Back to School

It's that time of year again. Summer vacation is officially over and it's time to head back to school. I feel like I've been in school forever. Seriously, this is my 21st year in school, if we aren't counting preschool. Yuck.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Finally. School has been tough. While going to college, I have been hospitalized for pneumonia, during Thanksgiving break, which means I missed the entire last month of school, including finals, so I was set back a whole semester. I've also gotten married while in college, I've had two babies while in college, I've worked while going to college. So many things have set me back and yet I kept trucking on foreword. So many times I cried and yelled and threw notebooks across my living room, boldly stating that I was done, that I was never going to finish and that I hated school, that I had too much on my plate, that it's too expensive. Finished! Then, I'd calm down, pick up the notebook, apologize to Bryant, and sheepishly return to school the next semester.

I even made the crazy decision to change my major, during my senior year, to a degree that I can barely stand. All in the name of getting done faster.

I was originally going into History Education. But after having Savannah, I realized just how far behind in the degree I was. I talked to an academic adviser who pointed me in the direction of Political Science. Because they are under the same department at the school, most of my credits would count towards it. So I made the switch. I don't necessarily hate political science. I just hate the people in my classes who think that their opinion is the only correct one. I switched during the last election. That was annoying because my classes just turned into "I'm right, you're wrong" arguments between my classmates.

But, I'm almost done. I'm so close.

Even though I ultimately just want to be a stay-at-home Mom, I know how important an education is. If my degree does nothing more than inspire my children to go to college, then it will have been worth it. Every late night, every research paper, every student that I want to smack upside the head. All worth it. 

I am actually very excited for this semester. I have only been going part time for the last 2 years, so I am only taking 2 classes. And one of them is online. I realized that in order to get a minor in history, I only had 1 more class to take, so I will be taking that one at the school. And after quitting my job a year ago, I don't get out much, so a few hours away to learn something I'm passionate about will be a welcome change. It feels like forever since I've taken a history class. It's going to be great!

In all honesty, if college was free, and I didn't have to write any papers or do any group assignments (the worst!!!) and no math classes, I would go to school forever. I love to learn. I like the whole school setting. I've always valued education and I love learning about all different subjects. I believe in being well-rounded and school can provide a lot of that. Sometimes, I wish there was a degree in "just a little bit of everything". I'd be good at that.

Wish me luck!

A Day at the Cabin

All summer long, we kept saying that we would go up to the cabin. We said it almost every weekend. My brothers go up almost every week and would post beautiful pictures on facebook and every time I'd say "Hey Bryant, lets go up to the cabin!" and yet, we never did. Finally, we made it up there yesterday!

My brother Sawyer, his wife Kenna, and my parents and sister came up too. 

I made tinfoil dinners to take up, and as I was making them, memories of my Mom making tinfoil dinners, while my dad packed up the truck for a weekend of camping came to mind. 

I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up. Some of my best childhood memories involved a tent, trailer or cabin. At girls camp one year, I got the award for "most outdoorsy" because I was genuinely disappointed that the cabin we were staying at was more of a giant house, and I wasn't allowed to sleep in the tent I had already set up out in the trees.

My grandparent's cabin is exactly what I love about a cabin. It's cozy, and if you want running water, you have to hook it up yourself, if you want eletricity, you have to run a generator. (I prefer propane lanterns anyway, there's just something about them...)

 ^Savannah LOVED the loft! She climbed up there and yelled "Mom! Everything is just my size!"^

In high school, I was invited to go to a friends cabin for the night. When I got there, there was a dishwasher, washing machine, a thermostat, a giant flat-screen TV, electricity, and running water. When I got there with my sleeping bag, first aid kit, mess kit, and flashlights, All I could think was "This isn't a cabin! This isn't camping! This place is nicer than most houses!" and we spent the night watching Law and Order, instead of sitting around a fire and playing card games. I was so bummed.

Being secluded, driving or hiking around, looking for animals, sitting around a fire, snuggling into a sleeping bag. There is just something comforting about it. This is what camping means to me.

Savannah was in heaven. She repeatedly took off into the woods and I was constantly asking her to stay around the cabin. By the end of the night, she was covered in forget-me-not stickers, mud, and was soaking wet thanks to a tumble into the river. I came prepared with several changes of clothes, from my own experiences of tumbling into rivers. Always, always bring a change of socks and shoes AT LEAST!

Deagan was a champ and slept most of the time, or snuggled his grandma and aunt Kenna. I was only 2 weeks old when I went camping for the first time. I'm slacking with my kids with Deagan being almost 3 months!

 ^I took Savannah for a ride on the 4-wheeler and she said "Mom, this is kind of dangerous. I like dangerous!" oh boy, I've got my work cut out for me with that one!^

Bryant was cracking me up. He was so excited and ran around playing boy scout the whole time. He was chopping wood, starting a fire with a flint and steel (and a bit of gasoline...) riding around looking for elk, and shooting my brother and dad's guns. He walked up to the cabin covered in mud with a big grin on his face saying "Honey! We are coming up here every week!" I didn't think I'd need to pack him extra clothes too, but he's got the spirit of a 12 year old boy when it comes to the outdoors. I made him take off his boots and roll up his pant legs before he could come into the cabin.

 ^Animal count: 3 moose, 2 jackrabbits, 1 fox, 1 raccoon, a handful of deer and Bryant and Sawyer saw some elk^

We only have a few more weeks left before the snow prevents us from making it up there. So we will definitely be heading back up soon! I have so many memories of spending weekends up there with my family, and I want to make new memories for my kids of the cabin. And yesterday was my last day of summer vacation before school started. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend it!

Pool Party

Last night, we attended our ward's yearly end of summer party at the local pool.

We started the night off with some games for the kids, and dinner. It was fun getting to talk to a few neighbors (I feel like after 4 years of living here, people are starting to finally see me as their neighbor, and not just the girl who babysat for them when I was a kid! I feel like such a grown-up...)

Savannah barely ate anything, she was far more interested in the volleyball sand pit, where she got sand in her mouth, hair and eyes, and was covered from head to toe in dirt. Every few minutes, she would come to me crying and asking me to wash her arms, or face or hands. And I'll apologize to our neighbors now for when Savy took a swig of water, then spit it out next to your food while trying to get sand out of her mouth...

This was her first time with water wings, she thought they were pretty awesome. While I was taking this, she said she was showing me her muscles. And afterwords, she kissed both of them and said "my muscles are so pretty..."

After dinner, we got in the pool. Savannah had a blast! This was the first time we have taken her to a pool all summer. With having Deagan in June, I just never found the time or energy to attempt to take both kids to the pool. Last year, when we would take Savy to the pool, she would be so scared that she would cling onto Bryant or I the entire time. This time, she was going down the slide backwards, and even took off into the deep end by herself (we went after her, no worries). She loved having the water wings and would swim around all by herself. She told me that she was flying like Tinkerbell.

 

(sorry the photos are all blurry, it was getting dark, and all I have is my iphone camera.)

 

Even Deagan got his toes in the water. I mostly carried him around while wading in the kiddie pool watching Savannah. Eventually, he fell asleep so I put him in the stroller and made Bryant watch him, while I went with Savannah to the deep end, where she enjoyed jumping off the side of the pool into my arms. 

When we got home, it was late and Savannah was exhausted, but I stuck her in the tub. It took me a good 20 minutes and about 4 washes to get all the sand out of her hair. I basically had to soap up her hair, then take a fine-toothed comb and brush through it, rinse and repeat. When she got out, I decided to double check her eyes, and sure enough, there was a giant glob of sand in her left eye, that had been in there for hours! I have no idea how it wasn't hurting her the whole time!

The pool party is always a great send-off to summer. Can you believe school starts so soon? Looks like I need to do a bit of school shopping for myself!

A Day Off

I'm feeling very recharged today.

Yesterday I woke up in a lot of pain with a general overall feeling of the blahs.

I got up and made french toast for the family, but instead of hopping in the shower and getting ready for church afterwords, I just crawled back into bed. I fed Deagan, who fell asleep, and then I drifted off to sleep. When he woke up around 2:45, I texted Bryant, who was just in the living room, and asked him to come and get him for me. He did, and I fell back into a deep sleep until 4:00, when Bryant came in to ask if I wanted some Macaroni and cheese in bed.

The answer to that it always yes.

But my parents came over, and I decided that after being in bed ALL DAY, I could get up and go say hello. My mom and sister then invited me over to watch a movie, and Bryant offered to keep the kids for me, so I could get some more time-off from my mommy duties.

I ended up staying at my parents house until 10:00. When I got home, I realized that other than making breakfast and feeding Deagan a few times, I had essentially had an entire day off from being a mom. Mom's never get days off, so this was heavenly. Both my kids were half-naked all day. Savannah spent most of the day playing on the ipad and snacking on blueberries and apples, while I spent the day dead to the world and putting in some much needed hours in dreamland. 

When I got home, I went straight to bed. I got up around 1 to feed DJ, who then slept until 7:00am. 

I felt 100 X better today than I've felt in a looooong time. I even got a teeny bit of housework done because Deagan, who is my cuddler and ALWAYS wants to be held, sat quietly on a blanket in the living room, while my ever so demanding Savannah sat quietly next to him playing with her legos. 

We spent the afternoon with my dad running errands and stopped for hamburgers and cokes while both kids napped the whole time. 

Now we are home and Savannah is sitting on the couch watching Little Einsteins and DJ is happily sitting in his swing. Bryant should be home in an hour and a half and I fully plan on putting the kids to bed early, and then sitting with the hubster out on the deck to watch the meteor shower tonight.

Random Thoughts

Once again, both kiddos are napping and I'm waiting for Bryant to get home. 

We have a neighborhood party that we are going to in about 45 minutes so I hope he's off soon.

Anyways, I'm just taking this opportunity to get some more random thoughts down.

1). Post-partum hair is the pits. With Savannah, my hair started to fall out about 6 months after I had her, and I stopped nursing her. This time, we are 2 months in and I'm still nursing, but it's already falling out. It's so sad. wah waaaah....

2) Speaking of post-pregnancy, did I mention that I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight by 9 weeks? Well If I did, I'm sorry to repeat it, but I'm pretty darn proud. Granted, it's only pre-Deagan weight and not pre-savannah weight, but I'll take it.

3) Low-blood-sugar Savannah is almost as bad as low-blood-sugar Brooke. On our way to get lunch today, Savannah started to whine and told me that she just needed a taco and french fries or else she was going to cry. Looks like she gets hangry (hungry/angry) just like her mama.

4) I've got about 3 or 4 DIY projects I want to do. Hopefully I can get around to gathering the supplies I need for them soon so I can post the finished products on here!

5) I'm the least patient person I know. I've called the doctor 3 times since noon (it's now 6:00) and each time, they put me on hold for 10 minutes, then said they would call me back. The last nurse didn't even ask for my name or phone number before she hung up.

6) Every time I want to see a movie, Bryant always says it looks stupid or "too artsy". And then every single time, he ends up completely loving it. You're welcome hun. ;-)

Well, DJ is awake, so that's all for now!

2 months old!

This handsome, happy little guy turned 2 months old earlier this week!

We took him in for his 2 month check-up, and I was really surprised to learn that he's not as big as I thought he was.

He is 11lbs, 3oz (34th percentile)

he is 23 inches long (50th percentile)

and his head is surprisingly small at 38.2cm (12th percentile)

I was surprised that he was all in the lower range, since he was so stinking huge when he was born! He eats like crazy too, so I was expecting him to get really fat, but instead, he's just getting long!

His cheeks though. Seriously, those things get nibbled on all. day. long.

The doctor said he is healthy and happy though. It was our first time with the new pediatrician because our old one retired to go on an LDS mission (sniff. sniff. You will be missed Dr. J!) We liked this guy though, so we think we'll keep him.

I thought it was funny how he was telling us to make sure we do "tummy time" with DJ to strengthen his neck and shoulder muscles, and as he was telling us this, he flipped him onto his stomach. Then when DJ pushed himself up and looked around like it was no big deal, the doctor stopped mid-sentence and said "Oh, it looks like he's already got a really strong neck!"

Yup, the nurse even said that the day he was born!

He smiles all the time now. He especially loves smiling at Savannah. I don't know if it's just that he likes her voice the most, or if he likes the way she looks or what, but he LOVES to look and smile at her! 

He's found his voice too and coos and chats all day long, waiving and flailing his arms, grabbing at my hair or my necklaces or whatever is within reach. Ok, funny side-story. I was a church and an older lady came up to me and asked how he was doing. I said "he's doing great! He's chatting and talking a lot now!" meaning, he's cooing and making noises right? Then she stopped for a second and took a good look at him and asked how old he was. When I said 2 months, she replied "he's only 2 months and he can talk? That can't be right..." She thought I meant he was literally talking, not just making baby sounds. I got a good laugh out of it!

 ^Both Savannah and Deagan inherited Bryant's eyebrows!^

Like I said, this kid eats a TON. He must be like Savannah and have an extremely high metabolism because the kid should be a roley poley with how much he eats. But he also spits up a lot. I asked the doctor about that and he said that where he is gaining weight steadily, and as long as he doesn't seem in pain, like crying or arching his back afterwords, that he should be fine. And he said he will probably continue to spit up for another couple of months. When I feed him at night, I now place a blanket under his head when I feed him, because if I fall asleep while he's eating, and I don't sit him up, he spits up all over the bed, and I got tired of washing the sheets every day. So now I'm washing large bundles of burp cloths and receiving blankets. 

He also had a blocked tear-duct that made his eye really gross and goopy, but we got some eye drop antibiotics and it's seemed to have cleared it all up. 

He's gone back to sleeping pretty well at night. He sleeps in his bassinet in our room from about midnight until 7am. Then I bring him into bed with me and feed him, and he falls back asleep until about 9, when his dad leaves for work and his sister wakes up. I leave him in bed with me after he eats rather than put him back in the bassinet, because even though he wiggles and wiggles until I'm practically falling off the bed, I like those couple of hours where I can cuddle next to him. I don't get too many moments like that with Savannah any more, and I know someday DJ won't want to cuddle his mom very much either. 

We love having Deagan here with us. I already feel he is growing way too fast.

Of Birthdays and Lamps

On Sunday, we celebrated my grandma's birthday, and at the same time, we celebrated every girl in the family's birthday!

 

 

Savannah got a book and a dress, she loves them both!

 

(Deagan's bowtie is from HERE just in case you were wondering...)

Some of the great-grandkids!

Remember a couple of posts ago when I was saying that I desperately needed a new lamp for my nightstand?

Well, my thoughtful grandma got me one for my birthday!

 And it goes perfectly with my nightstand! 

She also got me a beautiful leather journal, that I took some time to sit out on the deck the other night and just wrote and wrote and wrote in it. Until a silly little toddler came out on the deck half-naked and asked if she could sit with me :-)

It's always fun getting together and celebrating with family. If you've ever met my grandma, then you know how special and loving she is. Happy birthday Grandma!

Salmon Supper

Every year we head down to Payson for their annual Salmon Supper.

Its a fundraiser and there is always a HUGE turnout. The line for the food wrapped clear around the park!

For 15 bucks you get coleslaw, a potato, a roll, corn on the cob, a bottle of water, a cookie, and a HUGE slab of Salmon, that was flown in the day before from Alaska (fresh fish is hard to come by out here in Utah, so that in and of itself is worth the money!) and then it's cooked over fruitwood fires right there at the park.

A-MAZ-ING!

 ^Droopy pigtails are too adorable!^

 ^Tree-hugger^

 ^Kenna is going to be such a cute Mom someday. She looks adorable holding DJ^

 ^Savy and her great Grandpa! (And chubby little Finn photo-bombing in the back!)^

 ^This girl goes a little crazy when people start wrestling. She gets this look in her eye that says "I'm going to beat the snot out of these kids" and she goes to TOWN! Don't be anywhere near her if she wants to wrestle. And yes, poor River is totally being clotheslined by Savannah's legs because he tried to jump on Sawyer's face right as he picked Savy up. Poor kid.^

The Salmon Supper is almost like a holiday for Bryant. He looks forward to it every year. Then it's all he can talk about for the week after.

It was good food with good people. A lot of my family members from my grandma's side of the family that I don't get to see very often came, and it's always nice spending time with them! We are looking forward to next year Payson!