Who wants my kid!!

Looking for childcare sucks. Especially part-time childcare for the under-2 set. I’m a working mom. Now that Mason is crawling & getting into everything, I can’t take him to work with me all day. Mason doesn’t tolerate long phone calls, he gets annoyed when I’m working on the computer. He’s even been known to rip the mouse out of my hand and bite it with all 4 teeth.

  Sure, I could probably find a job in the evenings and on weekends. Except that I have this thing called a husband & he occasionally likes to spend time with me when he has a night off. Exchanging text messages over the baby’s head as he flings peas from the high chair doesn’t exactly count as quality time, you know what I’m saying?

For the past 4 months, I’ve had Kassidy watch Mason & that’s been great, but she’s starting school Monday so I’ve been on the look out for a new sitter. I’ve asked at church, friends, asked friends of friends and sisters of neighbors, online…The result? Nada.

People either want more money or more hours. Finally I called a childcare locator service, they dug around in their database and gave me some numbers for in-home day care centers. I called them all. They either didn’t have any openings for infants or weren’t accepting part-timers. A couple said they might have openings in October…I need one now!

I don’t need an early-childhood education major. I don’t care if the sitter engages Mason in “age-appropriate” activities or teaches him sign language. I just need someone to chase him around the house, stop him from eating pennies he finds on the floor & just keep him alive until I’ve done a couple hours of work.

TIP O’ THE WEEK: Become independently wealthy.

Look at this kid...how could you say no?!

Crazy Couple Weeks!

We've had a busy couple of weeks. We are finally doing our lawn...I went home for lunch & there was a HUGE pile of dirt sitting in front of our house (Nic's cousin Lacie calls it brown gold & we now understand...too much money!!) Nic & I spent like 4 hours on Saturday spreading it out, we didn't have a sitter so we put Mace on the neighbors grass, that lasted 2 mins...his new favorite thing to eat is dirt & rocks.  Tuesday night we were trying to finish it up & this guy drove by with a tractor & asked if we wanted help...well duh! He did it in like 20 min...where was he on Saturday?! So we thought we were done, well the next day 2 more truck loads of dirt showed up, so we called out new friend  & trust me, it was definently worth paying him to do it all!!
Mason is now all over the place!! He has learned to stand up against everything, the wall, couches, me...everything. He opens drawers, turns on our radio...he's into everything. He's getting fun, but WOW....we're just always going going going with him!!

My friend Kassidy (she's Masons babysitter....& he absolutly LOVES her!!!) well she had a paparazzi jewelry party & I was putting Mason in the bath to go. He thinks it's funny to stand up in the bathtub & jump up & down....we're still trying to teach him "no"...haha it's going well, not. He was jumping up & down & biffed it right into the side of the bathtub. He hit his mouth & it was bleeding so bad & got a fat lip. I felt so bad, hopefully he learned his lesson! He did sleep good that night!! I wish I could have gone, she did get me a couple of super cute bracelets!!

(mason & his fat lip)

 We went over to Randy & Crishels for dinner one night & watched a movie, it was fun! We need to start doing stuff with them more often!! Randy even cooked...what a good husband he is!!

Hoggle Zoo

We took Mason to Hoggle Zoo on Saturday & met up with our friends Brian, Jacquelyn & their cute little girl Braelyn...(there is an arranged marriage for her & Mace..haha.) It was fun to see them, they live in Bountiful so we see each other probably every 6 months, wish they lived closer! Mason liked the monkeys but that was about it. He just rode in the stroller & did his own thing. About 2 hours after being there it was definently time to go, Mason was getting tired but that stubborn boy won't sleep in the stroller.

Nasty snakes everywhere! We took this just for Nana :)

We tried to get Mason to look at the elaphants but they didn't move very fast so he wasn't intrested. He thought the people around him were more interesting then the animals.

This picture wasn't very easy to take...haMason didn't know what to think!

And this is the cute Braelyn!! a.k.a. Mace's girlfriend...she's the cutest little girl I've EVER seen!

After the zoo we headed over to the Watson's house that they've been remodeling & it looks so good! It takes them alot of time & effort & they have done a lot to it, haha it makes us feel lame for complaining about getting our yard done! We went to dinner at the Pizza Factory...so good! I could just eat their breadsticks the whole time!! Braelyn was so funny, she figured out how to shake the table & Mason was just mad cause he wasn't getting enough food, go figure! Like I said at the first, we wish they lived closer, they have gone through alot of the same stuff we have & we can relate to them alot!

Bronco's jersey?! What?

 On Sunday we were over at the Hyers & going thru Nic's old pictures, we came across one of him in a Broncos Jersey...can you believe it?! So I had to take a picture to prove it because I was shocked! He swears he doesn't remember it! Our family is definently Chargers Fans & seeing him in that jersery about killed him! Football season is about here & it makes me laugh because there's always commercials for DirecTV saying if you sign up or move you get free NFL Sunday Ticket...that ticks Nic off!! He called and complained because he's pretty mad that we've been customers for awhile now & we still have to pay like $300 for it...poor Nic, guess we'll just be watching televised games for now! Good thing there's no more lock out, I don't know how he'd survive the season!! :)

JuST KeeP SWiMMiNG, swimming, swimming...

 I had Friday off work and so I decided to Mason to the pool for the first time & he absolutely loved it! My mom went with us. At first he thought he needed to drink that nasty water...after about 10 mins of trying to get him to stop he realized he could play in it. There was a little girl who kept playing with him & he just laughed the whole time. I wish I didn’t have to work as much so I could take him more! I’m hoping to start getting off early on Wednesdays so we can go more! :) Towards the end he was getting so tired & looked like he was going to fall asleep so I took him out & he just cried.  He did not want to leave! But after 2 hours it was time to go! We were in the car for probably 2 mins & he was out!

Just wanted to take a minute & tell our friends thanks for all they do for us! You guys make such a big impact on our lives & we're so grateful to have you! You've got us through a lot & help make us who we are today!

A lot people will walk in and out of your life but only a true friend can leave a mark in your heart.

4th of July

4^th of July weekend was a blast!! It was my mom’s birthday so we spent the day at her house.  We had family over, cooked out & played games. She got spoiled!! She took Mason on his first four-wheeler ride & he absolutely loved it!! That night we went out to the big town of Lewiston to watch fireworks. Justin & Jess were at their grandparents watching from the back yard & so we met up with them! Poor Mason was just so tired & wanted to sleep during them so after crying awhile from trying to keep him up we finally let him sleep. I’m sure next year he’ll like them a lot more! We had fun being with Just & Jess! They are such a fun couple & Mason LOVES them!!

"Good Stuff"

Kenny Chesney…can I just say AMAZING!! Alex & Mandee invited us to go with them & we had a blast! We have never been away from Mason for the night & so it was a first because we stayed with Mandee & Alex at a hotel. Where to begin…how about Alex’s driving…haha if I were in the front seat instead of the back I would have been totally fine, but I get SOO motion sick!! My stomach was not feeling to good!!  We went to eat, I told them I didn’t care just to pick a place, well that wasn’t the best idea, we went to Red Lobster. I hate fish. Crab. Shrimp. Anything that lives in the water…YUCK! Luckly, the night did progress! We checked into the hotel & hung out with some friends until the concert.  We missed Uncle Kracker but got to see Billy Currington & Kenny! They were awesome! It was so much fun! Alex is quite the dancer!

We ran into Chrishel & Randy and had them come sit with us, it was fun having them there!!  After the concert we made it to The Puck for dinner like 3 min before the grill closed, they’ve got some dang good food, better then NASTY Red Lobster, then off to the hotel! We got up the next morning & headed home, we missed Mace so it was good to go get him from my mom’s!!

6 Month Update

We took Mason in for his 6 month check up Friday…this kid weighs 18 lbs 1 oz now, I was a little surprised, he feels like he weighs a lot more! It’s crazy to see how much he’s learned & changed over the past 6 months. He loves walks & loves to be outside! He’s rolling all over & now doing the “army crawl” so when he wants something, he gets it. He loves food, as you can see in his cheeks! Anytime he sees someone take a drink or sees a cup sitting close he wants it. He’ll try all he can to get to it & let you know when he’s not happy that you won’t share.  Mason does this new thing when he’s mad where he holds his breath & spits while he cries…it’s actually funny & it makes me not feel too bad for him. He loves popsicles, strawberries, suckers, pickles, snow cones, crackers…you name it, and he’ll eat it!  He's got his 2 bottom teeth & those things are sharp! Poor kids always cutting his fingers. We've been watching his eyes because they are mostly brown but the left one has lots of blue in it, I don't think they're going to be just one color. It looks like ones stayin blue & one brown! He’s saying ba-ba, da-da, ga-ga…all sorts of weird noises we just wish he knew what the da-da meant! He’ll figure it out soon I’m sure!  Mason loves attention; he likes to entertain whoever will look at him at church. He gets the biggest grin once someone makes eye contact with him, then he yells & you know they smiled at him.  (just like the picture below) Mason is learning to wave, we wave bye to him & he copies most of the time.

He LOVES his dad, Nic can walk in the room & Masons face just lights up! He’ll be all but asleep & Nic will say something & if Mason hears that voice, his eyes shoot wide open! He’s turning into a curious little boy! He loves the water! We take him to the lake & he’s just happy as can be! He always wants to do something different, he doesn’t let us just stay in the house & relax anymore! Time flies…I can’t believe he’s already 6 months it’s just getting more fun every day & he makes us so happy! We love you Mase!

Curious Little Boy!

Mason is now all over the place! He's been rolling all over for the last 2 months & now he's starting his "army crawl" and he's getting pretty darn good at it! Especially if there is a remote or phone in front of him. Nic made us a little entertainment center for under our TV because Mason always finds the cords, it looks like we're going to be adding doors to the front of it because now he's finding the dvds...and he puts them all over the place. I wish he still had intrest in his own toys! It's been fun to see how much he's changed! He's so curious of everything! Mase is already 6 months but we take him into his check up on friday...we can't wait to see how much this kid weighs...we sure feed him enough!

Here's a video of Mason's attempt to crawl...he's pretty funny, he is so loud while he does it! Sorry the video is so dark!

Twin Lakes

Over the weekend we went out to Twin Lakes, Nic's parents were camping out there & we thought it'd be fun to get some sun & let Mason play in the water. We bought him a swimsuit with a cute matching hat & flip flops....once we were there we put on hoodies & Mason's p.j.s....it WAS NOT good weather! We still had a blast! It was fun to get out!

The water was way too cold to even let Mase put his feet in, but he still loved to watch it.

Mason LOVES dogs...we stuck him on the cage & the poor kid didn't know what to do.

We're sooo glad Kortney & Stacie were there to entertain Mason. He wanted nothing to do with his own toys, he'd just play with Kortney's glasses & hat.

FiRsT TeeTH!

"I've been chewing, drooling, biting,
Helping my tooth along.
But now it's here
And everyone cheers,

Cause my toothless grin is gone!"

                                                                                 -Unknown Author

 

Mason has his first 2 teeth in!! We try & try to take pictures of them but he sticks his tounge out when we try (like this)

 or he won't let us near his mouth...he's learning to bite, which is no fun when he's sucking on a cracker & you've got to get it out of his mouth before he chokes on it, those are some sharp teeth! He's constantly biting his fingers & he cuts them, it looks likes he's got little paper cuts all over his fingers now. he's obviously fine because he should be smart enough to take his fingers out of his mouth if it hurts...we hope anyway!

.:2 Years:.

The 6th was our 2nd wedding anniversary; I can’t believe time has flown by so fast! I feel extremely blessed to be married to my best friend, Nic. He’s such an amazing man! For our anniversary we were able to give up the baby for a night & have a nice dinner without having to hold him the whole time! (Thanks Nana!)

Our Story

Nic & I grew up in the same neighborhood together, he was 3 years older than me & the only time I was around him was at church or when him, Alex & all their friends would come over to the house to hang out with my parents. Not once did he ever look at me as anything more than Glenn’s daughter.  He had a girlfriend & went on his mission & I had a bf.  Well things sure changed when he got home.  We know what happens to boys when they have a girlfriend on a mission...it didn’t work out.

We can thank our friends Kazia & Cody for hooking us up! I hadn’t even talked to Nic since he got home & the night I broke up with the old boyfriend I called Kazia...she did some talking to Cody & when I showed up at home, Nic happened to be there, not going to lie, he was the last person I really wanted to see that night. But as he was leaving the house he invited anyone who wanted to watch a movie over to Alex’s. When my brother volunteered to go & Nic told him no, I knew to take the hint & go.

Long story short, we hung out every night since that movie & got engaged just less than a year later.

Crazy how much life has changed & what has come our way...but we love it & thru the thick & thin we will always be there for each other. Love you Nic!

 The Wedding                     Engagements

A wHoLe NeW wOrlD oUtSiDe...

Nic had to work all weekend so Mason & I spent the day at Mac Park...I think it's the first time he's ever felt grass because we are working on putting a lawn in at our house now...but that's a whole other story we don't want to get into.  You can see in the pictures how it went down...poor kid didn't know what to think! I'm sure it'll change soon!
"Ten tiny little fingers that always want to play,
That never stop exploring the wonder of today.
Ten tiny little fingers that from the very start,
Will reach out for tomorrow yet always hold your heart"

LeSSoN LeaRNeD LaST NiGHT...

With the economy being as wonky as it has been lately, I often find myself wondering how everyone else makes it. I’m going to be honest here, as it’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of… we are on a very strict budget and I have had to majorly cut back on spending. Pretty much every unnecessary thing (my beloved pedicures, tanning, hair touch-ups every 6 weeks, clothes shopping, etc.) has been put on pause.

We’ve come up with little tricks to save money and I’m actually really proud of how well we’re doing. It’s pretty insane when you have to be thrifty… you realize how much money you were just throwing away without realizing it!

Though I do strongly feel someone should give me a gold star for all my hard work, the one thing I haven’t quite nailed down in the money saving department is grocery shopping. It is the bane of my existence, and quite honestly makes me want to stab myself in the eyes. I seriously hate it.
No matter how much planning, list-making, and leftover-eating I do… I still feel like we waste so much of what we buy.

The one big lesson I’ve learned is this: Do NOT shop while you’re hungry. I’ve made this mistake so many times and it’s left me with the most random array of items in my fridge that I can’t cook any meal with. I need to get this down!