Merry Christmas from the Barkley's!!!

Annual Friend Christmas Party!

Every year my friends and i get together for dinner and a present exchange. Last night we had our party at the restaurant Trio. The food was so good, i could not believe how much i ate and i didn't even get sick. We had a great time chatting and catching up and i even scored a really cute hate and gloves from Banana Republic, thanks to Becky. My friends will kill me for posting this pic, they were all laughing when they saw it, since it was taken at such a bad angle, but i didn't have another one and i want to show how cute they all are. Beck, you look beautiful for being 8 1/2 months prego, don't hate me! :)

Temple Square...

Last Saturday we went to dinner with Chuck's fam and then after they all went to see the lights at Temple Square. Unfortuneatly, i got too sick after dinner to see the lights, so i had to wait in the car. I was so bummed, but i am so glad that Ander had such a fun time. Ander and Brielle were so cute all bundled up.

Here's what we have been up to....

Went to lunch with Tiffany to see her cute new baby boy Logan. (Trist and i are on the other side of the table.)

I went to Becky's baby shower, she is due in January with a girl and i am so excited for her!

We had a wonderful and super tasty Thanksgiving at the Barkley's. Chuck did a fantastic job of cutting the turkey and Karen did an amazing job of cooking all of the yummy food. Too bad i was so sick afterwards, but it was still nice to eat such good food and chill with the family.

We put up our first Christmas tree (thanks to Beck and Jon). We also saw the baby's heartbeat last week and all is looking well so far. Woo hoo 6 1/2 more months to go. Please just tell me that the indigestion will not last the entire time. :) This pic is so my parents can see my baby bump.

Tagged by Becky...

to write 6 random things about me.

I was really shy when i was younger and still am sometimes. I would never want to get up in church to give a prayer, talk, or comment ever and i really hate that about me. I just wish i was more outgoing, i can always work on that i guess.

I have to cover my entire head, except my nose, with my covers at night to sleep.

When i was younger, my family always told me that i was adopted and that my name was really "Fina Foster" (as in foster child) and that i was really black. They even put a sign on me that said something about me being a foster child and they put me out in the front yard, so someone would come and pick me up. What mean siblings, hu? :)

I was on the drill team in high school for one year and i only performed in like 3 dances the whole year. I never took any dance classes my whole life, so you can see why i was not good enough to perform. It was still a really fun experience though.

I think about food and what i am going to eat all day long.

Whenever i am at home, i always wear my pajamas. I only wear normal clothes if i go somewhere and then as soon as i get home, i change back into my jammies, even if it means i will be in them most of the day. I have to be comfy when i am home! Chuck does not change into comfy clothes until the second before he goes to bed, he never says anything to me about it, so i will keep on doing it.

I am tagging anyone who wants to do this.

Thankful...

I decided to copy Jenn and blog about what i am thankful for this week.
I am thankful that my computer is working today, since it has not been all week.
I am thankful Chuck made it home safe from his business trip yesterday and that he still has a job.
I am thankful for my sister for coming over and making me dinner 3 times this week and for playing with Ander. I do not know what i would do without her.
I am thankful that i am not feeling as sick as i was last week, at least not as much in the morning, nights are still bad.
I am thankful that i feel sick, since that is a good sign for a healthy pregnancy.
I am thankful for food.
I am thankful that Ander woke up at 6:15 today, instead of 5:30, since he has been waking up at that time every day since the time change. Who wants to wake up at 5:30 am???
I am thankful for the gym to help me get off my butt and Ander loves it too.
I am thankful for my friends and their good motherly advice.
I am thankful my parents will be coming home from their mission before the baby comes.
I could go on and on, but i thought instead of complaining about how sick and tired i have been , i would focus on the positive, which is definitely alot.
Also, for those who asked, i am only 9 weeks along, i still have a long way to go. :)

Ander wants to tell you something...

So since a few people have been inquiring about me lately, i thought i would just come out and spill the beans. I am not that far along yet, so hopefully, everything will go well, but i am just so excited, i can't wait to tell everyone. I cannot believe how fast i am starting to show this pregnancy, it is nuts!! I have been feeling really nauseas the last week and so the only thing that helps me to feel better is food. At least i am being healthy and not throwing everything up. We definitely feel it is the right time to have another one, so that Ander can have a buddy to play with and we are very fortunate that we are able to get prego so easily.

(Don't ya just love our homemade shirt that Ander is wearing?)

A Ninja and a Monkey Terrorize the Neighborhood!

These kids would not hold still long enough for me to get a good pic, at least they had tonz of fun running around and eating lots of candy.

We love Pumpkin Patches!

We took Trista's suggestion and went to the Pumpkin Patch by her house today. It is a great pumpkin patch and the weather was absolutely perfect!

Brothers from another Mother (i copied my sis for this title)

Ander and Dawson see eachother almost every day, so it is not a surprise that they get along so well and love playing with eachother. We went to the Cheesecake Factory yesterday for lunch and Dawson was so exhausted that he layed his head on the table and almost fell asleep. Dawson was really grouchy since he was so tired, so Ander thought that he would try to cheer Dawson up. Ander and Dawson just kept looking at eachother and laughing, it was so funny. I tried to capture some of their silliness, and this is what i got...

FYI: My computer is working a little better, but it still shuts off alot while i am on it and all of the keys stick and some do not even work. Hopefully, it will not be ruined completely like Jenn's is. It is so sad to not have a working computer, it is our lifeline to the outside world, we must have one! :)

Computer down....

My computer decided not to turn on today, so i will not be in the blogging world for a while. Hopefully, we can figure out why our computer is not working and i'll be back soon.

Quite the Scare....

I went to take out our garbage tonight, since our garbage man comes at 6:30 in the morning. Ander can now open all doors, so if the garage door is open, he will go out into the garage and run away from me. I thought that i had a house key on my car key ring, so i locked the garage door so Ander could not run out, while i was taking the garbage out. Once i came back to open the door, i noticed i did not have a house key and all of my other doors were bolted locked. Ander was locked in the house, screaming at the top of his lungs terrified because he knew i could not get back in to him. I tried to talk to him to see if he could unlock the door, but he was too hysterical to listen and he doesn't know how to figure that out yet. So, i decided to run to my neighbors house, even though i thought there was not much they could for me, since i knew all my doors and windows were locked and Chuck is the only one with a spare key and he is in Denver. My neighbors came over and tried to unlock my garage door with their key, since they are similar keys and that did not work and then i thought, "Chuck may have left our bathroom window unlatched". So i told my neighbor and they tried the window and lo and behold, it OPENED! I was so relieved, i thought i would for sure have to call a locksmith and have to leave my little guy in the house screaming for hours. Thank goodness for my neighbor for helping me out. Ander was so traumatized, i had to hold and cuddle him the rest of the night, poor kid, i felt soooo bad! So i will definitely never be locking Ander in the house again, lesson learned.

American Fork Canyon!

We took a drive up American Fork canyon on Tuesday night so we could see all of the leaves that had changed colors. We ate a little picnic at Silver Lake and Ander loved every minute of it! It was so gorgeous up there, i wish i could have taken more pics. Ander has now been saying every day since then, "mountain" and "bye river", bye water". Ander loves to see any body of water, especially waterfountains and waterfalls. I take him to see one of these at least once a week to keep him happy. I just love this time of year, except i really wish it did not have to get below 70 degrees, oh well. by the way, Ander insisted on wearing his hat and he would not sit still long enough for me to take more pics, silly boy!

You could win a free handbag by going here...

www.handbagplanet.com

I am not even joking but....

our dishwasher seriously just broke! What is going on????
Nevermind, Chuck was able to fix it! Yay for handy husbands!

Tagged by Katie....

8's

8 TV shows i love to watch:
The Hills
Real World/Road Rules Challenge
Take Home Chef
The First 48 Hours
Friends
Baby Story/Bringing Home Baby
Jon & Kate Plus 8
Oprah (sometimes)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Bonsai or Tepanyaki
Noodles & Company
Cheesecake Factory
Royal India
Thai Siam
Spaghetti Factory
Pizza & Pasta Factory
Tuscany/ Market Street
& Little America's Sunday Brunch is the best! (i could go on & on)

8 things that happened yesterday:
worked out at the gym
saw Trista and Beckham at the gym and talked to them for a bit
went to Robyn & Dawson's house to give Dawson back his stuffed doggy & sippy cup
took a nap
took a shower & found out after that my blowdryer would not work :(
colored with Ander
made a salad and popcorn for dinner
read some of "The Book Thief"

8 things i am looking forward to:
the weekend and not having Chuckles work
my parents coming home from their mission
selling our house and buying another one closer to family and that we can live in for a long time
having another baby
when Ander is potty trained
going on another vacation someday
my sister having another baby
going to Chuck's parents this Sunday for dinner

8 things i love about this Fall:
Halloween
Ander dressing up as a monkey
the leaves changing colors
the weather
Pumpin chocolate chip cookies & cake
Fall and Halloween decorations
soup
Fall clothes (wish i could get new ones, poor me) :)

8 things on my wish list:
That me and my family can all be happy and healthy
a bigger and nicer house and have all debt paid off
to go on a vacation to Europe
that Chuck won't have to work as much and get paid more (i can dream, right?)
that i can be a better mommy and wife
to have another healthy beautiful baby
to cook more and alot better
to learn how to swim better and not be scared of flying

8 people i Tag:
Jenn Y, Jenn H., Trista, Becky M., Katie B., Angie, Robyn, & Liz

When it Rains....

So this week has been a little challenging for us, but i know it could have been alot worse. Ander started throwing up on Sunday afternoon, which then led to him throwing up all night. He didn't throw up again until Wednesday night and ever since has had really bad diarrhea. I have said this before, but seriously nothing is sadder than seeing your little child throw up and feel so sick. I could not imagine if he actually ever had to be hospitalized with a serious illness, i would definitely not be able to handle that. So to add to the throw up mess, our washer broke on Monday and so did our disposal. After laying down alot of $, both are now fixed, which is a relief. Then today, i discovered that my blowdryer does not work. I know material things are not a big deal, but when you keep having to pay for stupid things breaking, it is a little frustrating. I have still had a pretty good week considering everything and have stayed positive through it all. I know i have way more good things going on than bad and that i have a great life, i just thought i would vent a little, just to blog it out.

Heart Murmur & Sleepy Lil' Guy!

When i took Ander to his 2 year dr. appt., the dr. told us that Ander had a heart murmur and that we should make an appt. with a cardiologist, just to make sure that everything was ok. So today i took Ander to the cardiologist and they did an EKG and echocardiogram and everything turned out just fine. I was so worried for no reason, thank goodness. Ander was so good and cute during the whole thing, especially since they gave him his own bottle of bubbles and 2 suckers. Also, Ander has really been into playing basketball and throwing balls up in the air. It is so funny to watch and so i took a little video of him doing it today. It is funnier when he is trying to make a basket, but oh well, it is still really cute. Ander missed his nap because of the dr. appt, so around 4:30, as Ander was eating an early dinner, he fell fast asleep. This has never happened, so he must have been so exhausted. I just love my little guy, he is a dream come true!

Beckham's Birthday Bash!

In the car after the party and after eating candy that made his face all chalky.

We sure had fun at Beckham's 2 year b-day party yesterday! Ander didn't really play in the pool, but he sure loved the bubbles and food. Ander is usually the loner in the bunch since he does not have any siblings (yet) and so he is a little standoffish when it comes to playing with other kids. Beck's was so cute though, i just love this age! I also loved being able to hang out with Trist, Jenn, and Katie, so it was a good time!

Chuckles Birthday Dinner....

We went up to Kaysville and had dinner at the good ol' Outback with Chuck's parents for his birthday. It was sure tasty and we had a great time hanging out with the parent's. Too bad we missed our movie time, but we still had fun. Thanks again Karen and John for the awesome dinner, we sure love you guys! Oh, an by the way, i cut 7 inches off of my hair, it is quite a fun change.

Happy Birthday to my Chuck and to little Beckham Prince!!

Hope you guys have a great day! We love you!!

End of Summer Party!

Jenn had a little end of summer party for her little boy Keaton on Monday and Ander and i had a great time! Jenn's huband Jason built the coolest fort with a slide and swings and all the kids just love it! Jenn also supplied lots of junk food, which Ander took part of the entire time we were there. Thanks for the fun party J! Too bad the weather will be going down hill and we won't be able to play outside as much.

House Pics!

Office (still need to organize)

Living Room

Kitchen

Entry Way

Guest Bath

Master Bath

Bedroom

Backyard

Front yard

We will be posting online this week, wish us luck!

House For Sale!!

We are taking the plunge and putting our house up for sale. We are just going to do it casually first to see what happens. So, if you know anyone who is interested in buying a house in Lehi, send them my way. I will post pics later after we get the house ready. We found the perfect house to buy, but we need to sale our house first, so wish us luck!

Fun Filled Weekend & a Near Death Experience!

We were planning on going to Bear Lake this weekend, but we found out the day we were leaving that the motor home had been tampered with, so we would not have any water for the trip. After trying to find a condo or cabin to stay in, we decided it would be too expensive, so we planned other activities.

On Friday, my awesome sister Leslie and her son Taylor babysat Ander and Dawson so we could go up to Park City. We rode the Alpine slide and the Alpine Coaster; it was a blast! I was a little scared on the coaster. The ride is very fast and jerky, but it turned out to be really fun.

Afterwards we ate dinner at Cisero's and it was so yummy! Thanks to Scott's work for paying for our entire evening of fun.

Then on Saturday, Chuck's mom came over early to watch the boys, so we could all go 4 wheeling up Bountiful peak. Chuck rode his dirt bike and the rest of us rode Scott's 4 wheelers, thanks again Scott!

On the trail towards the top, we got to a really rocky section, Scott led me up slow and steady, Robyn, on the other hand, decided to hit the gas going up, she lost control, hit a rut, launched into the air and disappeared off the side of a cliff. Chuck thought for sure that she was dead. So he rode up to her and found her under the 4 wheeler, stuck in the trees, on the side of the hill. It took 8 people helping us get the 4 wheeler out and Robyn had a bloody knee and was shaken. She toughed it out though and rode down the canyon.

I didn't want Robyn to feel embarassed about her crash, so on the way down I decided to fall off my 4-wheeler and hit the dirt hard. The difference between her crash and mine was the fact I was going maybe 5 mph down a smooth dirt road with no obstacles. I just leaped from the 4-wheeler and rolled in the dirt. It was hilarious. I guess I just wanted to make Robyn feel better : ).

Anyway - we all had fun and hope to go to the dunes soon.

ps-Chuck's mom took the cute pic of Ander and Dawson and of Ander in the helmet yesterday, so cute!