Bring on Christmas!

Oh, he's so cute!

I am going to do the yearly Thanksgiving post next weekend, but I just have to say... I'm so excited for Christmas. I think Jack's face says it all! He can't wait... we have all our shopping done and most of our decorations out... It's going to be such fun!

28 Weeks!

28 Weeks!

I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! I am finally at seven months and when I say that I am due in February people are getting excited and not looking at me in pity because it is so far away! It is just around the corner.

This month wasn't very exciting. I feel like I am just waiting now. I enjoy feeling her jump and move around like crazy. Jason and I were actually able to lay in bed and watch her the other night. It seems like we should have done that already, but I really have a hard time remembering that I am pregnant this time around. I said to my friend the other day that I need to get my act together and realize that I will be having a BABY in two months and so I should probably start to get things together. We do have clothes and stuff... and we are planning to get her room ready after the holidays. But, still I feel like I haven't really given her the proper amount of attention because I am so busy with Jack!

I haven't ran again since my last post and I miss it! I know the pain won't be worth it though so I am content to cycle and lift for now. Cycling still feels awesome and I think I will be able to do that until she comes. Weight lifting is still okay, but I will probably have to drop weight down in the next little bit. According to my own scales, I have only gained 1lb this month!! YAY! I am hoping that holds true for my doc appointment after Thanksgiving! I go again on the 2nd of December and have my glucose test. I hope that I don't test positive again. With Jack, I tested positive and had to go in for additional tests and that was awful. Of course, it came back negative so it was just a waste of time. Hopefully, I can avoid that this time. In the meantime, we are enjoying the beginning of the holidays and I am so excited to be a part of making this baby girl during such a special time of year! I can't wait to meet her!

Zoo Babies

Baby elephant and her mommy.



My friend Kari and I took our boys to the zoo the other week to see the new babies. It was a beautiful fall day and I can honestly say that I will NEVER EVER go to the zoo in the summer again. The animals were so much more playful in the cooler weather and the babies were so cute! I especially loved the baby elephant. She was following her mom around and trying to eat whole pumpkins. She was just like a baby, very playful and curious... and unstable on her feet. It was a fun day and a nice goodbye to fall. Jack and Coleman always have fun together!

Animal Love

Jack saying goodbye to the kitty.


Jack taking care of Zoe after her operation.

We have had a couple of interesting weeks involving our animals. First, we have said goodbye to a loved member of our family. Our kitty, who we had for about five years, has found a new home. She actually went back to our friends who originally gave her to us. We have thought about giving her away for sometime, but have loved her so much that we had a hard time actually doing it. But, Jack is not the softest when it comes to animals and Zoe definitely did not respect the kitty's personal space. My friend, Celeste, called and asked if we would consider giving them the kitty since her daughter loooves cats, especially white ones and they desperately wanted a pet. We thought about, talked to Jack about and finally decided that it would be best for her if she went to a less crazy household where she wouldn't be tormented by little boys or dogs. She was seriously the best cat ever and we loved her a lot. We are happy that we can see her anytime we want and that she has a good loving house now. Jack talks about her every now and then, but Zoe keeps him fully occupied for the time being. It is working out for all of us. Jason especially loves not having a litter box to clean!

After we gave the cat away, we got Zoe spayed. We knew her "time" was just around the corner and I definitely didn't want to deal with that. We found a vet and took her in. It was really nice to have her so calm for a couple of days and it was nice for Jack to have a chance to take care of her. She has since become a little bit more a part of our family and we have learned to love her a little more. Jack especially loves her to death. It is worth it to have her to see them play together. She seems to miss the cat, however. :)

Halloween

Buzz Lightyear


All of our pumpkins. We got one for Savannah.


Jack and one of his teachers.


His preschool class.


His own pumpkin from school.

Our Halloween week was super fun. Jack is at such a fun age. I seriously CAN NOT wait for Christmas this year! We started the week out by going to our ward Halloween party and the Spook Alley that I went to as a little girl. We did it last year, but Jack might have been too young. This year was perfect. He was totally into it. He was a little scared, but he would try to scare everyone anyway. It didn't matter that he was covering his eyes as he was yelling BOO, right?? It was cute. The people working there were great and acted scared each time he yelled BOO. He left each one by saying... "Thanks for being spooky." The chocolate doughnut was a hit and it was the first time we have gotten him to drink hot chocolate. He now loves that as well. The ward Halloween party was super fun as well. Jack and I made a Black Cat cake for the cake walk and he loved the little spook alley they had at the church.

A couple of days later, we were able to take Jack to his grandma's dance studio to trick or treat. It was the first time that he really understood that he was really going to get a lot of candy! He had a good time showing off his Buzz Lightyear costume to all of her dancers.

On Thursday, Jack had his Halloween party at school. They were so cute dressed up in their costumes. They did a little parade around the street and performed their Halloween songs for us in the driveway. He loves loves loves preschool! He also loved that his teachers were dressed like the Cat in the Hat.

On Friday, we had a really busy day. I took him downtown to Wells Fargo where I used to work and he totally filled up one plastic pumpkin with all the goodies he got there. We then went to Jason's work. That night we carved pumpkins and watched "Casper's Scare School..."

On Saturday, Jack woke up ready to trick or treat but had to wait until it got dark. Our ward had a fun trunk or treat that we hit first and then we made our way down the street with a couple of Jack's friends. He filled a whole other pumpkin! He loved being Buzz Lightyear and he now is sad that Halloween is over. I am trying to give Thanksgiving the proper respect so we are not decorating yet for Christmas, but I kind of want too! I think preschool will be good this month so that Jack actually learns about Thanksgiving.

24 Weeks... POP Goes the Tummy!

Here I am at 24 weeks. Officially at six months! I'm happy to be here and have to say that the last four weeks have been rather dull. I was thinking about what to even write about and the only two things I could think of were the facts that my tummy seems to have doubled in size in two weeks and all the swine flu hoopla.

I am still feeling pretty good, but every morning I feel more and more pregnant. I was asking Jason the other day why my pelvis always seems to be sore and why I seem more worn out this time around and he pointed out that when I was pregnant with Jack all I did was sit in an office all day and come home and watch TV. I am so much more active with this one. I did workout with Jack, but I only cycled four times a week and I was very modest with my exertion. I am still feeling pretty good working out. I am lifting weights twice a week, cycling three times a week and running. However, the running is now at an end I think... Actually, I am pretty sure. I tried to run yesterday and I had a hard time getting myself to the mile because the minute I started even walking my pelvis started to hurt... I can just feel all the weight right there and so it is becoming very painful. I have discovered the Stairmaster and think that will be my substitute until March when I can hopefully run again. I have gained a total of 17.5 lbs. I feel pretty good about that. My weight gain has slowed somewhat. Hopefully, it will continue to be modest as the weeks go on, but I am mentally okay with gaining 15-20 more. So, we will see.

I am also more tired and sore this time around because I am chasing after a 3 year-old all day. Jack is such fun and he is getting so excited about the baby. We have decided to name her Savannah and he has felt her kick a time or two and Jason was able to feel her as well. I am feeling her all of the time and I love that!

The drama from this month was to due with the swine flu hoopla. I was really hesitant about the whole thing at first and really didn't see the point in all the fuss, but I guess the media was successful in the scare tactic, because they officially freaked me out. I started to really think about it a few weeks ago when my mom was asking if I was going to get vaccinated. There is a lot of back and forth in the media about the vaccination so I wasn't sure. But, as the weeks went on more and more stories crept cropping up about little 5 year-olds dying in three days and pregnant women dropping like flies. So, I started to do the research about the whole thing. I finally came to the conclusion that it would probably be best for Jack to get vaccinated. I took him a week ago and he has done really well. He was around a few sick kids this past week and so far seems fine. I called my OB about myself and they said they were not going to get the shot and to wait for the health department to get enough in. I found out on Wednesday that yesterday (Saturday) they were going to have the first mass vaccination in the SLC valley. They were getting 7,000 doses and pregnant women were in one of the priority groups to get the vaccination. My friend and I decided to go. At first, we didn't think it would be that big of a deal and so we decided to get up at 6 to be there for the 7am open time. She talked to her hubby and he thought we should get there earlier so he offered to go at 5am and get in line for us. That was the plan clear until Friday night. Jason and I were watching the news and they happened to show the health center in Sandy where we were going the next day. It was 10pm and people were already lining up. 5am suddenly didn't seem early enough! Jason is such a sweet hubby (seriously don't know what I did to deserve him) and he offered to get up and be there by 3am and wait for my friends hubby at 5am so we could get a place in line. So, that's what they did. My hubby woke up at 230am and was in line by 3am. He got us in places 98, 99 and 100. (My friend brought her 4 year-old as well). He came home at 5am when our friend took over and I asked him if it was worth it to go and he said that he bet most of the doses were already spoken for by the line and so it was totally worth it to go. My friend and I got there at 630am and the line was unbelievable!! I have never seen anything like it. The public is really freaking out about this whole thing (myself included) and I bet there were thousands of people in line. We were so lucky to be so close to the front. We were in and out of there by 730am. The line stretched for blocks and blocks... In the paper today they said that by 630am at the Sandy clinic there were over 1,000 people in line and more coming all the time. All the doses at that clinic were spoken for by 730am. It was NUTS! I think that the SLC valley is now completely out of the vaccination and will be waiting until they get more in mid-November! I have to say that I love good hubbies and I am so thankful that Jack and I have our vaccination!! Now, hopefully Jason doesn't catch it before he can get his. We are sanitizing like crazy!!

Anyway, that was my last month!! I am due for another appointment on Tuesday and am looking forward to the weeks going by fast as the holidays come closer! Come on baby girl!! Can't wait until FEBRUARY 11th!

Halloween Fun

The kids.


The witch. Can't remember her name.


He's so strong!



I love this time of year. I really think that it is in the top for me as far as seasons go. I like summer as much as the next guy, but there is something about this time of year. Jack is an absolute ball this year and is loving everything that has to do with Halloween. We have our house decorated to the hilt and his costume is waiting to be worn. He loves to drive down the street and point out that all of his friends are ready for Halloween as well. He loves the Halloween store and he loves all his Halloween songs he is learning in preschool.

We have done a few fun things so far this month. We have made it to Gardner Village a couple of times. The first time, I took Jack on my own in the afternoon and we walked around and saw all of the witches. They really are cute! We also indulged in a pumpkin cookie and that made it even more successful. We then went back with our neighbors to go on the Witch Hayride. It was a lot of fun, but probably not worth $15. You got a hayride (looking at some great scenery) that took you to an old box car which was serving as the witches house. The witch was there waiting for us and we spent about 20 min walking around her house and listening to her stories. The house and yard were decorated soo cute and there was a lot of detail. The kids loved it and so I guess it was okay to pay the money, but we might think twice about both adults going next time! We had such a great time with our neighbors! I love this neighborhood!

We also have gone to the pumpkin patch. Jack goes again for school next week, but we still wanted to go as a family. Jack had a fun time testing his strength for carrying pumpkins and he wanted a lot more than the four that we got. It will be really fun to carve them! I am really looking forward to the next two weeks! This holiday season is going to be the best. It is like I am a little kid again when you have a little kid around who is starting to understand the whole thing and is so excited!! I love it.