The joys of the 4th of July and the month of August!

Since we had to keep a little guy semi-calm during the actual 4th of July celebration because he decided he wanted to try to rip off his nose... We went up to McCall around the 24th and enjoyed some time out on the boat... Isn't my boy just darling!!!



August has come upon us and volleyball is back underway! Coaching is amazing and I love that I get to be involved in the lives of some incredible young ladies. Coaching freshman is always an experience. They seem to be a different type of group every single year... Some better than others, that's for sure!

Here's a quick picture I got of my handsome men before we headed into church...



Working out at the daycare the LJ was attending prior to me resigning from my job on Gowen Field has given me extra time to spend with my little man. He wanted to help me in the kitchen while I got the afternoon snack ready for the rest of the kids... Check out this little ham!









I sure do love my little man and the opportunity I have to spend moments throughout the day with him while still working a little bit.

What a way to start July!

BE ADVISED.... THESE PICTURES ARE NOT EDITED AND DO CONTAIN BLOOD.







For any of you who know Jonathan, you know he loves to jump! Well, Saturday evening right before going upstairs for bed around 9:30pm - was no different. He wanted to jump on his little exercise trampoline in the living room. But that's not all!!!!! He also wanted to play his little ghost/monster game where he puts his blanket over his head and says "rooaaaaarrrr' to whoever he meets. But this time - instead of going after people, he decided to add his two games and jump on his trampoline with his blanket over his head while he said 'roar' repeatedly. After a few jumps, I guess he though he was ready to pounce on the couch (as I have seen him do that countless time before) - however..... he was facing the wrong direction! So instead of landing on the couch and he likely anticipated... he went face first into out fireplace mantel made out of tile!!!! And yes - panic set in as I saw the whole thing because I had just minutes before sat down in the recliner to ice my shoulder!

Matt ran over and scooped him up as he immediately began screaming (which is a good thing because it meant he did not loose consciousness)! And since the blanket was over his head, it was catching all the gushing blood and not creating a huge mess of the living room (SEE - there's a blessing in disguise, right?!)... So my first question, how bad is it? Followed by - do we need to take him in? Matt moved into the light of the kitchen and immediately said "Grab the keys! And where are my shoes?" So off we went... screaming the entire way on Daddy's shoulder - we got to the ER and was brought right back... Where a little more pain would be brought on for this little man. The first IV blew within minutes of being put in. The doctors couldn't exam well enough to determine the extent of his injuries, so they had no choice but to sedate this sweet child. And let me just say - that's a hard one - especially knowing what it's like. Knowing that you can still feel the pain but are unable to react to it.... I got to watch Jonathan endure that as the doctor examined him after sedation and seeing tears begin to fall from his eyes as the doctor pulled around his nose skin. After this quick exam, they replaced his IV on the other arm, replaced his toe monitor and hooked up his chest monitor as well and sent him off for a CT scan. Their initial thoughts were that he broke his nose and likely parts of his face - makes sense seeing how he nose dived into the edge of tile! After the CT scan, they brought him back to the room and began to stitch his nose back in place. As you look closely at the second picture, you can see where he completely severed his left nostril and almost his middle part too. Luckily, Matt and I are not afraid of blood and were able to stay through everything. The doctor had a challenging time getting the pieces of his nose back into the best possible position before he began stitching. About halfway through putting in over 20 stitches, the doctor got the results from radiology..... NO BROKEN BONES!!!! To the surprise of everyone, Jonathan came out with only the severe laceration of trying to tear his nose off.

The day after has been a challenging one... between managing pain, trying to help the swelling, putting ointment on, the nasal spray to keep his nose from clogging, his mouth hurting and finding foods for him to eat, and OMG the attitude that has come out today as well.... But no worries, he has Matt and I wrapped around his little fingers and to an extent we have tried to keep him as comfortable as possible. At least one of us has stayed with him at each moment - to include me having to take a 4 hour nap with Jonathan today.... (I know - it was such a sacrifice!) But by the end of the 'day-after', he was mostly back to normal - jumping around, playing with Daddy, kissing Mommy's owies (shoulder), and throwing his Terrible-Two tantrums!

Again - the pictures below to have blood in them...

On June Passed By.....

Time sure does fly!!! And even though the summer season has been taking its time getting here, July is in full swing of warm weather - and just in time for the 4th of July!

So now for a little catch up on what's been going on. Over the past few months, we have been adjusting to me not having to work full time out on Gowen Field. And let me just say - that I am so thankful each and every day that we were able to make that decision! I don't think I realized the FULL extent of stress that job placed in my life. Now - I get to help out at the daycare/preschool where Jonathan was attending... and to be honest, most of the time it doesn't even feel like a job because you get to play with so many kids!

During the first few days of June, I had to go in for shoulder surgery. I had torn some ligaments and such back in April when I played in my college alumni volleyball tournament... Lots of good playing volleyball! But yes, consequences followed. So for a little over a week, Jonathan and I went up to my parents since Matt was gone for his Annual Training with his unit. And before we knew it - June had completely passed by!

So here's a few pictures to tide you over, and hopefully I will do better come July~!!!

For a few long days (I think this was actually back in the end of May) Jonathan caught a really nasty bug... he sat down on my lap and was asleep in minutes!!!



Jonathan LOVES his "Daddy Time"





This child has developed some weird sleeping habits - which my mom tells me that I shouldn't be surprised since I use to curl up on the stairs even and fall asleep when I was a kid...








Here's a couple of shots from the pictures that were done out at Jonathan's daycare... isn't he just adorable!





Memorial Day BBQ!!!! Gotta love haivng the extra time to do this now!!!!



My first loaf of bread!!!! And it turned out so delicious!!!




Here I am trying to eat some dessert a few days after surgery while up at my parents house....

Some Catch Up and An Awesome Mother's Day

Wow - it's been a while since I've updated our blog. Hopefully now with my new schedule, I'll have more time to do so!

First off - this new year, our ward got the lucky meeting time of 1:30pm... which means - horrible nap time for the little man! So I figured out a way that wins for both him and I!!! We sit like normal in the chapel until after we have had the sacrament (there have been a few times that we actually didn't make it cause he was too grumpy!), and then we move to the mother's lounge - where I turn out the lights and turn on the volume for the PA system - and Jonathan falls asleep within minutes of getting in there - and I actually can listen to the talks!

Isn't he just the sweetest!


As children grow - it's funny to watch as their habits evolve too. For about a week, Matt and I would find him sleeping so hard in the weirdest places/positions. The top of the stairs, the couch, and this picture here - he was actually underneath his indoor trampoline... Matt moved it because he thought he'd wake up and hurt himself...


Over the weekends, we all like to be a bit lazy at times. And I love the giggles that Matt gets out of LJ... It's so awesome listening and watching these two roll around and play each morning.... Look aren't they just adorable and happy!


So now for an update on my job situation... Matt's job allows for me to not work full time for the military - and to him I am completely grateful! I never thought I would even have this option. But after the stress and complications that job was causing to me physically and emotionally, and also to our family - we thought it'd be better to just stay home and allow me to be with LJ more! And I love it!!! But after a couple of days, a dear friend of mine since high school (actually I played against her and her cousins and little sister in sports - but we became awesome friends!) offered me an alternative. She is the manager for the daycare/preschool we started using back in Feb... and Matt and I loved the growth and development that we were seeing in Jonathan. Anyway - she needed someone to help out in the afternoons along with when the other girls needed time off. So now I get to spend the days with Jonathan - while ALSO helping out at the daycare/preschool! It's been so much fun - and the girls that work there are all so amazing. I just love it!

Here is LJ while we were waiting to close last week.... He decided that he wanted to put on his own shoes - and this is what I found....


Here is LJ with his buddy, Jadin. He is my friend's son. Lindsey has always been an awesome friend to me (she's one of the cousin's I mentioned earlier!) and her son is only 4-5 months older than LJ. So needless to say - the two of them together... are quite mischievous!


Jonathan decided that he wanted to dress up later last week - and since Matt has a slight obsession with the Transformers... I snagged this picture for him!!!


Our puppies... Well - technically they are still puppies - but they are beasts to us! Anyway - Bear (you can slightly see him in the cage) was being a bad boy and not leaving his sister alone while being overly aggressive while playing - so he had to come inside and be in timeout! Which ironically - the next day he was being taken in to be neutered! Jonathan decided to go over and play with Bear - so Bear would mimic what Jonathan was doing. When he went up on his hands, Bear would sit up - and visa versa... It was cute.


Last week, Matt took the majority of it off and we were able to do things together as a family. We went out to have some Mexican food on Cinco De Mio (or however you spell it!) - and the two of the boys were just too dang cute to not snap a few pictures!




Onto Mother's Day! Matt and Jonathan got up early (not early for them since they wake up before 6 every darn day) and made me breakfast... But what was really cute was having LJ take me by the hand and say "Come Mommy, come see" He took me out to the front porch - where before they made breakfast... Matt and him had planted me some flowers!


My Mother-in-Law was so sweet and made this arrangement for me. These flowers smell great and I love the color! She is quite an amazing lady - and I'm glad she lives so close that we can visit whenever we like!


I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to be a mother... My sweet little boy is growing so big - and I love being able to watch him develop.

The friendship of brothers

A few weeks ago - ok, it was more like over a month ago - we were able to go an attend the baptism of Jonathan's big half-brother, Kien - and also spend some time with Kien and his mom's family. It's amazing how things work out and to find out later on in life that your family's could have crossed years before they actually did. Kien's mom is now married to a dear friend of mine from high school. I remember hearing stories about Kara's older brother, Lee - and then to find out that he is my son's half-brother's stepdad!!!! Did you follow all that?! Yeah - it's a little tangled web - but Kien was excited when he found out he was going to be having another little brother when I was pregnant - that Chanthy (Kien's mom) and I decided that neither of us had any problem allowing the boys to have a relationship. Brothers will be brothers - and these two are no exception... they have just as much fun when we get them together!

On the drive over to Caldwell, I couldn't help when we were at a stoplight to snap a couple of pictures of my handsome little man... who obviously thought I was trying to hand him the camera...





The after-baptism party at Chanthy's was full of children running crazy - or so it seemed! But it was a joy to have a house full of family and friends to help Kien celebrate the wonderful decision he made to be baptized!








Oh.... brotherly love!



These next couple of pictures show you exactly how busy both of these boys are... and trying to get them to both smile at the same time... well, ya know - there are just more important things to be doing!











Congrats Kien on a wonderful day and thanks for sharing it with us!

Wow - Time to update!

Yes - I know, it has been a really long time since I have updated here, so I'm make a quick post today and tonight, I will get all the pictures off of my camera and really go to town on a new post!

Here is Matt before he had to go help out with the Governor's Ball.... Isn't he quite handsome! :)



This winter/spring season has been a hard one for LJ. He got his with a really bad sinus infection that turned ugly - and so Matt and I have spoiled him a little extra - to include allowing a little Mickey TV time after his baths before bedtime... But seriously - isn't this the cutest thing ever!!!





What mother doesn't have to struggle at times to get their boys dressed?! This little man is not different - even when it's cold... He just really wanted to go start reading his "Dog" book that Grandma got him... He loves that thing!



Count your many blessings, name them one by one....

So my biggest and most wonderful blessing has been this beautiful child! From his birth, he has been a fantastic baby! He enjoys his sleep as much as possible (just like his momma!) and as he gets older, it still hasn't changed.... If we get involved in a TV show or something, and don't notice the time, here is what we typically get... LJ will grab a pillow and a blanket and start laying on the floor within our view, lay there for a few minutes... and then will move around to a new location until we ask him if he's ready for bed - which of course makes him jump up, start heading for the stairs, yelling 'C'mon - mon mommy/daddy' and then start singing a song I picked up from my friend Cindi, "nigh nigh LJ, nigh nigh LJ" - he's really cute singing it to himself as he walks upstairs!



And the aftermath once he gets to sleep... The kid can be a really HARD sleeper! I love it!





Over most drill weekends, LJ gets to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa! I love the my mom sends me pictures throughout the weekend - and here is one from January, I think...



NOW - on to our 'other' toddlers.... Princess and Bear! These two English mastiff's are going to be enormous! I don't think it's really sunk in how big they really are going to get! They are completely inseparable and love to snuggle. They were litter mates that we got from some friends of mine that live near Idaho City. Here's a snap shot of the two goobers when they were about 5 months old....



And here they are a few days later when I took them into PetSmart for a little bath time and puppy groom (had a good coupon!) - and what did we meet when we came in.... a pair (brother and sister as well) of 3 year old brindle mastiff's!!! Look at the size of those guys! Oh dear - is all I have to say! But I am also so excited for the puppy-stage to be over and get in the lazy-big-dog stage that these two are in! I have seen them nearly every time I've got to the store!




There's my quick update for now. I will try my hardest to download the pictures tonight and then I can really get into an indepth update on how things have been going in our lives! Just know that we are all doing well - and excited for warmer weather so we can start going on family hikes!!!