I suppose it had to happen eventually....

Well, Talia has her first ear infection. Considering that Kyle had constant ear infections from 10 months old, and tubes at 1 year, and Alec had tubes at 6 months, 10 months, and 2 years, I guess we should feel lucky we've made it 20 months.

The backstory...
Talia's had a cold for about 10 days. She's been whiny, which I find irritating. Today was no different...until after our shower. She started crying at the end of our shower, and pretty much didn't stop. It was almost noon, so I thought she was tired and hungry. She ate well, and I laid her down for a nap...15 minutes later she started screaming. I tried to comfort her, and get her to go to sleep...no luck. Finally, I brought her out of her room, and sat holding her. She was sobbing, and started saying Owie, Owie, over and over. I asked her where it hurt, and she pointed to her right ear. She would try lay her head against me on that side, and then would cry harder. So, I gave her motrin, but something told me I should call the doctor. I was glad I called when I did...they'd just had a cancellation for 2:15. If I hadn't called when I did, I probably would have had to go to instacare and pay a bigger copay. Her left ear is fine, her right ear definitely has an infection, so I felt justfied in taking her in. Cole's picking up her amoxicillin as we speak...

This was supposed to be MY day...I planned to stay in my jammies all day, let my hair air dry, no makeup, and while Talia was napping I was going to play with my new Cricut Expression...and scrapbook a bit. Unfortunately, none of that happened. Hopefully, though, she will feel better tomorrow. And thank heaven for Motrin.

Give Away!

If you're wondering why there's a whole bunch of fish "flying" above my kitchen table, I'll give you the scoop. I'm giving away this "mobile". It's from Pottery Barn Kids, and has never been used. I originally intended to hang it in Alec's room when we moved him downstairs, but even with adjusting the strings it's just too big...the ceiling in his basement bedroom is just too low. So, it's up for grabs.
Leave me a comment if you're interested, and I'll do a drawing this weekend.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

I started a 3 day stretch of days off yesterday, so I was thrilled to start putting up Christmas yesterday. First thing after the boys left for school, I put up my Autumn decor, and got out my favorite thing...my Willow Tree Nativity.

From December 2008

It never ceases to peacefully remind me of the Spiritual implications of the season. I can't even describe the emotions that go through me every time I look at it...Talia was so cute, she asked me "What's is it?", and when I told her "Jesus", she just kept looking at it and saying "Jesus" over and over. She's talking a lot right now, parroting everything we say. I do think she's learning a lot of it though....

I started the morning by making homemade Turkey noodle soup. Well, I started the process, it really took me most of the day, after boiling the bones, letting them cool, separating the meat, cooking the noodles, and then letting it simmer for awhile. As I was boiling the bones, I got out my mini tree, and decorated it. Then I fought with the garland for the banister. It was a huge pain, and my hands are covered with little micro cuts, but the effect of it is worth it.

Last night, after a yummy dinner of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (for me, Talia, and Cole anyway...the boys had regular sandwiches and no soup) we decorated the tree. The boys really are getting very good at putting ornaments on so that everything looks balanced. Talia loved her job of sitting on Daddys' lap and handing everyone the ornaments. Cosette was her typical self...came to monitor the progress occasionally. Indy was a stinker, of course, jumping at the ornaments, trying to "bat" at them, and knocking them off the tree at times. He got squirted with the spray bottle, and seems to be leaving the tree alone...for now. There were no broken ornaments this morning, anyway.

From December 2008

From December 2008

From December 2008

From December 2008

From December 2008

From December 2008

I have a few more decorations to get out, and I need to organize the front room now that we've moved furniture all over. Christmas is on the way...now we just need SNOW!!!!

'Tis the Season!!!!

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

So, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday...ours turned out VERY well, despite the fact that I had to work at 3pm. Our family met at my brother's house and had a nice, relatively relaxing dinner before I had to leave for work. It was very nice.

Work was busy, but in our small amounts of downtime, we were all scouring the Black Friday ads(as we always do!). Originally, Cole and I had not found anything we particularly were looking for. However, I didn't get through all the ads at home, and while looking through them at work I found the 1 thing I HAD to go after...

From Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

I've been trying to justify buying the Cricut Expression for a long time...I've wanted it ever since it came out. The $300+ price tag was just more than I could justify spending. However, Walmart had it for $199.00. It was just too good a deal to pass up. And then, a friend wanted to me to get some Cabbage Patch Kids for her girls. (and thank you, by the way, I don't know if I would have gone after them just for 1 doll for my princess, but getting some for you made it easy for me to get one for Talia too). So, my wonderful husband got to Walmart at 3 am to wait for my Cricut. I came over straight after work at 3:30, and decided that he would stay by the Cricut, and I would stay by the CPK's. We waited at our separate stations, and as always, traded stories with the people around us. Sometime around 4:40 (the sale wasn't supposed to start until 5), a bell went off somewhere by mistake, a ROAR went up, and we went at it. I grabbed the number of dolls I needed, and then I was able to pick through the pile, trading for the colors and features I wanted (Talia's has brown hair and green eyes, just like she does).
Cole had an interesting experience with the Cricut...there were only 12 of them. Of course, he got one pretty easily, given his size,strength and proximity. However, when he left that area to meet me, 3 women were wrestling over the last machine. Cole said that they all had their arms wrapped around it, none of them were giving up or letting go.
We were done and in line by 4:50, and were out pretty quickly(thank goodness, because Walmart's checkouts crashed shortly thereafter we found out). We headed over to Target to check out the $3-$5 DVD selection. We stood in line over there for an hour, then were able to get the things we wanted. We left Target, went to breakfast, and then got home before the little kids were awake (Kyle was awake). By that time, I was ready to drop, since I'd been up 22 hours. Cole headed out to Kmart, and I went to bed.


This afternoon, Cole and the boys put up Christmas in the yard.
Welcome to our "Winter Wonderland"...just add snow!

From Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

From Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

From Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

Jack will make an appearance when he's done being fixed. I'm off to play with my Cricut Expression now....

Oh, and a little note for Rachael H...I realize you've gone private, but is there any way I could get an invite? To your main blog and your recipe blog? Jgil081095@aol.com.

Called Off!!! :)

I got a wonderful surprise today...I was supposed to work. We usually staff 3 RT's, but we've been busy enough to need 4 at times lately. I didn't realize it, but because of the holiday schedule this week, there were 4 RT's scheduled. Tonight, they only needed the 3, and it was my turn to be called off. I was really, really surprised, but very pleased. Especially because Kyle and I are going to the Nutcracker tomorrow with my Mom, and I wasn't going to get more than 3 hours of sleep. Now I will be rested and able to enjoy the show!

Cole and I took advantage, and went running a few errands. Later, I got to watch "The Biggest Loser"(I work most Tuesdays, so I usually Tivo it). While I was watching, I finished up a couple of projects...

Talia was THRILLED with her hat...she insisted on wearing it the rest of the night and to bed...

I also managed to finish this scarf...for me.

I actually started it while I was pregnant with Talia, but it got put away at some point, and I had forgotten about it until I got my looms back out this year to make everyone new stuff. I really wanted to get it finished in time to wear it on Black Friday, since Cole and I are meeting after I get off work to do the shopping thing...we LOVE Black Friday. So, any of my buddies out there...if there's a deal you want, and you can't get out, and we can get there...give me a call. It's definitely an advantage to have a big strong guy out there to keep the crazies from trampling you. The year I was pregnant with Talia, a few people at Target were EXTREMELY rude...to the point that one guy took a swing at Cole for trying to keep me (his 20 week pregnant wife) from being shoved around. The guy ended up being body slammed into the shopping carts for his trouble, and no one else dared mess with us. Ah...the good memories.

The funniest Black Friday memory I have is 3 or 4 years ago at Walmart...the $10 Cabbage Patch Babies. I laughed so hard...dolls were literally Flying, being thrown over the heads of the crowd to people with carts on the outside...and the women fighting so hard to get theirs. I didn't need one, I was helping people from work, so I was able to look on it with perspective. Dang, it was funny...

So, on to Thanksgiving, and the shopping madness that follows!

Breakfast in Bed....

Since we weren't able to go away for our 13th Anniversary this summer, I decided to surprise my husband with a night away in SLC over the weekend. It all began back in October...I overheard some of my friends at work talking about going to a play. It was "Into the Woods", one of Cole's favorite plays. He had never seen it live, and had always wanted to. I got to see it this summer with my mom, and he was a bit envious. When I heard it was playing, I looked at my schedule and bought tickets that night. I've been keeping it a secret for a month or so...
Then, I got the idea that if I could find someone to watch the kids, maybe we could spend Saturday night in SLC. My brother and SIL were wonderful to take all 3 of my kids for the night, so I booked the "Sultan's Palace" room at the Anniversary Inn. My surprise was all set....
Cole did find out about staying overnight about 5 days in advance. I didn't really think I could pack up us AND the kids without him guessing anyway. However, he did realize I had SOMETHING going on, but didn't press me about what. He was surprised and pleased to be going to the play.

The play was excellent. We are actually considering getting season tickets. The theater (Hale Centre Theatre) is right across the street from the E center, and is beautiful. It's not a huge theater, but the stage is right in the center, so all the seats are good. We actually had 3rd row seats, and it seemed like we were right in the middle of the play. We had a great time.
We spent a lovely romantic night in Salt Lake, and picked up our kids Sunday morning, only to find out my Dad was in the ER. As the day progressed, my dad was admitted because he is in kidney failure, and his blood electrolytes and a few other things are at serious levels. My dad has been sick, and throwing up ALOT...so we're hoping that he just got so dehydrated that his kidneys stopped working. I spend most of Sunday at the hospital with my mom and dad. Dad seemed to be doing much better yesterday, so we're having faith that everything is going to be fine.

Happy Autumn!!

Happy Autumn! I LOVE this time of year. I love the cool tempuratures, wearing warmer clothes, seeing the leaves fall, and even seeing the winds blow the leaves all over the place. I especially love the colors of November...the Yellows, Oranges, and browns are colors that I can't wear because of my fair skin, so I only get to enjoy them in a decorative setting...which means I really only get to enjoy them in October/November.

So, I got my hair cut and colored last night, and my stylist just moved to this great salon in Layton, Salon Tantrum. While I was out there, I dropped by Hobby Lobby to buy the teal pumpkin I talked about in a post a couple of weeks ago. I was SOOOOO glad I stopped...all their fall stuff was 80% off, and they only had a couple of what I wanted left. The bigger one was too big for my mantel, so I went with the smaller one, and a couple of irridescent orange ones to go beside it...thus the pic of my now complete Autumn mantel. The best part (besides how much I like the way it looks) is that it only cost me $5.37.

Talia has a little bit of a cold, and has been VERY grumpy the last couple of days. I'm grumpy because I have to go into work today for a class...and still work 3 shifts this week. I hate to work extra hours...the $ isn't worth the time away from my family. The boys are great, and Cole is grudgingly working on Christmas...although he keeps trying to run ideas for next halloween by me, and I have to remind him that he can't ask me that until AFTER December 25th.

Enjoy the wind and the weather...I will be!