Day Six and Seven

Day Six- I am grateful for the simple things. Brody and I were both sick yesterday and we just stayed home and had a simple day. I am so glad that I am able to have so much fun just reading books, playing games and taking Brody on walks. He is such a great kid!

Day Seven- Today Brody and I went to the Zoo with my sister Micaela. It was a lot of fun! The weather was not too bad and we just had a great time talking. I am so grateful for where I live and the fun activities that we have in this area. Although it may be warm, no actually hot, most of the year it is fun once the weather cools off to go and have fun!

Utah Trip

Our drive up to Utah was quite entertaining! It was fun because we had some of my family driving up with us.

 Brodys happy face on the trip. Just kidding, he was actually really good in the car.

We love this little restaurant in Panguitch, called Henrie's. We all stopped and ate there. They have a cute picnic area that we let the kids run around in while we were eating.

 Brody wanted to take a turn driving on the way up.

My cousin Molly was a champ and rode in the back with Brody most of the way up. I felt bad for her when Brody would get upset. But she said she had a great time and wanted to drive places with us again. It was so sweet of her.  

 

We had such a great time in Utah. Brody and I got sick, yet it was still a blast! :) It is always so much fun to spend time with the family and see Brody interact with his cousins. He was a little crazy from being sick, but they are just so fun together.

Day 3, 4 and 5

I am starting to think that maybe I should have done weekly posts instead of trying to do daily posts! I stink at remembering to update this! 

Day Three- When I was little there were many different things that I always said I wanted to be when I grew up. At first it was a "hairstyle," not a hair stylist but a hair style, later I wanted to do something in Fashion or a Doctor. But one thing that I knew that I always wanted to be was a mother. Not a working mother but one that was able to stay at home, raise my children, be involved, and attend all their activities. I knew that in this day in age that it is not common for moms to stay at home, but it has always been important to me. I am just so grateful that I married the man that I did and that he works hard so that I am able to stay at home and raise Brody. I always imagined being a stay at home mom as fun, but little did I know how amazing it would be! I  love it! I love spending everyday with my little boy. Being able to think of fun activities to do with him and to be able to see his smile all day. I am so lucky! Being a stay at home mom is a definite blessing and treasure in my life! :)

Day Four- I am grateful for my calling in my ward. I am the Primary Secretary and love it. I love being involved in the Primary with all the sweet little kids. They are so much fun and have such sweet Spirits. On Sunday we didn't have a chorister so I had to sub and it was so cute to see all the little kids seeing the songs with their faces glowing. I love that our church has the Primary and that my kids will be in it one day.

Day Five- Today we went to Brody's doctors 18 month check up. He seemed perfectly normal and happy but found out he had two ear aches. So after his appointment my mom and I went to the pharmacy to get it filled. First we went to Walgreens, it took about 5 minutes to get their attention then about 15 minutes later they told me their systems were down and I had to go somewhere else. Next stop was CVS, this place took about 10 minutes to get someone to help me, and she seemed bothered the whole time. Then she told me they recently stopped their contract with our insurance. After a couple more places of people being rude, I was so frustrated that we went to lunch to take a breather then went to Bashas' hoping they could do it. I literally walked in and the Pharmacist walked right up to me and was so friendly and helpful. I was so relieved. So today I am grateful for NICE customer service! I know it is hard for people, you never know what they are going through. But a smile and a nice attitude goes a long way. So thank you Bashas' from now on only going there since I know I can always be a smile and the staff is friendly!

Day One and Day Two

Each day throughout November I want to focus on things that I am grateful for. 

Day One- I am so grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him nothing would be possible. I am grateful for his selflessness to come to Earth and die for all of us. I know that through Him we will be able to return to live with Him again. I love reading in the scriptures of His love and sacrifice. I am just so grateful for Him.

Day Two- My Grandma. She passed away a little over a month ago and not a day goes by the I don't miss her or think about her. Luckily, I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation so that I know I will be able to see her again one day. My Grandma was the most amazing woman that I have ever met. Her heart was full of kindness and generosity. She would always be cooking, sewing or cleaning. She was always busy but would always take time for me. When I was little we would sit on the back porch and look at the birds and flowers and she would tell me all about them. My Grandpa always talks so fondly of her and tells me about how she was so energetic, never said she was bored and never said a foul thing about others. She is just such an example. I love her dearly and am so glad that I was able to have her as my Grandmother.

Guess what?!

So as most of you guys know already... we are having a baby! We are super excited, especially for Brody to have a sibling! He has always loved to play with his cousins and other kids so I am very excited to give him a buddy.

Brody has already been practicing holding a baby and pushing a baby in a little stroller. Lets just say I am glad he has a few months to prepare... Anyways, we are super excited and happy about our family getting bigger.

Weekend Without Daddy

This weekend Adam went camping with my family. So since Brody is such a Daddy's boy I tried to do fun stuff with him so that we wouldn't mind not having as much time with Daddy on the weekends that he is used to.

I 

We went to Target to get some stuff that we needed for Primary. While we were there I got my flu shot and then gave Brody the sticker. He kept taking it off and saying, "wow!" Who knew a sticker would be so exciting.

 We headed over to the Halloween section to kill time. I put the mask on myself first and Brody laughed so hard. Then I put it on him and he thought it was so silly and got mad when I took it off of him. I showed him the picture of it on him and he just kept saying "silly boy, silly boy." He cracks me up!!

 We read LOTS of books. Lots. Which isn't rare for us, but the amount he let me read him was shocking.

 Brody loves to play hide and seek.  He is getting pretty good at it too. I was looking for him in all of his normal places and could not find him. Eventually, he started laughing and I found him under one of the cushions.

Friday morning we woke up and made some delicious Blueberry muffins. He was such a great help.

 We then took the muffins to the park. We had a picnic, went for a jog, watched the cross country meet and football games and played at the park. It was quite the morning. I had no idea that the park would be so packed, but it ended up making it more entertaining for Brody.

Brody playing at the park.

Later that day I was doing laundry and come back from getting a new batch of clothes and found Brody in the dryer! He is seriously so entertaining and has the best personality! Love that kid!!

My baby is offically a big boy.

Arizona still has not cooled off much.  We still go outside for five minutes and Brody's face is red and he is sweaty. I am literally counting down the days until it is nice enough that we can go outside and play. Soon. I hope.  But even though it is still warm outside, we are still having a blast!  

Brody is definitely starting to seem A LOT older to me. He no longer is the little baby that will cuddle with me or that is unable to communicate.  He has started to be very helpful around the house and I find it adorable. He will pick up his diaper and open the back door and through it out, he loves to help me cook, he will throw the garbage and recycling in the right containers and my favorite is whenever my phone goes off he will search for it and then run and bring it to me. It is hilarious!

 

Adam was babysitting one day and I came home to Brody sitting on this table just watching Adam and cheering for him every time he hit the ball. I was so impressed that he stayed on the table. Now every time Adam plays pool we have to pull the table out so Brody can watch. 

 

 Lately, he has been very into his sunglasses (even though they are way too small for him.) He will put them on and climb into his car and say "bye-bye" and blow kisses. 

When went grocery shopping and a cute little old man gave him this balloon and he LOVES it. He wouldn't let us take it off his wrist and now we still have it tied to his teepee we have. Every day he will run up, hit it, laugh and run away.

 

 Brody is VERY attached to my sister Kristen. She recently went moved away to college and Brody is freaking out. One day he woke up from his nap and grabbed his drink and kept asking to go see Kristen. I kept telling him that she was gone but he wouldn't listen. Eventually he had a mental breakdown and started to cry. It is funny because we will Skype with Kristen and he will think that she is playing with him and will look for his body behind the screen. We definitely miss her though.

My parents went up to Idaho to drop off Kristen and the day that they got home it was pouring rain all day! Brody got to wear a jacket for the first time since probably last January. I thought he looked so adorable in it. (Obviously, it wasn't that cold since I still put him in shorts.)

 Isn't he just so cute?!?

 Adam's mom came into town and while we were waiting for dinner she took him on a little walk.

 Brody and I went to the zoo with my mom.

 This picture he just seems so old to me, well mostly tall.

One day I was baking some cookies for a family in the ward and I put down my oven mitts only to turn around and find that Brody had put them on and was staring into the oven checking on the cookies!

One picture that I need to take is my Grandma and Brody. He is crazy about her. Every time we go over to her house Brody will run right up to her and give her a hug. He will then follow her around the whole house, wherever she goes, he is with her.  The other day when we were there I was cutting my Grandpas hair and I looked over and my Grandma was on the floor playing legos with Brody. Which is amazing especially for my Grandma since she rarely knows what is going on or who we are. Yet, somehow she always knows Brody. It is so sweet and I love watching them together! I am so grateful to still have all my Grandparents in my life because they are the MOST amazing people I know.

I love my little man! He is seriously a blast and so much fun. He makes everyday incredible whether it's going out and doing fun things or just staying in. I am so grateful for him and the happiness he brings to me. Well and Adam for making it possible that I am able to stay at home and actually raise my boy and get to experience every moment of him growing up.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

We have been having so much fun lately just relaxing and having fun! I have had to be creative to try and think of activities to do that are indoors since it is ridiculously hot outside. I used to love the summers growing up and swimming all the time, but now with a kid it's not quite as fun. (I can't wait for it to cool off!)

We have kept busy by..


painting,









playing with playdough,



walked around the mall and looked at the fish,


played in boxes,






played in the rain,


got ice cream cones at McDonalds and played,


went to the Doctors,


went to the Children's Museum,

and we went to "Prowl & Play at the Zoo," which is a zoo event at night and was a lot of fun! The only thing that stunk was we had a huge dust storm right before so a majority of the animals were not out, but still way fun!

We have been having a blast! I love being a mom! It is so much fun, especially since I have such a great son who is PERFECT!! Everyone keeps telling me to count my blessings and good luck on the next, hopefully they will all be just as good!

Adam took this picture around Christmas time and I thought that Brody looked so old and big! I think I was wrong.. this picture was taken a few days ago. Isn't he huge?!

Utah

Adam and I love going to Utah. It is so much fun to just get away and spend some time with the family. Not to mention get out of the hot Arizona heat for a little bit.
Adam has been working a ton. Nothing new about that. But when my sister was in town a few weeks ago he was saying he needed a vacation, asap. So I said that we should go to Utah! (No surprise there! Since that is my favorite spot since so much family is there.)
So we did!

Adam is part of a group at work called, NextGen. Each year they do a softball tournament in Flagstaff. So we planned our trip for that weekend. It was nice that we did not have to do the ten hour car ride straight the way up.

We had so much fun with his team. Everyone was so nice and loved Brody!

The team. 'NextGen Ninjas'


Brody loved the huge baseball.


At the team celebration dinner. (Probably the first family picture that I like.)

Brody was the team mascot, a ninja!

While we were in Utah we did lots of fun things! Brody loved not being the only kid and having his cousins around. We drove with Heather everywhere we went. We put Brody's car seat in between Hunter and Cameron's, and he loved it! Between getting entertained by both the boys, her van is full of different toys and snacks. The boys got so that they would just put their arms in the air and we would put a snack in it. Sometimes we would even look back and they would be holding hands. It was so sweet!
We did some of my favorite activities up there. We went to Thanksgiving Point and saw all the animals. Brody went on his first horseback ride and of course we went for ice cream after!
We went to BYU on the Fourth of July, because my Aunt and Uncle rented tandem bikes. We have been riding bikes there for as long as I can remember. It was nice that it was on the 4th so that we didn't have to worry about the students. It is such a beautiful campus that I love taking Adam there and showing it off.
One evening we went up to the new City Creek mall by Temple Square. It is so nice! :) I think what I loved the most though is that it is so close to the Temple so we went over to Temple Square after.
The Zoo was another fun activity that we did as a family. I am always taking Brody to the zoo with just Kristen. So it was nice to be able to share it was Adam and have him see Brody's cute reactions to the animals.

The only thing that was bad about the trip was that I got diagnosed with Bells Palsy. I woke up our second day there and noticed while I was putting my makeup on that I could not close my mouth. Then noticed that when I smiled.. it looked weird. I went right out and showed Heather (since Adam was out golfing) and right away she knew that I had Bells Palsy. She told me to call the nurse line for my insurance and I did. At this point, I wasn't really freaking out.. I just thought I had an allergic reaction or something. Then when I called and told them my symptoms the nurse told me to go to the ER because she though I had a stroke. Then I freaked out! I went in and told Heather and then decided to call my other insurance just in case, since I hate the hospital and didn't want to go. Well, same thing.. they told me to go to urgent care. So Heather and I trekked over to the urgent care with three little boys. (Thank you Heather!! You rock!) I checked in, went back to the doctor and yet again he thought I had a stroke. But after a few tests he realized I didn't and diagnosed me with Bells Palsy. Yay me!.. Well at least it wasn't a stroke! So the rest of the vacation I wore an eye patch and sunglasses. I told all the kids I was a pirate and they would just laugh. Morgan and Molly even showed me what my smile looked like. (Which are included in the pictures below. Sadly, it's pretty dead on to what I look like.)

But the trip was amazing, I already want to go back. I love Utah! I love my family! Thanks for such a great time!!