A New Kind of Gum

This stuff better work... because I'M PREGNANT!

I'm due May 30 and 16 weeks along. We found out I was pregnant the end of September, but decided to wait until I was out of the first trimester to announce. We will find out in about a month if it is a boy or a girl. We don't care which it is, just as long as it is a healthy baby. Carson would love to have a boy first, which is why I think it's a girl just so she can melt his heart and soften him up. The pictures below are how we announced to our families.

Since our last name is Italian and Carson's great grandparents crossed the seas from Italy, there is a lot of Italian pride in his family. I found this shirt online and thought it would be perfect for announcing to his family. Carson took this picture of me wearing it the night we announced to them. He then sent a text to his family that weren't there that said, "My Halloween Scare" (it was on Halloween night.) It didn't take them long to figure it out after they read the shirt!

For my family, we decided to carve/paint pumpkins with them to announce. In this picture, you can see that I am sitting in the corner trying to hide what I'm painting on my pumpkin so I don't ruin the surprise!If you're not sure what's on the pumpkin, it's supposed to be the face of a mummy with my due date written above. Each person that painted/carved a pumpkin took turns showing it off, and I waited until the very last. When it was my turn, I announced, "I'm going to be a mummy May 30!"We feel excited, overwhelmed, unsure, thrilled, and all the other emotions that newly parents-to-be experience. Many of you know that I am the youngest in my family and wasn't around babies much growing up.... So as you can imagine, I need ALL the HELP and ADVICE I can get. Feel free to leave a comment with your advice and suggestions on good books to read that will help me prepare for motherhood or any other pregnancy/baby/mother tips you've come to learn from your own experiences. It will be greatly appreciated!

Paint & Trim Results

Here's the results of the paint and trim. The painters had a hard time finding an oil-based glaze that was dark enough for the look we were going for. After many hours at Home Depot, Sherwin Williams, and Utah, we finally came across an oil-based glaze that worked well.

The problem was that the latex-based glaze wasn't grabbing the texture the way we wanted it to, and the thicker they put it on, the more it covered up the underneath color. You really didn't see the "translucent" effect we were going for. The oil-based glaze was finally the answer because it was thin enough that it would coat the walls and grab the cracks of the texture, yet it was see-through enough to keep the home hues a little lighter.

We had one hiccup with this process with our drywall crew not sanding the texture down as well as they should have, so we have dark blotches here and there that look out of place and uneven, but there's nothing we can do about it at this stage of the game. When the texture isn't sanded well, (or isn't sanded at all) the wall stays rough to the touch, which gives more holes and little cracks for the glaze to go into, which in turn makes that patch or area much darker than the rest, and there's no way to fix it.

Here is a picture of the knotty alder trim after it has been stained. The painters then put three coats of lacker to give it a really neat shine. If you look closely, you can also see a bunch of white spots on these pieces of wood. Crazy thing is it's coming from the inside of the wood to the outside, and there's no way to get rid of it! We don't know if it's because it sat in our cold garage for too long, or what's causing the white residue to come out of the wood. Do any of you know what's causing this or how to get rid of it?

You can see the lacker shine in this picture on the wood trim around the door. It really turned out nice. We also guessed lucky on the door color... I had no idea what color the glaze would turn out to be, but thank goodness the doors matched!

Just a few more shots and angles for you on the job.

Sorry about the white spots on the pictures... not sure why my camera does that?

Family room.

We thought it would be neat to do half the stair in a "hardwood-floor" look and the other half carpeted since the stairs enter the foyer area on an angle. We used raw knotty alder and then had the painters stain and gloss it. The rest will be carpet.Corner of family room looking to downstairs/kitchen nook opening.Master bath looking into closet and bedroom openings.
Other side of Master bath - toilet room and shower.
Master tub.
View from entrance area as you look up.

The pictures don't do it justice, but we are both really happy with how it turned out. It really gives the home a warmth and richness we couldn't get with flat paint and texture.

California Fun!

My dad started a company called Heritage Makers, which is an online scrapbooking company where you can make books, posters, playing cards, calendars, and all types of fun "heritage-related" items that will warm your heart. They are the perfect gift for Christmas time if you want something unique and personalized. (Check out the website at http://www.heritagemakers.com/.)

They hold a "reunion" every year for all of the distributors in the company, and this year it was in California at the Anaheim Convention Center next to Disneyland. My two brothers and sister work at the home office with my dad, and so they all go to put on the conventions for the company. My brother Brytt invited me to go to and help his wife that's 7 months pregnant with the kids while he was working at the convention. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic! I couldn't wait to go and play at Disneyland with my niece and nephew and spend some good quality time with my sweet sister-in-law and siblings! My sister Bryndi and I saying goodbye to our two cousins, Cindy and Erin who took us to the airport!

Here's the view of Disneyland from our hotel balcony.

Shot of Anaheim Convention Center and beautiful sunset from hotel.After a busy day with the convention, all the distributors had the chance to do a night pass at Disneyland. We went and had a blast! Here's the Heritage Makers group lining up to get a picture with Mickey at the front of the theme park. (hence the huge ladder in the middle of the road)
It's good to see that my mom and dad still have that "spark" after all these years. I snapped this picture without them knowing.
My dad and mom treated us to a nice pot roast or fried chicken dinner at one of the restaraunts in Disneyland. We had great seats and could see the parade between the shrubs in front of us as we ate. After that, my dad and sister left to get some shut eye, and my mom, brother, and me left to enjoy the night out on the disneyland town!

This is my brother Marsh waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride. I wondered how many people have kissed that same spot through the years... hope he washed his mouth afterwards, but the laugh was worth it!

STILL waiting for the Indiana Jones ride... it was a long line!

We went at the end of September, so everywhere was already decorated for Halloween. Since my husband couldn't come and had to work, I thought that Mr. Jack-O-Lantern could be my date for the night.

The carousel.... my mom's favorite ride! It wouldn't be the same without my brother there doing something crazy and funny at each attraction.

It was late and we were getting tired, but there was no way we were going to quit! We wanted to use every penny of that ticket! This is Marsh and me in front of Jaws??? Or is it Pinnochio's whale?

Spinning on the teacup ride. You always need to do a good ol' fashioned disney beginner, except you can't eat until an hour after this ride.

Mom and son.

Trying to keep us from boredom in the lines with crazy pictures.

They have a formal banquet every year and give out awards and recognition to those distributors who have met goals and reached different levels in the company that year. The theme this year was "The Royal Ball" and puffy princess dresses were encouraged. I was lucky I still had all my old pageant formals to choose from and found my old dress from Miss Spanish Fork float days in the summer hiding away in the back of the closet. I was thrilled I could zip it up since this was a dress I wore when I was 17(THANK YOU half marathon!). My sister and mom both looked stunning in their formals.

It was fun to see my parents in formal wear and to hear my dad comment on how beautiful my mom looked. You should have seen her shoes! They had red and bluelights inside the heels that would flash on and off everytime she took a step. It looked like she had fireworks coming out the bottom of her dress! So cool!

My mom was sweet and snuck upstairs after the banquet to watch the kids so I could go down and see part of the awards ceremony.

Patti, my sister Bryndi, Chris, and my dad all giving out awards and hugs at the ceremony.

Congratulating the first distributor to receive her award.

This is the group of distributors who earned a free cruise for two this year.

My brother Marshyl all dressed shnazzy helping the distributors up the stairs

My brother Brytt was the announcer for the evening and dressed up as a Prince to fit the theme. He did a great job, especially since he got an average of 2 hours of sleep a night.

Babysitting Fun! Aren't these two just the most adorable kids you've ever seen?! I love being an aunt and had such a great time hanging out with these cuties.

My sis-in-law Jinger tickling her daughter Brynlee. As you can see, she has baby #3 on the way! I was so impressed with how well she did considering how close she is to her due date. She is such an incredible mom and I loved asking her parenting questions and soaking in all the knowledge I could. It's unbelievable to me how smart and well-mannered her kids are at such a young age, and it's because of her!

Brynlee is only 1.5 years old, yet she is fearless when it comes to water! She was even jumping in from the sides and her head would go all the way under, and then she would come up smiling and giggling and do it again!

Several people asked how old she was and couldn't believe how brave she was with the water at such a young age! We swam almost everyday we were there.

This is Ireland, her older brother. He also loves the water and likes to jump in!

My sister-in-law Jinger and I took the kiddos to Disneyland while their daddy worked and had so much fun! Here's some pictures from the adventure.
Ireland and me with Mickey.

My sister-in-law Jinger started a fun tradition with her family. Every time they go to Disneyland, they get icecream on Main Street. We got sherbert and boy was it good! Look at Brynlee grinning from ear to ear! She loved it!

Carousel Fun!

Ireland and Me.

Jinger and her daughter Brynnlee.

Jinger with her two cuties. I had so much fun and really enjoyed spending time with family. What a great way to start the fall season. Thank you Brytt and Jinger for giving me such a great experience and opportunity to learn more tricks of the trade on how to be a great parent!