Going Private

I keep thinking its time to go private, so I am finally going to do it. Leave your email address if you want an invite, and let me know who you are so I will add you. :) I am thinking about doing what a lot of other people have done and that is to keep this one to let you know when I have updated and then post everything on a new blog.

Let It Snow

 We have been LOVING the snow! Little helper Ty is always trying to see what he can do. Gabe had a hard time walking around in his fluffy coat, he didn't last very long.

 We built our first snowman! It was actually really big, probably 8/9ft tall. But it was slanted and fell over just after an hour or so. Dan went back out and decided to do a "Big Butt Snowman" the kids loved it!

I think he deserves some sort of an award for best profile or best body.

23 weeks

I have been feeling very blessed lately, in a lot of ways. I am thankful for an amazing husband that treats me good and loves being a dad. I am so thankful for two healthy boys that keep me busy all day and are constantly teaching me how to be a better mom/person and am very grateful that I get to stay at home with them every single day. One of the things I am feeling most thankful for at the moment is  to be pregnant and that everything has been normal up to this point. In moments of weakness, I find myself feeling terrified for what these next few months might bring, for what could happen because of my pregnancy with Gabe. I  have been trying to catch myself in these thoughts and moments before I start feeling very overwhelmed. I try to remind myself how blessed I already am, and that no matter what happens I will be able to handle it. I am so lucky to have the knowledge of why we are here on earth. That right there is what has gotten me through every single trial and disappointing time in my life. It's not supposed to be easy down here, and I just need to make sure I am ready for what lies ahead. 

Canyon Time

We took a family trip up the canyon a couple of weekends ago, it was so much fun! We enjoyed the beautiful fall colors, roasting hot dogs, making s'mores, and singing songs around the campfire. This is something we are going to start doing a lot more often.

 Both boys loved sitting in their own chairs and watching the fire. I was surprised how well they both listened and didn't go near the fire. Gabe's favorite part of the night was s'mores. Ty's was singing around the fire. I love how different they are :)

Next time we do this we are going to try camping all night. We brought everything up to camp, but I ended up feeling pretty sick so we decided to pack up and go home. Hopefully we can try again before it gets too cold!

This Summer

I have been feeling overwhelmed at how far behind I am on what's been going on in our lives so here is a quick recap of what went on this summer.

 My sister came into town for a few weeks and I basically spent every minute I could with her at my parents. I always love when she comes and try to soak up all the time I get with her while she is here. It's hard having one of your closest friends so far away, but we enjoyed the time we had while she was here. Ty loved having a cousin around his age. Him and Jake were so funny together, they became best friends super quick.

 We went to Seven Peaks a few times, the boys loved it. Ty liked playing in the kiddie area, but couldn't get enough of The Flush and the tube rides. He is starting to become more adventurous and I love it!

 Love this chunky little man. Ty and Gabe look nothing a like, from their cute little faces and body size to theirt skin tones. Even their personalities are opposite, hopefully that will be a good thing for how close in age they are!

 The Fourth was pretty low key, we had an early family bbq and then back to our place for some sparklers and family time on the deck. It's always nice to have some alone time with just our little family.

 We got to spend a weekend at Lauren and Bob's again this year. We love going down there and being spoiled with family time, food, games, and of course boating! 

 I was surprised how well Gabe did with the uncomfortable life jacket he had to wear. Luckily he fell asleep a lot when he was on the boat, and was pretty content when one of us was holding him.

 Ty LOVES going boating. He is hilarious to watch because if he's not sleeping he is always smiling. He never wanted to stay on shore, he always had to be on the boat.

 Jessica got married in August. We are so happy for  her and excited to have Thomas apart of the family!

 My twin sisters came home from their missions on the same day and same flight. I think everyone that was on their flight was waiting with us to see everyones reaction when we all saw them. I am so happy they are finally home!

So somewhere in between all the fun we had in May and my sisters coming home in August, I spent a lot of time on the floor with my boys and on the couch. I remember Dan coming home one day laughing and he asked me if I was every going to dress the boys again because they just chilled in their diapers all day! Sad, but true. Ty got used to me feeling sick pretty quick. Every morning he would come over and give me a kiss and ask if I was okay. Then he would get a blanket and put it on me, he seriously took care of me. Isn't he such a sweetheart! So this has been my toughest pregnancy yet, but I am very grateful that I am finally feeling a lot better. Being pregnant can be rough at times, but I am always reminded what a blessing it is to be a mom and to be able to have children. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Number 3...

You have probably guessed it! We are pregnant with Baby #3! I am still in shock, but we are very excited to have our family grow from four to five. Five! Ah!! I am still feeling sick, so you are gonna have to wait on the details until I have the energy to even use my brain. :)

Our Miracle is One

I can't believe that a year ago today I was 32 weeks pregnant and rushing to the hospital because I was in labor. I am amazed when I look back on inspired doctors and nurses that did things they felt was right to help save our little guy. This last year has been crazy and very hard at times, but has been worth every second to have Gabe in our lives. He is an absolute blessing. 

This was him a year ago today.

This is him today.

When I think of all that we went through with him I still get emotional. Having him in the NICU for 5 weeks was the hardest thing I have ever been through. I am very grateful that I am fortunate to live in this day and age with so much knowledge and technology. I wouldn't have any kids today without the hospitals, doctors, and information that we have now. Neither of them would've made it without all of these amazing tools and things we have. I am feeling very blessed today. I am so grateful for all that I have, especially my family. Happy Birthday Gabe! We love you FOREVER!

Smarty Pants

This picture makes me laugh so hard! I caught Ty one morning pretending that he was reading a book and typing while wearing my glasses, he is always trying to act older than he really is! Just recently he has taken off with a lot of things, especially talking. He loves to repeat anything that you say to him. He is also starting to remember words to songs and loves to say them himself at times. He wants to try everything on his own first, which is cute but can also be frustrating ...especially when he gets really upset with himself if he can't do what he is trying to do.
I really do love that he is wanting to learn and do things on his own. Its really exciting for me to watch him grow and progress, can it slow down a little bit though?! 

Some Things I Want To Remember:

1. A few favorite things he says: okay (wokay) sorry, thanks, welcome, not so

2. He thinks time out is a game

3. All he drinks is juice

4. He lights up when Gabe wakes up

5. He loves to try on adult shoes and walk around

6. When he says "yah" he holds it for about 5 seconds. Everytime.

7. He calls me Heather (heaher)

8. He says "No No Ty" to everyone

9. Everything is "Mine!"

10. All he wants to do is be outside

11. He LOVES going to bed

 I LOVE this little guy that thinks he is a lot older than he really is so so much!

Grass

I have never really appreciated grass until now. Can't wait until we can enjoy it!

Ty is Two

 

 Our little Ty turned two! I seriously couldn't sleep the night before because I was so excited for him to wake up and open his presents. He seemed to love all of his gifts but the best reaction goes to his tricycle and the most played with would be his backpack that he wore basically all day!

I am glad we kept the day simple because he was so happy to have McDonalds for lunch and spend most of the day at the park. Easy for me, fun for him!

I know Mom's are always saying how they can't believe how quickly their kids grow up, but it is SO true! I can't believe that it has been two years since we had this angel and brought him home. It is the most rewarding thing to be a Mom, especially on days like this. Ty has not hit the "terrible two's" yet, he is still the most sweetest and sensitive kid ever. He seriously seems to be so sincere with everything he says and does, I hope he stays that way forever!

Pictures

I had the boys pictures taken a few weeks ago. Chelsey was amazing and we had a lot of fun dressing them up and switching around props. Ty was being a little stinker so we didn't get a ton of him smiling, but a few was enough. Gabe was adorable, it must be his age because he was a lot easier to work with. I seriously look at these pictures every day, I am obsessed with how good they turned out! Love my boys! They are in no particular order, Enjoy!

Cancun: Casa Maya

We stayed at Casa Maya for the second half of our trip. We absolutely loved this place! It was more of a "family environment" so we loved hanging around the resort. Our favorite thing to do there was play sand volleyball, I have never gotten into volleyball but now I am thinking I should! I loved it!! Another thing we loved was our big room, we had a half kitchen which was so nice because we were able to eat breakfast and most of our lunches there.

 We had this crazy night where everything seemed to go wrong. I was feeling extra emotional and missing our boys a lot so we decided to skype before we went out. We couldn't get a good connection so we went out by the pool to try again. We got a good connection, but started losing battery power so while I was on skype with them I started walking quickly inside ...well I forgot that there were stairs and ran right into those hard cement suckers. My computer went flying and I tripped and fell to the floor. We had a nice little audience of old people that came rushing over because they were so concerned. I felt so stupid so I just laid on the floor sobbing and laughing at the same time. Then to make things even more intense than it needed to be, security came running out and got a chair for me to sit in and put my leg up. They treated my toe like I was going to get it amputated, for a second there I thought that might be the case! Luckily all it needed was some intense cleaning and a bandage.

Once I became mobile and emotionally stable, we went out for the night. For some reason we did a lot of walking which wasn't fun since I was seriously wobbling. (I think all the work they did on my toe got to my head) Anyways, we decided to eat at Hard Rock Cafe and split a meal like we usually do. Well, the waitress did not like the fact that we were splitting a meal and she let us know it! Besides rolling her eyes and being short with us because of our questions, when we asked for water she brought out two bottled waters that cost more than soda. Danny told her we just wanted water in a cup and I thought she was going to kick us out of that place! Seriously! Finally we got our dinner and it seemed like no one spit in it so we ate it. When we were getting close to leaving Danny started looking for his flip flops (he took them off and put his feet up on the bench during the meal) but he couldn't find them. Then he found one but only one. After searching for a few minutes with no luck, we came to the conclusion that someone stole his flip flop. Why would someone just steal one flip flop? Oh wait ... our waitress. We just KNEW it was her, especially since how she was treating us and at one point I saw her pointing to our table and laughing while she talked with her co-workers. I was annoyed, but I also thought it was kind of funny. Danny was not happy! At one point, the manager walked by and Danny talked with him and flat out blamed everything on the waitress. A few minutes went by and then we saw six workers singing and walking over to our table. They had a tequila shot on fire and a gift bag for us. They were pretty bummed when we told them we didn't drink, but we were really happy when we found his other flip flop in the bag. I could not stop laughing!! It really was so funny!

So it wasn't the waitress that stole it, it was the hostess that Danny had been joking around with when we first walked in. She thought she was hilarious, I thought it was pretty clever. I hope I explained it well enough because it really was so funny! We couldn't stop laughing about it after we left.

There are so many other random and fun stories I could tell. This was such a fun trip! I feel like we haven't really been able to relax since everything happened with Gabe last year. This was just what we needed, a relaxing week by the beach. Whether its a vacation, weekend getaway, or a date night, there is nothing better than spending quality time with your best friend.

...I am just really glad that we were able to do a vacation this time.