Baby Number 2 is a....

Well, we had the gender ultra sound on Dec 22nd. We finally know what we're having so it was a perfect early Christmas present for Matt and I. Do you want to know too?


First off, lets look at some pictures! Here's me at 20 weeks and 3 days.



Awwww! Look at the face! At least some of it since Baby #2 was facing my back. The tech had a hard time getting a good shot because of it.



Here's a picture the baby giving us a thumbs up! Or is it hang loose :)?



This baby is going to have some big hands!!!


Now I have to tell you how we told our families. We were so cruel and made them wait till Christmas Eve! We originally told them Christmas Day but surprised them a day early. We made two Rainbow Chip cakes (yum!) and hid plastic pacifiers through out the cake and only one was the color of the gender. I also hid yellow and white ones just to throw them off. The funny part about it is that both Mom's found the right piece and both were so HAPPY! We were too excited to even think of taking a picture so there are none but take my word for it, they were very excited and so are we!

Baby #2 is going to be a BOY!!!
If you are shocked, we are just as shocked as you are. I seriously thought I was going to have a girl but we are yet again blessed with having another boy and we couldn't be happier.

Broke Part 2

This evening Evan picked what he wanted to wear to bed.

We think this is his way of fixing his Elmo pajamas.

Evan's First Train Ride

Yesterday we spent the day riding a "Cho Cho Train". Evan has become a fan of them lately so we took him on one. We drove up to Sandy to catch Trax to Salt Lake City. As soon as we got in the car Evan started saying "eight". It took us a second to realize that he was refering to song number eight on the CD. Evan had memorized his favorite song on the CD that had been in the car the last couple days. All he can see from his seat is the track number. After the song would finish, he would either say "again" or the track number to his other favorite song. It's a good thing these songs are our favotites too, because he wouldn't let us listen to the other songs on the CD.

Once we got to Salt Lake we got on the Front Runner. We sat on the top of the train since it was a double decker. Evan was being silly with the guy sitting behind him. Evan would stare at him till the guy looked at him and then Evan gave him the cheesiest grin and would laugh and then hide. The gentlemen thought he was really funny. I got a picture of some of it.

Once we got into Davis county I got to see the old house my family grew up in Layton. I also got to see the beauty school in the distance, but the sad thing about it is that it's now a Marinello Hair School. I checked the school's website and it says they're a member of Merinello but I wonder if Fran Brown is still owner. It makes me sad if she's not because she's been in business for as long as I can remember.
Anyways, the Front Runner goes as far as Ogden. We stayed there for 20 mins till it went back to Salt Lake. We sat in a different compartment then before because it had more room for Evan to move around.

Once we went back to Salt Lake we waited for the lights to come on at Temple Square. We kept warm in the Joseph Smith building, listening to a group singing Christmas Songs. The lights were pretty and we saw the different nativity scenes.

Santa Came!

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday so I'm sad to see it end. We are so blessed this season, full of wonderful family and friends, near and far and the blessings Heavenly Father has blessed us with all year long.
Just like last year we spent Christmas Eve with the Felt's. They have their big Christmas feast and this year we had Duck! Nathan and Elizabeth made it and they did an amazing job! We also had mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, vegetables and yummy sparkling apple cider. After dinner we had the traditional reading of Luke. Ellen, Evan, Abby, Matt, Mom and Ammon acted it out for us while Dad read it. We had dessert and then we opened up presents! I'm getting horrible with remembering to take pictures but Evan was so excited to open his along with Abby. We were spoiled as always and we visited with them for a little longer but before we went home to get Evan to bed we dropped by the Thompson's for a little bit. We also had some dessert with them and then went home to set up for Christmas once Evan was in bed. The next morning (today) Evan woke bright and early. I didn't think it would start this early with our kids but it did. He woke up at 5:00 but went back to sleep but woke every thirty mins after that until Matt got him at 6:00. I couldn't sleep at all so since Evan was bright eyed we just got up with him and opened our gifts. His reaction to his basketball hoop (Hoppie) was so cute! I'm glad we had a way to record it.

He played with it for a while and wouldn't touch his other gifts till we started to open ours.

Before we headed back to our families, we stopped by Amy and Austins house. I couldn't get over how cute Cadence was being playing with his baby piano. We got to play Wii with them for a little bit.
On our way up to Spanish Fork Evan fell asleep and there was no way of keeping him up.

He was gone! He stayed asleep even after bringing him into the house. We stopped at the Thompson's first because they were waiting for us to open their gifts. I think it's fun watching them. Evan woke up after awhile and joined in on opening the presents. I actually took my camera out for this.


After the presents we had yummy Cinnamon twist. We hung out and played with what we got and then we went to my families again. I vegged out on more food and we played Wii some more. Evan was getting a little tired so we went back to the Thompson's. It' nice having them next door. They were in the middle of a movie so we laid down and watched it with them. Matt and I ended up falling asleep and Evan not too long after.

Dinner was not too long after that. We had ham, cream corn, mashed potatoes, olives, ribbon jello, rolls and more sparkling apple cider. We played a few games after that and headed home.
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!

"Broke!"

A few days ago Matt and I were getting him ready for bed together. Since it's cold we almost always put on those one piece fleece sleepers. Evan really wanted to wear his Elmo underware so we put them on over his diaper. We decided to also put on his Elmo two piece pj's. He saw them and instantly started crying and kept saying "Broke! It's broke!" over and over. We tried to put them on him but he would take them from us and throw them on the ground saying "broke!". It's amazing how absurbant he is.

Thanksgiving and it's Weekend

I know this is late but I want this on here and I thought I better get it posted before Christmas.
This year for Thanksgiving we had it with my Mom's side of the family. It was a big reunion of all my Mom's brothers and sisters, nine in all. Most of the cousins were there too but there was still a lot missing. We traveled to Morgan for the big get together. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone again because the last Thanksgiving we had like this was back in 2002.

This is all who came. Thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Heidi for putting this event together!

On Friday I was one of those crazy people that woke up bright and early to shop. I was even more crazy for taking Evan but he woke up all on his own so I didn't feel bad for taking him. He was actually really good the entire time. Maybe I should take him shopping at 6:00 am more often:). We only went to one store and made it out with what we wanted in less then 30 mins. I wasn't there right at opening so I thought I was pretty lucky. Evan and I then bought and took breakfast for Matt. He had to be to work bright and early to move some servers so we got to hang out with him for a little bit. On my way home with Evan I was thinking that I would put him down for a nap at 9:00 because that would make it about the same time I would put him down on a normal day. I got lucky because he was falling asleep as I was turning into our driveway and it was around 7:30. I got to take a nap earlier then I thought:). Later that evening we went to the Felt Thanksgiving dinner. Not as many people came like past years but it was still great seeing everyone that traveled.
Saturday was the biggest football game of the year, BYU vs. Utah! I wish we brought our camera because all we got were cell pics and I don't know how to get them on the computer. Anyways, Matt and I bought All Sport Passes again this year but we bought the rotating seats. We got some pretty good seats but had some bad ones through out the season. We were lucky and got Row 1, north end zone and dead center for this game! A lot of people let us know that they saw us on TV a few times but the greatest thing was the very last play that was made by Andrew George. He made the winning touchdown and he came right towards us. The team gathered there and everything! It was so cool to be the closest ones to all the action till everyone piled onto the field. I wasn't in the greatest spot being pregnant but the baby and I survived. My brother Joseph was with us and he and Matt went on the field just to say they did. They went the fast way by hopping the fence. I went on it myself but went the long way:). The sad thing about all this is that Max Hall had to run his mouth about the Utes. I'm very dissapointed in him because it honestly took the win from us. This game will only be remembered by Max Halls comments. Good game Utes!!

Evan wants a 'hoopey" for Christmas

Evan is a big fan of basketball. He almost always has a basketball in his hand and throws it in anything that resembles a hoop. Or in Evan's words "Hoopey". He is always coming up to people to try to get them to make there arms into a hoop. Here is a picture of what our bathroom usually looks like if we have left the door open:


He also loves the BYU Basketball games. Thursday night Michael and I took him to the game and he had a blast. The only thing that he didn't like was that he couldn't go down on the court and throw his ball in the "Hoopeys". He did have fun with Cosmo though. Cosmo actually came up and played with him twice.



We have a feeling that Santa will be getting Evan what he is wishing for, because Mom can't handle having balls thrown at her much longer.

Merry Christmas at Wal-Mart

I really don't know where to begin in what I want to say because I'm just so shocked. I'm sure the shock of it wont ware off any time soon.
Tonight, even though it was getting late, I decided to go do my weekly grocery shopping since the rest of the week is just crazy for us and we needed some things for activities that are happening before Friday. After making sure I had everything I needed off my list I got in line to pay for it. Matt won a $20 gift card at his company Christmas party and he told me to use it to pay for the White Elephant gift he needed for his party on Friday. There was a miscommunication between the cashier and I. She thought I wanted to add $20.00 to the card instead of actually using it, causing a delay. One of the customers waiting in line came up to me and said he will pay for it because he thought my card was being declined. I told him thank you but it's just a mix up with a gift card. He went back in line. At this point I'm extremely embarrassed because I was causing a big hold up and probably everyone is thinking I can't pay for my stuff. After a few mins he came back and gave me $26.00 and told me to keep my gift card and Merry Christmas. I tried giving it back but he insisted. Time was still passing by and they decided to finally void the transaction and take me to a different register near by to re-ring everything up. I tried again to give him back the money but again he insisted. After waiting for my stuff to be rung up again I can just see this guy in the corner of my eye coming back over to me and gave me more cash, gave me a hug and said Marry Christmas. I picked the money up and tried to give it to him and he just put his hand up and said you deserve it and made sure the cashier took the money to use it to pay for my things. The Cashier was a little shocked too but began telling me this has happened a few times today. People just randomly handing over money to people they don't even know. In the end this guy ended up giving me $226.00 and my groceries only came to $97. As I'm walking out of Wal-Mart I was shocked but felt guilty at the same time because we don't need this money. After putting the stuff in the car and driving towards the free-way I felt very grateful for this stranger that did such a selfless act of kindness and thought of a family who could use the money. When I got home I took out the rest of the money and Matt looks at it and says, "where did that come from?" I told him what happened and his response was "what?" I ended up telling the story four times before he understood it all. He couldn't believe it and asked questions about the guy. I didn't even think to get his name because I was just shocked. Matt too thought we needed to give the entire $226 away to a family that's in need of it and we both thought of the same family without even discussing it. It's a miracle the way the Lord works and we're grateful that we have been an instrument in helping another family this Christmas.

Counting Down The Days!

I'm so counting down the days till we find out if our little one is a boy or a girl. I'm pretty positive that it's a girl but of course I could be totally wrong. I will be extremely happy if it's another boy though. There's so many good and fun things about having another boy so I'm indifferent about it. Girls are just so much fun to dress up and do girly things with.
I have three close friends that are due around the same time so it's been so fun to see how each other is doing. We've also been sharing tips on finding good deals on baby things. Of course if we're having a girl we'll need to almost start all over. I've been looking for crib bedding and I found this bedding that I absolutely fell in love with. It's driving me crazy that I don't know for sure whats growing inside me because I want this if it's a girl. I'm so tempted to just buy it now and just pray it's a girl because It's an amazing deal that no one can pass up. All the mother's out there should know what I'm talking about. Crib bedding is just so expensive that it's a little insane.
This better still be available if it's a girl when we find out. I love dark colors and it has Ladybugs. Exactly what I've been looking for and it's so cheap. 13 piece set for $99.99. You can't get a 4 piece set for that cheap. I'm in love!

Slacker!!!

I'm a major slacker with this blog lately! I have so much I want to update you on. One of these days I will get around to it, if not tomorrow. I have it on my to do list!

For Daddy!

Evan's 2nd Birthday Party

Evan is turning two tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time has flown! We had his party yesterday with family and close friends. Evan loves Elmo so we threw him an Elmo party. He was excited with all the Elmo stuff and even had fun buying it. We went to a few stores to find what we needed and he was a good helper in finding the stuff. He found things that I couldn't even see till he pointed them out. The high light of the decorations for Evan was Elmo's fish Dorthy. If you know Elmo's World you would know Dorthy. This is his first pet. I can't let the fish be in his reach or he'll try and catch her. I wonder how long she'll last :). Another high light was Evan's cake. Matt's co-worker made it for us. She did such an amazing job that Matt and I couldn't bare to stick the number two candle on it. Instead we pocked two smaller candles in it so it wouldn't mess it up. Of course we cut into it afterwards so it really didn't matter but still. Evan loves all the gifts that were given to him. They are all so perfect for him. Last year Evan wouldn't open any of his gifts but this time he got into it after the first few. We had to distract him a few times because of the types of gifts he got but in the end he was an a roll. Here are a few pictures of him opening his presents. I love the look of concentration on his face.
I made a video of us singing Happy Birthday to him. I was deathly afraid of fire growing up. I still am but just not as bad. I'm just glad Evan isn't the type of child that reaches for the flame. I would be histerical.
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Here is Evan enjoying his cake and ice cream.

Happy Birthday Evan! Your family loves you!

Family Pictures 2009

We were lucky enough to have our neighbors sister in law take some pictures for us. She did an amazing job! She got some really good shots of us and some really funny ones.
Here are our favorite ones.








Here are the funny ones but also favorites.
A classic Evan face

Evan's cheese face but distracted with something else.

You can totally tell that Evan is turning two in this one!

We laughed so hard when seeing these.

Thanks Jeannie! We will cherish these always!
Here's her blog if you're interested in getting pictures done by her.
http://jeanniemclaughlinphoto.blogspot.com/

Halloween

Halloween was a lot more fun this year because we took Evan out Trick or Treating. He got the concept after the first house and we didn't expect that. I thougt we would have to help him put the candy in the bucket if they didn't do it for him but he understood it from the get go and ran to the next house. We can't wait for next year! Evan was adorable in his costume. We couldn't find a Cougar so we picked the next closest thing to one. A Lion!

We went to our parents neighborhood to trick or treat so we do it with my sister Abby. She was a cute black cat this year.



Evan helped us a little more this year with our pumpkins. We would take the guts out but he would put them back in and take them out again. He also loved the seeds. He didn't like how they tasted but he loved how slimy they were so he had fun trying to catch them.

Baby Update

We had another Ultra Sound to see how our little bean is doing. He/She has grown so much since the last one that it's so amazing to see. It's always so fun to see them on the screen but of course it's better in real life. We got a really good shot of the baby because he/she was sleeping. It gave me a little scare at first but we saw that the baby had a really strong heart beat. I also got to hear it for the first time. It was only for a second or two because the baby desided to finally move. I'm not sure if it's a girl or a boy yet. My doctor did say it was beating about 160 a min.

This was Evan at 12 weeks. It's fun too look at them both to compare.

Through the Year's

Matt came across some pretty cool pictures of our home through the years on the County's website. It's pretty cool seeing how much the house has changed. I thought you guys might enjoy seeing the many changes.
Our house was built in 1941 and this picture was taken in 1951 or 1952 because the house next door was just being built. It was finished in 1952.

This picture was taken in the year 2000. The tree on the right lawn is now gone and it has different windows.

This is what the house looked liked when we bought the place. It really needed some TLC. The second tree on the left was taken out and the tree in the back is huge! The bushes were also taken out and rock gardens were put in their place.

Since then we really did a lot to the place. This was taken this year in the early spring. We cut down that old Juniper because it was ugly and we brought the lawn back to life during the two and half years we've been here. It's still a working progress. It's amazing that those rose bushes have been here since that first picture on the top. We plan on replacing them next spring/summer if we can get them out. Elizabeth has worked hard to remove some for us already. They have deep roots! We put in brand new windows in June. They have been amazing with keeping the heat in the house this fall. I'm glad we got them!

We're Growing Two Feet!

I'm almost nearing my 1st trimester so I think it's safe to say WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

Yup, baby number two is on his or her way! Our first picture of our little bean isn't the greatest one but there's a baby in there and we saw that he/she has a very strong heart beat. We're very excited to add to our little family in May. Our official due date is May 14, 2010!
It was quite the experience to get this far and some of you already know but most don't. After Evan was born I got an IUD put in. I never had any problems with it till we decided it was time to remove it so we can get pregnant again. On July 7th I went to my OB to get it removed but he couldn't find the string to pull it out. I about died when he told me this but I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. We were just hoping it fallen out without us knowing but then again we thought "Why aren't we pregnant?". I was scheduled an ultra sound so it was a very long few days till that day. I went to a specialist but he wasn't able to find it. I was getting really worried at this point. The only other option I had was to get an x-ray done. It only took a few mins to get one picture and wait for the picture to come out. It was there plain as day, still inside me. I couldn't wait any longer to get this thing out so I was very grateful that my doctor told me to come see him with the x-ray to talk to me. I wasn't ready to hear what he had to say. I had to have abdominal surgery to get it removed because it embedded itself in my uterine wall. I scheduled surgery with him that day. On July 21st, the day before my birthday, I went into surgery. I was put to sleep so I remember nothing except getting things ready and waiting in the cold pre-op room without Matt. Once I woke up I was pretty out of it. I felt a little sick from the anesthesia(sp?) so I hope I never have to have that stuff again! The surgery was a success obviously :). My Dr. took photo's for me and gave me the IUD as a souvenir lol. I have no idea what I will do with them but its cool he let me have them. Recovery was a little painful for the first two days. I had one incision in my belly button, that hurt the most, and one where my c-section scar is. That one didn't even phase me. I'm just glad it's over and that it didn't leave any damage because I got pregnant less then a month later! We're grateful for all our friends and family that helped us out during that time.
How have I been feeling? I've been feeling really good for the most part. Just really tired. I don't remember ever feeling this tired with Evan but then again it's been almost three years. I could have blocked out that part. I have no other pregnancy symptoms other than the usual but I'm one of the lucky ones that don't experience morning sickness. I only get a little sick if I wait too long to eat but it's nothing like morning sickness. I never had it but I know what nausea feels like.
Right now Matt and I are in different about having a boy or a girl. At first I was hoping to have a girl but there's so many good reasons to have another boy. All we want is a very healthy baby.
Our next Doctor's appointment is set for Oct. 29th with another ultra sound. We will get to see more of a baby instead of a small bean and sac. This appointment we'll also be able to get a better idea of how far a long I am but I'm pretty sure dates wont change.

So Cool!

When I put Evan down for his nap yesterday he was able to climb out of his crib, even on the lowest setting. I only did it to test to see if he could because I have a hard time getting him to nap when he has his freedom. Thank goodness he still took a nap so I didn't have to deal with a cranky toddler the rest of the day. Matt's class was canceled that evening so he came home and the first thing he did was take down his crib to make it a toddler bed. We'll just take advantage of that bed till Evan grows out of it. Evan was in heaven! He loves his bed now, even before when it was just a mattress on the floor. I would find him laying on his bed drinking his milk through out the day, but now he could bounce on it since it's back on a spring. Hopefully that wont last long.
Matt wasn't home for that long because he had a few meetings to attend. Usually I let Evan stay up a little later so they could both see each other before going to bed but I wasn't going to let him stay up past 8:00. I got him ready for bed and let him watch a little TV. It was around 7:30 when he gave me his sippy cup to fill it up with milk. I already brushed his teeth so I didn't want to but since he was staying up a little bit more I filled it half way. I thought he would go back to his show but instead he climbed in his bed, pulled his blanket on top of him and kind of waved to me. I took the hint and said goodnight to him LOL. I was so ready to let him stay up but he had different plans. Evan amazes us everyday and he always makes us laugh. If this happens every night then we should have given him a toddler bed a lot sooner.

Evan's New Trick

Evan realized he could climb out of his crib yesterday. Just the look on his face when he managed it was priceless. He was so proud of himself that he wanted to do it over and over again. Of course I put a stop to that and just let it go hoping he would fall asleep when he got really tired. Of course that time was at 5:15, just 2 hours away from bedtime. When Matt got home from work he lowered the crib all the way to the ground but just for kicks we kept his mattress on the floor just to see how well he'll do. Surprisingly he did very well. We did his normal bedtime routine but the only thing different was he kept getting off his mattress. We turned out the light and said goodnight and hurried out the door. We stood outside his door for about 5 mins. He cried and tried to open his door. It was funny but a little heart breaking to me at the same time but I heard him go back to his bed and he fell asleep. About an hour or two later we went in to check on him. Sure enough he was on his bed fast asleep but his feet were dangling off. It was so cute!

This morning Matt went in to get him so he could see him before he headed to work. Matt tells me he was very happy he didn't need his help to get out of bed. Evan wouldn't leave his room without his blanket and George. Just in the last few weeks he's grown very attatched to them. At least it's not a binky.

Summer Is Over!

That means I have a lot to write about. Summer time is such a busy fun time so I never found time to write about it. I have no pictures of this but we did a lot of swimming! I can't believe I left my camera home each time we went. I took Evan to our community pool during the day and we would go with Matt in the evening. A few times friends joined us. Evan hated it at first during the beginning of the summer because it wasn't blazing hot yet. He's just like me when it comes to water, we get cold easily. Once it really heated up he was really enjoying it. He learned to go under water without coming up coughing because water went down the wrong pipe. He loved it when Matt or I threw him in the air and he went under water.


We got to have fun at the park a lot this summer as well. Evan now goes down the slide all by himself. He loved feeding the ducks. He had more fun chasing them though.

We had a fun Pioneer Day. Matt had the day off so we went to Spanish Fork to see the parade with his Family. Uncle David was in town from California so it was great having him with us. After the parade we walked around the carnival and let Evan ride his first carnival ride. He loves water so I was worried he would fall out of the boat trying to touch it. Luckily he stayed in. He loved it so I'm excited to take him to Lagoon during Frightmares. It's cooler then :).

We went bowling with our great friends Jon and Aubrey. They moved in next door in May and I'm so grateful! We've become great friends. I really enjoy all the fun activities we've done with them and the great conversations we have daily. We took Evan with us so he could experience bowling for the first time. They didn't have anymore of those ramps that help kids bowl so I had to help him. He took my first turn and I finished up. Once we rolled the ball down the lane, Evan would sit down and wait for it. He was being so cut and we made a great team! I really thought Jon would beat all of us but Matt ended up coming first and then him. I guess Evan helped in that lol! He's our little secret weapon. Evan and I came in third and then Aubrey. We had a great time. I wish I got a picture of Jon. I guess we have to do it again :).

We had a lot of game nights with our friends and family. We love playing Celestial Champions with our friends because it's fun getting to know them better.

We went on a lot of morning walks with Amy and Jen. Sometimes we would walk to get free food. That's always fun!

Matt and I took Jon and Aubrey to the Manti Temple. I look forward to our trips up there. It's one of my favorite Temples. The feeling there is just amazing! I also look forward to eating at the Manti House after the session because their food is also amazing! We got a group photo at the Temple but the lady that took the pictures managed to not take a picture with my camera. We heard the click so we thought she got us but all she did was focus. I have yet to get Jon and Aubrey's copy.

Evan had his first taste of Corn on the Cob and loved it. The white stuff is sour cream. Something he also tried for the first time.

We spent a lot of time outside playing in our front yard. Evan also helped water our plants but sometimes he takes it a step further in fun.


Evan aged really fast during the summer :). He's now 22 months so that makes him 2 years old in two months.

On Labor Day we went up into the mountains and had a picnic with Matt's family. We then drove up to Cascade Springs. It was a beautiful place and there's signs of Fall coming. Yay!

Our BYU Cougars had an amazing win against the Oklahoma Sooners.


Evan learned how to do somersaults.


There's nothing better then a nice cold drink of water on a hot summer day.


Our summer was a lot of fun but it left us tired.

We're excited that fall is coming, it's my favorite time of year.