Ever notice?

I was just wondering if it was just me or if others had noticed too. In the lower level entrance to Nordstrom's, just across from the coffee bar, there is painting. Is it just me or does it look like Eminem in a wife beater and dew rag?

Celebration #2

On Christmas morning, Micah woke up and we went into his room and told him to come see what Santa had left. He came out with his sippy cup in had and immediately squatted by the firetruck that Santa had left him. I said "Do you see what Santa brought you?" He responded with "I sleeping?" It cracked me up, "Yes, you were sleeping."


Well, the firetruck was such a hit that we had to encourage him to open up the next present and he didn't quite understand the stocking thing. He was very excited to see all of the new toys. We still had to go to my parents' house, so we were trying to get a quick shower in and head over. It took us a while to convince Micah that he could get in the shower and all the toys would still be there. We showered and headed over to have breakfast and then opened presents. Micah opened one and was so thrilled with it, he took off through the house to play with it. We were left open up the rest and we didn't get any pictures of him over there. We all were spoiled again. My favorite gift of the day? My new purse. So cute! It is a brown leather hobo bag. I needed one so bad! Chad was actually looking at my purse the day before and say we needed to get me a new purse. How bad does your purse have to be to have your husband encourage you to get a new one? Pretty bad!

Last celebration was at my grandparents house. We go there every year without fail. Mom made the turkey this year, so of course it was delicious. We chatted with the cousins and then opened presents. Grandma and grandpa are not as young as they used to be, so they don't do gifts anymore, they give cash. It is great! We had a very full day and Micah didn't get to bed until 10 which means I crashed on the couch about an hour later. We are very blessed to have such a great family and traditions. I hope you all have had a great Christmas!

Celebration #1

Chad's parents aren't going to be in town this year, so we had an early Christmas on Friday to celebrate and exchange gifts. We got a lot of really neat things. We finally own our own printer and it is really neat. We also got a lot of gift certificates (which I love) digital picture frame, clothes, etc., etc. We all enjoy spoiling each other, but I have to say Micah was not just spoiled, he was SPOILED! He got so many toys. It made me glad that I really restrained myself when I went out to buy his gifts. Anyways, he loved it. I still don't think he gets the whole present thing. We have to really encourage him to open another because he gets so hung up on the one he just opened.This picture is my favorite. He was given this gun that lights up and makes space noises. The sad part is we have never gotten him a gun before, so he has no idea how it works. He kept holding it down at the floor and taking a weird stance. He was totally into it!

On another topic, the baby is getting really strong and Chad has finally been able to discern kicks from my own breathing. In fact, the kicks have been so strong lately that I can see them through my skin. It is so strange to see your stomach move around on its own. I will try to take some video and post it.

Well, stay tuned for Celebration #2, 3 and 4. We will be having our own little Christmas at home, then going to my parents house and finally to my grandparents house to round off the night. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and that you all remember the true meaning behind this holiday!

Friday Favorites

I have been in a lot the past few days because the morning sickness has come back. I'm almost 5 months now...is that fair? Anyways, I have been feeling pretty good today so I did something I have been putting off for a while. I mopped my patio. Any one ever done that? Since the fires here, it has been covered in fine soot and I haven't let Micah go out there since it was so dirty. He would come back in with black feet and hands, so I just didn't let him out. He has been asking to play and I finally decided it was time to get out there and clean it. I was actually hoping that we would have some heavy winds take care of it for me. Well, it is nice and clean now and I can let my wild child out there and hope he doesn't try to climb up the side!

In other news, I thought I would list some of my favorite websites. (I draw my inspiration from Ali and her Friday Favorites...thanks!) Layersclothing.com and shadeclothing.com are similar companies. They are both LDS and great for basics and their shirts are long so you never have to worry about it being short. Ballarddesigns.com is great for home decorating. I love their classic style. Shoebuy.com is one I was just introduced to. They don't charge tax or shipping, so the price listed is what you pay! Gotta love that and it's not just shoes, they have bags too. Fredala.com has some neat little jewelry things and odds and ends. Mapmyrun.com is one I would use when I was actually active. You can map where you went on your run/walk and it will tell you how far you went, the elevation change, etc. Very cool. Anyways, those are some of my favorites. I would love it if you would pass on some of your favorites to me too!

Little punk

The last couple of days hasn't gone that well for me. First off, Micah has hit two like a brick wall. All of a sudden he is just being a little punk! Anything he knows he shouldn't do or we tell him not to do he will do and he will do it fast. I am so irritated when we are trying to go somewhere and he decides to go limp. I nearly ate it when I was trying to leave Old Navy today because I tripped over him! I think the thing that annoys me the most is knowing you put so much time and effort into trying to get them to behave and be sweet and it seems like it all went down the tube in two days! Please tell me this will pass and I will get my little boy back! On top of having to deal with his antics, I have this thing going where if someone asks me how I am feeling and I say that I am feeling a lot better, the morning sickness comes back the next day. It is like a curse or something, so please don't ask me how I am feeling. Now, I am afraid I am coming down with a cold too! I had a headache last night, a sore throat today and I can feel my glands are swollen. I get a cold every Christmas though, so I shouldn't be surprised in the least. It is one Christmas present I can count on each year for some reason or another. It is OK though, I have all my shopping done and presents wrapped, so I can stay wrapped up inside with my little wild child for a couple days. You know where you can find me!

Schedule...what schedule?

Micah has been really off on his schedule lately. I think it is all the holiday activities that throw it off. There are times we have to move around his nap to make it to this event or that and then we might get home late because we were here or there. Micah is pretty flexible, but I think his body has finally said "I've had enough!" Yesterday he woke up at the crack of dawn and we gave him some milk and let him lay down with us. He fell back asleep and didn't wake up again until 8:45ish. I had so many errands to run, so we got ready and went and got him new jeans and then off to Target (I swear I am there all the time). I thought if I brought him home at that point that he would have a snack and drink and go nap. I was wrong. I put him down and he kept getting up and playing with his toys or with the blinds. I put him down two more times only to have him get up again. I finally gave up and decided to make use of the time by going to the grocery store. We got back and he still wasn't sleepy. I just went on with my day like normal at that point. After dinner, we changed him and put in Monsters for him to watch. Things got quiet and I asked Chad to check on him. Anyone who has kids knows that quiet can be very dangerous! Chad goes in to check and comes out giggling like a little school girl and tells me I have to go see. This is what we saw:


This was at about 7:15ish and we don't usually put him to bed until 9! He had turned the volume to the movie all the way down and lodged himself between the leg of the baby's crib and the TV. His butt was literally on the TV! Yes, we realize it is ghetto to have the TV on the ground. We are working on that, but what a funny kid. We laughed and put him to bed thinking he was out for the night. Nope, at 9 he came out to cuddle and get some milk and finally decided to go back to bed about a half hour later. Schedule, what schedule? We don't need no stinkin' schedule! Just kidding, I would really like it back!

I also had to add that we spruced up our tree a bit and this is what it looks like now:

Names, names, names

Chad and I are still having a hard time with naming this kid. Chad is dead set on the name Chelsea. I like the name, but I want to explore my options. I like names that are feminine, known, but not popular (I don't want her to have another girl in her class with the same name). Here are some names that I have gathered that I like: Sadie, Dylan, Delaney, Simone, Bryelle, Naomi, Stella, Tessa, Halle, Kate, Bria, Scarlett, Ruby, Lydia, Victoria, Sloan, Adelaide, Giselle, Lily, Willow, Callie, Evangeline, And Faith. I would love input on these names. If you have any suggestions, I am open to them. Right now, I don't even have a name I am leaning towards. I am just trying to find a name to fall in love with!

Apology Accepted

Recently our church boundaries changed and with it we were given a new meeting time. So for the last few weeks we have been meeting at 1:00 for church. We also meet in a building that is about 15 minutes away, so we have to plan for the drive to be there on time. Yesterday I was trying to coordinate our time so that we would all be ready on time and Micah would get a short nap in etc. I would tell Chad every once in a while how much time we had left, but he still didn't seem to be getting ready very fast. I was getting out of the shower and said, "You have forty minutes left and you still have to get Micah up and dressed." He heard me, but continued to play on the computer and eat his lunch as if he had all the time in the world. Annoyed at this point I reminded him again, hoping that he would hop up and get things going. Instead he turns and says, "What's with you? I'm trying to eat lunch and if we leave at 12:45, we are going to be 45 minutes early!" I turned to him and said, "Church is at 1:00, not 1:30." The only response I got was, "Oh" and off he went getting everything ready. We were able to make it on time and I noticed while we were singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" Chad kept looking over at me. I looked at him and asked him why he was staring at me. He said, "I just wanted to say sorry for being such a big jerk." The apology would have been good enough on its own, but he just happened to say the words "big jerk" between verses, so at least half the congregation must have heard him. I was laughing so hard. Thanks for the apology babe...and making my day!

Need a Wii?

Chad got a Wii and we don't need it, so we are selling it. It is the game console itself, which includes a nunchuck, controller and five games, plus the Wii play, which includes another controller and nine more games. The same package is selling on eBay for $470-$480. We are offering it to friends first for $415. Let me know if you want it or maybe someone you know wants it. You can e-mail me at rachelroll@hotmail.com.


In other news, Micah is taking every opportunity to be just like his dad. The other day when Chad came home, he left his shoes and hat in the front room. The next morning as Chad slept in, Micah seized the chance and decided to try them on. We caught him getting a good look at himself in the mirror. It was so funny!


Yesterday, we assembled the gingerbread house. It turned out so cute. I thought Micah would be into it, but he was more interested in using the box as a drum. Shelby and I took over and this is how it turned out:


Pretty cute huh? Not bad for a $10 kit at Target!

Insomnia and a cold...

This is what I wish he would do! For some reason or another, Micah has been waking up lately in the middle of the night. It isn't like he is waking up and kind of groggy and will fall asleep with us. He is wide awake. I mean running up and down the hall awake. He has been waking up and calling for Chad. I tell Chad to go in and give him a hug and put him back in his bed, but I don't think he got the memo. He picks him up and puts the ninja sleeper in bed with me and then goes and lays down on the couch. I am already coming down with a cold, so the last thing I needed was a conversation with my two-year-old in the middle of the night! He kept hearing my phone in the front room beeping because it was running out of battery, so every five minutes he would sit straight up in bed and say, "Uh-oh, what was dat?" I was fed up with it and put him back in bed, but by that time I was awake and didn't fall asleep for another hour or so. It didn't seem to bother Micah though, he was up at his usual time ready to start the day as I dragged myself out of bed. My solution? Throw in a video (his favorite right now is the Once upon a Potty video) and fall back asleep on the couch. To top it off, I still had laundry to do, dishes, beds to make, trash to take out, etc. I am wiped out! I know you all are thinking that he must have out grown his nap, but just last week we tried to go without a nap and he crashed and burned at about five that night. Hopefully we can get a better night's sleep tonight!

I wanted to let you guys in on a couple things that I have been into lately. The first, pepperoncinis! I have eaten almost an entire jar by myself over the past couple of days. I craved them with Micah too, so I'm not surprised. I just love them for some reason. I always order extra on my Subway sandwich. It will away after I have the kid, but for some reason, they are just so good right now!


The second thing that I am loving? Trader Joe's frozen pasta dinners. I'm not a big pasta eater, but Chad loves it and getting these things has been so nice because it give you more of a variety then the normal marinara sauce. They have fettuccine Alfredo and gnocci, etc. This one is spicy, but Micah LOVES it. I mean he shovels this stuff while Chad and I are running for water. It is honestly so good, so cheap and so fast!


Last...Big Lots! I was in need of gift bags for Christmas for those odd shaped gifts, but didn't want to spend much, so I went down to Big Lots hoping they would have something that wasn't cheesy or tacky and I was in luck. They have some really cute ones right now (much cuter than in the picture I pulled from the internet). I bought seven bags and a ton of tissue paper all for about $10! Which leads me to some good news, not only is all my Christmas shopping done, but they are all wrapped as well! Now I get to sit back and enjoy the season. Also, Chad's company Christmas party is tomorrow night and it is employee only, so although I will be ditched for the night, I went down to Target and got a Gingerbread House Kit to work on with Micah and Shelby. We are going to have just as much fun!

P.S. Chad, good luck on picking a prize, you know you always end up with the gag gift!

Hmmm...

Let's see how Santa went over this year: