A New Addition to our Family!

No No No..not another baby!

A NEW CAR!

It's a 2004 Honda Pilot! We love it! We decided it was time to trade in our Saturn Vue. It was losing value way fast, mileage was getting up there, it was manual, Chayse drew "peoples" on the back of my seat, and so we just decided if we were going to get anything good out of it as far as a trade in, we needed to do something sooner than later. We got a FABULOUS deal on it! They gave it to us for $2k below NADA pricing, and $500 in gas which we just decided to put towards the car! We LOVE that it is automatic, dark leather interior, it has butt warmers, automatic seats, and very roomy...because it seats EIGHT! Ya know, for our 6 children! (Haha just kidding honey!)

Chayse wondered who took his car at first, and I told him it was getting too old for Mommy & Daddy's likes. He liked it, then when we got home he told me, " I cant like it Mommy, throw it away." Chayse doesn't like change, so Im sure it will take some getting used to for him.

Though it was a good car for the 2 years we had it, all I have to say is ,

"Good riddance Smurfy!"

(not ours, just a picture off the internet of what it looked like!)

Im Still Here!

Not to worry..Im still here! :) We got back from our trip to Boise late Wednesday and these last few days have just been playing catch up and getting back into the swing of things! I will get the pics from our trip uploaded and posted probably on tuesday! Check back! :)

Happy Birthday Tegan!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My best friend Tegan

had a birthday yesterday! She is such a great girl and I love spending time with her! We got to take a night off from the kids, and go with our husbands to The Melting Pot for dinner here in Boise! We had a blast, as we always do when we get together!

She turned 24, so I wanted to make a list of 24 things I think are so great about Tegan!

24. She has a contagious smile!

23. I am constantly laughing when we get together.

22. She has such a cute style

21. Her house is always decorated so cute!

20. She is a great mom to Peyton!

19. She is a great example to me!

18. I love how her house always smells yummy!

17. She is a fabulous cook!

16. She does really good french manicures on toes!

15. She is always so organized!

14. Her house is always spotless!

13. She makes way cute baby headbands! (She really needs to sell them!)

12. She is always there for me to talk to!

11. She is so great with my kids and they love her to death!

10. We never seem to run out of things to talk about!

9. She always has the cutest purses!

8. She is such a happy person, and it rubs off on those around her!

7. Her scrapbooking skillz are off the hizzy! (haha im a dork..but I had to)

6. She is always jumping up to help with anything and everything!

5. She is a hard worker!

4. She is a great wife to Joel!

3. She is just as much of a texting queen as I am!

2. She has such a tender heart!

The # 1 thing I love about Tegan is:

She just GETS me!

Thanks for being such a great friend over these past 3 yrs Tegan! Here's to lots more years of laughing, growing, friendship, motherhood, advice giving, experiences, and fun times!

LOVE YA!

Alexa's 3 Month Pics

Happy Mother's Day

Wow! How lucky am I to be a Mom?

Especially to these two!

My sweet husband and my two little ones took me out to a Mommy's Day breakfast at Village Inn this morning! We love the breakfasts there!

My little Chayse! How I love the way you make me smile and laugh and feel young again..as you entertain me daily with your new phrases, creative ways of pronouncing things, and your constant praising of how "great" I am and how much you love me. You "broke" me into motherhood, and somehow I got lucky to have such an easy going little guy!

My darling Alexa! The day you were born, I felt even more blessed to be a mom. My life seemed so much more full. Tears filled my eyes as I looked down at you, hoping and praying I could help to mold you into a beautiful honorable woman someday. Every day, you give me a new reason to smile, and I love how sweet and innocently you look up at me with such love in your eyes.

I couldn't ask for better children!

To my amazing husband! I don't know if I tell you enough how thankful I am, that you took my hand and embarked on this journey of parenthood with me. You are the most amazing father and your kids adore you.

We are so thankful for our mothers, grandmothers, sister's that are moms, sister in law's that are moms and friends that are moms. They are all great examples in our lives! We love you!
( I love this picture of Chayse and Alexa, but it keeps uploading sideways and I have no dea how to fix it! SO crank your neck and see the cuteness! :) )

P.S. Click here to find out what Brandon and the kids got me for Mother's Day!

I love it and can't wait to get all my songs transferred and even download a couple of movies to watch on the way to Boise! Thanks and I love it!

Book Tag..Im It!

Jacque tagged me!

So here it goes:
A) pick up the nearest book
B) turn to page 123
C) find the 5th sentence
D) post the 5th sentence
E) tag 5 (or more) people

The book is called "Faraway Child" by Amy Maida Wadsworth (Very good book, I recommend it!)

5th sentence on pg 123: "To calm Kaye, and to hopefully calm myself as well, I started singing ' I am a Child of God.' "

Yes..this is a calming song. Good sentence.

I tag everyone who wants to do this!

Just Some Random Stuff

Just a few random things to post about....

* After 4 wks of working with a personal trainer, I lost 7 lbs, 2 inches around the waist (and I am sure I lost inches around my legs and arms..so I will have to figure that out later)..and I lost 3% body fat. I am not working with him this month, but I am sticking to the same meal plan and still working out hard! My friend Jacque and I are going in the mornings, and I love that! I love how energized I feel during the day ( well except today I am tired..haha) and that its done and overwith and I don't have to worry about it at all the rest of the day.

* Alexa is 3 months old today! While I am excited for her to reach each fun stage..Im having a hard time with the time passing so fast! Chayse started teething at 3.5 months and had his first tooth and 4 months. Im not ready for Alexa to have teeth! Maybe she wont get them so early like Chayse. She is doing so good though. She has the biggest smile and is doing it more and more. She loves to smile at her brother, and I swear she is just laughing at him inside! For a couple weeks she started waking up between 2 and 3 in the morning..but last night slept til 5:30 am..so hopefully the phase is passing and she will be back to sleeping all the way through til 6:30. Her hair is getting longer and lighter and I found that I can put a little elastic in her hair. Its so cute cuz she has this little pony sticking out the top of her head! I love it!

* Chayse was doing really well with potty training..and now he isn't. He will go once in awhile, but most of the time he throws a huge fit. I even got the blue toilet tablets that you put in the tank, and it turns the water blue. I thought he would love it...and he did love it for one time..and now its back to square one. I am trying not to push it..but its so frustrating how he will do it so well and then just stop. I dont want to drop it..but I dont want to pressure him! What to do..what to do...any suggestions?

* Last but not least..as I had said in a previous post that we are doing some rennovations in the condo. It's a work in progress for sure. We got the kitchen/family room painted, got all new appliances, and got a cute new table and chairs set. We are still planning on redoing the cupboards and replacing all the hardware. SO I have a few pictures of the process and the kitchen thus far. Thanks to my brother in law, Travis...who did most of the work! He did great!

Chaysers & P-Diddy

So this last weekend, we went for a quick trip to Boise for my nephew's 1st Birthday. We stayed with Tegan and Peyton and had a blast! Joel was out of town, so we missed hanging out with him, but it was great to be able to have our girl talks and letting the kids play together! They were together constantly and really had a blast with eachother! Chayse even played princesses with Peyton..he wore a crown and a tu-tu. He wanted to wear it..so we let him...against his dad's wishes of course! :) You would constantly hear Peyton calling out, " Chaaaayse...Chaaaayse", and Chayse would always be wanting to play with his girlfriend..or "girla-friend" as Chayse says it. It really was so cute to see them play together and be able to spend so much time! Here is a little collage of their pictures together! I also threw in a cute picture of Alexa..doing what she did mos of the time..just laying there being darling! :) It was so so much fun staying with them! Thanks Tegan for being such a great hostess and putting up with Chayse waking Peyton up at 4:30am! I always love spending time with you!

On Saturday, Kimber put together a great party for her little guy Jonas! It was a great turnout and lots of yummy food! I love being able to spend time with my sister and her little family! Us and Tegan and Peyton went over to their house after the party, and just hung out and let the kids play! Thanks for having us over!

The trip was way too quick, and I wish it was longer! Im bummed I didn't get to see everyone while I was there! I especially wanted all my friends to meet Tegan, just cuz she is so fantabulous and plus she needs to meet some people! Next time I am there, we all have to get together!

Happy Birthday Jonas!

On this day, one year ago..my beautiful sister gave birth to her darling baby boy, Jonas. Throughout this past year, he has grown into such an awesome little dude! He has such gorgerous big blue eyes with long lashes, the goofiest most adorable grin ever, and when he is fresh out of the bath..he has the cutest little mop of curls on top! My sister and her husband have done a fabulous job with Jonas! It makes me sad that I can't see him more, but when we do get together..Jonas is bound to bring out the laughs and entertain us all! Here's to you Jonas..and to hoping you have another great year in this crazy world! We love you little guy!

(Here are some of my favorite pictures of my nephew!)