I Survived

Well I survived the Christmas program. The program went pretty well, amazing well considering the fact that we only had 4 weeks to learn all of it. I was so relieved when it was over. I hope that the choir director chooses a simpler piece for the next performance :)

Freaking Out

So our ward was recently reorganized. I was called as the ward choir pianist. I love piano callings, because they are easy and it forces to play more. BUT, before I was even called the chorister brought over their Christmas program. It is a 60 page cantata. I have been working really hard trying to learn it. We perform this Sunday and I am officially freaking out! I have practiced and practiced and although I can play it all the through it is far from performance ready. I guess I just need to do my best and remember that it is not the end of the world if it is not perfect. So with that in mind I am going to practice right now. Wish me luck.

Scentsy Giveaway

My friend Jessica is having a scentsy giveaway on her blog. If you like scentsy you should go to her blog and enter. The link is on the left hand side of my blog. You have to put a comment on her blog by thursday to be entered into the drawing.

Brinley's Songs

So on Wednesday before Thanksgiving Isaac had a guitar hero party with his friends. While they were setting up the guitars Brinley got to try them out. She was so cute. She sang a different song to go with each different guitar. Although she is missing a few of the words here and there I am impressed with her singing abilities. Here are some videos of her songs.

Halloween Pictures

For Halloween this year we had activities all week. We did the ward trunk or treat, boo at the zoo, and trick or treating on Halloween. Brinley was Dumbo the elephant for the first two activities and a cheerleader for trick or treating. I only got pictures of the cheerleader. Gabe was a spider.

What's New with Us

So, since June a lot has changed in our family.

1. Cory changed jobs. He was working at the State Hospital in Blackfoot as a Clinical Social Worker. He took a job as an elementary school counselor at Westside Elementary. It has been a great change for him. He enjoys his job and is really enjoying working with kids again.

2. We moved to Idaho Falls. Since Cory's new job is in Idaho Falls and I like Idaho Falls it made sense to move here. We have been in IF since the middle of August. So far Cory doesn't like the traffic. Brinley loves the ducks down by the river. And I am enjoying being back here.

3. We are living my parents. When we moved to Idaho Falls we put our house in Pocatello up for sale and also finished the flip in American Falls. We sold our home in Pocatello and are leasing the house in American Falls until March. So, we have been living with my parents until we can get a house.

4. Both of my kids got bigger. Brinley is now almost 3 and she is so funny. She's really smart and picks up everything around her. Gabe is 7 months old and can scoot himself around pretty well. He is such a sweet little guy and loves to get lots of attention.

5. We bought a minivan. I know, I know, anyone that knows me knows that I swore I would never own one, but I needed more space and a minivan seemed to be the most logical choice. I must admit that so far I like it.

My Sister's Initiative

Since it has been so long since I have updated my blog my sister decided give me a little help. She changed the background and made it all cute so that I would finally get on here and update my blog. I will do my best to update it more often.

Gabriel's Blessing

We are blessing Gabriel tomorrow at church. For anyone that is interested church is at 11, if you need directions give me a call. I will try and get some pictures up in a couple of days.

Back to Work

So, as usual, I thought I was tougher than I really am. About a month before I had Gabriel my old boss from Idaho Falls called and asked if I could cover for him while he was on vacation. He wanted me to cover May 9th-16th. I told him that I could if I could bring my baby. He said that was fine and so I agreed. Going back to work three weeks after having a baby is not a good idea! Today is the last day I am covering for him and we are all still alive, but it has been a long week. I am definitly ready to go back to being on maternity leave and enjoying time with my kids and husband.

Life with two kids

As you might be able to tell from my lack of recent posts, life with two kids is busy. Even though Gabriel just sleeps and eats he and Brinley seem to take up every second of the day. We're doing good if we are all bathed and dressed by 11 these days. Don't get me wrong, I love having two kids!! I love newborns, they are just so sweet. And Brinley is still so cute. She likes to rub the baby's head and say "Soft baby" because we are always telling her to be soft. I have a bunch of cute pictures I want to get on here, but it will have to wait for a few days.

Happy Birthday Cory

Today is Cory's birthday. He is turning 29. Yeah!!! We don't have any big plans, Cory decided he wanted to do something low key, so I am making porcupine meatballs for him and then he and I are going to go out to a movie (if I can find a babysitter for Brinley.) I hope he has a wonderful day!

My Smart Girl

I have always thought Brinley was pretty smart. I'm probably biased, but I do. Since I have had a baby I have seen how quickly she picks things up. She is already stealing my nursing pads and putting them on and trying to nurse her babies. She also insists on putting diapers on her babies, using wet wipes to "clean up poopies," and putting them in the baby swing to sleep. Unfortunately, her smartness does not always show itself in such cute, funny ways. She has also discovered that I cannot do anything while I'm nursing. She takes full advantage of this to do things that she knows she is not supposed to do because I can't take it away from her or make her stop doing something. Oh well, I guess I should just be glad she's smart.

Gabe's First Checkup

Gabriel had his first checkup today. He weighs 7 lb 2.5 oz which is pretty good, because most babies aren't even back up to their birth weight yet. The doctor said everything else looks great. So far, so good :)

Walks

It was such a nice day today that we decided to get out and go for a walk. We tried to give Brinley a nap earlier in the afternoon, but she just sat and played in her bed for an hour. She was so excited for a walk, but before we were even half way through she had fallen asleep. When we got home we put her in bed and she slept for a while longer. When she woke up she was devasted to realize that she had missed most of the walk. She is upstairs right now throwing a tantrum about "more walk." We'll go tomorrow and hopefully she'll stay awake and enjoy it.

Gabriel Evan Price

I took this picture of Gabriel today. We think he's a pretty cute little guy.

This is obviously right after he was born.

This is our first family picture.

Brinley was so excited to see the baby for the first time.

Brinley does really well holding him, until she decides she's done

at which point she just tries to push him off her lap.

Here is more of a close up of Brinley and Gabriel together. Don't I have the cutest kids ever!!

Gabriel Evan Price was born on Tuesday, April 22nd at 2:42 pm. He weighed 7 lb. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. Everything went fine with the delivery and he is perfectly healthy. I am finally getting somewhat recovered and have gotten enough motivation to download my pictures. My mom came and stayed with us for a few days, we were so grateful to have her help. Overall, Brinley is doing very well with the new addition. She has been pushing her limits, but she loves holding the baby and is always asking where he is.

Great Grandparents

Brinley is a lucky girl. She has three sets of great grandparents still alive. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to see them very often so when she does she is usually very shy. This weekend great grandma and grandpa Tanner were in American Falls. The first night she wouldn't even go in the same room as them, but she warmed up to them. The next day she sat by grandma Tanner for about 15 minutes while grandma talked to her about the birdhouses on the coasters. It was really sweet. That night she even goodnight to grandpa Tanner. Hopefully, she will remember them next time she sees them and it won't take her so long to warm up.

Flipping

Cory and I are currently flipping a house up in American Falls. Usually Cory is the one working on the house while I watch Brinley. I decided that I wanted tile in the bathroom and I decided that this was going to be my project. So, this weekend I layed tile in the bathroom. Cory came and helped my lay the subfloor and he helped cut the tiles for a couple of hours, but for the most part I layed the tile myself. This project made me realize some things. First, it made me realize that it is kind of fun to start a project and do it yourself, it gives you a sense of accomplishment. Second, that it is very tiring to do manual stuff like tile (I have been pretty sore today). And third, that my husband is amazing! He goes up there all time and just works and works to get this house done. I spent one day there and I am ready to take a couple of weeks off. Hopefully I will have time to finish the grout before I go into labor.

The Blessings of Tithing

I have always heard people say that the Lord will bless you if you pay your tithing. Well, guess what- they're right. I have been stressing about our finances since I am not going to be working when I have this baby. I have been trying to put as much money into our savings account as possible to cover the extra bills that always come with having a baby. I had not been able to put as much as I would have liked and I have been stressing about it. I was paying bills today and got online to pay our house payment. I was going to make May's house payment when I looked and it said that I didn't have a payment due until June. I figured this must be a mistake so I called the bank and they said that I had been a month ahead for almost a year. I have no idea when an extra payment got made, but it was a huge blessing. I was able to put the entire payment into savings. I feel much better about our financial situation now and I am so grateful for the blessings of tithing! The Lord truly blesses us when we follow his commandments!

Kirby Vacuum Salesman

Since it has warmed up a little bit I have been deluged with door to door salesman. I think I get so many because I live in an association with lots of houses close together. Regardless of the reason, I am annoyed! Today the Kirby vacuum salesman showed up. They woke me up from my nap and in my half awake, groggy state I was did not turn them down quickly enough and before I knew it I was getting the demonstration. An hour later he finally left, but he left his vacuum behind so I could show my husband and he could come back again. I called my husband after they left and he helped me get my gumption back. I promptly called the Kirby guy and told him we definitly weren't interested. I then packed up the vacuum and left it on my porch before going shopping. When I came home it was gone. I think I might put up a sign to stop future salesmen from even knocking.

"More Walk"

Today it finally felt like spring in Pocatello. I decided to take Brinley for a walk to try out our new double stroller. Of course we filled up the second seat with Brinley's babies. We walked over to my sister-in-law's maternity to pick up something and then walked home. I would say we walked about a mile. We came home and Brinley threw a huge tantrum because she wanted "more walk." I finally coaxed her out of the stroller and onto something else. When Cory came home he wanted to go for a walk because it was so nice out. And when we got home Brinley wanted "more walk" again. Hopefully, she will stop throwing these tantrums as it gets warmer and we are able to go on walks more regularly. Until then I'll just be glad that my daughter likes to get out of the house into the sunshine.

The Simple Things

Lately, my husband has been very busy in the evenings working on remodeling a house we are trying to finish. On Saturday he got done earlier than usual and was home by 5. So we decided to spend some quality family time together. We took dinner to the park and ate and then let Brinley on the toys. It was wonderful to have time together without really having anything to do or anywhere to be. That doesn't happen very often in our busy life. It goes to show that all those "things" we fill our lives with don't make us happy, it's spending time with those we love that really matters!

Fashion Show

Brinley and I had our fashion debut on Saturday. My sister-in-law owns a maternity and children's clothing store and there was a fashion show this weekend. She needed some pregnant ladies so she asked if Brinley and I would be in the show. So during the week we went to her store and picked out outfits that coordinated and looked cute. The show was supposed to start at 2 on Saturday, which is right at Brinley's nap time. I wasn't too concerned because we were first and then I could leave and put her down for a nap. The event started at 2, but the fashion show part didn't actually get started until almost 3. I was very frustrated! They had us lined up at 2:15 and we had to stand in line for almost 45 minutes. Let's just say that being 8 1/2 months pregnant and trying to deal with a tired 2 year old waiting a line was not the most pleasant experience. On a positive note, Brinley had tons of fun once was actually got to walk down the catwalk. She and I got to walk down twice because I had a couple of different outfits, the second time down she just wanted to stay at the end and spin in circles, she walked so slowly off the stage it was pretty funny. Overall it wasn't a terrible experience, but I think next time I'm this far along I will the opportunity :)

Surprise Baby Shower

On Wednesday I thought I had to be to work early to attend our monthly department meeting. When I got there everyone yelled surprise. My coworkers threw a surprise baby shower for me. I was so excited. I wasn't expecting to have any showers since this is my second baby, but they decided that since I am having a boy that I needed to have one. They had really good food and the best part was that they all went together and bought me a double stroller. I've been looking for a nice one, but just hadn't found one that I liked enough to spend the money on. I really like the stroller they bought, it's pretty small for a double stroller and has everything I've been looking for. So a big thank you to all my coworkers!!

Angel Food Cake Disaster

My sister Karlee just turned 20 and told her that I would throw her a little party for her friends and roommates to come celebrate her birthday. If you know my sister, you know that she is a great cook. And if you know me, you know that I am not. But I was determined to make a cake for this party. Karlee decided she wanted angel food cake. She thought I was going to make it from scratch and thought it was pretty funny when I bought a boxed cake that you just add water to. I explained that is was still "making" the cake even though I only had to mix it together. So I added the water and mixed it just like the directions said to. I put in the oven, so far so good. About fifteen minutes later I realized that it smelled like it was burning. I opened the oven to find my angel food cake exploding out of the pan and falling all over my stove, onto the heating element. I tried to cut the top off and finish cooking it, but as soon as the knife poked it it imploded. Needless to say I did not use that cake, instead I went to store and bought a pre-made cake. I guess I'm still not the best cook in the world, but I should get points for trying :)

Chocolate Juice

Yesterday, I bought a gallon of chocolate milk. Later that night Cory got it out and asked Brinley if she wanted some chocolate milk. She said no, that she wanted juice. So Cory got out the apple juice, she immediately said "No daddy, chocolate juice." That's when we realized that she did want chocolate milk. Cory proceeded to try to explain to her that it was chocolate milk, but Brinley just kept saying, "No daddy, chocolate juice." So, we gave up and gave her a glass of "chocolate juice."

Still pregnant

Just in case you were wondering, I am still pregnant. This should not come as a surprise, since I'm not due for another three weeks, but it seems like forever to me. I am "full term" now and could have Gabriel anytime. Obviously, I am hoping for sooner rather than later, but he will probaby wait until his due date just to teach me a little patience.

Easter

Brinley has so much fun looking for her easter eggs.

She had her own color and did really well only picking up her eggs.

All the cousins together after the easter egg hunt.

The girls all decided to watch Dora together. Of course,

the big girls wanted to hold Brinley's hand the whole time.

Cory's parents always have a big Easter shindig on Saturday before Easter for all the grandkids. Brinley has lots of fun this year spending time with her cousins and looking for easter eggs.

Brinley

Brinley decided that the cereal cupboard made a great seat. After that she proceeded to empty everything out, apparently she needed more room.

This just shows Brinley's personality.

I think she looks so beautiful in this picture!

Daddy was so excited to find out that she is already a Jazz fan :)

This is at Brinley's 2nd birthday party. My sister Karlee made the dora cake. Brinley loved it and was even able to blow out her candles (after a few tries).

I finally did it!

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now and I just never got around to it. So, today I decided that it was time to stop procrastinating and just do it. So here we go :)