Tree Lighting

Saturday night we bundled up and met the Paulins downtown for the Boise Tree Lighting festivities.  It was super fun! 

Carter!

Cooper and Tanner!  They both really wanted us to light the candle for them!

Troy and Cooper!  This is Coop's first Christmas and he is ready and excited!

Katie, Cooper, and Tanner!  Not really sure if it's a Cooper sandwhich or if they are dancing!

Tanner and Daddy!

Fire!  Tanner's first fire and nothing burned down!  Success!

Carter, Ashley, Katie, and Cooper!

Breakfast with Santa

Friday morning we went to the Festival of Trees to have breakfast with Santa.  It was a blast! 

Tanner and Carter with the "Celebritree" and Frosty.

Carter eating breakfast!

The boys with Mrs. Claus

After breakfast the kids all got up on the stage and got to sing Christmas songs with Santa! Tanner is in the middle in the white shirt and jeans.

Tanner and a few of the other kids stood the whole time like it was a rock concert!  It kind of was....I should have taken video too but I forget a lot lately these days, it must be the baby brain! 

Over the weekend.......

We had a very eventful week and weekend!  Let me start with last Tuesday.  Tuesday was such a great day-I did not feel sick to my stomach from this pregnancy and was able to eat and enjoy myself!  Yay!  I think back to last Tuesday with a lot of fondness becuase that was the last time I did not feel miserable!  I had been coordinating with my new brother in law, Chris, for him to fly in early to surprise Cammie.  Cam thought he was getting in late Wednesday night when actually he was arriving around noon on Tuesday.  The plan was for me to pick him up and then he would be at the house when she got home.  Well, I got a wild hair and decided that if he could surprise her, I could also try to surprise him!  If there was a way where I could get her to take the afternoon off and have her come with me to the airport to get him, then they would both be happily surprised.  I had them both fooled up until Monday night when Chris sent me a text becuase Cam told him she was coming over to meet me at my house at noon on Tuesday.  I could not come up with a story that would even remotely cover that up so I just fessed up and told him he ruined his surprise!  At least Cam still thought he was getting in Wednesday night and let me drag her to the airport, she actually thought we were going to get massages.  I am sure that thought came and went quickly seeing as I had both the boys with me!  We got to the airport and they were both happy to see each other, and that's all that really matters!  No more suprises, I am not good at them!!!  We celebrated Chris's 27th birthday on Saturday which was a blast! It's always nice to get together on a cold day to be with friends and family and watch some football and celebrate a birthday!  Then on Sunday my mom cooked us all a Thanksgiving dinner which, from what I could tell, was fabulous, however I was pretty sick that day so I am hoping to enjoy the leftovers sometime this week! The turkey looked so beautiful, like it was out of a magazine and it was so moist and tender!  She did a fabulous job on everything! I didn't really feel all that great and so I did not take one picture of the weekend and I am kicking myself!  Chris flew home yesterday morning and the next time he will come up, it will be a permanent move!  We are all so excited! 

Who Am I?

A little while ago, we found out that we are going to be having a third baby! It's exciting and scary all at the same time. We had decided that our 2 little boys were enough to complete our family. We felt very blessed and happy with what God had given us for kids. Tanner and Carter are terrific! However, a routine trip to the doctor's office proved that we were very wrong. I've got to say, I cried, I was not happy, I was scared, embarrassed, angry, and had other very selfish emotions. My doctor was very excited. She also has 2 little boys. She tried to reassure me that everything was going to be fine, labor is a piece of cake, it's fun, she'll be there for the birth, etc. That didn't really help, but it just made me like her even more which I didn't think was possible because she's so fun anyway! I checked out and made my next appointment, which by now was going to be my second first prenatal appointment because we had already determined there was a heartbeat. I called Tyler from the parking lot crying to tell him the news that I am sure he did not expect. He was taken aback by my news but then he was excited. I was confused. What? Why are you excited? Don't you want to wallow in self pity with me? Nope, he didn't, he was excited. It was hilarious, well it was annoying at the time, but it is funny now. He wanted to tell our families immediately, while I felt that I needed the weekend to at least process all this information. He won that battle and called his family. I waited a few days before I could tell my family. Sorry guys!
I am nearing the end of my first trimester and hoping that these sick feelings will soon subside. Especially with the holiday season coming up-I've got to be able to eat and enjoy myself! When I don't feel miserable, I am excited for this new member of our family!

I had my second first doctor's appointment yesterday and actually remembered, granted it was at the very last second, that I did need a copy of the ultrasound picture! Now, of course, if you aren't a mom, this picture will mean absolutely nothing to you. No one but moms seem to enjoy looking at these pictures so just bear with me! I will have 3 more ultrasounds during this pregnancy and the pictures will get better and better.

As of right now, we have decided that we do not want to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy until the birth. Pretty crazy, right? I am hoping that Tyler will be able to endure my moodiness when I want to "nest" and won't be able to because I don't know if we will be having a boy or a girl! I'm not really one who likes to do anything neutrally so I will wait to decorate the nursery until after the baby is born. It's going to be hard!

I was thinking the other night that I used to be a lot more fun than I am right now. Who am I now? I miss me! I am very tired right now, I am very nauseous right now, I am a little cranky right now too. I am nervous for this summer, I don't really know how I will handle having 3 kids. Little things like going to the grocery store seem like a daunting task with 3 kids.  I am so lucky that my sister doesn't work in the summertime and I can force her to help me! Hopefully I won't have to hold her hostage but I will if I have to because I will have all those fun after birth hormones running through my body! She can also help me get back to my fun self! Thanks Cam!

So that is my news. It's crazy. It's scary. It's fun.

So Cute!

I had the flu last week and felt like I had been run over by a bus.  It was a long week, however, I got a fun package in the mail that perked up my fluness a bit!  It was from my sister-in-law Molly who lives in Seattle. Whenever I close my eyes and think about Seattle, I smell chlorine becuase I used to go there a lot to swim and I also think about sitting on the water eating seafood, yummy yummy seafood.  Good times!

 But back to the apron; She made this!  Isn't that awesome!  I think she could sell these things and if you would like to buy one, you can email her at 1mollysue@gmail.com .  It is the cutest apron I have ever set eyes on! Wouldn't it just make a wonderful Christmas present??!  I am going to wear it when I cook all my Pioneer Woman recipes too!   Thanks Mol!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Now this is funny! This morning, Tyler and I went to Tanner's preschool to meet with his teacher, Mrs. Dockweiler, for a parent teacher conference. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. Silly as it may be because it's just preschool, and the main reason for Tanner going to preschool is to give both he and I a break from each other! But, nonetheless, I was nervous! I met Tyler there and we walked into the classroom. we got to sit on itty bitty preschool chairs while Mrs. Dockweiler proceeded to tell us how great she thinks Tanner is doing! That was music to my ears! We received a little progress report that tells us all the things he is learning to do. He appearantly is really excelling in 2 categories;  "getting along well with others" and "participating in songs and fingerplays".  I don't really think you need to excel in much more than that to get by in the real world!  We all want to be around people who get along well with others and like to sing, right?  At least I do!  On the back, Mrs. Dockweiler wrote a nice little note; "Tanner is doing great in preschool. He's helpful and kind and curious. He likes to ask "why". He's high energy outside and calms down when we come back inside. He's a sweet guy and I am enjoying getting to know him." What more can Tyler and I ask for? We think his preschool is great and I really enjoy the 3 hours twice a week with just Carter! As we were leaving she handed us Tanner's school pictures! So funny!

She's Here!!

Yay!  She finally arrived!  My Pioneer Woman Cookbook!  I am so excited and I cannot wait to start cooking more of her wonderful recipes!  I only have this cookbook for a little while and then I am going to part with her for a bit.  I am sending her off to my friend Katie, who lives in Texas and will be going to one of her book signings!  Lucky gal!  Katie and I both relate to PW because we both grew up in Southern California, have been friends since we were 13, and now live lives that are completely different than what we imagined we would have growing up!  I laugh sometimes when I think that I married a man, whom I love more than anything in the universe, but he is in the meat packing business, and that my friends, is nothing I had even heard of when I was growing up!  I just envisioned myself living in Calabasas married to someone who went to some sort of office everyday.  Now that I have the life I have, Calabasas and offices sound rather boring!  Meridian, ID is a long way from Calabasas, CA and I have my Grandma and Papa to thank for that!

And Katie-never in a million years did I ever think I would see pictures of her holding a gun, hunting, and actually enjoying it!  I love it!  If I could, I would get myself a plane ticket to Texas to meet PW with her myself!  But, since I can't, I am sending my book and hoping Katie takes a lot of great pictures!  I am off to pick out dinner for tonight in the cookbook and try to convince more of my SoCal girlfriends to move on up here!