I am SO tired!

Sammy loves his pillow and blanket. A wonderful lady in our ward made Sammy this blanket. He carries it around the house whenever he gets tired along with his pillow and makes himself comfortable where ever. Two days ago it was right in front of the side door (I think he was waiting for his Daddy to come home). As you can see, it makes him very happy. He is pretending to be asleep in the last picture. If only it were so easy to get comfortable for all of us huh?

Nothing quite like a boy and a dog...

We dog sat for a night for a girl in David's class at med school. This "puppy" is a 12 week old Great Dane named Abby that seriously weighs the same as Gracie does now! Sammy had so much fun playing with Abby. Gracie did to, but there is just something about a boy and a dog. At first he just wanted to look at her, but not have her touch him. But he quickly got over it. In the end, as you can see from the pictures he actually wanted to live with her in her cage. If Gracie hadn't wanted to pull on her tail so much, watching Abby might have actually persueded me to get a dog, but with children this age, you have to keep as close of an eye on the dog as you do the children! But we are more than happy to dog sit for anyone who is going on vacation. :)

Summer

I was cutting up some watermelon the other day for part of our dinner. Gracie snuck in while I wasn't looking and stole this big wedge of watermelon. Before I could say a thing she had taken a big huge bite of it. She claimed she didn't want it cut, but she wanted it just like this. Doesn't seeing this just make you think of summertime. Summer is just about over. I feel kind of sad. I don't feel like we really took advantage of all of the summertime stuff this year (partly because I have been feeling so fat and uncomfortable and partly because David has been so busy with school). Now that it is drawing to a close I kind of wish that it weren't. Gracie told me yesterday that the sun belongs to summer and snowmen belong to winter. I don't know that I am actually ready for all the snowmen yet... I guess maybe this is a case of "the grass is always greener." I love all of the seasons, but I am feeling a little lonely for lying out on the grass and watching the clouds go by, for lightening bugs and fire works, for warm rain showers, for ice cream tasting better than any other time of year, for seeing Gracie eating a great big wedge of watermelon straight from the rind... I guess we will just have to take as much advantage of these last warm days as we can.

Tagged

The Big 5

10 years ago I:
1. was 17... I still feel like I am that young though...
2. was a senior at good old PVHS
3. thought I knew what love was
4. knew I knew what life was all about
5. was dead wrong about numbers 3 and 4

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. wash baby clothes in preparation for baby number 3 :)
2. finish making the cookies I started last night when I ran out of flour
3. talk my kids into wanting to do something besides watch Dora or Diego all day
4. find a comfortable pair of pants that will fit until this big ol baby comes
5. figure out what to make for dinner

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. sugar
2. sugar
3. sugar
4. sugar
5. and lets see sugar (I can't help myself... the baby is making me want it!!! In my defense I am eating other things even though this is all the baby wants!)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. pay off all of David's med school loans and pay for the rest of med school
2. fly home to visit my family (that should actually be number 1)
3. give all of my family money to come visit me!
4. pay someone to come organize my basement
5. buy a dresser for my bedroom that is big enough to hold our clothes

5 places I have lived:
1. the place I live now which will remain nameless on this blog
2. St. George, UT
3. Salt Lake City, UT
4. West Jordan, UT
5. That's it!

Five jobs I have had:
1. Mom (current and best job ever!)
2. Zions Bank
3. violin teacher
4. Latter Day Stuff
5. Rent a video and pizza

5 people I tag:
1. I honestly can't pick 5 people because
2. I haven't done the last million tags
3. that I have been tagged
4. because I am lame so it would be
5. rude of me to actually try and make other people do this...

You are tagged if you want to be...

I want to listen...

Update on the pretty ballerina pictured in the previous post. I took Gracie to dance again today. She ran off to join her class without a glance back at her anxious mother at all. My little girl is getting all grown up... She was so excited to get to dance again. When 5:00 rolled around I was waiting in the hot, humid waiting room with all of the other mothers for her to come out and tell me how it went. The very first words out of her mouth were, "Mom, I had fun today!" She loves "dancing school" as she calls it. Her mother sits shyly in the waiting room, afraid to talk to all the other moms (why am I so chicken) but Gracie runs right in and walks up to complete strangers as though they are her oldest and dearest of friends. She loves to learn the dances too and comes out and demonstrates what she has learned to me (so far walking on their tip toes and jumping jacks only without the hand and arm part). She showed me her sparkly hello kitty sticker that her teacher gave her and kind of caressed it as though it was one of her greatest treasures. We went home and had dinner and as we were finishing it, Gracie said to me, "I wasn't listening in dancing school today. I just wanted to jump." I think that is the very first time Gracie has ever actually admitted to not listening. Her usual response when we ask her to listen to something we have told her is, "I want to listen" in a whiney voice that is sometimes adorable and sometimes just plain gets on my nerves. We talked about Nephi and how when his dad asked him to go back to Jerusalem to get the plates from Laben he didn't say, "I want to go back and get them, but I just can't." He said, "I will go and do!" So we are working on going and doing around here. It is a daily struggle... ok it is more like a minutely struggle, but we are working on it... I guess that is the best we can do right?

In other news, as far as the doctors appointment thing goes, I have an appointment!!! At the new office! Please cross your fingers for me that everything goes well. It is on Friday at 10:00. David has decided he is going with me to make sure they take good care of me. :) Thanks babe. But in the mean time this pregnant brain of mine is getting dumber and dumber. On Friday I put the ice cream in the refrigerator. David found it there a while later and said, "Um, Julie is there a reason the ice cream is in the fridge?" I seriously don't remember doing that. On Sunday I put the milk in the cupboard and today I put the dishwasher detergent in the fridge. So nothing is where it belongs and I don't know where to look to find anything in my kitchen! Don't they make some kind of pills for this? Maybe I just need more sleep. The pregnancy insomnia gets to me every time. I think I am going to go to bed early tonight. Goodnight all.

My pretty ballerina!

Gracie starts her very first dance class today! She is so excited. She could not wait another second to get dressed for dance, and it doesn't even start for over an hour! She feels so pretty in her leotard even if she does look a little bit more like she is about to karate kick someone in the third picture than like she is dancing... they will have to work on that in class I guess... She really is the sweetest ballerina I have ever seen! I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween the other day and guess what she said. A ballerina of course. Who knew that when I bought her clothes for dance class I was killing two birds with one stone. I can't wait to see how the class actually goes. Gracie talks about the "dancing school" all the time. We registered her almost two weeks ago and it has been so hard to wait until now for her to start! Good luck at dancing school Gracie! I love you!

Love the zoo!

We went with some friends to the zoo on Labor Day. It was kind of hot (at least I was hot), but it was so fun anyway. The kids loved to see all of the animals, especially the otters. The otters were swimming in the pool in the bottom left picture. Joanna, Sammy, and Gracie were all jumping around and squealing and really just loving to see them swim. It looked so cool and refreshing, we wanted to go for a swim too! Thanks for coming to the zoo with us! It is so much more fun with friends!

Go Wellsville Tigers and Go Grandpa Jack!!!

We drove to Wellsville Ohio on Saturday to see David's Grandpa Jack inducted into his high school's hall of fame! I had no idea that Grandpa Jack was such an amazing athlete, but apparently he was the school's MVP in basketball and even got a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh. We saw some great pictures of him playing ball! Congrats Grandpa!

Here is a picture of David's cousin, Kevin. He got to do the introduction for Grandpa Jack. He did a great job. It wasn't too long and it was funny to boot.

Go Wellsville Tigers!

It was so fun to see all of the family that came to the ceremony as well. Micah and Sarah are now our closest family. They live only two hours away and it has been so great to see them more often.

Love ya Uncle Don!

And of course Grandma Ro. Gracie talked about coming to see you for hours before we actually got there. Every time we would get of the freeway (you know for potty breaks and getting lost and stuff) she would be furious when we would get back on because it meant we weren't at Grandma's yet. We sure love all of you!

We were really glad that Grandpa's part was near the beginning. After almost 4 hours of being in the car that morning the kids weren't very excited to sit through the rest of the program. I took them into the Gym and they climbed the bleachers until we had to leave. The school had a great big tiger painted on the wall of the Gym and Sammy was captivated by it for a good 20 minutes. And he kept growling at it! He was just showing his team spirit for the Wellsville Tigers and for Grandpa Jack!

I told them to smile but this is what I got.

We went on a little road trip on Saturday. We woke the kids up early and got them dressed and ready and buckled them into the car. I have been pretty lazy about taking pictures lately, and figured this was a good opportunity so I turned around from the front seat and told them both to smile and this is what I got...

Notice how Dora is buckled into her seatbelt too. We just taught Gracie how to buckle her own and now everyone (including the dolls) gets buckled up. And yes, Dora is also wearing one of Gracie's shirts. Gracie loves to dress Dora in all of her clothes!

How funny that they would both make the same face for their pictures. Do you think they planned this?

Doctors are dumb (no offense meant to my husband who is going to be one...)

Okay, so I am totally frustrated with OB doctors here. I know I have mentioned some of my problems here on my blog before, but the annoyances only continue. Back in June the doctor I was seeing would not treat me for a sinus infection, even though I couldn't get into a family doctor, I was balling on the phone to them, and it was affecting my pregnancy (I couldn't eat my sinus's were hurting so bad!). I swore I would not go back to a doctor with so little sympathy for her patients. A family doctor finally took pity on me and gave me medicine even though he had never seen me as a patient before and he encouraged me to give the lame OB doctor another chance. I did. Two appointments later the doctor asked me (a little snidely too I might add) not to bring my kids with me into the office, even though my appointment was only 2 minutes long (you know the ones where they measure your stomach and listen to the baby's heartbeat). I was really offended by this. I am sorry. I am a mother and have kids and you know something, I can't always get a babysitter. Seriously, wouldn't you think someone who delivers babies for a living would like children a little more? I have talked to a couple of other women who haven't had the greatest experience there either so I decided finally to switch doctors. I tried to get a consultation appointment at a new office, but they won't see me until a doctor has reviewed my medical records. So I call office A and arrange to have medical records transferred to office B. Office B says they never got them. Meanwhile, I am due for a doctors appointment. I never canceled my appointments with office A so I figure, I will just go there one more time while I am working to get an appointment at office B. I go into appointment and office A has canceled all of my appointments since I have asked to have my records transferred even though office B never got them. Is anyone else getting confused? So I ask to have my records transferred again. Office A says, "They are already done."
So I say, "May I have a copy of my records for myself then?"
Office A says, "No."
Excuse me? Why not?
Office A says, "I don't know. I guess because I am the only one here who could do it right now and I am busy."
Does anyone else feel like screaming? Finally Office A says she will have a copy of my records mailed to me. I put in another request to have them sent to Office B again. Office B finally gets the records, and guess where they are now? Sitting on a doctors desk waiting to be reviewed. Still. Weeks later. I have called half a dozen times. Our Family doctor has called. A lady that used to work in their office has called trying to get a favor. Nothing. They just keep telling me that they will call me once my records have been reviewed. I am supposed to be seeing a doctor every two weeks now. But I don't even have a doctor anymore. I am totally frustrated and don't really know what to do. Anyone have any suggestions?

How big is Sammy? Soooo big!

Seriously! This boy is getting SOOOOO big! And more and more independent too. He won't go down the stairs backwards or on his bum anymore. He has to go down standing up. He holds on to the railing, but still took a little tumble down a few stairs yesterday. Hence the new bruises on his face. Why are they always on his face? This morning I was in the living room. Gracie was in the tub and Sammy was just wandering around playing. Then all of a sudden I heard Sammy's terrified cry! You know the one that lets you know they are in danger or afraid for some reason. I jumped up and ran and found him in the bathroom on top of the toilet tank. He had climbed up to get into the cupboard above the toilet and couldn't get down! But even with being so active and independent he is as ever my little cuddler. Every time he gets out of the tub he has to be cuddled in his towel for a few minutes before he gets dressed. If I try to take his towel off to put his diaper on before he is ready he pulls it back around himself and rolls into a ball. He loves all blankets too. He isn't attached to one in particular. He just loves them all and loves to be cuddled in them. He is learning his animal noises right now, but the only two he consistently remembers are the cow and the snake. It is so cute to hear him moo and sssss. He is such a stinker sometimes, but he is the sweetest little stinker around!

Oh my heck! It's huge!

...or maybe enormous would be a better word. I am just about 30 weeks. My balance is pretty much gone, I am clumsy, and I think my brain has disappeared. Oh the joys of pregnancy! I have been putting off this picture because I really really need a hair cut, but finding the time seems to be a problem. I figured I had better just get it over with or else miss out on documenting these moments as they pass by. I know I complain a lot about being pregnant, but don't think I really hate it, because I don't. In fact I kind of love it. The kind smiles from strangers as they pass by (or maybe they are actually laughing at me), teaching my kids about the baby in my tummy, the anticipation of meeting this little guy/gal in just a little while, and of course the kicks that are getting stronger and stronger. I love this point in pregnancy because I can tell a lot of the time which part of the baby is poking out where and feel those little heals pushing up into my ribs, or that little baby bum pushing on my liver (sometimes a little painful, but still so exciting!).

I love the Olympics!!!!

Can I just tell everyone how much I love the Olympics!!! I really really really really love the Olympics! I remember as a child always loving the winter Olympics because I thought the ice skating was so beautiful, but my love for them has only grown. We lived in Salt Lake when the Olympics were there in 2002. I am sure it was not until then that I really got an inkling of what the Olympics are really about. Millions of people putting aside their prejudices and gathering together for a common dream. I worked down town when the Olympics were in Salt Lake City and it was truly amazing just to walk down the street and hear a dozen different languages and to know that really and truly we are all brothers and sisters and at least for a little while we could forget our differences. A great example of this was at the women's team gymnastics competition where shouts of "China! China! China!" were heard in English! I just think that is amazing and awesome! The other part of the Olympics that I love is to see people dream big and achieve those dreams.

I know everyone on earth is talking about Michael Phelps. His dream of making Olympics history, and realizing that dream, hopefully has inspired everyone who has watched him swim. Gracie, who is only 3, loves to watch Michael Phelps swim! Every morning we turn on the computer and see what Michael Phelps has done during the night. She and I hold our breath while we wait to see who is going to touch the wall first at the end of the race. Gracie watches the swimming and says, "Mommy, I want to swim there tomorrow." I think this is more of a dream to just swim in that big swimming pool where there is so much excitement than to actually participate in the Olympics, but I hope that I can teach her that if she really did want to compete in the Olympics, nothing is impossible if she dreams and works for it. I love the Olympics. I have been watching it every night until I fall asleep on the couch and David comes to get me and makes me go to bed. I love to learn about the different countries and cultures and competitors. I just love the Olympics.

Warning, angry pregnant lady on the loose!

So I was sitting in a waiting room with my kids today. They were playing and being pretty good. No temper tantrums, no screeming, no hitting, biting or kicking. All in all, not to bad. Gracie did wander a little bit though. She opened the door into another waiting room and went down about 5 steps and was playing with some toys and a little girl. As soon as I realized that she had moved I made her come back. I may be a little over protective, but I don't think any mom would leave her 3 year old out of her line of vision in a strange office full of strange people. Anyway, as I was having Gracie come back to the area I was in, I could hear some lady saying, "Teach her to keep her dress down!" Gracie was wearing a dress, but it was down and I thought nothing more of it. Anyway, as we were leaving the office we had to walk back through the other waiting room and the same lady looked at me and in a voice like I must be the worst parent ever said again, "Teach her to keep her dress down!" Yes it is true, that when Gracie is wearing a dress and climbing into a chair I have on occasion seen her pull her dress up so she can get into the chair (on occasion being once two days ago at church). And of course I told her, "Good job Gracie! Why don't you pull your dress even higher and let the whole world see your underwear!" NOT!!! Of course I told her to pull her dress down. But you know something, little 3 year olds have minds of their own, and I would say that my little 3 year old is particularly obstinate (maybe all mother's of 3 year olds feel that way...). I was so irritated by this woman though!!! I wanted to say, "Lady you raise your kids and I will raise mine!" I didn't say that. All I said was "Thank-you." As if I had never thought about teaching my daughter that she shouldn't pull up her dress and she had just enlightened me. She was again rude and said, "Don't say thank-you. Just teach her to keep her dress down." We walked out the door and didn't say another word, however sorely I was tempted. As we were crossing the street to get back to our car I really wanted to go back and tell her off!!! I still feel ticked even now! I mean really! We were in a room with a bunch of ladies, and I don't even think there was a little boy in there! Did it really hurt her to see my 3 year old's underwear? I am sure it is these crazy pregnancy emotions that have me so upset over this. I have been randomly blissful, crying hysterically, and angry as heck for the last few days. Anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest. I am not sure how much better I feel, but it is always good to talk out these crazy emotions (even if it is just on your blog and maybe no one will even read it). Right? Thanks for letting me vent.

Lucky number 7!!!!!

7 years ago today, David and I were married for time and all eternity in the St. George Temple. There have been good times and there have been some times that were not so good, but we have truly been blessed with love and happiness together. I am so grateful that David fell in love with me and asked me to marry him.

Each day with David I fall more in love with him. He is a wonderful husband and father. He is loving and forgiving and tries hard in everything he does.

He is worthy of the priesthood that he holds and shares it with us on a daily basis as he leads our family.

David, thanks for choosing me to be yours and I am daily grateful that you are mine!

Happy anniversary sweetheart!

XOXOXOXOXO

Ideas????

So my 7th anniversary is coming up this weekend. I can't believe David and I have been married for 7 years! Wow! Anyway, I am looking for a fun but reletively inexpensive way to celebrate as well as a gift idea. The "traditional and modern" gifts are copper or desk sets and I am totally drawing a blank. Anyone have any great ideas? Help please?

100 Days!!!

I can't believe I have only 100 days left until baby number three is due to arrive in our family. This pregnancy is going by so fast! I am feeling pretty good, just really tired. I always wake up ready to go back to bed for another hour. David and I keep telling Gracie and Sammy that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. Sammy doesn't really seem to understand. My sister-in-law, Diana, just had a sweet little baby though and Sammy loves to watch the pictures and videos of baby Conrad. He points to them and says "bebe." It makes me so happy and I hope he will be as excited when one comes to our house to stay! Gracie has been very funny about the baby in my tummy. She thinks that she has a baby in her tummy too! Up until today she has been telling me that she has a girl in her tummy and I have a boy in mine. We were wondering what kind of insight her little mind might have and if she could possibly be right (about the boy in mine, not the girl in hers). However today she has decided that neither of us have a baby in our tummy, but instead we have ponies. They will both be girls and both be named Pinkie-Pie. If Gracie has her way, our babies will look something like this...

Maybe we will have to try to find one of these to bring home from the hospital with us.

The Hill Cumorah Pageant

We took a trip to Palmyra, NY yesterday to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Oddly enough, almost nothing went as planned (does this sound familiar to anyone else?). We had planned on making it a whole day outing and spending the whole day having fun together. We wanted to start out at the zoo in Buffalo, then head to Niagara Falls and end up at the pageant. It was the perfect plan (in my mind). It had fun for kids and parents alike! What could possibly go wrong? Well, first of all we didn't leave town at 8:00 yesterday morning like we had planned. Friday night David got a phone call saying that someone in our ward (church congregation) needed some help with some cabinets. He explained that we would be out of town and wouldn't be able to help, but I just kept getting this feeling that he needed to be there. We put new cabinets in our kitchen last year and I know how grateful we were for the help that we had. I think David must have been having the same feelings I was because he didn't complain at all when I told him I thought maybe we should postpone our trip for a few hours. There would always be another opportunity to go to Niagara Falls again. So he loaded up his tools and went to lend a hand in taking down cabinets. And from what I have heard it was a good thing that he did. He said his was the only drill that could handle the job. The guys were really struggling before he got there! Good job David! He got home later than he expected but then he showered and we finished packing the car and picked up a few groceries and got on the road.

We decided that because of time we would skip the zoo as well. Instead we would go spend a little extra time in Palmyra. Gracie has been SO excited about the Temple lately. She talks about it all the time. If she sees a picture of a big beautiful building she thinks it is a Temple. She sings the primary song, "I love to see the Temple" almost every day. She talks about her Aunt Mary and Uncle Jake getting married in the temple almost every day too. The last time we went to the temple she wanted to go knock on the door and see if someone would let her in. She LOVES the Temple. We decided instead of going to the Zoo we would go walk around the temple and take some pictures of the kids. So we had a new plan and we were excited for it! It takes about 3 hours to drive to Palmyra. We stopped once in Buffalo for a potty break and then kept going. Gracie took a little nap on the way (Sammy did NOT), and when she woke up she told me, "Mommy, I'n sick." She says this a lot! If she so much as coughs or sneezes she thinks she is sick, but the next moment she is off playing again. So I didn't really think much of this. Sammy meanwhile is totally ready to be OUT of the car!

We spent a little while in downtown Palmyra. We went to Latter-Day Harvest (a church book-store) and bought Sammy a little Samuel the Lamanite toy and Gracie a CTR ring and then drove over to the temple. I noticed while we were out that Gracie felt a little warm, but it was a warm, muggy day and again disregarded it (some mother I am huh?). At the Temple we got out of the car and started walking around. I attempted to get Gracie and Sammy to sit on the front steps together for a picture, and the next thing I new Gracie was throwing up all over the temple steps. People were trying to take pictures of the beautiful building behind us
and there right in the way was Gracie, me and Gracie's lunch (what a lovely mental picture huh). I yelled to David to go get the wet wipes and a bag as my hands were full of throwup and Gracie was sitting next to me crying (he was off chasing Sammy down at the moment) and we cleaned everything up the very best we could. So now we were sitting there wondering, what do we do? Do we take our kids home? Do we go to the pageant anyway? Sammy really decided for us. He was having no part of getting back in the car, thank you very much!! We found a place near some friends from the ward for our family to sit at the bottom of the Hill Cumorah. Gracie layed down on a blanket and took a nap (my daughter!!!! took a nap????).

Sammy ran around, and around, and around! David attempted to study some. I went and found us some dinner.

That was when it started raining! We all held a big blanket over our heads (which was pretty much soaked by the time the rain stopped) and waited for the rain to stop.
Gracie finally woke up and by the way she played with everyone, you would have thought she was never sick!!! She and Sammy had a blast! Gracie was SO incredibly friendly to everyone walking by, you would have thought she was best friends with them all. She went right up to one of the men in our ward and stuck her hand in his pocket and grabbed his key. Why? I have no idea. She walked up to a complete stranger and held her hand! She walked over to another stranger who had a little girl and wanted to follow her to her seat (most of the kids we knew there were boys and she has been wanting to play with durls (girls) lately. Sammy was almost as bad. He wanders off and takes absoltely no thought to where his parents or sister are. I am glad my kids are so friendly, but it scares me to death and I know they literally have to have a constant eye kept on them!!!!

At about 9:15 the pageant started. There were over 700 people in the cast.



One of the cast members told us earlier in the evening that this is the first year ever that they have had more of their cast members be from the east coast than the west (meaning Utah). It is so amazing to see how the church is growing out here! Gracie loved the program. She kept talking to us about who the characters were and pointing out the angels and Nephi and Moroni and baby Jesus and Mary. Sammy didn't like it so much. He would fall asleep and then something really loud would happen and he would start balling! I had to take him away from the crowd and lights and sounds to settle him back down. I felt bad walking in and out of our row so many times (Emily, I know I stepped on your foot more than once!), but I just had to keep coming back! I really really wanted to watch it!!! The special effects were amazing! There was fire and smoke and water shooting into the air! And it was all about the Book of Mormon!! And even though I only got to see about half of the program, something unexpected happened to me. My testimony that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world was increased. I had expected to go and be entertained and feel the Spirit, but somehow I gained so much more! I received a witness that everything in the Book of Mormon is really there to bring men unto Christ! I knew that already, but somehow the understanding of it was brought to a new level for me last night. It gave me a renewed desire to live the gospel to the fullest, to repent of my sins and to become more Christ-like. I want to be more forgiving, and try harder to do better and to share the good news that is the gospel of Jesus Christ with those around me. As I was sitting there at the pageant I was thinking about what a disaster the day had been (even though still fun), and found that I could not think of it as such. Even though nothing went according to plan it was still a beautiful day and a beautiful experience and I would do it all again even if I knew I would get the same results. In fact, I can't wait until next year's pageant!

I didn't know my life was incomplete!

Yay! Yippeeeee! Weehaw!!! I am SO very happy!!! Who knew that my life was incomplete without these two little items! I sure didn't! We have been sweltering (off and on depending on the weather each day) in the heat and humidity. I had no idea that all it would take to fix it would be $350 and a little muscle power from David and myself (I helped lift the AC unit up into the window and then held it in place while David rigged it so it would stay put... I know... I am tuff). It took a little while to figure out how to make it stay since the window opens from the side instead of the top, but my brilliant man has done it again! As for the second picture, well I think this is the best fan I have ever owned! I always hated fans because they aren't very cute, but there comes a time when there are more important things. Between the two of these wonders all I can say to the summer is, "Bring it on, Baby!" What did we ever do without these. Right now, I think they are better than chocolate, and that is really saying something!

David

Sorry girls, but I just have to say I have the best husband ever. Honestly, I don't know where this guy came from... heaven I think. I have been the moodiest pregnant lady ever these last few days, and he is ever patient and loving with me. Yesterday Gracie started asking me seriously every 5 minutes if we could go to the library. I kept telling her we had to wait until Daddy got home with the car. 5 minutes later she was asking me again if we could go to the library. After about 200 times it really started getting on my nerves. Finally I lost all my patience with her and everyone else who even looked at me cross-eyed. Things really just went from bad to worse as the day progressed. Even when I am frustrated and crabby, David is still kind and wonderful (it gets a little infuriating really!) not to mention that his kisses make my knees all trembly. I truly am a lucky girl. Thanks David, for being my husband and father to our children. I love you!

The Zoo in Phoenix

Somehow after our vacation, these pictures got forgotten. While we were in Arizona visiting David's grandparents Grandma Ro took us to the zoo. The kids had a blast... at first that is. It ended up getting pretty hot! When I asked Gracie what her favorite part was she said it was the lions. She always says it is the lions, and the funny part about that is that the lions are ALWAYS asleep. It doesn't matter what zoo we go to, the lions are always asleep. And even though we see lots of animals actually walking around and doing things, the lions are still her favorite. We took the kids for a ride on the carousel. Gracie loved it! Sammy hated it!!! He has been on one before and loved it, but ever since that zoo trip I can't get him to ride the carousels anymore. We have tried twice since, but he doesn't want anything to do with them! Too funny! But we did have a really good time! Thanks Grandma for taking us!!!

Go Away Mosquitos!

"Yes, Gracie has two black eyes! No, she did not get slugged. She got a mosquito bite. Yep that's right, a mosquito did this to my little girl. No she didn't fall on her face. Yes, she is allergic to mosquito bites." This is what I had to explain to everyone at church today. I don't think these pictures even do this huge bug bite justice. It is ENORMOUS!!! Her forhead and nose are swollen, her eyes won't open all the way and she has two black eyes. And would you believe that she had mosquito repellent on! We lit fireworks in front of our house on the 4th with our neighbors. We had a great time, except the mosquito's wanted to join in the fun too. I tried to be careful about putting the mosquito repellant on my kids. I didn't want to get it in their eyes, but I must have missed the spot right in between on Gracie. The mosquito's are vicious this year. Our neighbors said they are worse than usual (thank goodness they aren't usually this bad!). I put a lot of bug repellant on myself too, but the darn bugs bite through your clothes!!! I have 4 mosquito bites where the sun don't shine (and in places where you can't scratch in public)!!!! Gracie was telling me she didn't want me to take a picture of her bug bite, but she still had a smile for me anyway. What a good sport. Every time David and I look ar her today we kind of wince and just feel so sorry for her sad little face. Go away mosquitos! You are not invited to our parties!!!