the PAUL's

Toying With Emotions (the 2nd time around)

2012-02-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Dallas and I must be ornery parents because we find these videos hilarious. Theres just something about that "fake cry" that puts a smile on our face everytime. See for yourself, I dare you not to smile. :)

This was Jax a few nights ago (5 months old)

And this was Ash when he was 7 months old.

I always watch these when I need a little pick me up. Works every time! And don't they just look so much alike?!? Big mouth and all!

Oh I love these babies!

A Pity Party

2012-02-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't cried since the week Jax was born in September (hormones). Yes, that's right. We're talking about crying here, so if this bores, bothers, etc you then I would suggest you stop right here. Because today I held my very own pity party.
You see, I have been wearing glasses since I was 5 years old. And contacts since I was 12. Ever since I was old enough to know what Lasik Eye Surgery was I have been counting down the years since a doctor told me "that'd be a great option when your eyes stop growing!". He told me around 25 would probably be safe. I've been diligent keeping up with my yearly eye appointments and changing my very, very expensive ordered-out-of-country contact lenses when I am supposed to without any eye insurance. And now today, after almost a month of waiting, I had the appointment with The Eye Institute of Utah for a Lasik Consult. I even wore my wretched glass for 2 weeks before the appointment like I was asked to do. For the last month it was all I could think about. Dallas and I decided that Lasik would be my Mother's Day gift, birthday gift, anniversary gift, and Christmas gift for the next few years! We had it all planned out.
And then I went to the appointment. I walked in. Sat down at a machine where I stared at a blurry object that looked somewhat like a hot air balloon and then she printed out a slip. "Just as I discussed with Dr Codner" (my eye doctor in Orem) she says. And then she started rambling on something about numbers being too high for successful results with Lasik and blah blah blah and I'm so sorry and blah blah blah. Yeah, I stopped listening. It took everything I had within me to not breakdown and start bawling right then and there. From what I understood, the machine used for lasik can only fix up to a "5.0" for astigmatism. In one eye I have 5.5 and the other eye is 7.5, meaning because of my severe case of astigmatism I will never, ever be a candidate for Lasik eye Surgery.
Dallas was waiting out in the car with the boys for me. He was surprised to see me after just 10 minutes when my appointment was supposed to be 1.5-2 hours long. Before I could even open the door I lost it. Yes. Bawled like a baby. The ridiculus sob choke can't talk kind of cry. It was pathetic. Through the tears I was able to explain to him that I will never get my eyes fixed, the only procedure to fix my eyes isn't even approved in the US only in Europe and Canada, and that I wanted to rip my eyeballs out for being so undependable. Thank goodness I have such sweet boys though. Dallas just looked at me and said, "Well I guess we will have to go to Europe in a few years then. I always wanted to go there anyways."
Isn't he the sweetest? No hesitation, just wanted to do whatever it would take to make me happy. Now going to Europe for an eye surgery that may not even correct my eye completely is a long stretch obviously, and I seriously am not getting my hopes up, but it was the thought that counts. :)
And then there was Ashton, sitting in the back seat. As soon as I got my act somewhat back together and realized I shouldn't be so selfish and that I'm lucky I can even see at all, he says he has something for me that will make me happy again with the most enthusiasm a 3 yr old can bear. And then he handed me this.

He found it in the "Money Mailer" we get in the mail about every other week. He loves to go through them and he just so happened to be holding on to this one. "This will make you happy again mommy. Its pretty shoes. Are you all better now?"

I seriously have the sweetest boys in the ENTIRE world. Just as I thought my entire world had crashed right before my eyes (no pun intended) they were there to lift me back up. I know it's not the end of the world, but if anyone could understand how long I've looked forward to getting my eyes fixed and being able to wake up in the morning and have the ability to immediately see rather than fumble around for my glasses. Or to not have the horrible glare from headlights making it near impossible to drive at night. Or to forget about dry eyes from contact lenses. And to never have to worry about buying saline solution again, and my so very expensive contact lenses that take 8 weeks to even get to the United States. Maybe then this wouldn't sound so ridiculous. But to me, right now, I feel defeated. And sad. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that I get to see my beautiful boys each and everyday, but knowing that I will never have 20/20 vision is a little depressing. So that's that. My pity party. Thank goodness thats over!

Now all I can do is pray that the ICL procedure will either find its way to be approved in the US quickly or that someone will leave a bag with $50,000.00 on my doorstep so I can get the procedure done in Europe. :) Hey, a girl can still have hopes right? Besides, I've still got my eyesight and the most amazing family E.V.E.R.

As for now, I'll just keep my chin up and continue thanking my dad for passing on his eye genes to me, oh yes, and just being thankful to be able to see at all. :)

A Cheesy Valentine's

2012-02-15T11:07:00.002-07:00

Dallas and I both agreed that we wouldn't do gifts this year for Valentine's day. No expensive flowers, no Celtic's basketball tickets. Just me for him, and him for me, that's all. Well it looked like we both had the same idea this year and we snuck into our monthly grocery budget to give eachother the cheesiest Valentine's ever. And it was my favorite. :)

For Ashton, "I'm bananas for you", "You're the apple of my eye", some "love potion", and a "SWEETIE" bar. He was in heaven.

And for Jax, "You're the apple of my eye".

He really liked Ashton's bananas though. :)

And for my sweetie, I put together the cheesiest basket of all. :)

"You have O'fish'ally stolen my heart" with Swedish Fish, "You are one hot tamale" with Hot Tamales of course,

"We were 'mint' to be together" with Lifesaver Mints, "I wouldn't 'chews' anyone but you" with some gum, "I'm 'nuts' about you" with some pistacio nuts,

"I've got a 'crush' on you" with some Orange Crush soda,

And last but not least, "Honey, comb you're hair becasue we've got a date tonight" with some HoneyComb Cereal.

Dallas picked up my favorite Rockstar Energy drink for me with a candy bar, Pringles, and a Mnt. Dew with a slightly inappropriate sharpie message written on it. ;)

For breakfast we had pink pancakes and milk...

And for dinner we had homemade stuffed crust pizza with heart shaped pepperoni.

Ashton got to share his Valentine's pizza dinner with this cutie too, his bestie Abby.

They laughed and played the whole time while her baby brother, Logan slept and Jax, well, Jax did what he does best...

He ate his Bumbo. If I didn't know any better I would think this kid was teething. He chews on everything in sight!

Uncle Ben got some "Love Potion" too with a note that said "I think you are 'soda'amazing" from Ash & Jax and Ash made Abby some similar treats too. And now if that wasn't the cheesiest Valentine's Day ever, I don't know what is! We had a ton of fun together and I had a real glimpse of what life would be like with 4 children as we traded off babysitting with our friends. For 2 hours I was by myself with a 3 yr old, 2 yr old, 5 month old, and 6 wk old while Dallas had to go to class. As I sat staring at all the kids counting down the minutes till Dallas got home, perfect as they were all being, I had a very hard time imagining us ever having any more kids haha. I don't see how people do it! (Namely my Mom who had 9 kids!) All in all, we had a great cheesy Valentine's Day, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything else! (Even if I can't wait to go out for our 'adult' Valentine's dinner hopefully this Saturday) :D

I am sure one lucky lady to have these boys as my Valentine's :)

Hope your Valentine's was as great as our! :)
(Cheesy Valentine's ideas/printouts compliments of Pinterest)

Trust Issues

2012-02-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, now that everyone at The Quarry in Provo on Saturday night knows about my serious trust issue, I might as well just throw it out there. Yep. Its bad too.

With 43 days of this year behind us, we are still right on track with our "no eating out, unless we have a giftcard/coupon" to use. I love checking our bank acct and not seeing one Zupas, Cafe Rio, Chick fil a, Olive Garden, etc bill on there. So nice! And because we were so disgusted at our end of the year statement of "going out to eat" versus "entertainment" we decided we will be more adventurous this year and put that "food" money towards something, well, entertaining. So as we sat on the couch last night after all of us took a 6 pm nap (bad idea) we were wondering how on earth we were going to get Ashton to bed at a decent time. And for some dumb reason I got this great idea to check out The Quarry in Provo, an indoor rock climbing place. I called ahead and made sure little ones were allowed, and to my surprise there was a deal that night starting at 8pm. Score. So off we headed to The Quarry. The second I stepped through the door I realized what a mistake I had made. But the look on Dallas, Ash, & Ben's face told me there was no turning back at this point. Plus, I still wanted to go to bed that night. So we all 4 harnessed up and off to the walls we went.

Ash did really great. He was a lot more brave than I was expecting him to be. (Can't believe how fast he has really grown up!)

And then there was me. I have no problem going "up" things. Roller coasters, water slides, mountains, bleachers (and now I can add rock climbing walls). Its the going "down" part that scares me to death. You see, I'm not even afraid of heights really, I just know that I can control the going "up" part.

The practice wall was easy so I was ready for a bigger wall. And I rocked that wall like its never been rocked before (now I dont mean to get cocky, but I think I did pretty good for a first time climber!) But the problem arose when I got to the top and it was time to come down. I looked down and Ben (who was belaying for me) gave me the thumbs up to let go of the wall. But I couldn't. I tried explaing to him from my 5.10 level wall climb at 42 ft that I wanted to climb back down, instead of hanging on to the rope and gliding down. He wouldn't have it. He was laughing. I seriously thought my heart was going ot jump out of my throat. It was at that point that I kinda lost it, screaming that I had trust issues and to stop pulling the rope so I could climb down the way I came up. Long story short, Ben wouldn't let me go down my way. And I kept trying to grab the wall still. I ended up with some very cute bruises and cuts all along my legs and when I got to the bottom I realized how many people were staring at me and laughing. Humiliated? Yes. Moral of the story? I have huge trust issues. I had gotten up the wall just fine, so I wanted to go down the same way! I only trusted myself! All in all, my lesson was learned. I can trust people to help me do things, it's just going to take a lot of practicing!

My handsome husband, he's a natural!

Jax loved watching Ash climb the small bouldering walls.

My little climber! So grown up!

Uncle Ben, bouldering.

I really did have a great time climbing. And my plan certainly worked because Ash crashed as soon as we got home.

And now that I've learned one of my greater weaknesses, I'm going to seriously try to trust people just a tad more. :)

Here's to another fabulous week!

Buddies

2012-02-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

These two are best buddies. Nothing makes my heart fuller than watching them play and giggle together. :)

My baby's blues... and those gorgeous dimples :)

And you can imagine with these two cuties around, it would get pretty hard to get any homework done... or anything at all. :)

Could life be any sweeter? I'm not thinking so. :)

Ashton the Science Man

2012-02-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ever since Ash got this shirt for Christmas, he thinks he's the next Bill Nye the Science Guy... but I'm not complaining. Plus, he's so darn cute in goggles! :)

Our latest experiment was to make our own volcano and watch it erupt. He was pretty excited. :)

Once we let the volcano erupt, he was a little more concerned than excited.

But he warmed up to it real fast :)

Now volcanoes are the coolest thing ever. :)

Oh yes, and here's Jaxon's new binky. He's so silly. He had fun watching the volcano erupt too.

We had a fun time making and erupting volcanoes. :)

5 Months

2012-02-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Holy! Still trying to wrap my finger around the fact that this little stud is 5 MONTHS OLD already! Seriously, where has the time gone!?!?

I can't believe how BIG he is either!

At 5 months old:

I can sit up with pillow support

I can hold my own bottle

I can almost roll over back to front, but I don't really like tummy time so I won't let myself roll all the way over

I sleep 5-6 hours at night, and I still love to be swaddled in my blankets

I can turn myself 180 degrees when lying on the floor to see whatever I want

I stroll all over the kitchen in my walker

I sit up in my stroller now without my carseat

I'm getting more accustomed to my carseat now and I'll even take a nap in it occasionally!

I love rice cereal!

I giggle when I get my clothes changed, my neck is so ticklish!

I've got mommy wrapped around my finger

I wear size 6-9 months clothes

I want to eat everything in sight

Nothing makes me happier than to play with my big brother, Ash

We all had fun taking turns feeding Jax his rice cereal for the first time this week too.
Daddy & Jax

Ash feeding his baby Jax

Uncle Benji feeding Jax

Sure loves him some {almost} real food!

Mom & Dad taking a break from the rice cereal mess :) I sure love this handsome man of mine!

Uncle Ben admiring my new bottle holding skills

Kids are so beautiful when they sleep. I had to snap this pic of Jax when he was napping the other day because he fell asleep just like I do, on his belly with his hands under the pillow! Not my preferred method for sleep for this one, but this is how I always find him!

And then we chopped off the last of his baby locks this week too. I was so sad. Ash didn't get a hair cut till he was 13 months old. Jax just had these ridiculous looking hairs that stood straight up though, so we had too. And he couldn't be more handsome now.

I'm one lucky girl to have these boys in my life. :)

Super Bowl XLVI

2012-02-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

Even if the Patriots lost to the Giants this year, we still had a rockin' Super Bowl party at home with the boys. Ash and I made a football shaped Butterfinger Cake (some people call it "better than sex cake"), and I made some homemade salsa and some homemade hot sauce chicken poppers. The food was great, company was great, and the game could've been better... but still an enjoyable way to spend my Sunday afternoon. :)

Here's to next year Tom Brady! :)

The Greatest Things in Life are Free

2012-01-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

Lately, we've been loving things that are free. Well, technically free. With 27 days of 2012 behind us, I am proud to say that Dallas and I are doing great with our goal to spend less money. I know its only 27 days, but 27 days free of Target and eating out has already saved us a ton of greenbacks! Im almost embarrassed to admit that we used to eat out atleast 3-4 times a week, wether breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just a snack/dessert. In the past 27 days we have eaten out once, at Chick-fil-a, and with a giftcard. So technicall, I'd say we're still on track! :) Im also very proud to say that I have been to the mall atleast 4 times this month to let Ash play at the play area there and I have NOT bought ONE article of clothing for anyone in our household! This is huge for me, again, embarrassing. But it helps to get it out there. :) And so with saving money comes the fun of finding more things to do to save money, a wonderful chain reaction. Over the past week or so, here's some of the fun we've had for free. Or technically free. :)

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's with one of Ashton's besties, Carson, and our friends Kody & Jade for pizza last Saturday for free... well, free on Saturday atleast, due to my great Grouponing skills last year when I bought 2 Chuck E. Cheese dinner passes in Sandy on accident. :) Either way, we didn't have to pay that day, and we had a blast, even if it was packed wall to wall with screaming children.

Ash and I went on a fun date to Trafalga last week too after I found an unfinished date pass in my wallet. So technically not free, but it was for us on Friday. We golfed our little hearts out, for free. :)

We've also taken advantage of UVU's library this past week or so as Dallas insisted that I watch all 4 of the Pirate's of the Carribean movies, for free. :) (the 3rd was my favorite!)

And then of course we have taken advantage of our public library just a block away. Ashton has loved getting new books to read every few days or so and I finally read the Hunger Games trilogy. I read the first book during our trip to Florida on the plane rides and then thought I was going to let the other 2 slip through the cracks. But that couldn't happen after seeing the movie trailor for the Hunger Games. So I borrowed Catching Fire & Mockingjay and finished both in just 3 days. Jax got pretty tired of staring at the pages filled with words as we cuddled, but I really enjoyed them. And of course it was for free. :) (p.s., super excited for the movie to come out now, and I'm all Team Peeta!)

We've also borrowed from the library Season 1 of Lost so Uncle Ben can watch it. Since Dallas and I watched all the seasons back in 2009 and the last season in 2010, I mostly just sleep through it, but its nice free entertainment after the kiddos go to bed. :)

Again, due to my great Grouponing skills last year, we got season passes to The Living Planet Aquarium for half price. So on Monday the boys and I went to the aquarium with Ash's friend Abby and her mom and baby brother. Always a great place for the Ashman to get his energy out, and again it was free! (well technically not, but on Monday it was, considering we didn't spend any money!) Plus they just opened up a new River Otter exibit so the kiddos got free Otter Pops. Score. :)

And of course what could be better than free snow??? This was the first time it has stuck all winter, even if it was just for one day, Ash had fun playing, stomping, and eating the snow. :) He seriously looks like the kid off The Christmas Story here too, oh he is going to hate me when he grows up!

Tuesday we headed to the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at BYU with Abby again. He was a little hesitant at first, but after a while he was running around the museum like he owned the place, wanting so desperately to touch everything in sight. Again, another great FREE energy stealer for the kiddos. :)

This week we've really taken on the idea that the greatest things in life are free, with memories of my boys being the greatest of all. I've loved more than anything the free memories I've had all week. The way Jax grins ear to ear every time our eyes meet. How we almost had to leave in the middle of sacrament meeting on Sunday because both of our boys were giggling so loud (after having to leave to the foyer countless times for screaming children, this will always be a favorite memory). How Ashton stands as tall as he can and yells at the baby, "Attention Please!". How Ashton came in after playing in the snow with his beat red hands and stated that he can't wait to play with the snow again when it gets warmer. How Ashton replies to me after I ask him for favors by saying, "Yes sir mommy!". How Ashton's favorite saying right now is 'see ya later crocodile' and 'in a while alligator'. How I ask Ashton if he needs a timeout for doing something he's not supposed to and he actually says yes. And best of all, slow dancing in the kitchen to raunchy country music with my sweetheart while the little ones are laughing with eachother in the next room. Life really is sweet. And these little moments couldnt be greater. All the riches in the world could never buy me happiness as great as these precious babes bring me. :)

Here's to a happy weekend and more money free days! :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

2012-01-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

After our fiscal fast last week I have to be honest that it was really weird to go grocery shopping on Monday. I felt like I was doing something wrong or against the law or something! It is definetely nice to have some food stocked up again though. :)

Something I've been eye-balling for a while is this new toy for Jax that we picked up Monday night, his Combi Adventurer. And the best part was that it only cost me $3.15 with the use of some gift cards & coupons to Babies R Us. As you can see, it was a well-made purchase, and a new favorite for mommy! He sits in it so good and is already scooting around the kitchen in it. Hello to fuss-free dinner times and a happy, playful baby!

And that's just the beginning of my new list of favorite things...

some others include:

Dallas' last first day of undergrad school, celebrated with a small cake on Tuesday when he got home from his sole class for the semester. He was excited. :)

Next on my list would be these sweet things. Jax put himself to sleep TWO nights in a row this week after just laying him in bed at night. This is very exciting news for us as sleep seems to always be an issue around here. He has yet to do it again, but I will never forget those TWO amazing nights. :)

Next would be my evenings with these 4 boys. Our fiscal fast really reminded us how to spend more quality time together, without spending money of course. I love watching Dallas and Uncle Ben play puzzles with Ash & Jax before bed each night. :)

My next favorite thing was Friday night. Ashton FINALLY filled his "special reward's box"! I started this during our fiscal fast too, to help cut back on icecream dates. Ash and I have a serious icecream addiction, and since we live literally a block away from an icecream shop, it makes it very hard to hold back! So to help, I made Ash a "special reward's box" that he helped me wrap up in his favorite paper and we decorated with stickers. Each time he does something really nice to help mom or dad, picks up his toys without asking, doesn't have any accidents in his undies, eats his veggies at dinner, etc he gets to put a cotton ball in his box. But when he puts up a fight at bed time, cries at dinner or doesn't stay at the table, or has an avoidable accident in his undies we have to take one out. This has been great, and he has loved the incentive! Friday night he finally filled his box up so we got to go on our a little icecream date. A serious win-win situation for all. Sure love my little Ashman! :)

(And one of my more favorite things was when Ash got two cotton balls for walking into the kitchen Thursday night when I was chopping broccoli up for pizza and he grabbed a piece off the counter and popped it in his mouth declaring that he wanted to taste the "bwoklies", score!)

Then of course a favorite thing was Saturday night... Patriots vs. Broncos game. Or should I say Brady vs. Tebow game. Dallas is a long-time Bronco's fan, even before Tebow came along, but he seriously loves Tim Tebow. And of course I fell for Brady when Dallas got me watching football (um, who wouldn't!). So it was fun to have a rivalry game to watch together. I had to make red velvet whoopie cookies for all the Patriots fans of the house too. :) (Even if I did see Dallas sneak one or two!)

Dallas made Jax be a Bronco's fan for the night... so I stole Ash to be on my side. So glad the Patriots KILLED the Bronco's :)

And like I said, those were just a few of my favorite things from this week. :) Here's to another great week ahead!

Fiscal Fast

2012-01-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Right after Christmas Dallas and I were watching TLC late one night when "The Ultimate Cheapskate" show came on. One of the "Ultimate Cheapskate's" was Jeff Yeager, also the author of this book, "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches". On this episode, it showed Jeff Yeager taking part in what he calls a "fiscal fast". This sounded very do-able to me, and a very good idea after the very expensive holidays. So the next day I headed off to Barnes & Noble to find his book. And then I sat down and read the whole thing.

My mind was going crazy.. and my stomach was sick thinking of all the money we had foolishly spent over the last year. We sat down and made a list of the top 10 "What the heck was I thinking" items we had purchased last year (mine consisted of mostly all clothing items I had purchased for me and the boys, and things I just thought I had to have when Jax was born). We took our bank statement from November and categorized everything and realized that Target & Walmart were the true culprits though... spending between the both an amount I'm even too embarrassed to share here. We decided at that moment that we were going to go on a "fiscal fast". Starting January 1 we would put our bank account on a strict fast for exactly 1 week. No bills, no late night dessert runs, no icecream dates, no holiday sale shopping, no groceries, and most importantly NO Target and NO Walmart. For 7 full days. And this was to be done without "stocking up" on groceries. We filled up one car on Saturday before we started though to get us through the week (work, emergencies, etc.) To some this might sound really easy... or really dumb. But honestly, it was just what we needed after a very expensive year (paying for my boards exams, moving out to Nebraska & back, flying back for dr appts and a wedding, having a baby, the DAT test, applying to dental schools, flying out for interviews, my graduation, our vacation to Florida, Christmas, and the list could go on and on) We really needed something to get us back on track for this expensive year ahead of us (moving somewhere, starting dental school, and paying my student loans off). So we did it. Starting January 1st and ending tonight, January 8th, I am proud to say that we went an ENTIRE week of not letting one, NOT ONE, penny leave our bank account. And you know what, it was easy. There were many times we wanted to just "run" to the store to get something (Dallas ran out of deodorant, I needed some girly things, Jax needed some baby water to mix formula, etc) but we found a way to either "make do, or do without". I had no idea how good it would feel to not spend any money either! We finished off all of our annoying travel size flosses, cleaned out/ate everything from the fridge before it went bad for once, didn't do any laundry (in part to the dryer breaking again) and just had a ton of fun finding things to do that did not involve spending money. We went for walks, I sewed some bibs for a Jax and a friend, played all of our new games, read more books than I could ever even imagine, and I completely 'spring cleaned' my kitchen leaving 2 full trash bags of things at D.I. I went through all of our clothes and put away a ton that haven't been worn for a while and the next time we feel the need/urge to get new clothes, we can just go to our storage closet to shop! I'm hoping this can really help us save some money this year. I also spent 3 1/2 hours one morning making a new budget to follow this year. We will not eat-out as much, we will make menus and grocery lists, I won't go to Target or the mall when I'm bored, and we will wait one week between the time we see something we want/need before buying it. By doing this we hope to save a little/lot of money this year. And that is my New Year's Resolution. :)

So for our week of a fiscal fast, here's some of the fun we had...

Playing games with my favorite boys...

Ashton's Doctor Drill N' Fill playdough... doing an extraction!

Placing a filling...

Drilling out the decay...

We visited this sweet new baby boy, Logan, when he was born on Tuesday...

Giggled with these two crazies...

Made some delicious funnel cakes...

Ash & Ben tried making Oreo's with pink frosting...

Ash being goofy, and dressing himself :) ...

And I finally made some things off my Pinterest list. Starting with this... An "I Love You Because... board. I put magnets on the back and stuck it on the fridge. Dallas and i have had a ton of fun writing eachother messages back and forth on it all week. :)

And Ashton put his stickers to good use this week too...

We also started up our "Grateful Book" again that we started last January and only wrote in it for 2.5 weeks. It was so fun to read the things we has put on it last year, this year we wil ldo much better at writing in it everyday... as a great way to reflect on things we most grateful for. :)

And so at the end of our "fiscal fast" this is what our fridge looks like. Completely empty, I was actually quite surprised we ended up with any milk and eggs left! We sure had some interesting meals this week too. :)

Our "fiscal fast" was a huge success. And a perfect way to start our year off on the right foot. We will surely be doing a "fiscal fast" to start off each new year. Think its easy? I challenge YOU to truly put your bank account, wallet, credit card, etc. on a fast for an ENTIRE week. :)

4 Months

2012-01-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

Have 4 months really already gone by??? I can't believe how fast my little/big baby is growing up!

At 4 months I:

· love to giggle at my mommy when she tickles my belly
· sit in my bumbo and play with toys on the tray
· bring toys up to my mouth to chomp on them
· love to turn in my bumbo to reach my toes or play with my socks
· am the happiest when I'm taking a bath
· smile & coo all day long
· love listening & watching my big brother
· take one 3-4 hr nap a day with lots of 1/2-1 hour naps here and there
· sleep abour 5 hrs straight at night, sometimes if mom & dad are lucky I'll give them 7 hrs, or if they're not so lucky I like to give 'em 3 still :)
· hate being in my carseat/the car
· weighed 16 lbs last week (double my birth weight!)
· wear a sz 3 diaper and sz 6 / 6-9 months clothes
· can almost roll over from my back to my tummy
· saturate about 8 bibs a day with my slobber :)
· still melt mommy & daddy's hearts

Happy 4 months Jax!

Love you to pieces!!!!

Happy New Years!

2012-01-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

2011 was pretty much a blur if you ask me... it went by too fast and so many wonderful, incredible things took place - Just to name a few:

· Went to my first NBA game (Celtics vs. Jazz... goooo Celtics!)
· Graduated with high honors from dental hygiene school
· Survived a summer in Nebraska
· Dallas went to his first Yankee's game
· Jaxon Charlz made his great debut :)
· Dallas flew practically all over the country for dental school interviews
· Dallas got excepted into 4 dental schools (decision still undetermined)
· We took our first family vacation to Florida / Disneyworld
· I got my first job as a dental hygienist :)
· Ashton potty trained himself and had his 3rd birthday :)
· Had our 5th Christmas together, and our last in Utah
And that was just to name a few... 2011 will surely never be forgotten!

Now 2012 is certainly looking up with many milestones for little Jax & Ash and moving somewhere new for dental school! Every year just gets better. :)

To help ring in the new year we drove up to SLC to see the lights around Temple Square. It was beautiful... and freezing! But totally worth it...

Jax & Uncle Ben

Listening to a bagpipe concert in the old conference center...

Ash & Uncle Ben

Me and my little bear :)

When we got home we made Indian Fry bread for dinner (Navajo Tacos) and had our annual ping-pong match follwed by miniature bowling, a few rounds of shuffle board, and just lovin' up on my boys.
Jax was thrilled about his New Year's kiss :)

But he did enjoy watching us play games in his Bumbo :)

... and what better way to bring in the new year than on the potty :) Ash will love this one when he gets older ;)

WELCOME 2012!!!

Under the Weather

2011-12-31T00:32:00.000-07:00

Poor baby Jax hasn't been feeling like himself the past few days. :( Although we loved going on our fun vacation to Florida, flying on airplanes, and being around all sorts of family- the little tike picked up a nasty cough. When people say you will never forget what croup sounds like once you hear it, they are exactly correct. Its very scary, especially for our little bundle of joy (all 16 pounds worth!) being so young and helpless. :( After his steroid shot today he is doing much better, just having a hard time staying asleep tonight. I sure adore this sweet little boy. I pray he can feel better very soon...

Ash has been the biggest help while his baby is feeling under the weather... he loves to help give Jax a bath each night :)

Even as crummy as this bright-eyed guy has been feeling today, he still can't help but to smile when he's talked to. He really, really is the sweetest.

Feel better soon sweetie. :)

A Wonderful Christmas Time

2011-12-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

With the morning light beginning to peak through our windows Christmas morning we thought we heard Ash rustling under the tree so Dallas and I raced down the stairs to find him... only we find the living room empty and Ash still sound asleep in his bed! Dallas ran back up to his room to wake him up as we all set up our posts around the tree. Ashton was so excited to see that Santa ate his cookies and the reindeer finished off their carrots.

But, I think he was most excited to find his beloved drum he asked Santa for and begged mom and dad for while we were in Disneyworld. Santa is so sneaky. :)

Ben was so excited to get his "I-Pad" from Dallas and I in his stocking. :)

Good morning!

Ashton's Mickey Safari Friends, also a pick from DisneyWorld :)

My new jersey from my sweetie :)

Bet you would never guess that daddy picked out this shirt for Ash :)

Daddy's new shoes

Jax was much more interested in eating every single gift he got, Happy 1st Christmas baby boy!

His favorite present from Santa, Sophie the Giraffe

Ashton adores his new Yo Gabba Gabba backpack and shoes :)

Christmas morning cinamon/orange roll tree :)

Christmas Sunday church with my boys :)

Jax was not impressed...

... but still cute as a button. :)

We had our dear friends, the Miser's, over for Christmas dinner this year. I made oven roasted turkey breast, honey-glazed ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, home-made rolls, and a homemade caramel apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake. So tasty! :)

Another fabulous Christmas filled with food, fun, family, friends, and great memories. We are so very grateful for this special time of the year and for our dear Savior.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

We got home from Vegas at about 1am on the 24th with our trick of driving at night to keep Jax asleep in the car (unlike Ashton, Jax has given us quite a bit of grief about being in the car, ok, quite a bit is probably an understatement... he screams the second we get in the car) Luckily, we only stopped once, the roads were clear, and it was a chilling -3 degrees, but we were so glad to be home after being gone for so long!

After some much needed sleep, we spent the day unpacking, grocery shopping, baking, making a pretzel log cabin, and writing letters to Santa.

Getting ready to start our log cabin...

The completed masterpiece... once again, I think Ashton ate way more candy then actually made it onto the cabin, but its always a fun tradition. :)

Ashton writing his letter to Santa while the cookies were baking... The older Ash is getting, the more fun it is to play up the whole 'Santa' thing. He had so much fun making cookies for him and filling his mug of milk up and setting carrots out for his reindeer. He's such a sweet boy!

We completed our night with our continued 5 year tradition of frozen pizza and corn chowder and watching the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

As Ash treked off to bed, Santa and Mrs. Clause stayed up late finishing the last few presents, filling the stockings, and baking rolls and pies to get ready for the big day!

Vegas Vacation

2011-12-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last week after our family vacation we flew from Florida into Las Vegas to spend a few days with both of our families. Whoever said Vegas is warm all year round had clearly never really been to Vegas. It was freezing there! We certainly had a great time though! We even got to snap a new picture infront of the huge Christmas tree at the Town Square mall, the last time we took one there was right after we got married in 2007, now 4 years later we have 2 sweet little guys in the picture too. Oh how times have changed! :)

For Dallas' mom's Christmas present we tried to recreate the last photo she had taken of her and "Daddy Martin" (Dallas' dad) with their two boys before he passed away. We even pulled out the plaid and overalls! I think Dallas looks so much like his dad, so handsome!

Our parents spoiled us beyond belief this Christmas too, but I'll have to admit it was pretty fun. :)

Ash especially loves his new Doctor Drill N' Fill playdough set from Grandma Hardy, check out that evil grin!

And I'm super excited to use this new Baby Bullet to make Jax some baby food in a few months!

We had so much fun talking and laughing with our families, its definetely going to be hard moving farther away next year.

Jax with his cousin, Ava. He just loved staring and smiling at her sweet face!

All the grandkids on the Hardy side, from L-R, Eric 'Ricky' Hardy - 2.5yrs, Ashton Paul - 3yrs, Jaxon Paul - 3 mOnths, Ava Angell - 5 yrs, & Halley Angell - 2.5 yrs. We can't wait to welcome a new baby boy cousin to the Hardy side in just a few short weeks too!

As always, we ate way too much, stayed up way too late, were way too loud, and everyone will be missed way too much! It was so nice to see our families though, we love them so very much and are so blessed to be a part of their lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

FLORIDA in DECEMBER

2011-12-27T01:31:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot to celebrate lately - my graduation, Jaxon, Dallas's acceptance into dental school, Ashton's birthday, Ashton putting up with us through school his entire 3 years of life, Christmas, etc. We wanted to do something really special for Ashton and take him on a little vacation, and of course treat ourselves since we havent been on a real vacation since our first anniversary. We've been planning this trip for months and it turned out perfect. Five nights in Florida, 4 days at Disneyworld, 1 day at the beach. It was fabulous, and much needed!

Disneyworld was amazing, the lights for Christmas were just incredible and we even experienced the magical snow on Main St. We couldn't have picked a better time to go and both Ashton and Jaxon did great. I took over 550 pictures... and tried to condense them down to just 120 for the Grandparents to take a peak at our fun trip... we made the most amazing memories that will never be forgotten!

We went to 4 of the Disneyland parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, & Hollywood Studios) and then we ventured off to Cocoa Beach to soak up some sun. We spent nights in the hottub, afternoons by the pool, and ate, ate, ate. :) Ashton got to meet all of his favorite characters (Buzz, Woody, Russell from 'UP', Mater, Lightning McQueen, Pooh, Tigger, Mickey, 2 Donald's, 2 Goofy's, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny, and a toy soldier from Toy Story). We went on a safari in the Animal Kingdom, traveled to 11 different countries in Epcot, kissed in front of the castle, took part in a flash mob in Hollywood Studios, ate a turkey leg the size of Jax's head with the best pumpkin spice funnel cake ever and real gelato from Italy, and played in the sand at the beach.

Best vacation ever. Ever. :)

Ash meeting Mickey Mouse

Ash meeting Goofy

Jax enjoying the warm weather and beautiful sunshine :)

Best trip ever, with the greatest people ever. :)

Santa

2011-12-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a terrible blogger these days. The days just seem to be literally flying by between working 3 days and smothering my boys with love the other 4 each week! On Saturday Dallas had to study for some finals and take a test so I ventured off to the mall to pay a visit to the jolly ol' soul himself. :) To my surprise, Ash ran up to him and jumped on his lap. I guess I didnt realize how much he would remember Santa from last year! Jax warmed right up too thank goodness. Aren't these the cutest little boys you ever did see???

When we got home I put the cd in to save the pic to my computer and realized they had given me the wrong one. Luckily they still had our pic on file and we could pick it up again yesterday. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Santa picture :)

Merry Christmas!

After our mall visit Ash got to go to a birthday party at the Provo Beach Resort. Coolest place ever. We will definetely be visiting there again this frigid winter. Look how happy he was!

Sure do love the Holidays :)

THREE MONTHS

2011-12-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Look who's already THREE months old! Sure love this dimply, sweet, smily boy more than the world! I can't believe how BIG he is!

So sad to see his darling red hair disappearing... :(

Happy Boy

Who ordered the Jumbo Jack? :) (Check out those ham bones!)

At THREE months Jax:

Can hold his head up

Sits in his bumbo for short periods of time

Loves his tummy time

Coos and caws all day

Loves to be talked to

Smiles when he's talked to

Still sleeps in his swing every night

Sleeps 4-5 hours straight most nights, with the occasional beloved 8 hour night

Wears size 2 diapers

Hates being in his carseat

Adores bath time

Lights up when he hears Ashton's voice :)

Such a big boy...

So handsome...

I am the luckiest. Ever.

Happy 3 months Jax!

THREE YEARS

2011-12-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my little baby is already THREE years old! The past 3 years have literally flown by... I'm sure one lucky mommy to have him in my life. Happy 3rd Birthday (December 3) Ashman!

Ash wanted a party at Chuck E. Cheese's this year with all of his friends. He picked out Paul Frank decorations at Target and then at the last minute he said he wanted monster trucks too, so I threw one on his cake. We had a blast, Ash got spoiled beyond belief, and had some good laughs. Thanks to all those who helped us celebrate!

Ashton's Paul Frank/Monster Truck cake, my attempt at yet another fondant cake. (I think I'm done trying them now... I'm just not patient enough to make them look nice!)

Ash and I hand-dipped cones in white chocolate and sprinkles too like his favorite cones at Baskin Robin's :)

Waiting for his guests

Happy 3rd Birthday to my big boy!

Pizza and tokens! What more could a kid want? :)

Cake

Ashton & Tyler

MacKenzie & Ash

The favorite ride of the day...

My sweetie :)

I think Dallas and Ben played more games then Ash did ;)

Ash & Abby

Ash, Cadence, & Abby

Opening gifts with the girlies

A little blurry, but his face was priceless when he opened up his remote control race car from Sara and Travis :)

Lovin' on MacKenzie

He traded in his tickets for a dollar sign ring, got money on his mind!

... and he snuck into the cake... he mostly loved the frosting... so first he ate all the monkey's ears off... then their faces... until we had to toss it out to save his belly!

We are so blessed to have this busy, sweet, wild boy in our lives. We sure love you Ash, hope you ahd a great birthday!

Festival of Trees

2011-12-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday after Ash's birthday party we headed off to see the Festival of Trees. I had never been before, but can I say that it was amazing! The trees were beautiful, creative, and all for a fabulous cause.

Jax and I with the tiny little Happy 'Who'lidays Tree

My little photographer :)

He took so many pictures, but he doesn't hold still very long so most of them turned out blurry. Such a cutie!

Ash and the "UP" tree

Family :D

Ash with the "It's Your Birthday" tree. Happy 3rd birthday Ashers!

ACCEPTED

2011-12-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today was the day... the day we've been waiting for since Dallas started his biology degree in 2009, since he took the DAT in June, and since he sent in his application in August...

DALLAS GOT ACCEPTED INTO DENTAL SCHOOL!!! Wahoo!

He had 7 interviews between September and November. As of today, he has been accepted into 4 of the schools, put on the waiting list at 2 of the schools, and we haven't heard from the last one yet (they snail mail it).

We've sure got a lot of thinking to do over the next 30 days now... I'm not sure 30 days is really enough to make such a huge decision either. We have THIRTY days to decide where we will live for 4 years. Thirty days to decide where we will call our home. The place where Dallas will become a doctor (how hot is that?!?!). The place where Ash will start kindergarden. The place where Jax will start walking. Thirty days. Hmmmmm....

Nevada. Arizona. Pennsylvania. Virginia.

UNLV in Las Vegas, NV : 5.5 hours away from our current home.

Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ : 10 hours from our current home.

Temple University in Philadelphia, PA : 33 hours from our current home.

VCU in Richmond, VA : 33 hours from our current home.

And he is on the waiting list for a school in Lincoln, NE and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. This is going to be a very tough decision. I am just so very, very proud of my incredibly handsome, smart, sweet husband! Here's to making wise decisions over the next month!!!

Oh and p.s.

I finally got a job! Last month I dropped off 8 resumes to random dental offices in Orem. One of the offices called me to fill-in for a sick hygienist one day earlier in November and then they called me on Monday to offer me a permanent position and I started on Tuesday. I love it! I work 3 days a week so I can still spend time with my little lovelies too.

Life couldn't be sweeter. :)

A Weekend of Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

With all the traveling Dallas has been doing lately, we decided that we would stay home and have our own little Paul Thanksgiving this year. :)

For some reason I was feeling really ambitious and homemade the entire meal. It probably took me 6 hours... the menu consisted of all new recipes that I found online. We had Maple glazed turkey with apple-cider gravy (Rachael Ray), mashed potatoes (Ree, Pioneer Woman), green bean casserole (Paula Dean), sweet potatoes (Food Network), Texas Roadhouse knock-off rolls and cinnamon butter, Pecan pie (Ree, Pioneer Woman Cooks), and Pumpkin Pie both with homemade crust. It was de-lish, well worth the time spent in the kitchen!

At the top of my thankful list is this:

I sure adore my boys to pieces!

We even had a little pre-Thanksgiving craft the night before...

It was a perfect day. I have certainly been blessed to have such a wonderful family, all near and far, and even if it was spent with just my little clan, I am so very grateful for each member of my family! :)

Thursday night I treked off to WalMart after everyone was in bed to try and hit up some black-friday sales. It was a mad-house. No lie. I could not even walk an inch. I was headed for the video games in the back for Dallas - but by the time I reached the back of the store the games had been dog-piled and not even a scrap was left. It was ridiculous! Even with all the craziness around me I still made off with some super steals and I was glad I went... although I might not be going next year!

Friday morning I got up and headed to the mall while all the boys were still sleeping too to finish off my Christmas list. Again, well worth it. The crowds weren't even bad until later in the afternoon. All in all, it was a very successful shopping day... and since I was alone, I could really clear my mind and get things accomplished!

Friday night we pulled out the good ol' Christmas tree and let Ashton decorate it. We shared pumpkin hot chocolate infront of his masterpiece and shook all of the presents to guess what was inside. :)

Life couldn't be sweeter. :)

I had to throw this pic in too, Jax is still struggling to keep his binky in on his own, even though he wants to suck on it so bad... he's such a goof!

2 Months

2011-11-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

Happy 2 months Jax!

We sure love his sweet little spirit and fiesty personality in our home! And I really can't believe that 2 months has already come and gone! Jax had his 2 month check-up today too...

Weight: 13.25 lbs (birth weight: 8lbs 10 oz)

Height: 23 inches (birth height: 21 inches)

So he's doing pretty awesome in the growth department... in the 87th and 75th percentile!

We love seeing his darling smile and dimples with his gorgeous auburn hair. Such a little stud! Last night he even slept for 7 straight hours for the first time... I felt so refreshed in the morning! Sure do love him!

Ash can't get enough of him either. He's always in his face, sweet talking him, and trying to touch his soft skin. He can't wait for Jax to grow big enough to play with him! I love how he's squishing his chubby little cheeks here. :)

Jax had enough...

Such a good helper...

Our chunky monkey... J for Jaxon!

Pure love. :)

Ashton's Pet

2011-11-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be honest, I'm not a pet-person. I like animals... when they aren't mine. :) We tried to foster a puppy last summer and it really only lasted over night and I was done. I seriously took it back the next morning. I just don't have it in me. But a fish on the other hand is a perfect pet. And Ashton agrees thank goodness. Last week his beta fish passed away after 16 months. That fish had been through a lot, I'm actually surprised he lasted that long. He survived a drive to Nebraska in May, being left in the car in Wyoming over night (when it was still cold!), a drive back to Utah in August, being forgotten in the car overnight again, being poked numerous times, and surviving countless unfed days. See, we could never have a dog. After his fishy died and we tried explaining to him that he had gone to live with his other fishy friends, daddy took Ash to buy a new one.

Welcome to your new home "fishy-fish"!

Even though his last fish lived a fairly lengthy life, we will try to treat this fish a little better. And maybe someday when we have our own house with a big back yard... we will get a dog or something. :)

Happy Baby = Happy Mommy; The 1st 8 Weeks

2011-11-03T10:29:00.000-06:00

Happy 8 weeks to our little baby Jax! "Everyone" or "the books" always say that the first 6 weeks are always the hardest... well I would say that it took us about 8 weeks to really get in the groove of things. Maybe it was having a 2 year old, I dunno. But here I have compiled a list of things that have helped us to survive the first 8 weeks... a list to help us remember what we loved if we ever decide to be crazy enough to have another child, or maybe just a list to help others endure the first 8 weeks too. :)

#1. Aden & Anais Swaddling blankets. Perfect size (big enough to wrap ALL the way around our Jumbo Jack, regular recieving blankets just don't cut it) and Perfect fabric (cool enough to still wear clothes underneath, but warm enough to be all he needs).

#2. Gerber diaper burp cloths. Lets face it, feeding time is messy. These are super absorbant and small enough that they don't take up an entire load of laundry. Perfect for spit ups and dribbles.

#3. Infant Sleeper Gowns. Perfect for 3am diaper changes when you aren't awake enough to line up buttons or zippers.

#4. Dr. Brown's Pacifiers. I'm not quite sure why Jax chose these ones, but it was definetely hit and miss. Ash took Nuk really well. But these are the only ones Jax will even try to suck on.

#5. Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottles. The nipples have a slow flow perfect for transitioning between breastfeeding and reducing extra air-intake (reducing tummy aches) and the bottles are nice and wide so your hands dont cramp up holding it.

#6. Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Breastmilk Storage Lids. These are nice so you can store breastmilk in bottles rather than going through a zillion storage bags (which are VERY expensive). This way I can store milk in the fridge that I know he will use within a day or two and I save the storage bags only for freezing breastmilk. Huge money saver. :)

#7. Dr. Jack Newman's Nipple Ointment. Available by perscription only, but this stuff will seriously heal those puppies up, if you know what I mean. :)

#8. Palmolive Baby Dishsoap. Not really a necessity, but works great, smells great, and is perfect size to keep upstairs in the bathroom for a quick washing if we need it so we can avoid trips up and down the stairs all day/night.

#9. Mamas and Papas Apollo Bouncer. Absolutley love this thing. Not only can it vibrate like all other bouncers, but theres actually a setting that "bounces" it too so you don't have to sit there and get a leg cramp bouncing the little babe.

#10. Sleepy Wrap/ Boba Wrap. This is definetely a top of the list item for me. I love how close Jax is to me (and he does too!) and it allows me to do housework, play with Ash, go for walks, shop, etc when little man is fussy.

#11. Fisher Price Papasan Swing. And it has to be a papasan, that way it cradles rather than just sitting up. This is a true lifesaver for us as it has been little Jax's bed for the past few weeks. Thank you 5 hour sleep episodes!

#12. Babies R Us Fleece & Embossed Multi-Use Pads, 3-pack. These are super handy for diaper changes all over the house. Jax's changing table is in the nursery, but he sleeps in our room now and we pretty much live downstairs (bedrooms are upstairs). So we keep one in the living room, one in my bedroom, and one is always in the wash. They absorb amazingly and have definetely saved the couch, carpet, and our bedsheets numerous times. Gotta love having a boy!

#13. Pampers Swaddlers diapers. Less leaks, thin, and indicator for wet diapers. Perfect.

#14. Huggies Wipes. I'm a little biased on this one, mainly because I feel that the Pampers wipes are slimy, too thin, and don't break apart at the perforations so you literally grab 30 every time you try to pull one out. Huggies it is. Nice and thick. :)

#15. Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail. Everytime you close the lid a little bit of baking soda is dispensed to help keep that nasty diaper smell out. Nice.

#16. Summer Infants Mother's Touch Bather. Folds up for storage under the sink and sits the baby up without slipping. Love this thing. :)

#17. Car Adapter Outlet. So I pump a lot. A lot. And I'm on the go a lot. So I ugh, pump in the car. A lot. :) Multi-tasking at its greatest. Oh, and huge battery saver!

#18. Infant's Mylicon. I've got one gassy little guy, one dose after every feeding and he doesn't wake up from the gas pains. Score.

#19. The Standard Works App on the Droid. I spend a lot of time pumping, feeding, cradeling, soothing, etc the little peanut in my arms. And especially in the middle of the night I need something to keep me awake. First it was Facebook. That got old fast. Then it was Pinterest. Still a favorite. But I needed ot do something better with my time. So I downloaded this app. Now I have access to the scrptures, hymns, ALL manuals, and General Conference talks. Time better spent for sure. :)

SO as a result of these things, we have had a lot better naps/sleeping times... making a much happier baby and a much, much happier mommy. :)

Oh, and how could I forget...

#20. An older brother. They sure love eachother. :)

Happy Baby = Happy Mommy :)

A Toy Story Halloween

2011-11-01T10:04:00.000-06:00

Jessie, Woody, & Buzz

(Abby, Ash, & Jax)

Cutest Little Toy Story Crew Ever

Ashton got waaaaayyyy too much candy, he was quite proud. :)

Our little Buzz Lightyear

I think Halloween is especially fun now that Ash really understands how the candy collecting works... he would run from house to house telling Abby to hurry. It was cute. :) Happy Halloween!

Boo at the Zoo

2011-11-01T09:43:00.000-06:00

Saturday afternoon Dallas had to study / take a test so I decided to venture off to the zoo with my little babes. It was pretty chilly until right before we left, but Ash was a trooper and had a blast! So glad we went :)

Cutest little cowboy around

Checkin' out the rhinos

His all-time-favorite: the elephants!

Takin' a candy break

Little Jax stayed nice and warm all wrapped and covered up in the stroller

Woody

Buzz

We enjoyed coupons for free kid's meals at Chick-fil-a and Chuck-a-rama, free chocolate milk, Doritos, string cheese, and a ton of candy. It was a fun little preview for Halloween to get Ash ready to trick-or-treat. :)

A Baby's Blessing

2011-10-24T13:49:00.000-06:00

Since we were down in Logandale for the weekend we decided it would be easier to have Jaxon's blessing in my parent's ward so everyone could come. Dallas gave a beautiful blessing to our precious little boy. :)

A lot of people sure love this little guy! Thanks to everyone who joined us for his special day :)

Ash & Jax

After the blessing we all headed over to a luncheon at my parents house. Jax got to meet his new little cousin, Presley, who was born the day before him. They are too cute!

Jax & Presley

Not quite sure if she's digging the whole cousin thing yet :)

All the Paul kiddos: Zaylee, Ashton, Jaxon, Presley, & Zoee

Grandma & the babes

Dallas' older brother, Eric, with his new baby Presley, & Dallas with Jax

Ashton & Zoee - he sure adores this girl!

Bowling

2011-10-24T13:33:00.000-06:00

On Saturday night we went bowling with my family in Mesquite, another Ashton favorite. :)

Papa helping Ash bowl...

My sweet little "growth" and my bestie :)

Carrying his own bowling ball... so big!

And it never fails that Ash has to run into the lane while bowling... he gets out there and slips around like crazy trying to stand back up... its quite comical but he's going ot get us kicked out one of these days!

So happy!

Ash got a strike! (With the help of the bumpers)

Yay!

All the kiddos... from L-R Javier (exchange student from Spain), Jed, Josh, Ash, Sara, and Justin

Carnival

2011-10-24T13:24:00.000-06:00

Dallas had Fall Break this Thursday and Friday which coincidentally fell on the same week that he had an interview at UNLV... so we packed up the kiddos and headed down to Vegas for the weekend! The drive.... was miserable, thanks to the construction in Utah County, but we had a great weekend. On Friday night after the interview we took Ash to the carnival. I can't believe he's big enough to ride the rides by himself now!

Holding on for dear life...

He looks so scared here, but he kept asking to go on the Ferris Wheel...

I broke down and bought a 'Sleepy Wrap' for Jax (like the Moby wrap) and I am sold. Best investment ever. So Jax and I just walked around while he napped. :)

Merry Go Round

I can't believe my little boy is getting so big!

Mater & McQueen

2011-10-24T13:17:00.000-06:00

Ashton has been pretty obsessed with Disney's "Cars" lately, so when we found out that Mater and Lightning McQueen were coming to the Energy Solutions Center... we were there. :) I think he was the happiest kid in the whole world.

The trailer

Ash & Mater

Ash & Abby with McQueen

Ash & McQueen

Mater

Dallas & Ash, Grant & Abby

JAXON

2011-10-20T04:56:00.000-06:00

Jaxon's Newborn Photo Shoot : Courtesy of Sara Volpe & Robin Ellsworth - they did amazing! SO in love with my little boys :)

FAVORITE:

Thanks for capturing these precious moments Sara and Robin!

Little Pumpkin

2011-10-15T13:13:00.000-06:00

Cutest little pumpkin in the whole patch :)

Brothers

2011-10-15T13:05:00.000-06:00

Brothers

Singing

2011-10-15T12:59:00.000-06:00

Ashton loves to sing to his baby brother these days... this song gives him a little startle every time... but its still adorable. :)

Small Pauls

2011-10-10T08:27:00.000-06:00

Obsessed? Yes.

Who wouldn't be with these two precious, little guys?

I could just tickle these little feet all day long! Thanks to Target and online shopping, they've made it easy to go overboard with the "small paul" stuff. How could I resist though... they're my perfect little, small Pauls. :D

One Month

2011-10-08T14:19:00.000-06:00

I can't believe little jax is already 1 month old today! They sure don't stay little for very long... especially our little chunky monkey! I adore his little rolls though. :)

When I was pregnant with him, he was pretty lazy all day long and then would be very active all night long with his dance parties and kickboxing. That's where the "owl" business came from. I can't beleive how fitting it still is, this kid hates sleeping at night! He's our little night owl!

He loves looking at Ash... and since Ash is overly protective and obsessed with his baby, it works out pretty nice. :)

At 1 month old, little Jax:

Loves taking baths, always calms him down!

Sleeps at most 3 hours straight, and not necessarily at night.

Loves to pull his gorgeous, long hair (and mommy's) and then scream like he's being attacked by a polar bear.

Can hold his head up pretty stable as he whips his neck around trying to find something to eat.

Doesn't like the binky... although we are still trying to encourage it daily

Can get out of his swaddle blankets no matter how tight we swaddle him or in what blanket it is in (even the velcro ones!)

Loves to be held all night

Still melts mommy and daddy's hearts :)

Our little bandit

the pirate eye

We sure adore this little cutie. Happy 1 month little Jax!

Saturday Drive

2011-10-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago we went for a little drive up Provo Canyon. The changing fall colors were gorgeous... and it was nice to spend some family time together with my boys. :)

Of course I had forgot my camera... but we still snapped some pics with our phones. Utah is gorgeous in the fall... wish it was fall longer than a few days though!

Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point

2011-10-01T13:38:00.000-06:00

We are soaking up these last sunny days before the cold decides to set in, and what better way than with a playdate at the Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point! I honestly didn't even know that this place existed, but we won't let it go unvisited again. Ash loved it, and it was so pretty- and the weather was perfect! :)

Science activity after story time... Ash was so amused! Who ever wouldv'e thought milk, food coloring, and soap could be so much fun. :)

The three boys - Ashton, Cadence, and Owen. Boys are impossible to get pictures of together!

Rockin' out on the drums...

Building a sand castle...

Playing at the water Ark...

Ashton & Cadence

Ash had a blast, Jax slept perfectly, and I had some nice company... all in all it was a great day in the sun :)

Reunion

2011-10-01T13:19:00.000-06:00

I've seriously been having withdrawals after not seeing these super sweet and sassy girls for 5 months. When you spend 8+ hours a day with someone for 2 years... through the thick and the thin... the good days and bad makeup/hair days... you kinda miss them... a lot. :)

So glad we got to meet up with (almost) all of my favorite hygiene girls, meet Jessica's new addition, and introduce Jax to the crazy girls he was in the womb around ;)

I wish I would've snapped a picture earlier before a bunch of girls had to leave... sure do adore these lovely ladies!

Jessica with her darling little Gracie, 2 months old. You would never guess that Jax is only 3 weeks old... passing her up in the weight department already, he's huge!

It was fun catching up with everyone... the new expecting moms, how jobs are going, and just life in general. Wish everyone could have made it! You know who you are, and we are still missing you like crazy!

My Little Tigers

2011-09-22T20:36:00.000-06:00

These boys are my entire world. Oh how I adore them. :)

Before Jax was born I let Ash pick out matching shirts for them... he was so proud of them! Plus, they simply are adorable... we had a hard time picking just one from the "Disney's - It's A Small World" collection... but he couldn't resist the tigers on these ones. :)

My Little Tigers

I still can't believe how big Ash looks now! I thought he was still small... but he is so grown up!

Daddy & his boys... Ash is HUGE!

Our little "Small Paul" :DI think these two will be best friends forever :)

Two Weeks / Last Day of Summer

2011-09-22T20:23:00.000-06:00

I can't believe today was the last day of summer already. I hate how fast it always flies by. I wish it was summer everyday... mainly because I love days like today. :)

Walks in the sun

Ash riding his "bicy-roll"

He's so handsome :)

Baskin Robbins staining his beautiful cheeks blue :)

Playing in the backyard...

Spending time together in the grass...

Lovin' on my baby boy...

Today was my due date (well, one of them, but the final one the Dr gave me about a month ago). We are so glad Jax decided to spend the last two weeks here with us, and not inside my huge belly. :)

Happy 2 Weeks little Jax!

He had his 2 week check-up on Tuesday and he has already gained an entire pound and grown an inch, making him 22 inches long (92 percentile)! I can't believe how BIG he is already! He has grown out of his newborn clothes already and is in size 1 diapers. Wow! We love all of his silly, adorable faces!

He's not quite sure what to think about kisses yet... but we smother him with them anyways. :) His jaundice finally got under control this week and we are done with the daily heel pokes thank goodness. He is still very sleepy from it but is getting more active every day. Jax sure has the sweetest little spirit and we love him to pieces!

What a perfect last day of summer. :)

Jaxon Charlz Paul

2011-09-14T21:44:00.000-06:00

Warning: Picture Overload (and long birth story!) :)

It's all my fault. I just had to go and say I was finally all ready for baby to arrive last Wednesday. And arrive he did. :) It's Dallas' fault too though because he kept asking how I was feeling that day and evening and I really felt fine - no contractions, no sign of baby, nothing. He said that was good becasue Thursday would be a terrible day to have a baby with a big math quiz and needing to go to his lab for the first time. Well surprise! I went into labor with Ashton in the middle of the night so it was only expected when I woke up at 3:30 am again... this time not with contractions but with an amniotic fluid leak. I woke Dallas up and told him that I thought my water broke and he immediately demanded that we go to the hospital. I really didn't want to wake Ashton up though... and I wasn't having contractions! So I tried to go back to bed, got a little antzy, took a shower, got ready for the day, cleaned the house up, packed a few more things in the hospital bag just in case, and decided I should head to the hospital just to check if my water really did break. Much to the dismay of the announcement on facebook that I drove myself to the hospital - it wasn't really like it sounded. I really didn't want to wake Ashton up just for a check if my water broke or not. So at about 5:30 I headed the 4 blocks to the hospital to pay a little visit to labor an delivery while Dallas finished up some homework waiting for my call. I got to the hospital, checked in, waited in a room for a bit, and then a nurse came in to check me. She said I had a amniotic fluid leak, but that my water didn't fully break - and that I was dilated to a 5 with contractions 2 minutes apart. I had no idea! I called Dallas up and made arrangements for a friend to come stay with Ash. And from there it was pretty much a blur again... luckily I have been blessed with fast labor. :) Alhtough I will admit this time was not as much of a breeze as last time. I had jsut barely had my strep B culture test (or whatever it is) on Tuesday and it had not been precessed yet... so I had to be treated as if I was positive... which meant trying to hold off the delivery while we put two doses of antibiotics through the IV. When my water broke completely just as the second bag was started there was no stopping this baby from being born though! As we frantically waited for my doctor to show up the nurse pleaded with me to not push at all... that's like putting candy infront of a 2 year old and telling him not to touch it! Oh and did I mention that in the mean time my epidural had worn off so I was feeling everything. Ouch. SO the doctor arrived, I pushed 2 sets of 3, cried like never before, and there he was. My beautiful baby boy. I can't say that I have ever experienced and been so unprepared for such pain, but it was completely worth it. He melts my whole heart. :)

Jaxon Charlz Paul - September 8. 2011 (exactly 2 weeks early) - 8 lbs 10 oz - 21" - 11:18 am.

One proud daddy :)

I adore his hair :)

Daddy changing the first diaper... and letting him pee everywhere!

The Paul dimples :)

Teaching Ash how to hold his baby brother...

So happy his brother is finally here!

If you ask Ash, he is "my baby Jax" :)

My boys :)

Waiting to take baby home :)

We stayed the full 2 days in the hospital as his blood sugar levels were really low, but they finally rose and we were so happy to go home as a family :)

First night at home...

My little owl in his bed :)

We came home on Saturday morning and every morning since then we have had to make a trip back to the hospital for blood tests for little Jax's billirubin levels. Each day we were sent home with another order for the next day. :(

In the mean time, we have been spending some afternoons outside like this... suntanning :)

Ash has loved the time outside riding his bike too :)

My handsome boys :)

We took Jax in for his first weigh-in yesterday and he was 8lbs 8.5oz, almost his birth weight - which is great! He's eating really good, but is super sleepy from his jaundice. His latest bilirubin test today came back at 18.9 (gradually increasing each day) so he was ordered phototherapy with more blood tests each day. If his levels reach 20 then its back in the hospital for him :( Praying for a decrease tomorrow - until then it's tanning bed time as much as possible as I lay next to this sweet little guy.

What a blessing little Jax has been to our family already. We love him to pieces and Ashton is infatuated with him. I adore our family of four. :)

Just Waiting For Baby

2011-09-07T10:00:00.000-06:00

38 weeks and we've finally got everything together... except baby. :) Yesterday at my check-up I was dilated to a 3 and fully effaced... this could be encouraging but I was the same with Ashton for a week or two before he was born... either way we are keeping our fingers crossed that this little peanut waits till atleast next Tuesday to make his debut! (If longer, I can be induced next Thursday if I want... still contemplating that one.)

In the mean time, I've had fun putting Ashton and Baby's rooms together. Baby gets to share a room with the office/study room so really he just gets a wall and half a closet... but he'll be in his bassinet in our room for a while anyways. :)

So here is Baby's wall... what you see when you first walk in.

Ow;/Tree Wall decal... such a pain but turned out very cute :)

Ashton isn't quite ready to share his old crib set and I wasn't ready to buy a whole new one so I just threw a few things together that can either be added to later or replaced by Ashton's crib set. We went with a green/teal owl theme. It's from the Skip Hop Treetop Friends collection... but with my own, cheaper twist. :)

So I made this bedskirt... first time I've sewn in about 2 years! I was so proud of my little pleats...

And then I made some curtains... these were a lot trickier... I was just excited that they hung straight by the time I was done!

The top section is the brown owl material to match the pleats on the crib ruffle, seperated with a green flange, and the bottom is teal with green rod loops and tie backs.

Ashton helped me cutout little owls to put on each rod loop too, its hard to see the detail, but really I don't want anyone to look too close!

This is the pillow that started it all...

And this is Ashton's new room! (Instead of taking the crib apart and moving it we just switched Ashton into a new room. He's done so good with it and he loves his new big boy bed! Thank goodness!

We went with a sports sort of theme for him... nothing really matches... but I think that's what makes it Ashton's. :)

We found this picture at Deseret Book when Ashton was just a baby... it just fits. :)

And here is the little cutie himself! He loves taking care of his little fishy... so glad it survived the drive to and from Nebraska this summer!

I think I'm finally ready now for Baby to come. :)

Clothes are in the dresser, packed the hospital bag, packed Ash a bag, bouncer is assembled, bottles and binkies are bought, room is set, I've been collecting boxes of diapers all summer, and Ashton is just begging to get Baby out of his "room" (womb) so he can play with him. :)

Here's to hoping he can wait one more week! :D

Park City

2011-09-01T14:22:00.000-06:00

We decided to celebrate the end of summer and Jeff leaving for his mission on Tuesday by taking a little trip up to Park City. It is so pretty up there!

I just can't get enough of these two!

Ashton was flyin' high in the airplane :)

All the boys on the Alpine Coaster...

Jeff, Justin, Jed, and Javier (my parent's exchange student from Spain) on the Zipline

All the boys on the Alpine Slide, Ash even got to go. He was the happiest kid on earth... and if you look really close you can even see him squished up against daddy on the ski lift ride up!

Daddy & Ash at the end of the slide
Justin and Jed did some rock climbing while the rest of us mini golfed... Ash was quite the pro! :)

It was a gorgeous day with the greatest people, we had so much fun!

Called To Serve Him

2011-09-01T13:31:00.000-06:00

A few months ago my little brother, Jeff, got his mission call to Everett, Washington. It's still hard to believe that he grew up so fast! We didn't get to make the drive down to Logandale for his farewell but we were so happy that we got to see him off to the MTC yesterday.

Elder Jeffery Elston Hardy... one good lookin' missionary!

Half the family that came to see him off. :)

Mom & Dad w/ Jeffers

Love my little brother :)

3 of the younger brothers (Josh couldn't make it)

This one's going to make Mom cry again :)

Dad & Jeff

Last summer while I was in school Jeff came to Orem to watch Ash for a few weeks. Ash has been pretty attached to him ever since, especially since Jeff would always play his guittar for him and even left him some of his favorite HotWheels to take care of while he is away.

He loves his Uncle Jeff... we will certainly miss him, but we couldn't be more proud!

When you take missionaries to the MTC now, you pretty much just drop them at the curb and say adios... I took this one from the car as he looked back to say bye... He looks so happy!

Jeff is going to be an amazing missionary! So lucky to have him as my brother! Here's to the best 2 years! We love ya Jeff!

Family of Three

2011-08-28T20:54:00.000-06:00

So it occured to me today that these are the last few weeks that we are going to be a family of three. What a strange thought! We are so excited to grow our little family, but until then we are just going to let Ash savor the alone time with mommy and daddy!

We have loved every second of having our little family all back together in Utah for the last week. With Dallas starting school again tomorrow we decided to go out for a little Sunday afternoon walk at Bridal Veil Falls. Utah is truly beautiful!

We can't wait to become a family of FOUR. Here's to another great semester for Dallas, a new baby boy in 3 weeks, hopeful jobs for me, and many more exciting things to come in the next few months! :)

24

2011-08-28T20:38:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right. I turned the ripe, old age of 24 on Friday! My husband sure knows how to spoil me too :)

All-you-can-eat french toast and strawberries from Kneader's for breakfast, 4 short hours of dental hygiene for me while daddy & Ash went shopping, dinner at P.F. Chang's - mongolian beef and crispy honey chicken on fried rice, 2 new pairs of shoes, Yankee's hat, PPB wallet I've had my eye on for months, and a new monster truck from Ash, followed by cupcakes at Cupcake Chic, a little mall walking, and 2 un-interupted episodes of Cupcake Wars and a bubble bath. Best birthday EVER.

So far I love being 24... but mostly I love my husband and little boy to pieces. They are my whole world and I couldn't be more blessed to have them in my life! :)

Yankees Game

2011-08-25T20:45:00.000-06:00

Wayyyyy back in May I got Dallas 2 tickets to the Yankees vs. Royals game in Kansas City... I wasn't thinking at the time that I might not be able to go with the recommendation from my Dr to not travel the last month of pregnancy. :(

But we couldn't waste the tickets! So Dallas got to take one of the sales reps with him from Grand Island. They had a blast! The seats were just 7 rows up behind the Yankees dugout... he was one happy camper :)

Kauffman Stadium

A.J. Burnett pitching

Derek Jeter at bat...

I wasn't thinking and I kept the camera with me in Utah so he had to get all the pics from his phone... needless to say I was jealous I wasn't there... but I'm glad they had a great time!

Life At 35

2011-08-16T11:31:00.000-06:00

5 weeks left till my original due date! This is rather bittersweet - mostly because this means that in 5 weeks (or less!) I'm going to have to share my time with two adorable baby boys, not just one. I guess Ashton is not really a baby anymore - but honestly, he's always going to be my baby boy. :)

So life at 35 weeks goes a little like this:

I'm HUGE... as you can see. And not one person I see lets me forget that! Gotta love the 2nd baby growth. ;)

I finally took my glucose tolerance test last week, which came back border line (runs in the fam, thanks mom!) - but with just a month or so left my doctor suggested I just take it easy on the sweets, dangit! (*note: he said "take it easy", not eliminate!)

I find it very hard to sleep these days, not necessarily because I'm uncomfortable - I just wake up about every 2 hours and lay in bed till I fall back asleep. Getting ready for baby I guess!

I'm glad to be back in Utah, closer to my doctor (only 4 blocks away to be exact!) - this is very reassuring.

At my last appointment, he said the baby is head down ready for delivery - not that that means he's coming anytime soon... just that if I go into labor, he's not going to stop me. :)

I'm finding it very hard to chase Ashton these days, but he's also getting very good at staying by my side which is extremely nice.

I'm having an ultrasound next Monday so we will see just how big this baby has gotten (slightly nervous for this one!)

Taco Bell is still my #1 craving - along with perfectly ripe plums, PF Changs, and orange juice. Strange how much my cravings have changed over the last 35 weeks!

And last but not least, clothes just don't fit anymore. I try on about 6 different things a day, but always end up in the same ol' leggings or basketball shorts.

Pretty much, just don't mess with me cause I'm large, in charge, uncomfortable, and ready to have this beautiful big boy. :)

And how could I resist not putting up a pic of this sweet little man... He can't wait to meet his baby brother! My belly has gotten lots of extra rubs and kisses lately too - who could complain? I think Ashton had more fun helping me wash, fold, and hang baby brother's clothes and toys this last week too than I did! Can't wait till they meet!

5 weeks left and 1.5 weeks till my hubby is home for good. Life is good :)

Hogle Zoo

2011-08-14T12:24:00.000-06:00

With my little sister and her husband moving to Hawaii at the end of this month for school - we were blessed with a weekend visit from them before they leave in just 2 weeks.

We decided it would be fun to head to the Hogle Zoo bright and early Saturday morning for some animal fun. And fun it was. :) Ashton loved the "Zoorassic Park Experience" the most with all the dinosaur displays.

Dinosaurs!

Aunt Jordan and Ashton with the moles!

Jordan & Jay... we're going to miss them!

The elephants... another favorite for Ashton

He's a snake lover! Weirdo!

Ash and Aunt Jordan with the t-rex... this one was a little too big for his liking...

Giraffes!

ROAR!!!!

Counting the dinosaur's teeth!

We had a perfect day with Jordan and Jay! Best wishes to you two!

Home

2011-08-14T12:01:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday night we packed up the car and began the long drive from Grand Island back to Utah. After 14 hours, 5 potty breaks for the mama, and a horrible case of the hives for Ash - we all made it home safely- Ashton's beta fish and all! 14 hours in the car at 8 1/2 months pregnant wasn't the best experience, but I loved the time Dallas and I got to spend together chatting. :)

Sunday was spent catching up on some sleep, putting things away, and dinner and games with some friends.

Monday we got to all go to the aquarium in Sandy as a family - a first! Ashton loved showing daddy all of his favorite things. And what better way to finish the day than with some good ol' Chick-fil-a... we sure missed Chick-fil-a!

I loved spending the weekend with both my boys in Utah - it feels like we have been gone forever! Early Tuesday morning it was off to the airport for Dallas though - back to Nebraska. I'm counting down the days till he's back in Utah to stay with us for good!

And I had to throw this cute pic in of Ash and Abby - he sure missed this girl!

We sure are glad to be back in our Utah home :)

Carrot Top

2011-08-06T11:20:00.000-06:00

When Ashton wears orange and the sun is shining nice and bright, I'm pretty sure it looks like he's a slight carrot-top.

... And I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get smiling pictures of him these days... he's so busy! If you ask me, he's definetely got the red-head personality. We will have to wait and see if it goes dark like daddy's hair, or light like mine,... or stays strawberry. :)

And speaking of carrot tops - my biggest craving for the past 2 weeks have been carrot cake cupcakes. Ashton and I went to get some the other day for our lunch date and the cupcake shop was closed. :( But, that didn't hold us back! We gathered some quick ingredients and made 24 homemade carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting just for us (and at about the same price!), oh and we made 24 red velvet and cream cheese cupcakes for daddy (his fave).

Don't worry, we didn't eat all 48 - (we had 8 other hungry boys to share with) but they surely satisfied my carrot cake cupcake craving and I don't think I'll need any more for a long time!

Tonight we head back to Utah for good, I'm excited to get out of this humidity but I'm really going to miss our Nebraska summer, and Ashton is really going to miss his 8 crazy uncles (all the sales reps here). He has grown so much this summer its unbelievable!

I'm not looking forward to the 13 hour drive ... but I will be glad to be HOME! :)

4 Years

2011-08-06T10:57:00.000-06:00

Four years ago I was sealed for time and all eternity to my very best friend.

August 3, 2007

I really can't believe that 4 years have gone by, and so quickly! Together we have done so much and I am so proud of where we are today. I couldn't have picked anyone better - I mean really, he's got it all. Great husband, father, friend, teacher, coach... the list could go on forever. Most of all, I love how he still makes me laugh every day. :D

I really wasn't expecting to celebrate much this year since Dallas is swamped with work. But to my surprise, he woke me up bright and early at 6:30 Wednesday morning. He had gone to our favorite small town restaraunt here in Grand Island and picked up breakfast and set it all up on the dining room table with flowers and a candle. A candle-lit breakfast - who would've thought! It was so fun whispering the morning away as the sun rose, trying not to wake the little beast. I felt like a teenager again. :)

Later that afternoon we had a family date to Mongolian Grill for lunch and then Dallas was off to work. It was soooo yummy... I've been craving it every day since!

I loved our morning date more than anything. Just a simple little reminder of why I love this amazing, handsome, hard-working man of mine. :)

Happy Four Year Anniversary Sweetie!

A Bittersweet Goodbye

2011-07-28T18:51:00.000-06:00

As hot and humid as it is here in Grand Island, Ne - I'm getting rather sad that we are leaving home to Utah for good next week. We've grown so attached to the parks, friends, and especially the one-on-one time I've had with Ashton. As soon as we get home its time to get ready for baby to come, Dallas starts school, and I have to find a job... in other words - its back to reality!

We are especially going to miss the play group we've been going to almost all summer. Ashton has made quite a few friends there, and it's nice that they are all boys! Today they threw a little going away party for us at the park with some delicious treats and an adorable little gift for our little baby (Sarah T. crocheted a frog toy for him... she's so creative!)

Ashton loved the little cake pops Sarah T. made...

The crazy crew of boys...

Boyce and Ashton...

They were too cute together... they just wanted a zillion pictures! I love their sweet faces! We will miss you so much Boyce! Visit us in Utah!!!

We will never forget our Nebraska friends :)

Hot Wheels

2011-07-27T18:44:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was the Locust Cruise Night car show right by our house... so of course I had to take Ashton. He was in absolute heaven. It was like seeing all of his HotWheels in life-size. :) He would stop infront of each car and ask me to take a picture so he could look at them later. What a goof!

Then on Saturday we ventured off to the Hall County Fair to see the animals and check out the carnival. It was so hot and humid that we didn't last very long... and it definetely didn't come close to our familiar Clark County Fair in Logandale! Needless to say, we let Ash pet the animals in the petting zoo, grabbed a funnel cake, and booked it out of there!

NEBRASKA IS SOOOOO HOT AND HUMID!!!!!

A Work of Art...

2011-07-27T18:30:00.000-06:00

Ashton has been dying to paint my belly ever since I let him draw all over it one night.

Personally, I think my belly looks disgusting. But if you ask Ashton - it was his perfect paint easel.

We had a ton of fun painting eachother this morning... and making a HUGE mess. :)

Daddy's Boy

2011-07-18T18:16:00.000-06:00

It's crazy to realize how much Ashton has really grown over the past 2 years. The pictures on the left were taken in Sioux City, Ia - two years ago when Ash was only 7 months old. Then the pictures on the right were taken just this weekend, in Grand Island, Ne - at just over 2.5 years old. He's always been a daddy's boy!

His favorite thing to do this summer is go to the park and feed the geese with daddy... and now that he can, he loves to ride his bike there too.

I tend to stand farther back... maybe that's why he prefers to go with daddy :)
I just adore how much these boys love eachother

Lincoln Children's Zoo

2011-07-18T18:00:00.000-06:00

We took one of Dallas' coworkers to the airport this weekend in Lincoln (about 1.5 hours away) and decided we should do something fun for Ash while we were there.

We let him choose lunch, Cici's Pizza Buffet of course, where he ate atleast 6 pieces of pizza and 3 cinamon rolls. I have no idea where he put it all!

Then we told him we were going to the zoo... he was all smiles. :)

Santa's Reindeer

Feeding the goats with daddy...

Counting the penguins...

Trying to catch a butterfly in the butterfly pavillion...

Our little butterfly friend...

Ashton's favorite for the day... the flamingos

My little froggy :)

Checkin' out the turtles

Little Eagle

And from left to right: 1. Trying to cool off under the misters. 2. He spotted this little beauty honking in the bushes right next to him. 3. He booked it back to mom at top speeds! Little chicken!

Considering it was 106 degrees outside with humidity (heat index of about 114) we really didn't stay long at the zoo... just long enough to check out all the animals to satisfy this little smarty's imagination. :)

All in all, it can't even compare to Omaha's Zoo, but I sure love going out with my little family!

Life At 30

2011-07-13T15:06:00.000-06:00

With just 10 weeks left before we meet this sweet baby boy (or 8 weeks if he decides to come around the same time Ash did!) I just wanted to jot down a few things going on at 30 weeks...

My awful pregnancy allergies have returned

I have traded all of of my clothes in for Dallas’ basketball shorts and shirts

I can’t paint my toenails anymore, let alone even see my feet :)

I drove on the wrong side of the street thinking I was on a one-way road (although I can't be blamed alone because Dallas was in the car too!)

I've scoped out every single cupcake shop within 100 miles

I have to get up atleast twice a night to use the bathroom

My belly button has popped... a while ago I suppose, but Ashton has just realized it and he thinks its funny :)

I'm slightly freaking out about the idea that I might have to push a double stroller around… ( I thought Ash would be able to stay by my side better at this point… wrong!)

I'm still struggeling to drink water... the Mio flavoring has helped a lot though

I had to read the back of the package for directions on how to cook top ramen… and then be reminded by my younger brother that you don’t drain the water like spaghetti

I would love to eat cold cereal for every meal

I know this is bad, but I really really really want a Rockstar about 80% of the time – don’t worry I resist!

I'm terrified of the geese at the park for two reasons: 1) I imagine that I probably waddle like them, and 2) I think they could out-run me and peck at my toes!

I love watching the dance party in my belly each night :)

And now for a little update on my main man:
He says the funniest things these days... I wish that I would remember to write them all down but here are a few of the recent ones:

At the LoveSac store: “Its only 40 bucks Mom, lets just get it!”

Brandon asked if he could see Ashton’s big muscles and in reply Ash said “Well let me see your little muscles first!”

He has politely learned to say “no ganks (thanks)” which he will proudly scream when it’s time to leave somewhere, clip his toe-nails, or eat something healthy for dinner.

And just some sidenotes:

His favorite foods are pashoes (pistachios), peanut butter and honey triangle sandwiches (cant be any other shape!), bacon and scramblesd eggs, pancakes, and popsicles

His favorite game is pretending to be Mater and the Monster Truck with Daddy

He still pokes my belly like its some sort of weird growth, but then he will kiss it

When he gets out of the bathtub he wants to be held like a baby elephant (cradled in his towel) ....don’t ask where that one came from!

We are all anxious, excited, and nervous to have this new little baby around soon... He just keeps getting bigger and stronger each day! Ashton is going to be a great big brother too. :)

Mini Vacay

2011-07-12T10:17:00.000-06:00

Early Saturday morning we headed off to Omaha with all the Satton guys from the Grand Island office for a training meeting. While the boys sat inside a boring meeting all day, Jade (another sales reps wife) and I decided to treat ourselves and the kiddos to a little mini vacation in Omaha.

We were not disappointed :)
We started off by taking the kiddos to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Ashton loves playing with Carson - and they could totally pass as brothers! Even with an accident leaving Ash pantsless the entire trek through the zoo and the miserable heat and humidity and hills - we had a blast!

(I love how Ash is so tough and independent, but he will still hold my hand when he's a little nervous - middle left pic)

Ashton's favorite animals :)

We loved the butterfly exhibit too... even if they tried to fly in our faces :)

After the zoo we hit up Target, Panera Bread (mmmmmm), and the mall to do a little shopping...
but the fun couldn't end there! We met up with the guys at Omaha's FunPlex WaterPark for a few hours after their meeting to soak up some sun and relax in the pools. Ashton and Carson thought they were fishies... they had so much fun!

Ashton decided to take a little break after he took a nose-dive straight into the water when another kid knocked him over at the bottom of a slide. I don't know what looked more pathetic - him floundering under the water or me practically breaking my ankle as my huge belly jumped in to save him. :)After the waterpark we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings with the entire crew (about 30+ people) and had a great time laughing with good food and friends.

After such a long day, my poor little body couldn't wait to get to the hotel and crash late that night. And crash it did. What a great mini vacation... I sure wish we lived closer to Omaha. :)

Independence Day

2011-07-05T12:45:00.000-06:00

We love celebrating our Independence. :)

I made my first homemade cake (meaning not from a box haha) with blueberry stars, strawberry stripes, and cream cheese frosting. Mmmm.

Ashton ate his first chicken leg, trying to eat the bone and all, at a free dinner in town. :)

Ashton held his first sparkler all by himself. :)

And most importantly, Ashton FINALLY learned to ride his trike after 6 long months of trying and trying again! :)

We had a great day!

We Heart Summer :D

2011-07-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

So we've learned that if we want to spend any time with Daddy this summer it's either got to be early in the morning or late at night. So we tried both this week. :)

We had a blast at the waterpark for just a couple hours (which was really all I could do in 103 degree weather anyways) one morning!

... and all the summer boys aka our Nebraska Family :)

Ash and I spent a lot of time soaking up the sun in the lazy river while the boys conquered all the slides... He loves kissing his baby brother. :)

Then later in the week we tried out the late night scene and went bowling with all the guys for Friday Night Bowl for $1. Ash was nuts! ... Considering it was WAY past his bedtime, he did pretty good though. :)

For just a little glimpse of his craziness here's a little clip... you just have to turn your head sideways to see it :)

But regardless of whether its early morning or late night, we love our summers. :)

When I Grow Up...

2011-07-01T09:22:00.000-06:00

We finally made it to the Kearney, Ne Children's Museum while Dallas was taking the DAT on Wednesday. Ashton had a blast playing dress-up with all the different career choices and pretending to be grown-up. :)

So now the question is... What to be when I grow up???

(I love his cart full of doughnuts here... if only he always got to do the grocery shopping!)

We had a ton of fun at the museum, and Dallas rocked the DAT. All in all, it was a great day! :)

Wedding Week

2011-06-30T19:35:00.000-06:00

It's still hard to believe that my little sister just got married last week! And what a beautiful, crazy, priceless, hectic, hot week it was!

**Monday: Fly to Las Vegas from Omaha, pick up wedding cake, catch up with family.

**Tuesday: Girls-day-out in Vegas :)

(A pregnant woman's dream come true - the M&M Factory!)

**Wednesday: Jordan and Jeff (my little sister and brother) go through the St. Geroge Temple for the first time, food shopping for the reception, and the Pajama Party Bridal Shower I got to host for my little sister (complete with pedi's and matching toe-nails for the bridesmaids!)
**Thursday: The Vegas heat got to me and I was pretty much sick all day with dehydration :( , but we did some last minute food shopping and baked cakes for the reception all day.

**Friday: Wedding Day! Jordan and Jay Rappleye were sealed for time and all eternity in the St. George Temple! (And just as a little flash back to December and Dallas' brother's wedding, we were flying to our seats in the temple by the hair on our chinny chin chins again!)
After the sealing we frantically began preparing and setting up for the reception - including making a zillion sticky, messy fruit kabobs, a gazillion tasty cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, frosting a million cakes, and decorating the cultural hall in just about 5 hours! I'm so lame though and didn't get ANY pictures of our hard work - but you might be able to tell in the pictures how exhausted my pathetic pregnant body was at the end of the day. :)

I think Ashton ate 6 pieces of cake at the reception that night too... oops :)

**Saturday: Take Jordan's friend to the airport in Vegas and a delicious BBQ with the fam complete with homemade icecream and homemade rootbeer. :)

**Sunday: Pack and clean, drive to Orem with my little man, my mom , and little brother.

**Monday: Dr's appointment (still have one healthy, BIG boy growing each day inside me!), another working interview for a dental hygiene job, and drive back to Vegas.

**Tuesday: Up bright and early for our flight back to Omaha!

Wow, what a week! Like I said, it was beautiful and crazy, but I loved every minute of it! So happy for my little sister and I wish her and Jay the best of luck with their future together now! :)

*And how could I possibly leave out these adorable pictures of Ashton with his 4 girly cousins, Ava & Halley and Zoee & Zaylee, he sure loves them!)*

A Day For Dads

2011-06-19T21:48:00.000-06:00

Happy Father's Day to the three great men in my life!

Dallas, my Dad, and Ken (Dallas' Dad)
What great examples all three of these men are... and most importantly what great fathers they have all been/are. What a blessing they are! I hope they all know just how special they are to everyone around them and that they are loved beyond expression. :)

Happy Father's Day!

I really couldn't ask for a better father for my children! Ash loves his daddy so very, very much. From wrestling on the floor, basketball at the park, cuddles on the couch, and telling secrets - Ash looks up to his Daddy in every way. And seeing them together is my favorite thing. :)

For a little Father's Day celebration today, Ash and I made a special dinner for Daddy (and all the boys here with Satton). We slow-cooked Salsa Chicken with rice, banana pudding, homemade rolls, sugar cookies, and strawberry stuffed lime cupcakes (oh so tasty!). Ash picked out 2 new PS3 controllers for Daddy so he can play with his friends all together and we spent the evening playing basketball at the park. Couldn't have picked a better way to celebrate the greatest Daddy I know. :)

(We had to spell out "Happy Dad's Day" instead of "Happy Father's Day" because Dallas snuck in the kitchen and ate some of the cookies before I could frost them :D )

Summer Fun

2011-06-12T20:58:00.000-06:00

We seem to spend a lot of time at the park this summer... I feel like I'm having to play catch-up for all the time I had to spend inside studying last summer. Either way, Ash isn't complaining. And we even found ourselves a nice little playgroup to join here in Grand Island each week. It seems like all the kids Ash's age in Utah are girls, so its nice to finally have some other boys to play trucks with, chase around, and wrestle with. :)
One of the boys from the playgroup forgot his shoes and Ashton wanted to join him shoeless for the day, the only thing was that Ashton ALWAYS has shoes on (he's a little obsessed) and so his feet are super tender. When he walked on the bark he felt like he had to use all four limbs to get anywhere... silly kid looked just like Mowgli from the Jungle Book. :)

We also spend a lot of time at the free wading pools here in Grand Island with Ash's friend from church, Boyce. Again - Ash loves having a boy to tag along with. :)
And my most favorite days are spent with all 3 of us... on Sundays. :)

Daddy's been teaching Ash some new b-ball tricks - every morning Ash wakes up asking if we get to play basketball at the park with daddy. :)
Daddy & Ash
Getting dizzy on the merry-go-round with Daddy

And cheerin' daddy on during an intense game of basketball against Ben

We like to go to the gymnastics place in town too with his summer buddy, Carson. They do open gym on Fridays so Ash loves to play on the trampolines, the rock wall, balancing beams, hanging rings, and the huge blow up obstacle course. And I love the energy-crash afterwards!

And on Saturday night Uncle Ben got all the sales guys (and wives) free tickets to the Nebraska Dangers game - Indoor Professional Football / arena football. What an interesting sport! Ash had fun cheering the team on, eating popcorn, hanging out with the Danger Mascot (slightly creepy man in the lower left), and covering his ears for a good portion of the game. It was so loud in the arena little baby boy #2 was doing handstands inside me! What a fun summer night together though!

We love summer time... and clearly I take way too many pictures. Time to find a hobby! :)

This & That

2011-06-08T20:23:00.000-06:00

Ashton is so growing up way too fast.

And clearly he is already much more brave than I am. I try to throw the bread for the geese and ducks far away, he loves to throw it right by his feet. He thinks its funny when they hiss at him, I frankly find it terrifying.

What a crazy kid. :) Oh, and this smile? It's dangerous... :)

And these legs? Yeah, they're pretty fast... and always on the go.
And this face? Well, believe it or not this is his "ugh, duh mom" face...

he's got it down so good already. And I seem to be seeing it a lot lately.

He just doesn't understand that I want him to stay little forever. Oh how I just adore this little boy... he is my whole world. :)

25 Weeks

2011-06-06T17:44:00.000-06:00

Last time I was pregnant I was so good at taking pictures atleast once a month... We loved looking back through them amazed at how much my stomach grew each month. This time around we have been awful, with no pictures at all. I can't even use the excuse of being "too busy" now... there's just something about being pregnant that makes me avoid the camera. Ick. But, Dallas convinced me to let him take a picture at the park the other day... just a little snapshot of our little growing man. :)

I really haven't had any weird cravings this time around. My pregnancy favorites have been green apples, Taco Bell nachos (thank goodness there is not a Taco Bell in Grand Island!), Honey Nut Cheerios, Diet Dr. Pepper (just a craving, the husband would hassle me for hours if I even took a sip), and it varies between Snickers and Milky Ways. If I could eat those things everyday, wow would I be a happy camper. :)

I certainly struggle with the water thing, again. And milk. I really hate milk. Oh and meat. Which is new. I can't stand chicken, steak, or pork. Hoping that one passes soon! And for some reason I can not sleep on my side for anything. I wake up on my back many times throughout the night, and I even broke down and bought a dumb pregnancy pillow that obviously isn't keeping me on my side.

And of course I'm just as emotional this time around as last. I still bawl when I watch Extreme Home Makeover or hear a siren blaring down the street. I blame that one on my mom. :)

I really can't complain with my pregnancies, they've been fairly easy, with the exception of the normal aches and pains and restless nights. Luckily I can still chase Ashton around, shoot a few hoops with the husband on Sundays, and eat anything in sight. :)

We are just counting down the weeks (15... or less hopefully!) till we get to meet this sweet, very active little guy!

2 1/2

2011-06-03T22:36:00.000-06:00

I can't believe Ashton is 2 1/2 already! He is such a big boy and he just amazes us each and every day with new, funny, incredible things!

Just some fun things to remember about this age...

He is very opinionated.

He can speak complete, full, understandable sentences (and even carry on a conversation!).

His counting goes a little like this - 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Brown has adopted the color-name purple.

He loves his naps with mom because I let him sleep in my bed on daddy's side (he sleeps about 10 hours at night and takes a good 2-3 hour nap everyday still!).

His favorite foods are crackers and cheese, apples, mac&cheese, pancakes, bacon, popsicles, eggs, donuts, hot cereal (oatmeal), and chicken.

He loves to kiss "baby brother" good-night every night and rub my belly.

If you ask him where he wants to go shopping he will say Target over Walmart any day of the week (that's my boy!)

He asks if every toy in the toy section "costs too much" until we come across the hotwheels - which he carries around atleast 3 at a time all day long.

He loves to line all of his trucks up in a perfectly straight line, put his army men in each one, and call it his "truck tower"

His favorite movie is still Toy Story - he hates watching movies in the theater.

He has finally learned that makeup and nail polish is for "grils" only.

He only lets mom brush his teeth for him.

He runs EVERYWHERE he goes and never runs out of energy!

He has the best memory ever and loves to copy dad!

And just some Ashton language to finish it all up: Nasal = my snail shaped pregnancy pillow. Pizza = cheese. Soccer-balls = suckers. Possypalls = popsicles.

(I love how he says "cheese" for his pictures - tongue and all!)

Getting sooo big!I would have to say this is probably one of the funnest ages so far... he is so interactive and we get so much more accomplished now that we can really communicate and he can tell us what he needs/wants. I sure adore this little boy of mine... and i am so in love with his sweet little smile, voice, pudgy little hands, and the way he still loves to share his eyelashes with me after I told him I wanted them for myself since they were so long. He really is the sweetest, craziest, most perfect little guy ever. I couldn't be pleased with who is growing up to be. He is going to be the best big brother ever!

Memorial Day

2011-06-01T18:05:00.000-06:00

We decided to be tourists this past Memorial Day... and what better way to start our day then with a trip to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Ne.

Dallas was in heaven. Ashton may have been too. Oh and Ben. I was way out-numbered. I might admit it was pretty cool seeing the stadium and visitor's center there though.

For Memorial Day...

And just a little glimpse of the very windy weather we had that day... (Isn't Ben just the cutest pushing the stroller around haha... oh and we were not on a slope here)

After the stadium it was off to the mall for a little shopping. Nebraska has possibly the worst shopping selection ever... but Ash loved the carousel. :)

And of course the trip wouldn't be complete without a stop at the State Capital Building. I felt like I was in 4th grade again...
And to top it all off we ate at this delicious Italian restaurant, Grisantis... with the most divine apple-crumb-cheesecake I've ever had.

It's always fun being a tourist... expecially when I get to be with my very best friend! (A very rare occasion during summer sales!

Utah

2011-06-01T17:55:00.001-06:00

Ashton loved visiting Utah last week. Mostly he loved spending time with this little cutie. :)

Ashton and Abby always have so much fun together! So glad we got to spend a few days with them. :)

Natural Disasters / Counting Blessings

2011-05-30T22:18:00.000-06:00

It seems as though I've been counting my many, many blessings quite often lately. And it seems as though the next thing just always tops the last, whether it's a stressful test or losing my toddler... I think tonight may have topped them all. This one tops it all because there was nothing we could do to control it. Nothing.

My loving husband, sweet little boy(s), and oh so brave brother-in-law, Ben, were all driving [home] to Grand Island from Lincoln tonight along the I80. Dallas was babbeling on about chemistry something or another, Ben was napping in the back seat with Ash, and I was admiring the brilliant colors flashing across the sky infront of us. Within seconds it began pouring rain, horizontally, and within the next 30 seconds we were trapped in the outskirts of a tornado. Just like that. A tornado. Yes, I was terrified. As we sat at a complete stop on the freeway we could feel the car lifting off the ground and scooting forward. By far the scariest feeling in my life - because like I said, there was nothing we could have done to prevent this or prepare for it. After probably about 5 minutes the swirling dirt and mud around us died down enought to try and drive a little farther. We drove about 2 more miles, took the next exit, and pulled into the first house we saw off the freeway. The family welcomed us in as if they had been waiting for us and they were so generous and compassionate. A true answer to our prayers at that time. (They even had a 2-yr-old that Ash quickly befriended!) After an hour of waiting, the storm finally died down and we were able to make it back to Grand Island. What a true test of faith we all had this evening. And a wonderful time to sit back and really count our blessings.

"So, amid the conflict whether great or small, Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done."

Among the many, many incredible things I have to be grateful for, I am especially grateful for the power of prayer tonight, a loving Heavenly Father, and my brave, comforting husband. I truly have much to give thanks for.

Just Traveling Through Time

2011-05-25T17:17:00.000-06:00

3 hours of sleep. 2 1/2 hour drive from Grand Island, Ne to Omaha. 40 minute delay at airport. Tried to board plane without a boarding pass (silly me). Finally boarded plane with an insistant 2 year old thinking he was going to be the pilot. 2 1/2 hour turbulence filled flight from Omaha to Pheonix. 3 hour layover in Pheonix. 1 1/2 hour flight from Pheonix to Salt Lake City. 40 minute drive to Orem from SLC.

And why all this trouble you ask? Well, first - we missed Utah and Ashton's best bud, Abby. Two, we needed some Zupas and a trip to Target. And three, I had my first of probably many, many interviews today for a real dental hygiene job. :)

P.s. I am postponing booking a flight back to Omaha for the mere fact that the little baby inside me hated flying very, very much. Good thing Ash was a great co-pilot!

A Baseball Birthday

2011-05-25T12:29:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty sure I have the best husband ever. :)

He's such a hard worker, a great daddy, and best of all he's still just so dang cute after celebrating his 5th birthday together! Happy 26th birthday to my sweetie!

Dallas is pretty lucky around his birthday time because we always seem to be out doing summer sales so he gets to have all the guys over to celebrate. This year we did a combined birthday dinner at the park with another sales rep, Eric. I think they had a good time. :)

We went with a baseball theme this year... call it juvenille but Dallas loved it once he opened his two dugout seats to the Yankees vs. Royals this season and new Yankees baseball cap. I even got the "best wife ever" title. :) Sure love that boy!

And what birthday wouldn't be complete without some fishing and jungle gym time with a 2 year old? Ash sure adores that daddy of his!

And on his actual day of birth we did gifts over his favorite breakfast, an icecream cake from his mom for lunch, a long day of work, and dinner at a new burger place. This kid is spoiled!

But he deserved every second of it. :)

Happy Birthday to my best friend!

Afternoon Outings

2011-05-25T12:17:00.000-06:00

We love to go the park these days. And I love my little monkey boy. :)

Good thing there's so many parks here in Grand Island - Ash and I would be very bored without them. :)

Pray. Dream. Believe.

2011-05-18T18:17:00.000-06:00

"God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities. God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe." — Jeffrey R. Holland

I just found out that I passed my Clinical Boards exam!

(Read here for the background on that one)

I literally jumped off the couch and into Dallas' arms when I opened the webpage with my results on it. A 94%. That's right. I did it, and I did it well. :)

I could not feel more accomplished and relieved at this time! Now I can finish applying for my license and begin a new chapter in this crazy, wonderful life I've been living. I am overwhelmed with the blessings from My Father in Heaven who has truly answered my prayers lately. Life is wonderful. :)

Energy

2011-05-18T17:28:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I wish I had even a quarter of this kid's energy. He just go go goes all day long! We've been trying to make sure and get out to do something fun everyday. Monday I drove to Hastings, Ne (about 1/2 hour away) to take him to the Children's Museum there - but to our dismay they just so happen to be closed on Monday's. Failure.

But we went to the Kid's Kingdom in Grand Island again instead... and he got the whole park to himself without a billion 1st graders there on their field trip this time.

Then on Tuesday we decided to check out the Children's Museum in Kearney, Ne (about an hour away) and much to our dismay (again) they were closed for a field trip. Failure again.

So instead we walked around Target and got a delicious vanilla bean frappaccino (oh how I miss Target!) and then we walked around the small mall there where Ash got to pick out a cute little outfit for Baby Boy #2. But none of those things are really very fun for a 2 year old... so we found this fun little place to play at. It's called The Big Apple - it was like a huge McDonald's PlayPlace with an arcade and bowling alley. Needless to say, Ash had a blast. Success!

He loves getting tickets from the arcade games! Oh and the bowling alley picture there in the middle isn't because we went bowling, but just a little memory reminder. As I was trying to get my purse out of the locker, Ash decided to take off running like he loves to do... and what better place to run then straight into the bowling alley! Yes, we looked hilarious I'm sure as my 2-year-old was running across all the lanes knocking the bowling pins down as I was tip-toeing across the lanes with my huge belly trying not to fall on my face on the greased lanes trying to catch him. Oh boy, I sure love that kid!

And just a few videos of his "field trip" (that's what he calls our outings) at The Big Apple...

Wearing mommy out on our play-date :)

And here is my most favorite part of the entire day... naptime. We take our naptime very seriously these days as Ash loves to be chased around. :)

Oh how I just adore sleeping pictures... he really is the sweetest thing ever. I just love my little boy!

Lost

2011-05-13T17:57:00.000-06:00

As if I hadn't already had one emotional roller coaster of a week last week, my sweet little man wanted to make sure I was still on my toes. It all happened last Saturday. We had just gotten here to Nebraska, not more than 2 hours had passed by. Ashton was running up and down the hallway in the apartment getting out some bottled up energy from the drive. Dallas took a call in the back room. And I was busy putting things away in the kitchen and talking to my little brother Josh. When things got quiet I assumed Ash had left with his Uncle Ben to his apartment just down the stairs or was playing quietly with his toys, which he's very good at doing. Dallas blared into the kitchen asking where Ashton was. I told him my assumptions as we started scouring under every bed and behind every closet door. But nothing. Up until this point I had been calm. But then we stepped outside, where he was no where in sight. It was then that my whole world turned upside down... again. Dallas started running around outside the complex while Josh ran out to the street to look around. I turned into a babbeling, bawling disaster as I started vigorously pounding on every door in sight trying my hardest to get out the word that we were looking for a lost little 2 year old. How could I have done this?? I let my guard down for 5 minutes and my son disappeared. Not exactly the welcoming to Nebraska I was hoping for. The world around me was literally spinning and I was sick to my stomach as thoughts of him running out into the busy street or beeing snagged by a weirdo were racing through my head. I felt completely helpless as I screamed his name as loud as I could. I just couldn't imagine my life without this sweet, little, cookie-drooled face following me around everywhere I went.

What felt like an entire lifetime later (it was really just 10 minutes) one of Ashton's many guardian angels was working major overtime and guided Dallas right to him. Ashton had somehow managed to open our apartment door, the door out the complex, walk 3 apartment buildings down, opened that complex door, and walked up 6 flights of stairs where he was waiting outside an apartment door with an old hispanic lady. I have never felt so many emotions in my entire life. Relief. Fright. Pure joy. Love. A pain in my stomach probably from pulling a muscle in my growing belly trying to run up and down a billion stairs. My heart was racing so fast. You will never quite understand the pain and worry that accompanies losing a child until you actually do. The thought of never hearing their sweet laugh again or pushing them on a swing is unimaginable. I truly feel blessed to have this little fiery boy in my life. I hope he knows just how much his crazy, emotionally wreckless mom and stubborn, strong daddy love him. I'm sure this isn't the last time he will test our patience and our hearts, but as for now, I will never, ever forget just how precious life really is and I will never, ever let that kid out of my sight!

I am so ready for life to calm down now!

Nebraska

2011-05-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

Last Friday after my boards exam, Ashton and I loaded up and left for our 11 hour drive to Grand Island, Nebraska to be with daddy. :) We made it to Cheyenne, Wy and decided to call it a night... where we stayed in one of the grossest hotels ever... but survived the night! We left bright and early Saturday morning to finish our drive together. Ashton was perfect considering it was just me to take care of him while driving. He slept for 5 hours of the entire drive and let me listen to my new books on tape (new to me and now I am hooked!), he only took his arms out of his carseat straps once, and had only about 3 meltdowns (which is a great new record!). All in all, it was a good drive... not that I want to make it again by myself anytime soon!

So here we are in Grand Island. It's a decent sized town, very old. But it will do for a while. I've quickly learned to miss many things from our Orem home that I never realized I loved so much. For instance: glass shower doors instead of a gross shower curtain, my big tv mounted on the wall that Ash can't touch, my QUEEN sized bed that Dallas and I share (right now we are put in two awful twin beds pushed together to make a king and it is just way too big), my vacuum, my toaster, my glass cups and bowls (I never knew I hated eating off plastic so much!), and most importantly Ashton's favorite channel, Sprout (PBS).

We do love the parks here though!

Stolley Park, just down the road from us.

All the boys playing flag football at the park ... and of course they had to try out the merry-go-round :)

The back side of Stolley Park has this really great playground called The Kid's Kingdom. It's pretty intense, and Ash loved it! We made the mistake of trying it out the same day as the 1st grader's field trip though- we will try it out again once the weather warms up again that is!

If You Want a Thing Bad Enough...

2011-05-13T13:20:00.000-06:00

I told Ashton he could only have 1 cookie because it was almost time for dinner. I left the kitchen for 30 seconds only to walk back in to this...

He just worked so hard for them that I couldn't bare taking them away!

So 4 cookies before dinner = no appetite for dinner last night... Poor parenting on my part? Perhaps, but can you blame me? He was so proud of his hard work!

I'm No Super(wo)man

2011-05-13T13:14:00.000-06:00

I don't expect anyone to read this incredibly long novel... its just another page of our lives that I wanted to include for when I finally print this blog into a book... I tried posting it yesterday too but blogger was down... but here it is:

It’s been exactly one week since I took my clinical board’s exam. It literally feels like it was years ago. I’ve considered not even posting anything about this because I wasn’t quite sure if I really wanted to remember that week of my life… but as it is, here it goes. So just a little background on this situation – our clinical boards exam was the last test we had to take to obtain our dental hygiene license. The test is roughly $1,300 to take, 2-5 hours long, and requires that you find a very specific patient on your own with all the requirements outlined in a handbook (pretty much just a patient with a TON of calculus) and then we clean the patient’s teeth on a time limit and the examiners check to see if we did a good job. Sounds easy right? Well that’s what I thought, and that’s where I was very wrong! So I found my patient about 2 months ago. He was perfect. Big mouth, no complaining, lots of calculus, etc. About 1 month ago I tried to call him to confirm the appointment and his number had been disconnected. So a few weeks before the exam my husband and I braved the streets of West Valley City and found my patient, go his new phone number, and confirmed him again for my test date. Done and done. Right? Nope. Then last Monday happened. Dallas had been gone to Nebraska for work already so Ashton and I were just enjoying our little vacation together lounging around and catching up on some much needed mommy time. At about 5:00 Monday night I had my sweet, Spanish speaking friend call my patient one last time to confirm our appointment that Thursday. And that’s then my whole world turned upside down. Literally. She called back and told me that my patient cancelled because he couldn’t miss work after all and there was nothing I could do to convince him to come. I never knew one phone call could make me feel so awful. I immediately started making flyers to find a new patient. Ashton and I drove out to a local thrift store and Jiffy Lube where I thought I had some really great potential patients I could screen the next day along with one of my friends’ parents. Needless to say I didn’t sleep much that night. Then Tuesday morning came along. I woke up to a perfectly sweet text message from my dear best friend, Amy Bracken that read this, “Jaycie, I think you are so great. Seriously, superwoman, you’re one of my heroes”. Amy had no idea what was going on right then and how chaotic my life had just become, but this sweet little notion was just what I needed to get my day started. So off Ashton and I went to my school, stroller in tow, to screen some patients for my boards exam. After 5 hours, 2 chocolate bars, about a dozen held-back melt-downs, and a very whiny toddler we had to call it a day – with no patient found. I had some really great leads but no one would answer their phones! So that was that. I was starving, Ashton was crying, we were both exhausted, my husband was 800 miles away, and I had no patient to take my test on in just 2 ½ days. So that’s when I pulled out the big guns. I called my mom. J And then the tears really came out, or should I say the waterfalls. I was literally sobbing on the phone to my poor mom who had no idea what I was talking about and could hardly understand me through my slobbery talk of a needing a patient with lots of calculus and no one to help me take care of Ashton. She said she would be there in 5 hours. Oh how I adore my sweet mom. I hope I can be like her when I grow up. Because there she was at 9 pm after dropping everything she had going on in her own life and driving 5 hours from Vegas just to be with me when I needed some comfort. Oh yeah, and did I mention that amidst all of this I was supposed to be packing and cleaning to leave to be with Dallas in Nebraska that Friday?
So thanks to my wonderful, helpful classmates I found a patient who said he was “60% sure” he could come be my patient on Thursday. I begged and pleaded and offered way too much money for only a 60% chance of him showing up. I was still devastated. My other leads fell through so all I was left with was a 60% chance of having a patient (better than 0%!) and about 5 billion prayers. In the meantime, my mom was busy cooking, playing with Ashton, and helping my cross things off my 2 page long to-do list. Really, my mom is the superwoman you see. She truly is AMAZING. And I could not have endured this without her and her support.
And then Thursday rolled around. Cinco de Mayo. Test day. I showed up at school at 6:50 am to see if there were any extra patients who wouldn’t mind coming in later that day to be my patient in case my 40% odds were against me with my scheduled patient. Success! The sweetest young man agreed to come back that afternoon to be my patient if mine decided to not show up. So off I went to Salt Lake City. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that through all of this I found out that my scheduled patient needed a panoramic x-ray taken because he had his wisdom teeth and you couldn’t see them in any other x-rays we had for him. Oh, and the panoramic x-ray machine at our school was off-limits because it was in the WREB examiners area. So that was just one more little stress added to my list. I had to find a dentist who would let me use their machine and then I had to get my patient to meet me there too. So, off to SLC I went, only thinking there was about a 20% chance that my patient would show up at Dr. Smith’s office to get the x-ray taken. But 2 minutes before 9 am, in walked my patient to my disbelief. We got the x-ray and I got a promise that he would be at my school at 11 am for my test. What a relief! I got home just in time to fill out all my paperwork and do a quick run-through in my head of what needed to be done during the exam. I showed up to my school right at 11:00 and there my patient was waiting for me, along with my back-up patient. I saw light at the end of the tunnel! We finished the paperwork we needed to do and got called back at 11:30. I obviously had never seen inside my patient’s mouth before, but I was ready for anything considering what I had been through to even get a patient in my chair. As soon as the exam began I quickly realized how hard his calculus was to get off – it was awful! I worked my poor little hands to the bones and then the unthinkable happened. Halfway through the exam my patient got sick. That’s right, sick. Throwing up. With 3 trips to the bathroom during my TIMED exam on a VERY hard patient I was having serious anxiety. And if anyone knows me and throwing up, you know that it is honestly my biggest fear for some dumb reason. But at this point I didn’t even care. I just wanted to get that calculus off! I used every second I had too. With about 3o seconds to go I raced my patient to the check-out desk (I really made him run too!). We made it just in time, not one second to spare. As I watched him walk back to the examiners I tried to just step back and take a deep breath. I knew I didn’t get all of his calculus off. I felt so irritated at myself for this fact, but I honestly put my best effort in with the circumstances I was in. So that was that. I cleaned my operatory up, met my patient out front, apologized for making him stay through his sickness, and paid him way too much for his time and disgusting calculus. So there it is. My Board’s story. Looking back now, a week later, it doesn’t even seem so bad and I feel dumb for being so stressed and overwhelmed and making my mom come stay with me. But really, at that time, that’s what I needed.
When I met up with my mom and Ash after my test I noticed that Ashton was a little sunburned. My mom then admitted to barely making it to the gas station 2.5 miles away from my house only to realize that she had left her purse at my house. So she had the trek that long walk back carrying my very heavy 2-yr-old – and then back to the gas station again! What a trooper! See, I told you my MOM is the SUPERWOMAN! Not only did she walk 4 hours in the hot sun with 35 extra pounds, but she spring cleaned my ENTIRE house (windows, fridge, bathrooms, moved furniture around – the whole works!), cooked for me, listened to my nonsense for 3 days, packed my car for me, grocery shopped for me, and most importantly she took care of my wild child which is a task in itself. Yes, I was a wreck and needed help doing ALL of that, how pathetic! Through all of this craziness I honestly became very worried that my anxiety was hurting my little growing bean inside me because I hadn’t felt him move since I found out the news on Monday. But to my sweet surprise, as soon as I sat down to begin cleaning my patient’s teeth he started wiggling away like a little goldfish again, as if to say, “It’s ok now mom, you can do this!” I am so thankful for the wonderful and amazing friends in my life that helped me last week, and most importantly I am beyond grateful for my Mom. As for now it’s just the waiting game for a month to get my results – and to see if I really can be a superwoman.