Merry Christmas!

We had such a great Christmas this year, with lots of family, food and happy news!

We were able to all gather around the phone and talk to my brother, Jordan, who's on his mission in Russia-so good to talk to him!! We went to both sides of the family after opening our gifts at home and the boys loved all of their gifts! We decided we'll just get them new jammies and stockings and everyone else can do the rest! haha Just kidding, but really, when you have 3 sets of grandparents (then great grandparents) you're bound to get way too much! :)

We also got to announced that baby #3 is a BOY...yes, a boy! Crazy! I totally thought it was a girl and was really shocked...took me two ultrasounds and lots of "this will be so fun" from Chris to get used to the idea of another little boy. hahaha I will get my girl eventually, but for now I'll enjoy my 3rd little guy! We are still up in the air on names, but have a couple we like.

We made a "proclamation" type of thing to announce it (not uploading, so I'll do it later), which was really fun-and clever, if I might add (way to go Chris)! We also put this picture in...just kinda silly. :)

14 weeks

Thought I would give a quick baby update. On Monday we had an ultrasound and got to see it! It was just a normal visit, but after working forever to find the heartbeat, the doctor decided to have them do an ultrasound just to make sure everything was okay. It was perfect because Chris and the boys went to this visit, so we all got to see the baby for the first time! Everything looks great! Strong heartbeat and it was moving all around. We can't wait until we know what the gender is... I think it makes it a lot more fun! I'm not scheduled for that ultrasound until 20 weeks, but may get to find out sooner. Will keep you posted! Love this little baby!

As far as I go, I am pretty much done feeling sick...just sometimes at night I feel it a little. My energy has picked up and I think in the next couple of weeks I'll be feeling back to normal!

(13 weeks, 4 days)

The head is on the left side. Looking forward and laying on it's side. You can even see it's little arms and legs! I know sometimes it can be hard to see. :)

Our Thankful Tree

This morning the boys and I made a thankful tree... don't laugh! haha I may not be the best at cutting out branches and leaves (and letters), but they got the point (well, at least Grant did). :)

Here are some of the things our family is grateful for:

• To be a family forever
• Jesus
• Cinnamon (our dog)
• A good job
• Heavenly Father
• Family
• Temple covenants
• Food
• The Atonement
• Good friends
  
• When Jesus taught good things. :)
• The nice things we have
• Parents
• The Priesthood
• Leapster (for Christmas)
• Nice weather
• Michael
• Buzz Lightyear
• The Holy Ghost
• Babies

I was really surprised when I asked Michael and Grant what they were thankful for. Grant immediately said "that our family is forever!" and Michael said, "Jesus!". It makes me happy that they know these things.

We hope you all have a great and safe Thanksgiving!

While I was putting up the tree Grant drew all over his hand and finger nails with permanent marker, so of course, Michael had to copy him. I love when they do stuff like this....

With that said, I am also thankful for nail polish remover and soap! :)

I am alive, nobody panic!

By now you have all forgotten about me, but I promise I am still here! lol The summer and past couple of months have been absolutely crazy!! I started watching 3 kids in May and actually just stopped a week ago. Having 5 kids is a lot of work, so I gotta hand it to you who do it! I'm sure it's different when they're your own kids though. Anyway, I am so happy to be back to normal life with my boys and to have some time to do whatever I want. It's been nice to start play dates again or to go shopping without a cart full of kids. lol

With this said, I hope to get back in blogger gear! Little recap:

Chris started his new job at Vanguard in August and loves it! It's right up his alley-all that investment and finance stuff. :) The boys are wild and loving life.

Grant just started preschool in September and has an awesome teacher. He loves school! He is also going to Primary for singing time to get in the swing of things. He won't actually be a Sunbeam until Jan. I am in Primary and have been able to watch him the passed couple of weeks, which has been so fun! He's getting so big (sniff). :)

Michael is learning new words all of the time and impresses me daily! He has such a funny personality!! We love our snuggler!

As for me... I have some exciting news....you guessed it! I'm pregnant! I am about 8 1/2 weeks along. I am a little more sick than I was with the boys, but still nothing to complain about and always tired, of course. We are so excited for another baby!

It seems to be baby central around here! Chris' family has welcomed 4 babies this year (well, one sister-in-law is in labor at the hospital as I speak!) and we will hopefully be getting 3 next year! So fun!

Well, I guess it was a huge recap...sorry! :)

Trying to bribe Michael to stick his hand in, he wasn't happy about that. lol

Just checking it out...

I told Grant to get a big handful....this is the best he could do. lol

My boys really don't like to be dirty. hahahah

Best buds!

Grant's first day of preschool!

Park Day

One day last week it was "cool" enough to go on a walk to the park in our neighborhood, and since we hadn't been in a while (and I haven't taken many pictures lately) it was a perfect opportunity to snap some pics of the boys doing what they do best.....being crazy wild boys! :) Darling boys though!

Probably my favorite picture from the day! I love this one of Grant! It's just fun!

Michael was obsessed with finding little pellets in the sand. He would get so excited when he'd find a new one. :)

hahah Love this one. These two pictures are out of order. Michael climbed up on the swing (bottom) and then got stuck. When I took him off he threw a fit....this is Michael's "classic" fake crying face. lol So, I decided to stick with the "classic" look.

Michael loves slides!

Always climbing.... little monkey boy.

Summertime Fun

I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately...I have been so busy and always seem to forget the camera when I do think about it. lol Such is life! Well, here are just a few of the things we've been doing recently.

When it's nice enough outside we'll eat on our back porch. It's nice to have a change of scenery...plus, I can hose off the porch if the kids spill! :)

We went to the drive-ins not too long ago and watched How to Train Your Dragon. It was really cute! We had a lot of fun, we got Chick-Fil-A and brought snacks (you can see it all over Michael's face) and sat in the back of our van. Very relaxed-loved it!

The boys didn't want to stay still to take one picture, so I am left with this. lol
Movies have seemed to be the theme this summer. The boys love it and it's out of the heat. We saw Toy Story 3...so cute, I cried, but that's not surprising. lol

We have also done lots of swimming! When we get bored of playing at our house we'll go to my family's. It's nice to have them so close by!

Well, looks like I didn't last long on the 30 day challenge. lol Oh well, I knew that was too optimistic....I hardly have time to take a shower before Chris gets home from work sometimes. :)

My total....

My total for my shopping trip was $33! I saved $160! I had about $45 in coupons alone! Pretty worth the $27 I spend for the service and my newspapers! :) I seriously got most of that stuff for free, or at least had a coupon for the other stuff (yogurt, gatorade etc). Think of my savings for the whole month....that was just within the first week! :)

*If you can't read it (sorry it's kind of small) then click on it. :)

30 Day Challenge....

Okay, well I have never done something like this, so we'll see how it goes!! :) My friend Stacy had this on her blog and she found it at http://prendalestelle.blogspot.com/2010/06/30-day-journal.html

The idea is to let your family and friends get to know you a little better. I will try to write something new each day. Do it with me, and let me know so I can get to know you too! :) It can be a regular post, a scrapbook page, a pic...whatever you want!

Any guesses???

Okay, so are you all ready to play a little game? :)

I went to the store (well, a few stores) yesterday and got all of this:

How much would you guess that it cost me? Here is what I got:

8 packs Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs

20 Yoplait Yogurts

7 French's Mustards (Spicy Brown and Honey Dipping Sauce)

2 Vlassic Relishes

2 Tropicana 50 Juices

3 Wishbone Salad Dressings

7 BBQ Sauces (Jack Daniel's and KC Masterpiece)

3 Best Foods (Olive Oil) Mayos

3 Daisy Sour Cream

4 Pillsbury Brownie Mixes

7 Gatorades

3 (4 packs) Marcal Toilet Paper

4 Nature Valley Granola Bars

1 Gillette Fusion Razor

2 Lay's Chips

1 Gallon Milk

Hot Dog Buns

Hamburger Buns Watermelon

Bananas

Closer Images

Remember that I use Coupon $ense, so I got GREAT deals!! :)

I will post the answer later!

Crib Recall Update....

So, just realized that I never actually wrote anything about what happen. Well, I took the crib apart and put it in my van (without a box or anything) and took it to Target. I told them that the crib was purchased over 3 years ago and online, so I don't have a receipt. They were really nice about everything, looked up the model number (or some number) and got the details and gave me a Target card (store credit) for the full amount I got the crib for...$272!!! Woot! I was pretty stoked that it all went well! So, if any of you have been hesitant, then here's my testimonial! :) You can call them if you have any other questions. Good luck!

Sweet Tushie!

lol No, that is not what I call my husband... jk I made a new blog with some of the diaper cakes I have made. There are only a few on there-unfortunately I haven't taken pictures of every cake. They are super fun to make and great for shower gifts (who doesn't know someone who isn't pregnant right now?!)! Take a look and let me know if you would like one for your next shower! I know that you and the mom-to-be will love it! I can do any theme you'd like and put whatever you want on/in it.

*click on the button to the right

Crib Recall....

So, I just happened to look at friend's blog whom I haven't checked up on in a while and saw one of her latest posts...darn good thing too!!! Apparently there have been hundreds of thousands of recalls for some Graco and Simplicity cribs. All Simplicity cribs with the tubular metal support frames have been recalled, no matter the number. This is really scary because that's the kind of crib I have. I am taking it to Target tomorrow to see what they can do. "Since the manufacturer is out of business, take your recalled crib to the store you bought it from. You don't need a receipt, the CPSC says. The stores are prepared to offer a replacement crib, a refund, or a store credit." I will let you know what I find out. Crazy scary! Pass along.....

Babies and toddlers were getting trapped and suffocated because the bars would come out or snap. There were tons of incidents and one baby even died.

Okay, so I was just looking through some pictures and marveling on how old Grant is. He just turned 3 on April 14!!! It's crazy how fast time goes! I thought this was a fun "then and now"!

3 Musketeers Then!

Grant-6 1/2 mos., James (brother)-1 1/2 mos., and Beck (nephew)-7 mos.

3 Musketeers Now!

James- 2 1/2 yrs, Beck- 3 yrs., and Grant- 3 yrs.

just fyi

You could have probably figured this out by yourself, but just wanted to let you know that I published 4 different posts yesterday.... so scroll down and be patient. lol I have to get caught up sometime. :)

Happy Easter!

Yesterday was the perfect day! The weather was amazing, which is something I was worried about. I was so excited to do an Easter egg hunt in our own yard and didn't want bad weather to prevent it. The boys found all of their goodies, we enjoyed General Conference (our church has General Conference twice a year, when the President of our church and the apostles speak to us- I love it!), and visited with lots of family. What more could I ask for? :) Here are some fun Easter pics of the boys. Hope everyone had a good day!

Grant found the "lucky" egg with a dollar in it.... really, we couldn't find the other halves to either egg, so it was perfect. lol

Michael loved finding his eggs....

...but he was more interested in what was in them, so he took a break. :)

Every time we go to the store and see an Etch A Sketch Grant sits down wherever it is and plays with it-it was perfect for a basket stuffer!

I don't know if anybody else does this, but growing up my parents always hid our baskets too, so these are pictures of them finding their baskets....