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!!!