It's About Time!

That's probably what most of you are thinking! We have had a crazy busy couple of months so I'm excited to finally sit down and get you up to speed. I apologize for some of the long posts, but it's for journaling purposes. You might have to get caught up while your children are napping or when everyone is asleep late at night. Or, you might just want to look at it in shifts. There's quite a bit to get caught up on. You have to go back a few pages and it starts with the Gilbert Days parade...was that really over a month ago?? I have enjoyed reading all of your blogs and decided I had better do my part to get up to date on mine. My goal was to get it up to speed over the break so now that it's done maybe it will be easier to post a little at a time. We hope you have had a great holiday season so far and hope you enjoy getting caught up with our family!

Finally!!

Finally...we can tell you what we've been keeping a secret since we found out in
October!!











We are so excited to announce we are adding another member to our family!! We found out the middle of October but have kept it quiet until we found out everything is going ok. We had another appointment on the 18th and things looked good so we figured we should start telling people! I will be 13 weeks on Sunday the 28th. My due date is July 5th, but I will be a repeat C-section so I will deliver the end of June. Two of my sister-in-laws are also due in May and June and my cousin, Brittany, is due the week after me! I'm really excited to be pregnant with these girls! Unfortunately my SILs are sticks so they probably aren't the best people to be pregnant with since I certainly am anything but a stick while pregnant, but we are excited to have cousins close in age again. When we told Allie she said, "Allie has a baby in her tummy too, Mom!!" and lifted up her shirt. She lifts up my shirt and says, "Oh cute mom!" I told her to enjoy it, because it certainly won't be cute for long. I think she will do really well with the baby. She is always pretending to hold babies and changes her stuffed animals "diapers" frequently. She goes through quite a bit of wipes. I am excited to see how she will react to a real baby in the house. When we asked her what we should name the baby she waited a minute and then gasped before saying, "Baby Jesus, Mom!" Hmmm....maybe we could put a spanish twist on it an pronounce it Hey-Sus?? So that is our exciting news! We will keep you posted on the happenings and if I get really brave maybe a belly pic or two. Fingers crossed I won't swell as much as last time! We are so excited to be adding another child to our family and feel very blessed. We waited until my due date would be when I was done with school. Did I mention we were so excited??!!

Christmas Day!

WARNING: This is a long one. Remember I use this for journaling purposes so while you might get bored we find it fun to look back on.

We had a very merry Christmas this year. It started by watching the Disneyland Christmas parade. Did anyone else besides Matt and Lauren know Disney had this? It was our first year to watch it and Allie loved it! After it was over we opened presents. We decided since Allie was spoiled rotten for her birthday and she wouldn't remember this Christmas probably anyways, that we shouldn't blow a lot of money. Allie got a mini backpack with her name on it and Sleeping Beauty. Santa got her this cheesy tiny plastic guitar that plays a Miley Cyrus song. He must have known what a nightmare it is in the checkout line because we can't get her to put the dang thing down. Nick got me exactly what I asked for: a box of dark chocolate covered almond clusters. Also, keeping with tradition, one of the Willow statues. This one is called generations and is really sweet. Nick got exactly what he wanted too: a Glenn Beck DVD and his book "The Christmas Sweater". Nick absolutely loves Glenn Beck. We then went to my mom's to open presents. Allie got a lot of clothes (which she needed really bad) and some more books from Grandma and Rick. Chris got a Wii and a lot of fun games and controlers to go with it. He is way excited! We recently had family pictures taken at Val Vista lakes professionally and they turned out really good so that's what we gave my mom. We got...drumroll please...a new camera!! I had been asking for one so I'm so excited!! It's a Nikon P80. It has 10.1 megapixels, it can zoom up to 18x, and it has a really great flash. We liked our other camera, but I wanted one with a little more megapixels and a better flash. It came complete with a case, extra battery, and 2G picture card. There is a definite difference in the pictures we took at our house on Christmas and the ones we took with the new camera after we got it. Thanks Mom!! We love it!! After my mom's house we went to my grandma's for dinner and opening more presents. Allie got pajamas from my grandma and a baby doll with snap on clothes (so cute) from one of her cousins. (We don't do gifts as adults anymore, but the little kids draw names. It is cheaper this way and let's be honest...what do you get an adult for under $20 that they don't already have? We have all agreed it is less stressful this way.) My cute little great-grandpa was not able to be with us since he has been placed in a rehab center. ***** Way long story, but in October he was put in the hospital to amputate half of his big toe on the left side (I think that side). We finally got him home after two weeks and he did the same thing to the other foot (ripped his big toe nail off due to an ingrown toenail. He's a tough 'ole guy!) Unfortunately at 95 years old there isn't much circulation down there so he had to go back the week before Christmas and have the other big toe and the toe next to it amputated due to gangrene. Too much info for your stomach?? Sorry. Anyway, we thought we'd be able to get him home for Christmas but the care facility wouldn't release him since he was only put in the day before. We are hoping he will only be there for like a month. He has a PICC line to put antibiotics due to an infection in the incision and he basically needs to learn to walk again since both big toes are gone. That is where you balance when you walk. So we are praying hard for him and hoping he will be home soon. Poor grandpa. Up until this point he has been quite independent. We are very grateful to my grandpa who lives next door. He has been helping him live independently for quite a while now. He also has been the one to change wound dressings a couple of times a day for a couple of months. He probably has done more wound dressing changes than I will ever do. Thanks grandpa for taking such good care of him and grandma for cooking him dinner everynight!******** Back to Christmas, after my grandma's we went to the Powells and had dinner. We opened presents there too. We got a big framed picture of George Washington praying next to his horse in the snow. Nick loves this picture and has been wanting it for years. Thanks Susan and Kelly!! They also gave us a cute holiday decoration. His aunt and uncle in Utah sent us the classic Christmas DVDs and a racing t-shirt for Nick. Thanks Mark and Mel!! Allie got a teepee from grandma and grandpa complete with a matching pillow. They also gave her a toy lantern and flashlight that work, toy binoculars, and a little toy canteen. She can have a campout in her teepee now! What a cute idea! It is a perfect little fort because you can set it up fast and it folds down really nice too! She also got a little puzzle. Nick's aunt and uncle gave her a really cute warm blanket. I hope I didn't miss anything! We had a great time spending the holidays with family and feel very blessed to be so close to everyone. We are grateful for our Savior and for the sacrifice he made coming to this earth. We love our Heavenly Father and are so grateful for his sacrifice of giving his son to all of us so that we may live with him again.

Allie packed up her

presents and ran

for it!

My Christmas

presents!

Nick's Christmas

presents!

Just a little

excited...

Allie loves Curious

George!

A touch, feel, and

popup book. Good

choice Grandma!

Mine and Nick's present!

Very good choice Mom

and Rick! Thank you

so much!

Allie refers to these

two as "CamiCaleb"

all one word. She

plays with these

cousins once a

week while I

am in school.

Almost all of us!

Some had to sit

in the livingroom.

We are quite a

big bunch!

Again...not quite

all of us. But you

get the picture.

We take up quite

a bit of room.

Thanks for the

help unwrapping

cousin Samantha!

Allie is lucky to

have so many fun

cousins who love

her. They are actually

my cousins...but same

thing, right?

Quite excited about

her new babydoll.

Thanks Dallin!

My grandma makes

one of these for

each member of the

family and then

puts them on the

tree in family clusters.

The tree is getting pretty

full!

Twins with cousin

Cami!

These cute boys,

Caleb and Parker,

are only a month

apart and keep

us laughing!

This is almost all

of the grandkids.

We have three in

Utah that we miss

and a few others

had already left.

Dinner at the

Powells!! We were

missing a couple of

families.

The grandkids LOVE

uncle Taylor. He keeps

them laughing and

always is willing to

play with them. We

appreciate it Taylor!

Allie's new teepee!

Nick's parents are

always have fun

ideas for the kids'

presents. Allie

loves her little

kitchen that Nick's

dad made last year.

Allie always says,

"Silly Papa!" He

isn't afraid to get

down on the floor

with the kids and

they love him for

it!

Christmas Eve

We usually spend Christmas Eve at Nick's parents but his dad works the graveyard shift and sadly he had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas. So, we spent this Christmas Eve at my mom's house with her boyfriend and his son, Anthony, and his son's girlfriend, Rochelle, and my brother. Mom made delicious prime rib, mashed potatoes complete with gravy, fresh green beans, and a salad. She had the chocolate Godiva cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. It is flourless so we can eat it and holy cow it is way rich, but oh so good. A few of us opened gifts and we watched It's a Wonderful Life. It was a really relaxing and fun evening.

She got this way

cute reversible

coat from Grandma

and Rick...

and some new

books...

and this yummy

peppermint

lollipop!

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party!

My friends and I had an Ugly Sweater Christmas party. There were some pretty ugly sweaters. I got mine at Ross and it was like a half sweater. It was like they got bored making it and just stopped. We all agreed it would have been even better had I not worn anything under it, but no one wants to see that. It would have turned into a white trash ugly sweater party. We had it at Jaime's house and she of course went all out. She made a really yummy gluten-free potato soup and really pretty cranberry punch. She also had hot chocolate complete with whipped cream, marshmellows, and chocolate sprinkles. Allie loved it! We did a cookie exchange and my friends were nice enough to make sure all the goodies were gluten-free. Thanks ladies! You don't know how much it means to me! We also watch Elf. Will Ferrell cracks me up! We drew names so it was fun seeing what everyone got for their secret santa. Ok, it wasn't really secret, but that's what we called it. Jaime's mom is like our "Nursing School Mom" so we had to get her something. We got her a wine glass and had "Cocktail Queen" engraved on it, along with "Love, your nursing chicks" since she has been called our mother hen. Jaime made this gorgeous scrapbook shadow box of Allie looking at pumpkins for me. I love it! You are so talented Jaime! It says, "The Best Pick in the Patch". Allie is definitely our best pick in the patch.

Jaime's yummy

cranberry punch

she threw together.

Our spread.

Allie's ugly sweater

purchased from

Goodwill for only

$0.99. I guess it

would have been

cute in the early

90's with matching

green sweatpants.

My friends are always

spoiling Allie. She's

so lucky to have them.

They got her this

princess table and chairs

for Christmas. She loves

them! She likes to color,

eat, and have tea parties

at it.

We love you

Craig!

These next pictures are the ones Allie took. She figured out how to push the button. They cracked us up because apparently this is Allie's and most little kids view of the world. They see a lot of bums I guess.

This one was our

very favorite. How

often do we bend

down to talk to

little kids and give

them cheesy smiles?

Is this what we look

like to them??

School Is Out!!

Another semester is over!! I can't believe how fast this one went! I just finished Block 3 of Nursing school so I only have one more semester to go. Nick, Allie, and I are so excited. Almost there!! I hope next semester goes as fast as this one! Thanks Nick for being so supportive of everything I have done and thanks Allie for putting up with me while I'm in school. Overall it really hasn't been "stressful" as far as studying and school goes, but it's stressful trying to get Allie to the right place and get things done at home while still keeping my grades where they should be. Nick and I are looking forward to May! My friends and I got our traditional End-of-the-semster pedicures. Allie even got her toes done this time! She picked out her own color and was very proud to show them off.

Look at those cute

little toes!

Thanks girls for making

Allie one of the girls.

She loves you guys

and it makes life

so much easier

on me.

Utah Trip

We spent a weekend in Utah for Nick's grandma's funeral. Poor Nick has lost two grandpas, a grandma, and an uncle in the short 3 1/2 years we have been married. We had a lot of fun in Utah though seeing family and Nick has some fun memories of his grandma to comfort him. We kept telling Allie we were going to play in the snow. When we got there there wasn't any snow so we were relieved when it starting snowing the next day. We appreciated Mother Nature not making liars out of us. Random story, when we were driving away in our rental car from the Salt Lake City airport I saw a friend's husband. What are the odds. I haven't seen or talked to Stacey in forever, so it gave me a good excuse to call and get caught up with her. Nick had the opportunity to dedicate the grave and did a really good job. It stopped snowing just long enough for us to finish the graveside service. It picked up again right as it was ending. Coincidence...I think not. We had a really good time in Utah and hope to go again soon just for fun. Maybe then we can see friends and see family during a happier time.

Her princesses

kept her entertained

on the flight. She did

so good to and from

Utah.

The first thing Allie

did when we walked

into the hotel room

was jump in this

drawer. She had

a blast playing in

it.


Allie and her cousins

Hailey and Emma

had fun watching

the snow fall before

we left for the

funeral.

This was Allie's

first time to see

snow so she wasn't

quite sure what to

do with it. She

wouldn't touch

it with her hands,

only with her feet.

We were happy my

mom bought her

this cute little

coat to go over

her dresses. It

worked perfect

for this trip.

Thanks Mom!

This is how Allie

looked almos the

whole luncheon.

We weren't

complaining though.

**********************************************

We had a chance to see the lights at Temple Square with Nick's family. We took Trax to get there. While Allie thought it was fun riding the train it was super crowded and Allie cried almost the whole way there. It made for a really loooooooong train ride. She's only two and she's been on planes, trains, buses, and ships. Too bad she is too young to remember it. Good thing we have pictures to prove it!

***********************************************

Allie liked holding

Sasu's hand while

walking to the train.

Can you tell she

was a little grouchy

that night? She kept

saying she was cold.

Poor thing. We had

her bundled up pretty

good, but I think she

was tired.

She finally got happy

when we let her walk

and hold Emma's hand.

I hope we can always

channel her strong

personality in the right

direction!

*********************************************

When we stopped to see the Christus I was trying to be really spiritual and show her Jesus. I asked her if she knew who it was and she said, "Jesus!" I told her that Jesus loves her and wants her to be happy. She interrupted my spiritual thought with, "boobie." "What?" I asked. Then completely matter-of-fact like and totally serious she said, "He's got a boobie Mom." and pointed to Jesus. Well Allie, yes he does, but can we focus on the nail prints on his hand or something?! I knew my thought was over at that point.

******************************

Allie had a lot of fun playing in the snow with her aunts and uncles. She even threw a few snowballs herself. We built a super tiny snowman and took a picture right before Allie kicked it down. We played at a park too but it was covered in snow and ice. Allie still went down the slide. She thought it was fun to walk in the deep snow that no one had walked in yet. Silly girl.

She had a rosey nose

cheeks like Santa.

Can you even see

the tiny snowman?

"HIGH-YA!"

She kept throwing it and yelling, "Right in Mommy's face!" Thanks Al. Love you too babe.