The exhaustion is setting in...

I was feeling pretty good with the whole pregnancy ... until this weekend. I was helping out at the baseball fields with uniform distribution and snack shack on Saturday. When I got home I was exhausted!! And have been since. Maybe it was because I had a busy week and that was the final day that did me in or I am a wuss. I remember now why I don't enjoy being pregnant. This is definitely the last time. I just remembered that last year on my birthday I was pregnant (Alexandra was born 3 days later), and this year I will be pregnant again on my birthday. I am lucky that my kids don't care if the house is messy, or if we have cereal for dinner. They are pretty laid back and easy going. I am also lucky that Tim is willing to help me out when I am not feeling great.

!!!(#4)!!!

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Surprise! We posted the ultrasound picture this morning, not telling ANYONE. We wanted to see how long it would take for the word to spread.

We figured out that I was pregnant this week. I was joking with Tim last week that I was pregnant because I was being forgetful and wanted to eat chocolate all the time. Just like I was when I was pregnant with Alexandra. I was at the $1 store on Monday getting some Valentine's treats and as I was checking out there was a pregnancy test, so I threw it on the conveyor belt, thinking "yeah right." But it was only a $1 loss if it was negative. I took it Monday night without telling Tim. It came up positive instantly. I didn't tell Tim. I was going to wait until Valentine's Day and give him the stick as his present. But I only lasted about 24 hours. I told him on Tuesday night. He said we should go to the store and buy a "real" test, not a cheap one. Instead, I called the Dr. on Wednesday to make an appointment. They told me that I HAD to come in and talk to a Dr. because of the medications that I take. I have taken these same medications with all 3 other pregnancies and have been fine but they still wanted me to come in. So I got an appointment for Thursday. I ended up taking Sophie and Alexandra with me because Tim had a meeting that he couldn't get out of, that was the same time as my appointment. While I was in with the nurse I asked if the Dr. could "check me" because I had no idea if I was "for sure" pregnant or how for along I was. They kindly checked me and yep there was a baby and a heartbeat and I am about 9 1/2 weeks along! Wow! That part shocked me. So my due date for this little one is September 16th. We are excited. I have felt that we would have one more, I have felt that way ever since Alexandra was born. Tim kept saying that 3 was a nice round number for our family, but he knew that we would be having one more too.

Miles' Baptism

Saturday, February 2nd was a special day for our family. First off it was the day of President Hinckley's Funeral. Second Miles was baptized. The whole program turned out perfect and the spirit was felt very strongly. Grandma Redding gave the opening prayer and Grandma Doll spoke about Baptism. (With only a few tears shed.) Then Miles was baptized by his dad. Grandpa Doll and Grandpa Redding were the witnesses. All went good. (No re-dos unlike the little girl who was baptized right after Miles.) After they got dressed, Miles was confirmed a received the Holy Ghost. I am so proud of Tim for doing such a great job and being able to hold the priesthood and being a good dad. I am proud of Miles for being a good kid and wanting to be baptized. Those who helped with the confirmation were: Grandpa Doll, Grandpa Redding, Uncle Mark Doll, Bishop Score, Travis Burr, Chris Rossi & Jerry Keiser. We want to thank all of our friends and family who came to support Miles on his special day.

New Suit. Doesn't he look so grown up and handsome?!
Doll family members.
Grandma & Grandpa Redding.
(That is why my parents drove with us back to Concord from Disneyland so that they could attend the baptism.) My dad said that the baptism was the best thing that happened all week.

Disneyland 2008

We had a great time in Disneyland. We ended up going for 5 days. (I think the original plan was for 3 1/2 days). Sunday morning we woke up early and drove down to So. Cal. We left early because the Tejon Pass had been closed a few days earlier and we were hoping to beat some bad weather that was headed that way. We made it to Anaheim a little before noon and walked on over to Disneyland from our Hotel. We took our jackets because it was a little chilly and overcast. I almost forgot to mention that it was Miles' 8th brithday. The boys were excited, and Alexandra was just looking at everything and taking it all in. We went on the Jungle Cruise and on the Matterhorn that day because I read online that they would both be closed starting Monday. Ok, I know that the Jungle Cruise is a little cheesey with the same jokes, but hey it is part of the Disneyland experience, right?? We were enjoying our time with our little family (before the rest of the family showed up). And then it started to sprinkle little drops of rain. Me and the boys were standing in line for the Casey Jr. train and Tim was sitting with a short-napping Alexandra. By the time we got on the train it was pouring. I asked one of the workers what closes when it rains at Disneyland. He said the only rides that close are the teacups and Alice in Wonderland. So we rode. We were lucky that we were in the front of the line and got to sit in the monkey cage (which was covered). However there were these 2 guys who were sitting right behind us in a car that wasn't covered. It was hilarious watching them get wet and trying to hide under their small umbrella. Then after the ride was over the rain stopped. So I looked at Tim and there was no one in line for Dumbo. What?? There is always a line for Dumbo!! So we walked over and got right on. I've never had that happen before. It was great. Our butts got a little wet from sitting on the wet ride but nothing worth complaining about. We were enjoying our time until about 4 p.m. My parents and brother had just flown in from Utah and had just entered Disneyland when the rain hit. It was pouring. It was insane. There was water flowing everywhere. My parents bought us all $6 Disneyland ponchos, but I really think we were already too wet for the ponchos to keep us dry. We stayed until about 6:00 and decided that it is no fun being wet at Disneyland and walked back the the hotel for the rest of the night. We went to IHOP to celebrate Miles' brithday. (The food wasn't that great, and my dad and I got sick. So we will probably never eat at that IHOP again.)



Everyday that we went back to Disneyland turned out to be a little bit better weather wise. Monday was still cold, but by Thursday we were wearing our short sleeve shirts with no jackets during the day. Linda and Sherman and Great-Grandma Duncan flew down on Sunday night to hang out with us for a few days. My Aunt and Uncle and 2 of my cousins (along with 2 of their cousins from the other side of the family) came down on Monday night. Monday night we sang Happy Birthday to Miles at the hotel and had cupcakes that I had made before leaving. We didn't light any candles because no one had a lighter and I had forgotten to bring one.



Tuesday morning we went over to California Adventure. We rode Tower of Terror first off. But Miles wouldn't go on it. Then we rode on Soarin' over California. Miles wouldn't go on it. Then we went to ride on California Screamin.' Miles wouldn't go on it. We went on the Golden Zephyr. Miles wouldn't go on it.. Do you see a pattern?? He wouldn't go on anything that day for the first 3 hours. He was being a brat. Caden went on everything (except California Screamin' because he's not tall enough). Then we split up after lunch and Miles went to hang out with my 18-year-old cousin, Chey. After that we didn't see much of Miles for the rest of the week, he wanted to hang out with the "big kids" who are definately cooler than Mom and Dad. Miles went on pretty much everything they did including Tower of Terror. I think he went on Indiana Jones about 5 times. The only thing that he still will not go on is California Screamin'. We will get him on it one day.



Wednesday morning I had bought tickets off e-bay to go to the Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness. You get to go into Toontown an hour before it opens to everyone in the park. They have a show with all the characters. We took the kids and Caden and Alexandra seemed to really like it. Afterwards all the characters come out and you can get autographs and pictures taken with them. Caden was totally into getting autographs this year. He thought it was the coolest thing. He accumulated quite a few this trip.



Wednesday night, a cousin of mine from my mom's side, is in the Marines drove up from San Diego to visit with everyone for a few hours. I haven't seen Ty in about 15 years. I was good to see him.



One of my favorite rides this time was when we went on Splash Mountain. We got on a log with Tim in the front, followed by Miles, my Dad, Me, Parker with Sherman and Caden sharing a seat in the back. None of us really wanted to get wet because it wasn't that warm to dry off. We went down and Tim and Caden got soaked. The rest of us were still fairly dry. It was hilarious.



We ended up staying all day Thursday because my parents got sick and stayed most of the day in the hotel. The plan had been to leave that afternoon to drive back to Concord but we ended up staying an extra night and left Friday morning. It was a packed car. 4 adults and 3 kids in a Ford Explorer. With a car topper full. And somehow Tim got pulled over for speeding after being on the freeway for about 2 miles from Disneyland. Go figure. I'm sure I left out a ton of details on everything that we did. But we had fun seeing family, riding all the rides, taking Alexandra to the Princess Fantasy Faire, watching Miles get picked for the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy and so much more. We told my Aunt and Uncle the next time that they go that we will just send Miles down to go with them. He liked hanging out with them so much more.

Note: I am going to post this without pictures for right now. Tim thinks our motherboard is dead on our home computer, so I am using his laptop. When I can get the pictures off our computer I will add them.

Long time and no posts

There are a few reasons for the lack of posting:

1. We were on vacation for 6 days.
2. I got sick after we returned from vacation.
3. I am lazy.
4. Trying to figure out where all my free time has gone recently.

So I am hoping to catch up on some things that have happened the last few weeks.

I will start with the Friday before we left to go on vacation. Many of you know that I was babysitting Kaysee. She was at our house 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. She is also 20 days younger than Caden. So it was like have twins -- who constantly fought with each other. I kept telling Tim that I couldn't handle having her at the house anymore. I was so stressed out at the end of every day. He kept telling me that it will get better. And one night gave me a blessing to keep me going. A few weeks later I knew I couldn't keep it up anymore. And Tim was starting to feel the same way (finally!) Then the Thursday and Friday before we left were pure HELL. I had had ENOUGH. (I'm not going to get into everything that happened but it kept getting worse.) Friday night I was taking a bubble bath and Kaysee was sitting in the longest time out when Tim came home from work. It was time to tell Kaysee's dad that we couldn't watch her anymore. (This was hard to do because Tim has known Kaysee's dad for about 20 years, and we knew that he didn't have a lot of money for childcare. But it was better for our family if she wasn't at our house anymore.) Kaysee's dad picked her up and about an hour later Tim made the phone call. I made him do it. I couldn't. I hate confrontations with people, and not wanting to hurt their feelings. And it was done. We felt like it was a good time. Because we were leaving and her dad was taking the week off, (because he didn't get a babysitter) so he had time to find something else for her to go to by the time we got back. What a relief. Our Disneyland trip was much needed so I could get out of the house.

Happy Birthday Caden! The Big 5.

Caden's birthday was on Monday. I asked him what he would like for dinner. He said pizza. So we ended up having Papa Murphy's Pizza. I was feeling sick all day so I didn't even make him a cake or cupcakes. That was fine because he wanted doughnuts. So we went to Safeway and he picked out a dozen doughnuts for his "party." He said that it wasn't his birthday until he got to blow out his candles. It was a low-key day but he enjoyed his chocolate doughnut with sprinkles, and Grandma and Grandpa Doll came over to celebrate.

A new blog to check out

I started a blog for the kids. You can see it at:
http://thedollkids.blogspot.com/

Takin' care of business

While I was going to the bathroom today taking care of my business. Caden and Kaysee decided to take care of their own business... While I was in the bathroom Caden came in, saw me and ran out. I noticed that he had red marker all over his arms. So I quickly hurried up to find him. He and Kaysee were sitting under the desk with a red sharpie. Writing on their arms and faces. I was really upset to say the least, and they both had to take baths. (I talked to Tim's mom and my mom to figure out the best way to get it out -- I ended up just scrubbing them the best I could.) I decided to take some pictures, and maybe one day I can laugh.

Caden doesn't look as bad because I had already started to clean him off.
Kaysee wins for having more red on her face.
The bath water afterwards.

Later tonight, Alexandra kept whining and I couldn't figure out why. I decided to give her a bath after dinner and I figured out why. When I took off her diaper she had pooped out of her diaper and all up her back. So I was trying to clean up that mess and then she started peeing all over the bath mat.

That is why I need some Serenity NOW!

SERENITY NOW

That is what I need today!

My Birthday

I realized today that in 58 days I will be turning 29.
That Sucks.

Baby, It's cold outside

It has been cold and rainy here the last few weeks. Tim took Alexandra for a walk yesterday to Safeway to get some baby food and Special K. I bundled her up so she would stay warm.

Alexandra, almost 10 months

Alexandra will be 10 months on Friday! The time has flown by. (I think I have said that many times before, but it is true!) She had her check up last Tuesday. She weighed in at 15 pounds 8 oz. And was 27 3/4 inches long. Still a little on the small side. But she does have a sweet personality and a determination in her. She is already babbling a lot saying "NaaNaa" "BaaBaa" "MaaMaa" and "DaaDa." I think she said "Mom" before "Dad." She has been teething again, a bottom tooth popped through yesterday. Which makes 3 on top and 3 on bottom. A 4th bottom tooth is slowly making its' appearance. I don't remember the boy's having that many teeth by the time they were one. She will be talking and walking before we know it. Tim noted the other day that she will be in nursery in September. Slow down!!

(playing with her toy Santa brought her)

(Look mom, Almost no hands!)

( I'm ready for Disneyland!)

Our Holiday Break

So I was accused of not posting anything for the last few weeks. So here is an update:
Christmas Eve: Tim and Alexandra went on a "Daddy/Daughter Date" and went shopping together. They were gone for 4 hours!! All he took with him was a 4oz. bottle (no diapers/wipes/nothing!) They went to Target, Toys R Us and Fry's and stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Tim picked out new shoes for her -- they are so cute! He did a great job, and they had fun together. Miles went with Grandma & Grandpa Doll & Aunt Suzi up to Sacramento area to visit Uncle Mark (and family) & Great-Grandpa Doll. They were gone most of the day. Caden & I stayed home. I made sure everything was ready for the next day. That night the kids opened their Christmas jammies and then we watched the "Bourne Supremacy." Miles was tracking Santa on Google Earth. He finally went to bed about 9:30. But he would wake up about every hour, come look at the computer screen to see where Santa was then would get back in bed. (That happened about 4 times). Tim and I stayed up and watched Heroes Season 1 on DVD. We finally went to bed. And then Santa came. We knew he had come because the boys were in the front room emptying out their stockings at 2 a.m. We told them they had to go back to bed, but knew that they wouldn't stay in there so they slept in our room the rest of the night.

Christmas Day: They woke up about 7:00 that morning. Miles got a guitar from Santa. Caden got the Chick Hicks die-cast car and a Cars play mat. Alexandra got a stand-up play table.


















{Miles Rocking out & Shaking his bootie}






















{Caden very excited that he got Chick Hicks}
Miles also got his own MP3 player. (And he is beginning to act like a teenager ... tuning us out and listening to music instead!) Caden got more Cars to add to his collection. And Alexandra got her own Christmas Cabbage Patch Doll, and a cute pink pig. Grandma & Grandpa Redding got each of the kids Disneyland hoodies and Alexandra got her first set of Mickey Ears.

Here is Miles' first song he wrote called "JeffMelinda"

Aunt Suzi came over and watched them open the rest of their presents. Tim made our Christmas breakfast. We had cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon and hash browns.

Later in the afternoon, We went over to Tim's parents. More family was there: Steve & Jessica, Aunt Denise & Great-Grandma Duncan. We had our Christmas dinner and then opened more presents. (Actually Tim and I got our present from Tim's parents a week earlier -- they sent us a package of Omaha Steaks. Yum!) We played baseball with the boys in their front yard. Boys vs. Girls. I think the boys ended up winning. (I think they cheated.) Though, I have to say it is hard hitting a whiffle ball very far. And Caden tagged me out once. And watching Great-Grandma Duncan try to swing a bat was pretty funny. Then we celebrated Steve's birthday, by singing "Happy Birthday" and eating pie. It was a pretty good day, but the kids were tired and ready for BED!

Friday (Dec. 28): Tim and I went to Brother Ralph Baird's funeral. He is Jeremy Jacobs' grandpa. We went to support Jeremy and his family. Brother Baird was 93 when he passed. He accomplished many things and many nice things were said about him. (I hope that when I die people can say many nice things about me!!) Tim and I went out to lunch together afterwards. Suzi, Jana and Anthony watched the kids for us.

Saturday (Dec. 29): We went over to the Jacobs' house and visited along with our friends the Stuart's (who were visiting from Oregon.) Their house was full. Total: Adults-6, Kids-12 (4 boys, 8 girls). We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chatted for a few hours. Tim, Jeremy (Jacobs) and Jon (Stuart) have know each other since they were 4 years old. Then we went back to Tim's parents house and had pizza and played a few rounds of Apples to Apples. Great-Grandpa Doll had come down to visit for a while. We stayed there until Jeff, Melinda & Dylan drove in (about 9:00 p.m.) Suzi and I made a quick trip to the mall while we were waiting.

Sunday (December 30): We went to Church (the last 9:00 church for 2 more years), and then had some Prime Rib afterwards courtesy of Tim's mom. We came home and took naps (or tried to). Then went back to Tim's parents to play games and hang out. Miles played "Risk" with Tim, Jeff, Jana and Anthony. Steve brought his Wii, so we all took turns playing it. (I heard Grandma & Grandpa Doll were considering buying a Wii for their house - Hint Hint).

New Years Eve: We celebrated by going over to the Crawford's for an Adult only party. We had appetizers and sparkling cider and played Dance Dance Revolution on Tara's Wii. Tim and I both tried it once, but everyone got their butts kicked by Janelle and Jeremy Evans. A new bet hasn't been finalized, but Tim has put himself on the Special K diet and is trying to work out more. Chris told him that he was cheating -- he has to eat fast food like everyone else in on the bet.

New Years Day: I got to sleep in!!! Then we went over to Tim's parents house and played baseball with the boys again. And tried some 4-square. Then they took us out to lunch at Claim Jumper! I was so good and, as always, too much food. So we all got boxes for take home food, and that is what we ate for dinner! We watched High School Musical 2 that night as a family.

That about sums up our holiday break. I didn't take many pictures but we had a great time. Miles starts back at school on Monday and the routine starts again.

Things we are looking forward to in the next few weeks: Miles gets to attend his first scout meeting: the Pinewood derby. Miles turning 8. Our Disneyland trip. Miles getting baptized. Caden turning 5. Baseball season starting.

Another guitar song by Miles

We wish you a Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year!

~ Miles, Alexandra & Caden ~
~ Brittany & Tim ~

Secret Santa Gift

This what I made for Hayley for the Secret Santa craft. I made it an 8x10 and had it printed at Costco, then I framed it. (Some of you were asking what it looked like; Hayley I hope you don't mind if I share.)

Christmas Cookies!

We have great friends who brought us all kinds of Christmas goodies last week. April Preston brought us some sugar cookies with green frosting. I gave Alexandra one, and she thoroughly enjoyed it, as you can see. (Check out the green frosting on her nose.)

Happy Anniversary!

It has been NINE years!

Has it really been that long?? Tim and I got married 9 years ago today in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. I just want to say to Tim that I LOVE YOU!! (I already posted last month things about Tim that I was grateful for). Like I said before, It hasn't been easy all the time, but it has been worth it.

The first 2 pictures were taken the evening we got engaged. (August 15, 1998) We went to the San Francisco Giants game against the Florida Marlins. You proposed during the 5th inning. (You were so nervous/excited that you couldn't wait until the 7th inning stretch). I went to the bathroom and when I came back the box with the ring was sitting on my chair. You whispered in my ear and asked "Will you marry me?" I looked at the ring (and couldn't believe how big it was) and then I said yes! We then met up with your sister Kati and her boyfriend at the time and went to Planet Hollywood for dinner. While we visiting in California, your parents were in Utah, so your mom made arrangements so that I could stay with Erma McClintock. (Where we got the red carpet treatment). I pretty much met your entire family and extended family before I met your parents.

I love these pictures because it doesn't seem like that long ago that this all happened, but we look so YOUNG!! The day we got married was cold and windy!! We didn't get many pictures taken outside of the temple because of the wind. We were lucky to have so many family members and friends there to support us. (Even Grandma Doll was there.) I remember driving in the car with my mom and your dad on our way to the temple. I was pretty nervous, and kept asking myself if this was really happening? You seemed calm, but inside I think you were nervous too.

Funny things (and not so funny things) that happened on our wedding day:

*We had Boston Market cater our luncheon. They didn't bring enough mashed potatoes and we ran out! After few years later, you said that never even liked Boston Market food.

*We called to see what time the cake was going to be delivered to the church. They had wrote down the wrong date and it wasn't decorated. So our wedding cake arrived about halfway through the reception. (We had a fake cake sitting on the stand).

*After the luncheon, your parents took you back to the hotel where they were staying. And I went home with my parents. Didn't think anything of it until a few years later. Hmmm, that was weird.

*I couldn't find our plane tickets for our Honeymoon. I freaked out because I thought I had lost them. Turns out that you had them the whole time. (But I didn't know because you were at the hotel with your parents.)

It's hard trying to find the time to celebrate an Anniversary the week before Christmas, but we will figure out something this weekend!

Happy Anniversary sweetie!

Christmas Parties

Friday, Alexandra and I went to Tim's work Christmas Party. Tim's mom bought Alexandra a Christmas dress, so she could wear it to the party. She is so adorable! I did a little photo shoot in front of the tree before we left for the party. The party is always nice with a catered lunch at the country club in Clayton. They had jokes about Tim, a jazz band performed Christmas songs and Tim got his Christmas present (a visa gift card, which I was waiting to get!) We played a game where each table had to decorate a person sitting at the table like a Christmas tree with the supplied materials. Of course Tim got picked to be decorated.

Saturday afternoon, We went to the Oakland Inter Stake Center to watch Behold the Gift. A program of music and dancing that tells the story of Christ's life in Jerusalem and his visit to the Americas. We enjoy going because we know several people who perform in it. Afterwards we went to our Ward's Christmas party. With dinner and a program. We gave Alexandra a roll to eat for dinner. She devoured it. The primary kids sang 4 Christmas songs, but Miles refused to sing. So Caden represented our family. The program went long and most of the kids got restless and ended up running around the halls at the church waiting for Santa. Miles and Caden were the first to see Santa, so I didn't get any pictures. Alexandra was asleep so she didn't see him either. We may have to make our way over to the mall soon. If I don't post anything again for a while (because life if just so busy right now). I hope you all a great and safe Holiday season!

On the court

Miles had a cool experience last Wednesday. Tim got a phone call and was asked if Miles wanted to go on the court at the Warriors basketball game during the player introductions. Of course!! We didn't tell Miles where he was going all week. (We kept using it as a bribe so that he would be good.) So Wednesday night Tim took him to the game, and still he didn't know what was going on until he saw the tickets. Then he went to a special area and waited for awhile until he actually got to get out on the court. Then after waiting for about 45 minutes he got to walk onto the court. Then Andris Biedrins came out, gave Miles a high five and a warriors bags with school supplies in it (there was a puzzle, book, ruler, pencil, pencil bag with the warriors logo on them and he got a shirt). Miles was pretty excited. Tim ran down to take pictures, it was dark and a guy was yelling at Tim that he couldn't see and that he paid good money for his seats. Tim tried yelling back but didn't want to start anything and it was loud anyway. So the pictures didn't turn out great. (Miles is wearing the orange hat and blue sweatshirt)



This is during the "Star Spangled Banner" before the game started: