Am I back in Utah??

I didn't realize how much I missed the snow until today. We do get occasional snow, but not very much. It usually melts within a few hours and mostly just causes icy roads...but this snow is awesome!! I haven't been sledding in years!! Of course, it's a little difficult when you're pregnant. Everyone looks at you like you're crazy (I'll grant them that) and have worried expressions on their faces...but they all laugh their head off when you crash into a fence!! It was fun...and NOT as scary as it sounds. :)

Isabelle LOVED the snow so much that I couldnt get her to stop playing in it lonmg enough to get a picture so Brooklynn had to grab her...although it looks like she's choking her. It's all in love!!!

Love, love, LOVED the snow!!

Go Brooky!!

Look out Izzy!!!


Russ had a lot of fun, too!! At first, I had to drag him out of the house to go sledding, but then he was the last one to come in. He caught some pretty sweet air!!

Patience-Shmatience!

The soonest they could schedule us for our ultrasound is February 18th, so we have 20 more days to go until we find out if our "little bean" is a boy or girl. Of course, everyone has their own opinion of what we're having with all sorts of different reasons for their guess, but I'm just not sure. With Brooklynn I KNEW it would be a girl from the first day and I even bought a pink baby outfit to announce my pregnancy to Russ. Similarly, with Isabelle I always had a feeling it would be a girl, but began to doubt when Brooklynn said she thought it was a boy. But this one's totally different. I've been a lot more sick with this one; I'm showing way, way sooner and it appears to be carrying quite high, so the differences make me lean more to a boy...but I just don't know...and to be honest, I truly don't care as long as it is healthy and happy. It would be nice to have a boy since this will probably be my last baby, but I'd be fine either way. What about you? Did you have any "feelings" on what sex your baby would be...and were you right?

Merry Christmas!!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and we hope you all did, too. Great Grandma invited us to come stay Christmas Eve with her again and we had alot of fun.
Izzy adores her baby-doll and Brooklynn flipped out over her MP3 player that Santa brought. At first, I thought the MP3 player would be good so she could listen to all her music and we wouldn't have to suffer Hannah Montanna getting stuck in our brain...however, my musical little girl now wonders around the house singing her little heart out...with a very BIG voice :) Oh well!

Isabelle and Brooklynn LOVED the "Glow Stations" they got from Grandpa Tom and Grandma Diane. They are especially fun during night time car rides!

And they LOVE the new dollhouse from Grandma Sue-Sue and Grandpa Brad...and I'll admit...I like playing with it, too :)

Holiday Fun

Here are a few things we've been up to this month.

Brooky and I went to a Christmas parade with Aunt Tara and her boys, Michael & Garret. It was very, VERY cold...but we had alot of fun. The kids stayed warm by cuddling, jumping around and cheering so they would get candy thrown their way.

The girls got one big present early this year thanks to our awesome neighbor. They (mostly Brooklynn) wanted pet fish from Santa and when I mentioned it to my neighbor, Cathy, she said she wanted to get rid of her fish and tank and for us to come get it!! It is a nice 10 gallon tank with decorations, all the equipment and even 8 fish! Brooklynn picked out new gravel and we got a few more supplies and...boom...early Christmas. At first Brooklynn was a little worried because she had already sent her letter to Santa requesting fish, but I told her I sent him a another letter explaining the situation and asking him to bring her something else instead. ;~) Brooklynn absolutly LOVES the fish. She reads to them, sings to them and hugs and kisses the tank each night! Too cute!!!

Peek-a-boo!

Well...I wasn't exactly expecting this until later on in the year but apparently I've got a rather impatient little-one who can't wait any longer to come join his/her family. We're 2 months along and my "little bean" is due to join us by July 10th...only 1 week after Izzy turns 3. We are all very excited! I worry about Isabelle, though. She is SUCH a momma's-girl and LOVES to be babied. Then again...I was also worried about Brooklynn and though she went through a little jealousy phase, she really LOVES being a big sister and is sooooo good at it. Of course, I am a little nervous about the usual stuff (am I really ready to do this again?)...but I am also very excited. I love to just sit and hold my little babies and smell them all day! It's like drinking in the essence of Heaven!!

Hey Pumpkin!

It has been years since I have carved a pumpkin instead of just painting one, so I was excited when we decided to have a pumpkin-themed Family Home Evening. After the opening song and prayer, we read a story from the Friend magazine that was about pumpkins (and amazingly enough, everyone sat still and listened intently!!!) then we got goopy carving and cleaning the pumpkins. Brooklynn picked out a Mummy design and a Scary Fire Face design from this book we got at Wally-World. Brooky and I finished our scary face fairly quickly but poor Russ spent like 2 hours on the more intricately-designed mummy face. They both look awesome!!!

The next day we went to the good ol' Pumpkin Patch with Tara Lynn and her boys. The corn maze was even better this year and the homemade, fried, fuit pies were da bomb! Mmmmm! I just love the fall! It's my favorite time of year!!!

Finally!!

Brooklynn finally lost her first tooth...and, in true Brooklynn-form, it was highly dramatic. The tooth decided not to come up directly under the baby tooth and instead came up behind it. This made the baby tooth not want to come loose very much...plus Brooklynn did not like the idea of trying to wiggle it hard every day. Eventually the tooth was almost half way in and we could see that the old tooth wasnt going to budge...so we had a decision to make...either pay the dentist to pull it or we would pull it. Brooklynn said she would rather have us do it instead of the dentist, so Russ helped her hold ice on her tooth and gums for several minutes in between him wiggling and pulling hard. It was traumatic for me as a mother to hear my baby crying and screaming so I had to leave the room. It just killed me! I wanted so bad to run to her and scoop her up in my arms and soothe her but I knew it had to be done. Finally, I heard a "pop" and a scream...and sure enough, they had gotten it out. As soon as Brooklynn saw the tooth, the sobs turned to giddy-laughter and beaming-pride. Her cousin, Michael, was baptised that evening so Brooklynn took her tooth in a little baggy and showed everyone who came.

Two for Taebo!

Ok...remember how I told you that Brooklynn loved to do Taebo? Well, Izzy now loves it too. She asks for it almost every day! I gotta say that I am very happy that they are gaining an appreciation for exercise so early!! I still have a hard time with it. :)

Labor Day Fun

We took the girls to Harrogate Park for their annual Labor Day Fair and Fireworks show and had alot of fun! After we had our fill of yummy Fair-food, the girls got a pony ride and then played on the swings until the fireworks started.

Although I do LOVE fairs, I have to admit that I was acting a little childish this evening in another way. I wasnt feeling very good and didnt feel like walking very far, so I griped at poor Russ several times for parking sooo far away from the entrance instead of finding a closer spot. Plus, we had planned to watch the fireworks by our van so we could leave before the traffic got bad...which meant that we'd have to walk that loooooong distance back to the van in a hurry so we didnt miss any fireworks. Well...we found out what time the fireworks would be starting so after all the fun and food...off we went back to the van. I still felt like griping on the way back, but I bit my tongue. Once we got to our van and laid our blanket down on the grass...I start looking around to see what direction the fireworks would be in, and what do you think I saw several yards out in the field directly in front of our van??? The fireworks!! I think we had the best seat in the house!! Oh well, nothing goes with fair-food like a nice slice of humble-pie. :) Love you Babe!

Farewell, Summer!

I was a slacker and forgot my camera on the actual 1st day of school, so this picture is from the 1st week of
1st Grade. Brooklynn LOVES her teacher and is happy to be back in school...although, homework became really old, really fast. :)


Izzy misses "Brookin" during the day but has still found ways to amuse herself. She loves hanging out in the dryer...which used to be one of my favorite spots when I was her age. I was inspired by Jami and Caymbree and decided to see if Izzy would let me do "piggys" in her hair. Well, she didn't LOVE it at first but when she saw that big-sissy kept her pig-tails in, she decided not to rip them out. She actually kept them in all through church, but as soon as we got home...away they went. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

Moments like these make it all worth while!


We visited the Smokies again this year and celebrated Lorna's birthday while there. Tara Lynn decorated a beautiful cake. Almost too pretty to eat...almost. :)

The river was very, very cold this year and very deep due to all the rain we've had.

Izzy was dangerously-fearless, as usual, while Brooklynn played safely on the shoreline. It is so weird how different they are from each other, and yet, so alike in many ways.

How about this gorgeous lady??!! Isn't she cute??!!