Ted's Wedding and scrap map

This last Saturday one of our good friends got married in Brigham City. We were able to make it to the sealing, thanks to my parents who drove up and watched our cranky teething baby. (I still feel bad, sorry mom and dad). The ceremony was beautiful, there was so much love and the spirit was so strong. Teddy has been a good friend of Chris' for a while now, he pushed Chris to go on a mission and that makes Ted and I very good friends. :) He definitely played a role in our lives. After the sealing Chris and I picked up Owen, and my parents took us to Smith and Edwards (like the original Cabelas). That place is awesome by the way! I could spend a whole day in there.

Super random but great. 

 The luncheon was held at "The Lodge" in Brigham and the food was amazing. Then Chris and I had about four hours to kill before the reception. Ted called to see where we went and said that we were more than welcome to go hang out with his sister in law and the kids at his house. So instead of laying in the cold at the park, we ended up at Ted's. His family was so sweet and friendly. I made a new friend (Ted's niece) who asked if she could sit on my lap and hug her. I had her when I said yes to watching Tinkerbell: Secret Of  Wings. 

The reception was just as beautiful as the sealing.. maybe not quite but close. Chris played Somewhere Over the Rainbow/ What A Wonderful World on the ukulele while Ted and Maggie sang at the reception. He did a fantastic job. I have a video but after three failed attempts to load it, I gave up. Maybe some other time.

Chris did an amazing job and it was a day we will never forget!
Chris and his buddy Trent

Me, O, Maggie, Ted and Chris

In other exciting news, I finished my scrap map! I think it looks awesome. I bought a cheapo poster frame at Wal Mart to finish it off and I love it. 

And that's about it for that weekend. :) 

4 months and other AWESOME news

I have the best news!

 Chris found out he will be able to graduate in DECEMBER instead of April!! We are out of Rexburg that much sooner. We are so thrilled to finally be moving forward and start making money instead of losing it. College life isn't really all it's cracked up to be. In the words of my dad, "It's just a hoop jumping contest". The funny part is he will actually get his degree from BYU Hawaii not Idaho. At this point, he just wants to be done so he emailed his counselor in Hawaii and asked what it would take to get a degree. She said he has everything to get a University Studies degree and possibly an Exercise Science degree (what he has been aiming for). She still needs to check on some things about the EXS but either way we are done! Which is a huge, gigantic blessing for us. Then it's on to paramedic school and job applying. I am so incredibly proud of Chris for sticking with it and coming out victorious! He has logged in so many hours studying and doing homework. I am so grateful to him for getting his degree and being happy and willing to support our family! 

Truly the love of my life!!

Owen is four months as of yesterday! So so crazy. He is rolling over and already trying to get onto his knees if he is determined enough. Every time his back touches the floor, he rolls over. We tried some baby food for the first time on Monday. He wasn't quite sure what to do or think about it but we have given him a little more each day and he doesn't seem to mind, it's not his favorite but he does alright. I just can't seem to keep up with him. 

Things are great and I will be sure to update more often.

we rock at being parents

This last week I was kindly welcomed into the parenting club. I tried for so long to be strong but life has a way of kicking you when you're down, or kicking my baby when he's down. 

Poor baby Owen has had a pretty rough week. 

 I came home from Soup-er Saturday and set O (in his car seat still strapped in) on the table. He was happy so I left to sit at the table with Chris. I went in the kitchen to start the dishes. Next thing I know Owen was on the floor face down, screaming. I ran to pick him up and he was still holding his breath, soon to be the most sad scream I've ever heard. Chris ran in from the bedroom to see both O and I bawling. Apparently Chris has unbuckled him before he went to grab something from the other room. Owen has been kicking himself out of his bouncer seat lately so I was not at all questioning how he did it. I was just hear broken that it happened. He busted his lip but not horribly. Chris tried to help the situation by saying  "Well, it took us four months to drop him". I love that guy. :) 

My poor baby.

I'm going to add some adorable pictures to show he's still living.

Sorry it's a little blurry. 

We had his four month check up yesterday and it went all wrong. It started off great. He said that Owen is the strongest four month old he's ever seen. He can lift his head and stand up without wobbling at all. He weighed in at 16 pounds and was 26 inches long, in the 90th percentile (surprise, surprise). Dr. Jones said he would not be surprised if he started crawling soon. And he for sure is teething. (Which also helps to make this week great) Then comes the bad part.. We had him circumcised when he was born (now rethinking that) and since then the skin has grown back. Dr. Jones said that is completely normal but this time it had grown back pretty good. He tried putting numbing cream and then pulling the skin back but that wasn't working. While he was doing that, there were two nurses on each leg to give him shots. After a couple failed attempts he said he would have to give him a shot of lidocaine and then try again with a probe, which totally makes it sounds just as bad as it was. I ended up leaving the room because I knew I was either going to yell a Dr. Jones again or cry. I really did yell at the doc to stop hurting him. He just laughed and said he get's that a lot. Go figure! 

He finally got it and we went home. Owen screamed for about an hour and then fell asleep. This poor guy. He slept for a solid four hours and woke up like nothing happened. He was super smiley and happy just like he usually is. He seriously is awesome! Today he woke up happy and has been all day. This guys is a champ! 

We do clothe him, he's just so much happier when he's not.. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

So into the parenting club we were welcomed. Thanks life. 

Halloween 2012

It's been so long but I'm here now. Halloween is by far my favorite holiday and this year it was spent a little  differently than I had planned. Chris had school so O and I hung out and listened to spooky music. We were invited to a Halloween party our landlords were hosting so we just went to that. It was good. I can't complain to much because I didn't do anything better. Anyway, Susan got O an adorable cow costume so that's what he went as.

thinking out loud

First I want to say this is a more personal blog post. What's been on my mind.. well a few things that have been on my mind. 

1.It started with general conference.. what life changing decisions don't? :) Chris took Owen for the night so I could go to the Relief Society broadcast. To be completely honest I did not want to go. I had dishes to do, laundry to fold, sleeping to catch up on, etc. I ended up going with some friends and Costa Vida even catered. (How lucky are we?)  Although it was nice to have a break from the mom thing, all through dinner I kept thinking, "I need to be home and cleaning the house or taking care of O". The meeting started and the first couple talks were good but again I wasn't too thrilled to be there so I was half listening and half thinking of what else I could be doing. Then Sister Stephens (the first counselor in the RS General Presidency) spoke and said, 

"Each of us has had and will continue to have adversity in our lives. This mortal life is a time of testing, and we will continue to have opportunities to use our agency to choose what we will learn from the adversity that will surely come."

We've heard similar quotes like this one before but for some reason this happened to stick out at me. I went home feeling re-energized and great. Feeling like I can actually handle life and my busy little boy. And juggle being a good wife and maintain a happy home. I can get through this challenging stage with the Lord's help and I am choosing to do it with a smile. And I felt bad for thinking I had better places to be. That was the only place I needed to be.

I've been thinking a lot lately about life and what I want out of it. I feel like I've been in a funk for a long time now and I finally have the motivation to do something about it. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I am sick of the way I've been living or that I want to do better for Chris and Owen; probably a combination of the two. I want to feel, look and BE better. I am determined to change, for my boys and more importantly for myself. 

It's not like I have been doing bad things, I just haven't been doing great things. I know I could be doing a lot better.

I got married a pretty happy person and soon turned into a crazy lady. Living as an eighteen year old newlywed in Hawaii helped/forced me to grow up extremely fast. Looking back now, it was a huge blessing but obviously when I was going through it, it didn't feel quite that nice. Then we found out we were pregnant and we moved to the mainland. So Chris didn't get to know the real me. I think that's another reason I want to do better. He married a happy girl who then went into a depression and then got pregnant and had a baby which is a whole other type of emotional roller coaster. I feel like he hasn't had a chance to get to know the real happy me. 

 I know that we are put in situations and we go through experiences for our own good. I'm saying this because it's hard right now, but I know we will survive it.

 I have started working out finally. Having a baby really messes you up, I think more mentally than physically.. I am at a stage where I feel like I can look a lot better. I gained so much weight when Chris and I got married and I have just been gaining more since. Lucky for me, Owen took most of my fat from before instead of adding a ton more weight. I think I only gained about eight pounds when I was pregnant with him. I am really trying to work out everyday and eat smaller portions. Nursing has made me more hungry than ever. I feel like I need a Thanksgiving feast to satisfy my hunger, but I'm working on it. And I already feel more energized. 

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.