Finally a family of 4

San Diego Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-30T14:43:00.007-07:00

After Disneyland we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house in San Diego. Grandma wanted to take everyone to a pumpkin patch that she had visited a week or so before.
They had lots of activities for the kids: a playground, hayride, trucks, cotton seed slope, petting area, hay maze, etc. It was a fun place to visit and all the kids got to pick out a pumpkin and take it home.

Disneyland

2011-11-29T20:19:00.010-07:00

Axton has been asking to go to Disneyland for about a year and I refused to go while I was pregnant because I really wanted to enjoy the "big kid" rides. So now that Kenzington is here, we decided to go while he was out of school for fall break.

It turned into an extended family trip, which made it fun because we had people to trade the kids off with so everyone could ride all day, and Axton had cousins to help him not be afraid to try new rides. Aunt Katie and Uncle Spencer, and Uncle Brad and Aunt Corina with Vanessa, Daniela, and Talia all came. Grandma and Grandpa Leavitt were going to come but Grandpa had meetings that night and Grandma hurt her knee :( so hopefully next time they can come.

We started off ok with pictures but then we got way too interested in the rides to care. Axton didn't like the Haunted Mansion or Space Mountain because they had it all set up for Halloween and he has never like creepy things. He loved the Matterhorn (he begged to go on it repeatedly and we made it the last ride of the night) and all other roller coasters. The day went by way too fast and hopefully next time we can make it for a few days instead of just one.

A very common expression (for both the kids) that would be repeated throughout the entire day, but he only whimpered at the beginning of the Haunted Mansion, and she nevere made a peep on the rides just took it all in, or slept through them.

We got stuck in the Haunted Mansion for a while which was lame, and poor Axton was already scared. The plus side was that everytime we stopped we were able to point out the things in the room and he could really look at them so he'd calm down, but then we'd move onto another room. Our only rule was that he had to try every ride once.

The boat ride was so fun because of Axton. He loved seeing all the "animals" and it was nice to sit and relax without worrying about him running off to the next ride.

Kenzington didn't quite know what to think but that was the story all day.

Showing off his Lightning McQueen/Mickey ears hat that was his souvenir

Axton is sitting with Aunt Katie but he's so little that you can't see him!

Axton was drenched from going down Splash Mountain 3-4 times. He always looked so scared when they took the picture, it was priceless, so we bought one of the pictures but I can't find it to download, so instead this is him afterwards. He loved it though.

Both kids were exhausted by 10pm so the drive to Grandma and Grandpa's was very peaceful! They both did so well, I don't think we had any real melt downs and Axton was a champ at waiting in line which was my biggest fear. Definitely excited for the next trip but that will probably be a while.

The Truly Awesome Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-11-14T15:00:00.004-07:00

So today while I was in the middle of my workout my doorbell rang and interrupted me. And what should I find but a package from bzzagent with my newest product to rate and spread the word about. There's nothing like sabatoging the last 1/2 hour of working out in a matter of seconds than eating a couple of chocolate chip cookies that are 120 calories each, ouch!

My disclaimer on this one: I don't like hard cookies, I don't buy the prepackaged kind unless specifically asked to by Greg which isn't often. I don't care much for chocolate. And store made chocolate chip cookies always have too many chocolate chips in them for my taste (when I make them myself I always reduce the amount of chips called for by at least half if not 3/4). So for me these were doomed from the beginning, for others who like chocolate and chips ahoy type cookies you might really enjoy them.

Back to the product. The Kroger brand has come out with a new line of products called "The Truly Awesome..." and the one I received for free from bzzagent to try was obviously chocolate chip cookies. The ironic thing, other than them being hand delivered in the middle of working out, is that since having Kenzington I can't stop craving chocolate chip cookies, and normally I don't really care for them!

So of course I ate one immediately, goodbye rest of my workout, goodbye calories burned, hello sugar! Conversation to myself, "Ummm these are ok. Wouldn't buy them though. Too crunchy for my taste, definitely tastes like a hard store bought cookie, doesn't live up to what I would consider a "homestyle" cookie that "tastes as if mom baked them herself" (or so the package says). What a waste of calories. I was hoping they'd taste better. But really there's nothing like a fresh homemade cookie that comes out soft and warm. They remind me of chips ahoy cookies, but they are a little bigger than those, but not very many to a package, only 8. Guess that's a good thing because if I ate all of them that's only about 1000 calories, better than several thousand from chips ahoy! Luckily they aren't that great so I won't be eating this whole box by myself, Axton and others will get to enjoy them."

Then I sat down to read the whole pamphlet on them and discovered their suggestion to throw one in the microwave to make it warm and soft. Of course I had to try that since that is how I like them, no crunchy cookies for me! BIG MISTAKE!!! It said to warm them for a few seconds, so after 10 I felt it and it was still hard but warm, umm no thanks. Decided what the heck and put it back in for 20 more seconds and .... we had warm and SOFT! It was so much better than eating it cold and hard! Who needs to share, bring on the calories baby!

So in the end, if you want a hard cookie, I'd still go with chips ahoy or whatever brand because for the money and size of the package these just aren't worth it to me, even if they are made with "quality" ingredients and "no preservatives" (unless those matter to you). But if you want a soft cookie, these are more tempting, but maybe because I never thought to try and stick one of the others in the microwave, and don't know how they would turn out. As for me though, I'll be sticking to homemade chocolate chip cookies because either way these store bought ones just aren't as good.

I have coupons though for a $1 off one package making them roughly $2 a box if anyone wants one, otherwise they'll be going in the trash can.

Burt's Bees Products

2011-11-14T14:29:00.006-07:00

As I have posted in the past, I am a bzzagent, so they send me stuff to sample, spread the word, and report on. For the last month or so I have been using Burt's Bees Facial cleanser and moisturizer that they sent me for free to try out. I must say I am in LOVE with the cleanser, the moisturizer is ok.

Biggest disclaimer: I acknowledge that I'm not the aficionado when it comes to beauty products! I would like to learn more but for now, it's low on the priorities. But I can give you my opinion on the products I tested.

First of all these products are made from all natural ingredients, which I won't lie, I don't really care about, but I know others do! For me it matters how well they work. To be honest with everyone I rarely use anything but water to clean my face. Everytime I try a cleanser I break out, and when I use soap my face gets way too dried out that it drives me crazy. SO just plain water is what I have been using most of my life and I have very few breakouts, thank heavens! But there are things I love about this product that make me think maybe I should be come a regular facial cleanser user!

I LOVE the cleanser because it has NO soap in it. When I use it, it's like putting on lotion, it's so soft and silky. No bubbles, no drying out the skin, and best of all for me.... NO breakouts! The down side for me is the $10 price tag. Maybe that's because I have no idea what other cleansers cost since I don't buy them, and I know some people use the really fancy brand name stuff from department stores that costs a whole heck of a lot more than that, so maybe I'm just cheap. The bottle is a pretty good size though and so far has lasted me at least a month and is still going strong (but I forget to use it sometimes since I'm not in the habit) so it may not last that long for others, but a little goes a long ways!

Now on to the moisturizer. I do use moisturizer more often than I ever use facial cleanser, but I still don't use it that often, mostly when my face is feeling extra dry. This moisturizer isn't much different than others that I've used in the past. It works fine. But I feel like there are some downs that make me unlikely to buy it again. One pump from the bottle gives you more than you need and often times I pump it out without thinking because I'm used to my Aveeda. So I end up with way too much in my hands and end up washing half of it down the sink. The other thing, it feels to wet for me. I apply it and rub it in and it takes a while for it to stop being wet to the touch so I can put on my makeup (on the rare occasions that I wear it!). No matter how little I put on I always feel like there is too much because it doesn't get soaked up very quickly compared to Aveeda. And it's $15, which is about what I pay for Aveeda, and it's probably about the same amount of product, so I think I'll stick to Aveeda until I find something better.

Well that's my two cents on the subject. Can't wait to try out more free products and expand my horizons with bzzagent.com!

Trying to play catch-up

2011-11-12T13:23:00.013-07:00

Well my house is almost clean for all of the coming guests in a week and half and so I have decided I can get back to trying to "catch up" on some other not so crucial things on my list, such as blogging and scrapbooking.

So we'll go back to October! I got a groupon for Vertuccio Farms and since it was only about $8 for all of us to go I figured it would be a fun Saturday activity. Especially since Saturdays with the family are getting fewer and farther apart. It seems like we are lucky if we have one a month, without any other obligations.

We've been here in the past, but this year they had more things to do and Axton was older and so he enjoyed most of it more. I always want to go because of the corn maze, but then I remember that this one isn't all that great compared to the ones I've been to. Add that to a husband who doesn't care for them all that much, a 4 year old who thinks it's too hot to walk (which it was... in the 90s still) and a path that you can't really maneuver a stroller through so you get to carry your sweaty sleeping baby.... yeah the corn maze was a bust, we made it about 10 minutes before exiting.

But at least there were other fun things to do and we were there right when it opened and so it wasn't crowded yet.

They have blow up horses for both adults and kids, everyone gets on and then races them around in a circle to see who wins. Luckily though no one else was there yet so Axton and Greg got to just play around. Axton kept falling over but it was fun to watch.

They also had pedal cars but even with the seat moved all the way forward Axton could just reach the petal (one at a time) but not move them so Greg rode with him a few times and other times he pushed him around while Axton steered. He's a little bit of a scary driver!

There was a "cow" that you could milk. Axton didn't really care for it but allowed me a few shots of him trying anyways.

His 2nd favorite activity there was the bean bag toss. They would have stayed there all day if it wasn't for me wanting to explore!

Greg convinced me to make a fool out of myself and show off how weak I've become. I was lucky to get it past a 6, oh well. They had a kid one as well but I didn't get pictures of Axton doing it.

Then it was on to everyone's favorite: the air pillow. We had never been on one before but it was a blast. Greg tried to bounce me high enough to reach the netting over top but the landing wasn't very friendly so I chickened out after a dozen or so attempts.

On to the playground:

They also have tons of animals and Greg decided to pet the cow. I guess he thought Greg tasted yummy!

Awesome bathroom sign

2011-10-11T09:20:00.003-07:00

Kenzington is growing up so fast! I can't believe it has already been 2 months! She sleeps really well at night, has even had a couple of 8 hour stretches already. She loves to be held, actually she screams when she is put down! She's getting better at entertaining herself but only for small stretches of time. She doesn't like any of the chairs yet, like the bouncy chair. The swing depends on the day. She is getting some tummy time and likes it better than being laid on her back, but it too is short lived.

She smiles a lot now, but I can never get it on camera.

We have discovered that she loves to be around lots of people and noise. We took her to her first baseball game when she was 3 weeks old and we were so worried that she was going to cry the whole time, because at that point in life she cried whenever she was awake! But she loved it and didn't make a peep the 4 hours we were there. And yes she chose to be awake almost the entire 4 hours too. What is up with my children and not sleeping as babies?!

I am in love with this little girl and it's hard to believe that I wanted a boy instead! And while she is a little fussier than I would like, I am so glad to have her and I hope as she gets older we have a special bond and that our personalities will mesh!

Axton turned 4!

2011-09-18T16:58:00.009-07:00

Axton turned 4 on Saturday (Sept 17)! He got to pull an "Aunt Katie" and make his birthday last almost a week. On his birthday he got to wake up and open presents.

I was too tired to put the presents away after wrapping them so I "hid" them with the blanket incase he woke up before us. Not that he didn't figure out right away what was under it!

Always excited for more cars

Love this face!

Then he got to play with them while mom slept. During that time he also got to pick what he wanted for breakfast and surprise surprise he picked donuts, so him and Dad went to Albertsons to buy donuts. Then he got to play with his toys again, we went swimming, he got to pick what he wanted for lunch, again no surprise he picked McDonald's. Then it was family nap time! After naps we took him for ice cream. The rest of the night was spent playing games that he got for his birthday. He got a couple of games, puzzles, movies, and a remote control car! He was spoiled!

Sunday all of his cousins came over and we had tacos and cake. I tried to talk him into a different cake than last year, but his heart was still set on Lightning Mcqueen so I made him one again this year.

Monday he got to take cupcakes to school and have a tiny celebration there too. I hope he doesn't think he gets to do this every year.

Maybe next year though he'll actually get a birthday party, I was just too tired and busy with the new addition that I barely managed to invite family over for it!

Axton we love you and all the fun you bring to our family. You have been a great big brother so far, and a relatively easy child to raise. You make us laugh daily and we love spending time with you whether it's reading books, doing puzzles, talking, or just cuddling. Happy Birthday and here's a look back at the past!

Birth

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

Changes

2011-09-09T20:27:00.002-07:00

Given our fertility issues I went into this pregnancy knowing it could be my last, but hoping it wouldn't be. I tried to enjoy it as much as I could and not complain too much. Then we had her and I found out that there was a real chance of her being our last, but thankfully things worked out and we at least have a shot at having more, God willing.

I knew having two kids would be an adjustment but having another baby in our home has changed me in a way I didn't expect. Despite being tired and not getting anything done (and her crying a lot!) I am actually more patient and happy than I've been in a while.

I can't seem to get enough cuddle time with either of my children. I give (and get) so many more hugs and kisses. I've been forced to slow down and just learn to enjoy my children doing things at their pace instead of the crazy world pace I've gotten used to. I look forward to playing endless rounds of Candyland, and attempting to answer all the questions Axton has these days, even if his many questions are about my boobs right now! I look for things Axton and I can do together. I've started reading books to both kids again, and singing songs to and with them. I am truely enjoying being a mother to two kids and if you asked me today if I was ready for more I would say yes, only can I please skip the bad parts of pregnancy and just have another one delivered in 9 months!

My heart is full these days and I feel like I am accomplishing what God wants me too, even if my house is a wreck, I haven't showered, and I have a headache from all the crying! I have a renewed love for my children and Greg, and a greater appreciation for our parents, extended family, and friends. I'm so grateful that we have been blessed with two precious souls to raise, teach, and love; and that Greg and I are able to do it together. I hope we are blessed with more. This is really what life is all about for me and I'm loving it. Thank you Greg for working hard so that I can stay home all the time with our sweet children, it really is a blessing.

Guests

2011-09-07T14:08:00.006-07:00

Well Kenzington joining our family was definitely the change I was wanting and boy is having two kids time consuming! My days go by so fast that I feel like I am getting nothing done. So here is a post in hopes that I'll feel like I accomplished something, although there are a hundred other things I should be doing, like sleeping!

We have had guests like crazy since Kenzington joined us but we are finally on our own, and I'm getting thrown back into the real world big time. But here are some highlights from the first weekend, as in we had gotten home the day before!

Greg's mom was here already when Kenzington decided to join us and so she got to stay with us for 10 days. She was a life saver since she is a morning person and would get up with Axton and take him to school for me, then they'd go play with cousins after school, and come home for nap time and the rest of the evening. It was heavenly since Kenzington was still sleeping a lot and then I didn't have to worry about Axton at all.

Greg's dad was able to come up the two weekends after Kenzington was born. The first time he came up he brought Aunt Katie and Uncle Spencer with him, the second time he brought the "adopted" son Thomas.

Katie and Spencer

On Saturday EVERYONE came over. It was a mad house and I think I am still recovering from it! But we were able to get a picture of most of the Leavitt grandkids, only missing Camille (UT) and Kenzington (who was asleep)!

Doggy pile on Spencer

Seeing who could jump the highest

Trying to dodge flying pillows (good thing I am wanting to recover them when I find a fabric I like since they got torn to shreds).

Grandma chasing them

Dancing with Aunt Katie

Overall the weekend went well and I think everyone had a good time.

Kenzington Rose

2011-08-16T11:10:00.008-07:00

Well as most of you know our baby girl joined our family, and she even cooperated and came a few days early! She was born on Thursday, August 11th at 2:35pm. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was almost 20 in.

Birth Story for those who care!

Wednesday night I started having contractions around 11. I wanted to make sure they were the real thing before I told Greg. Unfortunately I ended up waking him up around 1 due to my restlessness. So then neither of us got any more sleep. Greg stayed up and played golf on the Wii while I showered, shaved, dressed, cleaned the house, and packed! Luckily his mom was already in town and staying at his sister's so we called her around 4 to see if she'd come stay with Axton so we didn't have to wake him up to transport him to someone else's house.

We got to the hospital around 5:30 and found out I was at a 4. Within the hour I was at a 5+ so they kept me. We went up to the delivery room at 7. We then got the joyous news that the doctor on call had a surgery around 8 so they wouldn't be doing anything with me until at least 10. When I got the ivs in my contractions slowed way down. They decided not to do anything about it since the dr wasn't available anyways. Then around 9 we found out he had another surgery scheduled and wouldn't be able to come until after 12 or later so it was up to me if we wanted to stay or go home since I had stopped progressing. I was still having contractions though and I really wanted this baby here so we opted to stay.

By 1 the dr had come in and broken my water which really jump started things and reminded me that I LOVE epidurals! They also gave me a little pitocin to really get things going quickly. By 2 I was ready to go and by 2:35 she was here. Luckily she was born healthy and happy and Greg was already hers. They fell in love instantly. Unfortunately I can't say the same for me.

They had a really hard time getting the placenta out and I was miserable. When it did come it ripped apart, but they didn't know that. It looked like it was intact and that all was well but alas we were in for a long afternoon/evening.

I kept bleeding and clotting like no other and so they kept trying out different meds to make it stop, resulting in lots of cramping of the back and stomach and I really felt like I was in labor all over again and to add insult to injury I couldn't keep anything down. Overall I felt horrible and not myself at all. Greg kept asking me if I wanted to hold the baby and I just couldn't do it, not because I didn't want to but I just didn't feel up to it.

Shari had brought Axton in to see baby sister and I was so sad that I couldn't sit and just enjoy it. I knew in the back of my mind that something was wrong and I was terrified of ending up in surgery. So around 7 Shari took Axton home and the doctor came in to see what was going on with me.

They discovered then that some of placenta had been left behind and decided to try to get it out in the room. Luckily my nurse had forsaw this step also and she had left my epidural line in so I didn't have to go through that a second time as well. So I got a second round of the epidural, and became a pin cushion! They gave me more meds to try to make my body help release the placenta, nothing like four shots to the legs to help with that. But it causes diarrhea so I then got another shot to counteract it. Then they shot me up with something else which causes nausea, and since I was already sick they had to shoot me up with Zofran to counteract that. I know there was some other shots done but by then I was burning up, sick to my stomach, and feeling the need to pass out.

Luckily that's when my brother-in-law showed up to help give me a blessing since we had already been warned that this could end up in surgery. I was very out of it at this point, and trying so hard to not pass out that I don't have a clue what the blessing was, I only remember Greg talking and how emotional he was. He had to have been terrified too.

They tried to get the rest of the placenta out while in the room but it wasn't working so they took me to the OR. I just remember thinking that they could have my uterus as long as I got to raise the 2 children I had.

In the OR I was definitely in and out of it. The meds were working nicely and with the oxygen on my face it was my own little heaven. I was tired from not getting any sleep the night before, and the stress and blood loss had taken it's toll as well so I let the meds take over. All I remember is at the end when everyone started cheering because the placenta had "miraculously" decided to come out on it's own just as they were getting ready to put me under to do a D&C and possible hysterectomy. I just remember feeling relieved and the doctor even said that it wasn't his doing that the placenta had come out but instead the workings of the blessing. Definitely a testimony building experience.

As soon as they brought me back in to the room with Greg and Kenzington I was instantly awake and so glad to have a husband who was able to give me the blessing but also be there for our children. It was then that I realized how scared he had been but how strong he had tried to be for me. All I wanted to do was hold my family close to me. That is when Kenzington and I finally got to bond, and it was such a sweet experience.

The next morning they were still talking about giving me a blood transfusion but decided that based on test results and how well I was doing that it wasn't necessary and we even got the ok to go home! No one could believe how quickly I had recovered. I was so excited and couldn't wait to get home and onto a new life with our family.

Axton loves his sister, but he didn't want to hold her. It took a lot of convincing to get him to and then even more to get him to act happy about it!

Finally getting to spend some time with Axton, he loved making the bed go up and down.

Feeling so much better the next day

G-ma with Kenzington

Home from the hospital

camping- major photo overload!

2011-07-20T12:02:00.022-07:00

We have talked about going camping for ages. We went twice before we had Axton and then haven't been since. Axton loves the father/son campout every year and Greg said he does well so we decided to go. We tried to get Greg's siblings to go with us but the first week it just didn't work out. So we ended up going on July 1st with some friends, the Nield's for just Friday night, we all had to be to church on Sunday. They have 4 kiddos, one of which is only a month younger than Axton. They had a blast together. I though was a slacker and didn't take any pictures. We had so much fun, and I actually slept pretty good for being 34 weeks along, and so we decided to do it again the following weekend when we could stay the two nights.

This time we did take pictures and Greg's sister, Kim, and her family joined us for some of it. This time we got to stay in the campground which was much appreciated by me because trying to go to the bathroom in the wilderness, with sparse, little trees wasn't the easiest task the week before! Can't believe I didn't think about that before going!

This is the lake we stayed by. I can't wait to bring a canoe up so we can explore it more, but that won't be happening until next year.

Axton's favorite "dry" past time at the lake was throwing rocks in. The bigger the better. I finally had to start limiting the size afraid he would either drop it on himself or go over with it when he threw it.

They had some HUGE fish! Or not. The half a dozen we caught between the two weekends were all this size.

The best part about camping with Axton is that when it gets dark, he BEGS us to go to bed. The down side, as soon as the sun is up so is he! It makes perfect sense to him. So even though I slept half decent I was still really tired come 5:30am and the cousins were all still sleeping so Greg graciously got up with him and they went exploring for about 45 mins.

After breakfast we went back to the lake to swim. I forget how much I miss swimming,tubing/boating in lakes and rivers. I prefer it over a swimming pool any day, probably even over the ocean because of the nasty salt in the ocean. Axton loves it too, especially since with his tube or life jacket he can swim by himself to his heart's content. Greg of course had to find the highest rock and jump off of it, giving me a heart attack everytime (when did I become such a chicken, oh yeah when I had a child to think of)!

Axton and Brooklynn trying to warm up after swimming.

We decided to go see the dam after swimming. It was a bit of a walk but not too bad. Here are the requested prego photos, enjoy me in all my huge glory!

After naps we went to explore a creek that the kids could play in, however we got hit by a storm. I wish I remembered how to make our videos smaller because it was a pretty rad storm complete with hail! Needless to say the storm convinced Kim and them to go home because they had their 4 month old with them and were worried about their kids getting cold. So we stuck it out by ourselves Saturday night. It rained on and off the entire night. During one of the breaks from rain but not from thunder and lightning we went back to the lake and discovered that there were tons of small fires that had been started by the lightning. The pictures don't do it justice but it was awesome. There were tons of them, but luckily more rain followed so they were quickly put out.

Sunday we got up and decided to just go home, so by 7am we were out of there. While driving home though Greg saw a sign for a state park boasting about a natural bridge so we decided to take a small detour and go see it. When we got out of our car we saw these lovely boars putting a show on for us!

We soon discovered that you had to hike down to see the bridge. So us in our "hiking" gear, aka sandals and pjs, decided what the heck. It was a very steep climb but only about 1/2 mile to it. The trip down was fine, coming back up, well Axton sat a few times to watch me catch up! And because the one hike wasn't enough we decided to go do another one, even steeper but shorter. Luckily it wasn't really hiking, it was more like stairs, and short. I would love to go back and do the other hikes when I'm not 35 weeks along.

Despite the rain it was a great weekend. No cleaning, no boredom or wandering what to do, and just a nice change of pace. I definitely think camping is in our future every summer, I forgot how much I really do like it.

Babe

2011-07-20T08:42:00.002-07:00

We went to the ultrasound and they said she had "gained" almost 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Hmmmm.... I just don't think any weight is accurate with those things. So she is doing fine and gets to come play when ever she decides to. I knew I should have stuck to my gut instincts which are that she'll probably be around 8 lbs if she comes on time. I think I carry the same way with both kiddos. I think I carry pretty inward but I feel like my stomach is getting huge all of a sudden. Guess we'll see what the next 3 weeks hold for us. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Baby Girl Update

2011-07-06T22:29:00.003-07:00

We had an ultrasound at 30 weeks that showed that everything was going well with the baby and that she was in the 60% for weight. Then we went back at 32 weeks where they said that I had lost weight and that my stomach hadn't grown and asked that I do another ultrasound at 34 weeks. So on Tuesday I went back in and had the ultrasound to make sure baby girl was growing. Even though I had worked hard to put on a couple of pounds they said in the last month she had put on less than a pound which dropped her to the 17% for weight. So alas we get to go have another ultrasound done in 2 weeks (36 weeks along) to see if anything has changed. If she gains percentages (not just weight) than we will do weekly ultrasounds (unless her % goes back up drastically) and it will be a weekly guessing game as to when she gets to come play. However if she stays the same or drops any percentages than I will be induced.

All of it is very interesting to me. Obviously I would love for her to come early- no more heartburn, weight gain, painful kicks to the ribs, I get to place dress up with her, hold her, see her, etc. But I really just want her to be healthy and if that means going late I'd take that too. So we are in a constant state of uncertainty until she comes, more so than we ever thought we would be. Not knowing if she'll come in 2 weeks or 6 weeks is killing me! One plus, I'm super motivated to keep my house extremely clean knowing that after each dr appointment I might not be coming home! We'll keep everyone update as we learn more.

2011-06-09T07:49:00.005-07:00

Greg informed me that the 4d ultrasound pictures creep him out so I decided to post something that would be more to his liking. As previously mentioned his brithday was last month and all he really wanted was a pinata for the adults. So I went looking for one and wow they are expensive. I wasn't about to spend $20 on one and then another $10 or so to fill it just to have it destroyed in minutes.

So I decided to make one! I got the first two layers done when Greg got home and got in on the action. He decided that my skills weren't up to par and so he went and bought some metal wire to go around the whole thing to make it more indestructable.

Axton helping me decorate it

So about 3 days, 7 layers and some wire later we were ready just in time for the family get together. We let the kiddos go first and then Greg and and Brad took turns hitting it. They were definitely entertaining. Greg has decided that a pinata for adults is going to be our new family tradition. He wants to see how hard he can make them. Oh boy!

Axton getting a turn, and boy was he thrilled.

Greg:

Ultrasound

2011-06-07T16:23:00.002-07:00

We went in for the 3rd trimester ultrasound. Baby is doing good and they say it is definitely a girl so bring on the girl stuff (oh wait I already have some girl clothes, girl bows, girl toys, girl bedding, girl bedroom!). Guess we would have already been in trouble if they had said it was a boy!

No gestational diabetes for me, which I'm not too surprised by but I am anemic, again not much of a surprise. She is measuring where she should be, a little larger but go figure. I want her small so she can fit in the newborn clothes we inherited but that might just be a dream too.

They tried to get a good 4d picture of her face but our little gymnist decided to show us her skills instead. Can tell what you are looking at?

Here's the cheat sheet!

She had her left leg extended parallel to her body, her knee was at her mouth and her foot above her head, while the other leg remained either by her stomach or straight down the other way. As though the leg in the way wasn't enough she decided to keep her right hand covering the other side of her face. Really we got to see her nose and mouth and that was about it. But I can't wait to see her, hopefully in 9 long weeks!

I think she has my gma's button nose but I guess we'll see if that's true when she comes. Oh I can't wait!

2011-05-20T19:14:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Greg! It's been a good 6 years together. I've come to realize that I need this man more than I ever thought. He is an amazing provider, husband, father, and priesthood holder.

I know that he will do anything he has to in order to take care of his family. He is definitely blessed when it comes to work. He has a job that he loves for the most part and works great hours so we get lots of family time together, which we all cherish. He is very handy to have around, from the shelves in the toy room, to helping me paint, to planting a garden, and lets not forget the nasty backyard that he was willing to take on by himself in the AZ heat nonetheless. I have many more projects for him, starting tomorrow, I'll give him the day off!

Axton is in love with him and nothing better ever happen to Greg because Axton would truly be destroyed. The boy counts down the minutes until Greg is home and often tells me is "mad" at Dad because he's not home enough. He will refuse to go to sleep on the nights that Greg is gone until Greg is home from scouts or whatever else has taken him away. Those two share a very special bond.

While Greg may not understand or like some of my quirks he puts up with them with very little complaint. He has a very simple outlook on problems which I admire and wish I had. Life is always so sunny and positive to him. I rarely, if ever, hear him complain about life or trials, I really should take a lesson from him. He never judges me when he comes home from work and I'm a mess, the house is a mess, and I don't want to cook dinner. He simply takes Axton outside to play to give me a break, as long as the reason behind these isn't because I've been reading a book all day!

Even though our courtship was pretty fast I know that it was meant to be. We fit together so well. For us the last 6 years has been pretty easy, and I look forward to the next 6. Thank you Greg for everything you do for me and our child"ren". You make life so much easier for me than I ever thought it would be. I have been blessed to have you in my life. I hope this year is everything you want it to be. I love you.

BzzAgent

2011-04-26T08:42:00.006-07:00

Yep another review of some products I tried, and really LOVED! I am a bzzagent which means that on occasion I receive products for free and then get the great opportunity to share what I discovered about the product with others. I also get coupons so let me know if you want any!

This time I received a spring cleaning kit. It had scrubbing bubbles mega shower foamer! I had never used this before and was very happy with the results. I didn't think it had too strong of a smell but it worked great! Axton's tub always gets a dirty ring around it and sometimes it can be a pain to get all of the dirt and grime off but not with this! I sprayed it on, let it sit for a minute or two and then wiped it off. Everything was white and sparkling again, no elbow grease needed. I am definitely sold. I would probably buy this even if it wasn't on sale, but I can't promise because I like my cheap/free cleaning products.

Another product I received was the scrubbing bubbles toilet cleaning gel. Another new found love. I have never tried any of these type of products before either. I think I put one on Axton's toilet about 3 weeks ago and it is almost gone now. They say it last for a week so we must not use our toilets as much as the normal household because they still smell great and the bowls are still clean. I have only had to clean the outside of the toilet during that time which I love! His toilet is almost always clean now with no help from him! And very little help from me. It also makes the whole bathroom smell clean, which I personally love. I have now used it on ours as well, almost 2 weeks now and still going strong. This too I will most likely buy again in the future as long as it isn't ridiculously expensive.

Other items I got was Pledge, which I haven't used. We don't have very many wood things in our house. And we also received from Glade the oil fragrance plug into the wall thing. I didn't like the smell of the one they sent so I don't even know what happened to it, but I have used other scents by them in the past. And then Glade also sent a candle which again I didn't really like the scent and it disappeared as well. Greg may have had a hand in those disappearing since he really didn't like their smell!

So overall I liked or have used similar products from these companies in the past. I was very happy to find the shower foam and the toilet gels. The others are things I use but not very often. Again let me know if you want a coupon, they're around here somewhere!

Easter Candy

2011-04-21T16:17:00.005-07:00

Since being pregnant I feel like I don't do very much with Axton. So today I thought I felt up to doing something fun with him. I decided to make chocolate covered pretzels but not the easy way. We got some molds last year that are easter themed- eggs, baskets, bunnies, and butterflies. I always bite off more than I want to chew. Being me I wanted to bring out the details of the molds which made what could have been a half hour, easy project into a 2+ hour project. And the 3 year old didn't care what they looked like as long as he got to eat as we went and of course the final product. Since it was just the two of us I only got pictures of the end product. It was fun to do but next time I'll remember Axton's age and make them more simplistic!

Tonight- easter eggs, and maybe on Saturday easter cookies. The problem is Axton eats most of the goodies we make, with a little help from me, and NO help from Greg. More sugar isn't what my child (or myself) needs. This is why I need lots of children!

Last Saturday

2011-04-21T15:48:00.007-07:00

Last Saturday was a packed day for us. Greg left bright and early to go play golf for "work". His partner and him won 1st place so he got a golf club and sunglasses with the "money" he won (they had to use it at the gift shop). But it is one less thing for us to have to buy.

We had house guests that weekend too so Aunt Melanie got to tag along with us most of the day while Katie, Spencer, and Thomas were busy helping with a friend's wedding. Mel went with me to Axton's soccer game. Only 4 kids showed up, and they play 3 on 3 so it was interesting. Especially when 2 of the kids who came won't even play. It was pretty much Axton and another boy Aiden out on the field and getting them to stay out there was quite the feat. Axton got bribed with donuts and swimming but they were already planned so I don't feel too bad!

After the game we did the bribes. Bought donuts on the way home, and then went swimming with some of the cousins. It was Vanessa birthday so we were glad we got to see her for a little bit. She turned 7! The water was freezing but Axton still had fun. We discovered we need to invest in pool toys since we will be there a lot this summer! Anyone with a pool feel free to invite us over anytime!

After swimming was a very late, and short, nap. We had our ward easter party at 5 so we didn't get to sleep for too long. It was a "bring your own picnic dinner (aka fast food for us)" and then they had cupcakes to decorate, and then they did an egg hunt. They split the older and younger kids to look for eggs. Axton qualified for the younger area, and looking back on it we should have gone with the big kids to make it last longer and be a little more fun/difficult since Axton definitely gets the concept this year.

The kids were told they could "find" 5 eggs so when Axton started grabbing every one within his reach I got the job of intervening. Unfortunately he didn't like that rule but quickly forgot when we told him he could eat the candy out of all of them and promises of more easter egg hunts to come.

Today at school he got to do an easter egg hunt that he said was much more fun, mostly because it was harder. Wish I had been there to see it. But we'll have one more on Saturday with at least some of the family and I promised him it would be even harder! Nothing like recycling candy for several egg hunts, oh yeah and they'll go in his easter basket afterwards too!

Baby's Room

2011-04-11T07:53:00.004-07:00

I don't know why I torture myself with painting ideas but I never seem to learn my lesson. They are always so much more work than I expect and half way through I get bored and don't want to finish. So with baby girl's room I gave myself one week to get it finished and put back together. Greg painted on Saturday between conference sessions. Then that night I drew on all of the flowers. I decided to save time and just do them free hand instead of trying to trace like I did the bathroom. I think they turned out quite well, just don't look too closely! Then I spent Mon-Thurs painting them. Some could have used a second coat but truthfully I just couldn't make myself paint anymore. Saturday we (meaning I) went through the closet and got everything organized so that when she comes we'll know right where things are. Her closet is no longer a smorgasbord of random items. Baby stuff only!

We will add her name in wood letters above her bed once we get closer to the day. I think we have agreed on one but Greg says that's only because he hasn't thought of a better one, YET! We'll see what happens. I also need to make her curtains but I think that will have to wait until my mom comes up when she's born so I have someone to help guide me through it all.

Axton's Bedroom

2011-03-28T07:28:00.003-07:00

Axton used to be obsessed with Lightning McQueen so a year ago I had bought a bedding set with him, that he's used this whole time, and then also a wall paper border and wall decals. I never got around to putting them up because I bought them in April and Greg refused to paint while it was hot outside because then we couldn't open windows to air it out. I agreed so we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally I decided Axton would really outgrow everything if we didn't do it soon so I talked Greg into painting last weekend. I had a lot of ambitious plans for his room but decided I didn't have the time, patience, or energy to do what I wanted so we went simple. It turned out pretty good in my opinion and it only took one Saturday.

Axton wanted his room to look like his Uncle Brantley's, as did I, but with simplifying he didn't get any red paint. Everytime he walks in his room now he says, "My room's blue, Uncle Brantley's is blue and red." What can I say, hopefully he'll forget and be happy!

It's a .......

2011-03-18T17:02:00.003-07:00

Most of you already know from facebook and phone calls but we found out on Wednesday that we are having a GIRL!!! She wouldn't open up for us to see though until the very end, I was afraid we wouldn't find out since she wasn't cooperating. We really, really wanted another boy and if I said I wasn't at least a little disappointed that it was a girl I would be lying. I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around having a girl since all I know is boys. I grew up with boys, I was a tomboy, most of my friends were boys, and I'm nervous she'll be a girly girl and I won't know what to do with her!

Having said that though I am really excited that we'll have one of each since we don't know what the future holds for us children wise and I really did want a girl, just 2 boys and then a girl would have been ideal! But I am really grateful none-the-less that this day has finally come and we will have our baby! I'm already trying to get used to the idea of a girl and I bought her bedding set today (and a dress to get free shipping!), and am hoping to get matching paint as soon as it comes. Our list of girl names is pretty long, I think we agree on 4, two of which are names of other girls we know so please don't get mad at us if we "borrow" your daughter's name, be flattered PLEASE!

Axton is super excited to be having a sister, it's what he's been saying he wants. I don't think he ever really said he wanted a brother, or if he did it was only once or twice. Greg's sister just had a girl and so Axton has gotten to see her and hold her, I don't think he'll be very interested in her until she's mobile. With Charlotte, we place her in his lap, he looks at her, and than says he's done and off he goes. I know it might change when it's our baby but I really don't see him being too interested.

I'll spare you all the video and instead just do a picture!

I can't wait for August to come. I really am ready for everything that a new addition brings, as long as she's not colicky! I never want to know what that's like!

Idaho Trip

2011-03-14T07:18:00.005-07:00

My little brother, Brantley, got married in February so we decided to make a week long trip out of it and Greg got to come for most of it. I am so glad that Allegiant Air is flying direct from the airport 2 miles from our house to Idaho Falls which is only a half hour away from Rexburg! It's so much faster than driving 1/2 an hour to the airport, going to Salt Lake and then making a 3 1/2 hour car trip to Idaho. And it is cheaper!

Anyways, my little brother married Natasha Rudd also of Rexburg. Axton loved being around Brantley and now he constantly says, "Uncle Brantley married Tasha in temple, I like him, we go see him." All of his uncle's ar now Uncle Brantley even though before the trip he knew all of their names. I am glad that all of my siblings are married off and we don't have to play that game anymore in my family. Kids and weddings make for a slightly stressful day. Only two more to go on Greg's side and one will be in June!

Here is the happy couple:

As soon as we got to Idaho Axton kept asking to play in the snow. He wanted to go sledding, build a snowman, and make snowballs. How he knew about all those things I'm not sure but he wouldn't stop asking. He had to wait a few days though until Greg joined us because I was too miserable to want to do it, plus being cold for some reason amps up the morning sickness, I wear a sweater even though it's in the 70s around here! Greg was a good dad though and did all of those things, including throwing snowballs at me when I wasn't paying attention! Axton's favorite though was sledding, and the only thing I got a picture of. He would have done it for hours if we had let him. I sat in the car 90% of the time. Maybe next year I can join in on the fun.

Monster Trucks

2011-03-07T12:49:00.003-07:00

Axton has always loved cars, trucks, trains, etc. Greg and I enjoy going to Monster Truck shows if not for anything other than to people watch! So we decided to go to one in January and figured Axton was old enough to stay up late and would probably enjoy them. And enjoy he did! We bought the tickets before I got pregnant so I was there and miserable but to see the joy on Axton's face was worth every miserable moment!

He hates loud noises so that was the only thing we were worried about with the ear muffs he did great. He didn't throw a fit over wearing them and now walks around the house with them on saying, "You can't hear me, I can't hear you; or Can you hear me?", well he kind of gets the concept!

He didn't really have a favorite truck, but he loved watching the motorcycles jump and do tricks. Some of the guys had my stomach turning waiting for the dreaded crash because they were crazy by the end. He can ride dirt bikes but I will kill him if he gets into stunts! Grave digger won the freestyle round, although I think it's only because he's so well known. The lady driver, Madusa, was a disappointment for the fact that she ripped off her top (had a bra on thank heavens!) and started shaking her boobs. I'm sure most of the men loved it but there were tons of little kids there, more than I've ever seen before, and it just didn't seem appropriate.

We'll definitely be going again, Greg wants to do the big one in Las Vegas next year, guess we'll see.

Cheap diapers and wipes

2011-02-28T15:50:00.003-07:00

A friend, Murielle, let me in on the big secret to buying diapers online. I won't be buying them through Costco anymore unless I'm desperate because I didn't plan ahead! I already got a box of Huggies size 1-2, 192 count, for $15.32 or $0.08 a diaper.

Today I bought LUVS, size 2, 228 count, for $10.58 or about $.05 a diaper, as opposed to $40 for the same amount from the store. And Pampers sensitive baby wipes, 768 count, for $14.69 or $.02 a wipe. Costco wipes are about double that per wipe.

To get these great deals go to amazon.com. In the search type in "subscribe and save in baby". Then select the item you want and to the right there should be a box that has options of delivery every 1,2,3, or 6 months to save 30% on top of what it may already be on sale for (mine were already 10% off). If it doesn't have this box than DON'T get it, pick another one (it has to be sold from amazon.com in order to qualify). I always select the 6 months and then click on subscribe now. For your first time you will have to sign up for amazon mom so just follow the steps. After that it will remember you and be quicker.

When you get to the check out to the right it will show you your total, you should see FREE shipping (did I forget to mention I don't pay shipping or taxes!!), and then the subscription discount (the 30%), and final cost. So if you do just this much you can easily save 40-50% off normal store prices. But if you want to sweeten the deal read on!

Underneath the final cost it will ask if you have any promotional codes. This is where Parents Magazine (or a few other parenting/baby magazines have it too) comes in. I already have a subscription to Parents, I paid $5 for 5 years so mines almost up and I need to renew, you can find similar deals online. If you don't get them ask friends or look for them when you are at the drs office, or dare I say it buy one at the store although they are more expensive but worth it. Almost every month they have a 4x6 card/flyer in the magazine that says either 20% off diapers or some people report having gotten $10 off your purchase. I've never gotten a $10 one but now that I pay attention it's rare that I don't get a 20% off. Type in the LONG code and click apply. I've been told you can do both the 20% and the $10 off together, but since I've never found a $10 one I have never gotten to try. When you are done you finalize it by clicking on "Sign me up".

Then I wait until I have the order in my hands and then sign back into amazon.com, click on "your account" on the top right, click on "manage subscribe and save items", and click on "cancel this subscription" and there you have it! Of course you don't have to cancel it if you don't want to, it will continue shipping the same item with the 30% discount until you do.

And its the same day and my diapers have already shipped! Good luck to all of you in saving money on the things you need (or want)!

2011-01-26T08:24:00.004-07:00

Well we wanted to say thank you to everyone that prayed/fasted for us just over a year ago with the whole baby issue thing. While we didn't get the result we wanted we did feel better about pursuing fertility treatments and we did that for a few months until life got too crazy. Obviously that didn't work. Then in December we felt good about getting certified for foster care, whether we actually would take in a child or not, was very much in the air. But it just created another option for us.

Needless to say the day we started the application process for it, we actually got the wonderful news we had been waiting for for 2 1/2 years. Yes pregnancy tests do work! Even dollar store ones!

When I took the first one I couldn't believe it and started crying. Then got myself together and convinced myself it was a fluke and took another one. This time I was believer! I called Greg and told him he'd be taking a beached whale to Hawaii with him come June, and he said he didn't care, he was so happy that he'd eat the money we've already spent and stay home if we had too! What a man!

We were able to have an ultrasound done right before christmas. How they find those pea sized babies I don't know. Had she not pointed it out I would never have known it was there.

I am so grateful that I've been given the opportunity to carry another baby. All of the stress of life seems to be lifted right now, and some always will be. I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it, although right now praying to the porcelain goddess all day every day is really trying my gratitude and happiness! I am looking forward to getting fat this go around and taking pictures, I only have 2 pictures from Axton :(. I'm also going into this pregnancy knowing that it could be my last and trying to be at peace with that. I'm just so grateful that Axton will have a sibling and that I will get to hold another baby of my own and see Greg with another baby. I can't wait for every milestone again, just like it's our first all over. My heart is full and I want to thank everyone who has been on this wild journey with us and supported us.

Now August needs to get here!

Preschool

2011-01-11T15:55:00.004-07:00

Axton talks a lot when he wants to but can also be very quite. I understand what he's saying, most of the time, but I know not everyone else does. Some of his words sound similar and some I simply can't understand for the life of me and he gets so frustrated by it as do I. So we got him tested through the school district for a speech delay and discovered he has a hard time rounding his lips, like to blow bubbles, so his words don't sound right. He also tends to drop letters when there is more than one consonant so when he says stop, it sounds like sop, or top. He was very borderline on his scores, but they decided to accept him into their preschool program!

I am so glad that we are able to get on top of it before it becomes an issue, although I think he would have been ok either way but he'll for sure see improvement, and that he gets to have so much fun doing it. He gets to go to school at Cortina Elementary 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hours! Best part for Greg is that it's free and for a gauranteed year, best part for me is that I get to run errands without a 3 year old making it take longer than it has too! Best part for Axton: he gets to make friends outside of the neighborhood and ward, he gets to play, he gets to learn and hopefully will talk more clearly so the frustration will go away, he gets to learn how to behave in a school setting, the list goes on and on. He loved his first day and can't wait to go back. I think the weekends will be hard for him.

His first day!

Greg bought the backpack, it has Spiderman, Wolverine, and I think Iron Man? Axton loves it even if he doesn't know who any of the characters are.

Blogging for Books

2010-12-08T21:35:00.003-07:00

Through the couponsense blog I discover Blogging for Books. I just signed up to receive Dragons of the Valley by Donita K. Paul. I don't really know what it's about but on goodreads it's rated 4 stars so it must be somewhat good.

Anyways, I don't know much about how this works but from what I have gathered you sign up for free and then they have a list of free books to chose from in all sorts of categories. They mail it to you within 10-14 days. You read it and within 30 days have to write a blog post reviewing it (I'm not sure if you write it on your own blog or to their's or what, I'll figure that out when that time comes!). Once you do that then you can get another free book, and so on. They are yours to keep.

There is a lot more invovled if you want to get really into it to win prizes and what not but for now I'm just going to try it out. If you want to try it go here. If you aren't into reading longer books they had lots of children's books to offer also, which I am super excited about for Axton!

CVS

2010-11-09T19:25:00.002-07:00

Just got back from CVS. I got 6 bottles of Lysol all-purpose cleaner, 3 tubes of maybelline mascara, 6 packs of trident gum, and 6 first aid kits for ..... $9.06, that's $0.43 a piece and we know a pack of gum costs more than that!!! I also got $8 back on my next trip.

Seriously why wouldn't you use coupons and better yet, use couponsense.com! If you say I sent you then I get rewarded and you do too by saving tons of money. I've saved almost $5,000 this year and spent less than $1,500 on food and household items. That's a 77% savings. Some people have saved over $15,000, but I'm only feeding 3 people and I have so much extra stuff that things are expiring before I can use them. Thank you holidays for helping me clear out my inventory before it goes bad.

I LOVE COUPONS!!!!

2010-11-09T13:45:00.003-07:00

I didn't do as well as others this week but that's because 1. they were out of a few things that were free, 2. I refuse to print internet coupons unless I absolutely want/need it (even if it makes the product free) and 3. I had to buy a few things for dinner that weren't on sale. Some people were saving over $200 and only paying $2 out of pocket! I LOVE COUPONS!!!

What I got today:

1 French Bread (not on sale)
1 Regular bread (not on sale)
6 boxes of jello
3 Colgate toothpaste
1 bag of Tortilla chips (not on sale)
1 swanson broth (all they had left, got a raincheck for more)
3 shower poufs
2 clorox bleach
2 boxes of pasta
3 frozen mini pies
24 cans campbell's cream of chicken soup
6 stouffer frozen meals
4 jars of fruit
7 boxes of cereal
2 boxes of hot chocolate
3 colgate toothbrushes
6 yogurts (not on sale)
6 cans of pringles new multigrain ones
1 container of whipped topping (not on sale)
1 4-pack of tp

Paid $19.89
Saved $142.75=88%=83 items for $0.24 a piece (including my nonsale items!!!)

Had I not bought the things for dinner/lunch that weren't on sale I would have only spent about $8, but I'm not complaining! And because of my pre-coupon total they told me that I can take my receipt back in on my next trip and they will give me a free turkey up to 15 lbs (they were out). I probably won't because we won't be here to cook it and we still have 2 from last year in our deep freeze (oops!).

Shopping trip from yesterday:
3 muffin mixes
4 boxes of fruit snacks
1 4-pack of tp
1 grinder of salt
2 grinders of pepper
2 dozen eggs
3 dial hand soaps
3 zone nutrition bars
6 bags of croutons

Spent $4.17
Saved 41.08=89%=25 items for $0.17 a piece!

Stocking up on things saves me soooo much money and I don't think I can ever go back to not using coupons!

Bounce Jungle

2010-10-23T12:27:00.004-07:00

I bought a groupon probably six months ago to a bounce house and so we decided to go on Axton's birthday with Brooklynn and JJ. It was the first time we had been to an actual business to do it, but he's had practice at other places like birthdays. I definitely think it was a success and look forward to doing it in the future. For videos of it check out Kim's blog here because my camera died after about 5 minutes!

Axton

Brooklynn

Kim and JJ

Climbing up, by the end of it Brooklynn would "help" Axton climb to the top, which if you know the two of those and the weight difference it's kind of funny!

He looks a little scared but he wasn't, the boy was actually a little crazy and daring!

Cowboy Boots

2010-10-23T12:17:00.002-07:00

When we leave from Idaho we have to fly out of Salt Lake City and it just happened to be that greg's cousin got married in SLC the day before we were flying out so we went down a day early to go to her reception. Greg's dad was there along with some of his siblings. Don loves to go to CAL Ranch and get overalls and this time he was there to get cowboy boots. They had found a pair for Axton and so when we got there Axton got to try them on and see if he liked them. It was pretty comical watching him walk/run in them since they have a little bit of a heel. Needless to say he loved them so Grandpa Leavitt bought them for him. He couldn't wait to show daddy when he got home. He wears them all of the time, no matter what the outfit. The best though is definitely the whitey tighties and boots!

Axton's 3!

2010-10-14T08:03:00.004-07:00

I'm only a month late in posting this but what can you do? Over labor day we decided to celebrate Axton's birthday with everyone. With 2 cousins having their birthday's within weeks of his he gets to watch and then when it's his turn he has it all figured out!

He was so excited for the candles, not the cupcake, he didn't even eat one (he must be ours).

Telling us how old he is

Logan helping him out, how kind (and it's Logan's tie that he's wearing, guess he'll be getting one for Christmas?)

Logan also taught him how to lick off the candles!

Opening his presents from G-ma and G-pa.

I found him a bunch of Take-along-Thomas train sets for extremely cheap. He is obsessed with Thomas lately, we watch Thomas and the Runaway Kite every morning!
The trains set up and for once all of the kids are playing nicely together, shocker!

When it was his actual birthday on Sept 17, Greg had a campout that night, and some of his cousins were out of town so we held off on the birthday cake for another week. But we let him open his presents in the 15 minutes that Greg was actually home, and those pictures are on our video camera that I've forgotten how to work so yeah! He got more Take-along-Thomas train sets, some Lightning McQueen dominos, a McQueen shirt, and the car play mat.

Here's the cake, Axton got to pick out the pan. I need more children just so I can decorate cakes, (or friends who want me to make them one!)!

Next year instead of cake I think I'm going to do brownies or rice krispies instead for the base. We aren't cake people.

I've decided I'm really bad at getting lots of pictures. I have the very basics and nothing else. We waited so all of Greg's siblings and their families could be there and then we got no pictures of any of them. Oh well, I'll try to be better next year.

Things I love about Axton:
1. When he doesn't want something he always says, "No danks" ever so sweetly.
2. If you ask him to say ok he will only say alright.
3. He loves cars and trains, they are the fastest way to his heart and a full out melt down if someone else touches them. He hoards them in nursery, at home, and at other people's home.
4. He loves to be scared. He turns the lights off down the one hall and then Greg hides in one of the 4 rooms. Axton goes and finds him and gets scared out of his pants. It's great fun.
5. He loves to be chased. He is always begging one of us to chase him around the couch.
6. He loves his daddy. When ever Greg comes home the first words out are, "I missed you." He recently said this to Brooklynn who responded, "I know", what a stinker!
7. He gets so animated when he talks or reads a book. I love the faces he makes without knowing it, I need to get those on camera.
8. Even though it is actually really annoying I love it down deep when he says, Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy...... I usually say what and he just keeps saying mommy, mommy, mommy..... Every once in a while I'll say what and he's saying ummmm I'm thinking as he taps his finger against his cheek/temple.... mommy, mommy, mommy. That's when it starts to get old!
9. He's a cuddler, although he saves most of it for dad. He will say I go na-night with you on the couch, which means he wants to lay down and cuddle with one of us.
10. I love his crazy curly hair even if I do cut it off on occasion, I can't wait for it to grow back.

If he is meant to be our only I'll take it. While I'll never stop wanting more children he is everything we could have asked for all rolled into one. He is a wonderful little boy who is so independant and yet such a lover too. I'm trying to cherish every moment with him and every phase, even the obnoxious ones, because I realize that I may never get to do this again. While he may be missing out on a sibling he is getting so much more time with just Mom and Dad and getting more attention than he otherwise might have. No sharing the spotlight for this one! I'm just sad that he won't always be little enough to hold down and smother him with kisses and tickles.

Idaho Trip

2010-10-14T07:30:00.007-07:00

I went to Idaho to see the fam for the first two weeks of September. We didn't do a whole lot which is nice once in a while. We were just trying to get away from the heat and we accomplished that, it was really cold almost the whole time I was there but it was heavenly.

Greg was able to come up half way through our stay for Labor Day. All of my brother's and their families were there too. We got to go to the Idaho State Fair which was fun since I've only been to it 2 other times. We started off the day letting the kids have a little ride.

Axton's ready to go!

Ryleigh getting buckled in.

Off they go

After the rides were done we were off to the petting zoo. Axton loves animals and so this is always a must. He loved feeding any animal that would let him and even got brave and let a goat eat from his hand.

They have lots of little "shops" so of course we have obligatory cowboy hat trying on.

Then we were off to find the food! I don't know how I missed it but I have no pictures of us with our huge tiger ears (aka scones bigger than our heads!), navajo tacos, corndogs, deep fried candy bars, funnel cakes, and anything else we might have got. So instead of the food I have us all relxaing after we ate it all!

Jeanine, Derek, Ryleigh, Brantley, Steve

My mom, Logan, Heidi, Lydia, and Theron

Then it was off to the big rides, only paying $5+ per person for a ride is a bit ridiculous for us in this point in life so we went on ONE ride, the ferris wheel. Greg took Axton and I went with Ryleigh. I was actually very sad that we couldn't do all of the other ones but Greg was thankful, he gets sick rather easily these days. Maybe we'll save up our pennies so we can give the carni's our life savings next year!

After the ride we all went out seperate ways, Theron and his family went home to put the kids to bed, while Brantley and Greg went home to play basketball, my mom went with them with Axton and Ryleigh to babysit so that Derek, Jeanine, Steve, and I could all stay behind and watch the hypnotist show. It was one of the better ones I've been to, and the only one I haven't participated in! Maybe that's why I enjoyed it?!

Overall it was a good day at the fair and I was glad that Greg was able to come up and do it with us.

Baseball

2010-10-06T13:50:00.008-07:00

Last post for today! Some friends in our ward, thanks Teerlinks!, gave us 3 tickets to see the D-backs play, can't remember who though! So we decided to take Axton and see how well he'd do and if he'd enjoy it. Greg bought him a glove a few days before we got the ticket so Axton was really excited that he got to take it with him to the game.

Dad and Axton, his hat is way to small for him but he insisted since it was a baseball.

The only picture of the 3 of us, what can you do?

The view from our seat.

Watching the game.

About half way through Axton started getting really bored and climbing over the empty chairs

So we brought out the big guns and bought him (and me) cotton candy.

We ended up leaving shortly there after though.

It was a good night overall and hopefully starting next year he can be Daddy's baseball buddy while Mommy gets some alone time!

Swim Lessons

2010-10-06T13:33:00.005-07:00

Axton got to take a 2nd round of swim lessons in August too. This time he was on his own, no mommy! It was so much better, the first wasn't too bad but this one was heavenly. He was so excited to go and see the other kids and just much better behaved, thank heavens!

My Turn

Learning to float on his back.

Making new friends.

Learning how to kick with a board.

Learning to swim on his back with the board

The hardest part about the swim lessons was that they were in the middle of open swim time so there were tons of kids playing in kid zone and he would get so mad when we wouldn't let him go down the water slide. So at the end of the first week we stayed until it closed so he got to play afterwards for a few hours and then the next week to finish of the swim lessons the kids got to go play for a few mintues. Here is Axton enjoying the slides, he is fearless when it comes to this stuff and just takes off.

What a splash!

I'm excited to see how he does next year!

Projects

2010-10-06T13:10:00.007-07:00

This summer has been crazy busy for us, hence the lack of posts and major catching up to do. We were gone at least half of the summer and just finished our last trip. Hopefully we'll only leave 1-2 more times for the rest of the year. But I'll just start with the oldest pictures on our camera and work our way through them over the next few days, or weeks!

In August I was really tired of the set up in our toy room. When we moved in their were some extra bathroom cabinets in the garage so me trying to be thrifty kept them and moved them into the toy room. Biggest problem, they didn't hold much because of the lack of space and shelves, 2 of the 6 drawers didn't open, and 1 more drawer was missing the bottom of it, so unusable too. Plus it collected a bunch of random stuff on the counter. Then when we bought the new couch our old ones got put in the toy room until we got rid of them, so there was very little space left. We cleared it all out and I asked Greg to build shelves on either side of the entrance so the toys would be hidden from the view of the living room. He doubted me at first but I think he was very impressed with how it looks. We painted them dark brown to match our living room and still need to add baseboards so that they flow with the walls. They are so much sturdier than anything we could have bought and in the end, were cheaper too!

Don't mind all of the clowns. I have collected them since I was little and finally after 5+ years was able to get them out of the boxes and find them a somewhat permanent home. I am afraid when the toy room gets converted to an office, many years down the road, that most of them will have to go bye-bye since I'm just not that into them, and they creep out the guests!

The other project for the toyroom, we did a week later and Greg refuses to build anything else for a while, was a table for Axton. You see the train tables and stuff that cost over $200 and I just couldn't do it. Plus we bought Axton this little town set 2 years ago that the base is a puzzle. So we built the table to it's measurements, about 4 1/2 x 5 feet. It's pretty big, and only cost us $50 to make! Once again this thing is sturdy! Axton loves it and we have since bought a couple of chairs from IKEA to go with it.

I love the toyroom, if only we could keep it clean now!

Digital Scrapbooking

2010-09-07T10:34:00.003-07:00

I have decided to go all digital with scrapbooking. So far I love it. It hasn't saved me a whole lot of time but I love being able to see the finished product and easily change anything I don't like. Plus I don't have to worry about storage and organization or getting everything out just to put it back away.

I have found some amazing sites for free digital downloads including all of the contributors to the Blog Train Blog. These are some amazing people and I am so glad they share their talent with me so I can use their creations. This is 2 of the layouts using various contributors from this train that is called Summer Surprises.

I have a long way to go with learning about Photoshop Elements but thanks to the internet and my sister in law who taught me a few tricks, I think I am making some good progress. Feel free to let me know any tips you might know since I really do only know the basics!

Oklahoma

2010-08-16T13:01:00.004-07:00

After leaving the Hartmans on Friday, Greg flew home to relax for the weekend and go back to work, while Axton and I went to see my dad and stepmom in Oklahoma. Axton had only met them once when we was one so we went back Friday-Tuesday. For me this was more about recuoping from the previous week :) and so I didn't take very many pictures.

They have 3 indoor kittens and Axton was in heaven. Unfortunately for him 2 of the 3 had injuries so he could really only play with the one. He was obsessed. He did very well with them for it being his first time around kittens. He was always wanting to hold them and would get so upset if they ran away from him.

We also got to go help feed the horses, although I didn't even get a picture of them. He was far more interested in the pig and tractor. He was pretty mad at me when I told him he couldn't go for a ride on the tractor.

They had also gotten him a slip-n-slide. He has only been on one once before and that was a year ago. He really enjoyed playing on it even though he didn't quite get the hang of running and sliding. It was mostly running and slipping for him. But he had fun none the less.

Thanks for having us Dad and Julie. It was good to see you guys again, we wish you lived closer.

Goodbye Hartmans

2010-08-16T12:38:00.004-07:00

On Friday we had to say goodbye to the Hartmans after a wonderful week of vacationing with them.

Us with Larry and Carla

Us with Tiffany, Viliamu, Mika, Sinalei, Tavita, and Sosefina. Hopefully I spelled them all correctly!

Most of the gang: Somner, Elizabeth, Us, Isaac, Carla, Larry, Tiffany, Viliamu, Mika, Sinalei, Tavita, Sosefina, Christopher, Rylee (baby), Jana, and Haylee.

The peacock we saw by the road when we were leaving the resort.

The drive back to the airport was a nightmare. We left thinking we'd end up sitting at the airport for a few hours, but no. We ended up in so much traffic at noon that we barely had time to catch our breath before boarding the plane. It was fun though to drive through DC and were both surprised when we realized we were right by the Washington Monument.

We also drove by the Pentagon. We were surprised to see all of the airplanes that come into land and how close they normally fly to the monument and pentagon.

We assume The House, meant the white house since we were exiting off on Pennsylvania Ave.

Some day it would be fun to go do the touristy stuff in DC but we'll have to wait at least 2 more years before we go back, we seem to be making that a tradition! We had so much fun with the Hartmans though and are so glad that they invited us. I have only met them a handful of times but instantly I felt like they were family and this trip was no different. I kept telling Axton to go find his cousins and if he wanted to see G-ma and G-pa! Thank you for everything, we hope you enjoyed having us as much as we enjoyed being there! We miss you.

Do Couponsense, I'm telling you!!

2010-08-14T11:32:00.003-07:00

TUESDAY: What will $45 get you at the grocery store? It got me 12 boxes of cereal, 6 boxes of poptarts (don't care too much for but when you are out of time and they're free why not?), 2 boxes of fruit snacks, 1 bag of grapes, 2 milks, 8 powerades, 3 paper towels, 18 yogurts, 3 deodorants, 2 bags of BIC pens, 2-12 count toilet paper, 6 boxes of 100 cal snacks, 2 boxes of nutri-grain bars, and 2 boxes of crackers. And they declined about $5 in coupons too (the boxes were .4 oz off the coupon size, go figure!). $183 is what my grand total would have been, minus coupons and the store promos, I paid $45. That's a 75% savings!

SATURDAY: Gotta love Safeway! Just yesterday Greg was telling me he REALLY wanted fruit rollups and other junk food since we only get it when it's on a really good sale. Well his wish was my command! As luck would have it Safeway is running a sale right now! I got 2 boxes of gushers, 6 boxes of fruit roll-ups, 2 bags of granola nut clusters, 2 boxes of fiber one granola bars, and 4 boxes of nature valley sweet and salty granola bars (my favorite). Total cost $52.82, my out of pocket cost $0.93!!! AND I got $7 for my next shopping trip. They paid ME $6 to take 16 boxes of stuff, probably because they know it's not healthy for us :) but I'll take it cause who doesn't love junk food now and then?

I can't imagine my life without couponsense!! I'm a lifer. As well as getting all of the unhealthy food it has helped us get good food too believe it or not! It tells me the best price for produce so I usually spend about $10-$15 every 2 weeks to buy all of the fruits and veggies we need and want. Plus I know now how much I am willing to spend for all of my meat and never buy it unless it's at that price. I also don't pay hardly anything for our personal items like shampoo, razors, toothpaste, etc. Paper towels I get for $0.19 or under, dishwasher soap usually for $.50 (20 tabs) or under, my "high efficiency" clothes detergent I pay $1 or less (32 load), I get my fabric softener for $.50 or less and these are name brands I am getting like Tide, Snuggle, Bounty, etc.

My totals for a year of couponsense:
Total: $8297
Store deals: $4224
COUPONS: $2038
Rebates: $150 (or so, I'm bad at putting those in)
Balance: $1989
A 76% savings. I know that the numbers aren't completely accurate because looking at our own budget I know I spent about another $600-$700 on food over the year, but that also includes us eating out which I don't account for. I lost some reciepts here and there so I didn't imput them, so worse case scenario I saved 70% instead, including us eating out.

Why wouldn't you do couponsense? If you want to sign up please let me know and I'll have my instructor contact you. She is amazing. Couponsense works in Utah, Idaho and California too! The first month is only $4 and if you don't like it you don't have to keep doing it, it's month to month. I know I am blessed to live in an area with 4 differet grocery stores within 2 miles of me but you can make it work fairly well with only 2. It's at least worth a shot. Good luck!

More vacation pics

2010-08-03T12:28:00.006-07:00

At the resort they have a lake with..... ducks, surprises surprise. So some of us went to feed them The one duck would come up and eat the bread out of the kids' hands. Axton would attempt it and then chicken out at the last second and drop the bread in the water instead.

Wouldn't be a complete vacation if Greg wasn't there to make some kind of face in a picture.

Tiffany, Viliamu (the baby), Carla and me sitting on the bench relaxing while Larry and Greg handle all of the kids, now that's a vacation!

Greg, Isaac, Larry, Axton, Sinalei, Tavita, and Sosefina posing while at the lake.

The resort also did a pinada for the kids 8 and under at the park. They only got to hit it two times a piece which was ok. Axton did really well at taking his turn and being patient while the other kids got theres, I was pleasantly surprised.

Notice the only adult in the picture and he's right in the center of the action! We'll claim that he was trying to insure that Axton and Sosefina got a couple of pieces of candy although I'm sure everyone else sees right through that!

Finally more parents helping their kids so we don't look like the hogs! And Axton got in on some of the action too instead of hiding out behind everyone.

More of our Trip

2010-07-29T19:20:00.004-07:00

Monday all of us piled into our many cars for the main part of our vacation. The Hartman's own a timeshare so we all got our own cabins at Shenandoah Crossing. It was so much fun! We had 6 cabins and they were all right by each other so we were able to hangout the vast majority of the time.

They have several swimming pools at the resort so needless to say we ended up there twice a day. Especially when we realized swimming at night was so much more fun, no sun, no sunscreen, no burning!

Tiffany brought an extra tube and let Axton use it the whole time we were there! And pink is his favorite color (not really but he's quite used to it with all of his girl cousins and girl friends). It was such a lifesaver. Everytime before when we've tried to get him to use one he refused and would throw a fit but with all of the other kids using them he jumped on the band wagon! It didn't take him long to realize he could do whatever he wanted as long as he had it on. He learned to jump in all by himself with no one there to catch him and also how to balance it so he could swim. It was one of the best swimming experiences we had experienced. I love that he is getting older and more independant.

They also host special events such as the horseshoe tournament. Greg was so excited to play in it. I love his form and the looks on his face. I guess his technique paid off because he got first and won 3 free rounds of pool.

Other activites we did that I didn't get any pictures of were volleyball (the ball was so hard that I hit it wrong on my thumb and it swelled and turned blue and purple that night and looked like one giant bruise for a week!), basketball, tennis, mini golf, regular golf, horseback riding, and the one that I'm sad I didn't get a picture of was the life size chess board. They also had some arcade rooms and arts and crafts but we didn't do any of those.

Well I'm out of time so more to come on the next post.

East Coast

2010-07-22T08:02:00.007-07:00

We were invited on a family vacation with a family from Greg's mission, the Hartman's. One of their sons and his family couldn't make it because his wife was due a week or so after the vaction and therefor couldn't fly. Lucky us!

We left on Friday, and it was about a 4 hour flight so we brought the dvd player. I read my book while the boys watched a little Lightning Mcqueen.

We made it to our destination around 2am eastern time. Then at 6, Axton and Greg were up and ready for the day. I cherish my sleep a little more than that so they let me keep sleeping for another hour. The Hartman's had a different family reunion to go to on Saturday so we drove around and saw people from Greg's mission days. Our first stop was to Lee and Courtney Schriever. Lee works for his dad on their dairy farm so we took Axton to see the cows. He wasn't really interested in them but he was eyeing the 4-wheelers so Greg took him for a ride. I think it was the first time he wasn't scared when he actually got on it. He loves to look at them and sit on them but as soon as they start going he tends to get a little nervous and whiny. But this time he couldn't get enough of it.

Then we were off to the local gunstore to see the Hendershot's. Greg seems to think he's going to buy a handgun in the near future. Maybe if our a/c in his car hadn't broke on the way to the airport, costing us $800 to fix when we got home, it might have been a little more a possibility.

After the gun store we decided to get something to eat and took it down to the Potomac River for a picnic. Everything in Pennsylvania was green and there are soooo many trees.

When the Hartman's got back from their reunion we hungout with them that night. Axton learned how to get on and off their trampoline all by himself. Some of their grandkids, and Axton, jumping.

I didn't get any pictures because I was took busy playing, but they got a group of people together and we went and played volleyball at the church. It took me a while to get over my shyness and the fact that I hadn't played volleyball in years but when I did finally join in it was a blast. I'm really glad I didn't stay on the sidelines. Axton was a trooper. Him and some of the other kids played in the nursery pretty much the whole time. He ended up being the last kiddo there around 11pm and he was still being so good even though he was really tired. I really am blessed with such an easy going child. I guess if we're only going to have one at least we got a good one.

Sunday was the usual, go to church see more people and then back to the Hartman's for more fun and talking. Mika brought over his shaved ice machine and made them for everyone. Axton decided he wanted blue raspberry, his mama's favorite. But like his mama his mouth turns colors ridiculously easy, I've learned to go for anything red! Within ONE bite his mouth was BLUE BLUE BLUE! And like his Daddy, he can't stop at having just one!

After the shaved ice, one of the Schrievers brought a parachute thing out. It was the first time Axton had ever seen one, I hadn't even seen one since middle school. It didn't take him long to figure it out and would run under it every chance he got. Greg of course had to show him where the hole in the center was.

Axton also discovered dirt! He made a slide down the hill where they had dirt instead of grass. And of course Greg had to get in on the action too. Unfortunately Axton's slide drew the attention of the other kids who's parents weren't so thrilled to have their kids get dirty since they were still in their Sunday clothes.

Greg had also bought some fireworks on Saturday so the kids got to play with sparklers while the big boys played with the bottle rockets and other loud fireworks. They put on quite the show but it was Mika and not Greg who was the crazy one by holding them until right before they went off and even sticking one on top of his head. You'd think the bishop would be a little smarter than that!!! :)

After that it was off to bed since we were all going to the Shenedoah Resort the next morning.

Not Again

2010-06-30T12:50:00.003-07:00

Axton is quite the little color. Too bad it's never on PAPER!! At least I have gotten wiser and the only crayons he can get his hands on are the washable kind for the bathtub, that I forgot we owned.

I was on the phone with my grandpa and Greg was on the phone with the Hartman's finishing up the plans for our trip next week. I thought Axton was in with Greg but then I realized he was being way to quite. I went in where Greg was to see what Axton was doing and he wasn't there. I then hear a noise from the hallway and the bathroom door is shut. I can tell he is in there so I open the door and take him out with it. My wonderful, precious little boy was coloring me a picture on the back of the door. EXCELLENT! Then I see the wall and the toilet. What an artist! I was caught a bit off guard since I was still trying to listen to the phone conversation while having the battle within myself to yell or get the camera. I decided to get Greg first and then take pictures.

Apparently he thought it was time for the bathroom painting to be finished, I've been a huge slacker on it.

Luckily for him he caught me in a good mood and all he had to do was help clean it up. No timeout, no yelling, what a lucky little man. Unfortunately I don't think him having to clean it up was a punishment at all. It could have been worse, like the permanent markers he colored with a year ago, that you can still see in the picture! Yep I'm a slacker, I told you I was.

Scrapbooking

2010-06-11T15:19:00.003-07:00

Does anyone do digital scrapbooking? I am looking to switch over but I don't know what programs people use. I am really into embellishments and all that jazz so smilebox and shutterfly don't really do it for me unless I'm missing something! I have been told to use Photo Shop Elements?! Also do any of you actually print off the pages you do and if so from where? Help!!!! Oh yeah... I don't want to sped my life's savings either!

Couch

2010-06-01T12:53:00.003-07:00

When we bought our house we knew we wanted a large living room so that we could have lots of people over at one time and socialize. What Greg didn't know or think about was that I had dreams of a very large couch so that we had seating for all of those people. We love having people over, the more the better. I've had an itch to buy this so called couch since we bought our house but went looking on my own knowing Greg would never allow the purchase of a new couch because 1. ours are ok, 2. we don't need to "waste" the money, and 3. kids are just going to destroy it anyways.

So many people around us are buying new furniture which has made my itch for this couch even harder to resist, and then throw in tv ads about discounts and Memorial Day Weekend Sales and I was a goner. Rarely do ads work on me but this time I had to at least go look. Greg for some unknown reason agreed to go "looking" with me and at least get costs of how much my dream couch would be and what the likelihood of it would even be, along with how many years I'd have to save up to get it.

I think I gave away pretty quickly how much I had been thinking about and planning this couch because as soon as we walked in I told the salesman I wanted to see a sectional that could be expanded to make it huge (I wanted the equivalent in size of 2 couchs and 2 loves seats), it had to be dark, not microfiber (our recliners are a pain to keep clean), and it had to have at least two reclining seats pretty close to each other because our beloved recliners would be going in other rooms. And at all of the stores we had ONE option and they all ended up being dark, leather sectionals. I must say everyone was skeptical of the size I wanted but I was adamant.

Greg and I talked a lot about it and he gave in!! Rather easily I may add which is a total shock. While we were buying it I had to keep leaving so I could go sit on the one in the showroom and make sure it really was what I wanted. Up until the time the delivery guys had it assembled I was a total wreck. It's the exact size I wanted (the chairs are oversized so for every 2 chairs it's the same size as our previous couch) and perfect in every way for us. I love it. I am so excited to sit on it, and have people over, knowing that 9-13 people can easily sit on it and be comfortable. I'm also very impressed that it hasn't made our living room seem smaller because this bad boy is 15'x15'.

This is the couch we will have for the next 10-15 years at least, as long as the kids don't get ahold of it. And we won't be moving anywhere in those years either because I don't know if it would fit.

His and her's recliners right next to each other so we can cuddle while watching movies in style.

All of our pens, markers, and scissors are now way beyond Axton's reach. He has already had the "discussion" of what is and isn't ok to do on the new couch, several times. Let's just hope and pray that it holds up!

Kidz Club

2010-05-12T08:14:00.004-07:00

For the last month and a half I have been babysitting for greg's sister Kim. I have her two kiddos Brooklynn and JJ (Joshua Justun Jones Jr!) in the morning from about 8-12 M-F and so I am always up for new entertainment for all of us.

One of my friends Kimberly has been posting about their kids club that they go to and so when my friend Jessica told me about one that they do here at our mall I was very excited to take the kiddos and go, but I couldn't do it without her help!

Well I got the times mixed up and ended up at the mall an hour before the thing began so the kids got to play in their new play area. They were in heaven. They could climb and jump on everything without fear of punishment. (We are looking to get Axton something for the backyard that he can climb and play on so if anyone has any suggestions let me know!)

They had a little truck and it's back is a slide.

Jumping off the newspaper, always an Axton favorite.

JJ getting to play without twin 2 year olds bugging him

The kids kept climbing up and over this wall for almost 30 minutes. It was pure heaven for me!

I just like Axton's face here!

When it was finally time to go over the the kidz club event they had a huge colored rug layed out. They were so excited to pick a colored square to sit on.

The stage where most of the sining and dancing is done.

The mascot is a Praire Dog, it took me a while to figure out that's what it was! Brooklynn couldn't get enough of him and took off running a few times to get hugs from him. Axton liked to look but didn't care to much if touched him or not.

We got cinnabons, and then headed home. On the way home Axton fell asleep. One kid down, two more to go!

Overall it was ok but my favorite, and I'm pretty sure the kids' favorite was the play area, or the cinnabons! The club is an hour long, and with 3 kids under 3, not the most enjoyable. All they do is sing and dance. I was hoping it would be a little more varied with different kinds of activities each week like Kimberly's but hey it's something to do. We've back a few times and everytime the experience gets worse and worse. So we'll wait until Kim can come with us before we'll come back.

Yep Still Easter here!

2010-05-12T07:49:00.006-07:00

I've been trying to get caught up on everything in life. Watching three kiddos everyday puts me behind a bit, plus I'm a slacker. So I was going through my list of what to blog about along with pictures and couldn't pass up finishing the easter festivities!

Axton was a blast to dye easter eggs with. Although Greg is a slacker, he disappeared when we were making cookies and dying the eggs, and during the easter egg hunt he was slightly preoccupied (another post to come.... someday). But I was impressed with how well Axton picked up the concept and was able to lift the eggs out of the cups with wire thing. He didn't make much of a mess which honestly I'm grateful for!

This one is my favorite!

The finished product:

We had a little easter egg hunt at our house with the 6 Leavitt grandchildren, but no Leavitt grandparents :(. The kids got 12 eggs each to find and it was Axton's first time. He enjoyed all of it thoroughly. And yes, Axton is always running around the house undressed, special occasion or not. One of the down falls to teaching him how to put on and take off his clothes.

Talia eating the "hidden" eggs before all the other kids came out!

The kids sitting down to compare their loot, and of course shove it in their mouths as fast as possible.

In the end it was a great day. Unfortunately Axton decided to only eat candy (and really not that much of it) and refused normal food all day. So he ended up a stomach ache that night and didn't go to sleep until almost 10. Needless to say the easter basket with more goodies in it is still sitting in the closet. I decided to not even go there. Maybe next year.

Big Boy Bed

2010-05-07T15:36:00.004-07:00

I certainly hope we are past the point of cursing myself for saying this but here it goes! Axton has been in a BIG BOY BED for almost 2 months now! The best part... it was a very easy transition! Something has to be since potty training has been a complete disaster!

The first night he stayed in bed for about 2 hours with no fuss. Then being the impatient person I am, was too shocked by how easy it had been, so I decided to check on him to see if it was true. Well he wasn't asleep yet even though it was 10pm and so he started crying after that and wouldn't stop until we gave in and put him in his crib.

So the next day at naptime he went down easily in his big boy bed. But that night he was a little more fussy so Greg laid with him until he fell asleep. He woke up crying half way through the night and I moved him to the crib.

The 3rd day, nap was a piece of cake again, and that night he slept the whole night in his bed. But he still woke up that night crying, we discovered puppy kept falling off the bed and he couldn't find him!

Eventually he learned to keep puppy by the wall and we thought all was well. Then he started waking up again. I decided a nightlight might fix it and it did! Now if he wakes up he can look around and find his puppy or a book and then puts himself back to sleep.

I'm just really glad that he doesn't come to our room in the middle of the night every night (or ever!) and want to sleep with us. He actually has yet to leave his room in the middle of the night which I so appreciate, I like my sleep. He doesn't wander the house, fall out of bed, or do anything that I was afraid he'd do! We've even retired the baby monitor from it's place in the hallway, we can't hear him from our room without it. It's great that he can come to us if he needs too.

The downfall... we never know when he's going to get himself out of bed in the morning. He went from wanting out of his crib around 8 to being by our bed anywhere from 5:30 to 7:30,averaging around 6:00. And he is super full of energy from the get go! He loves to come in and say, "Mommy up too! Get up!" followed by tugging on my arm or lifting up my head to try and get me out of bed. If I don't immediately get out of bed he starts to cry and throw a fit. I love the rare morning sleep-ins now! Who would have thought that I would consider "sleeping in" to be 7am! He is his father's son, those darn morning people!

I let him pick out his own blanket and if you know his phase it shouldn't be any surprise that he went straight for Lightning McQueen! We bought some cute wallpaper border to put up and some pictures. Someday we'll get around to painting it, maybe for his birthday! Guess I should finish his bathroom first, that's only taken me 6 months!

Silence is not always a good thing

2010-05-07T15:21:00.003-07:00

Axton is pretty good about not getting into things he's not supposed to, but sometimes he blurs the line of what's allowed and what's not. Recent example (meaning 10 minutes ago)..... markers! Allowed to play with them with mommy or daddy's permission and to color only on paper. Not allowed, coloring on walls, furniture, etc, or himself. I guess I should be glad that he chose to color on himself this time (he's already mastered the walls and recliner)!

This is my favorite. I don't think he actually colored his face, I think when he got sent to time out he cried and wiped his arms on his face. It could almost pass for child abuse, guess he'll have to keep practicing his makeup artist skills!

This is the second major coloring of himself. I guess he's practicing for all those tats he's never going to get, or else Aunt Corina and him have been watching the same shows together ;)LA INK anybody! Sorry inside joke! At least he keeps me on my toes and I can't wait for the reactions at church on Sunday since the last time he colored himself it took almost a week for it to come completely off! Gotta love kids!

Backyard... it's come a LONG way

2010-04-23T10:46:00.006-07:00

When we moved into this house we knew the backyard was going to be a big undertaking. I can't imagine having more land! It has taken us a year to get to where we are with it and it's still not completely done and won't be for a while. But we've made good progress.

Here are the "before" pictures. They aren't true before pictures because Greg had already done a lot of manual labor at this point. It was pretty bad.

Greg had to tear down a couple of cement "walls". I think the previous owners were trying to a water feature or something but never came close to finishing it. They also had a bunch of sand in the middle of the yard where they had had pavers for a patio and so kindly took them with them when they moved. I think another area was supposed to be a "river" through the yard but it too was incomplete and scary looking. We also found out that one of our other neighbors had put in a pool and the previous owners had let them dump all of their dirt into our backyard. I'm glad that I have a husband who likes to work with his hands and isn't afraid to do a little hard manual labor. Despite his willingness though, we ended up hiring a guy after about 3 months, to finish removing the debris and grading the backyard for us. He charged us less to do everything than it would have cost us just for Greg to take all the cement, rocks, and extra dirt to the dump.

Axton loves working beside Greg though. Too bad he wasn't older. It would have been a great chance to teach the boy how to work hard. Guess we'll have to find other ways!

The "finished" product. We have put in 4 citrus trees (pomegranate, lemon, orange, and grapefruit). We put up vines all along the back wall. We put in grass and a garden that is fenced off. We have bought patio furniture and put in a built-in bbq. We've put in speakers and fans.

We still would like to put in some more filler rocks, a firepit, pavers on our patio, a club house for the kiddos, maybe a sandbox somewhere. We still have a ways to go but at least it's nothing like what we bought. I love that Axton can go out and play anytime to his hearts content and I don't have to worry about him.

Easter Catch Up

2010-04-23T10:23:00.005-07:00

As I said in the last post we "won" a basket filled with Easter stuff. I decided it was time to see if Axton could do some big kid things with me so we decided to make the sugar cookies it came with and decorate them.

He loved cutting out all the fun shapes but he didn't realize that you only cutout one section at a time and would repeatedly cut out the same area with all of the cutters. He also loved to poke all of the cutout shapes with his finger (he does this with play dough too).

Then it was on to the frosting. He would help me put it on but then, like always, he'd use his finger to scrape it back off and eat it! He tried a few times to eat the frosting tubes themselves.

So I decided I would do the frosting and he would do the sprinkles to his hearts content. He quickly learned to dump the sprinkles on the plate so he could lick off the plate. What am I going to do with this kid!

The finished product.... minus a dozen or two! He thought as soon as one was finished it meant he got to eat it. Let's just say he's had enough cookies to last him until Christmas when we might re-explore this idea.

Overall it was fun but we definitely didn't give any away, you all can thank me later! About half of the ones in the picture ended up in the garbage too. I don't think he's quite old enough for what I would like but it was still fun none the less. Maybe next time Greg will help us instead of being a party pooper!

Fundraiser

2010-03-30T13:29:00.008-07:00

This last weekend the boyscouts in our ward and neighborhood held a fundraiser. Since Greg is in scouts now he had to go early to help set up so we went with him. Axton loved it because he got to be one of the first on all of the toys and the ride.

While setting up the Sherwood's were there with their ranger and Axton got to go for a long ride with Greg. A ton of people around here have these cool off road vehicles and whenever Axton sees one he gets so excited. So he finally got his dream come true. Axton has found some new buddies thanks to the Sherwoods. We had them over a couple of weeks ago for dinner and ever since Axton loves to hangout with them. They are a wonderful family and we hope to do more with them in the future!!

They rented a blow up slide (Stratton Sherwood took him down the first few times) and two bounce houses.

They also had a train ride. Gavin Sherwood took Axton on the train ride which Axton loved. Had I taken him I think he would have flipped out. Then he went later with just him and Brooklynn (they are getting so big!). Yes all of his cousins came and joined in on the fun!

And lots of fun little games. They had Plinko (not a very good picture), a fishing pond, a water shooting game, bowling, football toss, and many others of which I didn't get any pictures because I'm a slacker.

Daniela and Vanessa's turn to shoot

Plenty of cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, and other junk food. Plus our ward's infamous silent auction, and a live one too! There were all sorts of goodies but I kept getting out bid on the papers and by the time it closed (and we were ready to head home for naps) I ended up with only one auction item. I think Greg was glad though, I'd buy everything if I could and he'd be poor! I ended up "winning" an Easter Basket. I should have taken a picture before I disassembled it but I was to excited to see all of the goodies inside. We got cake and cookie mixes, frosting, cupcake paper liners, toothpicks with adorable easter papers glued on them, a bucket of cookie cutters, a huge container of different kinds of sprinkles, a chocolate pretzel kit with easter molds, and an easter egg dying kit. We've already made the cookies (pictures to come), and the pretzels will probably be made today. We're dying the eggs on Thursday or Friday, and the cupcakes, well.... we have enough goodies for now(especially with the easter bunny coming this weekend) so maybe in a month or two. I'm so glad we won this basket though, it's created hours of fun and some yummy treats! I'd say the fundraiser was a huge hit for us and we can't wait for the next one!

Visit

2010-03-30T13:10:00.003-07:00

My parents and g-pa came to stay with us last weekend. It was the first time any of them had seen our home (we've been here for a year!). We went swimming on Friday which was cold, and the pool doesn't allow cameras so no photos. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory which was a 1st for me and I have been craving key lime cheesecake ever since.

Then Saturday we went to the Phx Zoo which was perfect in size for us. We were all quite the site I'm sure. Greg and I where in charge of pushing my g-pa[he's breaking down:)] and stepdad(who has a broken foot) around in wheelchairs. My mom was left to push Axton in the stroller. Luckily it is pretty flat or else I would have died! But it was a great workout! We forgot our cameras again (imagine that, I now carry it in my purse at all times) so the only pictures we have are from Greg's phone.

The Phx Zoo is rated one of the top ones for kid friendliness and I would imagine this is due to the petting zoo and huge playground they have there. You can "milk a cow" or "ride" tractors, plus all of the normal park playground toys. They also have a building that has toys so you can stop and take a breather if you want to while the kiddos play to their hearts content. We got a year pass so I have a feeling we'll be going there at least monthly. Maybe after summer ends (gotta love Phx weather) I'll take Axton there every other week just for something to do.

In all though it was great to have visitors and we even had beds for all of them to sleep in!! We officially have a guest queen size bed, and Axton has graduated into a BIG BOY BED!!!! so we had a twin bed for my g-pa while Axton enjoyed his last few nights of being caged in, another post to come!

"Rodeo"

2010-03-12T19:57:00.006-07:00

Mesa was having a little Rodeo, I think it is put together by a ward or stake in Mesa but I could be wrong. They do it behind an LDS church so that's why I assumed that. Our friend, Jon (who also happens to be Axton's fabulous pediatrician), told Greg about it so we decided that it would be a nice change for our otherwise boring, house-project filled Saturday. The highlight.... the "petting zoo" of course. They had a cow, chickens, goats, and a turtle. They also had pony rides but that line was ridiculous and I don't think Axton would have gone by himself either, he's funny like that when it comes to animals. He loves them from a safe distance.

Greg caught one of the chickens and tried to make Axton hold it, he made sure he kept his distance though, it was hard to tell which one was the real chicken!

Greg found the love of his life! Axton wouldn't touch it but enjoyed examining it from a far.

We didn't stay long for the actual "Rodeo" part, it was packed with no where to sit, but proof that we saw some horses.

They did a chicken run too where all the kids got to chase baby chickens around the field and if you caught one you got to keep it. We left before that, much to Greg's disappointment! He really wanted one, me- we've been there done that already in our short married life and some of you might remember that tragic ending those chickens came to! Maybe next year.

A random picture of Axton and his cousin Brooklynn. Who knew 3D glasses would be so fun.

Coupons should be illegal... but I'm sure glad they aren't!

2010-03-12T19:43:00.003-07:00

I know I know, not another coupon post. Sorry can't help it, I'm addicted and in a way I feel like it's my job!

I got 10 boxes of cereal (mostly honey bunches of oat, but a couple boxes of sugar cereal too), 3 bottles of salad dressing (completely free so I could branch out on new flavors), 2 bags of dole salads, strawberries, and 5 boxes of gushers (not pictured cause I had already put them away and forgot about them, and I made $1.50 by "buying" them with the catalina coupon I received).

Grand total: 9.09. Saved $66.25, 89%. Not to shabby.

But what makes it better? I got two catalina coupons back totalling $7.50 that are good for my next shopping trip! So if you include that I got all of that for $1.59. Not bad for a 1/2 hour of work!

I'll be going back one more time on Tuesday to get more cereal, and probably fruit snacks, not that we really need those but when they are next to nothing (or in today's case a money maker) who can resist?!

Na nights....

2010-02-23T21:36:00.003-07:00

Axton is a little sponge who picks up things without us even knowing it. I don't know who he learned this from since we both do it with random things but a few nights ago he started doing it as part of his naptime and bedtime routines. I love his little voice!

2010-02-23T21:05:00.004-07:00

I am not even going to attempt to get caught up on our blog. I am just going to start fresh and be glad that I finally got around to doing it. Because our office computer doesn't have a place for us to put our memory card into it to download the photos we had to download them to our other computer (that runs our tv in the living room) and then put them on a jump drive and transfer them. Which then requires me to remember which ones I downloaded and which ones still needed to be without accidentally deleting some altogether. So I finally have all my photos on one computer which took a few hours to accomplish and now I have to sort through them to find all the duplicates and anyways.... that's why I'm starting from today's pictures! But we now have a cord (or at least I discovered it now!) to take the pictures from our camera to our computer without even messing with the memory card. Now that you are all thoroughly bored with this post and are probably grateful I haven't been posting very much we'll move on to the pictures.

What happens when Greg leaves me home on Saturday's alone with 3 children (I was watching my neice and nephew)? I get an itch for some change. I love change and I have a perfect guinea pig at my finger tips. Greg had once mentioned shaving off Axton's hair. I don't think it was meant to be taken serious but it's what happens when I get bored! So Axton got a buzz cut and I learned a few things. He is super ticklish around his ears, he's two and doesn't sit still for anything let alone being my guinea pig, don't do it with another 2 year old watching because she then was very mad at me for not cutting her hair too (but one day she'll thank me!), and blonde boys look a little scary with buzzed hair (or at least mine does)....

Oh well you live and learn. I won't be cutting it that short again for a very long time, especially since I was told I did a crappy job! Hey I tried and it was free. It'll grow back and at this age who cares? And when Greg got home he was a bit surprised even though I had warned him.

On another note, Axton has also hit the stage of pretending. He now thinks his dog needs food and water... or milk. Doggie (or Boof as he's sometimes called) also has to be given hugs and kisses and tucked into bed. I love watching this kid grow up!

Dinner

2009-12-31T20:29:00.004-07:00

I realized during Thanksgiving when Shari let the kids help her measure flour and sugar and what not, that Axton is old enough to help some with Dinner. So when we got home we broke out the ice cream maker we got for Christmas (yeah we opened it early, thanks Don and Shari!) and Axton helped Greg a little with that.

So while Greg was mixing the ice cream outside in the cold I brought Axton in the help season the french bread for dinner.

He sure made a mess with the spices but it was fun. He's now my little helper with french bread every time. I look forward to involving him in more dinner preparations and doing fun food items with him.

Park

2009-12-31T20:19:00.005-07:00

I'm so glad that I live so close to family and that we are able to trade off babysitting when we have dr appointments, errands, etc. that have to be done without munchkins.

On one such occassion I dropped Axton off with Kim for an hour or two. She also had Daniela and so she decided to be brave and take them all to the park by her house. She's such a great and fun aunt. Axton is so lucky to have her, and me too!

Thanks Kim for pictures and memories. You're amazing.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-31T20:11:00.006-07:00

We went to San Diego at the last minute, like usual, for Thanksgiving. Also, like usual, I didn't take any pictures so thankfully I have an amazing sister-in-law that we can count on.

We didn't do a whole lot other than hangout. We went to the Wild Animal Park, but we were all slackers and didnt' bring cameras. So the only thing we have pictures of are the kiddos playing on the stairs.

Shari put down some blankets and pillows to show Axton how to run and jump on them. The ever fearless man understood it right away. When Brooklynn was around they showed her too. She is definitely more cautious than Axton but they had a blast together.

Axton jumping and tackling Brooklynn

Ready, get set, go....

It was so much fun to watch them, and now I am really grateful that we have no stairs in our house!

Little buddies chillin' together.

Actual Halloween

2009-12-31T19:59:00.004-07:00

One of the many great things about living by so many relatives is that you always have someone to go Trick or Treating with. I love seeing them all together and all of the costumes were too cute.

J.J. and Brooklynn as bees, Vanessa and Daniela as super women, Talia as a giraffe, and Axton as a St. Bernard.

Axton's first house.

Axton trying to figure out if he was allowed to get candy or not.

So many to choose...

The only picture of me, but I was there!! Gotta love the orange for halloween. I had scratched my cornea sometime during the night and so for Halloween I was walking around in sunglasses and avoiding camera flashes, and any other light source, at all cost.

It was a fun night with the cousins. Can't wait for next year. Hopefully I won't scratch my eye again and I will be able to enjoy it more next time.

Trunk or Treat

2009-12-31T19:47:00.006-07:00

I was a procrastinator in getting Axton a costume. I just never saw any that jumped out at me. So the day before our ward halloween party, which was the day before halloween, I decided it was time to go looking and new my options would be slim. The only costume I even slightly liked was the St Bernard, but I knew it was going to be close. It was a 2T but Axton was beyond the measurements given so I made Axton put it on in the store to see if it was even a possibility. Boy was it tight but it had to do.

He wasn't very happy about having to put on his costume.

We had a chili dinner before we did trunk or treat. Needless to say all of the kids were getting pretty wild. Here's Axton locked behind a gate like a good doggie!

Definitely too small, he had a permanent wedgy, and the sleeves were almost at his elbow. The only thing that saved us were the shoe straps to help pull it down so it wasn't high water too! Next year I'll be more prepared.

Bag open and ready to hit all the cars!

He got a pretty good amount of candy for a 2 year old. but of course we helped him eat it, especially the full size candy bars some people were handing out!

Getting caught up... the story of my life

2009-12-31T19:21:00.007-07:00

I don't even know how far behind I am but I'm pretty sure I haven't done from Halloween on. So these posts will hopefully get me caught up.

The week before Halloween I wanted to go to a corn maze. I went to one almost every year when I was a teen and loved them. I took Greg to his first one and so I wanted to do the honors with Axton as well. I have to admit I was pretty bummed by the ones in AZ. In Idaho you start at one place and come out a completely different place. They usually have lookout points to help you get your bearings because you can get so lost. This one started and ended in the same place. You went up and then back down, the only point to it was to find all 6 different hole punches and punch your card to show you went in, kind of lame to me. But it didn't really matter because we really just hoped Axton would run and tire himself before naptime.

Axton realizing that he was free to run wherever his heart desired.

Greg would run down a different path and jump out at him.

Axton loves to be chased so this was pure heaven to him.

Couldn't resist this one of Greg trying to scare Axton.

With entrance to the maze we got a free ticket to ride the "cow train". Greg couldn't fit in it so I ended up taking Axton and he wasn't happy about that at all. He cried almost the entire time even though Greg was walking right beside us.

After we got off the ride he was all smiles and ran straight to Greg.

While on the ride we spotted a little park area so he had to go ride on the swings.

Then he saw a play structure with slides and pointed at it, letting go of the swing and fell right on the ground.

That quickly ended our trip because it lead to a full blown melt down due to pain, hunger, and exhaustion. We ended up not getting any pumpkins this year. Oh well.

Q and A on Bountiful Baskets previous post

2009-12-09T10:31:00.002-07:00

Check out the post prior to this one if you haven't read it.

Q: hey breonne i saw that they have a pick up location in idaho falls too and im interested in trying it out. do you get to choose the fruit and veggies that go in your basket?? once you sign up do you have to do it every week or 2 weeks? its usually just me at home and i dont think i will need too much stuff but definatly want to give it a try. thanks for your help.

A: They do have a site in I.F., Malad, and Rexburg. It will expand to other areas as they get emails from volunteers to help find and run the sites.

You sign up for the basket, pay for it, and then they go to the suppliers on Thursday, or something like that, and get the best deals. The best deals will usually be whatever season you are in. Summertime is all of the berries and tree fruit (peaches, pears, oranges, etc), fall is squashes, pumpkins, etc. Then the produce is shipped to the sites. There the volunteers take all of the produce and divide it out equally to everyone who is participating. So you don't know what you'll get and you don't get to pick and choose but you'll all get roughly the same things. If there is an unequal amount of something than the volunteers get to divide it amongst themselves for volunteering! If they do it like here there's usually not a lot left over.

*For example if they have 20 people participating and they have 13 cucumbers and 10 squashes left after everyone has gotten some, then they will add one cucumber or squash to each basket and have 3 left. The volunteers than get to split the remaining 3 items. So the baskets vary only slightly, person A will have one more cucumber than person B who will then have one more squash than the person A but they'll both have 6 oranges (or whatever else is in the baskets). The volunteers though will usually end up with 1 or 2 (or 3, etc) more pieces of produce than the others. One of the benefits of service!

As far as how often you have to do it, it's up to you. They will provide it every other week (with holidays being exceptions). So if you sign up for it for next Saturday and decide you don't like it than you don't ever have to get it again. If you do like it than you sign up again in 2 weeks and pay the $15. I did every other week here during the summer. We didn't go through it fast enough so I ended up freezing or canning some of it. Then by the end of the summer I had a lot of frozen and canned produce so I decided to save the $15 per basket and eat what we had. So I didn't get any baskets for a few months. Then last Saturday I decided I wanted a basket so I got one. It's simple and easy. No one is forcing you to get one and you get it whenever you want it (given that it's available of course!).

Make sure you pick it up on time though or else they give it to a fire station. Yes this happened to me ONCE! It was the 3rd time I got it and I forgot. My phone with my reminder had gone swimming the night before and by the time I remembered it was an hour after my pick up time and they were already gone! So my biggest tip is to not be late, even be a few mintues early, because it only takes about a 1/2 hour to get through everyone (and my site has almost 100 people picking up there). It's quick and organized, usually. My site is about a mile from my house and it takes me about 10 minutes from the time I leave my house, get my produce, and walk back through my door. It's fabulous.

If you are an adventurous eater or looking to expand your tastes this can be really fun since you sometimes get weird things like brocc-a-flower or brussel sprouts (both I'd never had before but were fine for a once a year thing!). I never eat squash but because I got it in the basket I'll find a new recipe. Most of the time though it's normal enough stuff. The fruit we always eat, the veggies vary. We'll eat at least 1/2 of it because who doesn't use lettuce and tomatoes on a regular basis (and they're almost always in the basket)? I've gone to the store, randomly throughout the year, with the list of stuff I've gotten in the basket to compare prices, and the baskets have almost always been at least 50% less. So if I throw some of it away I don't feel too bad since I would have spent more at the store for the things we did eat. If you are pretty strict about the produce you want to eat this may not be the best way for you. I usually plan my meals on Saturday (after I get the basket) or Sunday for the following week so I use all of my produce.

Sorry this was so long winded.

Bountiful Baskets is in REXBURG

2009-12-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

Some of you have probably seen other posts about this co-op but I figured I'd share again since a lot of you can now participate in it if you want to.

The Basics:
Bountiful Baskets is a volunteer co-op where you pay $15+$1.50 shipping fee (at least that's what it is in AZ) for fresh produce. They try to get 50% fruits, 50% vegetables. You don't know what you are going to get because it all depends on what they can get the best deal for. You log onto their website which is bountifulbaskets.org on either Tuesday or Wednesday of the week you will get the basket (if you want to try it then sign up on either the 15th or the 16th) and then select your state, they have spread like a wild fire lately since it used to only be in AZ. Then follow the instructions from there. For your 1st basket there is a $3 fee but after that it's just the above price. Then you will select your location which should have the time on there as well. For now Rexburg's only site is the Middle School in the cafeteria, don't know the time. More sites will be added if the popularity increases. Then you go armed with your own laundry baskets (or I've started using the reusable bags- they're easier for me to carry, I usually take 2-3). They tell you what basket is yours and then you load up and go home!

They also sell other things throughout the year. I bought 2 boxes of peaches, 1 box of pears, a picnic basket, and a mexican pack from them. We also bought our christmas tree through them last year. You can also get boxes of cherries, tomatoes, oranges, itialian packs, etc. The mexican pack is everything you would need to make salsa at a great price. The picnic basket had all kinds of summer fruit such as watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, etc. I look year round at the price of produce so I can can it since we don't have a garden yet and the best price was through these guys. All of this stuff is option but you get it at the same time as your regular basket.

They do ask that you volunteer on occasion which is super easy and only takes a few hours on the day of pick-up.

My camera is dead and I can't find the charger so here is a picture of a basket I got back in June.

In Saturday's basket I got 10 bananas, 7 oranges, 11 pears, 1 container of strawberries, 10 apples, 1 of those really small watermelons, a head of lettuce, 2 bunches of broccoli, 8 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 4 yellow squash, and 4 cucumbers. Nothing crazy this time.

They say it will last a family of 4 for 2 weeks, which is what we do. My sister-in-law buys it weekly though. I have mixed feelings on this. If you eat your fruits and veggies like you should (we don't- oops) than it will probably only last about a week. However I think it's only being offered in Rexburg every other week anyways. The other thing is that sometimes the produce is very ripe and needs to be eaten quickly. I love it when some of the produce is ripe and some needs more time. Also some of the stuff has a longer shelf life than others. But a lot of it you can freeze, we always have too many bananas left so I freeze them for smoothies or bread.

On their website there is also a link called produce storage information so when you get random things like brussel sprouts you will know how to store them and for how long. They also have a chat room where you can share recipes and ideas. I found some great fruit leather ones for when I have too much fruit of any kind left and it needs to be used. Hope this was helpful and not overwhelming. Let me know if you like it!

Dentist

2009-12-02T13:54:00.003-07:00

Well Axton gets to go to his first dentist appt tomorrow! He jumped off of his picnic table outside and must of landed on his face somehow. He chipped one of his bottom teeth and so we get to take him in tomorrow morning to have it looked at. Wish us luck and if anyone has any advice on how to make this a good experience I would love to hear it!

Black Friday

2009-11-29T18:55:00.003-07:00

I had a different kind of black friday shopping experience thanks to couponsense. CVS does some killer deals, a lot of basically free stuff. Between CVS and Walgreens I got 3 bodywashes (st. ives and johnson); 5 lotions (vaseline sheerinfusion and lubriderm); 3 degree deodorants; 3 bottles of complete contact solution; 3 bottles of herbal essences shampoo/conditioner; 1 herbal essences mousse, hairspray, and gel; a box of 64 crayola crayons, 5 candybars, and a universal remote (yes we actually needed it!).

The grand total: $153.50, my total: $29.48!! A savings of 85%! And the BEST part..... I now have $76 worth of "cash" rewards for future trips for anything I want!!!

When I include my "cash" rewards ($12) that I used to help lower my final bill and the $25 gift card I had received for transferring a prescription along with the cash I spent ($30), not only did I end up getting everything for free... I made a whole $9 on top of it! Now that is definitely worth my time, and my kind of shopping! Hope everyone else enjoyed their shopping as much as I did.

BzzAgent

2009-11-23T15:27:00.002-07:00

I recently joined a website called bzzagent.com. It's a site where people share their opinions about all sorts of products. Along with joining it you can participate in campaigns. My recent campaign was for Aveeno Baby.

They sent me a whole bottle of their new baby moisturizing shampoo to test out and report on. As part of this campaign I have to spread the news. The more I do for each campaign the better my status becomes and the more campaigns I am asked to join and get free stuff for. I love free stuff so I'm sure there will be lots of blogs to come! Anyways, my thoughts on the shampoo... It is easy to wash out of Axton's hair. With his crazy hair getting soap out can be a process. It also leaves his hair really soft. It's made of all natural ingredients which isn't a big deal to me but it might be to others. It doesn't really smell like anything, which I don't like but others do. I like smell and I love to smell Axton's hair right after a bath and smell how clean and fresh he is, this doesn't smell at all to me.

They also gave me some samples of their diaper rash cream which worked out perfectly because I rarely use it but Axton was on some serious antiboitics for a sinus infection and he broke out like mad on his bum. To me it seemed a little thicker than other diaper creams I've used, making it a little harder to spread. It does come off your hands easily though which is nice. It stayed on really well and I didn't have to use it as much as others. In this case the lack of smell was a nice thing for me.

Overall I would purchase both of these products in the future if their prices are comparable since I don't have a clue what they cost. I also have a bunch more samples of the shampoo and cream if anyone wants to try it out and give it a review!! Also I have some coupons if anyone wants some because they use this product or just want to try it out.

If you want to help me on my quest, or yourself by getting a chance to win gift certificates, or a charity to receive a donation because you helped spread the word you can go to chatthreads.com and enter 101 282 289033 for your conversation id. Answer a few questions and that's that. If anyone finds some great deals let me know. It's my new obsession.

Couponsense:
I know there are other websites for coupons and all of that but this site is just so user friendly to me and doesn't take me very much time anymore. Today I went to Safeway and got 3 bags of plastic cups (30 count), 2 things of plates (50 count), 1 thing of bowls (50 count), 2 bags of betty crocker cookie mixes, 2 tubs of frosting, 3 huge containers of canola oil, and 4 tubes of crescent rolls for .... $5.60.

From Walgreens I got 1 super nice razor with 3 boxes of refill razors (4 count), 8 things of shaving cream, 6 bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and some cough drops for.... about $15. And I have $12 in rewards to use on my next trip.

I love couponsense! Also I am stocked up on campbells "cream of" soups for the YEAR because coupons came out for them and stores put them on sale for about $0.35 a can! I will take a picture of my pantry and bathroom soon so you can all see how much "normal" stuff I have gotten with the meager budget that we were using to barely get by before coupons. I'm addicted.

Funeral

2009-11-11T08:20:00.005-07:00

As some know, and many who don't, my g-ma passed away on Oct 14. She had battled cancer for as long as I can remember, around 17 years. She had it beat once (large cell lymphoma) and then came down with a completely different, and unrelated type (renal), which ultimately took her life.

Despite having cancer she was able to serve a mission with G-pa which I think brought her some of the greatest joy she has ever experienced.

In May of this year she orginized what would be the last family reunion with her. All of her children and most of her grandchildren where able to attend. It was a wonderful event. My g-parents had pictures of G-ma taken so everyone could have one to remember her by. At the time though no one knew how short her days really were, we simply knew it would probably be within a year.

On July 23 G-ma collapsed at home at the dinner table. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital in St. George. Because she was displaying symptoms of having had a stroke, a CAT scan of her brain was done. It was then that a large cancer mass was discovered in the right side of the brain. The Renal Cell cancer had now metastasized to the brain, as well as other places previously that we knew about. She was given the choice to have surgery and prolong life for a few additional months or just let it take its course. She chose the latter.

So G-ma and G-pa moved to Rexburg and lived with my mom to wait out the few short (and long) months. My uncle got remarried at the beginning of August, he moved up the date and changed the location from SLC to Idaho Falls so G-ma could be there for it.
(Thank you Deanna for introducing my g-parents to the church so we know that families can be together forever)

At the end of August I was able to go to Rexburg for almost 3 weeks to help take care of her. What a blessing that was to all of us, especially me. In a month she had gone from being a crazy, independant woman, to being totally dependant and as a little child. We had to help her walk, go to the bathroom, get dressed, everything, day and night like a new born or toddler. But it was the greatest opportunity of service I have ever had and I am so greatful for it. She did so much for me growing up it was the least I could do. We got to spend a lot of time talking and playing cards. How I will miss playing cards with her. I will cherish those few short weeks I had with her.

Her she is in her wheelchair (by the time I left she couldn't walk at all or even really use her hands). At least I have pictures of Axton and her so he'll have somethign to know this wonderful woman by.

The biggest thing about my g-ma that I remember is that she NEVER complained, and if she did I never saw it and it was probably few and far between. She was dealt an extremely rough hand in life and yet she was able to overcome it all and be so happy and positive. She knew that the gospel was true, that the Savior loves her and that she would be returning to live with him again. She knew her work was done here on earth even though she didn't want it to be. She was a silently strong woman. We all love her and miss her but I know she is doing more good where she is and that she is looking down and watching over all of us.

Axton's Birthday

2009-10-22T13:01:00.008-07:00

My baby turned 2 a month ago and I've been a slacker. But with everything going on who can really blame me!! Like I mentioned in a previous post we were in Idaho and then flew to San Diego the day before Axton's birthday so he got a little jipped but we made up for it. He got a monkey cake in Idaho with Grammy and Papa and some other relatives which I already posted. Then when we got home (about a week after his birthday) I got around to wrapping his presents so he could open them.

He definitely understood the concept this year but he still wanted to pull the wrapping paper off piece by little piece.

I'm always amazed by the things he likes the most and those that he's not that interested in. He loves his flash cards and his choo choo train, but didn't care too much for his truck with shapes or another one that I don't know how to describe. The movies didn't get his attention either, but boy were they a lifesaver on our road trip to Idaho (more in another post to come).

His cousin also got jipped for her birthday so Kim made cupcakes and we all went to the park with Brad and Corina's family and also Greg's cousin Gina and her family. Once again Axton had no trouble blowing out the candles!!

All of the great grandkids on Greg's mom's (Shari) side of the family. 6 of the 7 are Don and Shari's grandkids and they all live within a few miles of each other!! Family is great!

I can't believe he is 2 already!!

My favorite things:
1. If you ask him how he is and how OLD he is- the answer is the same... 2 using his hands to demonstrate. He can't hold up only 2 fingers so he holds up 4 put crosses the middle and pointer fingers so you get it.
2. He loves the word NO but says it so sweetly that you can't help but smile and laugh when he says it.
3. He is obsessed with coloring, I have to hide all pens, pencils, crayons, markers, etc. This boy will find anything and draw you pretty pictures... even if it is on the bathroom wall where you have spent hours tracing designs (long story-pictures to come).
4. He loves "helping" us with projects. He gets right in with Greg when Greg is trying to fix things and Axton will often times take the screw driver (or any other tool) and try to do the same things as Greg. He loves to help me mop the floors and gets out his own vacuum when I am vacuuming. He loves to wipe down the toilets with disinfecting wipes too!
5. A recent discovery is that he'll repeat anything you tell him too (if he feels like it) except one person's name.... Katie!! Sorry we still love you. We will go through EVERYONES names on both sides of our families and he will repeat them until we ask him to say Katie. Then he just shakes his head and say nu-no in the sweetest little voice. I don't know why he won't say Katie but he just won't.
6. He loves to have clothes on. So often you hear the opposite. This boy does not like to be naked for anything. You might be able to get away without pants on occasion but if you leave him shirtless he cries and cries and until you or he finds one and gets it put on. He doesn't like to get his clothes wet either, that calls for immediate crying or changing of clothes.
7. He's a lover. He will get in random moods where all he wants to do is go back and forth and give kisses alternating between Dad and I. It usually doesn't take him long to start giving kisses to G-mas and G-pas too.
8. He loves his sleep and alone time!! We put him in bed and he plays for who knows how long and then sleeps. We put him to bed at 7 and he usually "wants" out at around 8-8:30 the next morning. I say "wants" because he's usually awake by 6 but loves to just hang out and kick the walls, blabber to himself, or do seat drops in his crib. If we interupt this then he's usually pretty grumpy the rest of the day. I also put him down for a nap around 12 and its not unusual for Greg to get home at 4:30 and have him go get Axton out. I'm spoiled I know!
9. He has the most mischievous looks. You can almost see him plotting his next move. He usually does it when he is planning on taking something that will get one of us to chase him around the house. How the boy loves to be chased and scared!
10. I love that he's just so happy all of the time. I definitely got it easy with my first, and I hope it's not because he'll be my only!! Rarely is he overwhelming. He has his moments when he doesn't want to share toys, or doesn't want to eat dinner, but on the overall he is really easy going and loves people. I am so grateful that I have at least one beautiful child to spend my days with and who lights up my face daily. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to love and grow, and become more christ like. Thank you Axton and Greg for letting me have this wonderful opportunity in my life.

Last Coupon Sense Post.... maybe

2009-10-22T12:48:00.003-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the things I got with coupon sense. Axton was pretty excited although he didn't know why!!

We got 5 boxes of cereal, 5 boxes of poptarts, 9 hamburger helpers, 6 progresso soups, 16 campbells soups, 2 things of butter, and sour cream. The total: $100.59 WITHOUT coupons. I only spent.... $22.67. So I am sold. It takes time and practice but I think it's a fun hobby for me. Some of this I wouldn't buy not because we wouldn't eat it, simply because I'd rather make something else or it's too expensive for me to justify it. However I did get it because it was such a great deal and because it makes for fabulous food storage which we haven't had before now.

Oh yeah and last night.... we got 3 containers of breyers ice cream (Greg's favorite) and 1 box of klondikes for $5. I don't think I'll ever be able to pay full price again.

Ok I think I have it out of my system for now. I'm telling ya though you should give it a shot!!

Coupon Sense

2009-10-02T12:50:00.007-07:00

Several people have told me about couponsense.com and so a while back I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. As my luck would go I went to a class and learned a ton about it and was super excited about it..... and then went to Idaho for 3 weeks and didn't do anything. So I kind of forgot all the ins and outs of how it works. Luckily I have a wonderful instructor that I can call anytime and she will answer my questions.

So despite my lapse of time and memory, I still decided to give it a shot. The results: in the last 2 days my bills came to $146.19. And how much did I pay? $51.24!! That's a savings of almost 65%. On the things I used coupons for my savings would be about 85%. Unfortunately things like "cream of" soups/fruits and veggies/etc. rarely, if ever, have coupons which is what dropped my percentage.

Not too shabby since I didn't do much to prepare. I simply made my shopping list exactly like I would have before, and then compared it with couponsense.com to find where had the best prices mixed with coupons. I didn't buy anything that I wouldn't normally unless it was free. It was easy, a little time consuming since it was my first go, but way easy. I'm not big into going to lots of stores so I limited it. All of this was done at 3 stores: my main grocery store, Target, and CVS since they are all within about 5 miles of each other. I have decided though that if I have time I'm willing to go to more now just as something to do and as a cheap way to get my food storage. So yesterday we went to Fry's and today we went to CVS and Target. We might hit up Safeway and Albertsons (which is a whole block away) and then Bashas which is about 2 miles from us either today or tomorrow, maybe not until next week. But only if I have nothing better to do.

My reasoning for going to these other places is simply to increase my food storage because they have some amazing deals. At Safeway right now I plan to spend $5 and will get 5 boxes of cereal and 5 boxes of poptarts. At Bashas I can get 12 cans of chicken noodle soup for $0.29 a piece!! Talk about great food storage items. Also Betty Crocker Hamburger (etc) helper is only $0.66 a piece. I'm not big into Hamburger helper but I'll eat it if I need to, I can think of worse things to eat. I got yoplait yogurt for $0.30 a container.

The other great thing is that couponsense.com has lists of free stuff and under $0.50stuff. I managed to get 4 body washes, mousse, and hairspray for $.28 each, talk about stocking up. I also got face cleaner, 4 razors, 2 dental flosses, a small first aid kit, a glade candle, and 6 things of crystal light for free. I still plan to get bar soap and baby wipes for free too but only if I end up going to walmart for some reason before Wednesday, which is likely to happen.

And did I mention that I got free lunch today for Axton and I? A gas station is running a promo of buy a sandwich and get a 32 oz drink free. Well I had a coupon for the sandwhich so I didn't spend a penny and it fed both of us and was surprisingly good.

This has turned into a fun game for me and I can't wait to see what savings I can earn for the rest of the month. It would be even better if I didn't have to lug a 2 year old around with me but I think he enjoys being out and about almost as much as I do. I hope this post helps someone else out there. Couponsense is nationwide I believe and exceptional in 7 states including AZ, CA, UT, and ID from what I've heard. If you go forward with trying couponsense let them know that you learned it from me so I get rewarded!! I think you can give them my name or use this number 1718734!! Happy shopping!

BOUNTIFUL BASKETS is on the move too. It is now in Washington State and Idaho. It's also spread to Cedar City for those of you interested check out their site. I got 40 lbs of pears for $12, guess we know what I'll be doing all of next week!

Birthday Boy.... sort of

2009-09-13T19:43:00.004-07:00

We are in Rexburg and Axton's birthday is Thursday. We fly to San Diego for a wedding on Wednesday (so Axton is still free!!) so Axton was going to get the jip for his b-day (hopefully he'll at least get to see his dad for his b-day). Good thing he's only two. Since we flew I wasn't able to bring any presents. I did however think to bring a cake pan in the hopes that just maybe we might get around to making it for him whether here in Rexburg or in San Diego.

I think it turned out pretty stinking cute for being my second one! He is way into monkeys lately, which I was excited about because I love this monkey pan and recipes! You can make it with a cake, rice krispies, or brownies (something for everyone).

Getting ready to sing "happy birthday"

Yes I'm immature and stuck the candles in the nostrils!! I was so happy and sad when Axton blew out his candles all by himself. I was looking forward to helping him but as I was inhaling he blew them out!!! I was very impressed that he got it right away.

He got ONE present!! Hurray! Luckily it was a book so we can fit it into our suitcase! I am at the max already so I told my mom to give me money and we'll buy something when we get home.

He enjoyed the frosting more than anything, and then the ice cream. The cake itself he wasn't so sure about, he must take after Mom and Dad.

And incase you didn't notice. I chopped all of my long, beautiful, annoying hair off and I love it!! Hopefully Greg will too!!

Ride in the Convertible

2009-09-12T08:49:00.005-07:00

Great Gpa Hillier owns a 1965 convertible so he took Axton and his other great grandparents for a ride. This boy is spoiled (especially with all the grandparents he has!!).

Axton was ready to get out of there and wouldn't stop saying bah-bye!

Axton loved the ride but we had a rough time when it was over. As I was trying to get his car seat out he was playing with the door. It pushed it too hard and it bounced back and hit him in the face. It was kind of funny. But at the same time that he landed I was getting out and ended up stepping on him. So that really sent the tears going. Overall though I think everyone had a good time.

Tautphaus Park Zoo

2009-09-12T08:27:00.005-07:00

We took Axton to the local zoo. It's not very big but when Gma had to push Axton the whole time and I got to push Gpa around because he broke his foot, it was plenty big and quite the workout. It took us about an hour.

They have a free petting zoo although there wasn't much to it. Axton liked petting the goats until it came time for pictures.

Axton couldn't wait to touch the lizard.

This cute little monkey was swinging all over the place.

I think the monkeys were Axton's favorite, besides maybe the lions and tigers.

It was fun being in the bird area because they weren't afraid of you at all. Hence the one letting me touch it. I love Axton's sounds for birds.

Jeepers

2009-09-02T22:13:00.007-07:00

Greg decided he wanted to get out of the house and take Axton somewhere fun. Our options were ChuckECheese or Jeepers. I've never been to either so we decided to do Jeepers. Greg made me sick on the very first ride!! Axton and I got on a ride that spins in circles and then the operator manually spins your car on top of that. The first 2 spins were fine but then Greg piped up and told the lady to spin us faster. Boy did she!! Poor Axton could hardly hold his head up so I had to grab it and make him look at me and keep telling him it would be ok and not to throw up. I'm not sure if I was saying that more for Axton or me. I was so excited when we were finally done but I had a hard time getting out of the seat afterwards.

Greg was going to go on the airplane with him but Greg couldn't get his long legs in so he decided to send him on his own. He liked it at first but by about the third round he was starting to whimper. I wanted to go on it with him again but we forgot.

They had a large play structure like McDonalds, only a heck of a lot bigger and easier to get lost. I couldn't track them half the time until they popped out somewhere. He wasn't sure if he liked the cargo net or not but he sure enjoyed the rest of it.

Sweet revenge!! Greg got to go on the greatest spinny ride of all time. I don't know what they called it but it's the one that goes forward and then stops and goes backward. Greg thought he was doing pretty good until they reversed directions. Axton wasn't so sure he liked it at all but never cried.

We decided we need a break from the rides so Axton found one of the arcade driving games. He loves steering wheels so it was great. Poor Greg was sweating like crazy because of the last ride!! Trying not to throw up will do that to ya!

The video of Axton driving. Good thing we have a long time to teach him before this is the real deal!

Our last ride was all of our favorites. Greg got to sit it out, it was really slow for me, and Axton loved all of the animals.

It was a lot of fun and only $10 for all of us. We'll definitely be going again but we'll take it easy next time so we can do all the rides more than once! Thanks hun for the great idea and time. We had a blast!

New Addition

2009-08-15T21:22:00.009-07:00

Since another baby doesn't seem to be in the cards for us right now we decided to add a different kind of addition to our family. We adopted a dog!!! Yesterday we went to Pet Mart just for something to do and found out that every Saturday a bunch of dogs and cats are brought in to be adopted. We had been talking about getting a dog since before we moved into our house so we had decided we wanted a lab. But we never got around to it. So this was a good chance for us to come see some puppies and see how Axton liked them and maybe find one to get.

Well we didn't get a lab but we got a sweet heart, and now that I'm blogging about it Greg can't give her back!! She is a 13 week old Shephard/Heeler mix and is so adorable. Her previous owners had brought her in to Pet Mart about an hour before we got there. They live in an apartment and the lady was 6 months pregnant and just couldn't handle it all.

She definitely isn't used to big spaces and is a little skittish still but is warming up. I don't think she got to play a whole lot and she is very mild. For most people this would be a good thing but for us we wanted a hyper dog. Axton loves to be chased by dogs and then knocked down, followed by lots of dog kisses (thanks to Roger and his 2 dogs we know that!!!). He just thinks that is the funniest and best thing in the world. Pheobe (her previous name that we'll more than likely be changing, so any suggestions are welcome!!) is just so mild that Axton actually keeps crying because she WON'T chase him. The whole point in getting a dog was so that Axton would play with it and be in heaven.

She wouldn't even eat the dog treats (or goldfish so kindly given by Axton) or play with her toys!! We have 2 weeks to decided if we want to keep her or not. We're hoping that in the next few days she will adjust and get her playful puppy senses back!!! Either way I think she has won my heart over already and if we need a more hyper dog then Greg will just have to have two!!

Axton is very much in love with her, as long as she comes around and knocks him over!! Axton loves holding her like she's a baby and gets so mad when she gets out of his lap!!!

Playing in the backyard like nothing has happened and it's just meant to be.

Small example of how Axton plans to play with her if she comes around.

She piddled what do you expect of a puppy!! Looks like I get to potty train twice, maybe when it's Axton's turn I will have learned something!!

Repeat Experience

2009-08-10T16:58:00.002-07:00

Apparently scorpions love me!

Yesterday afternoon Axton was playing by our sliding glass door and he started crying. He was pointing to his knee and it was turning red but I thought he hit it on the door frame or something so I looked in the area to see what else it could be. I didn't see anything so I bent down and kissed his knee better. Then I placed my hand on the carpet to help stand up and ...... I got stung in the same stinking hand as before.

So Axton and I have both gotten to experience this wonder event. He is a champ though. I told myself that if he got stung I would be taking him to the ER to get the antivenom because of how bad it hurt me the first time. However this little scorpion didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as the first, maybe because I only got stung once instead of 3-4 times. Axton only cried for about a minute and to be honest he cries a lot harder when we tell him no than he did with being stung. I was very impressed. He let us put a cold compress on it and then he took a nap like usual, which according to poison control is a great thing. So poison control called us about 4 times over 6 hours to make sure we were doing ok and we were. Despite the numbness now it's wasn't so bad. It doesn't seem to have phased Axton at all which I am so grateful for. Now Greg just needs to experience the joys of this! Be grateful everyone that doesn't have scorpions sneaking into their houses! I am really hoping they will disappear now that we have sprayed and killed all their food.

Black light + glowing insect = scorpions!!

2009-07-29T21:35:00.004-07:00

When we first moved into our house we found a little scorpion outside. Greg decided to look and see if he could find any more using a black light. Luckily we didn't find anymore so we thought we were safe and chalked it up to our backyard being a disaster zone.

Greg has been building me some shelves for our entertainment center (pictures to come) so all of our movies and dvds were on the floor. When he got some of the drawers put in he asked me to put away the movies since I am the one who cares where things go. I picked up a movie and it felt like I had stabbed myself with a piece of broken wood so I moved my finger and then I felt the stabbing again. It was a wonderful bark scorpion (the most venomous of them all!!) and I got stung at least twice but I think it was more like 3 or 4 times. I'd never been stung by one before so I had no idea what it was, had I know I probably would have dropped the movie immediately and started screaming! Instead I let it keep stabbing me while saying "ouch something really hurts".

Greg quickly knew exactly what it was. Needless to say I checked online about them and it says...Bark scorpion stings can cause muscle spasms (yep), random movements and tremors of the neck or eyes, restlessness (yep), anxiety (of finding more!), agitation and sweating(yep), especially in kids. There is often severe pain (check) at the site of a bark scorpion sting but rarely swelling. Malaise, sweating, heart palpitations, rise in blood pressure, salivation, nausea (got that too), vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms should be treated in a similar way to snake bites, and a doctor should be consulted as quickly as possible.
hyperacute (typically allergic) reactions in the form of blurring of consciousness, unconsciousness, convulsions, fall in blood pressure, shock and consequently the threat of death may occur. AWESOME!!

So we called poison control like one website said to and they pretty much blow it off. So either people overreact or they are underreacting! For now though it is pretty miserable. My whole hand and arm feel like I am being stung repeated by bees and poison control says this will probably go on for at least 6 more hours, and the numbness could last for 1-2 days since I got stung a lot. Lets just hope I can sleep tonight.

He may not be very big to you but he is pretty stinking big for around here! We've seen a few at people's houses and this one is the largest yet, or it could just be because he stung me so I think he's huge!

Better me than Axton though so I'll take one for the team. I better not find anymore or I'm going to go crazy.

Update: hand doesn't hurt too much anymore and it was a long night. You try sleeping when your right hand and arm are tingling cause they are numb. Today I can't feel my pointer finger at all along with parts of hand and arm up to the elbow. It's kind of weird and my nerves are in overdrive with the stinging/numb sensation. Please let this end soon!

Playing in the rain

2009-07-21T16:51:00.003-07:00

I LOVE the rain. It doesn't rain enough around here for me but when it does rain it pours! Our garbage can was still outside and it was being blown across the street into the neighbors yard and Greg wouldn't go get it so I gladly did. Well that made Axton want to go out too and since I was already wet I decided... what the heck!

My favorite though is that his G-ma Leavitt taught him that cold things are "brrr" along with "shivers". So now when we ask him if he's cold, he balls his hands into fist so tight that he starts to shake and says "brrr" while making some rad faces! I am obsessed with making him do it, poor kid.

Say a prayer

2009-06-25T13:45:00.004-07:00

One of my mom's coworkers and a teacher in the biology department at BYU-I, Travis Wall, was involved in an accident about 2 weeks ago. He was riding his motorcycle with his 12 year old daughter when someone pulled out in front of them and he had no time to react. His daughter spent about a week in the hospital but is now home, with injuries, but should heal fine. Travis on the other hand is still in the hospital. I know him and his family could use all the prayers that we have to offer on their behalf. To follow his progress and get more of the details his wife has started a blog documenting this trial in their lives. It's http://walltravis.blogspot.com. Please remember them in your prayers and be grateful for those you love, you never know how quickly things can change.

Bountiful Baskets

2009-06-25T13:21:00.004-07:00

I published a post about this co-op a while back but I have rediscovered my love for it, AND it has expanded, to UTAH.

This is an example of what we got a few weeks ago:

1 head of lettuce
2 bunches of broccoli
1 head of celery (that I had already cut up)
1 cantaloupe
2 1/2 bags of carrots (that I had already sliced up)
3 squash
8 cucumbers
11 bananas
8 apples
7 oranges
10 plums and
12 apricots.

Now can you guess the price of all of this? $15!!! I don't know what it's like in Utah anymore but that's a steal here. So if you want more info go to bountifulbaskets.org. They try to get 50/50 of fruit and vegetables and they get whatever is in season so you never know what you are going to get which I think makes it a little fun and makes you a little more adventurous. In Utah it's an every other saturday event.

They also sell other things throughout the year. This saturday I am getting a 28 lb box of peaches to can (jams, pie filling, good ole plain peaches, etc) which comes out to about $0.60 a lb! along with a mexican pack to make some salsa. I have gotten apples and peaches from them before to can and they turned out fabulous. We also got our Christmas tree through them.

The Utah sites so far are Bountiful, Brigham City, Clearfield, South Ogden, Pleasant View, Roy, and West Point. They are constantly expanding so with a few emails of interest I am sure they will spread to Provo, SLC, Cedar City, etc. Give it a try and see if it works for your family.

Wii

2009-06-25T13:18:00.002-07:00

We bought the wii over a year ago but seldom play it. When we moved we rediscovered. Greg was playing tennis for a while and Axton figured he could do it too. I can't believe how big Axton is getting, he looks like a little boy in this to me, not a toddler.

Safe

2009-06-25T13:13:00.002-07:00

Axton randomly started running and sliding, I think he first discovered it when he fell on the dirt in the back yard. Now he does it nonstop. We have tried to turn it into a game of baseball so maybe some day it will be easier to teach him how to play. Guess we'll see.

Ward Party

2009-06-01T08:08:00.003-07:00

We're back!! I know it's been a while and I'll eventually get it all updated. Between moving and going out of town for over a week and then having visitors for a week, we've been busy! But we finally have the internet set up so I'll get started.

Our new ward had a fundraiser to help send the young women to girls camp. They had a bunch of water games and Axton loved going on the slip and slide and the big blow up water toy.

Axton waiting patiently for his turn. It took him a while to get the concept but after the excitement wore off a little he did better.

Daddy helping Axton witht he slip and slide.

Enjoying th eblow up toy!

They also had a silent auction where we spent way too much money! I got these adorable bibs, thanks to my mother-in-law in many ways. She kept an eye out to make sure I never got outbid.
We also got an evening of babysitting (great way to get to know at least one young woman in the ward), we are going skeet shooting with a member of the bishopric, and Greg got 10 rounds of golf.

We had a great time and are getting to know people already. I am excited to be in this ward. We also found out that Axton's pediatrician just moved in so that will be interesting. What a small world.

San Diego 1/2 Marathon

2009-05-12T16:52:00.006-07:00

Greg was crazy enough to try and run a 1/2 marathon. The craziest part is that he hardly even trained for it. His training consisted of running 4 times (leaving himself a month to relax before the race). He didn't do too bad given his lack of training. He ran it in about 2 hours 16ish minutes. He thinks he might do it again someday so we'll see if he decides to train for it next time. It gave us a good excuse to visit San Diego and that's all that really matters.

Unfortunatley we couldn't find our camera so I had to "borrow" this picture from Corina's blog!

In the picture: Greg, Brad (his brother), Dan Lemon (in our ward), Katie (Greg;s sister), Monica (Brad's sister-in-law), and Victoria Lemon.

It's been a while

2009-04-23T12:08:00.002-07:00

I know it's been a while since I last updated our blog. Somehow we managed to lose or misplace our camera. Life the last few weeks has been a little boring, but over the next few months that should change.

I have been busy canning apples: canning apple slices, applesauce, apple pie filling, etc. Applesauce is definitely my least favorite because it takes a lot of work for little results! I have decided though that I love canning! I can't wait to learn how to do it with a pressure cooker so that I can get into vegetables and meats as well. Food storage here I come.

We still have a long ways to go on buying our house, or so it seems. I feel like we are at a stand still and it is really annoying me. The appraisal is taking forever, we were told it would be done by Monday and finally today they said it will be done by tomorrow. UGHHHH!!! It has been almost 2 weeks, you would think they would get it in gear. Don't they realize that they are holding our future in their hands? Anyways, I am very bugged, and antzy to get out of here.

We leave for San Diego tomorrow. Greg is crazy and going to run a 1/2 marathon, that he has hardly trained for (he's ran 3 maybe 4 times with 9 miles being his longest), on Sunday with some other friends and family members. He is then going to work in the area Monday and Tuesday and fly out from LA on Tuesday. I am going to stick around until Wednesday because it's just easier that way.

Greg's brother Jeff just got engaged so we are super excited for them. Karen is an awesome girl from the little I know of her, but she has always been a sweetheart to me when I do see her. I'm excited to get to know her better. They are getting married in September in the San Diego temple, she is a recent convert so that is when her 1 year mark is.

Both my sisters-in-law on Greg's side are expecting babies next month too so that should be exciting and something to do as well. I am pretty sure I'll have Brooklynn a good amount of the time when Kim has her's (it looks like she will have a c-section again unless a miracle happens) since her and Axton are quite the buddies these days. Not sure what Corina is doing with her girls since she has lots of options but I'll be around!

We have a family reunion for my mom's side at the end of May so we'll be going to that. I was going to go visit before the reunion but we are set to close on the 15th and I was flying out on the 16th so that obviously isn't going to happen. I have decided I'll go home with her after the reunion even though some of Greg's family will be here (for the babies) but I think I should take this chance to go home.

There are some other things going on but I'll post those later when I have more info to share. Hope all is well with everyone.