well, hubby and I went out for a "romantic" dinner to Golden Corral and then to the Home Depot and Lowe's. I know!! You can't get any better than that!! But, then he dropped me off at home, and took another quick trip to Home Depot for lightbulbs, and surprised me by stopping at WAGS and bought me a Slap Chop! :) Only a gal like me could get excited about something like that. OH! and he bought me some Junior Mints. So sweet! :)

HAPPY V-DAY, DH!!! I love you with all my heart, and I can't wait for another 11 1/2 years!! :)

drum roll please.... :)

well, I guess now is as good a time as any. Yes, I am pregnant. I am 21 weeks along today. We are expecting a boy--which was the drama in an earlier post. I was convinced this baby was a girl, so it took me a few days to be excited to have a boy. I had early morning sickness, but now I am smooth sailing. I have been very fortunate to have easy pregnancies, and I hope this one goes equally as easy. I am due June 16th. My DR. has promised I will not go late, since he is leaving for vacation on the 17th. :) The boys are excited, and {a} could care less. :)

I don't really have a good picture of the baby, so you will have to live with this one instead. You can thank my photographer {K}. :)

If you have any name suggestions, we would appreciate it. I wont tell you the name we chose until the baby is born, but I would like any ideas, we seem to be stumped. I think girl names would be easier. (Maybe we should share ideas, Cara???) :)

I was visiting with my dad yesterday and he requested "MORE POSTS" on this here little blog of mine. I am totally convinced that there are only 3 of you out there in blog land that actually care whether I post or not, so I request with a full heart that you comment to let me know that you are really out there and that you do actually care if I post or not.(picture big head growing bigger with every new comment-tee hee)

So, he wants me to share that DH and I bought a new camping trailer this week. It is 27 feet long, has a queen bed in the front, and bunks in the back--a twin over a full size. There is a couch, table, kitchenette, and bathroom. It is perfect for us! I can't wait till we find a free weekend to take it out on her maiden voyage!!

(Just for you Dad. :))

so as I contemplate this "change" in my thinking, I was struck by a post from another LDS gal who just had baby #3 here. I think she has a wonderful way of words, and I love the way she mentions that she "chose" to be in this situation--and that she is loving every second of it.

mixed feelings. I just learned something wonderful, yet it's disappointing to me. So, I guess that's why I learned about it today and not later... :)

Happy Monday...

making progress

I think I have made progress already on my ONE LITTLE WORD. I am finding that I am a kinder person lately. I need to thank my HF for little inspirations to work this one this year. :)

#3 bragging rights--that counts for something, right?

so my dad offered up a challenge to all his kids to beat him in the football bowls that have been going on for the past couple of weeks. I quickly went on thanksgiving afternoon and, honestly, haphazardly picked out teams I thought would win. I looked at the percent of other people that had chosen each team to win, and most of the time went with the higher percent team, and a few I went against the grain and chose the other team.(ahem, BSU!!!!!). Well, dad reported the results today.

I earned #3 bragging rights. :) I chose 58% correctly. Which, I might add, was the highest percentage in our family. Ok, so there were only 4 of us participating, but still...

and, I was #1 for a day in our local papers rankings!! Yeah me! But, alas, dad and my big bro beat me overall. You know, if Georgia Tech and Texas had won--like they were SUPPOSED to, I would have won, I think. So, until next year, I will take #3 bragging rights and say, "Hey! Not bad for a GIRL!!" Tee hee.

thanks dad, it was fun to brag for a day. :)

ONE LITTLE WORD

So, I have decided. I have taken much thought this year to what my ONE LITTLE WORD would be. This has been a difficult, yet easy decision. (If that can actually be)... First, I knew what direction I wanted to head, I just wasn't sure which word would best be THE WORD to help me remember my personal goals for this year.
So, without further ado---

WHISPER Whisper \Whis"per\ verb
1. The act of speaking in a quiet voice.
2. To prompt secretly or cautiously; to inform privately

So, my goals for the year are, one, to consciously choose to speak in softer tones. I have decided that yelling is to only be used when actually necessary. Crazy, I know. Second, I hope to be in a place spiritually so that I can hear the spirit whisper to me.

I challenge each of you to choose ONE LITTLE WORD for yourself. I love how it makes me actively think about something that I need to improve and then to take the time regularly to think about that word and the goals associated with it and what I am doing to better myself.

eta: ok, so update on yesterday. I snuck a set of paper dolls for {a} and nothing for the boys. {A} did great! He basically just sat there. {K} was BORED!!! He layed on my lap and kept telling me he wanted to go out and get a drink. I swear, that kid is a broken record. I pulled out the paper dolls for {a} after I was done wrestling with her and I have decided that maybe 2 is too young for a little girl to appreciate the fine art of paper dolls. All she wants to do is stack all the clothes on top of the doll, and then SHOVE them all back into the bag. She really doesn't understand that if you bend the dolls or shove them into the bag that they wont be pretty, fun dolls to play with next week. Oh well. She bonked her head about 5 minutes before the end, so I took her and {K} out in the hall and then to the bathroom. All in all, I think it was a much better decision than I ever imagined. So, I think we will try it again next week.


now that we have "late church". (Late being 11 at our building) I have extra time on my hands to make blog postings... YEAH. (insert sarcasm here) I would really rather be just finishing sac meeting right about now than being here WAITING to go to church. DH has decided that the kids don't need toys to entertain them during sacrament meeting anymore. We'll see how THAT one goes today.

Also, I am still pondering my ONE LITTLE WORD. Getting close though, narrowing it down...

BECOME--revisited

It's nearly the end of 2009 and it's time to revisit my word for the year. BECOME. I feel I have made great strides in "becoming" a better mom, wife, and housekeeper. DH might not agree with the last one, but I do. I am still trying to decide my word for 2010. Check back in about a week, hopefully I will have settled on one by then. :)

JaDell

Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful holiday season this year. I am feeling very blessed to have a husband that loves and adores me, 3 wonderful children and a warm home. We had my family Christmas the weekend before Christmas and it was at my house this year. I quite enjoyed having it here. I dont know if anyone else did, but I did. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. All 3 of the kids were in a night parade with gma and gpa and had so much fun throwing the candy out. Santa was good to our family this year. {A} got a Lego Construction site including 2 cranes, a semi, a backhoe, a construction elevator and a building. We also gave him a slot car track--it is so cool! {K} got a Lego bulldozer and a neat marble run. We gave him a neat farm set. It was the year of the "girl" for {a} . She got a kitchen from Santa, a doll and my old cradle from DH and I and a stroller for her birthday earlier in the week. We chose to go to mom and dad's for christmas eve and had a wonderful time there. We also chose to stay home and not go anywhere for christmas day. It was so nice! In the past, I have felt lonely if we didn't go somewhere for christmas dinner, but it seems that with the kids a little older, it was nice to just stay home. I cooked a ham on christmas eve so all I had to do for dinner on friday was toss in some potatoes to bake and warm up the ham. So yummy and low key!
We feel quite spoiled this year. Hopefully 2010 will be equally as good to us as 2009.

ETA: in this case, no news is not good news, so I guess my olive branch has been thrown in the garbage... darnit.

without going into detail, I hope my olive branch is received well...

I survived.

I survived Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas with the in-laws, a morning by myself in someone else's house, a Temple trip, watching the football game, staying up til midnight every night we were gone, delivering Christmas to 2 friends, a wedding, helping in the kitchen at the reception, driving back to our place of rest at 10:30 at night, my baby throwing up during the night--in someone else's house, me throwing up in the shower--in someone else's house, driving home all sick like. Phew! I survived. Now bring on Christmas!! and the fact that I don't plan on traveling ANYWHERE for the next couple of months. :)

Congrats to K and J. The wedding was gorgeous, and I wish you the very best in your new life together! :)

{a} figured out how to open doors at our house yesterday. hooray.