Overheard-Family Home Evening

This is by far one of my favorites.
Last night we had some things we needed to get done so we decided to do Family Home Evening tonight instead. While Nate & I were working on a few things, Tayvin made this phone call:
"Heavenly Father? Hello-are you going to come to our house tommorow for Family Home Evening? Oh you are? Good. And will Jesus come too? Oh, and how about the Holy Ghost? Ok, thank you for all coming to my house for Family Home Evening tomorrow. Love you-bye!"

I guess now the pressure's really on to make sure the spirit is here.

Overheard-Most important

Tayvin: "You are the most important person I've ever seen in the world. And do you know what? You guys are very kind to me too."

Well, I'm glad he thinks so. Wish I could have recorded that for when he's a teenager.

Overheard-Two sons

For the last two years, I've called Tayvin bubba-louie. I've always referred to it as a nickname but I guess it's more of a term of endearment because today I called Tahnyon bubba-louie. So I asked Tayvin if it's ok for me to have two bubba-louies. His response: "Yah, I guess so cause you already bought two. And once you have two sons, you can't sell 'em back."

And one more thing...

Whale or Mermaid?

Recently, in a large city in France , a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym.
It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.


To Whom It May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.) They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia . Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them ... where is IT? Therefore, they don't have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me:
I want to be a whale.

P..S.
We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, When I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!¨

Overheard-Crash

Being that Nate grew up in Alaska and his father's favorite way of teaching them to drive was to jerk the wheel while they were on ice and make them recover, Nate LOVES driving on snowy or icy roads. In fact, as long as there are no cars around, he usually uses his E-brake to turn around (much like a doughnut or 'cookie' for you Idahoans. So tonight we were out looking at Christmas lights when Nate needed to turn around. Of course he did it in true Nate fashion. And from the back seat... "Whoa! That was close-we almost crashed!"
That's how I used to feel buddy, that's how I used to feel.

Overheard-That's how we do.

I won't give you all the details but here's the bare minimum...
Tayv was getting his clothes back on after he went potty and I overheard him say, "We're the (insert our last name here,) that's just what we do." Of course, I didn't hear the first part so I had to ask what the __________s do. Apparently, they (I do not count myself here because I'm not blood) "just take off their socks with their pants and only wear their unders and shirt." :) I do assure you that Nate is fully clothed when he's running around the house. But according to Tayv, that's how we do.

Overheard:Santa's list

I promise pictures will be coming soon! In the meantime,
Tahn was crying while I was trying to get Tayv some lunch today because he was hungry too. Tayv looked up from his coloring and said in the most casual voice...
"Hey, you think Santa's gonna put baby on the naughty list?"
:)

Overheard: Bull riding

Tayvin playing on his 'bull' aka hopper ball...
"If ya just keep ridin' around, the bull can't buck you off. And so it just keeps giving you piggy-back rides."
So bull riders, just keep riding around and he won't buck you off. Sounds simple enough to me.

Overheard: Bert & Ernie

Tayv was talking to me about how big his stuffed animals are. This is about how it went:
"Bradley's too big to cuddle with. Actually, he's ok for me but not for adults. Cause he's as tall as me & Eli. And Tosh, Kenzie, & Kye. So, me, Tosh, Kenzie, & Kye. But Kye's as old as um....(thinks for a minute)... Bert. Actually, not Bert. But he IS as big as Ernie. And Bert & Ernie are old as Goliath. But Goliath is mean and Bert & Ernie are nice."
In all fairness though, I couldn't think of anybody the same age as Kye either.

Ramblings...

I think that's a word. I will warn you right off the bat, I really have nothing important to say tonight-I just need to write. So feel free to close this window now if you want. Oh, and if you do read, please don't judge. I'm SO stinkin' tired so there is no creativity and the shortest, stupidest sentences you'll probably ever read.
-We're basically done with Christmas shopping. Feels SO good. We did most of it on Black Friday. I went for 48 hours with less than an hour of sleep but it was so worth it. My plan is to just enjoy the holidays now with my boys. Both Nate and I remember various years when we had smaller Christmases. We both like that we can remember those and recognize that there is nothing wrong with that. So being that we bought a new house and had a baby (our babies tend to be as expensive as adopting-hoping the next ones will lower our average significantly) this year, we decided we'd have a small Christmas. So I shopped the sales. Turns out now it's not so small-at least for Tayv it's not. I have no idea what to get Tahnyon-he doesn't need anything.
-Tayvin is pretty good at addition and subtraction. Today we started working on division. They're simple problems, mind you. But division none-the-less. He's growing up on me way too quickly. Breaks my heart whenever I think about it.
-Tahnyon is such a fun, happy kid. He had a little bit of a rough start-like most babies. But now he's basically always happy if he's slept and ate. Especially if someone is talking or playing with him. I had him laughing for like 10 minutes tonight. He's ticklish now. Love my boys. Oh, and he's been sleeping 8 hrs straight during the night. If I didn't already love him, I'd love him for that.
-Poor Nate. For 3 or 4 months he worked 10-12 hour days-in addition to the hour and a half commute. They finally got someone hired to help him out. He got fired last week. So now my sweet husband is back to working 6 days a week. But we are hoping the position he's waiting for will be opening by March. He was offered a couple positions in Denver but we decided to wait it out here-poor guy.
-It's been too cold to run here-at least for wimpy old me. But we're still planning on running a half-marathon this summer. Mostly though, I just NEED to dance. Oh how I miss it.

Pictures soon!

You had to be there...

I realize that some of these don't sound quite as cute as they are, guess ya just had to be there!

-While I was at Michaels last night, Nate & Tayv built a christmas tree out of legos. He told me this morning while holding a blue lego, "This is my lego christmas tree. And when I don't want to watch it anymore, I just turn it off with my blue muh-rote."

-"Mommy, have you ever seen such a beautiful noodle?"

Sneaky Boy

I think Tahnyon is going to be my sneaky little boy. This morning at about 6, after feeding him, I put Tahn in his crib to go to sleep. He was being so quiet so I went in to make sure he was sleeping before I headed to the basement to work on a few crafts. He was wide awake and smiled as if to say, "You caught me! I was being so quiet too!" So I tried to put his binky back in his mouth so he could go to sleep. Apparently, as soon as he found his hands, he figured out that if he blocked his mouth, (yes- like a boxer) I couldn't put the binky in and thus, could not expect him to go to sleep.
Of course, I couldn't resist his smile so we played for an hour. Just can't get enough of this sweet, sweet boy!

That's right-I'm sure smart!

Tayvin to mommy: "You're sure really smart I guess!"
(Since daddy's not here to compare me to!)


Tayvin playing with some nesting Santas: "Geeze, I sure love all these santas. But the problem is, there's just too many!"

Journal

You'll have to excuse me, this has become my journal so the posts may get slightly less interesting... (is that possible?)

Upside down

Tayvin has been trying to wake up for a little while from his nap. He was on his bed and I was downstairs when I heard a big thump. I went upstairs and found him kinda asleep on the floor. I asked him if he fell off the bed or if he jumped. His answer? "I think I just jumped off my bed with my head upside down." The glass is definitely half full for this little dude!

Insane

This is one of the gifts Tayvin is getting for Christmas...

And this is what our floor already looks like because of that blasted play-doh...

(Of course, the picture doesn't quite do it justice.)

I always knew motherhood would drive me insane, I just thought it would take

more than 3 years and two kids.

Pray for me.

Overheard...

At Breakfast...
Tayvin: "Daddy, we don't watch TV while we're eating! You're following Satan."
Nate: "It's ok buddy."
Tayvin: "It's ok to follow Satan?"
Nate: "Um-no. It's ok-I won't watch TV during dinner."

Pumpkin Land

I will never catch up, but of course, I'll try anyway...
We went to Pumpkin Land with our ward's playgroup a couple weeks before Halloween. It's a nursery that turns everything into "Pumpkin Land" after Harvest. It was a blast-and super cheap!

I hate when people don't control their kids and they get in my pictures... huge pumpkins, huh?Tayv and our neighbors' little girl, Bradlie. Tayv wanted a little sister so badly-it worked out perfect that he has her...I just let Tayv choose which way we turned each time-he loved having so much control. They posted jokes all throughout the maze-this is the only one I remember... "Q: What does a kiss from a vampire feel like? A: Unless it's Edward, it's a pain in the neck." Yup, it actually said that!This is my absolute favorite one, he was so happy to be able to jump as hard as he wanted...Tahn slept the whole time. Towards the end I felt guilty that he wasn't in any of the pictures so I opened the stroller to take a few. He didn't like the light waking him up-

the kid cracks me up...

I know, I know-we're definitely due for some pictures. I've been so frustrated lately. When I had Tayv, I would take pictures of him all day long. Well, let's just say, Tahn is being neglected in the picture department. I do try-but usually as soon as I start Tayv needs me for something or I've missed the window and it's lunch or nap time. But I did a few photo shoots the other day in order to get some pics of Tayv in his blessing tux (only a week late.) So stay tuned.

The Meanest Mom

This lady cracks me up-check this one out!

The Thief in the Night

So stinkin' funny

The baby was upstairs in his room asleep, I'm downstairs, woke him up laughing so hard!

Reminds me of my brother and a friends husband, Corey...

Are you sure you want a girl, Nate?

Tahn had a rough night last night, resulting in him not being able to sleep on his own. And since I can't locate my sling, I can't do much while holding him. Thus, I've been wasting time on the computer today. Anyway, I found this video and thought it was hillarious. I don't see our girls being any different. So I have to ask, Nate and Tayv, are you sure you want a little girl next?
And for some reason, I'm having a hard time embedding the video so I'll just have to post the link...
Here

An incredible life

In the midst of diapers, nursing, a million failed attempts to clean, book reading, play-dough, laundry, and so many other things that mean I'm a mom of two; I can't help but wonder what my life would be like without ALL my boys. But it doesn't take long to figure out that it would be boring, unfulfilling, and lonely. I can't believe how blessed I've been and what an incredible life I have.

Here's one of the newest reasons...

And just for the record, even though you can barely see it, I think his little baby acne embarrasses Nate but I still think he's adorable. (Of course, Nate does too.)

Got it!

Ok, It's off my phone so it's not the best quality but I still think he's one of the 2 cutest kids in the world!

Don't kill me!

I know, I know... I'm attempting to get some pictures up but-well, it's a long story-anyway,
we are doing great! We're definitely still adjusting but after we had been home 2 nights, Tahn started sleeping through the night-so at least we're getting a little sleep! Of course, then all he wants to do during the day is eat but who can blame him-that's all I want to do too! Tayvin LOVES his new baby and thinks everything he does is hilarious! He has been such a good helper and so patient with both mommy and baby-I could not have asked for a sweeter boy or a better big brother for Tahnyon. Anyway, I do promise to get some pics up soon... sometime...maybe... :)

Our sweet new addition

I don't have pictures to post but I will soon, I promise!
Tahnyon (rhyming with Canyon) was born last night just before 8:00.
He was 21 inches long and weighed 8 lbs 7 oz.
His big brother is so proud of his "little buddy" (as Baloo calls Mowgli) and is so excited to take him home to "teach him things."
He's such a sweet little boy, already a good sleeper and eater and we just can't get enough of him! I'll be posting his birth story sometime soon-if only for my sake- but we just wanted to let everyone know why we'll pretty much be hibernating for the next few weeks! And why we can't wipe the perma-grins off our faces.

Was that fair?

Ok, I guess for those of you not close by, that's not really fair so I'll give you a slightly longer version:
Thursday-Blah-Blah-Blah- went to the dr, new dr, didn't check me, I cried. Went to the hospital for the tests-baby still healthy.
Friday-made Nate a fresh peach pie because I figured if I made one, I was bound to go into labor so we couldn't eat it. If I didn't at least we would have peach pie to eat. Went into labor, walked, showered, dropped Tayv off with mom, contractions consistently 5 minutes apart or less for 3 hours, went to the hospital, baby got scared, contractions died down, wasn't dilating much, dr doesn't want to induce me because of VBAC, sent me home at 3 am.
Super interesting huh?

My cute little farmboy

Last night we met my mom in Salt Lake around 11 ish to drop Tayv off with her and head to the hospital. Frankly, I'm so sick of telling the stories of the last week that I'm going to make that part of the story very short- I'm still huge.
Anyway, we drove to Kamas today to pick him up and I was telling Nate on the way up about Tayvin's conversation with my mom this morning: it was all about how he and Grandpa had chores to do. They got up early so they could head out to the hay field and then to chop wood. Nate said he was a little more concerned for his relationship with Tayv than he was for Tayv's relationship with my dad. I told him he might just have to buy a farm. When we got there, I found out that my cute little farmboy is now the proud owner of his very own work gloves! He has such a connection with the farm, the land, and the animals that I truly don't know what we'll do when Nate moves us away from it. I love that he loves it though!

P.S.

Everyone's been asking for pictures of the belly and about names... I don't have a picture right now and I refuse to choose a name until I see my sweet baby but we do have a few to choose from when he makes his appearance. Tayvin did want to name him Kashden Helaman Buddah Satan. We have now convinced him that Satan would definitely not be a good name for his little brother. And can you guess what his daddy calls me? Yup, Buddah!

37 week update

So still no pictures, sorry! I'm sitting at my Mom & Dad's while they're at the temple dedication, Nate's on his way to Florida, and Tayvin is napping. I suppose I should be appreciating the quiet time but lately all quiet time just seems wrong. I should be stinky from not showering in 3 days, have spit-up on the back of my shirt, and have a little baby that needs all my attention. But alas, it will come-probably too soon and then I'll be begging for quiet time.
Anyway, I figured since I had a minute I'd give an update on what's going on with baby.
A couple weeks ago my blood pressure and weight both sky-rocketed (but thankfully, I'm still under goal) so the dr I was seeing ordered weekly non-stress tests just in case I developed preeclampsia again. It's been kinda fun because they do an ultrasound before the testing so I've been able to see the little guy practice breathing and such. He of course is still perfect and actually my blood pressure is down so maybe it was just because I didn't get to see my own dr that week.
I'm having contractions like crazy but not dilating at all which is no surprise! Because I'm trying a VBAC, my dr won't start me unless I'm dilated to a 2 or 3 so I'm just hoping my body will get in gear. If I haven't dilated by Sept. 16th, she'll make me schedule a c-section. :(
Nate's worried I'll go into labor while he's in Florida but I keep telling him I feel way too good, there's no way this baby is ready to come. But for Tayvin's sake, I almost wish he would. He just can't wait to meet his little brother. He must ask 6 times a day if we can get the baby out yet.
Wow, now that I've completely lost all 3 readers I had I'll leave you with something a little more interesting, to me anyway....
A couple weeks ago I was preparing Tayv for Nate's upcoming trips. I had told him daddy would be going to Arizona then the next week he would be going to Miami, Florida. The next prayer Tayv said went something like this...
"Thank you that me and mommy can go to the farm at Grandma & Grandpa's while daddy is in mommy's ami Florida."
Man, I love that kid!

Oh yah... sorry babe!

I'll be honest, I've got so much to do right now that I either don't feel like doing or don't have the time to do, that the idea of posting about our anniversary last week didn't EVER cross my mind.... until I checked Autumn's blog tonight. Then I felt a little guilty. Then I remembered that there are many strangers out there that read this blog 3 times more often than Nate. But anyway, Happy Anniversary Babe-can't wait for that cruise next year!

A few things I’m loving, hating, and thinking about…

I know I said 2 weeks ago that I’d be posting but then I misplaced my memory card for my camera , we all got sick, Nate’s 96 year old Aunt fell, and family came into town. So once things calm down, I find my memory card or charge the batteries for my other camera, I promise I will post pictures. In the meantime, here are a few things I’m….

Loving…

• Listening to Tayv talk to his baby brother.
• When Tayv tells me all the things he’s going to teach his brother
• That Tayv made his bed twice today by himself for the first time. (And then didn’t want to get in it for his nap or bedtime because he had already made it! I have no idea where he gets that from by the way.)
• My new fridge that gives me crushed ice at my beckon call.
• Watermelon
• The fact that I will have a nursery this time around!
• Our new ward
• That if everything continues as it is I won't get anywhere near the weight I was when I was pregnant with Tayvin.
• My new washer & dryer that I still intend to post pictures of… someday…
• Air conditioning
• That I have a reason to eat every 2-3 hours.
• All the tiny baby socks (and clothes) that I’ve been washing!

Hating….

• That I have to pee almost as often as I blink.
• That I HAVE to eat every 2-3 hours.
• Waking up in our new, quiet house with no weird curry, Mexican, or other smells to make me sick for the rest of the day.
• How long & hard Nate is having to work until they hire another person.
• Most of my maternity clothes.
• That even though we have our very own yard, it’s still not big enough to get Tayvin the playground set he’s been drooling over at Costco for as long as he could talk.
• That we can’t afford to all go to Alaska for a visit during the summer but Nate refuses to go without us.
• That in a few weeks Nate is going to Florida and I just can’t justify going with him.
• Iron pills, heartburn, and down comforters

Thinking about…

• How it’s so not fair that when Nate was sick he just took some Nyquil to knock him out but even though I can never sleep anymore I just have to live with it. Oh well, good practice I guess!
• Trying to figure out why nobody laughed or even commented on my "Got Pickles?" shirt the other day. I mean, come on people, this is Utah county-this is what you do-make babies!
• The birthday invitations and 50ish baby announcements that I haven’t made or designed yet. (I’m thinking Costco again….)
• How I'm SO not ready for the exhaustion that comes with a new baby but can't wait to hold him...
• That I'm still not completely convinced that we're having another boy even though that's what we saw-just seems off.
• That I'm still stretch-mark free but probably jinxing myself by watching so closely.
• Peanut butter Cyclops cookies, Texas sheet cake, homemade caramels, marshmallow popcorn, ok, what sweets am I not thinking of?

Got your hopes up didn't I?

I promise an update and pictures soon! Nate says no pictures of the house until it looks like a house not a UPS store but I'm going to cheat and show you a very exciting picture of my 2 new best friends-my washer and dryer! They're so beautiful AND the dryer dries the clothes in ONE CYCLE! Anyway...it'll be coming this week sometime so don't give up on me!

LOVING THIS!

Just found this tonight-I could listen to it over and over! (It's even fast enough to go on my running playlist.)

http://

The BEST dads in the world!

Nate and I often talk about how blessed we are to have the families we do. We both recognize that our parents have faults but that they are absolutely the BEST parents in the world-for us. So just a little shout-out to the BEST dads in the world....(especially the hot one I'm married to.)

I know, you can't see my Dad's face in this very well but I think that's why he's always wearing hats...This one is from Nate's graduation day last year but it's one of my favorites of Dave & Tayv...

Happy Father's Day to our Dads, Grandpas, & Uncles- we love you all and are so grateful for all you do for us!

Love,

Nate, Stac, & T-Mac

Lately...

Wow! We have been so busy! Just in the last few weeks we've had weddings, scout trips, a trip to Arizona, 2 camping trips coming up, family in town, a trip to the zoo, drs appointments, etc etc. Oh yah, and we put in an offer on a house yesterday! More details and pictures to come but here are a few of the pictures that everyone's been requesting of Tayvin...

The one and only picture I got of him in this pose-he has his daddy's flexibility (or rather lack thereof)...Since he looks like a monkey when he says cheese, he got to choose a new word to say that would make him laugh-he chose "farfanoodle." And being that I would ask him what that word was over and over, we got plenty of shots with this exact look!And my absolute favorite one-he calls this his "superman thing."

And with that, I'll leave you with what he said to Nate and Jeanne the other night when Nate put a movie on for him...

"Yah, that's the one. I've always been a big time fan!"

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had an incredible Mother's Day-I certainly did! I started a new tradition that I wanted to do last year but forgot so this year I remembered! I want to take a picture on Mother's Day of me and my kids to celebrate the privilege of being their mommy! None of them are fantastic and I didn't spend time cropping or editing but here's what we got...

Also, as requested, some belly pics... The pictures make me look bigger than I feel- I'm definitely a lot smaller this time around but I think it's just because I'm eating a lot better and running. The baby is a little small for his due date but still very healthy!

At 19 weeks, I think... (Sorry about the whole slanted thing-Nate likes to mess around and I can't get him to just take a straight-on picture!)

At 22 weeks and 2 days...

I'm still looking through the new pics of Tayv but should be posting some in the next couple days!

A HAPPY Mothers Day to me and you!

I've been thinking a lot lately about expectations. I tend to have high expectations for everything in my life. And being the control-freak that I am, those expectations tend to make things more miserable for me and those around me when things don't turn out exactly as I have planned. So I've been contemplating how much easier I could make life if I were to give up some of those expectations and just accept things as they come. And since we all tend to have certain expectations of Mother's Day, I thought that would be a great place for me to start. (Well, technically I started it a few days ago, and let me tell you how much easier it's been. But Mother's Day is a big one!)
In our house, growing up, we always made my mom breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. So naturally, I expected that Nate did too and he would do that for me. Not so. It has since been discussed in detail and he understands that it's important to me along with all those other Mother's Day things like making dinner, getting up with Tayv, letting me sit down and read, etc, etc. But every year I have found myself making dinner for his mom because he and his brothers didn't and even more so, I have found myself disappointed for some reason or another. This year, I decided no expectations! I love being a mom, every day I try to be better, and knowing this is going to be enough for me this year. So instead of expecting anything, I went out and bought Nate and Tayvin gifts for Mother's day to thank them for letting me be a mom. I talked to Tayvin about how we need to think about all the moms in our lives that help us out and thank them. I've tried my hardest to put the focus on others instead of what I want my Mother's day to be like. I think that in doing so, it will be a much greater day than any one before. So here's to a Happy Mother's Day for all the mothers in our life that help make us who we are, especially my Mom and Jeanne. Thanks for all you do and I wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day!


P.S. When I came home from a bachelorette party tonight, Tayv & Nate had written me a cute little book about all the reasons they love me. That definitely wasn't expected but I couldn't have asked for a better gift! So to heck with expectations!

Pictures from the last... oh I don't know... 6 months or so

I received a rather humorous email a few minutes ago... "Stacia, Put some current pictures on your blog of Tayvin could ya?" I laughed because all I could think was "Sure, if I had some." I do have a few but they're just not very good. (And let's face it, no picture does my cute kid justice! :) Nate thinks it's ridiculous to pay somebody to take pictures of Tayvin when I used to be a photographer but seriously, I can't get a real smile out of the kid when there's a camera anywhere within reach. Nevertheless, I have a photo shoot planned for this week.

So Britt, here are some somewhat current random pictures and maybe if I get even a single smile, I'll post some more later this week or next...

Is the day over yet?

Every morning Tayvin wakes up yelling either, "Can I come out yet?" or "Did Daddy go to work yet?" But this morning it was "Is the day over yet?" I was still asleep when he woke up this morning so it took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about. Let me explain. My cute sister-in-law made me some days of the week towels for Christmas. They have these cute girls on them doing different things like laundry, making cookies, picking apples, etc. Tayvin knows all of them by name as if they were some of his best friends. A few weeks ago when my dad stopped by, he and Tayvin were talking about when we would be going up for the weekend to visit. My dad told him that it was Wednesday and we wouldn't be going until Friday. So Tayvin makes a mad dash to my towels, takes Wednesday down, shoves her back in the drawer and is searching excitedly for Friday. Now this week, he gets to go have a sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Friday. So yesterday, all he wanted to do was change the towel so that Tuesday would be over and Friday would come.
Now I'm sitting here at 1:30 in the morning wasting time on the computer because when I go to bed, that means the day is over and I have to start all over again tomorrow. In all honesty, I was ready to go back to bed by about 3:45 this afternoon and give up on the day. But since that's not really an option for most of us, I dealt and now I'm dreading tomorrow. But then I ran across this quote tonight by N. Eldon Tanner,
"A mother has far greater influence on her children than anyone else, and she must realize that every word she speaks, every act, every response, her attitude, even her appearance and manner of dress affect the lives of her children and the whole family. It is while the child is in the home that he gains from his mother the contribution he will make to society."
So I think I'll go change my towel to Thursday, count the day as over, and look forward to tomorrow. Because I have so much opportunity to change the world through my one little angel who sees tomorrow as we all should, something to look forward to. Perhaps I can learn from his outlook on cookies too. "You can never have too many."

Hmmm.

As if you couldn't already tell, Tayvin is going to have a Baby Brother! And now that's he's over not getting a baby sister, he really is pretty excited. I did have to convince him though that it would be more fun to play sports and dig in the dirt with a brother than a sister. Nate was a little dissapointed because he wants a girl but we're both glad that Tayvin will have a brother fairly close to his age. Not to mention the huge relief that we don't have to figure out where the money would come from for me to shop for a girl! So now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with so many boys around... I HATE cleaning the bathroom!

Welcome back, Friend!

Oh how I missed my old friend-spring. I absolutely love summer and all the things that come with it- BBQs, rodeos, fresh cut grass, peas in the pod, fruit and fruit dip, capris, sandals, birds, green, the 4th of July, camp fires, sunglasses, I could go on forever, but spring welcomes you to summer so I'm always happiest to see spring! I was lucky enough not to be in Alaska this last winter but even here in Utah, spring couldn't decide if it was here or not. We had a week of 70 then snow storms. Buds on trees, then snowflakes. I tell you, this desert weather is a bit crazy. But now spring is here, my white legs are in capris, and we have so much going on!

-Tomorrow we find out if we are having a boy or girl! Nate and Tayvin have insisted the entire time that it is a girl and I keep having to remind them that it still may be a boy. Although, now, because of the way the baby moves, I'm kinda thinking it's a girl too. But whatever it is, I don't really care, I'm just so excited to have it! (Yes, for now, I'm calling my baby an it and there's nothing anybody can do about it.)
-We just got another calling, teaching primary. We now have 3 callings but it's been fun to actually get to work together in them.
-We went on our first hike last weekend with our scouts. Our goal is to do Mt. Olympus by the end of the summer with them so we're working up to it. I was trying to figure out how I was going to hike it at 8 1/2 months pregnant but as it turns out, summer lasts way through September here so I definitely won't be able to hike it 2 weeks after I have the baby. (I'm sure you can tell how brokenhearted I am being that I LOVE hiking so much-ya right.)
-We'll be heading to Arizona for Memorial Day weekend to see Mo & Julia. I'm so excited to go see their place, enjoy some sun, and spend some time with my boys. Not so excited about the swimming suit though since I'm sure Tayvin will HAVE to swim.
-On Friday, I go to the doctor and will officially be half way through my pregnancy. She'll be thrilled I finally gained some weight but I'll be kicking up the running a notch this next month!

That's about it for now but tune in tomorrow to find out what we're having! (Unless you consider it peeking, Autumn & Jess, we just may not tell you! :P )

Big Brother!

We can finally announce it officially….
Tayvin is a Big Brother!
We wanted to wait and tell some people in person when we were up in Alaska so we’ve kinda been keeping it a secret. I’m just over 14 weeks, due Sept 11th, baby’s heartbeat is strong, and we are so excited!

Here’s a cute tidbit about Tayvin…
I was pretty sure I was pregnant for a few days before I told Nate or Tayvin. I had just had so many negative tests that I didn’t want to get anybody’s hopes up and end up letting them down. So once I was sure, I told Tayv during the day while Nate was working. I asked him if he wanted to tell daddy by himself or if he wanted me to make him a new shirt to tell daddy. Of course, he chose the shirt. So that afternoon he helped me make it on the computer then we went to the store and picked up Nate from work. When we got home, Tayvin says (and none of this was coached by his ever-controlling mother,) “Hmmm… I think I’ll take off my coat now.”
And then, “Dad, look at my new shirt!”
Now, on the front of his shirt, it says “Guess What!” Then on the back, of course, “I’m a big brother!” So Nate reads it out loud and Tayvin turns around, looks at him all excited and says, “Hey, me too! I’m a big brother too!” It was seriously too cute for words!
So there’s my update for the next two months (I’m kidding. Hopefully.)

A rather lengthy but not very intelligent update.

It took me until February to change my Christmas background. Rather sad, huh. So you’d think with as busy as I’ve been, I’d have plenty to blog about. But not really. Actually, it’s more that I STILL don’t have internet at our new (if you can still call it that) place so when I do get on the internet I have a million things to do and unfortunately blogging doesn’t get to be at the top of the list. I do still check everyone else’s blogs though-no worries. But being that I LOVE reading others’ updates, I figure it’s only fair if I do some type of an update. Sans pictures though.

-On the 15th I’ll be headed to Alaska for Nate’s brother’s wedding. John & Jess have worked hard to get to this point and we’re so excited to add Jess to the family! I’ll be there for a week and Nate will join us on Thursday. We so miss his family and all the time we used to get to spend with them so we’re really looking forward to this.

-We’ll also get to meet two new babies-hopefully. (Autumn, get on that will ya? :P ) Our good friends Chad & Jenn had their baby girl Xienna in January and hopefully Joe & Autumn will have a baby there before we leave! I’m so excited that I’m in a position to go and help them so hopefully I’ll get a chance.

-When we get back Nate’s family will all be coming down for an open house and hopefully at least one day of skiing. They’re not all staying with us but we’re so excited to have them come down, spend time with us and ski in the GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH. J

-Nate made it through lay-offs at his company and will hopefully be getting a promotion within the next six months so that we can get into a house this fall. We’re still adjusting to living on a budget-I’ve decided it’s just not for us so we need more money. (HaHa, really, does anybody love living on a budget?)

-Tayvin is growing and soaking up all the information he can, as usual. He can sing the 1st verse of “I am a Child of God,” both verses of “I have two little hands,” and knows the 1st and 2nd articles of Faith. Of course, there are plenty of other songs he sings (especially Christmas ones) but those are his newest ones.

-We had our first playgroup last week. It’s just one other little boy for now. It’s not the same as what we had in Alaska but I still really appreciate Michelle and her friendship.

-I’M DONE WITH OUR OFFICE! That really is the most exciting to me! We’re half way through our stay here and I’ve got it done. Now in a few more months, I’ll start packing it up again. (sigh) Oh well, maybe next time we move it will be easier to organize it now that I’ve gone through all the crap-Can’t believe how much I threw away!


Check back at the beginning of March and hopefully we’ll have pictures and more to say.
Until then, I’ll leave you with a few things Tayv has said lately…

-“I think I’ll keep you, Mom”
-“When I go to Levi and Michelle and Eli’s house again, I’ll see the Arizona Caramels.” (That’s where we watched the Super Bowl this year.)
-While helping me make some Tapioca pudding last week, he LET me stir then told me “YOU are doing such a good job mommy.”
-When Nate asked him who let him use the kid scissors, “Um mom. Wait. My MOTHER.”

- “Mom, are you not sad?”
“No.”
“Are you happy?”
“Yah, I’m happy. Are you not sad?”
“ Nope I’m happy.”
“Oh, why are you so happy?”
“Because I’m married to you! I married you.”