Halloween Traditions!

For some reason, I just love Halloween. It could be the theatre geek in me that loves the idea of dressing up in costume (or dressing others up in costume!). It could be that hidden side of me that enjoys some of the more gruesome aspects of the holiday (I love creepy looking food, the idea of haunts and ghosts, and getting to channel into that for a short few weeks of the year). Or it could just be that I'm a little crazy. Either way, it's a holiday we celebrate with gusto at our house.



Last night we went beyond the decorations in the house and the cute little outfits - we completed phase two of the Tullis Halloween Tradition: Halloween Sugar Cookies! Some people are into Christmas Sugar Cookies, but not us! I think I have one cookie cutter for Christmas. For Halloween I have an entire pumpkin full! Yay! I tried out my grandmother's sugar cookie recipe for the first time and was very impressed. It was super easy and very tasty - not too sweet, so just right for a bit of decorations on top to give it that extra kick of sugar. Yum!





It was great fun - we all were involved in the process. This was the first year in ages that I made the dough and not Alan. And this was also the first year that Caroline was really able to participate. We had so much fun - especially when she commandeered the pumpkin cookie cutter and wouldn't let it go. She LOVES pumpkins and points them out wherever we go (especially all over the house, which gets old after a while).



Alan tried out an orange glaze for the topping instead of a frosting this year. It needs some tweaking, but it turned out pretty good! And I got to toss sprinkles on after he glazed them. Yay! Most years we only get to frosting a few, so I have a build up of sprinkles sitting around. It was fun to get to use them! Here's the finished product:



Next phase? Pumpkins!!!

Oh, and we finally decided on Halloween costumes for this year. But that, my friends, is for another post. :)

Haircuts!

After fighting with the mullet look for far too long on my sweet Caroline, I finally broke down while at a play date on Tuesday and asked my friend to cut her hair. (Thank you, Addi!) It was the first haircut for the princess and while I do miss her gorgeous curls that were nearly past her shoulders, she looks more like a little girl now and less like a hillbilly. I've also noticed that her hair still has plenty of curl post tubby-time, so I'm hoping to see those ringlets again soon. Here are some pics of the occasion:





She did really well - not a scream or a tear. I just told her we were going to play with her hair. Between that, her mouse, and the adorable zebra print apron thing, she was good to go!

The result:





Clean and tidy and cute! Maybe, if I get a chance, I will take a pic of the rest of her outfit. It's another Halloween number - the pants are adorable!

In Soren news, he tried out to play piano for the 7th grade jazz band (aka "Stage Band") and is now being challenged with some tough music! It's good for him, though. He's going to grow a lot this year - musically I mean. He'll probably grow a lot physically this year, too. We are around the corner from him passing me up in height. I've been very impressed with his adjustment to school this year - much better than last year! He's a great kid and we are lucky to have him around - even when he continually forgets what "take the garbage out" means. Haha!

Alan was offered a full time position at Nautilus, Inc. this week. That's right, folks - he's working for the makers of Bowflex and the Treadclimber! The biggest bonus in all of this is that it is a 6 mile round trip to and from work - no bridges to cross, no traffic to deal with, and - best of all - he's home early at night! He also is able to come home for lunch a few times a week which is awesome. They are working him hard, but he is glad to be there - learning and growing. We are loving the added time we have with him at home. Yay, Alan!

As for me, things are plugging along. I keep trying to get that final room of the house sorted. Maybe this weekend. Haha! We are nearing the end of the second trimester of this pregnancy and moving into what was the worst trimester for me last time around. I keep hoping and praying that things will go a bit more smoothly this time, but I'm planning for the worst. We'll see how it all goes! I'm trying to scale back my activities and take it easy as much as possible! That's not easy with a tweenager and a toddler, but we're doing our best around these parts.

Speaking of toddlers, someone wants attention! Be on the lookout for upcoming Halloween posts. I'm currently in the planning phases of our feast!

A View from the Top

Yup - that's my boobs and my belly. And my table with this weeks tablecloth.

Now quit looking at my boobs.

Instead, look at this cutie pie:



Yes - we are all decked out for the month of OCTOBER! It's a family favorite around here! Or at least it's one of my favorites and therefore I push it on the house and the only person in it that I can dress up (besides myself, of course!).

HAPPY OCTOBER!!

Who Wears It Better?

Hee hee....








Don't worry, I already know the answer! :D

Oh, and if you didn't get the memo - yes, we are a total Star Wars nerd kind of family!!

An Increase

Sometimes - or really all the time I suppose - you just have to trust and have faith. I know that God has been watching over my family for quite some time, but recently the evidence has been so very clear to me!

Ever since we found out that Alan would be losing his job - actually before we even knew and things just weren't looking good - I felt at peace. I knew it would all be fine. We did the leg work - Alan and I scoured the internet looking for leads and talking to friends. Alan submitted applications and/or resumes all over the place. And we did a lot of praying. He looked into unemployment payments, I looked into WIC, Medicaid, and other services we could use should the worst happen. I admit to one minor (read: major) breakdown, but I think I brought that on myself. But overall, we felt relatively calm and at peace. We were planning for the worst, hoping for the best. Hoping for anything, really.

The past week has been amazing. Yesterday not only was Alan able to interview at a new company, but within hours he had an offer. He started today. This is the second time something like this has happened to us this year! And this time it's almost too good to be true. I keep pinching myself because I can't believe it. This job is a 5-8 minute drive. I'm sure on a bike he could make it in 15 minutes. Right now it is a contract position, but the possibility of it becoming permanent is huge. And it all feels right and good. Again, almost too good! We feel so blessed and loved. We know that the prayers of our family and friends have blessed us so much. How wonderful it is to know that God is listening. I mean, I know He always is, but it is nice to have the confirmation sometimes!

We also were able to see our new little boy wiggles and squirm last week. He is growing and looking healthy! I do have to go in for another ultrasound next week to double check his heart (or triple check, I suppose). The last ultrasound they were unable to get just the right view of his heart, but the heart rate looked good and we heard it thumping away for the first time. The biggest issue was that he wouldn't move. Well, he moved - but it was just squirming. He's parked himself on my right side and just doesn't want to budge. This made getting the right angle on his heart impossible. I'm sure everything is fine, though. Our new little guy is still constantly in our prayers, though!

Soren had his Back to School Night. I was able to meet most of his teachers and find out some basics about the new school year. I feel confident that he will continue to excel because he's such an amazing guy! This year he is involved in band, piano lessons, and Boy Scouts. He is hoping to join Stage Band (a jazz band that practices before school), Weight Club (a group that lifts weights in the weight room before school), Wrestling, Basketball, and Track and Field. We'll see how he juggles things - he sure likes to keep busy! Soren continues to be a huge help at home, not only stepping up to help with his sister, but pitching in to help clean and cook. He's so awesome and we love him.

Caroline's vocabulary has literally taken off. This morning she was looking at something and turned to me and said, "Oh my gosh!" I am sure she's picked that up from one of us, but it was strange (and funny) to hear it coming out of her little almost-two-year-old mouth. She's also started saying things like this:

Caroline: MOM! Mom, mom, MOOOOOM!
Me: (Standing right next to her) What?
Caroline: Circle!

She likes to point out the obvious, but she wants to make sure she has my attention. I've been requesting that she go back to calling me mama. It's not working. Well, except when she wants to, of course. Then it's, "Mama, snuggle," or "Mama, song," or "Mama, food!" Caroline is really starting to put little sentences together and it's adorable to watch her figure all this language stuff out.

Her favorite toys right now include a spoon, spatula, bowl, and frying pan from her little kitchen (she tells us, "COOK!"), my stuffed monkey (which must be naked in order for her to play with it), her baby doll (who now has stolen one of Caroline's old baby blankets and one of her sippy cups), and her books. She also enjoys playing with my cell phone, daddy's keys, and her brother. This little spicy girl makes our life exciting, unpredictable, and terribly fun.

We are blessed and are so grateful for it! Thank you to all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. We are hoping this job sticks and that we can move forward from here and worry about other trials, struggles, and issues in life - but hopefully not a job issue again!

Life is . . .

What to say! Today was the first day back at school for my big guy. He was nervous, excited, and dreading it all at the same time! He did not want pictures taken this morning, but I'm mean and took them anyway:



At his desk before leaving for school - he's thrilled, see?



In the car trying to avoid the camera - HA! Gotcha!



Giving up and giving me a cheeseball grin on his way out the door. Admittedly, he was almost late for school, which I'm sure really helped him feel happy.



Caroline in the back wondering why I pulled her out of her crib far too early.

So he's been at school nearly a full day now. Caroline has been wondering around calling for her brother, but to no avail. He isn't here to tell her how cute she looks with the goofy headband she's put on her head or remind her of how adorable she is with her fairy wings and dress up skirt on. He isn't here to chase her around the house or take her out to jump on the trampoline. Nor is he here to hide around corners and jump out and say "Boo!" to her as she runs by. Boy, she has missed him! But she's had mommy time - we've snuggled, read books, giggled, and generally had a fairly quiet morning. I did catch some video of her making a mess while eating her yogurt:



This is a fairly recent advancement for Caroline. She is now fairly self reliant with feeding herself. Sure, I rescue her every so often when she's having trouble or just choosing not to eat, but overall I've been turning it over to her and dealing with the mess later. Plus, she's so stinkin' cute while she eats. Look!



See, adorable! And messy!

In other news, it looks like we'll be having more testosterone in the house in a few short months:



According to this early ultrasound, it's a boy! However, I have another one in a week for more measurements and they'll be able to be a bit more certain about things at that point. We are getting excited for our new arrival either way!

The biggest bummer of the day is that Alan's contract position is ending in a couple weeks. We're pretty sad about that, but feel confident and have faith that everything will work out. If you could keep him and our family in your thoughts/prayers/etc, that'd be awesome. Every time I try to get myself worked up about the loss of employment, the Spirit seems to calm me right down. So, it is what it is and life goes on.

That's the latest to report from here!

Ahhh . . . Doctors.

There is much to say, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to sum up.

We are, for the most part, all settled into our "new" place. There are still some things that need some organizing and one more box I've got to really dig through, but the house is livable. We've even managed to start cooking in the kitchen again. Fabulous! I realized one of the reasons I have been so frustrated this time around is that usually when we've moved in the past it has been fast - we are packed up and gone in less than 3 weeks. This all felt so much more drawn out because it was! Now that the light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter, I'm feeling my stress levels fade a bit. That is a wonderful feeling.

My sweet boy turned 12 on July 31. I still can't believe it! He was also ordained to be a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. This was a very special day for him and for our family. I'm so happy his grandparents and aunt were able to be here to share it with him!



Isn't he handsome??? And so grown up! What a joy he is in our family.

His sister couldn't miss out on an opportunity to smile for the camera, too. . .



She's such a little ham. And boy did she love having Grandma, Aunt Martie, and (sometimes) Grandpa here. Grandma rocked her and sang to her and that made her day! The list of things she loves more than music is pretty short! Martie jumped on the tramp with her, helped Caroline into her fairy wings and flew her around the house, sang to her, cuddled her, watched Sesame Street with her, and carried her anywhere she wanted to go. Grandpa, on the other hand, generally made her very nervous. I think it was his mustache. She did relent and hug and kiss him a few times. She can be very picky. That's why we call her a lil' stinker! Haha!

We all enjoyed our visit with the Tullis clan. Can I still call them a clan? When we were first married, having them all visit was quite an adventure for us! Now that 5 of the 8 are married, 1 of the 8 is all grown up with a job and living on his own, that only leaves 2 kids that come to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. Unfortunately, Uncle Stephen was stuck at home because of obligations there. Oh well - he missed out! We had a fairly low-key visit - lots of visiting, lots of help around the house (YAY - Thank you!), blackberry jam was made (YUM!!), but my favorite part of the visit was our gorgeous hike around Mirror Lake on Mt. Hood.











It was the perfect day for a hike! I'd like to say we all enjoyed ourselves, but Caroline tuckered out at the end and fell asleep in my arms. It was a long walk down the mountain with a sleeping 22+ pounds on my shoulder, not to mention the extra baby I was carrying out front. Still, though, totally worth it!

And for the last photo of the post, I present to you baby #3:



Yeah, I can't make out much of it, either. The appointment was an adventure. After 3 hours at the office building I still don't know if everything is ok. My heart tells me it is all fine. My head tells me otherwise. We'll see. If there is anything to report - good or bad - I'm sure I'll post about it.

Time to go - two crazy kids are playing soccer in my hallway.