Wednesday

I just had to post this sweet picture of my little Air Bear.  He just radiates sweetness sometimes! He is wearing his new little wolf hat from his Nana and Papadaddy.  He had a rough day today and seemed extra whiny.  But I suppose it has something to do with that top tooth coming in slowly.  Today I got a slow start on the day.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do whether I wanted to get out of the house or clean.  In the end my laziness decided I would clean, because I didn't really want to take the time to look put together! Ha! So I picked up the kitchen and living room and then took the Christmas tree down.  I vacuumed which led to a melt down for Aaron.  I don't know why sometimes he acts like he is afraid of the vacuum, and other times not.  Weird.  Then we had lunch and I took as little of Grace's crib down as I could in order to get it out of her room and down the hall. (Which was difficult because her room was a disaster area and I didn't want to clean it for that task) My plan tentatively right now is to get the desk sold in Aaron's room and then put him in Grace's crib and the matching changing table in his room and then take down his crib to wait for the new little one. 

But after today and only partly taking apart Grace's crib maybe I won't care so much for his furniture to be matching.  And we will just move the crib to the garage for the next 4-5 months. 

Still not sure where I am going to put little baby girl when she is ready to move on out of the bassinet.  I am hoping she will be a good sleeper and be able to go into Grace's room.  But we will just have to play it by ear. 

Then after naps we cleaned up Grace's room and got it organized.  I have been going a little crazy and not wanting them to open up a lot of presents with little pieces because there isn't a system in place for Aaron's toys specifically.   I have to do some shuffling around of our coat closets and such so I have a place for their 'art' supplies.  Crayons, colored pencils coloring books and play doh need a new home.  Right now Aaron's favorite thing is to get into the cabinet were they are stored and dump the crayon bucket out and then put them in his mouth.  He colors a little bit but then Kayla starts eating the crayons-thus a big mess. So then I put the crayon bucket on the counter and then the counter starts filling up with 'stuff' and then I lose my mind again!

Daddy is having a guys night tonight and we have playgroup tomorrow morning.  Time for me to go read my new book,  The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.  I probably should do some laundry, but think I will put that off until tomorrow.

Night! 

Christmas Stuff (Long Post)

I picked up this gingerbread house on clearance before Christmas and Grace and I had a great time putting it together,  It took some finangling and one broken wall but they gave us a bunch of icing so it worked.  Then she and Aaron had a blast eating the candy off!

 Aaron wishing he could help too! Just a drool bucket he is.  He is talking more, and walks up and down the halls following me saying, "Ma Ma Ma Ma!"

 The finished product side one.

 The finished product side two, with a cutie pie waving.

 This is Grace's new to her toddler bed.  Aaron loves being able to climb up into it.  I got it for $35 with the mattress and a pink fitted sheet.  It had some stickers on it and some paint scuffs.  We got all the stickers and paint off and the foot board still has some scratches but will work and Grace LOVES it.  Every night she is excited to sleep in her toddler bed.  And so far another added bonus she hasn't gotten out in the morning after two nights! In the morning when she hears me up with Aaron she calls out, "MOM!!! MOM!!!" K and I were pondering tonight whether she hasn't realized yet that she can get out, or what I think she is just is so behaved and used to routine. 

 After her first nap in her bed.  I have to record this funny story, on Christmas day Grace was acting up a bit and driving daddy a lil bit crazy with her constant sass.  We were getting ready to go up to K's grandmother's place and we were buckling her into her car seat and she was just being her lil spitfire self.  (Side note story) So at night we sing to Grace before bedtime and we sing You are my Sunshine.  One of the lines in the song is, "You never know dear how much I love you".  Grace runs around all the time saying, "You never know dear!"  Sometimes silly and sometimes full of sass.  The other thing she is always pointing out is who are boys and who are girls.  Like Daddy is a boy, Mommy is a girl and so on and so forth.  So anyways we had buckled her into the car seat and Daddy was getting into his seat telling her she needed to stop being so sassy or something to that effect.  She said something sassy, and K says, "I'm a warrior!!!!" in a boisterous voice.  And Grace replied as only she can, "I'M A GIRL...YOU NEVER KNOW DEAR!!!" K and I started cracking up at the underlining meaning.  It was the most hilarious thing and of course since we were laughing she thought she was just the cat's meow.

 

 We had a great Christmas with the kids.  They slept in till about 8am and that was perfect.  Grace was so thrilled and now that she can open presents a lot faster the morning spend by!  Which was great because last year it seemed to take hours and hours and we were just so busy.  This year we were able to spend some time just relaxing until it was time to cook and then head to K's grandmothers for the evening.  K also had Monday off after Christmas and so we spent another day doing nothing just hanging as a family.  Tonight we tried to take Grace to her first dance class but despite me calling earlier this afternoon to double check the instructor wasn't there.  Grace was a little disappointed but she had fun playing with daddy and singing with him on the way home and she quickly forgot.  We are going to try again next week. 

We are also planning Grace's birthday party.  I can't believe she is turning 3! My sweet first born is getting so big and articulate.  We are planning a joint birthday party at Bouncing off the Walls an indoor bounce house place with a little girlfriend of Grace's who is turning 4.  We went there a few times with playgroup during their 'open' bounce time, and decided to split the cost since our daughters birthdays are so close together and have the same friends.  It should be fun.

I finally am posting some belly pictures!!! I am 23 weeks along and hadn't taken any belly pictures of this sweet girl growing until tonight!  Another few more weeks and I will be in the third trimester.  This pregnancy has been pretty easy compared to the other two.  I am starting to feel the heaviness of pregnancy I suppose.  In the mornings my joints are creaky and I have my mattress topper on the bed which is great.  Still not a lot of heartburn or gas which is so great.  Today I did start to feel tired and took a shower when I put the kids down, then tried to take a nap.  It was great because both kids got great naps.  I have been working on transition Aaron to one long nap a day and today he did pretty well.  First this morning he slept straight through until 8am, no early morning fuss (he always wakes up on the wrong side of the bed), and he did wake up after an hour at nap time but then I settled him back down for another hour!!! WooHoo!

Tonight we are watching Cowboys vs Aliens which has been surprisingly interesting and not much alien footage which is good.  Hope you are enjoying your holiday as much as we are!

Merry Christmas!

Good morning everyone! I just wanted to do a real quick blog post and share our news.  K and I decided to wait to find out the sex of our last little one until Christmas morning and so officially we are annoucing we are having a...............girl!! We are so excited! Kind of funny too, because Grace kept saying she was having a little sister!
We are due April 21st, although I am sure she will come earlier, they all do! And besides I already feel as big as a house!
Wishing all my family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Happy Birthday to Jesus today.  Thank you for Your ultimate sacrafice!

What are you doing?

While I was in San Diego I went in to check on the kids during naptime or get Aaron, something like that and I found my sweet Grace had tried to climb out of the crib and had gotten stuck.  The picture of Aaron was right after, the flash kind of blinded him.

 Look at that face! My sister took these pictures for me because she kept getting mad at me for trying to take a picture with my cell phone! lol

 My kids snuggling together! I so love that, they are so precious.  Look at those baby feet!

So yesterday I was supposed to pick daddy up at the airport at 2:15pm and I needed to go to the grocery too.  So after Aaron woke up from his nap we headed out for an early lunch and then rushed through the grocery store (busy on a Saturday before the holiday).  We hurried home to unload the groceries and grab the dogs.  I had scheduled a 2pm dog grooming appointment for the dogs.  I figured since it was the holidays and I was pregnant I would pay to have them all clean for when K got home, and for the holidays too.  I had spent about 20ish minutes on the phone on Friday talking with the gal who tried to find me in their system.  They couldn't find me and I finally determined that I had fallen out of the system since it had been more than a year. (We had taken the dogs there to get groomed for the first time before Aaron was born when we were dealing with the MRSA fiasco).  So we scheduled the appointment and she told me that depending on what type of groom I got for them would depend on the cost.  And that was it.  No other information was given.
So I got home unloaded the groceries and loaded the dogs into the back of the SUV (normally they go in the truck, but being by myself they had to go in the SUV), I had planned to get there about 10 min early so that I had plenty of time to get to the airport, park and take the kids in to see their daddy! (Luckily we live close to this new Petco and close to the airport, otherwise I wouldn't have schedule it this way.) 
I get to Petco and take the dogs in.  The girl comes out to greet me and immediately asks me about the rabies certification.  I immediately have my hackles up because I know I don't have them nor was I told to bring them.  I think they will have it on their collars, but no the lady says that doesn't show a date.  So she tries calling my vet, like where did she get the phone number so fast too?? And of course they don't answer...so by law she CANNOT take the dogs.  I ask for the managers name and number and who was working the day before because they did NOT tell that information.  (Important information for someone who they deem a new customer don't you think??)
I was LIVID!  I now had to take my dogs back home and then go to the airport to pick up my husband.  I was pissed and pregnant!  I called the manager and was talking to her before I dropped my phone while trying to put the dogs in the backyard.  (So no resolution.)  Oh and then K had text me on the way home from Petco, so he had landed early. So not only was I pissed, but I was emotional too, because now I was way late.  One of the reasons I was so mad was because the woman in the grooming department was just so rude, and I think she was the one who took my call, because she told me that she worked yesterday and she didn't even OFFER an apology.  I worked in customer service for 10 years before I stayed home with my kids.  Sometimes you have to at least pretend to kiss some a$$.  This woman could have cared less that she had potentially done anything wrong.  I will probably try to call their corporate offices tomorrow, and be like a dog with a bone, because it was so upsetting and inconvenient for me, mom on the go, pregnant with two toddlers trying to get my husband from the airport.
Oh and I have to write this down before I forget.  Grace was so cute today.  She was talking with K and she was like, "Daddy your so beautiful.  Your chin is so beautiful.  Your eyes are so beautiful.  Your hair...I scratch your hair ok?"  Where does she get this stuff??
Then Aaron was cracking us up because he was blowing raspberries on K's tummy and getting it so slobbery but it was hilarious!!  He thought he was so funny, well he is so funny and cute too! Love my lil air bear!
     

Some more San Diego Pics

I know I haven't blogged in SO long.  Blogger made me update and it hasn't been as convenient as it used to be.  I decided to try to upload some pictures tonight and it actually went pretty quickly.  Unfortunately I don't have the patience or desire to do a long post tonight.  We had a great time in San Diego visiting with everyone.  A couple of pictures of Grace with her Papou on the carousel. And then some of the kids at the beach.  They had a blast playing in the sand.

 Of course I couldn't get them to both look at me at the same time.  Our flight home on Monday was a wreck.  We left my mom's house for the airport at 930am for a 11am flight.  The flight was delayed.  It was then delayed further while we sat on the tarmac waiting for a turn to use the runaway.  (It was pouring rain and we were a heavy flight packed to the gills.) Our flight was delayed an hour and an half total.  Suffice to say we missed our connecting flight.  On the way out of the bathroom with the kids, the flight attendant told me that if we were going to Salt Lake then we would staying on that plane in Oakland and going to Seattle (for a 2 hr flight) and then another 2 hr flight from Seattle to SLC.  I about died.  5 months pregnant with a 3 year old and a walking 14 month old on my lap. During lunch time.  Yeah they are not going to make it on peanuts.  I am not going to make it on peanuts! In Oakland they let me get off the plane and run and get some food.  Of course they only fancy schmancy food close by.  So I ordered $30 worth of sandwiches (not Subway) to take on the plane.  Which of course they just picked at. (I really don't blame them...I didn't think much of them either)  I only wish the Subway had been closer!  There was a sweet flight attendant that took Aaron and let him walk up and back down the aisle during that first flight.  Thankfully the two 2 hr flights were not full and we had the aisle to ourselves.  I had our stuff spread all over and boy did we make a mess, but after that first flight I really didn't care.  I was so ready to get off that plane in Salt Lake I had to choke back the tears.  Never flying Southwest again with young children.  They don't have straight flights from SD to SLC anymore, so it was supposed to be about 2 90 min flights and a plane change.  BUT... the kids were so good considering they were stuck on a plane and my lap mostly ALL day, because we didn't land until just about 8pm Monday night.  Then there was a nice lady to help me get all my stuff, I am so thankful for her too.

And now we are home safe and sound getting back into the swing of things here.  Had a prenatal appointment on Tuesday and apparently I gained 6 pounds while in SD...too much yummy good food! lol And my uterus is measuring ahead of schedule for how far along I am.  So that leads me to believe another early baby is on the way.  Wednesday we had playgroup and it was great catching up with my friends and letting the kids play.  Today I cleaned house a bit trying to organize day by day and pulled out some Christmas decorations.  We have to get the tree when Daddy gets back and of course we will have a million things to do with him when he does, but we will figure that out this weekend.  He comes home on Saturday afternoon and I for one am so excited to see him.  It has been 3 weeks and we need our daddy back home!  I think maybe some errands for tomorrow and hopefully some more packages will arrive.  It's funny Grace is so used to K getting packages delivered for his work that having 3 huge boxes in our front room 2 of which are for her and Aaron doesn't even phase her! Good thing she can't read they are from Amazon and not Daddy's work! LOL
Hope everyone is having a great holiday so far and I will try to get some more pictures uploaded soon.

Thanksgiving Camping Trip 2011

This year we got to go camping with my family for Thanksgiving.  We loaded up the kids and all the dogs (there were 7, 4 of which were German Shepherds) and headed out past Glamis.  We had 4 big rigs and 1 tent.  We had 18 people total. We had a blast, sitting around the campfire and playing Mafia and Catchphrase and just chit chatting with everyone.  The stars were beautiful at night and it was a great trip.

 

 Daddy and Grace having fun playing in the sand.

 Sisters who like to camp...

 Mom and Bruce

 Daddy snuggling with his babies.

 My newly married brother, checking the light for me, by striking a pose.

We headed back from camping the Saturday after Thanksgiving so we could get the RV cleaned and returned.  Then Daddy had to head back home.  He was home all last week while we stayed out here, and now he is working hard this week out in Rhode Island doing his training for his new job.  He will be there for 2 weeks and I am heading home with the kids in a week.

Finally some pictures

I finally uploaded some pictures from the wedding and the rehearsal dinner.  Aunt Meghann and Aaron at the rehearsal dinner.

 Mother and the groom...

 Uncle Cameron and Grace goofing off.  It looks like she was trying to escape or she was being squirmy, but he was actually letting her go here, she was having a blast.

 Uncle Taylor reading to Grace that weekend..she totally soaks up her attention from her Uncles and Aunt.

 This is my absolute favorite picture from that weekend..my kids and my siblings!

 This picture cracks me up because litterally seconds before the camera flashed she was smiling this sweet huge grin, but then the camera caught this picture!

 Grace at the wedding taking pictures with the disposable camera.  Having a blast.    I will have to try to post a video of Grace dancing.  She danced the night away in her sweet flower girl dress and was a hit on the dance floor.  My little show stopper.

 The bride and groom listening to the speeches.

So far our trip out in SD has been a blast and we have been super busy, visiting family, camping and hanging out.  I will try to get some camping pictures up real soon.
Enjoy!

Weddings n such

UPDATE: I wrote this blog last week and finally got it posted. Enjoy!

Hey everyone, we have been sooo busy lately and I haven't gotten to my blog. One reason is I left my camera in San Diego 2 weekends ago and having been waiting for this weekend when we go back to get it. We went out to go to my brother Cameron's wedding. He married his long term girlfriend Heather who is a total sweetheart. I now have a new sister in law! It was a crazy weekend and Grace got the stomach flu for the first time ever. Poor thing was scared to death but got better quickly and was able to be the flower girl still.

We got in on Friday night to pouring rain, then we had the rehearsal dinner on Saturday night at Stir Fresh a yummy mandarin grill, that you kind of make your own plate thing. It was delish and the kids had a great time playing with their aunt and uncles.

Sunday was the wedding and although it started out raining, the skies dried up (Thank You God) for the ceremony and the reception was held indoors. What a fun party with great food and dancing. Especially for Grace, my little girl was thrilled to be on the dance floor for hours with the adults and she danced her little heart out. Aaron did well too, and fell asleep in his Memaw's arms despite being in the loud room with the dj.

And now we are getting ready to head out again on Thursday night. We have a late flight and did that on purpose so that the kids will hopefully sleep. At least Aaron! We are so excited to be visiting family and also going camping out in the desert for Thanksgiving!

Daddy is going to be coming back early because he has to work and he has a new job that he has really been enjoying. He has been working for about 2 weeks and is so much happier.

I finally felt the baby on Saturday. It was so great and I can't wait to be able to feel it more. I may have decided to find out the sex of the baby though. I was organizing kid clothes and went under my porch to the cold storage and counted 14 boxes/bags/tubs of varying sizes and fullness of boy and girl clothes! So I may find out to get rid of some of those. But I do still have a month to decide. I scheduled my ultrasound and because we are leaving on Thursday and I won't be back home until Dec 12th and then K will be in Rhode Island for training for 2 weeks we scheduled the appointment for Dec 19th. So I will be 21 or 22 weeks so they will be able to see a lot too.

Grace has been so excited about the baby and when she climbs on me and accidentally knees me in the stomach or something she goes, "Oh I am sorry baby." She is just too precious. I can't believe she is almost 3! I told her she has to ask Santa for a toddler bed for Christmas and she thinks she is getting one for sure now! lol We are getting her one for Christmas and I have tried to find one already before we left, but haven't been successful, so hopefully it will be easy when we get back.

K and Aaron were sick last night and that is a bummer. But I think they are both on the road to recovery. Aaron just had a fever and it seemed to have broken. And Daddy had the stomach flu and spent today resting his achy bones. Poor guy. But at least now instead of on vacation, I say. I feel great and finally gained some weight with this pregnancy. Had my prenatal on Monday and I think I had gained 5 pounds even though I have had a bump forever it seems!

Well I gotta wrap up this blog and I will try to post again with pictures of the kids from my cell phone.

Night!

Pumpkins, Tools and a New SUV

Hey everyone..finally got all my most recent pictures uploaded. I remembered to bring the camera for our pumpkin picking experience. We had a field close by our house that I noticed one day had a ton of pumpkins growing there..then a few days later they had a sign up that they were a pumpkin patch and were selling them. It was great to wander through the field and pick our pumpkins. The only bummer was that Aaron fell asleep five minutes before we got there and stayed asleep the whole time we were picking. He woke up when I was about to buckle him back into the truck.

Grace sure had fun though, trekking through the field trying not to trip on the roots choosing which pumpkin would be the biggest and one she could also carry. Doesn't Aaron look so long in my arms?!

This is Grace showing us her muscles, which you need if you are going to pick up pumpkins.

Mommy and my sleeping little bear.

She found her pumpkin.

So officially Daddy has a new job. I may or may not have mentioned it and his official first day was on Monday. He went on Saturday to FedEx to pick up his tools. 9 boxes that filled the bed of the truck. I went outside and he was a kid at Christmas checking out all the new tools the company provides. Things he has always wanted to work with before that the prior company never allowed. He is so excited to be working for Schneider Electric and already they are proving to be a professional company that really takes care of their employees! The kids climbed up in the back with me and thought they were cool too.

Aren't they just so darn cute?

Whining about something.

Oh this picture cracks me up! So this is Daddy's new ARC (sp?) flash suit. At certain times when he will be doing some work with high voltage he has to wear this suit. (Something the other company never mentioned at all) I told him what a great Halloween costume! He looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I am so glad for the safety measures Schnieder Electric follows and also so thankful that nothing has happened to him for the last 5 years!

Grace showing me her 'peace' sign. I forgot that Murray on Sesame Street ends the show by saying, "See ya next time on the street-PEACE!' And one day she was talking to me and was like, "Peace!" and flashed her peace fingers up. I was like where did she learn that?? I asked her and she told me Murray in Sesame Street. Also a friend of ours Jo taught her I Love You in sign language which she loves doing as well, although she has a little bit of trouble keeping her middle fingers down. So precious!

And finally.........The New To Us Expedition!!! It's just like our old Explorer but with a third row seat in the back. I actually finally drove it myself for the first time yesterday. Daddy drove it around this weekend and I love it.

It has a 6 disc cd changer, heated mirrors and heated seats. The drivers side doesn't work but K thinks he can fix it for me. (I LOVE having a handy husband!) Cruise control, running boards (which I love cuz I am short) trailer brakes and an after market chip to help monitor something or rather. Love all the cup holders and big console, oh and it also has the keyless entry on the outside which is nice for the winter I can start the truck warming up while I gather kids and don't have to worry about it being stolen.

I actually did my grocery shopping today after playgroup and it was so nice to load all the kids and groceries and not have to fight for a spot. Right now I think I am keeping the third row of seating in even though it makes for less storage room in the back. It was funny though because we took the car seats apart to wash the covers this weekend and had to put them back together on Monday. So we stuck the kids in the third row to play around while we did that (or really K did most of the work, since he took them apart) and the kids thought being in the very back was a blast! And now Grace always asks' me, can I be back there? I tell her yes when the new baby comes!

We had a great morning at playgroup, got lots of good play time in and chat time in for mommy. I really do love my playgroup moms, they are the best! Then a late lunch and a late grocery trip that we hurried through. Kind of ironic too, because us moms spent about 10 minutes trying to find Aaron's paci at playgroup this morning and then I lost the paci at the grocery store today. He must have spit it out and I didn't notice until we were on our way to check out and I wasn't about to go retracing my steps through Winco. Oh well!

Tomorrow is Thursday and I start my planning for our trip to SD this weekend for my brother's wedding, I can't wait! And then back home again for a week an a half before heading back to SD to go camping. So busy but so much fun!

Well I hope you enjoyed the pictures! God Bless!