The Cross Family

So much to blog about so brace yourself with the pics. Below is my new favorite cookie recipe for Christmas. They are called Santa's Thumbprint Cookies. The are Thumbprint cookies with white chocolate, English Toffee, and Maraschino Cherries on top. They are gold because they took forever to make and the taste was so delectable.


I got Porter and Kyle My Pillow Pets. They are stuffed animals they can fold up or lay out flat like a pillow. The material on them is so soft. I love them! Go to mypillowpets.com. They have the cutest ones ever. I got Kyle the moose and Porter the monkey. They are so fun.
I love Christmas. I love the time spent with family. The Christmas music and just all of it. I can't wait to teach Porter the true meaning of Christmas and for him to know of the Savior and how significant the birth of Christ is (even though he was really born and resurrected on Easter :) ). Its such a great holiday. I love everything about it.

Ok, in the pic above I know it looks gross. But the tradition of Fininhatti (spelling... aka smoked cod fish) has been in my family for over 100 years. Yes 100 YEARS!!! My great-grandma brought the tradion with her when she moved her from England with her parents in 1911. Included in their tradition was sausage rolls, grapefruit and cinnamon buns. Oh and homemade hot cocoa. I love it. We do it every Christmas breakfast and has not failed in my 26 years of life or my mothers or grandmothers or great-grandmothers or her mothers. We'll keep this Old English tradition going for years to come. All of it is so delicious.
The grapefruit....
The sausage rolls. These were a nightmare to make... until this year! Ever since my great-grandmother passed away 5 1/2 years ago we have not been able to master her recipe for the crust. It was always a pinch of this a dash of that... oh and never work the dough too much.... well this year we finally got it right! My great grandma would be so proud!
Here is my little angel sleeping in the car on the way home from making the rounds at my mom's and my dad's houses. Good thing we did Kyle's parents house the night before. It would have been overwhelming. Poor wittle tired monkey. He is so adorable!!!!


And of course once we get home Kyle passes out with his and Porter's pillow pets (After we took down the tree). Porter's favorite thing was to rip ornaments off the tree so after three broken ornaments I decided that this tree had to come down immediately after Christmas.



Me, before the tree came down. I had to hold this so called prego bump just so you didn't think I over ate. :) Its small but its there. I am now 17 weeks and have gained 3 lbs. Not too shabby. By this time with Porter I was up 12 lbs!!! I am not going to gain that much this time. Plus I started out 15 lbs lighter this pregnancy. I am now in size 5's as I refuse to rubberband my size 3 jeans. It just looks so retarded. And is not very comfortable.


Our little man with one of his toys. A moving, tail-wagging, naying rocking horse. Lol. Its pretty funny.

And here is the quilt I made that I blogged about starting months ago. I finished it in November. It has peppermint buttons that go on the trees but I was afraid Porter would pull them off so I won't put them on until next year! My mom got me a sewing machine of my own for Christmas. Once I find out the gender of this baby I will be starting the next quilt. Oh my I am so domesticated. LOL. If you had known me 10 years ago even 6 years ago, you would laugh at the thought of me quilting or baking or doing anything of this sort. BUT I LOVE IT!!! I do it with style though. Nothing frumpy or homely lol :)

And finally the bedding saga. Months ago, I bought bedding from Pottery Barn... well they took three months to ship it all to me and by the time it all came I absolutely hated it!!! Oh it was awful. The material was more of an upholstery material. Really hard and rough. And really just not me. So I took it back and went to the Quilt Shop. I was kinda hesitant because that store can be really frumpy and homely but my sister (the designer) said she has found really cute stuff there and so has my neighbor. So I took my neighbor there with me and we picked out cute bedding but when I brought it home I realized it was hideous in my room and I would have to change my furniture, wall color, art work, mirror, lamps... and basically everything in my room... which is fine... but being pregnant I was not up for it and not only that... I realized when I got home how hideous the bedding really was. Oh my, what being pregnant can do to you. So I was up all night trying to figure out what to do and what colors would look best. So anyways. The pic above is what I got when I went in on the third try and just relaxed instead of rushing to find the perfect bedding. Oh how I just love it.
So anyways... was a perfect holiday season it has been. Spending time with my family. I love my hub so much and my son. I am so grateful for them. They are the loves of my life. Merry Christmas to all and to all GOODNIGHT!!!

Just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Wow does time fly or what. Due to the holiday season, Porter just had his 12 month check up this past week. So here is the update of our little man. He is in the 90th percentile for height, 50th for weight and 75th for his head circumference. So he is all around average except his height. He is our little running back. The doctor even said his molars are coming in! Holy cow. That doesn't happen usually til they are about a year and a half. Oh and he didn't even flinch when he got his immunizations. I really think he has like no sense of pain. He bites himself, leaves indents and laughs about it for heavens sake. And to not even flinch with shots? Crazy. So anyway, its so hard to believe he is already 1! Its so crazy. He has been walking since 10 months so thats nothing new. Its so cute when he walks... his chubby cheeks jiggle like a bowl full of jelly. I love it! His favorite thing is to throw stuff. He'll grab my cell phone walk over to the kitchen tile and throw my phone. Or he'll pick up his legos or toy cars and chuck them at the tv, the wall and sometimes my head. Whatever is an easy target for him. He gives me loves though when he realizes he has hurt me. Oh and now he has started to relate words to objects. Like his milky or his snuggy (his blankey). Its so fun to watch them grow and develop. He is a daring little dude. He has learned to slide off our bed (which is abnormally high) and now he tries to go off the back of the couch! He has no fear. When he jumps or falls a distance he'll cry for like a half a second if that from the rush in his tummy I am sure. Then he starts laughing and tries to go at it again! What am I going to do with him? So anyway that is the latest. We find out what we are having the first week of the new year. So we'll be expecting a Samuel Jamison (Sam or Sammy) or a Sophie Mae. I did some genealogy research to make sure I could find those names somewhere to back me up with Kyle. They are family names so we have to use them. Even if they are from great uncle's second cousin twice removed lol.

Well here are the pics of Porter's 1st Birthday! I can't believe my little man is already 1! He has grown so fast! Before I know it he'll be driving!!! He is so cute and is the love of our lives.
(Yes I made the monkey cake, not too shabby)

So these past few months I have been thinking deeply about my relationships with people. Some that need improvement and some that are great and some that need not exist at all. I think about what I bring into their lives as well as what they bring into mine. Do we try our hardest to be the best person, friend, daughter, sister, etc. that we can be. Are we selfless in our actions and do what we can to help others be the best they can. What do we bring to the relationship? Are we selfish or selfless? And better yet? What does that say about us?

"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art."
- Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616) Spanish novelist

How we are as a person determines what we have to offer others. I strive to be the best wife, friend and family member I can be. To always be there for others. Sometimes I fall short, but I strive. As the holiday seasons are upon us, I can't help but to be in the spirit of thanksgiving and Christ. I am so grateful for the friends I have kept in my life and my family. More importantly, I am so grateful for my best friend, my husband, and for my son, whom I love unconditionally.
I just wanted to share these thoughts and hope that it will inspire those to think about what kind of friends they encircle themselves with and what kind of friend they are. This season is about helping and blessing the lives of others, as the best example (Christ) dedicated his life to doing. This season is being grateful and celebration of Christ's birth and remembering the example he set for us to follow.

"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."
- Samuel Johnston
Think about the friends you surround yourself with. Do they inspire you to be the best you can? Do you inspire them? Why weigh yourself down with those that only care for themselves and seek not for the best interest other than their own.
If you think you have nothing to give this holiday season (financially or what not to serve others) remember that the best and most priceless gift you can give is your friendship, which will last a lifetime.

Ok fellow blog followers. Kyle and I are going private. We love sharing whats going on in our lives, but we don't love strangers knowing what the Jones' are doing. So anyway, just comment your email address and we'll add you to our list.

Some of us only have one anniversary to celebrate with our significant other... Kyle and I? We have two. When we first met in May 2005 Kyle was not a member of the LDS church. After dating he expressed his interest in the church and so I told him the best thing to do would be to take missionary discussions to learn more. Long story short Kyle was baptized three months later in Aug 2005. For those of my friends who were around for the courtship it wasn't long before we got engaged. Three weeks to be precise. In order to marry in the temple Kyle had to be a member for a full year. Well we really couldn't wait a full year to get married. That just asks for something naughty to happen. So we married on January 17, 2006 and were sealed November 17, 2006 (Both our birthdays fall on the 17th so we kept the dates easy to remember).
We have been sealed for 3 years tomorrow. Kyle has been called to teach in Primary and has been in that calling now for about a month or more. He really enjoys it. I think its the neatest calling because it teaches him things he never got to learn. He is the most amazing person in the world. Some were skeptical of our relationship having met and married so soon. But Kyle and I, we knew it was right. We are so perfect for each other. I truly am so grateful for him. He truly is my better half. I love you sweetheart and am so proud of you. Happy Anniversary.

Well as I mentioned in earlier posts, Porter is walking. He started taking a step here and there at 9 1/2 months. At 10 months it was 2 or 3 steps... at 10 1/2 months he was walking everywhere! Now, at 11 1/2 months he is trying to run. It is so funny. He gets going so fast and gets so excited that he falls forward but gets back up and goes again. I love this little man. I am so excited for this next one. At first, I was so nervous. Kyle is going back to school for his Master's in the spring and we are still in our beautiful but tight cornered townhouse. But I had much good advise from all of you. We will be a close family and that is all that matters. Kyle and I have names picked out for either gender. We struggled for a bit with the boys name. You can't compete with "Porter" it is uncommon and such a strong name. It fits him so well. So I hope the name we have picked out for the next baby fits him or her as well. And I am so glad I styled Porter's room to be unisex because they are most likely going to share a room for a little while. You can see pictures of Porter's nursery in my blog back in January titled "The Glider that Started it All."
So anyway, so far that is all that is new. I am still in my skinny jeans. Surprisingly I haven't gained any weight since being pregnant. I went from eating about 800 calories a day to eating oh geeze I don't even want to calculate. But I guess its enough calories to maintain my weight and help this little baby grow! Last pregnancy I started at 155 and ended at 192. This pregnancy I started at 140 (really 135 but after eating carbs again I put on 5 lbs. :( so I guess I have gained weight but that was within the first few weeks and haven't gained any since) and I hope to only get to 165. I am really going to bust my butt to stay in shape this pregnancy. Its so not healthy to go all out and eat whatever you want. But anyway, so that is the latest.

My little monster baby! How stinking cute. He walks all on his own now at great distances. At ten months it was two or three steps at a time. Now he walks everywhere. Elle is just holding his hands up so you can see his extra set of MONSTER arms lol. How cute is his little pudgy monster belly!

He wasn't too happy about being in his costume. He was a little too toasty in it. But we all loved his little chubby cheeks that were pushed out of his hood!

My little niece Alivia as a witch if you couldn't tell. How cute are her leggings. And no she isn't wearing a wig. That is her hair... well sort of. Its as real as any black woman's weave ;) Shantel has her hair weaved and its so dang cute!!!

My sister Elle and Alivia. Cute little witches ;)

My nephew JJ. He is a "Gangsta" and he says that. We named him Al "JJ" Capone.

My second niece, Taylor, as little miss Snow White. How perfect for her beautiful features. Except her skin isn't pale white like snow whites. She lucked out with the olive skin like Porter.

LOL. This is my brother in law, Travis, (on the left) and my sister Hailey's boyfriend on the right. His name is Ryan. So were the names of the last five guys she dated. NO joke.

This is Jessie and I. She got off work from the ER and came straight to the party... so she dressed up as... a nurse ;) Me? Well I decided I was little red riding hood. Minus the hood on my sweater. I'll dress up next year I promise. And yes, I know my sweater makes me look fat. The last time I wear it... even though in a few months it won't matter anyway ;)


After my sister took the picture, I said wow my head is huge next to Jessie's. Shantel, being the sweet sister that she is, replied "No, Jessie's head is really small and yours is just on the LARGER side of average." Thanks Shantel, lol.

The big badass wolf and little red riding hood. Kyle's grizzly beard is all he needed for his costume :) Love you baby sorry for the language.

And this is Shantel. I forgot to get a picture of her whole costume. Though from this picture you don't need it for entertainment purposes. lol. She was Tinkerbell. I think her tongue is identical to Gene Simmons from Kiss. Gross. LOL

HA HA. This is my awesome Grandma Betty and her husband Bruce. They are hilarious. My grandma is the most shabby chic grandma I KNOW.

Hailey being Tom Cruise in risky business and her new fling. I can't believe she dropped trow for the picture in front of my mom. Wait, yes I can.

Finally, my mom and step dad, Chad. Chad had his face painted last year like a skeleton. It was awesome. But he didn't have time this year. Last second we had to go get dry ice for the home made rootbeer and breadsticks for my mom's famous most delish chili.... I have to remember thats not the best thing to eat being pregnant. Not so great for the heart burn. Sure clears the sinuses though. Yum Yum. And I totally got to drive my mom's new X5. It has a diesel engine and it is as quiet as my step dads Lexus. It was way nice. Kyle said I could get one.... when we can pay cash for it :( Oh well... at least he didn't say never right?

Ok, so I guess my mystery reason was obvious and didn't keep you all guessing til our next post. We were going to wait til our first appointment... but many have guessed and I have said it on facebook... Yes WE'RE PREGNANT!
At first, I'll admit that I cried for hours... for days... Kyle and I weren't planning or expecting this to happen. We kinda joked about it because my family is so fertile that all our husbands have to do is be in the same room as us and we conceive... but in all seriousness... it took us by surprise. We have settled in to the fact and now accept it and are very excited. It will be hard as we are still stuck in our 2 bedroom townhouse that we have tried selling for over 2 years now... and since you can't buy a new house and rent out your old house without having 25% equity in your rental (old house) we are stuck here. But we'll make do. Hopefully God thinks... "Megan, this one's on me, be humble and I'll probably bless you greatly" instead of "See Megan this is what happens when you try to take your life in your own direction and not mine so wo be unto you." Or something along those lines. NO really, I know this happened for a reason. I am so happy that Porter and this next one will be so close in age. Whether its a boy or a girl. They will look after each other. Be best friends.
Kyle has been so great with all of this. We are still planning on him starting his Master's in the spring. He is going to attend Westminster and get his MBA with a certificate in accounting. Which will still help him out when he is ready to apply for the FBI. Far cry from the military but still just as time consuming. But he is strong and very smart. He will see this through. So anyway that is the great mystery as to our reasoning for the changes we did and did not make. in our life.

So to announce the denouncement (if thats even the right word lol) Kyle has decided not to join the army (wew.... a breath of fresh air). It would have been exciting moving around and all, but what wouldn't be exciting is him going to basic training for 9 weeks, officer training for 12 weeks then 3 more courses after that... then getting deployed to hell for 18 months. We decided that if he were going to do that it would have been better to do before we had Porter. So, Kyle is going to be working on his MBA at Westminster. It will be rough having him back in school again and working at Fidelity for another 2 plus years (hopefully he finds a job somewhere else in the meantime). But they are all stepping stones. I am so grateful for my husband and the sacrifices he makes for our family. He is such a great man. Especially for putting up with me. I love him to pieces.
Porter is now 10 months old! Can you believe it! His first birthday falls right on turkey day this year. Poor guy. But he won't notice the difference if we celebrate it another day. He has 7 teeth. 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom. He now says da da and... wait for it... MA MA!!!! He claps his hands for hooray and he can take 3 steps at a time... when he wants to ;) which is ok with me. He crawls up the stairs under my supervision and likes to climb on things. He is an adventurous little boy. And now he knows that tooting is a silly thing to do in front of others and he laughs when he does it. What a silly kid.

And... I have finally gotten all my weight off plus extra. I am officially size 3 and 135 lbs!!! Not bad for being 5'9''

So that is the latest with the Cross household I will keep you updated. Oh... almost forgot... We have reasoning for all of our changes... we'll announce that later. Till then let it remain a mystery!

Ten years ago, I would probably despise who I am today. Sad, but true. Active in the church, a mommy and most of all, Domesticated. I always wanted to be a career woman, work for a major advertisement firm in New York and have a corner office with a view. That all changed when I got this dyer urge to get married and have children about seven years ago. Now, I am happily married with a beautiful child and all I want to be is a great housewife and mother. Recently, I have picked up the traditional mormon mother trends from the 50's of making quilts. My neighbor and I have gotten in this together. I made one for Porter for Easter and I am now starting a huge 5x6 quilt for Christmas. I am very excited. I can just picture my husband, son and I snuggling under the quilt on Christmas Eve reading Christmas stories and snacking on gingerbread cookies and milk. I have also picked up selling scentsy. Yes, I know everyone does it. But when Kyle and I move out of state and possibly country (for his new job I cannot specify at this time until its official), it will be something I can take along with me and sell in uncharted territories. So I am really excited. Anyway, I will keep you posted on the quilt, the scentsy, and announce the new move when the time is right.

OK, so this is far from my best artwork and really takes no talent at all as far as murals go. Its just creative designs for girls rooms that I just finished. The bubble room I designed completely (well I had the customer pick out the bedding from Pottery Barn Teen then I designed the walls... not the furniture- that could have used some help). The blue room was the little girls idea. Something she saw on disney.com. So anyway. Its just recent work, I actually finished this weekend.

I created a new blog for the business, ifwallscouldtalkpainting.blogspot.com, follow it and and spread the word.

Now that my sister and I have owned the company for 7 1/2 years its abot time we went cyber with it. We got really busy from word of mouth.... until the economy went downhill. So anyway. Hope you like ;) Oh and If Walls Could Talk is our company name.

So I just thought I would upload some pics of our krazy kid. They are on facebook, but I am bored and thought I would share them with those of you who aren't on facebook.

He shoved a whole shortbread cookie in his mouth lol
The WHOLE thing.

In honor of my handsome hubby's 26th birthday (which is actually on Monday the 17th) I threw him another surprise party. Yes, I just threw him one two years ago. You would think he would start to expect one. This year I arranged for his two friends Brad and Dave (Seth) to take him golfing in the afternoon instead of the morning so I could get the errands done that I needed to prepare for the party. I really wish I would have remembered my camera that I left at home. We had the party at the clubhouse, which I fully decorated with balloons and streamers and a banner and such. I am a pretty good decorator might I add. Anyway, I even got a cake decorated in a Golf theme, and all of his presents from friends and family were golf related. Anyway, it was a pretty great surprise party. Kyle was so happy to see all of his friends that he hasn't seen in such a long time. I even went the distance of inviting Kyle's best childhood and high school friend, Tim Howells. I have met him and his darling wife once before. I always see pictures of little Kyle and Timmy in Kyle's mom's photo box. So adorable. And of course the Hardle Brothers Trio and their wives were there! Kyle is great friends with Brad from highschool and his beautiful wife Jade. Oh and Dave (nka Seth) and his adorable wife JC were there and Kyle's manager from Fidelity, Jamison. It was nice to meet them. I went the great distance of inviting so many contacts of Kyle's to make it a great party. So anyway. It was a great party. Thanks to all who showed up! We had a blast!



As I said, I forgot my camera at home. These are just pictures of the Birthday Boy before he went golfing. What handsome boys I can claim as the loves of my life!

(please don't mind my messy kitchen)

The pics below my friend Janessa took from her phone.

Kyle being surprised!

Kyle surprised. Yes, I intentionally got matching shirts. I told Kyle they would be for a family photo and Porter had a gray shirt. What? Diddy has his white parties. I can have my striped ;)