Grateful....................

Happy Holidays!!!!

I am so grateful for so many things and I want to express that to all who might read this.

We have had quite a lot of stress and problems over the last couple months, but through it all, I know that Heavenly Father is always looking out for my family and will never give us more trials that we can bear.

I am grateful for: (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

1. Supportive family members who are concerned for our well-being and for all the extra's they do for us.
2.Good friends to have fun with and forget about the day-to-day worries. And friends that are very willing to step in and help out when they see we need it.
3. Good neighbors.
4. Having some family close by. My girls love having grandma and grandpa near to have dinner with and read "Where's Waldo books".
5. Jobs. Ryan has been enjoying his new position with BofA and the new challenges it brings.
6. Education. I am so glad that we both have our degrees and that it has helped us intellectually and financially in our careers.
7. Health. We have not been sick for a long time, and I am so happy for the peace of mind I have that my girls are so healthy.
8. Kennedee. Although I make many comments about how challenging she is at this stage, I love her so much.
9. Tayvlee. It was this time last year that I found out I was pregnant after a very long time of waiting. She is the happiest, sweetest little baby and I just can't get enough of her.
10. Hobbies. I am glad that Ryan can get an "out" from his surfing and feel rejuvenated afterwards and I am glad that I keep busy with my own interests.
11. Freedom.
12. Music.
13. Heat and AC.
14. A husband who is very mindful of my needs and works hard for our family.
15. vaccines
16. no contentions.
17. water
18. great clients that I work with.
19. plumbing
20. Jesus Christ and the greatest gift ever given.

They will kill me for this one day.

One day my girls will be very upset that I posted embarrassing photos of them on the internet.

We had been out one night and K fell asleep in the car, but woke up when we brought her inside and she said she was hungry. I went upstairs with tay and after 10 minutes noticed how quiet things were downstairs, "she must be doing something naughty", I thought. And I found her asleep at the table, sandwich half eaten.

I didn't take a single photo of our thanksgiving (I did bust out the video camera though). We have been hating life without a kitchen and were very grateful that ryan's brother, Jason, invited us down to their timeshare in Newport for 3 nights. We had a great yummy thanksgiving dinner, paper-plate style (I know I still can't believe Cathy was ok with that :) ). We loved swimming in the pools, going to see 'tangled' and going to the beach in great california weather...........hahaha Utah. The pic below is the only photo I took that weekend. This is my favorite thing about Tayvlee, she has the chubbist legs ever, I love her little saddlebags. Chubby babies are the best.

We are still dealing with the leak aftermath, removing damage and hopefully rebuilding soon, might have to clear out the neigbors house first to get a mold-clearance-certificate.

I am back to work 2 weeks now and feeling so out of shape, I am sore after every class and every class seems to beat me up. I was in better shape at 37 weeks pregnant than I am now. I'll get back there eventually.

For some reason both times I had a baby, I completely lose my rear-end afterwards. Now I am totally sef-concious, especially in my workout clothes. I don't even look like I should be teaching the class, I look so un-athletic. Maybe I can stuff, they make that stuff, right? LOL And believe me this mama can eat, but I seem to just keep losing weight,ugh! I need some major muscle growth.

I decided to not let this whole kitchen thing stress me out, so I am grateful to not have to think of what to cook for dinner (just where to go out to eat) and grateful not to have to cook any meals, and grateful not to have to do dishes (using paper goods) and not having to mop any kitchen floors. See this isn't so bad, is it.

Ryan just started school, so he is busy every night with homework. He is getting his MBA at Califorina Lutheran University (CLU). It is a 2-year program. Here's to being a single parent at nights! But ryan is great at letting me sleep in on the weekends and he gets up with the girls, so he is a single parent in the mornings. Thanks babe!

e

My house is a MICROBIAL HAZARD, stay clear.

When it rains it pours in our house. All the bad stuff hits at once. We got a slab leak 3 weeks ago, causing water damage and now mold. So they are gutting our kitchen (cabinets and all) and even the drywall). Then we have to have someone come in and build it back. If I had an older kitche I might actually be grateful for the opportunity to upgrade, but I really liked my kitchen. WHAT A PAIN.

And then within the same time period our foyer tiles have cracked and it looks like we will be replacing the flooring as well. We are thinking hardwood floors. I hate carpet in main traffic areas anyways.

So with these problems and the new AC we got last month, our house is becoming a money pit.



Besides being busy with all of this, I have been busy again with photos. It's picture taking season, ya know. This photostrip below is of my old boss. If you want to see more, click on the Photography link above or click HERE.

Why am I doing this?

I really don't know why I blog. I know many people do it to keep a journal, and will later turn it into a book, but I haven't planned on doing that................so why do I do it, I barely have time to.

I started this blog 3 years ago as a way of sharing pictures with my parents and siblings who live in Utah. And then over time I started to find friends and families blogs and it was fun to see what all those people who live so far away from me are up to. But turns out my parents don't even read this and I haven't found time to read other people's blogs in a long time. So if I don't post anything in a while, just know that it isn't a huge priority.

Hey mom, if you happen to read this, let me know, 'cause if you are, then I will keep posting lots more.

Me and Jack Johnson, oh, and Ryan too

'All at Once' community

If you are familiar with Jack Johnson' music, you might know about his "All at Once" community, which helps with environmental non-profit orgs. Ryan and I had the opportunity to be selected (ok, really Ryan was selected after writing some essay of some sort, and I just got to tag along) to work for Jack in his Green Village before his last concert of his tour. We got to meet him (and hug him) as well as his wife and daughter. It was a fun night, I even ran into Dr. Poliakin at the concert.

We got to sit front row as well. This is the 4th time I have seen him in concert. I think next time we will take Kenndee. I'm in the front row, second from the right and you can see ryan's head on the back row. I will hopefully get the pics with Jack in them soon.

My little CuPcaKes!!!

Blogger is being really slow in uploading photos, and I don't have the time........so these are the only pics you are gonna get.
We spent 5 days in St. George and Zion's National Park. We took the girls on a small hike with some awesome views. We also went to the underground caves (got a pic of that) and the sand dunes. We carved pumpkins and the highlight of the trip was watching my dad play PICKLE in the Huntsman Senior Games. Hahaha, my dad is a 'senior'. And if you don't know what pickle is, imagine ping pong and tennis combined. My dad took the SILVER medal in the singles division for men 50-54. GO DAD!!!!


Yes, these are homemade. I took one look at the PB ones and knew my daughter wouldn't wear that for longer than a minute, so I made my own simplified version without all the layers and layers.
K is Chocolate and Tay is Vanilla

Lots of Reading

I'm always reading something, but I read a lot more when I am nursing. I finished the HUNGER GAMES trilogy last week. They are a really fast read. Collins is a great writer, she always ends each chapter on such a high point, you end up reading into the next chapter because you can't wait to find out what happens next. I was recommended these books by my SIL, emilee. She read them, so did my MIL and FIL and even my husband. The 5 of us have different tastes, but we all seemed to really enjoy them. I definitely reccommend. I would give a brief summary, but there really is no way to explain what they are about without making them sound weird. SO, you'll just have to read them.

As you know, I typically read historical fiction or non-fiction. NISEI daughter is non-fiction. Monica tells her story of being an American-Japanese girl of Japanese parents(notcitizens) during WW2. It was interesting to learn more about their culture and what happenned to them in that time period.............but as far as a story goes, it wasn't much of a story than an autobiography. Not the most exciting, but still glad I read it. Next on my list is "the glass castle" and "The Help".

what is up with Disney????

Tayvlee was blessed this past Sunday at 8 weeks old.




Deep thought:
Why is it that almost all of the disney princesses only have one parent? Is there story more meaningful coming from an abnormal family? Seriously,isn't this weird?


Little Mermaid-dad only
Belle-dad only
Jasmine-dad only
cinderella-step-mom only
snow white-step mom only
pocahontas-dad only
even Dumbo only had a mom

random thoughts to blog about

When will my 8 pound dumbells start feeling lite again. When does a mom find time to workout? Not that I really care about getting back into shape at this stage in the game, but since it is MY JOB, I kind of have to so I can keep up with the classes that I have to start teaching in 6 weeks.

Why does my 3-year old run around in panties all day long? She wears clothes outside of the house, but the second we come home, clothes become optional. She takes off her shoes like I ask her too, and then the clothes come off too. Even on really cold days she does this, then says she is cold.............but rather than putting on clothes, she bundles in a blanket. SO if you ever come to my house unannounced, expect to see some nakedness.

Do you know I hate cooking? I am pretty vocal about it. I think the cooking part is ok.....it's the before and after I hate. I hate thinking of things to make,putting together a list, buying the groceries........................and all the dishes afterwards.
My GOAL, try a new recipe every week. I have seriously, about 10 cookbooks (never been open) and I finally busted one out and have now tried 4 new recipes. Yay for my family. And it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I was dreading this new goal. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Goal #2: on Tues and Thurs when K is not in school, give her some learning and crafting time with mommy. My mom gave me a bunch of preshool books that I have picked out crafts, activities, etc. from and I'm trying to give her special time with mommy when baby is sleeping to do this. So far it is working out ok. Tay likes to wake up during it sometimes, but that's how life goes.

**************Just a side note: more like a 'note to self': DON'T LEAVE THE HOUSE without NURSING PADS. Not good.

My Life as of Late

This is such an embarrassing shot. I hate how I look sleeping, but Ryan took this picture this morning.


This is what our bed looks like lately by the morning. Tayvlee does sleep in a pack n'play next to our bed. But if I do a 6am or later feeding, I will lay her next to me and try to sleep for 1 more hour. Kennedee also sleeps in her own bedroom, but seems to always come into our room at about 3am because she is 'scared' and stays in there until morning.

This is Ryan's idea of watching Tayvlee......play a little guitar and then watch the tube. Tay actually seems interested in the TV.



Kennedee is finally back on a schedule. And this little girl needs structure in her life.

I am the bad mom who forgot the camera on her first day of preschool. But Ryan got a shot of her eating breakfast that morning. She just loves Miss Andrea, and so do I. She goes MWF for 3 hours. She is already behaving better at home. She responds so much better with a schedule.





We went bowling for the first time with K the week before. Take a good look at the scoreboard...............that's right, mama likes to win.hehehe.

K also started Soccer this week. They don't really play, they more or less learn the basic drills. Coach is really good with the kids. She likes it, but needs mommy on the field with her. She really has a great kick. Awesome eye-foot-coordination. Daddy's been practicing a lot with her.

first outing to the beach

Ryan convinced me to take our 2 week old to visit Gramdma Willy in Malibu..............and so long as we are there, go kayaking. Well, I stayed in the hut with Tayvlee while Ryan kayaked, but it wasn't too bad. Of course there really was no point in having her wear a swimming suit, but I just had to for a good photo opp.

"Honey, ya don't got boobs!"

so I was up with Tayvlee changing her diaper when Ryan wakes up and asks if he can help out. He's obviously half asleep, and I'm already adjusted to doing the night thing on my own, so I tell him no thankyou. (I can tell he feels guilty for not helping out in the night shift).

Then, the next night I am nursing her, when he wakes up and asks, "Can I do that for you, babe?" Uh, Honey, you dont have boobs, I'll take care of this myself. Well at least he is willing to be a hands on dad.




But Ryan can be very helpful with the Big Sister. So he spent a lot of the first two weeks entertaining Kennedee. He took her on a hike with her cousin Braden. They got hot and took off their shirts.

They also went skateboarding down the hill. K even went stomach down, head first. Little dare devil.

So far we are adjusting well to the new baby. I am feeling good, however I am hoping I will not have to have my doctor fix my incision. I have a small infection and will spare you the details, but hopefully a week of antibiotics will help the incision heel on it's own.