12-29-11 Some Goals For the New Year

I’ve been thinking lately about some changes I’d like to make in my life. Changes that will help me organize my life and be a better mother, wife, and friend to those in need.  So here they are:

1. Be dressed and ready every morning by 10 am. And on the days that I don’t work out in the morning, be dressed and ready by 8 am.

2. Read my scriptures during the day so that Jacob and I can read together at night.

3. Kneel to pray morning and night and be consistent in our husband and wife prayers.

4. Stick to my weekly cleaning routine so that the house stays orderly and clean.

5. Lose at least 40lbs by the end of 2012 (depending on how much I gain by April).

6. Run a half marathon towards the end of 2012.

7. Spend more time playing with my children and doing activities with them that are productive and educational.

8. Learn to see my worth and believe in it no matter what the world would make me feel about myself.

9. Limit the boys’ time watching television.

10. Improve my photography skills and grow my business.

11. Learn to sew.

12. Go to school full-time for another semester.

13. Read more church literature and magazines so that I can be a better teacher.

14. Do my visiting teaching each month and become friends with the ladies I serve.

15. Take more pictures and journal at least 2 times a week.

16. Cook dinner 4 times a week.

17. Live a healthier lifestyle and get to bed before 11 during the week.

18. Spend quality time with my husband so that we never lose that “in love” feeling.

19. Show more patience for my children and stop responding with frustration.

20. Be diligent in my church calling and responsibilities.

21. Grow a garden, or at least attempt to.

22. Get out of debt.

23. Attend the Temple 1-2 times each month.

24. Buy a family vehicle.

25. Have FHE every week.

I’m going to cross things off my list and evaluate my progress as time goes on, so I’ll come back to this list often. They are good righteous goals, and I know that if I exercise self-discipline and prioritize, the Lord will help me to achieve them.

12-28-11

I was laying in bed last night talking to Jacob about how much I love boys. Everywhere I look there are cars and trucks and swords and race tracks and super hero costumes and balls and action figures and Batman caves. It just makes me smile that I have not a girly toy anywhere in this house. I’m surrounded by boys, and I love it. When Jaedyn comes over she has no choice but to play with all the boys stuff, and she has plenty of fun doing it. The boys got these capes and masks from Grandma Patti for Christmas. Jaedyn didn’t have a mask so I cut up an old t-shirt and made a quick eye mask for her. I need a sewing machine. That’s on my list for this year. Here are my little super heroes.

12-26-11 The Boys Are Home!

This past week went by really fast. I know the boys weren’t here, but Christmas was really good despite the fact that we were childless. We had a good time with both sides of the family, and there were enough activities to keep us occupied. On Friday I went to the gym, showered, and then we went to the UNLV basketball game with Bec and Jud and Joe and Ryan. They brought a couple of girls with them, and after the game we went to In N Out to grab a bite and chat a bit. Later I took Andrea a little present that I had gotten for her, and she sent home some yummy salsa that she made. Then we went to dinner with Jacob’s parents and sister to Chili’s. After dinner we came home and I don’t think we did much else that night. Saturday was Christmas Eve. I spent most of Saturday cleaning my house. I know I should have cleaned my house on Monday when the boys left, but that’s all I do when they are here so I figured I would enjoy the week by cleaning only what I needed to. So Saturday I swept, mopped, cleaned bathrooms, organized the toy room and boys’ room, scrubbed couches, vacuumed the stairs, washed walls and cabinets, dusted, and got everything clean to not even enjoy it since we wouldn’t be home the next two days anyway. But having a clean house just feels good. And it’s nice and clean, except that the boys are home now and it was a disaster today after all the present opening. We went to Jacob’s grandma’s house first for a couple hours and then headed to my Uncle Danny’s house for the rest of the evening where we ate tamales and visited mostly with my siblings and parents. We were sent home with a gazillion gifts for the boys, and they were really good gifts. We came home late the evening and got everything put under the tree for the boys to open on Monday. On Sunday we went to church with Jacob’s family (our ward’s was at 8:30 and I didn’t go to sleep until 4 that morning) and then headed to Jacob’s parents’ house to spend the Christmas Day with them. I made his parents a photo book with highlights from each month of 2011. They gave us a camera, a point and shoot, and I’m so happy they did. After that we went to my parents’ house and ate my dad’s breakfast and my mom’s amazing french toast topped with  strawberry chream cheese sauce. It’s to DIE for, no joke. I love our breakfast for dinner Christmas Day tradition. We visited with my family until around 8 pm and then headed home. We got my parents a big 16 x 20 of all the grandkids and a collage frame of shots of each of the grandkids. We got movie tickets from Bec and Juddy. It was a wonderful Christmas, and I really think that Jacob and I were blessed to have a great Christmas week even though our boys were gone. I’m always amazed at how the Lord lifts burdens and comforts us in times of great distress and even in times when my boys are just gone for Christmas.

I picked the boys up this morning in Mesquite. Oh how good it was to see their smiling faces and to watch them run into my arms so happy to see me. This is the longest I have been without seeing them, although we did get to Skype on Christmas morning, and they were just little sweeties then.  I can really appreciate Skype when my boys are at their dad’s house. From Mesquite we headed over to my parents to open presents from them and Uncle Adam. Adam surprised our family by coming down on Thursday the 22nd from North Dakota, and it was so great to see him and have him with the family on Christmas. Jacob met us at my parents and watched the boys open presents and then went back to work. We stayed at my parents for a bit, and then headed home to go open the loads of presents the boys had waiting for them at our house.  When we pulled into our neighborhood, Easton said, “It sure is good to see these houses again.” He’s grown up so much, I forget how old he’s getting until he says things like that.

When Jacob got home the boys opened so many presents! I don’t know if I have ever seen such a sight. Too many toys to even keep track of. Luckily I went through the boys’ toys while they were gone and donated 3 garbage bags full to make room for their new stuff. They loved everything they got, and they’ve had so much fun playing with their stuff and riding on the scooters they wanted so badly. They are just darling, and we aren’t complete without them in our home. We were blessed with a wonderful week without them, and but even more grateful to have them home again. I missed their cuddles.

 

This is what we brought home for the boys on Christmas Eve. So this is not from us or our parents. Just my aunts and my grandma and Jacob’s grandma. So yeah, they got a lot.

Easton at the Del Taco in Mesquite when I picked them up

Waiting at G-Ma and G-Pa Romero’s to open presents

Easton got this awesome 8-foot race track from G-Ma and G-Pa Romero. It folds up really easily so it’s ok.

Riding on their new bikes from G-Ma and G-Pa Edgel. Their cute hats came home from UT with them. They look adorable in them.

 

This is right before we started opening presents. I LOVE these boys.

And these are all their presents, minus what they got from Jacob’s parents and some other gifts that aren’t in the picture. It was never like this when I was a kid.

12-22-11

I don’t know how we are 3 days away from Christmas. I am amazed year after year how fast Christmas seems to come, and it only gets faster the older I get. We have had a busy week! I’ve been meaning to blog, but there has just been so much going on. On Saturday, the 17th, we went with Jacob’s family to the Magical Forest. Sometime this year I will invest in a camera that is easy to take places with me. My camera is just too big and then you add the flash to it, and I don’t want to lug that brick around. So there’s really only 1 picture that was slightly decent from that evening. The weather was nice, and it was really cold last year so we appreciated the warmer temps this time. The boys had fun riding the carousel and the train. This is us on the carousel.

On Sunday, the 18th, we went to church, then choir, then tithing settlement, and finally to Jacob’s parents to open Christmas presents early since the boys were leaving to UT the next day. They got lots of little boys things and then their new bikes which they were stoked about. Teagan has needed a new bike for months now, but we wanted to wait until Christmas to get him one, so Jacob’s mom ended up getting them new bikes. These boys always get so many presents for Christmas that Jacob and I decided to only get them 3 each and a couple things to share. We haven’t done presents with them yet, but they will be back Monday and we’ll do it then.

On Monday, Adam and Angelica picked up the boys, so I have been kidless since then. I thought I would be bored out of my mind, but there have been so many things to do. I’ve gone to the gym, cleaned, shopped, watched tv, wrapped presents, slept in, got a hair cut, organized and decluttered the toy room – meaning nearly 3/4 of their toys have been donated to make room for all the new stuff they will get. As much as I miss my children, it is nice to get alone time with Jacob since it has NEVER been just us. Which is totally fine, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything, but it’s nice to get time just the two of us to feel like the rest of the newlyweds with no children. I supposed every once in a while we need that time alone whether or not we realize it.  In 3 1/2 months it will never be just us again because we will always have at least one with us.

On Monday evening we went with Jacob’s family to see The Forgotten Carols. It was fine – the play was weird, but I enjoyed the music and that’s really all I cared about. On Tuesday evening we had the missionaries over for dinner, and that’s the first time we’ve had them since we moved into this house. Having the missionaries over always has the potential of making for an awkward and quite dinner, depending on the missionaries, and these ones were talkative and friendly so it was fine. On Wednesday I went to lunch with Staci at Olive Garden to exchange little Christmas gifts – she got me a candle that made my house smell really nice last night. After lunch I came home to get ready for our Relief Society Christmas dinner. It was a really nice evening, and I really like that I have made so many wonderful friends in the ward. Today I baby-sat Jaedyn. We spent the morning watching Christmas movies while repair men did some maintenance on our air system. Then around 2 pm Jaedyn and I headed to Costco and Ross to pick up the rest of the gifts on my Christmas list. I always get really excited about the gifts that I’m giving people. It’s SOOO much more fun to give someone a gift that you know they’ll love than it is to get a gift. At least to me. Jaedyn got picked up at 5, and then Jacob and I got ready to go to dinner with our friends Amanda and Ryan at PF Changs. It was a really good dinner, as it always is when we eat there. After dinner Jacob stopped and got me frozen custard. I love frozen custard.  And I fully expect to go to my next appointment and step on the scale 10 lbs heavier than last month. I am just waiting for that day. I’m hoping for no more than 4. But there have been too many Christmas treats in this house.

Today Jacob was off work, and he’s off tomorrow as well. We are going to a basketball game at 2 pm with Bec and Jud, and Jacob will probably go to a movie with his parents while I go to the gym and take gifts to Andrea and my friend Karol who just had a new little baby girl. Christmas Eve will be spent with Jacob’s extended family and then my extended family, and Christmas Day will be just our immediate families. We only have sacrament meeting on Sunday and then we’ll go to Jacob’s parents and then mine.  That is our week so far. I plan to hit the gym tomorrow morning as early as I can get myself out of bed since I have a busy day ahead of me. I still need to mop my floor and clean the upstairs. Since the boys have been gone, I have no motivation to clean since that’s all I seem to do while they are here. But I need to get it all clean tomorrow. Wish me luck.

12-16-11 Christmas Cookies

Yesterday was a day of baking madness. Today I finished up the last of my baking, and I don’t think I need to bake another cookie for forever.  I made 4 different kinds of cookies yesterday. I baked 3 of them yesterday, but I couldn’t finish the hot cocoa cookies until today. I arranged plates for the neighbors on our street and some for some friends in our ward. I made about 250 cookies and still didn’t make enough to take to everyone that I wanted to take goodies to. Oh well. I’m a Mormon, so I know too many dang people. They can’t all get cookies. I gave a plate to Easton’s teacher along with a gift card to Starbucks.

First I made chocolate rolo cookies, then orange zested cookies with an orange zest glaze, then white chocolate cherry shortbread cookies, and finally hot cocoa cookies. My very favorites were the white choc cherry cookies, I think. Or the orange cookies. But the hot cocoa cookies were pretty dang awesome too. The rolo cookies were good, but the other 3 were amazing. Cookie heaven in every bite. The hot cocoa cookies were topped with gooey marshmallows, and when you broke them in half melted semi-sweet chocolate oozed out. So so good. And the cherry cookies? Maybe my very favorite. But not so much my favorite that I could stop eating the light and citrusy orange cookies. So they were all my favorites. Kind of like my children :).

Amidst the craziness of baking I yelled at the children to keep the house clean and to stop fighting. I love that when my attention is directed elsewhere, there seem to be messes in places I didn’t know there could be. How much do I love it? Well, not very much at all.  In fact, I mean that I hate it. Why can’t children play neatly in a civilized fashion when left unattended? Can’t they hear their mother’s voice in their tiny heads nagging them to stop making messes? I love them, but I don’t love their messes. Is it bad that I want children to not be children while being children?

On Wednesday Becca came over and brought Sadie so that we could snap some pictures of the grandkids for my parents for Christmas. I won’t post any of them yet, but we got some really cute ones. My parents are going to love them!

Like I said, yesterday I baked the day away and then had mutual that evening. Today after baking and arranging plates I decided to put a few of the orange cookies aside without glaze so that the kiddos could frost and decorate them.  I have a hard time doing activities like that that I know will be messy, but it’s for the good of the children.  Jaedyn was so meticulous and clean about her cookie decorating. Easton was pretty good, but he certainly didn’t spend 20 minutes frosting one cookie like Jaedyn did. But Teagan – dear sweet Teagan – he made a mess I should have anticipated but didn’t. It was an innocent mess. The kind any two-year-old would make with a tub of red glitter, chocolate sprinkles, and a glob of frosting in front of them.  I wouldn’t dare let them do this activity unsupervised, so it’s not like Teagan got out of control. They had fun, though, and that makes me happy.

Notice the appearance of each child’s plate. And notice Teagan’s area compared to Jaedyn’s. I can’t help but smile.

Tonight Easton got to go with his primary to take a bus ride to an old folks’ home and sing Christmas carols to them. He thought it was fabulous to be able to ride on the bus. After we picked him up from the church we delivered cookies to some of our friends and stopped at Sister Brasier’s to see the lights on her house and let Teagan say hello. She is Teagan’s nursery leader, and he LOVES her. We went in her house for a minute to day hi and see all the Star Wars ornaments on their tree. The boys loved that. After we got home I started dinner  and Bec, Juddy, Sadie, and Joe came over to eat dinner tacos and Spanish rice and watch The Office. It’s always a mad house when kids come over because they are so loud and my house is not very big. So we watched the show to the best of our ability. They left about 10pm, but the boys had fun playing with Sadie. She and Teags are best buds. I can’t wait to share the pics of them! It’s been a busy couple of days, and I’m just ready to have a relaxing weekend. The boys leave for their dad’s on Monday. It will be sad to not have them for Christmas this year. I will miss them this week for sure!

12-13-11 Sick, Sick, and More Sick

Everyone around this house is sick. Except for me. Jacob stayed home from work and slept all day. Easton has had a little bit of a cold for a few days and woke up with red spots all over his face this morning. He didn’t have them yesterday at all. It first appeared to be chicken pox which would really annoy me since the Clark County School District requires children to be immunized against chicken pox, so Easton got his first dose in August and his second dose 2 weeks ago. I took him and Teags into the doctor, and Dr. Baker said it appears to just be a bacterial rash similar to a strep rash. Teags has 2 dots on his face so I’m wondering if he’ll wake up with more tomorrow. He’s been pretty snotty and stuffed up for several days and perhaps had a fever on Friday. But the boys are now both on amoxicillin to kick this bacteria in the butt. Easton’s red dots are already scabbing. I keep feeling like I don’t want to kiss their faces or touch their skin because it grosses me out, but as a mother you suck it up and pretend they look just as cute and cuddly as ever. Neither of them are fussy or whiny, and they don’t have fevers, so that’s good. Jacob’s had a fever off and on today, and I hope that he will feel better tomorrow.

At the doctor today, Easton and Teagan were playing around in the room while Dr. Baker was writing their prescriptions. They kept scooting their chairs all over the little room, making trains out of them, sitting next to each other and then away from each other and repeating all of that over and over again. At one point Easton scooted away and Teags scooted his chair next to him, but Easton said, “No, this is my space now. I don’t want you to be by me.” Kids are such fickle things. Anyway, Teagan scowled his little face, feelings clearly hurt and said, “But I your brother, E-sin.” It is just too cute to me how much they love that brotherhood – both at different times, of course. They both pull that “But I’m your brother” thing when the other has apparently forgotten the significance of that brotherly relationship.

Logan has been a busy little man since I hit 20 weeks. I didn’t feel him move much before then, and I’m pretty sure I felt the other boys move much earlier than that. But I don’t remember for sure. I have been feeling fine, but I already get that tight feeling in my sides when it seems my skin can’t possibly stretch any farther. It can and it will, but it just gets tight and uncomfortable. However, I love to feel my little Logan moving around, and I can hardly wait to have him here.

12-12-11 Easton’s Birthday

Somebody awesome turned 6 today. That would be Easton, my always sweet and always kind (usually – he still fights with his brother now and then) firstborn child. I wish I were better at taking pictures of important events in my life. I took a few pics of Easton today, but not any of him opening presents or doing presents with grandmas and grandpas yesterday.  I vow to be better next year and actually get my camera out to capture the highlights of our life.

Easton’s kind of a cheese ball in front of the camera, and I feel like it’s hard to capture him just being him. I don’t try often enough, though, so that’s my problem.

We started his birthday festivities yesterday. First we went to Jacob’s parents’ house where Easton got batman jammies, pirate swords, glow sticks, and a custom built sandbox with some kind of superior sand. The boys loved it. The sandbox will stay in Grandma Patti’s backyard, so I love it too. Teagan got a pair of Cars jammies. No it wasn’t his birthday, but grandparents do as they please, and that’s just how it goes.

At my parents Easton got a bunch of medieval knight action figures. He loves actions figures. Those are always the toys that are constantly getting played with. I love how much boys love their “guys.” I frequently get asked, “Mom, have you seen my guys?” Teagan loves them just as much as Easton does. Easton also got a spiderman car from Uncle Pearl, and this week Becca and Jud are going to take him to see a movie.  My mom got him a little spiderman cake that was surrounded by cupcakes and apologized for not making her usual scrumptious homemade cakes, but kids don’t care about the taste so much as the character in the icing. So he was pretty pleased with his birthday cake.

This morning he woke up and of course wanted to open a present right away, so we let him open one before school. He opened the Lego Fishing Boat, which he loved. We stuck to a Lego theme because he needs more big boy things, and he loves playing with his Uncle Jayden’s Legos. At school I took cupcakes to his class and everyone sang happy birthday to him while his little face just smiled away. Teagan thought it was just awesome to be able to visit Easton in his class and was even more excited when we joined them outside for recess. Have I ever mentioned how adorable it is to see these two brothers love each other? I love it, really I do. Teagan adores his brother, and it is way too cute to watch them run to each other and hug when we pick Easton up from school

After school, we headed to Panda Express to have lunch with Jacob at Easton’s place of choosing. He loves Panda. He loves Chinese food in general. It was fun to eat lunch with Dad and let Easton feel special on his birthday.

After Panda Express, we came home and hung out for the rest of day at home. When Jacob got home Easton opened the rest of his presents which were a bucket of Lego basics and a Lego Spaceship. He was quite pleased with all of it. Teagan did quite well for a 2-year-old that didn’t get any presents while his brother did.

Easton has blessed this family with his warm and gentle heart and his sincere desire to please his parents and Heavenly Father. His kindness and compassion melt my heart. He is so good to his classmates at school and friends at church, and I get nothing but positive comments when it comes to Easton and how well he behaves and treats others. He’s a joy and a light, a good brother, and a wonderful son who never ceases to tell his mom how beautiful she is and how she’s the only girl he’ll ever kiss. As he prayed tonight he thanked Heavenly Father for his wonderful birthday and all his wonderful things, and it just reminded me of how truly grateful and appreciative he is of all the good things, even the really little things, that he has in life. He reminds us that there is goodness in the world, and that we don’t just have a little of it but that our lives are overflowing with an abundance of blessings that are too many to count, him being one of those blessings.. I love him, Teagan loves him, Jacob loves him.  We all love him. I tell him every night when I kiss him and tuck him in, “Thanks for being my sweet Easton.” And I really mean it.

And, after 6 years of eating them, Easton still asks me for green beans every morning for breakfast. I have never known of a child so faithful to his green beans as Easton is. He LOVES them. Happy birthday to the most awesome Easton in the world.

12-6-11 Cozying up the Home

Last week I FINALLY ordered pictures from the photo gallery I have had hanging up in my hallway for just about a year now. All the frames had the pictures they came with still in them. One day Easton, who I’m sure has been confused about it for months, said to me, “Who the heck are these people anyway?” They’re the people on our photo wall, of course. So I ordered pictures last week and took out those nameless faces that have filled my frames for the past year and put in the faces I know and love. I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

I also decided that I needed more red and green Christmas decorations, so I went to Michael’s and got the stuff to make some wreaths. Nothing fancy, but I love them, and they add that classic Christmas look to my home. Love it. I still really want to get more Christmas things for the kitchen and some Christmas throw pillows for the couch. I may not get that this year, but it would be nice.

Business info

This info is merely for my photography business, but every time I save it to my favorites I get a new computer and lose all the info. So I’m just going to pin it and have it forever.

 

http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=419

http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=273#406

http://nvsos.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2062

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-076.html, specifically Title 7, Chapter 76, NRS 76.020 article 2c

http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=415

http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=423

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98202,00.html

http://nvsos.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1742, business license exemption form

http://tax.state.nv.us/documents/app01b.pdf

https://www.nevadatax.nv.gov/WEB/BusinessRegistration/NBR/NBRStart.aspx

http://tax.state.nv.us/nevada%20tax%20info.htm#whyregister

12-4-11 YW St. George Trip and Shooting

I took a trip to St. George with my YW Friday to Saturday. We went up and did temple baptisms and toured the Brigham Young home and the tabernacle. I also stayed up really late laughing with some other leaders until about 4am and then got up about 8 am the next morning. I’m still tired.  It was so much fun to be with our cute YW and the other leaders that are just hilarious to hang out with. It was quite fun, and St. George was beautiful. I didn’t take my camera because I don’t always want to be the designated event photographer. But here are only a couple shots from one of my YW. At least you can see what I look like at 22 weeks pregnant. We’re at the Brigham Young home here.

Saturday morning before I got home Jacob took the boys shooting with him and his dad. It was a freezing day here in Vegas, with those icy winds we get in the winter, so the boys were bundled up nice and warm and just looked as adorable as could be! Jacob had so much fun with them, and I’m glad that he takes them to do things so often to spend quality time with them.  He loves it as much as they love it, and that just makes me happy.