Christmas Pictures

A new friend in our new ward offered to do a quick 20 minute Christmas photo session for us a few weeks ago.  It was so nice of her and we really loved the pictures she took.  Joel knew he wanted to do a Tiny Tim picture with Oskar so he dressed himself and Oskar in period clothing and me and Ivy just wanted to dress up too.  It was funny because when we got to her house we realized she was planning on just taking pictures of the kids.  We felt pretty silly but she insisted we all get some pictures and they really turned out great.

I just want to blow this one up and print it out.  What a sweet picture!

And this little girl posed this way without being told to!

8 months pregnant is not a good time of life to get pictures taken.  Oh well.

"God bless us, every one!"

Thanksgiving and Birthday

 For Thanksgiving this year we were supposed to go to Keri's house where Grandma and Grandpa would be along with Jordan's family and Kamron.  But they had some sick kids there so we decided at the last minute to stay at home to keep Oskar from getting sick.  So with very little time to prepare we had to throw some Thanksgiving plans of our own together.  I was pretty down about not being able to be around family and I really didn't want to cook anything.  So Joel and the kids cheered me up by reenacting the first Thanksgiving.  Below are my two little Indians.

Then we made a thankful tree and listed all the things we were thankful for.

 And even though I didn't want to cook, we had to eat something so we had a roast and green beans and it ended up being fine.  We had just purchased a dining room table a few days before so we were able to have our first meal at our new table.

We have A LOT to be grateful for so it was nice to focus on our blessings and talk with the kids about how much we appreciate all the good things that we have in our life.

Here is a shot of our dining room.  The house still needs SO much work, like painting, I can't handle those purple walls for too much longer.  But very slowly it's we're making progress and it really feels like home.

And a few days later was my birthday.  I turned 30 years old, which was depressing, but I couldn't be depressed too long with my 2 3/4 kids' smiles (and kicks from the 3/4 one).  I made my own birthday cake and it was delicious.

Ninja Warrior

Oskar wanted me to film his ninja training at the park yesterday.  I am always amazed at what he can do.  He's so strong, there's no way I could do what he is doing, at least while I'm pregnant.  I need to get him signed up for gymnastics or something.  It's kind of a long video but the end is my favorite part.

Beginning our Life in the Northwest

This is just a random smattering of pictures I've taken in the last month.  We've been very busy with Joel going to LA for two weeks for work and house hunting.  

The house hunt has been ... interesting.  We found a house that we liked and made sense on paper but was at the top of our price range, we put in an offer, and then ended up not feeling good about it so we backed out.  Now we're back where we started.  Soon after saying never mind to the first house I found the most beautiful, perfect house that was also at the top of our price range but was my dream home.  I wanted to put in an offer on it but, of course, Joel didn't like it.  So we're still looking.  Everything Joel likes, I hate, and everything I like, he finds boring.  So I don't know how this is going to work out but I'm hoping we can find something soon.  Living in a two bedroom apartment with the two crazies and being 22 weeks pregnant is not a great combination.

Other than the stress of trying to find a house I LOVE living in the Northwest.  As soon as I got here it just felt like home.  And without trying we happened to find an apartment that was within walking distance of my BFF Jamie D.!  So now I get to see her all the time and I'm loving it.

Ivy showing her muscles

Keri gave Lena and Ivy "Tinkerbell hair"

At least these two are having fun looking at houses!

Finding fun spots to hide in, in our apartment.

Ivy with pigtails!  

Baby #3

Finally, at nearly 22 weeks along, we were able to have the mid-pregnancy ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby!  I was 100% sure it was a girl and had a name picked out and everything.  Oskar really wanted a little brother, since he already has a little sister he said, but I tried to warn him that it was probably a girl and that he shouldn't be too disappointed.  Well I was wrong and Joel and I were both very surprised.  There were so many times in the last two huge moves I wanted to get rid of the bags and bags of baby boy clothes I have accumulated but now I'm really glad I didn't.  There are no boy names I currently like so I guess I better start thinking!

This is how he was positioned the entire ultrasound, knees to his nose.  I guess he wanted to make it ABUNDANTLY clear he was a boy.  Joel asked the ultrasound tech probably three times if she was sure and she kept showing him the crotch shot and saying, yes, she was very sure.

More Oskar Quotes

Do those freckles make you itch a lot?

Oskar to Ivy:  I love you but you need to get out!

Oskar:  I need a day reminder.
Jamie:  What do you mean?
Oskar:  Something that tells me what day it is.
Jamie:  Oh, like a calendar?
Oskar:  It needs to be a glass screen with a calendar in the screen.  There's an arrow on it and the arrow stops on the day it is.  Then I read the day, then I know the day.
Jamie:  What do you do on the different days?
Oskar:  On Monday I play basketball.  On Friday I'm doing construction working.
Jamie:  What about the other days?
Oskar :  On the other days I'm just working on my computer.

Jamie:  Is that dirt or freckles on your cheeks?
Oskar:  I don't like freckles!
Jamie:  What about mine?  I'm covered in them.
Oskar:  I'm only interested GIRLS wearing freckles.

Oskar:  My idea hasn't worked.
Jamie:  What's your idea?
Oskar:  Keep my eyes open [while sleeping], but I still appear in my bad picture dream.
Jamie:  Oskar, you're hilarious.
Oskar:  Mom!  I'm SCARED of my bad picture dream!

*whispers* If you do what I want you'll be happy.

The Mona Lisa is the thing that will tell you which way to go in the wilderness.

Ivy Ruth, you present so many problems to your parents.

March forth to the temple of light.

(Referring to my tie-dye shirt) Mom, you have a shirt with the beautiful sky on it.

I like that weird hair on you.

Wouldn't it be a handsome name if we named our next boy Bad Guy Brinkerhoff Ackerman?

(Joel was carrying him to the car) Sometimes I don't like to walk *deep breath*, my voice smells tired.

You're going to feel foolish about that!

Oskar Reads

Oskar finished his 100 reading lessons in the reading lesson book and has slowly and with a lot of help moved on to level 1 reading books.  English has so many silly rules and sillier exceptions to the rules that it is very confusing but he's getting it and enjoying reading.

Two days ago he fell and knocked a tooth loose so his upper lip is really swollen and he's talking kind of funny.  We took him to the dentist and they said it probably won't fall out so he's just taking it easy right now and eating lots of soft foods.

The Triforce

Back at BYU Halley, Sarah, and myself called ourselves the Triforce, which I never really understood because it's some Zelda reference and I was never into Zelda, so to me it just meant we were best friends.  Now that we live on the East Coast I get to see Sarah a lot but all three of us haven't been together in years so Sarah and I hatched a plan late one night to convince Halley to come visit us.  She was very willing and so we were all together again just weeks later.

We had a very busy week planned and because I have two kids I didn't get to participate in as much as I would have liked but I did get to see a lot of historical sights and mostly it was just fun to be with my best friends again.

I don't think about taking pictures while I'm out and about so the pictures I did get are kind of random and there were plenty of opportunities that I missed.  But I always think it's better to be in the moment than constantly on my phone snapping pics.

Our first stop was Salem, MA.  This was an art piece in someone's yard.  It looked kind creepy, giant nests or something, so it fit in at Salem very well.

We also went to the Salem Witch Museum.  I had Oskar and Ivy with me and I asked the people taking tickets if it was too scary for my kids and they said it wasn't that scary and they should be fine but if I needed to leave I could.  So we went in to a big dark room and the recording started with a loud deep voice and the spotlight shone on an animatronic devil with red eyes.  Super scary.  So I quickly averted their attention to the devices I had with me and mostly distracted them because I wanted to stay and listen.  Ivy wasn't really bothered but Oskar kept looking up every once in a while from his game and asking what was going on.  It was really creepy ... and interesting.  I learned a lot.

We also went to a witch house which wasn't actually a house that a witch lived in but the house of a judged that accused and sentenced the witches to death.  I didn't go inside because Ivy was restless but I did get this picture.  Ivy took it so that's why it's all slanted.

Next day we went to the zoo in Rhode Island.

This is Ivy after getting home from the zoo.  My kids aren't known to sit still so the fact that she was laying on the floor for a while meant she was real tired.

Next day I left the kids at home with Joel and our first stop was Fall River, MA where we took a tour of Lizzie Borden's house.  Halley and Sarah both knew and were interested in Lizzie Borden's story, I had never heard of it so it was really interesting to me.  Basically it's an unsolved mystery of the death of Lizzie Borden's parents.  They were killed by an axe to the face and I think most people think Lizzie did it although nothing was ever proven.  We went through the whole house while the tour guide gave us a step-by-step explanation of what happened on the day of the murders.

Then we went out to lunch at a seafood place so Halley could have authentic New England seafood.

Last stop of this day was Plimouth Plantation where they have a pilgrim settlement and reenactors, and an Indian camp.  They lived in squalor, I would have been a TERRIBLE pilgrim.

And Plymouth Rock.  I thought it would be bigger.

Our second to last day we went to Concord where Emerson lived along with Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott and family.  We went to Walden Pond and my brain wasn't on right so I didn't have their swimsuits with me.  That didn't stop them from freezing their tails off in the water.  I did remember to bring the paddle board so Sarah and I, with Oskar, went paddle boarding around the pond, it was so great.  Halley and Sarah went on to look at Emerson's house and Minuteman Park but I had to get my grumpy kids home.

The last day I got pictures on my phone which I'll have to add later.  We did the Freedom Trail in Boston and saw the Boston Common, Park Street Church, King's Chapel, Site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's house, and a few more.  I was so exhausted this day it was kind of rough going around the narrow, crowded, cobblestone sidewalks with a giant double stroller and kids who's only goal in life is to run away from me.  But again, it was the most fun to hang out with Halley and Sarah again.

30 Before 30

This is the year that I go from being young, fun, and attractive to being old, and bitter, and wrinkly.  To make this transition a little more fun and less depressing I decided to make a list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30 in November.  I got the idea from my friend Joanna who did this a couple of years ago when she was turning 25.  Some of them are small and easily accomplished, some are things I've never done before and I've always wanted to, and some are going to cost a lot of money.  But I've got to live it up now because as soon as I'm 30 I'm just going to be boring and middle-aged!

Swim in the Atlantic Ocean

Read 5 classics

Repaint my coat rack and shoe bench

Go fruit picking

Host a tea party

Learn to knit

Hike Mt. Wachusetts

Learn a difficult piano piece

Stand Up Paddle Board on Walden Pond

Sew a dress

Go to the temple once a month

Visit MA's top swimming holes

Plant a flower garden

Index 500 batches (I've never indexed so I don't know if this is a lot)

Make homemade ice cream

Visit a foreign country

Take a dance class

Go skinny dipping

Host a karaoke party

See a musical on Broadway

Read the Book of Mormon

Go rock climbing

Build something out of wood

Take a road trip

Visit Boston's historical sites

Journal once a week

Go to Palmyra

Take a class

Make homemade bread

Go to a drive-in movie

Goings On

We saw this "Joel Rubbish" trash can after we had a few weeks of frustrating experiences after moving to MA.  It just felt like the universe was telling us, hey you guys, don't expect much, your life is going to be just rubbish now.

My cute little girl

Oskar and Ivy during knowledge time.

I found Oskar out here "fishing" on the log.  What he really was doing was pulling trash out of the water with a stick.  But at least he had a helmet on.

SNOW ... and Ivy's snowsuit.  She looks so fat and ridiculous, I love it.

Oskar's t-ball parade

Paddle boarding with Sarah.  Oskar was so calm and happy the entire time we were out out on the water.  I can't wait to get some of these boards, we're going to be out on the lake all the time.

Ivy in front of Ralph Waldo Emerson's home.

Thoreau

Louisa May Alcott

Ralph Waldo Emerson

My two cheeses