I'd Rather Be Barefoot

Family Photos October 2011

2011-12-08T01:29:00.000-05:00

Sooo.....I am so behind on this blog. Life has gotten so incredibly busy and I just kept letting my blog slip farther and farther into oblivion. Sorry! Here are our family pictures that we took this past October! My super talented friend Sarah Oberg took these gems and we were so happy with how they turned out!

I wanted to put all of them on..but I loved so many that I will just put up my favorites :)

Snowbird Reunion

2011-08-28T13:45:00.000-04:00

My family had a little reunion up at Snowbird Resort for 4 days this July. It was so much fun! And boy is it gorgeous up there! We spent our days playing on all the fun toys they had up there, including the Alpine slide, zip lines, mechanical bull, ropes course, among other things. We also rode the tram to the very top of the mountain there, and the views were phenomenal. One day we went to Lagoon too, which was my first time going..ever! Sad huh? The weather was great, as was the company! And boy did we luck out because all the kids ate for free, everywhere we went! Good times :) Sorry for picture overload!

Boys...

2011-08-16T21:48:00.000-04:00

I knew it was only a matter of time before my little rascal would need stitches. One Thursday evening I was starting to make dinner, and realized we had no milk, which was vital to my recipe. So, I strapped Shay into the truck, had it running, and was attempting to get Calvin to get out of the house. The silly boy he is, he giggled and ran back into the house while I chased him, and he turned a corner and I heard him fall and cry. I was behind him not even 5 seconds, and when I saw him, there was blood gushing everywhere.

He had slipped and caught the corner of our side table right into his eyebrow, and it slit his face open all the way to his skill! The amount of blood was alarming; I had never witnessed a head wound before so I did not realize how much they bleed!

In an instant, I picked up him, not without saying a few choice words which I will not repeat :). I sprinted to the truck and was attempting to get him in it, but luckily my neighbors were home. I rushed over to their door, and Ben the Dad answered and all I could manage to scream out was "Help!!"

He was cool as a cucumber, he helped close Calvin's gushing wound up with some duct tape and gauze. Calvin I think at this point had gone into shock because he was no longer crying but was quietly hyperventilating poor thing. But me, I was hysterical. I was a mess..let's just be serious for a second! Seeing that much blood coming out of your 2 year old, and seeing his freaking skull exposed was traumatizing for me.

Ben and his kids were great and took Shay who was still in the running truck and told me to go to the ER and they would be fine with her. Luckily I had moments before the tragedy fed her, so she was good for at least 3 hours.

So, me and Cal showed up the totally empty ER completely drenched in blood, and they got us in quickly to get some stitches in his eyebrow. But once we were there, Calvin snapped back into reality and was freaking out. So, they had to knock him out in order to do the stitches. The plastic surgeon who stitched him up was nervous about it being so close to his eye, and he did not want to puncture it with the numbing needle or the stitches themselves. I thought this was a good plan!

So, about an hour later he was knocked out and they got the stitches in right quick. 8 stitches in all! He was so good about the IV in his arm too, which any of you who know about his surgery 3 months ago know how awful he was about his IV!

2 1/2 hours later we finally pulled into the driveway, and a very tired very swollen Calvin went right to bed.

A week later we got the stitches out and boom! He looks like a new kid :) It healed up great! Hopefully no more stitches anytime soon!

Cal the next day poor guy!

this is as still as I could get him to stand for a pic of the actual stitches. I did not get any while at the ER

July 4th in Idaho & Major catch-up!

2011-07-24T01:22:00.002-04:00

We headed to Idaho for the 4th of July..and it was a much needed get away despite the stomach troubles Jess and I both had all weekend. Like I needed something else wrong with my stomach! Get serious! I am feeling alot better from the parasite/bacterial infection, but will have a day or two where I feel kinda crummy now and then..like the 4th weekend! We had fun despite it all :) We spent our weekend eating yummy food all day long, playing outside, wearing no shoes, going for horse carriage rides with Grandpa, going to the Rexburg parade, having our own fireworks show, taking NAPS, and having so much fun with family! Jess even got to go on an epic motorcycle ride with his brother up to Jackson Hole, but his tire almost exploded (SCARY)..and their Dad ended up having to go and pick Jess up. Yikes!

Rexburg 4th of July parade!

Chillaxin'

He would not let this balloon go even though we tied it to his wrist..so worried!

nice shorts Cal!

Family photo op

Shay and her loving cousin Cooper

We had fun with our own fireworks, opting to not go to the Idaho Falls huge fireworks show

I love this! Cooper looks like Harry Potter!

And I had to post this:

Calvin got a haircut!!! Doesn't he look SO HANDSOME? I wanna eat him up!

Chub tan lines? SHUTUP. Shay is just straight up ridiculously cute

Calvin at the pool in Provo. This is the 2nd time we have been to a public pool all summer. Sad huh? It's so hard with two kids by myself! So, we have spent alot of time in our blow up pool in our back yard instead :)

My BFF Abbie and I soaking up the rays!

Snorty Snorts

2011-07-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

I love baby giggles..especially when snorts are involved! Daddy sure lights this little birdy's life up! :)
ps..she is wearing a sleep sack that I had not zipped up yet in case you were curious what's around her belly!

Vomit

2011-06-30T11:42:00.002-04:00

Calvin my little darling is such a picky eater as of late. So frustrating for me. Eating veggies for him is the worst thing I could ask him to do. I have tried everything from hiding them in his food (which he finds anyway) to supplementing his lack of veggies with v8 juice. I feel like a failure. So, the other night I made something new for dinner and he loved it. He ate every single bite! I have no idea what the difference was, but I was thrilled. All I asked of my little sweet pea was that he eat just ONE more carrot. Once he did he could have his beloved pudding cup that he had been whining for all day long. Seems easy enough right?
He put the entire carrot in his mouth. Good start. He chewed it. Great! He kept chewing...and chewing...and chewing...you get the idea! 10 minutes later I told him to just spit it out; this was pretty ridiculous and disgusting. As I went to get a napkin for him to spit out the masticated carrot into, he hopped down from his stool to run away, laughing at how silly he was being. Doing so, he inhaled the carrot sludge in his mouth, and you can probably guess what happened next.
First the carrot all came up. Then in a spectacular shower of vomit, the entire dinner that he had just eaten was spewed across my kitchen floor. It was a pretty impressive distance that he got, but it was totally not funny.
He did not get his pudding cup.

My handsome guy after a needed morning bath

showing his muscles :)

Birdy is 6 Months

2011-06-25T00:11:00.002-04:00

I know I know, she's AHDOORAHBUHL! This little sweet pea is such a joy to our family! She is the happiest baby ever. I thought Calvin was a good baby, but she blows him out of the water hands down. She rarely cries. Ever. Unless something is really wrong or someone is not paying attention to her :) She sleeps like it is going out of style.

She cannot roll over or sit up yet but she's trying her little heart out. We are not worried :)

She babbles like a brook, a 'dada' even slipped out just this morning..let's hope it sticks!

Speaking of Dada..he is the BEEZ KNEEZ to her. When he comes home it is like a parade! You'd think Santa freakin' Clause had just come in or something. Ridiculous :)

We sure do love you little Shay Bird :) Happy half a year mark!

Was not so sure about solids at first but now gobbles them up!

One funny quirk about Shay is that she will only take her binky sideways..if you turn it the right way she will pull it out and turn it! So silly :) She also LOVES her baby doll. She is already such a girl and I love it!

Her Stats:

Weight: 16.12 lbs (64%)

Height: 26" (83%)

I'm Crafty!!

2011-06-20T20:19:00.002-04:00

So I am a tad ~~obsessed~~ in love with the site pinterest. If you are NOT a member of it JOIN NOW..but I am warning you..it's like crack. (Not that I know what crack is like mind you, it's just a metaphor :) ) Anyways, I have been getting so many amazing recipes ideas, as well as easy DIY projects and ways to decorate homes, even activities to do with my kids! I LOVE this site! So, I decided to do one of the DIY projects I found on there the other day, and I must say they turned out so cute! Enjoy :)

Minus the frames...they were about $1.50 to make a piece! I have a collection of frames..one of the other things I am ~~obsessed~~ in love with. Every sale I see on frames I buy a few, and lucky for me I had these 4 lovelies in my collection which turned out perfect for our Family Letters! Now, every child we add to the bunch (hopefully not a ton more), will get their very own framed letter. Would be fun to have an entire wall filled with letters :)

The Numbers Don't Lie

2011-06-07T21:35:00.001-04:00

Number of:

Times I ate at Cafe Rio in the past month: once

Times I have been sick: EVERYDAY since

Calls made to Cafe Rio's corporate office: 3

Calls returned from Cafe Rio: zero

Visits to the urgent care doctor: 4..so far

parasites in my body: at least one that we know of!

outfits Shay pooped through at the doctors just today: 2

Shots I have had to take in my BUTT: 3...4 to go. My poor butt HURTS

People I want to punch in the face: Anyone who has to do with Cafe Rio!

Boom

2011-06-07T16:53:00.000-04:00

I love decorating my house finally. It's only the top of my kitchen cabinets, but if you knew how long I stood in Thai Pan deciding which bird cage I wanted you would appreciate it! Little by little I am finally doing the things I have wanted since we moved in almost 3 years ago!

Shay Bird

2011-06-06T17:11:00.001-04:00

Just a few seconds to show you why we call her our "shay bird". She will "chirp" throughout the day, and she brings so much joy into our home. Calvin absolutely ADORES her..and he is my little helper with her! She will be 6 months old in a few days and I literally cannot believe it! Ps, there are some cute little baby giggles at the end of the video! Enjoy :)

WOW.

2011-05-24T22:32:00.000-04:00

Life recently has been chaos. Poor Calvin had his surgery on the 9th of May, and I was expecting him to be a little crabby, but boyyy I was not ready for what he was like for two whole weeks. Poor little guy was just plain awful. For those of you who did not know, he had new ear tubes put in, as well as his adnoids removed and tonsils as well.

When he woke up in the recovery room he screamed and cried and fussed for an hour straight, and managed to rip out his iv from his arm in the process and vomit all over me and himself twice. Yuck. I managed to calm him down, but he would.not.drink.a.drop. They wouldn't let him leave until he drank at least 8 oz of fluids. Sounds easy enough right? NOPE. We ended up being there a whopping 10 hours before we were released. To say my son is stubborn is an understatement! Finally, Jess had the brilliant idea of dumping Calvin's required fluids into the trash when the nurse left the room for a moment. If he had not done that, we probably would have been there all night!
Shay was a trooper. Since she won't take bottles, I had to have her with me the entire time. And Jess had to go to work for a few hours, and I was pretty nervous to be left with the both of them in the hospital room, but Shay was SO GOOD! She even slept for about 3 hours straight in her carseat..the little angel :)

So, once we were home I thought things would get easier. NOPE. Calvin REFUSED his medicine which was liquid Lorotab..man I wish I could have had some of that! It was a battle every time, and most of the time I would get it spit in my face which was so pleasant. So, Calvin was miserable for an entire 24 hours straight since he was in so much pain. Eventually, I thought of the brilliant plan of hiding it in his drinks, and was finally able to convince him to take his medicine. He woke up at least 3 times at night because his throat would dry out so much from sleeping with his mouth open...and it would take FOREVER to get him back to sleep because he would be so upset.

My patience was definitely tested to the max. I had a few spectacular mommy meltdowns that I am not the least bit proud of, but hey, who's perfect? I was on my knees alot the past 3 weeks praying for help and patience! I am so grateful that the Lord is always there listening.

It took a good 5 days for him to act normal again. And here we are almost 3 weeks later, and things pretty much are normal. The only thing now is that it is impossible to get this kid to eat 3 meals a day. He got very used to having snacks whenever he wanted, because I would be so happy that he would even want to eat something that I would give it to him! So, once we get back to our 3-meal-a-day schedule things will be juuuuust peachy!

I am so grateful that he had this surgery though and I am praying that it helps him, and that we have NO MORE EAR INFECTIONS!!!! :)

Love Love

2011-04-29T13:21:00.001-04:00

I love love.
Yes, I DVR'd the Royal Wedding.
Yes, I cried my eyes out.
I love weddings, I cry at every wedding I go to or see on television. Even movie weddings make me cry.
Love is such an incredible thing.

This was my Dad's facebook status this morning:

"Watching the coverage of the Royal Wedding, I was reminded of my stunningly beautiful bride. Elegant, beautiful with long, dark hair as she came out of the temple looking eternally beautiful to me. Thirty-six years and she is still stunningly beautiful."

What an incredible example I have from my parents. I grew up with a desire to find a husband and eternal companion whom I would love as much as my parents love one another. Jess, my darling, my best friend, my happily ever after..I am truly blessed.

I Looooove love :)

Flower Power

2011-04-21T17:01:00.000-04:00

You gotta start somewhere right? I have wanted for a long time to start up a floral arranging business. And since it was my best friend Abbie's birthday, I thought she would be a good guinea pig! Say hello to my very first arrangement:

I wanted a really colorful spring mix of flowers, and I think I accomplished it pretty well! The lemons were just a fun colorful touch. I had no ribbon, so I used some pretty pink damask tissue paper. So, it's not perfect, I have a loooong way to go. But like I said..you gotta start somewhere right?
If anyone would like an arrangement, table centerpiece, or bouquet for anything let me know!! I would love to get started!

Jess is Wiggin' Out because He's 30!!!

2011-04-20T22:23:00.001-04:00

Jess has finally hit the big 30. He was not phased by hit at all...and doesn't even feel older than 21! Go him :) My hubby gets sexier every year I swear. I wanted to do something fun and spontaneous to celebrate his momentous birthday, but not something ordinary. So, we went to dinner. With wigs on. Yup! We wigged out! It was so much fun, and Jess had a really good time. Not everyone was able to make it, but our group size turned our perfectly.
Happy 30th birthday to the man whom I associate everything good that has happened in my life :) I love you babe!

Our Happy Family!

Abbie and Lily. I thought she looked so cute with this hair!

my chocolate milk mustached buddy

Jess and Calvin riding the birthday saddle at Texas Roadhouse

Aren't we a colorful bunch?

Oh yeah..this is our new son: Chauncey :)

Excuse Me??!

2011-04-12T15:14:00.000-04:00

I am so tired of rain. And snow. Spring and summer need to get here asap! I am going crazy indoors as are my kiddos. So, I took Calvin over to the mall the other day to let him get some energy out in the play area there. I knew an inevitable meltdown was coming when I was going to try to get him to leave and get back into our stroller. I got a new double one by the way..LOVE IT.
So, it came time to round up the buddy. I calmly walked over to him, and he knew it was coming, so he ran. And this little kiddo is fast. He has had super strong legs since he was a baby, and boy now that he can run he takes off. So I chased him around the play area for a while, even crawled into the fake tree house after him, and as soon as I grabbed him he started to scream. I was attempting to hold a writhing screaming 36 lb brick of a toddler and walk back to the stroller. What a scene we were making. It seemed like all the other Moms and kids for that matter were watching us struggle.

Then I remembered I had some balls for Calvin in my bag that he did not know I had brought. So I screamed over Calvin's screaming so that he could hear me.
"Calvin let's go so we can play with your balls!!!!!!!"
Now I had no doubt everyone was looking at me.
" Uhh..your TOY balls that are in my BAG..." I quickly recovered.
I turned bright red. Put Calvin into his stroller and jetted out of there. Hopefully no one got the wrong idea from that. Yikes. Summer seriously..help a girl out here and show up. Soon.

4 Months Old

2011-04-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick comparison of my little darlings at 4 months old. Shay will be 4 months in a few days, and alot of people have told me they see so many similarities of the two babes. So you decide..see any similarities?

These first 3 pics are Calvin at 4 months. This was right before we packed up and moved to Baltimore. Notice the moving boxes? SO GLAD we are not packing up this year!

And now to Shay baby. She HATES the bumbo seat, or else I would have some pics of her in it as well. Maybe she will warm up to it. Who knows. But she is just a few days shy of 4 months, so not quite, but still about the same age as Ck in the previous pics.

This last pic of Shay cracks me up, it's like her Blue Steel impression or something! So cute :)
Thanks for looking!

26

2011-04-04T00:56:00.001-04:00

Thats right. I am 26, and do I feel it? Nope. Haven't really felt any different since turning 21. 30, that will be weird for me, but I don't feel different! And it's not just me...

This beautiful specimen AKA Aly, my twin sister also turned 26 today! Oh Aly, what would I do without you? Only twins can truly know the love and bond that you have when you share a soul :) I cannot imagine life without my other half, we talk 10-12 times a day at least. The summers that Jess and I would move I would call Aly constantly. I miss her so much when we are apart that it hurts me physically. This summer is going to be SO nice because we aren't going ANYWHERE and I like it that way! I love to travel, so it's sort of weird to not be packing up our house and leaving, but I don't mind one bit!

I love this picture of me and Aly from my baby shower. Gosh I am huge, but I love it :) Happy 26th bday sis! I have a feeling that this year is going to be a doozie (but in a good way) Love you!!!!

This is probably the gift I am most excited about: my first pair of Toms!!! Yippeee!! Aly got them for me- I have wanted them forever. I hope I don't wear them out too fast because I am going to wear them everywhere!

Shay Baby

2011-04-04T00:32:00.000-04:00

Our Shay baby was blessed last week by her daddy. We have her blessing recorded and I wanted to give some of the key things Jess said:

*To keep her body healthy and clean

*To mind the counsel of her parents

*To strive to live the Gospel, and to go to the temple one day

*To know she has parents who love her

*To be a good example to those around her

There is alot more he said, and it was such a lovely sweet blessing. Shay apparently had her eyes glued to her daddy the entire blessing. She is such a Daddy's girl, so this did not surprise me, but she uttered not one sound. She was hanging on Jess's every word. I was in the mother's lounge beforehand changing her, and I told Shay to listen to her Daddy, and it seems like she took my advice :)

It was a beautiful day. I am so grateful for my beautiful kiddos and my husband who is a worthy priesthood holder.

I made her bow!

Our family of 4!

Aloha!!

2011-03-29T17:11:00.000-04:00

Ok, overload of pictures. But these are from our trip to Hawaii. We went the end of February to Oahu with Homeshield's top ten salesmen and their wives. We had so much fun, we stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort this time, and it was amazing. Baby Shay came with us, and she was seriously the BEST baby the entire trip, even though we discovered days before we left that she had a double ear infection, and when we got back home that she had RSV probably our entire trip!

Anyways, we had so much fun, and we definitely did not want to come back home, except to get Calvin of course :) But he had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa Butikofer up in Rexburg, or "papa" as Calvin calls both of them. I felt bad that we took Shay and not Calvin, but he had so much fun up in Idaho, that he will never know the difference :)

Shay and Berkley loving the beach (in the shade of course!)

Waimea Bay

This lookout was so pretty, and we saw whales everywhere! I have never seen a whale before and I could have sat here all day and watched them.

Waikiki Beach with "Duke"

Jess and I tried paddle boarding in Waikiki!! It was so fun, and I saw a sea turtle out there!

This was our hotel view :)

LOVE the beach!!

Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center

We found out on February 23 at dinner that Kendra, an employee at Homeshield, and one of my friends passed away in a terrible ATV accident. Kendra and I had become close this past summer in Kansas City. She and I would text all day long, and then she would come over almost every night when she was done working and we'd have some girl time. I have never had someone close to me pass away, so her death has been really hard on me, but I know she is in a better place and can't wait to see her again. I suggested that we throw our leis from the Luau the night before into the ocean to celebrate Kendra. It was a small gesture, but I felt like she knew we had done it, and it gave me such a warm feeling in my heart.

As we had been letting our leis go for Kendra, we did not realize that Courtney Cox was watching us the entire time! She was nice enough to take a photo with us, and said she was very sorry for the loss of our friend.

Apparently her show "cougar town" was filming at our resort, because in the lobby we met the actor who plays her ex- husband!

One final pic of these cute patootie little babies! They both did so well on the trip, but both had RSV when we got home. Poor things :(

Thank you kind stranger...

2011-03-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

On our way to the airport in Honolulu...( I will post about Hawaii when I have more time!)....we were late. Not surprising. So, Jess had to drop off the rental car and I just told him to drop me and the bags and Shay off at the Delta terminal. Unfortunately in our rush we missed the terminal so I just told him to stop and I would get out and figure it out.
Little did I realize just how far I was from the Delta terminal. It looked like a mile!! I had two huge suitcases...yeahhh we overpacked juuuust a bit :)....a stroller my ginormous diaper bag and shay in her car seat which unfortunately did not fit into the stroller because it was one of those cheap umbrella ones.
I probably stood there for a good minute just trying to figure something out. I wanted to cry...Shay was crying and I was sweating. Then I did the only thing that made sense.
I ran about 50 feet with the luggage...then jogged back and grabbed shay in her carseat and pushed the stroller with my other hand. Then I would repeat the process. This was going to take FOREVER. After about 5 mins I was convinced we were going to miss our plane for sure. I was ready to just give up and wait for Jess.
Suddenly a voice behind me startles me back into reality. A man in his mid thirties and a boy about 6 years old approach me. He has a heavy accent but speaks perfect English. He very kindly says they were going to help me. I hesitate at first and tell him he probably has to catch a plane himself and shouldn't bother..I will be fine. But I am literally holding back the tears flooding my eyes and am sweating profusely. He says no no...they are trying to get back to Peru where they are from and are on standby for at least 5 more hours. They were bored, and really wanted to help me. I am so relieved and he takes both our rolling suitcases and his son pushes the stroller while I carry Shay in her carseat all the way to check in. We chatted along the way, and he even waited and they helped me all the way through the customs check necessary in Hawaii where they scan every bag before it's checked in, and they waited with me all the way through the line until I was at the desk to check in.
I gave him the biggest sweatiest hug ever, and finally burst into tears. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and said it was nothing really.
Thank you kind stranger, we need more people like you in the world. I never even found out his name.

2 months & 2 Years

2011-02-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

This happy gal...

is 2 months old!

She:

*sleeps through the night ( at least 9 hours!)
*Is smiling and cooing a ton
*has two men in her life whom she ADORES...Daddy and Calvin
*Loves bathtime
*Weight: 12.6 lbs height:23 Inches!
* Loves to have her back thumped... especially by Daddy
*Will no longer take a bottle much to my dismay...
*Brings so much joy into our lives!

This sweet boy...

Turned 2 in November. My lovely friend Sarah Oberg took these pictures of him..aren't they great??

Calvin:

*Weight:34 lbs Height:can't remember it right now but he is 98% for both
*Will no longer eat veggies. I have to get very creative and hide them in his foods
*LOVES trucks cars trains..anything with wheels
*Loves to color
*He will take things apart and then put them back together..I think he is going to be an engineer!
*Will definitely test his boundaries at least 10 times a day...but does well with time outs
*Gives the BEST hugs and kisses on the planet
*Loves his baby sister Shay..he is turning into my big helper!
*Makes us laugh every single day...Love my little guy

We have two cute kiddos. I am so grateful day in and day out for them! What a joy it is to be a Mother :)

Give Away!!!

2011-02-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

My beautiful and talented friend Steph is a photographer in Dallas. She is giving away a beautiful frame to one lucky winner! All you have to do is go to her website Auburnsoulphotography.com become a fan on facebook leave her a comment and boom! You are entered :)

Shay Baby At 3 1/2 weeks

2011-01-28T20:58:00.000-05:00

These sweet shots of our little sweetie were taken by a good friend of mine. Aren't they great?

New

2011-01-09T23:56:00.000-05:00

2011. New year..new baby! New house...haha well not "new" house, but since Jess and I are not leaving this summer (YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY) we actually get to decorate our house and make it a home!!! I have so many things I cannot wait to get done. First thing was first though and we ripped down the horrifically ugly vertical blinds and put up these amazing new curtains thanks to my Momma! I picked out the fabric and over all style of them, but my Mom would not let me help her make them one bit! I totally appreciate her though :) they turned out fantastic!

Before

After

They really make the room look more put together, and keep alot of heat in as well. And DANG they look good! :) One project down, a million more to go, but I am SO excited about it!

So, it's a new year sooo shouldn't I have some resolutions? Hmm...here goes:

*Finish reading the entire Bible again...it's been slow and steady but I feel like I am learning so much even though I have read it before. Love that

*Read more books for me. Even though I now have two kiddos I feel like I just need to read more and exercise my brain. Right now I am devouring The Hunger Games books...up next "The Help"! And after that I might totally switch things up and read Glenn Beck's "Broke"

*Speaking of exercise, that's always on my list. From this pregnancy I have already lost 35 pounds and have 10 more to go before my prebaby weight! I am trying some new things this year like Bikram Yoga and Cycling! Here goes nothing

*Cook more homemade things. Jess and I rarely make things homemade. Obviously our meals are homemade, but I am talking about things like pancakes in the morning for the kids, and bread. Especially bread. There is nothing quite like home made bread! MMMM...just thinking about it makes my mouth water. So, I have already embarked on trying more recipes and not relying on pre frozen things for meals, and have actually been making bread! I feel more domesticated already

*Being alot slower to anger. Funny how I seem to have gone from an incredibly patient woman to one who has zero patience. It has not helped that Calvin has really been bringing his tantrums and 2 year old isms out in full force lately and I have been so tired from getting used to a newborn again. But, I have been praying hard every night and have been really working on not going straight to anger when something goes wrong. I have noticed a huge change in how Calvin reacts to me, and feel alot better in general. I just need to realize that nothing is ever going to be perfect and that things are going to go wrong! :)

I have more, but I don't want to bore any of you! Bring on 2011!!

5 years...WHOA

2011-01-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

It is CRAZY to me that we have been married for 5 years! Here were are on our happy day on Dec. 30, 2005!

Amazing how time flies! And now we have two gorgeous kiddos :) I am a lucky woman! So this year, we went up to Huntsman Springs in Driggs Idaho. Jess got us a night in this house! We had a ton of fun, even if baby Shay came with us :) We went and had a lovely dinner the 3 of us, and then bought lots of snacks and food to make breakfast and spent the night relaxing in our robes and watching movies! We even took an amazing bath in their jetted tub...and a bath to me is quite a luxury! I am so dang tired and never have time for baths anymore!

Front of the house

these two are of the master bedroom. And no that's not a baby doll it's Shay! She looks kinda funny on our bed!

master bathroom! there was a really nice shower back there too, but we couldn't get it all in the pic!

the dining room and the kitchen were phenomenal. The appliances and range were the most expensive and nicest I have seen! I wanted this kitchen and everything that came with it!

Our view. The tetons were directly behind us, and it was so cloudy you could not even see them :( Oh well

Relaxing!

Bedroom #2

these two are of the front entry way and the laundry room

Bedroom #3 and did I mention every bedroom had a bathroom??

Bedroom #4

I totally wanted to move into this house! And their decorator was amazing! I ought to give him a call- He can come decorate my house whenever he wants!

Happy 5th Anniversary babe! Can't wait to see where we will be in another 5 years!

Christmas Montage

2011-01-05T23:14:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Christmas and New Years has come and gone! Here are a bunch of pics from our festivities. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

We had some epic battles playing just dance!

CK wanted to help everyone open gifts

Jess and his Steelers throwback jersey

CK got lots of beep-beeps!

our good family friends who might as well be family came out to Utah from Philly!Good times!!

We then headed to Idaho for New Years w Jess' fam

Grandpa Rees bonding w Shay

I have to tell of CK's new years debacle. We were having some fabulous fondue...3 cheese and of course Swiss Cheese as well as an oil one for veggies and meats. Ck was wandering around the table. Jess' parents table is a booth with a built in bench that wraps around the corner of the dining room and he was walking on top of the bench. I had asked him to get down because he was done eating, and as he walked behind me to get down, he plummeted and scraped his face off on a snag in the wood. OK..so he didn't rip his face off..but he got a good chunk out of his lip and bit the inside of his mouth pretty badly. BLOOD EVERYWHERE! I was so freaked just seeing all the blood! But after a few minutes of screaming and holding pressure to his cuts, we were able to assess the situation and see that he didn't need stitches and had not bitten through his lip like it appeared he had. Whew! Crisis averted :)

25 below and my child is running around in a diaper with WET hair! Oh geez....

Shay was a wonderful traveler! She slept the entire carride both ways! Only had one blowout on the way home at a friend's house in Pocatello. But other than that she did great! And she passed her 3 week mark while we were in Idaho! My little cute patootie! I am really really hoping her hair stays brown!!!

Calvin being a little stud :)

Cooper and Porter love Calvin and now love Shay too! We are so lucky to have so many wonderful cousins on both sides of the family! Wish we could see everyone more often though :(

Did I mention how COLD it was? during the day it was low one digits..but at night it would get to below zero temps! YIKES! Calvin and his cousins were pulled on a sled behind a 4 wheeler..and CK only lasted maybe 10 minutes both times! he was so cold!

merry christmas!

2010-12-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

Wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season!

Welcome to the World Shay baby

2010-12-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

My Doctor wanted me to be induced this time around. I was so ecstatic because I knew when the day was to be, and I knew that my doctor was going to be the one delivering my baby. Also, we were hoping that since it would be 5 days early that it would ensure that she would be a normal weight and size so my labor would be nothing like last time. I wanted nothing to be like last time!

The hospital called me the night before to inform me I was first on their list..so that meant we needed to be there at 6AM!Come again?? I was not particularly thrilled about getting up so early; I had looked forward to getting up and showering and having a nice breakfast beforehand. So, our plans just had to change a little. My Mom came that night to stay with Calvin since we needed to leave so early, and I just showered before I went to bed. But, did I sleep? Nope! I tried so hard too, but my body was WIRED.

By 6:30 am I was in a bed in a delivery room, but we had to wait until about 7:30 to start the pitocin drip. Like 4 or 5 women came into the labor and delivery around the time I did, but we did not mind waiting. In fact, Jess and I got alot of sleep! Even after the pitocin was going and my contractions had started, we slept until about 10:30 which felt so good! My contractions were very close together with the pitocin, and before too long I really felt like I needed my epidural. I tried to last it out as long as I could, but I am a total wimp about pain, especially when I think about my delivery with Calvin. It still makes me shudder to remember how painful that experience was...although absolutely worth it for my little buddy CK don't you forget it!

This time my epidural went without any problems! I felt my left side regaining feeling after a while and panicked, but pushed my more meds button and rolled onto my left side for a while and it worked with the power of gravity! Go me :)

Jess and I just watched a few movies, and Aly came to join us until the very end around 1 PM. I off and on slept and watched movies while pretending my stupid ice chips were delicious foods. Around 4:20 ish, I had this strange feeling that I needed to push. I had been counting the minutes since 4 and it seemed like time was moving so very slowly. But that feeling would not go away, so I buzzed my nurse and she came in to check me. Sure enough I was fully dilated! Time to push! Unfortunately, my doctor was hung up somewhere else, so we had to wait until 5:15 for him to get there! I just laid there and tried not to think of pushing, but of course it was all I could think of, and my adrenaline was pumping like crazy. Somehow, I managed to hold out.

At 5:28 pm I started to push, and 20 mins later at 5:48 pm my little Shay was born. Pushing was a much better experience this time! I'll take 20 mins over 2 1/2 hours anyday! Whew! The cord was wrapped around her little neck, but nothing too dangerous to her. But once I laid eyes on her little naked body as the doctor pulled her out, my heart melted and I was in tears. Let's face it, I was crying and pretty much unable to push the last time because my emotions were so strong as I knew I was about to meet my daughter.

She was beautiful! And they laid her on my chest..I never go to do that with Calvin. I savored those few moments until they took her to be cleaned weighed and measured. We could not believe how big she was! 8 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long! Why do I have such big babies???

Our stay at the hospital was great, and too short. I love being waited on, haha, is that so bad of me? But this time around I had a much more pleasant time in the hospital than last. I still tore pretty badly, so my pain level has been pretty high, but as long as I take my pain meds I feel fine, just sleepy. Hopefully I can heal quickly!

Since being home, she has been a dream. She sleeps great, and eats great! Calvin is not sure about her still, but he will help me get diapers and helps out alot more than I thought he would. He will NOT say her name though, she is just "baby" for now to him. He is probably still hoping that she is going to leave someday soon. Oh well, I know he'll be a great older brother once he comes around to the idea!

We are in love with our little Shay Lynn! I can't imagine our family without her now :)

Introducing...

2010-12-14T00:25:00.000-05:00

Little miss Shay Lynn Butikofer! She arrived Friday December 10, 2010 at 5:48 pm.

8 Lbs 1 Oz 20 Inches long

We love this little toot so much already! I will post more when I don't feel so stinkin tired and am more adjusted! Just wanted to show my little princess to you :)

Shutterfly Makes it Easy!

2010-12-02T13:39:00.000-05:00

I have had a really great experience with Shutterfly in the past. My Sister-in-laws and I uploaded and created an amazingly beautiful photo book of a family reunion for my Father and Mother-in-law. It was so easy for us all to be able to access the website and create pages and post pictures to them. The book turned out amazing! It was a great gift and my in-laws appreciated it so very much.

This year, I am going to use Shutterfly to make our holiday cards. I am very excited that I decided to do this from how lovely my past experience was making that photo book! They have so many beautiful and fun card designs it is almost hard to choose one that I want! I really like the designs that have several photos on them because we are having trouble picking just one photo of our family and the many adventures we've had this year of 2010. I cannot wait to see how my cards will turn out!

Here are some of my favorite designs:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

Start of the Holidays

2010-11-28T22:23:00.000-05:00

Jess' family came into town for Thanksgiving and stayed at our house. I was nervous about how tired I was going to be at 37 weeks pregnant, but it was so much fun! Jess' mom and dad came as well as his brother Jake and his wife Jacie and their 3 kiddos Cooper Porter and Olivia. We had a full house and it was so fun. Now that everyone is gone our house seems so empty!

We had Thanksgiving up in South Jordan at their cousins house. There was alot of us, at least 16 adults and who knows how many kiddos! The food was delicious and we played lots of fun games. The kids had a huge playroom to play in and had a blast. Calvin was exhausted by the time we went home! All day any drink he could get his hands on he would steal and gulp down! It's a good thing this was not an alcoholic group :)

Anyways, Thanksgiving was so fun but I did not take ONE single picture! We were having way to much fun! Oh well. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Calvin and Olivia had a blast in the tub together! These two make quite a racket and a mess when they are together in the water!! So cute though..and gotta love those little naked bums!

Despite how cold it was, we took the kids to our local playground which is so awesome! We stayed about an hour when we couldn't take the cold anymore and kids were starting to cry because their hands were so cold!

The day after Thanksgiving we had Calvin's 2nd birthday party! I am so relieved that I was able to have his birthday before this little girl shows up. I was afraid she was going to come on Thanksgiving for some reason, and am glad she did not! It would have been nice if she had come sometime this weekend while Jess' family was here, but it obviously was not meant to be!
Calvin's party was so fun! We grilled hamburgers out on the grill in the frozen tundra and everyone had a great time! Calvin LOVES LOVES LOVES cars and anything that has wheels on it is called a "beep-beep", so I knew his cake had to be car themed. I will have to post the video up, but when we started singing and I brought out the cake his reaction was soooo cute! His eyes got so big and he just kept saying "beep beep!!!!" Then once he got the cars off his cake he refused to put them down to eat cake! And lucky for him most of his presents were cars! He got some really cute clothes, and some sweet books as well. Grandpa Rees and Grandma Kathryn got him a tee-pee tent that he loves to crawl in and take all his "beep-beeps". I would say this birthday was a success!

Me, Jess, and my best friend Abbie's little girl Lily sitting atop her future best friend to be :)

Calvin's cake! I made a road out of oreos, and the green is supposed to be grass

Calvin seriously would not put down the cars to eat cake!

Celebrating with Cooper and Porter

Saturday night we rode the Trax up to Temple Square to see the lights! It was such a fun experience for everyone, including the kids! We picked a good night to go too, it started snowing pretty bad in the middle of the night last night, so it might have been one of the last nice weekends to head up there before it's too cold! Calvin loved the train ride! And once we got to Temple Square he was amazed by all the lights. He even blew kisses to the temple because I told him it was where Heavenly Father and Jesus lived. How cute is that? Jake and Jacie and their kiddos had to head up to Logan right from Salt Lake so we said goodbye and we ate at the Gateway with Jess' parents before catching the Trax all the way back.

The ride up to Salt Lake

We forgot Calvin's stroller (oops!) but he enjoyed riding on Daddy's shoulders all night

This temple still takes my breath away :) I told Calvin this was where Mommy and Daddy got married, and he got a big goofy grin on his face

Well if Calvin had cooperated and looked this would have been a cute pic! Oh well :) We sure had a fun weekend with family and friends! I miss everyone already but cannot WAIT for Christmas!!

36 Weeks

2010-11-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

Big girl in there!!

Baby Shower & Pregnancy Photos

2010-11-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

My sister Aly, Mom, and Sister in Law Melissa threw me a baby shower in October. I appreciated it so much! Too bad the week of I got a terrible sinus infection so I was super sick at my shower and felt horrible, but still had fun! The night before Melissa took Calvin for Jess and I and he had his first sleep over with his cousins Robbie, Peter, and Belle and he thought that was pretty darn cool :)

Abbie, Jamie and Amber feeling the belly

Me and my beautiful sister Aly :)

Jamie helping to tie the quilt for my baby girl! It turned out so cute!

Jamie made me a really cute hooter hider, and she also made Abbie and Sarah's which we are all displaying.
Thanks to all who helped put my shower together and all who came! :)

My sister Aly has a really really nice camera, and she decided to take some maternity pictures for me around 34 weeks. Dang, I have gotten soooo huge since these pics! Crazy what just a few weeks will do to ya :) She did such a good job I love them!

Girls Craft Night

2010-11-28T21:26:00.000-05:00

So this post is from a while ago, but I wanted to play some catch up before little miss arrives here soon!
My friends and I have started a monthly craft night. Ok, so we've only done October so far, and I was supposed to help with the November month with my best friend Abbie, but this month has been a little busy! So, hopefully we can get back into the groove and have it every month. Jocelyn and Sarah hosted Octobers night, and it was so fun! It was Halloween themed, and all the husbands took the kiddos and they watched a UFC fight they ordered while we ate and made our crafts.
We had white chili in bread bowls dyed orange to look like pumpkins! It was so cute, and Sarah and Jocelyn did such a good job putting the entire night together.

Our crafts for the night were super cute pumpkins we made out of toilet paper rolls!

and then we made these adorable wreaths for fall! I love how mine turned out :)

Here's all the girls of the night: Clockwise from top right: Sarah, me, Abbie, Jess, Jocelyn, and Jana Lee

Can't wait for our next craft night!

2 years old

2010-11-21T02:06:00.000-05:00

Today has been so happy and bittersweet at the same time. It's hard to believe that just 2 years ago I had my little bubby and held him as a newborn in my arms at the hospital. He is now so big I can hardly believe it. I have cried alot today. Probably a mixture of being very very pregnant and emotional, but it seems like life goes by so fast sometimes; I just want to hold onto Calvin and never let him grow up!

Jess is in Cabo until tomorrow night so we will not celebrate his birthday until the day after Thanksgiving when his parents will be down here too so that will be really fun for Calvin! All I got him (since I know he is going to be spoiled by everyone else), are some little toy cars. He LIVES for cars. Anything and everything that resembles a car or has wheels is a "beep-beep". Just yesterday my Mom gave him some CARS fruitsnacks like the movie and he was so thrilled with them that he played with them for over an hour until we literally forced him to eat them! He just kept lighting up and lifting them up to my Mom and going "It's a beep-beep!!!" He is so cute I could just eat him up!

I am not going to lie, this summer Calvin and I had some hard times. What toddler and his mother do not? But since we have been home I have noticed a miraculous turn around. Maybe I just have more patience? Either way, he has become so much easier to reason with, and he hardly ever gets time outs anymore. If you were with me this summer you would know that he spent some whole days it seemed like in time-outs and would act out and hit me and it would upset me so greatly that I would cry ALOT. Not now. He has always been such a sweet loving boy but for those few months this summer I wondered where oh where had my sweet boy gone? He's back :) That's for sure! I am just so glad we made it through our rough little patch, and really hope that it's gone for good!

Anyway, I could go on forever about my baby boy, but I am so tired I should probably go to sleep. I just thought I would share a cute story about him. I don't think I have ever talked about how hair is his comfort. From day one as soon as he could, he would reach up for my hair and hold it and it comforted him. He started doing it when I would feed him, and then even when he switched to bottles he would want to sit in my lap and reach up for my hair. To put himself to sleep he grabs his own hair and strokes it until he falls asleep. I have always found it so sweet, and last night he had a really hard time sleeping for some odd reason. I eventually gave in and just let him come into bed with me. Since Jess is gone I have been lonely anyways, and I never say no to snuggling with my bubby. Even once in bed with me with his bunny and his monkey stuffed animals of course, he had a hard time falling back asleep. I was exhausted, but seriously when am I not exhausted these days? But, I turned over because my hip was starting to kill me the way I had been laying with him, and now my back was to him. He immediately rolled over and just put both his hands into my hair and stroked it and held it until he fell asleep. I have no idea how long it took because it felt so good that it put me to sleep too!

I love you so very much Calvin. Even though it's hard for me to watch you grow up so fast I love the little man you are becoming. You have brought so much joy into my life, and have opened my heart to love that I never knew I could have. Meeting your Dad and falling in love with him; I thought that was the most love I could feel for someone. That was until I saw your beautiful face for the first time and I felt like my heart grew 5 times the size. I know that having your baby sister is going to be hard for you at first but you will be such an amazing older brother, and will be such an amazing example and protector for all your siblings. I am honored to be able to be your Mother, and never forget how much I love you. Ever.

She's Already a Diva

2010-11-16T23:45:00.001-05:00

I am still alive! I have been so very very busy lately that I just don't have anytime for being on the computer or blogging! I am 36 weeks now officially..and HUGE. If one more person asks me if I am having twins I am sorry for you but you are getting punched in the face. PUNCHED! I already feel like an orca whale and you asking me how many babies I am having does not help.
Things are busy, I have been steadily getting ready for baby girl. All the baby clothes are washed and the car seat is all washed and ready to go! I actually had false labor about 2 weeks ago which scared me into getting a move on getting ready! Funny how that works out. I am now feeling a little more confident that I am ready for the little bundle to arrive, but still not sure how I am going to deal with two children under 3. Hopefully all will be smooth...and at least my mom is 10 mins away if I have a meltdown which I might just have.
I also got a horrible sinus infection a few weeks ago, and since you can't take anything that helps you get better while prego I was miserable. I already feel like I am suffocating and adding a stuffed up nose and horrible sinus pressure was not fun at all. Luckily my doctor after a few days took pity on me and let me try some antibiotics and it cleared right up!
This past weekend I was hit quite suddenly Saturday night with the pukes. We are not sure if it was food poisoning or a stomach bug, but gosh I wanted to die! Throwing up while this huge and pregnant just hurts, and poor baby girl would go wild everytime I yacked. It was so bad that I could not even keep water down, and in the middle of the night I was so weak Jess came in to check on me and found me laying on the bathroom floor shivering uncontrollably and not being able to walk back to bed. So bless his heart, he carried me. I know I am not the lightest of creatures at the moment too, so double bless his heart! Once the morning came and I still had not even been able to keep water down for more than 5 seconds, we called up my doctor and he quickly had me go to the hospital to receive fluids and make sure baby girl was ok.
Man I felt sooo much better once those fluids were started! And they gave me some pretty sweet nausea meds so I was feeling alot better. Baby girl was totally fine too, which made me feel so relieved. Wasn't really in my plans for Sunday to be rushed to the labor and delivery when I was not in labor yet, but it made me a little excited to have that big day arrive sometime soon!
Although baby girl is being a diva so far, I am beyond words excited to see her! She will be such a joy to us, and Calvin gets more excited everyday when he sees my belly or the pics of her ultrasounds on our fridge. I just hope that excitement on his part lasts, because he is quite the little momma's boy and will probably be in a bit of a shock when he realizes that she is not leaving. Luckily though, he has become more and more attached to his Daddy since we have been back from the summer and that makes me so so happy!
Anywho, just thought I would give you a little update. Jess will be in Cabo this weekend (lucky duck), so I will be staying with my Mom and Dad juuuuuust in case, but hopefully nothing happens or I will be so upset. I don't think I can do it without Jess there! And then Thanksgiving next week will be a busy week! Jess's parents and brother and his wife and 3 kiddos will be staying with us. We had originally planned on dinner at our house..I know..WHAT was I thinking??!! But his cousins and all their families thought it would be fun if we all got together, so the dinner was moved to his cousins house in South Jordan. I am SO relieved! It would have been fun regardless but I would have been so much more stressed out worrying about a turkey and everything and now all I have to bring is rolls :)

Well, I am going to hit the hay. Hopefully no more drama happens until this little girl arrives (when Jess hopefully is here!) Til next time :) xoxo

32 Weeks

2010-10-24T13:41:00.000-04:00

Here I am at 32 weeks! I feel like she is so much higher than Calvin! I can still shave my legs fairly well which I couldn't with CK...and I can still wear my regular jeans (unbuttoned and unzipped of course) which I could not even pull them up over my butt with CK. So, 6 or 7weeks to go! I say 6 or 7 because my doctor is probably going to induce me early. He is worried about me tearing again which was pretty traumatic the first time around, and apparently baby girl is pretty hefty already and he wants to make sure that she stays good and small and that I don't have to have a c-section! So, Just a few weeks to go! AHHH

I thought I would throw in a pic of my adorable little man! He looks so grown up! I can't believe he will be 2 here in just about a month! We are planning a super fun cars birthday for him..he LIVES for cars and anything with wheels on it! He has been acting out alot lately since we have been home, but I don't blame him..he has had quite the summer of mommy being sick and lazy and moving several times too many. But I am hoping it wears off before baby girls arrives! He gives her loves everyday, but I am not convinced that he really understands that an actual baby is going to come out of me and come home with us. Will be interesting!

Quick Update

2010-10-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

Wow I am SO bad at blogging! We have been so very very busy since our return to Utah that I haven't had time to sit down and blog in a while. We did make the drive from Dallas and yes I drove me and Calvin in a car following Jess in the truck. It wasn't the most pleasant of drives and I had braxton hicks contractions most of the way, but we made it in 2 days. We stopped overnight in Albuquerque, NM which I must say I do not enjoy New Mexico one bit! Land of Enchantment my butt!!!! Anywho, but we got to my parents house in Orem, Utah at 12:30 AM on the second night and were all so exhausted we just passed right out, except for Calvin who felt it was time to get up for the day and had fun playing in their basement for a while until he too fell asleep.

Since then, we have moved back in our house, but are still unpacking. We all got really sick once we moved back in starting with Calvin and ending with Jess. Of course I am still sick since you cannot take anything when pregnant that helps, so as of yesterday I finally was put on antibiotics so hopefully this nasty chest cough goes away!

It is SO GOOD TO BE HOME! What a long summer that was :) Here are some highlights of Dallas right before we left:

2 weeks before heading out Calvin came down with what turned into pneumonia! Poor guy :( but luckily it was bacterial so antibiotics fixed him right up after a night of absolute awfulness for mommy and baby when he wouldn't sleep and wouldn't stop coughing. That same week Greg and Doug flew in and rented a boat for all the sales reps who were in Dallas and some guys came up from Houston as well. Calvin and I missed the fun the first two days from his pneumonia but day 3 and 4 we had a blast!

It was so much fun and I am glad that Calvin got to experience it for a few days at least. He LOVED the boat! And he even got to ride his first jetski ever!

We are so happy and grateful that we had such a fun summer, but are definitely relieved to be home finally and unpacked(somewhat) to get ready for this baby girl here in about 6 weeks!

Old Friends..Good Times

2010-09-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

We met up with our good friends the Reads a few weekends ago. When we lived in Dallas 4 years ago (geez was it really that long ago?) we met them in our ward and instantly became friends. I think we hung out with Dan and Steph every single weekend just about! They really made us feel welcomed and loved, and were one of the huge reasons we actually considered buying a house in Texas and making it our permanent home. So, being back in our old stomping grounds we had to say hello. We met up at this little joint, Grimaldi's. It's authentic Brooklyn style pizza (the original one was actually in Brooklyn), and we love pizza and we love the Reads so what a perfect combo!

Steph is also prego (due on Halloween how cool is that?) And aren't their other two kiddos adorable? Last time I saw Steph she was prego with Breckyn her daughter and Locke their son was almost 2! He's now 5 and started kindergarten and Breckyn is 3! Crazy!

afterwards we enjoyed talking and went to have some yogurt at Red Mango. Here is Calvin enjoying his to the fullest :)

Had to throw in this picture too. Don't you just love Sunday naps? I had been in the bed too, but these two sleepy heads kept on sleeping for a good 2 hours after I woke up! :)

Dallas Cowboys

2010-09-13T10:32:00.000-04:00

We got the chance to go to one of the Cowboys preseason games at THIS huge place! Cowboy Stadium is insanely huge! But, I loved the fact that it was indoors and air conditioned :)

We had really sweet seats! We were in row 14 or 15, I don't remember, but we could see all the action, but just in case you missed it, there was this 40 yard long screen to show you the replays! Holy moly that thing is huge!!

Calvin is so serious in this photo! He had a blast at the game though, and made lots of friends around us in the stands!

Got ya!

Yep, we didn't have fun. Nope, not at all!

A VERY sleepy boy on the car ride home!

We fought awful traffic and still made it in plenty of time, but they wanted you to pay $30 and up for parking! No thanks! So, we took a huge risk. There was a super walmart directly across the street from the stadium, and we parked there. We were really afraid we were going to get towed or get a ticket, because wouldn't it seem that alot of people would park there? After the game, Jess took Calvin into Walmart and I searched for the car. We figured, who would question a lone pregnant woman? Luckily, our car was still there, and NO ticket! Woo hoo! So we got super nice seats for a decent price, and FREE parking! Go us! :)

24 Weeks

2010-08-29T16:10:00.000-04:00

Here she is! She is getting so big in my belly..I can't imagine doing this for 4 months more! But looking at my pics with Calvin I did indeed get quite larger..speaking of I thought I would compare my 24 week pic with my first pregnancy.

I think I look about the same size wise. My hair was SO SHORT! I had donated it that summer since my Mom was going through her treatments, and needless to say the girl kinda hacked my head. Growing that out was NOT.FUN. Ah well, it went for a good cause though!

An Uninvited Guest

2010-08-23T14:56:00.003-04:00

I dreaded this day. In the back of my mind I knew an old not so welcomed friend of mine would be paying a visit. He is most unwelcome indeed; quite a nasty fellow. Let me explain a little more in depth. You see, this friend, well I don't even know why I use the word friend to describe him, he is not a friend at all. He first showed his face quite unexpectedly in my 8th month of pregnancy with Calvin. I woke up from a dead sleep one night to a feeling I had never before felt in my life. My heart was pounding, my mind was racing, I was shaking, and suddenly, it felt like the walls were closing in on me and that my life was in peril. For what reason? I had no idea, but all I know was that I was terrified. I was experiencing my very first panic attack. I woke Jess up and tried explaining what was happening, but I literally had no clue, so he did his best to calm me down; we even said a little prayer. Then, I was able to go back to sleep. But they didn't stop there, I had one almost everyday until the end of my pregnancy, I even had one the first night in the hospital after having Calvin. It wasn't until about 5 months after he was born that they stopped. Until now.

Maybe it is a pregnancy thing for me? I have no clue, but all I know is anxiety, or Mr. A as I like to call him, is not someone I wanted to see again. I have felt him lurking in the shadows for a few months now, but have been able to dodge him until about three weeks ago. I could not run from him any longer, and he finally had me cornered on Sunday night. I felt very overwhelmed with my emotions, and am so tired it's hard to keep up with Calvin all day long. I finally cracked, Mr. A had finally poked at me enough that I gave in. He's pretty cruel like that. And he also likes to kick me while I am down. But while sitting on my bathroom floor crying so that I would not wake Ck and my sleeping hubby at 3 am, I felt this little fire light within me. Mr. A is not going to take me down without a fight this time. OH no! Although I was shaken terribly, I knew that there was someone there to help me. My Heavenly Father was probably anxiously awaiting me to call to Him for help and that's just what I did. I managed to get onto my knees and pray for help, and although the tears started flowing again so strongly that I could barely understand myself, I know He knew what I was asking. I instantly felt a flood of comfort from the Spirit, and when I was done I was able to go back to bed and fall right asleep, the sweet little movements of baby girl inside me just letting me know she was there for me too.

Today I feel like I can move mountains. I know there are going to be more tough days ahead, but I am confident that I can get past the tough times and not let Mr. A bully me around anymore. Sorry Mr. A, time to pack your bags!!

my latest MommyBump entry...be sure to check out MommyTLC.com!

Yankees Vs. Royals

2010-08-21T23:17:00.000-04:00

For Jess' birthday my parents got him Yankees tickets while we were in Kansas. He was SO excited to get to see his favorite team play! We had really nice seats too! The only downfall was that it was about 100 degrees when we got there, and about 89 degrees at the end of the game with ZERO wind. HOT HOT HOT! I was drenched by the time we even sat down at our seats..yuck!

Calvin was loving the game..but poor guy was SO HOT! I took his shirt off about halfway through because it soaked with sweat! a nice lady behind us had one of those spray bottles with a fan on it and she kept spraying him with it. He sure gota kick out of that!

Here we are after the game. A sweaty trio! Why did I even shower? Or wear make-up for that matter? Ah well..it was fun regardless..the game was so exciting! ARod alone hit 3 home runs! And the Yankees won 8-3 yay!!!! :)

22 Weeks

2010-08-21T23:08:00.000-04:00

Wow. I feel huge. And I have 3 1/2 months left!! Yikes! Little girl in my belly is so worth it though :)

My Latest MommyBump Entry!

2010-07-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

For the fourth of July my hubby and I traveled to Idaho for a family reunion with his entire family. It rarely happens that everyone gets together as they are spread across the country, so we weren't going to miss this chance! I was uneasy about traveling on the plane and keeping baby C entertained, but off we went!

Flight number one from Kansas City to Phoenix went without a hitch. Calvin did not sleep in the car on the 45 minute ride to the airport and it was during his nap time, so I saw this as a pretty good indicator that he would sleep on the plane, and that he did! He zonked out right as we took off, and woke up as we were landing.That landing though did a number on my poor pregnant self! I was 17 weeks when we flew, and apparently was still not out of the motion sickness phase which only plagues me during pregnancy. It was 120 degrees in Phoenix so the updrafts were terrible! It was like a roller coaster from hell! I lunged for my air sickness bag, but luckily no cookies were lost! Phew!

Flight number two from Phoenix to SLC was a different story. Although a relatively short flight, Calvin was not happy in the least. He refused to sit in our laps, and was content angrily shutting and opening the window shade, making lovely noise for all the plane to enjoy. Luckily, we brought a back-up plan. Our laptop and some sure to please DVDs! Woo hoo! Too bad I hadn't had time that morning to charge the battery, so Calvin got to see about 4 minutes of 'The Incredibles' which is his favorite movie, before the computer died. Jess gave me the look of death as our son's bottom lip started to poke out because his beloved movie had just turned off before it was over. I could have punched myself in the face for being so dumb!

So, we moved on to snacks. I had bought various cute little snacks that he would enjoy; all of them being in cute little travel cups with lids. Calvin had fun playing with the lid to the Nutter Butter cookies, so I let him just have the whole thing. Big mistake. He sat on the floor between Jess' legs, and immediately dumped the entire contents out in typical toddler fashion. Instead of putting them all back inside the container which he normally will do, he stood up, and did a happy dance all over them, thus crushing them into the plane's carpet. I was mortified. But if a happy squish the cookies into the carpet dance was what was going to get us through the next 30 mins, that's what was going to have to happen. When we did finally land, Jess and I bolted as fast as we could from that plane. He forgot his IPhone in our seat pocket, so he had to run back to get it, and he made it there just as the flight attendant did. He relayed to me that she looked downright pissed and a "Holy s@%t" came out of her mouth when she saw the catastrophe that was our seats. Oops!

The flights back home were about the same. From Salt Lake we flew to Las Vegas. Calvin did not sleep on that flight either, but decided that screaming was a really fun thing to do to pass the time. I would cover his mouth, but as soon as I lifted my hand up a scream would break out again. Needless to say, I kept my hand over his mouth for most of that flight. When we got to Las Vegas it was dinner time, so we checked out a little food court near our gate. Calvin begged and begged for a huge red apple that was sitting on the counter where we paid, so I gave in and got it. He did good for a few minutes gnawing away at the thing, but then decided it was a ball. He threw his half eaten apple on that disgusting airport ground, and in Vegas of all places. He immediately cried and reached for it from this stroller like he wanted it back. I hesitated, and then thought Eh, 10 second rule right? Suuuuure...

That flight home was great. We had fully charged the laptop so Calvin got to watch his precious Incredibles movie, and fell asleep about 30 mins into it. So, Jess and I enjoyed the rest of the movie and quietness for the remainder of the flight.

Traveling with toddlers is sure an adventure! Can't wait to do it with two!

For those of you who are reading my other blog on MommyTLC.com thank you! This is one of my latest posts on my blog there. Also...if you know and cool dads or little cuties..enter them in the monthly contests! Who knows you could be the next winner! :)

Idaho Fourth of July Trip

2010-07-23T23:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry this is a little late..I have been slacking on my blogging! But we went to Idaho for a family reunion over the fourth of July for Jess' family! It was so fun to see everyone even if it was just for a few days! There are so many pics so I won't type too much! Enjoy :)

Enjoying the beautiful (humidity free) Idaho weather!

Calvin never had a shirt on..or shoes! I loved it :)

We went to the Rexburg parade! Calvin totally got into running and grabbing the candy they threw out! Boy he was on a sugar high that day! He would eat the candy with the wrappers still on!

Although he is crying..it's because he was getting off! Calvin LOVED the 4 wheeler! Could not get enough!

Oh the love Calvin had for Manheim!

Soooo cute!

We had front row seats to the Idaho Falls fireworks! Calvin cried the ENTIRE show though! He was so scared poor guy

All 17 grandchildren with Grandma and Grandpa Butikofer! Most of the babies are crying (like mine) haha but I love it!

5 handsome amazing boys they raised!

Our happy family of 3 soon to be 4!

We freaked bc we could not find Calvin for a while! We searched for a few mins and I was about to panic but found him happily feeding Bo Jo some hay! He loves animals!

We 4 wheeled up to some awesome hot pots! Calvin just loved it!

Little did we know it was apparently a snake mating ground! there were SO MANY SNAKES!

at the family reunion one year ago there were 4 babies of the grandchildren..so this year there is a new addition with little Rachel who was just one month old!

Before we flew out of SLC we had lunch with my lovely sister Aly (no pics though :( ) and Abbie and nico! I wish I could have seen everyone..and frankly did not want to leave Utah once we were back..but we will be back soon enough!!
Abbie is 9 months prego and I am barely 4 in this pic!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice....

2010-07-12T14:56:00.000-04:00

Well it's official! We are having a baby GIRL! Jess and I are so excited! I started to cry when we were in the ultrasound. How perfect! One of each! Now I could have 5 boys and be totally content because I have my girl :) WOO HOO!!!!

Stay Classy Kansas City...

2010-06-23T21:31:00.000-04:00

Calvin and I ventured to Walmart yesterday to get a few groceries and items that I realized we needed. It was dangerously close to lunchtime and naptime, but I figured we would be alright..in and out. So we were heading back to the truck and the sun was blazing! It was about 104 degrees yesterday yikes! I was tired and had a headache, and Calvin was nearing meltdown mode because of hunger and tiredness. I was really in no mood for anything.
The spot next to the truck was empty, as were many around the truck. I decided to pull the cart up to the side of the truck to be able to unload my bags out easier. As I was doing so, a PT cruiser stops like they want the spot next to mine. I had already started and didn't want to stop my momentum, I figured that it would be better just to hurry and finish so they could pull in. So I unload all my bags as fast as I can, all the while sweating profusely.
At this point, the PT cruiser driver is getting annoyed and pulls their car in the spot RIGHT behind me. So, they are still halfway in the parking lot, and halfway into the spot. I roll my eyes, and lift Calvin in to the truck, but need the truck door wide open to do so. Sorry PT cruiser, gotta wait another minute here. Of course under that kind of pressure I am fumbling with Calvin's straps and it takes me way longer than it normally does to buckle him in.
I hop down and shut the door, and try to pull my cart out, but cannot because the PT cruiser is so close to me! So, he angrily backs out of the spot, and narrowly missing me he pulls back in as fast as he can once I am gone. His wife in the passenger seat rolls down her window and screams at the top of her lungs
"Learn some F*$@ing manners!" among other pleasant things that a lady shouldn't say. All I can think to say is "Same goes to you!" and smiled. Then as I put my cart away and am walking back to my truck drenched in sweat and really done with this..her whole family gets out and proceeds to all give me the stink eye. Even their children! And they kept turning around and saying things to me as they walked into Walmart. I couldn't help but laugh to myself at how ridiculous the whole thing was! And I could not believe they acted that way in front of their children...classy really classy.

So, I decided that when people are unnecessarily rude or angry towards me I will not give into my natural reaction and flip them off and return the favor with rude comments, but will simply smile and say something nice, or just wave. Kill 'em with kindness!

Sometimes It's Easy to Forget...

2010-06-17T23:00:00.000-04:00

I am typing this as I listen to my child screaming his head off in his bed in the other room. He very desperately needs a nap, but is definitely not convinced. Lately his naps have been getting shorter and shorter, much to my chagrin. I love the me time I get while he sleeps! Is that so selfish of me? And since being pregnant, a majority of his nap times turn into nap time for mommy as well. Ah, mommyhood...such a joy but sometimes it is so easy to forget the joys of it!

Case in point: three days ago was my 14 week check-up. Nothing too stressful right? Wrong. Since my last appointment toting Calvin along turned into a monumental disaster. The last time consisted of, Calvin rummaging through every drawer in the examining room, dumping my entire purse on the floor and then spilling my water everywhere, screaming his head of because he was pissed that we were there, and then while my OB was checking me out, he thought he better stick his hand up there as well to see what it was all about. Mortifying? YES. Hilarious? YES. Definitely not a story I am going to tell him when he's a teenager, or ever for that matter.

So, considering that debacle, I thought it better to bring a stroller this time, lots of snacks, and definitely lots of toys to steal his attention away. We only waited for three minutes in the lobby [praise the Lord!] and were quickly taken back to the examining room.I decided to let him out of the stroller while we waited to get some wiggles out. He had a good old time opening and slamming the door and trying to climb up onto the examination bed/table thing. Finally, Dr. Rips came in. Yes, her name is Dr. Rips, slightly comedic right? But since I was a 3rd degree tear with Calvin the word rips brings back awful memories...yikes! So, into the stroller Calvin went with fruit snacks, a few toys and his sippy cup. Food+toys should equal happy child. Apparently Calvin doesn't do equations because he was NOT happy. Everything was thrown on the floor around the room. He was flinging his body upwards despite being strapped down in an attempt to escape and screaming his head off. I was already frustrated and we Dr. Rips hadn't even talked to me yet! I hurried and gave Calvin my keys so that we could do my appointment, and luckily it calmed him down for a few minutes.

Dr. Rips proceeded to find the baby's heartbeat and we listened to it for about three minutes. I could listen to it forever! Knowing that sweet little baby is growing inside of me makes me go a big blubbery one. One of those joys I talked about, but in about a minute was totally forgotten. When she finished, we turned around and Calvin had taken the opportunity of no supervision to pull himself up to the cabinet, pull open a drawer and empty its entire contents. It looked like it had snowed there were cotton balls everywhere! And to make matters worse he was holding a package of syringes in his hand! AHH!! Dr. Rips moved quickly and sort of laughed it off, but I could tell she was severely bugged.

Before we left that disaster as Calvin was starting to squirm and complain in his stroller I quickly asked the doctor some questions, (And I am peeved because I had a long list of questions and didn't get to ask half of them because Calvin was stressing me out so badly I just wanted to bolt!), but it ended up just making me upset with her answer to one in particular. "How much weight are you expecting me to gain?" I stupidly asked. I made this mistake the first time, and ended up feeling horrible with myself every time I got weighed in at the doctor's office. "Honestly, I would like to see you around 25." she bluntly states. Wait. I've already gained.... 17. UGH. She was looking at my chart, and looked back at me, and gave me a look like "Gettin kinda close there aren't we?" I wanted to cry, but waited until I was in the safety of my car.

I continued to beat myself up for the past two days. I've been WAY healthier this pregnancy, WAY more active, how is this happening already? I felt so fat, and cried myself to sleep. So, I'm already overweight according to my doctor, who shouldn't be giving me a lecture she had 5 children herself! Shame on you Dr. Rips, shame. Pregnancy does some crazy things to your body. They say you have this motherly glow about you while pregnant..and I have yet to see it! I have horrible red bumps all over my arms, I have eczema on my fingers and hands, I'm bloated, I'm gassy (severely might I add),I am over the top emotional and will cry at the drop of a hat, I threw up everyday all day for 10 awful weeks, oh and did I mention I have a yeast infection too? Sometimes I get so overwhelmed I can't stand it. It's so easy to get overwhelmed at times....

BUT.......it's even easier to forget that it's all worth it. Even at the worst times with Calvin he is my most precious gift to me. And after a long day of time outs and battles he will snuggle with me on the couch and we'll read books together. He'll give me the biggest hugs out of no where throughout the day that make my heart melt, and right before bed time we'll kneel together and fold our arms and I say a prayer, and he whispers beside me in jibberish saying his own sweet little prayer along with mine. His laughter and smile make it impossible to ever stay mad at him, and everyday I am amazed at how far he's grown and the things that he learns are incredible. He is my greatest accomplishment, and I pray everyday that I am able to teach him and nurture him to the best of my abilities. It is all worth it..I can't say it enough. We women are so blessed to be able to carry these precious babies inside of us for 9 months, although some of it is quite unglamorous. Now I have a responsibility to do the same for this little baby growing inside me, and even on my worst days I get down on my knees at night and pray to Heavenly Father to tell him how grateful I am for this immense blessing.

It is easy to forget...but it is completely worth it.

This is my latest post on my blog at MommyTLC.com called MommyBump! Please check out the site and my blog of course :) the mom who made the site has worked so very hard on it and spent lots of time (and money!) so, at least peruse it and see what you think!!

check it out here: MommyTLC

Mommy TLC! Check it out!!

2010-06-14T21:52:00.000-04:00

Are you a mom? Are you going to be a mom? Do you love to hear moms stories and advice? Do you love excellent mom/child products as well as fun giveaways and contests?? Well....I have recently become a corresponding writer for a website called MommyTLC...I have my own blog there called Mommy Bump, and it's me being honest about what it's like to already have a child and to be going through pregnancy again. But there are so many other amazing women who contribute to the site as well! Please..check it out! I will also update here about our give aways and contests!!! Stay tuned!!!

Check it out here: MommyTLC

14 Weeks

2010-06-14T12:15:00.000-04:00

Well, 14 weeks has rolled around, and yet my belly has been here since week six! But I am finally feeling great which makes all the difference in the world. I had a little set back last week when my nausea meds ran out, but I thought hey, I'll be ok right? WRONG. For one miserable day I was puking all day long. Poor Calvin was very patient with me, and obliged to watching movies all day. My doctor here was quick about getting my prescription sent in, but it took me quite a few hours to feel like I could even get in the car and drive over to the pharmacy! But all is well now :)

I am excited for the next few weeks! Jess and I are flying to Idaho for his family reunion over the 4th weekend which should be fun (wish it was in Alaska again though!!!). And then when we get back we get to find out the sex of our baby!!! This pregnancy I have had literally no vibes from this baby as to what sex they are, but the past few days I have been getting really strong girl ones! Who knows though :)

Ketchup

2010-06-14T12:05:00.000-04:00

I thought I would play a bit of catch-up since I haven't been great about blogging all the time. Our days are mostly the same, alot of hanging out with Calvin and I. It has been nice here, one of the other wives, Jenna, is a great close friend of mine. We met last summer for only about a week, and then were in different offices. She was in Chicago and we were in Baltimore. But, we instantly clicked from the moment we met, we have the same sense of humor so that helps alot! It also helps that her daughter Amiah is only two weeks older than Calvin! So, it's fun to have them play together. She and I have been hanging out a ton and it has really helped the weekdays to go by fast until the beloved weekend when the hubbies are home! There are two other wives here, so we are trying to get them to hang out too. So far no such luck, but we'll keep trying :)

Anywho, here are some pics from the past few weeks!

Here is Calvin and Amiah watching a movie together. Aren't they cute? They are best buddies at times and others worst enemies! It's nice because she is teaching him about sharing, which he needs to understand big time with this baby coming!!

Here is my little stud muffin at the pool. We go almost every day, but it has been raining almost everyday this past week so we are going a little nuts!!!! Calvin is totally unafraid of the water, so I need to get him some arm floaties since sitting in a tube makes him mad!

Memorial Day weekend was fun! Sunday night we went downtown to see a free show by the Kansas City Symphony, and some fireworks! It was SO HOT AND HUMID but really fun. And Calvin loved the fireworks!

It was hard to get him to sit though! We had to keep chasing him down

These VERY nice people let Calvin and Amiah climb all over their lawn chairs! These two can get whatever they want :) they even got some free grapes from a different family. Stinkers :)

This is the Union Station all lit up as the fireworks went off!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!!

2010-06-08T23:10:00.001-04:00

This CRAZYYY little buddy.........

........hasn't had a bottle in.......

                       ....12 count em 12 DAYS!!! Hallelujah!!!

OK...so I know it was a little late anyways to be having bottles but since I got so sick being pregnant I didn't want to take him off them..I couldn't handle being sick and having a pissed off toddler wanting a bottle and refusing to drink out of a big boy cup. So, I decided that once we were settled into Kansas for the summer that I would just have all his bottles magically disappear and leave him with the only option of big boy cups. And you know what? It was so much easier than I thought! I started by phasing them out..but he refused REFUSED to drink milk out of his sippy. He would drink anything else under the freakin sun out of them..including Diet Coke...shhhhh :)...(it was only once)....but nope not milk..that was for the special bottle.
   So, one morning I just made it his only option. He fought it for about four hours. I groaned because I thought this was just going to be a long day full of whining and crying. But, after he ate his lunch, he was desperate for a little bit of milk. So, I gave him his blue pirate sippy cup...ANDDDDDD...he drank the entire thing! Hasn't looked back since!
   I just make sure to not let him see the bottles stacked together in our high cabinets....juuuuust in case :)
And yes..that is how Calvin prefers to bathe these days :) gotta love him!

2

2010-05-23T12:52:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to (finally) announce that baby #2 will be due Dec. 14!!!! I am about 12 weeks now..and am finally feeling like a normal person! I got sick starting around week four, and it lasted until about a week ago. Not quite as sick as with Calvin.. but still definitely not fun! The drive out to Kansas with my Mom ended up being a nightmare. Day one was great..I drove most of the way and felt totally fine. But once we got to our hotel in Nebraska for the night, Cal decided he didn't want to sleep..AT ALL. So...next day was not as good. I ended up getting a migraine, and I've had maybe 4 in my life total. But when I get them my entire body shuts down, and I throw up, so add being pregnant on top of it, and it was not a pretty picture. I am so grateful my Mom was with me or I hate to think of how awful that trip would have been!~

But........we made it...I am finally feeling healthy and happy...and WE ARE SO EXCITED!! :) Crazy to think another little baby will be a part of our family in a few months!! Oh and did I mention I already look 5 months pregnant? Wow...so fun...haha.

18 Months (Don't mind the nudity!!)

2010-05-21T00:05:00.000-04:00

              This little naked hooligan is 18 months today! I can't even believe he is already this old..it seems crazy to me. We have been adjusting to Kansas, we love our apartment but it has been raining so much! Calvin was dancing in the rain on our balcony before bathtime in these photos :) I had tried to snap a pic of him looking down and out so that it was just his bum..but he turned around when I got the camera on.

         So, as of today here are his stats.

Height: 34"- 90%
Weight: 29 lbs 9 oz.- 85%
   Head Circumference: 50 cm- 95%

     Yes, he is a BIG BOY! The doctor thought she had his age wrong and thought he was two! He is getting mighty mighty heavy, but hey it's a good arm workout when he still wants me to carry him, or when I am forced to when he's not cooperating :)

   As of late, these are the things Calvin is doing:
*Running at lightning speed anywhere and everywhere (especially FROM me)
*Climbing everything..luckily not jumping yet, but I see it happening very very soon
*He gives high fives, low fives, even double fives!
*We say our prayers at night and he even folds his arms! Sometimes he'll whisper to himself while I am praying like he is praying too..melts my heart
*He gives the best hugs and kisses! And his kisses are always open mouthed and slobbery..love it
*He can't say all the names, but will point out different animals when asked
*Loves blowing bubbles! It's his favorite

There is so much more but this late at night my brain is not working correctly. I am so proud of my little man...he is growing up before my eyes! What a little stud :)

My First Haircut!

2010-04-17T23:04:00.000-04:00

                In 17 months of life Calvin had yet to have an official haircut. He went completely bald the week of his blessing (I know right? PERFECT timing.) and since then his hair has not stopped growing. Thing was, it was so uneven that he had quite the mullet going on! Jess got sick of it and evened out the mullet one morning with scissors, and I had been meaning to get him a real haircut for a while, and finally decided to. So we went to Great Clips and he cried pretty much the entire time, but he looks so grown up now!!

                                                          BEFORE: Shaggy and messy!

DURING: Traumatic experience! (But the lollipop helped)

and drumroll please....

AFTER: My handsome grown up looking boy!!

Z is for Zoo

2010-04-16T22:38:00.000-04:00

                               On this lovely Friday morning Calvin, Aly, our Mom and myself headed to the Hoggle Zoo. I had never been but have been waiting for a nice day because Calvin adores animals! It was surprisingly freezing once we showed up at the zoo. It's right by the canyon, so very very breezy. We ended up all buying sweatshirts from the gift shop so that we could stand it! Once we were properly attired we had a great time though.



                                      Calvin kept signing "please" because he wanted to pet the prairie dogs!

Rude Giraffe walked away during our pic! He had been standing RIGHT behind us!

"What the...?"

Sorta like sitting in Santa's lap..except it's a gorilla!

Calvin and his 2 mommies :)

Ridin' the Rhino! You can tell how windy it is! My hair is crazy!

monkeys!

this darling little penquin posed for the camera :)

Calvin went NUTS for the penguins! He lives for them :) he was clapping his hands the whole time we were in front of their cage

I was so glad we finally got to go to the zoo before we head to Kansas in about two weeks!!

25th Easter

2010-04-12T01:00:00.000-04:00

Aly and I's wonderful day of birth alot of times falls on the first weekend of April, and alot of times around Easter, and always around General Conference. Well this year, it was all three! What a spiritually uplifting weekend it was. Conference was so exquisitely wonderful, as usual. It always lifts me out of a funk I am feeling in, and this year it was the fact that Jess and I would be parted for an entire month. (He left on Easter Sunday which I was not happy about, but it had to be done) Ah, I cannot wait until the conference Ensign comes out, and definitely cannot wait until October conference!

So, 25. Hm..feels kind of weird. But I don't feel 25 yet, I still feel 20, maybe I will feel 25 when I am 30? Oh well, still have 5 more years to worry about that! There is this great short story by Sandra Cisneros called "Eleven" that you should read if you haven't already it's only like 3 pages but so moving. She describes an eleven year old girl on her birthday saying how she doesn't feel eleven yet, but that she feels 10, and 9, and 8, and 7, and 6, etc. That's kind of how I feel, 25, and 24, and 23, and 22, well, you get the point! Every year of life has made me who I am today as a 25 year old woman, and at some moments different ages are brought out in me.

Friday night the 2nd Jess and I went out to dinner with my parents and Calvin who was falling asleep at the table the entire meal (so cute, but no photographic evidence dang it!), then we met up with my bestie and her hubby at the movies and we saw Clash of the Titans in 3D. Not really a fan of the whole 3D thing to tell you the truth but it was fun!

Here we are in our sawwweeet 3D shades!

The next day, my actual birthday was our last day together as a family for a while. So, I wanted to do something fun. We headed to the aquarium in Sandy for a fun filled family day! I had never been, and it's alot bigger than you would expect! Plus they recently just got penguins, and Calvin LIVES for penguins. When we got in front of their tank it coincidentally feeding time so they were going nuts swimming around jumping out of the water and back in. Calvin was mesmerized. It was darling. It is so amazing to watch him light up and get so excited about these new things that he sees and learns. I love it!!

looking at some fish

weeee!!

They have this awesome tank where you can touch the sting rays! Calvin FLIPPED when he touched this one here! His eyes got sooo big and he just looked at Jess and I and went "WOW!"

family photo by the coral

My cake on the left: Angel food cake w/strawberries, Aly's on the right: red velvet. Did I have a piece of both? YES

I am always embarassed when people sing to me...luckily I have never had to be alone on our birthday! Love you Aly! Happy 25th :)

PS

2010-04-01T23:42:00.001-04:00

The entire last post was all a lie! I am sorry to those who thought it was true...just a silly April Fool's joke! Tee hee :)
Wish I really was going to Greece though! Anyone want to take me?

Hopa!!

2010-04-01T15:59:00.001-04:00

Well kiddies...I officially am going to Greece this summer! I got accepted into a summer study abroad program through UVU where I am going to school! Words cannot express how EXCITED I am!!!! Greece is my dream spot to visit, so much history, so many amazing ruins and temples still there. And BEACHES!!! Ooohhh!!!! Can't wait :)

Holi Colorfest 2010

2010-03-31T00:38:00.000-04:00

Jess and I headed to the annual Holi Color Festival in Spanish Fork at the Hare Krishna temple. I have always wanted to go, but we are ususally never around. So, I was super excited that we got a chance to experience it. And boy, was it an experience! Here we are waiting for the shuttle from the local high school to the temple.

The Hare Krishna temple! beautiful right? don't mind the port o pottys, they are usually not there. The LDS church actually helped them build it! Cool huh?

A view from the temple steps of just some of the crowd. I felt like we were at some crazy color Woodstock! They are estimating maybe 15-20,000 people were in attendance, and this was the afternoon color throwing.

They are gracious and allow you to enter their sacred temple. After removing your shoes you enter one large circular room. Here is one of the beautiful shrines.

Here is the largest shrine where people would leave fruit

Ready to go with our bandanas!

Some bands played and I sat on Jess' shoulders for a while were I nabbed this sweet shot looking uphill at the temple

This is us after the cloud of color went up. I must say I had a brief moment of panic as it happened. You literally could not see ANYTHING. And some chick knocked my bandana off and I inhaled a ton of the dust, and almost vomited. It was surreal that we had just experienced that! But so cool :)

It took a while for the color dust to settle

My aren't we pretty?

Me on the ride home..well not really ride more like stuck in horrible traffic for almost an hour. I felt like I had war paint on! Oh, and let's not forget the balloon I took from Subway for the buddy :)

Definitely an experience for the books! We are going to the festival now every year! I suggest anyone who is in the Utah area the end of March should go too!

Nico's Birthday @ Tucano's

2010-03-30T22:33:00.000-04:00

In celebration of Nico's 26th birthday, we headed to Tucano's (yum!) We ate lots of food and had a great time! Normally when Jess and I go to places like this I eat wayyyyy too much, so Jess only got the meat and I only got the salad bar, and we shared..cheaper and both of us got to eat what we wanted!

Had to get a picture of Abs and I :)

This picture just makes me laugh. Note the unusually high amount of drinks we have..my aren't we a thirsty family??

Calvin before we started to feast.

aaaaaand behold my child afterwards. He thought his food would make great hair gel.

They came out and sang Nico a special song in Portuguese, and Sarah helped shakin that tambourine! Shake it girl!!

Look at these two adorably cute pregos! I am so sad I will miss both of them being born this summer :(

Tick tock tick tock....

2010-03-10T01:16:00.000-05:00

Life has been passing me by. I have been so busy lately. Packing packing packing. I have a love/hate relationship with packing. My house is so clean when I pack it all up (haha), and yet it feels so empty because all our stuff is gone!

What else..school has me writing lots and lots of stories which I love but yet again keeps me quite busy. Love it though.

I started my city league volleyball season yesterday and am so excited for it! We have a really good team, so let's hope our season is great!

Trying to keep in shape is a full time job still. I try to hit the gym every day still, but hey, it doesn't always happen and that's still ok. Hoping to start training for a triathlon (I am crazyyyy).

I was sick last week, some sort of stomach bug, kept me out of commission for about 4 days. And of course I get sick when Jess is out of town..OF COURSE. Poor CK was such a trooper but was bored to death because Mommy just wanted to lay on the couch and die for those 4 days in between trips to the bathroom. Thank the Lord it's over, and thank the Lord he didn't get what I had!

here's my cutie patootie one of those nights when he was ready for bed time. He has his favorite doggie with him who goes with him everywhere.

Isn't he adorable?

Seriously...the cuteness it doesn't stop

I was proud of myself during those four horrible days. Somehow I always managed to have the energy to cook him three meals a day (ok so some of those meals were very interesting mixes of food but regardless) and give him a bath every night. Normally I would have just curled into a ball and laid in bed until it was gone, but obviously did not have the luxury of that option. Being a Mommy is the best job in the world, but not when you're sick! I just hope that is my last flu-ish type sickness of this year. Bleck!

Here are some photos of bath time fun we had during those few days. I can't believe my baby is almost 16 months old!

Let's see..what do we have lined up for the next few weeks?

*Moving out by the 25

*Zions trip the 19-21 (yippee!!)

*My city league volleyball games every Monday night

*Jess leaves around the 27 :'(

*school school and more school

And you know what's NOT on my list for the next few weeks? BEING SICK!!! The end.

An Early Surprise

2010-02-28T12:48:00.002-05:00

So, being the wonderful wifey that I am, I decided to throw Jess a super early surprise birthday party! His birthday is in the middle of April and he never gets to have a huge celebration because we are always somewhere selling and his day usually does not go that well. This whole schpiel was about a month in the making, but unfortunately I had to change the date three times because of conflicting events! Ugh. So, alot of people ended up not being able to come which was a bummer but we still had so much fun!

To get Jess out of the house, our buddy Nico took him and their other buddy Justin to the Orem Police and SWAT training facitilties where they had adventures all day shooting fully automatic weapons and even putting on the suits and running from the swat dogs! Don't worry, a whole other post with videos will be up here soon of all that craziness.

Jess was truly surprised when he came in the door, he was so confused! But, after about a minute he understood that the party was for him. I am so glad everything worked out, and thanks so much to our friends who came, and especially for Nico and Phil Anderson for setting up the boys fun day :)

Jess' awesomely ~~cool~~ random birthday cake! I laughed my head off when I picked it up at Costco

Calvin and our neighbor Tate having a blast together. Poor guys were both totally spooked when we all yelled "surprise!" that they both cried!

This dice game has become a staple at our parties. We make it a fear factor edition where everyone gets a chance to put anything in our kitchen into the blender and whoever loses has to drink it! Remember New Years? Yeah, I am so glad I didn't lose this time!

Phil and pissed BRAVE Sarah who is 8 months pregnant and still drank it! Some of the ingredients: Ice, salsa, garlic salt, butter, Dr. Pepper, m&m's, and a whole sandwich

Me and my Abbie! Love her. Could go on for day's about it :) Did I mention she's having a baby?? It feels like my sister is having a baby, (well until Aly does have babies one day which I cannot WAIT for!) Thanks for the help with it all Abbie! 

Here is the birthday boy and I :) I am so glad everything worked out and that no one squealed about the party (although a few almost blew it!!!)

And this year because he deserves it so so much, he gets to have TWO birthdays!!! :) Love ya babe :)

15 Month Stats

2010-02-20T20:32:00.001-05:00

My little man is 15 months old today! We had his appointment yesterday and as soon as he saw the shots he cried..not good that he now recognizes them! Poor guy :( But doc said he is lookin and doing great! Here are his stats:
     height: 31 1/2 inches long 75%'
     weight:25.6 lbs 50%
       head circumference: 95%!!! Haha..he's got a big melon

He is eating again regularly..for a while he wouldn't really eat a thing and it was driving me NUTS!
He has mastered the stairs so I took down my gates
He has always been able to say momma but now says it...nice to be acknowledged :)
He loves chicken nuggets and mac and cheese and pickles and olives and carrots and veggie puffs and
       cheese sticks and celery sticks and potatoes and bananas and grapes and oranges and apples
He is the ultimate snuggler at the most random times he will walk up and just give you a hug
He is ALL BOY. Running jumping throwing pushing climbing truck loving boy. And I LOVE HIM

PS- his nasty mullet is in the works to be cut!!This will be his first haircut ever, so I am hoping it goes well

How Great Thou Art...

2010-02-19T00:54:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite times of day is at night when I am putting CK to bed. Why? Because I get to rock him in the glider chair and sing him to sleep. Any of you who know the little buddy know that he is into EVERYTHING right now...running climbing, jumping, throwing things, not to mention falling....just go go GO all day long! But as soon as he's in his jammies for the night and we've brushed his teeth and he's into his sleep sack I pick him up and take him into his room and we sit down in the glider. As soon as we're sitting he is into ultimate snuggle mode and he looks up at me as I sing to him like a sweet little angel.
Now, I am no singer...well I sing alot and I can carry a tune but I would not call me a singer at all. But little CK loves it when I sing and has since he was a newborn. Usually it doesn't take long, maybe ten fifteen minutes at the most, but not a night goes by that I don't sing one special song to him. It's almost as if he won't go to sleep if I don't sing it.
The song is the hymn "How Great Thou Art", which is one of my most favorite and beloved hymns. It comes from years of girls camp where it was our tradition on the last night to sing the hymn acapella style outside and everyone had a candle. Amazing. The spirit was so very strong...even remembering those nights now brings the spirit to me.
So, Calvin loves this song too, so I have sort of adopted it as his lullaby. And even though I sing it every single night basically (except the nights Jess puts CK to bed), I cannot get through the song without crying. Once I hit the third verse it is inevitable. Calvin doesn't seem to mind, I think he almost expects it now, and we both feel the beautiful calming spirit together that fills his nursery.
If you are unfamiliar with the hymn you should become familiar with it. The words are so compelling, and bring such a joy to my heart singing them every night to my beautiful son.

Verse 3:

        And When I think that God his son not sparing,

       sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.

      That on the cross, my burdens gladly bearing

        He bled and died, to take away my sins.

     Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee.

     How great thou art, how great thou art

     then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee

       How great thou art, how great thou art.

I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the blessed life that I have. This song touches me so deeply every time I sing the words because it makes me think about what Jesus did for me personally, the burdens he had to bear for my mistakes, and it breaks my heart. He loves me, and you, and all of us equally and bore all of our sins and gave his own life for us to be able to return again to Him again.
I hope that these words can touch you as deeply as they touch me.

Trevor Hall

2010-02-06T16:15:00.001-05:00

One thing that I LOVE is discovering new great music. We got to do just this at Velour in Provo. his name? Trevor Hall. All you need to know is he is amazing. Listen to his music and you'll know what I'm talkin about!

We had a great time with four of our friends..a fun little date night :)

here was our whole group sans nico who snapped the pic. ps that was the fuzziest grossest couch EVER

Jess and his buddy..that old guy was rocking out!

gotta love my philly chicas! :)

thanks jess..hope ya found some gold up there!

these two. pretty awesome peeps. abbie is my closest friend next to my sister and has been for quite a long time and nico her hubby is the best. the two just together are an idyllic pair if i do say so...so pretty much saying that i love thest two to bits and pieces. they are godparents to my child..and about to have their own :)

So, if you want some great music to tickle your earlobes...give Trevor Hall a try!

When in Rome...

2010-02-03T16:38:00.001-05:00

Ahh I love a good GNO (girls night out) don't you? Our group of girlies tries to have on once a month, and while the girls go out and play the hubbies will hang out and either watch fights or play video games.

We all met up at Olive Garden this month..which is always super yummy. Funny how we all wanted a night away from our kids but the subject of conversation the entire meal was

BABIES BABIES BABES! :)

Our group from left to right: moi, abbie, jamie, jocelyn, jananlee, and sarah. 3 of the 6 of us are prego and we're split evenly brunettes and blondes! love it :)

After dinner we headed to the movies! we wanted to see 'when in rome'. I found it a bit cheesy, but it was cute nonetheless. Great times with great friends! Can't wait for next month's GNO....I think we'll go and see the new valentine's day movie.

February Air

2010-02-02T16:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was such a nice day we couldn't pass up the sunshine and warmth. (Is it sad that we thought 45 degrees was warm??!)

So, we took a late afternoon stroll through our neighborhood with the buddy in tow. He loves to stop and stomp on the grass and touch the remnants of the snow in the yards..so cute.

I thought I would snap a few shots of CK with his daddy..the top two are kind of blurry but I like them that way

February is in with a bang! Even though Punxatawny Phil saw his stupid shadow today I won't let 6 more weeks of winter get me down..especially on days like yesterday :)

Happy February

Barefoot

2010-01-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

I have decided to have a complete blog makeover. Why you ask? I felt a lack of intrigue and luster from my old blog, and since it is a new year...why not make a new blog? My thoughts exactly :)

Where is the new name from you might ask? Well, I hope someone cares enough to wonder, I am faithful in you, my dear little readers that you do care :)

Being barefoot to me is freedom. Who doesn't love to have their little piggies free to wiggle and feel the earth between them? Being barefoot reminds me of summer, my favorite time of year, when it's warm and your feet can be free for months at a time without the constriction of shoes. Although Lord knows how much I love shoes! Mercy! Don't think I am all of a sudden a shoe hater...quite the opposite.

Anywho, I also think of the beach, which is where I would rather be than in the cold snowy place that is Utah right now.

So, there you have it my lovelies...the reason behind the new look of my blog and it's new name, respectively.

All Signs Point to....MORE

2010-01-27T23:57:00.001-05:00

It amazes me how smart Calvin is!! I have been trying for a few months to teach him sign language.

And here I thought he wasn't absorbing anything..and then two nights ago out of the blue he signed "please"

And last night he about floored me when he signed "more"

and now "more more more more more more more" is all he signs now with a "please" thrown in there

every once in a while.

Gotta love my little monkey :)

And his actual words he says now have expanded:

Momma

Daddy

Doggie
What

Wow

Yeah

Hey

LOVE HIM TO DEATH

Throwback

2010-01-25T14:46:00.002-05:00

I came across this picture of me on my first birthday and thought I looked alot like the buddy in this pic we took in Alaska this summer! See the resemblance?

Our Little Patient

2010-01-18T12:29:00.002-05:00

Here is a pic from Jess' I-phone when Calvin was waiting to be taken back for his surgery. He had tubes put into his ears to get rid of those pesky ear infections!! I was pretty nervous, but all went well and it was so much faster than I thought! He looked so dang cute in his little hospital gown (it tied up the back just like an adult one and his little diaper was sticking out). He was pretty upset when he woke up from the anesthesia and it took him a while to calm down even with me there, but once we got him home he took a 4 hour nap (which meant Mom and Dad took a 4 hour nap since we had to be at the surgical center at 6:30!) and a full belly he was back to normal.

Cruisin 2010

2010-01-13T00:13:00.008-05:00

What better way to start off the new year than with a cruise? Yep...definitely the best! Although it ended up being super cold (Miami was 24 degrees!) we had so much fun. It was the annual Homeshield Cruise, and this year had the worst weather by far, but I have never had that much fun on a cruise ship before. All in all...it was great to get away for a few days. Sorry for the overload of pictures...but hope you enjoy :) The first day in Miami..waiting to take off

Love the towel animals! Here is our monkey and our elephant
From Miami we went to Key West..not my particularly favorite spot ever (this was my third time), but we had fun regardless! Don't we always??
our boat docked in Key west
This was our only nice and sunny day, so we all rented scooters and drove around the island for a few hours. I got a teensy bit of sun too!

After a few hours we all met up at a beach and played some sand volleyball. My idea of fun for sure
That night was formal night. It always amazes me how some people go all out on this night (like prom dresses and tuxedos!), but it is always fun to dress up this night. Although, as soon as dinner was over at least half the girls in our group went and changed :)
My friend Jenna and I. Met her this summer and it has been love ever since :)
Our table on formal night. Starting bottom L and going clockwise: Austin and Carrie Ethington, Cristina and Jeff Greatorex, Jess and I, and Trevor and Emily Jones

So, if you have ever been on a cruise you know that there are constantly annoying photographers taking random pictures of you. I have never bought one, nor know anyone who has ever bought one. So, instead I took pictures of our pictures. I couldn't find them all, but here are a few that I happened upon.

Kyrsten and I watching our hubbies play blackjack

Next stop Cozumel, Mexico! I had been here once before with my family and wasn't really impressed. This time was better, but the weather did not feel like cooperating. It was terribly windy and raining the entire day we were there...but we made the best of it! Everyone rented jeeps and we drove around the island looking at the ancient Mayan ruins. Then we ended up going to a local restaurant on some back streets where we had AMAZING (I'm not kidding) AMAZING Mexican food. YUM!

Standing in the middle of the ruins
This was the largest ruin on the whole island
The beaches here are beautiful! The water was like 83 degrees...warmer than outside!

Here is our jeep. It was a complete piece of garbage! The ceiling leaked, the windows leaked. Basically we were soaked by the end of the day!

This night the boat took off back for Miami. We were to be at sea all night, then all the next day and night. Unfortunately Poseidon was unhappy with our ship for some reason and the sea was angry!. I have never been on a cruise ship that moved that much! You couldn't even walk straight! Luckily Jess and I don't get sea sick, but a good majority of our group got really ill. So, we decided to make a game out of it. Some of us had contests to see who could stand on one leg the longest, or would run down the hall to see who would fall last! Then some of the guys had a trust circle where you would fall and the people around you would catch you..sort of random but guess you had to be there!
They had a sweet fruit bar at midnight with this fruit man!
The trust circle
That night we also played this super fun picture drawing game that I have never heard of but am going to play all the time! It was hilarious
How sad is this...this was the ONLY time we were in the water the entire cruise! We all decided to go hot tubbing our last night!

The dance club was always a good time. This picture is Jess, Gavin and Jason trying to be candid. This was the last night and we stayed til the club closed! Good times :)

On the last night we also played this game with basically our entire group (we had 70 people). We all crowded into the library and played this dice money game. You roll dice and whatever numbers you roll you either have to put your money in the pot, pass it left or right or keep it. You start with three dollars each, and whoever ends up with the last dollar wins the entire pot!

Last night at dinner :)

Although it basically felt like we were on an Alaskan cruise, we had a blast! I can't wait until next year when we get to all get together again because Jess really works with some great people.

Master Bath

2010-01-03T13:47:00.002-05:00

You know it's amazing what just a little paint can do to a room...... Master bathroom then

Master bathroom now

Ta Da :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T00:33:00.005-05:00

Jess and I threw a NYE party this year. We had a really great turnout and the night was just non stop fun! We had lots of yummy food and played some Mormon drinking games (drinking games minus the alcoholic beverages of course). What a great way to say goodbye to 2009 and ring in the new year! Thanks to all who came...you really made the night so much fun :) Calvin even stayed up well after 1:30....despite not having taken a nap that day. He was beyound exhausted and you could clearly tell it, but he was so afraid he was going to miss something. Once everyone was gone he was immediately out. Oh my little party animal :)
Some of the goodies. Much more once people started showing up!
Elise and I

energy drink pong anyone?
it was a fierce match!

We had a really fun few rounds of Flip Cup. I haven't laughed that hard in a looong time! Girls vs. boys made it extra hilarious!

the ladies team :) L to R Jamie, Me, Elise, Abbie, Sarah (minus Jana Lee)
the men's team. Aren't they all so cute? L to R Phil, Jess, Nico, Craig, Jared, Chad, Randal
Abbie and Jamie are two of my oldest and closest friends! They are sisters, and we all grew up in Philly together! I am so grateful for both of their friendships and that we all still live super close to each other in Utah :)
My friend Anny came! She lives in Colorado now going to Vet school, and we used to be roommates at Utah State. I am so glad she was able to come especially since the holidays are lonely for her. Her hubby has been in Iraq as a firefighter since June!
Chad and his daughter Leighton doing their Lady and the Tramp impression! Too cute :)

Okay...so we played this really fun dice game where you roll dice and the certain numbers you roll you either have to give your cards to other people, keep your cards, or throw them in the discard pile. Every round someone gets to put a random food item in the blender and whoever loses the game has to drink the disgusting blended concoction. So fun! Jess was the leader and taught us all how to play. So, in the blender went ketchup, chocolate milk, cheese, spam, guacamole, m&m's, and barbecue sauce. Sounds appetizing right? Yup, and you want to know who lost and had to drink the disgusting thing??
THIS GIRL. I was NOT thrilled. In fact, as the game was getting down to the wire, I had Abbie grab our truck keys and she sat right behind me so that if I did lose I could run out the garage and drive away! I attempted but Jess tackled me by the back door and wrestled me back to the table. I yelled some idle threats, but nothing seemed to work, so I gave in.

I made the deal that I only took one big gulp. Boy it was sick...one big mushy meaty sour gulp that slowly trickled down my throat. I immediately took a chaser of Dr. Pepper and felt tons better :)

Calvin was so nice to Jess and I he slept in today until noon! What a great way to start off the new year! 2009 was an amazing year! Bring it on 2010!!! :)

4th

2010-01-02T00:16:00.003-05:00

Then Dec. 30, 2005
Now Dec. 30, 2009

Wow 4 years and one 1 year old adorable boy later! These past four years have been the best of my life! And this past year has been an incredible journey. Being a Mom for the first time has offered me some of my greatest challenges and also greatest joys. Being parents together has brought Jess and I so much closer ( if that was possible ) and has strengthened our marriage, as well as faith.

Jess wouldn't tell me what we were up to this year...and although it was driving me nuts I love surprises! So, we dropped Calvin off at Abbie and Nico's (thank you thank you thank you guys so much for babysitting!!!!) and we headed off to Rodizio Grill...a Brazilian delicious restaurant! We went to another one last year for our anniversary called Tucano's, so I think we'll just make a tradition out of it every year! After our yummy dinner I stupidly thought we were going back to the truck to leave, but Jess grabbed something out of the car and then go out as I sat inside like a dummy. Eventually I understood that we weren't leaving yet, and to my joy we went to the movie theater in the same complex! I love movies and now that we are parents we rarely get to go...and joy of all joys we went and saw "Sherlock Holmes"! I have been wanting to see this movie since the middle of the summer when I saw the trailer. And although I am a fan of the original and old school Sherlock movies....this one was great!!
So, after a fun date with my sweetheart, we headed home where our monkey was having a blast playing with Abbie, Nico, and their two bassett hounds having the time of his life!
I love you baby...our first 4 years have been amazing...and I cannot wait for 94 more + eternity!

Christmas!!

2010-01-01T14:32:00.005-05:00

This year we headed up to Idaho for Christmas! In typical Idaho fashion it was cold Cold COLD!! We had so much fun though staying up late playing board and card games...Calvin had a blast playing with his cousins...adults sneaking out to see Avatar late and night (awesome movie by the way!) ...and just good times all around. I can't wait until next year when we get to spend Christmas with my family though! Lots of pictures so I will be brief....favorite presents? Reebok Easytone sneakers from my lovely hubby :) and my new Olympus waterproof digital camera from my parents!!! Favorite part of all? Watching Calvin LOVE Christmas!

rees and his new horse Bojo hooked up to the sleigh! He took the kids for rides :)

we got to go to the Rexburg temple and do a session which was amazing...and afterwards we hit up the Taco Bus! What is a taco bus you might ask? A school bus converted in to a fully functional taco joint! Yum!!
Calvin looking studly at the Butikofer Christmas party!

Calvin and his cousin Trevon! they are two weeks apart :)

The kids all loved playing in the snow! Here is Cal (or should I say Ralphie?) suited up and ready to go!

For FHE we did our own Nativity and Jacie brought some really adorable costumes. Calvin was the donkey :)
Christmas Eve...we went to Jake and Jacie's new AMAZING house to have some fondueeeeee! I LOVE fondue..can NEVER get enough! Here is Calvin opening his Christmas Eve present!
As is always tradition...it's always pajamas :)
Feeling full after all that fondue and watching "up"

Me, Mary, and Jacie stuffing our faces
Christmas morning!!!
We had a second Christmas with my parents and Aly when we got back to Utah on the 26th. Here is Jess in his new Steelers snuggie! My sis in law Melissa figured out how to make them! I got one too! So comfy :)
Jess is starting Calvin young..making sure he loves the same team! Go Steelers!
Calvin excited for more presents!!!

HO! HO! HO!

2009-12-24T18:34:00.003-05:00

Well it's finally here!!! Christmas eve, and up here in Idaho we have been receiving glorious beautiful snow all day :) Christmas is just not Christmas without snow I say. Cannot wait until tomorrow when Calvin gets to open his presents (I have had to hide them from him! If he gets a chance he runs under the tree and tries to rip presents open!) and get to see the joy on his face. Ohh to think that this time last year he was only a month old and so small....my baby is growing way to fast!
Anyways, hope everyone has a very wonderful Christmas together! I am off to have some YUM fondue (3 kinds!) tonight which is a Butikofer favorite!!

HO HO HO!!

Merry christmas to Calvin...

2009-12-21T19:03:00.002-05:00

Well we are in Idaho for Christmas! Trip was great, got here just fine. No snow or ice on the roads thankfully. First night went without incident, but Saturday night Calvin was up ALL. NIGHT.LONG. So, Sunday morning church wasn't until 1 pm so I found an urgent care in Rexburg and took the little buddy first thing. The report? Ear infection in both ears annnnd a sinus infection. The good thing was that we caught the ear infections just as they started so they were just barely starting to be bad. The antibiotics they gave CK work great though, he is like night and day from yesterday to today. At least that is one good thing :) So, hopefully this Christmas is still merry!!

Maughan Family Pics

2009-12-15T00:44:00.004-05:00

My family had a family photo shoot the day after Thanksgiving this year since we were all together! It was really fun and good to have some updated pics of the fam :) Our last family photo was taken in the summer of 2004! Yikes....long time ago! Anyways, here are just a few of the many many pics we took that day. Enjoy!
Silly!! :)

Just the parents and the kids
Aly and I doing what else? Laughing :)
The ones who started it all :)
Ck in his too small pants! Haha! Ok...quick story about that: He had his jeans on that fit him that are super cute and look designer but he OF course had a diarrhea blow-out right before we left! Oops! So, he's got on some capris instead :)
Givin our older bro some love!
Love me some Aly :)
The Butikofers!!
Ohhhh Jess..... Gotta love him!

Thanks for lookin! :)

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow!!!

2009-12-13T21:50:00.001-05:00

We have gotten quite a bit of snow within the past week, and I thought it was about time for Calvin to experience it for the first time! He wasn't sure at first and sort of just stood there like he is in these pictures.

But after Jess and I pelted him with a few snowballs (don't worry not in the face!) he started walking around and having fun. But once he face planted and got too cold he was DONE. But I am so glad that he finally got to experience snow, but I am sure he'll get plenty of it in Idaho when we head up there next weekend! Can't wait for Christmas!!!

The Awakening

2009-12-09T11:28:00.002-05:00

Jess is gone..again. He's off recruiting in Idaho I think he is in Boise today. I hate when he is gone...I can never fall asleep. Last night I had to keep the tv on in our room for some white noise so that every little noise wouldn't freak me out! I hate being such a wimp, but I am. So, when Calvin woke up at 4 I got to see what was on the Food Network at that time! :)
Anyway, I bought a new book which I am excited to start reading! I think I will start it tonight while I try to fall asleep or maybe during Calvin's nap time today. It's Called "The Vampire Diaries", and a show is based on it on tv right now which I think is really good, so I don't think the book will disappoint! I'll keep ya posted on whether or not it's worth the read....

It's that Time of year

2009-12-07T13:46:00.003-05:00

...The most wonderful time of the year... :)

I love the holidays! I love Christmas music, lights, decor, presents, cookies, food, family, Christmas caroling...you name it I LOVE it!!!

Jess, Calvin, and I went to see the lights at Temple square this past Friday. It was super cold, but always so worth it :) Calvin loved the lights!! He was in heaven, all bundled up nice and snug in his stroller. It makes me smile to see him get excited about things, so watching him get psyched about all the lights was great!

After we had froze our butts off...we decided to go and get some food, and Five Guys is where we decided to go! Wow. In and Out who? I love this place! Great great burgers and fries! Highly recommend it :)

Girls night out/ Boys fight night

Mary, Sarah, Jocelyn,Jamie, Jess, Abbie, Me
We are starting a once a month GNO/ boys night! Our first one was fun, but needs to be longer next time. Love girls nights w no kids for a while, although I missed my boys! Sad huh?

Just Because.......

2009-12-05T11:55:00.002-05:00

This little bed headed buddy........
....is SOOOOOO darn......

Cute. :)