Lets get to Christmas as quick as we can

Okay people, I really want to get caught up on here, so, this is going to be fast. Besides, October through November were pretty quiet anyways.

We made carpet angels one day.

We went out for half priced sushi for Matt's birthday, and it was absolutely delicious, especially the FRIED cheesecake and bananas. Anyone in Ogden interested, let me know and I will send you the info. Totally worth it.

We did more for Halloween stuff this year than any year previously. Maybe it was because I totally rocked it this year and made Beckett the best costume EVER, and I had to show it off.

I think he likes it

One of the many festivities was a fair with Cousin Ally. Beckett had to have some pizza before he could get over the scary masks, but then he had a great time.

Belle on the other hand, was miserable the whole time.

And just because I am super prideful about this, one more picture of the awesome Thomas

Another thing we went to was the YM/YW Halloween carnival, which Matt helped with since he is now in young mens. It was a lot of fun. We also went to the Treehouse Museum for their Fairy Tale party. This time we went with our friend Krista and Aspen. This might have been our favorite thing we did that month.

They got goodie bags. How nice is that?! - Sorry Livia, I didn't get a picture with Aspen

Then, of course, there were the school parties. I did Anabelle's hair so pretty for hers. She let me use my 3 barrel crimperish iron. It was a little nerve wracking, but we made it through and she looked so beautiful.

Beckett's Halloween parade was fun and brought back lots of memories of when I was in Elementary. All the kids were super excited. I felt really cool when a lot of the older kids at Beckett's school commented on his costume. I don't know if I will ever be able to top it. Okay, I'll stop bragging now.

Halloween night we spent at my brother's, in Kaysville, which is becoming a tradition. Honestly, it is mostly because I don't want to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood. Plus my brother's neighborhood gives out good stuff, like full size pixie sticks, which should not be given to toddlers I might add.

Guess what this is a picture of...

Nope. Those are bats. Beckett watched a Wild Krats episode where they talked about bats. He then made a bat of his own. He clipped a little sheet of paper with a bag clip and then began flapping it. His invention did sound like a bat flying and kind of looked like one flapping its wings. Anabelle had to join in as well, only she used multiple sheets in a sandwich bag. It didn't sound quite the same as Beckett's.

Beckett had a puke day during November. It was awesome, especially when he puked all over in the car, right after we had all went out to eat dinner. Not cool. I did feel really sorry for him while he was sick. He kept saying, "I don't want to throw up any more." in a sad and frightened voice. Poor kid. At least it was for only 24 hours.

Thanksgiving was spent with Matt's brother, Nate. We had a great time and ate lots of super good food. We played lots of games, shopped Target on Black Friday, and saw the Black Canyon near Nate's house. Matt had been to the canyon before, but the rest of us hadn't. It was really cool. It is a canyon made of black rock that is almost straight down, and super deep. I would never go hiking around the edge of that place. It was uniquely beautiful, but I think it would be much more pretty in the summer or spring. If you are ever in Montrose, you should take a detour and see the Black Canyon.

Well, those two months are down now. Just December and Christmas to go.

January in a nutshell

January has been quiet and crazy all at once. Matt gave me Wii Fit Plus for Christmas and we love it. It is so much fun. We have played it with some of our friends and it is way fun to play with a group, which is a big advantage to Wii Fit. It doesn't allow you to have multiple players at one time. Any of you are welcome to come on over and play whenever (just give me a heads up so I can clean up first).

I cut both Matt's and Beckett's hair. I think I did a decent job too. Beckett's was easy. I just buzzed it. But I used scissors for Matt's (well, buzzers for the lower part, but scissors for the top and to blend). I am really proud of how it turned out. It took me about an hour and a half to do the whole thing. My back and feet were killing me when it was all done, but I felt pretty good that I was able to do a decent haircut all by myself. I think Matt was pleasantly surprised too. He forgot that I had attempted to cut Beckett's hair in his sleep and so he was a little skeptical when I first offered. Hopefully next time it will go faster. If any of you cosmetologist have any suggestions on how to cut it faster and easier, please feel free to leave a comment.

We have been getting ready to potty train at our house. I have been contemplating training them both at the same time, but I think I am going to train Belle first. She is more ready than Beckett. She asks to sit on the potty every day, unfortunately it is after she as already pooped, but hey, that is a good start. She has even asked to go potty right after she woke up one morning. I hope that is a good omen as well. She is also obsessed with the underwear we bought her and Beckett. She actually likes Beckett's more I think.


She is always trying to put them on over her clothes, but she usually just gets both legs in on hole and then she can't pull them up over her knees. She gets so frustrated. The other day she kept asking me to help her put on more and more underwear. By the end of the day, she had one on top of her onsie, and 4 on top of her pants. and they were all Beckett's. We got a good laugh out that. She also carries them around all over the house like they are a stuffed toy or something. It is hilarious. Beckett could care less. He just likes the pictures of Thomas and Lightning McQueen that are on them. I don't know if Beckett will be interested in potty training for a little while. At least not until he realizes that he can get treats if he actually does something on the potty. I think that will be his great motivator. The almighty fruit snack or candy have great sway with that child. I am thinking the first part of February is when we are going to give it a go with Anabelle. We'll see how long it takes Beckett to follow in her footsteps. Wish me luck!

I had a birthday this month. It was awesome. I kind of celebrated all week (which I totally recommend). It started the Wednesday before my birthday when my mom came up to my house and helped me rearrange my house and make it look more put together. (I still need to post pictures up here of what we did. I want to finish the picture hanging first, but that might be awhile) Then on Friday, my parents came up and took Matt and I out to dinner at Windy's Sukiyaki. It was so good. Their Beef was amazing! By far the best beef teriyaki I have ever had. And their tempura veggies were pretty amazing too. The sushi was pretty good too (but not as good as that place up in Logan). It was a very delicious meal. I recommend that restaurant to anyone in the vicinity. They have private tea rooms that you can reserve and you sit on the floor, like they do in Japan. So cool. On Saturday, I opened my presents from my family and I got some new clothes (which I needed badly). They are super cute and in style, thanks to my sister Sara. I love them. I have already worn them and I feel so hip. On Sunday, my actual birthday, we went to my brother's house and had dinner with them and played games. It was a blast. We always have such fun with family. Thanks to everyone that made my birthday great!

Well, we finally did it. We got rid of the thorn in our side. The Saab story has come to an end. We are now the proud owners of a 04 Mazada 6 wagon. We love it.


It has zoom, zoom (which Matt really likes). We love all the storage space in the back and the seats are super comfy. I think this might be one of our best car purchases yet. We wont be in the market again until we have baby #4 on the way, so that gives us at least two years (hopefully more).

Beckett is still in love with our fish. Whenever anyone comes to visit, he says "Want to see our fish?" He even said that to me. Such a cutie. He reminds me to feed them and he talks to them and shows the fish his toys. I have even caught him playing pretend with them. I love it.

The last week or so, Beckett and Anabelle have started playing together really well. I will often hear them giggling in the other room and surprisingly it isn't always because they are getting into trouble. They are just playing together and having a good time. I do have to remind Beckett that he has to calm down when he starts getting too wild and rough with Belle, but for the most part, they have become great little friends. It is so nice. I am so glad they like to play with each other and that they get along. I hope they stay this way.

Belle is still trying to become as much of an adult as she can. She doesn't like to sit in her high chair anymore. She loves to eat what I am eating, including cucumbers and many other veggies. She knows how to take off her pants now (which is great for potty training) and will run around the house pants-less most of the day. She loves to pray. I will be going about my daily routine, when I will turn around and there will be Anabelle with her arms folded and she will say, "Amen?", meaning she wants to pray. She always remembers to bless our food. It is so cute and has made me stop to think about how often I pray throughout the day. Kids sometimes teach you more than you teach them. It is awesome.

Beckett is getting better with his prayers too. He sounds a little like a baptist in that he kind of shouts his prayers and looks up as he says the words. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh. We still have to tell him what to say, but he says almost all of the words now, instead of just the end of the phrase. And today, he said "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen", which is a big first. He only says "Amen" after I say the first part. These are the moments that are truly rewarding as a parent. Less than a year ago, I was worried we would never be able to get Beckett interested in prayers, but now he asks to say the prayer at almost every meal and he is excited to say them. As a mom, that makes me feel so good inside and that I really can make a difference. I hope that both my kids keep up this love of praying.

And just in case you happened to vote for our friend that was in the competition for Xbox, he made into the final three and now he is one the final two contestants. They are in the process of making his game right now. That is so awesome and we are so excited for him. The game will be out in the Fall for everyone to play for free and then we vote again on which of the two we like the best. Thanks to all of you that helped him out.

August Update

Here we are again. Another month gone and school is in session again. We started the month out by going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I had a friend on Facebook that said she had some extra tickets for the very last day it was open, so we totally took advantage of it. It was so beautiful. The outside reminds me of that little model of Solomon's temple at the visitor's center on Temple Square. Inside it has so much glass. The sealing rooms had fogged glass doors and one of the big sealing rooms had a fogged glass wall on one side of the room. I have never seen that before in a temple (not that I am a temple connoisseur). The kids did better than expected on the tour, but I think they still got pretty bored. I hope they still felt the spirit of the house of the Lord, despite being tired. Also, they had cookies at the end of the tour. How awesome is that!

After almost every other mom has blogged about going to this place, the kids and I finally went to Discovery Gateway. We went with some friends that have some cute kids too. They had a blast. That place is pretty awesome. There is so much to do and look at, it is a wonder that the kids don't go into sensory overload. Here they are playing with balls that you can put down all kids of tubs that do all kids of things. These particular holes make music when you put balls in them.



This was the kids' favorite part. It is a big water play area. They have ping pong balls that you can watch float down the pipes and lots of water toys. It was a huge hit. Anabelle's chest was soaked.




In the area geared more for the big kids, the kids found more fun stuff to play with, such as these magnetized shapes so you could create boxes and other 3-d shapes. Belle just thought they were cool to hold.




In that same area, they had a this wall where you could take tubes and make a route for balls to go through. Beckett tried to put as many balls in the tubes as he could old in his hand.





Over all, it was a fun time. I think we will go back, hopefully when it isn't so crowded (yeah right).

The 6th of August marked our 5 year Anniversary. It was wonderful. Matt planned the whole thing and did a great job. He got a babysitter for the weekend (thanks Ben & Kim) and we got out of dodge. I knew we were getting away for the weekend, but he surprised me with where and what we did. He took me to Logan and to the musical/operetta "Mikado". Matt thought I hadn't seen it before and so was extra excited to take me to see a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta that I hadn't seen yet. Unfortunately, I had, but I loved it anyway. It is one of those shows that is done differently every place it is performed. It was so fun (and a big sacrifice for Matt, he does not like musicals).

We stayed at the Crystal Inn. One of our favorite places to stay in Logan. (Check out getawaypackage.com for a great deal at this hotel from September to the end of April) They have free breakfast and they now have a lite dinner too. We only had to buy lunch on Saturday, which was a feast, both for the eyes and the stomach. We went to a sushi restaurant. And it was to die for. I loved it. Unbelievably good. It was so beautiful to look at too. Like art that you can eat. We had to take pictures.



The restaurant had menu of sushi rolls named after movies. The one at the top of that picture is called the Last Samurai. That one is the best of all. The one in the middle is a spider roll and the bottom one is your standard California roll (which was the least tasty of them all). After we ate that plateful, we had to try some real raw fish, so we talked with the chef and he made us a plate of "French Kiss" which had raw salmon on top with extremely thin slices of lemon on top of it. This one was the most beautiful to look at.





The avocado just makes it look so beautiful. It was well worth what we paid for it, even if we did go over budget. Probably the highlight of our Anniversary.

Other things we have done this month is hang out with family. Here is Belle playing dress ups with her cousin Allison (Munhall that is. We have one on each side).




I got to have a girls night out with some friends from college. It was a blast. I had such a good time. We ate at the Spaghetti Factory and then went to a concert in the park by the church office building. We didn't listen to the music much, there was just too much catching up to do.



Matt both finished and started school this month. He will hopefully be all done in May and then we'll see what happens from there. We have started some rumors that we are moving to Omaha, but they are only rumors right now. We haven't decided completely yet. It will be sad for me to leave my family, but I think it will be a great learning and growing opportunity for me. And I think it is about time Beckett and Anabelle got to know more of the Jacob side of the family. (It looks like by the time Matt's mom gets home from her mission, almost all of her kids will be back in Omaha)

I finally gave in and gave Beckett a haircut. It was my sister's Sara's fault it happened, but I am glad she made me do it. His hair was so long and shaggy. She tricked him by telling him we were going to have a party, a hair cutting party. He climbed up onto the stool and let her put the apron on him. Christa was a good sport and wore one too so it really did seem like a party. Then we put on music and danced while Sara snipped discreetly at his hair. Eventually he got suspicious and wouldn't let her do anymore. So I busted out the clippers because she was only able to get the crown of his head. He did okay. He cried the whole time, but didn't try to grab it or push it away. So it turned out okay in the end.



I have a new favorite room in my house. It is my new office/craft/train table room. My wonderful sister-in-law Ana, came over one day and helped me totally organize and de-junk that room (which was no small task). It looks awesome. I can't even believe it is the same room.





Later that night, I had Matt help me hang some curtains in there so now the room is pretty much done. I still have some wall hangings to hang and some other little things, but it feels so good to have a room completely organized and useful. Thanks loads, Ana. I never would have done it without you!



Belle is starting to get her molars I think. I can at least feel them through her gums. I feel so bad for her. One major milestone for Anabelle this last month was to become completely weened. I love nursing, but I have always felt that I should start weening when they turn 1. Belle did not like my plan and it wasn't until our anniversary that I was able to make it happen. Thanks again to my wonderful sister-in-law Kim, for helping us quit cold turkey. She said Belle didn't even care that I wasn't there to help her go to sleep and went down without a fuss. When she told me that, I knew that it was over. Belle fought it for a few days afterwards, but finally realized that she could still cuddle with mommy and feel loved without nursing.

Belle is still a little girlie-girl and a climber and trying so hard to grow up faster than she should. She is saying a few more words, but would still rather show you what she wants, rather than say. She is learning more animal noises and loves to listen to Beckett and I make them. She has become quite the little dancer. She will just start bustin' a move whenever there is music on. It is so cute. She still sleeps with all her babies and has now included puppies into the mix. When she wakes up, I have to take her, all her babies, her blanket, and her sippy cup out of the bed each morning. It is quite the juggling act.

Beckett is still in love with Thomas, but has recently added Sponge Bob into the mix. We babysat my brother's kids last month one weekend and they watched Sponge Bob while we were there. He loved it. Since then my little sister has given us her old Halloween video of Sponge Bob and he watches as much as I will let him. He can sing the famous song from the opening credits and says lines from the movies too (like mother, like son). It is hilarious. I will try to catch him sing the song on video one of these days. I still need to get him sing his ABCs, but he wont sing them on command, only at random times when I don't have a camera near me. He sings it so cute.

One other event of this month was that we had a mouse in the house. We tried to get ride of the mouse with a humane trap, and had that out for a while, but the mouse didn't know what was good for him. So we put out these nasty traps that guaranteed death (I wont describe them to you, but they certainly looked like they could make that claim). After two days of having them out, the mouse was a goner. I felt bad for the little guy at first, and then I remembered the poop he left in my unmentionables drawer and I wasn't so sorry anymore. He is in a better place now.

And thus ends our summer. I hope you all had a wonderful summer too.