Thanksgiving Week!

What a week of so many blessings!!!!!

I'm a big believer in a thanksgiving feast made from scratch...even if it isn't very good. My mom gave me the assignment of a pie of which I told her I was making two pies & two sides because she didn't need to cook the entire meal. Last year I made a pie & failed miserably at it so I tried again, researched recipes & they were super yummy!


All the food was delicious and for some reason being pregnant I have a hard time eating what I cook so its fabulous when there are so many dishes that others made to choose from. I'm a little fearful that I may have put on some weight.


I think Jaden is enjoying his thanksgiving feast!
Landon likes eating off my plate...for some reason it just tastes so much better:) Ignore my pale pasty face; I need some sun!

We were expecting many more but bad roads prevented those from out of state from making it....we missed you!After dinner we hung out, visited, ate more food, the kids played in the snow....Chris said he loves just hanging out not having to go anywhere.



To keep up with tradition at midnight we hit the black friday sales. There wasn't anything major on my list I had to get & thought about bailing but I love traditions. Unfortunately, my body didn't do so well & resulted in several near fainting spells where I had to sit on the floor in the middle of walmart throwing up in a a bag. To most I'm sure I looked like I was having an anxiety attack. One kind lady gave me tissues since throwing up causes my eyes to tear up really bad. I was a mess but finished the trip successfully!



Tonight we went to dinner at outback. Not only was it delicious but I found the babysitter of all babysitters. THIS IS BIG! Since Landon has been so shy we haven't done a ton of babysitters but as he's improved we've been getting them more often. After trying to get her to babysit on three different occasions & her being unavailable I gave it one last chance or realized I was going to have to find a different one...I really want to have a consistent babysitter. She was AMAZING!

Here's a picture of the two crafts they made & the pretzel treat they made. In addition she wrote a thank you note and the recipe down.

And there's more....I am usually disappointed when I get home & my home isn't as clean as I left it. For this reason I left the toy room a mess.....well it's now clean. My friends, I won't share her name because I always want her available to me. I can truly say that finding an awesome babysitter is a huge blessing I should definitely acknowledge, especially this week. AND thanks mom & dad for taking us to dinner; you spoiling us is a blessing too!!!

Moments not to be forgotten!

Today me & the boys are staying home from church because Landon has a nasty sounding cough...he appears to be 100% though. Since Chris is in the bishopric I couldn't send Jaden with him so we are hanging out in a warm house.

I realize I've been a slacker with any type of journaling and I realize how quickly I forgot things I don't want to forget. I want to make sure they are written somewhere so that I can still have that memory long after I've forgotten it:)

I still re-read my post about finding out I was having twins because it allows me to relive those feelings & emotions. I'm already forgetting that intial feeling and I want to etch it in my brain.

So here's some random things I want to remember but won't if they aren't written....in no order!

-This week I got to witness the birth of little Harper. Jenna did it natural (amazing!) & you would have thought she had an epidural until she was dilated to a 9 & couldn't get to a 10. Harper wasn't making it easy on her but after some crazy moves on Jenna's part she finally arrived. What a beautiful baby! And HEALTHY too!
-Later I took the boys to see Harper. My boys haven't been by a baby forever. I wasn't sure how'd they'd react or if they even be interested. I was amazed at the love they both showed her. Landon held her so tenderly & touched her ears, mouth, nose, everything. I think he was in awe of such a tiny little one. After breaking up a little tug-of-war between my boys I reminded them that I was having two babies & they could each have one:)
-Gracie came to the hospital with my mom & I could see the nervousness etched in her face. Her world had changed & I could tell she didn't know how to take it. She was planning on sleeping at Grandma's because Jaden had a school night but the only comfort she could find was with Jaden. It was so sweet. Her & Jaden are growing apart as their interests are changing so much but deep down they are each others best friend. When I told Gracie she could come & sleep with Jaden she was a changed girl. He was her comfort & they skipped away holding hands. I'm amazed that a 5 year old could provide so much comfort when no one else could. BTW, Gracie can't stop holding Harper....the initial shock just had to wear off!
-I feel like I need to document some of my pregnancy so here's little bit of that. Yesterday I was very sick & couldn't keep anything down BUT I have days where I have nearly no nausea. I told Chris that I think my pregnancies begin to run together & I feel like I haven't ever felt good and it gets discouraging. This has been my best pregnancy with morning sickness but I still get discouraged & wish I could do everything. Food is an enemy too. I have to eat all the time...for whatever reason it helps. In most cases nothing sounds good so I'm gagging something down just so I don't start throwing up. There is a positive though...as long as I'm sick I know I'm still pregnant. I do wish my body despided food while I wasn't pregnant....that would be an excellent diet.
-Today I was cooking brussel sprouts in Balsamic vinegar. I'm mentioning this because the smell of the vinegar made Jaden so sick. He could hardly breath & kept asking me what that smell was. He kept begging me to stop cooking...I kind of thought it was funny. I don't think I'll be getting him to try that dish any time soon.
-Right now as I right the boys are in Jaden duvet cover walking around as one. They are having a blast & think they are so funny. I'm so glad my boys are becoming such good friends. They do fight too....hopefully it'll pass!
-Last week we asked Jaden if he was ready for Landon to move into his room. We thought this next week would be good to create a schedule since Jaden doesn't have school & a late night wouldn't be a problem. Jaden informed us that Landon wasn't moving into his room until he turned 3. Although I've told this to Jaden on many other occassions when Jaden begged us to let Landon move in, he now is using it against us. Let's hope these babies don't come too early so that once Landon turns 3 they have a good little while to get used to it.

I'm sure my pregnancy brain is forgetting so much but I thought I better jot what little was there:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The gift of giving!

First of all, this is an excellent month to recognize our many blessings! Although I'm sure I won't take the time to do a daily gratitude post (I probably should) I did want to mention a project my sister has been working so hard on & how it's a good time to dig deep to help another in need.

In her blog she talks about it here. It's a little 1 yr old girl in Georgia that has cancer. There are several online auctions here. Although many of the items are specific to the area there are some great things that aren't so be sure to look or just donate. I wish I knew what I was having because there are some cute baby items. They have two more auctions after this one so be sure to keep checking back.

As I'm reflecting on giving to others I remember something a co-worker said to me that hit me hard one day. We had a giving tree at work and as she looked at the tree tears came to eyes at some of the items on the tree....a coat for a young child. She said that she had lots of credit card debt & spends money when she shouldn't but this is a time that it doesn't matter what it cost, she needed to give. Not that I'm suggesting we go into debt to give but I'm sure all of us can afford to give just a little...some maybe more.

HaLloWeeN fun

I'm realizing that halloween is a BIG holiday...lots of activities!

Here's some of what we've been up to.

Jaden saw spook houses at Sam's club one day & couldn't stop talking about wanting to do one. Not wanting to buy each boy a kit I told him they were too expensive. Jaden told me I didn't need to buy one & told me to buy chocolate graham crackers & halloween candy. Smart boy!!!

At school they did a halloween party & parade. It was so fun to see all the kindergartners going down the hall & getting high 5's from all the older kids. It's so fun to go to Jaden's school and get to know all the little kids. We also went to our ward trunk or treat. The boys were in heaven getting so much candy in one spot. And of course we went Trick or Treating. It's so fun going around and seeing all the fun costumes. The boys walked a long ways...we were tired by the end of the night.