This one is my favorite!  Sami is so adorable!

Oh man, the past month has been a doozy! But you know what, we made it through and now Christmas is almost here! YE-AH!

I made Christmas cards. I just made them and sent them to be printed. But anyhoo, they should arrive this week and then I'll send them out. But actually, I was wondering if anyone out there even wants a Christmas card. I don't get more than three a year. Do people still send out cards? I love getting cards. Please send me a card! I want to send out cards, but I only really have family addresses. If you are reading this and want a Christmas card, please e-mail me your address!!! ASAP! Here's my e-mail: picturesbyalyson at gmail dot com. Of course, replace the words with the appropriate symbols. Sweet. You don't even have to write anything else in the email to me. Just your address.

Okay then. Got to run.

Let's talk about internet safety. Occasionally I will look at the stats on my photography blog. I haven't done it for a while, in fact I haven't even been to my photo blog in 6 months, so when I went yesterday and updated it I decided to check. Imagine my surprise to find that it had over 60 views yesterday morning alone. Odd.

I looked at the referring addresses. Suspicious.

adsensewatchdog and vampirestat. I will not even bother to put the dot com after each address. Do not click on these links if you see them.

I googled them and was even more confused.

The following information is from SpamSpoiler.blogspot.com:

"If you have a blog and check to see where the traffic to your blog originates, you may notice traffic from websites called Vampirestat.com, Adsensewatchdog.com, Villainstat.com, Uglystat.com and/or Zombiestat.com. First off, don't click on them to find out why they are sending you traffic.

Neither Adsensewatchdog, nor any of these others have anything whatsoever to do with Google or Google AdSense and are essentially spam sites that use automated traffic to blogs to attract clicks to their own sites from blog owners such as you. Once you're at their site, at a minimum, you'll be fed ads. At worst, you might fall victim to malevolent code that seeks to infect your computer with who knows what (although I haven't verified that these particular sites are seeking to plant anything on your machine)." 

What I don't understand is why people do this. It makes me want to set my blog to private. Obviously this is something that I really don't want to do, but along with the weird spammers, I am also getting a lot of traffic from other areas and people looking at my blog who I do not know. This is slightly unnerving. This may be the end of my "open blog policy".

We'll see.

p.s. I have no problem with strangers looking at my blog as long as you make yourself known. Leave a comment. Something to let me know you are normal and not some weirdo.

I am behind. So behind that it looks like I'll never catch up. I am talking about the blog, and life, and lots of things. It's a recurring theme in my life.

But good news. I've been exercising. It's the most interesting thing. Since this is my first experience with running until the day I gave birth, I didn't know what to expect. That first run after having Carter was so stinking EASY! I felt so light and FAST. It was crazy weird. But let's talk real here. Yes I still had that weird jello-jiggler tummy. It was all a-jiggle as I ran. But everything else on my body seems to have bounced back crazy fast!

I put my jeans on four weeks ago. I've never done that before! I took my measurements and compared them to my pre-prego measurements. Everything is the same except for my giant jello tummy which is still hugely large. I wonder when that will go down.

My midwife had me do a bunch of exercises for diastasis recti (which is when your abdominals seperate). As she told me, every woman gets this after giving birth, but doing the exercises pulls your muscles back faster. So even though the ol' abs are reunited again, I am still fighting to get rid of the layer of fat and squishiness that seems to have settled on top of it all.

Wow. That was an interesting tangent wasn't it. Back to the original topic. I am behind. I never blogged the pictures of the first day of school. I never blogged about Halloween. I didn't tell about Carter's blessing or Logan's baptism. Also, my house has gotten disastrous. I'm behind on the cleaning and the laundry.

But I get an A+++ because despite being so behind on everything, Phoebe read her first book yesterday and Carter is growing like a weed. My kids are happy and healthy and I am getting the exercise I need. Being a mom is such a balancing act. And yes I'm a little out of balance right now, but I know it will all come together soon.

 Of course I'm going to say Carter! I just love this little boy. I love how expressive his sweet face is.

At that point I was told that they would watch me for the next four hours, and if nothing changed they would send me home. I said "we'll see". HA! I had a lot of BH contractions, but nothing big for the next few hours. At 2:00 the nurse checked me and I had dilated a centimeter. Well since I had made some progress, they could not send me home. Instead I was told that I couldn't move from the bed except to go to the bathroom. They didn't want real labor to start because my midwife really could not make it until 7:00.

 I'm going to post a lot of pictures of Carter. Sorry if it's picture overload, but I can't help it. I've been waiting a long time for this.

He sleeps most of the time just like this; mouth wide open

Love this. Brothers.

Just wanted to make sure that you all know Carter does NOT have red hair. His coloring is all messed up because he is severely jaundiced. His hair color is a light brown/blond. FYI :)

And a sibling pic. Too bad you weren't here Kevin and Alysa. We missed you and your families!

It's been so much colder lately. I'm wishing we could go back in time and have a second Summer. Don't get me wrong, I love Fall, but I love days like this. Picnic at Grandmas!

First of all, THANKS SO MUCH KIKI!!!! Your advice about getting cleats and shin guards was perfect. I almost didn't get them because el hubbo said he thought it was unnecessary. However, when we showed up at the game and the ref told another kid he wasn't going to be able to play unless he got cleats and shin guards, I was so relieved that I had taken your advice!

Still running. Not eating so wonderfully, but not eating terrible either. Coming down the home stretch. Go me!

I think I need some words of encouragement. Like when is life going to get better? When will we have more money? And I'm not thinking I need to be like everyone in my ward. I'd like to be in a place where I'm not hyperventilating when I pay the bills every month some day. I'd like to never have to walk into the Medicaid office or Central District Health ever again. And I am getting so tired of all the new families moving into the ward to rent a place, fresh from school, and then a year later building a beautiful new house.

Today Logan fasted for the first time. He and Trevor were fasting for a variety of reasons. But anyway, it may have possibly been a bad idea to only eat salads last night for dinner. Probably not enough food there to keep them going today.

Around 11:00 a.m. Logan came into my room where I was resting and playing a game on the phone, and he lay down next to me and started sobbing about how hungry he was. I just held him and said I was sorry and how it wasn't supposed to be easy to fast and wasn't he glad he was only fasting for two meals? Poor kid.

So I said "why don't you get a book and read, or if you are tired you should take a nap. That will take your mind off of food." So he came back to my bed and lay next to me reading until he fell asleep around noon. I should mention that 1. It is Phoebe's birthday today and the girls and I had DOUGHNUTS for breakfast 2. Logan's face was white as a ghost 3. Trevor was gone home teaching.

About 15 minutes after falling asleep, Logan sat up and said "I don't feel very good" and then put his hand over his mouth and spewed puke through every finger gap all over the room. I really think that's the messiest throw up I've ever seen. You should never put your hand over your mouth to throw up. It creates a huge amount of pressure and force.

I ran to grab a bowl for the puke to go into, but Logan ran to the bathroom instead, dripping puke all over the carpet. sigh. While in the bathroom, he spewed a few more times until he felt better. After that, I sent him to his bed with a bowl while I cleaned everything up. Sigh again. Laundry all day.

After cleaning the whole mess up, I went to talk to Logan. I asked him if he still wanted to keep fasting. He said he did. I gave him a little bit of water and a half of a piece of bread. I told him that this water and bread were like his medicine. I told him it was okay to take medicine while fasting. I told him his body was having a hard time without any food, so he needed to have just a little bit to make his tummy feel better. I told him to eat only as much as he thought he needed.

I went back a few minutes later to check on him and he had only eaten half of the half. He said he didn't need any more. Sweet boy.

He made it all the way until dinner time. That's FIVE O'CLOCK!!!! I am so proud of Logan! And then of course, he got a doughnut with his dinner to make up for breakfast. And cake and ice cream later tonight for the birthday party, but that's another post.

Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?

Anybody there? Anybody there? Anybody there? Anybody there? 

Seriously, where has everybody gone? Does anyone blog still? Has everyone deserted for Facebook? Maybe I shouldn't go there, but I'm going to. I HATE Facebook. For me, it's no good. I'm not saying it's bad for everyone, but definitely it's bad for me. I spent way too much time looking at people's profiles and wandering around looking people up and seriously before I knew it, I'd wasted hours! I have no self control. And so, I'm now banned from going on there. I banned myself. I'm cool like that.

Also, the biggest problem I had was reading about what the people in my ward were doing. Seeing pictures and hearing about them all hanging out was super depressing. It's not like I was invited. I felt horrible about myself. Not cool. I know, you might say that maybe it's my lack of self control and because I have no self esteem that I don't get along with Facebook, and you'd be 100% right. Which is why I'm not on there anymore. I feel so much better about myself now. I have more time to spend with my kids, clean the house, get stuff done. It's better for me.

To each his own I guess. But still, COME BACK YOU GUYS!!!!!

So, ever since I got over the yuckiness that started off this pregnancy I've been exercising. A very long time ago I coveted a friend who was pregnant at the same time as me and had her baby just a few months after me and looked like she was never pregnant just a week after she had the baby (you know who you are CHRISTINE!). Super long run-on sentence. I don't care!

I asked her how she was so amazingly skinny so soon after giving birth, and she said exercising and eating healthy, or something like that.

Sounds horrible, right?

I mean, who wants to do anything except lay around and sleep and eat cereal and doughnuts when you're pregnant? That's what I normally do.

But this time I am determined to bounce back quicker. I really really really want to have a normal sized baby too. And I am exaggerating about how completely unhealthy I've been in the past.

So I've been eating lots of healthy food. I let myself linger in the bakery at the grocery store and smell all the yummy smells, but I don't get to buy anything. I've been alternating between running and biking with some walking mixed into the running (I'm not as cool as you Christine). I'm starting to see that all this hard work might actually be worth it. I have 8 weeks to go until d-day. That's a long time to pack on the weight here at the end, but I'm still 25 pounds lighter than any other pregnancy. I can keep it reigned in.

Of course the one thing I can hardly wait to see is how big this baby is. If I pop out another 10 pounder, that's it. I don't care. It's not worth it at all. I'm going back to multi-grain cheerios and doughnuts for the next pregnancy.

It is so nice to finally have AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!! I had the best sleep I've had in two months last night.

Thank-you to the inventor of air conditioning!

And thank-you to my landlady for finally making a decision to replace our air conditioning unit!

I don't normally have time to do my hair. I brush it and put it back in a pony tail or a clip, but that's it.

That's why I have taken to trying a new hairstyle out pretty much every Sunday to church.

My go-to hair blog is www.maskcara.com. I've been working my way through a few of her tutorials, and today I tried the mother of all hair tutorials. I mean, this is mind boggling!

If you have hard to style hair, or if you style it and by the end of church it is flat, then you have got to try her Candy Coated Sea Spray recipe. http://www.maskcara.com/maskcara/2013/07/16/candy-coated-sea-spray/

This stuff is amazing! I would caution you to be careful not to put too much curl in your hair, because it doesn't lose the curl. This is not your normal hair product. This stuff really holds! Keep it wavy and natural and you'll be fine.

I went a little too curly, and now it won't lose the curl! Plus, it styled in half the time of the other tutorials I've tried. AMAZING! AND this is SIX hours after I styled it.

photo thanks to my webcam. And there is a purple towel in the background I hung over the light to try to block the back light coming in the window behind me so you could all see my face and not a black outline.

Go try it! And try her amazing make-up videos too!

UPDATE: I woke up this morning with a royal rats nest for hair!!! I had to brush it because the AC guys were coming, and then it turned into a royal frizz-ball rats nest. Be careful how much spray you use, and plan on washing your hair the day after!

It's 102 degrees outside. We still have no AC. We have not had the luxury of AC at all yet this summer.

I am still pregnant.

Pregnancy + Summer + no AC=?

I'm trying to have a good attitude, really.

I'd like to find my landlady and strangle her.

Too bad she's in California enjoying her 92 degree weather.

HA! HA! HA!

I'm laughing even before this posts starts.

Oh shoot!

Did you know, not all of the amazing things you read on Pinterest always work out? Why didn't I know this? I've never had a "Pinstrosity" before, but OH MAN have I ever had one now!

It all started when I read the amazing "paint your couch" pin. It was a magnificent pin. And sometimes I get super annoyed with my college dorm furniture. So of course my mind started spinning with thoughts about how I was going to transform my furniture. I bought some of that upholstery grade fabric paint that they are always talking about. It came in the mail and I was super excited, and yet oh so scared. What if it didn't work like everyone said it would? So I did a little more research. I felt fairly confident, so I went for it.

First I sprayed the top of one couch cushion, then the sides. Hmm. It didn't cover very well, and I had just used one whole can. I waited half an hour and got out a second can. *spray, spray, spray* One more can gone. Still, the orange was showing through. I started to panic. I was all in now, so I got out the second cushion. *spray, spray, spray* One more can gone and only half of the second cushion was covered and still barely covered by the gray it was supposed to become.

FULL PANIC MODE! I had only bought six cans of this stuff. Time to get back on Pinterest! *Read, Read, Read* I had a new idea!

I was going to try the "Rustoleum water-based Stain" method. I ran to the store and picked up a quart of stain in gray. I rushed home and started applying over the top of the cushions I had just sprayed. ACK! Still not quite covering. I painted and painted until it got dark, and still I had only covered over the top of the cushions I had been spraying earlier. I had not turned the cushions over to paint the other sides yet and I was almost through an entire quart of stain!!!

Time to take a break. I decided to stop. I let the stain dry overnight and then this morning I put them on the couch. I sat down. YUCK! They were so stiff and scratchy! I got out the sandpaper. *sand, sand, sand* Much softer, but still so stiff and smelly and the orange is back and showing through the gray! ACK! What have I done?!?

*Trip to the fabric store*

Time for plan C. How about reupholstering the couch? I bought some plain gray fabric.

And this is where I am now. I have a pile of fabric, an orange couch with two smelly gray/orange cushions, and I'm sitting here thinking "If I had only just left it alone".

UGH!

HAHAHA! I think this is so very funny! And this is why I love being creative. Not every project turns out. And yes it stinks to put forth that much effort, but this is how I learn. I'd never learn how to do anything if I was scared of failing.

Have you ever had a Pinstrosity?

p.s. On a really annoying note, my platelets are down, and it looks like I will have a birth similar to Phoebe's. Super great, right? I hate that I have to worry about this again.

I looked out the window this morning and what did I see?

Dead grass everywhere looking at me.

I checked out the sprinkler clock and low and behold

Everything was off and growing mold (okay not really, but the clock had been off for a few weeks)

I don't even know where to begin, but MAN June was a crazy month!

I don't think I have ever in the life of this blog not put up at least one post a month, but somehow it finally happened and I missed June.

I'm getting ready for a reunion for my side of the family. It's been a lot of last minute stuff, because as you all know, that's how I roll. And yeah, my sister Laura and I are in charge of it together. I'm sure she has wanted to kill me a few times, but that's just how we are. We're good now and everything has come together awesomely. I'm super excited!

And I meant to post this here a while ago, but a sister-in-law kindly reminded me that I still haven't spilled the beans about what we are having. Better late than never, right? We are having a BOY! There ya go. I'm always skeptical, but it doesn't matter what we have because I'm ready either way. We just want the end result to be a healthy baby.

We were also able to see Trevor's brother's family sealed in the Boise Temple last month. It was a sweet ceremony and one I will never forget. Love family!

My parents came home from their mission in Indiana. It's nice to have them close again. I'm thinking they are happy we had their air conditioner fixed when we lived there because HOLY COW it is so HOT lately!!

The air conditioner in our car and house are broken. It stinks. Mostly it stinks to try to sleep at night. It's really not bad during the day. I was holding out and I wasn't going to turn it on in the house until July, but Trevor caved and turned it on last Thursday. Bummer that it's broken. And since we have had so many trips, we aren't going to be home long enough to have it fixed until next week. So until then we will just be hot like normal.

I feel like I'm leaving so many details out, but I've got to go keep the laundry going and get more family reunion stuff done. I'll put up some pictures next time!

Alyson

Trevor made me a new office chair. That man is so thoughtful! I've been sitting at the computer a lot lately working, and it is seriously hurting my tushy so that I can't walk very well. So yesterday he took my chair apart and threw away the upper half of it. Then he took an extra Jeep seat we have and attached it to the bottom half of my old office chair.

The result? Oh MAN! I have NEVER EVER EVER sat in a chair so comfy.

If you can't picture it, think chair from your car with wheels attached at the bottom. Can you even imagine something so cushy on your bum?

It rolls around and even swivels! He's a genius!

So we've been trying to move on/ move ahead with life for the past two years. It gets frustrating. I think I'm finally to the point where I can admit defeat. Life will never be what I picture, because apparently what is in store for us is much better than what I can imagine. At least that's what I'm now telling myself.

If this is what our normal life is going to be, I better start accepting it and stop resenting it. Wait, am I being cryptic again? Some things I'm not allowed to talk about, and so that's what I'm talking about here. LOL! Get it? Sorry I can't be more specific.

I registered Samantha for Kindergarten a few weeks ago. That was so weird for me. I don't know why, but it just doesn't seem time to send her yet. The real question is whether or not we will send Phoebe the year after Samantha. I don't want to be THAT parent who sends their kid to school just to get them out of the house, regardless of whether or not they are ready emotionally or physically for school. Argh. I guess I'll still have a year to make the decision. I must admit, it's a hard one. And I can't help but feel pressure from the other kids around us that are Phoebe's age. The truth of the matter is that she barely makes the deadline; as in by a week. And she is so scatterbrained and hyper, I just don't know how she will be ready to go. Maybe she would benefit having that extra year to mature and focus.

We are trying to decide where we can find some extra room in our small house to fit a crib. I took a huge van load to the DI this weekend. I was going to have a garage sale, but we really need the room and hey, I was on a cleaning and organizing mission. it had to go ASAP. Besides, all growing up my dad would always say "donating to the DI will give us extra blessings" so I'm counting on that.

I think I'm going to have to break down and go through my beloved prop closet and get rid of some of that stuff and some of my totally rad furniture too. It makes me sad. Anyone want a totally cool teal chair? It's one of those wing back chairs. It needs to be re-sprung. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but as a photo prop, it didn't really matter if it was saggy or not. It is such a cute chair!

Ah, so much to do. If you want to come help, feel free. You may leave with something you didn't know you wanted. :)

p.s. We've been sick-free now for two weeks! Yay! *knock on wood

Happy happy birthday Trevor dear....

I feel as if there has been a black cloud over me and my family for the past year and a half.

Odd.

Especially the past few months I feel it. I think the yucky winter has something to do with it, and perhaps a little family drama here and there.

I am ready to be done with it! Black cloud be gone!

Spring is here, and we are having a baby! A BABY!!!!!!!!

Forget all the things in life that I want or think we must have to be happy.

We have a sweet little baby on the way, and we are all healthy (except me, but that's okay) and we have a JOB! Remember all that job drama a few years ago? Ugh. I never want to go back there again.

I need to remind myself daily of the blessings we have in our life, and stop dwelling on the blessings   I think we need to be happy.

A few weeks ago, my last surviving grandparent, Edna Kay Whiting, passed away. The funeral was not a sad affair. Well, I guess that's not true. Of course we were all sad to see Grandma go, but so happy for the reunion that she is now having in Heaven! And not to mention that her body was in so much pain, it was hard to watch her go through that. So happy that she is free from pain now!