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Valentines

2012-02-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Halloween 2011

2012-02-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Cru loved the Pumpkin Patch this year! He had tons of fun riding around in the cart and picking out his own pumpkins!
Cru's pumpkin...
My two favorite people! Aren't they so handsome? Oh, and there is "Mummy" too...My mom brought this over for Cru and he instantly became Cru's best friend. He sings 'Thriller' and dances - Cru will dance with him every time he turns him on (:
Our family wentwe as Harley Bikers for Halloween, Cru pulled it off quite well...

Cru and the Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T09:42:00.000-08:00

Casey and I started putting Cru in timeout about a month ago. As he is only 16 months old we decided we would start with one thing and as he learned not to do it, to move on to something else. SOOOOO, the first thing we started with was to put him in time out everytime he threw something down the stairs (it started putting dings in the wall). After about 3 days of telling him "no" and putting him time out, he stopped.
The 2nd thing we put him in time out for was twisting the knobs on the stove - that took about a week.
The 3rd thing was the Christmas Tree.
Casey and I went back and forth on this one - I wanted him to be allowed to touch the tree. He thinks it is SO magical and is so fascinated with it when the lights are on. So it is really hard for me to put him in timeout for it. But, Caseys point was that he didnt want him to touch 'other peoples' trees and break something of theirs. He had a good point, so I agreed (im still sad about it). Anyway...So everytime Cru touches the tree we give him a warning "Cru, dont touch the Christmas tree." and if he touches it again, we go over kneal down, point our finger at the tree and say "no no". Then we pick him up and put him in time out for 45 seconds. Well on Thursday, I did this with him ALL DAY! After about the 11th time I went in the kitchen and started doing dishes, and not to my surprise he dashed over to the tree and started touching it. I said "Cru, please dont touch the Christmas Tree", he looked over at me and then turned to the tree, put out his finger and said "No, No!" and then RAN to timeout and sat there for like 20 seconds!!! It was hilarious!!!
Obviously, he thinks timout is worth touching the Christmas Tree! So funny!
The good news is - he doesnt touch anyone elses' Tree!

Pictures...finally!

2011-10-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

My dad is leaving for Iraq on Wednesday, so we went and got some family pictures taken. Poor Cru is NOT going to know what to do without his Papa! They have such a sweet and unique relationship...I envy it!

14 Months...

2011-10-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

I have so much to blog about, so much we have done...but first, Cru.

14 Months? I really cant believe it. I say it every month. Is this how fast your ENTIRE life is going to flash before my eyes? It makes me sad.

Yesterday, we danced to thriller that plays everytime you push the button on "mmmm" (which stands for Mummy) that Nana brought to you last month. You are quite fond of this dancing/singing mummy - and give him hugs and kisses everytime you see him. We danced for a good 45 mintues to it. You think I am hilarious when I dance.

Your Pa (Grandpa Mayo) is leaving for Iraq on Wednesday. I still have not found comfort with it. You are going to be so confused when he stops coming around. You favor him over anyone else and I truly believe he is your best friend. We are making him a "Pa and Me" book, you will both have one while he is away. I will read it to you everyday while he is away. I hope and pray that when he returns, the 2 of you can pick up right where you left off.

Youve added to your vocabulary the last month. You now say "Light" and point at the light, eyes and point to my eyes and Banana. Its cute! You still say Mommy, Daddy, Puppy and Up. The pediatrition said you should be able to say/sign 5 words by 15 months... you are at 8, nice work!!!

You sign 'More' and 'Up'. I wasnt really in to teaching you sign language, but seriously, I am so glad that I tought you 'More'. Anytime you want something, you will kindly hand me the item and sign 'More' if you cant open it yourself. Or, if we are eating and you are ready for another bite, you will patiently sign 'More' - you have got really good at it this last month. Its funny though, sometimes I wont be looking at you when you are signing 'More' and when I finally do you are doing it really fast with a look on your face like "come on!", its funny. Last night dad was sitting on the couch and you went and got a piece of Halloween Candy out of the basket, brought it over to dad and signed "more" - dad thought it was quite impressive, so he opened it and let you eat the ENTIRE Milky Way!!! hahahahha.

You love the "Roll it and Roll it up" part of Patty Cake, and constintanly walk around doing the arm motion for it. And you will look at me and wait for me to say "Roll it up and Roll it up" and then you start laughing and doing it faster.

You started Pre-Pre-School...you go every Monday for a half a day. It was a little hard for you at first, but now you like it. When dad drops you off in the morning and opens the door to your classroom, the 2 other little boys in there stop what they are doing and yell "Cru, Cru...Hi Cru!!!!" ----- So sweet! You are already making some friends!

You started kicking your soccer ball - it made dad and I quite proud. Youll pick it up, drop it and then start kicking it!

You also are quite fond of going golfing for FHE with mom and dad, we bought you your own little plastic clubs and you try to hit the ball with them.

You are quite the little gibberish talking boy. You will say like 3 full on sentences, wait for me to respond and then start up again. This morning, I was changing your diaper and you went off for like 45 seconds straight and right in the middle said "puppy" and continued with your jibberish. It made me laugh so hard... you were totally telling me a story about a puppy. HILARIOUS!!!

You are such a good boy. You and dad are the Loves of my life. I love saying family prayers and giving each other kisses and group hugs after prayers - I look forward to it everyday!

13 Months...

2011-09-06T11:31:00.001-07:00

You are officially not a baby anymore. You are a toddler and SOOO independent!

One of my most favorite times of the day is at night after bath time and getting you in your jammies, is rocking you while you finish your bottle. Ill sing I am a Child of God and you will just stare in my eyes. I love it.

YOU WALK!!! Like FULL on WALK! You started taking steps on August 26th and got up to 32 going back and forth to dad and I, you were just a little nervous to start on you own. On September 1st, you decided you were ready and off you went. Now you walk in circles around the couch just because you think it is fun!

You LOVE it when I sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Patty Cake - you hold my hands and help me to the hand motions to it.

You can say: Mom, Dad, ickle ickle (tickle, tickle), uppeee (puppy), up.

You can sign: more, drink and thank you.

You love Boggs and your blanket.

You love getting in the shower with mom or dad. You will just play in the bottom of shower and let the water hit you.

You give dad chest bumps when he asks for them.

You are totally a mommas boy - and I hope it stays like that.

You love green smoothies and would drink multiples a day if I would make them.

You take the most ginormous bites when eating a banana.

You dance by yourself when music comes on and you like to dance with me when no one else is around.

You know where your belly button and your nose is. And when I ask you where your teeth are you bite down multiple times

You get shy when little girls smile at you. (like, close your eyes and tilt your head towards your shoulder shy)

You still love it when I read to you.

You like to brush your teeth! And will even let me finish up for you!

You like the park. You will even back up to the slide (like you are going down stairs) and go down the slide all by yourself.

Weve upgraded to a Sounds (by First Impressions) DVD that is 28 minutes and you will watch the entire thing!

You are obsessed with WHEELS! You will notice them from a mile away. Yesterday we were at the park and you started b-lining it towards one of those big garbage cans, I wasnt sure what you were doing at first - but then realized once you were there, you wanted the little wheels that were on it.

And, you are a TOTAL mommas boy and I wouldnt have it any other way!

1st Birthday Party! We're going to the BEACH!

2011-08-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

For Cru's first birthday we had a beach party with plenty of things to get WET in! One of Cru's most favorite things, is water...so I planned a party just around that!

The Beach...

The food tent...

I made WAY to much food, but I kind of got carried away with the theme...
We had "Jellyfish Sandwiches"

Sand Dollar Pudding, Riptide Watermelon, Whale Crackers, Sandbar Potatoes, Sea Salt Chips, Shark Bait, Fish and Chips, Fresh Sea Water and much more...
I thought the cupcakes turned out darling...I tinted the icing blue and made shark fins out of fondant, quite the process, but totally worth it.
The slip n slide was quite a hit, I put liquid dish soap on it to make the kids go faster and they loved it! The little ones just liked that it made "bubbles"

The birthday boy waiting for his guests to arrive...
Cru LOVED his cake and did so well! He dove right in. It was cute, he wouldnt even look at the cake, he was just looking around, looking at everyone else watching him and just kept dipping his hand in the cake, it was hysterical.

My dad got Cru an electric 4 Wheeler, and the kid is obsessed! (more pics to come of this). It took him 2 tries to figure out how it worked...when I saw him out on the sport court riding it, I was seriously shocked! He looked like such a big boy riding it all by himself! So sad!!!

The party favors were sea creature sand molds wrapped in fish net with a tag that read "We're WHALEY glad you come".
I still can't believe my baby is 1! Where did that year go?

Cru was such a happy boy the entire day. He came out at 11:30 and stayed outside and played while we cleaned up till about 5! He was in heaven!

Even though I know he wont remember his first birthday party, I know he had a blast...I wouldnt have wanted it any other way!

Thanks to everyone who came and played and especially thanks to my mom for all she helped me do!!! I couldnt have done it without her!!!

1 Year!

2011-07-26T09:32:00.001-07:00

***Birthday pictures to come, blogger is having a hard time loading pictures today ):

The last year, has by far been one of the best years of my life. Starting a family with my very best friend and becoming parents is better than I ever dreamed.

My heart is full of pure and unconditional love.

You are still my baby, but such a big boy.

You like to go 'walking' while holding on to my fingers. You aren't quite ready to take your first lone steps yet and thats okay. I smile knowing that something as little as my finger, a tiny part of me, is all you need to feel secure.

You like when I do laundry, you will help me load the washer, push the buttons and then watch the clothes go round and round.

You army crawl like nobody's business, AKA - you are freaking fast! You can crawl like a big boy, but aren't NEARLY as fast, so you'll start up on you knees than quickly go down to your belly.

You are having a hard time drinking milk out of a sippy cup and it is scaring me. You only get one bottle a day and will only drink water from your sippy cup. Hopefully we will come up with something!

You are the best hugger in the world! Anytime we ask for a hug, you will willingly give it.

You love the air vents. You know when they turn on and you will crawl over to the vent and lay your head down on it or sit on it.

You always look at me for approval - I love it!

You can clap and it is darling. Yesterday I got home work and said "Mommy's home!" you looked up at me and started claping! HAHA

You have four top teeth and four bottom teeth.

You still love reading with me. If I sit in the rocker in your room, you know it is time to read and will crawl over to me to pick you up to read a story.

You love blueberry waffels, yogurt, mac n cheese and anything CARB!

You are VERY selective with your kisses, but when I get one, it melts my heart.

You love Boggs (your Panda) with all your heart, he gets hugs and kisses every night.

We took your binky away, we are on day 3 and you are doing WONDERFUL! I think it is harder for me than for you - I miss seeing you laying in your crib sucking on it like an infant.

You LOVE dogs! And think Tank and Otis are HILARIOUS!!!

You are such a happy boy. Everyone always asks me "Is he always this happy?" and you are! I am so lucky to call you mine.

Wheeler Farm & Snow Cones!

2011-05-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

We took Cru to Wheeler Farm to introduce him to some farm animals and feed the ducks. I thought he would like the horses' and cows because how big they are. I was way wrong, anything little, he liked much more.
He wasnt sure about the geese, but who is? Those things are freaking scary!

Then we introduced him to one of my most favorite summer things...SNOW CONES!!! We couldnt feed it to him fast enough, he started grunting as soon as he swallowed what was in his mouth.

Mothers Day

2011-05-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day, what it meant to me.
I have always enjoyed Mothers Day. I think it is special to have that day set aside to celebrate my own Mother and all she has done for me.
However, yesterday, as I celebrated my first Mother's Day I now understand why my mother never wanted gifts and just wanted to be with her "kids".
Yesterday as I spent my entire day with my baby and my husband, the day brought a new perspective on that Holiday. I felt complete, appreciated, grateful and extreme joy. I am a Mother.
My husband asked me what the best thing about being a mom was. As my answer really could be a novel long, I answered with one of my very favorite things... Cru, will just sit and stare at me for hours with a look of pure satisfaction and pure love radiating from his eyes. He doesnt see what I see in the mirror - he sees perfection. I know how a new mother could get down on herself for not looking how she use to or not feeling as beautiful as she once did. But when this little boy stares at me like this. I feel beautiful, I feel confident and I feel perfect.
Besides being the mother to the most perfect and happy baby in EVER... Casey spoiled me by letting me sleep in till 10:20, waking up to the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls and a high valued gift card and money to go get some new clothes.

Cru's first haircut 4.24.11

2011-05-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday while we were at Grandma Bubba's (Caseys parents house) I went in the back room to find Cru sitting on the floor and Casey getting his dads hair shaver out! I about had a heart attack. So, I talked Casey's sister Jackie in to cutting Cru's hair for us. Cru WAS NOT happy about it AT ALL! He was screaming and throwing a fit while Casey was holding him,

then I took him and had to sing the Wheels on the bus and distract him so Jackie could finish. She did a great job!
I must admit, he did need a cut, I was in denial but it was pretty long and splotchy. Now he can wear it normal or have a little fohawk like his dad! He looks quite handsome!

Cru is 9 Months * Stats & Pictures

2011-05-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Where is the time going? Today as I was feeding my baby, he didnt look like a baby anymore. He looked like a little boy. His chubby cheeks are slowly getting thinner and he is getting really close to walking. Whats happening?
Thankfully, his thighs still have rolls and his chubby little hands arent missing the dimples in his knuckles, they are still there.

- 9 Month Stats -

Weight: 20 Pounds 8 ounces (50th %)
Height: 29 3/4'' (95%)
Head: 18'' (75%)

Even though my little baby is growing, our life together is getting better and better.

Some updates on you...
You still LOVE bath time, I mention this each month, but I just have to. That star toy, is by far one of your very favorites, it squirts water up and you think it is awesome!
You are such a happy baby. So content with life. You only cry when you are tired or get really frustrated trying to figure out how something works. But this is the look you usually have on your face...
I seriously love it when you sit like this. You seem to be in this, or the standing position most of the day. Your little toes, I love them so!
With that said, you pull yourself up on EVERYTHING! And are getting very close to 'cruising'.
You say Da-da and with much anticipation, you said Ma-ma April 29th (your 9 month birthday).
You love eating finger foods and any other big boy food you can get your hands on. Like, avocado, yogurt melts, puffs, watermelon and bananas. Ever since fruit came along, you don't do to great with veggies...just like your dad.
You will pass your soccer ball back and forth with me for ever.
And if you have to entertain yourself, you will grab a mini ball, pick it up above your head, drop/throw it and chase after it. So cute.
You have pulled off all but 2 of the doorstops in the house.
You push your tiger (that has wheels) on the kitchen tile and chase after him.
Your newest trick...you go into your bedroom and shut the door behind you. It doesn't matter if you are in there alone or with someone, you will close it.
You will turn off the lights when we leave a room if we hold you up to it.
You like to pull yourself up on the stove and see your 'friend' in the reflection.
You will still sit and read with me. I love how you turn the pages.
You love the jogging stroller! Anytime we take you out there you dont make a peep. You are as content as can be!!!

St George -

2011-05-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

We went down to St George with my family. It was so nice to get away. In fact, this was our first 'vacation' since Cru was born. He was such a good too! He didnt cry once on the drive down. The only time he had a hard time was when we were in the hotel room the 2nd night, he was totally confused about taking a nap while someone was in the room. But other than that, he did SO good!

On Saturday, the boys went golfing and I introduced Cru to 'GRASS' as we ate lunch. He found it quite fascinating. He wouldn't touch it with his hands, but he would lick it - seriously. It was so funny.

On Sunday we did a little hiking and Casey and I (well mostly Casey) got a serious workout towing Cru around on our backs! Thankfully he was sheltered with a canopy and TONS of sunblock cause we got roasted in the 85 degree weather! It stunk coming home to the snow.

The boys did a TON of golfing and us girls just relaxed by the pool, went shopping and relaxed! It was a much needed trip and I wish it could have lasted even longer than it did!

Easter Parties...

2011-05-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Cru inst quite old enough to understand Easter yet, so Casey and I didnt do much to celebrate it this year. First we had my family Easter party, Cru got his first Easter basket FULL of finger puppets!!! He loves those puppets!!! Such a smart thing for a little baby.

At my family party...
Cru, found a couple eggs too...

Then we had the Van Wagoner Easter party ~
Casey and Corey always hide all the eggs...
Then, the kids all crowd around the front door in anticipation to go find the eggs!
Pam puts Bunny Money in some of the eggs and then after the hunt, the kids get to go to her Bunny Store and buy things with the money they found. Cru got a new book and a ball!
Our little family, not the best picture, but we got one...

8 Months!

2011-03-30T10:33:00.001-07:00

I wish I could stop time and keep you right where you are. Each day you get bigger. Each day you become a little more independent. Each day I love you more and more.

This last month has been one of my favorites.

When I get home from work you are usually playing in the living room. I say "HELLO!!!" and you very excitingly look up from what you are doing, raise your little eyebrows, start gibberishing and army crawling over to greet me. It melts my heart. I know you miss me when I am away, but we have TONS of fun when I get home!

You know the sound of the garage door and can hear it when daddy comes home. My favorite thing about you being in your highchair, feeding you dinner is when you will randomly lean forward so you can see the garage door to see if someone is coming inside, when he learn that no one is coming inside, you lean back and pierce your lips wondering where dad (or nana) is.

You are completely obsessed with the door stops. You will play with them forever. Yesterday, you managed to pull one off and put it in your mouth...I about had a heart attack.

Its almost impossible to get you dressed on the changing table, you are too curious to just lay there now.

You still love books and will turn the pages back and forth as I read them to you. One of my favorite things that you do...is lay on your tummy looking at the pictures, turning the pages by yourself as if you are really reading. Its so sweet.
You get excited to see people that you recognize. Some get a big smile, others a little grin or twisting of your hands (you do that when you get excited and have for about 5 months now).

Your love for the bath still stands too. One night, we played for 45 minutes and you would have loved to be in there longer. I think you will love swimming and being in the water your entire life...I knew it the first time we put your head under the running water in the hospital and you closed your eyes and enjoyed every second of it.

You are completely fascinated with the laptop and power cords. Wherever I put the dang thing, you find it!

You love sitting on the front porch with me waiting for dad to come home, wrapped up in a big cozy blanket.
You love music. If the TV is on and a song comes on, you will stop whatever you are doing and just stare at the TV.
You melt my heart by reaching out to me. It reassures me, that you really do want me to hold you.

Oh, and you and dad, wrestle on the bed...he guys roll all over the place, he tosses you up and down and you think it is hysterical.

You seriously have made my life so much sweeter. We cant imagine not having you with us and sharing our life with you.

7 Months

2011-03-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

7 months...really? Where is the time going? It feels like, just yesterday you were lying on my chest deep asleep, mouth open, just dreaming. Now, Im lucky if you even close your eyes during a feeding.

You are so curious, you watch everything with such great intent. You are really curious about the treadmill and how our feet can move that fast.

You sit up ALL BY YOURSELF now. And have such excellent posture...im jealous.

Then one day, out of the blue you started army crawling. I put something about 5 feet in front of you - and off you went!!!

You blow raspberries. Sometimes, not intentionally, you will be crying and will accidently blow a raspberry, it will totally distract you and you will sit there for 10 minutes blowing them.
Weve converted your infant bath tub to a big boy bath tub, you sit in it instead of lay. You LOVE the water and try to grab the bubbles that the faucet makes. Not to forget your rubber ducky...the little bugger is so slippery, when you drop him, your reaction is HILARIOUS.

You like to 'shake it' when I sing "Shake shake, shake shake, a shhhhake it" and if I am holding you in front of me and make you shake it - you laugh.

You could jump for hours in your jumper, you are actually quite vicious with it. I wonder if you will like the trampoline as much as your dad does.

I love saying night prayers with you. I lay you on the bed and kneel down next to you, you will usually just sit there and stare at me or put your hand on my shoulder. I think it is really sweet.

You still love bath time and car rides.

You love when 5:30 pm comes around...I place you in your high chair and you get SOLIDS!!! You love sweet potatoes, squash, pears, carrots and blueberries - you are NOT fond of green veggies, you seriously gaged when I fed you green beans.

And...you cry when I leave the room - I LOVE IT!!!

On your 7th month birthday you started saying 'bababababa' - I feel we are getting close to Mama!!! Or will it be Dada first???

Oh my little man, I love you SO much. I look forward to seeing your smiley face everyday and cherish every moment I have with you. I really didnt believe time would fly by so fast and that I would miss 'when you use to' times. But you are growing too fast...right before my eyes.
I hope you will always love me as much as you do now.

And when I say, "Little Man" - I really do mean little man, everyone thinks you are so handsome and look just like a Little Man.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

I love Valentines Day. This year, I had two special loves. Two lovers that I love in two totally different ways. I am such a lucky girl!

Lucky Cru had 7 Valentines, lucky boy!!!

6 Months

2011-01-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

Cru is 6 months! I just love this little boy so much I can't stand it!!! We went to the Docs yesterday and this is what we learned...

Weight: 17 pounds 14 ounces - 60th%
Height: 28 inches - 95th%
Head: 17 3/4 inches - 90th%

The poor little man got a newbie nurse, who took FOREVER giving him his shots. She poked his twice in one leg and it took her so long to get the shot ready for the other leg, that he stopped crying and then she poked him again...it was so sad. Casey picked him up off the table and Cru immediantly turned around and gave the nurse his scrunched eyebrow look...like...what the heck is wrong with you? It was pretty funny.

Some of the things Cru does now...
- He has taught himself how to blow raspberries, I think it is super cute.
- He can almost sit up all by himself without toppeling over; he is still a little top heavy and can sit there by himself, but will usually face plant it if I leave him there too long. We are still working on this one.
- He still loves story time and will sit there forever if I just keep reading. His favorite book as of now (well, at least I think) is his touch and feel animal farm book. When I turn the page he knows exactly where to touch to feel the animals fur/skin/nose ect that we are reading about. The poor dogs hair is probably going to be gone here pretty soon.
- He has found his toes, he doesn't suck on them very often like most babies...he mostly just grabs them and looks at them.
- However, he has found his little 'pee pee' if you will and if I dont distract him in the tub, he will just play with it the whole time...dad and I think it is pretty funny though.
- Still loves the tub...last night he stayed in the tub for 25 minutes while I cleaned out and organized the baskets in the lined closet...and I know he would have stayed in even longer if I would have let him. He kicks his legs like crazy in the tub, and water gets everywhere...I cant wait to take him to the pool this summer!
- Last but not least...You have 2 teeth coming in. Your bottom 2 teeth have broke through, and you are handeling it so well! I didnt even know till he started sucking on my hand.

6 months pictures...They turned out so cute! Everyone thought I was crazy for wanting to do pics with just his jeans and a tie on - little did they know how stinking cute they were going to turn out...

This is my favorite...

This is my 2nd favorite...

I've been moved...July 17th

2011-01-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

My mom was just talking to me about a fireside she went to with my little sister last night...it was on 'pitching your tent towards the Temple'. They have asked the youth to read 3 pages out of the Book of Mormon a day, if you do that, you will have the entire book read by July 18th...which just happens to be a day after my birthday.

3 pages a day? That's nothin! I easily read half a magazine when I crawl in to bed at night....what's 3 pages?

So, with that said...I have another goal I will accomplish this year and its reading the entire Book of Mormon by my birthday, July 17th.

Happy New Year...and Cru of course!

2011-01-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

Casey and I decided this year would be a good year to really start making resolutions...where in all reality, I would love to list all 9 of our goals that we made while we were out eating on New Years Eve - I'll spare you. However 1 goal is already completed and January 2011 has already been good to us! So here is to a new year, full of goals and happy endings.

And here is to a full year of this kid... I just can't seem to get enough him in a single day...

5 Months

2011-01-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

You turned 5 months on December 29th. I seriously cant believe how quickly time is flying by.
You are such a sweet and sensitive boy. We are so blessed to have you in our life.
On Christmas Eve we went to the Cathedral of the Madaline and listened to their Christmas choir. You LOVED it in there. All the stained glass windows and the music had your attention. Your little head would look to the left and then to the right then to the front back to the left and up at me, you loved those windows. We can already tell that you like music, it calms you right down. Maybe it is because you already have your own Ipod that you listen to every night or because we have so many play lists in the car just for you. Or maybe it is just because you remember the angels singing in Heaven.
You also LOVE to read books. You will sit in my lap for a good 45 minutes while I read stories to you. You touch the pages and sometimes try to lick them, but you are so intrigued by them.
You still love bath time. Your kick your little legs like crazy, or if you are really tired you will just lounge and put one foot under the faucet and the other up on the side of your tub. Its hilarious. Dad also just introduced you to your rubber ducky, whom you are fascinated by.
You have become very interested in my water bottle. Every time I take a drink you reach for it, Ill put it up to your lips, you'll grasp it and pretend like your are drinking it. Now we give you little sips. I think it is so cute, you want everything I have, and this is the one thing I can share with you. So I do it.
You love it when I tickle your face with my hair, you giggle as I sweep it across your forehead.
You always have a bib on in all your pictures because you are the drooling king.
You also enjoy sitting (propped up of course) on my bed as I get ready in the mornings, I either put you in the boppy or with some pillows and you will sit there playing with your noisy book or stare at your baby Van Gogh movie. It is so cute...here is a picture...

Something I absolutly love that you do now, is when we put our face close to yours you reach up with both hands and gently put your hands on our cheeks. It isnt when we hold you, but when you are laying in your play gym or down on the floor or are laying in bed with us. I think it is so sweet.
You seriously are the love and joy or our life. I cant imagine not having you here with us.
I love you Cru.

Christmas morning...

2010-12-30T15:48:00.000-08:00

Cru gave Casey and I a wonderful Christmas present this year...he slept in until 9:40!!! I woke up at 7 and put the Christmas casserole in the oven and went back to bed, an hour and a half later the oven timer was beeping and Cru was talking in his crib. Perfect timing.
We got up, ate breakfast, fed the babe and Casey and I opened our gifts...yeah thats right, we opened our gifts first and then let Cru at his. We are awesome. haha
Casey and I spent a whole $11 bucks of Cru for Christmas. Everything else he got from grandparents. However, he has currently only played with his new soccer ball, listened to his singamagigs and played with his easy grasp ball.
I loved Christmas when it was just Casey and I, it was even better starting a few new traditions now that we have Cru and I have a feeling they are just going to get better and better.
Cru with all his toys...
Casey's mom and dad asked what we would like them to get Cru for Christmas, I told them that I wanted to start an education fund for Cru and would love if they wanted to make his first deposit. They went beyond that and are actually doing the research for the best one that actually plays to stock market. I am really excited about it, and really really grateful. Education is so important to Casey and I and we are excited to start this fund for Cru so that he too can experience and appreciate the importance of a college degree.

Santa came to Nana's

2010-12-30T15:32:00.000-08:00

Every year Santa makes his grand appearance to my mom's house (Nana's). All the grandkids LOVE it and it is something we all look forward to during our family Christmas party. The year's Santa had a fake beard, as soon as we put Cru on Santa's lap, he we for it on almost pulled it downed, Santa had pretty quick hands though, and was able to hold it in place while I pried Cru's fingers apart. It was quite entertaining, well at least I thought.
Cru received his first stocking from Santa filled with a gift card to Babies R Us. It was perfect!
I am kind of bummed that I didnt get a good shot of Cru with Santa. But at least I got something...
Thanks mom for yet another fun Christmas party!

Gardner Village

2010-12-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

To start out this year's Christmas festivities, Casey and I decided to venture out and take Cru to see the Elves at Gardner Village before it got too cold. Of course as soon as I got Cru out of his car seat and started walking it started down pouring. Cru was a trooper though, we were still able to get some pictures and spot a few elves. Christmas is SO much better with little ones!

Casey's 27th and Mom's 50th

2010-12-30T15:15:00.000-08:00

The love of my life turned 27. The lucky boy got the day off of work and I of course did not, so he got to spend the morning with Cru until I got home. I got him a PS3. I think it is BY FAR the best gift I have ever given him. I have never seen him that excited to get something. We ended up taking it back and getting the bundle package with the PS3 Move - which is super fun. Anyway, happy belated birthday post babe! I love you!

My mom turned the big 5-0 last month. I sent out an invitation to have her party at my house...but because Cru had RSV I was no longer feeling up to it, so we partied at Outback and let them clean up the mess, it was perfect. Happy birthday momma, I love you dearly!

4 months.

2010-12-02T05:42:00.001-08:00

I feel like this sweet little man has always been a part of my life. But I swear everyday he changes so much.
Cru is such a good baby. I still don't think Casey knows how good we have it (or maybe I am naive and really just have no idea).

4 Month stats:
Weight: 14 pounds 11 oz - 50%
Height: 26.5 inches - 90%
Head: 17 inches - 85%

The past month Cru has still been enjoying the same things he always has:
- Car rides
- Bath time
- Going to bed

But he has learned some new things too:
- Rollin over! For about a week he would just go from his tummy to his back, but last week he goes, tummy to back to tummy to back. He gets really proud of himself when he goes back to his back and loves it when we start clapping and cheering him on.
- How to grab absolutely everything and stick it in his mouth.
- Pull on my hair. It is the first thing he goes for EVERY time I pick him up.
- Talking to his 'Liger' in his pack n play - he seriously will just lay in that thing forever talking to her, its so cute.
- He loves eating rice cereal off a spoon. He took it like a champ in fact! He watches the spoon get the rice cereal and make its way back to his mouth, he opens wide and doesn't spit a thing out. He loved it. However, yesterday the doc just told me to put it in his bottle for now, till he is eating more.
- Family prayers. He lays there and coos the entire time and tries to put his feet on dads face.

Here are some pics from Monday November 29th, his actual 4 month mark -

Its time!

2010-11-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

Its time!

We got our family pictures taken with all of Casey's family for his parents Christmas gift. Poor little Cru, I felt like an awful mom taking him out when he was all RSV'd up. But he was a champ...we even got a picture of him smiling. Doesn't surprise me though - you would have never known the little guy was sick.
So, it took one look at the huge shot of the fam for me to realize that its TIME for me to start working out again. I keep thinking, its only been 4 months and my c-section incision is still numb - but seriously, will ever not be? Anyway, Ive every once in a while been riding the bike, doing P90X or Insanity...but for some reason, I just cant get into it. This is how my mind works..."Cru will be alseep for about an hour, do I get in the shower or do I work out?" The shower ALWAYS wins. Bummer!
So I decided to take an easier approach. I tried to find something that will only take a couple of weeks and is somewhat easy to get back into the swing of things and to help tone up my arms and tummy...what else is there...PUSHUPS and SITUPS!!! So I am doing the 100 pushup and 200 situp challenge. Its 6 weeks and on the last day...Ill be able to do 100 pushups and 200 situps straight. Im totally excited about it. Casey and I did the 'initial test' to rank ourselves last night. Casey pumped out 45 pushups like it wasnt anything, and I could barely make it up on numerb 15. You would think that toting a baby around for the past 4 months would have helped - it didnt. So there you have it, I can only do 15 man pushups and in 6 weeks it will be 100!

Cru and RSV

2010-11-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

You know, I always knew I was going to be an anal over protective mother. I have always been overprotective of those that I love - but when there is a 'little' man who relies on me to help him grow big and strong, I'm even worse. I have hand sanitizer attached to my diaper bag and won't let a soul touch Cru until they've sanitized. We don't take Cru to church in fear of him getting sick by another child whose mother "has to go to church" and puts the rest of us at risk. He practically sweatss every time I take him into the cold weather because of how bundled he is. I wake up multiple times a night, just to check on him...the list goes on. Cru has been sleeping through the night for about 2 months now, two weeks ago, he started getting really restless and kept waking up. I would go into his room and attempt to give him his binky, but everytime I put in in his mouth, he sounded like darth vador from how congested he was. I though he was getting a cold...So...I took him in that morning to the doctor. They first told me the poor babe has ear infections. I was a little upset and taken back just because I 'heard' that nursed babies usually dont get their first ear infection till you stip nursing - guess you can't beliece everything you read. We started talking about how congested he was and the Doc said he wanted to test him for RSV "OK", I replied...I wasn't prepared for the awkwardness they were about to put my baby through. They had to stick a q-tip type thing about 3 inches up his 1 inch nose for a nasal swab test. I was by myself. The nurse came in and told me to lay him on my lap and to hold his head., and if I didnt "hold it good enough that the swab could go too far up and really hurt him" - great. I started preparing myself for his high screeched pain cry, the same one he let out when he got his two month shots...but to my surprise, he didn't make a sound. I was shocked. When the nurse was done, he scrunched his eyebrows together and gave me this VERY dissatisfied look...like a "are you kidding me" or a "why the hell did you just let her do that to me" or a "you just sat there and watched her" - Whatever it was, I must admit, his facial expression was pretty funny. But, not a tear shed. The Nurse told me that he was the first baby she had ever done that to that didnt make a peep! She was quite impressed.
20 minutes later, the Doc came in and told me my baby has RSV. My heart sunk. Seriously? What does this mean, what do I need to do? I was scared. I knew that was something that people seroiusly fear and my baby had it.
Cru slept in our bedroom in his little bed for a week, any peep he made had me on my heels. The last thing the Doc said to me before we left his office that day was that he will stip breathing, turn blue, start crying and then pink up again...doesnt that sound lovely?
We took Cru in almost everyday the past 2 weeks to get him checked. We were told that we caught it early (day 2 to be exact)...my babies ears are now infection free, he doesnt have anything in his lungs and he is sounding SOOOO good! We didnt have to hospitalize him, he wasnt able to be on any meds for it because of how young he is, we sunctioned he little nose like Nazis and had the humidifier on full blast...he made it through like a champ!

Octobers Best

2010-11-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

Cru go to go to his first pumpkin patch! We had to pick out a pumpkin for him, but of course he loved being there. HAHA. I was not daring enough to put him on a bail of hay or surrounded by pumpkins, so in dad and moms arms is where he stayed...Doesn't Cru look EXACTLY like Casey? So cute!

On Friday evening we took Cru to the 5A girls soccer state championship game (which was totally lame) at the Rio Tinto Stadium...he was quite the trooper and was loving every minute of him - it was a good practice round for his first REAL soccer game.

It was so fun figuring out what our little family would dress up as for Halloween. Cru loved is get up. He even fell asleep in the pot - it was hilarious. We took him to 4 Halloween parties in 2 days and he totally stole the show at Casey and my work places.

10-10-10 - Cru's Blessing

2010-10-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

We blessed Cru on October 10th. It was such a beautiful day. Having been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ my entire life, I have had the opportunity to be surrounded by some amazing Priesthood holders. One of them being my sweet husband. I will never forget the first time I truly felt my husbands sweet spirit and the power he portrayed as I knelt down in prayer with him just 3 days after he returned home from his mission in Nicaragua. I swear up and down that I knew that I would marry Casey when I was in 10th grade - but this was the day I knew it for certainty. This man had the Priesthood, something I wanted my children to have in their home as they grew. Today, was the first, of I am sure many blessings, that Casey gave to his first son.
I sat in amazement at the calmness and sincere heartfelt prayer that was offered up during Cru's blessing - what a lucky boy to have such an amazing father! A father that dreams of the day when they will be 'playing' outside and washing the cars. I father who already gave his whole heart away the minute he saw him for the first time. A father that will drive home for lunch breaks just to see his family and one that will be an amazing example to our entire family...

Casey - Me - Cru

My happy baby

Aunt Alyssa, Nana, Cru and Grampa

Casey - Grandma - Grandpa Bubba - Cru - Me
Papa and Cru

I made Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes...the were delish!!!

No question...

2010-10-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Im at work right now and dont have any pictures to post - but hopefully I will get to that on Thursday.... But, I just have to say, that I serioulsy have the coolest baby EVER!
Cru and I went to the Alta Girls Quarterfinal game on Tuesday (which they lost by the way) and Cru sat perfectly content on my lap watching girls run back and forth in front of him (when they were close enough for him to see) for the ENTIRE first half. At half-time, I had to go the the bathroom - so we went and on the way back to our chair he fell asleep. Not a peep out of him the whole time - he was totally happy and enjoyed every moment. Some lady came up and asked how old Cru was, when I told her that he was 2 months, her eyes got big and her jaw dropped. She told me how "lucky" I am to have such a good baby. But I already knew that. Even with all the cheering and clapping, and screaming...he loved it! He would just glance over wherever the noise was coming from. It was hilarious.
Then, on Sunday.... Cru slept from 8:20pm to 5:30am, I went and got him out of his bed and brought him in to cuddle with me for a little while, he fell back alseep and when I rolled over to see what time it was, the clock said.....10:28!!!! I seriously, was so tired the rest of the day cause I got TO MUCH sleep! How awesome is that???
Oh my little Cruiser is a perfect miniture of his parents...and it is WONDERFUL!

Picture Time!

2010-10-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am getting back into the swing of things and am aching to get back out and take pictures! It is beautiful outside and my camera is calling my name!!!
If you are interested in getting your family pictures taken, give me a call - check out my photography blog http://www.carvphotography.blogspot.com/!
Keep in mind, that I am aware that the economy sucks right now and that people dont wont to spend money on family photos, but I am a cheap date...at only $50 bucks, I promise you will get many that you LOVE!!!
Plus, I have a sister that makes SUPER cute Christmas cards that look fab with my locations! Check her out on Etsy - Natty Sue Designs.

Give me a call to schedule - 801-953-8761

Dear Me

2010-10-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Every time Cru falls asleep, I find myself either... 1. Writing on my LettersToCru blog or 2. Searching for other enjoyable blogs to read that leave me uplifted.
Last night, as Cru so perfectly slept in my arms - I found one of those blogs. The most recent post was a letter she wrote herself when her baby turned 9 months. However, the letter was what she would have written to herself if she could go back to just before her child was born.

I wanted to write one too...

Dear Me,

The last couple of weeks many have wished upon you that your baby would come early. You kindly responded that you want him to come when he is ready and fully developed. Your want of a perfect, healthy baby boy will be fulfilled. In fact, he will be late.

You will prove to yourself that you are braver and more capable than you have EVER given yourself credit for. All those many articles and books you have read on vaginal deliveries, hours of pushing, maybe a little tearing - even making the 'pushing' face in the mirror to see what you would like...are all pointless. Braveness will come as you so willingly lie on a table as some of the best, perform major surgery on you, so that your little one doesn't get sick. Your body will experiance pain and ecstast at the magnitute of which in currently unimaginable, a pain you have never felt.

It will instantly sink in the he really does belong to you. And, it is more amazing than you ever dreamed of it being. Things will come naturally. You will be overprotective. Family prayers will make you weep as you and Casey pray for help and guidance, for health and happiness for your most prized possession.

You think you love Casey now - but, you will be amazed at how much more you will love him. You thought you had the best husband, but you will soon find out that you found the most amazing man to father your children. He will give everything he has in caring for you and your baby.

Your thoughts on a million different topics will change drastically. What makes you happy. What constitutes as a successful day. What others think (you really wont care). How much sleep you need to function. What you believe to be your strengths and your weaknesses. What's important. What's not.

People tell you that you have no idea what love is until you hold your child in your arms. And right now, you nod your head and smile...but inside you believe you have a pretty good idea. Soon enough - there he will be - that faint little cry that brings a smile to your face - his brand new skin against yours - his smell that you can't get enough of - the first rise and falls of him breathing on your chest. And you will realize that they were all right. Absolutely right. You had no idea. Not a clue.

In a couple of weeks, routine will start to settle in and you will look in the mirror, the girl looking back will be the same. She'll have the same annoying habits, the same faults, will care much less about herself and well being - But, she'll learn something about herself that you don't know yet...despite your many flaws and shortcomings, you turn out to be a damn (a word you would never let cross your lips in the presence of your baby)...but you turn out to be a damn good mother. Know it, take pride in it. You'll still find yourself constantly praying for guidance, but have faith that on the journey you'll find your way.

Love,
The eventual you.

Cru is 2 months

2010-10-03T10:03:00.001-07:00

My little man is two months old today and is the sweetest thing ever.
His two months stats:
Weight - 11 pounds 12 ounces (60%ile)
Height - 24 inches (90%ile)
Head - 16 inches (75%ile)

Some of his very favorite things are:

1. Taking a bath - he totally fell alseep in the tub about 2 weeks ago, it was hilarious!

2. Getting his diaper changed - he will be all smiles and have a 'conversation' on the changing table for about 5 minutes each time I change him.

3. Singing the hokie pokie - he thinks its hilarious when I do it to his left foot.

4. Riding in the car.

5. Being outside when the wind is blowing.

6. His snuggie - I honestly think these really do increase a baby's sleep time.

Some of Cru's milestones this last month:

1. He started smiling at 5 weeks.

2. We are one week in of him sleeping through the night at 8 1/2 weeks.

3. This last week he has discovered his toes - he wont touch them, he will just sit there and stare at them.

Some of the things I have learned becoming a mom.

1. That if I could get down 5 pounds lighter than I was before I got pregnant, I would honestly consider getting pregnant right now.

2. The love a mother has for her child is undescribable.

3. 3:00 am feedings, really aren't as bad as people make them out to be. In fact, I loved looking forward to seeing his smiling face when we were done as I laid him back in his crib. He got me a couple of times though, me feeling bad for leaving him so happy, all alone - so I rocked him to sleep instead.

4. A Breast Pump was seriously God's gift to me. I was so engorged after about 4 weeks of breastfeeding so I decided to breast feed than pump - I got 8 ounces after I had just fed my baby!!! Now, I have a freezer full of milk!

5. There is nothing sexier than watching my husband interact with our son. I honestly believe he is the best husband and father.

6. You can never have enough diapers. However, those huggies that have the 'wet line' are AMAZING! Why do they only put those on Newborn diapers?

7. 7 hours can pass and you can realize...I haven't even put my baby down!...or eaten, or gone to the bathroom.

8. C-Sections secretly aren't fun recovering from.

9. Asking anyone who wants to even touch my baby's hand to put sanitizer on, is totally worth it.

10. Being an anal and over-protective mom comes very natural to me.

11. Being peed on, isn't bad at all.

12. Loving on my hubby after the babe is alseep, is sexier than it ever has been - TMI? Probably, but I had to include it.

13. Stretch marks on my stomache, are worth the prized possesion that they came with - If he would have come on time, I wouldn't have any - but, he liked it in there.

14. Bottle warmers are a pumping moms best friend. Seriously!

15. My own mother has always been my best friend, but a new love and respect for her grew as soon as I held my own child.

Free baby sling.

2010-09-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

I just ordered myself a baby sling - I never really liked these things, but ever since my surgery I have been having some serious back issues and I thought one of these may be able to help me out a little bit. Anyway, here is the info if you want one... Shipping was $11 bucks, I have never seen one of these for less than $35, so I think its quite the steal.
www.sevenslings.com
enter promo code 'babies' in at checkout and you total will be $11.95 for any sling of your choice.

The end of 'Maternity Leave'

2010-09-27T05:42:00.001-07:00

The day I have dreaded since I was 7 months preggo. It's here.
Dad was at school the before my return to work...So Cru and I did our nightly routine on our own. After I fed him, we said 'family prayer' and I couldnt help but start crying.
I didnt want to go back to work. Where did those 8 weeks go? - I want to be the first one my baby sees in the morning, I want to be the one that sees that days first smile. I want to change that poopie diaper and be the chest he nuzzles his face into as he approached the time for his first nap.
But, now...I have to share that joy with some of the people I love and trust. Will they enjoy those moments as much as I have?
I have to give away days that I will never get back with my baby.
Do you think he understands what is going on? Well, I think I am taking it a lot harder than he is.
However, I am bringing in a second income. An income that will allow Casey and I to help fulfill Cru's wildest dreams. The dreams of becoming a scientist, a professional soccer player or a rock star. Whatever dream he dreams - I will be able to help him discover it.
The greatest piece of advice anyone gave me during my pregnancy was, "Don't listen when people try and give advice about holding you baby for too long, or picking him up everytime he gets fussy, or letting him fall asleep in your arms. It goes by way too quickly, so enjoy it."
I took that advice and am SO glad that I did.
My baby, he slept through the night last night. And I know I should be grateful. Because I got 7 straight hours of sleep, but I missed him.
I would hold him ALL DAY if I could, in fact, I do hold EVERY second I am with am.
I will not let a moment pass that I will regret with my little man. I am his mom and he loves me in a way that I hope will last forever.

Waking Up

2010-08-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Its 7:30 in the morning...and this boy is just waking up...How can you resist this face?

Going Private

2010-08-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

We are going private!!! I have had some weird comments lately and it wigged me out - so leave your email address if you want me to add you!!!

Introducing - Cru

2010-08-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

Cru Thorne Van Wagoner
Cru joined our family on July 29th 2010 at exactly 10:00 am
He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces
and is 21.5 inches long.
I think, he is a pretty good mix of both mom and dad - but I can tell that he is his fathers son FOR SURE. I know that he will change quite a bit, even within the next week - but as of now, he has my eyes and chin, a mix of Casey's and my nose...and everything else is pure daddy! I think he is absolutely beautiful!
Nana and Cru

Cru and mom

Cru

Coming home from the hospital!!!

Cru and dad

Delivery Day

2010-08-04T18:02:00.001-07:00

July 29th 2010
Casey and I went in for our 40.5 week Doctors appointment. To both of our surprise - I was still barely dilated to a "1" and 60% effaced. Not quite the news we thought we would get. However, my blood pressure was high and I was more swollen then normal, so Dr. Barton sent us down to labor Delivery to run some tests on both Cru and I.
Sweet little Cru was looking good - however, I was dumping protein in my urine and because of my high blood pressure, it started to effect one of my kidneys.
After 3 hours worth of tests, the nurse came in and asked "How do you feel about delivering your baby today?" I was little shocked. My response was, "That would be great, but I'm a little scared". She then went on to tell me that if we wait any longer, that I would get even sicker and as a result of that, our baby would get sick as well.
After talking it over with Casey we obviously decided it was smarter to get me started and deliver our baby sooner than later.
So off we went to our delivery room...Room #7 (my lucky number)
They started me on patocin at about 12:30 in the afternoon, every 30 minutes they would up my dose.
Once my dosage was up to 16 my doctor came down and checked me again. He said I was still a "1" and hadn't changed one bit. He then tried to break my water...that was not fun!!! HE TRIED to break it!!! Cru's head wasn't even in my pelvis yet so he couldn't reach it.
After being on Patocin for 12 hours at the highest dosage - I was checked again, still dilated to a 1. They put me on a different med that does the same thing as patocin, it just makes your contractions much greater. You are only allowed 3 dosages of it every 3 hours. So after 9 more hours I was checked one last time - and I was still at a "1" and 60% effaced. That's when my doctor informed me that we would be having a C-section.
I was scared to death. I didn't read up on cesareans so I wasn't prepared. 30 minutes later we were off to the Operating Room.

Casey looked hilarious in white body suit.
The anesthesiologist, was a nice guy. He walked me through what he was going to do to give me my epidural. I felt like it would be pretty easy. However, I totally started crying after because I was so scared. Casey was so sweet with me the whole time telling me how strong I was being and how amazing he thinks I am. He held my hand the entire time.
I could see the 'incision' in the big round lights shinning brightly down on my incision. After about 3 minutes of watching, I started wigging out a bit, so I had to stop. I think the worst part though, was feeling my body go numb. That was awful and disgusting.
Then after only about 10 minutes the anesthesiologist told Casey he could stand up and look over the blue sheet as they were about to pull our baby boy out. He looked at me and smiled, then stood up. His eyes welled up with tears and got all red like they do when he is about to cry - and then I heard the most beautiful sound, the sound of our baby crying. It was beautiful!

I have been in love with this little boy the minute I read "pregnant" on my 'pee stick'. I have loved this little boy's father ever since my sophomore year in high school. But I have NEVER loved either one of them more, then I did at this moment.

All the pregnant ladies

2010-07-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law showed me this YouTube video and I thought it was HILARIOUS! If you are wondering...yes, this lady is totally 38 weeks pregnant! Quite impressive - make sure you listen to the words and watch the people in the back ground, it is great!
***Make sure you mute my music at the bottom!

His nursery & we are 40 weeks today!

2010-07-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well, apparently our baby isn't quite ready to make his grand appearance. I am officially 40 weeks today. Going 8 months with the date of "July 24th" in your head - and then that day comes and you still don't have your baby, well...we think it is a little frustrating. But that's okay.
We went to the Doctor again on Thursday and I was dilated to a "1+" - whoa! HeHe.
However, we know that this little guy will be here by Friday per Doctors orders.
Even though we REALLY want this boy here, I feel extremely blessed that we have carried him as long as we have. We had a scare at 34 weeks because of my blood pressure, swelling and water retention - The doctor told me that we will probably have to deliver the baby Monday because of my blood pressure. Casey put me on strict couch rest and I didn't do a thing all weekend. It worked. So here we are.
The nursery has been done for quite some time and I cant believe how many things we already have for him. The brick wall isn't done yet - we are adding one thing to it (which I am not telling you what it is yet) but Casey painted the wall, and I am totally impressed. What do you think???

As for me - I absolutely LOVE being pregnant. I think it is the most AMAZING thing I have ever experienced. I actually think I will miss it. However, I have gained a whooping 59 pounds - so don't think I haven't had it that rough. My doc says he thinks a lot of it is water, which I am hoping he is right. But every pound, the restless nights, being uncomfortable and extremely hot all the time is totally worth it. And the payoff is coming soon.
Today...

I do have to throw in...that my husband is absolutely amazing. He rubs my feet every night and has cooked almost every meal the last 2 weeks and hasn't even complained. I love him!

How delightful...

2010-07-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Monday night, Casey made me dinner. Then we headed out to the park where I read a book and he ‘practiced’ soccer with his 3 vs 3 soccer team (which takes place this weekend). Then we headed to Lindon for an 11:25 PM indoor soccer game of his. I actually did really well, I was sick of sitting when the game ended and ready to crawl into bed when we pulled up to our house at 12:45 AM!

I opened the car door and our fire alarms were blasting off. Casey and I gave the “what the heck?” look and went inside. This wasn’t the first time those suckers had gone off, and they sure are loud!!! Casey had to get the ladder and one of the alarms were at the top of our vaulted ceilings. He tried to reset them as we clearly found that our home was not on fire, but they kept going off…I started reading the back of one and it said something along the lines that ‘if this thing is beeping 4 times it is the CO2’ – sure enough, they were beeping 4 times.

After about 10 minutes in the house and discovering why the alarms were going off (one of the burners to the stove was ‘off’ but not all the way off, so it was letting out all the gases) I went outside with the laptop – I was getting worried about the toxins and the babe! Casey opened all the windows and doors, brought us some otter pops to enjoy on the front porch as our house vented out and made a phone call to the local Fire Department.

The Firemen came, the Paramedics came and they didn’t want to turn off their ‘lights’ or engines upon arriving at our house. There were a couple of them that were bright eyed and chipper – just a couple, the other literally looked like they had just been hit by a bus. They were SO happy to be at our house at 1 in the morning (-:

The Paramedic tested Casey and I for Co2 – we both had some in our system, in fact .4% less than what would have made us have to go to the hospital. The Firemen went into the house. They came back to report that they were getting reading for the Co2 at “ZERO” in the living room and kitchen. Then another Fireman came out and reported HIGH volumes of Co2 in the “baby’s room and the basement” – what the???? How scary is that? Sure, we had the windows and the doors open in EVERY room for about 15 minutes before they arrived, but it was the worst in my baby’s room??? SCARY!!!

Needless to say, they stuck around till all the rooms came back at a ‘zero’ and told us we would be okay there if we wanted to stay. Casey and I slept with ALL the windows and a door open, just in case. I always thought those Co2 alarms were over priced and not nearly as important as a fire alarm – but I stand corrected, and I AM SO GRATEFUL for ours!!! We had only been in the house for 10 minutes and our Co2 count was already that high, imagine if we would have stayed an extra 5 minutes!?!?!?!

100 things about me.

2010-06-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

More for me than anything... But someone suggested that I make a list of things just about me before our baby comes...we are 4 weeks out, so I decided now was a good time to complete it!
100 things about me.

1. Me least favorite day of the year is Day light savings in the spring…there is nothing worse than losing a hour of sleep and than waking up when it is still dark outside.
2. I am completely obsessed with MEK jeans.
3. If someone is wearing a pair of name brand shoes – like, Jessica Simpsons, BCBG, Steve Maddens, Guess, Chinese Laundry, Anne Klein ect…I can tell you what brand they are just by looking at them.
4. I will not eat at a place that I come out smelling like it.
5. I have known my husband since I was 9.
6. My first real kiss was in the back of my bishops van at a ward campout.
7. I never ‘snuck’ out of the house without asking permission from my mom.
8. Once a month I get a pedicure – I love the look and feel of freshly painted nails.
9. If I had an extra $40 a week to spend on myself, I would spend it getting pampered.
10. I LOVE plain cheerios that I can douse in Sugar!
11. I get a thrill from cleaning and organizing.
12. I love photography and capturing sweet intimate moments between family members.
13. My favorite snack is Edamames and I eat them everyday at work.
14. Casey purposed at our favorite “get away spot” and the place we use to go to “make out” at in High School – The Draper Rodeo Grounds.
15. My favorite day of the week is Saturday mornings, Casey makes me breakfast in bed and then we snuggle up and watch a movie.
16. I graduated with a degree in Behavioral Science.
17. My favorite holiday is the 4th of July.
18. I look forward to the joys, blessings and trials of motherhood
19. I dream of the day where I get to stay home with my kids, be the room mother and actually enjoy the time I cook.
20. I would rather pay a hefty price for a shirt I love, that I know will last, than get 3 cheaply made ones for the price I paid for that 1.
21. I dream of capturing beautiful pictures of my little ones.
22. I love the look on my honey’s face when we see each other after a long day apart.
23. I love that I can ask my dad ANYTHING and he always knows the answer!
24. I played soccer at Southern Utah University.
25. I’m never “on time” – I’m either extremely early or late.
26. I really enjoy ‘entertaining’ our family and friends at our home.
27. I get sick to my stomach thinking about being away from my husband for more than a day.
28. My mother is truly my best friend.
29. I love to decorate.
30. I love shopping for little kid shoes (My soon to be son, always has 12 pairs)
31. If you had to buy me a present and didn’t know what to get me – I would tell you a gift card to Buckle.
32. I can multi-task like nobody’s business!
33. I absolutely LOVE to learn new things. And cant wait to learn how to quilt as good as my mom.
34. I enjoy making and dropping off “desserts of the month” to my neighbors to let them know someone was thinking of them. Especially those we meet for the first time doing so.
35. Of our tour of Europe starting in Rome, ending in London and visiting every country in between, Switzerland would be my choice of home.
36. I could eat a banana, peanut butter protein shake for breakfast everyday and not get sick of it.
37. I love laying on the floor with a blanket atop of me over the heater.
38. My favorite candy is pop-rocks.
39. I seriously have the littlest bladder and I wake up 3 times a night to go to the bathroom after not drinking anything past 8 o’clock. Its quite annoying. (even when I am not pregnant)
40. My best time at Computer Solitaire is 42 seconds – my dad and I have competitions, his best time is 62 seconds.
41. I take pride in beating my Aunt Renee in any game known to man…and if I’m not around, then shell win. Sorry Auntie Nae, you know its true!
42. I had never had stitches until I was 19 when I had to have my appendix removed.
43. Some of my dream jobs include: a criminal profiler, a lawyer or a Medical Examiner
44. If money allowed, I would go to school the rest of my life.
45. I had a goat named Lewis.
46. My choice of beverage is a Dr. Pepper with a lime.
47. I have never drank alcohol or smoked a cigarette.
48. I served a LDS mission in Lubbock Texas and truly found out who I was and wanted to become.
49. I knew I was going to marry Casey since my Junior year in high school.
50. I would rather hang out with my husband than go out with anyone else.
51. I have ‘swam’ with a shark.
52. I could sleep 12 hours a night if time allowed.
53. I love making desserts.
54. Family road trips are one of my best memories growing up.
55. I absolutely hate using public restrooms.
56. I know what my husband is thinking by his ‘eye’ expressions.
57. I believe a true a friend is one that doesn’t judge you and one that you could honestly share your darkest secret with and it would never leave their lips.
58. I was born three weeks late and had the brightest red hair.
59. I honestly think that my husband has the BEST butt ever!!!
60. Ever seem Tombstone? My dream would be to live on room service.
61. I bite my nails.
62. I hate brushing my teeth at night.
63. I am completely spoiled rotten by my husband.
64. I believe that my mother has done every aspect of parenting absolutely perfect.
65. I think woman who have confidence are the most beautiful.
66. I can remember how I thought and viewed the world when I was a child.
67. I was born in Irving, Texas and moved to Utah when I was 9.
68. I married my soul mate.
69. I truly believe that if something is meant to be, it will happen.
70. I am an awful speller.
71. I go by my middle name.
72. I currently have 49 pairs of shoes in my closet.
73. My first ‘boyfriend’ was Efrian. He kissed me behind a wall in our Shady Hollow neighborhood when we were 7. And I still remember to this day my Aunt Patti making fun of us and me running to my bunk crying because I was so embarrassed.
74. The old man across the way growing up, called me Strawberry Shortcake.
75. I believe in life after death.
76. I am amazingly good at Sudoku puzzles.
77. In high school I got my belly pierced at some nasty place in Vegas over Spring Break. Each of my girl friends pierced something different.
78. Casey and I have been to Cancun 3 times and seriously know the best places to go.
79. I love slow dancing. I think it is romantic. – In high school, Casey took me to a park and we blasted our favorite song from the car while slow dancing under the stars next to the swing set.
80. I believe a person’s spirituality is a private thing and just because they believe something different, doesn’t make them any different.
81. I was a seriously a BOY Scout. My mom was in charge of all that growing up, so I took an active part.
82. My parents thought I FOR SURE was a boy before my arrival. My crib even said “Matthew” on its end. My name would have been “Matthew Ryan Mayo”.
83. I honestly think that anything bad that could happen to anyone, that my mother has been through it.
84. I have never had the chicken pox.
85. I think going to a baseball game is relaxing.
86. I have been punched in the face by girl.
87. I honestly think, that the most amazing person I have met…is my little sister.
88. I am my mother’s favorite child.
89. I can do multiple back flips in a row on the trampoline.
90. I worked as a pizza delivery driver for 2 weeks at college and made enough just from tips to pay for my books and housing for the next semester so I quit.
91. I danced with Steve Young when I was like 14 at his pre wedding party for maybe 45 seconds (my mom worked with his fiancés father…they never did get married).
92. I think plain milk is disgusting.
93. I cannot take a shower that is less than 15 minutes.
94. I currently have over $300 dollars worth of gift cards in my wallet.
95. I would rather read than watch TV.
96. I have kept a book of baby names I like since 9th grade.
97. My idea of the perfect vacation involves a beach and some serious roller-coasters.
98. My first car was a 1977 Mercury Cougar – it was hideous…but I was the first to drive between all my friends, so we had fun.
99. I believe that goal setting is essential to becoming who you want to be and to accomplish even the little things in life.
100. When my husband grabs my hand to hold it, I still feel as giddy as I did the first time he did it in 10th grade.

"Look Pregnant!!!"

2010-05-20T12:51:00.001-07:00

I will be the first to admit…I’m spoiled. I am spoiled now, and I always have been! Our baby, he is spoiled too! His sweet Nana (my mom) loves buying him things just as much as she loves buying me things, and she loves planning out daily activities that we will get to one day enjoy with him.
Today for lunch, she took me to Babies R Us to buy me a ‘big’ gift! She has already bought us PLENTY! But she insisted…So off we went to Babies R Us. I have that entire store memorized, I can tell you where everything is, I think it is a little too early for me to know these things, but hey…it happens.
Anyway, we pulled up and I had a ‘flashback’ to the first time my mom, little sister Alyssa and I came to Babies R Us….So I have to write down what she said, just because I think it is funny…
I was 5 months pregnant, with a baby bump and 18 pounds to show for it…You know those reserved ‘Expecting Mothers’ spots that are in front of the mall and of course, in front of Babies R Us? Well, the 3 of us pull up in front of Babies R Us and are looking for a spot, low and behold, one of the ‘Expecting Mothers’ spots was open! Sweet! I navigated my mother to that spot and proudly proclaimed that “this is the first time I have got to park in an ‘Expecting Mothers’ spot”, my mom kind of bit her lip, looked around and after a little hesitation finally pulled in to the spot. She asked “Are you sure we can park here?” She was kidding but I could tell there was some seriousness in her voice. As we are getting out of the car, she turns around and boldly says to me “LOOK PREGNANT!!!”. What? All I said was…I am pregnant!!! My little sister and I thought it was hilarious! You probably don’t think it is as funny as I think it is – but it was funny!

A little baby update.

2010-05-11T10:20:00.001-07:00

Every time I see my dad he asks me how many days we have left. I never know. I know the weeks, not the days. Today he told me – we have 74 days left.
Within the past week, about 9 people have said “hopefully he comes early!” It makes me want to put my hands on my belly where I think his tiny ears are at and cover them up so he doesn’t get any ideas! I don’t want him to come early, I want him to come when he is ready! I don’t want his eyes, or lungs or brain to be under developed. I want him healthy!!! I know many of you moms are saying to yourself ‘oh, in a couple of weeks you’ll want him early!’ – but I don’t! We tried for too long to get this little man here and I want him to take his time!
I may be delivering quite the large baby. I was 9.8 pounds and Casey was 8.4. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the size he will be but at our last appointment last week he was measuring 1.4cm bigger than the ‘average’. I really think he doesn’t have any more room to grow – I can see his little appendages run across my tummy every time he moves. And, he is turning like crazy – I wish I could say he is going to be quite the soccer player, just because that is what Casey and I love so much…but recently, it’s more like he is a swimmer. I can’t wait to see what his ‘loves’ in life are.
Maybe pictures of the nursery will come shortly…I couldn’t find fabric I liked for the LONGEST time. I finally found a crib skirt I liked, so I bought it! It should be here tomorrow!

Belly Bliss - my first Mother's Day gift

2010-05-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Casey surprised me with my first Mother's Day gift! I didn't expect one, not this year - even though I am 29 weeks pregnant and my boobs are doing more damage to my back than my sweet baby boy is - I still didn’t expect anything.
Last night however, Casey drove me to 2100 South and surprised me with a Belly Bliss 60 minute pre-natal massage. It was heavenly!
She ONLY does pre-natal massages and has these AMAZING orthopedic pillow/cushion things that actually let you lay on your tummy (the cushions have an opening where you slip your belly and boobs into...and waaaalaaa...no pressure! I would have been content just lying there without a massage!
She focused on my back, hips and neck with a little legs, arms and feet at the end. When I got up – I didn’t even feel pressure ANYWHERE on my body anymore. Seriously, divine!
Thank you honey for my gift!!! You are the BEST!!!

PS – I know LOTS of you a pregnant, so look her up if you are interested! She is absolutely darling and her website is http://bellyblissmassage.com/default.aspx

My husband

2010-04-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

I wish I had an updated picture of him (my hubby) cause I am completely obsessed with him. He is currently in the middle of fixing his car, so we only have one drivable car - yesterday I was a hour late picking him up from work and I found him juggling a soccer ball in front of his building. I sat there and started counting each juggle. Every once in a while he would get this huge smile on his face and let out a little laugh as he kept going. I counted 97 consecutive juggles and I didn’t even start counting right when I pulled up. After about 6 minutes of watching him he just grabbed the ball and ran to the car – he got in, and I was a little upset. I asked him why he stopped and he said “I didn’t want to make you wait any longer!” HELLO!!! I wanted him to keep going to see how many he could get! I asked him what he was up to and he said 300!!!! Yes that’s right! My husband totally juggled a ball 300 times in a row with his feet! Freaking amazing!
And then we went home – he worked out, I made dinner and then we went for a walk.
We got home and I took my shoes off and stated “I hate when my toes aren’t painted, they look like man feet, gross!”
I’m at that point that it is uncomfortable for me to bend over for long periods of time, so painting my toes doesn’t even appeal to me.
I washed my face and jumped into bed.
Casey came in with some fingernail polish and said “I’ll paint your toes for you!”.
He picked out the color and everything! I seriously, have the BEST HUBBY!
He did a really good job, I was impressed – and I got to wear sandals today!

Okay Okay

2010-04-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

So I did a little research...I had to vent okay? I really do think it was those dang deer! Remember my post last year about how much I LOVE deer? Both homes that Casey and I have lived in are surronded by deer and I LOVE seeing them everynight as I drive home. So, I guess I can forgive them this one time...I didnt understand why my Hyacinths and Daffodils werent eaten, but it is because deer do not like them. So, atleast they saved those for my enjoyment!
I found an article about what plants/flowers deer like. It said to "keep them away by hanging bars or soap or bags of hair around your yard" - okay white trash! No thanks!
So, my friends, if you live near me - do you mind planting some Tulips in your yard so the deer will come eat yours instead of mine? They are one of their favorite treats!!!

Seriously?

2010-04-12T09:23:00.001-07:00

Seriously? Casey and I had a WONDERFUL weekend! We didnt get one minute to get anything done that we needed to - but it was filled with family and friends and included some of our friends getting sealed in the Temple. It was perfect!
Until last night...I have been anxiously awaiting my tulips to open. They have been a little confused as to when they should actually open, but they had about an inch more to grow and their bulbs were just about ripe! I knew it would be sometime this past weekend...Then, on the way home from my parents house for dinner...Casey asked "did you cut the tulips or something?" I thought he was kidding, he knows that I LOVE my tulips - they really are beautiful, year after year and grow HUGEand they always recieve compliments!!! He wasnt kidding! We pulled into the garage, I jumped out and went to the front of the house...and sure enough - SOMEONE CUT THE TOPS OFF ALL OF MY TULIPS!!! SERIOUSLY???? WHAT THE HELL??? Excuse my vulgarity, but seriously?
Not were just the tops cut, but many were cut all the way down so that only about 2 - 3 inches of the greens were showing. Who the freak just goes into someones yard and cuts their tulips off? After I examined each area where my spring best friends should have been shinning, I noticed that on top of our rock wall that leads up to our house, that ALL of my beloved purple flowers have been cut OR PULLED (ROOT AND BULB) OUT!!! I am seriusly in shock - I have no idea who would do this - and they have left me seriously saddened. Im not kidding when I say that one of my favorite things about coming home from work in the Spring, is seeing my Tulips! They stand taller than a foot or two high and are so vibrant in color, they just make me smile! I wont get that this year. Now I have empty patches of perrinals where no flower will grow, My Hyacinth (which only bloom for about 3 weeks) and my Daffodils are all I will get to see.
So dear tulip and my purple flower that I cant remember the name of snipper - you ruined my day!
And if you thought you were trying to help thinking that 'maybe they have already bloomed and need to be snipped back' - you were wrong...why? well, 1. Because they have not bloomed yet and 2. Keeping the greens well into summer letting them soak up the suns rays helps them grow better the following year. So you didnt help...AND, STAY OUT OF MY YARD!!!
PS - At first, we thought maybe the dear or an animal has been enjoying our flower garden, but upon examination, they were indeed clipped, by scissors!

8 pairs and counting. HAHA

2010-03-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I cleaned out our baby's closet. It was packed full of ski and soccer stuff and years of collecting baby things/clothes. Casey and I finally decided on what colors the nursery will be, so he sat in the room with me and designed the main wall of the room on Photoshop. I cant wait to actually get the walls done!
I grabbed a box from the basement and piled in ALL the girl things I had.
I have a confession, until I found out we were having a boy, both my mother and I have been buying girl outfits FOREVER.
As it all started piling up, and the closet became less and less NOT PACKED I realized how incredibly grateful I am, that I am NOT having a girl!
And then, I found a box. FULL of BOY things, including, 6 pair of shoes for him! They all start at size 4, but I now remember where they came from and the killer deal I got on them! I am SO glad that I didn't resist! I must add, he already has 8 pairs of shoes.

Red & White lights

2010-03-09T09:58:00.001-08:00

For those that know me, I am NOT a procrastinator. In fact, it drives me CRAZY when others are. I am a detailed person and like things how I like them. Nor, do I like my own things out of order. That is why I am surprised that I still carry my license around that expired last July (yes, my license expired 8 months ago!!!) Casey and I have gone to get it renewed. By the time we get there after work, it is already 5. We wait for a hour and then we are told to come back tomorrow. It is very discouraging, but doesn’t matter cause my license is STILL expired.
So, Casey had a soccer game last night at 9:55. We walked into the garage and I told Casey that I would drive so he could get his gear on (thinking in my head, “I should grab my purse” – I didn’t. We went and picked up Dan and took the back roads to the Timpanogos Indoor Soccer arena. The frontage road to this place, is the same frontage road you take to the dump by Utah Lake. It’s pretty desolate, and you hardly EVER see a 2nd car – last night we did. The road has pot holes all over it, I swerved back in forth dodging them and saw the car behind me doing the same. I was proud of myself, I didn’t hit one!
I made a slight right turn and immediately, red and white lights starting flashing in my rear view mirror.
I looked at Casey and said “Was I speeding?”
He responded “No, but you just ran that stop sign.” With a grin on his face. – I love that he cant get mad at me.
I horrifically looked at him and said “I don’t have my license!”
So, Casey got the registration out of the dash and the officer approached the car.
I rolled down my window and he asked for my license and registration.
I bit my lip, handed him my registration and embarrassed, stated “Unfortunately, I don’t have my purse. Do you want my husband’s?”
He looked at me like I was an idiot.
I deserved that look. I was the driver. Not Casey.
He then reminded me of that – whatever.
Then the Officer kindly informed me that I was pulled over for running the stop sign.
Off he went.
Dan, in the back seat started saying how easy it would be to NOT have to pay for the no license ticket, that I just needed to prove that I had one. That’s when I informed him, that my license expired 8 months ago!
Then I called the officer a D-bag – I know attractive right? Then, I said the “S” word cause I KNEW that my not 1 ticket, but the 2 tickets I was about it get was probably going to take at least half of the bonus I just got at work. But seriously, he followed me for more than 4 miles and 15 yards before the arena I make one little mistake , that I didn’t know I made and I’m busted – it was rude.
I am surprised I didn’t start crying – the whole hormones being out of whack when you are preggo, totally doesn’t apply to me. And how grateful I am for that.
The officer came back, he asked if I have a license in a different state. I reassured him that I do not. And that’s when he thought he was informing me for the first time that my license has been expired since July.
I went along with it, and the only thing I could get out was “OH!”
Then he told me how much my tickets were going to cost me, and when he saw the saddened look sweep across my face he added, “If I felt so inclined to give you those tickets!”
I told him that “I hope you don’t feel inclined!”
Then, he said “Promise me, you will go get your license renewed tomorrow, and next time – stop at that stop sign.”
I promised, and he walked away.

Dear Mr. Police Officer, I would have got out of the car and gave you a HUGE hug if you would have let me. I wish I could have seen your face instead of the horrific bright light from your flashlight beaming in my eyes so that I could recognize your face the next time I saw you. I wish you knew that I was pregnant and was hoping to take my lover on a romantic getaway with my bonus I just got and that if you would have given me those tickets, it would have put a damper on our plans. Thank you for being kind, and giving me a warning!

Any Ideas?

2010-03-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

Casey and I want to go on a MINI vacation…somewhere not too far away, somewhere completely relaxing and romantic. I fear we may end up in St. George or Vegas…which is fine – but I am ready to explore my other options. Any ideas?

Is it true? Please excuse my forwardness!

2010-03-04T11:48:00.001-08:00

***Clarification: None of the below statements are concerns of my own, they have come from blogs that I have read and find it entertaining...so, I don't really need them answered, I was just curious if you had anything you worried or thought about before your babe came.

Is it true that you really forget who you really are once you have kids? Do you really forget what you and your lover did BEFORE that most amazing gift was given to you? Are you really too tired to make love? Do you really need short hair? Do your boobs really get stretch marks and become saggy? Is it really too hard to walk in my darling stilettos at 30+ weeks, or is it more hard or impossible while carrying your child? Is it true that it is hard to travel or just get out of the house? Will my boobs really mean something totally different to my love once I start breastfeeding?
I dont know? Some I dont care much about, others I pray would never happen, and the rest - I am DETERMINED that it WILL NOT happen.
However, I am aware that things are going to dramatically change in what Casey and I think is our PERFECT world. But we are so ready! We are so ready for our son to come into this world, to teach him things, to watch him discover and learn new things. To introduce him to different foods and different point of views and we cant wait to see what extracurricular activites he will choose to do. Will it be soccer, debate, football, cheer???, who knows...but there is a world of possibilities awaiting him and I can't wait to meet him.
So, as I have read the above questions; some on blogs, some shared by family and friends, honestly, the list could go on. I find it entertaining. What were some of your fears/concerns?

It went good, and last night...

2010-02-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I have some of the sweetest friends! Thanks everyone who called me yesterday to see how the 'big' photography day went. It went really well, and the pictures have already been chosen for the magazine! However, I did have a camera malfunction and all of a sudden my camera decided that it didnt want to work - so I had to use the company one, good thing I brought it along and good thing it held the same battery as my camera cause it was dead! HAHA - But, it was all worth it...and I even found a pair or cute slacks to wear...SUCCESS!
However, last night was even better.
Casey and I went to the Temple with my parents, we hadnt done an actual endowment session in about 5 months. I love getting dressed in white, even though I had to rent a parachute dress cause mine currently doesnt fit, I still felt beautiful. Honestly, I dont think there is anything in the world that makes me feel as wonderful as the Celestial Room does standing there in white with my eternal companion. I love him so!
When we got home, I had a REAL letter in the mailbox, ya know - it wasnt a bill, a magazine or a postcard. A hand written letter.
It was from a missionary. I haven't got a letter from a missionary in a little over 3 1/2 years now. In fact, this month marks the 4th year Ive been home from my own mission.
A letter from a missionary is unmistakable. The 4 lines in the left hand corner with your name written oh so perfectly. It was from a sister missionary. A sister I tought on my own mission. She is now teaching the same message that changed her life 5 years ago. It was 3 pages long and I cried as I read it - she reminded me of the times we took her along to 'help' us teach that sacred message. TMI - I read it in the bathroom and the spirit couldnt have been stronger. I am so happy for her. Sometimes, I really miss being a missionary. I cant wait to be one again some day, and have the same companion for the entire time.
Then, I harldy get on facebook. But I did. I had a message...just from me. It was from Sister Chris informing me that she needed my phone number - because her sweet husband, was finally getting baptized. I served in Lubbock Texas. My mission covered all of west Texas from the border of Mexico, to the top of the pan-handle and then all of east New Mexico. We had TONS of areas...and three times I ended up in the city of Lubbock. I know why. And one of the reasones was for this family. A married mother of 3 and she was the only member in her family. They reminded me of my own little family. He wasnt ready when I was there. But we connected in a way that I cant describe. Here it is 4 years later - and he is getting baptized. I couldnt be more excited for his family.
So cheers to yesterday! For lifting my spirits, for filling my cup, for having my honey and my little 'fluttery' baby and two of the other most important people in my life in the celestial room with me. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Guess where I will be tomorrow morning?

2010-02-23T08:49:00.001-08:00

I love taking pictures. I love watching families together and I dream of our little baby and capturing the special moments in his life...However, I do it just for fun and to make a couple extra bucks here in there.
But, I was invited to have lunch with the executives of our company and Governor Levitt tomorrow. I have been asked to take pictures that will be published in Profiler magazine. I'm pretty excited about it. So please wish me luck.
I have not bought a new thing to wear in the past 5 months. I tried on a pair of my slacks last week. They were a little TOO tight on my bum for a professional appearance...I need to go shoppping TODAY!

Last week?

2010-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

Last week? Well, the most exciting thing is that I can actually feel the little butterfly movements of our baby in my tummy…they are SO comforting! They help me realize that 1 – My baby is still doing good and 2 – That those feelings are actually our baby moving and not gas bubbles (I’ve been mistaking them for those for 2 weeks now!)
I mostly feel them sitting at my desk at work or late at night laying in bed with Casey watching a movie. I grab Casey’s hand and put it where he is moving, but he still can’t feel them…I can’t wait till he can and he can’t either.
My mom got us our crib and changing table…I am so excited.

My sister-n-law Stacy gave us her Pottery Barn rocking chair… I am so excited.
I just need to get it recovered or a new slip cover – anyone know someone who knows how to do this for a reasonable price? I would love their number!

On a downer note, finding cute boy bedding, is not an easy task. They all have fire trucks or animals or something ‘gay’ on them…my husband is a very manly man and anything somewhat fruity will not be allowed. I decided that I was going to make my own crib skirt and bumper…I’ve already been to all of the shops around town with no success in fabric choices, Ill find 1 fabric I like and the rest of the line is SUPER feminine…nice. Ill keep looking. But seriously, I think I need to be hired to design cute boy stuff!

Valentine surpise #1 - Boy or Girl?

2010-02-09T12:11:00.001-08:00

Casey was positive the baby was a boy, I was pretty certain it was a girl, but kept going back and forth. How fun it would be to buy big bows and boots and leggings. But deep down inside after all the cutesiness pushed aside I thought it was boy.
However, at my 12 week appt, Baby V only had 8 fingers and little stub legs, so I really didn’t care if Baby V decided on being a boy or a girl, I was the typical mother-to-be and wanted to make sure the baby had the rest of her/his fingers and that the little stub legs stuck out a little more than last time.
Casey and I anxiously sat in the room waiting for the Dr to come in…he walked in with the ‘Doppler’ and asked, “Did you just want to hear the heartbeat or did you want to do an ultrasound?” shocked, I answered “I am hoping you can tell me the sex of our baby today” – he started laughing and said “I knew that’s what you’d say!”
We went to the ‘high tech’ machine and it was fascinating. Baby V was asleep with her/his hands stretched up above his head, SO CUTE! There they were, 10 little fingers! I must mention that Baby V was also being very shy…legs crossed and then tucked under and wouldn’t wake up. Dr. Barton thought he saw a quick peek of an ‘extra part’ and then quickly said, “however, that may have been the umbilical cord” – That didn’t do us any good! After about 15 minutes of nudging Baby V around we checked the heartbeat and called it good. We knew we had a healthy baby growing rapidly and that’s all that mattered. Until…we got in the car….
We talked about it for a minute and then decided that there was NO WAY that we were going to wait another 4 weeks to know if Baby V was a boy or girl – so we took a pit stop at Fetal Fotos…they were booked, except for RIGHT THEN, so we didn’t have time to call family to come join us or anything. I am pretty sad about that – I would have loved for my mom to be there with me. Anyway, in we went.
Baby V was still sleeping but this “OBGYN from Europe” promised me that I would walk out knowing what the sex was. He wanted to tell us first thing, but he was having trouble waking the baby up so he did some measuring first…but Ill come back to that.
The ‘Dr.’ started pushing the little ultrasound thingy up and down on my tummy, it made the baby look like she/he was on a raft in the ocean, still no budge. Then he took his finger and very aggressively started pushing up and down on my tummy, it kind of took me by surprise….but the funniest thing happened – Baby V pulled all her/his arms and legs really tightly in and leaned back like he was on a lounger, then with all the might baby had, started kicking both legs against where the tech was poking him…it was hilarious! I laugh every time I think about it.
And then there it was…

The tech didnt even have to say it out loud, both Casey and I knew EXACTLY what that was! Casey right then said "That's my boy!!!" He is very proud.
I love this picture because it is the EXACT same position he was in with my 12 week ultrasound with his hands up on his face.

Can you see his cute little foot?

Here we are measuring the baby. A 'typical' 16 week old baby measure between 4.5 and 5 inches...Baby V...was measuring 7 inches! And, I know I dont change my due date based solely alone on what ‘Fetal Fotos’ says – but this guy told us he is measuring at least a week bigger and put the estimated delivery date to July 17th – my birthday.

I love this one! -

So there you have it...we are having a little boy!!! I was a little shocked at first, even expecting a little boy. But once I was actually told thats what he was, I got a little scared. But after we got home and I started daydreaming about this little one - The excitment settled in and I am so excited to bring him home with us!

A Week of Valentine Love...

2010-02-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

A lot of people think that Valentines Day is 'SOOOO OVERRATED'. I, on the other hand, love it! So...In honor of this beloved holiday - I plan on doing something wonderful for the love of my life EVERYDAY this week (it's a surprise) and I know he'll love it. So stay tuned for our Valentine week love story (minus the 'pleasant' details for you sensitive readers).
TMI - This week is SUPER special for my sweet Casey, my mom and my mother-n-law for it is the week their parents were 'celebrating' and making some of the very most treasured people in my life!
- Today's surprise, is not a surprise for just him but for the both of us! So, if you havent voted on if you think Baby V is a boy or girl...put your vote in!

TMI? You betch-ya. A girls only post (-:

2010-02-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

My very best friend growing up (no, I am not referring to Casey thank you) and I have been spending a lot more time lately than we have in quite a while. Its nice to get ‘reacquainted’ and hear stories that the two of us may have missed out on in each other’s lives the past few years and even reminiscing things we did together…Her name? Well, for now it is going to remain disclosed until I seek her approval.

Last night, we went to Chipotle for dinner. We told the hubbies that we were going out to do a little Valentine’s Day shopping…Well at least that is what I told Casey. He knew exactly what that meant – VICTORIAS SECRET – as soon as I told him he said, “You better come back with something!!!”. My friend, told her husband that we were going “V-Day shopping” his first response was, “What is that? Like Vagina shopping?” --- FREAKING hilarious!!! I giggle every time I replay that conversation in my head.

Now girls, I must tell you – that if you are planning on surprising your husbands with a little somethin somethin, you better go shopping now, things are starting to get picked over. Just a little FYI. You are welcome.

Anyway, we first hit up Dillards. She bought some cute new shoes to go with a new darling dress she received for her birthday, I was jealous. Everyone keeps telling me, that my feet are going to grow. So I am trying to resist.

Then we were off, you know – to that place that is SOOOO dang good at making anyone feel better about their bodies. Well at least I think so and no, I wasn’t exaggerating. Minus the jumbo size half naked gorgeous models all over the walls that make you think – what if my legs looked like that? Oh wait, they’re all air-brushed anyway, so I don’t mind at all.

We picked out a few ‘sexies’ if you will – we couldn’t help but laugh at a few of the panites that matched. I found this DARLING hot pink one off set with this orangey-pink color. It was different and I loved it. I tired that one on last. Now don’t think I am a freak…I actually have a ‘wish-list’ to the beloved “VS” store, when I found one that was on that beloved list in pink I was all too excited. Of course I grabbed it. I tried this one on first. I couldn’t help but notice, looking at myself in the full size mirror with the HOT PINK neon letters lining the top of it stating “STRIP” (PS – I totally want one of those in my closet). That my body, already doesn’t look like it use to. My wish list item, remember, the first one I tried on – didn’t look like it did 4 months ago, you see…it pulled right under my belly button and in return was too loose on the sides – it was one of those monokini (not sure how to spell that) style waist ones. The best thing about it looking different (and when I say different, I mean not nearly as sexy as it once did) – Is that I loved that it didn’t. I totally checked myself out in the mirror.

I examined every inch in fact, if you want me to be honest. I first noticed my waist. I already knew I was getting bigger, I mean how can you not when your buttons on your skinny jeans are about to pop? I have these new found love handle type things that sit just to the left and right of my little 4 month baby bump. My thighs, they aren’t toned anymore at all and I have even been riding the bike, and they have a perfect porcelain color (as in, not a smidgen of tan or even fake tanner at all). At the front of my armpits, I have a roll – on each one of them. You know what I am talking about right? You put on your bra, the one that gives you a little lift and all of a sudden, BAM a roll by your armpit, the part that connects with your boobage. My bum cheeks are bigger but actually look a little perky. My face cheeks are a little chubby and I have this weird uneven skin tone thing going on with them. And last but not least, my boobs are already a full cup size bigger. Why am I telling you EVERY ONE of my newly discovered ‘flaws’ as some of you may be thinking in your head…well, it’s because I don’t think they are flaws at all. I am PROUD of every new pound and roll that I have put on in the last 4 months. The most amazing little miracle is happening inside of me and I can’t be more ecstatic about this baby joining mine and Casey’s family. The scale is going to keep getting higher and I swear that I am going to weigh as much as my six foot husband does come July – but last night, I have come to terms that I am completely okay with that. I am okay that every inch that I have always been proud to call mine on my body is changing (meaning getting bigger) and I even am liking parts more that I didn’t like 4 months ago.

I took off the first ‘wish list’ item and chose not to get that one. I didn’t like how it sagged on my hips.

I tried a black lacy one on next. I got a large. It fit perfect everywhere but where my boobs were to be perfectly placed, were like a -A cup size that wouldn’t fit anyone. They need to fix that.

Lastly, I tried on the DARLING one. And loved EVERYTHING about it. SOLD! It extenuated my baby bump and I felt completely and utterly beautiful in it. The only problem…the price tag read $78.

Casey came up behind me on Sunday as I was standing in front of the mirror getting ready, he carefully wrapped his arms around me and placed his hands tenderly on my stomach. He kissed my cheek and said, “I have been dreaming about you being pregnant since my mission”. He too, loves that my body is changing and I love him even more for that.

So to all you mothers out there and soon to be mothers...many of you are much to harsh on your beautiful bodies and I think - you should be proud of what you "NOW" look like. Your husbands, probably dont even notice your flaws and in fact, he probably thinks they are sexy until you start bashing and complaining about it. So dont do it and be confident!!!

Pediatrician Help!

2010-01-29T09:36:00.000-08:00

I still need to catch up on all my posts from the holidays, they are going to be WAY outdated, but I am still going to do them. Until then – We are patiently awaiting February 8th, the day we find out if Baby V is a boy or girl! I really don’t care if Baby V is a he or a she but Casey ‘hopes’ it’s a little boy as he is determined to use our boy name before anyone else we know does! If you know Casey and are curious – IF Baby V is a boy, I don’t get a say in his name as we are naming him after Casey’s childhood hero! I did have to ask him if he was going to be disappointed if Baby V was a girl, he giggled and said “of course not”. That was reassuring.
Anyway, before the 8th, I am determined to find/figure out who our pediatrician is going to be. It’s just something I don’t want to have to worry about the closer we get – So, I am asking for your help! If you LOVE your pediatrician please leave me a note!

And then we'll be 3!

2010-01-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

Casey had a lousy birthday back in November...it was on Sunday (which is lousy all in itself, but beside the point) - I woke up sick, sicker than sick! I didnt make him breakfast, I didnt get out of bed to go to church or to try and entertain him, I didnt give him his present...nice...Happy 26th babe!
We did make it to his moms for dinner though (barely) - After much complaining about it, Casey said "You never act like this when you are sick! We're going to stop and get you a pregnancy test." I didnt really think much about it, because to top off every flu symptom - I was having serious 'menstrual crapms'. But we did stop at Walmart on the way to Casey's parents, I had a roll and didnt enjoy any birthday cake...and then we headed home. Once we got home, I headed straight to the bathroom so I could quickly jump back into bed, I took a magazine in there with me so I could wait to see what the ‘result’ was.
Here is a play by play – and even more information than you wanted to know (;
I unwrapped the test, took a seat, peed on the stick, set it on the counter, opened my magazine, looked back at the test (just to see if it was working – it said it would flash if it was) and BAM!!!
“PREGNANT”
Not even 25 seconds had passed and there it was!
Casey knocked on the bathroom door and said “hey, did you take that test in there with you?”
Still in shock I choked out “yep.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised, we had been trying for quite some time – but after getting “Not Pregnant” month after month, you kind of expect that same answer.
After starring at the test for like 3 minutes, wiping away my tears and trying to get a hold of my composure, I placed the cap back on the test – And headed back to the bedroom with “PREGNANT” in my hand.
Casey was lying in bed, I flipped on the lights and waited for him to ask.
He did, “SOOOOO???”
I just handed him the stick. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened and he quickly sat up and exclaimed, (sorry Pam, but he was excited) “Are you shitin’ me???” Not “shitin” in a bad way (you have to know Casey, he doesn’t swear very often, in fact he only does it when he is SUPER excited about something…or, a little slip out on the soccer field).
He jumped up and wisped me off my feet – we were and are ecstatic!
I'm 12 weeks pregnant and Baby Van Wagoner is due July 24th!

So...Casey ended up not having a bad birthday after all!!!

Instrument: Part 3

2009-12-24T08:52:00.001-08:00

My father in law is the bishop in their ward. Sunday night after dinner Casey, his parents and I were in the front room talking when their was a knock at the door. Kendall looked out the window and saw a young teenage girl running away, he smiled. Pam opened the door and stuck to the door was a white envelope with the words "Bishop Van Wagoner" written on the front of it. Pam yelled "Thank You" to the unknown deliver and gave it to Kendall. We all just at there as he opened up the envelope and watched as he pulled about a dozen gift cards and a two page letter. At first he read it to himself. Then as tears starting streaming down his face we urged him to share with us. He was so touched he couldnt even read the letter aloud the 2nd time. So Pam read and we all teared up as she read to us a story about a family that USE to be in their ward. A family who 15 years ago this Christmas was going through some extreme hardships. They had a family member in the hospital whom the outcome didnt look well for and little ones that were going to go without Christmas that year. 15 years ago, the Sunday before Christmas there was a knock on their door. When they opened the door, they found a plain white envelope duct taped to the door. Inside there was $300 worth of gift cards to spend on their children that Christmas. You can imagine their surpise and gratitude.
The gift 'Bishop Van Wagoner' received that night was the same gift that young family received all those years ago. Except, there was 1 differance.
It wasnt for him.
The unknown family has made a tradition out of the gift they received 15 years ago. Now that their financial situation has changed, each year they tape a white envelope to the current bishop of that wards door the Sunday before Christmas, with $300 worth of gift cards for him to hand out to families in his ward that are in need that Christmas.
- Casey and I were in awe. We drove home that night wishing we were in a position to help someone that way. One of the neatest things about that tradition to us, was the fact that their young girl delivered that envelop and that she new EXACTLY what was in side. What a great example.

Instrument: Part 2

2009-12-23T08:09:00.001-08:00

Casey and I had a great Sunday. One day, Ill get all of our festivities from October through Christmas on here - one day.
I always look forward to the Sunday before Christmas, lessons are always so amazing. Relief Society especially. There is a certain woman in our ward who I think is one of the most spiritual people I have ever met. No matter if she is giving a talk, a lesson, a thought or even the prayer...she always gets me crying. There is something very speical about her. She stood up to give the closing prayer in Relief Society and I couldnt help but think "guarentee I cry" (just because she is saying the prayer haha) oh no, she immediantly said, "I want to share a quick story if you all dont mind." She told us how a few days back she had talked to her mother and her sister on the phone and how both had asked if she was ready for Christmas. She wasnt. In fact she didnt have any presents for the kids yet. That night she decided to make a midnight run to Walmart to pick out a few things. Money is a little tight for them and she had a certain amount she was to spend. There was a gift that her son wanted to get for her daughter. She found it on sale...luckily. She waited in line for 30 minutes and when it was her turn the checker looked exhausted. Blood shot eyes and moving so slowly. She watched the items prices as they were scanned. They item from her son to her daughter went by and the price listed $20 instead of the sale price of $12 - she kindly informed the the checker "Im sorry, but I thought that item was on sale?" the checker looked up at her and replied "Do you still want it?" She sat there for a moment adding the items up in her head with the extra $8 now added trying to figure out if she was going to have enough money to get the couple of items she was purchasing. She couldnt help but think about the people behind her who were patiently waiting for their turn to be checked out. And then continued adding. The man behind her kindly took the gift and said "I will get that for her" She quickly turned and looked at him saying "no, its okay." He put his hand on her shoulder and stated "Let me get it for you. I've never had kids and I need the blessing for getting this for you."

A thought on being an instrument.

2009-12-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

My step dad is in the hospital, he went in for an outpatient procedure on Tuesday and in the process, the procedure caused a 2 1/2 inch tear in his esohpagus. He is by far one of the strongest men I have ever known, it hurts to see him in pain. Sometimes I feel like my family cant catch a break. But in reality, dont we all feel like that? "If it's not one thing, it's another" is a statement I have heard so many say. But why is it that these "one things" or "another" things bring so much heart break to those we love and to those we dont know? Those who share my same faith can share that growing up and even now, that we were taught that the Lord will never give us anything that we cant handle. I do indeed believe this to be true. In those moments, I find that I am growing the very most. My most spiritual moments are when I am in a room by myself pouring my heart out in prayer. Its the tender mercies of the Lord that get us each through those dark and scary moments, I live for those tender mercies.
There are so many of you (myself included) who have been through so much this year, I think that each of us know that our challenges are not over and at times will be even more difficult than we could have ever imagined. Satan will bring you down if you let him! I hope you find, that in your darkest hour - a tender mercy will lift you and that you will let Him help you find the extra strength to go on.
In this season of Christmas and remembering its true meaning, let us remember this qoute:
“Disciples of Christ throughout all ages of the world have been distinguished by their compassion. … In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair; let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers”.
I hope that each of us wont get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas, and to really take the time to remember what it is really all about - I hope I can be an insturment and help to answer someone else's prayer.

Exhausted?

2009-11-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

I laid down in bed Saturday night and set my alarm for 9:00 the next morning, looked at the clock that stated 8:34 pm - I fell right asleep...good thing I set my alarm cause my eyes didnt open till it went off - 12 hours of sleep, thats a lot!!!

Aly Brynne Party

2009-11-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

So my extremely talented little sister was invited to be part of another boutique, and many of you keep asking when I will be having her next party…so, its in South Jordan so I figured that was close enough. I hear there will be quite a few vendors there so there will be plenty of variety, but you will be BLOWN AWAY by Alyssa’s new line! It is GORGEOUS!!! For those of you who haven’t seen it, if you have ever seen ANY of my jewelry it is all Aly Brynne and handmade by her…Here is the invite I pulled together for her to send out to our family…

Van Wagoner Halloween Party!

2009-11-05T10:12:00.001-08:00

My sister n law Stacy holds the annual Van Wagoner Halloween Party at her house. I think I would venture to say, that this years costumes were by far the best...Thanks to Corey (he dressed as Hanana Montana) and looked absolutly wonderful! We had a delicious dinner and then games were to be played...The main event...Fear Factor...FREAKING SICK!!! The kids loved every minute of it...and the boys...well, Casey and Corey got way into the skits this year! HAHA! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Annual Colley Brewhaha...

2009-10-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

My mom throws a FABULOUS Colley “ Brewhaha” every year…my entire family always looks forward to it! The little ones get all dressed up and us big ones carve pumpkins and we usually have some pretty sweet lookin pumpkins by the end of the night! This year, a couple of us took the easy way out and did easier pumpkins, but they still all turned out super cute!
I love helping my mom "set up" for the party, we usually spend hours on the food and the "presentation" of the food...Its just one of those things that we LOVE doing...here is this years "Presentation"...

I seriously could not get the top off of my pumpkin...I was there to gut mine by myself as Casey was still at class at this point...so my brothers took charge and we thought it was hilaroius watching them!

Here are the pumpkins...Can you see my cute owl in the middle? HAHA...My favorites this year were Bryants (my brother) his is the middle top one of the scarwcrow (took forever) and my brother Bruces' - unfortunatly his is in the back left but states "NoBama" - it was HILARIOUS!!! (Sorry Obama lovers, but he DID NOT have my vote!)

Vincent and Vivian with Nana...so stinkin cute!

Have you seriously ever seen a cutter little boy? Love him...

Free food on Halloween

2009-10-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that I am quite the exellent bargain shopper, hehe - I heard about 2 fast food deals that are happening on Halloween Night if anyone is interested...
1. Taco Bell - go in between 6 and 12pm and get a free Black Jack Taco!
2. Papa Murphy's - KIDS get a free mini kid size pizza when they come into Papa Murphy's on Halloween wearing their costume.

Last night I was informed…

2009-10-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Last night was the annual Van Wagoner Halloween party, my sister n law Alisha just had a baby about 3 weeks ago. Her name is Autumn and she is absolutely perfect. As I was holding her my cute niece Emma came up to me, caressing little Autumn’s head and looked me straight in the eyes and said “Rachelle, when are you going to have a baby?” “Rachelle, YOU NEED TO HAVE A BABY.” Alisha and I were quite entertained!

Casey named MVP! WHOO WHOO

2009-10-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was Casey’s soccer CHAMPIONSHIP game!!! I hate shootouts, and that is just how this game ended…The game was tied up 1-1 with like 30 minutes left in the game and neither team could finish the ball…the ONE goal that our team scored…was scored by Casey…he was the leading scorer this season for his team, oooohhhh I am so proud! HAHA!
Anyway they did indeed win in the shootout, and Casey was named MVP for the season so he got to take home the Championship trophy…the trophy is proudly being displayed on our fireplace mantle.
This is an awful picture...but atleast there is one right?

Wonderful

2009-10-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago I spent a wonderful day with my little sister! We went shopping, went to the Rod works 'Girls night out' and then over to Roberts 'Girls night out'. We were on our way home, exhausted...when suddenly...this happened -
You know Roberts on 1300 E.? Well we were waiting in line to ‘exit’ the parking lot, and if you will , just for a second, picture the turnout there…there is HARDLY a downhill, in fact there isn’t one – there is a sewer that separates the parking lot and 1300 E. so there is barely a hill. Well Alyssa and I were chatting away when the lady in front of me starting pulling out to make a left hand turn, I took my foot of the brake and just starting costing about 3 inches down this ‘barely hill’ when all of a sudden, no cars are coming and the lady in front of me decides she doesn’t want to turn and slams on her brakes – I’ll be honest, this was my fault, I was too close to her bumper and I should have been paying better attention, but this is when I rolled into her car. Ya know, like a little tap? She gets out of her car and so do I as I frantically give Alyssa my phone and tell her to call Casey and have him bring my wallet as I didn’t have my license. She started crying, I felt horrible – the first accident Alyssa had ever been in is with me and I said the “S” word in front of her…an accident? You can hardly call it that, as me and the old lady get out of the car she immediately grabs her back and states “Oh my back, I broke my back!” All I can think is the “S” word again and “yeah freakin right! I barely touched you!” (oh, and the fact that I don’t have my license and even if I did, it expired 3 months ago) – WONDERFUL! Anyway, I turned on the charm, as this lady had to be in her late 80’s and I know how older people LOVE polite ‘younger’ folk…I won her love immediately…thank heavens!
Anyway, everyone on 1300 was honking at us as they past as the front of her car was out in the front lane, so I asked her to move her car back into the parking lot and we will exchange information over there…This is when she tells me “I don’t know how to put my car in reverse. Will you move it for me?” So I was in totally shock…moved my car, told her to get on the sidewalk, moved her car and then Alyssa and I helped her cross the road over to where I parked the car – she walked like an old person, come on, you know what I am talking about – WAY TO SLOW, anyway, as we are crossing the parking lot to where I pulled the cars a guy pulls up next to us and asks “Are you guys okay?” So nice of him…I sweetly told him we were, and stated that I hit her. The man looked at me with shock and horror in his eyes and that is when I realized what I had just said…”OH, I mean, I didn’t hit her, I hit her car and we are just helping her over to her car now!” He still looked super confused, and drove away. I took a mental picture of us practically carrying her over to her car, her barely being able to put one foot in front of the other and takin 10 minutes just to walk across 2 parking spots…yeah, I would have thought she got nailed by a car too. The damage on her car was a tiny scratch that did in fact take the paint off her bumper…now when I say small…look at your pinky fingernail (if they are short like mine) and divide it into fourths, ¼ of your finger nail is how much paint I took off of her 1998 mazda. She told me she wasn’t sure what to do, asked if we should call the cops or just exchange information…I opted to exchange information for the sake of not getting fined for 1. Not having my license on me and 2. For having an expired license – She was totally okay with that…after I called my father whom is a retired police officer – because in all reality, I too had no idea what to do as this was the first time ANYTHING like this has ever happened.
I put her back in the car and was squatting next to the front seat as I wrote down my information for her, and then tried to write down hers…She couldn’t remember her address or her phone number. She did know her name though, so that was good. WHATEVER? Should this lady even be driving? I think not! She told me her son would get in touch with me to get the car fixed, I was secretly hoping her would look at the scratch that you cant even notice unless someone pointed it out to you, and not even worry about it getting fixed. When all of a sudden, I hear fire trucks and ambulances up the road, I joking stated “Good thing those aren’t for us huh?” The old lady giggled and said “You would have to have hit me a lot harder than that for those!” 20 seconds later…they were indeed for us, I stood up from bending over next to her car to greet the 3 police men, the fire truck and the ambulance…I know I had a look of shock on my face as I knew my license was about to get suspended, all those men were frantically jumping out of their ‘work cars’ and were sprinting towards us, the police men came to me to get a statement when I immediately asked “Are you here for us?” That is when the officer said, yes, a man called in and told us that a pedestrian had been hit by a car and was knocked unconscious.” I had to giggle…just my luck. “No officer” … and then I told him what had really happened, he told the 2 of us that there was less than $50 damage on the car and that it was our choice to just exchange information or to file a police report I pretended like I didn’t really care, whatever the old lady wanted…I knew she would say we were fine with just exchanging as she had JUST TOLD ME that she was late for dinner at The Atria. In fact, that is just was she told the officer…Oh how I LOVE old people!
Anyway, we got our bill yesterday. Casey and I decided to just pay it out of pocket and not file a claim as we have a $500 deductible anyway. Yeah, Dent Master in Salt Lake charged us $492 to “fix the scratch on the back left of Peggy’s bumper” is what his message said. He then went on to tell us that he did take off $100 of labor…what a nice guy…however, Peggy’s son was suppose to get 2 quotes before he got it fixed…and that is JUST what Casey told Dent Master. So before Dent Master finished Casey called them and told them to stop as he has someone that would fix it for cheaper…the only had the bumper off…the guy asked for how much and Casey said “$375” Dent Master then said her would fix it for $370.22 – DEAL!
However, I think the whole thing is crazy and it makes me sick to my stomach that we have to pay that much over a TINY scratch, sure I would get my car fixed if it was mine…but seriously? A 1998 Mazda for an 87 year old driver that can’t remember her address or phone number and doesn’t know how to put her car in reverse…AWWWW
However #2, the whole incident turned out to be a huge blessing, not the accident itself obviously, but the fact that the cop didn’t ask to see my license, was a huge blessing in which I am extremely grateful.

For now.

2009-10-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

I lost my cord to upload my pictures from my little camera – Im not quite sure how this has happened, but I am set on finding it this week as I have tons of pictures that I am dying to upload from it.
Anyway, I found a new spot to take pictures close to my house... I am totally obsessed with it…I thought I would share a couple. Isn’t this dog adorable?

Real

2009-10-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

Casey and I went to the REAL game on Wednesday night with some of our friends...When we got to our seats, another one of Caseys friends was sitting 2 rows in front of us. He was in charge of gathering up some fans to be the half time entertainment. Casey was a little hesitant at first - not me... I grabbed a consent flyer and quickly signed it (its not everyday you get to be part of something like that)...so away we went to particiapte in the halftime entertainment, it was actually pretty lame - but we got a picture on the field - did you see us?

Restraint

2009-10-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am such a sucker for Halloween and Christmas décor it is ridiculous! However, being the shopaholic that I am, I am pleased to announce that I only bought 2 new things for this Halloween season…I’m totally proud of myself can you tell? And, I absolutely LOVE the set up.
Anyway, I have reached that point here at my ripe age of 26, to not buy things I really don’t need and to not horde things away in boxes. Currently, my mother is cleaning out her attic – every time I see her (which is at least 3 times a week) I get a new box of things that is “supposedly” my things. However, many of the things she is giving to me to take are items she once filled her own home with, things that have meaning, things that belong at “Mom’s house” – how do you say no to those things? Hmmm…I did good on Sunday though…I went through 2 boxes and only kept about half of a box worth. Once again, I am proud of myself. Now all I see, are tons of memory filled boxes filling my unfinished basement and the thought of “what the crap am I going to do with all this stuff when we start finishing our basement?” is now filling my head. Wish me luck as I start de-cluttering my basement and garage I am sure to need it.

Impressive

2009-10-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

My brake pad light came on in my car about a week ago - I hate spending money getting things fixed like that. We knew it was going to cost a couple hundred dollars and we werent looking forward to it. So Casey decided that he would fix them himself he went and bought the parts and a couple new tools to accompany him...after 2 hours in the garage, he put new brake pads and a sensor for my dash! All for $117...I am VERY impressed.

A different, but good night.

2009-09-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last night was a good night. I had a soccer game in which my team won 10 – 0, pretty impressive right? Not really, I use to LOVE winning games by crushing my opponent (don’t get me wrong I am still one of the most competitive people you will ever meet) but last night was different. My team kept scoring and the other team was getting frustrated and in return began getting really aggressive, it made me feel bad. We are just playing for fun, sure its competitive, but still for fun. My team was having all sorts fun still, everyone on our team scored (its 6 vs 6). My heart ached for the other team as they started being cheap and yelling at their teammates…that isn’t fun for me anymore – which I think, is a really good thing. I scored, and when I score, its an automatic thing that Casey and I go to Café Rio that night for dinner, so that we did…I seriously am OBSESSED with their Queso…divine!
We came home, Casey played play station – I think it is quite entertaining listening to him get frustrated when he doesn’t win…HEHE…I set up my Halloween decorations! I love Halloween! I love Halloween thanks to my moms love for Halloween – it is such a fun holiday. I think it is sad that not many people actually have parties or anything anymore, it really is quite depressing …Oh well, I am having one and I am TOTALLY EXCITED about it, its seriously consuming my thoughts – its not good.
After I was done, we went in our bedroom and feel asleep to a movie, we were woken up by the crazy wind outside and Casey made an appearance outside moving our garbage can in his garments…cute! It was so loud, that neither one of us could fall asleep…we put in another movie at 2:30am and finished it! We both managed to get up when the alarm went off.
However, waking up to the RAIN is one of my most favorite things…I would choose to start my day with rain everyday if I could!

Witch Tutu

2009-09-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

So my little sister and I are doing some boutiques over the next couple of months...so if you know anyone who is holding one, please let me know! In the mean time, I thought I would share some of the things I am making just in case any of you are interested!
First off my Halloween Witch Tutu - This one fits 18-24 months. And is for sale for $12. I also have one more that fits 12-18 months and a pink and brown for a newborn if anyone is interested. I can also do speical orders of any color you would like for $17.

Free "Udder Cover"

2009-09-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

Hey ladies...so many of you know that I have recently became quite the bargain shopper and yesterday I ran into this amazing deal!!!...If you go to https://www.uddercovers.com/index.php and click on “Shop Now” you can choose 1 of 6 nursing covers – buy 1 at $32 and checkout. Enter promo code “Chatter” and you will get the nursing cover for free and then you only have to pay for shipping!!! So you get your $32 nursing cover for only $8.95 – great deal huh? So if you are interested go check it out, I read they are only giving a certain amount out and then the promo is OVER!!!
And if you are thinking “I can make one cheaper than that” you totally cant, just so you know. I made one for my sister-n-law Alisha with good quality fabric and used coupons and it still cost me about $16, so there you have it – KILLER DEAL!

3 Years!!!

2009-09-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Today Casey and I are celebrating our 3 year anniversary! I can't believe how much we have learned and grown with each other already. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or friend. So, in celebration of another great year...here are a couple of my favorite pictures from our wedding day...

Casey was so gentle when he preciously placed our divine cake in my mouth...and me? Well I couldn't wait to smear it all over his face!

I totally gave him a bloddy nose - rude right? It was hilarious though...and he TOTALLY got me back...

We seriously had blue and white frosting all over us, his tux, my dress and obviously our faces - it was hilarious - and made for a great tasting kiss!

I love you honey!!!

Heres to another year...

Dreaming of this...

2009-09-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Casey has had our laptop at work all week, so I haven't had a chance to upload anymore of our pictures...which believe me, there are still a ton of posts to come. But I can't wait to show you my valences I made for our master bathroom, cause all I have had on my mind sense then is this...

Isn't that fabric so stinkin cute? All I want to do is create and design! I picked out some adorable fabric over the weekend and cant wait to show you my new creations I am going to sell! Who knew I would LOVE sewing so much?

Need a loan?

2009-09-08T09:55:00.001-07:00

Not from me by all means, however I do wish I could give you one...But Casey can!
Casey is now a loan officer! So if you need to be pre-approved, need a purchase loan or are looking to refinance give Casey a call or email him!
Toll Free: 866-825-6261 ext:490 and his email is cvanwagoner@ffgpartners.com

Core Synergistics

2009-09-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

All I have to say, is that I have been running and working out (including 15 minutes on the stair stepper)for a week now (yes, I did take some workout time off)and it only took 57 minutes of this:

to get me sore in ALL THE RIGHT PLACES!
Just sitting here in my chair bouncing my leg up and down is enough for me to feel the 'perfect' burn in my thighs and butt... that, is reason enough for me to continue on to the next workout tonight!!! - LOVE IT!
Yes, I am starting P90X for the second time as of yesterday...If you are looking for a good workout, you should try it!

Alta

2009-09-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Whats funny, is that I graduated 6 years ago and one of my most favorite things to do, is anticipate Tuesday and Thursday Alta girls soccer games! Its like a little life satisfaction that comes in small dosages for me and only lasts 3 months, but it makes me happy. I love watching Coach Mitchell ‘coach’ and see the amount of respect he gets from the girls, I love watching him give them a little hug as they come off the field for giving it their “all” no matter if they did good or bad. There is a special bond there and the memories those girls are making, will last forever. Call me LAME (cause I know I am) but I secretly wish I was a soccer coach and loved every minute on that field!!! Just so ya know, Alta is currently ranked 1st in their region - they have won all 6 games and have the #1 wanted senior recruit in the contry playing up top...its highly entertaining. So if you need something "free" to do on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, you should go to a game...They are on track to winning their 4th consecutive state title.

Charity Event Tomorrow Afternoon!

2009-08-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ever thought of helping someone a little less fortunate out? Well now is your chance. One of my co-workers best friends wife (did you get that?) Julie Neff, a 33-year old mother of two (ages 4 and 8 months), was recently diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. She was told that the cancer had spread to her spine and ovaries and that there would be no cure, giving her approximately two years to live.
There are few treatment options available and her family needs a miracle in order to save her life. Julie wants nothing more than to raise her beautiful children and grow old with her husband. She is determined to overcome this life-and-death struggle, but she needs your help. Julie is currently undergoing treatment that has left her tired and frail, and the medical bills are staggering. Together we can help her combat this terrible disease and give her peace of mind while she fights for her life.
To meet her financial needs we are raising money in order to provide her with the treatment that she requires.
A fundraiser will be held on August 29, 2009 in Riverton, UT. There will be a raffle, games, food and more. The more people attend, the more money we can raise to help this young family.
August 29, 2009 from 10 AM to 5 pm
Dr. Roi Hardy Park (12400 S 1200 W)
Riverton, UT

Florida

2009-08-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

The Colley family reunion was held in Florida this year and my Aunt Renee’s house. We had tons of fun seeing our family, and it had been years since I had seen some of my cousins! Casey was once again missed on this vacation…he did summer school and couldn’t miss…promise Ill take you on a fabulous vacation when you are done honey!!!
We were meeting up in Jacksonville but decided to fly in a couple days early so we could hit up one of the parks. We met up with My Aunt Sonya’s family (my aunt Sonya passed away 1 year and a half ago from pancreatic cancer) as neither Ashley or Adam had been to Florida, we learned that they had never been on a rollercoaster and literally feared them…so we went to Sea World, and had the time of our lives!!! We got there 20 minutes before the Park even opened and were literally the last ones to leave the park! It was so fun…and HOT…and not once did we not have a smile on our faces! We really went to EVERY ‘show’ the park offered, and even saw Shamu twice – they had a rad “Shamu Rocks” show at night with fireworks, it seriously was amazing! As much as I am in love with Shamu, I could never dive into the tank with him…scary!

My brother Bruce, my little sister Alyssa and I did ride the rides Sea World had to offer though…and we were not disappointed AT ALL! They were tons of fun…we did however, finally convience Adam (who is 13) to ride the last ride of the night with us…The poor things was horrified and I honestly thought he was going to cry (or puke) as we sat on the coaster with our feet dangling making our way to the top…But he survived and Uncle Joe just had to buy the $25 dollar picture of the 4 of us as Adam face was in pure shock, freaking hilarious! Good times were had!
The next morning we packed our stuff up and headed up to Jacksonville where the true fun would start…The last 2 years this family had spent our times together attending Aunt Sonya’s and Grandpa’s funerals, so this time, it was nice to see each other in “high spirits” if you know what I mean.
We really didn’t need to spend much money on this vacation as Aunt Renee has a great setup at her house…18 people stayed in her house and the 6 in our family stayed in a hotel down the street, she has a swimming pool in her backyard and then they have 200 yard dock/walkway that takes you out to the Intercoastal Waterway where you could fish…the site from her back patio is breath taking. Here is a picture I took of Alyssa on the dock, just so you can image!

Hours were had in the pool and roasting mallows next to it, to the point where Adams toe started bleeding from rubbing across the bottom of the pool too much…haha!

The boys and Bruce and Zea enjoyed a day long deep sea fishing trip and caught 3 nights worth of dinner for us! I had to skip out on this activity as I found my deep fear for the dark open ocean while in Cancun early this year…no thanks!
We also went to the coolest bar EVER…yes, I did say bar…look at the place – you order appetizers and drinks and play virtual golf! Every single person had fun here as Marks family are HUGE golfers! Guess who won? Yep, my parents!!!

This is by far my favorite picture as this is where most of us "cousins" spent our time...

This is where we would fish in the early morning, but when the tide went down as waterway was left empty with pure mud (obviously) where we are standing, there were hundreds and hundreds of little crabs everywhere! They kept us so entertained! Sorry you pure animal lovers...but we would pick the crab up and throw as hard as we could into the mud and just sit there and wait for it to make its way back up - it was hilarious! Mean right? No...they could get out, they were just stick at first! My older brother Bruce thought it would be "So funny" to jump into the mud, we swayed him otherwise and told him to just try one leg first to make sure he would be able to get out...(that is him doing this in the picture)and sure enough, he could harldy get his leg out as it suction-cuped him!
I unfortunately got diaper rash on my face while there – not really, but that is what it felt like! I got dermatitis on my face, neck and chest the day after we went to Sea World. Dermatitis is caused by intense exposure to extreme heat and humidity for a long period of time – do you think 13 hours in 109 degree + humidity weather counts? I think so – Dermatitis is often confused with Heat Rash and is much worse than heat rash – great! It looked like I had tiny blisters all over my face and I itched like CRAZY!!! It was awful and made for a ‘no-tanning’ week for me, but that’s okay, I still had fun – I still had it when I got home though, the dermatologist promptly knew what it was and told me it can take between 2 and 4 weeks for it to heal – bummer! And sure enough…3 weeks later, it was gone! Other than having diaper rash on the face, we had an amazing time and learned a lot about my family – want in on a little secret? I am the canasta queen, and NEVER play scrabble with my family, they will waste you!

Yellowstone

2009-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

While my grandparents were in town, my dad and I took them on a little weekend trip to Yellowstone. I haven’t been there in quite a few years, so it was fun to go again. The drive there and back was even entertaining as your scenery is all pastors or crops – my grandparents loved every second of the view.
As we entered Yellowstone, not even 5 minutes in, we saw this HUGE nest and Bald Eagle! It was beautiful, I gained a love for this animal from my other Grandpa who passed away not too long ago and I couldn’t help of think of how excited he would have been to see it. He would have been so proud that I spotted it and hurried out to get a picture (don’t you think Carrie?).
We drove the lower loop of Yellowstone so they could see “Old Faithful” - Papa wasn’t too impressed with Old Faithful, as we were told it should last between 3 and 5 minutes, and it only lasted about 30 seconds…hahaha! Too funny! Grandma however, just absolutely enjoys seeing new things and doesn’t care if it is lame or not, what a good reminder!

The scenery was so beautiful and felt so good to just drive with the windows down and enjoy it! We pulled over in just about every pull-out possible just to “look” and we were always grateful for doing it, not once were we disappointed!

My favorite scenic stop was this…

It made me homesick for Casey, but this lake was stunning and I all I wanted to do was JUMP IN!
When I was doing some research on Yellowstone, trying to find some fun and different things to do, I found that right outside the entrance to Yellowstone and just 2 blocks from our hotel was The Grizzly and Wolf Discover Center – sweet buddy! This place was awesome! And if you have older kids, I highly recommend it! The switch the bears out twice a day and every evening before they switch in the new ones, the get a group of about 20 kids and let them go into the bears ‘cage’ and hide their food. Then they let the bears out and we all get to watch them try to find their food. I seriously sat there and watched for about a hour and could have stayed longer. Then they have an exhibit inside with stuffed bears and it tells you the story of each one. It is kind of sad but so interesting! You need to go!

"I think I could be a Mormon"

2009-08-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

I remember the day I entered the MTC (just over 5 years ago, sheesh, that is crazy) and being so excited to go and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who may or may have not ever heard of it before. I cried saying goodbye to my sweet family as I walked through the "Missionarie Here" door, and the departed through the "Families Exit Here" door - I didnt have a doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing, but boy was I going to miss them! 2 minutes later, I walked out the doors to go find my room and guess who I saw? My Casey! My fears quickly faded and he had to quickly remind me that I couldnt hug him! BUMMER! Anyway, its nice to see a familiar face at a moment like that. I walked in and met my "companion" where I quickly learned that I was got to have 2 while in the MTC - I loved these girls, and learned so much from them - Later we met our District whom would all be leaving to Texas with us and that same day, ond Elder shared with us that he was the only 'member' in his family...another missionary said "How did that happen? How come you haven't converted them yet?" I chimed in and said "It's not as easy as you think, sharing your beliefs with your family." The dear Elder who was the only member, quickly agreed with me while the questioning Elder gave me a huge look of dissatisfaction and disgust.
I will never forget that conversation. And for those of you who were born into the convenant, that may be hard for you to believe. But each of us are put here under different circumstances and I truly beileve that one of my tests was to 'teach' what I can by example and faith to my non-member family and pray that one day, they too will see the "light".
Now, my mom was baptized when she was 16 with her mom and dad who asked a missionary (Govenor Levitt) to come to their Bible Study group to help them with some questions about the Bible. He and his companion came, and soon enough - a deep admiration came for this missionary. Soon enough, the entire bible study group was converted along with my mom.
My dad never did get baptized, he doesnt really believe in organized religion, and I respect that. His parents, Papa and Grandma Shirley have gone between the Baptist congregation and Luthern congregation, stayed put for the duration of the preachers stay and then found a new one. The only time they had been in a LDS church, was when I was baptized.
They came to visit last month!

It was SO good to see them, I love hugging my PAPA, it is so sincere. I love his eye and hand wrinkles that show years and years of hard work out in the pasture and field - It makes me smile just thinking of him. I suggested that we go down to Temple square as it was my Grandma's first visit to Utah and she said "I would love to see the Temple" - So we went, we walked around the Visitors Center, took a picture in front of the Temple and I answered questions as they asked, (I am not one to give more information than is necessary, nor do I push anything upon anyone) - They asked wonderful questions about what goes on in side of the Temple, why did Joseph Smith and Brigahm Young not like each other at first, ect - I loved answering their questions. It made more sense to them as we had spent the day before touring the Oquirrah Mountain Temple. I cup was filled as they asked and then pondered...I cant wait to send them the beautiful picture I took of them holding hands at the reflecting pool with the Temple in the background and explaining the symbolism to them! What a great evening that was!
I didnt know what they really thought at the end of the day, until we were driving home from Yellowstone and my Grandma started asking me about my mission, I told her wonderful stories, good ones and bad ones...At the end of the conversation, she said she was going to look up at home to see where the closest "Mormon Church" was to her and go check it out - So I had to tell her that our church isnt the same as the ones that she has, and explained the order or events and how we have different speakers each week, she thought that was very neat. I continued to tell her about Relief Society and how much I love it and what goes on in there - She ended the conversation with "I think I would really like Relief Society, I think I could be a Mormon!" My heart was so full, and my eyes filled with tears. I put my hand on her knee and said "So do I." Next year Casey and I are going down to Nacadoches Texas, where we will attend church with them...I cant wait to see what happens!

HELP!!! Be a Sponsor!!!

2009-08-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

My darling little sister made the Volleyball team at Hillcrest High School and we need your help! I know things are tight for everyone right now, but if you know ANYONE that would be willing to help, please let them know!
Each player has the task of obtaining at least 2 player/team sponsorships for the 2009-2010 Volleyball team. The sponsorship fee is $300 and includes a banner (ir it is a company sponsorship) of your company that will be on display in the Hillcrest gym during the ENTIRE school year. Please let us know if you are interested or if you know of someone who may; we only have till Sunday! The donation can be paid via check (payable to Hillcrest High School) and Alyssa and I will be happy to stop by and pick it up!
There is also a 5 question form that you need to fill out (one of which asking how you want your business displayed) and other simple questions. Please call me at 801-953-8761 if you are interested!
Thanks!!!

Birthday Fun.

2009-08-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

Don’t worry…I am still catching up on our July festivities. We also celebrated my 26th birthday!!! I never have been scared of growing old or getting wrinkles that just add to my life story. But for some reason, “26” just isnt the same as “25” – I feel like I am actually growing up (yes, it did take me this long to figure it out). But I feel like I look in the mirror all too often now and try to see if any new wrinkles have shown up around my eyes…seriously, what is wrong with me? Casey thinks I am crazy, I think I just need to get over it and get back to my “wrinkles add charchter and add to my life story” feelings…hmmm we’ll see. However, besides the fact that I actually notice my ‘smile’ wrinkles now – whats the big deal about getting old? I recently wrote in my jornal about (now this is just how I feel), if I don’t have any regrets about what I do today, another day older shouldn’t have an impact on me. Do you agree? I honestly think that is true…Live today and a new adventure will begin tomorrow. I am so blessed for the many AMAZING things that I have already got to do and experience. The heartbreaks that have happened within my family has only made us closer and more aware of the love we have for each other. I cant wait for Casey and I to start having kids and share our grand adventures with them! I hope they think they are as “Grand” as we do!
Well, like the past 2 years, my work summer party fell on the same night as my birthday…some may get annoyed with this, but I actually enjoy it. I love and respect so many in my company that spending that evening with them made it even better. This year we went to Clarks Planatarium. We ate dinner, mingled and enjoyed one of the shows…cant remember what it was called, but we had tons of fun…especially wearing these:

HAHA -
Anyway, I came home before the party and was welcomed with this beatuiful bouqet of flowers...Casey always gets beautiful ones!

The next morning Casey made me a small breakfast in bed (although he does this every Sunday anyway) and later in the afternoon we headed out to Tucanos - our little family ritual for birthdays! So delicious!

Dauber Larder

2009-08-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

So we moved into our home a little over a year ago now, and when we bought it, construction on it wasnt complete. So we got to go "blue tape" anything on the house that we wanted them to fix...I had noticed from day 1 that in our entryway to our front door that there was some stucco that appeared as if it had not been smoothed out - I didnt think much about it, in fact, I forgot to even mention it to get fixed...Well, a year later...(this happened in July) I was out watering my plants and while doing so, I thought about this uneven piece of stucco and how I wished our ladder wasnt being borrowed so I could go up and chip it off or something. Anyway, I went into the entryway and noticed that this 'little piece of uneven stucco' was now about 3 times it was the last time I got a real good look at it...what the???

So, I went and got Casey to get his opinion on this abnormal growth on our home. (Keep in mind that we didnt have our ladder) - he got the garage broom and started poking at the "stucco" to see if it would just fall off - Hmmm...the front of the bottom half chipped right off, and to my dismay, dozens and dozens of these little black things started falling out of "THE GROWTH" - Casey very calmly but frantically began brushing them off of him as he was standing right under it when he busted it open - "What it is it?" I very worriedly asked him. "Umm, nothing dont worry about it - why dont you just go finish packing the car and Ill finish this up" was his reply. (we were on our way to go camping) - "Casey, what is it?!?" I asked him again, obviously knowing that he didnt want to tell me..."They are all dead spiders he said!"
Pardon my language, but WHAT THE HELL???
I was absolutly disgusted. I hate spiders and have to this day, not seen one inside our home (thankfully). So naturally I got all freaked out, wondering what in the crap was collecting dead spiders and putting them in this fake stucco thing above my door. In my mind I was thinking it was going to be some nasty ace BIG spider, but really had no idea. Freaking SICK!!! Anyway, like I mentioned above, we were on our way to go camping with some friends and didnt have time to do much more. So Casey got the bug spray and sprayed the crap out of the entry-way and hosed off all the dozens of mini spiders off the porch before we left.

Anyway...of course I did my home work when we returned and guess what it really was?
A DAUBER LAUDER...do you know what that is, or have you even ever heard of that? Yeah, thats what I thought!
But guess what? It really isnt as nasty as you think it is...I was actually pleasently surprised to find out that I have a dear friend wasp (A known fact, that this type of wasp is a friendly wasp) that I have named "Nectar".
Nectar, you see is a mud dauber lauder. Nectar is a female and she is known to construct a mud nest, then she goes in search of spiders to fill the chambers of her mud nest with. Flower spiders tend to compose the majority of her prey. She stings those disgusting spiders that I hate SO BAD! and paralyze it - she doesnt kill the spider out right BC then it will start to rot right away. Instead, she just paralyzes the spider, which keeps them FRESH. Then, she carries it to the nest where depending on the size of the spider, she will place up to 2 dozen of them in each of chambers (there are about 20 champbers in each nest)and then she'll lay an egg on them, cap the tube off with more mud and start stocking the next tube. The egg hatches and the baby wasp eats the paralyzed spiders as it grows. Then, come around fall, it pupates and waits for spring, at which time in finishes, pops out of the nest and goes and finds its mother. - Kind of interesting huh?
***I have mixed feelings about my new friend Nectar. I still have half of her nest above my door...dont worry, its empty. I was hoping she would come back and lay her next egg there, but it has been a month now, and I havent seen her.
Its gross that I had a collection of paralyzed spiders above my entryway to my house, but at the same time, Nectar killed dozens and dozens and dozens of spiders for me and has kept me happy in my spider free home and quite frankly - I have only maybe seen a couple spiders on the out skirts of my home thanks to her. Oh well...I guess the remains of her hard work where she was hoping to 'birth' her children will have to come down now. (So dont worry)!
Thanks Nectar for your hard work and I am sorry to distroy the home you worked so hard to build to shelter your little ones.

And so it is...

2009-08-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Casey and I stayed up until 2:00 this morning laughing and watching movies...I love just laying in his arms! I couldn't help but think of the 18 years of memories that we have together. How often does someone really marry their best friend? 3 years ago this week, Casey purposed to me here...(just up on those steps!)

I know you have an incredibly long day today honey, but you still look hot with puffy eyes!

4th of July

2009-08-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July is by far my favorite holiday, it never ceases to diappointment me! This year marked our 1 year anniversary in our new home! I am so glad we moved into this house. We have the best neighbors and have made some of the sweetest friends!
Our community does a huge 4th of July BBQ and Movie and had set up some different activites for the kids to do...Casey and I only hung out for about 45 minutes with Candice and Jeff and my two favorite kiddos in the whole world, Addison and Raegan and then went home to kick off our own BBQ with my family!

Casey and I.
We had a seriously good BBQ! Nothing better than Burgers and too many side dishes!

This picture is more for you to see what our backyard looked like in July(well, you cant really tell - Its pure dirt and a bunch of weeds...Casey is making some serious progress on it, we hope to have the backyard done by the end of the month!...pictures to come!

After we ate, we headed down to Thanksgiving Point and enjoyed qute the impressive firework show! And, it was SOOOO long!

My family!

Our good friends Candice and Jeff with Raegan (Im pretty sure Addison was loving on Casey at this moment)

Bruce, Alyssa and Zea playing the "Belly Laugh" game.

Dad, Mom and Alyssa.

Kicken off the 4th!

2009-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

We started the needed LOOOONNNGGG 4th of July weekend off by going to Hollie and Russ’ family cabin down south. We had tons of fun…even sleeping in the back of the Xterra! Everyone else either slept in the Cabin or out in their tents, but seeing that we were the only ones without little ones, Casey and I toughed it out with the seats down and changing in the car with the windows down!
Right when we got there, Casey of course wanted to jump right on the 4-wheelers and head out, which is exactly what we did – I love sitting on the back with the wind and dirt in my hair and eyes! – There really is no sarcasm in that comment, I have always been known as the one that enjoys to get dirty while camping! Oh, and Casey always thinks it is hilarious to go off these jumps, where I swear one day I will be thrown off the back…until then, I will let him enjoy doing so!

Casey and I.
That night we had each prepared a tin foil dinner, Casey did ours. We had steak and amazingly flavored potatoes - nice work babe, it was delicious!

Casey's dad Kendall.
But before dinner, Casey and Hollie needed to take some of the kiddos that wanted to on a quick ride before we headed back out!

- I hate to tell ya, but I truely think Casey is one of little Kendall's favorite people! I think this picture is adorable!

Hollie and Britta.
As we were waiting for our tin foil dinners to be cooked, Hollie and Kristen and Casey and I took off for another ride - It was beautiful watching the sunset and exploring tight trails...At one point we saw this sheep dog just starring at us, it was so bizzare...little did we know and soon found out, that he was rounding up the straggeling sheep to get them back with the herd! A little later we ran in to where hundreds of hundreds of sheep were resting and the two other sheep dogs - i was quite impressed with these smart dogs and their ability to take control of ALL those sheep! However, we could tell that those old dogs were quite diappointed in us as we drove through their herd and becuase of the loud noise the 4-wheelers were making, were scattering the sheep in all different directions...I felt bad for those hard working dogs, oh well. At one point we were on this really narrow path and had to stop becuase of all the sheep in front of us, as we sat there dozens of sheep starting jump from the bushes in front and behind us - they were paniced that we were going to hurt them, it was kind of sad. I didnt have a camera with me and I wish I had becuase of how funny the situation really was...but as Casey and I were leaving the next morning, we saw this...

Now, this picture really doesnt do it justice...but imagin like 5 times this many sheep and being on a 4 foot wide dirt path with them EVERYWHERE!!! It was hilarious!
Anyway, Casey had fun with the bow and arrows showing off his mad skills and killing us all at darts - its funny those little things you find out that your spouse is good at the longer you are together - I was impressed! He was like25 yards away from a bush and put a Dr. Pepper can in the bush and would just nail it with his arrow!

It was a nice 2 day camping trip filled with good eats, card games, one too many roasted mallows and lots of 4-wheeling!
Thanks Hollie and Russ for the fun getaway!

Tuachan!

2009-08-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

July has gone by WAY to fast! It is by far my favorite month for MANY reasons…There is nothing better that sitting on a hand made fourth of July quilt watching fireworks, for not just 1 night, but 3. The barbeques with family and friends, my birthday, laying out by the pool and the unexpected “trip” that gets thought out a couple of months a head of time, but always falls in July!
With that said, I better start updating as I feel as if I will never get caught up!
So, I will start with Tuachan...
I was finally able to experience the annual “Edwards” Tuachan trip down in St. George. This is something that Caseys mom Pam, her sister Peggy and Grandma Zenda started 10 years ago. From those 3 families all the girls get together and leave on Wednesday night and come home on Sunday. I did however, get to bring my little sister Alyssa with me and I was glad she got to come! We spent the weekend shopping, seeing “My Sister’s Keeper” (not a good show to see when you just watched someone go through that by the way!), laying out by the pool and eating!
Grandma has a house down in St. George that we all stay in and then she buys each of a ticket to see both of the Tuachan plays that are showing. The two shows this year were Footloose and Annie! They were so good and totally entertaining! I must admit, I liked Annie better. I was totally impressed with the little girls and their acting! Plus, Annie was one of my favorite shows growing up! Thanks Grandma for the fun weekend!

Hmmm...how is it, that I didnt get any pictures of the WHOLE gang when that was going down? Member when Aunt Peg very casually asked me "is that how you are going?" cause i didnt get all dolled up for the annual Tuachan picture? That was hilarious! Maybe that is why I didnt get one! HAHAHA!

One of my summer favs!

2009-06-05T09:13:00.001-07:00

One of my most all time favorite things about summer are SNOW CONES!!! When you see those little "Snow Shacks" start poping up, you know its time for summer to begin!
Casey and I had our first Snow Cone of the summer last night - it was just as delicious as ever! We took a little walk behind our closest snow shack and found the city pool - I didnt even know we had a city pool! It has a slide and all! I know where I will be on my days off. Summer may have offically started weeks ago for most of you...but mine offically started last night!

Oh yeah…Cancun

2009-06-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

(Don't mind my choice of pictures, I emailed them to myself at work to post them and didnt get the ones I wanted...but if I dont just post it, Ill probably never do it! And they are super small, so you can click to enlarge them.)
Almost 2 months later – but, we did go to Cancun…
It was absolutely perfect, our week long last minute vacation to Cancun! We found tickets for SUPER cheap and invited Casey’s parents to come along, and we hopped flight 2 ½ weeks later.
The weather was PERFECT, it was in the high 80’s the whole week.
The first thing we did when we got there was go eat. We ate at El Shrimp Bucket – and I was heaven! We ate about 7 different ‘flavors’ of shrimp between the 4 of us, the coconut shrimp was seriously like candy, just melted in your mouth…We ate good!
As this was mine and Casey’s third time to Cancun, we wanted to do some things that we hadn’t done in the past, one of them was to just hang out at the pool and the beach and enjoy these…

Mango smoothies! They just dont taste them same in the states! This is at the little cafe that sits under the pool to our hotel overlooking the ocean. It was so beautiful!
We did a couple of excursions…We did the “Jungle Tour” – that was NOT in a jungle AT ALL! We got on Wave Runners and took about a 30 minute ride on the ocean through some trees to the other side of the island and went snorkeling. I thought it was really fun! The first time we went to Cancun we had done a snorkeling adventure and one of the guys that was with us seriously cut up his feet on the coral, so I was kind of nervous swimming over it, but it was really pretty. Casey and Kendall almost lost Pam and I on the back of the Wave Runners though – The ocean was pretty choppy (obviously) and we hit some deep waves, we survived and made sure to give the boys a hard time about it!
That night we went on the “Cancun Queen”! The Cancun Queen is a dinner cruise that is about 4 hours long. You start out with a dance party on top to the old time style ferry and then have dinner underneath and watch the sunset.

We seiously were the only "white folk" on the boat - let me just tell...Those black girls new had to dance! We really had a blast, and enjoyed playing the limbo and learning new dances, they for sure out did us though! They loved my mother-n-law though...Nice work keeping up with them Pam, you totally impressed me!
Easter was a little different, Pam and Kendall went to Chitzenitza and Casey and I stayed at the beach all day. They had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids, but other than it was pretty low key.
Monday we went to the Isla of Mujeras - translated into "The Island of the Women". Because when the discovered the island there were status of women all over the island. The island itself is only about 8 miles long and a mile wide, completley surrounded by the ocean! I think this was one of my favorite spots for sure! It was beautiful! However, I feared for my life the way over there - it is only like 10 miles out from Cancun, but you have to take a boat there and ours only held about 30 people, so it was pretty small to stand up against those HUGE ocean waves! I seriously thought I was going to die watching the waves come up around the boat and looking behind us not even being able to see past 10 yards becuase of those huge waves. I had to close my eyes - There is something about the dark ocean that frightens me! But, once we made it to the island, it was all worth the treacherous trip.
The Isla of Mujeres is a fishing village and though it is now discovered by tourists it still retains it's charm and tranquil atmosphere. As you stroll the streets in the evening you will see families gathered together in Caribbean styled homes, tucked between stores and restaurants, mending their fishing nets and relaxing.
They told us that they had an Angel Shark at the island that we could swim with - supposedly, if you turn an Angel Shark up side down, there brain hits there skull and they fall asleep, so, if the attack thats all they have to do, and nothing would happen - that was all I needed to hear to do it! I begged and begged Casey to do it with me, and he totally wasnt going to have any of it! All I wanted was a picture of the 2 of us with the shark. He gave in after about a half an hour and we started walking into the water - and something hit me - (this really is disgusting - just in case you choose to read on) I had just started my "girl problems" and thought to myslef "What if he 'smells' me and attacks" - (sick right? Yeah I know...but I had to tell you why I was so deathly scared and hiding behind Casey in this picture...)

Obviusly, Casey thought it was pretty cool and I didnt know what to think about it, my face tells it all, I think its cool that my husband is holding a shark, but I am terrified and totally disgusted with the sharks NASTY feeling tail whacking me in the side. I dont know what I was thinking - Why in my right mind did I think swimming and holding a shark would be "so neat"? It was disgusting, I touched the shark once just for Casey's satisfaction, and just thinking of it now - gives me beauterflies - But, I do love Casey's face in that picture!
Anyway, moving on...Here are a couple more pictures of the island, this place seriously was beautiful!

We rented this golf cart and went and explored the 8 mile long island...

There was a turtle farm that had all sorts of different sized turtles on and in it -

Other than that, we took bus rides around the strip and explored and relaxed by the pool! It was such a nice vacation and really needed on my part! Thanks Pam and Kendall for coming along, it was nice to spend some time with you guys...and for the unexpected "spoilage" we received - we love you guys!

Wanna Play?

2009-05-14T12:42:00.001-07:00

Our indoor soccer team only has 3 games left and we have to put in our deposit in 2 weeks!!! So, that means – if you want to play with us, let me know! We have 8 players and we are looking for 5 more. The cost is $43 for the season ($35 for player fees and then every game we have to pay $10 for ref fees). We play on Saturdays. The games are as early as 3:55 and as late as 10:40. We play at Timpanogos Indoor in Lindon. So if you, or your hubby, or both of you want to play…let me know before we fill up!!!
As a side note – I know a lot of boys don’t like to play coed, but the rules are different at Timp Indoor. Boys can touch the ball AS MANY TIMES as they want before passing it off (that is not the case at Murry). There has to be 2 girls on the field at a time and when us girls do score…we get two points instead of 1. Those are really the only 2 rules. And…I promise our girls can play! We actually only have 3 girls right now, but we all played High School and 2 of us played in college. So I don’t think you boys would get frustrated. Anyway, call me if you want to play 801-953-8761 – its TONS of FUN!!!

Cafe Rio!

2009-05-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last night mine and Casey's conversation on our way home from a soccer game went like this:
Casey: What should we have for dinner?
Me: I was thinking chicken enchiladas.
Casey: We only have 1 chicken breast left.
Me: Oh, then we can have burgers.
Casey: We don't have any buns.
Me: There's Cafe Rio...
We looked at each other and both got a guilty pleasure smile! So in we went! We haven't had Cafe Rio in almost 6 months!!! We shared a chicken burrito and some chips and queso - delicious! One should never be deprived of from Cafe Rio!