September Highlights

September in my family means one thing: Birthdays! Seriously, almost 1/2 of my family has September birthdays, and then both in-laws that have entered the family (Bryan and my sister-in-law Tracie) also have September birthdays. Sadly, we weren't able to celebrate with my Dad or siblings because we are all scattered and busy. But we did get to celebrate Bryan turning 37 (he is kind of freaked out how close to 40 he is getting)! I planned to take him on a date this year since it was a Friday night and Mickell has volunteered to tend our kids once in a while. We got a pizza for Mickell and the kids and headed to the chinese buffet for a much-needed dinner without kids: good food and even better company! After dinner we decided to go check out the renovated main street theatre that costs a fraction of the normal theatres. Honestly, we have not been to a movie for almost 4 years, and there aren't many movies worth seeing these days either. We finally settled on the new Pixar movie "Brave". We enjoyed the movie for the most part, but I now know not to show it to young kids because most of the kids in the theatre were hiding behind chairs and crying. All things considered, it was a fun, much-needed date. This is the only picture we got of us.

After the movie, we went home to have some cake with the kids. Here is the birthday boy with his cake.

I love this picture of Bryan with the kids. Hoyt is looking at the cake and both kids have spoons in their hands ready to dig in!

After cake we let Bryan open his gifts.

We didn't do any big gifts this year for either of our birthdays because we knew our big gift as a family was our new minivan. But we did get Bryan his yearly Terry Brooks novel, and some new pants and shirts. Happy Birthday sweetie, we love you tons and appreciate all you do for our family!

After buying the van in August, our next project was selling the Mazda Tribute because we couldn't afford to have it sitting around not being used and having to pay insurance etc. Bryan spent an entire day washing the entire car inside and out so we could take pictures and post an ad on KSL. We got one call the first day, then nothing for about a week. I was starting to get discouraged, but then all of a sudden we started getting some serious calls. We had one guy from Provo make an offer, but it was lower than what we wanted and he asked us to drive it all the way to Fillmore. Then we got a call from a guy in Kanab the same day who offered more and we could take the car with us when we headed to visit my family that weekend. A few days later, we got a call from a lady in Cedar who took it for a test drive and loved it, but was trying to talk us down because the sunroof doesn't work and her machanic friend was asking if we had changed parts that didn't even need changing. We told her she had to decided that day, because we had a buyer the next day. I guess she decided no, so Saturday morning we drove over the mountain and that afternoon met with the guy from Kanab. He and his wife loved the car and brought cash; it was about $300 less than what we wanted, but when you have someone hand you almost $5000 of cash, it's easy to make a deal. We filled out the paperwork and said goodbye to our favorite car that has been there with us through dating, wedding and honeymoon, bringing kids home from the hospital, and many family trips near and far. We'll miss our 2001 Mazda Tribute ES, but we know it's time to move on to bigger and better things. The best part is that after buying the minivan and selling the mini-SUV, we only had to pay about $5000 for a car that should last us through at least the next 4-5 years! 

September has been another busy month for us. Lexie goes to preschool 3 days a week now, and my Dr. appointments have been every other week. We have also had sick kids on and off this month. Hoyt threw up all over Bryan during church one week, then the next week Lexie threw up in bed two different nights. We were all exposed to strep throat, but luckily none of us ended up with that! We have also been trying to get the house better organized before our new little arrival joins our family, probably next month! We have spent hours unpacking some of the boxes that have been sitting in our bedroom for over a year, organizing everything in the house, and moving things around so our baby has a place to sleep. We got out all of our 0-3 month baby girl clothes and luckily we don't have to buy any clothes for now (except for a few things I bought her for coming home from the hospital and a little sister outfit). We have also been stocking up on diapers and wipes so we are covered for at least 3-4 months...I think after a couple more weekends I'll be ready!

 

Another big event took place today; Lexie was in her very first primary program! Last year she was so disappointed she couldn't go up and speak in the big microphone with all of the other kids. This year she had her part memorized perfectly and all the songs learned. I took a picture of my cute sunbeam right before we went to church.

 I also recorded her saying her part...this is mostly for the grandparents. Her part was "I choose the right, and try to be like Jesus when I play with my little brother and I share my toys with him". She had it perfect, which you see in the video, but she got scared when she was up in front of everyone so she had to have some help from the teacher. But we were so proud of Lexie for doing a great job both with her part and also singing. Her primary teacher told us she is the only Sunbeam that can sing all the words to all the songs. Another big milestone for our cute girl!

I can't believe September is over, because it flew by so fast. And I am now officially caught up on this blog, which has taken me several months! I hope to now stay caught up and not get behind since this is my journal/scrapbook for now. We are looking forward to the many adventures we are sure to have in the last few months of 2012!

More August Adventures

 August was a crazy, busy month for us (as it is for just about everyone I know). One incident that happened was just 2 days after we all got haircuts. It was Sunday morning and Lexie had been cutting paper with her scissors. I usually make sure the scissors get put up right when she is done, but I was getting ready for church and Hoyt ended up in her bedroom for literally 30 seconds by himself. He came out looking so proud of himself and saying "My hair", and when I looked I was horrified to see several almost bald spots he had cut into his nice-looking haircut. The picture doesn't even do justice to how bad it looked. I didn't want to take him in public because there was nothing I could do on a Sunday. I asked Lisa her advice and she said she would buzz his hair the next day. The other crazy thing that happened was that we finished getting ready and headed to church. Well, turns out it was Stake Conference, but our ward hadn't been announcing it weeks in advance like usual, and we had missed the week before due to all of us being sick. So we just went home and chalked it up to another crazy day with kids that we would later laugh about (although it was not funny at the time).

 

Here are the before and after pictures. He actually looks cute with a buzz cut and my Mom said she thought it made him look a lot older...I agree. I'm just glad he's a boy and his hair grows fast.

 With our family expanding, it finally became time for us to upgrade to a bigger vehicle. We have been saving to buy a minivan for about a year and had been seriously shopping for a few months. We really liked the newer Chryslers, but they were out of our cash price range. At first we were thinking of waiting longer, but then a great deal on a 2006 Town & Country came up, and it was right in our budget. Bryan headed up north to work for a day and went to check out several vans so we could decide what we wanted to do. After checking things out and test driving some vans, he decided we should go for the Chrysler. We paid a deposit so they would hold it for us and get it all ready (installing a DVD player and fixing a couple things). Two weeks later the van was finally finished so Bryan took a day off work and we headed to Lindon so we could purchase the van and bring it home. We got up and left home right after breakfast, then stopped for some lunch at Del Taco in Springville(only because it had a playplace for the kids to release some energy after a long drive). Then we headed to the dealership and looked around to decided for sure if this is the van we wanted, and it was! We did all the paperwork, and I wrote the biggest check of my life. But I'm glad we are in a position to pay cash and not have to have a car payment with interest! After a quick trip to Costco, and a stop at the other dealership location to get the DVD player working, we finally started the long drive home with Bryan & the kids in the new minivan, and me following behind in the Tribute. It was a long, hot, tiring day and my back was killing me after being in the car all day long, but it was well worth the trip!

 

Bryan & the kids with our new mode of transportation!

Bryan & the kids enjoying the new ride!

These are just random pictures Bryan took while we were all trying to get ready for church before we took pictures of the van. Hoyt was trying to hide behind the door and Lexie was getting her hair done.

And here I am at 30 weeks! It's not the best picture and kind of blurry, but you get the idea. Luckily, I haven't gotten huge yet and I'm feeling good for the most part. Can't wait to meet our sweet baby girl!

1st Day of Preschool!

Another big milestone for Lexie just 2 weeks after her birthday...her 1st Day of Preschool! The week before her school started, we attended an open house so she could meet her teacher and explore the classroom etc. All of the kids were way excited and couldn't wait for Monday morning. A few days before school started, Lexie had her 4-year-old well check and had to get her final immunizations before going to school. She was so brave and didn't even cry even though she said after it really hurt. For some reason these particular shots were really tough on me (maybe partly pregnancy hormones), but I was proud of our big girl! We took her out to eat at Arctic Circle and she had tears in her eyes a few times, but once she had a hamburger, chocolate milk, and an ice cream cone she started feeling better. Her leg was a bit sore for a few days and she got a slight fever, but other than that no major side effects.

 

The night before preschool started Lexie chose her outfit for the next day and we tried to get her to bed early. For a girl who sleeps in every morning between 9 and 10, she was up early, dressed and ready to go! Here is our excited preschooler!

 She was excited to wear her new princess backpack and head out. I walked her down to the classroom and took a picture at the door.

 Lexie with her teacher Ms. Kim. She had a fantastic 1st day and can't wait to have a fun year learning new things and making friends!

 Hoyt was really sad to see his big sister go to school without him. He thinks he should be allowed to do everything she does. He got ready to go and put on Lexie's butterfly backpack (I guess I need to get him a less girly one to wear). At least a cup of milk made him feel a little bit better when we got home, and we had fun together reading books and playing while Lexie was at school. It will be nice to have some one-on-one time with him for a couple months before we add a new little one in the mix.

Our Little Princess Turns 4!!

Our sweet little princess Lexie is now 4 years old! I can hardly believe how fast the last few years have gone, and my baby girl is now growing up into a sweet little girl. She was so excited about her birthday this year and had such a fun day! She chose waffles for her birthday breakfast, then we baked her cake and got ready for the day. At noon we headed out for some birthday lunch. I love this picture...she is all ready to go with her baby and baby's diaper bag.

 We headed to Wendy's for some yummy kids meals (Lexie loves their cheeseburgers and frosty's of course).

 The kids enjoying their lunch.

 Next we had to run a few errands. While I grabbed some groceries, the kids went to the park with Daddy to swing and slide. It was a hot day so they didn't stay long, but Lexie loves to play at the park! We also stopped at the SUU Bookstore for Lexie to choose some balloons, but I forgot to take pictures of that. The kids love getting balloons!

 Here is the beautiful birthday girl in her birthday outfit!

Lexie wanted a princess cake with a crown but I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to do it, but I got a few ideas from a cake decorating book and just made it up as I went along. I was pretty happy with the finished product. Here is front and back of the cake. 

 Lexie liked the cake which was the most important thing!

 For her party we had a lot of family come over for pizza, presents, and cake...the 3 keys to a great birthday in our house! After eating some pizza (no pictures of that either), she opened her presents and was excited about all of them.

Then of course the traditional lighting of the candles and the "Happy Birthday" song (I usually get a video of that, but again the pregnant slacker mom missed that this year). She was beaming and so full of excitement the entire day!

  And of course she couldn't wait to dig in to her chocolate cake with pink frosting that she requested. I always know the day is a big success when the birthday girl is happy and the Mom is completely exhausted at the end of the day.

Hard to believe this little girl is now already 4 years old and getting ready to head to preschool. She has grown up so much in the past year both physically and in every other way.
Her current 4-year-old stats are:

Height: 3 ft 6 in (90%)

Weight: 37 lbs (66%)

Lexie is very tall for her age, but also skinny. She wears size 5/6 clothes for length, but they don't always fit around very good. People always think she is older than she is, and I've had several people ask if she is starting Kindergarten this year. But the funniest thing happened when we went swimming this summer at the aquatic center. We told them the ages of our kids (3 and under get in free) but the wristband lady took Lexie aside and asked how old she was (thinking we were lying about her age). Lexie just told her she was 3 and we went on our way, but it was kind of crazy. She is getting really close to reading and can spell lots of small words. She can write the names of our family: Dad, Mom, Lexie & Hoyt and is getting good at writing almost all of her letters. She loves to color and draw pictures, and I'm glad she got Bryan's artistic ability because her drawings are really good. Lexie loves to sing songs, and after some difficulties with our ward split and other primary issues, she is finally starting to love her Sunbeam class. She has already given the 8th Article of Faith in primary (perfectly memorized), and she gave her first talk and did a fantastic job! She is looking forward to the primary program next month so she can talk in the big microphone. Every night her favorite thing is reading stories together from The Friend. She has also learned she can pray for whatever she needs, and recently when she had a bad nightmare the next night she prayed to have good dreams and she did! Lexie is such a friendly girl and everywhere we go if she sees other kids she talks to them and always says "That's my new friend" so I'm sure she's going to do great in school and make lots of new friends. She loves animals, especially dogs and is still really into "Clifford the Big Red Dog". She likes to pretend to be a dog, and now Hoyt likes it too so there are times I feel like I have 2 dogs instead of kids. I have really enjoyed the past 4 years watching Lexie grow into a fun, sweet little girl and it will be fun to see her continue to grow in coming years.
We love you so much Lexie, our little princess!!!

6 years!

6 Years Ago...

Giddy newleyweds began a journey together for time and all eternity.

So much has happened in the past 6 years. This is how I described it on FB: "6 years = 2 kids + 1 on the way, 7 job changes, 4 moves, lots of love, laughter, stress, craziness, and excitement for the future as we head on to eternity". Even though our Anniversary was on a Saturday, we didn't make any plans because we had so much going on. We decided to go on a date the next week because Mickell was coming to stay with us for a few days to train at her job and she volunteered to watch the kids. The day of our Anniversary we stayed home and I made Bryan his favorite pepper steak, roasted squash, and he made me a yummy smoothy to drink. Nothing too fancy, but every bit as good as a restaurant meal!



Here we are enjoying our meal together!

 The kids were supposed to be watching a movie while we had dinner alone, but they just couldn't stay away and wanted to get their pictures taken too...this is our life 6 years later; and looking at those cute faces, we wouldn't have it any other way!

 We are so grateful we found one another and started our lives together 6 years ago. We are looking forward to the many years ahead as our little family keeps growing and our love also continues to grow. 6 years down, eternity to go!!