Spreading the News

Well, so you may have heard either from me or someone else that I am expecting.  If you didn't hear it from me, I'm sorry, I've just been a little nervous with this pregnancy since I had some bleeding like the entire first trimester.  That really put a damper on our end of summer activities and not being able to go and do water stuff with Roxey, but oh well.  No real explanation as to why I was bleeding other than at my last ultrasound, the doctor noticed that my placenta was divided into two pieces.  That kind of worries me, but my doctor didn't seem to be, so I will try to trust in that.  Speaking of trusting, I held on to some words of Roxey for a long time, reassuring me that things would be okay.  See the first time I started to bleed, I was only 6 weeks along and it was a Sunday, so we couldn't really do anything about it, other than worry :).  So at one point we had a family prayer and directly after it, Roxey held my face and said, "Mom, you're not having a carriage (miscarriage)!"  I thought that was so precious.

I had fun telling Jordan and Roxey that I was pregnant.  I did it during a FHE lesson very nonchalantly.  I had Roxey go and get a few items for a baby doll I was using for the lesson.  Things like a bottle and talked about how our bodies need nourishment and we should eat healthy things, a blanket helps to comfort a baby just as the Holy Ghost can make us feel safe and warm, a diaper needs to be changed when it is yucky and so do our actions if we do something wrong, and so on with a few other items relating to gospel basics.  But the last part was that I had sewn this little heart pillow and talked about how every baby needs love and our Heavenly Father loves us very much.  The pillow had a little pocket in the front in which I said there were some love notes for the two of them which let them know I was pregnant.

Jordan was so excited by the news that he wanted to tell everyone right away.  With my minor complications and Jordan's brother getting married, I insisted that we wait until after his wedding day which would put me at about 9 weeks pregnant was all.  Well, little did I know that Jord would insist upon telling the day after their wedding.  This didn't give me any time to plan something fun and cute, so instead I quickly went out and bought Roxey a Big Sister shirt that she wore to see her Nana and Papa Sorensen and then she wore it again when we Skyped with my parents that Sunday.  Not very creative, but still got a great reaction out of the grandparents!

Early on I asked my doctor when he typically did the gender ultrasound and he said he could tell us at 16 weeks.  This seemed so early to me, and I got so excited  inasmuch as that would allow us to find out right before my parents returned from their mission.  Well, I kept telling myself that with it being so early on, that we may not be able to get a definite answer and to not be disappointed.  Sure enough, the baby was breech and crossing it's legs!  I tried to play it off, but as we left I just had too many fun plans of announcing the gender that I really wanted to know then and there.

We quickly picked Roxey up from our neighbor's and drove out to Fetal Photo.  I couldn't believe I was doing this especially with Roxey there, but in a way I think it was a great atmosphere for her to see the baby.  She got to see the baby move and thought it was so fascinating.  Well, fortunately this did give us a definite answer, so I was able to carry out my plan.  I made these announcements to send out to Jordan's family and some of mine that would not be to our family dinner the night my parents got home.

They were super easy to make and now I want to think of millions of other ways to use this "scratch off" idea.  So far all I can think of is for asking to dances, and that won't be useful for a while.  Anyhow, then I volunteered at my family dinner to bring the dessert and made these simple cupcakes where I put cream filling in the center the color of the gender.

We're having another girl and as of right now, we believe her name will be Penelope!  We couldn't be more excited.  Roxey will be a wonderful big sister!

Oh and if you didn't catch this, my parents are home from their mission, so I don't know that I will have much motivation to blog, not that I did that great while they were gone anyway.  If I don't, it's not like you're going to miss out on much, you know the fun news, and I'm just going to get fat from here on out, so maybe it's best that my next post be in March once Penny is born!

Roxey Reading

Well, kind of...

I think it's super cute!  Same with this...

She still loves her bath time!

Summer Fun!

Oh how I love the summertime!

Right after we got back from Vegas, I took Roxey to the Princess Festival with Kate and Jane. It was cute, but Roxey was a little clingy and ornery due to me having been gone two weekends in a row. Needless to say, not the best pictures were taken, but she still is my beautiful princess!

One day I up and decided to take Roxey to the Discovery Gateway because I had a coupon.  She had a blast but of course would not hold still for any good shots.  I finally gave up and just played with her.  We had a grand time.

Next adventure was to take her camping.   I don't know what I was thinking!  As you can tell from this picture, my idea of "roughing it" is to bring a portable DVD player!  Jordan was able to make it for dinner and spend the night.  Not a lot of sleeping was had with Roxey waking up a bunch!  Jord had to leave early the next morning, but Roxey and I stuck around for some more of the adventure as we were able to go on a hike to Doughnut Falls.  Thanks to her Uncle Shaun for carrying her much of the way.  I was proud of her for walking a lot though and I was able to carry her over the rocky parts.  We had a blast!

Last but not least we have been going to Cherry Hill every week thanks to a friend giving us a pass for Christmas.  Roxey and I love it there and can't wait for other friends to join us there some day.

In a nutshell

I always struggle with journal writing because I never stay on top of it, so then the further behind I get, the less I want to do it.  Well, blogging is no different.  So here is my sad attempt at getting caught up.

We have been potting training Roxey for about a month now.  I know it is young, and I can't say that I was on board, but Roxey sure wanted to go on the potty and wear underwear, then Jordan bought her some princess figures which I didn't want to just give her (I'm mean and already make her do chores to earn things!).  So I bit the bullet and formulated a plan.  On the first day, she got a figurine every time she went on the potty.  Then after that, we had three toilet magnets that she had to earn before getting the next figurine.  Well, she is doing awesome; however, she has had some issues with diarrhea that has caused us to use pull-ups which I hear is a cardinal sin in the potty training world.  Oh well, she'll get there soon enough.  For now I think she is doing great even though it is taking a little bit longer and the other day she even asked to go to the potty to throw up, so that was awesome!  No clean up.

As for my church calling, things have been a little busy.  My counselor that was in charge of Youth Conference approached me 3 weeks before to say that she felt she needed to be released because their family decided to put their house up for sale.  I could respect that; however, not a whole lot had been done by way of planning it, so there were a lot of sleepless nights as my brain couldn't stop thinking about the fun to be had.  The theme was Treasure the Truth- Helaman 5:8.

Pictures from when we went to scope things out at Brigham City

Let me in!

For Youth Conference, we went up to Brigham City and toured the Tabernacle and walked around the new temple being built.  Then we ate lunch at an awesome park that I had found previously.  After that was my favorite activity, we played Frisbee golf.  I gave each team a bag with score cards, golf pencils, a Book of Mormon and little loot bags.  They had to work as a team to get their frisbee to the hole, read a scripture and then use words from the scripture to help them complete a secret message that led to their treasure.  Once they got to the treasure, they each got candy, glow in the dark necklaces, telescopes, compasses, rings, and a bandana that I ironed on Treasure the Truth to the front.  The girls then sat at a table and decorated theirs while the boys played some weird sport.  Each were happy.

Brigham City Tabernacle (Inside)

My cute YW (outside of the tabernacle)

We made these awesome signs to have at our campground of all their favorite scriptures and Jordan made this sign that greeted everyone to our campsite.  He of course went above and beyond by hiding pictures within the picture that once we had it blown up weren't as hard to find :).  Oh well!

Once at our campsite, I had a craft table where they could make their own gold plate (so fun and easy, could be a great family night activity), a treasure map or decorate their bandanas some more.  We also had a volleyball net which was a hit.  Next we assigned each youth a character from the Book of Mormon to read about and then report back giving a brief summary and telling us a Treasure of Truth that they found as they read alone.  It was awesome and a great way to summarize the Book of Mormon all together.

Me pretending to enjoy camping!

Later I gave a spiritual thought where I ended with giving each of them a small treasure chest we made that had paper gold coins inside.  They then wrote down things that they treasured on one side and then they had to turn it over and think about how they can show that they treasure that blessing more.  Finally that night we had our testimony meeting which was wonderful.  We had four youth there that are not part of our church and they each shared their feelings and one in particular said that he likes how he feels when he is around our youth.  That made me so happy, I know that they each felt the spirit and I hope that it moved all of them to "try a little harder to be a little better".

 The next day we mainly packed up and went back to the park for some awesome water games.  Then we headed home.  Short and sweet and I'm glad it is done!

This was the first time I had EVER been away from Roxey, so I was a little nervous about the fact that the very next weekend Jordan and I left her again in order to go to Vegas.  In both instances she did well while I was away but cried big time once I came back and was super clinging for the next couple of days.  A little annoying at times, but of course made me feel so special and loved!

So on to Vegas!  Jordan got to go over the weekend for a rewards trip due to selling a certain amount of cars.  He was kind enough to buy me a plane ticket so that I could tag along!  We stayed at the Aria and were upgraded to a complimentary suite on the 56th floor.  It was insane!  Bigger than our house!  We had an amazing breakfast with all of the Ken Garff employees that got to go on the trip, then we walked through a Monet exhibit at the Bellagio, drove to see the Las Vegas temple, and also sat by the pool.  This was our sad attempt at keeping the Sabbath day holy!  By night time, it was too hard to be good-we're in Vegas after all :), so we went out to eat at a fancy restaurant and then went to see David Copperfield-living on the wild side I know!  The last time we were in Vegas we saw a Cirque de Sole show and decided to change things up.  Not a good idea, wasn't all too impressed with Copperfield, best to stick with what you know is good.  Anyhow, the trip was short and we didn't get a whole lot of alone time since we hung out with co-workers, but it was a fun getaway.  Jordan loves to spoil me because he figures we don't get to do things like this all too often, so at the very last moment before we needed to catch our flight home, he paid for us to get massages.  Normally I am not down with that, but he forced me and it did feel nice, especially with all the walking I did in heels on the strip the night before. 

Ahhh...just the two of us!

Obsessed Much

I am a slacker and have not posted in a bit.  My little jobs have kept me busy, I still clean the mortuary 3 times a week, I teach 2 dance classes and we are getting ready for our recital :), and I have been watching 2 of my nieces in the mornings 4 days a week.  My church calling has been a little intense lately too. Anyhow, my big job, being mom, has the greatest rewards!  I have fought tooth and nail to remain a stay at home mom during our financial struggles and it has been well worth it.  (Not that we are in the clear, but I keep telling myself that it can only get better from here on out!) 

Roxey has been obsessed with two things for I'd say the last three months- jigsaw puzzles, and princesses.  I kind of figured the princess thing was sure to come, but the puzzle thing has left me puzzled.  Someone asked me how she got into it, and I figure it was just because we go to the Dollar Store once a week to buy one item.  One time a while back she picked a Mickey Mouse puzzle because that was her obsession at the time, and I thought nothing of it, but she cracked it open and got right to putting it together.  She has like 8 puzzles now, they all are only 24 pieces though.  One day she insisted upon getting this princess one that had 100 pieces, that has proven to be too challenging, but maybe she can graduate to a 48 piece puzzle soon if I can find a cute one at a cheap price.

As for the princesses, she has a few princess books that she loves to have read to her, and they are long!  I will catch her reading them at times to herself and it is fun to hear her say some of the phrases or paraphrasing the story like "Then Mother Gothel wouldn't let Rapunzel out of the tower".  I also love to test her as I am reading and it doesn't matter where I pause in the story, she can usually finish the phrase.  She loves her princesses as is evidenced in the Easter photo belwo as I tried to take a picture of her with her basket and she had to have a hand on her Cinderella.  I can't wait for the day we can take her to Disneyland.  I think she will love it!

Notice, the first two things she pulled out: a puzzle and her princess dominoes!

 I know it is a tad late, but here is our beautiful family on Easter Sunday.  Wish I would have had a better one of all of us together, but oh well, Roxey's two and there's no keeping her still!

Roxey just before church.

At Jord's parents' house where there were many distractions to keep her from looking at the camera!

2 Year Old Pics

So we didn't have the money to pay a professional photographer (I loved Roxey's 1 year old pics so much), but as always, I figured something was better than nothing. After seeing how hard it was to get Roxey's picture taken with her cousins at Christmas time, I decided Jordan and I would just get our picture taken with her as well to take away some of the drama. I quite liked that and if I could actually get my butt in gear next year and do the photos just before her birthday, then I could also use one of the photos as a Christmas card. I always have high hopes of sending those out, but then never do! Anyhow, here are a few of our fun pics.

Roxey's Now TWO!!!

So as many of you know, there are pros and cons to birthdays right around Christmas. One thing I like is that I can do all my shopping at Christmas time and be sittin' pretty for when her birthday rolls around shortly thereafter. However, she got so many things at Christmas time, that I think I've decided to make birthdays more about the celebration than the presents. (Probably should do the same for Christmas too, seeing that it is suppose to be about Christ's birth :).

Anyhow, so a few weeks ago I was thinking about a theme for Roxey's birthday and decided on Monsters, since she loves the movie Monsters Inc. and she loves scary stuff. Well, I thought a great present to go with that would be an Ugly Doll, until I saw how much they cost. Their smallest one was $10, and I know that isn't much, but I took it as a challenge to one make one for cheaper, and two make it a little less "ugly". As it turns out, not only did I make one for less than that, but I made 14! Mind you the fabric I used probably isn't the greatest quality, some of the accessories I already had, and we needed new pillows desperately, so I was able to use the filling from the old ones, and there you have it, my monsters were born and so was a fun theme for Roxey's 2nd Birthday Party!

Thanks Kate for the cute design! Check out her etsy shop Greysquare Design!

Jordan brought home huge balloons from work (one of the perks of him being a car salesman now I guess), and made a huge arch over our driveway. We had both sides of our family over for dinner and cake and ice cream. Dinner wasn't too Monster-esk with pizza and salad, so I added jello with eyeballs in them. Then I made cupcakes for the kiddies and a cake for Roxey with lots of eyeballs on it.

While the adults cleaned up and made room for our Scare Floor, the kids played hide and go seek. It was so cute!

Then we had a huge Boo door and each kid had a turn jumping out and either scaring us or doing something to make us laugh. Roxey loves to scare people, but she herself got a little scared by people's reaction to her scare. Can you blame the kid? She's used to only her parents being around, whereas last night she had upwards of 20 people watching her.


Next, we sprawled out with our monster popcorn bags in hand to watch Monster's Inc. of course. Then as her cousins would leave they got to pick which monster they wanted to take home with them.

Roxey was excited all evening in having her buddies there. I loved having our home filled with family and watching how happy it made Roxey. Her party was a bit much to take in, but boy today she can't stop talking about it.

A belated birthday present was that it finally snowed. My brother sent Roxey this cute monster winter hat; however, when it came time to go outside she insisted that she wear her other one. Maybe she already knows the importance of matching :).


What a fun birthday! We love you Roxey! You are the joy of our lives!