Shopping - Oy!

So, I had my christmas shopping done about a month ago... but I went to the store with my sisters just to "hang out" and ended up spending way too much money :-( It went a lot like.. "Oh Ryan will love that..... oh that is a great stocking stuffer...OOOH - nailpolish, Jaeda is gonna go crazy!" Yah - so, I'm grounding myself from shopping until the holidays are over. I did find one cute dress for Jaeda - we didn't have anything white or black or cream colored or purple she could wear for Matt and Rachel's wedding, and after a few hours of looking I FINALLY found a dress that wasn't pink or christmas-y!! I'm so excited, I can't remember the last time I bought Jaeda a pretty dress... ... and after picking out the dress, I (of course) HAD to buy a matching bow. I almost bought shoes, but Ryan texted me telling me not to (smart man). I don't usually like shopping so much - I think my sisters just have a bad influence on me :-b

More random news - Ryan took the kids for 4-ish hours, and I got so much cleaning done! Our hallway was filled with hand-me-down boy clothes from my sister-in-law who dropped them off and I had no where to put them. Yesterday, I rearranged the kids room and made everything fit! Also, I put together all of the stuff my kids don't use anymore and it is all waiting to go to good will. I also scrubbed our dining table chairs (because Jaeda had coated each one with jelly, peanut butter, etc...)! My next task is to arrange to borrow a truck so we can haul our old couch (which has been sitting outside on our balcony for the last 2 months) to the dump, and return my grandma's recliner. I can't wait til the apartment is all back in order - even if it only lasts until Jaeda wakes up the next morning :-)

Oh, and good news - I found my camera!!!! So here are the most recent pictures of my kids :-) (I have to post these pictures, just in case our hard drive decides to lose all of our pictures again - now the only past pictures I have of Jaeda are ones I've posted on previous blogs or on facebook)

I just LOVE my little family :-)

What the heck?

I feel pretty safe saying this on here - because I'm pretty sure Ryan doesn't know where my blog is (not that I haven't told him about it - blogging just isn't his thing). Ryan's birthday is this coming Monday and I bought him an 11x17 inch picture of the Helsinki, Finland Temple. Little did I know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a nice 11x17 inch frame! I found one that is a cheap black metal poster frame with no glass. I can't bring myself to buy it because it is super ugly and doesn't go with the picture. The only thing I can think of to do is to go to the Great Frame Up and buy a custom made from - I've never been there before, but it can't be cheap, right? Now I sort of wish I looked into this a little more beforehand - and purchased a picture that's frame could be purchased at Fred Meyer!! Also, I should have taken care of this more than just a few days from his birthday, haha- OH WELL

Can You Believe It?

Wow! I am actually blogging within a year of my last blog :-b

I can't sleep, and it is at times like this where I can come up with the most random things to talk about!

Grandma:

My Grandma Maria has come to visit! I love i when she visits - I just think she is so exciting and interesting! Just the first day she got here she was telling us about all the things she remembered about Pearl Harbor. I had no idea that she lived in Hawaii when it happened (and near Pearl Harbor is what she said). I wanna say she was about 9 years old - she was just playing with the other kids in the neighborhood before church when, all of a sudden, they saw these puffs of clouds in the sky. Next thing she new, these vans/trucks came and these guys started grabbing all of the kids and shoving them into these vehicles. She said they took them to the schools they went to. After a few days, one of the kids realized that their parents weren't with them - then all of them started freaking out because they thought they were in prison or something! Finally, after 3 days - her family picked her up. She said that they made everyone carry gas masks around, and the kids had to get their food rations because the parents were too busy working. What an experience! I can't imagine living there at that time. I just love the stories she has to tell us about her past!

Sacrament Meeting:

Jaeda and I went to church without dad and Cael this last Sunday. I don't think I ever want to do it again! It is clear to me now that Jaeda has entered the terrible two's stage of life. She was throwing hymn books, trying to run away, slapping me in the face, yelling "OW MOMMY!" repeatedly - even though I wasn't touching her, and yelling out "NO, I'm NOT being naughty!" My ward probably thinks I beat her now - so embarassing! It probably doesn't help that she didn't get her nap before church - 9am meetings will be way better come January.

Cael:

He isn't crawling just yet, but he's scooting backwards. Today, he got stuck underneath the TV stand, underneath his vibrating chair, in-between the vibrating chair and the exersaucer, and underneath the Christmas tree! He was able to roll around all over the place before, but now - it's just more exciting! I love looking at him and saying "Are you stuck?" Then he gives this HUGE cheeky smile - ah, being a mother is so awesome (even if you have the occasional evil 2 year old). I would take pictures, but I left our camera at the in-laws house on Thanksgiving :-(

Girls Night:

I need a girls night - the only problem is, Ryan would never take the kids somewhere to leave me the apartment to host a girls night, I am too shy to invite all the people I'd want to and would probably just end up inviting Diana (haha), and I can never think of anything to do if I invited someone over - feel free to leave suggestions :-) I get breaks every few weeks - but I mostly just end up walking around the mall, target, or walmart window shopping. It gets old....

My kids...

So, yah - I think it's obvious how bad I am at sticking with a blog. Oh well!

Quick Update:

I have a new kid - Cael Alexander Birch, born June 17th.

Don't let the picture fool you - he doesn't have that much hair ... anymore, haha.

Jaeda has come a long way. I can't believe how well she talks, how many songs she can sing, how active she is, and so on and so forth. She is AMAZING! Yesterday, she recited the first article of faith without any help from me or Ryan....and she's 2!! I must be doing something right with that kid....

School has been pretty stressful this quarter. Well, Biology has been stressful, anyway. I can't complain too much about online PE and intercultural communications. Biology, on the other hand, has been my number one worry! I think I'm going to end up with a C, when I'm competing against those with a 3.8 gpa. Oy!! Hopefully I will do better next quarter with Chemistry.

There is definitely more that has gone on in my family, but these are the basics, haha. I wonder when my next blog will be.....