painting extravaganza!

We had a very fun and busy time painting Cali's room. Thanks to Mark and all the help he was in this project...oh ya, and the kids too...couldn't have done it with out their help!

Bryanna was so excited to help paint, she actually did quite a bit of painting and wanted to keep doing more. This project was right up her alley!

Maddox was in the thick of it too...sword and all!

Before stripes:

After:

I have to purchase a few more furniture pieces (like a dresser), then the fun part, accessorizing!! I'll get more pics up when we finish!

mini fruit pizzas

This has become one of my favorite treats lately, and I don't feel as guilty because of the yummy fresh fruit atop! I served these last night for Book Club and they were all gone!

Easiest treat ever, my own version:

Mini Fruit Pizzas


1 (18-oz) pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8-oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
2 T sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice
2-3 peeled, sliced kiwis
8-10 fresh strawberries, quartered
1 c. fresh raspberries or blueberries or both

Bake refrigerated cookie dough according to package instructions. Cool cookies completely. In mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, both sugars and lemon juice and mix until smooth. Refrigerate 30 minutes. (If I know I am making these I usually do the frosting one day ahead of time and let frosting refrigerate overnite.)Spread each cookie with the frosting and arrange fruit on top. Serve immediately.

big boy bed

Over the weekend we moved Maddox into his very own big boy bed!! He was excited, but I was hesitant because I didn't want to mess up his nap time during the day or the nighttime routine. In fact, we bought his bed frame in October, but I kept putting it off. On the whole, its been a very smooth transition and he still gets his nap in just fine. Although the last couple of nights he has gotten out of bed and crept into our room each time about 9:45...maybe I let him nap too long. He's been under the weather this week with a runny nose and swollen glands (but the dr. didn't think it was serious enough for antibiotics...ugh!) so I'm letting him sleep as long as he can. Oh what to do, what to do! He seems to be growing up too fast and getting so big. I can't believe he's almost three and will be a big brother soon!

Speaking of becoming a big brother, baby Cali moves like a wild woman. She's constantly kicking, squirming, punching...its very uncomfortable. You'd think I'd be a little more used to it being the third go, but not so much. I can remember with the last two pregnancies that the babies didn't move nearly this much. Its making me wonder as to what kind of baby she'll be. Bryanna and Maddox were angel babies, and I use angel with every meaning of the word. I anticipate meeting her and learning more about the little person she already is and hoping she'll be an easy new born baby.

Bryanna has been saying some really funny stuff lately. The other day we were watching some football on T.V. and Mark just happened to not be in the room with us.

B: Mom, are they in high school? (pointing to the football players on T.V.)

M: No, they are old like mommy and daddy.

B: Oh, so that's their work?

M: Ya, they get to play football for work!

B: But not daddy. He works at the office and talks to people.

M: Yup!

I think she empathized for Mark that maybe his job isn't as fun as playing football!

tiddliwnks

I ordered this cute crib bedding, called Tiddliwinks Raspberry Garden, from target.com and I can't wait for it to come next week!! As soon as I get my little paws on it, I can get paint matches and start designing Cali's room! I feel like I finally have something to do around the house besides cooking, cleaning and doing laundry! Yay!


The last two months of my pregnancies, I start nesting BIG TIME! I have to have everything clean and perfect so by the time I get home from the hospital, I can focus on the kids and just trying to stay happy with the little sleep I know I'll be getting.

I was able to get this sweet travel system, so I'm really feeling prepared to welcome this baby! While Mark was waiting for me to get to target with the kids, he was browsing and found this travel system on sale for $160, when its normally $199! We got rid of our last infant car seat after Maddox, knowing that its only a 2 year life on most infant car seats.

showers

We have been loving the rain here, and trying to enjoy every minute outside, even though it is pretty chilly (according to a las vegan!)




I just love these two kids and I'm so grateful I can take care of them, watch them grow, and see them develop into the wonderful little people they are becoming. This is the best time of my life.
Maddox and Bryanna are constantly playing with each other and making silly faces and poses. They really are best friends, and I'm so glad they have each other to play with. (I think it was intended truly by the Lord, they keep each other entertained to give me a little break) Maddox is totally and completely into all boy things. And Bryanna into all girl things. I love that they are complete opposites, but get along fabulously (most of the time...they both have their tiffs).

7 months

Now that I actually LOOK pregnant, instead of just feeling pregnant, here's a picture for evidence. I normally don't feel up to taking pregnant pictures, but then I usually regret it afterwards, not showing the kids when they "used to be in my tummy" shots.

29 weeks and counting...I feel like I'm on the last leg of this trek and I'm so glad!! I'll try to remember to post a picture at 8 months.

a 10 minute down pour

At the point we finally got all our rain gear on, the rain had already moved on. But we still had some fun outside and Bryanna just loves it when we can pull out the umbrella!

We hope to play in the rain and not the aftermath of it...

Home Depot

Yes, we do alot of projects around our house. Yes, we get our supplies mostly from Home Depot. Yes, the kids have to go with us a lot of the time. Bryanna calls it the "Boy Store" Maddox loves it because the kids always get to pick out a little treat at the cash register. So....what does this all mean??????

Monday Night: We did FHE.

FHE topic: Joseph Smith...lately Bryanna's favorite church song is "Praise to the Man"...she's been humming and singing the tune quite a bit. So we figured we'd teach her a little more about who the "man" is in the song.

FHE prayer: Maddox, the 2 year old, says the opening prayer and it goes something like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, Thank for this day. Thank for my family. Thank you for my blessings. Thank you for Family Home Depot...."

I can't remember the rest because I was laughing and giggling that he said Family Home Depot instead of Family Home Evening.

Needless to say, we had a great lesson about Joseph Smith and tried to reiterate that we were having Family Home EVENING, but I don't think that one kicked in.

Yes, FHE has an entirely new take for our family!!!

keeping me up at night

Oh My!! I loved reading this book. Its the kind of book that is suspenseful, thrilling, gut-wrenching and most of all entertaining. Holy cow, you have got to read this book.

At first, when I saw the title on Goodreads when my friends would write a review, I thought "Diet Book...not reading that one!" Obviously, I never read the review! Then, I started to see more and more goodreads reviews pop up, and that was convincing enough to see what the plot was all about. And to top it off, I would go in for my OBGYN appointments and I would see other ladies in there with their nose in this book.

OK....if I haven't convinced you yet to read the book...go online, look up this book and read some reviews. It is a strange plot...but its a thrilling suspense that keeps you up at night. Another thing that I liked about this book is that its free of curse words and sex scenes. And there is one more twist to it, romance!!

5 stars to Hunger Games...and I'm almost done with the sequel Catching Fire!! Hunger Games Book Three comes out in August this year, so that will be a long, horrible wait, but well worth it!

resolutions

So, Mark is very good about writing down, EVERY YEAR, his new year's resolutions. I am 50-50 with it. But every year I have a mental note of all the things I feel I need to improve on. It usually has to do with making a better effort in living and eating more healthy, exercising more regularly and reading my scriptures more often. Throughout the year I go in spurts with all three of those categories and so in retrospect, I feel that I partly achieved some of these "goals". And then I have to ask myself why can't I stay on task the whole year? Well, life happens on a rollercoaster and so some things have more priority than others depending on the height the rollercoaster. And 2009 was the most wild and crazy rollercoaster I've had in my life. But looking back, I have so much gratitude in my heart towards the mercies of Mark's job and the economy here in Las Vegas. I was really bitter at the beginning of last year when he took a pay cut and I kept questioning all sorts of things involving that, but looking back, I can see that our prayers have been answered, and we have been blessed. I hope I can keep those lessons close to heart and try to apply them in 2010. I had great expectations that things would improve in all areas in our lives in 2010, but with the way 2009 went, the only expectations I can hold for this new year is that Mark will stay employed and we can have health this year. Other than that, we'll do our best and be grateful for all we have. Happy New Year!