Busy 9 days

December 19, 2009 my 29th birthday!

Wow, I really can't believe that I am that old. I did have a little melt down when Mark called me 30 the other day. I am NOT 30 yet. This was a very eventful day. Jake had been really excited about my birthday all week. He told me on Wednesday that he was going to be in charge of the games and I would be in charge of the food. So that is what we did. It was a panda themed party. We started by having a panda bear treasure hunt. We played panda leap frog. Then panda volley ball. And we did a version of duck duck goose with panda bears:) We then opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Jake made my day. We did go to the ward primary party in the morning and the ward adult party in the evening. Spencer was here and he cleaned my house for me while we were at the adult party. What a gem! I think he has cleaned my house more than I have in the last month. Thank you Spencer. December 24, 2009

We have been doing fondue for the past few years on Christmas eve. It is so much fun. A little stressful with all our boys but we keep doing it. I am glad it is only once a year.

We had a very fun Christmas but I don't really have any pictures to post from that morning. I was a little slow with the camera. So strange but we haven't ever been woken up by our kids on Christmas morning. I really thought this would be the year but it wasn't. I guess we will enjoy it while it lasts.

December 28, 2009

Mark and JanaRae's 8th anniversary! Wow I can't believe it has been 8 years. CRAZY! We love being married and the joy our little guys bring our way. I told Mark I love anniversaries because I feel like it is a shared Birthday party! Today we had a babysitter from 1-5 and we just went shopping. Mark was even pleasant about it. We then ended the night with Pizza and FHE. (And maybe a little Wii playing)

To celebrate Mark and I got new shoes! Love them! Mark also picked up a Wii. I have really enjoyed the new Mario game too much. Last night we stayed up to midnight playing! As Ethan would say "I just want to save the princess!"

Who invented this?

And why are we still using them?

My kids did have fun however it took me an hour to clean up and I think I will be finding packing peanuts throughout my house for years!

December 7th

As long as I can remember December 7th has been a holiday in the Carlson home. My parents got engaged on this day. It was a Sunday and they had gone to someone's home after a fireside for banana splits. When my dad brought my mom hers it had a ring instead of a cherry on it. We have celebrated this with having banana splits ever since. Last night we went to Thanksgiving Point, to our favorite ice cream place to get our treat. When we got there we saw reindeer out front. It was so fun for my boys. I was glad Emily had brought her camera so we could get some pictures.Ethan, Jake and Ryan with the reindeer
Me with my banana split. I really wanted to share with Mark since these are so huge but he wasn't in the mood to share so I was forced to try and eat this all myself. Poor me :)

The Hemingway Boys. I wanted to share with the little guys but they insisted on having blue ice cream cones!

Emily and Matthew with their puny banana split. I really don't know why they got one so small. I have never seen one this small at Thanksgiving point.

pantry

Thanks to Mark I now have these! I am really excited about all these shelves in my laundry room. It now feels huge again. It was getting a little crowded with the little plastic shelves we had in there. Mark even went the extra mile and organized all his tools. He was super busy Saturday. Thank you Mark. I love you!

Together Again

Mark is now back and I am back to my normal self. Thanks to my cousin Alyse and her husband Bob. They were heaven sent. The came and watched the little monkeys on Thursday night and I went to Emily's fashion show that she had for her beauty school. I also went to dinner with Jeannie. Her husband was at the conference with Mark. I was actually happy when Ryan came in my room at 6:30 Friday morning. I was again tired by the time Mark got home at 7:30 that night.

And if you are wondering our new punishment for peeing on the carpet is having to wear a diaper all day. They are also responsible for cleaning up their mess.

I just took this cute picture of Andrew yesterday. I had to post it. I think he is so darling. My sad news. All my 0-3 month clothes are officially put away :( I wish they could stay that size for 6 months. I love newborns!

Trying to Survive

Just in case people are wondering how I am managing with out Mark. Today was a rough start:( Mark left on Sunday at noon and won't be home until Friday around 5 or 6, he has yet to give me the full details!
I thought this morning was going to be a good one since I had all my kids bathed last night. I got up at 6 and worked out on my treadmill. I came upstairs and packed Ethan's lunch. (Good thing I got that done early!) When Ryan woke up I quickly changed his diaper and got him dressed for the day. The same thing with Andrew. When Andrew was done eating I put him in his swing and then had family prayer with the boys. Sounding good so far. Just wait.
As soon as I sat down to eat my breakfast with the boys Andrew threw up all over himself and the swing. Yes there was a puddle of spit up in the swing when I got him out. So I quickly bathed him and changed his clothes. As I was washing him Ryan was screaming that he wanted an egg instead of Lucky Charms. I was a little busy at the time and couldn't get his request so he dumped all his Lucky Charms all over the floor. Yes Andrew was in his towel at the time. So I got that cleaned up and peeled him an egg.
Jake and Ethan were being so silly at breakfast they weren't eating. I was worried that Ethan wouldn't be ready for his bus on time. Jake finished so I sent him downstairs to get dressed. Ethan finished shortly after so I said why don't you try and get dressed faster than Jake. They both came running upstairs shortly after. Ethan still missing a shirt. I got Andrew dressed and then went down to check on them. Ethan then told me that Jake peed on the floor. When I asked why he did that he said "because Ethan peed on my bed!" Yes there was pee all over the floor, Jake's bed and box springs. I was down in their room trying to decide how to best handle this. And then Ethan, Jake and Ryan all started screaming (just for fun) hmmm, I was really overwhelmed. It was only 8:09 AM!
I called my mom and told her I needed someone to feel sorry for me. She let me relate all that had happened (through tears of course) and felt truly sorry for me. Then just before we hung up she said, "Be thankful you don't have cancer too" Thanks mom. Things really could be worse. I really am thankful for my boys. I am just still trying to find a good way to discipline them. If I ground them from TV then I won't get my nap in everyday ( I NEED that) There aren't any friends on our street so they don't really play with friends. I would love any suggestions! And I would Love for Mark to come back soon!

Top 25!

Last night Mark and I went to this Fancy smancy dinner for Utah's top 25 student run businesses. It was a lot of fun. Mark's Partner Cahlan is finishing up his master's degree and entered their company Sharp Media into this competition. Mark's company took 4th! Way to go guys. We got there at 6 for the mingle with appetizers. They were delicious! Then we sat down to dinner and the program. The program consisted of Utah's Governor Gary Herbert, Stephen Gibson a BYU professor and entrepreneur, and John Pestana and Josh James the founders of Omniture. They were all really good speakers. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship. It was nice to realize that there were other wives out there that have husbands working LONG hours to make their dreams come true and see that it can pay off in the end. Here is Mark and Me at the dinner.

Here we are with the award


Here is Mark with Dustin on the left and Cahlan on the right. Mark didn't really want me taking this picture because my camera was sooo slow and then he made this face during the picture. He wouldn't wait for me to take another one and wanted me to get one from one of the other wives but I haven't gotten one yet. So sorry Mark for the bad picture.

Here is everyone from Sharp Media left to right

Cahlan and Kim Sharp, Mark and JanaRae Hemingway and Dustin and Jeanie Christensen

PS. Thanks to Emily for doing my hair she got me so excited about the night. She gave me a crash course on what she had been learning in her etiquette class as well as a hand bag full of accessories to chose from to wear for the night.