SLC trip and Funnies

Brad had his annual budget meeting in SLC a week ago. Highlights from this trip include: going to Ruth's diner (amazing steak special), seeing the lights at temple square, the Christmas show we went to with Brad's company (super fun and funny) (thanks Kelsey for making that possible for us), and visiting with my old roomie Meg. Ruth seriously fell in love with Meg and is still talking about how fun it was to see her at Ikea.

Ruth likes to watch Dora, who often says, "Come one, vamanos!" So Ruth now runs around saying, "Come on, dominoes!"

We just bought a used suburban (which we love) and Ruth 1) called it a limosine when we first showed it to her and 2) now says whenever we drive around in it, "Mom, our suburban is totally freakin' awesome!"

My Kids, All 3 of Them

Ruth and Will have been playing SO well together, it has been making this pregnancy much easier for me. Today I built them this fort to play in. They climbed in there and I could hear Ruth expounding the mysteries of toddler-dom to Will. They she paused and said, "Ya know buddy, I really love you." Best mommy moment in a while.

Another great mommy moment was about a week ago. Ruth was saying bedtime prayers and said, "Please bless the new baby that won't be here for a long time."

Speaking of the "new baby," it's due date is May 31st, which will officially give us a spring holiday season with Brad and Will's birthdays, along with our anniversary. Baby 3 (or XI as Tia is calling it, since it will be Paula and Asa's eleventh grandchild) is now 15 weeks along and other than all day nausea without puking, has been the easiest pregnancy. XI has definitely had the largest impact on my taste buds, everything tastes weird. Cravings that have come and gone include tuna, bologna (which is very normal for my pregnancies), anything carbonated and eggs. For a couple weeks I was eating about 3 eggs a day and not a whole lot else because of nausea. The past few days I've woken up and felt great so I'm hoping that the whole morning sickness thing is gone with the first trimester.

Last week we had a check up day. Ruth is in the 25% for height and weight and Will is in the 75% for height...which explains why everywhere we go people are asking if they are twins! The doctor said Ruth is clearly very intelligent, based on her use of language. Apparently 3 year olds are only expected to speak in 3 and 4 word sentences and know ONE color. If that's the case we are definitely excelling in that area. She has fallen in love with coloring and is quickly learning the alphabet and their sounds. Will is also working hard on language development. Everyday he tries out new words, but right now my favorite thing he says is "Roosh" (Ruth). He clearly adores his sister and loves being involved in everything she does. He has also started to love reading and we'll sit and read book after book. He's also very affectionate, but be careful. If you ask for a hug he's gonna give you a kiss on the lips!

I love my kiddos and can't wait to have XI here to love too. We find out if XI is a boy or a girl on January 17th, I'll be 21 weeks then so we should know for sure!

Thanksgiving Week

We were so happy to have a visit from Asa and Paula during Thanksgiving week. They pretty much spoiled all of us and it was a blast. Here are some pictures of what we did while they were around.

This week I also finished a Christmas Quilt to throw over the back of our couch, thanks Paula!

Ruthie's 3

Today is Ruth's 3rd b-day. We celebrated by going to Walmart to buy her a bike with training wheels, then we went to Hop-2-It, followed by lunch at a pizza buffet. We all had so much fun.

I must admit I was a little sad at how the cake turned out, but it was exactly what she asked for, "pink and purple with flowers, hearts and stars." And she liked it so that's what really counts.

In true Ruth style she just ate the frosting and sprinkles off the top.

It snowed this morning and the kids were so excited to go outside. They got bundled up and had a blast playing outside. Ruth made little snowmen that she lined up on the table! She's been talking about making snowmen for a long time, and we keep telling her there's not enough snow...what do parents know!

Halloween O' Plenty

The pumpkin patch

We got SO much candy this year, I guess it's cause there are two of them. Instead of buying more candy to give away on Halloween night I just handed out candy they got from the ward trunk-or-treat while Ruth was out with Brad getting more candy. Will wasn't very happy about me giving his candy to perfect strangers...but I wasn't very happy that whenever the doorbell rang he'd jump out of the tub and follow me to the front door stark naked!

His costume: black onesie, black snow boots, white tights, green and white felt for belt, cuffs and mask, green fabric and white felt for the cape. Everything was attached with hot glue.

Her costume: pink clothing, pink and purple toole for skirt (with elastic waist), wings: pink toole, purple feather boa, wire frame and lots of hot glue. I made antenna with pipe cleaners and purple fuzzy balls, but we totally forgot them. And then of course she got "lips" and "eyes."

The carvings: The top was Ruth's, she chose the face she wanted on it, it originally had teeth, but two days in the cold turned it into grandpa pumpkin. Brad carved Ruth's and the one under it, which I think the cold made look really cool.

I did both the white girl pumpkin and what used to be an owl sitting on a tree branch. The outdoors definitely took it out on my pumpkin the worst!

Vacation

We went to Salt Lake on two occasions, once for a meeting that Brad had for work (and we were lucky enough to tag along and play while he was working) and then again for a family reunion/NF walk for Olivia/Brad doing electrical work for Kurt and Kelsey. We had tons of fun both times and it was really fun to spend so much time with extended family. Here are pictures from our trips:

The next three are at Thanksgiving Point with Kelsey and kids, so fun!

On our way to the dinosaur museum. We stopped here for lunch, good choice! Ben loved it.

The zoo with Brian, Ben, Kristen and her kids

Coolest park, even had a splash pad that the kids loved

I shouldn't have been surprised that she climbed to the top by herself, but I was!

YMCA

We got a free week pass to the YMCA that is just three blocks from our house. I was excited because I figured it meant the kids and I would have something to do for a week. But now I'm definitely wanting to join. I went to Zumba this morning and holy cow! first of all it's a great work out and second of all it's a freakin' BLAST! The instructor is totally awesome, she has so much energy and just made me laugh the whole time. Right after my Zumba class they had a baby class where we did "drums" and run/dancing. The kids really liked their class too and it was so fun to see them interacting with other adults and kids. Now I just have to convince them that they can handle the playroom at the YMCA for a couple hours a week so that I can keep going to my class! (They did okay today, but I had to leave about 10 minutes early cause they were freakin')

Jammin'

My Music Man

Ruth is very expressive as seen in the picture below, she really gets into the music. It's fun to listen to her making up lyrics. And she's getting better about singing notes that are in the same key as Brad is playing in!Will has gotten to the point where he just wants to do everything Ruth does. He doesn't ever want to be left out, so he hopped right onto that microphone and sang his little lungs out.

Ruthie's Song

Labor Day Weekend

My parents came into town for the weekend and we all had a really nice time. Matt joined us on Saturday for the fair and rodeo. These first couple of pics were taken by my dad.

We went to the Discovery Museum:

Roaring Springs:

Brad and I had a ridiculously good time here running around like kids. Ruth had fun but was cold the whole time. Will hated the water, but loved hanging out with grandma and grandpa.

Twin Falls County Fair on the Ferris Wheel:

And today we went to the fish hatchery and the Perrine Bridge Festival:

We also went and picked red and golden raspberries from the agricultural department at the college here:

August Pics

Will's Quilt:

Ruth's Quilt:

I'm really proud, especially of Ruth's. They were both my own design.