My Birthday and V-day Gift is here!!!

So I have really been wanting this stroller, the Tike Tech City X3 Double in black, since we were anticipating having another child. once I actually became pregnant, I knew I would be needing it soon. But the unexpected early announcement that we were indeed having a baby came at a very inconvenient financial time!! that's how life works I guess. Lucky for us though, Christian still has a good job. We are buying into a new practice that was built in Bloomfield, NM, part of the other two dental offices christian works for. It is official now, but now we have an extra loan to pay that is twice the cost of our mortgage!! Yikes!! So thus here we are starting essentially at the bottom with a 2nd child on the way...and it's a boy, so many new things need to be purchased. I told christian that is is what I really wanted to be able to get active again after the baby is born. He really wanted me to get it, but we just couldn't afford it, at least at that time. Even after Christmas we still were not in a place to spend so much for a stroller..(yes..it costs $420) I have never wanted to splurge on a specific item before. Nothing we own except a new house, couch and TV downstairs has ever been really nice or cost much and never been put on credit..expcept for the mortgage of course. I looked all over the internet tryng to find a better deal on this stroller and didn't want to settle for a different one that was much less. I told Christian that for my birthday, V-day, and anniversary even, that I wanted this stoller, but smiled and said to wait and see how the next months look. Sooooo..

On my birthday I wanted to do something fun. So I walked to the office to get the car and pick up chicken salads for dinner since I knew he wouldn't have time afterwards to go and get something, he rarely does. After I got back, christian had walked home and we were getting ready to eat when he told me that he tried to get away at lunch to go and get me something, but was too busy(as usual) so he was going to go after work, but then I showed up to get dinner and that he was sorry and told me he could give me a hug! Awww..how sweet! Just that he was tinking about me the whole day was enough for me! I told him that I still wanted that stoller and that would be a fabulous gift! So therefore kept looking. Then after coming across a website that sold it which you wouldn't think would sell something like that, I came up with a plan!

The website was Bed Bath & Beyond! My parents had given me a $75 gift card there for chirstmas, of course which I couldn't use enless used online or next time I was in Utah again and my sister works there and gets a 20% discount. So I would be able to save a lot with what I had. There was a shipping and tax fee, but still was better than paying full price somewhere else. Also 1 week before coming up with this plan we received a check in the mail for $180 for a doctor refund, which we were not expecting, and Christian said I could put it towards the "stroller fund" so once all was said and done, we only ended up paying $130 for it!! So excitied. Christian couldn't argue with that! And I have just recieved it today! I can't wait to get outside in this beautifu weather and try it out! Yeah!

The Many Words of Delia

So I don't know how many things Delia has said that I have actually posted...so Here are some that I have been writing down because they made me laugh so hard! I love this girl!

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at the computer trying to do taxes on Turbo Tax while Delia was eating in her highchair. After getting pretty much to the end it said we owed the government quite a bit of money! What?!

Me: "Oh, no! No, no, no, no no!!
Delia: "Mom, whaz wrong?
Me: (ignoring her) "NO! This can't be right..but why?!" "Oh, no!"
Delia: "MOM! Whaz wrong!"
Me: (Still ignoring her..too upset!) "Oh, why us?! This is soooo not fair! Ahhhh!"
Delia: "Mom! You're either sick or hurt (using hand gestures) what is wrong?!!"

By this time all I can do is turn with a big smile and start laughing! She has never been so clear and direct before and made sense!! So cares so much about me!

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Usually before bedtime we read some books and do cards. This particular night I was so tired and here was our conversation.

After reading 2 books:

Me: "Okay, it's time for bed"
Delia: "A, do cards!"
Me: "No, mom is too tired tonight, lets just go to bed"
Delia: "No, a do CARDS!!'
Me: "No, but how about I sing you a song?!"
Delia: "Um...how about we do cards!"
Me: (mouth open...smile forming) "Excuse me?!"

Such a Sly girl!


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The last couple of weeks Delia has been sick and I know for a fact she is getting it in nursery!!! So I have been taking her temp.

Delia: (coming from the other room) "Mom? Moooom!"
Me: "what? I'm in here."
Delia: (comes into the bathroom with a temple thermometer touched to her head) "I takin' temture!"
Me: "Oh, yeah? What does it say?"
Delia: "Umm..is all better!" (and goes out of the room about her business)

She always wants to do what mommy is doing or has done! Including cleaning and putting makeup and lotion on...which results in many messy cleanups!! ;)

My baby girl is growing up! It makes me so happy and sad at the same time!

BYU Magazine article...featuring Christian, etc

So Christian has a pretty cool boss and he has a way with people and so many connections. While at a BYU alumni function, Christian's boss was talking to someone in the magazine dept. and told them about Christian's new hobby making replica Anasazi pottery and how cool it was that only 2 people in the world really know how to do it, Chris and his teacher. They said they were interested in doing an article about him. They called and got all the info (which some of it is incorrect..but hey..what are ya going to do!) and it is now featured in the Winter BYU Magazine and we even got almost a full page! I scanned a copy of it from the magazine, but it is kind of hard to read. Click on the link below and it will take you directly to the article! So cool! I am very proud of my talented hubby! I also thought it was nice that he included a picture of the whole family..very sweet. How neat to be able to leave something like this for his children!

http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2581

I Can Do It All By Myself, Mom...really!

So this is what Delia has been doing lately...all by herself. She has already been very independent, but as of late she has gotten more so. After church last week, I told her to get changed so we could have lunch. As I was quickly changing, she had plans of her own. She took off her diaper, put it in a blue sack(I usually only do this with her stinky diapers) and was attempting to put medication and her behind(something I only do occasionally also) and was trying to put on another diaper, this is where I walked in saw what she was doing. She was trying to put on a size 1 diaper(I had just bought a pack for the new baby and had gotten one out for her bear a while ago and it was just sitting in her closet) I explained to her that it was too small and we need to put on a bigger one. I could not control my laughter! I had to take a picture, so her she is. She is just so smart and ready to tackle things...most of the time ;)

The other incident below was just a couple of days ago. We got up one morning had our breakfast. She usually watches Special Agent Oso and Mickey Mouse Club House while she eats her breakfast in her high chair. I decided that I wanted to take a morning bath and started it while I went to go clean her up, knowing full well she was going to want to get in with me. I asked her if she wanted to take a bath with mommy, she replied: "no, a take a shower" (yes, she also takes showers with me too) and I told her that we were going to take a bath this time. I got her out and went to go quickly rinse her tray off all the while asking her to come and get her face and hands washed. She didn't come, So I grabbed a rag, wringed it out and called for her again, but still no Delia. So I proceeded to go and get her to wash her up, but no Delia. Where do you think she has gone you ask? This I knew in an instant! I went straight to the bath tub to find her just sitting in there enoying her nice warm bubble bath, that I has just barely started. She even was able to climb up into the tub, which is pretty high to ordinary tubs. Wow, this girl is so determined to do what she wants...all by herself! I laughed histerically at this too and had to get my camera once again to take a picture. So her she is. She is getting so big. Everyday I see just a little more maturity in her. She is playing more and more pretend. today she made sandwiches for her bears and also helped them go "potty" in her big girl potty. With in the next couple of weeks I plan to start potty training again. I just hope this time she is truly ready!

and the last event that took place this week I have no pictures for. Why, you ask? Because I was just too distraught, upset and crying at what she had done this time. No laughter here. I was getting dinner ready, which is always a challenging task to balance with a toddler running around. She had been such a good girl throughout the whole day why did she have to ruin it by being so bad? I kept telling her to pick up all the toys she had in the kitchen becuase they were getting in the way of me running around the kitchen trying to cook. For the 10th time I asked her to please pick up all the toys. Well, she gave me attitude, said 'NO" quite sternly and ran off to her room, not crying, just kind of like a teenager does. So I thought fine, she can stay in there a while and then maybe I can get something done. In the middle of getting dinner ready I thought, why don't I just try and do some dishes really quick because they had piled up pretty high. I got too focused at getting dishes done and dinner ready for christian when he got home. I forgot about Delia. Now normally when I send her to her room I make sure the closet doors are closed so there is nothing bad for her to get into, but it dawned on me, I didn't send her to her room, she went on her own. By this time christian was home and was opening a package he had received. I figured I better go and get her because she was being awfully quiet in there.

Well, not to my surprise, but to my horror, she was in the closet and had put half a tube of Desitin on one foot, but a bunch had still gotten all over the carpet, clothes and her hair. After hearing my extreme cries of horror, Christian came running into the room. I was so upset in trying to think of how deal with this, christian just picks her up and puts her in the bath tub. And for the next 45 mins. We are scrubbing destin out of the carpet, where at first seemed like it was going to be in there for good. It evenually came out..dish soap seemed to work pretty good. I hurried and put the rest of dinner in the oven, then went to clean delia up. It wasn't until hours later after I had calmed down(more worried about getting it out of things than actually being mad at delia..she knew she was in trouble too) that I tried to get it out of her clothes. It came out of her jeans pretty good, but her brown shirt not so much. I scrubbed so hard for so long, that it left wear spots on her shirt. oh well, at least it wasn't bleach or permanant marker!

So Delia is full of expected surprises everyday some are super fun and funny, while other are down right frustrating, but we still love her to pieces and just hope we will not let her baby brother make the same mistakes...yeah, right!

A Freak Winter Storm in NM!!

So when they say Farmington, NM is going to get snow, it is usually 1/4 in. at the most and melts over the course of 2 days. So not many people have snow shovels or snow boots. It does get pretty cold, but snow and rain storms almost never happen...almost. So the first snow storm in apparently 30 years to hit Farmington hit. And over the course of 4 days it has not stopped snowing and we got at least 1 foot of snow! Schools here were closed for 2 days! We had a trip planned to Durango, Co and thought that even with snow, we would be able to still go and do what we had planned. We were going to ride the train, go to a southwestern art gallery, grab some dinner and head to a bed and breakfast for the night (a gift for all the doctors in Christian's practice) but lo and behold the Durango train called and cancelled! I don't know if they have ever done that before. Apparently the was so much snow, there was no way the train would be able to get through! Wow, talk about bad luck and bad timing for us. So luckily we were refunded. And rescheduled for the end of February. Hopefully we will not have a repeat of this. Why they gave us nights up in the mountains in the winter...I will never know. Some doctors just didn't go because of weather/sick kids. Well, we are determined to make it work, no matter how much hassle it seems to becoming. So we are now official owners of a snow shovel, but the boots...not yet. However Delia got to put her boots to good use, if even for one snow day and really enjoyed herself. We made a snow man, but I didn't take a picture, he wasn't quite finished with the extra touches! I mad sure she was bundled up pretty good because she gets cold and cranky too fast. So I dressed her in 3 shirts, one with a hood. Tights, socks, and then jeans. Safety pinned gloves to her shirts. put on her hat, then her coat with a hood over the hat, an extra pair of gloves over the others and finally, a scarf wrapped all around her. She reminded me of the little boy from "A Christmas Story" Hahaha! I could helped but laugh histerically when I saw the finished preduct, but at least she stayed warm for a little while!



our front driveway



Posing for the camera. Daddy working hard at shoveling all that snow!



"If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes, oh what a snow that would be!"
Delia had more fun eating the snow than anything!




All bundled up my little snow angel!!


more snow on the driveway at the side of the house.




The snow we have shoveled off to the side!

The Votes are in...

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

Coming: May 16...or soon before ;)

So deep down inside I had this feeling that I couldn't shake it was a boy. After I had told myself that it was probably going to be a girl and thus didn't want to get my hopes up and be dissappointed. I am still in shock! Even my dad would not give up the notion that is was a boy, and of course Christian never gave up hope. He says he would be happy about either, but I know deep down he is elated! Delia seems to be excited about a baby brother. This is so exciting!

Here he is!

My Latest Projects

One of the project I just finished is this stool I made for Delia. She is just out of reach for the light switch in the downstairs play room(which will soon be her room!) and thought it would be fun to make a little stool for her. Hopefully she will not destroy the cute added ribbons on it! Crossin' my fingers!

With my second project I waited to make after the holidays so I could get the ornaments I wanted at 75% off!! I also wanted to use plastic because I know the glass ones will break! since my door is so big, I wanted to make a bigger one than the coat hanger the directions called for. But my biggest problem was the type of wire I got. It was only 16 gauge and a hanger is more like 8(the lower the number the heavier it is). After stringing on all my ornaments in the pattern I wanted, they were much too heavy and sunk into an oval rather than a circle. So I took about half of them off hoping this would solve it. It was a little better, but still not right. So I could either, unstring them all and wait to get heavier wire...or...I could improvise! (which is usually the road I go down because I am soooo impatient!) I still thought the hanger would be too small(after all my main ornaments were a bit larger than the regular ones) so I tied tiny loops of wire at the top about 6 inches apart and strung them with some twine to even it into more of a circle, it seemed to work, but the ornament placements make it look a little awkward. This project wasn't hard at all, but very time consuming and I just didn't want to try and perfect it anymore. So here is the end result..completely not what I was expecting and the bow at the top is hidden, which I may change later. I had so much fun making it despite my bumps in the process. I will definitely try finding a much heavier wire, and if not..then the good old hanger will have to do, after all I do have some ornaments left! Thanks for the idea Tracy..I still like it!

Christmas 2009 - California and Utah

Christmas was fun, but exhausting this year! So much shopping and so much traveling! We went to Utah and California this year, so 4 days of our vacation was spent simply traveling. It was nice to see everyone, but felt I was rushed here and there. Next year we plan on staying home because not only are we exhausted from traveling every year for Christmas for the past 6 years, but we will have a new addition to our family and feel it would be much more work than it's worth..so in a sense I am kind of excited to expect a change for next year..and actually do our own thing and our own dinner!! On top of that...my bank card number was stolen online...no idea how that happened...and had to make a lot of phone calls to correct things. So this next year is going to have a lot of resolutions including how to shop safer online!! ;) Hope everyone's holidays were wonderful!




Looking mischievous behind the tree!



Delia helping decorate the Tree




Our Downstairs Anasazi tree. It's a real Pinion pine tree form the Colorado desert! We went to a friends house (he has A LOT of property in CO) chose one and Christian sawed it down himself. It was a pain to get in and out of downstairs and putting the lights on was a bit painful, but it sure looked cool!




Our finished upstairs tree!

Delia with Santa Claus. She was so excited to see him, but when it was actually her turn she didn't know what to think!

Delia stylishly sportin' her new softy pull over from the Gap that grandma gave her. She always insisted on putting her hands in the pockets, which made for a few stumbles here and there!

I don't know what is up with that face...(maybe she's disappointed that her pony unicorn, from aunt Alissa, is pink and not purple!) LOL..j/k Silly kiddo. she does really like it though!

Delia giving her baby loves which she got from Aunt Heather.

Delia cleaning away like a mad woman with her new play vacuum from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson...literally right after she opened it!!

At the Jelly Belly Factory for the second time. Her first time she was only 4 months old!

Going for one of her presents at Grandma and Grandpa Brereton's house in Utah

all dressed up in her new dress up stuff! she got 5 pairs of princess shoes. She is wearing her Belle ones and loves them!! Now she will have to abandon mommy's church shoes!

Reading her Tinker bell scratch and sniff book.

Taking pretty pictures with her new princess camera!

Delia with all her goods she got for Christmas! Wow! I always give her so many things! part of it is things I have held off getting until Christmas because I always think I need a "good excuse" to get her something...and this is the result! another thing I realized is missing is her Tinkerbell Table and chairs she got from Grandma and Grandpa Brereton. She got a lot of Tinkerbell things..but only on accident.

Delia with her 2 babies and piggy!!