I love fall!

I love this time of year. The air is crisp and smells like leaves and woodsmoke. I can finally wear long sleeves and sweaters again and the power bill is a lot lower with the a/c turned off.

Halloween was fun. Alex was Harry Potter with my very first handmade Halloween costume. Grandpa made the wand and I painted/stained it. All in all, he looked great.

Ethan was an airplane pilot. I wanted to do coordinating costumes with Alex and have Ethan be Hedwig but I couldn't find an owl costume small enough. I felt ambitious enough to make Alex a cloak but there was no way I was going to attempt an infant owl costume. He looked adorable though and got lots of compliments. Dustin came to the ward party straight from work so we have a picture of my captain with his first officer.

We carved two pumpkins this year. Alex chose a vomiting design and I picked the spider. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I actually printed off the designs and we taped them to the pumpkins and did the outlines rather then just drawing them like we usually do.

The biggest news is that we're in the market for a house. We put an offer on one a week ago and it was rejected and we are currently waiting for a response to a house we put an offer on last week. I was hoping to be in our own house before Christmas but if its not the right house, we're not in any hurry. Apparently what we need/want in a house and what is actually available is a pretty small overlap. But I'm looking forward to owning our own home and making it exactly what we want it to be.

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

School starts in two weeks for Alex. He'll be in the fourth grade and while he's made it into the highly gifted program, I wish he'd use his ability to remember everything for good instead of remembering all 64 Mario Super Slugger characters. Its like Superman using his super hearing to listen to crickets talk. Do you think he can remember what happened the portable DVD player remote? Nope. But he can tell you exactly why Harry Potter is the most powerful wizard out there.

He's also gotten pickier about his clothes. I'm taking him school shopping this year instead of my sister, the cool aunt. Hopefully we'll find enough pants to last him through the school year but he keeps growing at the most inopportune times. Not during summer when the shorts can stretch a little longer but in January. After Christmas gifts but too early for his birthday.

He's a great brother to Ethan though. He comes back every Sunday evening and wants to know what Ethan did over the weekend. Is he walking yet? Crawling? Maybe we should show Ethan how to crawl so he can see how to do it. Any new teeth?

Ethan is rolling everywhere now. He's just figured out that he can roll to get to something he wants. Maybe its that vibrating ducky toy or maybe he wants to chew on the power cord in the office again. But he's learning how to get there. He's also determined to hold his own spoon at dinner when he gets solid food. He looks longingly at my plate and then opens his mouth wide for sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, applesauce but not peas. He doesn't seem to like peas. His aunt would be so proud!

Ethan had his 6 month check up today. 18 lbs 1 oz and 26 1/4 inches! He's growing so fast and his legs are so chubby, they don't fit in his bumbo anymore. He can't quite sit up yet but he hunches over and can balance for a few seconds. He had two shots today but only cried for a few minutes, the little trooper.

I earned my Bachelor's in Business Management this summer. Graduation was in July, right before we went to Minneapolis and Philadelphia to visit Alex's grandma and Mandy. The Minneapolis trip wasn't too bad and we went to the Mall of America. Didn't do any shopping but Alex completed a ropes course and climbed about 60 ft in the air to walk the plank. A couple of roller coasters later and it was time for everything to close and we went back to the condo we stayed at.

Philadelphia was a lot of fun. Dustin had to get back to work, so it was me, Alex and Ethan. The standby trip out there was hard but eventually we made it and Mandy got to meet Ethan. We went to Hershey Chocolate World so Alex could do the Make Your Own Candy Bar attraction. It was pretty neat but they change the inclusions every day and you don't know what they'll have on any given day so we ended up with choices between chocolate chips, cookie pieces, pretzel pieces, raspberry fruit and toffee. It was still a lot of fun and a great place for kids to see how candy bars are made.

We also went to Valley Forge where Alex joined the Continental Army at kids' muster and then the next day we went to Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. A friend suggested watching National Treasure to get Alex excited about those two things even though he had seen them before. Brilliant idea! He was so into finding the clock tower and learning about the Declaration of Independence!

Now we're just recouping before school starts. Only two more weeks and it will be back to the regular routine and thank goodness! Once school starts, it finally starts cooling down and then it's Christmas.

Summer is here!!!

The last few months have been very busy for my little family. For starters, we added a new person, Ethan Jon, on January 31. He was so excited to be here, he came two weeks early and rushed me through a 4 1/2 hour labor. We were barely at the hospital for the vbac when he decided to make his appearance. Thank goodness my ob/gyn was on call that night so he was already there. Nevada law says for a vbac, the ob has to be at the hospital throughout the whole labor so that was a relief we didn't have to wait for him.

He's been a complete angel. Slept through the night by 6 weeks and naps a few times a day for me. He decided to roll over yesterday! But only when we weren't looking. I think it was purely accidental as he had a look that said "What just happened, Mommy?" on his face when I found him on his back.

Alex is a great big brother and is always wanting to hug Ethan or play with him. Usually when I've told him to do a chore and he's trying to put it off.

Alex's last day of school is today. He earned straight A's all year and really enjoyed the G.A.T.E. program. He also played baseball this spring and has a good eye for bad pitches. We went to a Las Vegas 51's game last week and he was given a cracked bat from Mike Venable, a player on the Tucson Padres and he was on the San Diego Padres until two weeks ago. We stayed after for a bit to see if Alex could get it signed by Mr. Venable and he was gracious enough to do so. Alex is just tickled about his new bat.

Dustin has been working hard as a captain.

We've got a few road trips planned for the summer. We have the annual Bear Lake trip at the end of June, I'm taking Alex and Ethan to Minnesota and Philadelphia in July as well as family reunions in July and August. It's a busy summer!

The news with me is I'm now a stay-at-home-mom but I don't really do a lot of staying at home. Its amazing how much there is to do and makes me wonder how I did it plus working full time. I'm loving it though! Every time I try to get a schedule going, something comes along and laughs at it. Oh well. Keeps things interesting, right?

I'm bored

Today I'm 22weeks 2days. I feel the little guy kick and move all the time and sometimes Dustin can feel him too. Usually what happens is he kicks really well for a few minutes, I tell Dustin and he rushes to put his hand on my stomache and then baby boy doesn't move again for 20 minutes. I'm starting to recognize the difference in feet kicks and arm movements and be able to tell the position of the baby.

Alex has definitely perked up at the thought of a baby brother. He talks to my tummy and always asks how big the baby is now. I have to tell him that he doesn't grow much day to day but comparing it to the size he's supposed to be when he's born helps Alex see the difference.

Dustin is at High Adventure camp with his dad and brother this week. The in laws bought an enclosed trailer in St. George so he's driving it up to his dad as part of the trip. He asked if I wanted to go but I had to decline. Camping with a group of 18 males isn't my idea of fun, even if I wasn't still on bedrest.

Yes, I'm still on bedrest. While I'm loving being home, I'm not loving not doing the things I want to do. We've got new shelves in the garage that I want to organize to make room for the other new shelves that aren't put together yet but I can't. I have been able to do some crafts that I've been putting off. I've made a Halloween wreath, a piece quilt top for baby boy's quilt, crocheted a baby blanket for a friend and figured out how to work the sewing machine my mother in law gave me. The quilt looks fantastic and now I just need to make curtains to match. That's the problem with custom stuff. If I bought a crib set, it would have the matching curtains, bumper, crib skirt, etc. Making the quilt means, unless I want to make all the other stuff to match, I'll have to try to find solid color sheets, bumper, etc. Since I'm barely proficient with sewing straight lines, I'm going for the curtains and then solids for everything else.

However the good news is Alex is getting baptized on November 6th! Anyone that wants to come is invited and we're having a family lunch beforehand. If you're planning on coming, let me know so we have enough food for everyone. We've been reading the Book of Mormon and happened to get to Alma chapters 10-14 the last couple of days. Some great chapters to help explain the beliefs of the Church. We quiz Alex on what we're reading as we're going through to help him understand the scriptures (except for the Isaiah stuff-we don't understand that either) and he's had some really great questions and observations about the Resurrection, judgement day, and how we're different from other churches. It's been awesome to watch.

News!

We have some exciting news! We are expecting a Valentine's baby! I'm 15 weeks along and everything is going wonderfully so I thought it would be ok to officially announce it.

I'm currently on bed rest for a small placental tear but its been lightened to "princess" bed rest as my perinatalogist put it. I can't work, cook or clean but Dustin says I can shop :). Really it's not a lot different from the official bed rest I was on last week but I can leave the house now.

Some more good news is the baby gave us a full moon shot at the ultrasound and we learned the baby is a BOY! Alex is getting a little brother and is kind of ambivalent about it right now. We'll see if he perks up as it gets closer.

And the last piece of good news is we found a very nice, very reasonably priced SUV for Dustin to drive. It has all the perks he wanted and it was a price I could live with. Everyone wins!

Very exciting week for us!

And for those who want baby pictures, they're at the end so those that don't want to see them won't.

Its a hot hot summer

Its the last week of July now and its hot. Its Las Vegas and supposed to be hot but you kind of forget it in December when its 40 degrees in the morning. Or even colder some days. But then May comes and it creeps into the 90's and you start realizing just how hot 100 is. Or 102 or 108. We might hit 110 next week.



Thats dang hot. I'm grateful for the ugly tile floors as they help keep the house cool and the ac bill down. I want carpet in December but then I dream of a power bill over $200 in 6 months and I'm suddenly ok with ugly tile floors.



Not that I wouldn't change them if we actually owned the house mind you.

Now for your viewing pleasure...Alex and Dustin made this video about two weeks ago. Alex is going through a Michael Jackson phase and...let's just watch...





So, in the 6 months since the last post, Dustin made captain at work! Alex tried kneeboarding! I learned how to can strawberry jam! (Its a lot easier than I thought and I'm excited for peaches to go on sale so I can try those)



Dustin made it through a 9 credit semester in the spring. I'm still plugging through my classes but I should only have one more semester if I don't lose all my steam. I'm soooo tired of school but with the end in sight, its a little easier to keep moving.



We spent the last weekend of June up at Bear Lake, Idaho for the annual family reunion. Alex put on a magic show for the family skit but I had to tell him he couldn't charge people for watching. Shaking family down for money isn't really the best way to get them to like you.

Is it October yet?

The Holidays

After my last depressing post, this one will hopefully be a little more upbeat.

We spent the weekend after Christmas visiting the family in Brigham City. We drove up on Sunday for the family Christmas party. Alex asked the whole way if there would be snow and there was about 6 or so inches to make him happy. Some of the grandkids went sledding on Monday morning and I offered to be the photographer. I'm not about stuff that can get me injured as I almost invariably get injured. Alex was a pro in no time and luckily we were able to scrap together enough cold weather gear for him to insist he wasn't cold at all. There was a little jump that he aimed for every stinking time and got some good height a few times.

The Christmas party was fun. Pizza buffet were the kids could play games and the adults could chat followed by presents back at the in laws house. I have to say I'm most excited about my new sheet cake pan so I can make a chocolate sheet cake I've seen for years. Pioneer Woman, you have the best recipes!

Tuesday, Dustin and I went to Tia Pan Trading with his sister along with Smith & Edwards. If you've never been to Smith & Edwards, you really should go at least once. Its huge and everything is there. Kind of like a Wal-mart for camping and outdoor activities. I drooled over the kitchen section but with my trip to Tai Pan Trading coming up, I refrained from buying anything.

There's a few things I want to say about TPT. First, there is not one where we live. The closest is 2 hours away and the cost of gas defeats any money-saving you might do there unless you were already going to that town. Second, I could spend all day wandering the aisles. I must have walked through the Christmas clearance section 6 times trying to decide what I wanted and seeing new things every time I did. Third, its a really boring store for a husband and little boy to spend all day in. He had already been patient at Smith & Edwards so Alex was reaching his shopping limit. But, he was pretty patient and only asked every 4 minutes if we were done instead of every 2.

We came home on Wednesday and enjoyed New Year's Eve at home. My parents came over for dinner but were gone by 9pm so we played Monopoly with Alex (and he kicked our butts) and watched the fireworks at midnight. The next morning, Alex slept until 10. The staying up til midnight thing might be nice for those weekends when he wants to be up and playing at 6am on Saturday.

I would have to say it was a pretty nice Christmas season. Santa brought us a Wii so we got a Wii Fit to help with our new goals. I found a china hutch to repaint to display my growing collection of dishes and pitchers. I'll post about that when its done.

All in all, I'm very thankful for all of our blessings. This next year has to be better than the last one, right?