In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

"This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways." - President Thomas S. Monson

Traditions and Memories

We got our first, real snow fall yesterday. And when I say "real" I mean it actually stuck to the ground enough to have a decent snowball fight. So to keep tradition alive, I must play my "First Snowfall" Anthem from The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.

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I think the reason I get so excited when I open the drapes in my bedroom and see a blanket of snow on my front lawn is because not only does it make the cold more bearable (who wants it to just be cold without something pretty to look at?), but it also brings back a myriad of memories with my family around this time of year: Going on carriage rides at temple square, making Christmas treats in the kitchen while Harry Connick's Christmas album blasts from the stereo, going sledding at Tibble Fork, watching A Christmas Story for the millionth time with all my siblings, snacking on crackers, cheese, and smoked sausage (don't forget the spicy mustard...mmmm). Now that I have a family of my own, I look forward to the making of many more memories and traditions.

And I already know this Holiday season will be one of the most memorable for my little family simply because of one day: December 6th, 2010.
This is the day I find out whether I will be re-using Toby's baby clothes or if I need to start shopping for cute dresses and hair bows. :)

I'm so excited!

Any guesses on what I am having? For your convenience, I created a baby poll in the upper right corner of my blog. Let the guessing game begin!

Spicin' things up

Today I was thinking about how I have been craving very specific, spicy foods with this pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Toby I think I craved chips and salsa for the first trimester, and then the cravings stopped. This time around, my craving for spice hasn't waned. Not only that but but one week I can't get enough of one particular type of food, then next week I want nothing to do with it. Here are just a few I've made note of so far:

- When I was sick, I craved Doritos Salsa Verde chips for at least 3 weeks solid. And then I over did it one night and threw them up. To this day, just the seeing a bag of them at Wal-Mart makes me queasy.

- I had a good two weeks where I ate a turkey sandwich on a white deli roll for both lunch and dinner. I wanted nothing on it but loads of pepper jack cheese and a little mustard. Now it sounds gross.

- This one isn't spicy but I thought I would list it anyway: A bagel with LOTS and LOTS of cream cheese slathered on top. Ever had one from Gandolfo's? Mmmm...its heaven.

- You know those awesome blossom appetizers at restaurants (basically a deep fried onion)? I literally had to go out to eat last weekend just so I could have one of those with some of that yummy horseradish dipping sauce. That, along with a small salad, was my meal for the night.

- The latest ongoing craving is jalapeno rings from Del Taco. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. When I first had this craving, I ignored it because I thought it would upset my stomach or at least give me heartburn. I finally gave in one day when I was running errands near a Del Taco. I think I devoured them in less than 60 seconds and anxiously awaited some type of negative repercussion. But nothing! In fact I found myself wanting to go back for for round 2, but decided not to push my luck.

So there you have it. I'm not sure why spicy things seem to hit the spot so much for me. I am a bit of a spice junkie normally, but being pregnant seems to turn me into a spice maniac.

Have any of you had any crazy cravings during a pregnancy? I would love to hear them...especially the SPICY ones. :)

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman

Yes, my little man was the radioactive spider for Halloween. I know I am biased, but I thought he was so stinkin' cute. Nick and I chose the costume, but he has liked Spiderman ever since I came home with Spiderman band-aids. I even found the original Spiderman cartoon on YouTube and let him listen to the opening theme song. The next few days he wandered the house singing "Spiderman, Spiderman, does what a spider can..."

Suitin' up with daddy. I swear I didn't plan this but if you look closely at his shirt underneath you will see it says "Mommy's Super Hero"

My mom says the above picture looks just like me when I was Toby's age.

Hamming it up.

Like many parents, I could only get him to wear the mask portion for a few seconds.

But it was long enough to for him feel "Spiderman-ish" and start shooting webs out from his hands. Or try to.

Nick had to carve an Oregon Ducks pumpkin in hopes they would crush USC in Saturday's game.

I guess it worked because not only did they beat USC 53 - 32, but Oregon is now #1 in the nation.
Go Ducks!

Our Halloween (or Halloween Eve, depending on whether you live in Utah or not) basically went like this: We went to the ward's chili cook-off/carnival where I devoured 3 (yes three!) bowls of chili. It felt SO nice to eat and actually enjoy what I was eating. Then after a down pour of rain, we went trick-or-treating for a good hour and a half. And then I was done. Luckily, so was Toby. After we put him to bed, Nick and I ended the evening with watching the Oregon game and eating lots of left over candy.
I love Halloween.