Baby update...

After having Asher and only having like 2 pictures of me pregnant from the whole nine months, I vowed to be better with my next pregnancy. Sadly, I have not been better. But I have managed to remember a couple of times. So here is the most recent picture of me and my ever-expanding belly, at a little over 32 weeks. It really isn't so bad, I feel very blessed to have such easy pregnancies. There are many times that I actually forget that I am pregnant, so I know I really can't complain. The little guy is doing great, apparently... I take it as a good sign that my visits with the Dr are approximately 3 minutes each time. He is a very wiggly little dude, which Asher was not, and look at him go now. So I don't know if I should be really worried that this one will be an absolute terror, or if I should count on him being the opposite, like Asher. We shall see!!

'Til we meet again...

I really don't even know what to say about my beloved prophet, except that I love him and will miss him dearly. It hardly seems real that he has passed on, such an amazing and inspired man. I have always thought of President Hinckley as my prophet, the only prophet I have ever known and remember. His love and words have inspired me and helped strengthen my testimony. I always felt comforted knowing that the affairs of the church were in his hands, and have always thought that no one could think ill of the church after knowing President Hinckley and the kind of man that he is.

I will miss him walking into the conference center waving his cane around, and his silly jokes, and his firm and inspiring words and testimony. One memory that I never want to forget about President Hinckley...

During the 2002 Winter Games, I was in Light of the World in the conference center. President Hinckley came to a dress rehearsal, and then came up to the stage to talk to us afterwards. While he was talking, a little girl of about 4 or 5 years old, ran up to him and hugged his legs. It was the sweetest thing in the world, that this little soul knew exactly who this man was, and just couldn't take it any longer, she had to hug him!

I've been picturing the reunion that has been going on in the spirit world, such a happy occasion, with his sweet little wife, it really is hard to be sad. It is definitely bittersweet.

Farewell President Hinckley... 'til we meet again.

When daddy's gone...

Nate has been out of town since Thursday night and it has just been Asher and me since then. Our weekend can be summarized by long periods of productivity, followed by long periods of extreme laziness. I don't know about the rest of you, but for some reason, when my husband goes out of town, I get so much done. This weekend was no exception. These are the results of my productivity...

Before: don't mind the table
on the bed! (both of the big room)

After: small room on the left, big "blue" room on the right
I just got the flowery bedding at Target on CLEARANCE...
great find... I LOVE it!!

I was a little disappointed with the blue paint that I picked out, I wanted more of a french blue to match the bedding better, but I still think it turned out fine... both rooms still need some curtains and a little more decor, but it is DEFINITELY an improvement over what they were. The "before" pictures don't really do them justice. Both rooms were so gross... dirty, scratched, scuffed, stained, etc etc. It was so dark and uninviting down there. I am sure every one who has ever stayed in either of these rooms is wishing that I painted them about 2 years ago... oh well, they're done now, and I think they are very bright and cheery!! They are all ready for everyone coming to visit after the baby is born!! ;)

I was so proud of myself! I painted the blue room in one day (baseboards, doors and all), during Asher's nap and then when he went to bed. Then on Saturday during Asher's nap I did the small room, which was already half way done (I started when I was 8 months pregnant with Asher, but then just couldn't find it in myself to finish it, seeing as how I had already painted our bedroom, the hallway and bathroom and the basement hallway, and all the doors and baseboards. Yes, it has taken me this long to have even the tiniest desire to paint again. I guess there really is something to be said about the "nesting period" during pregnancy!). So I should say that my long periods of laziness were not only warranted, but completely necessary! With my pregnant body, and not being as active as usual, my poor muscles were so sore and my sciatic nerve was killing. After painting, I would lay on the couch with my feet up while Asher played around me, and occasionally on me. Then I would get it together and go run some errands.

Asher was a complete angel all weekend. He was so happy every time we got in the car and went somewhere. On Saturday, I got a little creative... after we went to Robert's for the second time, I wanted him to be able to play and run around, but all the parks are still snowy (even though it was so nice and warm today). So I let him run around Deseret Book for awhile, then we headed out to the sidewalks, which led us to Staples where Asher proceeded to pick out his favorite candy bars for about 20 minutes. By the way, his favorites are Twix and Snickers (king size). Then he didn't even fuss when I put him back in the car. On the way home, we stopped at Aunt Jillian's, where we discovered Asher's love for raisins.

On Saturday night, I was going to paint the basement bathroom (which thankfully is really small) but I opted for a movie night (Hairspray and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) and craft time instead (the frames above the flowery bed)... a wise decision I think.

So in a nut shell... checked lots of stuff off of my to do list, relaxed, had fun with Asher, read Anne of Green Gables, and watched chick flicks... I would call that a very successful weekend!!

Tonight: Nate comes home, delicious London Broil for dinner, and Jane Austen's Mansfield Park on PBS... Yay!!

Just what I've been looking for...

I am so excited about this. When Asher was a tiny thing, he would only sleep in his bouncer, or in something with an incline. This seems so much safer than a bouncer, and much more like a bed. Plus I love that it is so snuggly. Most of you know that my sister Whitney and I can be a little bit freakish when it comes to swaddling, and this will just add to their already tight cocoon!!

I found something similar to this by Arm's Reach a couple weeks ago, and fell in love with the idea. But that one is brand new, so there are not comments or reviews about it. So not only is the Amby one tried and true, it is on ebay, which means you will definitely be able to find it for cheaper, which I am a huge fan of!! But the AR one is cheaper already. Check them both out and see what you think!!

The Stance...

This is the stance that Asher assumes most of the time while he is playing. I think it is pretty much the cutest thing ever. It amazes me how long he can stay like that, my legs would start to go numb. I guess little kids have better circulation than adults who are 30 weeks pregnant...shocker!! Speaking of circulation (which is taking me far away from the purpose of this post) I have reached the stage in pregnancy where it becomes almost impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep. I am open for suggestions, as I can't remember what worked last time...what works for you? How do you make it so you fall asleep, but all of your appendages don't?! Anyway...moving on.

In this picture, Asher is playing with a zip-lock bag full of change, while I am preparing his dinner, which is a big improvement over the clinging at my legs and insisting to be held, that he is normally doing when I am cooking. So needless to say, I was thrilled that he was doing anything besides that, even though the coins are probably very dirty and there was a big possibility that he could have eaten one of them (don't worry, I made sure he had his binky in the whole time I was cooking).

After his dinner, he resumed his playing, and I am quite certain that he would have been entertained with this activity for at least an hour. But unfortunately (for him, HA!), it was bed time!!

And of course, the evening wouldn't be complete without a display of Asher's "faces". My favorite thing is that he seriously goes through his "repertoire" of faces one by one, and holds it until the camera flashes, and keeps going as long as the camera is pointed at him!

This is mine and Nate's personal favorite!

Asher's first times in the snow...

There is so much snow in Provo, it's amazing. Both our front and back yards are still covered. I don't remember there ever being this much snow in Provo and actually having it stick for more than a few days. The downside is that all the parks are covered in snow too, so the list of fun things to do with a child is greatly diminished! And to make matters worse, both the Provo Town Center and University Mall have closed down their indoor play areas for various reasons (PTC will reopen in March), and so now there is really no where to take Asher to play. So even though I still haven't got Asher snow pants yet, we have been playing in the snow, and he loves it! He is so cute when I tell him it's time to go outside, he gets his hat that we always put on him, and tries to put it on himself. He'll even go get his coat when I tell him to, and then he sticks out his little hands for me to put his mittens on...so cute! The other day, he got a little too excited, and started running at full speed down the icy driveway, and totally ate it...so sad! He was lucky though, in the end, there was just a tiny scratch! Here are some cute pictures and video of him playing in the snow. One of the clips includes him tromping around in a huge puddle of melted snow (how easily entertained children are), apparently the cold, wet pants weren't an issue for him. He had a bath to warm up after we went inside!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Lexi!!

Ok, ok, so this is shamefully over due!! Alexis' birthday was back on November 23rd, but due to being out of town for the holidays, and then trying to catch up on blogging, I neglected to do a post for the baby of my family for her 14th birthday. I am so horrible!! But I am determined to show her that I love her just as much as the rest of my fam, and will now (Jan 14th) do her birthday tribute.

Alexis Joy is the 6th of 6 girls and the youngest of 7 children. When I found out that my mom was pregnant, I wanted it to be a boy so bad, and was positive that it was a boy. I was extremely disappointed when we found out that it was yet another girl. But I soon got over it, and actually had the privilege of watching her be born and cutting her umbilical cord. Now, at the time, in the mind of a 6th grader, it wasn't so much of a privilege as it was a traumatizing experience, that convinced me that I would never have children, as I did not want any of that "stuff" coming out of me!! But that didn't stop me from becoming her second mother and spoiling her to death. I've always felt a special bond or closeness to Lexi, and believe that a large part of that is due to the fact that I saw her come into this world.

Alexis has, like the rest of us, been involved with Galena since she was 7, and loves to dance and perform, and has become such a beautiful dancer. Every time I see her, she is practicing and perfecting some difficult step. She is very dedicated! She also, like the rest of us, has been put through the torture that is the paper route. She and Hailey are lucky, however, as they only have to do it every other day. She is also very generous and seems to be the one person in our family that always has plenty of money saved. Keep it up Lex!

I have also been so impressed by the questions that Lexi asks...they are always so insightful. She has always surprised us by the depth of her thinking and reasoning, even at a young age. I think that she has a strong testimony of the Gospel, and really thinks about things and why they are the way they are. I hope that this pattern will continue with her as she goes through HS and makes important decisions in her life.

It has been so neat to watch Lexi become a beautiful teenager. She is very social and funny, and so so sweet. She is so good with her nephews and loves them so much, and they love her just as much...probably because she is one of the only ones willing to play with them! I can tell that she is a very nurturing person and will be an amazing mother some day!!

I love you Lexi, and hope you had an amazing birthday. I am very sorry that this tribute is so late...better late than never though, right!? ;)

Fun Facts about Lexi...

1. she has a tiny, adorable little figure
2. she loves Cinderella
3. she will watch a movie once and pretty much be able to recite the whole thing back to you...she is very good at movie quotes!
4. she loves movies and watches a lot of them
5. she will turn the volume up very loud while watching a movie, and will get annoyed if she still can't hear due to people talking!
6. me and hailey can both crack one of our toes continuously, and it drives alexis nuts!!
7. she has beautiful muscular legs
8. if you let her, she would eat nothing but candy and other junk foods all day long...just like me! :)
9. she has the worst teeth of all of us, and as a result has braces, and will have them for a long time. but she will be-u-ti-ful when they are off!!
10. she is way more spoiled than any of us have ever been...she is definitely getting all the hookups! probably the one perk to being the baby of the fam!! ;)

About Motherhood...

This is how I found Asher after I finished this post!

Well, it has been one of those days today, where I woke up in not that great of a mood, I turned on the hot water while Nate was taking a shower and "made his shower go cold", and was frustrated and concerned about cleaning and organizing our house and making Asher eat his veggies. After a while, I decided that I needed to chill out with many things, especially spending so much time and energy thinking about how I am going to make my child the perfect eater, the perfect sleeper...the perfect everything. I've decided that while those things are important, sometimes they just don't matter. Last night, I called Nate while I was working to see how Asher was doing, and he told me that he kept waking up crying (which he never does), and I spent the whole night worrying and trying to figure out why that happened. I get so frustrated thinking about what more I can do, when in reality, I think Asher is doing pretty darn good and is a pretty typical child. After I realized that, I made a resolution to just do my best, and then spend the rest of the time loving and enjoying him and helping him to grow and be happy and love the gospel. After I had thought about these things for a while, I got on the computer and read a post from my friend Tabitha's blog, talking about another blog and how it inspired her about motherhood. I went to the blog and read the post and was totally caught off guard, as I was all of the sudden in tears. It really made me think about motherhood and the gift from God that it is, and it really reiterated the thoughts that I had been having today, and helped me to understand them even more. It made me think about Asher and our little son soon to be born, and how I want so much to give them love, and to teach them about the things in life that really matter. It made me think about Asher's little arms and how much I love them, especially when they are patting me on the back when he is hugging me. (if you look at our family picture on our blog, it shows how cute Asher's arms are. I have that picture on our wall and look at it every night while he is in bed, and it sounds weird, but his arms are really the cutest part of that picture...they're so small!!) It made me realize that I need to cherish those tender little moments more, and stop caring that he loves broccoli one day and hates it the next, or that this kid is saying this many words, but Asher only says this many, etc etc. It made me realize that I need to be WAY more patient, and that the best way to teach Asher to be patient is to be an example of that to him. I love being a mom, and am so grateful that it teaches me to be better and more Christlike, so that I will know how to teach our kids to be those things! Yes, I learned all that from one little post (I told you, it's just been one of those days)! The blog is called Antique Mommy, I hope you will take a minute to read her inspiring post! Now, if you will excuse me, I think Asher needs a cookie!! ;)

After his cookie!!

That's right, another"sweatpants" day. Have you seen the snow outside? There is just no way we would be going anywhere! Why not be comfy?!

Asher's new "things"

So Asher has been growing so much. Not so much in stature, but his little personality is sure blossoming! He has been doing some of the funniest things lately. The first thing I noticed a week or so before Christmas, and has been going strong ever since. Apparently, climbing into and sitting in small places is really fun, because it is one of Asher's favorite things to do. First he would pull out the drawer in our kitchen and empty out all the tupperware and climb in and just hang out, complete with blanky, binky, and snack! Then it went on to things like laundry baskets, the little basket that we keep out shoes in in the entry way, and so on. Check it out...

Asher has also learned how to "pose" for pictures, or in other words, make cheesy faces and smiles at the camera. It is so funny. I wonder where they learn stuff like this, it's not like he ever really sees us posing for pictures. I love it though...

Aren't these pictures of Asher in his sweats awesome?! No he is not in his PJs, that is the outfit I put on him for the day...he looks like such a scrounge (look at his hair too)! You know how you have those days where all you want to wear is sweats? Well, when I feel like that, I tend to dress Asher like that as well! Don't worry, I will put real pants on him when we go out today!

This is what the area in the above pictures looked like before Asher came into the room (I wanted to get a picture of everything he got for Christmas). As you can see, it didn't look like that for long! By the way, Asher loves his tent that Great Grandma Lenie bought for him. He thinks he's pretty funny when he goes in there to hide from mom and dad!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 everyone! We had a fun New Year's Eve over at Andy (Nate's brother) and Kacey's house up in Sandy. They were already having some neighbors over, and Nate's sister Kierstin's flight was cancelled, so we decided to head up and see her before she left the next day. We just sat around and talked and ate lots of food and played our new Ticket to Ride game. We had put Asher to bed around 7pm, and at about 11:15pm, he decided to randomly wake up and not want to go back to sleep. So since we were going to be driving home in an hour anyway, I decided to let him stay up. So he got to ring in the new year with us. He was very happy to be up so late, although was very scared when all the noise makers and confetti poppers started going off. Last night, he woke up again around the same time, and was very sad when Nate wouldn't let him stay up. He never does stuff like that, so I'm hoping this doesn't become a regular occurance!

I don't usually do official New Year's resolutions, but I do try to think about the coming year and what I would like to accomplish in general. This year, I am going to get organized, (preferably before the new baby comes) finish painting the basement (if it's the last thing I do), and continue with my running, with the hope of completing another marathon (if anyone wants to join me, let me know!) and becoming a better overall runner. We'll see how that all goes, considering that I have been saying I would paint the basement since before Asher was born!

Here are some pictures from our New Years Eve shindig...


Asher wrapped in his favorite blanky


Kierstin (Nate's sister) and MacKay (Nate's brother)


Josh and his date, Jen


Me, Nate and Asher...why Nate can't just smile normally in pictures is beyond me! I guess that is just one of the things that makes him "Nate"!!