9 month Comparisons

Finally!

We received official proof last night that are house in Phoenix finally foreclosed after 2.5 years. FINALLY! We can now move on with our lives and start rebuilding our credit. Yeah! I never thought it would have taken that long, but apparently there are still cases that are more outstanding than ours, so I count our blessings.

Upcoming events and things to do

I have been out of the blogging world a little lately. Sorry. I updated the major events over the last couple months in reversed order, so enjoy. Life has changed a lot in the last couple months for us!

- Another camping trip
- Katie will start pre-school starting the first week in September
- Putting together another nursery
- Decorating another nursery
- Transferring stuff from one bedroom to another and re-organizing things
- Baby Shower
- Picking a name for this baby
- And many more odds and ends that don't come to mind right now.

Needless to say, we have been really busy and will continue to be!

Minivan

Well, we finally joined in the ranks and bought a new 2011 Honda Odyssey as of last night. We love it! It is hard to argue the convenience and practicality of minivans with kids, although I'm guilty of not being able to admit for many years. Long story short, we didn't think they would work with us since we have bad credit because our house still hasn't done anything for 2.5 years, so we thought the interest rate would be insane, but because we financed a previous vehicle and paid it off a year early through Honda, that alone got us an AMAZING interest rate AND they gave us what we wanted as a trade-in for our pilot. It was a hard deal to beat. The picture doesn't really do it justice in the garage, but you get the idea. I'm so excited and it will be so nice with a 3rd kid on the way, so have one. It is already nice with just the two of them!

Updated pictures

Ali's Stats @ 9 months (in these pictures):
20 lbs, 6 oz 75th percentile
30 inches long - 97th percentile
44 cm head circumference - 50th percentile

Lainey

5 days after we got home from vacation, we got a dog. I know, we are insane. Long story short, one of Chris's clients needed to get rid of her 8 month old boxer and asked Chris if he wanted her. I was very reluctant and agreed to let her stay with us on a trial basis for a week and go from there. Needless to say, we love her to death and decided to keep her. Her name was "Lady", which we didn't care for, so we changed it to something close to that and named her "Lainey". She is doing great considering she was with two other dogs and has never been around kids. She is a work in progress, but pretty good. We were going to get a dog in a couple years anyway, so this is a little earlier than we planned on, but it is hard to pass up a free dog. I didn't want a big dog like a Lab because of their size and the shedding issue, although I love Labs, but I didn't want a small yappy dog either, and I also didn't want a dog that had much of a tail, because when those things get going and wacks your leg, it hurts! I wasn't interested in that with kids. So, a boxer is all of those things, so there you have it. I will have another baby in 3 months and he and Ali will be 12 months apart, and I will be home most of the time anyway, so why not add a dog into the mix of chaos!

Trip To Utah

Over the 4th of July Weekend, we traveled to Utah to attend a family reunion on Chris's side of the family in addition to staying with Chris's family for a week long visit.  We had a lot of fun as we always do and did several projects for Chris's parents while we there.  Here is a summary of our trip with pictures.

In Loving Memory

Katie is doing great with the potty, but she regresses at times, so that is frustrating, so we are still working on things every now and then, but overall, she is doing good with that.

On June 4th, Chris celebrated our 7 year anniversary. Holy Moly! It has been a great 7 years with many ups and downs, and I'm sure many more will come.

Also in June, Chris also had his Summer Regional for work where he received several awards for his performance. I was very proud of him! We also watched my two nephews for a few days for my sister and Katie loved every minute of that.

On June 21st, we had to put down our sweet Libby after 5 years. Old age got the better of her and it was time for her to go. She will be missed that is for sure.

Ali at 8 months

- Has two teeth bottom teeth - working on the 3rd
- Loves to jump in her jumper
- Finally started sleeping through the night for 11-12 hours a little after 7 months
- Only takes one 2 hour nap, but it helps her sleep through the night (Katie was the same way)
- Schedule isn't as set as Katie's was - you will lay down for a nap as early as
10:30 a.m. or as late as 2 p.m. Depends on your day.
- Finally starting to open your mouth to eat instead of just slurping it off of the spoon
- You will only eat vegetables if it is mixed in with fruit - you won't eat them by
themselves, but whatever works (Katie would eat them by themselves)

camping

We went camping a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. The quad of course is always a big hit! I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but Katie fell in love with this teapot and would carry it around everywhere, talked to it and even had to go to sleep with it on the second night. Pretty funny. Here are a few pics. Enjoy!

6 month comparison

This will be brief. I haven't blogged in a long time because I haven't felt well. I am going on 14 weeks and I'm starting to feel better, but the progress is slow. We did have a nice Easter, and a nice Mother's day. However, posting pictures from that seems pointless at this point. I did find out when I'm due. I'm due 11-11-2011, but most likely we will be having this baby on the 4th of November. We find out in about 6 weeks what we will be having, and we hope it is a boy, but we will see. That might be the next time you hear from me. I did manage to get 6 month comparisons done of the kids. Let me know what you think. I do have to point out the difference in the hair. The background with Ali is kind of dark, so it is hard to see all the hair, but if you look close you can see a big difference. I used to think Katie had a lot of hair, but looking back at them now and comparing it Ali, Katie was a baldi!

So not the plan!

No easy way to say this....I'm pregnant. Since I know your all doing the math, let me help out. Alice and this next one will be 12 or 13 months apart. The due date is not confirmed, but will be sometime around October or November. We did not want this. I admire women who would plan it that way, but I was never one of them and now I have to be. It has been a tough week with the shock and processing it all. It has been very humbling to remember that Heavenly Father has a plan, and I'm not in charge like I often think I am! So, maybe that is why he did this too me? To teach me that lesson and to be more flexible and not so organized all the time. I'm really not sure, but I know that one day I will understand the reason why and realize the blessing in all of this. That hasn't hit me yet, which makes this hard. A wise person once said to me "God laughs when we make plans". I'm am now living proof of that.

However, on a happy note: My parents are currently serving as missionaries in Curitiba, Brazil, were called to be in the Temple Presidency in Curitiba. They will be given an early release date so they can return home and receive new callings as Temple missionaries for two more years. That will allow them to return and resume their callings in the Presidency. During those additional two years they will be free to return home for two weeks during the semi-annual Temple maintenance closings. Their call will be until November 2013. During their early release they will have to come home for two months in November and December of this year for some technicalities. So, for the first time, my mom will be able to be in the country for this baby! That will be nice and maybe that is the reason.? Although, had things gone according to plan, my parents would have been home just in time for the third one anyway, and they they would have been 3 years like we wanted. Too late! But it will be nice for them to be part of this one! They missed everything with both Katie and Ali and that has been a slight bummer for me!

Until next time!!!!!

Comparisons

Who do you think looks like who?

Forewheeling at Box Canyon

Chris and I went fore-wheeling again to enjoy the nice weather before it gets to hot to go. We went to a different place this time and when you enter the actual canyon part, it is beautiful! Here a few pictures of it.

This is a video of Ali laughing. I finally got it on video! She started laughing around 3 1/2 months.


This is when Ali is 3 months old and she figured out how to bounce herself by moving her leg. Pretty funny. Katie didn't quite figure this out.

Forewheeling

Yesterday for our Valentine's date, Chris and I decided to enjoy the nice weather and go fore-wheeling somewhere out in the desert rather than dinner and a movie. It was a lot of fun!! We definitely plan to go ahead before the hot weather gets here.

A tight fit!

Self Portrait

A different kind of beauty

Joshua Tree

Katie and her Reflection

Katie has discovered her reflection and loves to have conversations with herself. She will ask herself a question and answer it. It is hilarious. She usually does this in front of the fireplace or the oven. We finally got a small example of it on video. It is hard to get on video because she immediately stops and will want to see pictures of herself. Katie loves to see pictures/videos of herself, so we took a picture of her doing that very thing. Enjoy the pics and video!

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Truck

A month ago we traded in our 2006 Honda Accord for this 2003 Ford-F150 Truck. Chris really wanted a truck again and since his commute to work is only 5 miles, we figured having a truck wouldn't be a problem. The price was perfect! We didn't loose any or have to pay any extra. It evened out and Chris couldn't be happier! Here are the pictures of it.

3 month comparisons

This isn't the best picture of Ali, but it is amazing how much they change in 3 months. Here are the comparisons. What do you think she looks like?

Casa Grande Ruins

Last Saturday, we took a day trip to go see the Casa Grande Indian Ruins in Coolidge, Arizona. The ruins are 800 years old. There were about 8 different structures to see. It wasn't super spectacular, but it made for a cheap, fun day trip that got us out of the house. Bless Katie's heart, she even fell asleep in the car on the way home, which is a very RARE occurrence anymore.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was a lot of fun this year! Chris's parents drove down to spend it with us and we had a lot of fun! Katie understood Christmas a little bit better this year, but still didn't quite get it. At our ward party, Katie was so excited to see Santa, but when her turn came her 2 foot bubble kicked in and she wouldn't do it. Poor thing. I know she wanted too. We had a great Christmas. My gift to myself was printing out all of my scrapbook pages that I had printed out and put them in albums. I just have to scrapbook the last 2 months of this year, and I will be current again. Yeah!  Santa brought me some scentsy candles & hair clips.  Chris's mom bought me a diffuser, too diffuse essential oils in the house.  I was so excited when I opened that!  Chris got a pant hangers, a belt, shirt & tie, hair trimming kit and a new air compressor. We both got money from his parents, which will be spent very soon at Costco stocking up on supplies! Ali got some clothes and a few toys along with Katie. Katie also got a bike from Santa, a makeup set, dress up clothes, shoes, books and stuffed animals. Needless to say, we were very blessed and had a great Christmas. Thanks mom and dad! Here are a few pictures to enjoy!

The attempt

The fruits of my labor!

We figured this would make trimming the mustache much easier than scissors!

Mom always comments on our cheese slicer when she comes...so we got her one! And the amazing Pampered Chef Pitcher!

Ali's quiet presence during the gift opening

So excited about her "new dress". She had to wear it while opening her other gifts!

Her new bike from Santa! She will figure it out one day!

Loving her make-up kit from Grandma! Grandma's always get the greatest gifts!

Ali's Blessing

On Sunday, the 26th, we blessed our sweet baby girl. We had family and friends come to share her special day with us. Chris did a great job and it was a beautiful blessing, and Ali cooperated just great with no blow-outs, spit-up or crying. She is such a sweetheart! Afterward, we enjoyed dessert and visited. Enjoy the pics!