ultrasound results ...

IT'S A BOY!!!



nov 17 we went in for an ultrasound and had our suspecissions confirmed ... it's gonna be a boy! i've been calling the baby JACOB for quite some time since i could not for the life of me pick a girl name that really just fit. we saw little jacob sitting cross-legged with one hand behind his head just relaxing and taking it easy! but we could not see if he was a boy or girl until i moved on my side.



i had the tech double-check that he was a little boy and that it was not just a toe or foot between his legs. she laughed and appeased me. then we saw the most precious thing ... jacob was doing the sucking motion!!! we saw his profile and it was just adorable.

william will now have a little brother to play with and be best buddies. we're so excited for another little boy even though i'm now definitely outnumbered in the gender department. oh well.

dearly needed update!

we don't have much to really update on except that we've been slowly moving into and fixing up our little house. we removed all the lawn ornaments & garden knomes, put all my crafts away in the huge pantry, & organized all the DVD's.

today my dad and i moved a trundle bed to our house. now William will have his own big boy bed he can crawl on & off by himself. i just had to rearrange the room and get it ready for him when he woke up from his nap. this way he could explore it and have fun with it BEFORE bed time tonight and hopefully have a good night's sleep. he's getting some more teeth so lately there hasn't been much sleep. but hopefully this will help!

FIRST BIRFDAY!!!

William Matthew Huss turned ONE on friday august 21st! time has just vanished this past year. it doesn't even seem like it's been that long, but the calendar says it has.

to celebrate we went to the park for a picnic. grandpa cox flew into town for the day and came along for the fun. we picked up some KFC and headed to our favorite park in town - Cherokee Park. we threw down some blankets and enjoyed the beautiful day!

TOYS R' US was next on the agenda. will got to go thru the store and basically pick out the 2 toys he wanted for his birthday. all the family met at matt's parents as a central location for the party. we had chocolate fudge cake with chocolate icing and chocolate ice cream. will was so shocked at a little cake solely for him that he wouldn't sit in his new high chair and eat it! such a funny boy. he didn't even eat cake at all!

it's definite though that this little boy loves his noisy toys with lights & buttons! but his favorite of the blender, car, spinning animals & popping bubbles is the popping bubbles! he pushes it around everywhere, carries it with him to another room to play, and won't give it a rest. i'm glad he loves such a cheap toy!

happy birthday my sweet destroying angel! may your next birthdays be as much fun and excitement as this year. you have brought us great joy in the year that you've been in our lives with your big smiles, big messes, & big hugs and kisses! we love you!

packing ... MOVING ... settling in!!!

THIS WEEK we're packing all of our things - wh/isn't much since we did some down-sizing to move in to my dad's fully furnished house. clothes are going in huge black trash bags, books in boxes, and dishes in plastic containers.

we finished painting the 3 bedrooms and the living room and it's time to move in! the kitchen cabinets are totally 70's and are in DESPERATE need of some updating, but that will be best done when we're living in the house.

the bathroom also needs some TLC: paint blue tiles white, remove the glass doors & wood cabinets, and replace the counter & vanity. all in good time, but easier done when living there.

and as always, our adorable son is eager to explore any new space. he's ready to move too!

Our FIRST HOME!

This is our new home! we started looking for homes the beginning of may not really seriously but just b/c we were on stay-cation. in a couple weeks we found this little diamond in the rough and it took nearly 2 months for the seller to make the necessary repairs for our FHA loan approval. but finally all the repairs were done satisfactory & we closed on august 7th!!!

that night we went to lowes and bought & installed new locks in the house. then we began preping for paint! today we're priming and hopefully by the end of the week it'll have some color to it.

i'll post more pics later ... just thought i'd tell you all the good news!

WE'RE HOME OWNERS!!!

just for BRADLEY LARSON!!!

everybody else can view this, but this is just for BRADLEY LARSON!

I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF! i can't stop watching HGTV! and there's a show - color splash - where the host David Bromstad looks just like my good friend bradley larson! no joke! here's your twin in a side-by-side for your laughs!

BABY #2 updates

THIS IS OUR NEW LITTLE TADPOLE!!!

we went to visit our midwife - who's moving to Maine in a couple weeks bytheway - and had to have an ultrasound to determine gestation! nursing does great things to your body & we had no clue how far along we were. we're officially "7 weeks 4 days" on aug 11th according to the size of our little tadpole swimming in his little black blob.

we're just so excited! it's like having our first child all over again except i'm much more nauseous than i was last time. yuck yuck yuck!!! good thing i have a great mother-in-law to help when i can't operate.

BABY #2

COMING TO A LOCATION NEAR YOU IN LOUISVILLE, KY ...

ANNOUNCING THE DEBUT OF

HUSS BABY #2 !!!

COMING MAR/APR 2010

UPDATES SOON TO FOLLOW

thousands of words

ICE ICE BABY!!!

boom boom BOOM!!!

mon nite - sleet & snow

tue all day - freezing rain

tue nite - light snow

wed - COMPLETE DISASTER!!! tree limbs all over the place and breaking every minute

wed am - more sleet & snow to compound the mess

the falling branches and trees knocked out TONS of power lines throughout the city - our street included- and blocked streets everywhere! it was beautifully deadly! when the light hit the trees it would shine like christmas lights! every individual twig branch and blade of grass were encased in 1/2" of SOLID ICE!!!

we lost power tue night til tue morning the next week. so wed morning we built a fire in the fireplace while we packed and got ready to leave before the house dropped to below freezing and the roads became worse. we went to matt's family's house since they still hda power and heat. it was a full house at the huss' since the boy's apt also lost power, but we all loved it!

deadly beauty!!!

vegan BROWNIE recipe

YUM YUM!!! guilt-free dessert

VEGAN BROWNIE RECIPE

ingredients:

1 1/2 cup walnuts

8 large medjool dates, pitted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

combine all ingredients in food processor. blend well. place in pan and press together. can garnish with berries, fruit, etc.

enjoy!

california vacation

MORE PICS WILL COME SOON! THEY'RE BEING DEVELOPED!

left jan 8th, 0900 from SDF to PHX and finally OAK. silly me though b/c i booked a hotel near the SFO instead of the OAK. what a drag to have to pay a $4 toll every time we went to san francisco. oh well, the hotel was a steal!

@ ghirardelli square we had dinner at McCORMICK'S sea food grill and it was awesome!!! i had swordfish and matt had the scallops. and of course will was totally out for the night since he was 3 hours ahead on eastern time!

we went to we visited some family friends and some friends from my mission in oakland. FENTON'S ice creame was awesome!!! nothing like it! jason and michelle mcconnell - they got married at the oakland temple while i was on my mission there - left with smiles and their cute litte girl who's 2 days younger than will.

Alcatraz was a great experience cut short by a little boy that needed a nap. and fisherman's warf was tasty!!! we went to butterfly and matt had edamame for the first time. he learned not to eat the shell just the beans. it was great food! if you couldn't tell, I LOVE FOOD!!!

then we went all the way out to ANTIOCH to see Frankie, Mara and Pete and their 3 mastiff dogs, and the Larson family!!! Frankie gave me some of her california avocaods - 1st time i'd tried them and love them. Mara and Pete took us to the Olive Garden for lunch and will's first encounter w/dogs happened here w/mastifs. HE LOVED THE DOGS!!! he just kept looking at them and reaching out for them. and the Larson's had us over for dinner, COD4, and some great conversations! again, will was out cold around 1830. the trip back to san fran wasn't so bad this time since traffic was't bad. then we left the next day, sun the 11th @ 1400, to return to SDF. it was a great trip and we wished it were longer!

the only thing that keeps us from moving to cali is the TRAFFIC!!! there's nothing that we hate more than traffic and there's too much of it in cali. we love the weather, the people, the culture, the history and the plethera of things to do, but we just can't live w/all the traffic.

DECEMBER UPDATE

dec is the month for RECEPTIONS!!! i had my visiting teachers help me bring down and put up most of the decorations on mon morning and by sat night the 6th the house was ready for a reception!!! the tree was up, the lights were shining bright, and i was in the Xmas mood w/carols and singing!

karen and dad drove from UT to KY w/karen's daughter and 2 sons - amanda, peter, and owen. they came and visited the louisville slugger bat museum and got their mini bats from the tour. peter and owen were so happy to have mini bats and play out on the farm in the little kid's jeep. it was a joy to have them visit. monday they headed out to visit some relatives in OH and the house was a little quieter. i missed having those little boys in the house and other ppl to talk with.

then XMAS came!!! i worked hard to make steph a pair of animal print pajama pants for Xmas eve. mom always got us pajamas and let us open them on Xmas eve, so i decided to carry on the tradition for steph!!! for V i made her a moby baby wrap carrier for her little baby that's gonna be born this summer!!! i'm so excited! for dad i am clearing out the old Ensigns and making room for all of his DVDs that are over running the shelves. that's right, i'm gonna do some cleaning and organizing. and for karen steph and i bought her a simple broach, perfect since she doesn't wear much jewelry.

and for new year's we had a blast!!! dad, karen, bill, susan, all the huss kids, and our little fam got together at the huss' house for games, bubblie, treats and movies! kung fu panda was a hit!!! i love it and just can't laugh enough it's so FUNNY!!! karen showed susan and i how to make a vegan "brownie" with walnuts, medjool dates, and cocoa powder . . . AWESOME!!! no baking necessary, healthy, and gets you that sweet fix. will had fun and woke up for a few seconds at the new year while we were making lots of noise and shouting. then he went right back to sleeping, no problem.

NOVEMBER UPDATE

this is how the COX family started out the month of nov[minus karen]. so my dad went online a couple months ago to check out what LDSsingles.com is all about. he met a wonderful lady - KAREN KINDRICK- and they were setup by the Lord is the only way that i can describe everything. too many spiritual experiences and confirmations to deny that she is the wife for my dad.

we left thur morning and friday morning they were sealed in the Redlands, CA temple. everybody attended, all 3 or dad's kids and spouses and grandkids and all 6 of karen's kids and spouses and grandkids. it was special to be at the temple with my family. ironically i lost my voice from the cold i had when i was visiting and getting to know my new family. hahaha

we traveled to anaheim sat to visit knott's berry farm, but smoke from a nearby fire was too thick for will and i to handle. we went and saw quantum of solace instead. we were bummed out, but that's life. it'll still be there when we decide to visit again.




we went home on sun the 16th and almost missed our flight b/c the gate changed and there weren't any announcements on the intercom. hahaha. so at the end of the month the COX-KENDRICK family ended up like this, tons of ppl!!!



THANXGIVING was a smash too! we visited w/the Huss part of our family and had a great time!!! food was amazing, the games were fun - especially Xmas Kombat and PIT - and the company was great. and once again i was sick! twice for nov. twice!