I have a lot I've been wanting to blog about but have either been to tired or too busy to get on here and do it. I've debated splitting it all up into several posts but ultimately have decided that I don't have THAT much time on my hands. As a result this post will probably be pretty lengthy and relatively random but I will try to tie it all together at the end.

This past Saturday was Garrett's 1st b-day. I'd an exlamation point at the end of that sentence but I'm still a bit sad it's all ready come and gone. I love my baby boy so much it all most hurts. He's my cuddle bug, my smiley pants, my butter (butterball), he is my world. With his birthday having come and gone and with each day drawing our family closer and closer to the arrival our newest addition I feel like I have to cherish and make the very most out of every second I have with him. Because I feel this way the poor kid is being smothered in hugs, cuddles, and kisses. Anyway, it was beautiful here this past Saturday! So we all headed down to the Zoo. It was great! All the animals we got to see were VERY active. When we got home we had pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting..YUMMM, and opened cards and presents. It was a very nice day!

Yesterday was Kailey's second day of preschool! She was so funny as soon as we got there she ran to the door yelling the whole way, "I see the teacher!! Teacher! Teacher! I'm here!", by the time I caught up to her she was all ready inside and sitting down. I'm so glad that she is as independent and confident as she is. Now if we could just work on her listening skills and help her to not be quite soo silly all the time. I did much better this time. I went to Target with just Garrett in tow and took my time shopping. When we were done I went and picked up a prescription from the pharmacy and got home in just enough to feed Garrett and unload the dishes. I felt very productive.

A couple of weeks ago our bishop stopped by our house to visit with Clint and I. With Clint having just been released from his calling and the bishop having not ever set me apart for my calling, I knew this visit was not just your average house call. When he got there we visited for a bit and then he extended us a calling. He asked Clint and I if we would be Temple Patrons. I was soooooo excited I could hardly contain myself. This is EXACTLY what we need. I know there will be a lot of challenges with me being pregnant, Clint working days, and having two kids to juggle, but it's a challenge that we are more than happy to take on.

Last night as I was laying in bed thinking about everything that has happened at our house this year I was overcome with gratitude and humility. It certainly has not been the easiest year, heck it hasn't been the easiest anything around here for a long time, but it has been a year of many great blessings. When I think of all that the Lord has blessed me with in the last five years I can't help but wonder why the Lord has given me, ME of ALL people so much. I mean I know that I'm a good person and I try to all that's asked of me but I'm far from anything that I would think deserves what the Lord has given me and my family. I hate to even admit this but it's not like I go "above and beyond" what has been asked of me and I at times I have just not done what was asked of me...period. I guess I all most feel like I've incurred So much debt to the Lord I'm going to HAVE to start going "above and beyond" in order to even try and make a dent in what I owe the Lord and even then I probably wont even come close.

So while this temple calling is obviously another blessing from the Lord I feel like it's a chance for me show the Lord every week just how grateful I truly am for Him and all he has blessed me and my family with. For Clint I hope and pray that it will bring some much needed peace into his life. I know this calling is only for six months, but I think it will help us both tremendously in so many ways.

Once you have a family a quiet house is hard to come by. I can honestly say that when I do manage to find myself in a quiet house it is the most welcomed feeling and I enjoy every moment of it.

Today is Kailey's first day of preschool so for the next hour, while she is gone and Garrett is sleeping, my house is VERY quiet. For today, and I say for today because I know this wont last long, it's a very lonely sort of quiet. Knowing that Kailey is having fun and not worried at all about where I am makes me kinda sad. Normally she drives me crazy asking a million questions and tormenting Garrett and now it's so quiet I really miss it. I'm sure by next week this will be time I use to run an errand or two, or blog, or catch up my dishes and start a load of laundry and I wont even notice the quiet.

This past weekend was so great!! It the long weekend and my birthday! Clint and I kicked off the weekend by having dinner at our favorite steak house, Daniel's Broiler, and seeing the play Wicked on Friday. That show rocked my world! I would pay to see it again and again. I had to giggle a bit though as we left the theater. Clint had asked me if I enjoyed it, OF COURSE I DID, and I asked him the same. He said that yes he had enjoyed the show but didn't like all the "political undertones". Uhhhh what?! Did we just see the same show? that's was all I could think when he responded the way he did. Typical male reading waaay to much into things! But I didn't mind because I had a fabulous time! Dinner was amazing too by the way. For you Seattle-ites if you haven't been to Daniel's Broiler on Lake Union it's a must! The food is outrageous and the view is spectacular. It's a very romantic, NON-CHILDREN, kind of place.

Saturday we all slept in and took our time getting ready for the day. We went to Toys-R-Us to do some birthday shopping for Garrett. I love watching Kailey's eye's light up with excitement as we walk into to the store! She is soo funny, we were not even three feet from the door and she immediately runs to the first shelf she sees and starts inspecting each thing on it. Then we spend the next five minutes trying to drag her away from that ONE shelf! You can imagine what it was like going through the ENTIRE store. We managed to find a few things for Garrett but not as much as I had hoped. I think I'm going to have to do some hunting for a specialty toy shop. One more geared towards toward educational stuff. Either that are get cracking on Amazon and over night everything!

Sunday was my birthday!! Hooray for me! I turned 26 this year. Clint was super sweet and got up with the kids, made me breakfast in bed, and helped the kids write a letter to me. It was all so sweet! I love my family! But of course once breakfast was over it was time to get everyone ready and out the door for church. We were a little late but I figured since it was my birthday the Lord would forgive me! As soon as church was over we raced home to my Chocolate birthday cake. It made for a very delicious lunch!

Monday was our war Labor Day picnic. It was a bit overcast and chilly when we got there but the food was good and the company was great! Kailey loved playing down by the river! She and all the other kids had a good time throwing the rocks from the shore into water. Garrett was tired and fussy having had NO nap that morning and my nerves can only take so much of that, so we left early. It worked out all right though because by the time we got home it was raining pretty good and eventually turned into hail. So we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at home. After the kids woke up from their naps we headed over to our favorite pizza place, Emerald City Pizza, for dinner. It was a nice end to the day. Of course any day that ends with me not having to cook is always a nice day!!

Since my dear friend has shared some of her embarrassing moments on her blog I've thought a lot about this little incident of my own. My family and Clint are the only ones I ever told this too just because they know me and what a dork I can be. Anyway, on with the story.

So I'm just going to admit that I may not be the BEST driver on the planet. I mean I don't think I'm BAD but Clint says our insurance bill states otherwise. I try so hard to be a good driver and pay attention but I'm a little on the ADD side so I get distracted pretty easily.

Last summer I got two flat tires (not at the same time though). The first one happened when I was trying to find a street I was suppose to turn onto and ended up running into the curb and blowing out the sidewall. Which could not have happened at a more inconvenient time as I was on my way to a dentist appointment, that I ended up running, literally, to even though I was pretty pregnant at the time. Needless to say Clint was not too happy about this but did come to my rescue none the less. So he puts the donut on and I drive home.

The next day I go down to the tire shop to get a new one. I walk in (all ready feeling silly knowing the mistake I had made) and I tell the lady at the desk that I have a DOILY on my car and I need a new tire. The lady kind of looks at me funny and asks what I mean. Me not realizing what I had said told her that I had one of those "DOILY things" on my car and just needed to buy a new tire. The look of confusion on this poor woman's face only worsened. And she asks me, "You have a DOILY on your car?" and still not picking up on what I was saying I tell her again, thinking she must have a learning problem or something, yes and I need to buy a new tire! I mean how hard was this?! So she realizes that I have no clue what I'M saying and asks me, "You mean you have a donut on your car?"

Instantly realizing what an idiot I just made of myself, and my face turning three shades of red, sheepishly reply that yes that's what I meant. And of course because I'm dork I didn't realize it was going to take a while, a LONG while, to change the tire and didn't bring a stroller for Kailey. So we had to sit there watching Judge Judy and listening the this lady tell all her co-workers what an idiot I was. It was the longest hour and half of my life!

Some of you may or may not know this about Clint but he is a natural born performer. He LOVES to get a laugh out of just about anyone. He's so dramatic and his facial expressions are priceless! When he walks in the door from work he can have our whole house in stitches within minutes. It's one of the things I love the very most about him and I am so proud to say that he has passed this trait onto our daughter.

Kailey is probably the biggest ham I've met (next to Clint). That girl loves to laugh and play and joke, and the more people she can get to join in her little games/jokes, what ever, the happier she is and the more excited she gets. Of course at this age most of her "funnies" are centered around sounds of bodily functions, but it still cracks us up! She is starting to learn actual jokes though, which is good thing. Her favorite, and the only one she really knows so far, is: Why is six afraid of seven?... Because seven eight (ate) nine. She just thinks that this is the funniest thing ever and insist on telling Clint and I this joke several times a day.

Sometimes, though, Kailey makes us laugh without even realizing she's done anything funny. The most recent event happened while we were driving home from the mall. Kailey was VERY tired and having one of her overly dramatic (fake) meltdowns with (fake) tears and all. So Clint, trying to get her to quiet down starts asking Kailey a bunch of questions. It went like this:

Clint: Do you want to play in the bath?
Kailey (through fake sobs): Noooooo!
C: Do you want to read books?
K: Nooooo!
C: Do you want to brush your teeth?
K: Nooooo!
C: Do you want ice cream?
K (still through her fake sobs): NnnoYeeeesss!

Clint and I just busted up laughing. Then of course so did Kailey! I'm fairly certain we are going to have to enlist Kailey in some sort of acting class or comedy troop at some point!

Okay, blog! I miss you now. I think now that summer is over I can devote myself to you once again. However, there is no promise that I wont leave again. I can only promise that I will always come back.

I had hoped for an uneventful summer full of lazy days at the park but it definitely did not work out that way. It seems that every week was packed with trips to the store, trips to the doctor, ultrasounds, surgery, physical therapy, and who knows what else!

Clint finished his physical therapy and spinal decompression with great success! Thank heavens! He's regained a lot of the strength in his left leg and his back hardly ever bothers.

I've been busy trying to keep track of prenatal visits, ultrasound appointments, and Endocronologist appointments just to keep this baby growing inside me healthy. It's been a lot this time around I think just because my thyroid was off to begin with and it kind of concerned the doctors. I actually have a prenatal visit today which will include another blood draw. I don't know how much more I have left to give to these darn Vampires!

Kailey has not had the most enjoyable summer this year. I feel so bad because she has had SO many doctors visits that she's starting to develop quite a fear of them. The whole thing got kicked off in March when I found a lump in Kailey's neck. So I took her to the pediatrician who seemed rather concerned and ordered a blood draw and an MRI. Both came back "normal" so he sent me to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. She didn't seem to concerned at first and just prescribed some antibiotics. So Kailey took the meds and we watched it. It went down in size a bit, but didn't go away. So more visits and more meds came. Still nothing changed. So the ENT specialist decided it was time to take it out before it got worse or started draining. Two weeks ago today Kailey went in to have the lump removed. At her follow up appointment the doctor told us that it was a severely infected lymphnode. It's a good thing we took it out when we did or Kailey could have wound up being one sick little girl.

Garrett is growing like weed!! He has four teeth and cutting two more. He is pulling himself up and stand on his own, so I'm sure he'll be off and running in real short order! He's getting ready to celebrate his first Birthday on the 12th. I can't believe a year has all ready gone by.

I all most feel a bit guilty having this baby so close to Garrett bear.. he hasn't even really got to have his time in the spotlight. I think I will feel more guilty this time around, about sharing my time, than I did with Kailey when Garrett was born. Kailey obviously still needs me but she needs me in such different ways than what these babies do, so I don't feel nearly the guilt there as I'm anticipating I will feel when this baby is born. You know what I mean? Then on top of it with in months of having this baby Garrett will get thrown into Nursery and Kailey will be a Sunbeam and he'll be all alone.

I also had the realization the other day the Clint and I will have three kids in high school all at the same time! How crazy will that be?! I told him we will have to make Team Norlie t-shirts and put numbers on the backs! We both had a good chuckle over how we plan to torture our children as they get older. I think we see now, with this baby being on the way, that while our children torture us endlessly now, we will have to the power to torture them endlessly when they are older. Doesn't that just ROCK!?!! I think I'm going make this my mantra!

Over all life at the Norlie house seems to move at a faster and faster pace every week! Kailey is going to be starting preschool next week. She's on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule and on Wednesdays she will have tumbling, which Clint will take her to. So with Kailey having a schedule all her own now I can only expect things to be pretty crazy around here for a while. Oh the joys of family life!

Dear Blog,

I'm so sorry to have neglected you so much for the last few weeks. I fear we are both to blame. You seem to be so needy. Which is not really a bad thing for the most part. Your neediness feeds my ego and I like that. But I will admit my part. I have been to tired to care about you lately. I'm sorry but it's true. I have a house to run and little children who's needs come before you or me. I can't promise that I will be as loyal to you as I have in the past. After all with baby number three on the way who knows, I might just disappear all together. I mean, I hope that's not the case anyway. But who knows. Three kids is a lot. A lot for me anyway. So until the morning sickness, fatigue, and general disorientation of my life comes to end and to order, you'll just have to wait.

Thank you dear blog for letting me share a bit of myself with you. I promise I wont forget you and I will check on you from time to time. I promise that I will be back. I don't know when but I promise I will.



Your friend,
Michelle