The Resturant

This week, Ben and I went to the most incredible restaurant! It was called

Mary's Room Cafe Rio

We were invited to "come tonight." As the sign clearly stated.

So Ben and I made the trip up the stairs and arrived at the restaurant just in time for our reservation.

An adorable waitress met us and took us to our seats.


We were then given the menu to look over.
"cookies, crackers, chicken nuggets, super-surprise, and corn dogs."


We ordered the super-surprise. It sounded exciting.

Within a few minutes, dinner was served.



I even got to take a picture with our amazing hostess and waitress.


We had a great experience, and I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Oh, and the restaurant was complete with this amazing lamp. (the one I promised to post about once it was purchased. I had another lamp in mind, but Mary was completely set on this one. Oh well, I have grown to like it, and I love the fact that Mary loves it so much. It cracks me up)

Just Me and You Babe

And a whole lotta fun!

This weekend, Ben and I went on the ultimate get-away. Truly.
WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! And the best part, it was right here in Salt Lake City.

We left the kids in the care of Grandma JoJo on Thursday morning. She is a Saint.
Wait, let me elaborate. We left ALL THREE kids with grandma JoJo. This was a first for us. And only the second time since having kids, that Ben and I have spent a night away. Not that we don't love our children, but it was pure bliss.

So what do Becky and Ben Maynard do when they have two whole days together to do whatever the heck we want to. Well, I will tell you.

We go snow skiing at a world class resort know as Canyon's. It is unbelievable! We rode in the only "orange bubble" lift in the entire United States. And the seats on the lift were heated my friends...heated! We skied for a while, then ate a very yummy lunch in the amazing lodge, (no detail was overlooked, this place was jaw dropping cool) and then skied some more. The view was incredible, the company was perfect, and we had a great time.




We check into our hotel suite and immediately soak in the hot tub to relax our tired muscles.

We go to Olive Garden. Not just Olive Garden, but THE Olive Garden. This particular one (in Salt Lake) has a lot of meaning to us, as it was where we would eat when flying back and forth to see eachother after college but before the mission. Lots of memories and very yummy food.

We go to a movie. So nice to be on our own agenda, hold hands, and to remember the sparks we have for eachother. I sure love my hunny!

We chill in our hotel room (which was so nice) and watch TV. (something that we NEVER do)

We work out. Yup, even when on vacation, we work out. Why, because we truly do love it. It is fun to us. The gym in the hotel was great,especially the fan that was right on me during the run. aaahhhhh

We do sealings in the Salt Lake temple where we were sealed for eternity. Pretty cool huh. Even more cool, there was a blizzard outside (just like on our wedding day). Memories...precious, special and sacred memories.

We find an AMAZING deli, Gourmandise, with the best sandwiches in the world and make our tummies happy. They had pastries there that made me happy just looking at them, but we were too full. I can't imagine what they must taste like. Next time I will partake. And there WILL be a next time for sure.

We meet up with our kiddos and JoJo at Airborn, the coolest trampoline place ever! We flipped, jumped, and played. Ben completed a double front flip, and a rodeo 720


I proved that I can still do flips of my own,

and Mary did a lot of front-hand-springs.

It was a lot of fun.

Ben and I came home feeling spiritually, physically and emotionally rejuvenated. We reconnected with eachother, our love for eachother grew even more, and we vowed to make this happen a lot more often.

Ben is the perfect playmate, soul mate and husband for me. We complete eachother. I am so glad we have eachother forever and ever and ever.

10 months!

William is 10 months old today! It sure doesn't feel like it.

I would have to say that this month I have really noticed a lot of changes in him. He is developing from an infant to a baby and soon to be toddler. It is crazy!

Stats.
He is currently 25 pounds.

He crawls everywhere, and he loves it. He crawls to a rhythm. It is very systematic. It cracks us up! When he tries to crawl really fast, he puts his head down.


He not only crawls, but today, as I was typing this post, Mary yelled for me to come see something. I found this.

William had made it all the way up this far, without any help and without anyone noticing until Mary luckily found him. Eek! She is an amazing sister and an awesome babysitter. She loves him so much.
With us watching him, he made his way up the rest of the stairs like he has been doing it for years. Mary was very concerned about him being that high up (as you can see in the picture) and I was too. Time for the baby gate. Geeze!


His laugh comes straight from the belly and it is absolutely hilarious!

He is beginning to eat finger foods, and he loves all of it. His hands are so chubby, and his fingers are even more chubby, so he can't really pinch the food. He has to get a fist full and shovel it in his mouth. His favorite right now is Rits crackers.


He learned to pull himself up on things last week. He loves it until he gets tired. He is too scared to sit back down, so he just holds on to whatever it is he is standing by and cries until I can rescue him.

He is incredibly curious. More than the other two were. I have to be very quick to shut doors, put up garbages, shut cupboards, and so on. He LOVES to get into things. I have a feeling he is going to be the 2 yr old mess maker. He is not mischievous though, he is just very curious.

He calls his bottle his "mama." He eats solids now, but still loves his bottle. I am getting very excited to be done with the formula in two months. Hooray!

Because he is more mobile, he is also getting lot more bumps and bruises. Like this nasty one on his cheek.

And this goose egg on his head. He hit the same spot one week later and got another giant bump. Poor baby.


He is the dancing king!!! He LOVES music. He dances to the hymns at church, he dances to the radio, he dances when someone is singing, and he even dances to any random noises he hears. His favorite is Mary's Barbie guitar that plays the Barbie Song. It is absolutely hilarious! We have it on video, but I can't get it on the blog. Oh, it is so funny!


William learned how to wave a few weeks ago. He does it backwards and waves to himself. It is one of the most cute things I have ever seen. He looks at you with his cute puppy dog eyes and waves to himself. Oh man, what a heart melter.

He is VERY shy lately. If a stranger says hi to him or looks at him, he will duck his head down and then slowly tuck his head into my chest. He will peek out every few seconds to see if the person is still there, and if they are, he will hurry and tuck his head back in. It is very funny. It only makes people pay more attention to him because it is so cute.


He is very playful, and is starting to interact more and more with Mary and Sam. They are very good to him and they seem to know exactly what will make him laugh, or what he likes to do. It is so precious to me to see my kids playing and laughing together. I love each of them so much and I thank the Lord each night for the blessing I have to be a mother to them. They fill my life with joy. They are everything to me.

Another kind of Endurance

A lot of people would call the kind of running I do "endurance running." And I would agree. There are many others out there, who do much more and much harder endurance running than I do, but either way, it is true to its name. It takes a while to build up enough endurance to run long distances, so sure, I guess that is a good word for it.

BUT

I can think of a lot more reasons why it should be called endurance running. Allow me...

The man on the bike in front of my treadmill is HUGE and his bum crack that is staring me in the face is HUGE as well. But....I endure and keep running.

The dude on the treadmill next to me has been, how do I say this, emanating the rotten egg smell through his gym shorts, for the past 30 minutes. He even stops running, groans, holds his stomach, and then starts running again. I am turning green and shooting him death looks with my eyes, but...I endure and keep running.

I have one mile left, and all of the sudden feel like someone is spraying me with a water bottle! It is so cold that I literally jump. I glance next to me and the lady is cleaning the side of her treadmill, by spraying the bottle of cleaner all over it AND the entire side of my body. She takes no notice of me or the cloud of cleaner she is spraying all over me. As I turn to look at her, she sprayes again and I get a mouthful of green cleaner. I literally have to wipe it off my face! She is clueless and jamming out to her music. Awesome. She finishes spraying whatever part of me was dry at the moment, and leaves. I am now soaked in cleaner and tasting cleaner, But...I endure and keep on running.

While on the treadmill, I smell a burnt car smell. Then, the treadmill in front of me starts blasting out black smoke, right into me! The guy hops off the treadmill, and tries to turn it off. It doesn't turn off. The tread is burning. Employees come running over, the smoke is everywhere, it smells to the high heavens, and after trying to get it to stop for a few minutes, they have to unplug the thing to make it stop. No, I don't know why they didn't do that in the first place. I endure...and keep on running, coming away smelling like a burnt car.

Time to go to the gym, but no gym clothes. They are in the dryer, partially dry. I put on the wet clothes. argh. We are late to the gym, so I am in a rush. We hit every red light on the way there. When we get there, the gym is full. I wait 10 minutes for a treadmill. gggrrr I get on the treadmill with wet clothes. I reach for my headphones, and realize that I forgot them. double gggrrrr
Ben mentions that he has an extra pair in the car. I get off the treadmill and run to the car for the headphones. It is FREEZING cold, and my clothes are wet. When I get back, the treadmills are full again. I get one 5 minutes later with a TV on it (which I don't like) and the TV is bouncing all over (which I hate). I find a show that I actually may watch while I run, and I plug in the headphones. I realize that there is one headphone. The other one broke so Ben ripped it off. Awesome. I put the one headphone in, and begin running. Go figure, the headphone doesn't work. Oh yeah.
But...I endure.
I run in silence, in wet clothes, with a blank, bouncing TV in my face, in a rush, and I get it done.

I am running mile splits, so I run each mile faster than the one before. I notice the guy next to me matching my pace. I go faster, he goes faster. I go even faster, he goes even faster. I slow down, just to bug him, and he follows. At one point, he literally leans over and pokes his head in my way to see my pace. He then bumps his pace up really high, too high to be honest, exaggerates the running motion by blowing hard and VERY loudly through his mouth (shaped like you would when blowing out candles) making his knees go chest high, and with hands in blades, pumping his arms. What the???? Everyone is staring at him. Some are chuckling. He will not look me in the eye however. In fact, he pretends that I don't exist. In the end, he makes a huge show of having a massive leg cramp, begins groaning and stretching big stretches all over his treadmill and then leaves. That was creepy, but.... I endure and keep on running.

My ponytail holder breaks in half, mid-run and shoots across the gym. I am glad I didn't take an eye out, but bummed about my hair all over my face. I tie my headphones around my hair. It works, I look like and idiot, and run in silence, but hey, I endure and keep on running.

The lady on one side of me and the lady on the other are having a very loud conversation "through me," or over my head I guess. They discuss a divorce, boob jobs, their sexual preference, their x friend, their fad diets and diet pills, and their affairs. HELLO!!! I can hear you. I am right here! My music is as loud as it can go, but to no avail. I begin singing hymns to myself, I endure...and keep on running.

The dude next to me is sweating like a fountain! I didn't know it was possible for a human to make that much water out of your pores! His treadmill looks like it has been through the car wash. Instead of a towel, he uses his hand to wipe his face, and then he flicks the sweat off his hand by flapping it in the air. Of course, it is landing on me, time and time again. I want to barf, but...I endure and keep on running, until a new treadmill opens up.

And the stories could go on forever.

This is why I CAN'T WAIT to get outside. Please weather, warm up...PLEASE!

I don't know how much longer I can "endure."

Intersaquad

Mary had her first gymnastics meet last night! We call it the unofficial, official meet.

It is called Intersquad. They bring in judges, but there is no competition, medals, etc. They get scores on all of the events, but only the coach knows the score, they don't flash it up on the screen. And only the girls from the competitive teams at Olmpus compete. They do this before the competition season opens, in order for the girls to get some "advice and pointers" from the judges. It was the perfect first meet for Mary to be in. Not too serious, no pressure, a way to see that the judges are friendly and willing to give advice, able to watch the older girls compete, able to see how a meet is run and what you do, etc.

Mary and I had to be there at 4:00 for the warm-ups. I had William with me, but Ben was able to bring Sam later at 5:30 when it actually started. That made things easier for everyone.

Mary has had one month to learn three routines and a vault. One month.
The others on her team have been doing it for a year and they are at least two years older than her. She has had A LOT to catch up on, in a short amount of time. I have had to work with her a lot at home (coaches request) in order to help her memorize the routines. She still has a long way to go in the next month before the big official meet, but she is doing phenomenal, according to her coach.

I am so proud of her. She has worked incredibly hard, on her own. We have chosen not to push her at all and to let her decide what she wants to do. She is a determined little girl, and she has so much fun at gymnastics. Those two things work really well together and help Mary keep up with the others without getting frusterated or down on herself.

She looked absolutely adorable out there!

You aren't able to wear nail polish, but you are able to have a fun hair style, as long as it is off your neck. (this seems to be the most important thing for the girls) ;) Mary chose to wear a ribbon and to have sparkles in her hair. She really wanted a picture of it, so here you go. And yes, that is a door in the background. Someday I will learn to take good pictures. Until then, just look at the people, not the background.

She loved the whole experience. The judges were so nice and Mary got the first meet jitters out. She looked like a baby among so many gymnasts of all ages, but she did not seem at all scared or intimidated. She just had a fun time, in her world, doing her thing. No stress. It was great!

The coach talked to each parent and gymnast after the meet and showed us her scores. She was very positive and continued to praise Mary for even being ready to compete in to the meet. Her scores were great for her, and we were happy with whatever. Mary doesn't even know what the scoring system is, and I am just fine with that. We focused completely on her having fun and doing her best.

She is already talking about the next meet and how she can't wait to do it all again.

I am so grateful that I got to do this with her before her real meet that I can't go to. I was so happy to be a part of her very first experience competing and seeing all of the fun that goes with it. It boosted her confidence and showed her how much fun competing is. It was also the perfect time for me to realize that I need to show Ben how to do her hair, fix her leotard, remove her nail polish, give her the thumbs up, and take pictures of and video EVERYTHING for the meet next month. ;) I think Ben will be more nervous for the meet next month than she is.

It is nice to have the first one over with, and we are all excited to see many more. Way to go little girl!

Sweet Chaos

There are times in life, when we are in our groove, doing our thing, going through the ho-hum of life. My personality does extremely well with schedules and order (the red in me), but sooner than later, I get B-O-R-E-D! And then I get impatient, and then I get grouchy, and then I walk around all anxious and stuff, it goes from there. I love having things to look forward to, things to plan, things to do, etc. The move and a baby (happening at the same time) was plenty to rock the boat for a while and keep things "interesting." The past little while though, I have been battling the "bored blues."

I guess too much of a good thing, is not good anymore. The schedule was great, the low key life felt good for a while, and finding our new normal was nice. BUT, it got old. Yup, that is my personality. Can't seem to stay in one "mode" for too long.

And then WHAM...it all came at once. And I have been absolutely loving it!!! Ben's parents came to visit, the Darringtons came a few days later, my mom and sister came, the Good Neighbors came, and I was having so much fun that I literally lost all track of time. I actually had to consult the calendar to know what day it was each time we woke up. So, so, so awesome! Our order and schedule went right out the window and I was so grateful.

And so it continues, as follows.

Saturday
We said goodbye to Mike and Mel, as mentioned in previous post. We go to Home Depot and order the carpet for the guest room! I had laryngitis at the time (as mentioned in previous post)so I crash early, not feeling very well. Sam seems a little "off" too.

Sunday
Church is great. Ben teaches an AWESOME Gospel Doctrine Lesson. Wow, it was so good. He is amazing! It is Ward conference, and all of the talks are very enriching and thought provoking. I accompany the ward choir for practice after church. I am feeling better, but also have pink eye. Good thing we already have drops, from the two rounds of it the kids have had this month. Sam is getting worse.

Monday
My day to attempt to get everything set in order before more fun begins. My best friend since 1st grade is moving to Utah!!! They would be staying with us for a few days while trying to find a home. Do laundry, get groceries, do more laundry, help Mary with her gymnastics routines, the carpet man comes to measure the room, clean the house, and end up taking a VERY sick Sam to the doctor. He has Strep, and it is bad. Poor kid. We start the antibiotics. I have to call Katie and tell her they have to get a hotel for a night until Sam is not contagious. DANG! Mary has gymnastics that night. We all crash.

Tuesday
Sam is loads better, but still won't eat. I rush everyone to the gym and get a much needed hard run in. We get home just in time to meet Katie, Landon and their three kids. We eat lunch, and Katie and Landon are off to house hunt! I successfully manage 6 children ages 6 and under the rest of the day, and even find a few minutes to fertilize the lawn. Go me! Ben gets home, I rush to the store, everyone is back for dinner. Katie and family get to stay with us this night. We get all of the beds ready to go. We talk and hang out and then it is off to bed. We were all tired from a big day. I go to bed realizing how awesome it will be to have Katie living here. So, so, so amazing. Sam wakes up a lot in the night..so does William.

Wednesday
I wake up early to get to the gym before everyone wakes up. Not gonna happen. William is up and talking to himself happily in his bed. I grab him and go downstairs. I do a work out video instead. I am still not feeling 100% and it kicks my bootie. But it feels great! Everyone is up within the hour. My kids are having breakdowns right and left, and I am so thrown that I have to ask Katie what day it is, seriously! We do breakfast, Ben goes to work, Katie and Landon hang out for a while, and then they are off. It was a short, busy visit, but it was a visit, and I love seeing my friends!! I am so glad they stayed with us, and I am even more glad that they will be so much closer! Thank you for coming Katie and Landon! Next time we will play.
I head to the store with my kids, and among the groceries we come home with these.


Harry Velma and Velma Harry. We call them Harry and Velma for short.
Harry Velma is Sam's, Velma Harry is Mary's and William claims them both.
I still am not sure how they got here. We went to Walmart, I was in my "zone" checking off the list and deep in thought. The kids put things in the cart, I said "sure" and here they sit, on our table, staring at me.
Smart kids, or crazy mom...you decide.

Wednesday evening
I take William to play with Landon and drive Mary and William to Olympus Gymnastics..Mary's gym. It is her VERY FIRST un-official, official gymnastics meet! It will have it's own post soon.
We come home from the meet and had pizza to celebrate.

Thursday (today)
Sam goes to preschool at Landon's house. Heaven on earth for him. While Sam is at preschool, I take the other two to the gym. I ran 6 miles in 52 min 40 sec. A personal best for me! Wahoo!! I got home 5 minutes after preschool had ended. I figured Sam would just be getting home. (it was next door, literally) I found Sam sitting on our porch crying. One look at his tear-stained face had me all teary as well. He had beat me home. I felt horrible! Did I mention that I completely forgot to pick him up last week! Geeze, the poor kid. I snuggled him for a long time and gave him anything he wanted. Yeah, I am horrible. He doesn't seem ruined, but I am going to have to tatoo it on my forehead.

After Sam was all better, we had a picnic with some very fun friends at the park. It was in the upper 60's, so we stayed and basked in the wonder of the sun as long as we could. Oh how we love the sun. (notice I said Sun, not heat, but sun...there is a difference) The sun seems to be a rarity around here, so when it decides to come out, we all go out with it. I just finished teaching piano lessons, the kids are playing with friends, and Ben came home sick, so he is at the Doctor. His throat is killing him...go figure. Anyone want to be it is strep? Poor guy. The day will over before we even realize it began.

Friday
Ben may be staying home from work. I will go to the gym with the kids and come home and pack. We will head to Pocatello when the above is accomplished and when Ben is no longer contagious. We will celebrate my dad's Birthday with my family where we are bound to have a very fun conference weekend, chillin' with the family. I can't wait!

Sweet Chaos my friends, Sweet Chaos.


Side note: Colorado friends...stay tuned for an important announcement coming up in the next post, um, or maybe the next. Just stay tuned, -k.

The Last 4 Days

Wednesday, Day 1
My mom and my sister Kelsey arrive! The kids and I meet up with them for lunch. We spend the next three hours at Hobby Lobby and Tai Pan. We shop until we drop, literally. The kids did amazingly well, and we had some great finds! Ikea was next on the list, but we were too wasted. We came home, and my mom and Kelsey made dinner while I did activity days here at our house. How sweet is that! They are so great. Then it was off to gymnastics. They went with Ben to gymnastics with Mary while I taught piano. I met up with them after the lessons. I could tell that Mary felt so special having her aunt and grandma stay for her whole practice. I LOVE having family here. We came home, and crashed. Everyone was smiling.

Thursday, Day 2
We hang around in the morning until we take Sam to preschool, then it is off to the gym. It was fun working out with my mom and my sister. Then I drove them around our town to see some really fun homes. I completely forgot about Sam! My neighbor brought him home and called me to tell me that Sam was ringing our doorbell. I felt pretty bad, but he only had to wait a few minutes. He didn't seem phased at all. He was just excited to show us his peanut butter playdough.
After some very fast showers, we got one of the most exciting phone calls ever. Mike, Mel and Tyler were just minutes away. That's right...the good neighbors!!! They were driving all the way from Colorado, just to see us. We have been counting down the days to this visit for weeks. Mary and Sam have been more excited for this visit than they were for Christmas morning. They had a hard time sleeping the night before, and woke up at the crack of dawn asking when Tyler would be here. We were all anxious.
Mike, Mel and Tyler arrive. There are literal tears of joy. I thought my heart would burst with joy. Mary and Sam were beyond ecstatic to see Tyler. Immediately they were off playing and the house was bursting with happiness. Mary has a certain giggle that she does when she is incredibly happy. She was doing this the rest of the day. I sat back for a second and thought, "this has got to be what heaven is like. Family and close friends all with eachother." Nothing can compare to the joy that brings.
My mom and my sister took off for Provo a while later and were there the rest of the day. My sister was checking out the BYU campus. She is deciding if she will accept her offer to go there.
The good neighbors and our family spent the rest of the day at temple square.

Good company, good sights, good feelings and a very, very good day. We all just basked in the feeling of being with wonderful friends once more. It felt like I was in another world. Almost like we were back in Colorado.

I all of the sudden got a croaky voice mid-sentence while talking with Mel. I ended up with laryngitis the rest of the time. Aside from sounding raspy and a whopper of a sore throat, I could have cared less. It didn't stop us one bit. It just gave us another thing to joke about.
That evening, Mike Mel and Tyler went back to their hotel, our kids crashed, and Ben and I rented a movie. We watched it and waited for my mom and Kelsey's arrival. They came, the movie ended, and we talked into the wee hours of the morning. It was another amazing day.

Friday, Day 3
Kelsey and my mom begin the drive back to Pocatello. I was sad to see them go, but so glad that they came and stayed with us. And even more happy that our visits are so much more often and the drive is so short. Mike and Mel and Tyler come back after breakfast. Mary and Sam were pacing the floors. We decide to go to a movie and to the mall to let the kids play on the toys there. (the weather was pretty nasty) We miss the movie, but have a great time at the mall. The kids take a ride on the mall train, and get energy out on the toys.


The adults talk and talk and talk. While we were at the mall, my mom called and informed me that they decided to stay one more day. YYYEEESSSS!!! They went back to Provo, but would stay another night with us. Dinner is at Cafe Rio, and then it is home. The day was nice and sunny at that point, so the kids ran outside.
The evening was spent with yummy ice cream, brought to us by my mom and Kelsey from the BYU Creamery, and another movie. Good times.

Saturday, Day 4
Mom and Kelsey leave, for real this time. We head out to the hotel to swim with Mike, Mel and Tyler.
The kids have fun in the pool, the adults basked in the goodness of being together again. Then, all to quickly, the goodbye arrived.



I still can't really talk, or write about it too much, as the emotions are still right at the surface. I was heartbroken enough, but watching Mary's little lip quiver and her sweet smile fade, was too much. She truly loves Tyler, and they have a very special and unique bond as true friends. It is so precious. She had to be held tonight, in order to fall alseep.
We all tried to be tough, but we all struggled. It was kind of like saying goodbye to Colorado all over again. The past four days have felt like a wonderful dream. The feelings of being back with Mike and Tyler and Mel, and being with my family, made it feel like we were back in Colorado, surrounded by the warmth and friendship we felt there. Like nothing had changed. Like we had just gone on a long trip, and now we were back together again. Back on 4775 Ramblewood Drive, hanging out in the living room or in the mountains on the back side of Pikes Peak sitting by the fire until the last log burns.
When Mike and Mel left, they took a lot of that feeling with them, as well as a piece of our hearts.



It was rough, really rough. At the same time though, I feel happier here because they came. Our home feels more complete, because those we love have been in it. We have memories with them here now. We wouldn't trade that for anything.

It is only the beginning of a lot of visits with them. It was truly a heart-warming and uplifting visit that reminded us of the power of true friendship. They left footprints in our home that will never fade and footprints on our hearts that will last through this life and into the next. True friendship never dies...no matter the time or distance.


(sorry it's blurry..Mike, can you send my your picture?)

Too Little and Too Big

Lots has been happening around here. The thing is, that the events aren't quite big enough for their own blog post, but not small enough not to journal. So, I guess you get a little/big cluster of our happenings. I apologize for some of my lengthy blog posts. I don't have a ton of time to blog, so when I do, I have to get it all down. Thank you for still reading and supporting the blog. I will try to be shorter from now on. We will see.....

Last weekend we had a GREAT visit with JoJo and Papa. Ben's parents. They drove up to hang with us for the weekend. We visited, watched the kids snow ski (my first time this year) went on a dinner date with the adults (and William) and enjoyed each other's company. It was a great visit. Too short, but wonderful. We LOVE visitors.

The Crawler
William is officially crawling! It is the cutest thing ever! He looks like a giant beach ball moving all over the house. His favorite thing to do is to crawl to the entertainment center and pull out all of the dvd's.

He also LOVES to go to the bathroom and dump out the dog food. We are quickly learning to keep doors shut. He seems loads happier, and I enjoy watching him mug around and explore the house. He is so excited to finally be able to get to all of the things he has been looking at, but not able to explore. It is a very fun phase.


Jammies Saga
William is now in 12-18 month clothes and therefore can no longer wear jammies with footies!!! I am so bummed. We are still stuffing him into the ones he has left. It is like stuffing an over sized pillow into a tight pillow case. We literally hold them up and bounce him up and down in them. ;) I love those. They keep him looking like a baby. I have looked in several stores to find 12 month jammies with footies, but to no avail. However, around Christmas time, they seem to have them for adults...what on earth??? Rats! I guess it is two piece jammies for Will.


Two Good Things
We just learned that Mary's very first official, real deal, gymnastics meet (competition) is the exact same day and time as the 1/2 marathon that I am running with my mom. I am completely torn. Both are paid for, both mean a lot to the people participating, and I feel obligated to both. The marathon is a once in a lifetime event, as it is with my mom, on her Birthday, it is her first big run like this, and I have been coaching her through the training.
However, Mary has been in gymnastics for three years now, and has been so excited to be able to compete someday. That day will finally arrive, and she wants her mommy to be there helping her get ready, cheering her on, giving her hugs, and giving her courage. There is only one first gymnastics meet. Argh! I am so torn and almost sick about this.


pink eye
Pink eye is blazing like wildfire through the neighborhood, ward and school. The school has declared it a "school epidemic." We have just been waiting for our turn. Mary has it, but not to badly, and William and Sam got slammed. The poor kids wake up every morning with their eyes stuck shut. And that gooey stuff is like super glue! It is so hard to pry off! This may sound weird, but I really don't mind pink eye. It is simple, easy to treat, not painful for the kids, and not scary. Compared to other things we have experienced, if this is our sickness for the winter, I will be happy.
Oh, and at the Dr. appointment, William was weighed. 25 pounds!!! He is 8 pounds above average, but we were told it is just fine, because his frame is HUGE. He is not obese, just a big, giant, dough ball of a baby, all squishy and perfect. I think I will start looking into football.



Sam went from this. (small flare up)


To this...in a matter of about three hours.

This was after we pried his eyes open with a warm washcloth. Poor little boy. :(



St.Patty's Day
This day is always kind of silly and fun. The mischievous leprechauns put our chairs upside down, put the garbage can on the table, Mary's backpack in the crock pot, dinosaurs in the microwave and so on. The big surprise was opening the fridge to find that they had turned our milk green!!!! Woah. The kids thought it was great, and they got a little treat as well. We enjoyed the day of green.





Friends
When we were living the married life in Rexburg, Idaho, as we were finishing up our degrees, we were in a very awesome and unique ward. In our married life, out of the four places we have lived, we have experienced two wards/neighborhoods/communities like this. One in Rexburg, Idaho, and one in Colorado Springs, CO.
While in Rexburg, we made some friendships that we knew would never die. And we were right. The Darringtons are the kind of friends everyone should be able to have. They are loving, understanding, hilarious, easy-going, down to earth, accepting, and very devoted to our friendship, as are we. We feel very lucky to have them in our lives. We were SOOOOOO excited to get the phone call that announced that they would be staying with us for a few days this week. Oh, there is nothing like a visit with good friends. I would not trade it for the world. We talked and talked and talked and talked, and it was wonderful.

Thank you Darringtons for filling our home with the footprints of good friends once more.

As for here, in Utah, making friends has been a little rough. A lot of people have been here for a LONG time. They are all settled and happy with how their lives are, who their friends are, and there doesn't seem to be a need for a new friend. It has been hard to break through the layer that seems so thick. Very different from Colorado, that seemed to be waiting for us with open arms.
However, these past two months, we have felt doors opening in the way of friends. It has been so nice! The conversations are more frequent, the invites are coming, and I sit by people in Relief Society now. I am feeling more and more of a friendship with the women in our ward and in our circle. We also went to dinner last night with some very fun couples and have been invited to some after church "hang-outs" as well. It has been a lot of fun and very uplifting. We have made a vow to reach out ourselves and start initiating some fun friend dates. Friends sure make life a lot more fun, and I have noticed that I am walking a little lighter these days.

Of course, running.
I am officially in the hard core, thick of marathon training. It is going well. I am ALWAYS hungry and trying to find ways to not be snacking all day long. I have had to get used to a new pace as well. In order to reach my goal, I have had to run faster than my normal training pace. After two weeks of huffing and puffing, my body is finally accepting the faster pace, and it is actually somehow more comfortable. Now, if it will just accept the added mileage as well, I will be set.
We are getting assigned our legs for the Ragnar Relay this week. They are all brutal (as we will be running a total of 188 miles through mountain ranges), but some are better than others. I am nervous, but the team is awesome and oh so hilarious to be communicating with right now. It will be a good time for sure.

School
Mary did not get into the Charter School that we applied for. The lottery was HUGE and our chances were very small. I did just put in her in another lottery at another awesome Charter School though. I do find great comfort knowing that the 1st grade teachers at her current school are all very good teachers. They come with amazing recommendations from several parents. I love Midas Creek actually, I just don't love the track system. It could be so much worse, so I really am fine with how things are for now.


Decor
We are scheduling the carpeting of the guest room this weekend! I am so excited! The room should be all ready to go in time for my family's visit for the 1/2 marathon, and for any summer visitors. (hint hint) Wahoo!
We got the mirrors up in the living room, and it looks gorgeous. What a difference they make!
We are getting Mary's cute lamp this week. Fun, fun.
Our grass is turning green...under the skiff of snow we got last night. Boo!
Green grass makes me so happy I almost giggle..almost. I can't wait to mow it and smell the wondrous smells of spring.
I LOVE SPRING!

Bright and Cheerful, just like her.

Yeah, I know, we just did Mary's room 7 months ago. And we loved it, we all did. It was so cute and original. It was something fun and new and it had been planned for a LONG time. I still have all of that decor and I have some ideas on how to use it elsewhere, or at a different time, but for now, it is safely tucked away in a special place.
When I choose Mary's room decor style, I was torn between two different styles. Pink, black, cute, yet sophisticated OR bright, fun and a little spunky. I went with the first choice, because I had been able to find the perfect decor for it.

However, with spring fever in the air and with all of the fun colors, Mary and I started getting ideas. Well, I did, but when I would run them by Mary, she would get that cute gleam in her eye. We decided to go for it, and it is ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!
Mary's room is now the place to be in our house. It is so bright, happy and fun. Just like Mary. Oh, I love being able to paint, and re-paint if I want to.

Her room was really fun to do this time. The colors were fun, bright, happy colors to paint, and the flowers were really fun to put on the walls. Mary helped with them, and picked out the patterns and buttons. It was a LOT of work, but we got it done within a week, and just in time for the great sunny weather!!

And here it is!

I started out by painting over the dark pink with an adorable lime green color.
I then re-painted the black stripe running along the top of the room from black, to apricot orange. The rest of the paint is the same.

Then we did this wall.


We used different shapes of flowers, chosen by Mary.


Once the flowers were on, we put the buttons together and then stuck them on the wall, in the middle of the flowers with putty.




Then it was off to our favorite home decor stores for the accessories. We changed the dresser just a little, but it made a big difference.



We found these fun orange flowers at one store, and put them up next.



This hangs on the closet door. (Mary's request) It doesn't go in the drawer with the rest of them. Mary got this competition leotard last week, and is in awe of it. I think she likes it there, because it makes her excited when she sees it. I think it is pretty cute.


Mary found this wind chime and went crazy over it. When the breeze comes in her window it makes magical sound that makes you feel like you are in the secret garden.


Next came the pink butterfly, the fuzzy colorful pillows, the green pillowcase,and the whiteboard, which we painted and added cute orange sparkly flowers to. The whiteboard has become the favorite toy in the house. It cracks me up. I had NO IDEA that Mary would love it so much. She plays school every day with her friends and uses it all the time.


We will be getting her lamp this week. We already found it, we just have to go get it. It makes me laugh, but it is what Mary wants. I will post pictures for sure when we get it.

There is also one more semi-big thing we will be doing in her room. It is going to be very cute, if I can find what I am looking for. So for, I haven't found it. When I do, I will be posting it. It will complete the look of her room perfectly. Hopefully this will be the week!


And we are not done here. Another post is coming soon with some other fun, but smaller changes we have done throughout the house. There are still many rooms to paint and add decor to, and many ideas swirling around in my head. I have a feeling that our house may just change with the seasons. ;)

To some it may seem plain, to some it may seem fun, to others it may seem boring, to others it may seem exciting. But to me and my family, we love making our house a home, and one that has our own personalities in it. To us, our home now makes us smile just a little brighter. We have a lot of fun with it.

3/4 of a year!

William is 9 months old! woah.

Stats

He has two teeth and is currently cutting four more. I guess this face helps his top gums feel better, and it made us all laugh pretty hard.



He is now sitting in the shopping cart! No more lugging the big, heavy carseat to and from the store.



He loves music and dances, by rocking back and forth, when he hears it.

He crawled forward, the right way, for the first time yesterday. He still prefers to mug around the room and all ways and forms, but the official crawl has finally happened.

He learned to eat those star puff things. He is a texture boy and used to gag on them. He will now pick them up and eat them himself.

He LOVES peek a boo.

His back is extremely tickelish. So is his head.

He is outgrowing his 12 month clothes.

He just started throwing little baby tantrums but bucking his body back and forth. It makes us laugh for some reason.

He smiles very easily and is a pleasant baby by nature. He is a charmer and loves to charm the women in Relief Society, or old people at the store. His chubbiness only adds to the charm.

He loves loves loves leg rubs, and will fall asleep quickly when I rub them.

He sleeps on his side.

He has decided to wake up early in the morning, which has been an adjustment for mommy. He does have a good schedule though, so I can't complain too much.

He gets very excited to see his siblings or his daddy come home after school, play, or something else. He loves his family, and his family loves him....so much.

Sometimes it is good to laugh at yourself.

This is awesome! I am still laughing.

(you will need to pause the music on my playlist before watching this.

Storm of the Brain

otherwise known as brainstorm.

Here is what I stayed up all night tossing and turning over...silly me.


I FINALLY figured out what will pull Sam out of his "phase" he is in. It has been a major struggle. The poor kid just needs more attention. He is the middle child, and regardless of how much I don't want to believe it, there is middle child syndrome. 20minutes of playing Batcave a day, as well as some other Sam and mom or dad moments through the day, and he is a much more obedient and happy kid. He can be such a fun buddy. I feel guilty for not doing this sooner, but grateful for the insight, and with the big changes it is making.

I learned that Mary's most fond memories and favorite things to do are simply playing games as a family and being together. I had a very special time with her last night. Thank you mother daughter night. It was priceless. My little girl is growing up way too fast, I need to cherish the moments more, and make the moments happen more. She is a great kid.

I had some MAJOR inspiration for some home decor ideas. I am so excited! We are finally going to finish the guest room downstairs, so the paint is coming out! The carpet will be in soon. It will be a very cool room! I have it all planned out. We will be finishing up the living room decor as well. It looks pretty blah right now. I am very ready to spruce it up more, with some awesome finds from Tai Pan. I might as well paint the main floor bathroom, our bathroom (which will be so relaxing and awesome), and do some touch up while I'm at it. Mary's room is already getting a new make-over and it is going to be absolutely adorable. A lot will be the same, but my new ideas are more bright, cheerful, and oh so fun! Pictures will be coming once the projects begin!

Preschool is at our house next week. I love pre-school, but I am not a fan of teaching it. It always falls on my most busy week of the month. It is worth the days I don't teach though. This will be the last year I do a co-op. I am on the hunt for a preschool for Sam next year. Oh Colleen, if we only lived closer!

Ben and I are planning a trip for just the two of us in the next month or so! It has been a LONG time coming, but our kids will finally all be ages where they can be with grandma overnight for a few nights. We are having a great time brainstorming all sorts of fun things. It keeps me smiling! The ideas just get better and better.
Just me and my hunny having a blast together, oh, the anticipation!

We are also planning some family trips for this summer. Aside from a week long family reunion at McCall, on the lake, in a cabin, skiing every day, fire every night, with my whole family, (i'm not excited for that or anything ;) ...Lagoon will probably be the big one for our own little family. Waterpark and roller coasters...all kid and adult friendly. And of course, lots and lots of camping.

PLEASE let spring be here soon. This has been the longest winter EVER! Blah

If I have to do one more long run on the treadmill, I think I will croak. Every fiber of my being wants to run OUTSIDE!

I wonder if Mary will get into the Charter school we applied for. I like her school now, but the Charter School is on a tradition schedule, and it would be so nice not to deal with the track system. Also, this charter school is supposed to be fantastic.

William can get all around, but is not doing it the traditional way. I wonder if he will just bypass crawling all together. He gets chubbier by the day. He is pushing 25pounds and is 9 months old. He is in the 95% on the chart! I love the chub and I kiss it all day long.

We switched Mary back to Olympus gymnastics (the very first place we tried here, recommended to us from her coach in CO). They changed things up, so it is WAY more reasonable, and the coaching staff and their training programs are still phenomenal. I watched the class on Monday and was very, very, very pleased. Mary had a blast and can't wait to go back today! They will work incredibly hard, but in a good way.
Mary will get to compete this summer! She is already learning the routines and the tricks. So exciting! This gym rocks! No more changing, few. We pretty much went full circle with this one. Gotta love moving, and all of the exploring that comes with it.

Sam is all registered for T-Ball. I just hope he won't be too shy to participate. I know he will love it, if he will just be brave enough to try it.

My calling as choir pianist is SO STRESSFUL right now. I can't seem to play these very difficult pieces! Argh. I literally started sweating at the last practice from nerves. I got the piece 5 minutes before practice and it was one I cannot play. Oh man. I plunked my way through it and felt like a total idiot! I finally asked the choir director to ask me if I can play the pieces before choosing them and giving them to the choir. He agreed. Things should be less stressful after the next two performances. So, so nerve-wracking.

My marathon training program is a blast! It has lots of variety, so I get excited to see what I need to do that day. It is nice to change things up a bit. Four fast miles on this day, 13 miles at pace that day, cross training another day and so on.

I love the Activity Day girls. It is such a great calling. We currently have 12 in our age group and will have 19 by the end of the year. Woah momma! I better get to planning next weeks activity, pronto!

Our puppy's baby teeth are falling out. Nasty, but normal. I found the last one in Williams mouth! I almost lost my breakfast at that moment. I think William thought that WAS breakfast. Blah! cringe


I have been greatly humbled this last month or so, in several ways. As a mother, as a friend, as a church member, as a pianist, as "STILL the new kid on the block," as a stay at home mother, ect.
The Lord is refining me in all sorts of ways. I know for a fact, that that is one big reason we are here in Utah. Our family is going through the refiners fire, that could only happen here, away from friends, out of the comfort zone, in a new ward, and through some experiences that would only happen here. I guess I needed to be greatly humbled first. Not that I thought I was big stuff in the first place. Believe me, I usually see myself as just the opposite. Sometimes I wonder what is more important, the thing that humbles you, or what it takes to pull out of it a better and more refined person, having learned the lesson and grown from it.

I am changing. Growing up. Getting a new perspective. Being forced to find happiness is some deeper ways, that will not change with the wind. Not only just realizing what is most important (that is the easy part), but learning to spending my time on what is most important. That is the hard part. There are so many distractions.

My mom wants to plan a fun girls trip, and I can't wait. We have never done this before, and I have always wanted to. I have never once left my children overnight with Ben. I haven't ever taken a trip with just me before. Not that I don't love my family, but it would be such a wonderful break. Some much needed me time.

I LOVE living closer to family. There are lots of perks, and I bet I still haven't seen them all.

We have been here, in Utah, for 7 months! It doesn't seem like it has been that long, but at the same time it does. Maybe I can start calling it home sometime soon. Crazy, so crazy.

And that is what's on my mind. Take it or leave it. The end.