Let's play a game

You fill in the blanks:

CDs are to iPod as Books are to_________

Music Lovers are to iPod as Book Lovers are to __________

If you answered "Kindle" to both you're correct!

What is a Kindle, you ask? Well, it's only the best invention of the new millennium for people such as myself (those who love books, that is). It's an electronic book, basically. You download books from Amazon, for cheaper than an actual book, and it's INSTANTLY downloaded within a minute to your Kindle, which you can then read it on!!! Plus, you can access all the books in your Kindle library with the touch of a button, and you can order a download directly from your Kindle, no matter where you are. Have you ever been browsing on Amazon and thought, "I wish I had that book RIGHT NOW!" or had to carry a pile of books with you, like when you're on vacation and can't narrow it down to one book you want to read while you're there? (Am I the only dork this happens to?) Or been talking to a friend about a great quote you just read and can't remember it verbatim or forget the title or author? (Have I just admitted to official dorkdom?) Well, now you can carry hundreds and thousands of books around with you wherever you go! It's completely ahhmazing! Oh, isn't it nice to dream?

Just realized this...

When I'm on the computer I sometimes listen to the play list at the bottom of my blog. So, tonight while I was uploading pictures from a shoot I did today, I heard "Godspeed" by the Dixie Chicks start to play. I was so sad when Marshall moved to his big boy bed last summer and wouldn't let me sing this to him anymore. Tonight I realized that now I'll have another little boy to sing it to! I'm so happy I started crying...again. I was actually going to miss this song so much if we had a little girl that I was going to enlist my friend, Melissa's, help to re-write the lyrics to be a girl themed song. I'm glad I don't have to and that I can sing it to another little baby before I have to say goodbye to it at bedtime forever. Thanks for writing such a sweet song, Dixie Chicks!

I thought I'd post the lyrics:

"Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"

Dragon tales and the "water is wide"
Pirate's sail and lost boys fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

Sweet dreams little man
(and froggy, ducky, monkey, kitty, and piggy)

Who says you have to have a lot of money to go on vacation?

We had the best weekend getaway with our best friends, the Bells. John's grandparents have a vacation house in St. George that we stayed at for free and having a kitchen made the trip even cheaper. John, Marshall, and I left on Thursday afternoon. Luckily, Marshall fell asleep before we even got to 106th South in Sandy and slept for part of the time.

On Friday we spent the morning at the pool and I was able to bask in the glorious sunlight and take in some much needed vitamin D outside while the boys enjoyed the indoor pool. Marshall had so much fun swimming, and on the way home we asked him what his favorite part of St. George was and he told us it was jumping in the pool. I'm so glad my little boy likes the pool as much as I do.


After the Bells arrived we went to dinner at The Pizza Factory with the little boys walking hand in hand.

Afterward we went to Fiesta Fun for some family fun (and to wear the boys out before bedtime). The little boys' faces alternated between excitement and fear as they rode the go-carts, in contrast, the big boys' faces showed only pure enjoyment and thrill as they raced around the track. The bumper cars were more up to speed (pun fully intended) for the little boys' enjoyment purposes. Alicia and I decided we wanted in on the fun, so we hopped in the bumper boats with our sons, vowing we wouldn't soak each other and held true to our promise. Then we headed to the batting cages and each took a turn as batter. Not to brag or anything, but I wowed everyone with my mad batting skills, I hit all but three or so balls! The big boys got a guys night out and went to see the Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movie while Alicia and I stayed home and chatted while we watched TLC.


Saturday was spent much the same way. The boys went to a park and had fun playing in the water while the ladies stayed home and Berklie, the Bell's baby, napped and I layed out again at the pool.

When the boys got back we had lunch and all went swimming. Marshall took a much needed nap in the afternoon then we headed out to dinner at Outback.


We wore the little boys out back at home with scooter and bike riding in the cul-de-sac.













A short tangent: I am so glad that Carter and Marshall are developing a friendship. Their daddies, Mat and John were best friends growing up. There were four of them in the ward and called themselves "the brotherhood." I am so glad that all of them have remained friends and that I have made friends with their wives. It was so exciting to have three of the four of us pregnant at the same time and I'm glad Marshall has Carter and Kelly so close in age. It's so fun to have the second generation of the brotherhood grow up together, too. I hope that no matter where life takes each of us we'll always remain friends.









: The boys are feeling the love :
Pretty sure their daddies put them up to the hug, though.




They had so much fun and fell asleep like angels so the daddies could watch the Jazz game on the big screen while Alicia and I headed off for our girls night out which included shopping at the outlets (in the theme of keeping things cheap I limited myself and only bought one shirt for Marshall) and then we went to see the new movie Baby Mama, so funny! Heading off to our GNO:


On Sunday while we cleaned the house and loaded up the cars, the boys were out riding scooters and bikes again in hopes they would be all tired out and fall asleep on the way home, it worked for us and hopefully Carter slept too. They sure looked tired as they collapsed on the floor afterwards:

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Bradley for such a great place to vacation at! And thank you to the Bells for coming with us and putting up with us all weekend, hope you had as much fun as we did!

Marshall's curiosity about Angel Moroni

My mom told me the funniest thing Marshall said the other day. Let me preface it: we've been downtown a lot recently at the GeneologyLibrary helping my mom and to Temple Square to take some pictures. So my mom has been talking to Marshall about the temple and how John and I were married there, yada yada. So the other day she took Marshall down there while John and I went to our Dr's appointment. She pointed out the Angel Moroni and told Marshall that he was a soldier a long time ago. Marshall's response was, "Oh, so what kind of weapons did he use?" Is he a boy or what?

Moms are the best

After I found out I was having a boy my first thought went to bedding. Marshall's crib stuff was so cheap that it just didn't hold up well enough to use again. The quilt had a rip along one of the seams less than six months after he was born and we got rid of the bumper long ago after the ties kept breaking. So I was on a hunt to find something to go with his twin set...Until I had a stroke of shear genius! I went on ebay and searched for his bedding and what did I find but a matching crib/toddler quilt! I was so excited! So my mom bought it for me and the baby and I can't wait to have matching boy beds! It will be so fun!


Then tonight we went to return some girl stuff I picked out when I thought/hoped it was a girl. This is the outfit she bought me tonight for our little boy, so cute!
And, as if that wasn't enough she also bought me a maternity swim suit early for Mother's Day since we're going to St. George this weekend! I have the best mom ever. Thanks, mom!

Marshall's first soccer season comes to an end...thankfully!

Marshall spent the majority of his time on the soccer "field" booming the other players with his imaginary guns. He also does this in primary, but that's a whole 'nother post. So, while it was nice for him to get some exercise running around at indoor soccer, we're not going to miss yelling at him from the sidelines to put his guns away and kick the ball! He really was so aloof, he'd just stand there as the kids ran past him chasing the ball. In his defense, most of the other kids were oblivious too, but there were some kids that knew what they were doing. The funniest part and this pretty much sums up the whole season, was when his coach handed him his trophy and he pointed to the ball and said, "Daddy, what's this?" Um, that's a soccer ball, you know, like the one you were supposed to be chasing and kicking and scoring goals with the last 8 weeks?

Pictures from his second week:

Defiant

Clueless

"Turn around!"

Pictures from the final game:

The ball just went right past his feet and
he's standing there like nothing happened.

A final team cheer (or whatever this is called). A huddle?

Asher and Marshall

Coach handing Marshall his trophy.

Asher, Jackson, and Marshall with their very first trophies.

Lessons I learned from soccer: 1) don't sign your three-year-old up for team sports, as cute as it sounds 2) just because he can kick a ball at home doesn't mean he wants to do it around 11 other kids 3) sometimes you have to try something to see if it'll work or not 4) no more team sports for a couple more years.

Happy 28th Birthday Honey!

We celebrated John's birthday on Saturday. We had his favorite, wings, for dinner and chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for desert. Marshall was so cute, he had helped me wrap the presents earlier in the week and helped make the cake that night. Then, he wanted to "help" dad open the presents, but from the pictures it looks more like his birthday than John's. John got about as many books as he has years behind him, which made for the happiest birthday of all. We always love getting books, the more the better, we say!

John had me hunting all over B&N

for his multi-genre reading list.

Marshall opened 2 and John opened 2.
Ironically, they don't share a birthday.

John's "Wow honey, I'm impressed" look.
How to Impress Your Husband 101: Search and search the
evolution books for an hour trying to find something by Mat Ridley, one of your husband's favorite authors. Fail miserably then find out that the one copy they had was on hold all along for another patron. Finally, pick out a book on evolution (something you know nothing about) that you heard your highly literate aunt recommending years and years ago when it first came out and get it for your husband's birthday. Success is when he is extremely impressed by your ability to pick out a book he'd like to read but wasn't on his list!

(I love that we know each other well enough to surprise
each other with books we know the other will like.)

John's thinking: "Yes! A stack of books, my favorite birthday present of all.
This pile will last me about half a year, and there's more on the way
from my gift cards!"

Blow out the candles on your cake and make a wish!John's so cool he even had
his favorite super hero show up to
wish him a happy birthday!

We love you, honey!
Happy Birthday!!!

A warm, sunny day at the zoo with family

My Grandma Marshall, brave soul that she is, is watching my youngest cousin, Sophia for 10 days while my aunt directs an opera. So, she took me, my cousins Sophia, Candice and McCall and her son Jackson to the zoo! It was such a beautiful day, but soooo crowded. We spent almost 4 hours there and I even got sunburned on my arms. I love the first mild burn of the season, it means summer is almost here!!! We had so much fun, the kids were so cute to watch and McCall's sister-in-law came too so total we had 5 kids and a baby there. Thanks for a fun day, Grandma!!!

These were taken with my new camera!
Scroll over the images with your mouse to see my captions.

Our 2nd Dr's appointment

Today John met me at the OB's for my check-up. I asked the nurse if he does ultra sounds at every check-up or just at the first. She looked at my chart and said that I was probably far enough along to tell the gender and to ask the doc if he could do one. She caught him before he came in and she moved us over to the ultrasound room. YES! Now the baby just had to cooperate enough for us to see. So, at first the doctor was unsure if we could see it because the baby had its legs crossed, but then he moved the ultrasound thinger over and we got a rump shot and he said, "Oh! I think I know what it is." It was pretty unmistakably a boy, there was pretty much no question. So we're having another boy! I thought all along that I would cry if they told me that at the ultrasound but I didn't, so that's good. I'm pretty excited but a little sad. We really wanted to end our child bearing years at two babies, but only if we had a girl this time, so now we have to have a third. That one better be a girl, because we're definitely done with three, no more! But we're happy, it will be fun for Marshall to have a brother, although I wish they weren't going to be so far apart. Oh, well. Plus, at least I don't have to buy boy stuff because we pretty much have it all. And I'm sad that all the girl stuff I've collected has to be boxed up for another couple years. =( Anyway, that's our news!

I've added a new poll about baby names. Let me explain them so you know the meaning behind each.

Coen - We really like Coen brothers movies, they're John's favorite directors. As we were watching the Academy Awards and their names were said for No Country For Old Men, I thought, "Hey, Coen is a cool name!"

Gabriel - This is John's middle name, and also Marshall's. We considered naming Marshall this but I was undecided because if he went by Gabe you really have to pronunciate it enough when saying it with our last name so it doesn't sound like Gay Bradley, but we really like both the full name and the nickname and would use both.

*Note: We also like Coen Gabriel, and he'd go by Coen, but my mom doesn't think the boys should share a name. I don't think it really matters all that much. Plus, I wanted Marshall's middle name to be Harris so that we could use Gabriel someday, but I lost that battle.

Mecham - This is John's grandma's maiden name and I love it as a first name for some reason, but everyone else looks at me funny when I tell them for some reason. I just think it is so cool.

Harris - This is John's other grandma's maiden name. John doesn't like it because it's his brother Paul's middle name, I don't see why that matters unless Paul wants to name his kid that some day and I'd for sure ask him first before using it. Plus, like I said, John wouldn't even let me use that as Marshall's middle name, yet alone use it as a first name. I think it sounds so smart and sophisticated though.

Baker - This is John's mom's maiden name and I think it's kind of cute. Out of the last names as first names, this is John's favorite. My BF in junior high and high school also had this last name.

So, yeah, I like last names as first names, I'm weird. But no one has ever messed up and called Marshall "Bradley" instead. I also like my dad's name Kirk as a first name, but since he's still alive and stuff we'd have our son go by his middle name, I like Kirk Gabriel a lot. But then his initials would be KGB. Kind of rolls off the tongue, but after watching Alias I don't know about those initials. Haha, I just realized that even Kirk is one of our ancestor's last names, but it's more commonly known as a first name. So, tell us what you think in the poll, it's completely anonymous.

Sometimes you just wish you could beat them!

Have you ever wanted to beat your child? I haven't, not really, but I could have if it was 100 years ago and was still socially acceptable. Kidding. But I was furious. So, today Marshall and I came home from having lunch out at Contacts with John and getting Marshall's haircut. We're playing in the living room and Marshall pulls out the camera bag to my Nikon N80, my 35mm, SLR, high school graduation present. "Where's my camera?" I ask him. "I don't know," he replies in a tone that tells me he really does. So a second later he goes over to the baby exersaucer and pulls out my camera! (You see where this is going...) Well, it doesn't look like anything is wrong so we start playing again and Marshall wants me to take pictures of him and so I pretend to since there's no film in it. But something doesn't sound right. So I open it up and what do I find? A crinkled shutter! For those of you who don't know what the shutter looks like, well, I'll take a picture for you, hold on...

Click above photos to enlarge for better viewing of shutter damage

My Nikon N80

So as you can see, they're bent and not supposed to be. I took my camera in to Inkley's where I got it six years ago to be looked at. It's $250 (!!!) to be repaired but only $190 for a new camera body (sans lens). "So, what you're saying is... it's cheaper to buy a new one than to repair the old one?" "uh-huh" The way I saw it, I could use the money I've been saving for a digital SLR to replace it or I could just buy the DSLR. Huh, what would you do? Yeah, me too, so that's what I did and tuh-duh, it's beautiful and takes even more beautiful pictures and I'll use it a lot more since it's digital. Yay me!

Hello D40!

I thought and though about a Rebel, but I'm a Nikon girl at heart. I've just been so diappointed in both Canon's I've had so I decided to stick with a Nikon that I know and love. I can't wait to get out and use it tomorrow. It'll be so worth it, it's already taken amazing shots of Marshall in the living room so it'll be even better when it's outside and candid! Oooh, I love it.

Marshall was so funny after I told him he ruined it. While I was trying to tinker with it and get the shutter things back into place, he was pretend playing that he was mad at his friend for ruining his camera. Then, he told me I ruined his camera. I sat him down and said something like, "We don't play with mommy's things! You broke my camera and it will be very expensive to fix. You are NOT allowed to play with my cameras!" He started crying. I could tell he felt bad and asked if he could fix it. I thought about taking the money out of his little bank and telling him he had to pay for the damage, but he just doesn't get the concept of money yet and it may not be effective and prevent something like this from happening again. It was my fault anyway for leaving it out. Lesson learned. Also, I learned that no matter how old the camera, always renew the warranty! Inkley's would have replaced or repaired my old one for free had I renewed the service warranty with them! Ergh, couldn't you just kick yourself sometimes? So I for sure got the plan to cover my new one and I am renewing it until I die! There was a guy in there who had been through three cameras, all at their expense, so worth the coverage! They'll replace them as long as you have a piece of it, for almost any reason. When I was in junior high, Cooper buried my camera in the sand in Moab, it was only like 2 weeks old, but Inkley's replaced it, same with the time I left it in Grandma Mary's backyard after her birthday party and the sprinklers got it that night. Warranties definitely pay off, even if they do make the total go up. Anyway, I've learned my lessons.

At PC Laptops they really do love you!

So I took our computer into PC laptops and they were so helpful! In a matter of minutes I found out it was our charger, not our battery (whew, sigh of relief that I didn't have to replace that for $250). So, the charger was $85 and I probably could have gotten it on ebay for $50 less, but hey, our generation is all about instant gratification, right? So here I sit contentedly listening to some fine classical music provided by classical 89 by composers whose names I can't pronounce yet alone spell, ahhh serene, and begin my portfolio for my class (right after I check my email and blogs and stores that is). Thank you PC Laptops for making my rainy day a happy one! Now let's hope the neighbors keep their guitar hero down or it'll be battle of the classics vs. rock in our complex. Wish me luck!

A Quick Note

My computer is about to crash and burn. If you need to get a hold of me call me, cuz I don't know how long it'll be until I can get online again. The charger to our laptop isn't charging and so the battery is dying. Gotta go

Okay, so I guess I'm not completely computer-less because thankfully John has a laptop for work and I can use his at night after he's home from school. What would I do without a computer?! I seriously missed it so bad all day, which is bad because I shouldn't be so dependent on it. But I use it to pay bills, talk to friends, shop and look stuff up like my OB's phone number or what heartburn meds are safe for pregnancy. Anyway, at least I have access at night. Especially since I told my academic adviser at school I'd be in on Thursday to finally hand in my work for the last credit. Yippee! So I have to get eight journals typed so I can finally be graduated a whole year after I mentally graduated and physically walked! Talk about frustrating when your adviser goes on maternity leave and the new one tells you you're good to go. But, I'm finally wrapping it up and I'm glad she's been flexible with allowing me to work it into my schedule. Sooo, that was a whole bunch of rambling. Sorry!

My Pet Peeves (just in case you were wondering), updated constantly

I don't know what it is lately, but I seem to be getting very agitated with things, so I decided to make a list. Oh wait, I do know why, I'm pregnant, duh!

1. When I comment on someone's blog then realize I'm logged in as The Toy Snob so I have to re-write my comment after I log in as John Nikki Marshall.

2. People who don't leave comments on my blogs once in awhile, but I know they read them.

3. Doing the dishes sans rubber gloves, gross!

4. Doing dishes with a soggy dish rag, grosser! I prefer paper towels and don't feel the least bit bad about contributing them to the pollution. Hey, they'll disintegrate eventually, right?

5. People who make rude/stupid comments before thinking about how it'll possibly hurt the other person.

6. Having to use a key to get my mail. Then, because I only check it every other day, the stupid bleeping postman smashes it all down and ruins my catalogs and magazines. I better never catch him in the act or he's in for a royal chewing out!

7. My upstairs neighbors. Ugh! Can I please have a house already? There's like 5 of them living up there and I swear none of them work because they play guitar hero all. day. long. and guess who gets to listen to it? Me! Plus, they smoke way too close to the windows and leave cigarette butts all over the lawn and stairs outside and the entryway always smells like it after. Then, there's the matter of the dating couple's bedroom being right above our's. Let's just say that at 1:00 in the morning it's not too fun to hear other people going at it. Squeak squeak squeak. Plus, the smoker lady in said bedroom has this dry, hacking cough that wakes me up several times a night. Jeez lady, if you stopped smoking maybe your cough would go away, ya think? And then there's the parties that go 'til 2 in the morning. The later it gets, the drunker they get, the drunker they get, the louder they get. And because there's 5 of them they all have cars, so there's never anywhere for our guests to park and people are always coming and going, just pounding up the stairs.

8. People who go on and on about their remodel or what decor they're putting in their house. Hello! I wish I had a house to decorate or remodel!

9. Student loans. 'Nuff said.

10. Bloggers who never blog.

11. Toys with batteries, they should be banned.

12. Being in a state of constant broke-ness, not fun.

13. Marshall's lovely whining.

14. I'll think of more later...ok, thought of one. So when I do a whole load of whites, and our washer fits a TON so it's pretty much all our whites for a week, and after it's all dry I'm getting ready and realize I left out my favorite camisole or undershirt and have to do a half load of whites and re-vamp my outfit for the day. Errgh! (Marshall does this same grunt when he's frustrated, too. He got it from me, cute!)

15. DI, shopping at DI, and people who suggest I shop at DI!

16. Walking around the house or just anywhere without my shoes or slippers on.

17. Getting out of the pool and touching the ground with feet, worst feeling a foot could encounter!

18. Having a dry mouth or being thirsty.

19. When Marshall takes a bath and gets the floor all wet.

20. Movie tie-in additions of books.

21. Phone calls, sometimes.

22. Unexpected people at my door.

23. Parents who yell at their kids and embarrass them in public.

24. Being splashed at the pool, especially when it's not your kid.

25. Cutting out sewing patterns.

26. Folding sewing patterns.

Tagged again...

I don't know why on earth anyone would tag a pregnant gal to tell about things she loves about herself but here goes:

I think I have pretty eyes, but truth be told I have flat eyelashes and use a heated eyelash curler, otherwise I wouldn't like my eyes.

My friends all like my laugh so I've come to love it too. When I laugh too hard I start wheezing and then I start coughing which pretty much happens every time I'm with my friends.

I'm creative and have whipped up some really great stuff that means a lot, like Marshall's blessing outfit, an OLY quilt we used at football games, and my Jr. High promotion dress. I also love my scrapbooks and the work I've put into them.

I love being a mom and think I do an okay job 90% of the time. However, I don't so much love the part about getting them here, aka pregnancy and childbirth.

I used to love my body, maybe too much and that's why I lost it pretty much right after I got married. Dang!

I tag anyone who likes their self enough to actually do this.

I Want It!

Check out this cutest bag ever from Boden!!! I love it! It's absolutely to die for! It would be perfect for the pool since summer is coming and I practically LIVE at Evergreen with Marshall. Plus, a very important holiday is coming up...Mother's Day (hint hint). And, it might double as a diaper bag this fall. Now, how do I decide on a color?! What's your fav?

Bright Pink

Thistle

Going Private?

Hello!? What's with our friends going private and not including us in your approved list of people?! We are totally offended and didn't like your blogs anyway, so that's just fine. But...if this was just an over sight because you didn't know our email address or whatever you need then feel free to add us and we'll forgive you at a later date. The email address we use for this blog is scrmbld at hotmail dot com. We really would still like to see your blog, I was only kidding. We love staying in touch since we probably wouldn't see you in "real" life all that much. Thanks,

John and Nikki

A Perfect First Bike!!!

I bought this little Skuut balance bike a few months ago to put away for warmer weather. Today Marshall was bored and sad that John left to go camping without him, so I dragged the box out of storage and assembled it so he could go for a ride (after stopping at Target to buy knee and elbow pads of course). He was so cute on it. He was a little unsure of the whole thing at first and I think a little scared that he'd fall off and get hurt. While it's marked ages 2-5 he's almost too big for it already, it may only last him one summer. Last year as we were looking for a trike the guy working that department suggested a bike with training wheels because Marshall was too big for all the trikes so we never did end up getting him one. The good thing about balance bikes is they teach kids to balance on a two-wheeler, thereby eliminating the need for training wheels. After he masters this he'll be ready to pedal a two-wheeler sans training wheels probably next summer. Awesome! Plus I just thought it was the cutest stinking bike out there for this age group, don't you agree?

Super Hero, Ninja Sword, Pumpkin Head, Boomer Guy

I got Marshall this really cute super hero cape for Easter, oh, I mean the Easter Bunny did. Anyway, he only wants to wear it as a skirt! In these pictures he's pretending to be a "boomer guy" with the empty wrapping paper tube acting as a light saber. Don't even ask where the pumpkin basket comes into his pretend game of shooting me.