Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Our Little Man






Seth is not our baby anymore. He has officially become a one year old and with that left babyhood behind (though he's been walking for a couple of months now). This year has been the most difficult one so far for our family. With 3 moves, starting grad school and adjusting to a new person in our family it sure has been an adventure. Seth is a passionate little boy and we are so grateful for him. He is daring, curious, loud, loving, sweet, full of humor and quick to laugh hysterically or scream loudly. I'm so glad he's mine and I love him dearly (but sometimes I'd be willing to trade him for one of those babies that just sits, haha :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

May the Force be With You!

We all dressed up as characters from Star Wars for Halloween this year. Luke was Darth Vadar (anyone see the irony in that, haha), David was Boba Fett, I was Lea, and Seth was the cutest of all as Yoda. We enjoyed our ward trunk-or-treat and we are really enjoying Luke's candy.


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

How I Feel

We've been pretty busy the last several weeks. With David in grad school and me tending an 18 month little girl full time, I often feel like this.

But we are really enjoying where we live. I've made several great friends and we love our ward. Usually I feel like this . . .

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Fills my soul with Joy




watching my boys enjoy life to the fullest fills me with happiness. They love dirt, mud, rain, making messes, etc etc and I don't really enjoy cleaning it all up, but it's worth it to me to see how happy it makes them.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A few more

The master bed and bath. I'll get some of Luke's room, Seth's room (aka the hall bathroom, poor guy has slept in a bathroom most of his life), and the office/guest room soon.

"It feels like home to me"

We really like our little house. It's just the right size and it's in pretty good shape. Here are some pictures I took when it was actually picked up :)




Friday, August 21, 2009

Hurricane Luke and Tropical Storm Seth





This is the reason my house is always a mess. I just can't keep up with them!

We're Alive!

The move went really well and we're feeling pretty settled in our new house. So far we are loving College Station and continue to feel that we made the right decision. David started orientation today, so after three weeks of no work or school we are going to miss him a lot. I'll post pictures of our new place soon . . . whenever I can get it picked up enough, haha!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Packing Up






Who knew packing could be so much fun! The boys have found numerous ways to play with boxes, bubble wrap, paper, and other packing supplies. Luke is actually attempting to take a nap in a box full of stuffed animals right now . . . I don't think he'll fall asleep though. Anyways, it keeps it fun and a 'little' less stressful.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Baby Frankenstein

Disclaimer: Do not look at pictures if you have a weak stomach

Seth's bandage seemed huge to me. I couldn't figure out why it needed to be so big for such a little cut and I thought the doctor was just being cautious and put on extra padding. When we took the bandage off after a couple of days I just felt sick and David said his stomach started churning. The cut ended up being nearly 4" long with black stitches and it was still a little swollen and red, so it was kind of scary looking. I could hardly look at it. I don't think it would have bothered me so much if I had known what to expect, but I though it was going to be a little 1" cut. It's a good thing that David's dad was there to help clean it and put medicine on it. I just couldn't do it. It doesn't bother me now that I'm used too it, but it is a little scary looking. We're supposed to keep the cut out of the sun for a year (so it won't scar too badly), so Seth will be wearing hats pretty much all the time from now on and I think he's pretty cute in them.



Saturday, July 11, 2009

Saga of 'The Mole'

Seth's cute little mole was removed yesterday. I personally was a little sad because it's just become a part of his look, but for health purposes the best choice is to get it removed before he's a teenager, so we just decided to do it now. It was 'supposed' to be a quick procedure and we were 'supposed' to be in and out in about 2 hours. Everything went great until he woke up from the anesthesia. He had a hard time coming out of it and his oxygen level dipped into the 80's unless he was breathing oxygen. I think it was a combination of reasons why he was having a hard time. First of all, he has a slight respiratory infection and ear infection (which the anesthesiologist knew going in), second they gave him MORPHINE . . . I'm not really sure why he needed something so strong, and third they intibated him (gave him a breathing tube) during the procedure, so his airways were probably a little swollen. Anyways, they wouldn't let us go until he could breathe on his own at 90% for about for an hour. So, we got there at about 8:30am and finally got to leave at 11pm. We were up at Primary Children's in Salt Lake, so Dave and I couldn't just go home (thank goodness Luke was with Dave's parents!). In the meantime they took a chest x-ray (which was clear), but not without a LOT of struggle and tested for RSV and other viruses (also fine). It was a LONG, hard day, but the good thing about it is that we got to make sure he's healthy and we got to spend a lot of time with just Seth, which rarely happens. (I really don't want to see the bill!)



Thursday, June 25, 2009

My Angels


The house is quiet with soft music playing - Dave went to see Transformers :) My babes are sleeping. The house is a complete and utter disaster. Unfolded laundry all over the living room. Papers scattered everywhere. Breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes in the sink, on the table and counter. Bed unmade, bathroom needs to be cleaned. So many things to do before we move. More to do than I can do alone. I should be overwhelmed and usually I am . . . but tonight I am completely at peace and utterly happy. As I started to clean off the kitchen table tonight I noticed Luke's perfect little foot print. I had told him several times not to stand on the table and was a little upset that he did, but then he smiled so sweetly and got down. Motherhood is without a doubt hard, emotionally, physically, psychologically but nothing can compare to it. I can't begin to describe what it feels like to be loved so deeply, and without judgment by my angels. I am the love of my boys life at least for the moment and my heart aches for them in a way I can't explain. I want to keep them innocent, pure, sweet and everything wonderful about childhood. I found myself just smelling their clothes as I attempted to fold laundry. Everyone has a scent and I just love theirs. I pray that I can always remember the way it feels to cuddle Luke and snuggle with Seth because I know it's not going to last forever, but this love I have for them will.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

I have been so blessed in my life to be surrounded by amazing men. My father, grandfathers, brothers, husband, and father-in-law are some of the best men in this world. Because of these men I have hope that my little boys will grow up to be great men also.

Dad (Papa), I love you so much and am so glad to be your daughter. You are such a good man and I gained much of my testimony because of your example. Thank you for always being supportive and encouraging me to do my best.



Dan (Paki), you are such an amazing person and we love you so much. I hope Luke and Seth can have even a fraction of your charity, patience, and work ethic. Thank you for raising such a good son and being so good to me.



David, Thank you for being such an amazing husband and father. I truly could not be the mother I am without you. You feed, clothe, change diapers (even the cloth ones), play, and work SO hard for our family. These little boys love you so much and I pray they will follow your example and be like you when they are older.

I couldn't resist getting matching ties :)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Feeling Domestic

I don't know why but I'm developing a 'domestic' attitude lately. This does not mean that I enjoy cooking, or know how to sew (though I want to learn), or quilt, or keep a clean house . . . or anything truly domestic, but I'm starting to feel it more. Let myself explain myself :) I think the fact that we are going back to school and will no longer have an income has led me to start thinking a bit more creatively. I could start working, but the kind of job I could get with my degree would barely cover the cost of child care, so I'd rather stay home with my children if those are my options . . . anyways, so I've started trying to think of ways to save or spend less money and it turns out 'domestic' things are actually quite cost effective. I actually prepared a 'menu' for the week and only bought the things we needed for those specific meals and snacks. I used to do this long ago before children entered the scene but I suddenly didn't seem to have the time and stopped doing it. I decided to do it again and I'm going to keep doing it because it really does save money. I might venture to learn how to do coupon cutting, but it seems a little daunting to me (any teachers??) The biggest thing though is that I've switched to . . . drumroll please . . . cloth diapers. When my friend (you know who you are) first told me she used cloth diapers mostly because they are less expensive, I thought she was a little crazy (please don't be offended). Well, I started doing some calculating and realized that with 2 little ones in diapers we will probably spend over $1000 on diapers alone (that doesn't include wipes) this year, which will be promptly thrown out in the garbage (a whole other issue for someone else) and leaving us with that much less in our already empty pockets. I did a lot of research . . . alot because I really don't want to mess with grossness, but it turns out cloth diapers today are not what they were when our mothers and grandmothers used them. They're all in one now, and can just be washed and dried in the machines. I even use a flush-able liner that I just throw in the toilet so I don't have to mess with ringing out the diapers and yes, I'm even using cloth wipes . . . they actually work better in my opinion. Anyways, they can be a little spendy to start out, but they pay for themselves in a matter of a couple months or if you're good at sewing you can even make them yourself. Call me crazy, but I'm goin back to basics!







I think his little tush is very cute in them! (I'm using Bum Genius 3.0 by the way)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Fashion Show



You gotta love a 2 year old's sense of fashion. Luke loves to wear his jammies and snow boots, just add mommy's belt and you've got a great outfit!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Photoshop = Awesome




So, we did a little family photo shoot while we were in AZ and we had several different pictures that were good of different people, but not really one of everyone (typical), so I did a little mad editing and this is the final product. I'm actually really happy with it! The first picture came from the last two.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Pictures from our Vacation in AZ

No you can't, you're too YOUNG!



This is something I expected to tell my children when they start asking if they can drive, or date, or go to college, etc. This is NOT what I thought I would be telling my 5 month old when he started crawling!