Major Update

Here goes. Warning: Long Post Ahead! The last six weeks have been full of manygreat activities. To start MASON turned 5. I can not believe that my little buddies is 5. He is probably the smallest 5 year old I have ever seen, but he is growing at a steady pace. We had a great day on his birthday. We took him to Wendy's for lunch after preschool and then we played most of the day. He got to pick where he wanted to go to dinner and he picked the "bread and dip store," otherwise known as Olive Garden. The funny thing is he doesn't even like pasta, but he loves there salad and alfredo dip with breadsticks. We never have to order the kids food because Izzy just eats ours and Mason and her love the bread and dip. Roberts brother Mike and his wife Tiffany and son Cooper went with us so we could treat Mike to dinner for his birthday which was 2 days later. It was a blast. The Saturday after his birthday we had a party for him with all his friends. There were 8 kids in all. Mason had a blast with his Buzz lightyear spaceship pinata and his Toy Story 3 birthday cake, that I bought of course. We had lots of fun and we love our little Buddy so much. He is the calm in the storm most of the time.

A few things I love about Mason:

His imagination

His buzz lightyear dancing

his singing

his sweet spirit

his hugs and kisses along with zerberts

The list could go on forever because he is truly one of the lights of my life. I love you Mason.

Family Baptism and Allie's Blessing

On the weekend of November 12-14 we had some awesome family time. My nephew Ammon and my niece Kacey were baptized in SLC together. My sister Joanne and her family drove up from Las Vegas so we could have one baptism. It was really sweet. My favorite part was when Kacey and Ammon did a musical number together. Ammon played the piano and Kacey sang. It was the sweetest thing ever. It was fun to watch them be baptized. When Ammon got in the water he practically floated on top.

The day after the baptism we had a super yummy "Thanksgiving Feast" hosted by my sis Amy. It was nice for us because we weren't able to go anywhere for thanksgiving. It was great. Thanks Amy and everyone who cooked and was there.

Sunday the same weekend we all were in Logan for the blessing of Allie. We had an awesome Lasagna dinner provided and baked from scratch by myself. My friend Kelley made pumpkin cupcakes that were the highlight of the meal. they were almost gone before they were in the door.

Allie was blessed by her daddy and it was a very sweet blessing. I am so grateful to have a husband who honors his priesthood and can bless my children. Love you Rob. Our primary program was the same Sunday and Mason and Isabelle did awesome considering Mason wouldn't even go up to the stand last year. I was very proud of them. We had a crazy busy weekend but it was very worth every minute.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It was very simple, quite and somewhat peaceful. We had to stay home because Robert works in retail and had to work at 4 in the morning on black Friday. I made a turkey and all the trimmings that we like best. We had the perfect amount of leftovers, and ate them the next two days. Sorry no pics haven't got them yet.

Halloween and pumpkin carving

We had a great week last week celebrating halloween. Fall is my favorite time of year. It is absolutly beautiful in logan in the fall, although it doesn't last very long. Halloween in our neigborhood is awesome, except this year the weather was horrible. Mason and Isabelle were so excited to go trick or treating and bugged all week to go. It was great to have another thing to threaten with this month. Bedtime isn't always the easiest for us so this month we used trick or treating to get them to stay in bed and go to sleep. Mason wanted to be Mario this year. I bought fabric at Joanns and when my mom was here after Allie was born she made the overalls.

Isabelle wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake. I found this really cute costume online and we spray painted her hair pink. It was adorable. We went trick or treating at the mall and so many people commented on her costumeRobert's parents and his brother and two sisters came and went trick or treating with the kids around our neighborhood. It was so cold and raining cats and dogs so they didn't get even half as much candy as last year, but that is a good thing cause now I won't have so much to eat.

PUMPKIN CARVING

On wednesday we waited until Rob got done with school and we carved pumpkins. It is a tradition we have been doing since Robert and I got married. We had a blast. We made the kids take off their jammies so they wouldn't get dirty and because they had already taken a bath.

We carved all the pumpkins and then the kids wanted to paint theirs. Mason's pumpkin was carved frankenstein so he painted it purple and green. Isabelle just wanted hers to be pink, but she ended up painting it pink and white.
This is what Allie was doing while we were carving pumpkins.

Allie Maxine

She is here!!!!!! Our little girl is here. She is so beautiful. She was born on Monday the 4th. She weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. Labor was a little more difficult then in the past, but we got through and we are healthy and doing good. Mason and Izzy just love their new little sister. I will wake in the morning and the first thing Mason will say to me is "Hi mom, How's Allie." We think she looks more like Mason, but that could change in the next few weeks. We are grateful she is here safe and healthy and love having her sweet new spirit in our home.

My diaper bag

I found a cute pattern for a diaper bag by Amy Butler and had planned for months to make that bag. However, this bag took a ton of fabric and was really really huge. When I say huge I mean 2 feet wide. If you know me and have seen my many bags you know I like to make them and most of them are rather large. Making bags is like an instant gradification (however its spelled). It only takes me about 3 hours on average to make a bag. Many of them are done the same way. I love to make quilts, but they take longer, though the pride in getting one done is a lot better than a bag, it takes more money and time.

This last weekend I went to SLC and while I was there I spent some time with Amy, my sis, and we went to Pine Needles, a great quilt shop at Gardner Village in South Jordan. We came across an adorable bag that was already made. We both loved it. We looked at the pattern and it didn't take to much fabric and it had a ton of pockets. We began the search for fabric. Wow did that take us forever, or I should say me. Amy kept finding all these fabrics that were cute, but I just couldn't decide. First I couldn't decide which diaper bag I was going to make then it was the fabric. If you've ever been to a quilt shop you know that the amount of fabric is sometimes overwhelming and you could look around for hours, which I have ask Joanne. To make it short I finally decided on my fabric. I made it yesterday and it didn't really take me that long. Sometimes the directions stumped me, but I figured them out. It actually was one of the easiest bags I have ever made and I love it. It isn't a bottomless pit like the other diaper bag would have been and like Amy pointed out I will probably only take what I need instead of a bunch of junk.

The finished bag very adorable, I know.

This is the inside with the pockets. I borrwowed one of my friends bottles and measured it for a pocket and there is a pocket that fits diapers and about 4 others. On the bottom I covered a piece of cardboard from a diaper box to make a flat bottom. I can't wait to use it.

First day of Preschool

So Mason and Izzy started preschool this week. They go to the same school, but Mason goes Monday Wednesday and Friday and Isabelle goes on Tuesday and Thursday. When we dropped both of them off they didn't even look twice and just walked down the stairs to their class. I was worried that they would be hesitant but they weren't at all. They didn't even say bye. They were both very excited.

My many projects

This summer has been full of projects for me to finish. I made Allie, yes the baby, a quilt and then finished a quilt for my cousin Ashley (I don't have a picture of her quilt). I also got all the flannel fabric out of my box and made recieving blankets and a car seat cover for Ashley.

Ashley's car seat cover.

Also in August my sister Joanne and her kids came and spent a week with me and my kids and while she was here I made another purse and a fall quilt to hang on my shelf, which she helped me put on the wall, Shelf and fall quilt. The fall letters I painted just yesterday.

Over the last month I have started to nest really bad. I have been freaking out that we don't have everything we need for the baby and that by the time we do I will only have 4 to 5 weeks left. Well last week we started to get things together. We drove down to SLC to get a dresser we saw on KSL and ended up coming home with a dresser Robert's mom had in her garage for who knows how long. It is pretty sturdy but was not pretty. This is a before picture after a little sanding and the drawers are around it waiting to be sanded. It took me two and a half days to do all the sanding because we got a new tv and I decided to paint our old entertainment unit and shelf to put in other places in the house. I have no before pics of them but they were both a black brown color and had a high gloss. I had some help from Audrey, but other than that I did it all by myself. Here are the end results of this week long project.

This is the dresser without the decor on it. Over the las couple of days I have painted Allie's name in blocks and also bought a changing pad and cover for the top of the dresser.

So these are the bumpers post on the bottom

Dresser with decor

Closer pic of Allie letters

This is the shelf that was in my living room as DVD storage and now is in Allie's room as more storage for her things.

This is our old entertainment unit that was very dark and took many coats of paint to get the right color.

One of my last projects was to make bumpers for the crib. Everyone I told said I was crazy and it was very hard, but I bought the pads at JoAnns fabrics precut and also with a pattern and made it to match her quilt.

Hoogle Zoo

Me and my buddy

All of us on the train that takes you around places in the zoo you wouldn't see otherwise. Of course Mason loves the train. CHoo Choo
Joe and Katie on the train

Rob Izzy and Melissa

The same weekend that Joe came home we decided to take the kids to the zoo. They talked about it for weeks and were really excited. We knew it was going to be pretty hot so we loaded up the water and the kids and went. Some of Robs family came along and we enjoyed our time together. We rode the train which you can see and we also got to ride the carousal but I didn't think my camera was with me and so we didn't get any pictures. Mason rode on a otter and Isabelle rode on a zebra. It was their first experience on a carousal and their faces just lit up when it started to move. Mason was reminded of Mary Poppins.

Cooper loving the zoo animals

Cute baby elephant Zoe

Mason and Izzy on the lions

Their favorite animal to see is hard to say. They loved the elephants and also the giaraffe probably the best. Mason got excited when he saw the lemer because of a show he watches called Zooboomafoo and the animal Zaboo is a lemer. I thought the cheeta was awesome he was prowling the gate back and forth and was gorgeous.

Joseph coming home

The end of June was very exciting for us and Robs family. Rob's little brother Joe came home from his mission serving in the Omaha, Nebraska mission. We were all very excited to welcome him home. We went down and the day before he came home, Richard (Robs brother) and I made huge signs to hang on the house and to take to the airport with us. When we got to the airport the anticipation was high. Mom, Karla, started water works early as was expected, but then when Joe came through the gates I will admit to shedding a few tears myself. Joe was 13 when Robert and I got married and to see him grown up and home from a mission was really awesome. I am really glad my kids have the good example from all their uncles of serving the Lord. We had a great weekend and we are excited to send the last missionary off (Richard) in September to the Independence Missouri Mission.

backyard swimming

Every summer we buy a pool for the kids to swim in, in the yard. This year we wanted to get one that was big enough for them and a few friends to swim in at the same time. We went to Wal-mart and bought a pretty good sized rectangle pool that was three rings high. Well the kids couldn't get in it very good and after one use the top two layers wouldn't hold air. We took that pool back and got a bean shaped one that was only two ring high. It seemed to be the perfect pool except after one use the top layer wouldn't stay inflated. So we took that one back and thought third times the charm and it was. We the same bean shaped one and it has been the best money ever spent. Mason and Isabelle and their friends swim sometimes two times a day. The best part for me is I can sit on my bed and listen and watch them from inside and stay out of the heat.

This Summer

So I know it has been forever since I have posted anything new so I decided maybe I would try. We have been having a great summer, and haven't had any great adventures, but we have had fun.

This last May we moved to a new house that was literally two houses down. The house we were living in was handicap accessible and was needed so when another house came available the managers asked us to move. We agreed thinking it wouldn't be so hard. It ended up being a pain in the you know what. I hurt my back and couldn't do much. Fortunately I have the best friend in the world Audrey who is always willing to anything to help me. She is such an amazing friend and I couldn't thank her enough for all she does for me. Love you Audrey. We love our new house even though it is smaller but less to clean for me.

Mason and Izzy have loved the move because they found some new friends who we have come to know and love. The kids McKay and Kylin are really close in age to ours and it has been awesome to have them entertained. Rob and I have come to be really good friends with their parents and love to have someone to hangout wth.

As for me and baby number 3 we are doing pretty good. She is growning in spite of the low to no weight gain for me (hooray). She seems to be right on track and moves like a little gymnist. I am feeling okay despite the horrible headcold I got over the weekend. We are very anxious to meeting her and having her spirit fill our home.

It's A GIRL

We finally found out what we are having, and I am happy to report that it is a girl. I wanted a girl and Robert was hoping for a boy. We are very excited and already have a name, but for those of you who don't know you will have to wait until October. I am due on the 11th but I am hoping we can have her on the 4th so that all our kids will be born on the 4th. Mason is Nov 4 and Izzy is Dec 4.

Ears Pierced

So the other day Rob bought me a pair of earings and ever since then Izzy has begged to get her own earings. So I talked to her alot and kept asking her if she was sure she wanted earings. Well today we took her and got her ears pierced. She was really excited when we got there and she picked out her earings. Of course she picks the Hello Kitty earings. She did amazing. She cried for about 5 seconds and then we showed her in the mirror and she was loving it. I think it is adorable. the pictures will have to wait cause the link to upload them isn't working.

Mason's first talk

So on Sunday, valentines day, Mason gave his first talk in primary. It was adorable, if I do say so myself. I'm not sure if it is legal but I recorded it.

I'm Mad!!

So our "queen" Izzy has been known to throw a tantrum or two. Well the other day was probably one of her best. I don't even remember what started the tantrum because it lasted so long. Rob and I kept trying to get her to take a deep breath to help her calm down and she just would not stop. We decided to ignore her. She was walking all over the house just screaming. At one point she was in the hallway and she said "I don't want to stop crying. I'm MAD! It was hilarious. We just kept laughing at her because we were at a loss of what to do and it was getting pretty ridiculous. Laughing is better then screaming at her but then she would get mad that we were laughing.
It was a very interesting 90 minutes. Yeah 90 minutes.

New Pics

Just some new pictures, from JcPennys, to share.

My nephew Cooper