my budding photographer

Laci loves horses, so it was only natural to buy her an 18-inch tall horse for Christmas. She'd been asking for a real one, but that would overextend our Christmas budget just a tad. Fortunately, she loves this one! (Whew!) These are pictures she took of her favorite present:

I honestly had no idea she had taken these until I was flipping through my screen. I asked Jason if he took them because I knew I hadn't, and he told me that it was Laci. He had watched her while she took them.

But I have to say, considering her age, I was really surprised at how well these turned out! She seems to have a natural eye. (Of course, I'm not much of a photographer, myself.) So, I'm interested to hear what you photographers out there think...

TV Junkie + Foodie = Jacob

A few days ago, I caught Jacob on my bed with a bag of potato chips watching Mulan. (His current favorite.) I had turned on the movie for him earlier, but I guess he brought the chips up with him after eating his sandwich downstairs because I don't generally let my kids eat any food outside of the kitchen. A great picture opportunity, only to find that my camera is broken (hmm, Laci - my budding photographer - must have stolen my camera again)!

Then, the other day, I was flipping through channels and stopped on Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals for, oh, 5 seconds. Jacob's comment was, "Yummy!" I didn't realize how into watching chicken cook in a skillet he was till I turned it, and he said, "No, yummy!" over and over until I turned it back. He proceeded to happily watch the remainder of the program.

I'm hoping that this foretells a gourmet chef in the making instead of a couch potato.

books i read in 2009

First of all, I want to thank everyone who left comments on my last post. It helps to know that I'm not alone. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends!


So, this is a bit of a cop-out post. But, I really want to be more consistent with blogging. So, here is a list of books I read in 2009:

The Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evans
Lady Susan, Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
A Mother's Influence, Margaret D. Nadauld
Daughters of God, Russell M. Ballard
Way To Be!, Gordon B. Hinckley
The Street Sparrow, author?
Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

(Yeah, I finally broke down and read the Twilight series...all four in one week. Then, I read it again, to catch what I had missed. Guess you can say I'm a true-blue fan.

...Have I mentioned that I hate joining bandwagons? But this one was worth it!)

The Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
Women of Light, Jack R. Christianson
The Misunderstood Child: A Guide for Parents with Learning Disabilities, Larry B. Silver
Raising Up a Family to the Lord, Gene R. Cook
Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen
Raising Your Spirited Child, Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
Standing for Something, Gordon B. Hinckley

If any of you have recommendations for good reads, leave a comment. I'm open for any and all suggestions!

will I ever get out of this funk?

I seriously feel out of sorts. And, it's scary to think how often this theme keeps popping up! I mean, really, what is wrong with me?

Did any of you even get Christmas cards this year? Nope, because I didn't send any out. As Christmas continued to sneak up on me, I thought I would do the second best thing and at least email a newsletter and picture to everyone - even though I feel like it's a lazy and impersonal way to send out Christmas cards. Granted, it does save a lot in postage! Did I at least make an effort to do that? Nope. Okay, so our Internet connection went buserk on Christmas Eve and we had to wait until January 6th before a tech-guy was available to fix our connection. But, you would think that I had prepared something before Christmas Eve. Nope. (Yes, you read that right! We had to wait 2 weeks without internet AND phone - since it's a package deal - before they could get someone out here to fix it. Apparently, even all their on-call guys were completely booked during the holidays.) For some reason, Christmas Day just did not feel like Christmas to me this year. Not sure why. But, I sat and watched my kids opening gifts feeling completely detached from the holiday. I wasn't in a bad mood, or sad, or anything; it just didn't feel like Christmas! (...maybe it's 'cuz I didn't get our Christmas cards out!)

New Year's came and went without much ado. Then again, it always does. We never stay up to watch the ball drop; in fact, this year, we were in bed by 8. Of course, Jason had worked an 18-hour day plowing snow the day before. And, I had just returned from my Grandma's house. My family was in town, and it was so fun to see them. I spent 3 days with them at my Grandma's because I was snowed in...a great unexpected twist to their whole visit, but 3 days is something I'd much rather be prepared for, ya know? So, I didn't feel like I enjoyed it as much as I could have, had I had a change of clothing and contact solution. Thankfully, I had thought to bring pj's for the kids because of our long cardrives home, late at night. I even took each of them a change of clothes, in case they wanted to play in the snow. Meanwhile, I wore the same clothes for 3 days and slept in my contacts. (BTW, Uncle Brian and Jackie: Laci has brought up playing with Sienna at least 3x since we saw you guys. She keeps wanting to go to GG's house to play with her, and I have to explain that you guys went home to WA. Sounds like those two really had fun!)

The return to routine after the holidays has been a lovely breath of fresh air. Laci is still loving preschool and gymnastics. In fact, this Friday we'll be going to see the Utah Gymnastics girls team perform because she got a free family pass at her gymnastics class. I've also added going to the library once a week, and the kids are loving reading from different books every night - and renting movies different from what we already own!

And, here we are with our lease coming to an end February 1st. We know we want to move, and we've looked at several houses, but just can't decide what to do. Do we rent or buy? There are pros and cons to each. Furthermore, we were recently approached by one of Jason's coworkers to invest in a short-sale in the area we're looking. We could pick from the list of houses he has, and live in it till we sell it and split the equity, but short-sales are a 6-9 month process - and I'm just not sure that I want to be moving with a newborn in tow. I would much rather move in two weeks and get it over with. But, we can stay here for as long as we want mont-to-month once our lease is up, and leave when we're ready with 30-days notice. It seems like a no-brainer. The guy is even willing to repeat the process as many times as we want until we accumulate enough to buy a house with cash! He just wants to invest in real estate while the interest rates are still good, and prices are relatively low. Who would be crazy enough to pass up an oppurtunity like that?

I'm torn! I want to move so badly, it makes my skin crawl! (This has not been a great neighborhood or ward for us.) We could be in a new house, in the area we want to live, in two weeks time - and be all ready for our new bundle of joy. I even started boxing up the non-essentials two weeks ago...my moving preparations have begun earlier than any of our other moves!

On the other hand, do I pass up a really good opportunity because I don't want to wait around here for an additional 6-9 months? Do I pass up an opportunity to buy a house with cash - if all goes "according to plan?" By now, I've certainly learned that nothing goes according to plan. How many moves would that take? And, should I let my apprehension for having a newborn during our next move - and a young baby with all our subsequent moves - get in the way of such an opporutunity? Heck, we of all people should know that the real estate market is really crappy. (Sorry, lacking for a better word.) I mean, that slump is the reason why we're here in the first place? Who says we'll be able to sell the house right away? Furthermore, we hardly know this guy! Is he trust-worthy? Does he work with integrity in all his business practices? I just don't have an answer to that question. Maybe I'm paranoid because we've run into a lot of less-than honest scumbags while running our own business.

Is it just too good to be true? I am so tired of waiting! I'm so tired of living in limbo! Will I ever again feel like my life is on track? Sigh.

way to go!

Dear Jason -

You always work so hard to provide for our family. Preparing for this test was no exception. You've been studying for weeks: attending classes, staying up late, getting up early, sacrificing your spare time and family activities. All in hopes of doing your very best. Today proved that it was all worth it when you walked away with a GMAT score of 560! Yeah! (And, I think that's impressive - considering you've been out of school for 5 years. I highly doubt I could do that well!)

This is the first step of many as you continue preparing for grad school. I am so proud of you! More than that I'm grateful as I watch how hard you work. I marvel at your capacity as you juggle so much; I'm filled with awe as Father magnifies your abilities so that you can do it all. Thank you for all you do.

I love you,

Tiffini

blue

...as in BOY!

Jason and I were worried that Laci would be really disappointed that it's not the girl she's been praying for - literally. But, as soon as we told her it's a boy, it's like she forgot all about wanting a girl. (Whew!) I wonder if she's realized that it's just me and her making up the girls in the family, because she keeps trying to convince me that "you're not my mom, only my friend." (Of course, I tell her that I'm both... I love being her friend, but she has to understand that I'm an authority figure, too - ya know?) She hugs and kisses my stomach several times a day, especially at bedtime or when I drop her off at preschool.

Jacob is still kind of oblivious to it all. He knows a baby is coming, but when asked if he's excited for a new baby, his expression is usually something like, So, where is the baby already? He might figure things out a bit more as my stomach continues to round out in the ensuing months. This arrangement will actually work out really nicely for him, since Laci will be heading off to kindergarten next year. He'll have a brother to play with when she's gone. And, something tells me that Laci and Jacob are always going to be best buds even with a new sibling added to the mix.

pregnancy cravings!

We all get 'em. And, for one reason or another, we LOVE them! As odd and strange as they may be - or, at the very least, uncharacteristic to what our tastebuds naturally know and love - nothing else will do!

For the time being, anyway...

Cravings with Laci:
Trix cereal. 1st trimester only.

If there were no Trix in the house, fruit loops or skittles would have satisfied the craving, but just weren't quite the same.

Cravings with Jacob:
Chili's Restaurant chips and salsa. Morning, noon, & night! Very strange craving to have, considering that I had only eaten Chili's chips and salsa 2x before my pregnancy. Also really loved spaghetti. Lasted thru 1st trimester.

Blueberry muffins or pancakes. Either one would do. Lasted thru 2nd trimester.

Oddly, no cravings during the 3rd trimester.

Cravings so far with Baby #3:
Mushrooms (as in Beef Stroganoff or mushroom-topped hamburgers, mushrooms on my salad, etc.), fried chicken and/or buffalo wings, jalapeno peppers (especially on my turkey sandwiches!), chicken-flavored top ramen, soda (no specific flavor; the carbonation is lovely!). Change every 2-4 weeks.