Me & My Boys

a need to express

2012-01-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

I feel the need to express some feelings I'm having lately sorry if this becomes negative, you know how hormones go....
I absolutely love being pregnant, it is an amazing thing......But at the same time and like everything else it has it's cons. Like the last half of extreme uncomfortable-ness. I can't even roll over at night without there being pain or it being difficult. I swear it takes me atleast 3 minutes to go from my left side to the right or visa-versa. Then add in my tailbone. I have my good days there, and others seem like the injury is fresh(it's been almost 20 days since I fell). Then there is the fatigue that comes and goes and I can't keep up with my boys or play with them when they want. Can't forget the high flow of emotions, that can really screw some things up. But I can handle all the cons and make due. But the one thing that really irratates me is when I feel abandoned. I love my husband and support him in everything he does. I'm excited about his calling and the chance he has to work with the youth in our church and that he gets to help make a difference in their life. There are just some days when I feel like he doesn't have time for me between work and doing stuff for his calling. I miss him during those times and just want him home with us. It's not right for me to complain when he has to leave, I just have to suck it up and deal with it/bury it/bottle it up. I just hate the feeling that it leaves me with.
And to look on the brighter side, the pros out weigh the cons by A TON!!!! The joy of creating life, feeling your child move, seeing them move, hearing their heartbeat atleast once a month at the doctors, building a very special bond, then of course holding and seeing the beautiful child when they are born and then getting to keep them and watch them grow and learn.
Pregnancy can be a trial, it can be easy, it can be hard, it can be in the middle. I'm grateful that I haven't had any serious problems during any of my pregnancies. Worst thing with Chase was my stretchmarks got inflamed, with Emmett I had several UTI's, and with Lyla so far it has been the migranes and overall there has been more pain and more difficulty then with the boys, but Pregnancy is a gift, and the child is an even greater gift. I am grateful for the oportunity to have this baby and the gift my Father in Heaven has given me.

Happy 2012!!!

2012-01-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

After we had gotten back from Nephi we all went back to my house and hung out. Kiera left before dinner. We played some games and hung out. My parents joined us for pizza. More games and hanging out. The kids were all over the place. Robby's family left around 9. I changed the boys into pjs incase they crashed. Emmett was out after 10 and Chase made it to 11. We put them in bed and played the wii till 5 to so we could watch the ball drop. We pulled out the goblets and had some Martenills Sparkeling Cider to toast in the new year. We finished our game then my parents headed home and we went to bed.
We had an early morning New Years Day due to church being at 9 now. But we pulled it off and were ontime and not to tired. I think we all took naps in the afternoon though.

I'm looking forward to the new year. It shall be fun with Lyla coming and Chase starting school in the fall(oh that just hit me....wow! ok I'm going to stop thinking about that). I didn't completely keep my resolutions last year. I did them here or there but not full out. So I plan to continue to try with them as well as add one.
I want to be better at daily scripture study, holding family home evenings, regular temple attendance, and regular exercise. I want to add in trying to be a more caring/loving person.

Here's to a new year for new adventures. Happy Trails! :)

Christmas Time

2012-01-02T06:16:00.000-08:00

The last half of December was pretty busy.
Mark's dad ended up in the hospital on the 9th, nothing serious but was scary. That weekend we talked with him and decided it would be best for him to move-in with us so we could help him out and keep an eye on him. He wasn't released from the hospital till the 16th, but we got all his stuff over on the 11th including his dog, Bubba. The boys were excited to have this little puppy around. It took him some time to get use to us and being in a new place, but he has adjusted well.
The 16th was my Family Christmas party. It was held at our house this year. It was a lot of fun. We started it out by doing a combined Birthday party for all the birthdays in December and January. Once dinner was ready we all sat down to a nice turkey dinner that my husband made. I'll admit I have never made a turkey, Mark has always done it. I've helped here or there, but he always takes over and does most of the work. After dinner was cleaned up we gathered the kids together and had my dad do the traditional reading of I Believe In Santa Claus. The kids all clapped for him and gave him a hug afterwards. We then exchanged Christmas gifts and hung out the rest of the night.
Mark's extended family is getting so big(over 100 people including kids, grandkids, and greatgrands) that they decided to stop having annual Christmas get-togethers. We did get to see a lot of the Peterson clan on the 18th at one of Mark's cousin's mission homecoming.
On the 20th I slipped while walking down the stairs, I hit the first step and bounced on my tailbone and landed on the last one. My tailbone is still sore12 days later. That's the one bad thing about tailbone injuries they take forever to heal. I was really worried about Lyla after the fall, but I felt her moving a bit afterwards and had no bleeding. I did call the doctor and he told me she would be fine. Chances for any damage to her after a fall like that were minimal. I did have my doctors appointment on the 23rd and her heartbeat was good and she is still measuring on time.
The 22nd was my extended family party. We had it at a church of course, my side is getting pretty big too. I had been sick for the past week and didn't have much of a voice so I didn't get to sing in the sing-a-long or during the "war". It was really hard on me to just sit there while everyone around me was singing. As my aunts & uncles got things ready for the pinata Emmett took a tumble. He had been playing with Chase and following him. The climbed up onto the stage and jumped off. Well Emmett only being 23 months didn't land right and hit his face somehow. His teeth cut the inside of his cheek a bit but enough for it to bleed. It took forever to calm him down. Mark ended up taking him out to the van to watch Scooby Doo, which helped. We had forgotten his bear at home, BIG MISTAKE. Chase did a great job with the pinata, when it finally broke open he went after the bouncy balls and passed up the candy, silly kid. Then my grandparents handed out cards for everyone. We didn't stay much later due to Emmett. He ended up with a sore jaw and a little bruise on his cheek.
Christmas Eve was great. We spent the afternoon at Mark's brother's place. We exchanged gifts with them, watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, and had snacks. Dave(Mark's dad) stayed there for the night and Mark's sister, Kiera, came home with us. We had dinner, opened up a new pair of jammies, changed into said jammies, watched The Year Without A Santa Claus, set out cookies and milk for Santa and got the boys to bed. My boys have this habit of coming into my room in the middle of the night and trying to sleep in our bed. Well Christmas eve was no different. They came up and we made them go back down a couple times. They never went into the living room though. Mark and I got up early to get the Sticky buns ready. While they were rising we went back to bed. The boys woke up at 7 and the sticky buns weren't quite ready. So we decided to open gifts while they finished rising. The boys loved their gifts and had tons of fun opening them and kept wanting more. While Chase opened one of his gifts he said, "What... the.... hell.... is.....this?" pauses in between each word but you could tell he couldn't stop himself. Don't know where he learned it. We all got mad at him, I actually tapped him on the head with the present I had been about to help Emmett open. Chase had some other problems with being good that day and was a little bit of a terror. We went to Church that afternoon. They only held sacrament meeting. The talks were wonderful! After lunch we picked Dave up from Robby's and went to visit his parents. My parents met us at the house afterwards so they could visit the boys for a bit. We didn't have a big turkey dinner we just had ham and church potatoes. It was delicious.
On the 31st we piled Mark's siblings and their kids into our van and Kiera's car and drove down to Nephi. We met his mom and step-dad there for lunch and to exchange gifts with them. The kids were all over the place. Luckily they had let us use their banquet room. They had a really cool train that ran all around the restaurant. It was really nice getting to see them for a few hours.

And that ends our Christmas adventures. We never got up to Temple Square to see the lights :( I was sick for half the month and Emmett was sick for a bit too.

Christmas Traditoins

2011-12-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

I love the Christmas season, so many family traditions and things to do to bring the spirit in. One of our favorites is The Forgotten Carols. If you don't know what that is, it is a play by Michael McLean about people from the Nativity story that are "forgotten". Mark and I went to this show last night. It always starts off our Christmas season. It really brings the true spirit of Christmas into our hearts. I cry every year. We had great seats this year, due to the opportunity to purchase them in September before they were available to the general public(perk of getting tickets several years in a row). The show and jokes never get old, even though we see it every year. We absolutely love this show and the tradition of going every year. We can't wait till our kids are older and we can share the tradition with them. For now to get them in on the tradition we watch it on DVD and put our homemade ornaments, inspired from the show, on our tree. They don't fully understand the meaning, but it's ok. They will remember always doing it and in the future they will understand it's meaning.
Some of the other Christmas traditions we have coming up are: seeing the lights at Temple Square, at my big family party we have a pinata and sing carols(we have a little volume war on "It's beginning to look like Christmas" that is tons of fun), at my close family party my dad reads "I believe in Santa Claus" to the grand kids and we have Christmas crackers(English poppers with a paper crown, joke and toy inside), new jammies on Christmas Eve, baking tons of cookies, and even though its not recognized as a tradition watching all the wonderful Christmas movies and shows. This really is the most wonderful time of the year and I wish it lasted all year round.

Movies, Rewards, & Holidays

2011-11-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

Well another week has past. Had some fun stuff happen last week and many more to come! My sister-in-law and I both love Twilight. I love that she is close by and that we get along and are close to each other. She came over and we watched the first 3 movies together. Then one of my friends has a connection and got us pre-showing tickets of Breaking Dawn for Thursday night. I was little bummed we missed out on the "party stuff" from the midnight showings, but with 2 active little boys and being 5 months pregnant, I think it was better to have an 8 o'clock showing instead. We really liked the movie. A few corny parts, but overall I liked it. They did a good job. Eclipse is still my favorite movie, but Breaking Dawn part 1 is a close 2nd.
Mark had had a talk with one of his supervisors last week and they said he would be getting a raise. They had been looking at what other companies were paying there employees at Mark's "level" and wanted to get him up there. Mainly "we want you to be happy to work here sort of thing." He didn't say when he would get the raise or how much it would be. Until the beginning of this week.... He will get it starting with this pay period we are in now, so next week Hello Raise! It's enough to make me feel even more comfortable about staying at home and not working outside the home. We are calling it "The Christmas bonus that keeps on giving".
We have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. Instead of doing daily posts here or on Facebook we do a family board. We have it hanging in our sitting/living/family room(whatever you want to call it). We haven't been the best at keeping it up to date, but we catch up. It's fun watching it fill up and re-reading them. We started doing this last year and had lots of fun with it. We will be having Mark's family over for dinner tomorrow, Kiera and I will be going shopping on Friday. We don't get up super early, we just go after breakfast. More for the tradition and deals than the specific items at midnight etc. Mark and I tried that I think it was last year. The things we really wanted to get turned out to be limited and we got in line to late even though we were super early. We froze waiting outside, and was just a total bust. There are a few deals I want to grab this year, but if I don't get them... oh well we will survive and it's not going to break my heart. Saturday will be time with my side of the family. Looking forward to all the family time and making memories!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Family, Friends, Gospel, & Singing Bliss

2011-11-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

I got to help my mom a lot last week in working on the Christmas Village she puts together every year. We also had my nephews Nik and Mo over one day and spend the night another. Their mom had a nice long labor. My newest nephew Gavin Owen was born on the 9th. We went to see him on the 10th after Mark got home from work.
I also finished Emmett's stocking on the 10th!!! About time right? Now I just need to find some fabric for the backing and get that done and it will be complete and ready for Christmas.
We had some friends over Saturday for dinner. We did this monthly with them for awhile, then had to stop for a bit and now we have picked it back up again. It is really nice getting to hang out with them eating dinner, playing games, and just talking once a month. They are thinking about moving to Maine, which we will really miss them if they do.
Sunday was a busy day for me. I got up early and drove out to Magna. I went to our old ward's primary program. I was able to help the primary president set some stuff up for it. I'm glad I was able to help her out in a small way. After working with her for 9 months in the presidency I was glad to have some part in the day. The kids did awesome! The spirit was there. Afterwards I chatted with some old friends then headed home for lunch then off to my current ward's choir practice. I'm excited to be in a choir again. It's a smaller choir, but it's still fun. After that I had enough time to run home and get my boys for church. It was our Primary's program too. My mom came, and waited for us in the foyer. After Chase ran to give her a hug, he hugged the lady that walked in behind us too. He thought she was Kiera. I didn't think to call her or Mark's dad or any other family members and invite them. I had mentioned it to mom when we worked on the village and she "invited herself".
As soon as we entered the chapel Chase got scared and didn't want to go up for the program. After some convincing we got him up there. He did really good. He sang the songs and actually danced a bit on them too. One lady told me he was doing the robot(we couldn't fully see him, the pulpit was in our way). He got up when it was time for his part and said it perfectly, "I can follow God's plan by being patient." He came up with it on his own, the ending. I was very proud of him and can't believe how big he is getting.
That night the stake had a Christmas Choir practice. I of course attended. It was the best! Not your normal church choral, where it is usually just hymns and nothing to high. One of the songs we are singing is the Halleluja Chorus, from The Messiah. I loved hitting those high notes again. Yeah I sing along with my choir cds etc, but it's not the same as being with a choir doing it. I came home very giddy! I'm loving having the two choirs. I've really missed singing in one.

Another Fun Filled Week

2011-11-07T06:46:00.001-08:00

I feel like this is turning into a bit of a diary. I'm just trying to document some of the things that happen in our life as a family. I don't write in my journal as much as I should and these posts help me make sure I get everything in it when I do. I don't know if anyone is reading these, if you are I hope I don't bore you and you enjoy a glimpse into my life....
We had a fun Halloween. Mark wore his costume to work. The boys and I just hung out at home. We went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat that night. It was a good thing for us, not know to many people on our street and our great neighbors told us not to go trick-or-treating on the street unless we just visit the ward members houses(which we don't know all yet). So Mark took the boys around to all the trunks. I stayed in the van with our Halloween mix CD playing to hand out candy. After Emmett's first car he came running back to me to show me his candy. He was so excited about it he didn't care for more then he realized he could get more and walked around with daddy. It was great getting to talk with the ward members a little more.
We were really close to running out of candy, so we decided to leave just in case we had a few trick-or-treaters come to the house. Mark and I made dinner. We had brains and eyes..... Spaghetti and Meatballs. It was the first time we had made meatballs. They didn't really turn out, but worked. We will have to use a different recipe next time. After dinner we got the boys back into costume and drove out to visit our parents. We hung out with Mark's dad for awhile then drove out to see my parents. While there my mom gave me some of my baby clothes and my blessing dress for Lyla.
On November 2nd I finished Emmett's stocking, well I can start backstitching it, which is putting all the detail to faces and outlining the animals etc. We realized that day, our fridge wasn't keeping stuff cold as it should. Our milk was curdling a bit. So we set up a time to have a repair man come over to take a look at it the next day. We have a home warranty and luckily it covers all our appliances. It saved us over $200. The heater and thermostat were gone so he replaced them. The night of the 2nd I got to go to a Girls Night with some of the women in our ward. It was really nice. We mainly just chatted, but was perfect for me, since I don't really know them. So this helped get to know them better. There are some awesome women in my ward!
I had a doctors appointment Thursday morning before the fridge repair guy came. Everything looks good. Still on target for March 20th. Ultrasound showed no problems!
Friday was a pretty chillaxed day.
Saturday it snowed! When Chase saw it, he was ecstatic. He wanted to go out right then to play. We made him wait till after breakfast. Then while I watched the boys play Mark shoveled the walks. Then I wanted to clean off the cars and we realized that neither of us had our keys, and that the front door handle was locked... We were locked out of the house! I went to our next door neighbor who is a cop to see if he had anything to help us get in the house. Nope, but he does have a ladder but the only window opened was small, but he has a 6 or 7 yr old daughter small enough to fit. So they got ready and he climbed up opened the window, put her in, and she opened the door for us. It was crazy. I am sooooo thankful for them. They are just awesome and have helped us so much since we bought the house. After warming up and cleaning the house a bit we took the boys to my parents house. My mom watched them while Mark and I used the gift card my father-in-law gave me for my birthday to go out to lunch then we did a Temple Session. We haven't been in a while and it was perfect. The serenity of the temple was just what I needed. We really need to get back in the habit of going monthly. Afterwards we got the boys, hung out for awhile then went home for dinner. We blew up a couple air mattresses, got the boys to bed.
Then Kiera, my parents, and youngest brother all came over to spend the night. We stayed up late talking, laughing, and sharing stories. It was a lot of fun. We went to bed around 11 I think. We had to be up at about 4 AM to get ready and get on the road to Wyoming for my niece's' blessing. Their church starts at 9. The boys were really good about waking up and I think it helped seeing everyone was at the house. We put Lion King on in the van and they were great. I seriously love having that DVD player, it has helped so much on those long trips, especially the early ones. We had been worried that we would run into snow on the drive up, but didn't hit any! The blessing was beautiful! Then we went over to my brother's house for a luncheon. The boys loved playing with all their cousins. After lunch I started to get a migraine. I had had a bit of a headache, but not to bad. Well the migraine was horrible! We left around 2 so the boys could get a nap in. I tried to rest as well to get rid of the migraine. It went, but came right back after we left Evanston. Then we hit the twisty-turnys of the mountain and was not great for me. I had to make Mark pull over at one point so I could get out of the van and.... I felt better afterwards. Shakey of course, but better. Just a slight headache and wiped out for the rest of the evening. We got home just after 5. I went and laid down and slept for almost 2 hours. Felt much better afterwards. Mark and I were both exhausted. We stayed up long enough to watch CSI Miami and went to bed. Now on to another week. Hoping I'll finish Emmett's stocking this week.

What an awesome week!

2011-10-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Our week did start off with everyone being a little sick. Not enough to call into work, but it did only last a couple days. We relaxed most of the week. Singing everyday and playing with the boys. Mark had Thursday off for my ultrasound. Surprise I'm pregnant!!!! We found out that we are having a little girl! Oh I was on cloud 9! We went out for ice cream after the appointment(mainly cuz Kiera joined us for the appointment and wanted to spend some extra time with us before going to work). We are going to name our sweet girl Lyla Rose Peterson. When we saw August Rush, the mom's name is Lyla. I loved it. Also turns out my grandma had a sister named Lila. Then I wanted to keep my maiden name somehow and figured using it as a middle name would be awesome! We've been stuck with this name since I was pregnant with Emmett. Any who, we had a fun day just being a family. Friday was the usual and when Mark got home we decorated paper pumpkins. Saturday morning the nursery had a Halloween party for all the nursery aged kids. I took Emmett while Mark stayed home with Chase. They had cookies to decorate, face painting, paper pumpkins to put stickers on, a pumpkin bean bag toss, and pumpkin bowling. Emmett loved the pumpkin bowling. He could have done it all day if we'd have let him. They gave all the kids a treat bag before they left. We went back home and chilled for a bit. Mark finally tried on his costume and it didn't fit. We had bought a size 36 online(he is a size 32) but he was busting the seams. Sit down and seams pop, move your arms back and the shirt rips open like the Hulk to small. So we went to a couple stores to try and find something. We were able to piece one together without spending to much money. We later went to my parents house. My dad painted Chase's face for the ward party(they won't allow masks). We borrowed a few things from my dad for Mark's costume. Chatted for a while then off to the ward Chili cook off. The boys loved running around with the other kids. I really don't like chili, but luckily there was a white chili that I would eat and was pretty good. They had a costume contest and Mark and I won 2nd place for Best Overall Costume. He was a Detective, Chase was Spiderman, Emmett was Superman, and I was the villain(in prison stripes.) It was a fun evening.
Looking forward to relaxing on this beautiful Sunday with the ward Trunk-or-Treat tomorrow night. Happy Halloween!

Weekend Fun

2011-10-24T07:44:00.001-07:00

Friday night we painted pumpkins. I find it more fun to paint them rather than gut 'em and carve them. Plus this way the boys can join in on the fun. Here are a few pictures. You can see more on my Facebook page and closer views of their finished pumpkins and Mark/Mine.

Chase

Emmett touched his check after touching the pumpkin

Emmett painting, he would paint a bit give me the brush and clap then paint some more.

This face kills me!

All our pumpkins on the doorstep.(the one is the window is a plastic one.

It was a blast painting the pumpkins. Chase and Emmett had tons of fun. Anywho on with the weekend. Saturday we cleaned the house. It is really nice having someone else there to help, we get everything done in just over an hour! We planted some daffodils in my flower garden next to the tiger lilies. I hope it works out how I want in the spring or close to. I then took the 3 boys over to Mark's brother's house to hang out while I ran some errands and visited my mom. Once they were done playing I picked them up and we came home to make personal "funny face" pizzas. Emmett didn't really understand, but Chase thought it was a riot. We relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Sunday we decided to skip Regional conference. Chase and Emmett both have little colds and we didn't want to deal with them wanting to run all over the place for that long. So we had a relaxing Sunday at home, I worked on Emmett's stocking(might have it done before November or in that first week). Mark watched football and the kids played. Then Mark and I sat down and played Mexican Train, then we let Chase play Mario Party with us. He thinks he is so cool and grown up. I made Lasagna Rolls for dinner, then we played Phase 10, had dessert, played Skipbo, helped the boys clean up the toys, get ready for bed, watched CSI Miami and went to bed ourselves. It was a nice family fun weekend! Should be a great week, with Halloween and all coming up. Chase and Emmett are excited to be super heroes, with Mark the cop(including cop-stash) and me the jailbird.

Our Week

2011-10-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

I am loving being a full-time stay-at-home mom again. We are loving our house, only problem is the closest park isn't within walking distance and we are down to one car again. Emmett has been sick on again off again, just a little cold. So I don't want to take him outside to much. So we spend most of the day indoors. They usually get up around 7, we have breakfast then Emmett starts yelling "ly ly ly ly"(meaning Lion King) he is obsessed with that movie. Sometimes Chase agrees sometimes we watch something else. Then we get ready and play all day. I have been working on Emmett's Christmas stocking. I actually started it over a year ago and just slacked off and didn't ever really work on it. I will have it done before Thanksgiving.
Last Saturday Mark had to work. I spent the day baking Halloween cookies. I made some No Bake cookies and used my cookie cutters to make a few spooky shapes. We had bought a cool pan with witch finger shapes. I tried to make sugar cookies in them, but they didn't turn out. It is a thin pan so you can't just pick it up off the rack. I would reach around and push it a bit then grab it out. You can see where this is going right? Well on the 3 batch of witch fingers in the process of reaching around I bumped my arm against the top rack. 350' metal is hot!. I got a second degree burn about an inch long on the top of my arm. I put cookies on hold for awhile till the "shock" of burning my arm and the pain went away. Like I said the witch fingers weren't turning out so I used the remaining of my batter to make regular witches and ghosts. My parents came over that night to help us with a few projects around the house. An outlet won't work(still can't figure out why) and 2 of our sinks were leaking, one had a hole in the pipe and the other the pipe wasn't secured correctly to the neighbor.
The next couple days were uneventful. However Mark had Tuesday off, from working Saturday. So we did some more projects, mowing the lawn, clearing out the planter and putting in some flowers, mostly yard work. It was a good day.
Then back to the usual. Tonight we are going to paint our pumpkins. We don't like to carve them and they tend to last a little longer if they aren't carved. We let the boys each pick a pumpkin at the store to paint and Mark and I will share one. We are looking forward to next week with some Halloween parties and some great family time.
How has your week been?

Twenty-Five

2011-09-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well my birthday was on Sunday. 25 on the 25th :)

I had an awesome weekend despite all the moving, packing, and boxes everywhere. I had my brother help me on Friday take several loads to the new house and do a little shopping. That night Mark and I went out on a date. We went to TGI Friday's for dinner then went to The Empress Theatre to see The Music Man. One of my friends from school was the music director for it. They did an awesome job! The Empress Theatre also has a community improv team that performs on the weekends and with our purchase to the musical we got into that for free so we stayed for some good old improv. It was great! It was a small audience, but we still had fun. They used alot of Mark and my suggestions. In one game one actor "forgot all his lines" so he has to read lines from a book, but they ended up using text messages and they used my phone! A little embarrassing, but it was pretty funny.
Saturday was busy. I had to work till 4(my last Saturday working). Chase made my day though. Mark took the boys to the store for a few things and Chase wanted to get me some flowers. Mark asked him what kind and he said Roses. He picked them out and would not let them go, he even held them in the van for the ride home and had to deliver them to me at work. It was adorable! When I got home from work, I had enough time to change and Mark said I should open my present from him, because I could use it... It was a beautiful heart necklace with a square knot on one side and cz's along the other. Afterwards Kiera and I went to the church for a Relief Society dinner then watched the Broadcast. It was awesome! I enjoyed the company of our Relief Society and seeing friends from the other wards in our stake. The broadcast was awesome! I absolutely loved Pres. Uchtdorf's talk! One of my favorites! I love symbolism and he usually always has some. I have a new love for Forget Me Not's! Speaking of symbolism.... think of a square knot...k why would you use it rather than another knot? Because the more stress, the more you pull it the stronger it gets right? So Mark's gift was saying no matter how much stress etc there is in our lives our love will grow and only get stronger!!! AHHH! I love him!
Sunday Mark spoiled me. He got up early to make french toast for breakfast. He got the boys all ready(he usually does that anyway on Sundays). His friend Darren joined us at church. And since General Conference is next Sunday it was fast and testimony meeting. Mark got up and bore his and told everyone it was my birthday and if they saw me to wish me happy birthday. After church he made me lunch. And then while I went to my last Primary Presidency Meeting he got the house all ready for family to come over for dinner. We had lasagna rolls. He made everything and I rolled it, last time he tried it didn't work out right. We had a fun night with family. I didn't want a cake so we got doughnuts instead. Mark put a 2 and then 5 regular candles into my foot doughnut while everyone sang to me. It was a great evening!
Monday night we drove out to the new house to work on some stuff and as we pull up our new neighbors were there weeding and mowing the lawn! We were speechless. It was so nice of them! Chase and Emmett played with their kids and just had a ball. I think we are going to get along with them great!

Vegas Baby!!!

2011-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well to start off on Tuesday the 13th we headed out to Cedar City in the afternoon. We had to stop a few times for Chase to go potty and change Emmett's diaper. We did stop in Scipio and they had a Petting Zoo across from the gas station, so we decided to go over. It was closed, but we walked around the outside and saw the animals from afar. We did get to pet a bull cow and a pony and miniature pony. What was really interesting was on top of the ponies, cow, bunnies, sheep, and chickens, they also had emus, an ostrich, and a zebra!!! We got to Cedar around dinner time and went out to eat with Mark's mom and step-dad. Kiera and her roommate Ash had a class till 9, so they didn't get to Cedar till around midnight. This Vegas trip was for Kiera's 21st birthday.
Wednesday morning we got all packed up into our 8 passenger van(loving it!) and headed to Vegas. We stopped in Mesquite for lunch/breakfast and got to Las Vegas around 2pm. We took Marks' mom, step-dad, Kiera, and Ash down to The Excalibur were they were staying got them checked-in and left them to put their luggage in their rooms and get settled. We then headed down the strip to Circus Circus where we were staying. Got checked-in and settled. We drove back to the Excalibur and walked down the strip. We saw the lions at the MGM, went to M&M World and the Coco-Cola Factory, had dinner at a food court, then down to see the fountain show at the Bellagio. Our feet were killing us, and the boys were getting tired by then. So we headed back to get the van and drove back to the hotel and went to bed.
Thursday morning we wanted to take the boys to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus but it was closed for repairs, so we tried the Midway but it wasn't open yet. So we bought bus passes and rode down to The Excalibur and went to their arcade. Every time we walked through the casinos Chase asked to play the games, we told him not till he was 21 of course. He loved the arcade though. It was just like Nickle Cade plus carnival games. He had a blast!!! A nice couple gave us their tickets too so Chase had tons. Mark's mom had got Kiera a spa treatment that morning, once she was done we all went down to the Venetian and went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. We didn't get to go last time we were in Vegas. We had fun. We went back to Mark's mom's room for hoagie sandwiches we had brought from home. We wanted to go swimming together, but the hotel wouldn't let Mark and me and the boys in without a room key(we asked ahead of time). So we got back on the bus to go swimming at Circus Circus, but the boys fell asleep on the bus and we didn't think they'd have any energy to go swimming so we just chilled at the hotel till Ash and Kiera could join us to go to the Midway. Mark's mom wasn't feeling good and just slept the rest of the night. We went to the Midway and played more carnival/arcade games. We didn't get as many tickets, Chase wanted to play more of the racing games etc. We saw a few circus acts as well, then had dinner at the Buffet. The boys were pooped again so we put them to bed. As I got ready for bed I noticed my ankle was swollen and it hurt to walk. So some how, some where I sprained it.
Friday morning we packed up, checked out and got the rest of the family checked out. Loaded the van, and made one last walk to M&M world for some M&M's. Then we headed home. We stopped in St. George to visit Mark's grandpa and his siblings. We got back to Cedar around 5. Kiera and Ash were going to continue to Salt Lake(they had tickets for the BYU/Utah game on Saturday). Mark, the boys, and I were staying the night in Cedar. We just relaxed. I put my foot up and iced it.
Saturday morning we took our time getting ready and packing up before heading back to Salt Lake. We had a lot of fun. Mark offered to let me go gamble but I don't understand the games. I had played a little slot blackjack when we went for Mark's 21st birthday but it doesn't thrill me and I don't really care for it. He didn't want to go gamble either. He did want to enter a poker tournament, but they all started at odd times and just didn't work with our schedule.
My mom says she has put her foot down and I can't go back to Vegas anymore. Last time we went I got really sick. My body had been under a lot of stress putting together a concert and I didn't get to relax till we went to Vegas and just had a cocktail of stuff and was miserable the entire trip. And this time spraining my ankle. She is funny though.

Birthday Fun, Moving, and Camping

2011-08-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

The last month has been an adventure. For Chase's 4th birthday we went to the zoo. Mark had to work, so it was the 3 of us, Robby and Steph and their 2 boys, then David and Candace and their kids met us there. We had a lot of fun. After Mark got home and we had dinner, Mark and I took Chase out for an ice cream cone at Artic Circle. Then we went out to a movie. We wanted to take him to Whinnie the Pooh, but he said it was boring so we saw Captian America instead. We usually don't take the boys to the theater. They can never hold still for the entire movie. Chase was a little restless, but he did pretty good. The only time he held still was if Captian America was in costume in the scene. We had fun though. Mark's parents came to town that weekend for Chase's birthday party. Friday the 29th Chase swallowed a toy. We don't know what toy. We ended up taking him to Primary Childrens. After 4 hours, x-rays, and a barium test(which apparently they can sweeten for kids and Chase downed it) they couldn't find it. They are pretty sure he did swallow something, it just must have been small enough, plastic and already passed his stomach. Chase's party the next day was a hit. It was a Despicable Me party. We played some games from the movie like, the carnival game. I found a picture of the alien from the movie and put it on a cup that we used a nerf gun to knock it over. We read Sleepy Kittens, had an annoying sounds contest, which didn't work so we tried funny faces. We also made Cookie Robots. One of Kiera's friends makes cakes. So we had her do a Despicable Me one with minions in fondant. It was awesome! Then a few people stayed late to watch Despicable Me and eat pizza. We had a lot of fun, as well as the kids.
Kiera moved into an apartment with a friend across from the U the begining of August. We transformed her room into the playroom. It was a little odd at first not having her here. Shortly after we felt we should start looking for houses and found one! I didn't think we would find one so fast. But the offer was accepted on the 12th! It is in Kearns. Big yard, not completely fenced but won't take much to finish it off. The house is completely finished, 4 bedrooms, split entry, and a big driveway. Everytime we go over the more we love it. We originally thought the two trees in the back were crab apple, so we planned to cut them down, well we just found out that one is a pear and the other is a banana apple!!! Yeah!! We don't have to cut down trees!!! We will be getting the kids in mid September.
The 13-14 we had the 1st annual Rose reunion. It was at the family property in Malad Idaho. I've never been there with so many people before. It was fun! One of my aunts brought her 4 wheelers. We went for a ride and got really dirty!!! The boys had a blast up there.
Now we are just planning for a trip to Las Vegas for Kiera's 21st birthday next month(hopefully I don't get sick this time) and getting ready for the house!

sorry

2011-07-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've really fallen behind on here. I'll try to do better. I really don't like posting pictures on here, it is sort of a pain. But I do always post them to facebook, so you can see them there.
We had a great and eventful Father's Day. We spent the morning at Mark's cousin's homecoming. There was a trential(sp?) rain that day and I was on call. we had several apartments flood, so I was on the phone alot. We had family over for dinner and I had to leave for another apartment problem. It was a nice day minus all the problems at the complex.
June 28th I finally got to get the cap for the tooth i had the root canal on forever ago.
July 4th, we enjoyed the Magna parade, Emmett was scared of the sirens from the cops. We went to my uncle's house in Hopper for fireworks.
July 7th, Chase finally started riding the bike he got for Christmas. He loves it and always wants to be outside riding it.
July 10th we celebrated Mark's birthday. I made fondant for the first time. It turned out good.
July 17th was National Ice Cream Day. We had an Ice Cream party at my parents. It was lots of fun.
today Emmett had a fever, looks like he has another tooth coming in.

what a great weekend!

2011-06-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend. Saturday night we spent at my parents house with my siblings. We had a wonderful dinner, played games as a famliy and had some good laughs. Sunday I taught Sharing Time. I had fun doing it and hope the kids did too. We wanted to make it to a friends homecoming, but the boys didn't wake from their nap intime. Around 4 o'clock I picked up my brother and brought him back to my house. Mark and I left for our 5 year anniversary getaway. We checked into the Anniversary Inn(of course). We stayed in the Venice room. We got our stuff in and then went out to dinner at TGI Fridays. I know it's not really romantic, but we love that place! It was still early after we finished eatting so we went and saw Fast Five at the theater. Again not really romantic, but hey it doesn't always have to be so. Monday morning(our actual anniversary) we got up had some breakfast, exchanged some pants at Walmart that I had bought a couple days prior that the zipper was broken on, and headed out to Lagoon. It was overcast all day and sprinkled alot. Now if you know me, you know I hate rollercoasters. I don't like the "oh my gosh my stomach is now in my ears" feeling. I really don't enjoy it. But Mark said I had to go on atleast one with him. I have been on some of the rollercoasters at Lagoon before, but know that I don't like any of them. We did go on The Bat and their new one Bombora. I did like them. I wouldn't go on any other rollercoaster though. Of course we did the other rides. We spent some time at Lagoona Beach. Probably not the best idea with how the weather was, but we had to go. Mark froze in the water. He hates the cold, so we didn't stay there long. We did a few more rides, played a few games then went back to the hotel to lay out our swim stuff. We walked to the Trax station and rode downtown. We had a nice little dinner and amazing dessert at The Garden Resturant at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Then headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a movie and popcorn there. It was really nice staying up late, sleeping late, and not having to worry about anyone but ourselves. Douglas and Kiera did a good job watching the boys and had some stories to share with us about Chase rubbing some ladies thigh at Walmart(luckily she had a good sense of humor and understood he is 3yrs old) and how other people kept thinking they were a couple and my boys were their kids(hilarious). Anywho.... I'm glad Mark and I were able to get away for a couple days. It was really nice just being Mark and Deborah, not Mommy and Daddy for a couple days.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T07:52:00.001-07:00

We had an interesting Memorial Day Weekend. We spent Friday packing everything up and after dinner we got in the van and drove down to Cedar City. Mark's brother Robby and his family rode down with us. Traffic wasn't bad. We left around 7, stopped a couple times for potty breaks(2 preschoolers), and arrived just after 11pm. Despite the late night the boys all woke up early. At 10 the guys went to set stuff up at the church for Grandpa J's 80th birthday party. The girls ran to Wal-mart to get some last minute stuff. It was fun, we grabbed a dinosaur and happy birthday ballon, with a bunch of balloons to have on the floor for the kids. We got some silly string, party poppers, and leis. We got a special lei for the birthday boy. This was a surprise party. Mark's aunt Lynnette and her kids came up for it. When we walked into the gym we attacked him with silly string! Then we cleaned him off and he got his lei(we were already wearing ours). We had a nice little lunch and some cake. We chilled at the home the rest of the evening. We played lots of Mexican Train, some Phase Ten and Uno. Mark, Robby, Kiera, and I all stayed up till about 2 AM playing Mexican Train, we played all 15 rounds. Sunday we went to sacrament with Pam and Robert(mark's mom and step-dad). We watched movies and played more games. After dinner we were starting a game of Mexican Train and Chase starts crying. We yelled for him to come tell us what was wrong, and he just starts screaming bloody murder. All 7 adults run to the bedroom where he was to see what was wrong. He was holding the top of his head. I couldn't see anything and told him he was fine. We told them not to jump on the bed(they weren't suppose to be in the room anyways). As I helped him off the bed, I saw a nice gash on the back of his head. I panicked and yelled for someone to get me something NOW.(normal reaction for a mom right). I did calm down and focused on Chase to keep him calm. He stopped crying after we got a towel on his head. It didn't bleed to bad. But we looked at his head and decided we had to go to the ER.

2 little monkeys jumped on the bed, 1 fell off and broke his head, mommy took him to the doctor and the doctor gave him 2 stitches!

They didn't have many people working, but we were in and out pretty quick. They were really nice. He was thirsty and they gave him some juice, he was cold and they gave him a blanket(I love how they are heated), they got us a remote so we could turn on the tv and find something he would watch. He wanted to sit on my lap, so I sat on the bed with him on my lap. When she came in to set up she put her gloves on and had some extras that he could wear, which he thought was pretty cool. As they did the local anistetik(sp) he didn't really like it. He wanted to cuddle Mark, so he sat on my lap and hugged dad. The doctor put some extra in, just for good measure. She did have to take a couple small breaks for Chase to relax. Then he was fine. When she pulled the stitch through she accidentaly pulled some of his hair and he jumped, but other than that he did really good. She told us the stitches are really easy to remove and told Mark how to do it and gave him some "disposable" tools to do it with in ten days. We went back to grandma's and watched Kung Fu Panda and went to bed. Chase did place his hands behind his head and felt the knots from the stitches and tried to pull it, but we stopped him and explained he couldn't.
Monday we went to the Memorial Service at the cemetary Mark's grandma is burried at. It was pretty cool. I'd never been to one. We visited a few family members graves then went to get lunch and pack up. We got the van loaded and played some more mexican train. During one round Morgan got his fingers shut in the fireplace door. Nikolai was trying to close it and Morgan stuck his fingers in last moment. (no fire in there, its one of those electric type ones). He got a nice cut on both sides of his finger. He is alright though. Chase didn't bother his stitches at all and is doing great. At 3 we headed home. Stopping of course in Beaver to get some Squeaky Cheese. We got home about 8:30. Emmett was happy to be home he was just running around laughing. We got the boys ready for bed and guess what Chase does.....Jumps on his bed! One day after he cuts open his head, he goes and does the same thing that caused it. We talked to him about it. Crazy kid!!!
Overall we had a good weekend. It was a nice break.

2011-05-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Nothing to exciting going on right now. I've been trying to make myself work-out each day. I've been failing. I have DVD's, video games, an eliptical, and an exercise bike plus access to the fitness room at our complex. I just have a hard time finding a time to do them. It's easier to do them when I'm not stepping over the boys or risking hitting them in one of my moves. I try to get up early and do it before the boys get up, but I have a hard time getting up early unless I have somewhere to be. Their nap times are different times so that doesn't work. And after they go to bed is usually when Mark and I have some alone time watching our favorites shows without the boys running infront of the tv and yelling. I know it is going to take some sacrifice. I've started eatting a bit healthier so that will help. I'm also impatient and am not seeing results as fast as I want them. Such is life though right.

oh wow!

2011-05-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since January!!! Sorry blogging world! I have a hard time posting pictures on here, they never work how I want them. so maybe I will only do them now and then otherwise you will just have to check out facebook for those, sorry... Anyways let's catch up.......
1/22- Emmett's 1st bday party: We had streamers hangning from the celing, balloons, and pictures of Mickey Mouse and 1s. Emmett loved the balloons and kept a hold of one all night! Emmett was spoiled that night. He ate all of his cake again and got messier than on his bday, even though this one had less frosting.
1/27- I had a root canal, minimal pain during recovery.
Feburary-started picking up extra hours at work Tuesday, Thursday, and Fridays when Mark gets home from work.
2/10- I was offered to be manager of my own complex in Layton! I had to turn down the offer, that is a far drive for Mark to get to work and I didn't think(still don't) think that I was ready for it at that time.
2/12- we had our Valentine's Day date, we went to TGI Fridays and Color Me Mine, we made an Easter plate, festive right ;)
2/20- new callings in our ward... Mark is a Sunday School teacher for the 16-17 year olds, and I am 1st counselor in the Primary!!!
3/1- Emmett gets double ear infection and bronchilities... Poor baby
3/10- we went to Disney On Ice, it was awesome! Emmett was tired so he was a little bit of a pain for the first half, then we got snacks at intermission and he was good the rest of the show.
3/11- Zoo trip with my eldest brother and his family.
3/13- my nephew Sean had his ordination. Yeah Family time!!!! While they did the ordination Chase was crouched down by their feet looking up into the circle trying to figure out what they were doing.
3/19- We bought me a 2004 Toyota Sienna!!! It is an 8 seater and had an after market dvd player! I love it! Having 2 cars again is really nice. I've wanted a mini van since high school. I always knew I would be a mom with a mini van.
3/20- Our Primary presidencey spoke in Sacrament meeting. They actually had me sing instead of speak. I sang "Like His Hands". I've sang it many times for different reason and this was the first time that I cried. The words really spoke to me this time and it meant alot!
3/29- we got a massage chair for free from our neighbors. They didn't have room for it anymore. Oh, it is so nice!!!
4/1- I played an April Fools joke at my office. I labeled everything with post-it notes! I hit my elbow just right early that morning and that evening we went to get it checked cuz my hand had gone a little numb. Luis(our maitenece guy) had put frosting on all the door handles of my van! The doctor said that I just bumped my elbow in the right spot and nothing was really wrong.
4/7- I got 2 tickets for an amazing price for Mark and my dad to go to the Jazz game. $80 total for 2 lower bowl seats!!! They had a great time.
4/11- I got my hair permed!!!
4/22- we got a '50 old projector screen tv from my aunt.
4/23- Kiera took the boys while Mark and I worked to the Peterson Egg Hunt, and that night we dyed Easter Eggs at Grandpa & Grandma Rose's.
4/24- Easter Sunday!!! Chase had fun finding eggs and his basket, Emmett didn't quite get it. They both got stuffed bunnies, matching church clothes, a couple toys, and of course candy. We had Mark's dad and my parents and Douglas over for dinner. I made some new recipes. It turned out pretty good and we had an awesome night.
End of April- Chase is fully potty trained. He wears underwear to bed now!
5/3- Emmett got his first hair cut!!! He is growing so fast!
5/5- The Primary presidency had a Teacher Appreciation dinner. I sang "Window To His Love". It was a really nice evening. Mark gave me my Mother's Day gift early. A Nook!!!!! I'm so excited I love it!!!!
5/6- Emmett is completly off the bottle. He was only getting it at night. We finished the can of formula so no more. He has done really well.
5/7- We drove to Wyoming for my niece, Elizabeth's, baptism. I drove the whole way. It was nice. We had fun spending time with family for her special day. Having the DVD player in the van was really nice. My brother David gave me a bunch of books for my Nook. Mostly ones I've already read, but I love them and re-read them often.

Now you are caught up!

Question for fellow bloggers

2011-02-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

I really want to post about Emmett's first birthday party, but there are lots of pictures I want to share and I don't like doing them individually. I've noticed some friends have the pictures in a collage..... How do you do it? Please share your wisdom!

HELP!!!!

2011-02-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

What a day and it is only 10:40! I'm mainly going to vent right now, so if you want to skip this post go for it, I won't blame you. It shouldn't be to bad though.
I'm driving myself crazy this morning. We are going to go get our taxes done tomorrow night and I'm trying to figure out my "earnings" from selling Avon. I'm getting so confused and just lost I'm not sure I'm doing it right....... UGH! On top of the frustration that that is building Emmett kept walking up to me and grabs my right hand right as I am trying to click on something on the computer and it doesn't help. I know he just wants my attention and wants me to hold him. BUT it was really irrating at the time. I know when he does it, that shortly after he will be climbing down from my lap so now add more to the frustration. He only sits for a second every time. Then I have Chase getting mad because Emmett did this and did that. Brotherly love right!
Thanks for letting me vent, I feel a little better now.

Emmett is 1 year old!!!!

2011-01-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we have finally reached it! Emmett's 1st birthday was Wednesday! He actually had a rough sleep that morning. He had woken up just after 1am and had a hard time going back to sleep till I gave him a bottle. As I climbed back into bed I realized that he was born at 1:10 am, we were back in bed asleep at 1:04(so close right!). He woke up earlier than usual to start his day. My sister-in-law gave us this adorable Birthday Boy onesie a long time ago and I had to have Emmett wear it. Just after breakfast his diaper leaked onto his clothes. Luckily there was time to wash it before we had to leave for Daycare. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to spend all day with him on his birthday, but it's ok. When Mark got home from work and picking the boys up he brought them into the office to play for a bit while he helped us with a computer problem.
That night after dinner had settled in our tummys we had some birthday cake! Just some individual cakes from Reams with Sesame Street Characters. We did not put a candle on Emmett's but we did sing to him. He totally went to town on it!

He actually ate more than all of us. Mark only ate half of his, it had to much frosting, and was whipped, I ate almost all of it, Chase ate all the frosting and a little bit of the cake. Emmett ate the whole thing!!! I kept debating of taking it away from him, that was a lot of sugar! We knew that as soon as we tried, he would freak out! So we let him eat as much as he wanted...the whole thing! Oh my gosh I couldn't believe it. He had lots of fun though! He didn't get as messy as Chase did on his 1st birthday. Chase had rubbed his hands in his hair and threw pieces on the floor. Not Emmett, he only dropped maybe 2 pieces on the floor and just had frosting on his hands, face, and belly. His birthday party is not until Saturday night(more on that then). We had a lot of fun! He has grown so much in the last year! He has started trying to say "Chase" and "Kiera" and "quack". A note on the "quack" he was playing in the tub and I showed him one of the ducks and quacked with it and he started coping me. It was adorable! He will make vroom noises when he has a car, boat, sometimes any toy, and he will push them along the floor. He also says "mine" well he doesn't really say it, he will point to things and then to himself. Sometimes when he does it and points to himself he will shake his head, saying "not mine". He started walking just before Christmas(like a day or two) and now he is trying to run! He got sick last week with a cold, and a cold in his eyes as well, and an ear infection. While he was sick he got pretty attached to his bear. It's pretty cute watching him carry it around. He loves playing with his brother. They like to lay on top of each other and bump heads into each others bellys or just head butt. Emmett loves when we chase him around. He has learned to go down the stairs. I'm still uneasy about letting him do it, so we are always right there as he goes down just to be safe. He is such a big boy and it will be exciting to watch him grow further, and learn more.

Necessary Evil

2011-01-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday when I went to take my boys to daycare so I could go to work, my car wouldn't start!!! For some reason the battery had died. Luckily Mark was home sick(who wanted to rest, understandably, and preferred to have the boys at daycare) so I took them back into him and went to find our maintenance man. He was doing a work order for one of the apartments, but came to help jump my car. Though he teases me all the time(sometimes worse than what I got from my brothers and all their friends) and has some bad humor, he is a really nice guy and I appreciate the help he gave me. We got the car running and I was able to get the boys to daycare and me into work on time...barely. Cars are a necessary evil. Yes I know you can live without them, but it does make a life a ton easier..

Christmas Recap

2011-01-02T12:16:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to get this done before the new year, but obviously I failed...

We got to celebrate Christmas 4 days in a row! On the 23rd was my extended family party. We get together at a church(since we are so huge) and hang out almost all day. This year there were Gingerbread House making, coloring pages, basketball, snacks, and hanging out. Once everyone arrived we did the Nativity Story. My aunt keeps all the pieces in a tote. There are costume for all the characters and even signs with their parts on it. Afterwards we have a Sing-a-long. We sing the same songs every year but it never gets old! When we sing "It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas" and split into parts we compete to be the loudest and who can hold the final note the longest. It is so much fun. We usually sing this one again after all the others. The Nativity and sing-a-long are our traditions and we've done it every year as well as have a Pinata!!! My dad and his siblings take turns each year on who gets to make/get it. Then we start from the youngest kid and work our way up. Emmett was the youngest and got to hit first! I don't think we got past the 8 year olds before the pinata was done. After the mad dash for candy we settle down and my Grandparents hand out gifts for everyone and we give them our gift. We use to draw names and exchange gifts with everyone, but we have gotten so big now that a different sibling of my dads is in charge of the family service project and we donate to whichever place they chose. Last year was the food bank and this year was the Road Home.

On the 24th we had Mark's dad and brother and his family over to our house. We played a few games and had a nice ham dinner. Then we exchanged gifts with each other. Nik and Chase wanted to open everyone presents not just their own. Before we go to bed on Christmas Eve we always open one gift which is pajamas. Then we watched The Muppet Christmas Carol and put cookies and milk out for Santa. We also have a special key to hang on the door so Santa can get in. Chase was super excited!
The next morning, Emmett woke up before Chase so I woke Chase up. I told him that Santa had come, I said it several times before he realized what was going on and shot out of bed. He was so excited to open his presents. We let the boys take turns one then one etc. It was lots of fun. Breakfast took longer than we liked, but was yummy sticky buns! Chase got a bike from Aunt Kiera(but we pretended it was from Santa) and after breakfast we took him outside and let him ride it for a bit. He can't quite figure out the pedaling but he got a couple turns in. We vegged the rest of the day and enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner.
On the 26th we drove out to Greenriver, WY for my family party with my siblings and parents. My brother and his wife held it at their house and prepared a nice ham dinner. It was really nice being with all my brothers and their families. We chatted and opened gifts. Again Chase kept thinking it was his turn. Then we played Harry Potter Scene It and Twilight Scene It. Mark and I won both. Then we made the journey home. Mark drove my parents(my dad has a hard time seeing the roads at night) and I drove our car. When we hit Parleys Canyon there was salt etc flying up onto my windshield so bad that I couldn't see except for a small portion in the bottom left corner and even then I could only see a few feet in front of me. Our washer fluid hasn't worked in years and we can't fix it. It was a bit scary. Nothing happened, we were safe. We got home after midnight, but it was a ton of fun.

Emmett was walking by Christmas Eve and is all over the place. He thinks he is all that in a bag of chips! Chase is fully potty trained(day time) and does awesome! I'm so proud of him!
Hope your Christmas was just as awesome as mine! Happy New Year and I hope this year gets even better than last!

11 Months Old!!!

2010-12-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Emmett will be a year old in one month!!! I'm a little behind this month on posting this, I'm covering for the other manager so she can use her vaction time before the new year. Anywho! Emmett is just growing and growing! Those top 2 teeth have come threw and now he has the 2 next to that coming in. So he will have the front 4 top and then the bottom 2 once these others decide to come all the way through. We went to see Santa last week. He was totally chill about it. He just looked at him like, "who are you?" He does that with anyone who picks him up that he isn't use to. He doesn't cry though, which is awesome. He is so funny, whenever we laugh at a joke or something he starts laughing too, and this laugh is sort of nasily/throaty. It's hard to discribe, but he screntches up his nose and eyes. It is so adorable! He really loves his brother and loves to play with him. He is still a major Mommy's Boy. Chase went to visit Grandma Smith with Aunt Kiera for a couple days in Cedar City, when he got home he just wanted to cuddle with Mommy. Emmett had a hard time sharing.
He loves to play with his brother's toys and take anything away from him that he has.
Just a note, I don't encourage him to stand in front of the tv. This is one of his favorite things to do though.

While we were making dinner one night, he crawled into the panty we had left open and found his Puffs. He kept trying to open it.

Here is a wider view.
He doesn't talk to much. He does say, Hi, yeah, momma, dadda, and baba. He waves like none other though. If he knows you are leaving or when you just get home he will smile and wave. He is still clapping for everything. He immitates us and will smile while he does it and won't stop till we join and say "YAY!" I remember that when I was pregnant with him we had wanted him to come before the new year, so we could get the tax deduction, but now we are happy that he didn't. Having atleast 1 paycheck between Christmas and his birthday is nice and we don't have to whats the term "stress" about two holidays in one. Does that work? Anyways! He is never endingly cuddily and sweet and a major flirt!

Cool Article, Celebrating 12 Months of Christmas

2010-12-18T10:56:00.001-08:00

Celebrating 12 months of Christmas
Published: Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 8:38 p.m. MST
By Jerry Earl Johnston, Deseret News

I have an idea for a Christmas program.
You can borrow it. But don't steal it.

This is how it plays out.

You've heard of "The 12 Days of Christmas"? My program would be "The 12 Months of Christmas."

I believe every holiday has a nugget of Christmas spirit inside just waiting to be discovered.

We begin with a family decorating a Christmas tree. Everyone's feeling festive. Then a little girl says she wishes Christmas could last all year long. There's a moment of melancholy. The wise old Grandma takes the girl aside and tells her Christmas can last all year. She explains.

"Like Christmas," Grandma says, "New Year's Day is about second chances. We make plans and resolutions, but almost never get them done. But next year we have a chance to try again. That's the promise of Christmas. We're given the chance to repent and try again." (Hymn: "Jesus Once of Humble Birth").

"Valentine's Day," Grandma says, "is an easy one. We've made it about romantic love, but St. Valentine wanted it to be about all kinds of love, especially the love that Jesus feels for us and we feel for him." (Hymn: "Love One Another").
Mother's Day could be for Mary.

Father's Day would be for the Father of us all.

"And Easter," grandma says, "is just the reflection of Christmas in the mirror. Turn Christmas over, like a penny, and Easter is on the other side. You can't have one without the other." (Hymn: "Christ, the Lord, Is Risen Today.")

"But what about Pioneer Day?" the little girl said. "How can those hot, dusty plains be about Christmas?"

"The Pioneers and the Wisemen were alike," Grandma explains. "They weren't explorers. They were pilgrims, they were after the same things. They were searching for God's joy and peace. And all of them eventually found it." (Hymn: Come, Come Ye Saints).

"And the Fourth of July?" the girl asks.

"Ah, the Fourth of July is about freedom," Grandma says. "And that's what Christmas is about, too. It's about freedom from darkness and fear. It's about freedom to be who we really are." (Hymn: "America.")

And as for, Thanksgiving, grandma says, "Jesus may be the reason for the season, but gratitude is the attitude. In Spanish, 'gracias' — gratefulness — and 'gracia' — God's grace — are the same word. They should be the same for us, too." (Hymn: "Now Thank We All Our God.")

"Let's see" says grandma, "What have we left out?"

They both think for a minute. Then the girl shouts, "We left out Christmas!"

And everyone laughs and sings a rousing carol.

Everyone is happy and festive again.

And, no, nobody says "God bless us every one."

Christmas Letter 2010

2010-12-17T08:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
I decided to write a Christmas letter this year. I’ve never really done one before and we usually just send out cards. I want to start this tradition. Hopefully it is good and works right. We’ve had quite the year. It started with baby #2, Emmett Michael joined our family on January 19th. He was 9lbs 4oz and 21in long. We were very excited to have him join our family. Chase is such a good big brother. He just loves Emmett. When we brought Emmett home Chase was sick so we tried to keep them distant but no such luck. Luckily Emmett didn’t get sick. Emmett was blessed on March 7th.
We visited lots of parks as a family and did a couple hikes in the spring/summer. In May we hiked up Ensign Peak. Chase walked maybe half the way and took turns being carried by his Aunt Kiera and Grandpa Peterson. We also went to Wheeler Farm for the first time on Memorial Day. We took Emmett swimming for the first time in June and he fell asleep in the water. Chase was able to swim by himself, with the help of a flotation device of course. Mark and I had to work on July 4th so my mom and brother took Chase to the Magna parade. We spent that evening at my Uncle Elgin’s house in Hooper for fireworks. Chase had a lot of fun and enjoyed the fireworks, the loud booms didn’t bother Emmett he actually slept through them. We then went camping at our family property in Malad Idaho for Mark’s birthday. I had possibly broken one of my toes right before we went up and while there Chase scratched up his legs from falling off a log. Despite our injuries we had a blast. Chase turned 3 on July 25th. We had a party outside. He had tons of fun and got lots of presents.
We took a trip in August to visit Mark’s mom in Cedar City, it was a surprise. On the way home we saw a beautiful double rainbow. In mid-August Mark and I (well mainly me and some others on Facebook) planned our 5 year high school reunion. We did it at the Pleasant Green Park and had a lot of fun catching up with our classmates. After that I donated about 17 inches of hair to Locks of Love. I had been growing my hair out for 2 years (since the last time I donated). We made another trip to Cedar for Labor Day and the Iron County Fair. For my birthday we hiked up to Doughnut Falls. Chase did much better on this hike. Kiera climbed up all the way to the falls, but we stayed down at the bottom with the boys. Chase kept asking where Kiera had gone while Emmett was dying to get out of his carrier. We paid off Mark’s car in September, so it is officially ours!
We moved from our 3 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom townhouse in the same apartment complex October Conference Weekend. It is an extra 250 sq ft, extra bathroom, and two levels with no neighbors above or below us. We had to get a new sectional for the living room to fill in the space. The boys really like it because they can run and play without having to worry about making too much noise. Halloween was a very busy day; we had several parties to attend. I dressed as a Cat, Mark was a homicidal lumberjack, Chase was Buzz Lightyear, and Emmett was a Teddy Bear. Chase was able to do his trick or treating at our ward Trunk or Treat (though it was done in the church’s gym due to rain). Then we went to a friend’s Halloween party and had a ton of fun. They had all sorts of goodies and chase was pigging out on the chocolate eyeballs.
November was fun filled with Emmett taking his first unassisted steps and lots of snow. We made our first family snowman, and Chase made tons of snow angels. We even had a snow fight. Thanksgiving was held at our house. We had 13 people including us so it was a little crowded. The dinner turned out pretty good. We played bingo afterwards, though Chase had a hard time keeping up. He just wanted to fill in all the spaces and yell “BINGO!” all the time. We have tons to be thankful for and wrote on a poster board everyday in November one thing we were thankful for. It really helped us to realize everything we have been blessed with.
December started off a little rough. We had to get a new daycare for the boys and had a hard time finding someone. We ended up finding someone that the boys seem to really like so were hoping it will work out. We got the Christmas tree up and Emmett is having a really hard time not playing with all the ornaments. We decided presents cannot go under the tree till Christmas Eve because Emmett would not leave them alone. We took the boys to Temple Square and Chase really liked seeing all the lights. Chase has been really cute this year because he is getting so excited about Christmas. He keeps telling us that Santa is coming, with Frosty of course. He has been watching Frosty the Snowman almost every day and has become a little obsessed. We haven’t taken him to see Santa yet, but will be going soon. We are really excited to see how he handles sitting on Santa’s lap. In previous years he has not liked it at all so hopefully he will be ok this year. Emmett isn’t walking on his own yet (Chase took his first unassisted steps and then 3 days later was walking like no other), but we have hopes that he will by Christmas.
This year has been full of family fun and love and we hope next year will bring even more not only for us but for you as well!

Love,
Mark, Deborah, Chase, and Emmett Peterson

November Events

2010-11-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

We recieved callings in our ward this month, but we technically won't start doing it till the new year. We will be teaching the Sunbeams. That means we will be Chase's teachers! That will be interesting. Mark is cursed. Since we've been married he has only attended Elders Quorm for maybe 8 months. Other than that he has been in Primary. After the big snow storm we had our Nephew tried to make us a snowman outside our apartment. So that night we made him one. It was our first snowman ever. Mark and I have never made one together. We had tons of fun.

Before we made the snowman Chase played in the snow with Kiera. He made snow angels and would jump in different piles of snow. He really enjoyed it.

For Thanksgiving we had the family at our house this year. My eldest brother and his family from Wyoming were going to come, but were unable. So it was just us, Mark's brother's family, his dad, my parents and my youngest brother. We had tons of fun. Mark and his dad watched the Cowboys game. We had lots of good food. We have a tradition to have English Christmas Crackers on Christmas, but I found a company that makes them for other holidays. And since we were having everyone over we thought we would get some. It is a cracker that you pop open and inside there is a paper crown, a toy, and a joke. My mom got more pictures and hasn't shared them with me yet, but here a few highlights that I got.

The Pies! Cherry, Apple, Banana Cream, and Pumpkin of course.

And here is our turkey. We borrowed my mom's roaster. For some reason it didn't want to brown the top. It was a delicious turkey! After dinner we always play Bingo. It was lots of fun. We had gotten different prizes from the Dollar Store. After all the prizes had been won we ate our dessert. Some people left after that. Eventually it was just my side of the family here. We had turkey sandwhiches after awhile and played some more games. It was a nice family fun filled day! Hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving!

Emmett is 10 months!!!

2010-11-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

My how time flies! I can't believe Emmett is almost a year old! He is so cute and always brings a smile to your face. He is getting pretty fast at crawling and walking along the couch. When he gets excited is when he really books it and he will make this noise that is like an excited, giggle, pant. He really does this if we leave the gate blocking the stairs open. He gets over there as fast as he can to climb the stairs. He loves climbing the stairs and crawling all over upstairs. We don't leave him up there very often, because we don't have a fence/gate at the top and we don't want him to fall down the stairs. He is climbing onto the couch and climbs off it as well. Just this morning(November 29th) I swear he tried to climb up onto one of the dinning room chairs.

He is almost always smiling. He is just a very happy boy!

He has 2 teeth coming in on the top, which will make 4. They are taking their sweet time though.

This is another of his favorite faces to make. Sometimes he will do this and then give you a kiss. He has really started head-butting also. He hits pretty hard.
He loves to sit on Chase's chair.

I love this picture! He loves to play with Daddy's hats. He tries to put them on, but can't quite get it. If we put the hat on for him, he will take it off and try himself. He has learned to clap and does it often. He took 2 unassisted steps a couple weeks ago, but hasn't progressed. Which is both good and bad. Good as, I don't want to have to chase after him during church. Bad well it's not really bad. It is just that Chase was closer to walking at this age then Emmett is. Emmett is still a cuddlier and very snugly!

Halloween

2010-11-28T09:58:00.001-08:00

I had to work Halloween day. So I got in my costume etc that morning. I had my dad paint my face. We had to wake Chase up from a nap so we could go to our various parties. He wasn't really happy, but cheered up eventually.

Kiera was a pirate.

Mark was the woodsman from Red Ridding Hood(that is why there is blood on his axe from the wolf)

My dad did an amazing job painting my face. Later that night we went by and he added some wiskers, since he forgot them.

Chase was Buzz Lighyear and Emmett made an adorable Bear.

We went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat which was indoor due to the rain. Chase had fun getting the candy and hitting the pinata they had. He kept saying "look at that....(insert costume type)."
We left there early to visit my parents so they could see the boys. Then we went to our friends Jordan and Bubba's house for a party with people from our 1st ward. We really miss them and take every chance we can to hang out with them. It was alot of fun. There were all sorts of "spooky snacks". We played that game where you have a person's name written on your back and you go around asking questions trying to figure out who you are(I can't remember the name). We again left early so we could visit Mark's dad before the boys got to tired. Then we headed home to bed. Chase slept in his costume and loved being Buzz.

sooo behind

2010-11-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh, I can't believe how far behind on my blog I am. With preping for the holidays and having most of the family at our place for turkey and now setting up Christmas I don't see it happening maybe till next week. I just wanted to let you know we are still going strong and are happy. I have pictures to share with the past holidays and events.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Doctor's Appointment

2010-10-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Chase and Emmett had a doctors appointment yesterday. We had alot of convincing to do with Chase to get him to stand on the scale and to be measured. He didn't want to see the doctor. He did not like him. Emmett did pretty good. When they got their shots, Emmett cried, but calmed quickly. Chase didn't fight at all. He just snuggled up to daddy and let them do it. We totally expected him to rip it out. Chase is 36lbs which is 79% and he is 38in tall which is 44%. Emmett is 19lbs 10 oz which is 36% and he is 30 lbs which is 94%.

Emmett is 9 months... Really?

2010-10-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

My how time flys!!! I can't believe Emmett is 9 months now! He is getting so big! His check-up is on Friday, so I'll post his stats then. He actually crawls now, no more "frog'. He isn't too fast at it, but he's good. He loves to walk along the furniture, and with you holding his hands. He is always pulling himself up on stuff. He is always climbing onto the landing on the stairs and shaking the gate. He can climb the stairs, if we let him. He loves sitting at the table with us when we eat. He thinks he is so cool eatting finger foods. Look at him go!

He loves playing with his brother and giving kisses.

I love when he makes this face!

Emmett's personality is really starting to show and we are very excited to have him in our family.

Moving

2010-10-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

We moved into one of the Townhouses in our complex last Tuesday. It is an extra 250 square feet, split level, has an extra bathroom, and no neighbors above or below! We are loving the space. I hate seeing boxes lying around, so I worked really hard and had everything in it's place yesterday. I work myself ragged doing it, but now I can relax and enjoy the space even more. I haven't taken any picture yet, but will soon.

Emmett is 8 Months

2010-09-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Emmett turned 8 months old yesterday! He is such a big boy! His bottom 2 teeth have come in. He is "frog crawling" like non-other. We can't put him in shorts anymore, due to getting a bit of a rug burn on his knees. If you put your hands in front of him he will grab on and stand himself up. We have also been able to get him to take a few steps while holding on. He is improving with standing up. He will actually sit on his bum now. He loves baby oatmeal, and taking baths(which he has started really splashing in). When going to sleep he usually has to have his little bear/blanket. Poor little guy is still teething and is a little sick right now. Slight fever and runny nose, and really cranky. He isn't getting much sleep at night, so neither is mommy. We can't feel any other teeth coming through, but with the fever and all the slobber, they must be coming. We have stopped breastfeeding. He wasn't getting enough and was fighting me everytime I tried to use the cover. He will only take water in a regular cup. He is always grabbing for things, including mommy's hair(with it being short). Still a major momma's boy and only wants her. He is getting to be such a big boy, it's hard to remember those times where he wasn't mobile in the least and would just snuggle all the time. But as he grows, more fun times come.

I had to show off his toothy grin, it is sooo cute!

Playing with Great Grandpa Jensen Labor Day weekend.

Small Update

2010-09-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm horrible at this right now. We are currently getting ready to move. We aren't moving far. We will just be moving to one of the townhouses in our complex. It will be an extra 250 sq. ft., it's a split level, so we don't have to worry about people below or above us, and there will be much better parking for when we have people over. We are really looking forward to this, the pros out weigh the cons. We paid off the car last month!!! About a month ago, I cut and donated my hair! I chopped off about 14 inches, it is now a crop style. I do miss my long hair, and this is a big change, but it was fun. And there are other people who need it more than I do. I last donated my hair 2 years ago. We spend Labor Day in Cedar with Mark's mom. It was quite an adventure getting there... See we decided to stop at a place in Lehi called Emmett and Ethels. Where if you bring in an Emmett or an Ethel that person and you eat for free! Plus they give you a t-shirt and take a picture of Emmett or Ethel. We looked up the directions on mapquest and it said to take the back road. We ended up getting lost and it took us 5 hours instead of 3 1/2 to get to Cedar. We saw things we never would have saw. I was beating myself up the entire time we were lost, but laugh about it now. Thank heavens for VZ Navigator, which helped us find our way back to the freeway. We did stop at Emmett and Ethels on our way home(sticking to the freeway this time) it was alright.

*NOTE* If you are friends with me on facebook there is a much more describtive account of that weekend in my notes, I couldn't copy and paste it onto here. Much more happened that weekend to add to the adventure.

**Someday I'll remember to post the pictures then type.

7 Months Old!!!

2010-08-19T18:59:00.001-07:00

My little Bear is now 7 months!!! He is a rolling machine! He has "hopped" twice. When Chase started to crawl, he did a "worm" crawl. Picture someone doing the worm. Chase would do it very very slowly and not so....wiggly. Emmett will get up on all fours and rock back and forth then push off and hop forward. He hasn't done it since those first two times, but I think it'll be like when he first rolled over. He does it twice then waits a couple weeks and then really starts doing it. Bananas are still his favorite, he hates Green Beans, and is ok with Sweet Potatoes now. He loves drinking water from a cup, he gets so excited when you hold a cup within his reach for him to drink. He is a major mama's boy. When mommy gets home if she doesn't pick him up quickly he starts crying, much worse than last month. We think he is teething. He gets pretty fussy and after we give him some baby oragel he is fine. We can't feel anything yet. He doesn't really like to sit on his bum or in the Babepod. He much rather be laying down or standing, which he can do pretty well. He loves his big brother. They just laugh back and forth in the car. He is great at giving kisses, which mommy can't get enough of. Everyone just loves his laugh and smile.

Camping, 6 mths, 3 yrs, Cedar City, and Canada

2010-08-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, I know it's been over a month since my last post crazy stuff. We've been camping, Emmett turned 6 months, Chase turned 3, visit down to Cedar City to surprise Mark's mom for a weekend, my parents leave for Nova Scotia for 2 weeks. So much to write about and not much time in between a sweet, lovable, but clingy baby and taking a cute love bug but almost constant whiny little boy potty every 45 minutes. I'll try to find some time to get these posted. I'm not good with posting pictures on Blogger, but they are all on facebook. I'll take the time now and hope its not to long...

For Mark's birthday we headed up to Malad, Idaho. My Grandparents have property up there. It was tons of fun. This is the first year the property has had mice everywhere it was kinda freaky. I hate mice and seeing all their little "tunnels" if you will and little heads poking out everyone once and a while or one running past you. After we set up the tent we realized we had put it on top of some of the tunnels. So we had mice crawling under one corner of the tent at night... EWWW. It was rather interesting. We saw a couple snakes too. Then one late night we heard a weird nose. My brother and Mark went to find it because it was rather creepy. Saw it and Douglas thought it to be a flying squirrel. Turns out it was a bat! Yes a Bat! He never really came near us, he would fly overhead a few times and just make his little noise, I don't even know how to describe it. We ended up naming him Bruce. Oh a couple days before we went camping Chase had fallen and scrapped up his hands, and then another day fell and hit his head on the air vent in the hallway and cut his head. It didn't need stitches, bleed for less than a minute, but there is still a scar today. So while we were camping, he had several band aids and we had to keep replacing them with him sweating and getting dirty. It was nice to get away and enjoy nature. We had smores almost every night. We were there for 4 days.

Emmett turned 6 months on the 19th. He had his checkup on the 27th along with Big Brother. He is 19 lbs 2 oz and 28 1/4in long. He is a rollie pollie. He is rolling everywhere! As soon as he wakes up, he rolls over. I try to keep him in one area, but he always rolls out of it and into a completely different one. He is still very talkative! We started giving him rice cereal via spoon and fruits and veggies. He loves Banana's, Apples are ok, and when Mark tried to give him Sweet Potatoes Emmett would have nothing to do with it. He does alright with the rice cereal as long as it is mixed with breastmilk and not water. When ever we feed him cereal or fruits/veggies he has some water out of a cup. Which I think he does pretty good with. He is pretty clingy to mommy. If she is not holding him and is close by he gets upset. He is super cuddley, sweet, and makes everyone fall in love with him as soon as they see him. Still a thumb sucker, and sleeping through the night.

For Chase's 3rd Birthday we had a party at the pavillion at our complex. We played with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and pin the tail on Bullseye. We let the kids play at the park for a good while too. He got lots of toys and each time he opened one "I want to play with that can we open it?" He did't care about the others he just wanted to play with them. While we got the cake and ice cream ready he and the other kids just kept grabbing the different toy boxes and played with the toys. He had a Woody and Buzz cake from Rogers Bakery(delicious). When we sang Happy Birthday he was all shy and hiding his face in his arms. It took him several tries to blow the candles out. After everyone but my parents and Mark's dad left we had a little BBQ at the house. Kiera had gotten Chase a baseball bat and baseball, they went outside to play while Mark cooked the burgers. He was actually hitting the ball it was awesome! At his checkup he would not get on the scale we ended up having me hold him and stand on the scale then me alone to deduct my weight to get his. He is about 34lbs. He would not stand on the thing to be measured. He did not want the doctor looking at him, he was crying and screaming.

The last day in July we took a quick trip down to Cedar City to suprise Mark's mom. We haven't seen her since Emmett's blessing. She was so happy to see us. We stayed the night then after dinner on Sunday we came back home.

Yesterday I got up at about 4am to take my parents and brother to the airport. They are going to Nova Scotia, Canada(where my mom is from) for 2 weeks. My parents have been back there since 1992 and my brother has never been. My mom was barely pregnant with him when we went in '92. I'm so happy for them, yet jelous. I don't remember much from the trip in '92. I was 5. But I'll get my turn. I'm determined.

Sorry this post is lengthy. If you stuck around thanks! Hope you enjoyed. Will try better to not take so long!

5 Months Old

2010-06-20T09:21:00.001-07:00

Emmett turned 5 months old yesterday! He is getting so big! He was 17 lbs at his 4 mnth appt. He is keeping his darker hair, Chase's lightened up by this age, and it's thicker than big brothers. He loves attention and being in the center of it. He is a flirt just like his big brother and mommy. When you talk to him and make him smile he will usually hide into whos ever shoulder that is holding him(did that come out right?). He is quite talkative. He's rolled over from his belly to his back twice. We try to get him to do it again, but he starts to get upset and scoots forward instead! He is sleeping through the night usually from about 9 till 7. he eats every 3-4 hours, and has some rice cereal in his bottle once a day, we are still breastfeeding. He can't quite handle the spoon, thats why we make his cereal in the bottle. He loves his little teddy blanket and sticking rattles in his mouth, not to mention his thumb. He is a great sleeper and will tell you when he is tired. He can put himself to sleep. He is the sweetest little boy with heartmelting smiles! I have a hard time remembering what life was like with just one little boy.

4 Years Down, An Eternity More To Go

2010-06-13T19:22:00.001-07:00

Today is my 4 year wedding anniversary! It's funny how time goes. I feel like we have been together for forever, but it really isn't all that long. It's fun to think back to when we first started dating, the things we did during high school, things we did after high school, when Mark gave me a Promise ring after my parents told him they wanted us to wait to get married, and the night he proposed, and the list goes on and on. I don't remember every moment, but I remember alot. I know I've never stopped loving Mark. There were times of course when I got mad about something or we had a little spat, but every couple has that. I didn't realize how unhappy I was before I dated Mark till much later in our relationship. I'm so thankful for him for lightening up my life and everything else he has given me. Since our last anniversary Mark has gotten a promotion, I've found a good job, our Father in Heaven sent us another angel to care for, and we've grown closer as a family.
We had our date this past Friday. We went to Olive Garden for dinner. We decided to try new food rather than sticking to what we knew we liked. Our food was good, but we would have preferred our usual choice. Afterwards we went over to Hollywood Connection and had an hour to kill before our movie started. So we got a bunch of tokens and played at the arcade. We ended up doing a lot of Skee Ball. We did play a few other games and a game of Air Hockey that Mark kicked my butt in(7-5 though). He kicks my butt at almost every game we play. But it's ok. We went and saw Iron Man 2, real romantic right ;) I like action movies and I wanted to see it. When we were planing our date, Mark thought we were going to see Letters To Juliet, which I also wanted to see, I thought we were going to see Iron Man 2. I'll admit I didn't want it to be to much of a 'girly romantic' date, so I said we'd see Iron Man. It was really good. Before we went out we exchanged gifts. I had ordered Mark an 8-bit clip-on tie from ThinkGeek.com and he got me some my favorite mixed cream Chocolates and a necklace I already had, but was sort of messed up. It's called Music Of The Heart, it's a treble clef inside a heart. I've worn it everyday since he gave it to me.
Mark's sister wanted to do something for our anniversary, so when the boys woke up today(our anniversary) we were to take them to her and she would take care of them, giving us some alone time. We just slept in later. Mark slept later than I did, my hunger got to me. We didn't do much else today other than church and a birthday party for the daughter of a friend of ours. I made delicious lasagna rolls for dinner.
Looking forward to the rest of Eternity with my high school sweetheart!

Memorial, Lacking Motivation, Mula

2010-06-08T14:21:00.001-07:00

The Sunday before Memorial Day we had a little barbecue with my parents. It was really nice. Mark felt sick when we left and was sick for the next day. We had planned to go to Wheeler Farm and Chase was super excited about it. So Kiera, Chase, Emmett, and I left Daddy at home and we went by ourselves. Chase really wanted to see the pigs. Emmett slept half of the time. Chase got to pet a horse and some goats. The Farm is smaller than I remember. Of course the last time I went was when I was in Elementary school, so lots of things seemed huge. It got lots of video and some pictures for Mark, since he couldn't join us. I'd post some, but I have a hard time getting the pics where I want them on these posts. Plus our computer has issues and I haven't been able to use it for over a month. I've been using Kiera's laptop. Sad thing is, she plans to move out the end of this month, so I'll be without. Unless we can come up $400 to get a new computer.
I'm trying really hard to work out everyday. I wrote out a schedule of what exercise I want to do each day. I haven't done a very good job at it. I want to loose weight, it's just that the best time for me to do it is at night after the boys have gone to bed, but I also want to spend that time as quality time with Mark and just relax after the day. And I don't want to stay up super late. Any motivation tips???
Mark got a raise at work, now we are just hoping to hear that he got the promotion too, because that is an even bigger raise. But Mark doesn't know when they will tell him. The car is almost paid off. It'll be paid off in the next couple of months!!!

Mother's Day, hiking, and 4 Months

2010-05-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

My mother's day was pretty good. Mark sort of gave me a whole weekend rather than just one day. We did what I wanted and he took care of the boys for me. Chase was a little bit of a pill on Sunday. The church handed out giant candy bars to all the woman after sacrament. Chase made a flower in nursery. Mark bought me books 2-4 of the Percy Jackson series(we already had book 1). The boys signed a beautiful card for me. Mark made Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner and then we went over to my mom's house. We had a Diary Queen ice cream cake(that my dad had brought home) and cupcakes. My brother had picked some tulips and an iris for me, my mom, and my sister-in-law. My mom gave me a beautiful card. It was nice spending time with the family. My cute little niece wrote me a cute little note full of things she thinks of me/likes about me.
We've been trying to spend time with Mark's brother and dad every 3rd Sunday of the month. This month we decided to hike up Ensign Peak. It was really nice, it was a beautiful day! Chase had to be carried for more than we expected, but he did good. Mark's brother didn't feel up to a hike, so they joined us for games after the hike. They played Clue, I was taking care of Emmett. Stephanie had to take care of Morgan(Emmett had fallen asleep), so I took over for her. They had been playing for awhile. I rolled my first roll and got into a room and made my accusation, no one could prove me wrong so I looked in the envelope and I was right. It was awesome that I got it on my first guess! I had not been paying attention to the game at all!
We want to do more hikes this summer, enjoy this beautiful earth Heavenly Father gave us, and get more fit. We are talking about doing Doughnut Falls next month. We plan to do Timpanogos Caves this summer. Mark has never been. We won't take Chase, we think that would be a bit hard for him.
Emmett turned 4 months old yesterday! I can't believe it's been that long, yet so short. Time really flies! He had his 4 month check up today. He is 17lbs 7oz and 27 1/4 inches. His weight is in the 91%, his height is in the 99%, and his head circumference is in the 71%. He is such a happy baby! Smile for anyone! He is starting to talk and jabber. He has found his thumb and sucks on it often. his favorite toy is one of those little blankets with a teddy bear on the top, which is actually a rattle. He is eating almost every 4 hours and sleeps for most of the night. He gets to start rice cereal now. Looking forward to watching him grow! Chase loves playing with Emmett, and they are so cute. The other day Chase was 'eating' Emmett's toes. Mark asked why and his response was, 'They are yummy!'

And so you have it. BTB if you didn't read my last post, I am now selling Avon! You can shop at my online store at www.youravon.com/dpeterson or if you want a booklet let me know.

Having a rough day and needing to vent

2010-05-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, but I'm having a really rough day(or 2 weeks) and need to let it out. It's easier for me to just type all this, then writing it down on paper. If you want to skip reading this post I don't blame you, it's fine. I don't know how lengthy it will be.
Last week was fast and busy and stressful. We were crazy busy at work, which wasn't completely a bad thing, but still enough that I need a rest, but never really got it. I forgot things that I needed to do, or just didn't do somethings or mixed things up completely. I had to watch my nephews(again not a bad thing), but it got stressful as well and I needed a break. I know life is stressful and trials only make us stronger, and it's suppose to be hard. I'm just struggeling with it right now. My break never really came. Mother's Day was a little relaxing, but still Chase was a pill and gave me a rough time.
I had to watch my nephews again this week. One of them would not stop crying. The only way he was happy is if you were holding him. I don't even hold my own baby all day. They need to learn self-soothing. I had just signed up to be an Avon Representative and was trying to get signed into the website and start the training. But it was hard to concentrate when he was screaming. Mark was into his book and he wanted to do that, so we took turns dealing with him.
Yesterday I had work and got to relax a little, but as soon as I got home, it was busy busy. I came home at dinner while trying to feed Emmett then went to our ward Activity Days(I'm the Faith in God Coordinator). It was fun, I enjoyed spending time with the girls and helping them with the craft. When I got home from that, Mark had invited a friend over to watch Ultimate Fighter(not something I enjoy, but he does and I'm not going to say he can't). So I tried to do some the training with Avon while they did that. I did get to relax some more after 9 and just read my book for half an hour. As I type this I am seeing Blessings mixed in, with the madness. I know they are there. We just need to take the time and "blogging therapy" to see them sometimes.
Today has been hecktic. The morning started ok. The boys didn't sleep as late as I wanted, but it's all good. I got the kitchen cleaned and dishes started. I was able to complete the second training course for Avon. Chase started being a pill. Kiera helped out a bit after she got up and ready. She vaccumed for me and helped with the boys. Emmett wasn't eating as well as he should. He wouldn't latch on right and just kept swinging his arm all over so I had a tough time staying covered. I wanted to keep working on my Avon stuff while I nursed, but as I said, he was being difficult and I couldn't use my free hand to work the mouse, I had to use it to hold his hand down. I tried to relax and read a little while Emmett napped and Chase watched a movie. Chase was a pill at first and just added on the stress, but when he fell asleep it was better. I got to a stopping point and then tried Avon again. I got almost all the way through the 3rd training, almost to the assesment and Emmett woke up crying. I tried everything to calm him. Nothing really worked. So I had to exit out of the training(right before the assesment) to take care of him. As he is screaming my supervisor calls to check up on me and see if I had any questions about Avon etc.
I'm feeling better now after getting some of this out. I had been feeling that every path I was trying to take, it was the wrong one and something would stop me. I can't figure out why that path is wrong and why I'm not allowed to go on it. I was feeling like a horrible mother who can't get the things she wants to for her family and can't take care of them right. I lost my patience. I have so many things I want to get done. Mark was telling me I was taking on to much at once and needed to do one at a time. I tried that today, but trying to focus on Avon. But wasn't able to get very far. Yes I did get some done and accomplished somethings. But I feel like a faliure and someone who doesn't have priorities set right. I tell Mark the things I want to get done, but I don't get much help. I'm not saying he is a horrible husband and doesn't help me, he does! He is an amazing husband and helps other ways. These projects are just something I want to do by myself. Maybe that is my problem, I don't know. I guess I just have a lot on my plate right now and don't know where to start. How do I find the balance? How do I fit it all in with the limited time we have? I can't do it all at once, I felt I couldn't do any of it today. So much to do, and not enough time to get it all done in the time I want it done. I hate these kinds of days, where everything just doesn't go how you want. I'm trying to remember the thing I learned from M2B:) "Blessed Not Stressed". I'm able to see a little more blessing then stresses now that I've calmed and let it out. If you've stuck around to read this, thanks for the ear...or eyes rather!

M2B:)

2010-04-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the last time I posted was Emmett's blessing... We haven't been up to much, just distracted by one thing or the other. Like getting the boys outside for some great Vitamin D, reading new books, and just diving into life. We are loving this beautiful spring weather. I want to go hiking with the boys, but don't really know where to go that Chase could do the hike. Any suggestions??? I really love the Fablehaven books and the 5th and final one was released, I couldn't put it down. Then I read Percy Jackson, The Lightening Thief. We saw that and How To Train Your Dragon at the Drive-in. I really enjoyed the book, when we can I'm going to get the others. I may go to the library and just read them that way for now.

I'm really trying to get into the habit of exercising daily. I've set goals for myself. So fingers crossed I can keep it up. I was called as a Relief Society Instructor in our ward! I teach the 4th Sunday which is the Conference lessons. I'm so excited! It was an answer to my prayers. It will help me in my pursuit of being closer and knowing my Father in Heaven and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It's amazing how much the teacher learns in the process of planning the lessons.

Chase will be 3 in a couple months, I can not believe it!! He is so smart, he loves to sing! It's so awesome walking by his room and hearing him sing different songs! The boys share a room so we have a baby monitor in there. The other day I woke up to Chase singing Bob The Builder. He really loves his little brother. Emmett is such a chunker! I could just eat his little cheeks! He loves looking at a little Frog Chase picked out right before we brought Emmett home and Aunt Kiera bought. It's cheeks light up and it plays Twinkle Twinkle. He loves to play in his swing and play pen. He'll just lay there kicking his legs talking. He mainly 'mmmmmmmms'.

I just read M2B:) by Michael McLean. Mission to be happy is pretty funny. He even included a M2B:) album. That's another "call" I have accepted. Definitely something I need right now, is to be happy, not the grin and bare it, just the pure language of Joy happiness.

Emmett's Blessing

2010-03-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

We blessed Emmett on the 7th. Mark's mom and step-dad came up from Cedar City and stayed with us that weekend. We had family from all over join us. We got to the church early to save seats, we have a big family. 10 minutes before it's to start my work pager goes off(I was on-call). Luckily not to many people were there. I run out to call them back and one of the tenants had a flood. So I call the on-call maintenance guy to take care of it. Mark did a wonderful job and gave a wonderful blessing straight from our father in heaven to our sweet little boy. A few testimonies were bore and I feel my phone vibrate. The maintenance guy was calling to say he couldn't fix it and we needed a plumber. I made several calls and got one to come out after another job. But I had to leave the church to get the numbers at the office. I got back just as everyone was leaving. We then went to my parents for a great luncheon. We had 51 people in my parents house. It was a bit of a squeeze but not to bad. We had a couple family members and friends help out with food, which we really appreciate and some that we never asked to do anything brought something. It was a great family filled day. I'm so grateful to my wonderful husband who worked as he did when we were dating to get the priesthood. He didn't do it for me, which is good, but I feel I'm reaping a lot of the benefits! We didn't get a family picture with Emmett in his blessing outfit, he had a explosive diaper, but here are some of him and Chase.

with Bev and Glenn

2010-03-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

pics1

2010-03-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

opps

2010-02-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention my mom's cousin, Beverly, stopped by! She lives in Ontario and they haven't seen each other in about 31 years. It was awesome meeting them! They(she and her hubby Glenn) were driving to Palm Springs and stopped by on their way. When they arrived I had had a bump on my wrist. I had no idea what it was and she told me... It was a Ganglion Cyst. I went into the doctor this past Monday and had him take care of it. He did the local anethstigesa(SP) and popped it. It was interesting. Much less painful that just hitting it with a book, which is what Beverly suggested.

2010-02-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

I sign into Blogger every morning and check on my friend's blogs etc and keep saying to myself I need to update my blog. I just never get around to it, but I'm taking the time now.
I'll post pictures of the boys in a separate entry. I'm not very good at getting them in the order I want with the explanations in the right place with Blogger.

Valentines Day
We dropped Chase off at our friend Megan's house(she does a Date Night every month where we offers babysitting, she is also our babysitter when I work). We took Emmett with us and we went to TGI Fridays for dinner. We love that place! After dinner we walked around the mall and did a little window shopping. We didn't do to much money was a bit tight with me being on maternity leave and not getting that extra paycheck. But if you think about it why should we go all out one day a year to show our love to that one person? Why not do a little everyday. I mean it's all good to have a couple times where you go all out, but really we should be showing our love to that special person(and others) all the time.

Little Bit O' Lately
Emmett is now over a month old. He is so fun! Still sleeps great and doesn't cry much. He only cries when he wants something. Chase is such a great helper, he wants to be the one to buckle Emmett up or put his binky in his mouth and the list goes on. My aunt sent an outfit down for Emmett, she lives in Canada. I love it, it's a long sleeved onesie that says "Lil' Canuck"! It came with a hat and bib that say the same! Emmett is very smiley. His eyes have gone the dark brown like my and Chases. We noticed the other day that his ears are different shapes.
Chase stepped on Emmett for the first time yesterday. I know it won't be the last. He didn't get to hurt, just startled. He cried for maybe half a minute. We started potty training Chase again this week. He has been doing fantastic! He has gone at least 3 hours staying dry and going in the potty every hour. He told us twice today that he had to go and he did! I've been getting up early the past several days and exercising with the Wii Fit for about 20 minutes. I'm feeling the burn and am hoping to keep that up and get back down to Normal Range.

Emmett is 2 weeks

2010-02-02T18:43:00.001-08:00

I figured I should post something about him now that he has reached 2 weeks. Emmett is such a good baby. He hardly cries and he sleeps really well. He will go for almost 6 hours at night. Chase is such a good big brother! He loves to sing to Emmett and hold his hand if he makes noises in his sleep(trying to comfort him). The other day Chase just sat next to Mark as he(Mark) was holding Emmett and kept saying "you're so cute!" He is my big helper, he will grab things for me when I'm feeding Emmett. We took Emmett to church this past Sunday, he slept the entire time! Emmett had his 2 week check up this morning. He is now 10 lbs 1 oz and 22 in long. The nurse told me that usually with big babies when they do the PKU test they have to prick babies foot twice, but Emmett bled well and she only had to do it once. He still has a bit of jaundice, but doctor says it's fine. Emmett's belly button is all clear now of the umbilical cord stump etc. He has had a bit of gas the past day, so he grunts alot in his sleep. But he is just wonderful!

Who is Who

2010-01-29T14:08:00.001-08:00

Both were taken on my cell phone. Which one is Chase and which one is Emmett?

Sometimes you just have to do it

2010-01-29T14:06:00.001-08:00

I couldn't help myself when I saw this. I had to buy it and Mark allowed me to because of what it says.....

Some Pictures of our little Emmett Bear

2010-01-23T14:27:00.001-08:00

Emmett Michael Peterson

2010-01-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

I was all set for a induction on the 20th. My water decided to break Monday, the 18th, morning. I called the on call doctor at 6 AM and heard back about half an hour later. So we headed to St Marks Hospital. We we admitted at about 7:30. I was still at a 3 and about 80%. Contractions weren't really coming so I wasn't progressing really well. We found out my doctor was in Las Vegas, so he had another doctor from his office take care of me. As the morning turned to afternoon, I tried walking and taking a shower, but none of it really helped. We started Pitocin at around 2:30. They kept a good eye on me and Emmett with this being a VBAC. Even with the pitocin we didn't progress much. I was extremely tired all day. I got an epidural at 8 PM. I didn't really need it pain wise, I just wanted to be able to relax a bit and get some rest. When we got to a 6(after the Epidural) Emmett's heart rate started to drop a bit, not like Chase's did, but they still kept a close eye. I was able to get some rest. They did put me on some oxygen for a little while. The epidural started to wear off around 11:15ish. The contractions weren't very close together, at least the ones I felt didn't seem like it. We tried pushing the button to give me more medicine but it didn't make a difference. By midnight the nurse said I could start pushing.
At 1:10 AM January 19th, 2010 Emmett Michael Peterson was born! Mark cut the umbilical cord. Emmett weighed in at 9lbs 4 oz and 21 in long. Everything went great! Emmett is healthy and beautiful! He started breastfeeding right away, he had no problems latching on. We got into our recovery room around 3 AM. Mark took Emmett to the nursery and they were ready to do his bath right then, so Mark stayed to do that. I wasn't able to be there, but I wasn't upset about that at all. Emmett was with us in our room by 4.
I much prefer the recovery of a natural birth to a c-section. We were able to leave the hospital Wednesday morning. Emmett has been such a good baby! He doesn't really cry much. He sleeps really well. He loves to suck on things. We were going to try and not give him a binky, but can't fight the inevitable. Chase loves being a big brother! Our ward has set up dinners for us this week and they have been wonderful! We really appreciate the meals and the service and love our ward family is providing us with.

Plans are in motion!

2010-01-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

I got up this morning and lost my mucus plug! Mark and I asked Chase if Baby Emmett was ready yet and he said no,(he has been saying this since Saturday). Then we asked him if Baby Emmett was coming and Chase responded with "in a little bit". Since Saturday he would just say not yet. Maybe Chase knows something we don't....
Chase and I drove Mark to work so I could have the car today for my doctors appointment. We are dialated to a 3 now and are 70% effaced. Emmett is dropping down. My doctor asked if I wanted to be induced and I said yes. He can do it on the 20th! He called the hospital and we are all set now! SO unless Emmett comes on his own, he should be here on the 20th.We are very excited and getting a little anxious! We can't wait to meet our little angel!

38 Week Belly Pics

2010-01-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Weekly Appointments

2010-01-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

I started my weekly doctors appointments today. I should have started last week, but I had the stomach flu. Anways... We found out that I'm dialated a little over a 2. Baby Emmett has turned and is head down. All good news! I asked my doctor about inducing me early. He said he has no problem using potocin with a V-BAC. He would just prefer that my cervix be riper. So we shall find out next week.
With me working, we had hoped that we would be able to have a "schedule" in plan for when Baby Emmett will come. With it just being me and one other person at the office, I wanted to be able to give her enough time to get someone to fill my position while I'm gone. I don't like having to put work in the dark like this. My job is very easy and I could work right up to the day I deliver, but I don't want to force my manager and my "replacement" to change their plans or not be able to make any plans, cause they are waiting for me. And I don't want to start taking time off and not go into labor for a week, therefore loosing money that I could have made and loosing some of my time off and have to go back into work sooner. I know Baby Emmett will come when the time is right and that the Lord knows what is best. I have no problem with that, don't get me wrong. I'm just whining. So we shall just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe my cervix will be ripe enough at my next appointment and we can set a date and maybe Emmett will come on his own in the next week. Who knows, only the Lord, in whom I trust.

Happy 2010!!!

2010-01-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

I never got around to posting about the gift exchange with my siblings, so I'll do that real quick then tell you about our New Years Eve.

We met at my parents around 4:30 and had a wonderful turkey dinner. We have a tradition of opening Christmas Crackers. My grandma or Aunt Diane(from Canada) use to always send us some, but stopped a couple years back. But Mark and I have found some every year and get enough for the whole family. These Christmas Crackers have a little paper crown, a joke, and a toy. Anyways... After dinner we cleaned up and then played Bingo. After Bingo my dad read "I Believe In Santa Claus" to the grand kids. It was cute when Chase would repeat the story. Then we exchanged gifts. We did it by families(David's bought for Dan's, Dan's bought for me, and we bought for David. And then you could get a gift for my parents and Douglas). Chase got a cool Lightening McQueen sweat suit and trucks book, Emmett got some awesome socks, Mark got Transporter 3, and I got two books. My parents gave us each a really nice plaque with different sayings that fit each of our families perfectly. Ours says "Life is the Music, Love is the Song". My mom made each of the grand kids a cross-stitch picture. She didn't quite finish them all, but it's OK. They look beautiful. After gifts the kids watched movies while the adults played more games. The end.

We didn't have big plans for our New Years Eve. Chase and Kiera got sick on Tuesday and Wednesday with the stomach flu. Then Mark and I got sick yesterday with it. For once I did not get the worse end of it... Mark did this time. Which we are all grateful for with me being so far along. But the throwing up did cause me to start having contractions. I had contractions for about 4 hours. We didn't go to the hospital because the on-call doctor never called me back and besides they stopped. Kiera was our nurse and basically the mom all day. She took care of Chase while Mark and I lazed around trying to get better.
We were originally going to just let Chase stay up as long as he could for the New Years, but with us being sick and Kiera wanted to go to her Institute Dance at the U, she put him to bed at his usual time. (just a side note, he stayed in HIS bed ALL night and woke at 7:15 this morning) Mark and I just sat in the living room watching movies. We weren't sure if we'd make it to midnight, we were both pretty tired. But we did! We watched Dick Clark's New Years Celebration and counted down the ball. We went to bed at 12:05.
I'm feeling better today, not sure on Mark yet cause he is still in bed. But hopefully he is, we really need to go to the grocery store today.
I have lots of stuff that I want to do better this year. All things that will improve me physically, emotionally, spiritually, and personally. I'd post my New Years Resolution List, but it's sort of lengthy. I hope you all had a fun safe New Years and that we can all keep at least one of our resolutions :)

Christmas Day

2009-12-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

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?!?!?!

2009-11-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-09-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-13T12:17:00.001-07:00

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

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

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

2009-07-07T10:24:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

2009-06-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T08:31:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-05-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

***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

2009-04-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Life and Moving

2009-03-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since I really wrote anything that has been happening in our lifes. Not to much has been happening. We have just been getting ready to move and enjoying life. Last Friday we went to a Seriously Evan concert another band, Crashing At Dawn, also performed. We went to high school with the members of Seriously Evan. They are great guys! We had never heard Crashing At Dawn before and they are pretty good. It was great being able to go out just the two of us and enjoy great music!
Chase is growing so fast. He has started saying "momma" again and I love it every time! He is so cute and sweet! He does something funny everyday! Today he shut himself in his bedroom and after a while I went to check on him and just asked through the door what he was doing and he laughed then knocked on the door saying, "daddy". I responded with, "Daddy's not here." He paused then knocked again saying, "Momma" so I opened the door and he had a huge smile on his face and ran to me and gave me a huge hug! He is such a cuddle bug! At church yesterday Mark was holding him out in the foyer and Chase started pointing at one of the pictures and just started jabbering. Mark asked him if it was a picture of Jesus and Chase shook his head and said, "NO!". Mark said it was and Chase shook his head again and said, "NO!". He is so funny. He can say Jesus, it sounds more like "chee chee".
I just found out that we are all set to move in to our new apartment on April 1st! We can't get the keys till then and Mark can't get that day off so it looks like we will be moving Conference Weekend. I don't like that really but not much we can do. I'd rather be able to sit back and enjoy watching General Conference, but I guess the radio will have to do. One Bonus is that we will get to stay in our ward a little longer!

Recovery Day 2

2009-03-05T21:14:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning feeling fine. I could walk around without getting dizzy or anything. The right side of my mouth was still sore and bleeding. I kept gauze on that side till the late afternoon. After I took some meds that is when I got dizzy etc after moving around to much. Douglas(my little brother) skipped school today and came over to help me out. I spent most of the day reading Breaking Dawn. We did watch a movie and played for a little while on the Wii. Chase was very good and gave me lots of hugs. I love cuddling with my baby! I was able to eat better today, I didn't do any chewing till dinner time. My parents came over for dinner before the 4 of us went to the Draper Temple Open House. Mark made spaghetti. I cut up the noodles really small so I didn't have to chew, but couldn't help my self and did sometimes. It did hurt a bit but not really bad. The open house was really nice. Towards the end I started getting light headed and just wanted to sit down, of course I couldn't so Mark just helped support me while walking. We took the stairs once and then rode the elevator with my parents all the other times while we were there. One of the first times that I got wobbly while we were at the temple there was a nice lady by us and she came over asking if I was ok or if I needed anything. I told her no and she explained that she here kids are diabetic and always carries something for them and tunes into others around her and just wanted to make sure everything was alright. I told her that I had just had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday and was still a little wobbly. She was really sweet. Once we were done in the temple we walked over to the church close by where they had cookies and water in the gym along with some beautiful pictures. I went straight to a chair and relaxed. Mark grabbed me some water and a cookie. The cookie was really soft but still hard for me to eat cuz I couldn't really close my teeth to suck on the cookie and make it melt. So I had to chew a little. On the way home my parents took us to Wendys for some ice cream. I'm really worn out now from all the walking. Tomorrow it will just be me and Chase till Mark gets home. We should be fine. I am planning to not take any loritab tomorrow and just stick with the 800 mg Ibuprofen.

Wisdom Teeth Update

2009-03-04T15:40:00.001-08:00

I had my wisdom teeth removed this morning. They gave me an IV and put me under for the procedure. They had to poke me three times before they found a vein that would work. I have small and hard to find veins. I remember sitting in the chair, and the multipule nurses asking how I was and preaping me. While the Dental Surgeon tried to fine a vein in my arm oposite of my elbow a nurse was hooking me up to Blood Pressure Cuff and hooked me up to the machine so they could monitor my heart rate. They then gave me the gas to help relax and then added in the stuff to make me go to sleep. When they started that I felt the Surgeon take the IV out of my arm, cuz it wasn't working. He tried one spot in my hand and then another. The next thing I remember was waking up and them telling me I did great and everything was fine. I just started crying, not due to any pain. I just couldn't stop myself. Mark and Chase came in and comforted me as well as they called in my prescription(pain meds) and just gave a few instructions. They said we need to look into having my tonsils removed cuz they were swollen and made it difficult for me to breathe a couple times. Once we were done, Mark went to get the car and brought it around to the front. Two of the nurses helped me walk out. I was very light headed and wobbly. Mark then helped me into the car. Their office is right across the street from a Smith's so that is where we got my drugs. The entire time I was crying. I stayed in the car while Mark and Chase went in. After a little while they came back out cuz it was going to take 15-20 min to fill my prescription. I cried for a total of about 20 minutes off and on. Mark and Chase left me again in the car to go grab my drugs and a water bottle. We then drove home. By this point I was really tired and just wanted to lay down with my eyes closed. When we got home, Mark took Chase upstairs and left him there for a minute so he could come back down and get me. We took the elevator up. I wasn't as wobbly as before, but still unstable. As soon as I got inside I laid down on the couch. The right side of my mouth is the only thing that hurts. I took some pain meds and tried to sleep. I ate a yoguart while laying down, but that took a while to eat it all, and I had to take long breaks inbetween. I can't sit up straight for too long of a time. It wears me out and I start to get light headed. For a little while we had to change out the gauze in my mouth every hour, but that has majorly slowed. Mark has been so sweet and caring taking care of me. He even fed me some chicken noodle soup. Due to not being able to hold my head up for to long, I sat up but leaned my head sorta down and he fed me. He had even cut up the noodles to make it easier for me to swallow. Seems as I'm not allowed to chew for the next day or so. I love him so much and am lucky to have him here for me and willing to help with whatever I need. So I have spent much of today laying down with my eyes closed trying to sleep and relax. I'm not in that much pain. When I got sick last year while we were in Las Vegas, my mouth hurt more. But we shall see how the rest of the week goes.

Installing a Husband

2009-03-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

Heidi posted this on facebook and I loved it, so I thought I post it on here.

INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed, Desperate.

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.
Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 ;program.These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7..

Worst Case Scenario from a Former User of Husband 1.0:Nagging 5.3 corrupted the hard drive causing considerable shrinkage of memory to the point of non-functioning (if you know what I mean). Lingerie 7.7 and 3.0 failed miserably due to the Mother-in-law virus that was encrypted upon production of my particular model of Husband 1.0 When tech support was called they suggested we experiment with beta software Counseling 0.8. Upon trial of that program all memory shut down and the system lost power. Rebooting attempted several times by fiddling with the main drivers but to no avail. Upon observation that this particular version of Husband 1.0 was useless I sent it back to the factory demanding a refund.

Picture Tag

2009-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Lindy had this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun. I won't tag anyone, but if you would like to join, be my guest!

Picture tag
1. Go to my documents/pictures.
2. Go to my 6th file folder.
3. Go to my 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same

This is from last years Christmas. Mark and I had made our own Forgotten Carol Ornaments for us and for my parents. This is one of many close-ups of them on our tree. It was alot of fun making these and then putting them on the tree while we watched our DVD of The Forgotten Carols, multiple times! We even had a Family Home Evening were we invited several members from our ward to come over. None of them had see the show and all loved it.

Me Just Expressing Feelings about Friendship

2009-02-16T20:56:00.001-08:00

I got thinking tonight about friendship. This isn't about one single person, it involves quite a few people. Some people are your friend through some really hard times, then when they go through something they won't let you in and help them. Even if you just wanted to be a shoulder to cry on or to lend an ear. And then your friendship diminishes and then you never really talk to each other. And when you do you agree to get together when the other comes to town, but they never contact you when that time comes. So things just go down the toliet. Sometimes you start out as just friends through a friend or just someone you knew from a class, and you want to become closer later on, but that person just dismisses it and doesn't make an effort. The same thing happens with friends who were your best friend but went their own way and once you find them again, they won't talk to you. I thought I had a lot of friends but they have just seemed to pass me up now for new friends and have left me in the dark. I try to talk with them and "re-kindle" that friendship, but none of them seem to want to put forth any effort. This is a hit on self-esteem to me. I sometimes feel that I'm just not very important and that I'm just to be a looser and left in the dark. When I have these times it hurts and I feel that sometimes all I have is my family. I love my family, but sometimes I need that other interatction. Someone else that I can go to. I don't know who that person or those people are anymore. I don't know who will be there for me and those that I use to go to, haven't been in my life enough lately to fully understand. I lost a bunch of friends and want them back. I try to help them and congratulate them and just be there and supportive to them. I can tell they appreciate it, sorta. But why don't I get the same in return from them. I guess they just don't care anymore or don't want to take the time.
I do have several wonderful friends that are here for me, and I love them and appreciate everything they do for me. I am so thankful that I have met them and they are in my life. My relationship with them is still growing.
I would like to re-gain the friends I feel I have lost. I don't know what else to do. I know I'm shy, and I'm working on it. But I have made moves like I said to show these old friends that I'm still here and I care, but they still dismiss me. It makes it even harder for me to come out of my shell when this happens. I take a good effort to come out and be a part of their life but I feel they just push me away.

This probably didn't make to much sense, but I just needed to get it off my chest and out of my head. If you read it, thanks for listening!

Bucket List

2009-02-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

I know I'm only in my 20's but I thought this would be fun to do anyways.

Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, then send it to your friends (including me).
Things you have done during your lifetime:
() Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
() Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Swam with Stingrays
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone call
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain-naked
( ) Been to Europe
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
( ) Been skinny dipping
( ) Watched a Mardi Gras parade in person
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Hiked to the top of a 10,000 ft.+ Mountain
( ) Been deep sea fishing
() Driven across the United States
(?) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(X) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Gone White water rafting
() Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
( ) Seen the Grand Canyon
( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Been to New York City
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Gone out with someone you met online
( ) Been on a cruise
(X)Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
( ) Walked across the Golden Gate Bride
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
() Been in a rain forest
() Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Stood in four states at once
( ) Been to the Northern, Western, Southern and Eastern most points in the Cont. USA
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an camel
( ) Swam with dolphins
(X) Been to the Olympics
(X) Seen redwood trees
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Hiked a glacier
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf (a piece breaks off)
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
( ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Caught fireflies in a jar
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X) Watched the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Swam with sharks
( ) Fed a giraffe
(X) Gone camping in a tent
(X) Seen both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
( ) Been on a horse and buggy ride
(X) been to an NBA game

APPROVED!!!

2009-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

We were approved for the apartment we have been looking at in Magna!!! We aren't sure when we will be moving in. We originally said the end of March, but the guy told Mark today that he wasn't sure they could hold one for us that long. Someone is moving out on the 16th and he said he could hold that one for us, but didn't give much more details. We will be going in on Thursday to turn in the rest of the deposit and should get more information then.

We are really excited for this. We didn't want to leave our ward, which we love so much, but needed the bigger space. Mark's sister will be going to the U this fall and wanted to save some money so we offered letting her move in with us.

The apartment is in the Elk Run Complex in Magna off of 8400 W. and 3500 S. Just south of the KFC.

Chase's First Dentist Appointment

2009-02-09T09:38:00.003-08:00

I took Chase to his first Dentist appointment. They had me move him from chair to chair while waiting for the dentist to come in. He did come in for two seconds to say hi then he left. I had to keep telling Chase he couldn't get down and needed to stay there. The nurses talked with him, gave him a toy car and even let him look in the mirror the dentist uses. Eventually I had to sit in the chair with Chase on my lap, because he wouldn't stay there. The dentist finally came in and put on his gloves and grabbed the mirror. I held Chase against me and held one arm, the nurse held his other arm and helped open Chase's mouth. Of course he cried and fought.
The dentist said all is fine and that he has a few teeth coming in the back and more should be coming soon. Then he asked for any questions then said goodbye see you in 6 months and left. Then the nurses gave us a new toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste, and floss. And we left

How do they expect me to make Chase spit out the fluoride toothpaste and floss his teeth. I have a hard enough time brushing his teeth well with the toddler toothpaste that he can swallow. Things shall be interesting I guess.

My Face

2009-02-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine posted this link on her blog and I thought it was really cool! If you want to try and see all the cool options they have here is the address:
http://photofunia.com/