this happened the other day

and not just to her, but to the sofa, cabinets, desks, the ladder, chairs and windows in our library/office. this is a picture of said library/office. just imagine it with a white couch and love seat instead and a 2-year-old's sharpie art spread throughout and you've got the idea:
the best part was when she tried to barricade herself in when she saw me coming to investigate what was going on - standing behind the glass with arms and legs spread wide, looking and screaming at me like a wild animal.

*note the binky in the first picture. we have saved it as her first piece of artwork.

make you laugh one minute, break your heart the next

today about a minute after we drove past a school, anna says to me matter-of-factly, "mama, i just looked at my body and it's big enough for me to go to school now." i laughed and replied, "well sweetie, you just have to get a little bigger before you get to go to school." she thought for a second and i looked in the rear view mirror to find her inspecting her arms, legs, belly, etc, before she said, "no mom! look at my body! it's so big now!"

right after this exchange we pulled into the grocery store parking lot where a salvation army bell ringer was at work at the entrance. as we were walking in, anna was holding my hand and asked, "what's he doing mommy?" i looked down at her and replied, "he's collecting money to help people who don't have enough food to eat or presents for christmas." she looked up at me with big sad eyes and said, "oh mama. that's so sad. that is too bad."

we walked in the store and i spent the next 40 minutes shopping, thinking about how lucky i am that i can afford to buy all the groceries she needs, and feeling so grateful that she has never known hunger or cold or despair. and i thought about how it would feel as a mother if i had to struggle to feed my little girl, and mostly about kids who go to bed hungry.

on the way out we could hear the bells again and she said to me, "mama, we should give them some of our money." so i pulled a bunch of change out of my wallet and helped lift her little hand to the opening so she could drop it all in. after she was done i said, "maybe that will help someone not be as hungry." she replied, "awwww. that is so nice."

and then i spent the next 30 minutes fighting back tears. as i'm doing right now.

seeing blue

it's a boy!

(his name will most likely be "miller anders bates." miller after my grandparents, and anders is steve's middle name.)

i was 50-50 going into the doctor's office and couldn't say i had a stronger feeling one way or the other. she did all of the health screening and much to my relief everything was normal (i already have had all the pretesting, due to my "advanced maternal age" and all, but it's still nerve wracking). i happened to see the telltale body part before the ultrasound tech announced it and said, "it's a boy, isn't it?" to which she replied, "yes indeed." anna was with us and when i said, "anna, you're going to have a baby brother!" she goes, "but i wanted a baby sister!"

i have to admit that we were partial to having a girl and i sort of just planned on it, so it was a little surreal afterward - i was in a bit of a daze. and right after the doctor's we went to the mall to exchange some clothes steve had bought for anna (yes, he goes clothes shopping for her by himself) and i realized, "oh my gosh, we have to get clothes for a boy." (do you have any idea how much clothing we have for a girl? i'll let your imagine run wild with that one.)

steve realized as i walked off into the boy's section that the procurement of a boy wardrobe has commenced and he's going to have to do scouts someday, so i wasn't the only one in a daze.

as the news has settled in i am really starting to look forward to miller's arrival. i'm hoping i get a mama's boy to match our daddy's girl, who frankly, has been getting LOADS of attention from her idol as she's cemented her place as THE apple of his eye. don't worry though, i'm already pressing for #3. steve is not keen on the idea, as having his 50th birthday party and welcoming baby #3 in the same year is not an appealing thought to him. give him some encouragement people - we all know he looks way younger than his years and acts well below his age, don't we? he can do it!

hawaii redux recap

we went to hawaii again a few weeks ago and had an absolutely glorious time. the weather was perfect and because it was our second trip this year we knew the drill and what/what not to bring (like i realized i don't need dresses for steak dinners and nights out with the hubby, which have never transpired on any trip we've ever been on. time to get real). we were just really low-key about it (i may or may not have washed my hair for more consecutive days than ever before in my life). anyway, i thought i'd better post some pictures or else we might lose all record of the trip ever taking place.

also, we flew back on halloween night so anna didn't really have a halloween this year. she didn't miss anything really, but i did miss putting her in a ridiculous animal costume and will be going gangbusters next year to make up for it (pics of her last two halloween costumes at the end).











and recapping halloween 2007 and 2008:

counting my blessings

you know what was awesome? encouraging anna to get potty trained, not knowing she had diarrhea, and having my morning sickness kick in full force when she fell off the potty during the act.

our new collegiate jewelry

so we went through the arduous process of getting licensing to do byu, u of u, and utah state jewelry over this spring/summer. you would have thought we were trying to apply to build a nuclear reactor, nonetheless, we were finally granted the license and the byu bookstore and stadium store was our first customer! it's now being sold there as well as online, and will be in the u and utah state's bookstores soon. i have to say it's all really really cute - i get excited to go to games so i can wear it, and i don't really wear jewelry very often, if ever. and, i know it's expected since i own the company, but it's very well made and affordable as well.

anyway, we're doing a giveaway on give away today next week and i need to send them photos of the product. the problem is that the photos are like 14 MB each. the best way i know to shrink them into a reasonable size is to post them to my blog and resave them from the blog to my desktop (yes, i am actually that dumb). so, here is our new line of jewelry, and if you want a 10% discount on them (because any girl who loves any of these schools will love any of these things), go here and use "firsttime10" when you check out.

hooked on utah

a good friend of mine, gary winterton, recently produced and landed a weekly hunting/fishing/outdoor adventure show with ksl called "hooked on utah" (it's going to start airing nationally on versus starting in january). they used our kitchen to film some of their cooking segments recently, and anna fell IN LOVE with gary and he ended up using her for an outtake at the very end of the show that's going to air this weekend. besides the fact that she's picking her nose when it starts it's pretty dang cute. if you don't want to see a deer get shot and die or learn how to hunt on public-private land cooperative, just fast forward all the way to the very end - it's literally the last 5 seconds of this clip.

large

we got back from hawaii on sunday and since we left and returned my belly has doubled in size (at least). i wasn't this size until i was at least 7 months along with anna, and i knew i was pretty big for only being 19 weeks pregnant, but an incident this week really drove the point home.

i was at a meeting with a bunch of guys who i have worked with and know really well a few nights ago helping formulate a strategy for a new business some of them are starting. and one thing i appreciate about them is that they don't single me out or treat me differently for being a girl. sometimes when they don't open the door for me or make me listen to rap on the way to lunch i think it would be nice if there were higher standards in place, but 99% of the time i like it just the way it is.

we ate sushi during the meeting and i had more than my fair share. i had to leave early and when i got up to gather my things, both of the guys across the table zeroed right in on my expanding belly. here is what ensued:

guy #1: geez bates, how many babies are actually in there???!
me: just one. YES, i am a fat cow. i get it.
guy #2: WHEN are you due???
me: in april
guy #1: haaaa!!!!
guy #2 (as he's counting on his fingers how much longer i have): that's five months! how big do you actually think you'll be when you have that kid???
me: well apparently i'll be massive, thank you.
guy #1: i mean, i know that you get bigger with each pregnancy and stuff, but WHOA.
me as i walk about the door: miss you guys already!

we kick butt at potty training

so when your kid is old enough to be a backseat driver ("mommy, be nice to the other drivers. they just want to go their houses.") it's probably a sign they're ready to be potty trained. so, last week we took step #1 and had anna buy her own princess panties at the disney store. see here:

and what about step #2 - the actual training part?

haven't even bothered.

fyi - it's totally steve's fault.

passing up the opportunity

my sister bridget and my niece paige came over this morning for breakfast. in honor of our mother, we had baked mcintosh apples and fuzzy noodles. the girls were sitting in high chairs next to each other ready to dig in, but before we began i asked paige if she'd like to offer a blessing on the food.

without skipping a beat she replied, "i said it last time." so i moved on to anna and asked the same question, to which she matter-of factly answered, "i just said one in nursery."

i mean, they're two-and-a-half. i think passing up on the prayer thing is starting a little early. but now that i write this, i'm reminded that i need to blog about how anna has started sighing and rolling her eyes at me and then muttering under her breath.