our day

I had such a good day, I just had to document it.

This was a pretty stellar start to my day...

He picked it all on his own too :)

After all of the preschool drop off and daddy drop off, we took Luke to get a haircut (pictures to come!). One of the new favorite things that the kids like to do is play with the webcam on my computer and take cute little pictures of themselves. :)

After rest time, Dad had to go to work. So we packed up in the stroller and took a trip to the park at the school around the corner...and up the street...a ways up the street...and across a huge lawn. I was wishing that there was somebody to push me home.

The kids had so much fun enjoying the beautiful day we had outside. Until Luke took a header off the end of the slide, then the novelty started to wear off. But they had fun nonetheless.

After we were done at the park, we walked a little bit further over to Grandpa and Grandpa Brooks' house. They had so much fun seeing Aunt Alison and playing with Leila outside until it just started to get dark. I got to sit inside with Grandma Karen and eat chocolate chip cookies. :) I think I got the better end of that deal. After play time was done, Grandpa Brooks offered us a ride home (for which I am STILL so grateful for, I am pretty sure I would still be sitting on a curb somewhere...).
Then the kids took their showers, had a yummy dinner, and just as we got settled in to relaxation mode, Dad got home early! After stories and teeth brushing they got all tucked in.

It was a great day! I miss having the mellow days like this where time is more of a fluid factor in the day instead of the determining factor of what we have to do and when we have to be there.
I didn't do one load of laundry or dishes. Last nights dinner dishes are still in my sink and I haven't even gotten my shower yet. I have bath towels in my rocking chair and nobody's bed is made. None of that matters today. I am so grateful for the time that I got to spend with these 2 awesome kids today! The day was just not long enough :)

remeber when I said I would win...

Maybe some of you remember this post that I did almost a year ago when
Luke picked Notre Dame over BYU...?
It totally bummed me out.
Then this one that I posted right after we had Luke. It is 6 pictures down and it
documents one of the greatest debates of our married life.

But...


This has been a totally epic season for BYU Men's Basketball, and when I say epic, I mean E.P.I.C.
It makes me drool just thinking about it...

I was watching the BYU vs. Wyoming game this afternoon and Luke woke up from his nap and joined me. By the end of the game this is what he was saying:

If you couldn't understand that it went like this:
Luke: "Go Jimmer!"
"Go Jimmer!"
"BYU!"
Me:"They are the best, huh?"
Luke: "yeah."

See? All the boy needed was a chance to speak for himself. :)

That's right, Jacob.
See, you have to go to work sometime.
I have March Madness coming up.
BYU is projected to be the #1 seed so I have lots of time to get this little boy on the right side.
Score 1 for me!

PS: For those of you who don't know who Jimmer Fredette is, right now he is the highest scoring player in the country averaging 27.5 points per game and he just set the record for having the most consecutive games with a 3 point shot made @ 23 games and he just scored 38 points in the last home game of the season. Pretty much, he is awesome.

my thoughts on pregnancy, in a nutshell

boy oh boy!

Hi. My name is Malisa and I have no self control
*Hi Malisa*

Because I have no self control I have to go through every channel possible to find out the gender of my spawn as early as early as I can.
I called the OB's office and was extremely persuasive. So much that I got them to move my appointment up...only by 3 days. That was no where near enough.

I whined to one of the best friends and she told me of a place where they will do it as early as 16 weeks for like $50. I called several times and, apparently, they have no need to make money because nobody was EVER there. Oh well, their loss. But I still had a need to fulfill.

The Internet! They can answer anything--to varying degrees of accuracy.
Enter: Fetal Fotos *cue angels singing*

I called them at 10:45 and they had an opening for us at 12 noon. That same day. It was meant to be :) We packed up in the car and picked up Jacob from school and I told him that I found a place and that we had an appointment in an hour. When I hopped on the freeway, he asked where we were going. I told him that we were going up to Murray. He almost said something, but thought better of it. ;)

Here are the pictures of our newest little man!

All of my kids have liked to cause various amounts of trouble as we were trying to determine their gender. Taylie would aim a well placed kick right at the ultrasound device so all we could get was a foot. Lucas was his usual stubborn self and didn't want to be bothered to move from the comfy position he was in. That right there should have given me a huge insight into the personalities of my children...

This little boy right as he moved into the perfect position, he stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles! No joke. Like he knew...
So the tech girl poked around for awhile and got him to uncross his legs, but then in a stubborn act of rebellion, he reached down and covered up his little boy junk with his hand. All we could get were little finger tips. He kept his hand there. At that moment, I was sure he was a boy, I mean, really! That screams boy! But the tech girl was very persistent and wasn't going to stop until she got the shot that she wanted to call it one way or the other.

She found it. :)

my belated post on winter happenings

Taylie's Preschool Sing-Along:

This past holiday season was, in a nutshell, pretty much like the rest: FUN!
Thanksgiving was awesome, Like always :)
Kid Birthday's were awesome, Like always :)
Christmas totally rocked, like always :)

Something new that we did get to do this year was special because Taylie is in preschool now. They had a little Christmas program and a meet-and-greet with Santa which was pretty adorable. Except for the fact that Taylie refused to sing, cried most of the program and complained about her scarf because she hates green. It was super entertaining :)

I included a few pictures from the Christmas Sing Program. I am so in love with this preschool! Her teachers and the whole program is just so creative and you can tell that they love the kids.

They jazzed up some old favorites that the parents would know, but the kids were clueless to, and changed them into Christmas-y songs. Do you remember the old Batman theme song?
You know: "nananananananana BATMAN!"...?
Well this room full of 3 and 4 year olds were singing: "nananananananana SNOWMAN!"
There was a huge variety like that and it was pretty cool and just plain adorable :)

During the whole program Taylie sat in protest of the fact that she didn't like her scarf. The teacher came and got me because she was all kinds of upset so when I checked on her she was crying. I sat down with her and asked what was wrong. Through her tears she says "I...hate ...green!" It was pretty hard not to laugh, because she was so serious and upset, but she really does hate the color green. She will pick anything else over green. To make matters worse, her favorite is red. It was a low blow to a 4 year old.

The poor teachers had no idea and the idea did cross my mind that it would be an easy fix to ask for a trade, but I thought that would set a bad standard. You know: she is mad and doesn't like something so she pitches a fit and mommy comes in and fixes it...? I thought that it would set a bad precedent, even though she is 4 years old. I still feel bad about it actually...

After the sing-along show, Santa was waiting to meet all of the kids. Taylie was so excited to see him I thought that she may pee her pants! They were very organized and handed out numbers as you got there so then you got to meet Santa in the order that you got to the program. I thought that was a clever way to achieve positive reinforcement in the parents to be there early...oh yes, I noticed we were being played by those who work with toddlers. It goes to show, you stick with what works, no matter the age. :)

Taylie loved her visit with Santa. Luke ran away and hid behind my legs. That one situation shows the difference between my kiddos so well. :)

Christmas Eve:
We kept up with out 2nd annual Christmas Eve Morning Breakfast with Grandpa and Grandma Brooks. We went to Village Inn for breakfast and then we all come back to our house to hang out and exchange presents. The kids were insanely spoiled, as usual. :)

Grandpa and Lukie playing with the hand puppets. Lucas has claimed the pig as his own and calls him Porky. Nobody else is allowed to play with Porky.

That night, we went to Grandpa Schlenker's house for the best meal of the year! Prime Rib with all of the fixings! It is seriously my most favorite meal of the year!!!! I went home so full it was almost painful.

Christmas Morning:

Santa spoiled the kids. As usual. They both got everything they asked for, which is pretty awesome because little kids have little lists and mine seem to focus on the same thing or 2. It is super easy.

Taylie and her new CTR ring.
(side story: She had one earlier in the year and kept taking it with her into the bathroom when she went potty. We told her that if she lost it, there was no way that either of us were going to be sticking our hand down the toilet to retrieve a ring. She dropped it, of course. We told her that it was a hard lesson learned and that maybe if she was really good, Santa would bring her a new one for Christmas. Taylie was fixated on being very good from July until Christmas so she could get a new CTR ring. She was obviously a very good girl :) )

...and a Pillow Pet Lady bug. She has an incredible memory. She had seen it back in JANUARY of 2010 and still wanted it for Christmas. So I gave in.

Lucas got a monkey Pillow Pet. A monkey, just like him. :)

They actually both use them every single day and sleep with them instead of their normal pillows. To each their own!

Taylie was ultra concerned with the idea that Lucas would touch her things from her stocking. She kept them hoarded up on my fireplace.

Lukie's favorite present that he has been longing for all year....

A BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! That is a happy face if I have ever seen one!

Santa also brought her a Barbie. When I was looking for Barbie's in the store, I was a.m.a.z.e.d. at how stinking slutty Barbies have become! I was very grateful that this was one that was more dressed than the others.

We had an awesome holiday season and we are always spoiled way more than we deserve! Thanks so much to everyone who takes care of us and loves out kiddos and who makes this special time of year amazing!

It was a bit too quiet....

When things are too quiet, it usually means some un-approved activity is going on somewhere.
This one is not too bothersome, I found it rather funny. :)

Granted, they unwrapped every roll of toilet paper that was left in the Costco size case that I had, but in their defense, they put it all away under the sink when they were done and threw away the wrappers.

Besides, it was only toilet paper towers, not like they tried to float it all in the bath tub. :)

I just love my kids!

offically outnumbered! :)

I have been chastised 2 different times in the last week for not making an
official announcement :)
In my defense, for all of you on the Nuttall side: Grandma Nuttall and Grandma Linda have known since December and so it would appear that I seriously underestimated the Nuttall Grapevine.
For my side of the family: My parents have known since December as well, so they could have told at Christmas but since I was home being sick I am not sure what happened there....

For the rest of you who actually check my blog: first off, thanks! I figure that there are like 5 people who might check it regularly so you are pretty cool for caring :)
and again, in my defense, I did put this cute little ticker up on the side of the blog when I was 6 1/2 weeks.
Yep, just right over there.....
So those of you who didn't know, the ticker was the only think that I did. Nobody got any special individual announcement. I figured it would be fun to see who pays attention. It totally rocked, for me anyway. It would appear, that for 2 babies in a row now, Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Becca were the first ones to notice. And within 24 hours! Quite impressive ;)

• Anyway, I am about 15 and 1/2 weeks along (refer to ticker) and things are going really well. I have been getting frequent ultrasounds because they found a cyst on my left ovary that was 6cm and causing me some major discomfort. At 5 1/2 weeks, it was 6 cm, and at 11 weeks it was 6.5 cm and yesterday at 15 weeks it was gone! Yay for me :)

• I have had little to no morning sickness. I did get afternoon/evening sickness that popped up at about 8 weeks and left at 12. As long as I ended my day with a glass of ginger ale and my prenatal vitamin I was in good shape. It was great, especially compared to "Puke Fest 2008" when I had Lucas...yuck.

• I outgrew my favorite pair of sweatpants at 7 1/2 weeks which I think is completely unfair. I just bought a new pair that have a very expandable waist. I love them.
  

• The kids are super excited to have a new baby on the way. Luke is way excited and Taylie has finally come around to the idea that it will either be a boy or a girl and not a puppy. She wants a girl and Luke just says that he wants it to be cute.

• I have been feeling the baby move for about a week now and it moves LOTS!
  

I think that is pretty much the low-down so far and not much has happened that is too exciting. I will have to post some pictures of the bunk beds that the monkeys sleep in now that they share a room (not for Taylie's lack of protesting, believe me!). We go in for the head-to-toe ultrasound on March 11 and we will find out what we are having.

If things stay as uneventful as they have been I may not post much baby news until then. If there is something you want to know, just let me know. I figure that the 3rd time around, not much will change until towards the end.

I am loving this little alien baby already!

Taylie

I know that I am way behind on posting. Part of being behind is realizing that you are behind and how much you have to do to catch up, and it is overwhelming. What started it in the first place is realizing that my baby girl is 4! I have had a really hard time squaring with the idea that she is already 4. I mean, I can still count 3 years old as a toddler or even my baby still, but now she is a preschooler. A horribly independent preschooler who rarely needs me for anything more than filling up her sippy cup (because she tried that herself and found hot water, now she just leaves that to me) and zipping up her coat (mostly because I haven't let her try it herself). She is just growing so fast and it stinks. But let me tell you about my little baby girl...

• First of all, anybody who has met Tay knows that she just has this horribly cute personality that will pretty much make everyone love her, and they don't really have a say in it. It is like her own gravitational pull.
  
• She has this incredible zest for life that causes me headaches now and leaves me drop dead tired at the end of the day, but I honestly hope that she never looses it and is able to carry it with her the rest of her life.
  
• Taylie is incredibly curious and even though she seems to not be paying attention, seems to hear everything.
  
• Me and the Dr. are keeping a close eye on her for ADHD. It is either that or she is just really that busy....*sigh*
  
• She does an amazing job taking care of her brother, even when he is being a ginormous turd.
  
• She loves to help with e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Sometimes it is great, I found that she has cleaned my room one day and made my bed because she "wubs me".
  
• She has started preschool and loves it. I am super surprised she hasn't been kicked out for non-conformity, she must have sucked the teachers into that force field I was telling you about...
• Taylie has also become very vocal about her feelings, which is great, until the 2456987th time in a day that I get told that I hurt her feelings for telling her that she can't eat marshmallows in her spaghetti.
• Taylie prefers things messy while Lucas prefers things clean, it makes life more interesting now that they are sharing a room... against her will. I think she does it to tick him off...(Have I mentioned that? I will post on it sometime)
• Taylie has made it very clear that she does not want the new baby to be a boy or a girl but that it better be a puppy she can play with. She is adamant about it being a dog. Still not sure how she will handle that disappointment. (I am sure you know I am pregnant. No? I will post on it sometime.)
• She occasionally thinks she is Taylor Swift
• I love her oh-so-much sometimes
  I can't even believe it

I would tell you that we had a way fun special day for her birthday, which we did, but I am sure to her it was just another day of the awesomeness which is her life. She actually ended up being sick the day of her birthday so she had to miss preschool. That was sad. Being able to open up presents right after breakfast made up for it. What can I say, Jake and I are huge suckers for that girl. Mostly me.

She got a pretty awesome painting set that came with 3 colors of paints, and brushes, and sponges, and a smock and some monster-huge painting paper. (Just because the paper is big doesn't help keep the paint off the table any better, just so you know...) Besides the paint being really smelly, like, worse than old old old man cologne it was very fun. They spent a good part of the morning painting. I figured we couldn't have too much fun ;) because there were still lots of presents coming later that day so I hid her Play-dough factory that she had gotten too. We play with it now numerous times a week. I can't wait till it gets forgotten about and dries up and ends up in my trash. I hate that smelly goopy gunk.

I have let the kids pick out their birthday cakes ever since their 2nd birthday and this year she picked out Nemo to be the theme of her cake. I thought it was totally cute until I realized that the toys on top are actually squirt guns. Stupid Walmart, you should give parents a warning about that type of thing!

Luke was super jealous that he couldn't have the toys, so in a pure Lucas-act of revenge, he got his Woody and Buzz toys from his cake two weeks before and put them on top of his personal piece of cake. Then he pointed out that he wasn't going to share. That is one of the best things about Taylie, she doesn't care!

He didn't want to eat any more because he didn't like being messy...

It must be wonderful to be Taylie :)

For the rest of the evening everybody came over and spoiled her rotten with tons of presents. She spent some time playing with her toys with everyone and pretty much just enjoying being the center of attention and being loved by everyone who wanted to love her! We had a very fun day and she loves to tell everybody that she is now "4 years older up" while she shows them 3 fingers. Good thing she still has another year of preschool. :)

Her stats at the 4 year check up:
Height: about 45" tall
Weight: 39-41 lbs