I Feel Good!

Well, I am finally feeling GOOD again!

I can now fix dinner and grocery shop without feeling like I am about to lose my cookies.

And I don't feel like I am going to topple over and collapse of exhaustion at 7 pm every night.

I feel little baby movements in my tummy, which is way neat, and they are increasing every few days!

The bump on my belly is obvious to the world now, but I am still in the awkward "is she pregnant of chubby" phase to strangers.

And since I am feeling so good, I feel like taking pictures and blogging again, hence the blog posts resuming!

The bump (a few weeks ago)...

Visiting my aunt and uncle, Carson and Jen, in the hospital after she delivered her beautiful baby twin girls.  They were big for twins, 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 7 lbs. 4 oz!  Names are Tessa and Claire. 

We went to movie in the park to see the Princess Bride (inconceivable, I know!).

And had a picnic dinner at the Easter Pageant with Jacob and Camille!

I hear the second trimester is supposed to be the best...I am soaking it all in! 

I am about 17 weeks now, we find out what we're having in just a few more!

Update--We Are Still Alive!

Well, I obviously took a break from blogging for a while, we just had too many fun and exciting things going on! 

Lots of Holiday get-togethers and celebrations with family and friends.

We got hot chocolate with the Whitings and drove around and saw Christmas lights.  We saw several decked-out houses, and even saw a house that coordinates the lights to Christmas music on the radio--it's crazy!

Here it is without the flash,
so you have a better idea of how "decked" these halls were!

We attended the annual Brown Family caroling party on the 23rd.  Complete with a delicious Mexican dinner and all piling onto the flat-bed truck to carol.   It was a blast!

Me & the adorable Breckyn on the trailer caroling

I had a lot of baby cuddling time...

Meet baby James (offspring of Jacob and Xanga) born December 9th

Meet baby Case (offspring of brother and sister-in-law Michael and Kami) born December 15th

Love those newborns! 

(And I'll have a couple more here to cuddle with soon, two more cousins both due in January!)

We got to play "Santa's Elves" on Christmas Eve in Willcox.

Putting together a trike and a train set

And the long-anticipated Disneyland trip with the whole Allred crew! 

We are talking all 45 of us (including 12 day-old Case!).

We are already missing Calvin & Susan, who are on their way to Chile as we speak.

We were the lucky ones that got to take them to the airport...

2 years feels like it will be forever, but we are grateful we get endless phone calls and skyping!

Gingerbread Houses

We made a gingerbread house the other night with our friends Cory & McKenzie!

We bought a kit, but they opted for the homemade graham cracker house.  They both turned out cute!

I investigated online to find an easy and entirely homemade version of a gingerbread house and came to the conclusion--too much work!  In order to be successful you bake one day and allow to cool, cement everything together the next day and let it set-up, and decorate the following day.  I am not a good enough gingerbread house maker to commit to three days worth of work.

It was really fun, and Brett is creative when it comes to the decorating,

I just copied the ideas on the box, ha! 

Hopefully this is a tradition we carry on throughout the years.

Brett's Birthday Weekend in Sedona

Remember this post?  Brett and I had a blast staying in a cabin-for-two in Sedona.  Seriously, we would recommend this adorable bed-and-breakfast to anyone!  They are called the Canyon Wren Cabins, check them out!  And if you don't believe us, look at TripAdvisor, they have phenomenal reviews!

We drove up early Friday evening (we stayed in the Honeysuckle Cabin) and grilled our own steaks, had baked potatoes, steamed veggies, and Brett's favorite Strawberry-Lime Jones Soda.  Topped off dinner with Sprinkles cupcakes (lit with candles of course!).  We watched a movie on Brett's laptop, and just chatted and relaxed in front of the fireplace. 

Saturday morning we woke up and had a delicious breakfast.  Then we were headed off onto a beautiful hike (of course I forgot my camera!  But we took a few on Brett's phone).  The hike was gorgeous.

That afternoon we napped, relaxed, and watched a movie. 

We hit a cozy Italian Restaurant that is frequented by the locals.  Complete with some live music and candles, it was a delicious recommendation by our hosts.  After dinner we walked through Uptown Sedona, and bought a souvenir.  Then we went back to the cabin, started up a fire in the fireplace, drank hot chocolate, made s'mores, and played speed scrabble. 



This is the life!

S'mores!

What a goofball!  Haha!

We had a wonderful time together, and it is amazing how much fun you can have when the TV and the internet aren't even an option!

Lately...

For a date night last week, we rode our bikes down to Pete's Fish & Chips.

It is such a fun, old-school Mesa hot spot.  Everything is deep-fried, and it is cash-only. 

We recommend the chicken strips and deep fried burritos with chips.

We love utilizing our "I {heart} you because:" board in our bedroom to leave little love notes. 

It is so easy to make!  Just take an old frame, and place the phrase behind the glass. 

Use a dry-erase board marker to write the messages.

It's such a fun little thing to make it easier to remember to show love and appreciation!

I remember making these little "ghosties" when I was little. 

So for Family Night the Monday before Halloween, we made them

for our nieces and nephews and sent them in little Halloween care packages.

All it is, is a Tootsie pop with a tissue tied on it and a ghost face made with a Sharpie!

Brett's sister turned the big 4-0 last week,

so the whole family got their gifts together

and I made up the basket to drop off on her actual birthday.

The gifts ranged from adorable accessories all the way to wrinkle cream and more.

Brett & I did the "40 sucks" with the lollipop bouquet!

(She'd probably kill me for posting this, but I don't think she even knows I have a blog!)

Good Weather is Here!

And the good weather calls for:

Homemade soup in delicious bread bowls (left over from the Halloween party--thanks Aubrey!) 

Going "old school" on my morning run--gotta stay warm!

The best birthday present ever!  Brett and I got these from my parents...
they were waiting in our house when we got home from Sedona
and we are loving them!

Since we have our new bikes, Brett has been going to the local parks to shoot hoops.
The other night he let me tag along, and this guy asked Brett to play one-on-one.
Brett beat him 10-0.
It was awesome!
And the guy kept yelling out "This white boy can play!" and "Man, do you live on the court?"
It was a proud moment for me!

What We've Been Up To...

Lots of football!  We have been loving the fact that we can go watch Clark every week play for Mountain View.  He is doing so awesome!  And now that the weather has been cooling off in the evenings, it is actually pleasant to be outside.  Go #31!

Brett was leaving for work when his car would not start.  He couldn't even put it into neutral so that we could back it out and use my car.  Thank goodness for closeby parents who let us borrow their car for the day so I could drop Brett off at work and then I could go to work.  And thanks to my dad who came and was able to jump it and move it so we had access to my car!

Brett's mom came into town so we spent the evening watching our neice perform in Gilbert's color guard (she does some amazing tumbling!).  And then went out to dinner with the rest of our adorable neices and nephews who live up here in the valley.  Have I mentioned that I love being an aunt?!  Look at those cuties!  And of course the rest of the night consisted of lots of giggling, Brett wrestling and tickle torturing the nephews, and youtube videos that gave us the giggles. 

Ice skating with the Pitneys!  They invited us to go with them, and we are so glad!  We had a great time, and love that we have friends closeby to get together with often.

with Blaine and Amy

the "awkward" shot :)

Working on more projects!  Thankfully Brett doesn't mind me trying to beautify our home if I am thrifty about it.  This is the chicken wire frame I made a while ago that is in our bedroom. 




Sorry for the crummy picture quality--the lighting in our bedroom is terrible!