Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

My little family had a great little Christmas. It was a little bittersweet with my family having just moved but we definitely made the most of it. We got all dressed up and went to a Christmas Eve service at Westminster Pres (where we were married). I guess because we don't make it to church very often it was incredibly special to see Lily's reactions to everything. She was a perfect angel during the service and loved every minute of it.

On Christmas morning, we woke Lily up to the sound of Brian's trainset going around the Christmas tree. She was ecstatic. There's something about a little 3 year old's reactions to the most simplest of things. She was excited the train was out, and so excited about all her new toys. Lily got a great baby care center from her Grammy. One of the gifts we got her was a new train set which I've never seen a more excited girl.


I worked hard and made homemade cinnamon rolls that morning. I'm pretty proud of myself. Everything was made from scratch. They were wonderful!

Then we went to Brian's parents house for dinner and more presents. Overall Christmas ended up being a special day for all of us.
Lily was exhausted and fell asleep in the car with her new toy.

Yes even me and Brian got presents that day also!

Christmas bells are ringing!

The Christmas Season is here and things are crazy and busy and a little sad. We have gotten piles of snow which has been a typical Utah winter (not one I'm crazy about). Brian, Lily, and I made a great snowman or actually in this case, snowwoman. It was Brian's idea to make her pregnant like me. It was quite entertaining. Lily loved it!
Speaking of pregnant. I'm about 30 weeks pregnant now. I'm really amazed I'll be holding my little boy in a little more than 2 months. We had another ultrasound and he's growing perfect. He already has some hair! I'm not a bit surprised because Lily had a ton when she was born. He weighs almost 3 pounds according to the ultrasound. I also took my Glucose Tolerance Test and everything came out completely normal. I feel very blessed that I have had such an easy pregnancy.

Well the very sad part about this Christmas is that my Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, and sister have now officially moved away to Rogersville, TN. We had a CRAZY week of packing them up and getting them into a moving truck to get on their way. They should arrive in Rogersville on Christmas Eve. It's pretty hard to not have them around anymore. We celebrated an early Christmas of food, Monopoly and presents. Brian and I are really hoping to join them in TN as soon as we can because we miss them!

3rd trimester here we come!

So now I'm officially 27 weeks along. 6 months pregnant! I'm now entering the 3rd trimester. So is it all down hill from here? I'm hoping. Everything has been going well for the pregnancy. I'm not loving the numbers on the scale but they are still less than last time I was pregnant which is something to be proud of. With the crazy amounts of snow that keep falling I am finding it hard to stay active but am doing my best to do something, workout videos, cleaning, and hopefully a walk soon when the freezer outside starts to warm up. I do feel like I'm growing so fast but I have enjoyed being pregnant so far. The woes of pregnancy haven't been too bad besides the occasional sleepless night, bad mood, back pain, and leg cramps. But I can't complain. I have a sweet little kicking boy who I can't wait to meet. I'm already nesting. I'm all ready to clean the house, put up the crib, and get out all the baby clothes but I'm making myself wait a bit longer. I do have some cute baby clothes but am so ready to go on a shopping spree for baby items. My next doctor's appointment is my glucose tolerance test, hopefully everything turns out fine with that. Brian and I have got to get crackin' on a name for this little boy otherwise he'll just end up being Baboo forever! I'm still loving Benjamin and Brian loves Mark. So we'll see where we go from there on the name subject.

I am now officially done with the fall semester! I'm so happy to have a 3 week break until next semester. I've worked hard and am hoping for some good grades. Hopefully spring semester is a breeze because I'll be having this baby right smack dab in the middle of the semester. I'm taking lower division freshman classes, nutrition, and human biology so I'm hoping for a low stress and workload.

My mom, dad, 2 brothers, and sister are moving to Rogersville, TN on December 19th, less than 2 weeks now. It's going to be hard to have them gone but I'm glad they are getting the chance to move. My dad will be the new pastor for the Presbyterian church. They'll be living less than an hour from most of my mom's family. Brian and I are hoping that 6 months or less from now we'll be able to sell our house and join them in the same area. We're hoping and praying it'll be possible!

Alright, you can stop growing, Lily

Lily has been going through this fabulous phase. I just can't believe how sweet she is. I told her the other day after a very sweet day, "Lily, don't grow up any more. I like you just the way you are." She responds with, "Mama, I'm gonna get this big," standing on her tippy toes and reaching her hands above her head. So I said, "Well if you have to grow up, just don't do it too fast, cause I like you the way you are." She is full of sweetness. Everyday I get to hear, "I love you Mama." She helps me do everything, from cooking, to sweeping, to cleaning up her toys. She makes me laugh with all her silliness. She says sorry, please, and thank you. I just want to cherish this amazing time in my life with her. I don't want her to grow up and someday not shower me with hugs and kisses. I love taking walks with her and talking about the things we see. I love to play with her in the yard and watch her imagination take flight. I love to take her to the park and see her run and climb. I love to watch her draw amazing pictures and dance until she's exhausted. I'm so excited to have another baby soon, but I really want to appreciate the time I get to spend with Lily and having just one child. Things are going to change fast and they'll never be the same again.
So Lily, try not to grow up too fast. And know that I love you forever and ever. You are my little girl, and the thing that makes life so worth it.

We've been busy

A lot has happened the past couple of weeks. We had a great Halloween celebration. Lily was the cutest puppy, actually Lady from Lady and the Tramp. She loved dressing up and being a puppy. Brian and I didn't dress up this year or carve pumpkins. I guess we've been really busy, but we made sure Lily had a good day. We took her to the library's Halloween party where Lily got to do some fun activites. Then we went home and had our annual root beer making fun. Lily loved watching the witch's brew being made. And boy did it ever taste good! Lily absolutely loved trick or treating. Everyone thought she was adorable in her costume and she loved getting all the candy. We had a little Halloween party afterward with my family. Yummy food and fun conversation. It was a great day!

I am 23 weeks pregnant now. Things are going great. I have back pain all the time but I am learning to manage. My weight gain has been right on target for how far along I am and the baby seems to be growing perfectly. He's a very active baby and loves to kick a lot which I love because I know that he's doing good. Still no luck on a name. We keep calling him Baboo but we'll think of something soon, especially when we meet him.
The fall semester is going really good. It'll be over in less than a month so everything's due around the same time. But I'm doing great, my grades have never been this good. I may finally get my first 4.0. Hopefully!


Brian, Lily and I all went to a train show at the Utah Fairgrounds last weekend. Brian and Lily are train fanatics and I enjoy it too. There were bunches of model railroads with lots of great miniature "towns." Lily got take a ride on the train outside all by herself and loved it. She seemed a little nervous to be going alone but she handled it great. Brian got a dream train set there at a great price, a very overdue birthday present with his birthday cash. It's this great Lionel starter set. Brian was like a little kid in a candy store, he was so excited. Lily loves it too. In fact I think she thinks it's hers.


After a lot of VERY hard work, I think we may FINALLY have a potty trained little girl. She's still having accidents here and there but she's out of diapers during the day (still in one at night). I'm so proud of my little girl. I truly believe that you can only teach your child so much, and when it comes right down to it, they have to decide to potty trained. That's what happened with Lily. It'll be worth it to be done with diapers til the next one gets here!

Growin'

I'm 21 weeks pregnant now. Everything is going great. It seems my tummy must be growin' quite fast because strangers are starting to recognize that I'm pregnant. We went in for our 21 week ultrasound and gladly found out that this little boy is completely normal and growing perfect. What an awesome relief to know that everything is working and growing perfectly. We also found out it is definitely a little boy, no doubt about it. I love going to ultrasounds and seeing my little boy moving around. I can't wait to meet him.

Little baby face

It's a boy!

One very awesome accomplishment Lily had was writing her name for the first time. We were going to story time and Lily decides to write on her name tag. I look down at it and see she wrote her name perfectly. She didn't require any coaching or help with what letter came next. What a smart cookie! I am so proud of her! Potty training is coming along, very, very slowly. She's been quite the stubborn little girl and I guess I have to learn to be even more stubborn than her, which isn't exactly my strength. We've had some very good days and a lot of bad days, but persistence is key! We'll keep working on it and I'm hoping in the next month to have a fully potty trained little girl.

Cheese, Please!

Baby Baboo and Mommy saying Cheese at 20 weeks.

I am now 20 weeks preggers! I am surprised at how fast this pregnancy has gone by. I can't believe I'm halfway done. Everything is going great. I have a sweet kicking little boy in my tummy who is already loved beyond measure. In a week we'll have another ultrasound with the actual technologist. Pretty exciting. Those are definitely one of my favorite appointments.

So cravings.... Say Cheese! It's cheese like 24/7. I am sure this kid's first word is gonna be "Gouda" or something. I'm constantly in love with cheese of all kinds, cheddar cheese, mozzarella string cheese, cream cheese bagels, cheesy ravioli, grilled cheese, and cheesecake. It's crazy.

We still have no luck on a name picked out, or even a few we agree on. My favorites are, Benjamin, Jesse, Matthew, Andrew, Peter, and Wesley. Brian doesn't have a list, just a lot of veto's. So hopefully when we meet our baby boy, he will name himself, otherwise he'll be baby "Baboo" as Lily calls him forever.

Everything at home is going pretty good. Lily's on her way to be potty trained. She had one really good day without accidents but it has been followed by a few very bad days. So as anyone can imagine, I'm frustrated beyond measure. But will stay focused on the goal. Lily's growing up to be quite a young lady though. She loves to run and play all day. She enjoys doing crafts and "home preschool" with mommy. I am doing excellent in school, I have A's in both of my classes. I get tired of reading my textbooks but am enjoying being in school. I am still watching kids at my house. Just one little girl for right now. Brian continues to work hard at his job, while coming home to work hard on always keeping everything in the house fixed. He keeps his hobbies alive, from model trains to fish tanks.
Lily saying "cheese"

Brian and I are trying to make a 1-2 year plan for moving out to Tennessee. My family is moving out there around Christmas time, and we are longing to join them. We are praying still for a miracle to make it happen, but it looks like we may still be here a bit longer.