{Half Way There...}

I'm 20 weeks today.

WOW.

In 20 weeks from today I will be holding our baby.

Seems far, haha.

I can't wait!

{They Called Him On A Mission...}

Here are some recent pictures of Dusty on his mission, of course, some things never change...
...same old Dusty

Here they are at one of the markets, they sell fried crickets there (to eat) and he ate them!

Yuck!

At a wax museum, don't worry he's not gambling. ;)

And in remembrance of this kid being gone a year, here's some memories from his farewell.

Not broken up about leaving home in the slightest.

This one makes me laugh because my mom is showing him how her camera works, she was giving it to him to take with him, and he's more concerned about being funny. Haha, typical.

I can't believe this time in a year we'll all be sitting around the living room again as a family. I also can't believe my waist line hasn't changed from this time last year, haha. Won't be pregnant when he comes home, I can say that!

Here's to another great year of service!

{Impatient...}

I hate waiting...

I feel like so much of Life is waiting on other people.

I could get so much accomplished if Life would move at MY pace.

So frustrated....tick tock...

That is all.

{Given Up Too Many Times On Myself...}

A Very Small Accomplishment:

Monday marked 4 weeks that I have been working out everyday.

Go me! haha, I say that because I always give up on myself.

I have been running 2.5 miles everyday along with weight lifting.

(I have a treamill and a bowflex in my living room. I promised myself to use them everyday. I have no excuse! They are right there!)

I know I know, I'm pregnant, but I am really enjoying challenging myself!

I have lost about 6 inches though that is not my goal at the moment. I just want to be healthy.

There is a difference between being skinny and being healthy, I know some very skinny people who are horribly unhealthy. I want to be healthy.

Everyone in this ward runs Ironman Triathalons, who knows, maybe I can get my butt in shape for that! (Doubtful,) haha.

4 weeks down, 48 to go!

(I feel like this most days, haha)

{A Quick Catch Up...}

About a week ago we took the kids to the zoo together.

Seeing as how my kids are so little, its the middle of June and I'm 5 months pregnant, I wasn't about to go alone! I talked Ry into coming with us.
"Trunky" as Alenna calls him was a little excited to be at the zoo.

She thinks she's big. But, she's not.

Alenna and her friend Katie Whipple reunited after long last!

Yes, that is my child pushing someone else down at the splash park. I didn't realize that had happened until just now going through these pics.

She wasn't all that thrilled with the splash park though I thought it was cool.

And I put Brady in the water and it just ticked him off, oops. Haha.

My sweetie.

Ok, so a couple days ago, we found this baby bird caught in the grate on the porch.

It was all Alenna talked about and still talks about.

Little did she know a cat got the bird later. Ah....

On Father's Day we went to my parents and Ryan placed Brady next to CJ on the couch and they totally cuddled for like 20 minutes! It was sweet.

Uncle CJ puts up a tough act, but he loves his niece and nephew.

I gave Brady some watermelon for lunch and he loved it!

This is pre-mess.

This is post-mess. He was so happy.

I love this kid!

And of course, being the mean mommy I am I have to post bath shots!

Ah, my kids will hate me later but I just think they look dang cute playing the bath!

Alenna and Brady are at such fun ages.

Brady is learning to walk!

Good thing we have another baking in the oven or I might be sad!
Brady was a little thrilled to be in the bath, can you tell? haha.

{A Prelude To Father's Day...}

Ryan does so much for our family, this one's just for him!

Ryan is such a great father!

He is so patient, it never ceases to amaze me how patient and calm he is with our children.

(Some days I wonder if I should go to work and he should stay home!)

When I told him that Brady was a boy over the phone at our ultrasound he got misty and emotional. He's always wanted a son.

Ah, I love him.

He loves our children and does so much for them.

(which of course makes me love him even more!)

He honestly is the hardest working person I know. (I know I know, everyone works hard, but Ryan is without a doubt the hardest worker I've ever met!)

When I found out I was expecting Alenna, Ryan cried when I told him (first and last time I saw that).

All he has ever wanted is a family.

Although we may disagree on the size of our family, he wants a huge family FYI, I love him for wanting it. Its very sweet and really shows what a wonderful man he is!

Ryan also is a wonderful Priesthood Holder in our family. I am so grateful I don't have to drag him to church with me! Not to mention he can bless our children when they're ill.

He fulfills his callings, without complaining, and constantly is looking for times to serve others. I feel so grateful I have a wonderful example for my son(s) to look up to!

Happy Father's Day Honey! We love you!

{Meet Pheenus}

As we've been living here, there is a lady that comes to clean who's name is Josephina. She's perfectly nice but Alenna is petrified of her. Today Josephina was cleaning the house, and I came into the kitchen to get a snack and, as usual, Alenna follows me. Everything is fine for like 5 minutes until Alenna spots Josephina and lets out a scream!

"Ah!!! Pheenus!" "Alenna scared!"

And runs downstairs. Its so funny and I can't help but laugh. She does it all the time. And now anything Josephina uses like a broom or a mop, Alenna has started calling "Pheenus." As if she has never seen her own mother use these instruments a billion times, gezz.

(Our dog Hudson, was really racist. I can't help but be reminded of him in dealing with this)

I was giving Brady bites off my banana a little later and was busy telling Alenna something, and Brady grabs my hand holding the banana and takes a HUGE bite out of the banana. It was like 1/8th of the whole thing! He chewed it up and swallowed it before I could get it out of his mouth and than he grabs for the remaining banana and tries it again! Bear in mind this is all in like half a second. When I firmly told him no (because I was scared he would choke) he screamed at me!

Gezz! Elephant baby!

{The Gov't Isn't The Solution To Our Problems, The Gov't IS The Problem!}

This is WAY long, I know, but I'm glad I'm not the only "nut" out there!!!
June 17, 2009 - 10:36 ET
Related Links
Sign the petition: An open letter to our nation's leadership



GLENN: I got a letter from a woman in Arizona. She writes an open letter to our nation's leadership: I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.
Glenn Beck's Common Sense Now available in book stores nationwide...
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

{Still A Mystery...}

We went in for our ultrasound today and we weren't able to see a thing. The baby was sitting, with it's legs crossed with the chord in between the legs.

Totally and completely hidden.

I've never seen anything like it before! Its ok though.

I don't know if I will get another ultrasound because I've already had 3. So Ryan and I are thinking we will just pay to get a 3d/4d ultrasound done but that won't be until around 30 weeks.

So, still a mystery for now.

I guess I really could just not find out, I have one of each so the pressure's off. Its probably for the best, maybe I would have been disappointed, haha, I really have gone back and forth alot.

But the important thing is that the baby is healthy. Earlier in my pregnancy I was cramping and bleeding alot. So just the fact that this baby is healthy makes me appreciate a healthy pregnancy. I do have to say though, 1 out of 3 isn't bad. But with our 3d/4d we will get a cd and a scrapbook along with our photos which is cool, I can easily post them online.

We WILL be getting another ultrasound, under my insurance, at 28 weeks though!

Keep checkin' in!

{Finally! A Decision!}

I know alot of you are aware of this, but figured I'd say it again anyways. For those of you who didn't know, Ryan and I have been debating him joining the National Guard for the last 3 months or so, quite seriously actually. There are alot of perks, but also alot of down falls. Today, we finally came to a decision, Ryan will not be joining at this time. He is currently taking an EMT course which is 9weeks long and, with any luck, he will get a job as an EMT that he can do part time which will work great when nursing school starts in Jan. EMT is a great fit for Ryan because he wants to get into emergency medicine for his nursing career anyways so it really goes hand in hand. It will give him great experience.

The main reason we decided against the Guard is that fact that he could get deployed at any time and all the sudden school is on the back-burner. He was going to enlist for 6 years, but we have 6 years of school to get through for his nursing goals and if he keeps getting deployed its going to take us forever to finish school. Much better, we think, to just bite the bullet and get him through school. He can always join later if we decide that's what we want to do!

{I Live For Little Moments Like These}

I've decided Brady is going to give me a run for my money. Tonight I put him in his high chair while we ate dinner. I turn around for a minute and when I look around he's standing up, facing backwards with one leg completely out of the chair reaching for the TV on the counter behind him! He was literally hanging halfways in mid air! Aw Brady!!!! I grab him, thankful I caught it!

Ryan, Alenna and I were lying in bed today talking about our ultrasound on Mon. I ask Alenna what kind of baby she wants and she says, "Alenna wants a sister, no more brothers ok mommy?" Haha, cute. I told her, "well, we'll see, no promises." Ryan says, "No more girls, Alenna you are as much drama as I can handle" and Alenna flips out! Screams and runs out of the room, mad that daddy wants another boy. Ry is all, "Just my point, thanks Alenna, haha."

We were sitting in church while they were passing the sacrament and we told Alenna, as usual, to be reverent and fold her arms. So, like a good girl, she does. She sees Brady playing on the floor and decides he must fold his arms too. She hops off the pew and folds his arms. Like any baby, once she lets him go, his arms unfold. Alenna refolds them. They unfold. She repeats about 5 times and finally is so frustrated, she screams through the chapel, "BABY NEEDS TO BE REVERENT AND THINK ABOUT JESUS!" Ryan had to take her out to calm her down.

We were at my parents house a couple weeks back, when potty training was brand new for Alenna. I have her all cute and dressed up. My family is sitting around the family room talking so we join them. The next thing I know, Alenna has stripped down to her panties and is showing everyone her 'big girl panties.' CJ thought it would be funny to pull on them and say, "my big girl panties." Alenna had a melt down, screaming in CJ's face, "Not yours! Alennas! Not your big girl panties, MINE!!!" That went on all night.

My family has begun calling Brady "Calvin" because he looks just like Calvin (in the comics 'Calvin and Hobbes') when he smiles. He has the little upside-down triangle smile down! Its so true. Google it.

Ultrasound Monday morning!! 9am!! I took the earliest appt they had.

I think I'm more anxious this time than I was the others. AAAHH!

Can't wait!

{I'm A Big Kid Now..}

Well, ok, he's only kind of a big kid.

Brady is totally standing! Pulling himself up on Ryan or myself. We had to move his mattress down a peg because he'd throw his binky on the floor, pull himself up on the bars of the crib and peer over the edge, screaming for someone to help him.

I just knew THAT was a accident waiting to happen!

He's still not totally crawling, just the army crawl. We're starting to wonder if he will skip it all together.

Ah, all my babies are getting big. Tear!

Though, it would be very very nice to have Brady walking before this 3rd baby is born.

One less kid to carry around...

On a funny note, Alenna is just a little clown. She's been doing really well with potty training. She was getting really confident with getting on and off the potty by herself.

Ok, one time she totally fell in! Like in in.

I started laughing at her and she yells at me, "Alenna is NOT funny, mommy! No laughing!!!" Of course after she said that I couldn't stop laughing. Now every time she gets on and off she says, "Alenna won't fall in and mommy won't laugh at Alenna."

Aw, my kids are fun!

{The Gift Of Gab}

How cute are they with MeeMa???

A small rant:

I know this shouldn't annoy me, but Alenna literally never stops talking. And I don't just mean, "haha yeah she never stops talking, haha.." no I mean, its every second of the day, like you want to pull your hair out.

I'm hoping its a stage and she's not one of those annoying friends you have that you just can never quite get off the phone. I ask some of my friends if their two year olds are like this and they say no which isn't comforting. I know its so silly, but it grinds on my nerves.

Nothing else she does bugs me, just that. I don't know... stage???

{Burnin Love In The Heat Of June}

Brady likes to watch the washer go around and around. Its nice to have the company while I'm toiling away, tackling the endless mountains of laundry we seem to never be rid of.

Sometimes, ryan does things so out of the blue it makes me fall in love with him all over again.

Today was one of those days.

He insisted that we take the day just to play. The day started with him taking the kids on errands, which allowed me the morning off (sweet sweet time off I spent working out and than laying out). Ryan got back, after being gone so long I actually started to miss them, haha, jk.

After the kids woke up from naps, or at least Brady did (Alenna decided to opt out of nap time) we took them to this local museum with all these airplanes and helicopters from WWII. Alenna insisted on being the driver for Brady. (she ran into alot of things, haha)

I thought maybe they were too little to get how cool the exhibits were. That was, until Alenna spotted this plane for kids to get in and ride.

She loved it! It was hard getting her to leave it and come with us!

And she looked dang cute in it, might I add.

Our babies in front of a motor. (Notice Brady's sweet little leg in the air.)

Look mommy!

She kept screaming through the exhibits, "Alenna wants more hair-planes!"

I thought this helicopter was really cool. Ryan, the history buff, had such a great time soaking in everything! Its neat to experience that with your spouse.

Ryan felt alittle sad when he spotted this Willy's jeep. We just sold ours...

This was Brady's first time in the umbrella stroller, he looks so cute! Our little man is 9 months old today!


We got back, just in time for PaPa Bergen to come swimming. Alenna and PaPa swam, and Ryan and I cooked like mad people! Summer feasts don't just make themselves, ya know.

PaPa gave Alenna a swim lesson and Ryan and I made Cheesy-Jalapeno-Ranch burgers, with all the fixins', and home-made tater tots. Yum!

And, of course, no summer feast is complete without Strawberry Daiquiris!

Ryan rented us, "The Tale Of Desperiou" which we all tumbled downstairs and put on quickly before bedtime!

The kids weren't thrilled.

Brady crawled onto my coffee table, where the magazines go. Alenna and Brady had a good laugh about that one!

Ok, so did Ryan and I. How sweet he is though??

Alenna watched the movie for about 5 secs and was bored.

They're in bed now, and Ryan and I finished it by ourselves (can't win 'em all, I guess).

After that we watched "Valkyrie" The Tom Cruise movie about trying to kill Hitler.

Great family day! Love Ry for breaking out of the ordinary!

{A 10 Cent Investment}

FYI-the water really isn't as gross as it looks, the bathroom has bad lighting.

A Fish Tale:

This is Dorothy.

Ryan came home one night when Alenna was really sick with this little 10 cent fish to make her feel better. I just kind of thought, 'okay, here we go," thinking it would die within a week and than we'd have an upset child to explain death to.

Yeah. That was a YEAR & A HALF AGO!

Who would've thought a little crappy 10 cent fish would live so so so long???

Its not even a Beta or a salt water fish! Its literally a fish from Walmart.

This fish has lived through some nights of being fed, water level being very low, and a move.

I cannot believe it and Alenna has long lost interest in her, of course.

I just find it funny everyday I go in to fed it, expecting it to be dead and she's still swimming!

Does anyone know how long these silly things live for???