Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Williams'

We went to Spokane for Christmas and everyone, but my oldest brother and his family, were there. My pregnant self flew up early with Mia and Mac...I was pretty nervous but luckily Mac fell asleep as soon as we took off and slept most of the way, both ways! My prayers were answered- YAY!

It was a week of F-U-N! My mom packed the week full of events, there was hardly time to sit around and relax. We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese, everyone got their teeth cleaned (a perk to being the kids of a dentist), the ladies went and got massages and to lunch at The White House then it was the guys' turn, the holiday cruise on Lake Coeur d' Alene, some Christmas shopping, games and going out to eat! It was so much fun!

The Christmas before Christmas

Since we went to Spokane for Christmas, Santa came to our house early so we didn't have to fly the presents back and forth. Jeff and I "manned up" and hit "Black Friday" this year. All of our Christmas shopping was over in 4 hours! We got some amazing deals that made it worth waking up at 4:30 AM. Mia had been wanting this Princess keyboard/vanity since she saw it on TV and it was 1/2 off, which makes it all the sweeter. Mac got and activity table, trucks, etcs. It was pretty quiet but the kids had so much fun playing with their new toys and games!

Mac is 1!

Our little Macky turned one! He kind of opened some presents (mostly Mia opened them and he played with the wrapping paper) and then we had the family over to watch him demolish his cake. He did not dissapoint! It took him a little while to get started, but once he tasted the frosting...it was all over for the little cake (he is so my kid)!

HALLOWEEN
We attended the ward trunk or treat with the kiddos, some friends and Mia's little cousins. Mia was Snow White (again) and Mac was a crazy little skeleton. Jeff dressed up in his favorite, and only, woopie cushion costume. My sister bought him a "fart machine" to use with it, but since we are somewhat new to the ward it remained quiet this year...hehe. Mia had a great time running around collecting candy! She ate most of it while she was going from car to car! Mac hung out with me while I handed out candy. It was pretty low key and the kids had fun.










Jeff and Mia carved a pumpkin and then we baked the seeds, Mia had a good time helping her dad and playing in the mush! (Look at Jeff multi tasking- haha)
We also made some gooey caramel and cinnamon apples. Super sweet and super messy. Since it was such a nice day, I posted a picture of the lake from our house...Utah does have amazing fall weather!

Where have I been???

Oh my gosh, it has been a long time since I've posted anything!!! I have a little excuse.....I'm freakin' pregnant, AGAIN! Haha, yes, it is true....we are having our third baby already (let me help you out with the math there- Mac will be 18 months when this baby is born)! We are a little surprised, but pretty darn excited too. I just started my 2nd trimester and am feeling like I have enough energy to shower daily and get on my computer (that only works 50% of the time).
Mia just turned 3 and is soooo grown up, sweet and cute! She is in love with Diego, Tinkerbell and likes anything "princessy".
My amazingly talented, sister-in-law took these adorable pictures of her (I'll post more later). If you live in Utah and want need a photographer- let me know, she's awesome!




We are loving our new house! Jeff just built an arbor for our patio (that won't go in 'til next spring)...so we have this cool arbor sitting over rocks and dirt. It looks lovely ;)

Mac is SO adorable! He is trying to walk, loves to laugh and is one crazy spaz of a boy! We bought Mia a little Tinker Bell tent w/a tunnel and they laugh non-stop when they are in it together (or Mac does all by himself, too). He loves to climb stairs, peak under cabinets and doors, dance and jump in his bouncer. These last 2 weeks he's been sleeping in til 8 AM and life is liveable, again. He is a completely different baby than he was 4 months ago....we are so grateful for Prevacid (for his reflux)!

July

After a pain in the ___ closing.....we are finally moved in and settled! YAY! We are loving the new house and need to win the lottery so we can afford to decorate/landscape it! Just kidding....sort of... No really, we are feeling so lucky to be in this great home and finally start "rooting" our family some where. We love the gorgeous view of the lake/mountains and are finding tranquility in the "Saratoga Lifestyle".

We do find it humorous that we've never given grass a second thought, until we didn't have any. Instead I have a yard full of rocks and tumble weeds that mock me every sunny day that Mia wants to play outside! We had to laugh as we sat in envy watching the neighbors grass being put in...lawn envy...who knew?? Mia is adjusting well to "the brown house" as she likes to call it. Mac is getting mobile and I'm remembering that we haven't had to baby proof a house with stairs before....

Since it has been a couple of months I'll catch you up on what we've been up to:

We moved out of our Lehi House the last part of May, only to find out our move-in date was being pushed out another 2 weeks (possibly more). So Jeff's very, very generous brother and sister in law let us live/mooch at their huge house until we could get the final "OK"! During that time, I went to visit my brother and his family (including my newest, cutest, little niece- Daphnee) in Shelly, ID. I was able to see my Grandpa, that I haven't seen in years. I also got to visit with my Aunt D and Uncle K from Wyoming.




Once we moved in we unpacked and were settled in in about 2-3 days. The next weekend Jeff and his other brother took Mia and his oldest kid off to Grandma & Grandpa W's then on to San Diego for a little surf trip (as part of his Father's Day present). It was kind of fun with just me and Mac at home, I forgot how relaxing 1 baby can be. But after a day or 2 I didn't really know what to do with myself.

The weekend after that my brother Scott and his fam came to town for a fun, fun visit! We took the kids to "Jump on It" (an indoor trampoline playground) and it was a blast....not a bad work out either. My brother is Mac's "stylist" (no he's not gay) and gave Mac a little mohawk to match his boys' little mohawks! We love it! He is definitely "too cool for school" now.




Over the 4th we saw some old friends from California and did the Alpine Slides up in Park City. Mia had so much fun! We set off our own little fireworks in our driveway and watched a couple of the firework shows across the lake.

This last weekend we were in St. George for a family reunion for Jeff's grandparents. They are nearing 100 great grandchildren! It was in the 100's everyday we were there- we were happy to come back to 90 degree weather :)

New House

After years and years of renting in expensive places and moving around, we are finally ready to settle down and buy a house! We are thrilled to finally call a place "our's" and be able to do the changes/fixes we've been itching to do. We found a great place in Saratoga Springs and while the commute will be a little longer for Jeff- we are excited to be in a peaceful neighborhood with a lot of young families. While I wasn't the biggest fan of us moving here, I know it was the best thing for our family and I can't deny how well everything has fallen in to place. We are crossing our fingers for a smooth escrow and can't wait to start moving (after moving a million times, it will feel really good to know we won't be doing it for a LONG TIME)! We've got our work cut out for us for the next few years and we are pretty darn excited about it!

Mia was so cute when looking at houses, she kept saying, "Mommy, let's get this house!" Mac- on the other hand- was usually crying ;) He really is getting better and better everyday and turning into a sweet/happy boy!

Happy Easter!

We took Mia to the ward Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. She was a little overwhelmed by all of the other kids, but was very content with the 8 eggs she collected. We have spent the week looking at houses so Easter was kind of an after thought and ended up being pretty low key. Mac is getting big and is a little sweetie pie (when he's not crying because he's in his carseat). He loves to snuggle and adores his big sister!

Yummmmmm....CANDY!

Potty Training and more...

Mia filled out her first potty chart last week. She was dying to go back to Chuck E. Cheese since she went with her cousins last month, so we took her there once it was full. She's done great....although everyday can different, she'll be super excited to go somedays and others...not so much. We are so proud of her progress though and know she is trying really hard. She is hilarious because we jump up and down and clap each time she goes, so when she sees us go "potty" she'll do the same thing and say, "Good job Mommy/Daddy!", like it was our first time.




Mac is getting sweeter and cuter everyday. He smiles and coos a lot! He can still cry LOUD and can get pretty mad in his car seat, but he's already sleeping through the night (knock on wood) so I can't complain too much. On a good day I can get them both down for a nap and get a few afternoon z's, myself.

Blessing Mac

We blessed Mac on 1/31 and were so happy a lot of our family could make it. It was a busy weekend, and we had a lot of fun seeing everyone. The blessing was great (if you could hear it over Mac crying the whole time)! We found out he has acid reflux and was put on some meds a couple weeks back. It takes them about 2 weeks to start noticing a difference...so unfortunately he was having a bad night that night.

My brother, Scott, gave Mac his first haircut (his hair was so getting so long). He was soooo good while he was getting it cut! He looks like a cute little boy now!



Here are some more pictures from that weekend: