Two Months in One Post

The last 2 months have kind of passed by in a blur for me... which sadly happened over my favorite time of year. Why? Well, I have been sick... very sick. This is the worst morning sickness I have ever had of my 3 kids and it has not been pretty. I actually lost 10 pounds, which normally would be a good thing, but when you are throwing up every day, it doesn't feel so great. But I haven't thrown up in 6 days, so I am going to pretend that it is better now, and hopefully it is in the past.

So I am going to put all of the fun of our holidays into one post, which makes me feel sad that I missed pictures of all the fun we had.


We decorated our tree over Thanksgiving weekend:


One of my favorite parts of decorating the tree, is when little ones put all of the ornaments in one spot. It was just so sweet!




One of my favorite parts of the season was going to see The Forgotten Carols with my sweet friend, Jamie. It really was beautiful and made me feel the Spirit of Christmas and our Savior so much.


We also took a couple of trips to see Christmas lights. We drove through the lights at Thanksgiving Point and took a trip up to Temple Square.


Ally had a couple of performances with school too. She is in her school choir this year and they had a Christmas performance. She goes twice a week to school at 7:45 am to practice. Sometimes it's hard for her (and me) to get out of bed that early every day, but it made their choir REALLY good. I was so impressed! I did get a few pictures of her in her performance:


They sang "I Want Chocolate in My Stocking for Christmas" and threw tootsie rolls out at the end of it... this was Devin's favorite part!



Alex celebrated his 35th Birthday a few days before Christmas too! He was nice enough to let the kids open his presents for him, so they could get in some practice before Christmas.



Alex was sweet enough to help Ally make a gingerbread house, because I was in the middle of a long puking session.



Then came Christmas Eve at my parents house and Christmas morning. I only got a few pictures, but it was fun... except I was oh so sick on Christmas Day (probably from staying up all night because I was soooo excited to give the kids their presents!).





Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Holiday Season too!!!

The Stinker aka Devin

Remember how I couldn't get any good pictures of him? Well I decided to try and get something on my own... now I don't have the skills or equipment like Cameron, so I guess this is just the best I am going to get for now.

Here is how we started out:

I got several of these grumpy pictures!

But then I told him I was going to tickle him:


And I got the right picture:


It may have been the right picture, but it was the wrong photographer, because Cam's got mad skills, and I am just a mommy that likes to take pictures of her kids!

The whole process took less then 30 seconds, why couldn't he have cooperated for 30 seconds last time? Rrrrrr!!!

Oh well, maybe next time we will hide my sister's cool train and he will actually sit happily for a picture!

Family Photos

My sweet nephew took these pictures for us. Devin was an absolute pain-in-the-you-know-what, but they still turned out cute, despite him being annoying.








I really LOVE the ones of Ally!!!

Blessings Coming... Ready or Not!!!

There is big news at our house:

Our family will be getting bigger... I don't have any fancy way of saying it, just: I am pregnant.

I have to mention this is a big surprise for us... um, I mean a HUGE surprise for us. First of all, we had decided about 6 months ago that we were done. I didn't want to do foster care, I didn't want to adopt... life was good, perfect. I love my two kids and everything was perfect and we decided that was enough...

But someone else had other plans for us. Heavenly Father decided that our family was NOT complete, and if I wasn't going to do anything about it, He was. So, the girl who is really not supposed to be able to get pregnant, is now 9 weeks pregnant.

I had my doctor's appointment and we heard the heart beat, and everything looks good.


Am I still in shock a little? Um, yeah. I have to admit the thought of sleepless nights, going through another c-section, possible bedrest again, and did I mention sleepless nights?, (this is one girl who loves her sleep!), is completely scary and overwhelming. But am I excited for this new little life? YES! And while I am still feeling overwhelmed and a little nervous, I am also feeling extremely blessed. This is going to be one very special little spirit that needs our family, and I can't wait to meet him/her!

Fireman Devin

Devin was a lucky little boy last week. His Uncle Dave is a firefighter and brought the fire engine home with him one day to make something for it... of course that meant Devin got to see it and even take a drive!

He happily tried on the firefighter costume and proudly wore it!


Uncle Dave even let him sit in the driver's seat.


Even though she was too "cool" to admit it, Ally thought it was pretty cool too.



He even let them hold the hose and pretend to put out a fire. Devin loved it!!!


Wearing that heavy hat and carrying that hose was just too heavy... so he took off the hat for a few minutes to really get the work done. And he was so proud of himself!




Then it was time to take an actual drive in the fire truck. I will let this picture tell you how Devin felt about that:


Thanks Uncle Dave! Your the coolest firefighter we know!!!

10 Candles on 11/11/11

That's right, my little girl proudly announces she is double digits now... 10 whole years old.

Birthdays around our house seem to last around a week or so... trying to squeeze everything in.

First we celebrated with my side of the family the Saturday before her Birthday.





The next day we had Alex's parents come over to celebrate with us.


We also gave her our presents that day too.


Her main present was a karaoke machine. The kids LOVED it!


Even Grandpa Sam got in on the action.


For her actual Birthday she invited 8 friends over for a party and a sleepover... this will be the last time I ever have that many little girls sleep over at my house! Can I just say it was CRAZY!!!




Happy Birthday my not-so little girl. I am so proud of the amazing, sweet and beautiful young woman that you are. You bring me so much joy watching you. You are so alive, outgoing and fun to be around. You have a sweet, sensitive side that makes sure no one is left out and always included in your fun. I love who you are and am so proud and awed by how incredible you are. Heavenly Father truly blessed me in allowing me to be your mother and watch you become who He wants you to be. I love you!!!

Devin's Halloween Preschool Party

I didn't take this picture, his teacher emailed it out. But here is Devin's cute class dressed up in their costumes: