Need an excuse to smile?

This always helps me. Working on the laundry when Alex came asking for a picture. If he isn't being naughty he is making me smile with kisses, hugs and moments like these. Love ya my little man!!

It's a......

To finish out our Thanksgiving holiday we went to our Dr today for our monthly check up and ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby. First off I will be 19 week tomorrow and everything is right on schedule. The ultrasound is a day off my original due date so either way it looks like I will be getting a baby for my 30th birthday. The baby looks healthy and of course that is what we were most concerned about. I am guessing you want to know what we are having right? Well it's a .........
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GIRL!!

We are thrilled! I can't wait to go shopping for all the girly things. Already she has received three newborn outfits from Grandma my favorite being a little lime green sweeter. Also my sweet neighbor Emily brought over a homemade bib, and two hair bows, so cute. This little lady is going to be very spoiled!



Ultrasound pictures to insert here shortly, once I figure out how to use our new scanner.

Happy Turkey Day!

A week before the big day we begin practicing with Alex. He could hardly wait for his cousin Shae to arrive so he could practice what he had learned. " Happy Turkey Day Shae!" he did not care about the oh 18 other people that had arrived at our house to spend Thanksgiving. All his concerns were focused around playing with Shae. So to each of you I hope you had a very Happy Turkey Day!

My preparation for the big day started early with a mass cleaning of my house. I made sure everything was clean early in the week and did my food shopping the week before to avoid the crowds. Nothing is worse then shopping the day before Thanksgiving with a huge grocery list.

Tuesday night I headed off to my neighbor's house for girls night out. It was so nice to enjoy a few minutes away with good friends, food and a chick flick. While I was gone Jason got started on making 15 lb of mashed taters, candied yams and scalloped taters. He said he wanted to go all out or nothing. Let's just say I went to bed after midnight and he stayed up until 4 working his magic. It's so nice to be married to a man that not only likes to cook but is fabulous at it.

Wednesday Jason took the day off to help me prep. He finished up a few dishes that morning and helped me with odds and ends around the house. My Mom arrived in the afternoon to help me cook. We made stuffing, green bean casserole and 5 pies. Alex had come down with a cold so Jason was nice enough to stay home with him while my Mom and I went out for a bite to eat. It's not often anymore that Mom and I get to go out by ourselves without time restraints. I loved it!

Thursday morning came too quickly for me. Alex was nice enough to go downstairs and wake my Mom. We had some breakfast and then got busy setting the tables, cooking the ham, turkey, gravy and warming up all of our sides. My sweet neighbor Brooke was nice enough to allow us to use her oven since she was out of town for the holidays. Jason went to work cooking some food here while Mom and I watched the food here. Jason decided this year to take a stab at briening our turkey. After it sat overnight it suggested we cook it for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. My oven did not like that..... major smoke which set our alarm off for the next 30 minutes. Luckily it was worth it.

Our family arrived around noon to enjoy appetizers. This year we had my Mom, Step-Dad, Aunt & Uncle Mott, my in-laws and my sisters family. There were 19 of us all together. Although we had a large group our new house is great for entertaining so I never felt crowded, in fact I just kept expecting more people to show up. It was nice to have everyone together. We feasted on appetizers and when I say feasted I am not joking. I asked my nieces to bring a few appetizers and my MIL a veggie plate. We ended up with that along with a few more things my MIL whipped up. All of it was tasty but I was careful to not fill up too quickly. While we snacked my family helped me with our activity for the day. Usually we stand and each tell what we are thankful for. Although this has been nice in the past it usually ends up being a fast and testimony meeting rather long and with me bawling at the end. I wanted a change. I asked my talented niece Areiann to draw a turkey and each of my family members to trace their hand and list 5 things they were extra thankful for this year. Mine came to be easy.. all things very strong in my mind this year due to my experiences or those around me. I listed 1-my beautiful new home 2-a strong marriage 3- amazing neighbors 4-my ability to have children 5- a stable job.

After a fabulous feast of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, rolls, yams, mashed taters and gravy, scalloped taters, cranberry sauce, and stuffing I was rather full. All the food was super tasty but everyone seemed to comment on the turkey. Everyone was in agreement that it was the moistest tastiest turkey they had ever had. The only compliant was that there wasn't more. My Mom had a smaller bird and since we had the ham we weren't too worried. We will no better next time.

We spent the afternoon chatting, sleeping, playing games, watching UP, searching the Black Friday ads and for some of us being sick. We made more trips to the medicine cabinets in one afternoon they I knew was possible. A few family members tested out all of our showers, Ryklyn being the most famous for that. Late afternoon we enjoyed the fabulous pies, so tasty. Around 9 we wrapped things up and sent our family on their way. I tried to settle down and get a few hours sleep before my alarm went off.

2 am comes rather quick especially when you are tired, pregnant and have come down with a cold. I wasn't about to let that stop my first Black Friday shopping experience. My friend Natalie, her Sister and Mom and were nice enough to let me tag along for their annual shopping event. It was rather eye opening but fun. We waited in the cold for over an hour to get into Kohls. I got some great deals but since family reads this I will have to save my big deal for another post. We made our way from Kohls to Target, Old Navy, and Home Depot. We then had a yummy breakfast at Einsteins and finished our day shopping at the mall. It was way fun! Thanks again girls for letting me take along. All in all it was a fabulous Thanksgiving. Here are just a few pictures from that day. I realized I never did get around to taking a picture of everyone. I was too busy eating I guess.

My two favorite boys

My BIL Mike and cute niece Hilary

Our turkey, if you notice this one happens to have utters. My silly Aunt Pat put her hand there. My sister pointed it out so before the blessing on our food I had her give Aunt Pat a hard time. She told everyone that she learned something new today, Turkeys have utters, thanks Aunt Pappy. I told her she is in charge of bringing turkey milk next year.

Appetizers

My Mom and Sisters working on dishes

My BIL Mike, niece Hilary and Nephew in law Clay just laying low

My SIL Alanna, Shae, and Alex coloring their turkey pages and making their thankful feathers.



Our turkey day spread


My MIL Judy carving the turkey

The cutest boy in the world

Trying to get a picture of cousin Shae and Alex. He didn't want to cooperate. This one was the best out of 6. Of course it's the one where he is looking at another camera. Little Turkey!

More of our tasty spread



My niece Jillian and her daughter Ryklyn, yes I'm a Great Aunt. She is usually a very happy baby but she wasn't feeling good that day.

Oh yeah.. PIE!



Why is everyone taking pictures of me eating pie?

An array of pies, razzleberry, pecan, chocolate pecan, chocolate cream, banana cream, coconut cream. All so tasty!

Silly Alex

It seems like everyday this week Alex has done something to make me smile. Thought I would share just a few pictures of my silly boy. Alex is a big helper and loves to put away groceries. Jason and I took our Costco run and were busy putting away our goods. We tried to keep Alex busy by giving him items to put on the stairs that needed to be taken up. I gave him the shampoo bottle. To be honest I looked at it and thought the pump is closed no worries. Forgot I have a very smart kid who knows how to unscrew the lid. He came back so proud of his hair job, needless to say it was a bath time we didn't originally plan.

See Mom, all by myself

A close up

Alex loves to grab the camera and comes to me saying " Picture Please!" The picture above and below are two times this week when he asked me. Silly boy!

A few weeks ago we took Alex to the circus. Grandpa spoiled him with cotton candy, $10.00 cotton candy I might add but we try to justify the price with the fact that it came with this .50 felt hat that Alex loves to play with.

Another time this week Alex was being silly and asked to have his picture taken. This was directly after being super naughty.

He sure does know how to make me smile. Love ya Alex!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope you had a spooktacular day. We had a wonderful time Trick or Treating with Alex or as he would say " Twick or Tweet." He loved going around with the neighborhood kids knocking on doors and getting candy. He sure did look cute in his monkey costume. I know he was a monkey his first Halloween too but I couldn't pass up this costume it was too darn cute. Here are a few pictures, hope you enjoy. P.S. Can I say my neighborhood hands out some awesome goodies, yes I stole a piece or two.

Taking a quick stop to pose for a picture.

On his way to his first house

Look at that junk in his trunk, can't say that very often with this skinny kid

At the first house to get candy and pick up his friends Avail and Grade to go out Trick or Treating

Too warm and off the hoodie goes

Let it Snow!

Hello Winter.. so we have received our first taste of winter in our new home. Yesterday the weatherman predicted snow and boy was he right. Jason had the day off for appointments so it was nice. We woke up to wind, and a mix of snow and rain. I got up and put some cinnamon rolls in the oven right away. We picked up the house while a contractor came to fix some repairs. Then we headed out to do errands. It was snowing pretty hard but not sticking to the roads yet. After we did errands we decided to stop for lunch. We went to a fun restaurant we had only been to once before with friends. They serve delicious sushi and tepanyaki without the higher prices. Lunch was delicious!

Then we headed home to play in the snow, by we I mean Jason and Alex. I observed from inside but was able to snap a few pictures. Alex was loving it! He would have stayed outside in the cold all day if we had let him. It was fun to see our neighborhood all white with snow. I have dreamt of this day for months ever since I knew we would be moving in time for winter. After playing in the snow Alex got a bath and went down for a nap. By the time he got up Jason and I were on our way to the Dr. for our 14 week appointment. Grandpa offered to stay with Alex since no children under 14 are allowed at the hospital right now due to the swine flu. The Dr went well, I have lost weight ( that put a smile on my face) I'm sure it wasn't much though. All my tests look good and our baby's heartbeat is fast, according to our Dr it's looking like Pink may be making it's way to our house shortly. We scheduled our next appointment along with our ultrasound for November 30. I am anxious for next month to flew by so I can find out what we are having. I will be thrilled for Alex to have a little brother but of course a little girl to dress up would be fun as well. Jason and I stopped on our way home to do a little early Christmas shopping. We got a few fun gifts to put aside for Alex.

Later that night I went to my friend Brooke's house to learn about Grocery Smarts. It was awesome!! I am totally on board and will be getting my newspapers in a few short weeks. My mind raced all night thinking about the great deals I will get. So there you go a small look into a typical day at the OwYoung home when Daddy has the day off and we are blessed with a blanket of snow.

Picture Please!

Alex is such a little ham lately. He loves to create, build, stack, line and organize. It's a bit frightening at times. Choo Choos are a big thing for him lately so on this particular day I was surfing the web while he was creating a Choo Choo train. Picture Please he asked. He was so pleased with his creation of a Choo Choo train he wanted me to document it I guess. His truck, crane and lawn mower completed the Choo Choo and boy was he proud. Although he wanted me to take a picture of his train he wasn't sure he wanted to be in it.. hence why he kept hiding behind the wall. What a silly kid!

Once day I swear he will be the death of me and the next he has me grinning from ear to ear. Today he has been a good eater and even went poop in the potty. So what if it was the size of a chocolate chip. A poop is a poop right? Way to go Alex!

Look at what I made

Hold on.. it's not perfectly straight Mom!

Look at that train

So proud!

Apple?

Life has been hectic so sadly my blog has been put on the back burner... the way far back burner. I hope to start posting again more regularly but I am so far behind. I decided it is best to start current and slowly work my way back. We are LOVING our new house and especially our new neighborhood. There are lots of wonderful families here and we feel so blessed to have made so many new friends so soon. Much of our time is spent outside enjoying the last bit of warm weather. We go on many walks, play at the playground and hang out with our neighbors. Alex is loving being outside more. If we aren't playing we are usually napping.. yes I said we. I can't seem to get enough rest. Overall this pregnancy has been very smooth but I am looking forward to getting some of my energy back. Nap time is precious and bedtime can't seem to come quick enough for me. Pretty sad I know!

A week ago we decided to go out as a family and visit he local pumpkin patch. Alex was in 7th heaven. He loved all of the "APPLES". It was very difficult to get him to understand that they were pumpkins and not apples. He loved carrying them and putting them in our wheelbarrow. By the end of our stay we had to weed out a good 20 pumpkins from our cart before checking out. We finished the night off at Iceberg for dinner. I look forward to this new family tradition each year. It's crazy to think that our little family of 3 will become 4 by the time we go again next year.

Hope all is well with you and your families. Although I have been horrible at updating our blog I am still checking friends' blogs and love hearing about your lives. Hope to write more soon. For now.. Ta ta!!

Our house has grown by two feet.....

and in April our home will also be growing by two little feet. Yup that's right We have finally moved in to our new home and our expecting our second child. Lucky for us our timing of three years between our children will be just about right. It will be a great 30th birthday present for me to welcome another baby into our home. I suspected I was pregnant our final week of packing and finally took a test. I wasn't too shocked when pregnant appeared within seconds but I think Jason was a bit thrown off. So far this pregnancy has been very different than my first. I have only thrown up once but am usually nauseous a good 20 hours of each day. SO FUN!!

We were able to share the great news with our family on moving day. I made signs to hang on each room of our new home to direct people as to where to put boxes. We gave a tour of our house before we started unloading and once we made it to the baby's room the sign read " Baby's Nursery coming soon April 2010". Everyone was thrilled! My nephew was so excited he had to make some calls to his sisters back home to share the news of his new cousin.

Our move went pretty smoothly thanks to the help of many family, friends and new neighbors. We were able to get moved and attend my cousin Christian's wedding all in the same day. It was a beautiful wedding and we are so lucky to have his new wife Jessi join our crazy family.

Life has been busy the past week settling in. We have been unpacking, waiting for service people and deliveries. We have hung out with our new neighbors, went to our pool and took many nightly walks around our neighborhood. Of course I have also been napping every chance I have but who's counting right?

It's been a crazy month full of drama but things seem to be slowing down a bit. I have had many requests to update my blog with pictures of our new home. Unfortunately my cable cord isn't hooked up and I haven't taken updated pictures of our house due to a sea of boxes, constant nauseous and being tired. I will however give you a sneak peak with a few pictures I already have downloaded from before we moved in. I thought they were of right before we moved in but unfortunately I see those pictures are still on my camera. If you are anxious to see more than it's the perfect excuse to come visit us. We are loving our new home but especially our new neighborhood. We were welcomed with open arms from many fabulous neighbors. In the past few days I have received homemade goodies including bread, cookies and some cookie bars. Might I add my neighbors are very good bakers. I hope to get back on the blog wagon. Sorry for the delay, hope life is treating everyone well. Come visit!

Front view ( before the yard was put in)

Back view ( before our fence was put in)

View from my master bedroom into our bonus room while I plan to put our new baby in for the first few months.

Dining room right off my Kitchen

View upstairs of our playroom loft. It's all open with no hallways we it's great to be able to keep track of Alex. All put one of our bedrooms are upstairs.

View of the Kitchen looking into our pantry. Some of my Kitchen is cut out of the picture but I promise to add more pictures once my cable is installed.