A Day in the Life of Maycee

I had to post these pictures of Maycee...isn't she so cute!  Today we wore our pajamas most of the day.  Those days are my favorites.

Picture #1:

Maycee is now a professional climber.

Seriously.

Anything she sets her mind to, she gets on.  It's a little nerve wracking.

She loves to climb into my rocking chair and read books.  I've caught her there a few times by herself and it is the cutest thing!

Picture #2:

Maycee totally fell asleep in her highchair this afternoon while eating her "pre-lunch snack".  Basically that means that I wasn't ready to feed her yet, so I distracted her tummy with crackers until I could feed her.  Apparently she was very tired.

What happened after this picture is the funny part.

I caressed my hand on her face and gently picked her up.

She immediately woke up and said, "craka, craka, craka" and proceeded to finish of the crackers that were on her tray.

That girl is so funny. 

Favorite 30 Minutes Ever

Mom and Dad and Karli came up to see Krystal and I this weekend.

Krystal and Mom and Karli have only worked out once this week, so Krystal made them do some workouts on Netflicks.

I enjoyed every minute of it.

I am not behind.

They started out with a 10 minute dance workout routine.  If I had only seen them do that routine I would still been entertained.  BUT after the dance workout they moved on to Yoga.

It was hilarious.

After the beginners yoga, they moved onto the abs routine.

I enjoyed chocolate covered nuts as they tried to get their bodies into these crazy poses that bodies should not be allowed to do.

Again I say.  Favorite 30 minutes ever.

Christmas Chaos

Wow.

I feel like we now have time to breathe.

Stephen and I have been huge procrastinators this year.  Everything has been left to the last minute and we still had to prepare for all of the family gatherings.

On Saturday we met Stephen's family at 4:00pm for Christmas Eve festivities.  We had good eats and chatted while the little ones ran around causing much noise and chaos.

We headed for home at 8pm to finish Maycee's toy box.

We woke up the next morning at 6am to get ready for church and then woke Maycee up at 7am to do our family Christmas and breakfast.  It is really amazing to watch our little family grow!

We met at Stephen's parents house at 10am for omelets and our gift exchange.

Afterwards we went to church with Stephen's parents in Eagle at 1pm.

After church we were on the road to the farm to meet with my family and their gift exchange.

We were at the farm until Monday afternoon so Stephen could go to work on Tuesday.

After all of that I only got two Christmas pictures.  One with Maycee in her toy box and one with me sitting next to her.

Next year will not be so chaotic.

Maycee's Amazing Christmas Present

This year for Christmas we decided to make Maycee a toy box.  We really didn't know what we were doing and haven't done this kind of thing by ourselves.  We were up to the task.

Stephen cut all of the wood and put the box together.

I sewed all of the fabric together that we would use to cover to box.

We then stapled the material to the box.

It is looking so great!

Here is Maycee just looking cute.

On Christmas morning her toy box was all put together and looking awesome!

I was so proud of Stephen and I!  It was such a fun project that Stephen and I got to do together.

Feeling Adventurous

I am Cheap.

So much so that I am willing to put my hair on the line.

It's not so much that a hair cut is super expensive, but during this Christmas season I would much rather spend my money on something else.

I have been begging Stephen for the last month to cut my hair.  He has been very reluctant.

Last night was Stephen's first try as a "hair cutter person".

He hesitantly raised the scissors to my head and asked how much to cut.

I said, "I want to cut off an inch, so just to be cautious cut a little less than an inch so when you even it out, it will be an inch."

"Um...ok," was Stephen's reply.

The scissors began to cut across my back.

Honestly, I knew what I was getting myself into.  When I was in college I was so broke.  I remember having 12 cents in my checking account once...but I never bounced a check.  Therefore, anyone who was willing to take a pair of scissors to my head I let cut my hair.

Back to Stephen...as he raised the first lock of my hair that he had cut, my eyes grew wide.  I realized right then that if I panicked, Stephen would never do anything like this again.  I calmly said, "That is actually three inches, but you're doing great!  Keep going!"

I could feel his fear begin to subside as I calmly talked him through the hair cut.

He actually did a really good job!

We both made it out alive.

My hair is now missing a little over three inches, but I'm pregnant.  It'll grow back fast.

Preggo Pose

As Stephen and I were wrapping the last of the Christmas presents, Stephen decided that we needed a pregnant picture.  I don't think I've taken any yet.  Not that I was really diligent with Maycee, but I guess they are good for posterity...

So here I am with our little boy at 27 and something weeks.

Cinnamon Rolls

Another baking drama.

I really need to figure this out.

If I tried to bake everyday, I know that I would have this thing down.  BUT I also know that I will gain A LOT of weight if I do that.  So I guess I need to decide which one I want more...to be fat and an amazing baker or to be skinny and a lousy baker.  I don't think I really want to answer that because I want to have the best of both worlds.  One day I'll figure it out.

Anyway, I made homemade cinnamon rolls on Friday night with some amazing homemade cream cheese frosting.  The cinnamon rolls looked beautiful in the oven.  I checked to make sure they were done and took them out to cool.  I frosted one and gave it to Stephen to try.

THEY WERE DOUGHY!!!

Those cinnamon rolls took about 3-4 hours to make.

Seriously!?

I couldn't fix them.  After they had already been out for five minutes, they looked droopy and not very appetizing.

Sorry Stephen!  Someday I will get this.

Little People Nativity Set

During my Christmas shopping this year I found something that I had to have.

This:

Isn't it so cute!?

I am definitely not the type of person to buy something right when I see it.  I'm not a compulsive spender, but when I showed Stephen the set he was all over it.

I found a cheap set on Amazon and bought it that day.

Maycee loves it.

Honestly, I really wanted Maycee to have a Nativity set that she could play with and help her learn why we celebrate Christmas. When I saw this set I knew it was "the one".

Christmas Lights 2011

My parents have decided that they like having us kids around.  Weird, I know, but they have put together some sort of get together so that we can see everyone about once a month.  This month was our special month.  This past weekend we drove to Salt Lake to see the lights and stay in a hotel.

Stephen and I drove to the farm Friday morning and hitched a ride with my dad down to Utah to first go to the temple.

Thanks Mom for driving Maycee and watching her so that Stephen and I could go to the temple!

I never realized how much more difficult going to the temple would be when we had Maycee and that the Boise temple has now been closed for about 4-5 months.  We met Kory and Charisse at the Bountiful temple and we were able to do sealings.  Kory was on his "best" behavior.

We met Mom and Karli and Maycee at the hotel and waited for Kory and Charisse to arrive.  They were a little late due to a crazy lady rear-ending their beautiful new car!  Gggrrrrrr.  Poor Kory and Charisse.

After the hotel we ran to meet Kelsey and Nathan at our dining for the evening.  Kelsey chose a place in the "seedy" part of Salt Lake.  We were a little leery when we pulled into our parking spot and were surrounded by a bright pink neon sign that informed us on their selling of lingerie and a movie theatre announcing the playing of their movie "Rum Diaries".  We entered the restaurant that was lit up by at least 20 signs announcing their selling of different kinds of beers.

This was going to be an adventure.

Much to my surprise the restaurant had a highchair and so we dined.

Afterwards we went to go check out the Christmas lights on Temple Square.  They are so cool!...and I didn't bring my camera.  I'm getting really bad at that.  I'm sure that it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to put up those lights.  They are so intricate.

We got back to the hotel really late and so Stephen, Kory, Charisse and Nathan only got to play in the pool for about a half an hour.

Maycee didn't go to sleep until 11:00.  As in the p.m.  Her bedtime is 8.  Her schedule is so messed up now.

Saturday started bright and early as we all went down to dine at the free continental breakfast and then hit the streets of Salt Lake City to check out one of their museums.  The best part of the museum was the upstairs...the kids section.  It was seriously awesome.  We played up there for quite a while.  Everyone did.

We split up after the museum to begin our long drive home.

Stephen and I drove home with Maycee and Karli in tow.  During this trip Karli, again, solidified her spot as favorite Aunt.  Maybe even favorite person.  It's a good thing I like Karli or I would be offended.

On the ride to the farm Maycee and Karli both slept.  Maycee woke up before Karli did.  Maycee was not going to have that.  She wanted that girl awake and entertaining her, so she began to yell, "Kawee....Kawee...KAWEE!!!"  That is how Maycee pronounces Karli's name.  Groggily Karli woke up to Maycee's yelling.  For the last 30 minutes to the farm Maycee had Karli's full attention.

After partying it up in SLC, I am again loving that Boise is A LOT warmer.  Bbrrrr.

Thanks for the SLC gathering, Mom & Dad!

Ornament Exchange Party

About a month ago Jodi, one of my friends, came to me and asked if I wanted to help her throw a Christmas Party for...everyone.  No exaggeration.  She wanted to invite all of the women in our ward.

We have 185 women in our ward.  About 100 that semi-attend.

We set the date for December 8th at 7pm and the planning began.

We really wanted to give everyone a personal invitation.  Not any of that E-vite stuff.  Something that would make all of our guests feel wanted.  I got an invitation together and Jodi took it to Costco with her 100 4x6 prints for free and we printed them up and hand delivered every one of them.  It took quite a while.

The night of the party came and Jodi and I were unsure of what to expect.  We had asked people to RSVP and had about 25 women call us and respond.  By 7:30 Jodi's house was full of 40 very loud and excited women.  I couldn't believe the turnout, but it was SO much fun.  According to one of my friends, Lani, who attended she said the night was like "Relief Society on steroids".  It was hilarious.

We all brought a homemade or store bought ornament to exchange and the excitement began.

It was a blast!

After most of the guests had left there were about 8 of us that sat around and chatted for a while.  That was the moment I realized that Jodi had Christmas music playing in the background.  It was that loud.

Thanks Jodi for having such an awesome idea!

Olive Garden

This morning Krystal and I went Christmas shopping.

That was not the exciting part.

We went to Olive Garden!  We always go and get their soup, salad, and bread sticks for $7.

Seriously!...Could you get a better deal with such great food?

I think that our waiter was a little surprised when we asked for bread sticks the third time around.  In my defense I warned him in the beginning that we go through those things fast.  When he brought out the fifth tray Krystal and I were starting to roll.

I am very proud to report that Krystal and I ate 14 bread sticks!  Including our soup and salad.

Maycee didn't even really help.  She might have eaten a half of one.

Christmas Project 2011

I am SO excited about my latest project.  I feel like it has taken me forever because the only time that I can sew is when Maycee is sleeping.

So...

Here is my latest.

Aren't they SO AWESOME!!!!

Mine technically isn't done yet.  I didn't buy enough material in the beginning and when I went back to buy more, it was gone.  I can't find it anywhere.  Not even online.  I'm a little bummed...

However, I have more material to do two more stockings.

I just couldn't choose!

AND since we are not 100% sure on the name of our little boy, his stocking won't be done until next year.  But I'm so excited!  AAAHHHHHH!!!!

I'm glad I have a blog to show off my projects.  It makes me feel good about myself.

Cows

You know those Chick-Fil-A commercials?

Personally, I think they are hilarious.

Maycee is starting to learn the sounds that animals make.

I think you know where I am going with this.

Today one of the Chick-Fil-A commercials came on and Maycee could not contain herself.

"MOOOOOO!!!  MMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

She continued to yell this at the top of her lungs until the commercial was over.

That girl is hilarious.

Tithing

This morning I was talking to my mom and dad on the phone.

We talk a lot.

I told them how grateful I was for a sister in our ward who just gave me more clothes for Maycee up through 24 months.  She also gave us a little scooter and a two kid stroller...it's really nice.

My dad replied, "You must pay your tithing!"

I didn't even think of that.

Ever since I was a little kid, my parents taught me to pay a 10% tithing on any of my income.  I remember being little and learning how to write and filling out my tithing slip and putting a dime in there because my grandpa had given me a dollar.  There were a lot of instances like that.  I have never really thought of paying tithing as a burden, even though there have been times when it was very tight.  I just did it.

Today my dad helped me recognize the blessings.

Stephen and I have been very blessed.

Thank you Dad for helping me see!