I've Been Tagged!

So, I guess I'm supposed to list six random facts about myself and then tag two other people, so here goes. Warning: some of these may come as a shock!

1. I love to sweat! I know it sounds gross, but it's true. I have been a runner since I was 12 and frankly, it comes with the territory. And I can be somewhat of a psychotic runner when I get into it. I actually enjoy running in the bitter cold and the scorching heat, and in high school I often went running around my neighborhood at midnight or later (with a sister or friend next to me on a bike, of course). And if you look at my injury history, it is apparent that I'm not very good at knowing when to quit. Fortunately, I have wised up quite a bit and am far less psychotic now that I have children.

2. I have been told by several sources that I chew on my tongue when I am concentrating (i.e. putting on make-up, doing something difficult for the first time, playing games, etc.) Of course, I am completely unaware that I do it, but apparently it is an inheritable trait because I sometimes catch Adelyn doing it when she's really focused.

3. I am obsessed when it comes to keeping my history. I have kept a journal since I was 6 or 7 years old and have never gone longer than 2-3 weeks without writing. I have also scrapbooked every event of my entire life! I currently have 14 journals and 12 scrapbooks (including my recent family scrapbooks). I realized a couple months ago that at this rate I am going to have upwards of 100 memory books before I die! Am I crazy?! Who is ever going to want to read or look at all this stuff?! Oh well, I guess I enjoy doing it, so what's the harm?

4. I LOVE condiments! A sandwich is not complete without a slice of tomato, lettuce and cheese. And in my opinion, the more the merrier when it comes to layering food. I find myself eating my sandwiches in a circular fashion, making sure that the very last bite is a perfect one--complete with every delicious condiment and taste.

5. I love to sing, but I don't have the greatest voice. I took a voice class in college when Adelyn was younger and the poor girl was subjected to hours and hours of my singing while I practiced. Sadly enough, since then she usually only requests songs like "Old McDonald" or "Little Bunny Foo-Foo." I'm afraid I wore her out with the show tunes long ago.

6. I am enthralled by little things, like produce. Did you know that there are three separate sections of bananas? Or that carrots have a core at their center? Pomegranates speak for themselves, but I am most fascinated by oranges. They have a peel, then little bite-size sections, but within those sections are hundreds of little delicious juice pockets! How amazing is that! (I could say the same about a grapefruit, but they aren't as tasty.)

Well, there you go. I hope you don't think I'm crazy. Who cares if you do, I guess. Well, I tag Heather S. and Andrea. I'm excited to read about each of you.

Family Portraits

Getting our family pictures taken this year was quite a fiasco. Ryan got one of his friends from graduate school to do it. Adelyn was being really good in the beginning, but by the time the lighting was right, Adelyn was no longer cooperative. Fortunately, we managed to get one with all of us looking forward and this was it. I don't think it is the best picture of me, but you have to take what you can get, right. I was pleased to finally have a family picture with Preston in it, and he's even smiling a little.

This is the first "portrait" of Ryan and I since our wedding (sad, huh). We are almost unrecognizable without a kid or two in our arms. :)

We coaxed Adelyn into taking some individual shots by making it into a game. We had her run across the room, jump onto the ottoman, turn around, and smile. (Ryan's brilliant idea.) I think they turned out pretty darn cute, especially considering the state she was in at the time. We wanted to get some individual shots of Preston too, but unfortunately he fell asleep and we thought it best not to disturb him.

Building a Happy Home

For Family Home Evening this past Monday, we decided
to try our hand at Gingerbread House building. Other than
almost losing the roof, the task was without incident.

Adelyn thought making a house out of candy was
just about the funnest thing in the whole world! She'd
put a candy on the house then one in her mouth!

Here's Addie with her Daddy, the architect.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

Well, I've failed to get on the ball and post these pictures

of Thanksgiving, But I figure it's better late than never, right?

This is Adelyn and her cousins Savanna and Kiley sneaking
into the dessert. And what can we do, kids love sugar!?

This is a nice picture of Ryan's sister Heather and her cute
family (minus Savanna). We all gathered at the Rocque's house
to enjoy a delicious meal and just hang out most of the day.

It has happened--as of this year the Ostler Thanksgiving
dinner had to be held at a church to accommodate the masses
(our huge family). The kids were able to play in the nursery and
the men played basketball while all the girls did what we do best
(talking of course). It was perfect! Here's me with my sister
Verna. It looks like we have both pawned off our babies.

Oh, there's Preston! My sweet (and gorgeous, I might add)
sister Camille lives in Arizona and she finally got to meet my boy.

We did our family Christmas gift exchange a little
early this year. Adelyn is showing us Preston's "Veggie
Tales" show that she decided was hers.

For those of you who don't know, Ryan is obsessed
with French food. He got a professional crepe maker
for his gift. Of course he loves it. Good job, Alison!

I Am Grateful For...

• Two beautiful, healthy children.
• A hard-working, devoted husband.
  
• The fullness of Gospel of Jesus Christ
• My sisters who are my life-long best friends.
• My parents who are my heroes.
  
• Walks with friends on crisp autumn mornings.
• The smiles and laughter of little children.
• The warmth of the holiday season.
• The privileges and freedoms of living in America.
• The opportunity to pray and receive answers.
• A husband who loves our children.
• The scriptures and other good books.
• A warm and comfortable bed to sleep in.
• Supermarkets.
  
• A washer and dryer in my house.
• A car that starts on the first try every morning.
• Feelings of comfort and peace.

I just wanted to share with everyone some of the things I am grateful for. I realized as I got thinking that this was just the beginning. I know that God is in every seemingly insignificant detail in my life, and his "tender mercies" abound in every direction. There are so many things to be thankful for when we look around. During the Christmas season, it is easy to get caught up in what we don' have and what we want to acquire, but I really want to make an extra effort to focus on my blessings during this holiday season and throughout the coming year.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year with our two kids. We
took them to Cornbelly's and Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving
Point, Gardner Village, and of course trick-or treating. We
also enjoyed a Halloween Carnival in our ward. I think
Adelyn wishes it was Halloween everyday.

For those of you who voted for the cow, you got your
wish. Mostly, I just decided on it because it was the warmest
and Preston seemed to always be smiling while he wore it.
Here is our little cow in the cow chair. How cute is he?!

After refusing countless times to try on her wig, I was
afraid Adelyn didn't want to be Raggdy Ann for Halloween
and would never wear her costume. This called for drastic
measures! I got some Raggedy Ann stories at the library
(both books and CDs) and her grandpa bought her the doll.
Finally, on Halloween morning, Adelyn surprised me by
asking to try on her wig. She ended up wearing her
costume the rest of the day. What a relief!

Captain Jack Sparrow and Raggedy Ann. It is amazing how
well these fictional characters get along considering their very
different personalities and backgrounds. :) Aren't they so cute!

Here's the whole family at our ward Halloween Carnival.
If you can't tell, I'm a witch and Ryan is G.I. Joe.

This is just a darling picture of Preston I had to throw in.
He has the sweetest little face to match his sweet nature.

News Brief

I thought now would be a good time to give an update about our most recent family events. As of August, Ryan has returned to teach French at Lakeridge. Because they got new textbooks last year, he has been very busy recreating lesson plans and unfortunately feels like a first year teacher all over again. He is also taking his last required graduate course for his Master's. His thesis is moving along on schedule and he plans to complete and defend it early next year and graduate in April. In addition to all this, he is currently looking to apply for graduate schools with hopes to start his PhD next year. He was released from being young men's president and now enjoys teaching both the Elder's Quorum and the Temple Preparation classes in our ward.

I am still in the Primary and loving it. Our primary program is coming up in November and I've been doing a lot with our cub scout program and baptisms as well. I recently decided to not return to my job at the hospital for now. With Ryan being so busy, it just makes sense to stay home with the kids full-time. I am excited to focus all my efforts on enjoying my roles as mother and wife. I love going out and doing things with the kids. We love going to story time, walking to the park, playing outside, and doing other activities with friends. I'm also currently working on catching up our family scrapbook and getting back into running (slowly).

Adelyn is growing smarter and more beautiful everyday. She loves to sing songs, read stories, play outside, and watch "Dora." She can get dressed by herself, count to 12, sing her ABCs, identify all her shapes and colors, and is starting to name her letters and even their sounds! She also knows more animals than I do and the sound they make. It's crazy! She loves to learn. Her favorite songs are "Old McDonald," "I'm a Little Teapot," "Once there was a Snowman," and "The Wise Man and Foolish Man." She will not go to sleep until we've sung ALL of these songs and more. We've been trying to get her potty trained, but she still doesn't cooperate much of the time. I'm just waiting for her to decide the time is right.

Preston is almost 3 months old and is over 15lbs. He is so sweet and smiley; I just can't kiss him enough. He loves to eat, sleep, take baths, suck on his hands, squeal, go for walks, and just hang out (big surprise). Really, he likes to do just about anything except ride in the car. He is starting to sleep for longer stretches in the night off and on (which is very nice for me). Adelyn absolutely adores this little guy and helps me take care of him however she can. Her daily kiss quota for him is somewhere around 100.

Well, that just about sums up the last few months. We are really happy and getting to be more and more comfortable managing two kids. The days and weeks are just flying by and we feel so blessed.

Which Costume?

I need some help choosing a Halloween costume for
Preston. Please post a comment and vote for your favorite.

Option 1: A half-naked pumpkin. Okay, we'll probably
put clothes under the pumpkin bib.

Option 2: A wide-eyed bumble bee.

Option 3: A happy cow.

Preston's Blessing

Preston's blessing was a memorable event. We knew from
the beginning that Preston was a very noble little spirit, and
we were reminded of this fact by the powerful blessing Ryan
gave him. It was a special experience to share with our family
and friends. And we were amazed at how well everyone
fit into our small condo. What a special day!

Can you believe Preston's little smile?! And he looks so
much like his daddy. How cute are they!

Here's our family of four. We're so happy to have
our new darling addition.

Best Friends

In appearance, these two silly kids, Jaron and Adelyn, seem to
be opposites. He's a tan, dark haired boy; she's a fair, blond girl.
But you would not believe the trouble these two can manage
together. They have been friends for over a year and a half
and have enjoyed many adventures together. Jaron's mom
Heather is one of my best friends and we always joke that
our kids act like a married couple because they love each other,
but they fight ALL the time!

Because some days they have such a difficult
time sharing, we decided this was a Kodak moment.
Aren't these Pooh slippers so cute!

I got this pool late in the summer because I was feeling guilty that
Adelyn didn't get to swim much this summer due to the baby.
She was obsessed with it and wanted to have all her friends over
to play with her. This picture is a fine example of Adelyn playing
bully. It doesn't look like Jaron was real keen on getting wet, but
Adelyn sure thought it was funny to splash him.

This slide made the pool twice as fun. They'd go down it over
and over and over until they had splashed nearly all the water out!

Bath Time!

Preston loves baths, but he is such a wiggler and

so strong that he constantly slides down and I have to
move him up his mesh bath over and over. And
just look at that darling little round tummy!

The State Fair

We went to the Utah State Fair with the
Rocque's and had a really great time. Adelyn thought
it was the funnest thing in the whole world. She
completely wore herself out having fun.

Adelyn got the chance to play farm girl on this darling little miniature farm for kids. She planted, picked and harvested vegetables; drove a tracker; milked a cow; groomed a sheep; and bought food at the country store. It was so fun to see her experiencing farm life. She loves trying new things and being industrious! She's at such an incredibly fun age and insists upon doing everything herself. She no longer lets me push her in the stroller. She wants to push it and often bumps into people. At the fair, someone thought our stroller was blowing away, when in fact, it was just being navigated by a silly precocious toddler that couldn't see over the top. Oh, the joys of parenthood!

These baby goats were so precious. Their ears were so
long and flappy and they were still unsteady on their little
legs. Adelyn pet them, even though she's afraid to touch most
animals. She also pet a sleeping baby cow and a huge steer.

This is how Preston and I experienced most of the fair. He
does really well in this carrier; he just slept most of the time we
were there, which is far more than I could have hoped for.

Grandma Rocque helped Adelyn ride a pony for the second time.
This time there was no hesitating and she was very
frustrated when she had to get off. Maybe she'll be a cowgirl?

Our boy is definitely growing. Here you can see his double chin
and wrist rolls! He loves being held by his Grandma, and is quite
content to be in the sun as long as he has a hat shielding his eyes.

Crazy Campers!

After some deliberation on my part (Ryan was

always up for the idea), we decided to be brave and
take Adelyn and Preston (1 month old) camping
with Ryan's family. It was quite an adventure!

Adelyn, showing her enthusiasm for camping.
She absolutely loved it!

Proudly, Addie showed off her very dirty hands.

Ryan and Adelyn sharing a s'more.

The precious face of Preston, who is growing fast
and is now over 12 pounds at only 5 weeks old.

Adelyn and her cousin Savanna.

Andria and Atreyu.

Brent and Maria.

Heather and her three girls.

My boys in their matching clothes
all dressed up for church. Obviously,
this pic wasn't taken while camping.

Juggling Kids

It has been an interesting experience trying to
adjust to two kids--humbling. The last couple of
weeks seem like a whirlwind of crying, poopey diapers,
and spit up. It's crazy how your hands are always full,
with one child or the other (sometimes both). But
what a blessing they each are. And looking at these
pictures helps me remember what it's all about.

Preston, just two days old.

Male bonding time.

Preston had newborn jaundice and we had to undergo
the miserable experience of putting him in bili-lights for
six days, starting when he was just 2 days old. Needless to
say, we all hated it, but were happy when he eventually
got better and we could hold him more.

Another angle in the lights.

Our beautiful girl with "her George" all ready for church.

Two naked kids in the process of getting ready for bed,
which always takes much longer than it should because of
all of Adelyn's shenanigans. Her latest stalling tactic when
we ask her to do something is, "No, I kiss baby brother
first," and who could say no to that request?

Here's a little wave from the boy.