The details

Alright....now that I've got it out in the open that I'm pregnant--*sigh* (Keeping secrets are HARD!)--Here's the scoop on how we discovered that our family of 4 will become 5!
That's right...it wasn't planned. I say that, and yet, we weren't preventing...but we were pretty much relying on the "fact" that I've I needed fertility pills to get pregnant in the past. It was a blessing in a strange way, that we "couldn't" get pregnant without fertility pills because I can't use birth control pills due to a blood disorder. I could get pregnant so easily on the pills with our last two, so we just saw the whole situation as a blessing in disguise.

After a few obvious signs that I COMPLETELY ignored because my brain was totally not there, it hit me....uh, time to take a pregnancy test. I thought it was impossible so I figured I'd take one to rule it out. I stared at the test like a dummy....I had no directions on how to read it, so I was staring at the test going, what does that mean? That's impossible, okay not impossible but what? How? Heh? So instead of planning on getting pregnant next summer, we're having a baby next summer. Funny how the Lord works. I was feeling unsure about our plans to wait and I felt like it would be nice if I could just leave it up to chance to get pregnant instead of planning the exact month. (I know I know...some of you are saying--hello?!?!? At least you CAN plan when to get pregnant and actually have it WORK!) I totally get that. But, at the same time, I was struggling with having that decision fall totally on me (and Dan of course--but it's my sanity and my body we're talking about here--I get ultimate decision :). I was starting to get "the itch" whenever I held new babies and I was starting to wonder if the time was supposed to be sooner than later.

Selfishly, I thought, well, Dan's brother is getting married in the summer, I don't want to be a pregnant bridesmaid, and our family reunion is this summer, and it would be nice to take a nice vacation not being pregnant or nursing. Funny thing is, when I discovered I was pregnant, I really felt like it was supposed to be this way and I almost felt prepared for it...even though my brain was totally not there.

I was already 7 weeks along when I found out and I had already been feeling BLECK for a few days and that lasted until about 9 1/2 weeks and then just stopped. I got really nervous that I suddenly wasn't sick anymore. I actually felt sick like virus sick and not pregnancy nauseous anymore. So I waited nervously until my appointment on Monday to hear the heartbeat. I was really feeling like chances were 50/50 at that point, not knowing what was going to happen. I had no other signs really of anything abnormal, besides the point that I usually gain like 10 pounds by this point and can't fit my jeans, but I've only gained a miraculous 3 and still fit the jeans fine. --Something of course you'd be thrilled over unless of course you were already worried something was wrong. So my sister came with me to my appointment to hear the heartbeat. My doctor looked and looked for it and couldn't find it. I kept nodding my head, like I knew it, I knew it. So she took me to the ultrasound room to take a look. While we waited, I started talking like we weren't going to find the heart beat. I was sort of unemotional about it. At least at that moment. I was just trying to prepare myself for whatever came my way. So we ate some chocolate Hershey kisses that were sitting in the room to comfort the depression. She came in, and I saw the baby (to be expected) I was just waiting to see a beating heart. And then...there it was. She turned up the sound and I took a loud sigh of relief. I decided that at least the cool part about it is my sister (and I) got to SEE the baby too! Everything was fine. And so we ate one more chocolate--this time, a celebration chocolate :)

I wasn't sick a day with Allison, I had morning sickness with Cole for 15 weeks, and I was sick all day (no puking or anything) for 9 1/2 weeks with this one and now I feel great! I am feeling really really blessed.

I think it's a girl...that heart beat is fast....but Dan is feeling pretty convinced it's a boy. So.... YAY for summer babies! At least our little baby Dobes will have some friends close in age :)

Hope that answers all the questions! ...oh, and Summer is a name we talk about for girls...we liked it for Allison but she was born in January. Won't it be fitting for a summer baby. To add to it...Dan says all the girls named Summer that he knew were HOT. Hmm....so do I want a little girl that's hot? A blessing and a curse right?

And if you don't like the name, I don't want to hear about it. :)

Breakfast with Santa

OK--forgive me, I'm totally posting out of order but that's how my brain is currently working. We had a really cool opportunity, thanks to Dan's dad and his wife Jodi, to attend a breakfast with Santa. There was cookie decorating, a puppet show, pictures with Santa....the MOST SINCERE coolest Santa man EVER...., face painting,(or in Cole's case--hand painting) and food galore. The kids LOVED it and it will be a great memory for our family!

Traditions

Growing up, my family always had a lot of traditions surrounding Christmas. Christmas time was always very magical...especially Christmas Eve. Since Dan and I have been married, we've had the chance to carry on many of those traditions and start some of our own. I feel blessed to have a husband who has allowed our family to carry on many of my family traditions that mean a lot to me....some are simple but I know that changing the way you did things growing up can be hard. I like how we've started our own family's traditions by continuing some from each of our families. Here are a few:

Of course, there's decorating the tree. But now I have a new found appreciation for my mom and her efforts with the tree. I HATE lighting the tree but Dan leaves it up to me, not only because I am particular with the way it is lit...each bulb must be securely attached to each branch... but I've watched my mom light our tree with the big old fashioned bulbs year after year.

We usually take a night with the kids and hang the ornaments. I think this is Dan's least favorite part. He gets burned out after untangling ornament hooks for ever. He especially loves undoing my box of random ornaments from past teachers, aunts and uncles, friends and family. I tell him that's what gives the tree character!

In addition to the large bulbs we have the bubble lights! After the heat up a while, they send these cool fizzy bubbles up a long skinny tube. Those are my favorite, and a family I grew up with gave us some as a wedding gift to help us carry on the tradition they knew I loved.

To finish off the look of the tree, we set up a little village like Dan's family always had.


One year, Dan's mom made us a book compiled with a scripture, a story, and a song for each day of December leading to Christmas. Every year we try to be diligent about doing it every day but we always seem to miss on or two. I think as the kids grow up they will really appreciate the stories and understand the true meaning of Christmas from them.
I also grew up with a tradition of the "Thankful Tree." Each day, we take a round piece of construction paper (our ornament) and write something we're thankful for, then tape it to a tree made out of green wrapping paper. Anyone who comes to visit can't leave without adding to our thankful tree.....

or without taking one of these...
Another family tradition--candy planes and trains

I'm sure there are tons more I could post but I'll leave you with one last one that I love. My mom handmade Bucilla felt stockings for us and I have loved making them for each of my kids. I guess it's time to make another one for next year!

Letters to Santa

For Family Night this last Monday, we had the kids write letters to Santa asking him for things for Christmas...that was after we read a story about how it was better to give than to receive--talk about mixed messages. Oh well...this is the first year Allison wrote a letter and she did it all by herself. We told her the letters to write after she told us what she wanted. I had no idea she could take on a task that big! She's growing up fast. She really couldn't think of much so we sort of helped her along (since Santa has already finished the shopping for the most part.)
If you can't read Allison's it says:
Dear Santa, I want *Toy cat *Bike *doll *movies Love, Allison





Cole's was a bunch of scribbles on top of what Dan wrote on there. I copied both of them before they put them in envelopes to mail. Allison colored on it with yellow a couple days later and now I can't find Cole's currently. They loved putting the letters in the mail box. Allison helped put the stamps on. (Yes there are 2 41 centers on there---doh!) I heard the letters actually get collected at the post office and put in some random huge stock pile! I wonder how long our kids will love the wonder of Santa this much. These ages are sooo much fun to do things like this. Christmas is going to be so fun this year, even if it is a little smaller.

He must REALLY love her

For a husband to do this she must be one pretty sweet ace wife with a husband who will do ANYTHING for her...

Kids say the darndest things!

It seems that I thought that since EVERY single day this month wasn't filled with something, I'd better add something else--feed the missionaries, why not?! So I was getting the dinner ready, Dan and Allison were watching American Tail together on the couch and I was trying to get the salad bowl out of the most inconvenient cupboard---the sippy cup cupboard. They are stored behind all the sippy cups on the bottom shelf so of course with no effort to prevent a big mess, I grabbed the bowl and let it knock all the cups out on the way, then I proceeded to chuck the cups back in the cupboard and shut it before they all came tumbling out. Suddenly, I hear a little voice from the family room, "Mom? Do you need a hammer?"

The searing look from me immediately followed....aimed at her daddy. Yes, most often when I'm making dinner....let's face it, I'm my mother's daughter, cabinets don't get shut, they get slammed---helloo??! When mom's in the kitchen she doesn't have 3 hands....just two to grab something and an elbow to shut the cupboard! Well, Allison has heard her daddy plenty of times ask me if I need a hammer when I'm in the kitchen, stacking glass pans, or getting bowls out.

The funniest part....Allison was so sincere, wondering if I really needed a hammer! I love how kids take things so literally.

A long over due ARRIVAL annoucement!

Blogging has taken a back seat. Reading them hasn't, posting has. SO....here is a long over due post of my newest cutest nephew--Weston! He was born on October 27th and he is the newest addition to my brother, James' family. He and Leah make CUTE babies! Isn't he sooo cute! I think I might never have a child with hair this dark-I just kept staring at it. I just LOVE it! He looks JUST like his big brother Cameron (except with jet-black hair!) Holding him gives me the itch!

7 years of plenty

Last weekend Dan and I celebrated out 7th Anniversary! Is that possible when you're only 26? Yikes! We spent it differently than we ever have...with a STAYcation. That's right, we stayed home while someone else took our kids! We had the quiet house all to ourselves! I highly recommend it...it's really cheap! We decided to go through all our closets and cabinets and get rid of anything we haven't used since we've lived here or really in the last year. We have 2 huge garbage bags of stuff to give away and then a few other boxes of things. Cole's closet looks a little scarce after we took out all the clothes that no longer fit. It was so nice not being interrupted all day long. The best part was going where we wanted when we wanted with no worry of loading up the kids and the bag of diapers, wipes, sippycups, snacks, and entertainment that usually follows. After a long morning of getting through everything upstairs, we decided we weren't cooking and jetted over to good 'ole IHOP. I cleared my plate (not something I usually do with breakfast since my stomach usually can't handle a big breakfast early.) But since it was 11 in the morning, it was more of a brunch. And a nice lady gave us a half off coupon too! We got home and attempted to tackle the downstairs. I was dragging my feet. The kitchen intimidated me. But Dan got after it. It's amazing how much room we have now after chucking all our expired medication and a whole cheapy plate set we never used...and those mugs that always took up room never getting used. Finally by the evening we were done and we got all dressed up to go out on a date! We headed for SHOGUN because I was craving some California Rolls. Then we went to see a movie...Twilight (for my second time). It was so nice not to worry about paying a sitter or wondering if the kids went down ok. When Dan met his mom the next day to pick up the kids, Nana told us the kids were GREAT! No fighting, no crying and they went down so good--that's what happens when Nana doesn't make them take a nap! We're so lucky to have her close to watch the kids for us!

Here's a cute little flashback of when Dan and I were dating. It's been 8 years since we met. The years have gone fast, but each year just gets better. We played a fun game while waiting for our food at the restaurant. We took turns telling each other something we've learned about the other since we've been married....here are a few we came up with...
Dan said, "You get REALLY cranky when you're hungry."
"If I weren't home, you'd probably watch My Best Friend's Wedding every night." (OK, maybe alternated with Serendipity)
"You hate falling asleep on the couch and then having to go up to bed in the middle of the night."
"Your least favorite thing to do is mop."

I said, "You don't like taking medicine even when you should."
"You could eat Mexican Food every day."
"Right now you'd prefer to play the guitar over watching TV."
"You hate doing the dishes." (But he does them nearly every night anyway.)

On special days like our anniversary or my birthday, Dan is always sure to be at my beck and call. He really sneaky about it though and jumps up to get me things if I mention something I need, or he cleans up after everyone. He changes all the diapers, bathes the kids, and puts them to bed. He's such a sweet husband and has ALWAYS been very responsive to my needs. He almost never gets defensive which makes bringing up concerns way less intimidating, and one of my favorite things about him is that is is ALWAYS trying to find ways to be better and do better. He hears counsel from our leaders and applies them right away to his life, he is an instigator of FHE and attending the temple, and he truly is an amazing and involved father.
I'm pretty sure some of my family thought I was crazy when they found out I was getting married so young and so quickly after meeting Dan but I truly feel that he was and has been the man of my dreams who filled every thing on my wish list for who I wanted in a man and a husband.
I love you babe....Happy Anniversary....and here's to another 7 years of plenty!

He walks around carrying a big...balloon

I took my car in for an oil change and ran some errands while I waited. We took one last minute stop to Party City for some last things before Halloween and the checker gave Cole a little red balloon....then back at the oil change place, the worker saw the balloon and said, "Oh, you did NOT just walk in here with that tiny balloon. You did NOT!...Here-I'll take care of that." Minutes later he returned with this one.

Hello?! Can we say the biggest balloon a kid EVER got?! Cole really loved it although I think from the look on his face, he wasn't sure if his balloon grew or if he shrank!

Going down in history

I have always LOVED beautiful photography. It's been so fun to watch my friend Wendy just explode with her talent in her bluelily business. There is another photographer I discovered through a friend that also tickles my fancy. Their styles are uniquely different from each other. And I love the talent in each. this blog post of Tonya's is going down as one of my favorite in history. Not only is the photography beautiful but her posts are so real and creative! And who doesn't love darling pictures of darling little girls. Don't miss out on checking out pictures of the Halloween costumes she MADE for her girls too (being pregnant and all) she doesn't cease to amaze me!

Our Halloween!

One year older and wiser too!

A late post--I know, what's new. But we have to give a shout out to Drew for birthday number 3! This kid just got expensive people. Drew has always been a smiley boy. I think he likes me too...he snuggles me and we're buddies. I remember when Shannon told us she was pregnant with him and I loved that he and Allison would be close in age. They really love playing together. I'm wondering when he'll realize his real name is Andrew....for now, he only answers to Drew Bubbies. When you ask him his name, that's what he says too.

I got him this really cool toy for his birthday, which now will sit on the shelf until Christmas because the request came in loud and clear, Drew wanted a GOBLIN for his birthday. I should have taken a picture of it...I'll have to add that in later. But I whipped one up in record time. My mom made us bouncing goblins when we were little and I've carried on the tradition in our own family. When Drew visits, he pretty much doesn't let one out of his grip. I used an orange T-shirt for the fabric and I cut out a little goofy goblin shape for the body, add some pom pom balls glued all around, stitch on a face,add some yarn for hair and for the finishing touch-- an elastic string attached at the head for bouncing! Tac it to the ceiling and viola---an instant Drew pleaser! (Here are some pictures of the goblins at our house so you get the idea!)

Happy 3rd Drew Bubbies! (Check out that cake! Way to go Shannon and Andrew!)

Engagement Party?

Ok, so I'm new to some of the traditions that go on surrounding an engagement so when we got an invitation in the mail for Dan's brother's engagement party I thought--oh cute! A little family and friend get together to celebrate. But then I thought, we kinda did that right after they got engaged though didn't we?
Little did I know....it is like a mini reception. I say mini, but it probably was just as big as some couple's wedding receptions.

It was held in Kendra's backyard and the decor was romantic and enchanting. Their wedding colors are this bright lime green and teal. It's really summery and I'm really looking forward to Wendy's photography at the wedding with the great color choices. Yes, that's right...Wendy's their gal...and she pulled off a complete miracle. Hopefully I don't get her in trouble by saying that the turn around for their engagement pictures in time for the engagement party was a world record...she is SOO busy and really pulled off something amazing. Everyone was ranting and raving about the pictures displayed as everyone came in. The story board seriously looked like it should be in some magazine.



Then there was this crazy table of tasty cupcakes (to wait for after dinner)--the crazy part? The special ordered M&M's--yes, the one is a picture of the two of them on it.


OK, so I'm glad I wore a skirt because I was debating on white capris or the skirt...well, everyone was in these tiny little evening dresses so I would have stuck out like a sore thumb...not that I didn't still stick out having a shirt up to my neck.. But really, it was pretty fancy. So we grabbed a little party favor--hot tamales with a congrats to Nick and Kendra on it, and grabbed our drinks...soda that is (for us anyway)...and waited to partake in catered Mexican food spread. Yes catered...and there were easily 90 people there.
It was quite the party! It really was a perfect evening---great weather, a beautiful setting, and great company...and best of all, the celebration of Nick snagging the best girl for him. I'm really excited to have Kendra as a sister-in-law and I know I've said it before but I have SERIOUSLY lucked out with sisters-in-law (not to rub it in TAMN.) Kendra and her family are one of THE sweetest most generous, thoughtful families I've met. Nick is sure lucky...and so is she! Mother-in-laws don't get much better than mine!
(Dan's dad, his wife, and Kendra's dad)

Anyway, it was a long drive, and my babysitter earned bank...maybe not as much bank as Shannon's sitter...4 kids yikes! But it was really a great evening of celebration!
I guess I have many months to prepare for the excitement of what the wedding itself holds! Aren't they a good looking couple?!

Just another walk in the park

Ok, so motherhood is NOT always a walk in the park, but lately I've been trying to allow my kids to tell me to put things on hold to do things like go to the park! If I could just really get it in my head to put my kids before things of lower priority, I think things would run more smoothly, but since the toothpaste gobs smeared in my bathroom sink make me almost gag while brushing, at some point, cleaning the sink get's #1 priority every so often. And of course putting your kids first, doesn't mean they won't have two year old tantrums or acts of aggression due to lack of sleep. But it was about time to do something the KIDS wanted to do, even if it meant putting everything else on hold to do it. So we braved the heat in the late afternoon and took a ride over to the park (I love having a park within walking distance.) It's been so hot for so long that I'm pretty sure my kids had forgotten what a swing was. It was like breaking out a toy they hadn't seen in months. The two of them LAUGHED and giggled as I pushed them in the swing and I thought...you know what? This IS fun! What could be better than watching my kids enjoy life so completely? After a few shocking rides down the slide (literally--we kept zapping each other with electricity!) the kids were bummed to find that mom still had things to do...like cook dinner, so we headed home. Satisfied.