4 weeks and counting

Well, we hope everyone had a great Christmas and is getting ready for a great new year! We went to Idaho and visited my family (and a quick stop in Blackfoot and Pocatello to see Jeremy's family for a lil bit).  We stayed at my sister's house and had a blast! Lincoln and Hunter got along a little better than they did here...not sure why. Maybe they were a little more used to each other this time around. Unfortunately, I didnt use either camera I took so if I get any sent to me, then I will post them. :)

Moving on- we are now 4-5 weeks away from our new little girl's arrival. Are we ready? Um....no. Are we close? Um....no. Well, we have gotten a toddler bed to put Hunter into, but it isnt cleaned or set up. I was hoping we could stain it/paint it before he uses it but I dont think that will happen. We have gotten most of the storage/business stuff put into storage to make room for another bed and baby...but the room is far from feeling set up...we still have a wall to clear off and set up some more storage for the new little one.
I am gaining weight and feeling SUPER huge but I know I dont look it. My feet are starting to swell and sleep has been non-existent for awhile... we are slowly getting more names added to our list...so far none of them SCREAM at us but if we both like a name, it goes on the list...I think so far we have 4 names....and thats not even full names, folks... nope! Maybe 2 have first and middles....we are taking a baby name book to the hospital, that is for sure!!!
As for pictures of my prego belly...I will take some soon and post them...life just keeps happening and trying to be semi-cute for cyberland is just not at the top of my list...

new post just because

its a little lame that I havent updated since my rant so here is a random posting that isnt as negative....hopefully it will put smiles on your dear faces..:)
Jeremy is gone this week but thankfully I have a family that loves me and offered to come down to visit and help. Even though they werent able to make it, the thought really means so much and makes my day when I think about it. Right now I am typing and perusing blogs while listening to Hunter babble himself to sleep in the next room...he cracks me up! Every now and then between his giggles and high-pitched squeals he yells "MAMA!!!MAMA!!!" and then I hear his crib rock back and forth, for I am sure he is bouncing on the mattress, not at all tired and attempting to win more play time/story time with me...I will be strong!! He sure is a cutie! He has so much character, even though everyone we know says he is "so mellow." He is beginning to speak more and even though it is baby babble, I like to think I can translate what he says (it helps that he points to things as he says them). Some of his newest "words" are dight (light), ig (pig), baba (apple), ar (car), and coag (goat).
 **Side note: just heard paper ripping and wondered what was going on in his room---had to rescue our wrapping paper that was propped up against the wall- apparently too close to his crib. **

Anyway, even though our car isnt done yet, this week has started out pretty good :) (or I am determined to remain positive about the things I cannot control--whichever).

Venting

Warning: not a warm fuzzy post- more like a hormonal rage/vent post- so beware....
Jeremy is gone this week and while I love that he has a job and gets overtime, etc. this week has been really difficult on me and Hunter...I have felt like a single parent (and have been one) and can say that I am truly grateful for the wonderful hubby I do have and who is fantastic.
Let me start by pointing out all the bad/negative things that have gone wrong this week (and/or have carried over from last week), but  I will put the highlight of the bad thing in blue so you can see that I know there is a positive even though I am venting
In no particular order:
1. Our car is still in the shop- will not be ready until mid week next week. Quite the overhaul must be done to get said car in working condition again...Ford is paying the entire bill-all $2600 of it!
2. Since car is in the shop, I get to drive around in our truck-which is a stick shift (my least favorite thing to drive), has no power steering (very difficult to maneuver with a prego belly and screaming child) and is VERY CRAMPED when our family of 3 is in it (I get to ride in the middle of a HUGE car seat, Jeremy and put my legs up into my belly so Jeremy can shift-you are SOOO jealous, I can tell!)...at least I have a second vehicle so I am not completely stranded in my depths of despair.
3. Another negative of car being in shop: Hunter and I do not get to go with Jeremy next week when he returns to his work related travel. The truck is not reliable enough for a 4-5 hour drive and as much fun as it would be to have BOTH vehicles fail on us, I guess I will take being a single mom for another week over being stranded on the side of a highway with no way of getting anywhere. Plus side: more bonus money since we wont have to pay for all of us eating out...
4.We have our ward Christmas party on Saturday and I am singing but have been battling a cold/mucus so my voice is questionable. Plus we havent practiced yet...good news is I know all the songs we are singing.
5. Hunter knocked over one of our lamps today so there is shattered glass in my entire front living space (that means our living room, dining room and even kitchen-how the glass got around a corner I have no idea). I cannot move the entertainment stand to clean under and behind it,  there is glass all over our throw pillows (that Hunter threw on the floor-maybe to cushion to blow of the lamp?), any toy, blanket, article or clothing that has strayed out of Hunter's room, and there is even some glass that bounced up from the impact of hitting our floor and landed conveniently on half of my couch (where Hunter was sitting). Highlight: I had to clean anyway-just didnt know I got to sweep, vacuum and mop the entire area! Another highlight-neither Gidget or Hunter got glass on them.


Hey not bad-this week has another day to have something else go wrong- cant wait for tomorrow!

Thanksgiving

Hello, hello again!!! Let me recap our crazy/awesome/busy/wonderful week for you:
Monday before Thanksgiving (BT): I have activity days, shopping, laundry, packing, etc. to get done before we leave on "Tuesday." I also get a last minute call for a fountain rental so Jeremy needed to get that out of storage for me.
TuesBT: Have car loaded to drop off fountain at Lake Las Vegas. Go outside to start car-it doesnt start. Jeremy comes home, we tow car to mechanic and finish getting everything else ready to go so we can still leave on "Tuesday." Check out car rental prices, Jeremy takes fountain to LLV, I repack everything Hunter has moved around, etc. Get a call from mechanic at 5 PM (3 hours after we were supposed to leave) and get news that our crankshaft sensor is out but part wont be in until tomorrow-and will cost $450! Car should be fixed by 10 AM Wed.
Wed BT: Car not fixed by 10, or 12...debating what to do about our glorious Thanksgiving plans..all packed up and no car to pack. Decide to rent a car and head out anyway...this was going to be the last time we would see most people/family for awhile since babies are getting older and more difficult to travel with, etc. Packed up and headed off by 2:00-wooo hoooo....(singing "On the Road Again"). Arrive in Blackfoot at 1:30 AM (mt time) Thursday (only took us 10.5 hours-a miracle!!!)
Thanksgiving: cook, visit, shower, eat, clean up, eat, visit, etc. with family! Joyous time with everyone-so worth the drama of getting there!
Friday: take family photos in Idaho Falls, visit with family, play games, see my sister Rachey for a few, have grand time!
Sat: visit, eat, have fun, etc!
Sun: drive back home to get Jeremy unpacked/repacked for his work trip this week- leaving at home a sick Hunter and pregnant wife...sigh! Some guys have all the luck! (COMPLETELY KIDDING!!!!)  I only have family pictures since thats the only time my camera was used...Diane has some really cute ones of Hunter though so I will get those and post em when I can. :)
Hope all your Thanksgivings were less adventurous than ours!

So far

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow we head out to Idaho for Thanksgiving! I am sooo excited! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will make good time. Anyway, purpose of this post is to quickly update you on our last few weeks, etc. Jeremy has had 2 cousins have their babies in the past lil while and it has been great seeing new pics of Cameron and Allyson. We will miss not seeing the entire Cherry clan at Grandma and Grandpa's this week but hopefully we will see everyone soon!
 As for us: Jeremy is training for a half marathon in April and is getting friends and family on board as well! I am very proud of him and the training he has been doing for this! I am obviously not training since I am pregnant and will have had a baby a few months earlier-plus I am not a huge fan of running...maybe after baby #2. Hunter is getting bigger and bigger and is still charming us everyday! How we love that lil guy! Baby girl is right on track and I even gained 12 lbs. in the past month! Woohoo! My doctor was very proud. :) The due date is still Feb. 1st and I am hoping she is on time, or even late! I really want her born in Feb-not January (and I know my mom would appreciate that as well!). That is really all for us for the moment-Happy Thanksgiving to you all and have a great week!

Photo session giveaway

If you live in vegas and want to be entered for a free photo session- head over to http://www.photographybylynette.blogspot.com/ for your free session chance! You get an entry to say how you know her ( you would know here through me...kinda :D) and then blog about it and you get another entry! Go for it! Free pics? Gotta love it!

Halloween and then some

Hello all,

 It has been over a month since I have posted and I am very, very sorry it has taken me this long... (sheepish grin).  Time has flown by and things seem to get busier and busier. For example: my week started off with NOTHING going on except grocery shopping-then it turned into a whirlwind of activity and busy-ness! But I love it, even though I am thoroughly exhausted by nap time :D.
Ok, into the updates:
About the middle of the month, Hunter and I took a plane to Lubbock, TX to visit my grandpa and aunts, uncles, and cousins. Most of them hadn't met Hunter yet and I had to fly before my third trimester (can you believe I am already there??) We had a great time and everyone enjoyed getting to know Hunter. I dont have pictures because my camera was used once the entire time- to take senior pictures of my cousin Sharon:


















isnt she beautiful?!
We returned from TX and had a mad dash to our garage sale on Halloween! We were able to get rid of half a storage unit and even made over $200! Sweet!!! I still have teacher stuff for sale so if you know of anyone who teaches elementary-give my info and I can get rid of the rest of my stuff!
Halloween was a blast! It was a long day after our garage sale ending at 4:30 and our ward's trunk or treat starting at 5:30...plus a party after that (not to mention Hunter was having some teething/fever/diaper issues all night). It was fun but BOY were we exhausted! Hunter was Eeyore (thanks to a co-worker of Jeremy's that let us borrow a costume).

 (even though we toyed with the idea of Tigger-Eeyore just looked sooo much cuter!)

Thank goodness daylight savings saved us- kinda. I wonder what age kids realize they get to stay asleep...sigh. Anyway, we are still cleaning out the rest of our house and putting all the business stuff into our (now) empty storage unit to make room for the baby girl....yes thats right folks-no names yet...we are working on it though...just cant agree. :D

Hope you all are doing well and I will try to get better at this posting stuff :D Sigh.

Baby and Baby updates

So it has been forever since I have included something about Hunter/pregnancy (meaning pictures)...so here are a few of Hunter that I think are quite humorous and really show off the lil character he is becoming!

Loves those splash parks! *gotta be honest- I love them too!!!

Our lil computer nerd in training-ignore the train-wreck that is the desk...we are working on it!

Reading a book to himself in his comfy bumbo!

So polite...covers his mouth when he coughs/sneezes! Yes! Thought this was be harder to teach but he has got it down!!

And a prego pic of me...I am currently 22 weeks pregnant-according to lilypie.com :) And I am wearing maternity pants..just for your info.

Stupid, stupid

Can't believe I am still awake but felt like I had to let you all know- I am falling in love with digital scrapbooking stuff! I have been downloading kits, templates, papers, embelishments, etc. and reading up on how to actually make pages for the past........um......embarrassing.......almost 3 hours!!! I have already made 1 page....ADDICTED!!!!! So those of you who know how to do all this cool stuff- u should send me links to your favorite places...oh and by the way-I'm too lazy to actually sign up for an account to get free stuff...so any site that requires me to register or log in is too much work for me! I say that and yet its midnight....NIGHT!

New news

Hello one and all! So this has been put off for far too long and I don't even have pictures to make it worth your while- so sorry dear readers! Anyway, wanted to let you all know that we are having a baby girl on Feb. 1...well she is due on Feb. 1.
**Imagine ultrasound pic of a baby girl here**

We are very excited and are doing major overhauls here in our tiny condo to prepare for said baby. We will be having a huge garage sale, downsizing on our lot of stuff and hopefully move more stuff into our storage unit without having to upgrade (read: pay more money). We are in the process of going through Hunter's clothes and pulling anything out that is gender neutral (lots of pants, onesies, and shorts) and have started hunting around for a toddler bed, etc. I no longer and able to sleep on either side cause my stomach cramps up and I cant sleep on my back because I get nauseous! So-basically I am not sleeping...ah well-good training for the future. The nausea is starting to fade and I am eating more and not throwing up as much! Sweet!
Jeremy and I are starting to go over girls names-he has vetoed my favorite one...Im waiting to see what his favorite is so I can do the same! (Just kidding hun!) We had boy names picked out...starting back at square one with girls names. Any ideas? :)

Never Forget

8 years ago was 9/11/01. Jeremy and I were talking about it last night and I thought I would do a post so you all will be reminded too (if you forgot!). I remember a play that was put on at Ricks called "Hole in the Sky" and remembered how powerful it was! While the play only covered what happened in NYC, it still included a little bit about the pentagon and the plane that crashed in the field.
I will never forget my roommate Doch trying to get a hold of her family in maryland while we got ready for class in a daze. I called my parents and talked with them briefly and then headed to class where our lectures and discussions were put off to discuss the more important current event and how it would mold us as a nation and how we would let this act of terrorism define us. I still think about the families of the victims and how they feel about the incident after all this time. When politicians, lawmakers, etc. try to make 9/11 a smaller, less meaningful day than a day of mourning. Let us not forget today and the impact it has on our country and our history!
*Photos taken from Google...no clue who took them,etc...just needed some pics**

ta da!

Ok so this is the first time I have actually gotten a picture of my shopping so I am going to post it for you all so you can be impressed ok? :)

Now, I am not sure if you can see it or not but there are 6 boxes of poptarts, 10 cans of spaghetti sauce, 18eggs, 2 gallons of milk, 2 bags of chips, 2 gatorades (thats all I wanted to buy), 2 lbs. of carrots, 6 tomatoe pastes, 1 box of cheese its (that hunter must have put in the cart cause I do not remember picking that up), 2 containers of sour cream, a bunch of bananas (minus one that I had on the way home)and a huge seedless watermelon. There are also 2 quarts of Breyers ice cream in the freezer cause they melted on the way home...anyway!!!
Total spent: 30.50
Total saved: 60.38
Impressive, no? :)

Back to School....

So this may tick off some ppl but today is the first day of school here in Clark County! Can I tell you how excited I am that it isnt the first day of school for me?? Instead of stressing over others kids and figuring out what is wrong with them, I get to stress over my little bundle of joy and play all day, read ABC books and listen to him babble (thats right-no other words except for "dada" allllll day-Jeremy loves it). this is the L.I.F.E! How did I ever not want to do this....I think teaching for 4 years made me realize I would take my brats over other's brats any day of the week! :) To all my teacher friends out there- I am sorry your summers are over- I hope they were amazing! Have a great school year. I am always willing to lend a helping hand. :) Really!

Videos from San Diego

Sorry it has taken me forever to get these on here...things have been a little hectic lately!
Anyway, the first one you will need to turn your volume up because the sound is kinda sketchy..

Money, money, money

Does anyone get the song from Mamma, Mia! in their heads from the title of this post? No? Just me? Actually I get a different song about money from Cabaret in my head but anyway!...

Well everyone, Jeremy and I have been trying to do a paper/pencil method of actually tracking our finances....I hate it! We arent lousy with our money-we just always have had the philosophy of "we dont have money so dont spend it unless you really really need to!" But now that we are trying to budget where the money goes so we can further our savings, etc. it has become an annoyance more than anything else...but I digress!
The purpose of this post was to let you know 2 things:
1) With the aforementioned budget I was able to spend $70 on groceries and save $80! No pictures to show you all how amazing it was but just be impressed.
2) We are blessed with our additional business that helps with our financial stressors...I get to go withdraw a hefty amount of muu-laa from our business account and put it into our very eager personal account! And the best part is-its already been taxed so we get to keep it all-minus tithing!

There, There, There and Back Again....again

Ok, so since my last post, we have had Aubs here to visit, up to Manti for Mags/Nate sealing, down to Yuma, AZ for Jeremy's work and onto San Diego, CA for a conference for Jeremy! We are now back in our cozy home and looking forward to a long stay at home...not many more travel plans for us...at least, not that I know of. :) This summer has flown by for us but we have loved it all!

Manti:
Manti was great- we had a blast seeing friends and family, introducing Hunter to those who had yet to meet him and eating TONS of great food.

Yuma:
Not much happened there...we ate tons of great Mexican food and hung out in the hotel most days while Jeremy was working.
San Diego:
Ok, here is where the post gets good...I actually have pictures of this place. Boy SD is gorgeous! I
know everyone says that but it is true! We were there a lil over a week and if we had more money (and no condo that isn't worth beans) I could totally move there!
Beee-U-ti-ful weather, beaches, and yummy food! We went to the zoo, a beach, Coronado Island, the temple (smaller than I thought it was), tons of restaurants, the downtown area (including Little Italy-with AMAZING Italian food and gelato), and walked a ton!! Got my exercise for the year. :D Here are a few pictures to enjoy and I will also get some video of Hunter's fun times on here soon. (these pictures are in no particular order)

We stayed at the El Primero Hotel (very historic and awesome!)



We saw a sea lion show- Hunter LOVED IT!!

And of course the king of beasts!! Very cool!

Hunter's first time at a petting zoo

He liked the toys better than the animals



We saw pandas (world famous even), and koalas (love them!)



day at the zoo


baby bird-loves his gelato

hat the waitress gave him-heehee

day at the beach

night at the beach (watching the "sunset" but couldnt even see the sun through all the pollution)

Belated Father's Day

This is belated but things have been pretty hectic around here... so quick recap of the day. We went to church, I taught RS, came home, went to Candice and Brian's for dinner (THANKS Brian! YUM!), came home, called our dads with well wishes and called it a night! Jeremy got his gift a lil early since I never know the actual date of Father's Day... he got the exclusive membership to......Glenn Beck!! Since we have canceled cable, Jeremy goes without his Glenn fix so I gave in and got him the Insider membership for the year....he is really enjoying it and gets to catch up on all his old episodes, etc. that he has missed the last month or so. :)
In closing- I want to tell everyone how great a dad and hubby this man is to his family! He loves us. He is never too tired to play with Hunter and loves taking him with us to run errands-even is Aubs offers to watch him. He is an incredible provider for our family, making it possible for me to stay home and raise Hunter (yay). He includes me in his plans, and vice versa. We still communicate every day with how each other is and even though the heat of Vegas almost kills him on a daily basis-he still leaves the A/C equipped car with me so I am not stranded at home. :) LOVE YOU HUN!

The Journey Home

After we said goodbye to my parents, we flew to SLC to pick up Hunter from Jeremy's parents. We hung out with Brionna, Adam, Nate and Mags for the evening and then stayed the night at Mags/Nate. We got up the next day and headed to Provo to see my sis Aubs (she really wanted to see Hunter- we were just an added bonus) for a lil while. When we got to St. George, Hunter had decided he had had enough driving...so had Gidget but she was much more passive about the whole thing. We stopped at Cafe Rio to get some early dinner (Shout out to Cafe Rio!) and headed to Tabernacle Park to have a picnic and let Gidget and Hunter get some wiggles out...
The park had a fountain that a lot of kids were playing in.....of course Hunter saw water and was sooooo excited...



That is...until the fountains came on over his head


Poor guy! But sooo funny!!!

And some of my other favorite shots. :)

Part 4

Sorry for the delay... life has been happening whether I get on board or not...between chocolate events (3 in 4 days), camping for Jeremy/scouts, keeping up with Hunter and planning the rest of our summer (which is rapidly filling up!!!-July is pretty much shot!), there hasnt been a lot of time to update the dear blog. But, have no fear, I am back.

I know you are all anxiously awaiting to hear the rest of our cruise story...and here you go!
Aftet Ketchikan and "glacier cruising" we headed south towards Victoria, Canada. I was really excited for this lil stop because it has been YEARS since I have been there and was really excited to get reacquainted with the cool castle, the downtown area, the fun buildings, etc.


Unfortunately, this was all we were able to see of dear Victoria...apparently, the wind was 30 knots (whatever that means) and we couldnt dock for fear we would destroy the dock or
something...I am not really sure but we were very bummed-especially since we felt we missed out on the glaciers the day before! So much for our fearless captain! Sheesh!

So we headed on down to Seattle. The next day we got off the ship and took a tour of Seattle....everytime I have been there it has been beautiful!!! Sunny, warm, perfect! Thats the next place I vote we move to!!! We got to do all the touristy things... the Space Needle, Pike Public Market (the first sanitary open air market-meaning they didnt allow live horses in...but pigs were ok), Chinatown and of course the sports complexes (pics are coming Lukey!).

View from our ship


Look at that-not a cloud in the sky! So rare for Seattle! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!


View of downtown and Mt. Rainier

My fav. place to visit!!! Sooo much yummy food, interesting ppl, and just a great atmosphere! And asparagus is CHEAP!!!

So are the flowers! And they are incredible!

On to the sports complex- this is for my brother-in-law...fav. team is the Seahawks..sorry the pic is so lame...it was through a window on a moving bus...

And one of THE coolest libraries I have ever seen!

Part 3

PS- Click on the pics to see them in better detail :)

(Gotta get these done while Hunter is napping--happy reading)
We spent the next day going to Tracey Arm Fjord to do some scenic cruising and see some amazing glaciers...unfortunately there was an ice field that prevented us from going in more than a mile or two...Jeremy was really
bummed. More than the rest of us. Can you believe how blue that ice looks? It was incredible!!


Then we went to Ketchikan the next day-again, hoping to see some wildlife....got on a last minute tour to try and see anything...bears, whales, moose, etc.

We only got to see eagles...bald eagles (which was cool-but we saw a TON of those)

Again, beautiful scenery-Jeremy and I are discussing the possibility of moving there...I just need to get over the INSANE winters (and lack of sunlight)

We saw many totems and learned all about the different ones...they can make you a totem pole for your yard and it only costs a mere $5,000/foot.....pish....chunk change! Hahahaha


Wouldnt you know it, I was able to see a polar bear! Even get close enough to hug him....too bad he wasnt real! (Or maybe, thank goodness he wasnt real)