Administrative Professionals Day

I totally did not know that today was Administrative Professionals Day. When I got to work this morning there was a present on my chair. It was a cute brown bag with light blue lettering on it that said Dosha Salon Spa. I opened the card and it was from my team. They gave me a gift certificate to Dosha. YAHOO! I see a massage in my future! :)
That's not it either. A little later Randy brought me my favorite coffee and a card with a GC in it from the leadership team.

I feel so blessed today!

Last night Gabe and I went over to Nate and Teresa's to hang out with Kambrie while they went out on a date night. We have SO much fun! Here are a few pics of the fun we had.

All three of us with Mr potato heads glasses on
(Sorry they're dark because I took them with my phone. My camera is broken)

Kambrie doing her funny dance

Sad Day

My dad called me this afternoon and told me he had some bad news. My stomach tighten the instant I heard him say that. He told me that my Uncle David (dad's brother) had died. WHAT? HOW? He had gone to workout and had a massive heart attack and died there at the gym. The police came to my grandparents door to tell them. My uncle lived with them. He and my aunt have been divorced for I don't know how long now. He just turned 55 and was a healthy man. I guess my cousin Naomi is taking it really hard. She lives in NY and I assume hasn't seen him since her wedding which was two years ago. I don't think anyone could get a hold of Miriam to tell her.

This is all a complete shock. I haven't really lost anyone in my family before. Someone I was close to. My grandma (mom's mom) passed away from cancer when I was three and my grandpa (mom's dad) passed in 94' I think? I wasn't that close to him due to him not being around when I was growing up.

I haven't been that close with my uncle for a while. I did get to spend some time with him almost a year ago...I am so glad I decided to take the trip up there with my family that day. I almost didn't. We were very close when I was little. I lived with them for a summer one year. He always made me laugh.

Been crying off and on all day. I'm so sad...just wish I could have one more moment with him.

Status

weather-overcast (BLAH - thanks for the tease)
house-needs cleaning
laundry-neverending
wardrobe-lacking
gabe-almost walking
creative juices-flowing
motivation/money-lacking
bryan-back at school
car's-need cleaning
office-overflowing
watching-too much tv
God-always faithful
life-good
love-lots

Look up idiot in the dictionary...

And you'll see a picture of me! Seriously I am an idiot!

After work I came home and Bryan left for class. About 30 mins. after Bryan left I had a girl came to my door and asked if I wanted the carpet cleaned in one room of the house, free of charge. ALL I had to do was tell my friends and family about the product. RIGHT

Like the idiot I am, I let them in because I really wanted my living room carpet cleaned and free is a good price, right? I didn't purchase the product, which BTW cost $2500.00, BUT I did lose 3 hours 3 HOURS of my life that I will never get back.
I thought I was going to be able to do my nightly routine, give Gabe a bath, pack his bag, eat dinner etc. while he cleaned, but he kept me in the living room wanting to show me how "GREAT" this product was. In all fairness the product was pretty good. I would have kicked the nice guy out (who actually went to my HS, which was weird) but the manager left him here and didn't come back forever (she was his ride). He even called her to come get him and ended watching American Idol with me.

So to reiterate, I AM AN IDIOT, but my carpet's clean.

Happy 1st Birthday Gabe!

Sunday my Gabey turned 1!

We had such a fun farm party! We had so many people come and Gabe received awesome presents! (Thanks everyone who came!) He was so happy the whole day-cruising around getting tons of attention.

Present Time

We had pizza, salad, soda, peach tea, pig/lamb/chick cupcakes and dixie-cups. I still can't believe that my baby is one!

Cake time

Now, for a trip down memory lane…

“Lord, please keep my little guy healthy!”

Mom came over this morning at 6:30 to watch Gabe at our house. When I went down stairs I saw that it was SNOWING A LOT. What is up with this weather we’re having? I now see blue sky and the sun is peaking through the clouds. SO random.

Gabe is finally feeling better. He went in to see Dr. Mary on Monday and she prescribed him Amoxicillin because he was on the brink of an ear infection and she wanted to try and head it off with the medicine before it became a full blown infection. Coughing has died down and the runny nose is pretty much gone. YAHOO!

We decided to have mom over at our house because Jaden is still deathly sick. Poor thing. My heart is breaking for him and for mama. They took him to emergency on Easter Sunday and they ended up admitting him. His oxygen was way to low and he was dehydrated. He also had Pneumonia. He had an IV and had to be on oxygen. Julie and my mom said that he would just lie in their arms so weak and frail. They figured out that because he was about 13 weeks early and his lungs weren’t developed completely that there is scaring on his lungs and that he has trouble breathing due to Asthma. He has to have an inhaler for at least a year and they’ll reevaluate. Julie called me yesterday pretty calm but I just can’t imagine what she must be going through physically and emotionally. Jaden was up all night Wednesday night throwing up and then yesterday Jaden walked away from Julie and she noticed that he was all wet. Every time he eats he has a blow out and mom told me this morning that he’ll walk around a little bit but has to lie down for a while to gain some energy back. I guess the throwing up and the diarrhea is from the meds. He’s lost a pound and looks horrible. :o( I just want to snuggle him.

So Easter has been pretty uneventful in our household the last couple of years. Last year I was in the hospital and this year was sick.
Bryan left for church on Easter and had called me while I was trying to get something out of Calie’s mouth in which she accidently ended up biting my finger, Gabe was crying/screaming which ended in me crying. We were all a total mess so he actually came home instead because he thought we might have needed him more. It was just one of those moments that you just lose it.
My mom and I combined an Easter basket for Gabe this year. He got 3 books, some bubbles, strawberry and apple puffs and a pair of shorts with a shirt that goes with it. He loves the bubbles. The other night he was in hysterics because when I blew the bubbles Calie was jumping everywhere eating the bubbles. I think I lost a few ounces from laughing so hard. Bryan had to come investigate what was going on too since he wasn’t with us and could hear us laughing. How can you NOT have fun playing with your kid’s. I just LOVE it! I don’t think I have ever laughed SO much. I love the little personality that he’s getting. It reminds me a lot of Bryan.

Our turn for the date swap (sounds like a TV show HA)! We were supposed to go out last Saturday, but Gabe still wasn’t 100% so T and I talked about tonight instead. I think we’re going to Olive Garden for dinner. I have a GC and also someone gave us $20 to go on a date together. (((thumbs up)))

T just wrote me an email and told me something funny that Kambrie said today. haha

Kambrie is so funny she said "tell aunt Jenny what I need to eat" I said
"actually she isn't babysitting you, we are babysitting Gabe" and she said
"well, thats CONFUSING. I want her to babysit me" I said "she will next month"
she said "tomorrow?" I said "no next month" she said "tomorrow?" I said "I'll
let you know when it gets here"

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter…

2 finals down 2 to go!
Bryan WHO’S Bryan? OH he’s that random guy up in the office who I see pop out every once in a while.
Finals are over today and Bryan has two weeks off before he starts his last and FINAL term at The Art Institute of Portland. He has three classes, two on Tuesday and one on Thursday.

I have already started my “honey do” list for him. HA

oops

I was getting Gabe's bath ready tonight and Bryan carried him into the bathroom after undressing him. Gabe decided that daddy needed a shower too. hee hee

Date Swap

Teresa came up with this cool idea to do a date swap with us. I watch Kambrie once a month so that she and Nate can go out alone and they watch Gabe once a month so that Bryan and I can go out. Last night after work I met Janell at my parent’s house. She watches Gabe every Tuesday at our house and usually takes him over in our car to my parent’s house around 3:30-4. She had brought me a change of clothing so I quickly changed and then left for Nate and Teresa’s. I got there around 5:15 and K had just woken up from her nap. She looked excited to see us. Teresa gave me the scoop and then they left for their 8th year Anniversary date night. In the past I think I have watched Kambrie every year but one on their Anniversary. Last year they even brought us home a treat. K got a cool menu from the restaurant they went too and I got a book of matches. K and I asked if they were going to bring us home another treat this year. haha
After they left K showed me the new layout of her room. T rearranged some stuff. We got some toys for Gabe to play with and then we sat and read some books. Around 6:30 we got ready for dinner. Gabe finished before K so I let him get down…bad move. He can stand up at her little table and at first I thought oh he won’t try and get anything, but Kambrie was freaking out that he was going to get her food. Sure enough he got a hold of her peaches and dumped some of it on the floor, on Lee and on himself. I hurried and took the peaches out of Gabe’s hand, picked up Lee and put him in his kennel while I stripped Gabe down and tried to clean up the mess. K had finished eating and so we went upstairs and put on her nightgown and she and Gabe were playing in her room. K shut all the doors to the other rooms and I shut the gate and went down to get Lee cleaned up. I told K to call me if she needed me. The monitor was on so I could hear everything they were doing. Sheesh I kind of saw what it feels like to have 2 kids during a crazy time. K did great with Gabe…she’s a little helper. I went back up after cleaning Lee up and we read a few books up in her room. Gabe was standing near her bed…it was just the right height for him. It was really funny…all night with certain things K would say “that is really special to me” meaning she didn’t want Gabe to touch it. At one point I was rocking him in T’s rocking chair and she has this bowl of decorative balls in it and Gabe wanted them. I told Gabe NO that those were No touches and K said “because those are VERY special to mommy” heehee
When Nate and Teresa got home Gabe and I left. Gabe fell asleep right away in the car and didn’t wake up when we transferred him to his bed.

Now Bryan and I have to figure out what we’re going to do for our date night!

We had a fun weekend!

After being sicker then I have been in a long time and using my personal days to stay home, I was back to work Thursday and Friday. I had a lot of catching up to do. Thursday and Friday flew by. After work on Friday I rode Max transit to Gateway and met Moo there. She picked me up and we left to go to dinner at Claim Jumper for our birthdays! I must have really been into my work Friday because when I got to the lobby of my building I noticed that it was pouring outside and was shocked. Thankfully I had my umbrella with me.
We drove the back roads to Claim Jumper. The freeway was NASTY just like it always is on Friday’s. I had made a reservation because otherwise you have to wait a long time. We made it just in time. We had to park in the boonies though. I had opened my umbrella and Moo said “Let’s run!” and started to run…all of the sudden she was gone! I looked down and she had fallen. There was a pretty deep hole in the road and Moo stepped right into it. Her pants were all wet and she thought she might have skinned her knee. Wasn’t expecting that hole to be there that’s for sure. We made our way to the restaurant and almost got hit by a van that was pulling way too fast out of his parking spot and finally made it in. We got seated right away. As we were walking in I saw my sister’s friend Christina. Hugged her and said hi. After we sat down Moo saw some friend’s of Travis’s so she went and said hi to them. Our waitress ended up being Tiffany Gosvenor. Her family used to go to our church so Moo and I have known her since she was little. We ordered and just sat and talked. We ended up seeing Debbie from our Sunday school class too. That place is popular! Moo and I were making fun a few things on the menu. One of them being the world’s smallest chocolate sundae. Well Moo ended up getting that for dessert and I got this humongous ice cream sandwich (which by the way I took maybe 5 bites of and Bryan was more than happy to share the rest with me later haha). We ended up going back to Moo’s house and hanging out there for a while. We had a really good time. We didn’t go out last year for our birthdays so this year more than made up for it. HA
Bryan and Gabe came and got me and we went home. I got to snuggle with Gabe and put him down for bed and I was going to stay up and putter around on the computer but I was wiped out so I ended up going to be too.

Gabe woke up around 6:30-7 on Saturday morning. I fed him breakfast and then he played in the living room while I cleaned up the kitchen. Bryan left to meet with our tax preparer and I played with Gabe and started cleaning up the house. Gabe went down for his first nap around 9:30. Usually if he gets up kind of early he goes down 2-3 hours later. I took that opportunity to get in the shower and get ready. Bryan got home around 10:30 and he put away his bedding stuff that he’d been using since he hadn’t been sleeping with me. We left and got coffee’s with a SB gift card I got for my birthday and went to watch Kaleb’s basketball game. Both his team and the other team were undefeated so it was a fun game to watch and Kaleb’s team won! Gabe did really well he watched the game in my lap and he liked it when the ref’s blew their whistles. He clapped. He got passed around to everyone. He would not smile for Genny and Michelle. Genny tried really hard but he just wasn’t going to give in. I like going to Kaleb’s games. Michelle had mentioned to me when he started but it just slipped my mind. I think next year I will try and go more if we can. He’ll be in HS next year (HOLY COW) and the games will cost, but be a ton of FUN! It was pouring when we left. It started hailing on our way home too. It was crazy.
We got home around 1ish and after I put Gabe down for his afternoon nap I went to Safeway to pick up a few things I needed for dinner. Terry, Mel and their boy’s were coming over. Kind of funny we had a “Steele” day. It was fun!
For dinner I made Foil-pack Taco Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 tsp. taco seasoning mix
1/2 lb. red potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup Thick 'N Chunky salsa
3/4 cup shredded four cheese mexican style cheese
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees sprinkle chicken with seasoning mix. Place 1/2 cup of potatoes on center of each of 4 large sheets of heavy-duty foil; top evenly with chicken, salsa and cheese.

Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove packets from oven. Let stand 5 min. cut slits in foil to release steam before opening. Serve with sour cream.

And for dessert I made Chocolate Peanut Butter bars (I hadn’t made these in a while. They are very fattening but to die for. I make A LOT of Chocolate Peanut Butter desserts. I think because I know Bryan will love it.)

They showed up around 5:30 and we talked while the boy’s played. Gabe was trying to show them all of his fun toys. Dinner was ready soon after they arrived and we ate. The dinner was a hit. Sammy ate his entire plate plus some of Josh’s. When the boy’s finished they got down and played and we talked more and ate dessert. They left around 8-8:30 when Josh wanted to crawl into Gabe’s crib and sleep. He said “Sleep” and Mel knew that it was time for night-night. It was really fun getting to spend time with them.
After they left I gave Gabe a bath and got him ready for bed. Bryan played some video games and I puttered around on the computer till midnight. Too late probably…I need all the rest I can get. I still don’t feel “normal” yet from this stupid sickness. BLAH!

Sunday we went to church. Bryan had someone cover for him in JR high and we both went to our class. A while back our group did blessings for everyone. We picked one or two couples over a few Sunday’s and we blessed them plus if there was anyway to help them out with anything that happened. Example: they had a work day for Travis and Moo. Well Bryan and I hadn’t been blessed yet…mostly because Bryan teaches JR the same hour our class meets so I’m there alone. Moo arranged with Bryan a Sunday that he could come to class and we got blessed. It’s very different being the one getting blessed. So many people said so many kind things…it was very overwhelming and I started tearing up when Teresa talked and when Moo talked. We definitely felt much loved. We stood around and talked for a while and then we went up to church. There was a couple from Multnomah there for the first time that are considering helping out in JR High so we sat with them.
After service was over I went and got Gabe from the nursery introduced myself to the new couple (I forgot their names oops) and Kambrie came running up to me and showed me the craft she did in her class. Gabe tried to crawl outside…one of the side doors was opened so I closed it and we all ended up over by some stairs up to the balcony. Kambrie was climbing the stairs and sitting on them. Gabe was watching her and just very into her. He wanted to touch her and do what she was doing. It was cute, but at one point he fell down two steps. We’ve been working on showing him how to scoot down the stairs on his tummy but he wants to turn around and show the world that he’s on the stair. I felt HORABLE! He screamed and screamed. I hate that hurt cry that he does too. I hugged him for a bit and calmed him down and pretty soon he wanted back down and crawled back over to the stairs.
After church we went home and ate lunch. Gabe went down around 2 for a nap and both Bryan and I took about an hour nap too. It felt SO good. Bryan worked on homework the rest of the day and when Gabe got up I took him and Calie for a walk around our neighborhood.

OH I forgot PRAISE -- Sunday we got our tax paperwork and signed it for Kelly and we’re getting A LOT back. I am shocked at how much we’re getting. We’re trying to decide if we should use it for a new roof or if we should put it away and build up our savings again. We need a new roof so I don’t know?

Update

Sick and Tired!!!

I am sick and tired of being sick. I am sick once again. I think that I have been sick 4-5 times since Gabe was born. Just a few day's ago I could tell something was off and I was getting that sick feeling. A gal from my work came in on Thursday and said she could barley talk her throat hurt so bad. My throat had been hurting for a day or two, but when I got home Thursday my throat was getting worse and by the time Bryan got home from class I couldn't talk. My mom and sisters are sick too. Gabe sounds a little sicky but doesn't seem to be that bad? Mom went to see the doctor because she seems to have it REALLY bad and they don't want her around anyone for a while. I worked from home on Friday and now I might have to Monday too. Works pretty flexible but it stresses me out. I wish I had a back up sitter.

Luckily Bryan has managed to stay away from being sick. Which is a good thing with everything he has on his plate. Speaking of that, Bryan sent me an email the other day all excited that he got into the last three classes his needs to graduate. If we calculated right his graduation will be on June 13th. Just a little over 4 months away. I am SO excited I can hardly stand it. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Two beach weekends in a row

I took the Friday and Monday off of work Feb 8th and 11th. We had our annual women’s retreat at Cannon beach and I went with Teresa. This was the first time I have left Gabe overnight and I wasn’t nervous about leaving him home with Bryan since he watches him Wed’s and Thurs’s every week, just nervous about bed time since I am the one who puts him down every night and just being away over night.

Bryan went to class that morning to take his mid-term and I finished getting things packed up and hung out with Gabe. He was so fun and wanting to sit in my lap and play. We read a few books, watched his baby Mozart movie, and played with his stacking cups. He's now stocking them on his own. I love watching him do it. We all clap afterwards and then he claps. Gabe likes to do things his way. He doesn't clap"normal" (two palms) he pats the top of his hand.

Rabbit trail…bath time has been a struggle lately. I WAS bathing him in the kitchen sink just because it was easier on my back, but the splashing was getting OOC. The kitchen, Calie and I were soaked after bath time. I started putting him in the tub and oh my gosh this kid is ALL over the place. He’s crawling from one side to the other, trying to stand, falling on his bum then splashing then crawling again and when I tell him to sit down he just looks at me with this HUGE smile on his face. Grandma bought him this tub within a tub kind of thing and so now he’s not trying to crawl everywhere, but he is still standing up and trying to climb out of it. So bath time is NOT fun for mommy. It’s a struggle and I’m constantly sitting him back down and saying “No, Gabe you have to sit down” in which he again looks at me with a huge smile and stands up again. AHHHHHH Any suggestions from you moms out there are TOTALLY welcome!!!!!

Anyway, Bryan got home just in time to take me to Teresa’s by 11:30. We wanted to leave by 12. We had an easy drive there. Chatted the whole way…traffic was light and the roads were clear. We got there kind of early…check in time was at 3:30. We roomed with Betty, her friend Melanie and Katie. We went to dinner at Bill’s like we always do before the first session. Jody was our speaker. She and her husband teach our class at church. I think this year was probably one of the best for me. I totally missed Gabe the whole time…thankfully Moo and Lora had their little ones with them so I could get some baby love. Teresa and I didn’t go on the beach this time. We both hadn’t really brought “beach shoes” and the weather was just icky most of the time. We did walk around and look in some of the shops with Moo and Ronna (her MIL). I slept great the first night. Took two Tylenol PM’s which totally knocked me out, took a short nap Saturday and then slept OK Saturday night. I had an amazing time and am glad I went.
T drove me home and boy was I excited to see my little Gabey! Bryan took in my stuff and I said goodbye to T.
Bryan was cleaning up the house when I got home and Gabe was napping. :o( That was ok though apparently the nap was much needed. Bryan and I sat on the couch and talked about our weekends. Gabe and daddy had a fun weekend too. Bryan had a ton of homework so they stayed home and he worked on that Friday night as Gabe permitted. Saturday Bryan had a haircut with Marcella. It’s so cute because Bryan takes Gabe with him to almost all of his haircuts since they are on the day’s he watches him. Gabe sits quietly on his lap and watches Marcella cut Bryan’s hair AND all the women in the place crowd around him and give him a ton of attention. Hehe I told Bryan that next time they keep saying “he’s SO cute!” Bryan should say “Well, thanks but I’m married.” Hehe

They went home after that and got ready for their guests. Dan was bringing “the boy’s” over (Kaleb and Garren) and Randy T came over too. The boy’s spent the night and helped Bryan out with Gabe. Bryan said that both the boy’s did really well with him. They both fed him, but I don’t think they changed a diaper. They had a ton of fun and I think they wore Gabe out. I can’t believe that “my boy’s” who I watched since they were born are watching my kid now. I feel SO old! I have a picture of Kaleb and I in our basement…I’m guessing he’s about 3 in the picture and now he’s taller than me. SO weird! Time sure does fly. It is pretty neat to see them with Gabe. After Dan and Randy left Bryan asked Kaleb and Garren what time they should get up in the morning and they said 6:30am. Bryan and I both have a hard time getting up on Sunday's so I thought that was pretty funny. Bryan got them a Starbucks on the way to church and checked Gabe into the nursery. I didn't have anything to worry about Bryan did great and had great help too! ;o)
When Gabe woke up from his nap I walked in to get him out of his bed and he gave me the biggest smile ever while bouncing up and down. I love how he stands up in his crib now waiting with anticipation for you to walk into the room.

Last weekend we went to the beach with my family for my 30th birthday. Everyone got to go and we found a nice house at the last minute. Mom, Gabe, Julie, Jaden and Nathan left early on Friday and then Bryan, Janell, my dad and I left after work. I was dying to see Gabe by the time we got there. He was still up and so I got to spend a little time with him and put him down to bed too. The layout of the house was nice but things were weird. The gas oven didn't work but the stove worked, the house was slightly slanted, the faucet under the kitchen sink broke and water went everywhere, you had to leave the doors open in order for the rooms to stay warm and that wasn't possible because the house was small enough that we had to close the doors so that the boy's wouldn't wake up. It was so much fun despite that and it wouldn't have been a traditional family vacation without some kind of adventure. Nathan did all the cooking. He is a good cook and a great barbecuer. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We walked to the beach on Saturday and later in the evening the guy's left because Nathan had to work and both Bryan and dad had to be at church. So we had a girls + two baby's night.

Thank you family for making wonderful memory for my birthday

Happy "love" Day!

I got some purty flowers from my Hubby today!

We have a crawler in the house

Gabe's been crawling for a while now. It's funny to watch him because at first he crawled pretty slow and now he fly's around the house.

Bryan sent me this video of a first for Gabe...

Sorry it's a little dark
Bryan get's really close to him because he's afraid of him falling backwards. Sheesh that makes me nervous.

More Birthday's

Happy Birthday Mama!

Last Monday (January 28th) was my mom's birthday and I thought I would honor my mom on this special day in my blog.

Look at this beautiful woman. Is it just me or does she just glow in this picture? My mom LOVES being a grandma. Jaden and Gabe are her pride and joy. I love watching her with them. She is such a wonderful grandma. When I was 2 years old my grandma (my mom's mom) was diagnosed with stomach cancer and she passed when I was three. This was very devastating for my mom. They were best friends and all she ever dreamed about was having her mom be there with her as she became a mom herself. I don't remember my grandma, but I do know that a piece of her specialness is in my mom and I am SO blessed to have her here with me as I now am a mom. She was raised in Oregon. I share Kay as a middle name with her and my two sisters. She loves cars, singing , dancing and I got my sexy legs from her.

I only hope I can have a fraction of her contagious energy, youth, and spirit when I turn 56.

Happy Late Birthday Mama--

So January 30th celebrates an extremely important day to me... the birth of this sweet man, husband and father.

Yes, It was Bryan's 32nd Birthday!!! THIRTY TWO! Crazy huh? That's almost 40! HA Remember when 30 sounded so old? How quickly our perspective seems to change. Now my young, cute husband who still wears beanies, snowboards, plays video games and prefers a Hershey bar and a container of peanut butter to any fancy recipe I could try... is 32. Do we ever really grow up?

This is a man that I knew when I married him would do whatever he could to make a stranger's life easier, let alone his WIFE. He is a giver. He is always willing to drive everywhere even if he is falling asleep and beyond tired, because I HATE to drive. He doesn't even try to convince me to drive anymore. He always shuts down the house at night as I lay in bed waiting for him and when he's almost in bed I'll say "OOOH I forgot this or that and he'll wander the house trying to find whatever it is...because I never know where I put it.

He always tells me I'm beautiful even though most days he sees me in cozies with wild, crazy frizzy, hair. He tells me I'm a good mom. He treats Gabe just like the smartest, coolest, most important little man he is... so that he will become it.

He rubs my back as often as I ask, and when he does, he doesn't pretend to rub it like I've seen so many other husbands do, he goes all out! :) He carries everything at church for me and most places that we go. He uses funny phrases I've never heard of and teaches me what they mean (although I know most of them now). He always does the garbage, the poop in the yard, and all the other man jobs that I love to be exempt from. He praises me for the jobs that I do.

He plays with Gabe just like I'd always imagined a super dad would with our little ones; he's so full of joy and energy and makes him laugh and laugh. He sings to him and I could listen for hours. He makes most of the bottles for Gabe.

He is such a righteous priesthood holder and makes me feel like Gabe and I will always be safe with him. He is an optimist and finds the good in everyone. He is truly one of those people that doesn't speak ill of anyone. (Sometimes it can even be frustrating when I need a gossiping avenue... (confession? ...seriously I can't help but do it) ... he focuses on the good in me and reminds me to do the same :).

He is a constant example, a reminder of how blessed I am, proof of the existence of a man who's GOOD to his core, something that the world doesn't even believe exists anymore. He is my best friend and my sweet heart and I am SOOO grateful that he was born 32 years ago.

Happy Birthday Bryan! I love you.

Calie's 3 today!

I can't believe my babae gurl is already 3! I remember when she was just a tiny little thing. Now she's 70-80 pounds and a pain in my butt. HAHA

Happy Birthday!

Under the treadmill. HAHA

Happy 9 months Gabey Baby

He used to be this small. This was my FAVORITE preemie outfit that he had. It is SO crazy how fast he's growing. I can't believe he's wearing 12-18 months sizes.

I LOVE YOU, GABE!

Me, Myself, and I

6 facts about me...

1) Some people may already know this about me, but I LOVE to clean and organize. It is definitely a big part of who I am. One of my favorite times of the week is waking up early on Saturday morning to my list of chores that I have made for myself. Sometimes it's on paper, sometimes in my head.

2) I love music. I love listening to music. Music has always been a big part of my family. When I was little we drove up to Kent, WA to visit my grandparents almost every weekend and we would listen to music all the way up and all the way back home. Loud too. We would all be singing at the top of our lungs. Every now and then I like to just sit and listen to my favorite songs and just sing my heart out. It's very relaxing to me.

3) I have the opposite of anorexia- On my fridge, I have written, "You are not skinny". I LOVE to eat. I am happy with myself (besides the muffin top that I haven't seemed to get rid of since age 3 ;o) ) and don't feel the need to be super skinny. But when I try to justify eating a bag of chips or a HUGE bowl of ice cream I can look at the fridge and be reminded of moderation in all things.

4) I have a fear of the phone. I don't know exactly where this stems from? I hate calling people. It is borderline painful. I have been trying to work on this over the years and I would like to think that I have gotten a little better.

5) I have naturally curly hair. Yes all the joys of the frizz, tangles, and the poof-ball are mine to be had. Most people say......"how I wish my hair was curly." But, they don't have it! They would definitely hate it if they had it. I will admit some days I like my curly hair.....but really it is mostly a pain. I was reading this book on curly hair and there are literally "rules" you are supposed to follow if you want shiny, bouncy, non-frizzy curls. Some of these rules include: never brushing it again.......you can only use a wide-tooth comb, not washing it with shampoo...you are supposed to use conditioner to wash it, and last but not least not drying it with a towel, but with a t-shirt.

6) I am SO loving being a mom. I know that there are hard times but it just seems so rewarding. I LOVE holding and snuggling my warm little chubby baby Gabe. I am excited to always have a little buddy who will do everything with me........until he gets old enough to have an opinion which I am hoping isn't until he turns 18!

Got Spit up?

Bryan, Gabe and I went to the mall the other day and Gabe randomly spit up and I actually had my camera in my purse.

This is what happened...

Before I was a Mom

For Every Mom
I saw this poem...I loved it! Maybe you will too...

I have to tell you being a full time working mom has been the hardest thing I have EVER had to do. This morning I had to leave my little guy and come to work. I think I'll need a lot of tissue today. sniff

Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom,
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on. Spit on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

All Things Christmas

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
Well another year almost gone.
First and foremost...I never posted anything about our Thanksgiving and I wanted to say that I am SO thankful...

For my family

great friends
health
a roof over our heads
food to eat
happiness
the greatest gift, God's Son
freedom
and so so much more.

This month started off with my company holiday party at The Riverplace Hotel.

It was a very nice hotel. We arrived and mingled a little and then sat down with Randy and Bobbie. They had a slide show going of this years events and at one part they showed all the 2007 babies (there were A LOT) and Gabe was the cutest one out of the bunch (not biased whatsoever). The food was good, the program was good although long...we had our first retirement of the company and they weren't sure how to present it so that took a long time. After the speeches were made, the gifts given out (which NO I didn't win anything. I never do) and the food was eaten, Bryan and I left to get Gabe at my moms. It was a fun little night out together, but I wanted to get home.

Sunday, Sunday
We had baby dedication on Sunday the 2nd. This was so much fun as Gabe was getting dedicated and with his cousin Jaden and with Marcia's little Mia and Kate's little Lily. 2nd service Gabe had fallen asleep right before and it was hilarious when Pastor was holding him up. Here are some Pictures of the event (By Teresa thank you)


This has been such a fun time being Gabe's 1st Christmas! Teresa got a very fancy camera for her birthday and I asked if she would be willing to also take our family Christmas picture. So her and Kambrie came over that evening and took a bunch of pictures.

Here's the one we went with. (I'm sure that most of you have already seen it)

I ended up leaving work early on Monday the 3rd. My mom had Gabe and she had fallen down the stairs and hurt herself really bad. She couldn't even really walk. Thankfully she wasn't holding Jaden or Gabe and she is fine. She ended up going to the Dr's and nothing horrible happened, thank God, she was just going to be really sore for a while.

Bryan had the JR High Christmas party on the 5th and then he had the rest of the month off...well Wednesday nights anyway.

Gabe had his first haircut on the 8th. His hair was driving me bonkers. He was starting to look like a miniature Donald Trump with a comb over and on one of the sides a piece of hair would stick out and I could not get it to stay down. His hair was also growing over his ears too. SO I buzzed it. YUP I did...and may I say he looks DANG cute! I am hoping that it will grow back a little more even?

That evening I went to our Young Marrieds Christmas party over at Randy's and Bobbie's by myself. Not cause I wanted too, but cause Bryan had two major finals the next week and Gabe had still been napping when I left. The party was fun! We all stood around talking and eating and just enjoying one another. We played a white elephant gift exchange and then people started leaving. Teresa and I helped Bobbie clean up and ended up staying till around 10 I think.

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree
That Sunday we went to church and then quickly went home to change and then back out again. We met up at my parents and we went to Vancouver and had lunch at Red Robin. As we were eating we noticed that it was snowing outside and it didn't stop the rest of the night. We went to the tree farm that Nathan and Julie had gone to in past years and we picked out our trees. The farm was big and actually really busy. They had animals and a little barn that you could go into and get hot coco or hot cider and they had a little store too. After we got the trees and paid for them we ended up on a small adventure (like my family ALWAYS does). We ended up getting lost and we had to back track to find our way out of Vancouver.

We had the Montavilla Staff Christmas party on the 13th and Friday we picked up Gabe from my moms, chatted for a little bit and went home. We made dinner and Bryan left around eight to hang out with Dan since they were in town that weekend. Gabe and I hung out and played. He is so cute...he takes everything out of his toy basket one by one, puts each one in his mouth for a second or 2 and moves on to the next. He is going to crawl any day now. He's getting up on his knees and rocks back and fourth. He just needs to get over his leg and take off. I gave him a bath and rocked him to sleep. After I put him down for the night I worked on some laundry and getting my pictures organized. Bryan got home around one and I was actually still awake.

I got up around 8:30 the next morning. Gabe slept till nine. I got some more laundry done and picked up the house. I need to do some deep cleaning ASAP! At around 11:30 we left to do some errands. We went to TRU and picked up some presents for Gabe and Jaden. We went to 2 banks, the post office, two other stores and then Safeway. When we got home we unpacked and while I fed Gabe Bryan made us lunch. At around 5ish we left to meet my family at their house to head downtown. It's a tradition that we've done since I was little. We got really good parking spots right next to each other and we went straight to Macy's to see Santa. We weren't sure what the line would be like so we wanted to do that first. Everything looked way different than I remembered and no monorail...well they had a memorial for it and the boy's got to sit in it. AH memories. Funny thing is I remember always having to ride it alone when I was little. I was too big when my sisters were riding it. Gabe and Jaden liked looking around at everything. When it was our turn to see Santa, Gabe went first. His eye's got really big and he was touching his beard. He was SO serious...no smiles at all.

We added Jaden so that both boy's were together. It was SO cute.

We took Gabe away so that they could get Jaden alone with Santa. They did pretty good if I do say so myself. I think that in one of my pictures with Santa I was crying because I thought my mom was going to leave me, but she actually was just walking back to take a picture. We walked to the mall and ate dinner there in the food court area and then shopped around. Jaden had fun on Grandpa's shoulders hitting him on the head and he also said "HI" to all the bald men in the mall. Grandpa's bald so he gets excited cause they're like Grandpa. hehe Me and Gabe played hide and seek in American Eagle and had all the workers in stiches because he was laughing so hard. We left the mall, got some Starbucks and went to see the HUGE Christmas tree in Pioneer Square.

When we got home we all went straight to bed. Although SO much fun, the night was very exhausting.
Sunday we went to church and then we came home and just puttered around. I made a salad and we all went to Dave and Kate's for dinner. Gabe had a ton of fun hanging out with the girls and it was nice getting to hang out with friends.



The 21st was my last day of work for the rest of the year. YEA! I go back on the 2nd and I have a feeling it will be hard. I have SO enjoyed this time off with Gabe. I miss him SO much when I am away from him. :o( I actually worked from home that day too. My mom ended up having to go into work so I drove to work, got some work to take home and then made sure my area was cleaned up and shut down for the week.
We went to Peacock Lane with Nate, Teresa, Kambrie, Dave and Linda. It was a really chilly night out and we had an adventure kind of night with them (just like our family adventures). Dave and Linda had locked themselves out of the house and Patrick was on his way to get them in so we waited for them. We walked to the little mart and stayed in there for a while as it was warm in there and Nate and T got coffee. Gabe was So tired by the end and come to find out he absolutely HATES the stroller that I was using. It is my moms and a lot smaller than ours, so we borrowed it. My mom told me afterwards that Gabe hates that stroller. I guess she has tried to use it other times and he has thrown a fit. I think just being tired and then having to be in a stroller he hates pushed him over the edge. It was fun over all though!

Christmas Eve Bryan and I just got things ready, He wrapped my gifts and I wrapped more of Gabe's and others. Bryan's parents came over around five and we had pizza and salad for dinner and opened gifts. They got Gabe the Laugh & Learn Puppy and he absolutely loved it. He was laughing at it and just having a great time. They left around 7ish and we headed over to my parents to open our Christmas Pj's . We didn't stay the night. We went home around 10 I think and went to bed. The next morning we got over to my parents around 8:30 and we started opening gifts. It took us forever. The boy's got a lot of stuff. They had fun but weren't really interested in opening the gifts. They just wanted to see what each other was getting. Jaden wanted to play with Gabe's new toy's and Gabe wanted to play with Jaden's new toy's. I love this time of year and I just LOVE that it was Gabe's first Christmas. I look forward to many more.

Christmas Eve Jammies

Christmas Day

Couple funnies...
At night I put Gabe to bed and most of the time he doesn't have his bink in his mouth. A lot of times he'll wake up in the middle of the night and just want his bink and we'll have to go into his room and plug it in and he'll go right back to sleep. Yes, he is obsessed with his bink. Well, Kate told me to put some in his crib and because he knows how to put it in his mouth he'll find one and put it in himself. It's been funny a few nights he'll go to bed with one bink in his mouth and then wake up with a different one.

On Christmas Gabe became a poser. Every time he knew the camera was pointed at him he would stop what he was doing and look up with the cheesiest grin on his face. He's been doing that ever since. We have a lot of pictures of him posing for the camera. SO CUTE!

Have a great New Year everyone!