The Hardest DAY

The day finally came, Jason left for Basic Training at Fort Benning on Sunday May 3rd.....now lets just hope time goes just as fast as this day came. We got to spend our last week with Jason in Virginia, we lounged, helped his sister move, and got to eat at all our favorite places we just love. On Sunday we had to be up at 430 a.m to get him to the airport, and then the it came time to finally have to say good bye, the part I had been dreading all week, and needless to say I was wreck, seeing him walk away and knowing it would be 10 weeks before I see him again finally hit me and I finally broke down. Going into this we both knew what it meant, a lot of sacrifice on both our parts, and as much as I am going to miss him, in the reality of it all, once we are able to join up with him we'll have a better future and have so many more opportunities for our family. I love you Jason and can't wait to see you......9 weeks and counting!

We head out in the morning for Virginia! Can't wait! While we are there we will be

Doing a lot of this

to get Jason ready for Basic
Visiting Washington D.C.

Saying good bye to Daddy for 10 weeks! :(

shopping at the outlets till we drop

visiting Colonial Williamsburg

So stay tuned for a lot of new post when we get back!

Date NIGHT!

Jason and I got a Date Night Friday and sadly it was probably the last real date we will have in a long time.....We leave Tuesday for Virginia, and from there Jason leaves for Basic Training, so before life gets all hectic with packing and getting ready to leave we got my parents to watch the kids while Jason and I had some "us" time! It was so nice to be able to go out, enjoy our dinner and actually be able to have a conversation, and can I add the fact that I got to eat my meal while it was still hot! I love you Jason, thanks for always making me feel so special! I will miss you like crazy, and I will definatley miss our Date Nights, but I'm so proud of you!

9 Months

I'm a little behind on this post but our little Brielle is now 9 months old! I took her to her 9 month check up last Monday and of course she is growing like a weed and it right where she is suppose to be developmentally. Here are a few things about Brielle at 9 months: She weighs 19 lbs 5 oz (53rd percentile) and 29.25 inches long (93rd percentile), she is crawling everywhere and is INTO everything, she can pull up in her crib and pack and play but is still working on other objects. She is very sensitive, if you even look at her wrong she will scream! And one thing that has definitely not changed is she is still a MAJOR mama's girl! As of lately she has mixed emotions about Daniel, one minute she loves him the next minute she is screaming and crying when he even tries to touch her. She says mom all the time, and babbles da, da and ba ba constantly. She loves sticking her tongue out at us and blowing rasberry's. As feisty as this little girl is, we just love her!

The Good and the Bad

As I posted earlier Daniel was having some hearing tests done.....and today was the day. The day started out rough, because he was going to be sedated for the test we had to deprive him of sleep so that when they gave him his sedation medicine he would fall asleep easier, lets just say keeping him up hours past his bedtime and waking him up at 6 a.m and not letting him eat or drink anything was not easy or fun, but by doing this he was able to fall asleep very easily and the Audiologist was able to do the test and get all the information they needed, and with that we have good news and bad news. The bad news is Daniel is suffering from some hearing loss, the good news is that his hearing is not completely gone, his left ear seems to have more hearing loss than his right and as of right now we know that he can not hear higher frequencies which are neccesary for speech. So until we are able to meet with his Doctor we won't know the full extent of everything or what the next steps are for us. But for now we have some answers and although it very hard to deal with right now, I am very happy because we can now move forward and get him the best care possible!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter this year, we are finally moved in at my parents house and were able to really enjoy the day, we started out with our Easter breakfast and then it was off to church, in which I spent most of my time wrestling with Brielle, she has got to be the squirmiest little thing, and actually this was the first Sunday since Brielle was born that we made it all the way through all 3 meetings, I mean it only took 4 adults to do it, but we did it! It amazes me though that even though I spent most of my time taking care of Brielle and only hearing the lessons and talks here and there, I still was able to feel the spirit, and really focus on why we really celebrate Easter. After church my brother and his family came over and we enjoyed a yummy dinner and then we just hung out and lounged the rest of the night....what a perfect way to spend Easter Sunday, time with family, church and lounging around, what more could you ask for? oh....and did I mention, other than the few toys the Easter bunny brought, Daniel has not touched his Easter basket....this kid has no interest in candy, seriously....I think he is the only 3 year old that doesn't eat sweets....that's right, no candy, no cake, and occasionally he might have a cookie, but he just doesn't have a sweet tooth, I guess I shouldn't complain, I just think its a little strange! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

After trying and trying I figured these will do.....besides it shows how they really are! Cute as can be!

We have decided to have some more tests done for Daniel, this time for his hearing. On April 16th we will have an ABR test done, they will have to sedate him and then perform the test attaching electrodes to his forehead and behind his ear and then a small insert will be placed in his ear canal. Daniel is still not talking and to be honest we don't know if its because of his developmental delay or if he does have any form of hearing loss, I know he can hear, but what he is hearing we don't know. So hopefully once this gets done we can finally get some answers so we know how to proceed. I'm just glad he we have Primary Childrens right here to help us and I am so grateful for all they have done for our little guy, I would be completely loss without them! On another note here are a couple random pics of Daniel as well....I have been terrible at taking pictures and blogging lately, packing and spending as much time with Jason as possible has taken over most of my time, so if you see less posts for awhile you'll know why, we have about 1 month left until Jason leaves.

Daniel comes home from pre-school exhausted, this time we didn't even get his shoes off before he fell asleep.

Lunch

All because of Facebook this lunch took place, for the longest time I was hestitant about joining Facebook, but now I'm completely addicted! Its because of it I got to have lunch with these 2 lovely ladies! We grew up together in Bountiful....we all lived within the same block, our birthdays are all within days of each other, from the time I moved to Utah in first grade we walked to school everyday together, we were in Young Womens Together, and seriously the list could go on and on. And as I got thinking about it more, it blew my mind to think we have know each other for 20 years! Seriously am I that old already that I have friends that I have known for 20 years??? Anyways, it was SO good to catch up, and see where life has taken us!

8 months OLD!

My little peanut is now 8 Months old! It amazes me how much they change in just a month, she always seems to surprise me with doing something new everyday. So with that here are a few things about my little peanut at 8 months.....she is a MAJOR mama's girl, she loves playing patty cake and now when we say who's so big she raises her arms with me, she is not a fan of baby food.....any suggestions??? I have found if I mix her fruits and veggies with her rice cereal she'll eat it, but WILL NOT eat it alone, I guess its better than not eating it at all, but I wish she would. Also.....between her and Daniel they are so different with there eating, Daniel loved his baby food and hated table food and she well, despises baby food, and for the life of me I can't remember what kind of table food we started Daniel on....any suggestions what to start little Brielle on, I think she is ready for more table food, she has two little teeth and when I give her the little puffs she chews them up and doesn't have a problem, I just don't know what to start her on. She has been attempting to crawl but not quite there yet, she gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth then just plops right back to her belly, I just think she's to content with rolling everywhere to get to what she wants. She is a GRABBER, anything and everything and it doesn't matter what it is, she wants it! She loves to look at herself in the mirror, she just cracks up looking at herself. She has started screaming at the top of her lungs to get our attention or to let us know she is done with whatever she is doing, and you can forget about walking out of the room with her around, she has to have you in sight at all times or she SCREAMS, seriously she is the funniest little thing, one minute she'll be happy and giggling and 2 seconds later she will just be in tears. She really is all GIRL! She absolutely adores Daniel! I think that's the best part about her getting older, being able to see her and Daniel interacting and playing together! We just love this little girl and can't wait to see whats in store for us next month.
also.....any suggestion on helping this little girl sleep at night???? She was doing good for awhile, but has now started waking up every 2-3 hours again, she isn't hungry, she is just screaming at the top of her lungs. I have tried letting her cry it out, but if I let her go to long she ends up waking Daniel, and then I have 2 kids up and once Daniel is up it takes forever to get him to go back to sleep.



Just because he's so cute I had to add a picture of my favorite little boy! Can you imagine waking up to this smile everyday.....I feel like the luckiest mother in the world!

Disney on ice

Last Friday night Daniel and I got to have a little "Date Night"! And it was so much fun! We met up with my good friend Viv and her adorable little boy Britton for Disney on Ice. To start the night off we had Dinner at Rumbi for us Mommies and grabed some McDonalds for the boys. Then it was off to the show. All I can say is the boys had a blast, as well as we did, but I think what made my night was seeing how happy and excited Daniel was. As soon as the show started he was cheering and clapping along and just having the time of his life!

Daniel and Britton loved to stand between me and Viv and dance and cheer!

And our sweet little Brielle stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa for the night......still a little to young to take.

GOLF

Last weekend Jason took off Saturday afternoon with his buddy Bryce (now normally I don't use the word buddy, i'm more a friend type of gal, but considering this is for Jason, I'll use Buddy just for him!)Anyways...They took off last Saturday for St.George and spent all day Sunday Golfing! As you can see they had perfect weather, Jason even got a little burned, so while Jason is enjoying the sunny weather I'm here freezing my butt off. (can you tell I'm ready for spring.....seriously I'm tired of the cold!) Well, the boys had fun golfing, sitting in the jacuzzi and enjoying the sunny weather.

Army Strong!

I'm gonna get straight to the point.......Jason is going into the Army! This decision didn't come lightly and it didn't come easily, but at this time in our lives its the right step for us and our family! It seems lately we have hit some rocky areas in school and work, and with how unstable jobs are right now we have no idea what would be in store for us once Jason graduated a year from now. So after spending many days praying and hours on hours in the recruiting office, we have decided to give ourselves to the Army for the next 4 years! Jason had his physical and was sworn in as a Private First Class on Monday March 9Th. He is due to report on May 6th for reception week, then its off to Boot Camp at Fort Benning on the 11Th where he'll spend the next 9 weeks being whipped into top shape and transform himself from a civilian into a soldier. Once he has graduated from Boot Camp he'll then go on to his AIT training where he'll spend 21 weeks at Fort Gordon to be trained in his MOS (military occupation specialty) he will be training to be a Nodal Networks Systems Operator. So now we have less than two months to prepare and get ourselves ready for a whole new world we are about to be a apart of. But I am so proud of you Jason and all the sacrifices you are willing to make for our family, our country, and for yourself, I know this will make you stronger, more confident, and develop the skills you will be able to use for the rest of your life! We love you!

Crazy!

So this morning me and my Mom decided to check out the new Nordstroms at Fashion Place and apparently almost every other woman in the state decided to do the same thing. I worked at the opening when the Orem store first opened and I don't remember it being anything like this, I mean this was just plain crazy. It was like anniversary sale but no sale.....if that makes sense. Anyways, we had fun, we ran into a lot of old friends we use to work with and it was fun to check things out, and of course I couldn't leave empty handed, I came away with some marvelous black heels which I LOVE, now if I can only figure out how I'm gonna wear them chasing 2 little ones around....mmmmm, this could be interesting.

Seriously....is it to much to ask??

Okay, so lately I have realized I have been terrible at taking pictures of these two (I blame stress) so I decided I would attempt to get a cute pic to post of these two so all of you wouldn't forget what they looked like(ha ha) because I have been so terrible at blogging lately, and well, this is what I got. Seriously, not one turned out. Oh well, its them, and it shows how they really are. They don't like to sit still, they don't like to look at the camera, or if I do get them to look at me its because I'm making every funny face or noise I can think of. But regardless, I adore these two!

Happy 28th Birthday Jason!!

Today we celebrate Jasons 28th Birthday! We have had a really low key day(and that is exactly what he wanted), I kept asking him what he wanted to do and his response was simply......some Ben and Jerry's Ice cream, a day in with US and lunch at Wendy's, and for those of you that know Jason this should come as no surprise. He has got to be the easiest person to please....time with family, some ice cream and lunch at his favorite place. Happy Birthday Jason....We love you and are so grateful for all you do for us!

Happy Birthday Jason!

7 Months

Brielle is now 7 months, and we marked it by having our first taste of sickness with her. Last week she started to get a little cough, which then turned worse, by Saturday she was miserable, I took her into her pediatrician and at that point she had a minor viral infection and a ear infection in her right ear, so we were sent home with antibiotics and high hopes this was the worse of it. That wasn't the case, Sunday night things took a turn for the worse, at one point she had a fever of about 103! Now its Monday and we have returned home from another trip to the Doctor and now Brielle has Bronchiolitis! Poor baby, she is just miserable, and I hate that the fact there is nothing I can do but cuddle and rock her! So lets hope this is the worse of it and from here on out things will finally get better for her. But on a better note I thought I would share some highlights of this month with Brielle, she is consistently saying ma ma, da da and ba ba, and I think I have even hear Mom, but then again that just may be me hoping she is saying that, she has started clapping her hands, and while on her belly she is attempting to get on all fours but quite hasn't mastered it yet, she is officially eating all baby foods, although to get her to eat her veggies I have to mix it with her cereal, but she eats her fruits like a pro. We just love this little girl and can't wait for this sickness to leave us and have our sweet baby girl back!

This picture just breaks my heart....she is in so much pain and just miserable and the fact that I can't do anything about it makes it worse!

I {Heart}

Being that today is the day of LOVE, I thought I would share some things that I love oh so much!

My sweet baby girl and her adorable personality! She amazes me everyday and I just love her to pieces!

MY BOYS! Enough said......I love these two and Daniel seriously can change a tense and stressful day into putting me on the ground laughing kind of day! Jason, he just gets me, through all my stubbornness and all those days where I'm a little less than pleasant he just knows how to turn it around for me and make me feel special!

FAMILY! I feel so lucky to have such a great family, I think i'm a pretty lucky girl, I have amazing parents and amazing in-laws! Both my parents and Jasons parents are so supportive and willing to go the extra mile for our little family, and I don't think I could ever thank them enough for everything they have done for us!

My Diet Coke.....I know its a terrible habit, but I love it and can't go a day with out it! And I think for my sanity and the sanity of others around me, we should probably keep it that way, because I have to tell you I'm not a very pleasant girl with out it!

My cell phone.....how did we ever live with out these!

I LOVE my DVR! Very rarely do I ever get to watch T.V. or at least any shows that I want to watch....so its so nice to be able to just record them and then once Jason gets home from work and the kids are in bed we can just lounge on the couch together and catch up on our shows!

Seriously, I'm obsessed, I don't know what it is about it but this show completely draws me in!

After looking for what seemed to be forever for a heart rate monitor that suited me,I finally found one! I found one on the Internet a while back but it was like $300 and was aimed more towards runners (And I am definatley not a runner) and it was mainly for those who want to keep track of there distance/pace and so forth, but all I wanted was something I could take to the gym and keep me on track, and help me know how hard I'm working, and what am I really burning off! And then I found this! I can not live without it!

I love a good workout....especially the classes, I do okay out on the floor by myself, but I seem to get distracted easily and find myself slacking, but in classes I kick major butt! My new obsession as of late is Boot Camp, all I can say is Holy Crap! It really kicks your butt into gear and by the end of the class I'm just dripping in sweat ( I know, great image). When it comes to classes I become majorly obsessed, especially once I find one I love! Since moving and now going to the American Fork Gym I have had a really had a hard time finding a class that gets me excited to go to the gym, then I found Boot Camp! I love it! Its different than any other class I have ever been too, it challenges your body in so many ways and you find yourself doing things you never thought possible!