Baby Baby Baby

I've been making stuff like crazy for this baby girls nursery, and I'm still not done. I'm trying not to feel too stressed with finishing up her stuff and trying to do Christmas in the middle of it all. Whatever gets done gets done. But now that I know I'm dilated to a 2, I'm getting a little worried. I'm supposed to have a month still! I suppose she could still wait 4 weeks to come but then again she could come sooner too! I hate not knowing, I mean it's exciting but kind of frustrating at the same time...:/ So I guess it's up to her, and all I can do is try my best to be ready before she gets here! I just hope she waits till January, I know I would hate to have a December birthday... She also doesn't have a name yet. For now it's Baby E. We're deciding between Eliza, Eva, and Elsie...I just want to wait and decide when I see her, maybe she'll have an opinion;) Anyway! Here's a few of the projects I've been working on...

Pom poms for over the crib, I did paper which doesn't look nearly as cute a fabric but it only cost me 5$ so for now it will work...

Car Seat Cover!

Binky Clips!

Rag Quilt

I love how this turned out! It was one of my first projects with my new machine and I can't wait to snuggle my baby girl in it!

Receiving blankets

my mom made a few and I made a few, these actually aren't all of them some of them were still in the wash.

Basket covers! Love how these turned out too!

Flower holder and flowers.

I made all the one's in the middle my awesome sis-in-law

made most of the ones on the left.

Well that's about it, there are a few more things I don't have pictures of yet. I'll have to post some pics of the whole room when it's done, IF it gets done!

My boys...

Officers Payton & Payton

Happy Halloween! Best Friends (most of the time;) I love to see them play together, I hope they will stick together when this baby girl comes in (less than 10 weeks!!)
I had a wonderful opportunity to go to a Hillary Weeks concert a couple of weeks ago with my grandma. She sang a song called "Stand Still" and she explained she wrote the song based off of a moment she had with her 9 year old daughter. She said a thought came to her that "you have the opportunity to know your kids as adults for all of eternity but you only get these few precious years to know them as children." I loved this! And I've thought a lot about it since I heard her say it, and it's helped me get through the hard "mommy moments". I stop and take a minute with my boys and enjoy them as children, as a 1 year old and a 3 year old because this is the only time I get to know them as toddlers...

Baby in my belly...

Here ya go 25 1/2 weeks prego!

I must say I love all you people out there that love being pregnant...you know who you are, and I am envious of you. Because I on the other hand feel these 40 weeks can be quite challenging. I love babies, and I'm excited for this baby but the 9 months and 4 weeks ( really 10 months) of pregnancy is always a struggle for me. Of course I love to feel the baby move, but after that I see no real positives. Nausea and vomitting for 18 weeks..seriously terrible heart burn...clothes no longer fitting...hormones up and down like a mad woman..exahustion..any way you get the picture. But I really don't want to sound like a downer here because I am getting more and more excited for the arrival of my little girl. I know it's going to be crazy, but it will be fun and exciting too and I have to say I do love buying girl clothes ( and getting hand me downs which is just as good to me!) and the best part of pregnancy is the end! You get your body back and a sweet baby in addition:) And I'm on the down hill slope, I'm afraid she'll probably be here a little sooner then I'm ready for!

Gotta Love this!

This picture just says so much! haha! Daya's evil glare, Isaac's awkward hug face and Eisley's overall cuteness! Aren't these girls so cute! I'm glad we've got to hang out with them lately and hopefully there's more fun play times in the future:)

Yay 4 Dirt!

We haven't been camping all summer! (Except for our 2 weeks in Oregon) which definitely counts but is just not the same as camping in Utah...I suppose the reason we haven't been camping is because our source of comfort (aka my parents trailer) had this little accident in July...

and it took all summer to fix:( But I am excited to head up the canyon this weekend with my boys. Sadly Brock will be hunting (again!) so he will be missed but I'm excited to get out and get dirty and relax for a couple of days! :)

Life and books...

Things have been crazy, I seriously can't believe it's September 20th! I love this month and it's almost over! How does this always seem to happen...really before I know it my baby girl is going to be here. I keep saying just Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas then she's here...I think I need more time! ;)

Here's the two book I've read the last month, (I know only 2! I've been lacking in the book reading area because I've been working on crafts and things around my house)

Both were absolutely amazing. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a quicker read and it was for September book group, very cute story I loved it. And The Forgotten Garden was a lot longer of a book and more serious, but very good as well.

Right now I'm reading 2 amazing books, the reason I'm reading 2 is because I started reading "Lone Survivor" which is this incredible true story of a US Navy SEAL and his real life account of being in Afghanistan and all the SEALS in his team dying except for him. Seriously this book is amazing. But as I was reading it my husband kept asking me to read it out loud to him at night so now we are reading it together and it's taking forever to finish! But he loves it and I really don't mind reading out loud so it's good for both of us. And then for my personal book I'm reading "A Tree grows in Brooklyn" which is very good as well. I've been wanting to read it forever and so I'm finally doing it. And so far I really like it.

Well hopefully if you're lucky I'll post a pic of my belly one of these days...I really hate pictures of me prego, but I love it when other pregnant friends post their pics. We'll see if I actually post one or not. So stay tuned:)

Surprise!

Well lots of people out there know this Surprise but some still don't...

We are expecting baby number 3 ! and it's a GIRL!

I am so excited, especially now that I know I'm having a baby girl.. but I hate to admit this I haven't been way excited the last 19 weeks... This has been quite the surprise (that's a better term then accident don't you think? ) for our family. I was quite content with my 2 boys for the next couple years. Especially since little Lukey is quite the handful. But sometimes there are other plans that we don't account for and I know for a FACT that this little girl wanted/needed to come right now and no matter the precautions I took she was coming! haha! I've been so so so sick and the usual ridiculously tired that goes along with the first trimester. But finally at 18 weeks she's decided to be a good little girl and I haven't paid tribute to the 'porcelain god' in over a week!! It's been great! And now today I found out that it's a little girl and I am so happy. I love my boys don't get me wrong! But a cute little girl to dress up and wear bows...I am so excited:)

So even though I've got my work cut out for me with...yes...3 kids under 3. I don't like to hear those words. I know it will be OK. Hopefully. So the facts are I am 19 weeks along, due January 13th, Isaac will be 3 1/2 and Luke will be 20 months. It's going to be crazy! But fun and I know I will have lots and lots of family and friend support so I will survive! :)

Here's where I'm heading...

Yay for the beach I hope it's warm. It seems I only go to beaches when it's cold, but I think it will actually be warm this time! I'm excited and I hope my babies do well in the car all day tomorrow:/ wish me luck!

Summer Reads

I haven't posted my books I've been reading this summer, so I thought I'd take a quick minute and fill you in on the books I've read the last month or so...

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Loved this book! It's a serious book about a woman diagnosed with early onset alzheimers. It's amazing. And really makes you consider life worth living.

Widow's War by Sally Gunning

I was in need of a book and just randomly picked this up at the library. It was a good read, I liked it, if you only read 1 book a year I wouldn't recommend this one but if you can't find anything to read it was good. It's a good historical fiction.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale.

This book was way fun and a quick read. It was the book for my book group. It's juvenille fiction but I still liked it.

The Goose Girl also by Shannon Hale.

Since I liked Book of a Thousand Days I decided to pick up more books by Shannon Hale and I loved this one. I thought it was better then the Book of a Thousand Days. This book is just good fun fiction. You completely become lost in this land of royalty, I really loved it. I love a good book that takes you to far away places every now and then:)

How To... Potty train in 1 day!

So I told a couple people I would post my potty training in a day schedule. If you don't have a toddler in need of potty training then I would probably skip reading this post! But I am very proud to say my 3 year old is finally potty trained! Wahoo! Life is good:)

Step1: Pick a day
If you have other children this should be a day when the other children can go with daddy or grandma for the day. ( I didnt have this option so I just did it with Lukey and it was stressful but it still worked)

Step2: Buy 15 or so 1$ "prizes" from the grocery store or dollar store and put them in a box of some sort. ( I cut off the top of a used diaper box and put a sign on it that said "Isaac's Potty Prizes" )

Step3: Buy juice boxes or capri sun's or some kind of liquid they can drink through the whole day.

Step4: Buy underwear (multiple pairs! We went through 9 pairs the first day!) and it recommends a small potty ( I used a potty seat for the toilet and it worked fine, but I've heard a little potty works better? So it's up to you I suppose)

Ok here's what we did...
-Woke up, put on underwear! Wahoo we're going on the potty today!
- The key is Dont Ask Dont Tell! They have to tell you on their own!
-First Accident
you say:
Uh-Oh did you feel pee coming? Ok when we feel pee coming you (now do these steps and say them while you do them)
1. Stand up 2. RUN to the potty 3. Pull down your pants 4. Sit on the potty 5. Pull up your pants. Yay good job!
Then you repeat this 5 times!! Yes 5 times. and you DONT change their wet pants. So you go back to where you were playing when they had their accident. and you Say Ok when you feel pee coming you REPEAT 1-5 ! Yay so fun!!
-After 5 times you say Ok good job lets go look at your prizes. You pull down their prize box and say "which prize do you want right now?" and let them point or tell you and then you say "well too bad you didnt pee in the potty, maybe next time!" and you put the prize box back up. Then they get to put on clean underwear and pants, and emphasize how good the clean underwear feels!

-Repeat this HAPPILY (yes HAPPILY even after they've peed in their pants 9 times!) all day long:) and when they have a bowel movement you do the same thing! It's really terrible but we only had to do that once and it was enough for him! ( with the BM you clean out most of the poop and clean them up a little bit but not all the way trust me it's important! and then after the 5 times they can get in the bath and get clean clothes).

So that's it ONE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, STRESSFUL Day but then it's over. Isaac was still peeing his pants right before bed and I was quite discouraged and quite sick of the steps by the end of the day, but the next morning he woke up, peed his pants one time in the morning and hasn't had an accident since! Wahoo!!

Apparently this is from a book, I dont know what it's called maybe Potty training in 1 day? haha that sounds sarcastic but I seriously don't know what it's called. My pediatrician gave me this advice and I loved it and I wanted to share. Because if any of you are like me I was pretty lost at what to do besides stay at home for a week or 2 and get him to go on the potty. Which I am NOT good at staying home for that long so that wasn't a good option for me and I loved this! Just one bad day and then all is well:) Let me know if you have questions and good luck!

Busy Days

Lots has happened the last month and a half as I've been avoiding my blog. Not for any particular reason, just haven't really felt like blogging. Well I mentioned Luke turned one and we had a fun little party for him. He's such a doll, I just love my little blondie:)

Then we had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Oregon Coast with the Soffe Fam. We had a great time playing at the cold beaches, and seeing the Redwoods:) I have so many memories of Oregon as a kid it was so fun to take my kids and Brock and let them see everything!

Isaac at whaleshead beach. He was in heaven:)

Luke had a great time too, I spent most of the time trying to make him stop eating the sand. As you can see I wasn't always successful:)

Our little family at the Tree's of Mystery. I love the redwoods and I really loved being there with Brock.

Then this little monster turned 3! and we had his cousins over for a fun little water party! I love this picture:)

He loved his slip in slide, this is a nice action shot...Then on his actual birthday we took him to the zoo! Then went and got some yummy dinner at Ruth's diner. Look at those silly brothers!

We also celebrated the 4th with the Murray Parade, a BBQ and lots of fireworks. And I went to girls camp which was great fun! and basically the rest of the summer is planned out a week at Park City, a week in California, 2 BFF's getting married... so much to do and I love it all! Hope everyone is having a fun safe summer:)

The Big ONE!

Newborn

12 Months

Happy Birthday Dear Lukey! I can't believe it was a year ago today I had spent the last 14 hours birthing you! You have been tough! But they say the best things dont come easy and I think this applies to you! I LOVE you! You are so funny and I love your personality that is beginning to shine through:) I love you Luke! Happy 1st Birthday!

My Recent Reads

I've read 3 VERY different books this last month! Here they are...

This book Chains was for my book group. And I really didn't get into it. It's a good story about an African girl that was sold into Slavery during the Revolutionary War. I usually LOVE historical fiction and claim it's my favorite genre. And this book was good. I just never became completely addicted to it. (maybe that's a good thing;) )

The Dead Tossed Waves is a great book! I've had it on hold at the library forever and it finally came in! You have to read the first one though The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Both great books if you like Sci-Fi. It's about our world hundreds of years from now and everything has been taken over by a virus, similar to the idea of Will Smiths I am Legend. But this is the story of the survivors. I really liked it, very fast past and continual action.

Left Neglected. Oh where to begin... I also had this book on hold FOREVER at the library, and was way excited when it finally came in! This book was amazing. It's a fictional story of a strong working mother that suffers from severe brain damage and it's her story of recovery. This book makes you stop and think about what's important in your life, and I really fell in love with the main character. I definitely recommend this one if your looking for a summer read.

Ogden Marathon

I had so much fun at the Ogden Marathon last weekend! I love running in races! I was on a relay team with my sister, sis-in-laws, and mother-in-law! It was so much fun! I ran the first 7 miles and then handed off to Ari who ran the next 6 miles. I did it in just barely over an hour and I'm pretty proud of my 9:36 pace:)

My finish line, which is not even half way for the "real" marathoners. My respect to those hard core people!

Hand off to Ari:) Go Ari Go!



Sole Sisters!

Good job girls it was so much fun! Thanks for making me do it even though I didn't want to;)

Running

I used to say I hated running. Not that long ago really, I thought runners were crazy fools with nothing better to do. But I think it's starting to grow on me a little, there really is nothing that beats that runners high! For Christmas my mother in law entered us into the Ogden Marathon as a relay team. And I kept saying it was the worst fat joke ever;) haha! But seriously I wasn't excited about running some where between 6-8 miles ! However today we all ran in a 5k just as a prep for the "real" race in [3 WEEKS!] and it was SO much fun! I loved it! So now I think I'll keep it up and enter more races, it's fun to work towards something and push yourself to the limit! So I guess I gotta say thanks Tammy and Erin too you guys have inspired me:) !

Sexy Sax Man anyone?

If you have yet to see this video or if you have not heard of the Sexy Sax man please click here . Trust me it will rock your world and I do believe you will be forever changed.

MDC Alumni

I got to be a part of Murray Dance Company Alumni this year and it was so much fun! I miss dancing, I do not miss high school, but I do miss dancing and the feeling of performing and just working hard at something as a team. You know all the good stuff! It was great to take a little "ME" time and dance, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do on my limited "time off" :) But here's some pics from the performance night!

If you care to see this amazing performance;) the video is on my Facebook wall. I've been saying this for 5 years now but I really need to start taking a dance class again! I miss it so much!

Easter Weekend!

We had a lovely easter weekend full of WAY too much sugary goodness and lots of Easter Egg hunts. And all day today all we've been doing is hiding eggs and finding them, Isaac loves it! Well hopefully everyone out there had a wonderful Easter weekend! Here's how ours was...

Easter bunny baskets:)

Easter Egg hunt and Grammy Tammy's


Scrumptious Easter Chick cupcakes! They weren't really a hit at our easter party not even one got eaten haha! I didnt care though I'm just going to take them to my ladies I visit teach! You people were missing out they were delicious!!

Egg hunt at our church.

Also at our church, he was having a hard time opening this one:)

A Must Read

I am always wondering what I should blog about... of course I love to blog about my adorable children, that's a given. But what else? There's food of course which is great, but lots of people blog about food so i only want to blog about seriously amazing food. See post below. But one thing I do a lot is READ seriously I read atleast a book a week. We don't have T.V at my house. Yes this is a choice I made, I'm really not a fan of t.v and anything we really want to see we still can because of the interent. ANYWAY when I think of relaxing, both boys are down for naps, house is semi in order, I've showered within the last 48 hours (always a good thing to keep up on;) ) then what do I do? I read ! and I love it! So I read about a book a week, and I think I'll start sharing some of my must reads on here. So for any of you out there looking for a good book to lay by the pool with or whatever maybe I'll have something on here. I also want to keep track because seriously I can't remember all the books I've read this year alone, and I keep telling myself I should keep a list so I can recommend books when people ask me and yet I still have yet to do this!

Well the Book of the week for me is THE HELP and it is seriously AMAZING! in my top 5 for sure and let me tell you it's not easy for a book to make it into my top 5! So if you haven't read it yet it's a must! And if you have read it, it's amazing right??

PS The movie is coming out in August and it looks SO good! So you better read it before then because if you are anything like me I can't watch a movie if I haven't read the book!

Seriously Delicious Dinner

Thank you to Our Best Bites for providing my family with some dang delicious dinners the last couple weeks! But I must say this was my favorite, super healthy, super delicious and way easy! It was a hit even with the little ones:) Go ahead try it out you will be amazed at the delectableness (if it's not a word it should be!) of it all! Click here for the recipe:)