New do.

WHAT A CHANGE! I was trying to think of the last time my hair was so short. I really can't think of a time. I must have been in the 5th grade ( after a really bad perm)

I was so desperate for a change. When I was pregnant with Taylor I really felt like I had a glow, I felt beautiful. This pregnancy has been the complete opposite. I have never, in my life, felt so unattractive. This hair cut has lifted my spirits! I hope you all like it, it's going to take some getting use to but I feel really good about the change. I had a great time playing around with it last night when I got home and I can't wait to try new little things.

{Super thanks to Brenda who spend 4 hours cutting and highlighting my hair... while her husband watched Taylor. I am blessed with the best and most talented of friends. }

old hair

nasty

new hair

{sorry I had to take these in the bathroom this morning. It's so dark in our house because of the rain... and Taylor hasn't quite figured out the camera.}

Reason # 5,2847...

... why I love my Peanut...

When we were leaving Starbucks today. I had my drink in one hand, Taylor on my hip and was texting a girlfriend ( yep, I multi-task) A very nice gentleman opened the door for me and Taylor said... "Tank You" to him. I almost died. You should have seen the mans face! It was amazing. Dusty and I have been working very hard on manners in our house. Looks like all of our work paying off! She is an angel ( most of the time)

{ Taylor playing with her kitchen, she is wearing her apron}

Luau?

I've been trying to come up with a theme for Taylor's Party. I have felt extremely uninspired lately and I'm struggling with the ideas, which I need so I can start the invitations! We are planning a pool side BBQ at our complex. There is an amazing club room with a huge kitchen and private patio and grill. ( one of the benefits of living in San Diego is that you can have a pool party in February!) So I am leaning toward a luau theme. Look at these amazing pictures from Party Perfect. This was just what I needed to get my creative juices flowing.

Soccer Class

Last Saturday was our last Soccer Class. This was so much fun for the whole family. Taylor got a metal for most huggable. Much deserved if I do say so myself. Here is her class picture.

Baby Poll

Just for fun...

I put up a poll. Do you think our little Cricket will be a Boy or Girl? It will be fun to see what people think. ( top of the page on the right hand side of the blog) Enjoy

Bummer

We had to move our next ultrasound back a week, because Dusty will be training in San Francisco for his new position at Paramount. ( He will be gone for 2 weeks, another reason for a sad face) That means we won't be finding out the sex of our little Cricket until the first of February. I have a fun plan on how to share the news with you... but you will have to wait with us.

Showing

I've been meaning to have Dusty take a picture of my muffin top. I apologize for the poor quality of this picture. But here you have it... 16 weeks, I can't believe I'm showing this early.

( about 4 weeks earlier than with Taylor. ) This little Cricket is getting big.

( and I'm tilting my camera!)

Holding him to it!

Dusty promised me last night that if we have a little girl ( which I am sure we are)

I can name her Sunshine!

I love it and I'm holding him to it.

Sick Family... and Italian Wedding Soup

Taylor is doing much better. A million thank yous for the emails and phone calls. She is about 80% back to her normal giddy self. Yesterday morning Dusty woke up with a sore throat, fever of 101 and body aches. ( Not so sick that he wouldn't go to work this morning) Yesterday I made the most lovely Italian wedding soup. It was comforting and satisfying. Here is the recipe I used, please try it, it's wonderful.

Meatballs:

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tsp sweet yellow onion, diced finely

2 tbsp Asiago cheese, shredded

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 egg

1/4 cup garlic and herb bread crumbs

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients gently with your fingers until well mixed. Roll into very small meatballs.

Place the meatballs on a baking sheet coated with parchment paper or tin foil coated with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes or until done. Don't overcook! Remove from oven and set aside.

Soup:

1-2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup sweet yellow onion, diced

3 carrots, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

1/2 - 1 tsp chicken bouillon granules or chicken base (not pictured)

9-10 cups of chicken stock

1 cup of stars pasta

10 oz baby spinach

Asiago cheese, grated for topping

Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 3-4 minutes; add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 60 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the basil, oregano, sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, chicken bouillon granules or chicken base and chicken stock. Simmer for 45 minutes over low heat. Turn the heat up to medium high then add the stars and meatballs; cook for an additional 10 minutes. Taste and re-season if needed. Add the spinach, mix thoroughly and serve.

( recipe via for the love of cooking)

TWO

Taylor is turning two this year. The thought is unbelievable! We are planning a little party (details still in the works) and wanted our families to know the date. So, people ( hint, like Tara) can plan ahead and drive to the festivities. We would love to have family attend, but keep in mind we don't have room for guests in our tiny pad. ( we can fit you, Tara) The big celebration will be February 28th at 3:00pm. Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Christmas Morning

It's been awhile since I posted one of these. Enjoy.

Re: Poor Peanut

Here are the details...

Taylor had a fever, between 99 and 103, starting on Monday afternoon. Dry cough started Tuesday and a very slight runny nose started Thursday morning. The fever trailed off on Wednesday and we though she was on the mend however Thursday night her fever was back up to 103, I was up with her ever 30 minutes through the night ( great way to spend New Years Eve hu).

She was increasingly becoming more uncomfortable and her fever meds had stopped helping. The next day she slept snuggled up with us on the couch while Dusty and I watched College football. Around 4:30pm we called our doctor and they advised us to go to the E.R. 4 hours later we left with the diagnosis of pneumonia! We were advised to go to a follow up appointment with morning and it looks like she also has croup. Luckily we caught both in the early stages, we started her on medication last night and she is starting to get her jingle back.

It's been a crazy few days and I'm starting to have cabin fever but I really feel like she is beginning to get better. We will be locked up in our little house for the next week so I'll have plenty of time to keep you posted on how she is feeling.

one more thing..

We will find out the sex of Cricket on January 27th! I'm going to make a pretty little card for our doctor to write the results on and we will open it the following Sat over a nice romantic dinner. Just in time for Nana's Birthday!! Nana will be the first person that we tell, early in the morning on the 31st. I'll post to the blog following.

{For those of you who think we can't wait that long.... just remember we waited 3 weeks to open the card I made for Taylor ( in Barcelona on my birthday) It was perfect and since I can't have it my way and wait until the birth I want to make it super special}

I'm so excited, Baby girl #two :)

{ This is a picture of us in Barcelona after we found out the results}

Big girl bed

We are starting the process of converting from a crib to a big girl bed. I've decided to go straight to a twin bed instead of a toddler bed, based on some advice from some great girlfriends. I've just started the hunt, here is what I've come up with. The question, a trundle bed for sleepovers or storage?

(not this bedding, it's horrible!)

Baby News

I am officially 15 weeks. I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. I'm starting to feel much better and I can feel my motivation slowly creeping back. Which means more blogging, more crafting and more fun times with family and friends. I'm trilled to have my first trimester behind me.

I had a doctor appointment this morning and everything looks wonderful. All of our prenatal blood work and screening has come back clear and it looks as though we are both healthy. As always, I got a "little" lecture about eating more and increasing my weight. The good news is that I have gained a pound since my last appointment at 8 weeks. So I'm headed in the right direction. I am now "forced" to eat something small every two hours with a big glass of water, along with my regular meals of course. This should help with the dizziness ( I hope) Although the light-headed moments could be just high levels of hormones, we will just have to wait and see.

When our doctor started to listen to the heart beat little cricket started kicking so hard, and so often that he had a hard time getting a good read on her ( yes I said her) beats per second. Which made me giggle, which made it harder to hear the heart beat, which made Cricket kick more, which made the doctor and nurse laugh. It was pure comedy. It took forever to get the read he needed.. we all had a good case of the giggles. What a great way to start off the morning ( could have done without the lecture, but oh well)

Poor Peanut

Our little peanut is sick. She has a high fever ( the highest she has ever had) around 102 to 104. She is just not her usual wonderful self. Last night Dust and I were up with her from 2:30 to about 5:00am trying to help her get comfortable and drop the fever. Thank heaven for Tylenol or I think we would have been on our way to the ER last night. I called the doctor this morning and she want us to watch her over the next 24 hours, if nothing changes we will take her in. Today we have spent the morning cuddled in bed, watching movies and taking naps. These picture explain enough... poor thing!

Holiday Happenings

Here are some final pictures from Christmas in Salt Lake. We had a wonderful time, Taylor has been asking for Papa and Tutu all morning and it looks like I finally have her new toys organized in her bedroom. I'm spending the day doing laundry, picking up some groceries and taking down our holiday flair.

"SMILE" waiting in ( 2 hour) line for Santa. It was worth every second. Taylor is still a little apprehensive about sitting on the big guys lap but she was all smiles.

First Johnson hamburger. Mommies favorite meal. Yes those are homemade french fries!

Taylor's holiday diet consisted mainly of cookies. Every time I turned around someone was handing her another cookie. We will need a two week cookie detox. UMMM this morning she got out of bed and asked for a cookie... that should tell us something.

Santa!

Taylor was a really good girl this year! Here is her loot from Santa. Ready and waiting for peanut to play with. The little dog on the floor is her very first sleeping bag.

Her knew kitchen was stocked with pots and pans, wooden play food and a darling apron.

Christmas morning.

Daddy got a Ocho Cinco Jersey. Taylor loved opening the presents

A darling doll house from Auntie Allie. I think this was her favorite gift.

Cute Ladies, Auntie Allie, Tutu and Peanut

{ P.S. we officially scrapped Grammie and decided to go with Tutu... it only took 2 years. But we DID IT!!}

More Holiday Pictures

Merry Christmas Eve!

It has snowed for two days in Salt Lake! It's a winter wonderland and a perfect place for Taylor, Lucy and Dusty to make a snowman.

It took Dusty just over 12 hours to get to Salt Lake. The roads were less than wonderful and he had to drive under 50 miles an hour most of the way. He finally made it safely around 3am. We are so happy to have him here!

My darling girls

We spent the morning at a friends house decorating cookies for Santa... Taylor ate all of the cookies she made so we will be spending the afternoon making more goodies.

Playing the piano with Aunt Allie.

This afternoon we are headed to see Santa, finishing wrapping presents and making goodies. This evening we are going to temple square to see the lights, eating Chinese food ( our family tradition) and picking ONE present to open.... all done and in bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in Taylors head by 7:30!

Baby News

I forgot to mention this fun news... This is a series of quotes from our sonogram on Wednesday.

Dr: " Well, twelve weeks is REALLY REALLY early... but do you see that? It looks like a boy. still very small, I would give you a 65% chance"

Dusty: " I SEE THAT! I don't see anything on these things but I see THAT!!"

I still think it's a girl, like the Dr said, it's way to early! We should know around the first of Feb. But Dusty's reaction was priceless.