We're having a....

Time for the big reveal. Actually it is way way way past time but that is a different story. We FINALLY were able to go to the doctor in Colorado. We had a short ultrasound last week and even though Andrew was 99% sure he knew the gender of the baby, the doctor wasn't willing to verify for us. Today we had the full detailed ultrasound and the gender is....

We are so so excited. Andrew bought an outfit for her last night because he wanted to be the first one to get her something. Isn't that so cute?

I am so ready for the world of headbands and hairbows and dresses and pink, pink, pink!

Lovin Halloween!

I had a wonderful birthday! Some of the Young Women's presidency took me out for ice cream, Zach and Courtney brought cookies to our institute class (thanks so much!) and the class sang to me. I came home to a flower delivery with a card that said "Love Dad and Marie." I called my dad to thank him and he said "That was nice of me, I am really nice." Later he admitted that he had nothing to do with the flowers so THANK YOU MARIE!

Andrew and Alex spoiled me so much and then the night ended in a Ladies Night with the RVU wives so it was a great day! Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

On Friday my dad and Marie came over so that I could meet Marie. We had a wonderful short evening together. I think Marie is so sweet and kind and I am so excited that she and my dad can bring happiness to each other!

Saturday we were able to go to the Fall Festival hosted by RVU. Alex got to wear his Halloween costume for the first time and he looked adorable!

Becoming Ironman

 Alex loves his costume! After getting it on he kept saying "I'm going to look in the mirror." Once I showed him that the pads on his hands and chest glow in the dark he thought the outfit was even cooler.

 The night ended with the ward Trunk or Treat and chili cook-off.

We of course went through Alex's candy afterward, like good parents. Alex is so sweet, he will share his candy so willingly.

We continued our Halloween preparations tonight by carving our pumpkins. Alex loved cleaning out his pumpkin and he thought it was so great that his dad shared some of the spooky teeth with him.

Megan's, Alex's and then Andrew's

Alex didn't want to leave the pumpkins outside when it was time to go to bed. His pumpkin got to sleep in his room with him.

Perfect Fall Weekend!

We began the weekend on Friday night with Military Appreciation Day at Rocky Vista. Alex and I met Andrew at the school for the ceremony in the evening. We started by having the toast and the moment of silence for the MIA/POW soldiers. A small table is set for them and caps are placed at each setting, there is symbolism in almost every aspect of the setting and the ceremony. It was moving and special to get to be a part of it.

The speaker for the evening was a member of the Tuskegee airmen. I think he is 94 years old and he was fun to listen too. Following the ceremony was Alex's favorite part, the "special treats." It was sandwiches, veggies, chips and cake, but somehow he had in his mind that we were having a special treat. Since he ate his piece of cake and then got to share mom's too it was pretty special.

My wonderful, handsome guys!

Saturday morning we were able to go to Nick's Fall Festival. It is a nursery where they do events for fall and the best part is there is no admission fee!

See our awesome attempt at taking our own family pictures? Anyone want to come and take pictures for us?

Alex's "cheese" face has turned into this. As hard as I tried all day to get a real smile I couldn't do any better. 

We took pictures, explored the pumpkins, got lost in the hay bale maze, and Alex got to enjoy a bouncy castle. It made for such a fun morning and now we have pumpkins that we get to carve next weekend!

Andrew spent the rest of the day studying while Alex and I took naps and made bread and snuggled down to watch movies, then we took advantage of the last bit of sunshine to play in the leaves.

I need someone to teach me to use my camera so action shots aren't blurry. I think I was close when the battery died.

I'm so thankful for wonderful Fall days, especially when they include fun times with my little family and fresh homemade bread.

What's With the Mother-in-law Bashing?

This may be my first and last rant post ever, just FYI.

I think that being a mother is really hard, I want to be a fun mom who plays with her kids and teaches them to be kind and respectful and helpful. I try do do fun things like taking Alex to the park or the library. Sometimes I wonder why I bother when the trip is filled with tantrums and disrespect and disobedience and tons of extra work for me.

I LOVE the library. Arapahoe County has a big library very close to me. I have never even explored the books in the adult section because the movies and audio books are a straight shot once you walk in the door and after a quick browse while my child re-arranges the alphabetized movies we then head into the children's library. This section is separate from the rest of the library, there are puzzles and toys and books and movies and audio books and even a little playhouse.

In my "wanting to be a good mother mind" I picture Alex and I going in and us finding books and movies for him to check out then him nicely playing with the toys and the other children. Reality is me chasing Alex around while I try to find books or movies because he is only interested in the toys. When it is time to go, or time to clean up there is usually a battle during which you can see this pregnant momma running after a disobedient two year old who, though his legs are much shorter, is still way faster.

My point is that I am trying my very best to teach Alex to be respectful and kind and well behaved. When playing I am constantly reminding him to share and not take toys from other children. I make sure he is being kind and polite when he is around other people. It takes effort, I can't just pull out a book to read or go off exploring the library.

Today while keeping my eye on Alex in the little playhouse I overheard two little girls saying things like, "Don't look at this book!" or "Don't sit by me!" when Alex was trying to play with them. He wasn't grabbing the books from them or being mean or even sitting too close. I was sad to hear how rude these little girls were. I was even more sad to realize that the two women sitting near the playhouse, not paying attention to their children, were the mothers of these girls. Seriously how can you teach your children to be polite and kind when you aren't even paying attention to them? What were these women doing? Well they were talking about how horrible their mother-in-laws are. Telling elaborate stories about the things they found annoying about these women in their lives. It made me sad, and sadly helped me understand a little more why these little girls display unkind behavior.

When Alex and I moved over to another play area there were two women sitting there talking. They were joking about how they let their children know that when they are talking they are focusing on someone else. Seriously, you can't chat with a friend and still make sure your child is ok? After a few minutes I realized that these women were also talking about their mother-in-laws. These stories were no better than the last ones. One woman repeatedly said that her mother-in-law is legitimately a crazy person.

Now maybe one of these mother-in-laws does have mental health issues, but do you loudly tell stories about them in the library? I know that I complain about people and events in my life but I truly hope that my children as well as other library patrons never hear me say such unkind things about members of my family. I hope that I can be a better example and teacher for my children and that is my goal here. I am publicly (as public as you can call my blog following) determining to step up with my attempts to better myself, especially when it comes to gossip and to teaching my children to be kind and respectful to those around them. This may mean that I don't get to sit and socialize with friends as much or it might mean that I don't get to elicit sympathy or chuckles from others by telling stories about family members. I hope it means that I can be a more positive and happy person and that my children will have an example of kindness in their lives.

Just so you guys know, I have an amazing mother-in-law! Andrew's family is different from mine and they do things differently and sometimes that is hard for me to understand. But my in-laws are ALWAYS kind and loving towards me and my little boy. They try to be understanding of me and my feelings and they are fun, kind people. They treat my family well and even remember to pray for my Dad. They called me around the anniversary of my mom's death just to let me know they were thinking about my family at that time. I realize that I am lucky, or perhaps blessed and I hope that from now on the words that come out of my mouth will always leave people understanding that I have a great family and though there are quirks or frustrations sometimes, there is always love.

Mom and Alex eating cookies after church July 2013

Pinterest Challenge #2!!

Time to report on our progress for the second Pinterest challenge. I was so impressed with myself for completing 12 pins! Lindsay and I must be twins or something. I had so much fun these past two weeks, I chose simple pins and I felt so accomplished finishing a craft or trying a new recipe. I really hope we can get more people inspired to join us next time, (Stacy I'm talking to you!) it was so so much fun!

I wore this outfit one day when the weather was nice and it was perfect for a day at the park with my little buddy. I do have a confession, I don't think I could be a fashion blogger because I put on my cute outfit and think I look great, I also think that I will have time to take a cute picture later. Well I either get flour or food on myself or my day goes downhill and my pregnant uncomfortable belly begs for pajama pants and I give in. I won't mention how many of my Pinterest challenge outfits I had to re-create to take the pic, but I will say it was more than one.

I did this workout a couple of mornings this week, you better believe I did not take pictures of myself exercising. The workout was great, even though I only had 8 lb weights to work with and I had to modify a little, it did leave my arms way sore and I'm hoping to keep it up so by the time this little one comes maybe one part of my body will still seem toned and muscled.

I was invited to a ladies night during the Priesthood session of Conference. The theme was an apple bar and my assignment was to bring a greek yogurt dip. I made this dip and I thought it was okay, but not my absolute favorite. I knew there was going to be someone at the party with a peanut allergy so I wanted to bring something for them too, this recipe was so easy and it inspired me to try something else, so I ground up oatmeal cookie crumbs and mixed them with vanilla greek yogurt and a bit of honey and I thought it was wonderful! Seriously, I may or may not have eaten the leftovers with a spoon. So I will call this recipe a success just because it inspired me to try something I wouldn't have thought of.

I got the inspiration to make this wreath here and I LOVE it. Gathering all of the materials for it took a few trips to Michael's, Hobby Lobby and Walmart, but to put it together only took me one session of conference. Andrew has praised it for days so it must be a winner. It makes my house seem so festive and ready for Fall.

My two cuties loved this yummy breakfast dish. I loved how easy it was to make, even considering I make my own biscuits. I don't know if I am completely sold on the breakfast syrup in the recipe but making monkey bread in a fluted pan was wonderful and easy and I am sure I can never go back now.

I have always wanted to make this raspberry pretzel jello salad and it did not disappoint. I loved it, I must admit that of all my pins I seriously think this one took the longest. I had no idea it would take all day to finish making this thing. It was yummy though and I'm sure I will make it again.

The wonderful cool fall weather combined with this outfit inspired me to put together this look. I just love my little buddy who joins me for all of my pictures.

And here he is again, I just love that kid! I have finally done something with the family pictures we took last fall.  This tutorial helped me create these DIY (not quite canvas) canvas prints. They were so easy and inexpensive and I love how they turned out. Now I just feel like my family should come visit me so they can see all of the cute things I have created for my home. Just think next year there will be a cute baby to come and cuddle, (you know if the one pictured above isn't enough to entice you) you guys should start making your vacation plans.

I made these cookies n cream cookies and I must say the recipe is definitely a keeper. If you try the recipe and wonder why yours don't look like mine it might help you to understand that the cheap brand of Oreos only had the half vanilla half chocolate cookies left on the day I was shopping. I couldn't bring myself to buy the more expensive cookies, so yeah. I still think they were wonderful.

I love ravioli! This recipe was easy and even satisfied my hubby who tends to think that the other ways I prepare ravioli are kinda boring.

 This outfit gave me the inspiration to put together my casual Fall day outfit. Sadly I did not have a cute matching scarf that I could make work. Did you guys know my birthday is this month? Just sayin.

So for those of you still reading this extremely long post I will just let you know that this potato soup is great. Don't be fooled by this picture which was taken after the soup had cooled and started to congeal, and I didn't have any cheese left to make it look as pretty as I wanted. But the soup was creamy and tasty and I didn't feel like I had to put a ton of work into it as I have with other potato soup recipes I have tried. Anyway it is good and you should try it.

So there you have it, my September/October Pinterest Challenge. I hope you are inspired to join us next time if you didn't get to this time.