SANTA ! ! !

Guess who is getting some coal this year.....

It's a...

BOY!!! We had our ultrasound yesterday and I was so shocked to find out that we are having a boy! I was so sure it was a girl, that I made a bet with Jesse about it, and obviously lost. I am really excited though. It is nice to know that we will have at least one of each :) I just have a lot of shopping to do because I have all girl stuff!! Everything looked really good though and the baby is doing great and is measuring right on with my due date. Now I guess it is time to start looking at boy names...I dread this part because Jesse and I don't agree on names very well! But we decided not to choose anything until we see the baby so we still have some time :)

Belated Halloween Post

Makayla, Brynn, and Ty
Family pumpkin carving

Alyson and Brynn with Grandma Rella


So I just realized that I still haven't posted my Halloween pictures, and it is almost Thanksgiving!! Yes, I am just a little behind. But these past few weeks have been very busy! We had a fun Halloween. It started out by going to my friend Lori's little girl Makayla's first birthday party. Brynn had fun playing with her friends and dressing up in her costume. Then we got to go spend some time with Jesse's mom. That night, I decided to take Brynn trick or treating while Jesse stayed home to hand out candy. Brynn was NOT excited to go, until she realized that she was getting treats. Then she loved it :)

Halloween was also a sad day for us because Jesse's grandpa passed away that evening. He had cancer, so it was expected, but was very hard on the whole family. He was such an amazing man, and has been such a great example to me! I have learned so much from him over the past few years and feel so honored to have become a part of his family. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have, knowing that we will get to see Grandpa Shelley again!!

Ellie's Halloween Party!

Ellie and Brynn in their costumes!

Here are the yummy treats we made. Jack-o-lantern pizzas and sugar cookies...YUM!!!


Brynn went to her first Halloween party of the year yesterday! My friend Melissa has a daughter who is Brynn's age (her name is Ellie and they are best buds) and she decided to throw a little Halloween party for the kids at her house. It was so fun to dress Brynn up in her costume! We can't wait for more parties next week and trick or treating!!

California trip

Well, this weekend was the last of all of our big trips! I had fun in California, but am kind of relieved to be home and done with all of the traveling!! I am completely exhausted! Here is a run-down of our trip:
Thursday: Left for California and drove all day to the LA area. We did take a couple shopping and food breaks along the way, and got to our hotel at around 9 pm.

Friday: Went to Six Flags for the day. This was fun, but kind of a drag for me since I couldn't ride any of the "fun" rides. I did get to ride some kiddie rides with Brynn though :)

Saturday: Drove to San Fransisco (about a 5 1/2 hour drive). That night was the highlight of the trip for me. We went to see Wicked!!!! I loved it!! I was kind of sad that Jesse missed it (he had to stay at the hotel with Brynn), but am so glad that my father in law took Adrienne and I to see it. AMAZING!!!!

Sunday: Drove into the city to see the Golden Gate Bridge, and then headed home! It was about a 12 hour drive, and I was so glad to be done riding in the car!!!!

Here are some pictures from our trip...mostly from Six Flags.


Maybe we should put something like this in our new bathroom :)


Brynn was NOT a fan of the Carousel!!



Nap time, she was exhausted!!!
Brynn is also terrified of any type of character like this...poor thing!!

And the verdict is...

YES!!! I am pregnant! It feels kind of crazy to be going through this all over again, but we are excited to have another baby. I am 12 weeks along, and due on April 24th. So our kids will be about exactly 2 years apart! So now it is time for me to get a little more serious about this whole potty training thing so that we don't have 2 kids in diapers at the same time. One thing that I am not excited about is how my belly is showing SOOO much faster this time!! I think I am about the size that I was at about 16 or 18 weeks with Brynn...kind of depressing! But I keep telling myself that it is all worth it.

Here is a picture of the candy bars that we handed out to Jesse's family to share the news. We actually door bell ditched them at their houses and made them try to figure out who it was from. But I think the Hershey bar gave it away!
And here are a few pictures of Brynn from a few days ago:) She is getting so big!!

Brynn's first surgery

Brynn got tubes in her ears this past Thursday because she gets way too many ear infections!! Her is a picture of her right before the surgery in her little hospital gown. She looked so cute! Overall, things went pretty well. It was very sad to have the nurse take her away from me and to hear Brynn screaming for me :( But she was only away from me for a bout 25 minutes, so it was pretty quick! I am just hoping that she doesn't get any more ear infections. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Finally an update!!!

It has been a really long time since I have updated my blog and I am officially a blogging slacker! Life has been crazy busy here! As you can see from my previous posts, Brynn and I spent a week in North Carolina, were home for a week and then we all headed to Pennsylvania, came home for a week and then headed to Canada! I would say we are all traveled out...but we are actually going to California in two and a half weeks with Jesse's dad and sister Adrienne. We are going to Six Flags and to see Wicked. I can't wait!!! Not to mention we are also remodeling the upstairs bathroom so our house is currently a construction zone! We hate the bathrooms in this house, so we decided to gut the upstairs bathroom and start from scratch! And the shower downstairs is leaking into the wall which is causing a mold problem so that one is next. It is such a huge project...but will be so nice when it is all done. Jesse has been working on it with his friend's dad and they are doing a great job!

We are also busy these days chasing Brynn around. She is such a wild woman, and is so much fun! She is almost 17 months old, and is getting smarter everyday! She is talking so much more, and also knows a lot of sign language which makes life so much easier when we can communicate! She is really into eating with a fork and spoon, and loves being around animals and being in the water. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. It is going way too fast!!

Well, there is a little update on or lives. I will try and do better at keeping my blog updated!!

Oh Canada.....

We have been quite the busy travelers! We came home from PA, were home for a week, and then left for Canada! Jesse served his mission in Edmonton, Alberta, so we went up there for a few days to visit some friends. His friend Jarid came with us too. I forgot how long that drive is! It was 16 hours each way. But thankfully, Brynn did VERY well on the drive. She watched lots of movies and lots of treats and did just fine! We had a great time seeing people from Jesse's mission, shopping at the West Edmonton Mall, drinking slurpees (they are soooooo much better in Canada), and buying lots of candy and popcorn flavorings! The picture above is of Jesse, Jarid and Brenda (A.k.a. Momma B. She is who we stayed with while we were there).
Here are a couple pictures of Brynn just looking cute!

Here we are with the Prince family at their ward corn bust!

Jesse, Brynn , and I inside a whale at the West Ed Mall.
Here we are with another family Jesse knows from his mission. I forget their last name...but they are really awesome and it was so fun to get to know them!! I always meet LOTS of new people when we go to Canada so it is hard to remember names!

Pennsylvania trip

Jesse, Brynn, and I all went to Pennsylvania for a week over Labor Day to visit my family. It was so much fun to see all of them, and for everyone to see how much Brynn is changing!!! We were very lucky to be there for my sister in law Amy's baptism where she became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We felt so honored that she planned this special event for when we would be in town visiting... it was the highlight of our trip :) My brother Zach baptized her, and it was just so neat to witness all of it! I was also thrilled to have my friend Miti in town! She lives in France, and I haven't seen her in 5 years! I was thrilled that she just happened to be in town the same time as me so that I could spend a day with her. It was great introducing Jesse and Brynn to her. Over all we had a great trip! The only downfall was that Brynn and I both had really bad colds while we were there, and Brynn ended up with an ear infection. That made for a painful flight home for her!! She is actually getting tubes in her ears on Thursday because she gets ear infections so often so I am hoping that helps!!
Here are Zach and Amy all dressed in white before the baptism.
All of us after the baptism.
Miti, Courtney (a good friend from highschool) and I (along with Courtney's baby Rachel) at our old hangout and my old work place- Friendley's.
Jesse, Brynn, and I on the Chocolate World Ride.
Miti and I with our 5 lb chocolate bars!!

Miti and I again :)
My mom. Brynn and I :)