Ride 'em cowgirl!! (Alaska style...lol!)

While at the PX yesterday we saw a photographer taking pictures with a HUGE stuffed moose. I mean, this thing was over 6 feet tall just to his back! Ansley had to climb a ladder to get on him and she was not afraid at all!! I think this picture is hilarious!! She is SO afraid of Santa but give her a dead, stuffed moose and she's as happy as a clam...hahahahahahaahaha!

puzzle girl!

I forgot to add in the last blog that Ansley is a total wiz at puzzles!!! Here is a pic of her doing a 70 piece back home. Last night she amazed her Aunt Lori by putting together another 70 piece puzzle all by herself and without looking at the box!! She is a smart cookie!! :) We are working on 100 piece ones now but they are a little tougher, she still gets parts of it though!!

Update from Alaska!!!

Hey everyone, just a quick update from Alaska! We are having a blast and have been super busy seeing family and getting ready for Christmas. Ansley just adores the snow and has been dragging my Dad out every chance she gets! Here are a few pictures of the snow princess...







And of course I had to throw in a gorgeous sunset! This was taken from my Moms kitchen window!
Other than that everything is well. Baby boy is growing and moving like crazy. Ansley is really starting to grasp that her little brother is in Mommy's tummy. :) Russ has been moved to a base with hardly any basic needs. (no PX, no dining hall meaning nothing to eat but MRE's and not being able to buy even the most basic of toiletries. So, if anyone feels like helping my Soldier I know we would all appreciate it. I'd be happy to give his address, just let me know.

I hope everyone is having a good December! I'll will update again later.
Love you all!

Our new son has a name!

After a lot of talks and a lot of names being thrown around we are about 98% sure we have named our son! :) drum roll please.......................................
Rylan Todd!
We both like names that are a little different and non traditional. Todd is Russ' middle name and so Rylan will have his Daddy's initials. :) We hope everyone likes it!

The verdict is in...

Come late March Russ and I will be the proud parents of a beautiful baby BOY! Our family will be complete and we couldn't be more excited. There was a small glitch along the way, one measurement on his ultrasound came back abnormal but after a long talk with the Dr and a lot of prayer we are 99% sure everything is going to be good. :)
Here is our new baby boy!

Halloween 2008!

Last night Ansley and I went to a big Trunk or Treating event at a local church! There were around 50 cars and hundreds of people there! I didn't get a lot of pictures because between chasing Ansley and moving with the line there wasn't much time. But here are a few!

Here are the kitties getting ready to go! :)
Our cute kitten!


At the Trunk or Treat!


Checking out her goods at home!

Russ yelled at me to update. :)

Well, Russ informed me that our blog was old and I needed to update (thanks honey ;) ) so, I'm updating the fun things Ansley and I have been up to the past couple weeks! First of all I thought I'd post a picture of my ever expanding belly. (I was on the phone with my Mom so don't mind the strange pose.) This was at about 16 weeks (two weeks ago.).


A Few weeks ago we made cut out Halloween sugar cookies! Ansley helped to frost them but I think she ate more frosting than actually got on the cookies. :)




The cookies were sitting on the table while I let the frosting harden a bit and Ansley decided she needed to put her Halloween costume on (she's going to be a kitty!). She enjoyed looking at the cookies and sneaking tastes when I wasn't looking...

A couple weeks ago I thought it would be fun to make some crafts! So, we went to Michaels and bought a bunch of craft stuff. Ansley was really excited to play but once we got started I quickly realized that Elmers school glue wasn't going to do the job so I ended up cutting a bunch of paper out for her and let her glue them together!

She made Pumpkins...

and flowers :)

Last week I decided it would be fun for Ansley and I to make a homemade pizza! She loved spreading the sauce around and sprinkling the cheese on it! She also tried to place the pepperonis but I helped a lot with that. :)
The same day as we made pizza I had baked cupcakes and while our pizza was baking she decorated them! (Mommy learned about letting her frost with the cookies...hahaha!)



Last Sunday after church our Young Adult group had an outing to a pumpkin patch (actually the same farm that Russ and I took Ansley to a lot this summer!) Because it's October they had a lot of fun activities going on but unfortunately I forgot my camera. :( But, I did manage to get a picture of her face painted like a kitty before she rubbed it all off!
We are going to a local Christian church that does a HUGE fall festival and trunk or treat on Halloween. Russ and I took Ans to the same event last year and she loved it and it's fun and safe! I will post pictures of Halloween this weekend. :) (P.S. Happy Birthday Mom DeWitt!)

And, lastly I have some exciting things happening! As most of you know I grew up singing, dancing and performing and have been on a bit of a "hiatus" for about 5 years now. I have missed it tremendously and just singing in church choir has been helping a bit but I still long for the theater. Well, Our choir/youth director at church as a long history of putting on full scale musicals with teens. He's new to our church and is extremely talented and has decided to take the plunge and do a full scale show in collaboration with another church in the area (he will also be opening up auditions to local youth.) Well, he invited me to be the choreographer for the show!! We haven't chosen a show yet (he wants to hear the voices first and then will have an idea) but I am beyond excited to be working in the theater again!! We'll start rehearsals in January and the show will open the last weekend in February.
I think that's all for now. :) I will update again after Halloween! love you all. xo