Snow Day

For Christmas, Ava finally got snow clothes! This is the first time she's had any..I'm pretty sure that makes me a terrible mom.. So when it snowed today, Chad came home for lunch to take his little girl out for her first snow day. She was so excited! She cried when she had to come in because she was just getting the hang of how to make a snow ball. It was really cute to see her try to maneuver in the million layers I put on her. It was worth it. I already promised her we could go out later today...she's my little snow bunny.


Ava fell over and couldn't figure out how to stand back up...so funny!

Christmas '09

Christmas was amazing this year! We went to the Talbot's house in Orem for a few days to spend the holidays with Chad's family. Jake and Amanda were there. Chad's brother Brett and his wife Marnie were able to fly in from Texas. And as some of you know, Wes (Chad's little brother) is temporarily home from his mission for back surgery. So it was no small feat that the whole Talbot family was together this year for Christmas. We thought Chad would end up having to work on Christmas day, but we got really lucky and he had the whole weekend off. What a fun time. We spent a lot of time with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. We also got together with the Birrells and played a lot of fun games. Pretty sure it's been a while since I've laughed that hard. It was so much fun!
Ava was of course spoiled. Her favorite present she opened Christmas morning was this little guitar. She wears it non-stop and she really loves playing the guitar with Chad. I surprised Chad with a new guitar for Christmas, so he and Ava rocked out all weekend. The most incredible thing is, she actually plays it the right way. Her form is excellent. She has the whole hand-coordination thing right AND she plays in the "power stance" that her daddy and uncles taught her. So cute. So here are some pictures of that. It felt good to be back in Orem. We're kind of in a weird transition where we aren't quite adjusted to Ogden yet, but Orem really isn't home anymore, either. So we're just trying to feel like SOMEWHERE is home... But it was a really great Christmas. I got a sewing machine because I am going to attempt to make my baby's bedding. Wish me luck (if any of you have done that and have cute patterns or advice, please let me know!!). I really hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Home for the Holidays

So the reason that I have been so lame at keeping on top of blogging is that we recently moved to Ogden. It happened really fast and was way unexpected. Chad is considered self-employed being a financial advisor...which means that we have private insurance...which as most of you know is ridiculously expensive. Our monthly premiums and deductible have been so crazy, but we were just dealing with it. So then Chad was offered this job in Ogden where he can still do his financial planning and work for this company that offers full benefits from day 1. So this has been a HUGE blessing for our family! We have been really happy with everything. It just happened so fast, that we're just barely feeling settled. We found out on a Friday that Chad got the job and we moved on Saturday. We feel really lucky to end up where we did and how everything is coming together. I have loved being close to my family. Ava loves it up here with all of her cousins so close, too. So that's the deal- we live in Ogden right by the mouth of the Canyon. Our view is beautiful, our ceilings are vaulted, and my parents are 10 minutes away. I have no complaints. All of our furniture isn't here yet, so I'm going to hold off on pics of the inside until my house is put together.. So here is how it looks from the outside. I am really really really going to miss my family and friends and young women in Orem. A lot... We were down there for 4 years, so it's a huge change not to be right there by them. I loved our ward and being close to Chad's family. I will miss it a lot. We are just going to focus on starting here in Ogden and getting ready for our baby boy!

Update!!

Ok so here is a much over-due post for Halloween and my birthday and So You Think You Can Dance. Seriously- I'm such a slacker on this blogging thing... But here it goes anyway- My birthday was in October and I turned the big 2-6. It sounds really old. 25 sounded ok, but for some reason, 26 just sounds really close to 30 (which apparently scares me!) And being pregnant and sick, all I wanted for my birthday was a cute and comfy velour suit and FOOD! Lots and lots of good food. So my cute husband took me to the Melting Pot. Oh my word...It was so good. I absolutely love amazing food. The fondue there is amazing and it was everything I wanted and more. Chad also surprised me with these beautiful flowers.



Ava was the most beautiful Cinderella I have ever seen. She wore this costume night and day for weeks. She acted like such a little princess in it, we couldn't help but just humor her and let her wear this dress whenever she wanted. Ava was a little sick over Halloween, so we didn't do much trick-or-treating. We just took her to trunk-or-treat and called it good. She loved all the candy, but was really shy about asking for it. It was fun to finally have a toddler that understood what she was doing on Halloween. She loved it! After taking Ava out for a bit, Chad and I went to Amanda's Halloween Party. We had so much fun. Amanda is SO cute and creative. She went all out and had the cutest treats and drinks. Way to go Amanda!



A few weeks ago, SYTYCD came and toured in Salt Lake. We had awesome tickets on the 3rd row. We also had backstage passes. The dancing was incredible. It's fun to watch on TV, but it was amazing to see it in person. Seriously- amazing! This is really embarrassing to admit, but I'm pregnant so I don't really care, but there were a few dances that seriously made me emotional. They were so fun to watch. But then when it was time to go back stage and meet the dancers, I felt like a 12 year old girl...because that was the majority of the people there screaming and yelling to meet the dancers...That too was a little embarrassing, but it was still fun! Bless Chad's heart...he totally just let me be an idiot and have fun with it and came with me. He is so sweet to just humor me the way he does. (I'm having technical difficulties getting these pics up, so I'll post them as soon as I figure it out!)

Dear Baby Boy:

My Dear Sweet Baby Boy:

I love you so much, but I'm becoming quite certain that you might be the death of me... You see honey, I'm 16 weeks pregnant with you and I'm still throwing up. Not only am I still throwing up, but you're also making my emotions a little unstable and unpredictable. So your father is beginning to think I'm an emotional basketcase. If you have anything at all to do with any of my crazy hormone levels, will you please give me a little break?! I am so happy you're in my life now and I absolutely love feeling your little kicks and flutters. But your father might start looking into institutions to check me into if things don't start easing up soon... So just keep growing healthy and strong so you can come see me and I can hold you.
I love you always and forever,
Mommy

Home-Made Sushi

If you have met Chad and the topic of food has ever come up, then you know that he LOVES sushi. We are currently in the middle of a very fun "challenge" we are having with Jake and Amanda. We are all Food Network fanatics and thought we'd get a little creative with our cooking. Each of us will be taking a night and making a completely new meal we've never made and serve the rest of us. Amanda started things out with an awesome meal with these delicious sweet potato fries and black bean burgers. Chad was next. And if you let my husband get a little creative, he'll go nuts. He stinking made sushi. I'm not a sushi-eater myself, but he loved it. It was well-received and Chad did a really great job. I was way impressed he pulled it off. He was also very proud of himself, so we took some pictures to brag. One of the rolls is a Teriyaki chicken roll with avocado and cream cheese. His other roll was crab, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese. They were topped with unagi sauce (whatever that is). Anyway, my turn is next so it's going to be hard to top how gourmet his meal was.

Park City with the Talbots

A few weeks ago we all went up to Park City for the weekend. We went with Chad's parents and Chad's sister Amanda and her husband Jake. It was so much fun. We went to the Olympic Park, hit the outlet malls, ate lots of yummy food, and watched a great BYU football game. We went to this show at the Olympic Park and watched this awesome show with skiers jumping off these insane jumps into the water. AMAZING! It was really relaxing and we had such a fun time. I love Park City, and I'm pretty sure I could live there one day. It's perfect for me...unfortunately, it's way expensive. So for now, we'll just enjoy a weekend up there every so often.

Potty Training...

With another baby on the way, we're really trying to get serious about potty training Ava. But with me being so sick still and Chad gone a lot, it hasn't been a huge success, to say the least. But we're trying. So here is just a little moment caught on camera to show how funny our Ava is. When she is sitting on the potty, much like her father, she enjoys reading material or something to entertain her. I'm just going to let the picture do all the talking on this one.