Basement-day one

Almost done...





















































In the words of Jonathan, "It's amazing how quickly you can destroy 30 minutes of work!"
OOOOOPS~Uncle Jeff accidently drilled a whole through the main DSL wiring when creating a new whole for additional ethernet wire. All was fixed in about 20 minutes, but man alive was it a hysterical moment when the drill got stuck. It severed 2 wires! <3

Thank you so much to Uncle Jeff for coming down to help us with the electrical work in the basement, and to Chris for working so hard even though he hasn't felt well. We FINALLY have progress!!! I'm so extremely excited!!!

FRUIT SNACK ALERT

Winegars on 300 N 1000 W has their Kellogg Fruit snacks (Cars, Disney Princess, Strawberry Shortcake etc) on sale for like $1.46 a BOX! Um hello awesome deal. I grabbed 4 boxes this morning while on my cereal run. FUN FUN!

birthday festivities

So today Ava and I spent the morning crying--I was busy this morning with work and she was very sad about that! We then dried the tears and got to wrestling, which led to many giggles, breaking my glasses---again, and Ava saying for the first time, "I love you!"
We then picked up Ashwey, and had her come play for a bit. Ava finally fell asleep on our way home from dropping Ash at Old Navy for her pitiful 3 hour shift--seriously Old Navy? We woke Aves at 6:15 to wisk her off to a family dinner at Chuck-a-rama in Ogden. Papa, Granni, Becca, Ravis, Nat, Aaron, Scott Min & the boys as Aves so lovingly calls them. We sat next to an intersting family--think Orange County choppers--It was so much fun! Ava opened some presents--a new dress up set--complete with PRINCESS SHOES! She also got these cool re-colorable pages. It's like laminated color pages that can be cleaned and re-done over and over and over.
When we got home, Ava asked to watch Ice Age, and Chris and I tried to clean. Chris actually succeeded, and I .... well...lost the battle--and possibly the war on the living room. *despair* Aves unrolled her princess tunnel-her gift from Chris and me and LOVES it. She immediately requested my presence in the tunnel. Love for a child-its the only thing that could get me to even THINK about putting my pregnant-or otherwise-self into a kid tunnel. I didn't last long, but I did make the effort. She laughed as we pretended to nap. Then, it was daddy's turn. Now, she is playing store keeper, and selling us Chicken noo-noos, Hot Dogs and lemonaide. I'm pretty sure she's raising funds for a new set of crayons. :) Well it's past 10, and she's still running around.

Two is officially here! I'm excited, terrified, and loving every moment of being this chica's momma.

Today my baby is 2 years old!!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAA
How did this happen? I swear I still remember the contractions--ok maybe not realistically, otherwise I wouldn't have jumped back into this pregnant state so quickly, but it really doesn't feel like two years have gone by.
She is so incredibly smart and beautiful, that sometimes it is difficult to truly believe that she is my kid!

everytime i have tried to blog in the last week, total disaster strikes. i had had HAD to note though, that today--Christmas Eve--Ava requested a hot dog for breakfast. Yes, that's my kid!

Since failing my first GD test, and dreading my 15 hour 3 blood draw test coming up this week, I decided I would cut back on my sugar intake. The nurse at my dr office laughed and said "well, don't like...eat 3 cookies the night before, but nothing drastic should change." to which I thought...is it legal to eat oreos in quantities less than 4 per sitting? Seriously. Even as a kid, it was always 4 cookies for the snack. I'm not sure how to stop at 1. Hilary made some delicious cookies the other day and sent them over with Lana. Chris got 2, Ava got 1...and momma definitely ate the rest. So, today about 11, the need hits. I have to have something sweet. chocolaty. cadbury. But, no, I tell myself. I can go without. I caved about 3:30...ran into winegars and bought the Cadbury solid chocolate balls-the Christmas version of the mini egg. GLORIA! The problem, you see, with denying your body of something it craves, is that one (I) tend to then over indulge. Ava, thankfully, took a handful of these drops from heaven and I proceeded to eat 1/2 the bag in a matter of mere moments. UGH! My body is now happy--excluding, of course, my stomach which isn't too thrilled with the sugar overload. Had I caved at the first craving...I could have easily stopped at 5 or 6...a small sampling... let this be known, deny our body and it will take its revenge...and it won't be pretty.

journal entry...thus the rambling

I kind of feel like it's been ages since I've had a real post that would hold significance for me in the months and years to come. Although, the picture posts are pretty accurate depictions of my state lately.

Where do I even begin? I'm currently in my 6 month of pregnancy with baby Simon. It seems with this pregnancy, that I'm losing my short term memory at a more rapid pace, and that "pregnant brain" people laugh about is all too present. I make the most ridiculous and bizarre mistakes every single day. Take this past Thursday. All I had to do was take a spreadsheet, separate 2 of the columns (first and last name),then add a header to specify realtor or mortgage for the CE class that we held. It took....what? 6 tries? I'm not exaggerating here either. It was truely to the point of pathetic. It's amazing to me that Melissa has not replaced me at this point. I begin to just feel not only useless, but .... detramental to our department when this idiocy strikes me. It comes and goes, and there's no telling what triggers it. I'll be a super star one moment, and a total drooling moron the next. My ability to deal with even somewhat stressful circumstances has also completely disintegrated. Thus the post of a picture with a lady screaming. I love her expression. The distress, anger, frustration and sadness all in one. It really struck me. It's that release that I wish for sometimes several times a day, to find a place and let my lungs fill with air, and then in one loud long roar --- empty my being of all the confusion and emotion--freedom is what I think she finds at the end of that howl.

I had a complete emotional derailment the other night. Ava hasn't been feeling so hot this past week, and mix that with the inability to keep any kind of routine due to the craziness poor Colton has been through and it made for one TERRIBLE TANTRUM machine. The yelling, screaming, throwing, crying...seemed never ending on this particular day. Chris came home...and she calmed for an hour. But then it started all over again....and I broke. I don't even remember much of what happened...just that Chris took her upstairs while I sobbed in the chair downstairs...and then I walked upstairs and layed in bed completely numb. I woke up the next day...and the numbness hung around for most of the day--and it really scared me. Thankfully, it has been subsiding. I almost feel as though I have no right to be overwhelmed, or stressed out, because my baby is healthy and my little girl is healthy...and I see the trauma that Angie and Matt and especially Colton and Madison have been through the last week and I think--be grateful and pull it together already! GA! Pregnancy and rationality don't mix at all with me unfortunately. Let's remember this the next time I think I'm ready to be pregnant again--there is no emotional stability and rationality is thin as well.

It's almost 12am. Chris doesn't want to leave the door unlocked, but we didn't give Sarah a key, and she's out. Uh I hope the guy that took her to the Ward Party didn't wreck or kidnap her. I think I'm going to call and be like...uhhh I have 9 am church. COME HOME so I can sleep. --ring. --ring. --aaaaaaaaand she's at this party and stuck there until he feels like coming home. great. What happened to 12am is now the sabbath and you should be home? Seriously...ward activities going into sabbath? Wow--ladies and gentlemen I have become my father. It's seriously time for bed. I'm taking my phone with me. So that she can call when the idiot guy brings her back and I can stumble down the stairs to let her in. ugggggggggh. college kids.

Please keep Angie's baby, Colton Matthew "Flash" Black, in your prayers. He's currently in the NICU at Ogden Regional, due to heart and thus breathing complications. Madison will be here with us until things improve. Thank you!

basement tips
So-when Chris's semester ends in 2 weeks--we are going to race to finish an office area for him to have next semester. He is going to finish the electrical himself--since he's learned how to through his classes--and we have the insulation just sitting in the garage waiting to be thrown up.

The part that scares me? DRYWALL. I've heard nightmare stories about the mudding/taping process of the drywall. For anyone with tips, experience, a willingness to donate their body and time to helping us--or any referrals to a seasoned dry-waller who takes on smaller jobs, and isn't going to give me an estimate that is sure to throw me into hysterical laughter would be so appreciated.

Thanks!

donuts, pizza, other various bribary items will be provided to those who would come out to help. This is pretty much my gift to Chris for Christmas/anniversary...so I'm not above begging.

So Wednesday, Val flew in from Portland. Her flight came in at 10am. And by 10:30 I still couldn't find her in the airport...and realized that I couldn't remember her phone number. I had her paged haha so fun! Note to self--devise a plan for these things. She'd been outside thinking I'd just do the passenger pick up thing since she didn't have luggage. It was so awesome to see her. She loved loved LOVED the mountains. Too bad the air was so thick and dirty that the view was severely tainted. Anyway...we went home to drop things off and headed to the smart style to get our hair done. Hers turned out awesome. red with some blonde highlights...and we'll not talk about mine. I'll only say that the whole experience has cured me of paying $80 on my hair. Ava was so good the whole time. She was tired, but didn't throw a huge fit or anything. I was very proud of her. She passed out on the way home and stayed out for about 3 hours.
Madison came over about 3-so that her mom could go to her dr. appointment. Val and I made brownies with caramel and pb layers mmmmmmmm they were SO ridiculously awesome. Then, we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that were equally amazing. I love Val's baking. We went out for dinner-since Val is a vegetarian, and I can't seem to create dinner without using chicken. :) We got SUSHI! We went to this great place in Ogden. The enviornment was awesome, but for being the only people in the restaraunt, it took forever. I realized that for me to enjoy sushi, the salmon must be smoked, because completely raw makes me gag. This was my 2nd sushi adventure in my lifetime. The kind Chris got--vegas? was really awesome. The cost wasn't too bad either for 4 of us to eat.
Thursday we got up and made pinapple stuffing and yummy yams. We then took the super long way to Salt Lake through the Canyon so that Val could see the mountains. It took us like over an hour, but it was great. We had dinner with my family and had a fabulous time. While perusing the Black Friday ad I noticed that Shopko was open till 8pm that night and had a 40 peice Mr*Mrs Potato head set for $9.99. Can we say SCORE? It's usually like $40 --insane. So I ran out and bought it right then. Friday morning we took Val to the airport and dropped her in time to literally RUN to her gate and just barely make her plane. I'm great at goodbyes. We then drove straight to St. George to spend the rest of the weekend with Chris's family. I'd been in St George for about 10 minutes when I started crying like a 5 year old that my best friend was gone. I'm not sure why it took so long to hit me, but it did. Pie dulled the pain fairly well.

I'd have to say that the "sales" really disappointed me this year. Nothing seemed a good deal. I'm a really picky shopper of steals I guess...but hello, there's no reason for a wagon to be $100, or a copy of the wizard of oz to be $60-as Hilary informed me today. WHAT THE CRAP?

I will say, it was awesome to make the trip to St George for only $30 each way for gas. Yeay for it only being less than $20 to fill my Saturn.

so today i worked very hard in my yard. I cut back my mums, weeded, put down special dirt, and did mulch in the back. Special thank you to my fabulous neighbor Hilary for sharing their dinner with my family. Not only was it ridiculously delicious, but without it, my family would have surely starved, because I cannot move. My over-achieving attitude towards the flower beds has resulted in a soreness I have not ever before known, right to the hands even aching. And of course, there is not a Tylenol to be found. UGH! The saddest part is...I didn't even finish yet. I ran out of the special soil before I finished the front, and from how much mulch it took to do the back bed, I'd say there are about 6 more bags to do up front. I will say, however, that I know it will be worth it. The back looks SO much better. SO much better. And...hopefully, my bulbs will bloom in the spring. I planted tulips and some other flower I can't spell. Thanks to Mary for her bulb food--now they won't starve during winter. Thanks to Chris for helping me up the stairs tonight when I got about 6 from the top and pretty much decided that's where I would die. *yes, I am a bit of a drama queen*

Val flies in at 10 am .... wooooooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooo! Get ready for some serious shenanigans.

p.s. the house is still a mess. ga! one back breaking--literally eh?--task at a time I suppose.

THANK YOU!!! for calming me down and for the referrals and raves of your docs and ORMC experiences.

I am a carters/oshkosh fanatic. I get coupons all the time. I wasn't sure if any of you out there are fans, but here's a coupon that you can print out and take with you to carters.
There's a new carters store on RIVERDALE ROAD, right next to Dress Barn.

And if you fancy a drive to Park City, Draper or St George to visit the Oshkosh be sure to take this coupon for some extra savings.

I have mondo work to do. Chris and I have been wanting to go see the new Bond, and have plenty of offers from people to watch Aves, and I think we're finally going to go tonight. If the stars all align ;) we might just have a date night...

Ok I need some serious input here.

My current OBGYN is an IHC doc. I had Ava at McKay Dee-in my opinion, one of the cleanest, most beautiful hospitals ever, with one killer cafeteria! I love them and have always received top notch care when we go.

Our company's insurance quote for 09 went up 12%!!!! So, they are voting between staying with the current provider--and employees--rightfully so--absorbing the cost, or switching to a new plan, which does NOT cover IHC facilities or doctors.

Not only does this mean I have to switch doctors in my last trimester--fun fun--but I CAN'T DELIVER AT MCKAY DEE!!!!! I'm a hospital SNOB. I admit that right off. My options: Davis or Ogden Regional

I went to see Kira when she had Jayden at Davis, and was disgusted by the room. It was dirty and dingy and about 20 years old. I realize they've had some updates lately and are rated for their maternity care, but the one time I was taken there for ER visit, I left with a bladder infection and UTI, and no, I wasn't admitted with either. Also, instead of sending my insurance company a bill, so that they could get paid for that ER fun--they threw me straight into collections. Not a great experience.

I have never been to Ogden Regional so I don't know anything good or bad.

So if you've delivered either place, please give me your experience. Give me a referral of a GREAT OBGYN. I have to have a c-section, as Ava was delivered that way, and I don't want to chance tearing my scar from her birth. You can email me if you don't want to leave it here.

Company input is supposed to be submitted by tomorrow on our votes for either taking the increase, or switching...yikes.

Ava was playing in the bath for about 45 minutes today. I usually heat the water a 2nd time and then once it goes cold, it's over. She would stay in the bath all day if I let her. I pulled the plug and brought in a towel. I asked her to stand up (as bending over isn't one of my specialties anymore) and she definately laid belly down and continued to play. I laughed and when the water was all out, threw the towel on her and said..."where's ava?" She laughed and didn't come out. So I walked out to the hallway, waited a minute, came back in and said..."where's Ava" there was no response. I walked closer and heard a rumbling....the towel moved up and down slowly to the rhythm of her SNORES! she had fallen asleep in the bathtub.

Considering she had been up since 5am I can't say that I was TOO surprised, but still...it was a little shocking that in the minute I was in the hall she had passed out in an empty bathtub.
I picked her up...she still snored.
I carried her into her room...snoring continued
Pulled off the towel....snoooooooooooore
Put her into her bed...eyes SHOT open and she screamed ...NO I PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

She has been up since. I even took her for 2 car rides thinking if she'd been SO exhausted as to fall asleep in the empty tub that she'd surely fall asleep in the car seat...but no. She's been playing and all over the place not showing even the smallest sign of the energy ending. I've heard power naps can be amazing...but a 2 minute power nap? She did, however, bring me a blanket and took my glasses when we were watching "toons" and said "mommy a nap! shhh night night" I was so extremely tired that I almost took her up on it....but the whole...wow that's a BAD idea kept me awake. It's now almost 5pm....long long LONG day...the minute she crashes...SO AM I.

end of my sanity rope

Ava has been getting up between 5-6am the past couple of weeks. She only sleeps about 9 hours a night now, which means I get between 6-7 on a good night where she isn't having bad dreams, and the baby isn't kicking my bladder fiercely.

This morning, Chris was so sweet and took her downstairs until 8 so that I could get in extra sleep. He needs the sleep more than I do, as he's coming into the last 4 weeks of the semester, but he did it anyway. He is amazing.

It's now almost 11am and I'm feeling about 2am. HOW DOES SHE DO THIS?!?! I realize she gets a long afternoon nap--generally 3 hours--and I don't...but still....ga!

How do I get her to sleep until the sun comes up? Any creative ideas? I can't do this much longer.

Good news! Ava's runny nose is all better! I took those smelly boots back to Charlotte Russe, and Ava is all better now. YEAY! for no cold.

She is, however, becoming more and more anti clothes & anti diaper. We had a huge battle last night after her bath. She wanted to go to bed in her birthday suit. I finally gave up thinking I'd wait until she was asleep and just put a diaper on her. My first attempt was pathetically unsuccessful, but about midnight, she was out enough that I could get it on. She came in about 8am asking for fruit snacks and said "NO ELMO!" and pulled off her diaper. *Sigh* Any advice on how to get through this phase? She's terrified of sitting on the toilet seat that we got for her, but recognizes that is where she is supposed to potty and loves to flush, but won't sit there. I haven't really forced the potty training issue--and crap milk spill all over the couch.

new postage

after a slight hiadus i've become a posting machine. anyway..chris is currently vaccuuming since I'm not feeling well, and Ava's hanging out nakey in her Thomas chair as a protest against clothes and diapers. Ahhh toddlers.

I just heard that the new marketing laws for Title companies have been passed. We have 45 days to put it into effect. Mixed emotions. It's weird. I've known this was coming for 5 or 6 months now...and it's here. Will I continue to do odd jobs with Inwest; will I do a part time gig elsewhere; will I cease being an employee all together and be only mom? many questions...with answers yet to come.

also.. a bit random but a slight need to celebrate. As of Friday's car payment, our car loan is UNDER $7,000!!!!!! woooo hoooooo!

have a good laugh

ava had a rough night last night. no fever. but a very congested little body. about 5am we put her in a bath and gave her Benadryl. then, she did the cutest thing....she closed her eyes, folded her arms and started a prayer. she rattled off bless hayden, and madison, and lana. and play wis madison and hayden and lana. amen. she did this 3 times during her bath. she was really wanting to feel better so she could play with them later. she fell back to sleep about 6 and got up at 8 and is running around as if she wasn't up all night. i barely got out of bed. i had a pile of work waiting for me too-joy! she is still having some nasal congestion but i think it might be an allergy to those stupid boots i bought at charlotte russe. they smell like gasoline. my whole house reaks now. i think i'm going to take those back--it's not worth it man.

CHEEEEEEEESE

We got online access to view our family proofs. We haven't decided on which prints to get. They can swap heads--weird!!! get rid of Ava's resemblance to Pebbles Flintstone's hair and make me appear less "biggest loser contestant" hahaha which is awesome. We won a free sitting...and I have a $100 gift certificate so woot!

here's the link if you want to see them

www.mpistudios.net/cope/index.html

The bow for Ava provided by Hilary! Thanks again!!!!! It was so perfect

THANK YOU

The shower went well! Thanks to Rena, Jan, Dorothy, Mary, and Wendy for coming out to the shower! It was so much fun and it's was so great for you to meet Angie. Your gifts were adorable! Thank you Thank You THANK YOU for helping to support her during this time! I'm sure little Matthew will look absolutely adorable sporting all his new comfy cozy clothes.

Thank you to my mother-in-law who helped me get everything ready, ran errands for me and then stayed after to get my nursery all set up. The Blue room-as we call it, has gone from catch all junk room to a cozy nursery for new little guy. Without your help mom, I'm sure that room wouldn't have been ready until he needed to move in. Ava walked in there today and said, "ahhh cuuuuuute!" which in and of itself was way too adorable for words.

Thank you to Mindy for having a play date for Ava yesterday. I dropped her there about 4:30 and Chris got her about 8. She had a BLAST with her boys-Caydon and Davis and crashed on the way home. She woke up so happy and ready to tell me about their adventures...although she's so excited that I didn't understand much of it. It was nice to know she was having fun and being well taken care of so that I could focus on things here. Thank you!

And now....breakfast.

Katherine Tagged Me...here goes












7 random facts about me:

1. I can pop my toes without touching them and do it habitually about 7 billion times a day
2. When I am singing in a group of people I like to sing the tenor line up an octive. My choir director in college--Ms. Meg Chapman had me do it in Nearer my God to Thee and I've been addicted ever since. It's so awesome.
3. I had my first real growth spurt at 18 while in college. I grew 3 inches in a summer. finally passing that 5' mark
4. When I was a teen, I would pray for boobs. I mean, every night. My sister got them at 14, and by 16 I was still passing as 12. Well ladies and gents, be careful what you pray for! Height isn't the only thing I got in college.
5. 2 of my teeth are fake. I had "peg" teeth, which means they only grew in 1/2 the width they were supposed to and died. I pray every night that Ava gets Chris's teeth--even though they are HUGE!
6. I am double jointed in my thumbs and can bend them all sorts of disgusting ways.
7. last one..hmmm better make it good. I belong to a band that doesn't really exist. It's called 2 SHORTIES AND A MORMON. It was formed my junior year of high school of myself and my 2 best friends. at the time we were all about 4'10-4'11. We were inseparable. Our friend John created the name. One of them, VAL, is coming to my house for Thanksgiving. It'll be the first time I haven't seen her since my wedding reception in 2005.


The seven people who I tag are Becca, Nat, SaJ, Travis, Leah, Blake, and Kira.

Angie's baby shower is tonight at my house. 7pm. Please Come!!!

yesterday was my 20 week ultrasound. Simon is very healthy and very big already. He's already 14 ounces. His tummy measured at 21 weeks 5 days--the biggest part of his body--a whole week larger than the rest of his measurements! Chris was sure that the head would be the largest, since his noggin is above average in size ;) Ava has started grasping onto our statements that Simon is in my belly, and sometimes will lift my shirt, hug my tummy and kiss it and say HI SIMON! It is SO adorable <3

I want to take a minute to brag about my friend Ash. She moved here from PA with nothing but motivation to work herself ragged to become debt free and become the owner of her life. She's been out here a little over a month and is now working 2 jobs--average 60 hours a week. One is days and one is graveyard. She picks up any and every extra shift she can and is literally working harder than she has in her life. Her goal is to have her debt gone by late spring. She's spending 6 months of her 24th year of life working like crazy, so that the next 80 years can be free from the stress of payments. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! Not many 24 year old cute girls would sacrifice family, friends, dating to become the owners of their lives. She is literally spending nothing so that she can get out of this mess ASAP! I am so proud of her. I wasn't excited about how she was coming to Utah, but she has proved to me, as well as everyone back home, that she meant business when she packed her bags and headed out here. She's fighting for her financial freedom...and is winning every single battle! Ash-you inspire me!
Thanks for embracing the nerd in me, and for giving me the privilege of being your accountability partner! I'm excited to see you pay off your first debt next month, and the next one the month after that...and scream with you the day we both become debt free!!!! Your life will NEVER be the same...and the memory of exhaustion that it took for you to get debt free, is VERY likely to keep you from slipping back into it. wooooooooooooooooooooooo hoo.

Things that make the preggy pessimism fade...in no particular order

• The knock on Ava's door every morning followed by "hewo??" and a big hug when I open it!
• The hugs from Chris when he gets home from work
• Surprise visits from Chris during the afternoon
  
• The huge hug I get on the mornings that Chris gets Ava and brings her to me, because I have no desire to leave my lumpy mattress--despite its lumpiness.
• Sunny days that mean Ava and I can venture outside for extended periods of time shoeless
• Lana and Hayden's greetings to Ava anytime they see her...big hugs and lots of energy and excitement to tell us all about their exciting adventures of that morning.
• Phone calls from Chris --his voice always soothes me.
  
• Random and totally sweet kisses from Ava. Sometimes she grabs my face and lays one on me like she's from a 1940s movie...it's so hilarious and totally sweet.
• Angie, Becca and Mindy being farther along than me...and therefore totally with me on my ironic and somewhat dark sense of humor that I have whilst pregnant.
• Ava singing "I am a Child of God" and telling me that I can't sing with her.
• Ava instructing me with an intensely furrowed brow "NO! A NICE!"
• Ava insisting that I "SEEEET DOWN!" next to her while she colors, eats, and doodles on her doodle pro...she loves to have my attention.
• FALL LEAVES!!!!!
• Dave Ramsey podcasts that aren't about government bailouts
  
• Feeling my baby move...even the kicks to the bladder aren't all that bad.
• a million other things that I'm too tired to remember. Mostly, this is for me to look up on days, hours, moments when I'm not feeling so swell.
  

Paper clips are officially banned from my house

Ava got up from her fabulous 4 hours nap--i love the fall by the way--and started playing. I was getting set to start up dinner, when she ripped off her diaper. So, we played the put the diaper back on game.
What I didn't realize...is that she had found a jumbo paperclip and had been hiding it in her mouth. She started choking when I put her down on the floor to put the diaper on. I flipped her over and started the whole "SPIT IT OUT!!!!!!!" routine. Usually, she does. In this case, she continued to choke for a good 4 seconds--which is painfully long in terms of choking. Then, it stopped...she looked at me for a moment got up and started running. I looked and looked for senior paper clip and he was NO WHERE. She SWALLOWED HIM!!!!!!!!

I had no idea how large the paperclip was, since the only time I saw it, was when it was 95% down her throat! We phoned her doc and they told us not to feed her anything, in case it got stuck somewhere or it may have been untwisted somehow when she swallowed, and to take her straight to the hospital. Chris took us to the ER and they X-ray her. It safely made it to the stomach and we were told to feed her and bring her back in the morning--or if she started to freak out. She was starving by the time we left the ER as it had been about 8 hours since she'd eaten or had anything to drink. She ate pizza AND noo-noos and milk and slept soundly. We took her back today and it's now in her colon. I suppose this is good news, as it looks like it will pass. They said if it had been any larger, they would have had to take it out with a scope--ewwwww.

p.s. the paper clip fiasco...happened right after I vacuumed my living room. Irony?

Eight Tag

Eight Tag

8 T.V. Shows I love to watch:

1. HOUSE
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Lost
4. Law & Order
5. HOUSE
6. Little Einsteins
7. Between the Lions
8. Micky Mouse Club House

8 things that happened yesterday:

1. Budget meeting with Ash to update her bill progress.
2. Riley brought me the food of the gods--cinnamon pull apart bread that her mom made
3. I made rice with 1 cup of water instead of 2...making it totally uneatable
4. Drew pictures with Ava
5. Tweaked my December budget--I'm a massive budget nerd
6. Loaded the dishwasher
7. Ignored the obvious need my carpet has for a good vacuuming
8. accused morgan of stealing my ultra fine point sharpie 23 color set...i know he did it!

8 favorite places to eat:

1. Ciotti home--haven't been there in YEARS
2. G & Pap Mancini home--also many years, but man the memory won't fade.
3. HDS in PA...the best kraut dogs and chili cheese fries in the whole world please come to UTAH
4. Sandi's house (my inlaw's) it's always amazing
5. The Prairie Schooner-so so yummy and I can actually hear what Chris says.
6. Red Robin-they custom make me a Buffalo Chicken Salad
7. Russ's house, because I love that house and secretly and openly covet the floor plan
8. BRUSTER'S ICECREAM

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. CALLING DAVE RAMSEY AND SCREAMING...I'M DEBT FREE
2. fall continuing...i like not having to use my AC or heater for days at a time. keep those utilities low
3. Trick or Treating with Ava and the massive tummy ache she's sure to incur
4. Finding motivation to cease ignoring my carpet's need for a vacuum
5. VAL COMING OUT FOR THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!
6. BLACK FRIDAY SALES
7. this migrain ending
8. Not being pregnant

8 things on my wish list:

1. Life without a car payment
2. A pair of black or brown flat boots that don't say "cowgirl" or "Indian" to wear in winter
3. Chris to graduate!!!!!!!!
4. A ranch style home with open floor plan and main floor laundry room
5. Better house wife skills
6. A date with my husband
7. An Osh Kosh outlet within sane driving distance aka in Davis or Weber county
8. A 350Z for Chris

Well, we made it! We had a great time in Montana with my grandparents. We hit I -15 about 2pm on Thursday, and pulled into their driveway about 9:30 that night. We made 3 stops on the way to let Ava, Chris and myself stretch our legs and run around a bit...also to gas up the SUV. It was a really pretty drive, and didn't feel as long as I thought it would.

I'll update with pictures soon with our adventures. The ride home was only 6 hours, because we only made one stop. Having the DVD player that Matt lent us, really made the trip MUCH easier on Ava. She watched Carebears and Veggie Tales--veggietales was her favorite though. She wasn't much into the Barbie Diamond Castle movie we rented--the sound was too low on the DVD to really hear it. SAD.

We are happy to be home! We stopped by Chris's folks house on the way home, and Ava got to play with her "boys" Caydon and Davis...her favorite people in the world. She played cars and horses with Davis and Caydon read her some stories...it was a really nice break for her to have some fun time with her favorite cousins and for Chris and myself to see his fam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to DAVIS-who is 6...and my MOM who is "29 for the 23rd time"-direct quote from my dear mommy.

Missoula

So I've
cleaned the kitchen
completed all laundry
vacuumed out the car
packed up clothes for chris and myself
purchased trip food and ice
bagged up food into ziplock baggies so that they are trip friendly
attached the dvd player donated by Matt and Angie--THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

to do:
pack ava clothes
crap!! run dishwasher--should have started like an hour ago
pack stroller
pack cooler
loan cooler into car
check oil-fill if needed along with wiper fluid if needed
redbox movies for ava-word world anyone?
vacuum living room
close and lock windows
shut down electronics
give hil a key.

crap my to do list...is still longer than my already done list. I need a vacation from preparing for the vacation.

Yeay for hilary and rants

Today has been an extremely stressful day. My abililty to handle said stress, by the way, is ever more diminishing, only making the ever growing stress, seem all the more---stressful.
Thankfully, Ava took her nap today without any coaxing. I have been so busy. Due to yesterday being Columbus Day, most of our clients came in to work today, thinking...gosh, I need me some leads and county info...and I got SLAMMED. Everything was needed by the end of the day...or end of the hour...and of course that meant that none of my programs wanted to function, resulting in the restarting of my computer about 15 times today. GA!
END RANT

Props to Hilary who took about 30 seconds to fix my blog. Wow. Seriously. I played for days..and I mean...about 4 hours total trying to fix this stupid thing, and 30 seconds at her computer and it was back to being not boring. She's amazing. I'm pretty sure she has magical powers. It explains everything.

Chris is in charge of dinner tonight. I can't possibly handle anymore stress. We're leaving for Montana this weekend, and he almost wasn't able to come with us--yes this is why my day felt so stressful, because I was thinking...oh goodness a 7 hour drive with Ava all by myself. Or the $1200 ticket to Montana. SERIOUSLY??!?! it's a 1 hour flight. WHY IS IT $1200?!?!? If I go in two weeks it's only $400. What's the line in Toy Story 2? You are seriously taking advantage of people in a hurry? my gosh! What a racket--I mean REALLY!!! Shouldn't they WANT to sell the empty seats?? Shouldn't the price go DOWN the closer to the date you schedule? I mean...given the option of leaving Thursday for $1200 or in two weeks for $400, I think you're goin to have one very empty seat. GOSH!
END RANT #2

Laundry
Clean out Car
Pack clothes that are able to become smoke filled without remorse--my g-ma is a chain smoker
Get Snacks
Fill Gas tank
Kill the fly that keeps appearing
Rent DVDs like MAD for never ending road trip
...

yesterday i made a batch of rice krispie treats, and ate more than 1/2 the pan myself. today i'm making chocolate chip cookies. danger will robinson...the sweet tooth has set in. Baking is occuring on a daily basis. I was flipping through my better homes and garden cook book going...mmmm cheesecake brownies, maybe I'll make those tomorrow.
My mother-in-law makes the worlds--and i mean hands down--the world's best chili. she made it for conference sunday and i had probably 4 bowls. I've been craving it since. There's nothing like a bowl of Sandi's chili on a cool fall day. I think Becca and I out ate our hubbies that day. I want more!!!
Ava wakes up about 7am these days and immediately wants to go outside to play. She walks right up to me and says COME ON!!! and grabs my hand. Unfortunately I do not function properly before 9am. Yesterday, Hayden came over to play. It was really nice for her to have a friend here. I could work guilt free. They played blocks and colored and danced to Billy Idol. Today, ava went running out the door. I followed closly behind as she walked around the corner, and up the street, turning down Hilary's street. I asked where she was going. She said "Hayden House!" She knew which one it was!!! She walked right up to the door and knocked. We played again for about 45 minutes and then left for lunch...because I was suddenly starved at 11am. WEIRD! They play so well together. I love it!!! oh COOKIES are done! want a plate?

SAVE THE DATE!!!

WHEN: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28th
WHAT: BABY SHOWER FOR ANGIE BLACK
TIME: 7:00PM

Angie is having a baby boy in December. Her due dates keep changing, so I'm not sure the exact date.

Come join us for an awesome time! There will be a game or two, but not to the annoying extreme.

She will be registered--most likely WalMart, Target, BabiesRUS...the usual.

You will receive a real invite, just wanted to put out an announcement. If this is a bad day for ward activity reasons, someone please clue me in and we'll reschedule.

I've never thrown one of these, so if you have tips, please feel free to share them! <3>

taggety tag tag

I was Tagged!

I was taged by Mary.

1. I am left handed-but play sports with my right leg, arm, hand etc


2. I met my husband in PA while he was serving a mission. My boyfriend at the time would go out on splits with him. My BF came back one day from splits and told me that I would marry Elder Cope. I said "Ugh first of all...no. he's a missionary and that's just weird! Secondly, he lives in Utah, and I'd never live there!"


3. When I was a little girl I would pretend to be Debbie Gibson and watch her live concert over and over. ELECTRIC YOUTH!


4. I do not eat fish unless it's prepared by my father-in-law. I hate fishy foods.


5.I do not like to take time off of work. Even though I have like 3-4 weeks of PTO hours built up, it really bugs me to know that I could be bringing in more money to pay off my stupid car, instead of ....

6. I'm very anal about keeping Ava's nose clean. I worked at a daycare and got my fill of gross runny noses. I can handle the pewk and the poop, but the snot makes me sick!

7. I love to dance with Ava to Billy Idol. I turn it on my itunes "Dancin with myself" and she grabs my hands and says DANCE! it's so fun!

I tag hilary, bec and nat--copy and paste and fill in the sentence...!

god news minute

CONGRATS to my Inwest BFF and boss-Lissa lou--she got engaged to her beau, Justin this weekend!!!

CONGRATS to Ashley for getting hired on at Target full time for her 2nd job. This will mean she can really roll that debt snowball into a monstrous avalanche of debt destruction.

GOOD NEWS ALL AROUND

Ultrasound photos by Fetal Fotos in Salt Lake 16 weeks 5 days

SIMON HEINER COPE

my new pregnancy obsession

So I haven't had much to write that is nice lately, so I haven't written at all. I'm thinking my very bad mood is mostly due to a lack of adequate sleep. I've been really struggling all weekend with Chris, and I don't like to vent about it, because the majority of things said in irritation aren't usually true, nor are they helpful. This morning, the garbage man stopped at my house and honked like 10 minutes, I finally got up and went to the window to see who was honking and why. I was so embarassed. I had asked him to take it to the curb yesterday, and figured since he was gone this morning to class, that he'd take it out on his way out....but no. The can was about 50 pounds...thanks to us forgetting to put it out last week and about 1/2 of it was full of water from the rain we had last week. This only adds to my pregnant psychosis anti husbandness. I am grateful for that garbage man honking and hanging out until I got there, because our can was very full and oh so not sweet smelling. To Chris's credit, he has been rather ill this weekend. He stayed home Friday and lived on Nightquil-D(the good stuff with psudophedrine) to sleep it off. It's just made the weekend extra long for me as I had no help--resulting in this

On a high note, Ava has slept in her toddler bed for 3 nights now. Naps are still not successful as of yet, but we'll get there. Don't get me started on the toy box.......stupid piece of chinese made CRAP!

UPDATE!!!
Nap time in the new bed has been accomplished. It was a battle, just like the first time in the crib...but she is asleep in the bed with a blanket...and she did it all by herself! wooooooot!

funny moment

So today, Ava chose to wear a bright blue onsie with pink pants. About 2 hours later, she brings me another blue shirt and wants to wear it TOO. So I put it on. She walks out and brings a red long sleeve onsie and asks to put it on. So, I smile, and add it to the madness, starting to feel like I'm creating a "can't put my arms down" situation. Then, she brings me the red dress she wore for Nat's wedding. This is her favorite thing to wear...and she adds it too. She is now 4 layers deep in clothes. She disappears to the blue room for a few moments, and emerges with pink lipstick all over her mouth, cheeks and right eye. She is ready to party!

Funny girl

Giant Pills

So, yesterday my arm randomly felt like I had burned it on the oven...only, I was riding in the car. Last night, my left forearm began to swell, and was feverish. I called my OB office today to see if this was something I needed to be wary of, and they advised me to head straight for insta-care to be sure it wasn't a blood clot. The dr. said that I have an infection. *PHEW...no clot, no bedrest, no daily shots during pregnancy* However, the meds I have to take are the largest pills I have ever seen in my life! They are y-u-c-k-y too...and I take them 4 times a day...however, it is much better than the alternative of the infection spreading and making things worse. YEAY for scientists and doctors to develope meds.

Any advise on how to make grocery store visists less hellish? Each one creates a horrific tantrum from Ava as she wants to be anywhere but in the cart. Please help me end the madness!!!!

I <3 snow basin

Last night, my throat began feeling like it was on FIRE. This morning, it's still sore. Ava seems to be getting better, which is good.

I was messaging Chris this morning and told him that I wish we had some chicken no0-noo soup...and he laughed, because Joye had just dropped off 2 containers of homemade chicken noo-noo soup at his office. He brought it home. Ava ate 2 bowls!!!!!!!! It's the first thing she has eaten in DAYS AND DAYS!!!!!! I was very excited and grateful for Joye making soup and thinking of our little family. It made my throat feel better, and it filled Ava's tummy!

Chris then asked if we wanted to do a car ride. That's usually code for, let's drive till Ava passes out. However, 30 minutes into the drive, Ava was still singing to herself, and we were in snow basin. It is GORGEOUS right now. The colors are amazingly flouresent and beyond anything I could properly describe. I've decided that our new goal is to live there. Facing the Cache National Forest. Who cares if 6 months of the year we'd be buried in the snow. The fall is AMAZING!!! Fall is my favorite time of year, and there is nothing more beautiful than scrub-oak trees in the fall. We took a little bit of a trail. Ava took charge and ran down the hill and just loved it! We didn't stay very long, since Chris had to get back to work, but it was a nice hour of "hooky" to get away from everything distracting and be trailmix for a while. I hope we go again before the end of the season, and get some good hiking and pictures in.

Ribbons, buttons and cardstock--oh my!

I am not much of a "crafy" person, but my best friend from my BYU-I days really is. Kira is an amazing artist. She's one of those people who has the Midas touch. About twice a year, she talks me into doing a scrapbook night. The last one we did about April. We went up to her timeshare and met up with our old college roomie-Carolee and ate lots of bad for you food, laughed about old times and how strange it is that we're all moms now...and they scrapbooked. My photos had been printed at the wrong Wal*Mart, so I mostly observed and was in charge of using the Cricut for whatever they wanted it to do. --which was way fun!

This last Friday, we went up to Comfort Suites in Ogden for a Scrapbook Club. I paid $50 and got a room, dinner, breakfast, snack-a-roos and it was really fun. I didn't realize, however, just how truly crazy some people are about their scrabooking. Now, Kira and I did make like 3 trips from car to the conference room they had to get all her supplies in, but holy cow some of these people had mary poppin bags of scrapbooking goodies. I'm sure we had close to $100,000 worth of paper, embellishments, etc in that room...if not more. It all started at 4pm on Friday. I am not a night owl by any means, and didn't last very long. I went up to my room about 12:30a.m. Kira came in about 5:30a.m. I went down about 7:30 for breakfast, and sure enough people were in there...still plugging away. Some of these ladies only slept for 2-3 hours and were right back to scrapbooking. I'm talking 20 hours of straight craft crazy times. It was the most insane thing I've ever witnessed. I called Chris about 11am to have him come get me. I had finished, and had not one ounce of creativity left in me. The event continued on until 4pm.

It was a lot of fun, and if Kira goes again, I'd most likely tag along again. I did get Ava's book started, and it is extremely cute, if I do say so myself. I'm not sure I'll ever be a marathon scrap-booker, but who knows...

Fevers and Sniffles

Yesterday, we took Aves home from church early. She was having a hard time. She fell asleep on the brief ride home, and woke up about 45 minutes later with a roaring fever. Chris made her some grape juice with grade ibuprofin mixed in. She sucked it down and snuggled up with me under a few blankies. Within about 30 minutes...the medicine kicked in and she was back to her silly self.

Mimi and Papi came up about 4pm and brought dinner. Every other month or so, they randomly call and set up a time when they can come up our way for sunday dinner. We had homemade mashed tatos, and pot roast, homemade rolls...it was wonderful! After dinner, we took a long walk down the trail by our house. The weather was PERFECT for walking; and we got to talk--mom put in her notice at the paper---HORRAY!!! I'm really proud of her. She's really hated that job since the day she started almost 3 years ago, and finally let them know she'd be leaving in October. She seems really pleased with the decision. She laughed and said "If we can't live on what your dad makes, there is something seriously wrong with us!"

Ava passed out on the walk home from the trail and woke up with yet another fever. She fell back to sleep on me and my dad for an hour or so, but when he got up to leave, she woke up and was none too happy. She reached for all the blankies around the couch, and cried so hard. I felt so bad for her. She didn't want to take her medicine or the juice concoction. My dad and Chris gave her a beautiful blessing that really comforted her, and then she took her medicine. Again, about 30 minutes later, she cooled down and kicked off her blankies. She got up and started drawing.

I am so grateful for baby medicine and the doctors who have taken the time to make it safe and effective. Other than holding Ava, there was nothing that I as her mommy could do to make her feel better. She slept through the night, and hasn't had a fever today. I gave her a bath in the morning to help with her congestion. She loved that! She played and played. I also gave her a dose of zyrtek to help dry up her runny nose. She wanted to put on her bee costume after bath, so we put that on. And braided her hair into pig tails to keep it off her face. I really feel that today will be a better day for her-health wise. She's had a really hard few weeks breaking like 6 teeth at once. I'll probably keep her indoors for a couple of days, just to be sure the fever and nose are tooth related and not a flu.

Ava slept through the night...and I started waking up about 5 out of habit. Gotta love that! I finally got my car registered today. It's been due for a long time, but in the rush of life...never got done. I had to get the windshield replaced, so I took it to Techna glass at 8 this morning and it was done by 9. It's such a relief to know that I'm driving legally. The inspection had been done since May, but since it had been so long, I had to pay for them to do it AGAIN. Can we say stupid tax?

I've been especially negative lately...I apologize to all around me. I'm now realizing it and working on it. Hopefully with some extra sleep...I will evict negative nancy from my personality.

I started making Beef Stew about 11:30 today...and I'm hoping it turns out ok. Simple enough directions...so if I screw it up--that will be really sad. I'm also wanting to make cookies. I'm currently weighing out in my mind what I want more...a nap...or homemade choc chip cookies. It's the first day that I don't have Kilgore trucks beeping and dumping crap from truck to truck infront of my house...so a nap is REALLY appealing. But mmmmm cookies. Perhaps I'll do a nap first...and then cookies. That way...they'll still be warm when Ava gets up. She LOVES warm cookies--although, who doesn't? I bought a massive bag of choc chips last night at the store...and am really excited to make some. I haven't baked cookies in ages. Apparantly, blogging is winning overall. Egh.

kilgore is parked in front of my house AGAIN today. They were out here yesterday from 6:30am until after 9pm. Ava was up last night from 1:30am-6am for some reason that I cannot for the life of me figure out. She would not go back to sleep. And, as a bonus...at 6:30am these stupid trucks start booming up and down my street. I'm not a happy camper. Luckily Ava was able to sleep through it until about 9am, but as for me...I got roughly 3 hours of sleep. Can I get an...uuuuuuuugh

RANT

Not only did Ava wake up at 12:30am in pain, and then again for good at 6:30 this morning...but then, to my much amusement, they begin tearing up the road this morning. Oh the joy of joys to look out my window...and what do I see? Piles of broken up road across the street. Now, they have parked directly in front of my house to begin dumping those piles of broken road into some other truck. Wow! Thanks! That's not annoying. I realize roads need fixed, but if you're going to be this close proximity to my house, shouldn't I receive notice?

Dear Homeowner, be advised that on Sept 16 from 7am on there will be noise, horrific smells and random people in front of your home for the entirety of the day. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.

How am I or Ava expected to be able to rest during this? How am I supposed to deal with the melting tar odor that is seeping into my home? GROSS! As if I wasn't feeling neaseated enough...you've helped bring me to a new level of sickness. Thank you...very much. Also, in the future, try to watch your language-this is a heavily child populated area... and stop oogling...I'm in sweats for heaven's sake! WEIRDOS!

I woke up this morning...and felt as though I had never fallen asleep. My sinus's are soooooooo congested. That pain that shoots up behind the eye...and the headache pounding. Ava's been really whiny this morning...and seems to be stuffy too. I blame the cupcakes we had last night. Death by cupcake...is that rational?

I've decided that Listerine is awesome, but the most self-inflicting painful 90 seconds of my day. It literally causes me to cry. But, nothing makes my mouth feel as clean as swishing some Listerine after brushing.

My sister Hilary had her baby yesterday. I think they named him Daniel. They weren't really sure what they should name him. He was 6lb 13oz and looks perfect from the pictures they sent. We're going to see him tonight. ..although, if this headache stays, we might wait until I know if this is a pregnancy thing or a cold. No need to expose little guy to germs.

Today was our last day as primary teachers. (is it wrong to do a little dance here?) A ton of people--such as my parents--love love love being primary teachers, however...I do not. It's not that I don't like kids...I just don't enjoy being a primary teacher.
We are now assistant Choir Directors for our ward. This will be an interesting adventure, as I do not read music. I can read the treble clef, but that's it. Our ward has tons of extremely talented singers, so I'm very excited to get our choir going.
I love having morning church. We came home and had lunch, and then Ava napped. She's still napping actually. We had tomato soup and grilled cheese. Ava LOVES grilled cheese, and will eat all of her very own sandwich. It's awesome!!
I'm a bit tired...so I might try to nap for a minute.

is there a limit for # of posts/day? yikes. anyway. this afternoon is a hard one for ava's nap. She hasn't gotten a nap until almost 3 all week, because of me being an insanly busy person lately. So today I put her down for the 2nd attempt (first one was a 45 minute screaming protest.) and headed outside. It's been cooler, and about 3 weeks since Chris has mowed the lawn. We have these stupid trees that sprout mini trees every 2 weeks and they are driving me CRAZY!!!! I figured I'd mow as much as I could. About 15 minutes into it, I see Chris. He came straight home from class to pick up some lunch stuff for his office fridge. I went in with him to hear ava still crying. So he got her out, and we did lunch together. Now Ava is back in her crib, screamin...talking...screaming....talking....yelling for daddy--who is back at work by now--and I have lost all motivation to continue mowing. like...3/4 of my front yard is done. It's pretty hokey. OH WELL! Sorry neighbors. Does anyone know a kid that would like to make like $20 mowin my lawn? haha


update--dear neighbors, I have completed mowing my lawn...your patience was much appreciated.

Today I got to hear the baby's heart beat. It was pretty cool! I forgot how quickly it beats. Ava did so well. She didn't get upset at the doc for touching me...like she has in the past. She received 2 pair of gloves--her favorite--as a thank you for great behavior. Dr. Listor did bring up my weight as a concern. I'm negative 2 pounds, when I should be up 5 or so. She said that I need to be up 10 pounds by my next appointment...it's not that I'm doing anything to avoid gaining weight, I just have no appetite, and when I do get hungry, I fill up very quickly. Other than that, things seem to be going well.
My kitchen has stayed clean ... perhaps because we've been on the run for a few days. We've been spending a lot of time with Ash Mattocks--yea-and it's been really great having her so close. I also took Ava to Sandi's last night. We bottled 21 quarts of tomatos...and quit about 10pm. Ava stayed up the whole ride home so that she could make sure she had her daddy time. She hasn't gotten to have much time with Chris the past couple of weeks. His schedule is so demanding with school and work, and they are both having a really hard time adjusting. Ava just adores her daddy, and she misses him like crazy. She tells me all day long over and over with a sad face "daddy work". He's pretty amazing that he can do school and work and family. He's doing all that he can to give our family the best possible future. And when he's done with homwork he's 100% focused on Ava no matter how tired he is. It's really amazing. I have a real winner!

Ava passed out in the car last night about 8. She missed her nap--so that didn't surprise me. However, it's now 9am, and she's still asleep...and that is surprising. I figured she'd be up early from hunger.
Oh there she is now ....

You know that new washer commercial where the huge rolling ball of laundry attacks the mom and kid? Sometimes, I feel as though that commercial is my life. WHERE DOES IT ALL COME FROM? I'm telling you...that it never ends. Especially the whites. And how is it...that someone so small...and who lives 90% of the day in PJs and dress up creates so much filthy laundry? I went out and bought a tub of oxy clean to start adding to my laundry to see if it can end my affair with spraynwash. I have a ridiculous area for laundry--my basement door, garage entrance to the house door all open into my laundry doors--thanks for testin that out contractors-and when the laundry bi-fold doors are open there's not even enough room for Ava to walk through the hall to find me. It's pretty crazy. Sometimes I dream of a one level home...open floor plan, with Eve Mattheson's laundry room...ok honestly, I dream Eve's house being mine. If you haven't seen her laundry room..stay away. It will instantly catapult you into severe coveting. Anyway...I'm halfway through my laundry that's piled up the last week or so...and am already getting bored with it. How do you do all your cleaning in one day Hil? HOW????

Clean the laundry...do the dishes...

I must say...I'm proud of today's accomplishments. Not only did I get in my 9 hour work day, but I fed my family (sure KFC, but I went and GOT it!) went to the grocery store and managed to do everything I wanted to get down house wise...ok not everything, but for a tired preggy mom--who isn't a natural cleaner-it was a successful day.

Clean Kitchen

• Dishes out of sink and into dishwasher-run dishwasher
• Dishes back into cupboards
• Counter tops clear of never ending clutter and Lysol treatment
• Oven wiped down
• Microwave wiped down and cleaned out--ewww
• Sink washed out
  
• Lysol everything!!!!!!

Living Room red-up

• Books back on shelf
• Chairs against wall--wow I have a living room floor?
• Crayons collected and put into car trunk--there's carpet under there?
• Toys back into toy box-including dress up
  

Laundry

• Seriously...I need to set less goals
• Dryer emptied and laundry placed into basket
• Washer contents put into dryer for a cycle to avoid yucky smell and re-washing
• Washer filled with Tide and Oxy Clean...new load started
• I can't feel my leeeeeeeeeeeeeeegs
  

Today is the start of Heiner Cabin Weekend. Chris's family has a cabin up in Weber Canyon. They share it among his mom's siblings-so we get 2 weeks a year to have it. I'm pretty excited. It's a beautiful area, and even when it's freezing cold--like it was last time we went up--the air is so fresh and the atmosphere so calm, that you don't even care. We'll be MIA for the next 3 days.

Ava is just as addicted to tomato soup as I am now. The weather has been just perfect for it in the early afternoon. We have soup and grilled cheese right before naps, and then she goes down without a fuss, because her belly is full and warm. The way she says "soup" is SO adorable too. LOVE IT!

Blake and Kira's moving sale starts today. If you want killer deals on everything--and I do mean everything--check it out. Toys, Swings, couches, a fridge...Blake isn't too excited about the idea of selling it all, but Kira figures it's better to sell it now, then to have to store it while they're traveling the next 18 months or so. We made the most beautiful signs to advertise. I LOVE her cricut machine. It's amazing, and so much fun! (i want one) Jen and Jayden are going to come play with Ava so that Kira can run the yardsale in piece this morning and Blake can get some real sleep in, since he worked the graveyard shift last night. Ava will love having them over! They haven't been here in ages. It'll be great!

So, I had an appointment to get my windshield replaced yesterday. I show up, and NO ONE was there. So I left a note...and no one called back. hmmmm I wonder why no one has ever heard of your shop...could it be that you have HORRIBLE customer service skills? Seriously, things like this tick me off. How hard is it to call your next appt if you can't make it and reschedule? Or to return a phone call when a customer leaves a note wondering why she was sitting in a dirty stairwell for 15 minutes waiting for someone to open the door. grrrr SO since my insurance is going to cover the replacement 100% without hurting my policy, I'm going to just go through safelite.

I feel as though I've been a special brand of "Crazy" lately. My mom used to tell me that she would get horrible depression during her pregnancies, but as soon as the baby would be born, she would be back to normal.
My pregnancy with Ava was so fun. Easy. Exciting. This pregnancy is so odd. Nothing feels the same. I'm super emotional. Chris can say the most innocent things to me, and for the next hour or two I can't stop crying my eyes out. I have no appetite at all, and am scared that when I go to the doctor that my weight won't have changed the way it's supposed to. I'm now officially in trimester two, and it seems I'm only getting more emotionally unstable. Ava grounds me though. I have started to come up with projects to do when time is passing to keep my mind occupied. I've never experienced anything like this on a consistent basis. I don't think dangerous thoughts, just very sad ones. Is this normal? Will it last the entire pregnancy? What more can I do to balance myself so that my family doesn't deal with Moaning Myrtle? So many questions...no real answers. Don't get me wrong ...I'm not sad all the time, it's just...it hits out of nowhere.

In other news...I made some tie blankets yesterday. With the weather so cold and yucky, and the fleece on sale at joann...I went and bought 3 blankets worth. I got done with 2 before my back screamed NO MORE!!!!!!! One was for Sa-J, and the other was for me, but Ava has claimed it. It's BEAUTIFUL. She's way into walking around with a blanket wrapped on her like a cape or beautiful shawl. I'm excited to finish the last one. Then I want to go out and get some cross stitching stuff and start learning. Kira is moving at the end of the month--this makes me sad, but it's an amazing oppertunity for their family--so it makes me happy too. My best friend is going to be MIA for a year or two. Ok time for Ava's nap and for me to force myself to eat.

Ava was up at 4am today. The benadryl seems to do absolutely nothing for her itchiness, just knocks her out. So, when she didn't want any at 4am, I didn't force it on her. I just redrenched her in caladryl lotion and gave her a milk. She stayed up playing with me and Chris until she crashed at 8:30. I passed out for about 30 minutes until I got my first call of the day, and work hasn't stopped since. Ava only slept about an hour and then was up playing and being adorable. The hives-apart from being ridiculously itchy, don't seem to alter her activity level at all. She played until 2:30, when I gave her a dose of benedryl and she passed out. I can't handle drugging my kid every 6 hours. Once a day is all I can handle. She's going crazy from staying inside so much. She is used to about 2-3 hours of outside play everyday, but since I don't know if she is contagious or not, I have kept her in. I don't like to spread germs, when I can help it.

Work has been INSANELY busy this week. I think buzz about the new laws passing in September has everyone wanting to collect as much info from their Title Companies as they can while it's still legal. I don't blame them, but man alive I can barely breathe. I like it, don't get me wrong. It beats boredom. That's for sure.

I'm going to go make cocoa--don't judge. I love it! No matter what the season.

Christmas is in DECEMBER?

I am a HUGE Dave Ramsey fanatic. Not just a fan....a fanatic. When he came to SLC for his Total Money Makeover Live Event, we showed up early and although we were in the cheap seats, I FREAKED when he came out. Seriously. One of my favorite Ramsey Rants is about Christmas being in December. On his site he has some tips for surviving the Holiday Season.

Who's idea was it to still be paying for Christmas gifts 7 months later?! It sure doesn't sound good to me! Make this Christmas season a memorable one - one with NO MORE DEBT.

Here are some quick tips:

1. Remember Christmas is in December every year—don’t let it sneak up on you. Start planning in February (or right now!) by putting back little bit aside each month to cover the cost of gifts.
   
   
2. Make a list of everyone you are buying a gift for and put a dollar amount by every name. Total it at the bottom. This is your Christmas budget. The people in the mall have a plan to get your money – get a game plan for your shopping so you can keep some money. There is no excuse for financing Christmas.
   
   
3. Pay cash – put the total from your budget in an envelope and when the cash is gone, stop spending. This will help keep you on budget because if you overspend on Aunt Sue, Uncle Harry won’t get a gift.
   
   
4. 69% of Americans bought a gift for themselves last year. DON’T BUY YOURSELF A GIFT! This is the season to give not to receive…from yourself.

He has this bit on how people FREAK OUT on Thanksgiving, realizing that Christmas is next month, and they have no plan. But, Christmas is in December EVERY YEAR so we should be able to PLAN for it.

This year, we want to do a homemade Christmas. My favorite memories are the craft days my mom used to have with us and our friends making ornaments and Christmas decorations. carolers out of toilet paper rolls and reindeer out of clothespins etc. I even started a COUSIN COOKIE DAY the first or second Saturday of December when I was pregnant with Ava so that our kids would have a day to set aside making gingerbread homes and decorating cookies. As the kids get older, the projects can be added in. The first year was a little rough, last year was more fun, and I'm sure this year will be a BLAST!

My only issue with this fabulous idea is that I'm craft challenged. I can learn just about anything, because I'm more stubborn than a mule, but it's coming up with ideas, and the execution that I'm not so great at. Chris got me a knitting set last year, because I was saying that I wanted to learn. However, about every 10 stitches I'd mess something up and only ever got 1/2 way done. SAD! I should finish that so I can wear it this year. Anyway...somethings I'd like to do:

• BOWS-for Ava and her cousin-Julia who is 4. Jules is a total Girly Girl. I think this would be a great idea for her.
• 12x12 tiles for like my mom etc with vinyl phrases. My friend has a circuit that lets you cut it out yourself, so I'm hoping that cuts the cost there vs. buying the phrases
• ok see I'm stumped. I had ideas, but now that I'm trying to remember them THEY ARE GOOOOOOONE

so listen, if you read this and have ideas or would like to join me in my homemade Christmas, let me know.

119 days to Create Christmas-just FYI.

more Ramsey tidbits
Did the quickly approaching Christmas season sneak up on you? Have you just learned that you should have been saving for Christmas gifts all year round? Did you simply forget to budget for Christmas gifts this year?

Now that you're panicked, you might be thinking about draining your savings to buy gifts. Or maybe you're going to get a credit card, just for Christmas purchases. You'll pay it off in January or February, right?

Wrong.

If you're feeling torn this year because you want to stay out of debt while still giving your loved ones gifts they'll like, don't worry. We've got some fantastic tips.

• Make it special. Consider specialized gifts for your friends and family rather than a DVD, CD or gift card that can end up costing more and meaning less. If you're a writer, write a story or poem specifically for each person to which you'll give a gift. If you're a photographer or painter, give a picture you've taken or created. If you're into woodworking, make a jewelry box or a shelf. If you're an expert cook, make some killer goodies and include the recipe as your gift this year. You'll save big and end up giving something with your personal touch that will last for years to come.

• For kids only. If your extended family normally exchanges adult gifts as well as gifts for all the kids, consider just getting gifts for the kids this year. Or draw names for the adults and put a price limit of $20 or $30 on that gift. That way everyone can save by just buying for one adult in the family. Gift ideas for kids
  


• Invaluable Coupons. Give your loved ones the gift of your time and service this year. Make a booklet with coupons for specific ways you can help them in the coming months. For example, make a laundry coupon and do the laundry one night so they can relax. Make a babysitting coupon and watch the kids free of charge so they can go out on the town. Make a dinner coupon and prepare a meal so they don't have to cook. There are dozens of ways you can help your loved ones. It will mean so much and will only cost you a little bit of time and energy.


• Give to a charity. If the adults in your family can agree, choose a charity to which your entire family will give. Rather than giving gifts to each other, you'll be touching the lives of people who are truly in need. This will not only save you money, but will also keep you from getting caught up in the spending flurry.
  

This season is about so much more than the latest gadgets, overpriced clothes and racking up gift cards. It's about giving...but not just giving. Giving something that matters. And sometimes that something cannot be bought in a store. It's intangible. Priceless.

This Christmas, why not take a little extra time to think about your family and friends and give them something that will inspire and enrich their lives for years to come.