Yates Family

December in Arizona

2010-12-10T11:49:00.001-08:00

Is there any wonder why we love it here??(also, I haven't forgotten about posting pics of the new house. I have been waiting for the front yard landscaping to be done so ya'll can see the finished project! You'll have to wait a little longer. Or just come visit!)

Getting Closer!!!!!

2010-09-30T17:22:00.001-07:00

4 more weeks!!!!!

Utah Summer 2010

2010-07-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hayden and Mommy had such a great time in Utah this summer while Daddy was in Alaska on his yearly fishing trip. I would love to post pictures, but my camera didn't make it home with us. I'm not sure where it was left behind, and I am heartbroken. Anyway, we spent the first few days in Las Vegas where we met baby Brenlie(Richard and Stacie's little girl). I fell in love all over again, and I miss her already. Then, we went to Utah where we saw my family, had a blast at Lagoon, and a few other outings as well. I met up with my gal pals and families for dinner and visiting. We went to Court's aunts house for dinner another night and stopped by his sisters house on the way home. We stayed the night in Cedar City and picked up my cousin's from EFY Saturday morning and headed for home. 17 hours later and a bit of car trouble in Vegas, we made it home. Daddy came home the next day and life is back to normal. They are making progress on the house and are working on the plumbing today. We are spending our days indoors or in the pool this summer and lovin' it!! Happy summer everyone!!

Look what we bought today!!!!

2010-06-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

DIRT!!!!! It's official. We are buying our second home. We put a deposit on this large lot of dirt today. In about 4-5 months there will be a house on it. I'm so stinkin' excited I can't stand it. I just hope that no one sets it on fire 2 weeks before we close like last time we tried this!! I took this picture from the sidewalk and the boys are standing at the edge of the property. There will be so much room for us to play with over the next several years. And it's only about 5 miles east of where we are now and still in Gilbert's School District. No Queen Creek for us!! I can't wait!!

I had a birthday shout HOORAY!!!

2010-06-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is the "big" year. I turned 30 last week. I woke up to a balloon bouquet on my porch tied to a bag of Gluten Free granola from my dear friend Krista. The giant "30" was accompanied by latex balloons in the Phx Suns colors in support of the playoff game that night.
Then, Hayden and I went to breakfast with Mike and Sharon-thanks again Mike. We then spent the day with Sharon. We haven't spent a lot of time with her lately so it was nice to hang out. And she took us to lunch. It was so yummy.
When Court got home I got my present!! I could not get a good picture, so this is the best I could get. Yes, those are DIAMONDS!!! What girl doesn't love diamonds. But these are more special than just any diamond. Court's Grandpa Yates gave him a ring years ago before he passed away. I has(well had) 7 round diamonds in it. It was a way ugly setting, but the diamonds are beautiful. We talked about taking them and making earrings, necklace or ring but Court never really wanted to. He would always say that he liked it the way it was and it would sit in the jewelry drawer. So, when I first opened the earrings I was excited. Until he told me that they were Grandpa's diamonds he had used. Then they meant so much more. Grandpa passed away right after we began dating, so I never met him, but the fact that Court took those diamonds and made them something special for me is what makes them priceless(although converting them to earrings was NOT priceless!!) I can't wait to see what he does with the other 5.
Then, my cute, talented, awesome friend Shelly came to bring me a present. She has been making these aprons and I love them. And now I have one!!!!
It's reversible!! I don't dare wear it though when I cook cause I don't want to get it dirty. Thanks Shelly!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!!!
And finally, our good friends the Woods brought dinner(Costa Vita........yum!)and Krista came and we all watched the game. The Suns lost, so that wasn't too fun, but the company was great!! I also got some great cards and gifts in the mail from my family. Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special!!! Now for the next 30 years..................................

San Diego May,2010

2010-05-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's sad that I am posting San Diego pictures when I still haven't posted Disneyland pictures from December. I still am planning to post my Disney pictures, I am just super slow!! It took so long to get them on facebook, I was burned out. I think I have the hang of how to do it all so I should be a little better and quicker at getting my pictures up.

We took a trip with our good friends the Woods. We ran off to San Diego for the weekend and had so much fun. Here we are with Shamu. Front to back: Hayden, Sunny, Courtney, Blake, Ryker, Emmett, Shali, Daniel. We opted to sit in families because the big boys didn't want to "straddle" each other and sit shortest to tallest which is what the photographers wanted us to. I love Hayden's face!!I love Hayden in this one!! He's so into it!Legoland
We had a blast!! I will put more pictures up later.

What are you doing this weekend?

2010-05-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

THIS IS WHERE WE'LL BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Our bags are packed and in the car, the gas tank is full, the house is clean................Daddy come home so we can leave!!!!!!

Ready for Easter

2010-04-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

(not a very good picture. Court had the camera so this was taken on my phone which usually takes good pictures. anyway.......) I had Hayden set out his basket tonight before he went to bed for the Easter Bunny to fill up for him. We also decided to put out some carrots for him. Then Hayden thought he might be thirsty by the time he came to our house, so he got him a bottle of water. Then I filmed a darling conversation I had with him about why we celebrate Easter, just to make sure that he knew the real reason. It will be a treasured video because it was so sweet. I love how much information this little boy retains. I love him.

After he fell asleep the Easter Bunny came. He was a She tonight because He was at the priesthood session. Yes, my sweet child went to bed that early tonight.

Happy Easter everyone. Let us all remember the True meaning and thank our Savior for the great sacrifices he made for us. We are all so blessed! I know I am.

Bedtime Battles...........SOLVED????

2010-02-21T13:07:00.001-08:00

We have been in a phase of resisting bedtime lately. We would figure out something and it would work for awhile and then we'd have to start all over again. For Christmas Grandma Dean gave Hayden a tent and tunnel set. We left this one up in the living room in the corner for awhile for his "playhouse" and we would bring out the tunnels and the other tent once in awhile to play with.

While Hayden and I were in Utah, Court did a little redecorating. With that came the absence of all toys in the living room. He didn't know where to put this tent so he left it in the hallway. When we got back, I loved the changes and helped with a few finishing touches. We decided to take the chair out of Hayden's room and put the tent in it's place. We found him in it the first night and every night since. He thinks it is the coolest thing ever that he gets to sleep in a tent every night and gets excited to go to sleep. We'll see how long it lasts!!

The "Ho-We-Co"

2010-02-17T10:00:00.001-08:00

On Sunday, Court and I left after sacrament meeting to go back to my parents house and start packing to come home. Hayden stayed at church with Grandma and Grandpa. His sunbeam class was taught by the Websters both weeks we were there, and they are wonderful. So, after church, Grandma said

"Hayden, tell Mom and Dad what you learned about in your class."

Hayden: "The Ho-We-Co."

Me: "The what?"

Hayden: "The Ho-We-Co. See....."

"he tells us what to do and lives in our heart!"

"and then the guy gived me this

so I could LIFT it up at the part of the song." (I figure they were singing "Scripture Power")

He has been so cute on this subject ever since. He says the funniest things about it. He now says it a little better "Ho-We-Coast" and he is always looking through his book and pretending to read it. I love how cute he is learning new things!!

"Dont Get Mad, Get Glad"

2010-01-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

While Hayden was playing with his blocks today, he was talking and singing and stuff. I heard him say "Don't get mad, get glad" and I said "where did you here that" He said "from the garbage kids on the t.v." Then I realized where it came from and started laughing. Kids really do hear EVERYTHING!!

Something I Love

2010-01-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

Going to bed to find that Hayden had snuck in there and fallen asleep.

2010-01-06T22:46:00.001-08:00

Yes Shelly, we're home and we had a great time. I would love to post all my fun pictures, but my computer won't let me:( It is seriously time for a new one.

We're off!!

2009-12-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

We're off to spend the holidays with my wonderful family, along with Micky, Minnie and then Shamu!!
We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and we'll see you all in 10 days!!

I thought "Oh Sh--" was bad

2009-12-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

Hayden just said a really, really bad word. "Monkey Feet F--ker" Where did he hear that?!?!

And then when I was trying to talk to him about it, he kept repeating it. "Do you mean when I said..........." I'm so excited to be home full time soon. Maybe that will help. I know we don't use that word in our house.

How we got Hayden to Smile so Cute

2009-12-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

Aunt Sheri usually takes our family pictures every year on Thanksgiving when she comes to visit. This year she decided to go on a Hawaiian Cruise instead of coming to Arizona. Crazy, I know. I somehow talked my parents(with a little help from Hayden) into coming and my sister Shilo came along also. We had such a good time. Shilo decided to have their family pictures taken as well. In this video, my Mom is trying to get Natalee to smile and she did the same for Hayden during our pictures. She is such a goof!!

Shelly

2009-11-22T08:08:00.001-08:00

What don't you get? It's my Mom's side of the family at our reunion this summer. We are on the upper right side.

Are we a good lookin' family or what?

2009-11-21T14:45:00.000-08:00

(You have to click on it to see the whole thing) Camp Family picture '09

To Vegas Again!! And the hospital:(

2009-11-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

For our 5 year anniversary in August, Court gave me a cruise to be taken in November. He forgot that I don't have a passport(the last time we left the country I only needed by birth cert) and there wasn't enough time to get one, plus I was nervous about going to Mexico right now. So, we decided to leave Hayden and go back to Las Vegas for the weekend. My wonderful Cousin's Jeff, Kim and the kids kept Hayden for us and off we went.

We didn't take very many pictures but we had such a good time. We saw Terry Fator who is HILARIOUS!!! We were laughing so hard. I recommend his show to anyone headed that way.

Cute Richard and Stacie after the show. They're having a baby!! Yay!!

So, we get a call on Sunday from Kim saying that Hayden was feeling sick. So we jumped in the car and headed for home. He got worse along the way and he was having a hard time breathing. She took him to her sisters and gave him a breathing treatment and then we got home. When I took one look at him I knew that he was not okay. I loaded him in the car and took him to Urgent Care where they gave him a couple of breathing treatments and he got worse (his O2 was 85) so we got to ride in an AMBULANCE!!

Hayden and Mommy at Urgent Care
They strapped his car seat on the stretcher for the ride.
He doesn't look excited but he was. He talked the whole way there and the paramedic guy was laughing so hard. With as sick as he was and for not being able to breath, he just talked and talked. He's so funny.
Heading into the hospital.
This was taken about 3:00 this morning when he was feeling much better. They gave him some more breathing treatments and brought his O2 level back up to normal and sent us home.
Waiting for Daddy to pull up the car, he had to play on the toys in the lobby. The chess game was really cool.

We got home and he slept for about 5 hours and woke up coughing and sounding terrible again. We went to his pediatrician for a follow up and his O2 was back down to 87. They brought it up with more breathing treatments and sent us for a chest x-ray. It came back normal so we just need to watch him and give him breathing treatments every 2 hours and call if there's a problem.
Waiting at the Dr. today. He was getting bored so we got the camera out. Look at those little eyes. Don't they look so sad? It's been a long day.................I'm exhausted.

Thank you so much to Kim and Jeff, Bryce and Brady for taking such good care of my baby while we were gone. We're glad you had so much fun Friday and Saturday. Sorry that Sunday was awful. I with you hadn't have had to deal with that. I feel terrible about it. We'll have a blast at Amazing Jake's so let us know when you can go!! Love you guys!!

Here's something you won't see everyday............

2009-11-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Hayden took a nap. It was wonderful!!

What's so funny?

2009-10-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

I got this book at Hayden's school book fair. After reading it a few times Hayden had it memorized. He will read it over and over. This page however is his favorite. He usually reads it a few times before turning the page.

mute the music so you can hear him better

Joys of Childhood

2009-10-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sweeping in your underwear. Outside. So carefree. Love it!

Soccer

2009-10-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hayden has been going to a soccer class the past few months and has had so much fun. He is excited to show Uncle Skipper and Uncle Dallas his moves when they come for Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures on his last day.
They told us that the kids could wear their costumes today if they wanted to. I couldn't imagine Hayden trying to run and kick and stuff with a big pumpkin belly. Plus it's long pants and long sleeves and I knew he would get really hot. He didn't seem to mind, but he thought it was pretty cool that he got to play soccer with Snow White and Spider Man.
Check out his form!
He shoots! He scores!
Then we all played Dodge Ball(what does that have to do with soccer?)
Goooooooooo Soccer!!
Thanks Coach Adam! I had a blast! I'll miss you!

What would you pay for this?

2009-10-27T14:11:00.001-07:00

I paid $0.23. That's right. 23 cents!

Great Day for a Picnic.....

2009-10-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

I watched Shelly's kids today(finally returning a favor). We had so much fun..........PLAYING OUTSIDE!!! I love Arizona in October!

Noah watching from the door. He wasn't to thrilled about the grass.

Was I in the Tub to Long?

2009-10-05T20:33:00.001-07:00

$3,800 to fix? REALLY?!?!

2009-09-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

So, thank you to the man(it might have been a woman, but my guess is the other) who decided to back their truck into my husbands car and then leave the parking lot. Maybe they couldn't see it cause it was so dirty!!

Now I know my ABC's............

2009-09-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

This is one of those moments that makes Mom proud. He was rather quiet the other day and that usually means trouble. Not this time. This is what I found him doing. He writes the whole alphabet but won't write them all on one page. He writes 5 or 6, erases, then picks up where he left off. I love how smart my baby is.

The other day he was in the bathtub and I was in the hall on the floor working on a project. He wasn't talking(which is weird because he never stops) and all of a sudden he said "Mommy look! I spelled somebody's name. Zoe is a friend from school.

To Vegas at Last

2009-09-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

(My computer is acting weird tonight so I'm sorry for the weird spacing and size of the words and stuff. I don't know what's going on)

We finally made it to Las Vegas to visit our friends Richard and Stacie. We decided late Thursday night and left Friday after work. It was crazy, but we had a great time.

We started Saturday morning with hair cuts. Yes, we now have to drive to Las Vegas to get our hair cut. Just kidding. The boys were looking so shaggy and Stacie has her salon in her new house, so we took advantage of that. Hayden, still in PJ's for his.

We enjoyed some lunch at Pei Wei

Then went to the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Hayden was more interested in the hand held narrator than the fish until we took it away from him. Here he is trying to touch a sting ray. He was afraid, but I talked him into it. Then he couldn't even reach it. Oh well.

This was a glass floor. He laid there for awhile watching the fish swim under it.

Then we went to the M&M Store. Since that is Hayden favorite candy, we knew he would love it!

Green is his favorite color. It's to bad the M&M is a girl. He got a back pack there and he wanted the green one. I just couldn't let my little boy have a back pack with long pretty eye lashes on the thing. We talked him into the blue one!

We watched the M&M 3D movie. Hayden had a hard time keeping the glasses on.

After we left the strip I wanted to go shopping. Of course Stacie was on board, but the boys were not. We debated taking them home and going but in the end decided to just go. We went to the outlets on the north end of the strip. We went to a couple of stores and the boys were complaining and so we were hurrying to finish when they all of a sudden perked up. You see, Richard, Stacie and Court are pretty big fans of UFC. (Ultimate Fighting)Me; not so much. I don't really get the fun in beating the crap out of each other for sport. Anyway, they spotted one of the fighters. So, Stacie tracked him down and asked if we could take pictures. He was so nice and let us. Then we caused a big scene and people were looking and realizing who he was and then they wanted pictures and there was a big huge crowd...................in the Disney Store!!

This is Forrest Griffin. He is apparently a "big deal" in the UFC. I wouldn't know, but they were all pretty excited. It's to bad that Hayden decided to throw the biggest fit right at that time and we couldn't get a good picture. After the picture was taken and there was a big crowd around, Hayden decided that would be a good time to run off. That was pretty scary. Richard and Stacie each stood at one of the doors while Court and I ran around the store looking for him. Hayden finally got scared too and started screaming which led me to him. I never want to go through that again. It was awful. Anyway, the boys stopped complaining after they got to meet Forrest. They even thanked us for wanting to shop!!

For dinner that night we went to the Silverton buffet. While we were waiting we took Hayden to look at the fish. He met this little boy and they were the best of friends. When it was time to go, Hayden yelled to him "be sure to come to my house next week" and the little boy yelled back "where you live?" It was so cute.

Hayden loves dogs. Dogs do not love Hayden. On Sunday when it was time to go, Hayden was chasing poor Walker and Toby around the house to give them "loves". Here you can see Walker looking to Richard for help as Hayden got a hold of Toby.

Then we went to a fabulous Mexican place for Lunch. Court is still talking about it.

Then loaded up and headed for home.

It was such a short trip and we had so much fun. I forgot how much I missed Stacie. We had become such good friends over the last few months they were here. And Hayden loves her so much. The whole weekend he wanted nothing to do with anyone but her. Thanks so much for such a great time you guys and we will do it again soon!!

I'm so Excited I could PEE my Pants!!!

2009-09-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Click here to see why........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090910/ap_en_ot/us_tv_american_idol_degeneres

or here...............

http://tv.yahoo.com/american-idol/show/34934/news/tv.accesshollywood.com/ellen-degeneres-named-new-american-idol-judge-20090909

Who's as excited as I am? Every year I say I don't want to watch the show anymore but that's not gonna work this year!! (Sorry for all you Paula fans. I personally could never really stand her)

The Things Shilo Leaves Behind

2009-09-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Shilo and Nat came for a visit while Nathan was on a "business trip" to Pennsylvania. We had oh so much fun. You'll have to check her blog(it's a few posts back cause I'm a slacker and am now just blogging about it) for pictures because I didn't get that many because I pretty much spent the whole time in bed. Yes that's right. I got a nasty flu thing and couldn't do anything that wasn't near a bathroom. Now, Shilo does this cute "Top Ten" where she highlights their favorite parts of the trip. She left out what I thought was of the most fun for the kids. How could you forget.............................
THE PACKING PEANUTS!!!!! (I'm actually embarrassed to put that picture on here because now you all have seen my t.v. is sitting on a night stand. Court has built me a beautiful entertainment center that is sitting in Classy's shop. There was a problem with the paint order and it took longer than expected. Have I mentioned how talented my husband is? I will show you it when it gets here. I am hoping tomorrow)
I got a package of some crap that I bought and as I was unloading the boxes the peanuts were making a mess, as the do, and the kids went crazy!! The room was already a mess because there were toys everywhere, so we let them play with them. Oh the joy!!
Also, Natalee gave Hayden his first Webkinz.
This is Peanuts. They were trying to name him and Shilo, being the comedian that she is, suggested he be named Peanuts. (he's allergic remember) He thought that was the funniest thing ever and the frog had a name. He has a bit of a lisp so he calls him "Peanuths" It's pretty cute.
Here they are setting up his account. He wasn't really into it a first, but he loves it now and has learned to use the mouse. We got "peanuts" a "back yard" and now Hayden won't put him back in the house. Lucky he's got a hammock out there or the poor thing would have to sleep on the ground!! I myself have become addicted to the games you play to earn money to buy things in "Webkinz World" Sharon and I have become a little out of control!!
Then one night I found Hayden and Peanuts in my bed. How Hayden fell asleep propped up that high, I have no idea!
All the other highlights are on Shilo's blog. These are the only pictures I have.
A big thanks to Shilo, Nat and Sharon for helping me with Hayden that week when I was so sick. I'm glad I live so close to Sharon so they had a place to go. They would have gone there anyway and then I never would have seen them. Shilo would come over a few times in the day and make me drink and eat soup. She's a great sister and I'm glad they could come.
Oh yeah, you left something. Actually a few things. The gift that Hayden gave Nat. That was rude. You also left some of my stuff at Sharon's. I was pretty impressed because usually you leave behind something you brought and when I didn't see anything I was so proud of you. Then after a few days, when I was walking out of your room I noticed these..................
Silly girl!! Oh well, better luck next time!!

More Summer Fun!

2009-08-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some video's of us in the pool.

In this one he is jumping off the diving board at Grandma and Papa's house. I can't believe the progress this kid has made. We are so proud of him. I forgot to change memory cards in the camera, so we didn't have much room to record all his tricks. We will get more later.

Here he is on a jet ski that they bought 3 years ago. Papa took it out of the package today so he could try it. He kept calling it his motorcycle at first, but in the end learned it was a jet ski. Now when we go to Laughlin he is going to think he can ride by himself! Oh no!

Now for the not so fun Summer stuff we did.........More Dr. visit's and testing
How cute is this kid? He was such a trooper through the whole thing. I decided to have him tested for Celiac Disease since I have it and it's genetic. I figured, the sooner we know, the sooner we can treat it to prevent the long term effects. Well, little did I know what we were getting into. They did a blood test which showed positive but they then wanted to do an upper endoscopy to "confirm" the diagnosis. I didn't want to do that until the Dr-who by the way I absolutely LOVE-explained to me that he could have another condition called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (try saying that 3 times fast) or EE for short. What is that exactly? I pulled this from the wesite:
""What is EE?
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is an allergic inflammatory disease characterized by elevated eosinophils in the esophagus EE is a newly recognized disease that over the past decade has been increasingly diagnosed in children and adults. This increase is thought to reflect an increase in diagnosis as well as a true increase in EE cases. Fortunately, the medical community is responding and new scientific information is emerging to guide management of this disorder, which often persists with ongoing or recurrent symptoms.
Eosinophilic esophagitis is characterized by a large number of eosinophils and inflammation in the esophagus (the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach). These eosinophils persist despite treatment with acid blocking medicines. People with EE commonly have other allergic diseases such as rhinitis, asthma, and/or eczema. EE affects people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Males are more commonly affected than females. In certain families, there may be an inherited (genetic) tendency.
In individuals with EE, the eosinophils cause injury to the tissue in the esophagus. EE can be driven by food allergy or intolerance: most patients who eliminate food proteins from their diet (by drinking only an amino-acid based formula) improve.""--scary huh?

It's rare for a person to have both conditions, but in the Dr's 20 years of practicing pediatric gastroenterology, she has seen it 4-5 times. So, we had the endoscopy done. It was the saddest day.
Here are a couple of pics while we were waiting for them to take us into the procedure room. He took Bunny along for moral support. They also had a basket of beanie babies that he got to pick one to take in the room with him and then home. He picked a penquin and calls him "Birdie" The first Gastroenterologist we met with was with Banner Pediatrics. I did not like her. She didn't seem to like Hayden let alone me. I couldn't understand a word she was saying to me and I thought she was very rude. So, my good friend Shelly told me that Phx Children's had an east valley location and they were good. I called them and they were booked out like 8 weeks, but had an opening the next day in Phoenix. I took it. We went and me the Dr and oh my! She is absolutly adorable and Hayden loves her. I felt so much better about her and she only works out of the Phx location, but is well worth the drive 4 times a year. Okay, so anyway, back to the day of the test-I got a little side tracted there. The procedure went well, he was only under about 8 minutes but woke up just as mad as could be. He cried and cried. I felt so bad. He fell asleep when we got home and slept for 4 hours! A few days later Dr. Ingebo called me with the best news ever-I'm being sarcastic. He has BOTH conditions. What luck huh? So we started with the Six Food Elimination Diet:
Empiric Six-food elimination diet is another type of elimination diet that has shown success in some EE patients. Instead of basing dietary elimination on skin testing, patients eliminate 6 common allergenic foods (milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts/other nuts, fish/shellfish) regardless of the results of the allergy testing.
So, the eggs, nuts and fish we were off anyway because of the testing last year. The wheat is gluten so we were off that as well. But Dairy and Soy? Are you kidding me? What can the kid eat? Chicken, turkey, fruits, vegtables, potatoes and rice. That's about it. Not a problem becasue he likes all those things-not so much the veggies, but we're working on it. Here's the problem, he would not drink the supplemental drinks to replace the missing nutrients. They were really gross, I tried them. So, we decided to go the medication route for now.
Medications
Medications for EE most commonly include steroids to control inflammation and suppress the eosinophils. Steroids can be taken orally or topically (swallowed asthma medicine). For many patients, swallowed topical corticosteroids (fluticasone, budesonide) have led to EE remission (improvement while on treatment), though their long-term use for maintenance treatment has not been studied.
We have been doing that for about a week now and he seems to be coughing a whole lot less and sleeping better. It's so sad and hard, but he is such a good kid about everything. I hope that as he gets older we can go back to the food diet. I don't like taking medication for a long time. It just seems like it only masks the problem and doesn't treat it in this case. We'll just have to see.
He's so cute about his Gluten Free diet. Everytime he goes to eat something he says "does it have gluten fowee?" I love this little guy so much.

So there are some more things we did this summer. There is still more to come. I don't want to post it all together cause it would really take a long time and it's time to put Hayden to bed.

My next post title will be either "Welcome Baby Ethan", or "The things Shilo leaves behind". I haven't decided which one to do yet. Tune in tomorrow, or the next day whenever I get around to it. Bye for now!!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!

2009-08-22T22:21:00.001-07:00

This post is dedicated to my wonderful cousin Jeffrey. He is the computer man in the family and I am so lucky I live on his side of town. As I have said many times my computer has been acting up and Court would try to fix it and I would try to fix it(with the help of Jeff on the phone) and nothing was doing the trick. Jeff took it home last week and got it up and running like new. I am so so so so so so so so so happy to have a working computer again!!
Thanks Jeff-Your the BEST!!!!

I have so much to post to get caught up but I will have to do that another day. Oh yeah, I got a new camera also! More on that later. Good Night!!

What We've Been Up To

2009-07-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Our summer can be summed up with one word.....SWIMMING!!
I put Hayden in swim lessons this year and he is LOVING it. His favorite teacher was Miss Sammie. She is the cutest most energetic person I have ever met. And she loves Hayden which is easy to do!! He gets so excited when he sees her at the pool. This session his teacher is Miss Nicole. She super sweet and he is warming up to her. I don't have pictures of them yet.
Earlier this summer he would freak out if water got in his face. He wouldn't jump in from the side. Honestly didn't really care about the water. Miss Sammie changed all that. We went swimming last night in Sharon's pool without his floaties and he was dunking and kicking and splashing. It was so fun. I am so proud of his progress.
We have also gone swimming a lot with our friends at the public pools. They are so much fun with the slides and waterfalls. Back yard pools are nice, but these are a fun change.
Here is Hayden and Mason daring the waterfall. This was earlier in the summer and Hayden wasn't to thrilled about water in his face. We are taking Shi and Nat here when they come next week, so we'll see how he likes it now.
Hayden was entertaining Noah for a minute. I think he was trying to tickle his feet.
What fun would a Slip N Slide be without a little butt crack? He could not keep his pants pulled up this day. It was so funny. Shelly kept trying to get a good picture cause it was so cute!!
One more just for fun. Thanks Shelly for running around the yard to get a picture. I love them!!
That's all for now cause my computer is slowing down. It's still not itself and we can't figure out why. I've got to get my house cleaned up cause my Mom's plane is coming in a few hours. Yikes!! Court was so sweet and cleaned up on Thursday for me, but then made a big fat mess trying to get packed for his trip. That's okay, he just better bring back TONS of yummy fish to fill my freezer!!

Another Story

2009-07-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

My camera is broken and someone(Court) thought that a new BBQ grill was more important than and new camera right now. Dinner sure has been tasty this week though. Anyway, I love pictures, but you'll have to go without a little longer. I got a new fancy phone and it's so fancy that I can't figure it out. It takes really nice pictures, but I don't know how to get them on the computer. I should just email them to myself. That would be easier than trying to make sense of the instruction manual!

Okay, so the cute story. Last night we were reading books and Hayden kept asking for "one more" so after the third "one more" I said "Hayden, Mommy's eyes are so tired I can't even keep them open anymore. Look, they can't open they are so so tired" He put his little hands up to my eyes and touched them and said "but they seem pretty tired", then his hands moved to my arms and he said "and your arms are tired and your knees"(moving his hands there). Short pause "But my bed is not tired"
Where does he come up with these things?

The Letter J

2009-07-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

I hear Hayden yelling from the bathroom a few days ago "Hey, that looks like a J poop. Mommy come see my J poop" Sure enough, "it" had landed in the shape of the letter J. Then just a few minutes ago I hear with a little more excitement "Mommy I did another J poop, come see" Once again, "it" had landed looking like the letter J, only backwards. Is that talent or what? Watch out America, here he comes!!

Free Fallin'

2009-07-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today Hayden and I went to Taco Bell for lunch and I thought it was rather loud in the place and didn't even know that there was music playing. All of a sudden Hayden said "Mommy, this is a good song." So I listened a little more careful and heard John Mayer's Free Fallin' playing. Then I laughed. Does my kid have good taste in music or what?

Pictures for Natalee

2009-06-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is our new house.
Not the best picture. I was standing in the middle of the street and a car was coming so this is it. You'll just have to come visit to see the rest.
This is what Hayden did on moving day. His shirt is on backwards.
His final bath in the condo. Jessica was so great with him and kept him entertained all day.
A worn out Papa. He was really sleeping in this picture. Hayden was jumping all over him and he slept right through it all.
A few months after we moved into the condo they poured a slab of cement on the walk way in front of our stairs. Court carved our initials in it and went to school. When he got home, they had smoothed it over, so he did it again. It was setting so he couldn't go very deep. Then.......
a year ago or so, they poured some new curbing stuff right out front of the building so Court did this. Isn't he destructive?
Hayden decided to dress himself for church last week. He didn't understand why I then asked him to change his clothes before we could leave. At least he put the right socks on.
Court also decided to dress himself. Just kidding, he couldn't find his pants and then remembered that they were in the dryer at the condo. He was trying to do laundry and move at the same time. Silly boy. We ran by the condo on our way to church. We were going to our ward one last time, so it was on the way. And don't look at the messy room. We had just put stuff in there. It looks much better now.
Yet another sleeping picture. I have so many, but I just can't help it. Seriously, how sweet is that!?!?

Things I Learned Today

2009-06-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

1-Read the directions FIRST (before you put the banana's in the freezer)
2-You can't peel frozen banana's
3-You also can't put a Popsicle stick in a frozen banana
4-A sharp knife works well instead of a Popsicle stick in a frozen banana
It's so fun to live close to Aunt Sharon. We had dinner at her house tonight and then dessert at our house. The other night at the grocery store we saw a kit to make frozen choc. banana's and thought that sounded good. I have never made them before, so next time I will know how. Anyway, I put the banana's in the freezer this morning cause that's what your supposed to do. Had I read the directions, or really thought it through, I would have known to peel the banana and put the stick in. Anyway, we had dinner, went for a walk and ended at my house where I started to prepare the chocolate. I took out the banana's and it all came clear. Sharon said she did it the first time she made them, so I didn't feel so dumb. She peeled the banana with a knife and stuck it in the end and it worked great. Just don't let your kids eat it that way. Hayden was in bed so we were okay. They were so good we made strawberry ones as well. They weren't frozen so it was a little easier.
Yummy! Yummy!
And Miss Natalee, I am going to show you a picture of our new house but I keep forgetting to take one. We have been so busy all week unpacking and organizing and cleaning the condo to get it ready for our renters. I will take one soon. We just got our internet up and running today, so I will post more moving day pictures soon. Don't worry Nat, you will love it!!

MOVING DAY!!!!!

2009-06-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

We are moving today!! I'm so excited!! Sharon has been helping me all week taking loads over and unpacking and organizing. She has been such great help. We are so excited to live so close to her. We are around the corner and two streets up.
Today we are taking the big stuff and the little odds and ends that get left behind. Last night was our last in our teeny tiny condo. I haven't taken a picture of the new house yet cause it has all happened so fast and I forget when I'm there. I haven't had much time to take pictures cause there is so much to do!!
Court loading the truck and trailer. I thought I got him in the picture, but I missed. He looked super cute.
Hayden thought the rope ties were pretty cool.
Playing trains at the new house. We don't have his table there yet so he had to play on the floor. He didn't seem to mind. He loves our new house and is so excited to live there. He was mad last night when we came to the condo because he wanted to sleep at the new house.
That's all for now. Wish us luck finding a renter!!

Happy 60th Dad!!

2009-05-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend(Memorial Day) my sisters and I took my parents camping for my Dad's 60th Birthday.(It was on the 11th) We decided on Escalante(Bryce Canyon area-ish) because he likes it there and we camped there a few times growing up. He worked there years ago, before I was born(yes I know, that was FOREVER ago). Anyway, we had so much fun. It rained pretty much the whole time and we are tent campers, so that made it interesting. After church on Sunday some people had a pet baby raccoon, I'm not really sure what they were doing with it at church but we were in Escalante so that's kind of like Wallsburg, so we understand a little. They let the kids hold it for a minute. It was really cute. Then we went on a 6 mile hike. What troopers those little kids were. None of us realized how long it was. Well, Dad did, but he didn't tell us. We have done the hike a few times in the past, but none of us remembered it being so long. I thought my knee was going to fall of by the end. I was worried I wasn't going to make it. On Saturday I had gone with my Dad to the Petrified Forest which is what the State Park is where we were camping. That was a 3 mile hike and a HARD one. Being that my activity level is a 0, I impressed myself at how well I did. I actually enjoyed myself. I was pretty miserable on the drive home Monday. Every time we would stop to get out, I couldn't move. Literally. Court was laughing cause I looked weird.
Hayden on the drive there. It was only supposed to be an 8 hour drive and it took us almost 11 because it was raining so hard and when you pass Page it's all one lane through small towns for about 4 hours, except in the rain with slow cars it takes 6 1/2. It was a long day.
The first morning it rained so hard, the kids sat in the car and watched movies.
I had to post this picture as pay back for the "two dudes" picture on Shi's blog. As well as all the others where I was sporting a super cool head wrap.
Hayden and Natalee slept with Grandma and Papa and had so much fun.

The kids taking a break while hiking 6 miles.
Family Picture at the beginning of the hike. Don't we look so happy? I'm glad we took the picture at the beginning because by the end, we were exhausted and had been rained on several times. We were not as happy at the end.
The middle of the hike. You go back into a canyon to this waterfall. It was to cold to play in, though some people(Natalee) were.
The baby raccoon
Bennett is so funny. He's got the cutest smile. He was so excited when he saw the raccoon.

We took a few pictures after church when we got back to camp since we looked all fancy. It was about the only time it wasn't raining.
Sitting on the big gray rock with Grandma. I remember playing on this rock, even in this little hole when I was little.
Next generation rock crawlers!
We had so much fun. The drive home was better. We made it in 8 hours like our GPS said we would. Hayden keeps asking when we are going camping again. All this past week when we would go swimming Hayden would say, "but I don't want to go to the waterfall swimming pool" When I ask him why he said "It was a really long walk" I just realized that I didn't get any pictures of my Dad. Funny huh? His trip and there are no pictures. We took a family one at the waterfall but it's on his camera. I will have to wait to get it. I had fun on my hike with him. No one else wanted to go because it was raining. PARTY POOPERS!! We had fun without you. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Sit out

2009-05-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

I put my baby in a sit out this afternoon. Court and I were talking and forgot about him. When we realized how quiet he was being we found this.
Kinda makes since now why he was being so naughty.
He was all sweaty and had marks all over his face. We had a good laugh, than remembered that he was in a sit out and we needed to be serious and talk it out. Then we laughed again. I'm not really sure how effective that sit out was.

Reality Television

2009-05-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

This post isn't finished. I'm trying to get more pictures on here, but with my computer issues that I have already complained about, it is taking to long. Check back later, I need to get dinner started.

I am, well used to be, a HUGE fan of Reality T.V. I watch all the shows, called and voted, sat on the edge of my seat during eliminations, you know, the normal stuff. That all changed a few months ago.
Like many of us here in America fell in love with Jason on the Bachlorette and were crushed when he was rejected.

Then we were all excited when he came back as the new Bachelor!! I tuned in with so much excitement and immediately started passing judgements and picking favorites, which by the way Melissa
was a fave from the beginning while I could not stand Molly.
As the season progressed, I began to realize what a dork Jason actually was and how, oh my BORING he got. So, in the end I was actually happy when he broke up with Melissa and picked Molly cause Melissa is way to cute for him. Anyway, during the season I got some second hand knowledge of how things go on behind the show from someone in the house this season. They set up every "private conversation" the producers interrupt and tell them what to say, major editing goes on. Remember crazy Megan?
He wanted to get rid of her the first night but they wouldn't let him. Those are just a few examples of 'unreal' it really is there. It made me question reality t.v. which come on, are we all that stupid to believe that it is actually real. I always thought it wasn't but wanted to believe. So, I swore I was done watching the show. Then, they announce that Jillian is the next bachlorette.
She was also a favorite of mine, probably more that Melissa. I thought, crap now I have to watch. Do I really? Haven't decided yet, but I probably will.

So, that brings me to my next show
Dancing with the Stars:
I had decided not to watch this season cause I don't have time to keep up with everything, but after learning that my sweet Melissa showed up on opening night,
I started tuning in.
What a good season has this been. So this past Monday, did she really do that bad? Why were the judges picking on her? I agree that Gill
and Shawn
are amazing, but I think Melissa is pretty dang good too. So we'll see. This is the first season, I will say, that all 3 finalists are actually good enough to be there. Oh, and Lil Kim?
She was so trashy and weird looking. I thought she looked like the biggest freak while "shaking her bionic booty" I was glad to see her go. She was good, but just bugged me. Onto another one.
The Biggest Loser:
Again, we were not going to watch this season, but then found out that there was a contestant(actually two) that Court went to High School with so we watched. By the time he got voted off, which was lame, we were hooked so kept watching. So, why did Ron weigh in as an "at home contestant" when he was on the ranch as long as the final 3? And I did not like Helen, but how hilarious is it that she actually won.
She was below the yellow line on several occasions and no one saw her as a threat. She actually was okay sending her own daughter home! I still haven't gotten over that one. All the other parent/child teams, the parents fought to keep their kids there. I didn't like her. Ron and Mike played dirty,
but that's how you play to win, even though it didn't work. Tara just bugged me,
so of the final three, I didn't really care who won. Okay, what's next......
The Amazing Race:
Love this one. I don't think I will ever stop watching. I was sad though. I liked all 3 finalists, which usually doesn't happen. Deep down I wanted Margie and Luke to win.
They were at the final task and almost done when the other teams showed up, but he got stuck and couldn't figure it out. I almost cried, but Tammy and Victor also raced well, so they deserved to win.
And now the best one:
American Idol:
Somehow every year I get stuck watching this one. I own a few albums of past winners and contestants and have enjoyed watching it the past several years. So about this season, I could name the contestants one by one and give you my opinion, but I'm sure you can tell from my updated play list who my 2 favorites are. So lets talk the final three.
Danny Gokey: Sorry MarKey, I hear you love him, but seriously what is the deal with Danny. I don't get it. Yes, he is talented, they all are, but he's not that good. I don't enjoy any of his performances and he looks almost as bad as Taylor Hicks did when he dances. So why do the judges love him so much. It's sad that your wife died, I get that, but it will only get you so far. In my opinion, your not good enough to win, but a lot of America disagrees with me on this one.
Adam Lambert: Do I like rock music? Not at all. I don't enjoy when he gets all crazy up in that, but for real, how stinkin talented is he? I have loved is songs where he doesn't do that. I was so excited last night when he started "One", he sounded so good and then he got all weird but the beginning was great! 'Cryin' is one of my favorite songs, but I didn't like all the screaming he did. I agree with the judges that he is one of the most talented contestants ever, though I don't like his style and probably wouldn't buy one of his albums. But singles; heck ya!
Kris Allen: My Favorite from the beginning. How cute is he? Yummy!! And can you seriously say that Danny was better than him last night? Come on? For some crazy reason, the judges want Danny more than him and that's why they pick on him. With all the instruments he plays and his range, oh, just love him. I think he will be so much more successful than Danny no matter who wins. (Remember season two's winner) Kris is also one of the most talented contestants ever. We'll see how tonight goes, but they way 'reality t.v.' goes, I'm expecting to see Danny and Adam next week, though it should be Kris and Adam. But I didn't vote, so I won't be able to complain either way. I'm kinda over the voting thing. I'm just not as into it as I used to be. Go Kris!!
But again, how "real" is it all. With all the editing they do. They are trying make good t.v. and lets face it, real life is boring!! I like the scripted stuff better these days. We'll save those for another post. My poor dvr is so busy with all the shows we watch.

Escape to the Pines

2009-05-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

As you all know, we live in the Desert. And by Desert, I mean Desert. Dirt, cactus, dirt, heat, dirt and more dirt. This past weekend Court took me on a much needed trip together to Payson. Yes, we have a Payson in Arizona too. It's about 70 miles north of Mesa. About the time you hit the city limits you are in the pine trees and mountains. Now, growing up in the mountains, I know mountains. I love that Court, who grew up in Mesa, thinks that Camelback Mountain is actually a mountain. It's more like a big hill to me. But, you drive north a little bit and you are actually in the mountains. So, we stayed about 20 miles west of Payson at the Kohl's Ranch Lodge. It is the first trip we have taken together since our honeymoon. We have been on trips since, but with our families, never by ourselves. Hayden is 3 and I've spent one night away from him last year when I went to a conference in Tucson. We missed him so much and are grateful that Grandma and Papa didn't spoil him to much while we were gone.

This is the little creek that runs back behind the lodge. We walked along it both mornings it was so pretty.This was the porch on our cute little one room cabin
On Saturday we decided to go "in town" for lunch. On our way we saw the sign for the fish hatchery. Court thought that sounded interesting so we went. It was okay. We got there right when the were feeding the fish and it made us miss Hayden cause we knew he would have loved that. We are planning to take him there for a day trip in a few weeks.
Then I got a pedicure
Court didn't.
We had such a nice time together. It is the cutest little place. There is so much to do there. They have horse back riding, hiking, heated pool and spa, game room, library, work out room. The restaurant was pretty good also. The area around the Lodge has so much too. I didn't get a lot of pictures, I'm not sure why. I usually take a lot of pictures. We had a blast. Thanks Court for FINALLY making this happen. I love you!

No Krachel

2009-05-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

Another day in the DISTANT FUTURE is what I should have written.

Awesome News

2009-05-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

I got a special phone call today with some great news. Since you all can't see or hear me you cannot hear the extreme sarcasm in my voice. Hayden has Celiac Disease also. Yay!! Now that combined with all of his food allergies is going to make one interesting kitchen.
Poor little guy. I was getting worried that he had it because I do and so he had a 50% chance of getting it too. He wasn't showing any "signs" so his Dr. fought me on having him tested, but I won and he gave me the script. I let a few weeks go by because I was scared and then all of a sudden he started showing "signs". He was always complaining that his "tummy hurt" and the kid has turned into a pooping machine. His belly was always bloated, he's moody, blah, blah, blah. We took him last week for the test and got our answer today. I didn't really need it cause I already knew. Makes me sad. I called my Mom crying today. She hates it when I do that!! Luckily there are so many more choices today than there were when I was diagnosed 22 years ago. And MarKey, I love that new website you found for me. So there you go. Just wanted to share our happy news!! You all thought I was announcing I was pregnant weren't you. Well, we'll save that for another day.

Here goes nothing....

2009-05-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

The date says the 2nd, but it's now the 3rd at 5:00 p.m. It's taken me that long to do this post. I had to keep stopping and rebooting. ANNOYING!!! Anyway, enjoy!!

Thanks to my wonderful and quite handsome cousin Jeff, I have a working computer. Sort of. It's not all the way fixed but it works a little bit at a time. I just need to get him on the phone and do a few more things, but he is a busy working family man that I don't like to bug him to much at once. So a BIG THANKS to him, and we will try it this way for now.

We have been so busy here in Arizona the past month. I want to tell(and show) you all about it. First off, let's play a guessing game. Who is responsible for this??
Yes, our baby boy got his first "official" shiner. So who did it? Let's see what's been going on and you see if you can figure it out.......
Let's start with Easter!! We had such a blast at Sharon's Easter party this year. We went to her house and everyone was there. We had a delicious lunch and then sent the kids on a treasure hunt. The ages of the kids range from 3-16 years, so we split them into 2 groups. They started in the same place and the last clue they came back together and had to unscramble the final clue. Jeff and Sharon made the clues and they were very clever!!
Super smart Sara reading a clue
Hayden stopping to pick a flower. We do that a lot these days.
Trying to figure out the final clue.
TREASURE!!!! Thanks to Aunt Sharon and Jeff for such a fun activity. And having a special "nut free" bag labeled for Hayden. She learned her lesson the first time!!
Egg Hunt time!!!
Now, on to Darrell's game. See for yourself.
Darrell and Mike demonstrating. You stand on round tube things and balance with the pole while trying to knock off the other person. It was actually a lot of fun.
Tayler and Kelsey
Heidi apologizing for hitting Tara in the head. Their game got a little heated. The stick broke.
Sharon attempting to go against me. She backed down when she saw my sweet form.
Darrell trying to be all fancy and tricky
It worked. This is me falling.
And of course, sweet Abby sat in the chair watching us all. Isn't she cute?
So that was Easter. Looks fun huh? Did his black eye come from that? You decide. Here's something else we've been doing.
Karate!! He started about a month ago and is so cute. Except for last week. Bad day. I don't even want to talk about it.
Is Mr. Gilbert responsible for the black eye?
Or did he get it at one of the Birthday Parties we've got to recently?
Did Mason miss the pinata and hit Hayden instead?
Or did Hayden hit himself?
"Joma" helping with the big wheel. His legs were a little to short. I work with JoAnn and her grandson turned 3(he calls her Joma). They had a big party and it was a lot of fun.
Then the next week Brody turned 1!! Here is is with his Daddy Bucky and Mommy Kim and of course, Hayden. Doesn't Hayden look like he fits right in that family? He loves them so much and is going to miss them when they move to Minnesota this summer. We wish they would stay forever and hope they come back when Bucky is done with school.
More pinata fun.
How cute is he?
Then we went to Kelly and Erica's house. Apparently this is how we watch t.v. at their house.
We took Dagyn to the Zoo with us. As you can see, he has the black eye in this picture but seriously, are they not adorable. Hayden absolutely LOVES her. She is so sweet to him even when she's bugged with him, she is still so nice. It probably has to do with her having 3 younger siblings.
While riding the train I looked over and saw this. Is that not so sweet?
Driving the boats at Bass Pro Shops.
Or was is Abby?
The way he carts her around. I wouldn't be surprised if she popped him one of these days.

So what do you think? Who, or what is responsible for this?
Do you give up? Okay I'll tell you........

wait for it...............

wait for it..............

wait for it..............

Yep, that's right. The chair did it. And yes, it was put in a time out.

Still Here

2009-04-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

A post is no fun without pictures. My life isn't that interesting and no one really reads it, but you might check the pictures and be interested so then read it. Here's the deal. Our computer is working now.......kind of. It's slow as ---- and it drives me nuts and won't let me download pictures. Court cleared out the yucky stuff(the virus Shi, get your mind out of the gutter) and so it works but it says that windows is running and won't let us put the protection thing on it. Windows isn't running so we need to have someone look at it that knows what they're doing. 3 weeks later nothing has been done. I feel like I am losing my mind sometimes. So you ask, "Sunny, why don't you take it to get fixed?" Well, here is your answer. If I take it I spend to much money and have to hear about it. If Court takes it, it costs the same amount of money but thinks he got a deal. That's why. He is leaving tomorrow for San Fran again for work and taking the lap top and I am without a computer for a week again. I might just surprise him and have mine working when he gets back. Or would he even know? He only uses the lap top. I for one can't stand the thing and prefer the desk top. I can't do my pictures on the laptop because it's for "work" and I could put the pictures on a flash drive but the Internet is so slow I can't even stand to be on it. I have taken some pretty cute pictures lately that I know you are all dying to see. A new game from Darrell, Easter fun, more water days in March and April, our little guys first official shiner and much much more. I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seats right about now. Stay tuned.

Still Alive

2009-04-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

We haven't fallen off the deep end. Our computer has caught a nasty bug and Court refuses to take it to someone to fix it. He also refused to get a security thing on it which is why it got the bug in the first place. Anyway, I have been without a computer for sometime now and I am going crazy!!!! Just wanted to let you all know that all is well in sunny Arizona!! It's getting hotter every day and we are looking forward to another scorching summer!!

Look What We Did Today

2009-03-04T15:23:00.001-08:00

We went to the zoo today with Kim and Brody. Before we left the house I looked on the web site to see if the splash pad was open. It said it was open April-October. So off we went without our swim suits.
We got there about 10:00 and walked around about a hour and a half. When we went by the splash pad about 11:30 we saw WATER!!!!! I had an extra pair of shorts in my bag, so Hayden got to play.
Are you jealous? It's March 4th and we played outside in the water!! Well-don't be. In less than a month the heat will be unbearable. But for now we enjoy it!!

Okay Shi, I'm Serious Now.....

2009-03-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

Here is really something new. I didn't realize that the "poo" story was on Valentine's Day. After Shilo's comment on it being "so romantic" I thought I would tell everyone the real Valentines Story. It was nothing over the top really. Just a nice date night with the hubby. Sorry for the disappointment. The night before we had our "Family Valentines Date" We went to Build a Bear. We had so much fun. This year he picked the Chocolate Bear. Hayden's first "friend" Bunny got to come also.
While we were there, we decided to give Bunny a bath too.
We were looking at all the clothes and trying them all on. There were so many cute ones. Hayden kept saying he wanted something else. He would walk up and down the aisle looking at everything. Then he found "the shirt" and said, "Mom, this one is like Bunny's" and that was it. Of all the clothes, all he wanted was the ASU shirt like the one he picked out for Bunny last year. Also, he's been having a hard time going to sleep again. He wants to sleep anywhere but his bed. We start there but always find him on the floor, couch or our bed in the morning. Last week we were having a very rough night and Daddy gave in and let him go to the couch. I went out after he had gone to sleep and put a chair up next to the couch so he wouldn't fall off. Before I went to bed I went back to check on him. This is what I found.
A bit confused, I walked around the chair.....
Notice poor Bunny smashed between the chair and the couch.

For Shilo

2009-03-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

Something new.

Swimming Poo

2009-02-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

I was at the computer the other day and heard "Mommy come see" from the bathroom. Now, let me give you a little background to that comment. While potty training it was a pretty big deal when something would go in the potty. I thought it would end when the potty training was done, but after months of being potty trained the excitement is still going strong. This particular time is now my favorite. The conversation went as follows:

Hayden: "Look Mommy, my poos are swimming"
Me: "They are?" (with equal excitement in my voice)
Hayden: "Yes they are cause they don't have any legs to walk so they have to swim"
(I pause trying not to laugh while thinking what to say next)
Hayden: "But Elephants have legs"

And with that, he gave the poo his normal parting farewell while flushing.
"Good bye poos, I will see you later!"

It's a Party!!

2009-02-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

We had a busy weekend and then got sick so I'm a little late posting all the festivities. We have that awful chest/head cold that's going around and we feel like crap. Anyway.......Hayden turned 3 on Monday!!! The fun started last Thursday morning when he woke up to find Grandma and Grandpa Dean asleep in the living room. That was fun. Then, on Saturday was the BIG party. It was held this year at Jump and Shout. What fun we had. I have a few complaints but overall it was a success. The "professional" cake was about the ugliest thing I have ever seen and I'm pretty sure I could have done a better job but it came with the "party package" so whatever. It was pretty ugly but everyone said it tasted really good so that's all that matters right? All of Hayden's friends came and they got to play, eat pizza, cake and open his presents!!
We're pretty sure that Uncle Kelly had more fun than all the kids did. He is going to be such a great Daddy when he baby comes in July!!
The Party Room
Playing air hockey with Grandma D. He loves this game.
Another joy of being a Grandma
The silly party hat that he didn't want to wear
He's such a big kid. He blew out the candles all by himself.
Present Time!!
All (well, most) of the Loot. Another present he got was......
A trip (and year pass) to the ZOO!!!! We went to the Zoo on Monday. Grandma and Grandpa paid for half of a year pass to the Zoo as part of his present. Really you can only use is from late fall to early spring, but we will get our money's worth in that time. He was so excited and we had so much fun.
That night at dinner we had them sing to Hayden. He thought it was pretty cool.
He saw the purple hat and wanted to wear it too. He's such a funny kid.
I can't believe how fast the time has gone since he was my tiny baby. People always say they grow up to fast but you don't really get it yours is the one growing. He is such a joy in our lives and we wouldn't trade the time we have with him for anything. We love you sweet baby.

SLUMBER PARTY!!!

2009-01-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hayden has been asking to sleep in our bed ever since we got back from Grandma's house. (At Grandma's house he gets to sleep with her) I haven't been letting him and he gets really sad. So, this past weekend, I introduced the "slumber party".
First things first....he put the animals to bed.(If you notice, it's only the animals laying down. I guess the people, and Elmo, don't get to sleep) Then.............

Sleep over time!!!! We got out his "travel bed" and I slept on my feather bed folded in half(not the best night's sleep I've ever had) and we camped out on the living room floor. I eventually made it to the couch cause I was so uncomfortable. I thought about doing this with him once a week, but I'm glad I didn't mention it to him because I did not sleep at all. Since that night, he hasn't asked to sleep with us. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it solved the problem. Except that Grandma is coming next week to visit and then we will have to start all over again. Yay!!

I spoke to soon.........

2009-01-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Forget the palm trees and surf boards. It was cold today. I guess I get to wear my winter clothes for a little longer!!!!!!

It feels like Summer!!

2009-01-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

I've changed my background for the time being because it's freaking hot. I know that Arizona is supposed to be hot but come on!! It's still January!! This whole week, we have been in shorts and sandals. It's totally ridiculous. I love my winter clothes and I only got to wear them for a month. I still love Arizona and won't leave just because my fabulous winter months feel like they have been cut short. Sorry all you Utah people who are still stuck in the snow!!

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I didn't put any pictures of my darling child on Christmas morning. I don't know how that happened!

Probably because that's the only present he got this year. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa. I had a bunch of stuff for him and somehow got to Utah with two books and a movie. I felt so guilty and even cried when I realized what a sad day it was. Then, I looked at him and saw how happy he was realized that he had no idea how much he "didn't get" and then remembered that presents aren't everything for Christmas. I think we all know the "real meaning" of Christmas so I won't go into that. I guess I'm lucky that he's to young to really understand. If only I could get away with this every year!! Still I felt bad which is why I think I am going way overboard for his birthday in two weeks. Still, Santa came to our house while we were gone and left this............

The table, not Daddy. Or the toys on the table.....again, thanks Grandma. She saw my lack of presents and felt bad for the little guy and went out and got him more. Not really, she had gotten him a game that we already had. When we got to the store to get a different one he really liked the little people so she got it for him instead of a game. He loves it!! And the table. He would play on it all day if I would let him.(sometimes I do)

A New Post

2009-01-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

First of all, we had a white Christmas which was great except that it was freezing cold. Hayden wanted to play in the snow so bad and kept asking for days, so we finally got him all ready to go out and after about 5 minutes of "playing" he said "Mommy, I'm cold. I don't want to play in the snow anymore" He is defiantly an Arizona boy. A big thank you to MarKey and Shilo for rounding up snow pants and boots for him to use for those 5 minutes. I had a feeling I would be wasting my money to buy them myself.

So we built a snow man in our P.J.'s that night with play dough

Other than the severe coldness, we had a wonderful time. We spent Christmas at Shilo's house. We were crazy to drive in the awful storm to get there, but it was well worth it. We ran into Mrs. Claus on Christmas Eve while doing our annual Christmas Eve service project. This year we, and by we I mean my Mom, made dinner for the parents with babies in the NICU at the new IHC hospital in SLC. I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know it. It was pretty nice though.

My friends were kind enough once again to plan the Christmas Party when I would be home and we had a very nice time. It's so fun to see them and catch up with what's going on in their lives. Thanks to Jami and Josh for hosting again and also for getting MarKey's loan done!! Yay!! Congrats to Christina and Tyler on the arrival of baby Eddie. Thanks Tyler for staying home with him and letting Christina come visit for awhile. Krachel and Matt were in and out but it was good to see you guys for a minute. Baby Lexi is so cute and didn't make a sound the whole time. I can't believe it. And my sweet Misty is sure going through a hard time right now, but is so strong and focused that you will get through it. I missed seeing your girls but understand why you left them home and will see them on my summer visit. I love you girls and I'm so happy that we have remained friends all these years.

The Camp Family Christmas Party was a blast. Kacie did a fun game with wrapping paper. My camera was upstairs, so to see the results, you'll have to check Shilo's blog. -Spoiler Alert-There's a man dressed as a beauty queen(the swim suit portion), a bride(with a special surprise) and an 83 year old BYU football player. You won't want to miss that. I did however get pictures of my mom, aunt and grandma bowling. Wii style.
Notice Hayden in front looking homeless in an over sized white tee shirt. I don't dress him that way often. That's cause he puked all over himself(and Me) earlier in the evening. I had given him a little ice cream with egg in it. Stupid food allergies. Tucker was nice enough to loan him a shirt.....

We had the best time watching them try to figure it out. It was so funny. Bennett was very entertained by it. But it wasn't the old ladies that caught his eye.

Earlier that day, I was able to attend the temple where Court's sister Heather and her husband Jason had there 2 adopted children sealed to them. It's been a long road for them and it was so neat to witness that. Their children looked so beautiful all dressed in white. Their three biological children were there also and I know their two deceased children were as well. It was an amazing experience. Court had to go home on Sunday to get back to work, so he couldn't make it.

Bouncin off the Walls was a blast again. The kids have the best time at these places

I'm not sure that Grandma loved it. You can't see her face but she looked miserable and screamed the whole way down.

Rub a dub dub, 4 grandbabies in the tub......

I don't remember who needed the bath, but within minutes all the kids were in!!
New Year's Eve was a big girls night party. The boys were in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl to watch Utah defeat Alabama. My Dad actually didn't care the outcome since he is from Alabama but attended the University of Utah(Dallas just graduated from there also). It was a great game and they had a wonderful time. As did we at our NYE party. We played games and watched Mamma Mia. We actually stayed up to welcome the new year. The kids didn't....well, I think Bennett was there. I don't remember. It was to long ago.
Then we had to come home. Our flight was delayed about 2 1/2 hours which would be a night mare for any parents with a toddler. Or any child for that matter. I could not believe how good my little man was. He sat so patient and quiet. After finally boarding the plane we sat on the tar mac for about an hour waiting to be de-iced. He was so good and excited to be on a airplane.

A special thank you to Aunt Sharon for making her flight the same as ours so she could help me. It turned out I didn't need her for that after all. He was such an angel. I'm still glad you were with us. It's always fun to spend time with you.
We did learn from that flight that even though he didn't eat the peanuts, they still affected him. He threw up on the way home in the car pretty bad. The flight attendant got really nervous when I asked if he could have something else to eat. She had already handed them out to half the plane. I told her it would be fine but I now know that it is not. He was complaining of a stomach ache about 1/2 way home and was sneezing and coughing a little. So, I am apologizing to anyone who is ever on the same flight as us for not be able to have the peanuts. You'll get pretzels instead.

And last but not least, when we got home we said goodbye to our dear friends Richard and Stacie Phelps who left us to move to Las Vegas. While we don't blame them for taking the wonderful job opportunity, we are still sad to see them go. Lucky for us, Richard's entire family lives here, so hopefully we will see them often. Hayden keeps saying "Mommy, I don't want Stacie to move away" He's still mad at Richard for the nut in the ice cream joke. He'll get over it, don't worry. This is Stacie and I at dinner the night before they left-looking quite stunning I might add. A day of packing and loading will do that to you. We'll miss you guys!! Come back soon....next weekend right?

And that's what we did during the Holidays!!

All dressed up with no where to go......

2008-12-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

I was wrapping presents the other day and Hayden said "Look Mom, I'm all dressed up and ready to play my piano" I'm not sure where his clothes went but I promise he had them on about 5 minutes before this picture was taken. He is the funniest kid.

2008-12-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

My computer won't let me put more than one picture per post. I'm not really sure why but it's so annoying

The House that Hayden Built......

2008-12-10T11:28:00.001-08:00

Hayden loves the blocks at Grandma Wendy's house. He builds the entire time we are there. The other day Papa helped him build a house. He had so much fun with it.

For Grandma Dean

2008-12-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

We went to Downtown Mesa to take our family pictures over the weekend. On Main Street they have different statues on every corner. Hayden thought they were all so cool and stopped to play with every one of them. We thought Grandma would like this one the best. He kissed the pig all on his own, we did not tell him to.

An Arizona Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T08:33:00.000-08:00

Kelly and Erica put on a smashingly good Thanksgiving for us all this year. We started the day by going to the "Waffle House" Uncle Robert(Kelly's dad) loves the Waffle House and since they don't have those in California, we always go when they come here. So, after breakfast we came back home to clean the house and PUT UP CHRISTMAS!!! I haven't been able to put up a tree in the four Christmas' of married bliss we have had. Mostly because Court is a big fat Scrooge and didn't want me to. Having a young child made it hard as well. So this year, I told him we were getting in the Christmas spirit and putting up the tree. It was so fun and Hayden loves it. He says "Wow Mommy, what a pretty Christmas Tree!" It's not done cause I need a pretty ribbon and something on the top. I am going out later to get them. I will take a picture of my masterpiece then. Okay, so after that we headed to Johnson Ranch or Texas which ever comes first. The dinner was fabulous, though I didn't get pictures cause I didn't think about it. They have so many fun things to do at their house. Grandma and Grandpa brought their Lego's for Hayden to play with. Court played the Wii most of the time while the rest of us played games, watched movies and kept going back for seconds. Wendy a.k.a Mom made the most yummy gluten free chocolate cake for my to enjoy. Now, for those of you that have tasted Gluten Free deserts will agree that they are mostly disgusting. I was SHOCKED. This cake was SO good and I'm not lying. Even other people said it was good. It was fabulous!! Thanks so much for thinking of me and giving me the chance to enjoy dessert again!!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving like we did. Now we have Christmas to look forward to. Yay!!!!!

A Place to Read

2008-11-26T10:58:00.001-08:00

I had this box set aside to start packing up Christmas presents to take to Utah next month. Hayden has other plans for it

Stop Fighting

2008-11-23T10:25:00.001-08:00

I've deleted the gas price post. It was causing to many conflicts!

Our new pet

2008-11-19T12:56:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to introduce you all to our new pet. George died so we decided to get some gold fish this time. This picture was taken the day we brought them home and Hayden was kissing them. 3 days later all but one died. Hayden named it Daisy. I guess we have pretty good luck with fish. We had George like a year before he died, so we'll see how long Daisy lasts us.

2008-11-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

I'm trying to do a post about our dumb fish, but my computer is giving me major attitude at the moment and I'm a busy girl and don't have all day to wait for it to calm down. There, I vented and I'll get back to this later.

Hayden the Photographer

2008-11-09T09:00:00.001-08:00

Hayden has been obsessed with our camera lately. It might have something to do with the fact that I am obsessed with taking his picture, but I'm not sure. Anyway, yesterday he got a hold of the camera and figured out how to push the button and actually take a picture. Here are the results:
Pretty good huh? Watch out all you "professionals" There's a new sheriff in town!!

Halloween Pictures............and another trip to the hospital

2008-11-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Who's excited here? Hayden loved to wear his costume and do all the Halloween activities. We went to our ward party, Chick fil a's party, Bass Pro Shop's party that were spread out through the week of Halloween. Then, on Halloween there was a party at pre school and then the BIG NIGHT of trick-or-treating. Oh, what fun!!I don't know how trick-or-treating is in other parts of the U.S. but here in Arizona, most people sit on the porch's or driveways and hand out the candy. I remember growing up we had to go all the way to the door. It is so nice here right now that people take advantage of the weather and spend the evening outside. Just to show you how nice it was, I took this picture of this little girl to demonstrate the awesome weather we have here...................
Now looking at her, I felt bad thinking that Hayden must be dying in his costume. When he was done trick-or-treating we took of his hat and his hair was all wet and matted down. It was gross!! I didn't even think about it being hot when we bought the costume. I was just so excited that I had steered him away from the Elmo costume he was stuck on. Not that he wouldn't have been the cutest Elmo ever.....I just had something else in mind. Not so much a pumpkin, but it was better than Elmo!! We started the evening at Sharon's house and went to a few of her neighbor's houses. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood. What a party. Seriously, so many people and parties and fun!!! We kept running into Court's friends that he grew up with that had also brought their kids back to trick-or-treat also. Everyone's houses were decorated so cute and everyone was sitting out on their driveways. Some people had food set up, soups and cider and stuff. It was so fun. I told Grandpa to take him to a few houses, but oh no.......they went around the whole block. My poor baby was so tired but got so much candy!! A lot of went to Mom and Dad's pile also known as the "Peanut Pile" which brings me to my next story.
On Saturday we were "somewhere" and "someone" gave Hayden a Reese's "peanut butter" cup by accident.(thought he had asked me and forgot for a second of his peanut allergy) So, we spent the evening in the E.R. We actually had a good time once the scary-ness was out of the way. We had to stay for a couple of hours to be monitored. Papa Steve came over and played with him and the hospital gave him so many fun thing to play with. We have a children's hospital near our house and they are awesome. Go Banner Children's Hospital at Banner Desert!! Kind of a long name, but they added it onto an existing hospital. They have a separate E.R and everything.
Here he is eating his playdoh ice cream cone
He thought he could fit in the car. Court was working when I called him and I had him run home to get Hayden some clothes cause he had thrown up all over himself. A few times actually. Hayden thought it was cool that he and I had matching bracelets and wanted me to take a picture. Okay, so Sunday he wouldn't stop coughing. I went to work on Monday and Kim said that he pretty much coughed all day. Yesterday I took him to school and Ms. Courtney called me half way through telling me that he was throwing up. I called his Doctor and told them about our weekend and what had been going on since as we made our way to his office. They checked him out and sent us for a chest x-ray and then this..........................
Yay!!! My baby's asthma is in full swing!!! Could life be any better?? I'm so sad for him, but he is doing so well. He likes to hold the mask and doesn't even play with it or try to take it off. He holds it there for the 10 minutes every two hours. He is such a good boy. Speaking of which, it's time for another treatment!! We go back to the Dr. in the morning to talk some more. Can't wait!! (I hope you can all hear the sarcasm in my typing.....and to my sweet Aunt, this is not your fault and I love you and Hayden loves you and please don't feel bad. You did not do this)

Happy Fall!!

2008-10-25T19:13:00.001-07:00

Court had to work today(not at the new job, the old one) so I took Hayden to the "pumpkin patch" and invited Court's parents to come along. We had a lot of fun despite the look on Hayden's face in most of the pictures. He isn't really into smiling for the camera these days. He tries, but the just don't seem to come out.
Picking out the perfect pumpkin for decorating
Decorating the pumpkin
Walking with Papa
On the hayride with Grandma and Papa(don't they look so happy)
He held Steve's hand like this the whole ride. It was so cute.
In the hay maze. He was so cute wandering around and was so proud of himself when he finished.
Visiting the animals
He loved the chickens the very best
The left is last year and the right is this year. My baby is growing so fast!!
Here is him trying to smile. I don't really get why he all of a sudden can't do it.
Playing in bed of hay
Sharing a snow cone with Papa
Then Grandma
It was a good day!!

Embarrassing??

2008-10-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Oh Shi, I sure had you going!! That was fun.

Krachel's Comment

2008-10-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

Krachel thought that I sounded "grumpy" in my last post. I am sorry for that. Words cannot express how exhausted I was when I did the post. Maybe I should have waited for another day. We went to bed late Sunday night cause we stayed up playing the Wii with Shi. Then, we were up at 4:30 taking them to the airport. Then I spent the day at work. When I got home after dinner we met up with a friend from Court's college days to hear some good news. (Congrats again on the house Donna. We can't wait to see it when you get moved in.) So, it was a fun eventful weekend that made for a very exhausting day that started way to early. Just wanted to explain myself. Is that better Shell? Oh, and Shi, so far I've only found one thing you left behind. That's a new record!!

Thanks for Coming!!!!!

2008-10-20T17:53:00.001-07:00

Shi and Nat came for a visit and we had so much fun. I'm tired and don't feel like writing all the details so if you really care, you can check out Shi's blog. She's better at it anyway. Story telling that is..........well actually, everything. She the greatest big sister.

We miss you already. Come back soon.

Party Time!!

2008-10-15T11:27:00.001-07:00

We are sooooooo excited that Shilo and Natalee are coming for a visit today. And a big Thank You to Nathan for giving them up for a few days. We'll see you tonight at 8:45!!!!!!

My First Tag

2008-10-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't participated in any "tags" I don't have any particular reason, I just haven't. Krachel got me on this one and it sounded easy enough.
4th folder, 4th picture. I can't believe my baby was ever that small. It seems like such long time ago. He loved to play with my hair rollers. Silly boy.

Something I don't understand

2008-10-04T21:07:00.001-07:00

Why do people who love each other fight? I'm not talking about Court and I for those of you jumping to conclusions. Hayden and Mason are the best of friends, but at the same time, they just can't seem to get along.
I have pictures of some good moments and you'd think it was like this all the time.
Then this happens.................
This is Mason's arm. It's proof that Hayden is naughty too. I posted earlier about a play date we had and the battle wound that Mason left on Hayden's leg. Pay back? It's so frustrating that they can't just play nice most of the time. It's something that will never make any sense, but it still makes me sad. I don't like it when my baby is naughty.
__________________________________________________
Something else I don't understand. Why is my kitchen not done?!?! I haven't posted any new picture cause nothing has changed since I last posted pictures. I was so proud of him that he worked so hard and so fast and now the finishing touches are waiting. Oh well.......some day.
_________Now for something fun we did___________________
We went to a birthday party the other night for Logan Ashby. Court's friend Trevor's little boy. They were in town from Tuscon so we thought we'd join the fun.(we were invited, don't worry, we're not "party crashers") It was at Freestone park.
Here we are riding the train. Hayden showed NO emotion what so ever the whole ride. Maybe he had a head ache. Look close and you can see the bruise above his eyebrow. He tripped and fell into the entertainment center at Shelly's house. It was sad. The bruise looks so awful.
On the Carousel with Dad.
Who is having more fun here?
We had a great time at the party. Thanks for the invite! It was so good to see you guys.

2008-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

I found these pictures of Hayden dressing himself and thought they were to cute to not share
He actually was being silly. He dresses himself the right way usually.

Our fun night

2008-09-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent the day at Aunt Sharon's house sewing. I was missing my baby but had a lot to do. Court said that he had been really tired and had taken two naps. That is not my child. I decided to go home and play with him for a few minutes before I needed to leave for the R.S. Broadcast. I walked in the door and he was crying and so I picked him up to love him and got the best "Welcome Home Mom" ever. He, with NO warning what so ever threw up all over me. That's the second time that's happened the minute I walked in the door. So, instead of going to hear our Prophet speak, I did this............
(thanks Court for snapping a picture)After throwing up a few times, two baths and three movies (Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, and A Bug's Life) my baby finally fell asleep........
............sitting up on the couch. We moved him to his bed only to have him join us in ours two hours later. We slept till 10:30 this morning. I can't remember the last time I've done that!! He seems to be feeling a little better today, but still has a low fever so we stayed home from church-and had another bath. Court went to teach our class and count the money.

Getting Closer.........

2008-09-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is my kitchen today..............

2008-09-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

Pacific Pulmonary Services was founded in 1978 in Bakersfield, California as "Med-Mart", a full-service Durable Medical Equipment company serving the Central Valley of California. In 1993, Peter Kelly, the Company’s CEO, and other investors acquired Med-Mart. In 1996, the business was refocused to concentrate on what we do best, home oxygen and respiratory medications equipment and services. This set the stage for the rapid growth of the Company. Today, Pacific Pulmonary Services employs over 1000 associates and is the largest privately held provider of home oxygen and respiratory medications in the United States.

Pacific Pulmonary Services operates more than 100 Patient Care Centers in 14 states: California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Indiana and Illinois. -----Sorry Mom, no Utah :(

Patient Care Coordinators

Patient Care Coordinators (PCCs) are key to our business. This is a unique and highly visible frontline sales position. PCCs build relationships with physicians, their office staff, and other referral sources to earn the privilege of supporting their patients with quality home care services. PCCs also build relationships with their patients through in-home visits.

Okay, so there you have it. Now everyone is in "the loop" Are you all happy now?
The reason I haven't talked about this is cause Court gets mad when I talk about things before they happen. He has been interviewing with this company for the last few weeks and finally got the job. I wasn't "allowed" to blog about my excitement in case it didn't happen. Which totally makes sense, I was just so excited. I thought I had told you MarKey, but I guess we don't talk as much I think we do. We should work on that. He will start in about 3-4 weeks after all the "paperwork" is done. I am so proud of him and can't wait to see where this takes our family. (We hear we go to San Fransisco once a year?!?!)(And yes, my kitchen is still a big fat mess)

My Kitchen Today

2008-09-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

This was actually last night. It's a little embarrassing how bad the insides look. I am taking the opportunity to clean and organize them without the doors on. It's much easier that way! Court said the doors won't be done till Tuesday so I'll post pictures then. Oh, and Shilo, we are NOT moving to Utah. If you moved HERE, I would be happy to let Court be bored at your house!!!

New Kitchen?

2008-09-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

I had a Mary Kay event last night so Court stayed home with Hayden. I got home around 10:00 and walked in my front door and saw this..............
That can't be good..............Then I turned and looked in my kitchen..........
What is he up to now? I went to our bedroom where I found him watching t.v. He told me that he had decided to change out the cabinets. He is just going to lacker a new finish on the existing frame and make new doors at work. My question to him.......why put in a nice new kitchen in a condo we are about to put up for rent in a few months? His answer......I got bored. He didn't say that out loud, but I know that is the reason. I truly love my husbands wonderful talent and how hard he works, but what the crap?!?! We have lived here four years and he has done so much work on this place and decides now to do the kitchen!?!? I am never going to get out of this condo. I don't know what he is going to do when he isn't with Classy Closets anymore. Oh, did I forget to mention something? HE GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!
(and yes I will post pictures of the final product when it is finished. hopefully next week.)

Laughlin 2008

2008-09-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

Court's family vacations in Laughlin every year and we always have such a blast. We used to go a few times, but this year we just went once. Now some of you might be thinking "Laughlin? That's for old people who drink and gamble." Not us. This is what we did.

While waiting to meet up for dinner the first night, we went to the arcade and found Dino. Hayden was in heaven! He kept saying "I need money's" Then we walked the riverwalk for awhile
This picture is dark, but I really like it cause I think it's the only 4 generation picture that we have.
Sitting on Grandma Wendy's lap waiting for our food. Just a note, if you are ever in Bullhead City, DO NOT eat at Chili's. They we really nice, but SLOW as TAR. It was awful!!
Saturday: THE RIVER!!!!!
I wasn't sure that he would like the life jacket, but we told him that if he wanted to play in the water he had to wear it. No complaints!! He kept it on all day.

Swimming with Aunt Heidi

On the Jet Ski with Mom. Becky-it looks like we are out far but we really aren't, I promise. And I only went like 15 mph.
I would like to say this is the first picture of him on the jet ski, but it isn't. Court took him out when I ran back to the hotel to get his water shoes that I somehow forgot. I was so mad a Court for doing that and me missing it. I don't like to miss the "firsts" Aunt Sheri got pictures, so I will get to see it, but I wasn't there. But, on the bright side, this is the first picture of him on the jet ski with Me.
Just loungin.

Running in the water. He was falling when I took this picture. I thought it looked pretty cool.
That night we went to an arcade at a different hotel. We wanted to take him to the "kid kastle" at the Riverside hotel. We thought it was a play area, but it turns out it was a baby sitting place and we didn't want to leave him there. So we went to the arcade there.
He just loved putting the tokens in the machines and getting tickets.
Then, we went to the outlet mall. I'm glad we didn't take our stroller in because we walked in the door and he freaked out at this one. We were only there about 30 minutes, but it was worth the $2.
That night Hayden and I were on our own for dinner. We left the river a little early and everyone ate on their way back to the hotel. Court went to the casino(I know, he's going to hell) with his cousins, so Hayden and I hung out. We walked down the riverwalk and saw the fish and ducks. In one area there were 5 raccoons right on the shoreline. I took a picture cause they were so cute, but it was dark and it didn't turn out very well. We got to the Aquarius Casino and ate at Panda Express.
After our walk, Hayden wanted to watch "Lady and the Ramp" We were up so late that night because he took a late nap. It was so fun to hang out with him all night and play. I was sad that Court missed how fun he was. He is such a cute kid.

The next morning after breakfast, he ask Papa for some money to ride Dino before we went home. How cute is that face?!?!

Here he is with Papa feeding the fish even though signs were posted EVERYWHERE asking us not to.
And then he chased the pigeons on our way out. He was yelling "pigeons come here" It was so funny.
A big Thank you to all of Wendy's family who came and made it another unforgettable trip! We love you all!!

Meet George

2008-09-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

Court decided awhile ago that he wanted a fish. I'm not sure why but he did. Those of you who helped with our wedding might remember that the only thing he wanted was fish in the center pieces on the tables. I didn't get it, but it was the only thing he asked for. Anyway, so he came home one day with a Betta fish. Whatever. So, Hayden has never really paid any attention to the thing until the other day. Court was cleaning the "bowl" and Hayden was watching. When Court finished, he put Hayden on the counter to get a closer look. Then Court realized that we had never "named" the fish. I seriously think we've had this thing a year or more. He started asking Hayden what we should name the fish and giving him suggestions. With every suggestion, Hayden would say no. Then Court said "what about George?" Hayden looked at me pointing at the fish, and with great excitement said "Mommy, this is George!" It was pretty cute. Court will ask him where George is and he runs to our room and points to him. He is so dang cute. So now you all have met "George" Also, I know that Betta's don't need things in their bowl, but once again, Court thought he needed a house and thinks "George" loves it, so there you go.

Boo Boy Bed

2008-09-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

The day has come and my heart is broken. My baby is growing so fast. We have been having sleep troubles lately so we decided to do something different. Now, those of you who don't know my little angel don't know what a good sleeper he has been. He LOVED to go to sleep in his crib and would sleep through the night since about 5 months old. That all changed about a month ago. He started fighting his naps and bedtime and would sit in his crib and scream. He would wake up multiple times in the night and scream. We got a night light thinking that would help. We would leave his door open. It didn't work. He just didn't want to go to sleep. So, we took the railing off his crib and.........

He calls it his "boo boy bed" I'm not really sure why. He can say "big boy bed" but for some reason, he calls it boo boy. Whatever, I don't care, just as long as he sleeps.
Bed time was a success!! He went without a fight and stayed in bed all night.
The second night he did the same. We'll see from here, but I have gotten much more sleep the past two nights and feel great! Yeah Boo Boy Beds!!!

Play Dates

2008-08-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

Shelly's husband is in the middle of his busy season at work so we have had some play dates to keep them entertained since he is gone so much. We found a new Bounce place called Jump and Shout and decided to try it Friday night.
And no play date with these two is complete without a fight
The battle wound
This morning we got up and went to the Tempe Splash Park
Jumping in the "puddles"

At the mall.........

2008-08-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hayden and I met up with some friends this morning at the Mills Mall to do some shopping and ride the carousel.(I wanted to shop, Hayden wanted to ride the carousel, but I'm sure you figured that out) Anyway, we were on the final stretch heading for the parking lot when we passed Johnny Rockets. That's a little 50's style diner in the middle of the mall. This is what we saw.

It took me a few minutes to decide to record it, so I only got a few seconds, but it was the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. It reminded me of my grandparents and how they used to love to dance. I could totally see them stopping their meal to dance in the middle of the mall. We would never think of doing something like that these days, but these two didn't think twice. So cute, I just had to share!!

Bye, Bye Papa Jerry

2008-08-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from Court's mom telling us that her father had just passed away. In May, he was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with congestive heart failure and has been hanging on for the past few months. He loved Hayden so much and called him his "little buddy" every time he would see him. He hasn't been talking much the past few months, but every time Hayden would come, his eyes would light up and he would get a big smile when Hayden would kiss him. We will all miss "Papa Jerry" so much but we are happy that he isn't sick anymore.
These were taken when he was in the hospital in May. Hayden loved to sit on the bed with him and "nuggle"(that's snuggle) He always made sure to give him a kiss before we left. Bye bye Papa Jerry, we will miss you!!

In Hayden's words

2008-08-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

This is Hayden's version of school....what I could get out of him anyway. You can hear how stuffy I am today. My head feels like it's going to explode. Why do we get colds in the summer?? He doesn't have a shirt on cause he likes to be naked. He's cute just the same.

First Day of Preschool

2008-08-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hayden started preschool today. He did so good and we are so proud of him. Here are a few pictures marking the occasion.
His first project-Is it just me or do all parents take pictures of their projects. I would like to think that I will only do the first, but I'm sure I'll do more.

Every "kiss" begins with "Kay"

2008-08-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Court and I had our 4th wedding anniversary this past week. On Saturday Court surprised me by taking me to................
When we pulled in the parking lot, he decided to give me my present before we had dinner......... (the bag got crinkled when he slammed it in the car door trying to hide it from me)

A little closer look......(pictures are never as good as the real thing)

I love DIAMONDS!! He surprises me every once in a while with something new. Last year it was my wedding bands. He remembered me commenting on this necklace in an ad one time. The sales lady tried to sell him round diamonds(I'm not sure why, princess cost more) but he said no cause he knew that I wanted them to match my ring. Who says he's a dummy?? Sometimes he can be so thoughtful. I love him.
I tried to get a picture of us at the dinner but the batteries in my camera died. I hate when that happens. I took one when we got home. It's not quite the same, but it will have to do.(and not a very good picture, I didn't realize that my hair would blend with the curtains)

Four years ago.......(well, 4 1/2, right after we got engaged)

August 5, 2004A few pics of the honeymoon in the Bahamas
Happy Anniversary babe. Thanks for a wonderful date and of course the DIAMONDS!! I love you!

Summer Utah Trip

2008-08-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

It has taken me awhile to post our Utah trip this summer because I didn't know what to write. The trip didn't go as planned. Hayden got sick on the way there, so I canceled my Denver trip to see Shawna. I was leaving Hayden with Shilo while I went to Denver for a few days. Then I hurt my back and was in an unbelievable amount of pain. (Thanks Dr. Jarvis for coming in on your day off to help!!) Then I got sick with the sorest throat I have ever had in my entire life. I am not kidding. It was awful. So, we basically sat around my parents house for days and did nothing. Then, on the way home my back tires blew out and I got stranded in Panguich(not sure if i spelled that right but who cares) I had the tires checked before I left Phoenix and they told me they were fine and would make the trip. Stupid Discount Tire lost $300 bucks!! I had a hard time finding a hotel being that it was the 9yr old baseball world series. I finally got a room at the New Western Inn and we made the best of it. (It was 6:00 and the town was shut down) The next morning I gave $300 to a nice young man at Orsen Tires and he gave me 2 brand new tires and we headed for home. We had a 7 hour drive instead of the 41/2 that I was counting on.(I had planned to stay in Page) There was a ton of construction and it took us 10 1/2 hours. I have never been happier to be home. Hayden was so good and knew that mommy was having a bad day and was so sweet! I love that little man. We did have a few good days on the trip. We spent one night with Dallas at his apartment. That was fun to see him and Hayden loved the playground that was right out his front door. Lagoon was a total blast. By far the best day of the trip. It really made it all worth it. Being sick and the trip not going as planned I didn't take many pictures other than Lagoon. I didn't get very many there either. Here are some that I got. And a few from Shilo and MarKey. Thanks girls!
Here is Natalee and I getting ready for the "Dinosaur Drop", one of her favorite rides. I felt so special that she wanted to ride with me. MarKey is her favorite aunt and she chose me over her. (just that one time, but who's counting??) I do like MarKey's face in this picture if you are able to see it.
Here are the kids riding Bulgy(I think that was his name) This is the only picture I have of Hayden smiling on a ride. He wasn't sure what to think of this place. Here's a reminder of last year's Lagoon trip. Warning to MarKey......get tissue.

It was so much sadder than it looks. That was the one and only ride he went on. It was such a bad day for him. What a difference a year makes!! Back to this year......here is Natalee showing Hayden how to ring the bell on the little boats(which I remember riding as a child. The used to be blue).
He's no dummy!! Here he is ringing the bell.
These two loved this cars and rode them over and over. Still, no smiles from Hayden but he wasn't screaming!
Now, this was the worst part of the day. My stupid sisters wanted to go on that stupid Cliffhanger ride. I haven't been because I don't like to be wet, unless I'm at a pool in a swimsuit. I also don't like my hair to get wet mainly because I have really bad "wet hair" and I look like a drown rat until I get to a shower and then a blowdryer with a round brush. Anyway, they wanted to go on the ride and wanted me to go, I said no, they went and I decided at the last minute to go. BIG MISTAKE!! The stupid worker wouldn't let me sit by them and I sat clear on the other side by some 14 yr old boys instead. Not only did I have a major headache from being held upside down for so long but we got soaked. The boys thought it was "awesome". I did not. This picture was taken immediately after walking off. I was so ticked. Notice my sisters level of wetness vs. mine. It was only a couple hours before the park closed but I was still mad that I looked like crap for the rest of the night. Stupid Cliffhanger.

This was towards the end of the day. Do the kids look tired?
Here is Bennett loving me(still slightly wet). It may look like he is attacking me, but he's not. He was giving kisses. He is the cutest little guy. I just love him. I think I might be favorite??
The last Carousel ride. He was so tired.
About 5 mins after the Carousel ride he started swaying back and forth in his chair. I laid him back and he never moved again till we got to the car. It was such a long day. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us. It made the whole trip worth it!! Court is sad he missed this year.
We also did Lagoon A Beach, which Hayden loved but the only pictures of us had my Mom in them and she would kill me if I put them up. So Mom, since I love you and want you to take us again, I won't post them.
___________________________________________________________________
Now, for this one, Krachel will kill me but......we had a girls night the last night I was there for her "baby shower" since I couldn't make the real one. I didn't get any pictures of the night except this one.
The reason I am posting it is cause we all need to say a prayer for her poor feet. I couldn't believe how gigantic they are and I feel so bad. They are by far the biggest pregnant feet I have ever seen. My feet didn't swell so I don't know how it feels, but look at them-doesn't that look painful?!?!(and really, the picture doesn't show how bad they really are) Krachel, I totally love you so don't be mad. Your mom and I had a long discussion about them the next day when I went to the office to tell my mom good bye, so I know it's not just me that thinks they are bad. Get that baby out of there quick so those feet can go back to normal. And I can't wait to meet her!!

The Monsoon Made Me a Liar

2008-07-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

The other day Hayden wanted to go swimming. I told him that after his nap we would go swimming. It was a typical July afternoon in Phoenix. Scorching hot sun, no clouds, no wind ect. So, Hayden took a great nap and when he woke up he said "Yay, Hayden took nap, now go swimming!!" We started getting ready and out of no where the storm hit. You'd think that after 6 years living here, I would know better than to make a promise for an outdoor activity during monsoon season.
He was pretty sad, but being the little angel that he is, he understood that we could not go swimming in the rain.
This was after about 20 minutes of rain. The monsoons are crazy. They literally come out of no where. Hey Krachel, remember when you came to visit? I just looked through all my old pictures trying to find the one of us with plastic bags on our heads while playing in the rain. I couldn't find it. Anyway, so what do you do on a raining day?
I found Hayden in my bathroom fixing his hair. Court never puts the gel away and this isn't the first time this has happened.
Should I continue fixing his hair or let him take over?
Moving on to the next activity.......
JUMPING OFF THE FURNITURE!!!!!
This is an activity that mom usually puts an end to pretty quick, but he was so dang cute and I was having a blast taking pictures and laughing. You can see his face in a few of them. He had the best time. Who needs the pool?
Then he decided to change the batteries in the remote.........
Clean the toilet.............
Try to wrestle daddy.............
Play a little tennis...........
with Daddy.......Daddy won.
By this point he was pretty worn out so we got ready for bed. Our routine is, pj's, teeth, prayers, books, songs, lights out. This time he wanted to read to his "friends"
I swear to you, I did not set up this pose. He put them just like that, snuggled up to them and read them 3 books. We always do 3 books. He even got some of the words right! It was a good afternoon. I was a bit worried when the storm hit, but Hayden made the best of it. I'm glad he didn't hold me to my promise. I need to be more careful!

Family Night, Play date and the 4th

2008-07-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday nights we usually go to Chick-fil-a for "family night". So this week I was talking to him that morning while getting ready for work. I told him that we would go to Chick-fil-a after I got home if he was a good boy for Auntie Erica, and he said "nope, Hayden go CHUCK E CHEESE!!" So we decided to do family night at Chuck E Cheese and invited Kelly and Erica to come along. Those of you who don't know, Kelly is Court's cousin. Erica is his wife. (I'm sure you figured that out) They moved here from California a few years ago.
We had a blast. Here are some highlights.
Playing air hockey with Erica

Erica and I think the boys had more fun than Hayden
If it were up to Hayden this is the only thing he would have done all night
The "slot machine" This one gives out a lot of tickets
Look at my muscles
He found a phone
Riding the "roller coaster" with Mom. He really looks scared doesn't he?
Back to Bob
Playing basketball with the big boys

He got a lot of tickets and a lot of prizes. His favorite was the fun dip.
_______________________________________

Just a few days earlier Hayden and I had gone to Chuck E Cheese for the first time for a play date with some friends. I got some cute pictures of him that day and can't help but post them.

Look how tall I am
Here's Bob again
Mom helping with Skee ball(is that the right spelling?)__________________________________________________

4th of July pics

Everyone did such fun things for the 4th. We did nothing. Hayden and I spent the day with Great Grandma and Aunt Sharon while Court went to work. That evening we decided that we wanted to try to do fireworks with Hayden. The closest ones were at the community college about 2 miles from our house. We could see them from our house without all the trees in the way. So, we drove down to be right in the action. We sat in the Target parking lot next to the stadium. There were too many people and we didn't want to be stuck in traffic getting home. Court thought it would be cool to sit on the roof of the car.

He had so much fun. At first he kept turning his head around when the second boom would go off. It was really funny. I covered his ears and then he got it a little better. When I tried to uncover them, he said "no mommy, hayden no like loud boom" Then we came home and had a bath cause it was so hot and I thought he would sleep better. I hadn't taken a tub picture in a long time, so I thought I would share. Is he not the cutest thing ever?

No Shoes

2008-06-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that in the dentist office pictures Hayden isn't wearing any shoes. I just want to let you all know that my child does wear shoes. Especially when it is 120' out. He had kicked them off while in the waiting room. I guess he was just making himself comfortable. I didn't want anyone to think that I'm a bad mother. Well, based on that alone. Judge me all you want for other things Mom. Just kidding!!! I love you. And yes, MarKey, Hayden did better than you at the dentist. I wasn't going to say anything, but since you mentioned it...............

First Trip to the Dentist

2008-06-21T12:37:00.001-07:00

Hayden had his first dentist appointment a few days ago. He did so much better than we thought he would. He let Shelly do the whole cleaning and Dr Zia did an exam. We attempted x-rays, and he had been complaining of a stomach ache so we skipped the fluoride treatment. But came away with clean teeth and no cavities!! I was worried cause he is addicted to juice and fruit snacks and though I limit both, I was still afraid. After the appointment he was telling everyone "Hayon let elly brush teeth, hayon let dentis look teeth" We were so proud of him. I have had 10 year olds in the chair that wouldn't let me polish their teeth. He is such a good boy!!
The gigantic x-ray apron. We have a pedo one, I'm not sure what Shelly was thinking!!
The suction straw was his favorite part. He didn't want to put it down.

During the polish he held the mouth mirror. He thought it was pretty cool.
After the polish, he didn't want to lay down anymore. So Shelly had to finish with him sitting up.
The back of Dr. Zia's head during the exam.

After we were done, Hayden decided it was time for a nap. Night, night Hayden!!

Majestic Eagle Lodge

2008-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

I want to display my talented husbands work. I often don't appreciate just how crafty he truly is. When I get to go to Alaska I plan to take more pictures, but for now this will have to do. I know the pictures don't do justice but here are a few. He put so many long hours in while he was there. This was his third trip and the lodge is done for the most part. There are still little odds and ins here and there, but the grand opening last Friday was a success. The group that came up were very impressed and excited to get out and start fishing. I noted some of his work in the pictures, but he did so much more. My poor mother-in-law has stressed so much about this place and spent so much more money than she planned to get it started. She will be going up the end of this month to see the finished product. Court plans to get back up later this summer and I probably won't go till next year. I'm glad that it is finally done and now our family can start enjoying it rather than stressing out!! Anyone interested in more information check out www.majesticeaglelodge.com

Daddy comes home tonight!!!!

2008-06-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

My Daddy went to Alaska again for one week to help finish the lodge for the Grand Opening. He left last Sunday morning and he is on a plane coming home right now. I miss my Daddy when he goes away. I miss playing with him, singing silly songs, and reading books. I love my Daddy so much and I can't wait to give him loves and kisses.

More Moab pictures

2008-06-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures from the family vacation to Moab. They are from my Dad's camera. I used a different slide show design than MarKey's this time so she wouldn't get mad again. I don't like her to be mad at me.