The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

 I love this time of the year, I have such great memories of it.  One of my favorites is when Cody and I were dating.  We both had tons of free time becuase it was back when he worked the 4am-noon shift, we were both out of school, and I had two weeks off work!  We spent so much time together and it's when we both knew we wanted to get married!  It is still very similar becuase his school is finally over!!! This semester was the hardest by far and I am so happy to see it GONE**  Now we can spend time doing what we really like.  So far...

We went to Salt Lake for my cousins wedding and went to see the lights at temple square...first time and I loved it!

Went to see Grand Prarie Lights...it's this really cool park where you drive around and see all of these neat light displays...it was new this year and really great!  I highly reccomend it.  We usually take the truck and sit in the back with blankets so we can really enjoy it!  So greatful to my dad who sits inside and drives :)

Jewels started the night awake...



And fell asleep as soon as we got through the line to pay and to the lights... I was a little sad I thought she would be so
excited for all the "shiny things".

Jewels First Christmas!

She loves presents!!



I am super excited for the next few weeks!  I have the gender ultrasound and Cassie's birthday tomorrow.  We're heading down to Austin on Friday, Cassie is cheering at the Bowl game that is at SMU and we have tickets to that as well! And a ski trip the first weekend in January! We will be super busy but that's what makes this time of year so fun!!

Halloween/Fall 2011

Fall has been fun this year because I love how warm it has been.  Anyone who knows me at all, knows how much I HATE the cold.  I feel like it makes my bones hurt and I just love warm weather.  So with how slow the weather has been changing it has been really nice.  On one of these nice days we took the babe to the Arboretum in Dallas where they have pumpkins everywhere...it was fun to get some cute photos of her in her costume.

We also carved pumpkins which is one of my favorite Fall activites.

This was my first Halloween with a little babe, and while slightly uneventful because she was only 6 months it was still fun!  I finally felt like I didn't have to dress up ( I am not a fan at all) and I could just enjoy the kids!  Jewels and I went to my parents house to pass out candy because Cody was at school.  My grandparents came over and we took Jewels out to a few houses so she could experience her first trick or treating.



Her pumpkin says Baby's First Halloween...my hand was broken by the end of it!



BYU

 So a couple of weekends ago we went to BYU to visit my little sister and see her cheer at one of the football games.  It was also homecoming so we got to go to the parade in the morning as well!  Friday was pretty uneventful, the plane ride went great as did getting to the hotel!  Saturday morning we woke up early to go to the parade.  We were all bundled up because it was super cold!



She stopped for a picture...notice the red nose and cheeks..BRRRRR!

Then we went shopping and went to Cassie's apartment to get warmer clothes for the game.  The game was so fun and Baby Jewels did phenomenal!!!  I was so proud of her :))  She just hung out in her baby back pack with Daddy while my mom and I followed the cheerleaders around the stadium.  One awesome thing about BYU is they have a mother's lounge in the stadium bathrooms complete with heat and chairs...only at BYU ;)  So when she did need a break from the cold and loud we had a great place to go.

She actually fell asleep in this position!

After the game we went back to the hotel with Cassie and her sweet room mate to order pizza the night was so fun we lost track of time and didn't go to bed until 1:30...latest I have voluntarily been up in a long time :) Even baby Jewels stayed up that long...we paid for that Sunday.  Sunday was also tons of fun.  We went and met up with some friends in Orem and played at a pretty park.  That is the best thing about Utah by far...it is so beautiful!  It was such a fun weekend and was so great seeing Cassie!  I can't wait for Thanksgiving for her to come home again!!!

What's That Up Ahead?

Baby Jewels and I always play this game that my mom and grandma played with me when I was little.  It's a little chanting song:

We're going on a tiger hunt we're going to catch a big one

What's that up ahead?

I'm not afraid

It's...Mud(or whatever you choose, mountain, log, cave)

Can't Go Over it, Can't go Under it...Gotta go through it! (Or whatever applies)

Squish, Squish, Squish

We love it and it is always a lot of fun...So to make my point...

We're going on a tiger hunt, we're going to catch a big one...What's that up ahead?





IT'S NEW BABY MITCHELL!!

AND I WOULD BE A LIAR IF I SAID I WASN'T AFRAID

That's right I am 9 weeks along and we could not be more excited to welcome the fourth member of our little family :)))  Baby Jewels, in particular, could not be more stoked!  My sweet little sister made the joke that they do not make "I'm a big sister" onesies that small...turns out she's correct.  So bring on May 4, 2012.  If I make it through another pregnancy, I can definitely handle 2 bebe's....under 13 Months!

It's OK Thursdays...I mean Friday

So I saw this cute button on a blog and decided to try this out since most of the time I have a hard time coming up with something to say.  And this week it is going to start on a Friday because Blogging did not happen yesterday!

IT'S OK...

...To go to Bed, Bath and Beyond simply to get out of the house--becuase then I will stop at other stores in the shopping center to pick up only the things that I really WANT need.

...That my child is awake in the next room as I continue blogging, she isn't even fussing yet.

...That my 5 and 1/2 month old still gets up three times a night becuase she always smiles at me from her crib as I GLARE smile down at her.

...That I spend most of my day watching Grey's...Netflix just released season 7 on instant!

...that I am 24 and my favorite store is Hobby Lobby...by far

...that my sweet girl whined the majority of the way home from Austin last weekend...because she got to see her Grandma and Grandpa

...that my little sis and best friend lives 1182 miles away...becuase she is getting a great education and I get to see her in 13 days! (yes I googled the miles).

...that I still have no job and don't really even look any more...Jewels deserves ALL my attention

Back to the Routine

This is for you little baby sister!!

So after we got home from Boston, I spent the next week getting baby Jewels on a schedule.  She does so much better when things are the same from day to day and Boston through her off to say the least!  This week has been very predictable (a tad boring) but my sweet girl has done so well!  We are going to Austin this weekend to visit with Cody's parents and I am going to try SO hard to keep up her routine so Monday-Wednesday is not mass chaos.  But whenever there is more than Jewels and I to worry about things get a little tricky :)  Other than that, not much has happened.  Like a said a tad boring.  I am trying to find a job that allows me to still take care of my child, and lets just say now I know why a lot of moms choose to work outside of the home.  So any advice is welcome! I love being crafty and making stuff for our home but, that tends to cost money and I am trying to not spend what I am no longer making...Makes sense right?!  I am very excited for it to get cool again, because we spent a lot of time outside going on walks and we both really enjoy that.  Now for the good part...*PICTURES*

4 months BIG...Figured I should post this since she will be five months tomorrow!

Her Nana and Grandpa got her this new toy that she just loves.  When she steps on the keys it plays a note.  At first only her big toe could reach sometimes...but now she jams out like a rock star*

This is one of my all time favorite pics...she tries to put EVERYTHING in her mouth--even the giant microphone that doesn't even come close to fitting.  Luckily, the microphone is clear and we can see straight down her throat :)

Our Little Princess after church last week!  She typically hates church but is a perfect, posing angel once we get home...How Naughty!

BOSTON :) Sunday and Monday

So our last full day in Boston was Sunday.  A couple weeks ago before we even knew that there was going to be a hurricane our plan was to go down to the cape and see the beach, visit with one of my Dad's aunts, and go to the canal where you can get these oysters (or something clam-y like that) for dinner.  Well Irene eliminated that from the picture real fast.  So our back up plan was to go to the Boston Aquarium.  Well I called them that morning and they were closed as well for weather.  Where we were it was rainy and windy, sorta like a Texas thunderstorm.  So needless to say I was not impressed and disappointed.  So went braved the weather and tried to find lunch.!  Well long story short the only thing open was cheesecake factory.  That was great with me.  Not going to lie I would have preferred some authentic Boston restaurant like ToGos or Unos, or something but it was the next best thing.  After lunch we decided to drive out to a beach that was only a few minutes a way to see what the water was like.  When we got there, it was low tide and hardly any waves but, it was a neat little area!



See that little wave out there....that is the hurricane.  It turns out that this beach is in a little cove and was protected from the wind.

 So we decided to go one more place that was about 30 min away that my dad hung out at in high school.  This beach was great!  The baby had her first trip to the beach, and first hurricane all in the same day...not sure if that is a good thing or not.  It was soo windy there it was hard to walk at some points.  The waves were a lot bigger and the coolest part was the wind would blow sheets of water off the top parts of the waves.  It looked awesome!



So windy my hair was standing straight up.

After the beach we went up to this old WWII  bunker.  I thought it was a little weird but Cody and my Dad liked it!--I guess he went here in high school too.

So after that we headed back home to enjoy another delicious dinner, and go to bed early.  We had to be up early again to catch our flight.  Well since the flight the entire day before and two that morning had been cancelled we spent the entire day at the airport.  We finally decided to go through Chicago in order to get home in time for Cody to go to work the next day!  It was super fun weekend and I am so grateful to a wonderful family to spend it with :)

BOSTON :) Saturday

So Saturday we got the first part of Hurricane Irene.  It wasn't so bad and didn't start raining until the afternoon.  We started out the day by getting lunch at the Hard Rock downtown.  We have always gone to these restaurants on vacation because my mom collects pins from all around the world.  Usually it is pretty loud and busy so I was worried about Jewels being over stimulated again.  But thanks to Irene not many people were braving the weather, so it was pretty calm.  This is where Jewels had her first taste of real food (rice cereal so does not count!)  She had green beans and actually seemed to enjoy them...as much as one can enjoyed pureed veggies.

After lunch we walked over to Quincy market and Fanueil Hall.  They are these places to shop and eat.  You walk down the aisle and there are 20 different little stands you can eat at...picture a really awesome food court where the food is great!  We did not eat anything since we just had lunch (and I don't eat things that swim) but it was cool to see all the different sea foods and desserts.  We also went to a bunch of different shops that had souvenir type things...and of course tons of Boston Red Sox merchandise.




Fanueil Hall



Quincy Market



Inside Quincy Market

  This is where it started to rain.  So instead of walking the freedom trail we decided to drive around downtown.  We got the see the Federal Reserve (where Cody works) in Boston, and Boston Common. 



The Boston Fed

Boston Common...Basically the Central Park of Boston

We also saw this guy!!

After that we headed home but, before that we stopped at Bob's.  I don't really know what to compare this store to...kinda like a Khol's and Academy that only sells clothes.  They have a lot of regular clothes but, then also work out clothes and lots of Red Sox stuff for good prices.  Cody and I both got shirts, mine is a long sleeve T ( My Favorite) and I am so excited to wear mine once it gets colder...if it gets colder :(

After shopping we went home and had a delicious home cooked Italian meal. After we got all cleaned up we went to The Movies.  The girls saw The Help.  It was soo good, I loved it!  The boys saw Planet of the Apes.   My Mom saw nothing.  She stayed out in the hall the entire movie with my naughtykins daughter so that I could see the movie.  What an amazing Mom and Nana!  This entire trip would not have been nearly as fun without the help of my Mom and Dad.  I am so glad they got to go with us!!  Sunday is the day the hurricane really picked up...

BOSTON :) Thursday and Friday

So our first vacation with a little babe was a success!  Rocky at some points...definitely, but a success none the less :)  We started out the vacation with a Ranger game at home Thursday night.  It was baby girl's first MLB game and she LOVED it.  (by loved I mean, didn't scream through the whole thing when we were in the air conditioned store.)




Too bad we did not even get one good picture of us at our first game. But this is the jist!

The next morning we left super early at 5:00 to catch our flight.  That went fairly flawlessly other than me forgetting my ID and having to turn around once we got to the airport to go get it.  I couldn't believe it, I planned for this trip for weeks and had everything organized...including a color coded packing list for me and baby.  What do I do?  Forget my ID.  But the flight went well Jewels slept through most of it...just waking up every so often to let out a scream and remind everyone that she was still there!

 When we landed we drove to My Grandma's house, had lunch and got ready to go to Fenway.  This was by far the thing I was most excited about...I think we all were!  We got there early and since my Dad is a member of Red Sox Nation we got to go in an hour early and go to go to the top of the green monster..AmAzInG!!  We saw the A's take batting practice and ate a little snack and Juliette got her diaper changed on top of the green monster...How embarassing AWESOME!

Back of the Green Monster as we are walking in



Yawkey Way

The game was so different from any other game that I had ever been too, and very different from the Ballpark in Arlington.  It wasn't very family friendly (no games in between innings), was super squishy (the seats were SUPER close together),  and just had a different atmosphere. It seemed more legit...like every one was there for great baseball.  Not the dot race, or taco inning or all you can eat seats.  (Don't get me wrong I enjoy all of that stuff too.)  It was so great to finally be there.  Cody and I have wanted to go there for so long and we finally got to go.  It was all it was cracked up to be for sure!  Jewels did pretty well for most of the game, she just gets over stimulated and then very upset.  It will be her last game for a while...two in a row is a lot for a 4-month old to handle.



Please excuse the hairs...I had just taken her flower off cause it was pretty hot and windy!



The one red seat in Fenway..Represents the longest home run ever hit in the park by Ted Williams.  Rumor has it, that's where the ball landed :)

The train ride home was an adventure in itself.  The subway was super crowded because everyone takes it due to no parking.  Long story short, there were HUGE lines, we stood most of the way, took the wrong train, and didn't get home until 1:30am. Given, that our day started at 4:30 we were a little tired.  Yes, it was totally worth it!!  However, Baby Jewels has a different opinion :)  More on the rest of our vacation to come!