HBDTM!

Happy Birthday to me! Riley surprised me the morning of my birthday with my favorite breakfast: Daylight Donuts! YUMMY! They were everything I could've hoped for and more. What a great way to start the day!

After breakfast, we decided to hike to Timp Cave, Max had been wanting to go to the cave for a while. It was really nice to get out and it ended up being a really great day for hiking. Max loved the cave! I was so impressed with him, he hiked the WHOLE thing by himself (1.5 miles both ways and about 1,000 elevation gain!!! What a big boy!).

Max and dad enjoying the view. Max thought it was neat that you could see "our city" through the mouth of the canyon when we got up a little ways.

Max's favorite picture, the heart of the cave.
Max and mom's cave cuddles.
The end of the tour. Our tour was great, there ended up being only 10 people (our family and another family) on our tour, so we got to see a lot of neat things. Max really liked seeing the "blond cave beetles" at the end of the tour and he says his favorite place in the cave is the "camel room" and the heart of Timpanogos.
The hike down was harder on Max and me. Max made his own pit stops on the way down. He would just sit on the trail for a bit and get up when he felt like moving again.

We made it down the mountain in one piece! I was really sore, but only that night. It was such a fun day, and I'm really glad we made it up there before I got any bigger! Max told me my Timpanogos Cave birthday party was great. On the way home, we ate lunch at the new JCW's by Thanksgiving Point and it was SO GOOD! I love JCW's!
After our much needed nap and showers, Max had his first day of swimming lessons! It is so much fun to watch him in the pool, he loves it (I'll have to post more about his lessons later)! Then, we went with my family to Los Hermanos (thanks mom and dad!). It was very yummy and fun to be with my whole fam. Back at my parents house, my favorite cake was waiting for me! I LOVE cold stone's strawberry cake. SO GOOD! After our fun and calorie filled day, Riley and I finished the night with the new Incredible Hulk show. It was a really good movie!The next night, we got to extend my festivities and enjoy my birthday dinner at Riley's parents house. Yummy tacos and a very delicious cake. Thanks Gary and Terrie!

What a great birthday!

My color

I found this while browsing the internet and thought it was fun.

You Are A Gold Girl

You're dependable and hard working. You never miss a deadline - and you're never late. You have a clear sense of right and wrong. You're very detail oriented. You get frustrated when your friends are sloppy - or when they don't follow through. You're on top of things, and you wish that everyone else was!

What Color Girl Are You?

Birthday Shout-out to Emily

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister-in-law, Em! I hope your day was amazing (even though you had to share it)! :-)

Happy Father's Day!

To the greatest husband and daddy ever! We love you Riley, you are amazing!

Our New Grawlmart

Today on our way to Max's Karate as we were passing the never ending construction that is our new little city, my mom asked when our Walmart would be done. I told her that it would be done in the Spring of 2009 and Max asked how old he will be when it gets finished. I told him that he would probably be 5. We continue quietly down the street.

When we get to the light, Max asks: "Mom, how old will I be when the Grawlmart gets finished?"

Me: "Max, it's WALMART, you know what walmart is"

Max: "No! Not walmart, grawlmart!"

Me: "What are you talking about"

Max (pointing ahead at the new Walgreens): "That store right there, Grawlmart"

Me: "OH! You mean Walgreens!" I could not stop laughing! Walgreens will now forever be known to me as Grawlmart.

Look out Macaroni Grill!

One of my favorite blogs to browse is this one. She has the greatest ideas, especially for little kids. I have been pondering the idea of getting Max a Butterfly Kit and with preschool getting out, I am now all stocked up on old chunky crayons to make these. I love her website.

Anyway, I woke up the other morning and started my regular internet browsing while eating breakfast ritual and when I got to her website I saw a recipe I had to try. We have tried a couple of times to make the Macaroni Grill bread, and we've been unhappy with the results. Not this time! Her recipe delivered! It is SOOOO good! We don't have fresh rosemary, so we used Italian seasoning instead, and the bread was still amazing. The texture and everything was just like Macaroni Grill, and it made two big loaves, so we have been able to eat the bread now for 2 days. YUMMY!

He is 4 going on 20

Yesterday Max apparently decided he was a little adult. He asked Riley if he could watch "that show where the guy helps the girl cook things", which translates to America's Test Kitchen (which mom vetoed. I didn't want to be sick on the couch watching one of my least favorite TV shows). Max also loves to watch Good Eats and Iron Chef with his daddy.Then, he wanted to look at pictures of Timpanogos Cave online with me. He LOVES watching "Planet Earth: Caves" and so he has been very interested in what "our cave" looks like inside. I could have read about Timp cave and showed him pictures for hours. I think we may try to take him up to the cave next week if the weather cooperates.Last night Riley turned on "Modern Marvels: Pumps" on the history international channel, and Max was totally enthralled. He watched the whole episode, repeating new words he was learning from it; "conveyor belt", "pistons", "isolated", "centrifugal pump", etc. Then he looked at me and said "I know all of this stuff, mom".He is so inquisitive, such a little scientist. He just had to go with me the other day to watch me get my blood drawn (glucose tolerance test, blah!). He thought it was so great to watch and he had so many questions about the lab. It is so much fun to watch him learn and grow. He has such an amazing imagination, and the best little personality to go with it.

I've been Tagged!

How to play this game of tag: post these rules on your blog. Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog, list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving them a comment on their blog.

3 Joys:
1. I only have 13 1/2 weeks left in this pregnancy!
2. My family. I love hanging out with my cute little family. I am so lucky that Riley has so many days off with his work schedule so we have lots of family time. We are really good at filling his time off with fun stuff!
3. Traveling. I love going and doing whenever I can.

3 Fears:
1. That it may never get warm this summer. :-(
2. That my belly is going to get gi-normous in the next few weeks. I got so huge with Max!
3. Losing someone I love.

3 Goals:
1. To get the baby's room painted.
2. To get the laundry room and my bedroom cleaned. . .they both have the same problem, stacks of clothes--my clothes. I really need to just get rid of a lot of them.
3. To get a good tan this summer (when it DOES finally decide to get warm).

3 Current Obsessions/Collections:
1. The internet. I am always checking my email, reading the news, blog surfing, shopping, etc. What do people do without the internet?
2. I have a calendar for Max. It includes the things he does each day and a monthly summary of his growth, development, new words, etc. I started one of the cute little baby calendars when he was born, and I just have never stopped. :-) It really comes in handy when I get around to doing his yearly digital scrapbook.
3. I collect magnets. My fridge is full of them.

3 Random Surprising Facts:
1. I hoard money. That may not be surprising to some of you. :-)
2. I hate being alone.
3. I love eating nacho cheese doritos with bean dip--it's one of my very favorite snacks. YUM!


I tag Cat, Cassidee, Tanya, Ali, and Amber.

Funny Little Conversation

In the car this afternoon, an ad for Father's Day gifts came on the radio. Max was interested:

Max: "Mom, when is Father's Day?"

Me: "It's June 15. What should we get for your daddy?"

Max: "I dunno. . . Mom, when is Kid's Day?"

Las Vegas: Day 2

After sleeping in (our hotel was really quiet from about 6am-9am) the pregnant woman needed donuts and cold milk. :-) Luckily, I had scoped out the donut places while we were on Fremont Street the night before, so I knew right where we were headed: Dunkin' Donuts. I don't really know why I NEEDED Dunkin' Donuts, but I did. Something about the whole controversy around Rachel Ray's scarf in their ad was intriguing me I guess. The donuts were just OK, and they were out of milk. How can a donut place run out of milk??? Luckily, we found a store with milk on the way to our car. I told Riley from now on, I am just sticking to Daylight Donuts, no other donuts even compare.

We then spent some quality shopping time (and $$$) at Fry's, Riley's favorite store in the whole world. I found a cute little Mario Kart remote controlled car for Max while we were there and Riley got a fun Nerf gun with a laser sight.

We decided to spend the heat of the day in a movie theater, so we went to see The Strangers. It was one of those scary movies where you're almost hoping that they die in the end because they are being so stupid. And, after finding out that it's hardly "based on true events", I'm even less impressed by the movie. I was very surprised by how many parents brought their LITTLE kids to this movie though. Sad.

For dinner, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas, Ricardo's. It's a cute little Mexican Restaurant off of the strip that has won a bunch of Best of Vegas awards. The food is yummy, and the service is excellent!
Finally, we were off to see LOVE! It was everything I had hoped it would be and more! What a great show. Riley and I are in agreement that it is now tied for 1st place of all of the Cirque Du Soleil shows we have seen in Vegas. I can't even begin to describe how cool it was. The music was, of course, amazing, and the talent in the show is so impressive. This show had a lot more dancing than the others we have seen, which I loved, and the sets, effects, costumes, just everything was so awesome! It was well worth the money we paid to see it! The only Cirque show we haven't seen in Vegas now is "O" at the Bellagio, so I'm sure I'll be bugging Riley to take me back soon. I love Las Vegas!
After our show, it was off to our noisy hotel again to sleep so that we could drive home in the morning. We got an earlier start on Monday morning than I thought we would, both of us were missing Max and wanted to get back before dinner. :-) We both had a great time in Las Vegas, yet again!

Las Vegas: Day 1

Las Vegas was awesome! We had so much fun on our short little trip down there.

The drive down was very nice with hardly any traffic. We made sure Riley's Mp3 player was ready to go with good driving tunes and we headed out right after he got off of work. We made it down in pretty good time and Riley got a much needed nap when we arrived!
That night, we had dinner with Jed and Cat (and Cat, we better not have to travel to Las Vegas again to hang out together. . . come on, we live like what? 2 miles from each other!?!) We ate at The Feast buffet at Boulder Station, one of my favorites. The food was good, and it was nice to sit and chat with Jed and Cat!
Fremont Street was our final destination of the night, where Riley and I were able to enjoy some of the local color. :-P It was really busy, so we got to see our fair share of Las Vegas crazies! The street's hired entertainment was fun to watch too, especially the guy singing "Baby got Back" to the tune of "Sweet Home Alabama". After the Fremont light show, we headed back to our hotel thinking we'd get a good night sleep, but NO! Our hotel room was very nice, but the walls were extremely thin. You could hear the people in the rooms next to us, and all of the people coming to and from their rooms outside. At around 3am, there was a group of partiers who felt the need to yell back and forth down the hallway for about an hour. . .aaaggghh! Needless to say, we won't be staying at the El Cortez again.

Only 100 Days to Go!

Yeah! I love having the countdown from the little baby widget on the side of this page. I now have just 100 days left and I'm so excited! Max is getting pretty anxious too, a few days ago he said, "Mom, lets go to the Doctor's office and tell him to cut the baby out."

I have so much left to do, but I am a total procrastinator so I'm sure most of it will get done in the last month or so. :-)

We're headed down to Vegas in the morning. . .Happy Birthday to Riley and I! We decided that we would go and see "Love" this year for our birthdays. I love the Beatles and am so excited to see the show! I will let you all know how it is when we get home! TTFN.

Happy Birthday Cat!

Tesla, Me, and Cat at Backyard Adventures.

Happy Birthday Cat! You are such an amazing friend, I love ya! I hope your Birthday vacation in Las Vegas is awesome!

A Few Fun Pics

I was just looking through some of our newly downloaded pictures and I thought I'd share some of my favorites. I love the picture of Max on the tramp doing his "bum-and-ups". He has been loving the trampoline this year.
Max on the horse of his choice at Thanksgiving Point Farm. He loves to ride the horses, and it's always fun to watch him. He always and pets the horse's mane and tells it "good horsey". I don't know what we'd do without our Thanksgiving Point passes! Now that we live so close, we spend a lot of time there.
This is what happens when Max spends too much time with Aunt Natalie! :-) He loves to play with the fun things in Natalie's bedroom, and a few nights ago, he came down with her crown on and told me that he was King Mario, Princess Peach's boyfriend.
And, he's never the only one being silly! Love the crown, dad!

Dance Concert

The Dance Concert was last night, and it was awesome! I was so impressed by how quickly we were all getting our girls ready and on stage! My little girls did amazing, they were so adorable! I still need to download some pictures of them, I'm sure I'll get around to it sometime this week. :-)

Busy, Busy, Busy

This past week has been a crazy one! We have been so busy with Max getting sick, home projects, the end of school, and the dance concert!

Last Friday at about 5pm, Max spiked a fever of 103. He had no other symptoms, so I was pretty nervous about WHY he had such a high fever. When we gave him tylenol and motrin, his fever would go down, but then a few hours later, it was back. On Saturday afternoon, he started telling me that he needed cold water to make his throat feel better, so Riley looked in his throat (which we had already checked multiple times), and sure enough, he had Strep. After about 1/2 hour and an unholy amount of money, we were out of the instacare with some anti-b's. Max told the Dr. that the "strip bug" was eating his throat and that he needed some meddies to help get rid of it. He was such a trooper while he was sick, and for the most part he stayed pretty happy (especially when his fever was under control). Lucky for us, he was pretty much back to normal on Sunday evening.On Sunday morning, Riley and his dad painted the playset that we gave Max for his birthday. It only took them a few hours, and Max was very interested in watching and helping.


Sunday afternoon, we went up to American Fork Canyon to ride 4-wheelers. When we got up there, we found out the roads above Tibble Fork were closed, but that we could ride the Alpine Loop since it was closed to cars still. It was so much fun! I love the Alpine Loop and it was even better on 4-wheelers. Max had fun riding with Grandma Colleen and Natalie, and then Riley and Grandpa Gary. Afterwards, we all went to Riley's parents house for hamburgers. . .Yum!Tuesday, Riley and his dad spent the morning/afternoon putting together the playset! We are all so excited to have it up! Max loves it. He has already eaten at the picnic table, and has had some quality playtime with the neighbor kids on it. We're all sad that the weather has been so yucky outside! What is up with this crazy weather!!!
This week, I spent most of my time getting everything ready for my preschoolers and dance students. There was treats to buy and put together, evaluations to fill out, certificates, pictures, a teacher gift to figure out (for Max's teacher), a program and newsletter to do for the dance concert, a circus clown costume to figure out (for circus days the last day of preschool--being pregnant made the costume even MORE fun to figure out), and a few extra dance practices. It has been fun, and I have felt very productive, I kinda like keeping myself busy.

So, now we just have the dance concert left, and I am really looking forward to seeing my girls , especially the 3-4 year olds who will be performing for the first time! They are always so fun to watch, and are so adorable. My classes have been so much fun to teach this year. Also, their costumes are so dang cute! I'll have to post some pics of them.
Our family is very excited for summer, and we're hoping that the weather decides to get with it.

Mexico in Pictures

Mario Kart and other Random Wednesday-ness

We finally got Mario Kart for the Wii, and it is AWESOME! Riley, Max, and I have been spending some quality family time gaming for the past two days. Max has been loving it. He says his favorite courses are Luigi Circuit and Moo Moo Meadows. I really like DK Summit. Max was so proud of his caterpillar mask he made in preschool the other day. It was very cute. Preschool is almost out for the summer, I can't believe it! This year has flown by. Max has been loving his new teacher (long story as to WHY there is a new teacher), but I think we're all really ready for summer. I just hope that it starts to get WARMER, and not just for one day, but consistently!
Max and mom on Mother's Day. Mother's Day was awesome! Thanks for the Wii Fit Riley and Max! I can't wait until it gets here so I can try it out. What a great present! Also, Riley's mom found the best book for me, it's called "Mom says I can", and besides being super cute (it made me cry when I read it), the little boy in the book is named Max. So cute!I love Max's new PJ's! He thinks the cape is the greatest thing ever, and he goes outside after he puts these on so that he can make the cape fly around in the wind. If you can't tell, in this picture Max is flexing his superman muscles. :-)

Hunger

I am just starting to figure out why I gained so much weight when I was pregnant with Max. Man, am I HUNGRY! It has just hit me this week, but I feel like I am constantly wanting food. I guess Sam's going to be a big one too!

Happy Birthday Riley!

I'm a day late, but I want to wish my awesome hubby a very happy birthday! Riley is the love of my life, my best friend, the cutest dad, and the greatest guy ever. Max and I love you Riley! I'm sorry you've been so sick this week :-( and I'm hoping that you feel better soon.

My ABC's

I was tagged by one of my greatest friends, Andrea. I love you Andrea! We need to get together again sometime soon! :-)

ABC's "getting to know you" TAG. Each player tags 3 people.

A- Attached or single: Attached!

B- Best Friend: Riley. It's so great to be married to my best friend. Also, my mom.

C-Cake or Pie: Cake, cake, and more cake.

D-Day: Sunday

E- Essential Item: My computer and my cell.

F- Favorite Color: Yellow

G-Gummi Bears or Worms: Gummi Bears I guess, I don't really love either.

H-Home town: Pleasant Grove

I- Indulgences: Baked goods . . . LOL! and the TV

J- January or July?: July, give me summer anytime!

K-Kids: 1 and 1 on the way, both boys

L-Life is incomplete without: my family and friends!

M- Marriage Date: August 2, 2000

N- Number of Siblings: 2, 1 brother, 1 sister

O- Oranges or Apples: apples

P- Phobias or Fears: Uncomfortable social situations.

Q- Quote: "Never try to out-stubborn your mother."

R- Reason To Smile: I have the sweetest little boy and the most amazing husband. Also, it's warming up outside and our fence was finished today!

S- Season: Summer-I like it hot

T- Tag Three: Cat (and you better do it this time), Emily, and Natalie Harris

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I HAVE to wear socks to bed.

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: meat is murder, tasty, tasty murder. :-)

W- Worst Habit: biting my fingernails

X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds

Y-Your favorite food: Mexican-specifically bean and cheese burritos.

Z: Zodiac Sign: Gemini

My Inner Disney Princess

I promise one of these first days I'll post about Mexico! (I'm still trying to be in denial about being home). In the meantime, I found out who my inner disney princess is:


You Are Belle!

Intelligent and kind. Your beauty goes much further than your apperance. Also, you make judgements of people based on their personality and not their looks. Attaining all the knowledge that you can is one of your major goals in life, but you are also a person who can make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Decorating the Nursery and Congrats!

Riley and I have been looking at crib sets for a while now, and we had narrowed it down to two. Last night, I went with my mom to look at the two, and she helped me decide which one to get. I LOVE this crib set and I am so excited to start decorating the nursery! Max was pretty excited about the theme for the baby's room too. The dinosaurs are so dang cute and I just love the colors. Now, I have to decide how to decorate the rest of the room . . . anybody want to help? I'm no good at design!

Also, I wanted to tell two of my greatest friends CONGRATULATIONS! Tesla had her baby on Wednesday, and what a sweet baby he is! He is so dang cute and little, especially compared to Max at birth. I am so glad that you're finally done, Tesla, and also very jealous that I'm not!

Cat graduated from UVSC on Friday! Yeah!!! I am so excited for you to be done, Cat! I know how much graduating meant to you, and I'm so happy that you have reached your goal. You're awesome! Congrats!

Did you miss me?

We're back! Mexico was such a blast! I will post more about it, with pictures, later. I thought I would pass on this link for all of the Twilight fans. I have read the first and second books, and am now in the middle of the third. So far, great read (although I've noticed they tend to drag on in the middle). Anyway, check out the link!

Happy Birthday Cody! (and Happy Spring Break to Everyone!)

Happy 25th Birthday Cody! I hope you had a good one!

Happy Spring Break everyone! We're headed out tomorrow morning. I'll post to tell you all about our trip when we're back! Adios Amigos!

Thursday Ramblings

I have a lot to do tonight, but I thought I'd fit in a quick post before I get laundering and packing. I have been sick, yet again, this week. AGGGHHH! This time it's been a sinus infection, so I'm getting really good at breathing through my mouth full time. :-) I also ended up with food poisoning on Tuesday, so between the two, it has been great. I just can't wait to get out of town (have I mentioned that???) and hang out in the sun. It will be good for all of us.
In other news, I signed Max up for June swimming lessons, and he is very excited. He keeps telling me "mom, after school gets over, I get to do swimming lessons like a little dolphin". He loved his lessons so much last year. I am so glad that the AF swimming pool has evening swimming lessons (5:35pm) so that I can watch him while chillin' in the evening sun. He is also getting really excited for carnival season and reminds us where the carnivals go up every time we drive past a carnival location.
And now I better get back to the laundry if I want to have clothes to wear!

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Today is my gorgeous sister and best friend, Natalie's, birthday! Happy Birthday Natalie! I love you and I hope your day is amazing!

Oh, Mexico!

I am so excited! We leave for sunny Mexico in 9 days! I want to emphasize SUNNY! I can't wait to get out of cold and windy Utah for a few days. It is supposed to be 82 degrees when we arrive in Puerto Vallarta . . . YEAH! We are going to the same resort that we have stayed at for the past two years. We love it there! Besides being right on an amazing white sand beach, the people couldn't be nicer, the beds are comfortable, and the food is yummy! Here are a few pics from our trip last year:Max and Buddha at the Japanese restaurant dressed in their sombreros. Our resort has a huge Fiesta every Thursday where they decorate the whole place and have parties all day.
Hanging out at the beach watching Natalie para sail over the ocean.

I'm hoping that I can come home with a tan like that again! I can't wait!

Autism Awareness Month

It's been a while! I have a few posts I need to finish that I have saved until I get some time. In the meantime, I thought that I'd mention that April is Autism Awareness Month. As a teacher, I worked with many kids diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorders. These amazing students and their parents taught me so much!

One of my good friends, Rachael, has a son, Gavin, who has been diagnosed with an Autism spectrum disorder. Gavin is such a beautiful and amazing child, and I admire Rachael everyday for her patience and persistence. Gavin is very lucky to have such a great mother! In this months issue of Utah Baby Guide, Rachael wrote a must-read article called "being a mom to a child with autism". Check it out!!!

It's a . . .

Hand! A very cute hand too! I love looking at the little hands and feet in the ultrasound pictures. So cute. You can also see the little profile. I love it! I went to Fetal Studios in South Town Mall on Saturday after Max's birthday party because I am very impatient and I WANTED to know what we were having. The man who did the ultrasound there was amazing! I would totally recommend them to anyone who was as impatient as me (20 weeks was just too far away!). We ended up with a bunch of pictures and measurements, and we were able to find out the gender! YEAH! DRUMROLL......
It's a BOY! We have a ton of pictures from all different angles assuring us that he is a boy! He was moving around a lot and totally showing off. He is about 5 inches long from head to toe and we are so happy that everything looks healthy. Max is very excited to have a little brother.

I've Been Tagged!

Emily tagged me, so here goes!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago I was living in my parents basement with my best friend, Amber, and we were going to BYU. I was taking 18 credit hours of generals (boring!) and trying to decide what to major in. During the year, I changed my major from elementary education to pre-med to secondary education (I ended up with my degree in Secondary Education with a health major and an English and Drivers Ed. minor). I was staying busy working at my moms dance studio and at Target. I was also taking dance classes in an attempt to stay fit and keep the "freshman 40" off! Like most college students, I was rarely getting any sleep (and it was so much fun!).

2. 5 things on my to-do list:
Clean up my bedroom and get all of the clothes sorted out
Choreograph my last two dances for my 3-4 year old class for the dance recital
Deep clean my bathroom
Exercise (and to remember to make TIME for it)
Watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes I have DVR'd

3. My favorite snacks:
My very favorite is strawberry cold stone ice cream with strawberries, angel food cake, graham crackers, and whip cream mixed in. Healthy, I know! I also love nacho cheese doritos and bean dip, and cake (especially costco cake!)

4. If I became a billionaire, what would I do with the money:
Pay off the house and invest. I would love to live off of the interest of a billion dollars! LOL! I would also make sure to have a college fund in place for our children, and I would travel!

5. Name 3 bad habits I have:
I am a horrible nail biter. I have fake nails right now, and instead of biting, I always pick at them. It drives everyone nuts!
I have really dry skin, and in the winter I have a problem with scratching my legs to death.
I have phone-phobia. . .LOL. . .I am working at this though.

6. 6 places I've lived
Oh! I am the most boring person in the world! I don't think I have even lived in 6 places...let's see
1. Orem, UT (when I was little)
2. Pleasant Grove, UT
3. Provo, UT
4. Orem, UT (when Riley and I were first married, in a condo)
5. Eagle Mountain, UT
6. Saratoga Springs, UT
OK, so six, if I count Orem twice. Sad that all of these places are in Utah County! LOL!

7. 5 jobs I've had:
Dance Teacher
Target (doing planograms)
7th Grade Teacher
Preschool Teacher
Selling Usborne Books

8. 5 Things people don't know about me:
Hmm...I'm a pretty open person, so I don't think there is a lot that people don't know about me...
1. I love to watch ABC daytime Soaps. I have loved them since I was young. General Hospital is my very favorite and I used to DVR it until Riley made fun of me too much (and I got too busy to keep up with it). I still occasionally watch it on soapnet when i'm cleaning or something.
2. I am a book-aholic. I have way, way, way, too many books in our house but I can't help myself! I love books, especially children's books.
3. I love to sew and I taught myself how after Max was born. I haven't ever made anything very big or complicated (a student council quilt that we sent to Africa has been my biggest project) but I love it. I also love to cross-stitch.
4. I LOVE Mexico. When I look at the pictures of our trips, I want to be there! I am so excited for our trip in a few weeks!
5. I love to play video games. Mario Party is my favorite and I love to hang out with my fam and play!

Thanks for the tag Em!
I am going to tag Cat and Natalie!

My Little Carnivore

For the last few days, Max has been using his amazing imagination. Last night he decided he wanted to be a dinosaur (after reading a book about dinosaurs), he said that in order to be a dinosaur, he needed to hatch from a dinosaur egg. So, we put him under a blanket and he rolled himself into a little ball and told us that it would take him 5 days to hatch. Luckily, he ended up hatching in 2 minutes. After hatching, he told us that he was a T-Rex and a carnivore. He walked around the house growling and looking for things to "destroy". This morning, he woke up and immediately took off his pajamas and told me that carnivores don't need clothes and that I needed to call him Max the Carnivore. He spent the better part of today roaming the house in his underwear and socks reminding me that I can't just call him Max, he needs to be Max THE CARNIVORE! When I asked him if he was going to eat me, he told me that he is a carnivore who eats chicken nuggets, not family. Whew! I was starting to worry!
It has been really cute watching him play for the past few days. He is such a fun kid!

The Zoo

Today was a great day outside, so we decided to take a trip up to the zoo. It was SO fun! What a great day for the zoo! The animals were all out and active, so it was really fun to walk around and see some of the animals you usually have to search for. Max says his favorite animals to look at were the giraffes. We were able to see a baby giraffe with it's mom, and it was so dang cute! We also went into the giraffe building for the first time, and Max thought it was great to see the giraffes from above. Riley and I loved to see all of the monkeys. The little primates are so fun to watch. We got a chance to see a lot of them during feeding time, so they were all really active. The orangutans and gorillas were inside too, so we got to see them really close to the glass. The cougars were also awesome to watch. They were on the prowl! I'm pretty sure they wanted to eat all of the little kids watching them. They also came right up to the fence so we got a really good look at them, and one of them "meow'd" for Max. I cannot believe how big their paws are! The elephants were fun to watch too. Their trainers were out with them for a while, so we got to see a few little elephant tricks and we also watched them "dust" themselves with dirt, which Max really got a kick out of.

We all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get out of the house for a bit (especially after my sick weekend). I think low 50's will be my new favorite temperature to visit the zoo in! I also learned today that Max does have fully functional legs (even though he'd like you to think he didn't when we're at the mall), he walked or ran the ENTIRE time we were there. So, I'm on to you Max! No more milking it!

Feeling Crummy

Today is yet another lazy day due to the fact that I am feeling yucky. I have chest congestion, but no runny nose, no productive cough, no fever, nothing. I am thinking it is probably allergies, and it is awful. Anyway, I will post more when I am feeling a little bit better.

Sunday Ramblings

Tonight Max and I went over to Riley's parents house for dessert and we had the greatest pie. It was apple AND cherry, two of my favorites in one! What a great idea! The flavor combination was awesome.

On a different note, I thought I'd share Max's elephant picture. I love these towels and he looked so cute in it the other night! He's such a good sport to let me dry him off in animal towels and take pictures.




Here is our goofy kid making his own slide down our couch out of my exercise mat. As I said yesterday, this is evidence he has been pent up for too long! The slide didn't seem to work too hot, but he had fun anyway. He seems to figure out a lot of things to make out of the mat.





Tomorrow is Dr. Seuss day at the preschool, so Max and I are both very excited! It sounds like they are decorating very cute with balloons and stuff all over the school, and the kids are making Dr. Seuss hats, so it should be really fun. I'm off to find one of our many Dr. Seuss books to take to read to the kids tomorrow!

The Weather is Teasing Me!

For a few days I was thinking we were finally getting some nice air, warmth, maybe a hint of spring, but NO! Tonight it is snowing. The wind has been blowing SO hard, and it's winter all over again. Also, apparently there is another inversion moving in. YUCK!

At least we were able to take advantage of the few nice days we did have. Max rode his big wheel from our house to the park in our neighborhood and LOVED being outside. He attempted to ride home, but he told us that if he kept riding it he would "really hurt his back" and that he was an "excellent walker", so he walked the rest of the way home while Riley carried his bike. I know he is just itching for warmer weather so that he can "dig" outside. Poor kid has been pent up inside for too long. Tonight, he was making a slide out of my exercise mat and the couch (I'll have to post pictures later).

I am having a hard time being patient for warmer weather. There are so many things I would love to get out and do! Please, Please, Please, no more winter!!!

We have a Heartbeat!

Today was my first visit to the Dr. and it was so fun to hear the heartbeat! She couldn't find it for a long time, so that made me nervous, but Riley, the optimist, said he didn't get nervous at all because he knew everything was fine. For me, I was just really excited to get in there and hear the heartbeat and be told that everything really was fine. All of my labs came back excellent, and the baby's heart rate was 174, so we are very excited. Now, I can really have peace of mind that everything is fine!!!

Lazy Sunday and Other Ramblings

Today we've been having a lazy Sunday. After our bi-weekly "stock up" at walmart and costco, we've just been hanging out playing video games, surfing the net, and watching TV. It's been really nice.

In other "news", yesterday Max and I went to the 70% closeout sale at Dreamcastle on Lehi Main Street. We got there about 5 minutes before they were shutting down, so they were hauling a bunch of stuff out, but we got some great deals on cute games, puzzles, and wooden train tracks. As we were leaving, the owner of the store came up to Max and gave him a whole bunch of toys for FREE!!! LUCKY! He got some wooden trucks and cars, wooden people figurines, and train tracks. It was awesome and he's been having so much fun with his new stuff! Riley and I have been glad that he is finally not asking for the DS every 5 minutes.

As far as the DS goes, Max LOVES to play it! Especially Mario games, which he is still trying to master. Riley and I have figured out how to use the DS to our advantage and have started a reward system for DS time. It has been working out great, and helps us to really limit the amount of time that he spends playing it.

Max is getting very excited for his birthday! I cannot believe he is going to be 4!!! We have finally figured out Max's B-day party situation. We have decided to just go ahead and have his family party on Easter night. Between dance competitions and Riley's work schedule, it's the day that seems to work out best. Also, it will make it so that we aren't dragging out birthday parties for Max over a whole week. I think we'll just have cake and ice cream at our house later that day/evening. Should be fun! I'm also excited that we can have his friend party ON his birthday! We let him choose where to have it, and he has chosen Backyard Adventures again. We looked into some other places, and besides being more expensive, they were also really restrictive and the party wouldn't have been private, so since his birthday is on a Saturday, I'm sure there would have been millions of kids running around. So, Backyard Adventures it is!
Now, back to my lazy Sunday!

Easter

Easter is messing me up this year! LOL! Why is Easter so early? (I looked up the answer and it has something to do with the moon cycles and equinoxes, but it's really bugging me still). This year it falls on March 23. We were planning to have Max's family B-day party that day, but then I found out it was Easter, so now I have to try to find another day that works...ahhh....my dilemmas!

It's Been a While

I'm here again! I changed some things around, added some things, played around with the template a little bit, and I'm finally posting again after about a year. Hopefully I can stick with it this time, I think it's a great way to keep up with friends and family, and some of my friends have been motivating me to start writing--thanks Andrea and Cat!
Today has been a tired and lazy day. Max woke up with an earache last night, so I didn't get much sleep, so after preschool today I took a LONG nap! I usually hate naps, but with this pregnancy, I have been taking a lot of them. Max stayed home from school today and seems to be doing a lot better thanks to his nurse daddy! I love that Riley always knows what to do. I can't wait for all of the winter colds to be over though. It seems like one of us is always sick. BLAH!
Well, at least there is only 52 days to Mexico!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Max!

This post is finally posted a little late. I kept meaning to post it, but forgetting!
I haven't updated this blog for a while, but what better time to do it than a birthday post for Max!
Max turned 3 yesterday! He had a great birthday, although I'm not sure he knew it was his actual birthday. He kept telling me "mom, my birthday is tomorrow". I think we have confused him by having his parties before and after his actual birthday.
Max is so much fun. He is getting so big and independent. He loves doing things ON HIS OWN. Sometimes it's nice...other times...aggghhh! Like yesterday, we were driving down state street and he decided he needed to open his door. Thank goodness for car seats! We had to pull over and have a talk! He is also a little bundle of continuous energy. He is pretty much done with naps, he doesn't have the time for them. He needs to be going and doing at all times. Luckily, he has learned that we can take breaks to go the bathroom...it just took a while to teach him! Max is also a talker. I love it when he has his little conversations with me, especially when he tries to use big words. He sounds so old. Max sings songs all day long. I am convinced that he will be a singer when he grows up...American Idol, here Max comes! His favorite right now is "I am the egg-man, woooo, I am the egg-man, woooo, I am the walrus, cucukachoo, cucukachoo!" and whenever we're in the car, that is his CD of choice. I can't complain! It's given me a much needed break from Laurie Berkner and other various kids CD's.
His birthday was great. Riley had to work, so he slept for most of the morning, so Max and I went down to the Dinosaur Museum where he got his first present, a Thanksgiving Point pass. He loves it there so much, I'm pretty sure he could go everyday and still be excited about it when we got there. We met up with my mom and dad and my little sister and let him roam the museum as he saw fit. Max had a blast, he even got to have Dino Nuggets before we left.
After we woke up Riley, Max opened all of his presents. I love that his birthday is in March, because I can give him his whole new summer wardrobe for his birthday. He got bored with the clothes really quick though (imagine that)! He was excited to get Hungry Hungry Hippos, a shark kite to fly with daddy, his own piggy bank, and some new Thomas trains. Max was really sad to see daddy leave for work.
I love being Max's mommy and I am very excited to see what adventures his 3rd year holds for us! Happy 3rd Birthday Max!