The quiet game begins..........NOW!

Wyatt said this about twenty time is the car tonight. Obviously the quiet game doesn't last very long in our car.

We just got home from the ward Trunk or Treat. The entire eight minutes after we stepped in the door, Talia had us all laughing. Lincoln told them to take their costumes off, and put pjs on. They both started stuttering and scrambling, "but, Mom...Mom said....we could have...Mom said...one piece of candy." (They already had a ton, I am not that mean.)

We let them dump their candy on the floor to see all of its glory.

Talia started to open a box. I noticed it was HOT TAMALES, and motioned for Lincoln to watch her. Both of us were laughing as she took a bite, after I told her it wasn't a good choice. Lincoln was handed a half chewed piece of candy. She started to unwrap her second choice, and I began to pick up her pile of candy. She wasn't happy about that, and franticly started gathering arm fulls of sweets at her feet. Then she sat on them, and fluffed her dress so not a single piece would be seen. I said, "Talia, your pencil is right behind you. Get it before it rolls under the stove." She wouldn't budge! She knew exactly what I was trying to do.

Then it was up to bed. It is hard to put a sugar wired three yr old to bed.

(Natalia was dressed as Cinderella, and Wyatt was a knight. They looked wonderful.)

This weekend was supposed to be my family photo day. I had to cancel because it has been raining here for two days straight. Today actually turned out to be a nice day, but it was still so soggy. Speaking of rain, Wyatt went to a pumpkin patch with his class on Friday. In my gut I thought they would cancel the trip. Rain filled the entire forecast. He was wearing an undershirt, and a long sleeve t-shirt, and then I put him in a windbreaker. I should have put him in a winter coat! Poor boy was freezing. He did have a good time though. They found his Transformers lunch box this week. It was in the lost and found. (Did they check there before?) I jokingly asked him if there was a moldy sandwich inside as I opened it. There was a moldy sandwich inside! SICK! It was over a month old. Thank goodness for ziplocks!

Today, we went to the gym, to Mimi's Cafe for lunch, then Wyatt had a birthday party, and then we went to the church. It was such a busy day, and I can't believe it is over.

We did it....

We booked a Disney Cruise! I am so excited. I have wanted to go for almost THREE years! (Thanks for all the help booking, Corinne.)

I decided we were going to go. It really is the perfect time for us. I can't go on the ship when I am over 24 weeks of pregnancy, Talia is three now and can go in the different child activity areas (as opposed to only the child care center), and if we wait until after the baby...I will have to wait THREE more years. See....perfect timing. Lincoln disagreed, and turned on his money saving mode. RUDE! He only goes into money saving mode when it is something I want to splurge on. =) We went back and forth about going for a week or more. Then last night Lincoln came home to an exhausted wife, and a naughty three year old. I asked him to go and check on Talia, and said the words "I am done with her!". After a minute I remembered he had just got off a long flight, and was probably starving. I went upstairs to trade places with him. I told him there was homemade soups downstairs (Chicken noodle from Monday, or Potato from Tuesday), but he wouldn't leave. He said "I just want to be with you," and then he made a sad face. I asked him what was wrong. He said he just had the scariest flight of his life. People were screaming! The plane dropped hard and fast, and all the drinks flew into the air. The plane was pushed violently from side to side by strong air currents. Lincoln thought, "if my wife was on this flight, she would be bawling." Lincoln used his blanket to clean up spilled soda on man on his row. He comforted an elderly lady next to him, and helped the man just across the aisle that was panicking. After he told me about the flight he said, "so I was thinking, let's go on that vacation."

Can I just say, the way he helped those people on the plane is TOTALLY like Lincoln. He is always willing to help others in need. I love this quality, and it is one of the reasons I fell in love with him.

We are going on the cruise right after Thanksgiving. I guess the bad news, is we aren't going to Utah for Christmas now. Lincoln won't have enough vacation days.

Just had to share! =)

She bathes in Evian......or Crocs.

We have had a busy week. I mostly watched my friends' kids this week, so from Tuesday to Thursday I never left the house. On Wednesday I made this beautiful grocery list, and I spent a lot of time making it. What is a beautiful grocery list, you ask? It is organized into sections of the store, Dairy, Produce, Meats, Misc Home, Misc Food, and Frozen. I had complied a menu for this week and part of next, and written all the ingredients I needed to make those meals. I even made a separate menu for the fridge, and the cookbook/page numbers were written next to each meal. Then the best thing happened, Lincoln said, "I'll go to the store for you." Woohoo! I hate to shop, especially when I am tired. I set the meal list and grocery list on the counter by the microwave when I was clearing the table for dinner. When I went to pick it up later it had vanished into thin air. "Natalia," was my first thought. All four of us searched this house. Natalia asked for a piece of gum (nothing new) and I told her if she found my grocery list I would give her TWO! She said "I will chew two pieces of gum in two minutes! I will be right back!" She came back with a tuber (as in Tubers and Zots). I ran up stairs as started a bath for the kids, came back down and kept searching. Talia came up to me a few minutes later, okay MANY minutes later, and said "The bath is ready, I turned it off." Oops. Forgot about that. I hope they enjoyed such a deep bath. =) Anyway, I sent them up to get in (I tested it, not boiling hot), and came up right after them. Talia was already sitting in the tub with her hot pink crocs on! What a nut, she wasn't wearing them when I sent her upstairs! The wonderful grocery list was never found, until today....Sunday. Lincoln came home early from church. (story below) He got some crayons out for Talia, and my list was inside a craft box with green foamies stuck all over the back. I knew she had taken it!

We drove two cars to church today. Lincoln was going to drop his off at the mechanics after church. The alignment has been pulling to the left, but it miraculously fixed itself after he put air in his tires. =) After dropping Talia off in the nursery, they gave her back to us five minutes later! Why? Because she was coughing! Raise your hand if you have EVER heard Natalia cough. Does she sound like she has the croup even when she is healthy? Yes. Did she get the nickname "Baby Darth" when she was two weeks old for breathing like him? Yes. They did say she coughed up some gunk, which is not like her. That is probably why she was coughing, but she hasn't coughed again all day. I just laughed. I am going to get a note from my doctor, not really for the nursery at church....but for the childcare center at the gym. I do not want to get pulled out of the water and sent home, because she is coughing. Luckily we had two cars, so Lincoln just took her home instead of trying to chase her for two hours in the hall.

Oh, this post is getting too long. Short version for everything else.

Lincoln and I went on a double date with Christie and Brent to the Cheesecake Factory. Yum.

Saturday morning I got to go shopping with Christie. I got tons of cute stuff and it was all on sale.

We picked up our sitters, that happened to be friends, on our way home. We told them they could get together with our kids and walk to the tot lot. They did and had such a good time (the sitters and the kids). They also planned dinner together, and made cookies. Natalia was covered in chocolate when I got home, I wonder how many cookies she ate?

We went to the Renaissance Festival, and had a wonderful time. I could sit in one spot and just people watch for hours. There are some crazy people there! We didn't have a lot of time to spend, because we spent over an hour sitting in traffic on the way there. While we were walking the mile through the parking lot to the festival, we passed a super drunk woman (it was 3:00 pm) who was dressed very elaborately. She was walking with a man that was even more elaborately dressed. She was walking crazy zigzags through cars, and he said "Where are you going?". She replied "Somewhere where my feet don't hurt!" Isn't that the funniest thing? I will quote her for the rest of my life. It was so nice to go without the kids. We looked in just about every shop! We tried some crazy food, and some how all I ate the entire time was desserts! I had an ice cream sundae in a waffle bowl, a deep fried snickers, and a chocolate dipped frozen banana. When I got home I wanted to die, and I wanted something super healthy to eat. Lincoln was willing to run to the store to get me a watermelon! This was the last weekend for the festival and I am glad we were able to sneak in a visit.

When we got home I had to put chocolate dipped Natalia in the tub. I was helping Wyatt out of his shirt, and heard a spraying noise. I turned around and Talia was emptying a bottle of evian water into her bath. It was a new bottle, I had only taken two drinks out it. She wanted to play with the bottle in the tub, because it had a squeeze top.

Here are a few funny things Wyatt said this week.

*Lincoln wanted to have venison for dinner again. I said, "Please don't make me eat that today!" Wyatt said, "Mom, you could just have a delicious salad!"

*One morning I was in his room, and asked Wyatt to make his bed. He started making it and said, "I am going to make it nice, like the maids!" Rude, I guess all those times I made it, it wasn't nice. =)


*We were at Costco with Christina and Eli for lunch. I needed to run and grab milk. (Ya right, that is all I left with!) I put both kids in the cart, which looked a little funny because Wyatt is so big. I just didn't want to deal with dawdling. On the way out of the store, Wyatt located both ends of the seat belt. He tried to pull them together, but only made it as far as his sides. Then he looked at me and asked "Does this come in a larger size?" I laughed all the way to the car.

Big Sigh.

I am done...for now. =) I have finished proofing all my sessions. (pictures below) I have a bunch of very happy clients, now to get them to order LOTS! One is for a super cute friend of mine that is starting up an accessory business. I trade her for haircuts...and of course for the fun of it too. Now I can say I have done commercial work! =)I wish her all the luck in the world with this new business, and I know that good photography can give her a nice boost. The two boys are from a session that was a referral from Christina! Thank you Christina!!! They were so fun to work with.

While my Mom and Dad were here, my Mom made a comment about getting us some new garbage cans. Lincoln said that we didn't need new ones and that our cans were "FINE". Then I went and looked at them.....splitting up the side, horrible permanent goop in the bottoms, handles hanging on by a shred of plastic. Yup, they looked fine to me too!! =) So we bought two new wonderful garbage cans, with lids and wheels! There is a BUT to this story. My dear husband still puts the trash in the old disgusting cans! Today, I had to drag these two smelly cans to curb. Why is he boycotting the new cans? I just don't get it!

Jumping Bean

We looked up on the ultrasound screen, and it looked a little bleak. I couldn't see a heartbeat flicker, and I held my breath. As the technician looked around the baby jumped, and wiggled. She said, "well, I know it can't do that without a heartbeat," and then she located it. What a happy day. Lincoln came a grabbed my foot, and gave me a big smile. I feel very relived. I also wanted to thank you all for the prayers and well wishes. I felt so much calmer the day of the appointment.

I need to figure out our scanner so I can post the picture.

Oh, the heartbeat was 150, so my Mom said "it's a boy!" We shall see. =)

A report.

My Mom and Dad just called me and said, "We are calling for a report!" She was so excited, and the first thing I thought of was that my ultrasound appointment wasn't until tomorrow. Silly me, she meant a report on the So You Think You Can Dance concert!

It was DIVINE! I was so giddy to be there, it really did my spirits a lot of good to go.

First because Lincoln was gone, I called up my good friend Corinne to see if Christie and I could join in on their evening a bit. Corinne, Jann, Jenni, Cami, and her husband Jake planned to have a yummy dinner at Qdoba. We got take out and then met at Cami's to watch a few highlights from the show. Then we all hopped in Cami's van, which was such a blessing for me. Five words; stick, traffic, high heel boots.

The concert started with the top ten dancers, and every once in a while they would surprise us with a dancer that was not in the top ten. The first of which was HOK! They did a breakin' routine with all the breakers. Then a routine from the show that showcased Danny with Anya, was performed but it was Danny and Jaimie. I was a little sad because Anya wasn't going to be there, but then they brought her out with Pasha! I screamed, they dance so well together.(Jesus was there, and so was Shauna) I actually could keep on typing about every dance. I loved the dance with the two princes with Danny and Neil, this was amazing live! I could scream right now, but my kids are asleep. Neil was my favorite live, and Sabra, and Danny...because his last name is Tidwell, and I loved seeing Pasha's Pas a Doble solo, which I missed on the show. Another number that shocked me live, was the swamp creature number. I wanted to be up there in Sabra's hooded cape! Too fun! I forgot to mention Night of the Dancing Flame, the Angel and Devil routine with Niel and Lauren. So good, I mentioned this one to my Mom first.I loved hearing Lauren scream her heart out! HA! The reunion in heaven routine by Mia, was not my favorite on the show....but the way they performed it last night brought so much more emotion. It started with a quiet stage and all the dancers in white with their arms full of flowers. They slowly walked forward, and scattered the flowers. Then Niel and Lacey came out and had to search for each other through the crowd. Perfect beginning, much more memorable. I recorded a few little clips on my p&s, and I just watched a few. Now I am all giddy again. Check back for a few video clips.

This concert has inspired me to do THREE things. One: get laser eye surgery! I couldn't see very well, and we had pretty good seats. Two: Go back to dance class. Both of these will have to happen after the baby is born, but I still think they are two very good goals. Three: Update my cell phone contact list. After the concert we couldn't find our friends, and it was POURING rain. I didn't have anyone's cell phone numbers in my phone. They ran back to the car with out us, and were soaked to the bone. We found them, my cell phone finally worked, and some home I managed to come home pretty DRY. No stones please. I feel bad they were so wet, but I am sure it added some excitement to their night.

I bought a concert T-shirt, which was a total splurge. I also ran into some of my coolest clients. Their little boy is the one crawling on a giant yellow toad stool. I am so happy I was able to go, and next year I will be there again! This night ended up costing a lot of money, but I would spend it again in a heartbeat. Courtney babysat for me on a school night, and missed YW's too! Bless her heart, I didn't get her home until midnight. I paid her $50! She was so sleepy, with crazy bedhead when I came home. I hope she knows how much I appreciate her! My children love her, she knows where everything is in my house, and the best thing...I do not worry while I am out. I am lucky.


(I am feeling very nervous for tomorrow. I keep praying for comfort, but I don't feel it. If I could ask my sweet friends to pray for me (us). I am so afraid to look up at the image on the screen tomorrow. I can only picture the worst.)

one down....

three more sessions to go. This is the follow-up shoot for the session that got rained out. I love the serious images! I do have pictures with smiles, but why in the world would I show you those? =)These are so me.

Slowly

catching up. I have over booked myself again! So I have been trying to catch up, but I have been so tired. I usually stay up very late and proof. For some reason (smiling ear to ear here) I have fallen asleep when I put my kids to bed. That is at 8:00. I have 3 more sessions to proof....oops I mean four. Gosh, how am I going to do this?

Here are a few favorites from two sessions I recently finished.











Lincoln left for Oregon on Sunday at 6:30 am, and he won't be home until Thursday at midnight or later. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!! He is going to miss the So You Think You Can Dance concert. I bawled when we realized he was going to miss it. I am so bummed. I thought about flying my sister or Mom out here so one of them could go with me. I called Christie, and luckily Brent is post call that day. (That means not working.) Now, it is going to be a girls night out!

I thought watching Conference with two kids was going to be really difficult without Lincoln here to help. It was very nice. Thanks to a conference bingo game Wyatt's teacher gave us. He watched the first HOUR and a HALF attentively! I gave him a cup full of small treats; raisins, peanuts, cereal, chocolate chips, gold fish, and almonds. He only got to eat one if the word being said already had been marked. He loved it. He exclaimed in one of the very last talks in the last session, "FINALLY, this the first time I had heard BISHOP!" (Yes, he could have missed it earlier.) I photocopied the game for Talia. She ripped it in pieces and gave it to me, calling the torn bits tickets. I would asked what they were for, and she would either reply, "for the ballet," or "Jail! You are going to jail." She is good entertainment around here.

A Strong Heartbeat!

Well, here goes!

We are announcing.........We are expecting our third baby!

I had my first appointment today, and heard a nice strong heartbeat. =) I immediately started crying, because I didn't think everything was going alright. I have been such a pessimist this pregnancy! A constant worry that things were not going to work out, has been here since the day I took the test. I am still worried, so we are not going to tell the kids until we have a nice ultra sound picture to show them.

I have not been sick AT ALL. Not at all, I feel pretty normal actually! Sounds lovely doesn't it, well, it really hasn't been great. "Everyone" says morning sickness is a good sign that things are progressing well. That has been looming around in my head(and Lincoln's) for the last few weeks. I would pray for a little comfort to know that the baby was doing well, and wish for a sign of some kind. Then I would back paddle a little and think, "oh please, I am not praying to be sick." It really is an odd thing to go through. I have a few symptoms, but not many. I am 11 weeks along now, so I may not get sick at all. What a blessing! (fingers crossed)