39 Weeks

One more week until the baby (still undecided on a name) arrives. We are still hoping she comes early but only time will tell. We seem to be trying everything in the book from long walks to feet/ankle massages and everything in between but no luck so far. The doctor even striped the membrane this week. We did start today with some pretty strong and consistent contractions but they have faded thru the afternoon.

We think Brindi is pretty excited for the baby. If only she knew the truth! We will see how excited she is after her little sister comes. But she loves to point to the baby and as demonstrated in the pictures below is spending a lot of time preparing to help once her sister arrives. Today she kept telling the belly, "Baby come out and play," "Baby its time to come out," and "Come out Baby!" We all echo her last statement.

Christmas

This year Brindi was spoiled as this will be her last Christmas as an only child. We started off on Christmas Eve and headed to Old Town St. Charles for the Christmas Traditions festival where the streets are filled with Santas from around the world. Its a great festival when all the characters carry with them cards explaining their individual backgrounds. Characters like Jack Frost, Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Mrs. Claus, the Sugarplum Fairy, and over 10 different Santas are scattered throughout the streets.
On the way to old town, we passed a couple Snowmen. Christmas Eve morning we woke up to a clean blanket of "good" snow, not Missouri ice snow but the good stuff that snowmen are made of. As we headed home all Brindi wanted to do was make a snowman. She was set on making 5 snowmen but I was able to negotiate with her to only make 3.
Brindi started out as a really good helper but only lasted for about a half a snowman before she took a seat on the porch and directed the rest of the snowman construction. However, she did help with creating the faces to our snow family. Sad to say, Dad works a lot of weekends in December and missed the opportunity to do some much needed raking before the snow came so our snowmen were dressed in leaves!

Before we headed to bed Christmas Eve we opened our Christmas PJs.

Brindi's main present was a an Artist Esel with markers and water color paint. She seemed to like it, at least we hope she does. She loves to draw and has enjoyed drawing her hands and also kites on her new toy. Not sure why kites but that is her fascination these days. She also got a lot of plato.

A doctor set was another gift Brindi received and as soon as she opened it she made us all become her patient. Everyone had to take their turn and lay on the couch as we all played doctor and patient. This might have been her favorite toy.

Brindi also got some books, a cool money purse from her cousin that had pictures of them together on one side and a picture of the family on the otherside, a toy story matching game, a shapes creation necklace, a teddy pair mommy and baby, fingernail polish, chapstick, and a lot of candy.

Celeste received some new jewelry, clothes, and some much needed new silverware. Joe received the original NES with a few games, clothes, and several gift cards. We have truly been blessed this year are very fortunate for the life we live and we owe it all to our Savior whose birthday celebration this is. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card

We had a limited number of Christmas cards and with all our friends and family growing up and moving around our addresses are not all up to date either. But we did want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to pass along an electronic version of our Christmas card. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today Joe turns the BIG 30! I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday and let him know how much I love him. He really is my better half and is always showing me how to be a better person. I couldn't ask for a better husband or father. I've never met a better man and I know the Lord has truly blessed me. Happy birthday Joe!!! Brindi and I hope you have a great day!

Holiday FHE

This past Monday we decided we better get on the ball and get Christmas in the atmosphere. We decided to start off the night with dough which Brindi loved to cut herself. It was actually a little scary to watch but all her fingers are still intact. We also put up our fake tree. We decided one more year until we purchase a real tree. Brindi loved decorating the tree but as soon as the oven buzzer sounded she was off to never return to the tree. I am guessing she liked frosting the cookies better than decorating the tree! She is quite the cute little girl.

PALS

This past week we headed over to the PALS winter social so that Brindi could visit with Santa. She was excited to see him but as soon as we entered the door and she saw him she wanted nothing to do with him. It was quite funny and she became very clingy not wanting to let go. We were able to get her to sit in the chair next to him and when he offered her a candy cane and some bells she made the decision should could probably handle sitting next to him as long as he didn't get too close.
They also offered a bunch of arts and crafts like making glittery stars and making christmas ornaments out of play dough plus cookies and hot cocoa. We got there right at the end and that was a mistake because Brindi loved playing and had no desire in leaving:)

YW Evening in Excellence

A couple of weeks ago the young women had Evening in Excellence. Lucky for me I was able to get a lot of help from Amber, my mom, and my Aunt Donata while I was in AZ. I had to post because everything turned out because of there help and suggestions...lets just say my suitcase back to MO was pretty full. The thing that helped the most was the center pieces Amber and my mom came up with...here are a few pictures. We did a Princess theme and were able to find prom dresses for all the girls, with all the value colors represented. They all looked really pretty and I think they had a great time.

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

We have used Shutterfly for past projects, all of them were books of vacations or special times in our lives such as a wedding. The books always seemed to turn out better than expected. The images were crisp and clean and the books were high quality. This holiday season we are looking forward to using Shutterfly again as we get ready to make our Family Christmas card. So far we think the Pine Cone Toile is our favorite. There is an example of it below. Pine cones always seems to be a fun topic to talk about in the Lovell home especially when you talk about the yummy pine nuts or pinions. That seems to be the argument we have each year. So which is it, pine nuts or pinions? What is your vote? Let us know in the comments. Either way we love our Pine Trees and think this card will represent our family perfectly. The next big question is to decide which picture we are going to send out to everyone to place on their mantels. Kind of a scary thought but one thing we can promise is Brindi looking cute. This year we caught a break since Shutterfly has a new promotion of giving away 50 Free Cards for those bloggers that become participants in their promotion. We are excited to test out the Holiday Card Collection for the upcoming holidays. We are sure we will be as please with the cards as we were with the books from Shutterfly.

Want to get into action? Check out all of the different holiday cards available at www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards and if you want to try and receive 50 FREE Holiday Cards yourself follow the link below to sign up. http://bit.ly/sfly2010

34 Weeks

Veteran's Day Honoree

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

My Grandpa Petersen has lived a very eventful and meaningful life but one of the things that really stands out to me is him as a Veteran. His stories as a POW and the events that lead to his release are fascinating to hear and learn about. Its great men like my grandpa and the thousands of other veterans that have made it possible for all of us to live the lives we do. This past Veteran's Day my grandpa was honored at the University of Utah for his efforts in the Military. I feel very fortunate to be able to call him my grandpa and want to thank him for all the things he has done for me and this great country. Check out the video above for the full story.

The Cowgirl and her Cow

Brindi went trick or treating in Arizona this year as Celeste was out helping the family with a few things. This year Brindi was a Cowgirl. Sad to say she would not wear her hat but she was still a cute one. Brindi was also successful in rounding up her cattle and decided to take the baby calf out with her for the evening. Baby Wyatt and her made quite the team this year.

Days at the Park

Celeste has been finishing up her degree and to do so has been enrolled in a class on Saturdays. So for the past several weeks, Saturdays have turned into a Daddy-Daughter day which always includes a trip to Brindi's favorite place, the Park. The park begins with her running from one playground component to the next until she has played on each one and then its her "babies" turn and she becomes the mom. You gotta love that creative imagination:) Gotta love the static from the slide. I love this picture! The climbing wall is her new favorite thing at the park. She is actually pretty good and can climb almost half way up before she falls and insists on me helping her all the way up. But she is pretty determined to try first herself.

She is getting pretty brave and does things that I know scares both Celeste and I.

Another great shot of the static:)

She also loves to pretend she is a cowgirl and has a pretty good "Ye Ha" when she rides.

Carving Pumpkins

We headed out this past weekend and picked up a few pumpkins to carve. Brindi needed to have her own pumpkin and insisted on carrying her pumpkin through out the store. Sad to say they were too big and heavy so she allowed us to help.

Brindi watching patiently as mom takes her knife to the pumpkin.

Last year Brindi was not a fan of grabbing the guts and taking them out. This year was not any different. She reached in once and quickly took her hand out. She was willing, however, to use the spoon to scrape the insides as long as she did not have to touch any of it.

If you notice, Brindi found a marker and instead of helping to carve she started to draw faces on the all the pumpkins.

This was about as close as she would get to them when they were lit with candles. Kind of a funny girl. Below are out master pieces. Sad to say with the humidity of STL they will be rotten before Halloween arrives:(

My BABY!!!!

As I have mentioned Brindi loves to "pretend" she has a baby where ever we go. Even if I bring one with us, she'd rather leave it in the car and just pretend she is carrying one. Well, she and I walked into Costco and she imediately puts her "baby" in a cart. I kept telling her we didn't need one because we were only taking something back and started walking to the return counter, but she would not budge, so I went to get her the cart. Well it was stuck to another cart so I grab a different one and started to walk away again telling her to come on. She starts screaming "no, no...my baby", so I go and pretend to grab her baby, but that apparently wasn't good enough because she had put "the baby" in the front seat so I go to the front and pretend to grab the baby again, still doesn't work. Anyway, by now I'm getting frustrated at her because she refuses to grab her baby and come. So I grab her and start to walk away with her screaming, kicking, and hitting. I glance at the lady at the enterance door,who is just staring at Brindi and don't even try to explain...I know thinking this child is insane! Right then a couple grabs the cart with her "baby" in it and the guy untangles it and sticks their kids in the back...this makes Brin lose it even more, so I brake down and ask the man if she can grab her baby out of the cart....he looks down and asks what baby and I then have to explain how it is a pretend baby. He just laughs and pretends to hand it to her...well apparently that was good enough because she stopped crying and puts her baby in the new cart, why it didn't work when I did the same thing is a mystery to me! All I have to say is Wow... I really don't know where she gets it.

Potty Training

Brindi has successfully learned when she needs to go potty and has been pretty good about not having accidents. Even though they still happen from time to time when she gets too involved with playing or being intensely involved in other activities. And then there are the accidents that are not really accidents. Its her way of rebelling and proving a point or trying to get what she wants. If this little girl does not get what she wants she quickly lets loose and pees where ever she is currently located.

The other day she decided she wanted to go to the park. Sad to say she was not getting her way this day because of other obligations but she obviously did not understand the other obligations so she threw a fit. Screaming, crying, and then comes the hitting. Still no reaction from the parents so what is next...peeing in the front room. But then to punish her by making her clean it up does not work because before we say anything she is already in the process of helping us clean it up. Plus it is so hard to be mad when she looks so innocent above the pool of pee.

She has also learned to use potty training as a way to get out of time out or for staying up late. As soon as we put her to bed or in time out the first thing she says is "need go pee." As a parent what are we suppose to do? We are trying to teach her to recognize when she needs to pee but we also have a suspicion that she is just using as a way to get out of her room. Of course we usually give in because...well what if she really does need to go to the potty! It seems to be a lose lose situation for us.

When we started potty training Brindi we would give her a treat for every time she went to the potty. She would get so excited and stand up and say "YAY Num Nums" all while clapping her hands. She would then give us high five and pound it and then request her num num. However, she then figured out the loop hole. That is learn to go a little and then hold the rest for a half hour. So now she goes to the potty but only goes a few drops or small pool and request her num num. Then 30 minutes later guess what, she is back on the potty with a few more drops and another request for num nums.

We sure love our daughter and it does gives us hope that she will be pretty smart because of these stories. She seems to find the loop holes and understands how to use them for her benefit:)

The Little Things of Brindi

Brindi has really began putting words together and I have learned she has quite the imagination and probably is a lot smarter than I give her credit...here are a few things she has been saying and doing this summer...

• Brindi's first prayer..."bess daddy,mommy...umm... pop-pop,grammy,pop-pop, grandma amen"
• Whenever I tell her something is all gone, her response is "mommy buy more... apple juice or mommy buy more diapers.
• Her favorite songs are Bingo, E I E I O, twinkle twinkle, popcorn and wheels on the bus.
• When it is time for bed she now has to give both of us a kiss on each cheek, a kiss on the lips, and a hug. Whenever she puts her babies to sleep I now have to do the routine too and the babies have to give kisses also
• Last Sunday, Joe and I had just sat down to eat dinner after church and we were calling for Brindi to come and eat. Well, I went to find her and there she was sitting on her potty pooping...Joe and I were floored, anyway, the next day I begged her to just wear underwear and not a diaper, but she cried and screamed. Well after changing her later, I managed to get her to not put a new diaper on and not 30 minutes later, she tells me she has to pee, so I take her up stairs and she pees, again I am surprised because she is so set on wearing a diaper and she hasn't seemed to be able to grasp the concept of peeing. Well after seeing that she knows when she needs to go, I hid all the diapers and it has seemed to do the trick she is now doing pretty well at going potty. Everytime she goes she gives us a high five and bumps fists...and of course she loves her "treats" and never forgets as she claps her hands and says "Yay num nums (yums)" after she goes.
• She loves her babies and does everything a mommy would do, she rocks them, sings to them, puts them to sleep and tries to feed them. We went to the park this week and we forgot her baby, but that didn't stop her from pretending she had one. Everywhere she went that make believe baby went too. It was so funny.
• While at the park, we of course had an accident :). Well I changed her and we ran home because I had to grab something and then we ran back to the park. This time there was a little girl who was playing by where Brindi had had her accident, so Brindi starts yelling "no, no, no, play I poopy, I poopy, yucky, no play"
• She loves to walk around the house calling her cows, she will beep her horn on her play keys and then go "moo cows, moo cows"
• She loves her temple picture from Grandma Lovell and always asks to go to the temple and tells me how gramma, pop-pop, mommy, daddy, pop-pop, and grammy go to the temple.
• She has learned to say skipures (scriptures)and loves her picture scriptures.
• She can't say the "sw" in swim or swing, both of them are "im",but they are her favorite things to do. I am about ready to hid her swimsuit because she wants to wear it everyday and it is becoming a battle.
• Whenever I lay down or say I don't feel good, she tells me "momma's baby hurt".

It's a...

...GIRL!

We are really excited and a little surprised to be having another little girl. This pregnancy has been pretty tough on Celeste, so we thought we were for sure having a boy considering Celeste didn't even know she was pregnant with Brindi because it was so easy. During the ultrasound we kept thinking to ourselves its going to show up any second but nothing ever did. We both thought it would be best to have another girl, a little sister to Brindi. So we are pretty excited about our new addition. Brindi is just excited about the baby. We don't think she understands the differences between a little brother or sister. Now its on to thinking about names. Any suggestions?