Do me a favor...

If you are a reader of my blog and you have a blog that is not listed on my list, could you please post a comment with it so I can add it. Chances are I have no idea you have a blog and if I have seen it, I've lost the address. I love reading blogs because I feel like I get to know people better that I might not otherwise have the chance. Thanks much!

Christmas Parties

I have tried like 15x to upload these photos and it kept timing out. Finally got it to work tonight. We had such a blast at my Dad's Christmas party. We first had a wonderful Mexican feast. Then the grandchildren re-enacted the Nativity scene. As you can tell, Katelyn was ecstatic to be Mary, she even carried her role when she met Santa. Preston was a Wise Man. Then we sang Christmas carols and Santa came. My step Mom Rochelle knows how to do sign language and she taught her grand daughter the signs to "Mary Did You Know." Katelyn and I have been singing it ever since. We had such a great time and can't wait until next year!

Callister Family Party was last night and it was such a blast. The white elephant gift exchange was eventful to say the least. This year we opened a live mouse, a frozen dead goose, and a jar of ya da da da.... POOP! What the hell? Poop, yikes. We need to have rules for next year. The mouse was the life of the party. Well besides the lottery tickets, which Stephen ended up with. I have never seen so many Mormons fight over lottery tickets. And then they all crowded around to watch him scratch and see if he won. Which he did, $9 bucks baby! What up?

Home-Made Hair Cuts

Home-made hair cuts at the Nicolaysen house!! Stephen cuts his own hair, he has since I have known him. So anywho, he cut his hair today, then tonight we cut Preston's hair. Katelyn was feeling a little left out. I told her I would take her somewhere and she said she wanted me to do it. So I did, and it actually looks pretty cute, if I do say so myself. We probably took 3 inches off. Buddy is bald, it will take a while for me to get used to it, he's still pretty cute though. I couldn't get him to pose for the camera, Katelyn is a champ.

Post Overload, keep scrolling

Katelyn had her dance recital last night. She was so stinking cute. I was so proud of her. She did really good. I told her that her dad was going to buy her a rose and then they sold out. So when she got done, she asked for her roses like 5 times. Stephen ran to the store and bought her a dozen. They danced to "These are a few of my Favorite things."

Katelyn is in love with the Grinch movie. During rehearsal the song before she was to go out was Mr. Grinch. Katelyn started crying because she wanted to dance to the Grinch song. I was terrified she was going to throw another fit, but she did really good. She sang along to the song, it was cute.

Afterwards we went to Artic Circle with Aunt Julia, and Grandpa and Grandma Nicolaysen. What a great family night. My mother also came but left right afterwards.

I love this picture with her in her winter coat and rain boots. Hello, Idaho!

I love this picture because it appears that they are having a conversation and Preston thinks it's pretty amuzing.

Katelyn seemed timid and shy the whole time but she sat with Santa for 5-10 minutes, sang a song at the top of her lungs and let him read her letter.

Stephen, Preston, and "the soilder of love". Katelyn was in love with him last year, this year it's Preston's turn.

I really wanted these pictures, I didn't turn out as attractive as I had hoped.

When in doubt, turn the picture into black and white. :)

Katelyn colored a picture for Santa and I helped her write a letter. Apparently there is a Santa and then there is a Clause. Clause is going to turn into a little baby, a baby girl. Katelyn has been obsessed with babies. She has been telling people that her mom is going to have a baby girl. Not true by the way. :) She sang him a Christmas song that went like this, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..(gibberish to the tune)." and then repeat about 10 times.

Bronco Games..

Katelyn hanging out with cute cousin Cade. She adores him. He looks so stylish and was a great fan clapping for the Broncos!! Here's Stephen teaching Preston what he knows how to do best. Yell and taunt the other team. Preston got the hang out it pretty quick.

I love this picture with Carl and Preston intently watching the game. Too cute.

We have only been able to go to one Bronco Basketball game this year but are planning on hitting a whole slew of them. Last year was chaos because I was breast feeding Preston and Katelyn kept running off. This time Preston just hung out and yelled and clapped. Katelyn wanted to go upstairs to get her coated almonds and then she was great. We look forward to more games and our kids behaving!!

Freaky

Sometimes I have these things that I would like to refer to as "night terrors". One time I thought a man was standing by the side of my bed and I started screaming. Another time there was a ghost lady at the end of my bed and I freaked out. One time I thought a spider was coming down on my head and I freaked out again. And sometimes I just scream and wake myself and Stephen up or I just start crying. Usually I am in a trance and I am not sure what happened, but everytime it freaks me out. Well last night I had one and Katelyn was in our bed. I don't remember what happened but when I came to, she was at the end of our bed and said that I was pushing her. She wouldn't even sleep by me for the rest of the night because I scared her so bad. Isn't that freaky? How do you even help something like this? I am obviously a freak. Just kidding, but seriously I feel bad that it affected Katelyn. Thanks for letting me vent, it was a whole lot cheaper than counseling! :)

My awesome kids

Okay maybe I am a bad mom but I burst out laughing when Katelyn told me this and I have been laughing ever since. We went to a movie with the Nicolaysen's today and Katelyn and Preston were babysat by this sweet 13 year old girl from their ward. When we got home she told us the kids were angels, Katelyn confessed later that this was not the truth.

Katelyn: Guys I have a question.

Mom and Dad: Okay what's your question?

Katelyn: Molly was really mean to me and said, "Don't pick your nose." And I started crying and I said, "I will kill you."

Mom and Dad: (Laughing but trying really hard not to) Katelyn we don't talk like that, we don't kill people.

Katelyn: Well I won't kill her but if she is mean to me, then I will kill her.

Yikes. Don't know where she learned that. She cracks us up everyday.

On a Happier note:

Preston has been talking up a storm. He says "juice" when he is thirsty and sees a drink. He can say da da, ma ma, ba ba, but now he has also started to say sissy, and cheese. How cute is that? Stephen was eating a roll the other day and we both swear he said jibrish that sounded almost identical to "my roll". With him walking all over the place and his cute little hair cut, he is turning into a little boy. I am so thankful for both my children.

Grateful Downgrade

Sorry but I don't want to annoy anyone with 5 things to read so I am just going to do one a day. That way I can elaborate if I want to.

Today I am grateful that I get to be a stay at home mom. I am also grateful that I enjoy it. I think that every mom needs to do what works for them. I don't think every mom should stay home because some are better off working and so are their children. I feel bad for the mom's that have to work when they would prefer to stay home. I am just so grateful that I am able to and I feel that it is my calling in life. Even though my children can't thank me for doing it, I feel fulfillment by being with them.

Grateful Day 4

1. I am grateful we own our home.
2. I am grateful we are not in debt besides our home.
3. I am grateful we have a savings account.
4. I am grateful for all the friends I have made from the Kuna 8th ward.
5. I am grateful for date nights, tonight is one of those and I can't wait!

Grateful Day 3

1. I am grateful for my sewing lessons that I received for Christmas last year and am just now doing today. Opps.

2. I am grateful for Preston sleeping through the night the last 3 nights. I have been conditioned to jump up and make him a bottle whenever he cries and the Doctor told me to cut him off. I have and surprise, he has slept!

3. I am grateful for Diet Coke. I am addicted, and I love it.

4. We were supposed to go on a dinner date last night and Katelyn got a fever so we had to stay home. I am grateful for Stephen picking up a pizza last minute so I didn't have to cook. And for picking up popsicles, and for unloading and loading the dishwasher. You rock my socks.

5. I am grateful that we have 2 beautiful cars that function properly and I don't have to worry if they are safe to transport my children. That is a huge blessing.

Thankful Day 2

1. I am thankful for health insurance. It is a great blessing that I don't have to stress when my family is sick and to be able to get our teeth cleaned 2x a year.

2. I am thankful for my weight loss. It has helped me to feel more like myself and also feel that I am important enough to take time for myself. Mychildren are better off because I am happier.

3. I am thankful that I got to go zip lining in Maui, it was something that I have always wanted to do.

4. I am thankful that Preston is walking. He is too cute and it is so fun to see him grow.

5. I am thankful for Katelyn and her spunky attitude and shear honesty. She is the reason that I am up right now at 5 am. She had a coughing fit which turned into a drink, a snack, potty time, and who knows what. Normally I don't give her juice at night, but she asked for it and I said yes because she is sick.

She said, "Wow you are being really nice to me. Why are you giving me juice at night?"

Mom: "Because you are sick and I love you."

Katelyn: "Ya and when I am better and you tell me no, then I will cry and say, I want juice, I want juice."

YIKES!! Well at least I know that when she whines that she knows exactly what she is doing which makes it 10x easier to tell her NO. Ha ha.

This is for you Amberly...

Okay so my cousin Amberly challenged readers of her blog to post 5 things they are grateful for until Thanksgiving. I will do my best, so hold on for the ride. I am grateful everyday, it's just posting it that will be the challenge. :) These are all random for the days and aren't in order of importance.

1. My iphone has these awesome apps. Like one that tells me all of the calories in fast food items so I don't eat something crazy. And my newest favorie that is a checklist. I am definately a list person. This reminds me to floss my teeth, say my personal prayers, and read my scriptures. I know that's sad for a girl my age but I didn't grow up doing it daily so I am a work in progress.

2. I am grateful that I can go to the grocery store and I don't have to worry about what I am buying. I can afford all the food that we need and then some. I always want to buy groceries for people when I see them in line putting things back or not buying alot. It makes me sad, people should be able to buy groceries.

3. I am grateful for my adorable children. They challenge me everyday, and they make me laugh everyday. I love that I loved them from the first minute they arrived and I love that they also loved me. Our love is eternal and unconditional, it amazes me quite often.

4. I am grateful that Stephen and I are still very much in love. He gets more and more handsome to me. We have a fantastic relationship. We are very good friends and we enjoy being with one another.

5. I am grateful that I can continue to grow and learn with my knowledge of the gospel. My testimony isn't the strongest and I love that I can still work on it.

See you tomorrow! Any one else want to get in on this? Just until Thanksgiving, let's be grateful!!!

A Week in Maui

We just went to Maui and had a blast. While we were there we saw:

The ocean.
The Geico gecko.
Exotic island girls.
Preston and Stephen topless. (It wasn't pretty.)

Beautiful Hawaiian sunsets.

Happy Birthday Preston!!

Just a random picture of Preston when he was a little baby. Preston got a truck, a walker, a book, a ball, a bear, and lots of clothes.

This is a picture of Preston's cake. As you can tell, it got a little destroyed at the bottom. While we were showing the cake to Preston he started to kick his little legs and his foot went right where his name was. Ha ha.

Katelyn was a big helper and was more than willing to help Preston open all of his presents. She even volunteered and blew out his candle. What would he do without her?

Okay so in this picture Preston looks fairly clean. Don't let it fool you, he ate the frosting, then the cake, then the plate. He just couldn't get enough.

Our baby boy is now a big boy. He is such a joy to our lives and we can't imagine life without him. Part of me is sad because I don't want another baby for a long time but then I am excited to watch him grow and experience new things. He was absolutely spoiled for his birthday. Our house is filled with new toys and clothes. Katelyn has claimed his toys as her own and throws a fit if he gets close. Preston is very fast at crawling, has taken steps, can usually take about 4-6 steps in between things. He has 10 teeth and 2 more molars are on the way. We love this boy so much!

Hilarious

This video is hilarious. It is a little long, so don't feel like you need to watch the whole thing. Half way through you see what Katelyn is doing to make Preston laugh. Man I love these kids!

Cry

Yesterday Katelyn told me she was going to die and I got a little sad. Tonight while I was putting her to bed she told me she was going to die and I cried my eyes out. She was saying that she was going to die and she was going to be all sparkly and it's okay because she would still be Katelyn. She even mentioned that she would still have long blonde hair. Is that not scary? I love that little girl so much and I cannot even imagine my life without her in it. She is so beautiful and intelligent. She has such a strong will and personality, she talks all day long, sometimes she drives me crazy, but she is mine and I love her with all my heart. So Katelyn, please don't die. I am going to dry my tears now and try to enjoy the evening with my hubby without my hormones getting in the way. :)

Girls Night Out..

Just decided last night to do a girls night out. If you want to come, call me and I will give you the details. Should be lots of fun!!

Need some advice..

Okay I don't know how to do a poll thing and even if I did, I want to know who is saying what. I am going to get my hair done soon and I am wondering if I should do blond again or go brown. Also I am considering growing my hair out, do you think I should or do you think I should cut it shorter? Thanks. Please help me out on this.

Married to Daddy...

Okay so funny story. I dropped off a thank you note to Lee Read Jewelers for fixing my ring, and Katelyn noticed it was a jewelry store. I told her that was where Daddy bought my wedding ring. I showed her my finger and briefly explained the purpose of it. She replied, "Oh ya, you are married to daddy and so am I." So I snottily said, "Oh where's your ring?" She looked at her finger and replied that she didn't have one but when she gets bigger, she will have one. And then a minute later she replied, "Oh yeah, I do have a ring, it's at home in my princess game!" I love that girl.

I wanted to give a shout out to my in-laws. Stephen's grandparents came into town unexpectedly and it was so good to see them. I absolutely love my in-laws. I have felt so welcomed into this family and I love each one of them. I started crying tonight as we were saying our good-byes because they are both in their 80's and I am terrified that every time I see them it will be the last time. My father in law gave me a big hug and told me how much he loved me. I am so thankful to that man and the fatherly love that he shows to me every time I see him. He always greets me with a smile and we part with a hug. I am so grateful for him, we tease each other all the time, but I know that he knows who I am and loves me unconditionally. I am very lucky.

New Family Pictures

We got our pictures taken at the Boise Train Depot by Kay C. Gordon. She did such a great job, we are so excited on how they turned out. For those of you who know me, you know I am not this cute in real life, Stephen and my kids are however. Kay C. does such a great job with kids. Katelyn kept running off and she was able to capture her attention for just the right amount of time.

The Beach

Okay so I love this picture of Preston. He has had his tounge out constantly but I can never capture it right. That is totally a trait from my side of the family, thanks to my dad. I used to also do it as a child, I think it's adorable. Preston reminds me of a puppy. Constantly has his tounge out, crawls on all fours, throws up and then tries to eat it, begs for food, drools constantly, you get the concept. I love that kid.

Katelyn trying desperately to get away.

So I am not biased. I love both my children equally. The only difference is Katelyn knows how to walk and nearly refused to pose for pictures. Preston on the other hand, didn't have a choice. We had a great time at the beach. Preston loved the water and kept trying to get away from us to go to it. Katelyn loved the sand, she kept finding "friends" to play with. Usually I don't like to get dirty but that day I played like a kid. We threw sand on eachother and built a sand castle and buried one another. It was really quite fun and relaxing to not worry about the mess.

Six Flags

While we were in California, I got to choose something fun that I wanted to do. So I did a little research and found a Six Flags an hour away. There were dolphins, whales, giraffes, elephants, lions, fun rides for adults and kids. It was like everything rolled into one. I was so excited. My uncle watched Preston all day and my aunt took Katelyn for most of the time so I could go on some fun rides with my cousin. Katelyn with Sylvester. She didn't know who he was but she was still excited!Look carefully at the elephant, he is holding a man in there!

Katelyn threw the biggest fit of her life on the car ride there. Her eyes are proof with the bags, this was right after the dolphin show started.

This was one of the roller coasters that I rode on a couple of times. I wanted to take a picture to remind me that I am still kind of cool. Although I did feel sick after a lot of rides, I can't take the G force since having kids. Stay tuned for pictures of the beach and to see me in a swim suit. Woot woot. I know you are so excited.

Faulty Products

I hate it when I buy a product and it fails. I used to just cut my losses and be annoyed with the company. Not any more. Now if I am sold a faulty product I call the 800# of the company and give them the chance to make it right. I don't do it dishonestly to get free product, only to replace the product that failed. I bought some jeans from the Gap for $60, they started to fall apart. I went to the store, emailed, called and got the run around everytime, so I wrote into the Corporate address, and got a coupon for jeans!!! I am so pleased that they do care about customers. Just wanted to give them a positive shout out. Also one to Lee Read. My wedding ring kept splitting at the bottom. They really fixed it this time without me having to ask them because they recognized it wasn't my fault. I am so glad this is over and ended positively.

Dance Class and French Fries

Okay this picture just makes me laugh. I was on the computer and suddenly it got very quiet, so I came to investigate. This is what I found. Preston in heaven. He has a nugget in each hand shoving both in his mouth and is surrounded by french fries. Good thing Katelyn didn't eat all of her dinner.

Katelyn started dance today with Miss Kami. Her class is a mixture of ballet, jazz, and tap. She did such an awesome job. I was so proud of her. Her teacher does a great job and I am sure that she is going to love it. She kept laughing and checking herself out in the mirror. When we got home we did some of our moves for dad. I reminded Katelyn of one, and she said, "You did that bad, you need to do it like this." She has such a funny yet sassy attitutude. I am in trouble.

Tomorrow we are off to San Fransisco to see my Aunt Robyn. My grandma graciously agreed to go with us to help me on the flight. We leave our house at 6:30 am, wish me luck!