Scrapbook Weekend

Last weekend was our semi-annual Scrapbook Expo weekend. The expo is something that we all look forward to for many reasons. 1) It's a chance to have a girls weekend. 2) Kids are not invited, at least for long periods of time. 3) My mom comes up to help with the kids and we get to spend some time with her. (Thanks mom you're the best!) 4) At this point in my life I am only scrapbooking at the expo's, so I actually get to scrapbook and get some pages done. I am so far behind (2005-pathetic, I know) but it is really hard to scrapbook with Grant on your lap.

The expo was a lot of fun. This year we decided that since 3 of us are 6-8 months pregnant we needed to devise a plan of how to win prizes without having to do a lot of running up to the center stage. So we had some t-shirts made. A big thanks to Amber and Cal for getting them done so quickly. They turned out great! We had SO many people come up to us and comment on how funny it was. I have to say that I don't think any of us were prepared for that kind of attention. The shirts said, "My husband said it was scrapbooking or him....So I took some pictures of him packing and made the cutest pages ever!"Me, Alisha, Tina, and Michelle-and the 3 baby bumps.

So they finally did they did the t-shirt contest on Saturday afternoon. Let me tell you it was so hard to wait patiently for the contest when we just knew we were going to win. Well the contest was pretty easy. The other people that had matching shirts just didn't have a chance, it was kinda sad. Yes we ended up in first place, but we won the LAMEST prize EVER! Anyway...our prize was a dozen assortment of mini cupcakes. We also go a gift certificate for another dozen. Whaoo :( Are you kidding me, cupcakes! We're at a scrapbook expo, give us scrapbooking stuff! And to top it all off they were giving out these same cupcakes outside the doors as you came in. So basically everyone got to have a cupcake that wanted one. That's just not a prize. Can you tell I'm still a little bitter about it a whole week later? And can you tell that my competative nature is a little dependant on cool prizes? Can you tell I'm almost 30? NO-not at all. Anyway we did at least walk away as the t-shirt contest winners and I guess knowing that we won should be good enough. Alisha did win a couple other prizes; one for the number game (you stand on a number and if your number is called you win a prize) and the other one was for a celebrity look alike contest. She claims that people have told her that she looks like Terri Hatcher. You decide.Alisha showing off her pearls that we got with our ticket into the expo.

Terri Hatcher showing off her Tanzanite ring.

My mom and the kids came over Friday evening to say goodnight, and while they were there they had a dance contest for the kids. The prize for winning this contest was a princess party. We thought that sounded cool, especially since Mikkele's birthday is coming up soon. So Mikkele decided to participate. She didn't win, but we decided it was ok, because the princess who was gonna come and do the princess party was some made up, cheesy looking princess. Mikkele still had fun dancing though.

We had a really good time at the expo. It was a little tough being 10 weeks from my due date and trying to cart around all my stuff, but it was definitely worth it. We're just trying to figure out how we can work out the expo in September with newborns. I'm sure we'll work it out.

I have a question....do you have an answer???

So I am wanting to publish my blog. Has anyone ever done that before? I have heard of a couple different websites, blurb.com and blog2print.com, but I 'm wondering which one is the best or if neither are the best and there is something better. The things I am looking at when defining "the best" are price, easy to use, quality of binding and printing, etc... Please let me know what you have used in the past and your thoughts on what you received once it was finished.

A Quick Trip to Mesquite

This weekend my little brother, Adam, was playing in a baseball tournament in Mesquite. My mom flew in to see him play. I decided to pack the kids up and drive down to surprise her. We got to the field just as they had finished their 2nd game for the day and were walking to their car. It was a great surprise.

We didn't get to spend quite 24 hours with her, but it was still worth the drive down. After we surprised her we went back to her hotel room at the Virgin River and hung out for a little bit, then we went to the Casablanca Hotel for their seafood buffet, which was delicious, then back to the Virgin River for some bowling. We had fun bowling. I beat my mom and Mikkele both games, but Mikkele hit her highest score ever of 105. She is a pretty good little bowler. Adam was on the lane next to us bowling with some of his team mates. At one point in his game he bowled a TURKEY! He then proceeded to do the turkey dance. It was pretty funny.

The next morning Adam had two more games. He has been on the injured list for the last month or so. He has been doing some rehab with his elbow and was feeling pretty good, so he started the 2nd of the 2 games. Unfortunately, my mom had to leave after his first game to drive back to Las Vegas to catch a plane, so she didn't get to see him play. He only pitched 2 innings, but did a good job.
The first inning they had a 3 up 3 down inning, and the second inning the other team scored one run on them. He called it quits after those innings, he didn't want to push it too hard since he was just coming back. They ended up winning all of their games that weekend, except for their last game. (The pitcher that came in after Adam gave up like 7 runs.) I got FRIED! I have major rudolph nose, farmer tan, and flip flop lines. It hurts, but still nice to get a little sun. I just hope I don't peel too bad. Grant also got a little sun as well, despite trying to keep him covered up. Mikkele stayed in the shade most of the time, so she didn't get too much sun. She must take after her Papa, always seeking out the shade. :)
After the game we drove to Panaca, NV to see my Great Grandma Jones. She just turned 90 this last fall and is in a nursing home since her memory/health has been declining over the last few years. It was good to see her, but at the same time it was a little hard to see her since she is not the same grandma that I remember. She didn't remember me or the kids and she didn't have too much to say, but I'm glad we made the visit to see her. This will probably be the last time I see her before she passes. A big thanks to Margartet Ann and Steve for letting us crash at their house while we were passing through. They were both out of town, but were still gracious enough to still let us stay. It was fun driving through Panaca and seeing the favorite spots from when we were kids. It's been 4 1/2 years since I've been down there. It was definitely different, but still in a lot of ways the same. It was a fast, fun, tiring trip but I'm so glad that I made it, for multiple reasons.

Fifth's Diseas Update

Quick update...I got my lab results back today. They showed that I am immune to Fifth's Disease, which means that some time in my life I have had it. It also means that since I'm immune, so is the baby. Whew! Maybe I freaked out a little bit more than necessary, but I think I have a little bit of an excuse. And this is the first freak out/crying/emotional/hormonal episode I have had my whole pregnancy, so I think that's pretty good. On another side note, he also said that my glucose test came back normal as well, so that's great news also. Good day today!

Is 8 to early too teach emotional eating and shopping???

Friday Mikkele had a big book report due, so I went to the school to watch her give her presentation. While at school I found out that there had been an outbreak of Fifth's Disease. After asking some questions about this disease I found out that if a pregnant woman contracts this disease then there can be harm to the unborn baby especially if the woman is in their 2nd trimester. I also found out that the confirmed case was a student in our close friend's 1st grade class, and there were other kids in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade that were suspected of having the same thing. The 3rd grader happened to be in Mikkele's class. I was told to call my doctor and see what he wanted to do about this. I called and left a message for my doctor, and this is about the time I started freaking out. I had all sorts of thoughts running through my head. Mostly all reverting back to something like "I can't have another child with complications". Mikkele at this point is wondering why I'm crying and so I try to explain to her my concerns. Then she starts to freak out as well. My doctor called back and tried to calm me down by explaining that more than likely there's nothing to worry about, but he did want me to go get a blood test done. I had already done my glucose test that morning so I asked if they could just use that blood, but he said no. So I had to go back to the hospital and have my blood drawn again. He told me that the test would take about a week to come back. So basically I get to sit and worry for a whole week. The more I hear and read about this disease I find that the chances are really slim that I will contract it, and if I do I'm far enough along that there shouldn't be any complications. But there is already that worry in the back of my mind that wonders if I'm going to have another "preemie" or child with complications, this just gives my mind more of a reason to go crazy freaking out. This is where the lesson in emotional eating and shopping begins....After getting my blood drawn at the hospital for the second time that day I told Mikkele we were going to get Oreo Shakes to make us feel better...they really helped. :) We stopped at the shop after also to talk to Jeremy. He informed me that he had called Alisha and told her that I was freaking out and needed a mini vaca this weekend. So Alisha and I talked and decided on getting a hotel in Heber for the night and then going to the outlets in Park City on Saturday. We ended up staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Heber. It was really nice. And I now know the meaning of the comercials that say "I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night." I definitely feel much smarter. The hotel had an indoor pool which Mikkele was most excited about. We had a good time swimming, even though it seemed like the rest of the guests were swimming with us also. I didn't get any pictures of Grant and I swimming, but Granty had such a good time. It apparently we tired him out really good, because he slept in until almost 9 the next morning.

Alisha and Mikkele playing the color game.


Mikkele surfing on Aunt Lisha.

And Mikkele falling off the surfboard.

Aren't those the cutest comb-over hairdo's you've ever seen?

Saturday morning sleepy heads. Mikkele eventually slid off the bed and I had to pick her up and put her back on the bed. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of sharing a bed with this girl knows what a wild sleeper she is. I feel sorry for her future husband.

Ready for a day of shopping.

So we got to the outlets at 10:30 and started our day of shopping. We didn't finish shopping until almost 5:00 that evening. Needless to say I was one tired pregnant mommy by the time we got finished. The funniest shopping moment was while we were in Motherhood Maternity. I had been trying on a bunch of clothes and then Mikkele disappeared into a dressing room and closed the curtain. I asked her what she was doing and she kept avoiding the question. Then finally she came out looking like this....

She had found one of the little pillow's that you can try on under your clothes if you aren't very far along with your pregnancy to see what you're going to look like and how the clothes will fit. It was too funny. A ltitle scary too, but I threatened her life a little. Hopefully I have at least 12 more years at the very least before I have to think about being a grandma.
So then Alisha went in and put it on also.

We took a picture with her phone and sent it out to a lot of the people in her address book. We only tricked one of her friends, the rest thought it was funny, but said nice try. One day it'll happen, we're keeping our fingers crossed. We had a really fun day shopping and found a lot of fun things. I spent a ton of money and it made me feel really good and forget about my stress the day before. So there you have the emotional shopping experience.
Thanks Alisha for the fun weekend. It really helped to get my mind off of things.