Sweet, sweet memories!

I love having a camera readily available on my phone because I am able to capture so many memories with my sweet family! There are LOTS of pictures and videos and I'll explain each as I go along.


My Loves!





I caught M'Ree laughing for one of the first times ever!!!





Myles loves to dress himself, but this day he got in a jam with his sweater. It made us laugh and smile and he eventually got it right too.





Brothers! I love that they will have pictures with each other as they grow up together.





Myles LOVES basketball! For Christmas he got a hoop that hooks over the top of a door so he can practice whenever he wants and all his practice has definitely paid off! My Dad and stepmom took us to Chuck E. Cheese's last weekend and I was so amazed by how well he was doing at the little basketball booth! I would have gotten a longer video of him making more shots, but my camera was dying so I couldn't :(.





Up in the mouse cage at Chuck E. Cheese's





My sleepy little men!





Sweet Myles





He is getting so big so fast!





Myles and I made homemade fruit snack gummies!





Stirring the gummy mixture





Excited to try his gummies!





Trying a gummy!





Easter morning! I think my favorite thing about this picture is how happy Myles was thinking he was the most spoiled kid in the world, but we got EVERY one of their Easter goodies you see in the picture for about $15! D.I. and dollar items is where it's at! The little couch looking thing has a zipper on the bottom and it has a little Myles sized sleeping bag inside! Those things brand new are about $20, but D.I. sold it for $3! A bit of scrubbing and a run through the washing machine and it was as good as new :D. He hasn't slept a night without his sleeping bag since either.





Oh how I love this precious little face and his adorable ears!!!





Little stowaway! Myles attached himself to Liz's and Isaac's bag when they were leaving after they'd visited one weekend.





I couldn't resist a picture of sweet, little M'Ree in his little fisherman hat!





He walked in the house after we had been at the park one day and just crashed! I'm glad it's getting to be warm all the time so this will be happening more often during the day!





Our little dare devil! Making us nervous looking like he's going to climb on the bars.





He's says he can do it so we're trusting him.





Well, he can do It! I don't know if those bars are meant to be a slide, but they are now!





M'Ree kept it a lot more chill at the park





No pictures please, but I still love you, see, I can sign it!





Myles asks me to sing to him every night before he goes to bed, but while I sing he likes to stroke my hair and hold my face in his little hand. It's one of my favorite times of the day and will no doubt be one of my favorite memories of all time. This picture was one Frank got one night when Myles and I had fallen asleep after I had sung to him and yes, I am totally in his little toddler bed with him :)





M'Ree doing what M'Ree does best!





Myles has loved watching Sleeping Beauty lately because "Myles a prince! I kill the dragon!!! He gets all dressed up for the occasion too.





I captured a HUGE smile from sweet M'Ree!





My sister, Liz, her husband, Isaac, and his little sister, Becky, came to our house so we could celebrate Liz's birthday with her. As always, they are a blast to have around! Like me, Liz is a HUGE volleyball fan so we all went to a BYU men's volleyball game. They are ranked #3 in the nation so they were very fun to watch especially since they won!. Isaac is Venezuelan so it was customary to have a piñata as part of the birthday celebration, but I'm thinking it might have been more for Myles than Liz. We had to improvise a bit since the loop the rope traditionally goes through broke off haha.





Some sweet pictures from our Nevada trip.


Great Grandma Mills and M'Ree





Grandpa Astle and M'Ree





Great Grandpa. Cute as ever!





I am titling this next segment the Joys of Parenthood. I have stories with pictures and just stories, but you'll get a good laugh from both so enjoy!


Myles cheeks flare up with an eczema rash occasionally and during these times we have been advised to give him Benadryl to help calm it. The first night we did this it was already really late at night and Myles was what we call "rummy". Add a dose of Benadryl to an already rummy 2 year old and you get Myles staggering around the living room and Frank says, "Myles you need to go to sleep. You're staggering around like you're drunk!" Myles reply? "Ya, I drunk!" My reply? "Oh, great Frank. What do we tell the bishop when he says that in nursery on Sunday?!"


That moment when you are in a restaurant and your child start SCREAMING like they are dying so you look up to find they have tried to shimmy out the bottom of the booster chair and gotten their head and arm stuck on their way out.





Myles is old enough now to know most of what we are talking about so when we are talking about the possibility of going to the park or making cookies or something of that nature, Frank and I speak to each other in double dutch to throw Myles off so we don't get stuck with him houding us about the park all day because he heard us say the word park, but it's raining outside so there's nothing we can do about it. We were having one of these conversations when Myles walked up to us and goes, "Ibi da bu da do da be bubble!" hahaha it was adorable and I've tried to get it on camera, but he's too shy to perform his double dutch for me!


Myles also had a trip to the Dr. recently because he had a few little warts pop up on he wrist. At his 2 1/2 year check up the Dr. said it would be best to freeze them since he was scratching at them making them bleed and more likely to spread. I was unaware of what exactly that procedure would entail and just thought it would be a cold feeling from the liquid nitrogen and that was it, but, no. The Dr. starting prepping for it and when he brought in a needle I was bit baffled. Come to find out the freezing is cold, but the stinging and burning sensations come through much more that the cold does so they inject a local anesthesia into each wart they are treating. I had only prepped Myles for a cold feeling so while the Dr. was still getting ready I showed him the needle and told him the cold would hurt really bad so the Dr. was going to poke him on his owies and it would hurt but not as bad if he held still and then it wouldn't hurt at all while he did the cold part. As I was relaying this speech I knew it was going to be pointless so I prepared for the screaming and kicking, but much to my surprise Myles laid on the table, gave the Dr. his wrist, said. "Be fast, K?" then grabbed my hand with his free hand, turned his face toward the wall, squeezed his eyes shut and just said ow and had a few silent tears as the Dr. injected the local anesthetic into five different places. I was already stunned by how well Myles was handling everything and then the Dr. saw a tiny wart forming that he said was too small to do the local on so he just starts freezing it! Myles starting going ow, ow, ow, mommy that hurts, it burns! Then he told the Dr. to stop it and knocked his hand away hahaha I told the Dr. to let me explain to him first and Myles says to the Dr., "Ya, got to esplain first!" hahaha oh how I love that boy! So I told him the Dr. had to finish and it would be fast so he let him with some coaxing, but he still didn't fight or cry and when he was done he was just excited for the bandaids he got and they pulled out all the stops and let him choose whatever bandaids he wanted, let him take a huge handful for later, and they let him choose extra stickers because he did so well and his Dr. said, "He is the bravest 2 year old I've ever seen!". :D I was prepared to get emotional from the screaming and kicking like I always do when one of my kids is in pain from shots or the like, but I was not prepared for his act of bravery. I ended up crying anyway, but just because I was so proud of him so I told him that because he was so good and so brave I'd take him to McDonald's for lunch and wouldn't you know he comes to me today and says, "Look, another owie, the Dr. needs to fix it so I get french fries cause I'm brave." :D Frank's reply to that was, "Who is this kid? What are we raising?!" hahaha. Myles didn't end up having another wart though, thank goodness. He is such a little trooper! This is a picture of some of the open sores that came a few days after they froze his warts.





We made pizza the other day for dinner and right when we sat down to eat M'Ree started crying so I went to see what was up with him, came back and found a perfectly good piece of pizza sitting on the floor next to Myles chair so I picked it up and asked Myles why his pizza was on the floor. He told me he was feeding the ants. Sure enough, right that moment, I got a tickling feeling on my arm. I looked down to find an ant on my arm and several on the piece of pizza! He had apparently noticed the little critters when I hadn't, but we've had ant problems before so luckily I have ant bait on hand and they were gone within a few days.





Many of you probably have a memory similar to this one of mine where you look up from nursing your infant and see your son or daughter is "nursing" a teddy bear or baby doll! Classic!


My sister and brother-in-law took us to Arctic Circle for lunch after we'd helped them move one Saturday and Myles decided to pick up Isaac's 32oz soda and get a drink. Poor Myles knew it was slipping and even said, "Help Isaac!", but it was too late. What made this moment so memorable, though, was Isaac looking up when Myles asked for help to see Myles practically toss the soda to him, the lid popping of mid air and Isaac catching a wave of soda full in the face! Myles felt so bad, but when I got a picture of it he was pretty proud because, "I got uncle Isaac!!!" hahaha





This moment was a real joy for me and made me feel accomplished in instilling some great values in Myles. Myles grabbed the Ensign while we were visiting my mom and stepdad a few months back and started "reading" it. I asked what he was reading just like he does to me when I am reading and he gave me the same answer I give him when he asks me what I am reading: "I'm reading the "Esine", because it's the best "magzine" in the house."





I can still almost not believe this next memory even though Myles has always been such a great eater and will try anything, but now I mean ANYTHING! Myles came around the corner from the kitchen at my mom and stepdads and says, "Mmmmm, I like it this juice!" I turned around curious what juice he'd found because his mouth certainly had proof he had been drinking juice, but I could not believe my eyes when I saw what kind of juice he had! You might be able to make it out in the picture, but incase you can't, he was drinking beet juice straight out of the can! I figured if he liked it, great, because it was definitely not going to hurt him so who was I to stop him from drinking something so healthy?





That's all for now!

My tug of war

So, I have TONS of blogging to catch up on, but every once in a while, I find our blog has become my place to vent and right now I feel that's what I need. I try to be positive or put a positive twist on everything and sometimes just getting it out of my system is all I need to relieve that tension and go on in all my happiness. So, the venting. It starts with mixed emotions about our move to Omaha in just 3 1/2 short months, but who's counting. I feel guilt and elation and I'll explain both. The two are completely intertwined because the guilt only exists because I am sooo, sooo very exited about our move! How can I not be?! I love adventure and change. I LOVE that the final leg of Frank's schooling is about to begin. I love the heat and from what I hear, I will not be disappointed in Omaha. I love our new town-home which is 1900 square feet and the previous tenants built a club house in the nook space under the stairs that go to the basement that Myles is going to LOVE. BASEMENT! Yes! We will have a basement!!! I love the idea of a fresh start with a new place, new people and new memories to be made. The ONLY thing I don't absolutely love about leaving Utah..... is leaving Utah! Yes, we have made some great friends here and yes, this is "The home land for the Latter-Day Saints", but our friends are mostly students and on there way out too and let's be honest, Utah could use more work than many other states as far as the Gospel goes. I love the idea of living in a place where people don't take the church for granted as much. It sounds so, very, harsh and judgmental, but the reason I feel that way is because I feel I have become just as complacent in some ways. Do I feel like this just because I am in Utah, no, but being here sure doesn't help. Do I feel that our move will change this, no, but I like the idea of my "family" being people in my ward who have just as much family in Omaha as I do so we'll try harder and rely on each other for support if for no other reason than because we have to. And that brings me to the reason why leaving Utah will be so hard. Family. Frank's parents bought a home that is only about an hour from us before they left on their mission to Germany last year so we will leave Utah and 6 months later they'll be here so we'll miss out on being so close to them. Three of Frank's siblings are in Utah. My dad and stepmom live just 45 minutes away and we are used to seeing them about every other week, at least. My grandparents and all but two of my aunts and uncles from both my parents sides are in Utah. Most of my siblings are still at home in Nevada with my mom and stepdad, but those of them who aren't are in Utah. Home for me is about 7 hours away from where we are now so it's already a long, tedious journey. Now add 2 kids and 14 more hours and my definition of long and tedious just got put into perspective. It wouldn't even be so bad if Myles didn't ask for many of his family members when we haven't seen them in a week or so and I can't help feeling that is how it should be. I grew up having very close relationships with my grandparents and aunts and uncles and I have always wanted that for my kids so how can I not feel so guilty taking them away from that? And, yeah, there is the possibility of coming back to Utah and we'll only be gone a few years, but what if I told you Utah is the last place we want to come back to? Maybe I'll get what's coming to me and Utah will be where we need to be in 3 years. It would be the ultimate trial for me and I'd deserve it, I'm sure, but there are 49 other states we can go to so the odds are in my favor. So, while I have plenty to feel guilty about, I've had a real struggle lately knowing we have more space, a fresh start, new people, and new adventures that are only 3 1/2 months away and I find myself counting down to the blessed day when our journey to Omaha begins.

Valentine's Day and more

Sooo much has been keeping us busy the last two weeks! They started with a fun, lazy, watch T.V. morning.





Then, it turned into an exceptionally warm day so we went to the park and Myles enjoyed some time laughing with Dad and his long lost friend, the swing.





The weekend before Valentine's Day my sister, Liz, and her fiance, Isaac, came down to babysit so we could go on an actual Valentines' Day date. We decided to be SUPER spontaneous (haha) and went to see a movie: The Vow. It's based on a true story which makes it even better, but it was the perfect Valentine's Date movie because it makes you appreciate your significant other and cherish all your memories even more.





We had some time to kill while we were at the mall so we walked around "window shopping", but we found the COOLEST thing for Myles and it was only five bucks!!! So, when we got home we gave him his Valentine's present from mom and dad.





Don't worry, it's not just a mini Buzz Lightyear bag we got for $5, it's also the backpack on him. He loves it and puts all of his Toy Story toys in it. We felt bad leaving M'Ree out, but we found a sweet deal on diapers recently and spent quite a bit more than five dollars stocking up, but he appreciates them even if he doesn't realize it I'm sure.


On Valentine's Day I took Myles and M'Ree to a Valentine's Day party one of the mom's on the block threw. Myles got to decorate cookies which he was very excited about as you can see. And if you can't tell, his shirt says my mommy is my valentine :D. I was so excited this shirt fit him two years in a row!





He tried to eat them before we even got the frosting out, but I had him wait long enough to decorate them so I could get pictures of the finished products.





Finally getting to eat them!





M'Ree and our neighbors son Andrew had fun hanging out too. M'Ree is on the right.





The friday after Valentine's Day, we went to Sally (Frank's sister) and Jeff's (her hubby) house to hang out because Frank's sister, Katrina, and her family had driven in from Oklahoma for their Grandma's 90th birthday. His other sister, Rachel, two of her 4 kids, Ashlyn and Devan, and one of his brothers, Leonard, and his family also came down. It was awesome to have 4 of his 8 siblings together and it went by way to quickly. The next day we all went to Grandma Mary's birthday party and had a blast with Frank's family. Sally took lots of pictures on Friday and Saturday, so sorry I don't have any, but I did get one good one of Myles that I just couldn't pass up.





After Frank's grandma's birthday party we headed to Bear Lake for my grandma's birthday party, crazy, I know. We spent the weekend with them and even got to see my aunt Rebecca and her family which was great for Myles since they have a 3 yr old daughter who he got to play with. He also found a "toy" he was particularly fond of at great grandma and grandpa's house and I was lucky enough to get a video of him so you can all get a laugh out of it too.





On Monday night we went to Crystal Hot Springs and met up with some more of my aunts and uncles to celebrate my grandma's birthday. It was so nice to see everyone who came and so relaxing to sit in the nice, warm, springs. Myles has been asking to swim everyday since we went and I don't blame him; I've been wanting to go back too! Luckily one of my aunts had an extra pair of arm floaties and once he got the hang of moving his arms and kicking we had a hard time keeping track of him!








Our weeks are busy even without all our fun activities. Frank has been job hunting and attending his one class of the semester. He has had a few interviews, but when they find out we will only be here a few more months I guess it makes sense he hasn't been hired on anywhere yet. However, it has been such a help to have him home so much to watch the boys while I have been busy going to physical therapy for my shoulder three times a week, massage therapy for my shoulder 2 times a week and going to the chiropractor for the left side of my body 2 times a week. The hope is that all of these steps will help my shoulder heal on its own if it can. It has sure been taxing on my body energy-wise with all my shoulder goes through each week plus nursing, but it will be so worth it if I can avoid surgery altogether since I'm sure recovery from that will be much worse than what I'm experiencing now. I'm also feeling extra beaten down since I got an awful flu of some kind that hit me while we were at my grandparents house. At first I thought it was just allergies, but on the way home I started getting the chills along with my headache and sinus pressure, but I'm pretty sure my fever has broken now and I'm feeling a ton better today. Hopefully no one else gets it. We have also officially decided where Frank will attend law school:






Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska! We are so excited for a change, but sad to leave our family and friends here in the West. Frank was offered a 1/2 tuition scholarship and may get more funding after he applies for other scholarships given through those who sponsor Creighton since it is a private school. The boys have both been doing great just growing, thriving and loving life. M'Ree is probably loving life less since he is finally reacting well to tummy time. Up until this week he was more angry if he was on his back than if he was on his tummy. We've also noticed his hair is getting lighter all the time so we may have a little blondie unless his hair keeps falling out, then we'll have a baldie. He also gets comments all the time about how long his fingers and his overall length are. And Myles is as happy and energetic as ever! It's harder to notice the changes taking place in him, but his sentences are better formed and more understandable all the time. Here are a few pictures of them.


All smiles. One of M'Ree's first!





I thought this was so great! haha

Great week , bad day

We have had a great week, but it's been the last 18 hours that made this week seem hard. It was a good week because Frank had an interview at a law firm who is looking for a writer/editor and he would be perfect since he's awesome anyway, but he is also a writer/editor already for the pre-law review. We will see what happens and in the mean time we are loving every minute we have of him while he doesn't have school or work. Myles loves hanging out with his dad and wants to be just like him so now that dad has glasses Myles wants some too!



We've had a few warmer days this week so I've been up for taking the boys outside and taking Myles to a play date so we got to get out the double stroller I found for a sweet deal on KSL a few months back. I was picky about the one I chose this time around because I don't trust the traditional ones anymore since my old one broke and folded in on itself while Myles was in it during our walk one day. So, this one is different, as you can see, and it can't fold in on itself so it was the stroller for me!


We went to a BYU Men's Volleyball game last night which would have been a blast had they won :). I am a bit of a volleyball fanatic anyway, but when you add my favorite team (minus the Misty May and Kerri Walsh beach volleyball duo, of course.) who is....ok WAS ranked #1 in the nation Frank will tell you I get a little scary and I will tell you I get a little passionate. It was fun and stress free since M'Ree was only awake long enough to eat so I'm guessing he enjoyed it since he was able to sleep the rest of the time and Myles LOVES to go to sporting events so he just makes the experience even better as he screams and yells and dances to all the music they play and everyone around us tells us how awesome and cute our son is :D. It just occurred to me that Myles probably loves sporting events so much because he CAN yell and scream AND everyone thinks it's sooo cute! No wonder he's so confused when he gets reprimanded for such behavior during sacrament meeting! I got a video of him dancing last night, enjoy!



Our good week ended after we got home and got to bed (Frank and I were up until about two because we were watching a movie that was on T.V. and I needed to feed M'Ree) because Myles woke up crying at 3 and when we checked on him he was covered in throw up along with all of his bedding so from there it got interesting. We got him cleaned up and bathed, but he lost it again about 10 minutes after that so we got both of us cleaned up then he just laid down on the living room floor and refused to go anywhere else so we spent the night in the living room with him.



He was getting sick about every hour all morning, stopped around noon, finally ate some applesauce for us when he woke up at 2 and since then, seems to be feeling a lot better so, we were starting to think maybe he got food poisoning from some chicken nuggets he'd eaten for lunch yesterday, but then he got a fever of 102 that didn't come on until after he'd been done throwing up for a few hours so now we have no idea if it's connected or not, but I really hope it's food poisoning and not the stomach flu. I can't imagine a newborn having the stomach flu. Thankfully, Myles slept almost as much as M'Ree today so Frank and I were able to catch up some from being up all all night. Speaking of M'Ree, he's doing great! He loves milk and sleep, typical newborn :), but I have gotten a few pictures of him awake, like this one.