Utah travels

On Thursday, Dec. 1st Spencer and I did something that we hadn't done in 5 1/2 years. We got on an airplane together- with no children in tow and took off for a weekend in Utah. It was an extremely fast and very eventful weekend, but amazing! Of course we missed the girls and called often, but we made sure to soak up every second of our time alone. Thursday night we stayed at Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob's new lakefront cabin in Huntsville. It's gorgeous and we can't wait to go back for a longer trip this summer.

Friday we went to Logan for the day to spend time with Grandma Jenkins (who will be turning 100 this June!!), Jeremy, Tanna, their kids, and my dearest cousin Eliza. The day couldn't have been more perfect- eating lunch (or "dinner" as they call the noon meal) at Grandma's new place and having 2 hours to just sit and get caught up with her.

Then I headed off to Liza's new house in Smithfield while Spencer went to hang with his brother Jeremy so they could do what only guys would do - go fly fishing...in the snow! It had been way too long since I'd last seen Liza (we figured over 4 years), so it was a much needed reunion. After catching up I headed back to Logan to meet up with Spencer, Jeremy, and Tanna. They got a babysitter and we all went out to the local burger joint there on Center street. I'm sure Tanna and I bored the guys to death with our mother/women conversations, but it was so wonderful to hang out with Tanna and get caught up on her life and get her thoughts on everything. We got back to their place in time to see the kids off to bed. They are such adorable kids and I hate that Madi and Elle barely know these cousins. Hopefully we'll be able to change that now that we live much closer. We left Jeremy and Tanna's later than we should- it had snowed earlier in the day and roads were a little slick. Thank goodness for our big Yukon rental. Friday night we stayed again at the Huntsville cabin, and then packed up and left Saturday morning for Salt Lake City.

Spencer and I had originally planned on getting to Salt Lake earlier to be able to walk around and do some shopping, but we were so enjoying being able to sleep in and take our time in the morning that it never happened. Saturday was packed with Bobby and Amy's sealing at 1pm, some pictures after, and then a big party at Bob & Amy's clubhouse that evening. It was a lot of fun and I was really glad that Spencer and I were both able to be there (had we been still been living on the east coast, I would have probably gone alone).

Love those big temple doors! Bob and Amy look pretty good too!

Amy finally resulted to holding her veil cause the wind kept blowing it in her face. How she's standing there without a jacket is beyond me- I could barely snap pictures my fingers were so cold.

All of my siblings except for Jen were able to make it with their spouses. Clark and Jo drove out, so they had the triplets and Tish and Curt brought Ezra. But other than that, no other kids came. We all hung out Saturday night at Aunt Annie's before saying our goodbyes Sunday morning.

(Not loving this pic of me- something about being 6 months prego and feeling extremely large. The bright red sweater didn't help me blend in much either.)

On Sunday Spencer and I were able to stop by and see Adam Eshenroder and go to sacrament meeting with him. Then we took off to go visit Jocelyn and Michael at their apartment. We stopped back by Aunt Annie's for dinner and to meet up with Karlee, Jeremy, Bobby, & Amy to drive up to Temple Square. Every year, on the first Sunday of December, Spencer makes some comment about wishing we could be at the Christmas devotional, and this year he got his wish. Bobby scored us some tickets and we were thrilled to be able to be there. After the devotional, we braved the winter cold and walked around Temple Square a bit to admire all the beautiful Christmas lights. There simply is no place like Temple Square at Christmas time! It was so beautiful and a perfect ending to our weekend getaway!

(Huge thanks to mom Jenkins for letting me borrow her coat for the weekend. All of our winter clothes were then on the moving truck, being driven across the country.)

Instead of driving all the way back to Provo just to get up and leave at 5am the next morning, we checked into a Marriott by the airport and were asleep by 9:30pm. We were exhausted! We flew out Monday morning at 8am and got into LA before 9am. We drove straight to Spencer's parents to pick up the girls who were beyond excited to see us! I loved hearing all about how much they missed us. Elle kept telling me over and over, "you go away and I miss you sooooo much!" So sweet! The moving truck was already at our new place and ready for more craziness to begin (which is the next post- coming soon)!

Back up and running

We got internet set up today- finally!! It's amazing how dependent I've become on it. At the end of a busy day unpacking and cleaning up mess after mess, I just wanted to be able to get on my computer and check email, facebook, and most importantly- update my blog!! I've been a little cranky without it these past 2 weeks. So today was a good day! :)

Now, to catch up on the past 2 weeks since I last posted. I've got several posts coming- our trip to Utah, move in day, getting settled, and ready for the holidays. SO much I've been wanting to document! But for now, I'll leave this post with a picture of our surprise visitors that came to Camarillo the Monday after getting home from our Thanksgiving in Brentwood. Corinne and 6 week old Bailey Olivia came for a visit! It was so great to see them and let the girls love and adore their newest cousin. They got lots of good practice in prep for helping out with new baby brother. We love you Aunt Corinne and cousin Bailey. Please come back soon!!

Brentwood Thanksgiving

This year the girls and I drove up to Brentwood eight days before Thanksgiving. We spent a solid week playing and relaxing with Gram and Papa. It was a nice break away and one of the first times in awhile of going to Brentwood just for fun- no weddings, no parties, no other distractions. We had Gram and Papa's complete attention, love, and spoiling- and we soaked up every minute of it! With 3 involved adults, the girls were outnumbered and they had no choice of misbehaving. They both got tons of individual time and ate up all the attention. Madi loved going up to Papa's office and doing "pay jobs" for him. She absolutely loves being given jobs and feeling responsible. My dad would be on phone calls and everything while Madi quietly worked in the same room. Then she'd excitedly come down and show me the pictures she made and tell me about all the jobs she did for Papa. Since my dad's office is at home, it was fun having him around a lot. I'm sure we were a terrible distraction for him, but we had fun keeping him away from his work.

I had to laugh when I saw dad walking over to the park with Elle. She had refused to put on a coat or pants for me and since it was a little chilly, short sleeves and a skirt wasn't gonna cut it for playing at the park. Dad always knows how to talk sense into my girls.

Dad's the best at putting the girls to bed. Madi and Elle love to have him rub their eyes and/or hand while singing to them. He's also willing to read princess books before song and prayers which is definitely an added plus!

I remember being little and loving when my dad would watch cartoons with me. Now I wonder how much of the cartoon he actually watched!

When we weren't distracting Papa, we were hanging out with Gram. She spoiled us with lots of yummy treats- peanut butter balls, homemade wheat bread, and teaching me how to make her famous lasagna were some of my favorites.

Madi's the PB ball making pro, but this time everyone got into the action. I'm excited about having 2 awesome helpers with my PB ball making this Christmas season!

Mom was able to find lots of jobs for Madi too. Madi's in heaven anytime she's got an opportunity to help. Planting flowers is definitely in her top 5 favorite jobs!

Mom also got me a guest pass to her gym for the 10 days we were there. It was so wonderful having someone home to watch the girls while I took my sweet time at the gym every morning. My mom always does this, but for someone like me, it's seriously one of the best treats! And then coming home and finding the girls dressed and eating breakfast (on the couch) with Gram= awesome! And everyday it was something new and fun that the girls got to do to spend time with Gram.

One morning mom got the barbies down from the attic and I came home from the gym to find the floor of the family room completely covered. The girls were in heaven with all the barbies and "beautiful dresses" to dress them in. And I was pretty excited to finally get some of my barbies back to take home with me. One barbie lost her head when Madi was getting her dressed- so dad volunteered to do some surgery. Barbie and horse sat on the counter for a full 24 hours and I laughed every time I walked by!

One morning we visited Gram Rox at her work and fed the horse that's out there.

Every morning it was something new and different- like Sunday morning when mom headed off to choir practice and called to inform us of the flock of wild turkeys running around the park. I was just about to jump into the shower, but dad quickly threw coats, socks and shoes over the girls jammies and I wasn't about to miss out on the fun! There were a dozen turkeys that we found and followed through the park.

Then after church (the Sunday before Thanksgiving) Elle came home grinning from ear to ear while holding the cornucopia she made in nursery. SO adorable and super yummy!!

The fall colors were gorgeous. Madi and Elle collected "beautiful leaves" on every walk and would come home and make projects with them. The weather was a little chillier than we'd been used, but we made sure the fire place and hot tub were put to good use!

Basically, it was a wonderful week! On Thanksgiving day, mom and I spent the day in the kitchen- well, mostly mom- she pretty much made everything (she cooks like she packs and does circles around me)! I was mostly lazy and spent my time browsing through the black Friday ads to plan out my shopping (which I actually never ended up doing). After Elle's nap, dad packed the girls into the van and drove off to the Oakland airport to pick up Spencer while mom and I stayed home to complete the finishing touches on our Thanksgiving dinner. Spencer got to the house at 5:30pm and we immediately sat down to eat. It was perfect- the food was incredible, the girls were happy, and we were all excited to see Spencer.

After cleaning up, getting the girls off to bed, and digging into the pies, mom headed off to line up at Target. Originally I was planning on meeting up with mom at midnight, but as the night wore on I realized I really had nothing pressing to get and headed off to bed with Spencer. It felt great to get a good nights sleep and go shopping the next morning. We shopped on Friday and spent a nice relaxing Saturday at home. We went out to dinner Saturday night and then rented a movie afterwards. Thanks mom and dad for the fabulous Thanksgiving week!!!

Family photo shoot

Last Sunday Spencer, the girls and I headed over to Point Mugu with Boppi and Grandpa Al to attempt a family photo for our Christmas card. It was rough. The girls were super excited about being at the beach- wanting to run wild, and not be told to stand in one spot and smile. I've included a few of the ones that didn't make the cut- mostly for memory purposes- to be able to look back and remember the days when the girls were young and crazy, and taking family photos was close to impossible. Luckily I wasn't expecting much. Being pregant, feeling fat, and having a limited wardrobe to choose from would put most women in a pretty unphotogenic mood. Spencer wasn't very understanding of my unwillingness to cooperate though. Men!

This first one was actually at the end of our photo shoot- the sky was still pretty but the girls were getting tired. Madi was cold and I'd wrapped her in Grandpa Al's hoodie in hopes of heading back to the car. But Spencer insisted we come back for one more.
Elle was definitely the silliest of the bunch. She'd missed her nap- making her extra hyper. Holding still was out of the question!

Not a posed one below but I love how Spencer and I are smiling when really I think he's probably telling me to loose the attitude and at least try to make this a good experience. I'm sure I'm probably laughing at him asking him to look at our crazy girls and tell me how we're gonna get a good picture out of them.

Awww..... a picture of just the two of us! I think it's being 5 1/2 months pregant that ruins it for me. But I do love the beautiful sunset, the crashing waves, and my handsome husband- so I figured I should include it.

Always being silly!
Always waiting for Elle to come join the picture. . .

I thought the shoulders would be a good idea- I can usually get Elle to look up and smile when I put her on my shoulders. No such luck!

And this brings us back to the end again. . . Though none of these made the cut, we did end up getting one decent picutre of the four of us- all looking and smiling. The lighting wasn't the greatest, but I really couldn't stress about it. Pictures were sent into Costco Tuesday night and the girls and I headed up to Brentwood the next day. Now I just need to start gathering addresses and get them mailed out before Spencer and I fly out to Utah on December 1st.

But for now, the girls and I are having all sorts of fun here in Brentwood with Gram and Papa. This morning we followed a flock of 12 wild turkeys through the park (picutres will come later- when we get back to Camarillo next Sunday). Then we dipped peanut butter balls and ate one too many! And at church today Madi and another little boy were the musical number during sacrament meeting. They sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me." It was adorable! I never tire of hearing Madi sing! We're looking forward to seeing Spencer on Thursday- he flys in Thanksgiving afternoon. And since I probably won't be posting anything more until we get back, happy early Thanksgiving to you all!

SO Excited!!

We've been here in Camarillo for exactly one month now (well, the girls and I at least). It's been wonderful to be able to stay here at Spencer's parents and save up a little before jumping back into the housing market. We will forever be grateful to mom and dad for allowing us to crash at their place and take over their entire upstairs. The girls have loved developing closer relationships with their Boppi and Grandpa Al. Actually just the other day Madi was skyping with her buddy Tyler and he asked her what her favorite thing is about California. Madi responded, "Boppi, Grandpa Al, and the trampoline!" Then tonight, after an action packed Saturday (including a daddy/daughter date), I asked Madi her favorite thing about the day. Pretty quickly she answered, "jumping with Grandpa Al on the trampoline." It's amazing how significant the little things are to kids.

But as much as we love Grandpa Al and Boppi, we're looking forward to getting into our own place and starting up our family's roots here in Camarillo. And GREAT news- we found a place!! We first walked through the house on October 30th, immediately liked it, and asked if they'd hold it for us until Dec. 5th (the earliest we'd be able to move in). Thankfully, they liked us and decided to take it off the market. We signed contracts tonight and will hopefully be moving in on December 6th (maybe a day or two later- depending on how fast our stuff can get out here).

I'm beyond excited- it's exactly what we were looking for! It's a single level, 4 bedroom, 177o ft2 home. It's got a 2 car garage and a cute little backyard with a covered patio, soft, squishy grass, lots of flowers, and fruit trees.

You can check out a couple pictures of the place here. I'm obviously very excited to move in, decorate, and make the place ours!!! And just in time for Christmas!

Ultrasound Day

Great pic huh!

A little inappropriate?

Nah

Belly pic: 20 weeks

The ultrasound went great. Madi went to play with Brooklyn this morning (thanks Linds for saving me on this one!) and Elle came with Boppi and I.

I absolutely loved watching this little guy move around on the screen while feeling all the movements in my stomach. That's been my favorite thing lately- feeling my little guy move around. I've been able to feel him for weeks now, but lately his kicks have gotten much stronger and more distinct. Even Spencer's been able to feel them. Check out his cute little foot- actual size: about an inch long.

I feel great- tired, but great. The backs of my legs are completely covered in veins- bulgy and spidery ones, going all he way down to my ankles and even wrapping around to the front of my legs, but surprisingly they haven't been super painful and as long as I don't have to look at them I'm ok. I bought a bunch of long skirts and dresses a couple weekends back and now have a whole new Sunday attire.

I've been able to keep up with running 3 miles a day, but pretty sure it's gonna end soon. The ultrasound tech heard I was still running and told me to stop. One more month till I get my elliptical back, so until then she tells me I should just be walking. Hmmm.... we'll see what happens.

The girls are beyond obsessed with their babies and pretending they're pregnant. Even Elle's started shoving her baby up her shirt. Madi's new thing is to pretend she has triplets- "just like Aunt Jo". I tell her if she's pregnant with triplets, she'd need to be on bed rest, "like Aunt JoSue was". One afternoon it worked too, and Madi spent the afternoon in bed. Her babies were born about an hour later though! Tonight Madi threw a royal fit about wanting all 3 babies in her tummy. They didn't all fit into her pajama top, so Madi screamed and screamed until she got at least one baby in there. I went in to check on her after she'd fallen asleep and sure enough- she was able to fit one baby up there.

Madi with her triplets, lovingly named: Caleb, Leah, and Zachary

Elle's baby- who goes everywhere with her.

Today

I'm 20 weeks today (more on that later). Tomorrow I'll have my ultrasound and get some confirmation on the gender of this little babe. Pretty positive (like 99.9%) we'll be seeing a little boy on the screen. I'm super excited to get some good ultrasound pics of him, and some good video too!

But I am a little nervous about bringing the girls along. I know they're excited and would be devastated about missing the chance of seeing the baby, but honestly they can be so crazy together (last appointment was exhausting). I feel like I'm constantly nervous about bringing them places anymore. Every single trip to Target (or any store for that matter- today it was Target) we have a melt down- about Madi taking something of Elle's. About Elle pushing on the back of Madi's seat. About wanting something I'm not going to buy them. AH- it's so tiring! I get furious and have to try my hardest to keep my cool and calm the drama down. I just miss the days when bringing some snacks along was all it would take for a successful shopping trip.

Today was no different (but I always go in with the hope that it will be different). I had 3 things on my list and was determined to get those 3 things. The girls sat in the back of the cart together- reading princess books. But then Madi had to take control over how many books Elle could have at a time, and Elle starting flipping out because she wanted a specific book that Madi refused to give her. Immediate frustration! I took the books away, pulled Madi out of the cart (all while she's crying about wanting the books). Elle's totally freaking as well. I tried putting Elle into the front seat of the shopping cart but she's fighting me and refusing to put her feet in. Finally she gave up and agreed to sit in the front. I gave them both a stern lecture and then shopping resumed. It's really no different than any other shopping trip- I always have to deal with some type of obnoxious/dramatic behavior. I'm just so tired of it. Sometime I doubt my ability to have 3 kids.

We got home and Madi skyped with Ani for a bit. They got each other hyper and Madi became slap happy. I had to end the skype to get Madi ready for preschool, but then her hyperness couldn't be calmed down and everything became a joke. She'd run away from me, say "no", and laugh about everything I was trying to do (including giving her a time-out). I couldn't get Madi in the car fast enough and off to school. I hate that I feel that way sometimes- like a sigh of relief, knowing she's at school and I don't have to deal with her. Funny thing is that she's a complete perfect angel for all her teachers- preschool and primary. They always have wonderful things to say and I'm always left feeling like those 5th grade parents I used to talk to who would be amazed by all the wonderful things I'd tell them about their kids. Why do kids always have to be the worst for their parents??

Before taking off for school I asked the girls to fold their arms so I could say a prayer (I hated how I felt inside and needed to be calmed down). I prayed for our day to get better, for the girls to be more obedient, and for me to be a better mom. After the "amen", Madi immediately tells me, "Mom, you are a good mom." I explained to her how frustrated I was with her and Elle not listening. Then with all the love and conviction of a 4 year old, Madi sincerely tells me, "Ya, but you're always a good mom."

And for some reason, at that moment, it made everything all better.

And actually, the rest of today was wonderful!

Halloween 2011

It was an action packed Halloween weekend this year. I was glad for it though. I've been so pre-occupied lately with looking for a place to live that I haven't done anything fun with my girls- no Halloween crafts, no cookies, no clever Halloween meal, not even a trip to the pumpkin patch this year. We just got costumes, dressed up and did some trick-or-treating! And Madi and Elle loved every minute of it.

Madi just became obsessed with princesses this year, so I knew she'd be wanting to be a princess. It was picking the right princess that was the hard part. She originally wanted to be "Tangled", but then watched "Cinderella" for the first time just before we moved and fell in love. I found this adorable Cinderella dress on Amazon (an actually super high-quality dress) and it sealed the deal!

As for Elle, I knew she would just want to be wearing a dress, so before we moved I got into our Halloween box and pulled out the Dorothy dress that Madi wore last year. It ended up being perfect. Elle commented several times on her "beautiful dress" and how pretty she looked!

The ward trunk-or-treat was on Saturday night which was a prefect warm-up for Elle. She knew exactly what to say, but once we got there she froze! A lot of the cars had some pretty spooky decorations, and Elle didn't want anything to do with those cars. But after 3/4 of her way around the church, Elle actually said "trick-or-treat" followed by "thank-you". She probably said it on a total of 5 cars. Picture below is Elle at the start of the trunk-or-treat- totally shy and hesitant. But once Elle's basket started to fill up with candy she started to realize how cool trick or treating is.

The girls were excited to get home and check out all their treats.

It's hilarious how obsessed Madi is with smelling stuff.

Sunday was the primary program (see post below) and recovering from a late night with too much sugar consumption. Then Monday the party started all over again. Madi got to wear her costume to school which she was thrilled about. She promised me she'd be super careful and not get it dirty for trick-or-treating that night. I had to laugh watching her hike up her dress as she headed to class- such a princess.

Elle and I popped into Madi's class for their Halloween party the last hour of the day. Elle got to join in on the pizza eating and cookie decorating. It was just fun to meet the other moms in the class and watch Madi with her little classmates.

Pic below: singing their goodbye song

Then Monday evening around 6:30pm we headed out trick-or-treating. This was by far my favorite year of trick-or-treating as a mom. The girls were adorable- fasinated by all the decorated houses and porches, and thrilled with watching their baskets fill up and overflow with candy! Note to self: get bigger baskets or bags for next year- I was shocked with how much candy the girls got in just an hour. We did the full neighborhood loop in a little over an hour and got double the candy they got at the truck-or-treat. Madi would excitedly tell me how many pieces people were putting into her bucket- shocked with how many people handed out more than one piece. We got home a little before 8pm, let the girls check out their stash, eat a few pieces, then it was off to bed. Amazingly they went quickly and happily. Then us adults stayed up and watched "Hocus Pocus"- perfect Halloween movie and a great end to a fun day!