Ruby's Christmas program and 24 weeks

On the 18th Ruby had her School Christmas Program. It was so fun to see her singing all of the songs and seeing what they had learned in the past months. Ruby was the second one from her class there and it was so cute to see her greet her friends as they came in, it always involved a big hug. These are Ruby's really good friends, Summer and Jackson. Ruby misses school and asks everyday if she gets to go back to school tomorrow. But as for myself I am enjoying having her home for these two weeks and not having to rush to get the girls out the door.







I had my 24 week appointment on the 15th. Eli's heartbeat was 137. I'm not really sure what my weight gain over the past 6 weeks is because my Dr. was on vacation so I didn't get the usual update on all of that jazz. I am however measuring at 26 weeks, and again they checked me twice and asked if I feel concerned about anything. Should I be? It will be nice to go to my 28 week appointment and get to meet with my Dr.



We got snow yesterday and I shoveled the drive way twice. I was exhausted and went to bed at 9:20 which is very early for me. Jed didn't get home until 10:20 because he was up watching BYU in their bowl game. Jed wasn't happy when he found out that I shoveled the drive way and made me honor bright that I wouldn't do it again. He doesn't have to worry about that. I have learned my lesson as I am feeling it today.

Jed has Christmas Eve off for the first time in our marriage. I am so excited! When we were talking about what to eat for Christmas Eve dinner since we don't have a set tradition Jed said "I think I have only cooked dinner twice since we have been married. Can I cook our dinner?" Jed cooking dinner also comes with him doing the shopping and doing the dishes. It was his finest idea yet. I am looking forward to this.

The catch up

Now that I have my pictures it is time to do a wee bit of postage. Ruby's birthday was very fun. She absolutely knew it was her birthday and thrilled when she would receive phone calls, before she would put the phone to her ear she would ask "What do you think they are calling to wish me?" She enjoyed every minute of it and would also ask, "Can we do this because it is my birthday?" And just for the record, I hate hearing myself on these interview video's. But it is for posterity sake. So just ingnore my annoyingness. Oh how I wish I was Barbara Walters.



During Emma's nap, I shoveled the drive way and Ruby built a big hungry bear and fed him strawberries and even got our 15 year old neighbor to come over and help her for 15 minutes. It was very nice of Sarah to come assist feed the bear. Ruby loves the snow and I thought it was so fun that she got to enjoy the snow on her special day because the night we went to the hospital it snowed like crazy and we had to be up there by midnight for my induction. I told Suzanne that I wanted a snow baby while I was eating them out of house and home because I was worrying that I would be hungry while I was in labor. I had nothing to worry about.



We played lot's of game and watched Snow White while the pigs in a blanket were cooking (Ruby's request) When Jed got home he brought her gift in, it was still in the box because he was a bit grumpy that she found it and was informing my cousin Lanette and her husband Shaun that the bike was her birthday present. Not that she could ride it anyway with all the snow. So it is still sitting in our garage and every day that she goes to school she looks at it and asks when daddy is going to set it up.





The girls had their well checks last Friday, Ruby was a bit unnerved when the told her she had to undress down to her panties. So the nurse gave her to option to wear a gown, she agreed until she saw the gown and told me that her panties were fine.

Emma did very well this time and wasn't scared in the least like she has been in the past. They both got their flu shots and Ruby got her kindergarten shots. I was impressed how well she handled it, everytime they gave her the next vaccination we would see who could make their mouth the widest to take her mind off the shot. After they put bandaids on she asked "Am, I immune now?" I think she got that from Sid the Science Kid. Got to love PBS.

We also schedule Ruby an early appointment with her Opthamologist because her glasses don't seem to be helping with her eye wandering. Sometimes she is fine and her eyes are straight and other times not. I worry that somehow 2 months could make a difference, and I don't want to let it go. I also worry about her having to have her eyes patched, and how she would handle it. So we will be up at PMC in January to see what we can do to help her. Her vision has improved immensly though. And I keep reminding myself not to worry until I have something to worry about.

Here are there stats.

Ruby:

H: 42 in.
W: 44 lb.
She is in the 90th percentile for both, and Dr. Ramsey said she was very well proportioned.

Emma:

H:33 1/4 in.
W:25 lb.

She was in the 30th percentile for both.

I also found this little gem. The girls were in the kitchen playing ring around the rosie with their dolls while I was cooking breakfast.

Since...

I my ms pro driver isn't working, I can't upload pictures and videos this will just have to be a wordy post.

-Today I took Ruby to preschool and she walked into class and saw her friend Jackson (who has been sick for the past week) and turned to me and said "Mom. my boyfriend is here!"

-I bought groceries to roughly last 2 weeks minus needing more milk and a refill on fruit. It turns out that it will indeed last me for 3 weeks. I am very happy about that. We have had a lot of invitations for dinner, or have gift cards to go out to eat.

-I just finished reading The Christmas Sweater and loved it. I wish I had more Christmas reading material to devour, or really just something to read.

-We played 6 games of Candyland and 3 rounds of Disney Princess Memory. Ruby is really good at it.

-Emma is having a hard time keeping her hands off the last three pieces of my Nativity (The rest were broken by well intentioned hands last year.) And has been entertaining herself by dancing with Joseph, and saying "Come on Jesus, it's ok." , putting them down for naps and hiding them so we have to find them.

-While we were playing Memory, we had a little conversation:

Me: "Are you ready for your snack, Beetle?"

Ruby: "I am not a beetle!"

Me: "What's wrong with being a beetle?"

Ruby: "Because I am not a beetle who pushes poop."

Me: "How did you know beetles push poop?"

Ruby: "I saw it on Dinosaur Train."

Me: (Failed to suppress my cackle.)

Ruby: "Don't laugh! Poop is not funny."

I called Jed as soon as she told me that so he could share in on the humor that Ruby was taking very seriously.

The Festival of Trees 2009

Yesterday we got to go to The Festival of Trees with my mom. We had so much fun! I loved getting to spend some quality time with my mom and support such a good cause. For those of you that don't know, people decorate and donate Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, quilts and other items that go on the auction block, and all of the proceeds benefit Primary Childrens Hospital. It is such a wonderful event. Many people or groups that donate trees do it in memory of a loved one who has passed away. Each tree has a theme and sometimes a story as to why it was decorated in a specific way, and many also have a picture of the person it was donated in memory of. I started to get emotional as we started our pathway through the tree display and my mom told me to stop it or I would get her crying. Indeed she also ended up in tears. There we so many trees made in memory of small children or infants. It was such an emotional thing as we walked through, one thing that was an unexpected surprise to us was a tree donated by a family we knew who's son is Spencer's age that is a cancer survivor. I love the festival and how it blesses the lives of so many. I am always touched as I see how many people volunteer and how much they give. I heard a stat on the radio this morning that the Festival raises 1 1/2 million dollars for the hospital. It was a wonderful afternoon.

The girls enjoyed seeing trees that were decorated in Fancy Nancy fashion, snowmen, Disney characters and they always pointed out ones that had a nativity that went along with with the sale of the tree. Ruby commented at one point to my mom as we walked passed one with a Nativity that Christmas is the night of Jesus birth.

As we finished walking through the trees we stopped at the kids corner and did some activities.
Our first stop was at the fairy wand station. Ruby picked a red one, and Emma picked a purple one.


We also hit the fishing pond and Ruby started out with a purple rod and then when she saw they had a red one she asked if she could switch.


The other stop that is a must on our list is the bubble machine. Ruby was a little scared last year and hugged herself as it came over her but this year she really enjoyed herself. Emma wanted to try but I only had one ticket left so my sweet mom got one more so she could have a turn, and yes you can always count on my to pull an utterly ridiculous face at any given time.



Also we got good news at Emma's endocrinology appointment, her body is being consistent with the test results! Yesterday was our last visit with Dr. Swinyard. That puts big smiles on our faces.

Happy Happy Birthday Emma Dear

On the 27th Emma turned two. I know this sounds so cliche but it really does seem like just yesterday that we were at the hospital and we got to hold her for the first time. This past year has been a fun one for us as we have got to watch her go from baby to little girl. She has so much spunk and personality. She is also a good friend to Ruby and is very good at sharing, occasionally she has to be coaxed. Oh, how I love this little girl! She used to be very anti-cuddle/hug. It has become a more recent thing where she is content to be held, and she now gives the sweetest hugs. We call it "the wrapper" because she wraps her little arms around your neck and gives you a tight hug. Truth be told, she has Jed wrapped around her little finger.

As is custom, we did our birthday interview.




For Emma's birthday she got a red Radio Flyer tricycle that makes music and has blinker signals. I didn't get any pictures but I did get video. Jed had "fun" assembling it in our walk in closet that morning.

We got ready to leave the house around noon, and headed up to Sandy to do some Christmas shopping and go to the movies with the girls. It was a wonderful afternoon. We took the girls to see The Christmas Carol at Jordan Commons. This was my first movie with the girls, Jed however is a seasoned pro at taking them to the theater. As we walked in the door he said "As long as the girls both have their own popcorn and a drink it is smooth sailing from here on out." He even had down there popcorn eating styles. Ruby scarfs for the first 5 minutes and then doesn't touch it for the rest of the movie and Emma will every few minutes reach into her box and pull out one kernel at a time. It was so funny to see how right he was. The movie was a little scary at times and it made Ruby very nervous and need to put her hands over her glasses. Emma however laughed during the scary parts and would say "silly" I ended up taking Ruby out the last 10 minutes for a bathroom break and then I just stood in the entrance while I held her for the last few minutes of the movie. We had lots of fun and then headed over to Jed's parents to visit for a few minutes and help get the Christmas village down. (They actually had it done by the time we got there.)

Emma slept on the way home and when we got home to have cake she cried the whole time we sang until I told her to blow out the candles and she got to eat some cake. That seemed to settle her emotions.










Such a fun day for all of us and we are so glad that we got to celebrate Emma's day with her. So grateful Heavenly Father sent her to our family. She is such a joy.

Here is just a little demonstration of her personality. She likes to try new things and make others laugh. Oven mitts on the feet are all the rage around here.

Indeed, a great day!

Yesterday morning we had to leave our house at 7:00 a.m. to drop our girls off and make our 8:20 appointment. By the time we got there at 8:00 to my mom's I desperately had to make a pilgrimage to the lavatory. But I knew I had to hold it. It is most difficult when I have a weak bladder. Anyway we headed up to the Dr.'s and had to wait until about 8:40. A little bit before that, I decided that I couldn't take the pain anymore and waddled hunched over to the bathroom because I was so uncomfortable. Jed just laughed at me.

At 8:40 we got called back. It is always so exciting to see that baby on the screen and see each little bit of anatomy and watch the baby move even though I couldn't feel it. We told the tech that we had two girls and that our oldest wanted a brother. So we went through all of the routine checks and then the tech asked "Now, what did you say you had at home? Two boys, or two girls?" We said two girls and then she shouted out that we were having a boy. She said she wanted to say it about 5 minutes before because she saw the gender when she wasn't really looking for it, but couldn't remember what we already had and didn't want to make a fool of herself. So we are having a little boy. We are very excited but would be just as excited if we were having a girl, because a baby is a baby.

The girls couldn't come with us because my Dr.'s office is in the hospital and due to swine flu concerns children aren't allowed in the woman's center. So it was nice that we got sent home with a DVD of the ultrasound.

We called all of the siblings, and would like to make a formal apology to those we woke up early because they are on Hawaii time. Jed had to go merchandise really quickly and then we headed over to Brent and Suzanne's so Suzanne could see the DVD.

We took the girls to lunch and went back to Jed's parents to put the girls down for a nap. Right as we were about to leave Jed's dad got home, so it was fun to show him the pictures and visit with him for a minute. Not as long as we would have liked, but we only had a few minutes to make it to the babysitters and get ready for our date.


Once the girls were settled at my mom's we got dressed and headed to the Jordan River Temple. It was such a wonderful experience! We had a wonderful and uplifting time. I am so grateful for Temples and for the work that we are able to do there. I don't think we could have spent our anniversary in a better place.

After the Temple we headed off to The Cheesecake factory. So delicious! It was so hard for me to choose what to eat because it seemed like they had about 200 items on the menu. Jed got the orange chicken and I got the Hawaiian pizza. But not before we ate two baskets of bread. I was so hungry and it came with real butter, how could I resist? It was such a fun restaurant with a fun atmosphere. I really enjoyed watching Jed move to the music at our table. It reminds me that I need to get that boy on the dance floor. We ordered our cheesecake to-go.

On the drive home, Emma was feeling cranky and was setting her spot as the older sister, and if something happened that she didn't like she would say "Stop it brother." So funny, we had a fun visit with our girls. They never fail to make us laugh.

Another highlight of our Anniversary and it happens to be one of my favorite parts is our letter exchange. I love it! A few years previous, Jed forgot his letter to me at work for 3 consecutive days so I had to wait to read it. This year however he set up a secret e-mail account and e-mailed it to himself so there was no way to forget it. So cute. We had a fantastic anniversary. Love you so much Jed!

(Sorry for no ultrasound pictures, I don't know how to use the scanner, and Jed hasn't given me a step by step to walk me through it. I will see if I can get some up this weekend.)

It's picture time!

Here are some of our pictures from out family photo shoot, and I feel justified in calling it since our photographer took 155 pictures of us. We are really pleased with the outcome. My friend from Oakcrest, Biph (Kathrin Paul Photography) took our pictures for us. My girls really liked her, but for the life of us we couldn't get much of a smile from Emma. I decided to cut her some slack since it was 8:30 in the morning.

So here are a few favorites






I call this one the Papa special. My girls learned this signature face from none other than Papa Romig.





As for the all together family picture, which is my favorite, you will just have to wait out in the cold by your mailbox to receive your Romig family Christmas Card. Or for a select few individuals who live close enough will get a personally hand delivered card. (As for myself, I love recieving Christmas cards. Please put us on your mailing list.) :)

A busy, busy day.

Yesterday I headed up to my mommy's early so I could justify the gas usage from out outpost. I had a lot of fun being with my mom and my sister and seeing my cute nieces. My girls hadn't seen Chloe in a long while and they had a good time together. I especially enjoyed the turkey sandwich with all of the trimmings. It was just like subway. Hooray.

I had my appointment at 2:45, and I gained 5 lbs. since my 14 week appointment. I was surprised but that was my first gain this pregnancy. The MA measured me and was baffled that I was measuring at 22 weeks, instead of 18 like I should have. She brought in another MA to do a double measure so Dr. L didn't give her any grief about a bad measurement. The second MA said it was an obvious 22, so I grew 8 cm in 4 weeks. They asked if I was sure we saw only 1 baby at the 10 week ultrasound. As far as I could tell it looked the same as my two previous single pregnancies. It also took the MA about 2 minutes to find the heartbeat I was a little worried. But then we heard it and it was a strong little heartbeat, 141. I love the relief that that sound brings.

Dr. L said that the 22 week measurement was probably just due to it being my 3rd pregnancy, but I have my ultrasound next week so we will see then. He seemed calm about it.
As I was leaving the office, the MA descended on me and wanted to know what the Dr. said about my measurement. I told them and said such a measurement is very uncommon. It did however made me feel better about the weight gain because I was a hungry, hungry hippo last week.

We also swung into Grandma and Grandpa Romig's to deliver our family picture and give them their disc. We had a good visit and also had a good laugh about where I found Emma. I was visiting with them and Ruby was down stairs playing in the toy room, but it was very quiet upstairs where Emma was. I interrupted the conversation to check on her, she was upstairs in the bathroom with both of their toothbrushes in her mouth, one on each side pulling her lips outward. She is so fascinated with their toothbrushes. It was pretty funny. Then she came down and showed us her brushing job, with one of her winning smiles.

From there we went to Robert's to get a few last things to finish up our tree ornaments. We didn't leave until 6:00 and Emma cried almost the whole way home. Let's just say that it was a long drive home. I was a wee bit frazzled, and completely missed our house and turned into someone elses driveway. Gratefully Jed was about 5 minutes behind me and was able to cuddle and console her. Then about 5 minutes after Jed got home the doorbell rang and it was a member of the Bishopric. We had a good visit with him, but I must confess it was fabulous to be able to finally eat some dinner around 7:30 I had an angry stomach, but the fried egg sandwich worked miracles in calming the anger. Once we got the girls into bed, the evening calmed down and we were able to just lounge around. A good end to a busy day.

18 weeks with a little soft shoe

I reached 18 weeks yesterday. Things have been going well, but I find that with this pregnancy I'm not sleeping as well as I did with the other two. Sometimes I wake up either hungry or unable to sleep so I end up in the kitchen with a banana or on the couch with a book in hand until I can no longer keep my eyes open. But for some odd reason, I'm not terribly tired during the day. I am most grateful for that. I keep having dreams that my sister keeps finding out the gender of her baby before me and I always wake up wondering how it is possible until I come to my senses and realize I am just dreaming. Halloween has given me some trouble and thrown me off my eating. I finally decided to break it up in little bags and put it way so I have to make some effort to get to it, so have to think about it instead of mindlessly popping it in my mouth . I don't do well when temptation is right under my nose. Here is to hoping I am successful getting back on track next week.




Last night we had our ward chili/pie cookoff. It was a great time. It was so nice to just be able to pick a random table and visit with people we have never met before and talk so easily. We really do love our new ward, and truly feel like it is where we are supposed to be. Before the activity I pulled hot rolls out of the oven for the dinner, and we ate a few (5) while Ruby entertained us with her latest dance moves. Jed decided to get some pictures of her doing her thing, but decided that the photo's weren't doing them justice so he turned to some video footage. I myself think the pictures are pretty priceless.

Halloween 09

Our Halloween started out early and frigid. We were up at 7:00 to prepare ourselves for family pictures. My friend from Oakcrest gave a superb deal and so we whisked ourselves out the door to make it to our destination on time. I got to look at what she took on her camera and they are fantastic. I am looking forward to getting our disk so I can view all of them.

I decided that I needed to put at least a few things on the wall, and to complete the composition I needed a iron star to replace the tin one that got stepped on during the moving process. So we headed to Rod Works in Lehi. (Oh, friends how I love it!) I found exactly what I was looking for plus a few other things but decided it best to bide my time on the other items that brought joy to my heart.

Then it was off to Walmart to get Emma some tortillas for her quesadillas. It is one thing she takes very seriously. We came home for luncheon and naps. Both were glorious. Ruby woke up before Emma so we got to work on cutting our Halloween sugar cookies that actually were cut out with Christmas cookie cutters because we forgot to buy Halloween ones at the store. They still turned out marvelously. These pictures were taken the day before when we were making the dough. If you are wondering what Emma is eating, it is sour cream. She loves it.





We then proceeded to the mad dash to get every one costumed and ready to go to Josh and Kami's. My poor family had to deal with me being in a 'pregnant rage' because it was so hot in the house. (It was 70 degrees) We made it out the door and off to our destination.

We had such a fun visit with everyone and enjoyed Kami's chili and Debbie's heavenly rolls, of which I think I ate four. The calories were well worth it. I am also most excited as Suzanne started on the super top secret ornament for my tree. I can't tell you how thrilled I am about them and how beautiful they are. (The big reveal with be in about a month.) The girls had fun going around with the cousins and Uncle Josh. Even now Ruby continues to talk about his mask and how cute he was. I think she is still trying to convince herself that she wasn't scared. She tells everyone about it. Kami also sent us home with her Little House on the Prairie Christmas DVD. I love it. We watched yesterday and I blubbered like an idiot. It comes highly recommended by me.







These little beauties were taken the day before Halloween, when Ruby had her party at school . These are her good friends at school, Summer and Jackson. Ruby has a playdate with Jackson tommorrow. She is excited and tells us that Jackson is her boyfriend and then laughs. When I talked with Misty, Jacksons mom, she told me that Jackson prays at every meal that he and Ruby can have a playdate. He also tells her what Ruby brings for show and tell every day, and that Ruby is pretty. She asked him what that meant he told her that it meant she was very cute. At school they always greet each other with a big bear hug. I am glad Ruby has such good friends.

Birthday Celebration

Jed's boss passed away about 2 months ago, but his work wanted to do something special as a tribute to him. What better way to remember someone than to celebrate their birthday. Arno's birthday was yesterday, Jed and I got invited to go to a dinner party with the office team and some of his friends. It was such a fun night!



Most of the time we don't get a really special occasion that allows for dressing up and going out on the town. Jed's work went all out and we got to celebrate at La Caille. It was such an amazing place. Outrageously priced, but amazing.

We started off with drinks, something that if we were paying we rarely do. We had appetizers, Jed got escargot. He actually liked it, always fun to try something new. I went with the Alaskan King Crab cakes. They were delicious, I don't think I realized what I was missing out on. After that we were served salad, Jed got an avocado, crab, and grapefruit. I got the Wilted spinach. Nothing short of fabulous. For our entree's Jed got the fillet minion, and I got the tenderloin tips. It was really good, but I was so full by this point that I decided to save room for dessert and only ate a little bit of it and had the rest put in a to-go box.





Then came the dessert. Oh wow, was it ever good. Jed got Bananas foster, and I got the trio sampler so I could try it all. Truly the way to go. We loved getting to go somewhere that we otherwise would probably never venture. It was truly such a treat. We had a wonderful time, minus our servers outfit. She looked like a 1700's barmaid/wench.





We didn't get out of there until 10:15 and didn't get to the Romig's until 10:45 to pick up the girls. I was exhausted, but when we got there we had such a good time visiting that we stayed until midnight. We got into reminiscing and telling the silliest stories. Due to how late it was, we laughed all the harder. I love unexpected visits and enjoying fine company. We didn't get home until 1 a.m. And after that we all crashed. Sadly, morning came way to early.

The mamas and the papa, oh and C.C.

We have had a few fun adventures in the past week. We went to Gardner Village with my mom to see all of the witches on display and also for the scavenger hunt. Each time we found one, Ruby would take a quick look at them and be ready to rush on to find the next one. It was a fun day to get out of the house, part of the reason we went up that way was that I also had a Dr. appointment. The baby's heartbeat was 145 and the MA found it immediately. I commented on it and she said that it is pretty rare to find it that fast at 14 weeks.



Last Friday we also go another great surprise. Jed called and told me his parents were coming out for a visit. It was exciting because, the girls and I hadn't seen them since the day we moved into our house. Part of that was due to their trip to Hawaii, but it was very fun to see them again and hear about their vacation. The girls had Papa up and down the stairs and Ruby ran the official tour of the house. It is very strange to be far enough away that just going over to say hi isn't an option anymore. I really miss it, but the way I am choosing to look at it is that it will make visits more special and more of a treat.



Ruby learned about Christopher Columbus at school on the 16th and came home with this cute hat. The funny thing was is that the first words out of her mouth were not about C.C. But about something entirely different. "Mommy, Jackson, Summer and I are going to Disneyland!" Her teacher informed me that they talk about this trip everyday during play time. I also very much enjoyed hearing Ruby tell me about C.C. and what he did. "Christopher Columbus, swam in the ocean on a boat and looked through his skepalope and saw many people."

The magic of Spiced Hermits.

We were planning on making cookies on Friday, but I came across one of my most favorite fall cookie recipes and knew I had to make them today. I came across it last year in my Family Fun magazine. It is wonderful! I had never seen a recipe like it. It is such a great recipe because it is filled with spices, nuts and Craisins . It makes for a perfect cookie that allows little hands to help and take turns.

Being in the kitchen with my girls brings back so many special memories of being in the kitchen with my mom when I was growing up. I committed a fall faux paus and turned on some Christmas music, while we were baking. The girls had fun measuring spices and getting to smell them. Each on is so unique. Some they liked very much and other not so much. After most of the ingredience you have to mix it for about a minute. It made it easy to share the mixer. It may sound silly, but I just had such a loving feeling for my girls and I think they did for each other as well as we did this simple thing together. Moments like this are magic and matter so much more than I sometimes think they do.

The cookies were delicious and probably one of the things that made it so fun and special for me is that each of us were wearing matching aprons that were giving to us by my dear friend Jody right before we moved. It was such a sweet gift that I treasure. Jody and I served in the Primary Presidency together and she was like my ward mom. She truly is an incredible woman, she raised six children and all while they were growing up she had to take them to church by herself. I am so grateful for the things I learned from her. If I had to name one thing it would be this, In every moment and sitution we can find something to be happy about or to be grateful for. Today I am feeling especially grateful for each life that has touched mine for good.

I almost forgot

Yesterday I went to see my dear friend Jessica, who had her baby about a week ago. she is a smidgen older than me but just had her 4th baby. I think she is incredible and we had a wonderful visit. Her new son is so precious. As we were visiting she was telling me that her son Owen who is Ruby's age reminded her of our little hike to Bell Canyon Reservoir about 5 weeks ago. I am so glad she reminded me of this. I was going to write about it, and then I forgot with everything else going on.

It was a week before our move, and each day I would try to think of something to get out of our apartment that was filled with boxes and allowed very little room to play. I called my friend Jessica to see if she wanted to get together. Her husband had a few days off and they were going on a hike to Bell Canyon Reservoir and doing a bit of fishing. She kindly invited us along. The hike was special, especially to me, a 9 week pregnant out of shape plunk who had to carry her almost 2 year old the whole way up. In a word, it was grueling. Ruby was a champion and was happy and energetic the whole way up. It was so nice when we reached the top.

Scott went out to fish, while Jessica and I had a fun visit on the shore. Ruby, Morgan and Owen went to play on the rocks and ended up playing "Peter Pan." Emma and Evan stayed with Jessica and I and occasionally Emma would slowly inch her way down the shore and get close to the water. I would have to hurry and go get her back up close to us. Did I mention that Emma has absolutely no fear of water?

After a few warnings she was getting to close, she hurried up and to the waters edge and fell in. I was up on my feet in an instant and ran to grab her. I was about 10 feet from her and by the time I got there her head was under the water and she was flailing. Without a second thought I was in the water, I took a step to get close to her and slipped putting me in shoulder deep. I quickly grabbed her and we turned around to head out of the water. The strange thing of it all was how calm she was. She didn't even cry, and she had to have been under the water for at least 5-8 seconds. I can't even tell you how relived I was that she was ok. It happened so quickly and I am glad my reaction was quick.

Once on the shore with both of us dripping water, I looked at my friend and just started to laugh. I wasn't sure if I was in shock or if it was laughter of relief that she was ok. We cuddled on the shore and ate fishy crackers for the rest of the time. Evan who is Emma's age got really scared when Emma went in the water and never left his mom's side after that.

It was quite the adventurous outing.

Saturday is a special day

It has been a new experience with our house having Saturday chores. I think in the apartment, I took care of everything because there wasn't a ton of room to give instruction and then stand back and let them help. So I always did most of the chores. It was fun however this week to work as a family to achieve our to-do list around the house.

Ruby was very helpful and specifically told me she was my special helper. We changed sheets, cleaned bathrooms, and unloaded the dishwasher. It was fun to let her help, I know she loves to be a part of whatever is going on. For instance when we first moved in and Jed was setting up bed frames, she would ask every few minutes what she could do to help and when we told her we would call her when we needed her, it was nearly impossible to get her to go play because she felt very strongly that her help would be missed.





Emma wanted to be where we were and did her part by making sure the quilts didn't sneak off while Ruby and I changed sheets. She also helped herself to the green apple shampoo and was trying to work up a lather while we were working on the bathroom. I asked her if she wanted to go and play in the toy room while Ruby and I finished up. She gladly obliged.



Before we started chores Jed started a game of hide and seek with the girls. It was so funny to hear them squeal with delight when they found daddy or he found them. I had to take a picture of the best hiding place. Jed and Emma hid together while Ruby was looking and she burst into the laundry room and shouted "Found ya!" Only to realize she didn't see them. Then they started laughing and she found them.



Jed also has been working on a project of his own. My dad generously bestowed a garage door opener on us as a house warming gift. He bought it for himself when he thought his wasn't working and then it started working again. He didn't ever return it so when we moved he put it in my car. I snapped this picture when Jed was telling me not to snap anymore pictures of him on the ladder. I know what a distraction I can be. lol



As for me I am 14 weeks today. I have my next appointment on Tuesday and wanted to take pictures to document this pregnancy this time around since we didn't have a camera when were expecting Ruby, and then I was just a loaf during Emma's. And maybe the real reason is that I can take my own pictures now that we have longer mirrors. I also have been really enjoying styling my hair this way, the A-line was cute but very time consuming with my wavy hair. Now that it is a little longer I can just gel it and then add a few curls. It is most convenient.

F.or Y.our E.ntertainment

Here are some family funnies that just had to be shared, that I didn't want to forget.

-Last week Emma was crying in the middle of the night, I went to go get her and discovered that she had stripped down to the suit she was born in and proceeded to mark her territory in her crib. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 2:30 am. Which meant there was no chance of sneaking a pair of fresh jammies from the dresser in Ruby's room, no going back to her own bed, and there was no way I was changing sheets that early in the morning. So I took her frigid little body back to bed and finished out the night sleeping like a champ since she cuddled with Jed.

-Ruby has been going back and forth on what she wants to be for Halloween and could spend hours pouring over costumes on the internet with me. When I picked her up from Preschool last Friday we had this little conversation.

Ruby: "Mommy you promised I could be Ariel for Halloween. "

Me: "Ruby don't you think you would make a good Emily Elizabeth and Emma would make the cutest Clifford the Big Red Dog?"

Ruby: " No! I think I would make a cute Ariel and Emma would be the cutest Ursula ever."

Me: "Where did you get that idea, Ruby?"

Ruby: "The Holy Ghost."

-My girls have come down with a serious love of washable body art, which was inspired from a little visit from Grandma Cook's house while I was at a Dr. appointment. I came back to Ruby being fully tattooed with glasses, spiders, flowers, chair on her leg, a rainbow, and a purple mustache. Mind you my mother did beautiful work, in fact it could have become her full time profession. Ruby assured me it would come off with a wipe. To this day the girls love a little self produced body art, Ruby always has a rainbow on her hand and Emma whatever contact she can make with the marker. Yes, my girls had fun yesterday.







At preschool yesterday, they made witches hats. When I came to pick Miss Ruby up her teacher stopped me at the door to tell me of a tangent Ruby went off on in class. She told her teacher that they "Aren't witches hats but wizard hats like Mary Potter wears. I listen to Mary Potter in the car but mommy won't let me watch it because it is too scary. But when I am older she will let me and Emma watch it." I am so glad that Mrs. Rodabaugh shares these little tidbits with me because I wouldn't know about them otherwise.



As for the pregnancy everything has been going extremely well. I have had a cold and sometimes in the morning the congestion causes my stomach to constrict when I cough. One morning when I got sick I had to use the girls bathroom because Jed was in ours. Ruby came screeching into our room screaming "Daddy! Mommies throwing up!" Once I came out I told her I was ok, and she said "Someday mommy, when I get big, I'm going to throw up just like you."

Homemade decor

I have things that I want to put up decoration wise for Halloween but we don't have furniture in our upstairs living room, or the Rod works sofa table I have my heart set on. Which should all be remedied soon. So yesterday afternoon I was trying to think of a way to put up some decorations that wouldn't require something to set them on. Ruby was a great helper at putting on the googly eyes and putting the paper chain together. It took a lot more time than I had anticipated, but I really enjoyed the time spent with her.





I also took our first picture of the girls on the porch. Did I mention I love having a porch? I also really like the little people sitting on it.





I am really looking forward to this upcoming weekend. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Ruby has school pictures tomorrow.
2. We are headed to Sandy to get Ruby's glasses adjusted. (They are a slightly askew since she has been introduced to our neighbors trampoline.)
3. Maceys is having their cereal extravaganza .98 cents a box. What's not to love?
4. I am purchasing cable knit tights for the girls and a few other essentials.
5. Jed and I will be going to the BYU game Friday evening together, and freezing ourselves silly. Mother dearest is watching the girls so we can go. Jed's dad will be in Hawaii so it was only appropriate that I ask to mooch his ticket.
6. Conference weekend! I love hearing the Lord's servants speak to us giving sound council and encouragement. I am also secretly thrilled about the roast in our fridge for Sunday dinner. It is quite possible that no one loves roast beast more than I.
7. Most of all I am ecstatic to have the whole weekend with my girls and the hubs. I think they are pretty cute.

Bring on the weekend!