12.27.2011

pheasant anyone?

Also during that weekend, on Saturday, Paul went pheasant hunting with Mike, Taylor, his Uncle Steve and his Grandpa Gottfredson and a few others. They were gone most the day and came back successful. They shot pheasant and also did some skeet shooting in sub-zero freezing weather (i still have a hard time finding the fun in that).

12.17.2011

date night

Last night was date night.
Location: university mall (very exotic I know)
Dinner: was delicious, we went to Carrabbas.
shopping: was a whole new experience! Because we shopped for little boy clothes! It was so fun and thanks to a great sale at Gap we came away with a good little start for next summer and winter. It made me so excited because it made everything seem more real.
The movie:  we saw "New Years Eve" and it was cute and fun, nothing really deep but we liked it.

After our date I got to open an early Christmas present. Paul got this for me and it was definitely too big to take down to Texas but there was no way i could wait to open it...
Tada!! A beautiful picture of the San Antonio temple where we were married. Personalized with our last name and wedding date. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It is perfect in our entryway, looks like it was made to be there. It makes me so happy whenever I walk by. I have been wanting one of these for so long and I'm so happy it's now in our home!

you know you're pregnant when...

This time around i have had a BAD case of Pregnancy Brain. I'm seriously losing my mind a little. Paul says it's way worse this time around (thanks). Anyways, case in point: yesterday i went to Target with Caitlin and bought a few things. Just one bag full. I also added some fruit snacks at the register and started giving them to Caitlin. Before we went outside i got her out of the cart and walked out to my car. Then we went on a few more errands. It wasn't until hours later when i was back at home that i went to get something that i had bought at Target. Couldn't find my bag. Searched the house, the car, my purse... nothing. I called Target and talked to the lost and found people and yes, they had my bag of stuff that i bought. Complete with the receipt inside and everything i bought, except the fruit snacks. WOW. I'm just lucky i got it all back!!

OH BOY!

We are having a BOY!!!!! We found out on December 14th (pretty early... i was barely 15 weeks) but we were so anxious and it was obvious from the first moment of the ultrasound. The Ultrasound Tech said she would "bet her house on it" that it was a boy, and we could see for ourselves so we are sure! It's a boy!

Paul and I both really felt like it was boy from the beginning but it was hard to tell if it was a real feeling or wishful thinking. Paul loves his little princess but would (to be frank) be happy if the rest are boys. I hoped it was a boy #1 for Paul and #2 to make sure we would for sure have one of each. So the main feeling that i felt laying on that table was relief!!

And excitement. I am SO excited to have a little boy. I have love love loved having my little baby girl and now i'm ready for another challenge. And if he is anything like Caitlin, or his dad, or his uncles, he is going to be a CRAZY one! YAY!  
 Bring on the blue! 



12.16.2011

15 1/2 months

Caitlin is crazy... growing like crazy, acting crazy, being loved like crazy. Here's her little update of cool new tricks:
-she is a climber! Anything and everything she can climb on, she does. She can now go up and down stairs but still needs a little help going down because she likes to think she can so face first. She knows how to climb up onto chairs and the table and can somtimes get up to the couch.
-She is a talker! She has a tiny repertoire of words/sounds that she will do, mixed with plenty of jabbering. Her best ones are: "moo" (cow) and "raar" (lion), "ha" (hi), "ma" (more), "mama", "dada", and "baba" (sippy cup). New ones she is adding to the mix are: "moow" (cat), "oof off" (dog), "papa" (my dad), "wassat" (what's that.. pointing to things), "sheesus" (jesus) and other random little surprises. She has such a cute little voice but even when she's not using it she will make herself known. She will pull you over to whatever she wants and point like crazy.
-She signs the word "more" which i actually taught her was please (but it's kinda the same). As mentioned, she says "MA" for more and sometimes gets very demanding with it and she yells at people to get more. Not polite. So i tried to teach her the sign so she wouldn't yell as much. She caught on pretty fast and now does the sign for "more please" when she wants more. Sometimes she still yells for it.
-Whenever she wants to sit somewhere she comes and pats the seat. If it's the couch, she likes to throw all the pillows off first and then pat so she has plenty of room to sit.
-She knows who Santa is, at least in pictures and decorations and whenever she sees Santa (or Christmas things) she says "ho ho ho"
-She is obsessed with candies. Any kind really. She loves suckers and chocolate. We have a big jar full or holiday M&M's on our kitchen table and she wants them all day everyday. She is always dragging me over and wanting me to get some out. It's been the cause of quite a few tears when the answer is no.
-She can find her nose, eyes, mouth and ears (most of the time it's the right part, not always) but always her belly button!
-She loves lotion. She finds it in my bathroom and always wants to put it on. She just likes getting it on her hands and rubbing a little then she's back for more.
-She's obsessed with waving right now. She's been waving for a long time but now she wants to wave and everything and everyone and especially waving bye bye. Every morning when she seats in her chair to eat breakfast she waves hello to our little Santa decoration, and every time we put her down for a nap or bedtime she waves bye bye to us when she's laying down. It's really cute. The other night we went in to check on her before we went to bed and she stirred a little and opened her eyes and saw us so we tried to sneak out and she just started waving bye to us. It made me teary-eyed it was so cute and sweet. 
-She loves babies, she likes to wait at them and touch them very softly and timidly when she is allowed. She loves to look at them and gets excited whenever we see one. She also loves any kids in general and she also loves to play with her baby dolls. She's going to be a good big sister.
- Her 15 month stats were:
weight: 23.11 lbs. (64%)
height: 31 inches (67%)
head: 18 cm (96%) ...full of brains i tell ya

Foto Friday

just some happenings around our house..
1. new shoes (totally skipped size 4 and went straight to size 5), 2. hanging out, 3. making Christmas bows, 4. cookie exchange with neighborhood friends
As our time to leave for Christmas break quickly approaches, I'm trying to cram everything in that I can, while in the midst of laundry and packing. So excited for Christmas!!

12.14.2011

(about) 15 weeks

Pregnancy Update: So far this pregnancy has been similar to Caitlin's in some ways, but really different in others. Some of the morning-sickness stuff has lasted a little longer than I was anticipating, thought i would be much better by now but i still come across a rough day here or there.
- I'm not super sick, but also not symptom-less. I have frequent head aches and almost constant tummy aches. I have a love/hate relationship with foods: i want to eat but have really bad aversions so it's hard for me to find things that sound good. I have been craving a lot more salty things this time around (different than with Caitlin). I've been drinking way more soda this time around (just Sprite and Ginger Ale because it calms my tummy). Everytime i eat, no matter what it is i get a stomach ache. Nothing settles well. I literally got through a 2 liter of Sprite in a week.
-Also, i have been anemic for a couple weeks and that has really taken it out of me. Tired and light headed, and craving red meats.
-And lastly: what does it say about me when 90% of my laundry from the past week is sweats? I'm tired. But excited to be starting this new little phase and positive that the outcome will far outweigh the uncomfort. I'm also hopeful that as I enter my 2nd trimester things will get better.
-I've also had really bad "round ligament pain" (at least that's what it's called in "what to expect..") basically sharp pains around my stomach... growing pains. I get them throughout the day and they are keeping me up at night.
-I'm definitely growing faster this time. I don't think i look like i'm showing, but i'm definitely pooching and stretching sooner than i did with Caitlin.
-I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is looking good. They found our baby's heartbeat right way and it sounded strong. I asked the doc about my ligament pains and he said they get worse with every pregnancy and the ligaments on your right side are shorter so that's why they are worse over there. Interesting. My weight gain is at a -3 right now (i'm still losing weight because of not being able to eat very much) but my doctor said i shouldn't be worried and to enjoy my small weight while i can because i will make up for it and then some... thanks for reminding me.  




12.12.2011

UGLY

Saturday night we hosted a "Christmas Ugly Sweater Party" for all of our friends. It was a lot of fun! I was so impressed by everyone's outfits, both handmade and found. We ate lots of food and exchanged white elephant gifts, had a prize for the best sweater, mingled, and played a few games. It was a fun night to talk and eat and relax and who doesn't love wearing jingle bells and bows for a few solid hours?!

baby it's cold outside

Friday night we bundled up and went to the Riverwoods in Provo to look at the lights and walk around. We ate at Malawi's Pizza first then met up with Turnbulls and Barnes to walk around and see the lights. we also took a [little bit disappointing but still fun] carriage ride and mostly watched the kids run around while trying not to freeze. The lights were awesome! They have even more this year and they are so bright and pretty. Unfortunately i forgot my camera so I only have phone pics to show for our night but here they are:
 
look at these cute little buddies!
We thought Santa would be a hit since Caitlin loves looking at pictures and spotting Santa decorations and saying "ho ho" but when it came time to see the real deal in person, she was NOT a fan. (in case you can't tell, she is screaming and wriggling away)

12.09.2011

and then there were two

We're pregnant! 
We are so blessed to be welcoming another little person into our family. We are so excited to have another baby and for Caitlin to have a sibling. Paul and I both felt really strongly that there was another baby waiting to come down to our family soon so we decided to start trying and turns out we were right! We got pregnant right away and and we can't wait to meet our little bundle!
 We found out on October 3rd: I had been feeling for about 4 days that I was pregnant but didn't want to get my hopes up. Finally I couldn't wait any longer so I took the test and sure enough! Paul was so excited and a little incredulous, and I started jumping up and down and saying "I knew it!"

November 14th we went to our first Doctor's visit at 10 weeks and everything looked great! We got to have our first ultrasound of our little munchkin and got very excited! I am due June 8th!
We waited until Thanksgiving week to tell our families (so that we could tell most of them in person) but that ended up being way too long to wait. It was such a relief when finally everyone knew that Caitlin is going to be a big sister! And it's such a relief to have it out in the open now. I can't believe we waited so long because I am admittedly not a good secret keeper.

Foto Friday



  (taken 12.6)
Caitlin has surprisingly been doing really well with the tree and ornaments. We left the ones she could play with down low but she doesn't get them too much. She just likes to look. Nothing like seeing Christmas through a little one's eyes.

12.07.2011

welcome elves!

During the beginning of December, we leave our slippers out and one night the Christmas elves visit our house and leave a treat and remind us to be good for when Santa comes.
They came this morning! We woke up to some wonderful new Christmas books to help us get ready, and Caitlin got candy and Christmas bows. We started our day with a sugar high. she was all about the candies and then we got into the books later.
Thank you elves! We will be good!

12.05.2011

trimming the tree

It's probably no mystery that I take my Christmas decorations seriously. I put most of our up on November 16th. Early, yes but I wanted to have them up for when we came back from Thanksgiving! And also with us leaving for Christmas we only get to enjoy them for so long. It was fun to decorate a new house and also fun to discover that i didn't have as many Christmas decorations as i thought so that gives me plenty of room to expand and add things in through the years. This year we got a new tree.. beautiful 9 footer! love it! And also i got a new nativity to add to my collection.. my parents brought back a beautiful hard carved wooden "Flight into Egypt" one from Bethlehem.
I have also had the chance to do a couple other Christmas design jobs for client's houses and that has been really fun. Nothing puts me in the holiday mood like Christmas decorations!

a picture is worth 1,000 words

november instagram pics:


bonus week

After Thanksgiving week, i stayed for a whole 'nother week in Texas! It was fun to have extra time with my parents and extra help with Caitlin and Paul ended up being super busy at work so turns out it was a good week for us to be gone.

We enjoyed ourselves... relaxing and playing, spending time with my grandparents, running errands, and watching Christmas movies. Caitlin loved playing dress-ups in Grammie's closet and trying out Cassie's old purses. Caitlin had a love/hate relationship with the cats while we were there (really just one cat since the other one would have nothing to do with her). She LOVED seeing it and would run up then stop dead in her tracks before she would pet it. She always wanted someone to come with her to pet it. The cat also enjoyed playing with her little necklaces and some toys and Caitlin was NOT having that. We also put up most of my mom's Christmas decorations, and Thursday night my mom and I went to a Christmas party for all the women from church and their friends.

 
 
Friday I spent the morning with my mom and Caitlin and then left to drive to Austin. I left Caitlin for the very FIRST TIME overnight. I'll admit I got a little teary-eyed in the car but i'm pretty sure she didn't miss me at all while she was back home with Grammie and Papa and the kitties and her toys and all kinds of entertainment. I'm glad she did well and was in good hands, although i'm positive that she wore my parents out a little.
Anyways, I went to Austin to see the Dicksons and to especially to see Rebekah (my SIL) perform in "The Nutcracker Ballet". She has been dancing for several years and has been doing The Nutcracker for several years and this will be her last one with this company because she is a senior and I have never been able to see her dance! So I really wanted to see her perform. I got to Austin Friday night and hung out, had dinner and did some Christmas shopping. Saturday we got ready and I wrapped a bunch of presents in the morning then Christine and I drove down to "Round Top" where the performance was. They always do their first show at this old historic theater in literally the middle of nowhere. Christine and I had a fun time in the car and a slight adventure getting there. The theater was so pretty and had that old classic feeling. And Rebekah did such a beautiful job! She was a demisoloist in the first act, during the snow scene and then danced in a trio during the second act as a french mint. It was really fun to see her perform and she did a great job and had the brightest smile on stage. Plus seeing The Nutcracker totally put me even more in the Christmas spirit! After the show we drove back with Rebekah and had dinner at Chuy's. Then we came home and watched a Christmas movie.  It was  really short trip but a good one. I'm glad i got to go and also glad i get to come back so soon for Christmas!




Sunday morning I got back on the road to make it back to Dallas in time to go to church, have dinner and catch our flight! However... THAT was drama. I finished packing and had everything by the door when we were leaving for the airport and my dad started loading my suitcases and for some reason I just assumed that he had loaded my purse in the trunk. When we got to the airport I walked around to the trunk and realized that no, my purse was not there and I had left it at home. That had everything in it, all my ID and Caitlin's snacks and toys for the trip. Luckily the skycap guy let me check in my bag without ID and then my mom, Caitlin and I stayed at the airport while my dad raced back to our house to get my purse. We waited for about 40 very stressful minutes and encountered some very uncompassionate workers in the meantime. But without going into that much detail, my dad was able to make it back with my bag and I literally ran to my gate, barely hanging on to Caitlin and was the very last person on my flight. I was a wreck. They had already given away my seat to a stand-by flyer so I was put at the back of the plane and the flight was completely full. And then for 2 hours and 45 minutes, Caitlin was "that kid" on the plane. You know, the one that everyone wants to get away from and wishes they weren't sitting by and complains about afterwards? The poor thing was just so tired and couldn't get comfortable or be consoled. And i wasn't even mad at her at all because to be honest i felt like crying too after the ordeal we had just been through. Needless to say, we were VERY happy and relieved to see Paul when we got off the plane.          

Turkey Trip

We headed to Dallas for thanksgiving this year. Caitlin and I flew down on Sunday (I'm thankful #1: for the direct and very empty flight that allowed me to have the whole row to ourselves!) we helped prep and play for a few days until Paul, Chelsea & Tyler joined us Wednesday night.  
Thursday was of course the big day and it was a good one:
-The boys all manned (no pun intended) the turkeys (one barbequed and one deep fried) while the girls watched the parade and cooked. (thankful #2: that I'm not a famous person that has to be in the parade and not only freeze my tush off but do a horrible job lip syncing)
 -We got to Skype with Cassie and talk to her in Jerusalem, she was dearly missed but glad we got to talk to her! (thankful #3: that she gets home in 3 weeks!)

-My grandparents and my mom's cousin and her family joined us for dinner, and everything was so incredibly delicious. I ate to the point of very uncomfortable fullness, then went back for pie. I was regretting it later but such is the case with thanksgiving. (thankful #4: that after a good nights rest somehow you're always ready to go back for leftovers)

-We also got to look at all of my parents pictures and souvenirs of their recent trip to jerusalem, Jordan and Egypt. (thankful #5: that my parents had a good and safe trip over there, it was really hard to have them away and pretty much out of contact for almost 2 weeks) Caitlin needed to try on all the jewelry.

- So that night we got out all the circulars and made our black Friday plans, which weren't that intense but we wanted to get in on some of the action. I decided my big stop would be: Toys R Us. They opened at 9 pm on thanksgiving so we headed over and got there around 9:15 to find the line completely wrapped around the building, but moving. We decided to drive around a few minutes to let the line die down. We came back to about the same size of line and realized they were only allowing a certain number of people in at once. We're just not that hard core so we went home for about an hour. When we came back we waited for about 30 mins outside and then got inside and waited almost an hour in the checkout line. But, we were done with whole thing in 2 hours and picked up a bunch of awesome stuff for Caitlin. I thought it was fun, not sure if Paul and my dad would necessarily use the same word! (thankful #6: that I had good sports to go with and that it wasn't freezing cold Utah weather while we had to wait outside!)

Friday
-Hit up a few more black Friday sales, but nothing too extreme, took naps and the boys made us delicious tacos for dinner, then we watched a movie.
-My parents also found our little table and chairs that us girls had when we were little and Caitlin loved having her own little area. She loved climbing in and out of the chairs and hiding things in those little cubbies on the back.

Saturday
- went to lunch at Stir Crazy
- a few went to six flags in the cold while I stayed with Caitlin and my mom and did some more shopping
- That night we had Rudy's BBQ for dinner and played phase 10, of which I'm proud to say I was the winner. Doesn't happen often.

Sunday
- had a relaxing morning then went to church and my grandparents house for dinner
- Paul, Chelsea and Tyler flew out that night and we were sad to see them go.