24 years old

I am officially 24 years old. Today has been wonderful! I have been pampered, spoiled, and loved.
I worked last night, and enjoyed yummy ice cream sandwiches at 3am that my coworkers brought to celebrate.
I got home at 7am and enjoyed a wonderful 4 hours of sleep while Devry entertained Payton. I woke up with breakfast in bed (waffles, bacon and eggs), and went to the hair salon, where I had my hair cut and colored (pictures below).
Then Devry and I dropped Payton off with my sister in law Rachelle (Thanks a ton!) and we headed to Idaho Falls. We did some shopping, and went out for dinner at the Olive Garden. It was delicious!
We headed back and picked up Payton. Once we got home, Payton helped me blow out candles on my Oreo cheesecake.

Then we all enjoyed eating it.

I love my little boy so much! He was so good today, and I really loved that he played so well with his cousins so Devry and I could enjoy some time together. Rachelle is AMAZING and willingly watched him with her other 3 kids, while 36 weeks pregnant! I can't even express how much I appreciate it!

We really enjoyed our day together. Dinner was great, and I felt so loved and spoiled. What a kind and thoughtful husband I have!

I received some wonderful gifts. My mom sent me scrap booking supplies, Devry's parents gave me some gorgeous scarves and a cake decorating kit, Devry bought me a blue ray player (we have been wanting to stream netflix to our TV and now we can!), and my friend Hattie gave me some accessories that match the kitchen theme I am working on (lots of it was homemade!). I am excited to celebrate more tomorrow with 2 sister in laws (Rachelle and Danizza) with pedicures and lunch. I received so many thoughtful cards from my family and friends, and tons of emails and messages on facebook. I felt so loved today and really am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Getting my hair done was also a gift, and I am so glad I was able to! I have been blond for a long time. After a couple years of having blond in my hair I find the color becomes dull, and almost yellowish. To add more blond to the roots only adds to the problem. So I decided to go dark. At first I was just going to go as close as I could to my natural color, but decided to go a bit darker to see how I like it. And I LOVE it! It is such a pretty dark brown with a tiny bit of red undertone. It is taking some getting used to though. I know it will fade a bit in the next few weeks so it probably won't end up as dark as it is right now, which I am ok with. I got about 5 inches cut off, and lots of layers put in. It was a MUCH needed change. My hair has felt BLAH for a while and I now feel like it is healthy again. My hair was to my waist, so although I got a good 5 inches cut off, it is still a ways past my shoulders.
I had such a great day. I was reminded over and over how many people I have in my life that care for me. Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts, cards and gifts.

Happy Valentines Day!

We decided to celebrate Valentines Day on Friday since Devry had class all day today and then tons of homework tonight.
We left Payton with Dan and Rachelle (thanks a ton guys!), and went out to eat. It is nice to spend some time alone together. We enjoyed talking and laughing and catching up.
With Devry in school full time while trying to work as much as possible, and me working full time at night, we often go days without seeing each other more then just to hand off Payton. It was nice to go out and just enjoy spending time together without worrying about the million things we needed to do.
Devry was so sweet and bought me flowers.
I like this guy...alot

I love that through the business of life he still makes me smile and laugh all the time.

And I love this little guy
with his chubby cheeks
and big blue eyes
And smile that warms your heart

I am so lucky to have my two wonderful boys :)
Happy Valentines Day!

18 Months!

Payton is 18 months today. I am in shock at how quickly time flies by. He is in no way a little baby any more. I adore this little guy so much! He makes me smile constantly. He melts my heart with his hugs and kisses.

At 18 months he is doing so much I can hardly keep up!
He is talking a TON! Constantly repeating words we say, adding new ones to his vocabulary daily. My favorite words he says - Pease (please), mommy, daaaeyy (daddy), fish, truck, buhbye, lubbooo (love you), tank-chu (thank you), phone, book, cold, and kiss.

He is so silly. He dances whenever he hears music. He makes funny fish faces and then laughs at himself. He grabs the phone and says "hi, bye" then hands it back and runs off. He is obsessed with wearing hats (which can be anything from a real hat, to a bowl, or a box) and shoes. If anyone says "bye" to him, he puckers up for a kiss (including people he doesn't know).

When I leave for work he says bye (followed by a pucker up) at least 10 times. When I walk outside he runs to the window and blows me kisses.

He is very good at playing by himself, and is so funny to watch! I have worked the past 2 nights, and yesterday afternoon I was dozing on the couch while he was playing on the floor. I guess I dozed off pretty deep for a few minutes, because when I woke up he had piled all of his stuffed animals, balls, and cars on me. I pretended to be asleep for a few more minutes while I peaked and watched him run back and forth from his play room, grabbing a couple toys at a time and piling them carefully on me.

I just simply adore him, and LOVE being his mom.
One of his many silly faces. This is is "cold" face. He was eating ice, and I asked it it was cold, and this is the response I get. Of course he is in his crosby jersey that my dad sent for Christmas! Love it!

Quality Time with my cutie

Devry is out of town for a school thing for 3 days. So Payton and I are having some quality time together.
We play...alot.
We read tons of books.
We sing and dance together.
He sleeps wonderfully and lets me have a break!
He is so Happy!

His smile melts my heart. So does his hugs and kisses, which I get ALOT of.

If he hears ANYTHING outside (cars, snow falling off the roof, the dogs...anything) he runs to the back door saying "daddadadadadadadadadad" over and over again. Then looks at me like "where is he?" I say "daddy's not home" he says "oh" and runs and plays again, until he hears another noise. SO funny

I love him so much! He is the best little boy ever!

We have been using time out lately when Payton hits, or throws things at people. Well now if he throws something, he looks at me with his head down and a heartbreaking look on his face and says "noo noo" while he shakes his head. Then sticks his bottom lip out, walks to the time out corner and sits down. I don't even have to say a word. Then when I say he can come out, he runs over to me SO excited, signs "sorry" and puckers up for a kiss.

PS I kept the fire going all day! I have to blog about it, because most of the time when I am left in charge of the wood stove, I forget and let it go out. This is a small accomplishment for me!

My punishment for sleeping.

Sleep has become more of a luxury to me lately then a necessity. I function VERY well on little or no sleep. Well this week I was scheduled to work tuesday, wednesday and thursday nights. Between a horrible migraine, and strep throat, my week was quite exhausting. Luckily I was on call wednesday night and recovered a bit, and I had tons of help from Devry, his parents and a friend of mine so I could sleep.
Then I worked last night, which was ok. Still had a sore throat, but the migraine, fever and body aches were all gone. I got home today, and dozed on the couch while Payton played. I was woken many times with the usual shoe, toy, cup, box,etc being thrown at my head, or the occasional hair pulling or jumping. Then I actually fell asleep. When I woke up, my first thoughts? Why is it so quiet, where is Payton? How long have I been out?
And I walk into the living room....
and the family room.....
There are crackers, an entire box of rice crispies, toys, cups, diapers, clothes, books and who knows what else, EVERYWHERE. Thank you for letting mommy sleep Payton, and being so good at entertaining yourself.

Next time though....Why don't you try making a mess in this room. It is called your toy room. It is the confined space that we put your toys so you can make all the mess you want. I checked in this room next and notice that it was perfectly clean, and untouched.

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.