Welcome Home!

They love having a new baby sister!
Zoey has as awesome support group :)

Zoey Brooke!

 Our little miss Zoey was born last night at 11:43 pm!

She is perfect and very tiny. She weighed in at 6lbs. 3 ounces.

 The delivery team. Ty delivered the baby with Dr. Bodon by his side. (She is totally awesome. She ordered pad thai for me while I was in labor because I was starving!)

 My not so glamorous self and the beautiful little miss.

We just love her! Feeling very blessed and happy to be home!

A Little Christmas Now!

Thanksgiving was wonderful! The meal was delish and the company was grand! I completely forgot to take pictures!

Oh well...Onto Christmas :)

We pulled out the decorations and turned up the Christmas carols. We hung the stockings.

 Zackary set up the nativity.

 Mia and I set up our little Christmas village on the dining room table.

We are getting a real tree for the first time this year so it will be a little while yet before we get to that, but I am really looking forward to it. Ty started putting up the lights on the house. We are looking forward to the rest of the holiday season!

38 weeks and 5 days!

This bun is almost done!

Thanksgiving Morning

 This morning I am getting the house ready for our big feast this afternoon. We are excited to have friends and family coming to celebrate with us this year.  I made some pies! German chocolate pecan,

 and apple crunch with a maple cream sauce!

Hurray for pie!

The tables are set.

 I did the kids table with paper plates and cups. Each child will have a little cup of crayons and some coloring sheets.

 There is also a happy little chocolate truffle topped with a turkey on each plate.

 The adult table is set up with my china that I rarely have a chance to use!

And I am a nerd and printed up some turkey trivia for our dinner party!

Looking forward to a great day!

Thanksgiving Thankfuls!

Thanksgiving time is here!

I wanted to take some time today and think about my blessings. They are many and they are great!

It is an absolutely beautiful day in Beaumont. The view of the mountains from my bedroom window it awesome! 

This is the first Thanksgiving that Ty and I will be able to spend with my family!

We have some great friends coming as well....also I am hosting and super excited for the Turkey!

Baby Zoey will be here very soon. I am very much looking forward to her arrival :)

We are so thankful for Ty's job. I love that he enjoys doing what he does everyday.

I love our house. 

I am so thankful for the food that I can feed my children everyday.

I love being a wife and mother.

We are so lucky to have our vehicles.

The gospel!

The temple!

An awesome ward.

A fenced yard for the kids to play in.

Chocolate!!!

These are just a few. I am very blessed! I love this time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A Little Yard Work

 We spent Saturday afternoon at my parent's house in Redlands. Ty and I got to run away for a little alone time and the kids had a blast raking leaves in the backyard.

 Well....Max had a blast raking leaves.

He worked very hard getting all of those fall colored leaves into a nice pile.

 Mia thought his leaf pile was very nice.

Perfect for jumping into and scattering all over the yard again!

Salted Caramel 6 Layer Chocolate Cake

The Link to this recipe is HERE.

I don't know that I am up for the mess but I sure would like to eat this today!

In any case, it's Friday and chocolate should make an appearance at some point!

The New Car

 Our new vehicle is a dark blue Ford Taurus X.

It is one of those crossovers so it looks like a blend between an SUV and a minivan.

 There are 2 rows of seating in the back and plenty of storage for Costco trips in the trunk.

I took it out for a test drive and a quick trip to Wal-Mart this afternoon. When I came out of the store I walked through the parking lot looking for my yellow car. I finally remembered I had driven the new blue car and felt very silly.

We feel very blessed and excited about our family sedan!

Zackary!

Zack was sick last week. He didn't sleep very much or very well. Last night was the best night of sleep he has had in a while, but he is still catching up. Today, after his chef boyardee, he made himself all cozy in our bed and fell asleep. Such a sweet little man :)

A New Week!

1. 37 weeks pregnant. 

2. The 3 day weekend was awesome! I am already looking forward to sleeping in next week during the Thanksgiving holiday!

3. I am craving a dark chocolate Toblerone bar and I must have one soon!

4. We are getting our new car tomorrow. I am really excited to have a vehicle that will be large enough for our family, but I am really sad to say goodbye to my X-terra. I have loved driving it!

5. I have a conference with Max's teacher today and I am hoping to hear raves! We think he is pretty great :)

Happy Monday!

Pumpkin.....

.....Pie Play Dough!

This play dough recipe comes from Moments of Mommyhood and it is made with pumpkin pie spice so it smells awesome!

The kids and I are getting crafty in the kitchen today. Max is home for the holiday! Don't we all love 3 day weekends!

Happy Friday!

Homework Stations

 I didn't take any before pictures of this project, but at the start this was just a blank wall in a big room.

Ty built the desks and the cubbies.

 There are 4 desks. One for each child, once baby Zoey gets here! (I will use her desk until she is big enough to need it!)

I love how the project turned out! It looks great and I think we will use it all the time!

(Special Thanks to Ty for being the master handyman!)

Monday

1. 36 weeks pregnant and the crib is up! I am starting to feel ready!

2. I am loving LARABARs . They are the best snack!

3. I so enjoy our fireplaces. They make the house feel so cozy and I love watching the kids warm their hands and feet in front of it.

4. My mom bought a huge collection of old school Polly Pockets for Mia. She has been playing with them all morning long with no end in sight. Awesome gift!

5. Zackary and Max have been watching Cars 2 and loving it. I am glad they have something they can share!

Happy Monday! Hurray for a new week :)

Today!

It is 4:30 in the morning and I am up eating toast with butter and raspberry jam. I was just that starving!

I found this little quote and thought it was perfect for the day. Why not have a good day today?

Cookies!

It's raining today! It's cold today!

I have the fireplaces going and I am going to bake a big batch of my very favorite cookies!

These Almond Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Chocolate and Carrots have become my go to cookie recipe. I always use ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate in mine!

In other news: I finished the Christmas shopping! I am so glad to have one thing done!

Happy Friday!

Reality

1. We are one month away from this baby's due date.

2. I need to plan Thanksgiving.

3. I need to plan Christmas.

4. I need to set up the crib.

5. I need to buy some diapers.

6. I need to eat some chocolate.

Have a nice day!

Trick or Treat!

 We kicked off our Halloween night with a fun dinner. Max helped me top our Frankenstein pizza. The sauce was a combination of alfredo and pesto. I told the kids that the garlic in the pesto sauce was to keep the vampires away!

 After dinner we pulled out the costumes. It was a last minute decision to throw Zackary in the giraffe costume.

 He is holding Lightning Mcqueen. Lightning traveled with Zack all evening and returned safely after trick-or treating!

 Max was a little pirate. A very pleasant, happy, candy loving pirate.

 The little people were all ready to go!

 Mia told me that she wants to be a fairy princess ballerina every year. We will see what next year brings!

Then they were off. They returned later with a ridiculous amount of candy. They had a great time.