2009 in Review

I did this last year and thought it was interesting, so I wanted to compare my answers from this year to the one's from last year. Here is my review of 2009!

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?

Made a pie from scratch, completely. I made cherry and banana cream. They were both delicious!

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Honestly, I never remember my resolutions. I've made 2 for next year though. 1) Lose more weight than I did after having Kennedy and 2) Read more non-fiction books.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Tons of my cousins had babies this year and my friends Noelle and Rebekah did too.

Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness.

What countries did you visit?

No different countries, but we went to Hawaii, California, Texas and Washington this year.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

A house, which we should be getting in April.

What dates from 2009 will remain etched in your memory, and why?

June - We decided that Brett would join the Coast Guard. August 1 - My mom got married.

What was your biggest personal achievement of the year?

Actually reading more than 15 books this year. I read 35, which was pretty awesome considering how little I've read the past few years.

What was your biggest failure?

Not paying off our credit card entirely - although that will be happening very, very soon.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing out of the ordinary.

What was the best thing you bought?

I really have no idea. Maybe some plane tickets or gas to get to Seattle?

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Brett's. He was in the bishopric this past year and gave up a lot of his time to do that, but he never complains.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Oh, so many politicians I can't even count or pick one.

Where did most of your money go?

Probably to food. Lame, I know, but we spend way too much money on food.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Getting to have a second baby and having a boy!

What song will always remind you of 2009?

Maybe Fireflies by Owl City.

Compared to this time last year are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Happier, fatter, richer (we have way less debt!)

What do you wish you'd done more of?

Given more undivided attention to Kennedy. I'm not neglectful, but I often get wrapped up in what I want to do or what needs to be done around the house. I've been trying to be much better about that lately, especially since we're going to have another one.

What do you wish you'd done less of?

Making messes

Did you fall in love in 2009?

With Brett and Kennedy, which I do often, but also with Noah.

What was your favorite TV program?

Lost, Fringe and 24

What was the best book you read?

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Owl City - so fun and clean

What did you want and get?

Pregnant :)

What did you want and not get?

Brett to get into the UVU nursing program, but the Lord works in His own way and now we have a new path to take.

What was your favorite film of this year?

Probably Up.

What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

I turned 24 and Brett and I went to Spark for dinner and then to a movie...I don't remember which one.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

If I had lost all of my baby weight from Kennedy before getting pregnant again.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Well, pretty average considering that I was out of maternity clothes in January and back in them in September.

What kept you sane?

Brett and Baby Einstein/Playhouse Disney.

Christmas Morning

We had a great Christmas this year with lots of family and tons of presents. Seriously, they just kept coming. We all got spoiled, but Kennedy really took in a haul. We left probably 97% of what we got in Texas since we'll be back there in 3 weeks anyway. We did get a nice surprise with a white Christmas too! Apparently it's the first one that Plano has had in 80 years. Brett was really mad because he thought that by getting out of Utah we wouldn't have snow. Unfortunately for him, we had about an inch and it was pretty cold. Kennedy woke up around 7:15 that morning and we went to go get her. She slept in her new Christmas jammies that were really cute.

Yes, I look extremely pregnant in that picture, and Kennedy looks very sleepy. When we started opening presents, Kennedy and Wyatt didn't really differentiate between their presents and just played with them all. We had to try and get Kennedy to come back and open presents because she was so interested in what she or Wyatt had opened that she wasn't interested in the next box. Here she is hoarding all of the books that she got - or trying to at least. They wouldn't all fit in her arms.

She ended up getting 3 doodle pads this year, and Wyatt got two. Apparently they weren't enough. She stole Wyatt's pad and had them both going at the same time.

Kennedy and Wyatt both got potato heads to play with, but they weren't satisfied with their own. Here is Kennedy with Mr. Potato Head and Wyatt with Mrs. Potato Head.

My cousin Orion (who is almost 3) and Kennedy both got tents for Christmas. We set up Orion's tent at my grandparent's house and Kennedy refused to come out of it. Wyatt would open the flap and look in and Kennedy would scream and laugh.

Kennedy and Orion kept going inside and playing together, which was really cute. I think Kennedy spent at least 60% of her time in that thing. Good thing we have one too.

We loved Christmas this year and had a wonderful time. We love being with family and are excited for Kennedy to be able to go back and play with Wyatt for a couple of months!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

As you know, we headed down to Texas for Christmas this year. Kennedy and Wyatt took to each other right away and played the whole time we were there.

On Christmas Eve we decided to go down to Grapevine to see the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan hotel. Apparently it was supposed to be pretty cool with slides made out of ice and such. It was Grinch themed and you could actually meet the Grinch. The weather was pretty bad (it snowed and we had a white Christmas!), we didn't have a toll tag in Christine's car, and we got lost so it took us an hour to get there. The walk to the exhibit was excruciating in the freezing wind, and when we got there they said it would cost $50 for just us 3 to get in and that their next available time was 2 hours later. Needless to say we did not go in. We just took pictures outside.

Kennedy and Wyatt loved the train they had set up. Kennedy actually cried when we made her get out of it. Then we all decided to pile in. Brett and I barely fit in that little teeny car.

In the lobby of the hotel they had a bunch of Christmas displays set up, including trains, villages, and a life size gingerbread house.

It didn't take us nearly as long to get home, and even though we didn't get to go in and had a huge ordeal in getting there it was fun to spend time with family and have some fun taking pictures! More Christmas pictures to come in the next few days!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to You!

I used a Sprinkles Cupcake mix on Sunday to make some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (my favorite). When Kennedy saw them she pulled out everything she knew to get one of them. She told me, "Want it!" and I told her no. So she tried to grab one and I said no. Then she went into broken record mode - "Please, please, please, please!" We decided that she deserved to tackle one, so after dinner we stripped her down first birthday party style and let her go at it.

She loved it, and even proceeded to eat all of the crumbs and frosting that she had dropped on the table. She even asked for a bite of my cupcake when she was finished.

She's actually pretty good about not making too big of a mess when we do stuff like this. Even so it took 6 wipes to clean her and the table up. On a different note, I am starting my third trimester today and have less than 100 days to go before baby Noah arrives! We're really excited for him to come and I'm really excited that I don't have that much longer to be pregnant! Although I don't mind being pregnant and I like feeling him move around in there, I think I prefer to have them out. :)

Must Have Been Old Santa Claus

We had an early Christmas this year because most of Kennedy's presents and a few of Brett's were much to big to lug down to Texas. Brett got a deep fryer, Monopoly and Punch Out for the Wii. I got to open some books that I had asked for and Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii. But Kennedy's presents were what really prompted us to do this. So on Friday night we set up all of Kennedy's toys and had her come out to them on Saturday morning. Here's what it looked like before she saw it.

Yes, she is a spoiled only child. I came out and started the Mickey Mouse train going so that she would come to investigate. Sure enough she didn't know where to start. She just kept yelling out random things like, "Mickey!", "Bear!", "Ball!", and "Choo choo!"

She absolutely loves the little couch we got her that turns into a bed with a built in sleeping bag. She changes it from couch to bed all day long and loves to sit in it.

We also got her a jumbo Mr. Potato Head pack that has over 50 parts. It's really messy. She likes to try and dress in all of the hats and such that it came with. She did this one all by herself.

She was so overwhelmed! Little does she know that she gets to have another Christmas, although it will be smaller, on Friday. It was so much more fun to see her have a great time with her presents this year than it was to see her open them last year. She didn't care nearly as much. It was so fun to set everything up and watch her face when she came in the front room in the morning.

Later that morning we went to go see Santa at the mall. Last year we got really lucky and were just able to walk right up to him. This year however, we waited in line for an hour to see him. Lately, very much out of character, Kennedy has had random bouts of clinginess. If we start holding her, she all of a sudden doesn't want to leave us, and she freaks out for the first 5 minutes that we leave her to go anywhere. Unfortunately, one of these bouts happened right before we got to Santa.

I guess we have to have some pictures of her freaking out. It's just classic. Santa was a good sport and we snapped pictures as fast as we could.

She was seriously struggling to get away. She kept talking about Santa all day long as if nothing had happened. Brett told her it was a good thing he'd already come, because after the way she had acted he probably wouldn't have brought her anything. Later that night Brett and I went up to Salt Lake to the This is the Place Heritage Park for their Christmas festivities. It was really fun! They have an entire village of old buildings (some relocated and some replicated) and they were all dolled up for Christmas. We watched a puppet show, saw some people making candles, and did some square dancing. We spent a great day together and really had a blast!

Lucky Stocking

Brett's work had a competition last week for the best homemade stocking. That morning, Brett decided that he wanted to enter and improvised. He grabbed a company shirt, scissors and some present tags and went to work. He sent me this picture later that day. He stapled the shirt together and folded a sleeve over for the top. The company logo is in the middle. For a shirt, staples and 15 minutes I thought it turned out pretty well. And so did the rest of the company! Brett won first prize which was a $50 gift card to Cheesecake Factory! I was so excited. Brett is ridiculously lucky when it comes to contests, and I'm really glad he won this one.

Like Father Like Daughter

First of all, for those of you who asked, we just got a Kodak C180 camera. It's nothing fancy, but it is definitely better than the last camera we had. Anyway, yesterday during my baking extravaganza (check my cooking blog for pictures and recipes!) I came out of the kitchen to find this.

I guess that Kennedy has basketball in her genes. She was totally enthralled with the Jazz game that Brett was watching - even to the point of ignoring the camera! It was really sweet to see her sitting with her daddy and watching a game. It's pretty normal for Brett to be in front of the TV when the Jazz are playing, but Kennedy is usually doing something else. I'm glad that she has so much time to spend with him before he is gone for 8 weeks!

We're giving our apartment complex written notice today that we are moving out next month. It seems to be creeping up on us so fast! Brett is getting excited, and so am I. We're not happy about the time apart, but the sooner he goes, the sooner he will come back. We are very excited to move somewhere new and find out all about it. In just a few weeks we will be saying goodbye to Provo, which has been my home for the last 5 years!

New Camera!

I finally got my new camera! I was not happy because I kept making food that I wanted to take pictures of and we had an early Christmas with Brett's parents that we couldn't take pictures of either. But now I'm a picture taking fiend! During that time Lucy decided to take over the biggest present we have.

It won't fit under our tree because it is between our couches, so it is sitting on top of our love seat. Lucy loves it and has chewed the tag off of it several times already.

We just kept taking random pictures last night because we were so excited to have a camera again.

And here's Kennedy telling me that she wants the camera. After the last accident, I don't think I'll be letting her hold the camera for a very long time. I'm so glad to be able to share pictures again! And be sure to check out my cooking blog because there's a new post there too!

Books Read 2009

Seeing as how I've been cross stitching a whole lot more than reading lately, I don't think I'll finish another book before the end of the year. In that case, I'm going to post all of the books that I read this year. The grand total was 35 which is a heck of a lot more than I've been able to read in years past, mostly due to school. I hope the format isn't confusing. Some of these were rereads for movies or just because I wanted to. I put a ^ next to those ones. I also put a star * next to the ones I particularly enjoyed. I hope I can find as much time to read next year, although something tells me that with moving twice and having a second kid, that's not going to happen. If you have any questions regarding specific books or authors, let me know in the comments!

Alias Grace Coraline* Raising Healthy Eaters: 100 Tips for Parents Frankenstein^ The Green Book The Partly Cloudy Patriot The Blithedale Romance The Name of the Rose*The Wordy Shipmates The Lightning Thief* The Thirteenth Tale The Screwtape Letters^* The Lord of the Flies^ The Sea of Monsters The Titan's Curse The Battle of the Labyrinth The Hunger Games* The Graveyard Book The Fire Kimono The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World Angels and Demons^ Stardust Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince^* The Last OlympianFahrenheit 451 Keturah and Lord Death A Curse Dark as Gold 1984* The Time Traveler's Wife^* Possession Brave New World^* Twilight^ The Lost Symbol Catching Fire* New Moon^

Kids Do the Darndest Things

Seeing as I still have no camera, and won't for a little while, I'm going to try and entertain you with a couple of the things Kennedy has done lately. She is so funny and is turning into such a big girl! She's very creative and very smart and I love being with her everyday to see what else she will come up with.

Lately she has been treating Rosie, her favorite bear, as a person. This morning while she was eating breakfast she started smashing her banana into Rosie's mouth and saying "num num num" and "share!", as if to say, "Look mom, I'm a good girl and I'm sharing!" She also decided that Rosie was thirsty and said, "Drink!" while pushing Rosie's face into her cup of milk. Thankfully, it didn't spill. She wants her bears to be dressed up lately and loves to put hats on them and sit them in her chair. Yesterday she made two of her bears kiss. It's really funny to watch.

Yesterday we decided to let Kennedy play MarioKart with us on the Wii, so we gave her her own wheel and character. She knows how to move the wheel, but not how to make herself go. When the race started she was moving her wheel just like us and all of a sudden she started saying, "Go go go!" Then out of nowhere she said, "Yes!" as if she'd just gotten something awesome. We were laughing at her, but then she yelled out, "Crap!" We almost couldn't play anymore because we were laughing so hard. The whole time we were playing she kept yelling those 3 things. She can't play the game, but she certainly knows how to react.

No Pictures for Another Few Days

Dear Camera,

Oh how I miss you. We will be buying a better one on Thursday, but that's still not until Thursday and we have to wait for it to get here. Sad. You can bet I will be taking lots of pictures as soon as it arrives!

Picture lady

Dear Kennedy,

Thank you SO much for sleeping until 8:00 this morning! After 4 days of waking up right at 7:00 and then refusing to take a nap it was very welcome. Now, please please please take a nap today. That would make mommy a very happy camper.

Thankful mom

Dear Snow,

You are so pretty! I was wondering when you would get here and now there is plenty to go around. You do make it kind of hard to drive and get around, but I guess we'll deal with that.

Winter lover

Dear Tummy,

Stop being hungry! I am desperately trying to not get as heavy as I did with Kennedy, and you are thwarting all of my efforts. I think I'm still doing alright, but I am starting to get worried.

Lady who can't lose baby weight

Dear Jo,

Thank you so much for buying our piano! We've been trying to sell it for ages to no avail until you came along. We are happy to keep it for another few weeks while you figure out how to move it, but we are just as happy that it is sold. We'll be happier when we receive our money, but for now, I am content. Now we just have to start selling off some other things and make this apartment empty.

Glad not to have to move the piano

Dear Noah,

Thank you for kicking so much and letting me know that you're there. I would, however, appreciate it if you would not always kick me so hard that it hurts. Thanks.

Your mommy

How Do You Manage?

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much having a child changes your life. Probably because I'm soon to have another one in the house. I have no idea what it is like to juggle two children, but I figure that literally billions of people have done it before me, so I will survive and adjust. Some of the things that Kennedy has been doing lately have made me wonder how it will be when I have several kids in the house who are her age or older. There are some cute, and some not so cute.

*Every time I ask her what color something is she says "Yewow." I don't know why yellow seems to stick in her head, because she actually knows some of her colors, but that's always the first one out of her mouth.

*We now have to buy a new camera because yesterday Kennedy dropped ours and bent the lens. I guess that should teach me not to let a 19 month old handle technology.

*Kennedy is getting into the movie stage. She is always wanting to watch something. "Mouse" (Ratatouille), "Kitty" (Aristocats), "Meeno" (Finding Nemo) and so on. What if our kids all disagree on the movie that should be watched at any given time?

*Kennedy has been coughing so bad lately that it makes her throw up, usually in the mornings. So almost everyday lately I've had to change and wash her sheets, multiple blankets and her bear.

To be honest, I don't even know how I am going to manage to give two kids a bath everyday. At least Noah won't need a bath everyday for the first little while. I am looking forward to seeing him grow, just like I love watching Kennedy grow. I am definitely a little bit nervous, but I'm sure that it will all work out in the end. Especially since I still plan on having more kids. It will be hectic, but it was hectic when Kennedy came and we adjusted. I would never give her back and I am so happy that she is a part of my life. I know that Noah will make me feel the exact same way.

O Tannenbaum

Despite the fact that I couldn't keep anything down until about 1:00 yesterday, we went out and got our Christmas tree. We found a beautiful grand fir at Lowe's and had a great time decorating it. It's so puffy! It looks huge in our apartment and I love it. Brett's sister Jamie went with us and got a tree as well. They decided to attach it to her car by roping it through the windows without realizing that she wouldn't be able to get into her car afterward. So poor Jamie was getting shoved in and out of her car through the window. We now have a house decorated for Christmas and are ready for that holiday cheer!

Oh Baby!

Oh man did Brett's turkey turn out beautifully on Thanksgiving! I wish I had taken a picture before it got carved up, but it took an hour longer to cook than we anticipated so it was in high demand! It really was wonderful though, and the gravy was pretty much the best gravy I've ever tasted.

It was a small Thanksgiving, and pretty much no one went back for seconds. After one plate and half a piece of pumpkin pie I felt sick. And then I realized that I had eaten so much that my belly button was sticking out. For those of you who don't know, towards the end of pregnancy that happens anyway. Mine hasn't done that yet, but it did that night.

And yes, I'm already huge. I'll be 23 weeks along on Tuesday. I've gained about 15 pounds so far which doesn't sound like a lot, but I still had some weight on me from Kennedy, so I got big fast. We have also finally settled on a name for this little boy. We had been going back and forth with lots of names and going through tons of lists, but in the end we came back to Noah. I know it's popular right now, but my name is a popular one and I have survived. In any case, we had a great holiday weekend, full of Black Friday shopping (which Brett got up at 4:30 for) and the BYU/Utah game. Also, I have put some new posts on my cooking blog, so check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I probably will not be posting too much this weekend, so I thought I would go ahead and do my Thanksgiving post today. Here are the things I have been most grateful for lately.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ - I am so grateful that everyone has access to this incredible gift. I am so grateful for the influence it has had in my life and in the lives of those I love.

My Growing Little Family - I'm going to have to go through each of these separately.

• Lucy - Her little fuzzy face makes me happy. On days when Kennedy is being a pill I am always so thankful that Lucy can take care of herself and is so quiet. I love when she comes to lay with me and get a pet - it makes my day.
• Baby boy - I am so grateful that he is growing so well and is so healthy. And even though his kicks are really hard sometimes, I'm glad to feel him moving around. I'm so excited to meet him in March!
• Kennedy - She is so sweet and so happy. In general she is an easy kid to take care of and spoils me big time. She is so smart and I love hearing her pick up on new words and concepts almost daily. I love her more every day and am so glad that she is part of our family.
• Brett - I am of course grateful for Brett. But I am grateful for him everyday. He is everything and more I could ask for in a husband. He brings me so much joy. He is constantly striving to be a better man and a better husband and father. He is so concerned about me and I see his love for me everyday. I am so proud of him for being brave enough to change the path he thought his life was going to take and I am excited to start this adventure with him. I am thankful everyday that Heavenly Father lead me to him and that we were married in the temple for time and all eternity. I love you!

Fairy Princess

Kennedy discovered her tutu last night. My mom bought it for her several months ago, and when we put it on her she had no idea how to act. But when she saw it yesterday she knew exactly what to do. She promptly asked me to put it on her and then donned her witch hat from Halloween.

She walked around like that for at least an hour until I told her she had to take it off for dinner.

Then she asked to put it on again this morning. She immediately also asked for the witch hat, but we had packed it up in our first round of packing last night. So she couldn't wear it, which was sad, but she looked just as cute walking around in her jammies with a tutu on. I came into her room and she was reading on her bed.

I guess she is going to be a girly girl after all, just a very active one. She has been discovering so many new things lately, I can never keep track of them, but she apparently is beginning to love playing dress up.

The Princess and the Pea

Yes, Kennedy looks slightly crazed in this picture. And yes, this picture has nothing to do with my post. She just has gotten really into her Minnie Mouse hat lately and loves to wear it around. Also, I updated my cooking blog with Banana Cream Pie! Go check it out! Anyway, I thought that I would just post a small list of things that Kennedy has been sleeping with at various times over the past couple of weeks. Brett keeps saying that eventually her whole room will end up in bed with her, and at this rate he's probably right.

*2 blankets - this is a nightly occurrence now

*2 bears - it's usually just one

*Pillow - even though she doesn't put it under her head

*Books

*Crayons

*Towel - last night Brett even took this off of her bed while we were praying, and when he went back in her room to cover her up she was snuggling with it

*A roll of wrapping paper - I'm serious about this one. I went in there after her nap the other day and there she was in bed with a roll of wrapping paper that she lovingly calls "stick".

Let It Snow!

love the (finally) cold weather and the little bit of snow we've had!

hate that we keep leaving Kennedy's shoes and good coat in the car so we can't always go outside

love that my friends and family keep having babies

hate that I still have 19 weeks before I can meet my little man

love that everyone keeps telling me how smart Kennedy is

hate that she's growing up so fast

love my new system. I'm making sure that every day I give 30 minutes of undivided attention to the house and to Kennedy.

hate that the house doesn't seem to get any better in just 30 minutes. Hopefully over time that will change.

love that Brett gets to be with us for the holidays

hate that he might not get to be there for the birth of this baby

love the beautiful snow on the mountains

hate that we can't drive up there as much now (not that it was truly frequent to begin with)

love my husband and all he does for me

hate nothing :)

Lazy Days

Kennedy had a hard time with daylight savings time. It took her about a week to adjust to the new schedule. Thankfully she now sleeps until a normal time again, but one morning she woke up at 5:45 and wouldn't go back to sleep. I decided to keep her up until her regular nap time, and she was exhausted. At about noon she was sitting on the couch like this with half closed eyes watching Playhouse Disney.

That was a hard day because she hardly even took a nap, probably because she was so exhausted when I put her down. We're glad to have her back on her normal schedule. I had to document these pictures, because not only did she look really cute, but she hardly ever sits still on her own for longer than a couple of minutes!

Midway Point!

I am officially halfway done with my pregnancy today! I have gone through 20 weeks and have 20 to go. I haven't even gained 10 pounds yet, which I'm really excited about since I never lost all of my weight from Kennedy. Hopefully my body feels like it already has plenty of weight and I won't put on as much. And the best news is that we had our ultrasound today! This baby is very healthy, no problems, and is measuring just about right for its due date. I know that you are all waiting for the news that you really want to know, so here it is -- it's a BOY! I had my suspicions (call it mother's intuition) and I was right. :) Brett is thrilled and I am excited to have a baby boy! I get to buy a whole new wardrobe too. :) We are having some serious trouble coming up with names, so any help would be great! The middle name is going to be Tyson, so I would love to hear suggestions for a first name.

Warning

There are consequences when you feed your child Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints.

To those of you with young children, I would not let them eat one unsupervised.

And on that note, I put up a post for Lemon Meltaways on my cooking blog! Look for the link on the side bar.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Dear Holidays,

I love this season! I love fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Yes, I am one of those people who start listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween, and I love it! It puts me in such a good mood. I'm having a great fall and looking forward to the rest of it!

Girl with Holiday Spirit

Dear Goatman Flats,

Thank you for not killing me. I was impressed by how good you were as a haunted house, considering that you were done by a family. I was not pleased with the chainsaw guy, but at least I saw him coming at the group before us, so I got out of his way more quickly. Brett said we went through too fast, but I think it was just right.

Haunted House Amateur

Dear Holiday Baking,

You have officially begun! After getting 4 winning cookie recipes from last year, I am continuing my hunt for traditional Christmas cookies. At Brett's request I will be trying Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints today. I'll let everyone know how they turn out!

Avid Baker

Dear Baby,

I wish you would move a little bit more. Kennedy was more active at this point (I think) and it's driving me nuts that I can't feel you that much! Get big and strong and kick mommy!

Worrier

Dear Stonecrest,

Thank you for finally fixing all of the holes in our walls! I am so glad to have the bathroom cabinets back, and it's nice not to have the light from the bathroom disturb Kennedy's sleep. I hope we never have to deal with leaks like that again!

Glad I'm Not A Homeowner

Pumpkins and Boo at the Zoo

I promised pumpkin pictures, and here they are! The two smaller ones are the cute regular pumpkins (the one on the right is mine) and the others were definitely more complicated. The Waddoups came over for our 4th annual pumpkin carving/movie watching extravaganza and Kim and Brett went nuts on their pumpkins. Kim carved a ghost family which was so cute, and Brett went with the Utah Jazz logo.

They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. :) We had a great time. We got up the next morning to go to Boo at the Zoo. I have been trying to go for several years, but things kept coming up. This year, we didn't let anything get in our way. We dressed Kennedy up in her witch costume, and she was darling.

I'm going to try to get a better picture for you before Halloween, because it really is a cute costume. We headed out and saw tons of kids and families in costume. It was so much fun! We trick-or-treated at a bunch of stands set up around the zoo. Kennedy loved getting all of the free goodies that included pencils and eggnog. Weirdly enough she guzzled the eggnog. We got to see the baby elephant who is only a few months old too.

Kennedy's favorites were the monkeys and the zebras. Every time she saw a monkey she'd say, "Monkey! Ooh ooh!" She really enjoyed seeing all the animals and was really interactive. She was so tired afterward that she even fell asleep in the car, which never happens.

We had a great time with our Halloween activities, but they aren't done yet! On Thursday we are venturing to a haunted house with Brett's brother and sister. I'll make sure to give a full report.

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!

One of Kennedy's favorite games is to have us smell her feet.  We started this when she was very small and her feet never smelled.  Now, on the other hand, they do smell from time to time, but the game has already been started.  And she thinks it's hilarious.  It goes something like this - Kennedy sticks her foot out as an invitation to sniff.  She usually alternates feet every time.

Mommy or daddy smells the proffered foot, makes a face, and says, "Oooooweeeee!  Stinky feet!"

And Kennedy cracks up.  You should click on the picture to make it bigger so you can really see her face.  She's laughing really hard.

She gets such a kick out of it that we do it all the time.  Hopefully this won't continue too long into her childhood, because I'm sure that her feet won't be so unoffending in a few years!

Pumpkin Patch

I had some other cute pictures from before we got there, so hopefully they will upload later. But in any case, we went to the pumpkin patch in Santaquin last night to pick out our pumpkins to carve. We went last year too, and you can look at the post here. Kennedy had a blast. When we got there she just went crazy saying, "Pumpkin! Pumpkin! Pumpkin!" She couldn't decide which one she wanted. But this one finally won out.

We started taking some pictures, but she was so entranced by the pumpkins that she couldn't look at the camera.

Kennedy and daddy made some pretty cute ghosts.

And we became a family of pumpkins too. We had a great time on the hayride and running around the patch. But poor Kennedy did a face plant, and we didn't see the damage until we got back into the light.

Poor thing really got scraped up! This picture doesn't do it justice, she really got some good scrapes on her cute little face. We had a great time! We'll be carving them on Friday night, so look out for pictures then! And I will be updating the cooking blog today with Pumpkin Scones with Autumn Spice Glaze. So far, we're having a great fall!

A New Bed

That's right, we made the switch. We ordered a toddler bed for her a couple of days ago and weirdly enough, it got here early. So Brett set it up and we decided to take the plunge. I was really scared to try this because she only turned 18 months old yesterday and she is a very independent and rambunctious child. So we did her night time routine and hoped. After a few minutes, we didn't hear any noise, so we dared to check.

She was curled up in a ball on the non-railed side of the bed, completely asleep. She slept until 8:00 this morning, which almost never happens. And right now she is fast asleep for her nap.

When it was finally set up last night she had a blast! She walked in and laughed. She just got on it and played. And this morning when I went in there, she knew that she could get out of the bed, she just didn't try when it was time to go to sleep. I thought for sure that this was going to be the challenging transition since she hasn't had a problem with anything else, but I guess we just got lucky. Seriously, she was off her bottle within a couple of weeks of turning 1, she never even took a pacifier, and she could care less if she was drinking formula or real milk.

She is just an easy and adaptable girl! And we can't call her a baby anymore, because she doesn't even sleep in a crib.