Family visits, a baby, and a camping trip

Wow, its been a looooong time since I've posted anything! This has been one busy past month. In mid-July, my mom and Amy and Jacob and Emily came to visit. We finally were able to put our new table to good use and even opened up the leaf!

Ethan and Grace had so much fun with Amy and Jacob. It took them a little while to warm up to them, but once they did, they wouldn't leave them alone! I'm pretty sure that by the time they left, Amy and Jacob were ready for a break from the kids.

Here's a picture of Grace not quite warmed up to Emily yet (notice how she won't even look at her?)

Here's another shot

While Emily was in town, we were able to head up to Salt Lake to see the new Joseph Smith movie which was amazing and also eat at the Lion House restaurant. Here's my critique on that. The food is good, but the price is way too high. Buy their cookbooks and you can eat the food for much cheaper. Here are a few pics of the fun.

Here's Scott with his new glasses

Some freezie pop fun

After mom and Amy trying on about a million pairs of jeans at American Eagle in order to get free movie tickets, and after mom working on Scott and me to go and see a movie while she watched the kids for us, we finally went and saw -- Monster House! We took and Amy and Jacob with us, and I have to say I really liked it. It was really entertaining and the graphics were amazing! This was my first 3-D movie ever and it was so cool. The movie was a little scary for young kids -- I won't be taking Ethan and Grace to see it -- but they really liked wearing the 3-D glasses when we got back.

All in all, it was a really fun visit, and we were sad to see them all go.

Now for a little explanation. Part of the reason I haven't been blogging very much is because I've been a little tired. Sorry, Natalie in advance for the picture, but here's a little reason why:

I know the picture's a little blurry, but those are two definite pink lines. For those of you unfamiliar with these tests, this means that come February 28th, we'll be welcoming a new little bundle of joy! We're all really excited, especially Ethan who is already calling the baby Alex and saying its a boy. So, we'll see if he's right. I hope so for his sake.

Anyway, I've been really tired this time around. Its probably due to the fact that I am now chasing around two toddlers in addition to being pregnant. Its been really helpful now that Scott has quit work and is home all day every day. Luckily I should be out of the first trimester and feeling a little better by the time he starts school in the fall.

I haven't felt that sick so far, but I also thinks its because I know what to avoid so that I don't GET sick. My problem is I'll find something I can really stomach and then I'll eat a lot of it because I can actually handle it and then I totally overdose on it and its crossed off the list! Here is an impromptu list of foods I have already ODed on: *bread/rolls *pizza *chocolate frosting *cheese sticks *chicken salad *oatmeal chocolate chip cookies *frosted mini wheats...
and that's all I can think of off the top of my head. With 10 weeks under my belt I'm thinking I can make it through the next few and then I'll be in the clear for feeling more energetic.

On a side note, I've already hit the nesting instinct. As soon as my mom and the kids left, we decided to rearrange our apartment. Its finally sinking in that we're not going anywhere, so I need to suck it up and figure out a way to deal with living in a 2 bedroom apartment that will only feel MORE cramped as we approach the cold weather and will be housebound for much of the time. SO, we decided to switch our bedrooms back so that we get the bigger room. This entailed taking down the crib -- which now that Grace can climb out of is probably not that safe -- and of course Ethan was right there "helping" with all the changes.

As embarrasing as this is to post, here is a picture of our room in the smaller bedroom pre-switch:way too cramped

With the crib dis-assembled, the kids room easily fits into this smaller room. For the time being Grace is sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor in their room, but we're thinking that eventually we will get bunk beds for the kids. Ethan is excited about this prospect. As soon as both rooms are fixed up, I will have to post pictures.

A few days after my mom and the kids left, it was Scott's turn for family to come into town. His sister and her family came in from England where they are living right now and will be here for almost a month. The first weekend they were here, his brother and family drove up from Las Vegas, and it was one big happy reunion for the weekend. And just so you know mom -- Kristin and Susi both think Ethan's hair looks really cute. Don't think we weren't filled in on the fact that you were tempted to cut it every time we were gone. Hahaha. Don't worry, I'm not really upset. That weekend we went on my first EVER camping trip. Girl's camp doesn't really count, because we never slept in tents. So, all of us headed up to this really nice camp in Heber Valley. Ethan was so excited and his first comment when we got out of the car was a joyous "LOOK MOM, THERE'S ROCKS!" referring to the gravel we parked on. Needless to say, he was in hog heaven the whole trip. We just stayed one night, but it was really fun. And aside from dealing with a VERY cranky Ethan and Grace for the rest of the weekend from their lack of sleep, it was definitely an enjoyable trip. Here are some pictures of the fun:

Ethan with a rock (he really wanted me to take a picture of it)

Here's Ethan helping set up the tent

And here's Grace's version of helping

There was a lake there and paddle boats -- which Scott took Ethan on, not these canoes!

Here's our tent

and the cousins roasting some marshmallows

Well, that's all for now folks. This has been exhausting! On a completely random side note, Grace's thumb-sucking habit has gotten so bad that her thumb nail is coming off. Gross, huh. I guess that's what happens when its perpetually soggy from being in her mouth roughly 85% of the day. I'll try and get a picture of it. I think the nail is finally starting to bug her, though, because I've noticed that she's switched to sucking her pointer finger the last couple of days. Oh well, the dentist said not to worry about it till she's 2 or 3. We've got some time.