A little bit of this and a little bit of that....

It's been awhile since I posted an "Everything Axel" post. I think it's because basically MOST of the pictures I have of him are like this...

Or this

By the time I get the camera out to take a picture the moment is gone. So this week I made it my goal to be better, and document more of this very fun stage that he is in, because... in a moment it will be gone... I know poetic right?

Axel LOVES booksThis little blue chair was Kory's grandma's, and it is our FAVORITE chair in the house. I had to beg Kory to let me keep it, when they were giving it away. I still get sad the other one went to DI. At the time I thought it was absolutely adorable, and exactly what I wanted for Axel's nursery, but also it is unbelievably comfortable, even Kory will agree it is the favorite in our house. This is also the only seat that is low enough to the ground that Axel can climb up on, so we find him sitting here daily going through book after book. The picture above I found him reading to Nicolas, and the picture below with Zoe soaking in the sun.

If you want to be a pirate, just ask Axel what to do

Axel LOVES pirates. Something he picked up from his cousin Story, that we happily enforced. He even says ARRGH instead of yes most of the times. I made him this pirate patch because he is always putting things like caps over his eye, or pot holders on his head and will walk around our house saying ARRRGH! I took him and Story to Story time at the library on Thursday, and their letter for the day was R, the whole time Axel and Story beamed with harty pirate voices ARRRGH! ARRRGH! ARRRGH!

He still is a big fan of wearing sun glasses... but not shirts apparently

And wearing Grandpa's hat
And watching Backyardigans and Super Why! (His new favorite)
Kory and I always joke about what TV zombies these two are. I don't think they even noticed me taking pictures of them.

And Bubbles
This kid loves bubbles, (what kid doesn't right?) but we have this book that goes "Bubbles bubbles on my nose," This book was Axel very first FAVORITE BOOK. He had to read it every night from like 9 months on. He loved the "Ba", which later turned into Bath, and "bu" which later became "bubbles." But what is exciting about it this week, is when you say "Bubbles Bubbles on my...." He will shout "NOSE!" and finish it for you. We have been getting a big kick out of it this week. Speaking of Nose, Axel can say nose, eyes, ears and....
Pie hole. (which used to be mouth but Kory taught him to say that instead.) I am so proud....


He is remembering his LOVE for Watermelon

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Anderson this week and they sent us home with a big slice of watermelon, and we let Axel have a go at it before we cut it up for dinner. And he ATE and ATE and ATE. Which is funny because Axel's namesake (Kory's great uncle) grew watermelons in his yard, his dad recalls that his entire front lawn was a huge watermelon patch! I was sold on the name the minute I heard that story. Kory's parents are also big watermelon fans and I always feel like they are the two people who (besides my own family who also could eat watermelon at every meal) understand my craziness about watermelon. I am so glad this trait runs thick in Axel's blood :)

He also Loves walking to and from church now that it is warming up and pointing to all the things around him!

This Sunday we left church early because my brother in law Brian was getting the Melchizedek priesthood. It was such a wonderful day for their family and we were so happy to be a part of it.

He's been really into Babies lately...
This one (my very first cabbage patch)

This doll was my very first cabbage patch, I took great care of it and have been saving it for one of my daughters one day. Well the other day when going through my stuff I came across it and another rainbow bright doll, and decided I could put them in the play room for our baby girl. The next day, Axel was throwing a monster fit, I can't remember about what, and I was trying to clean up lunch, I left him in the kitchen for a minute while I took the trash out. All the while thinking he would be furious with me for 1.) not giving him what he wanted and 2.)For going outside with out him. But when I walked through our front door it was silent. I thought maybe Kory had heard him and came upstairs to his rescue, but when I walked in the kitchen I saw him sitting on the floor with the rainbow bright doll, playing with her hair, he looked up at me, showed her to me, and then gave her a big hug and kiss.
And this one. Kassie had her baby boy on Sunday, and we have visited her a few times in the hospital and Axel loves looking at him and saying "BABY". He will also point to my belly, his belly and Kory's belly and say "Baby" and sometimes he will give my baby a big hug. :)

He also LOVES this girl
Today was our last day watching this little girl for 3 months, which makes me sad for us, but happy for her and her mommy. We have loved having her over at our house to play, she is always such a delight and has taught Axel many many things about how to be awesome. As you can tell from the picture above, it just comes natural to her. When I put these on her she said "So Pretty, Cheese!" and then she waited like this until I got my camera out to take a picture. She also said "baby Gauge" a bunch of times on our way to visit her new little brother, and when I asked her what her baby's name was she yelled "Gauge!"

Axel had to be in a picture once he saw Story pose for one as well.

Hey Mr...

So this post is dedicated to my very fabulous friend and sister in-law Kassie, and her soon to be born, baby boy, Mr. Gauge Miles.

A few weeks ago I put together a "Girl's Night Out" in honor of her little mister.

The Theme: Mr. Gauge Miles
Some Background:
Kassie is always in the know on all the craft/home decor trends, as that is her job, but also because she just has a knack for it. She always knows what is about to hit the craft buzz before anyone else, and before it becomes too popular and over done, I always hear about it from her first. She is my authority on what is up and coming. She is always teaching me stuff, and I am very grateful for that.

I remember when Axel was a wee little one maybe even in Utero, she said to me via text: "You should make Axel a shirt with a mustache on it!!"

I remember being like huh? That sounds weird, we're not really mustache folks? (No offense Kass)
But then it was like BAM mustaches everywhere on everything, and yeah I grew to find them adorable, and I can see why she liked them way back then, she had a vision, but it took me a while.

Anyway, I share this story because not only do I look to Kassie for inspiration and help in the craft/design world, but also in the mommy world as well. She has been my "counselor" over the past couple of years, both when I was pregnant with Axel and became a first time mom, and now with this pregnancy. She is the person I complain/chat to about all my ailments of pregnancy, because I know she can totally relate, and she always has really good advice to help me through. I really appreciate having her in my life as a friend and sister.

So when I convinced her to let me do this for her (this took lots of convincing) I used the idea of making it a Mister Theme, (because I remembered how much she loved mustaches) and we could just make it simple with a few center pieces and such. Well she was sold! And I had so much fun making the stuff for her little shindig.

So here are some photos not a whole lot because I am TERRIBLE about taking pictures at events. This is why I should ALWAYS have someone there to do that for me.

These were my main focus. I wanted to make her something she could actually use.
My inspiration: Right after I had Axel a darling friend of mine (who also has a very cute blog if you want to be wowed) made Axel a cute little skinny tie, out of nowhere mind you, she just showed up with it, because she is that kind of girl. THEN because she is so great she put instructions on her blog so others could do the same! So I made a tie for each sucker holder from her pattern, and it really is a simple simple tutorial (I know because then I made Axel 3 more this weekend because we love the one she gave us so so much) I also Google'd boy bow ties and came across this gem of a blog site, for very easy bow ties.
I also made these advice card for each guest, in case they had some really good advice to give her about how to take care of boys. I don't think she got too many of them, but I think they turned out cute and I had fun making them.
The event took place at Bajio's because Kass likes that place. So I didn't have to worry about the food or really doing much.

I have a thing for table settings. Napkin rings are something I HAVE to have when hosting a party. I don't know why, I just always have to have a napkin ring of some sort. But I used the extra fabric from the ties and designed some cute little labels to tie on these brown napkins, which we just threw on the table to make it more festive.
These are the tags I created in Adobe Illustrator then I cut out and put them on creme tags and used Brown ink to antique the edges.
And then of course the mustache suckers, which I saw a while back on a bunch of different blogs, and the mold was a cinch to track down, I made them with extra long sucker sticks so the would fit nicely in the centerpieces. As you can see they were a hit! (Apparently Rainey was the only person worth photographing that night, but wouldn't you agree she makes a smashingly sophisticated MR? ) And what would be a blog post with out a picture of my own mister?
And because we didn't get a picture of us together AT the party, we took one this weekend of us together and our "Baby Bumps". I am 23 weeks and she is 38! We also thought it was funny that she was wearing green (for her boy) and I was wearing pink (for my girl)
Anyway Kass, thanks for letting me spoil you for a second. We wish you the very best of luck this weekend! And CAN NOT wait to meet your little mister!

Teeny Tiny Toddler Back Pack

Did you know?

That I won 2nd place in my High Schools Art Show in sewing, for a dress I made in my beginning sewing class? I am pretty proud of this small tidbit/accomplishment in my life. I didn't win very many individual awards in high school, so this was sort of a big deal to me, and something completely unexpected.

I remember my teacher told us we would be bumped up a letter grade if we entered any of our projects from this class, so I did. I mean that is an A- to an A folks, I would have been a fool to not.

THEN I got 2nd against all these crazy talented advanced students, who made some pretty spectacular things, I was so surprised! At the time I never thought sewing would be such a big part of my life, but it is, from there I worked on small projects here and there. I sewed pillows for my bedroom as a college student and made other small things.

But it really wasn't until I became a mommy that I really got into it. There is something about being a mom and creating things for your little ones that just seems natural and almost instinctual. I remember when my maternal clock started screaming it was almost as if my sewing one did too. Suddenly I had all this energy to make things for my friends who were having babies, and I would just day dream about all the things I would make for my own babies. Fast forward three years, and I am living my dream, and it wasn't at all what I had gone to school for 25 years to do.

I have always loved sewing. I loved going with my mom to the fabric store to pick out fabric for outfits, and dresses for me and my sisters. I loved watching the clerks measure and cut the fabric, to this day its probably one of my most favorite sounds. One day when I am an old lady maybe I will cut fabric for a living. :)

I also always loved hearing the sound of my moms sewing machine humming away as she worked on projects in her bedroom, while we played, and tore her house a part. And I am sure she was thinking just this one last piece and then I will go check on them... Right?

I find it interesting that of all the things I did in my high school and college career it was that beginning sewing elective that I took to "relax" that I use mostly in my day to day life now.
(When I work on projects I can still hear my teachers instructions on pressing our seams flat, and having 5/8" seam allowance.)

But what really has brought me to this post was an article I stumbled across earlier this week. Anyway, some feminist writer had gotten caught up in what she calls "Mormon Mommy blogs" and while she tries to be objective on the subject, she really isn't. I tried to pin point what it was that bothered me so much about it, and I think it was her attitude that no one could be THAT happy doing crafts and taking care of small children all day, and that she, a wise and studious PHD, should be ashamed that she is so fascinated with this type of life style, and that mormons have everyone fooled into believing that this type of lifestyle could bring so much joy, and that we're faking it.

And while she is entitled to her opinion on her own forum, I am also entitled to my own as well. Being a stay at home mom is a privilege that I take very seriously. (This is not my upbringing or the pressure to stay at home from my bishop talking) I could be sitting behind a desk right now staring at a computer looking at the clock waiting for it to be 5, and I would be feeling the same way. I am home with my babies, and this is something I choose to do, and I enjoy it. I don't feel like I am less than my husband or that I have given something up to do this. I haven't been brainwashed into thinking this either. This is something I have chosen to do all on my own. When Kory and I started talking about having kids, I told him, I don't want to do if I can't be there. That was just me, I saw too often my mom's pain and both my older sisters for having to be at work when they wanted more than anything to be at home. I didn't want that to be me. Don't get me wrong a career can be very fulfilling and rewarding, but to me, I like being home with my baby, and if I can do that, I choose to do so, and It is happy and rewarding and everything these woman describe on their blogs and MORE.

I don't feel like this is something our church ingrains in woman, I know our leaders see what is happening to families and this is their way of teaching us how to help protect our own children.

Serving in the YW before I had Axel made me realize even more just how important it is for moms to be there. Don't get me wrong, you can be a mom and work, and have happy kids, I know lots of women who do that, my mom was one and she did it well, and I couldn't be more proud of her. Was she happy with it? No not really, but that was her situation and she made it work for our family. I view being a stay at home not as an obligation but a privilege, and I pray every day that I get to keep doing so. My grandmother once told my mother "these are the best days of your life" I couldn't agree more grandma. You can read the article here, but like I said I don't mean to be a hater of her opinion, I just had to get that out of my mind and voice my own opinion on the matter. So please be respectful :)

****

Lately, I have been able to do a lot of sewing, and I am in heaven. Something about sewing that just makes me content. Maybe its the bond with my own mother, or perhaps it is just a therapeutic activity, but either way I am at peace when I sew.

Like many of my projects I was going to make this into a tutorial and I started out really well, photographing each step, but then I got into this mode, and I just started to create and I just got lost in what I was doing and then pretty soon I was finishing it all up! And since I created the pattern all the steps where just in my head, it was one of those lets see if this works type of patterns. I do have the pattern pieces I made tho so if anyone would like to make one I would be happy to pass it on, and I will try to make up some decent instructions :)

So the story behind the back pack.

THIS

is what I drag to church each week. (Not to mention holding the hand of a toddler, and the growing ball of baby girl in my belly, all while juggling boards, making copies and walking around the entire church twice to deliver and pick up rolls)

Needless to say I am one big ball of pregnant exhaustion when we leave. So I decided to do something about it, the thought of having to add to all that a car seat with a new born and somehow throw in two feedings makes me want to just throw in the towel. So, one day my dear friend Ash and I were wandering the outlets in Park City, and we came across some mini back packs (think early 90's folks) and I said THIS is what I need to make my life easier! (How many times do we all say that, I was for real this time) I then looked at the price tag, $20 bucks! (Sheesh!) maybe to some that seems worth it, but to me anything that I feel like I could make for under $5 I can NEVER justify spending the money on, and Kory would kill me if I did so.

So I have been waiting to find time and of course the space to tackle such a project. And such an occasion finally arrived! And not a minute too soon, he goes to nursery this week! So it's perfect timing to downsize his stuff and make my life easier.

It is of course not perfect in anyway, and no way could I be one of those posh mama's that sells it on her Etsy store, but it was quick, easy and most importantly my little guy loves it! Which makes me smile and oh so proud.

So all in all a successful project, that maybe, when baby girl needs one I can perfect it and make her's a little better.

He is going out to meet dad and show him how cool he is. The lunch pail holds all his toys usually. (It's the most coveted item at church, and probably the most germ filled as well, it gets toted around by every toddler)

Trying it out for the first time, he thought he was pretty cool

Greeting dad at lunch today

Applicae on front pocket
The frontThe backThe Pocket inside for all his books
What I was particularly proud of with this project was I made up the pattern myself, and it was my first time using Piping (the gray stuff around the edge) I think it gave it a more professional look, although its lopsidedness counter acted that, but hey I did my best. :)

what?

I don't really have a story to go along with these pictures other than that Axel is pretty stinking cute...

We are still here, just busy, Axel has a cold. Major bummer. I woke up with it this morning. Boo! But that's what winter is about, colds, flu, crappy roads, yada, yada, yada, there really is nothing good about it after the holidays are over.

I am so looking forward to spring! Even though I will be huge and we have too many stray cats, so I wont be able to plant my garden this year, (unless I can convince Kory to do it for me or my mom). I am still excited. I can't wait to go for walks and see all the flowers in bloom, I love Easter and Mother's day too.Wahoo! I am excited.

Anyway I love spring, I am really excited for my tulips this year. I planted a bunch of new tulips last year, and I can't wait for them to all fill my flower bed! And maybe this year I will get a few more strawberries from my plants, we got like 3 from each plant. Axel loved it tho, he totally hated them at first, but learned to love them. He had fun picking them and just eating them, and even though they tasted tart, he eventually enjoyed them. He loved our garden, we would go out and pick stuff and chop it up for dinner, and he just thought it was pretty neat. I did too, it was my first attempt, and although my tomatoes died and most of the plants we planted didn't really work out. We did get some yummy squash, zucchini, peppers, corn, beans and a teeny tine cantaloupe. (which the birds finally ate, or the neighbors dog)

And then of course I am SO excited for summer, this summer will be somewhat of a challenge, with a new baby to add to the mix, but even still, the idea of warmer weather and watermelon, oh how I could really go for a big bowl of cold crisp watermelon right now. Sigh, sigh, sigh... Something I really miss about being pregnant during summer, although with this pregnancy I would probably have thrown it up and hate it now, so I should count my blessings.

Just a few things

I love my boy, he is quite unique, and to be quite honest, I can not even fathom loving anyone more than I love him. (I know I know, somehow you just do) But each day he fills my day with so much joy, it goes by so fast tho, I feel like it was yesterday that he was in my tummy. It just went by so fast...

Here are a couple stories I wanted to share, before they get lost in my mommy brain forever...

****

Anyway, yesterday I was tending my neighbors 3 kids.

Some background a little, in Axel's room I have a toy bin, and each drawer has different things in them.
The top has stuffed animals, the middle has bigger random toys, and the bottom has 5 buckets with links, blocks, cars, balls, and rattles in them. (I did this so we could find all his basketballs, since that really is the only toys he plays with regularly)

The idea of the buckets (in a perfect world) is that they can take one bucket out at a time, play with it and put it back in exchange for a new one.

So the oldest neighbor girl, opened the drawer and proceeded to take them ALL out. Axel saw this and started shouting "HEY HEY HEY" and walked over to her and began putting them all back in his drawer, and closed his drawer shut. He does share, but we have rules at our house, he was just enforcing them :)

****

Later that night, Axel was playing with his toys in his room before bedtime, and he saw a stuffed animal on the floor, to which he said "Ah OH" he went over picked it up, opened the top drawer, put it in and closed it. I WAS SO PROUD!

****
Each night before dinner we pray, we try really hard to get Axel to say Amen by emphasizing it at the end (not really an unrealistic task since he says things like "Er you go mama" and "basketball" But for whatever reason he just did not get it.

Well on this particular night, I was particularly exhausted, and we just said our prayer normal, no loud amen, or prompting him to fold his arms. (What can I say, we are not perfect parents ALL the time :) ) We then proceeded to dish up our plate.

Then Kory looks over at Axel and sees him head bowed, eyes squinting and fumbling with his hands over his tummy, and says "What are you doing buddy?"

To which Axel lifts his head up throws his hands in the air and replied "MEN A MEN"

Just when you think they are not listening :)

***
Another night we were going through animals sounds

Axel what does an Elephant say? "BRRRRR"
What does a Bear say? "RARRR"
What does a Lion say? "RARRR"
What does the Fishy say? "pop pop pop" (imagine your lips popping)

What does daddy say?
Small pause "AHHHHHHH!" (imagine high pitch scream of a girl)

What does Mommy say?
LONG PAUSE
"ummph" (imagine a low grunt of exhaustion)
****
Anyway my point to these stories, and what I realized this week is how much our actions, and attitudes influence our children, even at such a young age. They pick up on sooo much, good traits, AND bad traits. Right now our family is in a good place, we have things more organized, I am not nearly as sick as I used to be, and things are just easier. It seems like even my calling is more doable. (something I really thought was not possible, since it has been really hard)

We are finally seeing some of the reward to all of our hard work, not that hard work has to be rewarded but it's kinda nice when you do. One day I will get to post all the exciting changes and additions to our home. We have some finishing touches to do before we can post about it. But until then we are doing pretty good. Kory said last night that this is our year of fruition. To which I said "What does that mean?" and he said the year all the hard work is coming to fruit. I couldn't agree more.

It's a....

***I have added pictures to this now!****

Today we had our 20 week ultrasound, and I had anticipated that today would go by REALLY slowly for me because I have been dying to know the gender of our baby, well duh right?

But at 8:30 am this morning I got a call from Kory saying his car was overheating on his way to work! FETCH, and only us right?

So between going and picking him up and dropping his car off and coming home again, just to turn around and pick him back up, today went by quite quickly.

However, the minute I sat in that chair and had that TV in front of me it felt like time just froze. This wasn't the same tech as the one we had with Axel or the one we had for this baby's first one at 10 weeks, who was ultra talkative and informative. She was very quite the whole time, so that made me really nervous, and I kept asking,

"Is that a normal size for her or his I mean it's head, leg neck abdomen?" and she would answer yes, very normal, or spot on. So that was a relief, and I thought that hearing all that would put me at ease, but nope, I still was dying to know if it was a he or a she. (Which brings me to a point, I don't know how people can NOT find out. I know a few people who choose not to know, that would drive me absolutely crazy.)

She showed us the face,

and the feet, which we got a really adorable picture of them crossed and together...
And then she said "Are you interested in knowing the sex?"

"uh YES PLEASE!" was my response

So she got a good angle and said...

"this is the babies leg, and this is it's other leg do you see that?"

" and right here, you will see NO BOY PARTS, so you're having A Girl!"

So there you have it, Kory was right all along, and I my intuition was right as well.

When I started this pregnancy the idea of a girl was like, I guess if it has to be a girl, I'll take it. But as we neared today, the idea of a girl became more and more exciting to me, and just felt right.
I am excited to have a baby girl, I knew one day I would have or want one, I just didn't know it would be so soon. I think Kory will be a very good papa to his daughter, and Axel will be so gentle with his little sister. He will make the perfect older brother. And lets just be honest, having a little dancer girl of my very own!? Heck ya, I will keep her!

Merry Christmas AND a Happy New Year!

Can I just say I am so glad this year is over? Not that we had a terrible year or anything, just a year that was quite exhausting for us, but with that said, we GREW a lot. 2010 for us was "the year of Growth" for our little family.

But before I get into that, I just want to share our Christmas.

We had a pretty great one, (Christmas eve on the other hand not so great.) I don't know how many of you know this about my husband (actually a lot of you do know) but he waits until the very last minute to make a decision when it comes to gifts. Which is why he hates Christmas I think, because I nag and nag and nag him all month long about what I should do for this person or this person. I come up with fabulous idea after idea, and they never are good enough for that person, and because I can never come up with the "perfect gift" (is there such a gift?) I always end up going out Christmas Eve to pick up last minute gifts.

So anyway, on Christmas Eve, I was pretty proud of how quickly I got our gifts done, (all before lunch time I may add) all I had to do was run to the store grab some last minute grub for our Christmas dinner and breakfast and then I could spend the rest of the day wrapping presents, or so I thought...

But when I got home I remembered that in order to cook our delicious Christmas dinner I had to first clean out the week old ham juice that spilled out onto our oven floor last week when someone asked me to cook the ham for our ward dinner (side note, I am not a bad cook, I am a decent cook, I make balanced meals that are MOST of the time worth eating) However, I do not EVER cook things like ham, or whole turkeys. So I had no idea that putting a tray at the bottom of the oven would be wise to catch all that grossness. Needless to say our house REEKED of not just Ham juice but BURNT HAM JUICE all week, and literally our entire house filled with smoke every time we tried to use the oven.

So to make our Christmas better I decided I better clean the oven first. How hard could it be anyway right? Well, if you have never done it before, MAN it is NOT something you should do while pregnant OR on Christmas Eve, because it will for sure ruin your evening.

So the rest of the Christmas eve I spent mostly in bed, because my back KILLED. Kory helped me wrap presents but our Christmas eve was kind of a flop. We did however still let Axel open up one present before. (Jammies of course :) ) In the future he will not be so happy about that... but until he actually cares, we will keep doing this our way. (he was pretty tired, we kept him up pretty late because Kory was trying to move a bunch of stuff out of his room)

But Christmas, was much much better. My back still killed, and still kind of does. I am pretty sure I pulled something or I am just at that stage in this pregnancy.

But both Axel and Kory slept in until 10:30 that day, I was not complaining since I had a little "Santa" Stuff to do before. We took oodles of pictures and I wish you all wanted to see them all but I know you don't, so here are just a few of my favorites.

Axel was sooo funny to watch this year. He inspected every present and you could tell he was happy about each and every one. (Although his favorite gifts were the soccer and basketball, once he opened those he kept them by his side the whole time.

He thought the stocking was pretty neat

This was our tree this year.
He got a whole new collection of books...
And some blocks and other trinkets...but his favorite of course was the basket ball...and the soccer ball, he thought they were perfect size to ride his new skateboard
he and dad skating together...
We had a simple Christmas Kory and Axel got me a cutting mat and rotary cutter for my sewing which I have been loving and Kory cleared out Axel's room and moved all my stuff down stairs to my new craft room. (Which is why I have been MIA)

Axel and I got Kory a nice big tool box to organize all his tools.

After like 2 hours of watching Axel open presents we went to my parents house for my side of the family Christmas. We ate a delicious food, exchanged presents, and played the white elephant gift game. My mom made each family this year a quilted advent calender, I wish I would have taken a picture that day, I packed it away before I did, but I will take a picture next Christmas, it was really spectacular!
Here is our Family and the WHOLE family in the picture below.

After that we went to spend some time with Kory's parents/and a few siblings. We played some games and ate some good food then went home and did some more moving :) before going to bed.

We ended 2010 with a MUCH more organized home, and are glad 2010 is over with. It's like we get to start over! That is how I look at it. Not that 2010 was awful, it was just a hard one for us.

It had a lot of good stuff in it tho like...
Axel grew sooo much that year, most of his firsts happened in 2010!
He crawled, he talked, and walked all this year (yep in that order), and so many many other things.

One of the biggest events this year is we found out we were pregnant, and although we almost lost this baby, he/she is still here growing strong and we are SO excited to have it join our family in a few months.

WE have learned soooo much this year about faith and patience and hard work. Nothing comes easy, but when you work for it the pay off is SO much more rewarding, than just having things handed to you.

The skills Kory has acquired as he has been building his studio amazes me every day. He has learned so much, we both have. We couldn't have done it with out all the help and support from those around us. When I see all that he has done towards it, with little to no help from me, I am just amazed by him. I married a pretty incredible guy, with pretty incredible talents. He also some how managed to hold down a great job, be an awesome husband/father, and have 4 callings (yeah I said 4 at once) this year. Sheesh! He makes me tired just thinking about all he does each and everyday.

I know 2011 will be a rewarding year for us, we have many things to look forward to in the next coming months, from the house/studio being finished, to a brand new baby! eek we are half way!

Anyway speaking of halfway... Friday we find out what we are having. SO here is where you get to vote, I am torn, Kory is 100% sure we are having a girl. At this point I am just hoping all is healthy and ok, this pregnancy has been a tough one for me, I am not going to lie. Every night we pray that our baby will grow healthy and strong. So boy or girl I just want a clean bill of health for our little worm.

Happy 2011 everyone!

PS CONGRATS TO my good friends Jon and D who had a baby girl Opal Mae Browning yesterday night! Can't wait to meet her someday...