Tulip Festival, Easter, etc.

Okay, I really need to post more often!! I couldn't help but post today. It was such a beautiful spring day and I had a wonderful time with my kids. First, there was no preschool, so Dallin was able to come to class with me at the YMCA and I always love having him there. Then we went and had a picnic at the park and on the way there, I got a crazy idea that we should go to the Tulip Festival. One of my friends was driving by and I told her my plan and she said, "Let's go!" I love that attitude! So, we put all the kids in her van and headed about 30 minutes away to Woodburn.

There was a cow train, that we all decided was too "bumpy" especially for the 8 month pregnant one!

There was a bounce house.

There was a steep slide that had rollers that the kids went on about a million times because it was free. :-) Emily surprised me by being brave enough to do it by herself.


There were haystacks to climb with a slide to go down.


They also played in the sand. All in all, it was a perfect day. And on the way home, Melissa was nice enough to let me run into the outlets to buy new shoes. Finally, I have tennis shoes without laces, ha ha!!


So, here is a little update on other things.

My favorite blogger, running partner and friend had her baby!! I loved spending time with her boys and I am so happy she still got her pedicure while in labor!! She was beautiful and amazing to me at how effortless it all seemed. And Alice Rose is so sweet and perfect!! Henry was so proud when he saw the picture of his sister. The live blogging was hilarious. I am grateful I was able to meet Alice.


Easter- This is one of my favorite holidays because it is so much less commercialized than the other ones. I love just focusing on the Savior. We do Easter baskets but don't make a huge deal out of them. We have a tradition where we meet with our good friends for an awesome Sunday brunch and the kids are all dressed up and have an Easter egg hunt together. This was our 5th year and it was fabulous as usual! The weekend started out great for me because I went on a girls overnight to the beach. I was able to stay up late chatting, sleep in, relax, and enjoy a hot tub. It was wonderful. (Thanks, Jeff!!)





Chuck E. Cheese- We went here on a rainy, yucky day and it was a lot of fun for Dallin and Emily to be with their friends. This picture is of Dallin and some of his best buddies. I realize how blessed I have been to have good friends that my kids get along so well with. And the moms get along well too. I really think I owe my sanity to my good girlfriends! The only boys missing from this picture are Henry and Tyler, 2 boys whose moms just had babies! We love them too!!

Well, that is about it for now. I am feeling pretty good with a little over a month to go. I am just trying to enjoy my time with my children. My husband worked hard to install new baseboards and they look awesome. My house is staying clean, the baby's room is ready, now it is just waiting. I have enjoyed hearing about everyone's new babies. I can't wait to meet my little guy!! Now if only we had a name...please help...

No, this is not a joke..

...I really am blogging today! So, here we go! When I put off blogging, it makes it that much harder to get motivated to do it again. But, I would feel ungrateful for not sharing what an amazing month this has been!!

California!! What a wonderful vacation! We were looking forward to the wedding of my little sister to Nate, but first we had some playing to do! On the way down, we stayed at our good friends, Jared and Angi's. Angi and I met at BYU and became great friends. We were married one year apart and hung out together as couples the rest of the time Jeff and I were at BYU. We have had 2 kids each, a boy and a girl each, and they are 4 months and 6 months apart. Babies #3 are due 3 days apart! She doesn't know what she is having yet, but I am hoping the trend continues with another boy for both of us! We had a wonderful time at the park where we played and rode a train.


Next, we stayed with my sister Crystal. We LOVE spending time with her. We especially love being at the beach. The kids had fun playing in the sand, Dallin chased the unsuspecting seagulls, and I just enjoyed relaxing. It was a blast.



Disneyland!! What can I say? Disneyland truly is magical. Emily and I spent most of the time together and Dallin loved being able to go on the "big" rides with Dad. He thought it was cool that Mommy and Emily couldn't go. I didn't think that was so cool, but I tried to be a good sport about. Emily and I had fun looking for princesses. Grandma Nise and Aunt Brenda went with us. We also went to California Adventure for the first time, and my brother Erik and cousin Justin joined us. What a crazy 2 days. We also were lucky enough to meet up with some of our good friends, Carrie, Leah, and Jonas from Oregon. The kids were so excited to see them.









Mountains- I love spending time with my family. So, in between Disneyland, CA Adventure and the wedding, we just played at my parents house. We walked to the park with Grandpa John and my sister Heather and her kids. Dallin and Emily loved playing with their cousins.

Wedding- Beautiful, as expected. I feel really grateful that Shelly found such a good guy to spend forever with. They are a great couple and I know they will be very happy. I enjoyed getting to know Nate's parents and siblings. Even though we didn't get home from the reception until 11pm, we dropped Dallin off for a sleepover with cousins. They had had so much fun at the reception that they didn't want it to end!




Drive home- We stopped by my AUnt Marlynn's which is always fun. We all went swimming and just spent more time as a family. I can't wait until our next trip!!

We had such a good time just being together as a family. The kids really learned to rely on one another and Jeff and I just enjoyed not having the normal craziness of life. I love being with family.

Whew!! You would think it couldn't get any better, but...

Surprise!! While I was gone, one of my best friends did a mini makeover for me. She finished painting my playroom! She had helped me design it, so she knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do. I think she also knew that it would probably never get done if she didn't step in. She added the movie film reel, and put in the pictures of the Cars characters, Dallin's favorite. She is a professional organizer so she also reorganized it and it works so much better! She wrote a note to my kids telling them that it was Lightning McQueen who stopped by. She didn't know it, but we had seen LIghtning at CA Adventure, so Dallin said, "Mom, did Lightning McQueen do this for every kid at CA Adventure?" It was so cute!! I cried because it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I know it was a ton of work and I am trying to figure out a way to repay her. If you think of anything let me know!!


I also came home to my brand new floors!! After 6 years of hating carpet in the eating area, we finally sucked it up and paid for someone to replace them with laminate flooring. What a wonderful thing to come home to. I am glad Suzie suggested to go with the darker color because it is beautiful. I LOVE sweeping and mopping now!! I am sure the newness will wear off, but I promised Jeff I will never complain about those chores. It has been awesome!

So, this week was Spring Break and we really just took it easy. We went to the park with Suzie and her kiddos, we swam at the YMCA, and then Thursday we went with a big group to a museum.


It was such a fun week. I am now refreshed and ready to get back to the old routine. We had a very productive weekend, starting with a fun night at Suzie's. Isn't she tired of me yet? I moved the crib into Dallin's room and organized all the baby clothes. I feel ready now, but I still have 7 weeks to go! I just wanted to take advantage of energy while I had it.

I enjoyed listening to Conference and feel ready to make good choices and use my time wisely. I just had a last minute invite to a girls night at the beach, so my goal is to keep getting things done so I can "earn" a break. Hold me to it, okay?! Alright, if you made it through all of that, I am impressed. I just needed to write things for my own remembrance!!

Relaxation and Family Fun

Well, after a nothing week of pretty much being shut in again, this time with a sick little girl instead of a sick me, I was ready for a break! One of the only great things about the week was how much time I spent with Suzie and her kids! I want to thank Suzie first of all for taking Emily even when she wasn't quite well yet. I had lunch with my hubby and found my shirt for my sister's wedding. It was a nice date. On Friday, Jeff and I went to the Nickelback concert. It was very different from our last concert, which was Kelly Clarkson, but we had a blast!

On Saturday, one of my friends was having a tea party for lunch to celebrate getting ready to have her third boy!! It was definitely a girls day! We went for pedicures after and I loved just chatting with some of my favorite girlfriends. I haven't been too excited about posting pregnant pics, but here goes!



After the pedicures, Jeff and I took the kiddos swimming at the YMCA, one of our favorite things to do. We had a great time and Emily is finally feeling like herself.


Dallin gave his first prayer in primary today. He wanted me to help him, but I knew he could do it by himself. I was in there and I told him when he walked to the front if he really needed me to wave to me. Well, he looked right at me, smiled and then bowed his head. This was his prayer, "Heavenly Father. Thank you for this day. We are thankful that everyone has a family. We are thankful for the Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." Very short, but very sweet. Of course, I teared up. I told him how proud I was that he did it all by himself. He is such a good kid. I feel so lucky.

So, that is our basic update. We are headed for California this week, and I can't wait to see the whole family!! My little sister is getting married and everyone will be there. I can't wait for everyone to see how much Emily has changed in the last 6 months. I love my family!

A Happier Me

I know it has been a while since I have posted and I wish I could say it was because I was off doing exciting things like traipsing through Europe, but no, unfortunately there was no Europe, nor traipsing, involved. I have been mostly laying on my couch, sleeping to keep from coughing, and watching my kids play video games and watch movies. They have loved it!! I have been miserable and felt totally useless, but it has given me a lot of time to think. Here are some of my thoughts.

Young Women's
Wow! This has been such an emotional time. I was released from Young Women's after 4 years. It came as a surprise and I was really sad. I have loved those girls with all my heart. After praying about it, I felt very strongly that this is the right thing. The new presidency is amazing and it is time for other women to have a chance to influence these wonderful girls. I also realized it is my time to focus on my family. With this new little one coming, I am looking forward to trying to figure things out a little better. I thought being sick was taking away from this opportunity, but it has let me ponder on this.

Motherhood
I have been contemplating this a lot. I have known for a while that I had to figure out my own definition of what a good mother is and the kind of mother I want to be, or I will never be truly happy. It can't be based on anything else except what I can give. It is the most important role I will ever play and I want to succeed. I have struggled as I have tried to come up with this definition. What do I bring to the table? What are my talents? Is it okay that I don't do art projects with my kids very often? That I don't sew them cool things? That I don't scrapbook all their pictures? I have thought a lot about it and today I finally feel closer to my definition. I had an awesome walk with my good friend Suzie this morning! (This is one of the things I miss most about running. The friendships and venting that spending kidless time together allows.) I started thinking about when I feel happiest, and I realized it is when I am not in the house. Now, being a stay at home mom, and living in Oregon, you might see where I am going with this. I have always said that I feel I am a much better summer mom than winter mom. I love being outdoors. I can spend hours at the park playing with my kids. I love swimming. I love boating. I don't like being indoors. I just don't know what to do indoors and I feel like all I do is clean up after messes when I am inside. So, during the summer, we clean in the morning and then spend the rest of the day outside. I feel my kids are happier when they are running around also. Then we come home and have down time and I feel renewed. So, I have a few more months before the capri weather comes, and I am determined to learn how to be a good winter mom. If you have any ideas let me know. For now, I am going to try to take the kids swimming at the YMCA more and even just meet other moms at the Y to let the kids kick around a soccer ball.





I found 2 pictures of when I look truly happy, and of course, they aren't inside my house!! (Sorry that they both happen to be in a bathing suit, but being pregnant, I am remembering a better time!)


So, that is all for now. I am going to keep trying to find my strengths and use them. I do want to find joy in being a mother. I feel so lucky to be at home with my kids and to have a supportive husband.

Happy Birthday, Dallin!

I can't believe he is 5! I keep saying that over and over. I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday, and yet he has grown up so much that I guess I can believe it!

Here is my little munchkin a day or two old. After 16 hours of labor , the doctor was wheeling me into the OR for a C-section and I remember him saying, "He must be a big baby, and that is why we are having a hard time getting him out." As they pulled out my scrawny, 6 lb 1 oz, 19 1/2 inch baby, we were all surprised! I thought he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Jeff just kept saying, "He's perfect."

It has been a great 5 years. I feel so blessed to have Dallin as my son. Here are 5 things that I love about him.

1. He is the sweetest, gentlest little boy you will ever meet. (He is just like his dad.) He is a great, loyal friend and never wants to hurt anyone's feelings.
2. He loves books as much as I do and has since he was an infant.
3. He is a great big brother. He loves to make Emily laugh or giggle. When he hears her wake up from a nap, he asks if he can go get her.

4. He has an incredible memory. This can be good or bad. I hope he will remember the good things, and not so much the bad things!
5. He will still cuddle with me. He tells me he loves me often.

I love you, Dallin! There is so much more I can say. We had a fun day today. We started off with his favorite breakfast, oven pancakes and juice. Then he went to preschool where I brought cupcakes and everyone made a big deal out of his birthday. Then we went to the Burger King with the big playland and met up with his buddies. The rest of the afternoon was his favorite.

I let him play the Cars video game as long as he wanted. (This also gave me a nap! Usually I limit him.)

He loved all the Cars things that my mom bought for him: new sheets, a duffel bag, a new shirt, and wipe on/wipe off activity boards. Thanks Grandma Nise! He also loved the Scooby Doo movies from Grandma Di and the motorcycle from Aunt Crystal. What a loved little boy.

Our Weekend Getaway (aka How I traumatized my two year old)

Due to some crazy babysitting swaps, Jeff and I were able to get away for 2 nights in a beach condo for free! I was so excited and so ready for it. We figured this is probably our last chance while I don't feel too huge! Anyway, we had a wonderful time. We didn't have anything planned, which is rare and wonderful for me. The condo we stayed at was in a wooded area and was beautiful. It had snowed at the beach for the first time in about 7 years. Being from CA, I couldn't quite get over the snow at the beach- it was cool! We went down to Newport, and stopped to see a lighthouse and some tide pools. We weren't on a time schedule and just enjoyed being together. Here are some pics of us.





Now, here is the flip side. One of the reasons I haven't posted is because I haven't had a good night's sleep since the trip. Emily had just gotten rid of the binky and decided she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed all at the same night. Now, she just crawls out of bed screaming at all hours of the night. Ugh!! It has been awful. Please give me any suggestions. Last night, she didn't actually fall asleep until 11pm and then woke up screaming at 6am, waking up Dallin too. I was so mad I put her in her crib and she cried herself back to sleep. A cute story for her, Jeff and I took the kids swimming at the YMCA. There is a slide there that the kids have always loved. Dallin goes down it by himself now, which is great. Unfortunately, it means Emily wants to go by herself too. Well, Jeff let her try and somehow she came down on her hands and knees, and then did a front flip under the water before he could grab her. The next time I took her on the slide I asked if she wanted to go by herself and she said, "No, go with Mommy!" She is so funny!

On a good note, there was a crazy snow day here and we had a blast. Emily jumped on the sled with whoever was going down. It was really cute. The two pregnant moms built a snowman, pretty funny and we just enjoyed being outside.





I am also trying to learn digital scrapbooking. If you have any tips or suggestions, I am all ears. I will try to update more often this week.

"I am Superman!"

Since I am trying to use this blog to document my children, I thought it was time to write some things down about my Emily.

She is the answer to many, many prayers. I was always pretty sure that it wouldn't be easy for me to have children, but I still wasn't prepared for the emotional roller coaster it would be. Dallin only took a few months of medication. With Emily, when that same medication didn't work, I was really nervous that Dallin might be it for us. Obviously, he wasn't, and we were blessed with our little girl.

She has been a lot of fun, but has definitely kept us on our toes. She is the exact opposite of Dallin in almost every way. He is very meticulous, she loves a mess. He is kind of quiet and shy, and Emily loves to be the center of attention.

This first picture is of Emily in Dallin's superman shirt. She just came downstairs one day with it on and yelled, "I am superman!" It was adorable.

She didn't like to sit down and read books with me like Dallin did, until she was about 18 months. Now all day, I hear, "Read the book, please."

She loves all of the princesses. She knows them each by sight, and I can't wait to take her to Disneyland in March and watch her face light up when she meets them.

She can hold her own. She doesn't let anyone take anything from her without a fight.

She is a lot more girly than me. She loves purses and shoes and started putting her shoes on when she was 18 months. She also loves babies and dolls and is upset if she ever sees a baby without a binky or blanket. She doesn't like to sit still to have her hair done. We are working on this.

She is very sweet and loves to give kisses.

She can sing her ABCs and loves to learn new words. She is very proud of herself when she learns something new. It is hard to understand her sometimes, but she knows what she is trying to say. She loves to sing and sing loud.

She has freakishly amazing fine motor skills. (Which doesn't help me at all because it allows her to open child-proof bottles, and get into things she shouldn't.) She could open and close a zip lock baggie at a year old, and yesterday she peeled her orange all by herself. Crazy girl!

She loves the water like her mom and brother. (Jeff likes the water, but mostly just when he is water skiing!) At Dallin's swim lessons, Emily started stripping her clothes off to jump in the water. She started crying when she didn't get to go in. Don't worry, I signed her up for swim lessons today!

She is definitely like me, and I hope I can be patient with her. :-) (As I was writing this, she brought her cup into the living room and spilled strawberry milk all over the floor...typical day at my house).
I love her so much and think she is so much fun! She is not afraid to try new things. I think she will be an awesome big sister. I am grateful for Emily.

100 things that make me who I am...

In my last post, I introduced you to my wonderful hubby. This time, I thought I would let you get to know me a little more. I have LOVED reading these lists by other bloggers that I stalk. Here of some of theirs: Jill, Laurie, and Melanie. One of my goals this year is to truly find myself and focus on my own gifts and talents. This list is a good start to see how much I know about myself.

1. I am a mom to 2 awesome kids, a boy and a girl, and I have a little boy on the way.
2. My little boy is exactly like his father. He has been a joy to raise.
3. My little girl is exactly like me, and has not been as easy to raise. It is terrifying to see so much of me in her, also a little humbling. She is fun, though! :-)
4. I am a runner. It took me a long time to put myself in this category, because I am not super fast. But, now that I am pregnant and can't run, I watch runners in the rain with pure envy, and I know I am a runner.

5. I have run 3 marathons.
6. I would love to qualify for the Boston Marathon one day.
7. I have a long way to go to make that goal. I hate admitting that, and I am scared I won't make this goal.
8. I LOVE people. I love getting to know any and everyone. I think everyone has something great to offer the world and I want to find it in each person.
9. I also want to find what I have to offer.
10. I played trumpet for 7 years.
11. I would love to learn to play piano.
12. I LOVE to sing, but I am horrible. I signed up for beginning vocal lessons at BYU 3 times, and dropped out of the class 3 times. I am afraid to hear that I am one of those few people who will never learn to sing.
13. I graduated from BYU in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry.
14. I enjoy learning about web design and have my family site that I maintain to show updates of my kids.
15. I have 3 sisters whom I love dearly. We are all 2 years or less apart in age.
16. I have a little brother 9 years younger than my youngest sister. He completes our family perfectly.
17. I am the middle child, and fit the description in more ways than I like to admit.
18. I love all sports, but unfortunately am mediocre at all of them. :-)
19. I played softball, basketball, and cross country in high school, but never lettered.
20. I did letter in Academics.
21. I graduated a sememster early from high school. I still am not sure why.
22. I love playing all games- card games, board games, you name it, and I am more competitive than I like to admit.
23. I tried scrapbooking and had to give myself permission to quit. It is okay that I am not good at it. At least I try to convince myself of that.
24. I am very left brained. I love science and math, and I don't have an ounce of creativity in me. I am trying to find that part of me. Any ideas?
25. I love listening to others.
26. I love children and always have a million kids at my house. I hope it is always this way.
27. I teach a Kids Gym class at the Y. I love when kids come to me at the park and say, "Hi Teacher Kelly." I love watching children learn.
28. I think I am a great mom, but a terrible housekeeper.
29. I am working hard to get better at cleaning.
30. I have no depth perception. I can never tell how far away from a curb I am, and I still can't parallel park.
31. Because of my lack of depth perception and living in the mountains, I was terrified to get my license.
32. I rolled my car 3 months after getting my license. Luckily no one was hurt.
33. I LOVE being outdoors. I am a better summer mom than winter mom. :-)
34. I love anything in the water. Waterskiing, wakeboarding, swimming, just being on a boat.


35. Like Laurie said, I think Lake Powell is a little peace of heaven.

36. I love owning a boat and I hope we can find more friends with the same passion.
37. I am scared of what others think of me.
38. I am shy in a big group if I don't know many people.
39. I work with the Young Women at church and I love it.
40. I am still very close to my leaders from when I was a youth, and I hope to have the same relationship with my girls when they are moms.
41. I was married 8 years ago in the San Diego temple.
42. I thought I would graduate before I got married, but I was wrong.
43. I loved finishing my degree with my hubby.
44. I loved taking classes with him, but I secretly wanted to do better.
45. Amazingly enough, I did do better. :-)
46. I wish I was more artistic. I envy creative minds.
47. I am not a fancy restaurant girl. I never know what to order. So, I stick with Olive Garden and Red Robin. :-)
48. I was junior prom princess. But 2 weeks later I was not reelected to be secretary of my senior class. I would have felt more honor to be secretary.
49. I didn't kiss a boy until I was 16.
50. Then I kissed too many. :-)
51. My best summer was the summer at the Glenwood in Provo. We had a blast!
52. I am afraid of failure.
52. Sometimes this means I give up before I can fail. I am trying to change this.
53. I love learning new things.
54. I miss school.
55. I am very loud, sometimes too loud.
56. I love to laugh.
57. I love to make people laugh.
58. I grew up in the LDS church.
59. I truly gained my testimony in college.
60. I wish I had understood the power of the scriptures when I was a teenager. I try to teach my Young Women to rely on the scriptures now.
61. I am a very tolerant person, and I owe this to my parents. I never once heard a racial slur or joke come out of their mouth. I don't like racial jokes because of this. I don't like generalizations about groups of people and try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
62. On the other hand, Jeff called me a "Utah racist" when we first met. I had heard interesting things about "Utah Mormons" and thought I would never marry someone from Utah.
63. I am glad to say these things were proved wrong by almost every "Utah Mormon" I met, including my husband. :-)
64. I love to dance! (But I don't really have rhythm!)
65. My wedding reception was a rockin' dance and the funnest night of my life!
66. I say things without thinking.
67. I am disorganized, but learning as much as I can.
68. I have ADD. (This is a hard one for me to put out there, but it is who I am.)
69. I wish I would have know this when I was younger. It would have helped me understand myself better.
70. I love snow skiing. I forgot how much I loved it until Jeff surprised me and took me for my birthday and it was one of the most magical days.

71. I love watching football. Especially with Jeff. We have had fun times at pro football games.
72. I am kind of a tomboy, but wish I was more girly.
73. Decorating my home does not come easy for me, but I am learning.
74. I hate to shave. (But I love the feel of newly shaved legs on clean sheets. I stole this from Melanie.)
75. I love food!
76. Unfortunately, this means I struggle with my weight.
77. Luckily, I discovered my love of running, and this helps balance my love of food.
78. I have always been self conscious of my "curvy" figure.
79. I secretly envy tiny girls.
80. I had a hard time getting pregnant with my first 2 kids and thought that it was somehow my fault.
81. Then I had this "surprise", no-fertility-help pregnancy, and I know it has nothing to do with me. :-)
82. I LOVE sleeping, but have a hard time falling asleep. When I am not pregnant, I average 6 hours a sleep at night. My brain never shuts off. See #68
83. My mind is always racing with a thousand thoughts. See #68
84. I lose my keys, credit card, cell phone, camera, etc more times than I would like to admit. See #68
85. I love just talking with people.
86. I love movies, but have a hard time focusing on them, so I don't watch many.
87. I have close relationships with many people, and treasure all of them. I feel especially close to those I run with, because of the kidless time that we have together.
88. I fear that I spread myself to thin, but would not give up any of these friendships.
89. I love being a mom, but fear that I am not doing a good enough job.
90. I love being a wife, but fear that I am not doing a good enough job.
91. I think I understand the plan of salvation, but I still fear death.
92. I am long winded.
93. I went to many inner-city elementary schools and am stronger because of it.
94. I love going places with my family.
95. I love the sound of my kids giggling.
96. I am not a good journal writer because I get impatient retelling the story I just lived!
97. I always thinking about the next thing, I want to change this and really enjoy the moment. Each moment.
98. I like blogging because it is quick and easy. (usually, not this one!) I just wish I had more interesting things to say.
99. I love reading books, but can't sit still long enough to read sometimes.
100. I am tired of the elliptical machine and can't wait until I can run again.


Whew! It is crazy to sit and try to see how much I know about myself. I would love to hear if any of you have anything in common with me. I also love reading these lists, so if you haven't done one, please do and then let me know!

31 Reasons I am lucky to be married to Jeff...

...I love these posts where I learn a lot about someone quickly. So, here is your introduction to my sweet hubby and what I love about him.


1. He is very tender hearted. He never wants to hurt others' feelings.
2. On the other hand, he is very quick witted and I wouldn't want to be at the other end of his jab. He is hillarious!
3. He is patient with my weaknesses.
4. He is an amazing father. I never really saw him with kids before he were married, and he is just phenomenal with our children.
5. He bought me a boat. :-) One of our first conversations was about water skiing, and we both knew this would be important to us. We always joked, "Boat before couch." Not quite, but it was, "Boat before new floors." Which brings me to number 6...
6. We just found out the Pergo floors go on sale in Feb. (woo hoo), so he has agreed to put in new floors before Baby #3 comes. No more carpet in the dining area. :-)
7. He is the calm to my chaos.
8. He agrees to go to social events that don't particularly interest him because he knows it makes me happy.
9. He supports any and all of my crazy goals.
10. When I didn't know if I could run a marathon, he bought me my mp3 player and told me he knew I could do it.
11. He promised my mom I would graduate from college, and I did!
12. He works hard in his profession.
13. He helps around the house.
14. He wants me to stay at home with the kids.
15. He believes in me.
16. He loves sports and playing sports with me. We have enjoyed many pro sports games together, one of his favorite things to do. Go Rams! Go Red Sox! ( I hope to take him to a Red Sox game in Boston someday.)
17. He is active in the church.
18. He goes to the temple with me.
19. He treats me with respect.
20. He trusts me with money and doesn't question my spending.
21. He takes me to visit my family often and doesn't complain about it.
22. My parents LOVE him! (I think sometimes even more than me, ha ha!)
23. His family is awesome! I can honestly say that I have never had any "in law" issues. I am extremely blessed with wonderful in laws that have always treated me like family.
24. He was willing to go to Disneyland, even though he had no interest in it, and then agreed it really was the "happiest place on earth."
25. He doesn't mind that a fancy dinner is Outback or Red Robin. :-)
26. He takes me to concerts that he isn't so much interested in- for example, Kelly Clarkson and So You Think You Can Dance? He lets me still be a 15 year old girl!
27. He supports me in my Young Women's calling in church, which takes a lot of time sometimes.
28. He bought me my Garmin!
29. He has beautiful eyes, the softest skin, the best pockets (ask his high school), great soccer legs, awesome smile. (I had to throw these all into one so I could say more about him.)
30. He makes me happier than I could ever imagine.
31. He loves me for me.

Happy Birthday, sweetheart. I truly am blessed. For everyone else, I am sure this was too sappy, but it was fun!

Happy New Years 2007!

What an original title! Oh well, the new year is exactly the reason I am blogging. I love the beginning of a new year. It is a great time to look at how far you've come, and what you would like to be doing differently. It has been a great year for our family. Last year was rough when we found out my dad had brain cancer. It has been amazing to watch his recovery and feel his strength. It is hard to complain about your own "little" issues when he doesn't issue one word of complaint. I feel very lucky to say that he is off of chemo and so far the tumor is not growing. What a wonderful blessing. He was able to retire in August, and I am really happy that he is just able to spend his time however he would like. I love you, Dad!

Jeff is enjoying the work he is doing at the moment and that makes him a lot happier. Unfortunately he had a few accidents this year and both his ankles have been injured. He was able to go skiing on Wednesday and he is starting indoor soccer again. I hope he will be back to his active self shortly because I know that is so important to him.

I have been very blessed this year. I love being at home with my kids and watching them grow and learn. It is not always easy and my main goal for this year is to just try to enjoy each moment. I feel in some ways I am always living for the future and I think it keeps me from appreciating the present. I am excited for this new perspective and hope I can remember it when I am up all night with a baby again. :-)

I am still in shock that I am going to have a third child. I watched my friend's 4 month old today, and it was awesome to watch Dallin and Emily try to entertain him. I learned that I will not be able to leave Emily alone for even a second as I found Baby Harry with a big book on his tummy. Very sweet! I can honestly say I am looking forward to having another child. I finally feel that I will be able to do a good job. I am not as scared and I really feel at peace when I think about it. I hope Heavenly Father knows how appreciative I am of this amazing opportunity.

Dallin and Emily have grown so much this year, especially in their relationship with each other. We didn't want to put them to bed tonight because they were laughing and chasing each other and just having so much fun. They each are so different and I love learning about each of them. Dallin is a miniature replica of Jeff, and I see so much of me in Emily that it scares me. I hope I am doing a good job with them. I just hope they know how much I love them.

I really want to try and use this blog more for journaling. So, I guess I better recap Christmas. :-) On Christmas Eve, we had dinner with our good friends, our next door neighbors, and my kids participated in their first nativity. Dallin was a wise man and it was really sweet.

Right before dinner, Emily shoved enough toilet paper in the toilet to flood our kitchen. It was a great start to the night. :-) You had to just laugh. We had a great dinner and a wonderful night. When we got home we let Dallin open 2 presents- his Christmas Eve "Cars" pj's and somehow he knew which present was the "Pteredactyl Track." So, it ended up being a later night than we hoped as Jeff had to put it together and of course, play with it! I don't know who had more fun, Jeff or Dallin! We forgot to make cookies for Santa-oops!

On Christmas morning, Dallin woke up first. He found his scooter and he was pretty happy. I let him open his stocking and then we waited for Emily to wake up. Then we woke up Jeff. :-) It was really cute to watch the kids get so excited to wake Jeff up. Emily loved her princess scooter also.

We opened all the gifts and then drove 4 hours to Sunriver. Our friends were staying in a house there and invited us to join them. I was a little sad to be away from family, so we decided to take advantage of this. It was such a relaxing time! I just lounged in sweats and enjoyed hanging out with everyone.

We took the kids to the ski resort on Tuesday. They have a tubing run that Dallin and Jeff really enjoyed. Emily was too little so we just played in the snow. Dallin loved tubing with Jeff. I took him down twice and the second time I knocked him off his tube. I left the tubing to Jeff after that!

On Wednesday, Amy and I packed up the house and sent Jeff skiing with her teenage son. Then we took the kids to the park. They played in the snow for 2 hours. They loved sliding and jumping into the snow. It was a blast! I was glad we let them play for that long because the car ride took an hour and a half longer than it should have. They handled it very well.

We had a "pretend" New Years Eve party on Saturday night that was a lot of fun. We brought our dance pad and Dance, Dance Revolution. There were about 14 couples and 30 kids! It was a little crazy, but we all had a good time. Our actual New Years Eve was pretty low key because our friends got sick and canceled plans. So, we just watched the ball drop. :-( Oh well, lots of great memories this holiday season. Now, we are just trying to get through getting rid of the binky. After spending 5 hours in a car with an almost 4 year old who is still attached to his binky and cried every time it dropped, I told Jeff we better get rid of Emily's well before this baby comes. She is barely 2 years old, but is pretty willful! The first 2 nights she screamed and screamed, but tonight she went right down. So, we are crossing our fingers. Wish us luck!

Whew! I guess that was kind of a random post. :-) I am ready for my best year yet. :-) I want to have a good attitude and be grateful for all of my blessings. I want to use this blog to keep track of how I am doing. Thanks for all of you who comment. I love getting to know you through blogs. I have learned a lot by reading yours.