Happy new year everyone! We are celebrating with the kids tonight. We're eating appetizers for dinner and drinking virgin margaritas. We'll probably play some Wii and maybe some board games. I'll be ringing in the new year in my sleep, since we have 9 o'clock church in the morning. This years resolution is not to make any, I never keep them anyway!

Out with the old and in with the new

You thought this was going to be a new year's post didn't you? Well it's not ;) We're getting ready for our first boy here! So it's out with the pink and in with the blue, well not out with the pink completely. We do still have 3 girls living here. Anyway, our new little guy is going to be all decked out in cute clothes thanks to a shopping spree and lots of gifts from friends and family. Here is just a sampling of what we got!

Highlights of December

piano recital

our gingerbread house

Maren's new bed

first night in her new bed

first night without a binkie

last night in her crib

• We kicked off the month with the annual Carter Christmas party. I love seeing my family and catching up. The kids got to see Santa and we played an old favorite game, Do you love your neighbor.
• We had our annual neighborhood party (adults only) It was a riot as usual!
  
• Addy had her Christmas choir concert and did a great job!
  
• We had a dinner party at Rodizio with Ben's co-workers and the head boss. I was given a quilt by Ben's boss and he was given a nice fat bonus for all of his work with the relocation.
• Sydnee and Maren shared the stomach flu (not really a highlight)
• The kids had their Christmas sing at the school, I barely made it because Maren was sick.
• I took Addy and Sydnee along with my parents and sister to the Nutcracker. This is one of my favorite new traditions we have. Afterward, Ben and Maren met us at the Brick Oven for dinner. They now have gluten free pizza. I was in heaven!
  
• Addy and Sydnee had their piano recital, they both did excellent!
• Maren graduated to a big girl bed, she did really good with the transition.
• Maren also gave up her binkie, not by her choice. It only took two nights of crying to adjust.
• We got to have Daddy home for two weeks!
• We went to the open house at Ben's new office and got the grand tour.
• We went to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point and the reindeer. The kids even got to be on the news while we were there.
• Ben and the kids built a gingerbread house and we all helped decorate it.
• I got to have lunch with 3 of my roommates from Snow College, I love those gals!
• We bought several new appliances and did many home repairs (see two posts down)
• We spent our $300 gift card on a new car seat and a few other little things.
  
• We went to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square.
• We got to eat out 3 times in one week! The kids thought that was the best.
  
• We've spent lots of time together as a family playing and making memories.

I think that's it for the highlights, it's been a busy but fun month! On to the new year and new adventures.

Christmas 2011

The reindeer outfit,
a timeless tradition of hideousness

Christmas Eve jammies

Sydnee's new Rapunzel dress and Barbie

Check out our tree, it only has ornaments
on the top thanks to Maren

Mmmm animal crackers for breakfast!

Christmas dresses
(I should have taken pictures before church)

Miss Addy

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Williams. We had a great time eating and visiting. We played Christmas Pictionary, do you love your neighbor? and the kids acted out the nativity. The kids also received their new ornaments from Gma and Gpa and each family received a photobook from mom and dad with pictures of their yard and the grandkids. It was a great evening. The girls got to open their new jammies and put out cookies for Santa and oats for the reindeer. They had a hard time getting to sleep. Ben and I didn't get much sleep either. Ben was sick during the night and I just couldn't sleep. Christmas morning we opened presents, ate breakfast and got ready for church at noon. Ben had to speak in church and we were both praying he would feel good enough to make it. He made it and did a great job, he even showed off his spork he got in his stocking. After church we visited G & G Williams and opened presents, then it was off to Yancey's for the evening. It was kind of a rushed day, but it was very fun and peaceful.

Blessings?

The last few weeks hit the Yancey household pretty hard. Within a week time frame my car broke down, it required $600 in repairs, our deep freeze broke, one of the burners in our stove top broke, our dishwasher was teetering on its last leg and our garage door opener broke. I wasn't too thrilled about all of this, but Ben reminded me that we were very blessed this year and that he received a nice Christmas bonus so we didn't have to go into debt to pay for everything. I am grateful for the bonus Ben got and that he has a good job. Sometimes its hard to see the silver linings when the bad stuff happens. Happily, my car is fixed and so is the stove. We have a new dishwasher, freezer and a garage door opener.

Tender Mercies...Again

This afternoon my friend Kelsey called to tell me that I had won one of the contests on her blog. I remembered entering, but neither one of us could remember what the prize was. I went back to her blog to find out and was stunned. I won a $3oo gift card to a store called Babinski's Baby. I looked at their website and they carry mostly furniture and baby gear, but they also have clothes. After 3 girls, we need clothes. We have a crib and pretty much anything you could ever want for a baby, but no clothes for a boy. I almost started crying when I saw the prize. This couldn't have come at a better time. I knew we would be able to make things work, but I am so grateful for the small or in this case huge tender mercy that came my way today!
So go check out Vanilla Joy over there on the right. Kelsey is an amazingly talented, crafty woman with so many cool ideas. And you just might win something too!

It's a Boy!

Can I just say that I'm still in shock that we are having a boy. I thought for sure that we were having another boy. Last week during the ultrasound, I was looking for the 3 little lines that are the tell tale signs of a girl, but instead kept getting glimpses of something else. The ultrasound tech asked us if we were ready to find out the gender and we both said "yes!" Then she was able to get a really good shot, and it was definitely a boy. Ben didn't say much, but I know he was excited. I was shocked. I really am excited to have a boy, but I just keep thinking that I don't know what to do with a boy. Then I think, I only have girl stuff at home. We went to my parents afterward to pick up Maren and showed them the video, my mom was surprised too. We made Addy and Sydnee wait until they got home from school and then showed them the video. They were very surprised. Sydnee was very excited because she wanted a boy, Addy wasn't so sure. By the next day they were both very excited. Addy walked up to me and said "so what are we going to name him?" I have no idea. Ben and I always have a hard time agreeing on a name, so I'm sure this time around will be no different. Yesterday I started going through boxes of baby clothes. I pulled out anything that could be used for a boy and saved the outfits that I brought the other three home from the hospital in. It was kind of sad to know I wouldn't get to dress a baby in the cute little outfits again, but I have good memories of all three of my girls wearing them. I just need to find someone who will need them and that will make me feel better about parting with them. Hopefully by clearing out the clothes, I can make room in the garage for the car. The day of the ultrasound I went to Walmart and had to buy a boy outfit. In the past I have only bought boy stuff for gifts, it was kind of fun to pick out something to keep. I'm sure every shopping trip I will pick up something new, otherwise this kid will have to go naked ;) Anyway, I'm glad we have a few more months to plan for this new adventure.
P.S. I'm sure when he's older he'll love the fact that I posted his ultrasound picture that says it's a boy!

So far behind...

I'm so far behind on updating my blog. We've been very busy, but nothing real exciting going on. We all took turns being sick in November, which wasn't fun. It started with Addy and Sydnee, then Ben. When they were well again, it hit me. Once I was well, it hit Maren. Hopefully we'll stay well for the holidays.
We had a great Thanksgiving. We stopped by my parents for a few minutes, Dad borrowed the pine wood derby track from the ward and we raced cars for a while. Then it was off to the Yancey's for dinner. I stuffed myself on all the wonderful Thanksgiving food and then of course pie! It was a nice relaxing day. Ben had the week of Thanksgiving off and also a few days off last week. He's been busy working on projects at home. Our garage door now opens and shuts and will soon look like it belongs to our house. Now if I can just clean out enough junk so that I can park in it.
Addy and Sydnee are loving school and are excited to go everyday. Addy is in the school choir and has early practices twice a week. She never complains about getting up early and loves to sing. She has her first concert tonight. Every year at school they have a story telling festival. Addy always participates, but it's usually a last minute thing. This year was no different. She didn't even practice her story for the family. She came home from school and told me that she had won in her class and would be performing in the school competition. She practiced her story at FHE this week and again last night. This morning Maren and I went to the school to see her perform. She did great! I'm very proud of her. I was also very impressed with all of the other kids who performed. They were all so animated and confident. There is no way I could ever have done that in grade school. It's fun to see Addy blossom and become more and more confident.
Maren is starting to mellow out a good deal, thank goodness. We had a few weeks of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad two's. Thankfully she is returning to her sweet self again. She is growing up too fast, she talks really well and loves to do things by herself. We bought panties the other day, I'm hoping to get her potty trained before the baby is born.
As for me, I'm feeling really good these days. I'm so grateful that my nausea is gone. I'm trying to keep up with my housework and kids and husband and all that comes with life. I'm staying busy, but never seem to have any proof of my busyness. I'm grateful for my family and I'm so glad that I can be a stay-at-home mom. I'm so glad I get to be home and watch my kiddos grow every day.

Announcement

I'm so far behind, but I figure I'll just make a quick announcement. I had my ultrasound today and it looks like we will be buying matchbox cars, trains and legos in the future. We are having a boy!!!!

Whiner

After my last post I feel like a big whiner. It was a rough week, but, I'm over it. This week has been much better. I've been kind of lazy, catching up on Glee on Netflix and doing lots of laundry. Maren ran a fever and was sick for a few days, but I kind of enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, I hate seeing her feel yucky, but I got lots of snuggles and it was kind of nice just having to stay home.
I visited with our primary president about my calling and although I am nervous, I am feeling better about it. All in all, it has been a much better week and I am grateful for it. I'm also reminded of how nice it is to be healthy. Now that my cold is mostly gone, I realize how grateful I am to be a fairly healthy person most of the time. I also appreciate when Maren feels better. While she was sick, she worried me because she would just lay around with glazed over eyes, she wouldn't eat or drink. I was really worried about her. Now that she is back to herself, I'm almost grateful for her tantrums. Okay, not really, but I am grateful that she is healthy again. I've been trying to think more positively this week and look for my blessings and it has helped a lot. Hmmm, I'll have to write another post about what I'm thankful for, especially with Thanksgiving coming up.

Overwhelmed

This last week was rough! I've had a cold which is somehow worse when you're pregnant, and my back went out on me. And to top it all off, Ben is working lots of really long hours trying to get things ready at the new office. Monday my back started to stiffen up and hurt, but it wasn't too bad. By Tuesday it was a lot worse and dumb me tried to carry Maren upstairs. She was throwing a tantrum and needed a diaper change really bad. As I was carrying her up, I don't know if my knee or my back failed, but I fell carrying her. Thank goodness she wasn't hurt. I lost some skin on my knee and hurt pretty bad. By the time Friday came I was a mess, emotionally and physically. I had extra kids at my house all day and just didn't feel good. Ben worked late that night and had to go back to work early Saturday. When Ben left on Saturday, I melted down. I thought I just can't do this today. Ben felt bad leaving me, so he called his mom. My MIL showed up a little later and took my girls for the day. I was able to get my house cleaned and rest a little. My mom and sister called and wanted to know what they could do to help. I felt kind of silly because I only have a cold. I was feeling very overwhelmed, I feel like not only do I have my own family to take care of, but I feel like I have many neighbors that are dependent on me. I don't have time to be sick. I am so grateful for my family that jumped in to help take care of me. Sunday my sweet sister brought me a pot of soup for dinner. I felt totally spoiled. To top it all off, Sunday I received a phone call asking me to meet with the bishop. Great! I was hoping for primary chorister or relief society teacher, but I was totally caught off guard by my new calling. I was called to be a primary teacher for the special needs class. I will be working with two autistic boys and one boy with some behavioral issues. I looked at the bishop thinking What??? Me??? I was totally overwhelmed. This is so out of my comfort zone. I accepted the call, but I keep wondering what on earth Heavenly Father has in store for me. He's obviously going to stretch me to my limits with this one. I would much rather do camp. Hopefully all will work out and I can learn and be patient. Here's to a better, less overwhelming week.

Tender Mercies

Thursday I had a crazy, hectic morning. I had to get the kids up and ready for school, thankfully Ben helped get Addy to school early for choir practice. I was able to get Sydnee out the door to walk with neighbors. I had a doctors appointment that morning. Maren slept in which allowed me to get a shower and get ready for my appointment. I was really nervous for some reason and really didn't feel good. I had an upset stomach and woke up with a really bad sore throat. I somehow got ready, pulled Maren out of bed and dressed her. I grabbed a sippy cup of milk and a box of cereal. I got out to the car and had to scrape the windows. I dropped Maren off at my mom's at 9:59 my appointment was at 10. I drove to the doctors office and had to park about a mile away. I was really stressed at this point. When I checked in I asked if I was too late. The nice receptionist said that I was fine. After checking in and taking care of business matters, I didn't have to wait long before being called back. My doctor was actually delivering a baby, so he was late too. I was grateful, but I was still battling anxiety. The best part of the appointment was that I was able to hear the babies heart beat. To me that is the most soothing sound. After waiting for 20 minutes my doctor came in. He is always so nice to me and so sweet. I was nervous, but he put my mind at ease and everything was fine. I am so grateful for all the little tender mercies of that morning and that Heavenly Father was looking out for me and helped me to make it to my appointment and to live through it. I'm trying to look for the small things and blessings of the day that come from above. I know having a baby sleep in and having my doctor late seem like small things, but they were big things to me that day.

Halloween

School parade

Mr. Bezzant one of the 4th grade teachers
was in an accident and paralyzed about 2 years ago
He always had the best costumes,
but I think this year topped all the others

Sydnee the bat

Officer Addy

Maren kept eating the suckers in her bucket

Grandma and Grandpa Williams house

A sad day

Last Sunday I was released from my calling as camp director. Most people were congratulating me, until I would burst into tears. I am very sad to be released. I absolutely love the young women in our ward, and I have loved my calling. To me camp is the perfect calling, it may be a few months of planning and one really stressful week, but I love it. After I found out we were going to expand our family, one of my first thoughts was of girls camp. I thought "how am I going to do this?" then I realized it was stake camp. I thought this is perfect, I can get another assistant director, do all the planning before the baby comes and then help get things ready to go . I figured the baby would be at least 2 months old when camp time came and with some extra help, I could juggle both. Then I received a call late one Sunday night from our YW president. She told me she wanted to have me released because it was just too much work with a newborn. I told her I didn't want to be released and that I had a plan. She said she would think/pray about it. Well two weeks later I got the phone call to meet with a member of our bishopric. I told him I was not happy about it. He told me that they (bishopric) had prayed about it and felt it was right to release me. I cried right there in the bishops office. I was devastated. I told him that whoever was called could only have the calling for a year and then I wanted it back. He laughed and said he would keep that in mind. I made it through sacrament meeting and hearing my name announced, but as soon as my mom asked me about it later, the tears came again. I've been involved with the young women in our ward for 5 years in one way or another and now I'm out. It makes me sad. I just have to have faith in Heavenly Father's plan and not my own. I'm sure this is what is best for me, but for now I'm really sad about it.

Odds and ends of October

We enjoyed the warm weather by
having a picnic at the park

Ben's mom gave the girls Halloween pj's

Grandpa Williams gave us a huge pumpkin
from his garden, Maren thought it made a great chair

Our spooky bat pumpkin

The girls designed the pumpkin and Ben carved it.

Those are supposed to be ears, not horns :)

Holy cow! Time keeps flying around here, it's going too fast for me to keep up. Life is a bit hectic right now, but I also feel like I'm boring and have nothing to write. Here are just a few of the things we have been up to lately.
Some other things of note, my morning sickness is gone! I had an ultrasound and there is only one baby and it's doing great.
Last Sunday was the ward primary program. It was so sweet, most of the kids wrote their own parts. I love to hear them sing and I love watching all of the cute kids.
I was released from being camp director, a very sad thing.
Ben worked a 28 hour day last weekend. His company is getting ready to move to their new building. Ben was in charge of moving the data center which houses all of the servers and equipment that pretty much keeps the company running. No pressure. He left for work at 11:30 a.m. Friday and came home at 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. It was a long weekend for Ben. My sister and I took the girls out on Saturday and did a little shopping and tried a new place to eat. We were brave and tried Johanna's kitchen in Sandy. It was your typical little greasy spoon.
All in all October was good to us, but it certainly came and went in a hurry. Hopefully we can enjoy November and all it has to offer.

11 weeks and counting

Back in May I was struggling with some nagging thoughts. Especially the thought of "should we have more kids?" or can I be selfish and be done with the 3 beauties I have. Let's just say that after Maren was born, I decided I was done having children. It was a rough experience to say the least. Anyway, Ben and I had talked about it and he kept telling me we needed to have one more baby. I kept having these thoughts of "No, I can't do this again." I wanted to be done with it all and move on. In the back of my mind I'm thinking well if we are supposed to, it better be soon because I'm not getting any younger and I don't want a huge gap between Maren and another child. I tried to fast and pray about it, but I didn't do very well. I didn't want to pray about it, because I was afraid of what the answer would be. I liked my own plan best. Well, I'm sure if you're still reading this, you know what I'm getting at. Heavenly Father has a different plan for me and my family. In August I found out that our fourth baby is due in April. Surprise! This wasn't planned and I think I'm still in shock. I'm happy and excited, but for some reason 4 kids just scares me. It's not that I can't handle 4, I've had up to 12 kids in my home all at the same time while babysitting. I feel like I just got back into a good routine. I have 2 older kids who are fairly independent, and a 2 year old who is also very independent in her own way, and we have a good routine/schedule. And now, I'm starting all over again with sleepless nights and bottles and newborn diapers and no schedule. Aaaaaaaah! I know I'll survive and things will work out, but I must say, I'm a little nervous. Hopefully once the nausea/all day morning sickness phase is over and I have some more energy, I won't feel so stressed. Until then, I'll keep drinking Sprite and taking Phenergan when I'm at my wits end. Wish me luck, only 28.5 weeks to go!

Odds and ends of September

Addy is the 5th from the right on the bottom row

It's hard to believe that September is already over and that October is here. September wasn't too exciting, but here are a few things from the end of the month.
I went to our ward's annual Relief Society service auction and had a good time. I auctioned off a custom birthday cake (I'm not sure what I was thinking) My friend Stephanie bought it and I made a cake for her little boy's first birthday the next week.
Ben wired up our garage door opener with electricity and re-wired the lights. As soon as we find the money, we can get someone to come and hook everything else up. Then, if I can get the garage cleaned out, I might be able to park in the garage before winter comes. Yay!
Addy joined the school choir and loves it! She had her first performance last week. They sang two songs at the beginning of the school district board meeting. I'm so happy she loves music.
I can't think of anything else at the moment, like I say September wasn't too exciting.

Fall is in the air

we saw a lot of these on our walk

I thought this stick looked cool with the colored leaves under the water

3 cute little deer

Mt. Timpanogos

It's hard to see in the picture, but there's a patch of golden colored
Aspens right in the middle of all of the pine trees.

The days are getting shorter and the air is getting cooler. Fall is definitely in the air. I have to say that Fall is my favorite season, it has the perfect weather, sights and smells. As soon as the nights get cooler, I get very restless. I have a need to head for the hills. I've been going a little stir-crazy lately wanting to get out of the house and drive up the canyon. Finally on Friday evening we were able to leave home and head up the canyon. We took a picnic dinner and stopped at one of the picnic areas up the north fork. It was perfect weather, nice and cool, but not cold. We ate our dinner and then explored along the river. The girls absolutely loved it, Maren would squeal every time she touched the water in the river. She would dance around and scream "cold" then giggle. After exploring for a while, we got back in the car and drove the Alpine Loop road. It was beautiful! I love the fall colors everywhere and there are some breathtaking sights along the road. After a beautiful evening, we headed for home via Macey's for a few groceries and ice cream. We sat on the lawn in the dark eating our ice cream and listening to the High School football game. My kids laugh at me because when American Fork would score, the band would play the school song and I would sing along. They already thing I'm weird. The marching band performed for half time and I sat on the porch and listened to their show while the kids got their pajamas on. I love hearing the band, it brings back so many good memories. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.