The Carroll Family

A Little Rant

2011-11-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

I have so many better things I should be doing this morning but I have to take a few minutes to express my feelings on something...even if no one reads or cares.
I like to watch Conan occasionally - I think he's funny. Last night he performed a same-sex marriage on his show, so I decided not to watch that. This morning I see posts on Facebook from people saying how wonderful it was to see that and how "bad" it is that same-sex marriage isn't more widely accepted. This got me a tad bit upset.
Now I honestly believe that everyone has the right to do whatever they want (I certainly do whatever I want). I have NO problem with this. One of my beliefs as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that I "claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of [my] own concience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." This means I believe in God - and I worship Him and follow His commandments. I also feel that everyone else should be able to believe and do whatever they want. What really iritates me is the fact that people expect ME to accept all these things that I feel are immoral and "wrong". Yet they do not want to accept that I can believe whatever I want and feel however I want. Why MUST I accept something you are doing? Why can't I have morals and values? You tell me it is "wrong" that I don't accept your lifestyle yet you won't allow me to feel that your lifestyle is "wrong". Do you see the problem with that? I can be wrong but YOU can't? I have every right to not accept the idea of same-sex marriage or people killing human life inside of them or having sex with anyone you want whether or not you are married being ok. And there is NOTHING "WRONG" with that. I am so sick and tired of people telling me I need to be more "accepting" of people's lifestyles and actions. I have absolutely NO obligation to feel that what they are doing is ok. I am not one of those people picketing in front of hospitals that perform abortions or churches that perform same-sex marriages. I feel that people can make their own choices. I can teach my children to have morals and values and responsibility. I can teach them that our Heavenly Father's plan for us is to marry someone of the opposite sex and have a family and that anything other than that goes against His plan for us. I can teach them that Heavenly Father is disappointed when he sees His children abusing their bodies and doing things that are contrary to His plan. I can teach them that although He loves EVERYONE because they are His children, He has rules and commandments that He wants us follow (and that it is in our best interest to do so). I can teach them that there are consequences for our actions, especially when we do things that are contrary to His plan and His commandments. And I WILL teach them all these things. I will teach them that Heavenly Father DOES NOT approve of same-sex marriage as it goes completely against His plan for us. He DOES NOT approve of abortions - a woman killing a human life inside of her simply because she wants to be irresponsible and not have to care for and raise that child. He DOES NOT approve of us watching pornography, piercing and tattooing our bodies, and all other acts that defile the temples he gave to us. What is very sad is that society tells ME that I must NOT teach these things to my children!! Society tells me that having morals, values, and standing up for what I believe in is WRONG!! Punishing my children for being disobedient is WRONG!!
I read an article online the other day about politics. In a nutshell it talked about "Mormonism" and the fact that so many voters are prejudiced agains Mormons. It talked about how far we have come with racial equality. Yet we as a society are WAY MORE prejudiced against religion that we have ever been. Polls show that as much as almost 40% of voters say they would not vote for a Mormon for president. Simply because he was MORMON!! Can you believe that? In the comments were arguments about the fact that people "choose" to be Mormon but don't "choose" to be black. I can understand that. But it is still ignorant and prejudice to not vote for someone simply because of their religious preference. People don't agree with the Mormon belief system. Well I don't agree with people engaging in homosexual activites. BOTH ARE CHOICES. People choose what religion they will belong to. And people ALSO choose what kind of people they will have sex with and marry. Just because people INSIST that others are born with certain tendencies and feelings DOES NOT mean that those tendencies dictate their actions.
I understand that this is probably quite a pointless rant but whatever. I am very passionate about what I believe in. I feel very strongly about who I am and what I believe. I have extreme self-confidence and am not the slightest bit swayed in my beliefs by what society says. But most people aren't. They care too much about what other people think. They care too much about what "the masses" think and feel. "Well if that is what everyone else thinks, then so do I." I swear this is the mentality of most people. We're all just a bunch of sheep. Following the loudest voices. And today, the loudest voices are pretty stupid.

Another Baby and Other Changes

2011-10-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

One of these days I might start getting better at this blog stuff. It seems that I allow more and more time to pass between my posts. I guess I figure there aren't many people "following" me so there isn't much concern about my posting habits. Maybe if I were better at posting I'd get a better following...

So here is what has transpired since my last post LAST YEAR. Sheesh.

We had another baby - Evan Andrew. He was born on April 7th, 2011. He is just about 6 months old. Andrew and I enjoyed the few days we were in the hospital - just the two of us with a brand-new little baby. We got fed 3 times a day, didn't have to do laundry or dishes...it was great. My mom and sisters were wonderful enough to watch our other 3 kids for us. It was so fun to see the kids' response to meeting their new baby brother...especially Sara. She just loves Evan to death. She is so good with him. She walks up to him all the time and says, "Hiiii!!!!". I love how well all my children get a long with each other. I have been lucky to have children that love each other so much. none of them have been jealous or clingy. They are all very independent and therefore get along with each other very well - and don't fight for my attention.

A few months back we had to get rid of our dog, Buddy. Sara had been having breathing issues for a while and after a few trips to the doctors and a few allergy tests, we found out that she is very allergic to dogs. So...off he went. My cousin took him and apparently he is doing well. Tyler had a really hard time at first with Buddy being gone. He was so attached to him - they were best buddies. But it didn't take long for him to get over that and he only occasionally speaks of Buddy.

Andy was laid off a few months back, as well. A new company came and took over the hotel and casino at Lake Las Vegas. They actually offered Andy a position but it didn't make sense for him to take it. He is now going to school full-time, which will allow him to finish school sooner than if he was working and going to school. We decided that he should just focus on school and get that completed and I would work as needed. Luckily, I don't need to work 40 hours a week. I am just doing the same work I was doing before - just a little more. I have a few wonderful people in our ward that babysit the two little ones a few days a week while I see clients. Now that Natalie and Tyler are both at school all day, it makes it a little easier finding someone to watch just Sara and Evan. I love working, I just hate toting the kids off to a babysitters house every day. Luckily they are both very good kids so I have many offers to watch them. Sara loves going to people's house and playing with their children.

Natalie, Tyler, and Andy are all back in school. Andy is taking a full load and that is keeping him busy (though right now he is watching a baseball game on TV - I guess it isn't keeping him busy enough!). Natalie is in 2nd grade - how on earth do I have a 2nd grader already?? Tyler is in 1st grade and doing...ok. He is so smart and his grades are excellent...he just struggles with paying attention and keeping quiet during instruction. He is so ADD that it is difficult for him to sit still. I work with him every day - hopefully he will learn to behave in school so I don't have to put him on medication. The last few days have been very good - looks like he is starting to improve. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Natalie is doing great, as usual. She is a wonderful student and also very smart. She struggles a little with writing, so we are working on that.

Sara is 20 months old and is such a cute little bug. I love her so much! She is such a show-off and loves making us laugh. We have moved her to a toddler bed and so far she is doing very well in it. She occasionally wanders around in the middle of the night so we have to be sure to keep the door closed to her room. Evan is in the crib and sleeps through the night just about every night. His second tooth JUST poked through today - he got his first one a few weeks ago. He is eating baby food now and loving it. He is such a beautiful, sweet baby - ALWAYS smiling!! He loves laying on the floor and rolls all over the place. He isn't quite crawling yet but that doesn't stop him from getting where he wants to go. He rolls and turns and rolls and turns - and before we know it, he's all the way across the room. Sara loves to roll him over and shove his binky in his mouth - whether or not he wants it. And he smiles EVERY time he sees one of the kids walk by him. I just can't get enough of him.

Andy is still the assistant Ward Clerk in our ward and they just recently called me to be the Music Leader in the Nursery. We currently have 3 nurseries in our ward and I get to visit each one every Sunday and sing music with the little ones. I love being in the Nursery - this is the second time I have been here. There are so many little ones in our nurseries and they are all so cute. I am also still helping out with the Ward Choir. I never realized just how much I liked that calling until I was released.

I'm gonna stop for now and I'll add more later.

Wow Its Been A While...

2010-10-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

So it looks like the last time I made a post was when Sara was 4 months old. I guess I'm not really good at this blogging thing.

The kids started school a few months ago. They both love it and are doing very well. Tyler is in half-day kindergarted (mornings) and Natalie is gone all day. They take the bus to and from school (which I love). The school they go to is kind of a pain because when you go to pick up the kids, you have to park the car and get out to go get the kids. You can't just wait in the car and let the kids come to you. So its nice to just have to go to the bus stop instead of going all the way to the school three times a day.

I was a little nervous about Tyler starting school because he is very high-energy. I'm sure he has ADD or ADHD (though I've never even had a doctor test him for it) but he seems to be doing well in class. I haven't had any complaints from his teacher yet so I'm taking that as a good sign. We haven't even had any notes come home or anything! I think he likes learning and seems to be doing very very well.

Natalie is a social butterfly as usual. She has made all kinds of friends and loves going to school. She is very smart and is ready very well.

Sara is doing great as well. She is crawling and pulling herself into the standing position (yay! NOT). She is still a little hesitant about sitting back down so it gets pretty interesting when she pulls herself up then after about 10 minutes she starts to get frustrated because she doesn't know what to do - and I'm sure her legs get tired! She'll learn...one way or another. Speaking of learning, she had her first tumble down the stairs about a week ago. We were upstairs doing laundry and I went into my bedroom to put some clothes away and heard a little thump thump thump. Poor baby. She was perfectly fine and only cried for a mintue or so. She's a tough girl like her brother. I love her to death. She still has long, dark hair and it makes her look so much older than she is. She gets comments constantly about her long hair and big blue eyes. She also has a very good personality and is always smiling and laughing. She loves when Tyler plays with her and tries to make her laugh. She is a lot of fun.

Andy is still workin out at Lake Las Vegas. The Ritz-Carlton no longer manages the hotel there - it is just an empty building. He was hired on by the company that is doing security for the building so he is still there, still doing security. Good news is that another group looks like they will be managing the hotel shortly and hopefully they will keep Andy on board. Andy is also going to school (what a trooper!). The thought of being stuck doing security forever was enough to motivate him to get back in school and pursue a field he is actually interested in. He is looking into electronics, possibly computers. He is so smart and I am so proud of him for working so hard. The good thing right now is that he gets bored stiff at work and has lots of time to do his homework. That leaves more time for him to spend with us when he's at home. He has been called to be the assistant Ward Clerk in our ward - which means he handles a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff and paperwork that allows things to run smoothly. I think he really enjoys his calling and I know he is very good at it.

I have been keeping busy, as usual. I still work a little, though I have been trying to see less clients on-site, doing most work at home. Most of my clients are very understanding and its been going pretty well. The good thing is that in the mornings its just me and Sara...so if I do have a client I need to see, its much easier to find someone to babysit one little baby rather than a few crazy kids. Daisy (my sister) has a baby just two months younger than Sara and she has been so gracious in babysitting for me when I need her. I don't know what I would do without her!
So I am expecting again - baby #4 is due in April! Yay! We are very excited and can't wait to (hopefully) be done having babies. I love them but don't know if I can do more than 4. Our original goal when we got married was to have 4-5 kids (I think 4 will do it for us) by the time we're 30. Andy will be 29 in December and I'll still be 28 when I have baby #4, so we're right on track! Sara and the new baby will be 16 months apart - the same age separation as Natalie and Tyler. I'm very excited but a little nervous about having two small children - again! At least this time I have Natalie and Tyler to help out - and they have been! I have such a great family.
I think that's about all the new stuff for now - I know that if these posts get too long, they get hard to read. So I leave this as is and if anything new pops up, I'll try to keep up...

4 Months

2010-05-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Sara had her 4 month check-up today. She is 13 lbs. 6 oz. and 24 inches long - 25-50 percentile for both. She also has BOTH her bottom front teeth - FUN! She got 2 shots today and did much better than last time - she only cried for about a mintue. I think its funny that there is nothing you can do to distract a kid while they are getting shots. Poor thing is all smiley one second then BAM!! Aahhh the things we do to keep our kids safe.

I have also tried her on solid foods and she isn't too keen on that. So we'll see how that goes over the next few weeks. We also made our first attempt at pigtails today!

Baby Sara

2010-05-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Has It Really Been THAT Long??

2010-05-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ok so I see its been 9 months since I last posted...and I don't really have a good excuse. A LOT has happened in 9 months and I would love to post everything that happened, but my fear is that creating a dozen new posts all at once will scare everyone away. So I will simply post a few highlights over the last 9 months in an effort to get up-to-date without too much fuss.

1. A NEW HOUSE! We bought our FIRST house in September! WOO HOO! We started looking at buying a house early last year...it took us months of looking and dozens of offers before we finally found the perfect house. We love it! We live only a few doors down from my brother Will and his family - they have 4 kids and the two oldest are the same age as Natalie and Tyler. Needless to say, the kids love having their cousins so close! Leigh Ann is a lifesaver and babysits for me all the time when I see clients. She's the best! We love having them over for dinner or just to hang out. It is so wonderful having family so close! And my sister Daisy also lives just right around the corner. So now we have a great house, great neighbors, and a great ward. We love it!

2. HOLIDAYS! So the holidays came and went. Usually we drive to Wisconsin for Christmas to visit all of Andy's family but not this year. We had just bought a house and couldn't really afford the trip - also I was due with Sara ANY DAY! How horrible that would have been to go in labor somewhere along the plains of Iowa?? So we stayed in Vegas and spent a wonderful Christmas at the Downer's. Thanksgiving was wonderful as well and it was the last time I got to see Grandpa before he passed away. New Years was...uh...interesting. We went downtown with the kids to watch fireworks - got there BARELY in time to see them and just about froze our butts off too! Andy had to work so he wasn't even there with us. But we still had fun hanging out with the family, as usual.

3. BABIES! Then there were like 100 new babies born! No really, Diana had her baby in November, Stephanie had her baby in early December, I had Sara at the end of December, Daisy had her baby in February, and Ally had her baby in March (whew!). So much fun! First off, Mom threw me a SURPRISE baby shower! It was awesome! I was actually surprised - it doesn't happen very often! Tina called me one day and asked if I wanted to go to breakfast with her on Saturday. I said sure, and was kind of shocked - she and I haven't been out to breakfast together in a long time! Then Daisy called me and asked if I wanted to go baby-clothes shopping on Saturday. Weird! So I said I'd love to, but Tina and I were going to breakfast that morning so we'd have to go after. Maybe it was the other way around - Daisy may have called me first...I don't remember. Anyway, little did I know it was all a plot to get me to Daisy's house for the baby shower! Tina and I went to breakfast and after went to Daisy's to "pick her up" to go shopping. NOPE! When we first got there, Mom's car was there. So I was a little confused as to why Mom was at Daisy's...but whatever. Then Mike opens the door and Tina turns around to go back to her car...and Mom, Steph and Daisy are all in the kitchen making food. ??? I was really confused and my first thought was, "Why didn't anyone tell me we were having Daisy's baby shower today?" THEN I realized IT WAS FOR ME! So of course, being 9 months pregnant, I started bawling. I just couldn't believe it. I got so many wonderful things, it was so cool. I have such a great family! Then baby Sara was nice enough to wait until AFTER Christmas to come - December 28th to be exact! (Actually I was induced - a week before she was due. Man was I DONE being pregnant!)

Such a beautiful baby, I love her to death. I had a pretty rough pregnancy so by the time I was in full labor I wanted an epidural...my first one. Man was that great! The only down side - I STILL TO THIS DAY have a pain in my lower back where they put the needle in. Yikes. She was born at 10:44 am and weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 inches long. She also had (has) LOTS OF HAIR and long fingers and toes. I love her.

4. THE AVERY'S! My mom invited Nicki Avery to my baby shower - Nicki and her husband Matt adopted Nick, the baby I had about 7 1/2 years ago before I was married. I had corresponded with them a little every now and then since Nick was born. But we had never gotten together since the day I gave Nick to them. I had always hoped that I wouldn't have to wait 18 years before I saw them again. So when my mom decided to throw me the shower she invited Nicki. I had NO IDEA she was going to be there until she came through the door at Daisy's house. I was already emotional because I had just found out that my family was throwing me a baby shower and when I saw Nicki, I just burst out crying. It was WONDERFUL!!!

I was SO GLAD she was there. She even had little Matti there - although she wasn't so little anymore! She was only 4 or so the last time I had seen her. What a beautiful girl. Since then, Nicki and Matt invited us to their house for dinner to meet the rest of the family. Natalie and Tyler were so glad to make a new friend in Nick. They still ask about him all the time and want to go to his house to play. It was great to meet the rest of Matt and Nicki's family and I can't wait to spend more time with them.

5. A VISIT FROM THE IN LAWS!! Since we couldn't make it out to Wisconsin for Christmas, Andy's family came to visit us in Vegas for a week. It was his dad Steve, step mom Cindy, sister Lori and brother Austin. We had a great week while they were here. Luckily it was the same week Natalie was off for Spring Break. We went to the Hoover Dam, hung out on the Strip, visited Andy's work, and us girls had a WONDERFUL spa day at the Ritz! Thanks Cindy!!!!

6. NO JOB???? The Ritz Carlton, Lake Las Vegas closed it's doors on May 2, 2010. So, as of TOMORROW, Andy is out of a job. He has applied to a couple different places and is hoping SOMETHING will pan out. We are optimistic...for now. I always have the work I do, so its comforting to know that we will at least have SOMETHING in the event Andy doesn't get a job right away. But he is a great worker so I know something will come up. It just stinks because we JUST bought a new house and have a brand new baby...just about the WORST time to lose your job! But we'll make it!!

A few other things to note: I have a calling in our new ward as the Ward Choir Director! I absolutely love it and am so glad to have this calling! I love music and LOVE the choir - I am so grateful for everyone that shows up to sing with me. Andy was called to teach in Priesthood - and he is doing a great job. I am so proud of him! Sara started teething and ALREADY HAS 2 TEETH! I noticed last Sunday, April 25th, when I was rubbing her gums...her two bottom teeth were poking through!! She wasn't even 4 months old yet!!!! So needless to say, nursing has been quite an experience since those teeth have come in. And poor Sara has been so miserable the last week. I love her and hate to see her in so much pain!! Tyler is so excited to start school next year - we found out that their school is changing to 9 month instead of year-round! We LOVE IT! Ahhh I can't wait. Year-round school sucks. Natalie also lost her first tooth! She was so good about it! She wiggled it and wiggled it until it fell right out - we didn't even have to pull it for her! On her 6th birthday she got her ears pierced - Andy and I thought for sure she was going to lose it when they poked her. But she didn't say a peep! Just "ouch" - I couldn't believe it! My little girl is growing up!!!! I am so proud of her.

So that's just about it - a few highlights from the past 9 months. Now if I can just stay on top of things...

SNOWING!!

Helping with laundry...

Working on the yard

At the county Fair

My BEAUTIFUL baby!!

Daddy and Sara time

Growing up

It's A Girl!

2009-08-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

We found out last week that we are having a little girl! Well if it does turn out to be a boy then I feel sorry for him - you know what I mean.

Natalie is very excited about me having a girl - I think she would have been disappointed if it would have been a boy! Both Natalie and Tyler love to "kiss the baby" (kissing my tummy). They are both so sweet and I know they will do well once the baby is here.

So far all is well - except for the fact that I am getting fat, have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night then can't get back to sleep, and that I have a "lazy hip". Every time I get pregnant I get this pinched nerve in one of my hips and it drives me crazy. I have trouble bending over and occasionally my hip just kind of gives out on me. Yikes! But the baby is doing well - we haven't quite chosen a name yet. We just can't seem to find one we both like. Luckily we have a few months still to decide.

Here are some pictures of the little one!

Natalie Starts School

2009-08-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

First off I must say that I cannot believe I have a child going to school. It is a little scary. I still feel like a kid myself and now I have a child that's going to school!! Natalie has been SOO excited to start school and did absolutely amazing on her first day. She has late kindergarten so she didn't have to be there until 12:50. But here's the catch - we are in the process of moving so I enrolled her for the kindergarten where our new house is. Its a half-hour away!!! We were supposed to be moved in by now but so many things kept happening so we aren't supposed to close until this Friday. So I have to drive a half-hour twice a day for at least a week to take my daughter to school. Ridiculous. Anyhow, Natalie didn't seem to mind. Last Friday we went to meet her teacher and when we got there she asked if I was going to drop her off and leave. I told her no, not until Monday. She seemed a little disappointed about that. So when we arrived to school on Monday she went right into her class with no problem! She turned around and waved and didn't look back. When we went to pick her up, she was so excited. Apparently the only thing she could remember about what she did on her first day was color. But I found out that she also met one-on-one with one of the teacher aids to go over numbers and letters to see where each of the kids stand. Natalie told me that she counted to 100 and the lady was very proud of her. I am so excited for her because Natalie is so smart and I know she will do very well.

Once we dropped Natalie off Tyler was immediately sad, saying "I miss Natalie." We hadn't even got to the car yet! The whole time she was gone Tyler kept saying that he missed her and couldn't wait to see her again. Those two are NEVER apart so it was really hard for him to be away from her. I thought it was adorable.

We brought our dog with us and left him in the car while we brought Natalie to her classroom. When we got back into the car, the dog just looked around like he knew someone was missing. Then he promptly sat in Natalies car seat and just looked at us. It was so funny! I think even HE missed her!

Natalie is so excited to go back to school. I am so proud of her (and myself - I didn't cry once!)!

But I have to admit something even cuter happened...Today was her second day of school and Andrew had to work (he took her first day of school off so he could be there with us). So when I got home with Natalie after school, Andrew called us at about 4:30. He doesn't usually call home while he is working so I asked what he needed - he said he just wanted to talk to Natalie. So they talked on the phone for a few minutes and she told him about her second day at school. I thought that I was the cutest thing ever. What a wonderful daddy!!!

Baseball Fan

2009-08-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

Natalie loves to color. She also loves to spell. She is always asking me if she can color and asking me to spell things for her. She is very smart so I usually tell her to sound out the words to spell them. She is very good at it. On another note, whenever we watch the Cubs play baseball on TV the kids like to watch. Andrew has got them trained as to what the information means at the top of the screen - each team, their score, how many balls, strikes, and outs, which inning it is, and so on. Yesterday we were watching the Cubs play the Florida Marlins. At the top of the screen, it read: CUBS (their score) FLA (their score). Natalie knew right away which one the Cubs were but asked us what the other team was. She sounded it out just as it showed - I explained to her that FLA was short for Florida. She seemed happy enough and went on with her day.

This morning as we were getting ready for church, she asked if she could color. I told her yes so downstairs she went with some paper and markers. About 15 minutes later she comes upstairs and says, "Mommy, look what I wrote!" then proceeded to show me her paper:

Oh my sweet girl I couldn't help but laugh. What a memory these little kids have! She was very impressed with herself, as was I. Her daddy will be so proud of her - surely she will grow up to be a great baseball fan.

Still Alive

2009-06-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been a while since I've posted here - I am just really lazy so that's my excuse. I have some exciting news - I am pregnant! I am due January 3rd so I still have a ways to go. We are really excited for baby #3. We don't know what we are having yet and won't find out for a while. I am not looking forward to being prenant all summer long!! Natalie is so excited for me to have a baby and can't wait until he/she gets big enough to start kicking so she can feel them. So far things have been ok - I have been unusually nauseous with this prenancy so far. I never got morning sickness with any of my others but I seem to be sick all the time with this one. Hopefully it won't last much longer!

We are also working on buying our first house! We have been looking with our realtor for over a month now and it is starting to get really frustrating! The good thing is that there are a lot of houses out there for GREAT prices - but all the ones we are looking at are foreclosures or bank owned so the buying process is a little more stressful. So far we have put offers on 3 different houses - the first two we didn't get. There have been multiple offers on all the houses we have been interested in so that makes things really difficult. But we just put in a very strong offer on a house we love so we are keeping our fingers crossed! Hopefully by the end of the summer we will be moved into a new house!

Natalie starts school (kindergarten) this upcoming year. I am very excited for her! I haven't enrolled her yet because we are going to be moving most likely before school starts - so I don't know which school she will be going to yet! Ever since she turned 5 she has been asking when she gets to go to school. She is also very excited and I know she is going to do great. She is very social and friendly and VERY smart. She knows all of her numbers, letters, colors, shapes, can write her name and lots of other words, can count past 100 and even knows how to add and subtract!! I am so proud of her and know she is going to do great.

Tyler also can't wait until he turns 5 so he can go to school too. I think I may put him in preschool when Natalie goes to school. I'm sure he'll be bored at home all by himself. He is such a great kid and loves his sister. They get a long so well. He is still obsessed with trains and loves to play on the computer. He and Natalie play on the computer all the time and they are getting really good at it! He is growing so fast and it won't be long before he passes up Natalie - they are already the same size! Every time we go out I have at least one person ask if they are twins. I can't believe how fast they've grown.

Natalie and Tyler are at such a great age - they are developing the cutest personalities and pick up on the weirdest stuff. I could tell dozens of stories where they mention something to me and I have NO idea where they got it from. A few weeks ago my sister Diana came to town to visit for a while. When we first got to my moms house to see her Natalie asked, "Mom, where is Diana's car?" I told her that Diana didn't drive, she took an airplane. There was a few minutes of silence then she asked, "Mom, do airplane drivers say 'Next stop Grandma's house'?" I laughed so hard! Apparently, because they watch movies with train conductors saying, "Next stop, (wherever)", she things people who fly planes must say the same thing. It was really cute. Then a few nights ago I was on the computer and Tyler came walking in my room. I was trying to get him to go to bed and he says, "Mom, if you aren't in the hallway you need to turn the light off so we don't waste money." Wow. Good for him, I guess! Andrew had told him a while ago about keeping lights and water turned off to save money or whatever and he just hasn't let that go. All the time now things need to be shut off! But I'm not complaining!

We took Natalie and Tyler to the swimming pool a few days ago (first time for the summer) and they had such a good time! We had to BEG Natalie to finally get out of the water. She asks me every day if we can go swimming - it's going to be a long summer!

Andrew recently got promoted at work to the Manager of Loss Prevention. He had been just a supervisor for the last few years and when the previous manager left, he applied for the position. I am so proud of him - he works so hard and is so good at his job.

I think that's about all for now. I will try to be better about posting so they aren't so long and I don't miss "important" stuff (not that anyone probably reads this junk anyway). With me being prenant and all I have an excuse to do regular updates - lets see how long that lasts!

Pay It Forward

2009-02-25T22:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is from Karen Scott, a friend of mine from church. We'll see, eh?

A very good friend had this tag up on her blog. I am anxiously awaiting my prize! So now it's my turn to host the game. Here we go! I am unlucky when it comes to winning contests...How lucky are you? I double dare you to accept this challenge. Here are the tagging instructions: The first three people to respond to this post will get something from me! You'll have to tell me what it is I can do for you because I can't come up with much off the top of my head - but I'll make it good! The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. Thanks Karen!

Christmas

2009-02-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Apparently I haven't posted anything about Christmas, so I might as well do that - considering it is almost March!

We went to visit Andy's family for Christmas. We drove to Northern Wisconsin (which took 2 days) so stay with his mom. We were there for about 3 days, then we drove to Southern Wisconsin to stay with his dad (that took a day). We stayed there for a week, then drove home (another 2 days). I think we were gone 12 days total. But we all had a lot of fun. The drive gets better as the kids get older and they don't really get homesick while we are gone. Tyler loves dogs and everyone in Andy's family has at least 2 dogs. So he liked that. Natalie....not so much. She is not a huge dog fan but there was one dog that she did absolutely love. Andy's step brother, Kyle has a girlfriend who had just got a little bitty chiuahua. That thing was TINY! Well it was so small that Natalie thought it was the cutest thing ever. She just wanted to hold it and hug it. It was really cute.

I think the dogs name was Delilah. It looks like a toy!

Speaking of toys, the kids got a million things for Christmas, as ususal. Tyler got just about every Thomas the Train toy in existance and Natalie got a ton of Princess things. They opened gifts a total of 4 times, I think. Needless to say, they enjoyed it.

The day we left Las Vegas, it snowed. Later that day, my mom called us to see how things were going. At that point we were in Nebraska getting ready to stop for the day. We hadn't seen one snowflake the entire day. My mom was worried that we had gotten stuck somewhere because they got something like 8 inches of snow!!! IN LAS VEGAS! It was crazy. But apparently we just missed the bad weather, which was good. Actually, we missed the bad weather the entire trip. Every day we drove there wasn't a single drop in the sky. But as soon as we stopped, it snowed like crazy. The kids just LOVED playing in the snow. Natalie wanted to build a snowman and Tyler just wanted to throw snowballs. Buddy (our dog who we brought with us) did NOT like the snow. It was really funny to see him try to walk around in it. He would pick his feet up really high with every step - man that dog is spoiled!

So it was a great trip. Its good to see Andy's family since they live so far away - its the only time we get to see them, and the only time they get to see the kids! Hopefully this will continue to be our family tradition each year.

Tattoo

2009-02-19T16:58:00.001-08:00

So its been a while since I've posted - I can't really use the excuse that I've been busy...just lazy. So here's a little update.

First off, a little something cute: The other day I was getting the kids ready for a bath. Natalie loves playing with tattoos and is well known for having many plastered all over her body. I don't really know where she gets them from - she did get a coloring book for Christmas that had a few pages of tattoos in it. Anyway, this particular day I had found out that they had played in the tattoos - I found little papers all over their bedroom floor. Tyler had been running around in his undies all morning. So they are getting ready for a bath and Tyler takes off his undies and is climbing into the bathtub and this is what I see:

and I just LAUGHED and LAUGHED! Yes, that is a monkey tattoo right above his butt. I hadn't seen it all morning because his undies covered it up. So I went and got the camera and took a picture. Well anytime I take a picture of the kids, they want to see it right away. Tyler seemed a little confused that I was taking a picture of his butt and when I showed him the picture, he got a really serious look on his face. Then he tried to turn around to look at his butt to see the tattoo. Apparently he didn't know it was there either! I can just imagine Natalie putting a tattoo on Tyler while he was sleeping. Oh my gosh it was so funny.

The other day I hosted Family Home Evening at my house for my family. Only Dennis, Stephanie, Will, Leigh Ann and the kids showed up. But we still had a good time. We had sandwiches for dinner, had a simple lesson, and then had some delicious dessert. I guess it was good that more people didn't show up because I have such a small house! But I'm glad those that showed up came. Hopefully next time more can make it.

Andy applied for a manager position at the Ritz-Carlton and we are so anxious waiting to see if he got the job. He is very well qualified and is the best candidate (as far as we are concerened)...but you never know. So we are keeping our fingers crossed.

That's it for now. I'll do some more updates later.

Tyler and Natalie

2008-12-06T21:14:00.001-08:00

The kids have been doing a lot of funny things lately...I'm not sure what the deal is. Tyler is going through the "why?" stage and it is driving me absolutely CRAZY! Everything is why this and why that...from why is it dark to why is daddy going to work...sheesh! I don't remember Natalie ever going through that stage. I guess his curiosity is a good thing - I expect he is learning a lot.

Tyler also is SO HYPER!! It's been coming on slowly but he is all over the place all the time. I feel kinda bad because we don't go out and run around much because we don't have a yard and I'm really bad about taking them to the park. So I guess he has to wear off all his energy somehow. But he is such a sweet boy and I still love it when he comes in my room first thing in the morning to snuggle with me. He pokes my face and giggles at me. Some day he'll stop bugging me so much and I know I'll miss it. So I enjoy every minute of it now.

Natalie is becoming such a little adult. I just read a post that Karen Scott wrote about her little girl saying "actually" and its funny because Natalie has been doing the same thing. Some of the things that come out of her mouth are so funny! I can see how she is developing her own personality and how she is applying things she hears to her own situations. I love her so much and am so excited for her to start school next year. She is so smart and I know she will do so well. She is such a fast learner and is very good at following directions. Hopefully this won't change when she goes to school!

That's all - just wanted to gush about my kids a little.

Tyler taking a nap with Buddy

Natalie "painting her nails" while we were going for a ride

Thanksgiving At The Downer's

2008-12-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

It is a Downer family tradition to have everyone over for Thanksgiving at my parents house. Most of us kids still live in Henderson/Vegas so it isn't too difficult to get everyone together. Diana and her three little ones were able to come to town (from NJ) so the only ones missing were Mike, Renee and their kids. Dennis and Steph were there; Will, Leigh Ann and their three Greg, Madily, and baby William; Diana and her three Cody, Katie, and Jessica; Tina with Zach and Bonnie; me and Andy with Natalie and Tyler; Tim and Ally; Daisy and Mike; Bonnie; Clara Anne (although she had to leave early because she worked that day...bummer); and Jimmy. We also had my grandpa there for a total of 17 adults and 10 kids. WOW! We set up two long tables in the formal dining room where the adults ate and all the kids sat by the regular dinner table. Talk about a full house! We had lots and lots of fun. It was great to be able to have just about everyone there - and I don't even think we had any fights this year! Also a few days after Thanksgiving my mom and some of my sisters and I got to go to lunch together before Diana went back home. It was so great to be able to get out - just us girls! Thanksgiving is BY FAR my most favorite holiday and I can't WAIT for next year!!

My mom, cooking...

Cody and the snack trays

The kiddie table

The adult tables

Watching Wall-E with full bellies

Downer Girl Pics

2008-11-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

My mom took some pictures this weekend with my sister Diana in town. We took some of all of us Downer girls - all 6 of us. Then we took a few of just us older girls. The first pic, left to right, is Diana, Bonnie, Tina, me, Clara Anne, and Daisy.

And here is Diana, Tina, and me.

Christmas Cards

2008-11-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

I am getting ready to send out my Christmas Cards and I need a lot of addresses! If ANYONE would please e-mail me their address I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks! debrac28@gmail.com OR debrac28@yahoo.com.

Dance Class, Haircut, Twilight and Wall-E

2008-11-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Random enough? Just thought I'd jot down a few things about some recent events.

So I signed Natalie up for a dance class at the Silver Spring Rec Center a few weeks ago. It was a last minute thing - she had been dancing around all over the house for about a week and I decided to put her in a dance class to see if she liked it. Her class is on Mondays and it runs for 6 weeks. This upcoming Monday will be her 4th class and she is doing very well (as far as I can tell). She really loves going and seems to get along really great with the other kids. There is one boy in the class and I did notice last week that when they were getting in line to do one of their exercies, she was asking where the boy was so she could stand next to him. Ugh. She is a very friendly girl and I love how well she socializes with other children. Hopefully this will be a great experience that she will remember years to come.

Then I got bored a week or so ago and chopped off my hair. I had been thinking about it for a while but didn't know if I really wanted to cut it again. When my hair starts getting long it gets harder and harder for me to get the motivation to actually style my hair every day. I wind up throwing it in some dumb pony-tail because I don't feel like spending an hour in the bathroom blowing it dry and straightening it. My sister Tina just chopped of her hair (but she REALLY chopped hers off!) so it gave me the strength to do it. And boy am I glad I did! I really, really love it. I don't have a picture yet because I'm not a huge fan of taking pictures of myself. But I'll get one up soon. I'll post a picture that we just took for our Christmas cards - it was right before I cut it.

I am also a huge fan of Twilight. It was quite a while back when my sister-in-law Leigh Ann tried to get me to read it. She kept bugging me and bugging me and I wasn't really interested. I'm a huge science fiction fan but vampires just didn't seem to intruige me. So she finally just gave me the book so I started reading it one night. Well I finished the book in 8 hours and read New Moon and Eclipse the next few days. But I had to wait for Breaking Dawn to come out. So of course I pre-ordered it and read it the day I got it. I'm not overly obsessed with any of the characters...I just think Stephenie Meyer is an excellent writer. I just got so involved when I started reading and couldn't stop. I love books that just capture all my attention and get me so involved. I went to see the movie on Thursday night (which was probably a mistake) and was not really suprised. The movie followed the book fairly well but did have it's own parts that weren't in the book. Some of the scenes I was hoping they would have done a little better but I really wasn't expecting much when I went to see it so I really wasn't disappointed. I did like the little cameo that Stephenie made. But I really, really, really could have done without the giggling and cheering little girls that made it difficult for me to enjoy those scenes that were supposed to be touching or sentimental. But that was my fault for going to the very first screening. Live and learn, I guess.

I also saw Wall-E at my sister's house for the first time. I had heard that it wasn't all that great. I must say that I think it is my favorite Disney movie! I absolutely loved it! I thought it was so cute and so funny - I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like that movie. My kids had seen it the day before at her house and apparently they loved it too. They have been asking to see it for quite a while now. So I guess I'll have to buy it for me, oh I mean them, for Christmas.

I know this has been quite random, but sometimes I realize that there has been a lot going on and I want to get some of it down or else I never will. I will post some pictures in the next few days as well - I always LOVE looking at people's blogs when they put pictures up. So yeah that's it. If you've made it this far, thanks...you must really like me!

Crazy 8 Tag

2008-11-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks Caroline...I don't think I've been tagged before, maybe, but I guess I can do one as well.

8 TV shows I watch

1. The Office
2. Heroes
3. CSI (Las Vegas)
4. Burn Notice
5. NCIS
6. Anything on Discovery Channel
7. Anything on Food Network
8. Anything on Disney Channel

8 Restaurants I like

1. Chevy's
2. Chilies
3. Applebees
4. Olive Garden
5. The Original Pancake House
6. In-N-Out
7. Taco Bell
8. Denny's

8 things that happened yesterday

1. Went to see Twilight
2. Went Christmas shopping
3. Bought a Christmas Tree
4. Decorated said tree with the kids (no I did not put the kids on the tree, rather they helped me and Andy decorate it)
5. Went out to dinner with my husband, sister Daisy, and her husband Mike
6. Saw Wall-E for the first time
7. Just about had a heart attack when the TV in my bedroom blew up
8. Fell asleep watching TV on my husbands laptop (in bed) as a result of said broken TV

8 things I look forward to

1. Thanksgiving with the Downer family
2. My sister Diana coming to town to visit for Thanksgiving!
3. Seeing Diana's new baby Jessica
4. Going to Wisconsin to visit Andy's family for Christmas
5. Being done with Christmas shopping
6. Going to Natalie's dance class on Monday
7. The new season of Burn Notice starting in January
8. Getting a new TV

8 things on my wish list
1. Books 5 & 6 of The Great and Terrible series by Chris Stewart
2. The new Nickelback CD
3. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
4. New Lord of the Rings DVD's (dang kids)
5. The Office DVD's
6. Dustbuster
7. A new toaster
8. A trillion dollars

8 People I tag

Yeah, I'd rather not.

Primary Program

2008-10-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was our Primary Program and all the kids did such a great job! I was so proud of Natalie - she had her part memorized and spoke nice and loud into the microphone! She sure isn't shy being in front of a large group of people. I had to sit on the stand with some of the kids and Andy sat with Tyler in the pews. Apparently Tyler was the best that he has ever been in Sacrament Meeting! He loved seeing Natalie sitting up front; and because Natalie was sitting right in the front he could easily see her. She had been so excited about the Primary Program and being able to say her part. She also learned all the songs so well and knew just about all the words. We would sing them in the car when we drive to the store and to my mom's house. She even learned the sign language to "I Am A Child of God." She is so smart! I am so proud of my little girl!

Dentist

2008-10-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

Natalie and Tyler had their first visit to the dentist last week. I knew how Tyler was going to react - not very well! Last time I took him to the doctor for his annual checkup and shots he did VERY well - I was very suprised! He sat really still while they took all his measurements as well as when the doctor looked him over. Of course he didn't like the shots, but who does? So when we went to the dentist last week, sure enough, he lost his mind when we tried to sit him in the chair. He wanted NOTHING to do with any of that. So the dentist simply brused his teeth with flouride and that was about it. Hopefully next time he will do a little better so we can do some x-rays and all that junk.

Natalie did much better. She actually kept saying that she was excited! She did great for the x-rays - that was always my most unfavorite part. That cardboard crap they make you hold in your mouth really isn't comfortable. But she was such a trooper and we got some great x-rays. A few months ago she had a face-on collision with Tyler's head and it knocked her front teeth a little loose. So they look a little dark now and I was concerned that something would have to be done with the teeth. But after looking at the x-rays the dentist said they should be fine as long as we keep a close eye on them. When it came time to clean Natalie's teeth, she got a little nervous. She wasn't a big fan of the noisy toothbrush but once we assured her that it wasn't going to hurt then she calmed down a little bit. She was still a little nervous for the rest of the time but overall did really great.

So...no cavities! Yeah! Hopefully it stays that way for a long time. The dentist also mentioned something about Natalie's bottom teeth - they are a little crooked because she used to suck her thumb. But I'm not going to worry about that until her permanent teeth come in. If he thinks I'm gonna put braces on her when her permanent teeth come in, he's crazy!

Trunk-or-Treat / Halloween Party

2008-10-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

Okay so we had a little Halloween Party for the kids at my sister Daisy's house last week and it was pretty fun. We had pizza and the kids decorated pillow cases for trick-or-treating and played some games. The kids had a really good time, as you can see!!

Natalie had falled asleep in the car on the way over so her hair was all messed up - and the red eyeon my camera was acting up so some of these pictures look pretty scary!!

I know....YIKES!!! Andy did NOT like my costume - he said I looked like Kathy Griffin. Eeek - what was I thinking?!

Tyler was sick of wearing his costume after about 10 minutes. Punk.

We also had our ward Trunk-or-Treat the next day. Of course the kids loved that - what could be better than getting candy for dressing up?!

Silly Kids

2008-10-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

So I was just playing with the kids and thought I'd take some pictures - they just LOVE being silly and having their picture taken!

Here Tyler was winking at me...

...and here Natalie is trying to wink at me...

Buddy...

...and more silly children!!

You're A Genius!

2008-09-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Oh the things kids say! Tyler just picked up a new phrase. I'm not exactly sure where he got it from but it is so funny to hear him say it. We were driving to my mom's the other day and we drove past the doctor's office where I take them. I had just taken Tyler the week before to the doctor for his immunization shots. When we drove past the doctor's office, he says, "Mom, you'r'e a genius for taking me to the doctors!" I just started laughing! Now he says it all the time - whenever I do something that he likes. "Thanks Mom, you're a genius!"

A Few Random Things

2008-09-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

So I've been reading everyone else's blogs and it has got me thinking about all the stuff in my house and other things I have been thinking about. So these are going to be a few random things but I just have to get them out!

I was reading a blog from a friend of mine I grew up with (Trisha) and she was mentioning about celebrities and their political endorsements. I just want to say a HUGE AMEN to everything she said! Celebrities, in my honest opinion, have no place in politics. They just seem to use their "big names" to get their two cents in. I personally HATE when celebrities are so adamant about endorsing a particular candidate because most times they feel that because their are a "celebrity" their endorsement should mean something to me. Well, it doesn't. If I went around everywhere telling people who I supported and how I felt about certain candidates people would be like, "Uh, that's nice, why should we care about who you endorse?" So that's how I feel about celebrities. I have very, VERY little respect for celebrities and do not at all agree with their career choices. That's a whole 'nother subject that maybe I'll expand on another time. But for now, I'll leave it at that. I don't think celebrities endorsements of political figures should weigh any more than the rest of us - because like the rest of us, they are humans with opinions, that's all.

Okay, I think thats enough ranting. So another thought I was having was about my kids and the Disney Channel. Unfortunately the Disney Channel babysits my kids more than it should. My kids will watch ANYTHING that is on Disney Channel, no matter what time of day. And the funny thing is that whenever a movie comes on, Natalie will say, "Oh this is my favorite movie!" Most of the time she has never even seen the movie! My kids, too, recognize the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and other big name people and shows from Disney. There is a picture of the Jonas Brothers in the Burger King drive thru and whenever we go there Tyler will say, "Look! The Jonas Brothers! I love the Jonas Brothers!" ANYTHING Disney that they see in a store or anywhere they recognize. And it even goes beyond people, too. Just yesterday we were in Target and I was getting our dog some dog food. So we were browsing the dog food aisle and pretty soon I hear Natalie say, "Oh it's Mighty Dog!" I looked around to see a bag of dog food called "Mighty Dog". I looked at her and asked, "How did you know that was Mighty Dog?" (Natalie just turned 4 and there is no way she can read yet). She said, "It's just like on TV." So apparently she saw a commercial for the dog food and recognized the name. Crazy. And Tyler was looking through my wallet the other day and pulled out my Smith's rewards card. He immediately said, "Oh, Smiths!" It's so weird what kids pick up and remember! They are A LOT smarter that I give them credit for!!

My First "Real" Post

2008-08-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Okay so I've been a little nervous about my first post because it seems like I'm the last one on board the blogging world. So I guess I'll just dive in head first and start posting away!

We had Tyler and my birthday "parties" at my mom's house this weekend. Tyler got a bunch of Thomas the Train stuff - no suprise there. I got some girlie stuff - pedicure essentials from my sister Daisy and a variety of bath washes from my brother Dennis. Actually, I'm sure they were more from my sister-in-law Stephanie - although oddly enough I can picture Dennis at Bath and Body Works browsing the bath soaps for "just the right ones."

I did one little project this weekend that I was a little proud of. You see, I am really NOT the decorative type or the creative type. That side of my brain really doesn't work so well. The walls and windows of my home are embarrasingly bare because I lack the interest and ability to decorate them well. So when I took on this recent "project" I was a little nervouse as to how it would turn out. Here is a tiny backstory: I bought a "newer" car earlier this year. It is only a year old and in really great condition. So I want to do my best to try to keep it as nice as possible. Those of you with kids will understand that this is near an impossibility. The interior of my car is a light tan and gets dirty at the slightest touch - and it drives me absolutely crazy! Every time the kids get into the car their shoes touch the seats and immediately there are dirty shoe prints all over the seats. My mom covers the seats of her car with fleece that she buys at WalMart or wherever. So I've been contemplating doing that but not sure that I could pull it off. So the other day I vacuumed and steam cleaned my car because I was sick of all the dirt. Sure enough, the next day the kids get into the car to go to my mom's house and get dirty shoe marks all over the seats. I had enough. So the next day I went to WalMart and found some material that was on sale for $2 a yard. I actually liked it a lot and it was a lot cheaper than the fleece I was considering. So I bought like 6 yards which turned out to be twice as much as I needed, but it was only $12. I got home and started cutting. It was really simple. I just cut the width I needed and tucked in all the sides around my seats. Then I cut a couple slits on the top for the head rests and poof!! Newly upholstered seats! And the really great thing is that if they get dirty, I just pull them out and throw them in the washing machine. I know the fabric of choice will make some of you gag, but I kinda like it. I was actually impressed that it turned out so well and was so easy. Ah, I'm so lame, I know.

My Family - A Brief Overview

2008-08-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

So I am finally joining the world of blogging. After several attempts to find old friends through places such as Myspace and Facebook I have realized that blogging is the place to find them. I look forward to finding old friends, catching up, and keeping in touch.

Our little family stared August 28, 2003. Andrew and I met at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada. He was working security for the hotel. My brother Dennis, who was working with Andrew at the time, introduced us and the rest is history. We were married two months later at my parents home in Henderson. Less than a year later our daughter Natalie came along and then a year after that we had our son Tyler. Shortly after we were married, we moved to Rockford, Illinois to be near Andrews family. It was there that were were finally sealed in the Chicago, Illinois temple. A year after we moved to Illinois we moved back to Nevada.

Andrew is working for the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas as a security supervisor. I am a partner in my dad's business, Small Business Resource Center. I work part-time as a QuickBooks Consultant. We live in a tiny townhouse with my sister Bonnie and are eagerly awaiting our first home purchase.

So that's a little about us.