Here's Annie:

OK, Annie finally decided to join us after 40 2/7 weeks of cooking. Not without a little gentle push with induced labor, however. She was born on 11/28 at 11:29PM. We think she really didn't want a Thanksgiving birthday, because she was 31 minutes from never having a birthday on Thanksgiving, but now due to her mean parents and doctors, she will have a Thanksgiving birthday about one every 7 years. She was our biggest 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/4 in long. Both mom and baby are doing well and will be coming home this afternoon.



This was posted by Brandon

Smiths Cover

Here's part two of Kate singing alternative hits of the 80's:
The Smiths - Please please please let me get what I want

Cure cover

Here's Kate on youtube doing a cover of the Cure (from a few years ago):

Words of Wisdom from Ariel Tweeto

The kids love to watch the game show Wipeout. A while back there was a girl on the show named Ariel Tweeto and she did really well and was kind of silly, so the kids liked her. She said during one of the challenges "It easy, but it's so hard". I'm sure the kids haven't seen this episode in a few weeks. Well, we were at Chili's for dinner last night and Kate had Macaroni and Cheese. I told her it was hot so to check it before she ate it. Kate said "it looks cold, but it's so hot. Matt then said "Yeah, like Ariel Tweeto, it's easy, but it's so hard". He was totally serious. Maybe you had to be there, but Brandon and I thought it was hilarious.

Matt's Race

Back in June I took the kids with me to watch my friend Gina run a 1/2 marathon. We drove along the course and got out every once in a while and ran up to the race to cheer her on as she passed us. The kids really enjoyed it, they had made a sign for her and they yelled for her when ever she passed. Since then Matt has been asking to do a race, me being a runner wanted to encourage that so we signed him up for the Disneyland kid race, which was run in California Adventure at Disneyland. He was so excited and proud of himself when he finished.

Getting ready...

There were so many kids in this race, Aunt Christy came too and ran with Matt so we wouldn't lose him. He ran so fast that this is the only picture I was able to get of them :)...

Here is my fast runner at the finish....

Education Week and Wild Rivers

Here are a few things in August that I want to remember. For my birthday Brandon watched the kids for a whole week while I went to Education Week at BYU in Utah. I went with 3 friends and we had a lot of fun. I'm sure they got sick of hearing me complain because I am so uncomfortable. Monday we drove around and hit a few quilt stores and other shops, then the rest of the week we went to classes. We stayed in the dorms, and I missed my own bed and bathroom the most (next to Brandon and the kids, of course).

Later in the month we took the kids to Wild Rivers (a water park). We had free passes and thought it would be fun. It was pretty crowded and after about 30 minutes we had done everything that our kids were able to do and were ready to leave. I remember going there when I was younger and loving it. I really couldn't do anything since I am pregnant so I watched the kids play on the kiddy slides and pools. The kids really wanted to go in the hot tub so Brandon took them and I went to get something to eat. I was sitting back at our chairs when Brandon and Matt walked up and Brandon said "Don't freak out, but I can't find Kate". He said they were playing in the spa and Kate said she wanted to go on the slides again before we left so Brandon was going to go look there. I went back to the spa and waited to see if she'd come back. Brandon came back after looking at the slides and didn't find her. I started to freak out and thought that someone must have taken her. After a few minutes here she comes walking toward us with a huge smile. She said she had gone on the slides and was so proud of herself for doing it alone. I was so relieved. We talked to her about the importance of always telling us exactly where she is, but she thought she had when she said that is what she wanted to do before we leave. It is so scary how quickly they can disappear. Despite that we had a really good time, but probably won't return to Wild Rivers until our kids are old enough to go on more than 2 slides.

Dance and Gymnastics

I finally signed Kate up for Ballet. She has been asking for it for a while now and she totally loves it. Don't worry, I bought here a skirt to cover her underwear. I wanted to get Matt involved in something too. He needs something where he can get out some of his energy. I found a gym close by and he now goes to gymnastics. He is the only boy in the class, but he doesn't care. He loves it and it is perfect for him. He is so cute when he does a somersault and then stands up with both hands in the air, just like the Olympics. Both the kids started back at school this week, YEAH! We are going to be very busy.

MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just putting pictures from my camera to the computer and noticed 100 pictures of things like the fish tank and the computer again. I thought that I had just never erased the pictures from last time Matt took my camera and took a bunch of pictures (see old post). But then I saw these and realized, No these are all new....

Kate's 6

Kate turned 6 last week. We had a few friends over for a pool party and then Grandma and Grandpa took us to Red Robin for dinner. I can't believe how old she is getting. Her favorite thing to do is read and she is getting so good at it. She got a bunch of books for her birthday and is really enjoying reading them. Another one of her favorite presents was an American Girl Doll from my friends daughter Kim. She saw a catalog for them a while back and has been asking for one. I have heard of them before, but know very little about them. When Kate showed me the doll she wanted and that it cost over $100 I thought "yeah right she's never getting that", especially since she never plays with dolls. Kim gave Kate her old "Kit" doll which is in perfect condition and all the accessories that go with her. Brandon took Kate to see the movie and she was excited to take the doll with her. I have been surprised at how often she plays with the doll and how much she loves it. Thanks Kim! Kate is a very silly girl and loves to make people laugh, especially her daddy. She loves school and can't wait to go back in September. She also has turned into a great swimmer. I was worried since both kids were afraid of the water at first, but now they both swim across the pool with no floaties.

My latest quilt

My family room colors are brown and blue and when I saw these fabrics I was with my friend Chanel. She pretty much forced my to buy them, but I am glad she did. Here is my finished quilt that lays over the arm of my couch. Oh, and check out my curtains. My mom and I just finished them.

Bite Me...

Last Friday night I went to a Breaking Dawn party for the last book in the Twilight series. For those of you that don't know what Twilight is, it is a series of books about a vampire love story, seriously just go get it. The reason it has taken me so long to post about it is because I preordered my book so I wouldn't have to go to Barnes and Noble and fight the vampire crazy crowd, mine arrived on Monday and I just finished last night, 48 hours for 750 pages. Yes it's that good! The girl who throw the party went above and beyond and it was a lot of fun. She had themed food and trivia games. My friend Debbie and I made shirts, they say Bite Me, Edward only please. And there was an appearance by Bella and Edward. Anyone else finished it yet? What did you think? I'm glad that we finally have closer, but I have to admit that every time I finished one of the books I am wanting more. Now I'll just have to wait for the movie in December. Watch the trailer here http://www.twilightthemovie.com/.

I hate earthquakes

Today we had an earthquake. The epicenter was really close to here. It was a 5.4. This is the strongest earthquake I can remember feeling and I grew up here in Southern California. The shaking wasn't so bad, but it was so loud and it went on for 15 seconds. Matt was in the playroom and a little freaked out, but probably more by me running in saying "it's OK" over and over. Kate was at school and they were outside for lunch. She said she didn't feel anything, she just heard the alarm and had to get under the table. Our phone still isn't working, thank goodness for cell phones, but even that was difficult to get through at times. I have to admit that I have been doing a pretty good job at getting our emergency kits ready, but there are still things I need to do, like know how to turn off the gas and water. I hope we never have to use them.

It's a.......

girl. We had our third ultrasound yesterday and they were finally able to see that it's a girl. Kate is excited, but Matt is a little disappointed. I am still not feeling that good, which is has been frustrating. I am not nauseous and throwing up anymore, but I am so tired and achy. This has been a really hard pregnancy, but I am over half way done. YEAH!

Kate started 1st grade

Can you believe it? And she loves it. I was worried that it would be hard for her to get up everyday and be at school all day long, but she is doing great. She is so excited to go and to do all the homework. I hope that she will always love school. Matt is a little lonely and bored, but he goes back to school tomorrow. I am going to have so much free time, or kid-free time, I love it.

Wii Played Wii

We had family night at Brandon's brother David and his wife Christy's house last Sunday. They have Wii and Brandon and his dad were boxing. It was so funny how serious they were. If you listen careful you can hear Kate encouraging her daddy.

Leaf Quilt Block Exchange

Last night we had our quilt block exchange (check out our blog here). Our latest blocks were fall leaves. Here is a picture of all the blocks laid out and one of the few of us that were able to make it to the exchange (there were 20 women involved).

What's Matt up to?

When I went to get Matt up in the morning I found open band-aids all over his room. I guess that after I put him to bed the night before he got out, went in the bathroom found the box of bandaids and opened every single one. I told him that I hope he doesn't get hurt and bleed anytime soon because I wasn't getting him anymore bandaids. So after we ate breakfast I sent him upstairs to get dressed and when he came down I found his leg was covered in Band-aids, I didn't noticed earlier since he was wearing long pants to bed. It was hard not to laugh, I was so mad that he had wasted all the band-aids, but then his leg looked so funny. I didn't want to take a picture because I was afraid it would encourage the behavior, but my friend April gave me a good idea to tell him that I was going to take a picture to help him remember to never do this again. So here it is...

And since I wrote this post a few days ago, here's what else he's done since then. He found my camera and took 60 pictures of himself and the fish tank, here are just a few...

So Hot!

It has been so hot here. I am so glad we have a pool and we have really been using it a lot. Last Saturday we went to the beach to get away from the heat. It was only in the high 80's there which compared to the 110+ we've been having here was like winter (just kidding). The kids were so brave and went out in the water with Brandon and then played the rest of the time in the shallow part. Matt loves to catch sand crabs then let them crawl on him (yuck) and then let them go and watch them dig back under the sand. This was the first time we've been to the beach where the kids enjoyed being there, usually they complain about the sand and are afraid to go near the water. I think this will be a fun summer to spend at the beach. By the way, Brandon is not wearing a shirt and yes, he got really sunburned.