So funny!

I had to share this one. We have been trying to get Micah used to the potty. He loves going on the potty although he is really inconsistent. Tonight he was trying to get naked, so Chad asked him if he needed to use the potty. He said yes and we put him on and success! He was very proud of himself. He sat there a while longer and then looked down and grabbed his little pee pee. He pulled it up and looked at me and said "What is dis?" I just about died laughing. He joined in just because if others are laughing, it must be funny. I love my little guy and the funny things he does!

Gordon B. Hinckley

It was so sad to hear that Gordon B. Hinckley passed away on Sunday night. He was 97 and a great president and prophet for the church. He put in so much service and love. He will be missed, but I know he loved his wife so much and was happy to be reunited with her. I was luck enough to meet him in person briefly. I was in Hawaii at the time and my cousin had asked me to watch her baby while she attended a sealing there. I was sitting outside on a bench with this tiny baby in a pouch when a bus pulls up to the temple. Out pop a few old men that I didn't recognize and then Gordon B. Hinckley. He was happily greeting the sister missionaries and almost seemed to glow. I was a good twenty feet away and couldn't quite go rushing to him, but he looked over and waved with a smile and told me to take good care of the baby. I had just found out the week before I was pregnant with Micah, so I kind of figured he meant to take care of both! Anyways, he will be missed and I know we are indebted to him for all the service he gave over many decades of his life.

Six Months!

OK, here I am like I have promised. Six months along and you can see how much hair I cut off (a ton)! This little girl is super low. Even lower than Micah was. As a result, my stomach muscles feel like they have been pulled apart. At times, it has felt like I have done a thousand sit ups and when I walked I was sneezing. Bad combo, but luckily it has gotten better. The muscles seem to be healing. It also makes for a belly button that doesn't pop out. I gets dragged down. It looks like I have a tent over my belly button. Very funny looking. Like I had said earlier, the last appointment I had, they said I was up ten pounds. When they did the ultrasound a week later, they said the baby was one pound and one ounce, so where did the other eight pounds and fifteen ounces go? I have theories on that one! Definitely some has gone to the chest. These things are heavy. A pound to each thigh which have filled out and a pound to my love handles. I guess the rest has gone to fluids, placenta, etc. I'm not too worried about it though. With Micah I really didn't have to put much effort into getting the weight off. I hope this one is the same way.

So, for some reason or another, Micah decided to try to stay up all night. He went down about 9:15 or so and he was still calling for his dad by 10. Chad finally went in and laid down on the floor by him. Fifteen minutes later, we thought he was asleep, but no...he cried and whined for another twenty minutes before falling asleep. We figured he was out for the night, but again we were wrong. He came running into our room at who knows what hour. He was such a wiggler and then he decided to leave. We though he was going back to bed, but wrong again. He went into the living room and turned on the TV. That was it. We put him in his room and shut the door and finally we got some sleep! What is with this child of mine? I have decided to keep him in the Music Makers class, but I am sure that will be more work than fun for me and him. Someone suggested signing him up for gymnastics classes. That might be a good option. This kid of mine can drive me nuts, but I love him, love him, love him!

As far as the headbands go, I keep hearing about a girl in my ward that makes really cute ones, so I will have to contact her. My solution for right now is to get the nylon headbands with the loop in front. This way I can buy the clips and attach them to the headband and when she gets too old for headbands, I can use the clips alone.

What would you do?

My ward puts together a little group called Music Makers for the kids that are around 18 month to 3 or 4. It isn't a church thing really, more like a pre-preschool. Getting them to participate and sing songs, listen to stories, etc. It is totally free, but if you want to participate in it, you need to teach at least two classes. That isn't much of a problem except for the fact that I don't know many kids songs. I can learn though. Here is the problem...Micah is not a good student by any means. He doesn't want to participate at all. He won't even sit in a circle. He will watch from the other side of the room and run around the group in a circle or play the piano, anything but be a part of the class. Although he did start to dance to one of the songs and listened to the story, he otherwise is a big distraction. I was signed up for last semester and taught, but this semester I asked the person who organizes it if I could come to the first two and see how he does. I don't know if I should keep going, sign up to teach and hope he improves or if I should duck out for the sake of the others in the class. Is it rude of me to keep him in or should I stick with it to get him to participate more? Please keep in mind, I don't just let him have free reign. I will pull him in or hold him and make sure he isn't on the piano. He just does the limp body thing (which I loathe). Honestly, I need to know what you would do in my place.

By the way, I will put up an updated picture to show this large gut I am growing (she is even lower than Micah was) along with the new hair soon. I have a few things I need to blog about so I will get to that soon!

Random happenings

My parents were gone for a week in Sedona to relax and get away. I don't think I had realize how much time I spent with my mom until she took off. There are days when she gets off of work and I will head over to her house just to have someone to talk to or pick up mail or whatever. Anyways, she was home on Thursday night, so we decided to go out on Friday. We headed to the mall and did a little shopping and then went to Nordstrom's cafe because we were famished! There weas a line and there were these two ladies in front of us. One looked familiar to me. Micah kept pointing and saying "there's two mommies." I was thinking, wow, mommy must dress pretty cute when she isn't pregnant because these girls were looking really cute. Then it hit me. It was Tamra from the Real Housewives of OC.


I have to admit she is much cuter and thinner in person. I wish I could bag on her and say she looks fake or something, but no, she was really cute and I loved her jeans. Now to get back to that size after the baby gets out!

Anyways, we had a nice day out and we went back to my mom's house where Micah was given a fudgsicle. I have never let him eat one all by himself, so this was a new experience. He got it everywhere and he was loving it! I got one picture of his messy face with him smiling. It was so cute, but like a retard, I deleted it. I was loading it on my computer and decided to delete pictures of things I had sold on eBay and didn't realize that picture was still highlighted. I freaked out and asked Chad to fix it. After attempting to recover it, this is all we got!

Luckily, I at least got this one, even though it isn't all that cute. I've learned my lesson though. I will never delete again without double checking what is being deleted!

I have also been busy looking for headbands for this little girl of mine (still no name). I was told to look on eBay, so I was checking them out last night. Holy cow! First of all, I have to say there are some really cute ones, but there are also some really bad ones. I'm talking the bow gets so over sized that it looks a s big as the baby's head. Especially the korker ones. They look like gigantic pom poms on the kids head. See what I mean?


This size makes more sense to me!

Anyways, I think I will be dragging my arthritic mother around the swap meet with me this Saturday to try and find some headbands that are the right size for my little girl! Any other suggestions of where I should look?

P.S. A quick thanks to Val for passing down all her maternity clothes, although it reaffirmed how much smaller she is than me. I have to admit my hips and butt have widened, so only a few pants fit and those were usually too short. What can I say...she is like 5'5'' and a little over a 100 lbs. I'm not, but at least all the shirts fit! Thanks again!

Potty boy!

I was so excited yesterday when I asked Micah to sit on the potty before his shower and he actually peed. I didn't think he would, so I went to throw some clothes in the laundry basket and whatnot. Since I wasn't there, I am not quite sure what happened, but when I got back there was pee in, on and around the potty. I think he tried to stand up. It didn't matter, I was so excited for him. I freaked out and gave him high fives and telling him what a big boy he was. I didn't put a lot of hope into it though. As many of you know, we have attempted this before and it hasn't quite worked out, but I was going to give it another shot. So, after his nap I took him right into the bathroom and asked him if he wanted to go potty. He said yes and he went right away. No books to read or songs to sing while waiting. This kid had to go! As a bonus, the diaper he was wearing through his nap was dry! I was so excited! He got a ton of praise and fruit snacks, which to him are as good as candy. Going twice in one day is huge for him, so we thought he might be on his way to being potty trained. We went out and got pull ups and we are hoping to get him in the habit of going on the potty. I don't expect him to be potty trained by the end of next week, but I think we can make some progress. He is SO much like his dad, that if I push something and he doesn't want to do it, it will just be torture on us all. Wish us luck!

I also wanted to mention a few Friday Favorites. I should just write and Ode to Trader Joe's. He has been my man lately. I love the chocolate dipped bananas, the enchilada sauce that blows all others out of the water, the red pesto pasta and their silver dollar rolls as well as their super cheap soy milk, which I have had to switch to since this baby doesn't seem to like milk. I also am enjoying my Downey Wrinkle Releaser since I do not own an iron (and don't ever plan to) or a steamer. It does the trick in seconds. Lastly, my Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter which has kept me from getting stretch marks so far. Hopefully it will pull through for me the entire nine months! On a tangent, I really love my new hair, but I noticed as I was getting out of bed with my hair in a high pony tail and big pregnant belly hanging out, that I look like a sumo wrestler. I would take a picture, but I do have some dignity left!

Girls, girls, girls

Last night I went out with some of my favorite people in the world. As soon as Chad got home I left Micah with him and headed out to a fun girls night! I even left a bit early to get in some shopping without a nagging child. Val, Debbie, Al and Carrie all met me at Cheesecake Factory for what we said would just be dessert. Well, everyone came with different appetites (and two of us are pregnant), so it was a whatever goes type of meal. The food was great, but the company was much better. Once again, I am sure we were loud and obnoxious, but we had a blast. We got there at 7 pm and didn't leave until 10:30 pm. I am sure our waitress hated us for taking the table for the whole night. It doesn't matter though we just had so much fun talking about the good ol' days. Val and I even were lame enough to sing the song for the Itty Bitty Titty Club which we belonged to back when we were sophomores in high school. I graduated from that club! I swear we had no shame. If anyone would like the lyrics, I am happy to pass them on. I think it might help with the growth process! Anyways, it was such a fun night and I always hate to say goodbye because they seem like they are a once a year type of event.


On a side note, I got home about 10:45ish and I was talking to Chad and realized that Micah was still talking in his room. I asked Chad what the deal was and he said he put him down around 10, which is pretty late for him, but for some reason he was still awake. I thought I would go in and give him a kiss and say goodnight. Hello, the kid wasn't just awake, he was wired! From that point on in the night, I tried laying next to his bed, giving him milk, bringing him in bed with us and finally I just put him to be and he whined for about another 20 minutes! It was close to midnight by then! I was wrecked and he still woke up at 7:30 am. Come to find out, Chad had given him quite a bit of sugar for dinner. If it says frosted before the name of the cereal, it is going to keep him up all night!

Well, today I went into my OB to have an ultrasound screening. It was so fun to see our little girl and yes, they checked again and it is still a little girl. Actually, I had to roll from one side to the other just so they could see since she had her ankles crossed. She's so modest! Anyways, she was checked from top to bottom and everything looked great from her brain to her heart to her toes. I even got a profile shot and got to see her nose and mouth. I will see if I can scan it and post it. I am just happy that she is healthy. I was kind of worried because I was so sick with her and I wasn't able to take my prenatal vitamins. With all the nightmares I was having I was hoping that none of them would come true! On the down side (for me at least) all the measurements are showing me to be a week behind, so she gave me a new due date of May 20th. I have to be pregnant a week longer, but I have a feeling this one will come early. Oh well! What was funny is that the ultrasound tech asked us what we were going to name her and we still don't have a name written in stone. I think we will end up with four or five names that we have in mind at the hospital and decide after we see her which name fits her best. Chad's front runner as always is still Chelsea Brynn. I am leaning towards Brooklyn Kate. We have a couple more names in our hat too, so we will just have to wait and see I guess!

P.S. If you want to see my new haircut, Val took a picture last night and should post it on her blog soon!

Sally Jesse Raphael

Last night we went to Chad's parent's house to visit and Micah got his hands on Papa's glasses. He put them on and immediately grabbed a piece of paper so that he could read to us. I don't know where he gets this from! I was worried about him breaking the glasses, but I was assured that they were dollar glasses from a bargain store so I don't need to worry. So I grabbed my camera and took some pictures of Sally Jesse Raphael in action, or should I call him Sal?

He has really been into asking questions lately. I should say he is really into quizzing people. He will ask something like "Mommy, what color is this?" "Green." "Yes mommy, it's green. Good job, you are so smart!" It makes us laugh. I think he gets it from playing the PBS kids games online.

Other than that, I got my hair cut yesterday and I mean hair CUT! I took about 8 inches off. My style looks like the girl from Scrubs. I like it, but I was nervous that Chad wouldn't, but surprisingly, he is totally into it. I think it will be a lot easier to maintain and it won't get caught everywhere or tangled if I wear something with a collar! I also went to my OB on Friday and I am officially up 10 pounds and I am almost 6 months along now. I can guarantee you that not all of that 10 pounds has gone to the baby. I know of some strangely soft places that have developed, so I don't think I will be updating anyone on my weight gain from now on! The baby is doing well though and I get the screening ultrasound on Wednesday. I am excited to see her jumping around. She is pretty active and a lot of the time you can see her kick right through my clothes!

Date night

So, I have to admit that I haven't been all that pleasant lately. I've been pretty impatient and snappy lately. I have to blame it on being pregnant because I am not usually like this. I just feel like everything has annoyed me and for some reason it always seems to be someone else's fault (poor Chad). Chad told me the other night that wasn't feeling very loved or appreciated and I felt terrible! I knew I wasn't all that wonderful, but I didn't think he would take it personally. Anyways, I wanted to do something to make it up to him. So I called him up at work and told him that I would treat him to In-n-Out, which is his favorite. He was stoked. After a quick bite to eat, we headed home and changed Micah into p.j.'s and dropped him off at my parent's house. We then got to go to the movies. I know I make it sound like such a privilege to go to the movies, but we honestly go once a year because we get movie tickets for Christmas. The last movie we saw in the theaters was Fun with Dick and Jane. Yes, it has been a while. Anyways, we saw Juno which was such a good movie. The script was well written and although you may think you know how the movie will end, there are a couple of twists and turns that make for an interesting ending. I cried, but I'm hormonal and if it has to do with babies, then it is not a good idea to show it to a pregnant girl! We hardly ever seem to have date nights out, so it was a lot of fun for us.

In other news, I went out shopping with the intentions of buying some new towels and something for my sister for her birthday, but came back with clothes for Micah (of course). I had to share my good deal though. I bought everything you see below for 35 bucks. They are all Hurley and I was able to get the t-shirts for 6 bucks each, the button down for 10 and the jeans for 13! I still don't have towels or a present for my sister, but Micah will look cute!

Bad news...Good news

Well this weekend was kind of strange. It had a lot of things that had good and bad sides to them. Let me begin:


Bad news: Micah spills TWO bottles of nail polish on my carpet. After trying to get it up, it dries only to feel like melted plastic under your feet and my apartment smelled like a nail salon.
Good news: I had heard of this stuff called Motsenbocker's Lift Off from Summer and it worked like a charm. To top it off, the stuff doesn't have an odor. If anything it smells a little like sour apples. I am now a huge fan of this wonderful product!


Bad news: Micah is sick with what seems like a nasty cold coupled with food poisoning. He has thrown up on me twice now and had explosive diapers for the past four days! We went to take him in to Saddleback Urgent Care on Saturday. We waited for an hour and a half before asking how much longer it would be. They told us it would be about another hour and half. Forget it! We walked out and took him home to a nice warm bed and medicine.
Good news: He seems to be doing a lot better. His cough is getting drier and he is a lot more active than he has been the last two days. As a bonus, I didn't take him to church with me, so I was able to sit and actually listen to a lesson for the first time in forever!


Bad news: On Saturday, we noticed that we had new neighbors moving into the apartment below us. We have enjoyed it being empty since Micah is kind of loud when he walks around. As we walked by, we noticed that they didn't speak English, just like the other neighbors downstairs and the neighbors across from us. How come we are the only English speaking group here? Anyways, since they have been in, they have been so loud. I think they installed their surround sound right away because we can feel it!
Good news: We MIGHT be moving in March/April. Chad's parent's are officially moving to Utah and have put their house on the market here. If they don't get the price they want in 90 days, they will take it off the market and have us rent it until the market recovers. More room for us would be awesome with our expanding family!


Bad news: I realized as I was attempting to get dressed for church today that I have outgrow my normal clothes. Sadly, my skirts no longer zip and so I know it is time to break down and buy maternity clothes. I should expect that by five and a half months, but I just hate buying maternity clothes. I should have just kept them after Micah, but I thought I wouldn't have another for quite a few years, so I eBayed them. Whoops!
Good news: I have a gift certificate to Mimi Maternity from my birthday that I can use, so buying a few necessities won't blow my budget! To top it off, a lot of the normal tops in the stores still fit me since the styles are all empire waist or waistless.


Bad news: We had a clogged toilet the other day and didn't have a plunger to take care of the "issue." Chad took a trip to the grocery store to find that they only sell the head to the plunger, no handle.
Good news: Chad bought a broom and used that handle to put the plunger on. Now he can plunge from outside of the bathroom! No odors to smell when you are that far away and a great story to share about your husband trying to get good leverage on a plunger that is about six feet from him!

Just hanging

I haven't posted in a while, mostly due to the fact that I haven't had much going on, which explains the pictures below. McDonald's play place and Micah creating a polka dot apple. Anyways, New Years was pretty uneventful for me. We had my niece and nephew over and they played video games and we made homemade pizza together, which turned out great by the way. I had a notary job to do the next morning, so Micah and I went to bed together at eleven. It was kind of fun to have my little guy in bed with me for a little bit. He would lift his head to check on me every once in a while and then fell sound asleep.I have been fighting off this really annoying cold too. It is one that isn't bad enough to keep you in bed, but just kind of hangs on. I think I am in week three now. I have also had some morning sickness come back. That totally sucks and can I tell you, I have been having the scariest nightmares in my life. I have heard that is part of being pregnant and I have to say it is probably worse than the morning sickness! Others have said that they have the dreams about their baby being born and it is hairy or ugly or something like that, but I am having ones with mall shooters and my son in the hospital with diseases. I wake up in full panic mode. it is horrifying! I hope it passes soon because I honestly am afraid to go to sleep at night sometimes because of it. Did anyone else go through this or is it just me?

Last thing I wanted to post is some goals for the new year. Not resolutions. Somehow, that word just doesn't work for me. I think it sets me up to break them all and forget it. I think if I use the word goal, I can work on it and not feel bad if I mess up a bit here and there.

1. Successfully get this child out of me and be able to adjust. I will need to figure out a schedule and hope that Micah will like this new kid too!
2. Try to enjoy the kid activities. I love my kid, but going to the park is a drag for me. All I do is follow after him to make sure he doesn't get hurt. I should have a more positive attitude towards it and maybe I will start to have more fun there.
3. Get Micah potty trained. Enough said.
4. Get the baby weight off. Hopefully this one will be as good to me as Micah was and I won't have to really work at it.
5. Be patient with my family and friends. I think that I am more patient with strangers sometimes and that is sad. I need it most with Micah because those terrible twos are about to kill me!
6. Not feel like I have to live up to other expectations. I need to remember I am only human and that I can only do my best. That's all I need to do.
7. Be consistent in my daily routines. I think if I have a pretty consistent schedule, it will make life a bit easier on me and my family.

Anyways, Happy New Year everyone. I hope this year is a great one!