M + M

Kian is 2!

2011-12-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

I cant believe my little man is 2. It's a happy yet sad time in my life. I'm so excited for our many adventures to come and watching him learn and grow is truly amazing. Really, it's been two years?? For the record he:
•Loves to sing songs and is getting pretty good at abc's, jingle bells, and old MacDonald.
•Was so fun this year at Christmas because he was loving everything about it; the lights, Santa, snowman, loved it all.
•Sleeps in his big boy bed every night, I'm so proud of him!
•Is still obsessed with his paci.
•Doesn't care for his hands being dirty or boogs in his nose. He'll yell "hands" or "tissue" until we can get him taken care of.
•Thinks it's so funny to run away from big pregnant Mom.
•Senses changes coming soon, he's been super clingy which is not like him.
•Loves watching Dora, Blues clues, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Nemo, Monsters, toys etc...
•Loves planes and choo choo's.
•Favorite books are potty, quiet loud, Olivia, Choo Choo, and many more.
•Is starting to put sentences together like, "Where airplane go Mom?"
•Calls Michael and I by our names and Mommy and Daddy.
•Loves to have screws and batteries in his hands all the time, I don't know where he always finds them!
•Loves his teddy, kisses, hugs and prayer at night before bed.

Kian you're amazing, smart and hilarious. Thank you for bringing so much joy to this little family of ours. I love you to the moon and back.

Mom

This is from his actual birthday, December 27.

We celebrated his birthday at Chuck E Cheese with lots of family. The kids loved it!

The failed cake, it was suposed to be a dark blue with silver sprinkles like the night sky. It still tasted good.

Sugar crash.

Turkey bowl + tree

2011-12-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today marks a very important day for me, December 1st. Hopefully this is month I bring home a sweet little girl. I'm so ready to be done, I want my body back.

As I say each year, this tree is a beast to put up and down, it's huge! It's so pretty, but I think if we ever move we'll have to get a smaller one. Kian's doing pretty well with not taking all the decorations off. He has such a hard time keeping his little paws off.

The annual Turkey bowl was fun, but our team lost. Mike was MVP for his team for sure, he's a machine.

No pictures of me you see? That's the way I like it!

Halloween

2011-11-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

Halloween wasn't the best day of my life this year. I was very sick all night on Hallow's Eve throwing up and all the other jazz. I didn't get one second of sleep and felt like I might die. I was trying to be a good sport on Halloween, I even carved a pumpkin.

Kian wanted to pass out the candy at our house. He would yell, "Hey come here!" He would throw some candy in their bags then say, "Come back!" It was hilarious.

Kian and I went to my Mom's ward trunk or treat with his cousin Raif. I dressed as Dorothy and Kian was the lion. He was looking around in wonder at all the kids dressed up, he wasn't too sure on what was going on.

Two very cute little animals!

Hopefully next year I wont be pregnant or sick!

28 weeks

2011-10-12T15:54:00.001-07:00

Sadly, I am NOT one of those cute tiny pregnant girls. I get huge everywhere! My butt grows just as fast as my belly and the extra fat I had this time around didn't help. This pregnancy hasn't been too bad after the sick stage was over. I can't complain. I did however develop a nasty, very itchy rash I could do without! I'm so excited to meet this super active baby gir and kiss her sweet little cheeks. 3 months to go baby girl.

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Conference Weekend

2011-10-06T15:00:00.001-07:00

I was feeling a little bitter that I had to work all day Sunday and I wouldn't be able to be at home with my family watching Conference. I decided to ask for coverage at work so I could stay home and watch the morning session with Michael and Kian. I'm so glad I did! It was wonderful to wake up as a family, fix breakfast and watch/listen to the beautiful messages given. Michael made my most favorite breakfast, The Original Pancake House's Apple Pancake. It's divine, if you've never been there, you need to go. We snacked on dried apples and cinnamon and sugar covered pumpkin doughnuts.
The conference talks left me with distinct impressions, I was filled with the spirit and it felt oh so good. I don't know if it's because I have a little girl on the way, or just because I'm pregnant, but Sister Elaine Dalton's talk left me very emotional. It is so TRUE TRUE TRUE of the importance of a strong Daughter Father relationship. I have stressed this to Michael from the beginning of our relationship. My two sisters and I did not have a good nor strong relationship with our Father, and it has left us dysfunctional to say the least. I'm grateful I learned to rely on the love my Heavenly Father has for me to make up for the lack of my earthly Father's.

Kian 20 months

2011-09-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

Time flies doesn't it? Kian is 20 months and going on 16. He's becoming increasingly independent and wants to make all the rules. For the record he:
•Copies everything we say. I can't really make a list of every word he says because it's different everyday. Yesterday for example, we went to the zoo and Kian got stung by a bee on his finger (so so sad!) All day long he kept saying, "my minger mommy, my minger hurts." My favorite words that he says are; no way, deeper(diaper), see ya yater(later), of course Mommy & Daddy never get old, sister, miss u and wuv u.
•Counting and colors. I'll ask him to count my fingers or count the numbers and he'll say, "four, five, four, five, four five!" When asked what color something is, it's either red or blue. We're working on abc's, but that's coming slow.
•He'll pat my belly and say baby, sometimes he'll even give it a kiss.
•His temper tantrums are increasing and getting worse. I'm starting to think I need to do something different to get these to stop. Everything he cant have turns into a screaming, hitting, throwing, thrashing meltdown. Hopefully it's just a phase.
•Now weighs 23lbs!!! He's so small, the smallest kid in nursery.
•He's still a very picky eater, it's like pulling teeth to get him to eat. He usually eats 2 meals a day pretty well. Breakfast and dinner. He naps during lunch and wont eat before he goes down. He still will not eat fruits or veggies. I try to hide them in bread or pasta so he gets a little here and there.
•He's very friendly and daring. He says hi to everyone he passes, I hope this doesn't change. At the zoo the huge gorilla was right up to the window staring everyone down. All the little kids were scared to go near the window, not Kian! He walked right up to the window and started saying, "hi, hi, hi" and knocking on the window. When jumping on our tramp, he'll walk right over to the edge, flip his legs around and drop to the ground when he wants down. Like I said, daring.
•Since his molars, his sleeping schedule is so messed up. Sometimes he sleeps for 3-4 hours and sometimes an hour. I hope with the cold season coming we can work on getting his sleep schedule regular again.
•Becoming more clingy when I have to go to work. It's hard to leave him, he always cries and chases after me.
•Starting to get interested in potty. I bought him a potty book, and it's his favorite book. He carries it around with him all day and pretends to read it. The other day he came up to me and said, "poo poo." I checked his diaper and nothing. He started walking up the stairs while saying potty. I took him to his potty and took his diaper off and sat him down. He then started whining and saying down. I guess he's not quite ready for potty training, but hopefully soon.
•He loves his books more and more which makes me so happy. When I sit in his glider in his room, he'll walk over and say, "book". He'll grab a book and come snuggle on my lap. He'll do this for about 10 books until I get off the chair.

Lake Powell 2011

2011-08-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on blogging, I feel like I just dont have time anymore.

Kian was frighteningly daring in Lake Powell. My week consisted of following his every move. He would walk out into the water and keep walking until the water was over his head. He would jump right off the boat into the water. He was crazy! It was a fun week in the sun. We camped on the beach at Lone Rock.

We suffered through extreme winds storms, and rain storms. Michael turned 32, and I didn't get much sleep. Kian had a blast playing in the water and with cousins, that's all that matters.

18 Months

2011-07-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how time flies after a child is born. I'm proud of myself for always living in the moment and enjoying every second of Kian's phases. He has so much character to say the least. I'm so behind in blogging and I'm beginning to lose track of his many milestones. He's 18 months for another few days, so I guess I'll start here and try to be better in the future. For the record...

•Kian is getting so good at jumping on our trampoline. Michael bought me our tramp for my birthday about 6 years ago and it makes me really nervous to have one with kids. There are soooo many accidents with kids+tramps. I think we'll get rid of it, but for now we're enjoying watching Kian on it. He loves jumping on it and says, "noyng, noyng, noyng" when he's bouncing(he got that from me saying bouncy, bouncy, bouncy when he's jumping).
•He's getting better with food, but still will not eat fruits or vegetables. He loves meat of any kind, even fish. Most days he eats oatmeal with applesauce and brown sugar for breakfast. Then for a snack he'll eat a blueberry nutri grain bar. Then for lunch it's a peanut butter and honey sandwich on wheat bread. Then he'll eat whatever we have for dinner. He loves pasta, meatballs, corn on the cob(with sour cream instead of butter). He loves to dip things; french fries into ketchup, chicken into ketchup or ranch etc... I'm not a nice Mom when it comes to treats. He has treats once in a while, but not very often. He loves his otter pops, and ice but who doesn't?
•He took a little longer to start talking, but now he repeats everything we say. My favorite is when I hear the sweet words of "I wuv you" come out of his mouth. He loves animals and saying the names and sounds of them. If we're driving and he sees an animal he'll say, "Mom, horse, horse, horse, horse" over and over again. When he poops he'll come up to me and say, "poo poo" and point to his bottom. I'll say, "Let's go change your diaper." Then he'll walk up to his room and lay down. He's such a good boy like that.
•I'm sad because he wont give his kisses as freely as he used to. He now likes to give "licky kisses". We'll say, "can I have a kiss?" Then he'll act like he's going to kiss you and stick out his tongue at the last second. He finds it hilarious!
•We can no longer go out to eat with Kian. He is too rambunctious and crazy, the boy just can't sit still! He's a climber and thrower of all things, these two just don't fit together with eating. Hopefully when he gets a little older and better at listening and understanding us, we may have to try again.
•He sleeps so well, and goes to bed very easily. He sleeps 10-12 hours at night and takes a 2 1/2-3 hour nap. When he's ready for bed at night, Mike will say, "time to go to bed", so he'll walk up to his room and try to climb in his crib.
•He full on eats dog food, puts it in his mouth, chews it up, then swallows. Dis-cust-ing.
•He's going to be a sensational big brother to his baby sister.

I am not afraid

2011-07-16T10:08:00.001-07:00

I am not afraid. I was born to do this. Lately when I get discouraged, or the guilt starts to set in from having another baby, I think of these words. It sound ridiculous, but I get overwhelmed thinking of trying to work and take care of two children. I can barley take care of one! My house is never as clean as I want it to be. My clothes are never as fashionable as I would like. I can never quite follow through with DIY projects I've started and I'm adding another baby to the mix. I'm crazy! I want a big family so I guess I'll have to learn how to juggle it all.

I found these bracelets via Little White Whale and it gives me some inspiration and hope for my upcoming future. I am not afraid, I was born to do this.

2nd & 4th of July

2011-07-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

I've been going to the Provo Freedom Festival Freedom Days every year since I was little. Now I get to bring my Hubs and kiddie with me. It was fun watching Kian dance to the music and run around. He even got soaked in the sprinklers, while we had fun playing with Michael's new phone camera.

Kian loved the parade! It was hard to contain him from walking in the street up close to everything going by. He was in good July 4th spirit and was loving all over everyone.

We left for Lake Tahoe the next morning at 6am and still had lots of stuff to do. We still had to squeeze in a bbq with family and fireworks.

It was a wonderful, busy July 4th!

Orem summer fest

2011-06-27T14:11:00.001-07:00

Picture overload, but I can't get enough of this little guy.
Kian loved loved loved the parade! He was dancing and twirling the entire time.
He loved the boat ride and the giant boucer. He was quite upset when our tickets ran out and we had to leave the bouncer.
We ate lots of yummy food and of course watched fireworks.
I'm so excited for this weekend of festivities. July 4th is one of my favorite holidays!

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Summer Sun

2011-06-11T11:22:00.001-07:00

We've been soaking up the sun at Seven Peaks and having a blast. I forgot to put sunscreen on my ghostly white back and now I'm red as a tomato and in PAIN! Seven Peaks will have to wait a while before we go back. Look at skinny little Kian. His shorts from last year are too big so we had to roll them up.

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2011-05-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, Natalie, Caitlyn and I packed our bags and said goodbye to our loved ones for a girls weekend in Vegas. There was plenty of girl talk, shopping and delicious food. It was a blast!
(Notice the "funny guy" in the backround)

We randomly ran into our good friend Jackie while shopping, it's a small world!

Our old stomping ground doughnut shop that used to be located near PHS.

Backyard s'mores

2011-05-09T09:47:00.001-07:00

With the warm weather a few days ago, we decided to have our first backyard fire. Kian was so excited about the fire, he was running around and climbing up and down the chairs. He also had his first s'more. He wasn't impressed. Cheers to many more backyard camp fires!

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To all my mama ladies

2011-05-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother’s Day!
I love being a Mother.
I'm lucky to be Kian's Mother.
I adore my own Mother. She is strong, and independent.
She raised 7 children on her own, she's amazing.
I have to so many friends and family who are such talented and wonderful
mothers. I'm blessed to have their good examples in my life.

Zoooooo

2011-05-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

Michael requested for his first day off school for the summer, and work for the day, that we enjoy a day at Hogle Zoo together. It was fun seeing Kian's reaction to all the animals. I'm so glad we went.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T15:33:00.001-07:00

Since Michael had to work Saturday and Sunday we had a little gift giving at our home Saturday morning before he left for work. Michael made us some scrumpcious buttermilk berry pancakes with cream cheese topping.
Are you wondering about the stuffed Yoda? We went to Target a few weeks ago and Kian brought it around with him through the store, and threw a fit when we took it away. Michael went back and bought if for him for Easter. He was so excited he started hugging and kissing it. He sleeps with it every night and carries it around the house with him.

On Easter Sunday I got together with my extended family at my Grandma's house. I made 8 layer rainbow cake and broccoli salad, Yum! I love our family get togethers, it's so fun to talk with everyone and catch up.

A few special Easter gifts

2011-04-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I would start a tradition of getting Kian something meaningful instead of plastic toys that he might care about a little more when he gets older. Not just for Easter, for every Holiday. You can't go wrong with books!

I love how IKEA has fun wood toys for cheap.

I'm laughing right now because I made this little Easter bag/basket for Kian to use on his Easter egg hunt. As you can see, I don't sew well.

I love love love these Inrax crayons from Poland. He probably wont color with them too soon, but fun to have.

Oh and I bought these rain boots for Kian and he wont take them off! He loves tromping around in them.

Great Weekend

2011-04-18T22:07:00.001-07:00

This weekend was amazing. I had the entire weekend off and spent all of it (except for 6 hours on Saturday) with Kian. Michael joined us on Sunday. Kian is at such a fun age and I love playing with him. We went to Chuck E Cheese with my cousin Cassie and her 3 adorable kids. It's the best place for kids. Kian was walking around staring at the big kids playing. He went on a few little rides and watched the show. On sunny Sunday Kian jumped, well ran on our tramp. He loved it so much I couldn't get him off! The rest of the weekend was spent together running errands and playing.

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Pinterest Obsessed

2011-04-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

Pinterest is inspirational and I'm in love. I cant get enough of it all, but it's time to take a break and update about what We've been up to.
Keaner beaner is quite the little show off these days. He does all sorts of tricks, but not on command of course. He can dance like you wouldn't believe doing all sorts of twirls, jumps, spins, bounces, feet movement, head rockin, moves. He loves to be thrown off the couch. He throws himself back off the couch trusting someone(me) will be there. He does the downward facing dog pose with one leg in the air trick. Then he'll flick his leg around and flip over on his back. He thinks it's so funny, and it is.
He likes to rip all the books off his book shelf, goes through them and pretends to read them aloud. He tricked me into thinking he suddenly liked fruit, then he didn't. I was sad. He's become quite the little fit thrower. If he gets something taken away or cant have something he wants, he loses it man. I have a hard time not laughing when it happens. It doesn't happen that often thankfully.
When asked "what does a cow say? he replies with a moo. When asked what a dog, cat, horse, pig, duck etc.. says he replies with a moo. He's always yelling out "Da" for Dad. Then when Dad answers with a what, he babbles on and on telling him a story, it's so cute!
He's adorable, lovable, charming, silly and delightful. We love you Kian!
Love,
Mom

Big boy

2011-04-02T12:07:00.001-07:00

Actually not that big at all. Kian gained 5oz in 3 months! The kid isn't growing. I'm trying not to be worried, but I can't help it. I should've been prepared for this considering how small Michael was as a child and still is pretty small. He's still healthy and that's all that matters. He likes that he can climb on his rocking moose all by himself. He's growing up so fast.

This weekend I got to spend all day Friday with Kian and baby Raif. I worked all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We went to the park like every other mother in Utah Valley did with Natalie and her girls. It was a fun mess with Kian and Raif. Let's just say my legs are sore from squatting and picking up two cute little boys.

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Pass of all passes

2011-03-31T19:01:00.001-07:00

When we bought our "pass of all passes" we decided to go to Lehi Trafalga. It was too cold outside to do the fast track so we went for the mini golf course that was glow in the dark. Don't take your very active 15 month old mini golfing! He just kept saying "ball!" would run and pick up our balls that we were trying to play with. Although we're excited to take Kian to Seven Peaks, we came to the conclusion that Trafalga isn't for us at this time in our lives.

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family togetherness

2011-03-27T21:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend we:
Visited Daddy at work
Went to dinner with my Mom and brother, and Kian ate lots of fruit!!! Wohoo!
Got to wear me new Hunter wellies that I got for $80! How have I gone this long without them?
Mom worked half day on Saturday while Kian played with Grandma Jenae
Went to Target which is a big deal since we live so far away
Played hide and go seek
Spent all day Sunday with just us three, so nice to be together.

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Two Front Teeth

2011-03-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Kian wanted to show off his darling two front teeth.

His two lateral incisors are in on the bottom and are trying to break through on the top.

Mesquite/Vegas trip

2011-03-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Ok obviously I need to work on my collage skills. The weather was so nice in Mesquite. My Mom, two brothers, Kian and I headed to Mesquite over spring break to visit my darling Grandma. It was so good to see her and spend time with her. I couldn't help driving to Vegas for a day of shopping. My fam didn't want to come with me so it was just Kian and I. We went to H&M and the Shark aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Kian could have passed on H&M, but loved the aquarium.

We went on a little adventure to the Valley of Fire to see all the beautiful red rocks. Kian had a blast exploring.

Driving and more driving, good thing Kian does really well in the car.

Daddy is here!

2011-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Have I posted enought park pictures yet? I don't think so. Kian and I usually go to the park together, but the other day Kian was delighted when Michael took a break from work for a few minutes to push us on the swing.

Weekend Savings

2011-03-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Michael works every Friday and Saturday for the 9 years of our relationship. I'm so used to having all that time to myself, I don't know what I'd do if he didn't have to work weekends anymore. That's where I get into trouble, spending moola. When I'm with Michael I don't spend money, but since we're rarely together I spend too much money. This weekend I went to Hobby Lobby to work on some DIY projects I'll post later. I also went to TJ Maxx for no reason at all and bought some books and a piggy bank for Kian. It turns out the books I bought there weren't so cheap after all. I won't be doing that again. The best part of the weekend was going to Alice Lane for Nicole Gerulat's book signing with my photog friend Sarah. Her books were half off! I bought all three, photo 101, photoshop, and illustrator. She was as nice in person as she sounds on her blog. I'm so glad I went. Giving loves for Mum to leave...

Learning how to put coins in his new piggy bank.

P.s. If I were rich my home would be dressed in Alice Lane, so beautiful. That store is all my style, well my dream style.

St. George/Vegas trip

2011-03-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

It was that time again for our annual St. George golfing trip. This year we stayed with our good friends who have four adorable kids. Michael goes golfing with Jason and Natasha and I go shopping. I was so excited to go to Vegas and shop at my favorite store, H&M. The weather was nice, but still a little cold.

My favorite place to go in Vegas is Town Square. They have everything! It's clean and there's a park right in the middle for Kian to play on. They even had the most amazing Whole Foods Market, I could have stayed there for days.

Of coarse we went to the park with the children to play in the sun.

Monkeyin around

2011-02-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

Kian loves to go to the park, like most kids do. The weather was so nice a few weeks ago that we couldn't stay indoors any longer. We took off on our bike to the park. Kian loved running around, exploring and being free. He played with dirt, threw rocks, ran from one side of the parking lot to the other. He even climbed up the stairs on the playground, and went down a slide on his belly all by himself. He's one daring boy and loves to climb. I'm excited for this summer to play all the daylong and never get anything done. Although I do have a bunch of projects I'm dying to finish.

Skater Boy?

2011-02-24T19:24:00.001-08:00

I showed Kian what's what about skating with my brother's skateboard. He loved it. I'm hoping he gets a lot of my 4 brothers talents. They are all amazing artists, decent athletes, sing well... The list goes on and on.

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V Day with my boo

2011-02-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Michael and I have never in the 9 years that we've been together, spent a Valentine's Day together. That's the restaurant biz for ya, it's the busiest day of the year. Last year I tried to surprise him with dinner, but he didn't end up getting home until really late from work and the food sat for hours. This year I made him his favorite treat, angel food cake with strawberries and my yummy sugar cookies. I'm sad Michael will be gone all day, but excited to spend the day with my other special love, Kian.

I Heart Target

2011-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

I love Dolce Vita's spring 2011 for Target collection. They are very pretty and a great price. Since I had Kian I dont wear high heels anymore, but I may be able to manage these.

Kian's favorite parent

2011-02-07T12:30:00.001-08:00

I always joke about how Michael is Kian's favorite parent. He's with me the most so when Daddy comes home, he gets so excited! I'm kinda jealous, just a little.

Lately Kian's been walking around the house saying, "No, no, no, no, no" over and over again. It sounds so sweet coming from him. He doesn't know what it means yet, so Michael and I have been trying to say, "please dont" or something besides no. He also started shaking his head back and forth, side to side vigorously and thinks it's so funny. He's getting very daring and climbes on the couch, and ledges in the house. He stands up in his high chair and gets very mad when I strap him in. Oh he's a joy!

Valentines Craft

2011-02-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

I love banners and so does my friend Natalie. We decided we would get together for every holiday and make a cute banner. This is the one we made for V day. Cute huh?

M Favorites

2011-02-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here is my list of favorites for the moment.

Favorite TV shows: The office, my all time favorite show. I'm so sad Steve Carrell is leaving, it wont be the same without him. Seinfeld, watched every season hundreds of times and it still isn't old. We don't have HBO(and don't want it) but Curb Your Enthusiasm is now on Fox edited, it's hilarious! My second all time favorite is Parks and Recreation. I was so mad when they put it on hold, but was so happy it's back now. How can people not love this show, it's too good. Embarrassed to admit Keeping up with the Kardashians, I love their clothing style. Last but not least Modern Family.

Couldn't watch any TV without our DVR. Love it!

Stripes, stripes, stripes and more stripes. I'm overly obsessed with stripes, it's an addiction. One time I was at Forever 21 with my sister and she pointed out that all I had to try on were stripes.

Speaking of...

I buy most of my clothes here. They've got something for every style.

Every year I buy the mascara sample box from Sephora. This year it came with Buxom mascara. It gives the perfect amount of length and thickness, it rocks.

I like Tarte bronzer in park avenue princess. Gives just enough glow to warm up the cold winter season. I also like how it's not too shimmery.

Love my Canon XSi, it's user friendly and doesn't weigh a ton.

I'm a nail polish freak. It's such a fun and cheap accessory. I've tried a lot of brands and have found that Forever21 stays on the longest and it's cheap. You can't beat $2.80 for nail polish. I LOVE this pretty new camel color I just picked up.

I can't tell you how much I enjoy my Sporto duck shoes. Their unique, versatile, comfortable and warm. What more can you ask for in a pair of shoes? I also have a brown pair of ll bean duck shoes.

I google everything. EV.RY.THING!

Whenever I want to buy something I always check if I can find it on Ebay first. Like my duck shoes. They retail for $65.00 and I bought them brand new on Ebay for $20.00. Oh, oh, oh and I wanted a swimming suit top from Nordstrom, but it was $100. I found the same one, brand new on Ebay for half the price. Still a little expensive, but I figured I was saving $50 so I justified it.

Lastly, my Olay Pro-x cleaner. I really wanted the Clarasonic Mia, but couldn't justify spending $140.00. The Olay brand was $29.99. Since I've been using it, my skin is softer and my pours are smaller. Gotta like that!

That's all for now I guess.

Living Planet Aquarium

2011-01-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Kian and I went to the Aquarium in Sandy with Natalie and her girls. It was so much fun to see all the sea life. It made me want to go scuba diving again. Once again I forgot my camera so these are all phone pics.

Kian LOVED the Penguin exhibit. They swim so fast! They would jet past the window and he would look at me like Where did they go?

Kian wanted to jump in the water with the stingray.

If your wondering what this is, it's an Octopus.

The mysterious Jelly Fish. Cool, but a little eerie.

Kian's favorite tank. It was the biggest tank in the aquarium, full of sharks and there was a huge turtle. He loved it.

The cute little sea horses.

Me Best Mate

2011-01-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Landon, Kian's cousin comes over to play. A few weeks ago I got them together between naps and had a little photoshoot. Michael helped me because they couldn't be contained for more than a second. They're 8 months apart and will be best mates someday soon. Kian doesn't quit understand how to play with him yet. They are so cute!

1 Year

2011-01-21T15:48:00.000-08:00

I wish I could be like the other more awesome people that post everyday, I really do. That's not me, I don't take the time and I should, but I probably never will.

I can't believe Kian is One. He's been sick since Christmas Eve so we've been a little preoccupied 'round these parts. He's just finally feeling better and life is getting back to normal.

Well...

Dear Kian,

You are one. It's a happy and sad moment for me. I love this stage of your life. You're full of energy and so much fun. I do miss your rolls and cuddles, but your lots of fun to play with. Your birthday was so much fun! You were surrounded with people that love and care about you. Your so lucky to have so many people in your life that would do anything for you, I hope you always remember that.

You lost a bit of weight being sick for almost a month, but your getting an appetite back. You're still pretty stubborn about what goes in your mouth. You'll eat the usual pasta, bread, crackers, eggs, bread and more bread. We haven't had any luck yet with fruits or veggies and I hope it changes someday soon. It can't be healthy only eating carbs all the time!

A new word you're saying is ball. You also say "tha" for thank you. You can show me your tongue, nose and belly when asked. When I ask where your ball is, you walk around looking for it. You are completely addicted to your paci. I'm trying to limit the time it's in your mouth during the day when you're awake. When you're sleeping it's a must. Your Pediatrician said your a little behind on talking because your paci is holding you back. It's going to be tough giving it up.

When you nap it's usually about 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours. The day you got your 1 year vaccines you took a five hour nap! When it's bed time we read books together. Your favorite book to read is the one you made for Dad for Father's Day. It has pictures of the two of you together all throughout the book.

You don't crawl anymore to get around, you walk or run. I love that you're walking now and I can't wait for the weather to warm up to go the park and let you run and play. You love to play "I'm gonna get you". You squeal with excitement and try to get away before getting tickled. You get super excited when you hear Dad walk through the door. This semester is rough, we rarely get to spend time with him. If he's not at work he's at school and when he is home, he's doing homework. This will be his last year and Mommy is so excited about that.

You're starting to throw little temper tantrums when we have to take something away you want to play with. You throw your head back and sometimes you bonk it on something hard. Then you're really not happy when you do that. It's hard not to laugh when you get mad. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's still quite funny. You throw your head back when you laugh too. Sometimes you do a fake laugh when Daddy and I laugh at something, you want to join in.

When Daddy or I are talking and holding you, you stare at our lips. You try to scratch our teeth or grab our tongue when we're talking. It's too funny. You finally got your two top teeth. You hit your mouth on a chair on Christmas Day and bam, your first was there. The other tooth soon followed. They are grown out enough that you can bite into a cracker instead of gumming it down.

When I call Daddy or he calls me, we always talk to you on the phone. You take the phone and walk around with it babbling away. It makes me laugh.

We love you so much and are excited for our many adventures this year.

Love,

Mom

2011, make my dreams come true

2011-01-05T21:02:00.001-08:00

2009 New Year's Eve Kian was just 5 days old in his billy bed.

Now 1 year, is this the same kid?

New Year's Eve I spent working until about 9:00pm. I was so excited to get off to see my boys. Every year we get together with Michael's family to eat fondue and play games to bring in the New Year. Kian and I were both sick so honestly we just wanted to go home and go to bed. We stayed up til 12 despite being tired for the big New Year's smackaroos. So worth it.

On another Note, This year I want to work on embracing my creativity. I always compare myself to others thinking, "I could never do that". I may not be as creative as others, but I have MY creativity and style. I want to follow my Dad's footsteps and become a photographer. I'm going to take lots of pictures and try to learn more and more everyday. I've always wanted to and have put myself down saying I don't have the talent or the means. No more excuses! Michael's been so sweet to support me and my photography dream. He bought me a camera and for Christmas he bought me some studio lighting. I can't wait to try it out!

I also want to become Yoga certified, get pregnant, have a family owned photography/yoga, workout /handmade clothing designed by the Artist himself (my brother) Steffen boutique/art(painter brother David) studio, is that so much to ask?

Celebration: Year 1

2010-12-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

Kian is 1, and I can't believe it. We were reminiscing about last year when I was in labor and I wanted to go to the movie to pass the time. I was in pain, but didn't want to sit at home and think about it. I got ready and we drove to the theater. Michael kept glimpsing at me out the corner of his eye giving me an "are you crazy" look. My contractions were 4-5 minutes apart at this point. The movie was sold out, but I wouldn't have lasted anyway. We drove to his parents house and after I told them about my contractions, they said, "Are you crazy!? Go to the hospital!" We slowly drove home, and calmly I picked up my neatly packed bag. I took one last look at our silent home and thought when I come back this silent home will be filled with my beautiful new baby. I can't wait!

On the ride to the hospital I was bleeding and my contractions were getting worse. I thought this has to be it, the pain can't get any worse right? Wrong. We arrived at the hospital at exactly 12:00 am on the dot. They hooked me up to the monitor and the Nurse came in to check my dilation progress. It was so painful, I thought I might die. She gave me the horrible news that I wasn't even dilated to a 1 and they may send me home. I was having full on contractions 2-3 minutes apart. I was thrashing in my bed and crying in pain. I was trying to focus and breath, but I couldn't come back from the last contraction. They were coming so fast. That Nurse was so mean, I didn't care for her at all. She kept giving me dirty looks like I was being the biggest baby and I needed to buck up. I thought there is no way I'm leaving this place you'll have to drag me out kicking and screaming. I was in the monitor room for about 3 hours crying in pain when the mean Nurse called my Doctor. He gave the go ahead to admit me to my suite and give me an epidural. Finally no more pain! Wrong again. I was shaking uncontrollably when the grouchy Anesthesiologist gave me an epidural. He told the Nurse to watch it and it should start to take affect soon. The Nurse hooked my fluids IV up, but never turned the drip on. I arrived to the hospital severely dehydrated from vomiting all day. So I sat for 4 hours with an IV getting no fluid. The epidural had no fluid to take affect in my body. A short hour after I got the epidural the contractions hit me like a ton of bricks again. I was dilated to a 4 and making slow to no progress.

Here I went again in major pain, and shaking uncontrollably. The grouch came back to give me a booster. It worked for about 1/2 hour and the pain was back . Then he came back and took the epidural out and placed it in a different spot. I was tired, thirsty, and in insurmountable pain.

Michael finally noticed the fluid bag wasn't empty at all and the nice ditsy nurse said, "Oh I forgot to turn the drip on." I could have killed her. My Doctor didn't deliver me, it was his partner who I also didn't care for. He kept trying to push me to have a C section because I wasn't dilating. He just wanted to go home because he was almost off and I was the last delivery. He would come in to check me, then leave to go deliver some one else. It was so frustrating. Why couldn't I be one of those women who he would leave my room to go deliver. I was determined to push this baby out. Before he left the last time he said, "When I come back we need to talk about getting you in for a C section." I was devastated. All this pain for what, a freaking C section? This wasn't happening, I wanted to deliver V back. I was sobbing and when he came back in I said, "NO!" I'm pushing my baby out. He still tired to convince me to have a C section. He said I would probably push for hours and hours for nothing and still have to have one. I at least wanted to try. After pushing for and hour( I don't know how I did it, I was so tired) and being in labor for 2o hours he came. Michael was jumping around like a school boy, and I couldn't see straight. They took Kian to the NICU because he wasn't breathing well. He was there for about and hour or two and came back to me. We were in heaven.

The nice part about my epidurals not working is after I delivered Kian, I could get up and walk around. I was able to move. I lived through the birth, but wasn't planning on feeling everything. If it could be promised that my next labor wouldn't be 20 hours, then I might give natural a shot.

Now about his Birthday,

For his birthday we had all his Cousin's, Aunt's, Uncle's, Grandma's, Grandpa's, Mom, Dad, and Brother over for his special day. Kian ate a red velvet cupcake from Cupcake Chic. We also had an ice cream cake and frosted white cake. We ate, played games, visited, ate cake and watched Kian open more presents. He's so loved and we are blessed to have great family. Happy 1st Birthday Baby Boy.

Christmas Day & Christmas Eve

2010-12-29T18:10:00.001-08:00

We have an annual Christmas Eve feast at my Mom's house with all my siblings, then we open presents. My Mom is so awesome to make us dinner. I love her!

Chirstmas Eve morning Kian woke up with a fever and was sick all day, he's still sick. Bad timing for the little guy. Sick through the Holidays and his birthday. I didn't mind because he moslty wanted me! After we opened gifts at our house on Christmas morning, we headed to Michael's parents. They are always so great to get everyone presents. Michael and I are blessed with so many things. We love our families and we love Kian and Andrew. Kian got lots of toys and books from his grandparents all around.

Christmas morn

2010-12-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so fun with Kian, well pretty much everthing is more fun with him. Michael spoiled me with great gifts. He got mostly clothes, oh and bought himself an Ipad. He won an Itouch from his work party and traded it in for an Ipad. He deserves it! Some of my favorite gifts to Kian were these beautifully hand crafted moccs by my amazing artist brother Steffen. He sells them along with all the other wonderful things he designs!

Hopefully someday soon Kian will be back into wearing hats. I love this embroidered K flat brimmed hat he got!

Is this real?

2010-12-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

Is this snow that's 2 1/2' deep at my house real? It's beatiful, but a pain in our toosh! It just kept falling and falling an falling.

Are these presents for real? Michael and I do this every year. We give each other a limit of an amount to spend, then we go way beyond the limit and buy too much stuff! I guess before we actually have to start buying lots of kids presents we might as well.

Mother I love you

2010-12-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

This is my Mom, Jenae. She is the most wonderful, Independent, smart, beautiful, spiritual, jovial, charismatic, joyous person ever. She's been through so much in her life and is a great example to me. Even though she's had an extremely hard life, she always stay positive. She's my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. I love you Mom.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-12-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

This year was fun putting the Christmas decor up with Kian. He loved playing with our big bulbs that go on the tree.

This thing is a beast to put up, but fun. The horrible part is taking it down!

The first big snow we dressed Kian up in his snow suit and took him outside. He didn't really know what to think and couldn't move much in his snow suit.

11 months

2010-12-06T21:08:00.001-08:00

Dear Kian,

I love writing you letters about your progress. I saw the idea on a few other mothers blogs out there before you were born and thought it was such a good, personal way to talk about how amazing you are. I hope they bring you joy and good memories someday.

You're now 11 months and quickly going on 1 year. I can't believe it. I remember last year a few weeks before Christmas when I was about ready to pop I was thinking, "If I'm still pregnant come Christmas Day, I'm might lose it!" And there I was Christmas Day, as big as a whale, uncomfortable as can be still pregnant. I think now that no matter what day you came it wouldn't matter, you would be here with us as happy as can be. I thought the day would never come and it did, right on your due date. All the activities we did last year around the holidays I thought this time next year my sweet little boy will almost be 1. It seemed like a million years away, and now it's almost here. I know I say this a lot, but I love every second of everyday.
It's hard for me to part with you when I have to go to work, or have things scheduled and you can't come. Our time together is very precious to me.

In a few short weeks you went from taking steps here and there, then falling, then crawling to your desired destination, you're full on walking around. You're still wobbly, but you make it around. When we're home, it's easier for you to walk in your socks. But when we're out you have to wear shoes and you fall more. You have all sorts of bump, bruises and scratches from falling, but you're determined to get it down.

Your favorite toy is the stairs, eek! We have two sets of stairs in our house and you want to go up and down and up and down. You cart objects up the stairs, then throw whatever it is you found down the stairs. Then you scoot down on your belly and bring it back to the top to throw it down again. Lately you've wanted to try and step down the stairs like we do. I almost died when I turned around from doing dishes and you were about to take a step down instead of going on your belly. I ran and grabbed you before you tool the plunge. You also love to throw balls. We have a basketball, volleyball, tennis ball, pool ball and football. I taught you how to throw them. You grab one, lift it up above your head and throw as hard as you can. Your favorite is to throw the pool balls down the stairs because they bounce. You also love to play with them on the tile in the kitchen because they make lots of noise.

You're getting somewhat of an appetite. You love pasta and bread. You started to like bananas! You will eat carrots and potato's one in a while. It makes me so happy when you eat something besides bread. You love to drink water out of a cup and your sippy cup. You still drink a bottle about 5 times a day. You're healthy and that's all that matters. Whenever you see Mom or Dad eating a cookie or treat of some sort, you walk up and open your mouth until we give you a bite. You love goodies.

You rarely get sick, which I'm so thankful for. You had a scary bout of croup, but other than that you've been pretty well. Dad gets scared when you're sick and overreacts a bit. His brother died at 2 years old from being sick so he's very cautious of that happening to you.

You've been sleeping so good! You sleep for 10-12 hours at night without waking. You take two naps during the day about 2-3 hours long each. We take napping very seriously around our house. It's important to us that you are well rested.

You can say Mama, Dada, ouch, hi, that, and a version of ball. Mostly just the sound ba. You learned how to say ou from Mom because every time you rip my hair out I say it. You understand a lot of what we say. When we ask where your ball or paci or cup is, you go find them. If we say, "Come on, let's go" you will most of the time follow. When we ask if you want a cookie/cracker, you walk up with your mouth open.

When you're not with us, you're with Uncle David and Uncle Steffen. You love them to death! Every time you see them you want to go to them and laugh and scream with excitement. You three always have a great time playing together. They're amazing and talented artists so I hope you get some of that good stuff from them.

A funny little thing you started doing is putting your hand on your forehead like your thinking really hard, or you do it when you're sad about something. You always take one sock off your foot and put it on your head and try to walk around with it staying on snickering all the way. You'll put a cloth over your head and make funny noises, then pull it off and laugh.

We're excited for your 1st Birthday after Christmas. We will have a family get together to play games and have lots of fun celebrating you. I'm thinking when your older we will have a half birthday with friends in June then have a small celebration on your actual Birthday in December. I want you to feel extra special on your day, not extra spoiled with presents, just extra special and loved.

You're very smart and can figure things out easily. You're always on the go and super happy all the time. We're blessed to have a wonderful, smart, healthy, beautiful son in our lives.

I love you so much,

Mom

Turkey Goodness

2010-11-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

I consider myself a pumpkin everything connoisseur. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin roll, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin shakes, you get the point. It makes perfect sense that my birthday is always around one of my favorite holidays. This year, I turned 26 the day before Thanksgiving. Michael always plans something big, but I requested to spend a nice evening with just my boys. He thought that was pretty lame, but that's what we did. I took the day off work and Michael worked in the morning. We went to my favorite restaurant Cheesecake Factory. It was nice to be together. Michael got me a 50mm lens and I'm so excited to try it out!

I love getting together with family and spending the day eating and talking. This year we gathered around my Grandma Loveall and listened to her tell stories of her growing up and her mother growing up. All the trials they went through humbled me to the core. I found out a lot about where I come from and why I'm who I am. I love my Grandma so much, she is so caring and sweet. I love the time I get to spend with her. I'm so greatful for everything I have. I have so much! I'm greatful that I have the opportunity to be a mother to Kian and to be pregnant and give birth. There are so many women in this world that dont have that opportunity. I'm greatful to have a wonderful hardworking husdand and love watching him be a dad. Kian loves his Daddy!

In the leaves

2010-11-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

We drove up Provo canyon one Sunday and took some family pictures with the beautiful fall leaves. I wish the fall leaves lasted longer.

10 months

2010-11-09T11:15:00.001-08:00

Dear Kian,

I'm so excited for the Holidays to come this year because we get to celebrate them with you! I've always loved Christmas, but now it holds an extra special place in my heart because we were blessed with you 2 days after Christmas. The best present we could ever hope for. When I saw Christmas decorations going up before Halloween I got giddy inside thinking of Christmas with you here on out.
I didn't think much could change since a few weeks ago, but of coarse it has. You now say mama! All day long it's mama, dada, mama... You are starting to be a copy cat. You mimic sounds that we make. You can hold your bottle with one hand while doing something with the other. My favorite new thing of yours is your kissing noise. You purse your lips together and go mmmuah.
You're starting to take some daring steps towards walking. You can stand all by your self for about 10 seconds at a time. You will let go of furniture to step towards Daddy. Hopefully you'll be walking by Christmas. You are getting taller so now you can reach things on top of tables and night stands. You grab onto anything you can get your hands on and rip it to the floor.
You're starting to babble on and on to yourself and to us. You point to things and talk about them in your babble language. I love it!
You're starting to wake up at night, when you used to sleep all the way through. I've heard of this stage, and we're being patient for it to pass. You wake up anywhere from 3-5 thinking your hungry and wanting a bottle. Then with your naps, most of the time you sleep for 2 hours, but lately, sometimes you will sleep for 15 minutes and be up again, not wanting to go back to sleep.
You're such a good boy, so sweet. You give Mommy and Daddy loves and hugs. You wont really give me kisses anymore unless I really beg for them. I love when you come up to me and lay your head on my shoulder. You're so smart, and learning so quickly.
I love you Kian!
Mom

Riding bikes and park playing

2010-11-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I waited all year to buy this bike seat for Kian to sit in. I love it, and he does too! The only part he hates is the helmet. He cries when we try to put it on him. We went to the park to play and he was climbing all around and loved going up and down the slides with dad. I'm sad it's getting cold and we wont be able to go anymore. I can't wait for next year with Kian, it'll be so much fun!

Hogle Zoo

2010-11-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun at the Zoo with our friends! Kian was just wide eyed the entire time. He got excited here and there when he noticed and animal or two. Natalie and her girls are so cute, we just love them!

Labor Day

2010-11-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this after we got back from camping Labor Day weekend, but forgot. We went to Payson Lakes to camp. We went fishing, and did a little hiking. It was just the three of us and it was kind of nice. We just got to sit around and spend time together.

Michael was so cute and set up a little romantic spot for us by the fire after we put Kian to bed for the night. These are the FIRE/I'm a creepy ghost pictures.

When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours on Halloween

2010-11-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

Longest title ever. Even though Michael worked and we didn't go trick or treating, Halloween was still a blast! There's nothing like riding horses and playing with goats on Halloween. Let me explain... We started the day off going to my friend Cole's Halloween party. There was a miniature horse that Kian rode and cute goats that did all kinds of tricks. Then we went to Grandma Jenae's house to visit for a while. We visited Daddy at work, then headed to Papa and Grandma Cohoon's house. Michael and I met up at Bobby's spook ally to walk through. The line and wait was too long so I left and headed to my Grandma's house where we hung out with cousins, aunts and uncles. It was a great day!
p.s. I was a mermaid and Kian was a shark if you couldn't tell.

2010-10-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's almost Halloween and isn't this the cutest skeleton you've ever seen! I finally picked out our Halloween costumes and Kian's is so cute, I can't wait! Also, Kian is 10 months today! Happy Birthday pumpkin! I love you.

Playing with Mommy's necklace.

Lost

2010-10-21T17:48:00.001-07:00

My blog is screwed up and all my side bars are gone. I don't have the heart to fix it:(

Year of the Preisthood

2010-10-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Andrew turns 12! We went to Boondocks Fun Center to celebrate. I can't believe I met Michael when Andrew was 3, now he's 12! I hope he chooses to receive the priesthood and get the special blessings and experiences that come along with it.

9 months

2010-10-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

I feel bad because you're almost 10 months and the days are all mixing together. You got croup a week and a half ago and are still sick so we've been hiding out. You scared Mommy to death when you literally couldn't breathe and we took you to the after hours clinic. It was so hard to see you not be able to breathe. Even though you're sick, you've been in good spirits. For a few nights in a row, I just held you in my arms and you slept there. You wanted to be held, and mostly by me. I love you in my arms. You're still hacking your lungs out, but at least you can breath. Since you've been sick, your small appetite has gotten even smaller. You were eating a bit of table food, no baby food, and now you won't really eat anything at all. You've lost weight and now weigh 19.8 lbs and are in the 20th percentile for weight, you used to be in the 55th. You only drink a few ounces of milk here and there. I hope you get better soon, we hate that you're in pain.

You amaze me everyday with new things you've learned. You surpass my expectations all the time. You're so smart and happy. Everything is da da da da, and o-ee-o-ee-o. You're just content exploring the house and talking away. You are all boy. When we're in the basement you love to pull every single DVD out the DVD case. We don't even bother putting them back anymore. Dad's in the works of making a door with a lock on it for the DVDs. Basically you go around opening every cupboard and pull everything out onto the floor. Mom and Dad really need to baby proof the house!

You've learned to "get down" from places which was big! You get down from the couch and you crawl down the stairs. You were getting up on things just fine, but would get stuck. One day you just figured it out all by yourself.

You love taking one sock off your foot and carry it around in your mouth. You love to chew on it, it feels good on your teeth. You've always had a love for music and are all smiles when you hear some tunes. Now you shake your booty and bounce up and down to the beat. When exploring objects you switch from hand to hand, put it in and out of your mouth, touch it with your index finger, toss it, throw it, roll it around etc... You're everywhere and you're not even walking yet. It's a workout to change your diaper and get you dressed. You'll be standing and holding yourself up on some furniture, and sometimes you let go and don't realize it. The second you realize you're not holding onto anything you fall straight to the floor.

You know what you want and when you're playing with something and it gets taken away, you're not happy about it. Mom and Dad don't use the laptop anymore because you love to rip the keys off the keyboard. We try to turn your attention to other things, but you're obsessed with the laptop. You're starting to want Mom and Dad for different things. When your hungry or tired you want to lay on Mom's shoulder. When you want to play, you look for Dad. When you hear the words "I'm gonna get you" you start screaming and crawling as fast as you can. Then bury your face in the ground like you're hiding. That's why mom puts you to bed most of the time, because when Dad tries to, you want to play.

Mom's a sucker for your cry, I always fall for it. When I'm holding you and not paying attention to you, you smack me in the face til I look at you. Then when I do look at you, you start laughing. Mom's trying to break that habit of yours. When you fake cry or "get hurt" you fall to the ground with your toosh in the air and your face in your hands. It's the cutest thing.

I'm trying to live each day to the fullest with you enjoying every second, they go by so fast. I can't believe you will be 1 soon. I may check on you way too often when you're napping, and make sure your chest rises and falls as you breath. We may kiss you way too much. Some say I watch you too closely as you play, but I don't care. You're too precious to me, and I don't ever want anything bad to happen to you. I don't ever want you to go through hardships that I had to face growing up. I want you to feel safe and secure in your home. I want you to love being home with family and friends. I don't ever want you to be scared or feel alone. I want you to have every opportunity to do whatever you want with your life. I want you to always be able to be open and honest. You have a strong sweet spirit that I want you to keep always. I want you to live your life to the fullest with no regrets. I love you so much and I'm proud to be your Mommy.

Love you son,

Mom

Teefers, Climbing, & Boxing

2010-09-27T20:36:00.001-07:00

I love Kian's 2 bottom teeth that poke out when he smiles. He loves climbing stairs, he would climb them all day if he could, but it scares me to death. I'm always right there with him. He looks at me like, Mom just let me climb the stairs in peace! Now that he's walking around with the help of furniture he falls a lot. He fell several times the other day and had bruises all over his face. It makes me so sad!
P.S. Happy 9 months baby boy, I love you.

Date night

2010-09-22T22:31:00.001-07:00

Play dates with his cousin Landon. They are starting to interact with each other. Too cute!

Don't you think my date is handsome? Every weekend It's just my lover boy and I hanging out, usually with grandma Jenae.
Kian's favorite toys lately are door stops, dresser nobs that he can flop up and down to make noise, ripping toilet paper up into little shreds, shower curtains, spoons, when he's quick enough to get to it our dogs water. He likes to play with anything he can get his hands on and that makes noise. He's everywhere and I love it!

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Utah State Fair

2010-09-16T17:38:00.001-07:00

I was so excited for Kian to see the animals at the State fair. He was tired by the time we got there so he was a little scared. The pigs and sheep were all up in his face and he wanted them to back off. It was hilarious! I was trying to get something out of my eye at the sheep so I look kind of crazy, no I look down right psycho!

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Good friends

2010-09-15T08:36:00.001-07:00

I went to the BYU game on Saturday and ran into my friend Natalie. Not only were we sitting right by each other, we were wearing the same shirt! What are the odds? I also ran into here at the stadium of fire and we were wearing the same shirt then too! Two great minds think alike. Sometimes we get together when we are fortunate to have openings in our busy schedules. I just love her and her sweet girls.

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Big boy now

2010-09-03T09:43:00.001-07:00

Kian wants to be walking around like an adult. This is going by too fast, slow down!

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Too soon?

2010-08-31T21:36:00.001-07:00

Is it too soon to wear boots? I don't care, I'm dying to wear my fall clothes! I do this with every season. I anticipate the next season to come too soon.

I hate how my phone distorts my pictures!

8 months

2010-08-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

To My Sweet Kian,

Where to start, so much to say. Whenever I start writing you a letter, I get very emotional. Then I got even more emotional about my little family when I was reading Nie Nie and watched this video. I waited so long for you to come to me, and now your here with us, every moment with you is pure bliss. I got the strong urge to blog more about how special you are to us. You are in such a fun stage right now. You are learning that you can do so many things with your strong body and exploring every second your awake. It's crazy to me how little you sleep, yet are always so happy. In that way your like your dad, he requires little sleep too.
Your getting very quick on your hands and knees. You crawl to get places, but you really just want to walk. I thought for a long time you would go straight to walking instead of crawling at all. You pull yourself up on anything you can grip your little hands too and squeal with excitement to be on your feet. You have scrapes and bruises everywhere from falling, but you are determined to stand up on your own. You are obsessed with climbing up stairs (I'm trying to give you your freedom, but it scares me half to death)! When I come to get you out of your crib, you're standing ready to be picked up. You like anything with a challenge. I love when I come into a room, you see me and light up. You crawl as fast as you can to me, climb up my body until your in my arms. Then you bury your face in my chest and give me kisses. I love your sweet, slobbery kisses. I say "give mommy kisses" and you'll slap an open mouth, slobbery one on me. The only time I get to cuddle with you these days is when I feed you your night time bottle and you fall asleep in my arms. I rock you and kiss you and cuddle you for a while before I put you in your crib.

You were introduced to sand this last month and you loved it, putting fistfuls of it in your mouth, then making a sour face when it hit your taste buds. You loved to bury your hands in the wet sand and feel it ooze through your fingers. You go crazy in the water, laughing and splashing away. You would live in the water if you could. Whenever I'm at the sink or getting a drink you try to lung out of my arms to touch the water.
I love the sounds that come from your mouth. I even love your cry and whine. I love your laugh and smile, and your ooooing and ahhing. Your dad is always coming to get you. When he says those words and walks towards you, you start screaming and crawling away, you love the games you and your dad play together. He loves his time with you.
You only want milk, you will not eat baby food. I've been trying to feed you for months and you will have nothing to do with it. You will gum down bread or crackers, but not baby food. I thought this would change when your bottom teeth came through, but still no change. I hope you will eat food other than milk someday. Your two teeth came in 2 weeks ago when we were in Bear Lake. I love when you smile and show your cute little teeth in your mouth.
You have to touch everything first with your index finger, after it passes the one pointer finger test, you go for it. It is the cutest thing! You always have that little finger out to touch everything with. When we are face to face, you try to scratch my teeth with your little index finger, or pinch my tongue, or try to grab my cemented in retainer. It makes me laugh every time.
You are very vocal about what you want and don't want. If I take something away that you want to be playing with or chewing on, you let me know. I'm sad because one day you decided you didn't want to wear hats anymore. You pull them off your head straight away when I put one on you. You're very aware of what's going on around you. You love to watch other kids. You just stare as they walk around and talk. I always wonder what your thinking when you watch kids play. It's probably that you wish you could take off and run and play with them.

I'm trying to get over the fact that I have to take you to babysitters while I go to work, but I just can't. We love your babysitters, but sometimes when I come to pick you up, your so happy you almost start to cry. Sometimes after I drop you off and before I head into work, I sniffle in my car and miss you terrbily. Someday I will be home with you.

You are truly a gift sent from our Heavenly Father made just for us. You're amazing and wonderful. You've added joy and fulfilment to our lives. I want to remember these special days forever, I will never forget the sweet moments we spend together. I'm proud to be your mommy.

Love,

Mom

Baby Raif finally here!

2010-08-17T11:54:00.003-07:00

My poor sister Madison had the worst experience giving birth. To make a long story short she was in full on, hard labor for three days straight having contractions 1-2 minutes apart. When they finally admitted her on the third day, just like me her many epidurals wore off after only an hour. Her body was beat and she had no more energy to handle the pain. She started going into shock and having convulsions. She never dialated past a 7 and finally had to have a c section. They couldn't give her a spinal tap so they had to nock her out with gas. When she woke up she was sobbing in pain. At one point she asked seriously if she was going to die. It was so sad and hard to watch her go through all of it. Raif is healthy and beautiful. Born Friday August 13th around 10pm. I just love my new sweet nephew!

perma red eye

2010-08-17T11:54:00.001-07:00

I have a VERY hard time working now that I'm a mom. I have permanent red eye all day and people are always saying, "you look so tired" Thanks I am tired! I'm still hoping and praying that some day I will be home with my little man.

California Camping trip

2010-08-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

We started in San Diego, then Sequoia, Yosemite, and lastly Lake Tahoe. It was so amazing to get to spend 10 whole days with Kian and Michael. My favorite park was Sea World, I love all the animals! It was a little rough driving to all the places and unpacking and packing up camp every other day to get to our next destination. Lesson learned there, only go to one place next time!

While we were in San Diego, we visited the Mormon Battalion. It was interesting to hear about their journey and what they went through for church members.

Digging for gold, or just splashing around.

My second favorite part was the beach. I would love to live near the beach! Kian was eating the sand(eww!) and loved splashing around in the water.

This is Landon, Kian's cousin who is 7 months older. They're going to be best buddies. He is a doll!

Sequoia was beautiful, and full of huge trees! Mother nature sure is surprising. We hiked around and viewed the amazing mountain, and rocky landscapes.

Andrew and Kian loved spending time together. Andrew is a great brother!

P.S. Sorry for all the pics. We only spent a few hours at Lake Tahoe due to a campground booking date mishap. It was so pretty there, I hope to go back someday and spend some time there.

Big 31!

2010-08-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

My honey turned 31! I'm so blessed to have him in my life. He is a wonderful father and husband. I wish I could give him everything his heart desires, but I'm not a rich man. He always tells me I gave him the best gift in the world, Kian, and that's all he can ask for. I love him! We celebrated at one of his favorite restaurants, Tucanos. When they sang happy birthday to him, he was up on the bench dancing! It was hilarious, I wish I would have recorded it.

c

All my bags are packed.

2010-07-31T10:18:00.001-07:00

Our California trip is coming to an end. Lots of pics to follow!

La Celebration Du Bebe

2010-07-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Mi hermana is having a baby boy in three weeks! I am so excited to bring another sweet boy into our family. I la la la love my baby sister, we have so much fun together. I would do anything for her. She is even going to let me be a part of her delivery, Yeah! I threw her a little shin dig, it was nice.

Series of unfortunate events.

2010-07-20T20:08:00.001-07:00

The last few months have been rough, excepts spending time with my honey bun and my little sweetheart. I consider myself to be a bit of a klutz and have some bad luck. They have both only gotten worse since Kian has arrived and most of it due to my lack of sleep and having to work.

I got in an accident on the freeway driving home from Salt Lake. I looked down to find baby poop on my hand and was looking around for something to wipe it off with. I looked up and the car in front of me was completely stopped. I was only going about 15 mph, but I had no time to stop. So that sucked...

Our Honda is breaking down more and more and it's sucking us dry. The air conditioning doesn't work and the driver side window doesn't roll down. So I imagine it's like sitting in Hell when I have to drive it. And it's even more hot in the back seat where Kian has to sit. Thank goodness he is rarely in the POS.

While I was at work the other day some drug seeker broke into the Honda and stole our nice new chop saw out of it. And it was in a surveillanced parking lot! Nice surveillance hospital security. The man was caught, but we will never see the saw again, nor the money.

It's not like anything life threatening happened so I'm not really complaining, I know that Shite happens. Just not fun to deal with...

Free Stuff!

2010-07-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Freaking cute Shabby Apple dress giveaway at emilyframe.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Is it time?

2010-07-11T16:07:00.001-07:00

Is it time to baby proof the house? He's going to start crawling any second! He's growing up so fast!

Utah lake

2010-07-05T15:42:00.001-07:00

We went boating at the lake on our day off. It was really choppy so we were bouncing around everywhere! Kian wasn't so sure about the bouncing around, but he did like the tube.

Freedom!

2010-07-03T17:43:00.001-07:00

Even though Kian is sick he is still happy and ready for July 4th( well July 3rd). He is going to love the fireworks. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

In the summertime

2010-06-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

Kian loves bath time, but in the pool he just sits back and takes it all in. He got a little more comfortable and threw a few splashes here and there. I love my little butter ball!

Huh?

2010-06-20T13:12:00.001-07:00

When Michael takes pictures on his phone for some reason they automatically sync with our blog, so all these random pictures that he thinks are funny are always getting posted with no explanation. So there you go...

Summer Fest

2010-06-12T21:50:00.001-07:00

Even though it was rainy, we decided to head out for the Orem summer fest. We really just wanted to see how Kian reacted to all the hustle & bustle. He was wonderful, as he always is. He was excited and wide eyed the entire time. We didn't hear a peep from him when the fire works came on. He just laid back and enjoyed. I can't get enough of my little man. He is always so good to show everyone his sweet smiles and giggles. He is so well behaved, I'm proud to be his momma!

Mr mobile

2010-06-11T09:09:00.001-07:00

Now that Kian is more mobile, he loves to sleep on his side. It's too cute.

Memorial Day 2010

2010-06-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Every Year for Memorial weekend, my Mom's side of the family gets together for a camping trip to Burraston Ponds. My favorites of the weekend were getting to spend a few days with Michal and Kian, and of coarse family, singing around the campfire and smores. We also got to go boating. It was Kian's first time on the boat, and it was short lived. The boat was acting up so we took it out of the water and to a repair shop. Better luck next time.

Kian's first time trying a marshmallow. He takes a little taste.

Then tries to stuff it in his mouth...

Then nibbles on it for a while.

Cheers!

2010-06-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hooray for my little brother's graduation day. The last of the kids in my family to be in high school. I feel old!

2010-05-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Kian is 5 months today! He has so much personality, I love it. He always has his hands out ready to grab anything and put it in his mouth. He's a big boy, always wants to eat. He still wakes every three hours at night to eat. He always wants to be where his mommy and daddy are. Yet he's good to be held by others. He is mild tempered to say the least. He's always so content, never complains. He laughs and smiles all the time. He loves the bath and, splashes around in the water. We started feeding him rice cereal. He doesn't get much yet. The feedings are more for practice at this point. He's not a huge fan of the rice cereal, but he loves apples. He'll grab an apple I'm eating and put it to his mouth, and suck away. We just adore him!

Cutie-patootie

2010-05-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

My sweet Kian, just being his cute self. I love him so much!

5.21.10

2010-05-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been pretty miserable. I got sick, then gave what I had to Kian. Painful sore throat, coughing, fever, chills, lost my voice, etc... Then in the midst of all that, I got some sort of stomach bug and the vomit and other junk came along. For a few days, I thought I was going to die. Poor Kian was such a trooper through all of it, he was still pretty happy.
In other news, Michael and I have been married for 5 years, and what a wonderful 5 years it's been. I can't wait to see where the road brings us and the fun memories we will create. We are so lucky to have each other. We are so lucky to have Kian!

Michael had some flowers delivered to my work for our anniversary, he is so good to try and make me feel special. We celebrated by going to my favorite place to eat, Cheesecake Factory. Hmmm it was so good!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Woke up to breakfast in bed mad by the best husband on earth. He had to work all day, so I went to my mom's house and made dinner for her and the family. It was fun to hang out with them and of coarse the star of the show was Kian. I am so thankful to be a Mother and mostly grateful to be Kian's mother. Hope everyone had a great day!

Zion camping trip

2010-05-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

This trip had it's loves and hates. It was cold, but the cold was nice for hiking. It was really tricky pumping and feeding Kian, but he is so easy that it doesn't get hard. Michael bought me a new camera for Mother's Day, and this is the first shot on the way down.

Top of Angels Landing.

Hike to Emerald Pools. My sister is prego, we have lots of fun together. She is having a boy, I'm so excited!

Kian took little kittie naps in his backpack while we hiked.

On the way home. Kian was a stud!

Happy 4 months

2010-04-25T13:39:00.001-07:00

Today Kian is 4 months! We had his 4 month check up yesterday and he got some immunizations. It was so sad, he was screaming. I have never heard him cry that hard. I hate when he gets his shots.
He weighs 15lbs (55th percentile) and is 251/2"(75th percentile).
He likes:
Taking his paci in and out of his mouth and can hold his own bottle.
Everything he touches goes right to his mouth.
Found his toes and is always holding them when he lays down.
Loves having his back and chest tickled. When I softly tickle his back and chest he just lays there and doesn't move like he is frozen. I love it!
Has definitely found his voice. He screams and yells all the time, in a good way.
Kisses and to be cuddled.

Getting ready to go camping next weekend, this should be interesting...

poopy dinner

2010-04-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

The dinner was good, the poop was not. Michael and I attempted to spend some time together between work and school. We met at Ruby River, got our food, then Kian blew out his diaper. He does that alot these days. Michael scarfed up his food while I was cleaning Kian up. I came out and he had to leave to go to school so we didn't even get to see each other. Good thing my mom was there to keep me company!

We also went to Lowes and picked up a freezer for our garage because we have run out of room in our freezer for milk. There are over 150 bags in there!

Michael got me the eternity necklace from Dogeared and I added a gold K charm to it. I will probably wear it all the time!

Score!

2010-04-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

I've posted in the past about my love for designers for Target. I was super excited to hear about the April 18th launch of Cynthia Vincent and Eugenia Kim's shoes and hats for target. I knew they would go fast so I was planning on getting online that day, yes it was a Sunday(shame on me), to buy some up. I was in the middle of my nightly routine of waking up with Kian at 4am, and then pumping in our computer room. I checked Target to see if they had the goods I wanted. They had them so I loaded up my shopping cart. I thought to myself, it's ridiculous to buy clothes at 4am! So I decided to go back to bed and wait until I woke up for the day. I get back online and I read SOLD OUT on everything in my shopping cart. I was almost in tears! So on Monday I would check out Orem Target to see if they had anything left. They had the Eugenia Kim fedora I wanted, only one left so I snagged it. Then I rushed to American Fork Target, and there they were. One pair of size 7 cognac gladiator Cynthia Kim shoes! I was so happy! I also got the yellow studded sandals. I'm a little pathetic. The hat reminds me of some sort of cruise wear. So I'll be cruising around town this summer sporting my Target favorites.

15 weeks

2010-04-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

Dear Kian,

Today is the first time you rolled over. You're getting so big and strong, it's bitter sweet. We want you to stay our little baby forever, but it's fun to watch you grow and learn. You LOVE to eat, and would eat around the clock if you could.

You have strong legs, you must have inherited that gene from your mom. You love standing up, it makes you feel like a big boy. You stand tall, stick your chest out, open your mouth wide and talk and yell. You will soon be sitting up on your own. When we lie you on your back, you can lift your head off the ground.

You love touching everything in sight. Any kind of blanket, or clothing you come in contact with, you grab on with your death grip and attack it with your slobbers. You love to drool and slobber these days. You pay close attention to things going on around you. You watch and listen in fascination to everything, taking in the world.

You go to sleep all by yourself. We lay you in your crib, you talk and coo for a while, then fall softly to sleep. You rarely cry, and when you do cry, it's hardly a cry. It's just a sweet little yell to get our attention when you wake. We love when you're awake, and miss you when you're sleeping. Sometimes we are selfish and keep you awake to be with you when you probably should be asleep.

We love you dearly son, and would do anything for you.

Mom & Dad

Mommy & Kian time

2010-04-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

I was so sad and depressed when I finally decided that nursing was not working for Kian (hard time latching on). I was determined to feed him breast milk instead of formula. So now I pump about 6-8 times a day and wash the same 8 bottles about 500 times a month. Our freezer has been taken over by milk, but it is all worth it! When Kian is awake and it's time for me to pump, we go to our spot on the bed and hang out. I try to snap some pics of him with my phone, but he wiggles so much it's hard to catch a good one. He has lots of character in his facial expressions.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great. I got to hang out with family, watch conference, and catch up on sleep. I love being with my little man, but we miss being with Michael. We are on opposite schedules so we can be with Kian and not send him to a sitter. Kian has a hard time falling asleep with noise so he was all tuckered out.

My easter dessert.

It was so sad, Kian was crying because he was having a hard time working out a poo.

4 generations photo. I love my grandma, she is such a kind, sweet woman.

My favorite little man!

Ah the luck of the Irish

2010-03-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

I am lucky! I have the most beautiful son, and amazing husband. I'm so blessed.

Done Done and DONE

2010-03-09T12:18:00.001-08:00

I hope my graphic picture doesn't make you want to vomit, because every time I look in the mirror that's exactly what I want to do. I have had eczema on my hand for the last few years, but it was always in control. In my 8th month of pregnancy it started on my face. I have been on every cream, medication you name it to try and get rid of it. When I'm on medication it goes away, but as soon as I stop it comes back full force and gets worse and worse. I can only use the creams for 2 weeks at a time because your skin gets addicted to the steroids in them. I'm stopping ALL the medication and will try to treat it naturally. I am so sick of this disgusting disease! Not only is it affecting me, but know Kian has it all over his body. I know it could be worse, but it sucks. I have to cut out eggs, dairy and bread from my diet(Uh that's all I eat) and replace them with raw fruits and veggies, nuts, oils etc... So here I go on this fun journey to try and heal Kian and myself of eczema.

Hangin with our little man

2010-03-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

We just love every second with Kian, he is such a good baby and so happy. He started a new thing where he purses his lips together and spits out his lips. He is so funny!

2 Month Stats

2010-03-03T21:13:00.001-08:00

It was time for a little change in the blog look. Not that big, but just enough! I'm not cool though, I just picked a template from the blog site.
Anyway, Kian is now 2 months old and as cute as ever! Right now he has an eye infection that is all red and puffy with puss coming out, and eczema all over his body that he inherited from his dear mother. Poor little bug looks a little miserable these days, so I will spare him the memories by not taking pictures at the moment. He is happy, has a calm temperament, and is always smiling. His hair is finally growing back, and I love to rub his head. His big sweet smile melts my heart.
On the other hand, all those mothers out there who have babies that sleep well, and through the night are so lucky! I am not one of the lucky ones. Michael says I cant have a beautiful happy baby and have him sleep well too. Kian now weighs 12lb 13oz(60th percentile) and is 23 1/2" long(75th percentile). He doesn't get his height from his mom or dad, he gets it from his Papa Cohoon who I think is 6'1. Kian is a big boy!

Had a bad day

2010-03-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was not a good day for me, possibly the hardest day of my life so far. It was my first day back to work away from Kian. I had a heavy lump in my throat and was on the verge of tears all day. As fellow employees greeted me back to work, I gave a fake smile back, but my heart was breaking inside. I couldn't help but feel a little bitter as I have watched through the years at my job, pregnant girls have their babies and never return. I have prayed and prayed for something to come along so I could be at home with my little man. Nothing has come up so far. As I watch Kian now, batting at his toys and getting so big I feel guilty and inadequate. Was I selfish to want you now and not be able to take care of you myself? I'm not giving him the lifestyle he deserves. He should be at home, not in the car going to this house and that house to be watched by other people. I am so sad and I honestly don't know what to do. What can I do? I have to work, that is all. If anyone knows of anything I can do at home, let me know!

Kian's Blessing

2010-02-21T12:01:00.001-08:00

Kian's blessing was so sweet and blissful. I was floating on cloud nine. It was a great day and thanks for all those who came to support us!

Love Day

2010-02-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

Michael worked all day on Valentines, so I spent the day with my little man. I made dinner for Michael, rack of lamb, it was delicious. I also made him some cookies, and personalized T-shirts. He went above and beyond for my Valentine's present, like he always does, and re-did my closet. I created the biggest mess in my closet and gave up on trying to organize it. All in one day Michael surprised me by taking all the crap out and putting organizers in it! He is amazing, I was so surprised and I loved it!

He also made me this little video, but I couldn't get the last part to download.

Newborn Pics

2010-01-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Nicole Christensen took Kian's newborn photos for us. It's crazy how different he looks already! Nicole rocks, I just love her!

So I gota little carried away!