The Johnson Family

This Made My Day!

2012-01-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

I got this in the mail today.

There was something about seeing my Mom's handwriting that just brightened my day today.

I love my mom so much and I am so lucky to have a mom that cares so much and does little things like this. It made me smile.

Thank you, Mom!

I love you!

Miss Jaye and Mister

2012-01-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

I know...I know. I post pictures of my kids EVERY SINGLE DAY! I can't help it. They are growing up SO fast and I can't stop taking pictures of them.

So....here are a few more pictures of my babies.

Play Dough

2012-01-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

This morning we didn't have anything to do. Our back yard is a frozen lake, we didn't have anywhere to go, and I wasn't in the mood to clean. ......So we made Play Dough.

I have a love/hate relationship with the "terrible twos". It is hard because Brylee is has a hard time controlling herself. We have the occasional tantrum and the answer to everything is "No". I am also loving her age because she is getting old enough to enjoy things like this.

The whole time we were making the play dough she was singing and saying "Mom, I Cited (I'm excited)". She told me she wanted blue play dough...so we made it the brightest blue possible.

....and Mister just chilled as usual.

Just hanging out.

She stirred better when her tongue was out.

Waiting Patiently.

She was excited to get a big ball of it all to herself. I don't think she knew quite what to do.

Cole even got in on the action. It was tough to get the blue out from under his little fingernails.

Ice Skating Anyone????

2012-01-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

No, that isn't a frozen lake! That is our BACKYARD! We knew we had a little flooding problem when we moved in over the Summer and had a few rain showers.....but with the snow the last few days, we have seen how much of a problem it actually is!!! I wish I could take a picture of the whole yard! It's crazy. Craig threw some Taco meat out in the yard for Tanner, who fell through the ice trying to get it.

Brylee thought that was pretty darn hilarious.

I think we either need to invest in some ice skates.....or some fill dirt.

Fifty Degrees and Sunny

2012-01-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Really? In January????? All of the snow we got earlier in the week has melted already. Let's just say Brylee played outside all morning. She is loving life right now!....and I am not complaining.

FYI.....She is wearing her coat because she wanted to. Not because it is really cold enough to. :)

Family Time

2012-01-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

We have been so lucky that Craig has been so busy with work, but it has been really nice to have him home on the weekends for the last month-ish. Since he has a ton of jobs coming up starting this weekend, we decided it would be fun to have a family day on Saturday. We went to the Dinosaur Museum. Brylee is fascinated with dinosaurs thanks to Nick Jr. and Dino Dan.

Brylee had so much fun pretending that she was digging up the dinosaur bones.

Notice the Plumber Crack!!!!! Ever since she has been wearing big girl undies, its like her jeans are all too big. We are very
blessed to have THIS view every time she bends over.

Craig and Cole were SO BORED! They decided that they aren't ever going back to the Dinosaur Museum.

Then we just hung out the rest of the weekend and were lazy. That doesn't happen often enough. :)

I just love this baby boy! It makes me sad how fast he is growing up.

Brylee is learning how to share her toys. Cole always has stacks of toys around him and he is covered with blankets and towels.

Conquering the Cold

2012-01-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

"Attitude, to me, is more important than...the past,...than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day."

-Charles Swindoll--author, educator, and Christian Pastor

"We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.

-President Thomas S. Monson

I have lived in Utah now for almost five years. It seems I spend every single Winter with a really bad attitude. We have been really lucky so far this Winter. We have had a ton of sunshine and stayed at about forty degrees. We haven't even really needed to pull our jackets out of the coat closet.

Yesterday, the snow finally started. The weather forecast is showing that we are getting ready to have storm after storm starting this week. I could feel my grumpiness coming out. I have been running every night, training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in April, as one of my New Year's Resolutions. I really wanted to say, "Well, that's too bad. I guess my training is over." Then, I sat down and read these quotes that were in an article the January Ensign.

My attitude about Winter and Utah has pretty much sucked since I have been here. For what? I have chosen to let the weather affect my mood. THE WEATHER! How silly is that? I have spent every year moping and whining about the cold weather. My poor husband! I don't know how he has put up with me for this long? If I was him, I would be taking a winter vacation every year. To get away from ME!!!!

I decided that I am not going to be like that anymore. I am choosing to EMBRACE Winter. Last night, I bundled up in thick layers, gloves, and a hat and I went out and ran in the twenty or so degree weather, with ICE on the sidewalk....in the DARK! You know what? It wasn't bad at all. I ended up getting hot and taking my gloves after the first mile. I got home and I felt almost relieved. I CAN handle the Winter. My bad attitude was my choice. It's not going to be like that anymore.

I am so lucky to live where I do. It is such a good place to raise a family and to settle down. Snow and all. :)

This was taken last year by Craig at my Mom and Fred's old house. We haven't had NEARLY this much snow yet.

Brylee's Photoshoot

2012-01-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

We went to the Quilted Bear today and we ended up buying this really cute vintage looking lace outfit for Brylee. I just think it is so cute with the headband! She, of course, was in heaven when I put it on her. She was prancing around the house and even went out in the front yard with Craig, who was cleaning the garage, to show it off. She was so funny!!! Having a little girl is so fun! :) Cole was crying the whole time I was taking these pictures. I don't think he gets into the "girly" stuff. I don't ever want these kids to grow up!

Playing Around

2012-01-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

I had to get the full version of Photoshop for one of my classes, so I decided to play around during nap time today. Here are a few pictures I took this morning. I love my kids. :)

Blue Eyes

2011-12-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

Please disregard the runny nose....haha

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

I was SOOOO excited for Christmas this year. I'm talking, the most excited that I have been since I was little! I think it was because Brylee is finally old enough to kind of get the whole "Santa" thing and to get excited about her presents.

My birthday was awesome. Craig went and bought us giant cinnamon rolls for breakfast, gave me some fun presents, and let me go shopping all by myself (which was probably the best present of all!). We went and had Christmas Eve dinner at Craig's parents house and had our traditional white elephant gift exchange. Craig's sister, Kaylee, made us hilarious "Ugly Christmas Sweaters" as our gifts. They were so funny.

When we got home that night and got Brylee and Cole to bed, we made white hot chocolate, turned on Christmas music, and put together the Christmas presents until one in the morning.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Day.....

Brylee's AWESOME kitchen

Cole's present from Santa

Brylee's expression when she walked downstairs and first saw the living room full of toys and presents.

Still in shock.

Finally understanding that all of this stuff was for her!

Watching Brylee prance around, excited about her presents.

Cole ALWAYS looks surprised, but I think he was pretty excited.

Still in shock.

Brylee decided she wanted to try Tanner's present. (Raw Hides)

Our Christmas Morning Breakfast. I got this idea from my friend, who has this tradition in her family. This is soooo good! You put pecans in the bottom of a bundt pan, put Rhode's frozen rolls on top, half a package of butterscotch pudding mix, and brown sugar mixed with cinnamon and melted butter poured on top. Then, you leave it out on the counter all night and put it in the oven while you are opening presents on Christmas morning. It tastes like the middle part of a cinnamon roll. mmmmmm...This is our new tradition.

Brylee literally played with her kitchen ALL DAY! She made us a lot of SOUP!

Here is another one of Cole's presents.

We had such a good Christmas!

Thankful

2011-12-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year for a lot of reasons. I love all of the time we get to spend with family. I love Christmas shopping and wrapping presents. I love the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. But the thing I love the most is how I am reminded almost constantly of how blessed I have been.

Saturday, I took pictures at a wedding for one of Sara's friends. I got to the temple pretty early so that I would have time to walk around and get a few pictures of the temple while they were inside. As I was walking around, it was really quiet and I just had time to think (something that hasn't happened in quite a while).

I realized how thankful I am that I went to the temple to be married to Craig. I am to be sealed to my family for eternity. I am so thankful that my marriage and my relationship with my kids won't end at death. I am thankful, not only that my religion focuses so much on families, but that it gives me a purpose in life. My relationships with Craig, Brylee, and Cole are so important to me. I am constantly worried that something is going to happen to one of them, because sometimes things seem too good to be true. Knowing that we were sealed in the temple brings me so much peace. I know that if something were to happen to one of them, I will be able to be with them again.

This time of year also makes me grateful to my Savior, who made all of this possible. I know that because of him and through the atonement, if I work hard to keep Heavenly Father's commandments everyday, that I will not only be blessed in this life, but for eternity.

Christmas Cookies and Holiday Hearts

2011-12-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Mom brought cookie dough over today so that she could decorate cookies with Brylee. Brylee has been in heaven having everyone around so much the last few weeks. She's not going to know what to do with herself when everyone leaves to go back to SC on Sunday. She had a ton of fun this afternoon.

This is how we make sugar cookies around here. Premade cookie dough and Betty Crocker frosting.
Of course, we had to have some chocolate chip cookies, too.

While the cookies were baking, we had to keep ourselves entertained.

Tanner and Cole had a few staring contests.
Cole won every time.
Cole had fun with Granny. He even fell asleep in her arms later on in the afternoon. It isn't very often that he does that with anyone.
My little Chubs.
Brylee was loving Aunt "Sessa".

Tanner was practicing making some pretty faces. Cole took a turn hanging out with Aunt Kelsey.
Brylee played a little dress up with Aunt Sessa's scarf.
Then it was finally time to decorate cookies.

If you look closely, you will see that Brylee ate her cookie while she decorated it.

We sure do love having our family around these days!!! We are going to have to find things to keep us busy again after they leave! Brylee went to bed tonight talking about cookies and all of the fun things she did today!

Christmas Lights

2011-12-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

So....I stole the idea of taking pictures of the kid playing in the Christmas lights. Craig worked late a few nights ago and Brylee and I got bored, so we decided to try it. Taking pictures in the dark was hard! These aren't as cute as the pictures on Pinterest, but it kept us entertained. Brylee was excited about playing in the lights and taking them kept me busy until Craig came home. :)

Coley Poley

2011-12-09T13:49:00.001-08:00

I can't believe he is THREE MONTHS OLD!

He makes me smile :)

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy. We have had Thanksgiving, potty trained Brylee, I have been studying for finals, and Craig has been CRAZY at work! With all of this stuff going on, we have had some major trouble getting into the Christmas Spirit. One day during nap time, I put together our tree and pulled out one box of Christmas decorations. Our tree sat undecorated for two weeks. Neither one of us really felt like decorating because we knew it would make a mess, Christmas tree decorations would be all over the floor and we would constantly be cleaning up broken ornaments, and we knew in about three weeks, we would have to take the time to pack all of them back up. We kind of both agreed that we would just leave our tree undecorated this year. Ba-hum-bug! ......BUT, yesterday I decided that I would take a trip to Hobby Lobby and find a few unbreakable ornaments for our tree. I ended up feeling REALLY crafty and made all of our ornaments. They were all really cheap, so we don't have to worry about Brylee playing with them or breaking them. I love how it turned out!!!

Here are a few pictures:

Our tree decorated, minus the oranges(they were still baking)

A few decorations from the ONE box of decorations I pulled out.

Stars that me and Kelsey made. We Mod Podged crinkled paper onto $.25 wood stars and hot glued twine to the back to hang them! They look almost like leather. And notice my rope garland. :)My wood ornaments came from a potpourri type box of stuff that was on sale. I tied twine to them to hang them.

I sliced oranges and dried them in the oven for about three hours. I sprinkled a little cinnamon on them while they were baking and my house even SMELLED like Christmas!

Our Christmas table settings
So last night, we made hot chocolate and watched Elf on TV with our Christmas tree lit and decorated. It felt a little like Christmas! (Notice our new couch! Merry Christmas to Craig and Me!)
I will end this with a picture of Brylee's little feet! She has been dressing herself since she has been potty trained. She looks pretty frumpy almost every day and it cracks me up!

My Niece

2011-11-17T07:24:00.000-08:00

SO....Whitney is in the hospital right now getting ready to deliver her baby girl!

She'll probably KILL me for this, but I made her let me take a few pictures of her belly a couple of days ago. I had the settings on my camera wrong and we were going to retake them on Friday, but it doesn't look like we are going to be able to do that! We will be taking pictures of her baby instead!

Here are a couple of pictures of Whitney and her baby bump!!!

I can't wait to meet the little girl who is in there!

Congratulations to Whitney and David!!!!!

My Babies...

2011-11-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

Brylee was watching some kids who were playing outside through our living room window today. I laid Cole on the floor and started playing with him. When I sit and look at these kids it doesn't take long before I pull out my camera. Here are a few of the pictures I took.

Things I Never Want to Forget

2011-11-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

I love how these kids look in the morning...tired eyes and big smiles. Brylee makes me lay Cole down next to her every morning when I get her out of bed. She gets a huge smile for a second and then she says, "I done"....and we get up and go about our day.

Daddy's Ducks

2011-11-08T07:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure, but I think most little girls would freak out if they saw dead ducks. Not Brylee! This is what she did Saturday afternoon after Craig got home from duck hunting and was outside cleaning his ducks.

2 months!

2011-11-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

Boy, time flies! I can't believe Cole has been apart of our family for over two months. He is the sweetest kid in the world! This is pretty much how he looks all day:

Cole loves bath time! His eyes get so wide and he kicks, splashes, and smiles the entire time. Here are some pictures from last night's bath:

I am just in love with this little boy!

He is growing up too fast!

Brylee the Artist!

2011-11-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

Brylee has really gotten into coloring, drawing, and painting lately! As a matter of fact, she is sitting at the counter coloring as I type this! She really gets into it! I thought I would share some of her artwork!

Sidewalk Art:

Drawing with Markers:

This picture is one of her GREATEST masterpieces yet! The lines are snakes and the dots are the snakes poop! (She is Craig's child....what can I say?)

Finger Painting:

It is pretty hilarious. She takes it SO seriously and she is so proud of herself everytime she finishes a drawing or painting! I love it. This is how she looks at the end of every Art-filled day!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T06:56:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2011 started out with the Johnson Family First Annual SPOOKY DINNER!

(I kind of got into Halloween this year)

I think this is going to be a fun tradition for our family! We made Halloween themed foods to eat for dinner before we went Trick-or-Treating.

Mummy Dogs!
Eyeballs!
Witches fingers!
Then, Brylee got dressed up as Princess Belle! Craig's Mom bought her this cute costume for her birthday! I would have died for a dress like this when I was little!

She loved being dressed up....but she did NOT love trick-or-treating. The little girl who says "hi" to every single person we pass in the grocery store, all of a sudden became very shy when we walked up to houses to get candy! We made our way around our little street and then we headed home to pass out candy. We have the best street for treak-or-treating! We have such an awesome neighborhood. We had SO many trick-or-treaters that we gave away all of our candy in about an hour!

Brylee preferred passing out candy over trick-or treating.

Too bad Cole slept through most of the evening! We didn't get any pictures of him. I can't wait until next years when they can both enjoy it!

Craig's parents came over for a little while and then we spent the rest of the night eating Brylee's candy and watching scary movies.

Pumpkin Carving!

2011-11-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

Now that we had the perfect pumpkins, we were ready to carve them. It was nice that Halloween fell on a Monday because we were able to spend the Sunday afternoon, the day before, carving our pumpkins!

Brylee had SO much fun taking out the "pumpkin guts"!We made some pumpkin seeds with different flavors. They turned out pretty good!

This is how a REAL MAN carves pumpkins....with power tools!!! :)

My pumpkin has the holes in it, Cole had the hockey mask looking pumpkin, Craig had the scared pumpkin, and Brylee had the spider!

As our kids get older, I can see this becoming more and more fun!

Fall is Here!

2011-11-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, I constantly feel like I am trying to play "catch up" on this blog! So, over the next few days I am going to post all of the things that we have been doing over the last few weeks! It has cooled off and it is finally Fall! I don't know that I necessarily like the weather cooling off, but I love the holidays and the fun activities that go along with it! Here is the first Fall activity we did this year! Here are a ton of pictures from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch! We found this awesome pumpkin patch in Lehi...just a few minutes from our house.

This boy was so nice! His family owned the pumpkin patch and he helped Brylee pet all of their animals. He even let her feed the goats!

At least the goat was posing for this next picture.....

Brylee and Daddy in the Hay Maze!

She should have been a farm girl!

This is pretty much how Cole looked the whole time! He had fun showing off his double chin to all of the animals! ;)

Brylee loved it, until the hay started "sticki" her.

Here is Cole with a REAL RODEO BULL. A CHAMPION rodeo bull that NOBODY can stay on! He is supposedly really mean!

Brylee spent a lot of time searching for the perfect pumpkin to bring home.

We all had a lot of fun!

The BEST Book!!!

2011-10-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

The only thing I really have to say today is that THIS IS THE BEST BOOK!!!! I think all new parents should have it! We discovered it when Brylee was six months old and it has done nothing but make are lives easier...and it also keeps my stress level down!

Thanks to this book, Brylee has been going to sleep on her own at seven o'clock every night since she was six months old. We just lay her down and she goes to sleep after bath time.

We just started doing this with Cole (last week) and he now, at five weeks old (almost), goes to sleep every single night by himself. We lay him down when he is awake and he goes to sleep WITHOUT ANY CRYING at about 6:30 pm.

It has been amazing and, even though we have to wake up around seven in the morning, it is so nice to have child-free evenings to spend with my husband.

Popcorn and root beer shake movie nights....here we come! :)

A Special Week!

2011-09-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty special week at our house.

Sunday was Cole's baby blessing at church. It was fun to have a lot of people from both of our families there. Brylee was really excited to have both sets of grandparents at our church with us. Craig gave Cole a really good blessing. I'll post some pictures from his blessing day on here soon.

Craig's birthday was yesterday. The big 31! He has been working sooooo hard these past few weeks (I'm talking....not getting home until midnight) so it was so nice that he was able to get home at a normal time to celebrate his birthday!

He picked his special birthday dinner: Steak and Crab legs! (I wasn't complaining!)

Me and Brylee made him a birthday cake! I have to give him a hard time about being "so old". I am obviously NOT a cake decorator, but it sure tasted good.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Craig. Brylee is totally into birthday parties and was sooooo excited about this. We even hung a birthday banner and blew up a few balloons. Daddy was so nice and let her sit on his lap. She sang to him...and Cole was just trying to figure out what was going on!

They blew out the candles together!

We were all glad to have him home last night and to celebrate his birthday! He has a lot of people who love him at this house!

Craig isn't the only one who had a birthday this week. Today is Cole's 4 week "birthday"! I can't believe that he has already been a part of our family for 4 whole weeks!

It was a pretty special week!

So Many Changes!

2011-09-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

August and September brought SO MANY CHANGES to our family. All of them have been really good changes, but all of this change has kept us so busy.

We finally closed on our new house at the beginning of August. We were so excited about it. We are so lucky to have such amazing families who helped SO much with our move because, at nine months pregnant, I couldn't do a ton of lifting. We spent the two weeks after our closing painting, fixing the yard, putting in new lighting, and making some changes around our new house. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures because it looks so different compared to when we bought it. Again, we had so much help from our families. After we got our furniture moved in, I had about a week to get things organized and somewhat decorated before the baby came.

Brylee is so happy at our new house. She loves the yard and her new room with her big girl bed! She sleeps so well in her new room! Here is a picture of her playing in her room, even though you can't see much of it.
Of course, after I got the kids' rooms set up, I had to make a run to the wood connection and get letters so I could put their names up in their rooms.

Before we knew it, it was September 2nd and we were at the hospital waiting for the baby to arrive!
After about 11 hours, I started feeling some pain. Craig was there to hold my hand. Luckily, my labors have gone really fast and by the time I feel pain, I know I only have a few minutes until "pushing time".

Cole Jaron Johnson

7 lbs 15 oz

20 inches long

Born at 7:29 pm

I always wondered if I would love my second baby as much as I loved Brylee....It was love at first sight.
Brylee stayed with Aunt Whitney and Uncle David and they brought her to the hospital to meet her brother on Saturday. She gave him one little kiss...and then decided she wanted to push every button in the hospital room.

She wasn't extremely interested in spending time with her brother.

I can't believe it has already been 2 whole weeks since Cole was born! We were bored yesterday and I pulled out the camera and took some pictures of our sweet baby boy. I couldn't believe how much he has already changed.

He has been such a sweet and calm baby. He doesn't sleep very well, but that is to be expected with a newborn. It is crazy how just two weeks ago, we were trying to imagine how our lives were going to be once he arrived and now we can't imagine our lives without him! We love him so much and we are so happy to have him in our family!

Brylee's Second Birthday Party!!!!!!!!!

Since Cole had joined our family, Brylee hadn't been getting as much attention as she was used to so we wanted to make sure she felt really special on her birthday.

Craig came home from work the night before and he brought home streamers, balloons, necklaces, a tricycle, and a happy birthday banner. He stayed up late blowing up balloons and hanging up a birthday sign so that when she woke up in the morning she would feel special.

I think she felt pretty special. She spent the day wearing her necklaces and singing happy birthday to herself.

She loves cake. She is definitely our child.

She had to taste the frosting before she blew out the candle. I was so proud of her because she blew it out on the first try. (We have been practicing that for about a month now.)

She also got a princess birthday hat to wear. She wore it long enough to take a few pictures before she had enough of it.

Man, oh man....Do we love this girl! I can't believe she has been with us for two whole years. It seems like time has flown by. Before we know it we will be celebrating her 20th birthday so I know we have to enjoy every moment with her. She makes us laugh, makes me crazy, and makes our lives so much better. I don't know what we'd do without her.

I know I say it all the time, but I love my little family! All of these changes have made our lives insane, but as things slow down I am realizing how incredibly lucky I am. I have an amazing husband who is the best Dad and two perfectly healthy, beautiful kids. Our family is feeling more complete and I wouldn't change a thing!

Tanner Boy...

2011-08-03T10:07:00.001-07:00

Sometimes he drives me insane. He sheds SOOOO much and causes me to have to sweep and vacuum non-stop...but I am thankful he is so relaxed and patient with Brylee! I'm sure she drives him CRAZY!

Time

2011-08-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Most days, I am trying to rush time. I can't wait until nap time, or bed time, or until Craig gets home so that he can do the entertaining. I can't wait until the baby comes so that I can sleep on my stomach again....or until our kids are grown up so that I can sleep in and we can take "real" vacations.

But today, as Brylee and I were jumping on the trampoline and later when we were mixing up cake batter for our "Prison Break" treats, I realized I don't want to rush through life. As I watched Brylee mix up the cake batter and take a big bite every time she stirred, I wanted time to stop. I sometimes get so busy and caught up in the day that I miss out on a lot. I wish time could stop right here.....and stay this way forever.

One day, these days will be gone...and all I will have are pictures and memories. That makes me sad. But I am so lucky and thankful for the life I have so that I can stay home with Brylee and enjoy these simple things. All I can try to do is appreciate every single second.

Busy July!

2011-07-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

(Warning: it has been awhile. This may be long.)

It has been about a month since my last post. That isn't because I haven't thought about it or that I have just been lazy! Things have been so crazy lately. With Craig working late tonight and Brylee in bed early, I thought I would sit down and catch up on things while I have a second.

Here is a quick update on what has been going on.

- We finally have a house!!!! Woo hoo! Well, almost. We put in offers on several short sales and one of the banks (finally) came back and counter-offered, which we accepted! We have been crazy busy doing paper work, picking out paint and carpet, planning landscaping, and getting everything ready. We are hoping to close by the end of this month. That is only ten days away, but by the time we get the house cleaned, painted and carpeted, we should be in there about 2-3 weeks before the baby comes!!! Thank goodness we will have a place to bring our little guy home to. I just hope he stays in there until his due date so that I can get his room ready and get everything situated before then.

The house is going to be awesome. It has a fully finished basement, a fenced in yard for Brylee, and 4 parks within walking distance!!!!! Not to mention all of the bike trails. It will be a perfect place for our family to grow.

-The baby boy will be here in about a month and a half! Crazy!!!! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by! I hope we can get everything done before he arrives! I can't wait for him to get old enough to play with Brylee. She has Badger to play with for now, but she needs a real friend. I was watching her at the park a couple of days ago. She pushed Badger down the slide and said "weeee!!!!" and then she would take a turn going. It tugged at my heart strings and made me glad we chose to have another baby instead of waiting. Even though things are going to be tricky, juggling school and 2 kids, I am excited to bring this baby boy home and have a new addition to our family. Brylee needs a brother!

Well...This is getting to be VERY long, so I will share some pictures that I have taken over the last month and try to fill in the blanks.

An example of Brylee playing with Badger. She loves that thing!!!

I can't help but take pictures of this little girl. She is amazing!

Here is Brylee in her "Fourth of July Dress". She looked cute, but if only her attitude would have matched! We had a cookout at Granny and Grandpa's house (which she pretty much slept through.)She did enjoy watching the guys on the slip and slide. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house and made ribs and watched fireworks. She was not interested in them AT ALL! I don't think the 4th is her favorite holiday. It was fun to see everyone though!

Man, oh man, oh man....this was funny! Craig and Tanner did some serious plotting and actually soaked Fred with water from the creek! I wish I could put all of the pictures up! Hilarious!

My awesome and amazing husband let me buy a new lens for my camera!!!! I haven't played with it much yet...but I love it already. This was one of my first practice shots with it! I can't wait to play with it more!

This one just makes me smile. She had just sprayed herself with freezing cold water in her swimming pool. :)

Things are good. I will be better from now on about keeping up with things. Hopefully things won't get too crazy. I will post some pictures of our house and keep everyone updated as things progress in our lives!

What's Been Happening...

2011-06-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well, The last week or so has been very busy and a lot of fun! Brylee has been a busy girl. Here are a few of the things we have done throughout the last week.

Last week, Brylee's cousins from Saint George were up visiting and we were able to go with them and Grandma Johnson to a splash park. It was SO hilarous to watch Brylee running around from one sprinkler to the next. She was squealing and laughing so loud. I love her little personality. It makes it so much fun to take her places like this.

She decided she was thirsty. Silly girl.

We went to Historic Wheeler Farm.

We went to Temple square and had a family day.

Whitney joined Me and Brylee for a stroll around the Thanksgiving Point Gardens.
She was watching the kids playing on the other side of those bushes. (She is ready for her Brother to get here!)

Thanksgiving Point has some of the coolest flowers. So pretty.

I love Summertime and the fact that Brylee is getting old enough to enjoy getting out and doing things.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Father's Day this Saturday and Sunday. It was Craig's first Saturday off in 2 months and we were actually able to spend time as a family for an ENTIRE weekend. It was pretty awesome. Saturday morning, we went to Wheeler historic farm. It was really fun for Brylee to run from one animal to another. We came home and all took a nap. Brylee slept for two hours. It was awesome. Then we went to Pizza Pie for lunch and then walked around Temple Square in the afternoon. For Father's Day, Craig got a Bipod (He was pretty excited about it too!) for his guns and we made him a cake. It was such a nice weekend!!!

I am so grateful for Craig and what an amazing Dad he is! You can just look in Brylee's eyes and see how much she loves him. When he is around, nobody else matters to her!

I feel so lucky that my kids have the best Dad in the whole world. Thanks Craig for all you do for your family! We love you so much!

Badger

2011-06-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, we almost lost this little guy! It was pretty bad. He was missing for like two hours. We realized he was missing at Brylee's Bedtime and she sat in her crib and cried for two hours (and I was crying) before Craig finally found him stuffed under the mattress in my mom's room. Brylee must have thought he would think it was fun to hang out there. It made me realize how much we NEED him! He is Brylee's best friend. Thanks Badger, for comforting my girl when she is sad, playing with her all day long, and keeping a watch over her all night! She really does love this little thing!!!!!

Craig is a Speed Junkie

2011-06-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

I have been having so much fun in my photography class this Summer. I am actually kind of sad that it is almost over. I've been learning all kinds of fun things about my camera and some of the fun tricks that I can do.

After Brylee went to sleep a few nights ago, Craig was outside mowing the lawn and I pulled out my camera to play around with it. We have been learning a lot about shutter speeds and a technique called "panning". It's when you use a really slow shutter speed, focus in on a moving object, and follow it while you take the picture. That's what photographers do when they take pictures of race cars, people riding bikes, and things like that to make them look like they are going really fast.

Here is Craig, cutting the grass. This was taken with a normal shutter speed.

This was taken using the panning technique. It makes him look like he is going like 50mph on that lawn mower.

Anyway, we had a pretty good laugh about it. It cracks me up. :)

Bubbees!!!!!!!!

2011-06-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

I love that Brylee is learning how to talk. It cracks me up to hear her saying the new words that she's learning. Most of the words that she says are completely random....and she doesn't use a ton of common words.

Words normal 21 month old kids say:

-Binky

-Drink

-Mommy

-Daddy

-Bib

-Uh-Oh

While she does use a few of those words, these are the words we generally hear come out of Brylee's mouth:

-Tractor

-Poop

-"Awe, That's So cute" ("Oh, Das so coo")

-"Hello" ("Hewo")

-"Bubbles!" ("Bubbees!")

These are just a few of the words that Brylee Jaye uses on a regular basis. It is so much fun to watch her grow up and learn new things. I can't believe that she is almost two years old! We have our hard days, tantrums, and normal two year old behavior that we are dealing with on a regular basis (and somedays it makes me pretty crazy), but I feel so lucky that she is my little girl and I love her to death.

Here are a few pictures of her doing her favorite thing....Taking a "Bubbee" bath. :)

Poor Mac!

2011-06-08T10:18:00.001-07:00

Poor Mac! He was only trying to make a new friend....but the PORCUPINE wasn't buying it! I didn't even know there were porcupines in Utah!!!! After about an hour of holding him down, a lot of sweat, blood, and upper body strength, Fred and Craig finally got all of those little things out of his face, neck, and leg! He was a brave dog!!!!!

The Adventures of Craig

2011-06-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not the greatest at keeping up with Craig's Adventures, so I am going to post some pictures of his latest one. He just spent Memorial Day weekend (and the week before) in Wisconsin and Canada visiting his good friend John and His family. They drove 10 hours to Canada and spent the weekend fishing. He had such a good time and they caught and ate a ton of fish. Hopefully, one day I will get to go too!

The Fish cleaning Station.

The Cabin.

Early in the Morning.

One of Craig's Fish.
The Lake.

A big one. (Notice it goes from his shoulder to his waist!)

John's Brother, John, and John's Dad, frying the fish and onion rings.

Dinner.

Fish from ONE morning!

I am happy they had fun, but I am even more happy to have him home!

It's been a few weeks....

2011-05-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post.....so I will just give a quick update.

I had my 24 week appointment last week. Baby is doing great and everything seems to be going smoothly. It is hard to believe that I will be 26 weeks along this week!!! In about 3 months, I will be holding a little boy in my arms. I am scared to death for the day this baby comes. It feels like I just got Brylee on a good schedule and I now have an idea of how chaotic life is with a new baby. So....I am having a hard time looking forward to those first six months. After that, I know things will be great.

Brylee is starting to talk more and more. She has been saying new words every single day! My favorite word that she says right now is, "I"....because when she says it it sounds like she has a really strong southern accent. It makes me smile. Also, she made it through nursery the WHOLE time today!!! It was awesome. I could actually sit and enjoy church for the first time in almost two years!(It only took her 3 months...but she did it!)

Craig has been in Wisconsin/ Canada since Tuesday on his annual fishing trip with John. It sure is quiet around here without him. I haven't talked to him since Thursday morning because he doesn't get cell service up in Canada....but I am sure he is having a blast. We will post pictures soon.

And....I have started classes once again. This first term I am taking a photography class and this is the first class I have actually enjoyed and looked forward to going to since I started college! It is a lot of fun re-learning how to use the darkroom and learning how to use the SLR cameras. So much fun!

Anyway, things have been crazy around here the last few weeks and I haven't taken many pictures. I just wanted to leave a quick update!

Pool Party!!!

2011-05-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

It is finally starting to feel like Summer in Utah! We are finally able to wear short-sleeved shirts and not freeze to death! Thank Goodness! That felt like the longest Winter ever!

While we were out running errands today, I picked up a cheap little swimming pool for Brylee. After spending what seemed like an hour blowing it up (and gagging the entire time), and making about 12 trips in and out of the house with a 10 gallon bucket full of warm water (not an easy task when you are 22 weeks pregnant), we finally got the pool filled up and ready to go. I got Brylee Jaye in her bathing suit and put her in the pool and............... she started screaming at the top of her lungs! She was NOT sure what to think about that swimming pool!

She stood back and watched the pool from a distance for a while.
Then she got the courage to move a little closer, throw some rocks in it, and

eventually started dipping a little paper cup in it.

Pretty soon, I rolled up my pants and stood in the pool and pretended like I was having SOOO much fun splashing around in there. She decided that she wanted to join me too.

After a few minutes of walking around in the pool, she got brave and sat down in it.

It wasn't long before she realized that this swimming pool was pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to her! She started splashing around, moving around on her belly, and putting her face under! She thought it was pretty awesome!

I just love this girl and it was so much fun watching her have a blast!

I LOVE Summer time!

Photography

2011-05-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

This week, Mom and I decided to go do a couple of basic photography classes. One was through Highland City and one through the University of Utah Lifelong Learning program. Craig was awesome to come home after work and take over Brylee so that I could go do theses classes. We had a lot of fun and I am beginning to (KIND OF) understand how to use my new camera and what ISO, aperture, and shutter speed are and what they have to do with eachother. I never knew there was so much work involved in taking pictures! It can get pretty confusing!

It is going to take me a very long time to get the hang of it all.

Craig went out rabbit hunting on Saturday afternoon and so we rounded up the siblings and forced them to be our models. We went to downtown Lehi and found some really cool old buildings and cars to take pictures in front of.

Thanks to the siblings for being such good sports while I played around with all of my different camera settings. Here are some of the shots I got......

Some of the shots came out a little too dark, some a little to light but...OH WELL.... I am still learning and it is a lot of fun. Like I said, It is going to take me a LONG time to get it all together. I am still going to try and take more classes this summer and in the future.

Easter

2011-04-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Brylee with her Easter Basket. (Notice the first thing She grabbed was the picture of her with the Easter Bunny.)
Sitting on the rocking chair with her Bunny Ears and her new Easter Bunny stuffed animal.

There was Easter grass EVERYWHERE!

In her Easter dress before church.

Brylee and Craig outside looking for Easter eggs.

We had a lot of fun this Easter. Brylee got to see the Easter Bunny and have her picture taken with him.(Thanks to Smith's and Granny). She didn't put that picture down all day on Saturday. It was too cute.

Sunday morning was fun. Brylee was up bright and early and it was way fun to watch her go through her basket. She got some bunny ears, a stuffed animal, some finger puppets, and a little bit of candy (which craig and I ate most of).

After church, we did an Easter Egg hunt with Brylee and then watched as Kelsey, Tanner, and Erika did their Easter Egg hunt. Brylee found quite a few of their eggs for them. Then we had lunch. Mom made Ham, mac and cheese, collard greens, and TONS of other food.

Then we went to SECOND dinner at Craig's parent's house. The Easter Bunny came there for Brylee too. She got a fun squishy light up ball, an easter bunny that hops around, and a coloring book and crayons.

It was a good Easter. The best part was the time we got to spend with our families.

Boy, OH BOY!

2011-04-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we had our 20 week ultrasound and....IT'S A BOY!!! We are pretty excited to have a boy and a girl!!! I think it will be hard not to put hair bows in his hair, because I love doing all of the little girl "dress up" stuff. It will be different, but we are pretty excited. (The picture on top is the back and side of his head and he has his little hand up next to his face.)

(Here is a picture of his arm with his little fingers and his leg is at the bottom.) I had forgotton how fun it was to go sit through the ultrasound and to actually be able to SEE the baby that I feel moving all the time. The ultrasound went VERY well and we were really happy to find out that this little boy has two arms and legs, fingers and toes, a healthy heart and brain, kidneys and stomach. He is growing properly and everything is on track for a healthy pregnancy.

We have already started looking through baby names online. We didn't pick Brylee's name until the day we left the hospital, so it will probably be a while until we know what we want to name him for sure.

It is crazy to think that Brylee is going to be a big sister. She has been so much fun lately and she has been an angel even though Dad and Mom have been sick the last couple of weeks. (FYI: The flu + pregnancy= sucks.) It has finally been decent weather outside and she LOVES, and I mean LOVES, to be outside.

When I was sick, I just took a blanket outside and laid on the grass while she played. She stayed right by me and was so sweet. She loves to sit on Granny's bench. She sees Fred's tools outside, points to them, and says, "Pa Pa?" It's fun to watch her learn new words and discover new things.

She has started to really use her imagination and play more, too. She pretends to feed her little animals and says, "yum!" when they eat it. She was feeding her plastic farm animal pig some pork a couple of days ago. It was pretty funny. She also pretends to be a dog and crawls around on her hands and knees. She will stick out her tongue and pant. Too funny.

The flowers are blooming in Mom and Fred's yard and she always wants to look at them.

Just a picture I took, I love the flowering trees and that it is starting to feel more like Spring around here.

Because it is starting to feel more like Spring, I have been feeling crafty again. ha ha.....Or just really bored during one of Brylee's naps. Here is my latest little craft. I decorated it with black and white scrapbook paper and it turned out pretty cute.

Craig has been getting more and more jobs and things are really taking off. He is actually off studying right now. His test for his masters is coming up and I know he is going to do great. I am really proud of him for how are he works and what a good job he does.

I am getting ready to register for summer classes at UVU. (I swear I am going to finish school....eventually!)

I am getting ready to sign Brylee up for swimming lessons for this Summer. I am excited that she is finally old enough to start classes like that. I can't wait.

Anyway, this post has been entirely too long!

Our Trip

2011-04-14T07:43:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, our trip had to end and we had to fly back to Utah. Even though the trip was short,we got a lot accomplished and we had such a nice weekend. It's funny how, in the South, everything is much more slow-paced and it is easier to relax. On Friday, we met with a real estate agent, Joanna, who spent the entire morning showing us around the different areas and showing us different houses. After the house hunt, Craig did the "job hunt". We went and delivered his resume to a few companies and talked to a few people. Krista and Kenny came up and we all went out to eat at a BBQ restaurant called the Hunting Lodge. Craig was in heaven talking to the owners who were telling him all about the hunting in Greenville. It was a buffet and kind of reminded me of Duke's. mmmm....so good. We all went to downtown Greenville, which is beautiful, and walked through the parks. We stopped and got ice cream at a little shop and walked down to the main street,which is blocked off every Thursday and Friday night, and listened to the live bands. It was like a giant Greenville party. It reminded me of Waterfestival. On Saturday morning we went on a hike in the cliffs with my family to a waterfall. My Family drove down to Beaufort and Krista and Kenny stayed behind with us. We spent the day driving around and looking at a few more houses. We went to Lake Robinson (SUCH A PRETTY LAKE). Then we went and ate at Bone Fish Grill. It was fun to spend time with Krista and Kenny. We went to church and then back to Lake Robinson on Sunday and enjoyed the beautiful weather before we had to drive back to Atlanta. Greenville is such and awesome city and we are just hoping that everything works out with jobs, because it seems like a great place to raise our family. If not, it was a nice weekend away. Even though it was fun, we sure were glad to get home to Brylee. Three days was too long to be away from her! Here a few pictures from our trip.

Packing

2011-04-06T11:21:00.001-07:00

We are wrapping up the last minute details for our quick trip to Greenville. I am really wishing that we could make it it to Beaufort. Krista and Kenny are going to come up to Greenville while we are there though, so we are excited about that. We have a realtor scheduled to show us a few houses and different areas. Craig has a few meetings lined up with electrical contractors. We have to look into the schools (because there is NO way I am sending my kids to schools like I went to!) and hospitals (because if we end up moving there, this baby needs a good place to come into the world). There is going to be so much to do in such a short time. We are pretty excited about seeing everything. I am going to miss Brylee SOOOO much. We haven't ever left her overnight before. We are hoping that she does well for Craig's Mom. Moving on.....I had my 18 week appointment yesterday. Dr. W said the baby's heartbeat sounded great and everything seems to be moving along just fine. Exactly two weeks from today we will find out the sex of the baby. I am thinking it might be a boy because this pregnancy has been TOTALLY different from the first (and because I have the appetite teenage boy). I have NO idea what to do with a boy though. He would probably end up with hair bows, painted fingernails, and frilly clothes. We can't wait to find out. We will be excited either way. We will take lots of pictures in Greenville and keep everyone updated on the upcoming ultrasound!

Springtime in Utah....

2011-04-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

So...this is what we woke up to yesterday. It's a good thing General Conference was on and we didn't have any outdoor activities planned. Luckily, its melting today. Gotta love Utah.

Crafts, Cameras, and 5ks

2011-03-30T10:26:00.001-07:00

Things are busy here as we are getting ready for our trip to SC, with Craig's job (and many, many side jobs), and with Brylee. Even though things may seem hectic at times, we still try to have fun.

Here are some of the fun things that have been happening lately:

One of the many things that I love about Craig's mom is that she is so crafty. She has the cutest decorations for every season and holiday and her house always puts you in the mood for which ever holiday is coming up. She makes most of the decorations herself.

Last fall, she got me hooked on this store called The Wood Connection, where they sell the wood cut outs for way cheap and you make the crafts yourself. I wish I had pictures of all of the cute things I have made since then, but I only have a picture of the most recent project. Brylee and I went and hung out with Craig's Mom and Grandma last week and made some cute Easter Eggs. Here is a picture of them.

I bought another little project for Spring, but I haven't started working on it yet. I'll post a picture of that when I finish it. ....If only I had a house so that I could put out all of my fun new things!

On to a different subject....I know I have said it over a million times, but I really do think I have the best husband in the world. I have been interested in photography for a while now, so Craig bought me an amazing camera last Saturday. We found an awesome deal on a camera and a few lenses....and he bought it for me!!! I was pretty much jumping up and down before we got out of the store and I have been playing with it NON-STOP since then. I seriously felt like a seven year old on Christmas Day!

It's a pretty complicated camera, so I have been trying to learn the ins and outs of it. It is going to take me a while.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of Brylee while she was playing outside in my Mom's yard:

Brylee LOVES to be playing outside (you can tell by how dirty her little shoes are). I am so excited to take a few photography and photoshop classes in the near future and actually learn what I am doing so I can take some fun pictures.

In other news, I might be crazy, but I am starting to train for another 5k. It is finally starting to warm up outside, and I just heard about a 5k that takes you through the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. I have always wanted to go through those gardens, so I am pretty excited. I will probably look pretty funny running a 5k with my baby bump, but it should be fun. I think I have talked Craig into running it too. I'll keep you updated on how the training is going.

And last but not least, I have been feeling the baby moving and kicking like crazy. I can't believe how active this little one is at only 17 weeks! It doesn't get old.

Greenville

2011-03-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

I moved to Utah from SC over three years ago. Since then I met Craig, got married, and started my family. With Craig's job and his new business growing, I thought we would be here forever. Since we sold our house we have started thinking that there might be somewhere else, other than Utah, that we may want to raise our family. We have looked at many different areas. We have been spending a lot of time researching and learning more about the Greenville, SC area.

I never thought I would consider moving back to SC....but we have been really liking what we have seen in Greenville and we decided we are going to take a few days to go visit the area and see what it has to offer. We are going to visit at the beginning of April for a few days. Brylee is going to stay here with Craig's parents so we can get a lot done in that short period of time. We bought plane tickets two nights ago. Moving is a HUGE decision and will be pretty risky considering how well Craig is doing here. We will spend our time looking at the area, checking out schools, and talking to electrical contractors in the area.

Nothing is certain and we may just end up staying here. There are pros and cons to moving to Greenville (or anywhere else for that matter) and to staying in Salt Lake. We still don't know what we are going to do for sure, but we are really excited to see how it goes.

Exciting news...

2011-03-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Brylee is pretty much the best little girl in the world. She is everything I could have asked for in a child. I love the way she runs up to me and wraps her arms around my neck, the way she runs and jumps in Craig's arms when he gets home from work, the way she makes her little "squinty faced" smile and laughs when she sees someone new, and the way she carries around her dirty little badger like it is the best thing in the world. Even though we both love her more than anything in the world, and she can be a handful at times...well, most times.....In November, Craig and I decided that our family still isn't complete. We did a lot of thinking and praying and decided that maybe it was time to add a new little one to our family. By decemeber, I was pregnant. I am now almost 17 weeks pregnant and we couldn't be more excited.

It was so much fun to tell our families. We made Mom and Fred an anniversary card from Brylee. She colored pictures on the outside and on the inside I wrote, "I am going to be a big sister! Love, Brylee". It was fun to watch my mom jump up and down.

A week or so later we told Craig's paren't the same way by making them a Valentine's Day card from Brylee. Kamie screamed and they were really excited to hear that. I think Craig's mom was in shock because Craig told her, for so many years, that he didn't think he would ever have kids.

We love our families and it is so nice to have them close by to share this news with.

This pregnancy has been amazingly EASY! Maybe it is because I have been so busy with our house selling and chasing Brylee around all day, every day. I don't even FEEL pregnant (Besides the expanding waistline!). I haven't been sick at all. I have been a little bit tired, but that could be because Brylee hasn't been sleeping too well between the teething and her recent ear infections. I feel so lucky that I haven't been sick.

I went to my doctor a few weeks ago and everything seemed to be going great. I was able to hear the little orange's heart beat. It always makes my heart beat a little bit faster to hear that "lub dub" sound. It makes it feel more real.

We get to find out what the sex of the baby is on April 21st. I am really looking forward to that. He or She is Due on September 9th, which is on Brylee's 2nd birthday. Dr. W said he will induce me a week early so that they won't have the same birthday if I want him to.

Anyway, I am just rambling on, but we are really excited to have this little one coming to our family. We love him/her already!

Next year, our family picture will have another person in it.

Moving on...

2011-03-25T10:22:00.001-07:00

We have had so much happen since the last post. It will probably take a few different posts to get completely updated. So....they will be coming as I get around to it. :) Things have been so busy. One of the biggest things that has happenend is that we sold our house! We decided that maybe it was time for a change. We will be needing a bigger house in the future with more storage and a fenced in yard for Brylee and Tanner would be nice. We got a real estate agent and put our house up for sale just to see what would happen...... and it sold in a week and a half!!! The next three weeks were so hectic and crazy with packing, renting a storage unit, cleaning, and figuring out where we will be staying until we buy our next house(which is in my parents' basement, thank goodness they are so generous!).

We were so excited to move our stuff out and move on with our lives that I didn't even stop to think about how sad I actually would be to leave that house. The day we finally moved the last of our things out, after all of the moving help was gone (which, by the way, we were so incredibly thankful for everyone who came and helped!), Craig and I were there doing the last of the cleaning and I looked around and the tears came to my eyes. I was actually really sad to be leaving. We have so many good memories and we have had so many great times in that house. That was where Craig and I hung out the first time we met, where I got to move into when we got married, it was my first real "grown up" house, and it is where we brought Brylee home after she was born. Even though I know we will be moving on to bigger and better things (wherever that may be), that little house will always be so special to us!

Bored, Bored, Bored

2011-01-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Craig is working in Vernal and I am bored. I hate being home by myself. It is way too quiet. Craig has been doing the P90x workouts with me and it was boring working out by myself tonight.
I have been watching Kaylee's girls for her while she works a few days a week. My feet hurt after chasing around three very active girls all day and I REALLY didn't work out. I did it though, because I refuse to lose the bet I have with Kelsey and Tanner. They seem to be going strong still. It has been almost two weeks, and it doesn't look like anyone is going to quit anytime soon. I am pretty proud of all of us.
Brylee has been waking up at about 6:45-7:15 every morning, which means I am a zombie while I am fixing our breakfast in the morning. So I always turn on the Today Show to keep my mind off of my warm bed upstairs that always seems to be calling my name. A couple of days ago, there was a segment on the Today Show, talking about childhood obesity. They said that 40% O nine month old babies are obese. FORTY PERCENT!?!?!?!? What the heck? So, I started to wonder if Brylee is obese. As ridiculous as it sounds, it has really been bugging me for the past couple of days. Each morning, about 30 minutes after breakfast, Brylee makes her way over to the pantry and bangs on the door saying, "yum....yum....yum....yum...." Until I either get up and get her a snack or until she starts screaming. This continues on throughout the day. It seems like she constantly has a small plastic plate or bowl on the ground filled with a snack of some sort.
Since I had a little free time tonight, I did some research. I was pretty happy to find out that Brylee is actually a pound below average for a 16 month old. (It may have something to do with the fact that she runs around NON-STOP ALL DAY LONG.) But I was also pretty happy to find out that I was feeding her exactly the way I should be. She eats whole grain pasta and bread and I try to feed her a fruit or a vegetable with every meal...and come to find out, kids her age are supposed to be eating about 6 small meals/snacks a day. So the constant snacking isn't such a huge deal.

Whew. I am glad that my baby isn't obese. It's pretty sad we even have to worry about those things these days.

I love my baby girl and I want her to be healthy. I love my family. I love my life.

Winter 2010

2010-12-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

You know you are a pretty pathetic blogger when......there is an average of 6-7 months in between each of your posts. Unfortunately, I fall under that category. I am going to really try and be better at it though. I used to be really good at keeping a journal. l
Life is so busy and the last thing on my mind is sitting down and typing what is going on in our lives, but I know that if I don't, I will regret it one day.

So, we just had Christmas. It was kind of like our first real christmas as a family. We did Christmas baking while listening to Dolly Parton, I did all kinds of cute Christmas crafts. On Christmas Eve, we drank hot chocolate, watched the Christmas movie, and opened up our Christmas PJ's to wear that night. It was pretty awesome. It was Brylee's first REAL christmas. Last Christmas she could barely hold her head up and she was drooling all over the place. This year was so much fun. She kind of opened up her gifts and pulled the paper off. She got so many cute things. It was so much fun watching her face light up and her arms flap as she opened each new gift. It probably took an hour for her to open her gifts because she had to play with each one for a while before we moved on to the next one. One of her gifts was a rocking horse/pony. When you push the ears it sings songs and makes horse sounds. At first, all she wanted to do was play the song so that she could dance to the music, but I think she has the hang of it now. It is so much fun to watch her go on that thing. Next year will probably be even more fun and exciting!

Tanner and Kelsey got P90x for Christmas. I already have it at my house, so of course we had to make it into a competition. We are going to see which of the three of us can make it through the 90 days without quitting. If Kelsey loses, I get 8 free hours of babysitting. If Tanner loses, I get a free dinner at the Rooftop in Salt Lake. I am not going to lose so I don't even have to mention what I would have to do for them if I lose! :) craig and I are on day 3 and still going strong!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to finish P90x. I have been thinking all week about what my goals should be for the upcoming year. My problem is, I have WAY too many goals and I never finish them. So...my number one goal this year is to actually succeed in keeping my new year's resolutions.

Another one of my goals is to be a better blogger. :)

My Mom....

2010-07-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say one thing. I am so thankful for my mom. She is the strongest person I know.

Ragamuffins

2010-07-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a sad sad day. Today, I came to the realization that I have become the type person I swore I would never become: the raggedy mom with the raggedy kid...

It all began last night.......

Everyone who knows me knows that math is my very LEAST favorite subject. So... having a math test Wednesday afternoon, I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning studying. After studying, I creeped into our room where Craig was fast asleep and trying not to wake him, I quietly shut the door to our bathroom and took a quick shower. I did not even try to blow dry my hair and went to bed with a wet head. (Sleeping on wet hair ALWAYS make my hair crazy!)

Of course, Brylee was up two or three times after I went to bed. (I love teething!)

This morning, I rolled out of bed to the sound of Brylee weeping and wailing in her crib.... And on my way out of the room I ran into the bed post because I was so exhausted.

After breakfast I had my whole day planned out. I had four (very long) chapters left to study for my test and I made myself a schedule. I gave myself a certain amount of time to study each section so that I would be finished by the time I had to leave for class this afternoon. It would be very close, but if I stuck to my schedule, I would finish studying.

Things didn't go quite as planned. Brylee was getting into EVERYTHING. She puts everything in her mouth so you have to watch her extra close. She was extra needy for attention and Barney just wasn't cutting it.

Brylee went down for her morning nap and it was FINALLY quiet. I began studying and was making great time. I was able to focus. I began to feel pretty good about things. Right then.....My phone rang.

Mom was on the other end of the line telling me what a wonderful time they are having in Fort george. Then She asked me if I would drive over to her house to write a check for the cleaning ladies. Inside I was thinking, "Do you understand what this means? I have a a schedule to keep! I only have "X" amount of minutes to study each section, and if I don't stick to it....I won't pass my test!".....but on the outside I said, "sure". I began thinking, if I speed over there as fast as I can and rush home, I can be home and only lose about 45 minutes of studying time.

I went upstairs, threw my nappy hair ( from sleeping on it wet) into a ponytail, and put on a pair of jeans(...the dirty jeans with holes that I wore the entire day yesterday while I cleaned). I woke up brylee, fed her a quick spaghettios lunch, put on my sunglasses to cover my make-up-less face, and rushed out the door to go to moms. I began to drive as fast as I could.

On my way over to moms, I got pulled over.....and got a ticket!!!! (of course, it was just one of those mornings)

I finally made it to mom's and headed back home. I drove very slowly this time, not wanting another TICKET! I was trying to study while driving, but Brylee was screaming as loud as she has ever screamed. She doesn't enjoy riding in the car these days. I started yawning as I passed a grocery store and decided I was going to go buy myself an energy drink.

We finally made it into the store and I picked up an energy drink....and then I picked up another one.

So....here is the point of my story:

As we walked out of the store I came to my realization. There I was...... crazy hair pulled back into a bun, absolutely NO make-up, wearing the t-shirt I slept in and my dirty jeans with holes. To top it off.....I was wearing no deodorant. I looked over at Brylee. She still had spaghettios all over her face and clothes, her ponytail was sticking out from her head at a weird angle with her hair bow literally hanging from 2 strands of hair. It flopped around with each step we took. Her diaper was sagging down to her knees because she has a new waterbottle that she drinks out of non-stop...and her diaper fills up every 20 minutes. And she was wearing no shoes.

We looked like a couple of ragamuffins!

At that moment, Brylee gave me a big squinty faced, spaghettios smile and my heart melted. I realized that we were a mess and that people were giving us looks in the store. But I also realized that none of that stuff mattered anymore. There was a time when I never would have imagined going into a store looking like that. But things have changed a lot in the last year. I realized that being a mom is tough.. it makes your house a disaster, it makes you get little to no sleep, it makes going to school and studying for math tests nearly impossible.......but it also teaches you how to stop being selfish and self centered and how to love someone more than you ever thought possible.

I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm so thankful that heavenly father trusted me to raise Brylee and that I have an eternal family. That makes me way happier than passing any test or looking like a supermodel.

To the BEST DAD in the world.....

2010-06-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

oh wow. I didn't realize how long it has been since i have updated this thing! It has been way too long. So....I will just do a quick update on what has been going on recently in our little family. (Warning: This might be pretty long....but I'll put in a lot of pictures... and I will be MUCH better and keeping up with this from here on out. )

Well...where do I begin? It has been a little crazy recently. Craig just finished up his last semester of school. I am so proud of him. He worked really hard. We are just waiting for all of his paperwork to go through so he can take all the state tests. He is now the proud owner of Lakeview Electric company....and he has started doing a few houses on his own. He is accomplishing more and more of his goals as time goes on! (Good job, Craigy!)

I, on the other hand, am lucky that he works so hard so that I can do my job....which is being Brylee's mom. I am home with her during the day and I am still in school in the evenings. This is my very last semester of pre-reqs and I will be so glad to have them over with and move on to the next phase of my schooling...nursing school. ( I have yet to determine where and when I will be going to school, but at least I'm getting there!...Slowly but surely!)

Craig just got back from a fishing trip in Canada with his best friend John, John's dad and Brother. Here are a few of the pictures that he took. (I wish I could post them all because it looks so beautiful there...but it would take way too long.)

He had a lot of fun and always looks forward to seeing John. I hope that one day I will be lucky enough to go to Canada...It looks awesome!

In other news (haha), we took a family trip to the zoo a couple of weekends ago. It is so fun being a parent because you have a good excuse to do all of the things you haven't done since you were little. Brylee had so much fun.

After our day at the zoo, Craig and I, being the suckers that we are, took Brylee to the gift shop and let her pick out ANY stuffed animal that she wanted. She picked out a camel...which was really cute. It was so fun to see her get excited over it. She loves it so much!

It is so much fun to spoil Brylee. I can't explain it...when she gets excited about something and gets that huge smile on her face...you just want to give her more and more.

Here is a little more proof that we like to spoil her: She has her very own "ball pit".

Speaking of Brylee, she is just growing up SOOOO fast. It is crazy. She is crawling now. Which means that, instead of her playing nicely with her toys on a blanket on the living room floor, her toys are now spread out thoughout the house. (SO long, clean house!)

She also tasted her first fudge popsicle the other day......

And I must add that she absolutely LOVED it. (Thanks Grandpa Fred!)

Father’s day is coming up this Sunday…and I have been thinking of how lucky I am that my little girl has such a good dad. I am even sometimes a little jealous because I wish that I would have had what she has. I love Brylee so much and I am just so grateful and happy that my little girl will not ever have to wonder whether or not her dad loves her. She will always know that her daddy loves her more than anything in the world. You can’t even imagine how happy that makes me.
When I married Craig I knew that he would be a great dad, but I had no idea just HOW great of a dad he would be. I am married to a man who wakes up really early, works all day, comes home with a smile on his face, takes over my job so that I can go to school, he does play time, bath time, and bed time every single (Monday through Thursday) night….. without one complaint. He works harder than anyone I know so that Brylee can have her mom home with her. He is the type of dad that gives everything he has to take care of his family, and doesn’t expect anything in return (well, maybe a hug and a kiss).
So…Happy Father’s Day to the dad who:
-Tells his little girl how much he loves her and how pretty she is every single day.
-rocks her to sleep every night, even when I’m home, just because he wants to.
-sneaks into her room at night, using his cell phone for a flash light, just to peak at her sleeping before he goes to bed.
-can make her get the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen, just by walking into the room……and can just as easily make her scream and cry, just by walking out of the room.
-who looks at and treats his daughter like she is the best thing that has ever happened to this world. …

Happy 1st father’s day, Craig! I am so lucky that you are my little girl’s daddy!(It is very obvious that Brylee feels the same way.) Both of the girls in this house love you more than anything in the world and are so lucky to have you. I don’t know what we would do without you. xoxo

Brylee Jaye

2009-09-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 3 weeks since she was born.....and I finally have a second to post an update.

My due date (September 7th) was a frustrating day. It is a bad feeling when you wait for that day for 9 whole months and it passes by with no baby. It was a fun day though. We spent the day with our family. We had a cookout at Mom and Fred's house. I spent the day with my cousins and Granny playing geezer golf and jumping on the trampoline.

The next day I went to the doctor and there was still no sign of a baby. He told me it would be a week before he could induce me. I cried. That night, Craig and I walked 4 miles. I was determined to make myself go into labor. That night I had my first REAL contraction.

September 9th came along and I woke up early, cleaned the house, and went on a walk. I walked another 4 miles. When I got home, I was having contractions about 8 minutes apart. Within 2-3 hours, they were 3 to 5 minutes apart. I called my doctor and they told me to head to the hospital. I called Craig and he came home from work and we went to the hospital to have a baby at about 2:30. We were both nervous and excited....and ready to have a baby.

At about 5:00 they moved me to the delivery room and gave me an epidural. (The epidural was amazing! It made me so relaxed.) Everything was running smoothly up until this point. Not long after that, my doctor came in and broke my water and they started the pitocin. As soon as the doctor broke my water, the baby's heart rate started dropping REALLY low every time I had a contraction. The nurse started to act panicked and put me on oxygen to see if it would help her heart rate....but it didn't. The doctor came in and told me they were going to give me about 20 minutes longer, and if there was no change we would have to do an emergency c-section. This made me pretty upset, but I knew that there was something going on with the baby and I just wanted her to be healthy.

Not long after this, my epidural stopped working and I started to feel the contractions. They were SOOO strong. I can say, without a doubt, that those contractions caused me to feel the WORST pain that I have felt in my entire life. It was awful. You can't even describe pain like that. Luckily, they came in and checked me and fixed my epidural. When the nurse checked me I had dilated from a 4 to a 9 in thirty minutes. It was time to push. (Thank goodness my epidural had started to kick in at that point.)

The doctor came in, I pushed about three times, and there she was. Our baby girl. You can't even describe the feeling you get the first time you see your baby. It's crazy. I bawled. It was obvious Craig felt the same we. We couldn't stop staring at her.

The next 5 days were even more crazy. They were probably the most emotionally and physically draining days of our entire lives. There were still a lot of problems with her heart rate dropping really low. She had low blood sugar. She had Jaundice. She was floppy. Her oxygen levels kept dropping really low and she turned blue all of the time.

After being told that there was something wrong with her, brain scans, EKG's, ecocardiograms, and many many other tests, we found out that we have a perfectly healthy little girl.....with acid reflux.

We are so glad to finally have her home. We love her so much. She is our Brylee Jaye. :)

Being parents is hard work and very tiring...but we wouldn't change a thing.

We are happy to finally have her home.

Break Water, Break!

2009-09-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's kind of depressing when it is two days past your due date and there is NO sign of a baby!

8 weeks to go....

2009-07-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

So....we are down to being just 8 weeks away from having our little girl (who still has NO NAME). I talked to Granny and Aunt Kristy last week who talked me into putting some pictures of myself up. Right now, according to What to Expect when You're Expecting, our baby is about four pounds and 18 inches long. Maybe this is the reason why I feel like a whale!

Anyway, we had dinner at Mom and Fred's house on Sunday and these are some pictures of us hanging out in the yard after we ate.

We had an exciting weekend because we bought a crib, dresser, and bedding for the baby's room.(After Driving to every Babies R Us in the state of Utah...literally). It is starting to feel very real and that is a little bit scary. I'll have to post some pictures when we get the room decorated.

For the most part, we have just been working, going to school, and trying to get as much done as we can until the baby gets here. Nothing too exciting has been going on. This year is FLYING by.

Our Little Girl......

2009-06-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

So...I FINALLY put the ultrasound pictures on a disc so I could upload them to the computer and share them with everyone! Here is our little girl! Some of them are a little hard to see...but in about 12 weeks we'll have much better pictures of her!...

This is her profile. This is the best profile shot we have.

If you look right in the middle of the picture (under the word feet) you can see her feet. This one is kind of hard to see, but she's got her feet together. I think one is kind of on top of the other one.

Here are her two legs and feet. She's got her knees bent and it's almost like you are looking down at her. Her knees are right at the center and her legs are on the left side.

Last but not least.....It's a Girl! There's no doubt about it!

It only took me two months to get these posted. Oh well, better late than never!

I'm getting really excited for her to get here...but there is so much to do before we are ready for her. She still doesn't have a crib! Her bedroom is our project in the next month. It's going to be a lot of fun to decorate a room for our little girl! Craig has a ton of cute ideas and we are excited to get started. We just have to find time to do it!

We still haven't thought of a name for her. The girls at work have given me lists of names...so we are working on that. I never thought it would be so hard to come up with a name. It's such a big decision.

This little girl has been growing like crazy! She is moving and kicking CONSTANTLY! You can see my stomach move. Also, when we push on my stomach we can feel her. I'm scared she is going to have a bad attitude because whenever you put your hand on my stomach, she'll kick it. She likes to be rubbed, though. The last few nights, Craig and I have laid in bed and rubbed her. She comes up closer to our hands. You can feel her little back and bum.....sometimes her feet or elbows. It's hard to tell which body part is which....but it is so cool.

She hasn't been getting much sleep though. (At least not while Craig is home.) He is already teasing her. Whenever she is asleep he shakes my belly until she wakes up and starts moving around! Poor girl!

We can't wait to meet her and have our little family!

Our little head of cauliflower.....

2009-06-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

So...there is this website I look at every week and I think it is pretty funny. Every week it compares your baby to some type of food to get an idea of how big it is. I am at week 27 and here is what the website says:

How your baby's growing:This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Anyway....pretty soon she is going to be a watermelon. Only 13 more weeks!

School....

2009-06-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

I don't think school is a good place for pregnant people. Especially the Summer semester classes. My Chemistry class is about 2 hours long and I sat there for an hour watching my belly move and wondering what she was doing in there. She was either kung fu fighting or playing soccer with my bladder........ And I sat there for the last hour dreaming about mozzarella sticks from sonic! Needless to say, I didn't get much out of my chemistry class today.

Craig and I have been SO busy. I have pretty much been in class from about 9:00am and getting out of work around 9:00 pm with no break in between. Business has REALLY picked up for Craig and he works 10 to 12 hour days, Monday through Saturday....and then he comes home, works out, and makes dinner so that we can eat when I get home at 9:30.(He takes good care of me!) We usually go for a walk around 10:15 and come home and go to bed. We just try to enjoy every minute we have together.

I can't wait until we're finished with school!!!!!!!!

Time Flies!

2009-05-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I just got home from the doctor. This was the last visit of my second trimester! Crazy! Time flies. I can't believe in 15 weeks we will have a little girl!

"Summer Vacation"

2009-05-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

It has been such a busy week this week. It was my week-long "summer vacation" and I got to spend the whole week working. It wasn't so bad, actually. I don't really know what to do with myself when I'm not running around like a crazy person. Monday I start my new classes start my crazy summer of trying to finish as many classes as I can before this baby gets here. She'll be here in about 16 weeks. I am 24 weeks along today! It is so crazy. According to my What to Expect When You're Expecting book, my uterus is now the size of a basketball! She's approximately the size of a regular envelope....just fatter. I still wear my normal jeans with a rubberband tied around the button to keep them together, but it seems like I should start blowing up ANY DAY now. A basketball is HUGE! Maybe I should invest in some maternity clothes. hhhhh...

It has been a crazy week, but also there have been some pretty exciting things happen too. While I was at work on Friday, Craig decided that he might need a new truck.....and by the time I got home from work that night....he had one! I was a little surprised at how fast it all happened, but he is excited and loves his new white truck. I'll post a picture of him and his new toy later. He works REALLY hard and he deserves it.

Also, I got an exciting call from Megan on Saturday. She called to tell me that she is engaged and will be getting married on November 7th. I was am so excited for her. She told me her story of how they got engaged and it is so cute. The wedding date is perfect. I won't be pregnant any more and I will have a 2 month old! I am so excited that we'll be able to plan a vacation to Beaufort to go to her wedding and that she and my family will have a chance to meet our little girl (Who, by the way, probably still won't have a name at that time since we are having such a hard time thinking of names that we like.). I'm so excited for her! I just want everyone to be as happy as I am! She happened to call me and tell me on the one year anniversary that Craig and I got engaged.

I can't believe that it has already been a year since that day. That was probably the most exciting weekend of my whole life! It was so much fun spending the weekend in St. George, golfing, going to Zion's National Park, and sitting up on the Dixie Rock that overlooks all of St. George. The weather was beautiful and he couldn't have picked a better weekend. I'll never ever forget how I felt that night when Craig gave me my "Fun with Charis" book and got down on one knee, pulled a ring out of his pocket, and told me he wanted to be with me forever. It was the best feeling in the world and we still just love eachother more and more everyday! He's amazing.

Okay--I'd better stop with the memories and go get dressed for work! It's FRIDAY!!!!! I love the weekends!

Playing Catch Up

2009-05-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a really crazy and busy but exciting couple of weeks. We finally went in for the ultrasound on April 23rd. Craig took the afternoon off of work and we were able to go in together. They made me drink 16 oz of water an hour before I went in to the appointment. (Now this doesn't sound like a lot of water, but trust me, when you are pregnant and you have this much liquid in your bladder, you feel like it is going to explode at any given moment.)

We finally got called back into the ultrasound room and I had to lay on this table with a big TV hanging from the ceiling so we could see it really well. Craig got to sit in a chair right next to me. Once the ultrasound started we were able to see the baby's heart and the four chambers, the heart, the arms, the legs, and the feet. They measured the brain and made sure that everything was developing correctly. We were relieved to find out that the baby had two arms, two legs, and only one head. (We seriously have to stop watching the crazy shows about the siamese twins and the mermaid girl on TLC.) Last but not least, we found out that we are having a little girl! At first, Craig and I looked at eachother and didn't really know what to think. As we left the office and started talking about it, we are really excited. It really is a crazy feeling to think that we are going to be parents. Even after hearing the heartbeat, feeling her kick all of the time, and having a growing belly, I don't think it really hit us that we are going to have a baby until we saw her! It was amazing. I'll post some of the ultrasound pictures on here later. We were also excited to find out that Craig's sister, Kaylee, who is having a baby and due a week after me, is also having a little girl. I loved growing up with all of my cousins who were the same age as me so I was really excited to hear that. Our little girl will have a cousin/friend to play with in our family!

Another thing that we have been doing the last two weekends is going to St. George to help get Craig's Grandparent's house ready to sell so they can move up to Salt Lake to be closer to the rest of the family. Even though we were painting, peeling wall paper, loading boxes, and hanging blinds and curtains, it was a lot of fun to be able to spend time with Craig's family and meet some of his family members who I haven't met or met only at our wedding. His family is hilarious and the more I hang out with them, the more I like them.

We have also been working hard and studying for school because we have had finals the last couple of weeks and it has been crazy. I don't know all of the grades for my classes yet, but Craig made a B+ on his final and an "A" in his class for the semester. He worked REALLY hard and studied like crazy and it paid off. I tried helping him study a little bit and I have NO idea how he understands all of that stuff. It's like german to me! We are so excited that he only has two semesters left of school and I only have two semesters left before I can apply for nursing programs. It finally feels like there is an end in sight.

Somehow, in between school, work, and going to St. George on the weekends, Craig has managed to work out pretty much everyday for at least an hour. He has been doing so good. I, on the other hand, have been making heavenly oatmeal bars, chocolate chip cookies, and I have a pan of brownies cooling off as we speak. I did really well for the first four months of the pregnancy. We walked 2-5 miles every night. Then it got cold!!!! I haven't been very motivated because no matter what I do I gain weight! So today I decided I would be motivated and start walking everyday again. Since it is so nice outside, I took the dog and walked 2.5 miles. I am going to start walking everyday. I have no excuse not too. After going on a walk, eating brownies with peanut butter chips in them doesn't seem so unhealthy. :)

Baby Bumps

2009-04-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

It has quite an interesting week for us. A few exciting things happened though. Because I work evenings now, I have an hour or two between the time school ends and the time I have to be at work. On Wednesday, I decided I'd go get some lunch and read for a while to pass the time until I had to be at work. So I went to Harmon's and bought a salad and some gummy bears.(I know that is a weird combo...whatever.) So went and sat in my car and ate my salad. I pulled my car into the shade, took my shoes off, and started to munch on my gummy bears while I read my book. All of a sudden, I felt a weird "bump" in my stomach. I sat very still for a minutes and then I felt it again. I felt it about 6 more times and then I realized I was actually feeling our baby move for the first time! It felt like it was dancing around in there! I think I stopped breathing for a few minutes! It was the craziest feeling in the whole entire world! It was so crazy for me because, at that moment, I realized there is actually a person growing inside of me. I was pretty excited. I pulled out my phone and texted Craig to tell him I felt the baby move. His response was, "Are you eating chocolate? I always get excited and dance around when I eat chocolate!" I wasn't eating chocolate, but if our kid likes food as much as we do, we are going to be in BIG TROUBLE! We already drink like 4 gallons of milk a week!

Boy or Girl?

2009-03-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Because of my new work schedule, I had to reschedule all of my doctors appointments for the next month. I'm kind of bummed because I had to push back my ultrasound April 16th to the 23rd. It's going to be a week longer now until we find out whether this kid is a boy or a girl. hhhhhh.... That's okay though. I'm pretty sure it is a girl just because we want a little boy so bad.

According to the chinese gender calendar, it is supposed to be a boy, but that is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. That would mean that every 24 year old girl having a baby in September should be having a boy. It doesn't make much sense to me....but some people swear by it.

When we were at dinner one night with some friends, somebody asked Craig whether he wanted a boy or a girl. Craig responded like so, " Well, we don't really care. We just want it to be healthy, you know? If we have a little boy...AWESOME! If we have a girl.....well, at least we have a babysitter when our other kids come along." ha ha....He's so good at looking at the bright side of things.

I know we'll love the baby and we'll be excited no matter what. Honestly, some days I want a girl so that I can dress her and do her hair. Little girl clothes are so much cuter than boy clothes.....And both Craig and I agree that it was a lot of fun growing up with a big sister.

I'll just be glad when it's here and my pants fit without putting a rubberband through the button hole to hold them together.