Baby Girl's Room

So I've had lots of requests to see what I'm doing for Baby Girl's room. :-) I'm gonna go all artsy here for this post, so if you don't care to read on check back soon and I'll be back to the usual fam pics and whatnot! :-)

Any art project has to start with 'inspiration' (at least to this wannabe artist that seems to be the case...) so here was mine:
1. Make Baby Girl Smile. I wanted Baby Girl to feel happy as soon as she walked in her room. For me that means bright happy colors, girly flowers, and anything that says "springtime." There's such a hopefulness that comes with springtime, and you can't help but feel happy when the snow and cold is finally gone! :-)
2. Remind her she is a Daughter of God. I didn't quite know how I'd do this, until I was talking to my Mom about the quilt she was planning to make for Baby Girl- at that moment it all fell into place! (My Mom is SO amazing at quilting and for each new member of the family, she makes a quilt. Not just ANY quilt, mind you, it has to have meaning behind it!) The quilt for my new Baby Girl was no different- Mom found an awesome idea for a quilt with President Hinckley's "Be's" on it. It made me think instantly of a little smiling bee. And THAT is how we got to my paintings below!

(For those of you who don't know who Pres. Hinckley is, he was the president of our church who recently passed away. He wrote an awesome book called "Way to Be!" that is based on nine values he believes everyone should emmulate in order to be more like the Savior.)

They're kind of hard to see, and I KNOW you are so interested in seeing them closer...so here they are a bit closer. :-)
1. Be Positive: Rainbow. After the storm, there's always a rainbow- we just have to look close and trust it will come.
2. Be Smart. Sunshine! (Get it? Smart = Bright = Sunshine) (Or I guess this could be 'Be Smart and always wear sunscreen...) ha ha ha
3. Be Involved. Bee! Who's more involved in making those beautiful flowers grow then a busy little bee?
4. Be Prayerful. Flower. (I tried to make her little leaves look like they were folded arms...) 5. Be Clean. A worm in a puddle! :-) (Side note: in Old Testament times, rain and water symbolized cleansing as well as 'inspiration'- I've always loved the reminder water brings to keep myself 'clean' so that I can be more receptive to inspiration.)
6. Be Humble. Butterfly! Such beautiful creatures- tell me it's easy for them to be humble- and yet I bet not one has any idea just how beautiful it really is.
7. Be Still. Another flower, of course! :-) Bloom where you're planted, be silent and appreciate your surroundings, etc.
8. Be True. A Dragonfly. To be TRUTHFUL :-) I just really like dragonflies, and thought she was cute.

9. Be Grateful! :-) A Ladybug! I LOVE happy ladybugs! I have been blessed with such a wonderful life- family, home, faith, etc. I wish I'd remember to be grateful more often- it certainly brings the right perspective when I am!

So there you have it! My plan for Baby Girl's room and a bit of 'why.' (A lot of 'why' actually- thanks for your patience! :-) ha ha) I'm painting the room a soft yellow, and have daisies on the valance, curtains, etc. I have some fun dragonflies and daisies that are going to go up on the wall too, some cute little butterfly hooks, and plans for pillows and a bumper pad. I'll post pics when it's all up and finished, but this is a glimpse! :-)

Water Table Fun

We LOVE to be outside!! Here's Logan and Tyler after a wonderful afternoon playing in our top-notch water table. (See Below) I got this idea from my Sis who was going to buy a really nice one but came up with an ingenious idea to make her own. The boys had a blast! We've done this almost every afternoon since we "made" our water table. I don't know if they have more fun getting themselves drenched, or trying to drench Jake...
Here's the water table! :-) Yep- a big plastic bin with hose water and some sand toys. Talk about high class! ha ha ha
Here's Tyler happy to be warm and dry. He had a great time, but then decided he'd had enough with the cold water.

Click above to see a great knock knock joke. :-) This is Tyler's one and only joke and he KNOWS it's hilarious- he laughs every time. Enjoy!

**P.S. Baby Girl is 2 lbs 1 oz so far! :-) I had my growth ultrasound on Tuesday and everything is looking good!

Sweet Babies

This is what happens when the youngest baby wants to skip his nap like his older brother. :-) How precious are they?! Logan and Tyler are inseparable! Tyler wants to be with Logan all the time, and Logan seems to enjoy having a little brother worship him! :-)

And to represent Baby Girl, here's my hot bod at 26 weeks! :-) It's kind of funny to think that if I'd post a profile body shot when I wasn't pregnant people would think I was a little strange. Oh well- just one more quirky thing about pregnancy!

ha ha ha Thanks to my sis for her cutie-patootie maternity pants- I wear these pretty much every other day if it's too cold for capris! (Spring is coming....I am SURE it's coming!) Actually today is gorgeous out and I got to go for a walk with my friend Monica and her babies- it was WONDERFUL!! Logan rode his bike and the rest of the kiddies were 'strolled' :-). It's so nice to be outside again!!!

My couch cushion is making me fat!

I'm sitting here watching Biggest Loser-couples. I just finished my evening snack. "She's pregnant," you're thinking. "Something good and nutritious for her and the baby," you decide. HA! Well, 2 out of 3's not bad. Pregnant & Good= true, Nutritious= NO WAY!

I LOVE ICE CREAM. Everyone who knows me knows I love it. I eat a bowl of ice cream every night. Not some healthy-fake ice cream, either mind you. I eat Kroger brand vanilla- usually 2-3 scoops (sure, I like the richer stuff, but if you buy that you can't eat as much) with Hershey's syrup, chocolate chips, sprinkles (the round multi-colored balls), and of course a banana to make it healthy.

I didn't realize this was such a problem (well, problem is a rather strong word)- we'll say HABIT, until I sat down to watch my tivo-ed episode of Biggest Loser-couples. Now normally, as I said, I watch the show at night and eat my bowl of ice cream. I always chuckle a little to myself that I eat such an unhealthy snack when I watch such a pro-workout-live-healthy show. Then I dive in head first to my DELICIOUS snack.

Last week, I wasn't able to watch Biggest Loser on Tuesday night, so I watched it Wednesday afternoon. I sat in my fave spot on the couch, clicked on the tube, and not five minutes into the show I started wanting ice cream. REALLY wanting it. What's wrong with me?! I don't eat ice cream in the middle of the day- I eat cookies with milk! (Did I mention I'm not on a diet?) Ice cream is something I eat at night. But I could NOT let go of the idea. My will-power was non-existant to the point that I don't think I even TRIED to resist. I HAD to go have my huge bowl of ice cream. So I did.

That night I sat down in my favorite spot (you guessed it- the couch!) to watch who knows what, and as I sat down my mouth started watering. Hmmm...what could I eat that could curb my craving? Popcorn? no. Orange? Tempting, but no- that's my 10 am snack. Ooooh I know JUST the thing! Starts with an ICE and ends with CREAM! Sad, but true, I had to have it. And so, I've come to the conclusion that my favorite couch cushion may be contributing to some of these pregnancy pounds...I'll have to move over to James' side of the couch, I think....or maybe watch less Biggest Loser...at least during the day....good thing it's finale night!

Speaking of Biggest Loser- can you believe Mark lost by 1 POUND?!! That had to be SUCH a bummer! I bet he's re-thinking not shaving this morning!

I wonder who's going to win..... 15 minutes left of the show! (I had to blog because I didn't let the show get started for long enough before I dove in, and after fast forwarding all the commercials, I've caught up with the show. Bummer.)

We Believe in Christ

I received this link from my mom, and it is one of the most beautiful representations of the Savior's life that I've seen. It's 5 minutes long, and well worth it! James and I watched it together and he mentioned I should add the link to our blog. I am so grateful for a husband who leads our family and guides us to live in a manner that would be pleasing to our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. I love that James teaches the boys what it means to love and serve the Lord. And on top of all that, I love that we're sealed for eternity so our family can be together forever!! (Sorry to make this all mushy.)

I have such a strong love for our Savior, Jesus Christ- I wouldn't be who I am without it. I'm grateful for His example, His teachings, and above all His love. Enjoy the video- it's well worth it!

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

My Adorable Men!

Do these boys love each other or what?! :-) I love Tyler's face in this picture- Logan is constantly making Tyler laugh- it is SO fun to watch them interact! One of my favorite things is hearing Ty copy Logan- for example, when it's Logan's turn to pray:
Logan says, "We thank thee for this . . ."
Tyler will jump in with "DAY!"
Logan responds, "Tyler!" (Then continues with his prayer.)
Tyler continues to copy words throughout the remainder of the prayer, but Logan ignores him.


Here's my curly-headed Tyler-Bug. He is so dang cute- he has a bit of the 'David Letterman hair' going on in this pic, but in person it really is adorable. And those dimples get deeper with every smile!
This is Logan with the newest member of our family- ShoeE. He is a pet dalmatian that gets extremely high-class pet treatment (sorry, Jake!) Logan 'adopted' him and takes him most everywhere. At night though, ShoeE has to sleep in his empty Premium crackers box because Logan informed us that if the pup's in bed with him, ShoeE toots all night and keeps Logan awake. Where does he come up with this stuff?! :-)
And this is my sexy man propped up on the couch with a sprained ankle. I should make up a cool story as to how he did it. For example, he was chasing an armed purse-snatcher who'd just stolen a grandma's dog purse and when he leapt to tackle the guy he hurt his ankle. Yeah that'll work! Oh well, no matter how it happened, we still feel bad for him. Poor guy- lucky he has his 'best buddy' by his side to keep him company. We LIVE for when Daddy comes home!

"Block"head Fun

Tyler's face in this picture captures just a teeny bit of the fun we've been having the past few days!! :-) His friend Nathan is in the picture with him.

Click on the movie below to get a taste of today!

How cute are these three?! Tyler had a blast with new friends Isaac & Nathan as they put blocks on their heads and then waited for them to fall off. I had long enough to not only watch several rounds of this game, but to also run and get the camera!

Moms often talk about 'reward moments'- the moments that show up when you least expect it that remind you what staying home with the kiddies is all about. For me, those moments usually revolve around adoring faces with happy smiles and hearing squeals of laughter. Who doesn't love to hear a baby laugh?! I'm so glad I was able to catch a bit of it on camera!

Mission Call!

A quick post to let you all know that my youngest brother Alex received his mission call today!! He will be serving in the California, Santa Rosa mission!! We're so excited for him- he's looked forward to this for as long as I can remember, and it's almost here!!! Way to go AL!!

Svilking Contest

Here are the boys on Svilking contest take 852. Ha ha ha They sure loved cracking those eggs! :-) I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a fun Easter tradition- we did it all growing up, and even had a trophy for the winner (a marble egg) that stayed in that person's room until the next year. A few years we Svilked our family's prize egg against our neighbors prize egg! :-) I don't remember who won, but I do remember we LOVED doing it every year.

EASTER BREAK!!

James, Tyler, and Logan built this awesome snowman! We had such a great afternoon having snowball fights (James and Logan against Ty and me- guess who made up the teams! ha ha) Needless to say, if you've seen the movie Elf you will have an idea of how quickly James made and threw snowballs. I was in for it from the beginning. Tyler ended up swinging most of the time, unless James was pulling the sled, in which case he wanted in. :-) We're hoping it was our last snowfall of the season!


Here's the fam at Easter. We got to go visit my parents in Illinois and we had a BLAST! Check out the huge tummy on Mama- I have certainly let myself go... ha ha ha OR we can look on the bright side and think- man, when she was pregnant with twins she was already full-term size at this point!


This is one of many of Logan's creations during the Easter holiday break. It is a picture of R2D2 for those of you who don't recognize a Star Wars hero when you see one. Logan LOVES Star Wars- he's very proud of his brother Luke Skywalker (his choice character when he plays Lego StarWars with Daddy), unless he's in the mood to be Obi Wan (or Obi Two as Logan's said once or twice...). One of his proudest moments this break was when he was able to buy something with all the money he'd saved up. He bought mini dinosaurs, binoculars, and a green light saber. Way to go Logan!



Here are my men coloring Easter eggs! We had a blast- even if it was a couple days after Easter. :-)


This is the proud Champion of the family Svilking contest. Yes, I beat everyone with my lovely egg. If you look closely, you can see my design- it says, "Cari + (picture of a crown and a wand to represent Baby Girl)"

If you're wondering about svilking, it's when you each choose your prize egg and have to hit it against someone elses prize egg. The winner is the one with the uncracked egg. You can see a video below- the boys continued playing until they had cracked every egg we had colored. We had such a great visit!!