Merry Christmas

So I've officially decided that Christmas is a lot more fun and you anticipate Christmas morning more when you have kids. I love it. I am so excited to watch our little ones faces as they wake up in the morning to their stockings and presents. We have had a couple family Christmas parties and a couple more to go. I will post pictures of them later, but they have been so fun. It has been a blast watching the kids play with their cousins they never get to see. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

22 weeks and an Ultrasound

On Tuesday Darren and I went into the doctor for the usual 20 week ultrasound, where we found out we are having a healthy baby. We still aren't going to find out what we are going to have (although I think its a girl) The lady doing the ultrasound made it super easy for us not to find out cause she didn't even go near that area or I may have been tempted to peek. Like I said, we have a healthy baby. There is one little thing that is going on in there which is not exactly normal. On the ultrasound they were able to see a cleft in the lip. Kind of a shock I must say. I was pretty much a wreck that day. Don't get me wrong, I am super grateful that it is something that can be fixed and that the baby is otherwise as healthy as can be, but it is still a shock to find out that anything is wrong with your own baby. So the next morning we went to meet with the high risk docs for further evaluation. That is where we found out that it is a bilateral cleft, which means there is a cleft on each side. The baby wouldn't open its mouth to have a look at the palate, but with a bilateral cleft, it is most likely that the palate is included on at least one side. Again , another shock. This time we were better prepared, so we were able to take it a little easier. We will be meeting with the cleft repair team at Primary Children's on Friday to go over the long process that will be fixing our little one's mouth. There we will pick our surgical team, look at before and after pics and deciding with the surgeon the best course of action. We are so blessed that this baby is healthy and everything is fixable. We have faith that the Lord knows what He is doing and that we will be able to get through this smoothly with His help. It will be a few months after the baby is born that the first surgery will take place, but there will probably be more to follow in the first year. We won't know exactly what is going to take place until the baby is born and we can see how extensive this cleft is. We will keep everyone updated on status as we find out information. We will be going back in for another ultrasound the beginning of January and hopefully baby will open its mouth for a better look. Like, I said, we have faith that everything is going to work out fine and are grateful to live in a time of modern medicine and to be so close to Primary Children's, where they have the means to give the best treatment possible. We are thankful for our Savior and for another healthy baby on the way!

Anniversary

Last Thursday Darren and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary. Time is a funny thing. Some days I feel like it goes by WAY to slowly and the next day I wake up wondering where the time has gone. We have had a wonderful four years together with a TON of memories. We have been blessed with two wonderful, beautiful children and are looking forward to our next addition in April. 3 kids in 4 years? WOW! See what I mean about the time thing? We have had some great vacations, spiritual experiences, sad times, followed by even more happy times. Darren is such a great husband and he is ALWAYS making me laugh. He is very patient, with me and the kids. He is always willing to serve and wondering what he can do to help those around him. But most of all he is the GREATEST husband in the world and I couldn't ask for anything more. I am truly blessed. Here is a look into the last 4 years.

Dating. We hiked to Stewart Falls

The night we got engaged. We ate at PF Changs

The wedding Day

Our first baby: Brinley

Our second baby: Beckham

Now

Thanks for the last 4 years honey, I can't wait to make more memories with you throughout the years.

Halloween

So here is our pumpkin carving. Brinley would only take the seeds out with a spoon and Beckham wouldn't even touch the stuff. I tried to put his hand in there and he about freaked.

Here are the finished pumpkins: Darrens BYU, Beckham's silly face, Ashley's castle, Brinley's Tinkerbell

The nursery down the street had a little carnival for the kids, we wrapped darren in the mummy wrapping contest and the kids wanted nothing to do with it.

Notice Brinley wouldn't even look at the camera? She was ready to bolt. She was really afraid of him until we started taking the tp off.

Beckham wouldn't even get his picture with him. He just ran.

Our cute 50's kids. Beckham's costume was a lot cuter than it looks in the pictures. Trust me.

I wish you could see his slicked hair. He was definitely stylin.

Everyone would ask Brinley what she was going to be for halloween and she would always say "a butterfly". I kept telling her no, that she was going to be a fifties girl. So the next time someone asked her she said "a fifties butterfly". Well, when the time came to dress up she was SO excited to be a fifties girl when she realized I was going to let her where makeup. What a girl!

3

Out sweet baby girl turned 3 yesterday..3. What!?! How is this even possible. On Sunday night we had a little family get together with cake and ice cream. She loved getting presents and was talking for weeks about her birthday party. It was so fun since this is the first ear she has really understood what a birthday is and what is entails. Then yesterday we had party for her with her friends. She had so much fun! Thank you everyone for coming! We went to Jungle Jim's and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the facility. It was recommended to me by a friend and although I trust her judgement I was a little nervous that it was going to be like a "chuckie cheese" or something. I didn't have time to go there and check it out so I relied on their website and the opinion if my girlfriend. The kids had a blast!! It was great entertainment for them and they had pizza and cake and ice cream. It was definitely worth it. Thank you again everyone for coming and making it such a great day for Brinley!

All of Brinley's friends and cousins that were there.

Tyler, Josh, Jace, Cassidy, Livvy, Halle and Ella

Tinkerbell cake

The kids all loved the different rides.. the swings

This is the jeep safari

You can't see this picture very well but they loved the rocketships

But they especially loved the bumper cars, they wanted to go there every other ride

The spinning bugs

Baby Bump Watch...

Yes, baby number three is on its way to our growing family. I am now 10 weeks and have been feeling great. I luckily have great pregnancies, although Darren would tell you I get pretty moody. Which I can't totally deny. We are very excited for our new bundle to arrive sometime around April 14th. Brinley insists it is going to be a sister, but we have decided to be suprised. Since we have one of each it will be fun not to find out. We will keep everyone posted on progress and what not as the pregnancy goes along and I get bigger. Wish us luck with #3.

Family Pictures

So while we were in California we had some family pictures done. My aunt Heidi, who is so creative and does great pictures, took them for us. They turned out so great! Thanks so much Heidi! There are a ton more than this, but here are some of my favs...

California Baby..

A week in California was just what the doctor ordered.  We had such a good time!!! We spent most of the week lounging on the beach, how does it get better than that.  We were there for the 4th of July excited to see the greatest fireworks, only to find out they canceled the ones at Oceanside Harbor.  Serious? So we hung out with family and had some fantastic mouthwatering food.  Thanks again for the meat Steven.. One of the days we were there we took the kids to SeaWorld and had a ball. Brinley keeps saying, "Mom, I wanna go see the whales again" It was fun to see her reaction to everything.  Beckham was just in awe of all the animals.  So fun, I can't wait to go again. It's amazing what they can train these animals to do.

And of course, California wouldn't be California without the beach.  Brinley and Beckham both loved the sand. Darren would build sand castles and the kids would come knock them down, it was great. I thought Brinley would love the water but she didn't think it was so great until the very last day, and only then she would only put her toes in if one of us was holding her hand.  Beckham on the other hand loved the water.  I think he liked the feel of the sand under his toes when the water would wash away cause he would laugh every time.

Thanks mom and dad for another great vacation and for all you do for us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKHAM!!!

Wow, my baby is one and I can hardly believe it.. How has is already been a year.  He has brought so much joy into our lives and are so glad he chose us as his family.  We love you Beckham!!! Happy Birthday!

He definitely wasn't shy with his cake.  He dove right in...

We love you bubba!

Pictures

warning: picture overload... I went and got the kids pictures done for Father's Day.. Let me just say they turned out AMAZING!!  For those of you who don't have a photographer already you need to use Matt Stone.  He is the greatest.  He has great pricing and gives you ALL the pictures on a disc with a copyright agreement.  He seriously took like 275 pictures of my kids, not just my kids but my GRUMPY kids.  Beckham was seriously in need of some tylonel for his teeth and a nap.  Yet he was able to capture some really great pictures of him.  Matt has done our wedding and all our family / kids pictures since then.  Thanks Matt!! Here are just a few of my favs, there are a TON more but that would have taken forever to post.  ENJOY!