The big {5}!

Our Jaiden turned 5 this month!  We aren’t into big birthday parties every year but decided that for his 5th year, he could have a party.  He was so excited and wanted Star Wars.  So, we got the stuff and invited cousins and some neighborhood friends.  Grandma came out too.  There were 2o kids including ours!  Carlos works with a guy who gave us a great deal on a jump house so we got that and between the sandbox and the jumping, I think the kids were pretty entertained most of the time….  I was exhausted after it was over!  Thanks everyone who came!  It was lots of fun!

 

Here are some highlights…

        

We had started with a Darth Vader pinata but when I saw the receipt a week later (I wasn’t paying attention when Carlos was paying…), I took it back and told them that I thought it was ridiculous to pay that much for something that was going to be smashed apart.  Because it was a licensed product, it cost over twice what the other did.  So we were able to convince Jaiden that we were going to find a much better one and he was thrilled with the dinosaur he picked out.  Call me ornery, call me cheap, but I maintain my opinion!  I’m glad he was happy with what he got!

The wind was blowing too hard to light the candles so he just pretended!

Don’t look too closely at the cake, it was a finished at 2:30 am, fondant didn’t want to cooperate, I really need to practice more, cake.  But I was pleased that the layers worked, it’s the first time I’ve done more than one tier!    

 

Jaiden also got his first bike for his birthday!  He’s done really well riding it and he even has a bell for it.  He’s such a cutie!  He’s so smart and loves to “talk to me” and help out with washing dishes and making things.  He’s a great big brother and takes extra care of Zach.  We are so proud of him and the great kid he is! 

   

We love you Jaiden!

Zach’s Birthday

No matter that I-somewhat rebelliously- went to see the late viewing of Letters to Juliet all on my own, and then stopped by Macey’s for the needed milk, eggs and bread (I’ve determined they are the most purchased items at that time of night, based on the items in the possession of fellow late shoppers), I said I would post about Zach's birthday and post I must.

When I went to get him out of bed, I started singing “Happy Birthday” and he was all smiles.  It didn’t take him long to figure out that this day was all about him!  He was so cute anytime we would sing or talk to him about it.  This is mister smiley first thing in the morning…

He is playing with his brothers more and more and here they are making a fort on his birthday… 

I just guessed on what kind of cake to make and I really need to start preparing ahead of time and not doing these things so last minute so that they don’t look like these psycho-beaked, weird-eyes, droopy-frosting freaky ducks.  And he was a little disturbed by them too at first.  He did his little eye-flutter, shuddery thing that he does when he’s afraid of something.  Anyways, this was his cake… AAAHH!  It’s the attack of the psycho ducks!

As you can see, he really wasn’t convinced by them.  I wonder why?

 

He did warm up to them in the end…(sorry it’s blurry)Opening presents…

is always fun…….…!

Zachy is becoming very talkative and most of the words he puts together are in the form of demands like, go outside, quiere agua, no don’t, no diaper and lots of other fun ones.  He gives the tightest hugs and the sweetest kisses.  He now has to give Jaiden and Austin kisses before he goes to bed and when he’s hurt one of them, his way of saying sorry is rubbing and patting their back and saying “shhhh, shhhh…” 

It’s fun to see his personality develop and we love having him in our family.  His brothers are usually so good with him and protective of him and, as Austin says, “Mommy, Zachy LUVS me!”  We LOVE you too Zachy!

Birthday Boys

As promised, here are the highlights of the birthdays we’ve had around here.

First was Austin’s birthday back in April.  He turned THREE!  He is very talkative and speaks in complete sentences and is very determined, opinionated and independent.  He is very picky about the clothes he wears and is frequently heard to say, “I don’t LOVE that” when he doesn’t want to wear or eat something.  He gives the best kisses out of nowhere and always tells me he “NEEDS” me.  Which is part of the reason he is often found in our bed in the morning! 

He wanted the Moose cupcakes, so that’s what I made.  They didn’t turn out very well but oh well.  The heads were just way too heavy and kept falling off! 

Here is his cape that I stayed up ‘till 3:00 the night before to make and that he has really not wanted much to do with since then.  He’ll wear it for a minute or two and then is done with it.  Oh well!  He didn’t get that Woody for his birthday but was playing with it that night and being cute.  He is in his new pj’s! 

He’s my boy that would gladly run around sans clothing all day long if he could!  And we’ve had to make a few necessary stops when driving somewhere so that he could relieve himself.  Now I am always getting after him for going wherever he wants when he’s outside!  A few weeks ago, they were headed to the park at the school and I was getting ready to go over when I see him standing on the sidewalk in his pj top (he’d just had his bath), pull-up and shorts, except the last two were around his ankles and he was watering the light post right there next to the street!  Silly boy!  We’re working on what’s appropriate!  And he’s so funny, when he doesn’t want to wash his hands after going potty, he cries and says that the “water not working!”  He still has to wash his hands!

He likes to play with stuffed animals and has his favorite “baby dog” and his “baby duck”.  Awhile ago, Carlos went to check on him when he was asleep and this is what he found:

So sweet!  Austin is a sweet, sweet boy and gives great hugs and kisses! 

Okay, so I guess I kind-of lied because I’m just going to post Austin’s birthday tonight.  I took way too long with this and I NEED to get some laundry folded.  Plus, I think they both deserve they’re own post!  So tune in tomorrow for more about Zach!

Progress

We’ve basically finished our front yard for this year, we just need to get the side done where the Jeep is.  Eventually, we will put cement there and make the back accessible for Zach.  For now we’ll just do the gravel.   A landscaper was going to dig it out a little more for us but they never got back to me so now we’re going to find someone else.  Long story.  But it’s driving me nuts!  Anyway, on with the good…

This is what it looked like before we bought it last year:

By the time we moved in, the entire yard - front, side and back- was covered in weeds knee high.  There was not even a sprinkler system (this house was built in 2006 and had had people living here…) So I would say that this is progress!

  

We still have work to do in the back yard, but some of it (like a shed in that back corner) will come with time.  The kids and their friends have a lot of fun in the sandbox and we’re excited for the trees to grow so we can get some shade in the afternoons.  It gets pretty hot inside with the afternoon sun beating in!  We’ll also get a matching vinyl fence along the back.  And make the backdoor handicap accessible by adding a deck.  And who knows what else!  It’s a good thing we enjoy working in our yard and making it our own.

We were really sad to leave our house in Payson but knew it was the right thing to do.  We were blessed with a wonderful neighborhood in Springville that first year after Zach was born and it was where we needed to be.  Now that we’ve been here for just over a year, we love it too.  Our house is perfect for us and our needs and we have some great neighbors too!  

Today was also Zach’s 2nd birthday!  I haven’t posted pictures from Austin’s birthday (back in April) so I’ll do both of them tomorrow!

Memories and Memorials

Today I went down to the Santaquin Cemetery with Amy and Eric to meet family down there and we watched part of the program.  They played a recording about how the national anthem was written. I am so thankful to live in this country and for the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom.

After the cemetery, we came home and got the rest of the family, went to Walmart for some needed supplies.  There were a lot of great salads and food and then we had a bridal shower for Paige.  It was a good afternoon.

                        

We came home and rested for a little while then walked down to Sonic and had dinner.  We live about seven blocks away and it was very pleasant to walk and to sit outside and eat.  It was a fun day and great to see everyone!  I’m ready for bed!

March for Babies **Updated**

Okay, so I'm just going to do a quick little write-up so that I can move on with my posts...

I’m too tired to write about these but wanted to get the pictures up. We had a fun time at the March for Babies yesterday. I’ll update this post later explaining the pictures!

AWESOME face painting lady. She's been doing this for 23 years and was at last year's March too.

Very IMPRESSIVE balloon guy. He was really good.

Let the March begin!

Thanks Amber, Anna, Brent, Amy and Eric for coming down to support us! We loved seeing you!

Not everyone was convinced they wanted to be in the picture but the eventually all joined in. Brent had chocolate all around his mouth and I asked him to show me his mouth, so he did!

Sponsor My Team in the March for Babies!

We support the March of Dimes because they work towards the goal that one day, all babies will be born healthy. 

We understand, to a degree, the devastation and loss felt from having a baby that is not 100% healthy.  While some things are known, the cause of Spina Bifida is still unknown.  We hope that someday, that cause will be found as well as what is needed to prevent it.  One thing we do know is that Folic Acid is very important in reducing the risk of having a baby with Spina Bifida and the March of Dimes has played a key role in educating the public about it.  Click here to see some of the things they do.

Even a donation as small as $5 or $10 makes a difference and it all adds up to great things.

Click on the link at the top of the page to make a secure donation.

Thank you!

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, DUMB!

So I feel a little entitled to take some time to post because I really need to rest and don’t want to do anything else and I don’t feel like I have to do anything (because my awesome husband helped me-okay it was mostly by himself-get caught up on the laundry).  So I feel like it’s okay to take time.  Even if it is to tell my sob story.  So if you don’t want to hear-um, read- my whining, it’s time to stop now!  And it may have a little bit of TMI (too much info…) for some….and this is really long…

So why do I need to rest? Because I’m an idiot and though I really, honestly had no control over the things that happened, I feel kind-of stupid.  So here it goes, my stupidity for all to see.  Monday night I went to bed feeling fine.  We have been working in the yard a lot so I was sore but that was it. 

I woke up around two feeling like I needed to throw up.  That doesn’t happen very often to me.  No, I’m not pregnant.  So I went into the bathroom and sat by the toilet waiting for it to happen.  I think I let Carlos know.  The last thing I remember was feeling it coming and then the next thing I know, Carlos is smacking (okay, patting) my cheeks and holding me in a sitting position, trying to get me to wake up.  I had totally blacked out and fell backwards, hitting my head on the wall.  I’ll spare you the other details.  It took me awhile to really come to and Carlos was pretty worried. I got back in bed and a little after seven had to wake up to go potty.  Well, while sitting there (TMI?!?!), I felt like I needed to throw up again.  I reached for the garbage and the next thing I knew, Carlos was patting me again.  Only this time I fell head first onto our ceramic tiles.  Lovely. 

He let me go back to bed for a little while then got his sister to come pick up the boys and took me to Insta Care.  They wouldn’t see me and said  we had to go to the ER.  So off we went.  5 1/2 hours, an EKG, blood work, head CT scan and chest CT scan later, they let us go and couldn’t find anything.  They did want me to follow up with a nuerologist though, so I have an appointment for that.  Carlos and the ER doctor suspect it might be something to do with the Vagus Nerve…I don’t know. 

I had some scratches on my forehead and my chin hurt when we first went to the ER but by the time we got home, my forehead was starting to swell.  It was really quite large and unsightly!  The swelling has gone down some today, so now it looks more like a sideways goose egg instead of the sideways ostrich egg that it did yesterday.  My chin is a little bruised but it’s mostly my forehead that’s really sore.  I slept/rested most of the day away yesterday and have been pretty useless today.  My neck has also become more and more sore as the day has progressed, it’s probably whiplash!

Carlos couldn’t work in the yard yesterday because of me and needing to watch the kids and because of the rain so that’s why he helped with the laundry (and it was driving him nuts!).  It’s so nice to have it all done!  Once the weather cleared up this afternoon and he felt like I was okay, he went out and put in the pavers for our little patio that we were putting out front.  He did a great job!  I’m really excited because that was one thing I was sad about with this house (as much as I love it), was that it didn’t have a front porch.  So now I have a place to hang out on hot summer afternoons and can watch the kids playing out front.

So, here’s our little front porch/patio:

We still have a lot of work to do around the patio but we’re slowly getting things done.  And if it weren’t for me (and the rain…) we would have done a lot more yesterday.  We got the flag put up a few weeks ago and that was exciting!

Well, I’m done for the night.  No more posts because my neck is hurting from holding my head up.  And I’ve taken up a lot more of your time than you had planned!