good and only 90 calories

per pack)

2. Gift card to my favorite store ever, Target

3. Hershey 100 calorie chocolate bars

4. A cute pink and brown fabric covered box - I am a sucker for cute packaging and specifically love the color combo of pink and brown

5. 2 packs of sugarless gum - I chew a ton of gum when I'm watching my weight.

6. A copy of All But My Life, a book I've talked about on here before. It's so great I thought I would spread the love.

7. A candle from my favorite candle company, Gold Canyon Candle. I am REALLY particular about how my house smells and these are my favorite candles ever. The candle I included is one of my favorite summer scents called "Love Struck." (If you ever want to buy these candles, I have a great rep I can get you in touch with).

And here is the package all ready to go.

Again, thanks for playing along everyone. I can't wait to put another package together soon!

Question: What Happened to Every Day?

Answer: Life

Sheesh. I had such good intentions for posting every day this week. Here's a summation of my week and you'll see why it just didn't happen:

• 1 flooded backyard - the landscapers who installed our sprinkling system set our timers to run 3 times a day for 40 minutes each time. When they came out to adjust the sprinklers they said we really only need 1 time a day for 5 minutes. Nice. Can't wait to see that water bill. Our grass is completely waterlogged and nasty.
• 2 sick little kids - fevers, boogers, coughing, general grumpiness
• 3 unexpected house guests - my 4 year old niece Eva had a massive allergy/asthma attack while spending some extra time up in Show Low. It was so bad that the doctor ordered her to be medivaced (helicoptered) from Show Low down to Phoenix Children's Hospital. Gratefully, she is just fine now but was could not fly home on Wednesday morning. So my Sister-in-law Tracie, Eva and 2 year old Arin stayed with us from Wed-Saturday morning. It was crazy but the kids had fun having extra time together.
• 7 workmen in my backyard - our patio addition is finally finished. Seriously, it has been a huge hassle but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. The noise drove me crazy. But the painters showed up yesterday and the project is finally complete! YAY!
• 10 phone calls between me and Carter's preschool teacher (maybe even more) - school starts on Monday. She called me on Thursday to inform me that he is not allowed to start school without a Hepatitis A shot. So I call my pediatrician and since we are new patients she will not see us just for the shot. I have to schedule a well child check before they'll see us for anything else (stupidest policy ever). The first well child appt. is well into September. So now I have to take Carter to the Maricopa county public health clinic to get the shot or he can't start school on Monday. Nice that they gave me 2 days notice.

I won't even continue but the list seriously goes on and on. My sister in law saved me this week. She watched the kids so I could run errands (alone!!!), sewed a project for my Achievement Day girls, babysat so we could go on a date last night, etc. Thanks Tess!!

So maybe, just maybe, I can get caught up this next week. We'll see!

Don't you just love nice people?

Today I took the kids to McD's for lunch and a round at the playplace. It is dang hot here and I am SO tired of listening to the builders working on our patio addition that we just had to get out of the house. Anyway, I forgot to bring something to do or read so I was just sitting there cleaning out my purse/being bored. A nice lady walked right over and handed me her People magazine and said she was through with it and I could keep it. Isn't that so nice? It bought the kids another 45 minutes of craziness at the playplace while I perused the latest celebrity gossip (and who doesn't love a gossip magazine every now and again?).

I've been meaning to blog about my new friend Karolyn for awhile now (no, she does not read my blog -- at least that I know of). Anyway, I met Karolyn my first day in our new ward. She sat with me in Sunday school and asked me a million questions about myself. She asked for my phone number and promised to call to get together. Well, she called the very next day and invited us over to swim. And she has consistently called and invited us to do things at least once a week. SO NICE. Anyway, she is just one of those people who is so great and obviously loves to serve other people. So, the day that we moved into our house she offered to take the kids for the entire day. She met me at their swim lessons and brought them back to my house 8 hours later. Not only did she watch my kids all day, she also brought us a DELICIOUS meal for our first night in our new home. How awesome is that?! She is a great example to me of the kind of person I strive to be (believe me, I have a long way to go.) So today I finally made a thank you card and gift to take to her tonight for everything she's done for me. From being a new friend to serving me when I needed it most.

(The card idea is a lift from the fabulously talented Stacy Kingman. I got these Elsie products in a kit club I belong to and they're not really my style but I think the card turned out cute anyway.)

The kids yesterday.

Makenna is starting to get opinionated about what she wears. Sigh. I was hoping that wouldn't hit for a couple more years. Yesterday she insisted on wearing her new pink cowboy boots with her outfit. Yes, I am fully aware that these are HIDEOUS. I bought them because 1. they were under $4 on clearance at Target, 2. I thought they would be great for our dress up box, 3. the name of the shoe style is Makenna - yes, even spelled correctly.

So anyway, this is what she wore yesterday while we were running errands. And everyone got quite a kick out of them and made tons of comments to her about her boots. So much so that she asked to wear them again today. Dang it.

Then yesterday afternoon Carter came up with this lovely ensemble all by himself. He is still obsessed with all things superhero and insisted that he needed the "outside underwear" that Batman wears. Won't this be a great blackmail picture when he's older?!? (PS - the underwear is a leftover pull up from our potty training).

Getting to Know You

My good friend Jan participates in a Five for Friday challenge and I love the questions that get asked. So I'm going to start doing it every Friday. But since I missed last week, I'll do it today.

1. What item would you be embarrassed for people to know you own?

I have a lot of cheesy church music and church books that I guess are kind of embarrassing. (In the grand scheme of things I think I'm pretty tame/boring.) Having these kinds of things are practically a cardinal sin in Allen's family but I figure anything that helps you feel the spirit or learn about gospel principles is A-OK. Most of this stuff is leftovers from my teen/young adult years.

2. What is something you splurged on just for you?

Clothes, shoes, purses. Shocking, I know. I'm not too much of a clothes snob, I'll buy stuff pretty much anywhere. I do love me some Boden and Ann Taylor Loft is still my favorite store ever. But I bought the cutest skirt at WalMart last week and got about 20 compliments on it at church yesterday. These beauties came from Boden last week:

3. What is something that you own with no real world value that is priceless to you?

My testimony, journals, photographs and scrapbooks.

4. Do you collect anything?

Nativities. Al and I decided that we would collect nativities from all the places we travel to. I can't wait to see the collection grow. I like that I can display them during the holiday season and then put them away (I have serious clutter issues). I also really like rooster stuff but wouldn't consider myself an avid collector.

5. What item belonging to a friend/family member do you covet?

Big, beautiful backyards. Sigh. We currently live on a postage stamp sized lot (though it is big enough to eventually add a small pool). The next place we buy had better have some land.

Summer Catchup... Denver Trip

My goal is to post every day this week until I get caught up on all my summer pictures. I know that's not much fun but at least I'll have it documented and journaled for when I get to scrapbooking these pictures.

I have a BUSY week this week. First I have to get caught up on life - laundry, mail, groceries, bills, etc. I am SO ready to have the routine that fall brings. It's been a crazy summer. I also have 2 Achievement Days activities (I just got called to lead the 8 year old girls - love it, I am so excited), a scrapbook night, need a haircut in a bad way, errands to run, dentist and doctor appointments, etc., etc.

So without further ado, here are pictures from our Denver trip in July.

July 7 - Arrive in Denver after early morning flight out of Phoenix. My sister Nicole was already there with her 5 kids and had brought 2 of my oldest sister's kids with her from Utah. My brother was also in town for the weekend. We mostly hung out all day and then had dinner at the Cheesecake factory that night (our family tradition).

July 8 - Went to church in the morning and then had a relaxing afternoon in my parents backyard complete with a BBQ, time in the hammock and lots of trampoline time.

July 9 - Spent the day in the pool. It was great fun watching the kids make up their own games. They spent hours navigating the pool floaties as boats and having wars. Went to a cute little soda shop that specializes in unique rootbeer flavors - they carry 38 different brands of rootbeer. Everyone picked out a rootbeer and had a float made.

July 10 -Visited the enormous Bass Pro Shops shopping center. It is a huge sporting goods store and is definitely worth a visit if you live near one. The kids shot at the shooting range, loved seeing all the real preserved animals and enormous trout in the trout stream, picking out a toy from Grandma and Grandpa and getting treats. We went out to lunch afterward.

July 11 - More time in the pool. My mom took the older kids to the IMAX in the afternoon while the babies slept. That evening we ordered pizza and took it up into the mountains and let the kids run around and play in the wide open spaces.

July 12 - Had a fun Mexican fiesta complete with homemade decorations and a pinata. The kids spent all day preparing and came up with such cute stuff. We even did s'mores in the rain.

July 13 - Spent the day at a local waterpark. The kids loved the kids' swimming area and the huge sand pit. Carter decided to brave the diving board by himself (parents aren't allowed to catch) and loved it so much he did it 5 times throughout the day.

July 14 - My sister left with all the cousins to head back to WA. We got to spend the day shopping and having lunch with Grandma before boarding our late afternoon flight back to Phoenix.

We had a great time at home, as always. My mom always has a ton of fun activities planned and plenty of time for the cousins to just spend time together playing games, getting wet and hanging out together. We only wish it happened more than once a year.

(My mom has a ton of pictures that I still need to get from her of all these activities, but you get the idea.)

And the Winner Is....

Carter was my helper in the drawing. I printed off all the comments, put them in a hat and had him draw a name:



Congrats to Angie J.! Angie and I were roommates while we lived in Washington DC and then she set up Al and I on our first date. I definitely owe her.... :)

I am waiting for one thing that I ordered before I mail off the package. It should be here early this week. I'll take a picture before I send it off. Thanks for playing along. It was fun to hear from so many of you!

Vacation Hangover!

Is it possible to need a vacation after the vacation? Whew. That is how we are feeling tonight. We never quite get enough sleep when we vacation with our families, mostly because we're only ALL together once every two years. Why waste time sleeping?

Anyway, we are home and mostly unpacked. I have to teach Primary tomorrow and then I'll be back for a looong blog post, results of the fabo drawing (thank you thank you for all the comments) and some PICTURES (it has been way too long). I was thinking how pathetic it is how few pictures I have posted this summer. I think I will have to do collages of all our vacations and activities this summer. And is it possible that school starts here in 8 days? YIKES.