Changes...

Well after 5 years of living in our home, we will be leaving it and moving somewhere else. Right now the uncertainty of life is both exciting and confusing. I am looking forward to a new chapter of our life, and a new area to start over. However I am sad to leave my home that has been such a comforting place and has so many amazing memories. Not to mention leaving a ward that I love. We have no idea where we will be heading. We have been looking like crazy near Jason's work but every area near his work is a scary place to live. Once we find a nice area we like, we realize that it is still about a 45 to 1 hour min drive each way. We want to rent a nice house that is bigger but not too much money ( I am so excited to leave my 1100 sq ft home) with a yard but we want it to be in a nice area close to Jason's work...this is proving impossible to do. Hopefully we will be able to find what is right for our family and still be able to stay close to our friends.

Idaho day 6

Day 6 we just played and hung around the house making a ton of hair flowers for our girls. It was so much fun! I had such a great time and really loved the time I got to spend with my sister Amy. I think from the crazy background that our family has, it was so nice to really connect and completely enjoy my sister. She definitely became a role model to me during the trip and I am so amazed at the great mother and person she is.

Brooke was still not feeling that great and needed a lot of Auntie loving. I think I made around 30 hair flowers in 2 days.

Day 5 Idaho

On day 5 all 4 of us sisters got together. I am so terrible because I didn't get 1 picture of any of us!! So sad. We hung out and made bows and crafts during the day. Brooke had been up all the previous night with a super high fever. She does have 4 teeth coming in, so I don't know if it is teething or if she was sick, but she wanted a lot of love and was super whiny all day long. That night I put on a Minute To Win It family night and we all had a great time. The pictures are super dark because I wasn't using a flash for some reason.

Idaho Days 3 & 4

Days 3 and 4 of our trip were pretty laid back. We went to church and hung out on Sunday and then on Monday we all hung out and went to the park. It was filled with races, rolling down hills, cartwheels, and lots of swinging. It was so nice. On Monday night my sister and brother in law went on a date with friends so I hung out with the kids and we put on a talent show. It was so fun to see some of there talents! Some were silly and some were amazing and we all just had a great time being with each other. How I wish I lived closer to them!

Idaho Day 2

Day 2 of our trip consisted of playing with cousins a lot! Brooke loving the freedom of a backyard. (oh how I want a backyard now!) Lots of cooking (my sister Amy has 4 boys and 1 girl = tons of cooking and lots of yummy food!) And me getting to spend a ton of time with my family. I love love love them!

Later in the afternoon we headed to a man made lake and played for a few hours. It was fun and Brooke loved the rocks everywhere. I thought it was beautiful but was terrified of the broken glass that was everywhere. Brooke really wanted to go to the diving platform and jump off. Nice Aunt Amy was happy to oblige her. Brock is my oldest nephew at 16 years old, however he looks like a man! I teased him that when he was holding the baby everyone probably thought he was my husband. He was so good with Brooke and loved walking with her through the water.

Idaho Trip Day 1

I decided last minute to take the kiddies up to Idaho because Jason had a lot of work to get done last week. I called my sister Amy and she was so excited to have us come up and stay with her. I woke up on Friday at 5 am and drove straigt through the 14 hour drive to Idaho. Crazy...Yes! Worth it...even more so! Brooke didn't sleep at all even though she woke up at 5! She is such a crazy and strong willed child. We stopped once in Saint George to eat at Nielson's (one of my favorites.) We got a grinder and a super yummy custard ice cream. Brooke ate more than I did. We did make a total of about 15 stops up there but they we very quick potty and nursing trips. My secret to traveling with a toddler and a baby? A port a potty in your car. Yep we stopped in the middle of nowhere everytime, and just pulled off the freeway ramp did a quick nurse and a potty break and we were off again. Brooke did pretty good on the drive but kept asking "did we find Aunt Amy yet?" It was so cute but also very annoying to hear every few minutes. Brooke loved to look out the window and ask me what things were. When we passed Las Vegas she said "Oh my what a beautiful castle!" She is so funny! Once we got to my sister's house at 8:30 PM we sat on the lawn and let everyone get aquainted. Brooke was so happy to get out of the car and be with her cousins. She was moving so much I couldn't even snap a photo of her. Preston was a super champ and slept the whole way, aside from a few diaper changes and nursing breaks. He did cry the last 20 mins of the trip...he was just sick of the car.

The Drive

Once we arrived in Idaho.

Happy baby Bumbo

Seriously?? Is that not the cutest baby boy ever?? We sat him in his Bumbo seat for the first time last night and as you can tell he LOVES it. I love his sweet smile and just want to eat him!! I love all the different smiles he does.

The Panty Hats

A regular game we play in our house is to put Brooke's nighttime panties on our head a run around and play. Brooke calls us the "panty hats" and nothing could make her happier. Yesterday was the first day Preston has ever worn a panty hat. So funny and cute. I love my crazy little family!

Preston's Blessing

Preston was blessed this past Sunday by Jason. It was such a beautiful blessing and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to do it. It makes me so grateful for the Priesthood and all the amazing blessings and benefits it affords to us. Here are a few pics from the day.

Preston before church in his blessing outfit.

After his blessing with all the family who came and all the men who were in the circle.

Everyone loving up Preston at the luncheon we had afterwards. He is a very loved baby!

Hanging out with the family. Brooke was our entertainment. Can you tell she was loving the spotlight?? I love the pics with Jason and his nieces and nephews. Priceless moments!

2 Month and 2 Year Check Ups

I took Preston to his 2 month check up and decided I needed to finally take Brooke to her 2 year appt (only 4 months late) so I booked them for the same time. Auntie Lana was nice enough to come with me and entertain Brooke while we were waiting (the greatest help in the whole world). I couldn't have done it with out her. They both had to get a shot so that wasn't fun but they both did really well. They are both on delayed vaccination schedules, so at least it was only one each. Brook got her first Prevnar shot and Preston got his first DTaP shot.

Brooke waiting in the room. Got to love the super ugly gowns they have. Brooke thought hers was cute.

Preston's before and during his shot pics. Poor little guy! Yes I take pics of my kids first shot....I know I'm mean.

The stats -

Brooke at 28 Months -

Height - 36.5 inches Weight 25 lbs. Head 19.5 inches

Preston at 2 months -

Height - 22 1/4 inch, Weight 10 lbs 4 oz (which means he has gained 5 pounds since he was discharged from the hospital!) Head 15.5 inches (the same size Brooke's was when she came out.)

Crazy 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July morning. We went to church and had a really nice time and there was such a nice spirit there. When we got home from church I had everything packed so we could go meet Jason's sister at Balboa so we could hang out and watch the fireworks on the beach. We were planning on going to a BBQ that was a 1 hour walk from where we were staying, watching the fireworks, and then spending the night and hanging out in Newport/Balboa the next day. We packed the car and headed out. Once we got there we got stuck in a little bit of traffic trying to get to the hotel and then we got lost trying to get to the hotel. All of this put us way behind schedule because we were going to meet everyone at the BBQ at 4 and it was already past that time. Not to mention we still had to park the car and there was literally no parking anywhere. (We ended up paying $25 to park in a lot.) It was so late that we knew by the time we walked over to the BBQ we would just have to head back to the hotel to put the kids to bed. So we stayed where we were and decided to just get food by the hotel. The problem with the whole plan is that I had no idea it was like Spring Break in that area on the 4th. There were half naked, drunk, cussing people everywhere and I was not very happy with it. I thought going to a restaurant would help get away from all that and then we could just go back to the hotel and get the kids asleep. However once we got seated at BJ's Pizza place there were cussing people all around ( nothing bothers me more than people cussing when there are kids around.) We ended up having a semi nice dinner after most of the people cleared out, plus Jason got us a pazookie (a cookie pizza with ice cream on top) which I had never had and that put me in a much better mood. We went back to the hotel and it was already 8 PM. We got the kids in there Jammies and tried to get Brooke settled down for bed. Brooke won't go to sleep with people around and the room was so small that we decided to put her to bed in the room that Jason's sister was staying in just until they came back from the BBQ, however Brooke climbed out of the crib when we thought she was asleep and then fell really hard to the ground. I knew the only way to get her to sleep that night would be to let her crash because of being so tired. We let her stay up and watch TV with us, and then when I thought I heard fireworks, we headed outside to go watch them from the balcony of the hotel that was right on the beach. We couldn't see anything so I asked someone when the fireworks would be starting. They said that there was only one place in the area that we could see fireworks, and we were not close to it. What?? That's why we went to the beach so we could see the fireworks. I am now pretty mad at the whole situation and we go back into the hotel room. After another hour of trying fruitlessly to get Brooke to sleep, I told Jason we would get a lot more sleep that night if we went home. It was so loud in the hotel room, and both the kids are light sleepers so I knew Brooke would be waking up anytime there was noise. So we packed everything up, and left at 10:30 PM. The traffic heading back was so bad that instead of getting home in 45 minutes it took us 2.5 hours. That concludes that worst but probably the most memorable 4th of July . I felt like the whole trip was just a lot of moving around with no actual activity manifested.

On a happy note. Right before church I was able to snap a few shots of Brooke and Preston in their 4th of July garb. So cute!! The one of Preston with that funny smirk cracks me up!!

June

This month went by very quick to me. We did a lot of fun things and enjoyed every minute of it. Here are a few highlights....

Brooke has been loving being fancy lately. Here she is in all of her Fancy Nancy garb. Such a little cutie. She is also destined to become an actress and has really been getting into expressing all of her emotions to the fullest.

We have been eating a lot of the yummy fresh summer fruit that is ripe right now.

Father's Day was a lot of fun. We sent Jason on a scavenger hunt to find his gifts.We got him a mini season for The Dodgers, Oreo Cakesters (not as good as the cookies), collar stays, the Star Wars Trilogy DVD's (he had never seen them), and a book that made him be a super hero. We had a great day and we are so lucky to have such an amazing Husband and Dad in our lives.

We have been going on a lot of fun dates as a family lately. One of them was ice cream and a pool day. Some of the others have included a trip to the new Sonic Burger, Watching the new Toy Story movie, and lots of dinner dates. I love spending time with my family!!

Brooke has started trying to get herself dressed. Most of the time she gets frustrated and starts screaming angrily for help. Not so fun for her but very funny and entertaining to watch.

We went up a did a quick overnight vacation to Ventura when Jason had to go work up there one day. While Jason worked I took Brooke to the Children"s Museum there (super lame) and to the park on the beach. It was a nice little mini vacation.

The park was amazing! Can't get better views then that!

Jason and I got to go on a date by ourselves. Quite an accomplishment (I think) for just having a baby. Lana and Eric came over and watched the kids (thanks!) We went to a concert with Colin Raye and Mormon Choirs from Orange County. It was a tribute to America and I loved the patriotism that it brought out in me. Jason and I thought it had a nice spirit to it and both loved the time we got to spend together.

Jason, Preston and I all got to go to the Yankee vs. Dodger game on Saturday and it was so much fun. In the first inning the Yankee's got 3 runs so we thought that we were going to get creamed but we came back and won the game. It was fun and always nice to get to spend time with my boys. Brooke got to play at home with Grandma and Grandpa and had a great time.

Preston turned 2 months old. I still have yet to take him to the Dr. but will be going tomorrow so we can finally get him weighed and see how much he had grown in the last 2 months. He is such a sweet boy and I am totally and completely in love with him. He has started to coo a little and he smiles all the time now. He has the best spirit about him, and Jason and I can both tell he is going to be a sweet and good little boy.

Caught up

Thanks to a two hour nap by both kids, an already clean house, laundry drying in the dryer, dinner already made, and grocery shopping done I was able to finally catch up with all I wanted to blog about. It is a little out of order, but I am glad I was able to finally do it. There are a lot of new posts so if you want to see what we have been up to then scroll down. If not, I promise I will never know the difference:).

Disgusting...

*For those of you with week stomachs please don't look at the pictures!

Brooke is one of the most frustrating eaters in the world. If she doesn't want to try something or eat something, or smell something and then she does one of those things either on purpose or by accident she gags and throws up. Here is the most recent episode - when Jason was wiping her nose she got a little tissue in her mouth and threw up all her bacon, bread and cheese she had just eaten. This is a weekly occurrence and one that I really can't handle. When I smell, see or hear through up I will through up too. Luckily I learned a good little trick for not smelling it. Tape a fresh and potent dryer sheet to your face and you can't smell it anymore. Oh the lovely life of motherhood!

The face of a two year old tantrum

The picture says it all......

Sick Swimming

We are all sick over here with a cold and a nasty cough. At least we are all sick at the same time. Jason decided to stay home yesterday. Even though we all weren't feeling very well, Brooke has a really hard time if we stay in all day long, so we went for a walk that ended by putting our feet into the pool. It felt so nice that we decided to go change and swim anyways. Probably a terrible thing to do when we all weren't feeling good, but the water was so nice and it was a perfect pool day. Preston looks like such a babe in his swim suit. It is huge but I think it is so cute because it is a little surf suit. We haven't let him swim in a pool because I think he is still too young. Brooke loves the water but still has no idea how to swim. We tried to teach her a few things but she really didn't want to do them. I guess we will be waiting tell next summer to do swimming lessons. It was the best "sick" day I have ever had.

Preston's First Bath

No, I am not just now getting around to giving Preston his first bath.....gross! I just forgot to add this to our blog. We gave Preston his first bath ( we didn't have the hospital give him one because his temp. was a little low) one week after he came home. His umbilical cord was only holding on by a tiny piece and we thought he was ready for one. He did pretty good, and only cried a little. Now he absolutely loves the water and loves bath time. Most of the time he takes a bath with me, and he loves to be held and nursed while in the tub. He normally always falls asleep immediately afterwards because he gets so relaxed. So crazy to see how much he has grown and filled out since we took these pics. Why do they have to grow up so quickly??

First Curls

A few weeks ago I curled Brookie's hair for the first time. It turned out so cute and she really loved looking at herself in the mirror. She did great sitting there for the first side of her head. I had to bribe her with candy to get the other side done. She is such a cutie!! She also finally got to wear the super cute dress her Aunt Vicki got her when she turned one. She is so petite it just now fits her. It is size 18 months.

Weekend trip to Newport Beach

We decided to take a little mini vacation to Newport Beach this weekend. We had a great time and it was so nice to just get away. I also fell in love with Newport Beach, I would move there in a second, it is so beautiful and clean. :)

We started off our vacation to Crescent Beach. It was a much colder and windier day then we had planned for. Instead of staying 3-4 hours we only stayed about 1.5. Brooke who has always been hesitant at the beach before, took to it with no problem. She walked right out into the freezing waves and wanted to stay in them the whole time. It was sad though because she was shaking so much from being so cold. Doesn't she look cute her in "swim soup?" that is what she calls her swimsuit. She was so fun and cute to watch! Preston loved the sound of the waves and slept through the whole beach experience.

After the beach we headed back to our hotel. We stayed at the Marriott Spa and Resort across the street from Fashion Island. We went to the pool for only about 15 mins and decided to go back to our room and get cleaned up. We walked over to Fashion Island and ate a yummy meal at El Torito Grill. Then we walked around and Brooke enjoyed all the waterfalls and the cool koi pond to look and play on. Jason and I enjoyed all the fancy shops and the Tiger Woods sighting. I walked right passed him and as I did I said "Hey, It's Tiger Woods" to Jason and I think I embarrassed Jason. (We also saw Nomar Garciapara and Mia Ham last time we were at Disneyland.) After we were done walking around, we decided it would be fun to go back to our hotel and make smores because they had fire pits. By the time we walked back over Brooke had fallen asleep so we just chilled in our hotel room and watched TV. (We still don't have cable so that is quite a treat for us, except that there is nothing good on TV. What happened to all the good shows??)

When we woke up the next morning we thought smores sounded delicious for breakfast!:) We went down to one of the fire pits and had a great time toasting marshmallows and eating chocolate for breakfast. Brooke wouldn't eat the marshmallows after they were toasted so she just had plain marshmallows on a stick. She also kept sneaking more chocolate when I wasn't looking. I told her the fire pit was hot and not to touch it, so when Jason held her on her lap to help her toast her marshmallows she was all freaked out, and kept saying "burning." Whoops! I guess I put a little too much fear in her.

After we checked out of the hotel we were off to Balboa Island. The funny thing is that we were a mile away but it took us 1.5 hours to find the spot that I use to park with my mom and walk when I was younger, which is where we really wanted to go. After a lot of driving we found it, and walked the little street and then the beach, where all the amazing houses are. Jason got to go into a really modern house that was having an open house. I thought it was the ugliest house on the whole strip that we were walking (just not my style) but it was still a cool 6 Mil! We also had to get a frozen banana and a smoothie before we headed home. It was such a great vacation, and it was nice to get away and spend all of our time focusing on our little family! I really do love them!!

Things I want to remember for my next labor....

After giving birth to Preston I haven't really been comfortable with the way that my labor went. I wanted a natural labor, and once my water broke and I never went into labor on my own the fear from the hospital and my Dr. made me go in and do all the medical interventions that I specifically wanted to avoid. I did them because of course when my doctor says "it's best for the baby" or "it might have _____bad effect on the baby if you choose to wait," then of course when I am in that moment I am going to do whatever he wants me too. He is supposed to be the expert, right??

After Preston was born and we came home, I researched all the reasons why they said I needed to be put on pitocin and not wait for my body to naturally start labor. And guess what they were terrible reasons. I know if I would have let me body go into labor on it's own (not on the hospitals "must deliver within 24 hours" rule) then I would have had a healthy and natural birth and I know none of the bad things they said could happen would have happened. Who ever made up a rule that says you have to have a baby within 24 hours anyway?? So lame!

I am writing this so with my next labor I can remember that as long as I go to a hospital to have a baby I won't have the labor that I want, because OBGYN's only know how to manage a labor. They don't know how to naturally let it take it's course that God has made women capable of doing with out any intervention.

I do know that there are rare cases when you need an OBGYN but that is the exception not the rule. Most women have perfectly healthy labors, especially when all the hospital interventions are left out of it.

So things I want to remember for my next labor -

1. I know that I and my body are perfectly healthy and capable of natural child birth.

2. OBGYN's don't know what birth is supposed to be. To them it is just a process of bringing a healthy baby in to the world by any means, not necessarily the one's that are best for mom and baby.

3. Epidurals give me back and headaches that are terrible for months after I have the baby.

4. The natural adrenaline rush I had with Brooke was so great and I needed it so much after I had her. I felt completely sluggish and tired after I had Preston.

5. I want a midwife and want to birth in a birthing center or at home.

6. No matter how great I think a Dr. is, hospital's don't understand nor are they capable of helping women to have a natural birth.

7. The pain of childbirth is not pain but is rather an experience of life that helps you to really feel. It is also extremely temporary, while a lot of hospital interventions as small as they seem, may not be.

8. Don't compromise what you want because you don't want to hurt your Dr's feelings or feel like you are strange because you are questioning why he wants to do something.

9. As long as I keep having babies in the hospital I will feel robbed of the experience I really want.

To all those who are reading this and are thinking I am crazy - I know everyone has there own idea of birth. Mine is that birth is a normal and natural process. I also am scared of having babies in the hospital because I feel like I am giving up all my decisions and choices the minute I walk into the hospital.