Finally some baby bump pics!

Here I am at 24 weeks. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm not that big, but I wish I could find a picture of me at 34 weeks with Allie because I was about the same size. Plus all those wonderful things that I have come to expect from late pregnancy (ie. frequent potty breaks, aching hips, low pressure, Braxten hicks (sp?) have all started much earlier than they did in the first two pregnancies. I had a doctors appt. yesterday, though and am measuring at exactly 24 weeks and I've gained 10 lbs. (5 in just the last month) and according to the doc all those things are expected much earlier in pregnancy #3. The best part though is that I have been able to feel her moving since about 13 weeks and she is a busy girl! She loves to wake up and start doing summer salts just as I am laying down to go to sleep. I hope that habit doesn't continue on after birth!

Speaking of kids, after much thought and prayer I decided to quit my job as a voice teacher at Vista Charter school so I could be home with my kids. It wasn't that I was working a ton, I mean it was just 4 hours 5 days a week, but it was taking a toll on Tate and Allie. We had had quit a bit of issues trying to find and keep a sitter, since I didn't make enough to go pay for a daycare, and with one car Alex was getting in trouble at work for having to leave to pick us up and drop us off. But more than that I kept getting the distinct impression that I needed to quit. So just before the Christmas break I told my boss that my kids needed me more than we needed the income. He was very accommodating and understanding and told me that I was still part of Vista I was just taking a long sabbatical for however long I needed it and that I would have a job there whenever I was ready. It also so happened that about the time I got the job was around the same time that Alex injured his knee and had to stop taking shifts at the fire station. Then about the same time he got the okay to go back I felt the inspiration to quit. Not only that, but the moment I decided to quit, Alex's real estate business boomed like crazy. I know that Heavenly Father knows the beginning from the end and that we can be so blessed if we follow the promptings of the spirit.

I am so happy to be back to not missing a minute with these two little rascals, to have been able to help financially when necessary and gain some wonderful experience at work.

A special thank you to Amanda for watching the kids for as long as you did, Hillary for filling in and Rachel for taking two more when you already had your hands full.

We have been so blessed this past year! Christmas was fun, especially since both Tate and Allie understood the concept of Christmas. The kids acted out the Christmas story with Tate playing the part of Joseph and Allie playing Mary. This was Christmas morning before the onslaught of grabbing hands.

Santa brought Allie a baby doll station complete with high chair, sink, bath and bed. Tayden got a big remote control truck, which stopped working mid-morning and we had to return it for another. Luckily Santa's elves took their left over toys to Wal-Mart ;)

If it seems like they had piles of presents it's because they did. These weeds got mostly clothes this year, but still got plenty spoiled when we went to Grandma and Grandpa Cornwall's and then the following day when my parents came down toting a trunk full as well.

A few days later, with the help of Grandma and Grandpa "Roy" (my parents) we switched the kids rooms around and set up Allie's big girl bed in the "girl's room"! She was more than ready for this next step and it's helped her with her potty training. She is back to being potty trained and only needs a diaper at night and nap times. Woo hoo!

Tate was not very happy with the change, but says it's okay as long as we get him "something cool, like rockets" to hang around his room. Fair enough.

On Dec. 28th it was our 7 year anniversary. I meant to scan a wedding picture in, but our lap top died and we had to revive an old desk top so it's not all hooked up yet. I thought we had decided not to give each other any gifts for our anniversary this year, but my honey handed me a box with a beautiful diamond pendant and chain in it. I pouted a little that he had cheated, but I got over it. We left the kids with my parents and just had a nice evening of dinner, a movie and ice cream. I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful, loving, hardworking and down right smoking hot guy. He works hard to care for us and is a great father. After 7 years we are still crazy in love with each other other. I love you Alex!

New years was just a quiet night at home, oh minus the part when we almost lost Alex's parent's dog we were watching. We didn't know he could fit through the slots in the gate. Luckily Alex found him in the next neighborhood over. Then we put the kids to bed and just relaxed and watched a movie before watching the ball drop and going to bed. Nothing very exciting, but that is just fine by us. Happy 2010!

Lots of pictures!

So I thought I'd better catch up on things before Christmas. On November 30 Tayden Alexander turned 5!!!! I can't believe my baby is 5. We went up to my parent's house in Roy for Thanksgiving and through him a birthday party there (then one with Alex's family back in St. George, we gave him the presents from us on his actual birthday and then the following week had a friend party. I just have two words. Spoiled rotten!) But he's worth it. He got all things rocket, Star Wars or Lego related and was elated. This is a picture of us waiting for the train to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple square on Thanksgiving night.

This is Tate and Allie with their cousin Haley.

The kids loved the train ride there, but on the way back it was so crowded and late that whatever enthusiasm they had was pretty well gone and we all just wanted to get in our freezing toes into warm beds.



The lights were beautiful except that there weren't that many. I seem to remember every tree being littered with lights when I was younger. Maybe the church is trying to go green because even though it looks it in the picture there really weren't that many lights. It was fun anyway.

Speaking of winter wonderland. We got snow in St. George. Yes that slight frosting on the grass made my kids go crazy and at 9:00 in the morning had to get dressed up in their snow gear and go out to play in it.

Sorry this picture is side ways. This is my little ballerina all ready for her first dance recital. Her two year old class (the twinkle stars) performed to "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas". Allie is so funny because she'd only started doing the dance in class a few weeks before even though she'd been doing it at home forever. I never realized she was shy until now, but when she got up on stage she put her hands on her hips and that's the way she stayed for the whole dance. It was so cute and she was so proud of herself afterward. The video, thanks to Grandpa Charlie is posted on Alex's facebook.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Last week I went to my ultra sound appointment and honestly from the day Allie was born I knew there was a boy. So naturally I thought that this baby was going to be a boy. Then the utlrasound tech. says "it's a girl!" I just started laughing. We brought the kids along because I wanted them to be part of it and see the baby in Mommy's tummy. When the tech said girl Tate just goes "oh man, it's always a girl" Which just made me laugh harder. Poor Tate has nothing but girl cousins on both sides of the family and now another sister. He admitted though, after some prompting from me, that sisters aren't so bad and he's excited for her to come. Allie understands about as much as a two year old can and seems to think the baby in my tummy is just like her baby dolls. I'll have to scan in the ultrasound pics and post them and sorry I haven't posted any belly pictures on here yet either. It's on my to do list.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

The Secret of Happiness

"The secret of happiness consists not of having, but of being; not of possessing, but of enjoying. It is a warm glow of the heart at peace with itself - Man is the creator of his own happiness. it is the aroma of life, lived in harmony with ideals. For what a man has he may be dependent upon others; what he is rests with him alone." -Pres. David O. McKay, Gospel Ideas, p. 492

I realize it's been like a month since I last updated my blog so here's the skinny on what's been going on. Tate and Allie have pretty well adjusted to the new circumstances of our busy lives, except for Tate is still pretty moody and Allie has decided that she is no longer going to be potty trained. She was pretty well done (she still has a problem with the pooping thing) but when my sister told me that she couldn't watch the kids while Alex and I were at work anymore because her little girl wasn't sleeping except for during the drive to and from my house, Allie kind of rebelled against Alex's cousin Hillary who stepped in to take the kids. Sorry Hillary! She's cleaned up more than her fair share of accidents in the last week. Here's the kids at Halloween. They had so much fun.


Alex's knee surgery went well other than it was much more extensive and serious than we initially thought. Instead of just a torn meniscus there was also a huge chunk of cartilage that had completely broken off and was floating around his knee. So they had to drill into his bone in hopes of creating a clot to fill in where the cartilage was missing. Hence, he has to be off it for 6 weeks as apposed to a few days. And it hurts... a lot. Needless to say, he's very bummed. But the good news is he has taken a position with Salisbury Homes as a Realtor. It's a good move because it gives him a lot more opportunity to sell than where he was before.


I am now 16 weeks and suddenly just this week I started showing. Like I feel huge for 16 weeks. Work is good, but frustrating. I'm still not teaching private lessons yet. It's just been one big circle of never getting anything done to start lessons and a lot of confusion about what my job description is. Right now I'm more like the choir teacher's assistant. And in the case of this week. I've been the teacher since the actually teacher lost her voice. It's all good experiences though. School is...well going. I will finally graduate with my associates in science! Yeah! (it only took me 5 years) After this semester I'm wondering if that's as much of a degree as I'll get though. Maybe I'll go back when all my kids are in school for my bachelors.

You know that country song "it sounds like life to me. Ain't no fantasy. The only thing for certain is uncertainty." Now how do we see our lives as special and feel that peace in our hearts that Pres. McKay talked about when you and your husband are both in school, working, two kids under 5, pregnant with one vehicle that sometimes works. You know what I discovered this morning. The secret to happiness is smiling; laughing even if nothing is funny. You may look a little crazy, but it works.

"Just sell me then!"

That's what Tate told us today as we drove red faced out of the mall parking lot after we practically ran from Dillards with our two children screaming at the tops of their lungs. The shopping trip was for me to get some clothes that I could wear to work. After 5 years of not working I got a part time job as a voice teacher at Vista Charter school. I had applied before I even knew I was pregnant, but hadn't heard back for weeks and assumed I didn't get it. The call came at the perfect time, just as we had lost the income from the fire department because workman's comp said Alex couldn't do anymore shifts until he got his knee fixed. I started work last week and really enjoy it, but Tayden does not.

His behavior has gone from laid back easy going kid to moody and explosive. I know it's because there has been a lot of big changes all at once, the biggest for him being that for four hours every morning mommy isn't there. And when mommy gets home she's tired and can't play because she has to do homework. I before I started work I would do my online classes at night after the kids were in bed, but since I have to be up at 6:30 in the morning I can't be going to bed at midnight or later anymore. The last few weeks has been rough behavior wise, but this week...it's left us just shaking our heads in frustration when he says he doesn't like anyone or that we should just sell him.

So Alex and I tried to explain to Tate that even though we are very dissapointed in his behavior and he would be getting punished for disobeying and making a huge scene in the middle of a crowded mall, that we would never sell him. We tried to let him know that he was getting punished for his behavior not because we didn't love him or want him. Regardless of our efforts he spent a half an hour screaming at the top of his lungs while he sat on his bed before he finally excepted the fact that he wasn't getting out of his room.

Finding a balance is the trick. A trick I have yet to master. That seems to be the struggle most of the time though, big changes or not. Life is one big balancing act between the things we "need" to do and the things we need to do. And even though Tate can't understand it now I hope he will understand that every thing I do, I do because I love him, because I love my family. I have a hope that we'll be able to work together to find a balance and come out a stronger more united family because of it.

Our new house!

No this isn't it, but if you ask Tate and Allie it's the best part. This is our backyard and the "clubhouse"

I should take another picture because in the left corner we have a nice black hutch-type thing to put the DVD player and movies and stuff on. It's super cute and looks a lot better than that little table. I love the wood floors!

The kitchen. I didn't take a picture of the fridge, but it's like two fridges put together it's ginormous! If I could stand the sight of food I might be able to fill it.

This is the master bath with it's gold walls. No I am not fond of the gold. Painting is in the near future.

Yay, finally a real bathtub! It's a deep jetted one, but I would have been happy with just something deep enought to bury me up to my chin in.

I know this isn't the coolest picture but a real laundry room is so nice compared to a laundry closet, plus there is a third bathroom just off of it.

Allie's room. We had to go buy some flower decails to cover up all the nail holes until we can get around to filling them in and painting.

Tate's room. I tried to get a picture with it clean, but it's so big he insists on pulling out all his toys all the time. (Don't you love how his airplanes are all lined up nice and neat though.)

My room.

So we are officially moved in, well minus the bonus room attached to the detached garage. I didn't take a picture of that cause it is a mess. I thought getting the house all put together would help things settle down, but Friday night Alex came home from a shift limping and wincing. Apparently he had hurt his knee while running from a burning building caring two children, four cats and a parakeet. Yeah right. Actually he was jumping out of the fire truck and twisted it. He heard a pop and had hardley been able to walk since. We went to the insta care after workmens comp. finally gave us the go ahead and even though he still needs an MRI they're pretty sure it's a torn maniscus. So he'll probably need surgery.

I am doing good with school so far, but I am sooooo sick! I can hardley eat and because I can barely force food down my throat I have zero energy and even my daily routine of taking care of the kids is so exhausting I find myself falling asleep moments after sitting down. I don't think I've lost weight so that's good, but man this has got to start getting better or else...well I guess I can't really do too much about it, but I won't be happy.

Man we are dramatic.

Big Changes!

It's been a while since I last posted, but that's because life has been...well CRAZY! So here is the reader's digest verson:

-There was going to be an opening on St. George Fire department for volunteer who they would be hiring from in the next little bit, but there's a catch you have to live in St. George. We think to ourselves. Well if we happen to find the perfect place to move in town that is in the right spot that they'll be hiring and is also close to Alex's real estate office and the college then we'll do it. A week later we found just that. So we packed.

- About a week before the move school starts (I'm taking two online classes) and I find out...I'M PREGNANT! Surprise!

- Day of the move we find out that Alex didn't get accepted into St. George recruit camp because...now are you ready for this...because we were not living at the St. George address at the time of application. "Seriously, we are moving like as we speak." Too bad.

-To late now. So we load all our stuff into three trailers and park them at Alex's parents until we can get into our new place. We finally get the okay to move in and what do we find. A house that was not cleaned very well and a garage full of someone else's crap. And now at only 5 weeks I am already feeling sick. ALL THE TIME!

- But thanks to some very nice neighbors that suddenly appeared out of no where we got everything moved in and together with one very anti-change child (Allie) and one that loves to antagonize her I have been unpacking by day and doing homework by night.

-Things I've learned:
Endometriosis does not always mean infertility.
Do not attempt school with a needy two year old.
Do not move with said two year old when you are pregnant, you just don't have the patience.

The good news is, Allie will have settled in by the time the baby gets here and will hopefully have calmed down, Tate already has names picked out so no worries there, we have really great neighbors and the house it cute. I'll send pics when I get another second to just do nothing.