Birthday Celebrations..

Had a little Birthday breakfast yesterday with my "sisters".. I didn't post pics yesterday because.. well, I'll explain that one in a minute..
Went to Jaclyn's and Hallie had decorated, just for me!!
We had oranges, OJ, this yummy berry/waffle dish, with Cool Whip.. yum! Brooke was sweet enough to remember my aversion to blueberries, and put them in half, so I wouldn't ahve to endure them..
Second course was french toast, ala Jacks.. yummmm...
We got to sit and chat while the kids played.. and Peyton slept..
Hallie is the best niece and cousin ever!! The girls didn't quite want to come home with me when it was all over, well, nap time for Pey at least.. and Lynn begged to stay. We have been trying to teach her to not invite herself.. but Sophie soon asked Jaclyn, who said yes and granted my little girl's wish. I love how Sophie and Lynn love each other.. there was once a day when the two rarely got along, most of that was a communication breakdown, really just a bink in Lynnie-Lou's mouth :).. now they rarely want to be apart when they are together.
We gotta plan another day for Sophs to come play Jacks..
So Ashley caught wind of this plan, and immediately asked to stay too.. which they were generous enough to take on BOTH of my crazy girls.
So what was I to do with an afternoon with just one child to parent? Scrapbook? Clean? Craft? Nap? Hmmmm...
When it all came down to it, I cleaned..
That vacuum has me hooked!
I moved all the furniture in the basement, all except the TV armoire, and sucked-up all the gross stuff.. sooo fun! So clean house Monday almost was completed.. still have the upstairs to vacuum..
I got a little carried away, and before I knew it, Merrill was home with the girls.
Thanks Jaclyn, Brooke, and Hallie!! It was an awesome day yesterday!!
Thanks to everyone for birthday wishes sent via e-mail and Facebook.. phone calls too!!
More fun to come today!

Missing Christmas photos...

Thanks Brookers and Jacks! Now I have some really fun pics to post... I think I have set a new record for pictures and posts in one day ;)...
Cousins...
Girls cousin pyramid...
Our little fam... the lecture about smiling + pictures = Santa, worked!
The boy pyramid...
The kids (Clint, Merrill, and MiKell) first attempt at the traditional shoulder pic in two years... it didn't end well...
Ah! Success! See the stress on Dixon's face?
Talent show... this was Ashley's (and my :)...) talent, Lynn performed many times... others did tumbling skills... Clint did a standing back tuck... impressed us all...
My girls.. do you think someone is tired?
Yup...
And last, but not least, mom and her quilt...
Thanks girls for sharing!

Oh, Edward...

What a delicious movie!
I worked hard on these to have 4 pair done for tonight... thanks for moral support Brooke, and for your cutting skills!
Really, first showing... Kaitlyn and MiKell got the tickets... yay for them! And we had a blast.. I got to be young and carefree for a few hours... after I got 2/3 of my children to sleep ;)
The movie was awesome!!! For those of you going to see it, may I suggest the nachos, diet Coke, popcorn WITH milkduds (Christie taught me this, and it is a must try...) and some sour patch kids, for when you think Edward and Bella are going to kiss, but they don't...
Now I am off to maybe 4 or 5 hours of sleep!
Worth it!!!

Family Pics...

Brookers took some pics of our little family last night in her back yard.. I have only seen the teaser... can't wait to see the rest!!!
You wanna see?

Flashback Friday...

One year ago, my period was late. I was so excited, I called Merrill at work and told him...
"Honey I am late!"
"When were you supposed to start?"
"This morning...." (it was noonish.)
"Don't get your hopes up... you still have the rest of the day..."
What a party pooper!
Well, the next day, Terrace Days, I bought a pregnancy test at Macey's, and took it the next morning, Father's Day.
What a Father's Day gift...Our sweet Peyton is now four months old!
24 3/4 inches long...
Almost 15 pounds...
She's so well fed...
And now Brooke's news...
And to the opposite end of the spectrum... my IUD. I have the last $300 to pay on it. It will pay for itself within one year, cheaper than five years of birth control! (One year of the mini-pill at 50 bucks a month = $600... 4 additional years of regular BC at around 30 bucks a month... yeah, it pays for itself within the first year...) And the only reason why the number five is brought up is because Mer says we are done...
We'll see... ;)
Oh, but I am EMBRACING every minute!

A Good Nap!

Peyton has had some issues taking good naps and eating like I think she should the last few days... So thank heavens when Brooke loaned us "Ebbs" (Evan's) old jumper. Peyton loves it! She played for such a long time, was so happy the whole time and ended up falling asleep. Fun! Thanks Brooke! She is so generous to let us use anything that she has that Evan has used that is new and fun. She even offered her infant car seat just in case ours was too old to use. She's awesome!
More about the sleep and eat issue...
I don't think that anything is necessarily wrong, but just changing and I am not used to it... yet.
She used to eat about every four hours, nighttime not included, she sleeps through the night... but now, my boobs are huge and ready to spray at the slightest stimulation. Seriously. I try to force her to eat, because I am not hip to having the pump attached to my chest all day long. The girls stare at me too much for my comfort level.
She isn't taking naps as well as she was. Her morning nap isn't as long as it used to be and her afternoon nap isn't always as prompt in coming as it used to be either. She is happy as can be, so I try not to force anything. My daily pattern just needs some tweaking now.

happy birthday brookers!!!

we had a fun lunch here today! just us girls! love you guys....
so i know that i haven't posted... i almost forgot how!
i've been busy with so much, but not much to show for it...
here's one project...

the girl loves her nighttime baths! she talks to me sooo much and she is still on the verge of a giggle... trying to find what will get it to come out...

here's my pincushion... i changed the fabric... the paisley was much cuter than the polka dot. i finished the grocery sack holder today. show that one later!

these are things from grandma...

knitting needles, crochet hooks, an old canning jar, her quilting kit complete with band aids, her thimbles, and needles :), the little pillow is made from my great-great grandma's wedding dress, and i got one of her watches... all priceless!
i had a leadership meeting tonight that was really nice. hope to squeeze in an early morning run tomorrow, i am trying to be good ;) mer has been so busy... but i am not complaining... it is a blessing to have business!

Oh, SnaP!

This is the phrase that is stuck in my head (refer to title of post...). I am trying to control my self from saying it too much...
We watch a lot of TBS, I do not even want to disclose the shows that usually get viewed on that station... "The Office" is probably the most wholesome... But "My Name is Earl", will be starting soon... I love that show, and Joy busts me up, so that's why it is stuck... they are constantly running press to announce it.
Yesterday we had a Primary activity. Thank the heavens I had nothing to do with it! All I had to do what buy the treat, and the treat I got was that Christie, Julie, & Jen took care of it all! Those guys are aWEsoMe!!! I just wish that Ash would untie my apron strings from around every appendage of her three year old body... She has been so clingy ever since she made the transition into Primary. She panics even when I tell her that I am going just five feet away to help her sister, that she'll see me the whole time, I am not leaving...
Peyton kind of got thrown off her usual schedule, and was not being the most happy girl while I tried to make dinner and keep her happy. She really needed to sleep so I held her, and made dinner one handed. Steak, mushrooms and onions to top them, mashed potatoes, peas, and five cheese Texas toast... um, one-handed... I finally got her to sleep and I laid her down. Just as I am cutting into my delicious steak, she wakes up. The past two nights she has wanted to eat when we are eating... that makes my dinner a little difficult to eat... but last night she wasn't hungry, just wanted some closeness. Mer, the sweetheart, held her and ate. He held her for the rest of the night, Hog... but I love him for it. He's such a sweet dad!
So all of my plans for the day today (scrapbooking, vacuuming...), went FlUsh!!! We seriously did nothing. I showered, bathed Peyton, and did a load of dishes, well, at least I started the dishwasher. Peyton and I took a nap, awww... And now I am pondering which of Brooke's creations I will print and send out. She makes it way too hard... She's awesome!

Jeans...

I was awaken this morning at 6 am by Ashley. Her bed is too hot, but mine isn't... She has three thick blankets on her bed, long PJ's, and her "Baaa" Harbor sheep jacket on. And she's hot??? I asked her if she wanted to take off her sheep jacket, "no". So I laid down by her her for a little while, having contractions and an achy back the whole time. It carried on throughout the day.
Jaclyn, Brooke, and I , went shopping today. I wanted to get some things taken care of before the big moment arrives. I went to Sam's early, to get some pics for my two... no three, remianing HOF projects printed off. I get there only to discover that I wasn't thinking things all the way through, the pictures weren't on the disc that I had, they were still at home, on my computer, waiting for me to load them on my memory card... see, good luck at getting this HOF entry done... I wanted to go to JoAnn's too, but another airhead act, I forgot my list... last thing you want to do is send me into JoAnn's, list-less... that just equals massive dollar amounts. And I didn't get Peyton's blessing dress found... I really didn't even begin the hunt.
So on to the successful part of the day...
Around noon, we left for Gateway. Mission: find two pairs of jeans... 1. post-partum jeans. Some that I can wear immediately, or at least until the left-over belly is gone, you know, the belly that makes you still look like you are seven months along??? The other pair, motivational jeans. I was on the hunt for the most perfect, favorite jeans I have ever owned... size 8, dark wash, curvy, perfect fit. They were $79.50, I know, but worth every red cent. My original pair got holes in the knees, of course, and then one in the crotch when we were laying the new floors. It was a sad day at our home... especially for Mer, he liked the "rear view"...
So the outcome: I found lots of jeans that I liked. I had Brooke and Jaclyn try all of them on to show me how they looked, (there was lots of giggling going on in that dressing room..) and then bought them in the appropriate sizes. I was so happy to find the "perfect" pair, again. I would have bought two a year ago, but they only had one... And I even found a cute top to boot. But things get even better (sorry Chrisite)... my blessing for the day, which may seem dumb, but it really is a blessing, I was able to find these "perfect" jeans. These size 8 motivational jeans... and the betterness (my own new word, copyrighted by me... right now...) continues... as the sales girl was ringing-up my purchases, I noticed that a pair of the jeans rang up at $24.97. I asked her which ones rang up at that price... it was my favorite jeans, my "perfect" jeans. Apparently, they are getting rid of all of them because they were last year's style. I went to look for another pair, no more, in any size... I feel blessed. I even got them less than that, I used my birthday coupon! AND I got a customer service survey, which I get 15% off my next purchase, awesome. Now, to fit into them...
Brooke and Jaclyn got me a pair for my birthday gift! Love it! We had fun, but didn't get to spend nearly as much time together as we wanted to... (we'll see you next time Heartland Paper Co.) responsibility came knocking. A couple of hours was all that we really needed. Thanks girls!

Heeheeheehee!!!! That's not a witchy cackle, it's a laugh of satisfaction... more of a giggle really. I got my Christmas shopping done! Well, not all of it. I couldn't find one item for the girls, princess or other appropriately themed cocoa mugs, and I didn't get Merrill his temple suitcase. (Why am I so embarrassed that when we go to the temple he has a shoulder bag that says "Trips" on the side? Free gifts from your travel agent just don't seem to fit as temple luggage...) Other than that, I got stocking stuffers and gifts DONE. It does make it easy when I am buying everything times two.
It was so wonderful that Merrill ended-up not going and shopping for me. Every year his mom gets all the guys together to go to dinner and then shop for their wives. It didn't work out for tonight. At first I was kind of bummed. First of all I had to figure out what to do for dinner, my plan was to have mac and cheese with the girls... Secondly, my plans after that point, were to scrapbook, preferably with the girls. But I soon realized that Merrill being home = me being able to go out by myself and get the shopping all done.
Brooke is home! I am not in solitary anymore! I do have other people I can talk to (who I love dearly...), it's just weird going for that long without talking to her. What on earth will I do (Merrill too for that matter...) when they leave for Disneyworld???
I went over and helped at Scouts today. It was fun! I told Merrill that he and I could be Weblos leaders together, it would solve one of my problems, and we would have fun doing it! Now if they'll let the Primary President have another calling...

Big day in the life of a mom and a three year old!!! Ashley got to go and pick out her "potty toy"... She also got to pick out her own "big girl" panties! We occasionally still have the little accidents, like when she has her tu-tu on and can't get it off in time. You know, the things even Lynn still goes through now. Bot it's a lot better than spending the money on pull-ups, and the pain in the butt it is when you get to change one. All it took was to put her in the real thing and she took to it immediately! (There should be an angelic chorus singing "Ahhhhhhh!")
I also got my "wall" done. I updated the pictures, finally. I've really wanted to. Brooke took pictures of us for Mother's Day, I loved those, but was really excited to have fall pictures done of the whole family, yes, Merrill too. I still don't know what I am going to give him to make up for his hour gone from a Saturday... How am I ever going to talk him into updating them once baby is here? Well, I will have my body back by then (chica chica bow bow)... Anyway, they turned out so good! My wall is BEAUTIFUL!!! Thanks BROOKE PITCHER! (Her pictures are in the slide show, you can contact me for her contact info :) She said I better give her some credit!)
I just had to have a little talk with Lynn. Apparently, it is way too hard to stay in bed when you are almost five years old. Even when the punishment is no treats the next day. She thought it was way too strict. So when she got out of bed, and I reminded her of what the punishment was, she said, "Me an Ash are going to go to anew house." I showed her the door. Told her to go. She told Ash to, "Come on." Ashley wasn't moving. She said goodbye. Lynn said, "Maybe I'll leave tomorrow when it's light outside." I told her if she wanted to go find a new house, she'd better go now. She changed her mind, and we had a little talk about rules, consequences, how she is the big sister and example, how much I love her... Do you hear the sappy "Full House" music starting to play...