You know it's bad when . . .

. . . You can't smell your daughter's poopy diapers for 3 days when you can usually smell a poopy diaper with in 30 ft (make that 60 ft. when your pregnant!)

. . . Your throat is so swollen that you can't swallow your prenatal vitamins.

So I finally went to the doctor today, after being sick all week, to find out that I have a sinus infection and pneumonia. No wonder I have been coughing like crazy. Seriously. . . I have never had a cough like this. Good thing it's the weekend and Shaun is home to take care of Maisey! I am going to bed and probably won't get out until Sunday afternoon!

Happy Hibernating!

Happy Year of the Ox

Yesterday was the Chinese New Year, so in celebration and for FHE we had Chinese Food and made fortune cookies. We had a lot of fun making up fortunes for each other. My mom wrote one for me that said I will NOT have over a 9 lb. baby. Thanks mom!

I made this same recipe last year... they seemed to have turned out better looking then. This is our attempt this year!

I did make one pretty good looking one!

We had a great time and it was a fun family home evening!

If you were born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 or 2009 you are the year of the Ox. Those born under the Ox sign are dependable, calm, modest, and stable!

Good to know that is what our son will be! HaHa! One can only hope!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Over the Hump!

I've passed the 100 day mark, only 98 more days to go until we welcome a nameless baby boy into the world!

Lots to do, Lots to buy!

The BEST!!!!

I just want everyone to know that I married the BEST guy in the whole world! He amazes me everyday! He is a great, sensitive, and supportive husband, and a fun, silly, caring, and loving father!

Friday night we hired a babysitter again (Later I found out she was a 6th grader! A 6th GRADER!!!! I'll update more on that later!) and we headed to dinner and a hockey game! Just the 2 of us! It was so fun to spend a baby free night with my wonderful husband!

On Saturday, we did some shopping in the morning and then Shaun took Maisey for pretty much the whole afternoon! My mom and I went to see Bride Wars -- which was a great girls movie and it was so nice to just get out of the house for a while! Then my mom and I did some more shopping. Old Navy was having a huge sale -- I scored some pretty cute maternity clothes for VERY cheap! Then we headed to the grocery store and once again I was able to get my grocery shopping done BABY FREE!!!!! It was amazing! When I got home, Shaun had put Maisey down for her nap and while she was sleeping he did lots of yard work, frosted the cupcakes that I had made that morning, and did the dishes! All with out being asked!!! It was such a nice surprise!

Thanks for being a great Daddy to Maisey and a great Husband to Me!

I did Maisey's hair in pigtails for the first time this weekend! She looked so dang cute!

She loves to get her haid done. She sits sooooo still!

We were eating dinner one night and Mais lounged back in her chair and stuck her foot on the table! She was being so silly!!!

A few other things:

• Last Monday, Maisey learned how to go DOWN stairs. She's known how to go upstairs for 6 months now, but she would always get to the top and scream because she couldn't get back down. Well... we were playing at my cousin's house on Monday and I hadn't seen her for a while, so I went to go check on her and she was half way down the stairs! I was pretty schocked! The best part about this story is every Monday I get an email from Baby center about the development of Maisey for how many weeks old she is. This is the one that I got that night --

"Hello, Emily! By now your toddler may be able to climb up a set of stairs, turn around at the top and sit, then scoot her way back down. Some more cautious toddlers may like climbing up the stairs but will call for help to get back down. Sign your child up for a toddler gymnastics class at the local Y or community center where she can climb and tumble over soft play structures without getting hurt. Or make your own play area at home by stacking pillows on top of a mattress or futon on the floor to make a pint-size climbing course. "

• So Tuesday night we did end up going to the temple! I didn't fall asleep, and I did worry the whole time! Especially because when we left Maisey was SCREAMING!!! But the sitter (Brandy) said she only cried for a few minutes and then she was really good and she went to bed really well too!
• So Friday night I went to pick up Brandy's sister, Ashley! I had never met Ashley before. When we were driving to my house I asked her what grade she was in and she said, "6th"!!! I pretty much almost passed out! I was pretty worried all night, but Ashley did a great job and Maisey was peacefully sleeping when we got home! I guess leaving her with a babysitter isn't as bad as I thought!
• This week Maisey has started calling her baby "Baby Abby". It's totally cute that she named her all by herself. So we don't leave home with out Abby anymore.
• When I ask Maisey what we should name mommy's baby she says, "Elmo!" Of course!!!
• Maisey ate ANOTHER tube of my chapstick this week, which brings her total to 3!
  
  
  
  

A Nervous Mom!

The title only describes the last paragraph! So if you want to skip the catching up I do in the first 95% of this post, that is fine!

So when we went to Spokane at Christmas time, I didn't take very many pictures on my camera. Most of them were taken on Shaun's sister's camera. So I was waiting for her to send them to me so I could update. Finally I just decided not to wait any longer. I'm sure I'll post those pictures soon.

Christmas time was kind of a crazy time for us! We had so much snow on the ground and some of the freeways and highways around here were shut down. So I decided last minute that I was not going to ride in a car to Spokane. I told Shaun the only way I was going was if we flew. I said that we would probably end up divorced by the time we got to Spokane if we drove. I am a nervous wreck in bad weather. Since we decided so late to fly, there weren't very many tickets available. We ended up flying to Spokane on Christmas evening. And we came back on Sunday! It was the perfect amount of time for us to be there.

Since we didn't fly out until Christmas night, we were able to spend our first Christmas owning a house actually at our house! It was SOOO nice to just do our own thing with our own little family. Since we've been married we've switched off spending time with our families at Christmas time. I told Shaun that we aren't traveling at Christmas anymore! I just want to stay home and enjoy OUR house, OUR beds, and OUR traditions. I know it sounds a little selfish, but by next Christmas we will have our next kid and it's important to establish our own traditions.

Maisey is enjoying a frosted sugar cookie!

Maisey got a wagon from Santa! She loves it and wanted daddy to pull her around the house all morning. She got lots of fun toys from Santa! Her favorite: the $5 stacking cups! Classic!!!

(Sorry all the videos are sideways! I don't know how to change them and that's how they are taken on my phone!)

My mom was taking us to the airport on Christmas afternoon, so we headed over to her house for a bit and then just left from there!

Daddy and Mais took a little snooze....

.... while mommy and grammy squared off in a match of Beach Volleyball on the wii!

We were able to spend New Years out our own house this year also! My mom, and my sisters, and one of their boyfriends came over and we played games and ate some yummy snacks, including our chocolate fountain!

Pregnant Woman + Chocolate Fountain = BAD IDEA!!!!!!!

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So, post Christmas, Shaun went back to work! :( It took us pretty much all last week to get back in routine with daddy going to work and Mais staying home with boring mommy! But mommy loves routine and structure, so she's happy to be back on schedule!

Last Monday, we had a special FHE! It was all about missionary work. We sang missionary songs, Shaun read D&C 4, and then we wrote Uncle Ryan letters and Maisey colored him a few pictures plastered with her Wonder Pets stickers that she got from Grammy for Christmas!

Maisey is working hard on her letter to Uncle Ryan!

"All Done Mom!!!"

Maisey has really been developing into her own person lately! (Or a miniature me!) She LOVES to talk on the phone. The other day I let her call my mom. She was just walking around the house talking to her and all of the sudden she came out of the playroom pushing her baby stroller with one hand and holding the phone to her ear with the other, just talking Grammy's ear off! I just started cracking up so hard! I asked myself, "Where does she learn this stuff?" And then it hit me! She loves to be just like her mommy! We eat cereal together every morning, and the other morning, she started drinking her milk out of her bowl, just like mommy! I bought her a potty chair, and she likes to sit on it and pretend to go potty when I am going potty! It's been our routine for Mais to watch Sesame Street while I sit on the couch and read my scriptures. Well, the last few days, Sesame Street hasn't been doing the trick. She climbs up on the couch and wiggles in right next to me, and helps me read. I read aloud to her and she actually sits there. I am sure this is just a phase, but right now it is very cute!

She is also really into developing her language. My mom gave her some flash cards for Christmas, and we never leave home with out them! She loves to identify the pictures on the cards and she also loves to identify her Sesame Street characters in all of her books. Shaun helps her practice their names in the bath!




My favorite is when she says Abby Cadabby!


She also loves to point out all of her friends on the picture board that I made for her!




So tomorrow is our big day! The first day we leave Maisey with a baby sitter. We attempted this once before but then she got an ear infection so we ended up cancelling! We are going to the temple tomorrow night for ward temple night and my mom has enrichment for her ward so she can't babysit! So we set up to have a young woman from our ward come and babysit. I am really nervous because it's not like she can call us if she has a question or something goes wrong, because we are at the temple! However, Mais has developed this NASTY cough this afternoon where she was coughing so hard she was gagging. . . . so I am kind of wondering if she knows that we are getting ready to leave her so she gets sick, because I mean seriously, 2 times in a row now she has done this! I'm sure we will still go, but it's kind of a coincidence!

Wish this nervous mom some luck tomorrow night!!! (Hey, at least I will be able to stay awake the whole time at the temple because I will be worrying!!!!!! :) )

What We've Been Up To!

It's been a while since I posted last and we have done a lot since then, but at the same time we haven't done much! I'll let the pictures do the explaining!

Usually I am NOT a coupon person! I hate cutting them out, I always forget to take them, and I hate the clutter that they make in my purse when I actually do take them! But last weekend, I used some coupons at Bath and Body Works. All of the products pictured have a retail value of $55! I got them all for $1.25 total!!!!! I was so excited that it ALMOST made me want to start collecting coupons!

Also, last weekend we went to Shaun's work Christmas Party! It was semi-formal dress and I was stressing for like a month on what to wear because maternity clothes make me look HUGE and just fat, but I DON'T fit in my other clothes anymore. I ended up wearing a cute wintery dress from Banana Republic with a black sweater and heels. I thought it was semi-formal enough, but I was WRONG! Everyone was dressed up in the shortest, tightest most revealing dress and they were all pretty glamorous! Shaun said next time I will have to buy an evening gown!

Plus it was an open bar -- so things got interesting! Shaun thought it was a party where you go and make sure the bosses see you there! There were like 500 + people there and we hardly saw anyone we knew. We were assigned to a table for dinner and we didn't know any of the people. Let's just say it was awkward, boring, and we stopped at Burgerville on the way home for burgers and milkshakes! YUM Chocolate Hazelnut Milkshakes!!! That may be our first and last work Christmas party! I would be ok with that!

Last Sunday, we attempted to take Maisey's Christmas pictures for our Christmas cards. I had been waiting to send them out until we took her pictures. She was all dressed up in a special Christmas outfit with pretty shoes on and I did her hair in her first pony tail ever and put one of the curly bows in her hair from Gymboree! I've been waiting to do that for 16 months! (Her whole life!) She looked soooooo cute, but she was soooooo uncooperative!

Finally I just gave up and started sealing the Christmas card envelopes while Shaun still tried to take her pictures with her sassy little attitude!

This is what he got...

... Until she dropped our snowglobe on the tile by the fireplace and it shattered everywhere! :(

This is what our family will look like soon!!!

Last Thursday night my mom and I hosted a dinner for my aunt, uncle and cousins! My sisters flew in that day! Everyone from the Salem area was there! It was sooo much fun and the food turned out delicious! I made Chicken Parmigana, Salad of Mason, Rolo Cookies, and Rocky Road. My mom did the french bread, a veggie platter, and some yummy fruit dip for dessert! It was a great night!

Maisey loves having her 2 Aunties home from BYU!!!

Last Saturday and Sunday it started snowing here! It's been snowing off and on all week, but yesterday it got really bad! It snowed 8 inches at our house! We hardly ever get snow here because we are at sea level! Everything is shut down! Shaun and I enjoyed our first Saturday relaxing in our house! This was the first day that we didn't leave the house! I showered at 2 in the afternoon and then put clean p.j.'s on! How awesome is that!

Then last night, we got freezing rain on top of our snow! This picture is on the side of our house! It looks like glass shards, but Shaun walked to our back yard to get a shovel out of the shed! Those are his footprints in the ice!

My sister is holding a piece of ice that she took off of the top! It's about a 1/2 inch!

Shaun and I were supposed to speak in church today! I had been struggling with my talk all week and wishing that church was cancelled today! On Friday, I decided that I better prepare something in case it wasn't cancelled! So I started fresh and actually came up with an AWESOME talk! I worked on it Saturday morning until it was finished and I was actually really excited to give it! Then we got 3 phone calls last night saying church was cancelled in the morning! :( I can't give the same talk when we get rescheduled to speak because our topic was on Redeeming the Dead. Shaun and I split it up where I was talking about Family History work, and Shaun was talking about Temple Work. Well I tied my whole talk in to Christmas (because who really wants to hear about Family History Work on the Sunday before Christmas?) so I guess I will have to redo it if we are asked to speak on the same topic! Oh well! It's probably good for me!

So, since everyone is snowed in we decided to pick one house to ALL be at since we couldn't be driving back and forth a ton! So everyone came to our house yesterday to watch the BYU bowl game and spend the night! It was quite a disappointing game!!! We thought they may have had a chance after remembering last years amazing bowl game win and then when we got the on-side kick with like 2 minutes left in the game, but those hopes were soon shattered! Oh well, maybe next year BYU!!!

So that has been our busy, but also, not so busy last week! We are having a yummy Christmas dinner tonight at our house with my family and a fun Christmas program that I was in charge of this year! I am really excited!

We were supposed to leave for Spokane this week, but I don't know what the weather has in store for us! So we will be watching the forecast closely so we can try to find the best day to head up! We are excited to see all of Shaun's family and friends! :)

Names

So I need a little help...

My name is Emily Elizabeth, like the girl from the Clifford books.
Maisey has tons of Maisy the Mouse Books.

When I was growing up, I loved identifying with a character from a book. I thought it was pretty cool. Now, Maisey loves to read the Maisy the Mouse books.

Any good ideas for a Boy character?

The only one's I can think of are Diego, Handy Manny, Thomas, Bob the Builder, and Curious George. I am not that thrilled with any of those names. (Hopefully I didn't just offend anyone!)

I could use lots of ideas!

Thanks!

P.S. I found Shaun's Christmas gifts! :) I immediately wrapped them and they are now snuggled under the tree!

HELP!!!!!!!!!

WARNING: This is a Frustration post!

I'm pretty much done with my Christmas shopping and have been for nearly a month. So I got all of the gifts out of the corner of my closet yesterday and started wrapping them. (Now that we have a tree to put them under!)

When we were on our trip in Colorado, I bought a few gifts for Shaun. I left them in a shopping bag so he wouldn't see them! When we got home I put them somewhere special so he wouldn't peak.

Now I can't find them ANYWHERE!!!!

I am really frustrated because I have pretty much looked in my whole house and I can't seem to find them!

A Special Monday!

We had a very special FHE today!
This afternoon, I had my ultrasound! We're Having a BOY!!!!
We are so excited! Shaun and I were both pretty sure it was a girl, but neither one of us really had a preference! But he is definitely a boy and was happy to show off his "parts"!

So, to start our FHE out, we headed to the mall and Maisey helped us pick out her baby brother's first outfit! Then, we got home and decorated our Christmas Tree! Maisey loved to dump all of the bulbs on the floor and swish them around like she does her bath toys in the water! She was being so silly! Good thing I bought shatter-proof bulbs this year!

She loves to say "Cheese" and smile silly!



Daddy is hooking the star up!


Mais decided to take a rest. She got up on our coffee table all by her self, laid down, and said "Nigh Night!"

She looks so serious! She loved to be Mommy's helper with the bulbs!

(She is wearing her special Big Sister shirt today because of the ultrasound!)


The finished product! We love our tree!

Palmer's Tree Farm

On Saturday we went to Palmer's Christmas Tree Farm to pick out our tree. We went with my aunt and her family! It was so fun, pretty chilly, and VERY Muddy! The Fam!
Maisey really liked the baby trees!

She had fallen in the mud several times so we took her skirt off for the way home. She was out after like 5 minutes in the car!

Our Tree!

Maisey loves to play with her cousins Alex and Madi!