2008 in 12 pictures

January - Just cute kids in cute warm clothes.

February- quick trip to DC - 1st stop, DC Temple- Beautiful!

Easter '08- it was in March this year:)

April- Tates started horseback riding lessons!May- Taylor gave herself a haircut- ARGH!!

June- trip to Texas, my dad enjoyed Taylor's knight helmet:)

July- Cagey turned 3- and didn't eat his delicious cake.

August- trip to Utah, the kids played dress up with Grandpa Nicolaysen
September- Our first Tropical Storm- whoopee.
October- Tates turned 6- complete with her thrown together horse cake.
November- the baby bump gets big enough to get a kiss from big brother- he's hoping for another sister- go figure.
December - was filled with too many fun stuff, so I just picked this hilarious picture of Cagey. What a goof. Happy end of '08- and new '09!!

Brain Age update

I know most of you are not interested, but this is just for my records. Yesterday I got my brain age down to 20! The best score you can get and Jeebs' went up to 24- hehehehee. Sometimes the thing will compare us and it will say "You did better than James today" or "You didn't do as well as Vanessa today" or vice versa. I think it's trying to tear us apart. But, since this is not a common occurence for me to beat jeebs and for him to get the "You didn't do as well as Vanessa today" message- I had to write it down somewhere and this is the easiest place to do so. Another shock last night, we were laying in bed watching tv and Jeebs asked me a question concerning the dish and pay-per-view. He wanted to know how you go about just watching the first 5 minute preview on pay-per-view without buying the movie. I had to lay there and enjoy the moment for a while :)

It was a green Christmas in this town...

Despite the fact that for Jeebs- every other place he's lived in the US had a white Christmas this year and we did not- we definitely had a fun Christmas. I know, ma, that was a horrible sentence. :)
These are our kids at 7 in the morning, anxiously waiting to see what Santa brought. Tates didn't go to bed until after 9 and she woke up at about 6:50. We let them sleep on a pad in our room so they wouldn't be tempted to go to the living room before we got up. Apparently our floor is pretty comfortable because they slept soundly all night long.

BeforeAfter

Trying out their new gear.

Cagey realizing he had to wear a helmet:)

We had a fun and relaxing day. We started our day (after opening presents of course) with cinnamon rolls and kolaches- complete with hot chocolate even though it was 60 degrees outside. Crazy that I used up so much cocoa powder and milk during the end of October and beginning of November and December, not so much. Oh well. That lasted us until about 3 or 4 when we decided it was time to heat up the smoked turkey- woohoo gobble gobble.com- I made stuffing and Jeebs made mac'n cheese per my instructions. I couldn't stand up anymore for all the stirring involved in homemade mac'n cheese - it turned out super tastey. I think it's because he puts about 2 more cups of cheese than I put in anything. Anyway, everything was delicious and it was the first time I can remember eating all of my turkey and hardly anything else. The kids had fun playing with their daddy and their new stuff all day. It was so nice to have Jeebs all to ourselves and not be competing with the computer screen. Cagey kept screaming "Daddy, come watch me!!" Taylor kept saying "I don't know what to play with." It was really fun. I taught myself hot to knit with Taylor's knitting set that she got from Santa. I've already knitted her a scarf. Jeebs got me a DS with Brain Age for Christmas. It is so much fun and until today my brain age was better than his :) He blasted me out of the water this morning though. Dang it!

And last and least- this is for my brothers. I tell my brother my nose swells every time I get pregnant. He used to say he couldn't tell, but then he liked to make jokes about how I looked like Jeebs busted me in the nose and lips hehehehe. I really don't care because it doesn't last forever. I'm sure it's not as big as it's going to get and it's hard to tell since everything else on me is "swelling". But here it is. Talk amongst yourselves- let me know the verdict :)

Happy Anniversary!! 7 years

Jeebs and I have been married for 7 years today. His name has evolved from James to Jamis to Jeebus, and now Jeebs. I'm thinking of shortening it to "J". He didn't like that suggestion too much. It's pretty funny when even our Bishop is calling him Jeebs :)

7 years ago today we were in Portland, Oregon with both of our families. It was such a fun trip. Our families left from Salt Lake a couple of days before we flew out to meet them. We had a day of shopping at the outlet malls on Christmas Eve and a trip to the Oregon coast- so beautiful and so fun to be all together. Christmas was spent at the house James' parents were staying at and then a huge family dinner at the church with all of James' aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents that lived nearby. Craziness.

We were sealed on December 26th, 2001 at the Portland, Oregon Temple by James' grandfather- it was a wonderful and special day. I remember after we were married and I had changed out of my wedding dress- I went out to meet James to leave and go check in at the hotel we were staying in for the night and my family went the opposite way to go back to the hotel I was staying in just the night before with them. It still makes me a little sad to think about that moment. I knew nothing would ever be the same.

My sister (with a little help from my mom:) planned and carried out my whole wedding. It was beautiful and I hoped that one day I would get to do the same for her. I miss you gee. We're always thinking about you. I managed to make it through the whole sealing without crying until I hugged my crying sister. I probably would have fallen totally to pieces if I hadn't been so nervous about being newly married and if I had known what my sister's future would hold.

I know, Jeebs looks so young. I have aged him well :) I have that effect on people. Happy Anniversary Jeebs. 7 years down, eternity to go :)

I had to throw in this picture - this is one of the first dress shops we looked for dresses. I kind of think I should have gone with this dress, but at the time it wasn't at all what I had imagined in my head for my wedding dress, but it is really flattering. I think my mom liked it better than what I ended up with.

Preggo Brain

I really thought I had a midwife appointment today at noon. Well, noon came and I hadn't heard anything from my midwife. She was going to come to my house and she's never been here before so I thought I'd at least get a call wondering where exactly we lived. Nope, nada, nothing. So I couldn't remember if she had given me an appointment card or not, but I dug in my wallet and sure enough there it was. Dec 23rd, which is tomorrow- at 12:30. Well, I was close anyway. hehehehe I had a chiropractic appointment this morning and I really like my chiropractor- she's had 2 homebirths and she really understands what pregnant women need with chiropractic. She only adjusts a few things at a time which is different from what I'm used to, but it is helping me not to feel totally crippled. I may actually be able to have more children if I can make it through this one :) I have been so anxious lately about this baby. I know I've blogged about it before, but I am a total insane-oe lately. I have decided I just can't worry - and while that works sometimes, I still find myself dwelling on the stupidest stuff. We finally have cold - dryer weather today- perfect for making candy. So, I'm going to try my hand at making some almond rocca- a recipe Elizabeth Lewis sent me- thank you Elizabeth. I may also try to make some more fudge. I need to take some treats to my visiting teachees- we'll see if that happens :)

This weekend was very stressful- I did get my hair done Saturday morning and I feel somewhat back to normal. I went to someone new and I really like what she did. I did get a huge breath of hair chemicals- which I am sure was wonderful for my unborn child and then later when I got home- our propane tank to our fireplace sprung a leak and leaked completely out. Luckily, I only smelled a little bit of it- but again, the baby got a lot of chemistry that day :( We had the missionaries over for dinner that night. Then, on Sunday I participated in a musical number- which always makes me so freaking nervous- it was my idea too- I don't know why I get myself into those things. But, I think it turned out great- thanks Elizabeth and Amy- I think y'all are the only 2 in our number that read this blog:) if not thanks to Jamie and Kimberly too:) After all that, I had to do sharing time in Primary. I had a fun idea that kind of flopped- the little kids got a little too carried away with it- and the older kids ran out of time because we looked up so many scriptures- oh well. Scriptures are the best teachers, right? So, needless to say, I'm glad that weekend is over.

Christmas should be fun and relaxing- I've ordered a smoked turkey from gobblegobble.com. They are located in Tyler, TX and we had one when I was at home in Texas for something one year. It was so dang good!! I'm so excited to eat another one!! For some reason I've craved turkey, ham, hotwings and anything mustardy this pregnancy. It's got to be another boy. I generally don't like ham or hotwings. Weird what pregnancy does to you. Okay- now that you can't remember a time before reading this blog- I'm off to make some candy and eat lunch.

Tricky Trampoline

This morning I took the dog out and I saw these tiny cute little spiderwebs on the grass. They were all covered in dew and I thought they were really cool so I had to take a picture. It also reminds me of a piano piece I had to play when I was taking lessons. It was called Tricky Trampoline- I can still hear it in my head- the illustration on the front of the music was a spiderweb with dew. Interesting...
Oh and if you zoom in on the camera really close to the water drops- it just looks like tiny floating bubbles.

Christmas is coming...

Last night I sent Jeebs to Walmart with the kids so I could wrap presents. It's always so much more exciting when you have presents under the tree to shake and guess about and dream about etc. So, they went to the store and I was able to wrap a lot of the kids' presents to put under the tree. They got back from the store and it was nearly bedtime so they had to get ready for bed and only had time to shake a few presents. So, this morning this is what we woke up to....

They had taken all the presents our from under the tree and sorted them out on the couch just to shake each and every one of them. I love Christmas!

Percy proves useful

Does anybody else hate bending over when they're pregnant? Yeah, me too, especially when I'm in lots of pain from my stinkin' pelvis. Well, tonight I was heating up a bowl of frozen peas in the microwave- after I got them out I tasted them and they seemed freezer burned so I was picking them up to throw them in the sink and somehow they slipped right out of my hands. Hot peas and pea water all over my kitchen floor and stove. There was even one lone pea on the other side of my bar- that tells you how far they flew. Relaxin is a nasty little hormone, I must say. So, there I was with pea juice on my pants and peas all over my kitchen floor. Percy came to the rescue. I've never seen him eat peas, but I guess he sensed I needed help and he immediately started devouring them as fast as he could. I got up several handfuls because I didn't want to be cleaning up pea-filled dog puke at midnight tonight. He really did do a good job getting up what I left behind and picking up most of them before I had to bend over a 100 times. He really is annoying sometimes and James really can't stand him, but I just love having him around at times like this. He is also getting a lot better at not running away every second of the day. I've been letting him out by himself in the morning and he takes a little trip a few houses down, but he comes running back when he's done (usually). I think he's just a big yard, country kind of poodle. It must kill him to stay inside all day and wear his little argyle Christmas sweater :)

Christmas Activity

So, the Christmas activity is over!! YAY!! The skit turned out really nice. There were a few glitches with my sound and video guy- but that's what happens when you hire family members :) j/k jeebs. I am really depressed that after all that work I did not get one single solitary picture!!! I was literally so busy and then so much in pain- I could barely walk and I couldn't think of anything except getting things over with. I got home and realized after parking it on the couch and cramping up in my toes and legs that I was very dehydrated. I've been drinking water and had a big glass of milk. The cramping has almost subsided-- and I would have to say with all the trips to the bathroom I've taken- I'm on the way to being good and hydrated. Now, if I can only walk through church tomorrow- we should be good. I can't think of much else intersting to type and all I can think about is how I wish I had some stinkin' pictures of my dang skit!! Man, a month of preparation and nothing to show my family or friends that live a thousand miles away. ARGHHH!! Well, at least I'll be able to pay more attention to my poor children now.

Hooray for the Half Point!!

Yesterday was the official halfway mark of this pregnancy. We have had a little bit of stress the last month with Jeebs' job closing and medical bills piling up, but miraculously we got a job offer we couldn't refuse and Jeebs has a new job!! A full-time job. They are thankfully letting him work from home for a lot of the time- the job is in Raleigh and we live 2 hours away. I have another midwife appointment in 2 weeks- right before Christmas, should be fun. The baby is kicking and wiggling a lot lately so it is always a stress reliever to know the little person is still okay.

Jeebs had to go to Raleigh yesterday and on his way home he was nice enough to go into Pottery Barn and see if they had the rest of the bedding I got on sale. They had the quilt, a sham, and the crib skirt- all on a very good sale. So it was regularly over 250$ and I got it all for under 90$! I am so excited. It is a little girly so I'll probably have a boy and not want to use it :) Ebay, right??

Yesterday evening I let Tates stay up if she would rub my feet. I got her lotion and everything and it was heaven. She got to stay up an extra hour and I got new feet. Man, it is amazing what a foot rub can do for one. It has been really nice here lately, but today and the next couple of days are going to be nasty. It really knocks the Christmas spirit out of me. Hopefully it'll be cold for Christmas day! It just doesn't feel like Christmas when you're in short sleeves and burning up. Yes, I know I was raised in Texas and we had a lot of hot Christmases but no, you do not get use to it.

Recent happenings

Lately we've had a crazy household. Tates is losing teeth left and right.

Cagey is wearing ballet slippers. My mom got these on ebay and they were too small and too girly for Tates. So, I thought I'd try them on Cagey.And, last but not least, Tates is standing on her head. I told her any little girl that can touch her feet to her head and have a perfect point needs to be in gymnastics!!!

this last picture is of Jeebs and the kids getting the electric trains ready for our primary skit. Boys really never grow up :) Peter Pan would be proud.

my good deal

I did get a dang cute crib bumper at pottery barn- regularly 99.99- I got it for 29.99. So excited!! I actually bought something from pottery barn kids before Obama takes Pottery Barn Kids out of everyone's grasp for good!!
This is the bumper I got- Jeebs just ran in because they didn't have it at the mall I was at- they looked it up and had it at another mall that was on the way home. So he saw the quilt, but didn't think to get the dadgum quilt too!!! ARGH :) oh well he's still my friend because he got me the bumper. I just think it's so dang cute- and I can paint some little scribbley sheep to hang over the crib to match.

Ramblings of an insane person

I am certifiable. Ask anybody in my family. I used to drive my older brother insane with my panic attacks. hehehehe One night we were at a comedy club- I think he was sort of on a date. I had to drag him out because my hands were curling in on themselves. I thought I was dying. It was just a panic attack. We found out later- that's the sign of a bad one. Who knew??

So anyway- I got those under control - once I figured out what was going on- I can just talk myself out of them. I still have weird panic moments. Like recently I've been seeing words wrong at first glance. To most people that may not be weird, but to me, the psychotic that I am- I'm thinking- what if I have ms or a tumor somewhere that the CAT scan didn't pick up. I keep worrying about something going wrong with my child- I just find it hard to believe that we will have 3 kids in a few months. We've been a family of 4 for so long. Jeebs felt the baby move a couple of nights ago. He was trying to feel it move again tonight while playing catch with Cagey and Cagey was saying "no, daddy, I don't want you to feel the baby move." It's going to be really interesting to see Cagey with a little sibling. I also worry about how my baby hardly ever moves when I'm laying still- especially in the morning when I've been still for a while. That's when they generally move, right?? Well, this one doesn't. I usually feel this one when I've been up for a little bit and then sit down. It's like the jostling wakes him/her up. What the heck does that mean? Probably nothing at all- but again, psycho!! Also, I worry that my husband is never going to get another full-time job with the new President getting into office. All the heads of companies know they're about to get the crud taxed out of them so few people are hiring. Everyone is downsizing so they will be able to pay their taxes and still make money. Anyway- that's scary and I don't think I"m being psychotic about that one.

...and he himself

carved the roast beast.

Thanksgiving was wonderfully relaxing. Food- Christmas music- movies- Christmas decorations- and to finish the night a game of movie charades. As a side note- if anybody wants to know the rules of charades- just ask Jeebs- he apparently is an expert ;) The game held Cagey's interest for about 2 minutes, but it was still fun. Taylor enjoyed it- but I think she was a little hysterical- she could barely act out any of her titles because she couldn't stop giggling. Cagey was tired of waiting for the meal. He decided to chew on the back of the chair.

Taylor waited a little more patiently, but she did have a whole bottle of soda pop to suck down while she waited.



The food was excellent. Jeebs did a really good job on the turkey. The drippings were super tasty and it made for some really tasty dressing and gravy. The only thing I didn't really think turned out too great were my rolls. They were definitely not my mother-in-laws rolls. I need to get that recipe. I asked the kids what they were thankful for this year and Cagey said "Christmas trees" (he's kind of obsessed with those right now- ever since it snowed) Taylor said "the food." I don't think she realizes how blessed we were to have all that food :) Thankfully- Jeebs has had enough work to make ends meet. If everyone pays and he can get it all done- it'll actually be a pay increase- but still having to live on only contract work has made me realize I do not have an entrepeneurial spirit. and yes I got entrepeneurial spelled right on the first try "Suck brick ma!!" j/k

Percy had a pretty happy thanksgiving too- complete with turkey skin, rolls, green beans, and a little dark turkey meat. He was sitting just like this watching Jeebs debone the turkey. I had a little piece of roll held down for him to come eat and he wouldn't walk the 2 feet to me to get it because Jeebs was throwing him turkey skin.

We had pumpkin pie for dessert. Last year my pie turned out perfectly - no cracks on the top or anything. This year- big crack in the middle, but still tasty. And now, the Christmas season officially begins!! Only 28 days!

For todayborday is Baking Day!!

Today I get to bake! I've actually got nice cool weather to do it in too. Okay- I've been baking a while, but today is the official baking day. I have to make my pie and my cornbread for the stuffing- it has to sit out over night to dry out a bit- and if I am feeling adventurous I may make this caramelized apple spice cake I made last year for Thanksgiving that was so good you could roll around in it. It would probably be better to roll around in it because it wouldn't make you as fat- oh well. I really shouldn't make a cake and a pie because there are only four of us, but ya know. Choices are nice right :)

I'm so ready to start my Christmas celebrations- yesterday we busted out the Mannheim Steamrollers and I made some gingerbread just to eat. It smelled so good baking in the oven and that mixed with the Christmas music and the cold weather- fantastic! Jeebs has already gotten down my bin of Christmas decorations too. There are a few new decorations I want to make this year - and I can't wait to start making Christmas treats to give away.

18 weeks and counting...

This has gone by pretty fast, but dang stressful. I won't go through the long list of stresses right now- but I am determined to document this pregnancy. I have 2 prego pics from my first pregnancy and none from my second. So, here I am in all my glory. I had a midwife appointment today- it took her a bit to find the heartbeat and stay on it- the baby is apparently a swimmer. Okay- now you can all leave comments on how good I look hehehehehe :) yeah right.


Trying to make my face look as thin as possible- too bad you can't suck in gobblers.
This is after Jeebs told me my belly wasn't going to show up in the picture with my black shirt. So here is my belly - looking more chubby than full of baby.

Weird Strangers and other stuff...

Funny that I'm blogging this right after blogging how nice most people are- anyway. Wednesday night around 9:10- Jeebs and I were sitting on the couch watching Ghost Hunters when the doorbell rang. I thought - who the heck is coming over after 9 o clock. Jeebs got up and answered the door and I paused Ghost Hunters so I could hear everything that was going on. It was a lady from a little culdesac down the road. Their road is curved just so that they can see all of the backyards on our road- From the first house on the road to about 2 doors down from ours- then the rest of the backyards are fenced in. So- she was explained where she lived and that they had seen a guy going up to our houses and looking in windows and then back down into the woods. Our house also backs a little strip of woods. Anyway, she said she was just giving us a heads up because they saw this guy and so they called the cops, but he took off in a car. Taylor was still awake and happened to hear all of the conversation and freaked out- she wouldn't go to sleep- she would barely stop crying so Jeebs put her in our bed as he was going around locking all the windows and doors and making sure the blinds were all closed. He then got out the shotgun and loaded it just to be on the safe side. That part really freaked Taylor our- she thought he was going to shoot somebody. Anyway- we got her calmed down and got everything closed up as best we could. We still didn't have a blind for the back door (I just went to Lowe's and got one today:) so we could still see outside on the back patio. So- we sat back down to enjoy our show and I got to thinking. About 4 or 5 days before this all happened- I got up one morning and went out the back door to put something in the trash. Well, we had had a really hard rain that night and for a few days priorso it was really muddy and gross. As soon as I turned back from the garbage can to the patio to go in, I noticed 3 muddy prints on the back patio- leading from the backyard to our back door. I got Jeebs out to look at them-to get his take on it. He said it looked like some kind of hooved footprint- but wouldn't there be more than 3? Deer have 4 legs right? They look like HEEL prints. Heel prints from a shoe that has stepped in mud and walked up from the backyard to our freaking backdoor. This all made the man looking in windows a little more freaky. Oh- to add to the equation- Jeebs was at the church until about 35 min before the lady rang our doorbell to tell us all of this. I was here, by myself with my children- doors unlocked, blinds opened. I did lock the front door at one point because I had taken the dog out and he had perked up and growled at something- usually nothing, but that night it kind of freaked me out- coincidence?

This is all that's left of the 3 prints. I've been a little lazy about washing off my patio. Don't judge me. :) It looks like the 2 closest to the door are facing opposite directions- so one is a step towards the door and another one away from the door. Another little side note I forgot mention- the morning I found these Jeebs had been up until about 3 or 4 in the morning working in the living room. I'm wondering if things would've played out differently had he not been sitting in the living room with the light on. Okay- now I'm freaking myself out.

This is the first print closest to the backyard- it is the most defined one. If it is a heel print then it's turned away from the house- which doesn't make much sense. I don't know. I need to watch more CSI to figure it out :)

Snow in August!!

Okay - well not snow in August, but snow in North Carolina in November!! This morning and just a minute ago we had some flurries. It was so pretty to watch it fall. I was sitting at the kitchen table helping Tater's with math when I looked out the window and saw it falling. I screamed "It's snowing!!" We ran outside and enjoyed watching it fall for the 3 minutes it fell. Cagey came out and was saying how we needed a Christmas tree and presents. I had to explain that it wasn't quite time for a Christmas tree, but almost. Isn't snow exciting in the south?? I love it. Things always shut down- and people crowd the grocery stores if there is just a hint of snow coming. It's great. Okay- well if anybody can tell me what movie the "snow in August" quote is from, you get a prize- not a very good prize, but I'll mention that you're smart or something :)

Nice Strangers

People are generally good in the world. A nice man helped me out just now while I was on a short stroll with my kids. We've already had one bad experience with dogs and today could have been another. This man was leaving the model home down the road from our house and I had chatted with him for just a sec about the housing market and he got in his car to head home. We turned around and started heading back to our house and I saw him stop in the street and just sit there in his car. I thought "great, I'm going to be attacked!" Taylor was on her bike so several feet in front of me and just about right where this man was. When I got up to where he was stopped in the street I looked over and saw a big dog off in the woods - bulldog looking thing with a leather looking harness- he had obviously gotten off of something. I immediately picked up Percy and told Tates to pedal and go home. She wouldn't go past the dog- I looked over to the man and he said "I saw this dog and I thought that little girl wouldn't like it much". So I pushed Cagey off the sidewalk so we could get farther away from the dog and go around. Well, he starts freaking out and Taylor won't ride on past the dog so this nice man gets out of his car and chases the dog away for me. I was just so grateful- I told him we had already had a bad experience with a dog in this neighborhood and my daughter was a little paranoid. I didn't tell him that I was freaked out too by big dogs. I really hate them. Anyway- I told him thank you several times and he just got in his car and rode away. Crisis averted. Thank you to all the nice people out there that do more than you'll ever know.

Sunday Morning

This morning was nice and cold when we woke up, just how it should be. We didn't have to be to church until 10 so we had an extra hour in the morning for breakfast and pictures. I made cinnamon rolls last night and put them in the fridge. I baked them this morning and they filled the house with the deliciousness that is cinnamon roll smell :) While they were in the oven I walked by my new "Tree" plug-in from bath and body works and got a small whiff of Christmas Tree. The cold mixed with all the smells made me so happy and it just felt like Christmas- even though Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet- oh well. The Christmas season is just too short and the older I get the shorter it gets. So, I'm starting my Christmas seasoning early. We watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on TBS last night. We've already been watching our Christmas movies on the DVR and today Tates wore a red and cream Christmas looking dress that she just got yesterday. I have to say I may have a new favorite for church clothes. I LOVE Gymboree- but this dress is from Hanna Anderson and it is so nice. My mom ordered it for her because they were having a big sale on their dresses and this one was so cute. Anyway- I had to post a picture of her because she looked too cute today.

The close-ups didn't turn out too well because Taylor always looks a little constipated in her pictures and apparently Cage was mad about something. He always comes home from church and immediately goes to screaming about the clothes he's supposed to change in to. Today- we got home and he started his business- we were trying to ignore him and then I hear Taylor doing something to him. I thought she was messing with him and I was ready to separate them when I heard Cage start giggling through his screaming. She was doing something to make him laugh- she's a good big sister. Last night they were laying in bed and Taylor kept yelling from her room to Cagey's- because, yes, he was screaming for tylenol, which he didn't need, he just likes the taste i guess- "Cagey are you okay?" Cagey would calm down a bit and through his sniffles say "yes". It was sweet.

Just as a side note in this post--I've always loved the South- I was born and raised in East Texas very close to the Louisiana border- it was the south! I know some people don't consider Texas southern, but it is. Anyway- I've always stuck up for the south, loved the people in the south, loved living in the south- until last week. I have to say I lost it for a night. First of all- we've been fighting ants in our kitchen for a while now- disgusting. We sprayed before we went to Utah in August and hadn't had a problem until a few weeks ago. Well, they have now decided that they want to get in the dishwasher and eat the food that drops from the dishes- I guess. Annoying. Then, I was thinking back to our first rental home here- it had FLEAS!! It was so disgusting. I was picking fleas off of my children the Christmas we spent there as they were opening their presents. The only saving grace of that disgusting place was that it was on the river and it was gorgeous. I'll post a pic of our back yard. Back to the bugs--then that night- the real thing that put me over the edge was pulling a tick off of my Tates. It was really stuck in her leg too- and dead- we pulled it out and I was just convinced Tates was going to get Lymes disease because that is our luck lately. Thankfully- she hasn't shown any signs of that. Then after getting the tick put into a little container to keep in case Tates did come down with something- Jeebs opens the garage/kitchen door and in comes a HUGE spider. I know spiders are good- they eat bugs- but I really don't want them in my house. I just lost it - the bugs in the south are disgusting. It's so funny to me though - the way my westerner husband tries to kill ants. He won't just smash them with his finger and throw them away or whatever- he bats at them like they're going to immediately bite him upon contact- hehehe. I really do love being from the south- we just need better weather and that would also cure the nasty bug problem.

This is the view from our backyard at our flea infested house. They were having a sailboating class or something one day on the river and Jeebs got this pic.

Last Year's Hoppy Thanksgiving...

Woohoo!!!

I didn't take unisom last night because my stomach was feeling okay. I was scared that I might get sick during the night or this morning. But, to my surprise, I only felt a little funky when i got up last night to go the bathroom and then this morning I felt only a little funky while eating breakfast. I feel okay now- and I did it without unisome!! Yay! I hate taking drugs when I'm pregnant, but unisom is so wonderful- it makes my stomach feel normal and helps me sleep like a log. But, I'd much rather not take it. It always worries me it's going to do something to my child. So, if I can get off of it even for only a little while- it's worth it. It also makes me really grumpy and irritable- so this morning I woke up and felt happy and energized! Yeah- that's a new one lately :) I am now 16 weeks and I just look really chubby- not really pregnant. Things have gone okay so far. After the initial scare of gushing blood- I think things are going to be okay. I still have to be careful about what I eat. If I eat sweets I know I'm going to feel funky, but I do it anyway sometimes :) My pelvis has been holding out fairly well. I worked out yesterday and I was in a good amount of pain, but this morning I'm doing better. I was really scared that it would just fall completely apart this time, but hooray- it hasn't completely fallen apart:) Thanks to my wonderful chiropractor back in Utah and my little brother who is one of the best massage therapists ever. (If anybody lives in the Provo/Orem area look him up -he needs clients. Page Wagley. Okay- don't have much else to report and I'm sorry there's no pictures. Maybe eventually when my husband has time to do something besides sit at his computer we'll actually get family pictures taken. OH I'm going to try and find our last year's holiday picture and post it. It was Jeebs' idea and I thought it was pretty hilarious.

I love...

when my kids get along and they're really sweet to each other. It makes me feel like I'm not a total failure as a mother. I also love ballet. I always have- I always will. I had one year at BYU that I stayed through spring/summer terms and I got to take ballet and other dance classes for a whole solid year. I loved it!! I miss it. I still could cry when I watch beautiful ballet. I also really LOVE hot chocolate- I now make it with splenda instead of sugar- so I can drink it without getting that sick gross stomach feeling. But, I don't like drinking a lot of imitation sweeteners especially when I'm pregnant. I also love feeling my new baby wiggle and poke me - it reassures me that he/she is still there and I'm still pregnant- also the disgusting stomach I get when I eat sweets reassures me I'm still pregnant- but I'm not such a fan of that. I have also loved being in the primary at church with my kids. It has been so much fun. I love being a part of teaching children the gospel. Children are so sweet and precious to Heavenly Father and I have been greatly blessed to have been a part of these sweet kids in New Bern's lives. I'm so glad there are actually still sweet kids in the world :) I also love the holidays!! I love to bake - since I am from the south and baking is or winter sport. I never had the opportunity to snow ski or anything growing up, but Jeebs was a snowboarder and I regret never going with him before my body got so decrepit from having children :) but that's okay- maybe when I'm out of my child bearing years. And last but not least, I love Jeebs for being who he is. He is so smart and works really hard to support us even though he has had a string of bad luck with all the companies he's worked for. Oh I have to add- I love Target. I got a maternity dress for 15$ score!! It's not the most flattering of dresses, but I throw a jacket over the top of the fatness and it works! Okay- this was supposed to be my positive post- some people have expressed that my positivity is making them giddy :) and I do want to be a positive person so here it is :) It also helps to wake up in the morning and tell yourself "today is going to be a good day" and then pray for help to make it so. AND I'm out BEATRICE! (that was for Glen, cuz I know he's chewing back the vomit after reading this)

When things are bad

and things are bad after election night- or they're going to get bad- I like to bake. I'm making cinnamon rolls today. I don't have enough flour. It makes me so mad to run out of ingredients- especially things like flour. Before we started Cagey wanted to help me so I put him up on the counter next to the mixer and my canisters or flour and sugar. He got a measuring cup, opened the flour canister, and said, "We've got to put some powder in." I thought it was funny. It must be nice to be a kid now. Taylor says being a kid is dumb- I assured her it doesn't get better when you get older. Do you remember thinking that if you could only be an adult life would be great? I do. HA!! Well, hopefully we'll sell our house soon and Jeebs will get a job- a full-time job. Here's to hoping...

I have to say...

As this whole thing starts unfolding I just loved what Dave, one of Jeebs' friends from BYU, had to say about the election. To read why he didn't vote for Obama here's the link rathofbuns.blogspot.com

Two years ago

These are some pictures from Taylor's birthday party 2 years ago. We were in Utah and had just gotten the job here in NC - we were so excited to be moving- oh if we had only known how up a creek we would be 2 years later :) But, I love Halloween and these are hilarious- Jeebs is the ultimate wolfman. Tates was medusa and Cagey was a puppy.