What a Crazy Couple of Weeks!

Michael's Room... His Locker Room, aka Closet

His Goal Post Around His Window: Complete with Football Flying Through (still need to finish the end zone, lol)

His Fifty Yard Line

His Bed and Score Board (another thing needing to be finished, lol). He's upgraded to his toddler bed finally too.

Baby Matix

Daddy and Matix bonding moment

Sleeping Baby Matix

Baby Aiden

Mommy and Michael cuddling before bed (Michael was glued to the TV watching Cars)

Sleeping baby Michael

Mmmm... French Toast Sticks. Any my new Hair Cut!

What are you looking at? Lol.

Michael riding a tractor!

Mommy's not paying attention and Michael swooped in for a drink. Lol.

Life has been speeding by and super crazy the last few weeks. We've been able to see my grandma and grandpa Button (Michael's great grandparents) from South Dakota, we celebrated Michael's second birthday with them while they were here, Michael and I took a road trip to visit my mom overnight last week, Mike's sister had her baby boy on Wednesday and my brother Blase and his fiancee Marissa had their baby Friday, and we've been super spring cleaning!

Michael got a hair cut (much needed) and I was SO proud of him, he still had to sit on my lap facing me, but he let the stylist finish his hair cut without screaming and throwing a fit. He looks so big now! He's been absolutely adorable! With the addition of new babies, he's been oohing and aahing over them (telling us "sshhh, baby sleeping" and telling them "night night" when he walks away). He's been super sweet lately and wanting to cuddle and hug all day (I love those moments). He's been getting really good at counting and can count to 6 on his own and 10 with help. He's also showing signs of being ready for potty training soon and asking to sit on the potty (he just hasn't pottied in the potty yet or really connected those dots yet).

We went to the zoo last weekend with my dad and the rest of the family and had a blast. Grandpa took Michael down the big giraffe slide and then he got Uncle Blase to do it with him also. Grandpa also bought food for Michael to feed to some goats and sheep and Michael kissed one of the sheep on the cheek (he is such a stinkin cutie). Michael was hilarious too, we'd be pointing out an animal and he would yell "a tree" or "a rock". He gets so excited about everything.

Mike got his stitches removed and is on his way to finally healing all the way. After removing two of the screws from his leg, it has already moved his bones a few millimeters closer together and his doctor expects a full recovery within 6 weeks. He is finally off light duty and able to keep active. He still gets sore, but he's good. :)

It was an exciting week in the world of babies. Mike's sister was due on May 10th and was induced on May 19th. After a C-section, she delivered an adorable 6lb 12oz baby boy they named Aiden. My brother Blase and his fiancee Marissa were due to have their baby boy on May 23, but she had him on Friday morning, May 21st. He was 6lbs 5oz and they named him Matix Anthony. He's is a cutie too. All these babies, it's hard to believe Michael was their size just a couple of years ago.

I finally passed my last math class and I only have 4 classes left in my associate degree career. I'm super excited to be close to reaching my first milestone. I started right after Michael was born and I wish I had gone right after high school because it's been hard, but it's going well and I'm on track. I won't be done for a while though, I'm going to get my Bachelor's and Master's as well. But I'm taking it one step at a time for now. :)

Yep, life is good. :) I am super blessed, having fun, and living the dream.

Thinking Back.... Looking to the Future

So proud of my little brother graduating college!

Zach and Kelsey.... So ADORABLE!

Mom and my sister Jenny

My Mommy!

Me letting Michael and Karmen pet a baby bunny!

Jenny's Ballet Pic- I LOVE this one!

My adorable grandpa! He's so stinking cute!

My gorgeous sister Courtney... she's growing up so fast!

Michael and Sofie... He LOVED playing in her bed (she'd get scared and run whenever he got close. Lol)

I don't know what this face is, but it's hilarious!

Me and Michael when he was one month old.

Brand new baby.... just delivered.

Michael and Karmen when they were tiny.... how cute!

Michael will be two in a few short weeks and we will be welcoming two tiny new baby boys any day now. It seems like life is going by so quickly. It's been such an amazing two years and I know we have so many more amazing years to watch him grow. We've seen him as a tiny, fragile newborn.... got so excited at that first smile and akward giggle.... went ballistic at his first attempt of crawling and when he took his first step we were absolutely thrilled.... got emotional when he said our names for the first time.... leaped for joy when he began to say sentences.... and he's becoming such a fun little guy. I can't believe how fast the years are going. It's sad to see what is now in the past, but it's given us our best memories and we know we have so much more to get excited about. Here are some fun pictures of Michael, family, and life!

Life has been going well. Michael is still adjusting to his new daycare and not having a binky, but he's doing a great job. He's definitely entering his terrible two's though. Lol. He's got a mind of his own and definitely likes to test his limits. He's been a lot of fun too though and he's talking up a storm. We bought some bikes and a child bike trailer and had the chance to use that for the first time today and Michael loved it! Now that it's warming up, we'll be able to use them often to go to the park and zoo or even ride into downtown or along the river for lunch. For Mother's Day, Mike got me a 2007 PT Cruiser and I absolutely adore it! It's so much fun to drive and it feels like an SUV on the inside, but gets much better gas mileage. :) Mike also let me sleep in this morning (or at least go back to bed after we took Maryan out for breakfast at 7:30 this morning). Lol. We're getting excited for the upcoming births of two baby boys and Michael will have two cousins any time in the next few weeks! The job is still amazing! I feel so fortunate to have something that fits me so well. I am down to just four classes left for my degree and it's getting close, but still feels like it will never get here. Mike had another surgery on Wednesday to take out the screws because his femur still hasn't healed. Hopefully this will put enough pressure on his bones to completely heal. He is doing well though and only had to miss a couple of days of work. He's getting excited about the opportunity to take part in an urban tactical training course in September as well. ...So that's life in a nutshell for us right now. Nothing too crazy or exciting, but life is still good. :) I hope everyone has an amazing Mother's Day and gets to enjoy the last day of the weekend!

Fun and Then Sick Baby

Michael Mini-Golfing
Life is good, as always. I lucked out and last week while driving to a doctor's office for work I drove by an adorable daycare by my work (it looks like a castle) and I called to ask about their rates just out of curiosity. They told me it would be $113/week for 3 days then asked if I wanted to come see it. I told them we were looking at an in-home daycare that would charge us $60/week and that we really couldn't afford much more. The girl then called the owners and called me back to tell me that they would match that price! So Michael started there on Monday and it's great. They have a security code to get into the daycare and offer an amazing curriculum. Plus, it's not even five minutes from my work office. :)

On Saturday, we went to Wahooz and played mini-golf with our good friends Russell and Sarah. As soon as we walked in, Michael eyed a stuffed Elmo. Our Fun Package came with 10 tokens each and we were able to come up with all but 100 tickets needed for the Elmo. They weren't willing to work with us on the Elmo, so Russell and Mike went back to get those tickets... and they ended up with 400 more! So Michael was spoiled and walked away with an Elmo and a four square ball. He also decided that by the second round of mini-golf, he was playing and mommy was watching. Lol. He took over my club and ball and it was adorable to watch him try and get it in the hole. He did actually get a hole in one on one hole and we were shocked! It was awesome. Unfortunately, Sunday he was really cranky and miserable so we weren't able to make it to Stephanie's baby shower.

Then last night.... I woke up at 12 to Michael just screaming and upset. I let him come lay with us and tried to get him to go back to bed, but it just wasn't happening. He kept crying and tossing and turning. I didn't know what was wrong with him...until about 1:30. I was still trying to comfort him when all of a sudden he screamed a few times, then threw up all over me, the bed, Mike's pillow, and our blankets. It was awful! This is so much worse than spit up. I am terrified of throwing up, then I got thrown up on and I was mortified. I just kept rubbing his back and trying to calm him down. Once he finished, we cleaned up, changed our clothes and washed off, and laid back down. I thought we were in the clear and that maybe he made himself sick from crying, but then around 2:30, it happened again. The poor little guy was up almost all night throwing up. By the end of it all, we were down to tiny little blankets and decorative pillows because unfortunately a toddler can't tell you he's going to throw up or even get a running start for the bathroom. We're home sick today, and I'm a little nervous since I've never had to really care for a toddler with the flu. I'm just trying to make sure he keeps hydrated, eats slowly, and hopefully he'll get a good amount of sleep so that he'll be back to normal by tomorrow.

My new job is so amazing! I called to let them know what happened and I was terrified they would be upset (I've only been there a month or so and it looks so bad to have to call in), but my boss said they understand, they all have kids and are real people and have been in this situation. He told me it wasn't a big deal at all. I feel so fortunate to be working for such an amazing company and I can't wait to get back to work tomorrow.

Another really cool thing that happened this week was that a friend from elementary school in Utah (I haven't seen her in 13 years!) found me on Facebook! Her name is Janie and we were best friends. We used to play all the time and we loved to sing along to the Phantom of the Opera. We never kept in touch after I moved and she said all she knew was my name and that I had a dad who lived in Idaho. She found my facebook page with a link to this blog and she said as soon as she opened it, she knew it was me because Phantom of the Opera was playing. Lol. How cool is that? I'm so excited!

Quotes and Being a Parent

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today" -Stacia Tauscher

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." -Franklin P. Jones

"A characteristic of a normal child is he doesn't act that way very often." -Author Unknown

"Boy, n: a noise with dirt on it." -Not Your Averge Dictionary

"Children seldom misquote. In fact, they tend to repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said." -Author Unknown

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." -Angela Schwindt

"Any kid will run any errand for you if you ask at bedtime." -Red Skelton

I love these quotes. Life is such a gift and everyday offers so much happiness and so many blessings. Michael is starting to grow so fast that it's scary. On Sunday, April 18, we went camping and decided to make a big ceremony out of getting rid of the binky for good. We explained to Michael that it was time to become a big boy and that binkies are for babies. We told him when he was ready that he needed to throw his binky in the camp fire and say good bye to binkies for good. It took a few minutes, but he did. He threw his binky in the camp fire and he hasn't had a binky since. The first few nights were rough, but it's going much better now. He still asks for it several times a day, but he's pretty good about just letting it go once we explain that he's a big boy now and he threw his binky in the camp fire. It was really hard the first couple of nights, there was a lot of screaming, and he even ended up in our room one night, but it's worth the benefits now that we are on the downhill slope. Next big task: Potty training. :( Ugh.
Beyond the binky, Michael is so smart and continues to amaze me every day. He has the funniest personality and he talks all the time. I adore his words. He calls an airplane an "up high", a poptart is a "poppart", grandpa is "papa", and even the words he pronounces correctly sound like the cutest thing you've ever heard. He's a handful. He loves to play outside (and he doesn't care if it's cold and raining or 5 in the morning). He goes down slides face first on his tummy, he climbs on everything (we caught him standing in a window sill holding on for dear life today... luckily we got to him before he fell, and he was only a couple feet off the ground), he ALWAYS tries to drive when I tell him to get in the car, and his smile will melt your heart like butter. He's absolutely adorable and I can't imagine life without him in it.
You think about your life changing when you have a child.... you can't go to a movie without finding a sitter, you can't go out to eat unless it's a loud restaurant where your child can scream and get messy, you can't pamper yourself as much, you sacrifice your body, sleep, and sanity. But being a parent has changed my life for the better. I've never felt love the way I love my baby boy. I haven't been so excited about bubbles and play-doh since I was young enough to enjoy it myself, I haven't appreciated the simple things such as a good swing or slide in years, and I LOVE when he calls "mama" and kisses and hugs me. Being a mom is the greatest thing in the world.
Mike is doing wonderful. His leg is healing well and with physical therapy, he will be back to good in no time. Just in time for summer fun!
My school is going well and I only have 3 classes left! I'll be excited to have completed that milestone, and then it's on to the next step from there.
Life is good. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful family, a beautiful home, and an amazing life. There are always obstacles to overcome, but we get through them together and it only makes us stronger. And without hard times, you can't learn and grow. You can't really appreciate all the good in life, without experiencing the bad.

Well, it's been a while since I wrote so I decided it's definitely time. My new job at RehabAuthority is going amazing! Not only do I LOVE the job itself, but the people I work with are incredible. I love working with them all. They really believe in making work fun and making fun a priority at work. I am still figuring my "groove", but I don't think it will take too long before I have a good system that is working for me. Another exciting point: I will be getting to drive a company car soon and I am definitely looking forward to that. :)
School is going great. I only have 3 classes left after the two I am in now, and then I will have my associates. :) I'm supposed to take two classes at a time and if I do that, I will have my degree in September, but I think I am going to try and shoot to take them all the same time so I will have it in July.
Beyond that, I am on day 2 of no soda! It's not easy and my head hurts, but I drink probably close to 100oz of caffeine a day and I know it's not good for me so I am quitting cold turkey. :) We are also getting excited about the arrival of our two new nephews in May! Blase and Marissa will be bringing baby Matix into this wrld, and Stephanie and Mike will be blessed with beby Aiden. We went baby shopping this weekend and I couldn't believe Michael was ever so tiny and I'm excited that there will be another little baby around.
Michael is getting SO big! He said his first sentence last week (it was "Where'd mommy go?" to daddy as I was loading up the car before work. :) Since then, he's just taking off. He now tells us when he has gone potty (no matter where we are, lol), he tells us Uncle Daniel's chihuahua bites (he will look at her and say, "she bites"), and so much more. It's absolutely adorable! He even asks to go to the park or go play (that's what he says when he wants to go to the gym daycare to play with all the other kids). He's such a social butterfly and definitely a little energizer bunny, but he has the funniest little personality. His favorite TV shows are SuperWhy, Dinosaur Train, and Word World. At the beginning and end of Super Why, they sing and dance and he's right there with him. At the beginning of Dinosaur Train, there is a dinosaur that growls and he's sure to growl at the exact same moment every time. Lol. He likes to think he's a big boy too. He has decided he's too big to ride in shopping carts, he has to walk along side of you. And tonight, he even decided it was time to move from the booster seat to the chair alone at the dining table. We did a work out video tonight and he was doing it with us as well. He's just so silly and funny.
Mike is healing well. He has physical therapy 3 days a week for a total of 6 weeks, but they are working on building back up his muscles and range of motion so that he will be back to himself in no time. :) He was able to go back to work this last week too and that's been good for him as well.
Things are tight on money with the loss of my job and some disability payment issues we had, but overall, we're working through it and life is good. :)


Michael "Building a House" with Blocks

Michael Dancing to Super Why

Michael Learning to Drive an RC Car

Life is Going Good!!!

Michael's Ticket Count

Michael showing off his prizes

Strike a pose

Let me see your tongue

Cooper thinks he's a kid just like Michael and that the bounce house is his too

Well last week was rough. I was let go from Saint Al's for a ridiculous reason and let's just say that there is a certain someone there that I will not miss (I don't like drama, eavesdroppers, or micromanagers who put people down constantly- it's not professional or nice). I will miss Sharron and Charlene, but plan on keeping in touch. I spent one week unemployed, filled out about 100 applications, and went to about 6 interviews. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a job ad for a place called RehabAuthority and even more fortunate to get hired for a Monday-Friday day job (no holidays) and for better pay than what I was making. From a 1 day ad, they had over 300 applicants and I went through 3 interviews before getting the job. It's a job that is simply to build relationships with doctors so I get paid to make friends (and I think I'm pretty good at that). I have my own office with my own company laptop and company cell phone and I'll be there about 5% of the time and the other 95% of the time I get to meet new people. The company is absolutely amazing and all the people are wonderful. They believe in having fun at work and being passionate and excited about what you do so they hire people that fit into that category (fun especially). I've been on the job for 2 full days, but feel like I have already been accepted into the family unit they have created. Other amazing perks: I get a clothing allowance and if you meet the company goal each year (which they have for the last 3 years in a row), they send the employees and their spouses on a vacation to Mexico! Is this not just a dream company and job? I am so excited!

Beyond the new job, I got to spend some quality time with Michael over the last week. We cleaned and set up Michael's bounce house so we spent a lot of time playing outside and me and my friend Sarah took Michael to Pojos which is a fun Chuck E Cheese sort of place, but for all ages (not just little kids). We literally took $5 in and let Michael choose his own games and play them by himself and he won 393 tickets (on $5 and he isn't even 2!). He loved the games that involve any kind of ball so there was one game where you push a button and a bouncy ball shoots through a tube and bounces around until it falls into a hole that is labeled with a specific number of tickets. Twice in a row he won big! He got 25 once and then 75 immediately after! It was hilarious watching a toddler play a game and win huge. The other game he did well on was a bingo type game where you roll a ball under a glass top and it eventually bounces into a hole labeled with a number that lights up a spot on the electronic bingo card. He got a couple rows lit up a couple times. When we finally went and chose out his prizes, he got a football and two bouncy balls and held them all in his arms and giggled and squealed as we piled them into his arms. He was SO excited! It was a lot of fun.

Mike is doing well too. He will be starting physical therapy this week and we're hoping to get him back up and going well here soon. Life is good. :) We hit a financial snag due to loss of income for a week, but once we recover, we're going to be in a much better state than we were before and much happier. We are so blessed and lucky and truly grateful for everyone who has helped us through everything we have gone through in the last couple of months.

Sick Baby....

It was a long weekend at our house this week. On Friday morning I dropped Michael off at daycare at 6:45 and got a call at 9 at work that he was very sick. He had a fever that was slowly rising and white ear drainage. He has had a cold for the last couple of weeks and as soon as I picked him up, we went to his pediatrician's and found out that the cold has spread to his ears causing an ear infection in both ears and a ruptured ear drum in his right ear. He was put on antibiotics, but the poor little man was miserable all weekend. All he wanted was to be held (no easy task at his age) and if I even moved more than an arm's length away or set him down (even if it was right next to me), he would scream. He seemed to be getting better last night so hopefully we're on the downhill slope from here. You know it's bad though when you pick your son up from daycare and he looks like this. And he looked like this most of the weekend. :( On a happier note, we were able to get his new room half done (just have final touches on the scoreboard and lines on the field and stadium lights left) and he got a brand new bed set in all BSU colors (orange pillow with a blue and orange blanket).

Life Updated...

Things are going well for us. We've pretty much settled into our new house and Mike is doing amazing in healing after his broken femur. We haven't been up to too much, but life is good. Michael is such a little character. When he's happy or flirting, he will give you a big cheesey smile. He has settled back into a bed time routine again too (thank goodness!). We had an embarrassing parenting moment a couple of weeks ago at a Dairy Queen. We were finishing up our dinner and Michael wanted to run around the dining room. It was dead so we let him play in the aisle while we finishd our food when all of a sudden he made a mad dash toward the counter. I jumped up immediately to chase him, but I wasn't fast enough. The silly little guy made it behind their counter, past their grill area, and clear back into their stockroom before I caught him. It was a little mortifying and needless to say, dinner was over immediately. Lol. Grandma and Grandpa have been coaching Michael's fine football skills on the days they watch him and they are working on "BSU", but so far he's got the "B" and "U". Another funny little thing about Michael is that he LOVES to dance. Anytime music comes on, he starts jamming. He knows the fist pump and he does this little move where he squats real low to the ground and bounces side to side. I was at the gas station last week before dropping him off at daycare and I pulled him out of the car to go inside to pay and they were playing music over the loud speaker at the pumps and he started full out dancing and fist pumping both fists. Lol. He's a doll. :) This weekend, we are going to start painting his room. Since he's a BSU football fan, he's getting a room decked out for the little MVP that he is. He'll have the field, goal post, score board, stadium lights, and locker room. Once it's all painted, we're going to put glow in the dark stars up in the "sky" so at night he's got quite the view. He sure is spoiled. :)

This is what you will see when you walk into Michael's room

This is the left side of his room where is crib is. (Between the locker room and goal post)

This is the wall you walk in beside going into his room, it's his closet. There will be a couple of pictures of Michael in his BSU football outfits with MVP and Player of the Year labeled around them too.

Michael and Trish's idea of shopping at Cabela's (the only good thing about that store is all the displys and the big fish tanks). Lol.

Michael trying on some cool new shades.

Shopping Baby Style!

Steph, Mike's sister, came into town today so we all went and spent a day shopping. Lucky for Michael and Karmen, we wound up at Babies R Us where they have this fun little ride. So they rode it 3 times and took turns driving it. :)

Discharge Day... Hopefully

Michael and Karmen Hugging :)

Michael on Daddy's DirtBike Sunday Morning

Today, we are hoping that Mike will be discharged from the hospital. He has been taken off the morphine and IV's and is doing amazing. I am so proud of how great he is doing in his progress! We have been given so much help and so much support from everyone and we appreciate everything that everyone is doing. We've even gotten calls in the morning asking if we need food or anything brought to us. Everyone has been so amazing and we are so grateful for all the help. It will be nice to be back home and enjoy our own beds and home.

This is how Michael spent his time in the ER and boy did he love it! It may be hard to hear, but as soon as we walked into the emergency room, Michael saw the Super Bowl on the TV and started yelling "Football" at it. He ran closer and as he watched the Super Bowl, he was glued and kept yelling "football" and "go, go, go" at the TV. It was hilarious!

Sad Event...

So on Superbowl Sunday, we spent the night at the ER at Saint Alphonsus. Mike went dirtbiking with a couple of his buddies and got thrown from his bike which then in turn landed on him. He broke his femur and had surgery at 11pm Sunday night. He had an 11mm rod placed through his femur from the hip to the knee and has 4 screws holding it all in place. He's in pain, but doing great and we've had some amazing support and help from everyone. He'll be in the hospital a few days, but has already started physical therapy and I know he will do well. He will be on crutches for about 6-8 weeks and it will take up to 9 months for a full recovery, but he's free of a cast and is doing what he can to speed his healing as fast as possible. We've had a lot of help from friends. Billy and Bryson were amazing in helping get Mike taken care of and to the hospital and being there with us through this and everyone has called or stopped by to check on him. We've had family visiting and helping take care of little Michael so we can focus on getting Mike taken care of and preparing him for his recovery and getting him home. Beyond that, his work and friends there are and always have been so supportive and helpful. He has been getting offers for donated time off so he will continue to get paid leave and we don't have to worry about losing his income (his friend Russel is going to donate and AMAZING 3 weeks of time off). We are so grateful for everyone and all the blessings we have through this.