what we are most thankful for this Thanksgiving

Yup, that's right.  BABY #2!!  

Is it crazy?!!..........YES.

Was it planned?!!...........YES.

Are we excited?!!.............YESSSS.

Are you shocked?!!.........PROBABLY :)

Even though we have known now for almost 2 months, it is still crazy/shocking/exciting.  We know it is fast - Brooklyn and this baby will only be 17 months apart - but we couldn't be more happy and thrilled about it.  

For those that are a little more interested and want a few more details......

I stopped breastfeeding Brooklyn the beginning of September.  It was just getting too hard to be pumping at work and in the mornings (while training for the 1/2 marathon I did in October).  I stopped cold turkey one day, after a frustrating day at work.  Soon after that John and I thought we'd see what happened for a month because we either wanted to have another baby right before we move or wait awhile until after we move.  I kept wanting to take a pregnancy test because I wanted to know for sure...but I made myself wait awhile.  Finally the beginning of October I just felt I really needed to take one and yup, it was positive! :)

That night I put the test under John's pillow and waited for him to come to bed.  He pulled back the pillow and picked it up and started freaking out a little...saying..."what is this?"....."how do you read this thing?".....what does this mean?"......"how can that be?".  I was most shocked about how shocked John was....I didn't think it would be that big of a surprise to him.  Anyway, it took a few days for it to sink in for him, but once the initial shock set in, he was so happy and excited about having another baby.  

I had my first doctors appointment on Nov. 15th.  I was really excited about it, one because I wanted to make sure everything was ok and there was actually a baby in there, and two because they did an ultrasound to see how far along I am (because we didn't have a clue).  I am now 11 weeks along..which means I am due:

JUNE 8, 2012

We can't wait to find out what this little peanut is the end of January :)

the first snowfall

The other day (I think it was Saturday) we woke up to snow on the ground and I couldn't wait to get Brooklyn up and take her outside.  She was NOT fond of her snowsuit and looked just like Randy (Ralphie's little brother) in a "Christmas Story".  She looked miserable in it and didn't like how she could hardly move.

I bought her snowsuit big so hopefully it will fit next year too

Once we got outside (and took off the snowsuit) she chippered right up.

she wasn't so sure about eating the snow

hangin' upside down

I'm excited for it to snow again and to hopefully take her sledding this time...or show her how mom and dad sled down our steep hill before the snow plows come :)

Halloween

This year we were able to attend another Murder Mystery Dinner (the day before Halloween), hosted once again by our good friends Ryan and Mandy/Raf and Claudia.  The theme was Marti Gra and we were assigned characters to dress up as.  Mandy put everything together and Raf and Claudia hosted it at their house...AND Raf made us a delicious dinner.  It was a fun night spent together with friends and without kids!

 the whole group

John and I 

 Tom and Kristie

Raf and Claudia  

Ryan (who ended up being the murderer and no one guessed it right) and Mandy

On Halloween night we had dinner with Rich, Misty, and Mike at our house (homemade chili by Misty in bread bowls) and then took the girls trick-or-treating.  We only took them to about 5 houses, which was perfect for the adults to get enough candy to eat and to show them off to some people in our neighborhood.

someone excited about the Halloween candy we passed out..

Brooklyn and Uncle Mike 

us with our little lady :) 

 Brooklyn (lady bug) and Sophia (duck)

Provo Halloween 1/2 Marathon

* I added some pictures that professionals took of me at the race *

This past Saturday was the Provo Halloween 1/2 Marathon.

Rich, Mike, and I did it (and our friend Ryan too).

We woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning to get down to Provo.  They bused us up to Aspen Grove, where the starting line was.  The race didn't start until 9am, so we had 2 1/2 hours to wait.  Luckily they had a nice big heated tent that we waited in because it was freezing!  

The race was fun, in a semi-miserable way.  It was fun to do with my brothers and even more fun to talk about now that it's over.  It was a hard race - the first 5 miles were downhill, STEEP downhill and I think we all ran that part too fast.  I felt like I was running so slow from mile 6-13.  Thank goodness for my iPod and shot blocks that kept me going.  My time was 1 hour 42 minutes, which I was very happy with.  

John brought Brooklyn down and I saw them at mile 12 and then again at the finish line.  John was able to take a couple pictures of Rich, but the camera died right as I was running by him.  Here are a couple pictures of Rich....and Brooklyn in her stroller.

Luckily my friend Mandy was at the finish line and able to get a couple of me racing to the end...I look very, very tired!

These ones are from the professionals at the race...

 This girl and I were racing it out in the end....I think I got her by a step or two :)

These last few days I have been so sore.  I don't think I've been this sore since I ran the 24th of July marathon, which was also a lot of downhill.  I forgot how painful downhill races can be.

After the race on Saturday John and I headed up to Park City with Rich and Misty, Mike, and Pete (and Brooklyn and Sophia too) to Misty's uncles condo.  It was a perfect way to spend the rest of the weekend - relaxing, going out to eat, talking, laughing, telling scary stories, watching our homemade Halloween movies, and playing games.  

before and after

This post is for my mom - to see what the new bathroom floor looks like.

Here is the before:

Here is the after:

It looks much, MUCH better!!

Next home improvement = new carpet upstairs.