Real Meaning of Christmas

A friend sent this link to me and I had to share it! It is so sweet. I don't usually blog about anything very important or meaningful but right now I am just so full of gratitude for my Savior that I have to let all of my friends and family know that I KNOW that Jesus is the Christ. I know that if we do what our Heavenly Father asks of us we WILL be blest. Life will still be hard but it is so much harder if we try to go it alone. He will give us strength and lift our heads that we might accomplish things we never thought we could do. He can fill us with love for those we thought were unlovable let us forgive the ones we thought were unforgivable and He will give you peace and joy that are real and lasting. I am so grateful for my Savior and for the Atonement. I am grateful that I have been able to apply that Atonement in my life in huge ways and in quiet moments. I have been able to be forgiven, comforted and reassured. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wonderful gospel it truly is the GOOD NEWS the world needs. This Christmas season and in the new year I am going to try a little harder to make sure everyone I know knows that I have a testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel and the happiness it brings!

Merry Christmas!

4 wonderful years

Four wonderful years ago today I married the sweetest guy I have ever known(The most handsome too!) We had are first date in early September and we were married by December 7th. Some people thought we were crazy for getting married so fast but we both knew it was right. I can honestly say being married to Mike is way awesome!! He is so caring and thoughtful. He is so supportive, if there is something I want to do or try he backs me up 1000%. He is such a hard worker and sacrifices so much for our little family and we are grateful to him every day. There is no one I would rather talk to or hang out with. I know its totally cliche but he really is my best friend. We spend so much time laughing with one another I feel like we are just two kids playing house. Four years and two kids later I am still as crazy in LOVE as I was on our Wedding Day. Love ya Honey. I cant wait to see what the next four years will bring. (2 more kids???HaHaHa)

Mike Vs. The Rock and The Rock Won.

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on but for now I am only going to catch everyone up on Mikes condition. For any of you that are unaware Mike was in a rock climbing accident on Saturday. He was climbing up Big Cottonwood Canyon he made it to the top of a 75 ft wall and on the decent his belay lost grip of the rope and he fell 20-30 feet straight to his back. I was not there but I hear that he smashed his face on the wall then did three summer salts then landed on his back.While all of this was happening I was at home getting ready for our wards Chili Cook Off. I had just finished making my chicken dumpling soup and I was about to get the Kids ready to go to the cook off. I was so mad that Mike was not home yet and he wasn't answering his phone. Finally my phone rang and it was Mike I was about to really let him have it then I heard my mother-in-laws voice ask me "Are you sitting down?" I instantly felt so sick, I knew he was rock climbing and that he was probably hurt. She then told me "Mike fell, he is conscious, the ambulance just picked him up as a precaution and he will be at he IMC in Maurry." At this point my mind was playing out every possible scenario from Mike being just fine to me being a single mom to my two kids. I called my neighbor and ask her if she could watch London and take my soup to the party. She rushed right over and took London for me and I raced to the hospital. When I arrived there were two 20 something year old males that fell climbing up Big Cottonwood at the same time so it took a few minutes to figure out which one was Mike. When they knew where he was they had me go to trauma room #3 and wait while he was getting a CT Scan. In the corner of the room they had a basket with his cloths in it. They cut his shirt and harness off. So as I am sitting in the trauma room by myself I see his chart. It listed: aberration on face, aberration on nose, aberration on back 1 1/2 ft by 6 inches wide, L-spine deformity. After I read this I was really scared and nervous to see him. After about 10-15 minutes they rolled him in. He was on a back board and in a neck brace as I walked up to where he could see me he started to cry and my heart broke into a million pieces. I knew he was really scared. The doctor started asking him questions about what he remembered. He didn't remember the fall or even going climbing. He did remember the people in the room which included me, his mom, dad, brother and niece. I asked Mike if he remembered that he had kids, he started crying again and asked me "How many kids do we have?" I asked him "How many kids do you think we have?" he said "I only remember London and Tyler." I told him that's all we have. He asked me "How old is Tyler." I told him two months. He replied "What was I doing being so reckless when I have such young kids to take care of." Mike was given a blessing by his dad and brother. After the blessing I asked him if he knew where he was. He said no. I told him he was rock climbing and he fell 30 feet... again he started to cry. After that it became very clear that his memory was in awful shape. He would say where am I and I would tell him. Then he would say can I have a pillow I feel like I am laying on a stiff board. I would tell him you are on a back board and you can't have a pillow because you are in a neck brace. Then he would ask where am I what happened? Then I would proceed to tell him. he would ask the same sequence of questions over and over again. After about a hour we were finally taken to the room we would be staying in. I stayed over night with him in the hospital and it was the longest night of my life. Every 15 minutes he would say "Hey I just woke up. Is this the most coherent I have been? " I would have to explain that he has been awake the whole time. Then the same questions would start again where am I, what happened, then "Hey I am awake is this the most coherent I have been?" I thought I was going to lose my mind if I had to have the same conversation one more time, so I wrote down all the answers to all of the questions he was asking me so when he would "wake up" he could read for himself where he was. This went on all night and the next morning with out sleep. I would tell him you need your sleep your brain needs to rest he would reply "sleep? I just woke up." Finally at six in the morning he fell asleep.
When he woke up later that afternoon things were pretty much the same. After we received the results of the scans the major injuries were: concussion, fractured nose, punctured lung, collapsed lung. We feel so blessed to still have Mike with us this could have been a complete tragedy. We were able to go home Sunday night. Mikes lung is leaking air and we have to go have another chest x-ray this week and if there is still air in the chest cavity they will have to insert a chest tube to release the air.
We cant thank everyone enough for all of the love, support and prayers that have been offered in our behalf. Both of our phones were ringing non stop at the hospital. I tried to answer all the calls and return all of the messages I know I may have missed a few. Again to any one who offered help to us in any way during this very scary time we sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Family pictures are in and the results are GOOD.

What can I say are photographer must also be 1/2 magician. The fact that she was able to get any of London with her eyes open and tongue in her mouth is pure magic. Her name is Ashley and she was so great to work with and very well priced. You can check her out at www.labuervenichphotography.com. I don't have the CD yet so I pulled these off of her blog. By the way if you go to her blog and leave a comment on our section we get free prints. I am very happy with the pictures and even more happy we had them taken in our home. ENJOY!

The nightmare that is FAMILY PICTURES!

Once a year I stress out about family pictures. Where to do them. What every one should wear. How hair should be done, the list goes on and on. Despite all of my worry the pictures alway turn out great. The last time we had our pictures taken London was a sweet little 22 month old and did just as we asked her to do fast forward one year.......COMPLETE MADNESS!
This year I decided to add even more stress to the family photo by having them taken at our house. I love the pictures of the families in the parents bed every one looking so clam and at peace with their little new born. London did everything but hold still and give us a sweet smile. See was jumping around, hiding behind us, sticking out her tongue, closing her eyes, and then there is my favorite screaming and crying. Needless to say this year I am not exactly confident we are going to have the great family picture I had planned in my head.

Tyler Is Here!

Tyler is here and he is such a sweet boy! We had him on the 15th by c-section. He was 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 221/4 inches long. We are all doing great and are so happy to have this special little spirit in our home. He eats and sleeps very well which makes me very happy.







London Loves being a big sister. She always says "Oh he is so tiny and cute.""Oh, his fingers are so tiny I just love him so so much. He is my friend."


London thought it was the greatest thing in the world that she got to help give him his bath.

Quilt Complete!!!!!!!

After hours of research online I finally learned all of the terminology I needed to decode my quilt instructions. Once I was able to get started I had a lot of fun with this project but I am glad that it is finally complete. It turned out even better than I had hoped for. So here it is the finished quilt!! Oh yeah and I made the pillow sham to match. I just bought a $3.00 plan white pillow sham from Wal-Mart and used my fabric scraps and there you have it a super cute pillow sham. Also this is a sneak peak at londons new Big Girl room. it isn't finished yet but I did get her all moved in so I can start on the nursery. I painted the walls to match the blue in her quilt and I even refinish her bed. The bed was mine when I was little so I repainted it and eve refinished a dresser which you will see when I get the room all done. For now here is the quilt.

It is hard to see from the picture but the flowers are appliqued on and the edges are frayed.

Quilting Dilemma.

For Christmas I got a sewing machine and I was so excited that decided that I wanted to make London a quilt to go on her new big girl bed. So I went to Material Girls and bought all my fabric and a pattern. When I got home I relized I may be a bit over my head on this one. Needless to say I am beging for a little help. This might sound like a dumb question but when my instructions say, Cut (2)5 1/2'' x wof. What do I do? AAHHHH! Help!!

Potty Training: Day 5

I am starting to get really tired of asking "Do you need to potty?" My whole life is revolving around the potty and I am exhausted. I can't complain London is doing way better than I ever imagined. Today I tried waiting until she told me she needed to go. That ended up in an accident on my floor. Then she decided it would be a great idea to stomp around in it. That's when I lost all patients. Can ANYONE tell me how long it takes before they tell you on their own that they need to go?

As a adorable side note as I am writing this post London keeps coming in and out of the office and every time she leaves she says "OK, bye mom. I love you, too much." and then she came in with a blanket over her head and said "Mom, I get married, married in the temple." How sweet is that? I love this girl so much.

Potty Trainning: Day 4

Am I dreaming? It is only day 4 and again no accidents! Last night we tried no diaper and this morning she woke up a little wet. That is my fault though she wasn't ready for that. Today she was a little more defiant and didn't want to sit on the potty. She would say "I went pee pee, OK!" Like Leave me alone mom how many times do I have to do this. I had a Relief Society meeting tonight so Mike had to take over the potty training for the night. I was nervous because he was going to take her out shopping and I haven't left the house since we started doing this. When I came home I asked how she did and he said good, no accidents, but he must have been nervous too because when I was undressing her for her bath she had on 2 pairs of underwear, a pair of thick sweater tights and then sweat pants. I asked Mike "Whats going on here? Whats with all the layers?" He said "If she had an accident it wasn't going to get on me." Daddy's are so funny sometimes.

Potty Training: Day 3

I am beaming with Joy!!!!! Day 3 and not a single accident. She was even dry when she woke up from her nap. Then she sat on the potty and went. I have never been so proud. Tonight when I was putting her to bed I tried to put a diaper on her and she started to cry "I not want a diaper, I want my Abby Cadabby's" (She has Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street on her underwear). So we are going with out a Diaper tonight. I expect a mess in the morning but thats ok I am glad she doesn't want to wear a diaper any more.

Potty Training: Day 2

I am such a proud mama! Today London woke up dry and went potty right when she got up. We only had 1/2 an accident today. I count it as a 1/2 because she told me we just didn't make it in time. She even did #2! She LOVES the potty dance we do when she makes it in time. Thanks to everyone who gave me such great tips.

Potty Training: Day 1

Today was the first day of potty training. I have to say I am proud of my self. I stayed calm as I cleaned up each accident, that usually happened 1 minute after I asked her if she needed to go. London did better than I expected for the first day. She went in the potty 4 times but she did have 5 accidents. 44% success is good. Right? Anyway I just put her to bed and I am exhausted. If anyone has any great tips on potty training PLEASE let me know.

It's a Boy!

Hellooo World!

After four months of being out of touch with the rest of the world I am finally back. As most everyone knows by now I am 20 weeks along and am finally feeling better. It was an extremely long and depressing 4 months but I made it through thanks to such great friends and family. Thank you to all of those who came and took London to play for the day, brought dinners and cleaned my house. It meant the world to me.
My last post was in October so there is a lot to catch up on. Halloween was a blast! Mike was Michael Jackson. I was a cave woman and London was a Elephant. We had so much fun trick or treating with all of the cousins. It only took London about two houses to figure out what it was all about. Then there was no stopping her as we pulled her in the wagon she would yell go! go! go! We couldn't go fast enough for her.
All of the cousins knocking on the door. How could you not give candy to this bunch of cuties?!Halloween was about the last day that I felt good. The next few months might as well not have happened. Because I am usually the one taking the pictures Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures are scarce. We did have a good Thanksgiving my mom, dad and sister joined Mike, me and London at the Ulrich cabin and had a small and relaxing dinner. The next day we went and cut down our Christmas Tree.

(The only 2 pictures I have of Thanksgiving is of Mike and London in the hot tub.)

After Thanksgiving our next big day is my sweet Londons 2nd Birthday! I was so sick but there was no way I was not going all out for her special day. We had a big party for her at her favorite place in the world the Aquarium. It was so great they did everything for us so the only thing I had to do is show up. They played games with the kids, took them on a tour of the Aquarium dished the cake and Ice cream and kept all of the little ones under control while London opened her gifts it was Fantastic.

The party is held in a sunken ship it is really cute. Here are just a few of the 15 two-year olds that came. It was crazy but really fun. I cant believe my baby is two.

Next was Christmas which I would have been totally fine to skip this year. I was so sick the only thing I could do was lay on the couch and try not to die. Besides me being sick it just seemed like a weird Christmas no one really cared that it was Christmas. Which was good in a way. No one really cared about presents or the fluff. It was much more centered around charity and service. Still Santa definitely found London and as he was putting her toys out for her he realized he had gone a little overboard and asked us to put some away in a closet for another day. I wish I had some pictures to share of our Christmas day but like I said I was focusing on not dieing. I did capture one in the car on the way back home from the grandparents house fast asleep holding on to her new Woodie doll and her one and only Bear.The next day I realized I didn't take any picture so i hurried and snapped this one of her in her new ball house (that she call her castle) wearing her princess dress reading a book. I asked her "What are you doing London?" she said "Just readin a book laxin in my castle" Laxin is 2 year old for relaxing.
I almost forgot our very exciting New Years party! It was great it was Mike, me and London. Wow! watch out I know. Whats so funny is that it was perfect. As Mike and I Laid in bed at about 11 o'clock after falling asleep watching a movie I decided I wanted to stay up and watch the Ball drop because I believe it or not had never seen it. Mike tried to warn me that it was nothing special but i still wanted to see it. So for the next hour we laid there joking about how much our lives had changed during these last four years comparing our single lives to our married one. As much fun as we had single, life is so much more fun married. We have such good times together and no one can make us laugh harder than London. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Happy New Year!! The ball dropped and mike was right, Lame. We were asleep by 12:05. It was a great night.

By Valentines day I was feeling a little better. So I wanted to do a little something special for my family to say thanks for taking such good care of me while I was sick so I made them a cute little Valentines Day breakfast with Pink heart shaped pancakes, Strawberries and cream and bacon. It was delicious.

(Warning: the following picture of me is really scary keep in mind I am still sick.)

So that's it. I find out what I am having on Wednesday so I will let you all know.