Surprise Bathroom Redo

Zachary has some bath crayons that he has really been excited about lately. Usually he uses them to decorate the tub while he's taking a bath. He's very proud of his creations in the tub. Last night after we put the kids to bed Brad and I heard some noise in the bathroom upstairs. When we went up there we discovered that Zachary had put decorations on every surface he could find. Here are some samples of his work.

A wall

Another wall. Notice what the writing says.

The edge of the tub.

The shower wall.

And of course, you can't forget the toilet seat. He wrote "I love Brad" and "I love Zachary".

Well, after seeing this I was getting ready to give him a stern lecture about coloring only on things that are appropriate to color on when he looked up at me with his cute little face and his big blue eyes. He said, "Mommy, I wanted to make your bathroom beautiful. Don't you think it looks pretty?" My heart melted, and I told him that it was beautiful, but that he should keep the crayons in the tub.

I have a big job ahead of me to get all the marks off of everything, but it was totally worth it. This will always be a fun memory we can look back on and get a good laugh out of.

What You Have All Been Waiting For

I have had a really busy week so it has taken awhile for me to get around to blogging about our good news. I had my ultrasound on Monday. Here is a picture of our little bundle of joy.

And the really exciting news is that the baby is a girl! We have our little girl. I'm excited to have a new experience. It will be fun to see how the boys interact with her. We are very happy, and can't wait to see her!

Fun Cake

Tonight the Young Women in our ward are having a dinner and a cake auction to earn money for girls camp this summer. Since I am one of the leaders, and because I love to bake I decided to make a cake to donate to the cause. Normally I would make a plain old cake and decorate it with homemade frosting, but this time I decided to do something a little different. I didn't have the time to meticulously decorate it, and I didn't want the leftover frosting around to tempt me. I don't normally take a risk by doing something new when it is for someone else, but I'm glad I took the chance. I think it turned out well.


This is a Neapolitan cake. It is a vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate cake. On the top is some powdered sugar, white chocolate, pink white chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate drizzled on top. I will probably have to try it again someday so I actually get to see what it tastes like. It was fun to make, and pretty easy.

Zachary's Birthday Pictures

Better late than never I guess. I was sick most of February, so I never got around to posting these, but as promised here are some pics from Zachary's birthday.

Playing Simon Says

Reading his birthday cards all by himself.

Playing Gator Golf. Thank you Graces for the fun game.

Doing Dot-to-Dots with Great Grandma

Happy Valentine's Day

I thought I would write down a few of the things that I have been thinking about today since it is Valentine's Day. We didn't really do anything special today, but we did spend the day together as a family. I feel like it was more a day to reflect on the past seven years since Brad and I met. Our relationship has been through so many different stages and trials. Most of them have really strengthened our relationship.

It is hard to believe that it has been over a year now since I almost lost Brad. For those of you who don't know, Brad had a ruptured appendix a year ago last October. He has been walking around with it that way for days. When he finally was able to see his doctor he was immediately sent to the hospital. The surgeon that night told me that if we had waited another day that Brad might not have made it. That was probably the scariest night of my life. After nearly two weeks in the hospital Brad was healthy again, and our lives were totally changed.

Since that experience not a day goes by that I don't think about how blessed I am. I appreciate my husband so much more, and I love him so much more. I don't think there is anything in my life that was harder than that experience, but it has given me the most blessings. I now have a deep gratitude for the wonderful husband that I have been blessed with, and I spend every day grateful that I still have him with me.

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day, and I hope that you take some time to thank Heavenly Father that you have your Valentine in your life.

Tribute to My Zachy Boo

This last week was Zachary's birthday and he turned 5. I can't believe he is that old already. I have pictures of his birthday, but my mom got better ones. So, while I wait for her pics I thought I would just do a little picture tribute to my little guy. Here are some of my favorite pics of him over the years.

Ramen Noodles, Pickles, and Laffy Taffy

Okay, so I have been having some really strong and crazy cravings. I never really had any cravings with the boys, so this is a whole new world to me. Sometimes my cravings are so bad that I can't concentrate on anything else. What have I been craving...

Tootsie pops, Laffy Taffy, Winger's Original Sauce, Chinese food, Pickles, anything really salty, potatoes in all varieties, anything with mustard on it, and the list goes on and on.

So, all you mommies out there, feel free to share some of you weird cravings with me. Maybe if I hear some of your craving I'll feel a little more normal.