My BF

My Madeline Nielsen, the one and only maddawg, is an engaged WOMAN. I cannot be happier for any one person. I am ecstatic! I love her to pieces and have always wonder who the lucky man would be. Lindsay is a great guy and I know he will take great care of Maddie. The two of them are perfect together, and as long as Linds doesn't take my girl away from me and make her a canuck, i will love him forever too.

Lindsay, you really are one lucky guy. You are marrying into one of the world's greatest families. Your in laws are simply some of my favorites and the best people I know. I am so happy for the two of you and cannot wait to see what the future brings. Hopefully lots of babies, the two of you need to catch up to Glen and I. 

and now for the maddie photo shoot to celebrate the pending nuptial:

The bling! Gorgeous! 

don't judge the pregnant beat look

Love these two!

QT part two.

My quick trip to Utah was a sad trip. My dear friend Lynlee lost her brother AJ, at the young age of 27, to a heart attack. The news of his death was obviously shocking and devastating. Your heart literally hurts for his wife and family.

The funeral was a perfect tribute to AJ and his life. He was a great man, and came from exceptionally great parents. Lynlee gave the eulogy and a few remarks. She did amazing! Strong, faithful, composed, and articulate.

I had the chance to once again reflect on the plan of salvation and the knowledge of the gospel. I am so grateful for eternal families. I am grateful for the big picture. I am happy to know that this mortal life is such a small part of the eternal plan.

With all that said, i am grateful for the friends that i have in this mortal life. I look up to them in so many ways. They make me want to be better. In my small little group of Utah friends that I often do "girls lunches" with, 5 out of the 8 have lost someone in there immediate family. 4 have lost a brother, 1 lost a dad. All these death were and are major tragedies, but all of my girlfriends have kept to the faith and strengthened my testimony more then imaginable.

I love my family. I love my friends. I love the gospel and the knowledge and comfort it brings me.

Here are just a few of our babies.... I hope they all find great strength in their friends like I have

QT, Quick Trip to Utah

This past Tuesday I flew to Utah for a quick trip to Utah. A dear friend of mine lost her brother so I went to town to attend the funeral. Heartbreaking. I'll post more about that later.....

While in town we made sure to spend a few days with grandma and grandpa Hughes and cousins. 

Preston and cousin Kayzlee

Preston and cousin Teague

This is what happen when you ask your brother in law to take a picture! No heads! My sister in law Lindsey and I are just two weeks apart. We are both expecting baby boys. 

I swear this was like the 10th picture attempt and it's blurry! Daron you are fired as photographer! Still love you. 

Fighting for grandma's attention

Celebrations

These two here are getting married April 30th! Party! And Amanda just so happened to celebrate a birthday the other week so we all went to Ruths Chris when she came to town. 

Here is to a new year, new sister in law, new aunt, and new baby producer! Woo Hoo!

flex day

With Glen's work he has the ability to flex his hours and take a day off. I love it. It is so nice to be able to spend a full extra day with him! This last friday we decided to go to the Body World exhibit. So interesting and amazing to be able to see how our bodies are made, and what they are capable of doing. My favorite section was the pregnant woman and all the babies at different gestational weeks. They even had a baby that was 24 weeks, the same as I.

So happy about spending the day with mom and dad!

You can't take any pictures inside the exhibit, but we went down to the other floors where they had tons of interactive games for kids.

spring time!

Spring time means the most amazing weather ever! I love Arizona spring. It is the absolute best and the reason why I live in AZ. Last week my mom and I went to a baby shower at the park and took Preston on the swings for the first time. He absolutely loved them.

Food allergies = awefull diaper rash

Preston's poor little bum. After a terrible yeast infection and constant diaper rash I think his bum is going to be permanently red. OUCH. It's honestly the saddest thing. Anytime this little guy wets his diaper or heaven for bid has a number two, he goes ballistic. Literally, ballistic and beside himself, screaming in pain. It's heartbreaking. Makes me want to cry. Thankfully, there is some prescription numbing cream, and prescription diaper rash cream.

Old friends, new baby friends

Tara and I went to the same elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. We went to church together, played volleyball together, and even dated the same boy. We got married and then had babies together, just kidding, but they are within three months apart. You can say we have a long history and lots of fun memories. 

She came to town the other week and we were able to go to lunch. So fun! I love catching up with friends. Tara I hope you and Adam move back to Phoenix asap so our babies can have play dates. 

Preston and Rhea (who is 3 months older, but 3 times smaller )

And the babes decided to not look in this one, but still be cute. 

reality check times two

Two different incidents (yesterday and today) gave me a little reality check. I love/hate when that happens.

Incident 1: I was telling my family, (mom, dad, and glen) that if my next baby (in 5 years) is another boy, "I will be devastated!" I told them I'm ok with having two boys in a row, but I want to be guaranteed I can have a girl on the third. My mom turned to me and said, "devastated? No Paige, devastating is being in Japan watching your baby get taken away by a wave of water, or watching them get smashed to pieces and buried alive by debris and rubble. You'll be happy with any baby you are blessed with." - ouch. smack down. reality check. but so so true. there are many other things to be devastated about, the gender of a future child should not be one. So blessed and fortunate to not know the true meaning of devastation. 

Incident 2: I was on my computer emailing back and forth with a friend about potential first birthday party ideas for Preston (isn't that so crazy? makes me teary eyed!). I put my laptop down, ran into the kitchen to make a bottle and gave it to Preston to hold himself and drink it on the couch next to me, to which i then picked up my laptop and continued on with my email. My mom turned to me and said, "Paige you can't leave that baby there on the couch. He wants you to hold him, and soon those days will be over and he wont want you to hold him anymore."- yikes! another reality check. what was i thinking? my email can totally wait, but i should never pass up a chance to snuggle up to my baby and rock him to sleep for a morning nap. so i did just that. I put my computer down, held him in my arms, and decided to take a little nap with him. 

I'm grateful for those little reminders and reality checks. They help put things in perspective and remind me to be grateful for all that I have. 

Newport Housewife!

For the last 12 days I was a Newport mom of five boys! Preston, and four other cuties. The boys were ages 16, 13, 11, and 7. It was a crazy two weeks filled with school, homework, baseball, lacrosse, laundry, cooking, cleaning, baking, walking the dog, problem solving, mediator, referee, chauffeur, and much much more! It was lots of work, but even more fun. 

Life with five children was rather eye opening. Made me so grateful for my mama and all that she did and still does for her children. Being a mom is so rewarding, but also very challenging. I am excited to see what this summer brings as I become a mom of two boys.

Preston's obsession

If there is one thing I absolutely adore about my son, it's the fact he is a huge people person. (I adore everything about him, but this quality is at the top of the list.) Preston loves everybody! He is super social and will go to anyone. He loves being tossed around and going from person to person. However, there is one person he absolutely obsesses over. I swear he loves this one person more then me and his daddy. It's Grandpa Bob.

Preston loves his grandpa more then food! Every time he hears my dad's voice, he crawls around until he finds him. He always greets my dad with a huge kiss..... every single time my dad picks him up! I beg for Preston to give me kisses and it happens very seldom. I don't know what my dad has done to teach him, but i need to learn the secret trick!

It has been such a blessing to be able to share a home with my parents and have them really get to know Preston. The bond my dad and Preston have is extremely special and rare. I hope this bond last forever, even 20 years from now, and after we move out.

Today after church the two of them took a little nap together and Glen was able to snap a picture. Darling. I love these two people very much, and i love the love that they have for each other. 

10 months old!

I can't believe my baby is ten months old, even more crazy.... in four months my baby will become a big brother and i will have another baby. Oh mercy that takes the breath right out of me. Not sure how i will survive or get myself ready for that!

Month nine sucked the life out of us, literally. It was filled with double ear infections (twice), teething, a cold, coughs, fevers, diaper rash, congestion, the bloodiest yeast infection on my babes little bum, three different kinds of antibiotics, two different trips that completely threw off any schedule that we used to have, and all sorts of fun stuff.

Month nine meant my abnormally perfect baby, became a real "normal" baby. One that is still cute, smiley and happy, but one that also cries and fusses, wants to be held and comforted, and got a little grumpy before nap time. (believe it or not, these were all new things for us and I am hoping they are not here to stay..... i want my perfect healthy baby back!)

I can't help but make the correlation that while breast feeding, Preston was only sick one time in his entire existence (ear infection and croup at the same time). But during month nine, the month i quit nursing and put him on formula, he seemed to be sick the entire month. Sad, sad, sad, but i didn't have a choice. The nursing had to stop. I started having contractions, very little milk, getting bitten!, and was in extreme pain every time I nursed (think back to week one when your milk is just coming in and you are just learning and the pain is so bad you can feel it from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes....ouch). So I did as my doctor said and I quit.

I am hoping month ten treats us much better. I am looking forward to a happy, healthy baby once again. Although he was sick all last month, he was and still the most adorable little guy. He has three rather large teeth and a fourth that is about to brake through any day now. His hair is getting so long its a little out of control but I want to grow it out until he is at least a year. He has the most beautiful blue crystal eyes. He is still an army crawler and is into everything! He loves food and is a bottomless pit, I don't think he has ever been "full" or turned any food down. He is still as long and skinny as ever, and has perfect baby skin. In month nine you finally started to say mama!!!! I love it!

I love you Preston.... even when you are sick and fussy! You are still my favorite and the best baby ever! Can't wait to see what this next month brings us. 

house hunting is over....

why you ask? BECAUSE WE JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!

We don't close until the end of April, but we could not be more excited! 

mexico comes to an end and its back to phoenix...... part 3

german pancakes

burrito co and the park

preston's first time on the swing.... he loved it, despite the look on his face

party in the bath

taking a picture for Richard's one year

kisses

(if you can't tell by the pictures, poor preston was sick the entire week with a terrible cough and cold, double ear infection, and his top top teeth that were coming in.... it was fun)

Mexico part two

Aside from all the adventures of seeing animals.... dead and alive, we also get to relax, take naps on the beach, eat endless amounts of food, find sand dollars and seashells, kayak with dolphins daily, enjoy the most gorgeous sunsets and sunrise, swim, ride atv's and the razor in the sand dunes, build sand castles, and much much more. 

quality grandma time with her two babies

trying to cram as many people as we can

exploring

Sand Castles

one of many sunsets

kayaking with a pod of dolphins.... coolest thing about mexico!

The Circle of LIFE..... Mexico part one

If you don't want to see dead animals..... skip this post.

We went to Mexico two weeks ago while my oldest brother and his family came to town. I love the Mexico house, and having my nephews and niece there, make it that much better! Every now and then we see washed up dead animals on the beach. This trip was by far the most I have ever seen. It was fun, cool, exciting, and stinky to see.

Giant Squid

Sea Lion

Dolphin

Sea Horse

30+ foot whale

those are the jaw bones.... massive