Finding Time to Spend with Daddy

With Matt and his crazy schedule we have had to get creative about getting to see him once in a while. On a busy week which is usually 3 weeks out of the month Matt helps get the girls to bed on Sunday and then they don't see him again until Friday when he gets off work unless we can sneak in a lunch or he can find time to go in late to work. One of the best things that works for us is to meet him for lunch. It gets us all out of the house and gives us something fun to do. We usually do this a couple times a month. Wings have become a favorite spot for lunch whether its Wing Nuts or Buffalo Wild Wings and last week was no exception. Its fun to go out to eat when the girls eat well and are so good.

Gracie waned her hair blow dried like Hallie's to go out with Matt. I can't believe how different and grown up she looks without her curls. 

I'm so thrilled this is Matt's last semester and I can't wait for him to be home more to spend time with all of us. Here's to making it through the next couple months.

Clothes Shopping Fall 2015

This is one of my favorite times of the year!! I love a good deal and I also love to buy clothes for the girls and this time of year is a great time for that. I always buy a season in advance which allows me to buy more name brand, cuter, and more volume of the clothes I want for the girls. After the initial shop trip we spread the clothes out on the bed and take pictures so we know what we need for pants and shirts to coordinate outfits. Hallie has started getting into it with me which makes it all that much more fun and this time was the 1st time I needed to shop for 3 girls although for Grace and the baby we are just supplementing outfits or just ones I think are the cutest really..lol

I think Hallie is my favorite to shop for only for the fact that she has nothing to grow into so I get to shop for her entire wardrobe which means less work on my part keeping track of what we already have. I love my girls and the extra fun they bring to my life. 

23 Weeks & Looking for Lots....STILL!

Each week Im thrilled when my reminder goes off that we are one week closer to meeting this new little girl of ours. We have started some preparations but we will probably really get the ball rolling in March. We are planning on moving the girls in together which requires bunk beds and new dressers for it to work the most efficiently. We are slowly acquiring all the things we still need for this little one. The girls, especially Hallie, are getting more excited all the time. Sometimes I still forget that Im pregnant but usually that doesn't last very long. I have felt pretty good and my worrying has lessened quite a bit from early on in the pregnancy. So far I have gained 28 lbs. This is a strange thing for me since I gained about 35 with both girls total and I'm only half way there but my Dr. isn't worried she says if I start to look like Im gaining to much weight she will tell me. I try to remind myself that my body will gain what it needs for this baby to be strong and healthy and I often wonder if my UC will kick in at some point and i will need that extra weight then but I guess only time will tell. I still eat frequently but crave lots of veggies minus tomatoes, they give me horrible heartburn. I have had a few other episodes of heartburn but they have been helped a lot by a couple tums. I have started having a lot of lower abd pain and have had to wear my support belt but the one I had wasn't enough so after talking to a handful of friends with the same problem I ordered a more supportive belt that is helping a ton more and makes my days and being active a whole lot easier, I feel like my boobs are bigger than they ever have been when I have been pregnant and not nursing and my sex drive is well lets just say Matt is pretty happy with the situation(this is my 1st pregnancy this has happened) She moves around and kicks quite a bit and it is fun to be able to share that Matt and the girls now. I have started counting down rather than up and with the weather being as mild as it has been it is hard to believe it isn't spring already. I just hope that by the time she arrives in May that it isn't 100 degrees! 

Hallie was very proud of this hat that they made in honor of Martin Luther King Day. I can't get enough of her sweet face.

Free weekends always seem to mean driving around looking at and for lots these days. We have it narrowed down to a few and if nothing works out with any of them I think we will take a break for a bit it just seems like anytime I see Matt all we do is try to talk about is lots and different prospects we have found during the day. I think Stoddard is still at the top of my list but nothing has happened as of yet. Since we expanded our search to Weber county we have looked at and offered on lots in Pleasant View, Farr West, and West Haven but nothing has worked out. Its pretty ridiculous really. People are under the same thought that their dirt is worth gold just as much down here as it is in Morgan county. Our real estate agent says when this is done and over with she is going to write a book about all the scenarios we have been through it is pretty crazy. Currently we are the back up offer on Stoddard and are casually looking for other options but I feel like things will work out with Stoddard although the way things are going Im not sure why but I guess we will keep trying until they tell us it is sold but if that happens I will probably be heart broken.

Until then on with the land hunt.

Happy Birthday to Me...31!!

Yup that is right I just turned 31 and just like when I turned 30 it doesn't feel any different. Friday night Matt and I took the girls to Moviegrille for dinner and a movie. It was a lot of fun. Matt was able to come home a little early from work although I knew he had a ton he still needed to get done it was nice to have him home.We saw Alexander and the terrible no good very bad day. It was pretty funny and kept us all entertained I love the way it ended and bought the point of what being a family is truly all about...being together. The girls were great and the recliners never disappoint.

Saturday was my actual birthday we played it low key most of the day. We all slept until about nine which is always nice to have some extra cuddle time with Matt where he doesn't have to get up and out the door. I was sung to, kissed, and wished happy birthday at least a dozen times by noon by multiple friends, family, but mostly by Matt and the girls. Its nice to have people remember your birthday and go out of their way to let you know they are thinking of you. That evening we had invited over some friends we had decided to keep it pretty low key. We had the Turners, Lindseys, and Corey & Mindy as well as their families. Matt and I made a couple soups and everyone brought a snack to share. I made blueberry cheesecake with cinnamon graham cracker crust which was amazing. We ate and visited the plan was to play games but we never made it that far...we had to much fun talking. The kids had a great time playing and entertained themselves really well and pretty quietly. About 9 pm we called it a night. Once Matt and I got the girls to bed we spent the rest of our evening cuddled on the couch watching a movie and I would have had it no other way.

This is me celebrating my 31st birthday as well as 22 weeks pregnant! 

Date Night-Thyme & Seasons Experience

We really don't go out with friends...like pretty much never especially lately. So when our friends invited us out to celebrate their birthday we were excited. They had picked a restaurant called Thyme and Seasons. As soon as we found out where we were going I looked into it since I had never even heard of it. I was really excited form the reviews and the actual experience was just as fun. See our friends are real "foodies." They are very particular where and what they eat. The restaurant it is North Salt Lake so Nick & Britt were great enough to keep our kids so we could get out on a much needed date night. As far as the night went we had a great time catching up and trying to figure out what to order. See there really isn't a menu per say the chef comes around and asks you what protein you are in the mood for and a few questions about the kinds of food you like and then he goes to work creating a master piece, so to speak, of food. We decided to order as a group so we could try a variety of things. A lot of them were things I would have never ordered or even tried in my life so that made it fun. I thought the food was good but when we go back again we will try different things for sure but the atmosphere was amazing and just so fun. The chef is quirky and a little blunt if you ask for something he doesn't think you will like he tells you no you can't have that...it is quite the experience. Below are some pictures of the food we ate that night.

Steak

Muscles

Some fish from off the coast of the Netherlands

Like I said it was a fun night of catching up and spending time away from the girls. I have really missed that and hope we can get at least a few more of these inm place before this baby gets here.

Hallie's January Art Projects

New Year Life Happenings

So as we enter 2015 I want to update where our lives are at and what has been going on. We got moved in to our new place and are getting more settled all the time. The girls have adjusted so well and seem to love the new place. Im so glad we didn't pick a place that was 2 bedroom though I probably would be pulling my hair out. We have what seems like just the right amount of space but we will see if we feel the same way when this new little girl joins us. We have decided we are going to try having the girls share a room and in March will be getting bunk beds and getting everyone moved and settled before baby #3 makes her appearance.

Speaking of baby number 3 she is growing like a weed and we couldn't be happier. We are currently 21 weeks and I'm starting to look and feel prego. She has consistently been measuring 1-2 weeks ahead since the beginning I keep wondering if it is a blessing in disguise seeing as my ulcerlative colitis seems to always flare in the spring and my dr and I have already had the conversation if it gets to a point that she is no longer gaining weight she will be arriving earlier than her due date. She is pretty active multiple times a day. That has been really fun for the girls specifically Hallie. Gracie is a little concerned she isn't being nice to me since she is kicking me but Hallie is love with it. She seems to really like when Hallie reads so she has said she will read to her a lot when she gets here. We are all really excited. Im still pretty paranoid about her being ok but finally gave in and ordered her some clothes yesterday. I got all the girls for next fall Matt just laughed and handed me the credit card although I think there is some sticker shock when it comes to dressing 3 girls especially if you want them dressed cute. I really think they have better wardrobes than I do. But it has been fun to see Hallie and Gracie develop their own sense of style and most days Hallie picks out and dresses herself. 

Hallie and Grace are both learning and growing so quickly they are both at such fun ages and have such different personalities that really complement each other. Hallie is loving kindergarten and is excelling in all that she does. She is such a great and willing helper. I see so much of me in her but she remains well balanced since she has some of her dad in her as well. She really only naps about 1x a week but still sleeps 12 hours at night which makes me realize she really is growing up. Its hard to believe that Matt and I have been parents for 5 years...where does the time go. Gracie is a ball of fun infectious energy. She just turned 3. She is so curious about life and the world around her. She says some of the funniest things. She is strong willed and very independent. Although both girls insist on growing up they still love to cuddle, watch shows, and read stories with me. At times I have to remind myself that they wont be this little forever and take a step back and enjoy the moments I have with them. With Matt being gone so much we have found a real place that works for us while he is gone.

January marked the beginning of Matt's last semester of his Masters program and our last time to pay tuition...at least for a while. I'm pretty burnt out on his schedule so I can only imagine how he feels. This semester he has class on Monday nights and teaches Tuesday nights. Then he travels on Wed and Thurs 3 weeks out of the month. There is rumor that as of May that there will be a staff position opening up at WSU. Matt currently loves his job although I don't remember a time I have ever been more unhappy with his job. The travel expectations were very down played when they offered him his position and I feel like they just keep requiring more and more of him without any compensation(not that that would fix the issue). So I'm really hoping he will consider applying for the position at WSU to help simplify our lives and his schedule. I know he is somewhat concerned because it will mean taking a small pay decrease as well as losing our car stipend. We got very spoiled that he was off from teaching/school/traveling for a month and it has been hard to go back him being gone all the time. I miss him terribly and even seeing him over the computer just isn't the same.  I feel like we have so many things to decide and discuss it makes it hard when he isn't here and is in a different time zone. Below is just a representation of how much Matt travels. We have reached companion status which means he flew so much this past year that this coming year I can fly any where with him for free!! This will work out nicely for a couple of things but with everything going on this year I don't know how much we will be flying. Which leads to my next point...the house building process.

It is an ongoing major project. We have been offering on multiple lots in Morgan county with what we think of as a pretty decent budget of 120000 but with the offers we are making they are basically getting thrown back in our faces while being laughed at. At first it didn't bother me but it got old really quickly. As of this week we have now expanded our search to south weber country to north davis county. Im hoping we can find a good fit for us but as Matt and I have found  we are very picky and don't do anything without a lot of thought. I think we have found the house plan. Matt has worked so hard to get something to where we want it.  I guess I hope in all the end of this that we end up somewhere we are more comfortable and find that all of this was worth it. 

I was lucky enough to not be scheduled at work for all of December which was pretty much a miracle but with everything that went on in Dec it was a huge blessing but ultimately it has come full circle in Jan. I am scheduled pretty much every 5 days throughout Jan. It has been hard and I get really tired. It has just been a good reminder that we never want to depend on my paycheck its more fun to just use it for fun stuff. Then if it is missing when I get called off for months at a time it doesn't even matter. It makes it all worth it when I come out of work to find sweet notes form Matt and the girls! They are awesome

But at the end of the day I feel very blessed to have a hubby I am completely in love with and to have 2 beautiful happy and healthy kids. Im grateful for all the blessings that are in my life and look forward to looking back at this time in our lives and seeing what we learned from this experience. I'm hoping that 2015 has a lot of great things in store for us. I'm already looking forward to welcoming this baby, Matt graduating, Matt finding a happy medium with whatever job he decides on, and hopefully moving into our dream home. I am also looking forward to looking back at this as one of my 1st posts of the year to see how far we have come and lived, learned, and grown together as a family.