can i re-do monday?

my sister andrea is out camping on the pismo dunes for 2 weeks. so i've been in charge of watching over her house, dog, fish, and mail. saturday jaren and i went together to check on everything. all was well. sunday jaren didn't want to go. but i dragged him anyways using the, "what if something happens to me" line. again all was well. then of course on monday, my first day going alone, i pull up to find that her house had been broken into!! AHH!!! her screen door (which i KNOW i locked) was open and so was one of her front windows and the planter box was knocked over. of course i start freaking out not knowing if someone was currently inside the house. so as i was calling her to let her know what had happened, i see a sheriff driving up the street. i flagged him down and he was actully responding to her house. her alarm company had notified them when her alarm was going off and no one was responding. so apparently the burglar had been in the house a mere 20 MINUTES EARLIER! as the sheriff was walking through the house with his taser gun drawn he was telling me that an hour before he got the call for andreas house, an elderly lady around the corner had come home to find a burglar in her house! so this guy was casing the area obviously and they had a great description of him. well it didnt seem like anything was missing from andreas. including her flat screen tv which was a shock. and thankfully she had taken all the christmas gifts with her to the beach. which she debated about doing for a few days. so she made the right decision. no word on if they found the guy or not. still weird he broke into the house through the window, didn't take anything, and left through the front door. odd! oh, and of course it was POURING rain during all of this to add to the craziness!!

last weekend before christmas! yay!

i can't believe i went to walmart yesterday! i ordered a gift for jaren but the shipping was more than the item was. weird huh?! so i had it shipped to the store for free. i didn't think it would take almost 4 weeks to get here. anyways our walmart looked like a bomb went off and was probably at full capacity! and the item was awkwardly packaged in an odd shape which made it hard for me to carry. and i forgot to grab a cart as i entered the store. so here i am, big ol' pregnant lady waddling through walmart with this huge oddly shaped box, having issues of course, and getting cut off left and right! the nerve of some people, GEESH!

and here are my finished ornaments

(minus the ribbon, made almost 50 of them)

our friend mike came over tonight to pick up his plate of goodies and thought they were cookies. plus my house has had an OVERWHELMING smell of cinnamon for a few days now. im pretty sure he would have snuck one in if we didn't warn him. ewww... can you imagine how bad these would taste? YUCK!

Christmas ideas

in a creative funk and not sure what to do? here's some christmas crafts i've done throughout the years and thought i'd share...

of course there's the popular rudolph brownies.

this is santas underwear that i stuffed with candy and a note saying, "i searched for a stocking, and couldn't find a spare, so i ended up stuffing santas red underwear." this isn't the exact one i made, very similar though. i sewed the entire thing up except the backflap and that's where the candy came from. i made these 10 yrs ago (oh my gosh, its been THAT long!) as a handout at church for my friends :)

one year in young womens i got a handout and have made it again throughout the years. it's the poem of the christmas nail.

It's Christmas time at our house and we're putting up the tree.

I wish I could find some simple way to remember Christ's gift to me.

Some little sign or symbol to show friends stopping by,

The little babe was born one day but He really came to die.

Some symbol of His nail-pierced hands, the blood He shed for you and me.

What if I hung a simple nail on my shining Christmas tree?

A crimson bow tied round the nail as His blood flowed down so free,

to save each person from their sin and redeem us for eternity.

I know it was His love for us that held Him to the tree,

But when I see this simple nail I know He died for me.
by John Patton

i simply went to home depot and bought a box of nails. then got gold string and used that as the hanger for the ornament. then tied a red ribbon around the nail. its probably one of the main ornaments we always look for every year as we unpack the christmas boxes.

one year while we were living in huntington beach, my mom asked me to make starfish ornaments for family members that live in new york. again, these aren't the EXACT ones i made, but very similar.

i made a santa one with golfclubs and a golfbag. and another santa wearing boardshorts with a football. i wonder why i don't have pictures of them? hmm..

and this year i'm making the cinnamon applesauce ornaments that are drying right now. once i have them decorated i'll post pictures. i wish i would have done it earlier this month so i could mail them to people. but i guess i'll have my gift for next year :) i'm also making my favorite peanut butter ball recipe and the rudolph brownies for jarens co-workers. hence the reindeer poop silly gift. cause they're all a bunch of sickos like that! lol.

better day!

jaren finally was able to hit the road at 1130am today. he was worried about checking out of the hotel at noon and having the grapevine NOT open today and then not be able to get another hotel room for the night. but all is well and he's finally back home and bugsy missed him TERRIBLY!!

as for me, i did manage to sleep last night even though bugsy woke up a few times and just wandered the house whining. its like he knew something had changed. dogs are weird. i also had an appt for my 1 hr. pre-natal massage and oh my goodness it was AWESOME!! nathan was kicking up a storm during it, so i couldn't relax completly but it still felt amazing! then i "treated" (ya right) myself to the nightmare of walmart 1 wk before christmas so i could finish up some final christmas touches. jaren made it home from work safely and wanted to go out for dinner. a few weeks ago at his company christmas party, they gave us a gift card to tahoe joe's steak house. WOW! it was delish! unfortunatly we will NEVER pay $27 for a steak and more than likely will never go back there again. LOL. but the memories will be great!

did anyone hear about the shark that "commited suicide?" kinda funny and kinda not. it happened at the atlantis resort in the bahamas. a shark jumped 18 inches out of its habitat and landed on the nearby waterslide which she then slid down into the pool. unfortunatly the pool was chlorinated and she didn't make it too long :( CRAZY THOUGH!

winter weather!

really chaps my behind sometimes! as im writing this, my poor husband is stuck in a hotel room in castaic thanks to the grapevine getting shutdown due to the snow. his boss told him around 2pm to not even chance the mountains and just pull off for the night to know that he's safe. his truck doesn't have a sleeper like his other trucks do. and of course he's totally unprepared to stay somewhere for the night. but i'm sure he'll be just fine. lets just hope i don't go into labor! LOL. of course that won't happen, but if it does, im in trouble! since im sure i won't be getting any sleep, i guess i'll wrap his gifts i have hidden around the house. also im going to attempt to make cinnamon applesauce ornaments. and all my supplies were around $5! hope they turn out how they're pictured online!

and here's aaron and andrew just for giggles :)

yay for more gifts! :)

i didn't blog about them yesterday because i didn't have pictures of them yet, but now i do :) so my aunt cheryl stopped by my house last week and brought more baby gifts and i love them!

first was an outfit from my cousin rachel and its just the cutest thing!

i think the little plaid cargo shorts with the little sandals are just ADORABLE!!!

kudos to her for her great taste ;)

then came the gift from my aunt and it was the diaper bag we registered for. jaren was REALLY excited someone got it for us! it was like the 1 thing HE registered for and wanted it to be "manly" enough for when he has to use it.

so thank you big time to my aunt cheryl and cousin rachel!!!

Happy December

As we were putting up our tree this year Bugsy noticed that the ornaments looked just like his rubber toy ball! So he patiently waited right next to them for the ok to get one and eat it up.

of course we gave in ;)

we also received a package this weekend from my mother in law that included this beautiful handmade blanket from jarens aunt marilyn. its adorable and im counting down the days until we get to use it!
also included in the package was our handcrafted crib bedding set from nathans wonderful grandma gilbert :) its AMAZING! included was a bed skirt, bumper pads, and an adorable quilt! we're also impatiently counting down the days until we can fill that bed with our baby ;)

also an update on my nephew aaron... he had his cleft lip surgery last monday, the 8th.
here is his last picture before surgery.

here he is 1 day post-op wearing his arm braces that restrict him from touching his lip and messing with the stitches.
and here he is 1 week later looking happy as usual and on his way to recovery.

a big thank you to everyone who has sent us christmas cards! they all look GREAT! our plans this christmas include us staying at home, sleeping, and probably setting up the nursery. so as we're looking right now, 1 week we'll celebrate christmas. the next will be new years. then our baby shower. then my due date! and hopefully he won't make an early arrival between now and then :)

WONDERFUL Saturday!

Yesterday was just an AWESOME day for us! It started with me getting a package in the mail :) It was a bday gift from my sister-in-law (and family) and I think it's hysterical!

Then we had our 3d ultrasound appt. and my mother-in-law was in town and was able to go with us. It was sooooooo much cooler than the one I had at 24 wks! Here's some shots...

i dont know how thats hair but thats what she told us, LOL

and we were starting to get nervous because we've had 2 ultrasounds since our "gender determination" ultrasound and were afraid maybe it really wasn't a boy? but here's proof in 3d that yes, its still there and definitly a boy ;)

Also when we picked up Jaren's mom she came bearing some gifts! :) She had found this adorable plush snowman for me that says "families are forever because love never melts". My mom is in love with it and now has challenged me to make her one! Jaren's mom also gave us his silver cup his grandma had got for him when he was born and had engraved. And also gave us Jaren's blessing outfit! It's so cute and tiny! We're HOPING Nathan will fit in it come his blessing day. We'll just have to wait and see!

Then we went for chinese food for lunch and yogurt for dessert. it was yummy! then we were off to buy a crib mattress. mission accomplished! and we also found a disney cars sheet for it :) my mother-in-law is making us a disney cars bedding set and i can't wait to use it! ever have that moment when it comes time to checkout and your mother-in-law jumps ahead of you in line and pays for it? yup, that's what she did, LOL! and we are VERY appreciative to her and her love and generosity!
then we wanted to stop by this childrens consignment store that has great prices and great items. we have registered for a carseat and stroller but when we saw the prices for this carseat and stroller we couldn't resist! jaren's pretty picky when it comes to strollers. he didn't want one with low handles where he would have to slouch over to push it. so this graco one is perfect! and once again, my wonderful mother-in-law cut in front of us in line and paid for it! LOL. and again we are VERY thankful for these gifts!

After a great day of shopping it was time to head home to rest before MY parents came into town to visit for the weekend. We had dinner reservations with my sister andrea and her family at Wool Growers. Those not familiar with that place, its a basque restaurant where they serve food family style. They started off with cabbage soup, bread, some spicy salsa type something, and pinto beans. Then went into salad with bleu cheese and vinagarette dressing with pickled veggies. Followed by french fries, green beans, pickled tongue, and spaghetti. All of that was just the "starter" spread. Then you could order meat (lamb, oxtail, tri-tip, steak, chicken) as your entree. I've never had basque food before and it was enjoyable. Minus the pickled tongue! But the kids tried it and actually ate it! Here's a pic of what was leftover. (barf)

We made it back home around 1030pm and stayed up to chat some. Around 11pm it started to downpour with heavy rain. Silly weather forcaster called for 72 degrees with sun and slightly breezy. Man was he WAY off!

bummer halloween!

we were so excited to actually be home this year on halloween! the past 3 years we've either gone somewhere or had to work. so this year we decked the house out. purple and orange christmas lights and all!

we also ordered pizza for dinner since we do that pretty much every friday. LOOK HOW MY PIZZA CAME!!!! HOW CRAPPY RIGHT?!?! it was like bubbled up burnt cheese! so upset! :( there's nothing worse than craving something and having it turn out horrible! so that was upset #1!
upset #2, we only had 7 trick or treaters! we bought 120 pieces of candy!!! but i did notice that all the children came with their fathers who were also dressed up. what a night!

tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner. jaren cooked his favorite sweet and sour pork and tried a new recipe too. he made his moms shrimp wontons. they LOVED it!

we also ran errands today and target had decorated christmas trees already! :0

well happy daylight savings!

ward party

and the results are.... I WON 1st PLACE! :) i was pretty shocked when they called my name for "best overall chili!" of course i noticed the judges kept going back to my crockpot for a re-taste which made me nervous, LOL. and my pot was nearly empty by the end of the night compared to the other entries. it made me feel pretty good obviously. i've never done anything like this before!
and here was my prize, LOL

it was a fun party :)

happy birthday to me!

we celebrated my birthday this past week and it was wonderful! my sister and i went to get a manicure and pedicure. DEFINITLY what my pregnant feet needed! then we went for some lunch and had a delicious piece of chocolate cake with creamy chocolate ganache. she brought me flowers and i also received flowers from my parents. my niece and nephews got me a 1 hr. prenatal massage. CANT WAIT! and my sister and her husband gave me a gift certificate to have another 3d/4d ultrasound done in a few weeks. i'm REALLY looking forward to it and comparing the 6 wk difference between the 2 scans. when jaren got home from work i was just too exhausted to go out for dinner. so we ordered in our favorite chinese food takeout. jarens gift to me was my 3d/4d ultrasound i had a few weeks ago. he also bought me a pair of ugg slippers from nathan, lol. and instead of a cake he bought me a 2 lb. box of see's chocolates. i've been really good with my eating habits so i think i deserved the chocolates, LOL. and its been almost 1 week and i still havent gotten through the first layer. and keep in mind i have a husband who's been sneaking a few pieces now and then too ;)

it seems every week at church someone asks us if we're new to the ward. um, no, we've been here 8 months now! our ward is quite large and we're pretty quiet and tend to blend in. and we don't have any callings to really put our faces out there. so this past week after being tired of being asked we decided to finally do something about it, lol! this weekend is our ward halloween party and i signed up for everything i could possibly help with! trunk or treat, game booth, cake walk and chili cookoff. and we're also having the missionaries over for dinner soon. that oughta do it right? and let me mention that im scared about the chili cookoff! i'll admit that my homemade chili is pretty darn good ;) and the main reason i signed up was because there was only 1 other person who did so i thought my chances were pretty good! but then they were begging for more people to sign up. so last i checked, now theres almost 2 dozen names on the list! i'll let you know how i do! :)

sorry :(

for my long absence again. been going through pregnancy issues as most of you know. getting through life though :) thought i would share my sons almost full closet of clothes already! my sister in law sent me a heavy box that was PACKED full of clothes! 37 onsies, gobs of pants plus booties and socks and it was just a never ending box! it was so awesome! we went out and bought 80 hangers this past weekend and only had a few left by the time we were done!

also this past weekend i did my glucose screening which came back higher than normal. so tomorrow i'll be going in for the second test. not looking forward to fasting and leaving the house without eating breakfast and having to sit for 3 hrs!

new pictures and video to share

if you look carefully, his head is the big round thing on the left, then you can see a chin and he has the hiccups

back at my parents house and other random pictures

cookie i found at a cake supply store and of course got it for jaren

bugsy wanting to know what this bald headed baby is doing in my lap instead of him

bugsy babysitting
to lazy to rotate, sorry, but thank heavens for snuglis!
my mom has had this blow dryer for around 10 years and i think its hysterical that its now back in fashion with the new 90210 show, LOL.
teapot cake i made for my sisters birthday. i'll blog later in detail on the "surprise" party

im back visiting my parents for a week again. i figure this will be the last of my trips for a while now. drs appts are becoming more frequent and my car sickness is getting pretty painful even to the grocery store! the plan for the week is to make a cherry lattice pie, chocolate sugar cookies, bread, and basic sewing repairs (buttons, hems, blankets that are falling apart etc.)

being domestic

i thought i would wrap up my week with my mom by asking her how to make a pie. i've never made one before and of course she was willing to show me :) since the fall season is coming up we chose an apple pie and a pumpkin pie.

here's our apple pie with crumb topping. i actually just

finished eating it with some ice cream and it was WONDERFUL!

all made from scratch from the flaky dough crust

to slicing and peeling and flavoring the apple filling.

MMMMMMM!!!!!

here we are finished and about to put the pumpkin pie in the oven. it probably won't be ready to eat until the morning and i'm so looking forward to breakfast now ;)
i love the coco's harvest pie which is a pumpkin filling with a pumpkin chiffon topping. i couldn't find that recipe online so if anyone knows how to make that one, feel free to email it to me!

tomorrow i head back home but will be counting down until my next visit when we want to make bread and jelly.

fun times!

andrew decided to take multi colored crayons and decorate the cushions and legs on my parents new table. not just 1 chair. all 6! LOL. so my chore for the week is to re-upholster them.

we went looking at 2 different fabric stores and my mom found nothing she really liked. until this "autumn" fabric caught her attention. she loved the tree branches and leaves. when she came to the cutting table i started laughing at her selection! LOL. she picked hunting camoflauge!!!! she didn't believe me either when i told her! so she still bought it due to the dark colors and heavy duty canvas in case he decides to play picasso again. of course my brother and my dad both backed up my camo theory but she doesn't care. it's not like she's going to be in dining room digest magazine anytime soon. then we went to home depot to buy me an electric staple gun which i love ;) anyways, 1 chair down, 5 more to go. it has also been a hoot to see bugsy and andrew playing together. here bugsy is waiting for andrew to drop some food. LOL.
my next chore after finishing the chairs is to chop 6 inches off of everything and put felt on the bottom so it doesn't scratch the hardwood floors.

well what do you know :)

i downloaded all the pictures from this weekend and last weekend to share of my parents visit in bakersfield and our visit to them. so here are some highlights...

sidewalk chalk heaven on the sliding glass door

me 20 wks preggers.

baby aaron in his shoes that use to be his daddys baby shoes. he also had a drs appt last week and got the all clear for his cleft lip surgery. so that will be scheduled sometime this week. yay!

dinner at la minas mexican restaurant

always a visit to the gravesite. 17 years has gone by quickly.

brydons 1st soccer game. he was picked captain.

caught every ball that came near the goal

thats about all for now