Landon.....a big boy!

Landon had the opportunity to attend a toddler lab this semester. It's a lab for 18mo-3 year olds put on by BYUI students. Unfortunately they won't hold it this next semester because they don't want their students driving on the roads in the winter. I didn't take pictures because the observing area is behind a one sided window but the students took tons & told us they were giving them to us at the end of the semester. I didn't realize it'd be in dvd format so I'm unable to pull the pictures off to post. They did print a couple from their printer & gave them to us...thus the poor quality scans below:)

He attended once a week for an hour & 15 minutes and it ended up being such a wonderful thing for him. He's overcome so much hestitation and shyness & he really enjoyed going each week. I remember a year and a half ago when I was completely overwelmed with my clingy boy & worried he'd never be independent. Mentally it was a challenge to have him there constantly, not be able to leave him, have to carry him everyone, no one wanted to take it him...it was really hard.

The activities were amazing & different every week. Some weeks they'd have a water station, sand station, & foam station. They had us leave an extra set of clothes because they told us they probably would get dirty. They had singing time & snack time too. It's crazy to me to think that Landon will be old enough to attend pre-school next fall.


His class & teachers. It was a great student/teacher ratio

He loved the water station & wasn't afraid to get wet!

This was a picture they took on his first day so that they could put it by his coat hook. He was so scared:)

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.

2+2=4

/First off, I've been keeping a secret:)

Today I can't contain this secret anymore. We decided about 5 months ago we were ready to try for another little one.....so the trying began. 3 months later we found out we were expecting.

To back up prior to this I've told Chris forever I wanted twins. It's become a joke in our home because we didn't see twins in our future as a possibility since I've never had to go on fertility drugs & to our knowledge they don't run in our family.

So today I had a nice visit with the Dr. Afterwards I headed to the lab & then to ultrasound to make sure everything was ok. I've actually been nervous this pregnancy that things were different. I usually am deathly ill & this pregnancy I've been sick but more that of a regular pregnancy. I've been REALLY tired though & anti-social.

Within 1 second of the ultrasound the tech asked me if I was on fertility drugs. I immediately exclaimed "no, am I pregnant with twins." With a smile on her face she quickly confirmed & showed both little babies.

A thousand emotions came over me....I was babbling. Excitement, scared for two babies, all the sudden I'm high risk, were just a few of them. I made her double check everything to make sure they were both healthy...I become terrified that there would be something wrong.

The Dr. re-entered the picture at this news. I kept asking him how???? He said although the odds are low (2%) that I could get pregnant with twins without fertility drugs or having them run in the family.

The WHOLE office then crowded the halls. It really was BIG news! They all crowded around as I called Chris which by the way I was already planning on teasing him I was having twins so I knew he wouldn't believe me. I had to have the Dr. tell him. SHOCK!!!

Everyone still thinks I'm playing a big joke because that's what I do. But it's true....and it still doesn't feel real.

So today I found out I'll be going from a mom of two kids to four. I don't think reality has set in yet.

Fall is Here!!!

You wouldn't know it with the weather we've been having but Fall is here and so are all the activities that make life busy. I realize that without my camera (which I haven't used it near as much as I should) I wouldn't remember any of it. As I go through the pictures it reminds me of everything I need to still journal about so here I go.

A couple of weeks ago Chris was travelling with work & Jaden was having a tough time...you'd think he'd be used to it by now. He happened to have that Thursday & Friday off from school that week so we headed to see daddy! The boys spent the majority of their time swimming.

As I've mentioned many times Jaden is ALWAYS thinking of new ideas. Here is his lunch that he insisted he build one day. I had to make sure the veggies & cheese were cut perfect so that he could build his house. The roof is crackers...he gobbled the whole thing up.

This year was the first year his school did a carnival. I am so amazed at the parent involvement at his school. It was a huge event & very well attended. As they talk about all the budget cuts & how they are cutting aids in the classroom I've seen parents step up & fill the void. Jaden's classroom ran out of spots for parents volunteers & there were some parents that didn't get to participate because there is so much involvement. I've been going to Jaden classroom on Thursdays to do centers & have loved being involved & getting to know the children in the classroom. The kids in his class are great & have great parents...what a blessing!

This is becoming a fun tradition. We tried to plant pumpkins in our garden this year & I planted them too early & they froze. When I went to buy more seeds the stores were all out. I can't say I'm too sad because we have so much fun going to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. They also had train ride, a corn maze, & unlimited suckers!!!

Last night for FHE the boys got to carve their pumpkins. They were so excited. We also had great harvest pumpkin & chocolate chip bread for dessert...yummy!

Time sure is travelling fast but I'm excited as the holidays are approaching!!!