Remember that small company Trent help start up a few years ago?

http://www.marketwatch.com

And yes, this is the site my husband created…

http://www.growamericaventures.com/

Lots of exciting thing happening! I am so proud of Trent and Brock and all they have done to get where they are today!

Trent, the kids, and I took a quick trip to Cache Valley yesterday. Trent had an event for work at USU, so we tagged along to visit Trent’s parents. I got as many pictures as I could (so I wouldn’t get in more trouble for not posting pictures of the kids), but honestly, I was laying down or sitting around most the time while may children were entertained.

Trent’s sister Elise was out of school for the day, which was a delight in Natalya’s eyes. As soon as she saw her when we got out of the car she ran right past Gramdpa and Grandpa to see “eweese”. Tanner had fun playing with all the new dress ups grandpa bought, and Trent’s old legos (which are now entertaining him at home!).

We had a great time, and some awesome food. I tried to fit as much as I could in my little squished stomach and I paid for it the rest of the night! We got home late last night, and even though it was a short trip, it was well worth it!

I have decided that pregnancy is bad for families. The only time it isn’t is when it is your first, and you have no other children to take care of. Why is pregnancy bad? Here is why…

-Kids get neglected and end up watching TV too much, playing video games, or messing up the house.

-Because you are tired, and the kids are messing up the house, they also get yelled at.

-In the last few  weeks meals are very simple, and usually consist of a main dish. Vegies and fruit are often lacking.

-If the kids wake up before 8am, they are on their own.

-Any kind of learning activities (such as doing preschool with Tanner) is almost non-existent in the last 6 weeks.

-This doesn’t apply to me, but often women are so sick in the beginning that homemade meals are non-existent.

- Sugar is the craving of choice, the the husband and kids are getting way more than they should.

-The housework gets neglected, and any energy I do have goes into cleaning the house, and not taking care of children.

-All I can say, poor poor husband. Has to deal with whining, complaining, antsy children, and a messy house.

I am sure if I sat here long enough I could list more, but I think you get the point.

Baby is due to arrive 2 weeks from today! I am pretty excited, and trying to get my bag packed, and everything ready for baby. We still have not picked a name, but have a goal to do so before we head for the hospital! My recent cravings have been ice cold beverages. Soda with lots of ice, water with lots of ice, or slurpies. I also pretty much enjoy anything with a lot of sugar. I have been feeling pretty good, though somedays (like today) I feel yucky. I still am sleeping pretty good, which I am grateful for. Tanner keeps giving my belly hugs and kisses and saying he is excited for the baby to come. Natalya just keeps getting mad because she loves all the stuff I am getting out for the baby, and she wishes it were hers still! I would like the baby to come early, but then I think of all the things I have planned in the next two weeks, and I think I would be sad if I missed them. So baby, hang in there… don’t come too soon!

I have officially entered my nesting stage, and a lot of my energy has returned. This means, getting all the baby stuff out, cleaning house, organizing, and still ignoring my already born children.

With this energy, I also have gone out on a few outings. On Tuesday my Friend Mauri and I hit up free breakfast at IKEA. We were concerned when we got there because there was a huge line out the door. We were thinking they were all their for the free breakfast too, but luckily is was just for the Veterans day sale. The breakfast was good! Potatoes, eggs, and bacon. The little girls ate ALL of their food, including some of their siblings food! After, we did a little shopping and had to use bribes on the children so they would behave.

Next we went to Tai Pan, Mauri had never been! We looked around as much as the crowds and the kids let us. I think after 30 minutes we and the kids had had it!

Next time, I think we will do it without the kids. That day, I think I almost went into labor.

Then, this morning I went to the grand opening of the Smiths Marketplace in Lehi. Tanner and I got there around 8am when they opened. I think there were at least 800 other people there. I actually had to wait 15 min in a line to get $1.49lb ground beef, and had to body slam someone to get my 99 cent milk. Overall it was a nice trip, lots of good deals, and a ton of free samples! I am just surprised I didn’t lose Tanner in the crowds!

I don’t think 9 month pregnant women should be out doing stuff like that, but did you expect any less from me?

I am writing a post about two good friends of mine, Mauri and her Mom Darla. This week they are  doing a walk for the Susan G. Koman foundation, which supports breast cancer research. It will be a 60 mile walk in 3 days. They are doing this to help find a cure for breast cancer.

Mauri’s Mom Darla is currently in the middle of this fight. She was diagnoised with Breast cancer, and it has now has spread through her bones, liver and lungs. Anyone who has met Darla knows what an amazing woman she is, and you would have no idea what she is going through. She is strong, vibrant, beautiful, and has more energy than me! She is a fighter.

Trent and I also have a close family member who fought against breast cancer. She has been cancer free for a few years now, and we are so grateful for that. However, it shows that anyone can be diagnosed, and with the research, prognoses can always be just as good!

Fighting and eventually beating cancer takes the experimentation of continuing research in the various types of treatment. Organizations such as the Susan G. Koman foundation raise money that goes towards such research. Research that provides treatment options that give cancer patients a better quality of life and also continues the research into finding a cure to hopefully one day be able to eliminate breast cancer all together.

This is where I ask for your help to support Mauri, Darla, and all the women who are currently fighting, or will be fighting breast cancer! Mauri has fundraising goal to reach this week for her race, and all the money goes towards cancer research. If you have any money you feel you can donate to this cause click HERE. There are options to donate as little, or as much as you want! Also, many major companies will match your donation, so be sure to look through the list to see if the company you work for will match! Remember, click HERE and donate to this great cause!

We woke up this morning to several inches of snow on the ground, and more coming! I was a little bugged because I had changed my Doc. Appointment from Monday to Wednesday for convenience sake. Not very convenient. I had to get the kids all ready, with snow boots, hats, and coats, and try to leave a little early because of the weather. That of course didn’t happen, and I had to safely drive as fast as I could to get to Provo in order to arrive at my appointment 25 minutes late!

Luckily, everything with Baby and I are good (although I was secretly hoping I had high blood pressure so they would have to take the baby out early).

We spent time with our friends Becca, Eli, Leah and Noah in Provo, then hit up Sunflower Market on our way home. Tanner was bummed because Provo did not get very much snow, and it had all melted when we were leaving. He was sure our snow would have melted too. When we hit Lindon, I noticed there was still some snow on the ground, and as we got closer to home, there was a ton still on the ground!

The kids had a blast playing in what was left, and I think would have stayed out there for hours!

Since things have been a little boring around our house, I decided to have some election day fun with the kids!

We started out the morning with Red, white and blue waffles.

Later on the kids colored John McCain pictures. This is where I had some fun conversation with Tanner. Tanner picks up on things easily, and has heard Trent and I grumbling about the election.  He asked, ” Why does Barack Obama want to take our money away?” When I explained the distribution of wealth to him, he said “Now, why would anyone want to do that?” From the mouth of babes… He also said he thought McCain would win because he can run faster than Obama. Haha, so I guess if our election was based on speed, Obama would have won anyway, poor McCain can’t even lift his arms.

I also dressed the kids in red, white, and blue.

I told Tanner we would go vote after quiet time, so as soon as his movie was done, he ran out all excited, “Is it time to go voting??”. So we went to the polling place and I cast my votes! The kids and I all got stickers, and as we were leaving Natalya looked all worried, “Go Vote?” I said we already did it, and she did her traditional, “Awwww man!” I think I may have built it all up too much, the kids seemed a little dissapointed that voting wasn’t more fun then that!

It finally feels like fall!

We spent most of Halloween morning watching all the kid Halloween shows, and just relaxing. Since the kids did not get any sleep last night, we all took long naps today, Natalya 4 hours, Tanner 3 hours, and me 2 hours. So, by the time the kids were in there Halloween outfits, it was already 5pm! Tanner was too grumpy, so this is Natalya in her cute little outfit!

Trent’s sister, Kristana came over to help all the halloween festivities. We had dinner, then got the kids ready!

They were really excited to go trick or treating! I made them practice with me  before they left.

Even though it was rainy (but warm) Dad and the kids stayed out for about an hour! They both came back with overloaded buckets. Natalya was insisting on carrying hers, so by the end she was dragging it down the sidewalk. The both enjoyed stuffing themselves when they got home. Someone handed out bags of chips, which they both ate right away! Natalya would just open something, take a bite, then leave it and open something else.

I hope everyone else had a happy halloween! We are going to celebrate by watching Polgerguist!

Last night Trent’s company had a Halloween party at a house in Midway. Brock rented a house for the nightm just for the occasion. It started a little late, but it was a lot of fun! We had awesome pulled pork (thanks to my husband) and a lot of other yummy side dishes and treats. The kids had a blast playing wii, watching a movie in the theater room, and eating popcorn from the real popcorn machine (okay so maybe that was my favorite part).

Everyone was dressed up, and I did not get any pictures of them. But Trent and I were a bowling ball and a bowling pin respectively (I will let you guess who was who). The best costume was Kendall who dressed up as joker, it was pretty cool! We also had several doctors which was good just in case I went into labor.

The adults played several games, played wii, and watched some Office episodes in the theater. Oh, and a bunch of people made Carmel apples while I was putting the kids to bed. Let me tell you, they were amazing, and I think that was my favorite part. I was a pregnant party pooper most the time, but I did enjoy playing mario kart and watching the Office!

The kids didn’t go to bed until 11:30, and woke up at 7:30, which made for an interesting morning. Overall we had a lot of fun! I love seeing the company grow, and everytime we all get together, there seems to be more and more employees! I could also handle staying at a house like that more often.