12 weeks!!!

We were lucky enough to get to see the baby this week. I felt so much better seeing the heartbeat and knowing that it's healthy and strong! At 12 weeks we were able to get such great pictures!!! I had an awful fever and sickness this past week and just knowing the baby is safe and sound makes me a happy mamma!

Here the baby is sucking it's thumb
And here is my normal child, big head, big feet! All I know is that it's absolutely perfect and I can't wait until March to find out what we will be having. I know it's another girl, but still excited to have another beautiful baby!!!

More Christmas

Christmas eve was so much fun this year. We got to go to both our parents houses and celebrate with them. We started the day off at Scott's mom's house and had our own private time with them which was really special. The girls love to see them and especially Bryce!

Then we headed over to my parents and the girls had a ton of fun there. They also get private time with GG and papa so it's very special for them, but then the cousins get there and the party gets started!!!
I know it's not the most clear picture, but this was her face for every present she opened!
The foursome got matching pj's this year again and I can not tell you how much they love to run around in their jammies from GG. We always have so much fun over there and my parents always out do themselves.

Christmas morning, and the greatest gift of all is waking up to these too!

We had such a fun time this year because Hannah and Leah both were so excited about everything this year!

Then we got to have our third Christmas with my sister Kryste. The girls love their Auntie so much and always have so much fun seeing her.
We all had such an amazing holiday this year and I could not be more grateful for the blessings that I have been given.

Our lil gummy bear....

We are expecting our third and quite excited about it! This is the first sighting of the lil ball of trouble. You are so cute, and so small, kinda like a little gummy bear. Yet, I don't like you so much right now. You are making me super moody, extremely hungry, insanely nauseous and really fat. However, I know you will be worth it. I love you so much already and it's so fun that the girls are excited about you as well. This is me at 7 weeks preggers and I get to see you again in two more weeks! Hopefully you will be nicer to me by then. xoxoxox

Christmas festivities number 1....

There is always so much to see and do on Christmas that is why it must be done in two different posts. I love that this year the girls were super into the holiday as a whole but also excited about the meaning. Hannah is at that age, Leah could still care less, where she understands the meaning of CHRISTmas. She understands the point and the importance behind such a sacred time of year.

We built our gingerbread house, or the Manger as Hannah called it. And it was a lot of fun to do this year. We built it while our friends were over and were also building one. It was a great family night and maybe next year I'll relinquish more control to the kids... maybe.

We went to look at the lights like we do every year and we had so much fun. This time around we decided to walk it instead of driving and Leah loved it, Hannah slept. Every house, "Mamma take my picture!" She cocked her head to one side and posed at E-V-E-R-Y house.
We walked it with hot chocolate and great company. We love doing this tradition but more now that Leah had fun too.
This is my friend Natalie and she is so much fun. We had a blast and this is a great description of the two of us. Minus the hairy chest for me, I shave now. :)
Hannah and her school teacher Miss Melissa.

We had our ward party and that was so much fun! I had to get a picture of the girls before they messed up their clothes with candy and food. My girls are so cute, sweet and so un photogenic.
Leah was not scared of the big man this year. I think this guys gap was very warming to her. They loved to tell him what they wanted. But I think Hannah is worn out of the whole "Santa" thing. She even told me that this was not the "real" Santa, that this was just his helper. What the???

I could not resist. This kid will be going to a fat camp if she keeps up her candy addiction! She eats so much she throws up! But non the less, she is cute even if she has it in her teeth all the time.
Hannah and her friends decided to sing Jingle Bells at the ward party for everyone. They did a great job included with a bow from Hannah. What a ham! We had a great holiday this year and can't wait to show you more!

Mamma's been busy!

Ok so being a stay at home mom is wonderful, we all know that, but one of the only down sides to that is we get to look around our house ALL day long and see what we need to fix! So I have had a ton of energy lately, kinda like nesting but without the back pains and cute little bundle as a reward at the end. I have been a maniac around here at making and refinishing stuff to make it nicer around here.

So first I did my kitchen chairs. I very simple fix to make mamma smile. I think you can tell which one was the before and after and no, those are not urine stains just your everyday toddler spills.

And it may not not look like much to the naked eye but it is way better than before!!! Here is the total finished dining room....

This is my version of "art work". I made these pictures and I am IN LOVE with them!
A close up of one of the key's....
The before picture of a buffet I found on Craigslist. I was so scared of this ugly mess and wondering if I took on the wrong project for me. But after many hours of hard work and totally letting my kids run wild due to lack of supervision, I got this...

I am very pleased with it! I antiqued it to give it that french country look that I love.
I made the table runner on the buffet to match my kitchen chairs. Easy, yet satisfying.
A Thanksgiving banner....
And this ugly beast of a mirror, simply disgusting....
It looks way better now. It was not my first choice for a mirror over the buffet, it's too small but for now it will do the trick.
And this bad boy, I think I just threw up in my mouth looking at it! I saw the potential in it.
And as a result I got this! I love it for my entry way. I had no where to put guests purses and coats so, now I do :)

And then in the midst of my craziness I managed to completely throw out any good judgement and got Stella...
She is so cute and cuddly and I love her, when she does not crap in the kennel. Anyway, I am very happy with all the minor adjustments I have made around here and now you know what I have been up too!

Some things I've learned...

You always hear people saying, "Kids say the darndest things!" And I have had some experience with that myself in my life like the time I was about 6 my mom and I are going to pick up my Grandparents and I tell them "My mom says your so cheap!" After my mom turned her normal shade of pleasantly pink, she scolded me and gave me a lesson on not repeating things I hear. She also learned her lesson on what NOT to say while I was listening.

So I say things I should not say ALL the time in front of my kids, or say things that other parents might "frown" upon. I use scare tactics to hopefully keep them away from harm like the time we saw road kill and I told Hannah that if she ever crossed the street without looking both ways that is exactly what would happen to her. Or the time she ran away from me in a store and I told her that someone would take her, do things to her she would not like and she would never see her family again! Whatever don't judge. I always turned my nose up at the nay sayers and kept on running my mouth around my lil ones. Well I always tease my kids about physical pain that I will inflict on them if they don't obey such as; "If you don't clean up I just might have to beat you silly", or "Oh my gosh your not listening to me, I'm gonna have to sock you in the belly."

So it finally came back to me... (da da dunnnnnn) My neighbor came over today to say hello and she asked us what we were doing. Hannah replied that if she did not clean her mess I was going to beat her silly! "Um, let me explain what she means. I always tell her... Oh crap this is not going to sound good either way so I'll just be honest, I don't beat my kids!"

I always just thought that my kids ignore me when I speak, you know like the teacher on Charlie Brown? Wa-wa-waaaaaa Or like I speak a different language, "Do you hear the words that are comin' outta my mouth!?" And of all the things she chooses to repeat she picked that! She also tells her friends that she will sock them in the belly if they don't share. hahaha Oops!

Well just when I was feeling like I deserved the big mouth mother of the year award she says to me tonight, "Mommy when I look into your beautiful eyes I see the best mommy in the whole wide world." Melt my heart why don't ya kid!? I do praise my kids so much, tell them how amazing they are and how much I love them and I guess it is shinning through in Hannah. I may not be the most tactful momma, but I sure do feel like I'm doing something right.

So what I've learned is, definitely watch what you say to your impressionable little ones, joking or not. And second, they are ALWAYS listening, even if it's just long enough to hear the good stuff.

Pumpkin patch

I love this time of year. Love the colors, the weather, all the baking and the traditions. So it's pumpkin patch time! I love the tradition and the excitement of the whole pumpkin patch idea, just not the skeezy and very questionable jumpers. So it's always a challenge to go and get them to agree NOT to go on those overpriced "rides". We made it out germ free and pumpkins in hand.

They each picked a small pumpkin to decorate. Since carving is out of the question, they love to paint. So they painted their lil pumpkins.
They are very serious about their work!
This is such a messy job thank goodness it's only once a year!!!
And the finished product! Ta-da! I love having my own family to make traditions with.

Mommies lil helpers

I really love to spend time in the kitchen. I love baking especially, but the best part about being in the kitchen is all the help I get. I recently got four flats of strawberries for free so I made A LOT of jam! And of course, my sweeties where there to help out when they could.

Anytime I'm cooking they rush over, apron on already, pull up the chairs and ask to help. I love it so much! I'm not gonna lie though, I have a very hard time letting them help sometimes due to messes and other silly reasons. However, I am getting much better because I see how happy it makes them. So I am choosing more meals they can help me with and allowing them to help much much more. This is a pizza that they made entirely by themselves. I hope that I can teach them to love to be in the kitchen and hope I can teach them to not be as controlling as me and my mom :)

Apple picking

My family is so important to me and so is creating memorable family time. I would really like our kids to look back years from now with fond memories of their family and the time we spent together. I know that we can't always do things outside the home and go places but when we can I am trying to make it really fun for them. I really wanted to go apple picking. When I told Scott he looked at me like I was so lame! So I told him to shut it and get in the car :)

When we got to Oak Glen we had a picnic and just talked. We had very meaningful conversation with the girls and between the two of us. This is something that gets overlooked sometimes with the busyness of day to day life. Plus I finally got to actually talk with my husband! Most of my conversations consist of "You have to go poo-poo?" or "Don't hit! Please share! That's it! One! Two!! Three!!!" and lots of stuff like that. So when engaging with my husband sometimes I need to remember that I'm his wife and not his mother. So it was very pleasant to talk with him, not at him.
We were able to watch our kids and their love for animals. They were so cute talking to the animals like they were babies. So tender and sweet.
Um, hello beautiful!!!
The girls had so much fun picking apples from the tree, instead of a pile at the grocery store.
Leah is still asking if we are going to go pick apples. I think she loved it most.

It turns out that Scott had a great time! He did not think it was so lame after all. He really enjoyed the quality family time and didn't mind missing some college games on t.v., thank goodness for DVR.

And when we got home the girls and I made apple pies with all the labor we did. We made two and gave one to our friends. They really enjoyed picking the apples and then seeing the outcome of their hard work. I guess seeing the "fruit's" of their labors payed off!
They turned out delicious and the best part is that we all had a hand in it. I think this is going to be a new tradition for the Hardy's!