Super Saturday

I'm avoiding getting started on the housework. It can wait until 9 or so, I'm sure.

This past week I went to Super Saturday. I made a glass etched vase that says "Let it snow" on it, a wreath of bells for the boys' bedroom door and a painted wooden Christmas tree. It's supposed to say something on it, but I can't decide what I want to put on it yet, so it's still just a tree. I love what I made though, especially my vase. It turned out so well.

My mum stayed over that night and helped Caleb paint some stained glass looking ornaments. He was SO excited. She also bought Brett's stocking for him. The boys all have the same kind of stocking and I didn't want to wait until next year and find out that the place didn't sell them anymore or something. And they're all the same exact size, so no fighting over that:)

Other than that, I don't think too much else is really new here. I lead a boring life:P Our Christmas tree has made it upstairs but isn't set up yet because I still have to find the legs for it. I was looking for a metal stand last week only to realize that I should have been looking for plastic legs. I'll hopefully find them today. My basement is kind of a dumping ground at the moment.

Oh, and John and I made some sugar cookies last night. They're amazing, I love the recipe we use. It's Sugar Cookie Cutouts from Kraft Canada. LOVE EM! For date night last week we played Mario Party 8 on the Wii and had Yogurt Pops and Diet Sprite with Sour Apple syrup, yum:)

Anyway, I hope you have a great week!

Attitude of Gratitude

I actually taught about this talk at Activity Days last night and was reminded of just how amazing it is. It might be my favourite talk. Anyway, here's my Attitude of Gratitude:

1) I am grateful for my dad and him helping us out with an unexpected financial setback. Some gasket thing went on our van last week and we had to have it replaced which I wasn't expecting to have to do only 4 months after we bought it. My dad calmed me down and reassured me that he would help us out. My relationship with him has changed a lot in the last year or so, and I'm grateful for that, too.

2) I am grateful to have a warm home to be in when it's cold outside. I could sit here and complain about the cold forever, because I'm definately not its biggest fan, but really, I am grateful that I have ways of staying warm through the cold months (warm house, vehicle that works, good winter clothes, etc). Plus, it motivates me more to make hot chocolate for the boys and I, because all 3 of us just love it.

3) I am grateful for a husband who is willing to help out so much. He cleaned while I was at Activity Days last night and often does this. He is more often than not the one to load and run the dishwasher. He changes at least half of the dirty diapers on our kids. But the biggest one, in my opinion, is that he has done almost every single night time feeding with both of our kids. Not many husbands would be willing to do that for a wife who doesn't leave the house to work, but mine has recognized that in our house it's a need and does it without complaining. I'm so blessed. I picked well:)

Happy American Thanksgiving today and hope you have a great weekend!!!

PS
Finally got one of these taken. Sorry it's not the best, Caleb (4) had to take it for me. 22 weeks 2 days in the photo.

Day 15

PICTURES OF YOUR DREAM HOUSE















I don't actually have any pictures of what the house itself looks like, but here are the floor plans. It's the Heritage by Pacesetter. I don't have all of my colour schemes decided yet, but I would have dark wook cabinetry with light wood flooring and at least one of my rooms (probably my great room) would have an accent wall in a deep red and the other walls would be tan.

The boys' rooms would be the ones in the basement and bedroom #2 upstairs would be our spare room. The lifestyle room would be our hobby/computer room.

There are 2 reasons why this is the house I want. 1) The master ensuite's toilet has a door that closes it off from the rest of the bathroom. 2) Look at that massive storage room that includes a shelving space in the basement! Not to mention I could overflow storage in the utility room if I needed to.

So there you have it, this is the house that I dream of building. It may not be over the top, but it would be a very comfortable sized house for us. Anything more than this would just be more to clean, right?

PS
Someone asked me what bugged me about Harry Potter. Without giving away any plot, there is a short scene that borders on nudity (I would classify it as such). I find it highly inappropriate and unnecessary. It still makes me mad.

Day 14 and Update

SOME PICTURES YOU LOVE THAT YOU'VE TAKEN



















I haven't taken very many pictures that I like, but I do like these two. The first is the Salt Lake Temple's reflection in the Reflecting Pool at Temple Square. The second is just one of Caleb pouring water that I really like. I think it's the action of the water and brightness of the colours that I like the most.

UPDATE
Not too much is new. I had another ultrasound last week plus my first prenatal appointment for this pregnancy. Apparently all is going well. Brettley is kicking lots now. I can feel him kick from the outside, but for some reason John can't yet.

For our date night last week we went to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It is so amazing how 1 short scene can ruin an entire movie for you. Less than 30 seconds of something inappropriate killed that whole movie for me, because I loved the rest of it. It was really hard on me, I'm such a Harry Potter geek.

On Saturday night I had some people over for games and snacks. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad that I had the idea to have the party. I also made a new brownie recipe for the first time and LOVED them!

So yeah, that's pretty much all that's new in the Bly house. I can't believe tomorrow's already the last day of the 15 Day Challenge. I'm going to miss it. Have a good one!

Day 13

GOALS

-Exaltation
-To raise my boys to have strong testimonies, to have them serve missions, to know the value of hard work and perseverance
-To own our own house someday
-To go back to Utah for another visit
-To be a better housekeeper (I'm really working hard on this one at the moment, actually)
-To finish the Book of Mormon before Christmas (Doing great with this one)
-To weight 150 lbs or less by the end of 2011
-To serve in Young Women (I only have so much control over this one, though)
-To see at least 1 more girl earn her Faith in God award before I get released from my calling (Whenever that may be, I'm hoping it's at least a year away)
-To take a trip somewhere in the next 5 years with just John and I, no kids, that lasts for about a week (or more, if possible)
-To become better about saying my prayers in the morning and at night
-To finish Project 52 with a perfect record (We're good so far)
-To go to the temple more often
-To read to my boys more
-To make it through all 3 meetings in Church as much as possible over the rest of the pregnancy (This is really hard to do because of my hip/back pain, but I really want to try my hardest to stick it through)

So there you have some of my goals. Enjoy your Sabbath day:)

Day 12

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

I believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church in the world that teaches the fullness of the gospel and believe what the church stands for. I believe that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and a Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered and then rose again for me. I believe that there is a Holy Ghost who helps to guide me and comfort me. I believe that there is a prophet on the earth today, President Thomas S Monson, and that he, his counsellors and the Quorum of the 12 Apostles are prophets, seers and revelators. I believe that the priesthood keys have been restored to the earth. I believe that families can be sealed together and that marriages are meant to be eternal, not until death do you part. I believe in trying my hardest to do what's right and to try to become like Heavenly Father.

Day 11

FAVOURITE TV SHOWS

I LOVE Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. They are my top 2 favourites for sure. I also like M*A*S*H. I used to enjoy NUMB3RS, but it got too sexual so I stopped watching it.

With the kids I enjoy watching Phineas & Ferb and Avatar: The Last Airbender. They also love Caillou, but I'm not so much into that one.

Yeah, that's about it. The boys watch a variety of shows, but I don't. I'm not at all a big TV person anymore and am glad that we're cutting off our cable in the next month. It's too much of a time waster.

PS
HAPPY HARRY POTTER DAY!!!

Day 10 & Attitude of Gratitude

SOMETHING YOU'RE SCARED OF

No pictures today because I'm in a rush to get this posted, but mice, bats and birds are big ones. However, my biggest fear would be the unknown.

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

1) I am grateful for getting to hear Brettley's heartbeat twice this week and knowing that everything's going well with him. Heck, I'm just plain grateful for him, as I shouldn't have been able to have anymore kids and Heavenly Father has blessed me so much that I'm able to have him.

2) I am grateful that I get to go on a double date tomorrow night to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the IMAX. I've been looking forward to this movie for months and months now, and I'm so excited that it's finally here.

3) I am grateful that I have been able to keep the main floor of my house clean every day since I royally messed up my hip on Monday to get it super duper clean. It's such a nice feeling to go to bed each night knowing that I'll walk downstairs in the morning to a nice clean kitchen, dining room and living room.

Yeah, that's about it for today. It's been a busy one:)

Day 9

PUT YOUR iPOD ON SHUFFLE, WHAT ARE THE FIRST 10 SONGS

1) Too Cool - Meghan Martin (From Camp Rock)
2) Be Like That - 3 Doors Down
3) The Reason - Hoobastank
4) If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher
5) Set In Stone - Incura
6) Someday - Nickelback
7) How Do You Like Me Now?! - Toby Keith
8) I Believe - Nikki Yanofsky
9) You Are the Music In Me (Sharpay Version) - Ashley Tisdale (From High School Musical 2)
10) Party In the U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus

Day 8

A PLACE YOU'VE TRAVELLED TO

The first place that we've been to as a married couple I actually don't have any pictures of on the computer and it was only for one night, but we stayed in Jasper for a night about 2 weeks after our wedding. This was our honeymoon and is one of the few things I would do differently if I could go back in time. I would definately have stayed there longer and maybe gone somewhere a little bit further from home (it was only a few hours from Grande Prairie, which is where we were living at the time).

Our other trip was to Utah this past summer (like 2 days after we found out we were expecting). I'd been trying to make the trip for 5 years at this point, so I was overjoyed that I finally got to make it. It was fun and I loved getting to see friends and to visit Temple Square. I also was on the birth parent panel at the FSA National Conference which was a good experience. I definately want to go back to Utah again in a couple of years, but maybe not with the kids next time. That part of the trip ended up being pretty stressful at night when we were staying in hotels. (Our van giving up the ghost just outside of Great Falls, MT on John's birthday may not have been the best experience ever either.)

Day 7 and Update

FAVOURITE MOVIES






















Ha ha, like you expected anything other than a Harry Potter movie to be first. This is my favourite of the movies so far, but that could very well change after Friday night. We shall see.



















To be perfectly honest, this one is actually my favourite movie (the extended version, though). I always get choked up when Aragorn says to the hobbits "My friends, you bow to no one".














I also love this movie, which is pretty out of character for me, but the new Batman movies have been done VERY well. I'm really looking forward to when the third one comes out. So there you have my top 3 favourite movies.

UPDATE
Hmm, what's new? Well, we have a few Christmas decorations out. Caleb still can't understand why we're not putting up our tree yet. I'm trying to wait until the first Saturday in December to put it up. We'll see how long I last. I can be worse than a kid about getting excited and getting the Christmas stuff up.

For our date night this week John and I had these pudding things and some diet pop and watched Forgotten Carols together. I love watching it:) John really likes it too.

The not so much fun part of the week was finding out that Ty has bronchitis. He was getting really sick to his stomach, so we took him in. I'm glad we didn't wait any longer and wish we'd taken him sooner. Next time I don't feel right about something, I'll follow my instinct instead of trying to reason it away.

Yesterday I got to go visiting teaching:) I love it. Anyway, this is a month where we get to choose a talk from General Conference or the Relief Societ General Broadcast to use for our message. I chose President Monson's talk from Sunday morning, 'The Divine Gift of Gratitude'. The quote that all of us seemed to love the most was
"My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

Isn't President Monson so wonderful? Anyway, hope you've had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a great week:)

Day 6

A SONG THAT MAKES YOU CRY (OR NEARLY) AND WHY

The first is From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Your's (written by Michael McLean). If you've ever heard it and know anything about me, there's no explaination necessary. If you're missing one of the other, here it goes. It's a song written for a birth mother to sing to the adoptive parents that she was placing her child with. I am not that birth mother, but I am A birth mother to the most beautiful girl in the world, L.

Another is I Was Not His Father, He Was Mine (also by Michael McLean). It's from Forgotten Carols and it always makes me think about how hard it would have been to know that you're raising the Son of God and that no matter what, you would never be better than this perfect child that you're raising. I can't imagine how inadequate Christ's mother and Joseph must have felt while they were bringing him up.

Yeah, so those are my big 2 songs. There are other ones that have ocassionally made me cry such as I Stand All Amazed, How Great Thou Art, The Reason by Hoobastank and others.

Have a great Sabbath Day!

Day 5

PICTURES OF THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY

Day 4

SOMETHING YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I on the IMAX next Friday. I am WAY excited for this, in case you couldn't tell by the counter on the side of my blog, my blog background and if you have me on Facebook I've been counting down the weeks for well over a month now.

2) Christmas, definately! The whole Christmas season is just so much fun. The spirit in the air, the decorations, the baking, the reminder it gives us about the humble birth of our Savior. It's all just so amazing. Our favourite albums this year are Christmas Carroll by Carroll Baker (mine) and Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites (Caleb's, although I love it as well).

3) Brettley Eoin Bly. We are very much looking forward to welcoming him into home and have him here to love even more and enjoy watching him as he grows. Last night I felt him kick my hand for the first time, so John is definately looking forward to getting a boot or two now.

Day 3 and Attitude of Gratitude

YOUR SIBLINGS AND PARENTS:

My dad, Henry (Matty), lives right here in Edmonton. He was a financial clerk for many years for the military. He retired from the military early in 2006 and now works as a civilian for the military in the health services dept (I think).

My brother, Kyle, lives in Calgary. He works for Indigo and is in the process of getting ready to move into more of a management position next year. He also attends school part time where he's working towards his Bachelor of Management (I think that's what it's called) and in spring 2009 he recieved his diploma in management studies from MacEwan. Kyle has been in a long term relationship with Danielle for over 5 years now, and we really love her. She is currently in her last year of Interior Design at Mount Royal and also has a management studies diploma from MacEwan from 2008.

My mum, Jo-Ann, lives in Wainwright. She was a supply tech in the military until 2001, when she retired to move back to Wainwright (and to Bob). She had a few jobs until she settled into the job as the main admin assistant in the Health Services dept on the military base as a civilian (the military must be a black hole, ha ha). My mum can do pretty much anything that's even remotely crafty and do it very well. I wish I had that skill:) Anyway, she live with my step-dad, Bob, who is the electrical shop foreman on base.

I also have a step-sister, Kirby, who is 6 months younger than me. She also lives in Wainwright and is working at a clothing store.

JOHN'S SIBLINGS AND PARENTS (I've shortened the town/city names to give them a bit of privacy)

John's parents live in M-town. Dad was the town adminstrator before I met him, but retired. He now serves on the town council. Mom was a registered nurse before she had John and now serves in the Family History Centre and volunteers at the school a lot as well. They love to travel.

John's oldest sister, Kathy, lives in PB. She is a reporter for a newspaper and loves travelling and especially taking her nieces and nephews to Disneyland.

Next is Debi, who lives in C-town. She works nights at 7-11. She and her husband, Delin, have 4 kids.

After John is Heather, who lives here in E-town. She stays at home and juggles taking her kids to school, dance and other classes. She and Mike have 6 kids.

Last is Amy, who lives next to Mom and Dad in M-town. She also stays at home and strives her best to be a wonderful homemaker (we think she does amazingly well). She and Ryan have 4 kids.


ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
1) I am SO grateful for 2 wonderful girls who both finished their Faith in God award requirements last night at Activity Days. They are amazing and have worked so hard to get these awards. C and A are the kind of girls that make me love my calling and look forward to going to our meetings. Last night was C's last meeting. A has 2 more left to go. I will miss them lots, but I know that they will have a blast in Young Women.

2) I am grateful to learn that there are things in this world that bother me more than mice. One of those things being second-hand smoke residue making my kids and I sick. It's always nice to be reminded that I have my priorities a little straighter than I thought I did.

3) I am grateful for wonderful men and women have died and risked death to give me the freedom that I enjoy today.

Hope you have a great Remembrance Day and observe the 2 minutes of silence.

Day 2

SOMETHING THAT STRESSES YOU OUT

First and foremost, my kids. Not that they're the worst kids out there or something, because they are definately not, but just because I stress about everything, and they are the 'thing' that I deal with the most.

Along with my kids, I stress about having to a)raise them at this time in the world where morals and strength in religious beliefs are becoming a thing of the past more and more each day and b)raising them in a big city where there is more violence and more immoral people to influence them and less people closer together who share the standards I'm trying to raise my kids with.

Having my hip and back so wonky during pregnancy so that I can't do nearly as much as I could a few months ago. It's stressful to know that I should be doing things like carting laundry up and down the stairs, but I'm not able to and so I have to rely on John a LOT more.

Pretty much everything stresses me out, though. I always want things to be perfect and they seldom are, so I'm a really stressed out person. Just ask my mum or John, they'll agree in a heartbeat.

So there you have it. Tomorrow's challenge is a lot more upbeat, PLUS it's Attitude of Gratitude day then:)

15 Day Challenge

I've decided to take up the challenge to do the following:

Day 1 - Self portrait picture and 15 interesting facts
Day 2 - Something that stresses you out
Day 3 - Your siblings and parents
Day 4 - Something you're looking forward to
Day 5 - Pictures of things that make you happy
Day 6 - A song that makes you cry (or nearly and why)
Day 7- Favourite movies
Day 8 - A place you've travelled to
Day 9 - Put your iPod on shuffle, what are the first 10 songs
Day 10 - Something you're afraid of
Day 11 - Favourite TV shows
Day 12 - What do you believe?
Day 13 - Goals
Day 14 - Some pictures you love
Day 15 - Pictures of your dream house

So here is DAY 1 - SELF PORTRAIT AND 15 INTERESTING FACTS

This was taken last year. I don't have an SD card at the moment, so I can't do a new one.
















1) I listen to 2 of my Christmas albums all year round (Christmas Eve and Other Stories by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean)
2) I don't have my class 5 driver's and keep wishing I could smack the next person who pesters me about it. There are now good reasons why I don't have it.
3) I have craved McDonald's cheeseburgers every single time I've been pregnant.
4) I love my calling. It stresses me out a lot, but I love it. (I'm the Activity Days leader in my ward)
5) I'm still extremely sad that I'll never have a girl of my own but do my best to put on a brave face for the world.
6) It drives me up the wall when people mess up the words when they're singing.
7) I am a recovered alcoholic of almost 7 years now.
8) I talk to my mum almost every single day unless one of us is travelling (and close to it even then).
9) I am doing our stake's challenge of getting the Book of Mormon read before Christmas. I finished Alma 54 this morning and read 3 chapters per day.
10) I'm currently rereading Fishers of Men by Gerald N Lund even though I'm supposed to be reading Persuasion by Jane Austen for our book club before next Thursday. I probably won't get it done, but I'd much rather read something that I find spiritually uplifting.
11) I'm early for everything when I'm not relying on someone other than John to get me there.
12) I tried a jellied salad for the first time ever this past weekend. It was okay, but I think it needed pomegranate seeds.
13) I haven't had visiting teachers come to see me in almost a year. I really miss it. But I enjoy getting out to do my own route because I have a great companion and awesome sisters.
14) I love Harry Potter, it might be bordering on an unhealthy obsession some days. John and I will be dressing up for Deathly Hallows Part 2 next year (I wouldn't fit into much of a costume at the moment with my big baby belly.
15) I dressed up as a jedi for Star Wars Episode III with 2 of my friends. It was awesome!!!

Happy To Be Home

What a rough few days. The boys and I spent 2 nights at my dad's. The stay itself was relatively okay but because my dad is a smoker and there is smoke residue in everything it made both of the boys and I sick. Not so much fun.

The weekend was a lot better, though. We went down to Magrath. Caleb and Ty had a blast playing with their cousins. It was nice to get down for a visit, even if it was a super quick one just to get the baby clothes. Our next visit will be for a week, so that will give us lots more visiting time.

The mouse has apparently decided to leave on it's own because we haven't seen any sign of it at all since Thursday morning. I didn't much care, I was coming back home last night whether there was a mouse or not. I'd rather be scared than get the boys and I sick again.

Last night I went through 5 garbage bags worth of baby clothes. I will be Goodwilling 1.5-2 garbage bags worth since I don't think Brett will want fuzzy super warm winter clothes in July and August.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to be back home and that I now get to buy some cute little baby shorts since we don't have any for the first 6 months. Hope you have a great week:)

Attitude of Gratitude

I'm having a hard time being grateful today, which means I probably need to do this more than usual.

1) I'm grateful to have my dad living close to us and always willing to help out when we need it. The boys and I are staying at his place while John wages war against the whole 1 mouse that decided to take up residence in our home. I don't think I've ever explained the mouse thing on the blog before. I have a very nasty irrational fear of mice. I don't call it a phobia because seeing pictures and movies doesn't bother me (unless it's an infestation or something), but if there's a mouse in my house, I hightail it elsewhere. The few hours I had to spend in my house with the mouse yesterday were full of being paranoid and super nauseous.

2) I'm grateful that I'll be able to go to Magrath tomorrow for a couple of nights. I miss our family down there so much. I wish it could be a longer visit, but it's just a quick one to pick up all of the baby clothes that we have stored in my in-law's garage attic. (On a side note, I have the best father-in-law that there is. He is amazing and I'm always really grateful for him.)

3) I'm grateful for the strength that Heavenly Father gives me to get through times that I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get through on my own. I have been so blessed since making the choice to follow the Lord, and I am so thankful that I was introduced to this wonderful better way of living life. I've lived without the gospel and with it, and I can honestly say that a life without the gospel is definately not a life worth living once you've tasted both.

Hope you all have a great weekend and keep your fingers crossed for us that our little rodent friend meets his death very soon.

I'm Cool With It

I found out that a lot of people aren't sure of what to say to me about having another boy because they don't know how I feel about it. So here's the honest truth:

Yes, it hurts. After I found out I spent a few minutes in the bathroom right next to the u/s room bawling my eyes out. The little girl that I've been waiting on for over 6 years now will never come to me in this life (barring some huge miracle), because we are officially done after this. But then I remembered that this is about more than just me. I think I've mentioned this before that my husband has OCD. His doesn't manifest itself so much in the strict routines and organization, it's the obsessive thoughts that most people can shake out of their head that he can't, which in my opinion is a heck of a lot worse than the routines and stuff. When you combine this with trying to live a clean Christlike life it is VERY HARD. I don't envy John and I wish every day that I could take it away. That being said, I think that it's going to be a lot easier for John to never have a girl in this life. And if that's one of the things that I have to suck up and deal with to support him, then I'll do it with a smile on my face. I love him and he comes first before what I want.

So now I'm excited about having another boy. I don't have to buy as many clothes, just change up some seasonal stuff for the first couple of years. (However, I've still been buying some stuff because it's super cute and it's on clearance) I don't have to worry about how a girl would survive the 2 crazy boys that we already have. Finally, and here's the big sigh of relief, I will never have to deal with my daughter as she experiences psycho teenage girl hormones. I will just get 3 (hopefully) daughters-in-law who are already past that stage. I'm good with that. So yes, I am happily accepting congratulations. As long as no one tries to throw it in my face and laugh at me for not having a girl, I'm totally good.

We took a few days, but finally decided on a name for our new little man. After many near arguements, we chose Brettley Eoin Bly. Eoin is pronounced O-in and is the Irish form of John. Make fun of the name Brettley all you want, but I absolutely love it.

On Saturday we went to our ward's Halloween party in the morning. Caleb was Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales and Ty was a knight. They had lots of fun. They got some candy, played a couple of games and decorated some sugar cookies (which were amazing and I could definately tell they were the recipe that I use now that has cream cheese in it). That night John and I had our weekly date night. We had taco chips with sour cream and salsa and we organized Magic cards for our activity (his idea). Sound pretty boring, right? I LOVED it. I'm all about sorting things into categories and alphabetical order so I was entirely in my element. In fact, we kept on going last night because I'd enjoyed getting to do that and just having time to sit together and talk. So far we've done a date night every week since we committed to Project 52.

Not too much else is new right now, though. My boys just both have a nasty cough now and John has started doing lots of overtime. We're looking forward to spending a few nights in Magrath this weekend as we go to pick up the baby clothes we have stored there in my in-law's garage attic. Hope you have a great week:)