PREGNANT!!!

So, I'm pregnant! YAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! my family already knows, but for those of you who aren't related by blood, we're expecting another little one in our family, around the beginning of August!

We are soooo excited!

I'm totally feeling like this one is a girl, because I've been sick {BLECH} and I wasn't at ALL with Everett, I have LOTS of cravings, the other night we had JUST finished dinner (like minutes before) and I told john I was having a dilemma, I was craving a jamba juice smoothie, a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and nuts, ice cream with berries, chocolate cake with ganache frosting, nachos, plain chips and salsa, and a quesadilla...I ended up making chocolate chip cookies... I know I know, that doesn't "mean" anything but, I just have a feeling...On that same note though, I keep thinking about how wonderful it will be if Everett has a little brother, he'll be so cute with a sister, but I really want him to have a brother that's close to him too...so honestly I want a boy, and a girl. :) John wants a boy, a buddy for Everett, but obviously we're both just really excited about adding to our family, we'll be stoked either way! Actually, John wants us to wait to find out...no way. Maybe once I have had a boy and a girl, I won't be so anxious about finding out, who knows.

Okay so I am 12 weeks today, but that's a story. I went into the Dr when I thought I was 12 weeks along, I was super pumped, the first trimester just flies by, but when they did an ultrasound, the little gummi bear was measuring at 9 weeks...so instead of being due July 27, I am now die August 13th!!! I LOST THREE WEEKS! BOOOOOOO...three weeks is like FOREVER in a pregnancy, especially at the beginning! So, now I am finally 12 weeks for reals :)

It's true what they say about your body and your second baby. I'm already showing. I can still wear pants just fine, but I have a GUT, doesn't look like a preggers belly unless I'm wearing a dress, then it's kinda cute...otherwise, I just look like I ate too many donuts, you know, like a muffin top...depressing a bit because my neighbor and good friend is something like 24 ish weeks, and she is BARELY starting to show...she's SUPER tall though, I just keep telling myself, this is just how my body reacts to pregnancy, EMBRACE THIS BELLY! :) So I'm working on it:) I'm actually looking forward to having a REAL pregnant belly so I can wear tighter fitted shirts and look cute, instead of wearing the same loose shirts with a cardigan to hide my not so pregnant looking bulge ;)

I really can't complain though, the nausea is pretty much a gonner, and already I love this little baby growing inside of me, such a little miracle! I feel SO extremely blessed to be able to carry this little one!

We told our parents over for Christmas in a really cute way, I made them a brag book (which I was already doing for their gifts anyway) with a page for each grandchild with photos etc, and then I left a page blank after the last grandbaby, on that page I put a post-it note that said "Grandbaby number 10, ETA August 2012" When my parents flipped through the book, they were ooh-ing and Awe-ing at every page, and then BAM, the page with the post-it! My mom screamed and Dad, didn't really scream, but I he just laughed in an excited kind-of way. It was really fun telling them that way, but it was THE HARDEST SECRET I have ever had to keep! We were at my parents house for an entire WEEK before Christmas Day, and I had been sick and super tired, I wanted to explain myself, I wanted to TALK about the new baby coming etc etc etc, but I was good and I waited, although every night I would beg John, PLEASE can we give them this present early?! He wouldn't budge! I literally couldn't sleep Christmas Eve because I was so excited to tell everyone! (I didn't even tell STEPH!!!) When we got back to Utah we did the same thing with Johns mom! It was so exciting!

I can't stop thinking about summer, I am so sick of winter, I want it to be WARM, and nice, I want to go CAMPING, and eat SNO-CONES, and sit on the balcony in the evening, and have BBQ's, and eat corn on the cob and cold watermelon, I wanna go swimming (I'm sure I'll look like SHAMU, but I have no shame :) Anyway, that's about it for now, we're really excited!!

By the way, any of you mom's out there ever bought a pregnancy pillow? The kind that sort of wraps arounds your body, supports your head, back, knees and stomach...thinking about getting one, any advice?

Also, I cannot WAIT to see Everett be a big brother, he is SO cute with baby Evelyn, always whispering to her in her carseat and calling her Bay-by...he touches her so soft, it's so tender, I cannot wait!

18 Months old

Everett's Stats at 18 months:

Height: 34 inches tall (90th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs and 15 oz (35th percentile)

Head: 50.1 cm (95th percentile)

he is a tall and skinny little string bean!

You know these days they recommend rear facing car seats until the child is two, but we just switched him to front facing and at the doctors office he asked if he was still rear facing and I said no, we just switched him, and the doctor said, well, yeah with how tall he is you really don't have a choice! (Our thoughts exactly! He hated being scrunched into that infant seat!)
Johns sister Jenni made him this darling fox hat for Christmas, it fits him so weel, and he likes to wear it! When it's cold outside, like running from the car to grocery store, he says "hat?" cute :)

I love this (above) photo so much, but he looks so old! I haven't recorded nearly enough of what this little boy is like, so here goes!

Everett is an awesome sleeper! He always has been, these days he goes to bed around 8:30 or 9, and his bedtime routine is pretty fun, it takes about a half hour to brush teeth, read books, wrestle on mom and dad's bed for a bit, read a few verses out of the book of mormon and have prayers. He hates saying goodnight, but he tries hard to butter us up with lots of kisses and hugs after prayers. we love it.

He usually wakes up sometime between 8:30 and 9 every morning (which is awesome, giving mom some time to get ready for the day before he's up!) he usually cries for a second, but I leave him in bed till he's in a good mood, usually a few minutes and he'll start singing to himself, reading his books in bed, throwing his stuffed animals out of the crib, and generally jibber jabbing to himself until I come get him. When I do, he is so happy to see me! I love it! he usually can't climb into my arms fast enough! (Except this week he started sleeping with a pillow, and the next morning when I went to get him, he layed back down, head on his pillow to show me how neat it was! LOl :) Then he gets a diaper change and day clothes on, he says the names of all of his clothes and we get him dressed, Shirt: sert, pants: Pont with a big emphasis on the t at the end lol, socks: gok, or sometimes gots, diaper: bipah, shoes: Seew

Then we have breakfast, he waits patiently (ish) in his highchair while I fix us something, he really likes eggs with cheese, toast, oatmeal with yogurt, or peanut butter and Jelly sandwich (a new favorite), he also likes to share cereal with mom or dad. At meal time he knows we don't eat till we say prayers, so like today, I gave him his toast, but he didn't eat it till I came over, when I noticed he didn't eat it, I thought he was being picky and didn't want it, till I noticed his arms were folded and his eyebrows raised looking at me waiting to bless the breakfast (which we had actually already done when we had our fruit!) Sweet baby! Then he ate up all his toast. When he sees me bringing his bowl or plate of food for a meal, he immediately folds his arms. Then, almost before the prayer is quite done he yells "MEN!!!!" (amen) and then gives a kiss. It's awesome.
He really likes to follow me around and mimic what I do, typical for a toddler, but it's cute, mostly;) He always needs to be helping cook, stir, taste what we're cooking in the kitchen, I started letting him help me mix dry ingredients when we make cookies etc, he loves it, and loves licking the beaters from the cookie dough or cake batter he says "goo-kee" (cookie) and "gochlit" or "Gok-it"(chocolate) and wants it all the time! He knows where we keep the chocolate in the cupboard and he's always reaching for it and begging me to get him some.
He says so many words, too many to count or write, but he literally learns new ones every day, and it's so exciting for us to discover another word that he knows! He knows all his animal sounds and some of the names, points out every "Goggie"(which could also be a cow or a horse or a cat, they all fit into the doggie category)
He LOOOOVEs when daddy comes home, John always calls me when he's on his way home(he works 5 min from home) so I know abouyt when he'll be coming through the door, and when it gets close to time, I get Everett all psyched up and we hide under a blanket just before he walks in, then when we hear the door open, everett can hardly contain his excitement, he squales under the blanket, and John (who also adores this welcome home) drops to all fours and comes "sniffing" around for us, he always sniffs right in everett's ear over the blanket and it's almost too much excitement and anticipation for him to handle, he just shrieks with delight, and john rips the blanket off and we all scream and hug and wrestle for a minute. It's wonderful.
He loves to play puzzles, reads tons of books, with us and by himself(in his little recliner chair, it's so hilarious and cute) he loves to play swords, he'll turn anything into a sword, loves to help us load the dishwasher, he can actually put the soap cube in, close the latch (almost) close the dishwasher door, and push the buttons to get it to start! It's awesome! He also helps with the laundry, putting items in the washer or dryer, he's really cute, we have both front loaders, and he takes the pile one by one and puts it in and each time he says "iiiin". He likes to help me scrub the floor too, I give him a rag and he helps me wipe it dry after I mop. He likes to throw things in the garbage, he likes to get the mail, he likes to get into my make-up drawer and hand me things (or walk off with them!). He loves blocks, building towers and knocking them over, he'll play anything if mom or dad is at all interested in it, he likes taking things apart and trying to get them back together, like his Mr Potato Head, he also loves to get out the pots and pans, tupperware, and his little cups and plates. he likes to stack them and unstack them.
He LOVES to dance! He has been a dancing fool for well over 6 months now, but what never ceases to get us to giggle is that EVERY time we watch a tv show, when the beginning of the show comes on and plays the theme song AND at the end when they roll the credits and play music, his face lights up, and he stops what he is doing, climbs off the couch, or comes over from the kitchen, or from the toys and really busts a move! He gets his little arms a swingin and his knees a bouncing and his bum a bobbin, it's hilarious! It makes him so happy! I know all babies love to dance, but nothing stops this kid when he hears music! we were babysitting the James lance kids and we had a dance party, he danced for 45 minutes straight! Far outlasting any of the older kids! His latest funny trick is that he'll put his head to the floor and raise his hands behind him and shake his little bum! It's hilarious!
At church he started going to nursery, the first time he waltzed in like he owned the joint, didn't even look back! But then he got sick :( and wanted nothing to do with any adults other than mom and dad...but then last week, he screamed the first 10 minutes, and then his teacher said he was fine and happy :) On the same note, he still sings the hymns, and just started raising his hand during the sustainings! He looks so proud of himself! LOL!!! He also points to any picture of Christ and says "Shee-jis!" (Jesus).

He is such a tender heart! If he falls and hurts himself, he might cry for a minute, but he get's over it pretty quick, but if his feelings get hurt, he really wails, and for a long time! One day we were driving in the car and he was whiny and we were trying to talk and John jokingly hollered to Everett "hey kid, knock it off!" well, Everett didn't sense his joking and cried and cried, he was so offended! Also, if he thinks he hurt one of us, he cries too! Like he's been into pulling my hair lately, and I tried saying no, I even tried pulling his back, but he just thought it was a game, so then I pretended to cry, and he was in tears in no time, poor kid! He is just so tender!

All in all, I adore this little boy. Every day I feel so blessed to call him my own. He is so sweet and so stinkin cute, he is cracking us up at every turn. Don't get me wrong, life with a toddler is also a challenge, the whole part about him not being able to say what he wants and me not being able to read his mind and figure it out, and keeping him out of trouble and out of harms way is a challenge, but its's true what they say about motherhood, it is the greatest role a woman could ever hope to play. It is it's own reward. I love this little boy! At least once a day I wish he could stay little forever, but then I think about how excited I am for his next stage!

CHRISTMAS {A photo laden post}

all these photos are a little out of order...oh well :) I could have broken this post up into a few, but I'm tired of posting and just want to get this over with! LOL :) Enjoy!

This is Christmas Day, afternoon, I desperately needed a nap, and fell asleep while everyone was chatting, When I woke up I had a little friend snuggling me, they said he stayed there the entire time I was a asleep, more than 45 minutes...he unwrapped a gift {a book} then tried to re-wrap it, concentrating very hard to get the tape to stick again...over and over} funny kid

Christmas morning?day {after church}

I made John a few shirts from the TV shows we loved this year, one of them was Psych. If you haven't watched psych, and you enjoy laughter, you should watch it.

I made mom this book wreath, made out of the pages of a Laura Ingalls Wilder book :)

Tender Scooter with Evelyn

Everett and Daddy, both with their new tools!

out of order, I know...

We went to see the Christmas Lights!!! We stopped at this one house that had lights synchronized to music, you tuned in your radio to listen to the musical LIGHT SHOW it was awesome!

Everett's first candy cane...a "Joy Ride" tradition

these crazies in the back...mom sat on a bunch of pillows and blankets in the backy-back

OKay, this is Christmas Day, after Church

Christmas Eve, after Santa came

Christmas Eve Matchy Pajamas!!! LOVED these Jammies! I bought John and I matching ones, and bought an extra pair to cut up and make some for Everett that matched ours! CUTE! {I was able to make 2 pair out of the one I cut up!}

Best Christmas Eve tradition ever! This nativity play has come to mean so much to me, it lasts maybe 15 minutes including all the songs and photo's, but it reminds and brings the true Spirit of Christmas, and it is my FAVORITE!!!

little sheep, he couldn't stop giving baby Evelyn/Jesus snuggles and kisses...it was soooo cute

handsome Scooter

Mary

Joseph

Angel

waiting for our cues back stage...

Wise Man/Narrator Jarom, BEST costume of the night

Shepherd and sheep

Fancy Christmas Eve Dinner, wouldn't be Christmas Eve without it! Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Potato Casserole, and fancy grape-juice/sprite punch, I seriously look forward to this meal all season!

We got to visit our little Annie-bear! She is so teensy compared to Everett!

They gave lots and lots of hugs and kisses

played dress-up:)

My Mom has thsee funny little penguins that sing and dance when you push a little button, Everett could not get enough of it!

SUCH a wonderful Christmas!