SO...since we had a crazy wee we knew that we would have a crazy week getting the house clean and getting the kids back on their schedules but we never thought it would be like this! We are all sick with a cold so that makes us tired and grumpy. Because of that we aren't cleaning like we wanted too and just eating junk which makes us feel worse. I don't think any of us have been sleeping well at all. Atti has been doing really well although he is fussy from the cold and whenever he gets in trouble he begs for his bumpuh (Grandpa). Nix is a real handful this week. She is little Miss Negotiator and Miss Fits when she doesn't get her way. She usually shares really well but she keeps saying that she doesn't want to share. They aren't eating what I make and then they fuss for food but they don't even know what they want. Ugh. I wish there was a way to detox her of the goodies and how spoiled she got this week. Oh well. Good news though...She kept her diaper dry for the first time last night and Atti went in the potty for the first time. I think I'll leave the diaper off her tonight and see how that goes. With Atti...I have been using cloth diapers so I will just go with the flow and see if he shows more interest. Brandon is taking a half day today and tomorrow off. I am excited to relax with him. What's funny is that even though he's been working I feel like we've been together constantly because he's not in school till next week. WooHoo!! In a way I want him to take a semester off for the arrival of the baby and Budgets at work but he won't. I know that the hard work will pay off in the end but for now it's hard. So about the pregnancy/baby... He/She is measuring 2 weeks too big which is what Nix was at this time. In the end she was 4 weeks too big. I will be excited to have another big baby like her! I feel pretty good except for morning sickness a few times a week and I'm tired. My appetite is kicking in so I'm getting big fast! I love it! We decided not to get the second ultrasound unless problems arise so we are trying to find both boy and girl names. Here is where we are at... Brinna Kate or Edison, Baron, Errol...(Joseph might be a middle name) The name Brinna is so perfect but we are having a hard time with the boys name. I thought of Baron last night and I love it! It means nobleman or free warrior. It reminds me that we are of noble birth and that he is a Son of God. Brinna is kinda a play on my name. When you say Brittany fast it sounds like Brinny. I have always hated that the TT sound is silent so I put a twist on it and came up with Brinna. Pretty! I'm so excited to have to baby! I am already nesting and getting the room ready. All of the neutral clothes are in the baby's dresser and there's a box of boy/girl clothes that is sorted for when we get home from the hospital! Phoenix was fussing that she wanted the baby to come out (probably because she thought we were taking the baby out at the last Dr. appt). I told her that if the baby comes it will have to stay in the hospital and she was not happy about that. She said that she wants the baby to come live with us so that the baby can share a bed with her! How cute! She keep telling me to help the baby grow so that it can come out!

Happy Birthday Atticus!

OnDec 18th Atti turned 2! He has been so wonderful to have in our lives. His silly personality and his big bear hugs make my world!

Our Christmas...These pics are out of order so I'll give you a rundown of our wonderful week! on the 20th we went to Rainier to visit with My sister Jennifer's family and Brayton James (my bro) was there visiting before he goes on his mission on Jan 5. We had a great time and the kids were thrilled to be with their cousins! We left there and stayed one night with Brandon's parents before we got home on the night of the 23rd. We got the kids to bed that night and for the first time ever we were able to put presents under the tree. When the kids got up the next morning I was already awake because I was SO excited about my big secret gift for Brandon so I decided to get started on Christmas Eve breakfast. I told the kids to wake up Daddy so we can open presents! They were confused and didn't want to wake him up. I'm not sure they understand presents yet. We got him up (as you see in the video) and we opened presents. After that we had a yummy breakfast. Brandon's parents and brothers soon came and we were opening more presents. After that we used the little wooden Nativity that I got to tell that story and we watched "The Nativity". We then had doughnuts and watched "The Grinch". What a fun day!! The next day we went to Pullman to have Christmas with Brandon's sister and her family. We had a great time there but got tuckered out quickly from all the traveling. The kids had a great time playing with Carson and Tino. We had a great turkey dinner (the turkey Brandon won for the Turkey Shoot during Thanksgiving). We left that night and Brandon's parents and brothers came back with us to spend Sunday and Monday morning with us. Oh yeah and we gave talks on Sunday. Whew! What a great week but I'm ready for a nap!!

belly pic

This is my belly at 21 weeks!! Cute Huh!! I really feel blessed that I am pregnant with my 3rd and still looking good! I have been using the elliptical almost every weekday and it has made a big difference in my energy level although my hip hurts some days. I was getting bloated too and I think it helped with that too. I have my weight gain goal and am sure I'll gain much more then that but today I look and feel great! In the past, gaining too much weight had been really hard on me so I hope to avoid it.

This week in stories

During breakfast Phoenix was talking about Spongebob. She has never seen the show but has seen toys at the store. I told her that Spongebob is kinda gross and we don't watch his shows. She put on her most dramatic voice and said, "Mom, I LIKE Spongebob. He's my best friend!" I said, "Phoenix I think you're being a little dramatic about this." She then replied, "I am NOT being dramatic! And daddy never comes to preschool with me and Atti sometimes hurts my feelings!" I immediately thought of the Romeo and Juliet situation I have going on between her and Spongebob and realized that it won't be the last time we have this conversation. To explain this next story you have to know a little about our dishwasher. It is a dish scrubber. We put the nastiest dishes in it and they are perfect when they come out! Woo Hoo! Ok so I was doing the dishes when the phone rang. I left to answer and when I came back I saw a sight that made me gag! Atti was eating food off the bottom of the dishwasher!!! Did I say that we can't get him to eat...EVER! He won't eat cheese, beans, crust of bread, vegetables, mixed food (like casseroles), etc... A couple weeks ago Brandon got a bike from a friend. We just had to fix it up and wait till the snow is gone and he'll be able to ride it to work. We put it behind the couch till we could decide where to put it. One day I couldn't find Atti and I found him behind the couch with a mouth full of bolts and pieces from the bike...ugh! Last week after I got out of the shower I smelled fire. I thought it was funny but didn't really worry a lot till Nix said, "We are picking up the fire things." I looked over and there were matches all over. Angels must have been watching over us that day!!

A loaded post...

Last month we did the silly quad screen for the baby because I didn't want to do the 20 week ultrasound so we figured we'd do a blood test to check for problems. Well it came back that the baby might have Downs Syndrome. We learned that going to a specialist would only tell us if the baby had a 20% chance without an amniocentesis then we weren't going to do it. The prenatal care and delivery will be the same for a DS baby but after the baby is born it will be much different then a normal baby. So with all of this we decided that we weren't going to bother with it and not even worry. A 5% chance is not going to get me up in arms, right? So I've read a bunch of books and will look forward to a DS baby or not. We havn't decided if we are going to get a regular ultrasound or not. I am leaning to not getting it because we have to pay a lot for it. Other news...the moles are ok. No cancer! The semester is winding down and after today Brandon only has one final then we get to see him for 3 weeks!! Woo Hoo!!

the new place

a few pics

Thanksgiving appetizers...YUM!!

The kids now have a art area! They love it!

We had a really cool FHE. We just got Netflix so I wanted to teach them about media but didn't know how to make it fun and understandable. So we talked about if there were bugs in our food we wouldn't eat it. We talked about the things in movies that are good and the things that are bad. Everyone got to pics a "plate" and "eat the food" and if there was a bug we would say, "EWE!! DON'T eat that!!" They loved it and we played over and over! We then had pudding with oreos and worms for dessert! YUM!

I stayed up late to watch a movie and saw this when it was over. CUTE!! They had a little sleepover!

Atti must not have wanted to nap but way trying to be obedient when he fell asleep by the door. Awww...

Atti's words

eh dant - elephant uh dup - I want a cup bank - blanket ah too - thank you Attix - Phoenix Mom - Dad Attis - Atticus you, hey - Hello! Hey! (whenever he talks on the phone) uhwella - gorilla watah - water cahs - cars ah show - I want to watch a movie dah boke - it's broken ah dow - I want up hoe due - I want you to hold me (hold you is what he's really saying)

Cancer...

Today I went to the Dr and got 3 moles taken off and I will get the results in a week. There was one that he was really worried about but took the other 2 just in case. My friend's brother died of melanoma and she had a melanoma taken off recently and she urged me to get mine checked. I'm glad that I did too. So...how did it go... I get there and had to wait a while. I wasn't really nervous till the Dr came in. Then for some reason I got really nervous. The numbing shot was SO painful. Especially the one on the bottom of my foot. I ended up getting so nervous that I had the shivers. From then on it wasn't too bad until... They were all done and left the room so that I could get dressed. I looked at the floor and there was blood dripping everywhere. I guess the stitches already tore. He had to do it again but luckily I was already numb. I guess I never thought I would need to get moles taken off. I am young and not a tanner. I am not covered in moles either. But I guess anyone can get it. I have joined a melanoma group on facebook and read of young people getting it all the time. So the moral of the story is...GET YOUR MOLES CHECKED!!