Christmas Day

We have a tradition of opening pjs on Christmas Eve. Chase actually got pjs from us and Mark's Mom(grandma Smith), so we let him open one on Christmas Eve Eve(the 23rd) and then the other one on Christmas Eve. He had been so excited that Santa was bringing him presents. After Chase went to bed; Mark, Kiera, and I stayed up and watched Dr. Seuses How The Grinch Stole Christmas(the new one). So we got to bed late. Mark and I were up at 6 Christmas morning to get breakfast started, sticky buns as per request by Kiera. Chase woke up around 6:30. So we got Kiera up and took them into the living room. Chase was still half asleep but as soon as we mention Santa bring the presents and that he could open them he perked up right away.
We video taped all of the gift opening and just got pictures of before and afters.(I'll post them separately).
While Chase was opening his gifts he would tell me "I'm working on it Mommy". It was cute. And then every time he opened a toy "I want to play with those, I do!" I think his favorite gift is a train track with Thomas the Tank Engine that he got from Kiera. He was, and still is, almost constantly having Thomas go around the track. Mark got me the first season of Bones. I got him a new pocket knife and Michael McLean's new book, Mission To Be Happy. Kiera gave Mark the electronic banking Monopoly and gave me Twilight Scene It!
We spent the rest of the day playing all the different games we got. Chase got Shoots and Ladders from Santa and Robby and Steph gave us Tumbling Monkeys. Which is like Janga, but more geared towards kids. We had a ham and some church potatoes for our lunch/dinner. Around 3:30 we went to my parents to visit for awhile. While there we got to talk with my Aunt Diane who lives in Canada. We then headed over to Mark's dad's. We took all our leftovers and shared with him. Chase was our entertainment. He kept dancing for us and singing for us. It was adorable.
When we got home we played some more Twilight Scene It. We kept laughing because Mark kept getting the cards like "Edward gives you a piggy-back tour of the forest" or "Edward gives you a ride home from school" and stuff like having an alluring scent and so many more. It was just funny applying it to him.
It was a very fun Christmas. Chase's last as an only child. We loved watching him get excited about the gifts from Santa. Next year will only be better!

Christmas Time always calls for Family Parties

I thought I'd do a post about our family parties.

We had both extended family parties on the 19th. One right after the other. First was the Peterson party. Which will be the last. It is getting a bit hard for Mark's Grandparents to do it.
Anywho.... I had to work that day so we got there late. They were cleaning up the food, so we quickly grabbed a plate and ate. Then Santa came to visit! He had a gift for all the little kids. He called Chase first. Chase of course being right at that age wanted nothing to do with Santa. He loves him from a distance, but won't go to him at all. So Kiera took him up to Santa to get his gift and candy cane. The Peterson's have a tradition they have done off and on where Santa gives you a candy cane, if that candy cane is broken then you were probably a little bad this year. Chase's candy cane was whole. It was so cute when the first broken candy cane was handed out, the boys face completely fell it was sad.(total luck of the draw)
After the kids all had their gifts and were playing, we did the adult gift game. Everyone brings a white elephant gift and puts in the center of the circle. A pie tin with 2 dice is passed around the circle and when you get doubles you can grab a gift(of course one per person). Once everyone has a gift we go through and open them. Then the tin is passed around again and every time you get doubles you can trade your gift with someone else. It's fun to see the more popular stuff change hands constantly. Some people are happy with their gift so if they get doubles they don't do anything unless their gift is taken. Mark ended up with a laser pointer with 5 different Christmas themed tips. I started with and ended with the game Cooties. I've wanted to get some more games that we can play with Chase and this was perfect!
Once that was over, Grandma and Grandpa Pete handed out their gift to all their kids and grand kids. Then Grandma and Grandpa got their gift from their kids. Party over.
So we headed back to Magna to hit up my family party. We got there as they were singing carols. After caroling we had my aunt Sandra read a couple Christmas stories, then we moved to the gym for a small talent show and the pinata.
Every year one of my dad's siblings takes a turn making the pinata. This year whoever did it, made the Grinch. Chase would have nothing to do with the scary monster. Mark got him to sit with him in the circle around the pinata to watch and await the candy. As soon as it broke Mark stood Chase up so he could get some candy but he booked it in the opposite direction to the other end of the gym screaming! He was terrified! We were all laughing so hard we couldn't even say "Chase come back it's ok". It was one of the moments that you really wish you had a video camera handy. It was perfect America's Funniest Home Video footage!
After all the candy was cleaned up Grandma Rose handed out their gifts to everyone and they got their gifts.
We then headed to my parents house(at about 9PM mind you) so we could celebrate my brother's 17th birthday. Chase loved playing with all his cousins and second cousins and so forth. It was a nice long day, but very enjoyable and filled with love.

The next day(the 20th) we got with Mark's brother and dad to exchange gifts. Kiera of course was there, she goes everywhere with us. We had dinner at Robby and Stephs. They made a really good El Dorado Casserole. The two boys had tons of fun playing together and we all took turns holding Baby Morgan who isn't quite a month old yet.

My gift exchange with my parents and my brother's isn't until tomorrow. So you have yet another post to look forward to before the year is out!

Nine Things Women Say

1- "Fine" = This is the word woman use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
2 - "Five Minutes" = If she is getting dressed, this means half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
3 - "Nothing" = This is the calm before the storm. This means something and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with 'nothing' usually end with 'fine'.
4 - "Go Ahead" = This is a dare, not permission. Don't DO it!
5 - "Loud Sigh" = This isn't actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are and idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing.(refer to #3 for the meaning of nothing)
6 - "That's Okay" = This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. 'That's okay' means she wants to think long and hard before deceiding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
7 - "Thanks" = A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say 'You're Welcome' (I want to add a clause here-This is true, unless she says 'thanks alot'-that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome'. That will bring on a "Whatever")
8 - "Whatever" = Is a woman's way of saying F... You!
9 - "Don't Worry About It, I Got It" = Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing herself. This will later result in a man asking 'what's wrong?' For a woman's response refer to #3.

8 more weeks and Thanksgiving

Wow, You always forget how fast pregnancy flys by. I forgot to write about what my doctor said about those pains etc I was having. They had me go in and do a culture. It came back positive for infection. Another one, how fun! So they put me back on the antibiotics. My regular appointment went fine. He didn't tell me much and I don't know how much I've progressed since the last appointment. They are going green with their records etc and entering it all into the computer rather than on your chart, so I don't get to see what the measurements etc are. I start going every two weeks now, so my next one is on the 3rd.


Couple things that are going on in the pregnancy now....

• bigger belly = much harder to get comfy and getting up off the couch or floor


• much less energy and strength, plus I've started getting yelled at for doing certain things that I shouldn't, cause it puts to much stress on the prego body.


• baby Emmett running out of space so his movements start to hurt mommy a little, but are awesome to see.

That's all that is coming to mind right now. It is all worth it though. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Thanksgiving we spent with all my aunts and cousins etc. We volunteered to bring mashed potatoes. We thought the other person was only bringing one bowl, so we made about 17 lbs of potatoes. We got there and she had a huge pot full of potatoes! So there were tons of left over potatoes. My family always plays Bingo with White Elephant gifts on Thanksgiving. So we played that for awhile, tons of people brought a gift. My dad was "caller" Chase loved to help him and had to be right there by him.

We also started a new tradition this year of family service. We had some baskets for everyone to bring canned food to donate to the Utah Food Bank. And we had our own little Angel Tree so we could help out a few of the families in our big family that are in a rough patch.

It was tons of fun being with my extended family. After that we went to my parents house for leftover turkey dinner. It was a fresh turkey that my mom had made that morning so it wasn't exactly left overs. Chase had so much fun playing with his cousins.

Things I'm Thankful For

A lot of my friends have been doing daily posts about what they are thankful for that day etc. I thought about doing it, and then thought I'd just do it for a week, but never did. So I am now putting as much as I can think off in one big post.

I am so very thankful for:

• my husband - he does so much for me and our family. I don't know what I'd do without him. He is so sweet and can cheer me up very easily when others can't. I'm so glad I found him and that he came into my life. I'm grateful for all the work he went through to take me through the temple first.
• my son, Chase - he is so sweet and cute. There is nothing like seeing his eyes sparkle when he learns something new, or is happy, or I could go on. His spirit is just so amazing. I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world!
• my unborn son, Emmett(and any other children waiting to join me here on Earth) - I can not wait to meet this precious little soul that my Father in Heaven has blessed me with the opportunity to care for.
• the rest of my family - they are wonderful and have made me who I am today.
• my friends - life would be dull without friendship and I have some pretty amazing friends who I love and care for that mean the world to me.
• a home - someplace to hang my hat and be safe from the weather. A place of my own that I can fill with love.
• Mark's and my job - that we are able to pay for those things that we need in life.
• Insurance - so that we can see a doctor when needed and not have to spend so much out of pocket.
• My talents - my Father in Heaven blessed me with so many talents, I love being able to show him my appreciation of them by sharing them with the world.
• Music - nothing better can express emotion than music.
• the Church/Gospel - I defiantly don't know where I'd be without it. It is so true and pure.
• Temples - where else can we feel true peace and that constant loving spirit.
• Transportation - I'm thankful that we have a working car and are able to get to and from where we need to without much difficulty.
• my trials - they only make me stronger
• books - i love to read and sometimes need that little escape from reality.
• Tender Mercies - need I say more?
• all the little things - there are more little things we take for granted than we realize. Our Father in Heaven has given us so much, we can't fully comprehend his love for us.
• My Savior - he is always there when I need him, and he knows how I feel.
• an education - some people don't even get that, I'm grateful that I was able to go to school and graduate high school and have the opportunity to go to college.
• food and drink - I'm thankful that i have the food and drink I need to survive and that I don't have to go without, and that I have easy access to what I need.

That's what I can come up with right now, I'm pretty worn down from the day. Some of them are straight forward, others are a little more broad of a subject and cover so many things.

I enjoyed being able to spend Thanksgiving with my extended and immediate family. That my son was able to play with his cousins and we could show our love for one another and have a good time. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! We all need to take the time to really think about all the things we are thankful for and all the things the Lord has given us, when really he has given us Everything!

30 down, 10 to go.....REALLY?!?!?!

I can't believe we are ten weeks away from having this sweet angel growing in my belly join us on the outside!
I swear my stomach is bigger now than it was when I was 9 months prego with Chase, but it's not quite there. We are now experiencing the big movements that move my entire stomach. As creepy as some of them look and as weird as it feels, I like them the best. It's hard to describe why, but I like knowing that he is good, and it gives others more opportunities to see/feel him move. Chase likes to touch Emmett(my stomach of course) and says he loves him. Chase is going to be such a good Big Brother!
These past couple of days have not been so fun. I had some really bad back pain, could not sleep at night, major hot flashes and chills, light headed-ness, the works. I thought I was just having a worse pregnancy now then with Chase, but then someone brought up that I might have a Kidney infection. I'm starting to agree now. I plan to call my doctor tomorrow and see what he wants me to do. It's a tuff decision cause my next appointment is the 19th, which is not that far away. My pain isn't so bad now. I really don't think a hospital trip is necessary and I really don't want to foot that bill if it turns out there is no infection, just regular prego symptoms. I guess we shall see what he says tomorrow.
It's getting much more difficult to bend over now. I hate not being able to see my feet and how my shoes look with the rest of my outfit. But it's all worth it and I can not wait to meet my new angel! I can't wait to meet this sweet sweet little spirit! There is nothing like meeting a little one who just came down from our Heavenly Father. They know so much and yet can't share it with us and they are just perfect!
Chase was rubbing my belly the other day and was saying "nice Emmett". He is so cute! And when he pulls up my shirt( "open belly" is what he calls it) to get a better view of Emmett, he starts looking for my belly button which has disappeared into my baby bulge(not a bump anymore) and has yet to pop. I think it'd be hilarious if it pops on Thanksgiving and my "turkey timer" pops on turkey day.

11-6-09 Ultrasound

I went in for another ultrasound today. My doctor wanted them to check my cervix length to see if we could get an answer to the pressure I've been feeling. The Cervix was nice and long. He also wanted to see if the Placenta had moved up, it had. It is so far away from the opening it is no where near my scar from my 1st c-section. They also said that there is some excess fluid, but I had that with Chase. They said that Baby Emmett is weighing in at about 3 lbs 3 oz. So he is above average. At this stage in the game, he should be 2 lbs 12 oz. They said everything looks perfect. Except that he is currently Breech, hopefully he flips in the next 3 months. My next doctor's appointment is on the 19th, we shall see what my doctor says. They did give me some more pics to show off....

Here is a 3D view of Baby Emmett. You can see his feet, hands, and from his nose up. We couldn't get a good view of his face, his hands were always in the way.

Here's his cute little foot.

His handsome face!

Hello 3rd Trimester

So, we have reached the final stretch of this pregnancy....



Emmett is pretty active. He likes to hang out at the top of my stomach still, and he makes my belly go into odd shapes sometimes due to his positions. I can no longer walk straight. It's the preggo waddle all the time. When I walk fast, the waddle is even worse.

I've had some vaginal pressure and it's getting pretty bad. I can't roll over in bed or pick up my foot without pain. It is beyond annoying. I'm going in for a 3rd ultrasound on the 6th. My doctor wants to check my cervix. He also wants to check that the placenta has moved up to where it should be.

Other than that vaginal pain I really don't have any complaints. Yeah it hurts when Emmett is constantly pushing and stretching, and getting comfortable at bedtime or when sitting around the house is really hard, and I can't walk certain distances without getting extremely tired.. I love being pregnant. There is nothing like having a growing spirit inside you and feeling that little one move around and the growing bond.

I'm hoping to deliever vaginally. If I can't then I will never get that experience. I had Chase via C-section. No doctor would ever allow a vagianl delivery after 2 c-sections. I'd really like to have the experience of a vaginal, but we shall see what the Lord has planned for Emmett and me.
Chase is so excited to be a big brother. We bought him a book called "Big Brother". It talks about baby coming home and growing etc. He loves it! He knows who is in Mommy's belly and gives baby kisses all the time.









(Chase was Spiderman for Halloween and loves his costume and begs to wear it)






We still have some shopping to do before Emmett gets here. I'm grateful that we have almost everything already from when Chase was born. Biggest thing we need to get is a mattress, as Chase is using his on his toddler bed. We do need to get some warmer 0-3 mnth clothes as Chase was a summer baby.

We are very excited for Emmett and can't wait till he is here with us!

Family Filled Weekend

Friday was my birthday. I spent it relaxing and doing whatever I pleased. Yeah the house could have been cleaned a little, but I didn't want to clean. I worked on Mark's stocking, read my book, and watched TV. It was nice to veg. When Kiera got home from school and work, we left her with Chase. Mark and I went to TGI Friday's for dinner. We love that place. Their Mozzarella Sticks are amazing. I got a 10 oz Sirloin Steak with Cheddar and Bacon Potatoes and their Cheese and Broccoli Soup. That soup was amazing. It hit the spot that I didn't know was there. Mark got a 12 oz New York Strip with the same potatoes as me and their Clam Chowder. We really wanted to get their Chips Ahoy Dessert, but were stuffed halfway through our steaks. We do that every time. The service there is great, they even have the managers etc walking around helping out. After we were done we went over to the mall and walked around. We went into Deseret Book. I love that store and could spend so much money in there! We bought a picture of the First Presidency, as we didn't have one yet and really wanted one. After walking around the mall for a little while we went to catch the movie Fame. Our showing wasn't for another hour so we got some ice cream from one of the vendors at the theater. The movie was great! Yeah there wasn't a great ending, but I still really enjoyed it. Mark liked it too. It's more a movie for Artsy people, but I'm sure there are non-Arsty people out there that would like it just as much. We got home late and headed to bed.
Saturday I had to work like every Saturday. My parents were redoing their Kitchen, so Mark and Chase went to help. Work was slow for me like every Saturday. I get lots of reading done on Saturdays. When I got off, my dad picked me up so I wouldn't have to walk. We had dinner at my parents with my brother and his family. Chase loved playing with his cousins. He is such a social kid. He however didn't take a nap all day, so we left just before 8 and he was asleep instantly. And he slept almost the whole night. When we got home Mark and I enjoyed the quiet and watched CSI Miami on DVD that we borrowed from his brother.
Chase had had a runny nose all day Saturday and we didn't want him to get the other nursery kids sick and Mark woke Sunday feeling under the weather so we stayed home from church. That evening my parents and brother came over for cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun spending two days in a row with family, chatting etc. Chase had the most fun with his cousins. He woke on Monday asking for them all. It was an awesome family filled weekend!

Hospital Trips are never fun

So Friday is the day that really started it all. Chase and I were home alone, Mark was off at poker night, and Kiera was being a social college student. I started having really bad back pains and thought it was just stress from working on my cross stitch. Then I started having abdominal pains. I was really hurting. Any movement made it worse. I was able to lessen my back pain while sitting with a heating pad on it. But there wasn't much other than sitting still to lessen the stomach pains. Mark got home just after midnight to find me in serious pain, enough to bring me to tears. I thought they were Braxton Hicks. I wasn't able to relax enough to lay down in bed and sleep till after 1.
When I woke on Saturday. My back still hurt and my stomach only hurt a little. We went to the store and bought some Icy Hot patches for my back. The pain in my stomach was coming back. These pains were not to the magnitude they had been the night before though. Mark and I decided that if I was still in pain at 1 or if they got worse then we would call my doctor and see what he suggests. Well it got to 1 and I still had the pain, so I called and left a message. He called back within a few minutes. He said I should go to the ER and get looked at.
We left Chase with Kiera and drove to St Marks. Mark got in the short line at the ER while I sat down, it was much easier to sit than stand. They said they wanted to take my vitals and then take me to Labor and Delivery. So we did that.
We got into Labor and Delivery about 2:45ish I think. After over 4 hours, a blood test, two urine samples, monitoring the baby and me, an ultrasound, 3 trips to the bathroom on my knees, and lots of waiting we found out I have a Urinary Tract Infection. The RN said it's a nice big one. So they gave me an antibiotic that I have to take for ten days and follow up with my Dr in a week. Hopefully we caught it in time and it doesn't spread up to my Kidneys.
Mark really enjoyed the ultrasound. He had a better view than I did and saw lots more detail than our first one with this baby. He got really excited about seeing Emmett's fingers and toes! We are definitely sure Emmett is a boy. We got an even better detail view of his little boy parts. The lady said she would be very surprised if he turns out to be a girl.
When we got home, I had a splitting headache, which distracted from the other pains. I had my parent come over and had Mark and my dad give me a blessing. When they came over they also brought me some cranberry juice. I slept much better last night. I feel loads better today and hope it keeps up.

Potty Training

We have been potty training Chase for a couple weeks now. He was doing great. He went one night and stayed completly dry. We just put the night time pull ups on him at bedtime. During the day he has the regular pull ups and I take him into the potty every half hour to 45 minutes. We use to ask him if he needed to go, but he always says no. So we have had to just say Chase it is potty time and take him there, sometimes he does throw a fit and we have to fight with him while he is flailing his limbs. When we went to the fair he stayed dry the entire time we were out, which was four hours and then he went as soon as we put him on the potty. We didn't take him potty while we were at the fair, he doesn't like sitting on the regular potty unless it has his seat on it. Even then he is a little two small and we have to make sure he leans forward so he doesn't miss the hole.
Yesterday was a really bad day for him. He would go in his pull up RIGHT before we took him into the potty. I know it was right before because his pull up was always warm. I know that I was taking him every half hour because I have been setting the alarm on my phone so I made sure I was on top of it and being proactive. It was so frustrating. We went to the store last night to see if we could find those training pants that are just like underwear only thicker. That way maybe he would understand that he is wet and not like it, but we couldn't find any. We let him pick out some regular underwear though.
Hopefully today will be a better day.

A Little Over Half Way There

I am now 21 weeks! A little over half way done! I had a doctor's appointment last week. Everything was good. I've started to gain weight now, not much but atleast I'm not loosing it anymore. I know I'm overweight to begin with, but it worried me a little that I was loosing weight while being pregnant. Emmett's heartbeat sounded great. My doctor's visit was rather quick, he measured me, listened to the heartbeat asked for any questions and then we were done. I've been having lots of cravings for Subway, Doughnuts, and Butterfingers. I haven't had my Doughnuts yet, but it's ok. I think it's funny that with Chase I craved Arby's and with Emmett I'm craving Subway. I love feeling Emmett moving around, and have seen several kicks. Mark hasn't seen them. I tell him to look and he doesn't look till after and looks away right before he kicks one more time. If Chase sleeps for any amount of time with us in our bed, I wake with my stomach hurting. I don't know if it's cause Chase kicks me during the night or what. I've told Mark that maybe it's time for us to take a belly pic. We haven't done it yet. My biggest thing is that I had a pot belly before I got pregnant so you still see part of that on top of my preggo belly. It is firming up and looks more pregnant than fat. I'll probably get Mark to take one in the next week or so.
Mark and Kiera got sick this past week and now finally shared with me. I get it worse though. I think it has something to do with my swollen tonesills. But to have them removed is a bit pricey and I don't think they will let me do it till after the baby is born, so I have to wait till atleast next year. When I had my wisdom teeth out, my tonesills got in the way of my breathing a few times while they had me under. Hopefully we don't get to many colds this winter otherwise I will be in trouble and miserable.

Labor Day

We didn't do to much Labor Day weekend. With me working Saturdays going out to town doesn't really work. We wanted to go up to our family grounds in Malad Idaho with my parents, but decided to save that gas money for other things instead(like Christmas, Birthday's and preparing for baby Emmett). So we stayed home and enjoyed each other's company. Sunday my nephew Jacob was blessed. So we got to spend lots of time with family. Jacob is my brother's, who lives in Wyoming, son. We don't get to see them as often do to them living out of state, So we really enjoyed the time with them. It was our first time seeing Jacob in person. My parents saw him when he was born back in July and shared lots of pictures. After the blessing they had cake at the park. We took family pictures, since the last time we really had everyone together for a big picture was at Chase's blessing 2 years ago. Here is the updated one:

(Left-Right/Back): Douglas, Abby, David, Candace, Jacob, Mark, Me, Rachel, Sean, Dan, and Myra.

(Left-Right/Front): Elizabeth, My Mom(Cathy), Elysia, My Dad(LaDell), Chase, and Kayla.

Emmett will bring our total count to 19. After we were done at the park everyone in this picture went to my parents house. We hung out for awhile chatting playing a few games and then had a little BBQ out on their deck. Then we chatted some more and played more games. It was really nice spending time with all of them.

On Monday Mark, Chase, Kiera and I decided to go to the Zoo. It was a little packed, but fun non the less. Chase loved seeing the animals and he named almost all of them. We did get to see a Baby Tiger, Baby Snow Lepoard, and Baby Giraffe. Once we were done at the zoo we meet up with my Brother(David, the one from out of town) and his family at the Gateway Mall to do some window shopping. We got a free tour of the Discovery Gateway. Chase and I went there last year when my Grandma and Aunt were here from Canada. Discovery Gateway is a really cool place, they have so much fun stuff to do. We ended up leaving before they did, we were sore and tired from all the walking and Chase really needed a nap. We didn't do much else that night, just relaxing. I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend!

Names

So for different reasons, Mark and I decided to change our baby's name from Joshua Glenn to Emmett Michael. Mark had Emmett grow on him and I mentioned that his initials would be EMP, which if you don't know stands for Electro Magnetic Pulse and he thinks that would be the coolest nickname for a sports player. I can't wait to met our little Emmett Bear! He already snuggles up to the top of my stomach, he is going to be a great teddy bear!

Ice Cream and Parents

So Mark, Chase, and I had to run to the store to pick up a few items. On the way home we pass McDonalds, KFC, and Artic Circle. I was having a craving for a milkshake. I told myself aloud, "Just go home Deborah". Mark asked why I was saying that and I told him I wanted Ice Cream. He agreed that he wanted some, but "Just Go Home Deborah". We have been trying to cut back the "needless" spending. If we can survive without it, we don't need to buy it. So I was fine with it. When we got home, I put my status on facebook as "really wants ice cream, but hubby won't let her go get it" I got a slew of comments about he better go get some or he'd have a cranky wife on his hands, my mom told him if he wouldn't let me go get some, he better go get it for me and listed the exact flavor he should get and should drop some off at their house on his way home. I thought they were funny. Mark helped me make a smoothie with what ingrediants we had. Right as I finished mine someone dinged our doorbell and then immediately knocekd on the door. We were really confused. Mark gets up and opens the door and my dad pushes his way in and hands me some ice cream. I could not stop laughing. Mark was 'mad' cuz I had made him seem like a jerk. He called my mom to "yell" at her. He agrees it was funny though.

Life

Life right now just seems to fly by. Chase is growing up and learning so fast. He has such a great vocabulary and speaks really well for a 2 year old. He is doing a great job potty training.(He has gone #2 twice in the past two days). He does still cry for us when we take him to the potty, he never cries for our babysitter, Stephanie. He likes to give baby Joshua kisses via my belly. Whenever we watch the ultrasound video he calls it a baby shark. Before we knew we were having a boy, we tried to teach Chase that Baby Lyla or Baby Joshua was in mommy's belly. Now we are emphasising it's Baby Joshua, he still calls him Baby Lyla though.
I work 3 days a week(Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday) for our apartment complex. I'm the assistant manager. It's nice to get out of the house and have that adult interaction. It does sometimes suck having to work Saturdays, but it's OK. When I'm not working, I'm at home being the housewife catching up on house chores and my projects. I've been working on Mark's Christmas Stocking for over a year now. I got lazy last year and stopped working on it for several months. At least I don't have to have Joshua's done this year. I'm still not sure which pattern I'm going to do for him yet.
We loving having Kiera living with us. Mark helps her with her homework a lot. I sometimes feel stupid, because I don't remember a lot of stuff from school. I would love to go back, but I don't know how we would currently afford it or how I'd make it work with my schedule. It will happen when it's suppose to.
We are both having issues with our cars. Mine needed to be registered back in June, but we couldn't because the turn signals won't work. My dad knows his way around cars and he tried everything and plus some other ideas he got from the mechanics he talks to while at work. We have a friend who is coming over on Friday to take a look and see if he can figure something out.
Mark's car was suppose to be registered by yesterday, but we had to replace his windshield and probably should replace the fuel pump. We don't have the money for the fuel pump and are waiting for our next check to do the emissions and safety etc. Cars are a necessary evil. At the moment I'm ready to just get rid of my car and we just have Mark's car. We will have that paid off this time next year. Maybe then we can just sell it and get a new and bigger vehicle. I really want a mini van. Mark's car does have several other issues that aren't to big of a deal, just annoying. But alas not enough money. It sucks how expensive everything has gotten in the world. Where is that big money tree when you need it?
I've rambled long enough now and should get back to house chores.

The Verdict Is In!

We had the ultrasound this morning. The doctor says baby looks perfect.



And it's a.............................................................

Well, what do you think?....

It's a boy! We can't wait to meet Joshua Glenn.

Yeah we were really looking forward to seeing Lyla Rose, but I guess it's just not her time yet.

Success

We had a successful potty training day! We got Chase to sit on the potty this morning before I left for work. He didn't go, but at least he sat there which he hasn't done in months. I took him to the babysitters and she got him to go several times! Mark got him to go a couple times at home after he picked him up. Chase only had to accidents today. When I say accidents I mean going potty in his pull-up. Once during his nap, and once at Grandma's. I'm so proud that he did it! Today was a much better day for me, then it had been yesterday.
The only problem, when Chase was at the babysitters he would not cry when she put him on the potty, but every time we did, he would cry. I guess maybe it's because we are mommy and daddy, but I don't know. Hoping for another successful day tomorrow! And even more looking forward to Friday morning when we have the ultrasound!

Just Not My Day

Today was just not my day......
I was rather cranky today. Anything Chase did drove me nuts! I was rather snappy. I didn't mean to be, but that is just how it came out. I just wanted to be alone, but of course that isn't possible with Mark at work and Kiera at school. So I tried doing stuff in my room with the door open while Chase played in the living room watching a movie. He would run down to my room every once and a while or I'd check on him. It helped a little, but he still got on my nerves. Nap time was the best. I longed for it all morning and he slept for at least 2 hours. I got to watch a movie and work on Mark's Stocking that I've been doing in cross-stitch.
After nap time, I felt better, but still cranky. It slowly went away, but then crept back up on me after Mark left for Scouts. Kiera got home later as well, due to an activity at the campus she wanted to do, but ended up not. Normally I wouldn't care about that and would enjoy the time with just me and Chase, but today it didn't work that way.
Then came bedtime. Chase would NOT go to bed. We have set a routine with him where we read a story then put him in his bed, turn out the light and then we lay down next to his bed while he falls asleep. If we leave before he is asleep he starts to cry. Today that just really bugged me, especially with him not going to sleep. I'm writing this two hours after his bed time and Mark is still in there with him, waiting.
We have been trying to potty train Chase. We don't know what else to try. Every time he tells me his diaper is ca ca I ask him if he wants to sit on the potty and he replies no. I then ask do you want me to change your diaper and he replies yes. We tried the every 20 minutes thing asking him and we would have to force him to go sometimes. When he would sit on the potty he would sit there for 15 minutes asking "What's that" or playing with the towel hanging from the rod or whatever he could reach. It was really annoying. Every time I change his diaper, give him a bath, whatever, I ask him if he wants to sit on the potty and he always says no. I am completely lost. He understands it and just wants a diaper.
I felt like a failure tonight with not being able to potty train my son and not being able to get him to go sleep on his own. I know I'm not and that all kids are different and learn differently and at different times in their lives. I just couldn't help but feel inferior and stupid. With that on top of my bad/cranky day and hormones already out of whack I just broke down and cried and needed to vent. I love my son more than anything and can't wait to raise his sibling that is growing inside of me and I miss him while I'm at work, but today was just a day that I wanted to give up and run away. I hate that feeling and it scares me.

16 Week Dr's Appointment

I had my doctors appointment today. I've lost some more weight, but the doctor is not concerned about it. I was overweight to begin with, so it's all good I guess. We did get to hear the heartbeat today! It sounded great! My BP is good. There wasn't much else to the appointment today. He did tell me that I can schedule the Ultrasound and we now have that set for August 28th in the morning. I hope that baby works with us so we know who it is, whether Lyla Rose or Joshua Glenn we can't wait! Chase was good during his ultrasound, I saw before the nurse pointed it out.
Morning sickness has gone, except if I don't eat within a certain time frame I start to cough and gag. I get dizzy spells and had a really bad one last week and needed Mark's help just to walk down the hall. I've felt a few flutters from the baby, but not much. Craving Chocolate like none other, and that is about it.

been lazy so time for catch up

I know it's been awhile since my last blog. I'll try to keep this one short. Mark's sister Kiera has now moved in with us. Chase loves having her here, as do we. He isn't as obbsessed with her as he was before she moved in, he has just gotten use to having her around. Chase's potty training has come to a hault. He doesn't want to sit on the potty and we don't want to force him and make him mad about it, so all we can do is just keep asking with each diaper change. My car is still parked. We haven't been able to get the money together to have it looked at to see why the turn signals don't work and till then, it's not licensed so it's collecting dust.
Chase had his birthday on the 25th of July. We had family and friends over for cake and ice cream under the pavillion at our complex. Chase had a blast playing with his cousins and friends. He got a nice hall, lots of cars and balls. I got a job! I wasn't even really looking. I had just noticed that our complex was looking for an assistant manager. So I found out the hours and then filled out an application. I turned that in and they asked me to come back in an hour for an interview. Then about 4 hours later they called me and offered me the job! So the next day I went to the main office for the company that owns our complex and filled out the rest of the paper work then went and did a drug test. Two days later they called me and said all was good and I could start Monday(it was Friday). I have really enjoyed it. my co-workers are great and it's a great environment.
The pregnancy is going well. Still have slight morning sickness, if I don't eat by certain times. I never know what those times are though. I have my next appointment on the 13th. We should be finding out the sex the first or second week in Septemper.
Chase is so smart, he is putting all sorts of words together and picks up on everything you say. He will copy your words. The only thing we haven't been able to get him to say is "love you". So I've had him watching the more educational cartoons to help him learn his words, colors, letters, and numbers. Mark's parents got Chase a computer game that helps teach colors, letters, shapes, numbers, and a lot more. He loves it and always asked to play it. He has his colors down really well and the shapes are almost down. He does have a little trouble sometimes, but he is only 2, so he is ok.

Wii Fit Progress

Hey, I haven't been the best at doing the Wii Fit everyday. Sometimes all I do is the Body Test. I have lost some weight. But I don't know how much I can say is credited to the Wii Fit or to my nausea and not eatting as much. My balance has improved since using it. Every little bit helps. My biggest problem is finding the right time to do it. Some of the exercises are hard to do with a 2 year old running all over the place. I've tired doing it during his naps, but I never know how long those are going to be. I've tried after Chase has gone to bed, but Mark and I use that time as couple time, so I've tried when Mark has gone to bed, but that leaves me staying up much later than I should. So the timing still needs some work.
I do still enjoy it & recommend it to everyone who wants to loose weight & better themselves physically.

4th of July Weekend

I always forget that Blogger puts the pictures in backwards. So I will tell the story of our weekend then you can see the pics backwards.
We left Magna Friday morning and went to Malad, Idaho to our family property to go camping. My parents stayed in their trailer and we stayed in one of the ones my grandparents have up there and placed not to far away from my parents. Chase had a blast running around the place. He did have a head cold, but still had fun. There is a creek that runs through the property and the firepit is right next to it, so if Chase wanted to go that way, we had him hold someones hand. The creek was shallow, but still moving fast enough that he could really get hurt. We had bought him a little golf club that came with two balls. It was an early birthday present. We wanted him to have something he could really play with up there. He didn't want to do it alone, he wanted someone to help him. So Mark, Douglas, and my Dad each had turns. My grandparents were up there as well.
We had sandwiches for lunch and then just enjoyed the day and getting settled in. We had BBQ Chicken with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob for dinner. Chase wasn't eatting much cuz he didn't feel well. Chase played alot with Douglas and Mark. The guys built a fire so we could roast marshmellows later. It rained a little after we had the fire going. Chase and I went into our trailer when the rain got a little hard. I was trying to get him to go to sleep, but he wouldn't. He had fallen asleep on the drive up, but wouldn't take a nap all day. Everyone thought he was going to sleep like a log that night. The rain stopped and didn't hinder our fire. I changed Chase into his PJS and tried to just cuddle him by the fire like my mom did with us. He just wanted to run around and not keep still. We had some delicious smores. Once it got after 9, we tried again with putting Chase to bed. Mark and I tried to read with him, tried laying down with him, and ended up having to watch a movie on the portable DVD player. Mark told me to got outside and spend time with my family and he would stay with Chase. He eventually fell asleep. None of us stayed up to late.
Chase did not sleep like a log. At 1 in the morning he woke up, he had rolled underneath the pull out bed Douglas was on and Chase wouldn't stop crying. Mark and I tried everything. I took him outside, we sat in the car for awhile. He would calm down and then just start up again. We think it was just because he didn't feel well and was not in a familiar place(this was his first camping trip). After an hour and a half, he finally fell back asleep. Mark and I just had him sleep with us in our bed.
We woke around 7 on Saturday. Chase was constantly shivering. So we had his light jacket and hoodie on him. He was still freezing. We had Mountain Man Breakfast. We tried to give Chase a quesadia but he wouldn't really eat it. He had a fever. Around 8:30 Mark took Chase into the trailer and watched a show with him. He feel asleep and threw up mucas in his sleep. Mark had to clean him up and it woke him. So once he was clean, I watched the show with him. I got him to go back to sleep. He slept till after 10. While he slept we sat outside the trailer playing Kings Cribbage and Uno. I lost the first round of Kings Cribbage with a score of just over 60. I won the next game over 140 and had two 45 point hands. Chase woke during one of our games of Uno and ate a few grapes and carmal popcorn. He was much better. His fever had broke. He ended up taking my dad for a very long walk. My Mom, Douglas, Mark, and I all got a little delirious during our games of Uno. They were very long and we all at one point had atleast 1/8 of the deck in our hand. We had chilli and hot dogs for lunch and then packed up.
Once packed we left and headed for Hooper, which is where my Uncle lives. We hung out there and then had a BBQ dinner in the front of his house(which is where the shade was). After dinner we moved to his backyard and watched the kids play. He started a fire and anyone who wanted could roast Smores. Once it was dark enough he set off some fireworks. Then we watched Hooper's firework show from his backyard. He lives really close to the school where they were held. There was a really cool echo with each BOOM. Chase fell asleep have way through. There were two other kids his age, both of them cried during the fireworks and were happy when they were done. Chase liked them. The other two kids stayed awake the entire time. After the fireworks we headed back to Magna, getting home just after midnight.



(here is Douglas and Chase petting my Uncle's Goats)


(Chase is obsessed with Bubbles)

(Chase and his 2nd cousin, he followed her everytime she got on the bike)

(stepping on the Snaps)

(Chase ridding the bike)

(Playing Golf with Daddy)


(had to wear sunglasses)

11 weeks along

I know I'm not that far along, but one of my friends has been recording different things about her pregnancy and I thought it'd be a good idea. I haven't really had morning sickness with this one. With Chase I was sick for 3 1/2 months! I have just been nauseous and Preggie Pops have been my best friend. There have been a few times when I do get the full blown Morning Sickness, but nothing near as bad as with Chase. For that reason alone my mother-in-law thinks we are having a girl. I've done the needle and thread trick and it made a circle which means girl. We do want this to be a girl. Another fact is when I was pregnant with Chase I wanted nothing to do with Chocolate. With this pregnancy I have craved Chocolate a few times. But we won't find out for sure till September.
I have felt the drain of pregnancy and have wanted naps around one o'clock. So most days when Chase naps, I nap with him. I'm still trying to do the Wii Fit(see other posts). Just to help with my stamina and weight and much more stuff. I'm looking forward to the second trimester when I should get that extra boost of energy and feel good and especially being able to feel the baby move. I especially look forward to having Chase feel and see the baby move. Chase loves to kiss my belly everyday.

Great Exercise

I have become addicted to the Wii Fit in just 1 day! My sister-in-law let us borrow hers, because her doctor won't let her use it.(she has been having some problems with her pregnancy) We got it from her on Sunday. I used if for the first time yesterday. I love it! The goals I set, probably won't really happen due to myself being Pregnant and the weight gain there. But that isn't going to stop me. My real life goal(not Wii Fit goal) is so that I don't really gain any weight, just the baby. I'm already pretty overweight. I will admit it. For health reasons and for better self esteem I want to loose about 50 lbs. I'm hoping that I can loose that and keep it off, after the baby is born.

I'm afraid my OBGYN is going to be putting me on a diet anyways, but we shall see. This should help no matter what. Wii Fit works a lot with your balance and posture, which will be great for my last couple months of pregnancy which will be in the winter. I really don't want to be slipping on all that snow and ice while 8 months pregnant. Plus Wii Fit had lots of exercises that help align your pelvis, that will be good for childbirth I think. Also if I build up my endurance, maybe I can go longer before getting an epidural and be able to breath better. With Chase I got close to hyperventilating.

I'm really looking forward to all the results that Wii Fit will bring me. My sister-in-law is due in December so we have it for about that long, but there is a possibility that we will be buying our own next month, so we won't have to keep hers for to long!

3 Amazing Years

3 years ago today at 10:20 AM Mark and I were Sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.


We started dating our Senior year of High School. We met in Stage Crew. Mark wasn't really in the class that year, it was his free period. He had taken it the past two years. Mark ended up transferring into the class. He thought I was a sophomore, because it was my first year in the class. I thought he was just another one of the druggie kids always wearing black and a trouble maker. I was dating someone else at the time, he wasn't, but was interested in another girl in the class. We started noticing each other and started to like one another.
I was always hanging around him, trying to make an impression. Then on November 14Th 2004 we asked each other out at an old Stage Crew members Missionary Farewell. I broke up with the other guy that night, after asking Mark out. I learned that Mark had been into drugs and drinking, but was drifting away from it. I always told him he could go with his friends and do that stuff, but he never did. He knew I wouldn't like it. His friends always got mad at me when he wouldn't go, they thought I wouldn't let him. I always told them that he could go if he wanted, I wasn't his mother.
We went to Sweethearts and Prom together our senior year. I got Mark to come to almost all of my Christmas Performances at the different churches. He was inactive, but this helped him on his way to getting back in the grove. We graduated together. Mark continued to go to church with me or his dad every week. On December 12, 2005 Mark ask my parents permission to Marry me. They wanted to see us wait and save up some more money. On December 13, 2005 Mark gave me a Tanzinite Promise Ring. As he put it on my finger he said, "I promise to always love you, and always make you happy. And I promise take care of you." In January 2006, Mark told me I could go ahead and start planning our wedding. We had picked out colors and some other details. Mark is actually the one who choose our colors. He said we could do Red and Blue, like our birthstones. I loved it, so we had Blue the main color and Red the accent color, so it didn't look to 4th of Julyish.
On February 24, 2006 He asked me to marry him. Mark had picked me up from work and we were going to go to the Riverton Mall to look for the shirt we wanted for the Bridesmaids and on a date. When I climbed in the car, Mark had a Dozen short stem roses for me. Mark was nervous and we drove an hour in the opposite direction. It didn't click in our brains we had gone the wrong way till I called my parents to see how close I was.(They still haven't let us live that down). We decided to stop at his Grandparents and say hi. When we got there Mark had bent down to tie his shoe and I looked up at the beautiful starry sky. We had been talking the last few weeks about the wedding and were debating on tell his grandparents that we were planning it. When Mark was "done" tying his shoe he pulled me in front of me, while still on one knee and asked if I really wanted to tell his grandparents and then purposed!
Mark worked very hard to be able to take me to the Temple. He knew that it was what I truly wanted, even though sometimes I asked him to just drive us to Vegas. We took the Temple Prep Class in my ward. We had our Endowments taken out on June 10, 2006 and were Married 3 days later.
It has been an amazing 3 years! We now have a 2 year old boy and a baby due in January. I love him as much, if not more than the day we got together. He has kept his promise he made me on December 13th. I look forward to many more years and the Eternities with him! He is an amazing Father, and a wonderful, caring husband. I'm so thankful I chose to take the Stage Crew Class my senior year. If I hadn't I don't know if or when I would have met the Love of my life.

Big Boy Bed

The past couple of days Chase has been climbing out of his crib. We weren't going to get him a toddler bed till his birthday next month, but figured it is time now. I don't want to risk having him hurt himself trying to get out of his crib. We were going to get a Disney Cars themed bed, but saw this one and thought it would be a little bit more sturdy. Plus it was the same price, you can't beat that. A wooded bed for a metal one... We also got him this regular size Cars blanket. He doesn't have many big blankets, most of them are the little baby ones. They all still cover him, but we thought he is getting a big boy bed, he should get a big boy blanket.
Chase loves to climb on our or Kiera's bed and jump on them. He also loves to pretend like his is going "nigh-nigh". He will lay down on a pillow anywhere and say "nigh-nigh" and pull the covers up and lay there smiling.

Last night was his first night on his big boy bed. Now Mark and I switch off whose night it is to put Chase to bed and put him back to bed if he wakes in the middle of the night. Chase hasn't sleep through the night for atleast a week. Anywho, last night was Mark's night, but Chase would not let Mark hold him or cuddle him. He would just try and jump out of Mark's arms and just scream. So I had to take care of Chase most of the night. He would not lay down in his bed, of course he wanted to go run around and play. He does have a bedtime routine, but the last few nights he has not wanted to follow it, however hard we try.

We ended up having to rock him close to sleep and try to lay him down, if he fought, then continue rocking him. He got up 3 times and the final time, Mark just let him lay in bed with us.

We really hope he adjusts to this easily and won't be waking every night after the baby is born, that won't be fun for us both being up in the middle of the night with two different kids. We do know that if it does happen, we can handle it, otherwise the Lord wouldn't have given us this blessing. We also hope to have him fully potty trained by Christmas, so we don't have to buy two sizes of diapers each month.

Memorial Day & Kiera Graduation

We spent our Memorial Day Weekend in Cedar City. We rented a van('08 Toyota Sienna) from Enterprise. I loved having that van and did not want to take it back, but I did. They let us pick it up a day early free of charge, so we could beat the rush. I had taken two home preggo tests and they both had a faint answer, so I went into my doctors on Wednesday and did a blood test. Right before we left on Thursday to go pick up my father-in-law, brother and sister-in-law and nephew my nurse called with the results. I"M PREGNANT!!! We are so excited! We have been trying for a couple months now, but knew our time would come when the time was right. We are so excited that Chase is going to be a Big Brother! We have even taught him that there is a Baby is in Momma's belly.
So when we picked up Mark's family we told them. Our sister-in-law is one month farther along than I am. We headed out Thursday after noon. When we got to Cedar, we gave Mark's mom her Mother's Day/Birthday Gift(both dates are so close together so we just combine them). We had all gone in together and got her a Mother's Ring. On the card I had signed our names and TBA. When she read that she gasped and then started screaming after I confirmed that I was.

Kiera graduated from high school on Friday night. It was a great program. They had a graduating class of 58. She went to Parowan High, so it's a small town. The class did the program themselves. Several different students spoke and the entire class sang a few songs.

We stayed with them till Sunday night. We had taken the boys to the park, visited Mark's grandma's grave, and hung out at Mark's moms. We had left on Sunday because Mark's brother had some things to do before they went to a concert they were taking Kiera to Monday night.

We spent Memorial Day helping my parents in their yard, doing yard work. Kiera stayed up here in Salt Lake till this afternoon. We enjoyed having her and she will be moving in with us in July.

Mother's Day

I totally forgot to write about Mother's Day!!!

I had to be to church early on Mother's Day to practice two musical numbers with our Ward Choir. Douglas had spent the night at our house so he came to church with us. Sacrament meeting had three wonderful talks and then a lot of musical numbers, from the primary, ward choir, a solo, a duet, and a trio of cello's along with the piano. Our ward passed out little book marks that talked about Love with a Heart pin that said Love on it. Sunday School was amazing, and in Relief Society our teacher did a wonderful job and passed out cookies to all of us. Chase made a beautiful picture in nursery for me. Mark had gotten me flowers a few days prior.

After our ward we went over to my mom's house and then went to church with her. Chase had fallen asleep in the car from our ward to my mom's. He stayed asleep as we carried him inside her house, and as we carried him back out to the car and into her church. When he finally woke up and saw Grandma and Grandpa he climbed out of my arms and hopped along the bench to her and gave her the biggest hug ever. It was adorable. Her ward gave all the mother's a potted flower. Douglas brought one over for me as well. Right after Sacrament Mark and Douglas went home. My dad took Chase into Nursery and then helped my mom set up the new tv in the library. As oon as he was done, we went home. I hung out with them in there. In her ward the men take over the primary and nursery so all the women can go to Relief Soceity. My mom and I went to Relief Soceity. I had already had the lesson, but was able to answer questions etc. After church we went back to my parents for dinner. They made BBQ ribs and Funeral Potatoes. My brother Dan and his family joined us bringing biscquets and corn. Chase was being a pain in butt and would not eat. He had only had breakfast( he was asleep between wards so we couldn't give him lunch). We ended up leaving right after dinner due to Chase's behavior.

Other than Chase's behavior at my parent's it was a really nice day.

Our New Place

Hey, I know it's been a long time since I really posted something about what's happening in our life, so here I go! I will try and not make it super long.
We are loving our new place. I love being able to do laundry whenever and not give up our entire Saturday to do it at my parents. I love having the dishwasher, it makes life so much easier! We have lots of space for Chase to run around and are so close to a couple parks that he can go play at. He loves to "go wee"(sit on the swings)!
We've had a few parties since we moved it. On May 1st we had our "House Warming/Game Night" We had 13 adults and about 5 kids running around. It was a lot of fun! We only played one game of Scene It, Movies. It was the easiest thing to play with 13 people rather than have several games going or all trying to crowd around our table. On May 9th we had a Batman Movie Marathon. We watched all the Batman Movies from the Adam West movie all the way through to The Dark Knight. It was really fun. We had people come and go all day. We made personal pizzas with our Skookies for lunch and walked over to Subway for dinner. After watching all 7 in a row, Mark and I agree that The Dark Knight is the best of them all!
I have a lot more adult interaction here. One of our good friends from high school lives in the building next to us. She is also a Stay-at-home mom, so we spend almost everyday together and go on walks together almost everyday.
We are getting ready to head down to Cedar City this Memorial Day Weekend for Kiera's Graduation! We are so excited to go spend time with Mark's family! We will be renting a van(his brother and his family, and their dad will be riding down with us) on Thursday. Our plan is to head out as soon as Mark's dad gets off work on Thursday, Kiera's graduation is Friday, and we will come home sometime on Monday.
Chase is so smart and such a big boy! He is learning new words quick! He knows quite a few animals. We are trying to teach him his colors. Potty training has sort of come to a halt. He doesn't like sitting on the potty anymore. He will ask to go in there and just look into the bath tub or will sit on the potty and then get right back up again. We are going to give him a bit more time then start trying again.
Mark and I just received some callings in our ward. Mark is co-teaching the 11 year old boys and is the assistant scout master. I am the Coordinator for the Boy's Faith In God program. It will be fun. We look forward to getting to know the boys and hope to help them out.

Chase's Great Achievement!!!

***CAUTION I WILL BE GOING INTO SOME DIRTY DETAILS ABOUT THE POTTY!***
***YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED READ ON IF YOU DON'T MIND DETAILS***







A couple months back we decided to get Chase a Training Potty. He had been taking his pants and diapers off and running around and even went pee on the floor a few times. So we started trying to get him to go on the potty. He loves to just go and sit on it. Once we were getting ready to move things weren't progressing at all and we just kind stopped motivating him. If he wanted to sit on the potty we would let him. There was one time that I let him sit on the potty and I left the room real quick. He got up and shut the door. When I came back, there was a wet spot on the floor. We were so close! Anyways when we had moved. We kept the same routine, letting him sit on it whenever he asked and maybe a few other times like before a bath we would make him sit on it.
Two days ago I told Mark we needed to start putting Chase on the potty first thing in the morning. So we have been doing that. Yesterday Mark had Chase on the potty and after a while was asking him if he was all done and Chase would say no. During this time he was kind of holding himself, or covering himself up. A minute later of asking if he was all done, Chase said all done and got off. Mark never heard anything and didn't really check. Last night before giving Chase a bath Mark noticed some yellow liquid in the potty and brought it to me asking if I'd put anything in there or if I had put Chase on the potty. I hadn't. So we believe Chase went that morning while Mark kept asking him if he was all done. We can't come up with any other answer. Mark does feel bad that he didn't notice in the morning and we weren't able to give Chase the praise he deserved.

(***here come some of the nasty details***)

Chase has had a history of acidic poopie diapers. We recently discovered that it may come from pear juice. So I tested it today and it is the juice. When I had taken him to change his diaper he asked to sit on the potty. He had already had the acidic poop, so I cleaned off his bum and put him on the potty. I could smell the acidic poop, but figured it was just from his diaper. After a little bit he said he was all done so I put took him off and we left the bathroom. I went to grab some aloe for my burn and went back into the bathroom. I could still smell the acidic poop, so I looked in Chase's potty and there was some in there!(this stuff is really watery and when it's in his diaper, the diaper is just yellow instead of white and there is somtimes small chunks in it) I cleaned out his potty and went to Chase and gave him praise and got all excited. He just gave me a look like I was crazy. It was cute!
My little bug is starting to grow up! I'm so excited for him! He is getting smarter everyday! He is such a sweetheart and I feel so blessed to be able to spend every day with him and not have to work.
If you're still with me, thanks for reading about Chase's big moment!

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter Weekend. We went to Mark's grandparents for their Easter Egg Hunt and Lunch on Saturday. The food was great. Chase wouldn't really eat, he'd rather run around playing. He did ask for part of my orange. I kept trying to get him to take a bite, but he just wanted the whole thing. So I gave him a small piece and he threw the whole thing in his mouth. Peel and all! I hadn't thought to take the peel off. He ate it all! He ran off while he ate it, so we didn't watch him, but did make sure he didn't spit it out anywhere. I'm amazed he was able to chew through the peel with only 6 teeth in front and 2 molars, both on top. It was Chase's first Egg Hunt. He did really well! They hide eggs all over the yard, and then one of Mark's aunts hid eggs for the"young adults". We had a blast as well.

After the Easter Egg Hunt we went and picked up our new washer and dryer(sorry no pic). We got it from a really nice guy off of craigslist.com. My brother helped us get it. We wanted to start a load that night, but one of the hoses leaked a little and we had the wrong type of outlet for the plug on the dryer. After Chase went to bed Mark and I dyed eggs.

One of them said "Eggsellent", and other said "Hoppy Easter", and the last one said, "Cuddle Bug"(our nickname for Chase). We had forgot to get some vinager so some of the colors didn't work right. Those hot pink ones where actually the red tablet...

This is what Chase got from the Easter Bunny...minus the chair, that was a Christmas Gift. With the Monkey we were able to name a star for Chase.

Here he is in his new Easter outfit hugging his monkey, Cookie. He did choose the name. We had church bright and early at 9 AM in our new ward. We live so close to the church building and it was a beautiful day so we walked to church. It was our first time in this ward. They were all very welcoming. I know several people in the ward, as I had grew up in this stake.

Right after church Chase and I dropped Mark off at my parents so he and my dad could go get the new hose and plug for our washer and dryer. While Chase and I joined my mom and brother at their ward. A friend of mine in their ward(the ward I grew up in) was giving his farwell talk. It was really nice. After their sacrament I left Chase with my mom while I went back to their house to finish painting Chase's dresser that a friend gave us(sorry again forgot to get a pic). Then we went home and relaxed for awhile and had dinner. Then my parents brought out Chase's dresser after it dried and I gave them the tour so they could see how the apartment looked now that it is basically all put together. We spent the night doing laundry and enjoying family time!

Moving Day and 5 Days Later

We had our big move on the 4th. We got up really early and packed the last minute things. While I went to pick up our friend Darren and breakfast, Mark picked up the U-Haul. Just before 8, Mark and Darren started loading the truck. Within the next hour we had 6 guys from the Harmony Park ward come and help(thanks guys we really appreciated your help and will miss you all!) We had the truck loaded within 2 hours! I went to my parents to try and watch General Conference while Mark and Darren went to the new apartment to start unloading. Ryan and Stephanie came to help unload about an hour before my parents and I showed up. My mom watched the kids, Steph and I made room for furniture and boxes and organized a bit. This is Darren inside the truck.

Mark hauling some boxes up the stairs. Ours is the one with the door open on the deck.

Our living room, Steph and I were moving the bookshelf.

Dinning room and Hall, you can see my mom sitting in the hall outside Chase's room.

My niece Elysia, Chase and Jocelynn(Steph's daughter) playing in Chase's room.

We were again done within 2 hours! The guys took the U-Haul back while my mom, Steph and I put the kitchen together a bit. When the guys got back we ordered pizza and relaxed. We three girls then continued to organize and put some stuff away, calling the guys help every once and a while.

Sunday we cleaned the old apartment and again didn't really get to listen or watch General Conference. So I am looking forward to next month's Ensign and when the session become avaliable on ON DEMAND, so I can catch up. While Mark watched the Jazz game at my parents that night I went home alone and did some more unpacking and organizing.

Monday I had our kitchen and living room complete, pictures and all! The bedrooms and bathrooms still needed some work.

Tuesday I went shopping for some storage helps we needed and got the bathroom and Chase's room finished.

Wednesday I finished the master bathroom and bedroom. Kiera's room is still full of boxes, but just the random stuff we had in closets and under beds at the old place. Nothing that we need everyday.

Our living room, 5 days after move. Chase is sleeping on the couch.

Dinning room and hall way.

Chase's room

The boxes in Kiera's room.

It took Chase 3 nights to get comfortable and adjusted to our new home and be able to sleep through the night. Today, I am just going to take it easy and relax a bit. We are enjoying our new place and looking forward to using the pool and playground when the weather gets warmer.