Trapp Family Christmas 2009

Landon eating his candy cane from Santa Claus.

Asher trying to kiss Ethan.

The kiddos with presents from Santa Claus

Look who decided to drop in!!! Santa Claus!!!!

Willie, and Kaylee or Lexi (I feel bad but i can't remember...she's Sam's girlfriend's little girl...super sweet), Taylor, and Liam.

Joanne and Ethan

A bunch of people.

Asher with me and Santa

Liam was so darn excited to see Santa!!! He couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted.


So, this year we had Christmas a week early for the Trapp side. Susan and Todd and their fam, mike and Maxine and their fam, Sam and gf, Joyce, and her kids and his kids, Vicki and Dan and their kids....
It was a blast. It always is! we did the white elephant gift thing again this year for the adults. Every year we play the rules differently and no one ever knows what is going on. All part of being a Trapp! This year Sam took charge and we played his way.
We had a ton of good food and good times.

Kelley Family Christmas 2009

Debbie and Pat

Jeremy, Liam, and Cullen hanging out at his parents house until they get back from Christmas Eve mass.

Cullen thought he needed a drink.

All my boys except Cullen....and Tyson in the background there.

I didn't mean to get this pic in on Christmas Eve at Jeremy's parents. this is actually our house Christmas morning.

Trisha with the espresso maker and starbucks coffee we got her for Christmas.

Vanessa, Tyson, and Owen checking out their gift from Trisha and Josh.

Great grandma Lucille


Every Christmas Eve we have two Kelley Christmases. One with all the extended fam on the Kelley side and one with just Jeremy's immediate Kelley fam. For the one in the evening we all wear our Christmas pajamas and lounge around. It's always tons of fun.

Random Pics

Susan had another shower that the girls at work threw for her. It was Dr. Seuss themed. I told her I wanted the lady's phone number who gave her a GIANT sized gift basket with just about everything you could possible ever need for a baby in it. (Okay, so it wasn't really everything. but, there was a monitor, diapers, cl9othes, toys, hats, blanket, first aid kit, etc.) So, she laughed and said that the lady had won it at a charity auction. Rally cool gift though. Anyway, we had a good time at the shower.

Me and Liam taking some pics.
He loves taking pictures and getting pictures taken of himself. He always has to look at each picture before we do another.

I was feeling kinda crappy this day but what else is new. I was also going to document this pregnancy with pictures since I have not done that with any of my pregnancies. but, soon decided against it. I thought I would spare you everyone from those pics. haha! but, seriously. This body has already had five children and I have what I like to call my kangaroo pouch right where my babies go. In fact, I can feel it all filling out there quite nicely already. Already....I'm 9 weeks, 6 days...and my pants are starting to bug me already. Ah, the joys of being a baby machine.

OOOhh, on another note...my friends Ariane and Mike Cameron welcomed their first child into the world today. A beautiful baby girl named Phoebe Noelle Cameron.


Funny things my kids have said:

Asher went up to a big ship that Liam got for christmas and said:
"did you miss me? Awww. I missed you too."

Then today he said after seeing an Alaskan husky or some such dog out the window:
"wolf. wolf. it blow house down."



I have been having migraines.


Jeremy thought I was as dumb as a rock when i told him that I thought apple-bottom jeans were some brand of jeans that had apples at the bottom of the legs. Apparently it means something entirely different.

Look At What I Did Last Night

As of late I have really been down in the dumps for reasons I can't yet really figure out. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the pregnancy, maybe it's just me...but, I needed something bright and cheery in my home. I haven't yet done anything in the house because I have had the mindset that I would wait until after the remodel. I hadn't even really hung any pictures on the wall. Well who knows when the remodel will happen at this point....so Jeremy and I have been trying to do little projects around the house to really make it ours. We are finally hanging our stuff on the walls. And fixing little things here and there.
Last night I was staring at my plain white laundry/utility cabinets (after we had re-hung them on the wall) and was daydreaming. Then I had the idea to put something on them.

*I must put in a creative genius note....on the two end cabinets the cuts are supposed to be rough and kinda haphazard...that's the look I was going for. By the way, I am the world's best freehand cutter. I know, my modesty abounds. *

This is what I came up with. I am rather impressed with myself (big cheesy smile)...and now I want to do the rest of the house....I'm on a creative mission. While doing the cabinets is when I realized that I NEED a creative outlet. I relaxes me SO much. I LOVE doing it...it makes me feel good inside when I create something totally mine and totally original. In any medium really...paint, paper, rocks, not so much pencil, but, clay, sand, beads, anything!!!
The point of the story? I am happy now. hehe.

Debbie Downer...That's Me

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Okay, so if I thought yesterday was bad(and yes, it was terrible) today was the real kicker. To get me day off on the right foot, promptly after dropping the boys off at school, I hit a patch of ice and rear-ended a car. In my pajamas. no damage to theirs but my grill is destroyed. And my hood scrunched up. And who knows what else because we haven't really even looked at it yet. Us being the super intelligent people we are decided to drop collision on the van. It just warms my soul. As I walked in the door from that Asher started puking all over the place. Twice. This was all in the first hour that I was awake. After a crappy night of sleep. joy. I could barely manage to get myself dressed. Everything is just crap for me lately. I won't even get into the rest of the day other than to say that it went downhill from there. Seriously what is the freaking point!?!?!?!?!? I will speak no more because obviously I am a Debbie Downer. And yes, watch the video.....there is a short commercial before it. Deal with it.

Our Friend, Luke

For tonight's post I thought I would introduce everyone to the Kelley Family Cat. This is Luke....named after Luke Skywalker. There is a story. When we went to my mom's house after my dad's funeral, their cat had had kittens right there on the doorstep. So, me being the cat lover that I am, decided to take two. When they were big enough I took Luke and his sister which we named Leah....as in Leah Skywalker. From Star Wars. Yes, we are nerds. All of us.

Anyway, so the crazy tourists that come to Nauvoo all the time always seem to think that if they find animals they can do as they please with them.....so long story...anyway, some crazies took my cats....we put signs up and the mayor of Nauvoo actually found Luke around Temple Square and called us. Yeah!!! We never did hear from Leah again....sad.

Fast forward to today. Luke is an outdoor tomcat but he's litter box trained too. He brings us rabbits and moles and mice and birds and all kinds of good stuff. And he is flippin huge. The pics don't do his size justice. He's a good kitty. We brought him in quite a bit this winter since we have had sub-zero temps. On New Year's Eve he was in rare form! he was stretching out into all kinds of strange yoga type moves and acting crazy. He is a silly cat. But way cool. We like him because he takes care of himself. He's not like another kid or anything!

We also like to call him Lucas Dukas, Lukey Duke, and pretty kitty. I don't think he likes the last one as much. Sometimes I call him Stupid cat or Smelly Cat when I walk onto my porch after he as pooped in the litter box.......I can't wait till the weather gets better and I can shove him back outside! Not that I don't love him....I just want him to take care of himself outside.

I think he was trippin out that I was taking so many pics.

You can kinda see his size here....I'm gonna get picture of him next to something sometime that can show his true hugeness!

Our Little Secret

We here at the Kelley Fam have little secret I would like to share. For almost a year now I have been drinking these Danactive Immunity Probiotic yogurt drinks. When I first bought them, I wasn't really sure they would do anything but thought it wouldn't hurt to try. You are supposed to drink one a day. They also come in 8 packs. Since we have started doing this, the sickness level in our house has dropped dramatically.
It used to be that every winter, all winter, someone in the house was sick. We would pass everything back and forth. Since I'm not a fan of the flu shot for myself or my children I was looking for something else we could do. Here it is. These bad boys are 4.18 for an 8 pack at Wal-mart. And it is so worth it. I make all my boys drink it. Sometimes they miss a day or two but, what can ya do?
At first I wasn't making Cullen because he was breastfeeding and getting his immunity through me. Now, however, I've been making him since he got sick and we quit breastfeeding. Anyhow, we have had bouts with the sniffles and what not but then I push the danactive and vitamin C and voila'...problem solved.
Now everyone who knows me, knows that I am a sickie. I've had the flu numerous times. Pneumonia over and over again (hospitalized in OSF in Peoria one time), Mono, you name it, I get it.
This past year, nothing.
This fall I started to get sick when we didn't have any danactive for about a week.....I ran right out to get it and doubled up on it.....fixed.
I'm telling ya, this stuff is a miracle in a bottle.
Tristan is my only one who isn't that into yogurt...and he is now coughing his head off. I told him. don't drink your danactive and look what happens. Geez. Now he is drinking it.
So, check it out and buy it up!!
And don't forget to drink it EVERY day.


On a separate note took my first zofran tonight. Oh thanks heavens for this stuff.
Not all the yuckiness is gone but, better anyway.
I might live through this pregnancy after all.

Hey did everyone see that Scott Brown got elected!!!! WOOT!! WOOT!!
We now have a glimmer of hope....yeah!

Well, SO Much For Blogging Every Day!

Okay, do I have failed at blogging every day but, I will try again. you know "they" say that if you do something 21 days in a row then it becomes a habit. So, day one.
My reason for not blogging has been that I feel like I have been hit by a truck. Not much puking...but the severe nausea, the uber-crazy dizziness, headaches, anxiety, blurry eyes, tingling arms, UGH. And my bones are creaking like I'm 100 years old. wtf???? It's just pretty much constant. I tried all the old tricks of crackers, peppermint, unisom, etc. Nothing worked. So I went to my first doctor's appointment today. I was right...due on Sept. 2nd. Told him all my woes and he prescribed me a drug called zofran (sp?) for my sickness. Apparently they give it to chemo patients to treat their nausea as well. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this...i need to do some more research but, at this point...I will do anything to make this feeling stop! Does anyone know anything about the zofran?????

Tristan is on the Fitness Center's basketball team. He's having a ton of fun doing that. Cedric is doing Tang Soo Do at the Fitness Center and Tristan will start as well when basketball is over. I think I will get a membership or something and work out while they train. Maybe that will make me feel better. I have to say that living in Carthage sure does have it's benefits! Pictures to follow.....

My Dad is The Man

My parents with Tristan and Cedric

My Dad with the missionaries and Jeremy on Jeremy's baptism day.

My Mom and Dad at their 50th Anniversary party

My Dad when he was little...isn't he freaking cute???

Us at City of Joseph. City of Joseph has to make my Top 5 list on things done in my life. and my Dad was crucial to us being in it every year. He just couldn't NOT be in it.....and that was fine by me:)

Me and My Dad before he walked me down the aisle on my wedding day....bad pic but you get the idea.....

My mom and dad with little Tristan



Yesterday was kind of a hard day for me. It was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 72. I was depressed and out of sorts all day long. I just miss him SO much. He was a GREAT man. he never had anything bad to say about anyone or anything. Just a positive energy. I miss hearing his voice. I miss being able to call him with ANY question I could ever have and he ALWAYS had an answer. I miss his complete and UNCONDITIONAL love for me.....not that his love is gone but I don't get to say it anymore....and I didn't say it enough. He would NEVER knowingly hurt anyone. I miss his goofy jokes he would make. Most of all I miss the father's blessings that he would give me. I just wish that I could see him one more time....because the last time I saw him alive and talked to him, I wasn't feeling well and I didn't take the time to really talk to him. I wish I had known that his death was coming....there are so many things I would have said and done. I know that I will see him again.....it's just hard.

Anyway, sorry if I brought anyone down....that's why I couldn't post yesterday...I just couldn't make myself do it. I'm an emotional basketcase right now anyhow.....

New Year Party

Don't ask me what was happening here.
I couldn't stop laughing and Jeremy couldn't stop being crazy!

Jon and Nicky

Trisha and Josh



On New Year's we had a few friends over to play games and celebrate leaving 2009 in the dust! We played a new game Jeremy got me for Christmas called Curses! It is a riot!!! Denae told me about it a couple of years ago and I had been looking for it ever since....it is definitely fun! I could definitely see the Seaver Clan playing it very well....have you guys played it before???

Anyway, then we switched to the wii, which apparently I decided to suck at that night. We played the new mario bros. with four players.....man is that a blast!!! And mario cart. We have a ton of games that I have never even played before...how sad. So, we all had a good time!

Yep, it's tonight.
Let's hope I'm not vomiting.
Or passed out on the bathroom floor.

And the Pregnancy Dreams Begin

Crap Almighty! The weirdo preggo dreams have commenced. Every time i am pregnant I have some pretty intense and vivid dreams. Last night was awful.

*ALERT for the Menfolk* This involves "female stuff".

K, so I had episiotomies on the brain last night anyway because I had a couple of discussions about them earlier in the day and I guess it was still with me. In my dream the Doctor was telling me that he had to cut me before I had even went into labor because there were more babies in there than he originally thought! haha! I was SO mad. He was trying to convince me of this and at the same time prepping to do it. (side note: I've never had stitches associated with childbirth and will NEVER allow any one to cut me there.) That's when a little brown rabbit hopped by the table and said something to the effect of "oh look, you're just like me!" Now I don't know what the rabbit was talking about...we both have a lot of kids??? Anyway, I awoke with a start just as my doctor was cutting me!! AHHHHHHH! Seriously, freaking scary as hell!
I fully intend on having the talk again with my doctor even though we've had it with previous children that he will NOT be cutting me under any circumstances! I've done a lot of research on it and everything I've read supports my decision. Sure they will tell you that it is easier and better for you to cut you, but don't be fooled! It is easier for THEM! not for you! So many women are left with all kinds of different problems...and they think it's normal!!! haha! It's not. Not me. Not ever.
Once I had a doctor tell me that if it looked like I was going to tear then he would have to cut me because he would rather sew up a straight line than ground beef!!! Wacko! When God made our bodies, he made them fully able to bear children. Most times doctors will cut more than what you were going to tear...IF you were going to tear. And it will heal just the same if you tear than if you are cut. It's just something that docs started doing to make their jobs quicker and easier.
So now that I have finished that rant. Sorry if that grossed anyone out....don't read it next time! hahaha!

So, back to school today for the kiddies. We had a whole 2 days of school since school let out for Christmas Break. I hope this freezing cold spell is over! And the snow. I have had enough!!!

Yesterday, I went to my sister Susan's second baby shower. She is ready to pop. Her due date is February 15th. I am so flipping excited!!! I can't wait to hold the baby!! She is naming him Daxton Isaac Boyer. I love the Daxton part but, not found of the Isaac. I know, not my baby. I've got to call her and tell her my dream. I wonder if her doctor is cut happy? I probably shouldn't blog this early in the morning.......

Cullen the Cutie

Cullen on our steps on Christmas Morning.
I love this kid.
He always makes me smile.

Dummy.

Yes, that is me because I failed to insert the name of the child that has taken to the three sometimes four step program to sleep at night....it's Asher. Yep. How did I leave that out??? Draw your own conclusions. I'm going to bed. Oh wait! Tonight Jeremy and I saw Sherlock Holmes. WAY better flick than Paranormal Activity. Maybe I will talk more about that later. Maybe not too.

Night Things

Nothing scares me more when I wake up in the middle of the night to a child standing right next to my bed. I think what really gets me is that they are just the right height to be right on the same level as my face lying on my pillow. Sometimes they just stand there and wait for me to stir. Why? I need some kind of motion detecting doorbell or something on my bedroom door.
As of late has taken to a nightly three, sometimes four step program. We put him to bed when all the boys go to bed. He sleeps on the top bunk. He also broke his ladder so we have a chair next to his bed for the time being. So we get him up into bed where he falls asleep. Sometime later on he will wake up screaming and want to take his pillow and blankets onto the floor of his bedroom and sleep there. Which he does for a little while more (maybe an hour or two or three). Then he will come to our room where he hovers around the bed for a bit. Then I wake up and make a little bed for him on our floor.
That is usually where he stays the rest of the night....sometimes though, he takes the full plunge of ending up in our bed.

So while I was typing this I wondered why I didn't enjoy paranormal activity more...when obviously things creeping up on me in the middle of the night creeps me out. It's because the movie is a piece of trash. That's why.

New Goal

I am going to blog EVERY single day. Yeah, right! But, seriously, going to try!

My Thoughts On Paranormal Activity (the movie)

Last night after the boys were in bed, Jeremy and I decided to watch a movie. I had been waiting to see Paranormal Activity patiently. I LOVE scary movies...like real scary movies, not the gross, nasty scary movies that have people in the make-up artists chairs for hours on end. It had been compared to Blair Witch Project, which I had loved. So, it starts out alright...but soon you will find that unlike Blair Witch, which left you wondering if were real, it was staged...and poorly. There were too many holes in the story. And as having experienced some of the paranormal in my life...it just wasn't up to par.
Remember the movie trailers that showed entire crowds at theatres jumping in their seats and screaming out loud??? I had neither. I didn't flinch. It was all just too fake for me. Ugh. Sorely disappointed. Oh well. Waste of my time.

New For 2010

Happy 2010 to all my friends and family! I am SO ready to leave 2009 behind and move on to a new year! 2009 was CRAP. So here is a few things that we will be doing NEW for 2010.

*Our family "project" this year is to save our pennies (even the boys) and try to have Christmas at Disney World next year! For my part, I have started a Vacation Club account at one of our banks that will be ready in 6 months so that we can book the trip in July. Let's hope and pray we can make this happen!

*We are expanding our family once again this year!! This one is already n the works with an expected due date of September 3rd ( I think). This one is a TOTAL surprise. We were in fact trying to do the opposite...anyway, so we are now going to be Kelley-family of 8!!! CRAP A DOG! So this will be our last baby....I'm contemplating getting my tubes tied after this one...we'll see how it all goes.

*If all goes well we will be expanding our business once again with a new storefront in Carthage and adding cell phones and stuff. Real technical stuff. haha.

*My personal goal is to work through my anger and resentment towards basically everyone in the first ward back in Nauvoo. (Those of you who are my real friends, know who you are, and I love and appreciate you!) This one will be very hard for me. I have been full of bitterness and anger for too long and I don't want to carry it anymore....but yet I still want justice. hmmm...we'll see how this turns out. I miss going to church and feeling the love and peace that I got from that but, who wants to go associate with liars and thieves??? Not I.

*We are going to implement a swear jar in our house. We have not worked out the fine tuning of it just yet but you all know the concept. Not that we are all like a bunch of drunken sailors or anything but, you know the slip-ups...LOL. Anyway, we want the boys to say nicer things to each other too....instead of them saying they hate the other one or telling each other to shut up all the time. This is a good project that I am excited to start. So everyone will start out with a cup or envelope full of nickles.... every time someone says something they shouldn't they have to take a nickle from their envelope and put it in the swear jar. At the end of the week, whatever you have left in your envelope is yours...and the swear jar money goes where???? I haven't figured this out yet. I thought at the end of the week all the money in the swear jar would go to our vacation club but....then the kids will WANT to fill the swear jar?!?!?! what to do.? Any suggestions????

*Our home improvement projects!!! Jeremy and I are going to become quite handy! I got some awesome pink tools from my in-laws for Christmas and I 'm gonna use them to transform my home!! I can't wait for Spring when I can get outside and do some yard work!!! Gonna build a bridge over our little stream in the back yard.....and SO much more!!!

So, I'm sure there is more we're going to do NEW in 2010 but, I can't do this post much longer...I have yucky cold that is getting progressively worse and I feel like vomiting so, ALOHA!!!!

Happy.

Found My Camera

Here he is just after he performed. He was so proud of himself!

During the pre-k christmas program....which was awesome by the way because it was only about 10 minutes long. At our old school the entire school did a christmas program which usually lasted about and hour and a half! And you couldn't get your kids and leave after their class performed because you couldn't pick them up until after the show...ugh. It made for a lot of time trying to keep the siblings that aren't in school yet sitting quiet and normal....which never works by the way. Anyway, this was just the pre-k and they were AWESOME! Liam really did a good job. I love seeing him sing and dance!
Asher was being a madman like always and running and screaming all over the place. Cullen was fussy. Tristan stayed home sick. Cedric wanted to run around with his friends. But, again it was only 10 minutes so, while slightly embarrassing, at least it wasn't very long that we had to try to keep the kiddies in one spot. It's a hard thing. For real.

Here is the little Liam-pie again with his cheesy little grin! what a cutie!