Disney on Ice

So my mom treated all of the girls in the family to Disney on Ice this Thursday and we had a lot of fun!

It was so cute to see all the little girls dressed as Disney Princesses and to hear them squeal in the audience every time a new princess skated on.

The best part was watching my neice, Anna, during the exciting parts of the show.

Of course we had to sing with Aeriel. Ah Ah Ahhhh......

and we laughed at the dancing spoons, and all the princes that couldn't land their jumps.

And then their was the finale, complete with fireworks. But mostly, it was just great being with all the cool girls in my family.

True Confessions

Our daughter eats dirt, and loves it.

*sigh*

Two Idiots, a pair of keys and a window

So the air conditioning in the Jeep went out again and so as we were on our way home from choir practice last night, we decided we'd drop it off at our friendly repair shop so they could look at it on Monday.

So went to pick up Brian's mom's SUV to borrow while it's in the shop and we left the Jeep in the shop parking lot and put the keys in the over night drop box. Well we get into our neighborhood when I started to think and I stopped the car dead in the middle of the road and said, "Brian, we don't have a way into the house." You see, Brian only took the car key with him, so the house key was in the house. Our garage door opener is programmed into his Jeep, and the key to the Jeep was in the lock box at the shop. No problem, Brian said, I'm sure there's a window open. Nuh-uh. When Brian first started going out of town I made sure the house was completely secure. Go me. All the doors and windows were locked, We didn't have a way in, both of our wallets were in the house, but luckily Brian's brother lives down the street.

So we went to Scott and Carries to try to call a locksmith, which is virtually impossibly on a Sunday evening. Don't people want our business? Good grief! Meanwhile, Dad and Eric and Sheena head to our house to have cake to celebrate Kevin's birthday (He's on a mission but we thought we'd celebrate anyway. ) and see that we're not there. So they go to Scott and Carries and after much deliberation, all the men went to our house to try to "break in" while the girls hung out with the babies.

So this is how it all went down. Cue "Mission: Impossible" theme song please...They take a hammer and after a couple of tries, Scott broke an apparently hard-to-break small picture window. They said it was so loud and our neighborhood is SO quiet, they were afraid someone was going to come out and call the cops. Then the three other guys hoisted him up (he's the smallest) into the very high window and he unlocked the door. They cleaned it up and that was that. Now we have a patched up window we've to to get fixed but I hope since it's small that it's cheap. ugh. At least it's good to know that it's hard to break into our house.

You'd think that two college graduates like Brian and me could have thought through the process before doing something so stupid, but no. So that was our crazy evening, and it will NEVER happen again.

Abby and Brian on the Plane

Aren't these sweet?

Fun in Utah

Okay. I'm having major issues with Blogger and it's making me mad. This is like the 4th time I've had to re-write everything.

Some of us have never been to "This is the Place" monument, so we took a little side trip after we went and saw Music and the Spoken Word Sunday morning.

The preggo girls sat and relaxed while Brian and Mark took off exploring.

As for Abby....she spent her time inspecting every crack, rock, stick and blade of grass she could find. I love kids at this age!

Aside from spending some great quality time with the family, we got to do some pretty fun things.

Monday afternoon we went bowling at the Wilk at BYU. We practically had the place to ourselves so Abby got to do some exploring.

She got some sun earlier that morning and her cheeks were rosy-red all day. Isn't she a cutie?

I bowled a 64 which is the the WORST score of my life! But I think I can rightfully blame it on pregnancy, don't you? Michelle, who is 8 months even bowled a frame.

Brian, Carrie and Dad all scored over 100, Mom tied with me and Scott blew us all out of the water with a 148. Great form, Dad!

Grandpa McMurdie

We found out Thursday morning that Brian's grandfather, Chatley Neil McMurdie, passed away in the night. Both grandparents have not been doing well for a long time so we knew it could be any day when we would get the call. So we all picked up and flew to Utah on Friday morning. This picture of Abby and Grandpa was taken in September. He was such a loving, charitable man and I know everyone will miss him.

My Crazy Daughter

I love Abby. I mean, not just cause she's my daughter, but because she is a really cool kid. I love her quirkiness, her melodramatic antics and her zest for life. And I love this picture because it kinda sums up how she takes on the world...she attacks it one huge, yummy bite at a time.

Speed Blossoms

I'm suprised at how fast blooms come and disappear! It happened so fast I didn't have time to take pictures of our little Bradford Pear tree in it's first full bloom, but I did manage to find a few lone blossoms.

Quiz Answers

1. Abby's middle name is Reese.
2. I'm older than Brian by four months.
3. I played trombone in high school and college.
4. My favorite TV show is "So You Think You Can Dance?" I think most people thought American Idol, but there's a point where the singers on AI drive me crazy. Plus I don't know much about dancing and so it's fascinating to me.
5. Brian and I met on a blind date (set up by my now sister-in-law Carrie.) We didn't hook up then, but that's how we met.
6. There are so many things I want to do when my kids are all grown. Music Therapy, Realty and Photography are three of my favorites. Luckily I have a long time to decide. :)
7. This one was close, but my favorite movie is Singin' In The Rain. That's even the ringtone on my phone.
8. I am the primary music leader for Jr. Primary, and the pianist for Sr. Primary. Another girl and I trade off. It's really fun!
9. I hate the word MOIST. ugh.
10. I'm 30, but don't feel it.

Oops.

I think I told myself five times to move the cup full of water, but I kept getting sidetracked...

so Abby moved it for me.

This Is A Test

Create your own Friend Quiz here

Mischevious Girl, Happy Girl

Idiot Teenage Voters

Okay. I normally don't get all worked up about stupid, insignificant stuff like this, but something is really bugging me.

There are some pretty great singers on American Idol this season, mostly girls. There have been two elimination rounds so far and the two people that should have gone home weeks ago are still in it. The first one is the "hot" girl of the competition who just sucks, and the other one is a 17 year old prissy boy who's so bad he can't tie the other guys' shoelaces. He's just not good. Embarrassingly bad, I think. But of course, he's 17 and kinda cute so all those hundreds of thousands of teenage girl voters out there are putting him through. Why are they voting for these people?!!

Now I know why the voting age in America is 18. Cause if the teenage population had a voice, Justin Timberlake would be the next President.

Two Cool Things

Just wanted to let you guys know about two of my favorite things for mommies. The first is a website called Book Pals Story Line Online where "celebrities" read childrens books aloud. There are even activities and lesson plans along with each story. It's really fun for the kids, and a nice break for moms.


The second is the greatest event known to moms, coming up this weekend in Plano. It's called Divine Consign, where hundreds of consigners sell their baby stuff at really great prices. The stuff is "gently used" and there's TONS of it. It's a pretty crazy event, so I would suggest taking a couple of friends along and man yourselves with whistles (like on Friends) in case you get trampled by a stampeed of bargain hungry moms. It's definitely worth it though!

My Other "Baby"

Recently I took on the challenge of being the Social Committee chairman for our Homeowners Association, which has about 800 homes in it. My first job as chairman was to organize a 5K run and 1 mile walk for our community. As the day of the race neared, I really got worried that no one would participate and that it was going to rain cats and dogs. But Saturday morning came and although it was super windy, the weather cooperated, and 75 people showed up to run! We had no idea that many people would be there and so we didn't have enough volunteers to handle the volume of people, but besides that, everyone had a good time and I think it went well!

The previous chairwoman warned me that it would be a thankless and difficult job, but I really had a great experience doing it. I mean, it's not an easy job to say the least, but I really enjoyed it. My mom has always been a community volunteer and instilled in us girls the importance in serving, and I'm grateful she did. It really is rewarding.

Here's Brian and Abby coming down the home stretch.

Baby Nostalgia

Abby was about three months old in this video. She loved to talk then just as much as she does now. Seeing her as a cuddly wuddly baby makes me want another one... wait. I am going to have another one!

I think you can view the video if you click on the picture, even if you can't see it. This new blogger has some kinks and it's driving me crazy.

What am I going to do with a boy?

I've been shopping for boys clothes lately and you know what I end up buying? Pretty little dresses for Abby instead. I'm trying to catch the boy clothes fever but its hard when you've been outfitting a girl for a year!

Don't you love this dress?

Cheeky

I had another sonogram last week so they could get some better pictures of the heart, (everything is fine) and the sonographer got a great shot of his profile. Look at those chubby cheeks!


Doesn't it remind you of someone?

Abby and Ben

Missy, John and Ben came over last Saturday and we took turns going to the temple while the other couple watched the kids. Abby and Ben had a great time playing together. You wouldn't believe it, but Ben is only nine months old. He's nearly as big as Abby!

You Have to Check This Out!

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Growing up, up UP!

Abby's been standing independently now for a few weeks and we're expecting her to take a step any day now. We know she has the skills, she just seems a little apprehensive still. She's an amazingly fast crawler so I guess she hasn't felt the need to to walk.

A couple of nights ago she learned to stand

on her head. She'll bend over and put her head on the floor and Daddy will grab her legs and put her into a head stand. She loves it. In the middle of the day she'll practice and it's so cute to see her little butt sticking up in the air. I'll try to get a picture during her next practice session.

Snack and a Show

They're pouring cement across the street today and Abby saw the action from her window and wanted to know what it was all about. So I took her outside and she ate teddy grahms and watched the loud trucks do their thing. So cute.

Girl's Weekend

Two weekends ago a few friends and I went down to Austin for a girls weekend. It was so nice to have a weekend just to ourselves without the worries of home. However, it was pretty hard for me not to worry cause it was my first time away from my baby, Abby had a stomach virus and Brian's flight got delayed overnight. But thanks to my wonderful mom who came up to stay for a couple of days, everything held together without me. Of course it did. But I guess when your a first time mom, you still worry that life will fall apart if you leave.

We stayed at the Driskill Hotel in Downtown right off of Sixth Street. We were right next to all the action. This is a pic of the foyer ceiling. The rest of the hotel was just as beautiful.

Cindy got a little friendly with Mr. Driskill.

And the birds got a little friendly with Carrie. The birds were INSANE in Austin. I guess it was that time of year when they hoard the trees and terrorize the people below with the constantly falling poop.

We went to this cute little bohemian spa downtown called Joie de Vie and got massages and pedicures. Mine are the pale feet with the super deep red. Man, I need a tan.

We also went to the San Marcos outlet malls and had a great time shopping, and also went to several different restaurants in Austin that were recommended. We had such a great time and hope to be able to do it again!

Decorating Help

Hey all you amazing home-decorators: There is one spot in our house we don't know what to do with. It's a 15 foot wall in our kitchen. Anyone have any good ideas?

Heaven Points

If there is such a thing as a point system to get into heaven, I think moms should get double points than everyone else, even Mother Theresa and the Pope. Abby had what we thought was a bad cold the last couple of nights and she felt so bad she was awake most of Saturday and Sunday night. Brian helped out the first night, but since he had to go to work today, I stayed up with her last night. I think I got 4 hours of sleep. We took her to the doc today and she has a sinus infection. Babies get sinus infections??? Mine does I guess. On top of that, since New Year's day, she's had TWO stomach viruses too. Will it ever end? No. Cause soon there will be two babies to care for, and someday more. And with all the sicknesses, broken bones, and broken hearts that we will have to mend, it seems the only reward we get is the satisfaction of raising wonderful children. That's why we deserve extra heaven points.

Our Finished Bedroom...maybe

So we've had color on the walls for months, but no pictures. We finally put some up today and it's so nice to have a finished room...for now. I'm always changing the decor of the rooms. Maybe cause it never seems perfect? Anyway, here are some pics of our master bedroom.

SNOW!

So it's snowed like three or four times this year and I haven't taken Abby out in it. I got repremanded by Grandma last night for not getting pictures of Abby in the snow, so when I saw that it was snowing today I grabbed Abby and we went outside. This isn't the pleasant stick-to-the-ground-and-play-in-it-snow, so I had to hold her in her bulky coat and take pictures at the same time. But I got snow pictures! Enjoy, Grandma.