AnDee Overload

Ok... I feel like a horrible mother. I have about a million pictures of AnDee for todays post and approximately 1 of Pep. Poor Pep. So, the plan is for this post to be all about Bug and then we will dedicate a post all to Pep soon.
Not sure if you remember but a few posts ago I talked about how we went to Provo Beach Resort with the soccer fam and I thought we had only gotten one picture? That was a lie. Andrew got a few more with his phone. They are poor quality (like always) but he got some sweet action shots of AnDee riding the carousel. Cause why would you sit on the horse? Pretty sure the best part of this is Dave's facial expression.

Such a good example..

 Dancing Queen! This girl spends way too much time watching youtube videos of ballerinas. She gets all dressed up and dances with them. TOO DANG CUTE!

 I know this pic is horrible but I like it..

and this is how Pep feels about all the ballet junk...

The girl is also a big fan of handstands lately. The most impressive part is that she actually does a handstand, not a headstand.

So I was at a primary meeting a couple weeks ago and when I came home I found Andrew sitting on the couch with the kids watching a movie while he was doing homework. Everything seemed so orderly with both kids resting their heads on their Dads shoulders. But then I discovered this...

Andrew was very involved in his homework and apparently didn't notice that AnDee had a stamp in her hands. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but she tends to kind of get sucked in to the T.V. when its on and doesn't pay much attention to what she is doing. 

Last week before church Buggy saw me straightening my hair. So of course she wanted hers done. Im not sure how I feel about straightening a 3 year olds hair but she was sure pleased with it.

In more exciting news, AnDee has FINALLY graduated from nursery and is now a full blown Sunbeam!! The down side to this is that primary takes place at the exact time that she would be napping on any other day. She does SO good though and is very involved and loves to answer questions and help in the lessons. 

Preschool with Grandma is going really well. She doesn't fight her Grandma about it like she did me so that is nice. The day before she was supposed to start school Andrew sat down with her to have a talk about how if she could listen and try hard she would be able to read and write and do all sorts of big kid stuff but if she couldn't listen and learn that Grandma would stop coming because we weren't going to fight her about it.

"So can you do that? Can you listen and learn?" He asked.

"Well... Im not very good and listening and learning," she said. "but I am really good at faking it"

Its true... she is good and faking things. Little stink.

She has developed a new fascination for Dinosaurs as of late and has decided that she wants to "dig up dinosaur bones" when she gets big. She loves to look through her dinosaur book and learn all the names. (which I cant even pronounce 90% of the time. Im gonna have to start educating myself about the dino world I suppose)

She is still SO good about helping me around the house. I am slowing down a lot with the last few weeks of this pregnancy and if I tell her that Im not feeling very good she jumps right up and starts cleaning the house for me. She is such a gem.

While cleaning her room a while back she found a Q-tip on the floor. "Here Mommy! I found a cutie stick for you!" she was all excited about her "cutie stick". She says the most entertaining things. I love just listening to her talk. She tells all sorts of outlandish stories about what her and her friends did "one time when they were little"

I love love love this girl. Im so excited for baby "pokey" to come so she can be the little Mommy she is dreaming of being. She is such a good big sister to Pep already. 

Worst Day Ever??

So let me tell you about our awesome day a few weeks ago. Before I do so though, I need to preface it with this...
When my parents got there call they were trying to find places for all their things. Their car being one of them. We (cause we are SO generous) offered (ok...maybe we asked?) to take their car off of their hands. Our plan was to sale our Denali and drive their car while they are gone so we can pay off our student loans with the money we would have been putting in to a car payment.
The very first time we pulled my moms car out of the garage it was having problems. Lots of rattling and it even died once.
Jumping back to my original story of the worst day ever...
It was Monday morning, Pam was on her way down to our house for AnDee's very first day of preschool with her Grandma. The plan was that I was going to leave AnDee with Pam for school, take Pep up to Andrew at work and then head to my OB appointment. And then I got the call... Pams truck had broken down and she needed me to come get her. It was 9:30, my appointment was at 10 in Provo. I was going to be late, end of story. Lucky for me Andrew called and made the Doctors office aware of the situation. I finally found Pam on the side of the freeway, just past the Spanish Fork exit. She had called AAA and they were sending a tow truck and she felt like she needed to stay with the truck so she didn't really need me after all. At this point I have about 10 min to get to my appointment (if I were to get there on time) So I ran down to the next exit, jumped off, turned around and got right back on the freeway headed to Andrews work to drop the kids off to him. (lets not forget that this was supposed to be AnDee's first day of school. She was devastated!) I made pretty good time, dropped them off and headed back up the hill on University Avenue to my appointment. About half way up the hill I noticed there was something strange going on with the car. By the time I reached State Street I was starting to think I wasn't going to make it. I stopped at the light and when it changed I pushed on the gas to go right??? Nope. The engine revved way up but no movement. Then suddenly it slammed in to gear and I peeled out but couldn't go any faster than 20 mph and my rpms were skyrocketing. Some how... beyond me, I made it to my Doctors office before the car completely gave up. After my appointment, I called Andrew for help and he tells me to try and take back roads and go nice and slow. He would have come to me but he had the kids and no car seats. So I got in the car and gave it a try but to no avail. The car was done. So I thought it might be time to inform my parents that in less than I week I had managed to destroy their vehicle completely. I didn't get an answer from my Dad so I tried my mom (yes, they still had their cell phones in the MTC) She was not only gracious about the whole situation but offered to come get me, they had their own truck still and she was at the MTC, just minutes away. Lucky for me they didn't have room for her in the class she was supposed to be in so she was completely available.
A few short minutes later, there was my mom to rescue me from the situation. Unfortunately she pulled in to the wrong parking lot and had to back out and come back to the lot I was in. We both got out and were in the process of moving the car seats so that we could transport the children to our home when an old woman started yelling at my mom. Apparently while my mom was turning around she hit someones car. We were not aware of this and there were zero marks on our vehicle to prove it but the old lady was fuming! So my mom went in to the building and inquired about whose car it might be so she can resolve the situation. The problem being that the car had been hit but it was an old accident that hadn't been repaired so there were dents and scratches that made it completely impossible to tell if my mom had actually hit her or not. They exchanged information and we finally headed to get the kids and go home!

The whole morning was a total mess and I didn't want to go anywhere ever again for a while. BUT.. my kids had a blast at work with Dad. They got to watch cartoons on the iPad and eat tons of candy and then they got to see Nanny when we were under the impression that we wouldn't be seeing her for a very long time.

Im so grateful my mom was available to come help me. I don't know what I would have done without her!
oh and for anyone who is curious... we had to replace the transmission on my parents car completely. The thing was shot. Pams truck had to have to transfer case completely replaced and so far I haven't heard any updates on the little "hit and run" my mom tried to get away with ;)
Oh

So Long! Farewell!

This post is far overdue. Ill be honest, Ive struggled a little with my parents leaving this time and Im just now to a point where I don't want to burst in to tears just thinking about their  absence. Don't get me wrong, I missed my parents when they left for Africa, but I was in a completely different place in my life. I had no kids, I was playing endless amounts of soccer and Andrew and I were pretty much just doing what we wanted, when we wanted to. To sum it up... I was extremely selfish and self absorbed at that time in my life so it didn't take me very long to get lost in myself after they left. This time however, I have kids, Im VERY pregnant and extremely emotional. I miss them terribly. I feel lonely and have even had moments where I dont want to be in Payson anymore, I want to go back to Pleasant Grove where I feel comfortable and where I "belong". This pregnancy has by far been the worst as far as being emotional goes. Ill get control of myself... eventually.
Im pretty sure the most difficult part has been the absence of my parents in my kids' lives. I LOVE watching my kids interact with my parents and I love seeing the different relationships they have. AnDee knows just how to make my mom act like a goofball and Pep and my dad are best buds. Im sad they will miss the first 18 months of this new babies life BUT I am so glad they chose to serve another mission. Not very many couples get to serve two full-time, foreign missions. Its pretty stinking cool and Im jealous of all the cool things they are getting to experience.
On the plus side, they are senior missionaries, which essentially means that they can do what they want (ok... maybe not completely... but much more so than the young Elders and Sisters) They can call whenever they want and they can even come home on the weekends if they could find a way to pull it off (but seeing as the flight alone would take them the entire weekend, that wouldn't make much sense)
So last night we got to FaceTime with them for a bit! It was good to see them and it left me with a little bit better attitude. (Ive been a feeling-sorry-for-myself grump lately)
The only pics we got of the big goodbye where, as always, on the phone and they are awful... like really poor quality but we take what we can get around here.

One very cool side note: at one point The Timp 3rd Ward Missionary Board looked like this..

Its hard to see, I realize this so I will explain. In the top left corner we have Elder Jacob Wendall Naugle serving in the Belo Horizonte, Brazil mission. In the top right corner we have Elder Stephen Page Naugle serving in the Florianopolis, Brazil mission and on the bottom row in the middle-right spot we have Elder Lewis Ned Cowley and Sister Marylynn Cowley serving in the Hong Kong, China mission. At one point my kids had 4 close family members serving full time missions for the same ward. We are super lucky to have such awesome people in our lives! 

So here is another post of just random stuff I have missed. We have been busy... Ill get to the details on that later but here are a few of the things we have been busy with
(All of these pics were taken on the cell phone... quality is less than desirable)

We had a little get together with the old "soccer fam" We went to Provo Beach Resort and played games and had pizza and ice cream. This is the ONLY pic I got... which doesn't even include any of our happy soccer family but it does show how serious Pep is about driving.

This is our balance board. We had a friend give it to us for Christmas a few years ago. Its actually pretty cool but it has kind of been forgotten about in the last year or so. Im not sure if you can see but its just a little board that you run over a tube and you try to get the board up off the floor and balance... its supposed to make you use the same muscles you would use to surf. Anyway... AnDee has become pretty stinking good at it, and the best part is that we haven't had any serious injuries.... yet.

So... as you know, we have been sick a lot lately. (Pep is still getting over an ear infection) And after a lot of praying and contemplating we felt like some of our problem is the way we eat. I feel like we get to much junk from the manufacturers and not enough nutrition from fruits and veggies and such. So we are trying to change things. We have been doing our best to cut out anything processed. Its hard... really hard but we are finding some recipes that are actually quite delicious. The one pictured below is a pancake made with whole wheat (sprouted flour) and greek yogurt. They are truly  delicious. Im super picky about what I eat so you can trust me. 

As you can see Andrew got really creative and made a polka-dotty dinosaur for Buggy and then he attempted a train for Pep... it didn't turn out quite as nice but it still tasted good.

This has become a favorite  game at our house. We have been trapped in the house WAY too much lately with being sick and with all the snow, so when Dad gets home, the kids are ready for some action. AnDee latches on to Andrew and Pep sits on AnDee. Im not sure how AnDee hangs on for as long as she does but this game goes on and on and on.

Yesterday was warm... like really warm. (ok so it was like 35 degrees but seeing as we haven't reached anything above about 15 in the last 2 weeks it seemed SUPER warm) We had about a foot of snow but the warm weather melted about 4-5 inches of it. This morning we woke up to this...

We got a foot of fresh new snow on top of what we already had. When I went for a little trek through our back yard this morning the snow came up to my knees. My kids love it but hate it at the same time. They cant walk through it and it makes them fairly frustrated. Its supposed to continue snowing through tomorrow... could make for a lot more days stuck in the house. 

Sledding

So right up the road from our house we have this cool old school that they used to educate the savage (joke) Native Americans. In the school yard there is a big steep hill... PERFECT for sledding on. So many kids sled on it that its just one solid sheet of ice. Its pretty awesome. I would have lived on that hill during the winters when I as a kid.
We decided to take the kids up there for a morning of sledding a few weeks ago. AnDee couldn't have been any happier. The kid was in heaven! Pep however, got a face full of snow on his first trip down and never let it go. He was a grump about it the rest of the time we were there.
I heart sledding... even if the bumps made me feel like I was going to deliver this baby far too soon.

 Yes.. I did trek my large prego body up that hill over and over and over again. Wasn't easy.

 This is what AnDee resorted to..

 It actually worked pretty well for her. She could slide to the very bottom at a decent speed. I was impressed.

Crazy Crazy Christmas Time!

After spending a crazy week up in good ol' PG, we were tired, and sick and sick and tired of being that way so Daddy put his foot down and told the Grandparents that we would be staying home for Christmas Day this year. Grandma Naugle wasn't overly happy about this (in fact I think she thought she was going to convince us to stay the night at her house on Christmas ever) Every year since Andrew and I have been together... even when we were dating, we have spent Christmas morning with his family at their house. The Cowley side does things a little differently. Since I am the youngest and all of my siblings were married and had children before I even got married, my parents quickly decided that it made more sense for them to come to everyone else rather than to have to tear all the kids away from their Christmas gifts. So my amazing parents spend every Christmas traveling from Logan to Payson to visit every family and give the kids their gifts. But Andrew is the oldest child in his family so Pam is used to everyone being at her house for Christmas. With Stevie being on his mission I think her world is changing a lot and its hard for her... and we, sadly, are not helping. But she was a good sport about it and she and Steve and Jake all made the trip to our house to see us on. It was so nice to see everyone and to get to just be at home and play and be our own little family.
We got to see Dave and Dyl on Christmas Eve Eve. (yes... its like holiday in our house) They came over for a 'late night' and we built our lego train track and played games until well after bedtime. We are too lucky to have such awesome friends... who are really more like family.
On Christmas Eve Uncle Stevie called home from Brazil and we even got to see him on Skype for a while. It was fun to see his ever happy face and for the kids to get to interact with him a little. We spent all day at Grandma Naugle's and had a Christmas Eve dinner with the family.
Christmas was a blast. So relaxed and just plane fun. AnDee and Pep scored big time (actually all of us scored big time) Santa brought a kitchen set and a rocking (spring??) horse and mom and dad got a baby (and accessories) for Bug and lots of car and train things for Pep. The Grandparents were all too generous as always and Pep got a little tractor that he can ride on from Nana and Poppy and a remote control train from Grandma and Grandpa and AnDee got a ridiculous amount of dress ups from Nanny and Poppy and little Leap pad lap top from Grandma and Grandpa. As I am every year Im totally overwhelmed by the amount of gifts we all received. Saying we are "blessed" would be a gross understatement.
I got very few pictures this year... I have been so bad about that lately but here are a few

 Team work. Pep likes to pull down on the legs while AnDee rides to give her a little extra bounce.... she really gets going sometimes

 This is Peps side of the kitchen set. Its the manly side, complete with grill

 And this is our little homemakers side. She has become quite the little mommy.

We are so grateful for the Gospel and of course our Savior. We try very hard to remind the kids about Jesus and Christmas being his day. I hope that they are really understanding. It is so easy to lose Christ in all the toys.

P.S. As a super extra surprise, Andrew printed my blog into books! They are beautiful and I love them. Makes me feel like I am actually "journaling" like I should be.

HO HO HO!!

Pep loves saying HO HO HO! every time he sees Santa. Its like he is speaking Santa's language and whats cooler than that?
This last weekend was a crazy one! First we attended a funeral on Thurs. Then we had Andrews company party on Friday then the Cowley family Party on Saturday (All this time Andrews cousins from Colorado were here so we were trying to squeeze in some time with them) and then my parents farewell was Sunday and then we had a little break on Monday (which was when I finally made it to my doctor to get a something for the ridiculous sinus infection/cough Ive had. Oh and AnDee went on her first skiing adventure) and then on Tues. Uncle Jake returned home from his mission. We decided that instead of driving back and forth from Payson every day for 6 days in a row, we would just stay at my parents house. Oh... I forgot to throw in that Andrew spent a few days in Canada last week so I got to prepare for this extra long weekend by myself. And lucky Andrew got to go straight to my parents house from the airport. Things need to slow down a bit...
Anyway... back to Santa. Santa comes to the Cowley family party every year and this year was no different. My kids like to see Santa in movies and on pictures and whatnot but when he appears in real life... they don't care too much for him. We were at the mall a few weeks ago and Santa was there taking pictures with kids and such and even from a distance AnDee was hiding behind me and Pep wouldn't even look in his direction (they take after me in this category. I was terrified of Santa as a kid) So I thought that Santa being at the family party was going to be less than successful for my children. I was wrong. As soon as he walked in the room Pep kept speaking in his second language saying "ho ho ho!" over and over. When his name was called he went right over and sat on his lap. He wasn't exactly overjoyed by it as you can see from the pics but he wasn't scared out of his mind either. Success? I think so. AnDee took some persuading but we got her up there too and she even talked to him a bit! When he asked her if she would try hard to be nice to "The Pep" (hehe) she said she would. Sadly we didn't get any pictures of our own so I had to steal the ones my brother got on his phone (Thanks Jason?)

Like I said before, Andrews cousins from Colo were here so on Thurs. night we took them up to Temple Square to see the lights. We have really struggled with the picture taking lately and this is the extent of what we got while we were up there....

 Isn't Andrews hat lovely?

On Monday Andrew and Pam took AnDee skiing for her first time!! I was SO sad I couldn't go. SO sad. But I was sick.. and fairly pregnant. It just didn't seem wise to go skiing.  They took her right during her nap time. Hehe. You'll see from the pics how that turned out. But she did great and we got some super cute video of it.

Getting fitted for her little skis...

 Ready to hit the slopes!

 Trying so hard to make a pizza shape with her skis..

 This is what happens when you take AnDee out during nap time. Andrews back was hurting so he laid down for a minute to stretch it out... without a word, Bug flopped down next to him and was out within seconds. She slept like that... right on the side of the mountain with skiers passing by... for about 45 minutes, at which point her dad had to force her to wake up and get moving. She is just to stinking cute.

Tuesday was the big day! Uncle Jake finally made his triumphant return from Brazil. He is such a good kid, its going to be so fun to have him around again. 

Everyone waiting...

 This is how we entertained the kids while waiting. And yes... AnDee did wait too long to turn around and got wiped out at the end.

 Meeting Pep and Wyatt for the first time..

My favorite part was when he went to give me a hug and looked down at my belly and simply said "whoa" yes... Im huge, thanks for the reminder Jacob. ;)

And here are a couple of pics I somehow missed... Probably cause we were all incredibly sick (weird I know.) When we had the flu the day before thanksgiving, AnDee was getting to the end of it and was starting to feel penned up so I somehow mustard to strength and will to put the tree up with the kids while dad was passed out on the couch. Im still not sure how I accomplished this but I did and it made the kids happy so I guess it was worth it. ;)

I apologize that my posts lately are huge and probably don't make a lot of sense. I should be doing a bunch of smaller posts but thats not how I roll. I like to wait until it all piles up on me and then I throw everything together in to one giant post. You're welcome?? 

P.S. Remember how I told you that we were all starting to get healthy (thanks to quarantine) just in time to go spend the weekend up at Grandparents houses and get sick again? Well guess what?! We are all sick again. Poor Pep got hit the worst again. I have never seen a kid so gooey. His eyes are as boogery as his nose and his ears are incredibly infected. I think we are going back in to hiding. I feel like I don't want my children to leave the house until winter is over!