Holiday Fun!

Below are some pictures of our Christmas break. Notice I am not in any of the pictures, yes someone has to take the pictures and it just works out that most of the time it is me taking the pictures...the sacrifices we mothers make (bummer when you are 26 weeks pregnant and already feeling like a beached whale....no offense to beached whales). Anyways Christmas morning was great and Tristen and Blake were excited to open their gifts. Here are just a few of our holiday pics.

         Mom, Dad & Tristen made a Gingerbread house while Blake napped on Chritmas Eve. Blake is too full of energy to even attempt this task. It was a lot of fun, even though half the candy probably never made it on the gingerbread house thanks to a little girl :)

Jason taking a break from working on the basement, now he's on to his next construction project! The gingerbread house.

We were pointing out the fact that our gingerbread man looked really ANGRY with his red beady eyes, kinda creepy, huh!!! I guess you would be mad too if you knew you were going to be eaten. Oh well he tasted yummy!!!!!!!

Christmas Eve we decided to leave some food out for Santa, Frosty, and the Reindeer. Tristen got to pick out the treat: Donuts, string cheese, carrots, and chocolate mik.

Tristen decided after we put the yummy food under the tree that Sanata didn't need his string cheese or chocolate milk so she decided she would eat/ drink them.

Christmas Morning, we cut out some of the gifts in the picture, oh well :0

                   Tristen and all her loot! She loved opening her gifts, it was fun to see her reaction to her presents.

Blake loved opening his gifts as well, granted he is still young (18 months) so he liked  ripping the wrapping

paper off his gifts just as much as he liked his gifts. Next year he will no doubt appreciate Christmas more.

Bud and his cheesy smile (he has a hard time keeping his eyes open for a pic) chasing me with his cars, he is such a fun and cute little guy

Christmas breakfast, yep, homemade bannana muffins, cinnamon rolls, and clementine oranges...healthy huh?

Hey it's Christmas :) That night I made a Ham, mashed potatoes, rolls and veggies for dinner, so one decent meal counts right?

Lastly I had to include this one, Tristen had a good laugh at herself when she ran around the house with Mr. Potatohead's (Santa) beard on. She cracks us up!

Merry Christmas Everyone :)

So Christmas is tomorrow, it's hard to believe isn't it? This year our little family decided to take it easy, easy in the sense that we aren't traveling to visit family this year. We were going to visit family in Tennessee (my parents, 2 sisters, and brother and their families are having x-mas there), but we decided last minute that it wasn't practical for us to make the trip. Yes, people should come first, especially at the holidays. However SANITY I think dictated our decision this year.  The reality of Jason starting school again in January, Jason completing the framing stage of finishing our basement, Jason's church calling as stake technology specialist, plus additional upcoming commitments that will be a little time consuming. Not to mention I would love to have the basement done (can you say TOY ROOM) by the time baby #3 comes, which will be in about 3 months (deep breath...). I am certainly not complaining, our family is blessed with so much and we are all healthy and happy. I think the phrase, "we don't want to bite off more than we can chew" might be a little too late, but this is why we decided to have Christmas in Chicagoland. Jason has had the week of Christmas off and has primarily been working on the basement. The basement is coming along pretty well. Jason has learned a lot while doing it (he isn't a handy man naturally, but his work ethic and willingness to learn always allows him to get the job done right. To be honest he has impressed me by the quality of his work as well. So that is what is new with us.

On a side note, it has been a lot of fun this Christmas season to see the kids, especially Tristen get excited about Santa Claus. Ok scratch the Santa Claus concept, Tristen doesn't want Santa to come to our house. Tristen is way more interested in Frosty the Snowman coming to visit our house. Frosty is her "favorite" , and I think it is due to the mild obsession she has had for the past month or two of watching the Frosty the Snowman video almost every day. Oh well, kids are kids. This year we are looking forward to continuing and starting new family traditions. It is so much fun to feel the excitement of Christmas through kids. I don't think that can ever get old. Anyways, our family wants to wish everyone a Merry and safe Christmas season. Below are some pics of Tristen and Blake from our Christmas card. I will post more pics of  Christmas hopefully soon. 

Sneek Preview.....Nice huh?

Hopefully scoring some free Christmas cards ....that will be another blog entry, just a sneek preview of my crazy kids. Yes, picture taking in my house is a STRUGGLE....I should post all of  the horrible ones...wait, I don't think I can upload that many (system overload :) Anyways, our family is starting to get into the Christmas mode,  not sure when we will put up out tree, maybe next week when Jason has a break from school. Still happy there is no snow, but man is it getting cold out.....not a fan of the white stuff  :p

For those of us who are a LITTLE SLOW :)

Ok.....so I have been trying to post a cute picture with my blog TITLE behind it (you know what I am talking about right? LIFE WITH THE BODILY FAMILY and a cute pic of the family behind it...which is implying I have a family pic of us...nope). I have see many of my friends do this, however I can't get mine to work. Frustrating, yes you can say that. I go into "layout" and click on edit to my blog title where it says I can add a pic, no such luck, even it is from a file or web address. It will allow me to upload the pic, and even shows that it uploaded, but when I add it or go to preview my blog...NOTHING??? Do I need a specific template? What is the deal, do I have to update my blogger page some how??? Not sure, any feedback or help would be wonderful....just trying to stay current and do some cute and fun things with my blog. Thanks

Baby #3 is a ........??????

A Boy!!! Yeppers, we will be welcoming another little guy into our family this April. In some ways a girl would have been nice, fun to dress up, a bit of a change since the baby before was a boy (Blake).....but having another boy is probably a blessing, and what our family needs at this point. It will give Blake a little brother to play with and they will be 2 yrs apart. Plus, I am not a 100% sure I can deal with the drama of another little girl right now, as much I LOVE my little girl now...wow, she can certainly lay the drama on thick at times. The boys will keep me on my toes...but hey I'm sure that will help me with losing the baby weight, right :) Well maybe we will see pink in the future, I know Jason and I would love to have another little girl....eventually is the key :) Any ways we just wanted to announce this exciting news. Baby looked great and is measuring just a week ahead of where he should be, but I don't think that means anything at this point. Baby 3 does have a name, sort of, just working on the middle name...hmmm...but we have a little time to figure that out.

The BIG DAY PART 3!!!

Well tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!! Yes, we find out what we are having a BOY or GIRL??? Hopefully baby cooperates and all is well with him/her. This pregnancy has been different from the others...in fact they have all been different from one another, and no weird dreams this time as to what gender the baby will be. As I mentioned earlier Jason and I are secretly hoping for a certain gender, but with one of each we really can't complain. I always get nervous for the ultrasound, I guess it is the anxiety of making sure all is well with the baby. Anyways I will update my blog with the news. I have been 2 for 2 guessing what I am having. Let's see if I can make it a perfect 3 for 3 :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Well it's hard to believe that Halloween is over and that we are already into the month of November. It is especially weird to say that Christmas is next month...yes, I need to start my x-mas shopping!!! Anyways, our little family had a fun and enjoyable Halloween. Tristen dressed up as Cinderella this year and Blake was a Monster (who refused to wear his monster hat...big surprise, not so much). We ended up trick or treating with the same friends that we went with last year, it was a fun time for all. The weather was chilly but at least it didn't rain. Tristen was oblivious to the weather because she was so focused on her candy stash and running up to people's house. Above are some pics of trick or treating and also some pics of Tristen's preschool Halloween party. Tristen loves Halloween and loved her little party and costume parade at school. Also just a few other random shots we took the next day :)

***OK so something is wrong with my blog, things are out of wack and some of my posting options are gone??? Sorry for the poor quality pics (something is messed up with the program, my pics are wa better than this, and lack of format stinks. I need to mess around with it. I just wanted to post some pics of Halloween b/c I have had a few requests... bummer huh?

What's a Cookin????

Yes that's right, for those who don't know I have been cooking for the past 14 weeks. I am announcing I am officially PREGO. Yes baby #3 is coming this
April,3,2010. So I have a few good reasons for slacking on my blog :) I have had a hard time uploading pics and I hate having an entry without pics, and now that I am on to my second trimester I am feeling a lot better. Yes I have energy again!!!! We are excited and we are looking forward to finding out what we are having, which is next month. It is nice having a boy and a girl already, it takes the pressure off of us, but it will be nice to find out so we can pick out a name for the little guy/girl so it will lose the "it" status. I think Jason and I are both secretly hoping for a certain gender, but as long as baby is healthy then that is all we can wish for. So I will keep my blog updated on the latest.

Preschool!!!!

Well Tristen finally started her first year of preschool. When we took her to the orientation meeting I was a bit nervous to how she would react. She cried for a little bit and she was clingy, but after a few minutes and after her teacher taking her into the class (so she couldn't see Jason and I) she was fine. A couple days later it was her first official day of preschool and Tristen did great....or so I thought. The substitute teacher neglected to tell me when I picked her up the first day that she cried for the first 30 mins. Anyone who knows Tristen and her cry knows that it is not the little girl quiet cry, it is the ugly everyone hears me cry. Thankfully almost 2 weeks later she absolutely loves going to preschool!!!!!
Anyways Tristen has school 3 days a week, Mon, Wed, Fri, for 90 mins each day and her teachers are the local high school kids (the preschool is through a high school). Well so far so good and I have no complaints myself. Below are some pics of Tristen on her first day of school.



Pic. for my mom to see Tristen in the dress she bought her.

"Last Fling" Naperville, IL

Well over the labor day weekend we decided to go to the "Last Fling", end of summer bash with our friends the Ashworth's. We figured we might as well give it a shot since we weren't leaving town. Well we ended up having and great time and the kids had an absolute blast. We first went to the kids section where they enjoyed free inflatable slides/climbers, a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, and free products being handed out. I was pretty impressed by the amount of stuff they had for young kids and to top it off, it was busy but it was a very enjoyable busy (wait in line for maybe 2-3 minutes for a ride). After we were done with the kids section we decided to go to the carnival just across the street. We had some yummy things to eat and then the kids were ready for the carnival rides and games. So after a couple more hours of fun and exhaustion our day was complete. I think we ended up being there for 4-5 hours. Crazy stuff but I think the Last Fling will become a end of summer tradition for our little family!! Below are some pics of our fun day.


Tristen and her friend on the carnival ride, she was screaming the whole time not because she was scared, but rather b/c she thought she was funny and get a reaction from others.


Blake posing while at the petting zoo, he loved petting the animals


My little "Ham" in the background having a great time with her friend on the slide


Tristen and dad playing the shark game

:)
The end of a long day, we weren't even out the parking lot before they passed out...I was ready to join them

Update: Summer Birthdays

Back in June we celebrated Blake's 1st Birthday. I am shocked at how fast this past year flew by! We decided just to have a small birthday party for Blake so we could enjoy family time.It is funny to see how much his little personality has changed over the past few months.....he is still our sweet little guy, but he is certainly starting to hold his own when it comes to Tristen taking things from him. But it is fun seeing Tristen interact with Blake and you can tell how much she loves him. She is always asking where's "Bud" if he is napping or playing on his own. (Note we would have pics of of his bday but just shot a video of him and we have no still shots, bummer I know, next time daddy can help with the cake and mommy will take the pics)

Also in August we celebrated Tristen's 3rd Birthday. We had another family over, and Tristen loved all the presents and attention she was given. We also decided to go away the weekend of Tristen's birthday to downtown Chicago. We booked a nice hotel room and enjoyed a fun evening at the Rain Forest Cafe. The next morning we decided to go to the beach. The kids had a blast and it was a beautiful day outside. The weekend was perfect until we got back to the car and notice Blake looked like a speckled egg. No it wasn't the chicken pox or the measles or anything like that (I believe in vaccinations), but after a couple of days of being stuck in my house (because his skin, face included looked diseased) and his skin wasn't clearing up I decided to take him to the doctor's. I would have taken him to the dr.s earlier except I always hesitate because the doctor normally tells me that whatever "it is" needs to run its course and that he can't do anything for him.....yes then I feel kind of dumb and I wasted my $$$$. Oh well, anyways I guess Blake had folliculitus. Basically ALL of his hair follicles were infected and inflamed from the bacteria in the water (Lake Michigan). Gross....all of us were fine, but Blake has really sensitive skin and allergies. Well I got the response from the doc. that I expected.....it had to run its course and there was nothing I could do that would really help. Oh well, I was just happy to know the source of his "speckled egg" syndrome. Well below are some pics of Tristen's b-day and a couple of our trip to Chicago (the camera died). Note: we do have pics of Tristen's bday b/c I was in charge of the camera.


(Out of order, but us at Rainforest cafe, wish the camera had more juice to capture our adventures that weekend)


Tristen after eating her purple dora cake, she got 2 cakes for her b-day b/c I promised her a dora cake but ran out of time to make it. Thank you walmart :)


Tristen and her buds Hudson and Olivia


Tristen eyeing up her cakes, after dinner the kids went out and played in the pool and on the splashpad

Happy Anniversary, Birthday & Father's day !!!

Well I might as well keep blogging, I am on a roll and I don't know when I'll have the time to update it. So this upcoming week is a busy week for us. Jason is starting his next round of MBA classes, it's our 4 yr anniversary on Wednesday the 17th, on Saturday it is Blake's 1st birthday/Jason and I have Youth Conference that evening (Jason's the DJ) , and then it's Father's day on Sunday. So we are doing a lot of celebrating this week. Then the following week the kids and I are heading to Canada to visit my parents for 10 days. Then 4 days after we get back I have Young Women's Camp for 4 days. So if I start slacking again on my blog you know why :) Anyways we are looking forward to the summer and I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Baby Blake

So since Blake isn't in any of my previous blog entries I had to add this picture. I can't believe Blake is turning 1 a week from tomorrow. I am a little sad, but happy that the older he gets the more I will get to see his little personality. He has been such a good baby...the kind all mothers dream of....happy, good sleeper, good eater, and low maintenance. Oh the good Lord knew what I needed the second round :)

Summer Time...Sort Of ???

Well it's June and as much as I am in summer mode the weather is telling me otherwise. Yes, we have been getting WAY TOO MUCH RAIN in Chicagoland...grrr. But that being said we try and take advantage of every opportunity we have to get outside to run and jump around. Yes, we decided to invest in a trampoline this year! I have heard the horror stories and thanks to Andee I have see pics of the horror that can occur on a trampoline (broken bones). However, with little kids, only a couple of them on the tramp at a time, and a paranoid mom (ME :) that is always out there watching and monitoring the kids when they are playing together, we are enjoying it a lot. Tristen loves it and mom loves the fact that it wears Tristen out, so it works for the both of us. Here are some pics of Tristen and some of her friends during a play date.






Yes, so we are attempting to grow tomato plants this year. I have never had a real plant indoor or outdoor. We almost killed the one plant, but thanks to a friend that told us we needed wholes in the planters for the water to drain, we had a rebirth. Thank heavens for second chances. Also we wanted to try planters that way the little critters AKA the rabbits don't nibble on our pride and joy.

I love to see the Temple!!

Over the Memorial day weekend our little family decided to visit Nauvoo. Yes....another really late post, but better late than never right? Tristen LOVED the temple and Jason was able to go to an old friend's wedding. It was a nice trip and it was nice to see Tristen excited when she saw some of the things we talk about in Family Home Evening. Here are a few pics of our weekend. P.S We still have never had a family photo with the 4 of us ....yes, I know we are bad, ok maybe when we look to take pictures of the 4 of us no one else is around to take the picture or one of the kids is sleeping. Take note, Blake was sleeping when a nice couple offered to take our picture :(