Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas. Although we really missed

my side of the family, we celebrated the season, and enjoyed

every minute. The kids were up super early, and after digging

ourselves out of our driveway, we made it Grandma and Grandpa

Klein's by 9:45 a.m. They encountered another set of fun presents

there. Then, after Jake took our friends to the airport, we headed

to Great Grandma's house to spend some time with extended

family. After a great dinner, we finally headed back to our own

home, and we've been trying to figure out where to put all of our

new stuff all day today. I think we need to go through all the kid's

toys, and box up some unused ones. We had such a great 2008.

It was full of challenges, and trials, but many more blessings. How

grateful we are for that day, so long ago, when our Savior was born

in a lowly stable. I can't wait to see what 2009will bring!! I hope all

of you had a Merry Christmas. We love you all!

Christmas Eve Festivities

The kids decorated their cookies for Santa. They had a lot of sprinkles on them! I told them tey were probably going to make Santa's tummy sick!

Christmas Eve came in with a vengeance, by dumping lots of white snow, over the foot of snow we already had. At first, we thought we would have to cancel our festivities, but we braved the snow, and had a good time. It is very rare for this area to have a White Christmas. We were planning on having a Progressive Dinner, starting at our house, going to Jeremy and Monique's, and ending at Grandma and Grandpa's, but, because of the weather, we did just one house. We had lots of yummy food, and everyone got to open 1 traditional Christmas present. It was fun, and a good kick-off to the mayhem of Christmas day that followed.

Playing a mean game of Ticket to Ride, and snacking on the appetizers. (Look at Mo's cute belly! I hope I look like that at 24 weeks!)

Opening their gift. Sam and Tay both got little pony villages from Aunt Jessi

Grandma made all the kids these Christmas Eve crowns. Rohne got some jewelry too. Here he is displaying the cool Planet Hero he got from Jer & Mo.

When we got home, we let the kids open their new pajamas to wear to bed that night.

"Do you think Santa will mind if I eat just one?"

What to do on a Snow Day?

So, the news has been threatening snow for a couple days now. I was beginning to think it was just a bluff. That is until, we woke up this morning. We had a good couple inches, and it snowed the whole day. I'll bet we have at least 4 inches of new snow, and it's still coming down. Jake didn't go into work today, because of the weather. He decided to go to the store for a few things this morning, and got the car stuck in our driveway. That will be fun to dig out. . . .

Snow Angels are the best. Especially from my little Angels. Wait, are they Angels? I'd rather not say.

Because all Tay wanted to do, was eat the snow, I thought I would bring her inside, and just give her a bowl full. She thought it was great.

They do play well together occasionally. This is when Rohne was reading 5 Little Monkeys to his older sister. I tried to get it on video, but they started being too silly. And, yes, my daughter dresses herself, and it's usually not weather appropriate. She also loves to pick out things that are way too little for her, and wear them.

The most exciting thing of all, is Jake's new Christmas present. He bought it for himself, after we had decided not to get things for each other for Christmas. But, what can ya do? He has been working really hard lately, and I guess he deserves it. I guess. And, he does claim that it's something for our whole family, not just him. Can you tell what it is from the video? I bet you can!

No more paci = No more naps, Poor Me

So, I wasn't going to post about this, because it hasn't been my proudest mothering moment. And, I guess I didn't want anyone to know how slacking I really am. But, here ya go. . . We just took away Rohne's pacifier. Yes, he just turned 3, and we are just doing it now. I have had the hardest time with this, and I kept justifying it over and over. He has been so sick, he doesn't sleep very well as it is, he just loves it so much, etc. In fact, one night, we decided to take it away, had a "Bye Bye Paci" party and all, and when the crying wouldn't stop, I gave it right back. Well, I knew it was finally time when the Dr. said it could be affecting his speech. He has all the content, but he wasn't using his tongue correctly to form the words. This time I stuck to my guns, and it's been almost a week now. It has been a hard week. It takes him forever to fall asleep at night, he wakes up crying for me, and he won't nap any more. This is not an easy thing for a pregnant Mommy to take. Today, I desperately needed some down time, so I put on a Barbie movie for the kids, and laid down in my bedroom. I wondered why I didn't hear screaming coming from my precious little girl for so long. He is usually torturing her, especially when I'm not around to corral him. After my relaxation, I went out in the living room to find him zonked out on the couch. It is now 4:50 p.m., and it's going to be a long night tonight, but he desperately needs the sleep. Oh, poor paci, poor, tired Mommy.

What I have to look forward to in the coming weeks

(Warning: very unattractive picture above.)

1. Ginormous, bulging, belly
2. Horrendously, swollen, yucky, ankles, and feet
3. Wearing only sweats around the house, unless I actually have to go somewhere
4. Beautiful, voluptuous cheeks (on my face, and hind end)

5. A really pretty hospital gown
6. Nursing pillows, pads, ointment, etc.
7. Lots of pain, pushing, and medication. (Yes, I am an epidural gal)
8. Sleepless nights, crying baby, nasal aspirators, onesies, the whole deal.

BUT. . . . This is what I get in the end.

My own little newborn to snuggle and cuddle. And, babies are such a blessing!!!

Just for those of you wondering, I will be 13 weeks tommorrow, and the due date is June 25th. This was not a planned pregnancy. We were both very shocked, and it has taken me a little while to get used to the idea. I really wanted to be ready this time, but the Lord has his own timetable for things like this. We do feel very blessed that it happened so easily. I have loved ones I pray for daily, for them to get pregnant, and I sooo wanted it to happen to them first. I had such easy pregnancies with the first two. No morning sickness, relatively good energy, etc. Needless to say, this one has been quite different. I'm sick 95% of the time, and can hardly chase around my 2 crazy kids. I am really cranky, and emotional. Thank goodness my husband is so patient. I am getting fatter by the hour, I feel like, and gaining weight rapidly. I just know I am going to be HUGE with Bambino #3. Many more updates to come in the future concerning this new development.

Because I'm tired of seeing a dead rat as my last post. . . .

Here's a little Christmas cheer. From my swimming suit clad kids to yours. Enjoy!

Oh Rats!

Last night when I was taking a much needed, solitary trip to the grocery store, I got a call from my husband. It sounded something like this.

"I'm trying to get the kids to go upstairs, because I am staring at a rat right now."
"What?! A real rat? Is it alive?"
"Well, it's not moving, but it's in the laundry room, by the bed posts."
"Okay, I am officially freaking out right now, what are you going to do with it?"
"I haven't figured that out yet. I hope it's dead."
"Yeah, me too. Call me when you have it taken care of. And, take a picture of it."

So, it did turn out to be dead. We have had some mice killer down there for awhile, because we have seen traces of these little rodents. The problem with this house is that there is an opening from the crawl space into the basement, and it is right by my washer and dryer. I guess that's what you get when you live in a house that was built in the 1920's. Now, do you realize why my laundry piles up to the ceiling before I start doing it? I hate going down there!! Spiders and grimey, germy rodents are the basis of my nightmares!! Disgusting!!

Look at that gross tail! Jake actually saved it in a box for me to look at when I got home, and I about fainted. From the sight, and smell!!

Putting up Christmas

Like most everyone else in the country, we got out our Christmas decorations this past weekend. We kind of wanted to either get a fresh tree, or buy a new artificial one, because we just have a dinky, little tree. But, we decided to save the moolah, and just put the little one up. It turned out to be a good idea, because my kids have almost knocked it down a half a dozen times already, and they decorate, and re-decorate it all day long. We plan on finishing up the decorating, inside and out, in the next couple days. The one thing that made me sad, is that I can't seem to find my Christmas village. Maybe we've moved one too many times, and it got lost somewhere along the way. That was always my favorite thing to put up too.

Taylee has a very hard time keeping the little dollies on as decorations. She just wants to play with them.

Black Friday

(just a really cute picture of my kids)

I am not ashamed to admit, that I have never ventured out on Black Friday to go shopping. And. . . . this year was no different. I have no interest whatsoever, in fighting my way through the crowds, and getting the best deal. Mainly because I tend to get panic attacks in crowded areas, and we never have that much money to spend anyway. Our friends, Mitch and Mindy called this morning, and invited us to go to a reindeer village in Ballard with them. The kids were pretty excited, until we realized it was just 2 reindeer. But, it was free, and freezing cold. We ate at Red Robin afterwards, which kind of redeemed the day.

Taylee, Rohne, Cameron, and Julia

Thankful Thanksgiving

We had a good, traditional Thanksgiving this year. It started out with Jake's annual Turkey Bowl. He organizes this every year, and every year it gets more complicated, and competitive. He worked so hard on it, and it turned out really great. (Even if his team did place last. Sorry, honey!) Rohne jumped in on the photo, if you will notice he is up front next to our friend, Tila.

We decided to go watch, and just caught the last game, which was okay. Rohne loved running around the football field, and wanted to play along with the guys. Tay and I were freezing, so we snuggled right along with Jessi, who had been there since 7:30 that morning. What a supportive sister!

Here's the 3 kids eating chips, and watcing a Christmas movie.

And, here's another one with Parker, who we can't forget. What a cute kid!! He ate the whole Christmas tree empty of candy canes, I think.

I didn't take many photos of the day, probably because I was feeling very sick most of the time. Too darn much food, I guess. The table was beautiful, food was good, and the company was great. The one tragedy that we had was the turkey. Oh yes. . . . Jer and Mo decided to provide a smoked turkey, courtesy of Stan's BBQ. We ate it last year, and it was awesome! Well, we started cooking it at the designated time and temperature, and when we went to check it at dinner time, it was still cold. It was pre-cooked, but still had to be at a designated temp. in order for it to be safe to eat. Needless to say, we did not taste smoked turkey that day. When we left at 9:15 that night, it was still in the oven. Sad, sad, sad. Sharon had cooked a small turkey the day before, for some gravy, so we heated that up in microwave, and it was okay. The appetizers we ate the whole day long were the best.

We invited our friends, Clark, and Lisa to come celebrate with us. It made for a crazier house, but it was fun. Then, we decided to attempt to get a family photo, which Clark took for us. It is sooo hard to actually get everyone looking, with their eyes open, then say smile. This picture was my best one. I think that Monique's camera got the better one. Anyways, this is our family, on Jake's side. Two brothers, one sister, 2 grandparents, 2 daughter-in-laws, 2 granddaughters, 2 grandsons, and growing by the minute. I am thankful for so many things this year. My wonderful kids and husband, a loving extended family, our health and lives, Jake's job in this shakey economy, wonderful friends, and of course a Heavenly Father, who watches over us, and makes all things possible. There are many more things in my life which I am thankful, but I won't list them here. I sincerely hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Photo Shoot

We got a little sunshine today, so Jess, the budding photographer, called, and she took pictures of our kids. She did such a great job, and we had so much fun spending time with her. Thanks for the wonderful day!! Check out a few of the photos at:

http://feelyphotography.blogspot.com/

Hmmmm. . . .

Not much going on here in our household. Life is slowing down a little, at least for now. We are looking forward to the holidays. I love Christmas, and can't wait for the Thanksgiving Feast. I fully plan on putting up the Christmas tree the after Thanksgiving, if I can wait that long. Taylee and Rohne were participating in Sports Classes at the Community Centers, and they are done now. They both had a lot of fun, and it gave them something to look forward to. I never did get very good pictures of them, but you can picture Taylee as a 4 year old trying to play a real basketball game. It was fun to watch her try to figure it out. Rohne has always been a little more coordinated, and I think we might continue his class after the New Year, and get Taylee back in Ballet. We are going to be celebrating the holidays here in Washington again this year, which makes me really sad, because I will greatly miss my family. But, with Jake just starting a new job, we cannot justify the trip right now. Just so ya know, everyone is invited to our house any time!!! Taylee is still doing preschool once a week, and enjoying it. She has known all of her letters for a while, but is slowly learning the lower case ones now, and writing them a little better. Rohne is going back to the Dr. again on Thursday, which I hope will bring good news. He is forever our monster, and terrorizes his sister, and my house on a daily basis. He is (cross my fingers) sleeping a little better lately, which makes for a happier mommy in the morning. Jake's job is very busy, and time consuming, but he is quickly earning a reputation in the company as one of the best Advisors, which gives him more referrals. We miss eating dinner with him at night, but he does spend quality time when he is at home, which I greatly appreciate. I am dragging him to see Twilight with me, and I think he is actually a little excited. He probably won't be when he is surrounded by a bunch of screaming teens. All in all, we are surviving each day, and trying to make the best, and have some fun too.

Too Funny!

I miss my family a whole lot right now. Probably because the holidays are coming, and we don't think we are going to be able to travel anywhere. (And, no one EVER comes and sees us! Except you, Nat). Anyways, I know how much I love to see videos of my nephews, so here are few for you, family, to see. Not anything special, just really cute. The first one is of the kids trying to do a rap or something, don't know where they came up with that. And, the second one is Name that Tune!! Who's gonna win?

Happy Birthday Rohne! Where did the Time Go?

Rohne turned 3 last week!! I can hardly believe that he is so grown up. He has always been a big big boy, but still has been my baby in all ways. However, he is growing older every day, and I can't do anything about it. This past year he has matured in so many ways. He is potty trained, can get dressed by himself, talks a mile a minute, rides a bike, and actually plays with his sister instead of just pestering her incessantly. We love our little boy, and are so blessed to have him in our family. He has always been such a happy spirit, and a joy to be around. He is not shy, and loves to meet new friends, and try new things. I see so much of his daddy in him, which is a very good thing. Thank you for coming to our family, Buddy, we love you!!

We had a party including our family, and the Reynolds clan. It was pretty low-key, but very fun. Grandma Sharon and I made a dragon cake, because Rohne is loving dragons right now. It turned out really good, and I can't wait to see what cake the next occasion will bring.

He got so many fun toys to play with, including noisy ones to annoy his mommy with!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Small clarification

Awhile ago, I posted a video of Taylee singing the ABC's into this contraption. I have been asked by multiple people what this was. So, I decided to do a video to demonstrate.

Tay, unfortunately may have inherited my athletic abilities. I was never the most coordinated. I can run fast, do aerobics, and dance. That's about it.

Rohne is really good at sports already. If you will notice, Jake makes him bat left-handed, even though he is right-handed. He wants him to be a lefty batter, don't ask me why. Taylee is actually left-handed, so she bats the right way.

Oh, by the way, the kids have been playing swimming all day long, that's why they are in their swimming suits. This happens at least a couple times a week.

A few more Halloween things

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins on Thursday night. It was fun, and the kids enjoyed it a lot more than last year. They actually enjoyed cleaning out all the slimey stuff the best. The pumpkins turned out fine. We didn't do anything fancy, just the traditional jack-o-lanterns. There's not much creativity left in me anymore.

Tonight we attended the May Valley Ward Halloween party/Trunk or Treat. It is Jake's parents and brother's ward. We thought it would be better to spend the night with people we know, instead of going trick-or-treating by ourselves. So, the kids got to dress up again. Taylee chose a ballerina.

And, Rohne was a scarecrow. He actually kept this costume on the whole night, and only asked to take it off 5 or 6 times.

Here's the cousins, minus Parker, engrossed in a spooky Halloween story. We had a great time, and our children are still talking in their rooms, when they should be sleeping. That darn sugar high can do that to you. We volunteered to clean the church tomorrow, so it's up bright and early.

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all had a fun holiday.

The Ward Halloween Party was a Success

We decorated all day long, and needlessly stressed, but the party turned out great. There was a great turnout from the ward, as well as from visitors and nonmembers. The carnival consisted of pumpkin and face painting, cookie decorating, bean bag toss, fish pond, donuts on a string, caramel apples, and Monster Mash dancing. Our Young Women's President took on the bulk of the organization, and did a wonderful job. The kids Trick-or-Treated by searching out adults who were designated candy givers, and getting a sticker and piece of candy from each of them.

I was very proud of Taylee's hair, which took me way too long to do.

We invited our friends, Tila and Lori, as well as Monique and her kids. Tay was a fairy, Rohne, McKay and Parker all dragons, and Samantha was a butterfly. Rohne kept his costume on a total of about 5 minutes. I guess it was too bulky for his liking.

Jake dressed up as the infamous Indian Jones, and I was a spider witch. (or so the kids called me.) Just check out my shoes! I wore those puppies all night long. Thank you Sharon, for all the wonderful costumes.

Halloweens of the Past

My lovely sister, Natali, challenged us to post a Halloween memory on our blogs. I'm sad to say, though, that I think having children has seriously damaged my memory. I can't seem to remember many specific Halloweens from my childhood. Here's a few, though

-I was baptized on Halloween night when I was 8 years old. I don't know why the Stake decided to do it that night. I was baptized along with Carl Hickey, Teah Perry, and Karrie Stapp. It was a very special night, and I wasn't sad at all to miss the festivities. We didn't dress up, or go Trick-or-Treating that night, so we all went to my Grandma Hamblin's afterwards, and she stocked our plastic bags full of sugar-free sweets.

-I think I was a punk rocker 2 years in a row. This was a very popular, easy costume to make. I would rat my hair up, spray on the Aqua Net, slap on some serious blue eye make-up, and go. One year, I was very sad because I wanted to look like Debbie Gibson on the cover of "Out of the Blue." I had some stonewash jeans with a hole in the knee, and my mom would not let me rip another hole in the thigh, like Debbie had. After wearing them for Halloween, I cut off those jeans and wore them for shorts in the summer.

-I come from a small town, and when we were teenagers, Halloween meant causing trouble. (Of course Holly never took part. She was too busy having Quatro Parties at Darcy's house. Goody too shoes, she was.) We smashed many pumpkins in our day, slashed leaf bags, and egged and T.P'd houses. This was then followed by a little jaunt in Sunny's Jimmy on the Interstate to Burns Brothers. And, what we did on that ride, I will never tell!!

-When we were kids, we never walked around to go Trick-or-Treating. We would all get in the car, and my mom would drive us around to our relatives, friends, and people in the ward. We never, ever went to someone's house we didn't know. They would usually invite us in to have a homemade treat, and we would stay for awhile visiting. I remember wishing that we lived in town, because the town kids would always get tons more candy than we did.

-One year, when Ben was in High School, I was home when my parents got a call from Randy Chandler, one of the Deputies in town, telling them that my brother, and his friend, Charlie were taken into his custody. It was quite a sight to see my Dad's face get very serious, and watch him storm out of the house, barely saying a word to us, and my mom. Turns out they had decided it would be a good idea to drive around with Chuck's spotlight, and flash it in driver's faces. They blinded Randy, and he was not happy about it!!

-For Taylee's second Halloween (she was only a couple months old on her first, and we didn't dress her up), I too, wanted to carry on the tradition of homemaking Halloween costumes, like my mother did. I bought all the stuff to make a ladybug tutu for her. However, I was given an ancient sewing machine from Jake's Grandma, and couldn't make it work. So, Natali drove up from Rexburg, brought her machine, and whipped it together for me. It probably only took her 5 minutes, and I felt a little foolish. However, I did take credit for it. I glued on the pom poms, and made the headband by myself, after all! Thanks, Nat!

Come on everyone, post your favorite Halloween memories!

A Little Update

Just Rohne and Parker jammin' one night when we borrowed the Wii from Jer. Now Jake is pretty sure what he wants for Christmas. We'll see. . . .

I realized I have not been blogging lately, so I decided I would do a little update for everyone, whether you care or not!!!

1-We have been pretty boring lately, but I feel like we've been really busy. I don't know why, but I can't seem to get anything done.

2-Jake's new job is super busy, and overwhelming. And, he is gone a whole lot more than he used to be. I'm still trying to adjust to that. I need to start a project, or have regular things I can do to distract myself. Still haven't figured that one out.

3-We have a huge ward Halloween Carnival coming up next week that I really should be looking forward to, but I'm not. Since Jake is the Activities Chairman, it's just so much work to get everything organized, and it kind of takes away some of the fun. I guess someone has to do the planning, though, right?

4-Rohne has been off the shot for 6 weeks now. We went back to the hospital today, and everything still looks good. His counts have been a little neurotic, but the Dr. thinks it's just how his body works. We haven't dipped in the 200's or lower yet, which is a good sign, and he said that normal kids sometimes even run low when they have a little bug. We will check his blood again in a month, but for right now, he looks awesome!!! This is very good news for us. We have been praying for this for a long time, and it will be so nice not to have to make a trip to Children's every week.

5-Yes, I turned the big 2-9 yesterday. It was just a normal day, but we did try to make it special. I heard from all of my family, and I sooo love talking to them. And, some special friends also remembered to wish me well. I seriously think that I pulled out a gray hair today. Turning 30 will be a big turning point for my psyche.

6-And, I guess that's about it. I am wasting time because I need to prepare for Preschool tomorrow, and my house is a wreck. I'm just too tired to make myself move off of this chair.

I know, Family, you will be shocked, but I actually let my kids play in the McDonald's PlayPlace today. They had to get their flu shots, and when asking them what they wanted for a bribe, this was it. I practically sprayed them off after this, but I won't be a bit surprised when someone wakes up tonight or tomorrow throwing up. It's just how it ticks around here.

Can you tell they had a good time?

The loves of my life, and the centers of my universe.