Happily Ever After

Jennilyn Proulx Giveaway!

2011-12-23T20:38:00.002-07:00

Jennilyn Proulx is giving away a free portrait session again this Christmas! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win this. We haven't had family pictures in a year and a half and I would desperately love for her to do them for us! She does amazing work that I have always enjoyed looking at. If you haven't seen her stuff you should check her out here... http://jproulxphotography.blogspot.com

Halloween!

2011-11-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

Maybe someday I will get caught up on blogging.... but for now here is a little bit of our October fun!

Making sugar cookies.... by the time I got them into the oven there was a bite out of every cookie! ha he is just like me!

We also had fun carving pumpkins this year. Kayden mainly cared about putting the bowl on his head. He also refused to touch the pumpkin guts because he hates getting dirty. Crazy kid!

This was his first night of trunk or treating at ISU. He loved all the attention he got... and the candy of course! He was such a cute little pirate!

On Halloween we took him to a couple trick-or-treat things here in town... then we took him to our ward trunk-or-treat. He decided to be camera shy so we didn't end up with too many cute pictures of him. (Please ignore my face pulling skills)

Our finished pumpkins. Mine is on the left and Phil's is the smaller one. Yes I took the big pumpkin this year hehe

The day after Halloween I woke up to find my pumpkins looking like this.... punk kids! Oh well I guess it saved me a trip to the dumpster.

"Most Inspirational"

2011-05-09T08:15:00.002-06:00

The past seven months I have been working really hard at becoming more healthy. As some of you know I was involved in a 12 week challenge at my gym to help give me even more motivation. It has been an amazing experience for me. It has completely changed my life in soooo many ways. Also for the record it was about so much more than just losing weight to me. Yes it started out as losing weight but I have gained a lot of other things from it. I am ten times happier, I actually have energy to keep up with my crazy life, I have learned a lot of great knowledge, I have my confidence back, I have met amazing people, and so much more! I love life!

After a month of waiting for judging to be finished, I finally found out the results last Monday. First off the judges went through and picked top three finalists in each category just based off of pictures. In my category of 18-29 year old females I was able to make it through the first round of judging which was exciting. Then they went through and picked a winner in each age group. On Monday I found out that I won my age group.... which feels amazing. There were 10 different age groups/categories. From the ten winners the judges then were to pick a "Most Inspirational" winner. They read essays we wrote and looked at all our numbers of weight/body fat loss and whatnot. Earlier that day my trainer had led me to believe that I hadn't won. I knew that it was a close competition so I knew that I had a chance, but I thought that some of the other essays were probably pretty amazing (which they were). When I went to the celebration to find out who won I honestly wasn't expecting to be the winner. I was freaking out and all nervous because they made us read/summarize our essays in front of everyone and only gave us like a two minute notice. I hate public speaking! Yeah I was a little embarassed... ok a lot embarassed. When they were getting ready to announce the winner my heart was racing like crazy. Finally they called my name! I was completely shocked and super stoked. I have never done anything like this. This is a huge accomplishment for me to win over like 200 people (about 300 signed up in the beginning). It seriously feels awesome to win $3,000 and I have been blessed a number of times throughout this process. Now my stuff is being sent in for national judging.... crazy right?! I don't have any expectations at that level but still I think it's pretty cool.

Here are my stats from the 12 week challenge (not even the real stats of when I actually started losing weight) When I started the challenge I weighed 141 lbs and my body fat was at 27.9%. At the end I weighed in at 118 lbs with my body fat at 15.9%. I lost 7 inches on my waist, 2 inches around my thigh, and 4 inches around my hips.

Also I told some of you that I would post pictures when I got them from the gym. My before pictures are really embarassing so please don't judge!! ha It's way difficult for me to post these! I seriously wasn't going to post them but I know I promised some of you that I would. So here goes...

I just wanna thank everyone who helped and supported me throughout this process. Phil put up with a lot and kept me going when it got difficult. Courtney you were a lifesaver and I appreciated how you helped (you know what I mean lol). Chance, my trainer, had a HUGE impact on this and I couldn't have got here without him teaching me what to do. My family and friends are awesome and I love you all! Thanks! Now I need some new goals... anyone wanna run a half marathon with me this summer?! :)

Life

2010-12-19T00:24:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I have blogged. Sorry if this gets long... I just have a lot of blabbing to do. First off here is an update on life in Chubbuck. One word to describe it is Busy! Phil is always working... and a lot of times when he isn't working I am. The few nights we are both home we have been out shopping and whatnot for Christmas. My whole lifestyle has changed since we moved here. Now I work some nights for Phil to help out at Subway. I wasn't too excited at first, but it has turned out to be not so bad. Sometimes it is hard not to be at home playing with Kayden. When I started I felt like I was neglecting him. At least I still get to spend days and a lot of other nights with him. He is getting so big and he is super fun. I've decided that this stage is one of my favorites so far. He is such a doll! I need to post pictures of him. My camera just broke so I haven't taken too many lately. Luckily I'm getting a new one for Christmas so I will have to post pics soon.

Since moving here I went and got a Gold's Gym membership. Amazing and so worth it!! I love having access to a pool and hot tub when I want, and the daycare is affordable. It even helps that Kayden enjoys going to the daycare. I go to the Gym every morning... unless my trainer tells me that I am not allowed to work out on specific days haha. I have almost developed an obsession with working out. I have even been working on eating better so I can finally get rid of the rest of this baby weight. It's a miracle for me to be eating veggies! haha that is one of the most difficult things for me... along with not eating the super bad but tasty foods (aka chocolate). Since I have been working with my trainer for five weeks (I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm bragging, I'm just proud of what I have been able to accomplish) I have lost 9 lbs and 10% body fat. :) I have lost two inches around my belly and one inch around my hips. I still have a lot of work to get where I want to be, but this is only the beginning.

I just found out about this twelve week challenge they do at the gym starting in January. You do a before picture and an after, and basically the person that has the biggest difference in the twelve weeks wins. I hear it can get pretty competitive. They have different age divisions that you enter in to win a smaller amount of money, and then I think they have a winner out of everyone. I would be in the 18-30 age group. I am still debating on whether I should do it or not... I want to cuz I wanna win, but at the same time I am scared to try my hardest and still not win. That would be difficult for me for some odd reason. I'm also nervous cuz my super awesome trainer just moved away a couple days ago. He set me up to go with another guy, but it's still hard to get all comfortable and set just to feel like I'm starting new with someone else. I really think I'm gonna do this challenge but I am pretty much hounding the trainers and my husband about whether I can really do it or not. haha I am needing people to tell me I can really do it. Seriously I am constantly asking people if I could even stand a chance. Especially if I have to compete against men. I swear men can get results easier than women! haha I just need to get the confidence and go with it! I won't lie I was scared to even start training with a Personal trainer. haha it didn't help that my personal trainer is like this pro MMA fighter, has taught people in the military how to do hand to hand combat, and has a rep for his clients needing an extra sweat towel. Also his last name is Hell.... seriously as if that's not enough to scare a person! Now that I just gone with it and actually tried I've learned that there was no reason to be nervous. I love having a trainer and if I were rich would have one perminently lol! I just wish I could get to the point where I feel confident going into this competition and working with Mitch (old trainer) a little from long distance and starting with my new trainer. It's not really even a big deal, but I wanna try to win for some reason. I dunno. Maybe any of you that know me and my personality can tell me if I can really do it... lol I sound pathetic I know.

Anyways Christmas is soooo soon! Hopefully all of you have happy holidays! Maybe I will get to see some of you while I am in Star Valley for a short period of time. :) Merry Christmas everyone!

We finally moved!

2010-10-06T16:46:00.004-06:00

We have officially moved to Chubbuck! We have known that it would possibly happen for a while now, but we have had to keep it quiet for business reasons. We were also waiting on Phil's boss to give us the date for when it would be best for us to move. At first I wasn't too excited to move to Pocatello because it has always seemed more run down and nasty. This was from just driving through rather than actually driving around the area. We searched options of places to live and found the perfect place. We are still close to the mall, wal-mart, and other awesome places. It took me a while to get excited but now that we are here I'm looking forward to it. Anywhere we go shopping the people have been super nice and seem more talkative. Much better customer service than in Idaho Falls. A lot of the people seem pretty genuine here. It almost has more of a small town feel about it too! We have been here less than a week and I am already liking it!

So far Phil has been super busy with work, and I have been trying to get everything unpacked. Kayden was a huge help throughout the whole packing process... some boxes I had to repack 10 or 20 times. haha I thought that maybe the unpacking would be easier, but now he just throws everything back in boxes. It's been quite exhausting. Anytime I get something put away and all organized, he takes everything out and organizes it in some other room. It's super cute but wow!

(Ignore the clip in his hair... haha. He doesn't usually have accessories in his hair. This was a few days before I got to trim his hair and I felt bad with it constantly in his eyes. At least it's not too girly like a pink clip or flower ;)

I stole some pictures of the outside of our apartment off the internet and here they are. As soon as I get everything unpacked I will post more pictures of the inside... I am almost completely finished! :)

Star Valley

2010-08-27T15:56:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I went to Star Valley for Dustin and Whitney's reception. Whitney was gorgeous of course! Who would have guessed that they were going to get married?! Crazy! I am super happy for both of them!

While in Star Valley, Kayden and I went to a parade to watch my sister Krystal with the dance team. This was Kayden's first parade and he didn't really know what to think. He had also just woken up and was still groggy. Sitting next to Grandpa earned this little boy tons of candy. Luckily they weren't spraying much water or else he would have been soaked too. All the Jr. High and High School kids always go for my dad.

Skyler and Josh thought they were funny moving their chairs into the middle of the road for when the parade came back on the opposite side. My dad even got all excited and went out there! I've decided that boys never really grow up.

After the reception we hurried back to Afton just in time for the Durby. It was a blast. Here is Kayden enjoying the show with Grandpa.

Look at this guy's number... hehe I thought it was funny.

This was the smallest car in it and he was a trooper. I know he won one round but I can't remember if he won the final round or not. He was the most smashed up too! It's no fun when the winner is one of the cars that doesn't hit others much.

Birthday Boy

2010-08-23T19:07:00.008-06:00

On August 5th Kayden turned one. I can't believe he is that old already! He loved opening his presents and playing with all his new toys. We didn't do anything too big since it really didn't matter that much to him. Here are a few pictures of him having a blast.

He loved the candle on his cake and kept trying to stick his fingers in the flame. Then we tried to get him just to dig into his cake, but he refused. He doesn't like getting way too dirty. Silly kid. I think I've pampered him too much... So we ended up giving him a spoon. Funny thing about this is that anytime in the past I've tried to get him to feed himself with a spoon he acts like he can't do it. With his cake he picks the spoon right up and starts feeding himself like he's done it a million times before! This little stinker is too smart! He pretends that he can't do things so that we will just do them for him. Oh and by the way since eating his cake he hasn't tried to feed himself with a spoon... go figure. I guess I will have to give him sweets more often so he will eat using a spoon, without my help! It's the same with his sippy cup and walking. I have to refuse to help him with his cup for him just to do it himself. With walking he used to take 6 or so steps at a time without any help. Now he refuses to do it unless he is pushing something around or one of us is holding one of his hands! That's okay... We still love our stubborn little guy!! He has brought us much joy this past year and we wouldn't trade him for the world! He really is a sweetheart :)

Finished Bed

2010-08-06T10:10:00.001-06:00

July 27th was my birthday. It was a fun day and I am excited about my new itunes gift cards, hot pink amika straightener, and an auxilary cord so I can listen to my ipod in the car. My main gift was a gift card for a professional massage.... and I cannot wait to use it!! This will be my first professional massage :) Thank you baby!! I love you! You are seriously the best hubby ever! The day after my birthday my parents also came up to hang out. They brought our finished bed with them and helped us set it up. Phil says this was also part of my birthday. I am grateful for all the time and hard work my dad and Phil put into it. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Here are a few pictures from my birthday dinner.

Kayden was good the whole time until I was eating my ice cream. He stopped crying when I shared some ice cream with him. Look at his sad eyes.

Getting happier...

Yeah for ice cream!!

Family Pictures

2010-08-02T08:04:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of July, Phil's sister took some pictures for us. Kayden's nap was interrupted to take the pictures so we couldn't get too many good ones of him :( He was super clingy and would only let me hold him certain ways. It was a little depressing that he wasn't happy but we ended up with a few super cute ones. Thanks Sarah!

Blue Angels

2010-07-29T21:09:00.009-06:00

Last weekend we got to go see the Blue Angels. It was a pretty awesome show. Kayden even took an hour nap while three jets were flying around. I definately would call that a miracle. Everytime they would fly by he would jump. Poor thing. Here are some pictures and a couple videos from our fun day at the air show!

Here we are just watching the show before the Blue Angels did their thing.

This looks like the jet that Phil's uncle owns and rents out for shows and whatnot. He wasn't sure if this was the actual one but there are only a few of them left. How cool is that?

Bear Lake

2010-07-23T08:25:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday we had a family reunion at Bear Lake. We got to play a little football, volleyball, and had some fun water wars. Kayden got used to the water and had a blast playing in the sand.

Phil and Skyler kept goofing off during volleyball... they think they are funny!

Boating, Wakeboarding, and Windmills

2010-07-16T10:31:00.014-06:00

We finally have gone boating a few times this summer with Mike(Phil's boss/good friend) and his family. Phil is glad his knee has healed so he can finally wakeboard again (our season got cut short last summer because of his injury). I also decided to do a little wakeboarding myself. It has been almost 3 years since I last tried. I think snowboarding has helped me with wakeboarding but it definately killed my back. Here is a picture of Kayden at the end of his first boating trip. He was a little nervous our first trip and would usually just cuddle up to me. After that first trip he was trying to walk all over and climb out of the boat. He even got in the freezing water for a minute. He is such a good little boy!

On our way up to the lake I noticed that they are adding a ton of windmills. I think windmills are awesome so I got all excited and made Phil stop so I could get a couple close pictures. Phil was talking to the project manager the other day about them and learned a lot of interesting facts. Don't worry I won't go into all the details but it was cool to me :) I guess they only have like a hundred now but when they are finished they will have 3,000. I can't wait until they get that many and they are all running!

Notice the little orange out house compared to how huge the windmill is.

4th of July week

2010-07-13T11:18:00.001-06:00

We have had a crazy busy month already! Sorry if this gets to be a long post. Its been hard to keep up with blogging. A couple weeks ago I got to go up Grover and visit my family while they were camping. It was a blast being able to ride dirt bikes again. It's been so long because last summer I was hugely prego and couldn't go on any real bike rides. haha All I got to do last summer was ride around Auburn... and I'm sure back then I was quite a sight to see. Kayden also enjoyed his 4-wheeler ride with Grandma while the rest of us were off on our bike ride.

I got to spend some time with Courtney before she left for Montana. It is always fun to see her! Kayden also loved her birds! He kept trying to sneak over to the bird cages to play with Kiwi. Thanks for coming to visit Courtney! Maybe we will get in a vacation and come up your way!

Phil's family also came to town for almost a week. On Thursday we all got to go rafting down the Snake River. Phil and I went and dropped Kayden off at my parents house. My mom is awesome and willing to babysit so we can go have fun. While we were at my house, Phil went and helped my dad change pipe. Not a good idea! He didn't even make it out into the field before his eyes were way too swollen. He turned around and didn't even get to help my dad. The weird thing is that he has NEVER had allergies before. His eyes were swollen so bad that I kept making fun of him looking like a chinaman. haha I'm nice I know. Finally we got Phil's eyes to be somewhat better so we could go meet up with his family at the river. We decided to just rent a raft and have Mike be our guide rather than pay a ton more to hire one. We only made one mistake and didn't get out where we were parked. By the time we tried paddling over to the ramps, it was too late. haha this is where the adventure really began. The men hiked out at one spot and hitch hiked to the car so they could drive it to Alpine. Then they climbed back down the mountain so we could get going again. We ended up finding a spot to hike out just before getting to Alpine. The men were busy dealing with deflating and carrying the raft up the hill but we were very pushed on time to get the raft back before it was due. Sarah and I decided to hitchhike this time. There were a lot of jerks that wouldn't stop! Finally a super nice girl named Charlie from SV decided to pick us up. We didn't get the raft back in time, but luckily someone was still there so we could actually turn it in. This was definately an adventurous day full of fun!

Friday was Phil's birthday. Emily, Phil's sister, wanted us to take her to Eclipse and Friday was the best day for it to work. So we all went to the movie while Phil's mom was nice enough to watch Kayden. After the movie we went and had dinner at Red Robin. Phil then wanted to go race go karts. Once again Phil's mom was super nice and sat out with Kayden while we raced. Thanks Shirley. Later we went and had some yummy Cold Stone ice cream :)

Saturday Phil went golfing. Then later we had a bbq at Mike's. We also went and watched the fireworks. Kayden refused to look at them and kept covering his eyes while cuddling with me. After that we went back to Mike's for some more awesome not so legal fireworks. Shhh... Don't tell!

Sunday we had planned going boating, but luckily that didn't work out since my family surprised us by showing up. We went out and had a fun picnic of Panda Express (we finally got one here in Idaho Falls and it is delicious!). Kayden got to swing and play at the park with my family. Later we had a yummy dinner with Phil's family. Phil's sister also took some family pictures of us. I am looking forward to seeing these and will post them when they are ready! Thanks Sarah!

Anyways I am out of time so I will have to post some more pictures later... and there are some things I don't have any pictures of that just might have to steal from you too Sarah! :)

Swimming

2010-06-25T11:33:00.004-06:00

This was Kayden's first time in his tiny swimming pool. He loved it! He was splashing like crazy and ended up getting me soaked too. Hope you enjoy the few pictures of our fun!

Our summer so far

2010-06-19T17:22:00.013-06:00

I'm not very good at keeping up on blogging. Every day I think I should go post quick and then I end up doing other things. When the weather is nice we are busy trying to be out in the sun. Kayden now crawls to the door and basically begs to go outside. He is now crawling and pulling himself up all over the place. He is constantly getting into anything and everything (especially stuff he shouldn't be getting into). He is super fun and getting difficult to keep up with. He would rather walk than crawl so he spends a lot of time following me around in the walker too. Today I got out some paint for Kayden to enjoy. He had fun playing in the paint and even trying to eat the paintbrush. We finally got a finished picture to give to Dad for Father's Day.

Lately Phil has been going golfing a lot. He got new clubs as an early birthday present and loves them. Now he is constantly wanting to go golfing or go hit a bucket of balls. I swear he even thinks that his clubs belong in the living room rather than the garage or closet.

As for me I have been keeping myself busy with going on walks, shopping with friends and sisters, learning how to do a weave in my sister's hair, having Courtney highlight my hair (you are amazing girl!), working out, and trying to keep up with Kayden. Speaking of working out... I have been doing P90X for the past two months, and I would definately recommend it to anyone. It is amazing and it works! I have a lot more energy, I'm getting some muscles again, and I've lost more weight than expected (since I haven't really done any of the dieting part). I weighed myself in the beginning and refused to get on a scale since. I finally gave in and checked my weight a couple weeks ago... I lost 25 lbs in 1.5 months :) I was in complete shock because I haven't really noticed a difference looking in the mirror. So anyway I would definately tell anyone to try P90X because I have been seriously satisfied.

Last weekend Phil finally took a couple days off of work so we could get a little vacation. We headed up to Star Valley so the guys could go golfing (imagine that). Then after they went golfing Phil and my dad went and stained our headboard and footboard. My dad and Phil have been working on this project for a while now. They are building a beautiful headboard for our bed. I am super excited that it is almost done. This picture is before they stained it so you will have to wait for the finished product!

The next day my family and some of our friends all headed down to Utah. We spent one day at Lagoon. It was the perfect day to be there. It rained a little here and there but not way too much. It was awesome that it wasn't way too hot but we also got to enjoy some sunshine. Since everyone thought it was gonna be a bad day it wasn't very busy. There were hardly any lines. This meant we got to do whatever we wanted when we wanted. It was also super nice that I had so many people willing to watch Kayden so I got to enjoy it like I normally would have. The next day we got to do some shopping. It was fun to spend time with my family and get out of Idaho. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. I took my camera but I guess I was just having too much fun to think to get it out. :( Maybe I will get better at that. We are having a fun summer so far and we can't wait for everything else we have planned.

First 4-wheeler ride

2010-05-13T08:01:00.007-06:00

Kayden got to go on his first 4-wheeler ride with Grandpa. Grandpa has been begging to take him on the snowmachine all winter but I never gave in. He was finally happy to take him out on the 4-wheeler and bike. Kayden seemed to enjoy it. Everytime Grandpa would act like he was taking Kayden out Kayden would immediately go to him and act all excited. It was adorable. Grandpa finally found a way to bribe Kayden to come to him.

Eating his coat. Silly kid.

Here is his first time on a bike. Like the huge, pink gloves we had to stick on his hands since I forgot to bring his gloves? haha Poor kid.

He even enjoyed jumping with Dad

Swinging

2010-04-30T09:07:00.004-06:00

Here are the pictures I didn't have time to add to my last post. Kayden's first time in the swings. He seemed to enjoy himself but it was definately something new to him.

In the last picture can you tell he was done and ready to go?

April Adventures

2010-04-24T08:33:00.016-06:00

I haven't been keeping up on blogging lately. So here goes a post for the month of April.

For Easter we got to go to Star Valley. We had lots of fun coloring eggs and finding them in the morning. Phil and I also enjoyed still being kids and running around finding eggs filled with candy. Usually we have this egg hunt outside, but since there was way too much snow this year most of the eggs were inside with a few outside. I didn't get any pictures because I was too busy racing around trying to get more candy. :) Kayden liked his new toys. As you can tell he also loved the sugar peep Grandpa spoiled him with.

Watching conference with Daddy

The weekend after Easter, Kayden I got to go back to Star Valley for Shay's Jr. Prom. She asked me to help her with her hair. We wanted to do a half updo but the guys ended up only giving their dates an hour and a half to get ready. That short time also included a shower since they had been 4-wheeling all morning.
I couldn't even finish getting her hair curled in that amount of time, so needless to say she was a little late. Luckily my tiara I wore for my wedding was in my closet there so at least she had a little something more than just curls.

We have all been loving the nice weather. Every day that it has been nice outside Kayden and I have gone for walks. I've even started getting a farmers tan lol... ugh. Phil and I took Kayden to the park for his first time. He seemed to like swinging, but it was definately a new experience for him. I've run out of time for today so I will have to post the pictures of him swinging later. Here are a few pictures of his first time playing on the grass.

He loves his tongue :)

Trying to drink out of dad's glass

Love this lil guy

2010-03-11T12:21:00.005-07:00

Kayden is just too cute! He attacks us like this all the time. I think he is trying to copy us with how we kiss/attack his neck. He has also learned to shake his head no.... why does no have to be something they learn so fast?! Oh well, at least he isn't old enough to tell me no all the time.

Finally!

2010-02-25T15:01:00.004-07:00

Last year Phil and I were super excited when snowboarding season came along... then I found out I was prego. I kept getting tempted to go anyway since it was only the first trimester of the pregnancy. I didn't give in though and that was probably smart of me. Phil being the nice husband he is didn't go either since that has always been our thing (we went snowboarding all the time together back when we were dating).

Then this year it's been a little more difficult to up and go snowboarding because of work and Kayden. I have never wanted to be the mom to leave my kids with babysitters all the time if I didn't need to. Plus I really do enjoy being around Kayden even though it can be tiring trying to keep up with him. I have also heard of some pretty rotten babysitters out there that are good at fooling parents, and I don't like asking too much from friends. For some reason I just don't want my friends to feel used. He hasn't been away from me too much. Only twice of which he practically slept the whole time both times, so I refuse to leave him with someone new while I don't get service on my phone... at least until he's a little older and weaned.

Anyway so my mom has kept asking me when we wanted to go snowboarding so she could come to town and watch him. We were FINALLY able to plan a day to go! It was awesome to get out and do something Phil and I both enjoy without having any worries about Kayden. Thanks Mom for coming and playing with Kayden... even though you had to drive home in the not so good weather. I really appreciated it. And so did Phil since he hasn't gone a couple times when he had the chance to (because he promised me that we would go together the first time this year and he kept that promise, thanks for not ditching me hun).

Haha this is typical for Phil... goofing off for the camera

These are my super cute snowpants that I got for Christmas. I needed new ones since I'm still too fat for my old ones. Sorry but I'm excited about them so I have to show them off :)

The Best Valentine's Present Ever!

2010-02-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

So this year for Valentine's Day Phil got me a new car! I have been needing a new car since Kayden was born. The neon just doesn't seem to be big enough anymore... Kayden's car seat will only fit in the middle of the back seat, with the front seats slid up. Luckily I am short and it hasn't been too bad, but definately time to upgrade. Also the stroller barely fits in the trunk of the neon. It's impossible for me to get it in the trunk without Phil's help, and I've only been successful at getting it out once. Ugh... talk about pain in the butt!

One of Phil's employees has a dad that works for a dealership, and he has been keeping an eye out for an altima for us. He got us such a great deal that we couldn't pass up. Monday afternoon we drove to Pocatello, traded in Phil's car, and brought the Altima home. I love it! When you start it you don't need a key, you just push a button and she starts right up (as long as the remote is at least in the car somewhere)! It's gonna be weird to get used to! Thanks babe... I love you!

Duel exhaust looks pimp... in my opinion!

Kayden even loves his smooth new ride.

He's no longer my tiny baby

2010-02-12T10:42:00.005-07:00

Kayden is 6 months already!! We went in and had his immunizations a couple days ago and he handled it well. He also just got his second tooth! As cute as his little teeth are I'm still gonna miss his little gummy grins. I can't believe he is so big! He weighs 16 lbs 4 oz and is 26 1/4". I have some pictures I have wanted to post, but I keep telling myself I'll do it later... maybe one of these days I'll get around to it. I was bored while feeding him the other day and felt like playing around with a smilebox. They have some really cute layouts and slides! I made a couple, but here is one for you to enjoy.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Teething

2010-01-29T16:03:00.007-07:00

Kayden is getting his first tooth! He has been a such a good boy through the whole ordeal. Instead of crying a lot he just growls. It's kinda funny. He still sleeps through the night too which I'm super thankful for.

He is constantly sucking on his lower lip, but you can see he is still full of smiles!

4 Months!

2009-12-17T13:08:00.019-07:00

Not too much has happened in the past couple weeks... just lots of getting ready for Christmas and hanging out. Kayden had to get his 4 month immunizations. He handled them pretty well again. We found out that he weighs 14 lbs 5 oz. He is 24 3/4" tall and his head is 42 3/4cm. Here are some things he has been able to do lately:

He has rolled over from his tummy to his back... I think he even went from his back to his tummy once. If he really didn't do it on his own he is close. He constantly rolls on his side.

He somehow turns around in circles when he is laying on the floor. I think it is a very slow process though!

He laughs and it is the cutest thing I have ever heard!
One day when I handed him to Phil he turned around and reached for me! He loves me! Phil claims he was just hungry though. haha whatever makes him feel better!
He has been sleeping through the night for months now... except every now and then he will get up once after 5-7 hours. Can't complain at all.
He is pretty good at grabbing and pulling on things.
He loves to play with his toys and especially his blue stuffed puppy.

Bath time is super fun for him. He will sit and splash and kick like crazy. He is constantly trying to put his face underwater and drink it. Silly kid.

When he has tummy time he will stick his butt in the air and act like he is crawling with his legs. He is lacking in the upper body though. I don't want this kid crawling quite yet even though he seems determined to be able to move around on his own. He's still so young for crying out loud!

I also decided to feed him some baby cereal which he took to right away. Here are some pics of how cute he was while we were feeding him...

Sometimes when he smiles he will try to hide his face and act all bashful... it's adorable!

Our first big Christmas tree... It was loads of fun to pick out and decorate together! It will be even more fun next year when Kayden can help us. All he does is stares at it all the time. I also decided to buy some pink and silver ornaments for my little tree. Doesn't this tree fit me so well with the pink on it?!

Vacation

2009-12-03T11:47:00.013-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving we flew out to Oregon to spend time with Phil's family. It's been two years since we've been to Oregon so it was good to finally go back. We got to spend a whole week out there relaxing and having fun. Kayden enjoyed his first time on the airplane. While we were taking off he kept looking out the window and getting all excited. The rest of the short flight he spent sleeping, thank goodness. We had a lot of fun visiting his family. We got to spend time eating great food for turkey day, shopping, freaking out over a car that we thought was gonna catch on fire, playing games, visiting friends, chillin with the missionaries ;) hehe, and eating lots of Chipotle (Phil's favorite). We got to play a new extremely fun game called Things. By the end of the game I think we all had laughed so hard we ended up crying. I would definately recommend playing this game.

Phil and I even got to go on a date Friday night. We left Kayden at Grandma's so we could have our own fun. His mom gave us tickets to go see a Blazer's game. We had awesome seats... only 16 rows back! It was my first NBA game, since the Harlem Globetrotters don't really count. It was definately a good experience with loads of fun! Thanks Shirley for giving us your tickets. We really appreciated getting out and having a break from Kayden.

Look how close we were!

These noise makers were tons of fun!! I felt like I was a kid again... Phil would probably say I acted like one too!

Mirror Talk

2009-11-14T10:02:00.003-07:00

Kayden has started talking to himself in the mirror. I think it's adorable so I wanted to share! He will even smile at himself now too! He's growing and changing so fast! Whenever I see tiny babies or preemie clothes I have to ask if my baby was ever that small... It's still hard to believe he was!

Halloween

2009-11-02T09:51:00.003-07:00

This is our cute little Tigger. We got to take him trunk-or-treating which was fun. He kept getting all excited with all the people around. It was also fun to have an excuse to get candy for Halloween again since he can't eat it! :)

More pictures

2009-10-26T15:11:00.011-06:00

2 Months

2009-10-10T09:00:00.007-06:00

Kayden is now two months old! We had a doctors appointment on Monday for his immunizations... it was a rough day for the poor lil guy but he managed it well. He only got a small fever. For some reason he was full of smiles too! He acted like he was a little high but it was adorable. We also found out that he loves Tylenol. Ever since he tasted Tylenol he has had an obsession with licking everything!

Weight: 11 lbs 4.5 oz

Height: 22"

Head: 40 cm

As for the adorable picture... we will put more up when Phil's sister is done editing them. When Phil's mom and sisters came up for his blessing a couple weeks ago they took a bunch of cute pics (like 200 of them)! We can't wait to see them all! Thanks Sarah for doing that!

Dad on Duty

2009-10-01T17:04:00.005-06:00

This weekend we went to Star Valley. I had Phil watch Kayden while I went and took a shower. This is what I found when I came out...

Phil claims that Kayden was dancing and that is why the blanket is no longer wrapped around him. He couldn't come up with a good excuse for why Kayden wasn't dressed though... hmmm :)

Shinedown!

2009-09-25T10:08:00.005-06:00

Last night we decided that it would be good to get a babysitter for the first time so we could go to the Shinedown concert in Blackfoot! It was pretty awesome! We had a blast and our ears are still ringing! Shinedown rocks!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!!

2009-09-03T11:47:00.006-06:00

Monday was our 2 year Anniversary. It's amazing how time flies! While Phil was at work he surprised me by having a dozen beautiful roses delivered. Because of Kayden we couldn't do too much to celebrate. Phil came home and made an amazing dinner... one of my favorites! Balsamic vinaigrette chicken with a lemon butter sauce. This is a lot like the chicken fresco from Ruby Tuesdays which I am always craving. Since we don't have a Ruby Tuesdays close it is nice that Phil learned how to make it at home! Thanks hun! You are amazing! I love you with all my heart and I'm so glad I get to be with you forever!

Baby Kayden is here!

2009-08-18T18:28:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday August 4th, I went to the Doctor's office and my blood pressure was way too high. My doctor decided that it was best to induce me that afternoon. We started the fun process and 24 hours later baby Kayden was born!! He weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and was 17 in long. Kayden had the cord wrapped around his neck and we waited too long for the doctor to show up to catch him. He came out a little shocked so they took him away for some special attention. Since the nursery is under construction they are all crammed in a tiny room. There was another baby being delivered at the same time and they were all worried about stabilizing this 28 week old baby. This meant we weren't allowed to see Kayden for about 6 hours. It was no fun sitting there waiting to actually meet him. When we did get to see him he had been given an IV. After that he wasn't eating too well. When they took the IV out they were worried about him and gave him a feeding tube. We had to have an occupational therapist help him learn how to suck. After 4 days of him being at the hospital, a nurse finally thought it would be best to let him pull out his tube and see what he would do on his own. This was all he needed to get out of there. He did great on eating and the new pediatrician on call the next day decided he could finally come home. We are excited to finally have him home so we don't have to keep driving to Rexburg to see him.

Kayden after he had been taken to the nursery...

Right before we got to give him his first bath

What a relief... bathtime is over

Dad had a little too much fun with his hair

After he pulled out his feeding tube

Finally he is ready to go home!!

He loved the car ride home in his car seat!

Trying to hold his bottle... how cute!!

Precious!

Bedrest :(

2009-08-03T13:11:00.002-06:00

All of a sudden as of last Wed. I have developed high blood pressure, and have now been put on bedrest. I don't see how other girls can stand being on bedrest. I've only been on for a couple days and it is driving me crazy! The doctors seemed a little worried, and I have been going in for appointments about every other day since then. I even had to go to the hospital yesterday so they could watch Kayden's heart rate. So far everything looks good... except for my high blood pressure. Hopefully this means they will be inducing me soon since I am 38 weeks along!

Our Life Together

2009-07-28T16:49:00.009-06:00

We have FINALLY joined the blogging world! Phil and I have been happily married for almost two years. We just moved to Idaho Falls a few months ago so Phil can finish school here while he also works full time. In April I graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology. We are enjoying life together and having a blast doing as many fun things as possible. We are also expecting our first baby boy anytime within the next few weeks and cannot wait for him to come!