Let's end the suspense

Here she is, sucking her thumb!


Yes, SHE!

Please forgive the immodesty (what am I teaching her already?!), but here's the proof folks.

I really should have cleaned my scanner screen first, but I have about ten minutes to post this before I take Gabe to piano. More pics to follow later today!

Last night's menu

Trick or Treat Café

Diners beware!

Please choose three items.

Write beside them the order you would like them served – 1, 2, 3

Bloody Brains

Haunted Harvest

Candied Caverns

Skin and Bones

Spicy Maggots in Mud

Ghoulish Coffins

Fried Pockets of Pus

Slime Surprise

Last night we had the missionaries over for dinner and I wanted to do something different and Halloweeny. We did a three course mystery dinner, with spooky names for all the food choices. That meant making multiple dishes, so I need to get those dishes pretty simple. The fun of a mystery dinner is that someone may end up getting dessert for their first course or ordering three desserts and no entrees. It ended up working out kind of funny because out of the five people ordering, no one ordered Ghoulish Coffins, Spicy Maggots in Mud, or Haunted Harvest, and only one person ordered Bloody Brains, so today I have a bunch of leftover food. All five ordered Skin and Bones, so I ran out of that.

Wondering what everything was? Here is the the breakdown:

Bloody Brains - Spaghetti

Haunted Harvest - Salad

Candied Caverns - Pumpkin Pie

Skin and Bones - Hamburger with Seasoned Fries on the side

Spicy Maggots in Mud - Chipotle Chocolate Chili (leftover from our ward party :o)

Ghoulish Coffins - Brownies with whipped cream

Fried Pockets of Pus - Texas Egg Rolls, expect made as wontons, served with pepper jelly - big hit!

Slime Surprise - orange jello with whipped cream

It was a fun night, especially for the kids, who didn't have to do any of the work :o) I didn't have a chance to sit down at all, but that's okay.

The Rat's Nest

Oliver's hair every morning. Maybe it is time for a cut?

Expectant

Next March, the earth will begin to warm, the sweet spring breezes will begin, and I will be fully ripe. My cheeks and thighs will be as plump as my belly, my back will ache, and I will wake up at all hours of the night, uncomfortable with contractions and craving string cheese and grapes. My patience will be short, and the days will be long. I will crave spring more than I ever have.

On those long days, I will take a deep breath, waddle out to the backyard, sit on a lawn chair, and gaze at the labor filled gift I gave myself today - hundreds of daffodils. Those yellow faces will stretch out and smile like kindred spirits reminding me to keep my sense of humor.

And third trimester Katie will thank second trimester Katie from the bottom of her heart for knowing just what she needed.

Happiness Is......

....hopping into the library for half a minute to get all these books that have been reserved for you!

I love you PLCMC, with a love that will never end.

(I will let you know what I think of some of these soon, Olivia!)

I admit...

...to you and to all the world:

I would love to have a girl.

A baby girl to stuff into tights.

A girl who might motivate me to learn how to sew (so not worth it for just boys).

A girl to pose among the flowers at the garden.

A girl who would melt her Daddy's heart in a whole new baby way.
A girl who might not tell me to stop when I dance around the house.

A girl who will play with dolls and stuffed animals instead of just using them as weapons.
A girl to share Anne with.

I do want a girl.

Not only that, I have always felt that someday I will have a girl. Someday.

With my big ultrasound a week away, and visions of twin baby girls dancing in my head, I have been asking myself,

Will I be okay? If the technician excitedly announces that it's another boy, will tears spring to my eyes? Will I go home and bawl for the baby girl I may never have?

I got my answer last week as I was working on an old photo album for Gabe and I saw these pictures:

Another boy to cuddle and kiss?
Another boy whose little personality will unfold as uniquely as his brothers before him?
A boy who will tackle his daddy and snuggle his mom?
Another little boy's laughter ringing through the house?

Yeah, I think I am okay with that.

I think I can handle just being a beaming mother of boys.

Crape Myrtles

Before I lived in North Carolina, I had never heard of a Crape Myrtle. In case you haven't either, it's a tree. I started to notice them all over the area during the summer, when they burst into pink, purple, red, or white blooms, like the one below located in the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. They are everywhere. I don't think you can live in the south without gaining a love for those summery blossoms.

My mom and I have a favorite crape myrtle. It is also in the garden, and it is has gorgeous cinnamon- colored peeling bark, white flowers in the summer, and colorful leaves in the fall. We admire these beauties every time we go.

We are working on our backyard (once again) and I decided I was finally going to get some crape myrtles to plant lined up against my picket fence. There are a hundred varieties, and I knew I would probably just have to settle for what I could find. Home Depot didn't have any. The local nursery across the border had a few varieties for around $80 each. Then WA-LA! I went to Lowe's, where they had nice, healthy looking Crape Myrtles for $18.99 each! The variety, "Natchez," sounded familiar, and they had a couple of white blossoms left on their fall-changing branches. I took the plunge, bought three, and easily hauled them home in my van (I love that collapsible back seat!).

As soon as I got home I searched "Natchez" online and found that they seem to be the exact variety that I have long admired at the garden - peeling cinnamon bark, quite hardy, with white blossoms.

I already planted those puppies this afternoon. I will not let them die, I will not let them die!

Anyone else have a tree that is near and dear to their heart?

One year older and wiser too!

Gabe had a very good birthday last Thursday, even though it was busy. He had his piano lesson in the morning, and then he got a special surprise from Grandma and Grandpa Coleman - money to go shopping at Target. He was so thrilled by that and very decisively chose a remote control car and a flashlight. Then we went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. As soon as Colin got home from school, we went to Red Robin. Straight from there we went to soccer practice, where he had mini cupcakes with his teammates. A good day for a five year old.

Here is a video from Red Robin. It cracks me up because it is classic Gabe - refusing to even smile, but willing to endure so he gets his sundae.



Last night we had the family over for his big birthday dinner. Here are a few pictures from that.

More celebrity spotting

Last Sunday, Chad, my dad and I went to watch the taping of Music and The Spoken Word at the Tabernacle on Temple Square. I was just excited to go, and as we were walking in, a greeter told us that it was a good day to be there - President Monson was going to be there. That put an extra skip in my step, I'm tellin' ya.

We were told that we could only take pictures during rehearsal, but none during the actual taping. I thought it was fun to watch everyone getting ready and have such a good view of what goes into a taping. I loved watching the camera men and the conductor.

Shortly before they started to film, they announced several prestigious members in the audience who were visiting, and had them stand up. This included the president of the Boys and Girls Club of America, and several people from foreign countries who were here on visiting the U of U for an educational summit (or something like that). Everyone gave their applause, and then a man stood up in the front of the visitors section and the announcer introduced him as Glenn Beck. The applause was, to put it mildly, very loud for him and the cameras starting flashing.

My camera flash was not among them - that doesn't work from that far away with low lighting people!! I took a video of him...here is one of the stills.

The Governor of Utah and Orrin Hatch were announced after him and people barely noticed them. No matter how you feel about Glenn Beck, you have to admit that he is very well-known these days. I had actually heard the week before that he was having health problems and was traveling west to have some tests done. How funny that he and I both traveled west and ended up in the same room!

Just as a side note, his kids had an I-Pad to keep busy, and they were very well behaved.

Well, the show went on with no sign of President Monson. After the taping ended, the announcer said that the governor of Utah had a special presentation to make. Then President Thomas S. Monson came out to receive it. October 10, 2010 was declared to be Mormon Tabernacle Choir Day in the state of Utah (which is funny because when I goggled this it looks like other days have been declared the same thing before).

My video stills of President Monson were not as good because the stage lighting totally washed him out. He gave an thank you speech and of course cracked a few jokes.

Glenn Beck left as the choir sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again" and President Monson was ushered out before any of the other doors were opened. You can imagine the crowd that surround them if they had stuck around.

We walked around Temple Square for awhile. Just as my dad finished taking these pictures of us....

Chad said, "Uh, look behind you Bob!"

And there was Mr. Beck, ten feet away, touring Temple Square. A few people started walking up to him and shaking his hand, but we decided to let him be. I just did my creepy thing, stuck my camera to the side, and snapped a picture.

My first celebrity picture without using the zoom!

Dear Chaddycakes,

The boys LOVED the souveniers we got them. LOVED. They each ate a pack of Pez and immediately put their BYU shirts on. When Gabe was drifting off to sleep tonight he whispered, "Mom. Thanks so much for the surprises you and dad got us. "

Ollie is still as rascally, stubborn, and passionate as ever. Okay, and cute too.

The leaves are changing, the mums are exploding, and you are missed.

Love,

Dew

Just real quick...

I was gone to SLC 'til last night and have some stuff to blog about, but not much time, so I will show you a picture that I have been holding back. A long long time ago, I promised the first three commenters on my blog something homemade from me. I was supposed to send it within a year, and of course I didn't, but I didn't forget! With lots of help from my mom, I made this apron for my sister Ashley and sent it off. I know it isn't all ruffly and trendy, but Ashley so isn't ruffly or trendy (and I mean that in a good way.) Her favorite color is purple and her favorite flower is a purple tulip, so....wah-la!

Now to make my Aunt Pat something, and to think of something homemade to make for the other commenter, my mother, that I am able to make without her!

Thanks Mom! And thanks to Ashley, who is always good for a comment!

Entertainment Online

If you like the Entertainment Book, but don't really want to buy it, you can sign up here for a free 14 day online trial. Through the trial, you can print coupons for many of the same deals you find in the book. Here we are enjoying some Fuel Pizza courtesy of a coupon we got through our trial membership. YUM!

Crayons From Dollar Tree....

STINK!

Literally.

So much that I just threw them away because I couldn't take the stench anymore.

Who knew?

SYTYCD Tour 2010

Yes, it is that time of the year again. Audra and I went to the So You Can Dance tour together last Saturday. We met at The Cheesecake Factory beforehand. I had been perusing the menu there all week in preparation, but the wait there was 45 minutes long, and we really didn't want to be rushed getting to our show so we ended up going to Maggiano's next door. We enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner and then rushed uptown to get to the show.

A few notes on the show:

Still haven't ever gotten the perfect seat. It is in an arena, with the stage at one end, people in chairs on the floor, and then seating all around where you would sit if you were at a basketball game, which isn't at all ideal for a dance show - totally different than a concert. If you get a seat on the floor you can't see in front of you and you strain your neck the whole time. If you want a seat in the inclined section but still close to the stage, you have a complete side view, which is what we have done the last few years. It is great to be close to the stage, and sometimes you get a fun side perspective that you have never had before, but other times you miss out on some of the best action. They don't re-stage the dances at all to consider the side audience, so you do miss out of some things.

One great thing about the show this year is they cut the introductions quite a bit. They always have some running gags between dance numbers, and most of the time they are way too long, and these are dancers, not comedians, so they are much better at the dancing than the talking. They really pounded the dance numbers out this year. Loved it. Not only did I feel less cheated, it helped to keep the mood.

I forgot my memory card so I didn't take many pictures at all, which is okay because it allowed me to just sit

Some of the highlights of the show for me:

My Chick Bad, originally danced by Twitch and Lauren. They put Russell in Twitch's place and it was great. I know, horrible song, I know, but Lauren just stole the show with this number.

Heaven is a Place on Earth, performed by Kathryn and Robert. I have always loved Kathryn and I loved Robert live. Some people draw you in so much more when you see them live and Robert is one of those people.

M.I.A.'s “XXXO”, choreograghed by Sonya and danced by Robert and Courtney. I didn't think much of this one when it first aired, but it was enthraling live.

When The Prom Dance with Kent and Lauren turned into My First Kiss.

Kent and Allison's contemporary. Don't know the name of this song. Very intense and emotional.

Okay, so there were lots of memorial numbers and some great group dances, including a fantastic group Bollywood dance. You know how I said some people were even better live? Adechike and Billy were not those people :o)

We stayed afterwards again and met a lot of the dancers. For the third year in a row we met up with our SYTYCD buddies, Lindsay and her sister Ashley. We originally knew each other through our sister-in-law Sabina, but we always meet up and chat while waiting and waiting (2 1/2 hours this year!) for the dancers to come out and then trade cameras to take each other's pictures. Lindsay is the gal who did our beautiful family pictures last month (and who, btw, photographed a birth hours before the show), so yes, we have a pro doing our photography! All the pictures were on Audra's camera, so I don't have any of them to show you yet. What is the point of this post without those pictures? Basically a chance for me to babble about the show.

There are more and more people waiting to meet the dancers every year and it was so packed this year. We didn't even meet everyone and we left at 1 am. A few years ago we would get the chance to chat a little with each dancer but they were super rushed this year. I felt bad for them. Billy was by far the friendliest and seemed the most genuine. Adechike was by far the quietest. We met Kent last (only by kinda cutting in line) and he was the highest in demand and he seemed very tired and worn out. Didn't get to meet Lauren or Kathryn.

Okay, I guess that is enough for now. When I get the pictures I might have to do another post :o)

Doctor's Appointment

I had my second midwive's appointment today. I have a love/hate relationship with prenatal visits. I love them because it is always so reassuring to hear that heartbeat. I hate them because that heartbeat is the only useful thing that comes of them, and that thirty second span of time is not enough to make me feel like the hour-long wait is justified. Plus you have to get weighed fully clothed (which just isn't fair, but I guess I don't want to get naked for that every time either), and then have that weight recorded in history.* FUN!

So I am at 13 weeks and today the baby's heartbeat was 150, and she found it right away, which furthers my fantasy about having twins in there. Yeah, maybe I will tell you about that sometime. For the record, I gained SIX lbs since my last appointment, which is really absurd, but I don't mind too much for two reasons. #1 Last time I was wearing light summer clothes and flip-flops. This time I was wearing jeans, a sweater, shoes...etc. #2 I am not throwing up as much anymore, but still nauseated enough that not everything sounds yummy, so I am always trying to eat something to see if it will make me feel better. As long as it isn't coming back up, whatevs. Chicken pot pie for dinner peeps!

Anyway, I am not one to post belly pictures because my belly is no cuter pregnant than it is non-pregnant, but here is a nice picture of my face. Why your face? you might ask. Well, this is to document the increase in cheek size and overall ballooning that takes place in my face over the course of my pregnancy. It's really amazing folks :o)

My next visit isn't for five weeks, so that I will be 18 weeks and get my ultrasound the same day! Woohoo! YES, we are finding out the gender. HECK YES.

*A note about weight. With my first two boys I say a regular OB, and every single visit they made a point to talk about my weight gain and whether it was the proper weight gain or not. By the end of my pregnancies they were always a little like, hmmm, you might want to watch that, because I have always gained more than 40 lbs each pregnancy. With Oliver and this pregnancy I have seen midwives and I have not heard a single word about my weight. Never. I am sure if it would come up it if was indicating some problem, but otherwise, they don't give a darn!