THE FETTER'S

Happy New Year 2012

2011-12-29T13:16:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-09T10:21:00.001-08:00

Here we are at Papa's house in Utah. I grew up in this house, so I love getting to stay there with kids and visit (aside from it being difficult to keep track of Dax sometimes, lol).

Thanksgiving Day:
Miss cutie sassy pants :) (she had just woken up from a nap here -she slept all through Thanksgiving dinner. Nice break for us!)
A little happier now that she has her sucker.
Sammy's little buddy Neah.
I had fun hanging out with kids in the basement. Perfect room to keep them all corralled and watch a movie.
So hard to get a picture of Dax holding still, and when I do he is taking a drink ;)

The NEWLYWEDS!! They got married two days prior. Aren't they so cute?!!
Keri and Lara.

Hanging out with my Sammers :)
4 of the 6 Hansen sisters :)

I LOVE Thanksgiving!! It really has become the holiday where everyone is there -Christmas is awesome, of course, but Thanksgiving I get to see everyone at once (but this year we were just so busy with our kids and keeping Dax in check that we didn't get to totally socialize, but still, its so great seeing everyone!)

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

*I'm posting on Christmas next (only one week late -I'm catching up!)

Halloween 2011!!

2011-12-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Sammy -our little Strawberry Shortcake, or as she says it, "Straw-bee cake". Too cute!

Now Dax was... well, we didn't quite know, and later found out it was a power rangers costume. Dax added a little storm trooper toy gun and became "star wars guy", as he called it (we found it while buying dress up stuff at goodwill, but it fit perfect, lol).
What would a holiday be without baked goods? ;)
Cousins :0)

So..., lol, Uncle Todd is the scary skeleton guy on the left. We passed these other two guys and just couldn't stop cracking up over the giant weird gorilla/big foot guy. Shawn's dream has always been to be a gorilla for Halloween, so he was loving this!

Kinda freaky I think (but the kind of freaky you can't stop staring at, lol).
Wow -my handsome guy!! Ya, ya, mooshy mooshy, but I sure love him!!

Sammy was taking turns with everyone, Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Christy, etc. She loved saying "Trick or treat", and even said thank you each time without being told (makes me smile).

Spoooky! I heard Dax say this so many times. He'd put his hands up by his face, and wiggle his fingers and say, "SpoooOOOOoooky". He loved Halloween, even more this year!! We went trick or treating in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood (they have some really fun streets full of people), and Dax was loving being with his cousins, and especially loved his Uncle Todd that night.

We got to do a Halloween party at Dax's school (hence the treats), and then went trick or treating the next night. My kids are still young enough (and Dax isn't a huge treat kid) that I was able to immediately stash their candy so they pretty much forgot about it the next day. I wish I could say I forgot about it the next day, lol. Thank goodness for candy donations!

Happy Halloween 2011

(*only a month late)

Twilight 'Breaking Dawn' Party!!!

2011-12-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

I recently hosted a Breaking Dawn party to celebrate the premiere of the movie that came out on November 18th.

It was so much fun putting this all together and it turned out great! I had SO much fun!!!

Beautiful fondant cake, made by the awesome Janel Lamb!

Fondant cake toppers found here on Etsy. Circle photo cake toppers found here on Etsy as well.

The cupcake wrappers were found here, also on Etsy.
Feathers...

The bottle said "sparkling water from the Isle Esme".

The wedding/Bella & Edward (and some Jacob, lol) theme table.

The entry table. Prize drawing, best costume drawing, name tags, and trivia :)

And photo booth... mustacheonastick.com had these perfect vampire lips -on a stick!

The Cullen table. Vegetarian section ;)

The werewolf table.
Gotta remember the giant muffins right? lol

This was an all girl party...

FYI -girls love hot chocolate, hehe.

Trivia room & the prizes, mu hah hah ha!

Seriously, what a fun group of girls we had!!!

Photo Booth.

My little Sammy.

Shawn hung out at his fam's with the kids, until around their bed time and they got to be there for the big finale -the cutting of the cake, lol.

Here is our awesome Rosalie look-a-like, Janelle, rocking the red contacts!

Jess says it all in this pic.

We had the always AWESOME Rachael doing the pictures for the photo booth.

And my kiddo's and awesome hubby, who helped so much!!

Who need's Edward?? I got this guy!

October -Legoland!!!

2011-11-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

We got to go on a family vacation (for Shawn and I, a trip, lol) to California in October.

Here we are at the house, cruisin'

And here are our friends we made at the beach. It was like something right out of a movie (or a dream, lol). This guy playing the ucalaly and singing, with his Mom who had french accent. They were so sweet and even helped me walk the kids back up the hill. Sammy became instant friends with them, regardless of the shy phase she was going through.

This was our big trip to LEGOLAND!!! This is totally Dax's world. He has been really into lego's for the past year. Even though he gets a little overwhelmed in theme parks (all the people, the loud music, etc.), we knew he would love it!

He enjoyed seeing all the things made out of legos, riding the train, playing, squirting water, and at the end getting to race his lego car creation! Sammy liked the part where she got to dance, play on the playground, and ride the train. She mostly got to chill out in the stroller.

I think we'll go back when Dax is 7 or 8 because then he can go on rides and have much more fun!

Squirting water.
Sammy dancing.

This car was pretty cool.
"Darth Gater", as Dax says it.
He was really into Halloween this year!

Hero Factory.
And Dax getting to build his race car. Not to brag, but it was a matter of fact: He won every race, that I saw, even against older children. He has always been really good at symmetry and balance (physics I guess). He didn't care about winning, of course. He just liked racing it! It was the best way to end a fun day!!

Napa Valley Ragnar, San Francisco Trip! September

2011-11-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

*This was back in mid-September!

NAPA VALLEY RAGNAR:

Lyndi started us off. She got to run on the Golden Gate bridge (but due to construction she only got to run part way and then back). We all felt super excited and really good on our runs!!

I have to give a shout out to my hubby! He was going to go and be our driver, but when the other team member backed out he was asked to fill in. We all offered to help out on his legs, but he wanted to try it. So, he thought he'd just do the first one to see how he felt. He did 3.1 miles. So, he tried the second one (then feeling empowered, and not wanting anyone else to have to suffer and do his leg or part of his leg for him) -he did 5 miles!! So by his 3rd leg, he's thinking he'd already done all that, he can do 3 more.

Mind you: He has not ran in 4 years. He is not a runner, nor built like one, lol. He has a knee that bugs him. He had a week's notice. He did not get to train for this.

His total was about 11 miles, and he is super fit in general, but this was no easy feat! I am SO proud of him!!!!

It was SO fun having him there. This is my first relay as a co-ed team. The only other guy in our van was Clint, Lyndi's husband -our really good friends. And then Mickey and Shelly.

We had such a fun time!! Such a good team, and pretty non-eventful in terms of injuries and difficulties. We all came out feeling pretty good!!

I opted for an easy run this time around -each relay before I was willing to do harder runs. This time I did about 13 miles, and not many hills. My 3 mile run that I wanted to bust out and actually be fast ended up being full of stop lights where I had no choice but to wait... that was no fun.

The other van had a little harder time with being the later part of the night, and dealing with heat at the end. We all finished and everyone came out feeling pretty good!!

We want to make this our annual tradition. Since Shawn was there I didn't feel as guilty leaving for two days, and we had fun supporting each other and Shawn always has fun being loud and goofy. I loved having him there!
Here we are at the finish line. Mickey and I.
Shelly and I.
Lyndi and I.
and my Shawny!! Wondering why I'm wearing a giant, ugly white bra?? Ya, we thought we'd do something at least to represent our team name,which was 'Doin it all night' (*because we are running all night). When I had to walk in PUBLIC at the end and get a bunch of stares and comments, I started having second thoughts, lol, but its JUST a bra on TOP of clothing, lol. What's the big deal?! ;)

To sum it up, we had a blast!!! Most fun Ragnar ever, in terms of the entire package -scenery, level of difficulty, being with my hubby, and the group!!

Of course we had to have some fun while there after the race! Here are some pictures:

San Francisco!!!

'The Stinking Rose' restaurant. Garlic, garlic, and more more garlic, But, SO good!!!

Mickey, Lyndi and I.
Uhm, ya!! Ghiradelli! We all got ice cream, and I bought a few bars. Much earned after a lot of running and walking!

Pier 39
Golden Gate Bridge. At the end of our tour, we got to see the fog rolling in. So cool!
On the boat to Alcatraz. This was what we were hoping to get to do. I love anything history (boring, I know), so I ate this up. Prison life history, however, is not the glorious history, like early American history, that I love, hehe.
Shawn and Clint, prison buddies :).
Kinda freaky, but entertaining skeleton guy near fisherman's wharf.

____________________________________

This was truly my year of relay races and races:

January - 1/2 marathon, London's Run, Queen Creek, AZ

February - Del Sol Ragnar relay, Wickenburg to Tempe, AZ

March - Run Wild 5K, Phoenix zoo

(April & May none)

June - Wasatch Back Ragnar, Logan to Park City, UT

July - 1/2 marathon, Smithfield, UT

August - Epic Relay, Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY

September - Napa Valley Ragnar, San Francisco, CA to Calistoga, CA (Napa Valley)

*October and November... let's just say I have not had much of an interest in running, lol.

Actually, I knew it would be good to take a break. Then, mid way through November I sprained my ankle (dark, slippery stairs, full laundry basket, deliriously tired, tile... bad combination). After being on crutches all last week, and now fully walking this week I am NOW feeling ready to run. Got all my gear, and even an early Christmas present (a road bike), so next week I'm hitting it!! I was doing boot camp and yoga while taking a break from running -so taking almost 2 weeks off from working out has been... not as bad as I thought. It must mean I needed the rest. I'm a big fan of rest ;)

I signed up for my first Marathon - the Ogden Marathon, in May 2012!!! I guess now I have to take it serious, lol.

Logan to Jackson, Epic Relay

2011-11-26T13:46:00.001-08:00

My birthday present to myself this year was an Epic relay from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY, in August. It was a 12 member team, and I believe this route was 186 miles (about).

Here is van 2 (even though we were smart and drove two cars so we had more room).

I ran a total of 3 legs, and I hate that I waited so long to blog this that I forgot the distances -but I think my first was 7, my second (at night) around 8 miles, and my last was about 5.

I think I was seeking redemption from my Utah Ragnar relay, where the hills and elevation and my cold kinda put a damper on things, and I had pretty hard legs on that one too.

I was hoping I could do this one and just rock it, but as it goes, I had to walk more than I would have liked. It was actually really hot. Note to self: beware of relay races in August...

Ironically it is hard to train in Arizona in the summer because of the heat. I'm inside most of the time.

I did a half marathon in Utah in July, so I felt a little ready. I am not a fan of running on treadmills, but that is going to have to change.

Our team name was "Victorious Secret"
Alisha thought of this... lol.
The finish line!! We were all pretty pooped, but so excited and happy to have accomplished that! I seriously fell in love with this group of women. I really hope I get to do it again with them someday!!

We went into not really knowing each other. Alisha and I knew each other in high school, and it turned out I knew Jill from high school (I'm two years older), but I did not know the other girls, so we all had so much fun getting to know each other and cheering each other on.

I really hope I get to do it with them again!!
(*we were still eating our fat boys in this picture... hehe)

Second Summer Utah Trip!! August

2011-11-25T18:50:00.000-08:00

We got to up to Utah for another week in August, after having been there 10 days in July! This trip was super fun, and my family was so awesome in helping me with the kids while Shawn was in Bonneville for Speed Week.

It was the week of my birthday as well, so my "present" to myself was doing a (running) team relay race from Logan to Jackson hole (next post...).

My testing out my hipstimatic app on my iphone :)
A really neat kids park in River Heights. We probably could have stayed here all day :)

Robin's soccer banquet -this picture was just too cute, but behind the scenes Dax was being a wild kid that night, woo whee, was he ever! But over all, they were really good for me on this trip.
Then we got to go to Robin's soccer game -she played for a junior college in Iowa.

Nora giving me her "gag" gift. Justin Beiber's new perfume. Talk about best failure of a gag gift ever -I LOVED it!!! It was actually a perfume I had just happened to smell walking through Macy's a few weeks earlier, but didn't buy even though I wanted to. Now, I love it and wear it every day. I don't think I've Ever loved a perfume enough to wear it every day. THANKS NORA!!!!

I am twenty nine and loving it. I can say I'm not afraid to be so close to turning 30. I realized a few years ago that not a whole lot changes as we age. Life just gets better, and we're just more conditioned to handle the hard stuff :)

This field was named in honor of my Grandpa :). This is the field at Sky View High School in Smithfield, Utah. My Dad graduated from Sky View high school, as well as his 3 siblings. My Grandma Hansen taught there for many years as well. As of next year, 2012, all six of my Dad's daughter's (me and my 5 sisters), will have graduated from Sky View high school (or at least attended -Diana made a switcharoo to Logan high school -leave it to Diana to break the mold, hehe). It made me pretty to proud to visit this year and see this sign for the first time :)

This is Sammy, Halle, and Dax being entertained... of course Dax always has to run off at least once. This time it wasn't the bathroom or the fields or the parking lot, lol, it was the announcers box (the 2nd floor -so he was hard to find). If there is a place to be found (or lost, if you will), this kid will find it!!

Sammy, my little princess :) We got to go to their cousin Cohen's 5th birthday party, Captain America themed! It was so cute, and such a perfect summer day!! Talk about some lucky party goers!! Of course, I got to chase Dax the whole time -thank goodness Sammy pretty much stays put!
I am so grateful I was able to go to Utah this summer, twice!! I am realizing how hard it can be to be alone with 2 kids for that long away from home, but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, so now home life seems pretty easy, hehe.

*I'm almost caught up with my blog! Yay -just 1 more post, and its on to Halloween and Thanksgiving!

It was a pretty special summer, so I really wanted to get it on the blog. A summer I don't want to forget!!!

Sammy Turned TWO!!!

2011-11-25T18:47:00.001-08:00

Sammy turned two in July!! We go to Bear Lake every summer for pioneer day, it works out perfect to do Sammy's birthday there (yep, she's our pioneer day baby -not too bad of a holiday to be born on). It was so fun to have the family there and for Sammy to get to celebrate with all her cousins!

She was (and still is) really into care bears. Its so cute how she said it: "Bare bears"!
Dax, cousin Elliot, & Cohen
Cousin Hazel, Halle, and Simon.

The birthday girl!!!

Sammy, Sammy!

I have to tell you how incredibly happy you have made us! You are such a special little girl! Your Daddy and I can't get enough of your cuddles, kisses, silly faces, cute way you talk and say words, how fun and sweet you are with other people, and how you don't get into Too much trouble.

I wish you would just stay little, but as long as you keep the hugs and kisses coming we'll let you get bigger. Just don't grow up too fast!

Sammy is very strong willed and sometimes impossible (about 2% of the time). At least you make up for it with your cuteness!! We love you!

Smithfield 1/2 Marathon, July 2011

2011-11-25T17:09:00.000-08:00

This summer I was able to do a 1/2 marathon in the town I grew up in, well, went to high school in. The smithfield 1/2 marathon! It was very different from the flat, slightly boring (but for a good cause) farm land scenery that has been my previous 2 half marathons.

I was able to do it with three of my very good friends. I started right out front of my old high school, Sky View. Then, within the first mile the uphill started. It was great weather, and the scenery was pretty. Very familiar, which was pretty cool. However, this was the first time I'd ever Ran on these streets (except one 3 mile run up & down Smithfield canyon).

I can't say that the uphill was super hard, just a few spurts of semi-hard uphill, but over-all, I felt good and had fun, which probably says I should have been running a lot faster, lol. The elevation change truly just doesn't allow me to just up run my guts out. I need air for that!!

I had fun and feel fine about my time, considering I stopped at the "top" for a 2 minute rest/drink break and my hip was bothering me, so I had to stop and stretch that a lot. Thank goodness that last 3 miles or so was down hill and flat.

The serious runners did well on this course, like the guy who won -who I think is nationally ranked- got his best time. I think the uphill mentally psyches you out and makes you push yourself harder than usual, and then you get to bust it down hill at the end, so I can see why its possible to beat your previous times (but not for me, being an Arizona girl and not having trained like crazy for this one).

I am ready now to take step it up, in terms of my speed. I just signed up for the Ogden MARATHON!! Yes, marathon! Am I serious runner now?? I still don't feel like it, so I guess its time to TRAIN like one, lol.

I am ready to start training for this, having taken a few weeks off of running in October and November.

More to come on my Napa Valley Ragnar relay :)

July -Escape to Utah!

2011-10-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, this trip can mostly be described in pictures!

We did our annual summer trip to Utah. We drove, and the kids actually did really good! Thank goodness I had our cousin Sheridan with us, so while I was driving she'd keep Sammy happy, and therefore we didn't have to stop too much. Dax was newly potty trained (wearing a pull up just in case) and didn't have one accident.

I love this picture of him making a pit stop with some very beautiful scenery :)

The hotel stay was an adventure! Sammy took a bit to wind down and decide where she wanted to sleep (she is literally impossible sometimes -exerting her will as strong as ever). She wanted the get in my bed with me, but had to be laying against the headboard, on the pillow, above my head, but before that, she wouldn't let me help her climb into the bed (for real), and she finally did it (it was really funny). Then Dax was mad that he couldn't sleep with me, so we had to put him in my bed too. So, since Sammy wouldn't stop wiggling I put her in the crib and she got to cry in the crib that was 10 inches away from me, for about 15 minutes or so (more like tantrum crying). Once she went to sleep, around 10 pm, that was it. We all slept all night!

Dax and Simon, one year apart, got to be little buddies on this trip, but its perfect because Sammy and Simon are 4 months apart and little buddies too! Simon is huge, so he keeps up with Dax pretty good.
I love Logan Canyon. This is the waterfall, at the Spring Hollow campground, right by where Shawn and I got engaged (which was the grassy spot right above the water fall). I've always loved this spot, since I was a kid.
Sammy and her perfectly paired partner, Halle, who is 3 months older. These two are so cute together!
And Dax and Sammy got to see their cousin Mykah (and baby Scarlett) also.
No shortage of fun things to do in such a beautiful place, with such nice weather, but my Mom knew how to keep Dax busy. Playing with dish soap, water, bowls and measuring cups -who knew?!

Now this is too classic not to post. My Dad, rescuing Simon because he wouldn't- more like Couldn't get down. It was too funny.
Dax sure had fun. He didn't ride the horse, he just got to sit on it.
Now I'm so proud to say that this was when Dax learned to jump off the diving board, and also when he learned to be brave enough to swim by himself -WITH a life jacket, lol. We did swim lessons in June, and I have been working with him at home, but I never knew just how much fun he would have with a life jacket, and boy did he!!
Sammy chillin' in the tube :)
Shawn and I were lucky enough to get to go to a fun concert at the Rio Tinto Stadium -Foreigner and then... Journey!! Of course, there are only like on or two original members left in journey, but the lead guy, WOW! He is this guy who they found on youtube from the Philippines, who was virtually unknown even there, but he sounds EXACTLY (and I have a good ear) like the original lead singer.

It was such a fun concert, and I love all the classic songs. Plus, it was after I had picked up Shawn from the airport after a week apart, and we got a kid free night and an amazing concert, and pretty darn nice weather too!
Shawn, Amy, ROBIN, Camie & Jeff!
And finally, all things come to an end -us on the way home (this is Sammy after puking in the car the night before multiple times from that 24 hour flu bug that went around this summer).

*What I didn't post was Sammy's 2nd birthday party and our Bear Lake adventures -that's next!!

We love LOVE our trips to Utah, but the July one is my favorite! I got to do a 1/2 marathon in Smithfield as well in the middle of July. It was so cool!

More fun summer stuff to come!

June FUN!! AZ, UT, CA

2011-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

June was such a fun month!! We got to enjoy the nice weather and swimming here, sort of, lol. It started to get hot, which is why it was so nice to get to go to Utah and California briefly.

Here we are going to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Dax was pretty excited, especially because he went through a bit of a phase where he was terrified of movie theaters, so he was so proud to have overcome his fear!

And my lego building machine. I'm pretty proud, to say the least. He's not even 3 1/2 years old when this was taken.
And our little girl. She makes me melt :)
This is the usual pose from Dax. He's pretty proud to show off his creations.

And this was the month that Dax got officially potty trained (thanks to help from Sheridan while I was off doing Ragnar!). He was that kid we knew we had to wait until he was ready because once he was ready I knew he wouldn't have any accidents, and only the first week after he had 2 and hasn't had any since, even his pull ups at night are dry each morning.

And swimming lessons. First year of lessons through the Gilbert Recreation, and Dax, who can be fearful, did great! Sammy also had her first lessons ever and did really well (aside from being stubborn and refusing to put her face in, unless she was jumping in).

And our brief trip to Utah for this: Our nephew Joshua's baby blessing.
Talk about cuteness!!
Halle, Uncle Ryan and Sammy.

Then we got to go to Cali and enjoy the beach! It was just me and the kids and it was the first time I could relax a little bit at the beach. Dax played in the waves without hesitation, and Sammy wasn't afraid of sand anymore, lol.

We even got to see this just a few yards away. In all the years we've gone there, never once has this happened. Even the locals said this never happens. Pretty cool! So many people thought it was injured or dying (I think they're just lazy and it was enjoying the warmth).

I think I like the beach, with kids, now. I can't wait until next time!!!

Wasatch Back Ragnar, June 2011

2011-10-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

This was my 2nd year in a row being able to do the Utah, Wasatch Back Ragnar relay. My first one was the year before, and since had done the Arizona Del Sol relay. My first two were SO fun and I felt so good on all of my legs. I was even THAT much more excited for this one, and it was mostly family, and all girls, on our team.

This is us at the finish line - how neat that of the 6 sisters in my family, 4 of us got to do it together. The other two in my van was my sister in law and her sister.
Camie, Diana, Robin, Nora, me, and Haley.
Our team name -ReAL Women, after the Real Salt Lake.
Nora, our little helper (more like entertainer!).

Getting ready to run my first leg!

Night running. Woo hoo! Caught off gaurd much, Diana? lol ;)

And our team!! (can you tell I was the last one to finish? lol)

The only problem was I didn't anticipate that it might actually be HARD this time around. I was fighting off a cold before I got there, but knew I could run through anything (except like a bad flu), so I thought...

A few yards into my first leg, on a hill, my lungs felt like they froze up. I started at a pretty decent elevation, and probably pushed myself harder thinking I could, but I didn't know it was a chest cold too. Anyway, from there on I had faucet nose and closed lungs. It was brutal, and I have learned to push myself, so it was almost too much.

I was runner 12, and I had some pretty tough runs (first almost 5 miles, second 7, and last 7, hills, but others still had it harder; being sick is what got me).

I was so grateful to be finished, and SO grateful to be apart of such a fun team!!! It was a good lesson for me to learn that things aren't always going to be a breeze, and that no matter what you've done before, running wise, you still have to train and be prepared for anything (training for elevation is a little harder in AZ, but since I didn't have an issue my first year I thought I'd be okay -I was runner 1 the year before, and did start at a lower elevation).

Its fair to say from there the rest of the summer I was chasing down a better experience to "prove" to myself that I could do hard things and not have to walk (having never had to walk before that really got to me mentally). It didn't work, lol. I did a half marathon a month later, another HARD relay a month after that... and did fine, but I was just wearing down :) More of that to come later.

May...

2011-10-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

{Rainy day in my home town, North Logan, UT}

Here I am, still playing catch-up (so annoying, but this will become a blog book someday, and my kids love looking at the blog, etc etc)

These are pics from May, 2010.

It warmed up enough to swim, although I'm sure our pool was still cold this day.

First time with water color paint.

Then, we took a little trip to Utah to visit family. This pic of Sammy trying to wear the Mr. Potato head glasses is too funny!
More dress up-Dax playing at cousin Simon's (he named himself "Titan", after Titan on 'Megamind', hehe)
And Logan has this fun little zoo. It was a place I remember loving as a child.
I think Dax had more fun splashing in puddles than seeing animals ;) Who can blame him?

Now this picture was most likely taken because it was Sammy's last bottle, lol (ok, can't remember; which is why I won't get behind on my blogging anymore!), but she quit bottles (aka "ba ba") about 20 months old (ya...I'm a sucker). Just in time for her second birthday ;/-

May is an interesting month -being from Utah, and living in Arizona. In Utah its warming up in May, but still has a lot of cool days (even snow). In AZ its the last month of non-HOT weather in AZ, but can still get pretty warm. Having no kids in school, so we just got to play a lot. The kids were also excited to be swimming, as was I ( our pool doesn't get warm until end of May or June, but kids don't care)!

I had such a fun time in Utah this visit. Here in AZ we mostly enjoy sunshine, so it was really neat to visit Logan when it was rainy, foggy and mostly overcast. The mountains were so green. I got to run 3 miles up Smithfield canyon in the rain, and it was just kind of like a dream. I wish I could do this every year! And maybe I will :)

Cousins and Easter!

2011-09-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

We got a little visit Easter weekend from my sister, her hubby and my nephew and niece. Perfect little buddies for our kids!! They had so much fun! Halle and Sammy are only 3 months apart (can you guess who's older? lol). I LOVE this picture. It was taken after my sister put every flower of Sammy's in her hair, like a crown. It was really cute, in a mis-matched kind of way, hehe.

*We did our own little Easter egg hunt, since they had to leave Sunday

EASTER MORNING

Easter egg hunt with cousin Mykah (and Dax and Sammy).

It has been fun the last two years in a row to have Easter celebration at our house! The weather that time of year is just perfect, and its such a special holiday, so being with family is just the best!!!

Our Samantha!!

2011-09-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken mostly around March, so Sammy has grown up a lot since, but I still have to share these :)

Little Miss personality. She knows how to make faces for the camera and loves to be silly!

Such a happy girl!!
A jammie day. We practically lived outside this time of year. It was so nice!!
Such a girlie-girl! She put her little purple lap top in her Dora back pack (and it all just happened to match her outfit) and just plopped on the porch. My idea of a workspace! (This was the neighborhood kitty that we took care of for a while, until it started leaving me "gifts" -birds, lizards, rodents... not fun to clean up). It was a pretty kitty, who we named "kitty" (the kids were really into kitty's at the time, so it needing someone to feed it and give it a bed -outside only- seemed perfect, at the time. I hate to admit that I am not a cat person and kids have taken over any need for a pet these days, lol).

Sammy turned 2 in July, but there is so much to share about her! I'll keep updating the blog, and keep it up to date!!

-As far as her stats, she's right in the middle. Pretty much 50%-ile for everything, height & weight. She is communicating pretty good, and is understanding time outs, and catches on pretty quick. She loves, LOVES her brother, and always has to know where he is. She can hold her own with him, and her time-outs are primarily for hitting her brother (usually unprovoked). They love to tickle each other and laugh.

-She is a good eater, but still picky and there is NO way to convince her otherwise (or sneak a taste in her mouth). Thank goodness she'll eat healthy food, but sadly she did learn how to say "french fries" (does that tell you a little about their frequency? which we are now backing off of, other than occasionally).

-She LOVES her grandparents and knows how to work her cuteness. She cuddles up on their laps and gives lots of cute faces and just stays put. She still even convinces me with her cuteness to carry her down the stairs (sometimes -its because she carries like 5 blankets with her each time! lol).

-She is SO proud that about one month ago (in August), she learned to JUMP! She was trying and trying all summer, so it is adorable and a big milestone for a two year old :)

Oh, little Sam-Sam, the sweetest, cutest, little mess-maker you ever did see. She likes to be by her Mama, and her favorite line is "Hold you?" when she wants to be held.

We love you Sammy!!

Our BIG Three Year Old!!

2011-09-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

These pictures were all mostly around Dax's 3rd birthday, which was in February, these were taken in March.

So proud to show off his dragon :)
Our first trip to the lego store -I helped him build this, but since then he has become an amazing lego builder. Its the one thing that will just keep him entertained (and still) for long periods of time.

Anyone that knows Dax knows that this is more like it... Always on the move!!
Ya, after discovering the exhaust pipe on Daddy's truck.

I'll give this kiddo some credit though -he is not my mess-maker kid. He's 3 1/2 and could very well get into pens, pencils, crayons, markers and have colored on the wall, floors and he has done it with a crayon only once (Sammy, on the other hand...). He likes it when I wipe his hands after eating (he is still yet to master using a spoon or fork every time, lol -hands make good shovels I guess ;) we're working on that) Never spills, drips and likes to be clean. Phew!! (He is like his Daddy, so no surprise there).
This was back in March, and too cute not to share. We had a dry cleaning, triangular card board piece from Shawn's dry cleaning. He immediately said "wings", and we cut some holes, added some ribbon to tie it on, and suddenly he became buzz lightyear, "Infini beyon," in his words. (Since this was 6 months ago he can now say "To Infinity and Beyond, lol").

I have to say I am LOVING the Three year old thing. He was such a hard two year old (couldn't go really anywhere) that it all seems easier now (still not easy, just better). He now lets us cuddle and hug him whenever. He gives kisses and hugs all the time, he says I love you on his own, and is a pretty good protective big brother and a good helper.

And he is still as big as ever. Just so tall and big, wearing 5 year old size clothing, but still acting like... a three year old :).

(Oh, did I mention he is potty trained???!! Ya, one kid in diapers is kinda nice -2 years of changing two kids diapers all day long is OVER!!)

We love our Daxxy!!

Ragnar Del Sol, Arizona

2011-09-08T08:21:00.001-07:00

Can I just say blogging in September about stuff in February is just shameful, but I'm determined to "catch up", so here goes:

This last February I did my second Ragnar Relay (first was June of 2010, Wasatch Back Ragnar in Utah). It was SO fun and I felt SO great the whole time, even with a slight cold. The girls on our team were awesome!! Talk about amazing athlete's as well. I can only dream of being that athletic!

Here we are (6:00 am?) near Wickenburg at the start line. I was the first runner [as was I for the Wasatch Back one... I think I like it that way -getting all the nerves out and getting it over with!].

From left to right its :Shanna, Renae, Janelle, Shelly, Lindsay and me.
Me ready to do my hard leg. Something like 8 miles and mostly uphill? Ya, but I felt really good and enjoyed it!! (even if I didn't know my ipod was about to die, only one song in -thank you Justin Beiber!)
Lindsay and Renae rocking the exchange!
Our vehicle. "Girls Got Game" was our team name. Ya-uh!

The night run. 7 miles!! It was fun to run at night! And I am so glad it was on busy streets and neighborhoods, their were other runners (stories to come about just how scary night running can be!!), and my team was so good to cheer me along!

My final run was at like 5:45 am, 3 something miles, and it was ironically my harder leg -I just wanted to be done, I couldn't get my temp right -I thought I would be cold so I had too much on and was therefore hot! And I was just plain tired!

By the end we had all survived -and Lindsay survived what seemed like the flu and dehydration, but still ran all her legs -she was AMAZING!! And Shanna made it through her brutal 8 mile run, at the end, with the last mile uphill, where she was rescued by a fellow runner with some powerade (yet she was still running not walking -these girls were SO tough!), and when she got to the finish line she was delirious and acting strange, and doesn't remember much about finishing :/, but we can all laugh about it now because WE DID IT!!!

Joyce (team captain), in Van 2, is my neighbor and good friend, who arranged it all, and she did an amazing job. She made it SO fun and everyone was so upbeat (well, we all got tired in the end). It was so fun to cross the finish line together at Tempe town lake -192 miles, I believe?!!

Visit from Grandma!

2011-05-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Its about time I update my blog. We're talking the longest I've ever gone! lol, but its okay because now I understand why people go through... times of no blogging -for me its two little people that rule my life lately, but I love it. Now, I am ready to blog again!!

My sweet Mom came to visit us back in February, when it wasn't 110 degrees outside, and the weather was beautiful!! She was able to be there for Dax's bday (considering she lives in Utah, so its not like she sees us every day).

Here are some cute pics. Its not hard to tell that Dax was having a hard time sitting still! ;)

Thanks Grandma Karla! We love you and miss you every day!! "Doo doo doo DOO!"

Happy 3rd Birthday DAX!!!!

2011-02-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Dax turned three on Feb. 22!! Three! I'm so grateful to be his Mom! Wow, its just so mind boggling to think he was just my little baby those three years ago. Dax has been the most wonderful thing to happen to us (along with his sister). I love this kid more than I can express. I'm loving the age of three because he is so full of hugs and kisses lately. He holds my hand all the time, walks next to me, actually stays with me in a store, etc. etc... All that is a BIG deal considering how hard is two year old days were :).

He loves to read books and have stories read to him. He loves it now too when we tell him stories -he loves the story of "Prince Dax", where we make him (and drop hints) about his adventures.

A month or two ago I must have told him about how is Daddy served a mission to Chile. Well, a few weeks later we were talking about this as I was tucking him into bed and he says as we were talking about missionaries, "Ya, Dad went on a mission to Chile". I was so touched and surprised he would remember that!! It was a sweet little moment for me, especially cause I beat myself up about how much I'm probably forgetting to teach him, lol.

Okay, here are the pictures from his birthday party:

This was as everyone was arriving. His expression says it all. He was so excited for his party!
The theme was robots & rockets basically, so these balloon rockets were a HIT!! All the kids went gaga for them -thank goodness this was right up Shawn and Uncle Todd's ally :).

The spread.

It was so fun having a bunch of little buddies around!
I love this one of Shawn restraining Dax from blowing it out too early -only three candles to light, but he was SO ready to blow them out! I think he's been ready since his 2nd birthday :)
Dax tried so hard to blow them out, but eventually he got them, with a little help.
These awesome little finger flash lights became his temporary obsession. We got it all on video, it was too cute!! I love Sammy clapping.
Little sis.
Present time!!

Then we played a fun little musical numbers game where they walked in circle to the music and when the music stopped they stood on an number and than I picked a number out of the bowl and whoever's number it was got to pick their prize, and so on. It was really fun :)

It was so sweet of everyone to come and share the celebration!!! It was SUCH a fun party!

(we invited his cousins, & a few of his little buddies & neighbor hood friends)
And I can't help it, Dax LOVED his cake so much last year -cheesy and all- so I was super excited to make him his promised robot cake, who became "Robby Robot".

(pronounced "Rob-bee Robot, instead of "Row-by Robot", which I thought would be confusing for a 3 yr old, but nope, he remembered better than me!).

The party was just the beginning -it was 4 days before his actual bday, so the next day Sunday he got to celebrate with the family -my Mom was in town for a visit as well -and we got to celebrate Grandma Sheree's (Shawn's Mom) as well (her bday is 3 days before Dax's). Than, Monday night Grandma and Grandpa Fetter took Dax out to pick out a toy and get ice cream. Man did he love that!! Than on his actual birthday we made pancakes (he could eat pancakes every day, and I don't blame him!), and that night we got to go to Target and he picked out a small toy, which turned out to be his first Bakugan -talk about excited, but as it goes with kids in a matter of days he had moved on, lol. He still loves all his new toys, but as it is with kids he's still just as entertained by the card board boxes and his imagination, thank goodness :)

(I am SO going to hide his toys and bring them out every few weeks so he gets re-excited about them. Better than buying him new ones!)

Happy Birthday Dax!! We Love YOU!

And I LOVE the age of Three -especially now that he out grew his CRAZY two year old phase, lol!!

Our Anniversary!

2011-01-28T07:35:00.001-08:00

Shawn and I celebrated NINE years of being married in December!!!

Pretty cool. Pretty cool indeed :).

We got to have a kid free night on new year's eve, even though that's not our anniversary, and we stayed at a hotel in Phoenix. We were lame and went and saw a late movie--yet, at the moment the movie slipped my mind, hahaha - the theater was pretty dead (ya think?). We had such a fun night, and it was the perfect way to start off the new year :).

What a fun, amazing, crazy, and life-changing nine years they have been!! Shawn is truly my soul-mate, and I feel truly closer than ever to him.

He puts up with all my mood swings and irrational behavior, but he is always so good to make sure I know just how precious to him I am. He has always believed in me when I didn't believe in myself, and I'm so grateful I've had him to help me be who I am today. He is truly my best friend, and I feel so in love!

OKAY -enough of the mushy stuff, sorry! (I know how cliche and cheesy all I said might be, but when ya feel it ya feel it!!!)

Happy Anniversary BABE!!

(I'm only posting this a month late...lol).

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-02T08:49:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Getting in the spirit

2010-12-09T13:00:00.001-08:00

The tree is, well, almost done... I'm yet to hang an ornament, but, hey, its UP! (I'm a week behind cause of that little flu last week).

Dax excited to cut out some cookies!
I showed him how to smash it down (than I rolled it).
How could he resist?!
Proud of his cookie. "Hmm, yummy Mom! Thanks Mom!" -He might be wild, but he really does talk like that. I have to express that I am grateful how full of gratitude this guy is. He can run us ragged, but he's thanks me all the time for stuff.
Sammy getting in on the "cheese" action.

The other evening I was talking with a women, whom I ADORE (Kay), about the holidays and baking got brought up. She said that one of the strongest memories her children have about the Christmas season is not so much the gifts they got on Christmas day, but things such as baking cookies with her.

That was so sweet to hear because I too have SUCH a vivid memory of making sugar cookies around Christmas time with my Mom. I was fairly young, but it stuck. I don't remember doing it much as a teenager, and in my nine years of marriage I think I've made them once.

Now that I have little ones of my own, I couldn't wait for them to be old enough. Dax, being almost three, was so excited to make "snowman" cookies. Finally, after doing our morning routine, running to the store*, making lunch, was I able to make the dough. Dax, needless to say, was very excited and is becoming quite the little buddy to have around. Sammy would just ask for "more" every so often, and go off and play. It was fun to have that time with Dax.

I'm so grateful to be able to share the Christmas spirit with my children now. Its so special to me to be able to see it through the eyes of a child.

What's next on the list in getting in the spirit?... Finishing decorating the tree!! Now that, on the other hand, has proven hard to get to (ok, I did get the flu, but I just can't seem to put that on top of the list, hehe). Hey, the tree is up, its lit, and the first sugar cookies of the season have been made.

This week is also the week of parties, it seems, but than again, we have two next week as well.

More pictures to come soon!!

(*Dax did really good today! He got to go play in the kid center at Basha's and behaved really good. If you know Dax, he can be a handful, so I'm so glad this is becoming a regular event these days).

Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T14:24:00.001-08:00

We truly have SO much to be grateful for. Thanksgiving is my reminder of how I need to be more grateful each and every day.

I'm grateful for a day where family got to all be together, watch kids play, catch up, eat yummy food, and just be happy we all got a day to just be. It was a special day.

Thanksgiving in Arizona. Being a Utah native, its kinda nice, to say the least ;).
The spread (which I, sadly, didn't contribute... see previous post as to why). A lot of good cooks -Sheree, Shawn's Grandma Russell, Aunt Renee, Aunt Marcie, Christy, and Shara all worked so hard to make the food and deserts. It was yummy!!
Sammy- kind of a mess. A cute mess :).

It was such a pretty day. I love the colors of the ballons.
Grandma Russell organized the game where you tie the balloon to your foot and whoever is the last one with out their balloon popped is the winner. Fun game!! (Us adults left the younger crowd to stomp it out...). Dax, Sammy and Mykah just enjoyed the balloons, and running around :).
The kids were lovin' Unkie Todd. He's a kid magnet I guess ;).
And the cutest new addition to the family -"The Curtis and Candace" (dating... seriously). lol, no in reality, Candace is awesome. I'm so glad they are together!!!
The best part of the day, for me I guess, was watching this little guy be beyond entertained by this little number. You can thank Daddy for that Dax :)

(no sarcasm here -its probably good to learn gun safety early on considering his Dad is a gun fanatic, lol).

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!!!

November in pictures

2010-12-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

Obsessed with "measuring" (or "may-sure", as in, "Mom, I may-sure").
Sammy Sammy...
Wow!! Holding still? check! Smiling? check! Rare moment??!!! check. check. check!
One minute she's happy, next there's tears, but it was momentary (and I can't remember why... its hard to keep up with this one).
Before it got cold. Water is, well, the best!
Than here we are post-thanksgiving putting up our first "kid" tree. Dax got to help, if it isn't obvious. Good job buddy!!

First day attempt at potty training (only for Mommy to get the flu the next day... which I still have now -we're on day 5 :( ). Potty training is on hold.
Put a kid in some undies and a headband, and see what emerges (above is super-hero, below is the dinosaur stomp, as we have all come to know it so well).
Who knows...
(And ya, I learned potty training is an eyes on every second ordeal!! After he pooped in one pair, and than peed a little later (I know, TMI), we were... well, done for that day ;). He did, however, he did go poop, twice, and pee in the toilet (he totally can it, its just a matter of DOING IT and Mommy watching him every second... yikes), and earned his treats.)
I have to mention I really enjoy breakfast time. The kids are still happy from getting sleep, and we just play while I get it ready, and I love sitting with them while they eat and Dax chirps away.
He has graduated to sitting booster chair free (Sammy took that one over), and is ...eh hem, learning to sit still long enough to eat ;).

We've had a fun month, with lots of fun memories. I truly love November in Arizona!!!

What I did instead of cooking...

2010-12-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

Its about time!!!!

We held Thanksgiving at our house this year, yet I wasn't in charge (yay!), so everyone else brought food. I was planning on contributing... but than this spontaneous project took over. Aaah, so refreshing. Did I feel bad for not contributing to the load of food? Yes... and no ;).

Okay, so I LOVE to cook -I just had a tiring month and somehow wasn't in the mood. Yet me in the mood to organize??? That is very rare. All my kitchen cabinets -that needed it- got re-organized as well. That's what happens when you move in with a 1 week old baby... 16 months later you get organized... well, in Amy's world anyway.

A pretty special event

2010-11-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a pretty special one for us.

{Most of you that read this blog know that I am a Mormon, but if you didn't, well, now you know! Just in case some of this post doesn't make sense, hehe}

A temple is being built in our wonderful town of Gilbert. The ground-breaking ceremony was this past weekend. We didn't actually get to attend... hmmm, 2 & 3/4 year old (lol) and a 15 month old, (but I still would've liked to have gone to the stake center to see the broadcast, but we just didn't make it). However, it was a regional conference for Arizona, so we had stake conference that same weekend so Shawn and I got to go to the adult session on Saturday night. Let's just say it was the turn around I've been needing lately :), or better yet the re-focusing of my life and my priorities.

[We did make it to the Sunday session of conference, kids in tow, and aside from being 15 minutes late, we made it through -taking turns with Dax in the hall/foyer, of course, but I was VERY surprised both kids did as well as they did. That light at the end of the tunnel, you know, the "two kids under three can be VERY challenging" tunnel?? That light is getting much more visible, bright even, these days ;). ]

Our stake presidency, prior to the ground breaking, had asked all families to try and have their picture taken on the temple grounds. At the adult session President Barker, the stake president, said as a sort of challenge, to go back to the completed temple in 2012 and take another family picture and see just how much you've changed. Not how much physically, of course, but spiritually. Shawn and I, without having to say it out loud, knew that that we were in the right place at the right moment. It was just the challenge we needed ;).

We are truly grateful for the wonderful event that took place this past weekend, and we are truly excited for the dedication of the temple in two years. As we know, two years can go by very quickly, but a LOT can happen as well (chuckle).

What a blessing in our lives this is and will always be. I am hoping I can reflect back on this having reached our goals, and enjoy seeing how far we've come!

Halloween!!

2010-10-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

...And here is how we celebrated...

Dax was a superhero, and Sammy was pebbles

Here we go ready to go do some TRICK OR TREATING!!

We went to the fall festival at a park (that our ward put on), and Dax was busy running around but loved seeing all the fun stuff and kids in their costumes, and of course, getting lots of treats!!

(and didn't you know that your headband sitting halfway on your head is the new style?? shaa!)

We sat in lawn chairs and handed out candy -Sammy was my little helper, and she was starting to get mad that all the candy was starting to disappear. She was having too much fun digging her hands in it, haha. Once we ran out I had both my kiddos chilling out on my lap- gotta love it while I can!!

Happy Halloween

Fall Fun!

2010-10-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Dax loves the pumpkins -and Sammy was all excited because of the dog across the street.

Freestone park. Dax was laughing at this one duck that was, uh, a little too eager to be fed, but he thought it was funny (while I'm thinking, 'Don't get bit!').

Eating the bread while he fed the ducks.
(I think he was running because he was pretending he was scared of a monster in the lake, lol)
He sat down and said, "Have dinner?" (or "have deener?", how he says it)

This was us on Sunday. Yep, Dax got his head SHAVED. First, the mohawk (only because one morning he brought me the trimmer and LET me cut his hair, but I was afraid of cutting it all off, hence the mohawk).
Ah, I just love that little smile, and, of course, Dax's intensity ;)

Sunday night Sammy was having trouble going to sleep, so she got to have a bedtime snack, hehe. Too cute!!

She LOVES that she is getting treated more and more like a big girl (she's 15 months) -sitting in the big chair, using her own utensils (and quite well, surprisingly), climbing the stairs -she will NOT let me carry her up, its so funny -, and now that she's walking you can tell she knows she's reached a new level of independence :).

Fall is SO wonderful in AZ! The heat finally breaks, and we can get out and enjoy the nice weather. The only problem this year is it went from hot to cool without much in between, but its still wonderful weather!!

The kids and I went and got pumpkins with Aunt Lauren on Friday, because Dax was excited about this pumpkin carving kit we got at wally-mart that morning. Now, he calls the pumpkins on on front porch the "pumpkin patch", which he constantly wants to go outside and see.

Later that day we had to get out and enjoy the beautiful Saturday so we went to Freestone park to see the ponds and the ducks. Dax also had fun seeing the train (which I knew I couldn't juggle both kids on by myself so we, I, uh, had to trick him out of a ride... "Let's go, uh, feed the ducks..." hehe).

Unfortunately, fall also means illnesses :(.

I'm a little bummed because we were all well and on our way to getting out and doing stuff, only now to have my kids both sick, but I know it won't last forever. We went to the Dr. yesterday, and it turns out Dax has bronchitis, and Sammy just a nasty cold (one that kept us up all Sunday night, this after Dax kept us up half of Saturday night). Last night I had one moment that freaked me out. Dax woke up at 9 having trouble breathing and not being able to get a cough or even a sound out, and me feeling so helpless. Having trouble breathing, not being able to cough or really swallow must have been so scary for him! The albuteral did the trick (as much as I hate force feeding him medicine because I feel so mean, it was all I could do. I wasn't about to run him to urgent care, even though I wanted to at first before I calmed down, only to have them ask, "Did you give him the albuteral?" haha).

The good news? He slept for most of the night after that. It was sweet when he snuggled up to me (he slept in our bed -Shawn was out of town) and let me hold him :). Than, poor Sammy, who is WAY harder to get back to sleep these days, woke up at midnight. I sat and held her for 30 minutes or so while she slept, even though I knew when I had to put her bed she would wake up anyway. It was just too sweet holding her while she slept. It was not so sweet when I had to lay her down. She is a light sleeper and wakes up very easily. Thankfully she only cried for a few minutes and slept the rest of the night :).

Its funny how I can go day to day and I don't always appreciate my children when they are in good health! Than comes illness and I sure appreciate it than. It is, ironically, my little wake up call to slow down and just have care free days with them. Plus, I kinda love doting on them (to a point ;), but I always want them to feel better asap, poor kiddos!!

I will do better at appreciating the time I have with them when they are well :).

Today has been a good day. I decided to try listening to conference while we just did our daily routine, and it was really nice. It gave me a new resolve, which I have really needed these days ;).

Here's to Fall and healthy children!!!

I need some "umph"

2010-10-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

DISCLOSURE: These pictures are NOT from my house -I found them online from googling decoration ideas, hehe.

I need some "umph" to get me in the mood to decorate. I have never had a passion for it, but lately I'm kinda realizing it would be fun, and my house has a lot of potential. Plus, PLUS, I can do a little more these days because A) I'm NOT pregnant B) I'm not pregnant C) I'm not pregnant, lol. Actually, its because I'm less fearful of store runs (yes, Dax drives me NUTS because he has to be in the cart the whole time, but when I do get to go alone I'm much faster because I know what I'm looking for, haha). I would love to have my house put together and be a place where I feel peace and feel at home. For now its going to be my "baby", than (in a few years) will come the real baby.

This first one is an idea for my entry wall. LOVE IT!!!

Some bedroom ideas...

Just an idea of how easy it can be to be creative without being expensive (I love the lamps too!)
I'm loving this green/yellow color and this light blue combo lately.
So I love the blue wall color, with the red as an accent, and the creams and browns would go great with our carpet color. Our room has a lot of light as well.

Drab, drab -is how I feel about my decor right now (wah, wah! who cares?!). Those are just a few ideas I found online. I decided (with some good advice) that my bedroom needs to truly be a place I enjoy to sleep in and wake up in (since that is all the time I'm spending in there these days). I need a place I can end the day in peace and look forward to going into, and a place I want to wake up in and make my pretty little bed and start the day off right! (Sorry, I am NOT a good bed maker -probably because its still dark outside when we get up :/ ). I do not like going to bed because it means another crazy day has to start all over again. However, that little thing called "SLEEP" I'm realizing is kinda important ;).

I'll keep you posted! Any tips, blogs, websites, DIY ideas, etc. are very much appreciated!!

Weekend wedding bliss

2010-10-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Bliss! That is the word for Shawn and I's first, yes, FIRST weekend away from kids since we had Dax (he's 2 1/2...). Yes, bliss. It was wonderful, and I don't even feel guilty for saying it. Not even for a second. Did I miss them? Oh yes. Did I feel terribly wrought with guilt? No. No I did not ;).

My beautiful (step) sister Jenny got married to John, who we, as a family, can agree is wonderful! She looked like a princess, and they were both just glowing. It was such a beautiful ceremony at the Grand America in Salt Lake City, and than a delicious dinner afterward, where we took turns telling stories, giving advice, tributes, etc. to the bride and groom. I LOVE weddings!!! It was really fun to be with family, see my brand new niece, and see some friends (Marci and Karlee -this was the only real picture I have so far).

Talk about a fun romantic weekend get-away. Friday we got there and ate lunch, went shopping, and went to the wedding. Than Saturday we got to sort of sleep in (our bodies are just programmed to wake up before 6 am...bleh), but we didn't get going until like 8 am. Loved it! We got to work out at the Lifetime in South Jordan, go to lunch with my Dad & Step-Mom, take naps, and than got to go to a Real soccer game that night (oh, did I mention they haven't lost a home game yet??! If you aren't a fan yet, well, become one now!).

Aahh, but by the end we could both feel the "pull" of home. Isn't that always how it is on the last day? Its like your brain just knows what is coming... (sigh).

Yes, since my brain knew the blissful weekend was coming to an end, I'm glad I was so eager to see my two little wibbies that I missed so much! Should I be worried that I get 'baby' homesick after 2 days? What am I going to do?? This will pass right? I'm hoping its because they are just so young, lol. I'm definitely planning on traveling and vacationing, well, a lot with my hot hubby :).

Here's to planning our next vacay- possibly the Bahamas in December for our 9 year anniversary! Woo-hoo!!! Oh blissful Bliss, here I come!

Simple life, simple pleasures

2010-10-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy being a Mother? Probably, but not enough, ;)

We have our good days and our bad, but we are in the swing of things these days. I love it!!

I am loving watching how different Sammy and Dax are.

Sure they like the same toys... but lately Dax's favorite words are "That's mine!"

I have to blog about these chicken lettuce wraps I made the other night! Yum!!! Here is my recipe (made it up as I went -attempting a pei wei version, w/less sodium, haha).

The kids actually at it! Dax not very much, but that fact that he ate some says a lot! Sammy is my picky girl, so that made me happy :) (Click here for recipe blog)

This shake is perfect for fall. A ginger peach smoothie (I can't remember if I added protein powder? I think I did ;).

This was a really sweet moment after a crazy day of Dax being mean to Sammy... a lot!

So, Sammy may take a few steps, but she is still not walking. No biggie, but I am getting a little anxious. She's 14 1/2 months, but she gets around just fine :)

And this was my 'Why not?!' moment. Dax loved it!!

Thank goodness it has cooled down enough to go out early in the morning!! Yay!!

Hair cut...

2010-10-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, sorry for this, but I had to share.

Yes, I chopped it. 9 inches -and my intentions were NOT to donate for a good cause, lol. However, it turns out I have a bunch of hair that can be donated to locks of love. Win-win.

(Vain I know ;) -Casey, this is for you, haha. Oh, and excuse the attire -I was headed to the gym (for a light work out -I mean who gets dolled up this much for the gym?!! Me I guess, haha).

A few of my favorite things

2010-09-27T16:28:00.001-07:00

Or should I say things and things I WISH were mine... like this cute, cute work out/running outfit from lululemon!! Okay, so its a goal now to be able to look that good in it (I haven't ordered it... yet ;). I've got another Ragnar race coming up in February, the Del Sol course here in Arizona. Ya, it might be too cold for this outfit, but I can still look cute while training, right?!

I'm already thinking up ideas for Dax's 3rd birthday (its a little soon... to say the least -its in February). That is a good sign for me considering how much I feel like I have been lacking inspiriation and motivation (for creativity anyway) lately. I kid you not, yesterday, I was sitting there thinking of a cute idea for Dax's birthday, and in my head pops the idea of a "Red Robot cake" after seeing some cute cakes on yahoo. Than I thought, 'I can't do red again. Dax is really into blue though. The theme could be a Blue Robot theme'. Than today, I was reading my free copy of 'Parents' magazine that came in the mail, and towards the end, my "Ah Ha!" moment came. There was this cute article for these fondant cupcakes (that I thought of making) that you can order on Etsy, from the seller Two Sugar Babies. So, party planned 5 months early, check!

And to my surprise, what was right next to the arcitle? The little blippet for Meri Meri paper company (my sister sent me some of their cupcake toppers, that I used for Sammy's bday -I don't have a picture :( ), so how perfect that they have these? I'm thinking I could just do both, or just make a cool robot cake myself. But check out all the other cute party stuff for the Space Cadet theme. Yes, its truly suiting since sometimes Dax's nickname is "space cadet", lol.

But if it isn't totally obvious, my kids and my husband are my favorite things. My hubby has truly been so amazing in helping me. I know its probably not cool to get on here and boast about how awesome my husband is, but it is so over due. He is my hero! He helps me with the kids every morning, he's a pro diaper changer/kid feeder/comforter these days, and on top of it all he is soo loving and forgiving of my ever changing moods and broods. Oh, and did I mention how hard he works and comes home with a smile and a hug every day? Ya, there ya go. My husband rocks ;).
Things I love about Dax right now: He is getting to be a big boy these days, and wants to do more and more himself. Yes, that might result in some messes on occasion, but that's part of learning (and partially me letting him out of my sight).

He is full of hugs and kisses lately, even though I can't pin him down long, I cherish it when I can. He's so huge I can barely scoop him up anymore.

I have not mentioned how Dax ends words with the "y" or "ee" sound on so many things. For a while it was begging for "juicy", instead of just "juice". It made me laugh, 'cause his family members are "Daddy, Mommy, Sammy" so today when I asked him his name he said "Daxy", which we call him sometimes anyway, of course.

Dax and Sammy and I dancing the other night. Its still pretty hot outside here, so we have to burn off some energy somehow!!
And to end this post with my other favorite child, my little bug Sammy. Shawn's nickname of "Wibby" or "Wibble" (Wuhby, or something like that) has caught on. She's our little "Wibby" these days, and Dax is still "Buddy".

I'm hoping to have some fun the next few weeks: -an attempt at the library story time (we'll see how Dax does...he loves stories though), -more time at the park now that its cool enough -running on the canal (still not for a few more weeks), -hoping to get to the Phoenix science museum, than the new aquarium, schnepf farms, and than the zoo.

Halloween is on the way as well. This could change, but I'm thinking Sammy as "Pebbles", and Dax as a superhero (not sure yet). Was thinking pebbles and bam bam, but Dax won't even get that and he's old enough to care what he is dressed as, so I'm letting him pick.

Such a fun time of year here in Arizona!! I can't wait to get out of this house!

(Soon to come... my new hair cut and color -need a good pic first ;)

Utah Summer

2010-09-22T18:57:00.001-07:00

This summer myself and the kids stayed in my home town of Logan, Utah for 3 weeks. I was planning on staying for 4, but looking back I'm amazed we made it 3 weeks, lol. Shawn was there the first weekend, than two weeks in we got to zip over to Oceanside, Cali, and Shawn met us there (he drove 6 hours -what a sweetie!), and than he came up the following weekend for my high school reunion, and we drove home that weekend. My point being, that much time away from home with no husband was, well, kinda crazy and kinda stressful, mostly because of our kids ages - Dax was barely 2 1/2 and Sammy just over 12 months. Keeping them safe and out of trouble at the same time was nearly impossible, but we did it. Dax, thank goodness, didn't wander off too much.

Here are a bunch (okay a TON) of pictures from our time there. When we weren't in Bear Lake, we were in Logan either:

-At a park (we rotated between a few)

-At the gym

-At my Dad's or Mom's house playing

-Napping

-Eating more than a fair share of drive-thru dinners

-And did one day in Salt Lake (briefly -I got to go shopping finally, with Nora -2 hours of kid free bliss- except I still am not a fan of shopping)

Thank goodness I had lots of family to help, my Mom, Dad, Step-Mom, and Diana (who is Simon's Mom), my younger sister, helped me a ton, even little things like watching kids while I showered or got ready. Thank goodness Diana and I were smart enough to hire babysitters one night so we got a night out to see a movie -'Charlie St. Cloud' -LOVED it!!

Willow park. A favorite place of mine as a child. It has changed a lot, but a lot still remains the same.

This Wallaby, however, was new.
Dax getting the back seat since he wanted to walk sometimes.
Sammy enjoying the view (she's usually in back).
The coyotes were pretty cool.
Dax enjoying one of the many slides. He was so brave, and actually played pretty nice with the kids (which is pretty rare these days), but I can't take my eyes off him for a second -he plays with other kids toys, or is not so gentle with kids smaller than him :(
Sammy getting to be my buddy while Dax played. Ok, so see the problem? If Sammy wasn't strapped in the stroller, where do I put her when I have to chase Dax?? Thank goodness he was pretty obedient -he only wandered away once.
Feeling pretty cool being up high...

This is Simon and Sammy at the Bear Lake Cabin.

It went like this:

Bear Lake, Logan, Bear Lake, Logan, Oceanside, Logan, Bear Lake, Salt Lake, Logan -than HOME. We made the most of the 1 hour drive to Bear Lake. It is too pretty there not too!
Simon, Diana, and Robin -the day before leaving for College in Iowa. Yes, IOWA!
So how cool does Dax look here? He is a car fanatic, so imagine how special he felt when Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Karla gave him a ride.

One of the days at Bear Lake with Aunt Shara, Uncle Todd, and Mykah (who are more recent residents of Utah -Arizona natives, its as if we swapped shoes for a while).

The picture above and below is our quick weekend to Oceanside Cali.
Daddy and his little bubby Sammy.
We all got to go the aquarium in La Jolla. It was pretty darn cool.

Dax and Sammy actually having fun together (...this was over a month ago, things have changed these days...).
Dax being brave in the ocean with Simon and Diana.
Sammy being a beach baby, and not a fan of sand.

Than I got to go to my cousin's wedding. It was so fun to be with my family, and sisters. It was a nice break from kids too!
The newlyweds, Ryan and Tawnie.

Than what would a summer visit be without a trip down to the good ole Cache County Fair, lol, lets just say it wasn't what I remembered it to be when I was a kid, but it was still a fun experience. And of course, Dax threw a fit when he had to get off his car ride. That was fun ;)
Sammy like seeing the animals. This was her face when some cows walked by.

The picture above was probably too familar of a scene after a while. Playing at my Dad's, watching fun shows (Dax likes Phineas and Ferb (spelling?) a lot now, and so do I, lol), and just playing. Kids at this age are good at eating, sleeping, playing, and in Dax's case, getting into trouble. Mom's are good at feeding, napping, entertaining, and chasing!
One final Sunday dinner at my Mom's to celebrate my birthday (even though it was the week after), and my Grandma Gerry made thee best chocolate cake (with whipped cream frosting/filling) EVER!! Way to close out a fun trip!!
After my reunion, the following Monday (at 3 am) we were off for our 12 hour drive home, which went really well, thank goodness.
Sammy... ya, this picture doesn't need a description ;)

A lot of catching up to do... later

2010-09-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

For now, here is the big news:

SAMMY started walking today!!

She will be 14 months old in 4 days, and up until now she has taken one, maybe two, steps by herself.

Today she just let loose and started walking from one corner of the couch to the other (I'd say maybe 5 steps at once), and you can tell she knows exactly what is going on. She loves it, and she's so proud of herself. Its too cute! I can't get enough of of it.

Oh, and I have to add that she added a new word to her vocab as well today.... "No".

Oh joy ;).

Sammy's 1st Birthday!

2010-08-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

Sammy turned ONE!!

We celebrated at Bear Lake. We have a family get-together every year over the weekend of July 24th (Pioneer day), and it just so happened that Sammy's bday is the 24th.

Sammy performed perfectly for the "cake ceremony". She loved the attention and was pretty fascinated by everyone staring at her, but when that cake was set in front of her she knew what to do. She kinda took her time at first, and the poor cousins watching were slightly impatient, so they got to eat their cupcakes while she dug in.

She loved it, and even put her face in it at one point (after her cousins showed her what to do, haha).

Sammy's latest:

She is FULL of personality! She knows how to get attention that girl.
She didn't get her FIRST tooth until a week after her first birthday. She now has 3, in a matter of 3 weeks. She's been a trooper and hasn't been too grumpy (just one not-so-fun rash while we were in Utah).
She loves to dance and wiggle. She immediately moves to any music or rhythm.
She won't sit very still for story time (when we read to both kids, like before bed time), and she doesn't really sit still and watch tv (compared to Dax who sits great for stories and kinda zones out when the tv is on -he is a ball of energy, so its a good trade).
She does enjoy cuddles, hugs, kisses, and being held.
She is my "old faithful" these days when it comes to sleeping. She goes to bed around 7:30, and sometimes just keeps sleeping and sleeping... like now, its 9 am and she is still asleep. She wakes up on and off, but sometimes before I even get up there to get her she is quiet and back asleep. I take it as her adding on her morning nap, so on these days she might only get one nap. (Of course, last night was a fluke -she's teething -and she cried out in the night every few hours, but I never had to actually go in there).
She is our little bug! The pig tails give her 'antennas', and the single pony tail gives her the "Pebbles" look.
Her eyes are a mixed blue/green, and so big and pretty.
Her hair is getting longer and lighter. She's kind of strawberry blond too.
She is pretty good at communicating. She can sign 'more' & 'please', and she can kind of say "thank you", and knows how to say "nigh nigh" (night night) when its close to nap time or bed time. She says "Mamma", "Dadda", and I think she's trying to say "Dax" as well -it sounds like Dadda, so who knows.
She loves it when we sing to her, and can make animal sounds. She loves "itsy bitsy spider", "patty cake", "old mcdonald" -says the 'ee eye ee eye oh' part - and loves playing peek a boo.
She pretends to by shy, and hides her little face. And she can be a Mamma's girl, and she will dig her claws in to me if I try to hand her off to someone she doesn't want to go to (but that's rare... sorry if you are that person ;).

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our little Sammy bug, and she is so full of life and love. She loves to play and be happy, so I'm grateful for that!!

Happy Birthday Sammy!!!

10 Year Reunion

2010-08-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, for those of you who have been there -celebrating your 10 year reunion- you understand. I can't believe I've been out of high school for that long. Where did the years go? I still feel 17. I hope that doesn't mean I have to grow up or anything...
Our table (which, in my opinion, was the BEST table, hehe). We had so much fun talking and laughing (and eating yummy food -thanks Elements!). John and Lee kept the laughs coming, and it was just fun to catch up, and laugh. Oh, and did I mention we laughed... a lot?!
It was so good to see these girls!! Everyone looked amazing, like they hadn't aged at all, while I felt like this 10 year older, adult, mom-person with lots of wrinkles ;).Janae and I. We go back, what, 16 years? That's crazy!
John John.
Staci and I -hot Mamma is right (Staci that is...)!!! Also friends since 7th grade.
Kristin and I, who is more gorgeous than ever!

Staci, Kristin and I all had babies last year within a few months of each other (boys for them, girl for me -they might have to fight over Sammy some day ;). So cheesy, I know. I'm already picking out my daughter's future husband.

It was held in Logan August 14th, at the Riverwoods Conference Center, and it was perfect weather. It really was so good to see people.

There is something to be said about actual human contact, face-to-face, not just on facebook (or blogs, or email, or even the phone). There were people there I just didn't expect to see, and of course a lot of people that couldn't make it that we missed. A lot of people have moved away, or just couldn't make it.

It was fun to reminisce, and I'm truly grateful I had such a good high school experience. We had a great class.

So, this reunion was hopefully just a taste of how fun the 20 year reunion will be. See ya in 10 more.

Sammy is turning ONE!!!

2010-07-20T20:36:00.001-07:00

Sammy's birthday is already here, almost. She'll be ONE on July 24th!! Wow!
We had a little family party for her, and the July birthdays (Lauren, Christy, Curtis), at our house. Here is the spread...
(I broke out the ole 'Crikut' for her banner -just scrap book paper, glue & ribbon)
Okay, I LOVE love these flowers.

I did not plan for things to match so well -I guess I have a lot of pink and green stuff, haha, but that seems to be the theme for Sammy. Here room is pink and green & her birth announcement was as well, and I'm sure a lot of her wardrobe is too ;).
I don't know why I love the food spread pictures so much. Maybe so I'll know what to make or what NOT to make next time I host, haha. Seriously -I'm so lazy right now. The most I did was did a chopped salad & cut veggies -Shawn grilled the chicken, and Safeway provided the potato salad & beans, and my wonderful Mother-in-law brought the delicious fruit. I did bake cupcakes (from a box, hehe), so that was fun (and crazy, I know, but I didn't eat one :( I'm saving up for a Charlie's shake from Logan, where we will be very soon...).

Somebody LOVING his cupcake and ice cream. Smart kid!!
The birthday girl eating her dinner.
Waiting, and wondering why she was put back in the chair...
The birthday kids. I love this picture because it shows just how into blowing out candles Dax is. He has discovered he LOVES birthdays!! He gets CRAZY into it. He does this yell like, "AAAHHH (whoooo)" trying to blow out the candles with all his might (while spitting all over as well, haha). We got it on video -its too funny!!
Sammy's cupcake.

(her big cake will be on her actual birthDAY)

She knew right what to do!!
It was as though she's watched us stuff our face so much, and she was just copying us ;)-

Oh the cuteness!!

I can't wait for the next cake mess -it will be chocolate frosting!!
Than came the presents. She loved the baby doll we gave her! Oh how I love my little girl!!

Sammy is just so fun right now. She is:

-Saying "Wow!" and "Woh", (she uses "Woh" kind of like "Oh oh")

-Standing up free every so often -I'll catch her letting go of the couch and standing. She thinks its the coolest thing!

-She will let me hold her and rock her, or even cuddle.

-She is fiesty. Period! (Never have a seen a more strong willed baby... even more than Dax, yikes!)

-She knows how to blow kisses, wave, do peak-a-boo, etc. with her hands. She knows how to sign "more", and loves trying to do the itsy-bitsy spider song with her hands.

-She knows the parts of a face.

-She is trying to talk, and has her own language sometimes.

-She and Dax are becoming little buddies. She can kinda hold her own, for the most part, and if she can't, TRUST me... she lets me know ;).

Happy Birthday Sammy girl!!

We love you so much! Its been AMAZING watching you grow.

Kids, kids!

2010-07-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sammy turns one this month!!
Dax loving the "good stuff" lately... cake!

I feel like I'm in a good place right now. I've accepted that my life kinda revolves around kids, and I love it, of course. I've found how to balance and juggle gym time, eating healthy -in other words, taking better care of myself -all while trying to take care of their needs 100% -feeding THEM healthy, lots of play time and just spending time with them in general- but do I always do a good job?? Probably not, but I'm trying. I'm okay with the fact that my house isn't as organized as I'd like it to be (and NOT compared to anyone else -there is just a certain amount of disorganization I can handle living in). Here's the good news: I've actually started organizing cabinets, cleaning out closets -marking living here almost ONE YEAR (yep, that means Sammy's bday is around the corner!!). In other words, I've gotten out of my "rut". I am proud of the fact that I'm a good house keeper now. I guess having two little ones so young and so close together has made me pretty determined to keep my life together. Practice for the future, I call it. That way, when they are older and a little more manageable, and maybe in school, I'll be that much more good at keeping up on things. I don't know -we'll see. Will I just end up busier with driving around, running errands, going to lessons, doing school projects, etc.?? That is life right? One thing builds upon another, and we grow the ability to handle it. Why can't we just grow an extra arm, brain and entire nanny along the way??

That's all for now, as I have to go get my buddy who just woke up from his nap (and is suffering from conjunctivitis -yes PINK EYE- poor kid, but he's on the mend). Lots of prayers these days for patience and forgiveness. Forgive me for losing my patience!!

RAGNAR Utah 2010!

2010-06-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I ventured up to Utah for the Ragnar Wasatch Back relay. Pretty crazy and exciting all at once, and even more so because it was my first time. It was a 188 mile relay race starting in Logan and ending in Park City, and it cut through the mountains, so the scenery was so pretty. Green, green and more green.

I thought there would be a lot of down time, but there really isn't. Your either running, driving to the next exchange, stopping to cheer on your runner, going to the bathroom, driving more, cheering, stopping to eat/repack/freshen up/change clothes, driving some more, resting, and than starting it all over again.

We had a team of 12, so 2 vans, but we spent most the time with the girls in our own van, and by the end we all felt like sisters (...some of us already were actual sisters, but you know what I mean;)).

Now, call me brain fried, but I can't remember the name of this resturant in Logan -or should I say I don't know how to spell it (Le None??). Pasta baby! (and then there's Kim, grilled chicken salad and brocolli, which is what I should have ordered ;)).
Here we are right before the start. It went by too quick! Basically, I got off the plane, my sister Nora picked me up, we went to Camie's house in North Salt Lake, drove to Logan, had dinner, went to my Mom's (who's visit, sadly, consisted of me attempting to have her braid my hair -poor Mother's, daughters can be so picky -, and than me being stressed out about getting to bed because I had to wake up around 3 am!), got ready for the morning, and went to bed.

The morning was a blur. I woke up at 3 (before my alarm -uuugh), so I decided to shower and wash my hair, and than my hair wasn't cooperating -I was trying to do side braids, but it was too clean -so Nora and I dashed off to pick up Kim and meet at the starting line at Icon fitness. We made it in good time, and it worked out great. I was kinda stressing inside though, but than excited when we got there.

Me at the starting line. Runner 1 baby!! Start time was 5 am (4 am AZ time). I had 3 legs to run. Leg 1 was supposed to be 7.9 miles, but we think it only ended up being about 7 because I got done in a little over an hour (and I do NOT run 8, or even consistent 9 minute miles).
This was taken while my sis Nora was running (yes, that is a hill! Such a trooper). From left to right: Haley, Kim, Lynley, Camie, and me.
After Nora got done
That was what it looked like most the time when we cheered our runner on. This was Camie checking on her sister Haley and giving her water.
This was like total sheep country. We encountered the funniest black sheep (and they got more than they bargained for as well... lets just say "pit stop" anyone?).
Haley passing on the good ole slap bracelet to Lynley, who had a crazy uphill run on a non paved road. There really wasn't any runner who had it easy. We all had challenging runs at some point. I'm so proud of us!!
Random, but this park worker (?) had a baby bird (Falcon?) that had fallen out of its nest. Aaaah, so cute!
My first french braid (officially). I've been practicing on myself, but never done it on someone else. If we'd had more time, ya, it would have been a cute side braid or something, but for how little time I did it in I was impressed!! hahaha.
This was me a little while after my second run. Leg 2 was my hard leg -it was 8 miles, and had probably almost a mile total of uphill, and the rest was mostly downhill (which I'd much rather do than uphill ;) I'm okay with running for long periods of time at a slower pace, and the downhill speed would make up for my slow pace.
Sisters, Camie and Haley.
Our car. It says "Honk if you're pretty", because our team name was "Pretty Pavement Pounders", and we got a few honks... So, a lot of people think they are pretty I guess ;).
I don't have as many pictures of Saturday morning, but my final leg started at 5 am, and it was 4 miles of flat paved road, but it was COLD (I was hot in the car, so I took off some layers -big mistake!), but not as cold as Logan the first day (I had layers on that day). It was so nice to be done!!
Here is Camie passing the bracelet to Haley after her super tough (almost) 8 mile uphill run. All the girls in our van were stinkin' tough!
Such a pretty view. This was Saturday, and we had just 2 runners left for our half of the team to finish. It went by so fast!
This is after arriving in Park City. We got to rest at the Canyon's (before Nora took me to the airport), and I got to hang out, briefly, with my nephew Elliot and niece Halle.
After showering (okay, I soaked in a bath -I was slightly sore...to say the least), we all met at the finish line to wait for the last runner. Finally, a picture of ALL 6 of us in our team shirt (ya, lots of pink ;).

We weren't too concerned about when we finished, we just wanted to do our best. That I know of, there were no injuries or major events (we were late for our Saturday morning exchange, but it worked out in the end), and we were all in good spirits.

(I'm sure I was tired, and I had my grumpy moments, but actually felt pretty good).
Than my nephew Cohen got to cross the finish line with us (he was running full speed at one point -too cute!).
Here are the other team members at the end.
Me and Lynley rocking our medals, and preparing to part our ways :(. I didn't want to leave!
Family gathering. Lynley with her hubby, Cory, and than Jeff and Camie with their two kids, and than Brandon and Sharlene with their four kids. Pretty amazing that all of us (except Haley) have kids.

Sharlene was in the other van, and this was her first race. She did awesome!!
This was my view as I hobbled away (seriously, I could not go down stairs very easily) of the finish line.

RAGNAR 2010. We did it! P3 forever!!

Catching up -picture overload

2010-06-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

This was taken probably a month ago (??). Sammy is changing so much SO fast!! I do love every stage though. I keep saying, "Oh I love this age" like every week, hahaha.

She has got a little mop-top goin' on. I love headbands, but I've finally given in to pig tails and ponies, and clips. I'm realizing just how FUN it can be to do a little girl's hair (even if she doesn't think its so "fun" -poor girl, but she's already gotten used to the tugging and pulling, as long as she has a good distraction). She is quite wiggly though...
This happens more than I'd like to admit... :( However, I'm trying to sit down and hold her more now. It was just to easy to feed her this way while I fed Dax, or cleaned up. I decided, now, to pretend like I was still nursing -at least once or twice a day -and hold her while she drinks her bottle, which she loves. She'll even let me rock her to sleep sometimes, so I enjoy those little quiet moments.
This picture speaks for itself...

Someone had an early start. It wasn't even 8:00, and he found the wrapping paper in the guest room. A new stage has begun with this kid... (dun dun dun).

My point of view. We had a nice May and June, I have to admit. Usually its pretty hot, but we were spared this year!! Thus resulting in a lot of this...
Intense isn't he? ;)

Cute, cute -too bad its blury. (I need as many reminders as possible of what a sweety he can be these days).
She loves to play just like her brother!

Rare picture of Dax smiling at the camera. Had to post it!!

Ah, siblings. A relationship I can relate to. That love/hate relationship, but thankfully its mostly love. Poor Sammy has learned that Dax isn't always out to protect her, sometimes he's out to "poke" her -in the eye, for instance. She's very conditioned -if he gets too close she flinches, lol.
Ah, precious girl.
These are what the pictures of Dax consist of these days. Either this...
or this... (right in front of the camera, or trying to grab the camera).

Making Sammy giggle.
Having a drink together.

Dax loved bringing Sammy her matching "Mickey" cup, and sharing with her. She loved it too.

Than, Sammy did this pose (that Dax is doing), and I laughed, so Dax had to do the same thing (ya think he's after all the attention?? maybe...). He tries to do somersaults like this as well.

A family picture. These don't happen too much, so I had to share.
I loved Sammy's face in this one...

I'm starting to feed Sammy 'big girl' food. Its kinda nice that she can feed herself more these days.

I think its fair to say we've been busy, but a good busy. I'm enjoying life right now and feel like I'm in a good place with kids and life. As much as it excites me to have our family grow, I'm in no hurry. I've realized how much I need to enjoy this time with them, and how much more I'll enjoy the next baby if I take a little break. I'm surprised just how hard it is to wait though!! I love my kids, so its just so neat to think about loving another that much.

Ragnar race, the Wasatch back route, this Friday!! Can't wait (I'll be running first, at 5 am, and by 5 am the next morning I'll have run 3 legs, a total of about 21 miles -yikes!!). Let's just hope this tiny cold I got goes away fast fast fast (and I'm trying to rest rest rest!!). I'll post on the race soon!!

6 month experiment comes to an end...

2010-05-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

...or should I say "came" to an end (from the title of this post), but its only temporary.

If you didn't already know, I made a new year's resolution to go 6 months with no sugar (white sugar, HFCS mainly -pretty much candy and desserts in general). Well...

I DID IT!!!!

I have to say the last month, however, the rules started to get a little shady. For example, Dax had these mini, semi-health food cookies with 'evaporated cane juice' in it, so I had like 5 one day. Than, one Sunday dinner I had baked beans, which I know have sugar in it.

The main reason I allowed myself to waiver ever so slightly during the last month was, well, I had almost reached my weight loss goal.

Remember me saying I wanted to lose 30-35 lbs? Well, about mid May I reached 30 lbs!

The way I ended my 5 months of hard work outs, running and eating clean in general (tried not to be too calorie restrictive until I stopped nursing) was doing a 21 day "diet" where I just ate really clean and had to eat every 2-3 hours (no salt, and the food was very basic and I averaged about 1,400 calories a day). There is a reason I don't do "diets" -I end up being hungrier at the end than I was when I started, and I crave things I hadn't craved the whole 5 months prior. When I stopped I did okay not "pigging out", for real, but I also had a pretty yucky cold, so I skipped out on the last 2 days because we were headed to Utah and I needed to "feed my cold", as they say, haha.

The cold put a damper on my running a little, but today I ran a good 7 miles and felt great. I know I'm where I want to be because I didn't get sore, sick or too tired after (felt like a normal day). I joke that what used to be my '2 mile' runs are now '6 mile' runs. It feels so amazing! It just makes me want to push it to the next level!!

I decided since my weight has... well, redistributed so much and my body has changed, so I still want to lose 10 more lbs, but I'm just going to keep working out hard and eating clean. I know that if I just don't eat past 6:00 at night and go to bed early it will be much easier.

So, how did I end my 'no sugar' reign? First, a "wedding cake" flavored bahama bucks on Saturday night (I had to end it on a weekend -more fun that way ;), and than Sunday I made my past favorite, homemade cookies. Got to eat the batter, and had some while they were still warm. It was yummy!

The funny part it is, I made sure I had my fare share so I could get it out of my system.

By that night its fair to say I was ready to go back off sugar again.

My conclusion to this "experiment", as I've come to call it: I don't miss it!

-As I started having small intakes of sugar over the past week (like a special-k bar, nutri-grain bar, some of Dax's kid bread), my skin has even started to break out ever so slightly, and I'm not feeling as "clean" as usual.

I now feel ready to just look forward to special desserts. How sad is it that that I have the rest of the year planned out??

-1 banana cream pie from Charlies in Logan this summer

-1 raspberry shake from La Beau's in Bear Lake

-Cake on Sammy's birthday, Shawn's bday, and my bday

-1 candy bar on Halloween

-1 piece of pie at Thanksgiving

-and Christmas... too many good things to decide, so that's up in the air, haha

Crazy right?

I'm good though. I'm just so used to not eating it that I might as well roll with it!

Zoo trip & visit from Mom

2010-05-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

This squirrel was a little too brave for me. It started getting too close and I kinda freaked out...

Giraffes. My new FAVORITE animal. We opted to pay $3 extra to feed the giraffes. It was sooo cool. They are so cute and fuzzy close up. They have the sweetest faces too. It was really neat!!
Dax got to "roam" a little more this time, so he loved it!

Crazy pigeon. It would bow its head and make this crazy noise. Dax got a kick out of it.
Gotta love the Orangutans!

Komodo dragon!!
My Mom got to come down and visit during the best time of the year! This was mid April, so we had to go to the zoo. It was just her and my brother Sosha, who's eleven.

It was so nice to have that time with her and see her get to spend time with the kiddos.

Visit from cousins Cohen & Hazel

2010-05-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dax loved having Cohen here! Cohen is 3 1/2, and Dax is just over 2, so it was good for Dax to have an older boy around to play with.

Cohen is really into superhero's, like spider-man, batman, and superman, so when Cohen left Dax was talking about "superman" all week.
A while back I taught Dax to say "Nice to meet you" and shake your hand because he didn't seem stranger shy. Well that was then, now he sort of turns his head and pretends to be shy, but he comes around.

While Dax and Cohen were in the back seat together I looked back to see Dax grabbing Cohen's hand saying, "Nn to-meech you" [nice to meet you].

Now we're working on "Nice to SEE you", lol.

Sammy and Hazel. These two little girls are just 5 weeks apart, and I have a feeling they'll be great little buddies (along with the other baby girls of 2009 -Halle and Allie, and don't forget poor Simon, the only boy of 2009, haha).

They had fun just talking to each other. This was before Sammy was crawling, so they just sat there and grabbed at each other.
And than Camie and I just got to chill out and let the kids have a hay day. We went to the park later on so Cohen could practice his mad golf skills because that is what his Daddy, Jeff, was off doing with Dax's daddy, Shawn, and Uncle Ryan, who also came down from Utah for the day.

On the way to airport we had to stop and In-and-Out, yum! But by then Sammy was pooped and crrr-anky, so I gave her her first french fry, to keep her happy (she was 8 months old, so of course I feel bad, of course, but it did the trick ;).
Thanks for the fun memories. That meant a lot for you to take the time to come down and see us, with 2 little kids no less. It was a very memorable day!

I can't wait for this summer!!

Visit from Robin

2010-05-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

I got to have my lil sis Robin come visit me for like 5 days right after Easter (she got here Easter Sunday). Talk about making me feel special! She is 18, and a ready-t0-graduate, busy senior, and she took part of her spring break to come stay with us.
While she was here she got her senior pictures taken by the amazing Rachael Earl. Click here to see the gallery.

Robin and I weren't very good about taking any pictures together (wah) probably because we were so busy with the two kiddos the whole time.Here's my iphone picture of us messing around one night. Shawn was making goofy faces with the flash light, so we had fun with that.
These are the pictures of Sammy that Robin took. She's quite the photographer herself :)
Robin helped me sooo much with the kids. I even got to go to the store and to the gym while they napped while she stayed home. Than, we went shopping one day with kids, which went pretty well. The weather was perfect the whole time. Not hot, but not cold. It was a fun week!

Than, I got to fly up to Utah with her for the next few days. Too busy to blog about that just now.

That's all for now!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!!

2010-05-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Yesterday (May 1st) was my Mom's birthday! I definitely don't tell her enough how much I love and appreciate her, and how great it is that we get to celebrate a day just for her! Mom I wish I could have been there to give you a big hug!! I love you.

This also prompted me to get posting about her visit to us two weeks ago... next (here she is with Sammy at the zoo).

Happy Birthday MOM!
Who doesn't love pictures posted on the internet for all the world to see??? lol. Sorry Mom, but you look gorgeous!!

My little buddies

2010-04-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on updates, and am finally ready to update more often. I guess we've been enjoying this weather (as well as having family visit, traveling to Utah...)!

*I had to blog something Dax said like almost 2 months ago. One evening I sat Sammy on his lap while he was chilling on the couch. I have been gradually trying to get him to be more "soft" with her -for the most part he was just carrying on and not paying much attention to her, or pushing her out of the way- but this time he actually wrapped his arms around her and started interacting with her. They were just smiling and giggling at each other (Sammy LOVVVED this! She adores Dax... or should I say "adored" -he was being so sweet to her, but just this past week he is going through a grumpy week. He will pat her head, and than those "pats" turn into hits. Ugggh!)

As she is sitting there smiling at he him, he points to her round, chubby little cheeks and says: "Ball". Hahaha, I was laughing and crying at the same time from the cuteness of that statement.

However, it was, well, not-so-cute when he turned and pointed to my cheek as well and said, "Ball". lol.

This was when it was still a little chilly, but starting to warm up in March, and Sammy had a little cold, but we had a fun day at the park (until we had to leave that is...oy vey -the tantrums...which I have to say are hard, but he's starting to reason ever so slightly these days, and I'm getting quicker on my feet thinking up distractions...).
The life of a baby that can't crawl yet or has not teeth -a little easier for Mom, that's for sure. Now this picture was over a month and a half ago... no teeth yet, but du-du-du-duh: She's crawling!! She officially did the true hands and knees crawl around her 9 month bday, so yay (and not-so-yay for all the child proofing to come). I say 'yay', even though I was enjoying her not crawling (I need at least one child that can be semi-chill), Dax crawled at 5 1/2 months, so I was kinda wondering (definitely not worrying) when her day would come.
Dax knows how to play hard!

Oh, watch out, she's a Mama's girl! She is my little side-kick... literally. As much as I wish I could say I love this, I don't love the constant crying and whining every time she sees me walk away.

I have to let her cry sometimes because its obviously not really possible (and probably not healthy in the long run) to hold her every second she's awake (...thank goodness for naps and sleeping all night!). When I'm not up for hearing her cry, lets just say my arms get a good work-out, haha.

At first I started putting her on the kitchen floor with me, and that changed to me setting up her porta-crib in the kitchen area just to keep her happy -and she STILL throws a fit, but so is life. Sorry Sam-Sam!! I'm so bad -I've even resorted to holding her on my lap to feed her her food because she keeps arching her back and crying when I put her in the high chair.

Man, tough love is NOT going to work on this girl! I'm not strong enough ;)

Makes me melt!!
This was the day before Easter- Dax thought it would be fun to wear his bag (for his blocks) on his head. He got a kick out of it!

Sammy, Sammers, kitty, booger (my main nickname these days), Sam-sam...

I love these two, and am so amazed at how much that love just grows and grows! As nice as it is to get kids to bed, by the next morning I'm excited to see their smiling little faces and give them big hugs! (Of course, I'm still human and I drag my feet somedays when I don't go to bed early enough, like right now! Its 11:30 and I'm still up ;)

Easter

2010-04-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this was technically Dax's 3rd Easter (first one he was 2 months old, and than the next he was 14 months old), but this was his first Easter basket & Easter egg hunt (he's now 2 years old and 2 months). Last year I just didn't do anything, probably because I still didn't think he was old enough to care, but things are different now that there are two. What I do for one I have to do for the other, lol.

This, of course, was Sammy's first Easter -she was just over 8 months old -and she did actually get a basket. Lucky girl!!

Of course, we still tried to teach the true meaning of Easter, but that is something we'll work on as he gets older. It was still a very special, fun day for our little family. If anything I hope it sparked in him how it is a very special day that is about celebrating (even if it is totally commercialized -its still SO fun, and my FAVORITE holiday to decorate for- well, its equal to Christmas).

I was sooo excited for Easter this year! It makes me think of spring, and everything feels fresh and new!

Growing up I LOVED Easter. Such a fun time of year! I remember waking up to our Easter baskets (while pondering the mystery of the Easter bunny, even believing we found his foot print on our carpet one year), getting all dressed up in our pretty dresses (some years this included hats and gloves ;), lining up with my sisters to get our pictures taken in our yard with all the pretty blossoming flowers, getting to see lots of baby animals, getting baby bunnies from our dear Grandpa Loyal, and just celebrating the wonderful spirit that is Easter.

I have to admit I was excited to have a child actually old enough to get excited over an Easter basket, needless to say I had fun putting the baskets together.

Here are some pictures:
Sammy having fun with her basket.

(Oh, and our baskets always had the 'Pez' candy dispensers in them. Couldn't resist!)

Dax didn't quite have the 'Pez' thing down, but he had fun with them anyway.

Oh the cuteness!!
Than between general conference sessions we hosted a little Easter brunch at our house with Shawn's family. It was yummy! And I LOVE Easter colors!!
Scrambled eggs, salsa/hot sauce, french toast, ham, berry-granola parfaits, and some strawberry orange smoothie, etc.
Than we HAD to have an Easter egg hunt, so we had the kids bring their baskets and just did it in our back yard. It was fun, and Shawn got some great video of it.
Paityn, Mykah, and Dax (Taylor had to give them a head start, sweet girl).

Happy Easter!

Easter part 1...

2010-04-15T21:31:00.001-07:00

Easter egg hunt with the cousins, in our backyard. So fun!!

Sammy liked shaking the ones with jelly beans inside (the next day I let her play with some eggs, than I stepped away where I couldn't see her for a minute, only to come back over and see black slobber around her mouth and her sucking on a black jelly bean -she was in heaven! And yes, I learned that the eggs open easily, so I had to spoil her fun and take them away ;).

Dax getting Grandpa into the action (egg head??).

And pretty Tayler admiring her new little chick (that chirped when it sat on your hand).

It was fun to see the kids running around, and it was Dax's second Easter egg hunt -his first was the day before (last year he was too young so we didn't take him on any).

(*I'm having an error come up when I try to upload photos, so as soon as I get that figured out I have more pictures to post. Frustrating!!).

For now...

2010-04-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I collected all those emails only to go into my settings and realize that most of them were already (from last time) invited as readers -I'm still not so hot with the tech side of this blog stuff. Than, as I'm trying to add new invites I accidentally reloaded the page and lost my list, and I do not have the patience to start again. Maybe I'll have the patience to try again later.
Then, it says I can only have 100 readers (?? currently have 74 invited to read; not saying they actually read it, it just means they accepted the invite at one time, haha. If I go private, that means I can only add 24 more, and I have more than that, ??). If this is correct, than, for now, I'm still undecided as to whether or not we'll even go private (I did, however, change it so our blog doesn't come up if someone googles our names).

Sorry to bore you with more of this 'going private' business.

*For your privacy, I deleted those previous posts with all the emails (saved them elsewhere, if you will).

If anyone knows more about this, 'cause I obviously don't, I need your help (like, if I can have more than 100 invited readers?).

For now I'm just going to get back to blogging and do a little catching up!

Coming soon:

-Random Dax and Sammy photos & updates ("Ball")

-Easter (sneak peak -->)

-Visit from sister Robin (and her senior pictures...)

-Trip to Utah (family, Halle's bday, Real soccer game, David Archuletta!!!)

-Visit from sister-in-law Camie, & my nephew and neice

-Getting to finally be home with my Shawny, and enjoy the awesome weather, and Dax being oober cuddly and sweet all day, "Hugs Mommy?". He must be happy to be home and have his Mommy all to himself... or just happy to be home ;), and Sammy teething :(

Its been nice to take a break from blogging, but I'm ready to catch up. We have been busy or gone, so, that list is my reminder so I don't forget!! lol.

Crazy dream

2010-04-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

How appropriate is it that today is April fool's day (you forgot didn't you? ;).

Well, I love seeing things on people's blogs, like announcing they're pregnant , only to announce, hours later, that it was all an April fool's joke (okay, "love" is not the right word because I really do believe them, get my hopes up, only to be crushed later on, haha).

______________________

Last night I had the SCARIEST, CRAZIEST dream ever. The SCARIEST part is that what happened in the dream didn't scare me at all... UNTIL I woke up and realized what I just dreamt about. In the dream I was totally calm, cool and actually excited...

I dreamt I was honest to goodness pregnant. Like full on ready to have my third child. Uuuuhhhh (shudder). Sounds scary even writing it.

Mind you, that would be THREE babies in under THREE years if it was true. I have joked with Shawn about how, if we got pregnant right now, we could still have three children under the age of 3. Its just laughable, and it makes me want to crawl into a hole even thinking about it.

In my dream, I actually believed I was having a baby before next February (Dax's 3rd bday). The only thing in my dream I was worried about was my IUD and if it could hurt the baby (apparently I'm paranoid that my birth control will malfunction). It felt real and kinda made sense, which is SO annoying, because dreams tend to be crazy and NOT make sense.

The most disturbing part of all is how I wouldn't mind (I mean, what's done is done right?) if this dream really was true. I love my babies, and now that I've conquered having two kids, what's one more (JOKING!)?

I don't feel like I'm done having children. I - I mean, "we" just need some time.

When I have moments where I think I could be ready (because everything went so well when I was pregnant with Sammy, delivery and all), I just have to remember HOW tired I was for 6 months AFTER she was born.

The main reason I want to wait is so our little Sammy doesn't get lost in the middle. Its already hard enough juggling our love and attention between the two.

If I ever get 'baby hungry', all I have to do is load the kids in the car, go to the grocery store and I get my BIG dose of reality.

I might think about getting pregnant when one or all (preferably all) of the following have occurred:

-Both kids are potty trained

-I actually have a place to put my groceries in the shopping cart

-We can go to the park and actually play (not just run and chase brother)

-My tummy is actually flat and not full of loose skin (vain, vain, I know)

-I get my sanity back to a normal level (I already know I'll never get it totally "back" ;)

-I've given my two kids so many hugs and kisses, and so much love that they have to say, "Have another baby already!" (lol).

I could choose to see the dream as a sign... but I'm not, hehe.

Of course, I do appreciate how beautiful and special it is to bring these precious little spirits into this world, so I don't want to take that for granite. I feel that now is the time for me to focus on the two I have, as much as I would love to welcome another little spirit into the world.

For now, I'm hoping this lovely scenario remains only in my dreams.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Happy spring too! Can't wait for Easter...

(And we're still going private; just still in the process of getting emails together, etc.; just had to post this first)

iPhone Pictures, and Dax

2010-03-10T19:20:00.001-08:00

After I had Dax, if I had to travel and be away from Shawn I would take a picture with my cell phone of Dax and send one to him every day.

More recently, Shawn's job has required him to sometimes be away for short periods of time, so I've been taking more pictures with my iphone of the kiddo's to be able to text right to him.

(I was a "free phone" person for all these years -you know, when you renew your plan you can get a free phone? So, I finally gave in and got a decent phone after Dax was born. Its so worth it because it also acts as my ipod (and internet, and email, and calendar, and planner, and alarm clock, brain, etc., etc.)

Here is Daxxy "helping" Mommy clean (actually, I left the closet door open and he grabbed the duster and was having a hay-day).
So, Dax was not a cuddler... ever (of course, now he will, when he wakes up in the night and has to jump in our bed -which has been happening like once a week these days. It is so not on my "oh, how cute" list because, well, its 1:00 am in the morning- but I really do love any moments that Dax will snuggle up to me, so its all good). Any chance I get to cuddle with Sammy, I take it (which isn't really that often -she's wiggly too)! I happened to snap a rare moment of her cuddling with me.

Tryin' out the leggings. They are just funny, but cute.
This was Sammy's first time sitting in the cart. Sammy finally graduated from the car seat. Yay!!! This is a really BIG deal for me (however, we are still working on getting Dax to actually walk through the store; I haven't attempted it yet, but he's almost there. That will be the next "BIG" deal ;). It was getting very hard to put Dax in the seat -he hated it, so he'd fight it, and he was almost too big for it. Now, he's just taking up the whole cart, so the food just, well... goes around and him.

Love that face!
This was just last night. I attempted to make homemade chicken nuggets. I enjoyed them...Dax enjoyed the ketchup more ;).

Pre-heat oven to 325. Combine pkg ground turkey breast, 1 egg, 1 tbls bread dried bread crumbs, seasonings of your choice -salt, pepper, onion & garlic powder, dash of chili powder-, tsp canola oil; you can even add a little grated cheese, which I would recommend to make it more moist. Stir just until combined. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. With your hands, scoop and gently form small nugget size pieces and gently roll/cover in bread crumbs (whole wheat). Place nuggets on parchment sheet and spray once over with cooking spray. Bake at 325 for 20-30 minutes, or until done. Be sure not to overcook.

So, for the record, Dax's two year stats:

Weight: 31 lbs (75-90%)

Head C.: 48 3/4 (50%)

Height: 38 in (<97%)

Yep, he's still off the charts "tall". We wouldn't care if he was in the 10th-%ile, we just can't get over how much he keeps growing. It is just interesting to see him look older but not act older (he does a little... but not much, haha ;). He is in the next age group of kids in his nursery class at church, and I'm for sure enrolling him in pre-school this fall, even though he'll only be 2 1/2, because he seems ready to learn and I'm not sure I can give him the right kind of learning structure here at home that he would get at school.

(*He got a 24 hour flu bug last week, and now this week, poor kid, is starting to get a cough. This I am worried about because he has had no runny nose or fever (since the 24 hr deal ended), so he probably feels 'crappy' but is showing no signs of being ill, which would explain why he's been SUCH a booger. I'll be sure to give him lots of love).

I do love Dax to death, but he is giving me a run for my money this week. I'm "on my knees" (okay, not literally) asking... no, Begging, for patience constantly. Its all good though, because, thankfully, at the end of the day, those prayers are answered and I feel grateful to have my little buddy, even if the "terrible two's" have officially begun.

He really is becoming such a 'big boy' though. He likes to walk up the stairs like a big person does (one foot in front of the other), wash his hands (with some help), climb in his chair to eat by himself, and just being more helpful in general, like helping me feed Sammy and push the stroller. As far as potty training or moving onto a 'big boy' bed? I'm A) Not even ready to think about potty training (nor is he; we've tried to talk to him about it, and he shows no desire whatsoever; I'll re-try in a few weeks and maybe buy a potty seat for him to befriend), and B) We're hoping to get him into a bed before summer, I'm just not ready yet. However, I did try it the other night with just his crib mattress on the floor, and he actually stayed put and fell asleep, but woke up probably because he kept sliding off.

Museum day!

2010-03-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

We decided to venture to the Phoenix children's museum today. I didn't know what to expect, having never gone, but it was fun! The room we went to very first ended up being perfect for Dax's age, so I'm glad he played in there for a while. He was having a good time!

It was such a cute place! I even felt relaxed in this room.

Sammy got to join in on the fun. If I put her in the sitting up position, she'll pretty much stay there. She's not quite crawling yet, well, not forward anyway. She crawls/scoots backwards!
He was loving putting the balls in the holes on top. This room had so much fun stuff for him, and the best part: he wasn't interested in escaping like he is when we go anywhere else (without fail I have to chase him when he tries to run out of the mall play area, or take off down the street when we go to the park).

Then, there was the motorcycle and car area. If you know Dax you KNOW he loved this!

Talk about a proud Daddy right now -Dax loving cars and motorcycles ;)

Sammy got to chill out... in the stroller, but thankfully some food kept her entertained.
Such a funny face -the light that goes on before you take a picture (not the flash) made her eyes go all big. So funny!
I'm thinking we'll be going back when my kids are a little older. Too much juggling! (Can't leave Sammy to chase Dax; can't hold Sammy while I help Dax; had to strap Dax in stroller to feed him lunch while I fed Sammy a bottle; changed diapers in the back of the car before going in... ya, we're gonna a wait a few years)

We had fun, and I'm glad we went!!

Health Post: Information overload!

2010-03-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

*Since I love all of you, please read the whole post before forming an opinion of me. I swear, I'm not evil or crazy... all the time ;).

So, on my quest to stay healthy and find ways that I can sustain a healthy lifestyle, I've learned, over the course of many years, a lot. I'm still have so much to learn, and sometimes there's things I wish I hadn't learned, lol. I just keep realizing that the 'learning new things' part will never end, which is a good thing, sometimes...

First, let me say this. I've been eliminated foods from my diet over time (not overnight -we're talking years) that I find don't make me feel as good. Sure, I functioned fine eating not-so-healthy foods, etc., but I feel my best eating as clean as possible. I am still looking forward to some cold stone and cupcakes (and paradise bakery cookies, and some home made cookies -ahhh, I'll stop there!), but I'm glad I'm almost to where I don't crave sweet stuff every day. That means, that hopefully, when I go back to eating sugar, in light moderation, that I won't eat it every day (maybe some dark chocolate or something).

Oh ya, did I mention that I eat 'agave nectar' almost every day (and sometimes 'stevia')? I add a little to my green smoothies, my hot cereal, and sometimes toast, so yes, I STILL eat sweet stuff, I am, however, gradually (and temporarily) going to ween myself off super sweet stuff (agave nectar, high sugar fruits). I want my body to regulate itself without it (but not until I stop nursing, in about 2-3 more months) when I'm ready to lose the last 10 lbs (I'm now 19 lbs from reaching my goal! Yay!! I've lost 20 lbs total, about 16 since starting boot camp).

ANYWAY- to my point. Sometimes I'm afraid to learn new information, even if it has been around for a long time. When its not 'main stream' it can be harder to believe. Now that our nation's health is where it is, I'm starting to hope that we, as a society, are starting to put the pieces together as of why.

First, I believed we were all getting "obese" because of being sedentary, and not having to "work" for our food lifestyle. This was just the start of my theory, and there are too many factors to list, but one VERY big factor I've been a little more heavy on these days is the big lobbyists for the food companies ($$$ dollar signs anyone?), and advertising. ADVERTISING!!

Now, to go against mainstream media feels like I'm some rebel that is going to get stoned. Let me just say that, I had some good advice the other day, that I believe we govern our own family and our own self. I don't want you to listen to me and think, "Gohl, this girl needs to shut up already. She doesn't know what she is talking about", but I do like giving you something to think about. Like I said, these ideas have been present in my life, actually, since I was a child thanks my 'health nut' Grandma, who I totally admire!!

She: A) Didn't eat dairy B) Didn't eat sugar C) Used whole wheat flour (fresh ground in her kitchen), and I could go on and on. She was ahead of the curve!! I remember seeing "Quinoa" at her house wondering what the heck that was (this was years ago), and now I am in love with it.

*Remember the milk commercials growing up? "Milk does a body good" -and how they convinced young people that you can't grow up big and strong without it? Am I like so bad for saying that that isn't really the case? Am I bad for thinking that these adds were paid for by lobbyists for dairy companies? Money is a factor, yes. Does that mean I believe that dairy will kill you or even that is is "bad" for you? NO, I just don't think its totally necessary. There, I said it.

The government can't come out and say that sugar and 'modern' dairy is a factor in our nation's poor health, or they'd get assassinated (okay, wrong choice of words, but you get my point) by the big food companies.

There's my "rant" for the day.

So, it takes time! It takes time for new ideas to sink in, or to be rejected. You might learn, for yourself, that they don't work for you, or they don't apply to you.

One idea I'm meddling with, but can't quite "sink" into yet (and I LOVE to hear thoughts and opinions!!!): 1) How bad are immunizations? Or how how important are immunizations? (this topic is too scary and too big for me, but I want unbiased, true, scientific research on both sides before I decide -yes, I can be a stubborn person).

Some things I believe easier than others (like that sugar makes ya feel crappy, lol), and I've believed but NOT preached that I think... and here it is, the drum roll, the point of this silly post: Dairy (and not "raw" dairy, or kefir, or even plain yogurt) is not good for you.

There I said it. This might be shocking to a lot of people, but, like I said, this is an idea I've had around since I was a child.

I can't say I know whether its true or not because the "side effects" one has from them may have never occurred at all in our family, so if I say something like, "Dax has never had an ear infection", that doesn't mean its because he doesn't drink milk, it could just be how he is built.

In summary, I'm very curious if Dax getting sick (colds) or not getting sick could be linked to eating dairy. I give him cheese, and he can have milk, we just don't buy it anymore (and this is a recent conversion -we like the fresh almond milk, vanilla unsweetened kind).

I can NOT say that him eating less dairy and less sugar has anything to do with his well being. It is not definitive whatsoever!!

I stopped giving him milk at about 14 months of age (actually HE stopped drinking it -he didn't like it, and would just spit it out!), and he stopped getting these head colds that he seemed to get like every other month from 6 months old to 14 months old, but it could all be coincidence.

Like I said, I really don't know, but I am learning a lot of information, and dairy not being good for us is one of those new ideas (it is linked to thinks like allergies, constipation, ear infections, sinus and mucous problems, and even arthritis). I've recently learned though that 'raw' dairy is okay (still don't know really anything about it, but I'm going to look into it), and I eat 'kefir' or plain, non-fat yogurt in my shakes.

A week from now, I'll have something scary and out there to post, so watch out ;). And I don't mind if I have to eat my words someday.

*On my diet and exercise regimen:

I'm still going strong, and I feel good. I had a week or two where I was going to bed too late, so a vicious cycle started. I was too tired to cook as much, so I wasn't eating as much of a good balance, so I started to get more tired, and then even got a little anemic (I was getting bruises all over my legs, and getting tired and a little light headed), so I've since pumped up the iron intake (spinach, kale, cabbage, soy beans or soy milk, and just more beans/legumes in general), and I already feel better.

*If you want to know if something works, like seeing if you feel better from cutting out sugar and dairy, do it gradually, and than try going for just a week (or two -detox can take time), without it.

REMEMBER, I am NOT the authority on ANY of these topics. This is all just for FUN, so feel free to comment or leaven opinions. This is a HAPPY blog, hehehe. :)