Gracie's 1st Halloween.

Better late than never right? I just realized I never posted a picture of my cute little Gracie at Halloween!! I'm a terrible mother. So here is the cute little pink cheetah (I think). She is such a cutie and growing super fast!

I love you, but I just can't marry you!

Our pictures are so dark lately, but Max ate a push pop the other night, and we couldn't get over how blue his little lips were!


We have been really busy around here lately. Most of our weekends have been spent up in Spanish Fork building Lisa a playhouse for her birthday and teaching Andie a dance solo. I have been preparing for our Christmas recital for PPA and I can't wait until it's over! I am so nervous for some reason, and I'm not even the one that has to perform! We only had two months to get ready for our performance and I hope they will all do awesome tomorrow. Luckily, I have Andie and Lisa to perform a couple of numbers for me, that way it looks like I have more students! I'm really hoping more people sign up soon.

Max, Mike and I all set up the Christmas tree on Sunday, and the Christmas spirit is thriving at our house! Max is pretending to be Santa and telling me he doesn't need to write a letter to Santa, because HE is the REAL SANTA! He also keeps re-arranging the Christmas tree. He told me it just didn't look right so he was going to have to fix it!

We went to Wingers for dinner tonight and while we were there he said, "I just love you guys mom and dad, but I'm not going to marry you!" We started laughing and told him he didn't have to marry us, and he kept saying it again and again, "I just can't marry you guys! Sorry, I don't know why, I just can't!"

Probably her last bath in the sink.

Gracie had her 4 month check-up a few weeks ago, and is in the 10th percentile all around, which is great! That's not even factoring in her adjusted age! Max was also in the 10th percentile at her age for weight, but was in the 50th for height, so he looked a lot skinnier! People always tell me she looks small, and I know that she is, but she looks huge to me! She is 3 times as big as she was when she was born, and is already wearing 3-6 month clothes. She is a very spoiled baby, and demands to be held all of the time, but she is happy about 80% of the time. She is super smiley lately, and Max really loves her. He loves to hold her and say "Goochie Goochie GOO!"

I just feel so blessed to have such an awesome family. Mike is so great to help with everything around the house (when he's home), Max is hilarious, and Gracie is just so perfect considering everything that she went through! I'm grateful for our cute little house and our awesome neighbors, and I am so happy I am finally singing and dancing again. I only work 3 hours a week and I bring in a tiny bit of extra money for our family. I love it!

What can I say, life doesn't get much better than this! We are so blessed. That might make some people gag, but I don't care:)

Here are some pictures of Max decorating our Christmas Tree and setting up the nativity!Notice his hat is completely covering his eyes, but that won't stop him! And I look so happy:)
Max set up the nativity all by himself and it looked perfect! He was so proud! He kept telling me to look at the the "Jesus baby."

All Things Thrifty!

Please check out my sister-in-laws blog this week! They are giving away some awesome prizes in efforts to get their name out there.

www.Allthingsthrifty.com

A day of laughs and a big scare!

Max is so hilarious lately! I just wanted to write down some of the funny things he said the last couple of days.

We were driving in to Spanish Fork and Max was pointing out everything on the side of the road when he saw a big blue port-a-potty. He asked me what it was and I told him, after he processed it for a minute he said, "That just doesn't seem right mom, that's just freakin' weird!"

He also really seems to like Gracie a lot lately. We visited my Grandma Bev and Max was afraid we were going to leave her there. He kept saying, "She's our baby, she's not yours, we need to bring her home with us," All while he was pulling on Gracie, trying to physically take her off of Grandma's lap. He said the same thing to my mom when we were trying to leave Spanish Fork today.

Then today, as we were leaving Spanish Fork he was trying to help Mike carry Gracie in her carrier. He looked at Mike and said, "Wow, this is one heavy baby!"

A few minutes later he asked my mom to hop in the back with Daisy and come home with us, when she said she couldn't he replied, "Oh, sure you can!"

In the car Gracie starting screaming (as usual), and apparently Max couldn't handle it anymore, so he said, "Mom, can't you just calm her down or something? Do you need to come back here and feed her? You should come feed her mom."

I am so grateful for his curious little mind, his crazy cool dance moves and his cuddles! He really is a great boy and he makes us laugh all day long. He is so creative and is not shy at all! And to top it off he is completely potty trained! He never has accidents and he wakes up to go in the middle of the night. It's awesome!

Shifting gears, on the way home tonight, in between Nephi and Mona, there was a car traveling the wrong way on I-15 southbound. It was in the left lane and we were in the right. Luckily, we noticed it in time and were able to avoid it, unfortunately the car behind us didn't and swerved and rolled at least 6 times. It was awful!
I am so thankful that our family was safe. It just reminds me how blessed we are. We travel all of the time and we haven't had any accidents. I hope that the family that wrecked can recover. I wish I knew how they were doing, and I wish I knew if they caught the psycho that was driving the wrong way! He was going super fast and I don't think he even stopped when the car rolled. It was terrible and I can't get the image out of my mind. It just makes me want to squeeze my kids even harder! I'm so grateful for my family and our blessings!!!

Oh my Gosh!!!

I can't handle it, this girl is just too cute! I love the way these pictures turned out! Thanks Brooke! You can check out her photography blog here.


This one is my favorite. Isn't her little dress beautiful? My sweet mom bought it for her!

Max the Great!

Max has finally decided that he doesn't need baby diapers anymore! Two days ago, while I was changing a poopy diaper, he told me he wanted his big boy undies and he hasn't gone back since! We have only had a few small accidents since then and I think he is pretty much done. I'm so glad I waited and just let him decide to do it on his own. He can do it all alone and I don't have to help him with his pants or ask him if he needs to go a million times a day. He is so stubborn that he didn't do well with that. He is such a good boy, and is so excited about his new Spiderman book bag that he got for using the big boy potty! WE ARE SO HAPPY!!! Hopefully we won't have many set backs!
Here is my sweet little Gracie. Her cheeks are getting so squishy. She is such a sweetie, and is almost 4 months old! Where has the time gone! She still wakes up every 3 hours at night, and loves to be held constantly, but we love to snuggle around here so it's working out pretty good for us. Max loves his little sister and gives her kisses and hugs occaisionally.
Brooke thought it would be fun to take some glamour shots of herself with my camera so I thought I would share them with you:) Beautiful!
Halloween was great this year. Max loved being a pirate and even gave himself a pirate name. Pirate Boogie Woogie Max! He is so creative and has a great imagination. He told me he was going on a bear hunt yesterday and continued on with a story of a bear caught in a tree in the middle of a viwwwage (village). The bear was chasing bees apparently.

Mas found his old glowworm the other day and decided it was his baby Gracie. He laid out a little wash cloth on the ground for her and was taking care of her like his mommy does.
His cute little pirate faces make me laugh! I love this little guy!

Gracie's blessing!

Mike didn't know you had to flip these before you post them, if there is another way to do it, please let us know.


My cute little babe is starting to smile a lot lately. She is so fun to have around.Look at Gracie's expression here. She looks scared to death, like Max is going to drop her or something.
Grandma Bev and beautiful little Gracie on her blessing day, Oct. 11, 2009.


Mike's Dad Dave, Grandpa and Grandma Kjar, and Ty and Whitney.
Lisa and Max playing in Max's room. Max will never look at me, and Lisa wants me to take a million pics to capture every expression she can think of.
Mom, Cassie, Dad, Grandpa Ray, Andie and Zac. No one will smile for the camera! Thanks for the spirit finger Cass!
All the beautiful ladies that came to the blessing.
All the great men that participated in her blessing.


Gracie is exactly 3 months old today! I can't believe how fast time flies! She is still acting like a newborn and wakes up every 3 hours to eat (like clockwork). She is so cute and peaceful all the time, she is a great baby, despite her occasional fussiness. I feel really awful because I forgot to invite a lot of wonderful people to her blessing! There's no excuse for this, but we have been really busy lately. Mike just started recruiting again, and classes just started for my new performing arts studio. I have been a LITTLE stressed lately. So I'm sorry if you didn't receive an invitation!

We have had a lot of fun challenges this year. This week Max and I experienced the SWINE FLU first hand, and Mikey was great to baby us all week long. Unfortunately, the congestion was too much for my little head to handle and my eardrum ruptured in the middle of the night a couple nights ago. That was fun! Now I can't hear that well and blood keeps dripping out of my ear. Sorry for the gruesome details! I also dropped my phone in the tub this week and few other monumental challenges also occurred. So, I guess Heavenly Father thought we were getting too complacent and wanted to test us a little bit, hopefully we passed. We are all on the mend and will hopefully be skipping around tomorrow!

It's funny how challenges seem to come in groups. When it rains, it pours, and although I love rain, I wouldn't mind a break. We are so blessed that Gracie and Mike didn't catch the flu and we hope things stay that way.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the update even though it was a little whiny. It's good to remember the bad times so we can realize how good we've got it the majority of the time... right!

More updates on little Gracie to come...

PPA gets featured in The Spectrum!

Our studio was featured in The Spectrum today! We are so excited, and have already had a few more students register this morning. Check out the article!


http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20090929/NEWS01/909290308/1002/Moms-to-teach-performing-arts

In other news, Max told us yesterday that he had an 'owee topper' on his foot. We couldn't figure out what he meant until he showed us a little scab on his ankle! Where does he come up with this stuff!

Skiing at Quail

If you know my husband, you know he loves to ski! It's in his blood, and if we don't get out enough in the year he feels neglected. Since his job requires him to travel most of the summer, we end up doing most of our skiing in September and October (until we almost freeze to death on the lake!) Here are a few shots of us this last weekend. I steal all of these cute collages from sis-in-laws blog because she is the creative photo shop lady around here. Her cute kids and husband are on the top. Connelly tried skiing with his dad for the first time. It was so fun to watch him be so brave!
Here is our cute family. Gracie had her own little life jacket, and slept most of the time under the blanket. She loved the roar of the engine on the boat. It put her right to sleep and it was a nice day so she wasn't sweating to death. Max LOVED the boat. He is usually so nervous, but he has really grown up this year. He was so excited to wear the 'yellow jacket with the lizard' on Grandpa Dave's boat.

We were so proud of Max because he actually got in the water and tubed on his own for the first time without screaming for us to pull him in. When he saw all of his cousins jumping in he looked at me and said,
"This jacket will help me float right? I won't sink?" When I told him he would be fine he looked at me excitedly and said,
"Put me in!" He was so funny!

Then when it was time to tube he looked and Mike with the same expression on his face and asked
"Will you go super slow Dad?" Mike told him he would go slow and Max replied,
"Put me in!" He was so cute! You can see him flexing his muscles in the tube, and you can also see the leftover Oreo cookie on his squishy little cheeks. We love going to the lake with Brooke and Dan. Our family's get along so well and we are so happy we have them near by.

Here is Mike showing off his mad skills. He said this wasn't one of his best runs, but I still love watching him work up a sweat!

Platinum Performing Arts Center!

Oak and Con's Cakes:) and the latest!

I'm stealing Brooke's collage of these cakes! I loved making these for my cute niece and nephew last month! Max loved hanging out with his cousins and can't stop pretending to be a pirate!

This month has been fun! Mike is finally done with leaving town for a while, so we have him all to ourselves! Now we just need to find affordable activities for our family to enjoy together...any suggestions?

I'm also excited to announce that Michelle and I are opening a performing arts studio in Cedar City! We have been talking about FOREVER so we decided to finally 'man up' and do it! Stay tuned for more information!

Gracie is a great little baby and rarely cries. Max loves her, but ignores her most of the time! We also got a new stroller today! I am so excited about it! After testing out Brooke and Dan's and Liz and Jo's, we decided to go with the InStep Suburban Safari 2! We test drove it today and it runs like a champ! 

Not much else to report, but busy times are coming my way!

Gracie's first photo shoot!

I can't believe my baby is 7 weeks old, and her due date still has not come! She is a great baby, and rarely cries. She still eats every three hours, but sleeps most of the day. Max loves his 'tiny sister' and loves that he is a big brother now. He doesn't care too much about her, but when someone else is holding her, he makes sure to tell them that she is his baby and not theirs!

Gracie has been such a healthy baby, considering the fact that she was 7 1/2 weeks early. I am so grateful that everything went so well with her delivery. What a blessing! It still feels strange to think I have already had my 6-week checkup and she wouldn't have even been born yet.

Max is growing up so fast, he has a very active imagination and is constantly pretending to be some kind of animal, or volcano...random, but true. He is ALWAYS asking questions, which I love! He loves showing off for anyone who will pay attention, and if you don't pay attention he will let you know! He loves eating broccoli, pears, pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches and any kind of treat! He is so good to help me around the house and always begs to help me clean and cook. He is very dramatic and if he wants something he let's you know. He will tell me he is 'so so so very, super thirsty... hungry... excited...' He loves his Lisa, Andie, and Connelly and talks about them all the time. He is a very good boy and we are so lucky to have him. He makes me laugh every day, and I love being his mom. I can't wait until I can tell what kind of personality Gracie has. She has a lot to live up to!

Short video of Gracie

Here's a little clip from the camera phone. Gracie is still doing great. Gaining weight and eating and all that fun stuff. Thanks for all the prayers!

Introducing Gracie Kay Ulrich!

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Born July 17th @ 8:30 pm, she weighed 4 pounds and 3 ounces. She is sweet little piece of heaven. She has brown hair, a lot more hair than Max ever had, and was 17 inches long.

Okay, so here is the long story of her birth. I felt yucky all week, a little crampy and my back was a little sore, but I thought I had just been holding Max too much. Then on Friday, I woke up early and went to Michelle's house to make some crafts for her room. When I finished up I felt super gross, and told Michelle I felt like an old lady cause my body was just achy. When I got home I realized that I really hadn't felt her move for a while so I starting doing kick counts. The doctor said I should feel the baby move at least 10 times in 2 hours. After about a half hour I started panicking because I had just eaten and she was usually so active. Finally, after a few intense contractions and still no movement I decided I had to go to the hospital. I dropped Max off at Michelle and Jake's and luckily Michelle came with me to the hospital.

When we got there they hooked me up to the monitors and told me she looked fine. I still didn't feel good about going home though, because I still hadn't felt her move and her heart rate was dropping every once in a while. I was also feeling contractions, but the monitor wasn't picking it up. The nurse kept assuring me that her heart rate looked good, but said she would call the doctor and let him know what was going on. The doctor ordered an ultrasound, and after 30 minutes there and trying to get her moving with no success, they sent me back to labor and delivery. I still wasn't too worried, or considering that they might deliver the baby, but I think that's cause Michelle was trying to distract me! Good job Michelle!

When we got back to Labor and Delivery the doctor was on the phone with a pediatric specialist at Primary Children's and he told my doctor they should deliver her based on the ultrasound. Apparently, she only got 2 out 10 points for her health. It was a whirlwind after that! Mike showed up right after I found out I had to deliver. They threw some clothes at him and rushed me back for surgery. It was crazy! Thanks to the big lunch I had I threw up the whole time they were delivering her and I didn't notice they had even begun when I heard her crying. I was so worried. They didn't show her to me or say anything...and I had to wait two hours before they rolled her into my room for 30 seconds.

Luckily, she has done extremely well since then and is already off oxygen and should be out of her isolette soon. She just started gaining weight and the nurse says she just needs to learn to eat now. She has already latched on a few times and has nursed really well about 5 times. Right now we are just letting her have her rest because she is a little jaundiced, and the doctor said it was best just to let her sleep that off before we try to stress her out and make her breastfeed.

I am so thankful for her sweet spirit and can't wait until Max gets to meet her tomorrow. What a crazy weekend! We are so grateful for our families and for all of their support. We hope she can grow up big and strong and come home soon!

Mini vacation.

I don't have any cool pictures to share because I didn't bring my memory card on our vacation, but I wanted to remember all the fun stuff we did last week so this will just be a short post.

Last week, Mike had to work in Idaho so Max and I tagged along. We went to Rexburg on Tuesday and met up with Liz and Jo and their little family. Liz and I took the kids to the park a couple of times, and Max finally decided that he likes to go down the slide at the park. It was fun to see him finally run around and enjoy the playground for once.

We also went to Bear World! I love Bear World. I have been there a few times but it's more fun now that Max can enjoy it with me. It's a little park right outside of Rexburg that you can drive your car through and see bears, elk, wolves, buffalo and moose. They also have a little petting zoo and free kiddie rides. Max loved it, and so did Mike and I. He kept asking me to go back to see the bears the next couple of days.

After Mike was done in Rexburg we drove an hour and a half to Jackson Hole. It was a beautiful drive and Max didn't ask to watch a movie for the entire drive. I think he liked seeing all the tractors. When we got to Jackson we found our hotel which was super cute and right next to the mountain. If I wasn't pregnant there would have been a lot more things for us to do. It was the perfect temperature for a big pregnant lady and I was in heaven. We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not and Max was loving it. He wanted to see everything and he was asking a ton of questions. Then we went back to hotel and swam for an hour. Max loves to swim 'like a boat' and kick his legs in the water, but he refuses to put his head in the water, which is fine for now. Later that night we went back downtown and watched a gun fight in town square and then went to the Playhouse to see Grease. We had a great time. I think my favorite part was
the beautiful scenery and the wonderful weather!

We got home on Sunday, but Mike already had to turn around and get back to Logan, and then on to Idaho tomorrow. Hopefully, he can take a break from traveling soon so we can get the baby's room painted! I also have a few other chores for us to do before the baby gets here. I miss him, but I'm grateful that he's working so hard for our little family! He is a great husband and father and we are super lucky to have him when he is home!

Next week we are all heading back to Spanish Fork to hang out with my dad before he moves to Iowa. I am going to miss him too! I know I'm an old woman now, but I love being close enough to see my parents as much as I do right now, and Max loves his Grandpa Mike. My dad is such a good example to us. He has always worked so hard for our family, and we have always gotten everything we needed and almost everything we ever wanted. He has such a great personality, and everyone that meets him likes him. He can tease with the best of them, and Max can take a lot of harrassment because of him! I love my dad and I am going to miss him! I hope he can find a new job after a year and come back to Utah!

Only 8 more weeks until my due date, and we are getting really excited! I am nervous, but I know we can do it but it seems like forever since we have had a new born. It's one of those things that makes you nervous and really excited. Well, that's about it for now! I'm sure I will have a lot to post about in the coming weeks!

Brad and Kenzie's wedding.

Lisa is so cute! She is always posing for the camera. Supermodel in training.

The cakes... They took a lot of time, but I was happy with the way they turned out. I was also grateful that they made it all the way from Spanish Fork to Logan. I was super worried about that.
German chocolate grroms cake.
The happy couple. I love weddings.
Zac, Lisa and Cassie. Waiting for the happy couple to arrive.
Max and Grandpa Mike.
Max was teasing Mally. He kept trying to lick her.