Cruise 2010 Bahamas!

I am getting so excited! In less than a month we will be on The Majesty of the Seas!

This is our stateroom! But who really ever spends any time in the room, except to sleep?

We will be visiting the private island of Cococay! I am so stoked to take Grant here. Jared and I went 2 years ago without him and I know he will just have a blast! I plan on walking hand in hand with my hubby and my son, on this very beach! Talk about paradise!

We will also be visiting Nassau! I am sure we will go to Atlantis and see all the amazing things they have there!

I also want to walk the beach here in Nassau! And sip a fruity(nonalcoholic) drink!

And you better beleive I will be making the boys do some shopping with me in downtown Nassau!

If you have ever been to Nassau I would love to know what you did while you were there.

Christmas is in the air!

At the beginning of the week we decorated our Christmas tree. So here are a few pictures from that! This first picture is the ornament I bought this year for the unborn child we are hoping and praying for. I know some may think this is a little crazy, I am pretty sure my husband does. But I dont really care, I pray that one day I can tell her that I bought this ornament for her before she was even conceived because we wanted her so bad and we already loved her before we had her. There is a story behind this hat Grant has on. On Grant's first Christmas when he was 6 months old, my Grandma gave him this cute hat. Now Grant has always had a big head but when she gave it to him it was way too big and it still is. None the less we get it out every winter and Grant loves to wear it around the house. Daddy and Grant with our decorated tree. This definitely not a tree you might see in a magazine, but I absolutely love that most of our ornaments are very heartfelt and handmade. I love our ornaments!

Tonight we went to the annual Phillips family Christmas party. It was a lot of fun! It always is!Here is sweet little Bentley dressed all cute in his sweater!Grant and his second cousin Jayden!Grant, Gavin, Hates is hiding, and KieriGrant and HayesMy sweet boy ready for SantaBentley wasnt so sure about Santa at first!But then he decided Santa was an alright guy!Man I think my boy is the CUTEST!Bentley is pretty dang cute too!Hayes was so funny, he jumped up on Santa's lap and when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas he pulled out a list! So funny!Grant LOVED what Santa brought him!Mom and dad were excited that he loved it so much!Buzz, Woody, and the rocket. He came home and played with it until he passed out (with Buzz and Woody in bed with him)Telling Santa thank you!Little Krewser chillin with his truck and blowing raspberries! Here is Bentley in his new jacket and hat I gave him! Doesnt he look warm!Grant holding Bentley! But Bentley is so tired he just wants to go home to bed.

We had a great night tonight and although I have not felt well lately, I am so grateful for the amazing people who surround me. I have incredible family and I love each and every one of them so much! Near or far, if we have a close relationship or not, I think of and care about every single one of you!

XOXO

STUFF

Well I started taking fertility pills a few weeks ago and I have to tell you it hasnt been fun. First of all there are SEVERAL pills I have to take on a daily basis, morning and night. Every pill has it's own side effects. So all day everyday I feel like hell. I try really hard to ignore it and not complain, because I know that this is exactly what I want to be doing and it will all be worth it if the outcome is a healthy baby. A few of these constant side effects are nausea, dizziness, shakiness, and mood swings. Some of the side effects that come and go are blurred vision, vomitting, horrible stomach aches, depression, and horrible head aches. Beleive me there are others, I just prefer not to mention them here. As awful as these pills make me feel, like I said this IS what I want to be doing. I have had some tests done to make sure things are working properly. I got the results of two of the tests on Wednesday and it seems that my brain is sending the message to my ovaries telling them to do what they need to do, and my ovaries are then sending a message back to the brain telling it that they have done their job! So I was excited about that because in the past my ovaries werent listening to the brain. There is another test we are waiting for results on which tests to see how many eggs have responded. The nurse explained to me that even if you have a really great alarm clock it does no good if there arent eggs to respond to it. That one makes me nervous. I guess I will keep you all posted, if you care to know. LOL
CHRISTMAS... What can I say? It is coming so fast. I have got all of my shopping done except for Jared and Grant. Jared is actually really easy to shop for and so is Grant. I made a lot of gifts this year, which I am kind of excited about. I also did neighbor gifts this year for the first time. I sent out more Christmas cards than I ever have before. And I decided to do something fun for Grant to give out to all of the kids in his class, I got some cute celophane bags and put a bunch of jolley ranchers, a pencil, an eraser, and a stencil ruler in them and tied them up cute with a little tag that says, "Have a holly JOLLEY Christmas! Love, Grant" They turned out really cute and he is so excited to give them to his friends. Grant is becoming such a great reader that I had to hide the Christmas shopping list from him, and we had to hide most of the gifts we have gotten so far at someone elses house. He is too smart for his own good. There is one thing that Grant would really love to have for Christmas (a WII) and Jared and I just told him flat out that Santa doesnt make that type of toys.We told him that they are just too expensive for Santa to make, but we have got a surprise or two up our sleaves for Christmas morning. So because we told him that he hasnt asked for it since, its like he just accepted that he wasnt going to get it and he moved on. When we took him to see Santa he asked for a Home Depot work bench and that is the only thing he has asked Santa for so hopefully that is what Santa will bring! Stay tuned to find out!
Jared still hates his work with a passion and threatens to quit on a daily basis, but he is doing really great this quarter which is really nice with me not working. I am so proud of him and how hard he works! And I told him he is not allowed to quit until after the cruise in February. We are not sure yet where we are going but we are hoping to go back to the bahamas. We loved it the first time we were there. We didnt take Grant with us the first time and Jared and I both kept saying "Oh Grant would love this." So that would be a lot of fun to go back as a family.
I cant stare at the computer any longer and I am going to go to bed before I puke. Good night!

Just a few things...

OK so today was Thanksgiving and I have many many things to be thankful for! I am a very blessed girl! But I thought instead of list everything, I would just show you some of the things I was reminded of today that I am grateful for and that I love!First of all I am so grateful for a little boy who will never let there be a dull moment in my life. He is seriously so funny and I love the way he makes me laugh at least a hundred times a day... For example,Every night before I go to bed I go in and check on Grant to make sure he is covered up and what not. I walked in his room and this is how I found him! Silly boy!Today when we got to my parents for dinner it was really hot in her house because she had been cooking all day. She did have the window open though, so Grant went over and stood in front of it and lifted his shirt up so that he could cool off in the breeze!I am also grateful that we have so many traditions in our family! I am grateful that we had delicious hot food to eat, and I am so grateful for those who prepared this delicious food(Mom, Dad, and my aunt Susie) They put in a lot of hard work just to make it a special day for all of us!What 14 year old, or for that matter 17 year old, do you know who would give a 5 year old the time of day??? Well I am grateful for two of the most awesome cousins! Nick (14) and Alyssa (17) are so great with Grant. They play and play and play with him, until they just cant play anymore. And they are so patient and fun!Grant just absolutely adores them both and he gets so excited to see them! I am so grateful to have such awesome cousins and so is Grant!Look at them rolling on the floor playing with him!!And how cute is this! I love you kids!I am gratefull for him and all his cuteness!I am also grateful for a husband who is so silly sometimes! Always giving people something to laugh about!!! Love you honey!

Family pictures 2009

WE MAY NOT HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER, BUT TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL! My friend from high school is an awesome photographer and I had seen some of her stuff! I like what she does and how she does it. And after doing a shoot with her I can tell you she really knows what she is doing and she is very hands on. I love that! We havent had family pictures done since November of 2007, mainly because I avoid being in front of the camera at all costs. I definitely prefer to be behind the camera. There is no other way to say it. I AM FAT. And although I have lost 25 pounds recently, I have got a long way to go until I will like the way I look. But to tell you the truth, somehow, someway I like these pictures. I told Kristen to make sure I didnt look fat in the pictures. Well she isnt a miracle worker, but she did make these pictures of my cute little family look great. I am so glad that we did this. The timing was perfect and I am glad that Kristen was able to do them for us! Thank you so much Kristen!!!!

Visit with Santa!

How cute are these boys!!!

Christmas shopping??

Ok so I know it seems like it is so early but it really isnt. Can you beleive Thanksgiving is in about a week and a half?? Oh Em Gee!! It totally snuck up on me. And I am deffinitely not ready for this snow we are getting. Well whether we like it or not, it's here. The holiday season. Every year I have a bunch of people ask me what Grant wants for Christmas. He has a lot of aunts and uncles and people who insist on spoiling him. Up until recently he was the only grandchild and nephew on my side and Jared's side of the family. Thank goodness he finally has a little cousin! YAY!

Well if I had things my way, I would love it if people just gave a small amount of money that we could put in his savings account. Beleive it or not, he loves money and he is very good about putting it in the bank, we have tought him that it is neat to put it in the bank and save it for when he is ready to go to college! Smart boy!
But I realise that not everyone enjoys giving money, because it is a little boring. I thought that I would give everyone some ideas of things that Grant would love for Christmas. Please dont think that I am suggesting anything by this. I just know that Jared and I both have family who read my blog and might benefit from these ideas.

* He wears a size 5-6 in clothes and a 12 in shoes

* He is really getting into reading and he loves books. Jared bought him a chapter book at the book fair and he loves it. We read a couple chapters a night and he is becoming an amazing reader, so books would be awesome.

* When Grant was a baby, I started a collection of Disney movies for him, so he always loves getting a new Disney movie (the Disney Classics)
* He is so into sports it is rediculous. He loves anything that has to do with sports and his favorite teams are the Utah Jazz, the Washington Readskins, and of course the Utah Utes!
* He is VERY artistic. He loves to color, draw, paint, and scrapbook.
* He loves anything that has to do with fire fighters, fire trucks, fire dogs (dalmations)
Hopefully that gives some of you some ideas.