sneak peek

I have finally finished the nursery!! And not a minute too soon... I think I may be in labor right now! Either way, I'm scheduled to go in to the Dr. tomorrow at noon and she wants to induce me if I am progressing at all (which I know I am). So hopefully, if all goes well, we should have our little darling here by tomorrow night! I had to post some pictures of her room beforehand since I have been promising my mom and sisters for weeks to get them up! So here is the grand tour of Nyah's room... it's pretty darn cute, if I say so myself! :) It turned out perfect for me!

View walking into the room:

Turn right:Turn left: Turn around (behind you):

Of course it will be even cuter when all those picture frames have actual pictures in them! I made the hanging tissue flower balls (thank you martha stewart!) - I think they turned out great. What do you think, Erin? (She was my inspiration!) I wish you could all come over and see it in person, it's just not the same in pictures. Oh well, let me know what you think anyway!

Gabe's big boy bed!

A while back I mentioned bunk beds for Gabe... well we changed our mind and got him a cute little twin bed instead. Even though we picked it up several weeks ago he hasn't slept in it until last night! I had ordered some bed rails and was waiting on those and then I'll admit, I put it off because I was afraid of the possible all-night-ordeal of changing over to complete freedom at bedtime! Well, our little man did pretty well last night - I was worried for no reason.... knock on wood, things can always change as I discovered with potty training!! Eric and I were so funny - we tucked him in then both of us hovered by the door listening and wondering what he would do! He just looked so small in that big bed - it was really weird putting our baby to bed like that. But he's not our baby anymore - he really is a little boy, through and through!
Anyway, he had a hard time falling asleep (was still moving around at 9:30pm) and got up originally to make a mess (maybe he thought he would be able to "clean up" and therefore prolong bedtime??) Well I foiled that plan, hee hee! When I came in to see what all the banging around was from, he eagerly got ready to clean up but I told him we would do it in the morning. I could tell he was disappointed, poor guy! But I certainly didn't want it to become a habit every night! As I tucked him in again and told him not to get up anymore, he told me he wanted his little bed...he didn't like his big bed. I felt so sorry for him! It really is a big change - probably hard to relax when things are so different. Even though he had the freedom to bring books and toys into bed (not allowed in the crib-which I have a good reason for, I'm not mean), he still was a little overwhelmed with it all. Poor sweetheart. It took a lot longer than usual but by 10pm he was asleep. I don't think he stayed in bed much before that but at least he never came out and never turned on the light. Eric and I were happily surprised! He didn't come in until 7am this morning and proudly told me "I get up, Mommy!! It's light outside!" He has never gotten out of his crib before so it was super cool to him that he could get up on his own. I just hope it doesn't give him any ideas in the middle of the night or, even worse, too early in the morning! :)



Here is a cute video of him in his new room - he loves his sports quilt! It is partially decorated -no blinds yet although they should be here today or tomorrow, thank goodness. I'm a little tired of living in a fishbowl!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

With as much Irish that I have in me, we could never let this holiday slip past without a celebration! I didn't quite make it out of bed in time to do a green breakfast :) but I did make a yummy Irish themed dinner. A leprechaun even dropped by and left a bunch of chocolate gold coins for us too! Gabe sure loved that part! For those of you that are wondering, the menu included Favorite Roast Pork, Colcannon, Cherry and Lemon Scones, and Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Butter. (I know the pork roast isn't particularly Irish but it was a lot easier than the alternatives and this year I decided I could cheat a little! Especially since I fell and sprained my ankle a few days ago and have been limping around on a swollen foot on top of everything else! Oh brother!) Anyway, it was a fun dinner - click on the titles to get the recipes from Sisters Cafe. Hope you all had a great St. Patty's too!

baby shower

My new ward gave me a baby shower - what a surprise! It was incredible... the decorations, food, presents... I am amazed at how kind and welcoming this ward is. Some of the women that came I had never even met before - in fact, most probably! It was so nice and made me feel so cared about. I feel so blessed to be a member of the Church. It's wonderful to be immediately accepted into a ward family when you move away from your family and home. I don't know what I'd do without that!

Here are some pictures of the party. I got some darling presents! Cheryl and Caitlynn were in town that weekend so they got to come too - fun!

"oh maaannn...."

I have discovered a little echo in my life... I had better really start watching what I say! Gabe has surprised me so many times with the things he says. A while back when he would drop something or a toy would fall over, etc, he would say "oh man" with a mildly annoyed look on his face. It was so funny! I never realized I said that so much! I'm starting to discover there are a lot of things I say out of habit without thinking. Lately he has begun "bossing" Daddy around with all the things I say to him(Gabe) all day. It is HILARIOUS!! For instance at dinner he is constantly reminding Eric: "it's hot, Daddy- blow on it, Daddy - don't eat it yet, it's hot!" or admonishing him to "be careful please" when Eric does just about anything! When we pray he folds his arms then politely asks "want to say it, Mommy/Daddy?". One evening he paused in the middle of dinner and asked me " how's it going? How's your dinner going?Is it good mommy?" He is so cute!! The best is when I mess something up he tells me "it's ok Mommy. Try again!" Or when he messes things up he tells both of us "it's ok. We'll fix it!" Oh my goodness, I could go on and on. He is downright adorable. I have one more partial conversation I have to share though. We were at dinner and Gabe was arguing with Eric that Eric was not a boy...

E: "I'm a boy too, Gabe"
G: "no you're not a boy, Daddy! you're a super man"(I don't even think Gabe knows about Superman)
E: "I'm a super man? Why am I a super man?" (Eric is loving this!)
G: "you run really fast!"
E: "Why else am I a super man?" (he just can't help fishing for more compliments!)
G: "eat your veggies, Daddy" (uh, obviously Eric has pushed it a little too far!!)

After that last comment of Gabe's, I was falling off my chair laughing... it was so funny!!!!!

interior designer

I had to share this funny story with you guys...it will probably be funny mostly to all my girls out there! Last night when Eric got home I was proudly showing him how I had unpacked all the books and arranged them in the entertainment center - a daunting task that took over 2 hours! I had also unpacked all the small decorations and placed them on the mantle away from curious little fingers until I could find places for them. Well Eric saw the mantle and with wide eyes asked me if I was going to leave it like that!! I was like WHAT?!! I'm no interior decorator but did he really think I arranged it all like that?! I mean he has lived with me for almost 5 years! I didn't know whether to start laughing or get seriously offended! :) Luckily for Eric I have acquired a sense of humor and can laugh at his occasionally absurd assumptions! Goofy guy. So anyway, now you all know why I haven't posted pictures yet. The boxes are mostly gone but things are not put away completely yet so the house looks a little funny! I gave myself 3 weeks to get it together and that deadline is coming up this weekend... so hopefully I'll be ready by next week!

There on the chair is Gabe watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the reason I can blog right now)! Isn't he cute? :)

The fashionable mantle... doesn't it just look perfect?! :)

the home stretch!

I only have 4 weeks to go... yahoo! Here is my tummy at 36 weeks! (Why do I feel so monstrously huge when in pictures I only look big??) I wish I had some pictures of me pregnant with Gabe to compare. Oh well. I think I'm about the same although I weigh as much now as I did with Gabe at 41 weeks... uh oh! :) I am getting so excited to meet my little darling. I'm really getting into that baby mode where I imagine cuddling and kissing and nursing my new baby and her smell and the feel of her little body in my arms and all the wonderful things about having a newborn. It's great because up until now I've been more concerned about knowing that I'll have no sleep for months and juggling 2 children, etc. Haha! Nature sure has it's ways of getting us ready for these little ones. I even feel softer inside, emotionally - do you know what I mean? Anyway, the big day is getting close...there is a light at the end of the long, dark, pregnancy tunnel! I'm just kidding (kind of). I know I'll miss the feel of her inside me for a little bit but I'm getting more excited to have her on the outside!!

catch up!

Hey everyone! It has been an absolutely crazy past 2 weeks but I am back online and ready to go! We are in our new, beautiful home and we are so happy! Even though I am stepping over boxes where ever I turn, it still feels great to be "home"! Unfortunately it has been a lot more than just unpacking and setting up internet, tv, energy, garbage (you know, all the annoying things you have to spend hours on the phone dealing with)... Gabe needed all new furniture since someone is taking over his stuff in a few weeks! So we have been shopping and he has a big boy bunk bed just waiting to be set up in his new room! Our little baby doll is going to need a whole bunch of girly stuff too so I'm set to go shopping, shopping, shopping in the next few weeks. Eric is thrilled, let me tell ya! :) But first things first... I've got to unpack a few more boxes. Once things get cleared up around here I will take lots of pictures of our home to share with you all. Maybe we will have a housewarming party... wish all you Utahns could come!

There are a few things I want to catch up with on. They were too cute not to share...

XOXOXO from Utah

Mom and Dad sent us the cutest package for Valentines. It came at just the right time too - I was up to my eyeballs in packing for our move and more than a little overwhelmed. Well, this sweet box full of treats and family love made Gabe and I super happy! He was SOOOO excited about the Thomas the Train movie... and the suckers! Haha - what a cutie pie! Thank you Mom and Dad - we sure love you!!

Grandma Cheryl (Eric's mom) also sent us a package that just arrived today. Gabe was ecstatic to be getting more surprises! He loved the train James (he has a real obsession with trains right now) and was so absorbed that he didn't even ask to watch a movie all afternoon and evening. Wow! :) Thanks Cheryl!!

Mmmmmmmm!

(This was so funny, I had to document it with pictures and all on our blog!) My friend brought over a some treats one day and Gabe and I enjoyed one each -yum! Then we covered them up (after I explained to Gabe that they would dry out if we didn't) and left them on the counter. Well, we both went about our business of packing and playing... after a while I came back in the kitchen to find this:

...the remains of our large plate of treats on the counter, missing it's tin foil and with a chair pulled up next to the counter. Note that each piece that was left over has at least one bite out of it and some have all the frosting missing. Those with frosting that survived were suspiciously wet... perhaps from a little licking?! Gabe was innocently playing with his toys on the floor. Hmmmmm.... I just busted up laughing - I could not believe he could eat that much! Of course I tried to keep a straight face and ask him what happened to our goodies. Well, he ran over and climbed onto the chair and explained to me that they were "not dry anymore, Mommy - not dry anymore" (referring to my explanation of why they had needed to be covered). No, they definitely weren't!! That got me laughing again. It was so funny! He certainly got his quota of sugar for the week (perhaps month) in one sitting! :)

(Here he is testing the brownies, yet again, to make sure they are not dried out! haha!)

Crash and Burn...

I really hate to say it but... Gabe is back in diapers. He started out so well - that is what is so frustrating! He can do it but the bottom line is: he won't! He doesn't want to. At first he did great - almost perfect from day one. I was so happy and so was he! But pretty soon he wouldn't go #2 on the potty... not at all, not for anything in the world! And I tried all kinds of fun incentives, treats and bribes. Gabe would get really enthusiastic about it all but when it came down to it... no way! Then in the last week he started having more and more #1 accidents as well until I was doing 2-3 batches of laundry a day and cleaning up messes (some of which you really don't want to hear about) several times a day as well. It was really discouraging to see him regress and pretty much refuse to do it even though he had been successful and I knew he was capable.

This morning we didn't start off very well - 3 fresh pair of undies before 6am - but I was still optimistic and determined to see it out. Well, by 6pm he had had 4 more #1 "accidents" during the day( I don't even count #2), a record high for him and I finally admitted defeat and put a diaper back on. He didn't seem to care at all. So after 2 weeks and 2 days, we are throwing in the towel. I can't tell you how disappointed I am! Not in my little boy or in myself either since I know we both did our best, but I'm just very discouraged about all the time and energy wasted these past 2 weeks. And also I feel guilty and worried that I've really screwed things up for him and that he'll be so confused about the whole thing now. He informed me he had had an accident while I was putting him to bed and wanted me fix it... what am I supposed to say? "Oh that's ok, honey, just pee your pants now that you have a diaper again. I know I have ingrained in your brain that we go on the potty but just forget I said that!" And I know he is going to keep waking me in the night crying that either he needs to go potty or that he had an accident.

What would I give to be able to go back to the bliss of easy life with a diapered 2 year old that would play in his bed until 7am and was so chill and relaxed. I wish I could go back and make the decision again- to just wait until he was 3... but the thing is I knew he could do it and I was right, he could and did. But I didn't consider if he would want to! Now I realize what a mistake that is. He has his own little personality and when push comes to shove, you can't force a child to potty train! (Not that I tried to force him but you know what I mean!) If things were different in life right now (like we weren't moving ourselves in 5 days and I wasn't over 7 months pregnant) I really would stick to it and keep working. But honestly, I just don't have the time or the emotional and physical reserves to continue this way!! So even though I envisioned a perfect situation of a potty trained Gabe when the baby came... I have been reminded again that life isn't perfect and you really can't plan it all out. Everything involving toddlers is unpredictable!

I don't often vent on our blog so thanks for indulging me! I have to end by saying that even though I'm really discouraged about the whole thing, I'm not disappointed in Gabe at all. He is the funniest, sweetest little guy. He is my buddy every day, all day. He constantly amazes me with how intelligent he is - the things he says and remembers are incredible and often hilarious! And he has the most tender and sensitive spirit. I couldn't love him more or be more proud of him. I'm just sorry I put us both through this ordeal because I hate to expose him to failure of any sort. Hindsight really is 20/20 though and in the long run it doesn't matter! Eric reminded me tonight that I did my very best and there's no manual for parenting (which made me feel better for some reason but also made me realize that there are a lot more experiences like this for me in the future... oh boy!) Well, all we can do is live and learn, I guess! :)

Eric's birthday surprise....

VANCOUVER, CANADA!! Where Eric and I spent the entire weekend...what a gorgeous city! My hubby has been saying since we moved here how much he wants to go see Vancouver but we have never made the time soooooo I thought it would be perfect to just kidnap him away for the weekend - force him to leave his work and enjoy himself!! Eric and I had a blast visiting Gastown, Granville Island, Robson Square, China Town and my favorite, Stanley Park. Even our little monster Gabe had a great time at home with Eric's parents (thank you Cheryl and Don!!) and didn't even miss us, I hear. Which I guess is a good thing, although I have to admit I was just a tiny bit disappointed to know that I could disappear one day and his happy world would go on as usual! I just tell myself that it's because he is such a well adjusted, cheerful child! hee hee :)
(There is Canada Place on the far left of the skyline in the picture below.)

Stanley Park is beautiful with its huge green trees covered in moss, view points like Lion's Gate Bridge and Prospect Point, and the Seawall surrounding the entire park where cyclists and walkers enjoy ocean and forest all at once. There are all kinds of things to see and do there. I can't begin to describe it - it's wonderful! Unfortunately it lightly rained all day (and to be honest I'm not in any condition to walk for miles at this point in my pregnancy!) so we didn't take advantage of any of the trails through the park but we did have a lot of fun driving around and seeing all the sights, getting familiarized with it all and planning our next trip this summer! We are going to bring the kids, our bikes and bike trailer, and picnic basket and make a day of it at Stanley Park... I'm so excited already! The totem poles...a must see in Stanley Park.Eric's favorite was downtown Vancouver for sure. He loves to see all the big buildings and beautiful architecture of different cities and this one was really pretty, even I have to admit! The cobbled streets and gas lights of Gastown were so quaint and picturesque...probably my own favorite part of the city. We only got to see Canada Place from a distance as it was closed in preparation for the Olympics but it was fun to see in real life anyway. What a neat building! China Town was spectacular with it's enormous gate and bright red lamps and banners. The markets and shop fronts were so fun to see there! But the highlight for Eric was definitely Robson Square where a lot of the Olympic preparations were being made. That was the place where things were happening, that's for sure!Aren't the blue roofs on those buildings behind Eric beautiful?!The ice skating rink at Robson Square.

These steps led down to the ice skating rink that was located directly under the street! The paintings on these steps were really fun to see. The pictures don't capture the scenes very well, sorry!

Gate of China Town...

What a fun get away! Can't wait for next time!!