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