She'll hate me when she's older...

...but I couldn't resist. These pajamas are the bomb! Richard called these her "wet suit." Very skin tight, showing all her cute rolls and chub. Love it!

Abi in her new pajama dress:

We had the best pet for a few weeks--caterpillars and butterflies. Abi even saw one of them break out of the cocoon. I love showing our kids science and nature in real life. I only paid $15 (love the coupons) but I would have paid the $35 for it. It was so worth it. Wish they lived longer than 2 weeks. They really were the best pet.

Sunday afternoon Wrestling Smack Down:

She's not excited to be on there: :)

Treasure Hunts

Abi has been obsessed with treasure hunts lately. Two Saturdays ago we decided to lead her on one up the canyon. It took 5 minutes to prepare and we had hours of fun. The look on her face when she found the first note outside was priceless. She was so stinkin excited.

Some of her treasure:

Richard made me pose there. My belly is pitifully small.

Kate is clearly having a great time:

5

Baby #3 is coming November 2011!

So far this pregnancy:
I can't breathe.
I've been super nauseous.
Extremely exhausted.
Strongest craving: Garlic

Abi knew before I did. She would tell me that I was going to have a "baby brother" for a few weeks before I knew. We're super excited for either pink or blue. After my ultrasound on Tuesday Abi asked: "Is the baby ok?" We've had to brace her for what possibilities there are. We were so thrilled to hear the heartbeat. She was excited to hear the baby is ok. She keeps asking me if it is still in there and ok.

Worst part of being pregnant this time around has been the house showings. Trying to clean while feeling so miserable has been one of my least favorite periods of time of my life.

I'm going back to Dr. Judd. It just feels right. I'm super excited. I LOVE his office. One of his nurses had even viewed our house. Yeah, we've had at least 20-30 showings. I'm excited for this phase to be over. I'm sure hoping we get to move in the next few months before I get super huge. We're just praying someday we'll get paychecks so our next move will be to a house instead of a teeny tiny apartment.

Hee Haws

Went to Hee Haws yesterday. I think the girls and I could totally live on a farm. Richard not so much--he's too much of a city kid. We had a blast!

Kate went on this slide at least 15 times. Abi was about 10 times. She found another slide she liked too.

I LOVE this one:

They have been doing this A LOT lately:

She's obsessed with shoes:

She was actually saying "cheese" when i took this picture:

Abi has started to make up her own fairy tale-esque stories and share them with us. She is going to be an awesome storyteller someday.
Kate puts her fingers in her ears if she doesn't want to listen to you. So Kate.

Cutie Pies

The girls are growing WAY too fast. Here are some updates:Kate:
First words in order of occurence:
Hi
DaDad
shar (sharp-she was saying this while my back was turned and she was holding a pair of sharp scissors--we call knives and scissors sharps)
shoose (shoes)
Shir (shirt) can you tell she likes sh words?
mama shar? she wanted the butter knife on my plate. first time she nicely said mama without screaming it!
buk (book) she is actually letting me read to her occasionally.

Kate loves:
ANIMALS
giving humans stink faces
helping mommy
the alphabet. I have to sing it to her now in order to change her diaper
playing on the computer
toothbrushes!
eating anything off the floor
Music Makers
Hide n' seek
kissing animals on the pages of books
her sister
licking her lips
playing outside

Abigail:

Our budding artist Abigail has many funny things to say. The few lately I can remember are:
"If I was a banana, I could do anything."
"Thank you for shopping at Walmart" (said while in the tub the day after shopping at walmart).
Conversation between Abi and her best friend Tessa:
"You get out of my shock wave." "No you get out of my shock wave." "No you get out of my shock wave."

Abi loves:
painting
markers
CANDY
playdough
watching cartoons. her favorites: curious george, alfred the hedgehog (she's a mystery buff), and super why
watching movies. her favorites: tangled, curious george, tinkerbell, sleeping beauty
reading books
playing with friends
baking
visiting Daddy at work
the scriptures
asking us "how was your day," each night at dinner. I LOVE that!
singing. her favorite song is "te duh doh, te duh doh"--whatever that is! :)
making her sister, mommy, and daddy happy

We just love these girls and they sure love each other. They hold hands whenever we walk across the street. They give each other tons of hugs and kisses. They make each other giggle and they sure know how to manipulate us. Love, Love, LOVE them!

The Wedding and Kate's "looks"

David and Alyson had such a pretty wedding. Didn't get any pictures of that but I got a few of us:

Too bad this was a little blurry.

So Kate:

Life as of late: Abi runs, Kate climbs, we sit and watch and enjoy.

My handsome prince:

Kate has done this since she has crawled:

One of her looks:
Cheeser Girl:
The other day I looked at Kate and she looked EXACTLY like Abigail did at this age. It was crazy. These girls are so different, yet so amazing.

I couldn't resist finishing these:

Superhero Boys!

What do you think of my latest creation?

Flapper Fashions

http://www.etsy.com/shop/flapperfashions?ref=pr_shop -

We traded bow ties for a headband and I'm so glad I did! I LOVE IT!!! Visit her shop and see all her cute stuff!

WIN a $50 Restaurant gift card

Want to win a $50 gift card to a restaurant from us??? If you refer someone to us and they end up buying our house, we'll give you a gift card. Restrictions: if they've already come by for a showing then that doesn't work. :) Please spread the word!

Click here for more details about our house.

Pillow Pets for Cheap!

I scored a sweet deal recently on pillow pets. I let my girls pick what they wanted and I have 4 left. I'm selling them for $10 each. Abi & Kate haven't put them down since they got them. There is a panda (my favorite), a dog, a bumblebee and a ladybug. Let me know if you're interested.

I also have 2 pairs of size 8 crocs, old navy sweats, men's jersey hoody, some maternity pants and maternity capris (no, i'm not expecting)--all brand new. I saw some great deals and couldn't resist they just don't fit me/us. I can return the clothes and shoes, I just wanted to pass on the deal if they worked for someone else.

Christmas--The Finale & Confessions

Once this is up, then Christmas can be done for another year....well not really. I'll have to start now stock piling on presents because I refuse to pay full price on anything. But at least the decorations are down (have been for weeks) and everything is back to normal...at least as normal as it can be with a THIRD of our house packed....waiting....waiting.... Home buying/selling is cruel....so very, very cruel. Can't wait till its all over. Hopefully we'll never move again--at least not within the states...

Christmas Eve Nativity at Grandma and Papas

Mary obviously forgot about her baby in her belly while riding the donkey:

Mary looking at the baby

Santa? wha?

Christmas Morning. Richard was so impatient to go open presents. I barely got this photo.

Grandma and Papa got this swing set for the girls. I was hoping it would satiate Kate's climbing desires....it just encouraged her to climb up other things!

Christmas relaxing:

More relaxing. Richard and I played many games of Heroes. Yes, I actually slowed down long enough to relax...a little. I also have been reading books. I'm almost done with the 3rd book in the Hunger Games series. Yeah....I need to relax more often.

Now to confessions...We've been pretty secretive this year. A lot has happened. We've known for a long time that we would be moving. We didn't know if was going to be because of our choice or if we'd be forced into the situation. Paychecks were scarce and small this year. We learned to be very resourceful. We ate things that were....lets be honest....LESS than appetizing. A lot of sacrifices were made. All in all though, we had an AMAZING year. We relied on each other. We learned a lot. We did things we would have never done if we had had money to spend--like attending anything and everything free in Utah county. We had a blast. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Don't know if and when I'll ever be able to eat tuna fish again. I'm pretty darn tired of sandwiches. We were never hungry though. We had food enough to fill our tummies even if it did nothing for the palate. I let slip our circumstances to some people....somehow word spread and we received groceries on our doorstep numerous times, new clothes for Abi, and even presents Christmas morning. We tried to be secretive so people wouldn't have to worry and do stuff like this for us but to be honest, it was welcome relief and it was nice to know that people cared. Things are hopefully looking up. We are currently not in need of anything, except for continued babysitting exchanges. We went out 2 weeks in a row thanks to my rantings and ravings! I think this has happened once before when Abi was little. It was wonderful. Maybe we'll make it to 3 weeks in a row!
Anyway, we can never say thanks enough to the people who so generously filled our fridge and home with the things we needed and even with non-essentials that just bring so much hope. THANK YOU!
Here's to an awesome 2011!!!