2017 Summmmmer

Well Summer is coming to a close, and it's been a great one!  A lot has happened.  Big changes for our family!  They've been good for our family, but change is always really hard.

We were content and happy in Magna, we felt like we had "family" there, but back a while ago Kyle decided that he wanted to take his engineering career in a different direction, so after a few months of searching praying and applying, Kyle accepted a job at a firm in American Fork, and we moved down to Utah County.  We feel like this is where we need to be right now.  Kyle has really loved working for this company, he's been impressed by so many things they do.  Honestly, the talk is little over my head, BUT it has been awesome having leave and come home at decent hours and coming home so happy!  I'm so proud of Kyle! He's such a hard worker, and is willing to do anything to provide for our family.  His dream, just as much as mine is that I get to stay home with the kiddos and raise them.  We feel really blessed to be where we are right now.



One change that is not hard to deal with is Camden is potty trained!  At the end of May, I really felt like he was showing good signs of being ready.  And I think he was, Camden just has a lot of stubbornness in his cute little body.  It was terrible!  I did not have the kid that just grasped it and ran with the concept of pooping in a toilet!  WE actually had an accident just the other day!  But I'm going to say we are like 99% there! He's really grown up this summer, and next month he'll be a full on 3 year old.  His vocabulary, and interest, ability to do things on his own has really taken off this summer.  It's amazing to me, how much one little guy can change in just a few short months. I'm so proud of the person that he's becoming.  He's honestly got such a big heart and a concern for other people.  He loves everyone he meets, and tries to make everyone smile all the time. He loves his little brother Aiden is a great protector.  Whenever Aiden is fussy, Camden always approaches Aiden, rubs his head and says, "its alright brother" Which makes my momma heart just melt!  Every week we wait for two specific days...garbage day and lawn mowing day.  The men who do these jobs are seriously winning at life! He thinks their amazing!! Some days we'll even get a honk from the garbage truck and then week has been made!

Aiden this summer, I cannot believe how fast he's growing up and is seriously trying to keep up with his big brother!! Whenever Camden walks into the room Aiden seriously lights up!  But no one gets his feet kicking and his eyes lit up, like his momma!  He's a momma's boy.  Which I kind of love!  I love that he always wants to be in arms reach of me, within sight and sound. Although, his first word has been dada.  He loves Kyle! After Kyle has been gone for the day, and he walks through the door, "Dada" is a word you'll hear from the sweet little babe's mouth! This summer he has become a pro at sitting and reaching for things, he's starting to get really good at pulling himself up.  He's going to be crawling any day. It's seriously amazing to watch a baby grow.  Makes me so sad how fast they're growing up, but what a blessing that they are happy, healthy and strong boys.  At Aiden's 7 month check up he was 17 lbs. 12 oz. & 26 inches tall.  The Dr. asked if Aiden had always been on the shorter side! hahaha, He's def. got some Browning legs!  which is touch thick calves, but short!

This summer I also had my 29th birthday! it was my golden birthday!  29 on the 29th! Kyle made sure I had an awesome day!! He took the day off and totally spoiled me rotten!  He got a me a Cricut. Which I've wanted one for years, and never thought I'd own one.  Now, I just need to get my creative juices flowing!! I just finished my first project which was a growth chart for the boys.  It was a lot of learning curves, but I did it

Getting So BIG!

Father's Day!! 

Summer!!

Moved Aiden to his 

4th Of July @ the Rupert Square!
Camden loves pictures!

 

4th of July in Magna!
SO so so so so so so HOT!!!

Aiden baby 5 Months!

Millhallow-- This is the booth Kyle and I
had our very first date!

Aiden's First Island Park Trip!

Eclipse at 93%

Camden hates getting his hair cut.
During his hair cut he threw such a fit,
when we were done, he got a snack and he fell asleep.
While he was sleeping, we were able to fix his hair!

Kyle's brother Dean and Natalie and their
kiddos came and visited
for a week in August. 

 

      

They've become the best buddies!

  

Mother's Day, Aiden's 4 Month Appointment, Memorial Day Weekend & Potty Training

Mother's Day, the one day a year that I ask for a day off.  Kyle tried very hard to pull that off.  He was a total champ!  Every Sunday Kyle has to go to church meetings starting at 7 AM...so that leaves me to get myself, two boys and a diaper bag ready for church in the morning.  But for Mother's Day the meetings were canceled and Kyle got the boy's ready and I just had to worry about myself.  By the time we got to church, Kyle was sweating. haha When we came home Kyle had made an awesome dinner and cleaned it all up too!  I'm so grateful for a man like Kyle who really does appreciate me as a wife and mother.  His dream, as much as mine is for me to be a stay at home wife and mom.  He works so hard for that to happen. I truly am so grateful for him.  The other day at work he said he was having a conversation about how Mormon Men don't let women reach their full potential, because they want all the women at home and raising babies and taking care of the house.  Never have I felt more like I'm reaching my potential as when I am at home with my boys.  I am proud to say I stay at home and raise two boys.  I love my calling as a wife and mother, and I truly do feel like I could have no great effect on the world then right here in my own home.  I am trying to raise half decent beings, who will grow up and change the world by being good, hard working, kind men.
  

Right around the time Aiden turned 4 months, I got mastitis.  Never have I ever felt so terrible!  It was a serious hell.  I was too sick to take Aiden to his 4 month appointment so Kyle got to take him.  HE weighed 14 lbs and is 25 inches tall.  He's growing like a bean.  He's already scooting around the place and rolling over.  We started to feed him cereal and bananas.  Next is carrots.  When we feed him, Camden sits right next to me and tells Aiden to open his mouth, and then claps for him when he takes a bite! haha I think Camden thinks it's natural to clap for someone when they eat their food.  That is what happens I guess when your the oldest child and the only grandchild/nephew!
   

Memorial Day was so awesome!  My baby sisters graduated High School the Wednesday before Memorial Day.  So we all went home to celebrate her.  I'm so proud of her..she really is such a beautiful girl, inside and out!  She's going to conquer whatever comes her way!

   


The next day most of my sisters and I went to Boise to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Soul to Soul concert! Oh my gosh!  It was amazing! I mean they are classic country, what I grew up listening to!  I was so excited to see Tim McGraw  and he was good, but Faith!  She was amazing!! She sounds just as good live as she does recorded!  And she as all over the stage. I was amazed by her energy.  It was so fun! My sisters got to hold touch Faith's Hand.  One of their last songs they went through the crowd and they went right by Erica, Staci and Holli.
    

For the rest of the weekend, we striped by dad's roof.  I thought, okay, this will be hard...umm..I had no idea how hard it would be.  My dad hired all of us kids, and two local folks to take it all off...it took two days to strip that roof.  It was double layered.  It was some serious manual labor!  And I don't think there is an easier way to get it done. It is some serious labor!  I learned only buy a house with a new roof.  Kyle started on Thursday morning and worked all day, Friday at about 6AM I hear my mom and dad running around and I roll over to Kyle and said, "my dad is on the roof! can you go help him?" Kyle's eyes go wide open and he jumps out of bed and says, "IT'S RAINING" Long story short...my parents house was leaking majorly where Kyle had stripped the roof already. They hurried and put tarp and plastic down, but the damage had been done.  My parent's storage room was flooded!  Luckily it was just the storage room and not like the kitchen or a bedroom.  It was a crazy morning!  The roof got finished and it looks great!  Hopefully my parent's won't have to ever worry about it again!

So, for a few weeks.  Camden would wake up in the morning, ask to go potty, and then we'd get on the potty .5 seconds later...he would declare that he was done.  Having done nothing in the potty.  So, we get back from Memorial Day weekend, and I decide it was go time! I was seriously about to quit after two hours.  I didn't know that my toddler peed so frequently! He just peed all the time, all the time!! Being niave...only bought one pair of unders....and we went through all of them by noon! haha When people said potty training was hard...I just didn't get why!  But now I do!  Two weeks later, I think we have finally gotten it down.  I am so proud of him!  It took about a week for him to understand what we were really doing, but lately...He's been telling me every time he needs to go potty...even #2!!!  HaPpY DaNcE!!!!!

Cheetos For going #2!!!! Every last crumb!

This last weekend Kyle and Camden went on their first father/son campout!  I was so excited for Kyle and Camden to be able to go! Camden didn't know what we were getting ready for, but when they got there Kyle said they had so much fun!  I was nervous about Camden going because he hasn't quite got #2 down, but I told Kyle he had to stay in unders because I didn't want him to regress. So Kyle got up to the campsite and started getting everything set up when he realized that Camden had yet to go potty since before we left.  So Kyle pulls down his pants and teaches him how to stand and hold "it" while trying to pee.  Camden only wanted to squat while he peed.  Which makes me laugh because Kyle always says that Camden needs more boys in his life, and this was a good example as to why that is true.   Kyle finally got Camden to do go to the bathroom and they made it the whole weekend.  They both loved it and had a great time.  They had hot dogs for dinner and then pancakes for breakfast.

   

Camden's 2.5, Harry Potter, and Haircut

People always told me not to compare the boys, but really it's so hard not to! I feel like Aiden is growing so much fast than Camden!  On 4/21 we heard sweet little Aiden's real giggle for the first time!  We were all sitting around reading scriptures, while I was changing Aiden's bum, and I tickled him and he LAUGHED! Oh, there is really nothing more awesome than a sweet baby's laugh!  Of course, that was the end of scriptures, because we all then had to make that sweet baby giggle and giggle again, and again, and again.  It never got old, and it still doesn't!

Camden has a few obsessions right now, and I find it so so so cute and annoying all in one emotion!  He's obsessed with 1- his church shoes, like he sleeps with them on! 2- Garbage days! 3- His purse! Kyle keeps hiding it, and Camden keeps finding it. 
 

Camden's Crying Face

Camden had his 2.5 year check up!  He's a solid 32 lbs. and 37 inches tall!  He's growing so big!! He's a solid kiddo! He had to get his flu booster shot.  If you'd seen him afterwards, you would've thought they chopped his whole leg off.  While walking to the car down the hall, he claimed he couldn't walk...until I got far enough away that he ran to catch up, and then couldn't walk again. He kept says, "mom, hold you! hold you!"  His way of saying he wants to be held!  I finally put the baby carrier down and held him, and then he did't want to be held anymore, but was still in some serious pain!  When we got home, all three of us took a serious nap. 




While I was teaching, I had made a goal to read more when I quit. I decided that I was going to start with the Harry Potter Series.  My sister Shawna is OBSESSED with them and Kyle has read it twice, so I figured it was a good place to start.  So in the Summer of 2017 I set out to read the series.  I had only seen like three of the movies, so I feel like there was a lot that I didn't know, that kept the book exciting.  I would read a book, watch the movie, read the next book then watch the movie!  Well, 4/21/2017...so about a year and a half plus some later, I finally finished Deathly Hallows and the movies...It felt really good to set and accomplish a goal!  Yay!  It was really hard, I'm not really a reader, growing up I was always told I wasn't good at it, so I decided that I didn't want to do it.  So for me to finish this series was a big accomplishment.  It took a while, but it was worth it.  Now, I'm looking for another book to read.  Gotten a few recommendations, but still sifting through.

The weather the last few weeks have been the absolute worst!!  We've been getting so much rain.  Which do not get me wrong, I grew up in a farming community, so I know how important it is for the rain, but when you have a two year old who is obsessed with being outside, rainy days are long!  but today! May 1 the weather was BEAUTIFUL! It honestly was not even windy so Aiden even really enjoyed it! Hallelujah!!






Today, I chopped off about 5 inches off my hair.  Kyle likes it long, so I've been growing it out.  I just couldn't do it any more, it needed a good chop! It short enough that I feel like I can manage it, but long enough to still have my glorious mom bun!!
  

Easter, Aiden's 2 month appointment

First off, coming up with post title names...is hard!

Next!  Aiden hit two month old on the 2nd of April.  He's growing so fast.  Camden being a preemie really did develop so much slower than Aiden is.  It's incredibly a different experience!  Fun to see though!  We took Aiden to his two month appointment and he weighed in at a whooping 11 lbs. 12 oz. and 23 inches tall!  Okay, that's 4.5 inches taller than when he was born and like 5 lbs bigger than his birth weight.  It's amazing! He's such a great miracle.  Dr. examined him and said that he's perfectly perfect!  I couldn't told her that.  I was wondering if we'd have to clip his tongue because he has a HARD time keeping his binki in his mouth, but she said when a baby is breast fed, it's normal because their tongue is a lot stronger than bottle fed babies.  One big thing Aiden started doing in his second month is grinning.  He commonly has a mile wide grin on his face! He's always grinning.  He's also starting to figure out his brother is pretty awesome, and get excited when Camden comes around, or if he's upset and I'm in the shower or busy, Aiden recognizes his brother and calms down a little bit.  It's a relationship that I am so excited to watch grow!

Minnie Mouse

Camden, knew exactly where we were when we pulled into the dr.'s parking lot.  He immediately get nervous and protective over his younger brother.  We get called back and we are sitting in the room when the dr.  walks in and Camden immediately buries his face into his elbow...(well back up!  We always end up waiting a while for the dr. so I told Camden he could bring in a toy with him and he chose to bring his cousin Rachel's Minnie Mouse doll that she left at our house) Dr. Sylvia says, "Hey Camden, don't worry I won't look at you! But I sure love your Minnie doll!"  Camden unburies his face and look at her with a scowl, covered up Minnie's eyes and the hides his face once again.  And  didn't unbury or uncover Minnie's eyes until she left the room. I love that Camden really thinks the theory if I can't see her she can't see me work.  My sister in law Lyssa has a couple of dogs and when Camden goes to get off her porch and the dogs are there...he'll stand super still and cover his eyes. Sometimes the dogs back off and let him leave...sometimes they don't.  But Camden's solution is unbelievably adorable!!


Easter was fun this year.  I was so excited to get the boys matching outfits, but it was not an easy task.  I found a jumper online that said its as blue, and I had already gotten Camden a blue shirt for church so I ordered it, and it was grey...like a grey blue, but definitely grey!  So they didn't match, but they looked cute.  Camden is really starting to get and understand things like holidays a lot more and it is so so so so fun!  Holidays are way more fun with little believers!  Saturday we died eggs and once they were dried, we hid them and put out the boys' easter basket.  Camden came out of the room and was so excited to see all the eggs "hidden" around the room.  We were at my mom's house and all of my sisters were there, so Camden "found" all 24 eggs and got an applause after each egg he put back in the carton.  He totally loved it!  It was awesome to get to spend time with my whole family.  I know that really we do see each other quite often, but to just be at my parent's house where we can be chilling and all hanging out together, it really is totally awesome!  And my parents and sisters are so amazing with the boys.  They absolutely love it! Camden loves going to grandma and grandpa's and hate when we have to go!  He just goes out in the backyard and runs around with my parent's dog, Sassy, chase the kitty, play on the swing set, play in the dirt.  There are a lot less rules in their backyard than when I take him out to our little play set to play.  I love that he loves being outdoors and I hope he always does!
        

 

Birthday & mission reunion

We've had a great week!  Mostly because Camden and I spent a lot of time planning for our favorite guy's birthday!  Kyle's Birthday was on Saturday and we loved getting to spend the whole entire day as a family with him!  Kyle's genuinely the greatest person I've ever met!  I told him we could do anything for his birthday, and after thinking about it for a few minutes he replied he wanted to go out and fly kites.  How cute is that?  Saturday morning I woke up and decorated the house and told Kyle he couldn't come out of the bedroom until Camden has come and gotten him.  Camden woke up just a few minutes after I told Kyle and after convincing Camden it was a good idea to go get daddy and bring him to his own party, we put on our party hats and went and got daddy and invited him!  Camden's "party" sounds a lot like "potty" so there was much confusion throughout of the day of what he was saying.  Kyle came out, saw the decorations and the party began!  I told Kyle he should open presents, and he said he would wait a little bit, but then Camden started opening his presents and Kyle decided that it was time, and he and Camden opened presents.  Aiden just sits sweetly in his swing and observed it all. We then ate crepes for breakfast and watched the first session of general conference. After conference we hurried cleaned up a bit, got ready and went to Target to go and get the kites.  Kyle's sister Lyssa invited us to lunch at a restaurant named Tucanos.  It's a Brazilian restaurant with lots of different meats....SO YUMMY...then we went to the park and flew kites. The weather was actually really perfect for flying kites, Camden loved it, Aiden hated it.  Lyssa's kids had a great time too! I am pretty sure Kyle did more chasing of loose kites than actual flying, but that's the kind of guy he is.  After Flying kites, Kyle ran home and got ready togo to the priesthood session of General conference.  Before he could go his sisters Brooke and Lyssa wanted to give him their presents...which was the announcement of two more babies joining the family in November.  We're both very excited for the two of them.  Aiden is especially excited to have two cousins the same age as him.  When Kyle got home we had his requested carrot cake, (which I knocked out of the park....taste wise....and totally blew presentation wise!) and Ice cream.  Lyssa and her family went home and Kyle and I attempted to put the boys to bed, and to start a movie...by 10:00 we'd finally got the boys to bed, but had about 2% energy to watch a movie...so we were in bed shortly after the boys...such is parenthood.  I hope Kyle has a fantastic birthday, he really deserves the world!
  
 

Friday, I also go to go to my mission reunion.  March 30th marked 6 years since I've been home from LA.  My mission honestly seems like it was a dream, a great dream.  But sometimes I have to remind myself that I really left my family, and lived the crazy missionary life in the crazy city of LA for 18 months.  I had gone to one mission reunion before when I first got home.  IT was hosted by my first mission president, President Blackburn and his wife.  This one was hosted by President Baker and his wife.  Great to see them.  Iw as also able to see a few of the sister who I served with...Sisters Brinkerhoff, Ashby, Schumacher and Tittle...now all known as Bailee, Marilee Gaby and Elisa! Fun to catch up for a minute.  The experiences I'd experienced with a few of those sisters brought us together as old friends who hadn't missed a beat.  What a privilege it was to serve with so many remarkable women in faith.  I had a minute to talk with President Baker and he said a few things that I needed to hear, mainly he told me that it was impressive for him to arrive in the mission and see the older sisters who were serving and they knew why they were there, and they were focused.  I did know why I was serving, I knew who I was serving and I was focused.  I cried when I came home harder than the day I left for the mission field.  I needed to hear that because I don't think I can say the same about myself now.  I sometimes feel as if my life is together as a plate of scrambled eggs. I'm everywhere.  Right now, I'm serving a different kind of mission, I often forget why I'm here and what I should be doing, I try, really, I do. But I often feel as if I come up so short.  In my nightly prayers, I pray that Heavenly Father will bless me to be a kind, patient and encouraging wife and mother, daughter, sister, friend....etc Grateful for new days.


General Conference was this weekend as well!  I remember the days of getting to just sit and be a complete sponge and soak up every word that was being spoken, those days are long gone.  It was fun though as our leaders stood up to talk Camden would periodically point to the TV, and say "Mom, prophet!" in a very proud voice. As the prophet spoke Camden again, pointed out, "mom, Prophet!" the continued to complain the whole time the prophet was speaking that Aiden was hurting him and I need to use my magical kisses to make them all better.  Love that I have magical kisses, hate the I didn't get to listen our dear prophet as intently as I would have liked to.  The over all message I got from the past two days was....we live in an amazing time, we are so incredibly  rich in blessings, but one thing that is the same, is that faith, prayer and studying of God's words are a sure problem fixer.  No matter how unique our problems are, those basic church answers are what we need to fix them and to help answer our prayers.

Sunday, Aiden hit his two month mark.  He's growing & developing so quickly. Honestly much quicker than Camden did.  Aiden is frequently smiling, and holding his head up like a champ.  He doesn't love being swaddled or sleeping on your chest.  He eats every three hours, even through the night.  Which hopefully, soon we'll be able to wean him off of. I cannot wait for the day when I get to sleep longer than 3 hours at a time!!!!!