A New Era

As I prepare for the arrival of our new baby girl, I can't help but think of the chapter that is now closing in my life. I've been the mom of just Keegan for the last 6 1/2 years. It's been so amazing having him all to myself! It's such a privilege to be his mom. He's so sweet and loving and has pretty much always been a "momma's boy." Even though I know that's bound to change, (which will break my heart!), I've loved every minute of it. We never planned to have such a gap between kids, but now I feel so lucky for the time that we have been able to enjoy little Keegan. When he was a newborn, I told Doug that it wouldn't be fair for us to have any more kids because there was no way that I could love anyone else as much as I love Keegan. I really believed that then. I know now that's not true because I already love our new little girl a ton and I haven't even met her yet. I'm sure that the old saying that the only thing that grows when divided is love will prove to be true. But before litte Kaia enters our lives, I want Keegan to know how much I love him and how I will always treasure the years that we've had just the 2 of us.

I Accept Defeat!!!

How is it that SO MANY of my friends have their babies EARLY? It's like their bodies can't wait to get the LITTLE SUCKERS out! I've heard so many stories of just doing THIS or THAT and going into labor shortly thereafter. I totally BELIEVED that I could do it. After all, I'm not asking for MUCH - I just wanted to have her a little early. And it's as much to benefit HER as me - who wants a birthday so CLOSE to Christmas? There's no way she's COMFY in there - I know I'm definitely not comfy out here! ANYWAY, I've decided to accept DEFEAT. There doesn't seem to be ANYTHING that I can do to persuade her to come out a little bit early. BELIEVE ME - I've tried it all, from spicy foods to evening primrose oil to red raspberry leaf tea to sex to pumping. I even tried sprinting and squats and lunges the other day! This man in the park looked at me like he was afraid she was going to just FALL OUT and he would have to come to my aid. I have to ADMIT that I'm conceding more EASILY than I usually would. The REASON for that? On Tuesday my midwife told me she'll induce me on my due date - BLESSED WOMAN!!!

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Thanksgiving with Friends

the feast

our little family

Andrea, Karen, me & Jamie

fun in the pool

Jamie with the kids

This year we couldn't travel to Tucson for Thanksgiving because I'm too close to my due date, so we decided to spend the day with friends. Scott and Andrea got this club house up in the mountains for us to use for the feast. It was beautiful! There was an indoor pool, a gym, racquetball, big screen tvs, a game room, and Andrea and I even found a massage room (where she enjoyed a much-needed massage at the end of a wonderful but exhausting day)! Several families came up and everyone contributed to the delicious meal. Jamie entertained the kids while we got things ready and then the eating began. Afterward, everyone played games and swam. It was so nice to have such a great time even though we weren't able to be with family this year! Thanks to everyone for such a nice holiday :)

P.S. For those of you requesting pics of the belly, there it is! Large and in charge at 37 weeks!

3rd Place - Not Too Shabby!

Keegan had to decorate a turkey to be judged by the other first grade classes a couple of weeks ago. He had all kinds of ways that he wanted to do it, and then my friend suggested that we use candy, and he loved the idea. He figured out what candy to use and then arranged it all, but he couldn't use the glue gun, so I was the one who ended up with the tedious job of gluing each M&M into place. He won 3rd place and $2 worth of snacks at school. Now - what's my prize?? :)

our masterpiece

Ah. . .A Good Night's Rest

It's been a little while since I've gotten a decent night's rest because baby girl has decided that her most comfortable position at night is the most uncomfortable for her momma. When I'm on my left side, my ribs hurt and when I turn over to my right side, she's all up in my back. I've gotten pretty used to it by now, so I just expect not to sleep much. So the other day when Keegan had a 7:00 dental appointment I didn't even think to set my alarm because I'm up way earlier than that normally. Well, what do you know but the little chica decided to let me sleep! I slept right through that 7:00 appointment and is was lovely!!!! It was the first night of really restful sleep that I've had in a while. Here's to hoping that she's out of my ribs for good ;)

Funny Kid

When I picked Keegan up from school yesterday, his teacher told me that he really cracks her up. She said that when they were finishing up their Science chapter on the different states of matter, she asked all the kids to draw a picture of their favorite liquid. Most kids put down soda or juice or Kool-Aid, but Keegan drew a perfect picture of a bottle of WINE! She said that he spelled it perfectly and everything. When she asked him why wine was his favorite liquid, he said, " because it comes in such a pretty bottle!" I'm pretty sure she knows us well enough to believe him :)

Also, I guess Keegan has been thinking lately about how he can save up some money. He came up with a great idea the other day. The conversation went like this:

K: Mom, I think we should have a money sale today.
M: Okay, what exactly is a money sale?
K: It's when you get all your instruments and go outside on the street and play them.
M: Hmm, so what instrument are you going to play?
K: The guitar.
M: Oh, and what about Mommy and Daddy?
K: You guys are going to play the piano and the guitar. Oh yeah, and we have to have a hat.
M: Why do we have to have a hat?
K: Cause that's where all the people put the MONEY!!!

I have no idea where he came up with that idea - but he still thinks it's a good one. He's been after me to pin down a date for the "money sale" for the past week or so :)

Flashback - October Ultrasound

I just can't resist putting this little clip up. You can see her opening her mouth - so stinkin' cute!

Flashback - Labor Day in Spar

love this one of my boys

the girls

Beautiful Spar

He loves his Camelback :)

Little hikers

Hanging out with Oliver

We spent Labor Day weekend with our good friends in Spar this year. It's so peaceful and beautiful up there, we really feel lucky to be able to take a little time off every year to be with great friends. The kids had lots of fun and it was a wonderful break from real life for the adults, (especially since Travis had to head home early to be put in our ward bishopric :) Thanks to Scott and Andrea for making it happen!

the whole gang

"Best Friends Cabin"

taking a rest

the boys

Flashback - Rocky Point July 09

our happy fam!

I love this one with Tristan

with Bridgette

We went to Rocky Point again this year and it was so fun to hang out with all of Doug's family. We had a pretty interesting trip, what with a car accident, a banged-up Grandma and a dead car battery! All of Doug's brothers and sisters and their kids were able to go, which was really nice. Keegan had lots of fun hanging out with all his boy cousins, (they got shark tooth necklaces because they're so cool!), and also loved spending time with the newest Gooch, Bridgette.

Trick or Treat!

Batman & Robin

The Superheroes!

Don't they look ready to save the day?

Ready for trick or treating

Keegan changed his mind several times this year about what he wanted to be for Halloween. First it was a ghost, then a bat, but as soon as he laid eyes on the Batman Dark Knight costume, it was all over. I was relieved because they actually had his size and I didn't have to worry driving all over town at the last minute, (like last year)! He had a lot of fun trick or treating with friends, even though his mask wasn't exactly the perfect fit. Then we came home and he LOVED giving out candy to the trick or treaters. I really think that's his favorite part of Halloween :)

Flashback - Orlando June 09

at the beach

he thinks he's so cool!

Mimi gave him a watch from her Mickey Mouse collection and he was thrilled!

he wondered why the sand was so "little" in Florida compared to the sand at Rocky Point

with Uncle Ethan

with Uncle Kip

with Aunt Amber

Keegan's face is so funny every time they drop :)

I've been a terrible blogger lately, so I'm going to just update whenever I can. I'll do "now" posts and also "flashbacks" to cover the stuff that I've missed over the last 6 months or so.

In June, we took a family trip to Orlando. We figured it was the perfect time for us to hit all the attractions because Keegan is a great age and it will be our last summer without a little one. We went to Disney, Sea World, the Orlando Science Center and the beach. It was so much fun! Keegan rode on his first (and last) roller coaster :), saw every show at Sea World, and enjoyed everything Orlando had to offer. He especially loved hanging out with his aunt and uncles and Mimi.

First Tooth Flashback

Keegan lost his very first tooth back in April and I never got a chance to post the pics. He realized it was loose one night and the next day while he was playing soccer, the ball hit his mouth and his tooth fell out. Pretty easy! He lost the second tooth about a week later and couldn't wait to get his tooth fairy money :)


Keegan explaning how it all went down

Expecting. . .Finally!!!!!

the little munchkin at about 8 weeks

So, it's not really much of a SECRET anymore, but for anyone who doesn't already know - I'm EXPECTING!!! :) It's been a LONG road with lots of BUMPS along the way, but we're SOOOO excited for the WONDERFUL news! We're so LUCKY to have such wonderful FRIENDS & FAMILY who have supported us in their thoughts and prayers along the way. I just want to say THANK YOU so much for everything. You don't know how much your LOVE has helped us get through the rough patches. We really couldn't feel more blessed.

Our new addition is due the 15th of December :)

Cutting the Grass :)

Our yard has been a work in progress for about a YEAR now. It's FINALLY starting to all come together thanks to Doug and Keegan's HARD WORK. Our GRASS was getting pretty OUT OF CONTROL and since we don't have a lawn mower yet, Keegan decided to take matters into HIS OWN HANDS!

Carnival!

Keegan thrilled to be holding a snake

that bird loved his hair!

the hugest and heaviest snake we've ever seen!

seriously, look at the size of that thing!

I know it's been forever since I posted and I have tons of catching up to do, but for now, I'm just going to start with the present!

Yesterday, Keegan and I went to a local community center where I normally play volleyball on Saturdays. As we pulled up, we noticed ponies, snakes, jumping castles, italian ice and much more in the front of the building. It looked like so much fun that I decided to skip volleyball and take him to this carnival thing instead.

He had so much fun! He got his face painted, held some snakes and a bird, got to pet an enormous gila monster, and jumped his little heart out in the jumping castle! What a lucky find :)

Spring Cleaning!

everything organized by color, sleeve length and style

ahhh - there's nothing like a clean closet!

the stuff I'm getting rid of

Doug's side

Everyone who knows me knows that I have a little shopping problem. One of the main reasons that I bought my house was because of the enourmous master closet. I thought to myself, "Now that's the closet for me!" Since I love clothes and shoes so much, I go through my stuff every 3 months or so and sell it on ebay or give it to Goodwill. As I write this, the back corner of my office has been taken over with clothes that I need to sell on ebay that have been there since before Christmas.

Well, about three weeks ago, I noticed that our master bedroom was starting to feel a bit cluttered and discovered that it was because I didn't have any more room in my drawers or closet for all my stinkin' clothes! So I decided to go through everything and get rid of some more stuff. Anyway, I ended up with about 6 piles of clothes to get rid of and several purses, shoes and other crap. I've decided that for every pair of new shoes that I buy, I have to get rid of a pair and the same for jeans. Hopefully, that will help me keep everything in check!

At least for now, my closet is back to normal and fabulously organized!! Now, I just have to work on Doug's side :)

BUNKO!

Karen, Kim and Kellye

It was my turn to host BUNKO this month and I decided on a HAWAIIAN theme. I made Hawaiin HAYSTACKS with peanut sauce and chicken to top it. I also made yummy SMOOTHIES, chocolate dipped BANANAS topped with coconut and toffee, a hawaiin inspired green leaf SALAD and coconut creme PIE and chocolate chip COOKIES for dessert.

To make it the best Bunko night ever, I rolled 5 BUNKOS, which is definitely an ALL TIME HIGH for me. STACEY also rolled 5, but since there were enough TARGET GIFT CARDS to go around, it was all GOOD. I loved hosting this month, but I'm definitely GLAD it's OVER! It's nice to not have to worry about HOSTING again until sometime NEXT YEAR. Thanks to all the Bunko GIRLS for making our monthly, STAY OUT LATE night so much FUN - I love you guys!

Nicole, Lori and Tristan

Marybeth, Raesha and Monique

Chocolate dipped bananas rolled in toffee and coconut

Thanks Marie Callendar - you make a mean coconut creme pie!

Toppings for the haystacks

Sarah and me cleaning up after the fun!

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes!

Since I got a griddle several months ago, it's become kind of a family tradition to make pancakes every Saturday or Sunday morning. Keegan loves to help me mix up the pancakes and he's even getting the hang of flipping them, (although I have to make sure there's plenty of room on the griddle, because where they land is anyone's guess!). Doug sets the table and warms up the syrup while we make the pancakes and then we all sit down for a delicious, calorie laden feast!

I have to say that I've come up with the best pancakes ever! First you spread peanut butter on them, then you add slices of banana. On top of that, you sprinkle a touch of cinnamon, then you add the syrup and for the final touch, a bit of whipped cream. Doug turned his nose up at them at first, stating that he like to keep things simple. But then he tried them and their deliciousness won him over!

Our First Ever Family Photos!

Most of you know that Doug and I DON'T really love to POSE for pictures and that we've NEVER had our pictures taken together as a FAMILY. I know it's hard to believe, but we just DON'T GET VERY EXCITED about posing for pics. Anyway, my friend MONIQUE is a photographer and I've been telling her for a COUPLE OF YEARS that we were going to do a session with her. Well, it FINALLY happened this morning and it was really FUN! Keegan was totally ready with his CHEESY GRIN and stuck his TONGUE out for most of the pics. I can't believe she even got any with him looking a LITTLE BIT NORMAL! Here are a couple of the shots from this morning. THANKS Monique! Hopefully now it won't be ANOTHER 5 YEARS before we do it again :)

Happy Valentine's Day

We made and decorated some Valentine's cookies for some of the kids in our neighborhood. I definitely got the wrong kind of icing for the little kids to use and most of the cookies that Keegan and Riley decorated just looked like they had a pile of pink or red poop in the middle of them! But they had fun anyway. After they were done, we drove around and Keegan delivered them. He's such a big boy now - he got out of the car and went up to the doors all by himself. Hope everyone has someone to love and someone that loves them right back this Valentine's Day! I sure am grateful for my two guys - what a lucky girl I am :)

Fancy Dance Party

On Saturday morning I told Keegan that he could wear anything he wanted because it wasn't a school day. So he carefully chose his outfit and came parading into our bedroom, checking himself out in the mirror. I took one look at him and tried to contain my laughter. He had carefully chosen a shirt and pants that matched, but the pants were about 1 1/2 inches too short and he had on a short sleeve shirt in the middle of winter. But just to keep warm, he added his cap and mittens. Oh yeah, he also just put some socks on with his Crocs so his feet wouldn't get cold. He knew that he was going to his friends dance party that day and obviously wanted to look special. I asked him if that's what he was going to wear and he said, "Well you know you have to dress fancy when you go to a dance party." It was just so dang cute that I didn't make him change his clothes, like I normally would have. He did look pretty fancy!

pretty pleased with himself

a nighttime variation

his fancy outfit

I LOVE LOST!!!

I've been looking forward to the season premier of Lost pretty much since last season ended and last night did not disappoint! The hour before was great to catch me up on everything, too. But since I didn't get to see the whole thing, I'm thinking I may have missed a couple of things. Who was the white-haired lady at the end? And when have we seen her before? Is that Faraday's mom? Or am I totally off track? Someone please help!

Go UTES!!!

decked out for the game

showing our Ute spirit in church on Sunday

I'm sure everyone already knows how much we love the Utes, so of course we were looking forward to the Sugar Bowl - although I have to admit that I wasn't really hopeful of being able to pull off an upset against Alabama. We got all geared up for the game and just couldn't believe that we scored in all of our first three possessions! Doug and I were ecstatic! We kept scaring Keegan with our loud screaming and jumping up and down. Eventually Keegan got into it, too. What a victory!!!! That's got to be the best season in Utah football history and then to win against a team like Alabama - we're still on cloud nine :)

New Years Resolutions

this is how i wanted to start the new year. . .

but this is how it happened!

Okay, so I really wanted to start the new year with a bang by getting back to my healthy eating habits that I had totally lost over the holidays. But, guess what? I didn't!!! Pretty much the only things that I've eaten so far this year are delicious morsels of sugary delight! So I decided that I'm going to restart my resolution as soon as all the good stuff is out of my house, (which means after I've eaten it all!) I'll be back on the bandwagon soon, hopefully!