Have a Very Merry Christmas to all that we love ...

Today we tried to capture a Christmas family picture - it took many many attempts, and this was the best one out of what seemed like a million! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful, very merry christmas with your families, and enjoy every minute of it, as I'm sure I will as well. :0)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

...and smell like Christmas! :) I've been baking Mini Cheesecakes, Chocolate graham rolls and Christmas tarts because on Sunday, after church a few of us will be going caroling to a home, and then coming to our home afterwards for some refreshments!! I also made some large snowflakes to hang in our family room, so our house is looking more and more christmasy and smelling even better .... especially because for Family Home Evening last night, we got a Christmas tree and decorated it while listening to Christmas music and trying Egg Nog Ice Cream! :) (have you ever tasted that?) If you like egg nog I would imagine you would LOVE it! I liked it quite a lot since I enjoy egg nog - but I also added a little bit of choco ice cream with it and it was even better! lol.

So, from smells, to decorations, to singing Christmas songs ... it sure is looking a lot like Christmas!

We enjoyed going to a ward Christmas party last friday - and the kids loved seeing santa and getting goodies from him :) santa spent quite some time with Ethan talking to him about how his night is on Christmas Eve - what a busy man Santa is! :) Ethan was told specifically that he needed to make SURE there was Cookies and milk when he gets to our house because he is one hungry fella!!

We also got to go to a Christmas Craft Fair, which was really large and full of all kinds of neat things. We didn't really buy anything, except for this delicious pumpkin butter that you turns into a dip and I thought would be really yummy for Christmas eve. :) We're starting to get some Christmas traditions down and for the first Christmas ever noticing some things we are doing as routine each year with goodies we're making, to movies we watch, and making those snowflakes & things. Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful season as well :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thankgiving today with family & friends & continue to think as time goes by of all the many blessings that we have and are blessed with! I am particularly thankful for my growing family! Each one of my children bring such a special joy and spirit into our house that I can never get enough of! My husband is so loving & caring, and always making sure I am okay and have everything I need, no matter how busy he can get. I love my family!

Today it will be just us this year - all family and friends had plans already - but we are happy to spend this day together contemplating on the things we are forever thankful for, and just spending some good quality time! Hope you have a wonderful day today ...

A Disaster!

So, disaster struck last night like never before! It started off with Clint and I talking while Ethan and Haylee were in Ethan's room playing ... unnattended (that was a mistake) as all of a sudden, we hear Haylee cry, so we rush over to hear whats the matter, and she is fine ... but the room is FAR from okay. You see, we have a little pet named "mickey" (Ethan named him since he liked Mickey mouse) and he's a hampster - and apparently, Haylee thought it would be fun to knock the cage over onto it's side on the floore, while Ethan poured water all over the poor little thing and soaked it while it's house was practically upside down. So we come into the room, to find the cage on the floore with the stuffing all over with the food and poo/pee to go with it, ALL OVER THE ROOM, literally on everything, making it beyond germ city, and a super duper scared hampster hanging on for dear life at the top of his cage soaking wet and cold. So, Clint and I both freaked out a little bit and I rushed the kids into the bath to "disinfect" their bodies, and while they were in the bath, and I could hear them next door, I went in to tackle this mess that literally made me cry because it was so horrid. Meanwhile, as the children were unattended for the second time (2nd mistake) I walk in to check on them (because they sounded fine ... but I still wanted to check) and I see two inches of water ALL over the floore in the bathroom!!! How did they do that so fast?!?!? So, I felt like I had a heart attack last night, and after all that was done, little things still continued to happen, so it was a difficult night and I'm SO happy to say that last night is over, and we have a fresh new day to deal with. :)

P.S. oh ya, and I'm not going to let the kids in the room until I get the carpets professionally cleaned - because the entire floore was covered in who knows what, and everything. So that concludes my night & I hope you enjoyed this sad, but true story :) lol

kids say the cutest things!!

Haylee just seems to be saying so many things that are cute or funny these days. Ethan also has been saying so many cute things these days that I've really been enjoying to hear and watch as he grows.
So today, Haylee got a "booga" (booger (sp?) ) on her finger, and says "I got to put in the barbie" ... "barbie" as she says it, is garbage! I LOVE when she says that, it's so cute!!

Ethan and Haylee chase each other around the house all the time - they just love to run. But because Ethan is a wee bit faster, and bigger, she sometimes starts to get scared, so she'll say "Don't eat me!!!" as if to say, "don't get me!" but I think it's hilarious that she says that. And sometimes when she does something she shouldn't do, she'll look at me and tell me not to eat her either! haha, I think it's so adorable!

Ethan's birthday has passed - and I thought it was really cute, because a couple days after, he starts telling us about this toy that he had said he wanted, that he didn't get for his birthday (because we didn't understand what the toy was ... so we told him "we don't know what toy that is Ethan" and then apologized that we didn't know what it was. Anyways, days after the fact he says, "Yeah, I wanted to get that twirly toy, yeah ... but you guys didn't get it for me! yeah .. becaue you didn't know what it was!" haha, he seems to say "yeah" a lot! But he was saying it as a matter of fact, that thats why it didn't happen, it was really cute!

I love my kids :)

4 already?!?

I'm amazed today that Ethan is 4!! That just seems grown-up all of a sudden. He's supposed to be my "baby"!! Man, how time flies! Ethan is learning and growing so much. He is an awesome big brother to his baby brother Logan. He is so sweet and soft and loving with him. I love how he interects with him.

I hope Ethan has enjoyed his special day today. He woke up REALLY early today - so I'm pretty tired today. I made him eggs with cream cheese (his favorite) and choco milk for breakfast and then he opened gifts up once Clint got back from school. We went to the park to let him play with all his new outdoor toys he got for his birthday. He got a baseball mitt and gloves because he LOVES to throw everything, and anything. Also a "basketball in training" ball :) lol. (It's smaller than the origional size} and some other things. We spent a good couple hours at the park letting him do whatever he wanted to do. We asked him after being there for a couple hours what he wanted to do next, and he didn't want to do anything else. He said he wanted to stay there all day! hehe. He was perfectly happy playing at the park all day, it was very cute. We didn't do that though, so we took him to McDee's for Happy meals and then he and Haylee played at the play area they have outside. I think they had too much fun & started to get tired though because they started acting out after that. But I think he had fun :) We played "pin the tail on the donkey" and we're going to have pizza and a movie tonight, which Ethan loves. :) And to make tonight special, we're not going to do the regular routine of bedtime - he gets to stay up a little later and fall asleep like he used to when we weren't so good at routines, and let him fall asleep on our lovesac whenever he gets tired. :) haha. (he loves to snuggle with us on them) Ethan is by far the most nuggliest boy I know!!

Happy 4th Birthday Ethan - we love you tons!!! :)

Halloween Re-Cap ...

Halloween was awesome this year, if I do say so myself!! :) It was such a blast being able to take Ethan & Haylee out. We were able to find Haylee something for Trick-or-treating this year - she was a butterfly, and was so adorable! I'm sad to say that we didn't have a camera to take pictures - but I did video tape them so at least we have some memory of them looking adorablee. :) Ethan made an awesome Bob the builder, and was told many times that he was the only Bob the builder they had seen all night. Ethan and Haylee did amazingly. They wanted to walk the entire time (we had brought the wagon to pull them in) and I was so happy that our "practising" had pulled off, because they both said trick or treat nice and loud so everyone could hear, and were very polite saying "happy halloween" to everyone they passed, saying thank you and buh-bye to all those they got candy from. :) I was amazed especially with Haylee, this being her first year (that she could remember) and she said "trick r wheat", and thank you, and happy halloween to EVERYONE who gave her candy. She was adorable to watch and wanted to keep going to more and more houses. Ethan did great as well this year. Last year he didn't say trick or trick for the most part, and if he did, it was really quiet, so he was definitely less shy this year. :) Clint and I really enjoyed taking them out this year and seeing them interact and being so polite, and it was also fun to be in such a great neighborhood full of families!

We had fun each day beforehand doing a little halloween thing in preparation to Halloween that kept the kids happy each day. :) So it was a 5 star halloween for us!

Now that we're coming into November, i'm excited for Ethan's 4th birthday (on the 6th) and Thanksgiving, and Christmas :) I am probably going to decorate for Christmas on Monday because I can't get enough of it!!! Some of you may think I'm nuts, and some might think that's cool - but I definitely have to say that I LOVE everything, and anything, about Christmas, so I'm very excited :)

I hope you all had a fabulous time, and can't wait to hear how it went for everyone! Happy weekend :)

Getting in the Halloween mood!!!

I'm getting so excited to take Ethan & Haylee out trick-or-treating this year :) Ethan is going to be "Bob the Builder" this year - we're not sure what Haylee will be, but I'm hoping to get to Wal-Mart tonight and see what kind of halloween outfits they have there. I'm having a hard time finding the right size for her. So wish me luck :)

We're going to be making Halloween Cookies tomorrow, and then for FHE on Monday, we'll be making a "haunted castle" that you can buy and put together as a kit, just like you would a Gingerbread house, from Wal Mart.

Last year we found the most perfect area for trick or treating. Families are riding around on hayrides & golf carts. People are outside on the porches handing out candy with their families - it's so great! A very safe/family oriented area and you see kids with parents all dressed up just happy to be together and having fun. It was great!!! What are your plans for Halloween?

Baking, Baking, Baking!

So, as the title says - I've been baking! :) Yesterday, I baked Chocolate Zucchinni bread mini muffins (perfect size for little mouths - and I like them too!) My Mom always made the bread version of these that I LOVED, of my Grandma's recipe. So it was really fun to get that recipe and make them!
I also made some homemade bread yesterday, which took a while, but I always love the outcome of making your very own homemade bread. :) I've enjoyed reading others blogs with different recipes to try out as well. I'm always wanting to make something because of that - but it's a really nice way to get more recipes in your kitchen and new ideas - so thanks, to those of you who do that :) I can't wait for Christmas & all the baking that comes with that ... hehe, oh dear :) I'm such a christmas fanatic :) I get so excited when the weather gets cooler and makes you in that mood and you can make different goodies for people!

Happy Birthday dear Haylee girl ... :)

Today is Haylee's 2nd Birthday!!! :) I've been so excited for this day to come so I can spoil her!! :) lol. Haylee doesn't get a ton of girlie things as whatever we get, always is either boyish, or neutral in the sense that a boy OR girl could play with it ... so for Haylee's birthday, I went all out and got her pink, princessy, and fairy type things. :) basically whatever screamed "GIRL" :) Haylee has been really into "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and asks to watch it all the time while she holds her Minnie Mouse doll. :) So, my decorations were that of Minnie mouse ... and it turned out really cute I thought! I really wish I had pictures, but our camera is broken ... (we don't seem to have much luck with cameras, they always die on us after a short time of life ...) but I did video tape her while she opened up her gifts, so at least we have some form of memory of it!! :) Haylee was just looking at everything, and taking everything in, as now that she's 2, I'm sure she will know from now on what a "birthday" intails :)
Haylee loves to take her clothes off as of late, so, I was very happy to buy her a potty for her birthday :) lol. (in hopes of less accidents - because she manages to take EVERYTHING off, now matter how hard I try ...) but anyways, today she managed to pee a little, and poo a little in her potty, so that was very exciting :) however, on the downfall, she also pee'd twice on the floore. :) lol. So I guess we're going to have to work on this!
We still have birthday cake yet to do, and one present i'm saving for her to open later - just to make it fun all day. :) We may take her to the park later just to explore and have fun too since she loves to do that, so update more later on how the rest of the day goes ....

Logan update!!

A couple days ago Logan had a 3 1/2 doctor appointment. Poor little guy needed to get shots and after he got his shots he didn't cry a ton, but he sure did let me know that he couldn't believe I allowed something like that to happen to him, by mummbling for a loooonng time. It was like he was saying "how could you let this happen to me Mommy, I just don't get it ..." and I'm sure he said lots more than that. :) He is so adorable.

Two days ago marks the first day that he rolled over from Front to back, and back to front. He is growing up TOO FAST!!! Ahh - the time is going by too fast for my liking - my kids are growing up. I love the first year for the fact that it's so fun to see them learn, grow, and develop. It's a ton of fun to see, but at the same time, it makes me sad that these days are going. I need to take advantage of every moment my children want to snuggle and hug and give kiss's, because that will fade all too fast. I love my children so much!!!

Logan is now weighing in at 16 pounds 10 oz, and 25 1/2 in long. He's in the 95th percentile for weight, and 90th percentile for height, so he's doing his part and getting nice, big, and healthy. :) I love how my boys have been so chubby at these stages - it's all too cute- all those rolls and everything!

Logan smiles at us so much, and seems a little shy, because after he smiles at us and we smile back, he seems to try and burry his head, and cover his face any way he can. :)

Lacking of the letter "S"

In my previous post you'll notice a lacking in the letter "S" randomly, which I apologize for. Our letter "S" on the keyboard struggles to appear unless I press it super hard - so instead of fixing each mistake I just thought I'd tell you about that issue so you can excuse my spelling mistakes :) Thanks!!

Ice cream indulging ...

OK - so, ever since Logan has been born I have had this need (or want I should say) for Ice cream, and more specifically Chocolate ice cream ... it doesn't need to be PLAIN chocolate ice cream, it just needs to contain some in it. :) I'm also craving chocolate milk all the time - this cannot be good if these cravings continue. lol
However, I think it may have to do with the fact that it's summer and verrry hot, so cold, liquidy things are the best. I'm also loving yogurt, lots of yogurt ...and of course water :) I am good at drinking my water, there's one good thing! hehe.

On Friday we had our friends Maria and Neal over for lunch/dinner - we just recently started getting to know this couple in our ward better and Clint and I both really enjoy them. They have a cute little daughter, Delia who's 4 months old, and Maria also had her at the birthing center. So we have some things in common which is nice. Anyways, the day they were coming over to eat, last minute we find out that it's Marias birthday - and she's coming over to our house. We ended up going out and getting her some pink flowers and white and yellow happy birthday balloons (her favorite colors). It was nice having them over. Clint made hi famous most deliciuos BBQ'd salmon and asparagus, and I made fruit salad and strawberry spinach salad to go along with it. Yummy! :) It was fun having them over.

Today we tried going to a restaurant for the first time since Logans been born. We went to the famous "Pink House" downtown savannah - truly AMAZING food. Holy MOLY I'm telling you :) As I was eating the food I just kept thinking about how much I would love to go back and eat the same thing again. lol Everything tasted so gourmet and delicious - just what the doctor ordered :) Anyways, anyone who comes and visits us from now on will be going there with us. It actually IS a Pink House, and each room in this house downtown is decorated all fancy and each room has just a couple tables - it's actually better for a date, rather than having three kids with you, but hardly anyone was there because it was so early and everyone loved seeing all our kids so they didn't seem to mind. :) It was a fun experience.

Logan is doing great and thriving. He weighed 9 pounds already by his one week appointment, 9 pounds 7 oz by the second, and I'm assuming he's already pat 10 pounds now as you can tell he's gaining weight well. He is still such a delight and joy. Clint says that he hardly notices he's around sometimes because he's so quiet. We all love him and Ethan can't get enough of his baby brother. he tends to smother him with love sometimes almost too much, but we are happy for the love rather than the agression :) Haylee always says "Awwwee, cuteee" when she see's him and seems to not be the least bit jealous, which is wonderful. (I think it's because she has Ethan to play with and entertain each other)

Congrats to Alyssa for expecting again. :) And excited for Allison and her bundle of cuteness to arrive in the near future. We love those babies :)

Hope you all are having a great week.

Logan is here!

Our beautiful baby Logan was born on June 18th, at 1:45am, @ 8 lbs 14 ounces and 20in long. What a joy it has been to have him in our lives and apart of our family!!! He brings a peice of heaven into our home and is so sweet and peaceful. I could not be any happier. The transition from 1 to 2 kids was difficult for me, but the transition from 2 to 3 has been easier thus far, being used to being so busy already. Ethan & Haylee absolutely LOVE their little brother. :)

I am long over due in updating the blog. So many wonderful things have happened in the last little while. Mom & Dad re-married on April 25th, which was a wonderful & beautiful experience. It was so great to be with family and to spend time with them that we don't get to do too often. Ethan had so much fun playing with his little cousins and getting to know them better that he wore himself out every day - but loved it. :)

My due date is one week from today. It's amazing to think it's only 7 days away - however, I've learned to just keep an open mind that babies come when they come so not to get too impatient in the waiting. I just hope Mom is here on time for baby Logan to arrive. but I'm sure she will be - she arrives June 5th, and I just can't wait to have her here and to also show her around Savannah since she hasn't seen the area.

The weather has been in the 90's - very hot. When we got to church today the air condition wasn't working, and the building was very humid as well as hot inside - so everyone inside was sweating. It was a little difficult getting through the full 3 hours, but we managed. Ethan is enjoying primary and always gets the "reverent" award, and he really likes that because he gets to go to the bishop and get a special treat for being so reverent. :)

Hopefully I'll get some more pictures in here soon - just wanted to update so that people didn't think I wasn't ever going to do so! :) lol

28 weeks pregnant

Here's a picture of my pregnant belly at 28 weeks and 3 days pregnant!!!

All day cooking!

Today I tried to make freshly made home made bread for the first time. I've ALWAYS wanted to make home made bread as my Mom always made home made bread at home and it was always so nice to smell the bread cooking in the oven and to just be around her as she did that. I have fond memories of watching her make bread at home! The bread turned out great and we LOVED (and still are loving) it!! Ethan and Haylee both wanted seconds so I guess I did an okay job. :) I'll be doing that more from now on, now that I've finished the hard part of just even trying. :)
Since I was in the Kitchen most the day, I made Chocolate nut bread! :) I'm having fun experimenting with different recipes and things these days and enjoying it now especially as my appatite has increased from being pregnant and the morning sickness is gone. This is the fun part of the pregnancy for me! :) I'm just a little over 28 weeks now and very anxious and excited for our little boy to be born!! He is due June 8th, for those who didn't know. We are all excited for his arrival!
On Saturday night at around 10 all the power went off in our house. We then noticed as we looked outside that our entire street had no lights in their houses or on the streets. We had no idea why the power went out. We ended up going for a drive to see how far it had affected this area only to basically find out that the power in all of Savannah was out. We had our cell phone, so we called the electric company and they had no idea what was going on, so it was a little scary. It lasted all night long, but we finally got ahold of Clint's Mom who told us that we had a savere Tornado warning in our county. Church ended up being cancelled for the whole stake. I found out later that it was the biggest tornado storm they had experienced here in the history of Savannah. Luckily power came back on early in the morning and nothing happened and we were safe. I always feel grateful when we are protected in times like those!

Forgot my password ...

I was hoping to blog a little more often then just this past one ... however, I forgot my password and didn't do anything about it until today I thought it would be a good idea to figure it out. :) (and I'm happy I did) :)
More updates & blogging to come ...