GOOD FOOD!

Okay so I have been trying to eat really healthy due to the fact that I've had some gall bladder issues with this pregnancy and I get sick when I eat certain things. But I do have to indulge myself every now and then. I crave pancakes all the time and wish I could eat them every day but I can't so on Saturday I used my cousin Carrian's recipe for banana pancakes and this AMAZING buttermilk syrup. Seriously so good!!!  I wish I could eat them again right now! I only ate a little to maybe reduce the chance of getting sick and I didn't do too bad. Everyone needs to visit Carrian's cooking blog....Oh sweet basil it's the greatest!!! There are so many days when food sounds nasty and nothing sounds good and all I have to do is go to her blog and I always find something good to feed my family! So thank you Carrian my family would starve if you weren't so kind and kept your recipes a secret. Brent always asks where did you come up with this good recipe and the answer is always you. 

SO it is now 2009 and I think I have caught up with my posts. January is already flying by and soon it will be Valentines Day. It's great that the time is going by as I am already counting down for this pregnancy to be at the end. I know that is terrible but I have been so sick and just plain out of energy that I feel like I have some disease. I am now almost 17 weeks....YEAH and can feel the baby move and so it makes it all worth it. Makes it all seem so much more real that there is a reason as to why I am sick and I will soon meet this little baby. It's amazing to me that this is my third baby and I am still so EXCITED and can't wait to meet this baby the same way I was with the first. I can't wait to see how we will all mesh together, what kind of personality this little one will add to our family. Of course I am scared to death as to how I will be able to handle 3 kids. I know it will all work out and on my crazy bad days I'll just re-read this post. 

Carter has been great during this pregnancy with really starting to understand what is going on. He will get very mad at Brook if she kicks my stomach or jumps on me and tell her to "be soft the baby is in there" He also asks me if I want certain foods to which most the time I say no. No thank you, and his reply.... "well, does the baby want a taste" so I politely say sure. The other day it was  a grape and when I said sure, he bit it in half and gave it to me "so the baby doesn't choke". Along with him understanding I think it has brought on a new challenge for him, he doesn't want to "grow up". We have this conversation lots:

me: "Carter what do you want to be when you grow up"

Carter: "I want to be little"

me: "don't you want to be a fireman or policeman, or play the guitar"

Carter: "no, I don't want to grow up"

So we end with you will be little for a long time. But of course he loves being bigger than Brook and is excited to take care of the baby because "he's big". I think he's having  a hard time deciding if he wants to be big or small. 

Carter has also really grasped the concept of the difference of boys and "gwrils" This was our conversation the other day:

Carter: "you are a gwril and you don't have a pee pee."

Me: "you are right, you are so smart."

Carter: "well, can you go buy one from Target"

Me: "no they don't sell pee pee's at target."

Carter:  "oh, We better go to Fred Meyer's, they sell them there."

Me: "we can't buy pee pees, Heavenly Father made me a girl and you a boy" 

Carter: "oh" still pondering on how I can get a pee pee. 

He seriously comes up with the funniest things and makes us laugh. 

Brooklyn is talking more and more and actually putting sentences together. She loves books and loves to be silly. She is obsessed with shoes and girly things and of course anything that Carter plays with too. She is really loving phones and pretend play. It's so fun to see what is going on in her little mind. She learns so much from Carter, good and bad. They are starting to play so good with eachother and at the same time when they don't want to be around each other it's tears and tackling. She's got the attitude down, and I wonder where she learned such a big attitude but maybe it comes with being a girl. 

We recently got family pics and I thought I'd post a few. I can't decide what ones I like to blow up for my house...So what do you think?

Michaela's Sealing!!!

So Christmas weekend on Saturday my niece Michaela was sealed to my brother! It was seriously one of the best days EVER! I tear up just thinking about it. We waited so long for that day to come and looking back it went all too quickly for as long as we waited. It was the greatest experience to be in the temple and see all of Terry's kids all in white and there for the sealing. I of course was bawling (we'll just blame it on me being pregnant) but seeing their whole family together just testifies that families can be together FOREVER! It definitely is up to us! It was a perfect thing to do before the new year. It made me really ponder and re-evaluate how my life is. It is so easy to become stagnant in this life, but this was a great boost for me to start the new year with goals of focusing on the most important things working together as a family to make it on our way on the eternal road. To make sure we are having family home evening even if it is just 10 minutes, making sure we read our scriptures every night and pray as a family. Kids understand so much more than we give them credit for. And it's great, once they get in the habit they keep us on track with reminding us what we need to do. 

I thank Terry's family for being such a great example to us! And for Michaela we are all so glad that you are now a Thueson forever and ever! We love you so much and are so proud of you! I can't believe our little Micky is going to be 15 Feb. 2nd!!! The time goes by so fast! Over the weekend we went through tons of pics of when Michaela was little and it seems like just yesterday she was that little girl and I was the teenager and now she is that beautiful teenager with a lot of spunk and personality that we all can't get enough of! 

CHRISTMAS

                                                    Sharing with her brother, how sweet!!!

We all must have been good this year because Santa was sure nice! Especially to 2 little kiddos! Carter was so excited and had a hard time falling asleep! He kept thinking he could hear Santa. We decided that now with all of our "stuff" that it would be more relaxing to just stay home with our own little family and start our own traditions. We had some friends over for a few hours on Christmas Eve and enjoyed their company. They went home around 8 so the plan was that we would get the kids in bed on TIME. Not happening! We had to talk about the real meaning of Christmas and I was totally shocked at how well Carter got it! We then watched a little movie on Christ and watched some of the Forgotton Carols which Carter loves! They were in bed and asleep by 9:30 so not too bad and it gave us an early start so Santa wasn't up to late!!! In the middle of the night Brent caught Carter running down the stairs half asleep. He made it to the middle landing and Brent brought him back to our bed. Then pretty soon we heard the sound of tiny footsteps running headed for the stairs. Brook was on her way down too. Brent hurried and got her and brought her back to bed too. So we all cuddled and slept with each other. And of course I was the first one awake at 8:00 and couldn't go back to sleep!!! The one morning the kids decide to really sleep in....I'm awake and can't go back to sleep, too darn excited I guess :) Brook finally awoke at 9:00 and we played and talked with her for a bit while she tried waking up "Ca Ca"! She was finally successful and Carter woke up to ask us if Santa had really come last night. When we told him we thought so and thought we all better go check you could see his eyes light up. Santa left a candy/snow trail from the top of the stairs to their presents. Brooklyn was way more into the candy than her own presents. She couldn't believe candy was all over the stairs and as she kept walking she could get more. Carter couldn't believe how nice Santa was and told us "I really love Santa"! I didn't take as many pictures as I thought. And pretty much after Christmas I never touched the camera again. Makes me so mad but somehow when I don't feel the greatest and I'm surrounded by family I just space the whole camera. 

Christmas day we drove to Twin and spent time with all the family. We were going to try and brave the roads and get up to Canada but with a bad feeling and looking at the road report that had been closed off and on we decided to stay...and although we missed seeing family, we know that we made the best decision. A guy who Brent works with lives in Calgary and traveled down the same time we would have been traveling said the roads were TERRIBLE and said it took him 3 times as long. So we will hopefully get up there in the spring, before I get too big and can't travel for too long. We love you all and hope you had a wonderful Christmas!