Flowers for me

This morning Kasen went on a walk with Mama and Boppa. They were gone for a really long time. Usually their walks are only about a half hour long since my dad just had heart surgery. They were gone for an hour and a half this morning. Kasen just rides along in his stroller and points out everything that he sees, that he knows how to say. As they were walking, he would point out different kinda of flowers and my mom would pick them for him. Instead of throwing them on the ground, he gathered them up and kept them in his hands. He even stopped and they had lunch, and the whole time he kept them with him and didn't lose a single flower. When they got home, he ran inside as soon as they got him out of the stroller, and he brought me a whole bundle of flowers. The look on his face was priceless. He was SO proud of himself and he knew he was doing good by bringing his mommy flowers. How sweet is that! I just had to take a picture and post it. I have the sweetest son ever!

The many faces of Kasen...

Silly face Boppa taught him.

Just a sweet smile.

I have seen tons of scrapbook pages with this title. I have yet to do something like it, but as I was playing with Kasen today I noticed...wow, he really does have a lot of faces, and I can read them all. I know what they all mean. It's so cute to see him grow and to see him using his face a lot more to express himself and how he feels. Here are just a few I took within a 10 minute span.

Hmm, now what?
I am sad and I feel bad!


















I feel guilty.

No, MINE!

Back from Phoenix!

Crystal (my sister in law), Brielle (her daughter), Kasen and I all drove to Phoenix this weeked to go to my best friends wedding. We left early Thursday morning, and 8 hours later, 5 stops later, 5 diapers, 2,000 fights between the two kids, getting lost on the way to the hotel, missing the rehearsal dinner (almost), and checking in to our ghetto hotel, we made it safely.

I don't even know where to start about this weekend, or even if I SHOULD start about it. It was good and bad. I got to see my best friend married. How cool is that? She looks so happy and so giddy, I can't help but be giddy for her. I am so glad she found someone who can deal with her, and still be fun with her too! lol...

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

This is Kasen and Brielle on the way there holding hands and smiling. BEFORE they started fighting NON STOP!

This is Kasen, again, on the way there, notice he is still smiling?

Aren't we cute? This was on the way home, we realized that the whole trip we hadn't taken a single picture of just the two of us, so we took it at a stop light!

This is a picture of Kasen and I that my friend took. Not the best picture really, but I love having pics taken of Kasen and I because I am the one usually taking the pictures.

Mommy and Daughter:
This is Crystal and Brielle. Aren't they so dang cute? I love 'em!

Me and the beautiful bride! How fun!

Last but not least.....THE GARVINS!

What a sweet couple!

Sams Husband is Home!

I will just give you a summary of my day yesterday. I had a good morning, I went and got my hair done, that always makes me feel better about myself. Then I went with my sister in law Crystal and her daughter Brielle to the mall with Kasen. We went looking for a pair of Capri's for me since mine are all too big WOO HOO! My best friends wedding is on Friday and the above mentioned people and I are driving to Arizona on Thursday and its hot there so I needed new pants. I have been looking for some for about 2 weeks now and the first store I went into at the mall, I found 4 pairs to try on. The first pair I tried on was the pair I bought! How lucky! Crystal is good luck.

After the mall, Kasen and I went to my friend Sam's house. She got married last spring, and after being married for about 4 months, her husband left for 6 months(he is in the Navy). Well he got home last week and they had a welcome home party for him last night. I had fun, and I am so glad he is home now for two reasons. I don't have to hear the countdown of when he will be more day after day after day....and two, she is just so giddy and I love seeing her so happy.

Here is a pic of us last night at the party.

Kasens First Prayer

So Kasen has been talking a lot more this past week and is actually trying to repeat things we tell him to say...so we were over at some friends house tonight and their little boy Luc is about 2 months older than Kasen and says his prayers at night with the family. So when we got home tonight we all knelt down for prayer and I asked Kasen if he wanted to say the prayer tonight like Luc did when we were there. He said yes. He has said yes before though, and when you go to say Dear Heavenly Father, he starts to giggle and wont repeat it. Tonight however, he actually repeated it. My mom is the one who was telling him what to say, and he said it! He said his first prayer tonight and said just about every word she said. It was very basic and simple but I cried. To see my son say a prayer at the age of 2 and know that he is starting his life off right and learning such a habit that will help him through his life, good and bad, was such a neat experience. I am so proud of him. He is such a smartie!

The prayer was:

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for my family.

We love you very much.

Bless us so we can sleep well.

Please bless the sick, that they will get better.

In Jesus name, Amen!

Like I said, basic...but SO sweet.

On another positive note, Kasen is going to nursery on his own, FINALLY! On our way out of the chapel each week, we go get Brielle (his cousin who is 3 months younger), they hold hands and they walk right in the door all by themselves. I actually get to go to Sunday School. What a blessing!

That's my update for now. Will write more later.

My chatterbox

Kasen turned 2 in November and ever since he has been talking more and more everyday. He is talking quite a bit now. He has a friend his age who talks more than him and he has a friend who talks less than him, so I guess I am going to call the rate it which Kasen speaks...AVERAGE. But still its a lot to me. My baby book for Kasen is packed away for the time being so I am going to use my blog to track the words and phrases he uses...some of which are:

-Yes

-No

-water

All gone

all done

-MINE

Kasens turn/my turn

-apple

no way jojo

thank you

night night

downstairs/upstairs

I want more

Im ok

Im hot

Im cold

Bailey get down

french fries

hi mommy

-hey

m&ms

-medicine

I love you

-soda

fix it

its empty

help me

go bye bye in the car

I want a cookie

watch movie

go diego go

toy story

P popcorn

M mommy

K kasen

X xylophone

-llama

baby jaguar

-chinchilla

-backpack

-gogurt

-diaper

-bottle

stop that

I wanna play outside

Baileys eating em all

where'd blankie go?

-glasses

daddys sleeping

-pancake

it's right there

-okay

choo choo train

-money

-boppa went to work

whoa that's cool!

yaay mommy!

There! I did it!

Window down mommy!

Whered my shoes go?

Jesus Love me

I wanna wear my flipflops

-basketball

follow you daddy

***thats all I can think of right now...there are a lot more basic words I didn't add, like apple, cheese, nut, car, tree, bird stuff like that.

He amazes me everyday with the stuff he just randomly says. I am so grateful to have him in my life and more importantly as MY SON! He is such a good kid with such a sweet spirit and I know I got the best out there for me! I love him a ton!

100 things about ME

I saw this on a friends blog and thought it was a cute idea.


1. I am the youngest of 10 kids; 6 boys 4 girls
2. I was born in Ohio
3. I have massive age issues (hate being called young and little)
4. I love having long nails
5. I had braces for 4 years
6. I went to my senior prom with a returned missionary
7. I have PCOS
8. I used to model in high school
9. I ran for Miss Vista
10. I met Jeremy up at BYU
11. I am very sarcastic
12. Most of my sarcasm is just an insecurity
13. I have low self esteem
14. I love to scrapbook
15. I love smoothies (aloha pineapple from Jamba)
16. I like mushrooms
17. My son is my world
18. I took me 2 years along with fertility treatments to conceive
19. I wish my dad were around more when I was younger
20. I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant
21. I have a dog named Bailey
22. My favorite movies are Happy Gilmore and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
23. I'm not the most patient person
24. I have a temper I try to control
25. I wish I were comfortable with the way I looked, but no matter the change, I am sure I wont be satisfied
26. I have a hard time understanding the scriptures
27. I love the gospel
28. I hate socks, they make my feet claustrophobic
29. I wear flip flops year round-even in the snow
30. I want to have another baby
31. I have major trust issues
32. I roll my eyes a lot, not on purpose though
33. I love to play tennis, but don't play as often as I would like to cause I have weak wrists now
34. My husband is the most patient man, I love him dearly
35. I am kind of tomboyish, but I think that if I had the body to wear girly clothes I would be more girly
36. I try so hard to be a good mother
37. I sucked my thumb til I was 12
38. I got 100% all 4 years in my scripture chase for seminary
39. I am addicted to Diet Coke
40. I love it when Jeremy rubs lotion on my feet
41. I only like ketchup on french fries from certain restaurants, not all
42. I love Nutty Coconut ice cream from Baskin Robbins
43. I like ink pads
44. I like to read books by church authors only
45. I wish I were a better wife to Jeremy
46. I wish I weren't so emotional
47. I wish I didn't get offended so easily
48. I cry at the drop of a hat
49. I went to Germany and France in 2002
50. I don't have that many close friends cause it's hard for me to let people in
51. I love the Lord
52. I wish we lived close to my family AND Jeremy's family
53. I hate watching baseball on TV, but I love to watch it in person
54. I love to watch TV...
55. My favorite TV shoes are Greys Anatomy and Americas Next Top Model
56. I try too hard to impress people
57. I am a paranoid person
58. I am an emotional eater
59. I only listened to oldies music until I was 16.
60. I am afraid of birds
61. When I was 17, I got in two car accidents in a weekend (neither were my fault)
62. I have broken my sternum and my tailbone
63. I am a night owl
64. I am a pushover and have a hard time sticking up for what I want
65. I don't wear gold, only silver
66. I didn't have a middle name until I got married, now its my maiden name
67. Birthdays are a BIG deal to me
68. Not a natural blonde ( as if its not obvious with the roots I have)
69. I had 2 missionaries; their Dear John letter was my wedding invitation
70. My favorite color is pink and/or red
71. I can't fall asleep unless the TV is on
72. I am afraid of ants
73. I am claustrophobic
74. I don't like when people pace, it stresses me out big time
75. I can't spell the word restaurant (I had to ask for help)
76. I can never remember the difference between fiction and nonfiction, or clockwise and counterclockwise
77. I like pickles with cream cheese on them wrapped in ham! TASTY!
78. I love getting letters and emails, but I am not so good at responding
79. I am offended when people pick their nose in front of me
80. I have over 20 pairs of pajama bottoms from Old Navy
81. Chocolate gives me heartburn
82. I wish I paid more attention in Primary
83. I value the friends that I do have
84. I recently broke up with Tom Brady
85. I am now dating David Beckham..I am soothing his recent injury
86. I haven't ridden a bike since I was 11, I am afraid to try again
87. I am not the best housewife, I need more motivation to do the dirty work
88. My husband is wonderful. He would do anything I asked him to.
89. I love to craft, more specifically altering things. (picture frames, paint cans, Altoids tins)
90. I crack myself up
91. I get nauseous when I think about pot roast
92. Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite video game
93. I've been on the Tyra Banks show
94. I'm allergic to cats
95. I'm left handed and so is Jeremy, but Kasen is right handed, I fear I won't be able to teach him anything!
96. I crave homemade popcorn
97. I like the smell of fire
98. I wish I were tan, my skin is so white it's scary
99. I love watching ABC soaps
100. My family is everything to me, without them I would be lost

So, that took forever, the first 50-60 came fairly easy, after that I was totally struggling. I hope you know me or understand me a little better now!

Coke and Paper DON'T mix!

Tonight I tried to make some thank you cards for my mom to send to those who have cooked meals for our family while my dad has been recovering from his surgery. I got all my scrapbook stuff out, had it all sorted and spread out on the table. Kasen was "helping" me on the chair next to me. I was on my 3rd of card out of 5, ALMOST done...I was getting a little frustrated as it was because Kasen was trying to "help" more than I wanted him to.

I was just finishing my 3rd card when in ONE quick movement, Kasen knocked over my drink, JUST filled with Diet Coke and icecubes, and it GUSHED all over my cards and flooded them onto the floor. The ice cubes and coke went into my file box with all my paper embellishments. It went all over my paper and it started to soak up all the coke. It went into my lap, onto 3 out of the 6 chairs at the table, on everything that was on the table. I never realized one can of coke was so much liquid. Oh I was fuming! I grabbed Kasen, told him he was in time out, put him on the couch and RAN back to the table to salvage anything I could. All 3 of the cards were on the floor with soda flowing on top of them off the table. I try SOOO hard ALL the time to be as patient as I can. Bad tempers run in my family and I have ALWAYS said that I will NEVER be like my dad used to be. Through the years he has calmed down so so so so so much. I love my dad to death, but in that aspect I never wanted to be like him. In that moment, I have no idea what happened to me. I FLIPPED out! I had to call Jeremy so that he could calm me down. I have never experienced that much anger in my life at once. I am so grateful that I have Jeremy in my life who is so calm and patient and that he could talk me down and talked to me while I cleaned up the mess so that I wouldn't do anything I would regret.

I felt so bad for Kasen. He didn't do it on purpose yet I couldn't control my anger. I would NEVER EVER hurt Kasen. That would never be an option. But I wish I didn't even have to get angry. I wish I could have been sad, that about $30 of stuff was RUINED.

My anger is something I will always continue to work on. It's gotten a lot better through the years and I never want to be the mom that my kids or even husband are afraid of and so far I am not. But it's those little moments like today where I have to slap myself in the face and remind myself that I am a patient and loving person. For the most part I can keep my cool, but I think I get weak when I am tired or don't feel well. Which I actually haven't felt well the past couple days. Not an excuse, but I do feel weaker then. I love my son more than anything in the world. He is 2. Accidents happen and I am ok with that. I make mistakes too and I think I learned a HUGE lesson tonight.

How could I ever be mad at this face?

Lactose Intolerant

You know, I always wondered why I felt sick and nauseous after every meal or snack that I ate. I never had any idea what it was. For years, I would always complain about being sick after eating. Jeremy just thought I was being a hypochondriac! I knew better. I felt the pain. I felt the bloating. I just thought I needed to stop eating as much. Well, when I was in Seattle over Thanksgiving this year, I was still getting sick. I don't know what led me to realize what was going on, but now I know. I am lactose intolerant. It really stinks! But it could be worse. I have to take a pill everyday and still try and avoid dairy. Last night we went with some friends (David and Sarah) to Old Spaghetti Factory. I love that place. I get the same thing everytime I go. I also order a glass of milk with it too cause it's free. I mean, WHY NOT? It's free. I did get laughed at by someone at the table who I will let their name remain anonymous. :) But on to my point. I ordered milk, and then I ordered cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce. I took a pill with dinner and thought I would be ok. I was at the time, til about midnight last night. I was so sick all night long, all through the night and this morning when I woke up. I didn't go to church. I was too sick. I took a pill this afternoon and within an hour I started feeling better, not perfect, but better. I never realized what a huge problem this was for me. It's going to be really hard, and a huge lifestyle change for me to avoid dairy. I love eggs. I love cheese. I love milk! I'm not sure I can do it, but I have to remember how I feel when I do eat it, and hopefully that will give me the strength not to eat it. I won't be avoiding it altogether, but sure cutting back. That will help add to the weight loss I've had since Christmas time. I have lost a total of 13 lbs. Go me! So hopefully this will help.

No idea what I am doing...

I seriously have no idea what I am doing here on blogger. I feel like maybe it's more grown up than say...myspace? Who knows, honestly, who knows! I have no idea how to add friends, it took me over an hour to change the template of my blog, I have no idea how to add links, nothing. I feel so inadequate here on this blogger thingy. Almost as inadequate as I feel in the kitchen. ALMOST. But not quite. At least here if I mess up I can hit backspace, in the kitchen if I burn, I can't just scrape the black off the top and expect it to taste the same. Ok, really, it's 1:45 a.m. and I am making no sense...time for bed. Maybe I will have to ask my friend Sarah how this whole thing works. She can help me. Yeah, thats what I will do. Ask her.

Just so I can add a picture and feel cool....isn't my kid cute?