Happy Birthday Devry!

December 28th was Devry's 26th Birthday! Having a birthday so close to Christmas is always a challenge. I really try to make sure the day is special, and avoid combining any part of it with Christmas. We had some of his family over for cake and ice cream on the evening of the 27th. It was a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed Payton's new ball pit.

This year I made Devry a basketball cake. It was really fun and easy to make!





The kids helped Devry blow out his candles.

It was a really fun evening. The next day, Devry and I dropped Payton off to a babysitters and went and ate lunch in Idaho Falls. We ate at Red Robin, Devry's favorite. Since it was his birthday, he got a coupon for a free meal, plus we had a $3 off coupon, so our entire meal was only $6! Such a good deal, and SOO yummy.

We ran a few errands in Idaho Falls then picked up Payton. We all enjoyed some more cake and homemade blizzards that evening. It was a fun day!

I was so happy that Devry didn't have to work that day. We got to spend the entire day together. Devry is the greatest husband ever! Here are 26 reasons!

26. He is thoughtful
25. He is the best dad
24. He makes me laugh, alot!
23. He is such a hard worker
22. He always helps with anything I ask
21. He does tons of things without me asking!
20. He goes out and starts my car before I leave for work when its cold
19. He always is appreciative of things I do.
18. He is working so hard to finish school
17. He is very attractive :)
16. He always knows when I need a hug
15. He puts up with my craziness
14. He fixes whatever needs fixed around the house
13. He plays with my hair because I love it
12. He is so self less
11. He is good at basketball
10. Payton and I are most important to him, and we know it!
9. He has the greatest smile
8. He is happy, and has such a great attitude
7. He changes his share of Payton's diapers, with only a bit of complaining :)
6. He works outside all day in the freezing cold, and it never seems to bother him.
5. He does most of the laundry.
4. He takes great care of Payton when I work
3. He gets up with Payton most mornings and lets me sleep in.
2. He loves me.
1. He is mine :)

Christmas 2010!

Christmas this year was great! Payton was old enough to open presents, and get excited about what was inside. We had a lot of fun with Devry's family as well.

On Christmas eve Devry's family (except Joe and Lisa who are in Ohio) came to our house for Dinner. We had Chinese food, played games, and decorated cookies for Santa.

Here is Trey and Macy with their fun Christmas accessories.

Payton had a turn wearing the Rudolf antlers and nose. He was so funny wearing it. He kept almost running into things because he was trying to look at the nose.
Decorating sugar cookies. Santa got lots of yummy cookies. So did Payton and Macy who ate everything they could reach.


After everyone went home, we opened our Christmas Eve presents. Our tradition is to receive new PJ's on Christmas eve. In years past the PJ's I bought Devry have shrunk and ended up to short so this year I made Devry and Payton matching John Deere PJ pants. They fit them both great, and were so easy! I may end up making them every year now. Maybe I'll make my own too from now on, since PJ pants being too short is a constant problem for me too. The ones Devry bought me we had to return.

Here is Devry and Payton in their matching homemade PJ's.

We slept great on Christmas Eve. I have always had a problem sleeping on Christmas Eve. I get so excited and can't sleep. This year I found a fix to the problem. I worked Thursday night and didn't sleep on Friday. So by the time I went to bed Christmas eve, I had been awake for almost 38 hours with only a 2 hour nap. I crashed and slept soundly all night. Devry even had to wake me up Christmas morning. This was shocking for my family to hear since I am ALWAYS the first one awake.

Payton woke up at 6:45 and we went to get him.

When he walked into the family room and saw the stockings, I don't think he knew what to think.




Then we handed him some presents, and he began to get the idea. He loved ripping off the wrapping paper, and oooo'd and ahh'd over everything.

Of course his favorite wasn't even a toy, or candy. It was an orange. He kept saying "wow"

After opening stockings. We went to see what was under the tree.

We opened presents for a long time. We let Payton open all of them, and help with ours. He was so funny to watch. He loved every minute of it! If it was a present he loved, he didn't want to give it up to open the next. If it was something a little less exciting (clothes), he would open the gift enough to see that it was clothes, then throw it and run and grab another one.


We helped Payton with opening some of his gifts. And he helped us open ours.

His last gift was set up in the play room. It was a ball pit. When he walked in, he didn't know what to do. He kept pointing at it from across the room saying "ball" and "wow". Finally he went and sat in it, and loved it!

The ball pit was by far his favorite. Even 3 days later, he keeps acting like its the first time he's ever seen it. When he wakes up, we hear him saying "ball" then as soon as we get him, he runs into the play room and dives into the ball pit. It's so fun to see him enjoy a gift so much!

We had a great Christmas. We were very spoiled by family, and received wonderful gifts. We had so much fun Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Devry's family. We skyped with my family, and let them see Payton open the presents they sent. I love Christmas, and more so now that Payton is starting to understand parts of it.

Here are a few pictures of us with Payton by the Christmas Tree.

Scary Santa

Yesterday Devry, Payton and I went to the mall to finish up some last minute shopping. While we were there we decided to take Payton to see Santa. While standing in line Payton was so happy, and kept pointing to Santa and acting really exciting. I thought he would love to sit on his lap. Well I was wrong. As soon as Devry set him down, he started SCREAMING. So I snapped a quick picture, and let Devry pick him up again. Payton definitely not a fan of Santa. Maybe next year :)

What have we been up to?

December so far has been pretty fun. We have had tons of snow, so our days are spent inside. Payton has found some interesting ways to keep himself entertained, as you can see in these pictures.



He has an obsession with putting on our shoes, and trying to put his shoes on our feet. What a silly guy.

This next picture is of Payton and his friend Twylie. Twylie's mom Hattie is a good friend of mine. We lived in the same apartment complex when I first moved to Rexburg, started dating 2 guys from plano about the same time, got married 2 weeks apart and had babies 2 1/2 months apart. They moved out to plano and live just down the road. It has been so great having them close! These two are getting to be great friends. They see a lot of each other! Hattie and Twylie came over the other day and these two climbed into the laundry basket together, we had to get a picture!


We have been doing lots of fun Christmas activities. I will post more about them later (some of them are gifts, and I don't want to ruin anything).

We made a gingerbread house, and it turned out great. Payton LOVED decorating it...although more of the candy he had ended up in his mouth then on the house.



I am excited for Christmas. Payton doesn't get what Christmas is about yet, but I know he will love opening presents! We have lots of fun things planned with Devry's family, and with our own little family of 3. I have to work christmas night, which isn't too bad since all the excitement and celebration will pretty much be over by the time I have to go into work.

Bye bye Binki.

From the time Payton was born, he became a binki baby. He ALWAYS had it in his mouth, and then 2 or 3 more somewhere close by. I really didn't mind him having a pacifier since he would have sucked his thumb instead if we didn't. He has slept great from the time he was born, and I think his pacifier has really helped. In July, when he turned one, I decided he was old enough not to have it with him at all times. So we put his binki in his crib and started telling him he only gets it at bedtime. He did great! It turned into a fun little game when he woke up. We'd pick him up and let him throw his binki (or his 4 binkis) back into the crib. He never had a hard time without it during the day. I was so nervous to take it away at night though. I wanted to when he was 15 months old, but he was getting premolars at the time, and I didn't want to mess with it when he was hurting so bad from teething. This past week, I decided it was time to get rid of his binki as well as his bottle. I had 4 days off in a row and thought I would need it to be up with him at night when he wouldn't sleep without it. Well, to our surprise it was SO easy. He has never taken milk out of a sippy cup, and all of a sudden started to this week. We put him to bed the first night with no binki, and he fussed for a couple minutes then fell right to sleep. He slept through the night, with no problems! It has been over a week and he has done great at nap times and bed time. I honestly did not expect it to be easy at all, and this was SO simple. I am so lucky to have such a great sleeper!

A few pictures of Payton with his binki.






This big step has been bitter sweet. I love that we are getting away from some "baby" habits like bottles and binkis, but I hate that he is no longer needs baby things because he is a little boy, not a baby He is starting to talk, and understanding so much. Where has the past 17 months gone?

Family Pictures

My friend Heidi is a wonderful photographer. For the past month or so, we have been trying to arrange a time for her to take our family pictures. Between our conflicting schedules, and uncooperative weather, it took a while. We finally snuck in a quick photo shoot last weekend. She did an amazing job! Payton was his usual crazy self, wanting to run around, making funny faces, and eventually loosing patience with us trying to make him look at the camera. 30 minutes of picture taking is about the limit for a 16 month old I think :) . Despite Payton's craziness, Heidi got some wonderful pictures! Here are a couple of my favorites.

I love this guy!

Shutterfly Holiday Cards giveaway

Shutterfly is giving away 50 free holiday cards if you mention this promotion on your blog. They have some very fun holiday cards, and I am so excited to use them. I have used shutterfly in the past for so many things. They have such a great variety of Christmas cards to choose from. I will have a really hard time choosing since there are hundreds of great options. I love sending Photo Christmas cards to friends and family. We will be getting our family pictures taken next week to put on the card. Watch for it in the mail in the next few weeks! Shutterfly is so easy to use. I love using their site for all different kinds of photo projects. In the past I have made photo books, calenders, and birthday cards. They also print pictures and mail them directly to you.

To participate, Click on the link below to sign up, then follow the instructions and post on your own blog!

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

or click here to look through their Christmas cards.

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

And here is another one of my favorite project options....photo calendars!

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

Catching up!

I have been meaning to post about a few things, so here is a bit of a catch up post!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We dressed Payton up as a monkey. He was really cute in his costume. I dressed up as a lion to keep with the theme, and since Devry couldn't come up with any ideas he didn't really dress up. He did wear his bright yellow hoody, so I told him he could be a banana for Payton. Here are a few pictures of us in our costumes.



We carved the pumpkin that we grew. The end result was a bit messed up, and I forgot to take a picture of it, but we had a lot of fun doing it. Payton loved pulling out the insides, and thought it was so fun to squish it in his toes and fingers. He also kept trying to eat it, silly boy.

We went to our Church's "trunk or treat." At first Payton wasn't really sure what was going on, but caught on very quickly that he got candy out of it, and pretty soon he was running from person to person signing "please" or "more." It was a fun night.


It seems like Fall was so short. We luckily had really nice weather for a long time, a few days of "fall" like temperatures, then snow. The first snow completely covered the ground, and I am starting to think it is here to stay. We continue to get a bit more almost every day. Payton thinks it is so fun to try to catch snow flakes. I havn't bought him snow pants or snow boots, so we haven't really gone out to play in the snow yet. I don't know if I ever mentioned we got a new car. It was back in August, and Devry said it was my graduation present. Well, all this snow is making me VERY grateful we have it! It is a Toyota Highlander, and drives so well in the snow.

A few days ago Devry and I were splitting/stacking wood. He was splitting it then tossing it in a pile for me to stack. Well, he tossed a log and it caught another log just right, and flipped up. I wasn't paying attention and it hit me right in the knee. It sure did hurt! I couldn't put any weight on it, and was worried since I had to work the next 2 nights. I ended up going to the Doctor just to make sure it wasn't broken. Luckily everything looked fine on XRAY's. I have the greatest Doctor ever, who gave me a shot of Nubain for pain (which made me so nauseous the rest of the day...I will never have it again, even though it helped with pain), and he also gave me a prescription for Lortab and Motrin 800mg. I got through my two shifts with pain meds, and a bit of limping, but it feels TONS better now.

I have been feeling much better lately, and not so negative. Having Devry home more really helps, and I have been trying to take some breaks just for "me" time. I also have realized how great some of the friends I have are. I knew they were before, but I think I took it for granted. After feeling so lonely, I decided to make more of an effort, and in a short time I have made many new friends, and strengthened other friendships. I realized that alot of it was that I was expecting alot from others, when I needed to make more of an effort. I realized that alot of other people really understood my feelings, and I received lots of wonderful advice, and encouragement. I still have difficult days, but everyone does, and I am trying to find ways to make it through and stay as positive as I can.

15 months!

My sweet baby boy has turned into a very busy toddler! Where does the time go?
As of the 27th, Payton is 15 months old. At 15 months he...

• is about 28lbs
• is about 32 inches
• is in size 24 month clothes
• says: mom, dad, more, ni-ni (night night), bye bye, hi, pa (grandpa), nan (nanny), bubba (thedog), ju (juice), and a WHOLE lot of jibberish :)
• signs at least 50 words- some are: more, please, thank you, all done, juice, eat, banana, apple, pear, car, plane, bus, boat, dog, cat, horse, bird, fish, blanket, phone, toys, music, wash hands, bath, brush teeth, happy, play, feel, sad, cry, hurt, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, baby, and tons more! He shows us new ones he has learned every day.
  
• dances whenever he hears music.
• Acts like he is Conducting music whenever he hears people singing
• has the most contagious laugh
• is so ticklish...everywhere!
• Loves to tickle other peoples toes and tummy's
• runs...at all times. walking does not exist in his world.
• Climbs on everything. I find him standing on the table at least once a day
• Still takes 2 naps and sleeps 12 hours at night.
  
• LOVES to play outside
• Loves to play with other kids
• Loves to watch curious george, signing time, and cat in the hat
• Still loves his pacifier....although he ONLY gets it when he is in his crib. Our next step is to take it away for good... that could be a hard one.
• Will not drink milk out of anything but a bottle. I have not been successful in my attempts to take away his bottle, and I'm not sure how.
  
• gives me hugs and kisses all the time...and it melts my heart.
• laughs whenever he hears someone else laughing.
• has become a bit of a picky eater.. he loves fruit and bread, a few veggies, and mac n cheese but thats about it (besides sugary foods).
  
• loves going with Devry to ride a tractor, 4wheeler, truck, anything.
• makes me smile, alot.

I adore him so much. We went to a trunk or treat tonight for Halloween, and had a blast! Here are a few pictures of my little monkey man. I will post more about Halloween later.

The first two are him in his monkey costume, and the third is when he helped us carve a pumpkin.

Fall

Fall has officially arrived! Payton and I have been having lots of fun playing outside in the leaves. Here are some pictures of Payton playing outside, eating apples, and getting tackled by puppies. He really misses the puppies, he looks for them everytime we go outside. Its really cute, he walks around the yard barking, and signing "dog" and after a few minutes of not finding them, he looks at me and puts his hands up like he's saying "where'd they go?"





Devry is finished with potato harvest, and I am enjoying seeing him again.

Attitude..

I am not sure exactly what to say in this post, or why I am writing it. I just feel like I need to. It will probably seem unorganized and random. I will probably sound whiny, and ungrateful. That is not my intention. I just have so much on my mind, and need to vent.
I have really been struggling with my attitude lately. I am a generally happy, positive person. Lately I have felt so negative. I don't WANT to have such a bad attitude, but I am not sure how to change it. I try every morning to tell myself that it is going to be a great day. I try to constantly remind myself of all the wonderful blessings I have in my life. I try to look at the good things. I try to do service for others. I try to be kind and thoughtful. But somehow, most days have ended with me feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, mad, dissapointed, sad, or all of the above. And almost every day ends in tears.
I am extremely homesick. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss the ocean, trees, lakes, rivers. I reallly miss my mom.
We took a trip home in August. It was a much needed trip. I thought it would help ease my homesickness. But it didn't. It made it way worse. When I was there, I dreaded leaving, and now all I want to do is go back.
I have lived in Idaho for 4 years now. I didn't like it when I moved here, but I thought it would grow on me. I am still waiting for that to happen. I have tried to fake it, hoping that eventually I would just love it. I finally talked with Devry and explained that I am so sick of pretending. A huge part of my feelings are because of a lack of close friends, and I am lonely.
At every "stage" in my life, I have had wonderful girlfriends. You know, those kind of friends you can rely on no matter what, who will always be there for you. Who you can trust, and talk to about anything. Except for now. Of course I have Devry. He is my best friend. And he is all of those things.....except he is a boy. He doesn't want to have "girl talks" with me. Or do "girl" things, plus he is gone all day everyday. I had some great friends as roommates, and then some really good friends in nursing school. But they have all moved away. Since nursing school I haven't had that. I thought that between work and church I would have tons of great friends. I do have lots of "acquaintances" or "ok" friends, but none that I would consider "great" friends. I get along with most people just fine...but nobody I completely trust and can rely on. Actually its the opposite. I have had such a hard time finding many people I trust here. I don't know what it is about Rexburg, but I find alot of people very mean. Gossipy, and just mean. when I hear someone talk bad about another person who is supposed to be a friend really makes me hesitate to trust that person. And it happens alot. I feel like so many people are fake, and add my own insecurities, I don't want friends like that. I have sister in laws who I am close to, who I trust and I can't discount that. They are GREAT. I probably sound like an immature 13 year old girl.....I know, but friends are very important to me...especially when my own family isn't close. I am so social, and I feel like I need friends. I want to have friends with kids Paytons age, and have fun playdates and outings. I want to have a "girls night" once in a while. I feel lonely.
I am overwhelmed with things in my life right now. Payton is at a very difficult age for me. I love him more then anything, but he tests my patience daily...no hourly. He messes up my house while I am cleaning...I feel like my house is in a constant stage of messy and disorganized. He cries, whines, and screams a lot. He has started hitting, and I don't know what to do to get him to stop. I try time out...I try taking away things....I try explaining it to him. He doesn't understand and turns around and hits me. He is in a very big "daddy" phase, where all he wants is Devry...not me. I love that he loves Devry so much, but it makes it so challenging to deal with a fussy little boy all day while he constantly asks for his daddy....then watch him become so happy in the evenings once Devry gets home. Why can't I have more of the happy mood? I feel like I am doing something terribly wrong and that is why he doesn't care if I am around or not, but really cares if devry is.
I feel behind. On my house, on my budget, on my meal planning. I have been putting so many things aside lately to do P90X, because I am trying so hard to loose weight. And I have only lost 2 lbs, in 3 1/2 weeks of INTENSE, and EXTREMELY difficult workouts. And I know people will say that I am building muscle so I'm not going to loose lbs initially...but Its not that. I probably am building muscle. But I don't feel any better. My clothes don't fit me better. I still feel gross. I am so discouraged.
When I think about my life, I begin to feel so guilty for feeling so unhappy. I have the most wonderful husband ever, an adorable, healthy little boy, a good job, a nice house, wonderful family. But then while I sit here alone and write this post, I look around and see my house completely torn apart, I hear Payton crying in his crib because he doesn't want to go to bed without seeing Devry and I am trying to make him, I know Devry won't be home for at least another hour, I think about how I have to go to Boise tomorrow to deliver puppies alone because Devry has to work, plus add to all of it my constant state of exhaustion from working nights and not sleeping much....and I can't help but cry. I spend so much time feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, angry, lonely, and upset. Is it all just a mindset that I have to work to change? I don't know, but I just feel like I spend so much time faking it and pretending that I am completely happy, and everything in my life is great, but yet I am struggling so much on the inside.

Fun weekend!

We had such a fun weekend! Devry's brother Ted and his family came to visit for the weekend, so since almost the whole family was in town, we decided it would be a good time to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. We had tons of yummy food! The funniest part was when I first walked in, Trey, carter, and Kaden (our nephews) said together "Happy Thanksgiving, EH!" Devry's brother Dan had been practicing with them.
Here are a few pictures of Sunday. I really am horrible at remembering to take pictures. I take one or two, then set my camera down and thats all I get.

Here is Trey sitting at the table waiting to eat, wearing my Canada hat :)



Payton ready for the day with his canada Shirt on. He had the hat on, but pulled it off just as I snapped the picture.

And Carter having his turn wearing the hat :)

It was so much fun to spend the weekend with family. I havn't seen Devry much lately, since he is doing harvest, so it was good to spend some time with people. This next week is going to be very long. They are hoping to be done digging potatoes by Friday or Saturday, but it means a week of Devry leaving at 5 or 6 am, and not getting home till 9 or so, with no lunch break. It is the hardest on the days I work, because I leave for work way before he gets home, then he walks out the door when I walk in from work. We will go days without even seeing each other. This is the 5th year that we have been dating or married during harvest, and by far the hardest. The first 3 years were still very busy, but I would go visit him every day. I'd take him lunch, and just go spend time with him. Then last year Payton and I were in Nova Scotia the entire time, so it wasn't like I would have seen him if he was home. This year is hard, because I'm working a lot more, and if we go visit, we only stay for a few minutes because Payton doesn't like being confined to his stroller, but he gets into way to many things if I let him out, so he ends up getting mad really quickly. I'm thinking that once harvest is over we are going to have to dump Payton on somebody for a day, or even a day and a night so we can go do something fun together. Oh I can't wait to have my husband back!