Let it Snow!

The first (and only so far!) big snowstorm of the year was near the beginning of November.  The kids watched the snow fall all day long and were just dying to get out and play. 

 

 

When Spencer got home from school a bit early, it was time. 

 

We bundled all up and headed outside to make some snowmen. 

 

The kids could not get enough of the snow! They loved throwing it, sitting in it, and making snowmen. 

 

 

Two of their friends, Lucy and William, came by and helped out with making the snowmen too. 

We attempted some group photos with our snowmen but it's pretty impossible to get 4 kids looking at the same time! 

 

After all the cold fun, we headed inside for a warm cup of hot chocolate. 

Sadly, it melted the next week and we haven't had any since! Maybe in time for Christmas...

Sammy 2 1/2 Years Old

Sammy hit 2 1/2 at the beginning of November.  This little man's personality just keeps getting bigger and bigger - I'm not sure how it all fits in his little body!

He talks super well and says the funniest phrases.  He'll say to me, "Hi Mommy. How are you doing today?" And he has learned how to put annoyance or displeasure into his voice as he says, "Uhh! Mommy!" It's pretty cute and yet exasperating as well at times!

He loves all things boy now, though you will occasionally still find him in one of Lucy's dress up tutus, wings, or hats.  He loves trains, balls, and cars. He also loves to just carry around little toys and to take them to bed with him.  Right now he's got Rex and Buzz from Toy Story with him.  Last night he asked for his Percy train. 

He and Lucy play a lot together now.  They also fight a lot together now.  So they're pretty normal siblings. :)

He's started to show an interest in potty training.  We've got a couple of books from the library that he loves reading and we've gotten him some train undies.  He almost always says yes if we ask if he wants to sit on the potty and once even suggested it himself.  Spencer and I are thinking we'll actively try over Christmas break. 

 

He has kind of hit the terrible twos as well - getting more demanding and physical if he doesn't get his way.  This is a new fun challenge for us! He is a sweetheart as well though and freely gives hugs and kisses. We sure love this little guy! :)

A Tangled Halloween

Now that it's December, maybe I'll get our Halloween pics up, huh? ;)

 

Lucy decided that she wanted to be Rapunzel from Tangled this year. 

So, in keeping with our matching costumes, we all dressed the parts.  Sammy was Pascal, the chameleon; Spencer was Flynn Rider; and I was Mother Gothel, the mean lady.

 

 

We had lots of parties to attend - the ward party, Lucy's Preschool Party, a Halloween themed birthday party, Spencer's school parade, and, of course, trick or treating. 

 

 

However, there was no point where all four of us were in costume when it was light outside for a proper photo shoot. Sad! Maybe we'll have to put them all on soon just for some photos!

We had a fun Halloween though - carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating.

 

 

 

And the costumes were awesome! My mom made Lucy, Sammy's, and Spencer's costumes, with a little help from me and Grandma. They turned out awesome.  I borrowed a cape from my Aunt Kay and found a red dress from Goodwill. The only photo I have of me is less than awesome. Oh, well - I can blame it on pregnancy hormones, right?! :)

Announcing Number 3!

Van Hoose offspring number 3 is brewing! We've announced it on Facebook and told pretty much everyone but I realized I haven't announced it on the blog.  So, even if it's just for my own records (as this has become both my scrapbook and journal), here's the big announcement. Also, a couple of photos. :)

We've been wanting to have another baby for a couple of months and were disappointed to find out near the beginning of September that we weren't pregnant.  I was really sick and ended up going into Instacare and while there they ran a pregnancy test that came back negative. A week and a half later I had my annual OB/GYN appointment and was really weirded out because my period was really late and it is usually never late, though it had been the month before too. The sweet nurse decided to run another pregnancy test, just to be sure.  Not five minutes later she came in the room with the positive test results! I was so relieved and excited that I started to cry.  The first test had just been too early.  I was only 5 weeks along.
 

 

We kept it to ourselves for a couple of weeks but we are both just so horrible at keeping secrets.  The kids and I made these shirts for them to wear and that's how they announced it to my mom, Spencer's parents, and my grandparents.  We didn't see my dad for quite awhile and I wanted to tell them in person.  The first chance I got was on Halloween.

At the beginning on November, I had my first baby appointment and got to glimpse this little one for the first time.  Here are the ultrasound pics.  The best one is in the middle. You can see the profile of the baby with the head on the left of the photo.  The baby is growing right on schedule. Oh! And the due date is June 6th! My 31st birthday! How cool is that!?

 

 This has been my hardest pregnancy so far - I have been a lot sicker than I ever was with Lucy or Sammy but they have been patient with their "boring Mommy." I've also had some help from friends, family, and, of course, Spencer. Now that I'm in the second trimester, I've noticed the nausea and stomach pains getting less often.  I've lost 11 pounds since I found out I was pregnant too, which is actually kind of a nice side effect.  I started way higher than I wanted to and higher than I did with either Lucy or Sammy so it will give me a bit of a cushion. We are excited to meet this little one. Lucy has already decided it's a girl and has started picking out names. ;)

The House of Mouse (Cali Trip Part 3)

Thursday we headed off to the Taj Mahal of Southern California - Disneyland! Spencer's sister Tracie has friends that work there and they were able to use their extra passes to get us in for free. What a blessing! We took the obligatory photo out front but honestly, I looked terrible, so we're starting with the mouse himself!

 

Sammy wasn't too sure about meeting Mickey, and Lucy wanted nothing to do with him but Spencer and I were happy for the photo op without the giant line. :)

 

Our first stop was the carousel which we thought was a pretty safe bet as the kids have ridden them before. Lucy loved it.

Sammy did not. lol!

The kids took some time warming up to everything around them.  They were a bit overwhelmed and it took a few hours but then they absolutely loved it!

 

Grandma Van Hoose came with us too which was fun for the kids, and helpful for Spencer and I.

 

Spencer demonstrates why I am not seen in this picture. That would be me if I were riding the tea cups!

 

One ride the kids both loved was the Buzz Lightyear ride. We rode it twice even. It was so dark though that this is the only picture that ended up in focus.

 

Lucy loved the castle and the whole princess thing.

 

And she was so excited to see where Rapunzel was. She made plans to get brave and go meet her later.

 

We watched the musical parade while we were there and this might have been my favorite part of the day.  The kids got so excited to see their favorite characters. The first princess to come by was Ariel and we told Lucy to wave to her. After she waved, Ariel looked down at her and waved back and the expression on Lucy's face was priceless. It was like, "oh my gosh! She just looked at me! I can't believe it!" It was that magic that people always talk about that's there at Disneyland. She had a similar experience with Rapunzel as well.

 

Friday we were supposed to go back to Disneyland and get in with another friend of Tracie's but his passes were blocked out because of Mickey's Trick or Treat that night. We were a bit disappointed but spent the day shopping, cleaning out the car, and resting instead. The Lego store at Downtown Disney was super cool and had this Buzz and Woody out front that are made completely out of Legos.

We also stopped by the team store at Angel's Stadium to pick me up an Angels cap.

 

Saturday we had planned to head back to Utah but when we had the chance to spend one more day at Disneyland, we decided to extend the trip a day. We got there nice and early and it was drizzling a bit so the crowds were really low to begin the day.  We hopped on Peter Pan which is always super busy and hit a few more rides before heading to toontown. There we meet Pluto but no one wanted to be in a picture with him - just to say hi.

 

Mommy and the kiddos got in a bit of trouble at the dog pound.

 

And Lucy and Sammy took a ride on the firetruck.

 

Toontown has such great places for photo ops!

 

After a bunch of rides and lunch, Sammy and I rode the train around the park while Spencer and Lucy stood in line to meet her favorite princess Rapunzel.  Spencer said they waited 40 minutes, which I guess isn't too bad.  She was so excited and Rapunzel loved her long hair.  Spencer joked with Flynn Rider and Rapunzel and Lucy spun in their princess dresses before the visit ended. She was so happy about it later. :D

 

The visit brought her out of her shell a bit and Spencer was able to get a bit of a photo shoot out of her in front of the castle. This is my favorite.

 

On a whim, Spencer decided to see if there were any other princesses by the wishing well and he must have just hit it right because they only had to wait 10 minutes before they met Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother. Cinderella, of course, commented on their beautiful matching dresses.

 

And they were able to catch Snow White and the Evil Queen before we headed out of the park for an afternoon nap and break.

 

Later that evening we headed to Cars town.  We rode Mater's Tractor ride and both of the kids absolutely loved it.

 

We also stopped and met Mater himself. Carstown is super cool - they made it look just like Radiator Springs in the movie.  We also headed back over to Disneyland and had great seats for Fantasmic.  The kids were amazed by it. If you ask Sammy about Disneyland he'll say he saw Mickey and that Mickey beat the dragon.  We also watched the fireworks and then took in one last ride - Soarin' Over California.  What a cool ride that was! Lucy was big enough to ride but Sammy wasn't so Spencer and Lucy went and then Lucy and I got to go right back on, which was pretty cool.

 

Sunday morning we packed up the car and headed home.  It was such a horrible car ride! The kids got to bed so late the night before and then woke up when we got in the car so they were so ornery. We had such a great time but we were so glad to see our little house when we finally pulled up!

 

So many people made our trip possible and so enjoyable. The Weinstocks and Spencer's cousin Wendi were so welcoming in their homes. Tracie's friends were so giving in helping us out with Disneyland. His aunt and mom were so generous. People are amazing!

All Things Aquatic (Cali Trip Part 2)

Tuesday we packed a lunch and headed down to San Diego and Sea World.  

 

San Diego is about an hour and a half's drive from Anaheim and Sammy was so ornery on the way down.  He finally feel asleep about 10 minutes before we got there!

 

 

Once there, we checked out the polar bears and beluga whales first. The kids got a kick out of watching the bear swimming in the water.  

 

 

We also checked out some other animal exhibits at first - the sharks and sea turtles and such.  Then we headed over to the dolphin show. It was pretty cool.  Not only did the dolphins do tricks but there were divers too that were pretty cool to watch.  

 

 

After that we took the kids to the kiddie rides.  While there we ran into my old roommate Shanna! Small world! We were roommates while I lived in Cedar City and now she lives with her husband and two cute girls in Willard, Utah.  So it was pretty random to see her there!

 

 

After lunch we hit up the Shamu show which was awesome, as usual.  

 

 

We also pet the Bat Rays.  Lucy really liked that, and really, so did I. :)  

 

 

On the way to our last show of the day, we stopped and visited the Sea Lions.  They were super loud!

 

 

We ended our adventure with our favorite show of the day - the Clyde and Seamore Spooky Adventure.  It's got sea lions and an otter that interact with actors and it's pretty entertaining. We all got a kick out of it.

 

On the way out of the park, we attempted a family photo.  The kids were so tired though! Next time we'll do it on the way in! :)

 

 

Wednesday we went to the beach again but this time to one a bit closer. We went to the one Spencer used to always go to growing up - Bolsa Chica beach.

 

It's a more traditional beach - long and sandy without the tide pools.  

 

We had lunch and spent hours playing in the sand, making sand castles, playing in the waves, and looking for sea shells.  

 

We found a ton too, once we found the right spot and technique.  We brought a whole gallon-sized baggie full home. Spencer even found a sand dollar.  Sadly, I broke that too. :(  

 

We borrowed a boogie board from the Weinstocks and Spencer went out and caught a few waves.  Unfortunately, something bit him while he was out in the water, cutting his wave time short.  It was the first time that had ever happened to him!  

 

By the time we were done, the kids were out! This happened so many times on our trip but this was the only pic we got of the kids crashed in the backseat.  They are so cute. :)