Example Goes a Long Ways

My brother Jared is a stud. He is 16 years old, goes to seminary, plays sports and does a good job in school (right Mom?). But what amazes me most is how he is such a good example to other's at school. He is playing basketball right now and there is a kid on his team that used to drink and swear. He told Jared that since he has known him he hasn't sworn or drank for over a month. How cool is that? Because of Jared he stopped doing those things?! I don't think Jared told him to stop those things, but he just saw Jared NOT doing them and wanted to follow his example. When Jared told me this story I kept asking him questions and analyzing it because I was so impressed with it. Also, Jared let this kid borrow his tie because he didn't have any (they dress up for game days) and I told Jared to just give him the tie and Jared was like "i will." I also told Jared he should invite him to Church. :) What a cute brother I have.

On another good note...I went to Old Navy a couple weeks ago to take advantage of the 50% off clearance sale and got some good deals. Well, I went back today because I needed to return some things that I bought for Kyle that didn't work out and they are having this 2-day 30% off sale this weekend. I returned the things and asked for a price adjustment on some prego capris and a swimsuit for Kate that I bought for full price. Well, the lady said she could do it, but it would take a while because she had to return everything I bought 2 wks ago and then "buy" it again and my receipt was long. Well, she finishes and tells me how much I'm getting back and I'm like sweet. Well, once I left I looked at the receipt and saw that she had not only given me 30% off the items I had purchased at regular price, but she gave me an additional 30% off all the clearance items I had bought!!!! I got back an extra $25 or more than I expected! Woo hoo!!! I kept telling Kyle how cool that was and how nice it was of her to do that for me. So I got 50% off the clearance price and then another 30% off that price! Amazing deals!

I'm enjoying a yummy butterfinger blizzard right now thanks to joining Dairy Queen's Blizzard fan club and getting a BOGO free blizzard. Join!

Princess for a Day

Thanks for all your comments and congrats on my last post! I'm 12 1/2 weeks along and have been feeling pretty good. I am lucky and didn't get sick at all with my other kids. With this pregnancy, I have been feeling nauseous once in a while and, of course, tired. Smells really bother me sometimes too. And with working (especially in my profession) things have been making me more queasy than usual, but overall I can't complain. Kate has informed me she wants it to be a baby girl. I told her we get what we get (and don't throw a fit)! I'm kind of wanting a girl for her, but we'll see. We want to find out...I need to know...I like to plan. Plus, we have this bedroom situation and decorating situation that I want to figure out before the baby comes.

After Church on Sunday, Kate modeled the new skirt Gma Vicki made for her! My Mom probably whipped it up in 2 minutes too. It is a really cute skirt.

Here is Preston after Church in his manly suit. Gma Dee Ann's boss gave it to him and it's really cute on him. He looks like a little man. The vest is a bit short, but oh well. Of course, Preston already has his socks and shoes off before I thought of getting a picture of him.

Marci and Kate at the movies!!!

Marci came up on MLK day since she had the day off (gotta love teacher's schedules) and she came with Kate and I to see Princess and the Frog. It was a cute movie and Kate was only a little bit scared. Much better than when we watch UP a couple weeks ago. Kate was scared most of the movie! We don't take Kate to very many movies so this was a treat for her. She held the popcorn bucket and ate a ton of it. ha ha. Marci wanted her to dress up in her princess dress and shoes. Kate got many compliments so it was fun for her to feel like a princess for a day (I can't wait to take her to Disneyland someday!). What a fun day for her! Kate has been playing pretend now using the story line from the movie and "Tiana" this and "Tiana" that. :)

Marci found this cute idea online and wanted to make it. So since she was coming up to visit we decided to make them. It's this saying on transparency paper (you have to use a laser printer so the ink doesn't come off) and then you cut it to the size you want, roll it up and put it in the soap dispenser. You use the soap straw thingy to push it around and put it to the front of the bottle. It's cute, but I would highly recommend to use clear liquid soap. This soap I had gets in front of the transparency paper sometimes and makes the words cloudy. Marci did one with clear soap and it looks amazing.

Skating, Surgery and Surprise!

Before some of our friends moved away last year they gave us these passes to a skating rink. Kyle took Kate for her first time. He said she only lasted like 20 minutes and he had to stretch her out for a bit longer to make it worth it. They were home quick! :) She liked it though and was so excited to tell me all about it.

Preston had inguinal hernia surgery on Friday at Children's. It went well and he is doing well with his recovery. He watched a lot of tv yesterday and lounged around. You could tell he was sore because he walked funny and wasn't too interested in playing. Kate had the same exact surgery 1 1/2 years ago at the same hospital (different doctor). It's crazy that both of our kids were born with the same defect in their inguinal canal (where the hernia forms). We noticed it because their were bumps on both of the kids down in their groin area. Kate was 3 yrs old when she had her surgery so she was a bit older.

Me with Preston before the surgery. They gave him some "happy juice" to calm him down and he was all relaxed before they took him back for the operation. He wouldn't part with the blanket so they took it back with him. I felt bad for him because he kept asking for milk and for a snack. He couldn't eat anything so we had to keep him distracted with other things like cartoons.

Preston after the surgery. He looked like a truck hit him! His eyes were all puffy. The surgery takes 1- 1 1/2 hours and he is fully sedated. When they brought him to me he was crying, but calmed down when I snuggled him and scratched his leg (his favorite thing). They gave him a popsicle and it was funny watching him try to get it to his mouth. He did better than Kate did though! He downed the popsicle, it must have felt good to his dry mouth plus he was probably thirsty. They let us go home soon after I got him dressed. We had to check in at the hospital at 7:15am and we got home by 12:25pm so it didn't too long. It's always nicer to recover at home where things are more comfortable anyway.

Our next kid better not have a hernia in their inguinal canal....speaking of our next kid...I'm pregnant! We are so excited. I'm 12 weeks along and due July 31st!

I told my family on Christmas Eve. My Mom and Dad gave all of us kids a gift of our "favorite thing" (it was a tradition they did for us kids growing up). Well, I had gotten an ultrasound a couple weeks before (to give me a due date since I never know when I'm due with my crazy cycles) so we had a couple pictures of the baby. I wrapped a picture up and then gave it to my parents to open as their "favorite thing" gift. It was neat to see their expressions and all my family was so excited for me. Then, on Christmas day when we went up to Kyle's family I had wrapped another ultrasound picture for Dee Ann to unwrap and, of course, they were all excited for us too.

I was nervous to tell people because it didn't seem real (sometimes it still doesn't) so now that I've had another ultrasound and am farther along I'm ready to tell people. We even saw the heart beat both times I've had an ultrasound so that is reassuring. What's funny is that I'm due a week before my sister-in-law Sadie and my due date is the day after Marci and Carter's birthday!!! Our family just likes to keep all our birthdays together. It will be a busy month.