Winter 2010

You know you are a pretty pathetic blogger when......there is an average of 6-7 months in between each of your posts. Unfortunately, I fall under that category. I am going to really try and be better at it though. I used to be really good at keeping a journal. l
Life is so busy and the last thing on my mind is sitting down and typing what is going on in our lives, but I know that if I don't, I will regret it one day.

So, we just had Christmas. It was kind of like our first real christmas as a family. We did Christmas baking while listening to Dolly Parton, I did all kinds of cute Christmas crafts. On Christmas Eve, we drank hot chocolate, watched the Christmas movie, and opened up our Christmas PJ's to wear that night. It was pretty awesome. It was Brylee's first REAL christmas. Last Christmas she could barely hold her head up and she was drooling all over the place. This year was so much fun. She kind of opened up her gifts and pulled the paper off. She got so many cute things. It was so much fun watching her face light up and her arms flap as she opened each new gift. It probably took an hour for her to open her gifts because she had to play with each one for a while before we moved on to the next one. One of her gifts was a rocking horse/pony. When you push the ears it sings songs and makes horse sounds. At first, all she wanted to do was play the song so that she could dance to the music, but I think she has the hang of it now. It is so much fun to watch her go on that thing. Next year will probably be even more fun and exciting!

Tanner and Kelsey got P90x for Christmas. I already have it at my house, so of course we had to make it into a competition. We are going to see which of the three of us can make it through the 90 days without quitting. If Kelsey loses, I get 8 free hours of babysitting. If Tanner loses, I get a free dinner at the Rooftop in Salt Lake. I am not going to lose so I don't even have to mention what I would have to do for them if I lose! :) craig and I are on day 3 and still going strong!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to finish P90x. I have been thinking all week about what my goals should be for the upcoming year. My problem is, I have WAY too many goals and I never finish them. So...my number one goal this year is to actually succeed in keeping my new year's resolutions.

Another one of my goals is to be a better blogger. :)

My Mom....

I just wanted to say one thing. I am so thankful for my mom. She is the strongest person I know.

Ragamuffins

Today was a sad sad day. Today, I came to the realization that I have become the type person I swore I would never become: the raggedy mom with the raggedy kid...

It all began last night.......

Everyone who knows me knows that math is my very LEAST favorite subject. So... having a math test Wednesday afternoon, I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning studying. After studying, I creeped into our room where Craig was fast asleep and trying not to wake him, I quietly shut the door to our bathroom and took a quick shower. I did not even try to blow dry my hair and went to bed with a wet head. (Sleeping on wet hair ALWAYS make my hair crazy!)

Of course, Brylee was up two or three times after I went to bed. (I love teething!)

This morning, I rolled out of bed to the sound of Brylee weeping and wailing in her crib.... And on my way out of the room I ran into the bed post because I was so exhausted.

After breakfast I had my whole day planned out. I had four (very long) chapters left to study for my test and I made myself a schedule. I gave myself a certain amount of time to study each section so that I would be finished by the time I had to leave for class this afternoon. It would be very close, but if I stuck to my schedule, I would finish studying.

Things didn't go quite as planned. Brylee was getting into EVERYTHING. She puts everything in her mouth so you have to watch her extra close. She was extra needy for attention and Barney just wasn't cutting it.

Brylee went down for her morning nap and it was FINALLY quiet. I began studying and was making great time. I was able to focus. I began to feel pretty good about things. Right then.....My phone rang.

Mom was on the other end of the line telling me what a wonderful time they are having in Fort george. Then She asked me if I would drive over to her house to write a check for the cleaning ladies. Inside I was thinking, "Do you understand what this means? I have a a schedule to keep! I only have "X" amount of minutes to study each section, and if I don't stick to it....I won't pass my test!".....but on the outside I said, "sure". I began thinking, if I speed over there as fast as I can and rush home, I can be home and only lose about 45 minutes of studying time.

I went upstairs, threw my nappy hair ( from sleeping on it wet) into a ponytail, and put on a pair of jeans(...the dirty jeans with holes that I wore the entire day yesterday while I cleaned). I woke up brylee, fed her a quick spaghettios lunch, put on my sunglasses to cover my make-up-less face, and rushed out the door to go to moms. I began to drive as fast as I could.

On my way over to moms, I got pulled over.....and got a ticket!!!! (of course, it was just one of those mornings)

I finally made it to mom's and headed back home. I drove very slowly this time, not wanting another TICKET! I was trying to study while driving, but Brylee was screaming as loud as she has ever screamed. She doesn't enjoy riding in the car these days. I started yawning as I passed a grocery store and decided I was going to go buy myself an energy drink.

We finally made it into the store and I picked up an energy drink....and then I picked up another one.

So....here is the point of my story:

As we walked out of the store I came to my realization. There I was...... crazy hair pulled back into a bun, absolutely NO make-up, wearing the t-shirt I slept in and my dirty jeans with holes. To top it off.....I was wearing no deodorant. I looked over at Brylee. She still had spaghettios all over her face and clothes, her ponytail was sticking out from her head at a weird angle with her hair bow literally hanging from 2 strands of hair. It flopped around with each step we took. Her diaper was sagging down to her knees because she has a new waterbottle that she drinks out of non-stop...and her diaper fills up every 20 minutes. And she was wearing no shoes.

We looked like a couple of ragamuffins!

At that moment, Brylee gave me a big squinty faced, spaghettios smile and my heart melted. I realized that we were a mess and that people were giving us looks in the store. But I also realized that none of that stuff mattered anymore. There was a time when I never would have imagined going into a store looking like that. But things have changed a lot in the last year. I realized that being a mom is tough.. it makes your house a disaster, it makes you get little to no sleep, it makes going to school and studying for math tests nearly impossible.......but it also teaches you how to stop being selfish and self centered and how to love someone more than you ever thought possible.

I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm so thankful that heavenly father trusted me to raise Brylee and that I have an eternal family. That makes me way happier than passing any test or looking like a supermodel.

To the BEST DAD in the world.....

oh wow. I didn't realize how long it has been since i have updated this thing! It has been way too long. So....I will just do a quick update on what has been going on recently in our little family. (Warning: This might be pretty long....but I'll put in a lot of pictures... and I will be MUCH better and keeping up with this from here on out. )



Well...where do I begin? It has been a little crazy recently. Craig just finished up his last semester of school. I am so proud of him. He worked really hard. We are just waiting for all of his paperwork to go through so he can take all the state tests. He is now the proud owner of Lakeview Electric company....and he has started doing a few houses on his own. He is accomplishing more and more of his goals as time goes on! (Good job, Craigy!)



I, on the other hand, am lucky that he works so hard so that I can do my job....which is being Brylee's mom. I am home with her during the day and I am still in school in the evenings. This is my very last semester of pre-reqs and I will be so glad to have them over with and move on to the next phase of my schooling...nursing school. ( I have yet to determine where and when I will be going to school, but at least I'm getting there!...Slowly but surely!)





Craig just got back from a fishing trip in Canada with his best friend John, John's dad and Brother. Here are a few of the pictures that he took. (I wish I could post them all because it looks so beautiful there...but it would take way too long.)








He had a lot of fun and always looks forward to seeing John. I hope that one day I will be lucky enough to go to Canada...It looks awesome!

In other news (haha), we took a family trip to the zoo a couple of weekends ago. It is so fun being a parent because you have a good excuse to do all of the things you haven't done since you were little. Brylee had so much fun.

After our day at the zoo, Craig and I, being the suckers that we are, took Brylee to the gift shop and let her pick out ANY stuffed animal that she wanted. She picked out a camel...which was really cute. It was so fun to see her get excited over it. She loves it so much!

It is so much fun to spoil Brylee. I can't explain it...when she gets excited about something and gets that huge smile on her face...you just want to give her more and more.

Here is a little more proof that we like to spoil her: She has her very own "ball pit".

Speaking of Brylee, she is just growing up SOOOO fast. It is crazy. She is crawling now. Which means that, instead of her playing nicely with her toys on a blanket on the living room floor, her toys are now spread out thoughout the house. (SO long, clean house!)

She also tasted her first fudge popsicle the other day......

And I must add that she absolutely LOVED it. (Thanks Grandpa Fred!)

Father’s day is coming up this Sunday…and I have been thinking of how lucky I am that my little girl has such a good dad. I am even sometimes a little jealous because I wish that I would have had what she has. I love Brylee so much and I am just so grateful and happy that my little girl will not ever have to wonder whether or not her dad loves her. She will always know that her daddy loves her more than anything in the world. You can’t even imagine how happy that makes me.
When I married Craig I knew that he would be a great dad, but I had no idea just HOW great of a dad he would be. I am married to a man who wakes up really early, works all day, comes home with a smile on his face, takes over my job so that I can go to school, he does play time, bath time, and bed time every single (Monday through Thursday) night….. without one complaint. He works harder than anyone I know so that Brylee can have her mom home with her. He is the type of dad that gives everything he has to take care of his family, and doesn’t expect anything in return (well, maybe a hug and a kiss).
So…Happy Father’s Day to the dad who:
-Tells his little girl how much he loves her and how pretty she is every single day.
-rocks her to sleep every night, even when I’m home, just because he wants to.
-sneaks into her room at night, using his cell phone for a flash light, just to peak at her sleeping before he goes to bed.
-can make her get the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen, just by walking into the room……and can just as easily make her scream and cry, just by walking out of the room.
-who looks at and treats his daughter like she is the best thing that has ever happened to this world. …

Happy 1st father’s day, Craig! I am so lucky that you are my little girl’s daddy!(It is very obvious that Brylee feels the same way.) Both of the girls in this house love you more than anything in the world and are so lucky to have you. I don’t know what we would do without you. xoxo