Grose Family

Horrible

2010-07-13T15:30:00.001-06:00

I'm so horrible at this. I have so many pictures and stories I don't know where to begin. So right now all I'm going to say is I need to download all those pictures, when I do you'll be the first to know.

My Little Man

2010-03-19T14:23:00.004-06:00

It's been awhile since I've done a post about Zeke and he is doing so much that I figured I better get on it. He's 7 almost 8 months and I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. He is a very happy content baby and is always laughing. He doesn't sleep great but at least he's happy. He is crawling all over the place and sometimes I can't keep up. I forgot how much work it is to have a crawler in the house, especially with my girls small toys laying around. He has two teeth on the bottom and one is breaking through on top. He loves his sisters and is always laughing at Genna. When Andrew is in sight Zeke just lights up. He adores Andrew and all Andrew has to do is look at him and he gets a huge smile. He also says dada and baba. He is now pulling himself up into a standing position, he sits on his own and will hold his bottle. He is bringing so much joy into our house and I'm so in love with my baby boy. Now I just need him to say mom.

This is for you Ang.

2010-02-28T08:01:00.017-07:00

So I was out with friends last night and my good friend Angie told me that if I didn't update my blog soon she was going to dump me. So this gave me the motivation I needed to finally start blogging again. So much has happened over the past few months I'll just do some quick summaries.

November for Thanksgiving we went to North Carolina to visit my brother Ryan and his family for two weeks. With a little side trip to Myrtle Beach SC. It was so fun for all of our girls to be able to play together. We always miss them so much and wish we lived closer to them.

December was our normal hustle and bustle of Christmas time. Lots of shopping and lots of family parties. The girls didn't ask for much and I think its the first Christmas that we didn't go absolutely crazy. We decided that less is more this year. They always receive so much that they get completely overwhelmed. From Santa Genesee got a princess vanity/desk. It's really cute, it turns from a desk to a piano and came with a few instruments. Kameryn got a guitar and she loves playing it, especially with Andrew. He told her one day that he would tune it for her and instead of her hearing tune she heard toot. So now she is always asking him to "toot" her guitar. She told me the other day she couldn't play her guitar because no one has tooted it for her. So funny! Zeke had a good Christmas as well but pretty oblivious to what was going on.

January we got to go to Orlando to DisneyWorld and Universal. We went with Andrews family and had SO much fun. It was especially fun this year because our girls are tall enough to ride just about every ride they wanted to and they loved almost all of them. We took them on Tower of Terror. Genna was terrified the first time and then ended up going about 5 more times. Kami was a bit hesitant to go on the rides and a lot of them really scared her but she was brave and tried just about every one. Zeke made me proud he is a really good traveler. He would sleep for a few hours everyday when we'd get to the park and would just chill all day in the stroller. He also did amazing on the flights to and from Orlando. He's a great baby.

And in February just a week and a half after we got home from FL. Andrew took me to NYC. We had such a great time. Other than our honeymoon we've never been on a trip just the two of us and this trip came at a great time for that. I had so much fun just spending time with him. We've both been to NYC before so there was no feeling of we have to go see this or that. We did a lot of sleeping in and relaxing, we went to Little Italy and Chinatown for the bargain shopping, we did a double decker bus tour of uptown and downtown, we walked through Central Park, saw a few movies (we never get to go to movies), had frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity the same place as in the movie, ate the BEST hamburgers at the Shake Shack, ate AMAZING steaks at Ruths Chris and Andrew was convinced that Hulk Hogan and his daughter were sitting behind us (I promise it wasn't, but he doesn't believe me), hung out in the hotel room and watched the Superbowl, went to the Bodies exhibit.. that's a must see if you can, went to Dylans candy store the biggest candy store I've ever been in, went to ground zero, went to a sinful restaurant Max Brenners full of chocolate desserts, and then we had to stay for a few more days because of the storm they called Blizzard of 2010. I think when it was all said and done we had cancelled or rearranged six flights, spent probably a total of 8 hours on the phone with a number of airlines, spent an extra $1000.00 for flights and hotel, was part of an FBI investigation on the flight to Denver, and slept in the Denver airport. And I wouldn't change a second of it. I had a great time!!!

Another few updates. Andrew has started a new business with his best friend Cam and they are doing extremely well. I'm am very proud of him and all of his time and effort that he's put into it so far and hope that he continues to succeed.

The girls are loving preschool. Kami is still excelling in her reading and we just registered her for Kindergarten this fall. They both have made friends and insist on having playdates almost weekly. I love listening to what they each learn everyday. Genna was telling Andrew and I about the president Aberton Lincoln and when she says the pledge of allegiance she says United Stakes of America. Neither of us correct her because it's just too cute.

And finally I took Zeke to his six month appointment. He weighs over 18 lbs and is 27 inches long. I thought for sure he'd be in the 80th to 90th percentile for height and weight but surprisingly he was only in the 50th. Crazy. He is growing up so fast and I can't believe that he is now 7 months old and has begun to crawl.

I've tried posting pics but my computer is being stubborn and I'm giving up. Sorry no pictures for now.

Halloween '09

2009-11-01T14:43:00.003-07:00

This is belated but that's no surprise to anyone I'm sure since I'm so late on all my posts lately. On Friday the 30th the kids and I went up to my parents and celebrated early. My mom had some really fun games prepared for the girls. We did pumpkin bowling and the girls decorated the pins, decorated sugar cookies, doughnut bobbing, a candy corn race, and we went out to dinner dressed up. The girls had so much fun.

Kami was Barbie Mariposa and Genna was Tinkerbell

On Halloween we went to dinner with Andrews family with all the kids dressed up. It was fun to see all the kids in their costumes. Later we took the girls trick or treating. They loved it! They raced to each house and Genna was so excited about every piece of candy that she got. Zeke was a little dragon, but we ended up staying home most of the night it was a bit chilly for him. When they got home they were just as excited to hand out candy.

Drake arrested Andrew and put him in his pig cruiser (side note Drake was just in D.C. and asked a secret service agent where he parked his pig cruiser..too funny!)

Kami, Dawson, Drake, Genna

All the kiddos. That was a task getting them all to stand still.

My sweet lil Zeke

The girls outside our friends Scott and Jodi's house.

October..really really long

2009-11-01T12:47:00.016-07:00

I could say that I'm so busy that I haven't had time to update my blog but I've just been lazy and now I'm feeling the pressure of updating and have a lot to write about.
Zeke is now 3 months and I can't believe how fast time is passing. He's smiling all the time and this past week he laughed for the first time...my favorite. At his two month appt he weighed in at 14 lbs 1 oz and 24 inches long. He is getting so big. Kami was 19 lbs at one year. He is a sweet baby and loves to cuddle he wants to be held all the time. The girls still adore him. Genna cannot keep her hands off him. Always touching his face and kissing him. It makes us crazy sometimes.

The girls are in preschool again and loving it! They are both doing really well in their classes. Kami is still learning to read and is doing so good. She impresses me. I'm proud of her. She loves to write notes and make pictures. She's very creative. Genna loves her class and hopes she is the special helper every day.

They are growing up so fast it makes me sad.

We made our annual trip to the Mabey Farm for pumpkins. Its something we have done with my family now for the past eight years and its something we all look forward to.

Uncle Shaun

Grandpa Rich and Grandma Terry

Kamis creation. She painted then we carved.

Sweet Sis.

Nothing Better

2009-10-05T20:55:00.003-06:00

It doesn't get any better than this. I love my kids!!!!

Sorry if that made you a bit sick, Kami wanted to hold the camera and wouldn't let me help.

Potty Joys

2009-09-19T19:00:00.004-06:00

One of the joys I have found with having small kids is the fact that you can NEVER go to the bathroom without someone either following you in or finding you before you have a chance to sit down. Today was no exception, I thought I had a few minutes so I made a bathroom break. Of course Kami found me and knocked on the door. Here's our conversation.
"Kami I'm going potty what do you need?"
"Mommy I wanted to show you something I made"
"Ok, when I'm done I'll come see"
Then there was a few seconds of silence.
"Mommy, are you ok?"
"Yes Kami I'm fine." I thought this was funny because I always ask her the same thing
"Mommy do you need help?"
Even funnier. "No Kami I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Oh how I love my little ones.

A Bit Too Helpful

2009-09-01T20:52:00.003-06:00

Tonight while I was doing dishes Zeke woke up and started crying. I asked Genna to go in and talk to him until I could get in there. I was drying my hands and realized that Zekes crying seemed to be getting closer. I started walking out of the kitchen and saw Genna walking down the hallway holding Zeke. I about had a heart attack. It was one of those situations where everything in you wants to freak out but somehow you remain calm in order to keep the situation from becoming worse. I walked over to her and took Zeke out of her arms and told her that I was proud of her for wanting to help but only mommy and daddy can pick up Zeke and carry him around. She was so happy that she had helped me out. Thinking about it I can't help but laugh and be sick to my stomach at the same time. I can only imagine what it looked like her trying to pick him up. I think its cute that she wants to be helpful and was so proud. On the flip side it makes me sick that at any point she could have dropped him. Ugh. Lets just say I'm really happy that as of this Friday we will be back home and Zeke will be in an actual crib so there is no way she'll be able to do that again.

Life with Zeke

2009-08-17T20:12:00.004-06:00

Life with Zeke has been good. He's been a typical newborn so far...sleeping, pooping, and eating. He has a cry that wakes the whole apartment building I'm sure of it. When he's really mad his cry makes my ears ring...no joke. He knows what he wants and he lets you know. The girls absolutely adore their baby brother. Kameryn is always MORE than willing to get the binky or anything else that I'm in need of. She gets so excited when his eyes are open. Genna loves to tell me how cute she thinks he is, "oh mommy he is so cute," "He's a super super cute baby mommy." I think its really sweet. I've been breastfeeding and decided to switch to the bottle. I wish that I would have just done the bottle from the get go. He was very upset with me at first and didn't do very good switching, we had a really long night the first night. Once we figured out what bottle he likes he's been much happier with the switch. We are all adjusting well and enjoying our new little Zeke.

His big sisters love to play with him

Grandma Terry...he was trying to find something to eat.

His hair was styled like Andrews but its hard to see. You can actually kindof see it in his shadow

Andrew is trying to teach him young

This pic just makes me laugh

So sweet.

Our baby boy!

2009-08-01T21:29:00.003-06:00

Our sweet little baby boy is here!!!! Ezekial Andrew Grose was born July 31 2009 at 11:30 PM weighing in at 8 lbs 7 ounces and 21 inches long. He is healthy and doing great. We already love and adore him!!

Seriously!?

2009-07-21T14:49:00.003-06:00

Why is it when people see a pregnant woman they have the uncontrollable urge to say out loud whatever stupid comment they are thinking???? I know that my belly is large and I do stick out A LOT. It does look like I stuck a ball up my shirt. Look at me from behind and you don't know I'm pregnant, I turn around and BAM where did that belly come from. BUT...I will never understand why random strangers who would never even consider uttering a word to you otherwise feel like they need to make comments to a pregnant girl that is already fully aware of the stares and comments that are being made around her. When a creepy man walking past me says while laughing "You're going to pop!" I want to punch him in the groin. Or when I'm walking out of the doctors office and I hear a patient say to another "WOW she's huge" Seriously you can't wait til the door is shut and I can't hear you....

Did I mention pregnancy makes me irritable.......

Ryans visit

2009-07-15T18:14:00.004-06:00

My brother Ryan works for Braun Racing which is a Nascar team and on the 10th there was a race in Joliet IL which is about 30 min from us. He had told me that there wasn't any reason from his job stand point to come out but he had worked it with boss and was able to come out anyway. I wasn't going to complain. He flew in on Wednesday and we had all day Thursday to play. He had never been to downtown Chicago so I figured it was a perfect time for him to see it. I had looked online and debated doing the boat tour but I don't feel that you see that much of the city. Its great for seeing most of the buildings but you don't get the feel of the city. I found one of the companies that does the double decker bus tours. I thought it was funny at first I always chuckle a bit at the tourists sitting on top snapping pictures and I thought of the movie The Breakup with Vince Vaughn where he is a tour guide for a double decker bus company..too funny.

We decided to try it out. It has 18 stops throughout the city and we could get on and off as we pleased. It seemed like a great way for him to really see the city. It was perfect!!! I would recommend it to anybody, and you definitely have to sit on top. The girls loved it, I loved it and I believe Ryan loved it. We saw and learned so much of Chicago. The only downfall was my camera battery died just after we started so I couldn't be one of the tourists I chuckle at. At one point we were at the front of the bus by the guide. He asked Genna what her favorite part of Chicago was she told him riding the school bus. She also loved the fact that he had handed her the mic to hold on to while he walked to the back of the bus. Kami was ticked that he hadn't talked to her. She said to him "Don't you know I'm here too?" Oh, I love my Kami. Kami also started her random humming and the tour guide thought it was really funny and had her hum into the mic. Everyone clapped for her, it was cute. It was a lot of fun.

At the "Bean" in Millenium Park

Friday was the day of the race. Ryan had arranged pit passes for Andrew, Cameron, and Scott. Cameron was as giddy as a kid on Christmas, Andrew was excited and Scott needed some convincing. Apparently Scott didn't realize it was a legit Nascar race and didn't think it was going to be as much fun as they had. His father in law is a huge fan and they had Scott call him to get his opinion, apparently his father in law was incredibly jealous and that convinced Scott it was going to be a fun thing. So funny! They got to wear the headsets that the crews wear and could hear the conversations between the driver and the crew the whole race. They got to meet the drivers, stand out with the teams before the race and were in the center of all the excitement the whole day. They all had a great time and want to go again. Thanks Ryan for doing that for the guys!!!!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-15T17:32:00.005-06:00

I know this is belated but I still wanted to write about it. Every summer since Andrew has started this job I just know that we won't spend it together, and if he says "I'll try to be home early enough to do something," I don't hold my breath. I know most of you who read my blog understand what I'm talking about. Anyways, this year I wasn't even sure that the girls and I were going to be able to do anything either the weather was horrible. I was a bit bummed because I had found a couple parades in the area but it was raining and I didn't think it was worth trying. We were just hanging out in the apartment when I heard police and fire truck sirens. It was really close and I wondered what in the world was going on. I walked outside and was shocked to see that a parade was going right through our apartment complex, we were able to watch right outside our door. It worked out perfect, I couldn't have been happier. We hung out for most of the day not doing too much. I was really excited when Andrew called and said he was on his way home. We were able to go out to eat and watch the fireworks together!!!!! Even Kami was brave and sat through the whole display. She hates fireworks. Cameron had bribed her, he told her if she was brave and sat through the whole thing he would give her a dollar...it worked. If only I could do that every time I needed her to do something. All in all it turned out to be a great 4th.

Sweet Taya!

Ashley and Taya. The girls were able to enjoy some pops before the fireworks. Thanks Ashley!

Kami took this pic for us.

Baby Update

2009-07-10T15:05:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to give everyone an update on the baby. The last few times I've gone to the Dr. he's been really sweet to tell me how big I am and that he thinks the baby is going to very big as well. Something I love to hear. NOT! Every pregnant woman loves hearing how huge she looks. Although as much as I try to deny it, I really do think with this one even more than with the girls, I am big. My belly seems to stick out quite a bit more. Anyways, my Dr. has brought up a few times about inducing me because my delivery with Genna went so fast that he doesn't want me to miss getting an epidural..thank heavens for that. Today at my appointment I brought it up and asked if by chance we could set a date and to my pleasant surprise he said yes! He checked his schedule and we are set for August 4. Its so nice to have a date to look forward to. I'm glad to know that I will not go past that date and maybe just maybe our little one will decide to come on his own before that.

Happy 8th!!!

2009-07-03T13:53:00.004-06:00

Monday June 29th was our 8th anniversary! Its been a great 15 years.. oops I mean 8 it just feels a lot longer (just kidding!). I didn't think we would do much because of the hours Andrew works and it was a Monday. Andrew never takes a day off in the summer...its rare if he does. Andrew called me and said don't make plans for Sunday and you'll need to pack all of us an overnight bag. YEAH! I was so excited and I absolutely love surprises. We got up Sunday morning and left it was about an hour away and we ended up in Gurnee, IL at the hotel Key Lime Cove. Its a resort hotel with an indoor waterpark. We checked in and went straight to the water. It had a pool just for little ones with small slides, a huge hot tub, a wave pool, lazy river, waterslides and a playground with all sorts of water buckets and waterslides that the girls could go down. Once they realized they could go and go on their own that was the end of it. They had a great time going from one slide to another. Andrew mentioned to me that this probably wasn't the way I wanted to spend my anniversary with the kids and all but to me it was perfect! I loved it. We had a great time. I would recommend this place to anyone. We played in the arcade..Andrew and I really liked the Deal or No Deal game. Which by the way I won more tickets than Andrew. We also took the girls to storytime and they got to color and play games. We ended the day with ice cream at the ice cream parlor. So tasty! After we put the girls to bed Andrew introduced me to a new game on facebook which is now my new addiction. Bejeweled Blitz. I cannot stop playing and I'm not that good. Its horrible. He and I played it together for a couple hours and had a lot of fun. Might sound lame but that was probably one of my favorite times of our weekend. Monday morning we woke up, ate breakfast and hit the waterpark until Andrew had to leave for work. It was an awesome anniversary and I'm so thankful that Andrew planned something like that for all of us. After 8 years I love him more than I ever thought I could, I love my kids, and the life he has provided and is providing for our family. I am very lucky to have him in my life, he's a great and thoughtful husband and a fantastic dad. Happy Anniversary Andrew!

Best Buddies

2009-07-03T13:21:00.003-06:00

My brother Ryan and his wife Whitney had an amazing opportunity to travel to New Zealand and Australia for two weeks. My brother has always wanted to visit Australia so when he called and asked where or what our plans would be when they were planning on going I told him we would watch the girls however long they needed us to. The only problem was we were going to be in Chicago and they were planning on taking the girls to Utah. Andrew and I talked and decided to save them the hassle of finding multiple babysitters and we would take them the whole two weeks if they wanted to fly them to Chicago. It worked out and we got play for two weeks. It was a great opportunity for us and our girls, for those of you who don't know my brother and his family live in North Carolina so we rarely get to see them. They visit Utah for four weeks every summer but we are always somewhere else. My girls were so excited to play with their cousins. They were in heaven. I was a bit nervous being eight months pregnant and adding three more kids to the mix but they were so good. Very polite and helpful. We were able to do some fun things..weather permitting. We went to the Brookfield Zoo, Shedd Aquarium, the park several times, the library (had to find something on all the rainy days), the pool, Ty Warner splash pad and Navy Pier. I thought it was so funny whenever we went out people would just assume that all five were mine. I would definitely take them as mine but seriously!? When we went to Navy Pier Andrew was in the front of the pack and I brought up the rear there was a couple sitting on a bench as we passed and she began to count..one..two..three...and so on when she got to me I could hear her say "Five and one on the way!!!" Too funny. The girls all had a best buddy which changed daily sometimes multiple times a day. Genna could never remember their names which always made me laugh she'd say "that girl over there." My girls who almost always go to bed without a problem could never settle down because they were so excited their cousins were here. I was a bit shocked at how much food we went through and the extra work only 3 more brings on but it was such a great experience for all of us. I started missing them the second they got on the plane. I hope they don't think I'm too ornery (its the pregnancy!) I loved getting to know them better and having them all to myself. I hope they had as much fun as my girls and I did.

Lincoln Park

2009-07-03T12:36:00.008-06:00

This is Genna pretending to be Ariel coming out of the water singing "Part of that World" so funny!

About a month ago we decided to take a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. We had so much fun! Its a free zoo and I was surprised at how big and how many animals there were. We also found a little farm animal petting zoo it had cows, goats, chickens and mini ponies. Andrew and I thought that it was a bit funny that people would be so excited to see these types of animals, we then figured that most of the people that go to Lincoln Park are city folk and never really have the opportunity to see these types of animals on a regular basis. We then ate $4 hot dogs before going to the zoo. Gotta love city prices! The girls loved the zoo. Kami brought her binoculars and Genna brought a little camera and they had to look thru the binoculars and take a picture of every animal we passed. I thought it was really cute. We were watching the Silverback gorilla and the other monkeys in the cage when out of the blue the silverback started chasing the other monkeys. He was upset about something! He caught one of them and I thought for a moment the smaller one was going to get pounded. It was really interesting to watch. We had a really fun time. I love taking trips downtown. I always appreciate Andrew giving up a quiet sunday to go downtown to fight traffic and people just so the girls...well mainly me can sight see. Thanks babe!

NY Times

2009-06-12T08:40:00.003-06:00

About a month ago a NY Times reporter came to Andrews office and did an article on what they do. The article is in the June 12th issue titled Door to Door as Missionaries, Then as Salesmen. Here's the link
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/us/12coldcalls.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Don't forget to check out the other pics with the article right under the main pic.

Lil Miss Jokester

2009-05-28T12:55:00.002-06:00

So you may not find this joke as funny as I do. Maybe it was just because Kami came up with it all by herself that made it so funny to me. But here you go.
She asked "What do you do when you have 14 kids...."
What?
She replied "You sell them to other people"
ha ha ha.
It still makes me laugh!

FINALLY!!!!!

2009-05-23T09:23:00.002-06:00

Oh you have no idea how happy I am that I am finally caught up on my blogging. I recently just posted seven new posts. So enjoy all my catching up! Hopefully that won't happen again.

Morton Arboretum

2009-05-23T08:58:00.002-06:00

We are in Chicago now doing the summer thing. So far its been great. The apartments are decent..some of the better ones we've been in. It's been nice coming back to a familiar area instead of something completely new. I haven't had to find all the necessities...Target, the mall, Walmart. And what makes it even better is we are out here with some really good friends. For me that is a summer make or break. Its nice to always have someone that wants to go to the park, mall, take a walk, just to pass the time. And comforting having someone that can relate with me about this job. They are my extended family because we get so close. Anyways. The other day we took all the kids to the Morton Arboretum. It has lots of fun outdoor activities for the kids. Playgrounds, a little stream to play in, ponds, walking trails, a maze. Just a really fun place. We spent the majority of our time at the stream. The kids loved playing in the water and moving the rocks. The pond had hundreds of little tadpoles and Kami wanted to try to catch some. She got right in there and she actually caught one. I love the picture I got of her with it because it shows just how excited she was that she did it. It was a good day!

Mothers Day Program

2009-05-22T16:08:00.002-06:00

Genna and Mrs. Wright

Genna and her class. Notice anything....she was the only girl in her class.

She's so sweet.

Kameryn and Mrs. Hathorne

They learned sign language with their songs

Kami and her class

I went to their Mothers Day program which was also for my girls the last day of school. It was so fun to watch them sing the songs they learned and they did sign language as well. The only hard part was they are in different classes and doing the program at the same time so I had to keep running back and forth. But they did so good and it was so cute! They all gave the moms a plant which my mom adopted and hopefully the girls don't remember them when we get home in Sept. my mom doesn't think they'll survive. My girls and I have really enjoyed this preschool. It has been such a great experience and I can't wait for them to go back in the Fall. They loved the teachers and the activities and both of them have learned so much. Thanks Learning Dynamics!

A first for the girls

2009-05-22T15:51:00.002-06:00

I had a dentist appointment scheduled before we left for the summer and my mom is the office manager so she scheduled the girls to see if they would let him do anything on them. On the way over I told the girls that the dentist wanted to look at their teeth and count them, thats all they tried to do the last time. Kami wouldn't even let them near her. Kami said that she would try to let them count her teeth this time but if she didn't like it she would tell them to stop. I went first and when it was the girls turn Kami was really brave and let Genna go first. hahaha. Debbie let Kami help her put the bib on genna and let her help get things ready. It was really cute. Then she helped Genna climb onto chair. It was really cute Genna was trying to climb up and Kami helped her by pushing her butt til she basically fell into the chair. Debbie laughed and told my mom that she was going to start helping all the patients that way. Dr Drake came in and gave her a mirror so she could watch and he counted her teeth. He then told her he was going to tickle her teeth with the toothbrush. I was so surprised that she let him clean her teeth. She laid there and let him do whatever he needed to do. I was so happy. Then it was Kamis turn, I thought for sure she'd freak and wouldn't let him do anything, but sure enough he counted her teeth and then she let him clean them. She was a bit apprehensive but she let him finish. I was proud of them. I know its a little weird to be so proud of a teeth cleaning, but some little things are big things to a mom and I was really proud of how brave they were.

Our new tree

2009-05-22T15:37:00.003-06:00

We had planted a tree here before but Andrew and I are horrible at yard work and with us being gone during the summers our yard always suffers and the poor tree died. But this year before Andrew left we did a ton of yard work. We pulled out our rose bushes, I loved the roses but they were taking over our front porch and we added more cement. We pulled out all the bushes front and back and took out our curbing and replaced it all with grass. And even though grass should be fool proof we still kill it but at least now we won't have dead grass, dead bushes and weeds. It should look somewhat better this year. The girls loved going and picking out a tree and helping dad planting a new one. They were very proud of their hard work.

Disney and Seaworld

2009-05-22T14:34:00.007-06:00

Our first afternoon at Disney! We had a blast, the girls were so excited to see everything.

California Adventure in the bug area! Kami was so brave with rides and even rode Splash Mountain...I thought for sure she would cry but Andrew said she LOVED it!

Sorry I don't know how to rotate my pics. Jami at the Shamu show hoping not to get wet...we were in the splash zone but got lucky... not one drop.

The kids enjoying the freezing cold water. We tried to keep them dry but that's a pretty impossible task with little ones and water.

Sorry, enjoy this cute pic sideways. Andrew and sis enjoying the turtles at Seaworld.

We got to stand in line for two hours for this cute picture. It made the girls happy so it was worth it to me. They only have 3 princesses at a time and Kami kept telling me Snow White was the one she really wanted to see. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief when she was one of the 3 when we finally made it to them.

So cute!

This was a highlight for the girls they were so excited to get their faces painted. I thought they looked really cute!

We had a really good time going to Cali with Andrews family. We spent a night in Vegas on the way down at our new favorite place to stay Tahiti Village. They have really nice rooms and fun swimming pools. We've yet to get down there when it was warm to swim but the kids braved it on the way back home. I wouldn't even get in my suit..too cold for me. We spent four nights by Disneyland and had 3 day hopper passes. I loved it! It was so nice to be able to go to the parks and not worry about having to see everything in one shot. I think its how we'll do it from now on. The girls loved the teapots and wanted to ride it over and over...thanks Grandma J and Danica for riding with them. We didn't do too many of the rides, with me being pregnant and Andrew didn't really care so we just let the kids decide what we did. We played in the playgrounds for most of the last day at Toon Town. The second day we went over to California Adventure. I've never been there and I would have loved to ride some of those rides. Next time. The kids loved all the rides in the bug area. We debated on getting Kami on Tower of Terror because she did so good on Splash Mountain but I didn't want to freak her out so we opted out. Almost everyone that went got super sick one day and so Andrew and I decided to just spend the day by the pool. It was probably one of our favorite days the whole week. It was so relaxing and the girls loved it. We literally were at the pool all day. Andrew and I decided to go out to dinner that night to Outback, we got our food and Kami said she was tired so she laid down on my lap and within minutes she was asleep, Genna wanted to do the same and she fell asleep as well. Andrew and I took advantage and took our time eating and enjoying our meals. They both slept thru dinner, the ride home, us carrying them to the room and the whole night. I couldn't believe it! After Disney we drove to San Diego for Seaworld. That was my favorite day. I love Seaworld. Mainly the Shamu show. We had perfect seats and the girls were in awe. Kami after the show said she wanted to be a whale trainer when she grows up...how cute is that. They loved seeing all the animals. They even threw fish to the sea lions, they didn't like the smell after but they had fun. It was another great day. We were going to spend two nights in San Diego but the hotel wasn't fabulous and we all decided we wanted to go back to Vegas and enjoy the pools at Tahiti Village. So when we were done with Sea World we loaded up and took off. Driving home always seems so long but all in all it was a great vacation. I had a really good time. It was nice to have one last get away before Andrew left for the summer. He left a day after we got home. So it was nice to be able to have some time with him. Thanks Jami for always getting the ball rolling on family vacations.

Pedicures!

2009-05-21T14:30:00.004-06:00

We had a fun vacation planned to Disneyland/Seaworld with Andrews family the first of April but first the girls and I had some important business to take care of. We went with all the girls in Andrews family to get pedicures for our trip. We had to have pretty toes! Its a must. It was Kameryn and Genesees first time getting them done and it was so fun! They felt like princesses. Kami laughed the whole time because it tickled so much. The employess thought it was really funny to be doing such little toes. They picked out their own colors and were so excited when they put flowers on their toes. It was really fun for me to watch....the bill not so fun. Who would think they'd charge you full price for such little feet, but they do! Yikes.

Hawaii

2009-05-21T14:10:00.003-06:00

Ok so I know this is super old news but I wanted to post it because if I ever make one of those books that everyone talks about I want it included. So bear with me. Andrew had an incentive that if he sold a certain amount of systems in the month of February he and I would get to go to Hawaii...airfare and hotel paid for. Who wouldn't try for that right?? Well being the amazing person Andrew is he sold that amount and we got to go. We decided to take the kids...and that was an awesome decision. We had so much fun! They loved playing at the beach, it was so nice to just chill with them and play with them in the sand. One day we drove to the North Shore and watched the waves..we missed the really big waves but what we saw we were happy with. It was perfect timing for us because it was right before the summer/crazy time of year and before the baby arrives. It was so much fun to take the kids and have a nice relaxing few days just the four of us. The girls are still talking about how much they love Hawaii. Thanks Scott and Thanks Andrew for an amazing vacation!!!!!

AWKWARD. . . . .

2009-04-20T14:21:00.003-06:00

I just had to post my awkward moment because I was laughing inside but I was really embarrassed just because it didn't look so good. We had a pinnacle service tech scheduled to come to our house today to fix a problem, my girls were begging me to go to one of their friends homes to play. I had called her mom and left a message, in the meantime the tech showed up to work on the alarm. The little girls mom called back and said that Abby could play but if she could come to our house it would be better because her baby was sleeping...fine, no problem. Her husband, our home teacher, was going to drop her off. So we waited for her to come over and the service tech was finishing up. Abby and her dad showed up and we were talking at the front door about how Andrew had just left last week..this and that, and out from the back part of my house walks the service tech, he shakes my hand says thanks and walks past my home teacher and out the door. My home teacher looked at him and then at me with this look like......well i don't know what went through his head. I didn't say anything and just went on with the conversation we were having. I may be making more out of it than it is but at that moment in my mind it didn't look all that great and it felt really awkward, my home teacher probably didn't even think twice about it but you never know. ......

Its a.........

2009-03-17T15:41:00.003-06:00

We went to the doctor on Monday to find out what our little peanut is going to be. We took the girls because I thought they would really enjoy seeing the baby and hopefully make it a little more real for them. So we all filed into the room and I layed down. She started by showing us the head and as she moved down there was no mistaking that we are having our first BOY! I couldn't believe it, I think I even let out a little scream. I was very prepared for her to tell us it is another girl. He wanted to make sure that there was no mistaking he was a male. Andrew told his mom that it looked as if he was spread eagle and had his feet wrapped around his head...pretty funny. We are all very excited. I'm still a bit shocked still but can't wait to go buy some cute boy clothes. Kami was upset for a bit she is ok with the baby being a boy now. So there you have it.. we get to have a little boy in our family and I feel like I'm starting all over because I have no clue what to do with a boy. :).

Proud Parent

2009-02-25T09:37:00.002-07:00

This is a bit late but I just had to say how proud I am of Kami. I went a couple weeks ago to a Parent Teacher conference for Kami at her preschool. Her teacher Mrs. Hathorne said she is a delight to have in class. All the girls want to be by Kami and when other kids aren't doing something right she loves to help them (I thought that was funny...she is always correcting Genna). The school does testing for each of the kids in the beginning of the year, middle and I am assuming in May. Mrs. Hathorne showed me Kameryns test she passed without missing one question. She told me that out of her 24 students only Kami and one other child were able to do that. I didn't know what to say. She also said that she wanted Kami to start reading! I couldn't believe it. I know its not unsual for a four year old to be reading but it just makes me so proud that MY four year old is reading. She absolutely loves it and very rarely needs help sounding out the words. It is coming to her so naturally that I don't know where it came from. It makes me so happy that we put her in preschool and not just any preschool but the one she goes to. I think it has been and will continue to be a great experience for her.

My Valentines Getaway!

2009-02-16T09:59:00.004-07:00

Andrew decided for Valentines Day he would take me away to Vegas. We flew out Friday the 13th and returned the 15th. Short but it was FABULOUS! We got in early Friday and went to our hotel..Tahiti Village. So fun, I recommend it to all. It was a bit chilly so we didn't get to swim but they have a huge pool and a separate lazy river. It looked so fun we are going to take the kids. The rooms are super nice. We went with some friends johnny and Ashley when they got in we went out to eat and did a bit of gambling. We were high rollers and went to a casino that did ten cent roulette. It was so fun. I would win a big stack that felt like a bunch of money but was only like a dollar fifty. It was great. It was totally ghetto. Nasty people and dirty but hey we didn't lose hundreds :). The rest of Friday we just chilled. It was so relaxing to have nothing to do and no kids to worry about, although I do have to admit this vacation I did get really homesick for the kids. Saturday we stayed at the Venetian. I love that hotel. I'd never seen the Wynn so we walked around that for a bit and then Andrew and I went and hung out in the room for a bit. We went to dinner at the Lavo in the Palazzo. It was a nice place. The food was pretty good, a bit expensive. What I thought was weird about that place was it was a restaurant, dance club and bath house...(huh). We were half way thru dinner when I noticed in one corner there was a girl in a bathtub (swimsuit on) washing herself. Little strange. After dinner we had tickets to the Blue Man Group. That was a great show. Very entertaining! One part I loved was near the end just above the top row they had roll after roll of paper towel and they unraveled it so people passed it from row to row and you were completely covered in paper towel til it got all the way down to the front. Sounds weird I know but it was so funny. After that is was past midnight and we had to be up at six to make our flight so we hit the sack. It was so nice to take a mini vacation. Totally needed. I really appreciate Andrew doing that for me. Love you!

"Andrews work week"

2009-01-26T16:45:00.004-07:00

Andrew went to Vegas last week to get some work in. And as we all know you can't go to Vegas and not play too. They were given the incentive to sell one system on Thursday and they would get to stay in the Penthouse suite at the Wynn Hotel. Of course Andrew rose to the occasion and had one crazy night. While going up to their room they passed none other than Mr. Donald Trump. Andrew of course wouldn't pass the chance to talk to him. He said " Mr. Trump how are you?" He replied with "good thanks" and Andrew said all he could think of after that was " I like your show!" Ha ha ha. Hey at least he got to meet and talk to him. Andrew said he was actually really nice. The suite looked super nice and looks like they had tons of fun.
He told me later that while at dinner he choked on some food which almost needed the help of the Heimlich (i don't know if thats right). While two of the guys were pounding on his back he was able to catch his breath. He said that the whole time he was choking he kept thinking "please god, don't let me die at a buffet" I thought that was pretty funny. Then it was off to endless hours of gambling. Apparently there was a hot table and they decided to bet money on it. I think it was roulette and it kept hitting red. So everyone kept thinking this time its got to hit black.....wrong! I guess it hit red several times in a row and everyone lost large amounts of money. I won't tell you how much Andrew lost but my basement could have some really cute decorations with what he played with ;).
Oh well at least he was there for work....right??? And to top the night off he told me some not so nice looking lesbians propositioned him for sex. Ah. All in all a perfect Las Vegas night. I wouldn't expect anything less.

Sledding

2009-01-11T15:56:00.002-07:00

We took the girls sledding for the first time and they absolutely loved it! It was so much fun

I love this pic of Kami, it was her first time down by herself. So funny

Christmas and Pregnant!

2008-12-28T17:45:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!! We had a fabulous Christmas. The girls are at a fun age everything is so magical and such a surprise. I love the wonder that kids have. Its fun to just watch them be so overwhelmed with everything that they received. They had the elves visit for the 12 days and every morning they could not wait to check their sock to see what they got. Genna would say some of the cutest things..."oh that is just what I wanted." "oh my gosh, I'm going to have to thank Santa and the elves, oh my gosh." She was so cute. They both loved Christmas morning and couldn't get enough of everything they got. I think for me Christmas is much more fun when you have little ones. I think at times I was more excited than they were. I couldn't sleep Christmas eve. I'll post pics and maybe a video later if its not too long. We also went to Temple Square and that was a fun night. We rode Trax into downtown and that was the highlight for the girls. We got to the lights and walked around for about a half hour and got back on the train. I had to laugh because the majority of our night was spent on Trax. It took about 45 min. each way. When we got back to Sandy we ate at Five Guys. I would reccommend that to anyone! Fabulous hamburgers! We had a really good time.
And surprise to all who don't know we are pregnant! I'm so excited! Even though we were trying and Andrew knew it was coming it always takes him a bit longer to not be shocked and be excited. But he is excited too! We are only 7 weeks and my first doctors appt is tomorrow. I haven't been too sick but most days I'm nauseated all day. Sometimes I wish I could just throw up and move on but instead I walk around with an upset stomach all day. But I'm not going to complain, I signed up for this and it could be A LOT worse. I've already had cravings....OJ, hamburgers, sausage, bacon.... I hope all had a fabulous Christmas and you have a great New Year!!

Rhino Fun

2008-12-10T22:46:00.003-07:00

We decided to take the rhino out and have some fun considering it has been so warm lately. We got all ready and drove all the way up American Fork Canyon just to be told the trails were closed for winter. Whoops. We weren't ready to go home and the girls were itching to go for a ride so we drove all the way out to Five Mile Pass. We had so much fun. The girls absolutely love it. They giggle the whole time. Genna kept yelling to Andrew "Daddy we are winning!" Not quite sure why she kept saying that but it was cute. We stopped for a bit and threw rocks and had a potty break. Andrew took a really funny picture of my backside while I was holding Genna as she was going potty with her bare bum hanging out. I almost posted it but I didn't want my 3 year olds bum on the internet. I know... over protective mom. We messed around for awhile and we went down in a ravine when we started to go up we had a hard time going up over a rock. Andrew had to get out while I acted like I knew what I was doing as he pushed and I gunned it. When we would move back I could swear that we were going to roll. I was pretty nervous. Andrew brought his pellet gun and the girls LOVED shooting it. All in all we had a great day.

Oh baby

2008-11-25T20:10:00.003-07:00

I just wanted to write and tell everyone that Andrew has a new love and here it is!

Finally another entry!

2008-11-10T20:59:00.010-07:00

Sorry to all who look at my blog and never see anything new. Life is crazy...I know life is crazy for all but I have a problem when I get on to blog its not a quick entry it ends up being two hours because I get so intrigued by everyone else's blog that I can't stop reading. We are doing great! Andrew is finally home from Chicago and he had a very successful summer. I am so proud of his dedication and hard work. It paid off this year! We had a great Halloween, Kami was in love with it.. she said "Mommy Halloween is my favorite holiday." They didn't want to stop trick or treating even when it was raining. Both girls are celebrating their birthdays this week and I cannot believe that Kami is 4 and Genna is 3. Its unreal. Kami is no longer a baby and even though I try to baby her sometimes she is more than capable of doing whatever I ask her to do. She loves to help! When we have another baby she is going to be a HUGE help. Shes a little mommy. Genna is so so sweet. She is Kami's little shadow. They play so well together most times. She loves to snuggle, be held, kissed and hugged. Although I'm a bit at my wits end... she has been potty training and she is doing great with #1 but going #2 is a struggle. With the exception of the last two days she has only gone poop in the potty 4 times in the last month and a half. So if anyone has any good suggestions please let me know!! Other than that we are doing great and super excited for the holidays.

Romo Mullet

2008-09-23T15:12:00.005-06:00

If I can get this to work..this is a video that Cam recorded at the Green Bay/Dallas game on sunday. Andrew told me the guy with the mullet was completely drunk and making a fool of himself the whole game. He kept giving Dallas fans high fives Andrew decided to mess with him and told the guy to give him a high five when he went to do it Andrew turned his back to him, which caused this fight. I can't get it to show on the blog, click the blank box and it will take you to the video on youtube.com. I'm still trying to figure this all out. If anyone wants to teach me, I would love that! :)

Exciting?....Not

2008-09-22T17:06:00.003-06:00

Well I don't have any new exciting things to write about but I figured if I'm going to keep this up I need to keep posting or it will get put aside like all my other projects. We are really excited to see Andrew on saturday night. We get to have him home for alittle over 24hrs. I'll take what I can get. It will be really nice to see him. Kami is going to have her very first primary program. She even has a part : I can pray. She has to sit up on the stand the whole meeting. I am actually really nervous about this. We have been avoiding sacrament a lot because we don't want to deal with it, I know lazy ...so our kids aren't the most reverent and they aren't good at sitting still for very long like two minutes. Its going to be very interesting to see how she does. I can almost guarantee she will be the kid that everyone is laughing at, my face will be bright red the whole meeting and andrew will probably be fuming. I'll let you all know how it goes, maybe, hopefully she will surprise us. I've been trying to potty train Genna but she likes being a baby. Everytime I bring it up or try putting her on the toilet she cries. I guess she'll be ready when she's ready but I'm almost out of diapers and refuse to buy more. They are both loving ballet and Kami loves preschool although its like pulling teeth to get her to tell me about it.

My first blog

2008-09-08T22:30:00.000-06:00

Well I'm finally trying to blog! I can't promise that I will always be on top of it but at least I am going to try. My family is changing so much and the girls are so active and now have their own little social lives that I thought I should share it with all that wanted to read about it. Kameryn is now going to preschool and both girls are in ballet. Kami is loving preschool although she told me she thinks learning is boring. She also enjoyed ballet until the teacher wouldn't let her be first every time and then she never wanted to go back. That's Kami for you! Genna on the other hand loved it and also didn't have much to say about it. She will gladly show her new moves to anyone that wants to watch. Andrew is still slaving away in IL. He is doing amazing this year, I'm so proud of him!!! He will be there til the end of October and we miss him like crazy! I keep hoping he will try to make it out for a weekend to visit. Well that's us in a nutshell.