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In case you haven’t heard through the grapevine, we found out this morning we are having a girl! She looks healthy and is on target to arrive at the end of May. Allie has been saying it’s a girl all along so I’m glad I didn’t have to disappoint her with other news.

Now I’m going to have to sort through all of Allie’s old baby clothes and see what’s still usable. We also need to come up with a name for her. Deciding on a name has always been hard for us. Luckily, we still have 5 more months to decide. (BTW, when we told Allie the baby is a girl, she leaned over and whispered to me, “I want to name her Tinkerbell.” Hmm, not so sure about that one hon).

Here’s a scanned picture. That is her foot above her forehead and her knee above her chin. She’s a flexible one.

This picture doesn’t show it well, but he has a rash all over his body.

This winter is beginning to seem extremely long. Now that I have two kids, I have double the illnesses to deal with. Both kids seem to catch every bug that crosses their path and then they pass it to the rest of the family. This past week has been especially hard on Luke. He had an infection that he has been taking antibiotics for, had a fever for three days, now a rash (Roseola), a slightly pink eye, diarrhea, eczema and of course a runny nose that he seems to have had all winter long. I don’t remember Allie being this sick when she was his age (however, with preschool and primary she is probably passing the germs to Luke).

Although its been a rough week for us, I did have an extremely sweet moment with Luke. One night Luke woke up and was inconsolable. After an hour of trying all the usual tactics to get him back to sleep, nothing was working and I was desperate. So, I laid down with him and we snuggled in bed. He immediately stopped crying and he started to gently caress my arm with his fingertips; up and down, ever-so lightly, for a good 20 minutes. (This is very unusual for him as he normally swats, pinches or claws). He went right back to sleep after that. It was precious and a moment I will probably never forget.

I’m hoping for a healthy and well rested week ahead. Especially since Jake is going out of town for the weekend.

It rarely snows here in NC so when it does, it’s a big deal. Schools closed, businesses closed, church activities were canceled. The state stopped for 4 inches of snow.

I begged Jake to stay home and play in the snow with us for a little bit. Unfortunately, he was too busy… that is, until UNC canceled all classes due to the snow. So Jake came home a little earlier than normal and he and Allie made a snowman. Luke and I only stayed outside long enough to take some pictures then headed inside to our warm, cozy apartment and made hot chocolate for them. It was a fun snow day!

It would take WAY too much time to tell you about all that we’ve done in the past month. So here are some bullet points and some pictures to go along with them:

I taught preschool and threw a Preschool Christmas party

Allie and I went with our girlfriends to Disney on Ice. Allie was in heaven!

Went to the Raleigh temple to see a Live Nativity Scene and show Allie the temple. They also had a room for kids to dress up and Allie had fun dressing up as Mary. She couldn’t stop kissing the baby doll.

Went to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro

We had a Christmas Eve dinner with some friends

Christmas morning was so perfect. Allie got EVERYTHING she wanted (way too much princess stuff). It was such a peaceful and relaxing day.

We went to Corolla, NC to a beach house with some friends over New Years. It was freezing so we mainly stayed indoors. We played lots of games and soaked in the hot tub.

We had a wonderful month but we missed family greatly! One of my goals this year is to update this blog more often…I’ve been slacking. Happy New Year to everyone!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Normally we feel a little homesick on Thanksgiving but this year we were too busy to feel sorry for ourselves. We hosted the feast at our apartment and had a full house. There were fourteen people and a dog. We had so much food, the dog even feasted. Here are some pictures:

This is the first turkey I’ve ever made. It turned out very tender and delicious, if I say so myself. I used the Homestyle Turkey, the Michigander Way recipe so I can’t take too much credit. Anything smothered in butter will turn out delicious.

The gang about to dig in(minus me, two babies and the dog).

YUM!!! Turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, rolls, corn on cob, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, stuffing, homemade baked beans, raspberry jello dessert, and deviled eggs. Not to mention there were appetizers: veggies and ranch, cheese and crackers, pumpkin muffins with cream cheese icing. And of course we topped off the evening with some chocolate pecan pie, pumpkin cream pie and ice cream.


Allie’s meal consisted of crackers, muffins, rolls, pie and ice cream. A nice well rounded meal.

Luke watched from the sidelines.

After dinner we exercised it off by playing Wii boxing matches. We had some good laughs watching each couple take each other on. Allie got into it as well.

We had a Thankful Tree. Every day in November Allie would say something she is thankful for and we’d put it on a leaf and onto the tree. She came up with some interesting things: wishes, princesses, beds, bags. She also came up with some very meaningful things: family, friends, home, food, Jesus Christ, church, prophet.

Lastly, I want to say how grateful I am for my darling children, amazing husband, perfect parents, siblings who I adore, wonderful in-laws and super fun friends. I’m also grateful for my health, my home, and for the food that we have. My Heavenly Father and Savior are especially important and I’m extremely thankful that I know of them and their plan for me.

Allie absolutely adores Cinderella right now. So, Cinderella she was. She got to wear her costume a lot this year. The Halloween fun began a week ago at our Ward Trunk or Treat. She scored lots of candy. Then she had a preschool party on Thursday where they told ghost stories, decorated cookies, and paraded around the lobby of our apartment buildings. On Halloween morning she dressed up again in her Cinderella costume to dance and twirl and shake her sillies out at her dance class. That afternoon, we went to the student-housing festival. She got her cheek painted, decorated cupcakes, made little crafts, etc. Then we came back to our place and had some friends over for taco soup and corn bread. After dinner we went to another festival. We decided she had plenty of candy left over from the church party so she didn’t need any more. The festival had lots of games for little kids and they would get a toy for playing. When Allie woke up this morning I asked her what she wants to be for Halloween next year. Her reply: “naked girl.” That truly is her next favorite costume. I have to force her to wear clothing most days. Don’t worry, I won’t let her be naked girl next year…it just made me laugh so I thought I’d share.

Jake and I were lame…we didn’t dress up.

Our pretty princess.

Luke was a leopard for Halloween. Allie wore the same costume when she was a baby. I put their pictures side by side and was surprised at how similar they look. Can you tell who is who? This quiz shouldn’t be too hard.

Every year Jake is invited to attend an accounting conference at BYU in the fall. This year we decided to go as a family and extend the stay for two weeks. We had a wonderful time. We got to see almost everyone in the family, except Kelli and Matt and David (my bro) and Jill. We missed them a lot. Every day was packed with family fun. It’s almost too much to document. Hopefully, the pictures will fill you in on what we did. Thanks to everyone for housing us, feeding us and making the trek to Utah to visit us. We miss you all already.

I’ve been tagged by two different people. I’m catching the hint…we need to update our blog more often. So, here’s tag #1:
SEVENS
7 things I can do:
1. Eat pasta at least once a week (I’m sure I could eat it every day…but I don’t for my family’s sake).
2. Swallow a huge prenatal pill (no, I’m not prego again…I just have to continue taking it while I nurse). And just so you know, this is a huge accomplishment for me. I used to have to crush up any pill and take it with cottage cheese. Sick!
3. Take a four minute shower (although I’d rather not). I have to be quick these days or Allie will tackle, squeeze, roll, hug, lay on and wrestle Luke. I’m just waiting for the day when Luke starts crying the moment he sees Allie in anticipation for what’s to come. For now, though, he’s all smiles when she’s around. I guess he likes to be roughed up.
4. Make some mean salsa.
5. Make up silly stories. Every time Allie needs to use the potty, she asks me to tell her a story while she goes.
6. Plan parties. I enjoy planning baby showers, birthday parties, etc.

7 Things I can’t do:
1. sing
2. sew
3. Play an instrument
4. Handle stress well
5. Get Luke to sleep longer than 2 hours at a time at night. (He thinks he’s still a newborn).
6. Lose at the game of Boggle against my hubby
7. Win at the game of Trivial Pursuit against my hubby.

7 things that attracted me to Jake.
1. His charm.
2. His spirituality.
3. His sense of humor.
4. His constant desire to give to others
5. He’s a very intelligent person.
6. His big broad shoulders and small butt.
7. The way he loves me.

7 things I say most:
1. Oh my goodness.
2. Buster-doosy and Lukey-Poke
3. Stop! Don’t! No!
4. Oh, I love you.
5. Give me kisses.
6. Do you need to go potty?
7. That’s silly.
Hmmm…can you tell that I spend most of my day with little ones?

7 People I admire most (keeping this similar to Maran’s)
1. Jake
2. My mom and dad
3. President Hinckley
4. President Monson
5. Jesus Christ
6. My siblings
7. My in-laws

7 favorite foods
1. pasta
2. A big, juicy hamburger
3. avocadoes
4. Strawberries and raspberries
5. anything with peanut butter and chocolate in it
6. Anything with whipped cream on it
7. Chips and salsa

7 people to tag
1. Hollie
2. Jill P.
3. Danielle
4. Jill D.
5. Steph
6. Shirley
7. Diana

TAG #2- Here are my seven quirks:
1. I like to be wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. Everything, from shoulders down, have to be covered. Jake and I have separate blankets because I usually end up hogging them all.
2. If I find a meal that I like at a restaurant, I stick with that same meal every time (i.e. Café Rio’s Chicken Salad…I’ve been to that restaurant at least 30 times and have not tried anything else).
3. I love to pick at my baby’s earwax and boogers.
4. for some odd reason I’m anti-medicine. When I came home from the hospital after my c-section I filled my percocet (pain reliever) prescription but did not take one pill. I avoid taking any medicine unless I can’t stand the pain anymore.
5. I drool during naps and only day time naps. I never drool at night (at least I’ve never caught myself), but if I sleep during the day, there’s usually a pool of wetness on my pillow when I wake up.
6. I have a hard time falling asleep if Jake’s not in bed with me. It just doesn’t feel right to have a large bed to myself. For some reason I am comforted when my snoring and constantly moving husband is lying next to me.
7. I get extremely embarrassed whenever Jake honks the horn at other drivers. To this day I have not used the horn for anything other than saying hello to someone.

So there they are. We’ll be updating again soon with pictures from our trip to Utah. Stay tuned.

We headed south to Myrtle Beach, SC last week for a much needed vacation. Our hotel was right on the beach so we spent most of our time in the water. When we weren’t at the beach or swimming in the hotel’s many pools, we hit the outlet mall and Alligator Adventure. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable stay and hope to continue this summer tradition until we move away from North Carolina. Here are some pictures:

This was our view from our balcony. Luke was kind enough to wake us up early so we could watch the sun rise on the Atlantic ocean. Although I would have rather been sleeping, it was beautiful! (I didn’t get a picture of it though).

As soon as both kids were awake, we ate a quick breakfast then headed to the beach. I think this was around 7:45AM.

Here’s Jake and Luke taking a walk. Both weather and water were warm…perfect! However, a few hours later the rain clouds rolled in and started pouring. We would have continued playing on the beach had we not had a 3 month old with us. So instead, we went swimming at the pool.

The hotel had five different pools; three of them were specifically designed for children. They had an indoor and outdoor section. Allie loved the pool, however, she steered clear of any tipping water buckets. She didn’t like getting her head wet.

Here’s a picture of the outdoor kiddie pool.

Jake and Allie chillin in the lazy river.

We were waiting for an animal show to begin at Alligator Adventure. Luke wasn’t as excited about it.

Allie got to pet a baby alligator. It was extremely humid there, hence the crazy hair we both have.

Luke fast asleep in dad’s arms. Yes, those are alligators behind him.

We got to watch them feed the alligators raw chicken. Holy schnikes those are some scary creatures!

They did have other animals and reptiles, including this very large tortoise.

Here is an albino alligator. Quite an ugly site.

So, can anyone tell me the difference between a crocodile and alligator (without cheating and googling it)? I found out the main difference at one of their animal shows.

When we arrived home we bathed the kiddies and put them to bed.

On Wednesday we went to Lake Jordan for a birthday party and it was so much fun. The lake had a playground, picnic tables and grills, bathrooms with changing rooms and showers, sand to play in and the water was so shallow I didn’t have to worry very much about our fearless Allie. I don’t know why we haven’t been going to the lake once a week. It’s only 25 minutes from us. Anyway, here are some pictures from the lake:

I was sitting down…that’s how shallow it is in the swimming area.

Luke taking five.

He’s got the same concerned look that Allie had as an infant.

Hours of fun in the sun!

Allie started her dance class on Friday. She loves it. Here’s our pretty princess ready to go to class.

We are off to Myrtle Beach, SC for a much needed vacation. We’ll post pictures when we return.