Is it Christmas already...

...because when I woke up this morning all the chocolates were eaten out of the advent calendar.

All About Ava (AAA)

So I haven't done a post about Ava in a while, and she has definitely been saying some post worthy stuff, so here it goes. The above picture was taken yesterday, when I was done doing her hair she looked in the mirror and said "I look like Easter Bunny". A few weeks ago I was lying in bed and Ava came in, I told her to go get dressed, she said "Where are we going?" (because for some reason she can only get dressed if we are going some where) I told her we were going to the temple, she looked at me very quizzically and said "I get married?" Oh that one had me rolling, but I guess it's a good sign that some of it's sinking in.

Oh yeah, and one more thing, a couple of days ago I was sitting on my bed reading and suddenly I heard the sound of liquid spilling on the ground. I jumped up just in time to see Ava filling a glass up with milk, but forgetting to stop once it was full. I said in a loud voice Ava stop, and ran over to take the milk jug out of her hand. She immediately was in hysterics, anytime you talk to Ava in a loud or very firm voice, she instantly starts crying. After I got the milk cleaned up, I walked over to her and gave her a hug and a kiss and I asked her if I had hurt her feelings. She said yes, and then I apologized to her, but for the rest of the day anytime I told her she couldn't do something, or to stop doing something, she would look at me and say "You hurt my fewnings" (feelings). I tried really hard not to start laughing, and then would apologize to her again. Boy does she know how to make a person feel bad!

Thank you Elder Wirthlin for your hard work, dedicated service, and Christlike example to us all. We love you, and we will miss you.

Thanksgiving, and Christmas Decorations

I meant to take pictures on Thanksgiving but of course in the chaos of it all, I forgot. Matt is currently in training learning a new plane and had to work that day, he didn't get home until almost five, so we had a late dinner, but I think it turned out good. Thanks to Ali for her recipe on brining a turkey, it was by far my best turkey yet. We bought a twenty pound turkey and it was just us and our neighbors the Jasperson's for dinner, so we are still eating it, I made taco's with it tonight and it was so good. Today we decorated the Christmas tree. It was really fun to watch the kids faces light up when they saw all the decorations Matt was bringing in from the garage. He even put some lights up in their room, they love it. We did lose a couple of ornaments in the decorating process, but thankfully they weren't any that were to special to me.

Here is a picture of the finished product. Ava would put all of her ornaments on the same branch. I thought it was pretty funny, I tried to explain to her that she could spread them around a little, but she wouldn't hear of it. Quinn was so excited for the star, he kept asking his dad if he could put it on.

Also, thank you to all those that left comments on my last post. I really appreciate your support, it helps a lot, and it also helps to know I'm not the only one that has those days.

I woke up this morning thinking I can't do this anymore. I felt frustrated and my patience was pretty much gone. I feel like my days lately have been all the same. One of my kids does something wrong, I get frustrated, lose my patience with them, put them in time out, then when they get out of time out, it just starts all over again. I then get even more mad and frustrated, then feel guilty because I know I'm not being a nice mom, or a good one. Then I get frustrated with myself, and realize that's really who I've been frustrated with all along. It's a cycle I just don't know how to break. So before I even got out of bed this morning I said a prayer. It helped a little, but I just kept thinking what can I do today that will make this day better. I got up and started reading my scriptures. I was reading in 1 Nephi chapter 13 about the revolutionary war, about how God helped the colonists over throw Great Britain, and it occurred to me that if God could help a few colonist overthrow the British army then He can help me to change my attitude, and do a better job with my children. I felt a little better. I then went in the bathroom where Matt was getting ready for work and told him how I was feeling, he gave me a hug and a kiss and told me I was a good mom, and that I could do it. It's amazing how much that helped. Knowing he believed in me and thought I was a good mom made me feel so much better. So I set out with a new resolve to make this day better and to seek the Lords help in resolving any issues we might have. So we started our day, we went to a friends house, then the park, and then I had a craving for my favorite ice cream. So we went and got some ice cream cones, and as I was sitting there watching my little babies eat their ice cream cones with big smiles on their faces I began to cry. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of love. Love from and for my Heavenly Father, and love for and from my children. How could I have let Satan in to take away my peace and afflict my soul, and try to take away these precious moments with my sweet children. Suddenly everything made sense. I feel like I've learned a lot from this experience, and I hope I won't have to learn it again for a long time.

High School

Ok, so my friend Megan said she wanted to see a picture of me in high school, so here it is. I think I was 17 in this picture. So my challenge to all of you reading this is to post a picture of yourself from high school. I triple dog dare you.

Random

What? Ava hasn't had a pacifier since she was about three months old. The other day I was going through the baby stuff trying to get an early jump on getting things organized and she found this pacifier, ever since she's had it in her mouth. Matt tried to take it away from her, but she started crying, so we are going to "lose it" while she's sleeping and hope she just forgets about it.



Quinn is really into legos lately. This is a picture of the castle Matt made him, these were Matt's legos when he was a little boy. His mom saved them so Matt could give them to his kids someday.


And we have to end with a "hooray!", only three more months to go. He's still nameless, so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to share!

Update

Quinn had his first Primary program. It was so cute, he did such a great job. He remembered every word of his line. The week before the program I was practicing with him everyday, I would say Quinn tell me your line, and then he would repeat it to me, then after a while of this he said Mom, I have to go to church and lie. He thought when I was saying line, I was saying lie. Boy did I confuse him!


So stinkin' cute

Smile

Quinn also had his last tee ball game. They handed out trophy's at the end and he was so excited. It was such a great experience for him, we are both so excited for next season, which is this spring, so we don't have to wait too long.

Matt's parents came to visit and we went to the Fort Worth zoo. It's a great zoo, this is a picture of Quinn feeding the birds. It's all enclosed and you can buy bird seed sticks and the birds come and land on your stick and eat it. The kids love it.

For Halloween we went to Main Street in Grapevine. They shut the street down and all the stores hand out candy and they also have different activities for the kids to do. It was perfect for my kids since they are still so little, it was pretty easy trick or treating.

Little Mermaid and Captain Jack Sparrow

A couple of weeks ago my step dad Bill and my sister Stacia, her boyfriend Jake, and my brother Joe came for a visit. This is us at a little farm that had a corn maze and pumpkins. Ava loved the little piggy.

Quinnie and Ava in the hay house.

I saw this story today on Oprah and I just had to share it. It's a fathers video journal to his son during his short life. I'm sorry if it makes you cry, but I think this story is truly inspiring. God has blessed us with a strength that we don't know we have until we go through trials, especially ones like this. The parents from this story are great examples of the attitude I would hope to have if I had to go through something like this. The mom said while her son was still alive that she had plenty of time to be sad later, and she was happy and enjoyed every second with her son while he was here on the earth. I know I can apply this in my own life by cherishing every moment I have with my beautiful children, and husband, and stop worrying about the things that don't really matter. The parents have a clear perspective of God's plan of salvation, the father says in the end of the video that he and his son are only seperated by time. How true those words really are.

World's Best Husband Award

Sorry ladies, but Matt snatched it up for the year. Last Saturday morning we were getting ready to fly back to Texas from California. Our last night we stayed in a hotel at the LA airport because Matt had a flight early Saturday morning before our flight back to Texas. So that meant that Saturday morning I had to wake up early, get the kids ready, and packed, drive to the rental car place in LA, a place I've never driven before, then get Quinn, Ava, all our luggage, and two car seats onto a shuttle to the airport. Surprisingly all that went quite smoothly, the absolute chaos didn't start until we entered the airport. The airport was packed, trying to maneuver around people with our luggage, and car seats, and making sure the kids were staying with me was almost an impossible feat. We finally figured out where we were suppose to be, and the line was really long and very unorganized so nobody knew who was next in line. By this time my kids had had it, they started running around, climbing up on the scale that weighs the luggage, just kind of going nuts. So I would have to leave all my luggage in line where I was standing and chase after them and drag them back to the line and then they would take off again. This went on for about forty minutes until a lady let us cut in front of her. The whole time we were in line people were just staring at us and making comments, it was like we were our own little circus act. At this point I was trying not to cry, and I still had to go through security. Thankfully security was quick, and Matt was waiting for us on the other side. When we got to our gate Matt sat with the kids and I went and bought some food for all of us to take on the plane, when I got back to the gate it was time to board, so I never even had a chance to tell Matt about our insane experience checking in. When we got on the plane I asked Matt where we were sitting, he kept being vague, until he finally pointed to one of the first class seats, I didn't believe him at first, but apparently when I was getting food for everyone, Matt went and had my seat upgraded to a first class seat. As many of you know since Matt is a pilot we get to fly for free, and we can sit in first class if there are open seats, but I have never gotten to because they don't let anyone under seven sit in first class, and I am always traveling with the kids, (I know, poor me), so I was so excited to have my first experience sitting in first class, and Matt couldn't have picked a better morning to surprise me. I was still feeling highly emotional (pregnancy hormones). Matt and the kids sat back a few rows in coach and I got to relax in my big, comfortable, seat, and enjoy all the amenities of first class, including a hot towel, almonds and cashews to munch on, a hot meal, and a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie for dessert. After the flight Matt asked me if I thought first class was over rated, I said "No way!" It was so wonderful, and exactly what I needed after my crazy morning, and I had still not had a chance to tell Matt about our whole checking in experience. He just did it because he's so wonderful, and because he loves me, and that is why he wins the World's Best Husband Award! Oh, and by the way, when he told me he upgraded my seat to first class, I laid a big kiss on him right in front of the whole plane, major pda. I just thought you might want to know all the gory details.

Travel Log

Last month we went to Seattle for 10 days Christina mentioned part of our trip earlier, but here's what we did on the rest of our trip. We visited our friends the Anderson's where Quinn and Evan got to play together. Boys being boys.

We visited the beach and checked out Pike Place Market. This is what Ava does when you tell her to show you her teeth.

We also did the Puyallup Fair.

Quinn loves roller coasters. See his hands in the air.

Tawsha and I are on the Extreme Scream.

This is the Cannonball Man. He holds the world record for longest distance shot out of a cannon.

Quinn is showing off by doing his chin ups.

Last Week we decided to go to California to visit family and took the kids to Disneyland for the first time. It was a lot of fun. We took Quinn on the Peter Pan ride and he was like "WOW". I took him down Splash Mountain. When we were in line he saw the people going down the big waterfall and he said he wanted to do it too. Unfortunately when we went over you couldn't see him in the picture they take.

Our little princess in front of her castle.


Unfortunately, he's not King Arthur. Quinn said it was stuck.

On Splash MountainQuinn in front of the Haunted Mansion. Right now its done up in the Nightmare before Christmas theme.

The Results Are In

According to our poll. 7 voted GIRL and 5 voted BOY. We asked the Doctor and the Doctor said, boy. Actually, the lady doing the ultrasound said she was going to look at the organs first and come back to see what it is, but as soon as she put it to Christina's stomach there he was legs spread proud to show everyone. Christina was shocked because she was dead set on a girl. Christina was so sure that it was a girl that she said if it was a boy I get to pick the name. Now she's trying to tell me she has full veto rights. WHATEVER CHRISTINA!

What do you think?

A boy or a girl? We find out this Friday!

September 16

September 16 has come and gone. I think a lot of people expected it to be a hard day, but I looked forward to the day with much excitement and anticipation. It was the one year anniversary of the day my dad died. Matt and I woke up early and met Mike and Merry (Matt's parents) at the Seattle temple around 7:50am. We had an 8 o'clock appointment at the baptistry. Matt did twelve baptisms, all from my side of the family, including my dad and grandpa (my dad's dad), and I did nine. We then did the confirmations, initiatories, and then an endowment session where Matt and his dad took through my dad and grandpa's names. It was the most incredible day, it was the day I had prayed for my whole life, my dad was now a member of the church, my prayers had been answered. Our prayers aren't always answered in the way we expect them to be, but God does hear them, and He will answer them. I am encompassed about by His tender mercy.



This is a picture of Matt and I greeting my dad when we walked out of the temple the day we were married. This is the same temple we did his work in.

OK, I have a question, about a week ago Matt and I put up the baby tracker countdown (you know the one with the baby bouncing around in the bubble), and above it we wrote Number Three, and it also says Christina's Baby, on the right side bar underneath our family picture, so we figured everyone would know we are expecting baby #3. Well with all the comments about if I was pregnant on our last post I'm starting to think that maybe it's not showing up when people are pulling up our blog, is that true? I know it's showing up when some people pull it up because they have left comments, but maybe it's not pulling up for everybody. Please let me know, and yes we are expecting a new addition to our family this February!

Our Utah Trip

We had Quinn's birthday party at Ali's house in Provo, we thought that would be good for Quinn since most of his friends live there.

Here's Quinn and Cameron with Quinn's b-day cake. They're so cute, I love they're cute little smiles.
Landon and Ava. Ava has a mouth full of candy in most of the pictures. She's a sweet-aholic, just like her daddy.
The bunch!
The girls! Me, Annie, Dani, Amy, Ali. We were all in the same BYU ward while our husbands went to school, and we had so much fun together. Three out of five of us are pregnant with our third baby in this picture. They all still live in Utah except for me, and they are the reason I miss it so much.
The boys, Cameron, Matthew, Quinn, and Jack (or as Ava calls him Gack)Ali's little girl Sheridan. She's so funny, this is the only picture of her I got without her thumb in her mouth, she loves that thing. It's so cute, I always wanted a baby that sucked their thumb, but haven't had one yet.

My Quinnie

It was Quinn's 4th birthday August 26th. I can't believe my little baby is four years old. I decided to take a look back at his last four birthdays.


This is his actual birth day, he's so cute my little baby boy, this is the day I became a mother.
Birthday number 1
My little cowboy when he turned two.
Spiderman when he turned 3!
And just this last week when my little skeleton pirate turned 4. Where have the years gone. Happy Birthday my baby boy, we love you!

Thank you for all your comments on my last post. I truly appreciate your love and support, the Lord has truly blessed me with so many great friends.


Matt wanted to take some pictures with the first plane he flew commercially. They are retiring it at the end of this month. He's so cute.

Here's one from inside the cockpit (obviously). It always overwhelms me to think that he knows what all of those buttons do.

Everyone kept telling us that we should go to the Dallas World Aquarium, we were a little apprehensive because it cost so much, but some friends invited us to go with them last weekend so we went. It was definitely the biggest aquarium that I've ever been too, but hey we're in Texas right? Anyway, it was pretty cool, I have never seen a crocodile that big in real life before, it was huge. Quinn started freaking out when it walked over to us, I had to explain to him that it couldn't get us through the glass.
Here we are in the tropical rainforest area, we definitely don't have one of these areas in the Seattle aquarium.
Quinn with the Jaguar, doesn't it look like it's about ready to get him?

I had to throw this pic in. The other day I was on the computer and Quinn and Ava came running out of their bedroom, Quinn was so excited because Ava was wearing his pirate underoos. She isn't potty trained yet, but she asked to sit on the toilet all the time, but doesn't do anything, so about ten minutes after this picture was taken she peed in Quinn's pirate underoos and Quinn was not happy about it. Needless to say I had to hurry and wash Quinn's pirate underoos so they weren't desecrated anymore. Oh, the demands of a three year old.