It's Christmas time!

We went over the weekend and got pictures with Santa! I think they turned out pretty cute! Although I'm a little disappointed I don't have a hilarious screaming child in the pic. LOL That will probably change next year! Mason looks so grown up! I just love this little family of mine.

We wrote letters to Santa on Saturday, I had to google Santa's address at the North Pole. My kids were so cute. 

Noah's letter made me tear up a little. He is so sweet and only wants a new bike. (How can you say no to that?!?!) Poor Mason. I am thinking he is going to be really disappointed on Christmas when he doesn't get an IPad... Callie's letter should have been longer I summarized with "accessories" she was listing off all kinds of doll accessories like a diaper bag, a stroller, a car seat, a crib, diapers, bottles... etc. That girl is all about the baby dolls!

Dashing Divas and Dashing DUDES!

I'm still on cloud nine after my crazy-fun weekend! Ron agreed to run in the Rugged Maniac mud run with me and it was so much fun! To share something that I enjoy (running) with him was really fun. The whole run I kept thinking how great it was to experience something I LOVE to do with my wonderful hubby. Makes me feel a little closer to him (as cheesy as that sounds). Because I'm prego I was careful and didn't do all the obstacles so I thought I'd take my camera and be the unofficial photographer. Glad I brought a ziplock baggie for it because I still got pretty dirty. (Although I am a little disappointed. I don't think I got many good "Muddy" pics.) We got plenty dirty but the course had quite a few obstacles with lots of water that washed away the mud evidence. 

It was a little chilly (about 55 degrees) and about 500 yards into the run I lost one of my shoes! OOPS! But I didn't care. The highlight of my weekend was just simply jogging next to my man and taking it all in. I have never EVER run side by side with Ron and thanks to my amazing sister Maryann for watching the kids I got to.

We have such fun friends and I'm really happy that we talked Jeanne and Josh into joining this crazy adventure with us. The Dashing Divas (and DUDES) I think had a very successful and fun morning.

I didn't get a very good picture but some girl got stuck in the barbed wire. Ron being the sweetheart that he is went over and helped her. Actually today I witnessed first hand Ron stopping to help quite a few people in need. Nothing huge just made me happy and proud to be married to such a thoughtful and giving man.

This ramp was super steep and very high. Most people required help at the top getting over. But not Ron!

Such a fun tradition! I love that I've run this race with Erin 3 years in a row now. She is a fabulous friend and better not EVER leave me! Ron is already talking about the next mud run we will do together as a couple (after the baby of course). Can we say addicted?

Noah's Riding a Bike!!!!!

Noah is the kind of child where if things aren't his idea it's NOT a good idea. I love this about him for so many reasons. For example I don't worry about peer pressure at all with him. He's a pretty smart kid, if some kid tells him it's cool to jump off a cliff I KNOW he will look at them like they are crazy and walk away no problem. While I admire his strength and sense of worth he can be a little hard to parent. He decided about a year ago he wanted nothing to do with riding a bike even WITH training wheels on it. We have tried EVERYTHING from bribes to straight up comparing and pointing out his other friends riding their bikes. I even bought him a new bike. Nothing would sway his abrupt decision to never get on a bike. NOTHING. We just gave up, you can't MAKE a child want to ride a bike. For his birthday we purchased him a scooter which he enjoys, I had given up all hope. Until...
Last Saturday out of the blue Ron and I were cleaning the garage and Noah came up to me and point blank said "Mom. I want to ride a bike." I nearly screamed with excitement. I was particularly happy about Noah's enthusiasm because it was Saturday (not just any Saturday, a rare occasion with Ron home for most of the day). Poor Ron tirelessly ran up and down our street with Noah balancing and catching him, thank goodness for the gorgeous weather we are having. Helping a child learn to ride and balance is a really good workout. After just a couple days of this Noah was riding all on his own. He could get started by himself and even turn circles. He wants to ride ALL the time! And EVERY second of the day asks if we can go outside to ride bikes. I'm so happy he's in half day kindergarten and we have more time in the day for him to enjoy riding his bike and continue getting better at it. I don't know who is more proud of him, me or Noah himself. Such a great thing to witness first hand your child's accomplishment and be successful at a new skill.

Well... Noah's bike riding story actually isn't over. I kept analyzing in my brain what could have possibly flipped that switch for him? Why all the sudden interested in riding a bike? It wasn't bribery, it wasn't really even peer pressure of all his friends riding... then it hit me. A week prior he started talking about a girl in his class that rides the bus with him. This is a HUGE deal, up until now Noah has pretty much crossed girls off his list of "things that are important or matter to him." I'm serious. In preschool his teacher would tell me about having issues with him at snack time he would straight up refuse to sit by any girl. He would chose NO SNACK or TIME OUT over sitting down and eating next to a girl. The past couple years he was adamant that "NO GIRLS" (except his sister) were allowed at his birthday parties. I always worried if he would ever change his mind about girls. So when he started noticing a girl in his class my interest was peeked! I had a couple conversations with him about "Hailie" and asked if we should invite her over sometime. He seemed excited about that so I talked to Hailie's mom the next day at the bus stop. Hailie's mom was enthused too and said that she had heard ALL about Noah from Hailie. She then asked me "Does he ride a bike? We could get together and ride bikes..." This is where my heart sank. I replied "No. He refuses to even get on a bike, but he has a scooter..." The conversation fizzled and the bus showed up at that point. I would have to figure out another play date option with Hailie. I mentioned the conversation to Noah and could tell he was contemplating it but nothing more was said about it until the following Saturday when he asked Ron and I to help him ride a bike. A couple days later my suspicions were confirmed. I could tell he felt pretty confident about his riding skills and he turned to me and said "Mom. When can we invite Hailie over to ride bikes?" It took every ounce of will power in me to not jump and shout "you did this for a GIRL!?!?!" I love it! So cute.

It's a GIRL!!!

We found out this week that baby #4 is a GIRL! Super excited! Callie's face says it all! All the kids wanted to come to the ultrasound appointment. It was a really small room so I felt bad for Ron trying to corral and manage the kids for about 30 mins. Mason was really sweet, he would come and lovingly rub my legs while looking at the monitor. Super cute.

Baby girl was really moving around, the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting the necessary pictures and measurements. I'm due April 20th and I REALLY want to name her April. Ron likes the name Julie a little better. We will see who wins! (I like the name Julie too. I think Jules is a really cute nickname) I guess time will tell. For now it's just nice to refer to her as a HER and not "the baby" or "it".

I've gained about 10 pounds now and have had a couple weird CRAVINGS. I have eaten about 3-4 McDonald's sausage biscuits in the past couple months. (I know weird. I've always liked the plain sausage biscuit but I probably only have like 1 a year total. I'll be driving around running errands and all the sudden glance at the clock if it's before 11am I'll find the nearest McDonald's and order one.)

The first trimester is over so the nausea, fatigue, and excessive hunger is fading away and that's really nice! SUGAR is still always on my mind. However, I'm finding that I have more self control this trimester so far. It's easier to say no to the food that isn't good for me. EMOTIONS seem to run especially high for me. Good emotions (for the most part), for example today we went to the Phoenix Temple dedication. Mason got to go with us this time and that was a really bitter sweet moment. He was very well behaved and especially excited about the Hosanna Shout. More than a few tears trickled down my cheeks during the meeting today as I thought about eternal families and Temple blessings. Wonderful Sunday!