It's November?

We have been having BEAUTIFUL and unusual November days. I do believe it is supposed to be getting cold here shortly though, which is why I felt like we needed take full advantage of today.

With Ayden walking now, we decided to go to a nice walking park this morning. Ayden loves to walk everywhere, and we thought it would be a good way to not only ware him out, but also give me a better opportunity to play with my camera. Lately, I have been taking a lot of time to learn about it, as well as some new ways to play with Photoshop.

So, we let Ayden loose and I started practicing! I think we both had a lot of fun.

Anniversary Pictures

Almost two weeks ago Michael and I had our pictures taken for our anniversary. Today we got a sneak peak at a few of them. So far, this one is my favorite! I can't wait to see the rest. Hopefully I will be able to share those soon!

Halloween 2012

This was the first year that we dressed Ayden up for Halloween. We decided to dress him up as a skelton. He was super cute and it was a lot of fun.

We decided to go to my parents and their neighborhood for trick or treating. Ayden was extremely excited but I'm pretty sure it was because we were all excited for him, ha.

He is just getting so big! I can't wait until next year.

Finished Product

I meant to post this earlier... but here are our finished pumpkins! They were a lot of fun to make and I think they all turned out well! We have been proudly displaying them on our balcony. :)

Pumpkin Carving

This afternoon we decided to do some pumpkin carving. We got a pumpkin for each one of us. It was a fun family activity for our Sunday. It was the first time we had done this all together. We did a "boo" with a ghost for Ayden, I did an owl, and Michael is going to do a Star Wars related pumpkin. He has to still carve his. He decided to get an extremely large pumpkin, so after carving Ayden's and then cleaning his out, he needed a break, ha. So once we have the finished product of everyone's, I will post a picture of them all together. But for now, he are our before pictures.

Agree To Disagree

It is no secret that my husband and I have different religious beliefs. The two of us have worked very hard together to not allow this to cause a problem between us, or for our family. We have done a great job of learning about one another and figuring out how Ayden will be raised. We both want a need religion in our life. It is very important to us.

Up until recently we have not stumbled upon any outside obstacles. I realize the situation that happened to us may not be the only time we face this. However, seeing how this was the first time I was put in this particular scenario, it has left quite an impression on my heart.

Michael and I were faced with the issue of whether or not his religion should be considered a cult. I must say this was a very uncomfortable, embarrassing and sad situation for me.

I have learned a tremendous amount from Michael and his family. It has opened my eyes and my heart on so many levels. Do I believe in everything that they do? Absolutely not. Do I understand all of their practices? Of course not. I don't think any of us who practice religion would be in our particular religion if we didn't feel that in our heart we were worshipping correctly. Most importantly though, do I believe he is in a cult? No.

After getting to know Michael and his family, I have come to realize that a lot of us use the word cult a little too loosely. My previous definition of a cult versus what Michael views as a cult is quite different. And from understanding that better, I can 100% get why that is extremely offensive.

Billy Graham recently came out with a wonderful article concerning Michael's religion. He removed Michael's religion from the definition of a cult and explained that when all is said and done, it will be what is on the inside of that person's heart that God will judge.

I think it is wonderful to be passionate about what you believe in. I have my strong beliefs as does Michael. Thankfully, the both of us have been raised to love and be respectful towards any person. No matter where they are in life or what religion they serve. I do not believe we were put on this earth to judge one another or attack something we do not agree with.

We were recently contacted by a person who was also involved in this situation. I was hoping for an outreach of some kind. After seeing how upset my husband was over this, it would have been nice. I was not expecting to take back how they feel towards the subject, that is their right. However, it would have been nice if they acknowledged that their words could have been hurtful, and maybe take a step back and rethink their approach. Instead, my husband was told that they would just have to agree to disagree. I don't think it's fair for my husband to have to agree to disagree that he in involved with a cult and that his heart is not a heart of God. My husband is a Godly man, and I am very thankful for that.

I do not think these people are bad people by any means. I feel like they meant well, but their approach was a bit off. I remember learning about different religions and their beliefs when I was becoming a member of my church. My pastor did a great job of teaching us the difference and explaining why we believe the way we do versus how others believe. He never labeled, and I feel that is very important.

Anyway, like I said before...since this was the first time coming across this, it left an impression on my heart. All I can do from here on out is use this a learning tool. I cannot be angry...that really does me no good. Instead, it will just help prepare me for if this happens again, especially if Ayden becomes involved and understands what is going on. I realize we have put Ayden in a tough situation, but I know Michael and I will continue to do our best to raise him with church and God being number one priority.

One Year Anniversary

October 14th Michael and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Saturday my parents volunteered to watch Ayden for us so that we could enjoy a nice evening out. We decided to go out to dinner and a movie. We went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurant called Jose Pepper's. After dinner we went to see the movie Pitch Perfect. It was probably one of the funniest movies we have both seen for a while. It was so nice to have a nice night out with my husband. I can't believe how fast that first year went by!

Ayden is continuing to grow and he makes us laugh every day. He definitely has quite the personality. He knows what he does and does not want, and has his moments of stubbornness. We are starting to get into the stages of learning how to work with Ayden when things don't go according to his plan...aka...he doesn't get what he wants. All in all, he's a pretty good listener. I can only hope that continues!

Michael and I are still working with a lawyer concerning his other son that lives in Utah. We first spoke with a well known father friendly Utah lawyer. We got a free consultation, got some good information and then took what we learned to the lawyer that we worked with previously. We are serious about solving this issue that we have, but we are definitely being smart with our money. It seems to be going well so far! It's just a slow process. I can be impatient sometimes, ha.

We are still looking for a house. There are a ton of homes out there, but not all seem to fit what we are currently looking for. Thankfully we still have time. I'm glad we started early. We will find the perfect one soon enough.

And to wrap this all up, I must say that I am very thankful to have Michael in my life. I'm happy that even though the past year (and then some) has had it's crazy/challenging moments, he has always been by my side. He's an amazing person and I can't wait to continue our journey together! It's going to be a great second year. ;-) We've got some good things coming our way!

Ayden Walking

I finally got the video up!

So Much To Say

I have just been terrible at updating my blog. I have quickly come to realize that the more mobile your children get, the less time on your hands you tend to have. So with Ayden currently napping, I thought this would be a good time to document some of the recent things that have been going on in our lives.

Ayden is saying a few words now. Although he doesn't know how to use all of his words, it does not prevent him from trying to talk. He jabbers all the time and tries to communicate non stop. It's very interesting to listen to him because he does little pauses between his "sentences" and sometimes it will sound like he is trying to ask you a question. He has definitely picked up on different tones from the people around him. He loves talking with his hands too, which is rather cute.

He has a bunch of teeth now and is getting much better at chewing table food. When he was first introduced to table food he had (and still does sometimes) a terrible gag reflex. He loves macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and of course anything dessert.

He finally decided to take his first steps by himself a few weeks ago. He has the balance, and is able to walk, but still chooses to crawl as he still thinks that is a faster way to get from point A to point B. Soon he will learn though and before I know it will be running from place to place. I am going to try and figure out how to post the video I took of him walking from my phone onto here, so hopefully that will be my next post!

Last week we took another trip down to Utah to visit Michael's son and family. Noah has grown so much and truly is a sweet boy. I loved the time that we were able to spend together and watching his interaction with Ayden. I finally heard him refer to Ayden by his name versus the usual "baby".  I think Michael really enjoyed his time with his family. Not everything went according to plan when it came to Noah, but we are in the process of fixing that, so our next trip and our trips from there on will be completely different and Michael and I (as well as his family) will get the time we rightfully deserve.

While we were in Utah I celebrated my 26th birthday. His family was kind enough to all rally together and help me celebrate. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to share that time with them.

We are currently getting ready to start looking for homes. Our lease ends in December so hopefully we will be able to find something that suits us when that time comes. We have put off moving long enough that we just need to do it now. Moving can be such a pain and extremely stressful, but if we ever want to be a family of 3+ we need to get it into gear, ha. Plus, hopefully that will be our last move for a while.

So yeah! I think that pretty much sums up what has been going on in the Terry household. My next to do item is to try to get that video loaded on here. :)

1st Birthday

Ayden is officially a one year old! It's so crazy how fast time has flown. I have loved every single minute of it though. Motherhood has brought me nothing but joy.

Ayden is a fantastic little boy and is learning how to do so much! It's not going to be much longer and he will be walking. It's hard for me to picture him doing that though. He's still my little baby! Ha.

Yesterday we celebrated his birthday. We went to my parents house and had hamburgers. My dad makes wonderful grilled hamburgers so we took full advantage of the weather and occasion. I of course had to take lots of pictures. It was his first birthday and all! :)

Turning One

It's hard to believe that Ayden will be turning one on Saturday. I can't help but think about where I was at a year ago today and how I was feeling. My expecting due date was on the 10th, so I was drawing very near to that, and I had just started my maternity leave from work. I was very anxious and nervous about the whole process of getting Ayden here. I was also nesting like CRAZY and I'm sure driving Michael insane! Ha.

It's been a good year for my little family though! Michael and I have picked out Ayden's birthday cake and we are very excited to celebrate. We will be doing something small but memorable with the family. I can't wait to see him eat his cake! It is Spiderman themed, which Daddy definitely helped pick out. :)

I wanted to take a couple of "one year old" pictures in case I didn't get a chance to do it either on or after his birthday. I'm hoping to take some Saturday morning. Weather...and Ayden permitted.

He got his first hair cut last Saturday which was another reason why I wanted to take some snap shots of him. It's amazing how much a hair cut can change a little boy! He is definitely turning into a little toddler and slowly but surely leaving that baby phase.

Hope to share more pictures soon!

Almost A Year?!

So I know it's been a LONG time since I have sat down and blogged. I have a lot of updating to do!

We'll start off in April. Mid April we were able to go back to Utah to visit with family and friends. I think it is safe to say that so far, that has been our best trip back there. Michael was able to visit with some of his old co-workers, and we were able to do lots of fun stuff with his family and his son Noah. I think one of our favorite times was taking Noah to a local park there in Brigham as well as visiting the Salt Lake City zoo. We had such a great time, and we are already planning for our next trip! We are hoping to make it back there in August. *fingers crossed*

In May Michael was able to get a new car. We decided on a SUV type of car for our someday growing family, and it would be a good traveling car. We hope that once Ayden gets a little older we can take more road trips. He ended up getting a 2008 Kia Sportage. It seems to be a really nice car and he enjoys it a lot! It is definitely a lot more reliable than his previous car, and that make all of us rest a little easier.

Ayden continues to grow and each day surprises me with something different. Very recently he has become extremely mobile. It's very interesting how you can go one day with being able to just sit your baby down and not worry too much about where he'll end up, to the next day running around everywhere chasing him. He has become very good at pulling himself up on things and his new "fun" thing is to hop between the furniture. That's probably my least favorite trick of his, ha.

This week I am lucky enough to be off from work. My parents are enjoying a two week vacation which gave me a wonderful excuse to ask off from work. It's only day one of my vacation, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I think this will probably be the longest time I've spent with him since my maternity leave.

Looking to the next several weeks, it's hard to believe Ayden will be a year old. He has changed so much the past 10, almost 11 months! I'm trying to cherish each day as much as I can. He is probably one of the best things that ever happened to me! I am very thankful for him.

Happy Easter!

This year was Ayden's first Easter. We of course had to put together something special for him to celebrate. We had a lot of fun with him at Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood's house. Next year will be even more fun, I'm sure. I can't wait! I hope everyone had a great Easter. :)

Sunday Funday

Sunday's are probably one of my favorite days of the week. It's a good time for church, relaxation, and good ole family time.

Ayden will soon be nine months old. He loves to stand and hold onto to things, he enjoys his own voice, and is quite the cuddly little boy! He even gives kisses, which amazes me that he even knows what that means let alone how to do it! I think babies are a lot smarter than what we give them credit for.

About a week ago Michael and I bought the baby bullet to make baby food. On facebook I have seen several of my friends partake in this activity and it interested me. I wanted to jump on the band wagon and see what it was all about. Today I finally got the opportunity to make a few things with it. I only made a weeks worth of food just in case Ayden doesn't like what I made. I'm sure it will taste different than what he's use to, so it may take some time for him to adjust, or for me to find what he does and doesn't like with it.

While I was making baby food, I also experimented with a dessert recipe that I got off of Pinterest. It's called Oreo Cheesecake Bites. They are still in the process of being made, but they look and smell delicious! I was hoping to get a picture of it before I wrote this post, but I was anxious to blog since I haven't in a while.

Next week is Easter and I am very excited for that. Then, two weeks after that we are off to Utah again! That is always a fun time, and I am looking forward to visiting the family. I'm sure it will also make for some great pictures!



My little cuddle bug




The boys playing while I expirement in the kitchen




Baby Bullet




Finished product



Thirty-One

Last Thursday Michael turned 31. Thank goodness this years birthday wasn't as big of a deal as last year when he turned the big 3-0. ;-)

None the less, we were able to have a good time with him in celebrating another year. Thursday after work we all went to Outback for a birthday dinner. While we were at Outback, we decided to see how Ayden would do in a high chair versus the sling that we normally use. He seemed to do all right in it, but I think we might wait a little longer before we regularly use it. He's still a bit too small for it.

After dinner we came home and celebrated with a strawberry cheesecake and some sugar cookies made by one of our favorites bakeries here in town called J. Rae's. It was the perfect way to end our evening!

Saturday we went to my parents house and enjoyed home made tacos and celebrated with an assortment of pies. It was nice to be able to celebrate Michael's birthday and enjoy some good family time.

Michael made out with some good stuff. He received money, movies, video games, and some comic books. I'd say he was a very happy man.

I'm glad Ayden, myself, and my family could help make his birthday a special day! We look forward to next year. :)

Legit Date Night

Last night Michael and I were lucky enough to go out on an actual date night. I say actual because our date nights now involve Ayden as well. I LOVE having the little guy around, but sometimes it is nice to just have some uninterrupted time with Michael.

Michael was given the opportunity to receive some free tickets to the Jeff Dunham show per his work Nye & Associates. We weren't sure what kind of seats we'd be getting but we knew that no matter what, it was a free and great night out. Once we got to Intrust Bank Arena, we got our tickets and started looking for our seats. We found someone to help us and they directed us towards the top floor to our suite. At that moment, our date night became even better!

The suite was beautiful. It had a built in kitchen with food and beverages and the seats were extremely comfortable. Plus, we had a pretty nice view!

It was probably hands down one of our best date nights together. It also didn't hurt that we only paid $10 that night...and that was for our parking, ha.

What a great weekend. :)

Hey There, Model Baby...

Here are just a sample of some of the pictures that Ayden took.



New Toy

Ayden recently got a stand up activity center. He originally received one on Christmas but it has stayed at my parents house for when my mom watches him during the day. He took to it very well, and really enjoyed being in it.

Since he enjoyed it so much, I wanted to get him one for when he is at home with us. I decided it would be a good idea to get a different one so that he wouldn't find himself tired of playing with the same thing.

The one that we have at home sings and dances. Ayden wasn't too sure of it at first, but he seems to really like it now. He'll even bop up and down every once in a while to the music that is playing. It's fun watching him learn and play!

He's such a cute and fun kid. It's kind of ridiculous. ;-)

Happy 6 Months

I had to get my official 6 month photo of Ayden up since he will be turning 7 months in just a few weeks. This was a picture that I took off of my phone, and Michael doctored it up! I think it looks great. It's definitely one of my favorites! I love that I can get him to smile for his pictures now.

I'm hoping to get some professional pictures done soon.