Life As a Resident Wife

I keep wondering...

2012-01-26T10:47:00.004-05:00

...was winter always this mild when I was growing up? After all, it's been 11 years since I have been in Texas for a winter. I remember having coats when I was growing up and I remember it was always windy... but was it ever really that cold? I can't remember. But regardless of my lack of memory, this winter has been EXCELLENT. I feel like we have been in Fall weather for 4 months, I love Fall! In fact, I have only pulled out my coat to wear ONCE, and it was last night! And it was not even one of my heavy coats, it was just a jacket. I LOVE not having to bundle the kids up every time we go some where and wrestling with their coats when buckling them into the car seats. I LOVE that I don't have to run, literally, into the grocery store with all 3 kids just so we don't go into hypothermia mode. I LOVE not getting wet from all the ice and snow outside. And most of all, I LOVE that the kids have been able to play out side all winter long!!!

The boys LOVE their new swing set, Cohen is always telling me, "Thanks for this park Mom!".

There was this one lady last month that I over heard saying, "The wind out side is just cutting right through you, I don't know if I can even finish my Christmas shopping because its been so cold!". I laughed....out loud. I thought, lady, you don't know what cold is. And once I got out to my car, I looked at the temperature, it was 54...at 8 pm... and there was a light breeze!!! Justin heard someone say something similar a few days later. I just have to laugh at all these people that think that 50 is cold! We still have yet to drop down below freezing during the day. I LOVE TEXAS WEATHER!!!! I should not speak too loud though, I'm sure once I get used to it, I will be freezing next winter, but I have my doubts :)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-19T16:15:00.020-05:00

I have been so crazy busy with projects I have made for my self and have felt guilty that it has been so long since I have blogged so here it goes....

Last year we went to the Bass Pro shop to see Santa and I figured, since everything cost something here in Dallas that they would not have free activities and pictures with Santa here, but I heard through the grape vine that they did a winter wonderland at all the Bass shop locations. I was so excited to take the boys and then Carter got sick... and then me... and then Cohen... and finally Justin. Somehow Jace got away with out it but, oh my gosh, it wiped us all out the week before Christmas.

Healthy Carter is such a good baby.... Sick Carter is not. This poor kid was pulling temps of 103. He ended up having an ear infection and a sinus infection.

It was not until the day before Christmas Eve that we were finally feeling better that I tried to fit in as much Christmas stuff before it would be all over. I made cookies and candy so we could take that around to a few people, we looked at some lights and we went to the Bass Pro shop all in one day. Over all, we had a great time as a family. The biggest disappointment though was the Bass Pro shop. They had all these toys out for kids to play with and EVERY ONE OF THEM was out of batteries! There was one that did not need batteries, but I asked one lady about it and she said, "I have already replaced them so many times and they are all just worn out from all the kids playing on them this last month". In other words, "I'm a lazy fart and don't want to help you". I simply said to her, "that is a really sorry excuse" and walked away. We even got there early and was still too late to see Santa. The kids were devastated. We turned the night around though by taking the boys to play at McDonald's and that always makes them happy. Next year I will be extreemly early so to not bother the lady with any batteries issues.

This was the only toy at the Bass pro shop that was not broken.

Justin was on call Christmas Eve so I spent my day at my sisters house. The kids always love to go other there. When ever we pull up to her house Jace always yells out, "were home!". It's kind of nice because when I do go there, I get a break from mothering because my kids shoot up stairs and I don't see them until its time to go. Kelly just has too many fun things to play with at her house! On my way home that night, I got the BEST present in the world. Justin called me and said that he did not have to work Christmas day! I literally cried tears of pure joy! His attending told him that he was going to take his patients for him not because it was Christmas, but because he deserved it and that he is the best intern he has ever worked with. Justin and I both pulled up to the house about the same time and we opened up pj's and books and then played our "find the pickle on the tree" game. An old Danish tradition, who ever finds it gets a prize. It's actually harder than you think!

The boys in their new PJ's.

As for Christmas day, it was perfect. We got up and let the boys open up their stockings and then headed out the door for church. When we got home, we changed, opened up our presents and then headed over to my sister's house for another round of presents. The boys were in pure heaven! And having Justin there just made it all the better!

Our loot Christmas morning!

Their new hippo game... and we lost 3 of the marbles this day too...grr....

I got this dremel for a STEAL on black Friday... 34 bucks! I would be lying if I did not say I kind of bought this for me more than Justin ;)

Our two big ticket items this year was a new swing set from Grandma and Grandpa Sacks and a Ford Rapter from their beloved Aunt Kelly. These boys are spoiled rotten!

Since Christmas, I have started my self another project. Tiling and painting. Here are the results! I really loved how it turned out.
Before:

After:

Don't pay attention to all the green tape, I was saving it for another project so I just put it all on the door because I'm cheap like that!

I still need one more coat of caulk, but before, it was pure yellow. I can only imagine why....gross!
In our master bath, some complete idiot carpeted around the toilet. So gross. It had to go.

Before:

In the process:

After: awe.... so much better!

Ok... I'm all caught up now!

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-15T11:11:00.010-05:00

One tradition I love doing with the kiddos is doing ginger bread houses. It's messy, frustrating to get the house to stand up, and extreemly fun with kids :) I saved some Halloween candy this year and we put it to work for us. I also found an extreemly easy and sticky "glue" or frosting that made getting our houses to stay up a lot easier than those kits they sell! It came from Martha Stewart.

1 lbs powder sugar
5 tbsp meringue powder

1 cup water
Beat for 7 minute and put in zip lock bag with a hole cut in the corner for pipping.

My sad attempt at a snow man. It's my Texas snowman...melting from the heat :)

Another thing we love to do is see the kids reaction to Santa. Cohen was in heaven! Santa has story time here every morning and although I found him to be a lousy story teller, he did keep the kids entertained and Cohen loved hearing from Santa. He's a little too creepy for my likes so don't be too excited about seeing their pic with Santa. My favorite is when Cohen was asked what he wants for Christmas he said he wanted a DS (which he already has). When we asked him why he asked for that his simple answer was, "I want a DS that never runs out of batteries". Oh! I get right on that. And Jace's answer was simple, "treats". Done.

As you can see, Carter was not amused. I'm secretly hoping for a screaming picture from Carter next year with Santa. Those really make the best pics!

We also went down to North Park Mall (a huge mall for rich people :) where they had this amazing train step up. The boys loved seeing all the trains and Justin and I were quite impressed with the replica of down town Dallas!

And for my next act....

2011-12-13T10:14:00.003-05:00

I am so going to do this. I get so sick of the kids making a mess with the books. This is my next project for sure! Click HERE for tutorial. Pics to come...

I also really want to do this one too. As the kids draw more and more, I think this will be come really handy. Plus I have a huge wall I would love to fill up! Click HERE for tutorial.

Dallas Arboretum

2011-12-01T09:08:00.011-05:00

A few weeks ago my great friend, Dana, invited me to the Dallas Arboretum. Until going here, I was holding onto my opinion that Texas does not know how to grow plants or flowers due to the multiple failed attempt of my parents growing up (at no fault to my parents, they really did give it their all). But then I went here.... and oh my gosh was this a place of pure beauty! The boys LOVED running around and having a picnic out side. It was perfect weather (as always here in Fall time of Dallas) and we defiantly hope to go back again soon! They were having a pumpkin festival at the time and had tons of houses made out of pumpkins. Here is my plethora of pics from our day there (note: not one of these did Cohen look at the camera).

Our little group.

Savannah was wiped out by the end!

Notice number 5. Thanks for the warning.

And this is one thing I saw that I had to take a little shot of. Crazy dress right?!

I call this one, "Cohen's reenactment of the First Vision"

House of squash.

Jace loved throwing all the straw around every where. They also had a hay maze that both the boys were thrilled to jump around on.

This girl is my favorite! Jace is also in love with her and calls her Vana (Savannah).

Thankful

2011-11-25T10:50:00.002-05:00

I have SO much to be thankful for this year. We have had a ton of life changes this year and I am so grateful for all of them! This year for Thanksgiving we headed over to my sister's for a small dinner with our 2 little families, minus Justin.

Enter sobbs here, and here is my little sob story:

Justin has a total crap schedule for the holidays. Coming into his intern year I knew it was not going to be pretty but we really got the bum end of the deal. Justin was on call yesterday from 6am to 9pm and he will have that same schedule for Christmas Eve and have to be back to work at 6am on Christmas Day. He has been crazy busy at work, even too busy to pee, (seriously, he went all day with out going because he never had time to) So we literally do not get to see Justin at all for the holidays. My luck, he will probably have New Years off, which is, in my opinion, the dumbest holiday on this planet. It ranks up their with St. Patrick's day, a day for the drunks.

Anyway, back to my thankful attitude. My sister and I attempted to make Thanksgiving as special as we knew how and cooked everything. Aside from one pan of rolls getting a little too brown on the bottom, everything was perfect! Kelly did a great job with her first Turkey and the kids had fun playing all day with one another. And although Justin was not with us which was a huge downer for me, I am SO grateful for his job and the many opportunities it will provide for us in the future (that is if Obama care does not ruin it for all the doctors :)

The two Thanksgiving day Chefs.

Starting early, it was about midnight when we took this picture, and that big yellow thing was a mustard covered ham that was about to get smoked.

Dinner is served!

Kelly with her first turkey!

Halloween Weekend

2011-11-01T11:08:00.010-04:00

With 3 different times that we got candy, the boys were in 7th Heaven with loads of their favorite goodies. We had a great Halloween and the best part was that Grandma and Grandpa Sacks was able to share it with us. We also got to go to the BYU vs TCU game at Cowboy stadium and although the game was once again a frustrating BYU game we still enjoyed almost the whole thing (all except the bad predictable BYU plays and annoying bad reff calls).

Limo ride to the BYU game!

Cowboy Stadium. This is one of those places you have to see to believe. It has the largest TV screen in the world.

Isn't this a complement? Or in other words, your mom is hot, right? Why Thank you.

I have a slight obsession with Bronco. I think he is just divinely yummy.

Notice the ginormous screen above their heads.

BYU proud through thick and thin.

Carter as Melman from Madagascar with Papa.

We went the super hero route this year with Cohen and he loved how "strong" his muscles were when he put this on.

My little Bella-rina. This is my sister's little girl. What a cute cat right?!

This was Carter's expression the whole time he was a lobster. He was not amused.

The happy Halloween crew (mine and my sister's kids).

We went and visited a train station the last day John and Kathi were here. The boys were in Heaven!

IMPOSSIBLE to get these 3 kids to all look at the camera AND smile!

Here is a better idea of the Cowboy stadium.

Ever feel like this is your life....

2011-10-24T09:47:00.001-04:00

I know I do!

Thanks Keriann for the video!

A Post of Projects

2011-10-19T15:41:00.007-04:00

Maybe it's the fact that my in laws are coming in town or that I just got a little too stir crazy a couple of weeks ago but I totally went project crazy! I have always loved having some sort of project to do whether crafty or building something and this past week I have been so obsessed with projects. I think more than anything I am obsessed with seeing something change from frumpy to fabulous. I got online and got tons of ideas for things to do and it almost stressed me out how many projects I actually want to do. I ended up just picking a ton and working on them for a few weeks. Here is what I have been working on!

Spiced Up Your Pillows: Before
After: I loved how extreemly easy this was. And better yet, I had material left over from something else so it was not extra cost to do! For more ideas for pillows click HERE. I want to do a ruffle pillow next!

Entry Table: I have been wanting something in our entry way so bad but everything I found was just out of price range, so I figure it could not be too hard to just build one for my self. The previous home owners left some old wood behind so all I had to buy was the legs (they are actually posts for making a deck that I just cut down to size). At first I was not too sure how I would like the color, but after it was all said and done, I have to say... I LOVE this new little addition to our home!Now I just need to find something to put on it. And I think I am going to put my book wreath here.

Book wreath:

The Book Wreath: I LOVE how easy this was and it cost me under 5 bucks. Example is HERE. And if you want to make your own, just type in book wreath in google, you'll find tons of ways to do it. The web site it comes from is The Show and Tell blog. Click HERE to go to it!

I got this frame from goodwill for $4 and the spider webs from my beloved old grocery store, Meijer, last year I got this for 25 cents! I spray painted the frame and ta-da! Eventually I will take pictures of the boys and put it in this frame!

I give all credit to my wonderful Cricut cutting machine. I just stuck in some iron on fabric and ta-da, now my little Carter can sport BYU too!

Home made rock candy. You can find the whole recipe on my food blog.

Much needed updated file cabinet. I should have taken a before picture, but was not planning on doing this till after I had spray painted it. I had left over material from a back drop I used in my book shelves and used some mod podge to put the material on the drawers. It used to be tan and was just so industrial looking. It came from a State Farm office so that kinda gives you an idea of what it used to look like.
I have had so much fun seeing all these things come together. And I cant wait for the up coming holidays to do some more crafting!!!!

Justin Turns 30!!

2011-10-13T14:37:00.005-04:00

Well... it's happening. We are growing up and entering our 30's. Thankfully, Justin is the first to do it! For his birthday I tried as hard as I could to make it a special day for him. I decided to surprise him at work and with the help of one of his friends, it was a huge success! Every day they have Noon Conference and that was my chance to sneak into the intern office and set up for a mini party for Justin. After the conference his friend texted everyone to meet in the office. When he walked in he wondered why everyone was looking at him and then he saw me. I worked all morning on these little beauties:

It was fun to surprise him and make sure everyone knew that Justin had reached the ripe age of 30! And thanks to my sister, she got him this amazing golf cake! It was kind of a golf themed birthday. He got a new golf bag and clothes since some one broke his old bag in the move (I think Jon Felt has a good idea who this was...grrr, do you remember a certain someone chucking it over the wooden wall?)
Anyhow... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Justina! I love you SO much!

psst...if you have not been here a while to my blog, check below, you have to see the video of Jace getting scared. SO SAD....but still... very funny.

I'm Naughty.

2011-10-10T10:10:00.004-04:00

So the other day I had to pick up a prescription for Justin at the store (one that he called him for himself....so nice!) and saw a monkey mask that I thought might bring me some laughs. So I did what any parent would do (right?), I purchased it and went home to scare the kids.

Jace was not just scared, he was terrified. When my sister asked Jace about it yesterday, he simply told Kelly, "Mommy is naughty!". And now when ever he needs to go potty, he tells me, "but don't scare me Mommy!".

We have put the mask away and my plan is to return it to the store so I don't traumatize my child any further. Best 4$ I have spent in a while.

All About Cohen

2011-09-15T10:08:00.010-04:00

Cohen just turned 4 in June and I was hoping he was going to grow out of the VERY short tempered 3 year old stage, but that has not happened as of yet... please tell me I am not the only one dealing with this!!! Yesterday he totally freaked out because his trix was floating in the milk too much. Some day's I am ready to send him to another family! But then he will tell me, "Mom, I have a secret for you.... (and then whispers in my ear) I love you". Ok, I guess I won't give you away!

Like every little boy, Cohen loves his Dad. Justin is so good to get down on the floor and play cars with him. And EVERYDAY when Justin comes home I can expect to hear a high pitch "DADDY!!!!" where he then runs as fast as he can to grab a hold of Justin's leg.

Cohen's absolute favorite thing is to make cookies with Mom. I love this activity we do together (probably a little too often :)

And what would a Cohen post be with out his latest bruise. He is the KING of falling, tripping, and running into things. I hope this is just a phase... that has so far lasted since he started walking.
I did a little photo shoot with Cohen a few weeks ago and he was so good to pose and even show me his super cute smile... not the cheesy one, but an actual 'I'm happy do be doing this Mom' smile!

I don't know how Cohen does this... but he does... and it's hilarious.

Another thing Cohen has been up to is Soccer! I have been waiting so long to be a soccer mom and I LOVE it. It is so much fun to go to his practice's and he had his first game this last Saturday. They lost horribly (not that they kept score, but I did), but it was still great to see him running around with his team mates. He is by far from being the best one on the team (in fact he is pretty slow and has a hard time getting the ball) but I think that working on a team is good for him and listening to someone else instruct him on things to do has been really good for him as well. Cohen has had a little bit of a struggle getting used to this whole move. Yesterday he was screaming, "I wan to go back to-ledo". But after we explained that none of his friends were there anymore, he was ok with staying in our house with us.He has a bad habit of running around holding his pants. I have about 20 pics of him doing just this.

I felt a little silly when Justin informed me that the number I had picked for Cohen was Micheal Jordans number. It was just the first number that popped into my head!

Here is my favorite video of him in Soccer. He just follows people around more than the ball, it's hilarious!

Rodeo... Texas Style

2011-09-04T23:54:00.005-04:00

What better place to go to your first Rodeo than in Texas, right?! Sad to say, but Justin and I had never been to a Rodeo before this one. But after going, we vowed that it will be a new Sacks family tradition. We LOVED it! Besides the fact that Jace had ants in his pants, (we could not keep that kid still!) we enjoyed just every minute of it! And the best part was it was right here in Mesquite and it was indoors, cause dang, it has been HOT here. I guess they are pretty famous for it here and there is one every weekend in the summer. We caught the tale end of it and was there for the championship weekend.
And one little tidbit of info, the Rodeo clown was from Payson Utah! Small world. He asked the crowd if anyone was from Utah... no one screamed... not even Justin so I yelled my heart out for him. I think a got a few weird looks and I'm sure it just made it look that much better with our 3 kids being a little crazy, but, oh what the heck!

I love the look Jace is pulling in this picture. And dang, ever since I had Carter my cheeks are always red! So need a dermatologist.

They have this one game where they invite all the kids out to see who could get the ribbon tied to the calf's tail. Once they said "GO" the clown said, "Holy Cow, it looks like a Mormon Van just opened it's doors." He was cracking jokes all night long like that :)

And like always, our little Carter was just a happy ham!

And lastly, here are a few videos from our first Rodeo.

Let's just say, my boys do not get their awesome dancing skills from me :)

Mormon Mommy Bloggers (aka, me)

2011-08-26T10:33:00.001-04:00

I came across this article today and loved it. I always told Justin the people that blog the most are Mormons :)
click HERE

Our Little Carter at 6 Months!

2011-08-21T17:20:00.009-04:00

The more kids you have, the faster the time goes and OH MY GOSH I can't believe my baby Carter is already 6 months old. Here are a few little tid-bits about our little guy!

Carter has just learned the art of screaming. I love how his eye brows move when he screams. And I think he loves how it makes his brothers laugh when he does it.

And this is the side of Carter that we LOVE. He is such a happy baby! I really do think that the Lord sent me Carter to show me how wonderful it is to be a mother! Not that my other 2 don't but it defiantly makes me want to have more because Carter is such an easy baby! He is so happy every time you just look at him. All you have to do is say "Hi" to him and in return he will give you the best smile he can with his super cute dimple. Carter is a great eater too, as you can see (my fattest baby!) and he is an awesome sleeper, usually pulling 12 hours a night. Carter LOVES watching his brothers play and you can tell he wants to get in on the action as well! He is rolling all over the place right now and is starting to scoot a little too. I'm sure it will not be long till he will be running to catch up with his brothers. I love this boy!!!!

Our Lives at Random

2011-08-21T10:19:00.016-04:00

So here is a long post of our happenings here in Mesquite. After this post, I can officially call my blog caught up! I promise I will not have another HUGE post like this for a while.

I told Justin, "just call me Leisy" when I found this place (she is an old friend from Toledo that always found fun FREE things to do!). I found this little splash pad that is totally free and my boys LOVE it!

We have also been having a great time in the back yard. Esp when it means water. But to be completely honest, it has been so stink'n hot here that we have not spent that much time out there unless I have the hose going!

Carter is, as always, my super happy baby. He is so much fun to have around and Cohen and Jace are obsessed with him!

We shaved Carter's hair. I have always been annoyed with parents that won't cut their kids hair cause they are attached to it, and then I did it with Cater. It was not until we were getting ready for church one Sunday and I realized how ugly it really looked. It was so patchy and uneven. So we shaved it and it looks SO much better. Yes, it's still dark, and yes it is still thick :)

A few Sunday's ago, I went to wake Jace up from his nap and he was not in his bed. I got a little worried until I finally found him here. Why he thought this would be a better place to take a nap, I have no idea!

My sister has kept us busy with lots of rides on the boat and fun in her pool. And for a couple of weeks last month, almost all my family came to Dallas. I was SO happy to have them here and to have 2 weeks of FUN!

We did a lot of boating:

My goofy nephew Jonathan being a boat beauty.

My Dad catching some air.
Carter's first boat ride. He was an amazing baby on the boat. He was on there for 5 hours and only started to get fussy the last 20 min. He even took a nap and did not mind his vest. Although we took it off when we were taxing into the dock in this picture.
The boat master, Larry.
Larry was not nice to us when Justin and I did the tube. We gave it our all but in the end, I ended up with a bruise on my thigh from hitting the water so hard when we finally got thrown off.
My brother Robb. The jet ski's are by far my favorite!
Played in the pool:

And, like always, ate some good food and sat around talking:

We have done a lot of projects too:

Ta-Da! All finished!

Building new shelves and putting together book cases with material in the background.

Changing out ugly shades for better ones with a little sparkles :)

I should of taken a before picture of this one, but it used to be all white. I got out the good ol' spray paint and painted this sucker brown. SO much better looking!

Cohen's official birthday was on June 24th and my sister did a little something for the kids since her little girl Bella shares the same birthday.
Cohen's cake

Bella's Cake
I tried to get some good pictures of the 2 birthday kids but this was as good as it was going to get. Cohen was too excited about his new bike. We also took Cohen to see Cars 2. He LOVED it!

This is just a random throw in, but I don't know how Cohen does this, but he does, and it's hilarious.

And lastly, here is Justin on his official first day of being a M.D. You can't say that white coat does not look good! He is SO happy to have a long coat and not a short one!

Our New House... finally, I know!

2011-08-09T10:36:00.008-04:00

So here is the big reveal of our new home. If you remember, the pics I put on here last time was with the old owners furniture and paint job....ugly. But thanks to my amazing sister, as a graduation gift, she had the WHOLE house painted. It's a great tan color. We will probably add some color to some rooms but for now, we LOVE it!!! As a side note, pay no attention to the curtains, all will be taken down and replaced since none of them match our stuff.

Entry way. (the door you see is to the 1/2 bath and the pathway leads to the kitchen and 2nd living room)

Our forever empty room. This is the first room you see when you come in the house, and it will be empty for a while :(

Dinning room, converted into Office (off of the empty living room).

Back yard with an apple tree!

Kitchen, you can see into the laundry room and behind the fridge is the doorway into the living room. Our plan is to get new counter tops and paint all the cabinets.

Eating area, goes out to the back yard.

Laundry room, off of the kitchen and attaches to the 3 car garage, dang we are spoiled!

Down stairs 1/2 bath. We changed the sink from a ugly green sink to this white one. So much better!

Craft room!!! Obviously not put together yet! Someday when baby number 4 comes, we will change out the doors and make this the baby room and add carpet!

Our HUGE bedroom. We hate that it does not have carpet but thank goodness for craigslist for this rug. We plan on changing the tile around the fire place. It's see through and on the other side is a garden tub.

Our bathroom. This is one side... and the bottom picture is the other side of the bathroom. We have our own closets... so nice! And don't be jelous of our green tub, I know all you wish you had one. The person who built this home had a fetish of dark green. It will all be removed someday.

Cohen and Jace's room.

Boy's bath, it's a Jack and Jill bath, not my favorite thing about the house but hey, I don't have to share a bath room with my kids any more! Carter's room is off to the left.

Carter's Room, the small door you see is a huge storage area over the garage with tons of shelves.

Our FAVORITE room of the house. Our TV/play/living room. The shelf the TV is on was already there and since we sold our entertainment center when we moved we decided to use the shelf and build some cabnets under it. Yeah, my husband is a doctor and a carpenter. He did a great job and we love the extra storage for all our movies/gaming stuff! (off of the Kitchen)
When moonlighting starts, we hope to do some much needed updating and upgrades to the house but for now it's home and we love it!

Our Last Week in Ohio (sniff sniff)

2011-08-05T11:44:00.012-04:00

Our final week in Toledo was a crazy one. It was filled with moving, tons of family coming in town, going to the Henry Ford museum (most amazing I have ever seen!), Kirtland, Graduation, blessing Carter Lewis, and saying tons of sad good-byes.

Moving Day!

Last good-bye for these goof balls!

HENRY FORD MUSEUM

Cohen's favorite part was the HUGE train. Honestly, biggest train I have ever seen.

THE car Kennedy was shot in.

Us.... in 12 years.

The weenie mobile.

Famous Model-T.

THE bus Rosa Parks road on.

GRADUATION
The other 3 members of our ward that Justin went to med school with.
Justin, Glen, Jon, and Kent.

Jill and I. We were so lucky to go see their house on our way to Dallas. They are so missed!

Justin's good friend Glen. They lived real close to us and they car pooled for a couple of years and spent many many hours studying together.

The Rigtrup/Sacks clan. We were amazed at how many showed up for Justin and I.

Minus Kent and Leisy, the med students and their beautiful wives that endured it!

Left to right, Glen and Jill (urology), Jon and Keriann (peds), and us!

Our forever favorite neighbor. Carol is missed by the whole family!

My brother (being an optometrist) was able to hood Justin. We were so happy they came all the way from Utah to do that!

The official 'Hooding'. He's a Doctor!!!!

KIRTLAND

Mini photo shoot for the Robb Rigtrup family. This was their last family pic before Max left for his mission on the Johnson Farm where Joseph Smith was tarred and feathered.

My oldest nephew, he left for his mission just 4 days after this to Spain!!!

"No MAX, don't leave me!!!!"

Jace was not too thrilled about the whole tour of Kirtland thing, but he was very content playing out side.

We have a picture like this with just us and Cohen, another with us and Cohen and Jace and now the 5 of us. We will miss this little tradition of going to Kirtland.

Happiest. Baby. Ever. We LOVE our little Carter.

BLESSING DAY
Sacks. Party of 5! It's a little surreal to think we really have 3 kids. It's like Justin and I are really all grown up!
The clan.
Now who in the world could not love a face like that!

Next post... Our new home! I'm almost caught up!

Toledo Zoo and Other Safari Adventures!

2011-07-14T10:03:00.011-04:00

I loved the Toledo Zoo. Cohen keeps telling me we need to go to the zoo but it is just too blasted hot here right now it will just have to be something we save for the Fall. They esp loved the goats!

Jace was a little scared at first :)

When I saw on a friend's blog about going to the Safari Wildlife park in Ohio, I knew it was a thing that we needed to do! The pictures alone tell you how much fun we had. We went with our good friends, the Lau's (who we miss TERRIBLY!!!). We all had so much fun scaring the kids (and getting a little scared our selves). I have a video that I even sent in to AFV. I'll have to put in on the blog once we find out if we get on or not (you can't have it on a public site when you submit it to AFV), fingers crossed!

Free pony rides!
Doesn't Matthew look so happy :)

Matthew, Cohen and Jace.

Obviously, my car was gross after going to this place!

For you Toledoen's, this is a must see. You have to take your cameras and lots of carrots!

Road Trip! (and other Toledo stuff)

2011-07-10T17:28:00.015-04:00

When we moved to Toledo, Justin and I said that there were 3 places we HAD to see before moving away from that area of the US. And up until April, we had been to two of those three (Nauvoo and Chicago). Well, after much pleading and begging, I finally talked Justin into going to New York and Niagara Falls. And only if I was able to find free lodging, which I did (thanks to Taylor and Laney!). It was an extreemly short trip, but it was totally enough to satisfy my desire to get away with the family and not feel so sorry for Justin and I being, what seemed to be the only 4th years that did not have a celebratory vacation (we WILL have one, it's just has to be after I'm done nursing Carter, March just can't come fast enough!).
Niagara Falls
We left on a Monday early morning and our first stop was Niagara Falls. It was to say the least, unbelievable! It was also extreemly cold that day and rained the whole time we were out side. But even with the cold, the boys loved taking a ride of the Maid of Mist and seeing the huge falls. After that, we decided to eat and Quaker Steak and Lube (known as the inventor of the Buffalo Wing and winner of countless prizes for their sauces and wings). It defiantly lived up to our expectations!

So I know I look like I gained about 100 lbs. I promise that was not the case. I was wearing Carter in my Moby Wrap and he slept the whole time! Don't worry, there was a hole for him to breath out of :)

Thank goodness for the blue ponchos, or we would have been soaked! I wish we had one for our strollers because once we got off the boat, we had a puddle in the stroller.

PALMYRA NEW YORK
After our great accommodations, we headed off to Palmyra to see the church history site. After being so blessed to see Kirtland, Nauvoo and Palmayra over the last 4 years, I am so glad that we saved what we thought was the best for last. The day was perfect. It was not to hot and not to cold and the sacred grove was as green as ever! The spirit in that place was overwhelming and such a testimony builder. We also saw the Smith home, the printing press that started the Book of Mormon and the Hill Cumorah.

Top of the Hill Cumorah.

Having a picnic lunch right out side of the Sacred Grove.

Bridge crossing into the Sacred Grove.

One thing I was not expecting was the long walking trail in the grove. I always thought it was just one spot but it literally is a huge grove of these giant trees where Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. There was such a sweet spirit there and it was so peaceful to walk the trail and think of what monumental experience happened there. There are also 5 trees that they call the witness trees that date back to the the time of first vision. We saw one of them. I wish I got a picture of it but it was not until I talked to one of the sister missionaries about this cool old tree we saw that I realized that it was one of the witness trees. Dang.

Inside the Joseph Smith home.

Both Cohen and Jace feel asleep by this point so we left them in the car for a quick snap shot of the Smith home. It was SO tiny. I can't believe how many people lived in the house. Very humbling.

And other Toledo stuff....
The biggest selling point for us when we were looking for places to live in Toledo was our huge back yard. It was a great place for the kids to run around and as you can see, it was extreemly green. Although our new house has a back yard that is fenced (which is great!), we miss this huge back yard, plus we never had to take care of it!

Trying to pop the bubbles.

I miss this little place. We loved going to Fallen Timber and there fun little kids area. There was also a pond with enormous koi fish that you could feed.

Birthday Time and Last Trip to Botanical Gardens

2011-07-05T11:08:00.012-04:00

This year we decided to do Cohen's birthday celebration a little early since we would be in our new house only a couple of weeks when his real birthday was. I was involved in a preschool group this past year and Cohen LOVED it. We invited all of his little friends from that over and I think they all had a great time. The best part was watching the kids hit the pinata!

Ike stayed for the fun since his parents needed to go do some craigslist shopping, I love craigslist! He was so funny to watch because all he wanted to do was just touch the bat to the car and then he was done.

Matthew was by far the strongest one and he knocked it right off the rope!

Ellie just did what she should do...hit like a girl :)

Musical chairs, I quickly learned is not too much of a game for 4 year olds, every time someone got out, there was a small fit by that child. So then we changed it to when you get out, you got a birthday blow whistle. But then the ones that did not get out were sad cause they wanted the whistle. Sometimes you just can't win.

We also played pin the tail on the donkey. All the kids aimed for his face.

left to right: Zeb, Matthew, Cohen, Ellie, Ike. We miss these kids terribly! Cohen keeps telling me since we have been here that he does not like the new kids and he just wants to play with his old friends. I think he is having a little bit of a hard time adjusting.

We got a race car cake at Cohen's request and I never even got a picture of it. But as you can see, the blue frosting was a big hit!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COHEN!!!!And once the kids were gone and ours were to bed, Justin and I enjoyed a little of it ourselves!

I love how happy Jace looks to be a the botanical gardens. I loved going to this place. It was so pretty and we always loved feeding the ducks!

Our little Carter-Farter, happy as always. His only flaw...this kid let's some crazy bad stinkers. Hence the nick-name.

Up and Running

2011-06-23T08:42:00.012-04:00

We made it safe to Dallas and finally are up and running with the internet and thankfully my sanity is slowly coming back to me after our big move. I have a ton of posts to do over the next few weeks so bare with me while I try to get caught up. Towards the last few weeks in Toledo, Justin and I did some last minute adventures and now I have about 8 posts I need to put up. I promise to make it worth your time to check us out. :)

So back in April, Justin did his very last rotation of med school in ER. It was a great rotation with only 14 days of work the whole month. This is Justin on his very last day of his medical school rotation EVER. He was pretty happy about it.

Next, I found my new favorite age to take pictures of.... 8 year old little girls. A friend asked if I would take pictures of her little girl for her baptism pics and I was so excited to do them, esp since her little girl would actually listen to what I wanted her to do (not like some little boys I know of!). Most the time I come away from a photo shoot hoping I got just one that I would like, but with Jenessa, there were tons to choose from. Here are some of my favorites. Isn't she beautiful!!!!

And finally, in honor of Cohen today, here are some of our favorite Cohen-isms and a few pics as well. I can't believe he is 4 today! Time has flown way to quickly. We love our Cohen to death. He is so tender hearted and just wants to be every one's friend. He loves to tease his brother Jace on his bad days and love to play with him on his good days :) He is still totally in love with anything that has wheels (trains, cars, motorcycles, ect.) and he is my little social bug. He talks to every stranger we come in contact with at the store (we are working on correcting that :). He also loves books and has about 10 book memorized that he reads to Jace.

Happy Birthday Cohen!!!
We try to write down much of what Cohen says that we think is funny, here are a few:
Me: "Cohen, your silly"
Cohen: "Your mom is silly."

During a thunder storm when Cohen was scared and Justin was trying to clam him down by telling Cohen that thunder was fun! Cohen said very seriously, "It's not fun, its FUNDER and its serious!"

Cohen: "Mommy, I need to play Wii, that is a good plan, I am a good planner."

Cohen: "Daddy, I am going to call you Justin because I am getting bigger and bigger so I will call you Justin."

Looking at me through a home made telescope:
"Mommy, I can see you!"
Me: "You see me? What do I look like?"
Cohen: "You look scroungy."

After trying some chocolate covered strawberries.
"MMMM... these are delicious and they don't smell like pee-pee or poo-poo!!!"

"Look at my muscles, I am turning into a Man!"

WE LOVE YOU COHEN!!!

the Girls of Toledo

2011-06-03T09:00:00.003-04:00

A couple weeks ago, the girls in the ward here met for one last girls night out. Justin was amazing and let me take the night off to go spend time with these amazing women I have been so privileged to get to know. I will miss my friends terribly when we leave and can't believe that our 4 years here is over! So many are moving all over the country and I just hope we can all stay in touch in some form!

It's Happening...

2011-04-30T21:23:00.005-04:00

Yes, I understand that I am moving. I understand that by the boxes that are starting to take over my house. But, it was not until I saw that Mossing Apartments put up this sign that it really hit me.... it's happening. We really are leaving our home and someone else is going to live in it. I have to admit, I had to choke back the tears when I saw this sign. And though I never thought I would feel this sad... I do. I keep thinking about all the things I am going to miss. I am going to miss the beautiful fall colors that engulf our street, I'm going to miss the amazing parks that are all around us, I am going to miss going to the YMCA and seeing so many of my friends there (esp my instructor Rachel!), I'm going to miss our huge back yard that has given my kids hours of good hard running room. I'm going to miss the huge trees that are all over Toledo and I'm going to miss my ultimate favorite grocery store Meijers!

But the thing I am going to miss more than anything in this world, is the people we have met here. We have not only made our own home away from home, but we have made a family away from family here. Our neighbors Carol and Kim have been more than just neighbors, they have been AMAZING friends. They were not just the people we borrowed a cup of sugar from (believe me, I have borrowed so much more from them than just that!), they were the neighbors I went over to when I just wanted some great conversation and company when Justin was out late on call or when I just needed a friend to talk to.

And then there is my ward family. I love our ward. They have been my foundation since being in Toledo. We have made so many friends in our ward. It has been such a blessing to have known these people, not just for my self but for my kids too. The families in this ward are so special to me and I will miss them all so very much! I think this ward has set the bar too high because my expectations might be crushed in going to any new ward, it will never be the same.
(Cohen and just a sample of his friends in our ward)

And now the things we are excited for! Justin left for his last rotation EVER as a med student last Saturday.... you think he is happy or what?!

We are super excited for warmer weather and a home of our very own with a fenced back yard and plenty of room to grow. We are also VERY excited to be moving closer to my sister Kelly and her family. And we are SO very blessed to have been accepted into an amazing program at Baylor that will ultimately give us some great opportunities after Residency.

I will however not miss somethings. I will NOT miss the carpet in my kitchen. I will NOT miss having our living area be a play room/TV room/office/vinyl work area. I will NOT miss Toledos winters and gray sky's. Although all the things I am not going to miss do not make up at all for the people that are going to be missed.

So here's to you Toledo, turns out I did love you and you will be missed!

OuR EaStEr HaPpEnNiNgs

2011-04-27T14:08:00.005-04:00

This Easter we had to do the whole 'bunny' thing on Sunday since Justin had a 12 hour ride along shift with the Toledo EMS on Saturday (we normally like to do it on Saturday so we can concentrate more on the Savior on Sunday). These pictures of my boys on Easter morning are horrid, but this is what you get taking pics 5 minutes before church and your working with a 3 yr, 2 yr, and 8 week old. Church was wonderful. There were so many good thing I got out of our meetings and I defiantly came home Sunday feeling spiritually fed.

We got Cohen with a decent smile in this one.

Now we got Carter to smile.

And now Jace finally smiles.

I think Carter is a little nervous in this picture.

After church we came home and fed the missionaries. I love feeding the Elders. They bring such a wonderful spirit into our home and Cohen especially loves the Elders (or Mr. Elderts as he calls them). For our Easter feast we had twice baked cheesy potatoes, green beans, and marinated chicken. And for dessert we had these cute little chick cake balls. I stole the ides from my friend's blog. I put the recipe on my food blog (thanks Natalie!)

We had a great Easter remembering our Savior and his atonement for us. I am so grateful for the gospel and this time of the year we have to specifically remember what he has done for us. I hope you all had a great Easter!

PS Take a look at the cake pop web site, SO many cute ideas for these easy things and did I mention so delicious!!!
BAKERELLA

Smiles All Around

2011-04-13T08:44:00.005-04:00

If there is one person who can get Carter to smile, it is Cohen. It must be because Carter sees so much of himself in Cohen...literally. I love my boys!!!

Another thing that is bringing smiles all around is buying a house! Well, at least now that finding one is over and the sellers have excepted our offer! That was the worst part. I will NEVER go house hunting again with out Justin.... EVER!!! Now we are on to inspection and if all goes well, we close May 13th! Here's a couple of pictures of it.

There are some definite needed updates but we are excited to make it our own over the next 5 years that we will call this place home!

Carter's Final Photo Shoot

2011-03-21T12:08:00.016-04:00

Beware: TONS of pictures. I just could not pick one, so I picked all of the ones I liked. It's easy to take cute pictures when you have someone so cute to take pictures of, right?! I still need to photo shop little zits on his face and marks where his diaper was but I'll do that when I actually print some of these out.

Look Mom, over there, do you see that!?! I think it is evident that Cater has Cohen's famous BIG eyes.

Because of our height disadvantage, we are hoping for a kicker for BYU.

A little too big for borrowing Daddy's ties just yet.

Dr. Carter, your wanted in the E.R.

Brotherly love. Cohen loved doing some pics with his baby brother.

Check out that hair!

Some Carter anyone?

Time Out

2011-03-21T11:09:00.003-04:00

This is my favorite video of Cohen as of late. And yes, he is still singing Christmas songs in March. What a goofy kid I have :)

Jace turns 2!

2011-03-21T10:00:00.010-04:00

I can't believe my little Jacer Man is TWO!! Here are some fun facts about this little guy:

Jace LOVES any kind of ball, football, basketball, baseball... if it involves a ball, he is in!
Jace is a total copy cat. He follows Cohen around and copies every action and word.
Jace LOVES his Dad. (Which makes his Mom a little jealous sometimes). When Justin comes home, he is immediately drawn to his side for the rest of the evening.
Jace's favorite words are "A-Yes!" and "O-ta". But it's not just what he says, it's hilarious how he says it. Like when he says Juice, it's boos but for his "s" he sucks air in.
Jace is also a total sweet heart. He never argues with us when we tell him why he can't have a treat, just as long as we give him a good enough reason. And he is a GREAT sharer. If he see's that Carter need's something (because a 2 week old really needs a car to play with when he is crying, right?) or he see's that Cohen is looking for something, it's Jace to the rescue.
Jace is also getting into the "let me do it by my self stage". He likes to show you how he can do it, and when he does get it done, he will shout at the top of his lungs, "I did it!!!". Jace is always loud when he talks :)
And by far my favorite, yesterday, as I put him down for a nap he said, "Bye-Bye Mommy....eeee-uuuuuu", which in Jace language means, I love you. Melt's my heart!

We love our Jacer-Man, he is so loving and keeps us laughing and our family would not be complete with out him in it!

So for Jace's birthday, we took him to the YMCA gymnastic center. We then had his favorite character cake, Elmo, and opened up some presents. It was pretty uneventful but how much can you ask from a Mom that just had a baby 2 week's earlier?!

Another thing Jace has been up to lately is climbing out of his crib. I would just put him in a bed, but since we are moving soon, what's the point! Can you find Jace, I was shocked when I went in to check on the boys and....
he was asleep on the floor!

Match Day

2011-03-20T22:16:00.007-04:00

Thursday, March 17th was by far the most important day of any 4th year medical student's career. It was the day that Justin and I found out where the next 5 years of our lives would be. With out going into too much detail, Justin applied to over 40 Radiology programs, interviewed at 13 and out of those 13, we ranked them in order of which ones we would most like to go to. Once we submitted our rank list, each school submits a list of who they interviewed and where ever you match up together is where you end up going for residency (there are also those who don't match at all, fortunately, we were not one of those people).

So match day finally came. We arrived at the Stranahan Theater at 11 am and met up with our friends that we have shared this med school journey with the last 4 years.
From left to right: Kent and Leisy Miller (going into Pediatrics at Dayton OH), Jill and Glen Lau (Urology in Memphis TN), John and Keriann Felt (pediatircs, Grand Rapids, MI), us and Jeremy and Natalie Jacobs (Orthopedics, Augusta, Georgia). We will miss all of them so very much!

I then went over to the table where our fate lied and snapped a picture of our envelope.

Justin and I got some food from the buffet table (but neither of us ate much, we were both too nervous). They had a couple of speakers and at noon, Justin was dismissed to go get his envelope and this is what happened:

I wish I could say I loved this video, but I think the more I watch it, the more embarrassed I get about how I acted. Let's just say it was a complete explosion of shock and too much build up of anticipation! Justin and I were a complete wreck the whole morning before this moment!

We got our number one pick, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas Texas! We could not be happier. Both of us were sure it was going to be Indiana, which would have been great as well! But much to our complete surprise, we got exactly what we wanted. Warmer weather, here we come!!! There are SO many bonuses about going to Baylor. My sister is there with her family, it's a GREAT program, the name alone will be great for applying to fellowship programs (Interventional Radiology), the weather is great there, and housing is affordable. We will be moving at the beginning of June after graduation and Justin starts on the 23rd of June. We are so blessed to have this opportunity and know that it's where we are suppose to be! Thanks to all of you who have giving us so much support in this whole process!

Jill and I, SSOOO going to miss this wonderful girl!
What University of Toledo students are going into.
We took Carter with us and he was an angel. He slept the whole time!

UT students celebrate 'Match Day'

2011-03-18T11:04:00.003-04:00

UT students celebrate 'Match Day': "Thursday was 'Match Day': when students graduating medical school find out where they will serve their residencies and what specialty they will attain."

I was always under the impression that Justin was the med student, not me :) Enjoy the goofy picture of me.

Number One

2011-03-17T23:06:00.001-04:00

Today we got our number one spot for residency program at Baylor in Dallas!!!!!! We are totally shocked and extreemly excited! Pictures to come soon!! We will be moving in June of this year!

WE MATCHED!!!

2011-03-14T19:17:00.002-04:00

Today was the very much anticipated Match Day to find out if we have been accepted into a Radiology program or not. Well, WE MATCHED!!! Now it's on to Thursday at noon to see where we have been accepted to. Here are our options in no particular order:

Where do you think we will end up (our guess is Indianapolis)?

Orlando Florida
Oklahoma City, OK
Tucson, Arizona
Baylor in Dallas
Utah
Indianapolis, IN
Louisville, KY
Knoxville, TN
Tampa, FL

We ranked 3 other programs but I would die of shock if we got into those since we have talked to some of the directors and know we are not going to be down that far on our rank list. 2 are in Detroit and the local program in Toledo.
So... tell us... what's your guess?!

Birth Story

2011-03-01T20:55:00.010-05:00

The dreaded day has come. The day that my Mom went home. I hate this day. Every time I think of her leaving.... I cry. Luckily, I have an amazing husband to give me lots of hugs and supports me through all the tears of learning how to adjust to being a Mom of 3 to the cutest boys in the whole wide world. And with my Mom gone, I am now trying to find things to keep my mind occupied so that I don't fall into the teary pit again. Please tell me I am not the only one that get's a case of the baby blues?

So...here's to me keeping my self occupied... here is the story of how Carter Lewis Sacks came into our family:
Right before heading out the door to go to Toledo Hospital.

It was 2:40 am on the 22nd of February. I was woken up by a terribly hard contraction. Nothing out of the ordinary, I had been getting random ones in the middle of the night for the past week or so. But, I thought I might as well look at the clock just to make sure if I needed to start timing them. After drifting off to sleep I was woken again about 20 minutes later, then 15, then 30, then back to 15. Not what you call steady by any means but none the less, it was disturbing my sleep! By 5am though they were starting to get around 10-15 min apart and bad enough that I had to wake Justin to squeeze his hand each time I had one. At that point I decided that if this was going to happen today, I was not leaving with out a shower and doing my hair. A girl has to look good for the camera, right? Once I was in the shower my contractions quickly moved from being 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart. After Justin threatened me that if I did not hurry I might not get an epidural, I got as ready as I could between some crazy bad contractions, told my Mom "it's time" and off we went. Justin drove as quickly as he could on the icy roads as I tried to not scream through each bump on Toledo's crappy roads. Once we wheeled up to the labor and delivery I was quickly checked to see how dilated I was. The nurse, moving a little quicker now, told me I was at a 6-7. Ummm... PANIC! Get that epidural in me RIGHT NOW!!! And thankfully, that is just what they did. By 8am, I was enjoying the tingling of my legs going numb and being told by the nurse to get some rest before the doctor came in to break my water at 10. When she broke my water the doctor did notice some miconium (spell?) and said she would have a special doctor standing by if we needed him but thankfully, we had no need for the doctor once Carter came out. After breaking my water they gave me another couple of hours to rest and by noon I was dilated to 10cm and feeling pressure. By then I did what any girl would do, told Justin to hand me my make up bag so I could freshen up for my big photo shoot and to meet this new little guy. Twenty minutes later they were getting the doctor in and prepping me for delivery. Once I was in position and the mirror was placed so I could see what was going on, my amazing nurse Mary, quickly pointed out to me that before I even pushed that his head was already in view! After 5 minutes of pushing, Carter was born at 12:55 pm. And just like the rest of you, we were amazed at his hair. We were under the impression that we only made blond hair/blue eyed kids but apparently we had some super dark and thick hair in the mix and we are still trying to figure out where the heck it comes from. But to say the least, we are in love with it! Also, Carter did come out all tangeled up in the cord, almost like like he was wearing a backpack, and with it around his neck. Justin said he was a little too floopy at first but after some good rubbing down and suction he still got an 8-9 on his apgar. He was measured at a large 8 lbs 7 oz (no wonder I felt so big!) and 22 1\8 inches long!
Carter has been a great baby. He is so mild mannered and has been consistantly waking up 2 times a night with the added bonus of going to sleep quickly after feeding him. I am so in love with this little bundle of joy and can't wait to get to know more of his personality.

Please tell me there is enough time for an epidural!

Giving my Mom frequent updates... and the epidural is now in!

Proud parents of 3 BOYS!!!

Cohen and Jace were super excited to meet baby Carter and they loved climbing up into bed with Mom.

And for the biggest surprise, my sister from Dallas showed up in my hospital room the day I delivered. It was great to have her here, esp when I came home to a super clean house thanks to her and my Mom.

And with keeping in theme of trying to keep my self occupied since my Mom is gone now, I decided to do a mini photo shoot of Carter today. These are a few of my favorite's for right now.

Thanks again Grandma for coming! We LOVED having you here with us!

Presenting...

2011-02-28T01:24:00.002-05:00

Carter Lewis Sacks

Born February 22, 2011

8 lbs 7 oz

22 1/8 in long

Carter and me are doing great! Delivery went picture perfect and I promise to post the whole story and more pictures very soon. But for now, its 1:30 am and I'm up nursing :)

FYI

2011-02-21T07:28:00.002-05:00

Induction date is set for this Wednesday the 23rd. We are so super excited to meet our little Carter boy and I am just as excited to NOT be pregnant again for a while. This pregnancy has been so much more tiring and uncomfortable then with Cohen or Jace. My AMAZING mother came in town on Saturday and we are so glad she is willing to help us out. So keep checking back and we will get pics posted as soon as we can!

Winter/Spring

2011-02-20T08:24:00.012-05:00

In the last few weeks, we have gone from having over a foot and a half of snow accumulated in our back yard and temps staying consistently in the single digits or teens to it getting up to the 50's and melting all of it away! We have not seen the grass for 3 months so we were over joyed to see it again and even happier to actually be able to go out side and play a little! Here are a few pics from our snow day and then our spring day. On our snow day, Toledo was declared a level 3 emergency day which means that only emergency vehicles are allowed on the road or you can get a ticket. I was more than happy to have Justin home for the day. We played in the snow and did a little painting. It was a perfect day to be stuck inside with one another! Life is grand!!!

Jace was not the biggest fan of the snow...takes after his mother :) I think he was even more mad at the fact that he could not figure out how to walk in it. But then again, how would you when the snow is at your hips!

Justin's snow angel.

Cohen LOVED being in the snow. Which made me feel a little bad since there has been snow on the ground for 3 months and this is the first time I have let him play in it this year. It's just to dang cold to go play in the snow here!

I know what your thinking, "I did not know Julie was a fantastic artist?". Really, I do surprise my self sometimes.

A Glimpse Of Spring:

Dang it Jace, would you just smile normally....that would be a negative Mom, I only know how to cheese it up!

Doggy Jace

2011-02-07T08:14:00.005-05:00

This is my sweet little doggy. We call him doggy Jace. He loves to eat cereal out of a bowl and chase after what ever toy he can find on the ground and then puts it in his mouth. He makes for a great house puppy! Have you ever seen a cuter doggy? I think not!

Friends

2011-02-07T08:03:00.003-05:00

I am so blessed to have met some really great friends here in Toledo. Cohen has been equally blessed and Matthew is one of his favorites. I love having these two kids over. They are all so funny to watch interact with each other! And I esp love to hear little Taylor talking. She says some pretty funny things! These kids will be very much missed in our home when they move in June.

New Born Photography

2011-01-31T14:35:00.006-05:00

My friend was super sweet and let me take some pictures of their newest addition, Zoe. I had heard new borns were pretty hard to handle and I thought, how hard could they really be? Well... let's just say that they do what they want to do... and you are not going to convince them otherwise. None the less, I think we were able to get some good ones. My next purchase for photography will hopefully be some indoor lighting because a lot of the pictures did not turn out as clear as I was hoping. But for now, it will have to do since Justin and I are still in the negative money route and not the positive one :)

This was the ONLY one we could get of her sleeping.

Next in line for a photo shoot will be my little one, Carter Lewis, just 3 weeks away!!!

If you know me....

2011-01-26T08:10:00.008-05:00

...then you know I ALWAYS have some sort of project I am doing. Well, these have been some of my latest.

I did have a before picture of this but now I can not find it. It looked something like the blue chair below. I ripped off the blue plastic and padding underneath, used my amazing cricut cutter to make the letters and animals, glued them on and then poured epoxy over the top and Taaa-Daaa! A new table my boys can not poke holes in when they color any more!

I recovered these chairs that went with the table. I think they turned out super cute but don't think they go with the table as well any more. Oh well... I can't have it all I guess!
Before:

After:

Lastly is this coat rack. My sister in law, Lori, was given a super cute one and I decided to try and replicate it. It was much more work than I thought it would be to get it to stand up straight but over all I am happy with the results... and the fact that I don't have 12 coats draped over my coaches any more!
Now I just need to make my car seat cover and baby blanket! Then I promised Justin I would cool it for a minute.

Found It!

2011-01-21T12:32:00.006-05:00

After an insane amount of weeks being sick, I finally felt good enough to start going back to the gym and magically I was able to finally find the ambition I have been looking for the last 6 weeks!!! Why it is that getting off your butt and working out creates you to have more energy, I have no idea, but I was glad to have it back because I have WAY to much to do before Carter (we have finally decided on a name!) comes to be laying on the couch napping every day. Here is what I did with my energy this week! I literally took me 6 hours to go through the closet and organize it all. I am so happy with how much I was able to consolidate and throw out. And even though it may be really premature, I packed up 3 boxes for moving. I figure even if we don't move in June, I will not need those things any time soon!

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Ahhh.... this feels so much better. I now just walk in that room just to look at how nice it looks. I just need to switch the dressers around in the boys room with this one in the picture and it will be ready for baby Carter!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-19T09:17:00.012-05:00

So for Christmas this year we stayed here in Toledo and although we missed being around family terribly, we enjoyed our quiet Christmas here together, especially since the majority of our Christmas break was spent being sick....all 4 of us! Here are some of the things we did this holiday season!

We heard through the Toledo grape vine about a fabulous place for free pictures with Santa at the Bass Pro Shop. They had a very holly jolly Santa that was GREAT with the boys. I had to prep Jace the whole time that if he wanted candy he had to go stand next to Santa. By the time it was our turn he was very willing to go see the big man in the red suit. The whole area was set up with a winter wonderland theme. They had race cars set up and mini remote ATV's to play with. It was a great buffer since we had to wait in line for AN HOUR to see Santa.

Our ginger bread house, compliments of our food stamps thank you very much! The boys, like every kid on earth, esp liked eating the candy more than making the house. As you can see, Cohen is digging in the frosting for another taste.

Christmas Eve we set out to deliver some treats and then made some more treats when we got home for Santa. Cohen loves Mom's chocolate chip cookies and was worried Santa would be eating them all and leave none for him :)
Why Cohen was posing this way while eating his cookie is unknown to me.

The boys in their Christmas PJ's.

Our tree after Santa came!

For some reason, Jace was not particularly in the mood to open presents.

Trying out my new lens!!!

Thanks mom for the curler!!!

Justin helping out Jace.

Once Justin get's home from his interview in Florida I will upload our Christmas videos! His lap top is a champ when it comes to uploading!

Louisville KY

2011-01-17T21:51:00.003-05:00

So along the interview trail Justin has been taking, I was able to tag along with him to Louisville KY. It's a great city and we would be happy to go there. Justin has a total of 13 interviews and we will be finding out where we got accepted on March 17th!

On the way down there we were able to stop off at Dayton Ohio and go to the air force museum. I remember going there when my brother Robb was living on the base in Dayton and the 3rd hanger was by far the coolest. I was excited to show it to Justin and VERY disappointed when we found out it was closed for the afternoon. There was TONS of security there and we just figured it was because it was Verterns Day. Well, that night when I was sitting in our hotel room channel surfing, I stopped on the O'Reily Factor and found out why the hanger was closed that day. HE WAS IN THERE INTERVIEWING PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH!!!!! So close....yet he was so far away! What a bummer we did not stay to see him leave!

Jace totally biffed it when we were walking around the air planes outside. I totally forgot to buckle him into his stroller and he leaned over and fell out while I was pushing him. Poor kid!

Snoopy Plane!

This is the only photo I really got while in Kentucky. None the less, still pretty cool!

Thanksgiving Part 2

2011-01-17T20:40:00.007-05:00

Here is the last of our Thanksgiving adventure in Dallas. It's hard for me to blog these days because most of the pics I want on the blog are on Justin's computer and with him programing right now, it leaves for little time to get on here. He is out with the Elders for the night so I figure it was a perfect opportunity for me to play a little catch up.... and now I can cross one more thing off my to do list!
So one of the things we did in Dallas was go on the polar express. Needless to say, Cohen died and went to heaven!

My very sweet and hilarious nephew Benson!

Santa showed up for the ride as well!

As you can see, Jace was not too interested in the whole event.

My Momma.

My brother in law Larry, nicest guy EVER!

Addy, she is always such a good poser for the camera.

Little Sammy!

Kelly and Larry, so nice to provide us with such a great trip on the train!

Cohen would not stop putting his head out the train, he loved every minute of it.

Sammy, waiting to see the ice sculptures. She kept giving me these crusty's!

Mommy and Daddy.

Chad showing us his pool swagger

Kelly and Larry are putting a pool in their back yard and so the kids were in heaven climbing on the mounds of dirt all over. I thought it was pretty cute to see Bella in her foo-foo outfit, covered in dirt!

Ambition....

2011-01-14T21:51:00.002-05:00

...is something I wish was in pill form. Well, I guess it's is in drug form, but I don't think getting addicted to meth is the way to go. The last few days I have put so much stress on my self with making long lists of things I would like to get done before the baby comes. But unfortunately, I am starting to get those nice nerve pains that sends me to the ground keeping me from completing too many of the things on my list! I need a maid. One that will clean exactly how I clean, one that will organize things just how I like them and one that will throw out all the crap that has accumulated in my house over the last 7 years of marriage. I officially have 5 1/2 weeks before this baby comes and with any luck, I will get half of my list crossed off. So if any of you have any great suggestions for some way to find ambition.... please pass it on. I am in dyer need!

Thanksgiving In South Lake

2010-12-21T09:26:00.009-05:00

My sister once again saved us from having to eat by our selves in Ohio and brought us out to Dallas for Thanksgiving. The best part was that my parents and brother Chad and his family were also there to join the fun. We had a great time as always and missed the rest of the family that was not able to make it. Here are some highlights from the trip.

Ice skating at the Galleria.

Going to see ICE at the Gaylord Resort. Theme this year was Charlie Brown. It was amazing to see all the things they carved out of ice and it was also amazing at how freak'n cold they can get an inside of a building to keep the sculptures frozen!

Eating my Mom's amazing Turkey!

Seeing an old friend from Midland and meeting her incredibly cute little girl, Savannah!

Playing pool tournaments with the family.

Having cousins to play with.

One more post to come about Thanksgiving once I can get on the laptop to get the pics off of it!

30 Weeks and counting

2010-12-21T09:18:00.007-05:00

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by, and even more scary, I can't believe I'm on my 3rd kid! I am already 30 weeks along and things are going smoothly. I am so glad for the timing of this little one because Justin has 9 interviews in January and I feel that it will be a good occupier of my time during that horrid month! Plus it helps keep my mind off of March 17th (the day we find out where we are moving to for residency!). I start having an anxiety attack just thinking about that day!

FYI: Justin will be interviewing at these places in January
Baylor Dallas
Nebraska
Pennsylvania
West Virgina
Orlando,FL
Tampa, FL
Canton, OH (we may cancel that one)
Beaumont, in Michigan
Indianapolis
That comes out to be 2 or more interviews a week in January. We may also cancel the West Virgina one. I'm so glad we are at that point where we can cancel some and not feel bad about it. Justin has officially gotten 15 interviews! GO JUSTIN!!!!

Sacks and Lau Family Photo Shoot

2010-12-21T09:14:00.007-05:00

I secretly would love to be a professional photographer. Unfortunately I have a LONG way to go before I could ever get there. But until then, I will just pretend! And plus I'm sure every other person out there with a slr camera wishes for that. Here are my recent attempts to be an amazing photographer.

A special thanks to the Lau family for being my test subjects!

Next project is new born pics... I have a good friend that is going to let me take pics of her baby soon and I seriously loose sleep over it hoping that they will turn out well. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about different ideas of how to take them and what props to use. If you have any ideas, please send them my way!

FYI

2010-12-21T09:07:00.002-05:00

I finally finished my Utah posts but, since I started them last month, blogger is putting them in chronological order so if you are interested in seeing them, you have to scroll down a little ways. My goal is to get caught up on blogging so I am not blogging about Christmas in February. I don't get it, I am so good about getting my Christmas cards out on time but I just can't seem to do it with blogger!

Provo Tabernacle

2010-12-18T15:30:00.005-05:00

My sister in law called me yesterday with some very sad news. The Provo Tabernacle went up in flames a couple days ago. The 7 years I lived in Utah, my single and married wards always held stake conferences in this building. It was such a pretty building and so rich with history. What a sad sad loss. They don't know how the fire started and they don't know if they will be able to save it or not. Click HERE to read the full story.

My New Favorite Christmas Song

2010-12-02T23:04:00.000-05:00

We've Made It!!!

2010-11-17T16:45:00.002-05:00

I am so excited to report that Justin has just received his 12th interview today for residency!!! And the most recent ones are ones we have been really excited to hear from: Baylor in Dallas Texas, Arizona and Florida!!! I will post more about our Utah trip later but I had to make this quick interruption to just say how much we have seen the Lord's hand in this all and how happy we are to have so many of our prayers answered!!!!! With 12 interviews under our belt our chances of getting into a program are around 99% now....ahhh.... let's all take a deep sigh of relief! I love you Justin!!! Congrats!!!

Utah part 4, last one....promise!

2010-11-14T10:00:00.006-05:00

Once the whole Sacks family had arrived in Utah (us and Erin's family were the only ones traveling), we had a WHOLE DAY of picture taking. I am not talking about an hour or so, literally, a whole day. Even though some of us found it a little excessive, there were some good pictures taken. Next time though I am putting a strong vote in for a professional that will get it all done with in an hour or so :) And for some reason, blogger is not even letting me post any of the pics taken!

So on to our next topic.... BOWLING!
We love our friends Cody and Natalie! And we thought it a little funny to find out that they had joined a bowling league, with matching shirts and all :) But we were no longer laughing when we found out that it comes with some free bowling games. We decided to take Cohen along of the ride and he proved to us that he could just about keep up with the rest of us, using the bowling slide anyway! He loved it!

We also were able to meet at the pool one day. I love love love being at the pool when I have prego sickness. It seems to just always make me feel better. Plus I love the smell of chlorine, weird, I know.
Don't you think this would be a great picture in their wedding video some day? We can only hope! If not there is always Jace or this baby moving around in my tummy! We have load of options!
Cohen loved baby Londyn, but how could you not, she is so super cute!

Utah, Part 3

2010-11-14T09:37:00.007-05:00

Every time we go to Utah we promise THIS is going to be the time we make it up the canyon... and then we never do. Well, this trip I was bound and determined to do it with or with out Justin. Kathi, my mother in law, and Lori and kids (my sister in law) was happy to come for the ride. We drove up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. I used to love driving up the canyon, esp when I was having a particularly bad day. It always seemed to just make me in a better mood. It was such a pretty day and the falls were beautiful just like I remembered! The boys loved playing in the water and seeing the water fall.

We also headed over to the splash pad in Lehi a couple of times. The boys had a ball and Jace made a new friend! This is Ty, one of my good friend's kids (Love you Kim!)

I love this kid's eyes. He is such a good baby. In fact, I don't think I have ever heard him cry!

Cohen and his cousin Jackson

I was also able to meet up with some of my old roomies. It was so great to see them again! I spent many late nights with these girls, I love them to death!

Kathi, Lori, her kids and I also went up to Gardeners Village. For crafters, this is a dream world. I love this place! There was a small petting zoo. The boys loved riding on the ponies.

Coming home we decided to take 3 days instead of 2. Big mistake. By the third day we were so done getting in the car. The boys did do pretty well, but as for me and still being sick with baby number 3, I was so ready to be out of that car and the smells that accompanied it!

One good thing about taking our time was that we were able to stop by my friend Jenny's house and I got to meet Blake, her second little boy, for the first time. Her hubby is a 4th year med student as well and it has been great to have a good friend to talk to about all the crazy things that go on with med school. Plus we got treated to some crazy good ice cream! Thanks again!

" I love my Cousins" Utah trip part 2

2010-11-14T09:16:00.006-05:00

Cohen LOVES his cousins. I think he has a special place in his heart for Bella but regardless, he really does love them all. These are the 4 cousins born with in 5 weeks of each other. Bella and Cohen were on the same day. From left to right: Levi, Cohen, Bella and Sammy.

When Cohen saw Bella and Sammy together for the first time he ran to get me. I was almost worried because he seemed like something was wrong. He dragged me all the way to the basement to where Bella and Sammy were playing, pointed at them and said, "Mommy... LOOK! Two Bella's!" I just about died laughing. They do look a lot a like!

The newest cousin, Emma. She is a complete chunk! I love it!My AMAZING brothers and sisters!
The goofy family.

After a great family dinner and pictures, my brother Robb was throwing the ball at the kids. Cohen, Benson, and Sammy were making some great faces I was able to catch on camera. Sammy was esp excited and kept telling Robb, "Hit me right in the face, ok?" She was always so disappointed when he missed.

More to come of our time in Utah!

About Time.....GOSH! Utah Trip Finally Reviled

2010-11-14T08:01:00.005-05:00

How am I going to bring another baby into this world AND take care of it when I can't even keep up with my blogging now? I know...something that I should really be worried about right? But honestly, it just goes to show how crazy busy life seems to get when I am blogging about something that happened 2 months ago! But I want it down for the record so here we go! I have a million pictures so I will have to do this in parts. So keep looking for daily updates (that is if the kids will leave me alone long enough to get it all done!).

Some of my favorite things we did (although I obviously could not do it with a growing belly) was going on the flow rider! But I had a blast watching all my family members biff it. I think Justin won the award for best biff.

The before shot.One of the biffs :)

And here are a few more of my favs of my family hitting it hard or looking ridiculous. I found them to be quite hilliarous. I think we all had fun laughing at each other killing it on the flowrider!
Kelly, it's ok, your only going to loose your top in a few seconds.
Oh, Kristin, your shirt is about to be so wet.
Good job Robb. You managed to land on your back... and not your face!

Another thing we Rigtrup's know how to do is eat! With us coming from the great state of TEXAS we know BBQ. And it's always great when we can eat it together.

Jace especially loved aunt Kelly's banana pudding.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T09:24:00.010-04:00

I know I have mentioned this before, but I LOVE this time of year. I love the leaves in Ohio, I love that there is a million things to do here during the fall, and I love the air turning crisp...NOT COLD... just a little cooler! The other day it a was a little too cold and I was not a happy camper, but I love the light jacket weather and the kids playing in the leaves (and in Ohio, there are millions of leaves!). And of course with Fall comes Halloween! The boys got to do a couple of different things for Halloween so we had a couple of different costumes.

Our first item of business was to carve pumpkins. Cohen loved cleaning out the pumpkins and smashing his hands all in the seeds. Jace just enjoyed being able to climb on the table to watch it all.

Isn't this a happy group. Gosh, could they just smile for one stink'n picture!

Justin's Cat and my Castle.

We then went Trick of Treating in my favorite little town called Perrysburg. All the businesses downtown open up to the kids and pass out candy. Cohen was in candy heaven. After every place he would tell me, "That was fun! Let's do that again!". For this activity, Cohen dressed as a dog and Jace was a crappy $4 costume I got last year. Let's call him Super Baby.

The sad puppy waiting for Mom to get don't taking pictures so we could get going!

Here are all the kids we met up with in our ward for the Trick or Treating. I think mine are the only ones NOT looking at the camera....typical.

Our next activity was the chili cook off/trunk or treat with the ward. Justin and I decided to dress up with the kids. I was swimming in felt for a few days but was able to get all the costumes done in time for the party. Yumm..... M&M's and Candy Corn! Thanks to my retarded calculations of some Christmas stalkings a few years ago, I had plenty of red felt for the kids. I knew I would find something for all the felt I had left over! Again... Cohen and Jace were in candy heaven.

Now it's time to break out the Christmas decorations and get ready for TEXAS!!!!!

A Day on the Course

2010-10-30T08:17:00.002-04:00

Justin is always teasing about when he is an established doctor, the people that he will work with will always know that one day a week, he will be out golfing with his wife. Thankfully, I love golf as well and really hope that is the case someday! For Fathers Day, I got Justin a pass to go golfing and expected that he would take someone with him, I figured it would be a great get a way for him. I was happily surprised when he asked me when WE were going to go golfing. I told him of my surprise and he simple stated, "Well, who else would I want to spend time with?". I love this guy SO much! We had a great afternoon on the course. And golfing out here is dirt cheap. You can do 18 holes with a cart for 8 bucks! That is INSANE prices! If we only had the time and baby sitters (and I didn't have a belly in the way of my swing) to go more often we might have both golfed a better game that day. But none the less, we still had just as much fun.

The course was so pretty with all the fall colors.

Show'in the belly swagger.

Excuse Me Please

2010-10-25T14:16:00.003-04:00

Here is what I found when I got out of the shower the other day. Cohen said Jace just got in his way. We are now learning how to say, "Excuse me please" instead of shoving someone out of our way.

And another thing to add to Jace's abuse, he had a run in with the side walk and caught him self with his nose. Poor kid! Thankfully this happened after we got done taking family pictures!

About Time!

2010-10-20T09:46:00.005-04:00

I don't think any one can ever understand ALL that goes into med school until you go through it. I know this for a fact because I am living it and I still don't know all that goes into the whole process of it. Well, right now, Justin and I are at the residency application stage. It's the last part to med school and it's the part we have been working for since we started this whole process about 6 years ago. Justin is applying to Radiology and planning on being an Interventional Radiologist (or IR). It's a type of Radiologist that does less invasive surgery's like heart stints and many many many more! When Justin did his month long rotation in IR at University of Michigan he said he never saw the same surgery twice so they do all sorts of things. He does have a special interest in the cancer side of things where you go in and treat the cancer locally with chemo.

Anyway, back to the point of the title of the post. Justin and I have both been impatiently waiting for an invitation for interviews so we can get into a Radiology residency. He applied to over 50 programs all over the US and it seems like EVERYONE has got interview but us. A little nerve racking to say the least. Well... yesterday we FINALLY got our first interview! It was a total answer to our earnest prayers (esp since Justin takes his step 2 boards today and interviews were the only thing he could keep on his mind, now he can concentrate on his exam!). Justin has his first interview to University of Utah!!!!! They only interview 10 people for each radiology position (about 50 out of about 600 applicants). We realize chances are slim of getting in but none the less, we are very hopeful that the interviews are going to start rolling in. Like I said... ITS ABOUT TIME!!!

Cry Baby

2010-10-18T10:06:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be ratting my self out on this post and tell you a little story about a pregnant women and how emotional she can be. A few weeks ago I wanted something else to listen to other than the garbage that was the radio that morning. I decided it was time to venture back to some of my old tapes and settled on the sound track of Saturdays Warrior, classic Mormon video, right?!

As I began the tape, I was surprised at my memory. I still remembered ever word to every song on that tape. And my favorite is still "Will I Wait For You?" .....'Why Wally Kestler, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! I've given you the best years of my life, I've stood here through it all.... through short and fat and tall...through thick and thin and rain and snow and ice.... and now you question my integrity? Is that any way to treat your future wife?'
Obviously the words are still stuck in my head.
So as the tape comes to the last song (the part when Jimmy delivers his baby sister that he promised he would never forget in the pre-existence), I begin bawling. Not just a sweet tear rolling down my cheek, actual flooding of tears! And if that is not bad enough, I started to tell Justin about how silly I was and about the song, and again, started to cry! Just hearing that new born baby cry gets me every time. But it's not just that amazing tape I rediscovered, it's commercials, any TV show that has any sympathetic part, and even receiving the cutest little hat in the mail that I ordered for this new baby.
Now I ask my self, does this make me a true cry baby, or just an overly emotional pregnant women? I'm banking on the latter.

Apple Picking

2010-10-15T09:23:00.005-04:00

With this being potentially our last year here in Toledo, we could not pass up the best time of year to visit MacQueens Apple Cider Mill! This is my favorite place to visit in Toledo during the Fall. You can pick your own apples (which we made tons of apple sauce from... YUM!) and every year they have an apple butter festival that we all love to go to. They also have a mill where they make their own cider, it is like drinking an apple. It's unbelievably good. Cohen was especially excited since we let him ride on the horses and train. It was a little cold the day of the festival but that did not keep us away this year. I will be sad to miss it if we are gone next year!

Jace enjoying the endless samples of apple butter, pumpkin butter, and spiced butter!

If you at all know Cohen, you know he is obsessed with trains. Let's just say at this moment he is in pure heaven.

Totally looks like Justin has a beer in his hand, no people, it' apple cider slush...SO YUMMY!

Our loot... I think we picked about 70 apples and this does not include all the ones we ate while picking the apples.

FYI, this was the last time I saw my camera lens cover, if any of you Toledoens see it around the orchard, please return it to me :)

Jace has officially hit the stage of no more natural cute smiles on cue. It's now this kind of face when asked to smile... lovely isn't it?

Dad being a champ and climbing the trees to get the best apples.

Did I mention Jace LOVES apples. Ever since we got back from apple picking (which now was about 3 weeks ago) every round thing he see's he screams, "Appo...Appo...Appo!". One day I gave him a whole apple and he ate the WHOLE thing. Not just the part people usually eat, that's right folks, seeds, core and all!

Half Way Point!

2010-10-10T19:36:00.005-04:00

I made it! Time has been creeping by and I already feel as though I am pushing 9 months along, but I made it, I am half way there to meeting this little guy! Even though I had a few days of morning not having a girl, I have been getting more and more excited about him coming, esp with buying a few new things for him (he can't have ALL hand me downs...right?!). My favorite is a little bear beaning I got off of Etsy. I can't wait to put it on him and take a million pictures!

PS I know my hair has a little bit of that wind blown look, but that's not what the picture is about right?!

A Few Things Brought Back To My Rememberance:
1. When you bend down, always do it with your legs apart, so your belly can hang in the middle.
2. Keep Tums next to the bed.
3. Always keep an extra gallon of milk in the house (I can never get enough of it when I'm prego!).
4. Pee BEFORE you ever leave the house, not matter if you just went or not.
5. Become a full time side sleeper.
6. Always were an apron when cooking, other wise just plan on changing your shirt because you got something on your belly.
7. Not having to pull your shirt out of your fat rolls because it's just nice and round, I like this one!
8. No more jumping jacks in step aerobics class... or just no jumping period.
9. Not sleeping at night, not because you can't, but because the baby inside you isn't!
10. Maternity pants and rubber bands for the none maternity pants.

In all actuality, I really do love this part of pregnancy, up until about week 37, then I am so done, but until then I'll just enjoy all the little quirks about it!

Ultrasound Day!

2010-09-27T20:17:00.004-04:00

I have been nervous and anxious all day...well... until 2:30 anyway. It was getting to the point where I did not care what I was going to have, I just had to know! Well, with in the first few moments we learned a few little things about our new little baby. First, this kid likes to suck it's thumb.... and second, we are adding another boy to our family. To say I was totally happy about adding more testosterone to the family would be a total lie. But the more I think about it, the more excited I get about having 3 little guys 3 years old and under growing up together. Plus, on Sunday, when I got my 2 boys dressed for church I thought, "Well, if it is another boy, at least I make some of the cutest boys around!". I just keep thinking, Justin and I are not done with our family, we have at least another couple of tries for a girl :) Additionally, we could not be happier to report that everything looked great in the ultrasound! Baby boy is healthy and already super active. He was great at letting the ultrasound tech take every measurement needed and we are SO SO SO incredibly blessed to be able to bring another healthy child into our family.

Here are some pics I took on Sunday, I just could not resist (even if it made us late to church!).
Cohen is getting so much better at not cheesing it at the camera, but Jace is just starting. Someday I will have that perfect picture of all natural smiles from my kids with out having to trick them into it!

UPDATE

2010-09-21T16:34:00.001-04:00

I have put 2 new soups on my recipe blog. I made them for our Relief Society activity and they were a huge success! Try them out.... they are ummm...ummm... delicious!

FYI

2010-09-20T11:58:00.003-04:00

I am just about to go nuts here! We find out what we are having in one week from TODAY! I am just dying with anticipation of seeing if this little kid I am feeling all the time is a little Packer Lewis or a Katy Coleen (those are the names for the moment right now anyway). And now that my vinyl order for my ward is finally done, I will try to get updated from our Utah trip!

So for now, any one want to take a guess as to what we are having. I do have to brag that out of the last 20 or so pregnancies we have heard about from family and friends we have guessed them all but ONE correctly, I just wish I could have an inkling as to what mine was cause I have no IDEA! So come on people, share, what do you think we are having?

Taa-Daa!

2010-09-02T16:11:00.004-04:00

So I am really getting into the whole embellishment thing with my clothes and thought I would take a look at some ideas online. I came across this one and had to try it. It only took me a little over an hour to do (great nap time activity) and I think it made this plain boring shirt look so much cuter!

Before:

I swear this is turned the right way in my pic folder, why does blogger do this sometimes!

Taaaaa-Daaaa:
If you want to see the step by step guide, click HERE

Adding Another One to the List...

2010-07-25T15:47:00.012-04:00

It all started out with this beauty ... my first car, an 87 Honda CRX. At one time we fit 7 people into this little 2 seater of mine. And it was only $800. I learned to drive stick with this thing! My Dad was amazing and painted it black for me and I drove this car with pride and joy until.....

Some idiot side swiped me and I had to say good-bye to this little piece of freedom of mine until.... My amazing neighbor (feeling bad that I did not have a car my senior year of high school) sold me this beast, an 87 Chrysler 5th Ave., for $100. I was overjoyed to have a car again, even if it was a grandma car and at times I would take the key out of the car and it would still not shut off. At least it had the most comfortable seats you could ever imagine!

Once attending college, we realized I would not be able to afford the gas of this beast. So, back to Honda we went... an 88 Honda Accord. Why I don't have a picture of this car is simple. I hated this car. It gave me no pride or joy. It was a complete lemon and it finally died on the side of the road somewhere in Utah, soon after I hit a deer with it.

Then... once again, some one feeling bad for me riding my bike to and from work and school in the late hours... my grandma bought me a car that redeemed all hatred I had toward my other Accord and I had yet again an 87 Honda Accord. I loved this car, sure it had it's quirks, like having to double shift when you got into 5th gear, or flashing the brights to get your real lights to turn on, or pushing a few extra buttons to get the window to roll up. But it ran great. And once it was sold, at 280,000 miles, I still got $1100 bucks out of it. And even though I was upgrading to way better, I was still very sad when that car drove off with it's new owner.

Next was, as you all know, my 2002 Honda CR-V. I was finally out of the 80's. I love this car. It brought home my first 2 children from the hospital, it was my first big purchase, and it was the car that brought us out here to Ohio and took us to many trips to DC. But sadly, we are out growing this car. And with number 3 on its way, yes we are expecting Feb. 24th, we have to move on to bigger and better things. Thus arrives this:
2005 Honda Odyssey. I am officially a mini van Mom. Not a proud one, but none the less... it is what it is. We got a great deal and ended up trading our car with the couple we are buying it from, thus saving on taxes AND lowering our monthly payments! We are super excited about our new addition to our family, both car and kids.

PS As of today, Sept 1st, I am 15 weeks along and have not thrown up in 3 days!!! Baby's heart was heard loud and strong today.... and we of course are hoping for a girl this time but will be super excited either way!

Max's Graduation

2010-07-15T12:02:00.006-04:00

My oldest nephew Max graduated from high school this year and Justin and I thought it was worthy of another trip to Virginia. We had a lot of fun seeing the Robb Rigtrup family again, even if Robb was not there to celebrate with us (he was in Afghanistan on deployment). I don't know who this kid is in the picture. Why he jumped in who knows?!

The proud Mom.

Totally gay looking picture right? I think Jonathan's facial expression just adds that much more of a gay touch to it!

The best part of the trip was seeing Justin get Max with the large amount of graduation cake left after the party. He packed it in his year so well that I think Max was still digging it out a few days later!
Congrats Max, now off to BYU-Idaho!!! So excited for you!!!

Hip Hip HOORAY!!

Maumee (said mommy) Bay

2010-07-15T11:53:00.006-04:00

When Justin and I first moved here there were a couple of names of towns and streets we were not sure how to pronounce. One of these towns was Maumee. When we first learned that you say it Mommy, we thought it was such a stupid name for a town, but funny how it totally sounds normal to me now. Just like Fifth Third Bank sound normal now too!

There is a great little beach on Maumee Bay that the kids love to go to. On one of Justin's Saturday's off we decided to head down to the beach for lunch and some fun in the water. I love these times with my family!

Check out those clouds in the back ground. We were able to stay a couple of hours until the rain ran us off the beach.

Digging with Dad.