Spitzer Family

Lyla June-4 months (January 26th 2010)

2010-03-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time flies when your raising your last little baby. I can't seem to get enough of the snuggles, smiles, giggles and bright blue eyed looks from this little girl.
Lyla,

At 4 months you are 13 lbs 15.5 oz (50th percentile) and 23 inches (10 percentile).You love to take a 9:00 PM nap and wake up 45 minutes later ready to play till about 1 AM (a lot like your older sister). You have rolled over a couple times but don't seem to enjoy it all that much. You have slowly decreased the amount of time you spend sleeping on my chest (oh, how I will miss that). You can be screaming as loud as your little lungs will allow but as soon as someone comes into your sight you stop immediately and smile. You LOVE attention and I LOVE to give it to you. Talen and Ava love you so much and constantly want to hold you. Ava refers to you as "Wittle Wyla" or says "you chunky baby girl". Talen just wants to give you hugs and kisses all the time. At 4 months, you already have your daddy wrapped around your little pinkie and you are reeling him in day by day. You are an Angel and we love you.

Derrick and Talen showed up when I was taking pictures of Lyla so they just had to jump in a few of them. Sorry Ava, you were napping like a good little girl:)

January 25, 2010 Greer Trip

2010-03-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Adam and Hydee invited us to join them in Greer, Az for a couple of days so we packed up the car and took a trip to the snow. Adams cabin arrangements fell through due to the major snow storms so we found some perfect little cabins covered in snow.

My girls may look a little homely. We didn't want to buy them snow clothes so we dug through Talens old clothes and pulled out whatever would fit. The kids had a blast sledding, building a snowman and an igloo, having snowball fights and icicle fights(not my idea, looks a little dangerous) and sitting by the fire at night.

Ava was scared of the snow at first but she eventually warmed up and started to play in it.

Talen and Laird had a blast being pulled around on the sled. Derrick ran as the sled followed behind gliding back and forth across the ice. Talen kept taking his gloves off and his hands would be freezing cold. Uncle Adam was great at fixing that problem. Adam first blew on them and then stuck Talens hands in his armpits before putting his gloves back on.

Seeing Lyla in Talens old clothes brings back so many memories of Talen. They look so much alike to me so when she's wearing his clothes I have nonstop deja vu. We had a blast and the kids cried as we drove away. It was good to get a little taste of winter.

January 2010-Mud Monsters and More!

2010-03-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention that my kids love, and I mean LOOOOVE the mud. I can't even count how many days they have come to my back door covered in mud. I'm not going to lie I think its adorable and I think that its good for kids to get a little dirty at times. After all the things we have bought the kids to play with, I now realize that all they needed was a dirt hole in the back yard and a water hose. Someone should have given me that memo before I spent so much money on them. They call themselves MUD MONSTERS (with a growl)!

Talen loves to stack all of his trucks and tractors. This time he was able to stack it quite high. He was so proud and wanted me to take a picture of him doing a headstand next to his great accomplishment.

December 2009 Seever Family Reunion Part 2

2010-03-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

Camp Fire Dinners -yum, yum

One of the evenings we headed outdoors to hike and have a campfire. Thanks to Angela and mom, we enjoyed some very delicious campfire dinners.

We had a blast around the campfire talking and telling stories.

Spending time with Great Grandma Seever

My kids love their Great Grandma Seever. This is the Grandma that Lyla June is named after.

Arduth June Seever holding Lyla June Spitzer. We love you Grandma!

After the reunion was over, Talen rang in the New Year with the stomach flu. A great way to start 2010. Happy New Year!

December 2009 Seever Family Reunion Part 1

2010-03-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

We are so glad that my Grandma Seever and the Schneider Family decided to come to Arizona this year for a fun filled, flu filled chaotic family reunion. We started off by building candy houses (no pics of it this time), we played kick ball, hiked and ate camp fire dinners (thanks to mom and Ang) and enjoyed each others company. Lets start with some awesome kickball moves.

Dan had to take a moment to dance. We then followed this fun filled competitive game with a much needed lunch.

and then some more playing...

and then it was time for a nap!

Christmas 2009 In a Nutshell

2010-03-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

This year we did candy houses twice but I only have pictures from the first time. I searched the internet for some ideas on building candy houses and came up with using melted sugar like hot glue. It worked like a charm but BEWARE its very HOT! We built houses with the Richards Family again this year and then at the Seever Family Reunion.

On Christmas Eve, we hosted a small dinner at our house (for like the 3rd time that week). We exchanged presents with Grandma and Grandpa and opened Christmas Jammies.

Just gotta love these kids.

We taped the doorways up before going to bed so no one could see when Santa came and in the morning Talen had a blast busting through it. Ava was a little more timid about it.

Talen gave Ava a light up baby for Christmas and she loves it. Derrick was a little sad that her previously favorite baby that he gave her has now been replaced by the one Talen got her.

Ava dressing up in her new princess stuff. She forgot to put the dress on.

We then ended the day by hosting a small Christmas dinner. Sorry no Pics!

Many Updates

2009-12-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

When I first started a blog it was with encouragement from many others. I did it mostly so our family that doesn't live nearby could keep up with our lives. I have now realized that I am never going to scrapbook my pictures and so I have decided to use my blog as a family journal/scrapbook. I am going to try my best to post as much as possible because I know that years from now I will be happy I did. I have just posted many new updates below. Please don't feel obligated to read through them all but you can scroll down if you would like. I had a lot of updating to do since we had Lyla starting with Talens 4th birthday. I put the most recent at the top.

Big Boy Bike Riding!

2009-12-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

Talen learned how to ride his bike without training wheels today.

He was so excited, he went up and down the street over and over.

He doesn't quite have the stopping part down. When he decides he wants to stop he takes his feet off of the pedals and hopes for the best. With a little more practice he'll get it down.
And there goes my little boy, who is not so little anymore.

I can't believe how fast they grow up.

Trip to Payson-December 6th

2009-12-11T13:41:00.001-08:00

Derrick woke up one morning and decided he needed to get out of the valley of the sun (although, it was actually cold and overcast that day) so we packed the kids up and headed for the mountains. We don't have a lot of cold weather clothing so we found whatever we could and layered up so we could go for a hike.

This is for all you women out there that want your husband to experience at least one day of your pregnancy pain. If you can't tell, Lyla is in a front pack inside Derrick's sweatshirt. He was complaining less than an hour into it.

Talen had to climb every large rock that we passed.

And Ava , as always, posed like a princess!

They had to have a funny face picture. Ava always copies whatever Talen does.

Halfway through the hike Talen said he had to go #2. We begged him to hold it but he said he couldn't so we strayed from the trail and let him go. It was a family affair as Ava stood to the side observing, while I held Talen up. I was gagging the entire time which turned into full on dry heaving. Derrick was behind the camera laughing.

In order to make things fair I made Derrick do the wiping. We had no toilet paper, so yes, we became one with nature and used a leaf. Derrick wasn't laughing anymore:)

After an eventful day we headed home.

Ava Rides Her Tricycle-Dec. 4th

2009-12-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

Ava learned how to ride a tricycle today. She was so excited. She could never quite figure out how to make it move like her big brother. With a few quick instructions from daddy she picked it up with no problem.

Although, I think she could use some practicing with her steering.

The neighbors next door were having a birthday party for one of their kids. They had some clowns come and do some jokes and face painting so Talen and Ava went over for that. They were both somewhat scared of the clowns at first but they warmed up to them after a while.
Talen wouldn't allow a full face Spider Man mask but allowed one around the eyes. Ava is a little kitty cat. When she got back home she went straight to my bathroom to check herself out in the mirror. She stayed their for quite a while.

My kids drive me crazy with their cuteness!

Lyla June-2 Months Old

2009-12-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Lyla,
At two months old you have taken over our house but I don't mind. We absolutely love you and we are glad you are hear. You are NOT sleeping through the night but have begun to give me one 4-5 hour stretch each night which is awesome considering you've been eating every 2-3 hours until now. I love to snuggle you and I could hold you all day long if life permitted. Generally, you are a happy baby till 8 pm and then you love to exercise your vocal chords for a few hours. When you lay against my chest you love to look up at the wrought iron home decor above the couch. Not sure what is so fascinating about that but I think its adorable. You have started to smile at me and it just melts my heart. I spend hours of my day just trying to trigger a smile. Talen and Ava love to play with you and Ava loves to wake you up. When I ask her to let you sleep she replies "but she loves me". At two months you, like your big sister, already have your daddy wrapped around your little finger. You bring so much joy to our home.
Love,
Mommy

At your 2 month appointment your stats were
11 lbs 1.5 oz -50%
20.75 inches -3-5%
so basically your still short but you've gotten a little chubbier!

We have realized that Lyla looks a lot like Talen did. Below are some comparison pictures.
Lyla @ 2 months

Talen @ 2 months

Talen was a little chubbier @ 13 lbs. 3 oz.

Halloween

2009-12-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

CARVING PUMPKINS
Derrick helped Talen and Ava carve pumpkins this year. I've decided to stay behind the camera since I just had a baby:) He made a cute girly one with Ava and a mean scary one with Talen.

I was actually very impressed with his carving skills. The kids had a blast.

Talen always insists on taking a silly picture after the forced smile pictures.

HALLOWEEN DAY-VISIT TO GREAT GRANDMA'S

Every year we go to my grandmas house with the cousins to show her the costumes and eat her cookies.

Of coarse, Ava is a princess this year and below you can see Talen as a Ninja in action.

Very tired daddy with very tired butterfly on his chest. Lyla loves to sleep on our chests and I love it too. It's my favorite part of having a new born.

Lyla sure got passed around. This is the first time a lot of people have seen her. Below she is with her Great Grandma and then with her cousin Skylar. Skylar wore this same costume when she was a baby.

Heres a picture with all the cousins and a few parents that were dressed up.

After Grandmas house we headed home to get ready for trick or treating. The Monson girls came over to walk the neighborhood with Derrick and the kids while Lyla and I handed out candy.

Happy 4th Birthday Talen! Oct. 5th

2009-12-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to have Talens Birthday party early since we were expecting Lyla to arrive but obviously I am late posting it. We had his party September 19th which beat Lylas arrival by one week (that was close). Of coarse, he had to have a spiderman cake so I thought I would just purchase one this year since I was on semi bed rest, but I couldn't resist when Talen asked me if I was going to make him a cake. So, he and I went online to find the perfect cake to make. Below was the cake of his choice. There were many more difficult cakes out there but I'm not gonna lie, I may have slightly directed him to this one since I knew I could make it.

He and his friends swam for a while but strangely Talen was one of the first out of the pool. I think he was pretty tired since his day started with an early soccer game.

While all the kids went to dry off he sat patiently waiting to open presents and that's NOT normal! I think it was the exhaustion sinking in. He loves to sigh and say "I feel so exhausted"! I don't know where he gets that from:)

We ended the day with cake and ice cream...

and a good nights rest!

Meet Lyla June Spitzer!

2009-10-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Lyla was born September 26th 2009 at 5:35 pm. She was 5 lbs 10 oz and 18 inches long. Her middle name June is named after my Grandma Seever who is very special to me. She was not due till October 31st but decided she wanted to come 5 weeks early. I had my baby shower at 12:30pm on September 26th and 5 hours later she was here. I left the baby shower and began having severe abdominal pain. Due to the high risk of uterine rupture they decided to do the C-section immediately. She spent 17 days in the NICU for breathing and eating problems but she is home and doing well. Below is Lyla hooked up to all the breathing machines. Even though I knew she would be fine, it is still not easy seeing your baby this way.

Here she is after she had been in the NICU for a few days. Her breathing had improved so they took away all the machines. All she has left is a feeding tube and IV.

Below is the first bath Derrick gave her. You can see how tiny she is.

It was very difficult traveling 30 miles back and forth to the hospital to see her everyday, especially since I was still recovering from the C-section. However, on October 8th I was readmitted to the hospital for a severe case of mastitis which was unfortunate except for the fact that now I was much closer to her. Finally on October 12th both Lyla and I were discharged. We were very excited to finally have our entire family home.

Here are some pictures Jessica Richards took for me. Lyla is 4 weeks old in these pictures and probably about 7 lbs by now.

Thanks Jessica, you did a great job!

Go Crocodiles!

2009-09-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today was Talens first soccer game. We were all so excited for this day to come. I can't tell you how cute it is to see a bunch of 3 year olds out playing soccer. Fortunately, the coach can remain on the field with the players to remind them to chase the ball rather than look at the sky and which goal they should be kicking the ball toward. We tried to get Talen to put one foot on the ball and pose for a picture before the game but he couldn't quite balance long enough.

As soon as the game started Talen took off after the ball and kicked it down the field to score the first goal of the game.

If you want to see a large pregnant woman go crazy you should see me when he does something like that. I was so proud, I thought I was going to start crying. The video clip below shows him scoring his first goal.

Below is another action shot of Talen with the ball. These kids look so little out there.

Below is a shot of him about to score his second goal.

Talen is playing on the same team as his cousin Flash. They were both so cute out there. I think they're going to have a lot of fun playing soccer together over the years.

Flash broke away in the last play of the game to score the final goal.

And of coarse there is Ava. I think the pink ball with butterflies gives it away that she had to have her own soccer ball to take with her to all of Talens practices and games. She loves to kick the ball around and pretend like she is part of the team. During half time she insisted on kicking it into the goal. She will start soccer next fall. I can't wait!

Talen did so great and smiled the entire time. He was so happy to be out on the field like a big boy. Occasionally, he had to be reminded that he was in the middle of a soccer game and he should chase the ball, but he's 3 so we will give him some slack (at least till next season). I am officially a PROUD soccer mom!

Lyla June Spitzer 28 weeks

2009-08-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

I had an ultrasound 4 weeks ago and Lyla was so stubburn. She constantly kicked, punched and moved around throughout the entire time and would not allow us to get a good profile picture. I had yet another ultrasound today and I was really hoping she would cooperate with the photo shoot. Instead of fighting back this time, she just slept through the whole thing. They even shook my belly and made me rotate from side to side but she just remained snuggled up and fast asleep. We got one decent picture of her profile so here she is. I think she is beautiful.

As soon as they transferred me to a different room to meet with the Doctor she woke up and started to move around. This little girl does everything on her own time.

Summer Fun!

2009-07-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

Oh, how my kids love swimming. We take them at least once a day but usually twice, and even then we have to drag them out of the pool. They both are turning into little fish. I'm just waiting for Talen to grow gills so he can remain under water all the time since that is where he prefers to be. We are so proud of both of them. Talen has learned to do flips, dives and back dives off the diving board and without our permission did a flip off the waterfall once (I'm not ready for that). He loves to dive down to the bottom of the deep end (9ft deep) and collect all the rings. Ava still uses floaties but loves to kick her little legs, put her head face down into the water and swim around. She also loves to be thrown across the pool by her daddy!

Below is a sequence of pictures of Talen doing his back dive. I think we may have to save these so when he wins his Olympic gold for diving we can show pictures of him starting at age 3

Here is another picture of one of his dives that I love. He is positioned in a perfect little arch with his toes pointed while leaving the diving board.

I love this little girl and I am so excited to have another one!

Talens favorite thing to do is jump off of the diving board while Derrick holds the 2 boards in front of him. He loves to pretend like he is surfing on them.

For those of you that haven't seen Ava recently, if you look closely you can see her front tooth that was shoved up into her gums when she fell on our tile. When it first happened (end of May) you could only see a tiny bit of the tooth remaining, in fact we thought she broke it off. It is beginning to drop down back into place and will hopefully continue to do so until it is even with her other tooth.

Ava loves to jump off the diving board like her big brother but will only do it with the comfort of her daddy's hand in front of her.

We swim so much that most of Talens shorts are stretched out. I think its time to buy some more. Whenever he dives in, his shorts come down and show his cute little (white) bum.

Happy Birthday Derrick!

2009-06-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

This may be a few days late but I just wanted to say Happy Birthday Derrick. Derrick turned 29 on May 29th but with all the chaos going on I'm a little late posting again. He is an amazing father and husband and we love him so much. I hope you had a happy birthday!

Ava's 2nd Birthday!

2009-04-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I promised to put some of Ava's birthday pictures up about a month or so ago and I know that was a while ago, but the way I see it, is that it is never to late to celabrate Princess Ava! Here is the cake I made for her. I don't think she really cares about the fact that it is a butterfly but as long as it has pink on it she is happy.

She was surrounded by lots of her cousins and brother while opening her presents and they were all so helpful with her.

We got her a wooden kitchen for her birthday and she loves it.

Happy Birthday Ava! We love you and you will always be our little princess.

I'm Pregnant!

2009-03-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read it right, I'M PREGNANT! Exciting and scary at the same time. Most of you already know but I thought since it got out earlier than I had intended (my sister Angela caught me taking a nap in the middle of the day, which I never do, and she guessed it), I thought I should let everyone know. My due date is Halloween, at least thats what the computer says, but I will have my first ultrasound in a week or so and they will verify it. Either way they will probably take the baby 2-4 weeks early to help avoid some complications. We are very excited but I am VERY TIRED and nausea is kicking in! We are living in Charlotte, NC for the next 4 weeks and believe me it has been an adjustment for the kids. They hate being stuck in a tiny apartment but it's better than missing their daddy for a month. Derrick is doing well so far, he was very nervous with the changes in the housing developement and the economy but he got 11 is first day and 5 his second day. Hopefully the numbers continue to flow. Well, we miss you all and will be home in 4 weeks. I will post pictures of Ava's 2nd birthday soon.

It's Been A While

2009-01-14T20:48:00.000-08:00

So, obviously its been a while since I've updated my blog so I'm going to give a quick run down of the last 2 months. Then perhaps I will be able to keep it updated from now on. In early December Derrick started building a deck as part of a present for the kids for Christmas. Talen helped with the deck but had no idea what was going to be put on it. As you can see below Talen was very concerned about safety. He had to have his goggles on while watching his daddy use tools.
Talen worked side by side with Derrick through the whole process. It may have slowed the process down a little, but as Talen would say, they are "best buddies" and they do everything together.

Here is the finished product. Derrick finished the deck a few days before Christmas and then put up this wooden house. At that point we kept the kids away from it so they wouldn't see it till Christmas.

Derrick did an amazing job, especially with this being the first deck he built. The kids love it. It has a door bell, windows that open and shutters that the kids love to play peek-a-boo with.

Christmas morning we taped the doorway into the front room so the kids had to bust through it to see their toys.

Ava got this car from Santa and we could not get her out of it for the first few days after Christmas. She had to open all of her presents while sitting in the car. She absolutely loved it.

And of coarse, Talen got his spiderman scooter from Santa. Thats all he talked about from September on. He pretty much assumed that since he sat on Santas lap and asked for it, that he would get. And, he was right!

The only time Ava got out of her car on Christmas Day was to show off her new tutu and purse. She was so cute.

After Christmas we headed to California for the Seever Family reunion. We packed up the car with sick kids and headed out on our adventure, and what an adventure it was. For those of you that weren't there, and have mischievious kids, perhaps you will enjoy this knowing it wasn't your child this time. The night of my Grandpa's Birthday party we were gathered in the main room of the Marriott. All of the sudden the fire alarm went off and out comes Talen and Garren with a guilty look on their faces. Sure enough it was Talen who pulled the alarm. The fire department had to come to the hotel to turn it off.

I told Talen that he needed to apologize to the firemen and when he did the fireman replied, "Oh, its okay, do you want to see the fire truck and take a picture with it." Very nice of the fireman to offer that and obviously we didn't resist but hard to teach Talen that it wasn't a good thing to do. Talen was pretty excited to see the fire truck up close.

Halloween

2008-11-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a very busy last week of October. I haven't posted in a while but if you scroll down the page you'll see why. We started the last week of October in the Bahamas then went to San Diego and ended everything on Halloween. It was a bit crazy but a lot of fun. We got home from San Diego around 4:00pm on Halloween and threw the kids in the tub and then dressed them up and headed to Angela's for dinner and trick or treating.

After our quest for candy, I made the kids take a picture together since I hadn't gotten one of them together yet. They both seemed a little bitter about the fact that I pulled them away from all the candy.

I caught Ava and Ella digging through Maya's candy that she had dumped out on the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if Ava hid some in her tights. She can be a very sneaky girl.

San Diego & Sea World

2008-11-05T20:23:00.001-08:00

We got home from the cruise around 11:30pm on the October 27th and we unpacked and repacked that night and headed to San Diego the next morning with Derricks parents. Talen loved running from the waves. At first he was a little hesitant but as you can see in the picture below he was enjoying it so much that he couldn't help but laugh while he ran from them.

Ava immediately got her bum wet and then sat in the sand. She looked like she belonged on the beach. If global warning ever kicks in, maybe we will have beach front property in Arizona and she could be our little beach babe.

I caught Ava eating seaweed and sand. By the look on her face, I'm guessing she didn't like it.

While we were in San Diego we took the kids to Sea World. I'll admit, we thought it would go a little better than it did. Talen was scared of everything at first. By the time he warmed up to the dolphins or Shamu the shows were almost over. It even took him a while to warm up to the Sesame Street characters but luckily he did. The only thing he wasn't scared of were the rides. When he's tall enough we'll definitely take him to Disneyland, he is a thrill seeker like his daddy or as he would say "Just like my Daddy!". Of coarse by the end of the day we had to drag him out of Sea World.

When he finally decided he wanted to get close to the Sesame Street characters, Derrick or I had to stand between Talen and the character. Obviously by the smile on his face he was still very excited to meet them.

The Bahamas

2008-11-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

We headed to the Bahamas on a Cruise without the kids on the 24th. This was the first real vacation we've had without the kids since I was about 8 weeks pregnant with Ava, which was a little over 2 years ago. A vacation was much needed but we missed our kids a ton.

Derrick and I went with Dan & Darci and Kelly & Jake Coleman to Atlantis in Nassau to swim with the dolphins. We had a blast, although I have no pictures with the dolphins to put on here since they wouldn't let us take our cameras with us. Luckily they had their own photographer that took pictures and they made them available to us at top dollar.

An Exciting Day in Our Home!

2008-10-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I have been planning on meeting with a High Risk Specialist to see if we can have one more baby. Due to all of the complications I had with Talen and Ava's births, we were unsure of whether or not it would be safe to do so. Rather than calling everyone to let you know how it went, I decided to put the good news on our blog. We met with the doctor yesterday and she said that the risk of me dying during my pregnancy would be unlikely (which was our biggest concern). Apparently, I was a little too drugged up from Ava's c-section when the doctor first gave me the bad news. We thought that the biggest risk was that my uterus was too thin to carry another child, which would mean that it could burst during the pregnancy causing the baby and I to die. The risk is actually during the c-section. Due to the large amount of scarring on all of my organs (which has caused them to all stick together), there could be complications during the procedure that may require additional surgeries after the baby is taken out resulting in a longer recovery. They said that there was just as good of a chance that everything would be fine. The surgeons in their office deal with these types of c-sections a few times a month. Some of the risks can be detected on an ultrasound so if they exist we will just need to be prepared for it and have additional surgeons on standby during my c-section. For me, this is great news because I am willing to take these risks to have another child. We may not be able to have 4 or 5 kids but at least I can have one more. We are very excited, but don't expect any baby news any time soon. We just wanted to meet with the doctor to find out whether we could have one more or not. We plan on waiting a little while before we begin that adventure again.

Talen's 3rd Birthday!

2008-10-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Some of Derricks family came to visit last week and our kids had a blast playing with their cousins non-stop. We had a small birthday party with them on the 4th for Talens Birthday since we were ditching him on the 5th to go to a Buffalo Bills vs. Cardinals football game (Cardinals won). We are having a another birthday party for him on Monday the 13th at 4:30 for his Arizona cousins and friends so some of you may see this cake again at that party. He wanted a fire truck cake so, of coarse, thats what he got!

We told Talen to close his eyes while Derrick brought out his last present. He closed them as tight as he could.

He was soooo excited when he saw what the surprise was. He road it around all night and talked about how he was going to go on a biking trip just like his daddy!

Ava and her cousin McKelvie (who is about 4 months older than Ava), had a blast all week. They got along really well especially while playing the piano.

Cowboy Talen!

2008-09-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

I got out of the shower the other day and Talen came walking out of my closet dressed in my shoes, his cowboy hat and elmo underwear. He wants to be a cowboy for Halloween but I think I will make him wear a bit more when we go trick or treating. Maybe he and Tate could go horseback riding together some time.

This is all about my hubby!

2008-08-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, for all of you that keep harrassing me about my blogging inadequacies (You all know who you are), I'm going to make a little more effort to keep up with you blogging pros. Since I started this blog (with a little nudge from Jessica), I've been harrassed multiple times about not telling people I started a blog, not commenting on other peoples blogs or not looking at other peoples blogs. I want everyone to know that I will try to step it up but this one is for Jessica who tagged me!

Here it goes...all about my hubby!
1- Where did you meet? We met at my apartment complex in Provo while in college.
2- How long did you date before you were married? 8 months
3- How long have you been married for? 5 years!
4- What does he do that surprises you? He brings me flowers quite often and he suprises me with clothes sometimes when he comes home from his Bulwark training trips. Risky to buy me clothes I know, but he usually does a good job!
5- What's your favorite feature about him? He has the prettiest eyes and cutest butt!
6- What's your favorite quality about him? He has a very good heart.
7- Does he have a nickname for you? What is it? toots or babe
8- What's his favorite color? blue
9- What's his favorite food? Mexican food; chips and salsa to be exact, even if there are onions in it:)
10-What is his favorite sport? wake boarding, skiing & mountain biking
11- Who said I love you first? he did
12- When and where was your fist kiss? At my apartment in provo.
13-What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? We love to just hang out, it doesn't matter what we're doing. If I had to choose I would say vacationing.
14-Do you have kids? How many? 2, and we absolutely adore them. He is a great father!
15- What's a hidden talent that he has? He can do a great impression of a monkey, I think it comes pretty naturally for him:)
16- How old is he? 28
17- What's his favorite type of music? He loves laid back, chill music most of the time but listens to lots of types.
18- What do you admire most about him? He is an honest sincere person in every aspect of his life.
19-What's his favorite past time? Probably hanging out with us, and paintballing or mountain biking. (apparently the same as AJ)
20- Do you think he is going to read this? Probably, so I had to be honest.

I tag Kristin unless your to busy commenting about me not commenting:)

Picture Board for Ava's room

2008-08-20T14:37:00.001-07:00

Most of you know that I made the bedding for Ava's room. Since Ava came a month early I didn't get to finish everything I wanted to make to go with it. "Life happenned" for the next 18 months and now I have finally gotten around to finishing some of those things. Last week I made this picture board to match her room. It was the first one I've made so it was experimental but I think it turned out okay!

Our Little Princess

2008-08-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

I know its early but we are trying to decide on a Halloween costume for Ava. We have a couple to choose from and we were trying them on her the other day to see if they would fit (This one is 6-9 month size and is a little big on her. I don't know who makes these sizes???). It wasn't until then that we realized how much she loved to dress up. She walked around the house in this princess dress and she just couldn't resist going into our bathroom to see herself in a full length mirror. She posed and smiled at herself admiring how beautiful she looked in the mirror.

Swimming

2008-08-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Talen and Ava love to swim. All summer long we've been taking them both swimming almost every day. Talen can swim without floaties but we leave them on him just to be safe. Throughout the summer Ava has wanted to be independent in the pool so we finally decided to try floaties on her. She seems so small that we were hesitant at first but after one day she was having a blast. She goes down the slide by herself and she loves climbing up to the top of the waterfall and having Derrick drop her off into the pool. We knew Talen was a fish but Ava can hold her own too!

The Canoe

2008-08-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

This is Derrick in the canoe that he helped build. He got to take it out on the lake for the first time in Greer. He was pretty excited about it.