Sunday, Oct 5, 2008

..........and I don't mean Santa Claus, although we are looking forward to his visit too! No, the visitor we are expecting is coming in April and I don't think he or she will be coming down the chimney. This pregnancy has been a little rough so far with feeling sick! I think I threw up once with Riley, but this time I am always gagging or dry heaving or trying frantically not to throw up in the car. But it's getting better and even with all that I have been gaining weight (hardly seems fair to be that sick and still put on weight!).

This time around, it will be very convenient since I live right by the hospital that takes our insurance....I will just waddle over when the time comes! No road rage from Ben trying to get me to a hospital half an hour away. Anyway, we are excited and grateful to be having another child. I have to admit I am much more excited to have this one than I was to have Riley, but only because now I know (because of Riley) how much it means to have a child! Can't wait!

We're Still Kickin'!

Yes we are still alive! Life got really busy really fast, but I finally have a couple days where I don't have to be somewhere for school, so I am really appreciating it! I just spent 30 hours doing some clinicals at the psych ward of UVRMC. It was very interesting...I'll leave it at that. Ben and I spent last weekend up in Park City! We love Park City in the Fall, and this is our second annual fall trip there. We hope to keep up the tradition for many years!
Just like last year, we went down the Alpine Slide. We also went down the Alpine Coaster which is about five times as fun as the Alpine slide. But we were having way too much fun to take pictures. I was pretty much screaming the whole way down...and since Ben doesn't scream, he just giggled the whole way down and kept shouting "You are crazy! You're crazy!" to me since I controlled the speed of our little coaster.
So here's some pictures from Ben's "guys night out" to Fish Lake. I guess all four of them stayed in the same tent. I personally think that could get a little smelly. But they had fun and I'm glad Ben got to go and have some fun with these guys. By the way they are all Nuttals. The person taking the picture is Jeff Nuttal.

My Last Night and Day of Freedom

Monday night was the last night that I didn't have to worry about getting up early the next morning for anything! I am REALLY going to miss that. Tomorrow I have to get up at 6 to get ready for my LAST SEMESTER OF NURSING SCHOOL!!! Is it obvious I'm excited? I just can't believe I am a mere 4 months from being done, although I still feel like I have so much to learn....so friends and family, wait five years to ask me any medical questions unless you want me to make up some bogus answer! So Monday night we went and roasted hot dogs up Payson canyon with our friends the Ellis's and their two boys. Had a great time!
I went up with the idea that I would stay away from the fire so that I wouldn't have to wash my hair which I had just washed and fixed. Ha Ha to that idea...I REEKED afterwards because there is just no way to roast hot dogs and marshmallows without soaking up that campfire smell.
Today (Tuesday) is my last official day of freedom. So I walked with Riley to One Man Band and we ordered a breakfast to share. Riley and "Tiggy" helped pick our order. Let me tell you if you want a nice, greasy breakfast...go to this place. It's good the caloric content doesn't accompany the food!
Open WIDE!!!
Does anyone else's kid drink the ketchup and the frysauce? I guess they ARE in little cups, so to a kid that says "Drink up!" He was putting ketchup on his pancakes too. What IS it with kids and ketchup?

Park City!

I LOVE park city in the Fall. In fact Ben and I went last fall and will probably try to go next month. But I was lucky enough to be able to go this weekend with some friends I went to highschool with. I must be truthful...I haven't had an overnighter girls night out since I've been married (except with my mom). We did a lot of shopping, and of course our kids all got a nice haul. Riley got some much needed fall clothes. It's amazing how nearly entire wardrobes need to be replaced when a child goes from 2T to 3T.

Slip-N-Slide On Steroids

You may think you have done the slip-n-slide thing, but you haven't REALLY done a slip-n-slide until you've experienced speeding down a very steep hill on a VERY long wet piece of plastic such as the one shown in the picture. There was no way to go down this slide without getting an enormous wedgie! It was the most fun I've had all summer (next to going boating, the cabin, my mom's visit, and the cruise).

Ben and Riley on their first cruise down.

Yes, it was massive!

I'm not real happy about the faces I make when

I am experiencing extreme fun or stress. Riley takes after me in this. He makes some pretty funny faces when he is freaked out, which makes it so much fun to freak him out :)

This is Ben playing the role of Mufasa, and Riley playing the role of Simba! (Lion King...get it?)

And in case anyone is wondering, yes, Ben did enjoy himself!
Thank you to Brian and Melissa for providing the fun!

Snake Cake!!!

This cake was for Riley and Kortley, since their
birthdays are just 8 days apart.




Would you believe that I made this!?
Every six years or so I get ambitious and
make some amazing cake. For Riley's 9th
Birthday I will maybe do the Eifel Tower.

Riley's Birthday Weekend

I titled this post Riley's birthday weekend since it seemed like even though his birthday was on Friday, there were mutiple little celebrations thoughout the weekend! Monday morning came and I mentioned something about his cousin Kortley's birthday and he snapped at me and said "No, no more Birthday!" Riley loves presents, and loved getting them, but if you know Riley...lets just say he doesn't do well under pressure, which includes being sung "Happy Birthday" to by more than one person. I think one of the pictures demonstrates his typical "on gaurd" face while my family was singing to him on the night of his Birthday. The funny thing is that apparently Ben was exactly the same as a child. If people would smile at him or pay too much attention to him, he thought they were laughing at him and he'd frown or run and hide. Sounds JUST like Riley :) Anyhow, it was a great weekend...and Riley got some really cool presents including a pop up cars tent from his Hansen grandparents. Just don't ask me to demonstrate how to fold it up....the directions say it folds up nice and neat just like a clamshell. Yah RIGHT a clam shell! None of us could figure it out. Today I finally got it to fold up small enough to fit halfway in the carrying case (hey, it's better than nothing). On the last step of the included instructions, there is a picture of a lady with the carrying case casually flung over her shoulder, and supposedly we are to believe that the tent is in the carrying case...but I'm not buying it. Not only that but she is SMILING as if the ten steps to closing up the tent were some sort of fun. I was definately cursing in my head today while trying to fold up a massive tent "nice and easy like a clamshell". Roger and Marrianne gave him some cute presents including a couple of little stuffed monkeys, which he now sleeps with. He also fell asleep tonight wearing his new Lighting McQueen hat, which was one of the things he got from my Dad and Laurie. He got to spend some time with Kortley, and we took them for a Jeep ride which put Kortley to sleep. I thought it was so cute that she fell asleep on Riley's shoulder!

Warning: Here is the mushy part.

My little boy turned three. THREE. I cannot believe it. I can't even reconcile the little boy I have now with the newborn I picture in my mind. I cannot believe how much I love Riley. When he was born, I became really depressed which clouded my feelings over and kept me from truly feeling the love I had for him. But after a couple months I was so in love with him, and it has just gotten worse! As he's gotten older, I love him more and more. I remember thinking when he was six months "I love him so much. This has to be the peak of my love for him. It has to go down from here." But then along came one year, and I thought "Wow, THIS is the best and I love him more than ever. But I bet when he's two, he'll really bug me and I'm afraid I won't love him as much." Well, you can guess the rest. As time goes on, I am realizing that no matter how old Riley gets, or how he changes, my love for him cannot possibly diminish...only grow. Simply because he is my child, and to me he is perfect. And to top it all off, I know Ben feels the same way. I see the joy he gets from Riley, and the joy we both get from Riley. Riley doesn't even know it, but he is truly our comic relief each and every day. Just tonight, not three minutes after we got him to bed, he comes into our room and sais "Good morning!" I think he really thought he could fool us. Happy third birthday Riley! We love you!