2-m-0-e-0-h-9

On the scale of "this was the absolute worst year of my life" to "this was the most fantastic awesome year of my life" this year was rated "meh".  There were a lot of fun things we did.  And then there were some not so fun things that happened.  But overall I would describe this year as just a year.  Nothing devastating, nothing spectacular.

We didn't go too many places, but we had some of our favorites visit us!

When we did go on vacation, we went to Utah (for 9 days...) but we got to see some of our buddies we miss sooo much!

And we got to make a new friend

We also went to a real live ranch while we were in Utah.  Not exactly my idea of the perfect getaway, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget.

My favorite trips of the year were being in NYC for this:

And going to Phoenix this year for Thanksgiving (you know it's a great trip when you were sad to leave and wanted to stay an extra few days).

Brent had an awesome year at work and still loves his job.  I'm so proud of him for all the long hours and hard work that he puts in to provide for our family.

A couple of us had some medical issues:

But thankfully we recovered.

Although we had another frustrating year of unsuccessful fertility treatments, we learned a lot about the power of a positive attitude and relying on someone other than yourself.

Even though my reproductive oven hasn't decided to start baking anything, we did get to add this guy to our family. 

And this little girl loves him so much!

Even though these girls could do without him.

I'm glad this year is coming to a close.  I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be an awesome one and I can't wait to see what is in store for us.  Happy New Year and hasta la vista 2009!

The Christmas that Almost Wasn't

Ok, that's a little dramatic.  But when it happened, I was pretty sad.  It all started Christmas Eve when I got Brent's big present ready and stuck it in his stocking.  Later that evening Brent told me that he was going to go get my stocking ready and wrap one more present.  Well I completely forgot that I had put his present (in an UNSEALED envelope) in one of the stockings.  He happened to grab the same stocking and when he looked inside he thought it was something from last year.

So he opened the envelope and saw ...Seattle to San Francisco....2010.... and ran up to the bedroom.  He held it up and asked what it was and I started bawling.  So Brent got his big present Christmas Eve.  And I learned to do a better job wrapping presents and putting them out when they're actually going to be opened :)  It's funny now, but it was pretty upsetting then.  The one cute thing was that I had been tracking where Santa was all day on Google and when this happened I looked and he was in Seattle :)

We woke up Christmas morning at 6:30 and were ready to go! 

We opened presents and had homemade egg mcmuffins for breakfast.  Around one my mom, dad and Bubba all ate lunch with us. 

The furries got to wear their Christmas Pj's and LOVED every minute of it (ok, probably not really, but they humored us). 

We ended Christmas by going to Sherlock Holmes with the fam.  Talk about a great way to end the day (ahhhh Robert Downey Jr...).  The movie was sooo good!  I would definitely want to own this one (and not only because RDJ is in it :)). 

We had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the new year!

'Tis the Season!

What kind of mother would I be if I didn't take some pictures of my furries during the holidays? 

Macie Claus

And the Reindeer

Please ignore the giant pile of blankets.  It was hard enough to get them in the same picture, I couldn't be picky about what the background was :)

Merry Christmas!!!

What's the difference...

What's the difference between Santa and Tiger Woods? 

Santa stops after three Ho's.


Bahahha!

Thanksgiving in the Desert!

Since Seattle had a record breaking month for rain in November, we were sooooo lucky this year to be going to Phoenix for Thanksgiving!!!  Jordan, Karin (Brent's sister), Matthew and Isabelle were nice enough to host Thanksgiving for us and Brent's parents and we had the BEST time.  

Our flight left Wednesday morning at 5:00am so we decided not to sleep that night.  I'm not sure if that's the smartest decision we could have made, but luckily it ended up being ok. 

Some of us ended up being more awake than others. 

That night we went to Cafe Rio (!!!) and a Suns game!  I lucked out and got to sit by Karin at the game so I had someone to talk to.  Brent tells me I get really chatty during sporting events for some reason, so I had a buddy to chat with.

 

The next day was Thanksgiving and we had AWESOME food.  Karin and Jordan are such good cooks.  Matthew also provided the entertainment by singing a song about frowny faces and pumpkins over and over (it was hilarious). 

                           

Here's a shot of the little entertainer:

The next morning Brent, Karin, Jordan and I got up at 2:15 to go shopping on Black Friday.  Crazy!!  We went to Kohl's and got everything we needed and then Jordan was very nice and took me to Best Buy where we waited in the longest line I have ever seen outside of a store.  But I got what I needed and Jordan got a few things, too so it worked out well.  Brent and Karin went to Walmart while we were there so after we met up at Target.  We finally got home at 6:30am and went back to bed for a little. 

Later that day we got to see Brent's friend for his mission, Pete and his with Angie and their cute girls Brynn and Shea. 

 

That night we headed to get the only hamburgers I will eat at In-n-Out.

 

After In-n-Out we went to the Mesa Temple to look at all the Christmas lights.  It was packed, but it was really cool to see all the lights.

 

The next day we had a BBQ (awesome food AGAIN) and watched BYU crush Utah (ok, maybe not crush.  But we still won).  Later that night we played a marathon game of Phase 10 that Brent's dad ended up winning (but really we all won, since the game ended). 

We were sad to leave but Seattle welcomed us back with these views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.

The highlight of coming home was picking up the furries at the Pet Hotel.  They were soooo excited to see us and soooo ready to get out of there!  Chip got some training while he was there.  We've been practicing every day so now he's gotten really good at laying down, leaving things alone when I say 'leave it' , and he can wave bye!  It's really cute.

Thanks Jordan, Karin, Matthew and Isabelle for such an awesome vacation! 

This is one tradition that bites.

Last year my good friend Brianne called me to see if I wanted to go to Twilight with her on opening night.  Of course I said YES!  I love the books and I was so excited to see the movie.  I thought it was pretty good (not as good as the book, but when does that ever happen?) and I was definitely on Team Edward.

We decided to make it a tradition and we're going to go to all the movies on opening night.  New Moon was a whole new experience.  The people were CRAZY this time.  They herded us into a group and it was a free for all.  I guess before I got to the theater they let a huge group in and the lind wound around the entire outside of the theater.  I thought getting there 1 1/2 early was enough time, but apparently it wasn't. 

This is just a little shot of the crowd

When they finally let us in we had to go into a theater that already had Twilight playing beforehand so a lot of the seats were taken.  Luckily we still ended up getting good seats and then only had to wait another hour for the movie to start.

They really catered the previews to the audience they thought was going to New Moon.  Every single preview was some love sappy love story.  One even had Robert Pattinson in, and as soon as the crowd saw him they all screamed.  Wow. 

Finally the movie started and let me say, I was NOT disappointed.  I thought it was waaaaaay better than the first one.  The audience was way more energetic this time, which was fun and annoying at the same time.  Every time Jacob or Edward were on the screen all the girls would scream.  There was actually one point where I swear someone in the front of the theater had a happy ending.

I learned a couple things about myself after seeing New Moon.  First, I'm getting old.  Going to bed at 3:30 definitely does not work for me anymore.  I don't know how I did it all the time in college!  And second, I am definitely on Team Jacob now :)

I can't wait for June 30 for Eclipse to come out!!

Snuggie as a Buggie in a Ruggie

A while back Brent asked me what I thought of the Snuggies.  I told them that I thought that they were ridiculous and not to even think about getting me one for Christmas.  Well, luckily my husband doesn't listen to EVERYTHING I tell him because the other day he gave me an early Christmas present.  A Snuggie!!

I'm one of those people that is cold a lot.  So I love blankets and my onesie PJ's and carry a portable heater around with me to whatever room I'm in.  One thing that's always annoyed me about blankets is how warm you get in them and then when you need something you let all the warm air out and get cold again!  At night when we're watching TV I'm snacking on something.  And it's soooo annoying that all that warm air goes out and my already cold body has to make more warm air.  But along came the Snuggie!!!  Now at night I can snack until my heart's content and not have my upper half freezing and rethawing throughout the evening. 

Not only are Snuggies warm and snuggly, they also make you feel like you are many different things when you wear them.

The very first time I put on my Snuggie I felt like Mickey and the Sorcerer's Apprentice. 

You can also tuck your arms into the sleeves and flail them around like those creepy air dancers they have outside of car dealerships and Sno Cone stands.

If you pull your Snuggie up so your elbow is showing you feel like you have a serious case of Lunch Lady Arms.

Brent tried on my Snuggie last night and the first thing he did was look in the mirror and start chanting like this guy might do.

Not only does my Snuggie bring joy and warmth to me, it also brings it to my puppies as well!  As soon as I put it on and sat in the Love Sac they both jumped up to join me!

Maybe it was just their way of showing that they are hoping that Santa leaves one of these in their stocking this Christmas.

A little tangent for ya...

For 17 months I have been bitter, angry and frustrated about the fact that I'm not pregnant.  It's been hard to see people that have been trying less time than us get pregnant, have the baby and now the baby is almost 6 months old.  Church was hell.  Going and seeing the cute little kids and all the women that are sporting a new belly was torture.  It seems like everyone I know has either had a baby recently or is pregnant.  Except for me.

Then 2 months ago my attitude somehow changed.  Yeah, it sucks that we want something that we feel is a righteous desire and we're not getting it.  But my life is amazing.  I am married to the most wonderful man I have ever met.  We have the 4 most adorable animals I could ever ask for.  My family is extremely supportive and loving.  I live in SEATTLE.  We're financially secure and are even able to go out and do fun things.  For the most part I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.  I can sleep until 10 in the morning if I want to.  And for the first time in a very long time I feel like my relationship with my Heavenly Father is growing.

Every month that I wasn't pregnant I would get upset and came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father thought I was going to be a bad mother and that's why I wasn't getting pregnant.  But I'm learning that's not true.  All of the events that have happened in my life have occured at the perfect time.  When my family moved to Seattle, when I joined the Church, where I went to college, when I met Brent, how he got the job in Seattle when he did (these are just a few) happened at the exact time they were supposed to and everything worked out perfectly.  Heavenly Father knows when the best time for me to get pregnant is.  And when that time is right, it's going to happen.  I KNOW I'm going to be a mom, I just don't know when that exact time is yet.  But I do feel like it's close. 

In the past when I've dealt with trials I've pushed Him away.  My attitude had been if He really loved me He wouldn't make me go through what was happening.  But everyone has trials.  And for the first time in my life I am really learning that when I'm dealing with trials is the time to turn to Him the most.  My heart has been broken for a while now, but I'm betting His is, too.  He wants us to be parents.  He knows the desires of our hearts and knows how important this is to us.  I've always believed that Heavenly Father loves me, but for the first time I actually am feeling His love for ME.  I matter to Him.  I've also learned that it's a lot easier and healthier to have a positive attitude about the fertility struggles we're going through.  I have been happier these last few months than I have been in a long time. 

I've never been a patient person.  When I want something I obsess until I get it.  This has forced me to learn patience.  And I've also realized that if I had gotten pregnant after a few months like most people seem to do, then I wouldn't appreciate it like I'm going to.  When this trial ends and we are blessed with a little baby, it's going to be that much more special because we had to work and fight for this.  I'm going to appreciate the morning sickness and the stretch marks because it means that we're going to get a baby out of this.  I'm going to be a little more grateful for the sleepless nights and the poopy diapers. 

I don't know when this problem with fertility is going to end, but it will.  It's so much nicer to go to church and enjoy the cute kids and then go home with my amazing husband to our cute critters.  I still might want to scowl at all the pregnant women, but hey, no one's perfect.  After all of this ends I'm not only going to get a precious little baby, but I'm also going to have a better, stronger relationship with my Heavenly Father.  And that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Halloween '09

This was Chipper's first Halloween with us and we made sure he felt like he was part of the family :)  I got cute scarves at Aquafest a couple months ago so I had the pups wear them the day before Halloween.

Macie was so proud of hers!

Halloween day we dressed the dogs in their costumes and took pictures.  At first Chip wasn't moving around much and I thought I finally found something to slow him down.  But as soon as the first kid rang the door bell he took off for the front door and was oblivious to the fact that he looked like a giant hot dog.

Macie didn't like her costume as much as she liked her scarf.  In fact, when I put it on her she didn't move for 2 minutes.  Just stood there frozen in fear.  You would think she would be used to it by now, it's her third year dressing up.  Funny how she doesn't seem to forget she gets vanilla ice cream on her birthday...

We had an awesome day and I am already thinking of ideas for next year!  Maybe we'll get the kitties in on the fun, too!

Holy Moley

My junior and senior years of high school and my sophomore, junior and part of my senior years of college were spent with me being addicted to something. TANNING. I went all the time. I was addicted to the warm, relaxing feeling you get when you are laying there. And I loved being tan! I mean, lets be honest, who doesn't look better tan? In my first passport picture I had been going so much at the time I actually looked like I was Mexican (I'm not even exaggerating).

Finally after starting to have dreams about getting skin cancer I decided to quit. It was nice to have more money to spend on other things (tanning is expensive!!) but I still always was paranoid about having skin cancer. This past season on Grey's Anatomy (spoiler alert!) one of the main characters gets a mole removed and finds out she has skin cancer that turned into liver and brain cancer. A little extreme, yes. But I finally decided once and for all to go to the dermatologist.

I got there and didn't know what to expect. I'm glad that I have been going through all this fertility crap because let me tell you, this was just as violating. Except now I'm used to people looking at places that are covered by a bathing suit (well as used to it as you'll ever get). And I'm so glad I had a woman dermatologist. Yikes. That would have been awkward.

She found one mole that she thought looked scary and a few more that we have to watch during my yearly skin exams (yay, I get to do this every year). So they gave me a shot to numb me up (this was the worst part of the whole thing) and they cut the mole out. I got to see it after they were done cutting it out. It was pretty cool, and less gross than I thought it would be. I got three stitches and was sent on my way.

So the moral of the story is that being tan is NOT worth it. I was lucky enough that my mole they removed wasn't cancerous. But it could have been. And it's ridiculous that I spent all that money on something that could have killed me.

I was a little bummed that they only removed one mole. Mostly because if they had removed a lot, I wanted to be this guy for Halloween.

Macie Marie turned THREE!!!

On October 9th our cute girl celebrated her third birthday!! It was Chip's first birthday celebration with us so he was pretty curious as to why Macie was getting all the attention that he would normally try and get.

We got Macie her favorite treat that she only gets on her birthday (and now Chip's birthday, too). Vanilla ice cream! Chip ate his ice cream in a gulp and a half so Brent had to take him upstairs to Macie could eat hers in peace.

Little hoover. I didn't get any pictures of him actually eating the ice cream since he ate it so fast.

Last year she ate it too fast and gave herself an ice cream headache. So this year she slowly enjoyed it. And by slowly I mean I had to sit there for 15 minutes waiting for her to finish.

Even Emma made an appearance (once Chip was upstairs)! Getting ready to give her the presents.

A big fight over that toy happened right after I took this picture. Chip wanted it and Mace wasn't giving it up!

Toy Blow Pop!

Ultimately the little whiner got what he wanted and played with the new toys. Macie is a good big sister for sharing.

This past year with Macie has been full of ups and downs, but mostly ups. She had some stomach problems that the vets couldn't figure out, but she has been doing much better. She also recently decided that she no longer likes dry food and refused to eat for three days. Finally we started mixing wet food in with her dry food and she hoovers it down now. I guess I can't blame her. Some of that stuff smells exactly like the Chunky soup we eat for dinner.

She also surprised us with how she reacted to Chip. To say I was nervous to get another puppy was an understatement. Macie has never really gotten along with other dogs. But it only took her a couple days to warm up to him. Now they are best friends!! She is very patient with him and is a good example to Chip of how you are supposed to act (even though some of Chip's less desirable traits, like barking, are rubbing off on Macie). We love our little goober so much and we're so glad she's a part of our family!