D's Delights

2 months old

2010-09-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe our baby girl is 2 months old already! Addy Jolee or baby is what Clayton calls her, my nickname for her is sister and daddy calls her Addy Jo. What a joy she is to our family. Her personality is already shining through. She loves to be held and bounced on the excercise ball. She is very much a cuddler and likes to sleep in her daddy and mommy's arms. At Clayton's naptime we all lay down in his bed together for a rest. She is sleeping 5 hours at night and then wakes up every 3 hours. She is a bit of a drama queen already! If things aren't going her way; she lets you know it. She loves her big brother. He is great at keeping her entertained. She is smiling lots and starting to coo. Her and brother seem to have their own language they talk to each other in. (3 weeks old)
(4 weeks)

(4 weeks)

(6 weeks)

(7 weeks)

(2 months)

A Baseball Party!

2010-09-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

Clayton wanted a baseball party this year. He got quite hooked I guess after getting to go to 3 games this summer. I had fun coming up with ideas and making stuff for the party.

Yesterday we had Clayton's party at our house. It rained early morning and was only going to be a high of 60 so we weren't sure we would be outside, but by 10:00 there was a little glimpse of sun and the rain had stopped so we went ahead with our outside party plans. Brody made a baseball field in the backyard and we rented a bounce house for the kiddos. Clayton had 9 of his friends show up for his party. His Aunt Teresa, Joni, cousin Logan and his Pappa also came for the weekend. He had such a great time!

I decided to once again make the cake this year. I got some ideas off the internet and made a baseball field with a ball in the middle. I used crushed graham crackers for the dirt and found that Wilton sold the baseball player set at Michael's. Just like last year I used Wilton's buttercream frosting recipe. I forgot how good this frosting recipe is! It doesn't leave a greasy feeling in your mouth like some.

My boy is turning 3!

2010-09-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

3 years ago on the 19th my little man was born! He has captured my heart just like his daddy. He is all boy through and through. I can just picture his daddy as a child being just like him. He has grown so much in so many ways this year! He can ride his big bike the neighbor boys passed on to him. Last year he could barely reach the peddles.

We took Clayton to see the Omaha Royals this summer and to a College World Series game. He loves baseball! He has to play just like the players; with a REAL ball, bat, helmet and on a baseball field. We have a baseball field in our subdivision that we often take him to play on.
Brody pitches the ball to him and he hits it 3 out of 4 times. I love his little saying, "Keep your ball on your eye."

He is having a baseball birthday party on Saturday with a baseball cake and a homemade field in our back yard.

We got a 4-wheeler from the neighbors a couple years ago and I remember thinking "I can't imagine him being big enough to ride it." He has figured out how to ride it now and zooms all over on it.

Clayton is so much like me. He already is organizing his colors. He picks out matching clothes to wear. He pays attention to much detail. If I changed one thing around in the house he would be the one to notice. He can say his ABCs, count to 10, he knows his colors and can recite "The Pledge of Allegiance".

He is such a great big brother! He is gentle with his sister and loves to hold her. If she is crying he tries to calm her down and some of the time she responds very well. He talks about "when she gets bigger" she can play catch with him and wrestle. I look forward to the bond these two will have. He is always so concerned about her. If she isn't right there with us, he wants to know where she is at.

He has such a sweet side to him. I love getting to lay with him at bedtime and talk about our day. He always says, "I love you so much". He expresses gratitude by saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you."

He isn't my baby anymore. Not because he is a big brother but because he is becoming so independent. We potty trained the end of June because he wanted to wear his big boy underwear. We went completely backwards when Addyson was born but now he is back to underwear with no accidents. He can dress himself, put his shoes on and brush his teeth and he is ready for the day!

He gave up his binkie too! Brody asked him if he wanted to trade his binkie for a baseball helmet. He had been asking for a helmet so he told him if he sent his binkie to the baseball helmet company, they would send him a helmet. So we packaged up his binkie and took it to the mailbox. In the mailbox was a letter from the baseball helmet company that said they left his helmet on the front porch. He was so excited, I wished I had a video camera to record the moment. The first night was a little rough without the binkie but after that he didn't even ask for it. I think it was a bit harder on mommy than it was him.

He loves to watch Curious George. He would probably watch it all day if we would let him. He is going to be him for Halloween and Daddy is going to be the Man in the Yellow Hat.

He loves to help his daddy. It is so cute to see him in his work boots out helping his daddy work. He got a tool set for his birthday and loves that he has tools just like dad. Him and daddy have special play time they call "wrestle run". Brody chases him around the kitchen and living room and then they wrestle in the living room.

We started music again this fall. He loves to sing and dance. I always have the silly songs stuck in my head because we have to listen to his music in the truck 24/7. I go to a women's bible group at our church on Wednesday and he looks forward to playing with his friends at the church. There is a young teenage boy that helps watch the kids during bible group and Clayton just loves him. It is so cute to see him run up to him and Jeremy picks him up.

Tomorrow he will start a preschool program through a church here in Papillion. It is called "Parents Day Out" For 2 1/2 hours on Fridays he will go and get to play with other kids. It is structured like preschool and has a thematic curriculum. They do bible story time and prayer, circle time, music, arts and crafts, outdoor play and have a snack. I have mixed feelings about putting him in right now but we are going to try it out. He has been asking to go to school so when I found this program I thought it would be a great intro to school and would give me a little break. As Addyson gets a little easier, I want to do more school type stuff at home.

It is so hard to believe my little boy is 3 now! He is so much fun! I just love my little guy.

The Birth of Our Baby Girl

2010-07-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

As May rolled around, I began to think about my birth plan. I had such a great labor and delivery with Clayton that I wanted it to be the same or even better this time around. I didn't get to have my same OB since we moved. I didn't really think it would be that big of a deal since it was my second baby, but it was. Some people just can't be replaced in life and my doctor in Chico is one of them. I owe my great birth experience to him and my husband the first time around. It might sound crazy but I shed tears over the fact that I wasn't going to find another "Dr. Mellum". So I decided I needed to just settle for the OB I had and focus on my birth plan. I looked into Bradley Method Childbirth Classes but found out we didn't have enough time to complete the 12 week course with only 9 weeks until my due date. Then, I was in the grocery store one day and found a business card on the wall of a natural childbirth educator; so I gave her a call. I found out she taught the Bradley Method classes and was also a doula. She offered to come visit with us the following evening. Gods timing is amazing! After talking with her I felt instantly relieved about my plans for the upcoming birth. What did I want from this birth experience? A natural childbirth and a doctor who supported that. At 36 weeks I switched from my OB to a team of Nurse Midwives and from a hospital 20 minutes away to less than five minutes! We also took up reading "Husband Coached Childbirth" by Robert Bradley. Not quite Brody's choice of reading but he read it for me and we did find some interesting info and humor in it that we laughed about in labor.

At 2:30 am on July 20th I woke to the sound of thunder and the rain starting to pour. I realized I was feeling some labor pains too. So I got up to go to the bathroom and got back into bed to wait it out and see if things would progress. I was a bit anxious to get to the hospital being Group Strep B +. I needed to be on IV meds at least 2 hours prior to delivery to protect baby from not getting infected. With Clayton, the meds didn't have enough time to kick before I delivered him and he was fine but I didn't want the added risk this time.

My sister arrived the Thursday prior to take care of Clayton for us, so I let her know we were heading to the hospital finally! She asked, "How do you know you are in labor?" I asked myself the same question that morning because we all were wondering if this time would ever come. My official due date was the 18th and we thought for sure she would be here by then.

At 4:20 we headed to the hospital, I sent a text out to 9 people and 5 crazy people texted me back! I didn't really expect anyone else to be up with us. We got settled into the "maybe baby" room and around 5:00 am the nurse checked me and I was 4 cm. So they admitted me and shortly after started my IV meds. My midwife, Bridget, showed up around 7 and checked me and said I was 4-5 cm. She said we should go walk around for awhile to try to get things moving. Brody and I enjoyed some time walking around talking, enjoying the fresh air since the storm had stopped and then came back to the room and ordered some breakfast. I had to stop some for the contractions but they hadn't progressed as fast as I thought. My labor started at 2:30 with Clayton and he was born at 8:03 a.m. It was after 9 now and not a lot was happening. My midwife checked back in and checked me again. Slow progression, I was 5 cm. She asked me if I wanted to try breast pumping to try and progress labor. I really did not want to be on Pitocin so I tried it for 20 minutes. The contractions were a bit stronger during the pumping time. Once I was done we decided to walk again. It was close to 10:30 now. My contractions were a bit stronger and I really used Brody now to help get me breath through the contractions so I decided to stay in the room and pace back and forth across the room while Brody timed them. They were consistent, about 2 minutes apart now. Once I sat down they seemed to spread out even more and lost intensity. Next time I looked at the clock it was 11 and began to think my labor was going to last all day. Brody encouraged me to try the pump again so I did. My next contraction peeked off the chart and I pretty much threw the pump at him. "No more!" I was laying in bed on my side now with him rubbing my lower back and my contractions were getting a lot stronger. The nurses asked me if I wanted to try sitting in the jacuzzi tub then, so they got it ready. My contractions grew stronger and closer together and there was no way I was going to be able to move to the tub now. At 11:45 my water broke. It sounded like flood gates had opened! It was quite crazy and a big relief for me with a change of intensity with my contractions. Shortly after 12 I started pushing and at 12:07 Brody caught our daughter as she arrived into this world: Addyson Jolee 7lbs7oz, 20.5 inches long.

(Here I am, settled in our room, ready for the birth of our daughter)

(Just brand new-Happy Birthday Addyson!)

(Now a family of 4!)
(Proud big brother, the nurse helped him make her a shirt with her name on it and he helped with her first bath.)

(Ready to go home! My great-grandmother crocheted this outfit for me and I wore it home from the hospital)

Addyson was the 11th baby born at Bellevue Medical Center. We were the only ones there! We definitely felt VIP! The nurses were so wonderful in meeting my needs, Brody's (coffee 24/7)and they just loved Clayton when he arrived. The nurses let him help them with whatever they were doing.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who supported and coached me through my labor, my midwife, and the nurses! It was everything I had hoped it to be and more! And my baby girl, I didn't know I could have enough love for a 2nd child. She has captured my heart just like her brother and daddy. What a beautiful gift from God she is!

Ready for our baby girl!

2010-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

It has been so much fun getting ready for a girl after having a boy! I decided to make the sheet and crib skirt from tutorial I found, out of fabric I fell in love with from Hobby Lobby. They were both so easy to do for a beginner sewer and so much fun to see the end result! The room was already painted a light green with one bright green wall with we repainted light pink. Brody thought we should bring in brown and polka-dots to the room. I love how the bumper I found from target.com ties in with brown and polka-dots.

A rocker/recliner was my one request this time around. Brody and I both spent a lot of time in a glider we borrowed from a friend with Clayton and was not the most comfortable thing to sleep in. This is the luxury of luxury recliners. Brody picked it out and I often find him reading in it at night. The little rocker was mine that my grandpa gave me as a little girl.

I found this dresser on craigslist and painted it an off-white. I couldn't find knobs that I loved so I used some we had and painted pink and brown polka-dots on them. The shelf I ordered from JC Penney to have some extra storage.

And a must needed essential, a fashionable mommy/diaper bag! My friend Jenna made this bag for me last year for my birthday and I really haven't used it all that much with not having to pack much for Clayton anymore. Now I know why I have savered it! I just love it and can't wait to use it every day!!!

Maternity Photo Shoot

2010-07-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with Tamra Heald Photography.
Kind of ironic that she moved here from California with her husband around the same time we did. I just love what she captured of us! Photo shoots seem to be the only way I am in the pictures these days. Here I am at 37 weeks. We did most of our pictures at the park just down the street from us. Here is just a glimpse of some of my favorites!

Our Clayton is just so excited for his baby sister and it definitely shows in the pictures! I was so nervous of how he would do, but he turned out to be a better poser than Brody and I.

At the end of the photo shoot we told Clayton he would get a sucker. He made sure we got one too! So glad we got pictures of the highlight of the shoot.

What a wonderful pregnancy this has been! I thank God for the miracle of our baby girl; for every kick and movement she makes. We are so excited to welcome our baby girl any day now!

May

2010-05-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe May is almost gone! I had so many things on my to-do list and didn't get them all completed. On Sunday, I will have 7 weeks left to finish projects before our baby girl arrives. I still am not finished with Clayton's quilt, it has got put to the wayside since it takes time to work on. I am so exhausted these days and feel like I am barely above water in keeping up on daily duties let alone my list of projects. I am thankful for Clayton's naps because I often nap with him! And so thankful for my wonderful husband who provides for our family and also helps me out more than ever around the house right now.

May has been busy. Clayton and I traveled back to McCook the second week for my niece's choir concert. My SIL Kerri sang in our wedding 9 years ago and it was so awesome to get to hear the girls sing for the first time. They have amazing voices like their mom. I love music and am so inspired by it but have no talent in it.
For Mother's Day, we packed a picnic and headed to the zoo after church. Here I am at 30 weeks. My sweet boy was giving me a kiss. I love these benches they have there; I want one for my backyard!

Here are some projects I did complete this month! I took my old couch pillows and recovered them by using this envelope pattern I found online.

Brody put our fence up and also built this garden area for me for Mother's day. My aunt and uncle gave us the fencing that worked perfect around the garden to keep the dog out. I planted this weekend: tomatoes, peppers, green beans, cucumbers, squash and watermelon. Hopeful for good produce soon!

I made these little clutch purses for my sisters. The cute flower tutorial I found at MamaLovesPapa. These were a fast project and turned out so cute! I can't wait to make more.

My Aunt and I also had a garage sale this month. It was the most successful garage sale I have ever had! It feels so good to have cleaned out and feel organized right down to the closet and storage totes. I can now say we are officially unpacked.

We painted the nursery this weekend and I will post pictures soon! I am full of ideas and so excited to decorate it! I am also going to try and make some cute skirts like this these for birthday gifts and finally finish Clayton's quilt. So much to do and so little time. This weekend we are heading to our family cabin in Cambridge. Looking forward to relaxing and finishing some books I have been reading.

Clayton's Big Boy Room

2010-04-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

We moved Clayton into his new room and out of his crib about a month ago. At first I didn't think he was ever going to adjust to his new bed. He asked to sleep in his baby crib several nights in a row. I took down the rail on the crib and finally got everything out of his old room and he settled in fine after a week. Now he doesn't even go in his old room; which we will soon be getting ready for the baby. He does great staying in his bed when it is time to go to sleep. Next we have to figure out how to break him from the binkie. Any suggestions?

His quilt is almost finished! I am hand stitching each square, which is time consuming, but it is the look that I want and I couldn't figure out how to machine stitch it. Once I get the hand stitching done, I just have to do the binding and I will be finished!
We painted his room a light blue. Brody built this shelf and we got a set of cubes from target for books and toys.

I made valances for the windows.
And painted some canvases and glued this cute car fabric on them that I found.

It is time to start on our baby girl's room next. I will post pictures soon! My wheels are spinning with ideas.

30 is here.........

2010-04-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

I turned 30 on Sunday. The number has been a hard one to grasp, but wow was it a memorable celebration! One I will never forget. With just moving to Nebraska and also being 7 months pregnant, I didn't expect much of a birthday celebration. Well, I got a wonderful suprise party that Brody and my mom planned! I walked into a house full of people and started crying. I couldn't believe that my mom had flew in from Idaho, two of my aunts and uncles and Dad traveled 4 1/2 hours, and family here had all come to celebrate my life. The crazy thing is they were all there 30 years ago when I was born. The party was Saturday and we celebrated on into Sunday with half of them staying the night. The first and probably only time that my mom and dad both stayed at my house. Kind of weird, but so awesome to have them both here. Brody made me strawberry shortcake for my birthday and bought me an icecream maker. We had homemade vanilla ice cream, my favorite!

My mom gave me this diamond necklace. The really awesome thing about this necklace is that the diamond in it is out of the wedding ring that my dad gave my mom on their wedding day.

Here I am, 28 weeks on my birthday with 12 weeks to go! I feel so big already.

(My mom and Aunt Teresa)

My dad (Pappa) hanging out in Clayton's room. Clayton yelled, "Mommy come see us!" This is what I walked in and found. Sucking on binkies, too funny!

Now I have a couple of days to recover from all of our company and then Clayton and I are heading to California on Thursday to visit our Chico family. (The other part of my birthday present from Brody.) I got so spoiled this year!

A Baby Sister?

2010-03-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

At dinnertime last week, Clayton wanted to say the pray. "Thank you Jesus for Daddy, Mommy, Doggy, and BABY SISTER." I was a little shocked by his words. We had talked about a baby brother/sister but didn't know yet what we were having. My ultrasound was a couple days later and we decided we were going to find out. Here is a picture of me the day of the ultrasound at 21 weeks. I feel huge, but then I talk to some people and they are shocked to know I am pregnant, so maybe it is just me.

Yes, we are indeed having a baby girl! The ultrasound tech was pretty sure of it and she even got a pretty good picture. Our little Clayton really did know. I am in awe at how our Father uses our children to help us as parents to love, honor and serve him more. I am so thankful for our boy and the love he already has for his heavenly father. He is going to be a great big brother. These days he is surrounded by lots of little girls and I see a great gentleness in him towards them. I now know the Lord is preparing him for a baby sister. He loves to play dress up with his cousin Jolena and wear mommy's lipstick and make-up. I know he will out grow the dress up thing, but I can see him playing with his little sister one day just because she wants him to.

Clayton picked out this little outfit for his sister this week. (sorry for the sideways pic) The butterfly is on the butt, perfectly suiting since I love butterflies. He was so excited to show daddy the outfit when we got home. He said, "Look at the butt dad", as he was laughing.

So 17 weeks and counting for our baby girl to arrive. I just started to read a book a friend recommended to help us with this transition, From One Child To Two by Judy Dunn.

A vacation to Nuevo Vallarta

2010-03-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Relaxing by the pool. Before we ever knew we were moving; we planned a trip to Mexico to my parents timeshare with my family. So we got settled into our new home and Brody his new job and then we got a little vacation from it all. We sure enjoyed every bit of the sunshine and warm weather! It hasn't been much above 40 degrees here since November. It was just beautiful and so peaceful being at the ocean! I could have been perfectly content relaxing on the beach listening to the waves and building sandcastle with Clayton the entire time. Vacations before kids was defined at sleeping in, an afternoon nap in the sun and a nice quiet dinner filled with good conversation and any sight seeing/adventures we wanted to do. Now they are defined as rising with the sun, playing in the water and sand, indigestion from eating too fast and to bed with the kids. We did do a couple adventures: whale watching and went with the family zip-lining and Brody, Clayton and I hung out by the water. Next time we will do without the adventures because Clayton had to be confined to one spot so we had an unhappy boy and unhappy parents. By the end of the week, we realized we all had the best time at our resort, in the pool or down by the ocean.

Clayton and his cousin Logan. These boys had so much fun!

Brody had to quickly overcome his fear of snakes because Clayton really wanted to hold one! My little man has no fear of anything.

The boat ride out to see whales. We got to see dolphins and whales on the trip. It was short lived fun for Clayton because he couldn't run all over the boat with wide-open rails all the way around.

Clayton loved playing in the sand! Who needs shovels when you can use your head?

He is a little fish; he was jumping in and going under.

I wanted some pictures of us walking down the beach. Of course, I waited until the last day and Clayton wasn't too excited about pictures then. You take whatever you can get with kids.

Quilting

2010-01-26T11:00:00.001-08:00

I have never quilted, but am so excited to jump right in and try it out. Brody bought me a new sewing maching for Christmas and it is awesome! Once we get settled in the new place, Clayton's quilt will be my project for awhile. I found this vehicle duvet cover at Ikea and I am going to take it apart and make pillows and other bedding for his new bed. The quilt will be all the solid colors in big squares to fit a double bed. I created the pattern so hopefully it will turn out! Clayton's room is my first priority. I will be painting the room, hopefully doing a car mural on the wall and getting his quilt done so we can move him into his big boy bed before baby is born.

Our new home

2010-01-26T10:26:00.001-08:00

We close on our home in 3 days! I can't wait to unpack and decorate. We have been boxed up since the end of October, it will be like Christmas all over again for Clayton.

After Brody was offered his new job in Omaha, I flew out to look at houses with my Uncle who is our real estate agent. We spent 2 1/2 days looking at houses and I didn't walk into one house and get the feeling that it was the right one. So we found a rental with a 4 month lease and continued our house search once we got settled.

We walked into this house and I told Brody and Steve, "Maybe they have cookies for us". They did and they were still warm! Yum! I have to joke now that the cookies sold us.

Here are some pictures of our new place. It is really hard to take pictures to really see what the house it like. I will take more once we are moved in.

This is our living room. I can't wait for a fireplace! To the right is the dining room and kitchen. To the left is 3 bedrooms and stairs to the basement.

The kitchen of my dreams! A huge walk in pantry and lots of counter space to cook and bake. I can't wait to make valentine's goodies in a couple weeks.

My built in desk right in the center of the house. No more sharing an office with Brody!

The basement is unfinished. We are planning on doing all the work ourselves and hope to have it complete before baby is born in July. We will be putting in a bathroom, Brody's office, a guest room and have a family room down there. All you guests that come to visit will have your own private living quarters.

Big Brother!!!

2010-01-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

Clayton is going to be a big brother in July! I think he is ready, he is in love with babies right now and stops to see them or points them out in the store. Out of the blue last week he said, "I want a baby sister". Some days it is, "I want a baby brother sister". "Baby in mommy's tummy? Come out soon?"

I just can't believe how much my little man is talking these days and learning. He loves to ride his bike on the hardwood floors. He has rode it more in the house than he ever did outside. He knows his primary colors and it learning to counting to 5 and spell is name. If you ask him how old he is, he will say "four". I guess 4 is more fun that 2? He loves to help me cook in the kitchen and does very well at cracking eggs. One morning I came in the kitchen and he had pulled the chair up in front of the stove and had cracked an egg in the skillet. The shell was sitting nicely to the side in two pieces and he had the spatula in his hand. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "making daddy an egg", "mommy fire on?" Thankfully he hasn't figured out how to light the burners yet! Brody told him to "go make daddy an egg" and he did just that! He is a little sponge right now and takes it all in. He is too smart for his own good!

Clayton loves to paint, color, and play play-dough. It doesn't matter what it is, it always gets tested in the mouth. Him and Brody painted on paper the other night and then it turned into face painting.
He loves to read books. Today he told me he wanted to take a nap in his house (one of our projects during the snow storm last week). I found him laying in there with his blankie, reading books. He is a busy little boy and will find something to entertain him if he needs too, but usually it spells trouble. Today I found him on top of his changing table that is in his closet. He had got the markers off the top shelf and was coloring on his shirts hanging in the closet!!

I am thankful that he takes 3 hour naps; him and I both need that time! He still has his binkie and potty training still seems far off, but hopefully will come before baby arrives. I am excited to transition him into his big boy bed after we get moved and settled. We are starting to talk about giving his bed (crib) to baby and he told me he was going to give his blankie to baby too. Ahh, his blankie is his best friend and goes everywhere with him. This boy just melts my heart. I love him so much! I am so thankful I get to spend everyday with him.

Adjusting

2010-01-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

December 6 was our first snow! It lasted for 3 days and amounted to 15+ inches. By day 3, we had to get out of the house, so I shoveled out the car and 2 hours later we were off to my Aunt's house just around the corner.

We were suppose to get another huge snow storm coming in the week of Christmas, so my mom, Clayton and I drove back to McCook with my cousin and Brody followed the next day. He drove in the storm but luckily made it before is was bad and interstate was closed down.

The snow is only fun for a short while with Clayton and then he is too cold! Temperatures have been below 10 degrees for the high since Christmas. This has been the hardest thing to adjust to with us being able to play outdoors almost all 365 days out of the year in California.

I have realized that Clayton and I are just not homebodies! We like to be busy, out doing things during the day. I have found out when it snows, everything closes down for days! We had such a great routine in California: Tues-swimming, Wed-music, Fri-park. We were surrounded by lots of friends. Not having that routine after the move has made me a little crazy lately, but I feel it is coming. I signed Clayton up for gymnastics on Wed. and music on Thrus. We also have the Early Childhood Learning Center that we can drop into any time during the day when schools are open. Lately, Clayton asks to go there about every day. It was been a great outlet for us with art activies, story time, music and a exercise room. I got to know a couple mothers there too with children the same age as Clayton.

We tried out a church the first weekend in January, Vineyard of Omaha. We were at a Vineyard church in California so I was glad to find one here. We like it and are excited to get involved and be apart of it. We have been able to leave Clayton in the nursery the last two times which hasn't been very successful since he has been born.

After church on Sunday the 3rd, we headed over to take some measurement in our new house only to discover we didn't have the house key. It had fell out of Brody's pocket. He retraced his steps back to the place we ate lunch and back to the church only to find no key. Tuesday we recieved a call from the church that they had found our key. I was reminded that day that my heavenly father is the key to helping me through this adjustment period. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding' in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.

Football time!

2009-12-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

(My future football player)It was exciting to be moving to Nebraska right in the middle of football season with us being Cornhusker fans. Clayton calls it "football game time." We got to enjoy a football game with my friend Leah, whom I have known my whole life, and her family. Their basement is the Nebraska football room and they have every Husker paraphenellia there is!
Clayton and Keegan

The first weekend after we moved here, Brody suprised me with tickets to a game. We had so much fun! I am not a huge fan of football, but being in Memorial Stadium with die-hard fans, seeing the sea of red is quite a breath taking experience.

We got to go to a second game with some of our family.

(Cousin Marcus, cousin Becki, my sister Joni, me and Brody)

(me, my dad, Joni)

Back on the farm

2009-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

I grew up on a farm in a small town called McCook, 4 1/2 hours west of Omaha. I was a bit of a city girl growing up, but it is ironic, as I have got older my roots have come back to me. I have looked forward to spending time on the farm and helping my dad when Brody and I have traveled back to Nebraska over the years to see family. I never imagined I would end up back in Nebraska! While Brody was in training for two weeks, Clayton and I traveled to McCook to spend some time on the farm. His whole world opened up to a new level! He had so much fun being outside with Pappa feeding the cows, horses, riding on the tractor and exploring the farm. (Pappa's little shadow)

(Feeding cows right behind the house)

He also got to go for a ride on the combine. That is all he can talk about now! Brody bought him the Cars movie and although he has very little interest in watching it, he loves watching the tractor tipping scene and seeing the combine race through the field.

(Trying to eat a hard piece of corn)

While there, my sister and I took the boys fishing at the sandpits. Clayton has learned how to cast his pole and loves to fish so that is all he could talk about while waiting for the boys to get out of school that day.

(Nephews, Logan-Joni's son, Ryan & Clayton)

Ryan caught a huge wiper! Clayton wasn't too sure about the fish and wouldn't even stand near it, but all he could talk about afterwards was "Ryan caught a big fish" with his arms out.

A Season.......

2009-12-11T12:18:00.001-08:00

3 years ago, Brody and I packed up our house in Nampa, Idaho and drove 500 miles to our new destination in Chico, California where Brody would start his new job as a sales representative for Stryker Medical. This was a new adventure for us. We left our family for the first time ever, friends since high school, our new home of 1 year and our new church family; everything that was familiar to us. During our month of packing, I struggled with this change, I was comfortable where I was. I envisioned starting our family in our new home and building our life together there.

One Sunday at church our pastor began singing "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman, I broke down crying as I heard the words "Oh no, You never let go through the calm and through the storm. Oh no, you never let go in every high and every low. Oh no, you never let go. Lord, you never let go of me". I then knew that the Lord would take care of us through this change and that this was part of his plan for us. After church was over, a church friend came over to talk to me and said she used to live in Chico and she would give us the name of her friends to get in contact with when we got there. We did contact them and they became part of our Chico family. Right away God put great people in our lives!
Jenna and I were pregnant together with our boys being born 2 months apart. We walked every week in the park up until the day the boys were born. After birth, we needed more of a change, so we started rollerblading. Justin and Brody hit it off right away with their love to hunt! Jenna's parents welcomed us right into their family and we enjoyed many wonderful dinners with them and had lots of laughs.

Elliana, the big sister, was like a big sister to Clayton too. Tucker and Clayton, these two boys together are double trouble!

My dad's sister, Rose and her family, lived 20 minutes from us. We had lots of fun family times eating and playing games. My aunt and cousin Colleen were the first ones to welcome our new baby boy! They even kept Clayton overnight for us several times so we could have daddy/mommy time.

Uncle Don is a huge Cornhusker fan too, and Brody enjoyed watching many games with him.

We had the best neighbors ever! We were welcomed right away when we moved in and were blessed with food and gifts when Clayton was born. We had neighborhood parties and an annual Easter egg hunt for the kids.

After Clayton was born, I started attending mommy/baby educational classes. After the classes ended, us moms formed a playgroup, and we met every week sharing our mothering experiences and watching our little ones grow. It is hard to believe we just celebrated their 2nd birthdays!

(1st Birthday party)

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because you turn has come to share, grown or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it; it is real, but only for a season. Our Chico family/friends touched for lives in so many ways during the 3 years we were there. They will never be forgotten and will be greatly missed! I could probably write a book on our life in Chico with all the memories that were made there. I am so thankful we got to experience life in Chico!

3 years later almost to the day, we said good-bye to the life we had built in Chico and moved 1700 miles to Omaha, Nebraska where Brody took a new job in sales with Bard Peripheral Vascular. We started over once; I have faith that we will do it again!

October

2009-11-29T20:10:00.000-08:00

My favorite month of the year; time for pumpkin spice lattes and homemade pumpkin bread, the leaves are beginning to change color and the weather is cool.

This October was a very busy month for us, thus why I am just now updating my blog. It started off by Brody accepting a job in Omaha, NE and ended with moving. I will post more on our move in the next posts.

Clayton and I went with our friends to Bishop's Pumpkin Patch the middle of the month. As you can see Clayton had a blast. We went on a train ride, tractor ride to the pumpkin patch, and played with the farm animals.

He looks like such a little man in this picture!

My mom was visiting and got to go to the pumpkin patch with us too!

We celebrated 2 year birthday's with a party! Clayton and I have been in a mom/baby playgroup since he was born and we have continued to get together and have celebrated two birthday's now with all the little ones. It has been so amazing to watch these little ones grow and share the joys and challenges of motherhood with the moms.

The other thing I love about October is getting our family costume together for Halloween; we started this tradition on Clayton's 1st Halloween. This year we were Scooby-doo and the gang. We did a little trick or treating in our neighborhood and then went to our friends' Halloween party.
After a couple houses, Clayton figured out what he was suppose to do. He was very excited about the candy (he had never seen so much before). He overdosed on sugar that night, and was a little monster who finally when to bed at 11:30! Thank goodness Halloween is only once a year!!

Clayton's Motorcycle Party

2009-09-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

(I used the above picture for the invitations. We borrowed our neighbors little motorcycle to take the picture on.)

We celebrated Clayton's 2nd birthday at the park across the street from our house last Saturday. (His actual birthday is this Saturday the 19th and we will be camping for the weekend with friend.) "Practice makes perfect" paid off this year. Last year we had lots of people at our house with dinner and Clayton histarically cried and missed half of the party. I wasn't sure what to expect this year; I just knew I wanted to have it somewhere other than our house and to go simple with just cake. Clayton ended up having a blast and so did all the other kids!

When I decided what to do for the cake I realized it decribes him perfectly at 2 years old: motorcycles, dirt, and rocks. He loves to watch motorcycles and points them out when he hears them "cycle" "vroom, vroom" He loves playing in the dirt in our garden box and loves picking up rocks and throwing them in water.

I started with a 9x13 sheet cake and then also made to round cakes to make jumps for the motorcycles on the cake. I used chocolate graham crackers for the dirt and found rock candy to add to the cake. Clayton was so excited when he saw his cake; too bad I didn't get it on video.

Clayton and his friends waiting patiently for cake.

I found a motorcycle pinata at WINCO. The kids had so much fun trying to break it open. Clayton thought it was so funny to hit it. He looked at everyone and giggled.

My months of planning this party felt much rewarded with the joy my little man expressed on this day. We all had such a fun time!

Beating the Heat

2009-07-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

It has been in the 100s for weeks now and we were lucky enough to escape the Chico heat two weekends in a row. 4th of July weekend we camped at Buck's lake with our friends. It was nice and cool there!! We rented a boat for a day. The guys tried their luck with the kids' fishing poles and left behind bait and a princess pole in the lake. We ate and ate, sat around the campfire and had smores, took walks, and played in the water. Jenna and I tried some crafting, but was short lived with toddlers. We were up at sunrise and exhausted by dark!

Elliana, Tucker and Clayton had fun helping drive the boat.

The boys decided to try a sand-mud mask for their hair. They were one big ball of dirt by the time we left. They were right in their element just like their dads, the outdoors. It will be fun when they can go hunting with them and we can have a girls weekend! How many years do you think we have Jenna? Two days is about all I can handle without a shower.

Brody's dad and stepmom came for a visit and we took them to San Fransisco to watch a Giants game. The weather was perfect, in the low 70s. The game was awesome, with the Giant's playing a no hitter game. Clayton had a great time at his first baseball game. He was so fun to watch!

Clayton loved having his "papa" and "ma" visit. He would get so excited in the morning to see them and we all had to gather in the bedroom at bedtime to read books.

8 years

2009-06-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today Brody and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary. Every year on our anniversary he has gotten me a dozen red roses with a white rose for each year that we have been married. It seems only like yesterday that the red roses over powered the whites. Today as I reflect on those years, the white roses symbolize God's strength and love in our marriage. We were young, 20 and 21. I owe the success of our marriage to my Lord and Savior and am so thankful we found him to be the "Rock" of our marriage. We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday with dinner downtown and a movie to follow. For 2 hours we talked over dinner, we laughed, and enjoyed every bite of our dinner unintterupted by little man. I don't remember the last time we got to have dinner just the two of us. It was an absolutely wonderful evening!
I found this poem a while back and have wanted to frame it with a picture in our room. I haven't found the picture to go with it yet, but I decided to make Brody a card this year and put the poem on the front. Then this evening I found our wedding handouts, with this poem in it. Wow, no wonder I like it so much!

The Promise

Across the years I will walk with you

in deep green forests, on shores of sand,

and when our time on earth is through,

in heaven, too, you will have my hand.

Like father, like son

2009-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more amazing than watching the man I love be a wonderful father to our "little man". He loves his daddy and loves doing everything he does.

For Father's day, we took a hike in Upper Bidwell Park and the boys played in the creek with Farrah.

A New Hobby

2009-05-31T22:45:00.000-07:00

In February I decided I was going to start running with the intentions of training for a 1/2 marathon this fall. I bought my first pair of running shoes and found a Couch to 5K training program to get me going and I started my 10 week training program in March. Little did I know of what this new hobby would sprout. I have found so much joy in running the last 3 months, it has been a time for me to thought process, pray, and just simply have "me time". I have also found wonderful running partners, my family! Brody decided to start running as well and we take turns running with Clayton and Farrah.
I ran my first timed 5K race with Clayton the first part of May and then my official 5K race at the end of my training program a couple weeks later.

Brody and I ran our first race together May 17 in San Fransisco called "Bay to Breakers", a 12K. It was quite an experience to run with more than 30,000 people, some completely naked! It was a crazy first race, but so much fun and such a memorable event for us. I am so thankful to have ran my first race with my best friend.

There is something about having a finish that brings such an amount of accomplishment, joy, victory, and perseverance, knowing the end is near. Persevere, Brody brought this word up one day on a run and I have thought a lot about it lately. Perseverance is how I would describe overcoming the 1 mile hill in the bay to breaker race, overcoming the intense side aches without stopping, or the feeling of just wanting to collapse and quit at mile 5. I came across Everyday Becky and was inspired by her post on perseverance and her beginning journey with running. She had also posted this verse from Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." I love to find scripture that speaks to me. I have also found inspiration in a book that a friend gave me to read, Sole Sisters, stories of women and running. Next to being a wife and mother, I have found a love for running.

I look forward to our next race July 26th in Santa Cruz, the "Wharf to Wharf" 10K !!!

Roughin it

2009-05-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Last minute, we decided to go camping with the other thousands of people memorial weekend. This was our first camping trip with Clayton. We didn't know where we were going to camp or if we would even find a spot. We just took a chance (I prayed real hard that I wouldn't get upset if we drove around all day and found nothing). My prayers were answered, we found the last camping spot at buck's lake and this is the view we got to enjoy. Too bad I couldn't have been in the picture, this would have made a great Christmas card (maybe I will have to photo shop myself in). We had so much fun! It was so nice to thoroughly enjoy my family and not let my mind wander with what needed to be done around the house or what we were doing for dinner. Brody tried fishing a little, Farrah enjoyed swimming and Clayton had fun playing with sticks, building a sand castle with daddy, and walking in the water. I enjoyed the beauty of it all and of course keeping Clayton from getting hurt. He managed to burn his hand on the firepit, hit his head a couple of times and came home full of slivers in his hands and feet. I am suprised we haven't had an ER visit yet with this boy!

Clayton enjoyed his first smore! He says it was "num,num"!

Our two children hanging out in the sticks. These two are equal work, the only difference is we can put Farrah in her kennel or chain her up when she is causing trouble. Three days of camping was about enough for me without a shower!

Motherhood

2009-05-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

God created me to be a mother, he gave me the gift to love and nuture his child, but he forgot to leave me any instructions on discipline. Clayton went from a baby one day to a toddler the next and now I feel like all I ever say is "No Clayton", "Get out of there Clayton". You can guess what his new favorite word is, "No"! He says no to everything even when he means yes. If you ask him if he wants to go outside, he will say "no" and run to the front door with a smile on his face.
There is a sweet side of Clayton that he must have got from his mother, right? He loves to give kisses and say "hi" and "bye" to everyone. This last weekend we left him with my Aunt Rose and Uncle Don and they said he was a very good boy. I am thankful for these times where I know I must be doing something right as a mother.

We spent Mother's Day at the Sacramento Zoo with our friend's Jenna, Justin, Elliana and Tucker, her sister, niece, and parents. Thanks Jenna for the nice family photo you took of us! This was Clayton's first trip to the zoo and he loved all the animals.

Here is a picture of the boys, Tucker and Clayton, with their daddy's. They were staying out of trouble on their shoulders. Tucker is Clayton's best buddy. They are two months apart and keep their momma's busy!

Road Trip

2009-05-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

After two days of a rainy weekend and feeling a little couped up inside we decided to take a road trip to Cabela's in Reno. We purchased our very first family tent and are excited for our first camping trip with Clayton that will be in June with our church.

We have been to Cabela's a couple times with Clayton but this time he really enjoyed all the animals. He thought they all said "moo" so daddy is now teaching him how to bugle like an elk.

He got a "pull and pop" shooter which he loves to operate and walked around the store showing everyone.

On the way home we stopped to visit a friend of Brody's who named his son Brody after meeting Brody a couple years ago and liking the name. I forget how "baby" they still are at 11 months, Clayton seemed like such a big boy in comparison.

He loved Clayton and gave him kisses. Clayton wasn't sure what to think of Brody following him around and holding on to him.

We also got to see two deer close up in their yard and Clayton thought they were dogs. Did you know a deer squats to pee like a female dog? Well they do and you had to be there to be awestruck like me.

A little bit of Paradise....

2009-04-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

We took about 200 pictures and I feel like we didn't take enough; sometimes I get so caught up in enjoying the moments I forget to capture them on film.
We were greeted with fresh flower leis when we got off the airplane. Hawaii was much more beautiful than I imagined. It was so green and lush with vegetation and beautiful flowers, and the ocean was amazing. There is something about being at the ocean that bring such peace to me. Our week was filled with sight-seeing, sandcastle building, morning walks along the ocean shore, admiring the fish, snails, frogs, and chickens, swimming in the pools, and afternoon naps. We were up at 4:30 or should I say Clayton; and were the first ones in line at starbucks across the street in the morning. Clayton loved walking in the sand and after the first time he would say "off" to take his shoes off when he hit the beach. He also didn't mind tasting it and even enjoyed sand covered strawberries.

The waterslides were lots of fun, and after we went down once, it was "more,more" even if his mouth was chattering because he was cold.Brody and I would both say that the luau we attended was the highlight of our trip. It was complete with a pig roast and all the fixings, bottomless mai tai's, and hawaiian dancing. Clayton was highly entertained by the dancers and at the end (the guy that he is looking at in the picture) did a hawaiian dance with fire. I wished I would have got a picture of Clayton's face because he was just facinated with the guy. Brody took him up to talk to him afterwards. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to capture him high fiving the guy and giving him nuckles. We had such a wonderful time and I really enjoyed every moment. It was great to disconnect from our everyday life. I even took time off from some of my everyday roles, Brody grocery shopped and cooked most of our meals. I felt very pampered! It was a great way to celebrate the beginning of my last year of 20s.

Easter fun

2009-04-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

We had a busy week full of Easter tradition; we made cookies, decorated easter eggs, did an easter egg hunt and went to church. I am now exhausted and have a head cold. It was so exciting to get to do all these fun things with Clayton for the first time and watch his reactions. Clayton enjoyed the Easter egg dying. By the end of it his hands were green and he was a bit distraught that they weren't coming clean when we wiped them with a towel.Our street has an Easter egg hunt for the kids every year and this was the first year Clayton got to particpate. He is the youngest of all the kids. He had fun picking up the eggs and was more interested in seeing what was in them than collecting them. He likes instant gratification I guess. Today we went to church and celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Although Clayton doesn't understand what Easter is all about I found a cute book that we have been reading to him called My Easter Basket and the True Story of Easter by Mary Manz Simon. When we ask him where Jesus is, he will point to the man in the book. This will be a great book that I look forward to using next year to put together an Easter basket for him and teach him the Easter story.

The Easter basket Clayton is holding was mine when I was little that my great grandmother made. Our neighbor was so kind to come over and take a family photo. Notice Brody has a tie on, he was the only one at church wearing one. Not a big deal but it is just crazy to me how casual dressed we have become, growing up I always remember my dad wearing slacks, a dress shirt and tie to church. Times have changed!

7 day and counting.....

2009-04-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

On tax day (how appropriate) we leave for Hawaii for a week! I am so excited I can hardly sleep at night. Our vacations since we moved to California have been to visit family. The bonus to this trip is that it is all expenses paid through Brody's work. He won the trip and I am going to enjoy every bit of it because he says it is unlikely that we will get one again. He also planned this trip over my birthday, how sweet it that, what a great beginning to my last year of 20s. We are staying at the Outrigger Resort & Spa. Clayton is going with us so we will probably be building lots of sand castles, playing in the pools and taking lots of naps. Whatever we do will be fun just me and my boys.

My Favorite Day of the Week

2009-04-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Fellowship and worship is such a wonderful way to start off the day; followed by a catnap while soaking up the sunshine. The day couldn't get much better. After Clayton's nap the day is complete with some family fun. Today we took a bike ride and even took Farrah along (I think we figured a way to burn some of her energy in the off season of hunting). Our ride was followed by dinner on our new patio set watching the hummingbirds. I love Sundays! My serious faced boy.

Brody's Birthday Party

2009-03-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my friend Laci last week, and her son overheard her talking about Brody's birthday and he said "I want to go to Brody's birthday party", so we had a party on Sunday. I made him a lemon cake with fun-fetti frosting per his request and we had friends over to help us eat it. The kids sure enjoyed their cake and ice cream. I was so excited to sit outside in the back yard and use our new patio furniture we bought last fall because we have hardly used it, but it turned out to be super windy so we stayed inside. Friday night I took Brody to a Sacramento King's game and we went out for sushi. We hadn't been for sushi since before we moved to California. It was a fun night out, just the two of us! Clayton stayed the night with my aunt and uncle for the first time, and he did wonderful. I could tell he had fun when I picked him up.

Brody had a lot of candles to blow out, he is getting up there in his years. Haha! ( He is the youngest of all our friends including me.)

Saturday was a beautiful day, I think it hit 80 degrees. I bought Clayton this sink from Costco. I just couldn't resist; he loves playing in the water! Brody and I enjoyed watching him, relaxing in our new Cabela's chairs we got for Christmas. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon.

My baby is 18 months!

2009-03-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, has the last 18 months flew by! You know when you were a kid and your birthday felt forever away, time couldn't move fast enough for it to be here. As a mother now, I can't believe how fast my little baby boy has grown right in front of my eyes. This time last year Clayton was just learning to sit up and we started introducing solid foods. Now, he is running all over the place and eats anything!
Clayton loves being outside! We loves to watch daddy mow, run down the side of the house through the bushes and sit at his picnic table and eat a snack. He loves to pick up the neighbors rocks and throw them or put them in his mouth for a little taste. Daddy has been teaching him how to play baseball and yesterday he hit the ball all by himself.

Clayton is fascinated with trucks. His new thing is to point and grunt at trucks he sees and I have to respond with "firetruck, delivery truck, garbage truck, pickup truck". Every Friday we watch the garbage truck come by and empty our garbage. This morning, he was standing at the front door watching as soon as he heard the garbage truck coming up the street.

Clayton loves to wave and say "hi' to everyone he comes into contact with. It is fun to watch as people are taken off guard, but they always respond with a "hi" and smile. His vocabulary is increasing more and more everyday.

Clayton just got his 3rd tooth; at this rate he could be teething for the next 6 years!

Complete Relaxation?!

2009-03-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Brody scheduled me a massage yesterday which I would have rather gave to him; not exactly my idea of a couple of hours without Clayton, I could be shopping! It was such a nice gesture for him to make the appointment and take off work so I was thankful. Going in there I told the therapist I wanted a "relaxing massage". As she began my massage I wondered if it was possible to completely relax as my mind raced with what I needed to get at Target, will I have enough time to cook dinner and eat and be somewhere at 6:00?, and.........next thing I hear is the therapist "Did that hurt?". Startled I said, "no". Therapist: "Well usually it is a sign that it hurts when you move". I had to laugh because for about 30 seconds I shut down and relaxed and then startled myself from doing it! Am I the only crazy one that has a hard time shutting down or is it a woman thing?

My little helper

2009-03-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I decided to quickly scrub the kitchen floor because it had really been bugging and needed it so bad! So I got my bucket and rag and made a vinegar solution which by the way is great for so many uses because it is effective at killing those germies and is environmentally friendly. Clayton managed to find his own rag and jumped right in helping me. This was a priceless moment watching my little guy so focused on the task at hand, covering every surface of our kitchen floor. I am so thankful for the patience God has given me as a mother in order for my child to learn and explore, even though it took me twice as long to clean the floor and there was more water on the floor than in the bucket.

I have joined the blogging world!

2009-03-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finally got my blog started although the layout still needs some work. Easier said than done! I have spent hours trying to get the layout I want.....I guess it will come. At least I can start blogging. Thank you friends who have motivated me to start my own. I have enjoyed being inspired with crafty ideas, food, motherhood and getting to know what is going on in your life even if a distance away.