Today was an amazingly beautiful Fall day.  I really do love this time of year here in Ohio.  It helped that we were able to enjoy the day as a family. 

  On a side note...the pumpkin scarecrow, although cute, tends to scare me when I glimpse him out of the corner of my eye through the window.  Kind of catches me off guard and for a split second makes me think there is a strange man sitting on our porch swing.  Or maybe it creeps me out that it looks like Nate has his hand on the scarecrow's leg.

My two monkeys playing in the leaves in our front yard.  

Thanks to the many big trees in our yard we will be able to play in the leaves for days.   

Tis the season for pumpkin pancakes (shaped like ghosts of course!).  We will be incorporating pumpkin into many of our recipes over the next few months.  I found a pumpkin cream cheese muffin recipe I can't wait to try.  If it is a success I will share it with you.

I will be sad when my girls are older and don't think funny shaped pancakes are the coolest thing in the world.  For now I will just enjoy that such simple things make me the coolest mom ever:).  I need something to win me points since over the last week I have turned into a tired old blob.  My very pregnant body is slowly giving out on me.  Time was passing quickly up until last week, but I think I have hit my wall.  Kind of a bummer since I have 6 more weeks to go...sigh.

Crazy to think two years ago at this time I was getting ready for bed, completely devastated that I was once again seeing my due date come and go and I was still very pregnant.  Little did I know that I would be headed to the hospital in just a few short hours.  Can't believe my Sadie Bug is turning 2 years old tomorrow!

 It just took me far too long to put this post together because my brain is so tired.  Here's to hoping the little ones sleep in tomorrow!!!  And here's to hoping we get to enjoy many more beautiful days like today.  

Family only 5 hours away!!!!...

 About a month ago my little brother and his family moved to South Bend, Indiana for law school at Notre Dame.  This means we now live only 5 hours away from family!!!  Once upon a time 5 hours seemed like an eternity, but compared to the 27 hour trip to get home to Utah or Idaho, 5 hours is nothing.  My parents flew out to help my little brother and his family get settled in so I jumped on the opportunity to go visit while they were in town.  It was so good to see everyone.  It had been over a year which is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my parents. 

My girls loved all the attention they received from grandma and papa.  Cambri often asked me to leave the room so that I wouldn't interrupt her time with grandma:)

My little brother Alan and his wife Shana had their first baby on June 4 which means these two little monkeys share a birthday.  They bonded almost immediately.  It was really fun to see Cam want to help with and hold baby Clayson.  She is going to be a great big sister to her little brother. 

And this is the face of an almost 2 year old whose sleep schedule has been very interrupted.  Naps didn't really happen and trying to get her to go to bed in the same room as Cambri and me was quite the challenge.  Have I ever mentioned that this girl is full of spunk!?  Even with a grumpy face I just want to grab her and squeeze her.  

 

Except for the fact that Nate couldn't join us on this adventure (and I gained 7 lbs in 3 days) it was a fantastic way to spend the weekend.  We are hoping Alan and Shana will be able to come spend Thanksgiving with us (which means I need this baby to come out so I am not in the hospital over the holiday).  We may even make the trip back to Indiana in the near future to watch the Notre Dame/BYU football game...Love, LOVE, L-O-V-E having family so close!!!!! 

Getting Caught Up Part I...

I just spent way too much time trying to download a million pictures to the blog only to have everything freeze on me so I will be doing this blog post in parts.  I don't have the patience to upload all the pictures again.

Part One will be dedicated to my girls...

Tonight we took pictures of all Cambri's favorite things so she can make a book of them tomorrow per her request.  I love when her little mind comes up with such creative ideas.  She gathered her toys and put on a little show for me.  Way Cute!

Of course Little Miss Sadie wanted in on the fun.  My girls spend 90% of their day in dress up clothes.  On a side note...The other day my girls got in a little argument over something silly.  They started pointing at each other while saying, "Bad Baby!" over and over again.  after a minute of this Sadie stopped and thought for a moment and then replied, "I not baby, I Sadie Bugie!"  She walked away with a big smile on her face. 

Dancing is something that happens daily in this house.  All it takes is a little music and this girl can't help herself.  Her favorite dance move involves making me spin in circles with her.  Unfortunately I am way too old for that kind of fun and get dizzy...sad!!! 

These pictures of Cambri make me smile.  They show her cute little personality so well.  Such passion!!!  Dance has been her favorite thing out of everything she has tried so far.  I think it is a perfect outlet for her creative/dramatic personality:)  She just got a new pair of tap shoes and has been showing of her skills on the kitchen floor.  She is my girly girl and I love it!

Cambri started her second year of preschool this year and so far is loving it.  She is going three times a week in the afternoon.  It is a nice break for both of us:)  Preschool has done amazing things for this girl.  She has come out of her shell so much.  She was more than ready to start school this year.  Especially since she got to pick out her new smurfette backpack.  This was something she knew she watned for months and she waited so patiently to get the right one.  Next year Cambri starts all day kindergarten.  It makes me a little nervous to send my baby off all day long.  It will be different knowing she is spending more time away from me than with me.   

Pictures like this make me wonder where time has gone.  How did my baby girl grow up so fast!!!  She piced out her outfit weeks ago and has been very anxious to wear it for the first time.  School shopping was fun wtih her this year because I let her pick out what she wanted as long as it was mommy approved.  She loved trying on the outfits and checking herself out in the dressing room mirror.  One day she and I are going to be great shopping buddies!

A few days ago we were at TJ Maxx looking for a birthday present.  As we were walking to the checkout line I saw a sweater I thought was cute so I stopped to look at it.  Cam must have liked it too because she said to me, "Mom! You should get it.  You have been wanting it for so long!"  Like I said, she is going to be an awesome shopping buddy.

Sadie wishes so badly it was her turn to go to school too.  She wants to be just like her big sister.  The other day when dropping Cambri off at school Sadie also wanted to wear her backpack.  We all walked up to the door where Sadie showed her backpack to everyone.  She was so proud of it and so excited to feel like a big girl.  When all the kids headed into the building she turned around and waved goodbye to me and started following the crowd.  The girl was giddy with excitement thinking it was her turn to go to school.  When I told her she had to stay with me her little heart was broken into a million peices.  I completely crushed her world.  The problem was remedied when we got home and I let her play with her sisters beloved toys:)  We will have to figure out something because she still has 2 more years until its her turn.  She still naps when Cam is at school, but we usually spend 20 minutes together doing puzzles or playing with blocks before she goes down.  It has been funt to have some one on one time with my little Sadie Bug. 

Yes it is true, I have two very cute little girls.  But let us be honest for a moment.  They are kids and they are not perfect.  Everyday has its challenges.  My girls fight like cats and dogs.  It drives me crazy!!!!!  Both my girls are as stubborn as they come and little miss Sadie is the most independent child ever to walk the earth.  Pretty sure she says, "I do it!" 5,000 times a day.  Cam only thinks in absolutes so she pouts about never being able to do anything fun even if the whole day was devoted to her.  They know how to drain the energy out of me by the days end and I often wonder if they still love me come bedtime.  As of late Sadie has made bedtime a struggle.  Her nap is making it hard for her to fall asleep at night.  She isn't quite ready to get rid of the nap so I have had to cut it shorter than she would like or she is up until midnight.  She still climbs out of her crib a million times, comes downstairs, does really cute things and then cries when I put her back in her bed.  Last night I finally shut her door so she at least couldn't get out of her room...lots of tears, lots of screaming.  She is still sleeping so it is yet to be decided if she still loves me.  

Despite the struggles I still love being mom.  Adding a third child to the mix scares me to death though.  As much as I don't want to be pregnant anymore, I am pretty content keeping baby brother in the belly for now.

More updates to follow!       

Memories...

(Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I need to dig out my other photo book to document more pictures)

Yesterday would have been my mom's 56th birthday.  I can't believe she has been gone for almost 23 years.  I think of her almost everyday still, but for the most part it isn't a sad thing anymore.  I am grateful for the few memories I do have of her and for the great example she left for me to follow. 

I did get a little emotional yesterday thinking about her.  Now that I have kids of my own I realize just how much my mom loved her children.  I know that she had hard days too, but when it came down to it we were her life and what gave her joy.  I feel closer to her now that I am a mom even though it has been many years since she passed. 

Yesterday I missed her more than I usually do.  I ached for her to give me advice on how to be a good mom to three children.  I felt a little empty that she isn't coming to help when the baby is born.  I wanted to call her and tell her how tired and uncomfortable I am. 

Luckily I have lots of people in my life who are willing to fill in those empty spaces in my heart.  And I am so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know my family will be together forever.

Happy Birthday Mom!!! 

Why I Haven't Blogged In Ages...

About a month ago we decided to paint our whole house all at once instead of doing it room by room like I had originally planned.  And when I say the whole house I mean walls, trim and ceiling...no biggie right?  We were tired of everything not being done and we wanted to make sure we finished the projects before we have to sell the house in about 3.5 years.  Which seriously was the rate we were moving at.  This means that my every waking free minute is spent painting.  Luckily it is looking great and I am so happy we are doing it all.  The chaos will be worth it.  In a couple weeks I hope to have some pictures of finished projects but for now I will let you have a sneak peek of what has been going on for the last month.  It will make you feel really good about the current state of your own home:)... 

We no longer use our kitchen table because it has become our work station.  Also you will notice the bare windows in the background.  I have a solution to cover them but still need to figure out the color scheme.

This room is the most finished but still needs some work.  I will get some before and afters when it is all said and done.  The wall on the right will be covered with photo ledges and what not.  The blue carpet (which I so thought we would replace when we bought the house) has given me quite the challenge when it comes to decorating this room.  Even though it is more of a navy blue it still doesn't go well with colors so for now the room is a little plain. I decorated with a lot of gray and then decided to paint the walls gray so I am trying to figure out how to jazz it up. 

Believe it or not there is a beautiful dining table, that my husband built, under all this mess.  It seriously is awesome and I can't wait to get this room put together.  The walls use to be red, DARK red.  It took me three coats of primer to cover it up.  So far that is all that has been done in here.  Just getting rid of the red has made a huge difference.  Can't wait to tackle this room!

I am working on painting the trim in this room for now and then I will paint the walls the same gray color as the rest of the house.  We bought the couch when we started this adventure and plan to get some accent chairs.  Why do chairs have to cost a fortune?

As if painting the whole house wasn't a big enough project I talked my husband into tearing down the ugly ceiling overhang thing (not sure what else to call it).  It was serving no purpose but closed off the room so much.  It only took about 30 minutes to take down and I think Nate secretly enjoyed the project:)

We replaced the ugly florescent light with recessed lighting.  I say we because I choose the lighting and Nate did all the work:)  I do the majority of the painting so it's fair:)  The change makes a world of difference and every time I walk into the kitchen it makes me smile.  The kitchen feels fresher, newer and more open. Now we just need to finish painting the ceiling and put the covers on the lights.  If I am not totally burned out of painting when all is said and done I plan to paint our cabinets white.  Again ignore the bare windows...soon they will look awesome. 

Since I spend all my time working on house projects I am usually greeted by huge piles of laundry like this that take days to finally sort and put away.  One day I hope to become supermom and figure out a way to have a clean beautiful house.  Pretty sure that day will only come if we hire a housekeeper:)

32 weeks!!!  The  comments about how big my belly is have already started.  When buying paint a few days back the lady helping me gasped (seriously gasped) when I told her I was due it November.  She then proceeded to tell me I was REALLY big for not being due for a few months.  Pretty sure I cried when I got in the car...I may have been overly tired/emotional that day. 

I wish I could say that painting the house is the only project we have to do before I can feel at peace with how things look around here.  My poor husband has to put up with my insanity of diy-ing.

What is up in the near future?...

Tear out a bunch of bushes and trees in the front yard

Change out the interior doors (Right now we have cheapo fake oak doors that seriously date the place)

Change the nursery so baby brother doesn't can have sleep and play in a girly bedroom

Move Sadie into Cambri's room and finish decorating it

Paint and reupolster the dining room chairs

and the list goes on and on and on....

Best Frenemies:)

(Clothes seem to be optional these days.  It is so hot I let them run around in their undies all day.  Secretly I am jealous I can't do the same.)

My girls are too cute when they decide to be buddies.  Listening to them play and giggle is priceless. 

The other day while they were playing I overheard Cambri say to Sadie, "Let's kill her with our booty shake!"



This and That...

Lots of pictures and details that are more for me than anything else so I won't be offended if this is one of those posts that gets overlooked:)  

The pictures are cute if nothing else.  

Sadie's 3 hour afternoon nap is starting to backfire.  Come 10pm the girl is not tired.  I put her in bed around 9 and an hour later she is yelling for me obviously far from sleep.  So for the last few nights I have had a buddy to hang out with.  She is pretty good at keeping herself entertained so I don't mind too much.  The above picture is night #1.

Night #2...If she wasn't so cute I might be able to just let her cry in her crib.

Night #3...I didn't rescue her from her crib and this is how I found her when I checked on her before going to bed.  She had thrown everything, including sheet and blankets out.  Nothing like sleeping on a plastic mattress:).

Ready to potty train!!!  (I figured I was going to need a little help as well so I made sure to pick up a few treats for me).  I am happy to report our efforts were successful and we now are diaper free at our house!  I will enjoy it for the short three months before baby brother gets here. 

When beginning the process I don't think we left the kitchen for two days.  I really didn't want to be scrubbing carpet all day.  I think my girls wish we potty trained everyday.  They have never had my undivided attention like this before.  And I let them do things that are usually off limits...blow bubbles inside, draw with markers all over their bodies (and mine), and eat candy and chips to their hearts content. 

We had a "sleepover" in the hallway too. 

And at our house one must always be a  princess even when potty training.

Just as a reminder for the next go around...the first two days were so hard and I was doubting myself for even trying.  Sadie is a very idependent child and what worked for Cambri did NOT work for Sadie.  Remember all those bribery treats from the picture?  Sadie was interested in them for 2 seconds.  Cambri (and Nate) ended up eating most of them.  I think when I potty trained Cambri we went through a million stickers and treats and she wanted them for months after being trained.  Sadie really didn't care about them at all.  She liked when we all got really excited and ran around cheering for her.  This is far too much information but I find it to be cute...she refers to her poop as snakes.  It makes me smile every time. 

I know I have been spoiled with two girls who have potty trained before turning two so I am well prepared to get a baby boy her stays in diapers til her is 6:)

We have loved having a hot tub in our backyard.  We keep it at a more of a swimming pool temperature so the girls think it is the perfect little swimming pool.  Both girls have become so comfortable in the water this summer thanks to Nate taking them swimming after he gets home from work.  I usually use this time to put my feet up and relax or get some cleaning done.   

Last but not least we celebrated Nate's birthday.  The BIG 3-0!!!  Unfortunately Nate worked all day and was on call all night so we couldn't do much to celebrate.  We did surprise him with some homemade decorations and balloons, shrimp dinner, chocolate pie for dessert, and a few presents.  He and I also went on a date last weekend.  We will be doing a bigger party with friends in a few weeks.  Through the month of July Nate has been on call every other day so we are pushing the big party and cake reveal until August...stay tuned:)