Good Apples, Bad Apples & Downright Funny Apples

Holidays in our family seem to always end up with some game playing. When I first joined the family it was usually Scrabble. We have moved on in the recent years. Lately, we've found ourselves playing Apples to Apples. I know some people LOVE this game. Me? I'm kind of lukewarm. I think it's ok- not the worst game to play but not my first choice either.

However, some of the grandkids are getting old enough to join in and when you play with my nephews it's gets way more entertaining.

For example:

The word is selfish.

I put down Adolf Hitler
I don't know what anyone else put EXCEPT for Spencer (12).

Rosa Parks.....
"She wouldn't give up her seat" he says.

********

A while later the word is Playful.

I don't remember any responses except for Ryan (9, soon to be 10).

His card?

My body.....

Yes, My body.

When Ryan innocently asks "Why's that so funny?"
I tell him to ask Grandma who is laughing harder than anyone else.

Tonight and Tomorrow should bring about some more game playing. Can't wait!

French Kiss & A Puking Sensation

This morning I emptied the Christmas tree scent out of my Scentsy warmer.

I added French Kiss and promptly remembered that this is the scent I burned last year in February. When. I. was. Pregnant. Ugg, seriously gag me with a MAGGOT! Don't you hate when pregnancy ruins things?

But anyway... anyone who wants a basically brand new bar of French Kiss PLEASE come and get it, preferably before I hurl!

Silent Night
Holy Night

All is calm
All is bright

Jeremy's Christmas List

This is what he asked for...
so sad, it's all sold out!
{keep clicking until you get to the KING, that's his favorite one.
AND Please read "About Flame" on the page, it's UNreal. Who thinks of this stuff?}

Little Matdog

Kaden participated in the City's wrestling program. It ran for two weeks and they had a tournament the last Saturday. He loved it and can't wait until next year to try it again. Yes, he insisted on wrestling with no shoes. Why? We still don't know.

Wha?

I am not old.
I am a mere 28 1/2 years old.
But lately I'm feeling old. Really old.

I attended a bridal shower for a former YW tonight.
Old.

While I was there I chatted with another former YW who just celebrated her 3rd wedding anniversary.
Older.

And recently I've been seeing lots of blogs of people in my ward who are celebrating anniversaries and birthdays that are much smaller numbers than mine.
Oldest.

I'm wondering when Jer and I transferred spots as the "cute newly married couple" to the "old people with 3 kids."

Although to be fair, I think in any other ward we'd still be considered young. It's just this one... so really, I'm still young & cool.
Right? Riiiight.

Merry Christmas!

This is the picture that will grace our Christmas cards this year. Unfortunately when it printed on the card the color was totally wrong and the kids faces turned out really red and the background looks kind of greenish-blue. We not sure what happened and the place we took them too blamed the color distortion on the image being shrunk to fit the card. I smell something fishy, but we're sending them out anyway... cuz that's what you do when you wait until the last minute on Christmas cards. The envelopes are all addressed and stuffed with this holiday greeting. All we are waiting on is a witty letter to accompany them- they may be waiting a while. Merry Christmas. Happy addressing and envelope licking to you all as well.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Guess what? It's dang cold out there!

But my house is nice and toasty.

No, not because the heater is cranked way up. Because my little oven has been running constantly baking up ♥ wedding ♥ cake.

Nothing like a warm house and the sweet aroma of cake filling the air to make you NEVER want to leave. Unfortunately I need to run and buy some socks, some cake stuff, a gift card AND get the oil changed. Oh yeah, and it's my turn for pre-school carpool.

*sniff*

Leaving the house is really killing my hermity/cake buzz.

Slightly Entertaining

This is kind of funny... so if you have a minute {or 4} CLICK AWAY.

But, if this shows up in my stocking someone might be in the doghouse.

Hmmm, unless it smelled good and then it might be ok.

Congrats are in order

See the sweet baby on the left?

He grew into a cute little boy.

A boy who was a bit mischievous...

and who liked to have fun.

But also a boy who has set and accomplished some important goals during his life.

The most recent being...

freedom from homework!

So if you see Jeremy go ahead and tell him congratulations because he's now a full-fledged college graduate and his family couldn't be more proud.

We love you, Jer!

Tidings of Great Joy

A great way to feel the true spirit of the Christmas is to watch "The Nativity" produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with the sound down and Amy Grant's Breath of Heaven playing. Look! The work has already been done for you by some generous soul. {you really can find anything on youtube}

Enjoy one of my favorites, and your weekend.

Slow Learners

After 8 1/2 years of marriage with just a mattress, I'm pleased to announce that we finally got a headboard AND foot board for our bed. {I know, right? Like, we are totally moving our way up to 1st class!} But, also with this new addition comes about 6 inches of added length to the bed. Can you see the predicament coming?

Yes. Jeremy and I both have ugly, vicious bruises on our thighs because after years of walking around our bed in the dark we just can't seem to adjust to the newness of it all. I'm telling you that corner on the foot board is mighty sharp. Saddest part? There are multiples bruises on multiple legs. Creatures of habit, undoubtedly.

Growing and Growing

IDK (i don't know for the non-texters)

:: Brynns hair will NOT hold a curl for anything. It makes me sad. My efforts of the last two Sundays have been in vain.

:: If you hear your 3 year-old yelling at the top of her lungs "it's getting me daddy!" and she's in the bathroom RUN don't walk because it means your floor is covered with 2 inches of toilet water. True story, unfortunately. 2 loads of towels, and 1 ruined nap for mamma = disaster averted.

:: Thanksgiving was stuff-a-licious. Food, family, and playing Ticket to Ride creates a day of perfection for me. ;)

:: I actually went out on black Friday. To Wal*mart. By myself. Insane, I know. BUT I waited until 7:30 so call me not-so-crazy. I still got everything I wanted/needed there.

:: If your husband comments on your lack of blog posting.... you really haven't been posting.

:: Our Christmas decorations are all up. All we need is our tree, which is NOT fake so maybe this weekend? Can't wait!!

:: Christmas music makes me happy.

Don't You Hate It When...

Don't you hate it when you wait in the doctors office for 40 minutes before you even get to go back to "the room"?

Don't you hate it when you have to give pee samples?

Don't you hate it when the nurse comes into the room and informs you that they aren't able to take care of the semi-permanent procedure you were hoping for today because you are...

...wait for it...

*PREGNANT*?!

I guarantee there was a serious deer in the headlight look radiating from my face. After picking my jaw up off the floor and poking my eyes back into their sockets I asked the nurse what any mother who is only 7 1/2 weeks removed from giving birth would, "What? ARE YOU SURE?"

Then my mind gets to work. "Will you please check again, because there was already a 'sample' in the door when I opened it, so I took mine back out and wrote my name in BIG letters. Can you please check and make sure you didn't mix them up?"

The nurse says she'll check again and leaves me alone with my thoughts, my eyes welling with tears, my mind in shock.

"Babies are a blessing. I JUST HAD A BABY. My pregnancies are not very forgiving. Newborns are a lot of work, pregnancy is a lot of work. How am I going to do this? Jeremy is going to totally freak out. I'm going to totally freak out!! At least they'll be close. Hey, I'll be done having kids by the time I'm 30. Please let that test be from the wrong sample."

The nurse comes back in and apologizes about 30 times, and I can't keep from cracking up laughing. Mix-ups. Don't you hate it when that happens?

It's Official

The first Scentsy consultant in Washington State has been kicked to the curb like an empty diet coke can. No joke. All I got yesterday when I tried to log into my workstation was a message saying: "Status Invalid".

Can you believe it? No "sorry to see you go" gift basket was hand delivered to my door. No "we miss you and want you back" card was sent. Heck, I didn't even get a phone call. It's worse than getting dumped via text message. It's like they just changed the locks and left my stuff by the door. This is the thanks I get from a company for whom I have given 4 years of dedicated service. Ok, well maybe half-hearted service was really what I gave but come on!

Really, I'm kidding. I knew this day was coming. So I'm officially not a consultant anymore and it's actually a great feeling! I've been contemplating quitting for a while and now it's finally official. So about those warmers and testers...

I've got some stock left if you need a quick holiday gift. And if any of you know a consultant who wants to buy my testers PLEASE feel free to send them my way!

Welcome to Loserville

1. I love Amy C. but seriously WHAT. WERE. YOU. THINKING? Vicky needs to be sent back to Crazytown where she came from. What a loser. Both of them.

2. I totally ate a nut roll during The Biggest Loser. Whoa, who is the loser now?

3. It's been a week since I posted. Whoa, it's me. I'm the loser!

4. I didn't buy a ticket to Twilight. Jer's been bugging me since about not going. Again, me, the loser.

5. Yesterday Nicole blogged about having an extra ticket to the extreme Twilight extravaganza here in our end of the 'hood where everyone and their mother bought a ticket so they could get VIP status at the local theater. Jeremy promptly called her to pull me a out of my loser status, even though I was desperately trying to keep my loser status alive and kicking by telling him I didn't want the ticket. He didn't listen. He's so NOT a loser.

5. I just read my cousin's wife's blog and what do I behold? She has our "Get your Eat on Blog" linked, but not my personal one. Sheesh, this must be a total loser blog if it can't even get linked by your cousin's wife.

LA-HOO-SA-HER.

The end.

FOR. THE. LOVE.

Dear Blogger Buddies-

It's been going on long enough and I can't take it anymore. I've been trying to turn a blind eye, but I just can't do it anymore. I'm not being true to myself by staying silent.

PLEASE turn off the comment verification. It kills me to leave a comment and have to re-type silly nonsensical words over and over (because, really, who gets it on the first try?). If you have issues with robots posting random comments I'll understand. But if it's merely up there because you never turned it off why not make a girl smile and huck it out the window.

All my love,

heather

Wedding Candids

Brynnlee is all about the "married party" "married flowers" & "married dress".

She's still talking about it. Heaven help us in about 20 years.

3 cousins in 1 year!

TAG

I've been tagged thanks to taturner.

4th folder, 4th picture

Here it is:

Wedding luncheon at the Tepenyaki Steakhouse.

My sister Adrienne, the bride, is on the left. Good times. Makes me hungry...

Tagging Kate {sugary, sweet....}, my sister Melissa, SIL Kristen and Michele. Get on it.

Halloween

Vacation in a Nutshell

• We drove to Spokane and I entertained 3 kids for 9 hours... 4 of which included mass amounts of cartoon watching.



• Driving all night and arriving at my brothers at 5:07 am.



• Stopping in Dillon, MT at 12:38 am. I took Brynn to the bathroom, came back so Jeremy and Kaden could go, nursed Ella while the family waited and waited, only to have Kaden and Brynns both declare they were thirsty 4 blocks after getting back on "the road."



• The drink run in Dillon gave us the opportunity to take the Business Loop, which was awesome only because we saw a sign declaring the upcoming "Methodist Pasty Sale". Who knew Methodist Pasties were different?



• Trick or Treating in downtown AF, UT.

• Trying to get a family pictures. Extended family pictures. Too many babies, too many distractions.



• The wedding of my sister, "Rocker" aka Alicia, and Jeremy.

• JCW's run in between the Temple and the family luncheon. Those cheese fries were calling our name!



• Seeing lots of long lost friends and family at the reception.



• The blessing of little Breyton, my nephew.



• Meeting up with the one and only goddessdivine.



• Drinking obscene amounts of Pumpkin Spice Eggnog.



• Cruising the aisles of Smith & Edwards. The candy aisle held my attention for about 30 mins and set us back about $30. I'm a sucker.



• Squeezing every drop of enjoyment out of those 72 hours in Utah with family before the long drive home.

My Husband and Brother think they are SO HILARIOUS!

***This blog post was written by Jeremy and Nathan while I WAS actually meeting with a blogger.  She's real and I'll prove it- after I change my password.***

Today the family decided to watch Lord of the Rings and I have to admit that I got a bit bored so since I was in Utah I decided to hang out with one of my imaginary friends. It was so fun, we talked about all the blog posts that were so funny. We also reminisced about all the good times we had in blog world. It was great to have an imaginary friend. This is a picture of me and my imaginary friend hanging out. I think everyone should have an imaginary friend. 

Lightning Strikes Twice

Yahoo!

Costumes: Complete

I honestly think this is the earliest I have ever been with the kid's costumes. I'm usually still scrambling a day or so before. I guess if I'm being completely honest I already had Ella and Brynlee's costumes, so I really only had to take care of Kaden. But, hey, it's all finished.

I'll post pictures later. Right now I have a sweet little newborn resting on my chest and I for sure don't want to interrupt that! Love it.

Happy weekend. I'll be hanging out at the Women's Expo... with 3, maybe 4 kids in tow. What's not to love about that?

For the last week I have been...

studying sites like this one and this one. Can you guess who Kaden wants to be for Halloween? Ahhh... a Mother's Love.

Sunday Preview

We'll be blessing little Ella this Sunday.

If you can make it we'd love to see you.

As for the "story"...

it's been 5 days so now I'm hazy on the details (let's blame it on the sleep deprivation).

But let me start and the rest of you can add details in the comments. It'll be like that game you play around the campfire- but in this version we should probably keep it strictly factual.

Once upon a Sunday a boy got up in front of the congregation because no one "his age had been up there for a while." Uhhh.... that's all I got who wants to finish this baby up??

***Ella's 3 weeks today. Can you believe it? Me neither.***

Yay for Church

Words that make for a very entertaining testimony meeting:

"Well, I'm attracted to her"

I was hiding away in the mother's lounge so I had no clue who said this, but you can bet I was on the edge of my rocker waiting to hear what else was to follow. So hilarious.

Lesson Learned

I took all 3 children to the doctor yesterday for well checks. Yes, the block between 1pm and 2pm was all mine! See, there are perks to having all your children born within 3 weeks of each other- like mass doctor visits. Anyway, Kaden asked if he was getting a shot and I said I wasn't sure if he would get a shot or not. He then tells me:

"I hope I get a shot so I can pick out a toy!" {he's a reward motivated child}

Then Brynns pipes up "I want a shock and a toy too!"

Ella was probably thinking the same thing.

The appointments all went well. Our children are healthy and developmentally on track, however disappointment ensued because the only person to walk out of the room with a shot, or shock, was mommy. Ironic, huh. I'm ready for tetanus or whooping cough, so bring it.

Kaden turns 5

and insists he's almost 6.

Someday he'll learn to just enjoy his age.

Could there be a happier boy?

That's what I love about Kaden excitement in everything!

You know you've got a great kid when he doesn't mind letting his little sister help with gifts after she throws a major tantrum.

Oh, Optimus Prime. He hit the Jackpot.

We've got cake pictures and birthday breakfast pictures on Jeremy's camera. I'll post them later.

Ella Marie from one week to the next.

Here is the difference a week makes. Video from Sunday 9/28 and Monday 10/5 of our sweet little girl

Ella in Pictures

An easy post since my page is lacking

Thanks to one of my favorite YW who now is married with a baby and a new house on the way {this is making me feel old} I've been tagged.

Seven random or weird facts.

1. I like to dip french fries in milkshakes, preferably Frosties.

2. My hair USED to be straight. It started getting wavy at 15 and gets curlier with every pregnancy.

3. I had Family Home Evening with Elder Bednar while I was at "Ricks".

4. I can't remember anything if it isn't written on my calendar.

5. In high school I drove a pink Ford aspire... yes it was humbling.

6. I'm usually pretty adventurous when it comes to eating, but I can't bring myself to try the sardines that Jeremy loves. I even try to make him eat them outside, but he usually stinks up the whole house by not listening to me.

7. I was a cub scout leader back in the day. Why they put a newly married, working girl, with no children, and who grew up with lots of sisters and only one older brother in charge of a bunch of 8-year old boys I'll never know. But I think we had fun together.

I'm tagging Holly, Carianne, Brigette, Liz, Audrey, Ashlee, Stephanette

Last Pic

This is the picture the hospital took. I must say they have quite improved the shots since Kaden and Brynns had theirs done. Since this is already on the hospitals website I figured I'd post it here too.

{All pics from here one out will be on the family website, if I ever get around to unloading my camera}

Phone Call

I got a crazy call this morning.

Yeah, it was Ellen DeG reminding me to get my annual mammogram.... what? Thanks, to my brother for that one. However my chest is in enough pain right now that I don't think I need to add one more torture treatment. I always forget how rough the first few weeks of nursing are.

Yipes!!

We are Home

Ok, I was busy getting a baby here so I wasn't posting. Jeremy took care of that for me. We took our laptop to the hospital and hooked up to the wi-fi. Great times we live in!

Thanks for all your well wishes and I'll be posting some more pics on the family website. Can't wait for you all to meet her!

Ella Marie

Ella Marie

8lbs 13oz.

21 inches

Lovin' their new sister


Mom doing great

Daddy's Princess

2:45am

I decided that I like it better when Heather is induced at a normal hour than the 2:45 wake up to... Ummm Jeremy I think my water broke.

So we are here at the hospital with a predicted afternoon delivery.

With Regard to the Baby...

I went to the doctor last Friday and got the update.

No change from last weeks progress, which was not much to write home about anyway. My swelling was ridiculous but Dr. A said I don't have pre-eclampsia {they induced me three weeks early with Brynns for this}. So he ran some blood tests to make sure my liver and kidneys were functioning properly. He said he would have the results by the afternoon and if anything looked off that it would be the last day I was pregnant. They never called, so that means I'm A-OK.

Which is good because Brynns decided to puke all over me Sunday afternoon as I'm walking down the hallway at church. Yeah, there was no sleeping, lots of puking, lots of cleaning carpets, floors, couches, & clothes. But I'm glad I was at home and not at the hospital, because who can take better care of that sick baby than her mama??

And on a final note, if I make it to Sunday still pregnant it will officially be the longest I have ever gone. We'll see what this Friday's appointment has in store for us.

Brynnlee's 3rd Birthday

Flowers from Daddy.

She blew out all the candles!