Nesting???

I wonder if men go through a "nesting" phase before their baby comes???? Casey built some shelves in the garage for me so that we could organize my craft supplies, xmas decorations, some of my grain buckets and other storage. He told me now I can stock up on all the toilet paper I want. :) They turned out really nice. He's such a good guy!

Merry Christmas

Casey and I had a great Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve with the Price family and Christmas day with the Wade family. It's nice to have both of our families in town so that we can spend the holidays with both.

I think dad got a little spoiled this year. He got a new bird dog, a shotgun from mom, some hunting gear from Casey, Coop, Meg, and I, plus a ton of other things. He loves his new dog Willow. I'm excited for him; he's like a little kid again. I know what he'll be doing the next couple weeks with the good weather we've had.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I think Casey and I are ready for Christmas. The baking is done, the tree is up, the holiday crafts are done for the year, and hopefully all of our shopping is done. We've already been to quite a few holiday parties and I'm really feeling the holiday spirit this year. I didn't have to cook dinner for four days and the fridge is full of leftovers, which is always nice.

My work Christmas party was Thursday night. They had dinner catered at the Midway condo and had a white elephant gift exchange. We went home full of food and laughter.

Friday night we went to dinner in Provo for dad's birthday. Dad chose Applebees, which I was a little surprised about his choice, but mom said that he has loved it ever since we went there with Cody, Sharlie, John and Cindy a couple years ago. We ordered the same steak and shrimp Parmesan and it did hit the spot.

Saturday Casey and I went to the Provost family Christmas party in Midway. We had dinner and then did a man's and woman's gift exchange. Casey got a Home Depot gift card, that we spent already buying new bathroom fans that Cooper came and installed for us. I got a Bed Bath and Beyond gift card and plan on buying some new bathroom rugs with it.

Sunday we ate dinner with Jay and Becky. Mindy and Steve told us about their cruise they just got home from and Jay and Becky talked about their NFR experiences this year. It was nice to relax.

Today is the day I signed up to bring in lunch to work, part of our December tradition at work. I brought sloppy joes, pasta salad, and some cookies. Its a fun tradition, but when January gets here we starve because we are used to snacking the whole month before.

I'm thankful to have good friends and family, a nice warm place to live, and a good job. The holidays remind me how lucky we are and next year we will have a little nine month old crazy boy running around that will make it even better.

Caramel Popcorn

The baby sure was excited about something last night and I'm just going to blame it on the caramel popcorn that I made. I got the recipe from Casey's cousin Karalee. I thought I would share it so everyone can see what the baby's commotion was all about. I love it, but don't make it very often. You will understand when you see the recipe why.

2 cups butter (yes that is 4 squares butter!)

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup Karo

Boil to Hard Ball Stage

Add 1 can sweet and condensed milk

Pour over popped popcorn (I measure 1 cup un-popped kernels)

Baby Bump

The baby bump has definitely grown. I can't believe how fast time flies by. On Thanksgiving Day, I started my 100 day countdown to my due date, today is the last day of my second trimester, Christmas will be here and gone before you know it, and then Casey and I will have a new addition to our family. I notice the baby's kicks and punches get stronger and more active every day and it is so fun to be able to see and feel him move.

16 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks


27 Weeks

House Painting

Painting and pregnancy must just come together in a package because it seems like every woman paints while she is pregnant. For me painting a nursery wasn't enough torture. For the last 2-3 weeks Casey and I have been painting our entire house. We are just about done and it is so nice to have a change. We need to finish our bedroom and bathroom so there will be more pictures to come. The baby's room is painted, but I want to wait until I have it all set up before I post any pictures of it.

I forgot to take any "before" photos until after we already had the house torn apart but you get the idea.

While the paint was out, our little princess Reece got some new stairs made so that we could move the pillows that she uses to jump in to her bay window. They even ended up getting carpet because her claws were slipping on the wood.

Coupon Shopaholic

I have recently become a coupon shopper the last few months. I wouldn't say I'm extreme as some. I don't buy ten Sunday papers just to have ten copies of the coupons inserts, but I have bought coupons on ebay for a couple dollars to stock up on a few items. My most recent purchase was Huggies Baby Wipes and I got enough that my little boy will never have to worry about a dirty bum! They were the large refill packages, normally $8.99 and I bought them for $2.49 a package. I also have at least a two year supply of toilet paper, laundry soap, dish soap, toothpaste, shaving cream, and it's just the beginning. I have a lot of work to do. Some of my items I even got for free or made money off of. My toothpaste was a $1 moneymaker per tube! I'm waiting for a good diaper sale even though I already have a good collection. Casey doesn't quite understand but I've explained to him that you have to stock up on things while they are cheap and on sale so that you never have to pay full price for anything. Its also nice to know that if for some reason one of us happened to lose our job, we don't have to worry about buying those things until we have time to get back on our feet. It will be nice when we build our new house and have a storage room and bigger pantry but until then it is in storage containers and stacked in the garage. My sister-in-law Mindy is "the Queen" of coupon shopping and I learn new tricks from her everyday.

Happy Halloween 2011

Boston- ghost, Jody- Genie, Kimber- pumpkin, Jamie- Flower

Tanner- Luigi, Katelynn- Princess Peach, Mario (Cameron) missed our party

Clay Boy the Friendly Ghost

If it weren't for my nieces and nephews, I wouldn't have had many trick or treaters this year. We had four neighbor kids and all the nieces and nephews besides Cameron and baby Ava. It was a pretty quiet night.

2011 Deer Hunt

Well the deer hunt is over for the year and Casey didn't kill anything. Darn it...... That is sarcasm BTW. I don't know that we have room for another creature in our house on top of the:

6 deer mounts

bobcat

fish

elk

coyote, fox, and bobcat skins

But he did help Kent Probst with his deer and it looks like he had a fun week anyway.

Special Little Girl

I have a special little girl in my life that will turn four years old this week. She may not look like a person, but she has me and her dad convinced she is a little person, not a dog. I love my little girl so much and I'm so lucky to have her.

I got her during Christmas time in 2007. She weighed 20 ounces when I got her. She was just over six weeks old.

It takes her probably six months to eat a five pound bag of dogfood. This weekend I bought her a new kind because they didn't have hers in stock. I mixed the new food with her old food to help her transistion. First of all, her dog food is sitting on the kitchen tile, but she refuses to eat on the tile. She carries little mouthfuls to the carpet to eat. Second, she must really like her new food a lot better because she has been picking it out and leaving the old behind. I think someone might be a little spoiled........

Turkey Time

This weekend my nephew Clay helped me get my Thanksgiving craft project done. He painted his turkey on paper and I painted my wood turkey. He was a good boy and we had a good time at grandma's house.

Apples and More Apples

Thank goodness canning is over for the year for me. Saturday Mindy, Becky, Jen and I canned 75 pints and 7 quarts of applesauce and 19 quarts of apple pie filling. It really wasn't too bad, it just took all day; we started at 7:00am and got done about 4:30. Sunday morning I woke up and my whole body ached, but we had apple pie for sunday dinner and I think the applesauce is delicious. I was the lucky one of the group because I was able to get it all done in one day. Jen had already done 36 quarts of applesauce for her family and Becky and Mindy had already canned their pie filling. Grandpa Provost is pretty happy that all his apples are getting used.

20 Week Ultrasound

I finally reached my halfway mark and had my 20 week ultrasound and everything looked great. Our baby weighs 10 ounces. I'm feeling pretty good and hope the next 20 weeks fly by because I can't wait for him to be here!

MRU Fundraiser

Miss Rodeo Utah, Jamie Udell had her fundraiser tonight in Ogden. Mom, Dad, Casey and I all rode together. It was at the Ogden Comfort Suite hotel and they served speghetti, fettuccini alfredo, salad, and breadsticks. It was pretty good food and she had a really good turnout.

She had a Miss Rodeo Utah Alumni auction table and I donated a purse, hat, and necklace. I thought it turned out pretty cute. It was fun to be able to visit with all of my friends and be able to support Jamie.

Nursery Storage Idea

I was walking through Joanns the other day and was given an idea for a cheap way to decorate and have storage for the nursery. I know this is a common decorating idea, but I never considered using it until now. My husband does work at a lumber store so I thought it would be pretty cheap. They were selling them for $29.99 at Joanns for a stack of two. I am going to buy baskets that fit inside of them (or have them made to fit the baskets that I buy), line the baskets with fabric that match my crib bedding, and stain the boxes to match the rest of the bedroom furniture. Then I can put diapers, rags, wipes, ect in the baskets. Some of the boxes could also have stuffed animals or room decor. I will probably do 4-6 boxes stacked in 2 columns. Then as the baby grows up, he can use them for whatever he wants; books, toys, ect.

Baby Pictures

I think baby pictures are so precious. I can't wait to be able to get some pictures of my own little guy to hang in our home. These are some of my favorite ideas.