Some things to be thankful for

We had a fun Thanksgiving at my parents house with some other family. Anna was so excited about all the food and ended up going back for seconds and then went back for thirds for mashed potatoes. She even licked the plate clean. She was so proud of herself! Our family has the tradition of weighing ourselves before and after (and yes, writing it down) to see who gains the most weight. My brother Nathan won a couple years ago by gaining 12-14 pounds! Anna was excited because she gained 1 pound and she also sang about 3-4 Thanksgiving songs for everyone, my favorite went something like this (to Oh My Darlin):
"Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey are you getting nice and fat? We are ready, we are ready, we are ready for Thanksgiving.
Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey do you ever wonder why? People eat you at Thanksgiving and not chicken pot pie?"
This year, Anna came up with the idea to make smoothies when we watch the parade on TV on Thanksgiving morning, something we'll do every year now. I LOVE everything about Thanksgiving, especially the tradition of decorating for Christmas the day after. I love getting out the Christmas boxes with the kids, I've never seen them so excited!

Anna's first missing tooth

I am so excited I finally lost my tooth, it has been wiggly for over a month now! I woke up at 6am yesterday morning and ran into my parents room saying, "My tooth is REALLY loose!!". So my dad got up with me and checked it out. He asked me if he could pull it out and surprisingly I said, "okay, I guess..." So he went ahead and just yanked it out, it bled a little bit but I was so brave. I left a decorated envelope with my tooth in it last night and sure enough, the TOOTH FAIRY came and left me another envelope with a dollar in it and man was I happy. I had my gingerbread house on my dresser next to my bed and I saw a few pieces missing this morning...I think the tooth fairy needed a little snack last night. I'm saving my money, and now I have over two dollars. I am starting to memorize The Articles of Faith and I just learned the second one (my Mommer gives me a dollar for every one I memorize). Growing up!

*****

Here are some pictures from this past weekend...

ASU Game - this was the kids first time and they had SO much fun, we sat by the alumni band and that kept them dancing and happy the whole time.

Jay's dad's birthday party - we had it at a church and had fun eating and playing in the cultural hall and making our annual Gingerbread houses. Jay's mom makes all the frosting and we bring the candy and go to town. The kids love doing this!

Our new two year old

*And a little about her...
1. She is so adorable, I can't get enough of her and her big personality.
2. The song "Back Down" comes to mind when she is in the middle of a screaming fit on the floor.
3. She NEVER stops jumping. This little girl seriously bounces everywhere she goes. I think we need a trampoline...
4. I LOVE her new words. She pretty much says (or tries to say) everything the kids say. She will stop and get a serious look on her face and say quietly, "Croc-a-dyy-ul" (crocodile). Or I love when she says, "eets high" or "eets told" (cold) or "eets harrd".
5. She is happy, smiling and giggling for most of her day.
*Not enough mom to go around...

...but if I had a picture to post at the moment you would see that there is plenty of me to "around". At 26 weeks...

1. I feel huge already!

2. David came up to me, rubbed my tummy and said, "Mommy I LIKE your tummy!!"

3. It feels so great to not be sick.

5. I still get really tired, especially at the end of the day. Poor Jay has a boring sleepy wife, he makes fun of me for falling asleep on the couch EVERY night.

4. This little boy is always hungry - I can't seem to stuff MY face enough to keep HIM growing (and me to actually feel full).

5. I crave ice.

6. I get out of breath so easy, especially in the mornings.

7. I'm not looking forward to the third trimester.
8. So I guess almost all these things are complaints.

9. And back to not enough mom to go around now...what am I going to do when the 4th kid comes? All I need is two extra arms, an extra hour of sleep, a maid...heck just another one of me.

*A few things I'm excited about...

1. CHRISTMAS!!! I love everything about it and I admit I can't ignore the Christmas station. Anna asks to listen to it every morning on the way to school

2. THE TWILIGHT MOVIE!!! yeah absolutely can't wait for this. I'm going with my sister in laws next week...

And just two more random candid pictures of David at my mom's house a couple weeks ago. He loves her desert tortoises, she has 3 that are actually kind of cute and really smart and is currently trying to breed them. This one is Minnie May Lemonada.

Vote for ME

Right when Anna came home from school, she snuck a door hanger on my bedroom door that she made at school. It was decorated and on it she wrote, "VOTE". She told me all about how that in some countries, people can't vote and that tomorrow I can go vote for the President of the United States. Then she said, "Mom, you can vote for ME to be president, but if I win I have to do it for FOUR years!" I am on a serious election overload at this point, but I still can't help but be obsessed with what's happening tomorrow and all that has gone on in the past few months. I've always been Republican (in my considerably short time as a voter) and probably always will be, but this is the first year I really took a long hard look at what I believe and have realized and loved the responsibilty that comes with being an American. So we'll see what (and who) goes down tomorrow...
This is the pre-Halloween candy pigout picture...on our way to our ward's trunk-or-treat.

Oh I just can't resist putting this picture up - this is one handsome little handy man.

I love Kate's silhouette and her chubby cheeks (don't you want to eat them?).

And finally a shout out to our sweet little princess...HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY tomorrow (voting day). Here's a look back at me on the way to the hospital 2 weeks early and 7'2 (I'm pretty sure I'm already that big now)...

crazy hair and big eyes from the beginning...

We love everything about you - your bubbly personality, your temper tantrums, your sweet cheesy smiles, your sassy glances, and of course your cuddly hugs and kisses. We can't imagine our family without you Kate.