Last Wednesday, one of my cousins and her little family came to stay the night at our place! It was a delight to see them, and our kids really enjoyed playing together. My little girl even enjoyed waking up at 4:30 am to use the potty, and then stare at them until she was invited to lay down with her little cousin- I guess she did actually sleep out there for a bit! I was just suprised to come out of our room in the morning and do a double-take because I saw her in our living room with our guests. Little kids really do know how to make the most fun of everything- she woke up telling me that she just had to sleep out where her friends were. :) Thursday morning we all woke up and headed to work(Josh), to Grandma's office (my kids), and down to the Salt Lake Temple for another cousins wedding (my cousins family and myself.) The wedding was beautiful- and so peaceful. I am still working on figuring out some scheduled 'me time'. And this break or 'me time' was a much needed one. After the wedding I even got to go to Olive Garden for the luncheon- without my kids! I was getting a bit lonely for them by the time I picked them up. A very healthy feeling that I need to feel more often!!

Saturday we had our little girl's first swimming lesson. This was a gift given to her for her 3rd birthday, and she didn't completely understand what it was till we got to the pool. She had a lovely time hanging out with Daddy and getting comfortable in the water. In the toddler/parent class that is basically all they do it blow bubbles, and get used to things. (Which she is already comfortable doing)- but Josh agreed it's great to have some scheduled time to spend with his little girl. Perhaps we each need to do something similar so we get some quality time with him. ;)

This week Josh has been left to run the warehouse without most of the company. The rest of the company is at a Tradeshow in Las Vegas. He was excited for the responsibilty- and we're hoping the tradeshow goes great for the company!! (And that things go smoothly the rest of this week!!) Maybe he'll even be able to come home on time a day or two to get caught up on some of his homework.

Hello to our friends in Egypt. :)

We had a special request from some dear friends who are currently residing in Egypt. They asked for some pics of the beautiful fall leaves so, here is round one. We went up Big Cottonwood canyon weekend before last, and I think we were a bit early. So we took a drive up Butterfield Canyon on the West side of the valley yesterday, and they were much more colorful. I unfortunatly left the camera in the car, and haven't uploaded them yet, so these ones will have to do for now.

We had the opportunity to spend some time with my family this weekend, and our little girl had a ball playing with all of her cousins. She's a bit younger than most of them, and I don't think she knew how to handle being the 'runt' of the group. She came crying to us 3 times in less than an hour because the swings had somehow hurt her. She is at an interesting stage of development because she's very emotional in a non- two year old way. She tears up at little things- kinda breaks my heart. We do still have the occasional melt down, but it's been fun for us to all grow together and we are all trying to handle things the best we can.

My little boy has been especially upset with things lately. He's the calmest happiest little guy- for the most part. It must be hard for him not to be able to communicate his needs. And my little stinker still isn't walking!! We'll keep working on him. I wish you could all see how fast he crawls- I really am hoping that's the only issue is that it is much easier/faster to crawl than it is to walk. Speaking of which, he is calling for me. So I better get going.

Happy October!!

Over-due update!!

As I sit here at the computer- freezing my toes off, I'm so happy that fall weather has arrived! I probably should close my window, but I am still enjoying mere sensation of being cold. We have been a very busy family the past few weeks, and I'm sure that we will not be any less busy for a very long time (probably a few years AT LEAST).



First off my sweet little girl had her 3rd birthday. After weeks of anticipation, I think her birthday turned out quite well. We had intended to have her party at a park up by both Grandma's houses, but the weather didn't agree with that idea, and we ended up having it indoors and Leatherby's ice cream(one of the best ice cream places around!!). We had a very enjoyable time with both sets of Grandparents, and all the Aunt's, Uncles, and cousins that could come. I always feel so blessed to have such wonderful family to show love to my children. I can't believe my little girl is a big 3 year old! Her language and vocabulary have been booming lately, she no longer yelps 'help!' but instead 'I can't figure it out, I need help!'. And enjoys taking turns/ or offering to hold her baby brother on her lap on the tire swing at the park, instead of only thinking of herself. I am one lucky Mommy to have such a wonderful little girl to nurture, and help grow. I only hope I am doing the best that I can and offering all that she needs!

Josh has been insanely busy with work and school. It's hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel, even though we know it's only 11 more weeks till finals will be over. Work will supposedly be slowing down, even if only for a week at a time, but I have yet to see that- and in this case, seeing is believing. I can't really complain though. The job is a wonderful place for him to work, and he even gets the occasional pat on the back for doing a good job. I can't think of too many places where he would have the opportunity to work in an uplifting environment.

My little boy finally decided to take a couple steps last night. (3 to be exact) He is almost 15 months old, and I have had a hard time letting it be alright that he hasn't been walking, when our daughter started walking at 11 months. I realize that each baby is different, and I should be counting my lucky stars I'm not chasing after him all the time. YET. :) He is definitely growing up and learning how to defend himself, and attempting to communicate. Josh finds it crazy that he can say garbage, but he won't say drink or food yet. He's on his way to being a talker- he has his own gibberish language that I think will turn into many real words soon enough.



I am now 29 weeks pregnant- and ready to start counting down the days until I am not sleeping because I have a new baby~ instead of not sleeping because of pregnancy. I keep telling Josh that I don't remember being this uncomfortable this early with the other two kids. And he says I was. :) My Dr. was kind enough to remind me that my body is not as young as it once was either. :P Anyway, I am just grateful that I am not puking and nauseated all the time. It was pretty miserable for a long time... and I'm sure the kids are happy to have a Mommy who can play with them at least a little bit again(even if I am exhausted, and need to lay down quite often).


Well that's my update for now, the kids and I just got home from a very packed full day of Mommy's glucose test at the Dr, lunch at Joe's Crab shack (Kids eat free on Mondays!), Target, looking at lots of puppies, and grocery shopping. The kids are napping- and I'm going to get a little rest while I can.

Busy weekend!

We had a very busy weekend! Saturday Josh and I were finally able to see Pirates of the Carribean 2, and the kids got to spend time with thier Grandma (Thanks so much!) We also got to have a picnic up at Copperton park yesterday. It was so nice to have Josh home with us for another day.

Grandma and Grandpa got a cute new little Shitzu puppy named Willow. She is 9 weeks old, and a very cute little puppy. The kids aren't quite sure what to think of her, but we are hoping they get used to her soon. She's a very gentle dog. So she's a good dog for them to be around.

Anyway, hope everyone else had a good weekend.

Finally Friday...

These weeks with school and new job are really rough on our little family. I don't remember the last time I was so excited that it was Friday. Josh doesn't have school tonight- or all weekend- and no school/work on Monday. I know this extra time away from work and school will be valuable study time, but it will be so nice to have Daddy around.

Due to our change in employment, we are a currently uninsured family. This being the case makes me very uncomfortable with two small children, and also because I am expecting. We looked into getting Cobra, but the quotes we recieved were outrageous. I'm not sure how anyone would afford it! I have been diligently working since the day Josh left his old job on getting our children on the CHIP program. Funny thing is, that until today, our insurance showed us as actively covered. However, when it did finally show up that we were no longer eligable it was back dated to the last day Josh worked. What a pain. Anyway, I only need to get one more paper to the CHIP office, and hopefully we will be on our way to at least having the kids covered. And Josh and I will be covered on the 16th of this month. Hurray, I can't wait to have insurance back again. I didn't know how uneasy I would feel without it.