Where's the baby?

This is how Matt found Anabelle the other morning.

Mint

I was told about a website a year or so ago, that I unfortunately, didn't go to until this last August. It is a free website that helps you create and keep track of a budget. It also lets you see all your assets and debt and investments all in one place. I love it. It is mint.com. It is very similar to Quicken, but it is FREE. They also give you suggestions on how you can save money (basically through credit cards that have rewards) and get better interest rates on savings accounts. I highly recommend it. It is a little confusing at first, but once you get what it looks like and how it works, it really helps. They email you when you have gone over budget and other notifications like that. I am really starting to like a lot. I did have my complaints at first, but I am getting the hang of it and I feel like I have a good handle on where our money is and where it is going. It feels good. I highly recommend it if you are like me and feel like a ditz when it comes to budgeting.

Not much of an update

The month of September was a quiet one. We really don't have much to report about. We got together with family a few times during the month and said "Goodbye" to Matt's brother Eric and his wife Julia (we miss you guys). We went to a luau birthday party and all of us dressed up. Yes, even Matt, the good sport, even though he only had to put on a Hawaiian shirt and a lei. Belle even had on a miniature coconut bra. It was a blast. We tied for 1st place in the costume contest with this kid that dressed up like a Samoan fire dancer. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures. I need to get copies from our friends so that we can show off how terrific we looked. It was pretty sweet. Man am I mad we didn't get pictures.

We also went up to my parent's cabin to spend some time with dear family friends, the Lambsons. The mom of the family has the most beautiful accent in the world. She is french and I could listen to her speak all day. We had so much fun. We played 5 crowns late into the night and Matt got in as much fishing as he could.





The trees were gorgeous. They were just starting to change color, which is how I love it. The top picture is what they looked like.



The kids have grown up a bit over the last month. Belle has some of her molars and another new tooth. She also is trying to say most words. She already is trying two word sentences. Beckett can "read" Green Eggs and Ham. I tried to post a video of it, but it took like all day and it still wasn't loaded. If any of you have tips on how to upload a really big video file, please feel free to leave a comment. Beckett is talking better every day. I can't believe how much he has improved in his speech just over the summer.

Something else that happened in September was we took a road trip to Logan. Matt forgot to return keys to a car that he had taken pictures of one day and so we had to take a little drive up Sardine Canyon and return them that night. While we were there, we decided to get a treat and bought some Jamba Juice. I was going to buy a small smoothie for the kids too split, but the workers told me they could just put the leftover smoothies into little cups for the kids. I didn't know how "kid size" they really were until they handed them over. Aren't they adorable?







The kids loved them and sucked happily on them the whole way home. It was a wonderful treat. Thank you Jamba Juice, for accommodating to the little people.

Hooray!!

Yeah for Halloween! I love Halloween! I love having an excuse to look as weird as possible. I love all the fun things to do during this month and all the cute little costumes they make for kids. In honor of one of my favorite holidays, I have changed up our background. I wish you all a wonderful October and I hope you get to have lots of fun making jack-o-lanterns and decorating and dressing up and doing all of the other fun things there are this month.

Aye, aye, Captain!

Here is Beckett singing his latest obsession:





Belle has started singing it with him, but I couldn't get her to sing it this time. It is so hilarious. She just says "Sponge Bob" over and over, but it sounds more like "Bob bob". I love my kids!

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.

Blogging problem solved

Have you ever had the problem of double spacing when you press enter while blogging? I have had that problem happen to me a couple of times and it is really annoying. I asked an avid blogger if she knew how to get rid of it, and she said the only way she knew how to get rid of it, was to just go into the html version and just delete each one manually. So I started to do that, and as I did it, I realized a pattern. I can't post the pattern exactly how it looks, but it has < followed by a p or a /.
It ends with a >. (Man it was hard to figure out how to type that so it would show up) Those were always in front of or behind a paragraph that had that problem. So, if you start having that problem, look for that pattern in the html version and then find the first one and delete it (as well as any other ones that are already there). It will stop doing it from then on. Happy blogging!