We are a Happy Family!

The Polka Dot Apron: Thread Catcher Tutorial

2011-05-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

The Polka Dot Apron: Thread Catcher Tutorial: "Welcome, one and all, to my very first tutorial! May I just give a shout out to all you bloggers I love but don't know personally who make ..."

Miracles.

2011-03-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Soooo, this post should have happened last week, but moving is actually taking much longer than I remember. We finally got the majority of our extra stuff moved into storage yesterday, thanks to my incredible hubby, so I am feeling more at home now since I can start decorating and putting furniture in its rightful place and such. Anywhooo, Britney is doing so much better now! It is truly amazing how many miracles have happened in just under a month since her accident. Next time you are in your car, just look at the windshield and see how easily you could fly through it from the backseat without hitting the frame of the car. Miracle. The doctors said she wouldn't be talking for about three months, and I just spoke to her on the phone. Miracle. In a move most unlike her, Britney had taken off her seatbelt to sleep, and that is what saved her life. Miracle miracle miracle!! Who dares tell me there isn't someone watching over us all? When it is our time, we go: when it's not, we stay.

Last week she was transferred to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden and the boys and I went to see her. When we got there she was in Physical Therapy and I was so overwhelmed to see her smiling and in sweats, laughing with her therapist as she did her exercises. More miracles. She doesn't know this (well, NOW she probably does!) but I just watched her for a few minutes through the window and tried to compose myself. The change that had happened in only a week since I'd last seen her was overwhelming. Here are some pics!

Looking lovely in her new set of wheels!

She is a pro on her walker

Hard to tell here, but her legs are still really scratched up from skidding across the Nevada desert as she landed on the other side of the freeway.

More pictures, you say? Well...since you asked so nicely....

Kolton has been saying his prayers for Britney ever since the accident, so he was so excited to see her! (And take a ride on her wheelchair, of course!)

He even gave her a push when she got tired!

Sam was just happy to have a cookie.

They gave Britney this ADORABLE little mug. I had to take a picture. Anything miniature is worth taking a picture of!

Now, she is actually HOME! She's getting around okay in her wheelchair and walker and is itching to get back to life. Thanks to all the little miracles happening every day, I really feel like she will be there soon.

Brian Regan - Hospital

2011-03-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

We were quoting this with Britney the whole time we were there. There's more to it if you wanna check it out on youtube. It's definitely good for a chuckle!!

Britney

2011-03-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a crazy week it's been! I don't have much time today because I am getting ready to dismantle my computer since we are moving out tonight. I just wanted to recap the highlights of my trip to Reno to see my little sis. When we got there she was in the ICU. I wasn't prepared for the impact of seeing her. She didn't seem very alert and was eating her dinner. She had to eat with her hands because she was unable to use a fork at that time. It was really hard to see her scoop up her fruit with a clawed had and tear her chicken strips apart so she could eat. I hadn't realized until that point just how seriously she was injured. It was like she had regressed by 10 or more years. I could not stop crying as I watched her struggle to do everything herself. She wouldn't let anyone help her. She kept asking about her friends who had been in the accident. When the subject of Bryan (the one who was killed) came up, we diverted her attention, because we knew the pain would be huge for her and she would forget and ask again in an hour or two. Sure enough, she asked again about her friends about an hour later. It was so hard to not just pick her up and hug her to death. Seeing her there and alive was just about the best experience of my life. The second day there, she was transferred out of the ICU and into a new room on the Orthopedics floor. The room was literally three times the size of her ICU room and she was so happy to see all the balloons, flowers, and treats sent to her by friends and family that she hadn't been able to have in her ICU room. By the end of that day, she was eating with a fork and we all celebrated! It is amazing how such a small thing made such a difference to her. Her friends, Jason, Jerry, and Dallon, all came up that night to see her for a few minutes before they had to head back to Utah. She was so excited to have everyone there! That day, she also began remembering the conditions of each of her friends, and we knew it was time to tell her about Bryan. My mom waited until we all headed home on Sunday to talk to her about it. She expressed how sad she was, but that she just couldn't cry. I know it will hit her once her mind is less focused on healing her body and I hope I can be there for her when it does. A few days after we left, she was transferred yet again to the Renown Rehabilitation Hospital. She now had the chance to wear workout clothes instead of her awful hospital gown. She began wheeling herself to and from meals and to the bathroom. Her progress has been so good that at this point they are planning on her being transferred to McKay Dee hospital in Ogden!! It is the only hospital that has all the therapists she will need to finish recovering. It's not quite home yet, but she is getting so close! Her doctors believe she has experienced more brain damage than they originally thought, but hopefully it is nothing that can't be worked out with continued therapy. She is struggling with her fine motor skills and her vision and speech. I am more proud of her than I could ever possibly say. I miss her so much and can't wait to see her again. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to see her and to spend a few days with my sisters, Keli and Cristi, and my brother, Jimmy, while we traveled and laughed our guts out. That's one thing I really love about my family- no matter how hard times are, we can always chuckle about something. Even Britney was cracking up as we quoted her favorite comedian, Brian Regan to her. If I can find it on You Tube, I will have to embed the portion of his routine that had us all laughing. I'm sorry if this post is very random and hurried, but, like I said, my time is very limited! I just wanted to add that the quilt we made her was absolutely PERFECT!! A huge thanks to Keli and JaeLynne, who helped me make it, and to LeAnne, Kathy, Marissa, and the many others who donated fabric and money to help make it. My plan is to make additional quilts for the other victims of the accident as well as one for Bryan's family. The nurses couldn't say enough about the quilt and Britney told me yesterday that she sleeps with it every day and night! Your prayers and love and support have really gotten me through this ordeal. It has been rough on our whole family, but we couldn't feel more grateful. I hope to be on again soon after the move. May the Lord Bless you all! :D

L to R: Keli, Britney, Dad, Me, Cristi, Jimmy (we brought her Apple Beer- her favorite!)

One of many kisses I gave her.

Keli on the way there- Energy drink, anyone??

Jae and I stayed up 'til 3am the night before the trip to finish the quilt. What a lady!!

I hate how dark this is, and the edited version won't post, but here is Brit with her quilt.

Jae with her first Block!

And Keli with her first...

And me with my first!!!

Britney gets out of the ICU!

2011-03-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Britney

2011-03-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

This is the driver's side of the car. Don't zoom in if you are squeamish. You can see blood. I'm not trying to freak anyone out, but this picture really impacted me.

Britney and My dad. I love seeing her attempt a smile. This picture shows one of the very few coherent moments she's had.

Our Life:

Not much has been happening with our little family in blogger land lately. Wes was able to land a terrific job (still with Rocky Mountain Power) in Preston, ID which means we are moving back to Smithfield!! To say this makes me jump for joy is the understatement of the century. We are still experiencing some mixed feelings about the move. For one, I. HATE. MOVING. For another, I actually really sort of fell in love with Montpelier and I never expected that to happen. The people are wonderful, the pace is gloriously slow and steady, and the library is hands-down the BOMB. Add living 20 minutes away from Fare Lake (Bear Lake- that's Kolton's special name for it) and the fact that living an hour or so away from family can be really wonderful at times, and we have a full scale recipe for hemming and hawing. Despite all the wonders of Montpelier, though, I feel positively giddy to come back to our old Ward and eventually our home, which is currently being rented out. The move is scheduled to happen on March 26th, but that is likely to change because of something that happened in the wee hours of Saturday morning, March 4th.

My little sister, Britney, and I had the wonderful chance to hang out a little on Friday night and she drove me around to get my car serviced and she and I talked about her plans to take an impromptu trip with her girlfriend, Megan, to California. They were going to leave at 3am on Saturday, the 4th and drive home some time on Sunday (today). After much deliberation and giddy excitement, they decided that sleep wasn't necessary and that they would leave at 11pm Friday night. She slept for a few hours and I woke her up at 9:30 so she could get ready to go. Now, for some background, Britney is 22 and was married at age 20 but her hubby decided that he wasn't jive with marriage anymore and they split up last April, with the divorce being finalized in August of 2010. Since then, she has been working as a waitress and living with my parents. Thankfully, there were no children caught up in this, but she wants to be a mommy so bad, and I hated to see that dream taken from her, even though I know she will fulfill that dream some day. (sorry, the later it is, the more long-winded I am). So, I gave my sweet little sis a hug and butt pat and left to go to our new apartment (in the basement of my in-laws' home) where we commenced to unpack the first of many boxes.

The next morning, Saturday, I received an urgent call from my youngest sister, Keli (age 20) saying that Brit had been in an accident. There is no preparation for that feeling in your gut like you just swallowed a brick. Even though I'm an optimist for the most part, I knew that this was serious. All we could do was wait to find out where they were going to life-flight her to. The accident had occurred at 5am in Battle Mountain, Nevada. Finally, after noticing significant amounts of blood in her urine, they decided to take the faster route and transfer her to Reno, NV instead of Salt Lake City, which would have cost her an extra 15 min. My parents left to drive to Reno and my brother, Russell used his frequent flyer miles to fly out on the first available flight. Britney's condition is considered 'severe' because she has four fractured ribs, a punctured spleen, bruised liver, fluid around her kidneys and lungs, and a crushed pelvis and hip bone. This is what they know so far. They are taking her in for surgery on her pelvis tomorrow and will get some additional x-rays at that time to check for a possible broken shoulder, arm, and femur. If you will bear with me, I will explain how the wreck happened as far as I know from what Britney's friends, my family, and the cops have told us:

Britney's friend, Brian, was driving the car (we didn't know boys were going on this trip- tsk tsk, Brit) and his friend, Stephen was riding shotgun. Brit's friend, Megan was behind the passenger seat and Britney was, for reasons unknown, buckled in to the middle seatbelt rather than the one behind the driver. From what I've been told, Brian fell asleep while driving on the freeway and ran into a barrier that divided the lanes. The impact of the initial hit made Britney's seatbelt pop and she was ejected from the car and flew 140 ft into a nearby area (thankfully, not the road) and the passenger was ejected from the car as well. The car flipped up and landed driver's-side-down on the barrier. The impact killed Brian, and would have killed Britney had she not been thrown. Stephen is, as far as I know, doing okay, and Megan is prepping to have surgery to fix a broken wrist and shoulder tomorrow. My heart breaks for Brian and his family. It also breaks because I know how tough this will be on Britney when she learns of it. Mentally, she is not aware of much at all right now. Miraculously, she woke up tonight and announced that she was hungry! Up til now all she has said is, 'thank you' 'yes' and 'no.' When her friends spoke to her tonight and said they had a care package for her, she responded, "Oh, no! I didn't get anything for you!". I was blessed with an opportunity to talk with her tonight. She doesn't sound much like herself because she is swollen on her face, but it meant so much to me to know I had the chance to tell her how much I love her. To think how close I came to losing her scares me so much I almost can't breath. My family is everything to me and I realize it now, more than ever, how crucial it is to spread that love on a daily basis. My sister, Keli, and I are staying at my mom's house this week to care for my grandma while my mom and dad are in Reno. To keep our worried heads busy, we are going to make Britney a very fun crazy quilt that we can give her when they transfer her to SLC, which will hopefully be within a week or two. If anyone in blogger land has spare fabric to share, please comment and let me know ! Okay, I know I'm officially tired when I type the same sentence twice. Okay, I know I'm officially tired when I type the same sentence twice. Thanks so much for all the love and support and prayers so many of you have already offered on Britney's behalf. I will do my best to keep everyone updated.

Lots of love,

Tab

Oh, my creative boy...

2011-02-25T09:55:00.001-08:00

I remember listening to a speaker in my sister's Relief Society when I went to visit when I was in Middle School. She talked about her twin boys and how one day, shortly after she had re-painted her living room walls, they decided to draw all over them. Rather than flying off the handle, she told them what wonderful artists they were and took a picture. She then said that now that they were grown (they were my age at the time) she really cherished those pictures and that memory because now there were no more pictures on her perfect walls. Well, I really tried hard to keep that story in mind when I walked into my bedroom last night and saw:

THIS

Sam's First Haircut sigh

2011-02-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

I have been putting off cutting Sam's hair for many reasons. The first reason is simply that I hate the way a haircut can totally change a child from a baby to a toddler. I am not ready for that yet. Second, I am completely inept at cutting hair and didn't want to butcher the poor kid. Third, I am completely in love with his perfect little angelic curls and the way they frame his head when he sleeps and after his bath. *sigh again* So, tonight I realized that the task could be put off no longer. So, rather than using clippers, as Wes would prefer, I just pulled out a pair of scissors and decided that I could handle giving him a 'trim'. Thankfully, the process was quick, Sam was happy as always, and he maintained his curls (ahthankyouverymuch!!) After a quick bath and a slathering of Baby Magic I realized that my baby hasn't left me just yet *sigh of relief*. He is still my perfect little angel and I couldn't imagine life without him!

One last look at his crazy long locks!!

What a handsome kiddo!

Be ye warned- there be butt crack in this here collage.

Birthday Party!

2011-02-21T17:49:00.000-08:00

Kolton's third birthday was such an event! We tried to keep things simple with just a cake and ice cream and then we decided to go bowling and out for pizza. Throw in a surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa G. and it's a miracle Kolton ever came down from that high!! I can't believe how emotional I get every year on his birthday. It was the greatest and yet most emotional day of my life. It was the day I officially became a mommy, the day Cori had to let go of her precious boy and turn him over to me, and the day I realized I honestly had not a clue!! Aside from the emotions, however, his birthday this year was an awesome reminder of how much he has learned and how blessed I am! Here are some highlights:

The opening of presents- all 'Thomas the Train" themed, of course!

Bowling at our local alley- needless to say, I lost.

Kolton enjoying his Thomas cake

And Sam enjoying some, too!!

It was such a fun night and we were sad to see the end of it. There really isn't much to do here in Montpelier so the chance to have something to celebrate and somewhere to go was very appreciated! And, just because I promised Cori I would, here is a picture of the blasted cake. Now, let me just clarify- I don't consider myself to be a cake decorator. I always thought that because I am generally good at crafts and sewing that somehow it would cross over into hitherto unforeseen cake decorating skills. However, no matter how hard I try, those skills never manifest themselves. The only thing that makes me feel okay about this particular cake is the fact that Kolton actually recognized what it was. In my mind, that is just going to have to be good enough.

Happy Birthday, Kolton!!

2011-02-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

I can't believe all of this happened three years ago! :

"Well, where do we start?!? At 6:00 Monday morning (Feb 18) we received a call from Cori saying that she was pretty sure she was in labor and that I should "wake Daddy up and head over!" Needless to say, a frantic scramble followed while we threw some last-minute stuff in the car (we have been packed for a while now!). About an hour later we received a call from a friend of Cori's saying that Cori was dilated to a 10 and she didn't think we would make it on time! (We were about five hours away from where she was having him). About two minutes later I got a call on my cell phone and what should I hear on the other end but this teeny but strong cry! I immediately started bawling and Wes couldn't hear what I was telling him (we were driving through a canyon and his ears were plugged up). So, sadly, we missed seeing him come into this world, but, thankfully, Cori wasn't alone. So basically from her first contraction to when he made his appearance was just over an hour and a half! He came out at 7:28am weighing 5 lbs 2.8 oz and measuring 19" long! When we finally arrived (around 10:30) it was obviously very emotional for all of us. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had no idea that babies can come out that perfect. I always scoffed at love at first sight until I saw his sweet face looking up at me. Unfortunately, all of the meeting and hugging and "figuring out" had to happen while Kolton (that's his name!) had to get a series of tests done. He got poked and prodded and was not super happy about it! After that we were able to go into Cori's room and get re-acquainted with her and get newly acquainted with Kolton. There is a 24 hour legal period in which the birthmom has to wait to sign the relinquishment papers (it is a Utah State law) and Cori was amazing during that time- handling it much better than I think I would have. Finally, yesterday at around 6:30pm we were able to meet with Cori and her case worker to finish the placement process. I'm not going to go into that too much because it was probably the most sacred experience of my life. I don't even think words could express how incredible and hard and emotional it was. We left the hospital with Kolton safely in his car seat (per the nurse's patient instructions!) around 7:30 last night (on the 19th). They let us discharge him 12 hours earlier than they normally would since he was doing so well, even for his small size, and also since we had such a long drive ahead of us and a storm was going to be coming in the next day. After a couple of stops (WHY do gas station bathrooms have to be so COLD?! He did NOT like getting changed in there!) we finally arrived home around 1:00am. We were in bed by 2:00am and he woke us at 4:ooam and then again at 8:00am, so it was actually very nice (the first night in the hospital he didn't want to sleep at all!). We will see how things go tonight. Right now he is watching a basketball game with Wes and his eyes are wide open and alert! He hardly ever cries and has the sweetest disposition. We really don't think life could be any better at this point for us- we are so very blessed. Thank you all for your support and love. We had many MANY visitors today and so many people who have shown excitement and love for our little family. We want to do a "shout out" to Cori, whom we dedicate this entry to. We love you and hope the Lord blesses you as he has blessed us through you!"

( February 20, 2008)

And what a third year it has been for him! He has gone through a move out of state, potty training, learning how to be a terrific big brother, and learning his whole alphabet and how to count all the way to 14. Three years ago today I became a mommy. I can't help but cry on his birthday every year when I think of how much my life has changed for the better since then. Thankfully, our relationship with Cori is as wonderful as ever and I have opportunities every day to tell her how much she means to our little family. If there are angels on this earth, I truly believe she is one of them, sent to us straight from Heavenly Father as an answer to eight years worth of prayers for a miracle. I am so thankful to have him and Sam in my life! I learn so much about myself every day as I try to be the best mommy I can be. Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

YOWZA!!!

2011-01-18T10:37:00.003-08:00

Check out this little guy's bed head this morning!!! Compare it with his curly locks fresh out of the bath and the difference is striking... :D

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Please forgive me!!

2011-01-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

I know many people out there don't give a fig and a fart about what happens in my life, but there are people out there who do and to those people, can I just say I'm SORRY!! I have been on facebook more than my blog and so I forget that I need to update this puppy! I am not even going to attempt to re-create the last four months (you can see it on FB if you are dying to know!) But I thought I would start with something a bit more recent. So far, 2011 has been a very easy year, which is a huge blessing because I wouldn't wish 2010 on my worst enemy! There were many many many blessings, no mistaking that, but with two major surgeries, a move, some family tragedy, and a whole lot of no money, let's just say I am glad to have a whole new year to make my life better! My latest venture has been to open up an Etsy shop online. It is time to start saving for our next adoption, which we hope to apply for at the end of this year. I know it's statistically less likely that we will be chosen by a birthmommy right away when we already have two little kiddos, so we don't want to put it off for much longer. Anyway, I had mentioned on one of my favorite blogs, www.bluecricketdesigns.blogspot.com (I have a link on my sidebar) that making money using my mad sewing skills (ahem) and raising money for an adoption is one of my resolutions. Well, they responded to that post by saying that if I opened an Etsy shop they would promote me! This is huge because BCD gets about 400,000 hits a month! Needless to say, I have been wracking my brain to come up with some fun and creative ideas. So far I have come up with these:

This is a hot pad I designed mostly because I am sort of addicted to owls.

These are some rosette hair pins/clips that are super cheap and easy to make!

So, that is it so far! Of course, I will also be selling my aprons with matching hot pads, and I am thinking of coming up with a whole plethora of hot pad designs because the kitchen is my favorite place to be! If you would be so inclined to comment- what do you think is a reasonable price for these items? As much as I want to make money, I also want my things to be affordable so that people can actually buy and enjoy them. I hate seeing darling aprons in the $40-50 range because I just can't afford them. I sell mine for $25-30. Anyway, I would really appreciate comments and anyone's opinions on what they would like to see in my shop. I don't have it ready to go yet, but my goal is by the end of this week.

In far more important news- my babies are growing and growing!! Sam's cheeks get chubbier by the day and Kolton is the biggest smartie pants in the world. I can't get enough of them and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the huge miracle they are in my life, along with the splendid birthmommy who gave them to us! I hope everyone in bloggerland is doing as well as I am!

This is Kolton's awesome new race car bed we got from someone in our ward!

My three favorite boys...

Go ahead and pinch 'em! You know you wanna!

2010-10-07T09:00:00.001-07:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

A perfect afternoon

2010-10-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that October is my favorite month- HELLO! It's Halloween and the colors are changing outside and the holidays are right around the corner! *sigh* Yesterday just felt like the perfect day to make some yummy puffy sugar cookies with my little guys. I must have a hundred pictures, so I'll try to restrain myself- but I just can't get enough of these two little bundles of mushy gushy love!

He was such a pro at cutting them out! His cookies looked better than mine!

This was at the beginning of our project. Kolton decided he was 'grumpy' and didn't want his picture taken :D

Kolton's pride and joy

Yes, he dumped EVERY sprinkle on his cookie!

Sam devoured the beaters covered in frosting!

I truly cannot get enough of this wonderful season and getting to share it with my incredible little family. The cookies were FANTASTIC and I even made a double batch of the dough so I can have a repeat of this wonderful afternoon! (I am trying to beef up the adjectives in this post, can you tell?)

Note to self...

2010-09-20T16:32:00.001-07:00

Do not feed neon orange sweet potatoes to a baby with a cough.

And in further news: I FOUND MY CAMERA!!! I just can't justify blogging without pictures because I know they are what speak the most so please forgive my prolonged absence (cori!!).

Aside from that, I had a total disc replacement in my neck on Sept. 30 (hence the Frankenstein-esque scar in the above picture) so that is my other excuse. Wes was doing the housecleaning while the boys and I were staying with my Mom while I recovered and found my camera in HIS coat pocket...I wouldn't have thought to look there. So, since I have been down and out a bunch still, I let Kolton do the picture taking- and I must say that for a two-year-old I think he did pretty darn well!!

Wes:

His favorite show; Dinosaur Train

El Gato, Kolton's favorite of the moment

Our recently uncovered Halloween plates (a bit dusty!)

And the man himself!!

And lastly, both of our little guys have been sick. Sam got a high fever after a week of runny noses and Kolton followed shortly after. This served two purposes of which I will whine unashamedly; no sleep or rest for post-surgical me and I had to say no to everyone who offered to babysit for me because my kiddos have fevers!! *sigh* kay, that was the pity party for the moment... :P Anyway, I can't help but get pics of my kiddos when they are sick so I will end this post with them! I hope everyone in bloggerland is doing well!!!

Let's talk turkey...I mean chicken...

2010-07-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

We are not talking about this kind of chicken:

We are talking about THIS kind of chicken:

This post is not for the faint of heart or queasy of stomach, but I feel like if I don't blog about it I am depriving you all of a super funny part of my life at present. As you know from last week's post, Kolton is potty training. A few weeks ago he FINALLY pooped in the potty for the first time and when he looked at it before flushing he said "mommy- it looks like 'cheekin'" Well, we HAD eaten fried chicken tender strips the night before so I guess he had a point. My favorite was when we were at the library last week and he announced loudly in front of the other kids at story time, "mom, I have to go 'cheekin' dinner"...nice.

Well, since that time we don't 'poop' in this house....we 'cheekin'- Truly one of the highlights of my summer- does that make me gross? I don't care! It will probably be called 'cheekin' for the rest of our days.

I { lightning bolt } Potty Training!!

2010-07-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

I couldn't think of a good opposite to I { heart } something, so lightning bolt seemed to fit. It has been going on for over a month, folks. Between the back and forth trips to Utah and Kolton and I getting sick, I don't know if this will EVER end! On the plus side, I cannot get enough of him running around in his little undies. He has NO butt whatsoever so they are always too big for him. Slowly, but surely, I think we will get there. In the meantime, I will just have to keep my mop and carpet cleaner at the ready as well as lots of treats and good potty-time books, tracking charts, stickers and dance music. Here's to mommyhood!!!

This is him eating his potty treat with the gold star on his forehead!

Even Milo got in on it!!

2010-07-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

What a lucky mom I am...

2010-07-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sam has been having a hard time sleeping tonight and Kolton, who is currently sick with strep throat, BTW, came in to me and said, 'Mom, I read Sam 'Jejus' (Jesus) book (it's a children's board book bible we have) and he need bottle" and he handed me a little scoop with some formula in it that he had retrieved from the bathroom counter. After that, he walked right back into their room and back into his bed to sleep. Every day I am completely entranced by my boys and in awe of all I have been given!

My Eternal Family!

2010-07-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

So sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I have been up to my neck in unpacking and I am finding out that it takes FOREVER to do it with a two-year-old!! Finally my upstairs (all the bedrooms and the bathroom) is done and I am taking a break from it all by blogging my guts out!

Let me start with some of my favorite pictures in the world (not of my boys, but of Kolton's blanket) I'd like to introduce you to "Blue One Blanket"- this is Kolton's all time favorite blanket in the world and as such, it is almost impossible to wash it. I am lucky if it gets washed once a week but most of the time it is every other week. So, one day I was on my way downstairs to finish packing our house (BTW- we are in Montpelier, ID now!) and here was Blue One Blanket, standing up on its own!! It looked like it was actually CRAWLING up the stairs!! I am not exaggerating nor did I doctor the pictures- this is actually how I found the blanket!

Now on to more wonderful matters (yes, even more wonderful than blankets that stand on their own if you can imagine) and that is Sam's finalization date! On May 25 at 2:30 we went to the courthouse in front of Judge Wilmore where he declared us to be a 'wonderful family for Sam'! Our adoption of Sam is now final and binding!!! To say that Cori was on my mind that day is a total understatement. To think that she so selflessly gave this incredible gift to us when she got so little in return makes me wonder if I could ever do something so selfless. She is honestly one of the people I look up to most in this world. What an incredible GIFT! I am sorry the picture is so dark, but I can't get a good program to edit my pictures so this will have to do for now.

It makes me feel a tingle in my tummy when I see Sam looking at me in this picture. The judge was totally smitten with him and Kolton. He actually said that we'd better get a picture with him when it was all done!

from left to right: Judge Wilmore, Me and Sam, Wes and Kolton, Charity (our caseworker from LDS Family Services) and Paul, our attorney.

Afterward, my family did a fun play date at McDonalds both as a congratulations party for Sam as well as a 'good luck in Montpelier part' for our family. Kolton had a blast on the play area and was even brave enough to go all the way to the top and slide down!! You can tell by his red cheeks that he was having the time of his life!

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Sam. He was passed around to everyone and adored and kissed. He also got a vanilla ice cream cone all to himself!! My camera ran out of batteries (grrrr) so I couldn't get a picture of his ice cream face, but it was adorable!

And now, one of the greatest experiences of my life: SEALING DAY!! It all happened on May 28th at 7:30pm at the Logan, UT Temple. It was so completely AMAZING to have Kolton and Sam in the Temple with us! It was such a neat experience to teach Kolton all about what a special place the temple is and to read books and sing songs about the temple with him. Sam was an ANGEL (as always, of course!) and during the entire ceremony, he locked eyes with the man doing the sealing and when it was done he looked at Wes and I with a big smile on his face. I knew that his spirit understood what was going on and how important it was for him to be part of an eternal family. I know that angels were present in that room and that the Lord was pleased with us. I also felt so strongly that Cori would be blessed for her sacrifice and that the Lord was pleased with her as well. I can't go into it more because I am blinded by tears already! I left the temple feeling as though no woman in the world could be as happy as I was. To have my two boys and wonderful husband with me all in white- an eternal family- was so overwhelming it was really hard for me to keep my emotions in check. My whole family was able to be there (except my mom, who had to be in St. George to care for my uncle) as well as Wes's family. It is so wonderful to see how much support we have had and how many people love adoption and accept Sam as a natural part of our family. I am thankful we never had to contend with negativity about our adoptions or about Cori from my family. I couldn't be more blessed. And now, the PICTURES!!

Here we are walking out of the temple in our 'whites'. We were allowed to be outside of the temple for 15 minutes after the sealing to take pictures. I know that not all temples allow this, but I am so thankful that the Logan one does!

I don't know why, but I really like this picture- (but I wish Sam was smiling!)

One big happy eternal family!

Sam was so tired and snuggly and I just couldn't give his face enough kisses!

I am hoping that my little sis can do some magic with these pictures, but I think they are pretty magical anyway. What an incredible day!!

Well, that is it for now. I want to give a shout out to c-dawg (cori) and say I am so sorry that I haven't posted about this yet. I hope you know how very loved you are in our house! Kolton even began saying, when asked whose tummy he came from, "Cori's tummy!" To say adoption has changed my life is a huge understatement! I think don't want to do it any other way from now on! The Lord could not be more wonderful to us.

And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to post some pictures of my beautiful Sam. My sister, Britney, took them when we came to stay for a couple of days at my mom's house. She is the one that does MAGIC with photos (that's a plug- she does it for a ridiculously small fee) and I am so thankful for her willingness to edit lots of pics for me and for taking these beautiful pictures of Sam.

Oh yeah, before the edited ones, I have to show what a total and adorable little CHUB he is!!

This is Britney with Sam. What a crazy duo! He adores her!

Could I POSSIBLY have more to write about???

2010-06-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

I hope y'all are patient because I am FINALLY sitting down to attempt to share our lives over the last month or two. So much has happened that I really don't know where to begin- so I will start from the beginning! On May 21st I had to go in to have my gallbladder removed. It was pretty sudden- but I kept thinking I was getting the stomach flu over and over and it ended up being gallstones! Go figure... Anyway, It was pretty uneventful, but, it wouldn't be a story without pics so here you go~

Lovely, eh? These are both pre-surgery, of course. I have a couple of post-surgery pics, but they are scary beyond all reason. I'm not joking.

It was pretty exciting as I have never had surgery, stitches, or anything like that before. It was a few weeks of recovery but well worth the pain! I have not puked in over a month and that is saying something!!

Stay tuned for the most important post---our Finalization and Temple date with Sam!! I would post about it now, but we have a train to catch (seriously, we got free passes to ride the train here!)

A very picturesque post!

2010-04-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be mostly pictures and captions, otherwise it will be three pages long! I wish I was one of those talented moms who can say it all with just one perfect picture, but, alas, I can never chose just one to post! Plus having a birthmommy in the picture who has to miss out on these moments makes me want to post as much detail as I can so that she can feel as though she was there! Do you feel it, Cori?? We went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center on April 10 (I know- a whole week ago, but don't judge me, my sister got married and we put our house on the market last week so I was not online much!). It was our first time going and we will definitely go next year! Kolton had the best time of his life, partially because of all the fun animals and activities, but also because some of his cousins were there with us. It was a dream come true for me to take my kiddos to something like this where they can learn and grow so much. It was a reminder of those days two and a half years ago when I would be invited to go 'even though I didn't have kids' and I would cry and long for a family of my own. My gratitude for Cori grew ten fold that day, which I didn't even think was possible...DO YOU FEEL IT, CORI??? Kay, here I say it will be mostly pictures and there I go blubbering!! Here's the pictures, folks....

I must have a million pictures of Kolton on his daddy's shoulders, but it gets me every time!

This was a rather boring hay ride, but the horses were HUGE so Kolton was in heaven!

Mr. Messy Face McGee

My three bears!! (Get it? I'm Goldilocks!!)

This was a proud moment for me- he was so brave!!

Kolton's favorite part, hands down, was the train ride- he talked about it all night!

Little Sam in his overalls for the occasion. He didn't enjoy the day as much as Kolton, but he was a good sport and smiled a lot anyway

This baby goose was so soft! Kolton just smiled the whole time he held it! On his left is his cousin, Kelsea, and on his right is his cousin, Justin

I think this part was my favorite! This bunny was completely adorable and snuggly and kept giving Kolton kisses. I wanted it so bad (only $10!!) but Wes reminded me that we are probably apartment-bound in the near future...sigh...

Justin was very brave and ate a barbeque flavored cricket- yuck!

Believe it or not, Kolton did this cool rock all by himself! He painted it and etched out a design with a toothpick. What a budding artist!

I just love this picture of him- his little red cheeks and runny nose! What a cutie!

Kolton was less than enthusiastic about petting the calf- but eventually got brave

Kolton playing us a soulful song on the drums...

And Wes and Sam joining in!

It was a terrific day and I was as happy as could be with my little family! Kay, to end this very long post I have to brag a bit...Our dining room table was re-done by your's truly when we moved into this house five years ago. It remained beautiful until Kolton turned 18 months and then the chairs looked like this...

So, I got a wild hair the other night and decided to re-do them AGAIN in a more stain-friendly fabric and ended up with this!!...

I bow, you clap, and we all rest easier knowing that people coming to look at my house won't run away in fear. Whew!!

Belated Easter Greetings!

2010-04-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

I never imagined three years ago that I would be celebrating Easter with TWO amazing children, but there we were on Sunday, baskets in hand, camera at the ready, and more than a few tears in my eyes as I realized how very blessed I am. I love Easter because it is a time of new beginnings and it has always been a time of reflection for me. I think of all the Savior did for us- even for the people who hated him and killed him. He loves us all so much and therefor he gave his life so that we can live with Him again. I don't think it was ever easy for me to imagine the kind of love that took for our Heavenly Father to watch his son go through that. That is, until I watched our boys' birthmother experience a similar sacrifice as she placed not one, but two children in our arms to raise as our own. Her strength has helped me to better understand the Savior's love for me and her trust in us reminds me each day what a blessing it is to be a mother and what a great responsibility I have to do my best in raising them so that I am worth of the heartache she went through. So, Cori, to you I say THANK YOU for what must be the millionth time! I also want to remind you how much you are loved and appreciated. We want so many good things for you!

Okay, so our Easter, aside from being rather cold and rainy, was by far my best EVER! Last year Kolton was not walking yet so this was really his first year of really getting to HUNT eggs and by the time he finished his fourth egg hunt he was a total PRO. And when it came to decorating eggs, he was super careful and knew each color he wanted. We found some cute egg kits with 'Cars' and 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' stickers and he was very specific on which sticker he wanted on each egg. And, as luck would have it, he ended up LOVING to eat the hardboiled eggs the next day!

here is is dyeing a 'lellow' egg

He had so much fun with the egg utensil that he decided to eat his macaroni with it as well!

These stickers remained on him for two days. He was pretty attached!

The final product! I think he did a pretty awesome job!

Sam even got in on the fun!

This was the egg hunt in Richmond. We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow, but nothing was going to stop Kolton from digging through every inch of it to find the eggs and 'canee' (candy)!

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Garners in between sessions of General Conference on Sunday for a yummy lunch and egg hunt! Every year, Grandma gives them seeds to plant a garden and puts them in the eggs instead of candy. It was a nice break from the sugar rush!

Wes entertained us all with a little egg juggling. Kolton tried as well, but I think he may need a bit more practice!

We didn't even have to help Kolton find his special basketball eggs. He knew which ones were his and found all eight of them on his own!

We finished the day off by going to my sister, Cristi's house for the biggest Easter egg hunt this side of the Pecos. She has a half acre of land and lots of trees . This means many great hiding places and a lot of competition between the older kids to find the 'uber egg'. This is a jumbo egg full of money and really good prizes that must be filled and hid by the person who found it the year before. This year my 7 year-old nephew, Caleb, found the uber egg hidden in some crusty old squash in Cristi's garden. I told you the competition was high!

Sam and Alex got caught up on the latest happenings while the other kiddos hunted for eggs

The first thing Kolton found was this carrot egg. He would have been happy with that and nothing else and he still keeps it close to his bed each night. He didn't even care that there was candy inside!

This is a small fraction of all the people there. There are 20 grandkids in our family, not to mention 18 adults!

Sunday night while I was cleaning up and trying to get Kolton down from his sugar high I put on 'Baby Einstein' for Sam and found out just how much he loves it! He talked the whole way through it and cried when it was over. Is this a blessing or curse? Only time will tell...

And finally, I cannot share the stories of the last week without mentioning 'Bear'. Bear is Kolton's new best friend. Kolton includes Bear in all he does; sleeping, eating, getting his diaper changed, and even his artistic pursuits! Here are some pictures to illustrate how super cute this is!

you can't see Bear in this picture, but believe me, he was close by!

Bear's favorite food is Nerds, apparently!

To top off this very long post, Sam is now spending some time in this walker that was given to him by his cousins. The flower part is actually a mirror and I don't think he will ever tire of looking at himself! He is growing so fast and just keeps getting cuter by the second!

Temples and toddlers, porridge and poses

2010-03-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! The perfect weekend! A lot to be thankful for and smile about. I'll let the pics do most of the talking. To start with, my little sister, Keli, went through the temple for the first time on Saturday. That makes her the last out of 8 children to be endowed. It was a really special experience and I am so happy for her!

Keli is the one in the middle with the tan bag next to my dad

The love of my life!

(forgive the underlining right here...can't fix it and don't want to figure out how to)

And this morning Kolton came up to me and handed me the camera, saying, "cute, mom, cute" and, thinking he had taken a picture by himself, I checked the camera and found nothing. I looked down at him to ask him what he wanted and he had struck

...wait for it....

this pose

and he just held it until I took the picture!! I just can't get over it!

Now, even though I am a couple of weeks behind where I started with Kolton, I finally gave Sam his first taste of rice cereal yesterday. Once again, the pictures speak for themselves~

He preferred to use his hands rather than the spoon, but the job got done and he was SATISFIED!!!

And to top off my weekend, Sam now fits into these overalls, which I have had in his drawer since day one in the hopes of this very day!

'I've said it 'afore and I'll say it again' (from the movie Carousel) that I am truly the luckiest mom in the world! At least I feel like it right now...maybe not so much when Sam gets cradle cap or Kolton colors on everything BUT the paper I give him, but for now I am content!

A good Saturday so far!

2010-03-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got Sam into the nursery and out of his cradle. We decided it was finally time when he kept kicking at the foot of the cradle when he got excited. It was hard to see him sleeping in the crib that Wes made for Kolton and to realize how quickly they have both been growing. Sam is already 14lbs!! It took about five minutes for Sam to fall fast asleep in his new bed.

Pics of Kolton's new room are coming when it is a little more finished. We are getting ready to sell the house because Wes is losing his job in a couple of months so I haven't been able to do much other than get things packed up to make the house look bigger and more 'sell-able'. Hopefully I can find time this weekend to finish his blanket and curtains. I hope the rest of my Saturday is as productive as the first part has been!

My incredibly talented sis (again...)

2010-03-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

Well, she's done it again! My sister, Britney, went with us to the Logan temple today to get some family pictures. The grounds were closed *sniff* but we still got some beautiful shots. I realized recently that I have very few pictures of all four of us together and I don't like any of them, so I recruited Britney and her amazing talent at photography to come capture my beautiful family. My boys are seriously the most beautiful children in the world to me (and to everyone else, right?) and my husband just still takes my breath away. I can't help it! I feel like the luckiest girl alive sometimes! So, here are a few of the pictures (she is going to glorify them by editing out the yuckies and smoothing everything out and making colors pop, etc. but I couldn't resist putting some on here anyway!) If anyone would like some great family pictures taken and edited by her, I know she would be very good and very cheap. Her &*#$%@ husband (pardon my French) just left her completely and kicked her out to live with my mom again because he decided he doesn't like the responsibility of marriage and the feeling of being tied down to one woman and she could really use a boost (in self-esteem AND cash) so just contact me and let me know!

This is Britney and I this weekend while we shopped in SLC

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E.... 'nuf said

Oooh, aaaahh....Dance in Smarty Pants!

2010-03-17T15:56:00.001-07:00

Here is just a quick vid of my adorable little Kolton showin' off his smart brains. He blows me away most of the time! He knows that every time we see North Cache middle School that we are close to grandma's and he also knows that when he puts soda on Sponge Bob Square Pants cheeze-it crackers they grow....I just can't keep up sometimes..~

Oh! And happy St. Pattie's Day everyone!! No one in the world is as lucky as I to have such wonderful people in my life.

One crazy week!

2010-03-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

Hello to all! As many of you know, we have had a very insane week around here. I'll start with a part that few of you know about, and that is the new red stain on our bedroom carpet...

No, folks...it's not blood...it's fingernail polish in the beautiful color of 'vampire red'. Kolton got a hold of said fingernail polish using skills hitherto unknown and dutifully poured it all over the carpet and shower and bathroom tile...

Looks like something out of 'psycho' eh?? Anyway, that was how March started out for us... Then Kolton became quite sick and had a very high fever. We took him in last Tuesday and found out that he had brochiolitis as well as a double ear infection. We immediately had him on antibiotics and thought we were out of the woods. Well, Tuesday night as we were all snuggly in bed I heard a small cough come from the foot of the bed where Sam's cradle is. I tried to pretend I didn't hear it until it came again...and again...and again. Knowing that taking him to the doctor just for a cough would be futile we just decided to wait for a couple of days. Well, the cough continued and a runny nose and congestion were added. Every time we decided to take him in he miraculously started improving for those few hours. Finally, Saturday morning he didn't want to eat and I decided that wild horses couldn't keep me away from the instacare clinic. The doctor there did a chest x-ray and found pneumonia. He also tested for RSV and it came back positive. After much hesitation about whether or not to send us to the hospital or home, he decided to send us home. Home heath care people showed up shortly after to set up and show us how to use a suction machine and albuterol nebulizer. I thought, 'surely we can handle this!'-- how wrong I was. I went to my sister, Cristi's house for a scent of the month luncheon (she sells Scentsy) and afterward we sat down to plan my little sister, Keli's, bridal shower. Shortly after getting started, Wes called me and said that Sam's face was turning blue. I rushed home as quick as I could and my sister, Billye was right behind me to pick up Kolton and take him to her house. We rushed to the hospital and as we were driving Sam's color pinked back up, thankfully. Shortly after arriving, Sam was admitted to the hospital. We stayed there until this morning and, after much care and love and praying and blessings, he is finally doing so much better. The nurses at Logan Regional hospital were so attentive and caring. After what has been a very stressful few months, it was actually kind of nice to spend some time up there with my little Sam and enjoy him and not have to worry about anything else. I brought my camera up with me so I could catch some of the memorable moments. Judge if you will, but I think it is good to have pictures of the challenging times, too!

Thankfully he only had to be on oxygen the first and second nights.

Wes and Kolton coming up was so much fun. Sam recognized them both and smiled a bunch!

Here's Sam snuggling down with the bunny his cousin, Alex, gave him as a get-well gift

I love this picture! Sam kept tipping his head back so he could watch the TV overhead.
I can't thank everyone enough for the meals that were brought, the prayers and blessings that were offered, and the visits and phone calls we have received. It is always humbling to experience something like this. It makes me want to be a better person and member of my ward. It also makes me want to be a better mom and friend. Above all, it makes me want to do all I can to let the Lord know how very thankful I am to be a mother and to have two amazing little sons and a wonderful birthmom who's concern for little Sam was as great as mine. I hope this wasn't too lengthy for all of you in blog land! I finally got a new computer and finally have the chance to sit and try it out! I can finally load pictures and it doesn't take two years! I hope all of you had a calmer week than we did, but still got as much out of it!

Musings...

2010-02-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

So, I have realized that just because it is next to impossible to get pictures loaded onto my dinosaur of a computer that doesn't mean I cant check in and tell y'all what my family is up to!

Wes: Yesterday and today the poor man has had the stomach flu and a seriously bad back ache. He is still up to his elbows in projects (though better than up to his armpits!) and can't wait to get to work on making a toddler bed for Kolton. He has been home from work the last two days so the house seems a bit more alive. I love it when he's home. Not just because he helps me with the boys, but because he just helps me to feel a bit less frantic when things get crazy, as they always do around here!

Kolton: He is beside himself with glee at the fact that Wes is home today. He can't stay off his lap or back (see above back injury information and you will see what a patient daddy I have married) and is all smiles. He is such a bright little guy! He can recognize every letter in the alphabet and count to ten. The other day we were walking towards Staples Office Supplies and he was pointing out all the letters to me! I didn't even realize he knew so much! My sister has been a preschool teacher for many years and said that he is above and beyond normal for his age. Indeed, I fear that he is now smarter than me...*sniff*. There is no wall he can't climb, no pet he can't annoy, no drink he can't tip over and onto himself. He has recently started sleeping in a toddler bed and took to it right away, especially because it means he can get out of bed and play when he doesn't want to sleep!! He loves being a big brother to little Sam. As long as he doesn't think anyone is watching, he will reach over and stroke Sam's head or give him a kiss on top of the head. He loves to hold him and help me hold his car seat when we are going somewhere. His favorite phrase lately is 'mom, I helping', whether that means giving me a blanket for sam or putting toilet paper in the toilet and using it to clean the shower. I confess that not a day goes by that I don't get misty eyed and the miracle that he has been to me. His little spirit has healed so much in my life. Anyone who says that adoption is just 'plan B' should be as lucky to have the experiences we have had with the boys' wonderful birthmother. You know who you are and how much you ROCK!

Sam: Sam is just about the cutest baby EVER which has made the fact that he has been a much more challenging newborn than Kolton was easier to deal with! I am actually thankful for this (don't expect me to say that at 2am) because a part of me always wanted to experience the haggard, run-down and exhausted part of mommy-hood and now I finally feel like I can share my experiences with others who have gone through the same. He is finally sleeping nearly through the night and when he wakes will go back to sleep with only a pacifier. This means that it is finally time to move him to a crib! Kolton's birthday is next week and we will be moving him to our spare room downstairs and moving Sam to the nursery. To say that I am anxious about this is a total understatement. Not about Sam so much as Kolton. I will share my experiences here with all of you and would like advice if anyone has some! Anyway, back to Sam! He is becoming quite a smiley baby and starting to chub out a ton! He has finally moved out of newborn clothes (well, they still fit, but I have packed them away, anyway) and into 3-6 month clothes! He is also happiest when he is having his diaper changed. I think he really likes being naked, if you ask me! His little spirit seems to make our family feel complete, like we were waiting for him and never realized it. He seems to radiate love every time he looks at me and he is also a big-time snuggler which I cannot get enough of!

and ME: I, too, had the stomach flu a couple of days ago and thankfully I have recovered. Wes took the day off that day and took care of the boys for me so I could catch up on some much needed sleep! I have been busy sewing and crafting and scrapbooking over the last few weeks which has left my house in shambles. I finally finished my brother's wedding album only to have them give it back to me so I could add their dating and engagement pictures! I am also making a 'cars' quilt and curtains for Kolton's new room as well as some cute picture frames to hold pictures of Wes,Sam, Cori and I so he doesn't feel alone at night. I am also going to put the monitor in my room so I can talk to HIM if he gets scared (I will be able to hear him because his room will be right below us). I have also been on a bit of an organizing trip with our paperwork and my craft rooms and storage. Does anyone else notice that the more you try to clean and organize, the messier your house becomes? Is that just me??

Well, that is a quick update on our little family. As soon as we get our taxes back we are getting a new computer so I will be able to post pictures!! For now, I hope you are okay with the Wal-Mart ones we have of the boys (they are crappy copies, I know, the originals are much better but I wasn't going to spend $200 on a CD!!) . I hope everyone is doing as well as we are!

Welcome to our family, Sam!

2009-11-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

Please forgive the long delay in any news about our little family! To say I have been distracted over the last two months is a total understatement! Last Monday, November 16, our little Samuel Wesley Garner was born. Cori went into labor around 4pm shortly after her weekly doctor appointment. We went to the Hospital around 8pm and she was dilated to a 7 and stayed that way for about 2 hours. Then, suddenly, (without going into the gorey details) within what seemed about a minute, he was here! I couldn't believe it. This little miracle that we have been waiting for for so many months was finally here! Cori and I and even Wes were in tears as they cleaned him up and weighed him (5lbs 12oz) and measured him (18" long). Finally the nurse wrapped him up and put on his little stocking cap and asked to whom she should hand him. It was no question- Cori, of course!! We knew that we would have eternity with him and this was her time to hold him and whisper to him and let him know how much she loved him. We still had a chance to hold him before they were both moved up to the mommy/baby floor, though, and I was so overwhelmed by how tiny he was! Little perfect fingers and toes and, would you believe it? BLONDE hair and tons of it!!! Here are some pics of that moment...

Could the lighting have been better in the room? He looks like an ANGEL! (and he is!)

He was so peaceful when Cori was holding him. He knew who she was right away.

A little silliness before the delivery (And yes, it's a Twilight shirt- I tried to get Edward to be Cori's focus point!!)

The next day I was able to spend a whole six hours with Cori and little Sam while Cori recovered. His hair was just incredible! His little face is so perfect- Cori and I just couldn't kiss it enough!

Cori was able to spend all day Wednesday with little Sam. It was a weird day for me. I missed him so much but I was so grateful that Cori had that time. My sisters truly saved the day! Billye brought a home-made ice cream cake and Cristi brough McDonald's and her little baby, Alex, who is three weeks old so I could have a baby to hold! My family was also available to babysit at a moment's notice whenever I needed them. So here is a shout-out...THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

The next day, Thursday, was placement. With Kolton our placement was a little rushed and a bit hard on us all. It was still full of love and hugs and good tears, but I felt like the time Cori could have spent with Kolton was robbed from her. I was so worried about Cori and cried the whole way home. I didn't know what to expect this time so I just braced myself and made sure that many tissues were present. I was so pleasently surprised that I left the placement feeling so spiritually uplifted and HAPPY for Cori. She has a wonderful life ahead of her and much to look forward to. It goes without saying what a miracle she is to us. I know without a doubt that we were friends in the pre-existence. She means so much to me that I really can't write about it without blubbering, so I will leave it at that. I won't go into detail about the placement much but I will say that, while I did cry copiously, I felt so at peace and I know that peace came from Heavenly Father and was projected through Cori. She was so calm and it gave me strength. I hope that doesn't sound too cheesey, but I know she reads this and I want her to know that. So, here are some placement pictures...

Cori and I- what a pair!! I miss you!

These are actually pictures taken at the Hospital after he was born, but blogger won't let me put them where they belong....sheesh...

This was his very first bottle- he was starving!

This cap was for Cori to take home. It was kind of huge on him!

His poor little sliced feet!! Can you believe how tiny?

Can I say more? You bet I can! But, I am tired and have many more pictures to load and send to people. Thanks so much to everyone who has brought by little gifts and treats and dinners! We live in such a wonderful neighborhood and ward. I have been so overwhelmed with all it takes to care for two little guys but I wouldn't change it for the world. I just need to stop staring at them both and crying or Kolton will think his mommy is nuts! To end, here are two precious pictures. The first is of Kolton holding his little bro for the first time and the second is my favorite picture of him so far!!

What a sweet big brother! He is all ready throwing away diapers and giving Sam kisses. I can't believe how much this all has increased my love for Kolton. Love you, buddy!
Isn't this incredible?! What a face! My sister Billye took this and I couldn't believe what a photogenic little guy he is!!

Lot's of CORNY fun!!

2009-10-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

How much more can I POSSIBLY love corn mazes??? Cori and her daughter, Tieran and I went out for a 'girl's night' during Priesthood session on Saturday. I thought that it 'might' be haunted but was not sure until the CHAINSAW man chased us all over the place and made each and every one of us PEE OUR PANTS. (if you think I am exagerating...think again...) After that, Tieran made it a point to say 'we're pregnant- don't scare us please!' I so needed some girl time and it totally fit the bill. I LOVE these ladies in my life! We have such a fun time chatting at home and I am so glad we had the chance to 'kick it' by ourselves that night. Follow it up with some Stewart's Key Lime soda and the night couldn't have been more delightful!

The moon was full and HAZY! It was completely gorgeous!

How could I pass up a 'put your head in the hole' picture opportunity?

Here's me and my peeps! (oh, and the corn, too)

And here is another picture from the parade... Wes and I paying homage to the lady who made us parents. We love you, Cori!!

It's parade time!

2009-09-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

We got to be in the USU Homecoming parade this last Saturday on the adoption float. It was so much fun to see how much the community supports adoption! The best part was having Cori and Tieran there. My adoption story STARTS with Cori, so I loved introducing her to our 'adoption' friends and showing the community what an awesome birthmom she is!
Here's (L-R) Cori, Tieran, Kolton, Me, Wes on the "Adoption, It's about Love" Float.

What a hot lookin' group!

It was a perfect fall day- which brings me to another topic- is ANYONE more excited for fall than me?? I LOVE it! The colors, the smells, and the temperature! I want to be outside all the time, and yet here I am, in my house while Kolton watches Super Why....It is so time to get these buns shakin' (not jiggling, but shakin'). Here's wishing you happy carving and candy corn dreams!

many many things...

2009-08-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Howdy y'all!! Man! It has been such a crazy summer so far!! Blame it on the heat, Deadliest Catch, Farm Town, or baby mama drama :P but I have had very little time and desire to blog!! So, here are a few highlights from our summer:

To begin with....IT'S A BOY!!!!! Here are the ultra-sound pictures (should they be censored?)

Here is his little foot...How awesome is that?!

We FINALLY got the nursery finished how I've always wanted it!

I got to bake zucchini bread with my nieces
And Kolton got his first-ever corndog...he LOVED it!!

And Kolton started Nursery!! Can you believe it?

It has been an amazing summer so far! We couldn't be more blessed!!!

BAKING SODA ADVENTURES!!!

2009-08-07T12:19:00.001-07:00

Starring: Our New Puppy, Opilio (Opie)

Kolton

A pair of too-big pants on Kolton

Me,

And BAKING SODA...

So, we got new neighbors. They, too have adopted a completely ADORABLE boy (this makes the 6th adoptive family in the neighborhood) and I thought to myself "i should be neighborly and make them some zucchini bread". I began the process and soon realized that I was short one ingredient (enter baking soda). Having already gone into town today, I didn't feel like going to the store, so I went with the stand-by of calling on my neighbors for help. I called JaeLynne--answering machine. I called my neighbor Angie--answering machine. So finally I called my mother to see if she could drop some off on her way into town--answering machine. *sigh* Then, on a sudden inspiration I called my newly married brother-in-law, Randy, who lives two doors down from us. I didn't think about it before because until he got married you couldn't find more than an old shriveled potato there. He was home!! (cue happy music) and he HAD BAKING SODA! So, I decided to multi-task and walk over there with Kolton (enter too-big pants) and Opie, who needed to go out anyway. Without going into long and heinous detail, let me just say that Kolton's pants fell down about 12 times and Opie wrapped himself around either me or Kolton about 5 times on the way there (oh yeah, and Opie pooped twice on the way there, too) We finally arrived, and there was Randy, baking soda in hand. And there was me, a wedding gift for Randy from my mother (I forgot to give it to him two months ago) and Kolton in one hand, and a small cup and Opie in the other. I traded the gift for the baking soda and before I even left, dumped half of it out as I was trying to keep Kolton from jumping off the porch. Then, Kolton disappeared around the side of Randy's house and was attempting to unhook his A/C cable when I caught him. In the meantime, Opie blew some chunks on Randy's driveway and I tried to get him on the grass and simultaneously dumped the rest of the baking soda onto my poor dog. As I went back to Randy's front door and knocked to get a paper towell and MORE baking soda, he got in his truck, ran OVER the puke, and drove away without seeing me! Then my sweet neighbor, Angie, saw me standing dejected on Randy's lawn and yelled out, "do you still need baking soda??" so we went over there and she saved the day by puting the baking soda in a BAGGIE! Why didn't I think of that? While she and her adorable kids were playing with Opie, Kolton AGAIN disappeared! I found him moments later in Angie's pantry, having climbed up on a box and a 12 pack of Mountain Dew and reaching with all his might for a box of crackers. All I'm sayin' is that this had better be some &*%@#* awesome zucchini bread!!
(End Scene)

Where's an ark when you need one?

2009-06-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Long time no blog! Our computer has been 'dangerously low' on disc space on the hard drive which has made it impossible to load photos or for our security to automatically update. Meaning, I couldn't even log in to post anything! *sigh* however, I am finally back on track and have a lot of catching up to do. I am going to start with earlier this month when a really cool thunder storm turned into what Wes and I now call, "THE FLOOD OF '09" I noticed that the roads outside were starting to flood while Kolton and I were on the porch watching the lightning. Wes came home from mutual and started checking our window wells to make sure that we weren't flooding, too. He ran upstairs and said that one of our windows downstairs was flooded half way and leaking down the wall!! I don't know if many of you remember, but we JUST finished our basement in December, so this was pretty serious business! Fortunately, our good neighbor, Dave, brought a pump over and between that and Wes and I hauling buckets of water out of the well, we were able to prevent too much damage. We just had about 5 feet of carpet get soaked. Our neighbors weren't nearly as lucky. Their basement windows shattered from the pressure of the water flooding into them and before long their basement had about a foot or more of muddy water in it! We were able to get enough people over there to help channel the water to a small valley in between our two yards. The same thing happened to Wes's brother, Randy's house, too. In the process, our good neighbor, Dave (the one who helped us earlier) had his foot slashed open by the shattering window in his basement and is now in a post-surgical boot. I just want to say thanks to all of the family and neighbors who helped us with our small ammount of damage and who came through for the rest of the street. It really warmed my heart to see so many people, soaked up to their armpits, scooping up buckets of water and using everything from push brooms to snow shovels to channel the water safely away from the homes. I managed to get a few pictures, even though it was very dark, so here they are!

This is the river between our two yards---anyone have a tube?

If you look close, you can see the wave he is making with the shovel!

This is a small fraction of the help that was there! Five men per window well!

These are my neighbor, Angie's, many books drying in my living room! I think we were able to save most of them, but there were a few sad casualties...

All in all you could say it was an adventure and something our neighborhood will talk about for years!!

My Sister, the Photo Editing GENIUS!!

2009-05-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

My little sis, Britney, just got married last September and in December they found out that her new hubbie had testicular cancer. He is doing really well right now, but they are up to their eyeballs in medical bills! As a way to raise money to help out, she has started editing photos for a VERY small fee! She will even put them on CD and send them to you and you get all the rights to them! I cannot believe how talented she is. So, for her website, www.angeliceyes.webs.com
she wanted to do some pictures of Kolton so that is what we did all morning today. Here are some samples of her amazing work! (she took the pictures and edited them, but you can send her your own pictures and she can edit those, she doesn't have to be the photographer)
I cannot stare at these pictures enough. This little guy is my world! Not to mention the fact that he is incredibly handsome! (I can say that because he doesn't get it from either of us!)
Beautiful work, Sis!!

Trip to the Zoo

2009-04-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late in coming because there has been so much else going on! During Conference weekend we decided to take Kolton to our local "Zoo" for lack of a better word. It is really just a small collection of animals that probably spans about 2 acres, but it doesn't matter because Kole just LOVES any animal! Anything that moves, crawls, bobs, meows, etc. and he just goes nuts. He laughed so hard at everything he saw and he desperately wanted to go catch the ducks (sorry, kiddo- against the rules!) I have been there so many times and it was like going there for the first time because he was just so enthralled with everything! We brought along some sandwiches and treats and Kolton got to have his first ever swing ride! At first he hated it, but then realized it was safe with daddy pushing and he eventually liked it and then cried when it was time to get out! I love experiencing all of these 'firsts' with him- he just lights up every day experiences for me. He seems like he is going to be such an intuitive little guy (he already is!). Now that he is pointing at things he gets so excited when I get it right that he smooshes his face into the tightest grin ever. He is also signing more and more. Now he signs 'more' 'milk' 'food' and 'all done' with every meal. What a smarty! Anyway, the best part of this story is the pictures from the zoo- so here you go!

I love it when he points!

Not likin' the swing so much...

Ah Ha! Much better!
We sure do love him!

Some Awesome News!!

2009-04-22T09:07:00.001-07:00

For those of you who haven't seen my latest widget (the floating baby) and guessed already- we are going to be adopting another baby! The baby is due December 9th and the birthmother asked us just last week. She is completely amazing (for so many reasons I can't count!) and we love her so much. I can't believe how blessed we are. Kolton has been a complete miracle in our lives and it still hasn't totally hit me that the Lord could bless me so much all over again! Speaking of Kolton, he just got an ear infection that spread to his little eye. He is all red and puffy and on some good antibiotics (he would drink the whole bottle of his medicine if he could!) so hopefully we are on the mend. However, he just keeps smiling and laughing and today he figured out how to stand up in his high chair. I was sitting at the table filling out some adoption paperwork and all of a sudden I hear "Ah HA!" and turn around and he has his hands in the air and is standing there in his high chair like he had climbed Everest! He is such a little ham. So, now Wes and I have a little less than 7 months to save up for this awesome little person so we are doing a minor 'fund raiser' (for lack of a better term). We have a blog for it. It is called Aprons For Adoption and we are hocking our cheesey wares. Everything from Wes's beautiful furniture (not our furniture that we have- that would be sad- I mean he can MAKE furniture for you!) to my fun aprons that I sew. So far we have had a pretty good response! Wes is making shutters for a couple of people, a bunk bed, a few gates, and a shelf! I am doing pretty good with my aprons and bags, too. In fact, I will be selling them at Health Days this year, so wish me luck! We knew the moment we found out that we were getting this child that the Lord would make it possible for us if we put in the work and used our talents, and it is really happening for us. I can't imagine feeling more blessed! Hope all is well out there in bloggerland!

2009-04-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

Easter was so much fun! It was so fun to see Kolton actually getting into it this year. We started off by going to my old home town Easter egg hunt. I used to go there every year from the time I was 3 so, naturally, I wanted to take Kolton, too! He didn't like it so much because the ground was wet and he is still crawling to get around. Once he figured out that there was candy inside the eggs, though, he had a lot of fun puting them into the basket and pulling them out again to open them and eat the candy!

I love that there is a 1 year-old category! He is holding an egg here, but it is yellow so it is hard to see

Here we are waiting for the horn to honk (that is how they announce that it is time to start looking!)

After that hunt, we went to the grocery store where they had a fun Easter egg "hunt" where the kids just followed arrows around the store and got treats along the way. Kolton got a balloon, and that was by far the highlight of the day! We went with my sister, Cristi, and her kids. It was so much fun! I also got a picture of Kole with the Easter Bunny, but for some reason it didn't transfer with the rest of my pictures to the computer- I will try to add it later!
On Sunday after church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Garners for dinner and another egg hunt! Grandma made it really cute by letting the kids make their own visor hats and bags. She had fun foam shapes to stick on them. Kolton wasn't into that part of it so much so we don't have a picture, since they all included him screaming. *sigh* but the eggs that she hid all over the yard (different colors for each grandchild) had seeds in them instead of candy so they could plant a garden this year. Then, when each child found all 10 eggs, they got some candy-filled eggs and a gift. Kolton got the CUTEST little shirt that has a cowboy body on it with the head cut off at the neck so Kolton looks like a little cowboy. I must get a picture to post. By the time we got to this hunt, Kolton was a total pro! I added a video so you can see just how amazing his egg-hunting skills are...

After the hunt, Grandpa got out their baby chickens (they are past the yellow fluffy stage, but they are still very cute) and, as usual, Kolton totally flipped over them! He LOVES animals of any variety and gets so excited to see them! He kept saying "oooooooh!" and pointing at them and just laughing as hard as he could! Here are some pics:

After that, we went to my sister's house for the annual egg hunt there. Each family (and there are 8 kids, 7 are married and 5 have kids- 18 grandkids total) must bring 10 eggs per child, but everyone always brings more than that. Cristi has a 1/2 acre back yard so there are many good hiding places. Kolton loved it, as usual, but his favorite part was when Grandpa Francis took him over to see one of the cats that hangs out at my sister's house. Kolton, of course, just about died and laughed so hard while he petted the cat. The cat just let Kolton pull his tail and grab his fur and loved every minute of the attention!

This Easter was the best I have ever had! I can't believe how much I love being a mom. It is better than I ever imagined! I am so thankful for what Easter represents, and for the many loved ones we were able to share it with!

First Steps!

2009-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, our little guy took his first steps yesterday! My little sister, Keli, came over to keep me company while I was down and out with my last set of injections and when Wes got home from work we started trying to coax Kolton to walk to Keli to get her cell phone from her. Well, he didn't even need coaxing! He just took two or three steps and grabbed it from her! We have been trying to teach him to walk for months now and he just hasn't been that into it. That's been okay with me, since he gets into enough trouble just crawling, but it was still so exciting to see him walking like a big boy! You are hearing from one proud mama!

Family Pictures

2009-03-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well, slowly but surely I am back on the blog scene! The last couple of weeks have been super busy and overwhelming, but things are finally starting to quiet down a bit. I don't want to bore y'all with my many woes, but here is the top five list of things that have kept me from blogging:

1: I got cortisone shots in my neck last Thursday and I am going in again this Thursday. Long story short- I have bulging discs in my neck and degenerative disc disease and it is causing a nerve to be pinched that in turn causes my left arm to become a very painful noodle.

2: Kolton has been SO sick, with temps reaching 102.7. Doc says no ear infection, no RSV, just a nasty virus that nothing can fix but 'fluids'- which Kolton doesn't want...

3: Wes and I had the awesome opportunity to teach the Adoption Education classes for LDS Family Services last Wednesday and Friday nights and all day Saturday. A ton of work and a lot of time, but we met awesome couples and we are pulling for them all to be successful in growing their families through the miracle of adoption!

4: My Sign Language classes have been a lot more demanding lately as I have added a few students. I make flashcards for each student and they take a lot of time, but they are so cute and I am rather proud of them.

5: The busier I get, the messier my house becomes. And the more my neck hurts, the harder it is to clean my messy house. So my fifth reason isn't so much that I am busy cleaning, but more that I have a hard time wading through the crap to get to my computer.

Okay, and bonus #6, I have been watching every season of 'Scrubs', which my sister, Cristi, so kindly lent me while I have been down and out- thanks sis!

On a high note- we finally went in to get our family pictures taken and
J C Penny and also Kolton's 1 year pictures. They turned out pretty nice and I want to make one as my title for my blog but it ends up so small- any tips? Anywho- here they are!

Going to see Cori!!

2009-03-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello to all! It has been a while since I posted- man, things have been so busy! We had the amazing opportunity to go out to Vernal this last weekend and see Cori for the first time since Kolton was placed with us over a year ago. Cori is Kolton's birthmom and we can't express enough how much she has meant to our family. When we last saw her a year ago things were pretty crazy, obviously, and I wished that we could have spent more time getting to know her and her family. They live pretty far away (about 4 hours) so it hasn't been possible for us to make it out there until now. When we arrived, we had the chance to meet Cori's mom and daughters; Kennedy (14) and Sasha (2)- We have heard about them and seen pictures, but it was awesome to get to meet them and get to know them a bit more. Kennedy looks so much like her mom and Sasha is a complete angel. She kept giving Kolton hugs and patting him on the back. It almost made me cry to see them having so much fun together- I hope they can see each other more in the future. Here is a quick video of her giving a hug to Kolton:

I took SO many pictures, as usual, so I made a little scrapbook with most of them, but I'll give a quick breakdown of our day with them:

8am: We left home with my sister, Keli, who came along for the trip
10am: Poopy diaper
12:30pm: Arrived at Cori's mom's house- Cori had not arrived yet so we got a chance to visit with her, Kennedy, and Sasha for a bit. Then we left to check into our hotel and wait for Cori to get there.

Kole and Sasha

Wes, Me, Kole, Sasha, and Carol

Kole, Sasha, and Kennedy

2pm: Cori arrived and we spent some time back at her mom's before heading out to the famous Vernal dinosaur museum

5pm: Went to dinner at Wingers- YUM! Cori got to spend a bit more time holding Kolton and playing with him.

7pm: We went swimming at the hotel- there was a jet in the hot tub that was VERY strong and Keli and I had fun being propelled all over the hot tub by it.

9pm: We stayed up and watched movies and ate treats from the vending machine- It was a really great day!

For the rest of the pictures, here is a slide show/scrapbook for y'all! It was a great weekend and it meant so much to us to see Cori and her family and get to know them all a bit more. We love you guys!!!!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KOLTON! (Well, last week)

2009-02-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

**sigh** We had a completely amazing week last week and I couldn't blog any of it because I kept getting kicked out when I would try to publish it! So, finally, it is working again (they assure me) so now I can post about Kolton's 1st birthday! He turned one last Wednesday (Feb 18) and it was kind of a weird day for me. I didn't expect to feel so emotional! Last year when he was born it was a bittersweet day for us. It was so hard to see the trials Kolton's birthmom had to go through and our hearts just ached for her so much while they were also overfilled with excitement and happiness at finally becoming parents. For some reason, all those emotions came flooding back on Wednesday and I just had to have a good cry. (Thanks for being my shoulder to cry on, Wes!). I cannot believe one person can feel so much. I was overwhelmed with gratitude, happiness, sadness, and nostalgia all at the same time. Let it be said that I was SO thankful we decided not to have a family party until Friday when I was much more in a partying mood. However, on Wednesday we still had a blast taking Kolton to the McDonalds play place for the first time (he was too scared to go past the stairs, but it was a start!) and he ate his weight in chicken nuggets. He loved looking at the play place and kept saying 'ooooh!'- here's a video of this cuteness:

And let's not forget the nuggets:

The stairs:

And FINALLY! A picture showing his cute little teeth~

Wes and I had a 'homemade' theme this year and I made Kolton a doggie using the fabric from the first thing Wes and I bought together as a married couple on our wedding day- a pair of flannel pajamas!

Wes made Kolton's day by making him some wooden blocks. I took the liberty of decorating a few (picture to follow- I must have deleted it) - Heaven help me, I just can't stop making stuff!!! I SO need spring to be here! Wes's parents also made Kolton a quilt covered in animals drawn by Eric Carle, whom we adore.

Friday was way more for my benefit than Kolton's, I think! I know he won't remember it, but I got some great pictures for him to look back on. We had a dinosaur theme in honor of Vernal, where he was born, because they have a huge dinosaur museum there. I went a little nuts with gift bags and a pinata, and I even attempted a Stegosaurus cake (thanks for the pattern, Marissa!) but by the time I had baked the cakes, and the sugar cookie spikes, and boiled down my soup for three hours, my kitchen was completely sweltering and the frosting just melted when I tried to put it on- even though I had just taken it out of the fridge! So, lesson learned- decorate the cake the day before or just do it outside! All in all, it was recognizable, but I wasn't a bit sad to cut off the head and give it to Kolton.

These were the table decorations:

...and the cake...

And finally- here is a short video of him eating his cake and some pinata and gift pictures!

It was really a dream come true for me. He is such an incredible little guy and I cannot believe how quickly this first year has gone!

2009-02-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

Well, happy Valentine's Day, all! I love this holiday- it really inspires me to be creatively romantic. I remember this time last year. We were expecting Kolton to arrive any day and we really couldn't think of anything to do- we were so preoccupied with everything. Then, Kolton's birthmom wrote us an e-mail and said that we needed to appreciate the time we have alone NOW because we wouldn't have it next year and we would miss it. Well, here we are, one year later! I DO miss alone time out with Wes once in a while- but I gotta tell you, I am SO excited to spend this first Valentine's Day with our little guy. Yesterday he and I made sour cream sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting--YUM! Well, he did more observing than helping since the first thing he did when my back was turned was stick his little hand in the flour and try to eat it.

But he sure thought they were tasty!

Also, my sister, Billye, received the most adorable apron as a gift from one of her preschool student's moms. I begged her to let me borrow it and figure out how to make one of my own, which she kindly did, and here is what I came up with:

I am kind of an apron addict- I just feel so much more domestic when I am wearing one. Now all I need are pearls and high heels and I can get a whole lot of cleaning done! :) It was a fun and creative sort of day yesterday, to say the least. My sisters came over and we did some scrapbooking and then went to see the late showing of 'Twilight'- which was even better the second time around! Tonight I plan on giving my man the best steak dinner of his life and raspberry chocolate cheesecake for dessert. I hope everyone finds oodles of love this Valentine's Day!

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, KELI!!

2009-02-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

It was my little sister's 18th birthday on the 8th and our family all got together at Firehouse Pizza on Saturday night to surprise her. There were about 35 of us all packed into a room that was made to seat 25. Needless to say, the waiters were less than thrilled! It was a rip-roarin' good time (as it always is when my family is involved) and Kolton had a great time trying different kinds of pizza and drinking some of his daddy's root beer.

Aside from the SERIOUS poop-splosion that occured half way through dinner, we had a really great time. :)

Also, I MUST post this picture of Kolton. He was playing with Wes and they were sticking their tongues out at each other so I was trying to catch the perfect picture- and this is what I got:

In the words of 'Po' from Kung Fu Panda, Skadoosh:

Boring days, haircuts and parties

2009-02-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

So, I finally have a bit more to add to my recently quite boring blog- *sigh* how I long for warm weather! :)
We held the family Superbowl party at our house last Sunday and it turned out to be quite the event! It gave us a chance to show off our new basement (and also to test the wear of our new carpet- check and double check) There were about 20 people in our house at one time with food upstairs and games and football downstairs. My contribution was some ooey gooey caramel popcorn, while my sister brought pizza chip dip and hot wing dip. My sister-in-law did some great potato bite thingies where she coated sliced potatoes with oil and then spooned barbecue sauce over them with green onions and cheese and baked them. It goes without saying that I wore sweats the next day! Here are some of the highlights:

My brother, Jimmy- not likin' the action on the Steelers side

Kolton, as always, the center of the action

I love this picture of Wes- it shows what a multi-talented daddy he is! He wanted Kolton to watch the whole game with him

We played a fun game of 'Hit the Deck' and I lost miserably- we decided to keep score on one of Kolton's {non-poopy} diapers since it would require going all the way upstairs to get scratch paper :) Here is my nephew, Blake, after winning the game:

And it pains me to say that we had to give Kolton a haircut this week. Anyone who sees him regularly knows that he has this great natural mohawk. Seriously, up to this point it has grown long on top and short on the sides so it was a pretty easy style. However, now he is getting this whole new growth of thicker hair and it was making his hair on top go completely crazy and he had constant 'bed head' hair even when we styled it! So, we decided to cut it all to one length and see how it 'grows'. Here is a few before pictures:

This was our last attempt to keep it how it was- we cut it shorter on the sides, but it just went from bad to worse. Pudding bowl, anyone?- (please excuse the stoned 'oompa loompa' look)

Now he has more of a buzz- which makes me want to cry. I am not a fan of buzz cuts because I think it makes kids look like bullies! So, now I have a bully for a son *sniff* and I am just holding on tight to my lunch money from now on...

Pretty shifty, eh?- But heaven help me I just can't get enough of his sweet little cheeks!

Wishing there were more to blog about! :)

2009-02-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Man, I have really slacked (for me) lately with the blogging. January and February are so hum-drum and we spend most of our time inside trying to find creative things to do. We have actually had some fun, but alas my camera has stayed in the diaper bag. I am determined to take some pictures this week so I will have something a bit more entertaining to post. :) Last Saturday we were able to go see my Grandma Francis which was great. I have been to see her several times since Kolton was born, but have not had the chance to take him yet to meet her because he always seems to be sick or teething when I go. Anyway, she finally got to meet my little guy and I really think it made her day to see him! My sister, Cristi took this picture with her camera phone, so it is not the best quality, but I am so thankful to have it- now I have a picture of Kolton with all 4 great grandmas! I think I hear a scrapbook page calling my name...

Fun Quiz (Thanks, Skye!)

2009-01-24T09:09:00.001-08:00

You Belong in 1950

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Family Home Evening

2009-01-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally decided that now that Kolton is starting to recognize things like pictures, etc. that it was a good time to start having Family Home Evening FOR REAL (Not just, 'hey, Dancing With the Stars is on tonight- sounds good for Family Home Evening!') I was pretty excited so I pulled out some old "Friend" magazines and made some little file folder stories about Joseph Smith. It was more fun for me than Kolton, but it still felt good to know I was doing something I SHOULD be doing for a change! Wes was in charge of the song and prayer, I did the lesson, and Kole helped me with the treats (well, he stuck his hand in the frosting and chucked an egg on the floor). It is fun having more than just 'couple home evening'-

Kolton is learning so much so fast and I am worried that I am not taking enough opportunities to teach him. I think I will be trying to keep up with him for the rest of my life! :)

Finally, I am so sick of having such BLURRY pictures because if I put on the flash he blinks and all we see are smiles and closed eyes- I LOVE this picture, but please pardon the blurriness- I just can't help but show off what a handsome little guy he is (as if my genes had anything to do with it! :P)

On a side note, he finally went a whole day without a fever! (Yesterday morning it was 103!) He has an ear infection and he finally cut one of his front teeth (goodbye, dracula fangs) so he has been not too happy for about a week now. Hopefully we are on the road to recovery! :)

**On another side note :) for those of you who were interested in signing up your kiddos for my sign language classes, I am going to the city council planning and zoning meeting tonight to finalize my permit and business liscence and if all goes well (as they assure me it will) I will be starting classes on Feb 5th- Wish me luck!**

Sick Daddy and Baby

2009-01-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, after Kolton woke up this morning with most of his little face, hair, and eyelashes covered in boogers, I have concluded that he is officially sick! He has no fever, is eating fine and sleeping fine, but boy is he cranky! Poor little guy- I am not complaining though because he is a bit more snuggly with me when he is sick. Unfortunately, Wes has been sick, too, so yesterday I got to play nurse all day instead of enjoying my newfound freedom at church (I am sans calling at the moment and it is bliss not having to prepare singing time every week!) It seems like this junk is going around and I can only pray that I don't get it! For now, we can look back on better times last week:

Kolton's favorite mischief spot is now the lid drawer in the kitchen- which is awesome when compared with his previous spot which was the DVD shelf (If I had a dollar for every DVD I put away...)

He got to spend some quality time with his cousin, Katie (age 3) at the Wal-Mart fun center. He really didn't know what to think of his car ride, but he loved pushing the button to make it honk. Thanks for sharing your ride, Katie!

My favorite condiment, "catch-up!"

2009-01-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

That's right, I am going to try to fit the rest of our Holidays in one post, so bear with me!

Okay, Christmas day we woke up around 6:30 to feed Kolton and I heard the familiar sounds of a fire crackling in my parents' fireplace and my mom pacing the floor. I went out to make Kolton a bottle and saw my mom sitting on the fireplace hearth and stuffing the stockings that she had made when I was about 6 years old. She had even stuffed my old one! :) I couldn't stay to chat, however, because it is a strict rule in my parents' house that you DO NOT go to the fireplace until my dad has rung the bells and said 'HO HO HO!, MERRY CHRISTMAS!' This does not happen until he is satisfied with the Christmas carols we have sung while waiting. Finally, around 7, the bells rang and we dashed from our room with Keli (my little sister- well, she's almost 18, but always little to me) at our heels. As is tradition, we knelt around the coffee table in the family room first and said prayer near the fire and then dug into our stockings:

When that was finished, we stowed away our Christmas booty from the stockings and headed into the living room where the tree was and there, waiting for Kolton, was a Curious George stuffed monkey! (My parents' always leave the 'Santa' gift unwrapped under the tree) Kolton crawled right to it with a huge grin on his face!

Then it was on to the present unwrapping FRENZY- Grandma and Grandpa sure had fun spoiling their newest grandson (and so did his mom and dad)!

Now, this might seem like a lot of detail I am giving, but it is important for everyone who reads this to know that Christmas at my parents' house has followed this pattern for as long as I can remember! I was so excited to get to spend what may be my little sister's last Christmas at home with her. She is the youngest out of eight, so it was kind of a bittersweet experience that the bells may have rang for the last time in 2008...*sniff*

And, I MUST include this picture of my dad in his new hat...he has seriously been planning his funeral since he was 40 and we always joke about how extravagant it will be and I told him that this picture is the one we will select to blow up and have positioned near the casket:

Our first family Christmas with Kolton- what BLISS!

Now, onto New Year's Eve (I promise it is not quite as lengthy as Christmas!)- Traditionally, we have a puzzle contest between the men and women. Last year, the men got the easier of the two puzzles that had been purchased for the year and won...this year we switched and, unsurprisingly, the WOMEN won! (Well, there was a slight discrepancy with a missing piece, but I just chalk that up as sabotage from the Men's team)

Left to right: Lauri (niece), Cristi (sis), Keli (sis), Lizzy (niece), Moi, Britney (sis), Wendy (above Britney, sis in-law), my Mom, and Billye (sis)- VICTORIOUS!!

Kolton fell asleep around 10 and when the puzzles were done it was nearly midnight so we hurried up and filled all the fancy glasses with sparkling cider (this is for Cori- we laughed earlier about my family all getting hopped up on sparkling cider!) and counted down with New York City...

It was such a great Holiday season for us. Thanks for bearing with me for the super long posts- I just didn't want to leave out a single detail. Christmas has always meant so much to me and being able to share it with our son was just the cherry on top this year. We can't believe how much we have been blessed! Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is always swingin' at my Parents' house. Everyone came wearing their jammies and ready to munch on Mom's excellent Christmas ham and all the other foods we brought. It was a fabulous spread, if I do say so myself. We did everything buffet style this year and it was oh, so yummy! We started the night out with Kolton's first sledding experience. This video makes me cry with laughter. I swear, he eventually really liked the whole experience, but here he is being pulled by me on the sled on our way to the hill near my parents' house:

When we got back and ate, we started the traditional Christmas Eve happenings with my mom reading the traditional sweet Christmas story to the grand kiddos:

Then my dad played some songs on his accordion. Kay, here is a bit of background- My dad has had this accordion since he was seven years old! That is almost 60 years! Every year since I can remember, my dad has played Christmas songs on his accordion on Christmas Eve. It is the only time of year that he plays it and we always love it! Kolton thought it was really great and really wanted to help Grandpa out.

Mr. Mischief, as I like to call my son on occasions like these, had been trying to get at my mom's carroling statues ever since she put them up. Well, on Christmas Eve he succeeded! He knocked Mr. Carroler man right out of his shiny black boots:

Here is my sister, Keli showing the damage- My kiddo is a sneaky little devil

Stay tuned for more Christmas and New Year adventures!

Uh Oh!

2008-12-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

That's right- Kolton has mastered the art of 'uh oh'. When we purchased the aforementioned ear flap hat he decided he didn't like it on his head whilst in the car so he took it off and held it out to the side of his car seat and dropped it. I looked back at him and he stared right at me and said 'uh oh'! Wes and I were DYING in the car and, of course, made him say it again and again. Unfortunately, Kolton has simultaneously developed a love for dropping things now, whether it is a toy, my camera, or his bowl of cereal...*sigh* but it doesn't stop it from being adorable! Here is some rare footage of this phenomena:

More Christmas, Please!

2008-12-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

Three days before Christmas we had the joy of attending Wes's family Christmas party. His mom put in so much work and we had a great time. The grandchildren put on a Nativity which was FABULOUS! My personal favorite part (besides Kolton and Wes as wise men) was when the angel (my niece, Ali) tried to steal the manger and baby Jesus from Mary (my niece, Cora) and Joseph (my nephew, Kaden) which resulted in many tears from poor Ali when she was dragged bodily from the stable scene. Wes was a real trooper and put on my hot pink bath robe, which is the only one we own. Kolton looked so cute in his white little hoodie, although I must admit it was a bit on the Obi Wan Kenobi side of things!

Here he is chewing on the shepherd's crook

Cute Mary and Joseph!

My favorite wise men with their gift of gold~

That night, after much partying, we decided to 'Christen' our new basement by having a slumber party on the floor! We had not seen the Polar Express yet (and, I have to admit, I could have waited longer to watch it- I thought it was a little like the dreams I have after eating way to much chocolate) so we borrowed it from Larry and Jae and set up some blankets and pillows on the floor. Kolton was OUT after about 15 minutes (his bedtime is seriously 7pm until 7am- I hope it lasts!) and when the movie was over Wes and I watched an episode of Man vs. Wild (our new favorite Discovery Channel show) and then crashed. It was fun to have Kolton in between us since he usually won't sleep anywhere but his crib and even though we were kicked and clawed throughout the night, it was all worth it to wake up and see Kolton's AMAZING bed head!

WOWZA!

The Twelve Blogs of Christmas...

2008-12-30T10:58:00.000-08:00

**Sigh** Have you ever been so behind in your blogging that you keep putting it off, thinking you will get to it when you have time, and in the meantime you keep taking pictures and making memories that you can't wait to share?...Well, though I know it has only been two weeks, I feel like I have SO MUCH to blog about, so rather than putting it off even more, I have decided that I will TRY to post a little each day until I am caught up. So, here goes...

Kolton got to have his first experience in the snow! We got completely DUMPED on shortly after my last entry. Wes brought Kole in his very own snowball to try- and Kolton found it rather satisfying...

Wes's grandma Jan sent us some money to get Kolton a gift from her so we decided it would be fun to get him one of those adorable hats with the ear flaps to go with his brand new coat that my mom had bought for him. You can tell from the pictures that he was none too thrilled with being outside up to his little armpitties in the white stuff, but it was still too cute to not get a few pictures (by the way, these pictures are sans ear flap hat- this is the hat that came with the coat)...

It was a great way to kick off our family Christmas- especially since hot chocolate was involved afterward! :)

Christmas Happenings

2008-12-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

We had such a great weekend in Lehi with my family. We left on Friday night and went to Temple Square to see the lights and, of course, Kolton went nuts! He has always loved lights whether they are on the ceiling or on a tree. The weather was so nice. It was chilly, but there was no wind and it wasn't biting cold like it usually is when we go. It was especially wonderful to be able to share it with Kolton. Wes and I try to go every year no matter what, and every year so far we have talked about how great it would be to share it with our children. This year we got our wish along with many others! After spending some time at temple square we went to Lehi to visit my Brother, Russell's family for our family Christmas party. We had a white elephant gift exchange and Kolton got a jump rope and Wes got motor oil. :P We stayed up until 3am playing Rock Band and then got up on Saturday and headed for IKEA. We got my favorite lunch there: Swedish Meatballs! Also, to top it off, they were doing free pictures with Santa. Kolton is still too young to be scared of him, so he just kind of looked confused. He was a great santa and thought Kolton was pretty cute and he sat and talked to him for a while trying to make him smile. I will post my picture once I figure out how to operate my scanner. We drove home in a snow storm and made it home in time to make hot cocoa and watch a movie. It was bliss! I am going to post a scrapbook from smilebox, but I will also just post some pictures for those of you without high speed internet (trust me- I have been there!) All in all, my face hurts from smiling so much and my throat hurts from laughing so hard. I have such a great family and we love being together. I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season so far!

Here is Kole with his jump rope..mostly he just ate it

Kole and his daddy

Our little family in front of the nativity

One of my all time favorite pictures of Kolton- what a grin!

Kolton's favorite thing now is saltines

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

From Kolton

2008-12-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

Kolton was DYING to get his hands on the keyboard, so I let him type his own entry:

jthn . yr y,050ulg,bx. ggh cyu k -, jfv0gf8558hbrhil mrcz m94wj ju i ,

Translation: So, things are going pretty well here. I have diarrhea and a runny nose and new carpet in the basement to crawl around on. Things could be worse. Love, Kolton

Have a good laugh!

2008-12-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

So, I thought I would give y'all a little Christmas cheer. Please listen all the way to the end because that is my favorite part! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you
O Holy Night...

Bath Video

2008-12-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

On the Move...

2008-12-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

Oh my! I never could have imagined how busy a 9 month old could make me! I basically devote about 10 hours a day to just following him around and saying 'hot, Kolton!' or 'pet Milo soft, Kolton' or 'uck! No no!' as he attempts to eat Milo's cat food (which looks like cereal, so who could blame him?!) Aside from that- I really just love the excuse to watch him as he discovers and learns. He will focus on one thing for about a minute and then he moves on to something else. When he is really proud of himself (like right now he is playing the piano) he will scream (yes, like a girl- but give him time!) because he wants me to see. At the end of the piano video he shows how he waves bye bye. And his bath time is such a hoot. I end up way more wet than he does and I actually was able to catch him on video this time because Wes was home (don't worry, folks- it's a pg video. Just a bit o' crack showin') So, here is my busy little guy: (By the way- the bath video is having some stress, so it will be posted shortly)

Contented Sigh

2008-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

There are some pictures I could look at for hours...This is one of them!

On our way to Christmas...

2008-11-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was such a fun day. We went to my parents' house where my whole family was (All 35 of us!) and though we filled the entire house, we had such a great time catching up with everyone and eating our guts out! It was Kolton's first ever experience of feeding himself (besides biter biscuits and cheerios) so we naturally stripped him down and let him have at it. He did really well and got quite messy but had the time of his life! He especially loved my sister, Cristi's sweet potatoes!

On Friday, after a crazy day of early-morning shopping (meaning 3am-2pm) and many great deals, which I can't disclose lest Wes reads this blog, we went looking for our Christmas tree. This is a tradition we have had since we were married. We always go to Idaho with Wes's family and chop down our own tree. The trees are generally pretty scrawny, but that is what we love! Kolton had a great time, even though it was pretty cold, and he thought the snow was pretty great. His daddy even let him 'drive' the suburban (parked and not running, of course!) We got home last night and set it up and then decorated it today. Here are some of the photographic highlights courtesy of www.scrapblog.com!

HAPPY T-DAY, EVERYONE!

2008-11-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

I just want to say that I am so thankful for everyone who has touched my life this year- which includes all of you and so many more. I could not be more thankful for our beautiful son, Kolton. He lights up my life with his smile and giggle and each day he reminds me why I have wanted to be a mother for so long. I have no doubt in my mind that amazing things are destined for him. I am equally so incredibly blessed to have Kolton's birth mom, Cori, in our lives. Can you think of anything more selfless, more loving, or more giving, than to say to yourself "I know this child needs more than what I can give right now- and I trust you to take him and raise him" I cannot think about Cori without feeling my heart ready to burst with gratitude and I know that so many great blessings are in store for her. (Cori- we love you so much!!) I am also so very thankful for my fantastic hubby, Wes. He is above and beyond the best dad in the world to Kolton. He lights up the house when he comes home from work, and he works so hard to keep us above water and to make our lives as great as they are. He is an amazing priesthood holder and member of the church and I am so proud to have him as my eternal companion. Above all, I am thankful for my Savior and for the fact that he loves me enough to give me all I ask for (even if it's not on my schedule) and that he wants what is best for each of us and is there when we need him. I hope you all have as much to be thankful for as I do this year. We get to go to my Mom's house this year for Thanksgiving dinner- so I am planning on rolling my way clear into the new year! Blessed be the name of left-overs! Love you all!

Feelin' Crafty!

2008-11-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

Ahh- I LOVE the holidays!! It totally brings out the crafter in me. This year, I am sort of all about the paper crafts since Stampin' Up! has some really cute Christmas paper. Last year was more of a sewing year, and the year before that it was cross stitch. I still plan on sewing some Christmas jammies and blankets for Kolton, though. I guess eight years of being childless has really taught me a lot about how to pass the time (like I even HAVE any now!)- but I confess I am addicted and plan to hold on to the crafty side of me (whom I like to call "Craftitha") for as long as I can. Here are some of my latest projects:

(This one is actually a wall hanging, the ones above it are just cards)
I want to see what everyone else is doing! Happy crafting, all!

Our little boy is growin'!

2008-11-21T17:44:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday we were able to take Kole to his 9 month appointment. We were excited to hear that we didn't need immunizations this time, and then they dropped the flu shot bomb..*sigh*. They also had to test him for iron by slicing his foot. It was pretty funny because when the medical assistant poked him he just looked at her for a few seconds and then did his little giggle. Anyone who has been around him knows the giggle. It's kind of a little 'huh huh huh' (a bit like Beavis and Butthead, actually--uh--not that I would know....) So, here are his stats:
Weight: 20.3 lbs (46th percentile)
Height: 29" (74th percentile)
Head: I can't remember the inches but it is in the 65th percentile)
Dr. Carlson was really impressed with him and thinks he will probably be walking before he is a year old because he holds himself up so well! We shall see.
When Kolton was born he received this cute little teddy bear from the hospital. He has one and so does his birthmommy. Here are a couple of pictures to show how much he has grown. Isn't he just amazing? You are looking at one proud mommy, here!

Here he is- one day old with both bears

Here he is in March

July

This one was yesterday (please excuse the orange mouth- he loves his carrots)
I am still so in awe with what a miracle and blessing he is. He makes me smile so much every day and he totally brings out the goof in both of us (as if we needed more of that!)
Happy 9 months, kiddo!

We Be Jammin'

2008-11-16T15:39:00.000-08:00

So, I came across this awesome deal at the grocery store the other day- a whole CASE of strawberries for only 5.99! I couldn't resist so I picked up the case so Wes and I could make some jam. When we lived in Oregon, we used to go outside and pick blackberries all the time so we could make jam (they grow wild everywhere up there). We miss doing that- so it was a fun way to spend our weekend! We made three batches of jam to give out for Christmas this year and I must say, it is quite fabulous! So, I have decided to show y'all how I make it, just in case you want to jump on our jam-wagon. :)

First, you need 5 cups of strawberries with the stems and any gross pieces cut out. Quarter them and mash them with a potato masher, like so:

To prepare your jars (one batch fills about 9 8oz jars) I just wash them in the dishwasher with the rings and leave the dishwasher closed until just before I need them, so they stay warm and don't crack when you add the hot jam. I take the tops with the seal (don't re-use old ones, the seal isn't as good) and pour boiling water on them in a separate dish to get the seal all gooied up so it holds to the jar better when I tighten the lid.
Now, dump your berries in a large pot (we bought a large stainless steel pot just for doing jam years ago and it is one of the best things we have ever purchased, FYI). Add one package of 'Sure Jell' (in picture above) and stir over high heat until it comes to a rolling boil (meaning it is still boiling even when you are stirring) . Once at a rolling boil, add 7 (yes, 7) cups of sugar slowly to the pot while stirring. I usually pre-measure the sugar and have it nearby. You can also add a 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine which helps it to foam less. Continue stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a rolling boil again and then let it boil for exactly one minute. Then, turn the heat off and begin ladling your jam into your still-warm jars. Usually we do it assemby-line style where Wes ladles the jam into a jar that I am holding while I take the 'seal' lid and place it inside a ring. When the jar is full (around 1/8 inch from the top- our first batch of jars weren't as full as they needed to be) place the ring and the lid on the jar and tighten it. Make sure you are holding the jar with a dish towel because it is quite hot!
Now, here is what other jam recipes won't tell you- you don't need a canning machine to do this! After I have tightened the lid on the jar, I place it on a dish towel upside-down like so:

After 10 minutes, if you turn the jars right-side-up the heat from inside the jar will pull the seal down and seal the jar completely for you! You know it is sealed when the little bubble on top is flat and doesn't pop back up. Once it is sealed, it can last for up to one year and when it is opened, up to three weeks!

I hope you guys get a chance to try this out! It is really pretty quick to do and it is so cheap and yummy. In the sure-jell package there are directions for all types of jams- so go wild! Kolton wheeled around the kitchen and got into the drawers while we were making it and we lit a Christmas candle and the house smelled like heaven. I love the holidays!

Happy Birthday, Wes!

2008-11-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, so his birthday was on Monday, but you can't expect me to post the pictures THAT fast, can you?! My husband is the only man in the world who says "I want to sheet rock the basement for my birthday". *sigh* So, I called in the cavalry (meaning my brother, two brothers-in-law, and my dad) and they all worked on getting our downstairs family room done. I can't believe how much they accomplished! Now it's up to me to mud and tape-- ahhh, the gift that keeps on giving- that's what I'm all about! :)

This is my dad and my brother Larry- both a bit high on sheet rock dust...and my bro-in-law, Scott- not putting up with their crap :)

Obviously it was a bit dusty to take a picture- but you get the idea...Wes and my bro-in-law Jim at the end of the night- lookin' good!
The birthday boy- 31 and counting- what a hottie!

So, to add to our great week, Wes's sister and my brother (who are married) celebrated the arrival of their newest baby, Madison! She is number four and has two brothers, Kaden and Zach, and a sister, Ali. I am so excited for their family! She is very adorable and so tiny! I can't believe Kolton was actually smaller than that when he was born. So, here are some pictures of the little cutie pie:

Here is her mommy, Jae Lynne (she'll kill me for posting it- but I think it's adorable!)

Here I am- the proud aunt! Isn't she completely precious?!

All in all- we have had a super duper five days and we look forward to Anniversary #9 tomorrow! Yes, November is a crazy month for us- but what better time to be thankful, right?! :)

Our silly little guy

2008-11-07T21:06:00.001-08:00

Well, Kolton is getting into more and more trouble. He is starting to tip over the garbage can and open cabinet doors- time to pull out all the safety gear! Milo also makes a rare appearance in this video as do my pumpkin jammies!

And he is also starting to stick out his tongue!

My Husband is a Genius!

2008-11-06T09:17:00.001-08:00

So, in the past I have discussed this gate that Wes made for Kolton (Well, he made it so that Kolton cannot plummet to his death down the stairs, anyway) I am so proud of him! I just kind of tell him what I want and he just pulls it out of nowhere and makes it even better than I had imagined! For my birthday and anniversary he is making me an entertainment center and I am so excited to get rid of our newly-wed cheap-o Walmart special TV cart! My parents think he should sell these gates- what do you all think?!

And here is Kolton helping daddy with the entertainment center:

A very happy Halloween

2008-11-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am- finally getting to our Halloween post! It was a pretty busy weekend and to top it off, I got pretty sick on Sunday- some unknown achy creepy bug that knocked me on my butt for most of the day, but I am feeling better today, so, hooray! To sum up our Halloween, it was a dream come true for me! Every year since I have been married (and that would be almost nine years) I make Wes dress up with me and we always have a fun time passing out candy and going to every party we are invited to. Every year I have had fun but I have also had that sadness of, 'why can't I have a little family to share this with? This would be so much better with children of our own.' Well, this year my wish came true! Kolton is such an incredible little guy and I can just sit there and watch him play and learn for HOURS before I realize I should probably get something done around my house! It is my birthday today, and for the first time in a very long time I can't think of something to wish for when I blow out the candles because I have it all with me right now! Anyway- I am a bit sentimental today- maybe it is because I am on my last lap in my twenties! But, our Halloween (back on topic) started out with us heading up to Grandma and Grandpa's house (on Wes's side) and getting some treats and lots of cute pictures there. Then we came home and passed out candy to the cute kids from our neighborhood. At around 7:15 some of my nieces and nephews came over and I went with them and Kolton to do a bit of trick-or-treating. We had sloppy joes and hot cider at our house for everyone and then we went to my sister's house to watch Indiana Jones. It was a really fun day and, of course, I had to do a smilebox about it- so enjoy!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

CALLING ALL (LITTLE) SIGNERS!

2008-10-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go! I have decided to start sign-language classes in January. We will have our basement finished by then and I will actually have some space! I am going to do a class for Kindergarten-2nd grade and a class for 3rd-5th grade (if anyone has older children that are interested I can see if I can get enough to do another class). They will be on Wednesdays with the younger class from 6-6:45 and the older class from 7-7:45. (Do you think that is too late? I have been poking other moms for info and that seemed to be a good time for them- but there is no reason I can't move it up) The classes will start January 7th and will run for four months (until May-ish) and will be $30 a month and that will include a t-shirt will their names in asl lettering and a fun recital at the end. I am mostly responding to several people who have been requesting me to do this for years, but I finally have the space and ability to get it going! The class size will be limited to 6 per each age so if you are interested either respond to this post and I will drop off a form at your house or give me a call (most of you have my number, if not, let me know and I will call you!). I think it will be a lot of fun and I have been wanting to do it for a long time. So let me know if you are interested! Thanks!

A Super Duper Weekend

2008-10-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend and I got a lot of fun pictures and more to share with y'all! On Saturday we started the day by being in the USU Homecoming parade for 'Families Supporting Adoption' and it was so much fun to see how much adoption is supported by the community and to get to show off little Kolton in his "boo" hat. He had so much fun and he was screaming (happily) and jumping up and down. I got a short video of it (sorry, it is sideways- I thought I fixed it but I guess it didn't work)

And here is a picture of the three of us on the FSA float:

After the parade, we moved it along to the local pumpkin walk where people from the community all pitch in and carve whole scenes out of pumpkins. This years theme was 'Calling all Heroes' and there were a lot of fun scenes. My favorite was about doctors and it had a 'woman' with a pumpkin head and she was bent over and had the pumpkin guts coming out of her mouth like she was throwing up. I thought it was a hoot! Wes's favorite was a fountain made out of nothing but pumpkins. It was pretty amazing to see how much work went into it. After we were done with the walk we stopped at some 'put-your-face-in-the-hole' works of art and got a few silly pictures of all of us. It was pretty darn funny!

On Sunday after dinner at my parents' house and a game of Settlers of Zarahemla at my sister's house we came home and carved our pumpkins. Kolton actually painted his pumpkin (well, painting is a relative term- he mostly tried to eat it!) and did a very cute job. We made hot cocoa and had some good friends bring us over some AMAZING sugar cookies to go with it! (Thanks, Marissa and Alex!) It was a very superb weekend!

WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A FABULOUS AND SAFE HALLOWEEN! WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AT OUR HOUSE!! :)

Ohh...goody! Carlisle reminds me of Wes...sigh

2008-10-26T15:48:00.002-07:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

2008-10-26T15:48:00.001-07:00

2008-10-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we went, we saw, and we have returned! Our trip started last Thursday and we left at 4am and drove the 6 hours to St. George where my Grandma lives and we visited with her and my mom (she was already down there visiting) and then went to see my Aunt Anne and Uncle Billy, who have not seen Kolton yet. They thought he was the bee's knees, of course and Kolton thought the same of their enormous Great Dane, Zeek!

We left St. George and headed for Mesquite, where we were staying and then took advantage of the bowling alley and swimming pool there. The weather was PERFECT! It stayed around 80 degrees the whole time we were there! The next day, we all woke up at 5 (we went to bed around 8pm the night before because we were so tired!) and were out the door and heading to Vegas by 7am. We got there and headed straight to the Excalibur where they have a super breakfast buffet and ate our way through several plates of chicken-fried steak, crepes, pastries, bacon, etc.! Feeling very full, we headed out across the street to the New York New York Hotel and on through the MGM Grand where we shopped at the Rainforest Cafe. Kolton loved looking at the Jungle ceiling and seeing all the moving animals. Then we headed over to M&M world where I got Kolton the cutest plate and bowl set and we watched the 3-D movie, "I Lost My 'M' in Vegas" which Kolton slept through! We got some cute pictures before he zonked, though.

Then we went next door to Coke world where my sisters, Cristi and Keli, and my nephew, Johnny and I ordered the "world tour" of Coke products and got to try some pretty interesting things! There were 16 different drinks from all over the world and the winner for the most disgusting was "The Beverly", a clear carbonated drink from Italy that went down like sugar water and suddenly turned into rubbing alcohol in your mouth (that's what it tasted like, anyway!). I payed Keli $5 to finish it off, which she did, and for the rest of the trip, we called her Beverly. Most of the other drinks were really good, with a few unpleasant surprises in there. It was definitely a good way to quench our thirst and have a good time, all for the low low price of $7!

To end the day, we went to Circus Circus and won some stuffed animals at the Midway games and then we went back to our hotel in time for the Virgin River's famous seafood buffet! I am not a seafood person myself, but I am told the crab legs were marvelous. The next day, we headed for home, only to have my sister, Cristi, get very sick in St. George and have to go to the emergency room! She was actually booked for surgery that night at 1am but the Doc told her just to stay in town and let her pain meds wear off to see if she needed to come in or not. Luckily, she decided she was able to make it back home so we headed back and actually got home last night. It was a weird end to our vacation, but it definitely made it memorable!
All in all, it was a whirlwind but it was a ton of fun and I was so excited to get to share it with my little guy. He was an angel through the whole trip, keeping us all entertained with his growling and laughing, and having one 'poop-splosion' after another. I am so blessed! Hope you all are well!
Much love,
Tabitha
ps- here is my favorite picture of Kole from the trip- don't you just want to kiss him?!

We're Goin' to Vegas

2008-10-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right! My sister, Cristi and her son, Johnny, my sister Keli, and Kolton and I are all heading SOUTH tomorrow! We decided to take a last minute trip to St. George to see some relatives and it turned into a weekend extravaganza (thanks for the word, Tiffany!) wherein we will spend a day in Vegas. I am pretty excited to get down there while the weather is a bit more mild and Kolton can't be influenced by what is lying around on the sidewalks (yeesh) but I know he will love the bright lights and water shows, etc. I wish Wes was coming, but he took all his vacation time when Kolton was born and when we went to Bear Lake in August, so it is just a mother-son-sister trip instead! We will be back on Saturday night and I am sure I will have many fun pictures to share! In the meantime, I have completely fallen in love with www.yearbookyourself.com and couldn't help but see how Kolton would have looked as a man in 1964. After I got this picture finished, my computer wouldn't let me load another one so, for now, her is Kolton aka Geeky Magee!...

Hooray for Free Things!!

2008-10-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

I was shopping at the mall yesterday with my sister, Keli (she is having her Senior pictures taken tomorrow) when this girl came up to me and said that they were really slow at their portrait studio (Kiddie Kandids) and would I mind coming in for a couple of shots of Kolton for practice for them!?! I got a FREE 5x7 out of the deal and, well, see for yourself- could a baby be any CUTER?!! He happened to be in his little Halloween shirt and everything. *sigh* good things happen to those who dress their children, I guess (and trust me- he ALMOST went to the mall in his jammies- but they are Halloween jammies, so I guess that would have been okay, too! LOL!!) Also, we want to give a shout-out to the best birthmom in the world- WE LOVE YOU CORI AND THANKS FOR THE PICTURES AND LETTER!!!! :)

Kolton's First Haircut!

2008-10-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally happened! I won over Wes and Kolton did not get a buzz for which I am grateful, but we shortened the sides and trimmed the top so it is a bit more manage-able! Kole just wanted to wiggle and see what was going on so it was really hard to give him his hair cut without injuring him! We also had our semi-annual general conference waffle breakfast with my family last weekend, and, as usual, Wes knocked all our socks off with his amazing waffle skills.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It is so beautiful outside!!

2008-10-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Knowing that a big storm is coming in this weekend really prompted me to get our behinds outside for a few fall pictures. The leaves were completely amazing and Kolton had so much fun trying to eat the leaves and stomping around in his new tennis shoes while Wes held him. He LOVES being outside and I can't wait to see how he reacts to the snow when it comes! This is hands-down my favorite time of the year and it is so much better having such an incredible little guy to share it with!

On the mend

2008-10-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well, three days later he seems to be doing better, thankfully! He LOVES the pink amoxicillin (however you spell that) so he is definitely doing better. I don't know if it is because he is sick, because he did this last time he was sick, but he is on this 'growling' kick and I got a short video of it. I think it's pretty darn cute and he waves 'bye bye' at the end! (sorry it's a bit dark) Enjoy!

It's official- Kolton is sick, sick, sick

2008-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Poor guy! We went to the instacare clinic yesterday because Kolton woke up Sunday morning around 3am with a barking type of cough and he was holding his ear. The Doc said that he has an ear infection in both ears and the croup. :( So now he is on antibiotics for his ears and they gave him some steroids for his lungs to open them up. He did better last night but he is still pretty miserable today. I felt kind of bad taking his picture when he was so sad, but, I think it makes a good memory- his first real sickness. We have been so blessed with as tiny as he was at first that this is the first time he has been sick, so I guess it is kind of a big occasion. So- here is some pictures of him with the cotton in his ears.

He's almost crawling!

2008-09-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

We are a Happy Family!

The Polka Dot Apron: Thread Catcher Tutorial

Miracles.

Brian Regan - Hospital

Britney

Britney gets out of the ICU!

Britney

Oh, my creative boy...

Sam's First Haircut *sigh*

Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday, Kolton!!

YOWZA!!!

Please forgive me!!

A perfect afternoon

Note to self...

Let's talk turkey...I mean chicken...

I { lightning bolt } Potty Training!!

What a lucky mom I am...

My Eternal Family!

Could I POSSIBLY have more to write about???

A very picturesque post!

Belated Easter Greetings!

Temples and toddlers, porridge and poses

A good Saturday so far!

My incredibly talented sis (again...)

Oooh, aaaahh....Dance in Smarty Pants!

One crazy week!

Musings...

Welcome to our family, Sam!

Lot's of CORNY fun!!

It's parade time!

many many things...

BAKING SODA ADVENTURES!!!

Where's an ark when you need one?

My Sister, the Photo Editing GENIUS!!

Trip to the Zoo

Some Awesome News!!

First Steps!

Family Pictures

Going to see Cori!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KOLTON! (Well, last week)

{{LOVE}}

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, KELI!!

Boring days, haircuts and parties

Wishing there were more to blog about! :)

Fun Quiz (Thanks, Skye!)

Family Home Evening

Sick Daddy and Baby

My favorite condiment, "catch-up!"

Christmas Eve

Uh Oh!

More Christmas, Please!

The Twelve Blogs of Christmas...

Christmas Happenings

From Kolton

Have a good laugh!

Bath Video

On the Move...

***Contented Sigh***

On our way to Christmas...

HAPPY T-DAY, EVERYONE!

Feelin' Crafty!

Our little boy is growin'!

We Be Jammin'

Happy Birthday, Wes!

Our silly little guy

My Husband is a Genius!

A very happy Halloween

CALLING ALL (LITTLE) SIGNERS!

A Super Duper Weekend

Ohh...goody! Carlisle reminds me of Wes...*sigh*

We're Goin' to Vegas

Hooray for Free Things!!

Kolton's First Haircut!

It is so beautiful outside!!

On the mend

It's official- Kolton is sick, sick, sick

He's almost crawling!

Sam's First Haircut sigh

Contented Sigh

Ohh...goody! Carlisle reminds me of Wes...sigh