Happy 6 months

I can't believe that our little man is now 6 months old! he has officially been with us for half a year. We are still in disbelief that we have another child, I guess that's what waiting 10 years will do. We can not get enough of his smiles and giggles, he smiles so wide with his whole mouth open, showing off all those dimples. He is a fussy baby and wants to be held all the time, which was great for him during Christmas with all the family around eager to hold him. He is getting used to the new house, terrorizing the dog now, and wrapping us all around his finger. He is trying to crawl, he gets up on his hands and knees, rocks back and forth and then lays down, he does scoot and roll, and can usually get to where he is aiming. As soon as he crawls, I think we will be in trouble since is so wiggly! The boy never holds still!

Beautiful photo shoot

Yea for Highlite Photography! Love these photos!

And how did I get such a gorgeous girl?

Thought that I would share a few pics of the kid (the older one that is). Cadence started 5th grade this week (gasp so old!). This is a result of sucky year round school that she has to start in the summer - Pete did not understand why she had skinny jeans on under her skirt - by this stage I am not even fazed by this kid.

The week before she enjoyed circus camp - no trapeze - but some tight wire and ball balancing and juggling.

She learned a little double dutch - all in all a fun week for Cadence, and some good indoor exercise since it is so hot outside.

And finally - this is how I am getting dinner made some nights! - Maybe a ten year gap wasn't so silly.....

Welcome baby Finley! We are amazed at how much we already love this little guy! Looks just like his sister - minus the blue eyes. In the hospital, with various family members.

First day with big sister.

Grammy.

Grandma Ford.

Grandpa Ford.

And Great Grandma Lucy.

Cadence-ism

This money shot is the one we will frame for when boy friends come over. Cadence has been on her school's jump club this last year and is posing outside with her awards. I am extremely grateful to the school and one mom in particular who has volunteered all her time so that the kids can have a jump club. I think it is awesome.
So the story I have to tell about the girl really doesn't have anything to do with Jump club, just thought the picture was a little funny. Everyday after school she has homework and chores, so one day after walking home from school (about 3/4 a mile) in around 90 degree heat she went straight into the bathroom declaring she was taking a cool bath. Fine, when she exited the bathroom she could only be bothered to put on pajama bottoms (pink pants with purple and pink horses on them). She planted herself under the swamp cooler (topless) until I reminded her she still needed to do her chore which was taking out all the garbage in the house. So she took a sack around and gathered up all the garbage and was ready to take them outside when I kindly point out that she will have to wear a shirt to go outside. She goes into her room and comes back with a cowboy hat on covering her long hair... "um Cadence you still need a shirt." She points at the hat like its obvious and says "the hat's covering my hair so no one will know I'm a girl - boy's go around without shirts all the time" She is rail thin but um.... the pink horsey pajamas? um no "put a shirt on!" She huffed and gruffed and put a shirt on.

MS Bike Race 2011

Cadence looking oh so stylish in her new hat - trying to beat the heat and avoid a sunburn. This is Pete's 5th year riding in the Logan MS 150 bike race. This year however we stayed in a hotel since I am days away from giving birth.

We took the kids on a little walk over to a nearby park where they have a cute little (teeny tiny) zoo. They needed to expend some energy and we needed to wait until the men finished.

This right here is the epitome of the bike race - free snow cones! I had to put a cap on two for the girl, but I am unsure how many my nephew snarfed down. Here the kids are waiting on the side of the road for the dads.

This year they decided to break it down and do 75 miles each day - instead of a full hundred on the first day - partly because this was Emerson's first year doing the ride. Way to go, pretty impressive for 13!

Tyler really wanted to do the whole 100 in one day so he struck out on his own and finished a little later then them.

The first night had an awards ceremony and a raffle drawing, each participant gets one ticket and the option to buy more tickets. Pete did not buy more, just went with what he had and tada - he won a sweet bike. I didn't even go over to the ceremony, but I was telling everyone else how Pete always wins drawings for some reason - just lucky I guess and sure enough he rode up on his new beach cruiser.

My eight year old nephew asked me what I would do if he did win a bike and I said "I will ride my fat prego butt all around this camp." So, when Pete rode up on it, I could see his eyes watching me and so I had to make good and ride that thing all around. It felt a little weird and I told Pete I was not impressed with his new bike, then I realized it is probably because of the 30 pounds of prego I am carrying around.

So I think the bike will become mine (much to Cadence's disappointment) since it has a whole 8 speeds and mine currently only has 3. The second day only Pete and his older brother Seth could handle the ride again and Emerson and Tyler sat it out while the two brothers took on another 75 miles. Way to go!

Pretty Little Slip

So yes I am already dreaming of the day when I can go back to wearing normal clothes! I can't wait to be able to go into a store and actually try things on, instead of turning around and immediately vacating the store before I get down on my huge frame. I found this cute little shop on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/aslipshop?ref=ss_profile Called A Slip Shop and their tag line is your slip is showing and we love it! - I guess I love it too, since I couldn't get enough of their slips.

Of course being as obnoxious as I am, I started thinking about how I can make my own, but I am in love with this idea. I am also drooling over their skirts which are not for sale - but they have some fantastic ideas, at least to get me really in the fancy skirt and shoe mood.

Check out their website for more great photos - and who knows maybe once this baby comes out you might see me sporting this look.

Baby Shower!

The date is set (June 29th) and the countdown has begun. The shower was one step closer, and helped get me really excited for the baby. The husband thought it extravagant to have a shower for the second baby, I told him to shove it, it's been 10 years. My dear friend Amanda threw me the shower and I couldn't have asked for a better person for the job. She did so much work and it was so cute.

She based it off the colors of my nursery, brown, green, yellow and orange - well you can see the pics. The center piece was truly this gorgeous candy buffet and it was so tasty looking as well.

Here is a close up of all the sweet offerings. There were plastic bags so people could help themselves to a take home gift. I loved the visual impact of the candy buffet and can not wait to host one for my own party... now who needs a party?

I had some of my dearest friends there as well, I opted not to have a bigger "open house" style shower and only invite friends and family. Here is miss Jordan who will be moving to Denver in like 2 weeks - boo!

Amanda is a great chef! Her food was so delicious and was very popular since I think everyone went back for seconds. She made homemade bruschetta and a pesto cheese dip, a pasta salad, her yummy meatballs, little quiches from scratch and this too cute baby carriage fruit salad. drool.

Wouldn't be a caterer, if I didn't notice the details - loved all of Amanda's attention to details.

Kelly, Amanda and Mallory - not my best photography skills, what with the light being so bright, but this was the one sunny day in a week full of rain, really felt like some good karma.

Some ladies from the ward, who opted to sit in the shade. (that pregnant woman is two weeks further along then me, and yet she looks so much littler then me).

Grandma Lucy and Becky, my girl scout leader - love this lady. There were a few more pics of the crowd, and of Cadence who really felt the need to be there (probably because of the candy buffet).

And then Amanda took a million pics of me opening presents, and I sure did get spoiled, I can say that my friends really do have great taste. Overall, such a nice shower, made me want to throw a party for someone else - or a just because party - would Pioneer day be too early to have a party after the baby is born?

La Jolla Sister's weekend

Kris rented a townhouse in La Jolla (right outside of San Diego) for a mother's getaway without kids. Not sure if she really thought her 8 month prego sister would come along, but I did. So here I am with my two older sisters, and don't think I don't see how they are both trying to hide behind my enormous belly.

The weekend was full of laziness! I read a book, ate way more then I should, played cards and watched movies. So So relaxing.

We spent one afternoon reading on the beach, which Lana and I got unbelievably sunburnt (wasn't thinking of my feet or cankles). Very nice until we realized how sunburned we were. We spent one afternoon in San Diego at an arts and crafts fair, found a very cool artist and a delicious bakery. All and all not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

And here I took the obligatory pregnant picture, ugh I am really starting to feel like a beached whale that has to cart around an enormous weight. bleck.

Super Foods and Cravings

So being pregnant, I am awfully interested in food as of late. Well who wouldn't be? People are always asking what I'm craving, and no I don't crave weird things like dirt or pickles, although the other day I scarfed down an avocado all by itself and then ate an entire pineapple for lunch. There are some things that I have definitely had to have during this pregnancy, then I came across a list of super foods for pregnant women and it was pretty interesting to read through them.First of all, I have been eating yogurt like everyday. Love it all the year round but lately it is just the thing for me. And I love the key lime and lemon flavors the best.

String cheese - everyday 2 sticks, funny thing is though is that everyone in our house is eating 2 sticks a day and we are buying it in bulk at Costco. This is such a family favorite we can't get enough of that salty goodness.

Shrimp. I do not want chicken, or red meat (like I did with Cadence), and my aversion to raw meat is in full force right now. I can go to a restaurant and order chicken, but when I cook at home, I don't want anything to do with the end product. A little weird, especially since raw shrimp is not that attractive, sometimes looking at it makes my stomach churn, but yet my mouth is still watering for it. Not sure what is in it that my body seems to need, maybe the iron I'm not getting from red meat. PS. my hubby made me a great big grilled shrimp dinner yesterday on mother's day - yum!

100% juice - the biggest craving I have by far is juice, and it usually has to be 100%. I am drinking a gallon a week and that is only because I am trying to limit what I drink. This one in particular is hands down the best ever - 100% blueberry pomegranate. Unfortunately everyone in my house thinks it is the best juice ever and it vanishes faster then cookies do, and apparently they don't seem to care about the fact that I label it pregnancy juice. So I have had to limit the purchasing of this juice - instead I switched to 100% grapefruit juice which no one but me will touch.

So the next question is what were the Super Prego Foods? here is the list -

Salmon

Asparagus

Eggs

Yogurt

Cottage Cheese

Oranges

Garlic

Almonds

Black Beans

It's interesting to me since the only thing on this list that I have not craved at some point is Cottage Cheese. During my first tri-mester I ate oranges and eggs everyday - and I am not a big eggs eater. On any given day I will eat black beans and garlic, so not much different from there, but lately I have been munching on raw almonds and asparagus. I was just thinking about how amazing our bodies are and let us know what we need to grow another human being, unfortunately this line of reasoning doesn't really work when I tell my husband that my baby is in need of ice cream!

Excalibur Nursery

Pete requested a knights and dragon themed baby nursery. And let me tell you, there is pretty much nothing that fits that theme! Maybe a princess theme but not for boys! I kind of wanted a retro rocket ship theme, but I am really glad we went with this theme - I think it turned out so great! The room is really tiny though and we bought really big furniture! From our first remodel 3 years ago I painted this room a very pale blue, the rug and some funky mirrors are original to that remodel as well. This was my craft room (boo) but now it is a sweet little room for the little monster.

The first item we had was that awesome knight on the wall, that I brought back from Grandma Dee's house. After the funeral we were all allowed to pick a few mementos to keep in our house, and I knew that knight would be top of my list! So glad that it works so well - but I think it really set the tone for the rest of the room.

Next we bought this canvas print from Costco - so perfect and the orange is mirrored in the rug and in the piping of the bedding.

I put up these kingly crown hooks - where I will hang a dragon picture the girl colored for the room and maybe a photo of the baby.

This great wall decal is vinyl - in black and grey and came in 5 different pieces that I put back together - I wish I had hung the shelf first though, since it needed to be on studs - oh well too late. I need to get a changing pad and cover to go on top of this dresser.

Closet - nothing too spectacular, the walls were really crooked! We had purchased new doors but they looked awful, since they didn't line up very well, so I opted for a lime green curtain. That basket on the floor is full of boy fabric for future projects I have in mind.

The crib! I am in love with this bedroom set (all be it gigantic). The bedding is all made from a line of fabric called Castle Peeps by Lizzie House. I loved it and instantly bought it all up to make this room complete. I love a patch worky look and so I used that idea on the curtains and the pillow. The fitted sheet was super easy to make and is my favorite of the fabric (little shields). The bumper pad thing though was another story - I made it way too hard and I didn't use a pattern - since I thought how hard could that be anyways? But then I kept adding things to it, like orange pipping, and rounded corners - a little too complicated when you are pregnant and things don't really make sense - oh well, just don't look at it too closely- not my best work.

Closer look at those darn bumper pads - really cute fabric huh? Love the little castle subjects.

So yea that is the Excalibur knights and dragon nursery, I think it turned out so cute - I just need to figure out some kind of mobile - since they don't sell one in this theme and I am resigned that I will need to make my own, and making my own stuffed dragons right now seems a little daunting.