And for those who have been asking...

The belly picture. This one was taken on Abby's birthday so I am about 8 months preggers here. Honestly, I still look about the same now at 39 and 1/2 weeks. And yes, I cut my hair. Yes, I hate it. The girl didn't quite understand what I was asking for and she just kept cutting it shorter and shorter. Oh well, my hair grows fast and I figure this way I can grow it out for a few months after the baby is born and then get it cut how I REALLY wanted. I will try to get Jason to take another picture of me before we go to the hospital. Most likely in that one though, I will be wearing sweats! I'm not one of those women who takes the time to look good when I am in labor :)

Birthday Fun!

Well, I am a little behind on my posts but here are the pics from Abby's birthday! I had a little party for her and she had a BLAST! I noticed thought that I have to find some girls for this little one to hang out with. All of her buddies are boys. I still can't believe my little baby is 2!!! How did these last 2 years go by so FAST???Here she is waiting for the party to begin with the two boys I was watching, Justin and Kyle. She has really been missing them now that I don't watch them anymore.
Abby didn't quite get the hang of how to use her party horn. She would hold it to her mouth and then make a humming noise!

Umm.. Yeah... We had some technical difficulties and don't have any pictures of her blowing out her candle. But, she did love her cupcake!

It was a pretty good party.. As you can see, she may have had a little TOO much excitement!

(RE)discovering the joy of cooking.

Once upon a time, I LOVED to cook. And then I became a stay at home mom. I started to get into a rut, making the same meals and getting very BORED!! Then I discovered something here called the Bountiful Basket. (Sorry most of my readers, I don't think they have this where you live). It has been one of the best things that has happened for our kitchen. Once a week you pay $15 and you get a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables! (I usually can't help but order the extras they have too). Well, it has done two things for us. Number one: we are eating way more produce. Number two: It has sparked my creativity. You don't have control over what you get so it is a challenge to come up with recipes to use what we get.

For example, one day, instead of the same old PB&J for lunch, I was able to whip up this!

It is Linguine with Roasted Vegetables, recipe courtesy of my fabulous neighbor with some variation using what we had!

Well, at least Abby loved the noodles but at least the vegetables were there for her to try!
It really is fun to try new recipes using what we get!

"I PRETTY"

Can I just say how much I love that Abby's "girliness" is starting to come through? Where once she hated me doing her hair, now she sits patiently (somewhat) and once I am done she says "Oooh, I pretty!" She also loves dresses. With all the illness we have had lately she hasn't been to church but she will still get a dress and some church shoes every so often and want to put them on. I LOVE IT! It reminds me that I need to take some time myself too to get "pretty".
Here is the stinker with one of her favorite things, a balloon!

I think she may also be our little dancer. She just loves music and as soon as she hears some, she just starts dancing around! Also LOVE IT! This year we are planning on doing swimming lessons but I think next year will definitely be dance lessons.

And her first pedicure. She also loved it. Let's just say it was a miracle that I was able to reach her toes let alone reach mine!

Easy Valentines Decorations

Someday I have a goal of having decorations for every holiday. I even want a little sideboard type table that will go next to our front door where I can rotate some of these decorations but I haven't found the perfect table yet and I only have decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well the other day, while shopping at Hobby Lobby, I picked up some their free inspiration pamphlets (I am super uncreative but if you give me an idea or a project, I can usually get it done!) One of the projects totally inspired me to do two projects. The big one I am working on will go with the collage I am going to do on our dining room walls, but I thought "Hey, I can do this for Valentine's as well!" Truth be told, the following two projects only cost me $5 plus a lot of scrounging through my scrapbooking stuff! I had to alter my original plan a little but this is what I came up with! I thought I would share if anyone else was looking for easy Valentines decorations to make! The original project called for a shadow box but seeing as how shadow boxes can cost from $10 to $25, I decided I would use one for my big project but not for the Valentine's one. Instead, I bought a $3 frame from WalMart. Next, I cut the petals off of a fake rose ($2, also at WalMart) and glued them to the backing inside the frame. After doing this, I realized that I probably could have just cut some cute scrapbook paper to fit but I really like the textured look of the petals, which this picture does not do justice too. Lastly, my original plan was to write LOVE in big letters with rub ons but that changed. I bought one pack of letters for both projects and I needed the same size letters for both projects. It was only after I opened the package that I realized that there was only one of each letter in the size I needed and I needed an L for both projects. I then remembered that a few years back, I had bought some clear stickers with black lettering for a different valentine's project for Jason. All of the stickers had quotes about love. So off I went, digging through my scrapbook stuff and what you see above is the finished product! Not counting the time it took me to rummage through my giant box of scrapbook items (oh how I wish I had a room where I could have the space I need to organize it all) the whole project took me all of 10 minutes!

After that, I decided I needed one more item (at least) to go with it when I came up with this which I actually already had everything for!
I had this red votive candle is with all of my Christmas decorations but didn't really have a place to put it. I decided to keep it though because it might be useful later. While looking through all of my scrapbook supplies, I found a book rub on doodles and there was actually a whole strip that I thought would look perfect on the candle! Total time to make, less than 3 minutes!

And here are the two together. Maybe next year I will add to it but seeing as how I only have 8 weeks left to finish everything for the girl's room, this will have to be good enough for now.

Other happenings!

Abby loves the snow! Well, at least one person in our family does. I had a hard time getting her to come back in the house!
Finally, in from the cold! Can I just say that I had no idea how much hair this kid actually has until I saw this picture!

Abby is going through this phase right now where she loves all her "babies". Here she is watching a Winnie the Pooh movie and she had to have a good majority of her babies gathered around her! It's like this at bedtime, she has about 5 stuffed animals that she HAS to sleep with! (Let me tell you how FUN it is to try to carry her PLUS all 5 stuffed animals to bed!)

Christmas Morning!

Oh.. Christmas morning! Gotta love it! Abby was totally oblivious to the fact that this was not just any other day. First thing she wanted to do was put on a bib and eat some yogurt! Jason started laughing at me because probably the one and only time in her life I actually said "Abby, don't worry about the yogurt, eat the treats!" And she did, luckily one Santa put fruit leather in her stocking but another Santa put chocolate in their too so she had an interesting breakfast! Present unwrapping took a while because after she opened each one, she wanted to sit and play with what ever it was, or even with the wrapping paper and boxes!

Nothing like break time for an impromptu horsey ride while eating a chocolate Santa!

Abby loves her new fishing hat. I think before she wears it in public though I will have to put her hair in ponytails since she still has such a mullet and it is accentuated even more by hats!

Abby got so many presents! This kid is unbelievably spoiled (and loved!) She loves everything she got! We truly had a wonderful Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like "Christ"mas!

Okay, before I get into the real part of what I want to write about, I will first tell you about our tree and other decorations! So here is our tree, it may not look like much but I LOVE it, more for sentimental reasons than aesthetic! I think I wrote about this last year but you may notice the blue lights. Yes, I am usually a fan of the all white lights look but the first year Jason and I were married, I had been wanting a Christmas tree real bad but we decided not to get one since we were going out of town. Jason knew I was sad about it so one night, he decided to surprise me. When I walked in from work, I saw our tree with blue lights on it standing in the corner of our apartment! There are few times in your life that you cry from happiness and that was one of those times for me. It turns out, there were only blue lights left when he went to buy some. So, until these lights die, we will probably use them because whenever I see them it reminds me of that night!
Ooops! This one is out of order! Here is the majority of our other holiday decor!

Now back to the tree! No, we also don't have a "theme" or coordinated ornaments, just some regular ornaments mixed in with some sentimental ones. Jason and I started a family tradition on our honeymoon where we try to buy an ornament on every vacation we go on. Granted, I don't think we have been on vacation in a few years. We bought the gold leaf in the middle of this picture in Grand Teton National Park on our honeymoon. Unfortunately it has become a little discolored over the years but I still love it. Some of our other ornaments are ones that have been made by family members and we also have a few that are pictures of family. Also, nothing says classy like the Simpson family hanging out on your tree (Yep, that's Marge in the lower right had corner!) So it may not seem like much, but I love this tree!
Last week, I was asked to give a short testimony/talk at our wards Relief Society Christmas dinner. The theme was "Christ"mas traditions. I was supposed to speak about the traditions we have as a family that help us to remember the Savior and his birth. It made me realize that there is so much more that I still want to do. This year (like we try to do every year) we have tried to keep the Savior at the forefront of our minds. I love that Abby is so curious and she is currently asking me about the Nativity scene we have! I probably tell her the Nativity story at least once a day! I am also glad that the Nativity we have is a cheap $5 Walmart one so she can touch it as much as she wants! A few of my friends have told me about the Fisher Price Little People Nativity which now I really want for my children but unfortunately, it looks like they are sold out everywhere :( Maybe I can find one after Christmas or early next year! We do read from Luke on Christmas Eve and now that I am thinking about our children getting older, I think about how fun it will be to act it out! Most of all, what I want my children to remember about Christmas over the years is not what they received but what they gave. I'm not necessarily talking about presents but maybe what they gave to those in need. Did they share their testimony of the Savior and his birth with anyone? What did they "give" to the Savior? Interestingly enough, this months Ensign contains an article about Christmas Traditions of members of Seventy. One of my favorites was one where each family member places a letter to Jesus on the Christmas tree. I think we will definitely do that one in the years to come! Most of all, I want to live my life in such a way that my children know that I have a testimony of the Savior, His birth, His life and of the Atonement. I love this time of year because it reminds me of what is most important and how I should live my life all year long!
And one more picture just because this kid is so dang cute, even if she does look half asleep!

Making a house a home... On a budget.

Ever since I became a stay at home mom, I have been bit by the decorating bug. I feel that our house may be smaller than I would like but it is our home and it is up to me to make it as cozy and inviting as possible. Only problem is, I don't have the budget to make all of my decorating dreams a reality as fast as I would like. I often ask my self why I didn't decorate the house when I had a much larger disposable income and then I have to remind myself that I was working full time, going to school full time and doing an internship! I felt lucky just to have the dishes done. Well, the first place I started was the kitchen and here is my progress so far. (Note, this has taken many months and some lucky finds as well as coming up with ideas on how to use items we already had) Above is the before picture, well there was another before that I didn't take a picture of. This one had boxes stacked on top of the cabinets and I couldn't stand it any longer. My ever practical husband however still thinks that I am wasting valuable storage space.
And here is the after, or at least as far as I have gotten. I would still like to make a wreath for the pantry door, I need to put some wood blocks underneath some of the items to give some height variance and you can't see the window but it desperately needs a curtain. However, there are other windows in the house that need curtains before this one. Now, I just have to reacquaint myself with a sewing machine (I haven't actually sewn anything since my sewing class in high school which was too many years ago to count.)

From left to right, the topiary (or whatever it is called) I bought on clearance at Tai Pan Trading. There was just a little chunk missing from the pot in the back which no one could see. I have to say that I love Tai Pan Trading and if I had an unlimited budget, I could probably have my house decorated in a week! Next, (and all along the front) I have some mini trifle dishes that I already had that I filled with these clear stones I bought at Roberts. I still need to get some of those battery operated tea lights to put in those. Next, I have a beautiful pair of candlesticks we received for our wedding. In the middle of those is one of my mom's old cookbooks. Next I have another wedding present, a cake stand, that I filled with greenery. If you wonder what I do if I need to use the cake stand, I can just take it down and wash it off and it is ready to go. On the end is another little fake plant I got from Tai Pan.

On this side, I have a vase we received for our wedding filled with some red tulips I bought at WalMart and next to it is this gorgeous platter I found in a consignment store for only $10!! It all may not look like much but I personally am quite proud of my accomplishment as well as the utilization of some great wedding gifts that would have otherwise been hanging out in a cupboard until I used them. As I find other items that will look good up here, I will add them but it is time to move on from the kitchen to other rooms of the house. My next two big projects are the dining room wall and the girl's room! I have started on both and hope to have them finished before the baby gets here. I hope to someday have my vision complete which mostly consists of a bunch of little projects. It may be awhile however because there are 4 pieces of furniture that I can picture in my head that will make my dream for my home complete. Until then, I will just keep envisioning it the way I want it to be.

Some recent pics!

Yes, it has been too long since I have posted any new pictures. And, I just realized that I haven't taken any pictures of our Christmas tree yet so the post I wanted to do about "Christ"mas traditions will just have to wait :( We have been so unbelievably busy lately that it has been hard to take many pictures. Jason has been working what feels like 100 hours a week but in reality is about 50 to 60 plus I have been trying to pick up some extra shifts for Christmas money so we honestly haven't spent that much family time together. I think the next day that I know for sure we will both be home is Christmas Eve (unless it snows). All of this said, it was great to spend some time together as a family on Thanksgiving. I didn't really take any pictures of the Thanksgiving table because honestly, I didn't have anything really to decorate with or make it all fancy and I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of food pictures. But, of course, I had to take some pictures of the little munchkin.Abby is saying "i'll be thankful as soon as you fill my cup with some of that pear cider"
MMMM... Food!
I have to admit that we did more of a simple Thanksgiving and I LOVED IT! It gets a little hard to put out some big fancy spread when it is just you preparing everything and you don't have anyone bringing anything. Plus, I am not one of those women who ENJOYS spending the entire holiday in the kitchen. I did try some new recipes that in all actuality were simpler than the traditional ones but were so yummy, they are going to be keepers! (Pumpkin trifle anyone?) Now, on to other pictures!

Here is the sweet little kid, hamming it up like she loves to do!

There isn't anything quite as fun as "playing" video games with Daddy!

Until next time, we love all of you!

I am thankful for...

First off I have to say that I DO have new pictures but I forgot to bring my camera downstairs where the only working computer is and seeing as how everyone else in my home is still asleep, I don't want to go rustling around upstairs to find it. They shall be on here shortly! But, I figured what better way to start off Thanksgiving day than listing all of the things I can think of that I am grateful for.

1. My amazing husband and my beautiful little girl. Sometimes I just feel so lucky that I married such a wonderful man and that Heavenly Father sent me such an amazing child! It is amazing the love a parent can have for their children.
2. The new little bundle of joy we are expecting in about 3 and 1/2 months! Wow, that soon already? Can't wait to meet you little one! (I have some great ultrasound pics to post of our new little girl but they, too, are upstairs on the fridge)
3. Our home, sure I can find things I don't like about it- mainly it's size but it is OUR home (more to come on this in an upcoming post- yep, need the camera for that one too!)
4. That we live in such a great country as well as in such a great period of time. Jason and I are agreed, if I had been a pioneer I probably wouldn't have survived! I'm kind of wimpy. The same is probably true if I lived in a third world country. How lucky we are to live in a country and an age where we have SO MUCH!! The only downside to this is that I think it is human nature to want MORE so sometimes it is hard to see how truly lucky we are!
5. For great family and friends I have who accept me for who I am, faults and all, and still somehow like me!
6. All of those little things in life that make it enjoyable yet we often don't think of them. Things like apple cider, a good book or movie, hugs, catching up with a good friend...all of those small things that happen that bring a smile to my face.
7. Lastly, I am thankful for the lessons that can be learned from trials. I'm not saying that I like trials or that I want any more of them but it's like that saying "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger". I have learned a lot from the trials that I have had over the years and that experience is needed to continue in life, hopefully not repeating some of my own past mistakes.

I am sure that I am missing so much from this list and I will probably think about them during the day today but this list is what I can come up with at 7:00 am. Love you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Growing Up!

So Abby has been going through some miraculous changes lately! It is like she realizes that in a few months there is going to be a baby and that if she started (or stopped) doing certain things, life would be a lot easier for mommy and daddy. The first thing that happened was about a month ago. Up until then, the specialist said that we could increase her fasting time at night by 15 minutes at a time until she reached 10 hours (they do the 15 minutes at a time because while most MCADers can eventually fast 12 hours there are some who start to go into a crisis at shorter intervals so you need to make sure what exactly your kid can handle). We had successfully made it to 8 hours! Teething and a few different small illnesses had set us back several times. Well one night she straight up refused to eat during the night. That night (and the next few) were a little stressful where I was getting up every hour or two to try to get her to drink some milk. However, she was always fine in the morning. Fortunately, she had a specialist appointment the very next week and when they examined her and I told them what was going on, they said not to worry about it. Her body was realizing that it could go longer without waking up to eat! As long is she is healthy, we can let her go 11 hours but then have to feed her immediately when she wakes up. When she is sick though is a different story. We will have to go get her to try to eat then.

On to success number two! Sleeping through the night without waking up! I am convinced that MCAD sets kids up for bad sleep habits. (That is why I HATE when people ask if your kid is a "good baby". I mean, really, is there such a thing as a bad baby? And you don't really want to explain to every stranger that you meet that your 3 month old is not sleeping through the night because she has to wake up and eat because of a medical condition). So even though Abby wasn't eating at night, she still usually woke up at least once. And then, all of a sudden last week, she just started sleeping through the night without waking up most of the nights! I say most because she has woken up a few nights but they are far outnumbered now by the nights she sleeps the whole night long!

Now on to number three! We have a potty chair here that one of the boys that I babysit was using when he was potty training. His mom told us we could keep it so I cleaned it up and left it in the bathroom. Abby has now been wanting to sit on it. A few days ago, we started putting her on it several times a day bare bottomed. She hasn't actually "used" it yet but she wants to keep trying. She has even been saying potty and pointing down the hall a few times like she wants to go use it so we take her. Unfortunately, she has already gone but she is making progress! I don't want to rush her too much but this is pretty good success since just last Thursday!

When you add all of this to the fact that this sweet little munchkin seems to learn something new every day, it just amazes me at how fast she is growing up!

"I just love being a girl"

For those of you who don't know, Abby is a major tomboy. She likes to wear her daddy's hats, play with cars and play ball. Jason even joked with the ultrasound tech when we found out that the next baby was another girl that he already had his tomboy so that was OK, (he was kind of hoping for a boy like all daddy's do, which he will hopefully get another time :) If she is ever lucky enough to live near all of her Albert cousins, she will fit right in! Part of this tomboyishness surfaced when Abby was just a few months old. As soon as she could reach the cute headbands on her head, she started ripping them off. I am lucky to get her hair in ponytails for church each Sunday! Even just brushing her hair is sometimes a challenge. As soon as I finish, she will rub her hands in her hair making it all wild and crazy! This being known, I was a little surprised when Abby started bringing me hair clips this morning and wanted me to put them in her hair. She started quite the collection so I decided to add a few more and take some pictures.

She actually left them in until they started to fall out on their own (I don't think little heads were meant for so many accessories). Hopefully this is a sign of change. Maybe, just maybe this sweet little girl will let me start doing her hair!

Blessed!

(Note: The above photo is several months old, while my husband does possess amazing beard growing skills, they don't work that fast!)

Sometimes it takes a day of not much going on to really realize how great your life is. Yesterday was one of those days. The day started out not that exciting. It was rainy, we had zero errands to run and I wasn't going to be babysitting the boys. We started the day by getting ready and doing the morning chores. Then I decided that it was the perfect day to watch a movie so I put one on while I folded laundry. I sat down with a bowl of popcorn, turned on the movie and smiled as my sweet little girl came and snuggled up next to me. Granted, she probably only sat still that long so she could eat some popcorn but I couldn't help but think about all the years to come when I can snuggle with my children on the couch and watch a movie together!
After the movie, I started putting the laundry away. Here came Abby walking down the hall, carrying a pile of folded laundry. Of course the whole pile was unfolded by the time she got where she was going but she was so happy to help, it just melted my heart!

After lunch came Abby's nap time. I love how she just wants to give me hugs and kisses before her nap. I don't know how the change occurred but a few weeks ago she went from screaming at nap time to giving me hugs and kisses then saying goodbye as I leave the room and blowing several more kisses!

A little bit after nap time, Jason called to say he was on his way home and that we should get bundled up and meet him outside. Yet another thing that melts my heart is to see how much Abby loves her Daddy and how much her Daddy loves her! I feel so very very blessed to have this wonderful family!!

As we were getting ready to go to bed last night I started thinking about all that had gone on that day and how lucky I am to be able to be a stay at home mom. Each month when I am going over the budget there is a small part of me that thinks about how less stressful the budgeting would be if I were to go back to work full time, maybe even part time. Then I think about all of the things I would miss. I would miss all of the cute little things Abby does. I would miss all of the things that she learns how to do (it seems lately that she learns a new word every day or two!). I would miss welcoming my husband home from work. I would miss cooking my family dinner and then spending the evening together. Each of those things is worth so much more than anything we could buy with the extra money I could get from working. There may come a day when I have to give these things up for things to be different in the long run but for now I consider myself unbelievably blessed!

Halloween Pics!!

Abby was a flower for Halloween and I have to say that I thought she was adorable! She loves her costume and whenever we put it on she danced around! Unfortunately it was raining unbelievably hard on the night of the trunk or treat but I did dress her up Halloween day and we went trick or treating to one house.

She finally gave into temptation. She has a weird fascination with Jack-o-Lantern lids. When we were carving them, she kept grabbing the lids and would try to eat them. I can't imagine that they tasted that good.

Trick -or-Treat!

We were done after this house because right afterwards Abby found the only mud puddle on the street and fell in. Oh well, she definitely didnt' need more candy and she had lots of fun!

Pumpkin Carving

Here we have just a few of the 20 pumpkins we grew!! We would have carved more if I had planned ahead better but now we just have Thanksgiving decorations. (I did give away 6 pumpkins). Note the pumpkin in the middle, I will tell you the story in just a minute about that one!

Abby had a ball carving the pumpkins!

So this is the pumpkin we affectionately call the "butt pumpkin". We had a little wire fence around our garden that was originally meant to to keep little feet from trampling the plants but alas, it didn't work. However this pumpkin started to grow in part of that fence, thus getting it's fabulous shape! Our original plan was to dress it up and put it on the porch but between not having pants that really fit it and the fact that it was raining so hard, we kept it inside. It is now adorning our kitchen table sans pants and shirt.

The End!