Lauren

Everytime it rains, Chad puts blankets on the deck and we cuddle into them and watch the rain. It is a little ritual that Lauren had embraced and loved. So when it was raining early in the morning on monday, Lauren ran down the stairs after she woke up full of excitment. "Mommy, I need a jacket, some socks and lots and lots of blankets." It was way to cold for me, but she was happy as can be watching the rain fall.



Last night, Lauren started laughing so hard. "Loot mommy, I have Gwampa pants!" And she totally did. It was so funny to me. Who needs T.V when you have free entertainment in your kids?


Someone at the duck pond once told me that Lauren looks like little Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In these pictures, I can totally see it.

Evan

I love my little boy's laugh. It is one that starts out in the belly and rolls out of his mouth, just bouncing off anyone around. You can't help but laugh too. And this kid laughs all the time. He is such a happy sweet boy. Funny kid! This kid is always getting into everything. He is so curious. After he pulls things apart, he will point, examine and talk in cute little whispers. It is the cutest thing to watch. He is also always trying to climb up anything that will sit still. He is forever lifting up his chubby little leg to try and hook it onto something to give him leverage to hoist him upwards. Lauren was always content to just travle horizontal while Evan is forever going vertical. It is so funny.

ABC tag.

A. Attached or Single? Attached to Chad. I swear he still makes me giddy too!
B. Best Friend? Chad, of course.
C. Cake or Pie? I am an equal oppertunity Calorie intaker. I love all the bad sweet stuff.
D. Day of Choice? Anyday on the weekend. Anyday that Chad doesn't have to go to work.
E. Essential Items? I always wear a hoodie, everyday. I love my hoodies.
F. First Kiss? Chad and I went on a walk and he kissed me! I don't know who started it, but it doesn't matter. It was one of those super soft barley there kisses. Yummy!
G. Good Time? Anytime I can spend with my family. I love watching my kids play together. I think we have the cutest family! I am so greatful that I have the husband I have and the little ones that I get to raise.
H. Hometown? Morgan, Ut
I. Indulgence? Anything Chocolate. And if you can add peanut butter to it too, all the better.
J. January or July? Neither, I am more of a spring, fall kind of girl. Not so much a summer whinter one.
K. Kids? Lauren, who is 3 (4 in december, yikes!) and Evan who just turned 1
L. Life isn't complete without? My family. Because of extenuating circumstances, I have learned that family isn't always the one you are born into, but the one you create. I love the family that I have created and my strong network of friends. I need you guys!
M. Marriage Date? January 31st 2003, the best day of my life!
N. Number of Brothers & Sisters? Tricky question. Quick answer is 1 brother, 2 sisers. But then I have Chad's family and they are too close to me to just call them in-laws. They have totally made me feel loved and surrounded by family all the time.
O. Outside or Inside? Both. In the whinter, I totally hibernate. And in the summer, I am always running around.
P. Phobia or Fears? Spiders, and loosing any member of my family. And Lauren growing up to not want a relationship with me (thats a big one)
Q. Quote? “Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels." -The First Presidency
R. Reason to Smile? Lauren and Evan, and they do! They make me smile and laugh everyday! I love my little babies.
S. Season of Choice? I love Spring! Everything is new and fresh. I love it.
T. Tag 3 people? Molly Collings, Nikki Pollard, and hummmm, Keri Mead
U. Unknown Fact about Me? In reality, I really want six kids. But when my kids are under a year old, I will always say that I am so done having kids. I am totally thinking that I want an other little one soon. (Chad, are you reading this? wink, wink)
V. Vegetable? Squash and zuccini, all stemed up together. Yummy!
W. Worst Habit? I honestly think I am too hard on myself. I am learning to not be so critical of me. Chad is helping me. He truely builds me up. Spencer W. Kimball once said that a joke at someone ealses expence is never funny. I am just now starting to learn that that includes me. Thanks Chad! I love you so much.
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound!!
Y. Your Favorite Food? Avocado on toast with a little salt. Mmmmm!! I am completly going to agree with you on this one Brandi. And you are the one who introduced me to the wonderful world of Avocado on toast for which I will forever be greatful!!
Z. Zodiac Sign? Virgo\Libra. Depends on which star chart you look at. I was born right on the cut off day. So I guess I am a Zodiac Mute!

Trick or Treat

Halloween was so much fun this year. We went to my Dad's house and went trick or treating in his neighborhood. Lauren and Evan were so cute. They make all of the holidays so much fun. Having kids has added a new element to everything. Lauren was originally going to be tinkerbell. We even had a cute little tinkerbell dress for her. But that morning she decided that she wanted to be sleeping bueaty instead. It's a good thing that we have all the disney princess' dresses already. Evan went as a UPS man. I saw the costume and had to get it. My dad is a UPS driver. Every time anyone asked Lauren what Evan was going to be for Halloween she would say, "He is going to be Grandpa."
Here we all are just before heading out to go trick or treating.

Evan and his Grandpa. Don't they make cute UPS men?

Lauren and my Dad. She loves her Grandpa. He is such a good one too. When he lived with us, Lauren would go into his room at 6:00 every night and they would watch a Disney show together. She still asks me when is Grandpa coming home.

Lauren at the first house getting her candy.

Here is my attempt at taking a picture of Chad and I. Dosn't Chad look so cute?

This is Chad's attempt at taking a picture. Ok, I admit it, he is much better then I am.

After we were done getting candy, we went back to my Dad's house and had dinner and watched James Bond. Rita made some yummy soup and bread bowls. It was a fun night. I think that we just started a new tradion. Thanks Dad and Rita! We love you guys!

Things that make you go..AHHH!!

Ok. so when I was a little girl, maybe 7 or 8, my parents rented a movie and made us go to bed early. DO NOT come out of your room, they warned. But like most things we are told not to do, it just makes us itch to do it. So after a while, I silently crept out of my room and crawled on my hands and knees down the hall. When I peeked around the corner, I saw this..

Needless to say, from that day on, I have hated clowns and gutters. When Chad and I were dating and we would go on walks, I would always completely avoid any open gutters. He asked why, and at the time I was a little to embaressed to tell him. When I did tell him, he just thought it was cute-it added to my irresistable charm. But he totally agreed with me on the whole clown thing. Think about it, they are a little scary. I mean, you don't know who it could be under all that happy make-up. It could be a serial killer for all you knew. I also hate dolls and vantriliquist dummys. I would be so angry if a doll just turned it's creepy little head towards me and started laughing. I don't know if it is because I read to much or if I have an over active imagination. The funny thing is that as an adult, I have yet to see IT. It was only as a little girl that I saw that one imagine, and that did it for me. I am sure if I watched it now it would almost be laughable, but I can't bring myself to do it. Oh and spiders, I am afraid of them too.

Good-bye Summer..

..we will miss you.

Body Worlds 3

Chad and I went down to the Body World exibit in Salt Lake today. It was great. I keep looking at everything, just in amazement that these were once living breathing human beings. Every "exibit" donates their body to the Body Worlds thing. But even still, it is strange to me that they wanted their body displayed like that. But then again, it is strange to me that people want their ashes dumped into the Pacific Ocean too. So who am I to judge. It makes for a good display. They wouldn't let me take any pictures inside, so I had to look for them on the internet. Fair warning for you-if you type in Body Worlds into google and do an image search-you come across some pretty intresting pictures that arn't exactly rated PG or even PG-13 for that matter.


I thought that the Camel was cool. From one angle, you can see it's stomache contents. Overall, I thought that is was very good. I am glad that we went. It is very educational, and it is just amazing to see all that goes into makeing the body run smoothly. To look at all the capillaries, veins, arteries, tendons, ect., it surprises me that people still don't believe in some kind of higher power. Everything works together and if one thing goes out, the whole human machine just doesn't work right. It had to take intelligence to put all of that together.

The hardest part of the whole exibit was to see the little baby fetus'. To me, the grown bodies lived there life and had a choice, while the little unborn babies had no life to live. I saw a little fetus at 16 weeks gestation and you could already tell that it was a little girl. They had a little one at 9 weeks gestation and it looked like a little baby, the size of a bean, but you could tell that it was a baby. I remember seeing the little flutter of Lauren's heart for the first time at 11 weeks and I just cryed. My stomache still flat, I couldn't feel her, but I could see her there on the monitor, and her little heart was flying. It amazes me that people take those little hearts out and throw them away, just because they wern't ready for a baby yet. All I could think was of Lauren and Evan. I feel so blessed that I never have known the heartache of a miscarrige. I got to carry my babies to full term and I get to watch them grow up.

Overall, it was a great thing to do. I would recommend it to anyone. I wouldn't bring your kids though.