Here It Is For All To Enjoy...

Yes, Oscar really does use the treadmill more than anyone else in the house. Everyone seems to get a kick out of seeing Oscar exercise (Bode actually laughed at the sight last weekend)... I guess Tim and I have gotten use to it, so I never thought that it was blog worthy. But here it is upon popular demand...

I know what your thinking... we are torturing out dog by forcing him to run on the treadmil so we don't have to go out walking ourselves! I must say that Oscar loves the treadmill! He got upset when Tim was running on it the other day (running around and barking at him) because he wanted on! He will also run on it without a leash. We use the leash because Abbey and food are a big distration for him. I'm sure you can tell in the video that he has a happy smile on his face when he gets his exercise. We let him walk/run for up to an hour! It makes him a much more happy and calm dog... not to mention I don't have to get my pregnant butt outside and walk everyday (even though I probably should!).

Who Wants To Wait Until Christmas?

Crazy Morning

This morning was crazy. Have you ever had one of those days where it feels like your kid is determined to get into everything... and as soon as you clean the most recent mess they are onto making another? That sums up my morning. The funny thing was, instead of getting frustrated or angry, I actually marveled and enjoyed the thought process of a two year old! I couldn't believe the things she got into today.

She started out by pulling out all of our card games and ripping all the packages to get to the cards, which she then spread everywhere. The worst was that she opened up our Apples to Apples game... do you know how many cards come with that game? (just shy of about 1,000 cards, no joke). Once I started cleaning the cards, she decides to go downstairs (without mom) so she can get into more trouble!

Sure enough, as soon as I walk down I notice wrapping paper on the floor. She got into the gifts that Jill and John, and Grandma and Grandpa Merrill gave us. They were on the dinning room table, so she climbed up and had a blast! I purposely haven't put any presents under the tree for this very reason! Oh well, I guess I will re wrap them.After all of this I got smart and put our gate up to keep her upstairs with me. I proceeded with my original plan to get laundry and bathrooms cleaned. While doing so Abbey was playing and picking up odd and in's around upstairs. After a while she comes in with her stroller full of goodies. She had gotten the baby bottles and pacifiers I put aside for baby Micheal. Among other little toys there was also my prenatal vitamins, Tim's hand cuff holder and his brass buckle. On one side she hung her basket of ponies and on the other her wooden doll with the felt dress up clothes. She was wearing her cat ears headband and my high heels. It made me laugh to say the least! (Don't look at the messy room behind her please!!)

Once she was bored of playing she wanted to help me clean toilets. As I was cleaning her bathrooms toilet, I found her in my bathroom with the toilet brush cleaning my toilet. I thanked her and as we walked out of the bathroom I locked the door behind us. What a silly girl. Her mind goes a mile a minute I'm sure. I feel so special to witness her individuality grow and mature. I can't believe how much she has grown this past year! Little ones grow up so fast.

Time Flies When Your Having Fun!

Tim came home last Wednesday afternoon and as the saying goes "time flies when your having fun!" We had a great weekend. Our weekend was full of Christmas celebrations with all the Merrill's. Jeremiah, Heidi, Bode and Stat came to stay with us Wednesday night. Then on Friday night Pete, Brittany, Meg and Mel joined us too! It was a lot of fun to have company over. Abbey enjoyed having cousins to play with every day! And us adults enjoyed eating junk and playing Settlers of Catan together! (even though I didn't win, can we say "rematch") Not only did we have fun at our house but we took the party to Jill's too. On Thursday night we meet at Jill's to hang out and eat the candy Tricia and Jill worked hard making! Then Friday we gathered for some pizza and gift exchange. After the good food it was off to the temple lights. I'm not a fan of being cold, but with a hoodie and some hot chocolate it was a perfect evening! It was sad to see everyone go on Saturday, even Tim went back to work after having two days off! It's always harder to be left then to be the one going. But we sure had a lot of fun. I can't wait until the next time we all can get together.

I'm a little disappointed that this picture came out fuzzy! But Heidi, Jill and Brittany all have a good copy

I really enjoyed that hot chocolate (I drank it all even though the whole time I had to go to the bathroom!)

I love Lee's face in the background!

This is Abbey's preferred cheese face (I'm not kidding)...

Pete with Megan, enjoying the pretty lights

Como?

For those of you wondering how Tim is doing, I thought I would give a little update. I got to talk to him yesterday (in english!). He called to make sure I was okay since I didn't answer his spanish text message the night before. It took me by surprise when after saying hi and that "I MISS YOU" I couldn't hold back the tears! We didn't get to say a ton since Tim didn't have much time to talk (probably since he was sneaking around and breaking the rules by calling me).

After our conversation, he asked his instructors permission to call me, most likely using the excuse that I am pregnant and hormonal! So that night I got to talk to him for a good while. Tim is doing really well, in fact he said he is doing better than he thought he would with the 24/7 Spanish. Turns out that there are only 3 guys he can actually carry conversations with, since everyone else isn't that advanced yet! He has even impressed his instructors (no surprise there, due to Tim's overachieving genes:)!)

He informed me that he is now dreaming in Spanish. His roommate said he heard him talking in his sleep, something about his wife!! (lets hope that his roommate isn't one of the three who understand Spanish well!). While talking to me, he had a hard time thinking of the words he needed in English. I had to finish his sentences once or twice!

And the final bit of interesting news is that Tim thinks he has gained 10 pounds since being there! Thats right. The new dress pants we bought him were by no means tight, now he says they are. Tim blamed it on sitting all day and only moving to go eat (like the MTC)... oh and also because he misses Abbey and me!

There you have it... looks like by the time he gets home he will be a full blown Spanish speaking man! I am so proud of him. It has been a big sacrifice for us both, but we know it will make him a better officer. Only four more days to go...

Well I Feel Stupid!

If your car won't start when you turn the key and it won't let you pull the key out... Check to see if your car is in park!! I did this yesterday while I was in a rush to get to my hair cut appointment on time!! I ended up taking Carrie's car since she was over at the house to watch Abigail. When I got home and was really able to think straight, the first thing I notice is that I somehow had put the car in reverse before it actually started. As a result, the car wouldn't start! Am I the only one who has done that?

Another Ultrasound!

Monday was my appointment at the Perinatal & Women's Center for a level II ultrasound. It was really neat. They are imaging specialists so the ultrasound machines are really high tech. I don't know how its possible, but they take 4d pictures!! I was there to get more in depth measurements of baby Michael, to make sure everything was normal since he was measuring in the 96% last appointment. I'm happy to report back that he is completely normal and only in the 81% according to their measurements! (Still a bigger baby but healthy) My due date probably won't change and they will just keep watching his growth I guess. I have a follow up appointment on Tuesday so I will see what they say then. I must admit, it all seemed kind of pointless to me. But hey, who doesn't like to get a extra ultrasound of their baby? It amazes me every time to watch those little legs, arms, hands and mouth to move. Now keep in mind when you look at the pictures that this big guy likes to keep his arm and hand right in his face and mouth. Also, he stays really close to my placenta and uterus lining. So the pictures aren't as good as I would have liked them to be, but who am I to complain?

This was the best straight on shot the tech could get, notice that the arm is still up by the chin! I even laid on my side so the tech could try to get a better picture!

There is that arm up by his other eye!

The tech said he wasn't to "forthcoming" about showing his parts, his legs were always crossing.

Hand spread open on the forehead with the other one balled up by chin.

Sucking on his fist! His favorite thing to do!

Adios Mi Amor!

I don't know if my title is correct. I will have to ask Tim when he gets home because he should be fluent in Spanish by then! That's right, Tim left to Tucson on Sunday to start his Spanish Immersion Class. The best way to describe what he is doing is to use the MTC as an example. He is living at this training compound until 12:00pm next Thursday! They feed him there and everything! Everyday he has classes, pretty much all day long with a 2 hour siesta during lunch. Starting yesterday, everyone is only allowed to speak Spanish. They signed a contract saying they wouldn't speak English and if caught they would be sent home!! Eight days of straight Spanish!! That means no calling home unless we speak Spanish together. He has texted me in Spanish though... asking for a picture of Abbey and me for class. His instructor said that by the end of the class, they will be thinking in Spanish and may even have a hard time speaking English again. Great, I get to spend my holidays with a Spanish man!! Abbey and I have been missing him a lot and will take him anyway we can get him! And I know he misses us too. But distance makes the heart grow fonder right!

A Jam Packed Saturday!

Tim came home from Flagstaff's Riot Squad Training, after being there a week, Friday night. Which meant that we would only have Saturday to fit in all the things we wanted to do as a family before he left for Tucson on Sunday! I didn't think we could do as much as we did! Tim wanted to do some early Christmas shopping. We both wanted to decorate a Christmas tree. And I wanted to make it to our ward Christmas party! I'm proud to say, we did it all plus some!

Shopping was crazy but fun. We took Abbey with us, and despite the fits, we did find what we were looking for and even got good deals! (just a warning: if you forget your stroller the car-carts at the mall are $5.00!)

The ward Christmas party was fun, seeing that it was centered around making crafts and bringing gifts for Springdale! Tim and I had fun making gingerbread men garland. Abbey had fun running around and eating the candy on the tables! After the party we met up with Grandpa Webb and went Christmas tree shopping. Tim found a really full and tall tree that's perfect for the house! At home we finally put Abbey to bed (sometime after 9:00!) and started to decorate the tree!

But before we got too far, Tim really was in the mood to watch Christmas Vacation while decorating. So we went searching Wal-Mart and Target to buy a copy! (By the way, Wal-Mart was sold out!) By the time we got home and finished decorating the tree it was almost 12:00! That is late considering we have 8:00 church! But it was well worth it to spend time together as a family and start celebrating Christmas together.

The finished tree!!

Rain Rain Go Away?

Yeah right, not around here! We loved the rain storm that came through last week. It isn't often that we have nonstop rain for two days! Abbey was so amazed by all the "wad-ter!" She couldn't wait to play in it. The rain gutter was her favorite! And it gave me time to bake cookies!