A day...or two in the life of the Stell's

February Goals

2012-02-01T00:01:00.013-07:00

So, with doing new goals each month, I also want to roll over some old goals.

So here are this months old goals:

1. Read 5 chapters of scripture a day
2. No soda (oh this was last months too, i just never put it on)

New goals to add this month:

1. No fast food ( I was going to do no eating out, but its dereks b-day and V-day!)
2. Exercise 4 times a week
3. Morning Prayers

While I like the blogging one, I am trying not to stress my self out.....if it happens it happens! :)

Surviving

2012-01-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

As I guessed these past 2 weeks have been CRAZY! You can tell everyone is going a bit nuts. This month has just been really hard. REALLY hard!

I guess its time i say out loud, I started the month with a miscarriage. Not the way I had planned on starting my new year. Shortly after Derek's grandma was admitted to the hospital and passed away on 1/19/2012. She is a awesome wonderful lady who will be missed!

The day of her funeral i started re-bleeding and had to go in for an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. LUCKILY i did not need a d&c. Doc just decided my body was struggling, but SHOULD right it self out in a month or so. We will see. Needless to say it was not a fun day for either of us. I think going in to the doc for the ultrasound might have been one of the hardest parts of everything. Seeing all the happy pregnant moms made it really hit home what had happen.

Working both jobs back to back with a drive to SLC from Provo has been crazy nuts! I have been enjoying my new job, but i am SUPER excited for training to end so i can resume a more normal life again.

My kiddos have been SUPER TROOPERS as they have had to spend a lot more time at baby sitters houses than normal. Thankfully a bunch of days my sweet dad was able to pick them up early and play with them until we got home. Can i just say i have THE BEST DAD EVER! He helped with my kids, bought me dinner, AND did my dishes and took out my trash when he was over. :) He knew how crazy my life was and just wanted to help. I sure love him!! My kids love him bunches as well. :)

I am excited for every thing that is to come. Mostly i am looking forward to next week when life will calm down and I will be home more :) I think that i want to take the kiddos to a hotel next weekend so we can just relax and spend some good time together! :)

Here is to January ending and a new beginning for February!

crazy 2 weeks!

2012-01-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

These next 2 weeks are going to be pure crazy! Its okay though. I am really excited! I just started working for Steal Network! I am SO excited! I have already LOVED the first 2 days of training. :) I am still working at Prosper just you know doing both jobs. :)
Its from home though so its not bad ;)!
the reason its SO crazy is because training is up in SLC. So i am going from Prosper straight up to training in SLC. My poor kiddos are living it up at sitters A LOT these next 2 weeks. :( But its for a GREAT reason! They are being good sports so far. Lets hope they continue to be for the 8 more days i have. :)

So yeah, I am excited!!!!

Derek in the paper

2012-01-10T09:25:00.002-07:00

Derek made the paper with his work. Go read :)

the happenings

2012-01-09T12:43:00.001-07:00

Jackie:
I pulled her out of preschool. I was not impressed with what she was learning. Not enough learning and too much playing for my taste, i don't want to pay for that! We are going to work with her at home. I was testing her the other day to see what letters she could write and what letters needed more work. When we got to "U" she dropped her pen looked up at me and said, "Mom! I can't write that letter! Its the stinking Ute letter!" lol Oh how i love my little girl! (don't worry she wrote the "stinking Ute" letter just fine after i reminded her its also in BYU)
Hopefully, I can help her enough at home.

Abby:
Is just continuing to be Abby. She is growing up so fast its amazing to me! She is no longer my little toddler. She is my big toddler! She SURE has her opinions and wants them to be heard!
She LOVES babies/dollies. She has lots and lots of babies, and loves to take care of them. Its so cute to watch her be a little mommy!

Jessica:
This month i am doing good on my resolution! Read 5 chapters every day, yay! Well i am blogging right now so that knocks this week of my list.
Oh so guess what, I am going to be starting a new job Friday. Its just on call so i am still going to work for Prosper. :) It's from home too, yay! I am excited, its for Steal Network. You know, babysteals and kidsteals. I am EXCITED! :)
Wish me luck to stay sane :)

Derek:
Is still working his job and enjoying it!! Hes a great husband and father and I love him!! :)

new years resolution

2012-01-02T22:06:00.001-07:00

This year I am going to make a few goals a month. Its so hard to do a bunch of goals a year for me. This month I have 2 goals.

1. Read 5 chapters of scripture a day
2. Blog once a week (this so counts as this week!)

Hopefully this will help me focus more on my goals and they will happen.

What are your goals?

Christmas

2011-12-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

Its almost here! Jackie is counting down. She is SO excited! I really am loving Christmas through the eyes of a child.

I am missing snow though....struggling to feel like Christmas without it. Seriously Utah where is my SNOW?!?!

Sunday YW's put me in flow blown Christmas Spirit, I really enjoy my calling. I love working with the youth! we had someone come sing the song below, its sure my favorite at Christmas time.

Jackie is REALLY enjoying our Christmas book tradition i had as a child (you read a Christmas story, scripture, and sing a song daily in December on the true meaning of Christmas). Every night she reminds me its time to read our story i love it! I hope she is grasping more of why we have Christmas and feeling that true spirit of Christmas by doing it....because toys are nice and all but I want her to REALLY grasp Christ is the reason for the season

Me, well I am just grateful for this time of year to remember my Savoir and everything he has done for me. I am grateful for his love and his daily guidance in my life.
I am also excited to see my kiddos on Christmas morning! I sure hope their cute little faces are as happy and smiley as i have pictured in my head!
I am also happy we get to go to church on Christmas. I don't think there could be a better way to focus on the Savior than to go Worship him on the day we remember his birth!!

Love all my friends out there Merry Christmas !

Breath Of Heaven - Amy Grant

2011-12-20T10:51:00.001-07:00

<br><br><br>wew

2011-12-16T08:41:00.001-07:00

My works company party had the best Santa I have ever seen with an awesome Photographer to capture the moments! :)

www.danicphotography.com

qucik update

2011-12-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? I seriously cant! I am always in awe of how quickly Christmas seems to sneak up on us.

I am really excited though! I totally dig being a parent on Christmas. I love love love finding gifts for my kids and get all excited to watch them open them :).

But anyway a quick update since well i dont tend to blog at all any more haha

Derek
He LOVES his new job! Its going great. He gets to sell people on the awesome sport of hockey. Perfect! Also if anyone does want tickets to a game let me know he can hook you up!

Me
Well i am staying plenty busy! with work and kiddos i am always on the go! I still LOVE my half days and feeling more like a mom on those days are nice. I am recommitting my self to p90x so here is hoping i can drop some of this weight i put on since stopping nursing over a year ago....

Jackie
We she is just our little sweetheart. She is super cute with Abby and I love watching them grow into cute little sisters. I hope they will be friends as they get older. Jackie loves school and really enjoys what she learns there and all the crafts they do. She is getting really excited to start kindergarten in the fall.

Abby
Well miss Abby is still miss Abby. She is SUCH a sweetheart and a cuddle bug most the time. She sure has a STRONG other side though! She knows what she wants and is going to get her way. She is our possessive child. She knows what belongs to whom and no one else can have it. (ie i cant have Derek s pillow and he cant have mine) lol. She sure has a personality! I can never get enough of all the hugs and kisses she wants to give us!

Gratitude a day #30

2011-11-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for family. I love my family. I have SO much family i love it! I love that my family is so close. I love seeing my cousins aunts uncles grandparents ect all the time. Family really is the joys we have in our lifes. Without them life would be so BORING! I am super glad to be part of them. :)

Gratitude a day #29

2011-11-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for good transportation! :) I love that we have reliable transportation that can get us here or there! Its nice to stay warm in the winter and cold in the summer :) YAY for cars! I am seriously glad that i live in a day in age with modern technology

Gratitude a day #28

2011-11-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today I am Grateful i have a working knowledge of how to use a computer and internet....seriously there are people out there that don't. I talk to them a lot at work. WOW i am glad i know things like...copy and past. Where the address bar is, how to get to websites. How to scroll on a page. How to delete words. Ya know the basics :) I am SUPER glad i am not an idiot :)

Gratitude a day #27

2011-11-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today i am grateful for our babysitters! I never thought i could have my kids at babysitters while we work. Its something that i was REALLY worried about when Derek got his new job. Well i am VERY happy with our babysitters and i love knowing my kids are safe and happy while i am at work! Its a HUGE relif and stress off my shoulders! So thanks ladies who watch my kids you rock!

Gratitude a day #26

2011-11-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for shows that teaches my kiddos things! My kids watch tv sometimes too much. ;) But i am glad that i can show them shows that can help them learn! My kids love the leapfrog shows and it teaches them lots! :I love super why and i love how much my kids love it!! : ) Its nice to know their brains are not always melting away! :)

oh and dont worry they watch plenty of the mind numbing shows too ;)

Gratitude a day #25

2011-11-26T10:51:00.001-07:00

Today I am grateful i survived black friday and got a few awesome deals! YAY for the bedding set i got Abby.....she is going to LOVE it! :) anyone you brave the crowds? I am grateful for my Sister In Laws who got me to tag a long....we made it out quick!

Gratitude a day #24

2011-11-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today i am grateful for thanksgiving!! haha yeah lame i know and easy post for today...but really its my favorite holiday. I love the family time, the food, the mind set of everyone. I love how happy everyone is and how people are so willing to help others and how thankful everyone is being. Its pretty awesome!
Plus seriously mashed potatoes homemade stuffing, hmm gravy green bean casserole fried corn man how can you NOT be happy about that !

Gratitude a day #23

2011-11-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for paid days off!!!!! I have the next 2 days off and get paid for it....ahhh i love days like that! I am pretty excited to relax, eat, and spend time with my girls and family!! :D

Gratitude a day #22

2011-11-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today's post is a big grateful for washing machines and dryers. Seriously i mean my life would be so much harder with out them. I hate laundry but even the thought of doing it ALL by hand makes me want to cry. SO i can handle folding basket after basket as long as i do not have to do it by hand! So i am very grateful for modern technology and how much easier it makes my life :)

Gratitude a day #21

2011-11-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today i am grateful for the internet. Seriously without it i would be in trouble. The internet helps me do EVERYTHING! I work using the internet, i do all my before shopping price matching using the internet. I check out all toys using the internet. I stay entertained using the internet. I can buy most all Christmas presents using the internet, ahhhh the internet is awesome that is all i have to say :)

Gratitude a day #20

2011-11-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today I am ever grateful for cooking :)

I LOVE to cook! (hate cleaning up) Cooking is very stress relieving for me, and makes me really happy. I love to cook for my family and I love how excited my kids get for the food i make for them. I LOVE to look up new recipes and try new things its so fun to me. i guess i should add to my list today i am grateful for pintrest. Pintrest gives me so many new yummy foods to try and make. Its AWESOME! :)

Gratitude a day #19

2011-11-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today (well technically last night i am a day late) i am grateful for awesome daughters who love the things I love! Its so nice that we can just be little buddies and play and have a lazy Saturday. I love that they think its fun to cuddle with me and watch the cougars! :) I love even more that they cheer :). I sure love my darling daughters!

Gratitude a day #18

2011-11-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Today I am ever grateful for Temples! Because of this building and 9/3/05. The 3 people (plus a whole lot of others!) who mean the most to me in this world will be with me forever!

I am ever so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can not imagine only having my family for this life. The fact that they will be with me in the next life brings such a sense of peace. Families are pretty great, so today I am going to take a moment to hug each one of my kids just a few more times. (i would hug Derek but i wont see him until tomorrow ;))

I hope my friends out there know how much I love my church. I am so grateful its apart of me and my life. I hope and wish everyone can obtain the blessings of eternity with their family because really is anything in this world more important?

Gratitude a day #17

2011-11-17T23:00:00.003-07:00

Today I am grateful for Girls Nights Out! (not GNO because i think that is just a weird abbreviations makes me think GYNO haha)

I got to go see an early premier of twilight with my sis-in-laws! Always nice to get out and have a little break that is just for me :) I love my husband for being willing to help with the kids and who loves me enough to give me a break!

Oh and the movie is pretty good

Gratitude a day #16

2011-11-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for wonderful nice people in the world. Last night when we were at Wal-Mart a sweet couple was in front of us. They were short on money to purchase what they had bought. The lady in front of me and behind them sweetly and quietly offered to buy the rest of their items for them.

The couple had a cute little daughter about 1, they were so grateful and thankful for her generosity. So yes I am grateful that there are still sweet kind people in the world who are willing to do SUCH awesome acts of kindness.

Gratitude a day #15

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001-07:00

well its day 15 the half way point. I love doing this it really helps me be more upbeat and realize all the awesome in my life :) There is a lot of awesome and its over look a lot by all the bad. If you know me, you know i try to be positive most the time, its my way to make it through life. It helps me be better and happier. SO YAY for making it to day 15...anyone think i can keep this up for the rest of the year? I would love to try! (oh so you read this yesterday on my blog...um your losing your mind, because i sure am not! It was not there yesterday.....)

Today I am grateful for Family

I feel SO lucky to have so much family. My situation has blessed me with so much of it! My parents divorced when i was younger, and both remarried, so i count my self has lucky to have so many people who love me and who i love!

I love having family to turn to in time of need, to pick you up when you are down, to offer a shoulder to cry on, to help you when you need it, to support you and your kiddos. Most of all I love knowing so many people care about me. I also love having people to care about, because really what makes you feel better than helping those you love??

Gratitude a day #14

2011-11-14T11:27:00.001-07:00

Today I am grateful for my husband.

yeah you would think i would put a picture up, but there are not any on my work computer and I do not feel like downloading one right now :)

Derek is my perfect match. He is my other half. He is amazing for me. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows what I need, what I want, and how to handle my crazy. (trust me there is a lot of crazy in me:))

I am so grateful he is a strong member of the church, I am so grateful he wants to spend time with my kids and I. I am so grateful he cares that we are happy,Ii am so grateful he does things to assist me.

I love that we can just hang out and watch sports and consider that a fun family time :). I LOVE that for our anniversary we just went and watched BYU beat Ole Miss. I love being lazy with him. I love just hanging out. I love that he works so hard.

I love his sense of humor. I know not everyone gets him, but I do (most times!) and I love that he keeps me laughing. Life is no fun without laughter and we sure have lots of it at out house!

Jackie and Abby sure adore him! I love all the fun games they play that our just theirs. I think one of my favorite things to do is to watch them play :)

I love my husband. I am so happy that we found each other and that i was lucky enough that he asked me to marry him. Some call us crazy for making such a huge decision after knowing each other for only 3 months, but i do not regret it. Its been an awesome 6 years 2 months 11 days. ;)

So yes I am super grateful for Derek and all he is and does.

Gratitude a day #13

2011-11-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for our church and the Primary Program. Today they did the Primary program (all the kiddos sang and said lines) It was awesome! I have always loved and looked forward to the primary program. Having a kid in it only made me love it even more. I was so proud of Jackie, she said her lines and enjoyed it! My dad and sis came and Derek's parents came down to watch her. She loved having family to see her preform. It was a good Sunday! :) I love all that Primary teaches our kiddos. Its amazing what these little kids can learn and how much they can grasp. Abby learns so much in nursery too! I love hearing every Sunday what my kids have learned and hearing them sing their little songs! :)

gratitude a day #12

2011-11-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am grateful for Saturdays. Man I love them. Even if derek has to work 11 hours. Its aso nice to have a day off to relax and get things accomplished. Today I cleaned with jackie and played with Abby, shopped with friends, and ate a.yummy dinner at brick oven. Fun fun day!

gratitude a day #11

2011-11-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for ( yeah a day late :))fun adventures
Today I took the kiddos to a hockey game where derek works. And my kids had a blast! They loved our time together and our adventures at intermission. They are my cute little buddies and I love any time with them.

Gratitude a day #10

2011-11-10T17:08:00.001-07:00

Today I am very grateful for my super cute sweet daughter Jackie!

Look at that face! How can you not be in love! Jackie is my baby, and will always be :) Their is something about your first kid. The kid who turned your world upside down and made you a mom. I sure love her!

She is a little ham. She always has a joke or something fun to tell us. She always wants to help me with Abby and is a wonderful big sister! Abby sure loves her big sister and wants to be with her big sister when ever she can! They are such sweet sisters together!

Jackie has a HUGE personality. She is a go getter who knows what she wants and will try to get what ever it is :). Recently my dad told her if she learned all her Articles of Faith he would take her to disney land. Jackie is NOT taking this lightly. She has now learned the first 5 articles of faith plus number 8. :) I think she will have them down by summer :)

Jackie is a huge help to me. She has gotten to the age where when she does jobs i do not have to go back and re-do them :). She loves to do dishes, put clothes away, and pick up.

Jackie loves school and is doing great at pre school! She is doing really good at learning her letters and writing. She loves when she figures out how to spell words all on her own. I love watching the world open up to her as she learns more and more.

I love my Jackie! She sure is a huge blessing in my life!

Gratitude a day #9

2011-11-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I would be lost in life with out His gospel and His church. My week would not be complete with out attending church, and my days are not as good when I leave out scriptures and prayer.
I know he is always there for me. I know he is always guiding me. I know is always mindful of what is going on. I know he has a plan for me. I know he loves me. I know he died for me. I know he suffered for my sins and tribulations. I know he knows my pain. I know he understands my joy. I know he knows me. I know he knows whats best for me.
I love him with all my heart, and I will strive everyday to be just a little bit better, to be a little bit nicer, to give a little more unselfishly, to love my children a little bit more, to play with them just a little bit more.
I am forever grateful to him and his life and his work. Because of him i can have my family forever.

gratitude a day #8

2011-11-08T21:58:00.001-07:00

Today I am grateful for hot water. Nothing like a wonderful hot shower or hot bath to make the day start off right....or end the day.....or make the middle better. I so love showers/bath they are my favorite!

Gratitude a day #7

2011-11-08T08:11:00.002-07:00

Today I am grateful for Paid time off! Enough said right? I was so happy i could take the day off as needed and spend time with my girls :)

gratitude a day #6

2011-11-06T20:36:00.001-07:00

Today I am grateful for sleeping in! :) I love weekends and not waking up at 6 am :) its wonderful to get a few extra hours of sleep! :) Even better when mi kiddos love me enough to watch a movie when they get up early or decide to sleep in them selfs! YAY for a fun sleeping in weekend!

Gratitude a day #5

2011-11-05T12:54:00.000-06:00

Today I am so grateful for my friends! I have so many wonderful friends out there. Its so nice to know i have people i can turn to when i need to complain or let off steam. I love having people who care about me and people i can care about!

Friends are SO important! You need them in life to help and assist you in everything! I do not know what i would do with out them.

So thank you to all you out there. You all know who you are. Thanks to every one who as listened to me complaining about my life. Been there to celebrate the joys. Watched me grow and watched my kiddos grow! I love you all!

Gratitude a day #4

2011-11-04T12:26:00.001-06:00

Today I am grateful for my smiling sweet daughter Abigail. Abigail is such a blessing in our lives! She is so fun! She loves to play, and joke around.

She has brought so many smiles and laughs into our lives i do not know what we would do with out her! She adores Jackie and Jackie loves having a playmate! I am so glad we have 2 girls close in age so they can be there for each other (and fight as they get older ;)

Abby really is a huge blessing in my life. When i am sad she is always ready to give me hugs or kisses. Abby is always ready to be my little buddy, she wants to be with me and do things with me. I love it! She is always willing to help me. She is very independent and likes to do her own thing :) She has a HUGE personality and its so fun to watch her grow and compare the differences between my 2 kiddos!

Gratitude a day #3

2011-11-03T07:44:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for heaters! It was SO cold this morning. I do not know what I would have done without my heater!

I would have looked like mister duck here. :) Really, I am just glad I do not have to rely on fires or a stove to keep us warm!

Now I just need to remember to make sure our cars are in the driveway the right way, so I do not need to scrap 2 car windows before I leave for work.

Gratitude a day #2

2011-11-02T09:42:00.000-06:00

Today i am grateful for my job!

In a time when its so hard to find jobs i am so grateful to have a job that I like and feel appreciated in! I love my employers they know how to treat me right. Its nice to not hate or dread going into work everyday! :)

Gratitude a day #1

2011-11-01T07:49:00.000-06:00

Well its November! Do you know what that means? Well let me tell you. My Favorite Holiday! YAHOO! I am a Thanksgiving lover. Its my favorite holiday by far! Why you might ask? Yes I know Christmas is so close to it, but really I love Thanksgiving because its simpler :). No gifts to get or give just time with family and yummy food and a chance to remember how blessed we all are. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Christmas. I just really enjoy Thanksgiving! No Christmas Music or decorations at my house until after thanksgiving! :)

So to kick of Thanksgiving I am once again going to do my 30 days of Gratitude! I challenge anyone to join! Its really fun and really helps kick of the holidays! It also helps YOU feel better about everything in life. I am a big believer that when the going gets rough you have one option to get through it. Be HAPPY! That is only going to happen by looking at the good in your life and not focusing on the crappy :) (yeah yeah i know it needs to be addressed, but trust me as you switch your focus from neg to pos it makes a HUGE difference!)

So day #1

Today I am grateful for my dad!

My dad is an awesome dad, and the most wonderful grandpa! I LOVE seeing him as a grandpa! Its been so fun to watch him love my girls. They both get SO excited at the chance to go to grandpas house! They love sleepovers or anytime grandpa is coming! He is such a great example to them of how to be a great person and how to love and care for others. He is so supportive of my girls and wants to be there to watch them succeed!

He is also such a great dad! He loves to call and check up on me and see how things are going. He always has great advice and is so willing to help out! He is supportive of me and my family. I could not have asked for a better dad growing up (and now!) My dad truly is one of the best men i know! I only hope i can be more and more like him as I get older!

I love you daddy! Thanks for all you do for my family!

Abbys birthday

2011-10-24T08:59:00.000-06:00

Well i am FINALLY posting pictures just over a month late.......no comment on why just not a blogging fool this year like the last....and just BUSY! :) SO here are a few. Y'all are friends with me on face book you can see more there

Abby loves clothes and shoes she would not put the shoes down that she got!

more shoes HOW EXCITING! this girl is crazy into shoes

SHE LOVED her party...even if the game did not go our way. She loved the attention and the presents and cake :)

It was a fun day and we love that we have so much family and friends around to party with us! :)

yeah yeah i know

2011-09-26T15:48:00.000-06:00

I am sure you are all thinking, "where is Jessica's blog post on Abby's birthday, and Where is Jessica's blog post on Jackie's first talk?" Well they are coming. When ever i have time when i am at home i will post them :) Just know Abby had a blast despite the horrid game and Jackie rocked her talk!

Now on to what I wanted to write. I want to talk about being a mother. Can I just say how blessed i feel to be a mom. I love it! Being a mom has completed me and made me into a person i never thought possible. I cherish moments with my daughters when we can just play and have fun. I love to watch the world through their eyes. They are so sweet and so innocent. They love to hang on to every word, and watch our every move.

Sometimes i am amazed that someone decided we should be allowed to have such sweet kids and be left to raise them :)! I hope and pray daily that I am making good decisions and parenting them in the ways that they need to grow up and hold true to what we have taught them.

Know don't get me wrong parenting is in no way all roses and butterflies. We have our 2 year old melt downs, our four year old defiant days our mom is so tried she needs a break days, and the days where i want to pull my hair out. But you know what life goes on, its all part of it. I am learning how to take those crazy moments and love them more, move past it and cherish every moment.

Being a mom/dad rocks! I hope we can all take time in midst of all the chaos of parenting and remember how lucky we are to be a parent, and how lucky we are to have our darling kiddos in our life! :)

Happy Birthday Abigail!

2011-09-17T00:01:00.004-06:00

My dear sweet Abigail,

Oh sweetheart i love you so much! You are a wonderful little girl who has added so much to our family. You are definitely your fathers child. You have his temperament and his personality. You will be happy one moment ANGRY another and right back to happy :). You are my stubborn baby, you will do what you want when you want to do it. When mommy wanted you to give up your bottle you did not want to do it until you were ready, but when you were ready to do it you did it and had no issues with doing it when you were ready to do it. I am going to assume potty training will be the same :) I have learned that when your upset you just need time to get over it and you come running back happy as can be.

You are SO dang sweet and cute. You love to cuddle, hug, and kiss. I love that when i am sitting down you want to just come up and cuddle with me (or dad) and snuggle :) It makes my day and i always need and abby cuddle fix to get through!

You are going to sleep just fine now with out anything, makes my day! Before you go to bed though you love me to come lay down in bed with you and we sing wheels on the bus a few times. Then we say prayer which you love to say all by your self, then you tell me KISS, then you give me a kiss and say love you night! Its super cute and I love our little routine.

Jackie is your best friend. You love your sister so much. You always want your sister to be with you and do what ever she is doing. When she goes to preschool you point to her seat and ask me "wheres jackie? i need my jackie this is jackies seat" its funny and cute. I will say I love our mommy and Abby time while Jackie is at school. You seem to really love the mommy only attention and i love having some time with just you!

You love to talk! Everyone tells me how good of a talker you are. The last few months your vocabulary has exploded! I love it! :)

Most of all Abby, I could not imagine my life with out you. You have added and brought so much into our family. Your cheese grin is my favorite thing to see when i pick you up after work, when i get you from a nap, or up in the morning. I sure love you!

Love forever and always,

Mommy

life

2011-09-16T15:08:00.000-06:00

blargh! That is how i currently feel right now. This day really needs to end. 54 minutes I can make it! :)

Whats going on with us you would ask, well life is crazy as usual! Derek is STILL working 2 jobs which means he works ALL DAY AND NIGHT YUCK! Great news today is his last day working 2 jobs! YAY! :) He will be HOME at night (unless there is a game of course!) so yes we are excited about that!

The girls are doing good at going to a sitter, jackie says that she misses us but she has fun.

I am liking my new position and only working 1/2 days T TH :) life is good! Abbys b-day is tomorrow so a post will happen! :)

We made it to year 6!

2011-09-13T08:47:00.000-06:00

So i am a blogger slacker. Yes i am bad lately. I am busy, life is crazy.

I should blog though lots has changed and happened! What i want to blog about first is our 6 year anniversary!

Our anniversary feel during labor day weekend this year. We decided to go to Las Vegas so we could hang out with my family and go out on our day and have a sitter! :)

Our anniversary also feel on the opening day of college football! Since BYU was playing and we are who we are i asked Derek if we could find a sports grill/bar and watch BYU and eat some yummy food! We went to Buffalo Wild Wings, and WOW they were AMAZING to us! They were so nice and sweet and gave us the best customer service we have ever had! haha It also helped that our cougars figured out how to pull out the win! It was a good fun anniversary and just perfect for our us. It was fun to just hang out eat yummy food talk and of course watch our Cougars without children around!

I still find it crazy that I have been married for 6 years. Its been a fun crazy 6 years full of ups and downs, twists and turns, changes, changes and changes! I would not change any of it though, I love my husband I love our time together, I love our kids and our life. Marriage has been a million times different then i thought it would be. It's also been even more wonderful and difficult then i ever thought possible. I know i have grown and learned while i continue to try to give up more of my self and learn to care more for others.

I love you Derek! Thanks for a wonderful 6 years, i am sure the next 6 will bring more twists and turns, ups and downs, but i am excited to see what happens!!

Our family is a growing!

2011-08-26T14:17:00.000-06:00

By one car that is!! (please tell me I got at least one person on that!) And by car I do in fact mean Van. That is right we bought a van. There is a long list of stories that go a long with why so lets start back at the beginning :)

A while ago Derek had an interview with the Utah Grizz. We did not hear back from them so we did not think much of it.

About a month ago now he got a call asking him to come back for an interview. So he went in and the job sounded perfect for my husband. The job was to help the community love hockey and plan events for the games. Go to schools and do assemblies.

They called him back and offered the job on a Friday and wanted him to start the coming Monday. So we talked about it and got excited and then realized all the CRAZY amount of things that would need to be done to have him work. We felt great about the job as long as he could wait a week to start.

So he accepted and we had to find sitters for our daughters and another car since he needs a car for his job, and i needed a car to transport the kiddos. So we went car looking and found HOW much car prices have gone up since we bought our car last year. I was shocked. So i decided why not just buy a van they cost the same as a car right now. So we did it. We want another kid in a year or so....so it made sense. I LOVE having a van can i just say! Its so nice to have a bigger car and one that can hold others if needed!

We were lucky and able to find some sitters for the girls and they seem pretty happy with them :) I switched my Tuesdays and Thursdays to half days so i could take Jackie to preschool and be home with them more.

Oh also did i mention, i got a promotion at work? They made me supervisor which means my raise will pay for our extra car payment! YAY for things finding a way for working out.

Derek is still working his other job and being superman doing both....we figured why not we could use the extra money to pay down some debt.

This week has been crazy and hectic i DO hope it slows down a bit and feels more normal as we all adjust. Good news is, my kids still love me :) they don't hate me for sending them to a sitters.

I am so grateful for the Lord and to know he is watching out for us.

So to wrap up i am not pregnant, Derek has a new job, our life's are crazy but we are happy!

The Bottle

2011-08-01T10:11:00.000-06:00

Abby had an obsession (yes i said HAD! :)) It was called her bottle. Man she loved that thing. She asked for it all the time. She wanted to with her full of milk. You could not put water in there that would mean a stink eye and a bottle throw from her. Try to water down the milk she would take a sip look at the bottle then back at you take a sip look at you and say, "no! Milk please". Give her a sippy she would put it in the sink

I was pretty sure any hopes of bottle breaking would incur me going insane and Abby becoming a devil child.

I decide we would just talk about it. For 2 weeks i told her big girls don't use bottles big girls throw bottles away. Big girls use sippy cups.

Then on Thursday i found her next to the trash she had one bottle in there and another in her hand she kissed it said, "love you baba bye bye" and throw it in. She left and found 2 more and did the same thing. i got some more out for her and again kissed it said love you bye bye and throw them away....CUE DISBELIEF.

I was super scared for how bed time would go. I put her down gave her a sippy (yes horrid mom i let her have milk at bed time i know i know...I do like to go for the worst mom award) she cried for like 5 minutes and was asleep. More shock, all previous attempts have inured crying for well over an hour until i give in.

i knew there was no way it could be that easy. 2 am i had an hysterical child who wanted her baba. I put her in the kitchen in her pack n play and she went to sleep.

The next night we had no issues and since have had no issues. I let her go to wal mart and pick out her very own sippy cup. She was pretty excited and loves her new sippy cup (just hoping we wont have as many issues getting rid of that! haha guess she will be old enough to reason when i need to break that habit)

I guess i did know my kid well enough to wait until she was ready to do it. It made life WAY easier on all involved parties. Abby is my stubborn kid who wants things done her way. I am sure we will have many more battles i just hope they are all as easy as this one! :)

Now if only she would decide she wants to use the toilet...........

4 wonderful years

2011-07-25T00:01:00.010-06:00

Today my sweet sweet Jackie turns 4 years old. I can hardly believe its been 4 years since i became a mother and had this sweet little girl placed in my arms.

It was a wonderful day and i still remember the instant love i felt for her and how my heart melted when i saw her for the first time. Since then my love has only grown as I have watched her learn and grow.

Here she is at her 1st b-day

She was such a cutie!! We love her so much! It has been amazing to watch her grow and learn. I still remember her learning to walk and toddling all around!

This is her at her 2nd birthday party

Abby looks a lot like her big sister now if only we can convince Abby to potty train like Jackie did! She was potty trained at her b-day party! :) this year she wanted a water party again! I still remember all her talking at this age and how much more she has talked since then! its crazy to think how much she as grown and how mature she has gotten in such a short amount of time.

And her third birthday.

and this year

My kiddo is for sure a little princess with some tomboy in her. She loves to dress up, paint her nails, ride her bike, run throw sprinklers, play with grandparents, play with her friends, take care of her little sister.

Jackie is such a pleasure to have in our family. I love her so much. She brings such a sweet spirit into our house. She is such a loving little girl, she is always so concerned about everyone else and wants all to be happy. She is my peacemaker and I love that.

Jackie is our talker. She started talking when she was 6 months old and has never stopped talking since that day. Its very rare that she stays quite for more then a few moments. I love her all the same and love hearing the stories she likes to tell me again and again and again. She sure has SOME GOOD memory! (like hey mom remember that time at stake conference i threw up ALL OVER YOU! that was funny, (that was in june) Or hey mom remember that time that kid ran over me with his bike that was mean ( july of 2010) or "mom remember that time me and my friend Marie went to that party i miss Marie (october 2009)

Jackie is a little mom she always wants to take care of everyone and everything. She loves to tell Abby what to do and well us too :) its a good thing she is so cute!

Jackie is still our good little eater, she loves to eat anything and everything (well tomatoes she wont eat right now unless you tell her they are melted no idea why......but she does know she has to have 3 bites of foods she does not like wonder how she will feel about it going up to 4 on her birthday ;)

Jackie is not the most coordinated girl the whole world and tends to run into things....hopefully this will get fixed or she just may be too much like me and end up with bruises she has no idea how to explain haha :)

Jackie loves friends. She always makes friends were ever she goes. When we are at a park any little kid running around will become her friend while we are there

She always asks me to call her grandparents she loves to talk to them on the phone.

Since we have started our activity a day thing she is in LOVE. As soon as i get home from work she asks me what are we going to do today? And if its something she is REALLY excited about she will try to get Derek to leave for work sooner so the fun can start!

She LOVES her sunbeams class and going to sunbeams. She prides her self on being the most reverent and tries really really hard to be that way haha

Since we got the pass of all passes and introduced Seven Peaks Jackie has been in love she got brave enough to go down the kiddo slides all by her self (us not catching her) and is SO proud! Although her fav are the bigger kiddo slides the ones on there on the blue tube slides she LOVES those i think the other day she spent close to an hour going up and down while Abby and i watched. Abby loves to watch her after she makes it down and gets out abby yells and claps "YAY JACKIE!"

I love my little Jackie so much, its hard for me to see her grow up she is getting so big and i just want her to go back to being my little baby (although she did tell me she would try really hard to stay little). I thank God i was blessed to be this little ones mother, i know she has lots of special work to do in this world and I only hope i can teach her enough!

Happy birthday my sweet Jackie I love you!!!

Jackies 4th birthday extravaganza!!

2011-07-23T23:01:00.000-06:00

Jackie had the most amazing birthday party! I am I am so grateful for such wonderful friends and family who came! Jackie sure is loved! Tonight when we were cleaning up she told me, "mom i sure am lucky! People sure do love me!" I agree she is lucky and loved by many!

We had a big BBQ fairy swiming party at our house. We had fairy things for the girls and of course swords for the boys! We had yummy food and an AMAZING cake my mom made and some darling cupcakes! The kiddos had a blast swiming, and playing we had a dragon the boys tried to slay!

One thing i relize every year is how lucky i am and how lucky and blessed my kiddos are to have so many people who love them! Its the perks of our huge family and i love it! Plus the pool you see was given to us from my Uncle because their kiddos are done using it we lucked out!

I am not going to comment on the pictures i figure you can all figure them out if you can't your welcome to ask :)

5 Generations!

2011-07-21T08:23:00.000-06:00

How many kiddos can say they have a great great grandpa alive?? Mine can! :)
He just had his 96th birthday party. Jackie got to help him blow out the candles since she was a July baby as well :)

And here are 5 generations :) My grandma, my mom, Abby, My great grandpa (my grandmas dad) Jackie and Me :).

I love my family and love that we got to celebrate his 96th birthday! Love you Grandpa!

growing up........

2011-07-19T08:26:00.001-06:00

This is Jackie and her bud Bella. They really think of each other as sisters. Jackie always asks to go play with Bella, and Abby always asks to go play with Bella as well. And from what i here Bella always asks to play with Jacquelyn and Abigail. Its dang cute!

*sigh* i am having a hard time believing my little one will be 4 in less then a week! i don't think i can handle her growing up!!!
Its crazy to me that 4 years ago i was a HUGE prego lady. I would not go back I love my kiddo and the joy she has brought i to our lives!

Abby is getting so big as well. THAT is throwing my off more then anything. She is supposed to stay my baby so i don't get the itch to have more kiddos lol. She is talking so much, understanding the world around her, getting in to trouble, and just becoming an adorable little toddler. She is my lovey child. She always wants to give hugs and kisses and cuddle.

I love my girls and have a huge love hate relationship with them growing up. I love seeing Abby and Jackie learn and grow, get smarter and what not. At the same time i hate it because they are my babies and the world is a scary place....cant they just stay little so i can protect them forever???

I need to take pictures

2011-07-11T10:33:00.000-06:00

I mean really i never take pictures its bad. I take them on my phone a lot but those are never that great.....I dont know why I have been in a slump but what ever i will try to break out of it!

We have been just hanging out and chilling lately at our place. Our activities are going great Jackie LOVES them and asks what we are doing every day. If i ever try to switch it up she gets so worried i am changing things and she will miss out. Its been fun and really i like the time it gives me with my kiddos and my house still gets taken care of :)

I really want to get a love for running. I really hate it. I got decent at it back last summer but once i started weaning Abby i never started back up again lol. I have been trying and been out twice and MAN i am out of the running shape, thank goodness for p90x my lungs can take it but my poor legs and shins cant! I get horrid shin splints.....any great ideas out there??

My mom is in town for a few weeks YAY! i am so excited to have here her! I it will be fun to see them and spend time with everyone! :)

My Jackie is almost 4 and I want to cry she is NOT allowed to grow up. I told her that the other day and she said she will try really hard not to....she is to sweet! I only wish she could :)

Miss Abby still wont go to nursery with out us. Its bad. Sunday we were talking about going to nursery and i asked if she was going to go she said, "yep" i then asked if she would go by her self and she said, "no with you" *sigh* one day one day. I tried to leave her sunday when she was all happy and playing. SHE FREAKED OUT! haha she was fine until she noticed i was gone then bring on the hysterical screaming i never hear her cry like that except when we try to leave her. Its the saddest cry ever! Abby is our little firecracker she has a HUGE personality which is both good and bad, she can be super loving and funny and the next she can be screaming. Good news times outs do help her though, she gets the point i think and always calms down in time out. Jackie is very good to tell me when Abby is done with timeout though she hates when Abby is in there!

We went to this place http://www.lowesairsports.com/ it was FREAKING AWESOME! They have a kid area and Jackie got really good about jumping into the foam pit and even let me help her do some flips in there :) we will for SURE be going back!

Anyway thats about all thats new with us :) whats new with you ?

My goal for next week is to take pictures :)

Activities

2011-07-07T13:46:00.003-06:00

I cant believe its time to write out a new set of activities! I also cant figure out why this blog post is writing like this but what ever right?! Anyway we really enjoyed our activities Jakie is always asking me what we are doing and I love that she cares so much! If you want to come join us you are of course welcome! We do everything around 7pm

Here is our new list for the next month

Activities to do this summer

July 11-17

Popsicle stick craft

Peanut butter brownies

Hand out invites for party

Derek Hockey game

Pedicures

Library

July 18-24

Jackies b-day Party

Make Bathtub crayons

home made resses

Toddler SkeeBall

Sprinklers

Library

July 25-31

Dinner out for Jackies Birthday

Sprinklers

snow cones (Elsie gave me this idea thanks!!)

Bubbles

Cupcakes with sprinkles

Library

August 1-7
Sprinklers
Paper bag puppets
make play dough
Movie and popcorn in a fort
Crescent rolls, cream cheese treat
Library

Activites

2011-06-17T10:36:00.000-06:00

My kiddos love our daily activities! The moment i get home from work she asks me what we are going to do for our activity, she then asks Derek when he is going to leave for work and tells him to leave :). Its pretty funny she tries to kick him out so we can start.

I defiantly enjoy our nights more then just playing out side or with toys. Its nice to add structure and then when i get to the cleaning and household chores that need to be done i do not feel so bad since I know we had some good time together.

I am going to do my best to keep it up and keep it going! :) But not hate at my self if we miss a day :) Because lets be realistic some days are just THOSE days!!

I am happy with the results we have had in a short time i can really tell how much my kids enjoy it and I love it too. We will see how it continues :)

And like i said we always welcome others so if you want come to our place around 7pm!

Abby's first hair cut

2011-06-15T10:43:00.000-06:00

Well folks i finally gave in and gave Abby bangs. I swore i would not because i hated growing Jackie's out. But if you saw the amount of food and snot in them i think you would have made the same choice it was time.

here she is before we left

A complete mess i know but this is what it looks like unless its put up and since daddys is home when she wakes up it does not happen.

we went up to cookie cutters in Lehi they were AWESOME! Abby was SO excited when we got their to go on the slide then she got to pick a movie and a car to sit in she was thirlled!

She drove her car the whole time and held as still as could be.

This is her cute smiling face after. I LOVE it (and yes she is in new clothes *sigh* kids) I love her bangs they make her seem older to me but i do love the hair out of the face and less slime attached to her hair, its still on her face though (will teething EVER end!)

I love this little girl she brings so much light into my life with all her loves and snuggles! She has such a sweet disposition. I cant believe how big she is getting and how much she is talking! She will have conversations and talk in short sentences. Its fun to watch her learn and grow. She sure loves her big sister and likes to follow her around and do what she is doing. Its a good thing big sister likes to always be with Abby as well! I am lucky to be this little ones mom :) She is such a joy in my life. Helps make a bad day better with just a hug and loves!

excuses excuses excuses

2011-06-13T15:13:00.000-06:00

I tend to use the fact i work as an excuses to not do fun little projects with the girls, today i decided that its no reason to not do little fun activities daily with the girls. I am horrible at doing things unless i write them down and make lists and plans so here we go here are our plans for the next 4 weeks. One thing we will be doing just did not put it on here since its a family activity is seven peaks we have passes so i would like to use them as much as we can! :)

June 13-19

Make play-dough

Finger Paint/sprinklers

sugar cookies with frosting

fruit loop necklas

Pedicures

Library

June 20-26

bubbles

Library

paper bag puppets

Game night/sprinklers

make bean bags and play with them

make spinach artichoke dip (dont laugh my girls LOVE this stuff)

June 27-July 3

Movie in a fort!

Library

Finger Paint/sprinklers

tutus and bead necklases

cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles

Fireworks

July 4-July 10

4th of July parade

Popsicle stick craft

Library

make banana chocolate ice cream

sprinklers/dance party

Make play-dough

Well there ya go hopefully it work out ;)! And lets hope the girls are gun-ho for some more structured time instead of our play free for all we tend to do.

If you have any more ideas for us to do please let me know, my brain hurt from making this list :) also if you live close you should come play with us! (or if you live far and will be close!)

I should blog more

2011-06-09T15:33:00.000-06:00

because i know you are all DYING to know the thoughts of my brain.

You ready for this here they are

.............................................................................................................................................................

Currently that's how my brain feels, dead and gone. So if you see it let me know i would like it back. Maybe i should sleep more then 5-6 hours at night, maybe i should get back in my exercise routine, maybe i should not watch the family channel dramas

Anywho hope your brain works better then mine! :)

Changes are a coming

2011-06-06T09:08:00.000-06:00

We had stake conference yesterday. Lets just start this by saying i had plans on how we were going to survive with children. This year we had it in the smith field house since there is no more tabernacle. I talked with my neighbor and our goal was get there early and run the kiddos around the track. We did that it worked wonderfully. Good parking and tired kiddos! Next phase how to get them to sit through all of stake conference? lots of food/treats and stuff to do.

Reason we wanted to make sure we could here our stake was getting divided. Well the kiddos were great while they made all the announcements. We got the one that stated our Ward was being dissolved and split up into 3 wards. This one hit me hard because really Freedom 2nd ward was just a special different ward. Never seen a ward like it and highly doubt i ever will again. Although i am excited to see what changes will come about i hope that we can take parts of our old ward with us.

When we moved we opted to go were we were because after praying we decided we needed to stay in our ward. Now that its being changed i want to see what they new ward has for us since our old place is not in our new ward. It will be an adventure and I will miss our ward family dearly. They were all very special to us and we will do our best to take some of our old ward love to our new ward.

Now after these announcements were made Jackie asked to sit on my lap a minute later she threw up all over me all over her all over the floor. Gross yucky and GROSS! Derek ran her out to the bathroom and i ran with abby to the bathroom to clean my self up. Can i just say i hate puke. I am not a puke person even my own kiddos. I have managed to go almost 4 years without being puked on, but i guess that has now ended. When we came back from the bathroom my awesome neighbor and a very sweet lady from rows up were helping clean up the mess. Can i just saw how wonderful it was to come back thinking i had to deal with that and not having to was awesome. (well as awesome as it can be when you smell like puke and are still processing a ward stake changes!)

Jackie was so upset, not that she puked that we would not let her go back in to stake conference. When i asked her why she told me Heavenly Father wants her at church so she should be there.....we had to have the when you puke its okay talk but alas she wanted to stay there and pretend she was not sick. When i got her home she started a fever so we gave her some motrin and made her a bed on the floor. She went to sleep and my Awesome friend Hayley missed church to come be with them while we went to our goodbye lunch in for our ward. It was crazy to think that in such a short time (we have been here for a year and 4 months) this ward could feel like such a family. One person said it best to my husband yesterday, "at least I got to be in the best ward in the Church for 6 months".

It was an awesome ward one that is hard to explain, i always told people it was a special different ward and it was. Never seen or heard of a ward like it i doubt i will. I believe the ward had a purpose and that purpose is now over. I am happy that we were able to be apart of the ward and contribute to the ward family. It has been a experience i will cherish and always try to remember. We will be doing our best to spread that love we learned to all the other wards we attend in our life.

To all my friends who are not joining me in our new ward you will be missed!!!

As for Jackie you would never know she had puked everywhere. She is happy as can be and doing great lol

life

2011-05-24T15:26:00.000-06:00

Life is always a bit crazy there are always things to do always places to go places to see. I feel like our life is always on the go no time for stopping. Do you feel that way? Sometimes i wish the world would just stop so i could take all the time i want to just play with the kiddos and give hugs and loves. Sometimes i wish commitments would not add up, sometimes i just wish i could have more time. I just wish situations could be changed and I could have more time

Do not get me wrong i am so grateful for what we do have right now. Its wonderful to have what we need, sometimes i just wish i could be that stay at home mom and have that time with my girls, with my house, oh my my poor house needs more time but I put it off because that time i do have is for my family.

Abby is currently in a huge hug and kisses stage, I love it. I come home and all she wants to do is hug and kiss me. I pick her up and she holds on to me shirt and wont let go. Its adorable.

Jackie well she just wants to talk, every time i call home during the day she has a million things to say. No matter how much i need to talk to her dad. I am so happy that even though i am here they are with their daddy who loves them.

Working at times makes me feel like a bad mother. I know it should not and I know I am not but at times it becomes a constant battle because i do not spend the time with them i would like. One thing i have tired to do is to make time at home before bed time just their time, i am trying to save house work for after they go to bed. So far that has gone well (minus it takes away from Jessica time but as I am learning sacrifices have to be made).

I need to get out of my funk, i have been bad at exercising since we moved and I am sure that is a huge part of it. So my goal is to get back in to my good ol p90x because really life is so much less stressful when i exercise. Really just wish i could convince my self to get up early so i could work out in the morning that would be the best, but with Derek's late work it makes it hard since i am a big baby and can not go to sleep with out him.

I am really sick of the rain i just want sun and to play outside at night with the kiddos. although i did get Jackie some SUPER cute rain boots so hopefully it will rain after she gets them haha

I found a new blog that looks like it has tasty tasty good food http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/so i will have to let you know i am using a few recipes from there this week! Tonight is chicken fried steak yum yum yum! :)

I broke my mold at wal mart and went to a female cashier and she did not suck :) and was not a stickler on looking at anything it was nice! that and the fact cheese went under $5 again MAN it was not on sale for a long time! All in all that makes for a good wal mart trip

I need a girls night :) anyone up for one (Danielle how i WISH you could come *Sigh* yes i said this because I know your response is going to be ME!) Its gotta be on a Monday night for me its when the hubby is home but it can be late like 8 after FHE :) let me know and we will plan!

Thankful Thursday

2011-05-05T14:51:00.000-06:00

Lately with everything that has gone on with moving, our current life's situation i have noticed i have been a lot more down then I like. So my solution today is to write out 25 (because thats my age) things i am thankful for!

1. The church. Were would I be without it! I have such a strong testimony of this gospel and know the Lord is always there for me. Without this knowledge I would be very lost in life.

2. Derek. I love my husband. He is my life. He makes me laugh, he is my better half. I enjoy always knowing he is there for me and my girls.

3. Jacquelyn. Without my little born my life would sure be a lot more quite! Jackie always keeps us updated with EVERYTHING that is going on in life. She is such a bright wonderful little girl who i enjoy talking to, and always having around to do things with. She brings me lots and lots of joy.

4. Abigail. She is my little bundle of joy! She has so much personality and loves to give hugs and kisses. I live for those hugs and kisses and her little "luv yous" she always says. She is such a sweet heart!

5. Parents. I love my parents they help me so much in life and i do not know where I would be in life with out them. Its nice to know that i always have someone i can turn to for advice or just someone to talk to.

6. Jobs. As much as i complain about working and that I never see Derek i am so grateful that we have jobs and are able to have enough to get by

7. SUN! I have seen the sun for a few days now and its warming up! I do think this is the end of the cold weather and for that i am SO excited!

8. Friends. Man alive i LOVE my friends! I am so grateful for all my friends who are there for me and who help me and listen to me complain and listen to me rejoice :) Oh and for all their help in cleaning!

9. In Laws. I have some awesome in laws and I am so happy for that. Among all things they already do for us, they are letting us store some things in their garage which is awesome! My sis in laws are pretty great too!

10. Internet. I love the Internet its pretty freaking awesome

11. A place to live. After all the craziness with our last place and having to move i am so grateful that we are in a place and we are happy. Its going to work out just great just attempting to get used to the girls in one room :)

12. Bunk beds. I am really glade we have bunk beds for the girls. They seem to love them and its nice to have the extra space, in their room.

13. being a mother. I know i put my kiddos on here, but i am really thankful for the chance the Lord has given me to be a mom and to learn and grow for my kiddos. I do love how much i have grown since i became a mom. I love it and would not trade it for the world.

14. bubble baths. I love love love bubble baths they take every care in the world away :) speaking of which i might need to do one tonight!

15. weekends. AHH i love the weekends more time with Derek and time with the girls. I cant wait for this warm weather because that means some awesome Stell family fun days are coming!

16. T.V. I know some might think this is odd, but after a really long day i really love to relax and watch a good show! Helps wind down my day

17. Family. I am so grateful for all my family near or far that helps me and supports me. Its nice to know how many people in this world are there and love me

18. Blogs. Even though I have not blogged in a long time and do not blog a lot lately i like having a place to come write my thoughts for who ever feels like reading

19. Phones. They make it so easy to keep in touch! I love being able to keep in touch with family in friends though phone calls or texts its wonderful!

20. Parks. I love parks, i love that they provide a place for my kiddos to run around, climb, and have fun. I love even more that we can go to the park A LOT more now that its getting warm!

21. cars. Really think about it what would we do with out a car, I know those who do not have them but in our life with what we do it would never work so i am glad we have them, and i am glad it has working ac :)

22. Strollers. I love being able to take walks to places with the girls and strollers just make it so much easier! :)

23. Primary. I love how much Jackie learns in primary. I love hearing from her every time she gets back what she learns and listing to her songs she is learning. I am grateful for a church that makes teaching our children such an important aspect!

24. Cooking. I love to cook, I love to cook ahhhh cooking is so much fun for me. I love to cook. Its so fun and wonderful

25. Ice. I love ice. Having ice in my water is something I love. Ahhhhh ICE i love you. It makes everything so cold and tasty :)

good news

2011-05-04T11:41:00.000-06:00

we are moved, things are pretty much unpacked. We just have to figure out what to do in our room. We need another dresser so dereks clothes will not be all over haha.
We got bunk beds up, so we need to get rid of fire truck bed, i want to sell that one. The rest i believe we will just give away. So if you need a box spring, entrainment center, small TV (19 inch) let me know! Or if you want to by a fire truck toddler bed let me know as well :). One day I will post pictures

lack of blogging

2011-04-19T12:29:00.000-06:00

I have not blogged much lately....maybe its because i don't take pictures on my camera much and everything is on my phone which goes to face book, maybe its because i have been busy with work and home life, maybe its because i am still stressed about moving and need to get things started, maybe its because i have become obsessed with Greys Anatomy and I am watching the seasons right now lol who knows.

Regardless of why I want to blog now a random list :)

We went to trafalaga last night and Jackie rock climbed on her own! I was so proud of her! I was sure she was going to chicken out or not be able to pull her self up but she did pretty good for her first time! YAY!

Abby is going through a super clingy does not want mommy or daddy out of her site stage. She refuses nursery and when i get home from work does not want me to put her down until bed time. If anyone has any ideas on how to break this let me know! Because really i hate seeing her so upset when I do have to leave her somewhere. Something has got to change because nursery needs to happen and letter her scream in there is not becoming an option anymore
On the other hand Abby is super lovey and wants to kiss and hug all the time i do LOVE that part!
Jackie is growing up to fast and changing into a kid and no longer my toddler
I went through all my kiddos clothes and got rid of a bunch we never wore or i did not like YAY!! :) Trying to de-clutter and have less
I really need to start packing, but I think part of me is putting it of so i can pretend we are not really moving in 10 days because i do not want to move at all
I think the reason i do not want to move i have always counted our condo as a huge blessing in my life and its never never fun to lose something you see that way. I do know though that this can only mean some good things are to come!
Chilis at lunch time is a big mistake DON'T DO IT unless you have a few hours....don't let the yummy 6.49 unlimited lunch fool you!
some people are not meant to be a landlord
Having one less bathroom to clean sounds really nice :)
I love having family in town and wish that i could take the week off to spend the time with them!

A new place for the Stells!

2011-03-31T08:56:00.000-06:00

In case you missed it on Facebook, we have a new place to live! After much prayer and fasting we know that we need to be in our ward right now. So we are moving to the 2 bedroom duplex. :)

I love the peace that follows the craziness of deciding what you should do. That peace that only come through listening to the Lord and what he wants for us. So i am at peace once again in my life, granted moving in and losing my kitchen i currently love so dearly WILL be and adjustment, but eh such more important things in life :).

Anyway some pretty awseome things about moving,

we will save money every month, and who can not LOVE that!
we get to stay in our ward who loves us dearly and who we love dearly!
Derek gets to stay and continue to help the Young Men
can anyone one say BUNK BEDS! (or as jackie calls them cunk beds) for the girls!
Derek promised me some IKEA shopping! (i think i would do almost anything for IKEA shopping!)
only one neighbor and our own yard to pay in
oh and we wont be as close to the train! YAY! :) (although i am so used to it by now lol)
We have somewhere to put our extra totes for free :) (my BIGGEST concern with moving somewhere without extra storage)
since the place is cheaper and deposit was next to nothing we can still do Family Pictures this spring! YAY! (ps anyone want to help me coordinate clothes for Derek and I lol)

Oh also if you are not busy on 4/29 or 4/30 we would LOVE for you to help us move/clean :) let me know!

The hunt

2011-03-25T12:43:00.000-06:00

So the hunt for a new place has proved to be interesting, not even a week into it and i am SO done. I have seen so many place i would never ever consider living with my family its not even funny. wow makes me sad the places they have here in Provo!

But we have seen a few we would live in. They are all in spring ville (well there IS one in Provo thats in our ward brand new and awesome but its more money then i would ever consider paying for rent). We are looking at a 2 bedroom duplex in our ward today so we will see how that place turns out. Its a lot cheaper so it would be nice to save on rent, but we have to make sure that we would have enough space because i do not want to live somewhere smaller only to pay to rent a storage garage.

To many choices to make and to many emotions for me to get to where we should go, so i am going to guess that means I have not found our place yet and I should keep looking. I am getting over the angry thing that we have to move and feeling more okay with it, but I know when it comes to the day we leave i will be a emotional wreak because i do love my place and have yet to find one (well besides that expensive Provo one) that is close to what we have now.

I am also realizing the fact that it would be nice to just downsize if possible and save the money work on getting out of debt. Sometimes i hate being a grown up and just wish someone could make the choices for us so we do not have to figure it all out...ahhh being a grown up.

Sometimes i just wish life would be easier but that is not how we learn or grow. Right now i am just grateful for a wonderful loving husband who is being my positive rock right now about everything and that he holds the priesthood. For wonderful daughters who will love me no matter where we live. I love knowing that if we put our faith in God everything will work out.

So keep us in your prayers if you would while we are on this adventure :) Jackie keeps telling me she is super excited about moving but her bed time wish nightly is that is that the people wont need our condo and we can stay. she is a positive cute little girl so I think she will be just fine but we will see.

Gag i am still trying to get rid of the thoughts that i do not want to move that its so unfair that I have to move ect. But those thoughts are getting less and I am sure will get less and less as time goes on honestly if they had just given me a place to switch to it would not bug me as bad looking for a new place is annoying :)

rfwejkfvwei;fhwe io;ryv89p23y

2011-03-21T14:43:00.000-06:00

No that title is not a mis type that is how i currently feel! We just got told we have to move out of our condo. I love our condo as in its our home and I really love it. I have a freaking awesome kitchen, ward, friends, rent price, I love it. I love that we can run out side to a play ground. I love that we are on the bottom floor so we can just run outside. I love everything about it. *sigh*

I hate that just when things were looking better this happened. But as I learned in the past the Lord loves to test us, one thing i have learned from the last 1.5 years is how much the Lord loves me and will help me, this is just another bump in the road to get through, hoping its leading to brighter and better ways.

So now the quest to find a new place quickly is in full swing KSL is going to be my new best friend. Hoping that there is a getter purpose for us having to move out and leave. Hoping that Jackie wont freak out about leaving her friends who she loves so much. Hoping Derek and I can handle leaving our ward we love so dearly.

So if you know anything let me know 3 bedrooms no more then $800 a month. and just to let out a little more frustrations

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pq3528utfgiosdkl;fjweo irtw49pahfvsdkl;

ahhh much better

18 months!

2011-03-17T09:06:00.000-06:00

Abigail,

Wow sweetheart can you believe you have been in our family for 18 whole months?! Mommy can hardly believe it. It seems like you have been apart of my life forever. You have grown and changed so much in the last little bit.

You currently hate bath time, you get so mad at me every time I put you in there. The times you are not angry you usually poop in the tub making Jackie very sad bath time is over.

You now sleep in a big girl bed! Its a fire truck because your mother ~~is just cool like that and does not buy in to gender stereotyping~~ found it super cheap on Craig's list. You have been great at sleeping in the bed! You go right to sleep and sleep pretty good!

You love to eat, and you are just like Jackie in the fact you will eat what we give you. Your favorite food though is cream soups such as broccoli cheese and potato cheese soup. You also love potato's. I have learned not to give you an Abby size serving of those because you will want more and more and more.

You are talking a lot now. Its really cute, i think my favorite thing you say is please because it comes out peas, and its so cute to hear you use it to get those things you want. Jackie always makes you say it to get things and I love that you will appease her and listen to her.

Speaking of sister, you love Jackie so much. You follow her around and play with her all the time. If you wake up before her you run to her room and pound of her door saying door door or if its open go in there and say hi hi hi until she wakes up. I think its pretty dang adorable. Luckily Jackie loves being woken up by you and will tell me mommy Abby wanted me awake.

You have developed a scream to let us know when you do not agree with what we are doing or want you to do. You are getting daddy's stubbornness i think. I do hope its something you will lose though :)

You are still so sweet, you love to hug and cuddle me as soon as i get home. You have also become SUPER clingy at times, like when i need to get things done, when its nursery time, when its bathroom time. I do hope you will learn to go to nursery because I am looking forward to some church time with out a kid! :)

Abby you have become such a joy in our lives since you came to our family. We love you and are so happy to learn and grow with you. I love you more then I can even express sweetie. I cant wait to see what you will become because I know you will do great things!

Love,
Mommy

Jessica's quest

2011-03-15T11:52:00.000-06:00

I have a quest one i have been on for the past month but have not really blogged about because i have just not wanted to blog much lately lol.

But I want to tell you all about what I have been up to so you guys can check in on me :) I want to get into really good shape. I want to be able to wear a bikini (not that I would just want to be able to!) I want to have muscles and feel strong,

So i decided to try out p90x my dad had done it earlier and gave it to me to try. I did it for 2.5 weeks, then we had the vegas sick trip so not much got done there, when we were back i was sick so i took a week off and restarted it 2 weeks ago. So now i am on week 3 again lol. Day 1 is chest/back so its lots and lots of push ups/ pull ups. I have never been good at push ups or pulls ups. I could not even do one guy push up when i started. Last night I did 70 guy push ups and 70 girl (lots of different varies in sets) that's 140 PUSH UPS! i was pretty excited, granted this morning i am pretty sore, but i will take it for those kind of results!
Pulls ups are another story, i still cant really do one well yet, i am using bands and doing that instead of them right now and attempting one of each of the kinds you do.

I also decided i wanted to add some more exercise into my life, trying to figure out how to include this into my crazy life i decide i could ride my bike to work. Lets keep in mind my work is 6.2 miles away i have had my mountain bike since I was 10 and i have not done more then maybe a mile long fam bike rides for years...yeah maybe should have practiced before i took the adventure but I did it and made it and survived! Took me 45 minutes and my legs hurt but i made it! YAY! I might not ride home and make derek come get me because I do not really have the time it will take if i want to make dinner before Derek to go to work but we will see alll i know is i am happy i made it and did not die (i was worried about that at one point in time.)

SO my goal is to ride Tuesday Thursday right now. Try it out see where it gets me i hope to make it all days but Monday (monday is dress up day at work) once i get in bike riding for that long shape, but we will see.

Also as a side note, my body is odd it does not sweat like at all. Bike ride today, tiny bit of sweat where the back pack i had on was on my shoulders, P90X nope no sweat maybe a glimmer on the forehead....is anyone else weird like this

Mommy moment

2011-03-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight was one of those frustrating moments of motherhood that turned into a wonderful she got it full of pride mommy moments. I want to record it so I will never forget how tender and sweet it was to me.

The last week or so Jackie has had a lying problem. She has been telling little white lies about little things here and there. I have had a hard time getting her to confess to the lying and have been at a loss as to what to do. Tonight she told a a few to many to my liking so we had a stern talk. After a quick prayer in my heart to know how to help her understand, I explained to her how important is to be honest and how important it is that we follow Christ. I explained to her that she can ask in her prayers for help to not say lies. She was actually very receptive. She listened and looked into my eyes (well expect when she tried to lie again...). After our talk she told me she was so sorry. I asked her what her punishment should be, she told me that she should have no story and should go to bed. I told her i thought that was a good idea and asked if she would say a prayer.

I have never heard a prayer so sweet, sincerer, and innocent as Jackie's prayer tonight. She said, "Heavenly father thank you for this day, thank you for my mommy daddy and Abigail. I am so sorry I have been telling lies to my mommy and daddy, please help me to not tell lies to my mommy, daddy, and anyone else. Help me be a good daughter and friend. Please help me make good choices. amen" The Spirit that filled the room during her little prayer was so strong and I know she felt it as well. It just assured to me how much Heavenly Father loves his little children and how special they are to him.

I broke down and cried during her prayer and so did she, (yes we are too much alike). After her prayer she asked me why we can be forgiven. It gave us a chance to talk about her articles of faith she is learning and talk about the atonement. She is such a little sweetheart and really seemed to understand everything (as best as a little kid can anyway). As I was leaving her room, she told me how much she loved me and that she will not tell any lies tomorrow. I think the thing that amazed me the most was the pure innocence and sincerity she had.

I feel truly blessed to be Jacquelyn's mother. She is a special little girl who has things to do here in this world. I only hope and pray that I can teach her and help her through life. One thing i know for certain without prayer and the help of Heavenly Father and his spirit it would be impossible to help teach and guide our children. I know we were lucky to take a while to get to a big lesson teaching mess up moment for Jackie and I can only imagine there are hundreds more to come, I just pray that I will be in tune enough to ask the Lord for help as I teach her and Abigail.

Since I have gone all churchy here on you guys let me just take a moment to share with you all my testimony of this gospel. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to know that this Church is true, to know the steps that I need to take to make it back to my Heavenly Father. I am grateful to know that I have my family forever, that I will never lose them. I am grateful for the scriptures and the knowledge and peace the bring. I am grateful for our opportunities to serve in church and know that the only reason we are making it through right now is because of the service. I am also so grateful for friends and family that I can talk to who understand and who love me for me, and help me along my way.

Thoughts

2011-03-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

So if you are a basketball fan I am sure you have heard this news. Brandon Davies out for the season, honor code violation.

I have heard a multitude of different things. The one I keep hearing at work, is why did not wait to turn him self in or why did BYU not wait until after the season to do something.

Lets go with a big fat freaking HELLO rules are rules. If you have any sort of honor you are going to come forward and right the situation, not wait and wait and wait. I am impressed that he and the school took action and did it quickly. (granted inside i am asking the same questions why not wait) It was the right thing to do. Honor is honor. You stand up for it and you protect it.

You all should go here and watch this

I really love what these commentators said about BYU.

So really yes this will hurt BYU Brandon is awesome and does great things for us both in Defense and in offense. I think he will be missed most offensively since his D skills can be replaced by others, but his 11 points a game...yeah we need those.

I wont lose faith, we have players who can step it up, I mean look at Charles, he came in and took over for Chris. We got others on the bench who can step and and make things happen! It will be an awesome end of the season for our cougars!

updates

2011-03-01T08:58:00.001-07:00

I am a slacker and do not blog anymore, I figure its about time I update on everything. So lets do this!

Abigail

She just got a big girl bed! Its a fire truck bed. I know i know those are for boys! but hey it was the cheapest one i found that had sides i liked. Great news is she LOVES the bed. She sleeps so great in it and does not attempt to escape (okay so she has not yet figured out HOW to escape.....but i am just going to consider that a good thing for now) I have a really cute video on my phone, but apparently i did not know with my new phone you have to tell it you want to send it so it so it can format it differently...whatever. I will figure it out....maybe :)

So this is the only one i could get to upload not near as cute and she has a naked bum :)

Abby is getting so big. I cant believe everything she is learning doing and saying. Her vocabulary is exploding lately, I love hearing her cute little voice more and more. I love her interaction with Jacquelyn. She always wants to be around her big sister and they play so well together.

She loves to give kisses, hugs, and snuggles, and is such a sweetheart! I love her so much!

She has developed a "lovely" scream when she wants something or gets angry....we are working on it with her new word she knows please.

Jacquelyn

what can i say about my Jackie. She is one of the sweetest little toddlers i know. For example, last night during her prayer and her bed time wish she said, "I hope my mom can have a great day at work tomorrow" Never once does she wish for her self or pray for her self. She is always thinking about others. I love it and I love her.

She loves sunbeams, she prides her self in being reverent and good in there (which i wont complain about!) so she does great! She is also learning her articles of faith right now. She knows the first 3 and now we are working on the 4th. I figured if she could memorize her books we read nightly she could use that brain for something good! My dad also told her he would take her to Disney land when she learned them all....joking or not she is counting on it and wants to learn them so she can go to Cinderellas house.

US

The us part, we are doing well. We are making through day by day. Everything is just the same ol same. We love playing with our girls, and visiting our family. We love (okay maybe just I love this) that its getting warm again so we can go play out doors. I have So missed the long nights out doors and cant wait for them to slowly come back.

I am getting our carpets cleaned by a real person this time. I have never done this before always rented a vac....but i decided what the heck i should try this out because I want nice clean carpet.

Derek still loves his cougars and hockey.

Speaking of my cougars, they freaking rock! #3 in the nation I love them. I cant wait to watch them play New Mexico Wednesday!! I love college sports, its fun to watch and follow the game and get in to the spirit of competition. Its fun, watch for bracket updates that will come in March....gotta to try and own Derek once again!!!

anyway there you go! Updates on us and what not. Hope everyone else is well :)

Smart

2011-02-18T07:23:00.001-07:00

I just joined the world of smart phones......will it make me smarter? Or have the opposite effect?
What is your favorite app that I should get?

short notes yet again

2011-02-09T10:33:00.001-07:00

Since I am too lazy to blog right now I am going to go for short notes to let you know whats up :)

Dear Michelle,

Thank you for making my entire week by your simple letter to the editor, all I have to say to you is Really? Did you not expect that kind of response. The 11th commandment (especially in Provo/BYU) is Thou shalt love The Jimmer. Maybe we will name our first son Jimmer.

Thanks for the laughs!
Avid BYU fan and part of the Jimmer bandwagon (go read this its a must)

Dear bottle loving baby,

Oh Miss Abby. You love your bottle so. I hope you wont hate me as we start the weening process. You are doing great at not having milk in the bottle at bed time (yes worst mother of the award here). You are making the water work. I did attempt last night to let you go to bed without anything i gave up after 30 minutes of hearing you yell baba please! just you wait soon I will get up the courage to get you off. Hope your ready.
attempting to keep my baby a baby,
mommy

Dear Jackie,
Thanks for being the most reverent the other day in Primary. I love that you always try to be the "most reverentest" at church. I will take that for sure. Just keep it up as you get older! You are a wonderful little girl and I love you.
love,
one proud mama

Dear husband,
I cant wait for our date on Saturday! I sure love spending some one on one time with you! The fact we get to watch our cougars and eat some yummy food just another plus!
affectionately yours,
wifey

Dear P90X,
I hate you, I love you, I hate you, I love you. Its been one week today. I am SO proud of my self for making it through the week and only hope the next 12 go as well as the first week went. Yoga might do me in though. Here's to hoping i can lose a bit of weight in the process!
attempting to be fit,
Sore sore body

Dear cold weather,
I am done with you. I am ready to spend the nights with my girls outside not inside trying to keep them busy/happy
always hoping,
cold and bored mom

Dear las Vegas,
I am ready for my vacation, could you please speed time up to the 18th?
thanks!
Jessica

The cuteness of my kiddos right now

2011-01-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

After the circus last night i was just thinking about the cute things my children are doing right now. I really do not want to forget so I want to make a list of the things i currently love about each of them!

Abigail

She gives the best kisses all the time! She loves to give loves and will give anyone kisses
she is in love with her dolls. She has one that is her favorite, which she loves to sleep with but she loves all dolls and wants to carry them around and rock them
Shoes. She LOVES shoes. She always wants to put shoes on (other peoples and hers) and walk around. Mostly she loves the dress up high-heels we have its adorable to watch her walk around in them
She is know "praying" with us. she will fold her arms but a second or 2 later unfolds them and yells "MEN!"
She wants to be with Jackie and doing what she is doing. They are already little buddies and I love it!
She LOVES to be on beds, and play on beds
she will actually take time to cuddle
she can say please "plea" and I love hearing her cute little voice!
when i get home from work she just wants hugs from mama!
she loves to talk on the phone
as much as her new found curiosity is annoying, I love how much she wants to get into things, places she wants to go, and how she reacts
Her face during the Circus, she LOVED LOVED LOVED the circus. She just stared and the performers, laughed, clapped, and danced to the music. It was adorable and she was as perfect as i could have asked there.

I love my little Abby! She is a wonderful little baby and I could not have asked for a better baby. She is so easy going and independent. I love her laugh, smile, hugs, voice, and her developing personality. i cant wait to watch her grow and learn.

Jacquelyn

she is one of the sweetest little girls I know. She always wants to give hugs and loves to me and all her friends
She wants to always hold her little friends that are boys hands
she wants to be the "reverentest" in Primary
She comes up with hair styles that i have to try and figure out
she really cares about Abby and always is looking out for her
She never stops talking (its adorable and annoying all at the same time)
She is her own person with her own ideas, opinions, and feelings
she "talks" for our stuffed animals and does their voices (wait you don't have stuffed animals that you claim as yours, and have them talk to your kids? psh your the weird one!)
She cares so much about her friends and asks about them all the time
she loves dance party's
At night when its clean up time, she picks up with out complaining. Last night she told me "i just like to help you mom since you work hard"
She loves to help me cook. I love having a little helper in the kitchen
Jackie loves her grandpa so much! every time we go somewhere fun she tells me, "mom i need to take grandpa on a date here" I love how much she loves my dad!

My little Jackie has been the best first kid I could have asked for! while she did not sleep well as a baby and still does not sleep longer than 9 hours, she is wonderful. She loves to be my helper, she has rarely thrown a tantrum. She always wants to make sure others are happy and really tries to make people happy. She loves to go to Sunbeams and is learning to sit through Sacrament Meeting.

So there ya go things I do not want to forget about my little ones right now they are adorable
and a cell phone picture to leave ya with....

Jackie and her Circus hair :)

Alice Springs Chicken

2011-01-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

We had some friends over for dinner they requested the recipe so here it is! Its mighty tasty!

This is an out back copy i got the recipe from here....but changed it up very slightly and made it easier to understand :)

Its super easy first marinade the 4 chicken breasts over night make sure they are not too thick! I just mine in half width wise to make them thinner

To make the marinade mix
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1 tes oil
1 tes lemon juice

Pour 2./3 marinade over chicken save the rest and chill in the fridge ( use for dipping when you eat :))

4 Chicken Breasts
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
2 cups sliced mushrooms
8 slices cooked bacon
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 tbs garlic
1 tbs butter
1 tbs oil
1 cup montery Jack Cheese
1 cup Sharp Cheaper Cheese

After chicken is done marinating season with salt pepper and paprika heat oil in a large skillet (if it can go in the oven even better!)
Preheat oven to 375
Sear chicken on all sides. Be careful not to cook for too long about 2-4 minutes per side. Once chicken has a good sear take off heat.
While chicken is cooking melt butter and saute onions mushrooms and garlic
when everything is done layer chicken with bacon mushroom mix and top with 1/4 cup of each cheese. cook 20-25min.

Serve with sauce on side to dip!

**note i hate mustard but love this! ( i do not use the sauce to dip at the end) There is not a strong mustard flavor after it cooks, its just SO tasty! :

We also served Loaded Mashed Potatos
no real recipe here, but make some mashed potatos and milk, butter, sour cream, green onions, cheese and bacon :) oh so yummy with this meal!I love to put the sauce from the chicken on the potatos.

Now i want it to be lunch time so i can go eat these leftovers!

PS (yes this meal has cheese um yeah dont know how that works into my resolution)

2 darling divas in the making

2011-01-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Abby loves to walk around in Jackie's Dress up shoes. Although I have only ever seen her in one :) I think its pretty cute! Already learning to walk in high heals!

Jackie got on eye cover for Christmas last year but it broke. She has been asking for one ever since. So i got her one. She loves to sleep in it. I think its SO funny to look at her when she has it on. Plus since she cant see the light i can take pictures of it :)

My Name Is Jessica

2011-01-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

and I am a cheesaholic

Its bad guys, I love Cheese. Any kind really but Sharp cheddar is my favorite. I love to put cheese on anything. We go through a lot of cheese in our house I would say around 10-12lbs a month maybe more (we buy a lot of cheese! good thing its always on sale somewhere!) My husband loves it as do my kids, but I think i am the biggest cheese lover in my house.

In thinking what I want to change about my self in this next year, one thing i kept coming back to was cheese. I KNOW I use cheese WAY to much and put a heck of a lot more cheese then is needed on food, but really how do you go about cutting back? This question has been running around in my head. I want to teach my girls good eating habits and not eating as much cheese would be one of them. (i will discus the others at the end)

After a lot of thinking and talking with people about different ideas I figured out what i wanted to do. I talked about it in my last post but wanted to really talk about it here. My idea was to limit the amount of crap i ate. I knew i could not cut it out completely (minus sugar, i really have no issues giving that up) With the help of my husband i decided i would give up the foods 6 days a week. Once a week have a day I could eat those foods I tend to overeat on.(this is to go until my birthday 6/28 for those of ya who forgot!) This is all in hopes of teaching my, mind, tummy, and self that I do not really need these foods and to use them more sparingly. So i decided I would not eat cheese, fried food, fast food, or sugar 6 days a week. This has been the first week.

I am not going to lie it has been hard. Well the cheese part the other parts have been SUPER easy. (although i do really want a spicy chicken sandwich from carls jr. best $1 spent EVER!). But I can say i am learning I do not really need it on the foods I love it on. Such as scrambled eggs. While SO yummy with cheese are very good with out. Fajitas are still super yummy with out cheese. Sloppy Joes, even messier with out cheese! Pasta salad, eh still alright without cheese.

Tonight we are having taco soup. Another item i would so love to cover in cheese, but I wont. I will put some pico and fat free sour cream. :) I am excited to see what becomes of the next 6 months. I will say snacking is where i tend to turn to cheese, a quick cheese roll up, some late night nachos all stuff i DO not need but i love.

So I am still a cheeseaholic, i still think about it every time I look in the fridge and see it there. I hope these 6 months will teach me not to eat near as much to teach me that foods do not really need cheese. That way in 6 months i am hoping I can go back to having cheese in better moderation. As for the other foods lets face it those should really only be eaten once a week at the most.

So wish me luck, I know you probably do not eat as much cheese as me, I have cheese issues. I have accepted it

new years goals

2011-01-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Yep thats right its time to post my goals so i can try to follow up on them :) This time around I want to post my plans for my goals so i can make them happen.

Goal #1 Eat Healthier

This goal will be accomplished by 6 days a week not eating sugar, fried foods, fast food, and one that might kill me cheese. One day of a week I will have a cheat day when i can eat above foods. I hope this will help me learn to not eat as much of foods i tend to over eat on......no cheese really might kill me!

Goal #2 Home evening weekly

keep track on our calender. Not just have an activity but I want to do a lesson. We have a lot of kids lessons already so its just a matter of doing it every week instead of every few weeks

Goal #3 Temple once a month

even If Derek and I can not go together get up and go on a Saturday morning

That's all i am going to work on right now. I want to make sure I can accomplish my goals and really focus on them. Derek and I have set some physical goals as well but those just go until my birthday so we will see how that goes.

merry christmas to Jess

2011-01-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

So we were giving some christmas money and could not decide what to do with it. We wanted to go against our normal use it to pay bills and actually buy something useful and fun. After many trips to malls and IKEA i could not figure out what i wanted to do with my money and Derek could not decide what to do with his.

Today i was reading a friends craft blog and it hit me i want a sewing machine. I told Derek he told me to make sure not to get a crappy one and gave me his money too. (i know ladies i have the best husband ever!)

so after talking to my friend Adrienne and advice from facebook blog world i decided i wanted a brother sewing machine. Adrienne helped me find a great deal on one too! :)

This is the one i got lets hope its good and lets hope i can figure it out. If any of you want to come show me how to use it come on down! I got cute kids who would love to play with yours :) and tons of toys

Also thanks to my sweet hubby who let me get this instead of getting hockey gear :) love ya babe!

Tumbling Tots

2011-01-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to put Jackie in some sort of gymnastics class. Due to the price of said classes i never have given in. Then i looked into what Provo City has. 10 classes for 30 bucks. That was a bit more up my alley! :) So we signed her up and she LOVES IT! She did the class once and is begging to do it again. So Monday she will go again. Once she is 4 she can do another class but look what she did all by her self the day i got to come watch :)

now she tried to do flips all the time at home. its kinda funny.

our christmas story

2011-01-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

I figured a week late to post about Christmas is not too bad right? This year it was going to be a bit different. Normally after Derek's on Christmas eve we spend the night at my families and do Christmas morning there but they were in Argentina

We started out our Christmas fun on Christmas Eve by going to Dereks sister Nikki's house for dinner and fun. I forgot my camera to this event, but know there was lots of food. And a ton of gifts for the little ones! Jackie got her pillow pet she has been dying to have. Life was good.
After that we came home for the girls to open the jammies. Abby was a bit tired

Jackie was just excited they were PJ's my kiddo loves clothes

An attempt at a picture........

and another

Poor Abby just wanted to go to sleep

Jackie on the other hand was excited

she decided a somersault was in order
I love this picture haha it makes me laugh

Then we put Abby to sleep showed Jackie the Nativity had our talk on why we were having christmas, left the cookies and milk for Santa and celery for reindeer.

Then it was time for us to play santa. Luckily i had got all the wrapping done so it was just a matter of setting out the rest of the gifts and putting the santa stuff together.

Here's what Santa left for the girls! Jackie got on Art Easel and some new steps and lots of chap stick in her stocking! And most important the Wild Things Book (where the wild things are) But he hid it on the other side wrapped just to be mean :)

Abby got a rocking plane (a great score from KSL!) and a shopping cart. She got a book to the very hungry catepaillar

When the Jackie woke up she was so good and came and got us first just like i had asked her too! :) We got abby up and went out to see what Santa had left. All she cared about was finding her dang book :) Derek had to show her where to look and she was SO happy!

she loved all the candy :)

Then i decided to do the same mean thing my dads family did to me on Christmas after Santa gifts we had a nice breakfast before we moved on to the other gifts.

Here they are eating

so silly

We then moved on to the normal gifts. At my dads house we always opened gifts in a very organized fashion which I LOVE! i hate the free for all! So we separate the gifts by the giver. So you make a pile of all the gifts you are giving then take turns giving gifts. This way the focus is more on giving and you get to see everyone open all their gifts. So this is one tradition i wanted to do in our family. Luckily for me Derek really likes it too!

So its what we did. Jackie did great with it and was pretty good at the wait to open her gifts. I figure since its all they have known as they grow older it will work out great!

Since it was just us this Christmas I decided to cook up a bunch of dips and snacks to eat during the day and then we had Chili for dinner. Derek had to go into work for a bit. So after that me and the girls just played around and had fun with all the new toys.

This year i did a ton of research on toys. I did not want to get my kiddos gifts they were just going to discard after a week. So hopefully the the advise from many mommy blogs and baby cheapskates (you should look them up on FB they have list of toys that get played with for a year or more. Its pretty sweet) so we will see if they do in fact still play with their toys down the road.

It was a pretty great Christmas. I bit weird not seeing any fam on Christmas day but kinda nice to do our own thing :)

reasons to rejoice!!

2010-12-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have 3 wonderful reasons to rejoice this Holiday Season. 3 reasons to make each day a bit more perfect, to make those dark days a brighter! Bet you cant guess what those 3 reasons are

First and for most is my husband Derek. I love my husband so much and am so grateful for everything he does for me. I love how perfect he is for me. I love how he completes me. I love how happy he makes me. I love how he can always find a way to make me laugh no matter my mood. I love how he can always figure out me when even when I can not figure out myself. I love his devotion to the gospel. I love his commitment to the church and our family. I love how much he loves our daughters, and how he would do anything to see them happy. This holiday season is a perfect time to think about how lucky I am, and my sweet Derek is a perfect reason to rejoice.

Another perfect reason to be so grateful is my wonderful daughter Jacquelyn. Jackie has been the perfect first child. I could not have asked for a better kid to learn on! She is a wonderful little girl who always thinks about others before her self. She is learning how to be considerate and I love it! She loves her sister and always wants to make sure she is happy. Jackie loves her friends and always talks about them and what they like. She always wants to bring cookies to others. Jackie is learning so much about the gospel and loves to tell me what she learns about in nursery! I love my sweetheart and know its a special thing to be her mother.

Abigail is my sweetest reason to rejoice. She is such a wonderful sweet little girl. She has been one of the sweetest easiest little babies. She always wants to give kisses and snuggle. She has the sweetest disposition and will just go off and play on her own and do her own thing. I know she will do great things as she gets older and learns more. Right now she loves playing with Jackie and doing what ever she is doing. These little ones are becoming best of friends and I love it! I can only hope and wish it will stay the same as they grow older *sigh*! For know I will enjoy what they have!

There are many more things but right now these are whats on my mind. My sweet little family means more to me than anything. I love them more than i can express.

To all my friends out there, i hope you can take a few minutes to really reflect on what you have in your life to rejoice.

A whole lot of random

2010-12-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

Lets start here. Have you seen this yet? Picture of Christ that did not burn in the Provo Tabernacle Fire? I think its pretty awesome.

Our bishop gave us all this picture

I am super excited for Christmas! Jackie is really old enough to fully get it this year and that has made it SO much more fun! She is pretty easy all she wants is bubble bath and the book Where the wild things Are. Good thing both those are pretty easy to come by. Hopefully she wont be too put off by getting a few more then that. Last night she kept telling me she can only have 2 gifts, silly silly girl
This will be my first Christmas not seeing my family! They are in Argentina and Vegas! I am a little bit sad about this but also excited to have our first Christmas at our place and to set our own traditions! :)
I still am holding out for a White Christmas. Even though the weather channel made it seem super super super super slim a girl can hope right?!
My car drives better in the snow then i thought, WAY better then our red car we had before our Xterra.
Abigail is growing up so fast and plays so well with Jackie now. Its SO cute! I love that they are becoming little buddies and I really hope it stays that way!
I took Abby to nursery Sunday. She was NOT in the mood to be quiet or hold still at church. She loved it! So I hope this means in 3 months she will love it also. I was also super excited to see how good my little Jackie was in nursery. She listened, folded her arms, stayed in her seat, and helped clean up! Its always nice to see that what you teach your kids pays off!
I held an adorable 2 week old baby on Saturday. And ya know what it made me SO happy that I do not have a new born. Also re affirmed to me that i am so not ready for another yet. :) I like my 2. I know we will have more kids but not right now :)
also 2 weeks of 3 day weekends HECK YES!

my kiddios....

2010-12-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

So tonight we got back and i had to go to my business so we just ran in took coats off and shut the door. Mistake number one. When you have a 3 year old you always use the chain lock! After i got done just a few minutes later...I am no man who sits and reads FOREVER! (please tell me I am not alone in having a husband who does this?!) anyway back on track, i came out and felt a breeze walked out and the girls were sitting out side waiting for grandma who was about 4 hours away :).
Don't worry Jackie made sure to put her coat on and Abbys coat....Abbys was upside down still amazed she got it on her!
So moral of the story use a chain, if you don't have one i guess you trust your three year old to get herself and the one year old in coats....I am thinking i will just now make that Jackie's job :) one less thing for me to do when running out of the house ;) !

yes this again!

2010-12-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

SHORT NOTES!!

Dear Christmas Tree,

My nose is no longer as stuffy and I can smell you :) its wonderful to have a real tree this year. it will be nice this year then my cheapness will lend to me buying a artificial one again. For this year I will enjoy and love it.
Smelly yours,
pine forest lover

Dear Giggle (abby),
Thanks for being so quick to learn not to touch the Christmas tree! I should not have been worried, you have been great! A few times you go for the tree and a no will turn you into a new direction. I am just so happy i was able to put our tree up early and not have to worry too much!
thankfully yours,
mama

Dear Jacquelyn,
Your recent attempts to not eat foods that you have previously loved makes me laugh. For example mom made pizza compete with green onions and tomatoes. While making the pizza you kept stating your dislike yet you ate your whole piece. Stop trying to be pretend to be picky and accept your great love for eating
frustrated and laughing,
a cooking mama

Dear Head Cold,
You have been around for over a week, all i can say is are you kidding, please leave me my head and my awake-ness alone. I am a working mama I can't deal with anything to slow me down.
Snuffly still,
Jess

Dear house,
Remember how I am a working mama? Well do you think you could clean yourself?
messely always,
a women in need of a clean house

Dear Abby,
I love how you follow around Jackie, how you are trying to talk, how you want to be big, how you love to be in the middle of everything, how laid back you are, how easy you are to take care of, and all your hugs and kisses.
always in love,
mommy

Dear weather,
thank you for being above freezing!! Please stay this way for a while
in need of warmth,
a very cold lady!

Dear Hubby,
one day we will see each other more. Until then know how much I love you and appreciate all you do for our little family.
always appreciative,
Your wife

Yummy Potato Soup

2010-12-02T08:55:00.003-07:00

I brought this to our work party last week and had a lot of requests for it so here ya go!

Yummy Potato Soup
2 cups diced celery
1 medium onion
2 teaspoons garlic
5 cups water
5 teaspoons chicken bullion
1 bag southern style has browns (the ones that are tiny squares)
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
7 ounces cheese whiz
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

2 cups celery ( I like a lot in mine my mom makes it with just a tiny bit....anyone remember what the individual pieces are i cant!)
1 medium onion (more or less all depending on how much you want)
2 teaspoons garlic
2 table spoons butter

Dice celery and onion and saute until onions are translucent

Add 5 cups of water and 5 teaspoons. chicken bullion

bring to a boil

add a regular size bag of southern style has-browns (make sure NOT to buy the kind with peepers)

Let this boil until the potatoes are soft

While it is boiling in another bowl, add 3/4 cup melted butter 3/4 cup flour and 4 cups of milk. Stir until all lumps are out.

Once Potatoes have softened add milk mixture to pot.

Bring to boil and add 7 ounces cheese whiz (please make sure you buy the correct stuff, this is not in a spray can i have had 2 people attempt to make this with eazy cheese. this comes in jars)

I always add about 1-2 cups sharp cheddar as well. This is not in the normal recipe but i PROMISE it tastes a lot better, make sure to use sharp cheddar too, and do not get the pre-shredded stuff, does not melt near as well.

add salt and pepper to taste

Turn heat down and let simmer for at least 15 minutes.

Eat and enjoy!

Gratitude a day #30

2010-11-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

WOW i made it to day 30! Starting out I am not going to lie i was a bit worried, but it was a lot easier then i thought. AND helped me be a lot happier and positive this month.

This being the last day i tried to think up something super profound to write about, If any of you know me i am not a profound type person, so I figure you get what you get.

Today I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for all the parts of it. Sometimes i know i complain i have to work and I wish i was home with my kids. But this month has taught me how lucky i am. I have so many blessings in my life. I am going to do better at always looking to those blessings. I am also going to make sure I do my best to use my blessings to help others. This is the time of year for service and I want to help and do what I can.

SO dear blog and facebook friends, i ask you, what service are you going to do this year? Anyone can help and do service no matter your situation. One thing I have learned is when you need help this is the time you should do as much service as possible and you will receive all the help you need. Think about it, figure out something to do great or small, and tell me :) I want to hear what everyone is doing

What are the Stells doing I am sure you are wondering well I am still debating. I know we will get a few gifts to donate, but I want to do more then just that. So i am looking for those opportunity right now. Let me know if you know of any good ones :)

Gratitude a day #29

2010-11-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Wow down to my last 2 posts for this crazy!
Today i am going to have to go with I am grateful for the beauty of were i live.

I hope you have all been to Utah i think most all of you who read my blog have, but really you cant beat how beautiful it is here. We just had snow last night so everything is in a blanket of white, i love it. I love the the mountains and the green and the pretty snow :)

Gratitude a day #28

2010-11-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for Church. I love that every Sunday we have the chance to go learn of our Savior and feel is love. Sometimes as of late i have hated going to church, due to a toddler who is way past her nap time and still too young for nursery. Its made it so i miss a lot of church, but you know what, i still love that going and knowing i am where I should be. Knowing that is where the Lord wants me. I love knowing that even though i miss a lot my meetings, I love being in the Lords house I love feeling his Spirit. I love just knowing I have a place to be and a place to worship. March will come soon and Abby will go to Nursery, but for know I am going to enjoy the little time I do get to spend wondering the halls with Abby and the extra snuggles i get from my over tired baby :)

Gratitude a day #27

2010-11-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

I am so super grateful for friends! I have many friends old and new who are so wonderful and helpful to me in my life! I love and appreciate everyone. It amazes me the love that they have for me and my kids. So thank you each and everyone of you who has helped me out in my life, thank you each and everyone of you who has lent your ear for me to ramble on and on to. Thank you for each and everyone of you who has picked me up when I am down. To all of you how have put up with my craziness of me, You all are wonderful. I hate that so many of you are so far, and that I do not get to see you all so often, but i am glad for our talks and chats. I hope all of you are doing well and you enjoy this holiday season!

Gratitude a day #26

2010-11-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for a FULL DAY off for both Derek and myself :) it was wonderful. we only ever get this on Sundays when we have lots of other things to do so it was VERY nice! and we got our tree! This is our first year doing a real tree.....we always have had a fake but it bit the dust so we are doing a real one now and after Christmas I will buy a fake one when they are 90% off :) Here it is in all its cell phone picture glory. So Merry Christmas and lets get ready for a wonderful Holiday season!! :)

Gratitude a day #25

2010-11-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

today I am happy to go to bed knowing i can sleep in and not wake up at 2 am to go black Friday shopping. Thank you Amazon and Wal mart for posting deals as good as or better than what they are on BF

Gratitude a day #24

2010-11-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

due to my extreme fatigue keeping it short and simple tonight. I am grateful for

Friends
I really do have the best friends. Some have been around since Jr High, some from high school, some from freshman year at BYU. And many more through out my married years. I love you all and am SO happy you are in my life. You all are wonderful and I know I can come to you for anything. So thanks to you all for all you do for me and all i know you will continue to do for me.

Gratitude a day #23

2010-11-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

Can you believe its almost thanksgiving? Well i can not! Today i am trying not to look outside to see what this weather is bringing. I am just going to think warm warm thoughts! In the mean time, today I am grateful for Family

This is 2 part. One I am so grateful for my own little family and how much joy the bring me. Really they are wonderful and I love knowing they are mine forever :) I am blessed to have them in my lives. They make each day a bit better by being there. I love that they love me no matter how crazy i am or how crazy my ideas get. I love that they put up with all me experiments in the kitchen, my crazy ideas for family fun, and well all the craziness that is me. I love how much my daughters love their dad, I love how much Jackie is like me. Its all just wonderful.

2nd part, is i am grateful for my family near and far. For my parents, siblings, cousins, in laws everyone. Its so nice to know that there are people around who care about you and want you to be happy. Where would we be with out family?

oh and you all should make these rolls some of the best homemade rolls i have ever had! :) mmmmm tasty!

Gratitude a day #22

2010-11-22T21:58:00.001-07:00

Today was awesome it did not feel like a Monday. So today I am grateful for

3 day work weeks!!
Pretty happy I only have to work 3 days and get paid to have 2 off! WOOT!! :) Who's with me on this one? Can't wait for Thanksgiving! Its coming up! :)

Gratitude a day #21

2010-11-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

a few things on my list today

Abby's fever going down
snow (this one is more so Jackie will stop asking when its going to finally snow)
husband helping me clean and re arrange some things in the house
Jackies funny comments on life
Abby's snuggles (when kids do not feel good they give the best snuggles!)
Husband cleaning up after dinner
lasagna i had frozen earlier....made for an easy dinner tonight!

Gratitude a day #20

2010-11-20T21:50:00.001-07:00

Today i am happy that Super Saturday for Relief Society went SO WELL! I have spent a long time planning it and getting everything together so YAY for it working

I could add to the list

going to the BYU game
BYU winning!
date with the hubby!
so many people willing to help out! Love all the ladies in my ward and their wiliness to serve and help!

Gratitude a day #19

2010-11-19T21:22:00.001-07:00

There are few people in my life who I truly look up to and admire. One such man is who i chose to write about today. Today I am grateful for

My Daddy

Yes I still call him daddy from time to time. I know I will always be his little girl. I love my father. He has always been a wonderful example of a disciple of Christ, of loving his family with all his heart, and of always trying to do what is right.
My dad has fallen in love with the role of grandpa. I love watching him treat my kids as if they were his own children and I love how much my girls love him.
I hope as I get older I can be more like him. Thanks dad for all you have done for me and all you will continue to do. I love you!!

Gratitude a day #18

2010-11-18T12:50:00.001-07:00

My whole life I have been a very positive person. Always looking at the positive side of life, whats the bright side to any crappy situation is. I have always been called an optimist. After Abigail was born i really lost this part of my self. I think it was due to a bit of postpartum, our financial situation, moving away from family, and the fact I would not look at the positive sides in fact sometimes i just plain refused. It has taken me a while to get out of this mind set and come back around to where I feel like myself again. So today I am grateful for

A Positive Attutuide

I am really glad to be able to say I have this back. Its taken a while to feel I really have this back but last month i really noticed that my thought processes was coming back to focus only on the positive. Please do not get me wrong I do have my moments where i am fed up and done with everything and just want to scream. I have moments where my kids drive me nuts with their kidness, but what i have found is when I look past those I am happier, when I am able to remember the good life is better. So I am SO happy to really feel like I have my positive attitude back, here is to doing what ever it takes to keep it! :)

changing things up

2010-11-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

After 17 posts on just what i am thankful for I feel the need to just write SOMETHING else. So here it goes!

First off I am really enjoying the gratitude a day thing. I have noticed it really helping me stay positive and happy :) So I might try to keep it up. I had a gratitude journal i kept (my family did it nightly) as a child, so I might see about starting that up in our family.

I have been really bad about going to the gym these past 2 weeks, and dang it all the scale is showing it. I need to get better at going but with our schedules its been hard lately.

Abby has started sleeping poorly due to teething i believe so i have been having her sleep in her pack n play in the play room and now i can let her fuss at night for a bit and not worry about her waking up Jackie. Its helped I just hope her teething ends soon so i can but her back in her bed...or I will just move Jacks bed out in the play room until the teething crazyness stops.

Abby walks everywhere now. I love it. She is so dang proud of her self its super cute. She is also becoming a great eater. She loves everything and anything she can put in her mouth. (this includes, dirt, mud, grass...what ever she can find!)

Jackie has tried to be picky at dinner time lately. After we let her know that's not the way things work, she eats her food and likes it. Just trying to assert her independence i am sure, little does she know in my house I will not stand for that (well i guess she is learning this one) I am not one to make a kid finish their whole plate, but at least one bite per year old per item is required :)

Derek and I well we are good :) Just hanging in on the crazy roller coaster of life. Getting ready and excited for thanksgiving, Derek hoping it snows, Jackie hoping it snows, me loving it has not yet !

Gratitude a day #17

2010-11-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

After a long day at work there is nothing I love more than coming home to my sweet, darling little girls today I am grateful for

Hugs, cuddles, snuggles, and kisses

Were would we be without these 4 simple things. I love when my kids want to snuggle its rare but it does happen. When I get home from work they love to give me all the above and I am more than willing to take it! My children are adorable and I love them like crazy!