Grandpa Steve's Birthday

I know this post is a little late but I've been meaning to post this for a while now, and since I have been going a little crazy getting everything ready for the babe I realized that this man is going to be a grandpa again in a matter of a few days ( 12 to be exact)!

My dad with a few of his biggest fans: Elliott, Lincoln, and Oliver on his birthday

All I know, is that my dad is the greatest dad in the world (which is an understatement times 50) and even better, the best grandpa in the world to his five soon to be six grand kids! I love how he is a wealth of knowledge about anything and everything and can always make you laugh or smile when it's been one of those days. I love that I can call him and rely on him more than a GPS when I'm lost in the middle of nowhere. Or the fact that whenever someone finds out that I'm his daughter, they always say "I LOVE your dad!". He is the type of man that will literally give you anything, even if it was all he had. I love how he always wants to know how "the babe" is doing and is always making sure that I'm comfortable and not pushing myself too far while I'm teaching. My little Gabby will be soooo excited to meet her grandpa and I know that he will be so excited to make her Cream of Wheat or home made waffles late at night when she didn't want anything to eat at dinner because she "wasn't hungry". I know that she will love his laugh and will laugh along with him because his laugh is so contagious. So, happy birthday dad, pops, Grandpa Steve. I am so privileged to call you my dad and grandpa to my soon to be daughter. I love you!

Christmas with the Lambs

Last weekend Scottie's family all made the long drive up to see us for our family Christmas party. Since I can't travel too far these days I really appreciated all the effort they put in to make it for the big celebration. Scottie and I hosted the party so we decided to make soup and bread bowls and head up to temple square and check out the lights.

Scott's sister Audrey and her kiddos Josie, Jason, & Justin


Uncle Scottie and Josie Jos


The whole clan: Me, Scottie, Thomas and Brinlee, Josie, JoAnn, Tony, Cleo, Audrey Justin, & Jason (minus Brandon and Yin)

Afterwards we headed back to our house and enjoyed some festive fun of Minute to Win it games. We started out the fun filled night playing cookie face...







After cookie face, the first five cookie eaters advanced to the next round of reindeer games. In this game contestants had to blow up eight balloons and shove them into the legs of panty hose. After all eight balloons were in they had to place the antlers on their head and sing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". It was quite a comedy...

Justin


Thomas


Yin


Brandon

If you could master the reindeer games you automatically advanced to the next round to compete in "Hanky Panky". Contestants had to pull out all the tissues from the tissue box or order to be considered for the semi finals...















Those that mastered the art of Hanky Panky were admitted into the next round of Junk in the Trunk...










For the final round of minute to win it, the last two contestants had to pick up a candy cane with their mouth and place it on the string.


Then they had to run and pick a balloon to pop.


After they popped the balloon the goal was to find the one balloon that said Merry Christmas!! If they found a balloon that said...

Happy Hannakuah
Feliz Navidad
Happy Kwanza
etc....

Then you had to go pick up another candy cane and try again. It was pretty intense when we started with 20 balloons and it came down to the last two before Yin finally found the winning balloon. Boy was she excited to find that Merry Christams! Way to go! She was the proud winner of a $75 gift card.



My favorite picture of the night. Boy did she just love my belly!

Since Yin only came up to my belly she loved to put her mouth right up to the babe and talk to her. She was cracking me up!

Merry Christmas!

36 Weeks

Here she is in all her glory! Good gracious I can't believe I have a 3 1/2 weeks till this little wee one arrives! I swear it was yesterday when I said I had seven weeks. Everyone kept telling me that the last few weeks would go by really slow but HONESTLY I think someone hit fast forward!!!! Since then I have been extremely busy with...

-maternity sub plans
-finishing up the babes room
-parent teacher conferences
-planning Christmas parties
-getting ready for Christmas
-Doctor's appointments
-Baby showers

I don't think I have gotten home before 6 at all the past few weeks. I am booked solid until the end of school so I am really looking forward to enjoying my last few weeks of freedom doing lots of...

-Sleeping in
-Running anywhere I want without having to put too much effort into an errand
-Sleeping through the night
-Spending quality time with just me & my Scottie
-Last minute touches on the babe's room

I have one more week of teaching (until March) which is weird. I am finally done with maternity sub plans and I could really have the baby tomorrow and all would be well at school. It is really hard to believe that in 3 1/2 weeks our little family of two (well three if you include lem lems) will soon be THREE! We are sooo excited for her to arrive and I really don't think I could be happier. Everyday I feel so blessed and I am so excited for this new adventure in our lives.

36 Weeks Stats:

-50% Efaced
-Dilated to 1/2 cm (he prob just told me that to make me feel better haha)
-Still buttoning my jeans
-Only having to get up once to go potty at night
-Love a hamburger but I DO NOT LIKE meat on the bone aka ribs
-Cravings include: Hot Chocolate ahhh so yummy, sprite or any other fruit flavored fizzy drink such as cherry 7 up. Funny how my cravings are both drinks???? Better find something that's diet and fast!
-I think my leg hair has completely stopped growing. STOPPED??? Wait I thought that when you're pregnant it was suppose to grow like a weed! I haven't shaved for at least 2 weeks and there is not a prickle on my legs???? Yes its' nice. Kinda like free laser hair removal I guess.
-Haven't felt tired yet. Maybe because I have SOOOO much to do that I don't even have time to be think about being tired. Maybe once school is out I'll crash.
-Feeling my baby girl move all over and LOVING IT!!

Right now Scottie is getting anxious for her to arrive in 2010. That way we can get the tax credit. Guess that's what happens when you're married to an accountant. Really I wouldn't mind it either but the problem is I DO NOT want to have her and be in the hospital in 2010 & 2011 and end up paying two co-pays. If this one is anything like her daddy, she will be early. And let's just say that if she is anything like her mama she will be fashionably late. But let's face it, we'll both be happy whenever she decides the time is right.

YAY only 25 days till this little couple is mommy and daddy!!!

A Blister the Size of the Sun

Sunday night I was in the process of making these beauties for the babes room...


As I was gluing the small pieces onto the stryofoam ball, there was a string of glue coming off of it. As I went to wipe it away it, pulled the fabric off and slapped it onto my finger resulting in this nasty little devil...



I quickly ran to the sink screaming obscenities and ran it under cold water and then looked at my finger wondering if I had gotten all the glue off of it. It looked as if someone pulled my skin and stretched it two feet, then let it go. My finger was throbbing soooooo bad! I instantly thought of people who have been severly burned all over their body. I DO NOT know how they do it. of course it was about 10:30 at night and I was really needing to get to bed. I didn't see how I could leave the relief of the cold running water and hit the sack, so my sweet hubby got a BIG bowl of water and ice and set it on my nightstand. The only relief I could get was to lay on my side and keep my hand in the water. Scottie even ran to the store at midnight to get something that I could put on it to help with the pain since I couldn't possibly sleep like that all night. I only have two positions I can sleep in: left side or right side due to this lovely belly I have. And now I could only sleep on one. Scottie googled what to do for a burn. He found that if you put apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball it will draw the heat and pain out of it. Thank goodness for apple cider vinegar and the genious that discovered that heaven sent, home remedy because after waking up several times due to being uncomforatble it was time to wean myself from the ice bowl so I could sleep on the other side. After putting the cotton ball of vinegar on my finger and rolling over to the left side I finally fell asleep and woke up when my alarm when off only to find this beauty...






Yes, this is not some abnormal growth but it was so noticeable that my students kept gawking at it! I finally popped it and oh my heavens did that feel much better. It's amazing how much I didn't realize I used my middle finger. Simple everyday routines such as washing my hair, putting on makeup, lotion, flossing, or typing on the computer seemed to be impossible. All I can say is thanks to my hubby for helping me out and from now on, my hot glue gun is on probation.

Scottie's 10 year Reunion

Last weekend Scottie and I headed down to his home town for Thanksgiving. Stupid me forgot to get pictures of the feast but while we were down there, we got to be there for Scott's 10 year class reunion. Scottie graduated from Valley High in Glendale, Utah. I loved how quaint and cozy his little high school was. I always tease him about being from a small town but truth be told there are many advantages about being from a small town. I enjoyed getting to talk to some people that grew up with my honey. They are really great people.


Crystal, Harmony, & Scottie. These girls are the sweetest! I met them last year at Christmas and I loved getting to know them a little more.


Harmony and Crystal again. Crystal makes cakes and this one was delicious!


I was curious to know how many people were actually in Scott's graduating class. When I asked him he said about 40. That's when i asked someone else and they told me 28. haha. And he thinks that I'm the rounder??


Here are a few that made it to the reunion decked out in their bright orange!! I can't believe that there were only 28 in his class! It think it's even crazier to think that I graduated in a class of 800!!!


John, Harmony, & Scottie


And last but not lease Scott's best friend James. He now lives in Cedar and has a beautiful wife and two adorable little girls.

So glad I got to visit the home of the Buffalo!

What Would You Do??

This weekend Scottie and I went to buy a bunch of stuff that we needed before the little lamb arrives! I can't believe I have only 35 days left or 5 weeks! Time is a flying and that means I must be getting busy! So off we went to Target and bought a...

pack and play
changing pad and changing pad cover
sheets
swing
bath basin
blankets
mirror for the back seat so I can see my little lamb at all times
little gadgets such as a thermometer, nose sucker, etc.
bouncer
and our beloved baby monitor.





Oh yes, folks we are quite excited about this little invention. I will be able to see my little girl at all times and I'll be able to know if she's hungry, if her binkie fell out, be able to see her breathing, etc. all because of the Summer Slim & Secure Handheld Color Video Monitor.

After we wheeled our two carts of lute up to the check stand, we cashed in and used our gift cards making our purchase of what we thought would be a lot more a not so bad $345.00 grand total. Then we headed over to Babies R Us to grab a few other things that Target didn't have and found that our fantastic baby monitor was on sale for yes, $50.oo less! We were ecstatic and we even more excited that we were going to get it for additional 10% off after the sale price because it was on our registry. We decided to get it and then head back to Target to return the other monitor and get our money back. We were very excited since that would make our first purchase a lot less and our wallets a little fuller. Well, when we walked up to the customer service counter, the teenage boy continued to tell me that we couldn't take it back because it wasn't on the receipt??? Ummmm, HELLO??? We just bought everything about 30 minutes ago on this receipt, I knew it should be on that receipt. After being a little puzzled, we decided to go home with two monitors in hand. Then we started backtracking. That's when I wondered if I had even put the monitor on the counter to pay for it. We did have a lot of other things that we left in the cart because they were too big so I thought maybe it was underneath. That's when my little mind remembered the guy taking the security device off it and asking us when we were due. We told him January 3rd and we was excited because his birthday was on the 4th! I KNEW that I didn't leave it in the cart. Case solved. The cashier took the security device off, but didn't ring it up. Then our guilty conscience kicked in and we knew we had to return it. So we walked back into the store and explained what had happened to the two teenage boys behind the counter. They were shocked that we would even return it!!! It felt so weird just handing it over and walking away. I, for some reason thought that streamers should come down from the ceiling and some TV host would come out with a big check from "What Would You Do?" and reward us for our good acts of honesty. but no. We handed the monitor over like I was handing someone a tissue.
So much for getting our money back. No wonder why I thought that we were getting a TON of baby stuff for such a little price! The most expensive item wasn't even rung up! We just knew that if we had kept it that we would feel guilty every time we looked at our baby girl in that monitor. All I can say is, she better be a little angel since we are little honest parents to be. haha.

Shower for Baby G

This last weekend my lovely sisters: Amy, Megan and Sini plus my fantastic mama "Special K" Threw me and baby G a shower. Let me tell you! It was so perfect and they definitely went all out, I LOVED it! It was so good to see my friends aka college roommates, high school buddies, and many more. I can't even tell you how spoiled I was. A huge thanks to my sisters and mom for making it such a special day and another huge thanks for my many friends who spoiled me and this lovely bundle of joy on the way.




All my fabulous friends. Don't worry, I know it looks like we are the type to put up Christmas decor WAY to early but my mama had hip surgery and wasn't wanting to deal with it afterward so we put it up beforehand. :-)


Yummy food!


My sister Amy made me this cute little diaper cake that I didn't want to take apart to take home.


My sisters put up pictures of the babe and me and Scottie when we were little. SOOO cute!


More Yummy food!




Me with Ginger, and Hadley & Hannah. I taught Hannah last year and just fell in love with her and her sweet mom. We got to be good friends and I am so grateful for their support and friendship. They were the best little present passers you could ask for!


Me & Tiercy. She and I got to be good friends about two years ago when I taught her little boy Ethan. LOVE this woman!


My dear friend Melissa and Jace. We lived by each other before we moved into our new house. Love this lady and her mad pumpkin carving abilities but we sure miss being their neighbors!


Good ol' Shelli!! We have known each other since Pre-School and are still good buddies. She is prego with a little girl as well! We can't wait for our little ones to meet! Maybe we will dress them up in matching dresses and teach them Frosty the Snowman so they can sing it together at their pre-school program. hahaha good times!


Wenders and Kenli!!! Oh how I love this woman! We met back in college at SUU andwere roommates as well. She is the happiest most positive mother of two and can brighten anyone's day! She is one "foxy" lady!


Ahhhh Jess! We have been best friends since our days of being office aids in eight grade! Also roommates at college and have sooooo many good memories of hilarious times in High School on.

Sweet Stephanie Humble! Gosh I love this woman! She is one remarkable lady and I sure miss living close to her. We met back when we lived in Pleasant Grove before we moved. And then there's fantastic Kate. I taught her little boy Carter last year and fell in love with him and his awesome personality. She is a wonderful mama and I have so much to learn from both of these ladies.


Me opening some fun gifts for me and the babe! Thanks mom for the cutest diaper bag...


and MANY other things!

Then I came home and decided that time is a tickin' and it is time to start finishing up those little to do's! Too bad all I want to do is sit in her room and think of what else I can do to it. Don't mind the fact that I have a never ending list of things to get done in my classroom, but for now it can wait....let's just hope that I have a MAJOR nesting phase in the classroom and at home. Here is the next project that I feasted my eyes upon yesterday. And don't you worry if I had only "remembered" to get the supplies, I would have them made right this very minute they are that cute :-)


Now all that is left in her little room is...

-A new dresser (yes the one that I fell in love with and ordered is not my friend at the moment and the drawers are already slipping of the track and won't stay in. Can you say disappointment? YES!!!

-Wait for the chandelier to arrive that will suit my baby girl.....its' on back order till December 22

-A garbage for those stinky little diapers that will soon be appearing left and right

-A cute lil hamper that will hold all those many changes of clothing

-Some cute decor above her crib

-Oh...and of course a sweet little baby girl :-) Can't forget about miss lamb