Random Update - Pictures and Thoughts

 Here's Lexi all ready for church a few Sundays ago.

On this particular Sunday Sean stayed home with Avery who was having an awful morning.

Lexi just loved being lone with me in Sacrament meeting.

She just sat on my lap and snuggled up to me most of the time.

A friend of mine gave me this homemade giant "Boppy" pillow for Eli.

Lexi loves it! So I think I will be getting another Boppy for Eli.

Here's Lexi all curled up in a ball sleeping in it...

We're getting excited for BYU football to start next week.

We bought this little shirt for Eli.

We also bought one for Lexi and she loves sleeping in it.

Also, Sean taught Lexi to sing, "Raise and shout the Cougars are out."

That's all she knows right now.

And speaking of Cougars. Here's Lexi's first attempt at drawing one...

Here are the girls hugging and just being adorable in their new matching outfits from my parents.

 And here's Lexi all ready for church this last week.

This dress is a size 6 so it's really long on her.

Which makes her feel so "elegant" and she calls it a "ball gown."

And here's me and Avery all ready for church this past Sunday.

I'm 32 weeks along in this picture.

I can't believe that in just a few days I'll be 33 weeks along!

Wow! Eli will be here soon. We're slowing getting ready.

We sold a lot of our baby things in Albuquerque when we first applied for the Salt Lake job 

and before we knew about Eli.

So I've recently bought a bath tub and a dresser/changing table that Lexi and I are going to repaint.

And we've just started buying a new outfit or two every week.

It's starting to make the fact that we're having a baby seem real.

...

And speaking of me and my pregnancy, I decided to "fire" my M.D. here in West Jordan 

and go see some Midwives in Murray.

I have my first appointment in 2 weeks. 

I really hope that I like the midwives because I'm running out of time before I have this baby!

I was seeing a midwife in Albuquerque and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED her.

I didn't want to move to Utah until after I had the baby just so she could delivery.

I never really liked my M.D. here. She just was too clinical 

and always kept bringing up the possibly of having another c-section.

Which is not what I want, we're hoping for another VBAC.

I just love my little Avery Joy.

She is totally my baby (at least for the next 2 months).

She's such a girly little girl.

Now that she has to do everything herself she's always wearing dresses or at least something pink.

(FYI, Avery is actually brushing my hair and pretending to put make up on me while I type this.)

...

A few nights ago I had trouble sleeping so I went into the girls room and sat on the floor next to Avery's

toddler bed and rubbed her hair and kissed her little round face for several minutes.

I even thought about holding her in arms and rocking her 

back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

While singing, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

(Who out there realizes that I'm quoting a children's book?)

We bought Avery a soccer jersey and shorts from the D.I. so she could be like Lexi.

And here's Parker and Lexi in their soccer jersey for the new season.

Don't they all look so cute and athletic?

Lexi was concerned that her cousin Halle would feel left out. 

But honestly, Halle didn't seem to care that she wasn't in a jersey too or a part of this picture.

And here's the kids all loaded up in our van.

This is what it would be like if I had a kid every year for four years.

Yesterday was Sean's sister Michelle's brithday.

We've had so many birthdays in our family this summer, Lexi has loved it.

She was so excited to help me make pies and make some cards and celebrate last night.

Last week we bought a couch!!!

Finally, I have somewhere comfortable to relax in the living room.

We found it through the KSL classifieds for $150. 

It used to be in a model home and then a family in Lehi bought it and had it for 2 years and 

loved it so much that they bought a sectional like it and had no more room for the couch.

And now that I have a couch, I am finally gonna start thinking about putting something up on this wall.

And I decided to keep it real and just take pictures of the couch without cleaning first.

And I love this picture of the girls below, they are in the zone watching TV.

Hey, TV that's something new for us too.

We just got cable last week (for football season).

We haven't had cable for 3 months and before that we just had the basic, basic cable package.

I was looking through some pictures of Sean and I in high school recently.

I just had to share.

This first picture was taken just a few weeks before Sean went on his mission.

We went to go visit my Grandpa Briggs.

And this is from Sean's senior prom.

Lexi loves all of the pictures of us going to "the ball" aka school dances.

And she loved that I was wearing a tiara in this one.

This was us the beginning of my senior year on the infamous 

 Old Spaghetti Factory date with the Lively Fively.

And since I'm just being random here, 

I am not sure what I'm going to do with Avery.

I was thinking I'd potty train her before Eli was born.

Every time she poops she finds me and says, "I poop poop mommy."

And then she'll run and grab a diaper and some wipes and lay down.

But every time I ask her if she wants to use the potty she says, "no potty" and gets really upset.

I'm not sure what to do with this girl.

...

And starting next month Sean is going to starting working from home two days a week.

I can't wait! I hope that it will work out. Because I'd to have lunch with him 

and have more time with him since we won't be commuting.

...

Also, we are officially a two car family! We're been looking forward to this for years.

Especially since we lost our Elantra.

Michelle and Justin gave us their old Civic and we could be more grateful.

We just went and registered it and it's officially ours!

OH HAPPY DAY!
...
Avery is officially a bitter.
Within the last few weeks she's bit Lexi several times.
She's even broken skin.
So now, Avery frequently has time out in the dark laundry room.
But event that doesn't seem to bother her.
Does anyone have any suggests about what we can do to teach Avery not to bite?
...
Lexi's first soccer games is tomorrow and we can't wait to see her in action.
To get ready for her first game she had me paint her (and Avery's) nails red like her jersey.
...
A while ago, Lexi was talking on the phone with my dad.
She was telling him how much she loves envelopes (one of her new favorite things)
and he told her that she could mail herself one.
So she did.
She made herself a little letter and sent it to herself.
She was so excited to get mail. 
...
I recently pulled out a bunch of baby items and my girls have loved playing with them.
Their new favorite toys are old burp cloths, binkies, bottles, nursing covers and baby clothes.
They are such little mothers!
...
Oh and I wanted to give a shout out to Trent!
(He's one of Sean's work BFF's.)

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - The Joys of Actually Having a Car at Home

As I mentioned yesterday, I was involved in a hit-and-run yesterday morning. I was driving home on the freeway after taking Sean to work. As traffic switched from five lanes to three everyone slowed down. The guy behind me didn't slow down fast enough and hit me. We were in the right lane so I immediately pulled off to the side of the road and the other driver just kept going!!! I was soooo mad. I merged back into traffic and tried to catch up to him but couldn't. Luckily I saw his license plate. I went to the police station and filed a report for a hit-and-run. So hopefully the police will find that jerk and make him pay. I know I sound like a crazy angry woman but that is just so rude! And I'm frustrated especially after Sean's hit-and-run earlier this year. What is wrong with people. We are fine. We didn't get hurt. Lexi did notice the hit and seemed a little confused and scared but quickly said, "I'm okay." There is a little paint scratch but I don't think there is really any other damage.

I was so excited to have the van today. I took the girls to Explora. It's a kids' science center. It was so much fun. There is a lot of things geared up for toddlers.

When you first walk in there is a giant ball run. Lexi and Avery watched it for 10 mintues!

Playing with marbles. A first for Lexi.


Avery did so good sitting up in the stroller. She liked watching all the other kids and Lexi play.

There was a room just for toddlers. It was amazing! Lexi loved playing with the clear tubes on wall. They were another big ball run.

There were just so many fun things for kids to play with. Lexi liked playing with these light switches.

Tons of puzzles, books and games in the toddler room. There was also a rocking chair which was great because I got to feed Avery while Lexi played.

There was an art room.

Avery was such an angel!

And Lexi's absolute favorite thing of the day - the bubble table!

I think eventually I'll look at getting a membership to Explora. If anyone ever comes and visits us here we'll have to take them to Explora.

Sean gets home tonight!!! I'm so glad it was only an overnight audit. I don't do good at home by myself.

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - The Pick-Me-Up I needed

I've had a horrible day already! I'm still sick. Our AC is still broken. And today Sean leaves on a overnight audit. He's heading up North, to a town a few hours from here near the Colorado border. He'll be back late tomorrow night. When I first found out that Sean was going out of town, I thought to myself, I'll have the van! I'll be able to do playdates and go to the park! (Now I'm not so sure about that!) So this morning we took him to work (it was way too early, espeically after we all went to bed later than normal). On the way home this morning, I was involved in a hit-and-run! I'll share more details later. As you can imagine, I was pretty upset. When I got home I saw this list on my friend Britney's blog. It made me laugh and cheered me up. For some reason, I can't just copy and paste the list.

Van Man!

WE BOUGHT A VAN!!! We're so excited to be done with the car buying process. We were planning on buying a van eventually but when our car broke down and was left in the middle no where, we were forced to buy a second vehicle. A van just seemed like an obvious choice. We need lots of space for car seats and kiddos. We actually almost bought two other vans before this one but both just weren't quit right and fell through. We are so excited about this van though. It's a 2006 Dodge Caravan. It isn't crazy fancy but it is in great condition. My favorite feature is the automatic doors that open with a push of a button (perfect for a mom with her arms full of kids).

(those are cloud reflections, it's a beautiful sunny ABQ day)

We still aren't sure what's going to happen with our Elantra. We hope we can get it back but aren't sure if we will. Until we have a working second car, Sean will being driving the van to work. He is going to be the "van man."

FRUSTRATING!!!

Last Saturday, we loaded up in the car and were all ready to go swimming and then our car wouldn't start. We tried several times and were so frustrated. Sean and I know NOTHING about cars so we knew we'd have to take it in to get looked at but since our car wasn't working that meant getting it towed. But no where was open so we waited until Monday morning. We tried to turn it on again, just in case and then got it towed to Tri State. It costed $55 but our insurance sayed they'd cover. And I'm really hoping they will. Tri State told Sean they'd look at it and call him soon. They never called Monday. So Sean called Tuesday morning. They said they'd call him back soon but never did. So Sean called back an hour later and they said they'd call him back in 2 hours. They called him back four hours later and told him that our car had no problems and they drove it around town. So I went and picked it up. I was really frustrated because they said there was nothing they could do. All week, our car has hesitated when starting it. Finally today we took our car in to Les Schwab and they instantly knew that we needed a new battery. Why couldn't Tri State figure that out. Does the battery really need to be completely dead for them to know it has a problem!!??? Tri State was clue less, rude and has forever lost our business. I'm just glad that our car is fixed before our upcoming road trips.

Okay, it fills really great to get that off my chest. Maybe now I'll post about some more exciting things.

Our New Forms of Transportation

So, a few weeks ago Sean won a bike at work. We were so excited because we were planning on buying him one anyway. And this one is way nicer than anyone we would have bought. He has rode it a few times to work and really enjoys it. He would ride it more if he didn't start work at 6:00 am. He will get more use out of it in the fall.



We have been planning on buying a new car for months. We finally got the nerves. We bought a 2005, Hyundai Elantra. We are so excited to have heat, AC, music and a few other perks. We loved our old car but our Acura was getting old and as started having problems. I got that car in high school and have so many good memories with it. We are just so happy to have the stress of buying a car overwith before our baby is born. Her carseat is in the car ready to go. This car will work great until Sean is done with school and we can't fit the babies in the back seat anymore.

Accidents Happen!

Yesterday, Sean was in a car accident. He is fine and he didn't cause it luckily. He was stopped at a red light and so was the girl behind him. The Girl behind her though was driving an SUV and had on soccer cleets and wasn't able to hit her breaks. She hit the girl in front of her who hit Sean. Luckily he didn't get pushed fair enough that he went into the intersection. His shoulder popped but we got it checked today and he is fine. Our car is fine but it got scartched on the bumper. It sucks a little though because we are looking at buying a new car in a week or two and trading this one in.

I am so happy that I wasn't in the car and especially that little Lex wasn't. My friend got in an accident the last month or so of her pregnancy and was put on bed rest because she started having contractions. So, I am so glade that I don't have to worry about that. Another blessing is that our carseat wasn't buckled in. We have it in the car so we can test it in the cars we have been looking into buying. The police officer told Sean that if you get in an accident with a carseat you need to get a new one because of the compression or pressure or something. Anyway, we are just so blessed that we had no big damage or injuries. The Lord is looking out for us... probablly because I have a little angle inside of me!