Growing Up OwYoung

Another typical morning at our pad

2012-01-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy busy. Both kids have been dealing with fevers. I have two stamp classes to prep for this week and Alex starts art lessons. Will it ever slow down? I have so many pictures to post that I'm ccontinuing to play catchup. Here are some fun ones taken the morning after Halloween. I sure love these kiddos.

Preschool

2012-01-27T13:37:00.002-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted about preschool yet. Alex loves going to Miss Amy's Imagine Preschool with our neighbor Mayci Call. They are there two days a week for 2 1/2 hours. My only complaint is that its not more often. He adores it and to be honest I enjoy it too. He is growing so fast. Leaning so many new things each and every time he goes. I also love seeing his projects he brings home. He is always so proud of his work. Here are some fun pictures so far of preschool.

Pictures from his first day

I love these two together. Alex told me the other day that he wants to marry Mayci so he can kiss her. I said let's wait a few more years okay buddy.

Halloween program

Mayci, Miss Amy, and Alex

Field trip to the fire station

Santa makes a special stop at preschool. Alex changed his wish list from a fire engine to a kitchen set that he could play with his little sister Lily. Convenient for me since I'd already bought a kitchen. ;)

Alex the elephant

Don't Say...

2012-01-26T09:20:00.003-07:00

This kid cracks me up. He is full of personality and keeps us on our toes. Last night we were sitting around the dinner table.

Jason: This salad is really good but it could use a little acid.

Alex: (yelling) Dad, don't say ass.

Jason and I couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Glad we have him around to keep us in line.

My Cute Kids

2012-01-19T09:27:00.002-07:00

It's been so long since I've updated my blog. You know it's bad when you baby has grown into a little girl. Here are some of my favorite pictures taken in September of my two kids.

Alex is 4 1/2 and loving preschool. Most days ( this week has been rough) he is a sweet little boy who loves to play with trains, his new kitchen set, trucks, cars and outside.

Lily is just shy of 2 and a handful. She is our little climber getting into everything. She loves to play with her babies, watch barney and do anything with her big brother. Hope you enjoy these pictures. I think my cousin Jes who took these is amazing. I'm lucky to have her.

Who are you?

2012-01-13T12:22:00.002-07:00

Long time no see. I know I have fallen off the face of the planet. Well not really. Life is busy and Facebook has become my media outlet. I do however enjoy my blog as a form of communication as well as a journal so it is time to get back to it. Jason bought me a iPad 2 for Christmas so hopefully that will help me to get back into it. Here is a recent self portrait of me. Life is good! Be back soon, I promise!

Did someone say Party?

2011-03-11T22:51:00.004-07:00

It's 11 pm and I have just come upstairs after having a Chicks and Chocolate SU class. Chocolate cards and a fountain with lots of goodies to dip. I finished my class, cleaned up and headed upstairs to bed when I found this.

I guess someone didn't want to sleep while there was a PARTY going on at our house. Looks a bit uncomfortable if you ask me.

Goofy

2011-03-09T13:18:00.003-07:00

We traded Alex in for this goofy kid. He has had me laughing all morning so I thought you could use a laugh as well. These characters were created by Alex himself, I had nothing to do with it. ;)

Stay tuned for video of Lily climbing the stairs. She did it for the first time last Thursday all the way to the top with no fear but I haven't had a chance to record it while Jas is here to help me. Hopefully I will get to it soon. She is growing up fast.

Typical Day

2011-03-02T15:50:00.002-07:00

Just a typical day at our pad.

"What kind of a smile is that Brother?"

"See, more like this Alex, oops eyes are closed"

"Perfect! Notice I'm standing!"

10 months old

2011-02-28T08:27:00.003-07:00

Wow, where has time gone? My baby turned 10 months old yesterday. She has been such a joy to have in our lives. She may be little but she is big in the personality department.

She loves to cuddle while sucking her thumb.

She loves her pink polka dot blankie her Grandma made her.

She enjoys playing with her toys but especially loves when she get ahold of her brother's toys.

She love magazines and can often be found on top of the magazine holder or ripping up a magazine.

She loves to eat. People are surprised at just how much she eats since she is on the extreme petite side.

She loves to pull herself up to anything and everything. If she can stand she will. I have a feeling she will be walking before long.

She loves doorstops and smiles when she knows she's in trouble for pulling the knob off of them.

She loves her Daddy and grins from ear to ear when he gets home from work.

She loves when her Brother hangs out in her crib with her.

Here's a few pictures from yesterday. Aunt Alanna gave Lily a GC to build a bear for Christmas. Shae had made one for Alex using his GC when he was a baby so we thought Alex should make this one for Lily. It was a fun way to spend the day together as a family. I had to laugh though because as Alex got the pink bear stuffed a lady asked me if the bear was for him. She thought I was such a good parent for allowing him to have a pink bear if that's what he wanted. People!!

Lily trying out her Bear's sunglasses

She loved hearing Sunny giggle. So cute!

Chilling with Sunny before bedtime

Sunny is ready for swimming but is missing her hot pink purse

10 months.... how time flies! Love you Lily Cakes!

Bathtime and Super Grover

2011-02-23T10:55:00.007-07:00

Lily is growing up way too fast. Although she will be 10 months at the end of the week she is still super little and therefor still my baby. In the past few days she has mastered the art of pulling herself up. I was running her bath water last night and she wanted to watch. This morning she started up the stairs. I'm so not ready for all of this.

Don't you love how she is on her tip toes?

Nothing is better than a freshly bathed baby smothered in lotion. After a very long stressful day I held my Lily on the couch while she feel asleep sipping her bottle. Both kids were asleep by 7:30 and I got to sleep in until 8:00 this morning, FABULOUS!

After naughty Alex spent the day at our place yesterday I am happy to report nice Alex is here to visit today. I hope he decides to stick around for a bit. This morning he was busy being Super Grover.

Silly face

And today's blog post has been brought to you by the letter G as in Super GROVER!

Weekend

2011-02-22T11:24:00.005-07:00

Dad had a three day weekend. Mom was sick! The kids kept busy being goofs while we laid low most of the weekend. Lily is pulling herself up to furniture and I know it will only be a matter of time before she is walking. She enjoyed a ride in the laundry basket from Dad and when she was done she just tipped it over and climbed out. Miss Independent!

Alex was excited to show me a new song he learned from the Wiggles. It was adorable at first but quickly the cuteness wore off.

We did get out to do a few much needed errands and after multiple reschedules made it to dinner on Monday to celebrate Grandma OwYoung's birthday which is tomorrow.

Puzzles

2011-02-18T09:14:00.004-07:00

It's been a busy week for me trying to get ready for a large Stampin' UP! class I had last night. Alex has kept busy in his playroom doing puzzles while I prepped.

I told him I wanted to take a picture and he only with my sad face because the puzzle isn't done yet Mom.

That's one sad face don't you think?

The after picture of the done puzzle. He insisted I wait until he got his baby to take a picture with.

Meet Cheston my favorite "real" baby boy doll from when I was little. Alex has a love/hate relationship with him. He either likes to carry him around like his baby when I have Lily or he kicks it or drags it by the arm.

Alex working on his massive Dino puzzle

"Hold on Mom, I got to put Cheston at his spot."

Silly face

And another silly face

I hope everyone has a terrific weekend. I am looking forward to laying low with the family. Haven't felt so well so Jason's three day weekend is sounding terrific!

Commando

2011-02-16T13:31:00.004-07:00

So we took a friend out to lunch today for her birthday. We went to my all time favorite bakery Haggerman's to eat. This morning getting ready was a bit of a struggle at our house. I told Alex no less than 30 times to go get his teeth brushed and his clothes on. After much fighting, threatening, crying etc. we made it to lunch.

After we got home I found that the wreath from our door had blown off. I commented to Alex that it was missing. After putting Lily down for a nap I hear Alex say oh no I'm missing something. He walked around asking where it was, who took it etc. I assumed he was just copying me about the wreath. I asked "What are you missing?" He came over and showed me, no undies. Yup in the mist of our crazy morning he had gotten dressed in his jeans without putting his undies on first.

Lunch commando style, you should give it a try.

Remember...

2011-02-07T11:03:00.003-07:00

Been busy and need to play catch up. For now wanted to journal a few things.

Lily has slept through the night for the past 3 nights. Hooray!! Nothing feels better than getting as full night's sleep. I love it!

Alex has been cracking us up lately. Here are just of few of the things he has done/said lately that I want to remember.

The other day he told he had a problem, when I asked what it was he said "Mom, I have allot of problems." I laughed!

He has been into playing pretend lately. The other day we had to put on our imaginary hats so that the dinosaurs who were in our front room wouldn't see us. Alex was nice enough to get bananas out of the pantry and put them in the front room in case they got hungry.

He is always saying I'm joking Mom, or just kidding Mom. The one day he was walking around saying Ho, Ho, Ho. I proceeded to pretend I thought he was Santa. "Mom, it's just me I'm just kidding." What a jokester!

Another time I was upstairs getting Lily ready when I came down to find him eating a snack. We keep a child lock on our pantry for this very reason. I thought I had made sure the door was shut before leaving him alone. Sure enough it was shut in fact it was still shut just missing the lock. When I asked Alex what happened to the lock he grabbed it from a drawer saying" I needed a snack so I took it off." Then he proceeded to show me how he used a plastic kid's knife to pop off the lock. So much for that idea now.

Alex loves to fix stuff. He will go around with his gloves, tool box and belt playing Handy Manny. You will often find him fixing chairs, cracks he thinks he finds in the walls and best yet the crack he found on his Dad's butt last week. I was dying of laughter!

It's the little things

2011-01-31T10:39:00.002-07:00

Life can be busy, stressful and crazy at times. Lily has decided she is done nursing, I however am not. I guess I'm just not ready for her to grow up. It's made for am emotional week for me which means a rough week with Alex. Luckily I have moments like this everyday that remind me how lucky I am. These pictures were taken last week after Alex went to play with his baby sis after her nap. They are starting to play together more and I love it. Lily lights up when her brother comes to play. I love them! Thank goodness for the little things.

One happy baby

I love how you can only see one of each of their eyes, totally on purpose.

My turn Mom

His latest look, what a silly kid!

My turn Mom

2011-01-28T09:10:00.003-07:00

Alex couldn't be left out so after I took footage of Lily crawling Alex came running out of the bathroom wanting his picture taken. One minute he is testing my patience and next he is making me laugh. Love this little guy! Pardon his very all boy manners, we are trying to working on that.

Looking forward to the weekend. I have lots of stamping to prepare for an upcoming class. Lily has her Doctor appointment today and I have a GNO tonight with my former coworkers, should be fun.

9 Months

2011-01-27T20:49:00.004-07:00

Lily is 9 months today. I can't believe how fast it's gone by. Her Dr appointment is tomorrow so I will share her stats then but for now here is a little video footage from today. Don't you love how Alex has to make sure you know he is there too. Kids, gotta love them!

Bath Time

2011-01-26T13:10:00.005-07:00

We are a shower kind of family. It's just easier for us however Lily is getting to the age that I knew she would love a bath. Last week Alex and I decided tonight was as good of a night as any other. Lily loved every minute of it. I decided to keep her in her small tub because she is still so small and our big tub can be very slippery. I borrowed a bath seat from a friend to try out but Lily is still too small for it as well. Here are a few fun pictures of my two sweeties. Enjoy!

Yummy!

2011-01-25T13:27:00.002-07:00

Busy day cleaning bathrooms and prepping for my first Sale-a-bration class. I have taken some time out however to much on my new favorite snack. Have you tried these yet? DELISH!! Just thought I'd share.

Silly Kids

2011-01-24T11:24:00.002-07:00

My kids sure keep me on my toes. This past week we have dealt with a few meltdowns, Lily crawling, a bit of weaning not by my choice and one imaginative child.

Lily will be 9 months this week and I'm not doing too well with it. She is becoming such a big girl. She has learned how to crawl (pictures to come) and is making her way to things quickly. Looks like gates and locks are in my near future =( She is very interested in REAL food and is starting to wean herself. I nursed Alex until he was nine months so it was a bit expected. I guess I am not ready because although Lily is almost nine months she is still 13 lbs and my baby.

I wanted to get a cute picture of Lily holding her own Ba Ba. Alex of course wanted to be in on the picture.

Here is a picture of Alex from last week. He had a pin dot owie on his leg and I mean a small tiny pin dot. He said he couldn't walk and went to get a cane (golf club) and a seat (his bucket) so he could be like the grandpa on TV (UP). He insisted I get a picture of him. Pardon the hair he had just got up. Later on I was telling Jason about how he couldn't walk and he said " Mom, I was only kidding." What a funny boy!

Undarooos

2011-01-21T10:49:00.005-07:00

Sometimes being a Mom is just a bit too much for me. Three year olds sure know how to push my buttons, today has been one of those days. Alex must have known this because after this little video all I can do is smile. He begged me to take pictures and yes he is aware that his undies are on backwards. P.S. pardon the horrible singing. ;)

Our Busy Week

2011-01-14T14:03:00.007-07:00

Busy week... what a busy, busy week it has been. Cleaning, craft day, nail appointment, babysitting, a funeral etc. I had great intentions to blog but it just didn't happen.

On Wednesday I attended my Great Uncle Leslie's funeral. Les was my Grandma Glenn's brother. She had 12 siblings but Uncle Les was my favorite. We would go to family reunions each year and I always looked forward to seeing him. He was a goofy guy who loved children and was sure to always make you smile. I remember as a child sitting on his lap during our family auction. He would raise my hand to bid on items. I would panic letting him know that I didn't have money to spend. He would tell me not to raise my hand then and again would raise my hand for me to bid on a item. I'd win some fun toy and of course he would buy it for me. He was a great man. My Great Aunt Zina passed away last Thursday and then Les, the last of the siblings passed away on Saturday. I can't begin to imagine the family reunion that is taking place in heaven. It must be spectacular! My Mom, Lily and I headed down to Orem to pay our respects to Les and his family. His Granddaughter Angie is one of my good friends.

So a side story after meeting Jason I returned to Draper and attended SLCC. My first class on my first day of school I sat next to this girl. We continued to sit next to each other and became friends. We exchanged phone numbers in case one of us missed class. One day she called me and after a lengthy conversation about life, school and our boyfriends we hung up and both chatted with our Moms. She mentioned me to her Mom who said that is my cousin's daughter I am sure. Call her and ask what her Mom's name is. When she called I was busy helping my Mom unload groceries and missed her call. My Mom checked the caller id and wondered why her cousin had called. For some reason I also checked the called id and informed her that it was my classmate not her cousin that had called. We argued about it for a few minutes until Angie called again. Sure enough we put two and two together realizing we were related. Her immediate family didn't attend the reunions so I had never met her. We have remained in contact over the years running into each other in the strangest of places. Once was at Thanksgiving Point when both of us were getting our bridals done. Our weddings were a few months apart and we both had changed our location and dates for bridals several times. We just happened to both end up at TP on the same day and the same time. We took several photos of the two of us in our dresses. It was so fun!

Anywho... back the funeral. It was a nice service and it was good to see Angie along with many of our other family members. My Aunt Sheila and Uncle Mike came and captured a cute picture of Lily who by the way was an angel the whole day. My Mom and Uncle Mike enjoyed loving on her.

A quick picture for Aunt Sheila

Today I watched my neighbors kids for her for a few hours. Alex always enjoys having his friends over to play. Here is a cute picture I got of the three of them while they watch Thomas the train. They are such sweet kids. I feel so blessed to leave in a neighborhood surrounded by great kids for Alex to be friends with.

Cheston ( my baby doll from when I was little) Kylie, Alex and Brooklyn

Looking forward to a long weekend with the family. See ya next week!

Tangled

2011-01-10T12:32:00.005-07:00

We had a fabulous weekend. Lots of family together time. I really wanted to see Tangled and so did Alex but Jason not so much. Since Lily is at the age that she is impossible in movies we decided Jason would stay home with Lily. Sunday night Alex and I headed out the door ready to go on our little Mommy/Son date. We stopped at the concessions to get popcorn and a Diet Coke for Mom of course. Tangled was adorable and my date couldn't have been cuter. I even got a little snuggling during the scary parts. Looking forward to more nights like this one.

Too Fast

2011-01-08T17:36:00.004-07:00

Its been a nice day. We got up and headed to breakfast Jim's restaurant. I hadn't been there before and was very pleasantly surprised at how good my breakfast was. Alex ate 95% of his breakfast too which is a good sign. Then we went to Ikea and Bed, Bath & Beyond to do some shopping. Lily was so good the whole time and got many comments on how beautiful she is. Once we got back home I put her down for a nap. Whenever I go in to get her I always sing this song I made up it goes a little something like this.

" Ohhhh Lily, oh miss Lily, oh miss Lily, Lily Grace. You're my Lily, my pretty little Lily. Oh miss Lily, miss Lily, Lily Grace."

It's her sign that I am there to get her up and she is usually all smiles however today I came in to her music playing, she had turned it on. Her giraffe out of place, she was playing with it and this......

yup that is my baby girl sitting in her crib waiting for me. I didn't know she could sit up on her own. On no my Lily is growing up way too fast. Not sure I am ready for this.

The beautiful mermaid

2011-01-07T15:28:00.003-07:00

We have a mermaid that visits our house. She arrives in the middle of the night when Lily gets fussy in her crib.

A close up of her beautiful tail, leg, fin... what would it be called?

Oh wait it's just our pretty little Lily. She is tiny but long so three month jammies are two short and six month jammies are too big. It's frustrating when I have to undo her jammies in the middle of the night to fix her legs. Silly girl!

Got Lily dolled up to go to lunch with a friend. Gotta love my OG!! Loving her new barrette her Grandma and Auntie bought her. Attempted to get a picture of her with her eyes opened.

and tried again.......

Third times a charm. Ahhh tricked ya pretty girl.

A typical day

2011-01-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

Being a Mom of two is crazy some days. Currently I sit here blogging, it's nap time and Lily is whining in her crib and Alex is crying from his bed because he is overly tired. I just want 30 minutes of peace and quiet, is that too much to ask?

As difficult as it is some days I feel so blessed to have such sweet adorable kids. Here is a few fun pictures from the last couple of days. I can't believe how fast my kiddos are growing up.

Bath time in the big tub is a favorite of Alex's. He looks so huge compared to most of the bath pictures I have.

I've learned that Lily and the flash don't do so well together. At first I assumed it hurt her eyes since her eyes are shut for most of her pictures. After tricking her today though I realized once she hears the sound of the camera she just closes her eyes. This one was a mid close, I caught her and she wasn't happy.

Alex loves being a big brother to his baby sister. Usually you can find him in Lily's crib in the morning singing to her. "Take a picture Mom"

Yup another shot with Lily's eyes closed.

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-01-04T11:23:00.005-07:00

It's a New Year... time to make some resolutions. If you haven't guessed yet one of my intentions for the New Year is to be better at keeping a journal or shall I say keeping my blog updated. I will keep it simple trying to take more pictures daily and updating my blog with at least one picture. So let's start with a few cute pictures I took on Christmas Eve Eve... yes I meant to say the double Eve. We decided this year to do Santa and family gifts with my in-laws on Christmas Eve since we wouldn't be home on Christmas day. With this change I decided I would let my kids open their typical Christmas Eve gifts a day early.

Alex with his new favorite book, A mouse about the house. Luckily it's the only mouse at your house, that I know of. =)

So funny thing about our stockings. I bought Lily's because it was a snowman and I had to have them all match. I guess I forget what my stockings were
since last year.

Our tree and flood of gifts

Love the tilt of the head, model in the making perhaps.

I have many pictures like this one with her eyes closed.

Lily and the flash don't mix

I guess. I had to include it though because I love her lashes and sweet little lips.

My pretty Lily in her super cute, soft jammies, love this girl.

My adorable kids, Alex insisted on standing up. Notice his jammies, he is all about Thomas these days.

What a lucky Mom I am!

Dang cute kids

2010-10-20T22:30:00.004-06:00

If I do say so myself I make some dang cute kids. Here is just a taste of the hundreds of pictures my uber talented cousin Jes took of my kids. I continue to stay busy with baby Lily ( she is such a sweet little thing), potty training ( finally got Alex to poop in the potty this week), card classes ( fun but time consuming) and life in general as a Mom, Wife, Friend, Neighbor, Sister, Aunt, SU demonstrator and compassionate service member. Life flies when you are having fun. Enjoy the pictures p.s. Lily turns 6 months next week. I'm not sure I'm ready for her to grow up.

and they grow....and grow

2010-10-11T09:42:00.003-06:00

Life is busy, life is good because of these two kiddos.

Excuse for not blogging....

2010-07-19T22:09:00.001-06:00

My excuse for slacking off at blogging..... life is crazy with these two kiddos. Alex 3, Lily 11 weeks. I feel so blessed to be their Mom!

Picture Day

2010-05-17T16:34:00.002-06:00

My amazing, talented cousin Jes came to town from California to visit. She as sweet enough to come over to take some pictures of my little ones as well as my two great nieces. It was quite an eventful day. Hundreds of photos, blankets, sheets, poops and pees later we are left with priceless photos. For now here are a few pictures. I have tons more to share. Enjoy! Lily was just nine days old and Alex was a week shy of 3 years old.

Alex Roger

Lily Grace

Lily Grace OwYoung

2010-05-16T23:23:00.002-06:00

Our little Lily Grace finally made her arrival on April 27th, 2010 at 4:04 pm weighing 6 lb 10 oz and 20 inches long. I plan to share her birth story soon. For now our lives are busy with b-days, holidays, anniversaries not to mention the life of having two kids.

Baby Poll

2010-04-19T09:33:00.005-06:00

One week can make one weak! As of today I officially have one week left before my due date. This is according to my ultrasound. If you go off my calculations it' s a week and a day. Either way I guess it doesn't really matter since she will decide when to come in the long run. As of last Thursday I was still a zero in all areas. She is healthy and just enjoying her time inside of me I guess. Because I know you are going to ask NO he won't be inducing me at least not at this point. Unless you have some progression or there is a medical reason it's against the law to start you just because you are sick of being pregnant or in my case just want an April baby. I have another appointment on Wednesday so if something huge develops I am sure I will post about it.

I am becoming more miserable but hanging in there. I have such pressure that I never experianced with Alex. I know the life of two children will be an adjustment however so I'm trying to just enjoy the time I have. I am staying busy and trying to sleep whenever possible. Overall we are ready for her when she is ready to come. I have a few odds and ends we have put off that I am sure will either not get done or will be done frantically the last minute. So here is my poll....

When will our baby girl make her appearance?

A. Soon, before my due date

B. Right on time 26-27th of April

C. On my birthday the 28th only because I want that day to myself. Yes I'm selfish!!!

D. She will be overdue but will still make April on her own

E. It will take some coaxing to get her out and a May baby is what I should expect

In case you are wondering Alex was 5 days overdue and weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs 1 oz. I did go into labor on my own but things were steady not progressing so I was only admitted due to the fact that I was overdue and would eventually make my way back to the hospital. I had already been sent home once so I am guessing they knew I would come back.

Let me know what you think, it will help me pass the time. While I wait I will stay busy and try to be upbeat, I can't be pregnant forever right?

the 12 days of Christmas?

2010-04-14T11:32:00.007-06:00

OK so not Christmas but what about the 12 days of Baby waiting. As of today I have 12 days left until my due date. Overall I am feeling great just dealing with allot of pressure because she is so low. As of last Friday I was a whopping zero with no progress. I go back into the Dr tomorrow so I'm hoping for a bit of progression, but not expecting it. I am not in a rush to get her here as I know just how much work it will be to have two kids. The first 6 wks with Alex were very difficult trying to deal with hormones, pain and no sleep. I am however very anxious because I can't wait to see her sweet face and dress her in all of her adorable clothes. I would really like her to have an April birthday so if I had some assurance that it would happen I think I could relax and just enjoy the time I have left. Unfortunately if I am not making progress I can't be induced and will just have to ride it out. Trying to remain positive and just enjoy the time I have remaining. I know it will go by faster than I think.

I have loved being pregnant this time around especially. I will miss feeling her move inside of me. She is one crazy chick! Here for a few pictures from the other night. My hairstyling buddy Mindy offered to curl my hair showing me how with her straight iron. I still can't get it but perhaps in time. We were a bit hyper so forgive my silliness. I told her I was hoping to go into labor that night so I could have cute hair, yeah no luck. Oh well!

38 weeks along

Not sure why I didn't smile for this one. Nice LARGE side view

Me, Mindy and Nat pose for a pic

Being goofy, wow.. that sure is a big belly especially next to these two chicks.

Me and one of my BFs Nat being a bit sassy with our curls thanks to Mindy, wish we could have her do our hair everyday.

I am working my way from current to the past to scroll down for my posts. =)

Baby Showers

2010-04-13T08:05:00.000-06:00

I feel so lucky to be surrounded by amazing women as friends. Jason gives me grief all the time about how many people I know and how many friends I have. He once told me if he was on Facebook he wouldn't have more than a few friends because he doesn't know anyone. Whatever!! I am definitely a people person and cherish true friends. Luckily I have had many in my life and only a few that have done me wrong.

With the upcoming arrival of our daughter I had a couple friends ask to throw me a baby shower. I ended up having two. One was for former Stampin' UP! co-workers and some random friends and the other was for neighbors. Both were great and I was spoiled rotten. Here are a few pictures from each event. Thank you first off to Jenn, Beth and Nat for throwing my work shower and to Em and the neighbors who helped her throw my neighbor shower. I love you girls to pieces and appreciate so much all the hard work you put into the parties for me and my baby girl. Enjoy the pics!

Cute as a Button was the theme of my neighborhood shower that Emily threw me. Love the little details she put into it.

The mini delish cupcakes she made and decorated for the shower.

a close up of the buttons

The cute paper banner she made to decorate with

The food, thanks to my neighbors help the spread not only looked tasty but was super yummy as well.

a close up of the banners, don't you love them?

I recieved a ton of cute stuff from my neighborhood. This however was my favorite gift, so creative. Renee ( the 2nd from the right) and Brooke who wasn't able to attend that day put together a bunch of outfits, onesies and socks and strung them on this clothesline. I then took it out of the bag and passed it around to the group for everyone to see. I will be stealing this idea for sure.

A close up of the paper laterns she made that hung in the entry way. So girlish!

Here are the pictures from my first shower hosted by my friends/former co-workers

About 36 wks prego here
My loot, I got so many cute things

a close up of some of my adorable stuff

More cute clothes

And more.. look at that adorable dress in front made by my friend Libby and the cute dress to the left with the booties made by my friend Sami. Aren't they so cute? I have such talented friends!

The food, oh so delicious!

Laura (my BF since we were two) and me. Of course she looks cute and here I am going for more food lol. I was so happy that Laura made the trek down from Logan for me. It meant the world to me.

Laura's cute little Parker checking out the balloons while I chat with Sami. Check out that belly, WOW!

Libby, me, Beth, and Jenn we didn't get the camera out until everyone was gone.

A close up

My BF Laura and our little familes, so crazy and fun. Alex looks drunk for some reason and of course Parker isn't looking at the camera, KIDS!

Easter

2010-04-11T11:12:00.001-06:00

Easter was very laid back this year. Our neighborhood had a egg hunt on Friday and since Jason had the day off he was able to hide the eggs and help with the hunt. I thought it was perfect! I arrived two minutes before it started, Alex got a dozen or so eggs with good candy and we were done. I loved that I didn't have to show up hours early, stand in the heat or the cold and fight other children for five eggs filled with crap candy. Perhaps I am just getting old. I feel like at three, okay almost three years old with no siblings I can get away with not taking him to all the big hunts for now and that's just what we did. We enjoyed a quiet laid back weekend and spent Sunday with family for dinner. We gave Alex a new Elphafun game and some cars sunglasses. He was thrilled! It was nice to have things so simple because often I feel the holidays are overrated and we forget what the true meaning is behind it. I am sure next year he will understand more what he is missing out on but until then we will settle for simple.

Kingslee McKay

2010-04-10T09:15:00.003-06:00

Babies are such a great little piece of heaven. April 8th my great niece Kingslee McKay made her way into this world weighing 7 lb 5 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Her Mom, my niece Hilary had a difficult time getting her here. She was induced a day after her due date at 6 am. With each contraction Kingslee's heartbeat would drop. They almost had to deliver her via c section but then she came around. She is the sweetest little thing with long skinny feet and toes. She has the cutest little long hairs that stick up on her ears and a trace of hair in her bum crack, so stinkin cute. It was fun to cuddle her and think of where she came from. Raising our two adorable daughters together will be a ton of fun. I think there is going to be a great amount of spoiling going on.

I love when you get to see them for the first time

The proud Mom and Dad Hilary and James ( Bo Bo)

Healthy as can be

Such a sweetheart, check out those feet. I think she may have my sister's whopping 10 size feet when she grows up.

April Fools

2010-04-02T09:43:00.001-06:00

So I am not one who would usually plays April Fool's jokes however this year was a tad bit different. Back up a few days before when I informed my Mom of a friend's SIL who had delivered a healthily baby boy after expecting a girl. We talked about how horrible it would be to have everything prepared only to find out it was the opposite sex.

April Fool's Day comes and I have a Dr appt. My baby girl had been quite active lodging herself in my far left side against my back. It was very uncomfortable and not something I had ever experienced with Alex. I mentioned it to my Dr that thought it was a her foot. He doubled checked me to make sure that her positioning was till head down. Everything looked fine. It gave me an idea though and I ran it by him. He loved it and said to go for it.

After leaving the Dr I called my sister and asked her to join in my plan. She of course was all on board. She called my Mom right away and asked if she had spoken to me that day. She said yes that morning but not since then. Kim then preceded to tell her that she called me on my way out of my Dr appt and I was sobbing uncontrollably. She said because of our question about positioning the Dr had decided to do an ultrasound and low and beyond.....

My Mom's reaction... "You're shitting me" my sister said she had to put the phone on mute a few times in order to not blow her cover. My Mom of course freaked out, felt horrible for me and was racking her brain on what she needed to get made in order to help me to replenish my baby stash to suit a baby boy. My sister said that she tried to make me feel better that nothing was actually wrong with the baby but I was pretty upset. I told her no but it has an extra body part I wasn't wanting. She left my Mom hanging and told her I would likely call her to break the news once I got a bite to eat and calmed down a bit. I waited a few hours to call her back and in the meantime she told co-workers, family and friends. Of course it spread like wildfire to other family members with no one catching on that it was a joke. They all felt horrible for me.

I called her later that night and when she answered I loudly said "Happy April Fool's Day!" she said thanks and then let me know she had heard the news... she still hadn't caught on. Mom.... what she said, is it a joke. She was relieved to know that she wouldn't have to redo the baby stuff she had made me. I asked her if she was mad but she told me that she doesn't get mad she just gets even. My siblings told me not to worry and to be honest I'm not. =) If you love me though you will keep an eye out for me next April Fools because I'm sure my mom will be spending the next year thinking of how to get revenge. Now if we can just get a baby GIRL here then I will feel better... I don't want the last joke to be on me.

Happy April Fool's Day Mom! Sorry you had to be the blunt of my joke but you sure made this year allot of fun!

50 days to go... but who's counting?

2010-03-07T18:03:00.003-07:00

Is it just me or is everyone slacking off a bit when it comes to updating their blogs. I used to be so good taking pictures everyday and staying caught up. I swore to be better but I haven't. My camera sits with no new pictures and therefor I don't feel the need to update my blog. Jason likes to look at it every now and then at work and commented that it's been forever. He thinks Facebook has taken it's place. I have to admit I am a bit obsessed with Facebook. It's fast, and I love how I can stay connected to people all over. I talk to my neighbors, friends, family, old classmates, old co-workers etc. It's such a simple and fast way to stay connected. Another reason I don't feel the need to update my blog is that I found most blogs I read are rarely updated as well. Perhaps Facebook really has become the new Blog or at least mine.

I did decided today that I would take a few minutes to do a quick update. It's been a busy winter settling into our new home and getting ready for our baby girl to make her appearance. I have 50 days to go or so my tracker tells me. I know however that it means nothing. Alex arrived a week late and was still stubborn when he did finally get pushed into coming. This pregnancy however has been different in every way, shape and form. I've had very different pregnancy symptoms. I've even had some pregnancy perks including better eyesight. I sleep better, feel better and overall am really enjoying being pregnant. I've kept a reasonable weight gain which I chalk up to the fact that one I am chasing after a toddler all day and two I am addicted to citrus and veggies. My biggest love is celery ( which I have always found useless and tasteless) and clementines. Don't get me wrong I still eat sweets, my talented baker neighbors will testify to that. I however usually opt for some veggies, citrus or protein over something sweet. Friday night we were at IKEA when I choose a celery packet and carrots with ranch while Jason went for the slice of cake. Sadly I am sure this will all change once she arrives. My love of the good stuff can't stay around forever right?

Alex was quite active but nothing like this little chicka. She is a mover and is resting so low I'm beginning to get a tad bit uncomfortable. I constantly feel her in my hips bones along with other unmentionable places. Last Wednesday I had the worst case of back labor and was beginning to get a tad bit worried. I even made Jas come home. It happened again last night. Although I don't want her to be a week late I also don't want her to make an appearance too early. I see my Dr on Tuesday so hopefully I'll be told it's all normal. I know contractions at this point are common however I had nothing like this with Alex. Again just hoping it's a sign that I will make better progress with her and she can arrive a bit early like say a week.

Just waiting on some pictures we are having framed and Alex's bed to arrive this week then we will get the nursery set up and I can share some pictures of her room. I feel so unprepared at this point but I know we are getting there slowly but surely. Signing off for now... prego, happy, grateful, in love and a tad bit crazy in Utah Shar p.s. Hope all is well with you. =)

Women to Women Encouragement

2010-01-11T17:28:00.004-07:00

Someone will always be prettier.
They will always be smarter,
Their house will be bigger.
They will drive a better car.
Their children will do better in school.
And their husband will fix more things around the house.
So let it go, and love you and your circumstances.

Think about it...
the prettiest women in the world can have hell in her heart.
And the most highly favored women on your job may be unable to have children.
And the richest woman you know, she's got the car, the house, the clothes....might be lonely.
And the word says if i have not love, I am nothing.
So, again, love you.
Love who you are.
Look in the mirror in the morning and smile and say " I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!"

"Winners make things happen. Losers let things happen."

It's a New Year and with a New Year usually comes resolutions and disappointment for me. Depression sets in that the holidays are over and it feels as though there is not much to look forward to. I have to report however that this year has been different. Not saying I don't have things I want to improve on or change but resolutions with high hopes and not allot of progression aren't in the works this year.

Overall I am super happy! 25 weeks pregnant today I am feeling good and blessed to have one sweet healthy son and another healthy baby girl on the way. Can't be on a strict diet or exercise plan but try to get in my water, light workouts and eating overall pretty good. Clementines are my addictions as we speak. I am happy with my marriage, love where we live and the changes I have made in my life since moving here. I am deeply in love with my husband and have really tried to let him know just how much I love and appreciate him. I usually am down on my looks however being pregnant you must take what you have and make the most of it. I have spent the weekend and today organizing and it feels good. I am surrounded by the most amazing women who have taught me some great lessons and I feel so lucky to call them friends. Overall I am counting my blessings and looking forward to a wonderful year. I hope life is bringing you the happiness you deserve.

Need to get back to the blogging, one resolution that does need to be made. At least this is a start, a poem I have wanted to share with everyone for sometime now. I hope you enjoy! Happy New Year!

Holiday Rewind

2010-01-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

So you can tell that blogging hasn't been on the top of my list of priorities lately. I didn't think anyone really cared but myself however I was wrong. Jason and I were talking one day about someone's blog when he said, " Yeah, you need to get busy. You haven't updated our blog forever." I had to laugh. I guess he often checks our blog from work when he is missing Alex or his sweet wife I assume. ;)

Trying to get back in the saddle one blog post at a time. December was a busy month like it is for everyone. I was hoping to fill my blog post with tons of photos however we were so busy we barely pulled out our camera. I know I need to be better however I notice sometimes that when I am so busy trying to capture the moment I forget to to enjoy it. So a few pictures taken on Christmas will have to do.

In December just a few activities we did were... family/friend Christmas parties, dinner with friends in town, visiting Santa's reindeer, sledding, hayride to see the lights at thanksgiving point, lots of shopping, baking, wrapping and eating. Although our month was full I tried to cut back in the have to do this, have to do that mood. No family Christmas cards were sent out which took off some of my stress. I do however plan to send out an announcement once our princess arrives. Christmas was wonderful as always! Jason's parents and sister joined us Christmas Eve for crab, homemade cheese biscuits, green bean casserole, fingerling potatoes, and cheesecake for dessert. We exchanged gifts and enjoyed watching Alex play with his new toys from Grandma and Grandpa. We were spoiled as usual before Christmas day even arrived.

Christmas day started quite early at our house. Between our daughter who has a 3 am wake up and our son who declared at 5 he was awake and wanted to see cousin Shae we didn't get much rest. We decided at 5:30 to get ready and head up to my sisters. After showering, playing with Santa toys and loading the car we arrived at my sister's around 8 for a delicious breakfast. French toast with homemade syrup always hits the spot. We enjoyed the day with family opening gifts, grazing on food, chatting, playing board games and napping. Jason wasn't feeling well so he did spend a few hours just sleeping. We arrived him around 10:00 pm and just got the car unloaded before crashing for the night.

Jason and I received lots of kitchen goodies from a new food processor to many serving dishes and bake ware. We also got lots of gift cards, clothes etc. Alex received loads and loads of cars, trucks, trains, books, puzzles, movies, and clothes. He has cars with tracks, one that has a remote control and lots of little cars. He also got a new sled and snow gear. He loves to play outside in the snow.

"What Dad?"

I love his cheesy grin. Check out his big brother jammies that Santa brought him. Oops, probably should have cut out my polka dot foot in the photo, oh well.

I love this video, it is a good example of how crazy it was at my sister's and how much fun Alex had with his gifts. The only problem was that he got so much he wanted to play with each one and often could care less about opening the next gift.

New Year's we spent at the church with a few neighbors and then retired home early to call it a night. Sadly I rang in the New Year only because I awoke to the sounds of fireworks, rolled over and went back to sleep. Maybe next year will be more exciting. New Year's day we laid low around the house, took Alex sledding and then rented movies and ordered pizza. The holidays were great and I always hate to see them go but next year will be even better I suppose. Alex will really get into the gifts, we will have an adorable niece and daughter to add to the craziness of Christmas. I hope your holidays were filled with joy, family and the true meaning of Christmas!

Need an excuse to smile?

2009-12-10T11:53:00.003-07:00

This always helps me. Working on the laundry when Alex came asking for a picture. If he isn't being naughty he is making me smile with kisses, hugs and moments like these. Love ya my little man!!

It's a......

2009-11-30T16:56:00.002-07:00

To finish out our Thanksgiving holiday we went to our Dr today for our monthly check up and ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby. First off I will be 19 week tomorrow and everything is right on schedule. The ultrasound is a day off my original due date so either way it looks like I will be getting a baby for my 30th birthday. The baby looks healthy and of course that is what we were most concerned about. I am guessing you want to know what we are having right? Well it's a .........
...
...
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
GIRL!!

We are thrilled! I can't wait to go shopping for all the girly things. Already she has received three newborn outfits from Grandma my favorite being a little lime green sweeter. Also my sweet neighbor Emily brought over a homemade bib, and two hair bows, so cute. This little lady is going to be very spoiled!

Ultrasound pictures to insert here shortly, once I figure out how to use our new scanner.

Happy Turkey Day!

2009-11-28T11:46:00.006-07:00

A week before the big day we begin practicing with Alex. He could hardly wait for his cousin Shae to arrive so he could practice what he had learned. " Happy Turkey Day Shae!" he did not care about the oh 18 other people that had arrived at our house to spend Thanksgiving. All his concerns were focused around playing with Shae. So to each of you I hope you had a very Happy Turkey Day!

My preparation for the big day started early with a mass cleaning of my house. I made sure everything was clean early in the week and did my food shopping the week before to avoid the crowds. Nothing is worse then shopping the day before Thanksgiving with a huge grocery list.

Tuesday night I headed off to my neighbor's house for girls night out. It was so nice to enjoy a few minutes away with good friends, food and a chick flick. While I was gone Jason got started on making 15 lb of mashed taters, candied yams and scalloped taters. He said he wanted to go all out or nothing. Let's just say I went to bed after midnight and he stayed up until 4 working his magic. It's so nice to be married to a man that not only likes to cook but is fabulous at it.

Wednesday Jason took the day off to help me prep. He finished up a few dishes that morning and helped me with odds and ends around the house. My Mom arrived in the afternoon to help me cook. We made stuffing, green bean casserole and 5 pies. Alex had come down with a cold so Jason was nice enough to stay home with him while my Mom and I went out for a bite to eat. It's not often anymore that Mom and I get to go out by ourselves without time restraints. I loved it!

Thursday morning came too quickly for me. Alex was nice enough to go downstairs and wake my Mom. We had some breakfast and then got busy setting the tables, cooking the ham, turkey, gravy and warming up all of our sides. My sweet neighbor Brooke was nice enough to allow us to use her oven since she was out of town for the holidays. Jason went to work cooking some food here while Mom and I watched the food here. Jason decided this year to take a stab at briening our turkey. After it sat overnight it suggested we cook it for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. My oven did not like that..... major smoke which set our alarm off for the next 30 minutes. Luckily it was worth it.

Our family arrived around noon to enjoy appetizers. This year we had my Mom, Step-Dad, Aunt & Uncle Mott, my in-laws and my sisters family. There were 19 of us all together. Although we had a large group our new house is great for entertaining so I never felt crowded, in fact I just kept expecting more people to show up. It was nice to have everyone together. We feasted on appetizers and when I say feasted I am not joking. I asked my nieces to bring a few appetizers and my MIL a veggie plate. We ended up with that along with a few more things my MIL whipped up. All of it was tasty but I was careful to not fill up too quickly. While we snacked my family helped me with our activity for the day. Usually we stand and each tell what we are thankful for. Although this has been nice in the past it usually ends up being a fast and testimony meeting rather long and with me bawling at the end. I wanted a change. I asked my talented niece Areiann to draw a turkey and each of my family members to trace their hand and list 5 things they were extra thankful for this year. Mine came to be easy.. all things very strong in my mind this year due to my experiences or those around me. I listed 1-my beautiful new home 2-a strong marriage 3- amazing neighbors 4-my ability to have children 5- a stable job.

After a fabulous feast of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, rolls, yams, mashed taters and gravy, scalloped taters, cranberry sauce, and stuffing I was rather full. All the food was super tasty but everyone seemed to comment on the turkey. Everyone was in agreement that it was the moistest tastiest turkey they had ever had. The only compliant was that there wasn't more. My Mom had a smaller bird and since we had the ham we weren't too worried. We will no better next time.

We spent the afternoon chatting, sleeping, playing games, watching UP, searching the Black Friday ads and for some of us being sick. We made more trips to the medicine cabinets in one afternoon they I knew was possible. A few family members tested out all of our showers, Ryklyn being the most famous for that. Late afternoon we enjoyed the fabulous pies, so tasty. Around 9 we wrapped things up and sent our family on their way. I tried to settle down and get a few hours sleep before my alarm went off.

2 am comes rather quick especially when you are tired, pregnant and have come down with a cold. I wasn't about to let that stop my first Black Friday shopping experience. My friend Natalie, her Sister and Mom and were nice enough to let me tag along for their annual shopping event. It was rather eye opening but fun. We waited in the cold for over an hour to get into Kohls. I got some great deals but since family reads this I will have to save my big deal for another post. We made our way from Kohls to Target, Old Navy, and Home Depot. We then had a yummy breakfast at Einsteins and finished our day shopping at the mall. It was way fun! Thanks again girls for letting me take along. All in all it was a fabulous Thanksgiving. Here are just a few pictures from that day. I realized I never did get around to taking a picture of everyone. I was too busy eating I guess.

My two favorite boys

My BIL Mike and cute niece Hilary

Our turkey, if you notice this one happens to have utters. My silly Aunt Pat put her hand there. My sister pointed it out so before the blessing on our food I had her give Aunt Pat a hard time. She told everyone that she learned something new today, Turkeys have utters, thanks Aunt Pappy. I told her she is in charge of bringing turkey milk next year.

Appetizers

My Mom and Sisters working on dishes

My BIL Mike, niece Hilary and Nephew in law Clay just laying low

My SIL Alanna, Shae, and Alex coloring their turkey pages and making their thankful feathers.

Our turkey day spread

My MIL Judy carving the turkey

The cutest boy in the world

Trying to get a picture of cousin Shae and Alex. He didn't want to cooperate. This one was the best out of 6. Of course it's the one where he is looking at another camera. Little Turkey!

More of our tasty spread

My niece Jillian and her daughter Ryklyn, yes I'm a Great Aunt. She is usually a very happy baby but she wasn't feeling good that day.

Oh yeah.. PIE!

Why is everyone taking pictures of me eating pie?

An array of pies, razzleberry, pecan, chocolate pecan, chocolate cream, banana cream, coconut cream. All so tasty!

Silly Alex

2009-11-08T21:00:00.004-07:00

It seems like everyday this week Alex has done something to make me smile. Thought I would share just a few pictures of my silly boy. Alex is a big helper and loves to put away groceries. Jason and I took our Costco run and were busy putting away our goods. We tried to keep Alex busy by giving him items to put on the stairs that needed to be taken up. I gave him the shampoo bottle. To be honest I looked at it and thought the pump is closed no worries. Forgot I have a very smart kid who knows how to unscrew the lid. He came back so proud of his hair job, needless to say it was a bath time we didn't originally plan.

See Mom, all by myself

A close up

Alex loves to grab the camera and comes to me saying " Picture Please!" The picture above and below are two times this week when he asked me. Silly boy!

A few weeks ago we took Alex to the circus. Grandpa spoiled him with cotton candy, $10.00 cotton candy I might add but we try to justify the price with the fact that it came with this .50 felt hat that Alex loves to play with.

Another time this week Alex was being silly and asked to have his picture taken. This was directly after being super naughty.

He sure does know how to make me smile. Love ya Alex!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T09:56:00.005-07:00

Happy Halloween! I hope you had a spooktacular day. We had a wonderful time Trick or Treating with Alex or as he would say " Twick or Tweet." He loved going around with the neighborhood kids knocking on doors and getting candy. He sure did look cute in his monkey costume. I know he was a monkey his first Halloween too but I couldn't pass up this costume it was too darn cute. Here are a few pictures, hope you enjoy. P.S. Can I say my neighborhood hands out some awesome goodies, yes I stole a piece or two.

Taking a quick stop to pose for a picture.

On his way to his first house

Look at that junk in his trunk, can't say that very often with this skinny kid

At the first house to get candy and pick up his friends Avail and Grade to go out Trick or Treating

Too warm and off the hoodie goes

Let it Snow!

2009-10-28T11:33:00.000-06:00

Hello Winter.. so we have received our first taste of winter in our new home. Yesterday the weatherman predicted snow and boy was he right. Jason had the day off for appointments so it was nice. We woke up to wind, and a mix of snow and rain. I got up and put some cinnamon rolls in the oven right away. We picked up the house while a contractor came to fix some repairs. Then we headed out to do errands. It was snowing pretty hard but not sticking to the roads yet. After we did errands we decided to stop for lunch. We went to a fun restaurant we had only been to once before with friends. They serve delicious sushi and tepanyaki without the higher prices. Lunch was delicious!

Then we headed home to play in the snow, by we I mean Jason and Alex. I observed from inside but was able to snap a few pictures. Alex was loving it! He would have stayed outside in the cold all day if we had let him. It was fun to see our neighborhood all white with snow. I have dreamt of this day for months ever since I knew we would be moving in time for winter. After playing in the snow Alex got a bath and went down for a nap. By the time he got up Jason and I were on our way to the Dr. for our 14 week appointment. Grandpa offered to stay with Alex since no children under 14 are allowed at the hospital right now due to the swine flu. The Dr went well, I have lost weight ( that put a smile on my face) I'm sure it wasn't much though. All my tests look good and our baby's heartbeat is fast, according to our Dr it's looking like Pink may be making it's way to our house shortly. We scheduled our next appointment along with our ultrasound for November 30. I am anxious for next month to flew by so I can find out what we are having. I will be thrilled for Alex to have a little brother but of course a little girl to dress up would be fun as well. Jason and I stopped on our way home to do a little early Christmas shopping. We got a few fun gifts to put aside for Alex.

Later that night I went to my friend Brooke's house to learn about Grocery Smarts. It was awesome!! I am totally on board and will be getting my newspapers in a few short weeks. My mind raced all night thinking about the great deals I will get. So there you go a small look into a typical day at the OwYoung home when Daddy has the day off and we are blessed with a blanket of snow.

Picture Please!

2009-10-26T14:46:00.004-06:00

Alex is such a little ham lately. He loves to create, build, stack, line and organize. It's a bit frightening at times. Choo Choos are a big thing for him lately so on this particular day I was surfing the web while he was creating a Choo Choo train. Picture Please he asked. He was so pleased with his creation of a Choo Choo train he wanted me to document it I guess. His truck, crane and lawn mower completed the Choo Choo and boy was he proud. Although he wanted me to take a picture of his train he wasn't sure he wanted to be in it.. hence why he kept hiding behind the wall. What a silly kid!

Once day I swear he will be the death of me and the next he has me grinning from ear to ear. Today he has been a good eater and even went poop in the potty. So what if it was the size of a chocolate chip. A poop is a poop right? Way to go Alex!

Look at what I made

Hold on.. it's not perfectly straight Mom!

Look at that train

So proud!

Apple?

2009-10-20T11:26:00.007-06:00

Life has been hectic so sadly my blog has been put on the back burner... the way far back burner. I hope to start posting again more regularly but I am so far behind. I decided it is best to start current and slowly work my way back. We are LOVING our new house and especially our new neighborhood. There are lots of wonderful families here and we feel so blessed to have made so many new friends so soon. Much of our time is spent outside enjoying the last bit of warm weather. We go on many walks, play at the playground and hang out with our neighbors. Alex is loving being outside more. If we aren't playing we are usually napping.. yes I said we. I can't seem to get enough rest. Overall this pregnancy has been very smooth but I am looking forward to getting some of my energy back. Nap time is precious and bedtime can't seem to come quick enough for me. Pretty sad I know!

A week ago we decided to go out as a family and visit he local pumpkin patch. Alex was in 7th heaven. He loved all of the "APPLES". It was very difficult to get him to understand that they were pumpkins and not apples. He loved carrying them and putting them in our wheelbarrow. By the end of our stay we had to weed out a good 20 pumpkins from our cart before checking out. We finished the night off at Iceberg for dinner. I look forward to this new family tradition each year. It's crazy to think that our little family of 3 will become 4 by the time we go again next year.

Hope all is well with you and your families. Although I have been horrible at updating our blog I am still checking friends' blogs and love hearing about your lives. Hope to write more soon. For now.. Ta ta!!

Our house has grown by two feet.....

2009-09-09T11:27:00.007-06:00

and in April our home will also be growing by two little feet. Yup that's right We have finally moved in to our new home and our expecting our second child. Lucky for us our timing of three years between our children will be just about right. It will be a great 30th birthday present for me to welcome another baby into our home. I suspected I was pregnant our final week of packing and finally took a test. I wasn't too shocked when pregnant appeared within seconds but I think Jason was a bit thrown off. So far this pregnancy has been very different than my first. I have only thrown up once but am usually nauseous a good 20 hours of each day. SO FUN!!

We were able to share the great news with our family on moving day. I made signs to hang on each room of our new home to direct people as to where to put boxes. We gave a tour of our house before we started unloading and once we made it to the baby's room the sign read " Baby's Nursery coming soon April 2010". Everyone was thrilled! My nephew was so excited he had to make some calls to his sisters back home to share the news of his new cousin.

Our move went pretty smoothly thanks to the help of many family, friends and new neighbors. We were able to get moved and attend my cousin Christian's wedding all in the same day. It was a beautiful wedding and we are so lucky to have his new wife Jessi join our crazy family.

Life has been busy the past week settling in. We have been unpacking, waiting for service people and deliveries. We have hung out with our new neighbors, went to our pool and took many nightly walks around our neighborhood. Of course I have also been napping every chance I have but who's counting right?

It's been a crazy month full of drama but things seem to be slowing down a bit. I have had many requests to update my blog with pictures of our new home. Unfortunately my cable cord isn't hooked up and I haven't taken updated pictures of our house due to a sea of boxes, constant nauseous and being tired. I will however give you a sneak peak with a few pictures I already have downloaded from before we moved in. I thought they were of right before we moved in but unfortunately I see those pictures are still on my camera. If you are anxious to see more than it's the perfect excuse to come visit us. We are loving our new home but especially our new neighborhood. We were welcomed with open arms from many fabulous neighbors. In the past few days I have received homemade goodies including bread, cookies and some cookie bars. Might I add my neighbors are very good bakers. I hope to get back on the blog wagon. Sorry for the delay, hope life is treating everyone well. Come visit!

Front view ( before the yard was put in)

Back view ( before our fence was put in)

View from my master bedroom into our bonus room while I plan to put our new baby in for the first few months.

Dining room right off my Kitchen

View upstairs of our playroom loft. It's all open with no hallways we it's great to be able to keep track of Alex. All put one of our bedrooms are upstairs.

View of the Kitchen looking into our pantry. Some of my Kitchen is cut out of the picture but I promise to add more pictures once my cable is installed.

It's amazing how much difference a week can make

2009-08-07T10:35:00.002-06:00

It's incredible how much one week can change everything. Last week I was so discouraged, our house had been on the market for a month with only one showing. This week our second showing has resulted in two houses under contract. If all goes smoothly we will be moving into this beauty by the beginning of September. I am so excited!!

Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly please. This buying and saleing process isn't so fun. It will be a busy month with packing, cleaning, moving and my cousin's wedding. As stressful as it may be I am excited for this new beginning for our little family. Want to come over? We plan to have lots of parties, the first being an Stampin' UP! card class, let me know if you are interested in coming.

While we were finalizing paperwork our realtor's son Bailey was nice enough to babysit Alex. It ended up being a long day with no nap. Here are the results, a first for Alex. A big thank you to all my friends/family who have been there for me this past month letting me vent and reassuring me that everything would work out. Love ya!

Still Kicking

2009-07-27T16:54:00.002-06:00

Summer has flown by so fast and I have so much to catch up on blogging that I am overwhelmed. Birthdays, vacations, Alex's milestones (big bed) etc that I don't even know where to begin. Slowly but surely I will get there but for now just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and kicking. House is still on the market... any takers? Hope life is treating you well. Here is a video Jas took on his phone while we were out to dinner last week as a little family. Enjoy!

Big Change

2009-06-29T17:10:00.004-06:00

So here is the big change taking up all of my time and energy. We are moving!! Our growing family needs a bigger place so we put our house on the market last week and have been busy looking for something new. If you have any buyers please send them our way. If you have any houses you think we would love please let me know. We plan to stay in this general area if not SLC/ So Davis valley so we won't be going to far. Now that my deep cleaning, DIing and staging is done I hope to get back to blogging more often. Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend, I know we will. ;)

Our House link on URE

MIA

2009-06-16T12:23:00.003-06:00

Yes... We are missing in action. If you are like me I hate when someone doesn't update their blog for a long time. I usually think the worse of what must be going on in their lives. So in case you are like me no worries, we are just crazy busy preparing for an exciting upcoming change in our life. More to come later....

Alex is 25 months old as of yesterday ( where has time gone? ) and finally sleeping once again. Thank you to many of you who listened to be vent, cry and offered some advice. I do not know what I would do without my amazing husband, wonderful family and terrific friends. I truly feel blessed, Thank You!

For now as much as I need to catch up on my blog posts it just isn't my top priority. More to come on our big change coming soon. Take Care!

Busy as a Bee

2009-05-22T09:07:00.004-06:00

So much to catch up on. My Birthday, Anniversary, Mother's day, the zoo, Alex's birthday party, his birthday and his first official sick visit to the DR. With memorial day this weekend I usually do a post on that as well. As you can tell our family has been super busy lately. I wanted to get the ball rolling by posting a quick memorial day thought.

This time of year is always difficult with my father's death day only a week before my birthday and then of course memorial day around the corner. Now that Alex is here I miss Dad even more. I thought allot about him while we were prepping for Alex's birthday party. We had a big birthday party at the park with family. I was over alone with Alex on the playground before the party began. I looked up to see a single dragonfly flying past me and over to Alex. "Hi Dad, glad you could make it" I said out loud.

What a great party! Hope to catch up soon. For now I need to finishing prepping for my class tomorrow. Have a terrific holiday weekend and remember to so something fun in memory of your loved ones who have passed on. Enjoy a few more pictures of my 2 year old at his recent photo shoot.

I awoke to this...

2009-05-06T11:00:00.000-06:00

You know it's a bad morning when you still have a migraine after dealing with one all night. You go to get your son and find this....

I spared you the worst part of it. Not only was he standing naked in his crib but he was trying to get away from a pile of crap and a little trail to a pee puddle. Of course we had just changed his sheets and had no clean ones to put on his bed. Welcome to motherhood!

p.s. Did I mention the day before I left him unsupervised for literally a minute and came back to find a crayon mural on my wall. Welcome to the terrible twos!

Do they come any cuter?

2009-05-03T22:01:00.003-06:00

Just a few fun pictures to share from a recent photo shoot. Gotta love my baby!

Want to see more.. just let me know. =)

The Cat came back... or wait was it the bird?

2009-04-28T07:53:00.006-06:00

Yup you heard me right. The Cat ( bird) came back the very next day, we thought he was a goner but the cat ( bird) came back.....

Looks like Jason will have to block the holes until this Utah weather officially decides it's spring and gets too hot for our BBQ to be a birdhouse. p.s. It sucks to be old, more details to come!

BBQ anyone?

2009-04-20T08:41:00.003-06:00

Anyone in the mood for BBQ....

bird perhaps?

Yup that's right... a bird nest in our BBQ. Jason cleaned out a small one a few weeks ago and thought nothing of it until last night. He said as he went outside to put dinner on the BBQ he could see that the birds were back. Man was he right. Check out this thing. He did some clean up but we decided to bag BBQing last night.

Note to Birds- Please find a new home, the weather is getting warm and we would like to BBQ... pork, beef or chicken but no birds please.

23 months old

2009-04-16T12:14:00.002-06:00

It's crazy to think that my little boy is almost two. He is changing so much lately that it's hard to keep track of what's new and what's old. He is talking up a storm. Here are some recent pictures I love. I had to include the pictures of him wrapped in his ducky towel. His new thing after taking a bath is to say baby. This is his way of asking to be wrapped up and cuddled like a baby. It's a fun minute to reflect on big he is getting and how much I miss him being a baby.

Alex loves books whether we are reading to him or he is reading to Ryker his bear.

Wait, did I hear a car?

Showing me how he can close his eyes

Our baby Alex

I am posting this a bit late as it's been a crazy month. Nice to have a back post date button =) Only a few weeks before the big day. I am trying to figure out birthday party ideas. Just waiting for some pictures to come back before I make the invites. Anyone have grand ideas for a family two year old party?

Easter

2009-04-13T12:26:00.005-06:00

Finally caught up on my blog posting ( see my multiple posts below). Jason had an extra long weekend off we we stayed busy going bowling, shopping, spending time with family/friends and laying low at home.

We had a nice Easter mostly spent just hanging at home as a family. We got Alex a few things for Easter but decided at this age we could really just go low key. Later that day we went to Easter Dinner at my Aunt Sheila's house and celebrated my cousin's little boy Asher's fourth birthday. What a beautiful day if only this week's weather looked as nice. Hope you had a Happy Easter!

Baby Animal Days

2009-04-13T11:54:00.006-06:00

Friday we were able to go up Wellsville to the Baby Animal Days. It was a nice day weather wise and fun to spend time with my family. Alex was a little hesitant with the animals when they got too close but otherwise he seems to like it.

Alex with the Easter Bunny. This was after Daddy came to the rescue.

He did not like the big pink bunny.

Shae helped Alex with the Candy Canon

Tasting his earnings

Alex with the Baby Animals

The view from our hay ride. AMAZING!!

Living for Eden

2009-04-07T11:23:00.001-06:00

It's not often that I get a couple hours to just sit and reflect on my life. Last minute Natalie and I were able to go to the Living for Eden concert. It was emotionally draining yet uplifting at the same time. The music was incredible!!! I just enjoyed the music while thinking about life in general. Sadly sometimes it takes events like these for me to really be grateful for what I have. If you have a minute check out my Living for Eden link to see more about Paul Cardall and photographs from the concert. Thanks Nat for standing in line for hours on end for tickets.... I owe you big time.

Ryklyn

2009-04-02T09:10:00.000-06:00

My niece Jillian, great niece Ryklyn and her BF Andrea came down yesterday to work on Andrea's baby shower invites. While they were here we decided we would also make some flowers for headbands for Andrea's new little girl. As great as it was to see the girls I have to say Ryklyn stole the show. Poor little girl didn't want to nap in Alex' s crib so here is what happened.

Isn't she just precious?

Alex loved showing off for his cousin Ryklyn and playing with Mom's hat.

He wouldn't hold still so I could take a picture of him.

P.S. thanks for all the sweet comments about my hair. I am loving it short.

9 inches later...

2009-03-31T08:17:00.006-06:00

So I needed a change badly and finally decided what I wanted. Last night my good friend Allison chopped off nine inches of my hair into a choppy A line bob. I also decided to go back to a blondie with strawberry highlights. I hate having pictures taken of myself so ignore my sad face, I truly am thrilled. I still think it's much cuter in person. Do you like?

8 Years Ago

2009-03-23T08:57:00.006-06:00

It's been eight years ago today that I made a decision that would change my entire world. At my high of 260 lbs life in my world was far from glamorous. I felt the only good thing I had going for me was my boyfriend Jason who saw beyond the fat and accepted me. I missed out on so much due to my weight.

Eight years ago today I under gastric bypass and transformed into who I am today. Last night I as I sat watching Ruby on the style network I reflected back on the old me. I could relate so much to Ruby and her weight battle. Although I have come so far there are days I feel like the old me. Extra skin will always remain with me which makes clothes shopping very difficult especially during the summer. My body image will likely always haunt me yet when I see how far I have come I can't help but smile. I am so glad I made that decision eight years ago. Although very difficult it has definitely been worth it.

Before pictures

After

This is my Chinese wedding dress. I never imagined wearing something like this just a few years after my surgery. I felt so beautiful!

First Kiss

2009-03-19T11:27:00.003-06:00

Her name was Hayden... strikingly cute with blond curls. She wore a dress and leggings. She was a stranger in a pizza parlor until their high chairs met and the rest was history.

Tuesday night we were out having pizza when we were seated next to a family with a little girl Alex's age. We chatted a back and forth as the kids played. Hayden and Alex loved sharing crayons. I turned my back to Alex for a minute and when I turned back there it was.. Alex's first kiss.

Lip to lip Alex and Hayden were kissing. Ahhh a camera I called to Hayden's mom, this is my son's first kiss I told her. We sat there laughing as Hayden's Daddy informed Alex he had his eyes on him. Alex reached out and puckered up for another kiss before I informed him that the only girl he should be kissing for now is me.

So I didn't get a picture and didn't even get their information for another kiss another day. I will however remember Alex's first kiss and will one day tell him how he was smitten by a curly blond haired babe in a pizza parlor.

He's a ladies man and he isn't even two yet. I'm in trouble!

9 Years Ago...

2009-03-17T11:41:00.003-06:00

9 years ago today at 3 am I stood in the rain on my Mother's front porch in the rain watching a handsome man walking my way. Little did I know that my life would never be the same again. Yup it's been 9 years today since Jason and I first laid eyes on each other. I feel incredibly lucky.

Happy Anniversary Jas, I love ya!

Lucky me!

Jason and I a few years ago on a getaway, hopefully we will be able

to do this again very soon.

22 months

2009-03-15T22:13:00.007-06:00

Alex is 22 months old today. Only 2 months to go and I will be a Mom to a 2 year old, CRAZY!! We had a pretty good weekend overall.

Friday I helped my friend Natalie with some wedding shower invites and our boys played. That night Jas, Alex and I had a family night at the new NYPD pizza place near our house. It was definitely new and having some growing pains but the staff was nice, the food good and we left with a free pizza and dessert so we will go back for sure, just going to give them a few weeks to get stuff in order.

Saturday Alex woke up acting a bit strange. Usually he is very chipper in the morning but he just seemed there. I was on the phone and next thing I heard Jason needed me NOW. Alex has thrown up in his hands. After lots of cuddling and refusing all food including his favorites we gave him some meds and a nap and he seemed to feel a little better. While he napped I did a little shopping, cleaning and went to lunch. Later that night we headed down to Highland to attend a friend's wedding. Emily looked absolutely stunning in her wedding gown. I couldn't be happier for her. You know how some people just deserve the best, she is one of them. I am so glad she has found love again.

Today has been such a beautiful spring day. Jason and I couldn't resist the weather so we packed up a picnic and headed to the park. Alex loved the swings, slide, doggies, running and chasing after the ball. Once we got home I decided to record him having a PB sandwich since he 22 months old today. Alex is still long and lean but is getting taller and outgrowing his 18 month clothes. He is constantly learning new things and loves to repeat new words daily. He knows so many now I have lost count.

Here are a few pictures and videos to enjoy. Hope you had a great weekend too.

"Cheese" this is the first time he has said cheese when I asked him to smile.

Gotta love the eyes

I loved this cheese pose. Of course by this time he wanted to see each

picture after I took it.

Silly boy!

Jason got an order on Friday while the Snells were at our house. I had to grab the camera to capture our little band.

PB sandwich and strawberries, yummy!

Family Night

2009-03-11T12:23:00.003-06:00

Feeling a little icky today, I think I have another sinus infection. It's definitely a PJ day for sure. Alex is napping so I decided to go through some pictures I recently downloaded but haven't got around to blogging about.

Here are a few from 1/19/09 ya I know I'm behind. That night we decided to have a family night down at the farms at Thanksgiving Point. It was colder than we expected but Alex actually kept his mittens and hat on so we were happy. Alex enjoyed the animals but wasn't so sure about the pony ride this time around. Enjoy!

I love the behind shots of my boys. Something about Alex walking with his Daddy that always makes me happy.

Checking out the animals with Daddy.

Looking a tad bit cold but was interested in the cow.

Or not!!

Another pony ride, we seem to enjoy these more than Alex does.

Oh what a beautiful morning...

2009-03-07T08:19:00.004-07:00

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beauitful day. Oh what a beautiful morning everything's going my way... OR NOT!

So it's 7:30 on Saturday and I'm awake to the sweet sounds of Alex playing in his crib. It's early for a Saturday especially after staying up late for my cupcake class. I don't mind though since my baby did sleep all night. I get out of bed and make my way down to check a few e-mails before getting Alex out of bed. I let Jason sleep in like I do almost every weekend.

I approach Alex's door with a hello, good morning bug. He is happy and playful. I notice his sheets are a little wet. I can't tell if it's droll or pee. No biggie he needs his sheets changed today anyway. I grab him from his crib and sweep him directly to the changing table to get him dressed for the day. As I unzip him jammies I see in horror at the same time I smell in horror a very full diaper laying in the pant leg of his jammies. Yup I said it wasn't on it was off and floating in his pant leg. I begin to freak out and call for Jason who is still asleep and obviously in a deep slumber because I yell forever before he replies. I guess Alex thought he was in trouble because he begin to sob. Finally Jason joins me in the nursery half asleep and unaware of what is about to hit him. We gathered the floating remains, diaper and such in hopes we won't be experiencing this again.

As I sit typing this Daddy and Alex are showering. What a morning! Note to Jason: if you are struggling with a diaper next time, give me a call. Don't just think ahh this will do, it might not. =)
Sorry no pictures of the even, as much as I would like to remember this memory I don't care to remember it that well nor do I think you do either.

Instead here are a few pictures of Alex I haven't shared. His new thing is balancing everything. Whether it's him balencing or his toys. He loves to build towers with his blocks and then balance his cars on them. What a boy!

Hope you have a great weekend! Jason and I are sneaking away for a few hours today while Alex hangs out with his Grandpa. Tomorrow is my 2nd cousin Oaklie's 1st birthday party. Should be a good weekend. Enjoy the pictures!

Bug Off

2009-03-04T11:21:00.006-07:00

So I'm chatting on the phone today with my friend Jenn when Alex comes into the kitchen to hand me something. His latest thing is finding stuff to throw away. It's usually a piece of food, stamping supplies, lint whatever he seems to find it and either throws it away himself or gives it to me to throw away. Today was no different as I reached my hand out to retrieve what I assumed would be a paper scrap however I was wrong.

Alex handed me a LARGE 1-2 inch bug that I assume was a beetle still alive and kicking. Needless to say I freaked out dropping the bug to the ground and then I hurried and killed it. I can still hear the crunching sound now and the smell ahhh it was awful. Alex stood there with the strangest look on his face. He didn't get what the big deal was. Of course when I told Jason about it he wanted to know if I kept it. Ya right!! I can feel it crawling on me. I guess it's a sign that spring is on it's way.

This bug reminds me of although it's not exactly like it. I'm no bug expert. It's body was a more flat and square shaped.

Pictures that make me smile!

2009-03-02T08:36:00.006-07:00

It's Monday.... it's been a rough week with some family drama. I am sad but am trying to see the silver lining in things. I have a class this week and of course as usual I am far from ready. I decided I need some Alex therapy this morning. Seeing pictures of my little boy always seem to put a smile on my face. These are a collection of pictures taken off of Jason's cell phone. Enjoy and Happy Monday! p.s. It's the Bachelor finale tonight so I have something to look forward to right?

Checking out the jeep while out Christmas shopping. Of course his Daddy had to take a picture.

Nap time with cousin Areiann. She has the magic touch of putting his to sleep, hence why you see more pictures of her asleep than awake.

Love his smile!

Basket goes on my head right? A hat perhaps?

Enjoying some whipped cream beaters, so much like his mother.

It was tempting to pick this up while out on our Costco run.

Alex looked so grown up sitting there all by himself.

Now that's a whisk if I have ever seen one. Jason and I are determined to get Alex to love cooking as much as we do. Perhaps this will help.

How did he know that the magnets would stick to my CrockPot? He did this all by himself and was super proud. Of course Jason called me to find out if I had taught him that. Nope he found his stool, took the magnets off the fridge and climbed up to stick the on my CrockPot. What a kid!

Playing on his landing under the table.

This looks like a good place to have a seat while I watch my movie. His buddy Nate's nap seems to be a favorite spot to hang out.

Draper Temple

2009-02-25T11:51:00.004-07:00

As many of your know the view from our house is pretty incredible. Over the past month or so it's become breath taking. This is because we can see the new Draper Temple from our house. I thought it would be a great opportunity as a family to go to the open house before the dedication of the temple next month. I started making calls and before long we had a group of 15 of my family members excited to go.

Yesterday we met at my house and carpooled up to the temple. We parked right out front so that we could get my Aunt Pat a wheelchair. As a family we were able to walk around and view the inside of the temple. It was incredible!! After the tour we went to Rock Creek Pizza for dinner. It was a such a nice day to spend with my family in such a beautiful place. I feel so blessed! If you live nearby I would highly recommend getting tickets before it's too late. Here are some pictures of my rooms. I searched online for all of these pictures since cameras aren't allowed inside the temple. Enjoy!

The largest of the sealing rooms were marriages take place. Looking into the mirrors for eternity is my favorite part.

Don't you love the detail on these windows?

Draper Temple during the day

Draper Temple at night

The ceiling inside of the celestial room, stunning!

The celestial room, the chandler alone had me giddy, it was gorgeous!

Alex

2009-02-19T11:31:00.004-07:00

Alex has 3 months to go before he turns two... EEK!! My baby is growing up so fast. Today I thought I would share a few fun videos taken off of Daddy's phone. Could he get any cuter honestly?

Corndog... taken a few months ago

He decided Grandma's corndog didn't look too shabby and helped himself to the whole thing.

So much for a snack while shopping, sorry Grandma

We went out for family night with some friends to Leatherby's.

This was supposed to be Daddy's shake.

Shake... a few weeks ago

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T07:52:00.005-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I just wanted to take a minute to tell my Best Friend and Sweetheart Jason just how much I love him.

Although today is a great day I can't say it's much different than any other day. Luckily I don't have to wait until Valentine's each year to know just how much I am loved. Jason is wonderful at showing and telling me each and every day. Here are just a few things I love about him.

He is an amazing provider so that I am able to stay home to raise our son.

He is truly my Best Friend and is there for me whenever I need him.

He believes in me when I do not believe in myself. Sadly this can sometimes be a full time job!

He helps with the housework. We decided early on in our marriage it wasn't going to be his chore or her chore. It's our house and we work together to get things done. No hubby to do lists here, he just seems it needs to be done and does it.

He supports me in whatever I want to do. He puts up with my crazy stamping habit and helps me out so I can teach classes in my home. Whether is watching Alex, setting up tables, cleaning or making the goodies I can always rely on him.

I love that we share our days with each other. There is something so wonderful about knowing you have someone to share your highs and your lows with.

I love how goofy he can be. I have many blackmail pictures of him being a dork. I love it! He always know how to make me laugh.

I love that he can cook and makes a mean meal.

I love how handsome he is and how I still get butterflies when I see him across the room.

He is an incredible father!! Hands down I could not ask for a better Daddy for my son.

I could go on and on about how great he is but I hope he already knows it.

I love you Jason... SYFAE Happy Valentine's Day!

Always a Ham

2009-02-12T13:54:00.005-07:00

It's snowing, I'm sick and am trying to get prepped for my upcoming Stampin' UP! classes. It's not been the greatest day until Irecieved a few e-mails from my Aunt Sheila. It's crazy how a few old pictures can bring a smile to your face and make you giggle until your sides hurt. Those who know me best have heard I was quite the ham as a child and loved to be photographed or video taped. Here for a few fun pictures of me as a little girl. Thanks Aunt Sheila!

Me with my cousin Jesica goofing off, we had many fun times together.

Easter morning with my cousins Jesica and Spencer,

what is up with that pose and those shoes?

Just me... don't you love those eyes?

25 random things about me

2009-02-09T12:40:00.005-07:00

Not much to blog about lately just busy spring cleaning, getting ready to eventually move as well as prepping for my upcoming Stampin' UP! classes. I did however decide while I was posting my random list on Facebook I might as well add it here. If you decide to do the same please let me know I would love to read your list.

Here are my 25 random or not so random things about me.

1-When I was little my dream was to be a teacher or ice cream LADY when I grew up.

2-I refuse to see a movie without popcorn regardless of how full I am off of dinner. Usually the choice of a theatre will be decided by how good their popcorn is.

3-I lost both my father and brother before my tenth birthday.

4-I HATE DOGS!!! I have been terrified of them since I was a baby.

5-I love bread, good chocolate and Diet Coke and could live off those alone I would however be happy to live without candy with no hesitation.

6-I read the obituaries daily… I am kind of obsessed with death I suppose probably due to number 3.

7-I love public speaking and had a full ride scholarship in college for it.

8-I am shy and hate stamping in front of others especially demoing products, I know it does not seem to mix well with number 7.

9- I love my unique name but hate when it’s misspelled or mispronounced. There is an E on the end people its Shar…. E. Aggg some other people’s children. =)

10- I have a difficult time filling out a form in order. For example paying bills this morning I would write February, then my name, then back to the 9, then down to the total, then up to the person it goes to. How annoying I know but I can’t stop.

11-I play the piano and the violin and can’t wait to own a piano of my own one day.

12- I love dates and remember many of them whether it’s a birthday of an old friend or the day I got engaged, had my first kiss with Jason etc… I love dates.

13-I like writing out To Do lists and crossing things off. If I do something that wasn’t on my list, then I add it and cross it off. My friend Natalie always knows that Mondays are my large to do list days so don’t ask me to play.

14-As my friend Haylee put it so well… I am also addicted to the Internet (blogging, email, facebook). I can't go more than a few hours without feeling this overwhelming need to check all three "just in case" I have a message or a new post to read. I also check it in the same order each time....slightly OCD. I was scolded by my old boss and co-workers for checking my work e-mail account from home. I just had to though.

15-I miss clogging from my youth and would love to get back into a clogging group.

16-I love impromptu speaking and often have dreams of being called up on stage out of the audience by Shelly Gardner to speak at convention. WOW wouldn’t that be a dream come true. I also love speaking in church. It’s better if I have little time to prepare.

17- I love to cook and bake. Really I love anything to do with food but creating something in the kitchen really makes me happy.

18-If I could add two talents to my list it would be Gymnastics and Cake decorating. I guess I’ll keep dreaming.

19-I met my hubby online and couldn’t be happier. Probably doesn’t shock you after reading number 14.

20-I am closer to my niece in age then I am to my sister. Call me Great Aunt Sharie… crazy huh? Yup my niece has a daughter.

21- I have never been to Hawaii or on a cruise but dream of going one day.

22-I have to have all of my empty hangers at the end of the closet and go crazy if they aren’t. Lucky my husband has finally figured this one out.

23- I have never smoked or drank unless you call the sip of alcohol I was accidentally served at a restaurant once. I guess having a history in my family of health problems due the two have leered me away from ever adding them to my list of addictions (DT and Chocolate).

24- I am a hopeless romantic in all aspects.

25- I cherish my friendships and love to do little things to make my friends smile whether it’s making them a gift or offering a sincere compliment. I have amazing beautiful friends, I feel so blessed!!

Kids say the darnest things or wait is that me?

2009-02-04T08:35:00.004-07:00

It's the little things in life I love to remember. So I was talking to Jason a few days ago about some of the strange things I say. Not wanting to forgot them I thought I record a few.

While dating Jason we were watching a movie one night. It was a getting a bit late and I was tired when I muttered...

" When you say goodbye to me with q-tips it makes me sad."

Just as soon as I finished my sentence I asked him if I had said what I thought I had said. His response was Yes, I think it's time for me to go.

"I'm making pice and rasta tonight for dinner." This is what I told Natalie S. at work one day when explaining the type of Rice a Roni I was going to make. I was pregnant and a bit crazy so I often mixed my letters up. She still teases me for it.

A few weeks ago I was getting ready for bed and grabbed the chapstick off my nightstand. As I put it on my lips I knew something was a tad bit different.

" This chapstick is the same only different" I told Jason. Wow was his response ya that makes a lot of sense.

So it was strawberry instead of cherry... you totally understand what I was saying, right? We all know that kids say the darnest things but what about you? Am I the only one who's lights are are but no one's home?

On a side note Alex's two teeth are making their way in and life is looking a bit brighter around here.

Friends

2009-01-29T09:11:00.003-07:00

Friendship is a rare and precious commodity. If you have a friend, who truly understands you and accepts you despite your shortcomings, then you are the luckiest person in the world.

I just wanted to say thank you to my friends. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Whether you left me advice, took me out for a girls night, brought me cookies or let me vent to you on the phone I really appreciate it. Over the past few days I have been surrounded by friends who seem to understand and accept me for who I am. Women who have gone out of their way to let me know they care and that I am normal and will survive this journey called Motherhood. Thank You, Thank You, these two little words do not do justice for my gratitude I feel towards you. I also want to say Thank You to my BF Jas who is always and will always be there for me. Thanks for me letting me have a night away yesterday, I really appreciate it.

On a happier note... Alex is sleeping better, throwing less tantrums and eating his food. Hallelujah!!

Pinocchio

2009-01-26T08:29:00.005-07:00

" And when he was naughty he grew ears and a tail."

Don't bother calling him Alex anymore it's now Pinocchio. The famous words above from one of Alex's favorite books has rang through my ears more than once in the past few days or even weeks. He has sprouted ears and a big bushy tail.

My sweet boy has officially hit the terrible twos. He is NAUGHTY!! He fights me with ever diaper change. He is all boy throwing things, hitting people and having tantrums. He refuses to eat anything and everything I give him. One day he will eat say roast and the next day he gags on it. Even his old stand by food he is refusing to eat and throwing it on the floor. Every meal has become a guessing game as to what or if he will eat. At dinner time he usually has a meal and full sippy cup of warm milk. Since he has cut back on eating dinner guess who is no longer sleeping through the night because he wakes up hungry. I refuse to feed him in the middle of the night of a daily basis because he thinks he needs it. As strict as I am or as mean as I am I guess I should say Jason is a push over. Alex has his Daddy wrapped around his pinkie finger. Jas loves cuddling with Alex drinking his milk and watching TV in the middle of the night while I sleep. One or twice while Alex is teething is fine but nightly doesn't fly with me. Last night I told Jason enough was enough and he was not allowed to go in to Alex's room. I was up from midnight to four because I refused to give in but then I finally caved. I was tired and sick of fighting him. At 4 am I sat rocking my baby watching the guys shovel the snow off my sidewalk and the plow in front of my house. I tried for a moment to just cherish Alex being little and healthy rather then being upset at myself or him.

Tonight we will try again to just let him cry it out. I know he is a not starved and it's only become a convenient habit. It's so hard however when you know a quick fix.

He is very smart and knows exactly what he is doing. The other day I was cooking dinner and told him to leave this tray alone. He would pull it out a little but as soon as I looked at him he would push it back, and grin at me while laying on his tummy kicking his feet. He did this a few times before I pulled him away from the situation and put him in our version of time out.

It's almost like he is so smart that he is thinking up his next naughty move all the time. Now don't get me wrong he has his good moments too.

So why has all of this changed, who knows. I believe he has been teething on and off but I can't say that's the excuse for everything. It's amazing how one minute I am so overwhelmed with frustration and the next he is bringing me such joy. Being a Mom is such a roller coaster ride.

I have not gone completely insane yet but only due to my amazing husband. Whether it's calming me down, taking over before I loose it, letting me sleep, cooking dinner or babysitting kids so I can have a impromptu girls night out he is incredible. I am very lucky to have him as my BF and hubby and Alex is even more lucky to have him as a Dad. I really don't know what I would do without him.

I asked Jason yesterday if it would be okay if we cut out bed time, feeding and changing Alex's diaper from our schedule. I am thinking that would make my life a day bit easier. He didn't think that would work too well.

I really don't mean to complain I know I have it good. My baby although naughty is healthy and adorable. I have a roof over my head, am able to stay home and have an awesome husband. I just struggle with how I can't handle one when other friends are balancing multiple kids or adding them to their family so close together. For now one is plenty for me!

Besides venting I am writing this for advice from the many incredible Moms out there who are reading this. Please tell me I am normal for feeling like I am at my wits end. Please tell me I am not alone that this is normal and this too shall pass. For now I am will get through day to day with my Dt. Coke and perhaps a little chocolate. It's a snowy day and besides napping and my mile long to do list I think I may stamp or bake in my jammies. =)

Well thanks for letting me vent if you have read all the way to the end of this post. I hope something changes soon before we have to change his name to Pinocchio OwYoung, doesn't really sound good.

2009 Resolutions

2009-01-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a marathon post.. you have been warned. I've got to catch up even if it kills me. First off I have to share the exciting news of the day. My BFF (since the age of 2) Laura had a precious baby boy today. No name yet but he is stinkin' adorable!! He was born at 4:48 this morning and weighed in at 8 lb 12 oz and 21 inches long. He is a big baby with full head of red hair. I can't wait to hold him. When I get more than a mobile picture I will be sure to post one so everyone can see how cute he is. Congrats Laura & Chad and to Eve the new Grandma =0)

January is coming to an end and I haven't posted about my 2009 resolutions. As the year came to a close I looked over my list of New Year's resolutions for 2008. It remembered me of where I was at when I wrote those. Baby blues had gotten the best of me and although I had the whole world at my fingertips I felt very alone. Sadly this is very common but still not a ton of fun.

This year things are looking up. Alex sleeps through the night or at least most of the time. Sharie with sleep is much different than a Sharie with no sleep. I haven't really made any drastic resolutions for this year. Of course I vow to be a better wife, mother, friend, daughter sister etc. but I don't have a bunch of things I want to be different. My main goal is to take some time for me and to not be so hard on myself. I am by far my own worst enemy. Who needs enemies when you have yourself to fight with.

I will continue on with a majority of my 2008 resolutions. Here is a review of them, what I have done this past year and what I will continue to do throughout 2009.

-Read to Alex daily

This one started as a chore because Alex had no desire for me to read to him. In the past few months we have spent hundreds of hours reading. He has really grown to love books. His cousin Shae grew tired of a book and since I told her how much I loved it she decided to pass it on to Alex. It's one of our very favorites. We read it daily if not a couple times a day. It's an adorable book for many reasons. A classic tale with a twist, the use of numbers, the pictures, the way the Wolf hides in each page and the way she has included numbers to search for throughout the book. I love asking Alex to find things like a piggy who wears glasses like Mommy or a hat or necklace. If you don't have this book in your collection I would recommend picking it up. I think I will order a few more of her books, they are fun and educational.

-Read two books a month if not more.

Well I failed at this one. It lasted a few months but then I put reading a book on the back burner. I would like to try and ready more but setting a limit of books a month is more pressure then fun for me.

-Stay updated on my blog.

A work in progress!! Did you notice I changed out my background, that's an improvement right? I try to do my best to keep it updated and overall I think I do okay. It started as a journal of sorts and unlike any other journal it's still going so that's a good sign right? I need to stay on top of it so that I have more posts, shorter and can eliminate the words Catching up when referring to my blog.

-Have a date night in or out once a week with Jason. Just spend more quality time together.

I think I have a pretty good marriage and an amazing husband. Anyone who knows me knows I adore spending time with Jas and overall I think we do pretty good. I guess what I would like to change is putting our marriage as more of a priority. I want more PLANNED nights without Alex whether that's getting a sitter or staying in and putting Alex down to bed early. We are currently planning a night away in the next few months so we are working on it.

-Take at least two baths a week again this is to keep my reading going and my me time in check. My showers are usual quick often while Alex is napping, screaming on the floor or after Jason gets home. It's not often that they are relaxing so bath time is a must.

I don't take near enough baths however I don't feel like my showers are so rushed now. Alex has grown up a ton in the past year and is able to shower with me. If I need a break I will often shower while he is napping which also works. I usually end up showering with Alex though. For some reason Alex makes showering more of a play date than a chore.

-Stamp once a week at least, I need to get back in the habit of taking time to stamp. I love it but it's hard when you have a little one. I need to get going on my classes which will help get me stamping.

Well... I definitely stamp more but perhaps not once a week for myself. I am offering classes more often and have a few in the works as we speak. I also just finished up a class last week and made a few homemade gifts this year. Valentine cards are on my list next so I'm working on it. I really need to reorganize my office before I play.

-Mail Random cards out to friends/family once a month. This is a way to put my cards to use. I love to randomly send a pick me up, thank you or thinking of you card. It makes me happy!

Not doing this as much as I would like but I've done it. I sent cards to some family/friends who had some rough times this year. I also have been better lately with thank you cards and hope to continue on that this year. If you need a card, holler.

-Last but not least is to work on my self esteem, try not to be so hard on myself. Have you watched the new show on lifetime called how to look good naked? If not I would highly recommend it. Strange show, wonderful concept. It has really changed my opinion of myself.

This will always and forever be on my to do list. I have my days but doesn't everyone?

Goals to add to this year's list:

Exercise 5 times a week- I have been pretty faithful with this one. I love having workouts on demand and have told myself even 20 minutes a day is better than nothing at all. It has definitely helped with my self esteem which rolls over to other areas of my life.

Cook new things- I have also been pretty good lately with cooking at least 5 days of the week and thanks to two new cookbooks I have been trying some fun new recipes. Need any?

Speak my mind now- Sounds strange but I have tried more lately to say what I am thinking. If I like some one's shirt.. I tell them. If think someone looks great.. I tell them. I have even gone out of my way to write people sometimes total strangers to tell them thank you. If someone has touched my life in some way I let them know. I guess I just realize how short life really is and why hide my gratitude or compliments inside so with that said...

If you are reading this odds are you have impacted my life for the better. In some way I am a better person because of you, so thanks.

Happy New Year!

20 months old going on 2

2009-01-15T11:12:00.001-07:00

Alex is 20 months old, just shy of turning 2 and he knows it. Although he has been a fabulous sleeper lately he has been a pill during the day. Laura wanted to see his short "older" do. Here are some recent pictures I took of him after his latest haircut at cookie cutters which he royally hated. He is getting bigger and smarter everyday. I am amazed at what he understands and replies to. He is such a stinker one minute and bringing joy to me the next. I have also included a video of him getting a kick out of his Ducky. He has recently figured out how to pull the string himself and let me tell you it's pretty exciting. Have a great weekend, I will be back again soon with more posts to come. Will I ever catch up?

Lots of memories, lots of pictures, little time

2009-01-05T16:44:00.002-07:00

Yup playing catch up slowly with many posts, see below as I slowly play catch up of our Holidays fun

Toys, toys, toys!

2008-12-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of videos I took over the holidays of Alex playing with his new toys ( a few of them). I still have a ton of pictures/posts to catch up on but I've been busy with Stampin'. My goal is a post a day until I am caught up, think I can do it?

Alex playing in his new tent with his blocks and Daddy. His name is priceless!

Sorry I can't get this video to flip upright but it's still very cute

Alex loves knocking over Dad's creations with his new blocks

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T11:30:00.004-07:00

Christmas Eve has been spent at our house the past few years with Jason's family. This year we were able to get a good deal on crab and decided to have it for dinner. Jason's parents and little sister arrived around 4:00 pm for an early dinner. We had a cheese ball and crackers to start then we were on to our steamed crab ( yummy) I also made Red Lobster biscuits & green bean casserole. My MIL brought baked potatoes and coconut cream pie for dessert. Dinner was fabulous!!

After dinner we hung out for a bit while Alex showed Grandpa his favorite movie The Grinch. I love these two pictures of him watching his movie with his famous balloon. He decided this ginormous can of olives made the perfect seat. I had wrapped them up for my nieces who adore olives even though I can't stand them. Alex left the cute paper alone but the bows on top were smashed flat before they made it to Christmas. Can you tell he has on his new jeans that are a tad bit too big for him.

Gotta love the bum

"What Mom?"

I had decided to wait to put out gifts until just a few days before Christmas so that Alex wouldn't be tempted to get into them. On Christmas Eve before our family arrived I had so much to finish up. It didn't help that Alex was into every present. If it was tissue paper in a bag he got into it. He even ripped a bit of wrapping paper before I got it out of his hands. However once it was officially time to unwrap gifts Alex wasn't sure what to think of all of it. His Grandparents spoiled us rotten again this year. Although he loved his new toys he didn't have much interest in unwrapping them.

Grandpa in the background enjoying Alex's reaction

to the tornado of gifts that hit our house.

Alex loving his new Alphabet game. Anything that lights up and plays music is a winner in his book.

We finished taking pictures once Alex's desire to unwrap gifts died. Jas and I however were spoiled with new clothes, tools, food, a printer/scanner/copier, purse, lotions, movies, etc. Alex got a tent, rocking horse, blocks, piggie bank, alphabet game, remote car and a ton of clothes.We were so spoiled by my in-laws that I couldn't believe Christmas was still to come.

Our nice but few gifts we gave them didn't seem to do justice to what they gave us. We got them a new camera ( it's about time they went digital), a camera case and a big basket of food goodies from World Market.

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve. After our family left we got Alex to bed before Santa arrived and then went to work getting our car packed for Christmas and everything ready. After going to bed at 1ish I was up at 4 so I got ready and we left the house at 7:15am to head up to my sister's house for Christmas.

Another post to follow with all of Alex's new toys in action.

Christmas Cards

2008-12-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

If you got a Christmas card from us this year consider yourself lucky. It seemed like Christmas came very quickly this year or was it just me. I had great intentions of getting some professional photos of Alex done but it just didn't happen. I finally decided I should try to take a few snapshots myself and at least get some form of photo card to go along with my handmade cards I had already made. Jason tried to be patient with me while I freaked out that Alex wouldn't cooperate in any form. Last year we had our winning shot within a few pictures but that wasn't the case this year. I really wanted a picture in his new outfit I love but I ended up pairing an older photo with the current one and called it good. Next year will be better right?

The best of the worst

I love his grin in this photo

I wanted him to pose with his new teddy bear but this

is as close as he would get to it.

Wanted to show off his cute hair, personality and that toothy grin.

Outtakes

He insisted on carrying his balloon ( okay it was Jason's birthday balloon at one time) everywhere. Let me tell you it's some of the best money I have ever spent. Who woulda thunk it that a balloon would entertain a child so much, not me!

Better not Pout

2008-12-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

The last few years we have made it a tradition to go visit the lights at Thanksgiving Point. Again this year we decided to go and after many attempts we finally made it there. Our plan was to visit Santa, see the reindeer and then take a hay ride to go see the lights. We had invited our friends the Whites to come with us again this year. They had decided to join us last minute so we got there awhile before them.

It was the Monday before Christmas so we were a bit concerned about the lines however since it had snowed all day it was slower than usual at Thanksgiving point. First we headed up get in line to see Santa. There wasn't much of a wait and we were done within ten minutes. They printed us a free photo while we were there and even offered to e-mail us a copy, nice huh?! Too bad Alex didn't seem as thrilled as we hoped.

Alex was freaking out!! I guess he doesn't know the old say about not pouting. Check out Santa's shoes, I guess you can't complain about

a free Santa picture right?

As we waited for our friends to come we made our way outside to see Santa's reindeer and stand by the warm fire.

Alex with Daddy meeting Donner for the first time

"Dancer"

"Dasher"

Trying to get Alex to pose for me

Goofy Daddy!

Last try, Alex wasn't up for picture taking I guess.

Enjoying the warm fire with Mom

Yup, the phone seemed to always be connected to my ear.

After the Whites came we went back through the line to see Santa and then decided to have dinner at the Harvest Cafe. We enjoyed our dinner while catching up. It seems like months go by before we get to do dinner again. We always enjoying hanging out with Josh, Natalie and their adorable girls. Natalie is my friend and former boss. I used to see her daily and now I'm lucky if it's once a month.

By the time we finished chatting it was late and Alex was tired so we skipped the lights this year and headed home. I didn't seem to mind. I was still able to enjoy a night out with my family/friends and was able to get a Santa picture we will always remember. Thanks for a great night!

Happy Birthday Jas!

2008-12-17T08:05:00.003-07:00

Well today my hubby turns... old! HA HA! jk babe you aren't old, you are still married to a 20 something year old at least for a few more years. Happy Birthday Jason! I can't imagine my life without him, he truly is my very best friend! He works hard so that I can stay home with Alex. He is my biggest cheerleader and believes in me when I don't believe in myself. He makes me laugh, occasionally frustrates me but always stands by my side no matter what.

If Alex could type he would inform you that he has the best Daddy in the whole world and I would have to agree!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! We love you! XOXOXOXOXO

Jason's usual photo smile or lack thereof

An engagement photo

My favorite thing to do.. kiss those sweet cheeks

Alex with his buddy camping this summer

Jason joins in on the fun.. his favorite thing

19 months old

2008-12-15T20:11:00.005-07:00

Alex is growing up! I have now said it out loud. My baby is not much of a baby anymore. Today he turned 19 months old, he is officially over the 1 1/2 mark. Can you tell I am having a tiny bit of a problem allowing him to grow up. It's funny how I love each stage he has gone through and look forward to the next thing he will do however I want him to always stay little. It really seems like it was only yesterday that I was ready for him to make his way into the world and now I am running after him everywhere.

Today was the first time I had to fish something out of the toilet. I am usually very careful about keeping the doors shut. I was busy getting ready and didn't realize my bathroom door was open. It wasn't but two second that I turned around to find him throwing my neosporan in the toilet, YUCK!!

Everyday it's something new. He is pure entertainment!! Tonight he found out that he could flip over my stool, pack it with his treasures and then procede to ride in it like a car. He was done before I got my camera out so hopefully I can catch it next time. He has been sleeping great * knock on wood* but being a very picky eater. One day he will plow through say oh mashed potatoes so the next day I think okay I will make him more potatoes and he spits them out. I really hope it's a phase. He also loves rolling around on the floor while I tickle him. It's so cute to hear him giggle.

His latest obsession is books. As my Mom would say.. wonder where he gets that from. Although I am not a huge reader now I used to be. I still love books I just know my obsession and if I am reading that is all that matters. When I was little I would read constantly. My Mom said she would think I was cleaning my room only to find me hiding in the closet reading books. I even convinced my Grandma Stewart that I could read because I had memorized my favorite book and could "read" it to her. Looks like I have passed that love of books onto Alex. He carries around his books, asked you to read them all day long and of course the same few favorites, over and over again. Tonight's bedtime story was my favorite, the one I could read at a young age to my Grandma ....

I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of Alex tonight with his Bear and his book, ya my idea not his as you will see.

" Alex leave the bear alone so I can take a picture please."

"Come on it's only a stuffed animal, smile please."

Fine, a picture with your blanket/bink ( another obsessions)

and your book will do.

Done already, that was a quick photo shoot with very little luck. There's always tomorrow, right?

The Grinch

2008-12-12T10:32:00.004-07:00

Don't judge me.. I know of at least a few of you that will cringe in your seat when you read this, please don't be too quick to judge me.

I've found the greatest babysitter... THE GRINCH!!

With Jason working long hours and me trying to finish up homemade Christmas gifts Alex has spent more time than usual playing alone, reading books or watching TV. Although he LOVES Blues Clues, the dog has been replaced with someone new.. THE GRINCH.

Alex will sit contently watching the Grinch until a commercial comes on. This is when he pipes up "Mommy, Mom, Sharie" and takes me by the hand to go fast forward through the commercials . He loves the dog, the music, the who's and even The Grinch. He will grab his bink, blankie and lay down on one of my lounge pillows and watch his movie. It's be nice to have some time to work on projects and bake/cook like crazy without Alex being at my feet. Speaking of cooking/baking besides making homemade sugar cookies I have also been on a cooking spree. Last week I bought the The Food Nanny cookbook ( be sure to check out the link) as an early Christmas present to myself. I have since made two batches of homemade bread sticks, creamy tomato basil soup, red & white pasta with homemade marinara and Alfredo sauce, and chicken burritos with santa fe lime rice and salsa verde. For the most part all have been quite tasty. My first batch of bread sticks tasted flat so I doubled the salt on last night's batch and they turned out pretty tasty. No worries my kid won't always be a couch potato but for the holidays I may be using The Grinch a bit more so I can do a little more cooking, baking and stamping. With snow in the forecast Saturday-Thursday of next week I think I will have plenty of time to create while Alex reads or watches The Grinch. Happy Holidays!

It's Here!

2008-12-05T07:35:00.001-07:00

What are you doing this weekend? I plan to meet up with my family for a girls days out of lunch and shopping. We will first stop in at Oh Sweet Sadie.. not sure what that is? Check out the link to see their website. I have to say I am hooked!! They have such cute things and I have even won a few prizes from their drawings.. talk about sweet! After shopping at Oh Sweet Sadie we will make our way over to the Festival of Trees. For me this is one of the highlights of the Christmas season. I have had the opportunity to participate as a tree decorator twice and many years as a spectator. I look forward to it every year. If you don't have plans this weekend I would highly recommend going to both of these SWEET events.

Speaking of Christmas... its officially on it's way. Yesterday morning it was snowing, too warm to stick to the ground but snowing enough to enjoy it from the warmth of my kitchen while listening to Christmas music, putting dinner in the crock pot and frosting sugar cookies. My favorite time of the year is finally here.

I decided to put on the Grinch while working on Christmas projects. Alex sat down and didn't move for a good half of the movie. I guess he loves Christmas as much as I do. Now I just need to convince him that THE CHRISTMAS STORY is the best Christmas movie ever.. I guess that can wait awhile.

This year I decided instead of getting out my breakable ornaments and decorations that I would only put a few things and make my decorations for the tree. I dried fruit, made applesauce cinnamon ornaments and added ribbon and a few new find from the store. It was quite the project but I am very satisfied with the simple end results. Here are a few pictures of our tree and some of my other favorite Christmas things around our house.

My tree!

My precious moments dolls under the tree, Alex likes to play with them much to his Dad's dismay.

a dried orange, I also did lemons

My new star atop the tree

Jason asked me Believe in what.. my reply.. in Christmas silly!

The real reason for Christmas!

my sweet treat

The cookie jar my mom gave me

Our stockings ( left Santa is Alex's, the Tiger I bought Jas when we first started dating and the full length Santa I have had since I was little. My Grandma Glenn made it for me and of course I love that it has my unusual name on it)

My homemade cinnamon ornaments shaped in stars, trees, gingerbread man and candy canes.

My snowman salt and pepper shakers my Mom gave me a few years back, if you can't tell Snowman are usually my overall theme.

As a horrible blogger I wasn't very good at picture taking on Thanksgiving so my journaling of the day may seem pretty boring although we had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We spent the day with some of my family at my Aunt Sheila's house in Sandy. First off it was so nice to be close to home and not have to travel far. As usual the food, entertainment (thanks to the Wei) and company were great. My Mom's homemade pies finished the night off perfectly.

Alex checking out the appetizers

Helping himself to a cracker.. not too shabby

Alex was a little scared of my cousin's dog and ran to Daddy for comfort, humm I wonder where he gets that from. I have to add though that Aspen is one of a very select few I can handle being around. She is very well behaved.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I don't think I can find the words for my level of gratitude for the men and women who have made my freedom possible. After Christmas of '95 in Honduras I have realized just how lucky I am to live in America and have the freedoms I enjoy everyday.

I am also thankful to be married to my best friend. I know I don't thank him enough for being my everything. He is an amazing Husband and a terrific Dad. Whether it's picking up dinner when I've had a rough day, getting up with Alex in the middle of the night or having a Daddy night so I can go play with the girls, he is awesome!

I am very grateful for the ability I have to be a Mother. I know that this does not come as easy to many women. Although it's the hardest job I have ever had it is also the most rewarding. Alex fills me full of so much joy. I am so lucky to be his Mommy.

I could go on and on about all I am thankful for but we don't have all day. Here are just a few more things I am grateful for this year. My home, my family, my friends, my SU! hobby, my new car, my hubby's job that allows me to stay home, being able to read books to Alex, my health that allows me to run and play with Alex which wouldn't have been possible just years ago, my knowledge of life after death, my neighborhood, my family's health, my many relationships, my camera and computer to record memories each day, and my ability to cook.

Life is good! Have a great weekend!

New phrase needed for playing catch up, help!

2008-11-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Busy again, ahh I hate when I put off blogging so that it then becomes a chore. Life has just been so busy. Since the arrival of my great niece we have had allot going on. A few days after Ryklyn was born I went up to Brigham City to help Jillian out for the day. There is nothing like a the smell and touch of new baby. She was an angel the whole time. I am trying to figure out what Jillian did it her former life to receive such a sweet spirit.

This is what I found when I got there, a princes dressed in pink, sound asleep. You want to kiss those cheeks don't you?

She is so tiny, I swear I can't remember my baby boy being so little.

The weekend after Ryklyn was born we went up to my sister's house to celebrate. We had a feast of crab, shrimp, and other treats. It was super yummy, we decided that we will celebrate each birth with a seafood feast, looks like we will have to wait a while on that meal. It was the first time that Jason and Alex met the baby. As usual she was an angel however.. I was able to get one photo that night of her short 2 second cry so here it is as prove she can cry.

As soon as I was done snapping the picture she returned to her sweet self.

Alex loved the new baby and enjoyed the new kittens at my sisters house as well. Shae took him on like a little mother pushing him in the swing, stroller and helping him pet the kittens. He loved being outside. He also received another haircut.. does that make 10 or 11, I would have to go back and look. Now if only he could sacrifice a little of that hair for his dad.

Alex playing the piano, he is a natural, hopefully one day I can put him in lessons so we can play together.

Alex turned 18 months old on the 15th. I honestly am blow away that my baby is becoming more of a little boy than my sweet little baby. Where does time go? He has been so cuddly lately, I love it. He has been doing so many cute things lately.

Here are just a few..One day he was helping me put away the groceries when he disappeared in to the front room. It was super quiet so I went to check on him. I found him standing at my ottoman, two yogurt piles, a yogurt covered lid off of the container and him playing with a spoon in the yogurt. Did I grab the camera, nope didn't even think of it until it was all cleaned up.

Another time I had finished eating so I cleaned him up and turned around to grab something before unbuckling him to get down. He kicked his legs scooting himself over to my counter and helped himself to the muddy buddy mix. His mouth was packed with them before I noticed. What a character!!

We have also learned that he can give a mean back rub. He is also signing more and talking more. His two newest words are Doggy and Cookie. He adores Blue's Clues and I have become a huge fan myself. So much I can do in 24 minutes =) He has become very orderly wanting to stack things and put items from one place to another. He is also understanding commands very well. It's incredible how fast they learn things as this age.

The last few weeks have been a real struggle because Alex's molars are coming in and he has officially become sick for the first time. Today is day 8 of getting over his cold but hey who's counting. Sleep is my favorite thing and I haven't had much of it lately due to all that is going on with Alex. To make matters worse I am worried that I am now getting it. Alex did sleep much better last night so I hope that things are looking up.

Last week we took Alex to the Dr for his 18th month old check up. He wasn't himself seeing that it was the 1st real sick day for him. The Dr and nurse committed on how different he was.. poor kid. He is developing great with no concerns. He has become quite a chunker pushing the scale at a whopping 22 lbs 5 oz putting him at the 9% for his weight, he it's better than the 5% from last time right. So he isn't a chunker but he is healthy and can afford to eat butter and ice cream whenever he wants, not such a bad thing. he is in the 50% for his height and head at 32 1/2 inches tall and 18 3/4 inches for his head circumference.

Pictures of my sweet 1 1/2 year old boy

Alex enjoying a typical morning

Also on the 15th I was able to go to my Best Friend Laura's baby shower. We have been friends since we were two. It was great to see her, my 2nd family and my old college roomie and friend TyAnne. My Mom, Ty and I made the road trip together out to Saratoga Springs where the shower was. We drove straight there without even taking a potty break or lunch stop.. HA HA JK that joke is for Mollie who lives out there in BFE, it's really not that far but it's fun to give her grief.. anyway. Laura looked amazing and received some really fun gifts. Here are a few pictures from the shower.

Laura looking hot as ever, crazy to think she is due with her 1st boy in January. She will make such a great Mom.

Note to self: outside pictures with shade and two wild toddlers makes for one horrible picture. Laura and her baby look the best while TyAnne and I try to get our kiddos to look at the camera.

Well there is my life in a nutshell the past few weeks. Tomorrow is Turkey Day and we will be spending the holiday at my Aunt Sheila's house. I am so thankful for all I have been given. If you are reading my blog odds are you have touched my life in one way or another and I am so grateful for you. I will save my thoughts for tomorrow but wanted to leave you with this quote I received the other day in an e-mail. I would love to turn my life around were I could live in the moment.

Leave Yesterday Alone (its gone)
Live Today (count your blessings)
Don't Worry About Tomorrow (it may not come)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!