Style

I am always looking for new clothes. Most of you know I love to shop. Since I had Alex the majority of the money I spend on clothes goes towards him rather than me now. I have some days where I feel like I need a new style. I am extremely stuck in a slump of I don't want to spend the time to get all dressed up but I don't want to look dumpy or lazy in how I dress. I am not posting this to get compliments on my style but more as a venting tool. Unfortunately because of my size and budget I am limited in my clothing choices. I am sure there are clothes made for little women like me but I don't have the money to buy clothes and shoes from high end stores. But on the other side I am feeling like I am getting a little older and not so juniorish. I wish I could find a happy medium. In fall/winter especially I struggle. I get in the slump of wearing a t-shirt and a zip up hoodie. I want to look nice without lots of work and little ironing. Then my next gripe is when I was in high school my skin was pretty clear. Now I am getting older and I think my skin is getting worse. I don't wear lots of make up and I normally clean my make up off when I am ready for bed. I am so frusterated with my zits and I wish I could find a solution. I don't want to take prescription medication for the problem because I would love to have another baby soon and I know you can't take acne medication while pregnant. I am pretty sure some of my acne could be from my lack of good sleep and not drinking water. But then if I drink lots of water I'm not getting enough calories. I have been to a few doctors recently and I have been told that I need to gain weight. Many of you know that gaining weight for me is probably as hard if not harder than someone trying to lose weight. Many doctors don't realize I am not a big girl, neither are my parents. Thankfully we all have the freedom to take doctors advice only as far as we want. Also I am grateful for Heavenly Father and Jesus have their own plan for our families. I strongly believe Heavenly Father only gives us what we can handle and even though everyone struggles with their own trials we are all blessed differently.
On the good note I was able to introduce Alex to my brother Christopher. Christopher has never met Alex. The last time I saw Christopher I was pregnant with Alex. Through many chain of events Christopher and I haven't seen each other. Many things having to do with my sister and my neice. Anyways..I was able to see him and talk to him a little. Most days don't go by without thinking about my brother and sister. It was nice to have some contact with him. He also reached out to me via facebook. I am not going to think that we will become close. We live very different lives but at least we have some contact. Alex can always use more family.
Well sorry for the rambling post. Next post will be more uplifting and about Alex cause he is just funny.

Summer 2

This is us at Sea World. Picture taken by us.

Alex was more content playing in the sand.

Watching Daddy out in the ocean.

Alex is attempting to go out to the ocean with Dad.

This is Alex and Kiersi his best friend!

As summer is coming to an end I guess I'll write about what we have done. We have had the great opportunity to go camping a couple times and we also have been able to go to San Diego with friends. Alex really enjoyed going to Sea World. We were able to go to Sea World three times. Definately able to get our money's worth. We went to Legoland which was fun for Chris mostly. He got a kick out of all the lego people. At Legoland there is a new water park which we were able to go, besides the fact it was cold Alex liked the lazy river. He loved that we were able to build on the tubes. Our neighbor Devin and Chris had fun making towers on their tubes to see who's was tallest. We also went to Coronado island and went to the beach one night but it was freezing. Our husbands went all the way in the water but Cami and I weren't brave enough. Alex and Kiersi didn't brave the water either. They sat and shivered. I am posting some pictures with the kids playing in the sand. Alex had sand everywhere!! He had fun though. While Devin and Chris were swimming in the ocean they saw a small pod of dolphins swimming. It was really cool.
Other than our couple trips we have stayed home and played. Alex loves to be outside no matter the conditions. He loves to play in our pool and he loves to play with the hose. Chris had to take the hose bib off so Alex couldn't turn the hose on. He also loves to be naked, and outside. The first couple times it was embarrassing but now I just try my hardest to keep his clothes on. The neighbors should be used to my streaking son. He must get it from his dad! Ha.. Alex loves to play with his friends. Normally those are his first words in the morning. He asks where all his friends are. We are extremely grateful for our neighbors not only for our friendships but for the kids friendships. I can only hope that they will continue to grow.
Alex is getting extremely independent in some things. He wants to dress himself whenever we change clothes, but along with that he is extremely impatient.

I am a little sad for the changing weather because then we can't spend as much time outside but on the other hand I can get more cleaning done. Since Alex loves to be outside I haven't been the best at cleaning my house. Why is it when you have a home you want to change things all the time. I would love to do lots of things to my house but I don't have an unlimited source of funds so..I just improve it in small ways. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. The pictures are at the first. Don't understand. Oh well.

Summer

Summer so far has been wonderful. We have been having lots of fun playing outside pretty much every day. Alex's favorite things to do are ride our neighbors bike that is a 12" bike with training wheels. Alex also loves to help daddy mow the lawn with his mower. Alex also loves to play in his pool. For his birthday party we let the neighbor kids play in the pool.
It's official we have lived in our home for 1 year! It is so wonderful to be in a home with plenty of room for all of us and our things. We LOVE our neighbors and get along great with everyone. We are truly blessed to have moved when we did.
Our upcoming fun includes some camping and a trip to San Diego with some friends. So exciting to go somewhere since we haven't been on a trip since our trip to Washington in 2006. We are excited.

Five and Two

Well as we (Chris and I) are approaching our five year anniversary next week I am so thrilled that we have made it this far. I always knew that I would spend eternity with Chris but the road wasn't always easy. We have both grown so much since getting married at 20 and 19, not only have we aged by birthdays by we have grown emotionally and spiritually. I am so blessed to be married to such a patient and loving husband. He truly spoils me.
Next on the agenda is my son. Alex will be two in a matter of weeks. I can't believe that he is getting so big. He is talking so much. Lots you can't understand and some you can. He can normally get his point across when he wants something. And believe me he knows what he wants. He is extremely stubborn and extremely fearless. Time has flown by since Alex was born. But in the same sense lots of things have happened.
As I said before Alex loves being outside so my dad decided that he needed to take swimming lessons. We enrolled him in a parent tot swim class which he is loving. We have been three times and it is like a nursery where the kids swim. They sing songs and play little games. He has fun. A few weeks ago we went camping up to Pineview Resevoir Alex had a blast. He wasn't thrilled with the water but it was freezing so we understand. There was lots of room to run around and he loved the tent. He just liked to play in the tents. He was always playing in ours or my mom and dad's. We had tons of fun camping and it was a good break. Hopefully we will be able to do some other fun things this summer.

More Spring

Chris said to me yesterday that Alex was getting too big. I would have to agree. We have a hard time believing that he is going to be 2 pretty soon. He is quite independent except for the sleeping. We have never had a good sleeper on our hands. I haven't helped matters but Alex just doesn't sleep good.
Alex is in love with being outside. He could be naked and want to go outside. This crazy Utah weather hasn't given him enough outside time as far as he is concerned. Last week Chris finished out swingset we purchased. Alex loves it. Most of it he can play on but the monkey bars make us a little nervous. I'm sure we'll have a few falls but he will learn eventually. He is definately fearless. But we have been lucky so far no super bad falls.
Alex is trying to potty train. I am not completely ready for him to potty train but he is ready to be naked all the time. He enjoys sitting on the toilet but most people don't have the entire day to play on the toilet. So probably by the summer we will be potty trained.
I am extremely ready for the weather to warm up and stay warm. I have enjoyed planting flowers and I am going to plant some tomatoes when the weather cooperates. In June Alex and I are talking swimming classes. We will see how that goes. I think he will love it but ya never know. Sorry no pictures I will have to post pictures of the swingset next time.

Spring

Well even though the weather hasn't been so wonderful we have tried to take advantage of the weather when it is nice. Alex loves to be outside and so we have played as much as we could. Chris and I have been trying to get the backyard in good shape since the dog has pretty much destroyed a lot of it. She gets bored while I am at work or while we are gone. She digs lots and we are at a loss as what to do with her. We are trying to fix all her holes and fix the flower beds she has dug in. That has been keeping us busy.

Chris' next project is a swingset we bought for Alex this weekend. We got it at Toys R Us on sale. We'll see how long it actually takes to put it together. It says 8-10 hours. I'm sure Alex will love it when it is ready for him.

Last Tuesday on April 27th my parents and I were able to attend my neice's adoption hearing. What a blessing to have her adopted in our family. My uncle and aunt adopted her and will now be able to truly call her theirs. She has been living with them for the majority of her little life and they are her parents. I can't wait for the day when they will be able to be sealed to her. It reminds me of when I was sealed to my parents. Even though she will be younger I am sure she will feel how special the time is. Also on Tuesday my friends and their kids were able to attend the Tulip Festival. That was super fun but...lots of walking. Its always the uphill that kills ya not the downhill. But none the less it was enjoyed by all.

Well here are a few pictures for the past month or so.

Bribery & Bargaining

I think part of being a mother is bribing your children. Just a little while ago I bribed my son to put his pants on by giving him a Dove chocolate heart. He loves chocolate and so..he took the bribe and put his pants back on. Another thing I have encountered with my son is bargaining. In the mornings I tell him that he has to get his socks and shoes on so we can leave to go play with his cousins. He will normally sit and let me put his socks and shoes on. Funny what we learn when we become parents. I wouldn't trade any of it though. We have so many fun times that it makes up for the hard stuff.

Valentines was a good holiday as far as holidays go. Chris and I went to dinner at Noodles and Co. and then went to the mall and walked around. Kind of relaxing without a child. Saturday night we went over to my parents and ate steak and crab. Yummy!!

Even though the weather hasn't exactly gotten warm we did some cleaning outside. We raked up lots of leaves from our tree out back. Our dog has probably successfully dug up most of our yard. That is the downside of a big dog. She is a digger. Hopefully that is a puppy thing that she will grow out of.

Till next time.

Holidays

Well a little update. We had a wonderful holiday season with both family and friends. For Thanksgiving we went to my mom and dad's and had a wonderful dinner as always. Christmas was as crazy as usual. Christmas eve was spent with my mom and dad. We went over to their house and had dinner and opened presents which was pure chaos. When you have two babies opening presents it is chaotic. For our big gift from my parents we got a wonderful new camera. Christmas day Chris and I exchanged presents and I was excited to get some new movies, wallet and a new dutch oven. Alex was of course spoiled beyond belief with so many toys he doesn't know what to do with them all. Christmas morning was spent with my parents with a brunch at their house and then we went over to my dad and step-mom's for a fun evening. Alex was the only child so that was fun but other wise we had a great time and wonderful dinner. We hurried our way up to Chris' parents for a gift exchange and hanging out. Needless to say it took us a couple days to recover since Alex didn't have good naps for like 3-4 days.
After Christmas we had a high school friend get together including spouses and children. It was a lot of fun. We got a new fridge. Super exciting. After the holidays Chris unfortunately had to go back to work but thankfully he has a job. We were truly blessed with a wonderful holiday season.
Now Alex is 18 months and off to nursery. Week one=good, week two=not so great. We'll see how week three goes in a few days. Well I better see what Alex is getting into now.