Kiss Off

The day of love, probably one of if not the MOST hated and loved holiday. Do I think that we should show love all 365 days of the year? YES! Do I think there is anything wrong with having a day set aside to really show your special someone how much you love them? Absolutely not. But I am a sucker for Holidays!

So here is me and my Valentine...

Yes his head is cut off in this picture, and I actually have a better one I will post later but I chose this one because it is perfect to show just how much this man loves me. I'll explain...

Chris HATES pictures... really loathes them. Which makes his life difficult considering he married a photographer who thinks every little moment should be documented in photos. When I pull out my camera I often here a groaning sound that can only be compared to the sound a cow or other large mammal might make while dying a slow death. BUT he then puts on his best fake smile and does as I direct. Because I have such a beast of a camera it is not easy to hold and take a picture with one hand and because I had a fixed 35mm lens on it is even harder to capture both of our faces.

I think this was the 6th or 7th try at a picture. The first two we were really not in the frame, the next I complained that Chris was making a strained face, I didn't like one of me.... do you see why he groans? But he does it. He stands and smiles and lets me review and does it over and over til I am satisfied. That my friends is love. And the fact that half his head is cut out of the picture is just totally perfect because that is the kind of person he is. The kind who leaves himself out of the equation to make someone else happy. The kind that ALWAYS puts me first.

He is my kind of guy, as in I really think he is the perfect husband and father and I could not dream of finding anything better. I am the luckiest. I know that we all say that and think that... which is so great... because everyone has their perfect for them person. "Their kind of guy" and what a blessing it is to find that person. I'm so glad I found mine.

I woke up to breakfast in bed and these beautiful flowers. And then the real fun began...

seeing as Valentines day is also my birthday it is always a day full of surprises and fun. This time was no different. Chris told me I needed to be ready and in the car by 11, and off we went. It wasn't until we pulled in the bookstore parking lot at the University of Utah that I read the sign "VALENTINES I-POD KISS OFF TODAY AT NOON"

Sadly the first words out of my mouth were "If I have to make out with you in public I will be so mad." Lovely... I am a nice person, really I am. He loves me so he just laughed, told me to relax and explained it was a contest to see which couple could hold and I-pod between their lips the longest. I sighed a breath of relief and we parked.

Once we got in and claimed our spots I realized the rules were a little more detailed than he had let on, and included but were not limited to... couples could not touch at all during the competition, our feet had to be 24 inches apart at all time minus the times we had to walk around the room together, the i pod could only be touched by our lips, no chins noses ect., several times we would be asked to balance on one foot while standing 2 feet apart holding the ipod in between our lips...( are you picturing this) the rules went on and on.

How long can this be done you might ask... well a few years ago the winners lasted 3 hours. HAHAHAHA.... yeah right.

We lasted 30 min, I fell over while trying to balance on one foot. To my credit I was in heels and had made it through 2 stand on one foot periods already. We did make it to the top 7 I think. 7 out of 40 ain't bad. The news interviewed us as we left. Anyone see that? Our necks hurt for days after.

Very Talented Lips... no?

We ended our day with our littlest Valentines who had spent the day at grandma Webres. They opened their few little presents and then we ordered pizza and watched their new movie Ferngully.

Hope you all had a great day of love.

-Me.

Our princess

I keep looking at this little princess and thinking... how is there going to be room in this house for another one? :) :)

But like it or not Taycee is going to have to share the throne a little because another little princess is rapidly making her way to this house. And I am getting more and more excited for it. I have been going through the tiny baby clothes we had for Taycee and it is UNREAL to me that she was that small, and is now so big. How do they change so fast without you even realizing it?

Taycee is slowly growing out of her naughty all the time stage. THANK THE HEAVENS. She still has an attitude all her own, but we are learning how to work with that attitude. When I am not pulling my hair out because of her she is usually melting my heart with her cute words and grin. She is still scared of all the jets that fly overhead and always runs to me saying "mommy I'm scary!" She has developed a love for How to train your dragon, which is funny seeing as it is definitely a boy show. It is the only show she will sit and watch without moving. She LOVES babies, our new addition will be loved and mauled. When she sees a baby in the store she yells out "HI BABY" even if it is 50 ft away. I am excited to see her be a little mommy.

We have been having a debate over her hair. Ever since she was born it has been 2 things

1. curly 2. a mullet.

Chris thinks we need to cut off the back to make it more even with the top, but I am afraid it will cut of all her curls. So for now I am doing everything I can to make it look normal and convince Chris it can stay the way it is. :D Last Sunday we tried ringlets. She looked pretty cute!

She is growing up and getting big... and I am ready for another baby!

Tie Breaker

The results are in and the tie breaker goes to the.......

GIRLS!

To be honest I had my fingers crossed for a boy because Kaden is so much more easy going than Taycee. BUT... I knew it was a girl. Back when Chris and I were talking about taking out my IUD and trying for another I was driving in the car and had a very strong impression there was another little girl ready to join our family. I pushed the thought out of my mind because a boy sounded so much easier! :D :D However, we are so excited to welcome another little princess into the family. Now it is time to go pull out all the cute baby girl things I have boxed away.

Wal-mart fall apart.

I feel the need to update the blog, but every time I sit down to do it I can't think of anything fun or interesting that has happened. Life has been somewhat slow and laid back around our house. I LOVE IT! I love that I don't have a million places to go and a million things to do. I enjoy being busy. I enjoy being productive and getting things done, but there is something to be said for a month of "relaxing at home" with the kids. This also is largely due to the fact that Chris has been working insane hours and it has been way to cold to take the kids outside and I am really trying not to spend money on things that we don't need to spend money on.

However I think my Haitus is coming to an end I have 2 weddings a week apart in April... one for Chris's sister Kelsey, one for my sister Heather. I am doing the pictures for both weddings along with other sisterly duties. FUN? Yes. But it will require almost every free weekend I have from now to the 22nd.

The pregnancy is going well. At 17 weeks I am feeling pretty good all things considered, as long as I keep my zofran handy I make it through most days with no major problems.... til today. I was in Wal-Mart with Taycee. I had dropped Kaden off at pre-school and was doing our grocery shopping for the week. I had my cart mostly filled and had made it to the back of the store when the vomit started to rise in my throat. I quickly looked around to see if there was anything close to catch spew and located a garbage can at the end of the isle. Luckily I made it there and was able to regain my composure. I considered ditching the cart and leaving the store but thought I could quickly finish and be ok. And I was... as far as the throw up part goes.... however about 2 minutes later I knew if I didn't make it to a bathroom soon we would have every greater problems that would not be so easily deposited in the garbage. Sweat started to bead on my forehead my stomach was churning and I could feel the panic start to set in I ran to the checker and started unloading the cart. As luck would have I got one of the chatty checkers that likes to talk about every item you are buying.. "oh I see you are buying taco seasoning... I have this new recipe that calls for seasoning that is delish, it has ...goes on to list every ingredient and cooking instructions" Normally I don't mind these checkers, in fact I engage back and sometimes we have a grand ole conversation. NOT TODAY. I am sure she thinks I am the rudest orneriest lady on the planet. Maybe I will try to find her next time and apologize. The good news is that I made it home without further incident. Ah the joys of my pregnant body.

We have gotten out to do a few fun things in the last month. I have been forgetting to take my camera so I end up with crappy cell phone pics, but I figure they are better than nothing.

We went bowling one night at Kadens request. He loved it. Taycee thought it was ok, but wasn't nearly as thrilled with each roll of the ball as Kaden was. He insisted on throwing each ball by himself and even though we got the lightest ball they had he still had a hard time giving it a good shove. Many of his balls barley made it to the pins, but he didn't care.

We ran across free tickets to the Jordan World Circus so we decided to take the kids. They have never been to a circus and I was curious to see how they would do. Kaden was amazed, he loved everything. He still talks about it daily in detail. Taycee was entertained for the first 20 minutes and then just wanted to get down and run.

Kadens favorite parts were the lions jumping through the fire and the motorcycles riding around inside the ball death. I didn't take any pictures of the actual circus, but before it started they let the kids walk around and see all the animals. They were giving out Elephant rids for 10 dollars a person... HA yeah right.

I would say all in all our first circus experience was a success!

The cold from Hades

I have a cold. The mother of all colds. I am dying.. or maybe I just wish I was dying. I am pretty sure I look like this...
and I feel worse. Kaden was the first to have this horrid cold and it started last Tuesday. He is STILL hacking a lung, however the fever has subsided. The worst thing about having a cold while pregnant is you are not allowed to take anything! My doctor said I could take Tylenol Cold and Flu, I sent Chris to the store right then to get it and guess what.... it has been recalled!! Of all the luck, something went wrong with the latest batch and they recalled it. It wont be back on the shelfs til a new batch is made. Rotten.

I also get the joy of constant vomiting to accompany the the plugged sinuses, headache, sore throat, cough mixture. Did I mention I think I am dying? I might go write my will.

Hope your week is better than ours. And if you know what is good for you, do anything you can to stay away from this cold.

Kids

Taycee turned 2 awhile ago but we are just barely making it to the doctor. So here are her stats

Height: 37.2 inches - above 95 percentile

Weight: 31 lbs - 75 percentile

Head Circumference: 18.9 in 50-75 percentile

So basically she is big and is no where near being my baby anymore... WAAAA... good thing we have another on on its way.

The kids are getting so big so fast. I know I say that all the time, but it is always so true. I am always amazed at how fast Taycee learns and picks up on everything that Kaden does. She is a major stinker and has the attitude of a 16 year old. Her newest thing is to fold her arms glare me down and say "never, ever, ever!" when she is mad or doesn't want to do something. I keep trying to convince myself she is going through a normal 2 year old stage and that she won't be this naughty forever.... I hope.

Kaden is a crack up, he say the funniest things and is always making us laugh. Lately he has been really learning songs. He watched Madagascar 2 one morning and the next day at church I heard him singing " I like em big, I like em plumpy.... with somethin somethin" I ducked and pretended that I wasn't his mother. Last night in the car the song I got a feeling by Black Eyed peas came on and Kaden was singing the words. Today he was signing along with more words to a song I didn't even know. He might be my little musician.

Last Sunday in church he looked at me and said "Mom do you eat babies?" I said "no" he said "well then how did a baby get in your tummy?" I decided to go with the I eat babies idea.

They keep me on my toes and I sure do love them.

Dinner of Champs

This post needs to start out with an explanation of my current eating habits. I mostly eat grapes, apples, oranges and occasionally a chicken pot pie. That is it. That is what I eat all day every day. It is all I can stomach without it ending up in the toilet. Unfortunately for my kids, I have a hard time cooking anything that isn't a "put it in the microwave" meal. I usually can get by during the day with chicken nuggets and PB&J's and then when Chris gets home he makes them an actual meal with some nutritional value while I hibernate upstairs to avoid the smells.

With Chirs's qualifying exams the last few weeks have been a little rough, he is rarely home for dinner time so the feeding of the children is up to me. It has been sad. One night we had a 3 course meal of fruit for dinner because I couldn't stomach looking at anything else.

Thursday night I was feeling better than normal. *this doesn't mean I felt good... I just wasn't gaging at the thought of chewing. I decided I would use this time to make the kids a dinner of their choice. MISTAKE! I said to Kaden, "you can choose whatever you want for dinner tonight." He thought for about .2 seconds and said with incredible excitement "hot dogs with Mac and Cheese!" I gaged on the spot. I had prepared myself for all sorts of options.... but not that. I was expecting something more like pizza, spaghetti, enchiladas (which are normally his favorite) but instead he chose hot dogs... those things make me nauseous when I am not pregnant.

But I couldn't say no, he was SO SO excited about it. He was literally jumping up and down and telling Taycee they were going to have hot dogs. So I swallowed down the bile growing in my throat and went to work.

Kaden watched every move I made. Then he sat by the oven for the entire 12 minutes they were cooking.

We didn't have real hot dogs because I haven't bought them in oh... 12 weeks. So I made pigs in a blanket, which he thought was even better.

He was in heaven.

She was happy to have anything dipped in ketchup.

I ate fruit... but if dinner time could be this happy every night.... I might consider hot dogs and mac and cheese more often.