Bryson's 18 months!

He is saying new words every day!! It is so amazing how once they hit a certain age they just start developing by leaps and bounds. My favorite of the words he has started to say is "sorry." It is so cute. He tells Jaron sorry if he is mean and then gives him a hug. Also if he is getting in trouble he tries he charm out by coming close, smiling, and saying "hi." I try hard not to laugh, but sometimes I just break. He has just recently started trying to repeat everything Jaron says. When Jaron is talking to me he often is standing right next to him trying to say the exact same thing. He still is a big eater, but not liking meat a whole lot. He is in the 83% for his height, and only average for his weight. And he still is my cuddle bug. He loves to be held that is when he doesn't want to run around and play. Since he has discovered that he can run, jump, dance . . . he is a lot more active and doesn't sit still as much, but when he wants to be still he loves to be cuddled.

Expecting #3

Yes that is right, we are having our 3rd child. I am due Sep. 19th. Family and a few others know but I thought it was time to tell everyone.
How am I feeling? Not too hot. I have heartburn and some other stomach problems that we can't seem to get a handle on to being with. So being pregnant really makes these things shine!! I am doing pretty good at not throw-up tons since I am an expert at controlling this otherwise. Headaches and the fatigue are really hard sometimes. But the upside to the fatigue, I can go to bed after the boys go down between 7 and 8 if I want to. With Don gone I don't feel like I need to stay up and spend time with him, since he isn't here. I also think it is time to admit that Don is right, I am a horribly hard person to handle when pregnant. Everything gets on my nerves. I try not to let things bother me, but they just do. I am doing better at controling this already, but I do have BAD days. I am really short with the kids, which I hate it when I yell. I also cry all the time.
But above all that I have gotten some good laughs at my expense. Last night I was watching TV and on came the commercial advertising one of ER's last episodes, I got all teary eyed. I was so sad that it was ending, funny thing, don't watch the show ever. Next funny moment would be when Don was at work and he texted me and said his phone was about to die so he would just see me when he got home. To which I cried for 30 min. I guess it was the anxiety of not being able to reach him if I needed to. But next morning I got a good laugh out of it.
To wrap it up we are really excited for this next adventure! I know that another child will only bring more joy to our family.

Great Day!

Saturday was a great day! It started with Don's very last church ball game in this stake. After 4 years that was a big thing, at least for me it was. Church ball has been a big part of our lives since we have lived here, causing many injuries, some of which required surgery. Then he served as the stake athletic director for about two years. So it was a milestone for us I think.

Next was on to Jaron's first soccer game. He did really well. After the first half not many of his team member wanted to come back and play. There were three of his team member on the field in the second half and he was the only one that went for the ball. With so many of the other team playing and just him he did really good I would say. He did get confused being the only one needing to go the other direction and made a goal for the other team. He thought that was a great thing and when everyone said otherwise, he cried, but only for a minute. Dad reassured him he was doing great and he was back at it! He was such a trooper making friends with the other team and giving everyone a high five at the end of the game. He truly is a gift in our lives!




The next event for the day was the surprise birthday party for Lynnette. Aunt Cathy and Grandma Gray headed the whole thing up, with Katie and I as side kicks. We had the party at our church house since SLC is such a central location for a lot of family and friends. Don and a most of his family went off to the Real Salt Lake soccer game and left the weaklings behind to set up. I am so greatful Dani was there to help with the table and chairs she was a life-saver. Also Biff was a great help to watch the two littlest ones of the family. Katie and Lynnette took the 3 older grand kids and Melinda to the UMFA for the free third Sat. event. After all the planning I think everything turned out wonderful. All the pictures of Lynnette through her life were so fun to see. We are so glad the suprise worked too she didn't have a clue until we opened a dark room and you could see Aunt Cathy's flash ready. It was really nice to have all the family there and I had lots of fun making one of the cakes. It had a few accidents with Bryson hitting it with a ball and eating the roses off of it. Then I also need to work on my piping skills so I don't have to try and ice over the sides with the edges done, but all in all it looks pretty good.
The last event was just a dinner with Don's imediate family. It was a nice way to end the day.

Too Cute

Bryson is almost 18 months and really starting to come into his own. He is talking more and more and that little personality is really shinning through. He doesn't speak really well, but mom knows what he wants. Just a list of common words: ow-ie, mom, dad, basketball, cup, sock, bannana (nana), What is it?, I did it, Moo (all animals say this, except a bear does say rarr), bye, love you, juice, ok, bath. . . He also has really taken to giving kisses. He puckers up (try to get it on camera it is so cute, but he always says cheese before I can get a picture).
Jaron is really cute these days saying the funniest things. At uncle Jared's b-day party I noticed he was chewing gum. I asked him where he got it, to which he replied, "Off your plate." Gross, but really funny, luckily it was my gum that I had been chewing before dinner. He is so considerate, asking me if I am okay when I sigh or put my head down. He always asks dad how school when when he comes home, really cute.
He is excited to start soccer this Saturday. And the other picture was just so cute!

My Little Get Away

My niece Emma was being baptized. This is a really important step in life and I wanted to be there, so my parents offered to pay for me to fly out with them. Kalynne & Brad are the best hosts. They do all the work and even make sure we get a few extra fun activities in. It was great. The baptism was beautiful, Brad did such a nice job, as did Emma. The confirmation was also touching.
I have not had the chance to visit Post Falls since I was pregnant with Jaron so it was really exciting to see all new additions. Brad's office was amazing. It is such an inviting dentist office for kids!! Never seen anything like it. The rooms were so fun and they even have a mascot Morris the Moose.
We also drove up the mountains to see the footing that had been poured for their new home. They will start to build again as soon as the trucks can get up there to do so. It is in the most beautiful and peaceful setting.
I had my first trip to Cabella's, yes even though there is one in Lehi I have never been. So that was fun to do. We then ate at a very good pizza place.
Sunday afer church we just played games, ate some really good Halibut, and headed home.
It was really nice to get away with my parents and sister. Since I have been really not feeling well with some stomach things I needed a day or two to just lay around. Thanks to everyone that made that happen!

Finally a Rest

I think the week of fun took a toll on us all. Jaron has been napping, Mom is definitely a little tired, and Bryson has croup. Jaron hasn't ever had this so I really don't know when to take them in or not. After a long night and day Don said I needed to take him in. So I did and I guess I should have taken him in last night when he was struggeling to breath, duh! It is just that when I got him calmed down he started being able to breath a little better. But then he would get worked up and do it again. We did this all day. I took him in and the doctor gave me some tips on knowing what to look for, when to bring him in, and that sort of stuff. His croup is moderate to sever. They gave him some steroids and if he worsens we should take him to the ER. At least I know for next time right? The medicine is already helping. My guy is so tired he took a bath and as I was writing this post he fell asleep finally after a rough night and day.

3 Days of Party FUN!!

This last week has been a very eventful one!
Thursday - Don took the boys to the zoo. Since Jaron will no longer be free now that he is 3, we wanted to get one last visit in.
Friday - Mom (me) took Jaron bowling. That evening we went to the Draper Temple Open House with Don's family. All I have to say about that is what was I thinking?! Two kids after bedtime, need I say more. My favorite thing really though was after I had explained the whole baptism for the dead thing to Jaron he responded, " I don't want to get baptised today," and "It's kinda like a swimming pool."

Saturday marked day 1 of the 3 days of party fun! Jaron's friend birthday party was at 3pm. We invited only a few since I knew it would be a lot of work. We played basketball, kicked around a pinata soccer ball, and played some board games. Jaron was so excited to have his "sports" birthday party. His request was a baseball (super easy this year!) cake.
Sunday was day 2. At around 3 Don's family came over to celebrate with us. Jaron loves the extra friends and even ate his favorite meal with all the guests there. His favorite is Fettuccine (we used small shells today, a not so stringy pasta is easier to eat) Alfredo. Then cake and Ice Cream. He got some fun gifts from the family his new "team", as he calls it, from Aunt Cathy is his new favorite shirt. His new teddy bear & book, he loves the fuzzy pictures in the book. His golf set, and other "team" outfit were also hits.
His actual birthday February 23rd, Monday, was his 3rd day of fun. We played with all the new toys, colored with his new art set, did his new puzzles, and played Wii. That night Grandma and Grandpa Barlow came to buy him his other favorite dinner, McDonald's. He was really excited to see them and play bowling. He liked his "team" that they gave him as well. That night we watched "Everyone's Hero" because of his new New York Yankees jersey.

This post is getting really long but I just wanted to tell a few more things about my little 3 year old.
~His favorite color is all the colors, but he usually says yellow or red first when listing all the colors he can think of.
~He loves to sing still; "Latter-Day Prophets" or "I Love to See the Temple" are often his first choice.
~He thinks he is so grown up and tries to talk like the big people. So he often adds things that will make him sound more grown up to his sentences. Examples: "Well actually, I don't think so." "Oh I did, last week." These are usually followed with a shrug of the shoulders or a little scrunch of the face w/ a slurp (this last one hard to explain without seeing it). What this one boils down to is that he copies EVERYthing I say and do. To putting his cat in timeout or rocking him to sleep.
~Cat has often become Max these days.
He is expressing his emotions with words. "I can't Mom, I am too frustrated!" Also something I do.
~He reads his scriptures, or at least gets them out and looks at the pictures.
~He loves everyone, but only likes Stacie. We are working on this and he expands that some days, but always reverts back to only liking Stacie.
~His movies of choice the past few weeks have been "night at the Museum," "Beauty and the Beast," (aka princess and the lion) and "Polar Express."

We sure love this little kid! He is so bright and gifted in many ways. I hope that I can help him see the good in himself.

Valentines

Jaron is really into doing things for other people these day. He was really excited to give Valentine's to every person he knows. To some of the adults we just did photos, here are a few of those.

My Valentine's Day was great. This is the one day a year that I request flowers and one of the very few that I insist we do something romantic. Don is such a good sport and he even admitted that he doesn't mind my corny love notes and cards that I give every year. To my dismay I didn't do them this year because I thought he really didn't care that I did them. So this year I had the wonderful husband that did everything right but I didn't do much in return. He is such a good guy!

Chick Flicks

January 4, 2009

Since Don works night I have been able to watch a lot of chick flicks after the boys go down. While watching them I find my heart so close to the surface and filled with joy. I had to stop today to ask myself the questions, why? Why am I, and many other women, drawn to love stories? The first obvious answer is we want one of our own. We want a knight in shinning armor, someone to rescue us from the bad guy, or even just ourselves. We want someone to wrap their arms around us and make us fill safe, loved, needed, and taken care of.
After pondering this question, my thoughts turned to the fact that I also am drawn to them because they help me remember. They help me remember my fairytale, my knight in shinny armor. Don was just that for me.
I dated so many guys that all turned out to have something wrong with them or would say something to me that hurt so deep I can still feel the hurt if I replay the words in my mind. With so many of them I found myself trying to be something I was not. Telling myself this must be the best there is out there. Then came Don. For the first time someone didn’t care where I was going he wanted to come. I remember I need to go finish a project at the computer lab on campus, Don not really having anything to do at the computer lab, wanted to come with me. I went to St. George to do laundry and go to the temple once a week. Don wanted to come. He didn’t care where I had to go; if he wasn’t busy he wanted to come. For the first time someone was willing to be a part of my life. I guess that is not entirely true, but this is, I wanted him to be with me. I found myself hoping he would want to come along. I didn’t grow board of him, also something entirely new to me. I want Don to be around. He made me feel like a better me. I was fun, lighthearted, and free to be me.
Don was my love story. He took me dancing in the parking lot, with music playing in the car. He bought me earrings, CD’s (that he really wasn’t too found of). He told me he loved me in front of the Manti temple. We had so much love for each other, so we got married!
But like every love story life happens and tries to make us forget those moments when our hearts wanted to burst. This is why I love chick flicks. Because for those few hours I remember, I remember the times we danced, our song playing; the first words of “I love you.”
With each year our love story continues to grow; the kisses on the forehead when I am down, the call to see how I am doing, our crazy dates, the fun get-aways; and the one to top it all, having children together. We have the downs, but the ups are so great that they cover the bad days.
So here is to my knight that loves me for me, and makes me feel like I am a queen.