A resolution type thing...

Well well, I am not usually one to make resolutions. In fact, I don't like to make them. But I am at a point where I need to tell myself to do something. Haha. I guess you could consider it a resolution. I am going to be having this new baby soon, and we are outgrowing our apartment, our car, our closets, etc...which means, we will need to move this year sometime. Which also means, we need more money...doesn't everyone!?
Anyway, long story short, my job pays really crappy. I love it, and love what I do, and love how flexible the schedule is, and my boss is like Mother Theresa, a.k.a., the nicest person you will ever meet, BUT...it just doesn't pay that well. Enough for us for now, but eventually it's just not going to cut it. SO...I'm considering a career change, and I'm super excited about what I want to do. It will involve about another year or so of schooling, which I have NO idea when I am going to fit that in to my schedule with 2 kids...but it's going to happen. And, I am excited because I can go at my own pace...which also means, it might take more than a year....like a year and a half.
I am super super excited though. It's going to be a whole new adventure.
I'm still working on all the details of it all, but sometime this summer, I hope to start the required schooling.
HOORAY for new and exciting things. Hooray for the new year. Hooray for a supportive and loiving husband!!!

So that's my New Years Resolution thingy...to gain more knowledge I guess.
Here's a Happy New Year to you too!! Hope it's spectacular!!

Things I Love

I love lots of things. Most recently, my loves include:
-My little girl saying "goodnight mommy" as I lay her in bed at night.
-Holiday time off work
-Spending time with my 2 (and a 1/2) favorite people in the world.
-my new flat iron...(silly, but SO true)
-finishing one book, and starting on another
-Christmas day naps
-The "Helm Cheese Ball" mmmm.... counting down the days till that one shows up on the doorstep.
-scarves
-warm soup
-Christmas goodies
-friends
-friends having babies!! (congrats Christie and John!)

That's my love list from this week. It had to be cut down, as there were alot of things to love!!

It's a .....

GIRL!!! It's another GIRL for us! We're so excited! Bring on the hormones! We had the ultrasound on Wednesday, and everything looked great! I was a little disappointed in the Sonographers pics that she took for us, she didn't really get us the classic profile pics, or anything. They are all just measurements and body parts...haha. So bummer there. We did get a couple really cute 3-D face pics, but not on CD, otherwise I would post them.

She didn't mention changing the due date or anything, so we're still looking at April 21st. I meet with the doc next week to go over everything, so we'll see.

But I'm pretty excited to have another cute little girl to play with!!

We're back!

Wow, it feels good to be home!! We had such an amazing time though, it was a fun packed 9 days! We started out last Saturday morning, with Makayla throwing up in her high chair. No fever, no other symptoms, so we just assumed she gagged on something and everything came up. Not the case.

About an hour on the road, she threw up her snacks. Lovely. Nothing like puke in the car...on a road trip. So, we clean her up, change her clothes, roll the windows down for a bit, and keep on going. We stop to eat lunch, Makayla didn't eat a whole lot, drank some apple juice, and that's about it. Another 40 minutes later, it all came up...AGAIN!! This is the third time now, if you are keeping track. I couldn't believe it. This is the one and ONLY time she has been sick to her stomach, and of course it's the worst possible day it could happen. We finally reach family's house in Vegas for an overnight stop, and she had some chicken broth, and a cookie...which I didn't know about till later. Apparently her little cousin handed her one, and of course she ate it. But she kept it down. We later found out that my brother's little boy must have had the same bug, and threw up twice in their car on their way down to Vegas too. Sad.

After that, it was smooth sailing! Played at the beach the next day, and then got on the cruise ship the day after that.

A full 4 days of stuffing our faces full of delicious food...mmm. We went Parasailing on Catalina Island, and played in the freezing cold water, We saw all sorts of interesting things in Catalina and Ensenada, including sea lions, armed men outside our ship window, MC hammer pants and cut off t-shirt on an adult male, she-mullets, scary bathing suits...etc.

After the cruise, we played at Knottsberry Farm for FREE!! Woohoo! (thanks Fire/police special day!) I couldn't ride alot of the rides, I went on a couple, but Jason rode alot of them with my brothers.

We then found the most AWESOME Mexican restaurant right across from our hotel. Cazadores I think is what it was called. It was amazing. I really really really wish they had a place in UT. But that might be a bad thing, cause I would eat there way too often.

Then we drove home. A very uneventful looong drive. We stopped in St. George to break up the drive. Got a little Christmas shopping done while we were there.

But it does feel so good to be home, and start getting back into a routine.

In honor of...

Anne!! Happy Birthday! I made a cake today, in honor of my dear friend Anne's birthday! She lives so far away. I miss her.

Happy Birthday! (I'll let you know if it tastes as yummy as it looks! :))

A little early...

Last night I put up our Christmas tree. It almost pained me to do it this early, but it was necessary. We will be gone for a while, and didn't want to deal with putting up Christmas stuff with all the unpacking and laundry, and messes I am sure to procrastinate cleaning up for at least a week, etc... So...I caved in and put up the decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving. Yikes.

BUT...it does feel good to have it all done and ready for our return. Jason was all surprised when he came home from work, and the house was transformed from Halloween/Fall decor, to full blown Christmas. He loved it! Probably cause he didn't have to do any of it this year! haha. Don't worry Jay, I'm saving the outside Christmas lights just for you!

Because I like to keep it real...

My weekend Confession:
Last night I went to bed without doing the three giant hampers full of laundry that I have neglected for almost an entire week (gasp!!) I also completely ignored/walked right past my sink with all the dirty dishes from dinner. And then...oh, this just might kill you to read. I had SUGAR. Before Bed!! (Sorry mom/dentist) In the form of 4 delicious Vanilla Oreo cookies...

And that's how I like to keep it real. Anyone else?

Really!

Makayla: Mom, I need candy.

Me: You need candy!?

Makalya: Yeah, I really do. I really need it!!

Me: (hehehe)

I'm so cute!

Here Kitty Kitty...

She might just be the cutest little kitty ever.

Trick or treating on Main St.

And I have been trying for the last hour to upload the cutest video, but apparently my internet connection is mad at me...it's refusing to work. So a video will come later, hopefully.

This and that

So I have had a bunch of fun weekends this month. Jason's mom was here last weekend, and the weekend before that, we had a girls night and went to Witches Night Out down at Gardner Village. It was SO much fun!
So here's just a few pics from the last couple weekends.


Diane and Steve on the way to the pumpkin walk.

At the pumpkinwalk

Me and Jason with Ashley

The boys putting together Makayla's new kitchen! Thanks Grandma!

Makayla getting her first "real" haircut. She did awesome!

Witches Night Out! Kristi, Leisha, A'Donna, Jen, Mom, Me

am I really that tall!?

And last but not least, our Geddes family pumpkin walk scene. The 7up Blind Taste Test.

A conversation...of sorts.

The Scene: Grandma's house, early this morning.

Me: What do you want for breakfast today?

Baby K: Gogurt and toast.

Me: You want Gogurt and toast? (always have to double check, she likes to change her mind as soon as I put what she requested on her plate...)

Baby K: Sure mommy, I want gogurt and toast.

Me: OK!! (he he he...i was laughing, it was so cute.)

What a great way to start a Tuesday.

AND....Jason is taking me to see ODT's Thriller tonight at the Kent Concert Hall! He's seen it before, and says it's amazing, so I am SO excited! Date night! And don't tell, I'm skipping out on YW tonight for this....shhhh!!!

Thumb sucker...and it's not my daughter...

I totally just saw this guy driving in his car, my age, sucking his thumb!!! He didn't seem to care who saw him (stared open mouthed/laughing), and showed no signs of stopping.

I think someone has a few issues...

So bizarre! But it totally made my day. I haven't laughed (actually laughed out loud) in a long time!
Thanks thumb sucking guy in the white p.o.s. 80's car!! You rock.

Update

I still haven't found my camera cord, so I am borrowing my mom's for now. I'm too cheap to go buy a new one just now. So today in about a little over an hour, we have our first OB appointment. I'm excited to finally find out how far along I really am, since I've just been kind of guessing. Plus, it's always fun to see the little one for the first time, looking all bean-ish.
I'm having uploading problems at the moment, so when I get back I will post some pics on here.
Look forward to my first Jam session, pool parties, unlce fun, and gardening.

Project

We have an announcement!! Remember that "project" I was working on a while back? Well, turns out it's going to take another 7 months...after the 2 I have already put in...and 2 + 7=9!!! Have you figured it out yet?
Well, not many projects take 9 months to complete, and most don't make you extremely ill for the first couple months!!
That's right, Makayla is going to be a big sister! We weren't going to start telling people yet, but because I have been so sick, it's getting harder and harder to hide the fact that I feel like tossing my cookies all day long!
We go to the doc on the 25th, and will get an official due date then. But I'm saying mid April as just a guesstimate.
So stay tuned, I will keep you updated on my "project"status throughout the months!

I lost 10 pounds!!!!!

Ok, ok, not really. But it feels like it!! I just got my hair cut and chopped off about 3 1/2 inches, or so, and had it THINNED out, because it is SO thick. So my head really does feel so much lighter! I love it. Thank goodness for Mindy!! Mindy has been doing my hair for 12 years now, as far as I can figure. I've followed her through 3 salons, and now she has a salon addition to her home, and it is so nice! And can we say "cut and style=$16!!!!" OH YES. She is SO affordable.

Anyway, enough bragging about Mindy. Here's the before and after!

It's cute, it's happy, the end!

While She Sleeps

I do productive things when Makayla naps...such as blogging...so productive. I was 100 % sure I was going to take a nap, but no. Why nap when I can blog!?

And since I really don't have anything of much importance to blog about, I guess I'll just post some pics.

We did have a family get together last night with some old friends from New Jersey. My mom and I had lunch with Sara a few weeks ago, which I blogged about, but this time we got to have dinner at her brother Jason's house, his wife Karen was SO nice to let all of us in her home, having never met us. Jason and Sara's mom was in town too. She and my mom are like best friends/"sista's from anotha motha" as they say. Lynn is a riot. She's so loud and funny, and inappropriate and silly, and loving, and smart. You can't NOT laugh when she's in the room.

My little brother Bryon was SO mad that he had to come, since he didn't know any of these people. So he sat playing with his i-pod touch ALL night and refused to look up, eat, laugh, smile...so Lynn really let him have it and threatened to talk about sex if he didn't smile. That was too funny. I don't think Bryon has ever had anyone threaten to talk about sex before, and it did the trick, and made him laugh.After dinner we all sat down and had Jason's wife take pictures, and then had a family prayer. It was SO much fun to see them all!! Makayla and Sara's little boy Lucas, and Jason's little girl Anna all had a blast playing together. Makayla even let Anna feed her which was hillarious.

On a totally random side note, stay tuned for a totally awesome project I am working on!! Might be a while...but it's in the works.

Happy 4 Years!!

Before we went on our anniversary getaway, my mom and I and Makayla went on a trip to Nevada. Lots of outlet shopping, strip walking, swimming, etc. So one day, as if all this wasn't enough fun, we decided to drive 4 1/2 hours out to California for a day. We decided around 9:30 to actually go, but it took my aunt and her 6 kids like 3 hours to get ready. So we didn't leave till almost noon, got to the beach at 5-ish, and played as hard and long as we could before it got dark and cold. It was super super windy that day, so it was actually a bit chilly. But we didn't care at all. So when we left it was almost 9, and we didn't want to drive 4 1/2 more hours back to Vegas. We called and got a hotel in Victorville, about an hour from the beach.

Then spent the next day packing and getting ready for the drive back to Utah.

We got home on Wednesday night, and then Thursday afternoon Jason and I dropped Makayla off with Grandma, and then headed for Jackson Hole. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect anniversary getaway. It was out of town, it was gorgeous, it was fun, it was romantic. We decided we need to go up there more often! We did horseback riding, movies, ate at the coolest places...Billy's Giant Bugers...holy cow. Pretty much a heart attack on a bun, but SOOO good!! Mountain High Pizza Pie...amazing...New York Subway Shop...delicious!!! And candy shops that were to die for. I bought WAY too much fudge, and ate all of it.
Horesback rides at A-Ok Corral...SO fun! We did the two hour ride, but next time I think we would go for the 1/2 day ride, or 4 hour ride. It was SO fun.

Ok, now see the kid in the purple shirt on the Paint horse? Well...let's just say his ride was um...interesting. I think Jason and I laughed the whole time. The poor kids horse just had a mind of its own, and went wherever it pleased...going through the thick brush on the side of the trail...wandering off, trying to turn around and go back down the trail...hillarious. And the poor kid, who was all of maybe 14, didn't have a clue what to do.

Thanks for a wonderful weekend Jay! I love you!

We are back!

We are finally back from a week of travels. Here, there, and everywhere. Seems like we've been gone alot longer!
Now, as soon as I can track down where Makayla hid the camera, I will put up a proper post.

Here camera, camera.....

Makayla: "camma, are you???" (she's helping me look...haha)

We are special.

Um...we are geeks. It's true. We try to keep it a secret, but occasionally, it just explodes out of us. We were both so excited to see the new Harry Potter movie, we just couldn't contain ourselves any longer!

And it was SO good!

And just a random picture of something really strange I saw at a store the other day.

WHAT!??!! I laughed my Lady Monkey Butt...right..off...

Fourth, Fireworks, Fantastico!

Here's just a sampling of what we have been up to lately.

Makayla's first "ride"

playing at dinner time

Cuddle cuddle...and fireworks...ahhhh...

Trying to give attitude, while trying not to smile!

Last lunch with Anne and Emma before they moved.

Pigtails finally on the side of her head instead of on top!

Pink Lemonade surprise...so delicious. I love trying new recipes!!

Sorry this isn't the most exciting of posts. I just don't have much time to sit and really write much. But a picture's worth a thousand words right!? ;)

Family Reunion Fun

We had our annual Israelsen Fmaily Reunion this past weekend. Good times as always. Here are just a few pics/highlights.


The NEW TOYS!!!


The COUSINS!!!

The CANDY!!!

The BROTHER! (And his daughter!!!)

The CRYING!!!

The SHOOTOUT!! (Weak stomachs, turn away...our family is wierd.)