Word on the Streets

my view is changing. . .

slowly but surely my view of my feet is disappearing!

showered with love. . .

when some of your dear friends come together and hold a baby shower for you---all you can do is stand in awe at their creativity and generousity and be grateful. this afternoon i felt loved beyond words as women of all ages from church came together to celebrate this new baby boy coming to our family. i felt so loved and blessed. it was extra special to have them share in my excitement for his arrival. the decorations and food were over the top extravagant and the family and friends who went to such measures to put it on out did themselves. all i want to do is thank each and every person who helped hostess the party and those who came. it was a village of women. i felt all of the love and support. photo: kristen truman, nicole hunt, larae wallace, me, stephanie waite (my sister), janet zobrist, and ann harris (my mom). the amount of talent and kindness in these ladies surrounding me is staggering.

this is niki. we've known one another from the time neither of us had any children. we had our first children only three months apart. both of us had twins for our first pregnancy. now eight years later we are pregnant at the same time again--only 20 days apart from delivery dates and we are both having boys. it is great to have a friend going through it at the same time! and how great is it that she and i have the twin thing in common and now two little boys who can grow up together. this photo just makes me laugh.

fall colors & flavors. . .

i love fall. i love everything about the season. i think about the foods of all all year long and the colors are some of my very favorites. i went to trader joes the other day and found all the wonderful colors just in the pumpkins and gourds for sale.

the end of summer and the start of fall brings my most favorite food in the world to us. . .peaches. my dad went to the farm in idaho for a few weeks and on his way home he picked up boxes of peaches. i was lucky enough to get a box and i put them to good use. there is nothing as good as a fresh peach pie! this is a little scoop of heaven when cream is added to your bowl!

the ladies help me celebrate a boy. . .

i have the best neighbors and great friends that i've met through my children attending our neighborhood school! this group of ladies came together today to celebrate with me that we are having a baby boy! i love getting together with these gals for any reason! i was blushing that they all came just to celebrate with me. i felt their genuine excitement that a baby would soon be among us. most everyone in the group has children in school full-time so a new baby is an exciting thing! this group of women are an excellent "village" of help and support to me. i hope they know how much a appreciate their friendship!

he's running for president of the united states. . .

the other night i had such a great opportunity. i was able to be the photographer for a mitt romney event. being nine months pregnant i wondered if this would be possible to do but when my wonderful husband agreed to help me with all of the physical component to it i knew it would be possible. this kind of job is so fun for me to do at this point because it helps the pregnancy go faster! i can take the photos without walking all over the location, everyone is cooperative, and i get to slip myself in with my husband for a photo with our favorite republican candidate for president.

mitt romney is an impressive person. he is sincerely happy to meet people. he has their best interest at heart. he is confident but not arrogant. he is not afraid to take off his tie and jacket and just make himself as casual as you are so you feel like you fit in. most of all when one listens to him talk--he is clear and direct. here we are: i am nine months pregnant with rod and mitt romney. 

jack and morgan get baptized. . .

this weekend has been huge! for so long i could not imagine this age for my boys. now all of a sudden we are here at age eight! 

this day was a special day. two of my brother's came in town and one brought his two girls to share in the event with us. my sister gave a great talk and my mom gave another talk. rod baptized each boy and my father confirmed them. i have written in detail about this day in my personal journal for my children to reference. i was so happy for my boys and all the joy they felt. 

room changes. . .

we've been doing a few things around the house lately to get prepared for a new baby. one of those things that was not necessarily for the baby but for the entire family was changing out the carpet in the family room. i'm convinced that about every 7-10 years we will be replacing the family room carpet. it is just where we live day to day and it takes the most wear of any place in the house. the nice thing about the carpet area is that it is exactly the size of the width of most carpet rolls so there is no seam needed. i just order a little over 15 feet and they roll in out and tack it down. when we pulled up the old carpet i just gasped at how much sand and dirt there was that had settled on the padding below it. the old carpet was just done. it was worn beyond measure. i found some extra thick padding and super plush carpet at home depot and when it was finally installed my children came home and wanted to sleep on it. in fact, most of our guests have come over and just plopped down and sprawled out on the floor. it is pure heaven. it feels soft like the foam under children's playgrounds but plush like a warm blanket. this has been on of our best changes so far! it is only second to removing our fireplace. 

the next big change we've made has been the room where the baby will be. the room we have for him has been an office, a playroom and a guest room at one time. it was the ugly and forgotten step-child of the home. now we have painted and added a few things to make it a boy room that he can grow up in with time. it is not your typical nursery with a theme. i just put in a few things that i found and enjoy. i love the blue wall and the green snake. i love the pop of orange and that white dresser that will offer a huge amount of easy storage. i had gotten rid of all of the twins baby furniture on craigslist after so many years of waiting to see if we would have another child. holding on to that furniture was becoming a burden in many ways. for this baby i've found a few key items in new condition off craigslist for a fraction of the cost and i'm hoping to keep his room simple. 

it is fun to change up things in the home. it is even more fun when you can score a deal here and there and do it on a beer budget and feel like it is worth more!

BYU men's chorus coeds & baptism photo session. . .

today i took photos of jack and morgan for their baptism in their new sport coats and khaki pants with ties. they chose to put on their byu hats for a photo. when they did i just laughed and laughed at how much these two looked like the boys in the byu men's chorus! they look like coeds to me and they are only 8 years old! their baptism photos turned out great! it was not something i thought they would cooperate with me to do. (sometimes doing a photo session with your own children can be a struggle--espcially when you are eight months pregnant and agility and patience are not your best attributes.) but they ended up being happy to oblige after a helpful talk with dad's encouragement.

october general conference 2011. . .

i always love when our church has the general conference broadcast world wide and we can stay home on the couch on sunday and watch together as a family. it fills our home with a peaceful and easy feeling. this year i was especially glad to put my feet out and recline on the couch and listen. being pregnant makes dressing up and going to church just a little bit of a chore. so to relax at home with my children on the floor playing and listening and my husband stretched out on the other couch just made my weekend! there were so many great talks this year. one of my favorite talks was given by president monson this year. he spoke to the children and the adults and gave two stories that really caught both groups attention. how i enjoy hearing from a prophet of God. 

rod with morgan: