Grateful

-For people that follow through
-For my husband going to work
-For Addie being such a trooper this weekend
-For my country (Egypt has really caught me attention. How scary, regardless of what side you would be on. They now have food shortages, which makes me grateful for my little food storage.)

In other news:
I am officially at 15 weeks, and the baby is about the size of an orange. I think the kid is smaller, but that is fine with me! I am getting so excited for my ultrasound in March (5 weeks from Thursday!!!)!

Addie this morning picked up a hot pad and when I tried to take it from her, she pulled it away from me and laughed and laughed. This continued for a while. And she was too busy and concerned with Roxie to eat her breakfast. This is becoming a daily occurrence. Thank goodness for snacks and milk. She has really gotten into Toy Story and Little Mermaid. I love it!

Mike's work is going great! I think he is really enjoying it. (They only part I don't enjoy are the ever more frequent calls at 5:30 or 6 AM...Come on people. When a pregnant lady wakes up from a good sleep for a phone call, she is going to be grumpy). He is REALLY itching to go skiing. I feel bad that the snow year is crappy. We are going to try to go soon. We got a 2 for 1 ticket. So, fingers crossed that we get to go next week! He told me he was looking forward to when Adds is about 4 and they are going to get passes and they will go up together.
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Mariner's Fan Fest

First is Franklin Gutierrez' locker in the M's club house. (Can I just say, I think he is very attractive. I enjoy watching him play....)
Second is Addie running the bases on the field.
Third is me and Adds in the visitors dugout.
Fourth is Mike and Adds in the dugout.
Fifth are the penguins just after feeding.

TODAY: We went to Sears and got Addie's pictures taken (I had some free stuff coupons). Then we headed down to Mariners Fanfest because we got some free tickets! (Thanks Kirsten for thinking of us!) It was really fun! We ran the bases, went to the club house and sat in the dug out. Addie liked running the bases best I think. There were lots that you could do, but we are the lame parents and didn't want to stand in line. Then when we were done, we headed up to the zoo. It was raining and almost NO ONE was there. It was great! As always we like the otters and bears. Plus it was feeding time, so the animals put on a show.
Addie did so well the whole day. And it was great to spend time as a family! I feel like sometimes we just kind of get busy. We have dinner together and then go to bed with not much quality time in between. So it was a lot of fun!
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Sometimes

Ok. So most of you know that me and Mike have a less than perfect dating history
{Yup we tried it 3 times, and then on round 4, we got engaged. Best choice ever}
Some people might think that after that many tries we should call it quits.
BUT.
I knew a few weeks into round one that it would take him a little while. I knew he was someone I could love and marry. Yup 3 weeks in.
Round two: short. Pretty much we missed the action. (I'll admit it. We like to kiss...)
Round three: things actually got serious. We talked about marriage, not just in general, but when. We went on a trip together which brought us closer. The reason it ended was because I was going to school and he didn't want to have me tied down. But I wanted to be. I wanted nothing more than to just stay in his arms instead of drive back to Rexburg.
Sometimes I think about those 4 months that I was at school. Now I dated at school, but that semester I had a few other guys come around that I thought something could seriously happen. I wonder, "What if I had gone on a date with Bachelor number one?" "What if I let things happen a little more with Bachelor number two?" "What if Bachelor number three had tried holding my hand? Would I have let him?"
And then I look at our wedding picture, and Addie hugs my legs, and I feel teeny twinkle toes in my stomach {YUP!! Just a little, but the baby is there!!} and I think how lucky I am that we took our time and became friends. Even when we were not together, we were becoming better friends. I also know, that if it hadn't have worked out with Mike, I would have met someone else and things would have worked out.
BUT I am so lucky that Mike wanted me and WE are married and working on forever.
Thanks for our life together. I love you more today than I did yesterday.
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I'm Gonna Live Where the Green Grass Grows

Dear Mike:
Today I was thinking
We should move. Let's
just up and move to the country.
You know how to farm, right?
I don't want neighbors (at least ones
that are 20 yards away and have their
camper parked out front...)
I want my closest neighbor to be
within 2 miles...or an acre. (Hey, I'm
from the city.)
Let's go some where with NO TRAFFIC. As long as we are together with
our awesome babies and dog,
we will be happy!
Love,
Alyse
PS if that doesn't work out, let's go on a date. Just us!
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Cute friends!

This is why I enjoy nannying. The girls get to play with a friend all day and we get to stay at home!
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Dumbest best money I've ever spent

Ok, so you all know that Mike was unemployed for a small month in June of 2010. We were really trying to be careful with money (since there was none....).
One day I was going through drawers and realized that we had like 70 or 80 bucks left on gift cards (from our WEDDING...) to walmart. I got this GREAT idea that Addie needed some toys. SOO instead of being smart and buying FOOD at Walmart (which isn't great...but when that is your option you take it. Yup lesson learned), I bought Addie a lion push and ride. Not only was it a dumb purchase, but it was 20 bucks more than another version that would have sufficed. I bought some other random stuff like a movie, make-up and cleaning supplies I think...
BUT Addie has loved it! 9 months later we are still busy riding, pushing and standing (see following pictures...)
PS how did I get so lucky? She is super funny and super cute!

PPS (or is it PSS?) Sorry for the little pictures...they are from my phone :)

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Stake Conference

Today was Stake Conference. Usually I dread {like its a nightmare I have} going and trying to keep Addie quiet and occupied and not bothering others. But today, my dread was wasted. She was awesome. And even better, I actually got something out of the meeting!
Our stake theme is temples this year. Mike and I try to make the temple a focus in our home and I think this year will help. One speaker talked about how over Christmas her family (minus one who is to young) all did baptisms together. They did a few family names and she told of the sweet spirit that they all felt. It took me back to Thanksgiving of 2006. We went down to Portland and since Marit had just turned 12, we wanted to go to the temple as a family. My Grandpa Doty was in the temple presidency then and pulled some strings to get us in. While the rest of the world was getting deals on black friday, I got to experience a little taste of the eternities. My family was there and so were my grandparents. All dressed in white and happy.
I love my family. I am thankful that I was sealed to Mike and that our children can be born under the covenant and sealed to us forever. Hard times will come, but I know with EVERYTHING in me, that if we keep our covenants and have FAITH in Him with whom we make those covenants, that we can rise above ourselves and become greater.
I look forward to the time when we can ALL {everyone, Huskinsons, Dotys, Meltons, Wilsons, Shirleys, and Jacobsens} be together in the temple again. Dressed in white and experiencing FOREVER.
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I wish they were here

OK... Remember how earlier today I said I was feeling great? That was before 3:45....AFTER, different story. I started to feel kinda bummy (aka LAZY). Addie was luckily being amazing and not in her usual mommy hold me for the rest of the night mood. I got kind of sick. I just wanted to sleep. I got Adds a bowl of blueberries and a sippy of milk. We turned on Dora (is that why I have the Map song stuck in my head?????). I laid my head down and started to fall asleep. She quickly turned her mood around and not in a good way.
I had that moment where you only want your mom there to help. I just wanted to pack Adds up and drive 5 minutes down the road to my parents and pass her off and go take a nap. BUT they've moved 3 hours away. Not far but way too far for me to drive for a nap. So I miss you. I miss my mom. I miss my dad. I miss my brother and I miss my sisters. Let's go back to our vacation 3 summers ago to the beach. Let's go back to the hospital where we met Addie for the first time. Let's go back to Christmas this year, when we were all together but got on each other's nerves. But we can't, so let's look forward to when we can all be together soon. Mitch, start looking at those vacation rentals, Ken and Mar are on food, I will bring entertainment and Mom and Dad can foot the bill ;) wink wink. I love my family. Stay good so it lasts FOREVER!!
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Pictures

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Days go by!

Days are flying by soo fast! Addie will be 17 months in a few days, and Sunday I will be 14 weeks pregnant. I have been feeling so much better this week compared to previous weeks. I have some energy back and haven't taken a nap for 3 days! Laugh it up, I am serious though. It feels good to have energy and my appetite back. I can eat and not almost (gag) have my dinner come back up.
Addie is soooo BUSY. I have been trying to watch A LOT less tv than usual and it is so nice. We are happier and Addie plays better. We do lots of dancing. Addie recently discovered her shadow, which provides Mike and I with after dinner entertainment. She also put herself in time-out the other day. We have had to give her time-outs for hitting. She hit me and I asked if she needed a time-out and she said yes and walked over to the stairs. Mike and I were DYING! Sooo funny.
Mike has been at his new job for a month and he loves it. He gets to be in the field and still be over people. He loves actually installing and working with his hands again.
Roxie is a scaredy-cat. She runs from the vacuum and is frightened by any other dogs. We love her and she is a great addition to our family.
MIKE and I are super in love still and Addie just adds to that love. We are so excited for the love that the new baby will bring!
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Grateful: Husband, Daughter, pregnancy, working cars, big dog, food, money (the little we have), house, yard, friends and LOVE. PS thanks for being Friday!

I think I can blog now from my phone!! I hope this actually works!