Go Cougs!

We had some friends over for the BYU vs. Utah game yesterday, even though they were Utah fans. But don't worry, we rubbed it in after we won! Very Christ-like I know!

Shaun hung the streamers. . .

. . . and decorated this awesome cookie!

I hung the blue lights and made the Go Cougars sign with my new cricut!

We borrowed the helmets from the shelf in Gage's room and the pom poms from Maisey!

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Decorating the place was a family effort! The game went into overtime, but BYU came out on top! Go Cougs!

Our Christmas Tree Adventure

We ventured out to Palmer's Christmas Tree Farm this morning to pick out the perfect tree for our home! I love Palmer's Tree Farm because they shake the tree, bind the tree, put this totally awesome stand on it for you, and load it on/in your car for you. Once you pick out the tree and cut it, there is no work! You just get to stand around and watch and drink complimentary hot chocolate. Yum!

This is our day in pictures!

Daddy went out to the shed to get our Christmas tree stand from last year, so the kids came out to play too. Gage loved the slide! (I'm pretty sure this is my new favorite picture of Gage!)

Maisey enjoyed herself too!


Once we got to the tree farm we got our saw and cart and treked through the mud to find the perfect tree! Maisey was quite the helper pushing the cart!

Maisey claimed to have found the perfect tree for us!

This is our tree!

Maisey is watching Daddy very intently, as he cuts the tree down.

Daddy even let Maisey help a little!

Our kids were so happy . . .

. . . and excited to get the Christmas season started!

Brother Man was so happy to be with Grammy!

While we were waiting for our tree to get all ready for us to take home, Maisey and I walked in the barn area and found this pink princess tree. . .

. . . and this orange Beaver's tree! (They had a green Duck's one too, but that wasn't picture worthy!)

The kids were so good, the weather was absolutely beautiful! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day at the Christmas Tree Farm!

Hangover

I don't know what a ture hangover feels like, but I'm assuming it feels very similar to how I feel right now. My mom and I shopped from 8:30 pm - 8:45 am. That's right, 12 hours and 15 minutes!

I found way too many good deals, I spent way too much money, I met WAY too many strangers in the 3 hour line at Toys 'R Us, I got way to many things, and I sacrificed way to much sleep, but in that all, I had way too much fun with my mom!

Since 8:45 am, I have slept for 2 hours. My head is pounding and my vision is blurred! I'm going back to bed, hopefully to cure these hangover-like symptoms!

Good Night/Afternoon!

Amy's Bridal Shower

The bridal shower turned out so well last night! I put my mom in charge of taking pictures, and I was downloading them to my computer this morning, and this is what I got! :)

Her colors are blue and brown, which ended up looking very cute! I did a heart theme, and used my new cricut!!!

DECOR -

My mom and I found this totally awesome craft wholesale warehouse in Portland, so that's were I got most of the stuff for the centerpiece. I just filled a large vase with blue, brown, white and clear Christmas bulbs of all different sizes, then tied blue and brown ribbon into a bow. I stuck this jewel thing in the center to add some height.

I used several different cartridges on the cricut to do different shapes of hearts and different sizes. I sewed them together leaving space between each heart and hung them from the chandelier. It ended up being totally cute!

I did some small hearts on my cricut and hot-glued a toothpick in between 2 of them for the spinach balls.


FOOD -

Spinach balls, cheesy onion dip with sour dough bread, a veggie platter (from Amy's Grandma), delicious peanut butter brownies that I made into heart shapes (no close up pic since my mom was in charge of the camera!), and a totally awesome chocolate cake that my friend Angela made!

The Table!

Amy got a ton of fun gifts! We had a good turn out! I would say it was a success!

Now I am going to hibernate until Thanksgiving at 10:00 PM when our outlet malls open! :)

(We are going out for Thanksgiving so I don't have to cook anything!)

Gage is 7 months and Maisey is just funny!

This big dude is 7 months today! He is generally happier then he ever has been! At his 6 month check up 2 weeks ago he was 18 lbs. 8 oz. No wonder I can barely haul him around anymore! He loves to sit, he loves to play with my jewelry and hair, and he loves to watch his sister be wild and crazy! He loves squash, teething biscuits, and his 2 fuzzy on one side-silky on the other blankies! We call him big guy or brother man, so Maisey tries to call him that too, but it comes out like "bread pan!" He doesn't like to cuddle, he doesn't like to be rocked, and he doesn't like to be sung to. He just likes to watch football! He usually sleeps from 7 to 7 with one brief feeding at 4:30 am and his naps are improving too! He loves to have his picture taken (which I love too!). He also pees a ton (may be TMI, but this is for journaling purposes also!). We have to put an overnight diaper on him, and change it in the middle of the night, and we still end up with over-flowing diapers every once in a while. He's had a little tiny cold this past week, so he's a little grumpy, but nothing like before! All in all, no complaints this month! Just learning to deal with him better!

Isn't he cute?

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Yesterday was our ward's primary program! The nursery kids were invited to come up and sing one song with the rest of the primary. We had been practicing all week and Maisey was even belting it out at the luncheon on Saturday, but I was sure that once she got up there she wouldn't sing! Well, she proved me wrong! She sang all of the words to "Jesus Said Love Everyone." I was so proud of her!

So, in the past, Maisey had a severe biting problem. But only to one person, one of the girls I babysit. This girl, Lizzy, is always in her space, and I'm pretty sure Maisey feels threatened by her and she doesn't know how else to express that feeling so she bites her. Well, even though it is somewhat justified, it is still not ok for her to bite! So after trying several different discipline methods, which were not working, my cousin suggested trying hot sauce. So I bought some tabasco sauce and it only took about 3 times of having one drop of hot sauce on a spoon and she had stopped biting! Well, in the last 2 weeks, this problem has creeped up again. Not as often, but I wanted to nip it in the bud again so I started the hot sauce regimine. Well, last Wednesday, Maisey needed hot sauce, so I put one tiny drop on a spoon just like normal, and gave it to her and she just licked her lips and said, "Yum Mommy -- I like hot sauce!"

Ok, so what do I do now???

(As a side note, I was cleaning out my cupboards last night and the bottle of tabasco sauce fell from the top shelf and shattered, spilling everywhere. So now she really won't be getting it anymore!)

Done, Done, and Almost Done!

*I finished my Christmas project last Wednesday! I even got them all wrapped, so I am COMPLETELY done! I will post pics of it after Christmas!

*The wedding is done! HOORAY!!!!!!!!! It went really well, and it didn't rain for pictures at the temple! That's 4 for 4 with no rain! Pretty good record! However, it was freezing and I'm pretty sure my shoulders were hunched up in every picture because I was so cold! The only pics that I have from my camera are pics from the luncheon at Olive Garden! So here are a few. I will post more from the actual wedding when I get them!

The Newlyweds!

Maisey is scarfing down her mac n' cheese while the rest of us starving people wait patiently for our food!

Gage is just hangin out! His cheeks and nose are still recovering from the freezing cold weather from the temple!

All in all, the day was a success! But I do have to admit, I took a really long nap on Sunday afternoon!

*The bridal shower is tomorrow night! I have pretty much everything ready and it should be really fun! I will post more on that after! But I'm almost done with my 3 big projects in a week!

I was thinking that things were going to slow down after the bridal shower was over, but I sat down and wrote everything on our calendar for the next few weeks, and they are going to be just as busy! Between football parties, Christmas parties, my trip to Denver, Christmas devotionals, temple nights, and date nights with friends, and going to get our tree, we are pretty much booked until Christmas! What is up with this crazy life?

Giddy

My aunt and cousin surprised me with this tonight! With all of the stress from the wedding, and the rest of my life, this definitely made my night. I seriously feel like a little school girl, or like an 8 year old kid going to Disneyland for the first time! I was so excited that I had to take time out of this crazy busy night before the wedding to blog about it (and I've already taken it out and used it!!!)

Happy wedding to me!!!!!!!

Say Cheese!

Family Pictures

October 24, 2009

Bauman Farms

Taken by: Tish Maughan

We love them! Thanks Tish!

If you normally get a Christmas card from us. . . this is your Christmas card preveiw! :)

PRODUCTION!

Don't you love feeling productive? The last 2 days have been extremely productive, and surprisingly, I feel a lot less stressed!

I finally found shoes. 2 pairs actually, and the one's that I am keeping are from Sears of all places! I've looked EVERYWHERE, and I had to run to Old Navy last night, which is hooked on to a mall. So I looked at Macy's and didn't find much, then my mom said to try Sears! Wa-la! There they were! The best thing about them is they were only $20!

I got SO SO SO much done yesterday! I had a huge list of stuff, and Shaun was so surprised when I told him I had finished it all, including putting the laundry away from Tuesday, and cleaning out the fridge. . . both things that weren't high on the priority list! I even worked on my Christmas project, which I am FINISHING tonight! Woohoo! I am feeling so good about things!

I better go get to work!

Rock It

More musical talent than her mom, that's for sure!

Someone's excited for the wedding

I know a lot of my posts have been about the upcoming wedding, but that's because it has CONSUMED my life lately! Well, tonight, my mom and I tried my kid's outfits on them just to make sure everything was perfect and we weren't missing anything! Good thing we did because Gage's shirt was too big and I don't have black socks for him! So I guess I will be shopping some more! Anyway, my kids looked too cute to pass up the opportunity for some pics! So enjoy. . .

He is the most handsome little guy I've ever seen!

Notice how most of the pictures of Maisey have been in front of our front door lately? That's because any time I take my camera out she runs to the door to stand there. I DON'T TELL HER TO. She just does it. Ever since I took her picture there for gymnastics in September. She thinks that's the new picture spot. Whatever, it's not worth the fight.

Anyway, she LOVES her dress. She wouldn't just stand there. It had to be in her hands at all times. Also, she begged me to let her stay in it til Daddy got home from work, so I let her. Shaun was changing her out of it before dinner and came out and said, "I'm assuming it wasn't ripped when you put it on her?" I looked at it and it was ripped in 2 places! :( I already took it to one of my friends to fix one part of it, then I have to wait til my other friend gets home from Thailand on Friday to surge the other rip. Kinda crazy! I guess she won't be wearing it again til the day of the wedding!

Maisey is so excited though! She kept asking me if today was Kelsey's wedding. I told her she only has to wait 9 more days!!! To her, that's an eternity!

Crunch Time

We are down to a week and a half until my sister's wedding! I'm grouchy, I'm tired, but mostly I'm stressed! Stressed with all of the things that my mom and I have left to do, stressed with this stupid Christmas project I decided to take on, stressed with my friend's bridal shower that I volunteered to throw, but mostly stressed because I DON'T HAVE SHOES FOR THE WEDDING!!!!!!! My kids are sick of shoe shopping with me, and this might be the first (and probably last) time I've ever said this, but I am sick of shoe shopping too!

All I'm looking for is a black closed toe shoe. Heel - 1 - 2". Something fancy, but not too fancy! I don't want suede, and I don't want anything super shiny! I'm hoping to spend $50 or less because I do have about 20 other black shoes in my closet! If anyone has seen anything, please let me know!

While shoe shopping yesterday, I bought an awesome pair of Steve Madden knee-high boots! If only I could wear those next Saturday. . .

My CRAZY girl!

I just got home from a 1 1/2 hour Wal-Mart trip! I only brought home 4 bags. Why did it take so long? My crazy daughter was walking around with her eyes closed and her arm out in front of her. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I walking like a blind person!" and then proceeded to do that for the rest of our Wal-Mart trip. Every time I asked her to hurry it up she just YELLED, "Mommy. . . I a blind person!"

People were staring.

Others were laughing.

I was secretly busting up inside!

Where does she get her material? This girl is a comedian!

My thoughts from today

BOOOOOO Yankees! -- that's all I'm going to say!

1. I'm pretty sure I have a huge welt on my back from Shaun throwing a very saturated diaper at me! (I threw it at him first--just not as hard)

2. I've really been missing my dad the last few weeks, so today I dragged the kids to the cemetery with me to visit. My mom had placed this little pumpkin decoration thing in the ground and Maisey kept playing with it. We talked about how this is where papa's body is but his spirit lives in heaven with Jesus. Then out of the blue she looked up at me and said, "Papa loved my Halloween costume!" With tears coming down my cheeks I just simply replied, "I bet he did!" I'm sure she didn't just make that up!

FAMILY -- DON"T READ THIS NEXT ONE!
3. I am doing this awesome Christmas project for my siblings and my mom, well it started off awesome. It's gotten progressively worse as I've been working on it so I stopped for a while. Well, today I had to start back up agian so I can have it done in a few weeks. So, I had to drive around and take pictures of all of our old houses and a few other places. It was incredibly AWKWARD! If I looked out my window and saw a blue van parked in front of my house and some crazy, unshowered lady with 2 screaming kids roll down her window to take a picture, I would feel really uncomfortable and almost violated. But. . . I trucked along and did them all, even though some neighbors were outside. I just tried to be really quick.

4. I took the kids to Costco today, by myself! I put them both in the seats of the shopping cart and they fought the whole time. Maisey had a sippy cup and Gage kept trying to get it so Maisey would put it on the other side of her then Gage would scream, then Maisey would hit him and tell him to be quiet so then he would scream louder. It was quite embarrassing and I told Shaun that this is only the beginning!

I know I had WAY more that I wanted to write, but every time I sit down to write, I can't think! Oh well! I'm going to go watch The Proposal. . . AGAIN!!!!

Better late than never!

It was a crazy busy weekend, so I'm finally getting the Halloween pics up!

We started Halloween bright and early with a quick errand, than Maisey's gymnastics! I was getting her dressed in the morning and asked if she wanted to wear her Halloween clothes or her gymnastics clothes. Her response was, "Mommy, I wear both!" So she went to gymnastics looking like. . .. . . this! (Yes those are pumpkin pants!)

We then went to the church to help our friend set up the carnival for later that night. After that, we headed down to Salem to watch our cousin's football game. We brought him and his sister back up to our house. Everyone took naps except Alex and Shaun who watched football, while I headed back to the church to help somemore.

At 4, we headed to dinner with some friends (kids in costumes ate free), then we went straight to the Halloween Carnival. Once again, Maisey was so so so excited--even more so because she got to bring her trick-or-treating bucket with her this time!

Shaun, Gage, Maisey, and Madi doing the cupcake walk.

This was the only group shot we got, but I am a referee, Shaun is Bronco Mendenhall, Gage is a BYU football player, and Maisey is the cheerleader.

Then we threw the Beaver's head coach (Alex) and a Beaver's cheerleader (Madi) into the mix!

After the carnival and trunk-or-treat at the church we hit up some neighborhoods! Alex and Madi had a great time running from house to house! Maisey did too but by the end her little legs were so tired of trying to keep up with the bigger kids all night.

Maisey and Porter paused toward the end to take a picture. Doesn't Maisey look so tired?

Halloween Eve

As previously posted, we attended our friend Hudson's birthday party the night before Halloween. Maisey had a great time. Here are a few pics from the night:

Brother and Daddy doing what they do best -- hangin out together!

Maisey attempting the pumpkin ring toss!

Maisey wanted to give Porter a little gift since it's no fun when your sibling gets all of the attention so she picked him out a princess camera. Porter was so excited. . . His dad--not so thrilled!
How can you deny a boy a princess toy when he gets this excited about it?

He went around taking everybody's pictures all night!

Including his dad's.