I love the Holidays

Well, we sort of gave up potty training Josh.  We put the diapers back on him.  He will still occasionally tell us when he needs to go pee, generally at the store or in church.  I figure he does this to get out of the cart or out of sacrament - he's a smart kid.  But he was having way too many accidents at home and I was getting tired of asking him every ten minutes if he had to go potty.  We will watch for more signs of readiness and try again.  I am still looking at summer when things have settled down after the baby comes and the weather is warmer.  We will see.
We are all decorated and getting ready for Christmas.  It is so much fun to have the lights on the house and the tree all decorated.  I love to just sit in the front room with just the tree lights on and just look at the tree and think.  I used to do that as a kid and I have loved doing it ever since.  It is just so peaceful and almost reverent. 
I love this time of year.  Tyler wants to make us "gifts" every day.  They usually consist of him drawing on a piece of paper and then cutting it up into a shape of some sort.  It is fun to see him enjoying making things and wanting to do things for others.  I plan on starting to bake next Friday to get ready for my neighbor gifts.  It is fun sending all my boys out to deliver the gifts and to see them having fun giving things and not just receiving.  Our neighbors are really awesome and always spoil us.  I enjoy giving back to them - hope they like my goodies I'll be making.
I got a new calling a couple of weeks ago.  I am now the 1st counselor in the Primary.  I have never really served in the Primary, so I am learning a lot of new things.  The presidency is made of some really fun ladies and I hope that we can all have a good time serving the kids.  So far it has been really good, and really busy.  I have my first sharing time on Sunday and it seems fairly straight forward, so I am not too worried.  We did get but in charge of our wards Breakfast with Santa this Saturday, so that is a lot of work.  I am sure it will work out fine.  Luckily my past calling will serve me well with putting it all together since the Primary President won't be able to attend.  My only concern is that we'll get everything set up in time.  I guess if it's not perfect, o-well.  I'm sure the ward members will still love us.  At least they better.

Potty Trainging Josh

So we started potty training Josh last Wednesday.  Tony thought he was ready and I wanted to wait until summer, but I told him that if he thought Josh was ready then he could potty train him when he had some time off for Thanksgiving.  He has been doing okay.  Some days are much better then others.  We have to ask him a lot if he has to go potty and he sometimes will tell us if he has to go.  Half the time I like that we are doing it and then other half I wish we had waited.  I guess we will give it some more time and see how he does.  He seems a little young to me, but if we can get him out of diapers, then that would be great.  He isn't motivated by being called a "Big Boy" so that kind of sucks.  I guess we'll see.

Thanksgiving 2011

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this year.  We went over to my parents house a little after ten and then my sister Sherri took our family pictures in my parents back yard. She took a lot of different pictures.  We had a good time, but Josh pretty much just wanted to go on the four-wheelers the whole time so he didn't cooperate for very long.  But I think that we got a couple good ones of the family and of both boys.  Sherri did a good job and we were glad that she would do that for us.

After we did pictures the boys played on the four-wheelers.  I am pretty sure they could ride on them for hours if we'd let them.  Their weren't too many of us at dinner, so it was kind of nice to have a more low key occasion.  There were just three kids total and 11 adults.  We ate early that day because my brother-in-law had to work, so we made sure he got to at least eat some yummy food before he had to go.  After "dinner" (it was really at lunch time, but such a big meal is definitely dinner) I put Josh down for his nap and we all just hung out and read all the ad's for the upcoming Black Friday.  Tyler and Hayden played really well together and had tons of fun just the two of them.  After naps and chatting we ate some yummy pie and then headed home.  Then we spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home.  We were bummed not to get to see any of Tony's family, but hope that they had a good time in Disneyland.  We were all a bit jealous, but look forward to when our time will come again.  It was a nice holiday and now we are a little bit closer to this baby coming to join our family - totally the best part about being pregnant during the holidays - the time seems to go by quicker!

Happy 8 year Anniversary

Tony and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary this past weekend.  On Friday we packed up the kids and the dog and took them over to Tony's parents house.  They were so kind to watch all our boys for us so we could have a nice quiet weekend. 
After dropping the bogs off, we headed to Desert Star Playhouse where we saw, "Legally Brunette."  It was pretty funny, but not one of my favorites.  After we went home and just enjoyed watching some "mommy and daddy" shows in peace.
Then Saturday we headed up to Park City to do some shopping.  The weather was suppose to get worse through out the day, so we wanted to make sure we went up first thing.  It was raining a little when we got there and it quickly turned to snow.  We aren't major shoppers, especially when we don't really need anything so we weren't there for too long.  I wanted to go to Motherhood Maternity to get some more maternity clothes and then we got some new Crocs for the boys and some more hand soaps. 
We looked at different little baby and kid stores, but it was a bit over whelming to even think where to start on buying this new baby clothes - so we just didn't buy anything.  I have multiple friends who have told me that they will give me their old girls cloths, so we are going to wait and see how many of them actually give us clothes before we worry too much about it.  My neighbor already gave me a box of newborn and 0-3 months clothes, so we'll be good for at least a couple months.
After we were done shopping we headed back down to Salt Lake and ate lunch at the Olive Garden.  It was pretty tasty stuff.  We were still pretty early to check into our hotel, so we decided to walk around Costco to kill time - we love walking around Costco.  After we decided to take our chances to see if our room was ready and headed up to the hotel.  Lucky for us the room was ready and we were able to go and get settled in.  We decided to go for a swim and then we came back and got ready for dinner.  We ended up going to Chili's for dinner.  After we walked around Smith's Marketplace - because that's just how lame we are.  Then we went back to the hotel where we watched the rest of the Ute game and then watched the BYU game.  I fell asleep before the end of the BYU game - they killed them.
Sunday we woke up (unfortunately I still woke up at like 6:00 am) and went down and ate our yummy made to order breakfast.  Then we hung out and then got ready to go because we had to go back to our ward house to meet with the bishopric to renew our temple recommends and they extend me a new calling - 1st counselor in the Primary.  I have only been a primary teacher once for like 6 months, so I really don't know much about the primary.  It will be a big learning curve for me.  I am sure it will be just fine.
Monday morning I woke up even earlier and couldn't go back to sleep so I watched some TV while I waited for Tony to wake up.  When he got up we went and ate some yummy breakfast again and then came back and got ready to go.  We stopped at my ear doctors for a new ear plug and then headed to Kohl's to do a little shopping.  We got me some new ear rings and a new necklace.  Then we didn't really have anything else to do so we went and picked up Tyler from preschool and then went and got Josh and Koda from Tony's parents house.  All the boys had a great time at their sleepover and didn't seem to miss us at all.  It makes it lots easier to leave your kids when you know they are in good hands and are having a good time.  Thanks so much to Tony's parents for helping us have a fun, slow, relaxing weekend.  So...Happy Anniversary Tony...I sure do love you!!!!

It's a Girl

Today we found out that we are going to have a baby girl.  Tony is super happy.  I know that he would have been have happy either way, but he really wanted a girl.  The ultrasound showed that everything looks good.  They couldn't see the left side of the babies heart or the umbilical cord going into her belly button, so we have to go back in four weeks to have them check her out again.  The doctor said that she wasn't concerned, but she did want to make sure that she got a good view of them both.  Tony and I don't mind going back and getting to see our baby again.
Tyler said right before he found out that he "changed his mind and wanted a little brother."  Too late for that.  He is happy that he is getting a baby sitter and that his prayers were answered.  He is a very good big brother and he will love his sister.  Josh, I think, will do great too.  We are excited to welcome this new baby girl into our family in four or so months.

First good snow fall of the season

This morning we woke up to a couple of good inches of snow on the ground.  It was beautiful.  Tyler was so happy when he saw it.  He has been wanting snow for a long time and wanting enough snow to play in.  Koda wasn't too sure at first, but quickly realized that it was super fun stuff.  He has been out playing in it all morning.

After breakfast we all got changed and headed outside to play in the snow.  Tyler and Josh "helped" shovel the sidewalks with their own shovels and loved it.  Tyler did lots of snow angels, but was sad to see that the snow wasn't the right kind for snowman making.  We had a good time and now we are enjoy our first fire of the season and enjoying each other inside the house.  Good times.

Happy Halloween

Yesterday was Halloween and both boys had a pretty fun day.  We started the day off by taking Tyler to preschool and Tony, Josh, and I went to Macy's to do some shopping and to do a little trick-or-treating at the store (they do it every year).  They gave Josh a bag and he got about 4 pieces of candy, but we had fun and found some deals.

After that we went to a couple more stores before picking up Tyler from preschool.  Then we headed to Grandma Kim's to do some trick-or-treating at her house.  She wasn't there, so we just helped our self to their treats.  Then we stopped at Uncle Boyd's and then on to Grandma Margie's.  Grandma Margie gives out the good stuff and the boys had fun seeing her.  Then it was off to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  If your kid dressed up they got a free kids meal and they also had free shakes.  It was pretty busy, but we got there at a good time and was able to get a good seat.

Then it was home for Josh's nap.  While Josh napped, we carved pumpkins.  I thought Tyler would really like it, but he didn't like touching the inside seeds and gunk because it got him "dirty."  Then he couldn't use the knife, so he lost interest  pretty quickly.

Our ward did a trunk-or-treat, so I dropped the boys off at the church and Tony took them around there and then around the neighborhood.  They both had a good time but really wanted to come home and pass out candy to the other kids.  We didn't get as many as we normally do, so that was kind of sad.  I like seeing all the kids and how they dress up.  I also think Tyler had more fun passing out candy then he did getting it...well I am sure both were good for him.
Honestly I am glad that Halloween is over.  Now on to Thanksgiving and all that the Holiday season has to offer.  It is currently snowing big fluffy flakes of snow and we just love it.  Let the snow come and the holiday cheer.

Let the Halloween fun begin!

On Thursday my ward had our annual Halloween Daybreak activity.  Julie and Sherri both had the day off of work because of UEA and Robin just wasn't scheduled to work, so they decided to come with and join the fun. Julie brought her kids dressed up and Tyler and Josh were both dressed up in their costumes.  It was a potluck lunch and then the kids got to play around in the gym at the church.  We didn't stay too long, but long enough to let the kids play and for us all to eats some yummy food.

After the church Sherri wanted to go to Wasatch Shadows to get pumpkins for the kids.  If you donate a bag of food you can pick out a pumpkin.  It was pretty fun and the kids liked picking out whatever one they wanted.  A worker saw Sherri taking pictures and told her if she sent it in it might make their web page...and it did.  Here is the link: 

http://wasatchshadows.com/PAGES/Events.html

 

Comings and Goings

My life is pretty much boring.  I guess that is good.  Boring is much better then full of trauma and drama.  I did get a pretty bad cold last week.  But luckily the Lord blessed me and it didn't stick around too long.  I am starting to feel a little better too.
Pregnancy wise, I think that I am doing better.  I don't throw up as much as I had been and I feel like I'm not as tired as I was.  These are all very good things since I am well into my second trimester and should be feeling good now.  I am about 16 1/2 weeks right now.  I think that I have felt the baby move a couple times, but it is still hard to say for sure.  I have my next appointment in two weeks and have scheduled our ultrasound for November 7th.  We are super excited.  I keep trying to tell Tyler that this baby might be a boy and not a girl, but he pretty much won't hear it.  He says that he will be sad if it's another brother.  That is not good.  I really don't have "feelings" either way, but for Tyler and Tony I hope it's a girl.  But for me, I really would be a okay with another boy.  I have all the boy cloths and toys and I am now a pro at boys.  So I will be super happy just to know that everything is okay with the next Steenblik baby to join our team.
Koda is doing better too.  He is learning and being better.  He is definitely still a puppy and chews like crazy and he likes to steal food from the kids, but we are working on those things.  We have lots of toys for him, so we just try to make sure that they are available for his chewing needs.  We are looking into puppy training schools so we can do more training with him.  Tony has done some, but I think it will be good to get him in with someone who knows more about this sort of thing.  For the most part I am glad that the dog is here.  I do feel safer going on walks with my boys with the dog.  I wanted a bigger dog to help me feel more safe while we are home without Tony.  Not that I think our neighborhood isn't safe, but it sure does help - no matter where you live.
I have been starting to work on my scheduling for the holiday season and it is making me very excited for everything to come.  I love the holidays.  I love the sites, sounds, smells...everything.  I enjoy being pregnant during the holiday months because it makes the time go by faster.  I am excited to see family we don't see very often and just enjoy being together as a family.  I have started thinking about what I want to do for my neighbor gifts and it just makes me excited.  I know I am super early, but when you are a stay-at-home mom whose bored, you need somethings to look forward to.

Cabin Fun

Yesterday we headed up to the cabin bright and early to enjoy the day up in the mountains.  The weather was super nice and we were really glad that we got up there before the snow starts flying.  We took Koda up there too for his first trip to the cabin.  He did really good in the car and did pretty good at the cabin for the most part.  He didn't really like when we left on four-wheeler rides without him, but we tried to take him once and he got really scared of the motor noise.  So we decided he is not a four-wheel riding dog.

One of the main reasons we went up to the cabin was so that the boys could get their pictures taken by my sister Sherri for my mom.  My mom wants pictures of all the grand kids in matching clothes down by her pond.  For the most part the pictures were cute and the boys did good.  Tyler got a splinter in his toe pretty much as soon as we started, so he was brave and pushed through it.  Then we did the pictures right before Josh's nap and he didn't last too long before he was done, but I think that she got the shots that she wanted - I hope.  I also took a couple with my camera.  They sure are cute boys.

Both Josh and Tyler LOVE LOVE four-wheeling.  We went on two long rides and the boys could've kept going longer.  Tony and I really love riding too, so it works out nice.  We ended up leaving about five and we all had a really good time.  We even had a moose come and take a bath and a drink in our pond.  It was super fun to watch him come and be part of his day for a short while.  Josh is still saying, "A moose, a moose,"  It's about time we saw one this year!
If we are lucky we might be able to go up again this season, but with a cold front coming next week, who knows.  The leaves were all changing colors and it smelled wonderfully.  I loved just looking at all the beautiful trees and smelling the fresh air.  We sure are blessed to be able to enjoy our cabin in the mountains.  I love autumn.