A Very Merry Christmas!

This years Christmas for us was so good!!! We were able to spend the entire Christmas Eve day AND Christmas day together! Usually Seth works one of them so we were so excited that he had both days off this year!!! We had Christmas Eve all alone, we made a dinner together of BBQ ribs, BBQ Pesto shrimp, Potatos and Corn and it was SO YUMMY! We think that will be our Christmas tradition for dinner!! We watched The Christmas Story - one of our faves and just had a great evening together! Christmas day we had the morning alone together to open our gifts for each other, we always go small since we have moved into our house. This year was a little more fun for us though, because we each had gotten stuff for the baby! I made Seth a couple pairs of PJ pants and with the extra material I made matching ones for the baby! They turned out pretty cute and he was surprised! I also got a little wooden fire truck and gave Seth a book I made of our pregnancy experience so far with all our ultrasound pics. Seth got me these footy pj's that didn't fit so good, but were hilarious!!! We had some good laughs when I tried them on and also later when we got my brother Tyler to try them on(see the funny pics in the slide show)! He also got me some awesome stuff for relaxing in the bath tub and to pamper myself AND some onesies for the baby!! LOVE it! He admitted that it was really fun to pick stuff out for the baby, I KNOW!!! :) He did a good job and I will treasure the ones he got! We then had my family over for a brunchy lunch of waffles, caramel french toast and breakfast burritos! We played a fun game of White Elephant, always fun with my family! My mom had gotten a yard of beef summer sausage, not realizing how many dirty jokes would come out of it!! So funny!! We exchanged gifts, as a gag we gave my brother one of the ugly sweaters we had made and it was pretty funny cause he totally loved it!! When we gave him his real gift I think he still liked the gag one more! :) After we enjoyed watching the grandkids receive their presents and had a lot of fun hanging out! We then went to Seth parents home in Fullerton for Christmas dinner with his family. We had a yummy dinner and played games and made fun ornaments together! We exchanged gifts and played more games and really enjoyed the time together! Our little guy made out like a bandit this year! I think everyone in our family has figured out how fun it is to buy baby presents! Especially ours, with all the cute firefighter stuff there is for kids!!! We loved all the the gifts and we're sure he will too! My Mom had asked what happens when he wants to be a doctor or a lawyer or something else... WHAT?! Not possible with all the cool fireman stuff he'll have! LOL!! He can be whatever he wants to be, he'll just have some cool fireman toys in the meantime! :) We had a great Christmas and are really thankful for our Savior and his birth and the true meaning of Christmas! AND also so glad we are able to share our day with family! Here is a slide show of our Christmas, there was way too many pics to post separately! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas too!

Holiday Fun!

I have wanted to make a big gingerbread house for Christmas the last few years and I never get around to it! So this year I made sure to make it happen, I know it will be much harder next year! My yummy Christmas sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting have been sacrificed to make time for this!! Luckily I have been supplied with a lot of yummy cookies and goodies from friends, so they haven't been as missed as I would have thought!! This is how the house came out...



I cheated by using Graham crackers instead of making or buying gingerbread pieces! I'm glad I did, so much easier and it worked great!! The roof was a hassle and took a few different trys, but it finally worked!! The frosting is the trick in making it work! If you interested in making one of your own check out this blog Polka-Dot Apron to get recipe for frosting and tips on!

We had a little shin-dig on Saturday night with friends, an Ugly Christmas Sweater party! I meant to get lots of pics and totally failed! :( I hate it when that happens!! Not many were able to make it due to being so close to Christmas and having other family parties to attend, but we still had a good time and it was nice and relaxing! I got a few pics before and after though so enjoy...


The food! Not a party without it!!! Thes pic doesn't show all the other yummy stuff people brought because I took it before they got there! I totally grubbed, good stuff!


The Ugly Sweater I made for Seth, I made one just like it for me, but had already changed into my PJ's when I remembered I hadn't gotten a pic of!! As you can see he is so excited to show it off! LOL!

Don't know if you can read it but on the front it says "Merry, Merry Christmas" and on the back it says "And a Happy New Rear" on the reindeers butt! :)

Crazy, Wicked, Fun Day!!

This last Thursday was a fun packed day for us!! We are still catching up on sleep! I woke to SNOW on the hills next to our home!! It had rained ALL day the day before and then it started snowing that evening!! I was so sad Seth wasn't home to see it snowing! I let the dog out and she was freakin out, it was hilarious! When Seth got home we decided to take a little trip up the Ortegas, a highway that takes you into the Cleveland National Forest to play in the snow! Here is a slideshow of the gorgeous snow pics and us playing around...

I also got some video of Seth and Harley and the the beautiful Scenery...



This little trip helped me to realize that I can't handle our dog anymore! At least while I'm pregnant. This pic is right before she saw another dog... she is way too strong and just takes off! She made me eat it pretty bad, I was so upset! Luckily I had landed more on my back, she dragged me a few good feet until Seth was able to stop her... pretty sad! We were pretty upset that it could have hurt the baby! Luckily he is okay and has been moving just as much as he was before, not a fun experience though!!




After that I went and did my GLUCOSE TEST - YUCK!!! BUT, I was able to keep it down this time!!! YAY!! So happy I do not have to do that again!! My reults look good too, no diabetes for me thankfully!

After that we went to Knott's Berry Farm for a few hours, we were able to get in FREE! They have a special deal every year for Firefighters, Police and Military, so awesome we always look forward to it! This year was a little less exciting for us cause I couln't go on any rides due to being pregnant (see mom, it is called self restraint! LOL! My mom went on Space Mountain when she was pregnant with me! So I have to rib her, Seth says that is why I'm the way I am... What does that mean?!), Seth made a lot of new friends since he didn't have anyone to ride with! I stood in line with him for Ghost Rider and people kept looking at me like I was crazy! I just smiled at them, it was funny! I don't like that ride when I'm not pregnant, there is no way I would risk something happening for it! He was able to go on 7 rides in just 2 hours though! AND I got to enjoy FUNNEL CAKE!!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I have so been craving that!! I think just knowing I was going to have it later helped me get through the Glucose test! It was SO GOOD!!! I should have gotten a picture of that!! Here are some pics of our Knott's experience...

This is Seth on Excelerator, you can't really see him obviously - but these are sweet pics with the sky, so pretty!


Us waiting in line for Seth to go on Ghost Rider!

We are silly, most of the time!

AFTER THAT (I told you it was a crazy day!) We went to see WICKED!!! So good!! We had a great time sitting by tons of people we know because our whole ward was there! One of our friends got a huge amount of tickets at a great price and we all took advantage for a fun night out!

We had awesome seats! This pic doesn't do it justice though! They were really crazy about phones and cameras, so I had to be sly! We were able to see the whole stage and everything going on, it was awesome!

Josh & Vanessa and Me & Seth during Intermission

This picture is funny cause Josh totally made me crack up right before we took this by jumping in the background, so I look crazy cause I'm laughing! :)

Bringing out the Christmas Spirit!

A little post on the things that have gotten me into the holiday spirit each year! Nativity scenes! I've started a collection and this is where it's at now...
A few from my grandma's collection(I still need to frame her beautiful needle work ones to put up) and the new ones this year are the 2 on the left side of the piano! The lower one was so different than ones you usually see and it was a steal from Tai Pan Trading - only $7!! Had to get it!! Then the one on top is a gift from my mom this year, here is a close up...

It's a Fisher Price Little People Nativity! Isn't it adorable?! And perfect for our kiddos to play with in the future!! No playing the fragile ones!!! Right Vanessa? Stop playing with Jesus!! :)

We actually were asked to dress up as Mary and Joseph this year at our ward party and this is a pic from that...

Can you tell how excited Seth is for this? LOL! We didn't really do anything but sit there, eat and enjoy the program though, probably cause I told them the only way Seth would do it is if he didn't have to get on stage or perform anything!! We thought we were being tricked for awhile, because there was a manger set up on the stage! But luckily (I say that because I don't know what Seth would have done if he was asked to get up there... I don't think it would be good if Joseph beat Mary in front of all the kids! LOL! Just Kidding!!! My husband doesn't beat me, he probably just would have ran home...) anyways, it was just for the primary program!! Here is a cute pic from that...

They did such a good job! I love watching the primary programs and seeing the kids perform! So cute!!! There was one kid who was singing so loud, so adorable! I hope my kid does that! And at one point they had Mary and Joseph going up to the different "innkeepers" to ask if they had room and the cutest little boy who was playing an innkeeper looked around for a little bit and then said "no" pretty loudly on top of someone else's line! I loved it all!! Kids make Christmas so special!


The final thing that really helps to get me in the spirit is decorating the tree! I usually do it after Seth sets it up, but we did it together this year and it was a lot of fun! We get or make a new ornament each year, with something to do with what happened that year - it is always fun to go through those together! This is our 10th one for this year...

I can't believe that this will be our 10th Christmas together!! Time is flying by with my honey and he helps make Christmas so special!


This is a close up of our Angel Moroni tree topper, just for you Brooke! :) I think it is so rad!! One of my sister's friends gave it to me a few years ago after I saw hers and said how cool it was! She said she had another and just gave it to me! Talk about Christmas spirit - I love it!




This last thing is hilarious! I love doing these Elf yourself things! You have to upload 5 images or they put "scary elf guy" in there with you so I put in me. Seth, Our cat Foster and dog Harley... and see if you can guess what the 5th image is!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Kinda insane I know, but you should have seen what the ultrasound baby head looked like!! Scarier then the elf guy!

Here is one with me and some girlfriends...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

6 months, in the 3rd Trimester now!

6 months shots! We did these after our Christmas photo shoot, there are a lot of other angles in that previous post! I changed the other one to Black and White because my bare tummy is kind of blinding in color!! Your welcome! :)

This is a little late because time is flying by!!! We are so amazed watching my belly get bigger and bigger! Seth and others feel him move all the time and now we can actually see him moving!! So crazy to see and feel! His movements have gotten so much stronger that sometimes it stops me in my tracks because I can't believe it is happening!! Take it easy on my organs baby!! It seems like the 1st day into the 3rd trimester the heartburn took control of my body!! I thought I had it before, but I was SO WRONG!!! Those were just really gross burps... now I have that AND the constant burning feeling at the bottom of my throat! I'm having to be extra careful lately cause I feel like I need to belch and then I spew... yep, it's fun! It gets confusing though because sometimes I feel like I'm going to spew and then I belch! I've become pretty prepared for anything! Today was one of those days where I wasn't quite sure... I was singing in church for our Christmas choir performance and I was having one of these moments... so I got out one of my handy trash bags I carry around, just in case!! Well everyone sitting by me started to look a little nervous and ask if I am ok... I said I'm not sure so I'm getting prepared! :) Luckily I was able to get through the performance and we did not have a special spew solo by yours truly! Rest assured to anyone who thought I would continue standing and let everyone watch it, I wouldn't have done that! I definitely would have hidden under the piano! I went home right after the meeting cause I wasn't feeling any better about the scenario and I'm really glad I did, because soon after I saw my breakfast again. Don't feel sorry for me though, I am lucky because I can do that and feel tons better right away and then I eat again! And it has only happened twice this week, so really not bad at all! I also love spicy food, but it really aggravates it! I found out the hard way that Cumen is not my friend, well at least not the baby's! Lost a lot of sleep on that one! Rolaids soft chews have been a lifesaver for me though! Another thing I've noticed is that I can't hold my breath very long while singing anymore! He is definitely crimping my lungs style, it's weird to have to take so many breaths! I feel like I'm panting by the end of a song! I am now getting a lot of strangers asking me when I am due and how much longer... most of them are really sweet and say how exciting and ask follow up questions about the sex and is this your first... than there are the people who cannot control their surprise and say things like "Oh! You are big!" and "You must be miserable" and "That much longer?" SO HILARIOUS!!!! Luckily I think it is funny and to be honest my tummy is pretty big, he is measuring 2 weeks older than he is - so we maybe he will come early! But don't get me wrong, I DO NOT THINK I AM FAT! I hate hearing pregnant people say that, so annoying!!! My body (other than my tummy) has actually been shrinking! My pa-dunk-a-dunk is not as bootylicious as it was before and my legs and arms have really thinned out. I haven't put on any weight since I got pregnant, I'm actually down a few pounds. Seth says that the baby and I are just exchanging weight... I'll take it! I wasn't sure how this would go for me cause the rest of my family gets really sick and loses a lot of weight with pregnancy, I'm so glad that hasn't happened to me! I have thankfully had a very healthy pregnancy without any complications so far, I'm glad I've been able to actually enjoy pregnancy! Good thing since I wanted it so bad, right? So anyways when people make those comments I have busted up laughing because they are funny, maybe in a couple more months I'll be offended... but right now I just love it! They can learn not to say that from someone else going off on them! :) We are still discussing names, but so far we like Mitchell. I think we won't really know until we see him! I'm currently working on the bedding and decor for his nursery, but we won't be decorating it till January. It is right around the corner though!! Can't believe how fast it is going! I know I say that every time I post about this, but I really can't believe that he will be here soon! I'm really excited because a lot of friends have been announcing that they are pregnant too! Our little guy will have tons of playmates, so fun! Also Baby Shower plans are being made so e-mail me your home address & e-mail address if you are interested in coming, I would love to see you and have you rub my crazy huge tummy! :) My e-mail is heatherandres@ca.rr.com.

My 100th Post!!! Add A Memory!

I can't believe I've done this many posts! When I first started this blog I thought what am I going to blog about? Well I have obviously found a lot of things to blog about... maybe some have been more important than others, but it has been a lot of fun so far and my husband definitely likes to tease me about my need to blog now! It's like an addiction!! I'm glad I've found a fun way to keep in touch with friends and to keep a photo journal of sorts! Thanks for being interested in my life and to mark this 100th post I've decided to do a tag!

Any little memory will do...

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Thanks Vanessa, this is a fun one!!

Christmastime is officially here!!!

So our decorations are up, except for a tree(still gotta do that!)! We did our lights outside on December 1st, always a fun experience for Seth and I! It usually consists of me watching him almost kill himself by hanging on the edge the roof! He always tries to convince me that we don't need them on the very top of the house, so he doesn't have to do it! It just looks so much better that way though! :) We usually end it upset with each other because a few bulbs always break when he tries to swing them to the other side of the house! Argh! That is not a good technique for putting up lights - they are fragile!!! He always tells me that I am welcome to do it myself if I don't like how he is doing it! I suppose he is right, but WHATEVER!! :) This year was just about the same, except we didn't end up completely mad and screaming at each other while he was on the roof! Yep, that happened last year! Can you say Domestic Dispute? I'm sure our neighbors loved it, they probably start laughing as soon as we start pulling out the decorations!!!! But we were way more civilized this year, I would like to think it is because we have grown... but I know it's only because our Bishop's wife showed up to drop something off in the middle of it all!!! LOL! Whatever works! We should have her come over every time we do the lights!! It was really hot that day, I was actually sweating and got a little sunburnt - so annoying!! But it has finally cooled down and we LOVE it!!!! My Ice Palace is complete, that is what my family calls it during this time of year! :)

So I kinda jumped the gun and used our Christmas card for our header... I just loved it so much that I couldn't help it!! My lady friend Kati was so nice to come and take our Christmas photos for us and she did such an awesome job!!!! I LOVE them and it was really hard picking which ones to use!! Here are some of my other faves that didn't make the cut for the card...

Aww, so sweet! Lights will never break us!

My most favorite! We are cheeseballs and I LOVE it! And YES, my tummy is getting huge!!! Our little guy wanted to be in the pics too!

More cheesy, but cute! I love how the brick came out in the background!

Nice serious one, like we are normal or something...

Back to crazy fun!! Fun action shot! :)

We should model huh? LOL!!! I love Seth's GQ face, so funny!

Another good serious one!

Our dog will eat you!! We love this one!

Thanks Kati for taking the time out of your day, we really appreciate it!!

Christmas TAG!!!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your family and
friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a
SCROOGE!!! Change all the answers so that they apply to you.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift Bags for the easy factor!
2. Artificial or real tree? We usually get a real small, ugly one - we feel sorry for them!
3. When do you put up a tree? December-ish... haven't gotten one yet actually!
4. When do you take it down? January-ish, sometimes we can be lazy.
5. Do you like eggnog? I think I might, not quite sure..
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Baby Soft perfume - remember that stuff!! So cool!
7. Hardest person to buy for? I agree with Sarah, definitely parents!
8. Easiest person to buy for? Seth, I wish I could buy him everything he wants!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I have started a collection and will get ne every year from here on out, my grandma did this and I have inherited a couple of hers which I LOVE!!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, I always seem to wait too long and then I stress about getting them out in time!! Why do the holidays come so fast?!!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ???? Can't think of one...
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Story for sure! Elf is a close second though!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually December
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe...
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? Um, everything pf course!!!
16. Lights on the tree? Oh yes! It is not a Christmas tree without lights!!
17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells at least my favorite to sing! Also Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella - not quite sure if that is the actual name, but it is really fun to sing with my family cause we all do our parts and it sounds rad when we carol!!
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually I travel to Seth's work on Christmas Eve or Day, but this year he has both off! At least for now!! We will be having Christmas Eve by ourselves and then have my family at our home Christmas Day and then go to his families house that evening - should be nice this year!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher and Dancer and Donner and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Something and Blitzen... and Rudolph... Nope, I don't think I can!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have an Angel Moroni for our tree and it is SO AWESOME!!!
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Being broke... and it coming too fast!
23. Favorite Ornament theme or color? I like colorful! A nice colorful blend!
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Thankgiving style, I can never get enough of that!!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? World Peace... I know I'm not getting much, so I thought I would try and sound like a good person... did it work? No, just annoying? Well sorry, I tried! :)

Merry Christmas and thanks Sarah, this was fun!

Bittersweet Thanksgiving

That is vinyl lettering I have in my kitchen that helps me remember how bratty I can be and at the same time makes me feel more grateful for what I have. It holds a special Thanksgiving memory for me. When I was younger at a family Thanksgiving gathering my Grandma Bills who passed away a few years ago wanted all of her granchildren to sing this phrase in a round(like Row, row, row your boat) before we ate. Well we all thought it was funny to just chant "For health and strength" over and over again, she wasn't too happy about it and let us know how bratty we were. We really were!
I haven't done a post in a little bit and wanted to do a Thanksgiving post, but with all the festivities I did not get ANY pictures!!! But I cannot let Thanksgiving go by without saying how grateful I am for everything!!!

I'm especially grateful for...

1. My Savior and his plan for us
2. My wonderful husband and all that he does
3. Our family and the support they have given us
4. Our friends and the fun we have with them
5. Our health and strength
6. Our sweet little guy who will be here soon
7. The roof above our heads
8. The little things that don't really matter, but make me happy!

I could go on and on, but those about sums it up! We are so blessed and I'm glad we were able to feel the real spirit of Thanksgiving this year and share it with our families. Thanksgiving day was spent at the Station where Seth works, he was scheduled to work and it was nice to be able to go help him get a Thanksgiving dinner together and spend time getting to know the crew he works with there. It was a really nice, relaxing day. The next day we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for both of our families at our home, I got a lot of help this year (I usually like to do it all myself) and it was nice to have the help! I might never go back to how I used to do it, I must have been crazy!! :) It was a really bittersweet day, not only cause I accidently dropped a hot bowl of melted bittersweet chocolate that went ALL OVER my kitchen 2 hours before everyone got there!!! I was really not doing so good at that moment, had a big breakdown - now I'm a little upset that I didn't get a photo of it cause it was BAD! There are still marks on my ceiling... my wonderful husband really stepped up and talked me down from my ledge and then cleaned up the HUGE mess for me. I think that is what love is! We ended up having a wonderful dinner and a day full of fun and games! Near the end of the day my grandma let us know that she found out that she has cancer. They still don't know how bad it is and she will be having an operation soon. My poor grandparents have really been dealing with a lot of health issues that comes with age and it is hard to watch and honestly even deal with... I usually feel lost in these situations, I have learned to turn to faith though. I'm just glad we were able to be together as a family when they told us and that my husband could stand and help to bless her, that was the really bittersweet part. All I can say is that I'm so thankful for our trials and the blessings we receive from them and I hope this will be another good lesson for me. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

My next project...

I just got the stuff for my next project! Bedding for the baby! I've been inspired by some girlfriends in my ward who made them themselves, they came out super cute! I'm going to give it a try since I haven't seen any bedding sets that have been perfect for what we want the baby room to be. We've decided to go Little Fireman style with a Brown, Red and Blue color palette! It should hopefully turn out super cute for our little guy! We won't be doing anything to the room till after Christmas cause that would be a little crazy, but I am going to get started on the bedding! I have a feeling it will probably take me awhile! I'm only going to be doing the blanket and bumper for the crib and have a standard red sheet and crib skirt to accent it. Then if I'm still feeling creative after that maybe a couple pillows and window coverings! So here is some pics of my plans, I've learned that that is the best way to go! :) I already think I might not have enough fabric, I need to cut out all the pieces to make sure and then go back to get whatever I need more of before I can't find it again!! Gotta love Joann's! :) Wish me luck, I will need it!!
This was the room inspiration! Isn't it adorable?!!! PJ set from Target, I love these colors all together! I was totally set on doing Green(My favorite color) and Blue (Seth's favorite color) together in the room somehow, but then I saw this and knew this was much better! That is called growth people, cause if you know me - you know I LOVE GREEN!!! And it was hard to give it up!

This is my pattern and hopefully it will look somewhat like this when it is done! I'm going to use pieces of fabric and hand stitch them on to do the firetruck design in the center - is that called embroidering? Not quite sure... anyways I will also be adding in the little touches by needle point. Then the rest of the blanket will be done by machine because that will probably be just enough torture!!

These are the fabrics I chose and also the edging for the blanket and this awesome ribbon I found - it is actually light reflecting like the stuff on fire gear!! Sweet huh?! I took a picture with the flash below so you can see how neat it is, even though there probably isn't much need for it in a baby room! Just looks cool! It will be used to trim the center firetruck design on the front of the quilt and also for the ties on the crib bumper.

Girls Night: Karaoke Style...

Friday night I got together with some girlfriends for a fun karaoke girls night! We had a fabulous, crazy time! Got to get a lot these nights in before the baby comes, cause then it will be much harder for me to get out!! Las Palmas was the location, good mexican food and tons of crazy Lake Elsinore folk to entertain us, pretty hilarious!! A guy was actually videotaping everyone who sang... so weird! I guess he sells copies of, doesn't he need our written consent for that? :) We as a group sang Bootylicious, pretty funny and people seemed to enjoy our antics! I sang one of my standards "Black Velvet" and a new fave "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes, that is a really fun one to sing!! Sarah did "Let er Rip" by the Dixie Chicks and Kati did "I'll Stand By You" - I don't who that is by! We were a hit! Really good times! Missed those of you who couldn't make it, but there will always be a next time!! Here are all our crazy pics...

Vanessa, Me, Fran and Sarah! That face I'm making is a tad scary..

Meagan, Kati and Emily!

Classic Kati photo, so hot!!!

Meagan, another awesome shot!

Vanessa and I being cheeseballs! I need to find some old hilarious pics of us from Vegas to share sometime! These remind me of those!
More cheese!

Sarah singing, she did an awesome job! This pic is so cute of her!

A Lake Elsinorite... Yep, HOT!!! :)

Our whole group "Big Mamas" (that's our alias for singing) the people in charge of the Karaoke thought that was hilarious! We were happy to make their night more enjoyable!! :)