Mommy, Santa come to my house and bring presents!?

We were so excited for Christmas this year. Arcadia is at the age where she is understanding a little bit more about Christmas. A few days after Thanksgiving it all began. Her and I are talking and she says, "Mommy, Santa come to my house, bring presents." I say, "Oh really, who told you that?". She says, "Santa come to my house, bring presents." "Okay, Arcadia whatever you say." That pretty much sums up the three weeks preceeding Christmas. Arcadia would tell anyone who would listen, and even those who would not, about Santa coming to her house. I must say that I did enjoy using the "if you don't listen to mommy and daddy and be nice to your sister then Santa will not come." I am really sad to see Christmas go for that reason.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a lot going on and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. We will post pictures and details of the fun events when I get a moment to sit at my computer.

Family in Town

We had a fun and very crazy Thanksgiving. Just imagine an 8 year old, a 5 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, a 1 year old, a 3 month old, and four adults in one house for a week. I could never imagine a house so loud, not to mention the amount of toilet paper you go through. Richard's cousin and his family from Yuma, Arizona came up for Thanksgiving. We were so happy to have them come to stay. We had a great time going up Little Cottonwood Canyon to show the Arizona kids some snow. The only problem was that when you are not around ice very often, or ever, you don't really know how to walk on it and the 8 year old boy took quite a slip and fall on the ice. Needless to say he doesn't like the snow. We also went to the Childrens Museum. They had a great time playing and discovering new things. The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Pointe was fun. I did have to make a quick run for the door when I saw the sand at the end. I picked Arcadia up and booked it out of there before she even realized what was there. Poor Mason and Madison already had their shoes and socks off and had to quickly put them back on. I am a really mean mom who does not want to clean sand out of places where sand does not belong.

We had all of Richard's family here for Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice, but cooking for 20 people for the first time was a bit overwhelming. So much so that the yams I had made especially for Richard's Grandma never even made it to the oven. OOPS! Then all of the girls snuck out of the house to head to Richard's Mom's to decorate a new Christmas tree for her. We thought we would surprise her with a new tree for Christmas. Since Richard's brother passed away we have been trying to change things up a bit for the holidays and we thought this would be nice for Christmas. It was the perfect tree, decorated in purple and green, and if anyone knows Jeanne she really likes purple. We hope she enjoys it and knows how much we love her.

All in all we had a great week with our family and friends. We are so glad we were able to have Richard's cousins come stay. We hope we can all get together soon!! Maybe we will get lucky and the Utes will get to go to the Fiesta Bowl and we can meet up then. Warm weather sounds nice to me. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

P.S. Miles if you read this we really didn't like the parting gift you left on our car. I'm sure the people driving behind me were wondering why I would have a U of U lisence plate and cover only to put a yucky BYU sticker on the bumper.

Fun Around the House

Okay, so Richard really likes to make the girls do strange things. It isn't uncommon to find him putting Arcadia on top of the fridge (his dad did the same to him), or lifting her up and poking her head over the opening in the wall between the living room and family room. So now that we have two children he is coming up with more creative ideas. Most of which are against my better judgement, but in the end I am laughing and taking pictures. Here are a couple of the girls adventures with Dad. I am not so sure Mekensy knows what to think of her dad and sister.And just so everyone knows who he gets this from, his dad had Mekensy laying on a blanket while he pulled her around the house. There is no denying Richard is much like his Dad.

Mekensy's Two Month Appointment

Mekensy had her two month appointment today and boy is she a big girl. She weighed in at 13 lbs. 14 oz. so that puts her at about the 95th percentile. She is 23 3/4 inches long so that puts her at about the 90th percentile. It is so funny to see how drastically different Arcadia and Mekensy were at the same ages. Arcadia definitely got fat, but she was a couple months older before hitting those heavy weights. I must say that I love the fat babies. Mekensy is doing well and seems to be settling into a pretty good routine. She has actually slept through the night for the past 2 nights. Let's cross our fingers and hope it sticks. She loves to smile and enjoys when Arcadia puts on a show for her.

Mekensy's Special Day

Mekensy was blessed yesterday. It was great day. Richard gave her a wonderful blessing and amazingly enough Mekensy was quite through the whole thing. Thank you so much to all of those who stood in the circle. All of you mean so much to Richard and I. We then had everyone over to our house for dinner. It was so great to see some of our friends that we haven't seen in awhile. Thank you all for coming and sharing this special day with us. Also, thank you to everyone who helped with the food. It was wonderful.

Mekensy was not really very happy about pictures so we may have to put her back in her dress and try again!

Happy Halloween!!

What a crazy Halloween we had this year!! It all started on Thursday when we carved pumpkins. Last year Arcadia couldn't get enough of the "guts" of the pumpkin, but this year she said it was messy and she made her dad do all of it. Arcadia told her dad just the kind of face she wanted and he did a great job. Truth be told I am sure she liked his more because of course it was a "Go Utes pumpkin". He carved the U of U block U in it. Is anyone surprised?

We started off Halloween with going to see my Grandma and Grandpa who just got home from their mission. They hadn't seen Mekensy since we were still in the hospital. She has grown so much since then so it was fun for them to see her. My mom went with us, as always, and we met up with my Aunt and her two boys. Mekensy dressed up as a cow, which lasted all of maybe ten minutes, and Arcadia was Jojo. Arcadia would have dressed up as anything if it meant her nose or something was painted. We then came back to our house and got ready for the Annual Halloween Soup Night. My mom has had soup at her house on Halloween night for as long as I can remember. She did this every year, even though my dad continually made fun of her. So now that we have the two girls and I don't want to drag them around we have them all come over here. We had a bunch of family and friends over and really enjoyed the night. Arcadia did a little trick or treating with Brayden and had fun. I think the highlight of her night was the Tinkerbell movie that my mom and dad gave her. Isn't it amazing that grandparents can make any little holiday into something more like Christmas? As you can imagine Arcadia doesn't seem to mind.

Happy Birthday Richard

Yesterday was Richard's birthday. He turned 28. I would like to say that is old, but when I get to that age it can't be so I guess I won't. It has been such a crazy, busy week that we didn't have plans until the weekend, but then Richard was invited by one of his branches to go to the Jazz game. Nothing like opening night at the Jazz game for your birthday. It was great for me because I had been racking my brain to figure out something special for dinner and the Jazz game saved me. We had a great meal and enjoyed a win by the Jazz.

We love you so much and appreciate all you do for us. You work very hard both at work and at home to give us everything we need and want. You have done so much the last few months while we have been trying to get our basement done and I appreciate you letting me boss you around. We love you and hope you had a great day!!

Love, your girls

Unprivatizing

So is that even a word? Who knows, but it works for me. I have decided to not have the blog private for awhile. It has been so difficult to get everyone's email addresses that I figure this is an easier way to pass the blog. Eventually I may switch it back, but we will see.

We have had a very busy week this weeks. It all started off with a long drive to Star Valley, Wyoming on Monday. We have some friends who lost their precious little boy so we decided to head up there to be at the graveside service. It was very nice. These are the things that make you take a step back and look at your own life and try to improve. I am amazed at their strength and understanding of the gospel. We love them so much and want them to know that we are thinking and praying for them.

On Monday night my Aunt flew in from Las Vegas to attend a funeral. It was fun to catch up with her and spend some quite time talking. I am so glad she was able to stay with us even if it was only for a very short time. Hopefully we will be able to see the rest of them soon! We miss you guys!

On Tuesday our ward had its annual Chili Cook off and Halloween Carnival. I made my mom's 3 bean soup. It turned out really good, but my house smells yucky. Arcadia is dressing up as JoJo the clown this year. Of course the camera was forgotten (it was Richards fault this time) so the only picture I have is from a neighbor, or I mean Snow White. Our neighbor dressed up as Snow White, and I must say looked just like her, and Arcadia was mesmerized. She literally followed "Snow White" around all night.

On Wednesday my mom and I went to get our haircut at Aubrey's. Arcadia had fun playing with Brayden and emptying an entire bottle of lotion all over the playroom carpet. Sorry about that Aubrey! At least the room smells nice now!

No excuses...

well except for two, Arcadia and Mekensy. I have been so bad about blogging lately. Maybe because there is so much going on, but it is all really boring. Mekensy went and saw the ENT last week and we finally have some good news!! She does have fluid in her left ear so the doctor will retest her in 2 months if the fluid is gone and if not they will probably put a tube in. He says there is no need for concern at this point. He also says that her horrible congestion is called "Newborn Rhinitis", which means she is very congested. Go figure. He says that it will probably take a few months to work itself out, but of course there is not much they can do. All in all it was great news.

I don't know about anyone elses homes but our television has continually played football games. I know I get tired of it and to be honest I think our tv does too. We have been going to the Utah games and enjoying the season thus far. Just don't ask Richard about it because 7-0 is not quite good enough!

Arcadia seems to be growing up more and more each day. She has become quite the independent child. Now if only she would be independent enough to use the potty, but that is a whole other story.

Mekensy is growing like crazy. I seem to have babies who start out small and then something in them makes them balloon up and quickly lose their necks. She is still insisting on eating about every 3 hours and consuming 5-6 oz each time. I think she must be a bottomless pit.

As for Richard and I think we are just trying to maintain control of our household. We definitely have our hands full with our girls, but we wouldn't change it for the world. We love each of them so much and can't imagine life without them. I will be sure to post pictures soon. I am feeling a little guilty because Mekensy has been cursed with the "we don't take as many pictures of our second child" problem. I am really going to have to work on that!

Mekensy's Hearing Update

Mekensy went in for her 4th hearing test today. She passed in her right ear and is still failing in her left. We are not sure what the next step will be, but we are so happy to know that she is hearing. We are assuming that we will be going to see an ear, nose and throat doctor to get his take on the situation. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts on Mekensy's behalf. We will keep you updated!

No time to blog...

eat, sleep, think, or anything else for that matter. I don't know if it is just me, but I am really having a hard time keeping up with my children. I hope that everyone who has a new baby feels like they can't get anything done. We have been busy the last couple of weeks in and out of the doctor's office trying to figure out our little Mekensy. Mekensy has not passed her hearing test after 3 attempts so now we are playing the guessing game as to why. The doctor thinks that it is because of fluid in her ears because she has been so congested since she was born. We have been trying different formulas and antibiotics so that we can get her cleared up and try another test. Hopefully we can have something figured out by next week.

Arcadia has had some fun activities the past couple of weeks. She went to the Utah football game with Richard and I (yes I left Mekensy with Richard's mom), she went to Lagoon, and we went to the Utah State Fair. Each was a new and exciting experience.

She was great at the Football game and loved being dressed in her Utah cheerleader outfit that Richard's Aunt Cindy and Uncle Colin gave her for Christmas.

She has been wanting to go to Lagoon since she saw the commercial at the beginning of the Summer and she loved it. Although I wouldn't recommend taking a 2 year old on the Terror Ride. She is still talking about the scary ride that mom and dad sat on with her and she closed her eyes. Thanks to Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jeanne for taking all of us.

The fair was also fun. It is always and experience at the Fair. She liked all of the animals from a distance. She wasn't quite sure about petting anything, but with me for a mom I wouldn't expect anything different. She also got the try the "World Famous", okay so just Utah Famous, fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a fried Twinkie. I don't recommend the PB & J, but the Twinkie was great. She also got the ride a pony which she loved.

So after all of the fun she is now stuck at home with her boring mom and baby sister. I know we are just not as exciting, but there will be more fun to come.

I will post the pictures from the fun events later. I am quickly running out of time. Here are the pictures we had taken of the girls last Friday.

Family of Four!

Mekensy was born on Tuesday, August 26. It was a very quick delivery which was great for me, well except for the fact that I didn't get an epidural until I was fully dialated and pushing. So if anyone would like to know what natural delivery is like I have a pretty good idea! Mekensy was born at 2:58pm, she weighed 7lbs. 10oz. and was 21 inches long. She looks just like Arcadia (just a little bigger) but she has dark hair. She is doing great. She sleeps most of the time and wakes up every 3 hours on the dot to eat and then it is back to sleep. Arcadia is being a great big sister and wants to hold her, kiss her and poke her in the face! We definitely have to watch her closely. We are so excited for our new addition to our family. Richard has been such a great help and I am really not looking forward to him going back to work on Tuesday. I couldn't do any of this without him! He is a great Dad and husband!!

My sister, Staci, gave Arcadia a Cinderella dress up that came with all of the things a princess could want and trying to get it off of her was not easy. Every nurse that came in was quickly greeted by Arcadia annoucing that she had her "rella" on! Thank you to everyone who made this a good experience for Arcadia.

Baby Mekensy is coming!!

I went to the doctor today and we got some exciting news. I am dialated to 4 centimeters so that has not changed in the past week and everything else looks good. I am going to be induced on Tuesday the 26th. I am so excited!! The last couple of weeks have been so crazy wondering what was going to happen so it is really nice to have an answer. We are looking forward to this weekend and spending some time with Arcadia before we have the baby. I think she will be so excited, but I know this will be quite a change for all of us. We will let everyone know how it goes!!

Busy Few Weeks

I haven't posted in so long because it has been so crazy around here. I will just give you all a run down of events.

- Basement was finished! Yeah
- Put Arcadia's and Baby's rooms together.
- Aunt and Uncle and their kids were in town from Las Vegas.
- Found out that baby could come anytime.
- Took Arcadia to a Bees game (which she asks if we are going to every time we get in the car) and to see Wall-E.
- Richard and I went out one last time when we only have to find a babysitter for one child.
- Went to Heber to see my grandparents who are serving a mission at the Heber Camp.

So basically it all comes down to chaos. Especially waiting each day and wondering if this will be the day that the baby finally comes. I have decided that I should just stop wondering and worrying. I go back to the doctor on Thursday so hopefully there has been more progress. We have also not had a computer to download pics or anything so I will post more soon!!

Busy Birthday Weekend!!

We had a fun weekend with family and friends. On Friday my cousin, Hayden came to play with Arcadia. They had fun riding bikes, fighting over toys, and "marching" on apricots at my Mom's house. Friday night we hung out at home and got the yard done because Saturday was going to be so busy. Arcadia loves every opportunity to go outside and play. She doesn't get to go out much during the day because I can't stand the heat. She enjoyed her time outside and took some time to smell the daisies.

On Saturday Richard took back some of our new furniture that needed a small repair. Then it was off to the basement to paint. He loves painting!! (Yeah right.) Then we went to a birthday party. It was our friends, Ben and Aubrey's, little boy's 2nd birthday. It was good to see them and let the kids play. Then it was off to my cousin Dallin's 1st birthday. Arcadia enjoyed playing with all of Dallin's presents, a lot of which she has but you would never know it by the excitement she showed for his. She wasn't so happy that he made a "mess" with his birthday cake. She is still talking about all of the cake on his hands, face and shirt. It was fun to celebrate the birthdays and we appreciate being invited. Thanks everyone!!

32 weeks and counting...

I just got back from the doctor. Things are going well. I have slightly dialated which is better than last time. At this point with Arcadia I was already at 1 centimeter. So we will just keep plugging along. Good news is maybe I won't have to endure 8 more weeks of this awful heat. Maybe we can cut a week or two off!! I go back in two weeks so more updates to come!!

Fourth of July

I know this is a little late, but since I am a little late getting started it makes sense. We had a fun 4th of July this year. We did some new things and stuck with some traditions. Instead of going to the Murray parade this year we went to the parade in Delta. For those of you who don't know Richard's Gammy lives in Delta. We took Arcadia down on Thursday night and spent some time with Gammy and Lug and the rest of the family joined us Friday morning for the parade. I must say it was quite a parade. Arcadia had more candy than she could ever imagine, it's too bad most of it disappeared before she could eat it!Arcadia picking up candy with the help of Aunt Marissa!!

Arcadia waving to the "Rellas" as the pass by. (Any girl in a dress is Cinderella!!)

After the Delta festivities we met up with my family for our 2nd Annual 4th of July Bees game. Arcadia enjoyed yelling "GO BEES!", playing with the family, and the homeless man who sat on our blanket. That was interesting, and not the best smelling, to say the least.

Arcadia was trying so hard to blow this up and needless to say it never happened!!

Uncle Glenn was quite a sport to play horse and try to get around all of the people surrounding us!!

Arcadia enjoyed the fireworks and talked about them on the way to the car. After about 5 minutes of being in the car she gave into the days events and went to sleep. It was a great 4th of July!!

Finally!!

I really have been meaning to get this blog all set up for several months now, but we have been in quite a mess around here. Being pregnant, chasing a two year old (literally chasing), and trying to finish a basement have been a bit overwhelming. Luckily the pregnant part and the basement part have ends in sight. As for the chasing a two year old, I don't think that will be changing anytime soon. I have really enjoyed keeping up with friends and family through their blogs so I am looking forward to doing it with ours.