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

Luke

I meant to post this closer to your birthday, but I was a little busy trying to keep up with you!

You sure have changed A LOT in this last year! You have gone from a little baby boy to an active little toddler. You are stubborn and a cuddle bug, loud and dramatic, loving and a beast all at the same time. I couldn't imagine you any other way. :)

You are a total sugar fiend and addicted to juice. We had to make you quit the habit and while you went through withdrawals you acted like a rabid wolverine, but you now have an intense relationship with strawberry milk.

Your sister is your best friend and you act as though you have never met anyone cooler in your short little life. You are now big enough that you do not take ANY crap from her at all. In the above picture, you decided to tackle her to the ground just because you can. The exact opposite of this behavior has also come out in you this year. You have a huge love of babies and anything that has to do with them. Aunt Becca brought over a baby doll for Taylie to play with and you stole it from her and have taken care of it ever since. You make sure she is tucked in bed every night with her blanket and love to push her in a stroller. You are a very sensitive little boy, but you are very much all boy!

Your newest task that you have decided to take on all by yourself is potty training!

You decided of your own free will to try and use the potty whenever you have to go. You are doing amazingly well! Today you tried underpants for the first time and was pretty bothered when you couldn't wear 2 pair at one time. The other pair ended up on your head and you have been as happy as a clam.

We love you and you add so much excitement to our family! We know that you will do something to make us laugh everyday. Whether you send Taylie to the corner (and she actually goes!) or hide in my room to scare me next time I happen to walk in, you constantly keep me on my toes. I love you my little Lukie Boo!

Luke's 2 year stats:

Height: 34.5 in
Weight: 36 lbs
Head: BIG!

Stanley

This is Stanley. Or better said, this is what Stanley used to look like. Taylie got him when she was 4 months old and he has been her special pal ever since.

Stanley has lived a very active life belonging to Taylie. He now looks like this:

I know, right? The poor thing. He has been on many adventures with the family and I am sure plenty of things have happened to him that I just care to not know about. The poor thing hasn't been washed in months, but I feel bad to push too hard because he looks like any day he may loose and arm, but I really want to try and get that permanent marker off his face.

I post this because I have been on a quest for several months now to find, not a replacement Stanley...okay I guess that is what it is. I mean, he is just so...anyway. I came super close to finding one at the IHop, but he was brown. Close, but not quite.

I had a huge breakthrough when I found the exact one I had been looking for! Thank you Amazon.com! Oh, but wait, they only wanted $68.95 for him! Um, what?! Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

So I post this out of desperation. If anybody comes across this cute little pink monkey who we call Stanley, would you PLEASE let me know!? I will pay for it and pay for it to be shipped if that is what it takes. I am wanting to keep this in the $10-15 range if possible. Still an outrageous price to pay just for a lovey, but you do what you gotta do.

Until a reasonable price can be found, my quest continues!

MY pre-school homework!

Having to do little projects like this for Taylie really is a HUGE reminder of how fast my little girl is growing up. For starters, she is in pre-school! That is craziness all in its own element and then when I have to do projects like this for her to take to school is makes me want to cry and get my little baby girl back. But then I think of how much fun it is to have her help me with these things and get to learn stuff about her.

Take a look at what we did this afternoon:

Up until 3 hours ago, I was under the impression that her favorite color was pink! Who knew it was red?! Certainly not me. I am super scared to see how fast the rest of these few short year will fly but I am excited to see the ways that she will change and evolve.

snow day

We finally got that snow that we have been hearing so much about. Nothing ever came of that huge blizzard that we were supposed to get, it rustled some leaves around, but that is about it. When we woke up to snow this morning, the kids were dying to go out immediately! We managed to get some breakfast in them and throw them into some warm clothes before they ran out in their jammies.

Taylie was all for exploring and seeing what she could and couldn't do in the snow:

Luke was outside for about 97 seconds before he fell down, started crying, and waving his hands around saying "eeeeewwwww!" He pretty much sat and cried most of the time, but didn't want to go inside.

He tried digging in the snow with a shovel a bit...

...but decided to go back to crying.

Taylie learned quick how to throw a snowball. I, of course, threw snow right back at her. It made Luke giggle as long as it was not tossed in his direction.

when I decided to try hiding behind Luke to avoid snowballs...

...Luke cried, but didn't want to go inside.
This pretty much shows the profound difference in my 2 kiddos

Luke bummed out after we went out back and played on the swings. I had to carry him for him to agree to go anywhere besides the front steps. We went out back and played on the swings and then he was ready to go in. Dad helped get him in and all warmed up while Taylie and I played for a bit longer.

This video cracks me up. She tried to throw a snowball at me, and as I try to run away, she scolds me.

I also love the part where she gets hair in her mouth! So funny!

Finding pre-formed snowballs made by the snowplow. What a cheater.

After she got a bit of snow down the back of her collar, she decided that she was done :)

We came in a had hot showers and then I made hot chocolate, which was a huge hit. Imagine how awesome I would be if I put marshmallows in them...I would be their hero!

We had a really fun morning and a relaxing afternoon! I love being able to play with my kiddos and that they still enjoy having me around.