HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCUS

We celebrated Marcus' 18th birthday this week! It still shocks me every time I say it; I can't believe he is 18. Marcus is so special and he has been the shining star in our family. When we were younger I never imagined Marcus would be at East High School, playing hockey and hanging out with friends who are so great to him. Gavin absolutely adores Marcus and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

Marcus wanted to play laser tag for his birthday so we headed to Laser Quest.

The other awesome part of Marcus' birthday was that James got to come home for the weekend. We haven't seen him since Christmas so it was so fun to have him here. I don't know who was more excited for his visit, Gavin or Marcus.

Marc got some sweet presents but his favorite had to be the stick-on mustache's from Elise and her friends. He looks like a 30-year old man wearing it; it was hilarious!

Extreme Couponing

The other day I watched TLC's new show 'Extreme Couponing' and I have to say I was both amazed and appalled. While I admire the amount of money these women are saving I couldn't help but think there is something wrong with them as well.

Their homes look like grocery stores because they purchase everything in very large quantities. One woman purchased 60 bottles of mustard! There is no way you will ever use that much mustard. I think in the five years Jesse and I have been married we have used maybe three bottles of mustard.  One of the families had seven kids, so there's was a little easier to understand, but she still had shelving units set up in her bedroom and toilet paper stacked underneath her son's bed.

Yes, it was amazing to watch them go to the checkstand with their boxes of 2,500 coupons. Yes, I was impressed by how much money they saved: her bill was $1,900 and she only paid $100. But I still don't understand why you need that much stuff! In some circumstances it looks more like you are watching 'Hoarders' than a show about coupons.

How Much is Too Much?

I recently joined the 21st century and got a phone that has apps and all those fun things. Gavin has always loved to play with phones as most kids do.  However, now that he has discovered the games and activities on my phone he wants to play with it all the time! 

I'm fascinated at how he knows how to swipe the screen and sometimes I feel like he knows how to work this thing better than I do. The other day he even changed my wallpaper.  Oh, and if you happen to receive a random phone call from me, or a text message typed in a different language it was probably from Gavin (he did both of these things the other day).

To satisfy his technology desires we bought him his own "phone.".  It is a Leapfrog that has games and the alphabet and all that jazz. The thing I'm struggling with is how much is too much? We did not have any of these things when we were kids; I think Nintendo was my first exposure to technology.  But Gavin will grow up with computers, ipads, cell phones, etc.  I don't know if these things are good for his mind or if they are frying his brain.

I'm trying to only let him play with educational things on my phone, or on the computer.  And when he watches TV it's usually Nick Jr., Seasame Street or Disney Channel. I think I'm going to have to start setting time limits on some of these things which is something I never expected would be necessary for a three-year-old.

I know every parent has their own opinions on TV usage and computer games.  I will be honest; sometimes I use these things as 'babysitters' so that I can take a minute to breathe and I'm definitely not ashamed of that. I'm just trying to find a balance between the good parts of technology and the excessive use of it.

Utah weather

These pictures were taken on March 8th but I think they pretty much sum up the kind of weather we've been having.  I just love when the biggest storm of the year comes three months after Christmas.

I thought the Groundhog said we would be having an early spring this year; I think he got it wrong! Snow, please go away!!!!!

The "Joys" of Pregnancy

I am officially in my third trimester of pregnancy and I always laugh a little when someone gushes about how much they love being pregnant. If that is true, like they claim, these are just a few things they LOVE so much:

*Getting up to go to the bathroom multiple times a night. Yeah, yeah, I know this will "prepare" me for when the baby comes. The fact is; I want my sleep!

*Speaking of bathrooms, having the baby kick, punch and jump on your bladder all day long. I literally almost peed my pants today because the little one gave my bladder a jab.

*Stomach problems. No, I'm not talking about your stomach getting larger; I'm talking about the heartburn, gas, constipation, bloating, etc. etc. etc.

*Stretch marks; need I say more!

*Cankles. Luckily this has not happened to me yet but I know its coming.

*The comments of how big you are. People say very strange things when you are pregnant. I just love having someone tell me how HUGE I look. As if I didn't already feel like a giant whale!

*The aches and pains. I have discovered the second pregnancy brings with it many more aches and pains. You would think your body would be used to the pregnancy thing the second time around, but I'm finding that not to be the case.

Of course, in the end pregnancy results in this:

So I guess maybe I do love it a little.

Once There Was a Snowman

The only good thing about the snowstorm last week was it allowed Gavin to build a snowman for (hopefully) the last time this winter.

This is what happened when we told Gavin to 'smile.' I think we need to work on that :)





My boy

I am super excited to have a little girl I can dress up in all the frills and bows and ribbons, but I have to admit I haven't gotten in the spirit of that yet. I have surprisingly been able to resist all the adorable girl clothes. I know that won't last for too long, but I have been proud of myself for not going crazy yet.

For now I still enjoy finding awesome stuff for my boy. He loves his first hockey jersey and he was so excited to show his Uncle James, Uncle Marcus and Grandpa Gary. I know, we are doomed!



St. George

We were able to visit St. George over President's Day and even though it rained for two days we still had a lot of fun. When the sun finally did come out we joined the hundreds of other families at this amazing park. Gavin loved it!

Even Elise enjoyed the park





Happy Love Day

Today I am grateful for the love's in my life. Last night as I was giving Gavin a hug the baby kicked and he was able to feel it.  Just that small interaction between my two babies made me so happy and I am excited to have our little girl join our lives in a few months.  I feel so blessed to have an amazing husband and a beautiful son and I can't wait to expand our little family to four!

Happy Valentine's Day!



Friends

Gavin is friends with the cutest little boy from our complex. His name is Charlie and we are so sad because he will be moving away in a few months. His dad is graduating from the U med school and they will be moving somewhere across the country to continue his schooling. We are going to miss you guys!