Roxie turns 3

We celebrated Roxie's birthday today as a family and it was perfect. She feels so special to be 3 and to do all the great things a 3 year old gets to do. It's amazing how fast the time has gone by and I'm shocked at how big she suddenly is. I can't believe that just 3 years ago she was brand new in our arms. Words can not express the love I have for this little girl. She's changed our lives and we've never been happier. I'm in awe of her. Happy Birthday to Roxie.

Christmas Ornaments

Have I mentioned that I have great in-laws? Well, I do. They have this fantastic tradition of giving Christmas ornaments each year. Some of them are symbolic of what you've done that year, some of them are just special. I love it. And now that Roxie is old enough to know these things, she loves it too. It's one of our favorite traditions; putting the ornaments on the tree and remembering all the little stories that came with them. Here are just a few of my favorites and the stories that go with them.
These don't have a story but look at how cute they are! All of the gang are there, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Hook and even the Crocodile.
We were given this ornament the year we were married. It was the first ornament I received. It might be my very favorite.
Matt and were just saying last night that these ornaments have become more special now then ever. We were given the surfing Santa upon moving to Southern California and the next year were given the California shaped ornament when we moved to the Bay Area. Now that we've left California, we love these all the more. It reminds us of the wonderful times we spent there.
These are Roxie's ornaments and will one day be on her own Christmas tree when she's grown and married. It's hard to see the one on the top but it says "Baby's first Christmas, 2005", the year she was born. The angel and pink dress were given over the last two years. They are obviously her favorite.
No story here but seriously, did Clare not nail it this year?! Who doesn't love reindeer in pajamas? If you know me well enough, you'd know that I do!
When we lived in Provo going to school and working we had always managed to spend parts of Christmas with both famalies in Utah and California. One year we decided it wasn't possible and planned on staying in Utah for Christmas because I had to work. The night before Christmas Eve we sat, depressed and missing Matt's family. We thought it a shame to not go so at 9:30 pm, we packed and drove the 10 hours to Laguna. Even if we only stayed two days, it was worth it seeing the surprised faces as we knocked on the door at 6:00 am Christmas Eve morning. As it turned out, I was able to beg someone to work for me and we stayed for 5 days. Well worth it.
These are the ornaments Matt recieved while serving his mission in the south of France.
Once again, no particular story but who wouldn't love an ornament of Popeye?!

It's such a great tradition, one we hope to continue for a long time. We can't wait to see what comes this year!

Thanksgiving

We decided, very last minute, to risk the flu and go to Boise to stay with the Haws family. Jayna had called me and said that the girls were much better and that maybe we should come after all. It didn't take much to convince us and were we ever glad! We had a great time. I've been friends with Jayna for 9 years (we were roomates at Ricks College) and thankfully our husbands get along as well. The last time we were all together was 3 years ago and we picked up right where we left off. Add to that their 2 adorable and sweet girls, Grace and Caroline, who played with Roxie constantly. I don't know if I've ever seen her so happy and excited. They played dress up, make believe, danced, they did it all. And what did we do? We played our old favorite games, ate junk food, talked until late, and were generally lazy. A perfect long weekend! We spent Thanksgiving day at Jayna's parents with the rest of her family. The meal was fabulous and the company was perfect. We loved every minute and were sad to leave. Roxie complained of being "so sad" the entire way home and asked if we could live with Grace and Caroline all the time. They'll be good friends, just as we had always hoped.
We also got to see Natalie, another roomate from Ricks. She, her husband Quinn and their 3 kids all came bowling with us. It was great to catch up with Nat and to see her cute kids. I can't believe that we are all grown, married and have children. The picture is awful and very blurry but you get the point. (Jayna has a much better one on her blog)
We can't wait to see them all again!

What have we been doing?

Not much. Last week I attempted my first pie. I made the dough from scratch and after trying to get it successfully into the pie pan for almost 30 minutes, with Matt's help, I realized why people buy the frozen ones. I'll keep trying. I'm sure I'll get it in time and I will become the domestic goddess I've dreamed about. It tasted good all the same, with lots of ice cream to cover the very ugly crust.

We've been trying to spend as much time as possible outside while it is still "warm". It's not warm to us but I know it's only going to get colder and colder. I realize I grew up here but it's been a while since I've had a full blown winter. Roxie is really looking forward to the snow... I'm not as much. We went to the Zoo today to try and get a few last outings before it gets freezing. Also, going to the zoo was a good distraction for the major disappointment felt today.

We had planned on going to our great friends, The Haws', for Thanksgiving weekend. As the phone rang this morning I knew already. The girls are sick, we can't come. I've been depressed all day. It stinks for sure but we'll be alright and are making plans for the next time.

And lastly, I've been asked time and time again to post some kind of picture of "the belly". So, here you go. Enjoy. The pregnancy is going well. It seems that he is mostly in my back, thus why I'm not showing a lot and why it is getting more and more impossible for me to sleep. I've got about 2 more months to go!

Cookie day

There is nothing more therapeutic to me than baking cookies with Roxie. Something about putting on our matching "comfy pants", playing good music and baking together. It's one of our favorite things to do together. Eating the cookies is nice too.

Baby Mia

Some of my best friends had a baby a while ago that was born with a heart defect. Their names are John and Mimi McDonald and the baby's name is Mia. I would tell you their whole story but would rather you read it for yourself. If you click on the logo to the right, you can read about Mia and how you can help. I urge you to help. They are some of the greatest people I know and need donations. I'm sure you'll be touched by their story.

Happy Halloween

Tell me that's not the cutest cowgirl you've ever seen. We all had a great Halloween and are in a candy coma. Roxie could not believe that by just saying, "trick or treat" people will give you candy. She's still talking about it.

Our week

We had a great week. We started by going to a local pumpkin patch. We had a really fun time trying to find pumpkins that matched our size.
Roxie tried her best to push the wheelbarrow herself but finally resented to a little help.
We then came home and carved them. At least Matt and I did, Roxie decided that she would rather paint hers, which I was happy for. I don't think she would have been too willing to let me help her cut the pumpkin and knives and a 2 year old don't mix.
Then last night we went out to eat at a new restaurant that opened in Salt Lake. It's new to Salt Lake but not to us. They had one of these restaurants in Palo Alto that we loved and we were thrilled to hear that they were opening one here. And because we were invited opening night, all the food was free. How sweet is that? I love their sweet potatoe fries and really went to town. Any of you that live in the area should seriously give it a try. We'll go anytime!

I love to read. It's part of any motivation to get Roxie to "take a nap". Nap days are sadly over for me but I do insist that she spend a little quality, quiet time to herself in her room. And thankfully she obliges, so that I can get some reading done. I am in a pickle though. Ever since I left my fantastic, very social reading group back in Menlo Park, I have had little to read. I've started reading old books that I've kept around but I need something new. Any suggestions? What are your favorites? And while we're on the topic of suggestions, any ideas for what a large, pregnant lady should be for Halloween. I'm getting desperate. Ideas?

Props

I have to give "props" to my friend Melissa who bravely posted about Prop 8 on her blog recently. I have many family and friends that are voting on the issue and am inspired by their strength to stand by a not so popular issue. Having just moved from California a month ago, Matt and I joked about getting out at the right time. But now it makes me think we were wrong in joking and I feel bad that we aren't there to help and do more. To read more about the Proposition go here or here.

Random Pictures

We got the crib set up in the baby's room. I'm excited to prepare for this baby. You have to understand, when Roxie was born we were getting ready to move to California. Her "nursery" was a pile of boxes, packing tape and bubble wrap. I had to make a path to her crib. I couldn't hang curtains, put up any decorations or get ready at all for the baby. Any of you pregnant mothers know, this is a key part of delivering a baby. Part of the fun is getting the room ready. This time around we are not moving or anything of the sort. I'm excited to take my time and get the nursery ready for him. What do you think of our bedding?

These are some random pictures I took of Roxie. One morning she was dying to get outside, so while I finished the dishes she went out in our backyard. Yes, she's in her pajamas. She loves being outside and is loving having a backyard. We have an apple tree that is really good for nothing except throwing. If only we could keep her from throwing apples at the golfers going by.

Over conference weekend our friends Rob and Teresa came by to visit. These are Jim's parents and Roxie's adopted grandparents for the weekend. She was confused why "Uncle Jim" wasn't there to accompany them. Maybe next time. We had fun seeing them!
We told Roxie to make funny faces and this is what she came up with. The last picture was her being excited.

Hogle Zoo

Roxie has what we call a "good girl chart". It's pretty simple. If she's good then she gets to put a sticker on a chart we make. Once she gets all her stickers she gets a special prize. This time the special prize was going to the Zoo with Mom and Dad. We had a really good time and plan to do it many more times. We saw....
Elephants
Penguins
Giraffes
and even a Cougar!!!!

But Roxie's most favorite part of all the Zoo was being able to drink out of a lions mouth! I remember thinking this was also the bomb when I was a kid at the Zoo.


We now have another good girl chart and she's decided that once again she wants the special prize to be another trip to the Zoo. I guess that means she had fun.

New Haircuts

Roxie got her very first hair cut the other day. She was very excited. The place we went to was fantastic! She got to sit in a pink car, watch a movie and got a balloon and sucker when she was done. She did great. You can't really tell that she even got a hair cut because her hair is so curly but it did even out the mullet in the back at least.

And since she got a hair cut, I decided to as well. Except I went to a legit adult salon where I sat in a real chair and not a car, sadly. What do you think? It's very short. I'm still getting used to it from the longer hair that I had before. In the picture you can also see that the pregnant belly is coming in quite nicely. It's getting larger and larger everyday!

Pregnancy Brain

Errand for the day:
Make a simple Jell-o salad to accompany dinner with a total of 5 ingredients.

Go to the grocery store. Buy 3 of 5 ingredients.

Come home, realize you've forgotten one of the ingredients. Go back to grocery store and buy ingredient.

Get home again and very sadly realize you forgot the 5th ingredient. Go BACK to the grocery store to buy final ingredient.

Feel bad for yourself that you can't remember 5 ingredients, even when they're written down for you. Starting to wonder if making the Jell-o salad was even worth the effort.

Child #2 is a....

IT'S A BOY!!

We just got back from the doctor and it was confirmed 100%, we are having a boy. I'm thrilled to be having a little boy. It will be fun to see the differences and to have a different outcome to this pregnancy. Matt is so excited to have a little boy, now we'll have one of each. I've been thinking from the beginning that this was a boy but was still so shocked when we were actually told that it was indeed a boy. Roxie on the other hand...
She has said that this is a baby girl from the beginning. When asked what she would do if it was a boy, all she has ever said is that she will cry. Well, she kept her word. She did cry, real tears even. She kept repeating, "I don't want a boy, it's a girl!" But after she was given a sucker and after we had a little talk over lunch about how great a little brother can be, she is on the boy express and is very excited.
So, look forward to Maxabillion Tedward (the name Matt has chosen, ha ha) on January the 28th!

Gymnastics

We decided that we needed to do something just for Roxie. This move has been stressfull and busy and she was getting a little neglected. I signed up for a gymnastics class and we went for the first time today. Roxie had a great time and loved doing somersaults and jumping off the balance beams. She even made a few new friends. It will be a perfect activity to do especially once it gets really cold here. The pictures are a little fuzzy since I couldn't get her to hold still for very long!

3 things...

3 things I love about being in Utah:
Our gigantic kitchen! Really it's not that big but to me, it is. After being in tiny kitchens for years with one half of a counter top to cut on and the other counter top constantly filled with a dish drainer, I feel like I've died and gone to heaven. Not only do I have a dishwasher (I must thank the inventor of this magical machine) but we can fit the three of us in the kitchen and no one is stepping on the others foot. It's been so fantastic!

Eight hour work days. Matt actually comes home at 5:00! After living in the Bay area, where it is expected to work more than 8 hours, we are all thrilled to have Matt home and to be done with dinner by 6:30. There is something so great about being in an area where most of the employees are also dads who are anxious to get home to kids as well.

Prices. It's so much cheaper here! I couldn't believe the grocery bill I got when I loaded up on weekly groceries plus the extra stuff that we had to get rid of before we moved out here. Gas is cheaper, food is cheaper, and housing... well that's not even worth comparing. It's nice to even one day contemplate buying a house where otherwise it was a very far off dream.

Three things I miss about California:
Our fantastic friends. Even thinking about all the great and wonderful people that we left in Menlo Park makes me want to cry all over again. Seriously, we miss you all so much. Roxie asks where her friends are and says she misses them, which breaks my heart. I'm sure we'll make new friends but I'm not sure they'll ever be as good.

The weather. It's been so hot here and dry. I miss those cool, breezy 75 degree days. I feel like I have to hit the park before noon if I want to have a fighting chance against the heat. My old days of sitting in the sun and eating lunch at the park are over, at least until fall comes around I guess.

The stores. Most of you know my enduring love for In-n-out. I have now moved to the greasy, salty stage of my pregnancy and oh how I miss those burgers and shakes. Every day I think of things that I need to get at Trader Joes. I miss their frozen dinners, cookies and other baked goods and their never ending organic food which is very fairly priced. Janie and Jack, Barrones, and Crate and Barrel will all be missed.

Home sweet home

We made to Utah. The last week has been totally crazy and very stressful but I think today is the first day that felt normal. We're unpacked for the most part, there are a few boxes of books and decorations but all the important stuff is put away. We're loving our new home. It's a bit bigger than our old 2 bedroom apartment. I'm enjoying the dishwasher immensely. Roxie is settling into her schedule well and loves the backyard most of all. Matt started work yesterday and although he's a bit overwhelmed, he's happy. I will have to post some pictures of the house but for now just wanted to say we're here and all is well.

Sigh of relief

We've been looking for a place to live for weeks now. I had no idea it would be this hard. We figured we'd have our pick of places to rent and could be really picky as to where we wanted to live. After weeks of disappointment and having houses snatched from under us, we realized that this was going to be tough. The problem is that we are out of state which makes it almost impossible to secure a good home before someone, that actually lives in Utah, looks at it and puts down money for a deposit. We've been so close to getting into so many places until some Utah local sees it and then we're back to square one. The same thing almost happened yesterday. We found a pretty perfect house in South Jordan that we were very excited about. After talking to the owner for most of the day and after my very gracious sister, Elyse, went and checked it out for us, we told the owner we'd take it! Only to learn an hour later that someone else had seen the house and after learning of our advances to move in, offered to pay the owner more than what she was asking for. Snatched again! Luckily, he turned out to be somewhat of a flake and didn't get back to the owner when she asked. The owner told us whoever gets her the money first wins. Let the games begin. Frantically Matt and I started calling in our favors. My parents ended up having to drive at the very last minute to Salt Lake with a check for the owner to secure the house. After seeing our diligence I guess she finally gave in and said we could have it, even at the lower price.

So, we are no longer homeless and have a place to live! Many thanks go out to Elyse, my parents and Amy who looked at houses for us and went to such lengths in finding us a place to live. We leave in less than a week and are excited to see you all. Now if we can just get this apartment packed....

A good friend

Today I frantically wrote Jayna, one of the best friends I have, to help me with my blog decor. Something had happened to it and I didn't have the patience nor the time to fix it. After messing around for too long already I thought, there must be someone that can just do this for me as I am very tired and have little energy anymore. In comes Jayna. I sent her a sad, sorry email about how I needed someone to make something beautiful and ta-da! To her I say, thank you. You are a good friend. I promised I would dedicate an entire post to you and here you go. Thank you for always listening to my rants and my crazy thoughts. You are always there for me when I need you. You are a blogging genius indeed.

The big news

Lots of things have been going on in our family but there is still big news to come. We are moving! Matt accepted a great job in Salt Lake City, UT working for a bigger company that we are very excited about. It's all happened very suddenly but we are ready to make the move and to have another big adventure. I can't tell you how sad we are to leave this area and our very special ward. Matt and I have made so many friends and not just friends but people that we love. It was a hard decision to leave people so great and to leave an area that is so beautiful but we know that it's the right choice for us at this time. We will miss Menlo Park, we will miss California. We've loved being able to live so close to the ocean and being close to Matt's family. We're also saying goodbye (for now) to one of my best friends, Jim. It's going to be tough leaving "Uncle Jim", he's been someone that I've known for a long time and have really enjoyed living close to again. Roxie loves Jim and will miss him very much. But even with all the farewells, we are excited to be back in Utah. We're excited to live close to Salt Lake and the possibilities it will provide for us. Roxie, of course, is very excited to be able to see her cousins more often and live in a house that has grass in the backyard (she talks most about the grass). We move in about 3 weeks so things are going to be pretty crazy but we've got this packing/moving system down. We're seasoned pros. Utah, here we come!

A happy new addition

My older sister called me last night to tell me she is a new mommy! Kathryn and Mike have been trying to have children for years and just recently have decided to fill out adoption papers. Well, they got a call a day ago about a mom that was wanting to give up her baby for adoption but hadn't yet picked an adoptive family. The social worker showed the birth mom Kathryn and Mike's file and the mother felt inspired to choose them as the baby's parents! Right now the baby, named Esther Hope, is in the NICU for being born early but will be home soon enough. I am beyond thrilled for my them. They have been waiting patiently for a baby and now they'll have one. They are sure to be great parents. Congratulations goes out to them and their sweet, new baby girl. I can't wait to meet her!

The winner takes it all

Last night I saw Mama Mia with a bunch of girl friends and WOW. What a show. It further confirms to me two things. I still love ABBA with all my heart and I must see the actual musical one day. It was a great movie, very entertaining. You have to understand my devotion to ABBA. I grew up listening to these guys. I danced to their songs, made music videos to their music, and roller skated every Saturday night to their beats. It's in my blood. I will always have a special spot in my heart for ABBA and disco music in general. There is a reason I belonged to an elite roller skating group called the Super Troupers. The movie did not disappoint. Even if you're not a die hard fan, it was perfectly done and worth watching.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

This made me feel good. Growing up with the name Carrie, you don't feel all that special. But to add Hellewell to the mix, well now, that's something special.