Baby Shower

It's been pretty busy around here lately. I've been working lots and Ben's been finishing off his final round of schooling...which means I've been helping him study. I know more about heating and cooling a house than I think I want to. But it's great for Ben to finally be done and qualified....although he's been working like he is qualified for over a year already. It will be nice to have it all official now. I have one more week of work left which is making me I think I'm crazy! Originally June 22nd was going to be my last day...but since my job's so cushy I thought I'd bump my end date back to June 29th. Big Mistake! Cushy job or not, it's hard to be working when you can't sleep anymore and when every position you sit in is soooo uncomfortable (even with the nice ergonomic chair.) Anyway, I think I can do five more days of work...and if not, I'll just be taking a few sick days. The only reason I have to be there this week really is to pack my office and go to my goodby lunch on Thursday. It'll a bit sad leaving the company - I've been there for three years already and they really treat me well...really really well. I get tons of Holiday time, lots of money to put towards courses and upgrading to further my career and on top of that, we get every other Friday off. Who could ask for more? Oh well, I'm onto better things, right?

Last weekend we went down to Raymond for a maternity photo shoot with Ben's sister (and world class Photographer/scrapbooker) Rebecca . She's really good...like good enough that she just published her own book! Anyway, she's pregnant too so it was kind of funny to see both of us trying to maneuver around to get the perfect shot. I had a quick look at the pictures before they left and they look great! I can not wait to see them after all the editing and finishing she does to them. I think it's a race now...what will come first - the baby or the pictures? I'm hoping the baby...mostly cause I know how busy Rebecca is and I know she's really backlogged right now (a con of being so popular) so it might take a while to get the pictures and I'm not sure if I'm willing to wait that long for the baby.

Anyway, I had a little baby shower out here in Okotoks last night. It was a lot of fun and I got lots of cute little things for our little bambina.It turns out the first Friday of summer is not the best time to have a baby shower, cause a lot of people were out of town....which was a bit sad but we still had fun with the few that were there. Anyway, here are some pics from the evening:

We played a little game where everyone guessed how big my belly was...this was the biggest guess! I must look a lot bigger than I really am.


Here's how big my belly really is...I think Sarah won (43 inches!!!)!

I love this picture partly cause we're all laughing at something...but mostly cause my belly looks huge! I literally have to hold it up now, there is sooooo much weight sitting in that ball of a belly.

Mmmm...there was lots of really good there as well. Those cinnamon buns were to die for. Seriously they were soooooo good. I took a few home with me for later. Mmmmm.
Oh and of course I couldn't forget the diaper cake. Isn't that the cutest thing ever?? I love it!


So now we're in the home stretch. My due date is July 17th which means any day now or not for weeks yet. I'm kind of hoping for an early baby...but not too early, maybe something around July 10th....but I'll settle for a late baby too. Either way she'll be here before we know it and our life will never be the same! I'm excited!

Eeeeek!!!!

My Stroller just arrived!! I'm seriously so excited! Here are some pics of how cool this thing is:

So first of all, it has a nice little carseat attachment:

Then you can have the baby facing out:


And finally facing you:


Cool hey? I've seriously been searching for months (well years for the perfect stroller) and I found my dream stroller here:

http://www.strollermama.com/bugaboo-frogstroller.htm

But the Bugaboo's were totally out of my price range. So, then I fell in love with this one

http://www.strollermama.com/rock-star-baby-stroller.htm

...but it was a bit pricey too (at least for the stroller all by itself...I am a cheapskate you know). So finally I found this little number:

http://www.kolcraft.com/product.aspx?id=106&&shopby=category

Which I ended up buying. It had all the features I wanted (i.e. something for the baby when it's brand new - like the carseat adapter or a bassinet, the reversible seat, and finally big durable wheels) plus it seriously was soooo cheap. So, maybe it won't be as good of quality, but for the price I paid, it was worth it!! Can you tell I'm happy? Now all I need is a little baby to test it out on...any volunteers??

p.s. I owe Emily and Gary a big thankyou for bringing it up to Canada for me...and then my parents for picking it from them and dropping it off right at my door step. Talk about service!

Another two weeks down...plenty more to go

So, it's now turning into a waiting game...and I was really hoping it wouldn't happen so soon. I'm only 33 weeks which means I've got a loooong ways to go still, so why am I hoping things come sooner than later? Probably because I'm huge! My belly is giant and it seriously sticks straight out. I look exactly like the ladies I used to make fun of, you know, the ones who look like they ate a giant basketball. It's fun to be so obviously pregnant...but it's so uncomfortable. I can't roll over in bed at all - I used to be able to after some straining and moaning, but now I actually have to get out of bed (which is a process in itself) and then climb back in, but this time facing the other direction. No wonder I'm so tired. Anyway, enough complaining...I'm actually really enjoying this pregnancy and I'm looking forward to the prize at the end. I'm also very very very grateful for what I have and for how blessed I am to be having a healthy little baby, there isn't more that I could ask for. So, here's a pic of Ben and I all dressed up for church...the tent of a dress somehow manages to hide the enormity of my belly.Anyway, the Waterton trip turned out to be pretty fun...although it was sooooo tiring! I've totally turned into a wimp. We spent a few hours on Sunday night taking pictures of eachother - you know, we're soooo photogenic we figured we might as well not waste our beauty. I'll just warn you, we were tired and silly...which should explain why we look so HOT!
And here's what the boys did while the girls were playing 'model'. I'm sure Ben's sad he didn't come!

And here's why I'm such a wimp:
Seriously, we walked all day on Monday. We went for a walk around the town site, then for a walk by Red Rock Canyon and then a walk to Blakiston falls and back. I think it was easy stuff for everyone else, but for me it was like I'd just run a Marathon...seriously, it took me almost a week to recover from our little walks. Anyway, I realize I look like a teletubby in that poncho...but my mom said it looked cute and I believed her - until now! Oh well, it covered up my belly since my coat kept popping open, maybe it's time to invest in a bigger coat...maybe next time.

May looooong weekend

So it's May long - and believe me, it's been a long weekend! I don't know why, but we never plan anything fun for the long weekends, and I wish we did this time cause it's coming close to being our last long weekend before the baby comes and it would be nice to do something fun. I have every other Friday off from work, so the weekend started pretty early for me. I slept in until 8AM - lame I know, then I got up and ate some food, watched Regis and Kelly, watched as much of the View as I could handle and then played on the computer for hours. I have an entire house to clean and some serious nesting to get done - but all I could do was play on the computer. Then when Ben got home we went to H&M - love it!! And then stopped by Nate and Tans to pick up one of the many things I'd forgotten at their house - and watched 'Freedom Writers'. So that's pretty much all the relaxing I can handle at one time and I NEEDED to do something fun today. Instead of fun, I just hung around the house some more. Ben decided to work on the garage pad this weekend...which means we won't have the most ghetto backyard on the street anymore. It's funny how you worry about those things...it seems like I only do nice stuff to my house just so I don't look like the white trash family on the block. Anyway, Ben's friend James came over and helped. They worked all day long and now the pad is ready to get poured...hopefully next weekend. We're hoping for another overcast day - perfect weather for a garage pad.While they were working on the pad, I did tons of Laundry, folded and put away all the baby clothes, put all the 1-2 year clothes into storage and put all the clothes I have right now into my spreadsheet. Seriously, you know you're bored when you make a spreadsheet of all the baby clothes you have. I have lots of toddler stuff though cause 2 of Becc's friends keep giving me bags and bags of clothes. So, when she hits the 12 month size she'll be set for clothes for at least a year. Now I just have to work on getting her outfitted for the first year. Then, cause I got really bored, I went out and broke up all the dirt in the flower bed...again. It didn't need to be done, but I had nothing else to do. I actually have lots that I want to do, but I need Ben to clear out the Queen bed from the baby's room so I can start getting things sorted out. But, Ben tells me that he needs to build the garage first, so he can move all the crap out of the basement and make room for the bed down there. I'm pretty excited for all his tools and stuff to leave the house. I can't wait to have my house back! Here's an idea of the things that are sitting around the house everyday. This just happens to be my back entry - the rest of the house doesn't look much better:Supposedly, these will all be in the garage once it's built! I'm pumped!! Do any of you other wives have this problem? Do your husbands have tools (endless amounts of tools) that sit in your living rooms, and your bedrooms, and your entryways, and your kitchens?? Or is it just me?

Anyway, Ben's off fishing right now so I figure I might as well play on the computer some more. Here's my 32 week pic...don't look at my face. Somehow in my boring weekend I never felt the desire to put makeup on. I should have thought of that cause it would have wasted a few minutes of my day - and maybe it wouldn't have been as boring. Oh well.Anyway, the weekend looks like it may turn out a bit better than I thought...supposedly I'm going down to Waterton tomorrow with my family - while Ben goes fishing again. It'll be fun, but I'm mostly looking forward to getting a waffle cone. Mmmmm.....ice cream. Anyway, I'll let you know if the weekend turns out better than expected.

Mother's day

So, I've been thinking a lot these last few days about Mother's Day. I've been thinking about all the wonderful moms out there, all the soon to be moms and especially all those who desperately want to be moms. I've thought a lot about the Moms in my family and how special all of them are (I only have one mom, but there are lots of mothers that surround me). I've also been thinking about how hard this day was for me last year. I was just coming out of the fog I felt for months after losing the twins and I was just starting to realize how painful life really can get. I remember missing them so much that day and just knowing that things would never be ok. Little did I know, things would be ok again, just different - but still ok. I still miss them and still wish things had turned out differently, but my life is still great! In particular - I'm expecting another little baby and I couldn't be happier. This Mother's day, I'm celebrating the upcoming birth of this new baby into our family; I'm celebrating my mom and how awesome she's been to me, I'm celebrating all the other moms in my family (Sister and sister inlaws, Mother in law, Grandmas etc.) and yet my heart still aches for all those who are hurting on a day like this. It's strange how the day can be so happy and yet so hard for so many. It's a tough Holiday...but I'm happy to be celebrating this year!

Anyway, this post is dedicated to my mom. She is seriously an awesome mom! She was the type who was willing to stay up all night long talking about anything and everything - and she was never one to cast judgement. She is kind, and loving and amazing! She loves all her children like you wouldn't believe, and she loves her grandchildren even more. She is seriously the best grandma and I can't wait for her to meet our little baby girl! So, thanks mom for being so awesome! I love you soooo much and just hope that I can be as good of as a mom as you are!

Anyway, here are some pics from our special trip to Montreal this last fall. We had a blast and will never forget the time the two of us got to spend together...

I love you!

Not much new here...

But I guess it's time for an update. I haven't really been up to anything exciting lately so I have nothing cool to report. I'm now 29 weeks along and I can sure feel it...the heartburn is killing me and the weight gain is awful. Somehow, even though I'm not totally porking on everything, I still have gained 30 pounds so far! So looks like I'll one chubby girl at the end. My cheeks (both sets) are definitely a lot bigger and rounder - and who knew I could have such flabby arms!!! Anyway, it's all fun, especially when I finally get my prize in the end. This baby has been waiting a loooong time to come and I couldn't be happier to finally be blessed a little baby of my own to love.

So, in preperation for the baby, Ben and I decided it was time to buy a new car. Some of you might remember that ours got stolen last August. Well we just never saw the need to replace it and have been doing just fine with the truck. But as I get bigger and more awkward, getting in and out of that thing is more and more difficult - and I think it won't be much better when I'm trying to load a baby in and out of it. Why Ben needed to put a lift on it is beyond me. Anyway, we spent the last two weeks looking and finally found a beautiful car that's perfect for us (it's not new or anything ...but it's perfect!). It looks pretty much exactly like this but it's red:
Besides that we're just sitting here waiting for the baby to come...I know it's at least 11 weeks away so I shouldn't get too excited yet. But we're still trying to get things together and organized but hopefully things fall into place soon. We've ordered the carseat and it's on it's way (thank you mom and dad); we ordered the stroller and it's in Idaho patiently waiting for a ride up here (hopefully at the end of May if things work out the way I have them planned - that is if Emily's baby comes as planned and her DH Gary remembers to bring it up as planned); we have the crib and everything set up and waiting (well except the bedding); and I'm just trying to finish collecting all the clothes that will one day be puked and poo'd on. I can hardly wait.

Anyway, for all you that care, here is a picture of me at 28 weeks. I look really happy hey? I think it's cause the sun was in my eyes...either that or I'm trying to do the whole 'pouty/sultry look' which we know I am not capable of. Either way, you get to see my growing tummy!

Conference

So, as I mentioned in my other post, we went down to Salt Lake for conference last weekend and although we didn't actually go to conference, we still had lots of fun (and we actually watched it on tv)! Anyway, here are some pics from the trip:

Here's Ben and I just outside of Temple square. Tan and I had taken the boys for a walk to see the temple and we just happened to see the 'men' up there too. So we hung out with them for a few minutes before they had to head off to Priesthood.

Now not all of us were conference slackers...my parents did go to the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions of conference. So, when we met up with the 'men' (and I mean men in quotes because sometimes we're not sure whether they're boys or men) we were also waiting for my parents to come out of their Saturday afternoon session. So, here we are waiting...interesting hey??
So, on Sunday afternoon (after my parents got back from conference - where they had amazing amazing seats in the very front) we went for a walk around the block by our Hotel. Someone should have warned us about the size of the blocks in Salt Lake! They look normal when you are driving the streets, but somehow a three block walk turned into an hour long torture session. Anyway, here's me strutting my stuff...I thought I was Hot stuff (that is until I sneezed...aaand I don't think I need to explain what I'm talking about)
Then on Monday Mom, Dad, Tan, Ben and I went to the "Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration" film which was a total tear jerker and so awesome! After we met up with the boys and 'men' and went on a tour of temple square. Here's a pic of Tan and Mom! They look great hey?

Here's a pic from the top of the conference center. It's such a neat little (well enormous) place up there. You can see everyone sitting and listening to the tour guuide. We were getting pretty worn out by this time and were definitely looking forward to Dinner that night. Mmmmm food.

And here's a pic of Ben and I taking a rest on the roof of the Conference Center, we were seriously sooooo tired!! Between the tour of Temple Square and the tour of the Conference Center, we took a little detour and spent hours down at the Gateway for some serious shopping.
And finally - A pic of the Salt Lake City Temple! Just gorgeous!! We went to a session on Tuesday and it was so amazing! It was actually my first time in that temple and I loved every second of it! Just awesome!

Anyway, that was basically our entire trip (minus all the hours of shopping and hanging out in the hotel...but I have no pictures of that and it wouldn't be interesting anyway). I had lots and lots of fun, and I hope to go back again soon...maybe after the babies born and I'm skinny again and can shop for normal things. Hopefully!

Oh - I couldn't resist...here's a cute one of Tan and the boys in their Sunglasses! Soooo cute!!

2nd Post in one day!!

What's wrong with me? I can not believe I'm posting twice in one day. Anyway, I was just looking through some pictures and decided to compare my 12 week belly shot with my 25 week shot to see the difference. In just 13 short weeks I have exploded! And the scary thing is, I have 15 more to go...what does that mean for me???? I guess I shall wait and see!

Big Tummy, a Wedding and Utah

So, here is my 25 week shot…seriously, where do I go from here??


I wish my body could get it straight and realize that I don’t need to be the size of an oil tanker by the end of this pregnancy. Everything’s going well and the baby’s kicking a lot!! I mean, she does not stop kicking me ever…which is great and all, but it means I never get any work done. I am so in awe over the whole kicking thing that I just sit and stare at my moving tummy all day long. Ben’s loving it too, sometimes if he’s lucky he gets little love taps from that baby…and sometimes they’re more like “get out of my way” karate kicks, but he loves them all. So we’re happy and enjoying this pregnancy and just looking forward to finally bringing a baby home from the hospital.

So as some of you may have figured out, Jeff and Yuka got married at the beginning of March…and sadly I have no pictures of my own. We hired Ben’s ultra-talented sister to take the pictures that day which meant I took none of my own. And when I say we hired Ben’s sister, I don’t mean that she’s just his sister that’s interested in photography and we decided to give her a shot. No. She is a hugely successful photographer and scrapbooker (i.e. she has her own book coming out in a few months, and is booked solid for photo sessions) so we were lucky to snag her for that weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing the finished products and we know they will be beautiful!

So, Ben and I and some other people from our fam just got back from Utah (Mom, Dad, Nate, Tan, the kids and Josh). We went down for "conference" but really only my parents went to conference, the rest of us just shopped and ate the entire time. When I say we ate the whole time, I mean it. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel which boasts a 'made to order' breakfast each morning. So most of us started the day out with some pancakes, French toast, eggs, bacon, fruit and so on. I'm not kidding, that was what I ate for breakfast each day. Then of course for lunch we had to go places that we don't have up here - like Cafe Rio, Carls Junior and so on. And you can't forget all the huge dinners we ate every where we went - which tied in nicely with the midnight run to Sonic for a slush and then a creamie to top it off. mmmmm creamies. The highlight of the trip would definitely have to be the Danish breakfast we had at one of Tans old companions homes. They have these little Danish pancakes that are seriously soooo delicious! Here's a link so you can see what I'm talking about (http://www.cooking.com/recipes/static/recipe5742.htm) seriously it does not get better than that! Now don't you worry, I didn't just eat the whole time - I did spend serious time out shopping. We went everywhere and raked in some serious loot. I'd have to say, the Park City outlets were a lot of fun, and I definitely cashed in on all the baby stuff there. We just don't have cheap stuff like that up here! Anyway, we had tons and tons of fun on the trip and now just need a few days to recoup from all the food we ate, all the laughing we did and the lack of sleep we got. It was a fun trip!

Anyway that's all I really feel like updating right now. But since it's the long weekend, I might just post again soon. You never know, but I'll try.

Blogging makes a difference...

OK so I'm either the best complainer or I have an awesome mom - a little of both I think. Anyway, you may remember from my last post that I complained about spending hours looking for a lemon dessert that doesn't even exist. Well, within a week of posting, my mom (thanks to her pack-ratish ways) was able to give me her last box of what I call "Heaven in a box". Thank you mom!! So we made it up last night, and let me tell you, it took all my will power to not eat the whole thing in one sitting. It is seriously soooo good! Good enough that Kraft Canada will be getting a call from me asking for more!!

Anyway, besides that, not much has been going on. Well with the exception of our 4 year wedding anniversary, a bridal shower for my soon to be sister in law and a BIG ultrasound!

So, 4 years ago Ben and I got married and it's been great ever since! I'm still sometimes surprised that I had enough sense when I was 19 to marry such an awesome guy...must have had some inspiration there. Anyway all I can say is that Marriage is great! Anyway, for those of you who actually came to my wedding you may remember that the highlight of the night was the chocolate fountain. I know, it stole my glory. Anyway, it was very awesome. So, to celebrate 4 happy years together, Ben bought us a chocolate fountain and we feasted on goodies all night. I would have taken pictures of that, but really, when you're eating chocolate, who has time for pictures? Not me. Oh well, the day before our anniversary was Valentines day and Ben was nice enough to buy my some gorgeous roses. Those I did take pictures of. Pretty hey?
Last Saturday we had a little shower for Yuka. It was loads of fun even though not very many people showed up. I guess a shower on a long weekend isn't the best idea. Anyway, we played fun games and we all got to know her a bit better. Can I just say - we are all so excited to have her in our family. She is seriously the kindest/sweetest person...and anyone who can put up with Jeff gets an A in my books. Anyway, we're looking forward to the wedding next week! It's going to be lots and lots of fun!! p.s. that's Yuka in the front with the pink balloon.
Oh and finally...last week we had our 18/19 week ultrasound and everything looks perfect! It is seriously so nice to have a normal ultrasound. I've spent way too many hours in doctors offices as the "interesting" or "weirdest" or "most high risk" case. It was nice to have someone say "everything looks normal". That is a phrase I will never take for granted. Anyway, looks like we're having a GIRL!! So far we're three for three. Anyway, I couldn't be happier and although I know that Ben is trying to think of ways to turn her into a boy, he is still very excited. We went shopping last weekend for baby stuff and Ben kept wondering off to find cute little dresses...so he's definitely pumped. Anyway, that's all the excitement for the week.

A long and boring update – read if you have time!

Is it time to update again? Or is it just that I have time to update?

Anyway, not much to say here and no real pictures to post. Oh well, everyone’s life gets boring once in a while. So as promised, this post is dedicated to my wonderful passport experience and a few cravings that this house is dealing with. I’ll start with the cravings:

So, you’d think that because I’m pregnant I should be the one sitting at home telling Ben to go buy me all sorts of strange foods so I can satisfy my bizarre pregnancy desires. Not so true. As it turns out, I’m the one driving all through the city trying to find food for Ben! About a week ago he really wanted this lemon no bake desert Jell-o makes (or used to make – we have now learned). So, since I’m the lucky one that works in the city, I’m the lucky one that gets to track this desert down for him. On the way home from work one day last week I decided to forgo my regular vegging on the couch doing nothing time and thought I’d spent a few hours searching through every single grocery store (or anything that resembled a grocery store) in the South end trying to track this stupid desert down. No luck! So I came home to Okotoks and hit all three grocery stores and still no luck. This desert was no where to be found. So, not only did I not get to ‘veg’ I also came home empty handed. My poor poor husband. So after a few minutes of vegging and listening to him whimper about our defeat I decided to shut him up and make up for my failed attempt by making something that resembles the lemon desert – LEMON FLUFF. Bens all time favourite desert! At this point I don’t care whether it satisfied the craving or not, all that I care about is that I haven’t had any good cravings yet and I’m jealous! Oh well. So…he’s had a few other cravings for things like Dairy Queen Dilly bars, Co-op Colby Cheese, cookies and so on – all of which I had to go looking for. Sound backwards? Anyway, I’m just waiting for the day when I can send him on a three hour trip looking for some weird food I’m craving – I will get him back and it will be sweet.

So onto Passports! We’re going on a little trip in a few months and as it turns out, we’re going to need our passports. No biggie. The website says it takes 10 days so we have plenty of time! Not so. After listening to the news – We’ve learned that this 10 day turnaround time is a thing of the past – the distant past. Now that every single person in Canada (all 30 million of us) need passports, we’ve got to W-A-I-T!!! Imagine that, the Canadian government is making me wait for something…strange and unknown territory for us. Anyway, we figured that if we want to make it on our trip by the end of March we’d have to get our passports today. So, yesterday we went to the passport office and waited. And believe me, we waited. After 2 ½ hours outside (in -10C, snowy and windy weather) we finally made it into the passport office…only to wait another half hour. It all turned out ok in the end and we got our form submitted and have been promised our passport within the week before we fly out. It’s cutting it close, but I live in Canada so I’m used to waiting. Lets just hope the government follows through on their promise.

Anyway, if you’ve learned anything from this post, its that sometimes pregnancy isn’t what it’s cut out to be. Instead of being waited on by others it seems I’m the one doing the waiting. And waiting is what I did yesterday. So, to end my post all I have to say is: Did you get you passport yet? Maybe you should….but of course, if you’re not going anywhere please avoid the passport office at all costs. It’s a waste of time…and I don’t want any other applications slowing mine down. So, stay away!

p.s. Here’s a picture of our new desk. It’s gorgeous hey? Ok, I lie. It’s messy hey?? Ben fell in love with it at Costco a few weeks ago and has been begging me for it ever since. I caved and he finally bought the desk. We called Ben’s good friend James over to help move the desk in and I have to say, it was probably the funniest thing to watch. These two grown men could hardly carry the desk up the stairs – mind you, it is very very heavy solid wood. But just listening to them cry all the way up the stairs was pure payback for the lemon dessert trip. Payback is fun I tell ya!

Update Update!!

So I figured I'd make it a whole month before I posted again....sorry 'bout that, but that's just the way my life has gone.

So, it's 2007 now, eh? Can I just say I am soooo happy to be done with 2006. Now don't get me wrong, I had a lot of good times last year but mostly it was just a rough year. I now refer to it as "2006 - the year that broke my heart, and somehow put it back together again".

So a quick summary of 2006 would go like this:
Jan 1 - Ben started his own HVAC company - he has been busy ever since
Jan 4 - Becc had Bradley - the frist of 4 grandkids to come that year (we really love him a lot)
Jan 6 - The doctors visit that would change my life forever - it turns out our sweet little girls had died over night - also the first of many nights of tears
Jan 9 - the day we welcomed our first two babes into our family, and then said goodbye - the real start to a lifetime of tears
Feb-May - mostly just a blur of emotions as I tried to get through each day without totally breaking down (oh - Ben and I did celebrate our 3rd Anniversary!)
May 6 - the memorial service for our girls - I was allowed to cry and believe me I did
Jun 8 - Convocation from the Haskayne School of Business (UofC), a major highlight to an otherwise tough year
July-August - more blur, and some holiday fun
August 29th - Alexander the 4th of the grandkids to be born this year - we love him so much!
October 5 - 23rd Birthday
November 3rd - my second BFP ever after months of waiting and trying(translation for those not in on the Lingo -BFP = Big Fat Positive as in a positive pregnancy test); and this where the heart healing started taking the fast track.

So that's the big update! I'm pregnant again, and this time there is just one baby. However, it sure has made it's presence known. I've been so much more sick this time around, and somehow my belly is growing way quicker than it did with two (although I'm not huge yet by any means). My doctor's surprised every time I go in cause I'm way bigger than I should be. In fact he thought it had to either be twins again or I was wrong on my dates. Turns out it's neither, I just have a HUGE uterus! Anyway, I'm due in the middle of July (the 16th to be exact)...but cause I don't want to get my hopes up, I say that I'll likely deliver in August (just my luck to go over in the middle of summer). Anyway, it's a perfectly normal pregnancy and I couldn't be happier. Of course I still miss my girls and I know that pain will never fully leave, but I'm pretty happy and excited for this little baby to come into our family. It will be a nice little addition.

So here's a pic of me at 15 weeks...I was going to post the real Belly Shot, but I'm sure that would get some strange internet lurkers on here or something. So, I'd better play it safe and keep my clothes on!

Christmas '06

So, I think I've started a habit of apologizing at the beginning of each post for my long absences...so here it goes again: I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long, but life really does get busy and sometimes computer time is the last thing on my "to do" list, so I never get around to blogging. Anyway, that's a lame excuse, but I kind of think not many people really read my blog anyways, so no one really cares all that much.

Anyway, we made it through Christmas!! That's all I have to say!

Ok, you want details?? I'll give 'em to ya. We went to Claresholm for a little get together on Saturday (the 23rd) with Bens family and of course I forgot my camera. But really, who wants to see my pictures of the event when Rebecca's there snapping pics of everyone? No one. So I don't feel bad. We had fun, although I think we're in a bit of trouble for not following the "price limit" that no one told us about. I can't be blamed for something I didn't know about. Anyway, sometimes you've got to look forward to Christmas.

So on Sunday, Ben and I went to our own ward which was more than packed. Our chapel was full and the entire gym was crawling with people who couldn't find chairs to sit on. I tought my Valiant 9 class for the first time since being called, and let me tell you, they are very different from the 16/17 year old girls I'm used to teaching. It's an interesting calling and a lot of fun....and I suspect I'll spend a little less time talking about all the cute boys in the ward, which believe me I AM FINE WITH! Then after church we went to Nate and Tans for our Christmas celebration.
It started with food...lots of food:


We ate until our little (and large depending on which of my siblings you are talking to) stomachs couldn't handle anymore.

Then we had a little nativity:
I'm not sure why Ben and I were Mary and Joseph when baby Jesus wasn't even our kid...Oh well. I was Mary and it worked well enough. I don't think Ben was too excited about wearing a towel on his head, but he had no choice.

Then we went caroling to the neighbours and gave out things like Pass along cards and other good missionay tools. We had tons of fun watching Lucy dance like the little Star she is. And then we did a little Readers theatre thing which was also fun. Sorry I have no pics of these events.

We hung out for hours and hours and finally decided it was time for bed. We all got a good nights sleep thanks to the lack of kids old enough to understand the whole Santa/Christmas thing. When we woke up in the morning we opened our stocking and then ate breakfast and then opened our gifts...your basic Christmas. Let me tell you, we got S-P-O-I-L-E-D!!! I get spoiled every year so that was no surprise, but Josh (who usually gets forgotten at Christmas...and his Birthday which is only 3 weeks later) got pimped out! Literally. Among his many presents, he now has this total pimpn' suit and a ton of accesories to go with it. I have a feeling mom and dad are trying to get him married off. Speaking of which, did you know they are now in the singles ward with him? I guess he needed someone there give him a little push, or maybe it's to keep the slimey boys away from Sarah. Really, It could be both.

Ok, I'm totally off topic. Back to Christmas. So we had a fun Christmas day just hanging out, watching movies and playing games. We had an amazing Christmas dinner made by Nate and Tan (congrats on your first very succesful Turkey Dinner!!). It was seriously sooooo good, good enough that I now want to sign up for Tans stress free Christmas class. She had this whole dinner thing under complete control. Now, if you could have only been there to compare it to the Breakfast I was in charge of. I made bagel/cheese/bacon sandwhiches...which had me full on freaking out within half an hour. Tan mad a full Turkey dinner with the entire works and didn't have a single freak out moment. You should have seen her go!

Anyway, Marcus and Alexander got matching PJ's and were soooo cute all day long! Here's one of Ben playing with them...aren't they sweet??

And finally, here's a sure sign that your Husband had a good Christmas!! (also a sure sign your Husband is addicted to his tools...the new saw will stay in the living room until all of his friends have seen it which could be days or weeks or even months....please pray for me.)

Ben got so many tools he can hardly handle it! I htink he's most proud of this new saw...he got a free impact driver with it. Now let me explain Ben and his power tool obsession. He started out with a 14V drill, which wasn't enough, so he got this Rigid Combo Kit; which also wasn't enough so he needed to get this Bosch Saw . So for those of you that don't use tools and need some explanation as to why I think this is crazy, I'll explain. He has a 14V drill, an 18V drill; a 14V impact driver (just like a drill in my eyes) and a 12V impact driver, a reciprocating saw, a circular saw, and now a pimpin' mitre saw. This isn't even touching on the countless number of non power tools he has or even the ones he uses for his business. These are his personal tools. Does anyone really need this many tools?? I've been told many times that a man can never have too many tools, so to that I say:

A woman can never have too many shoes...or jeans...or shirts...or dresses...or diamonds.

With that, all I have left to say is I hope you had a Merry Christmas and hope you have a Happy New Year! I know I will.

It's almost Christmas!!!!

So it's taken us a few days, but Ben and I finally got the tree up and decorated. We have this great system...Ben puts the lights on (all 500 of them) and then I decorate all I want. I don't criticize his lights and he doesn't mock my decorations, well besides the bow on top. We just can't find something we like, so the bow will have to do for now!
We also have this great system where he puts up the outside lights (Ben has a thing for lights) and I watch...from inside that is. Although last night he had me climb the ladder to hold something for him...I was almost in tears b the end (not a fan of heights) so he eventually sent me inside to program the light timer.

Here are the pictures of the outside lights. Can I just say how hard it is to take a picture on the night setting when I'm shivering? That should explain the blurry picture.

Here's one with a flash and not on night setting...I think you get the idea.

So there's a story behind these lights. It all started the day Ben was born...he was born with some strange obsessions, one of them being the need to have everything be perfect. Our lights for example! He would not settle for the regular icicle lights, he needed the LED ones. And let me tell you, LED icicle lights are H-A-R-D to find!!! Last year we spent an entire week searching through every single Walmart trying to find enough lights to finish the house properly. And when I say searching I mean it, I was crawling on the floor looking under shelves, climbing on the shelves stealing lights from others carts and so one (keep in mind I was pregnant with twins at the time, so it was quite the site). Anyway, each Walmart had about one string and we needed EIGHT! So after coming home short handed every day, we finally decided to look online to see what other retailers carried these same lights. Well, to our surprise London Drugs had them too...and even more to our surprise, the were fully stocked!! When we walked in the store we found a million strings of the exact lights we needed within 5 minutes. Note to self...skip Walmart next time and go for London Drugs first, you can always count on them. So, that's the story, but what I think is the funniest part of all, is Ben is still bothered by the lights. Supposedly he thinks one of the strings is a different colour from the rest. Can you tell which one?? I can't, but once in a while I bring it up just to bug him...ahhh the joys of being married to a perfectionist.

huh...

When I was online yesterday, my pic was on the main page of the site, now it's here:

http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/shop/item.ihtml?idx=532

I don't know what happened.

Oh well.

Simply amazing...

Is what this is!

http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/

So Bens sister is a totally amazing artist. She scrapbooks like a pro (well she is a pro) and takes pictures like a pro (which she also a pro at). If you are a faithful reader of my Blog, you would have seen this picture of us posted a while back. Anyway, Rebecca, being the total Pro she is, sent this picture into Simple Scrapbooks and gues what?? They put us on the cover of their Jan/Feb issue!! So Rebecca has her work publisehd all the time, but this is the first time I've been on the cover of a major magazine. Now let me explain how cool this is for me. Simple scrapbooks is sold in stores throughout the world...you can buy them basically anywhere you are. So it is cool. What's also very cool is that I'd always wanted to be on the cover of a magazine, but since I have no realy talents and I'm definitely not built like a model (dang the short genes), I really had now hope. So, now that I'm sort of like Paris Hilton and famous for no reason, you can all say you knew me back when.

Ok, I know it's not as cool for some of my readers...especially the ones who have been in magazines before, but any time I'm compared to Paris Hilton, is a fun day in my books (even if I'm the one making the comparison.

Pure Entertainment

So, now for some more entertainment from my oh so exciting life. I've been pretty busy lately...but I think that's all relative. I'm sure one day I'll look back on these days and either mock myself for thinking life was busy or say a quick gratitude prayer that my life isn't as crazy anymore. I'll let you know when that day comes and what the verdict is. So this last week has been full of family, work events and lots of COLD weather.

So last weekend Ben and I went shopping with Nate for some new Furniture. We have ordered the Couch and Loveseat and once it gets here we will decide on whether we want the chair and ottoman too. All I can say though it that Leather is awesome! I don't have any kids yet, but I do know that when they spit up on the couch all I'll have to do is wipe it off. From what I hear, once you've had leather with kids you'll never go back. I'd have to say I agree, especially after last weekend with Marcus we were glad our truck is all leather. He was really good for a two year olf but the apple juice and cookies mushed into the seat cleaned up very nicely.

So anyway, on Friday Ben and I went to a friends house and we had a big "settlers" game. This is an awesome game!! I'd only played twice before that, but my strategy was getting pretty intense by the last game. And if you know me, I'm an intense gamer. Intense to the point that I'm not allowed to play most of our games cause I just start scrapin' with everyone...needless to say, I'll probably be banned from Settlers very soon.

Then on Sunday we went to Nate and Tans for a big Family dinner after Stake Conference. It was great cause Becc and Jar were actually there. Their church normally starts at 3:30 so they can never come for family dinner. Can you believe it? 3:30 pm???? That bites. Anyway, we had tons of fun just hanging out and chatting. I had mom's camera most the day so I don't have very many pictures. But I do have one of this:

Which Becc, Yuka and myself worked very hard on. Once it was ready we dropped it off to Jeff downstairs and said that we were just waiting on him now, cause we'd already decided we want Yuka to be our sister. So we're hoping and praying he got the not so subtle hint!Here's one of Jeff and Yuka! She's too cute to not want in the family!

Anyway, after mom and dad and Sarah (who has Mono...the poor girl) left; and after Becc and Jared and the kids left we pulled out this game:

And we played and played until the game ran out of Questions. It was a lot of fun, and it was surprising to see how much useless knoweldge our family has. I think all of us together have more useless knowledge than any other family I know. It's definitely something to be proud of!

Anyway, here's the final pic of the Blog...Ben and I. I know there are better ones out there...but this is all I had. Looking at this picture just makes me feel sorry for my future kids, they're going to be miniture!! Those poor underweight kids. Oh well, too bad for them.

Follow Up Pics...

Ok, so as requested, here are some pics from Fabulous Friday! I have to explain; when we showed up at Becc's ward (after a 45 min drive) they informed us that the craft we'd signed up for wasn't available...someone had cut the boards to the wrong size. Thanks for the warning. Anyway, they are going to re-cut the boards so we can do them on our own. So instead we did these little stencil things...they're ok. Not really my style, and definitely not the colours I decorate my house in for Christmas, but they work. I'm still going to do the "Wise Men Still Seek Him" board soon and I will post pictures once it's done.



Here's the Families are forever board I was talking about in the other post. Sorry for the strange picture. I was trying to find some natural light in my house to take this picture and all I could find was this little strip in the Kitchen. It works good enough.



So Yesterday Ben and I took Marcus for the day (Nate was working, and Tan was sick and couldn't quite do the 8 week old and 23 month old thing at the same time). We were so happy though, cause we love (love.love.love.love)Marcus so much, we'd almost pay to take him for the day (almost). Anyway, he drove all over the city with us while we looked for some new furniture for our home. We've decided a leather set will be perfect for when we have kids. Puke is soooo much easier to clean off of Leather than Fabric. So we are on the prowl for the perfect couch. Anyway, after our shopping trip (unsuccessful I must say), we took Marcus to our Ward Party. It was a Mexican Themed night with dancing and music and lots of yummy food. Although, someone should have warned me about the toothpicks in the deep fried stuff...they really hurt on the way down. Anyway, at the end of the night, all the "mom's" got roses. I have this beautiful rose that I let Marcus hold for two seconds while I strapped him into his carseat and he totally destroyed it! Seriously, two seconds! So we let him play with the stem while I held the rose for him to give to his mom. He had lots of fun with the "sword". Here he is hitting Ben's head with it...


And here he is telling me to leave him alone...cause really it's completely unfair of me to expect he be gentle with a spikey rose stem. I'm a mean, mean person.

Anyway, Marcus was really so good all day long and so cute. We can't wait until Tan's sick again!