Valentine's Celebrations

It's so fun having a little kid around to help me celebrate one of my favorite Holidays. I don't know why but I just love Valentine's. I think it's all the pink and hearts and trinkets that just make these bland winter months not seem so boring to me. Obviously these pictures aren't in order but I just wanted to highlight two of our fun activities we had leading up to the big day :)

This year we tried to spread out some of the holiday cheer. One day we went over to Carrie's house to decorate Valentine's cookies and let the little girls play dress up. It was a perfect winter afternoon activity.

Making sugar cookies and overdosing on a sugar along the way.

Another day we had Carrie and Addi over for a pink lunch and then we decorated some fancy Valentine's to give to each of their dads. The girls play so well together and it's so fun to have them entertain each other while we can work on projects of our own.

These are the almost finished project. They are just missing their poems about their tiny hands.

My mom always made Holidays so special for us, and she and my dad were just the best at creating traditions. One of my favorite traditions from my youth is when my mom would order dyed bread from the bakery for certain Holidays. I ordered this bread from Lee's Marketplace and it cost me the same as any loaf of bread off the shelf.

Carrie and Addi make regular appearances on my blog. I don't think I have stopped to mention what a great role model and valued friend she is to me. I'm just so thankful for the situations in our lives that helped our paths to cross. We formed a quick friendship that I truly treasure.

These little girls found these books in the "Valentine's Post" and were quite excited about the sticker contents.

Painting her hand for the priceless touch to her dads card.

Smothering me with kisses. Emma has really turned into the most loving and affectionate little girl.

Showing her our finished product.

That's so typical- The Weekend

Nothing is typical about Fridays. Sometimes we go to the treehouse museum, and sometimes we run more errands. Today we took off to 24th street to take some pictures just for fun. I posted my favorite ones on my photo blog but these were a few that I still really liked.

After nap time we cruised up to Logan to spend the night with family up there. We joined the Jensens for dinner and games and then stayed up late with Kylee and Brody watching a movie on our clear play.

Saturday we spent the day with Kylee and Brody again. The boys watched another movie and Kylee and I went walking with my aunt Lee. It was sooo nice outside (40 degrees) and we really enjoyed getting some actual sunlight on our faces. We hung out there all day just playing games and visiting and it was a great break for the usually boring winter weekends.

Later that night we went to my Aunt Carol's house for games there with two of my sisters and their husbands. We played some serious cards and enjoyed the yummiest home made salsa and caramel popcorn. Ryan and I were the last ones to leave, as usual, and just really enjoyed our weekend with family.

Sunday we slept in and took our time getting ready for our 1:00 church. We sat on the second row which was a first for both of us to be so close to the front. Emma loves nursery and it's so nice to enjoy the church hours and not be stuck out in the hall.

After church we had dinner at 4:00 and then just lazed around the rest of the night. We played a little hide and seek but mostly just vegged on the couch.

Although this week wasn't interesting, it was very typical. I am so thankful to be a stay at home mom and to have such a supportive husband who is also my best friend. Our lives are very simple, but we couldn't be happier.

That's so typical- Thursday

This is my busiest day of the week. I always have a massage appointment with a client who has been coming to me almost weekly for the last 4 years. Nancy has become a great friend and a very loyal client. Today she came at 8 am instead of 5 pm, so that was different. Emma has a bath almost every day but I wash her hair only two or three times a week, and Thursday is usually a great time to do it. We frequently meet Ryan for lunch at Costco, not always on Thursdays, but it is something that is common that we do. Today we met him for lunch at 1 and then ran to the mall, and also did some grocery shopping at Walmart. I also take Thursdays to clean the house again, bathrooms, laundry, and vacuum so it's nice and ready to play for the weekend.

Tonight was different because we had some friends from our ward come over and join us for dinner. Desi and Justin just live up the street and they stayed for a very funny episode of the Office and some visiting. So this was probably the most "typical" day I've had all week. I like Thursdays, they're busy, but always productive.

That's so typical- Wednesday

Wednesdays I try to have us stay home so we don't go out and spend any money. Emma plays so good by herself and I try to take this day to do reading and flash cards and play time with her. When Ryan gets home from work I like to go to the 25th street Gold's and work out. I usually do morning workouts, but sometimes it's nice to go in the evening. We always end our night by putting Emma to bed and then watching an episode of Lost.

Today was different because I took my friend Staci to go see Sara's new house. The kids played in the unfinished basement while we visited. I also picked up a dozen rolls from Maddox since we were right there. I don't have anything in mind of them, but they're just so yummy I couldn't pass it up. Then for dinner we used the punch passes to Costa Vida that Ryan's family mailed us because they're Portland location closed. So that was a nice treat to be able to have take out for dinner, and have it be free :) We ended our night with a visit from our First Counselor. Ryan has been called to serve over the deacons and I am called as the ward activities chair. We're both pleased with our callings because they're not outside our comfort zone. It will be nice to be serving again.

That's so typical- Tuesday

Since the house is all taken care of from Monday we usually spend our Tuesdays running errands. Today we wet to the bank, Seagull bookstore, the car wash, and Target, my most favorite store ever! Then we stopped by Sonic on the way home for the yummiest grilled cheese in town.

This whole day was quite typical. Left overs for dinner, and watching The Biggest Loser. The one thing that was quite uncommon is that I took a picture of my pregnant belly. I have two pictures of my whole pregnancy with Emma, something I've always regretted. I thought I would be much better this time, but it's just not something I think about. So, this is a picture of my belly at 19 weeks. I feel her move around in there, but I'm still waiting for the consistent kicking, that's my most favorite thing in the whole widest world.

That's so typical - Monday

A typical Monday includes cleaning the house. I vacuum, clean bathrooms, do most of the laundry, mop, sweep, and reorganize one closet. Today it was the fridge and pantry.
Also something typical that we do is rent a movie or go see a movie for Family Night. Our local Ogden theater just reopened and turned into a dollar movie and we're so excited. We went and saw Madagascar 2 and loved it. I'm going to miss this time with just the three of us, but we're all so excited for Lydia to come that I don't think it will be too hard to give it up.

Something we did today that wasn't the norm was go to Sara's house and let Emma play with her boys while I got a long over due cut and color. It's about time! Thanks again Sara for watching Emma, she just loves Caleb and Jaken.

Treehouse saves the day!

This winter hasn't been too painful.....yet. So far the weather has been sunny enough that Emma and I have been able to go for walks around the neighborhood, play at the park, and do some sunny afternoon sledding. We also enjoy this time of year when we go to the Tree house museum as often as possible. Jamie and Ryan brought down their two littles and Sara's two kids as well and Emma had the best day ever playing with cousins. She loves cousins more than anything. After spending a couple hours at the museum we took the kids to Costco for lunch. It was quite the spectacle to see so many little kids running around. I don't know how that John and Kate do it!

Emma and Milly who is one year younger

Everything I've ever wanted

Today we found out we're having another little girl! I couldn't be happier. I think Ryan wanted a little girl more than I did. Emma isn't quite sure what this all means. She never knew it wasn't an option that she might not have a little sister. We're just so excited, and I'm so thankful for the money we'll save since our World is already so girly.
(above picture: Emma, Paul and DeNae in Arizona 3/08)

We already have a baby name picked out and we'll name this baby Lydia DeNae. We've both always loved the name Lydia and DeNae is after my aunt who we both just really cherish. She is the most kind hearted and genuine person. I'm so happy to have her be apart of our children's lives. If we had a boy we would name his middle name Paul after my uncle. They both mean so much to us. They have really supported us and cheered for us ever since we first started dating in 1997 when they first met Ryan. We are so thankful for this chance to expand our family and I'm so excited to have a name to this little bump in my belly.

Home sweet home

A friend of mine reminded me that I hadn't ever finished posting pictures of our home. So here are the rest of the pictures. It was last May I believe that I posted pictures of our bedrooms, the nursery, guest bath and living room, but we do in fact have another half to our house and here it is. I'm always rearranging and have corners where I'm still waiting to add something, but as of this very day this is the place we love to call home.

This is our little dining area. I love the bench, if anyone is considering buying a bench for their table. It is very handy. The chairs we bought from D.I. five years ago and Ryan took them apart and reassembled them to be stronger and then we painted them and they have done us proud all these years. Those pillars are very weird to some people, but they're just something my family is into and I love them.

Ryan made this shelf for me when we first moved into the house. The rest of it is all from Tai Pan, which I adore.

This family room and the two rooms below it were unfinished when we bought our house. Ryan did most of the work himself since he has a major problem paying someone to do a job that he can do himself, even if he doesn't have the time for it, it's a whole principle thing.

We've made Emma a little play corner behind the couch where we have her joy school. It looks quite small because of her tent, but it's perfect for just her. She plays here the best when it's bedtime. If you tell her it's bedtime she will go in her tent and play with her care bears or dolls for a good while. She talks out loud and we just love hearing how creative her little imaginary World is.

I bought this old window on ebay and have been playing around with it. I still need to put one more picture in the corner. I'm not LOVING the color of it. I think I might paint it red or black, not sure which. But for now it's a great way to display a lot of our favorite photos.

This is our very small office. The house had a horrible basement floor plan which made it difficult for us to decide what to do with it. So in the end we decided to make two bedrooms with good sized closets for storage. Our other option was to make one large room that was awkwardly shaped but had a full bath. In the end, the was the better idea for our family, especially with Ryan's office out of our home.

In the office closet is where we keep our food storage. For Christmas my parents gave us a very generous food supply. You know you're an adult when you are completely thrilled with the idea of food storage as a Christmas gift. This rack has two more shelves on top and in the next closet are MRE boxes, dry goods, water and other supplies. It's such a good feeling, thanks mom and dad!

I have some flowery chairs from my mom that are her rejects, but I gladly take them, because it's either that or nothing, or buy something I love and have to make payments on it. So our home is very eclectic between things we bought, and things we're given. Either way, we're very thankful.

This is Emma's big girl room. I haven't put up her decorations and finishing touches. I'm saving that for her 3rd birthday which is March 1st. But I have a lot of cute ideas that I can't wait to try out.

Chasing the blues away

I've been in a funky rut lately, almost like I lived back in Portland. You know, when the rainy season is going on 9 months and one more day of low grey skies will just drive you mad! Well, it's been like that, except there has been nothing to pin point my bland feelings on. So I decided a photo shoot would cheer me up, and sure enough it worked! This is my favorite picture of the bunch, or two favorites I should say.

M.I.A.

So I know I've just gone and disappeared from the blogging World, but doesn't it just get soooo old sometimes? Anyway, as I've been catching up on my scrapbooking I went back through all my blog posts from last year and I really saw the value in keeping an online digital journal. So now I'm back on board to document my life.
My parents left the day after Christmas to go live in Arizona for the winter months. So this time of year is really low key with little social obligations, which is a nice change for a few months to have a chance to be bored. We did go to a great party at my Aunt Carol's just before New Year's, so that was nice to see everyone. Also we threw a really fun New Year's party and had a great New Year's Day party with some different friends. Now as we're into January we're enjoying spending time as a little family and finishing projects that have been neglected around the house.
My aunt Lee and her family took Emma on New Year's Day for a 3 night sleep over! Although we missed her it was so nice to get things done around here and have a date night every night she was gone. I worked on putting away Christmas and dejunking and Ryan took on the 12 hour task of painting her big girl room with this argyle design. I was planning on hiring someone to do it because I know it was to be done just right, but then I reconsidered when I realized my husband would do a better job than any hired hand. However, he has said no amount of money would make him do it again, so you're on your own anyone who is wanting the same for your kids room. I'm so excited how it turned out! Especially since I just dreamed it up in my head and didn't have anything to compare it to. We'll move Emma in here once she's 3, and I am so excited to finish decorating this room.