20 Week Ultrasound!!!

Today I had an ultrasound at 1:00...It's a GIRL!!! We are all very happy, especially Chase. He' been telling us all along that she's a girl even when we try to convince him that it might be a boy, there was never a doubt in his mind.

The apt. took about 35 min. At first she was being shy: legs tucked and crossed for the fist 20 min. but eventually she stretched out and let us know what she was!
They sent us home with 8 pictures and one of them is a very clear view of her legs wide open, although I have no desire to post it! But here are some good profile pictures. The due date was measuring around July 19th. so right on schedule.

Despite being this far along and on my third pregnancy, she is sitting high so I can still fit into my favorite jeans! and I only weigh 140 lbs. She weighs about a half a pound. We are excited to finally get a girl!

Songs My Boys Love.

Lately Tyler has been singing the same two songs all the time! "who let the dogs out" has been a favorite ever since we went to Sea World. They had an animal talent show and had that song for background music and Tyler, being the musical boy he is, picked up on it really quick!

The other song he sings is from the cartoon Madagascar, "I lie to move it." His favorite cereal (Reese's Puffs) had the picture of the Madagascar movie on the box, so every time he wants that cereal he sings "Move it, move it?" (translation: Mom, I want the Reese's cereal!)

Chase just learned this song for Valentines Day at preschool!

So my playlist might seem annoying for this post, but the first few songs are my Boy's favorites, so if you haven't heard them, there they are! (Don't worry; the songs will only be there for a few days.)

The Results Are In...

Day One: Wednesday Night, Feb. 18, Chase said, "Mom is Tyler going to sleep in my room tonight? I want him to sleep with me." I didn't expect Tory to get home until late from scouts, so I thought why not! So I told Chase, "yes we can try to put Tyler in your room tonight."

Well Tory got home just before bed time and I told him what the plan was. Usually: Tory takes Chase to the bathroom and brushes his teeth, and puts him in bed, and says prayers with him while I rock and sing to Tyler. Then after I finish with Ty, I go in Chase's room and sing him a few songs and kiss him good night.


First Try: All 4 of went in Chase's room for family prayer, then I sang to Chase 1st, then went in and did my thing with Ty; then instead of putting him directly into the crib I carried him into Chase's room, Put him on the top bunk, covered him up, and told him goodnight. He was whimpering and fussing through the whole thing and said, "nap?" with a shaky disturbed voice, and I said, "yes sleep time." then I went out...


I stood around the corner of the hall and listened... not a sound from Chase (because we told him to be very quiet when mom brings Ty in, even if Tyler cries)... after only 3 min. the fussing stopped and he went to sleep! A very successful Day One!

Day 2: Thursday night we did the same routine. No problems, only one little squeak of protest and that was it! So far looks like my worries were all for nothing.

Day 3: Last night, (today is Saturday, Feb. 21) no problems again, and no fussing. But on a very cult note... Chase was so tired he was in bed and asleep before we got Tyler in there, and as I was headed to take Tyler in to rock him for a minute he said, "prayer?" I was so happy. Even though he hasn't been sitting well for family prayer it is still the routine and he knows it!

So I think this will be the last up date on "Sleeping in the new bed" because there is nothing more to write about it... he does great and Chase enjoys sharing the room.

Forgotten Detail...

P.S. ....despite all that work, we haven't tried to put Tyler into the new bed yet! He and Chase have been sick for the last week, coughing, runny nose, sneezing, fever; bad colds! So we decided to wait until they were both feeling better before we try the switch.

I did try to put Chase and Tyler in there for a nap yesterday... not good! I laid down with Tyler and Chase wanted to be in there too, but Ty kept looking over the edge trying to see his brother and the 2 of them were laughing at each other!

I sent Chase out and forced Tyler to lay down, making him very awake and miserable. He was so tired, but he has nap problems any way.

After over an HOUR of trying to get him asleep I gave up and brought him out on the couch in front of the TV... he was asleep in less than 15 min!


I am reluctant to move him in there at night because the one thing he does GREAT is go to bed at night! So I think we will wait until this Friday to try our 1st night with them together, (that way Tory won't have to get up the next day and go to work if we have issues)!


Stay tuned for the results next week!

Making More Room...

Since there is another child on the way we needed to make a few arrangements in the 2 bedrooms. Chase was sleeping in this room on the top bunk and Tyler was in the other room still sleeping in the crib. (He's going to be 3 in May and he never tries to get out!)

So we decided to to put the boys together. We already had a bunk bed in there, but because my dad built it so strong so many years ago (Anna & I use to sleep in it) we never put the bottom be in. The whole area underneath has been used for a play area!

Chase's kitchen and the shelf with the toy bins use to be stored under there...

So I took a picture of the closet because a lot of rearrange had to happen. The kitchen fits at the end of the bed between it and the closet. The toy bins went in the closet, and the 4 LARGE tonka trucks that use to be in there are now stored under the crib!

The hanging bag with the golf set and balls use to hang on the end corner of the bed, but the kitchen is there now, and the red, and pink trucks are still a favorite toy in this house so they get stuffed and stacked in the closet also!

After we got the room put back together the boys just wanted to play in there. They were both really excited about the whole arrangement.

Chase doesn't look happy here, but he was. The next morning after getting to sleep on the bottom bunk for the first time, He came in my room and said, "I like it, it was fun... I pretended I was camping!"

Chase wanted to take a picture of Tory and I after we were all done but as you can see it didn't turn out well!

And every morning he has insisted (on his own) that he make his bed. I have never asked him to make his bed before! It was all his own idea! He was so proud he had to call Grandpa and Dad at work and tell them about it and take a picture!

Valentine's Flash Back...

Valentines Day is pretty special to Tory and I because that is the day we met! So I decided for my "Flash-Back Friday" I would take you back 8 years to the day we met!

As much as I would like to say it was love at first sight... it wasn't. In fact if Tory hadn't been persistent who know where we would be...

On Valentines Day I had Ballroom Dance practice at the Institute Church building, and Tory was patiently waiting for his date to show up. But to My fortunate luck his date stood him up!

My friends told me there was a guy named "Adam" that had wanted to meet me on Valentines Day... my secret admirer! So when they showed up to my practice with some guy I hadn't met I got excited and assumed it was him. So they introduced me and said, "Melissa, this is Tory," I was immediately disappointed! Where was ADAM? So being the clueless and sometimes comes across as rude person I was.... I said Hi, and blew him off!

After a casual conversation with my friends (and totally ignoring Tory at the same time) Tory had enough and left. Practice was over shortly after that so I headed out to my car to go home. I don't know what made him try one more time but, Tory wasn't gone yet and he came over to my car and said, "Nice Rack!" (Ok, he really didn't, he just likes to throw that into his version of the story... ) I had a ski rack on top of my car and he asked me, "So do you ski or snow board?" At that point I clued in a bit more and we exchanged phone numbers!


On April 6, 2001 we went to an institute dance together:

"A Walk in the Clouds"

We both lived in the same apartment complex. Both of us were working and done with school, but Tory was on night shift at that time.

We spent a lot of time hanging out at his place because he didn't have any roommates. Our first Official Date wasn't until a month or so after we met... he took me scuba diving!

My journal says our first kiss was March 10, before our first date... but like I said, with him being on night shift and me having dance practices all the time, there wasn't a lot of time for formal dates.


On June 14, 2001 Tory and I went to the temple together and that night after we got out we squeezed through the gates onto the temple grounds. (Tory said, "Lets walk around the temple grounds... I've never been on the Boise Temple Grounds before!") So we did and sat by the waterfall and he said, "It's almost been a perfect night..." then he got down on 1 knee and pulled out my ring and asked me to marry him!

Tory took me to Hawaii for our honeymoon!

To my husband:

You are my best friend! I love you more today than I ever though was possible. I'm so proud of you. You do so much for our little family and give up many of the things you love to do to make us, and most of all me, happy! Thank you for being such a wonderful Father and Husband; and thanks for not giving up on me the day we met...

Thanks for being You!

I love you!

Why ME...?

So last Friday I had a "why me" day. I'm sure everyone gets those, but this is how mine went...
(P.S. this picture is of Tyler's "Item of the Day":The toy he takes with him every where!)

I dropped Chase off at school the went to Winco to get my groceries like i do every Friday. at 11:00 I stopped at McDonald's to get my boys some chicken nuggets for lunch. Tyler was eating really well. We had just got into the subdivision to get Chase and Tyler started choking/ gagging... what ever the cause, he being the boy he is lost it all!! Lucky for me I had a small plastic bag on the seat next to me and I was able to catch most of it after the first wave. I was still driving when he started to throwing up, so I stopped really fast and caught the rest.
ThankfullyChase goes to preschool at my cousin's house and I was able to take Tyler inside, give him a bath, and borrow some PJ's! And because we were 20 min early we got done just in time for class to get out.
So I put Tyler in Chase's car seat and Chase in the back on a booster and went home. So on top of having to get all the groceries out of the car I had to disassemble the car seat to wash it! Plus, despite the fact that I just cleaned the van 2 days before I had to re clean it because I got dirty again after chase dumped his lunch on the floor. (Don't you just love "re-doing" thing)

And now the van needs cleaned again!!!! because on Saturday, the very next day after cleaning it 2 times in one week Tory had to take the van full of scouts to go Skiing at Bogus so it is again a mess... bigger than the first 2 times!

But to Tory's credit, He always cleans the van after he uses it for scouts... I'm just not sure how soon he is planning to do it!

So I finished cleaning the van, then began to take apart Tyler's seat. Then I started the laundry... I put the seat cover in, my favorite BSU sweatshirt that I wear every day and dumped the bag of puked on clothes in the washer! But what I didn't remember was that I also tossed a diaper in that bag when I was gathering my mess at Kristina's house, so when I went to rotate the wash I discovered another unexpected mess!

Have you ever washed a Diaper? ...

I know complaining doesn't solve anything, but sometimes telling someone your problems can help you get ideas how to solve them. So I called my mom and told her the story and she suggested my shop vacuum! (Which, in my state of frustration, I hadn't thought of yet!)

So I spent the next 30 min. vacuuming out the washer and everything in it so I could wash it all again.... Why ME? (Answer:) Because I needed something interesting to blog about!

Flash-Back-Friday!

I loved my great grandma! Alice Harris. She holds a very special place in my heart. I was looking through my pictures and realized that, compared to how much time I spent with her, I don't have as many pictures of her as I thought I would!

These pictures were taken at her birthday only 1 year before she passed away. I use to go visit her frequently during those days... she was forgetting so many things; and I use to have to pull my hair down. One time I went to see her and she was asking My grandma, "Annie, who is this?" and I let my hair down out of a pony tail and said, "Grandma, it's me... it's Melissa." And then she remembered. Her face lit up and she said "Oh yes... I remember, it's my Melissa, It's my Melissa." and she hugged me.

But memories like that are too hard to write about... I remember her most about 10 years before that, when Kristina, Jennetta, Emily, Jennifer, and I use to spend our childhood days with her in her room.

All the sleep overs... staying up till all hours of the night; going through her drawers of "STUFF"; Those were the times I loved most. We always had a list of chores to do the next morning and she would be there making sure we were staying out of mischief.

I love her and still miss her dearly. I think most of those pictures of me and my cousins must be at my grandma's house, considering she took all the pictures of us in those days!

I guess I'll have to add that to my list of projects... Finding more pictures of her in the time I remember her the most!

I hope you girls forgive me for putting these old pictures of us on here....

This is the last picture I can find of us all: Kristina's wedding Sept 1, 2001!

Lft to Rt: Emily, Jennifer, Kristina, Me, Jennetta!

Love you all!

My busy Day!

Last Friday was a busy day! Of Course is started with taking Chase to school. We got there at 9:15 then headed to WinCo in Meridian. I was chatting on the phone with Anna, then I got another phone call just as I was starting to get out of the van to go in... It was my Dr's office! They asked if I could come in later because my Dr. was in surgery.


My last office use to give me a reminder call the day before the appt., this office doesn't, so my appt. was set for 9:45 but they wanted me in about 11:45, which is what time Chase gets out of school. So I did my shopping, with Tyler of course, then we went back to Chase's school and picked him up early at 11:15 so I could get home, get the groceries in the fridge and freezer, and make it to the Dr. appt. by St. All's by 11:45. I didn't have time to make them lunch so they each had a doughnut in the car. We got to the office at 11:50 and waited for 25 min. to be seen.

The baby sounded great, and it was a short appt.

So when we got home at 1:00 it was the nicest day, So I decided to take the Christmas lights off the house while letting the boys ride their bikes in the sun for a while. I was enjoying the warm weather so much I decided to continue my work outside and cut back all the dead flowers in the front of the house. That took 2 hrs! So by 3:30 I finally got around to getting the kids and I some lunch!

When Tory got home 2 hrs later the house was a MESS! He said,"Did I tell you we have company coming over at 6:00?" Oops! I was exhausted! I sat for a few more minutes, then got up and helped clean the house and make Tory a quick sandwich for dinner. He sat down to eat at 6:10, the house was clean, and he said, "don't be mad at me, but we don't really have someone coming over today!"

I was glad to have the house clean, but grateful no one was coming. I still hadn't showered yet. S the rest of the evening slowed down a little. We got the kids in bed around 8:00 and I showered, then we had a couple come over around 9:15 and they left a little after 11:00 pm!

The picture of Tory and Ty was taken on Sunday and the pumpkin picture was taken yesterday. I finally got around to cooking one of my Halloween pumpkins that surprisingly is still quite firm.

So that is a lot of words for me, and not a lot of pictures. I keep forgetting to take my camera every where I go!