All I Want for Christmas is John Deere...

We had our Polatis family Christmas party last night. It was really fun to just relax and enjoy each other's company. For those of you who know, John Deere Green flows pretty deep in the Polatis family veins. From farm equipment to toys the grand kids play with there's a high possibility it's John Deere and very green! As the grand kids opened their presents from Grandpa & Grandma Polatis last night they discovered John Deere tractors. These just weren't any tractors they were tractors that reved up and rumbled and vibrated when you pressed a button. Too cool! Shane, giving his mom a hard time said "Well mom where's our John Deere?" pointing at my rather large belly. Her reply was "Just you wait". A minute later she appeared with a little box. As we unwrapped it there in that little box sat the cutest little cowboy boots I've ever seen in my entire life!!! And they were John Deere. I can't wait to put them on our little stud. It seems as though our little baby boy will have green in his veins as well. As they say "Nothing Runs Like a Deere!"

Closing a Chapter

As this semester comes to a close, not only are we saying goodbye to our Fall classes, but to attending Brigham Young University- Idaho. Shane has graduated in Health Sciences and plans to start the process of applying to Physical Therapy schools. I on the other hand am done with classes and embark on the mission of student teaching. I'll be teaching 6th grade in Chubbuck, Idaho which is next to Pocatello. I am so excited but a little anxious considering I've only taught up to 3rd grade. It will be a wonderful experience though I just know it. (I officially graduate in April) So here's to a wonderful many years we've spent in Rexburg, Idaho and the many adventures we'll have in the coming years.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I had always envisioned the first Christmas I would spend as a newly wed would begin by decorating our Christmas tree together as White Christmas played in the background and we drank coco and maybe even sat and strung popcorn together. Well, this fantasy did not come true, but I have to say that the events that unfolded the night we decorated our tree where much more memorable. First off, our tree trunk was too skinny to be held in place with the bolts that came with our tree stand. Shane had to cut two blocks to hold our tree in place in the tree stand . Second, our tree limbs were a lot more weak and couldn't really hold as many lights as I would have liked. Third, when we got to the last part of the tree half of the last stran of lights went out. This did not put me in the best of moods. Poor Shane. We finally got everything to work. We rearranged the lights and got the tree to stand up straight. It was quite the ordeal. But I do have to admit our tree is beautiful! The moral of this story is that I will be saving up this next year, and when the time comes I will be purchasing a beautiful pre-lite artificial tree and a vast supply of evergreen Yankee Candles!!!!!

The Perfect Tree

So we decided that for our first Christmas together we would be festive and spend a weekend up in Island Park at the cabin and look for a Christmas tree and cut it down. Now some background would be nice. I grew up in a househome where we did not have a real tree. My mother would light Salt City candles that smelt like evergreen trees and stick the Yankee Candle car air fresheners in our fake tree to try and make our tree as real feeling as possible. So when it came to getting a real one this year, I was pretty excited.

We went with some friends of ours and soon found our tree. It was perfect. It was even symetrical unlike most of the trees which were bare on one side. Shane took the saw to it and threw it in our tabagan and we pulled it back to the Jeeps! The experience was different for sure, it will make for great memories. At least for this year there will be no evergreen sented candles in our house!

There's Nothing Like Family

I love my family. I think it's because we're all so quarky. I swear I never laugh as much or as hard than when I'm around my siblings. When we were in Denver for Thanksgiving, Brian my 16 year olf brother found a hat at Eddie Bauer that he just had to have. He bought it and then wore it around the mall. He claims it was to wear while he played in the Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving, but I know it's because he secretly wants to be a lumber Jack!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble Fat Turkey...

Well, here we are in Colorado with my side of the family for Thanksgiving Break. We have had so much fun getting to play in Denver. We've taken full advantage of all the malls and brand new stores that have opened. We got to go and take a tour of the U.S. Denver Mint too. I've never seen so many pennies in my entire life. (They only make coins there) Thanksgiving morning brought the tradition of hot chocolate and watching the Young Men play in the Turkey Bowl against the Elders Quorum and the "Old Guys". Brian and Casey my brothers and my dad managed to escape injury, which is not usually the case. Maybe it's because Brian was wearing his lucky lumberjack hat....... Once again this year I find myself feeling more and more thankful for what I have been blessed with in my life. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!

26 Weeks and Counting...

So we have not been as good as I wish we could have been at taking prego pictures. But we just took these on Sunday. I'm now 26 weeks and growing. Last night was my first night I was woken up at 2 am by sharp kicking by our little bundle of joy. Shane is quick to remind me that this is just the beginning of sleepless nights. Only three more months!!!!

The Great Pumpkin

I must say that ever since I was little Halloween has been my favorite holiday. Don't ask me why but I seem to come alive in the fall when the leaves are changing colors and a crisp breeze blows across my face. And when it gets chilly in the evenings I start to look forward to the History Channel specials on the real Dracula! This year our garden provided a nice batch of pumpkins, so for Family Home Evening we decided to hang out with our neighbors and carve pumpkins! They turned out ever so cute, and with that brought the enchanting smell of Autumn. FYI shane's pumpkin is the barfing pumping on the lower right step. He was so proud!

Rock-a-Bye Baby

We have been having so much fun getting ready for our little baby boy. My parents wanted to get us something for the baby that would be something we could use with all of our kids, and keep forever. So they ended up getting us this gorgous rocking chair. Since it's the dark brown leather it matches our baby room theme of dark brown and red perfectly!!! Thanks mom and dad!!! Love you!

Chinese Fighting Muffins

So as it happens, Shane had to be up at work early today to tape the school athletes for their Saturday games. So me being the nice wife that I am asked him if he wanted me to make him breakfast. I set off to the kitchen to make our usual Saturday morning muffins (asking Shane first when he was leaving so I could make sure they'd be ready in enough time). As I dumped all the ingredients into the mixing bowl I went to get two eggs and to my surprise ...NO EGGS! Now this is a common occurrence in our house. For that reason I started buying eggs by the 18 so I wouldn't have to go to the store as often. Anyway I decided to go ahead and just leave the eggs out. How bad could they really turn out? Well, as I pulled them out of the oven I could see that they were the flattest muffins I had ever seen. As well as flat on top, they were pretty dense. Right away the movie scene from Charlie's Angel's flashed in my head, when Lucy Lue cooks the muffins and the other angles throw them at the door and the muffins crash through the door. Even though they were flat and dense they still tasted pretty darn good! Too bad Shane decided to go to work early and leave me with 12 Chinese Fighting Muffins to eat by myself!

Our Little Acrobat

So over this past weekend i found our camera charger, so I was able to take pictures of our ultrasound pictures!!!! I was so excited! SO the blogger is back. These are just a few of the ones we got. Sad to say the ones that show "It's a Boy" you can't really see anything unless you're looking at the real picture, so those aren't posted. Hope you enjoy our cute little boy's pictures! This first picture is by far one of my most favorite! Right before the nurse snapped the picture, he had his little foot in his mouth. I'm sure this is a sign of things to come. You had better bet on me always making sure those cute little toes are clean if he plans on sucking on them after he's born!!!

Here's a cute little profile. I love his little nose, lip and chin that you can already see!
Just like a boy... he's already showing his muscles and flexing. It's fun to see his bones, they're the dark white lines in his arm.... This is also a good shot of his healthy spine!
So as I had mentioned before, our little gymnist had folded himself in half during our whole ultrasound. As you can see his knees are at his chin and his feet practically on top of his head! Such a flexable baby.... and squished!
He's waving at his mommy and daddy. I was so excited to see that he has all of his little fingers. I can't wait to kiss and hold his little hands!!!

What's in a Name?

So during one of my long conversations with my sister she brilliantly suggested that we should start a naming pool on our blog. We've come across quite a few names we like, but who knows maybe one you has a name that we haven't thought of.... So drop us a note and let us what you think. After all this baby needs a name!!!!!

The Polatis Name Lives On......

So our household has been overflowing with excitment this past week as we made it to our monthly baby check up. This appointment was very much anticipated because we got to find out the sex of our baby. We're proud to announce that we will be having a little boy. Shane is more than excited. I can't blame him, he will now have his last name live on thorugh future generations. During our Ultrasound our little guy was quite the active one. It took him a while to stop flipping and moving around. Even when he finally decided on one place, he decided to fold himself in half with either his toes in his mouth, or his knees up by his forehead. For those of you who are familiar with his mother's flexability, that must be where he gets it.... granted mom's flexability is not what it was five months ago due to the baby taking up most of the space on my front side...... (stay tuned for pictures of the baby.... I have to figure out how to use our new scanner)

Fabulous Fabric!!!!

So, those of you who are crafty, creative cats will love this website! My sister's best friend growing up has her own fabric line and adorable patterns. She has so many cute things on her website you could just look for hours! Check it out. I hope you like it as much as I do!

16 Weeks in Counting

Well, here's our first picture we've taken of my belly. I swear every morning when I wake up it's bigger than the day before.... I guess that's what happens. I'm going onto my 16th week. We are excited because we get to find out if it's a boy or girl the very beginning of October!!! I'm still hoping I might have the chance of having a baby girl. I guess time will tell!

Sunday Treats

Aubrey (our niece) came over to Grandma and Grampa's (where we're living at the moment) after church. She helped set the table for dinner, then after she helped me make the dessert by licking the melted chocolate from out of the double boiler. We tried to get as much sugar in her as we could before we sent her home to her parents.

Fun in the Sun at Island Park

At the end of July this year the Polatis side of our family set off for a week in Island Park Idaho. It's about 50 minutes North of Rexburg. Shane's parents own a cabin on a private island called Bill's Island. It was fun getting to be around everyone and just hang out with each other.

On our first day up at the cabin we all went up to a place called Big Springs. Our Outfit consisted of Jeeps, four wheelers and Tayson even rode his little 50 motorcycle.

It was fun to talk and hang out with all of our siblings. We laughed so much and just enjoyed each other's company.

The grandkids were so much fun, and most of the time they were our entertainment.

We spent most of our time in the water and on the dock. Everyone was a fan of the water tramp; even Richard. Wake boarding was a blast and some of the nieces and nephews even tried tubing behind the boat. Tayson tried wake boarding and even got up. Not too bad for a 6 year old using an adult sized board.

Baby in the Oven

So most of you most likely know that we're expecting a little bundle of joy this coming winter. We're so excited! We're due around February 16th. I'm hoping that the baby comes late because I'm doing my student teaching that semester. I know really.... what are we thinking?! Right now I'm in my 11th week and am feeling pretty good. Aside from throwing up at the most random times I would have to say I'm pretty lucky that I'm not really sick. Our little peanut already has it's first nickname given by our friend Joelle. We fondly refer to our little guy as "Shidi" yes, a mix of Shane and Heidi. I'm pretty sure it will have that nickname for the rest of its life. Whether it's a boy or girl!

Busy Busy Summer

Well I have to appologize because I have not kept up on our blog at all. But I swear I have an excuse... we've been so busy. Between finishing up summer semester classes and packing up and moving to Blackfoot, ID for the 7 week break before fall semester starts and famliy reunions etc, I'm surprised we're still alive! So Hopefully within this next week I'll do some heavy duty construction on our website!

Egan Lake Continued

Joelle was brave enough to pick up tadpoles that were in the water. I sadly enough am not capable of doing such things. I'm sorry tadpoles freak me out!

Egan Lake

Since getting our cute orange scooter we have come to enjoy rides with our friends Nate and Joelle. After a while my legs and hips and knees hurt, but it's all part of the fun we have. NOT only do we love our scooter, but we love filling up with gas and only paying $3.44! It's a great feeling. These pictures are from a scooter ride we took to Egan Lake a little ways North West of Rexburg.