I Have To Do This

I have been torturing myself for the past few weeks. Why? Well, Derek and I had some sweet anniversaries (yes, plural) at the beginning of the month and I didn't blog about them. Something about the idea of blogging about anniversaries is, I don't know, not really something I wanted to blog about. However, I just can't not do it. I've decided that I wanted to share:

This is one of Derek and I's first pictures together. We were on the same T-ball teams for two years. I'm the squirrelly blonde on the bottom right, and Derek is on the back row, second from the right. If you went to school with either of us, you probably know every person in this picture. This is where the romance began~

We started dating 10 years ago! Back when we were Sophomores in High School. Derek finally noticed me and it was the best thing ever! Our first kiss was June 2, 1999- so we just celebrated ten years of kissing this month! It's fantastic.

These are just some randoms of us from High School. They were crazy times, full of High School drama that we laugh about now. We didn't think we were going to get married, I mean, who marries their high school sweet heart?

This is one of my favorite pics of us from the olden days. This was our Senior Commencement Pic.
Derek took me on a smokin' date a few weeks after he returned from his mission, trying to convince me that I should marry him. He didn't know that I was also trying to convince him. It didn't take long for me to ask him when we were going to get married. He was pleasantly surprised by my inquiry, and so we got working on the wedding plans about 6 weeks from the time he returned from his mission. This pic is from after his mission, before we were engaged.

Three months later, on June 4, 2004, we were married in the Idaho Falls Temple! Best day ever! So we just celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary as well. I love my man and work so hard to keep him happy! I am happier than I ever thought I could be. He's the man and I love his guts.

Whew, I just had to get that off my chest.

My Sentiments

I've been thinking how these few weeks are the last that it will be just Evelyn and me. I'm not saddened by this, but just aware, and therefore a little sentimental. I've also realized that my blog has been self absorbed. So with these realizations I've been enjoying my little Skittle Monkey. Observe:

The other night Derek was putting the blinds up in our room, which as most of you mothers know makes children hyper. Any new mess is the coolest! She was hyper running around our room.
I finally got her to hold still for a split second and show me a smile (aka her teeth). Love her guts!

Our version of 'Where's Waldo?':

She found this fun game the other day and does really well. I always hoped that my children would aspire to join the circus. Go Evelyn!

One of her daily activities that I don't encourage, is getting into my shoes. When she pulls out high heels or shoes like these , it is kind of fun to know that someone is able to wear them.

What's Wrong With Random?

I was just looking through some pics and found some to share. These top two are out of order, but here's the story: I got Ev ready for the day and her curly hair was looking exceptionally cute so I decided to take some pics or some video of her. Well, I started with the camera and so she wanted the video camera. No big deal, well it was a big deal when she wouldn't look at me, and only the v.c., so I took it from her that that's when I got this very sad pic:

Before I stole her toy:

I know this would look better with the garage shut, and the motor bike and wheelbarrow gone, etc. But this is the best I've got of our beautiful new house:

Derek and Evelyn working on the sprinklers (now, finished!), she was all ready for bed in her jammies, but then Derek came home and we decided to go hang out with him.

This is her response to, "Evelyn, show me your teeth." Cutest ever.

Nesting

I'm not sure how much I believe in the whole 'nesting instinct'. I mean, it's crunch time for us to get things done, and just because Derek and I are working like crazy to finish projects before baby comes, does that necessarily mean that we/I am nesting? I don't really think so. I mean, before a big vacation you have to get all your things in order, is that a nesting instinct? I don't know. At any rate, our house has been full of hustle and bustle, and I've really been enjoying it. We've put new blinds in our room, new curtains in Evelyns room, painted Gwens crib, buying all sorts of needs for when she arrives, arranging some meals to freeze so Derek doesn't go hungry when I don't want to cook, and I've got a few more projects I need to sew. I'm making myself a nursing cover (thank you to the Quilt Shoppe, which is now my favorite store), I need to put together these cute little boards for each of my girls to hang on the wall in their rooms (got the idea from Pottery Barn) that include their initial, cute fabric (Quilt Shoppe), flowers, butterflies, pictures, etc. I need to sew another matching diaper pouch for Gwens diapers to put in my diaper bag. The basement needs some serious cleaning, I think I could go on for a while.

One of the things we've done that I am most excited about right now is the vinyl in the girls' rooms. Thanks to Janae and Brad who cut it for me and did everything EXACTLY how I wanted it. You'll see how cute it is, even if my pictures aren't that good:

This pic above and below are in Evs room. We've got the flower thing going on in her room.

The birds are in baby's room. Remember the bird fabric? I love it.

Dirty Muddy Fun

Hello! I'd like to add to the plethora of Memorial Day posts! We went to Indian Creek, which is just east of Palisades Dam. We had a grand old time up in the mountains with my crazy family. We had so much fun, that I'm actually posting a picture of myself. This first pic is of our first night there. We had just set up our bed and we were very excited to be there and Ev was very hyper. Here's some twiners. My mom spent so much time with Evelyn that Evelyn has actually called me Grandma a couple times today.

Alright, so this is Evelyns face every time she's around Faye. She loves her! They're all buckled up in Jamies rhino before we took a ride down to Palisades.

Here's my man out doing his thing in the mud.

Here's my daughter out doing her thing in the mud.

So much fun, and such a big mess.

I really enjoy camping, especially when I get home and am clean and I smell good and I get to lay down in my bed with all my pillows... ahhhhh...

Dear Santa,

I've been reading, 'In Praise of Stay-at-Home-Moms', Dr. Lauras' new book. Derek gave it to me for Mothers Day. I just read the funniest thing, an e-mail that Dr. Laura received from a stay-at-home-mom. It's a hoot, hope you enjoy:

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited doctor's offices more than my doctor and sold 62 cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my Christmas list over several years, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows if I'll find any more free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in an color except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the 7th month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big-ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint-resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy," to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three jean skirts that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take you hands off you sister," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would also be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling my name, and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.

Yours always, Mom.

P.S.: One more thing... you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to always believe in Santa.

Big Shot

Well, my husband is officially famous. I'm sure you all get Potato Grower Magazine, but for the few of you who don't, he is on the cover this month. Just let us know if you want an autograph.