Trying to Keep Up...

The Wedding

2012-01-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

One of my best friends, Dianne, got married December 17th. The boys and I flew to Utah for the special event. It was such a great weekend. The wedding was beautiful and Dianne looked amazing. Her and Bryce look so happy together and I think they are just perfect for each other. I got to meet Bryce while I was in Utah in May when Dianne had just started dating him. He seems like a great guy and Dianne is SOOOO happy with him. Thanks for letting me be part of your special day!!!!

Lincoln was so crabby during the wedding. However, as soon as he heard the guitar play he couldn't be happier. He just sat there and watched and watched. Thankfully the guitar player didn't mind too much.

Santa

2012-01-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to see Santa in Clarkdale the first Saturday of December. Grant was so excited. We got there early so we didn't have to wait too long but that didn't work out because Santa was about 30 min late. The boys got to make ornaments, drink hot chocolate and eat cookies.

Thanksgiving

2012-01-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house. Every year we rotate between my family and Mike's family. It was my family's year so I convinced everybody (well minus a few) to come to Arizona to enjoy the warm weather. It also helps that Travis lives down here and it is always us traveling to Utah for holidays.

We had a completely full house but it was so much fun to have everybody here and together.

Grant had a Thanksgiving feast at preschool and this is what I sent. During the feast they had to list a few things that they were thankful for and Grant listed chickens. I guess my turkey looked more like a chicken than a turkey to a 3 year old.

Here is our table settings for our Thanksgiving dinner. I should have snapped a picture before it was time to eat but I was busy in the kitchen making food and completely spaced it.

First Snow - November

2012-01-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Once it turned cold at our house Grant would always ask me if it was snowing. So one weekend the mountains got snow so we took a drive to go play in the snow. It was only a few inches but it was a 3 year olds dream.

However, Linker on the other hand hated the snow and didn't even want to walk in it. He just stood in one place whimpering until we saved him.

Sunday Afternoon in October

2012-01-01T13:10:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful Sunday so we decided to head towards the mountains. We stopped off at a small little lake and let the boys play around for awhile. Lincoln really really wants to just jump in the water and we have to restrain him most of the time.

Halloween

2012-01-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween. Grant really got the whole process of trick or treating this year. He was so excited to go get candy but I think he was most excited about handing it out. Saturday before Halloween we went to the Stake Trunk or Treat. I made the rounds with Grant and Linc collecting candy while Mike handed out candy at our car. Once we got back to our car all of us helped hand out candy (well Lincoln was eating a sucker so he didn't help much). Grant really enjoyed handing out candy. At one point we ran out of candy and Grant reached in his bucket of candy and started handing that out. It was so sweet to see him be so unselfish.

Halloween night, Mike was back at work in Chandler and we stayed in Clarkdale. We attended the trick or treating event in downtown Clarkdale and it was CRAZY busy. Clarkdale provides all the candy to the houses downtown and closes off several of the streets. It is a great idea but it gets super busy.

Grant's favorite part was the house that was completely decked out in Peter Pan theme. They had a boat, plank, and even a place for the lost boys. Grant thought it was so great.

(Grant, Addie, and Captain Hook)

We only stayed downtown for about 45 mins and then went home and we had a few trick or treaters stop by our house. Grant made sure they kept their manners and told them to say thank you when they didn't say thank you. He even thought some of the kids were too old (I think they drove themselves to our house). All in all it was a great Halloween and I loved my little pirates.

It's a PARTY

2011-10-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last night we threw our first ever Halloween party. We had such a blast. We had lots of food and games. Grant has been so excited since we handed out the invitations.

I spent most of yesterday putting up the decorations and the boys were in awe. G kept asking me, 'mom are you getting ready for the party?'

I put hanging balloons all around the family room and in the kitchen over the food. I just used fishing line to attach everything. I used my banister and my blinds to attach the fishing line (no tape and no holes in the wall). It worked out great. Of course the kids loved to jump up and hit the balloons.

For the food I made broccoli cheese soup and a pumpkin soup. To save time I just made the soup ahead and froze it and then pulled it out earlier in the day to thaw and then just heated it back up. We also had mini grilled cheese sandwiches, mini caramel apples, and Swamp Water (green punch).

We of course had to have a dress up party. Mike showed up with a costume a couple of weeks ago and that pushed me over the edge to actually put on a Halloween party. Grant and Linc were little pirates. I was a witch and of course Mike was a COP. He also monitored all the games which fit perfect with his costume.

The games. We had a balloon pinata (which looks like I didn't get a picture of). I put candy and prizes in balloons and then blew up the balloons and the kids had to throw darts at the balloons. We also had the mummy wrap, bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving, and the ball race which consisted of the kids pushing the ball around a pumpkin then back to their line without using their hands or feet.

Out of Africa

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday I took the boys to Out of Africa. They had such a great time. We got to feed the giraffe and see all the lions and tigers. Grant loved the tiger show and would cheer on the tigers when they would get the toys or splash in the water.

Lincoln just wanted to eat the cookies that our bus driver was feeding to all the animals on our safari. We had an up close personal encounter with the giraffe. The giraffe reached in our window to reach the bucket of cookies. He even licked Lincoln on the head.

Spooktacular

2011-10-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

update: Check out Ashley's blog post to see all the other entries and make sure you VOTE

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends posted some pics of her FALL porch display. Of course it inspired me to get my porch up and running. I set out to find some old crates and went to every antique store in Cottonwood, which there are a LOT, before I finally found what would work and was a reasonable price. So I started to put up some decorations using my new found crates. Then Ashley had to post this post. I then of course had to add more things as the weeks went by and to make it my porch rather than a copy cat of Ashley's porch.

If you have ever been to Cottonwood then you know that pretty much the only store is Walmart which doesn't have a huge selection of decorations or crafting supplies. Thankfully I made a trip to Mesa for a few days but I didn't have much time to run around and find some things. But we made due with what we could find and thanks to Pinterest and all the great ideas that I found.

So here is the porch in all of its GLORY.

My boys love the bats and LOVE to touch them. They look so great hanging from the porch.

I made the garland with just some string and some pom poms that I got in the dollar bins at Joanns.

We had to replace some of the pumpkins because they went missing. My little friend named Lincoln LOVES the glitter pumpkins and would carry them around the house. I would find them in random places around my house in hidden cupboards. I still can't find one of them and I am not sure if somebody took it or if Lincoln found a great hiding place for it.

I already had the pillow in my house so I just added it to the porch. The wreath was only $2 to make. I had to buy a ring and then I had the tulle and the material and I just tied it around the ring.

Ranch Fun = guns & polliwogs

2011-10-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day we went to the Calder Family Ranch. We love to get away from the heat and of course let our boys enjoy the outdoors. Our boys are Ranch boys for sure. As they get older they love going there. They had so much fun exploring, playing in the dirt, catching polliwogs, riding in the truck, and of course shooting the guns (don't worry it is just an air soft gun).

Enjoying the Truck riding looking for bunnies.

Crazy HAIR from the wind.

Playing at the play house.

Mike took the boys to the frog pond and collected a bunch of polliwogs. Grant and Linc both loved the polliwogs. Grant would carry them around and would take them out and rock them on the swing. He would tell me that he loved them. He even tried to sneak them in the car to take them to home. Most of them were dead by then because they had been dumped out and handled by two sweet little boys.

Frog for Dinner

2011-09-11T17:36:00.002-07:00

via

Before church this morning I was preparing the chicken to cook. Grant was pretty bored so I thought he might enjoy seeing the chicken and helping. Of course there wasn't much helping since the recipe is super easy. I told him I had to pull out the stuff inside. He of course told me it wasn't a chicken it was a frog. So we continued with the chicken being a frog the rest of the morning. After we cleaned and dried the chicken I told him we had to tie it up. He said, "It is a nice frog and we shouldn't tie it up." I told him we just had to tie its legs up so he said that was ok then. As I was tucking the wings under he asked what I was doing so I told him and he then said, "I want to eat the wings." I told him OK he can have the wings after we cook it. He was so concerned about where the frog went when I put it in the oven. He checked on it in the oven too. When we sat down for dinner I told Grant that he had frogs on his plate. He said, "One frog and two frogs."

So if you want frogs for dinner this is a great recipe. The only changes that I made are that I used dried thyme and I added a lemon to the cavity and added some lemon wedges to the sides and put some lemon juice on the breast. It turned out yummy and so easy because it cooked while we were at church.

(A huge thanks for pinterest for helping me find this recipe yesterday!!!! Want some other great ideas from pinterest you can go to www.pinterest.com/jpkellis/. )

River runs through it

2011-08-28T16:41:00.002-07:00

Last weekend we took the boys out for an event filled day. We started the day with going to a local orchard and picked blackberries, plums, and peaches. I loved every second of it and it brought so many memories from when I was younger helping my Grandpa during the harvest time. The local orchard was owned by an older gentleman that totally reminded me of my Grandpa.

Linc got to ride in the backpack and loved every minute of it. Grant on the other hand hated every second of it. He didn't like trudging through the tall grass and hated the blackberry bushes because they had thorns. He LOVES blackberries and we could only get him to pick blackberries if he could eat them. The thought of picking them and putting them in the basket was something he didn't want to do.

Later in the evening we decided to head down to the Verde Valley river. We grabbed some dinner and found a perfect spot for the boys to play in the water. The boys LOVED it. We had a hard time keeping them out of the river. Linc didn't care if the current swept him away he would still keep on going after we pulled him out.

Derrick's Wedding

2011-08-28T15:56:00.002-07:00

Several weeks ago we attended Derrick's wedding in Houston. Both the boys got to come with us. The wedding events turned out great. Unfortunately we had sick boys most of the weekend but they both were troopers though and made the best of it.

After the wedding in Houston we had an Open House in Mesa. Aunt Donna came and got the boys to do their rockin' dance moves. They loved dancing.

Our big news....

2011-08-14T18:24:00.004-07:00

It looks like we will be making a big move down to the Phoenix area again. I am not sure when we will be moving but hopefully it will be sooner than later.

Mike received another job offer a couple of weeks ago and actually started his new job this past week in Chandler. To say the least I am still trying to wrap my head around things since it all happened so fast.

It is another big change but we will adjust quickly and I feel so blessed already.

4th of July Family Fun

2011-08-14T18:07:00.003-07:00

We had a family reunion with the Kellis' family over the 4th of July. We spent the week in Heber, UT with lots of family. We loved it and my boys love to be around their cousins.

Going for a ride in Grandpa's truck. It started raining before we made it out of the drive way. The kids still loved being packed in the back.

The kids spent most of the time in the game room playing arcade games and pin ball.

Going on a Hike.

Taking a Sunday afternoon stroll.

FIREWORKS!!!!! (that is the best we could do with firework restrictions)

Funny things from a 3 year old

2011-07-23T23:12:00.005-07:00

Grant has had quite the imagination the last few days. I am not sure where it is all coming from but it is pretty funny. Here are a few of the conversations that we have had the last couple of mornings:

Monday morning:
Me, "Grant, what would like like for breakfast?"
Grant after some thinking, "Ummm tiger's blood."
Me, "Tiger's blood, how about this?" holding up a bottle of ketchup after some quick thinking that eggs would be good.
Grant, "That is not tiger's blood that is ketchup."
Me, "I don't think we have any tiger's blood."
Grant, "We do mom it is hiding."

The only thing that I can gather is that he is referring to a shaved ice flavor that one of his cousins got while we were in Utah a couple of weeks ago.

Thursday morning:
Grant, "Mom I want juice." (juice = soda at our house)
Me, "No, you can have milk."
Grant, "No, the milk is still sleeping."
Me, "It is sleeping?"
Grant opening the fridge, "See mom it is still sleeping."

He is our Stinker.

2011-07-23T23:00:00.004-07:00

We love our little Linker Stinker. He is growing up so fast and is now 15 months. Here are some of Lincoln's favorite things:

Walking: He started walking a few weeks ago and has just taken off. He walks with his belly sticking out and hardly bends his knees. Mike and I just laugh at him.

Teasing: Yes, he is starting to torment Grant and it is so funny. Linc knows what he is doing and he makes Grant so mad sometimes.

Grant: He still loves Grant to death and will follow Grant around the house. When Grant asks Lincoln to come here Lincoln usually obeys.

Babbling: Lincoln isn't talking much but he does no how to say 'NO' already. He also says 'Dad' sometimes and 'what'. He is also starting to communicate on showing us things that he needs or wants. When he is thirsty he goes to the fridge and pulls on the handle and whines. When he wants something on a shelf or a toy he can't reach he puts his hands together to form a cup and then whines.

Dancing: Oh boy does this boy love to dance. Any music he hears he usually does a shimmy or he starts swinging his arm back and forth.

Tantrums: This boy knows how to throw tantrums already. He gets made a something at he just starts hitting the ground. Or if he gets mad at you then he hits you and most of the time it is in the face. One Sunday he didn't like that Mike was making him obey so he ended up hitting Mike a few different times. Oh it is so naughty.

Disneyland Fun

2011-06-25T22:48:00.003-07:00

Last weekend we took the boys to Disneyland. WE LOVED IT. Grant had so much fun and Linc loved dancing to all the music and hanging out with his daddy. It was three busy days at the parks and swimming at the pool.

The first ride that we went on was Soaring over California. It was a great start to our trip. Grant was brave and went on most rides but wouldn't go a second time after he realized it was a little scary.

When we were driving home Grant told us his favorite was the Jungle Cruise. He loved seeing all the animals.

Linc was a good trooper and would stand in line very patiently. He would walk up and down the fence to keep himself busy.

Here are a few photo's of our trip:

Master Bedroom - REDO

2011-06-22T21:31:00.002-07:00

Well we got our new bed a couple of months ago and Mike LOVEs it. Here are a few shots of the room which is still a work in progress.

I still need to put some roll curtains on those windows. I have everything for it but I just need the time to actually sit down and do it. I need to do something with the chest too but not sure if I should paint it or find something else.

Yes, I LOVE my chair still even though Mike still doesn't like it. He will sit on it though.

Oh HAPPY Day

2011-06-08T12:30:00.002-07:00

If you haven't read Jordan's blog you need to start. She always has amazing ideas for parties and other random fun ideas.

Check our her blog here and check out her amazing giveaway here.

Linc's One Year Pic's

2011-06-05T09:27:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Julie and her amazing photography skills we got some great photo's of Lincoln. Here a few that I LUV.

Easter

2011-06-05T08:58:00.002-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend with it being Licoln's birthday. I totally forgot to fill the Easter baskets until mid-morning on Easter Sunday. Oh well my kids didn't know.

Utah Trip

2011-06-05T08:38:00.003-07:00

We spent 2 1/2 weeks in Utah at the beginning of May taking care of my sister's 5 kids while she was out of the country with her husband's MBA program. It was quite adventure. We ran from soccer games, piano practices, baseball games, dance classes, tutoring, play practices, choir practices, and lacrosse games. Grant loved having his cousins around to dote over him. Linc wasn't used to all the attention but loved having the kids giggle at him when he didn't something funny.

Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

SNOW!!! Yes it snowed the first weekend we were there. The girls got Grant all bundled up to go play in in before it all melted.

Hanging out at the soccer games!!

Playing outside on the neighbors trampoline because I guess ours wasn't good enough.

Helping Jacob fold the laundry.

More soccer games.

Cousin time!!!

Sharing Beds. OH, how fun until somebody gets kicked in the face.

Pictures require PATIENCE

2011-05-23T19:52:00.002-07:00

Well I think I am getting back in the swing of things after being gone for so long. The kids and I were gone for almost 3 weeks. We spent the first few days of our trip in Mesa (for work) and then flew to Utah for 2 1/2 weeks. We came back on Saturday, May 14 only to turn around and go back to Mesa on Wednesday, May 18 for another two days of work (why am I still working).

We took a ton of picture while we were in Utah and I will post some soon (when I get a free hour or two). However, while we were up in Utah I had one of my friends take pictures of Linc. Thanks to Julie's patience the pictures turned out great.

Linc was a complete an utter terror during pictures. He couldn't and wouldn't leave my side. Our first attempt was complete failure. So Julie was so kind to try one more time a few hours later after he had a nap. Linc woke up from his nap happy and was giggling and talking in the car as I drove to the location. However, as soon as we got out of the car he was clinging to me. We tried to bribe him with a sucker but he wouldn't even taste the sucker and would just cry when I tried to get him to eat it. On our last spot I thought I would just sit with him on my lap and see if he would crawl off. Eventually he did and then he finally tasted the sucker and of course couldn't get enough of it. We had maybe 10 min of him not crying and not on my lap.

Take a look here to see a preview of the pictures.

Julie is amazing!!! (If you know her then you know why but if you don't then all you have to know if that she has 3 three year olds. Yep, THREE.) She is also an amazing photographer and of course basketball player! (Julie, did we have photography together in High School? I know a lot of people that took the class but I couldn't remember if you were in my class or not. Of course that was before digital.)

HaPPy BiRthDaY to YOU

2011-04-23T20:44:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday to my little Lincoln. We love him SOOO much. He is a joy and brings so much happiness into our home even when he shows his stubborn side.

We had a party for Lincoln today. We started the party with the Cottonwood Easter Egg hunt. Marilee came with her kids and so did Dan and Susanne with their kids. Grant loved having the extra kids to hang out with.

Lincoln didn't really care about getting the eggs or the candy. He just want to sit and smile for me.

Mike gave the twins and Grant their instructions on how to get the eggs and candy.

Grant did great at first and ran to get his candy and eggs. When it was time for the parents to help I was telling him to run and run go get the candy and the eggs. I think he didn't know where I was so he ended up crying.

We had lunch at our house after (thanks for every body's help). We did Panini sandwiches with salads. The kids loved making up their own creations.

Then came the fun part with cake and ice cream. I made Lincoln a monkey cake. We decided on a monkey cake several weeks ago when I was looking for cake ideas. Lincoln has a little monkey that he has had since birth that he uses when he sucks is thumb. So that is why we chose the monkey cake. I thought it turned out great. Thanks to here for the cake idea, here for the frosting (this is my friend's blog and it was AMAZING frosting - Thanks Lisa), and here for the fondant (I used this for the mouth since I am not very good at frosting cakes).

Lincoln LOVED the cake and eating it.

Present and more presents.

The cousins even got to help open some of the gifts.

Hiking with the BOYS

2011-04-17T08:53:00.003-07:00

Yesterday morning we decided to get out of the house and go for a hike. It was such a beautiful morning. (Yep, we carried Grant about half the hike. On the way back I carried Grant on my shoulders for awhile and then I took Linc and Mike got to take Grant. We were both exhausted by the time we got back up the hill.) We finally got our new computer (we were slow at ordering it). We finally were able to install Photoshop and Lighroom and I am loving the options in Lightroom (thanks Spenc). Here are a few photos that I messed with this morning.

Cousin Time

2011-04-16T21:36:00.002-07:00

Last week we had a sweet little visitor named Kaden. Lauren got to take a work trip to Hawaii and Travis got to tag along. It was a great vacation for them and Grant got a playmate for a whole week.

The boys loved playing together. We had frequent sword fights which they loved even though the sword fight would end with one boy in tears.

The boys got to decorate Easter eggs which was a huge hit. They LOVED there eggs.

We had pizza for dinner one night and the boys got to make their own. However, they didn't want to put the stuff on their pizza's they just wanted to eat the pepperoni and olives.

The boys loved going to church together and of course they weren't very quite but they sure looked cute all dressed up.

Before & After - Boys Room

2011-03-23T19:02:00.003-07:00

Before

After

I ended up painting all the furniture in the boys room. It got pretty banged up in the move and needed a fresh coat of paint. I painted the wall and made a few throw pillows that matched Lincoln's bedding. I still need to hang some items on the wall but that will come soon. I am also thinking about painting the toy storage bins but still trying to decide what color.

Double Vision

2011-03-23T18:53:00.002-07:00

March 2011

September 2008

Reading Grant

2011-03-18T15:52:00.002-07:00

Last week I was working on my computer up in the loft. I wouldn't let Grant turn on the TV so he was trying to find some things to do to keep himself entertained. He ended up sitting in the window bench and pretended to read his book. He just kept repeating "Nana nana nana nana nana nana nana." It was pretty funny. The book that he was reading didn't have any pictures but he just loves to carry the little book around reading to himself.

We also checked out a few books from the library a couple of weeks ago. One of them happened to be 'Where the Wild Things Are', which is now Grant's favorite book. I was sitting feeding Lincoln and Grant started reading the book to me. He had memorized certain phrases of the book and when he gets to that page he reads the word (well sort of). So here were a few of the phrases that he would read from the book: "I'll eat you up" "Be Still" and "And it was still hot".

Guest Bathroom

2011-03-18T15:30:00.002-07:00

Several months ago I saw a bathroom in a magazine that was black and white with some green accents. I fell in love with the color combination. I really liked the black and white striped towels that they had in the photo. I didn't think it would be hard to find black and white towels but I was wrong. I think I did find a couple but they were too expensive or they just weren't right. Finally I came across these towels from Macy's. I thought they would be perfect. I just had to wait until they went on sale. In the mean time I continued to look for towels and I happened to find a pretty close match at Ross for under $5. PERFECT!!!

I ended up buying these photo's on Etsy. I found the frames at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off.

The bathroom isn't completely finished but it is on it's way. I will hopefully added a few more decor pieces (a wreath behind the door and a vase with flowers for the sink - does anybody know where I can find a metal vase? I can't have a glass one because Grant will for sure knock it off the sink.)

Grant Happenings

2011-03-08T07:47:00.004-07:00

Here is a little bit of what Grant has been up to the last couple of weeks.

Sword Fighting on the Wii

Linka Binka

2011-02-27T17:00:00.002-07:00

Linc turned {10 months} old this week. We still just love this kid to death. He is a great little boy and such a joy to have around the house. Here are some things that Linc loves:

FOOD: This kid loves food. He usually isn't picky (unless it is formula vs breast milk). He can usually eat 2 to 3 jars per meal. He just pounds it. I usually make his baby food and he seems to like the made stuff better. Of course he is starting to enjoy finger food and some meals will only eat food we put on his tray.

GRANT: Linc loves Grant so much. Grant can get him to laugh when nobody else can. Grant sometimes climbs into Linc's crib to play with him. The playing usually consists of Grant bouncing up and down and sometimes jumping over Linc. Thankfully the door is shut and I don't know everything that goes on.

(This isn't usually where Linc sleeps but I was repainting his crib last weekend.)

SWINGING: When the weather is nice we try to go to the park down the street and Linc loves the swing. He could probably stay in the swing the whole time at the park if he could.

CRAWLING: He is starting to become quite the crawler and can get anywhere he wants to go. He often follow me or Mike around the house. We call him our little puppy dog.

CLIMBING: Linc has figured out how to climb up on things. He often gets frustrated because he isn't sure how to get down from standing up. We just laugh at him as he is holding on for dear life just crying.

BATH TIME: Linc knows when it is bath time. For the past month or so Mike has been in charge of baths. So as soon as Mike starts walking upstairs Linc gets so excited. If Linc has been being fussy after dinner as soon as the water turns on in the bathroom he is SO excited and is a completely different kid.

Mike and I think that Grant and Linc look so much alike. We often like to compare pictures of both of them at the same age. So here is some comparisons for you to see for yourself.

Click here to see what Grant was up to at 10 months old.

Master BedRoom

2011-02-20T10:36:00.003-07:00

Our master bedroom is larger than any bedroom we have lived in. We love it. Mike's favorite feature is the double sinks. Having only one sink was not an option in our new house. We have been sharing sinks for the last 8 1/2 years which I think was way too long (for Mike). I didn't really care but I guess I was always the one hogging the sink.

(I am thinking about changing out the knobs on my dresser; what do you think?)

Also no more getting kicked out of the bathroom in the middle of doing my hair. Thanks bathroom door.

We actually get to share a closet too. I don't think that we have ever shared a closet since we have been married. The closets in our old houses have usually been a regular size closet but only big enough for my clothes. However, we now have plenty of room and the closet isn't even full (I don't think it ever will be since I don't like to keep junk.)

I am sad to say that our bedroom will be changing soon. Sad I know but we have out grown our queen bed (well one of us has). I am sad since I {LOVE} my bed and have loved it since I got it as my college graduation present. However, here is a sneak peek of the items bedroom to come.

(Mike hates the flowered chair (we can't have flower anything) but the bed we picked is so masculine and I need to lighten it up a bit. I am hoping that it turns out OK once I get everything put together. More to come later.)

Kitchen & Dining

2011-02-11T06:20:00.002-07:00

I can't tell you how much I {LOVE} my kitchen. It is big and open and I have a ton of counter space. The one bad thing about a ton of counter space is things tend to get left on the counter which I really don't like. It took me weeks after we moved it to get the island cleaned off from just random stuff.

We also have carpet in our dining room. Not sure why they just didn't continue the tile. It just doesn't work well with kids because of all the spills. I think we will end up replacing it with hardwood.

Yep, the junk ZONE. It is the dumping ground for everything right now. I made an attempt to get it clean yesterday. The problem was that the office wasn't completely set up so papers/bills got piled there along with a few other items. I am hoping to have it cleaned off today.

(Can I also tell you how much I had electrical cords showing. I hate I hate I hate. I wish everything was just wireless so I didn't have to worry about the cords showing or my kids pulling on the cords. Does anybody have any tips or tricks on hiding cords?)

Oh and we have track lighting. I think we will have to replace that soon.

Entry & Great Room

2011-02-08T20:00:00.002-07:00

Here is your SECOND tour which includes the entry way and the great room/living room. (Don't worry more will come later.)

The entry way leading into the Great Room.

The table that seems to be the dumping ground for when Mike comes home from work. It was clean at one point. Don't mind the other things on the floor (the box is Grant's shoes that I just bought that are too big and the metal pieces need to be hung somewhere around the house).

We have a large Great Room and we aren't sure what to do with all the space. The toys have taken over part of it and I need to figure something out soon. SUGGESTIONS PLEASE..........

Toys and more toys....

Now you get to see it when it is mostly clean..(with two little boys puttering around).

The House

2011-02-06T09:44:00.003-07:00

I know you have ALL by dying to see pictures of our house. I was waiting until most of it was put together. We still have a lot to do and it probably will NEVER be put all the way together.

So you may get to see some messy view but that just means that we actually live in our house and we don't have time to 'stage' the house for viewing pleasure even though I wish my house looked like a magazine.

So here's your first tour of the outside and the backyard.

We have a tandem two car garage. It makes great storage but hard for the second car to park in the garage.

Our backyard doesn't have any landscaping so we will need to put in grass and some plants this spring. (Oh don't mind the fridge on the back porch. We got a new fridge and we need to find a new home for that fridge. Any takers....it doesn't work at 100% but it would be a great second fridge....only problem is you have to come get it.)

Our side yard and possible garden spot.

The other side of the house and side yard.

Growing to Fast

2011-01-30T18:52:00.002-07:00

Lincoln is now 9 months. We love this little boy to death. He is completely a mama's boy. I pass him off to Mike and Lincoln has to keep his eyes locked on me. And most of the times I just have to leave the room so that Mike can actually give him loves.

(Playing outside in our sand)

Lincoln loves his brother Grant and always has to see what he is doing. Linc is pretty mellow. He has also started crawling the last couple of weeks. He is pretty slow but he is getting lots faster. He hasn't attempted the stairs yet but I think it will only be a matter of time.

(This is what happens when I am on a conference call and I turn him around to find pen on his face. He only had the pen for a few seconds. Silly boy!)

We just love this kid to death!!!!

G turns THREE

2011-01-29T15:10:00.002-07:00

I can't believe that Grant is now three. Mike and I love him to death and he constantly says the funniest things. He has a great imagination and LOVES LOVES movies or DBDB's as he calls them. He is so sweet and he is always telling me "Mom I lub you." He loves his little brother and is always giving him loves and wrestling with him. Thankfully Lincoln loves Grant just as much.

My mom has a tradition on every grand kid's 3rd birthday she takes them to Build a Bear. It just happened to that my mom was in town close to Grant's birthday. So we drove down to Mesa and met my mom at Build a Bear.

We had been talking about it with Grant and he was SOOOO excited. He ran to the store. He had a hard time choosing which animal to make but finally settled on a dog.

We told him he could only have one dog so he put back the other dog and settle on this little pup.

He got to stuff it.

He got to give it a air bath.

He even got to choose an outfit for it. He of course picked the one with the sword which just happened to be a Jedi with a Lightsaber.

He even got a stroller to push the dog around in. He pushed the dog around the whole mall and sometimes he even switched strollers with me so got to push Lincoln and I got to push Gilbert the Jedi dog.

We had cake at the Kellis' and thanks to Costco for making a dinosaur cake that Grant just loved. I just couldn't beat last year's cake or the year before so we went took the easy route on a cake this year.

Grant wanted a birthday hat so we settled on a crown from the holiday poppers that just happened to be on sale right after Christmas. It was also a great little prize for all the cousins.

Oh soooo Late

2011-01-20T08:06:00.002-07:00

Well I had good intentions in December to mail out a Christmas card. However, I didn't get them out before I moved and so they got packed in a box (yes, I had already printed them). Once I finally found them (after Christmas), I was going to mail them out since it was just a week or two late. I then purchased envelopes at Target and then I left my bag of items in the bottom of my shopping cart in the parking lot. Well I of course had to re-buy them. When I sat down to put them in the envelopes of course they didn't fit. I officially gave up. So for the last week or longer I have needed to post our Christmas card on our blog since you won't be receiving our pretty little faces in the mail until next Christmas.

Sorry but this is all you get. If you really want a hard copy I have 30 or more printed out that I can mail you (but that would require me to get some stamps and possibly leave my house - which I don't do very often).

Soon I will be posting Grant's birthday and some pictures of our house (well when I get a free minute.)

December Run Down

2011-01-03T19:47:00.002-07:00

The month of December got away from us. We had lots of things going on.

December 4th
We attended the Cottonwood Christmas Parade in the morning. Grant loved getting the candy and was completely encouraged by his parents to run in the road to retrieve his treasures.

Later that night we attended the Ledbetter Kids Christmas party. We got to see Santa and go for a carriage ride around Old Town Cottonwood. Grant has NO fear of Santa at all. When Santa showed up Grant was just walking out of Mike's office and went up to Santa and said "Hi Santa, my name is Grant." Grant then put his hand out to shake Santa's hand. Mike's boss witnessed the whole thing and thought it was hilarious.

New Sleeping Arrangements

Lincoln has found himself a new sleeping position.

December 18th - The BIG Move

We officially moved on December 18th. A huge thanks to everybody that helped. Mike was a trooper. He loaded most of the truck on Friday night with help from his dad. So on Saturday morning we didn't have too much left to do. We slept the night at the Kellis' house. I went and got the boys around 9 and brought them back home and Grant went in his room and said, "Where's my bed and my toys?" I told him they were in the big truck outside and that we were taking them to our new house in Cottonwood. I am not sure he understood because as I was finishing up a few last last minute things he kept asking me if he could watch a DBD (DVD). I asked him where the TV was and he would look and ask me back where it was.

As Mike was getting ready to leave in the truck Grant was having a pretty rough time and didn't want Mike to leave. I think all the change was getting to him. So to prevent Mike from leaving he stood in the door way.

CHRISTMAS Comes Early

We got a few things unpacked before we headed to Utah for Christmas. Since we didn't have much of a Christmas season I thought it would be fun to have some Christmas things amongst all the boxes in our new house.

Grant and I made a Gingerbread house. Lincoln even helped a little by grabbing the roof and making sleigh tracks with his little fingers.

We also had a mini Christmas before we left so we didn't have to take as many toys just to bring them back home. Grant even helped me decorate the mini Christmas tree.

(Don't mind Mike's hair I guess he had a long day at work.)

Grant showing off his glasses that came with his DVD of Despicable Me. He loves the glasses and frequently asks me to put them on him.

Christmas in UTAH

After only 5 nights in our house we headed to Utah and left our mess of boxes behind. I guess we were a little crazy but oh well.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my mom's house with my whole family and we even had a nativity.

(Grant and Conlin fighting because Grant wanted to sit down but Conlin was Joseph so he gets to sit by Mary.)

Christmas Morning before the chaos started.

We had a Christmas party at my dad's the day after Christmas and the kids had a blast running around in his dance room.

Grant got to spend LOTS of time with his cousins. It is so great to have so many little babysitters to watch/play with the boys.

December 29th

We headed home in the middle of a snow storm. The roads actually weren't too bad until we got to Panguich. Our ride from Panguich and just past Kanab was pretty rough. Thankfully I was asleep with the boys in the back seat and Mike did a great job driving without having a back seat driver.

We hit another storm just north of Flagstaff but the roads were ok still. However, we hit some traffic in Flagstaff and come to find out I-17 had been shut down because of the snow. By that time is was almost 6:00 and we were being routed off the freeway. We quickly found the nearest hotel knowing the road wouldn't be open anytime soon.

We did finally make it home late afternoon on the 30th once they opened up the roads.

New Adventures

2010-12-12T23:05:00.003-07:00

It is official that we will be moving to this place at the end of the week.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift and Christmas gift.

Fall Photo Sneek Peak

2010-12-09T13:41:00.003-07:00

UPDATED: Check out more photo's here.

Survival

2010-11-15T15:59:00.004-07:00

The last 3 months my little family has been in survival mode. We have been trying to survive while Mike is gone all week. It comes with its challenges and its blessings but mostly challenges. I have gained a GREATER respect for single parents.

When Friday hits I have usually had enough and can't wait until Mike comes home. Some days are much harder than others but we seem to survive and make it through. There are days that I just want to go somewhere without my kids or run errands without my kids. However, they are quickly learning that they get to come with me everywhere. For the most part they are pretty good troupers.

I barely have time to get the basic cleaning done: bathrooms, dishes, kitchen, beds made, laundry, and some times vacuuming. A lot of times Mike comes home and he gets to vacuum and mop the floors. I don't think that is what my husband is looking forward to after being away all week. Oh well it is what it is.

I have been trying to run errands during Lincoln's morning nap which in turn throws off the rest of the day. But I think now I have found my sanity (I know it is about time). The last few days I have been trying to run errands before Lincoln's morning nap. That means I need to get out of the house by about 8 or 8:30. That also means that I need to stop working by 7:30 so I can get the kids ready to leave the house and hopefully have the beds made before we leave. So far it has been working out really well.

Today we had a great day. We left the house just before nine because the kids slept in a little bit and ran to the post office and then off to the park for 45 min. Lincoln did fall asleep on the way home but only for a few minutes. The day went a lot smoother and we were even able to go for a walk this afternoon since the boys woke up about the same time.

I am hoping that we now have it figured out; well for the most part. (But in thinking about it what am I going to do when I have to run errands to a store that doesn't open that early. Let's not get to ahead of ourself because I might just revert back to my survival mode.)

Growing Up

2010-11-07T23:32:00.003-07:00

Lincoln is growing up and I can't believe that he is SIX MONTHS. We love him so much and Grant loves him a lot too. Linc is a very very happy baby and pretty mild. He loves to play with his toys and is loving baby food.

He is a super loud baby. He squeals when he is happy and sometimes your aren't sure if he is crying or not. Linc is also sitting up by himself now and of course still has moments where he falls over.

He is a thumb sucker just like his older brother. Hopefully it won't be too bad of a habit to break when he get a little older.

Grant loves Lincoln so much and is always worried about him and frequently asks me, "Where Lincoln?" Grant can't leave his hands off of Lincoln and I am constantly telling him to give Lincoln space. Poor Lincoln will have just woken up from a nap and Grant is down in his face saying, "Linc you waked up. Hi, Lincoln, hi, Lincoln."

We had Lincoln's well check up this past week and here is how is is measuring:
Weight: 20 lbs 7 oz = 95%
Height: 28" long = 95%

Here is where Grant was at 6 months:
Weight: 21 lbs 4 oz = 97%
Height: 28 1/2" long = 95%

It looks they are keeping pretty close to each other.

Trick or Treat

2010-11-07T23:09:00.002-07:00

We had a great Halloween. Our Halloween was celebrated on Saturday. It started out with a trip up to Cottonwood to carve pumpkins and bob for apples.

We ended the night with the Trunk or Treat in Mesa. Grant got a enough candy that a 2 year old needs. He of course wanted to eat every piece of candy right on the spot. He was pretty hyped up on sugar but he loved every minute of it.

Grant was a little ghost and Lincoln was a cute little penguin. Mike even had blue hair which Grant thought was pretty cool.

Grant bobbing for apples and boy does he know how to get the job done.

We even made it to the pumpkin patch a couple of days before Halloween. Grant got to see 11 new piglets that were less than 24 hours old. They were super cute.
Grant did NOT like sitting on the poky hay and complained the whole time I was taking pictures.

San Francisco

2010-11-07T22:38:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I went to San Francisco with several of my co-workers for the weekend. We had such a blast and it was great to actually get away from real life for a little while.

We rented bikes at Pier 39 and rode across the Golden Gate bridge. It started out to be a beautiful over cast morning.

Along our ride we got to see these amazing little house that face the bay. I thought they were beautiful and added such character to the street. Most of the houses had big front windows and they all seemed to have a beautiful center piece sitting on a table in front of the window for everybody to see.

(I had to try to take the picture while I was riding my bike. I think the runners that kept running past thought I was crazy. I am surprised I didn't crash.)

We made it across the bridge and it started to rain when we were about half way across. We finally made it to Sausalito where we took a break for a late lunch. Thankfully we had planned on riding ferry back across the bay to San Francisco.

On Sunday we went to the Aquarium while we waited for our boat to Alcatraz. It was pretty cool to see all the great things they had at the Aquarium.

Sunday was a rainy rainy day. As you can see Mike is loving the weather on Alcatraz. You would never have thought we had spent most of the morning inside with how wet we were by the time we got to Alcatraz. Thankfully the Alcatraz tour was mostly inside.

(The MediServe crew)

We did get a reprieve from the rain late afternoon on Sunday. Of course by the time we made it back to our hotel we were wet and cold and ready for a warm shower. However, the hotel had lost power and had no idea when the power would be back up and running. The power in the hotel didn't come back on until Monday morning. Poor Mike had to pack in the dark and take a cold shower on Monday morning to catch a flight back to Phoenix.

We did have a blast though and loved having a weekend away.

River Days

2010-10-10T18:12:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we spent the weekend in Cottonwood so we could go to Verde River Days. It was a great time with the family and Grant loved ALL of it.

He got to fish with his dad.

He even got to put the bait on. Yummy worms.

Fishing really isn't that exciting well maybe for a little boy it is.

He got his face painted.

Oh he loves those butterflies.

And more could two boys ask for to end the day with a ride on the river.

Bachelor PAD

2010-10-10T17:43:00.002-07:00

I have had several people ask where Mike is living these days. And I thought we would share the Bachelor Pad with everybody else.

Mike's apartment. I know it looks super nice.

Well too bad it isn't the main house.

I think Mike forgot to tell me something.

Oh wait, there comes Grant down the stairs.

Mike's apartment is two bedrooms and works perfect for when the boys and I come for a visit. Grant now refers to it as Daddy's apartment.

Risky Business

2010-10-10T17:40:00.001-07:00

5 Months

2010-09-27T22:25:00.003-07:00

Lincoln is now 5 months old. He is growing so fast. He is such a sweet baby and loves for you to talk to him. He is so giggly and Grant can get him laughing pretty hard. Tonight I had both boys in the bathtub and Grant was talking to Linc and Lincoln was just a giggling it was so cute.

Linc can officially roll over from front to back and back to front. Now hopefully we can get him moving in the next few weeks.

Linc is also getting very very heavy. At his 4 month appointment he was in the 90% and weighted just over 17 pounds. However, that was a pound less than Grant when he was that age. We will have to see at his 6 month appointment to see how much he has grown.

Two boys hanging out at Mike's apartment

Don't you just love that smile

Disaster of Being on Vacation

2010-09-27T22:09:00.004-07:00

The first of the month of September the boys and I spent about 10 days in Utah enjoying the cooler weather and spending time with family. However, I did spend a lot of time canning and I came back with a loaded car full of bottles.

As we arrived home my house suddenly became a disaster zone and I really didn't care.

After I arrived home and the mess I created:

(Grant showing off his breakfast spill on the carpet and I really didn't care)

And Finally the finished product after a few hours:

(Just a box of peaches remaining to give to my brother and the cute little boy that kept saying 'picture of me')

What does your house look like after you come home from vacation? (Probably not as bad as mine).

Saving Summer

2010-09-07T14:35:00.003-07:00

As a child I grew up with a mom and Grandma that canned and canned. I HATED it and would usually try to get out of it with every possible excuse. However, I loved it when we had peaches and corn in the middle of winter but I hated the whole process of peeling, cutting, and jarring the fruit and vegetables. Now as an adult I love it because I know the outcome is going to be great. (Maybe I won't love it anymore once I have done all the work, but thankfully there is a whole year until I need to do it again so maybe I will forget the work that I put in).

Arizona has a totally different growing season than what I grew up with in Utah. So I have already canned stewed tomatoes and froze spaghetti sauce and I even made a special trip to Utah to can peaches, green beans, salsa, and freeze corn. Thankfully I have great family members that grow great gardens.

Just thinking about those yummy peaches and sweet corn is making me hungry. Hopefully I will be enjoying the fruits of my labor all winter (if I can only keep Mikey's hands off the peaches).

Who needs a HUSBAND?

2010-08-22T17:57:00.003-07:00

This was our first week without Mike and we seemed to survive just fine. Grant and Lincoln were so great this week. Lincoln survived by playing on his play mat (lion blanket) for hours on end. He would talk and coo to his toys. Lincoln did great during the evening which is usually his fussy time. Grant started out the week asking for 'dad' but I told him he was at work in Cottonwood. He got to talk on the phone to Mike a couple of times which was good. On Friday night when Mike walked through the door Grant busted into tear telling Mike "Luke pushed me." Grant was super tired from playing at his cousin Luke's house most of the day and I am pretty sure he was glad to see his dad so he just thought of the first thing that came into his mind. Most of the time he tells me "Preston bite me" and it will have been days since he has even been to Preston's house.

The boys went to the sitter's house two days this week when I need to work in the office. Thankfully I have a great sitter that LOVES Lincoln and pretty much holds him most of the day. Grant loves to go to the sitter's house because she has a son, Preston, that is just a few months older than Grant. Grant usually yells "hooray Preston's house" when I tell him we are going or when we pull up to the house. I think maybe he likes it there despite the biting.

I kept the house clean, the kids clean and fed and worked 30 hours. So it was pretty much a great week.

Don't get me wrong I do love my husband and there will be times that I will desperately need him and he won't be here, but I know that I can survive without him if I have to (well at least for a week).

Change

2010-08-15T19:47:00.004-07:00

"Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights." ~Pauline R. Kezer

Change is a funny thing. We all seem to like it but hate it at the same time. Why is that?

Well as changes enters my life over the next few months I have mixed emotions and I hope I am able to let myself stretch and grow to reach new heights.

We will be MOVING to a small town just north of Phoenix named Cottonwood (it is near Sedona). The population is just over 11,000 people. As you drive through Old Town Cottonwood you feel like you just stepped into the movie "Cars". It seems like a great little town but the word 'little' scares me slightly.

Picture of Old Town Cottonwood

The move seems to be happening so quickly. Mike had the interview on a Friday got offered the job on Monday and was scheduled to start basically two weeks later which just happens to be tomorrow. He is so excited about the opportunity and can't wait to get started.

(Where Mike will be working.)

For the next few months I will basically be a single parent while Mike is working in Cottonwood during the week and I will be living in Mesa taking care of the kiddos and working pretty much full time. We are trying to get a lay of the land before we move the whole family up. Hopefully we will be able to find something.

Three Months

2010-08-08T22:28:00.002-07:00

Time is flying and Lincoln is now three months old. He is turning into such a sweet boy and we love him so much. Lincoln is such a smiley boy (well except for pictures because I don't think he felt very well when we took these photos). Lincoln has also been mysteriously rolling over at night. The past two nights he has rolled over and we aren't sure how because we haven't seen him even come close to it during the day.

First Haircut

2010-08-08T22:21:00.003-07:00

Lincoln was born with a full head of black hair. It was super long and needed to be cut but I just couldn't bring myself to cut it. Mike really wanted to buzz it and kept asking me if he could buzz it off. I told him we could cut it after we blessed him. I don't think that day came soon enough. Poor Lincoln looked like a little Lincoln just had patches of hair remaining.

BEFORE

AFTER

(Doesn't he looks so much better. Now we aren't sure what color is hair is going to be.)

Grant of course had to rub that bald head.

Blessing Day

2010-08-08T22:12:00.002-07:00

We blessed Lincoln last Sunday. Mike did such a great job and Lincoln was so sweet. He was kind of fussy before the blessing and I was out in the foyer with him. When I brought him in and gave him to Mike, he didn't make a peep until it was all over.

Such sweet boys and I love them so much.

Our Photographer

2010-08-08T21:33:00.004-07:00

Grant has turned into the little photographer and loves to take pictures. While were cutting Lincoln's hair Grant got a hold of the camera and started snapping pictures. I think he took 50 pictures in five minutes. We had lots of pictures of the TV (he was watching Toy Story at the time) and lots of the ground and even some of Grant's feet while he was sitting on the bed. Here are a few of our favorites.

"Say cheese Mom."

Teddy hanging out on the bed.

Cousin Time

2010-07-11T17:29:00.003-07:00

We have got a great fill of family over the last two weeks and my boys have been in heaven. After the ranch my sister and her family came for a visit in Arizona. Yes, they are a little crazy because who likes to visit Arizona when the temperature is as high as 110 degrees. Don't worry they spent a lot of time indoors and at the pool.

Splash park fun.

Lauren, Dylan, Jake, and Grant taking a break at the splash park.

Karidy loving Lincoln. Lincoln for sure wasn't deprived of any attention.

On our way to the D-backs game.

Mike, Grant and Lauren enjoying the baseball game. I gave Grant my old softball glove to take to the game with us because I thought it would be a good distraction. He loved it and wouldn't put it down. We may have to get him his very own glove.

Jake, Matt, Linc, and Dylan.

Ranch

2010-07-11T16:59:00.002-07:00

This year Mike's family decided to have the family reunion at the ranch. The ranch is a few hours northeast of Mesa and where Mike's grandparents live for the summer to get away from the heat. Mike spent most of his summers playing at the ranch and now loves that he has a couple of boys to share in the experience.

Grant enjoying a walk with Katie and Clark. Don't worry the apples never got dropped on the ground or had to be brushed off through the whole walk. (wink wink)

Playing at the red barn.

We love those cousins.

Climbing the mountain while waiting for the fireworks.

Playing games with all the kids. (Thanks Daniel for the entertainment)

Grant's first real experience with fireworks. He loved them. I wasn't sure if he would get scared by the loud noise or not. So just before they started I told him it would be loud and it would sound like a gun. During the show he would make cute little comments about the fireworks. After the show we were walking to our car and he told me "Boom, Boom and a gun."

Lincoln enjoyed all the attention.

A little boy completely in heaven.

Two Months and counting

2010-06-29T19:03:00.002-07:00

Can you believe Lincoln is already 2 months old? Well I can't. He is such a sweet baby and is SOOOOOO loved by his big brother. Lincoln is starting to smile and respond to when you talk to him. He has been trying really hard to click his tongue and finally figured it out on Sunday, but of course has yet to do it again.

Lincoln had his two month check up and is following in his brothers footsteps of being in the 90% and above for height and weight. He is currently weighing in at 13 pounds 13 ounces.

Linc is turning into a great sleeper and is pretty much on a 7 hour sleep schedule at night. Hooray!!!

We love having Lincoln around our house and are thankful for him.

Swimming Lessons

2010-06-13T20:49:00.006-07:00

Grant just completed his two weeks of swimming lessons this past week. He did great. However, he was a little more timid this year. Of course we remember last summer when he would do this. He still loves the water and it took us a little while to get him adjusted to the pool this year. Hopefully by the end of the summer he will be our little fish again.

I got to be his partner this summer and it was fun to have that time with him. I don't know if I pushed him as much as Mike pushes him but I tried my best. I got him to jump in sitting down and love going under the water. However, he still won't stand up and jump in. Last year we got him to jump off the diving board at a neighbors house. We do have all summer to work on it and don't worry we will be going to the pool a lot.

Lincoln

2010-06-04T15:18:00.003-07:00

Lincoln joined our family 6 weeks ago and has been a little joy to have around. His older brother Grant loves him and is always asking, "Where's Linc?" Lincoln is starting to smile a little bit and he is growing like a weed. We have already moved out of the 0-3 month clothes.

Grant likes to hold Linc and tickle his toes. His favorite game to play with Lincoln is 'Where are the Bees?' We dropped Lincoln off this morning at a friend's house while Grant and I went to swimming lessons. Grant kept asking "Where's Lincoln?" Grant is always telling Lincoln "it's ok Linc" when Lincoln is fussing or is crying. It is super sweet.

Here are some pictures of Lincoln when he was just 2 weeks old.

Surprise Utah

2010-06-01T19:24:00.007-07:00

Last week I surprised my family by traveling to Utah without them knowing. It was so much fun. I did a caravan with Mike's sister Allison so I had some help on the way up. My mom was gone for the evening so my first stop was at my sister's house. She was shocked to see all three of us. We got to surprise my mom later that evening but she saw us pull up at her house because she was in the kitchen doing dishes. However, I think she was still surprised. The next day I surprised my other sister and I was talking to her son when I knocked at the door. It was so much fun to surprise everybody.

Grant had so much fun with ALL of his cousins. He did of course have a favorite cousin named MATT. Grant would frequently ask to go to Matt's house. He quickly learned when Matt wasn't at home then he was at school.

All in all we had a blast and I think we were gone for 10 days. I was ready to come but I don't know if my Grant was. I know for sure Lincoln was because the cousins couldn't get enough of holding him.

Grant playing with his cousin's Spencer and Kyrik.

We even got to play in the snow while we were there. Yes, can you believe it was MAY.

Grant's favorite cousin Matt.

Playing with Spencer and Britton.

Grant and his favorite toy that he actually sleeps with at night. He wouldn't put it down the whole trip. Plus he had lots of cousins to sword fight with.

We even took a trip to see Thomas the Train. Grant LOVED it. We had to wait awhile to ride Thomas and Grant kept asking, "I wanna ride Thomas."

Lincoln enjoying Thomas the train.

Finally we got to ride the train.

Grant enjoying the train ride.

Lincoln so tired from our trip. We couldn't wake him up to eat.

Brotherly Love

2010-05-06T21:40:00.004-07:00

We have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks with our new addition. Grant seems to love Lincoln so much. During the first week Grant came in my room at 6 a.m. asking "Where's Linc? Where's Linc?" Mike and I have called Lincoln, Linc a few times but whenever we talked to Grant we would always call him Lincoln. So I think Grant made up his own nickname for Linc.

We had a photo shoot today for Lincoln and Grant couldn't keep away from Lincoln and this is a tender moment that Jenna caught on camera. As you can see Grant loves his little brother.

Thanks Jenna (http://blog.jamesonphotos.com/)

Grant has also been very very observant with anything that goes on with Lincoln. He called his umbilical cord a hurt. He even put my nursing pads in his shirt. And I think he has even tried nursing his teddy bear named "Teddy". Thankfully he is two and is just learning about everything.

BABY Lincoln

2010-04-24T10:34:00.004-07:00

Baby Lincoln arrived Thursday, April 22nd at 8:57 pm. He weights 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21" long. He has a full head of dark hair.

Grant even got to hold him when he came to visit. Grant wasn't too sure about him yet. He still thought Lincoln was in my tummy and the baby was just another baby. After holding Lincoln for a minute Grant started telling us "back, back". I guess he was ALL done holding Lincoln and wanted Lincoln to go back to his crib.

Thursday I had contractions pretty much throughout the day while at work. They weren't painful but I they were pretty consistent. About 3:00 in the afternoon is when they started to get more and more uncomfortable. I still didn't think much of them until I told a coworker that I was pretty sure I was going to have the baby in the next couple of days. She asked if I was having contractions and I told her I was. She volunteered to time them. At first I told her no, it is fine I will just keep working and go home at 4:30. However, the contractions started getting more painful so I instant messaged her and told her when they would start and stop. At 4:00 pm is when I finally decided I better go home. I called Mike on my way home. He went and picked Grant up from the sitter and met me at home.

When I got home I had to finish packing the hospital bag and an overnight bag for Grant because I wasn't prepared and was planning on doing all that on Saturday.

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30. Travis met us at the hospital and took Grant from us. Mike and I got checked in and the hospital admitted me because I was already dilated to a six. I got my epidural and the doctor came and broke my water at about 7pm. Two hours and lots of pushing later Lincoln arrived. Lincoln arrived in the same fashion as Grant with his hand up by his face. Little stinkers don't they know that it takes more work to get them out when they do that.

We came home last night from the hospital and are doing great.

OUCH...

2010-04-24T10:16:00.004-07:00

Sunday night Grant fell on our way home from Mike's parent's house and hit the curb. We had a lot of crying and blood oozing from his mouth. Thankfully his teeth didn't cut up his mouth too much. But it did get swollen really fast. It was swollen for a few day.

Grant was so funny about it. He has to feel it and tell us he has a hurt.

Ice Blocking

2010-04-13T20:25:00.007-07:00

Last week my sister came to town with her family. We spent a little bit of time with them throughout the week in between work. Grant actually got to spend the day at the zoo with his cousin Spencer.
They had a busy day at the zoo with petting the sting rays and riding a camel. (How sweet they both are asleep in the stroller.)

The night before my sister and her family left we went to the park for a picnic and did some ice blocking. Grant even enjoyed a ride down the hill on the ice block all by himself. What a brave little boy. He will pretty much do anything that Mike suggests.

He actually did make it down the hill once without falling off. By that time it was too dark to get a video of him going down by himself.

Easter Fun

2010-04-13T19:56:00.004-07:00

We had a great Easter. It was filled with lots of family. We started the morning with an Easter egg hunt at Travis and Lauren's house. Kaden and Grant enjoyed the candy more than trying to find the eggs. It took 20 minutes just for them to pick up all the eggs. They were easily distracted by the candy in the eggs. The candy would usually spill on the ground before it made it in their baskets and they had to make sure to find all the candy in the grass before they moved on to the next egg. Eventually all the eggs did get picked up. I think Kaden and Grant were picking candy out of the grass all morning while they were playing outside.

Grant really enjoyed playing with Bella. Poor Bella was worn out by the time we left. Grant chased her and tickled her and even gave her lots of kisses.

In the afternoon we headed to Dan and Susanne's house. Grant loves to play in their backyard because they have a play house and a slide. We even got to put our feet in the pool. The water was way to cold for me but Grant was ready to jump in. (Just over look the big belly.)

Thankfully there are two trampolines for Luke and Grant to share.

Thanks everybody for a great day.

Cupcakes

2010-03-13T21:02:00.005-07:00

On Monday morning this week Grant was watching Caillou. If you have never seen Caillou it is about a little boy that is 4 years old. He has a traditional family with a mom, dad, and a baby sister. In some of the episodes his grandparents are even involved. Mike and I really like the show because of the traditional family that is portrayed.

Anyway as Grant was watching Caillou, Caillou started taking about cupcakes. Of course Grant wanted cupcakes after that. So I told him we could make some cupcakes for FHE. He got so excited and said "Ok".

After dinner that night, I pulled out all the things to make the cupcakes. Grant loved it. He pulled up a chair to help. I let him pour in the oil and the water. He wanted to help with the eggs but of course I wanted to be able to eat the cupcakes without egg shells.

30 Weeks....

2010-02-23T20:57:00.003-07:00

Wow, I know you are all thinking where has 30 weeks gone. Well some days it seems to fly by but others it just drags on. This pregnancy has been a different than my last pregnancy. With Grant everything ran pretty smooth other than I had a cold for pretty much the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. However, with this baby I have had a few minor problems that have required me to call the doctor's office way too much. I have had to increase my appointments just as a precaution too.

Everything seems to be fine and I haven't had any problems for the last month. The doctor told me to take it easy so I tried to do just that. I have been trying to cut things out of my life and pretty much not work my head off. Mike has been a great help because he has really picked up the slack. I don't know what I will do when I have to take over real life again, maybe Mike will just keep doing what he is doing (cross our fingers).

Well, here are a few pictures of me at 30 weeks.

Grant saw Mike taking a picture and wanted to "cheese" that is why is is now sitting on the couch. (Also, sorry that it is fuzzy - most of the picture's Mike takes are fuzzy.)

Favorites...

2010-02-08T19:13:00.005-07:00

Well it was hard to pick a handful of pictures that I liked because they all turned out so great.

I had some great black and white photo's that I will probably print and frame too. But I only could share a few pictures.

Thanks Jenna for some great pictures (http://blog.jamesonphotos.com/).

2 Year Old Preview

2010-02-04T14:12:00.004-07:00

Ok, I just got this from the photographer. I couldn't wait to post because I thought it was such a great photo. I laugh every time I look at it.

I will post more once I get the disk from her this weekend. For now you just the teaser (but isn't it a great teaser).

We might be in for it....

2010-01-29T13:08:00.003-07:00

Ok, Grant is a total movie watcher and knows what movie he wants to watch. This morning while in the middle of watching PBS he decided he wanted to watch "Balloons". It has been a few days since he has watched it, so I wasn't completely sick of it yet.

As I was eating breakfast sitting next to Grant watching balloons he started quoting the movie. Yes, at the right time and at the right places. Once he would quote it he would like at me with a big smile on his face.

I continued my morning getting ready while in the other room I could hear Grant continue to quote the movie.

What kind of parents are we that our 2 year old can quote movies? He is 2 and can barely talk but he know exactly what is coming next in the movie. It looks like we need to watch ABC's more.

How old are you? TWO

2010-01-17T20:12:00.003-07:00

Today was Grant's birthday. I can't believe that it has been 2 years since Grant came to live with us. Time has flown by. Grant is such a joy to have around and Mike and I want to eat him up most days.

Here are a couple of things I love about Grant:
1. He likes me to kiss his arms. It all started because he had these chubby little arms and I would kiss them all the time. He now holds them up for me to kiss and I usually have to kiss both arms before I am done.

2. His new thing right now when he wakes up in the morning is to sit in his bed and yell "Mommy and Daddy" until we go get him. And most of the yelling is at the top of his lungs. He doesn't care that he can climb out of his bed by himself for some reason he wants us to come and get him.

Birthday Celebration

We just had a couple of family members over to celebrate. Grant didn't really care that it was his birthday. However, he did start to get excited once the presents and cake were pulled out.

Grant got another train and lots of cars. He carried Lighting McQueen around all night. I think it was his favorite car. He really did care about the other 15 cars he got.

(Cars seem to disappear at our house it must eat them or Grant must eat them.)

Grant getting ready to blow out his candles. He tried really hard but still needed help from Grandma Kellis.

This is the cake Grant couldn't keep away from once I put it on the table. Most of the pictures I took had a little arm or finger in the cake. He just could resist.

He finally discovered the chocolate rocks. Yes, they were his favorite. I wouldn't let him eat them and then once he saw Grandpa take them Grant started to grab them by the handfuls. At that point he didn't care about his presents because he had rocks to eat.

Oh so excited for the train cake.

(PS I didn't edit ANY of the pictures - so sorry if they are bad.)

Cooking Rut....Anybody Else

2010-01-06T12:25:00.002-07:00

Ok, since I got pregnant I have been in a MAJOR cooking rut. I can't seem to get out of it.

The Problem

Here is how it starts (I think these steps might apply to everybody - just take out the pregnant part)
Step 1: Get pregnant and now you don't feel like cooking

Step 2: Rely on your husband to feed the family for dinner. Dinners for weeks were frozen meals that you buy in the freezer section. Not the expensive ones the cheap ones. I don't think I can stomach anymore of them.

Step 3: Start to feel better but just don't know what to cook

Step 4: Have loads and loads of cookbooks sitting on your shelf but dread the thought of looking through them because you already have a 100 times.

Step 5: Realize you have a problem when you stop at Taco Bell on the way home because the idea of making dinner makes you cringe. Even though in the morning you pulled out chicken to thaw. (I must have had something in mind when I pulled out the chicken.)

The Road to Recovery

I don't think I need a 12 step program to help me fix the problem but maybe the following steps will help:

Recovery Step 1: Admit I have a problem (Check: got it covered with the post)

Recovery Step 2: Apologize to anybody that has eaten at my house in the last few months (Check: I think I apologize to Mike daily. Grant doesn't really care he will pretty much eat anything.)

Recovery Step 3: Seek Help
I can't seem to do this one alone so please post some recipes in the comments. Of course simple recipes because who has time to slave away in the kitchen we see where that led Martha Stewart.

Recovery Step 4: Cook my little heart out
Tonight I think I might use the chicken I didn't use last night. Hey, at least it is a start.

(So please begin posting your recipes now.....)

Tis the Season....for Joy

2010-01-01T09:36:00.010-07:00

It all started Christmas morning looking like this.......

It looks like Santa came and brought us goodies and toys

(Santa doesn't wrap presents at our house)

We ended with a happy boy that got lots of cars and he even got his very own train.

As you can see Grant loved his train. As he was driving his train around the living room he just all the sudden had an Elf moment and yelled "TRAIN".
(If you have seen the movie Elf then you know what we are talking about.)

I even surprised Mike with an air soft gun. I told him that he couldn't shoot in the house or he couldn't shoot Grant but everything else was game.

All in all we had a great Christmas morning and day. I couldn't ask for anything more than a happy happy family.

(I can't say healthy because Grant was running a fever Christmas Eve and Christmas day. But of course you can't even tell at all.)

Disneyland

2010-01-01T09:36:00.004-07:00

Just before Christmas we took a trip to Disneyland with my sister and her family. My sister in law Lisa was also there, so Grant got to hang out with lots of cousins. We played one day in the park with Lisa and Conlin. When we got home from Disneyland Grant kept asking about Conlin.

Grant has so many cousins that love him to dealth. They just couldn't keep away from. I had to tell them move away from the stoller when we were in busy crowds because they wouldn't watch where they were going. They just wanted to entertain and talk to Grant.

On our way home Grant was so exhausted. We got in the car and he entertained himself for almost 2 hours. No toys, no movies, and no parents to entertain him. I think he was glad not to have 5 cousins in his face! Don't get me wrong he does love them and has a huge smile on his face when they entertain him.

Mike spent most of his days at the "big" ride with the bigger kids. The girls (Sherilyn, Karidy, and I) and Grant spent our days on the kids rides and going to shows. We did have a lot of fun and it was a great trip.

Of course we couldn't miss "Lighting McQueen"

Grant and his usual look these days.

We got to get a picture with Mickey and Mini

Grant playing with Uncle Brent

Trying on Mickey ears with mom.

Ho ho ho...

2009-12-23T21:46:00.002-07:00

Last year I didn't take Grant to see Santa at all. I didn't really care if he got his picture with Santa. I figured we had plenty of years for Santa pictures. However, this year we just happened to be at Bass Pro Shops in the middle of November and Santa was already there. I thought why not I don't have to wait in line and we won't have to worry about it later.

Grant wasn't even scared (you wouldn't guess by the look on his face). As he walked up to Santa he was waving at him. It was pretty cute.

Trimming the Tree

2009-12-12T22:18:00.003-07:00

Last week we finally put up our Christmas tree. Mike and I were excited for Grant to help us. However, G-man didn't have any desire to help. He just wanted to watch the "train" movie.

So here is he watching Polar Express. As you can see he can't be bothered by putting up the Christmas decorations.

Mikey putting his touches on the tree

Jewelry Sale - Take a look

2009-12-12T21:29:00.004-07:00

See side bar (down below for a sneak peak). I will also be adding more items in the next couple of days. Remember to enter "mailer" at check out to receive the discount.

It might just be a.....

2009-12-03T14:46:00.003-07:00

Giving Thanks

2009-11-30T13:32:00.003-07:00

Last week we spent the week in Utah. (Sorry we missed seeing a lot of friends and family while we were there, but time just got away from us.) It was great to spend time with family. We spent a couple of days at my dad's house in a huge mess. My dad had just had a pipe break in his basement a couple of days before we got there so the whole basement was a disaster. However, we made the best of the situation and Grant got to know Grand-dad a little better. Saturday night after we got there my sister came down with her kids and they had Grant running until 10:00 pm. He was just going going going. What more could he ask for than attention from 4 cousins that can't leave him alone.

We spent the rest of the week at my mom's house where Grant actually got to catch up on his sleep. Grant sleeps in a pack'n'play in the walk in closet. It is away from the action at my mom's house so he slept through all the noise of the kids and everything else.

I spent most of the week running errands and shopping with my mom and my sisters. Of course we did end up shopping on "Black Friday" which is CRAZY and it might be another few years before I do it again. Grant spent most of the week playing with his cousins and taking 3-4 hour naps during the day. Mike was a trooper and spent his days working, watching Grant, or following me around with my family. Mike also spent some time at his brother's house.

It is great to see family but we always miss them when it is time to come home. Grant was ready to come home. We walked into our house on Sunday night and he just kept saying "back, back".

(Sorry I have some pictures but don't have my cord with me right now!)

Cart Surfing

2009-11-19T21:45:00.002-07:00

I think Grant and Mike may have created a new sport. Next time you run into Mike at the store he may just ask you to compete in the Cart Surfing war so start prepping your kids. If you haven't had your chance to see these two in action please feast your eyes on the video.

I know you are all wondering how this even got started; well it all begins when your son gets to stay home with his dad everyday and there is no mom around to give guidance. It actually started at WalMart (yes, I know). Grant decided that he wanted to push the cart. Mike got frustrated because they were going to slow and so attempted to push the cart faster. Grant eventually slipped and fell and kept hanging on smiling the whole way as Mike drug him through the store. Grant now loves it and can't wait to push the cart. However, he really doesn't push the cart anymore; he just plops right down on the floor waiting for the surfing to begin. Grant even tries to do it behind his stroller on our carpet at home.

I guess boys will be boys.

Grant's New Shirt

2009-11-15T17:13:00.004-07:00

AARRGG, a pirate's life for me.....

2009-11-03T12:44:00.002-07:00

Halloween week was quite eventful between Trunk or Treat and actually taking Grant out Trick or Treating.

Thursday night we had Trunk or Treat. Our ward set up in the cultural hall and had a bunch of carnival booths that each organization was in charge of. Of course the Elders were in charge of a fish pond. Mike decided it was a good idea to give out actual fish. Thankfully we didn't end up with any of them. Grant however, couldn't stay out of "his" swimming pool. So I had to find other activities to distract him from Mike like eating lots and lots of cotton candy.

On Saturday we took Grant out trick or treating early evening and went to about 8 house (that was plenty). Grant was getting the hang of it by the end. I think his favorite part was ringing the doorbell and being able to grab his own candy (and no this could would take handfuls).

Trying to get me.

Don't worry it is a fake.

Give Away

2009-10-30T10:15:00.004-07:00

My company is currently giving away 3 pairs of earrings t0 3 different people.

Go here to find more details on how to enter.

Check out a small list of items that we currently have for sale at thebeadgirls.etsy.com

360 Tour

2009-10-21T12:11:00.005-07:00

Last night Mike and I got to go to the U2 concert. Can I just tell you that I have NEVER EVER been disappointed with one of their shows. Bono, The Edge, Larry, and Adam put on quite a show. Last night they played for over 2 hours straight - no breaks. And how amazing do you have to be to actually have the Black Eyed Peas open for you. Fergie was pretty awesome too; boy that girl can really sing.

(The stag was massive and was just WOW!)

Mike and I got off to a rough start being stuck in traffic FOREVER. As most of you know I am a HUGE U2 fan and so being stuck in traffic missing any part of the show was very very stressful. I didn't pay money to sit on the freeway or in the parking lot for almost 2 hours. When we finally did get to the parking lot Mike kicked me out of the car. (It is ok I totally deserved it because I just kept yelling at the stupid traffic directors and I don't do very well in traffic with Mike driving.)

Then to make matters worse I see a guy coming out of the bushes pulling up his pants and doing up his belt. Really he did just use the bathroom in the bushes when we were so close to the stadium. At that point I had had enough. I shook my head at him and and said "You are disgusting!" He told me he couldn't wait and I pointed to the building and said it is right there you couldn't wait that long. This was his direct quote "Well that is like 300 yards away and I just couldn't make it." Really dude really it wasn't even that far away and plus you are 50 not some little kid that can't hold it.

The night did end GREAT and we left during the very very last song (we heard most of it walking around the stadium). I just didn't want to get stuck in the parking lot and Mike for sure didn't want to get stuck in the parking lot with me again or I may have had to walk home.

Black Eyed Peas

U2
Black Eye Peas
(Sorry it is pretty crappy video)

U2 AMAZING. When Can I see you again????

(I told Mike in Paris 2010, but I don't know if he will go for that.)

Clean Clean Clean

2009-10-10T10:11:00.002-07:00

So what is your favorite cleaning product? We all have one that we love and that we would hate to give up. Or maybe you have a special trick to save some time on tasks that you really hate.

I hate ironing. I am to much of a perfectionist when it comes to ironing so it takes me forever. For a long time I just took everything to the dry cleaners because I thought it was easier and saved me a ton of time. I would drop them off in the morning and then I would pick them up on my way home from work. Now that is a huge time saver. However, when I had Grant it was a different story and the dry cleaner wasn't really cleaning the clothes like I wanted. So for a little while I would wash them myself and still take them to the dryer cleaner for another clean and press. But I was still disappointed and decided that I should probably save the $25 a month and just do it myself. Don't get me wrong there are still some items that I have to take to the cleaners because washing them just doesn't work (I tried but it was a failed attempt).

Are you asking yourself what I use to save time on the ironing. Well I still don't iron and only iron when I have too. I actually use liquid starch. I mix 1/2 water and 1/2 liquid starch in a spray bottle and spray my clothes when they come out of the dryer and then hang them up. It works miracles. Of course you don't get the clean pressed lines that I like but it works great for t-shirts and pants. Give it a try....

Tell me what is your favorite cleaning product or cleaning tip???

No Spend Month - 30 Day EMBARRASMENT

2009-10-01T15:05:00.004-07:00

Ok, I have been dreading this post because after the last post it just went down hill from there. Mike was such a great sport and would really try hard to save money when he was grocery shopping. The last time we did no spend month I did the grocery shopping and I did the cooking. However, roles were reversed this time because of my ear infection and now the current virus (cough, runny nose, and lots of congestion) I am trying to fight. Mike did a great job grocery shopping of resiting all those yummy snacks, but when it comes to getting creative in the kitchen that just isn't him. Don't get me wrong he will make things that I pull out and give him a recipe for but I was just too lazy to even do that.

So here is the dreaded news for the last two weeks (totals are only the last 1/2 of the month)

Grocery: $167

Gas: $72 (1 fill up for me and 1 of Mike)

Eating OUT: $65 (Yes, this was a killer. Ok, so I had a hard time liking my lunch that I brought to work and wouldn't eat it because it was leftovers that I have been eating for lunch the last 2 days. We also did get pizza one night because I didn't want to cook and Mike LOVES pizza and will pretty much do anything to have a pizza night - only Papa Johns.)

If any of you are adding up yes, we well exceeded our goal which was originally set at $300. Alright I know you all have your calculators out to see the amount we spent so I will just tell if you if you promise to put your calculators away (or maybe I am just the geek that has a calculator sitting by my computer for easy access). So the total for the month was $563. (Yes, it is small for a reason).

I know this month wasn't that big of a flop because we did spend less than normal and I will continue to try random NO spend months but hopefully we just won't be sick the next time.

HAPPY SHOPPING BECAUSE IT IS NOW OCTOBER!!!!!!

No SPEND Month - 14 days

2009-09-13T15:31:00.002-07:00

Well, so far so bad. We have spent way more than we should have and we are only half way through the month.

Groceries: $163 (which also includes a large box of diapers from Costco)

Gas: $70 - not too bad with a road trip included

Misc. $26 - (a part for Mikey's buggy while we were at the ranch)

We only have $41 left to go. I don't think we are going to make it, but hey at least we will have spent a lot less this month than last month.

Road Rash

2009-09-10T21:03:00.003-07:00

Grant has been waking up early this week. So on Tuesday he was up early and Mike didn't sleep very well, so I decided to take him on my run with me. He was a great little companion. He thought it was great because he saw a small dog that of course he thought was a cat and was meowing at it. He also got to see the moon which was still up.

Ever since that morning Grant wants to go for a walk. He goes to the door and tries to open it and starts saying "walk". I guess on Tuesday after my run Grant kept telling Mike "walk" all day. Finally after dinner we got to go for a walk. Grant spent most of the time out of the stroller bouncing up the street. Well we were a 1/2 block from home and Grant was in his stroller when he decided that he leaned forward and tumbled out of the stroller.

Of course it didn't look as bad that night. But when he woke up the next morning this is what he looked like.

Playing in the Garden

2009-09-10T20:55:00.003-07:00

Last week we replanted our garden and this is what Grant came out wearing. He was so proud of himself. He just kept saying "hat". He actually wore it for a while before he finally took it off.

Throwing rocks into the water.

We love Tennis

2009-09-10T20:38:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we were watching a tennis match with Serena Williams. Grant thought it was so funny. Every time a point would start Grant would just start laughing.

Another NO SPEND Month

2009-09-03T11:01:00.004-07:00

Have you ever felt like this???

I thought I would take another try at the NO spend month that we did in Feb. However, this time we will be having a budget of $300 rather than our $250.

You may be asking:

What is a NO spend month?

Several months ago I happened to come across this blog that talked about her NO Spend Month . I thought it was such a great idea and a great challenge to learn to live on strict budget. I know everybody is trying to cut back on everything in their life and I thought what better way to learn to cut back than live off $250 for a whole month.

What does my $300 cover?
Food, entertainment, household items, gas, clothing, and any other basic items that I would purchase every month.

What is NOT covered by my $300?
Rent, car payment, medical expenses, phone, Internet, water, power, tithing and other monthly recurring bills (thankfully we don't have too many).

Why the move from $250 to $300?

Well it is because this weekend we are going out of town and I am hoping that the extra $50 will cover the gas we need to get up there.

How can you survive on only $300?

Well I don't know how we will survive this month. So far it has been 3 days and I already want to go shopping. It doesn't matter what I buy I just want to buy. Hopefully by the end of the month I won't feel that way and I have learned that I can live without things.

What will I learn?

I want to learn the difference between NEED and WANT. Hopefully I can use lots of food that has been sitting in my cupboard for months. What greater thing than just simple meal planning so you don't have the WANT to out to eat.

What is the potential of living off $300?

$,$$$. Need I say more!

Did I stock up supplies in August?

No, I work really hard not too. My car didn't have a full tank when I started the month. I probably had a 1/2 tank of gas. However, I didn't fill up on the 31st. I also noticed Grant was getting low on diapers (well I knew I would have to buy some in Sept). However, I didn't buy any yet. Last week I used all our Mayo, Miracle Whip and butter. Well I didn't make a run at 10pm to the store on the 31st even though I should have. So no stocking up for us.

How does Mike handle it?

Well, Mike tolerates it to say the least. I don't think that he really cares about it and I think he finds it a complete inconvenience, but I don't care because I learn that I can live without certain things and we can make do with what we have. I for sure learn that restaurant food is usually NOT better than a home cooked meal.

What I want NOW!!!

2009-08-27T21:31:00.008-07:00

Alright for several years now I have been receiving the Lucky Magazine and I love it. It gives me some great ideas for fashion and beauty tips that I would have never found out about. Any way every month they have a section that some of the editors put together is is entiled "What I want Now". It allows each individual to choose the latest fashion trends they want.

So here is my....

What I want NOW

Time

Hopefully to spend with Grant and Mikey.

Flowers

Don't you just love this sweater. It is so girly. I just want flowers on everything right now. I love the detail it provides to any outfit.

Thanks JCrew.

Vacation A nice long vacation with Mikey.

The Beach

A pair of Great Shoes.

I haven't found them yet but when I do I will get you a picture.

oH the pLagUe

2009-08-20T08:44:00.002-07:00

While we were in Utah our family picked up some kind of bug. We aren't sure what it is but it has been brutal. Mike has 2 ear infections and a pretty bad cough. Grant threw up for 3 days and now has diarrhea. I have been having some stomach issues too, but not nearly as bad as Grant.

So to say the least this week has been quite eventful. However, we have managed to get some laughs out of it.

Funny things Grant has said/did this week:
While taking a trip to get out of the house Mike took Grant to Bass Pro. When they were looking at the boats Grant said "Bubbles". (Grant currently loves bubbles and will shake his sippy cup so he can see bubbles.) Mike thought it was kind of strange so he asked Grant, "where are the bubbles?" Grant in turn points to his belly and then says "Ut-oh". Mike knew that probably wasn't a good sign and was hoping to make it home without a big mess in the car. However, the car seat needed a deep cleaning.

Grant now knows that you get bubbles in your stomach when you have an upset stomach. He has now said "Bubbles" for his belly a couple of times.

Funny things I get from Mike:
I received the following email from Mike earlier this week.

Subject Line: Ano

He just sat on my head and wet farted! It's bad. It's really really bad.

And I received the following email from Mike yesterday.

Subject Line: I need a Hazmat suit

He did four hours. When I went in to get him I almost passed out. Poor guy.

I later called home to find Grant having a bubble bath and Mike having changed all of Grant's sheets and blankets.

So to say the least we have had quite the eventful week.

Wedding Day

2009-08-17T20:23:00.005-07:00

Last week my little brother got married. Yeah!!! We are so happy for him and Esther. They got married in the Draper temple on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day.

Here are a few pictures that I got to take. Mike got mad at me for trying to take more rather than take care of Grant. So I guess this is all we get. Hopefully I can get some from my brother in law.

Cam & Esther are officially married.

Poor Grant having to put up with his bossy cousins. However, they do really love him because they called me several times on our way up to Utah wondering when they would get to see Grant.

The nieces dancing while waiting for Cam and Esther to come out of the temple.

The boys with Cam. Spencer and Grant I guess really didn't want to be in the picture.

Funny faces.

All the boys.

Date night!

2009-08-02T15:02:00.004-07:00

Friday was date night for me and Grant. Since this month I have been working like crazy I haven't had a chance to really spend quality time with Grant. Mike was busy Friday night studying and helping somebody move, so I decided to take Grant to his first movie.

I have been wanting to take Grant to the movies for a little while. However, I wasn't sure if he would sit through a whole movie. I also didn't want to pay full price for a movie either in case we had to leave. So I found the $1 theater close to us (well in AZ it is the $2.50 theater).

When I got home from work on Friday I picked up Grant and we headed to the theater. I hadn't ever been to that theater before so I called Mike a couple of times to see if he knew exactly where the theater was at the mall.

When we got to the mall I found the theater and Grant and I walked inside. We were kind of in a hurray because the movie was going to start. As we were walking in Grant saw a water fountain outside and pointed to it and said "wah-wah." I told him that we would see it when we got done with the movie.

Inside the theater we paid for a our ticket and bought some popcorn. My hands were full with my purse, Grant's sippy, Grant's teddy and Grant. So I set Grant on the counter as we were paying for our tickets and popcorn. As soon as the lady set down the popcorn Grant grabbed a large handful. I knew I couldn't carry Grant while carrying the popcorn so I set him down to follow me. We went and put some butter on our popcorn and Grant just couldn't resit the popcorn that fell on the floor. So I gave him another handful of popcorn from our bag so he wouldn't eat the popcorn on the floor. However, he just couldn't leave all that popcorn on the floor. So I had to grab his hand and drag him along. We finally made it to where we turn in our tickets. Of course there was more spilled popcorn on the floor. Grant just couldn't resist that popcorn either. After some persuasion we finally made it in the theater.

While entering the theater I grabbed a booster seat for Grant. I set the booster in his chair and realized how was I going to get Grant into the chair. I couldn't set the popcorn down on the ground because it would spill all over. I know for sure I can't pick Grant up with one hand because he is just too heavy. I then realized that I might be able to fit the popcorn in between the folding seat. Sure enough it worked and I got Grant situated in his booster.

We only sat in our chairs for a couple of minutes before the movie started. As soon as the big screen went on Grant was transfixed. He loved it. He would point to things and tell me about them. He saw a picture of a cat and of course started to meow. Thankfully the theater only had about 10 people in it so I didn't feel bad that he was talking.

Grant munched on popcorn for the first 45 min of the movie. Every time I would try to move the popcorn (because he wasn't eating it) he would look at me and say "noooo." Good thing for the popcorn because Grant stayed in his seat for that whole 45 min. After that he moved to my lap for the rest of the movie. The movie was 1 hour 34 min which was about 10 min to long for Grant. But he did great.

Next movie on our list is "UP". Hopefully it will be at the $1 theater soon.

After the movie I had promised Grant that we would see the fountain. Of course he remembered. As soon as we got outside he started running toward the fountain.

Hopefully Grant and I can have another date night soon.