The House of Grahams

They're Just Silly

2011-09-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

I am the worlds worst blogger. The End.

Ok not the end! Here are my munchkins! Ky is 9 1/2 months!! She is growing like a weed! Its too fast! She is already pulling herself up on things and trying to move around while standing. I can barely stand how cute she is. She has finally discovered the awesomeness that is her daddy, and now will play with him and gets excited when she sees him. I love it, she will soon have him wrapped around those fingers, I can see it already!

These two, I just don't know what I would do without them. They are best friends, and can barely stand to be away from each other for too long. While Blake is at school and Kade isn't, he is constantly asking when we can pick him up. Apparently I am not as fun as Blake. They fight like dogs sometimes, but never stay mad for longer than a few seconds before laughing again. The best thing about boys is that they get it all out and then they move on. Love them.

Adam gets the craziest apps on his phone. These are our alien children.

Another app from his phone. I love this picture!

Blake graduated Preschool! umm a month ago...

2011-06-28T15:32:00.001-07:00

My baby is officially a Kindergartner! About a month ago, Blake graduated from Preschool and we are so proud of our smart big boy.

Here he is in his cuteness. He talked about "his graduation" for like a month before it actually happened. He was so excited to have us there watching him perform.

His preschool class. Mrs. Lisa was the best teacher! Blake loves her so much! I am so sad that she won't be teaching anymore (they moved, boo!), but happy Blake got to be with her. Thankfully, we found another teacher for Kade next year. Yea Mrs. Morgan Finn!

Kade wanted/I made him dress up for the occasion too! I have some good lookin boys!
Here Kylee is showing off her new sitting up all by herself moves! The boys are so in love with her, and are always playing with her. I am so thankful for their willingness to help with her as well. I have a wonderful family, not to mention some dang cute kids. :)

Hurray!

2011-03-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah! I have returned! In my own defense I have started a post like 3 or 4 times and then dumb Blogger would not upload my pictures, so I just got annoyed and gave up.

Life is a lot different now with 3 little munchkins, but I am actually really enjoying it. The transition (so far) was easier for me than the transition to 2 kids. The boys absolutely LOVE their sister. They are ALWAYS in her face giving her lots of hugs and kisses. Though I was sure I was going to have all boys, it is really nice to have another girl in the house. Our little Kylee is so much fun. She is almost 5 months already! I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Umm, have you seen Tangled yet?? It is pretty much our favorite movie here in the Graham house. It is my new favorite Disney Movie of all time. These are the boys being "Flynn Rider" complete with the facial hair, sideburns, satchel, and frying pan. They are so fun.

Here they are in their Easter Apparel. I got many comments on how cute our little family is from our ward members. Awwww, I know! They are pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. :)

Ky is such a good baby. She is a GREAT sleeper (thank heavens!) and loves anything that has to do with her brothers. She watches them do everything and gives big slobbery kisses to them when they get close enough. She gave her first smile to Kade (I was only a little jealous), and is now giggling at the pair of them all the time. She cracks up when they run past her. Its so cute. She is basically my girl version of Blake. She looks just like he did at this age and they have the same body (I'm not kidding! at 4 months they are the exact same height, and head circumference with her being just a pound lighter than him. crazy!).

As for me, I survived my 10k at London's Run and managed to do it in under an hour, I think my time was 58.03 or something like that. I felt like I was going to die after though. The half marathon last year was way easier than the 10k this year. I was more prepared last year. Now I am running anywhere from 30-37 miles a week and I love it. I was called into the Relief Society presidency a few months ago, and I am totally loving it. It is nice to get to know all the sisters in our ward instead of "so and so's mom" because I was in primary for so long.
Adam is still going strong at UofP and he rocks. He does so well there and I am so proud of him. He is also in school full time which is great (but also stinks at the same time). He is really good about doing homework right when he gets home so he can spend the rest of the night with us.
All in all, life is crazy and fun and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Enjoying 2 Kids

2010-11-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a normal post in awhile it seems with pictures of my babies. We have lots of updates with the family but I don't care, I just want to say how much I love my boys.
I guess since it is getting closer and closer until our baby girl comes, I want to savor my boys and suck up every moment with just them until then. Blake and Kade are two of the funnest boys out there. Sometimes they drive me crazy and I wish they were a little less energetic because they wear me out, but really, I am so thankful for their energy. They make me so happy, and literally make me laugh multiple times a day. I love you my babies.

We were at my parent's house and Kade found one of Heidi's wigs for Halloween. Are we looking into the future of what Kylee will look like?? He thought it was the funniest thing that he is a boy and had "girl hair."

Kade loves to "read" books. Actually they both do, they always ask if they can sleep with a book to read. Adam took this picture of Kade actually making up stories to the pictures he saw. Too cute.

We took the boys to Chik-fil-A to play in the play place one night (we are so cheap, we actually bring them food instead of buying it there. Then we get ice cream after) This is Blake showing us how awesome he is at winking. ;)

He is just cute. Gosh I love my kids.
And I love how Heidi looks like she is going to hurt him for stealing her french fry. :)

A month or two ago when Jen cut my hair she told me she wanted to straighten it this time. And here is the result. I went to church and no one recognized me at first.
Update on Mrs. Preggo:
Everything is still going great! I have made it to 34 and a half weeks and I am counting down the days and hoping she joins us a little early so it isn't so close to Christmas.
I am no longer running. :(
My goal was to run until 30 weeks, and I made it to 32. The boys and I are walking now, and I am so glad. I can walk more distance than I could running. I still have a goal to do London's Run. I won't be able to do the half marathon again because I won't have enough time, but I am aiming for the 10k. It is January 29, 2011, so that gives me roughly 6 weeks from my due date. I hope I can do it.

A Very Worthy Cause

2010-10-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

I am sure some of you have heard of the wonderful Payne family who has suffered so much in the last month and a half. I have been wanting and wanting to post something about it for awhile now but every time I go to do it, I just get too emotional.
You see, I know Tom and Joy Payne.
I know them as Brother and Sister Payne.
I think I was about 14 when they moved into our ward in Mesa. Joy was called into Young Womens and was one of my leaders up until I graduated. She is amazing. Tom was in Young Mens and we all knew just how cool he is.
She would have us over at her house to hang out, and was always there if you needed someone to talk to. I can't even tell you what a good example she was to me when I was a youth. I never even told her what an impact she had in my life.

When I got the call from my dad about little Jaxon, my heart just broke, and continued to brake each time I thought about it. Then to know the hardships they have had with their youngest Easton and his medical issues, my first thoughts were "Why them?"
At Jaxon's funeral I was reminded again at how amazing Tom and Joy are. They spoke together and gave the most beautiful eulogy I have ever heard. They spoke of the love our Father in Heaven has for each of us, and were so strong.
Now I hear of just how much they are going through right now, and I wish there was some way for me to help. When Lana Shumway (another leader I had in Young Womens, I know I had the best leaders ever!) posted a pledgie account to help them, I knew we could maybe help just a little.
So now I am putting it here so all of you can read their story and hopefully help in any way you can. Please know how amazing this family is and how much help they really need.

Here is the link to their Pledgie Page

Thanks friends.

My Own Special Miracle...

2010-09-15T12:13:00.001-07:00

The last two weeks of my life have been one word.....stressful. Ever since my last doctors appointment (you know, the one where he said I'm huge!) I had been worrying and worrying and even more worrying. I was so focused on the fact that my baby may not be okay that everything else in my life was just stressing me out.

The doctor had told me that I may have too much amniotic fluid, and after looking up what that actually meant I was even more worried. Too much amniotic fluid could cause birth defects and all sorts of other complications that frankly freaked the crap out of me.

Monday night my parents drove all the way out to my house (they really are some amazing people if you don't know them) for dinner and so my Dad could help Adam give me a blessing before my appointment the next day. My sweet husband (with the help of the lord of course) gave me the sweetest blessing and I immediately felt peace come over my body (why didn't I get one sooner!).

The time for my appointment came yesterday and though I was still a little nervous for what news I would receive I knew that I would be okay with whatever it was. First things first, they weighed me, I lost a pound. Odd, thats never happened to me this late in pregnancy before. We wait for what seems like forever in the ultrasound room for the doctor (though it was really less than 10 minutes). The doctor comes in and measures me. I am smaller than when he measured me two weeks ago. 2 weeks ago I measured at 29 weeks, this time 28 weeks. I am officially right on track the doctor tells me. How the heck did my body get smaller when I should only be getting bigger?

Then the doctor does the ultrasound (she is still a girl) and does all of her measurements. She is EXACTLY the size that she should be at this point in my pregnancy. Usually you will have a couple of days difference between your menstrual due date and your fetus due date (estimate of due date based on the size of baby). Nope they were the exact same day. The doctor then tells me that I am an example of a perfect pregnancy. What a change from my last appointment.

I KNOW that the blessing that I received on Monday from my hubby and dad made this miracle for us happen. I am so thankful for the priesthood and to have it in my home with me at all times. I am so thankful for my husband and father who are worthy priesthood holders and could bless me in such a way to heal my body and make whatever was wrong before go away.

I KNOW the Lord will bless us if we ask and have faith in his power.

Progress

2010-09-07T14:33:00.001-07:00

We have finally made progress on both the boys room and the baby room!!! I finally don't feel stressed out about it anymore. After almost 3 years in our house we have finished the boys room! It isn't how I wanted it, but at this point I am just happy it is done!

We went with an old car theme, so I painted the room black and white and then we threw up some color with the different car pictures. The cars above are actually lights which is really cool but I wish they were battery operated so that the cords weren't hanging down. We are thinking about just cutting the cord off and not using them as lights. We'll see. All I need to do now is touch up the chair rail with white paint.

Kylee's room still isn't done, but it is close. We still need to paint her dresser, hang a couple more things and get the bedding on, but the paint (thank heavens) is done. I decided against hanging the letters with ribbon because, well frankly, I was just to lazy to do it. Leaving the ribbon on the letters and putting them up how I did was so much easier for me. I know I'm lazy but I like it and I got the stamp of approval from that husband of mine so we are all good.

A very special THANK YOU goes out to my bro. in law Garrett for deciding to come over at 10P.M. and work until 2:30A.M putting up the chair rail in both rooms. You rock Garrett!! We couldn't have done it with out you (and mostly because you provided everything but the chair rail) :)

Am I Going To Be Like Violet From Willy Wonka?

2010-08-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. You see, throughout this pregnancy my belly has been measuring about 2 centimeters bigger than it should. Not a big deal, 2 centimeters isn't that much. Yesterday however, the doctor measures me and says "well you are still larger than normal." I say, "well how big?" He says, "you are 25 weeks and 2 days and you are measuring at 29 weeks."
What the!?!?!?!?!?! I am 4 WEEKS bigger than I should be!
He then proceeds to ask me a bunch of questions which starts to worry me.
Were you bigger than normal with your other two pregnancies? No I measured exactly on with both.
Have you been gaining too much weight? No I am right on track.
Questions questions questions!
Then he tells me, well we would normally see you back in 3-4 weeks to do an ultrasound, but I want to see you back in 2 weeks so we can make sure everything is ok.
What the heck am I supposed to think of that?!
He didn't seem too worried, and didn't even tell me I needed to stop exercising or anything, so now I am just confused.
I have a bigger belly than I should, does that mean I am going to be like Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and by the time I am ready to deliver my husband is going to have to roll me in to the delivery room? I have that image burned into my brain.

So here I am in my jumbo (apparently) belly at 25 weeks and 3 days. It's kind of embarrassing having my belly out for the whole world to see. Oh well....

In other news, the boys and I made a life size robot out of mega blocks. For some reason they have really gotten back into the blocks. Its been cars cars cars for so long, that I welcomed the change!

Boys posing with their robot, and Kade making the famous myspace/facebook face. Poochy lips.

On a Lazy Sunday Evening....

2010-08-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Now that we FINALLY don't have 2 o'clock church anymore, we can enjoy lazy afternoons together as a family (we had 2 o'clock church for almost 4 years!). I love coming home from church and just relaxing with the family. So yesterday we got out the Mega Blocks, and started making "rockets" and "blasting" them off around the room (sorry kids destroyed them before we could even get a picture of them, darn boys!) Then Daddy decided to pull out all our coins and make a pyramid. He said when he was little him and his brother used to make really cool pictures out of pennies. Neither on of us is an artist so we had to settle for just a boring pyramid. The boys loved it though, they thought it was the coolest thing ever to "play" with money. So here is a picture of our little penny pyramid, my belly poking out, and my naked boys. I swear it is a full time job to keep clothes on my children. Is it a boy thing, or are my kids just weird???

Okay so obviously these pictures are not from Sunday but a few days before. After getting home from our run the other day, we were all sweaty so I pulled out the sprinkler and we all cooled off, and by all I really mean all of us because the second the water came on both kids grabbed the sprinkler and chased me with it completely soaking me and making the dog run like 90 miles an hour to get away from them.

Blake is getting so big, I can't believe in one short year I will be sending him to kindergarten. That will be a sad day for me. I want him to grow up and learn, but I also want him to stay little and snuggle in my lap.. Oh the sorrows of your kids growing......

And last but certainly not least....I am so excited to show ya'll part of the bedding for Kylee's room. So since I decided on different colors for her room, I could not find any bedding that matched what I wanted. So my wonderful, beautiful and most talented mother said that if I wanted she could make me her bedding. So off we went to the fabric store and I picked out all the fabrics that I wanted and told her how I wanted it to look. And she did it! And I am so in love with it. My mom and dad went out of town this weekend for their 34th wedding anniversary (go them, they are amazing!) and she made it while they were gone. We had them over for dinner yesterday and she brought it to show me. I about died I was so happy with it. My mom is so awesome, and I am so thankful for all that she does for our family. So here it is......

Thanks Mommy I love you!! You are the best!

Getting Started

2010-08-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I had to post a picture of my super cute boys (and yes I mean Adam too!). Aren't they just the most adorable?! I heart them.

Some of you may know that I don't like to wait until the last minute for things. I am not a procrastinator because it just makes me stress out. So as soon as we found out we are having a girl, I wanted to get to work before I get too big and can't do anything. So here are a few pictures of where we are at right now.

I decided on Black, white and hot pink. Not sure why I did except that I wanted her room to be different from nurseries I have seen. Yes the hot pink is bright, I know, it took some convincing for Adam to be on board (in the end he said I could do whatever I want....he he he).

So here is a shelf we had that I sanded down and painted black, and then some hot pink flowers that will go on the shelf (once its hung of course).

This is a trial and error point. We know we want the letters with ribbon. I am not sure if I want the ribbons how they are shown in the picture or if I want to hang the letters on the wall from ribbon. I don't know, I welcome ideas from you crafty people out there.

And here are the walls. The bottom will be hot pink and the top will be white. We haven't decided if we are going to put a black chair rail between the 2 colors or if we will paint a horizontal black stripe around the room. I originally started painting the black stripe but then Adam said we should do a chair rail and painted over the black stripe. Now we can't decide. Anywoo, we have lots still to do and we are still finishing up the boys room as well. Hopefully both rooms will be done before the baby comes.
A special thanks to my wonderful hubby who handles my OCD's so graciously even when it means getting everything ready for our baby 4 and a half months before we even get to see her. Love you babe.

Will She or Won't She?

2010-07-15T14:40:00.001-07:00

(ummmm, yikes)

So now that we know we are having a girl, this is the question I have been asked the most:
"So are you hoping she has curly hair like you?"
To which I lovingly reply: "Ummmm, no."
Do I love my hair? No.
Do I like my hair? No.
Do I tolerate my hair? Sometimes
I know lots of people "say" they would love to have curly hair, but frankly, I just don't believe them. I must admit that for the majority of my life I did not have the faintest idea how to do my hair, so I am sure that is why I am so against it.
Oh the awkwardness of my childhood, and my crazy hair. I hated my hair so much that I had a stage that lasted a few years I am sure where my hair was just in a bun.
The pictures I could show you would prove my point nicely, but alas, I am too embarrassed to even look at them myself, let alone let others see them.
I think to myself, "why would I wish that self esteem issue on my child?"
I know it would be cute to see a little girl with bouncy curly hair and a bow, and I know that I kinda know how to do it now, but I am just imagining her coming to me (like I did to my mom) begging to spend tons of money to get it straight, and trying anything you can imagine to get it that way.
And by the way, I am not convinced that my boys aren't going to have curly hair either, especially Kade. My brothers' hair didn't go curly until they hit puberty. Kade is a Martin (my family name) through and through, and I just see him with freckles and curly hair just like me, and I am okay with that. I am okay with my boys getting my hair, because a boy with a fro is just cool.
So my dear Kylee, if the good Lord thinks you need to have curly hair, then I will do everything I can to make it cute, so you don't have the issues with it like I did, but if you get straight hair, then I am good with that too. Love you baby girl.

Well Its Official

2010-07-08T13:09:00.001-07:00

We went to the doctor today and he told us we are having a......................

GIRL!

We are very excited and kind of relieved because everyone was kind of expecting a girl at this point.
I was a little nervous to find out because I didn't want anyone to be disappointed (even our boys were aching for a girl). Adam and I were totally fine with whatever, I am just thankful to be able to bare children when there are so many out there who cannot.
I think I was expecting a boy though because when he said she was a girl, I was a little shocked. I can't be more excited though, we are all very happy.
So now I've got to figure out some way to be crafty and make hundreds and thousands of cute little bows and whatnot.
Jen, don't be alarmed if I come to your house and MAKE you teach me how to do it.
And as you can see to the right of the screen, we have already named her. I had this name picked out when I was in high school, but never really thought it would stick with Adam. I was wrong. He has been dead set on this name for our first girl since we got married. Welp, 7 years later and we can finally use it.

What Happens When I Leave the Room for 2 Minutes

2010-06-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

And My husband wonders why I hold my pee until the last minute.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-06-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

Lots of happenings in our neck of the woods this summer. Blake "graduated" from his first year of preschool and I have pictures, but they are on Adam's phone, so I can't access them at this time. Our camera went to the crapper and we haven't gotten a new one yet, so all pictures are taken with our phones. Thank Heavens for technology.
Anyhoo, Adam and I celebrated 7 blissful years of marriage on the 14th, and this year we decided instead of ditching our kids the whole time we celebrated, we would take them with us for part of it. Adam made reservations at the Arizona Grand Resort and we had a wonderful time as a family.

This is the view of the big water park they had right outside our hotel room, complete with 2 huge water slides, lazy river, wave pool, regular pool, toddler pool, and splash pad. Ya, it was awesome. We stayed at the toddler pool most of the time because the boys we just having a ball.

For some reason, everywhere we go, one or both Adam and I will see someone we know. Well there was no exception this time, a friend of mine from Junior High was working when we showed up and she lovingly supplied our hyper boys with more sugar! They were in love with their Icees and we were even more excited that we didn't have to pay 7 bucks each for them. (Hotels are ridiculous) Thanks Jessica!

After partying all day at the pool, we were all tuckered out, so we got in our jammies and vegged on the pull out couch until Adam decided last minute to take the boys to the Sea Life Aquarium at AZ Mills. I was literally falling asleep on the bed when he said lets go!

So quickly did he decide to go, that I had to get dressed and rush out the door, the boys stayed in their jammies and I am sportin a no makeup look, but it really didn't matter, they had so much fun and that was the point!

Ya, this is a tunnel completely surrounded by water, and I am not going to lie, I was breathing hard walking through it. I am extremely claustrophobic, and my worst fear is drowning, and then add in sharks and stingrays in the water, I was freaking out a little. The boys as you can see couldn't care less and sure did lay on the floor while people were trying to walk through.

The boys enjoying the Stingrays and the Hammerhead sharks.

If any of you know Blake, you know that he LOVES water animals. He can tell you the difference between whales, can name a lot of the different sharks, fascinated by stingrays, and always wants to talk about fish. He kept telling us that he was hugging the stingrays through the glass. It was so cute. The other day while we were in the car driving (kids always say the funniest things in the car) Blake told me, "Mommy, when I grow up and turn into a fish, I am going to make sure I have a stinger on my bum." To which Kade replied "Bumblebees have stingers too! I'll be one of those." Totally random but made me laugh so hard. Gotta love the randomness of children's brains.
We had a lovely time for our anniversary, and I am so glad we spent it as a family. I am so thankful for the crazy life we have together. My husband is amazing, and I could not be happier. I never believed it when people told me that I would love my husband more the longer we were married because I thought I loved him with all of my capacity, and at the time I did. But my how your heart grows each year and each time you add a child to the family. The Lord sure has blessed us immensely in our marriage, and I often wonder how I got so lucky.
I love you baby, Happy 7 years! I can't wait for the rest of Eternity.

I Am Still Alive

2010-05-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am the worst blogger. I haven't had the energy to do a whole lot of things, especially writing about it. When I first found out I was prego, it was awesome because I didn't get sick right away, and I was still feeling good and doing my normal running routine.....And then BAM, it hit me out of no where, and all I have wanted to do is lay down. Of course with 2 little ones and a puppy, its not possible. I am surviving though and am thankful that in a few short weeks I will be done with the sickness! That day cannot come fast enough!
Anywho, so my kids, bless their little hearts have been so patient with my lack of patience, and so loving with my lack of wanting to do anything. We've still managed to have some fun despite all the grossness I have been feeling. We haven't taken a whole lot of pictures but here are just a few.....

Look at that kid. I want to eat his face every time I see those eyes. Though he is by far tougher than Blake was at 2, he still has the ability to melt my heart with that face and still loves to snuggle in my neck.

And there is our dog, "Mack" eating Kade after church. We have had a love/hate relationship since we got her. Or I guess I should say I have loved and hated her. She is doing tons better now, but when we first got her, she peed everywhere all the time and I wanted to take her back. I told Adam like a million times I was done with her (I know, horrible), and I didn't want to deal with it anymore. (Please remember we got her right after I found out I was pregnant and I am in the middle of crazy hormones and puking. I am normally not so mean about animals.) Now she is awesome, she "plays" with the boys, which mostly consists of them laying on the floor while she lick attacks their faces. It completely grosses me out, but they love it.
All in all we love our dog.

Dean (cousin), Kade, Blake, and Parker (cousin) at Parker's birthday party. Can you tell they are all family? The boys don't get to see Parker a whole bunch because of shared custody but when they do see him they have so much fun together. And they love Dean, who wouldn't, the kid is a stud.

Adam got another award at work for being a "Top Performer" Let me tell you, that man is amazing, he works so hard, and really shines. My parent's, though not in the picture, took us out to dinner to celebrate his great achievements, and then we took everyone to get ice cream after. The boys made a mess of course (you should have seen the area we were sitting at when we were done), but getting ice cream is probably one of their favorite things to do. Seriously who doesn't love getting ice cream? I just wouldn't recommend Coldstone, I really just don't like it too much. We found a yummy place called MOJO frozen yogurt or something like that and it was delish!

My son the IPod junky. Blake loves playing on the IPod. It is a special treat for him. I don't want him addicted to electronic gaming, so we only let him play on it occasionally, but the kid can maneuver the thing like nobodies business. He knows how to turn it on, put in the password, and get to a game he wants to play. I don't even know what I am doing on that thing half the time.
p.s. please notice how he is sitting, he always sits like that when he is on the IPod. Love that crazy boy.

Daddy took the boys on their first Father's and Son's outing, and they loved it. Apparently they were really good, and slept great in the tent. They talked about going camping for like a week after they got back. It was the first time I have been by myself since we had Blake. It was really weird. Don't get me wrong, it was nice for one night to be in a quiet house, but I was also glad for the noise when they got back. It is good every now and then to get a break, right?

So now you know we are still kickin over here in the House of Grahams. Just a few more weeks and hopefully I will be back to my normal self, and be able to be better about this whole blogging thing. Who knows, but until then, ta ta!

Baby # 3

2010-04-12T13:39:00.001-07:00

Hello 2 months since I have had a new post! My bad. We have had a crazy couple of months, with lots going on, but really, I am just too lazy to blog about them all now. So instead I will talk about our most recent happenings. I would like to introduce you to the newest family member in the Graham Abode......
Now I know what you are all thinking, "Adam let you get a dog?!" It was Adam's idea! Out of the blue one day he said he thought it would be fun to get the boys a dog. I was more hesitant than he was, because lets be honest, it is just one more thing I have to clean up after, but in the end we found her and I fell in love. We adopted her from a shelter and she is a Boxer/Pit mix. She is so sweet and loves to snuggle. If you just sit on the floor, she will come climb in your lap and fall asleep on you. I love it. Blake named her Macaroni N Cheese. Naturally. We call her Mack for short. She is about 9 weeks old,already Kennel trained and doing pretty darn well at potty training. The boys love her, every morning when they wake up she is the first one they ask for; not to mention the fact that she keeps them entertained when I need a moment. We are grateful to have a her as a new member of our growing family.

P.S. Coming December 2010....the real baby # 3.

Done and Done!

2010-02-02T13:58:00.001-08:00

Well its over. I accomplished my goal, and I ran a half marathon this past Saturday. Here I am in all my glory just before I passed the chick in the blue, and sprinted to the finish line with the chick in the tank top (it was awesome, we were both laughing when we crossed the finish line because we realized that we were both trying to pass each other. We ended up with the same exact time).

(I feel like I look really goofy in that picture. He just so happened to take it right as I was about to start sprinting to the finish line. I look like the hunchback of Notre Dame or something!)
My original goal was to finish by 2 and a half hours. When it started getting closer to race day I secretly decided that I wanted to keep a 10 minute mile pace which would have me finishing around 2:10-2:15. I was in the front before the race started but as soon as it started like 250 people flew past me and I felt a little foolish and wondered what I had gotten myself into. Around mile 4 is when I started passing people. At mile 7 I remembered that I had my phone with me, so I checked it to see what my time was thus far. I was running about 8 minutes faster than I thought! I was excited so I sped up a little more and by mile 9 I decided that I wanted to finish in under 2 hours. I DID IT! My time was 1:58. I kept a 9 minute mile pace.

It was such a great experience. If you have never heard of Londons Run before I highly recommend you reading up on it here. Before the race they introduced all of the past sponsored families, and the 2 families they sponsored this year. London's mom spoke and had everyone in tears. Throughout the course some of the families put pictures of their children up with encouraging words for all the runners. I felt so incredibly blessed. There are so many children out there who are fighting each day to rid their body's of pain. I am so thankful that I am healthy and can contribute to them in some way. I am thankful to have a healthy husband and healthy children. It sounds weird to say, but I felt the spirit so strong while I was running. Compared to the challenges that these children have faced, running is nothing.

Anyway, while I was off running, they had plenty to do at Schnepf Farms. My parent's, Grammy, and Heidi were kind enough to come and support me along with my wonderful hubby and kids. Here are a few pictures of some of the things the kids got to do while they were waiting for me.

Heidi and Blake sliding down the ginormous blow up slide. Can you tell that Heidi was having just as much fun as the kids?

Heidi and Kade

Daddy and the boys checkin' out the Mesa Police Helicopter.
They also had a cop car, a petting zoo, more bouncy blow up things, tons of food, and tons of different booths to buy stuff.
All in all it was a great day and I am super glad I did it. I am now kinda feelin like I might want to do a full marathon.....someday. :)

Urine and Rain

2010-01-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I woke up with a lovely case of a UTI.
Awesome.
3 days before I am supposed to run 13.1 miles, I can't even walk down the hall without feeling like I am going to pee everywhere.
Wonderful.
All day I drank water and took cranberry pills and frequented the bathroom every few minutes, and prayed my little heart out that it would all go away.
And today, hallelujah, its gone.
I got out of bed got dressed to do my last run before Saturday and started to get the boys bundled up and in the stroller, only to realize that it is raining, again.
Now, darnit I am all for the rain. I love it. It is so rare that we get rain here that you really have to enjoy it when it comes. I LOVE running in the rain. The boys love running in the rain, but not when its 50 degrees outside! In the last week and a half my run has been spoiled about 5 times! Not good.
Oh well, I am sure in a matter of weeks it will be so hot, I will be praying for that rain again.
Anywho, speaking of Urine earlier, Kade decided the other day on his own that he doesn't want to wear diapers anymore.
What the?!
Yep, he woke up from his nap, brought me his diaper (in his hand, not on his bum), and said "I wear underwear mommy."
It was wonderful the first day. He went to the bathroom all on his own, I didn't even have to remind him.
Now it is going ok, but not so wonderful anymore. He has frequent accidents which leads me to believe that he isn't quite as ready as he wants to be, but he REFUSES to wear a diaper.
So the last few days have been filled with leaking underwear and leaking clouds.
Will I ever be dry?

Stink Face

2010-01-26T13:28:00.001-08:00

This:

is what we lovingly refer to as the "Stink Face."

You should beware of any gas you may have in our home because if you let it fly, and Blake hears it, this face is sure to come.

In other news, I have about a bazillion things I could post about since it has been forever since I had a real post, but, alas, I am just too darn lazy to worry about it.

We had a great Christmas where our children were spoiled rotten by their MeMa and PaPa, but really, can you blame them? I do have some pretty great kids who deserve to get spoiled by their grandparents, and boy do they do a great job at it. :)

We rang in the new year with style. The boys were in bed at 7:30 as usual and Adam and I were prepared to rock the night away watching movies and snuggling together. I was out cold by 11. Adam was a sweetheart and woke me up at midnight to give me a kiss. Ya we are a couple of hard core late night people.

January has already flown by for us. Mostly because we celebrated my birthday (and I am closer to 30 now than 20, ugh), and I have been counting down the days and getting more nervous by the minute for my half marathon. It is this Saturday and I am super excited and slightly nervous. okay a lot nervous. For the last two nights I have had dreams where I am running super late and might not make it, or I show up in high heels and not my running shoes, or I just can't figure out where I am supposed to go. It is getting ridiculous. Adam's manager at work does these sorts of things all the time so I have been having him relay questions and advice back and forth for me, and he said I am wasting my time with a half, I should just run a full marathon. Umm no. I am not ready for that yet.

So anyway, I have two runs left before the big one on Saturday. Wish me luck. If you have any advice for me, feel free to share, I'm sure I could use it.

This One Time

2010-01-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

This one time I had a blog and I took forever to have an update.

Yep that's me.

It is coming.

I am busy with some craziness, ie the "the crazies," and....

My half marathon is in less than 3 weeks. :/

Bare with me ya'll.

Sometimes.....

2009-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

.....I stress out. I worry about what other people think of me.

Today is one of those days where I woke up automatically stressed out.

Why?

Well Thursdays are a busy day for me. I changed my long run to Thursdays now and I am not sure why with everything else that has to get done, but whatev. Thursday is also the "I scrub every surface of my house" day. Normally all this is not a reason to stress over. I have a system for my cleaning, I do it all the exact same way every week, so I can get it all done within about 2 hours after the kids are in bed at night (ya ya I'm OCD, I've heard it all before).

Today however is different, I have people coming over tonight. Totally not a big deal except that they will be here when I usually do my cleaning. Again, it shouldn't be a big deal, but I felt myself starting to stress this morning as soon as I opened my eyes. I worried that they would think less of me if my house wasn't as clean as I wanted.

So what did I do?

Well as soon as I rolled out of bed, I knelt down and said a prayer. "Lord please help me to not stress over things that don't matter. Help me to not take time away from my kids over things that don't matter." I felt the spirit wash over me, and I new I would be ok.

So, naturally I did all the cleaning while Blake is at school and Kade is napping. A thought kept coming in to my mind all day, "If you don't waste time, you will have the time." Isn't that so true? How much time do I spend on the computer or watching TV while the kids are napping, when I could be spending that time getting things done, or bettering myself? I know I am guilty of wasting plenty of time on things that don't matter.

Today I feel extremely blessed to have prayer. Just a little prayer this morning, changed the way I looked at the whole day, and changed the way I was feeling.

Then as if to reiterate the answer to my prayer, the Lord helped me see that the stress wasn't necessary, I needed to just laugh. Blake came to me and said, "Mommy, I had a big bless you (sneeze) this morning and huge boogers came out of my nose."
I said, "well that's pretty gross." (while in my mind I was thinking, where am I going to find these boogers, because surely he wiped them on a wall or something)
To which he replied as if reading my mind, "Don't worry mom, I cleaned my nose with a rag."
In awe I said, "well that was good, thanks, where did you put the rag?"
I swear he rolled his eyes and said as though he was explaining this to Kade and not me, "In the washing machine mom."
I just started laughing, and silently thanked my Father in Heaven for the sweet children he has given me.

Oh For the Love!

2009-12-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

So the other day I called my husband at work and was going to give him some sarcastic comment about how I "absolutely loved" cleaning out the freezer with his exploded soda in it. I dialed the number smiling to myself and waited for him to pick up. He answered. I hesitated. And then all I could get out was.....Hi. Why does my husband have to have such a sexy (yep I said it) voice? It makes me swoon. *sigh* I love him.

Right now I am loving lots of things. Here are just a few of them...

Reading scriptures by the Christmas tree. We turn off all of the lights except for the tree lights and let the kids light the scriptures with their flashlights. They love it. And please notice how just as Adam took the picture, Kade just had to pick his nose, and then proceeded to try and wipe it on the couch. srsly. Just a few of the joys of having boys!! :)

If you can't tell, that is Kade lighting his face with the flashlight after scriptures. Love him.

Winter grass. I absolutely love winter grass. It is so green and pretty. I love the smell, and that during winter time I can lay a blanket outside and have a picnic with the boys. They love rolling around in it, and in turn I "love" getting the grass stains out of their clothes.

Baking sugar cookies with these two little tykes. There was no outside play time today because it has been raining all day so we baked sugar cookies instead. They helped roll out the dough, place the cookie cutters, and then frost and sprinkled them. It was a HUGE mess in my kitchen afterward, but well worth it for those faces. I love their smiles, it makes me melt.

Rain! It has been rainy outside for the last 2 days. Although I don't love that the rain today cut my run in half (it started raining in the middle of my run, dangit!), I still love it. I have had all of the curtains open so we can watch the rain fall, and the trees sway in the wind. I wish it wasn't so cold so we could actually go play in it. Oh well.

So what are you loving these days???

I've Changed...

2009-11-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

So it's been awhile but here I am. My littlest "crazy" Kade turned 2 a little over a week ago. We had a birthday shindig at our house for him and his cousin Graham who's birthday is a few days before his. I know everyone says this about their kids, but seriously, I don't know where the time went. It feels like he should still be a baby, but he is definitely not. He is such a big boy and so independent. He puts up a good fight with his older but not much bigger brother. He is feisty, but also such a snuggler. He talks more than any barely 2 year old I have ever seen. For instance just this morning, I told him to stop banging on the wall because the mirror was going to fall on his head, and his response was "It not fall on my head mom, it fall on your head!" He is not supposed to be able to string that many words together! And that is just the tip of the iceberg, you should see when him and Blake are playing together, it is crazy. I love my little baby and am so thankful for him. So here he is in all of his pizza face glory on his birthday!

Cousin Graham's birthday is just 6 days before Kade's. He is so cute I could just bite him! But I won't I promise. Here is Graham opening his presents, and of course Blakers is right in the middle of it all. :)

We had a Buzz Lightyear cake for them. I don't know what is with my kids and Toy Story right now but they love it! Kade picked out the cake all on his own and was very excited about it.

The Big Kade Monster opening his presents.

A Special thanks to all those who helped and also came to the party, it was a success!

Yah so the day after Kade's birthday, both him and I got really sick. I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it kicks my trash. Thankfully, it wasn't the flu or anything like that, but it was a bad cold. Poor Kade had a high temp and was miserable, and I was miserable right a long with him. I felt bad for Blake because he had no one to play with at home when Daddy went to work. The worst part about being sick was the fact that it was Thanksgiving week and I was all signed up to run the TURKEY TROT! Kade was better within about 2 days, but of course mine lingered. I was determined to run even if I felt like crap and I couldn't breathe out of my nose. Well, I did it, but I was a little disappointed with my time.

Nicole Graham #684

Queen Creek, AZ

Age: 25 Gender: F

Distance	10K
Clock Time	1:02:08
Chip Time	1:01:05
Overall Place	1470 / 2690
Gender Place	590 / 1426
Division Place	119 / 290
Age Grade	49.7%
Pace	9:50

I actually felt pretty good running, I just couldn't breathe through my nose most of the time. As I was running, I thought back to when I was playing softball at Westwood. When we would do something wrong, or get in trouble for whatever reason, Ricedorff would make us run laps. As I would run, I would think to myself, "I hate this! This sucks! I hate running! Who would do this for fun?! Why do we have to run for punishment?" That is exactly what it felt like back then, punishment. Running was what we did when we were being punished. Now, 8 years later, I was running a 10K, for fun (I actually had to pay to run it), on a holiday!
WHO AM I?!
Then I realized, I have changed. I am not the same person I was. I remember when I was younger being scared to be a wife and a mom someday. Would I be a good wife/mother? Would I know what my baby needs? Would I be able to handle having more than one? Would I be able to handle staying home with them?
Now, I can't imagine how my life would be with out the man by my side. How I managed to snag him away from all of his many admirers I will never know, but I am grateful. I can't imagine life without my little ones. I still don't know if I am a good enough mother to them, but I do know that I love them more than anything. I will do/be anything they need me to be. I love being home with them. I love hearing their voices, their laugh, their snores. I love it all. Of course I have my moments, we all do, but those three boys are the very best part of me. And that my friends, is why I have changed.

It Happened......

2009-11-17T14:15:00.000-08:00

The "smurf" (our Hyundai) died. Ok, so I am being a little dramatic, it didn't really die. In the last few months it broke down what felt like a million times. Adam drives super far to work and leaves waaaay early in the morning so Smurf breaking down was not an option. You have no idea the sinking feeling I had in my stomach when my phone rang at 5 in the morning. I thought Adam had been in an accident, but no, Smurf blew a gasket or something dumb that I have no idea about. So as you can imagine I was more than fed up with it and so was he. Luckily all of the crap that kept breaking were covered under our extended warranty that we bought (thank heavens) so we didn't have to pay for it. What really gets me is that Smurf was only 5 years old! It was the first car that Adam and I bought together after we got married. We were sad to see it go, but ready. We got everything fixed and sold the thing while it was still worth something. So now, let me be the first to introduce you to Adam's new baby............

We don't have a name for him yet, unless Adam has secretly named him without telling me. :) I'll have to let you know. My dear husband treats our cars like they are our children.

In other news, the other night Adam and I went to check on the "crazies" before going to bed and this is how we found them......

How cute/uncomfortable is that?! And look, they are holding hands. Precious.

FHE was a blast last night. Music was the theme! The "Crazies" are in love, and I mean in love with music. So we had a little spiritual lesson made our own shakers, and then rocked out together as a family. The big hit of the night was Adam bringing out his trumpet. The boys about died with enthusiasm when he played the first note. Then, as if the night couldn't get any better for the boys, Adam let them PLAY the trumpet. Blake was a natural, he actually made music come out, unlike myself and Kade just making a bunch of spit noises. Needless to say, the spit valve was a little disgusting to empty out afterward. Yum!

They are happy, SUCCESS!

Reverence is Golden...

2009-11-09T18:52:00.001-08:00

I don't know about ya'll with kids but church for us isn't always very quiet during Sacrament Meeting. In fact sometimes it is downright loud. In my kid's defense it isn't just them who are loud, but still. So tonight FHE was about Reverence. We talked about how important it is to be reverent when we are at church, during prayer and scripture study. I made them little sashes to wear saying "I Can Be Reverent" and they wore them for the rest of the night.

In the end, I am not sure it stuck with them, but at least we tried, right?

Vindication

2009-11-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

I have these dear friends of mine. We'll call them Lurae and Brian (names changed for privacy reasons). For the last 2 years they have been going through the most horrific trial you can imagine.

Countless fasts were held in their behalf, numerous trips to the Temple with them in mind, and prayers, endless prayers for them. You can't imagine the pain that they have suffered.

Today, it is over. He has been vindicated. They no longer have to worry about what tomorrow will bring. They have each other and their family and nothing can take it away from them now.

Throughout these past two years of heartache my wonderful friends have remained united and strong. Their unwavering faith in the Lord has brought them through tougher times than many of us will ever face in our lifetime. I am in awe of their positive attitude through the whole ordeal, I don't know that I would ever be that strong.

The Lord knows each of us. He knows what burdens we can bare. He knows our hearts, and hears our prayers. I have such a firm testimony of the power of prayer. I have seen the affects of it in the lives of my dearest friends.

To Lurae and Brian: I love you guys, and I am so thankful to be counted as one of your friends. Breathe, its finally over!!!

Life Is About Makin Fun

2009-11-03T12:33:00.001-08:00

Sunday night we had a little superman fun. Just thought you would like to know. I don't normally condone jumping on my couches, but for these cuties I let it slide just this once, and joined in the fun.

Last night for Family Home Evening our lesson was on our "bodies." We talked about how important they are and what good things we can put in our bodies. We asked Blake. "what is something good for our bodies that we eat?" Blake told us, "I know! Stuffed Shells! I like those mommy, and so does my tummy." Stuffed shells just so happens to be his favorite meal. I know what 3 year old loves that and not french fries (he hates those by the way)?

So anyway, as part of our lesson, we thought it would be fun to draw the kids on paper and let them color it while we talked about the importance of bodies. All in all, it was a good FHE. Sometimes I wonder if we are ever getting through to them with Family Home Evening and scripture reading, and then we have a good night where they both participate and I realize that it is working!!! They may not understand everything, but they are listening. Hallelujah!

Showing Kade how to color in his eyes. He then proceeded to tell daddy every body part that he saw. Precious.

Kade makin his hair all spiffy. He. Is. One. Handsome. Dude.

Blake coloring his fingernails. If you look closely you can see that he made his own huge eyes. I just love it.

It was so cute watching them color the different things on there outlines. Blake told us "daddy you didn't make my toenails!" so he then got down and drew them in. They looked like claws, but its cool.

EDIT: Ya so I forgot to flip the pictures sue me!

Halllllloooooowwwwweeeeeennnnnnn!

2009-11-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

So I am not a big fan of Halloween. Don't get me wrong, I love dressing my kiddos up and love all the free candy, I just don't like the "let's scare your kids so they are up half the night too afraid to go to sleep." I don't like feeling scared, so I can only imagine how little kids handle it. You know?

Anywho, with all that said, I love how excited the boys got this year. They are both old enough to go "Trick or Treating" so we finally got to go and have fun the whole time! Woo hoo!! So here they are in all their glory. Blake is Buzz, and Kade is Woody. They looked so cute I just wanted to bite them (but I didn't, I promise) :)

They walked up to the door and said "trick or treat" all by themselves and then came running back to us telling us that they got more candy. Then they would turn and yell "THANK YOU!" They did this at EVERY house, it was so precious.

On Friday, our family had a costume party and we all had to dress up. Adam and I didn't want to spend extra money on a costume so we decided that we would have to find something around the house or borrow one. So I was lame and decided the easiest thing to be was a cow girl. My friend Jen had these rad red cowgirl boots, so I was rockin those (no pic sorry). Everyone complimented the boots Jen Thanks!!!
My husband on the other hand, decided not to borrow one. He decided that he would find something at home, and I must say it was........awesome. I won't spoil it for you I will just let you scroll on down and see the before and after pics...........Enjoy
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Before
.
.
.
.
.
.

AFTER!!
He decided that he would be Tom Hanks from the movie Big. Yah those are Blake's pajamas, and he sure did stretch them to the max putting them on. I don't know that Blake will be able to wear them now. I wish we had a better front picture of him in it, but you can imagine I'm sure. The best part was that he stayed in the robe all night until the contest, and then just ripped the robe off and shocked everyone, it was HI-larious. My husband rocks. End of story.
Happy Halloween!

Update

2009-10-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, Adam had the swine last week and it really kicked his bum. I am happy to report that he is finally better!!

It was so weird to have him home, but not really home. He was in our room for almost 4 days, not moving much and sleeping almost the whole time.

Needless to say, I missed him like crazy.

I slept on the couch all week, I couldn't touch him (for fear I would pass his germs to the kids. I could care less if I got sick, I just didn't want the boys sick), I couldn't hug or kiss him. It was like torture seeing him, but not being able to get close enough to smell his special Adam scent. Plus the crazy worry I felt about him getting sicker (all those stories on the news of people dying really freaked me out).

Last night I got into bed and FINALLY got to snuggle up close to him and feel his arms wrap around me and I finally felt like I was home.

Mr. Roboto

2009-10-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well now that I am on the tail end of the Swine we decided to do a little dancing last night. I am addicted to the new Muse song so I thought I would show the kids. Once I put it on Blake felt compelled to bust out the Robot. Well, here is a little sample.
Adam

Quarantined...

2009-10-21T20:35:00.001-07:00

My husband went to the doctor today, and guess what? Yep, he's got the swine. Not fun. So the poor man has been quarantined. He is stuck in our bedroom, so the "crazies" don't get anywhere near him. I feel so bad, he doesn't even want to move. He didn't even object when I wanted to take a picture of him tonight. Some how he still manages to look HOT even though he is poopy. I love you baby.

On a much much lighter note, the weather has been beautful the last couple days so the boys and I have been outside A LOT. Here are a few pictures I couldn't help but take of the cuteness.

Argh! I could just chew on those cheeks (that's not weird right?)

He did not want his picture taken, this was the best I could do.

Feel the love.

I wanted this picture to be a lot cooler looking than it turned out. Oh well, they are still cute, even with the squinty eyes.

Tidbits of Blake

2009-10-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Blake: "Mom, I am getting taller and taller!"
Me: "You are! You are getting to be such a big boy!"
Blake: "Ya, I am gonna have to go to highschool now mom."

Blake while lying in bed: "I fell down a mountain and a dog pee'd on my face."

Blake: "Mom, I have a cupcake?"
Me: "No dear, it is only 7:30 in the morning, you don't need cake."
Blake: "But mommy, I have to, my tummy hurts and I need a cupcake to make me feel better."

Blake while blessing his lunch: "And bless Daddy that he will stay at work and drink his water."

Blake again while blessing food: "And bless Harry Potter that he will be safe and be strong."

Me: "You and Kade are going to stay with Heidi because Daddy and I are going to the Temple for Brian and Jen's wedding."
Blake: "Brian and Jen are getting married?"
Daddy: "Yep, and they are getting married in the Temple so they can be together forever."
Blake: "I want to get married."
Me: "You do huh? Well, can you wait until you get older, like after your mission?"
Blake: "Ya, then I am going to marry Jesus in the Temple!"

Why Do I Love My Husband?

2009-10-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Because he does things like this, and I realize that I can't even put into words how much I love him. I am so happy with my life.

All The Single Fellas........

2009-10-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

See this girl.....

Ya, this is my sister Heidi and she just turned 21.

She is pretty much my best friend. She keeps me sane when "the crazies" are being WILD!

She is B-E-A-utiful, and I just love her to death.

Here are just a few reasons why Heidi rocks this world...

1. She loves and plays with my crazies

2. She, like myself, is a movie quoter. We go back and forth with movie quotes all the time. I love it!

3. She reads her scriptures every day

4. She started reading all the books that I have and now we can talk about them together.

5. She is HI-larious! She knows how to make me laugh

6. Ok so she is kind of a blonde, but she is very sincere, and very easy to love.

For some reason she is single, and I am ready for her to have a man, a GOOD man.
So blogging world, who should we hook her up with?? Any ideas for a good man who will treat my little sis with the utmost respect that she deserves?

I LOVE YOU HEIDI, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I Was Brave.....

2009-10-08T12:13:00.001-07:00

And chopped my hair! It was a long time coming, I was just too chicken to do it. I REALLY needed a change, and my awesome and talented friend Jen (check out her blog yo!) was brave enough to defy my husband with me. Adam was a little anxious for my haircut (probably a little more anxious than me). He is a big fan of long hair. He hasn't seen it done yet. He saw the big poof ball that was my hair after it dried last night with no products in it (I wish I had a picture of that...yikes) So here is the big reveal.........

I love it! I really do. I can get it done so much faster! Jen cut about 5 inches off and added layers, she is A-MA-ZING! I know absolutely nothing about hair, so I put it all in her hands and she made it look nice. Thanks Jen!

!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-06T12:13:00.001-07:00

Here is a little story about the time Nicole almost wet herself with fright.

Ok, so the boys and I get home from our run, and I decided that it was about time to clean out the garage (there were remnants of cereal all over the ground), and spray off the driveway. So I set off to work. I was done spraying the garage, and started on the driveway and entryway to our front door. Kade was with me making sure to hinder me in anyway possible :) I look up in my entry way and see this...

Sorry it isn't a very good picture because frankly, I was not about to get any closer to the thing. My first thought when I saw it, was "what the heck is that?!" I went through all the possibilities in my head, a bee hive, a bugs nest, a spider's eggs, each thought getting more and more disgusting. So I finally decided that it was a bugs nest of some sort, and I was going to spray it away with my hose (not the smartest idea I have ever had, but whatev). I got Kade away just in case it was bees and started spraying.

I was not prepared for what it really is.

It's a freaking BAT?!

Why in heaven's name is there a bat in my entryway? Don't those nasty things live in caves!?

As soon as I sprayed it, it's wings started flapping, and I dropped the hose and ran for cover.

It took about 5 minutes for me to get the composure I needed to go back outside and turn off the water.

Adam was not the least bit worried about it like I was. I said, "Don't those things have rabies or something babe?" And he texts me this, "you already have rabies babe, so you can't get it twice. :)" Thanks babe, thanks.

So now, I can't even go out my front door because I know when I do that bat is going to get some revenge on me for spraying it earlier. Everytime I go to check through the window above my door if it has gone away yet, there he is taunting me, daring me to open the door so it can swoop down and give me rabies for real.

How do I get rid of a revenge craved bat?

Sounds I Love......

2009-09-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

There are some things in my life that may be ordinary or not mean much to others, but I love them! These are just a few.........

-The sound of the laundry/garage door opening, telling me that Adam is home from work.

-Turning the page in a book I can't put down.

-A giggle from "the Crazies" when they are supposed to be in bed.

-A deep belly laugh for no reason at all.

-The shower turning on after a long run.

-The voice of an old friend I haven't talk to in awhile.

-A "Hi Mommy" from "the crazies" when they wake up

-"I love you Mommy"

-"You're my favorite Mommy"

-A whisper of "I love you" in my ear from my husband before he leaves for work.

-The sound of........silence, telling me that we survived another day and "the crazies" are resting peacefully.

Why I am Happy Today

2009-09-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

There are a few things that are making me very happy today.

The first is this song. Sorry for the annoying picture video thing with it. I just love the song. It is exactly how I feel about my husband. My baby loves me even when I am scary looking and have bad morning breath. He even shows me love when I am grumpy. He is the best, I love you babe!

That's right peeps, this book is going to be a movie!!! That makes me very happy. Now let the speculation begin on who should play Ian!

This Blog makes me very happy too. I don't personally know Lauren, but I love her blog. She is hilarious, and uses words like sicknast, and awesomespice, which are words that I use regularly as well.

Last, but certainly not least, these little guys. This picture is disgusting and Kade looks a little "stoned" but its all good, they are still dang cute. How did I get such handsome boys!?

The Randomness That is My Brain

2009-09-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of things bouncing around in my head lately. Nothing super important, just stuff I have thought to blog about. But because I am lazy I haven't done it. So here are just a few things I have been thinking about............

Soaked

Please excuse the scary picture. 2 Saturdays ago, the "crazies" and I went on our normal run. It was overcast and really windy but we went anyway hoping to just get it done. I thought the hardest part would be the wind, and it was killer on my legs. It started to rain a little and we were all laughingat first. We have run in the rain before so we weren't to worried about it. Just when I was on my last mile......it started pouring rain. And I am not just talking about raining hard, it was sideways rain with wind. It felt like we were taking a shower outside. That is when the screaming started from the "crazies." I turned around and came home. This picture is after I had been drying off for about 20 minutes. I was still soaked. It was awesome though. I love the rain.

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE show started last night...

I am in love with this show! I love to see the transformations that people make inside and out. Not to mention Jillian (the lady trainer) makes me laugh. She makes me think back to when we would do weight lifting for softball at the good old West to the Wood and I thought that my coach was so hard on us because he was a football coach too. Boy was I wrong. He yelled at us but he is sweet as kittens next to Jillian. She rocks though! She doesn't take any crap and that is what these people need. Love it!

Faces!

The "crazies" have now decided that I am not allowed to take any pictures of them unless they are making "silly" faces. Blake and I always make faces at eachother and now he is obsessed with it. He will make faces at me while I am running, and ask me to do it back, which I always do. He is so funny. And Kade is just happy to be doing whatever Blake is.

4.

Walking in Daddy's shoes

The other day I was in my room doing who knows what when I heard some clippity clopping going down the hall. I knew Kade had Adam's shoes so I grabbed the camera and got a shot of him walking in his daddy's shoes just before he tripped over them and came crashing down. I don't know why but I absolutely love it when the "crazies" wear Adam's shoes, it is so cute. Adam is probably not such a fan of finding random things in his shoes like fishy crackers, or cars, but whatev.

Daddy Time

Everynight after scriptures and prayer, we have "story time." It's nothing special we just let the boys each pick a book and decide if they want us to read it or if they want to read it to us. It is really funny to hear what they say when they "read" the story. This particular night daddy was doing the reading and I had to take a picture because they are so darn cute.

p.s. my latest project has been the "crazies" room. I painted the bottom half of their room black and the top white. We will be putting up a chair rail all around. The boys love music so that is going to be the theme of their room. What do you think, is it a good idea?

He Made My Day

2009-09-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

So I just got a call from my Father in Law. He called to tell me about our upcoming family dinner and to give me our assignment (pasta salad, yum).

Then he says. "Nicole I want to tell you something."

Me: totally nervous and thinking, crap what did I do wrong, "okay......."

Pops (as my husband calls him): "I think you are a wonderful wife and a great mother."

Me: bewildered, "huh?"

Pops: "Adam cannot stop talking my ear off about how great you are, and I thought I would tell you that I think you are pretty great too."

Me: with tears "Thanks dad that really made my day." sniff sniff

Where did that come from?? I have no idea but I am so grateful for 1. my husband who apparantly talks about me to other people and 2. a father in law who gave me a compliment that I really didn't know that I needed at that moment.

Often times in my life I feel inadequate, like I am not doing enough. There is always something more that could be done. Call it a mom complex if you will. I am sure I am not the only one to feel that way.

I am thankful to a Father in Heaven who knows what things I need, even when I don't know that I need them myself, and sends them to me. Whether it is a phone call with nice words from someone unexpected, or a hug and kiss from my husband or children, I will take them and be grateful.

Thanks Babe for saying nice things about me to other people, and thanks Pops for the nice compliment. Love you guys!

The Happenings

2009-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

So there has been a lot going on the last couple of weeks. First off, the kids, my mom, Heidi and I spent a week in Utah. First we stopped in Hurricane to visit my best friend in the whole world Jesee and her family. I just miss her to death and it was so nice to see her and let our kids play. And boy did they play. They played so hard and I was so worried that they were going to break something at her house that I didn't even get any pictures of them playing. Sorry Jes, but we loved being there and hanging out!!!!

Next, we headed north to Lehi to visit my Aunt Marsha, Uncle John and Grammy. Grammy lives half the year with my parents and half the year with my aunt, and the boys were so excited to see her, they were talking about it the whole 5 HOUR DRIVE from Hurricane. Once again I really really stink at remembering to take pictures, so I didn't get any of them. Yah yah I'm a slacker I know. The weather was so beautiful there, that I was half way ready to tell Adam that we were going to become snowbirds, and live there for the summer. I wish I would have gotten pictures of how beautiful it was. My morning runs were blissful (and also hard because there were so many hills!). There were mountains everywhere, and let me just tell you, you know you are in Utah when.....you pass about 8 ward buildings on your run, they were everywhere! I loved it.

Here are the boys at one of the many parks we took them too over the week. They were loving it. The weather was so nice we were at the park almost everyday. I can't wait for it to cool down here!

One of the many reasons I was so excited to go to Utah was the fact that they have restaurants there that they no longer have here. One of which is Wingers! I am in love with this restaurant! It takes me back to highschool, when Jesee and I would go there like once a week during the summer. Please tell me you remember them! They give you free popcorn, and their wings are more delicious than anything else we have here. Buffalo Wild Wings? Bleh! Wings Express? Bleh! Native New Yorker? Double Bleh! Wingers you rock!!

The other restaurant I just HAD to have while there was Bajio (sorry no pic)! Yum. They closed the one on Stapley and the freeway and I was devastated. And don't tell me Cafe Rio or Costa Vida are better, YOU LIE! Me loves me some Bajio!

Oh and I got me these darn cute shoes while in Utah as well. Oh and they were only 9 bucks! Rock on! Yah they are not even remotely comfortable on my feet, but that is just a small price to pay for the cuteness, or so I tell my husband. :)

Anyhoo, when we got home, I was ready to be home. A week away from that husband of mine about did me in. I talked to him like 3 times a day while we were gone and I was still just itching to get home. AAAHHHH reunions, they are.........wonderful. Love you babe.

Okay onto the other happenings. The boys shared a room the entire time we were gone, so when we got home, I officially moved Kade into Blake's room, and made Kade's room the play room for now. (No we are not having another baby yet. It's amazing how many people asked if we were having another kid just because I said the boys were sharing now.) It took forever to get everything moved over, I had to take apart Kade's bed and then put it back together again in Blake's room. I really didn't realize how many toys they had until I was getting everything moved. And the books! Oh the books, my back hurts just thinking about moving the dresser full of them. I was spent by the time that was done. Then this weekend Adam bought them bunkbeds and put it all together. It looks good.

My next project was this....

Yep I painted my room. I decided that we have lived in our house for too long to not have our bedrooms painted yet, so I went to work. I painted the wall green and hung up this monster picture that has been sitting collecting dust behind my dresser for the last 2 years.

Why? Funny you should ask. I figure, if I do it, then Adam won't have too. My hubby works so hard and has a time consuming calling in our ward, so really I want any time I can get with him and the boys. So if I can get projects that he usually does done myself then he gets to spend more time with me and our babies. Good plan eh!

Phew that was a long post! And here are the "crazies" being, well, crazy!

So long friends!

ATTENTION DRIVERS

2009-08-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Just so you know PEDESTRIANS have the ride of way in a crosswalk! That's right I am talking to you Mr. Ford Explorer who almost plowed my boys and I over this morning in the crosswalk, and then had the nerve to look at me like it was my fault that he almost killed us when I hit my Adidas brakes to get out of the way. And you Ms. Green Chevy Cavalier, who so lovingly looked right at me in the SAME crosswalk and then proceeded to pull forward and block me to make her right turn, so that I had to go all the way around her to get back on the sidewalk. Grrrr to you both!!!

The boys and I are out every morning, except Sundays of course, running and I am not a big fan of being a pedestrian with cars around. Mostly because I was traumatized as a kid. Yep, when I was about 6 I got hit by a car. I was riding my bike to school with my brother and a car made a right hand turn when I was trying to cross the street and took me out. Don't worry I wasn't really hurt, maybe a few bumps and bruises, but it sure scarred me for life. I am constantly on edge when I am walking/running down a busy road.

On a much lighter note the boys and I were in Utah last week and I was an idiot and forgot to take lots of pictures, but I have a few to post later along with the happenings that have been going on at the Graham Abode. See ya!

Just Some Things I Love

2009-08-10T12:36:00.001-07:00

Today I am going to post about a few things that I love......so here they are.

I just love this man right here. I know I am starting off all mushy gushy, but seriously, I love this guy. Yep, he's the man of my dreams, and for some reason he loves me back. I am one lucky girl.

Here is just one of the reasons why I love Adam so much. He makes me laugh more than anyone else in the world. He has the best sense of humor, and frequently makes me run to the bathroom so I don't pee myself.

Adam has also passed his sense of humor gene to our little ones. I just love that my boys are funny too. I wish I was funny like them.

Friends! I just love my friends! This is one of my best friends who just so happens to be my sister in law. Love Her! Amy you rock!

This candy. I love Hot Tamales. Actually I pretty much love all candy, (its a problem) but hot tamales take the prize. I could eat them all day everyday. I am a sucker for hot stuff (hem hem Adam.) :)

Chicken Tacos! Sorry no picture, I forgot to take one the last time I made them. I am currently obsessed with grilled chicken tacos. They are so yummy. I was finally brave enough to use our grill outside (I am a little apprehensive of the propane tank possibly blowing up in my face. I'm not sure why.), and ever since then I use it all the time. Yum YUm YUM! Poor Adam has to eat chicken tacos atleast once a week. oh well.

Okay so there are many many many more things that I love, but I don't really feel like putting anymore. If you know me, what are some things that you know I love???

THE END!

My Big Kid

2009-08-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

Blake started preschool today. I am excited for him but it feels a little weird to have a kid that old. He's not even old, it just feels like when they go to school they are old. He is just down the street at a lady in my wards house for only 2 hours twice a week, but I am realizing just how big he is and how much he is growing despite the fact that I want to keep him small. Blake is so much fun and such a boy. He is so like his daddy it is almost comical. He has been so excited for school, and I know that he is going to love it. Plus he is in a class with all girls......yah my boy is already a ladies man, and he loves it. So here are some pictures of my big kid just before going to his first day of preschool.

The customary picture with your backpack on in front of the door. Doesn't everyone's parents do that on the first day of school?

He insisted on having a picture of his cool Batman backpack and brother.

Mommy and my big boy. Yah he doesn't look anything like me, he is ALL Adam. ARRR he is so cute, I could just eat him!!! :)

I Am Gonna Do It

2009-07-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

It is official because I am putting it on my blog. I figure if I put it on my blog then I have to do it, right? Ok so here it is, I am going to run a half marathon. There it is, now I have to do it. Out here in good old Queen Creek, they have "London's Run" every year and this next time is my turn. I have been throwing the idea around for a while now, and I realized that I am never going to do it unless I just decide to. I have never run a half marathon or anything even remotely close to it ever in my life. I have never even had the desire to run more than a mile in my life up until a few months ago. I just love running now, isn't that weird? I think it is really weird, because I don't know why it is fun, or why it relaxes me. Whatev, I am going to do it. So now comes your job.......I need to stay motivated, so I need people to tell me I am fat and lazy so it will push me to work harder. You got that?! Okay so don't really call me fat because that will probably just hurt my feelings. Hurray to all those people who run full marathons, you rock, I don't know that I could ever love running THAT much. So now, I gotta run a lot more than I have been to get ready. Yikes, I hope my kids don't mind being in the stroller for 2 hours while I attempt it. 7 miles is the most I have done so far.....only 6.2 more miles to get to a half marathon, *sigh* I am tired already.

Dance Lessons

2009-06-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

I have thought about putting my boys in some sort of dance lessons. They love music and absolutely love to dance. They cannot hear music without getting up and bouncing around. Adam says.........no. Whatev, lots of people dance amazing and have no formal training. Maybe I can convince him later? Who knows.

So today we did a little bit of this.......

And a little bit of that.......

And then we had to cool down......by standing in front of the fan.

Baking with Kade

2009-06-09T10:07:00.001-07:00

Since Blake started his arts and crafts class, it has left Kade and me home by ourselves. Blake is very entertaining for Kade, so I worried that Kade would not like him gone. I've been thinking of fun things we can do together. Today we decided to bake some cookies. Who doesn't like cookies? You're crazy if you don't. Kade had a blast helping/hindering me. He especially loved eating the dough.

After I stopped letting him eat the dough, he decided that he was bored with making cookies, so he decided to take all of the pots and pans out of the cupboard and play....whatever makes him happy.

Kade is such a cutie and I am glad that we have some "Mommy/Kade time" even though we do miss Blake when he is gone. Its just so much quieter while he is gone, its weird, I will have to get used to it, thats for sure.

Dear Gamma Graham

2009-06-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Gramma, we wanted a special post just for you to tell you how much we love you! We look at your mission picture on the fridge everyday and talk about how we can go on a mission when we "have grown a foot or two." We are so grateful for your example in showing us how we need to be. We miss you! Mommy and daddy read your "kisses" book to us almost everyday because we love it so much.

Gramma, I am getting so big!!! I love to give big kisses to mom, dad, brother, and anyone who gives me love. I am talking like crazy, even forming 3 or 4 word sentences now! I love to run and jump and pretty much do anything Blake wants to do. My big blue eyes and long eyelashes get me a lot of attention anywhere we go, and frankly, I love it.

Hi Gramma, I am getting really big too! Can you believe it, I start preschool in August! I am so excited and I talk about it everyday. Mommy and Daddy put me in an arts and crafts class this summer with my preschool teacher and I love it! I get to make lots of fun stuff and they give me prizes at the end of every class. I am going to start swimming lessons with Kade soon too. woo hoo!

We love you Gramma, and can't wait until we can see you again on Skype! We are so happy that you are serving the Lord!

The ABC 500

2009-05-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

So what happens when you grow up with out a lot of money? You get ghetto creative. Thats right I said ghetto creative. When I was a kid my parents were not rich (in money), so we had to find things fun to do around the house. Well it has carried with me. Where did this inspiration come from? The boys were driving their cars and kept driving through my legs while I was standing in the kitchen rooting them on, so I decided, wouldn't it be fun to make some sort of obstacle course for them? Heck yes! So when I got the boys down for their naps my ghetto creative skills got to work, and here it is.......let me remind you just how ghetto it is......it's really ghetto....

To start out, they must zigzag through the year supply water "cones" (there are more of them, I just couldn't get them in the shot), and then through the "not so never ending tunnel"

If they are lucky enough to make it through that oh so scarey tunnel, they must get under the "limbo stick of death!"

Then my friends they must make it through the "jungle o' streamers" (now this is the greatest of all my ghettoness. I didn't have streamers, so I took an old table cloth we had and made my own!)

Then we finally meet the end, but they must break through the ABC's to win the race!

I was trying to think of a way to make some sort of ramp (without them getting hurt of course) but I couldn't think of anything I could do to make it ghetto style. Any ideas?
The boys are napping now so we haven't tried it out yet, but I will be sure to let you know.

Thanks for checkin out my ghetto fabulousness, and a special thanks to mom and dad for helping me become the ghetto creative girl that I am today.

Boys Will Be Boys....I Guess

2009-05-18T10:28:00.001-07:00

Blake has never once seen any Spiderman movies, or any cartoon of Spiderman, so why is it that he loves him? I don't even know where the kid figured out who he is! He tells me "Mom, I am spiderman! I shoot webs!" What? How do you know this stuff? Maybe it is in the genetic makeup of boys, you just know it straight out of the womb. This is him showing me how to shoot webs, and Kade just happy that Blake is letting him play spiderman too.

The boys wanted a tent, need I say more? Boys are so easy to please, move the couches and throw a blanket on top and they love it. But of course, as soon as I leave the room for half a second, Kade, the "daredevil," decides that being under the tent just isn't cool enough. Luckily I walked in with the camera and caught them before Blake got in the middle and the whole thing came crashing down. Which by the way it did come crashing down a short time later when my sister decided that she was going to try and climb in the middle of the blanket, I really wish I had my camera when that happened. I had to remind her that though she is small, she isn't 25 pounds! sheesh

Missing My Honey

2009-05-08T14:31:00.001-07:00

I am feeling a little self conscious about having a picture of me on my blog, it's weird. Adam has been out of town since Wednesday, and I am dying inside. Okay I am being a little dramatic, but I am missing him like crazy. The boys are missing him too, they keep asking for him. He made "Top Performers" at work, which is a big deal and totally awesome. So as a reward, they flew him to Florida (yah I know!) for 3 days. I am so proud of him and all of his awesomeness at work, and know that he totally deserves it. I just hate being away from him! He comes home tonight and I can't wait to see his hotness, just thought you would like to know.

Its Hot

2009-05-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Since it is already 9ooo degrees outside, the boys (well Blake with Kade imitating) have been begging to go swimming. Call me lame but I am not a fan of pools or my kids swimming in them (I am terrified of it actually) so Adam bought a sprinkler to satisfy them and keep me sane. Well they love it! They were outside playing this morning, and we were all sweating to death so I stripped them down (not bothering with swimsuits) and turned it on. We were all soaking by the time we were done and shivering slightly because the wind started blowing. It was a fun morning!

These two sure know how to make me crazy and also the happiest person in the world. I don't know what I would do with out them or how my life would be. They fight like crazy but also love each other so much. I am so blessed to have them in my life. They are cute as can be and I love them more than my own life.

CTR BOYS

2009-04-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yah I know I stink at updating my blog. My boys and my house have kept me pretty busy. I am totally loving this time with my boys. Blake and Kade are so much fun right now. Kade is old enough now that he can keep up with Blake (most of the time) and so it is so much more fun for them to play together. They keep everything loud and crazy at our house, and I am so used to it now, that I don't know if I like it quiet anymore. Something is definitely wrong when it is quiet.

Anyhoo, we have this book that the boys just LOVE to read and it is called CTR Boy. In the story the mom makes a cape for her son that says CTR on it, and calls him CTR boy. All throughout the day he his "CTR Boy" and has to make good decisions. So after reading the book I asked the boys if they wanted to be "CTR Boy" and they were all for it. I am no crafty woman and I really wasn't in the mood to try to be super crafty, so I just got an old sheet and cut it, and then wrote CTR BOY on the back of it and tied it around their necks. Oh my gosh they loved it! They wore them they ENTIRE day and did not want to take them off. Now they wear them all of the time and it is so cute. Blake always tells me "Mom, I am CTR Boy and I get to choose the right!" I just love it! Here they are sportin their ghetto CTR BOY capes!

My Little Gangstas!

2009-03-23T09:27:00.001-07:00

Ok so my kids aren't even remotely close to looking like "gangstas" but they do look pretty darn cute with their hats and sunglasses. Kade isn't wearing his hat in his picture but I purposely bought rival baseball hats. Kade has a Boston hat. he he. Sorry to all those fans out there, but really, I don't like either team. I am a d-backs fan myself, but for some reason they didn't carry them at Target. What the heck, this is Arizona isn't it! Anyhoo, here are my "crazies" sportin teams we don't care about. Gotta love'em!

Finally!

2009-03-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

I am back! (and I am not sure why it is underlining what I am typing, but whatev.) It has been a crazy couple of weeks full of sickness that went through the whole family and ended with an awesome trip to California!

We took the kids to Legoland. I don't know about you guys, but I really hadn't heard of it until about 2 months ago. The kids loved it! The park specializes in ages 2 - 12. This is Blake driving his own car all by himself. They even give you your own license after the ride is over. He was so excited to be driving by himself!

This is Blake and I on the helicopter ride. He was most excited about this ride. He saw it on the brochure and kept telling us he wanted to ride the "blue helicoter"
Next door to Legoland is The Sea Life Aquarium and we had park hopper tickets so we took the boys over there. Blake loved the aquarium more than Legoland! They had all sorts of fish everywhere! Blake was squealing with delight the entire time. They even had sharks in the tanks. I will have to post more pictures later.
They day before we left we took the boys to the beach. I really didn't think they would enjoy it very much because it was cold outside and the water was freezing, but they loved it. We had fun chasing the water and then running away from it when the waves came in. We did that until Blake tripped running away from the wave, and got soaked from head to toe, so we left to get him all warmed up. We had so much fun on our trip and I am so glad we went. The boys did a thousand times better than I thought they would in the car for 8 hours. My parents and sister came with us and I am so glad they did, they made it so much more fun.
My mom was a real trooper the whole trip. The day we arrived in California my mom got a call from her sister telling her that her brother Dan had a heart attack and passed away. It was totally unexpected and a complete shock. Adam and I were ready to take them home or to the airport or whatever they wanted to do. My parents decided to stay with us and make the most of the trip and the time with their grandkids. I know it was a hard for my mom, she was close with her brother and he was an awesome man. He will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with all of the Howard family, today is his funeral. I love you Dan.

Blake is 3!!!!

2009-02-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

Blakey had his birthday this past Sunday and I can't believe his is 3 already! It has gone by so fast. Adam and I were just reminiscing on Valentine's Day about when I went into labor with him, and how we had to leave the restaurant early on Valentines Day to get to the hospital. Blake is such a joy. He is a big handful but I wouldn't have it any other way. He reminds me so much of his daddy because he has such a sense of humor. He does anything to make us laugh, including saying some pretty funny stuff. He is so smart and I know that he is going to do great things in his life. He told us the other day (we were getting ready to go to the Temple for Brian and Jen's sealing) that he wanted to get married in the Temple too. He also said that he wanted to marry Jesus. It was super funny and cute. I just love this kid. Here are a few pics of his little get together with a few family members for cake and icecream.....

Blake is in love with Madagascar. My parents got him the first movie for Christmas and he loves it! He asked for a Madagascar cake for his birthday and that is exactly what he got. We got it the day before his birthday and he kept asking to look at it in the fridge all day.

Eating his cake. That little airplane is with him all of the time now. Of all of the things he got for his birthday, the cake topper was his favorite. Figures.

Brother Kade going to town. He ate his piece in about 5 seconds flat. He is so independent now that he doesn't let me help him eat anymore, so it is always a big clean up. After he ate his he went for Blake's piece. yikes

Opening presents. He was so funny, he didn't want anyone to help him open them, he was so excited to rip the paper. Kade is giving cousin Graham a little taste of his fingers. mmmm

Papa was the only one who was able to help him with this present. He loves his Magna Doodle. And heck I love the thing too. Whoever invented them, is the coolest!

This was Blake's big present. We bought it about 5 months ago because it was on sale for super cheap and it has been up in our closet just waiting for this day. He loved it! His friend Brooklyn has one and he always plays with it at her house. We gave this present to him last and it was a good thing because he dropped everything else and jumped on and took off through the house.
Blakey, we love you and are so thankful to have you in our family. You make life a little crazy, and a lot more fun! Happy birthday!

Let me count the ways.....

2009-02-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

That I love my husband.

1. He works so dang hard. My husband gets up at 3:45 every morning and gets to work by 5. He works 10 hours everyday (plus the long drive) and gets home at about 5 each evening. He goes in so early so that he can be home for dinner and to spend time with the boys.

2. He loves our babies. I know it's a given that he should love our babies, but he is just so good at it! Blake and Kade are in love with him. As soon as they hear the door open everyday, they go running for him. He wrestles with them on the floor for what seems like hours and I can sit and watch all night long. It is so cute.

3. He pays the bills. No big deal right? Wrong! I have absolutely no desire to pay the bills, so he has done it since we got married. He makes the money, so he pays the bills. There is something very sexy about my husband who can manage our money very well.

4. He knows me so well! I might be a little predictable but my husband knows me more than I know myself sometimes. If he goes to get dinner or something, it doesn't matter what restaurant he goes to, he will know what to get me with out even asking. I love it, sometimes I don't even have to think about it because he already knows.

5. He loves his family. Not just us, his wife and kids, but all of them. He talks to his family all of the time as well as mine. When we say our prayers, he always prays for our families. I know it is hard for him to see siblings struggle, and he is always there with a helping hand.

6. He is hilarious. My husband can make me laugh when I am in the worst mood. Whether it is telling me where my eye is at night when I am falling asleep (you have to be there), or doing his millions of impressions of me and anyone you can think of, or playing the "banjo" (Janee I thought you would appreciate that!). He is always trying to keep the mood light and let people know that it is always ok to laugh.

7. He gives me alone time. Being with my "Crazies" all day everyday, alone time is pretty rare. Sometimes my sweet hubby will take the kids, when he gets home from work, on a walk or something just so I can have a moment to myself. It seems like nothing, but it means so much to me.

8. He has a testimony. When he talks about his mission or gospel topics in general I am in awe at how strong his testimony is. I know that when I have questions for him, he will explain it to me in a way to help my much slower brain to understand, or if he doesn't know, he will find the answer for me.

9. He provides for us. I know I mentioned how hard he works before, but really all it comes down to is that he makes life for us a little easier because he provides for us. I don't have to worry about working outside the home because he does it for me. I am so appreciative for the things that we have because I know what he does to let us have the things we need.

10. He loves me. There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing that someone loves me no matter what. And he doesn't have to. My family, my children, its kind of a given that they will love me unconditionally, but he chooses to love me know matter what. He puts up with all of my crazy OCD's, he listens when I rant, he hugs me when I am being crazy, He kisses me when I cry, he laughs when I laugh, and all the while I know that he loves me.

And I love him more than words.
Happy Valentine's Day, thanks for reading my mushy gushy love stuf!

OUCH!

2009-02-05T11:10:00.001-08:00

I don't even know exactly how this happened. We had our friends Brian and Jen over for dinner, which is normal for a Wednesday night. Adam and Brian ran over to his house to fix something with his Internet while Jen and I stayed back with the kids. He was in his room playing with Kade, while Jen and I were straightening up the kitchen, next thing I know I hear him fall, and then I think the whole neighborhood heard him screaming. I ran in there, and the two seconds it took me to get to him, his eye was already swollen and on the verge of breaking the skin. I grabbed him and ran to get some ice to hopefully stop it from swelling so fast, and trying to comfort him too. So what I think happened was that he must have fallen off of his bed and hit his face on the corner of his stool. My poor little dare devil, it hurt him so bad. Believe it or not it was worse last night, so I am thankful that it is looking better. He thinks it is cool now, though it still hurts him. He wants to look at it in the mirror all of the time. He is such a boy.

Frustated

2009-02-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

I know it has been awhile since I updated my blog, and a lot has happened in the last month, but I am not going to talk about those right now.

I just have to get something off my chest. GRRR!

Ok so living in Queen Creek means we have to drive A LOT, well my frustration is with you crazy drivers out there. There is an accident on Ironwood almost everyday and I just don't understand why you are always in such a HURRY! My Patriarchal Blessing tells me that I need to beware of those people who do foolish things who would put my life in danger. Well out here that means practically everyone on the road! Why is it that you crazy drivers out there feel the need to drive 70-75 miles per hour down Ironwood when the speed limit is 50!? 50 is plenty fast enough! And I don't want to hear that, "I am in a hurry" stuff! Be prepared and leave early! Think about the other people on the road. I am almost always in the car with both of my boys, think of them when you are driving, would you drive this fast if you knew you could possibly hurt them? I know I wouldn't! I think it is rude, and extreemely irresponsible. Shame on you speed racers out there!

Ok rant over, I feel much better. Feel free to let me know what you think.

THE FACE!......and a Little Christmas

2009-01-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

If you have been around my little Kade in the last few months, you will know that he has developed quite a sense of humor like his brother. He started making this face whenever we would call his name, and now it is officially called "The Face." We say "Kade give me the Face" and he will turn to you and do it. Hilarious! This is really only half of "the face" we couldn't get it all on camera. He cracks me up.
For Christmas this year, I was wishing for an elyptical, I say wishing because they are quite expensive and I didn't want to spend the money to get one. Well my wonderful husband was out garage sale shopping one Saturday and found one that was only a few months old and it was only 30 bucks! Woo hoo! The only problem now is that my kids like to play on it! Blake is actually really good on it, he will go for a few minutes, forward and backward. He loves it just as much as I do.
These are my munchkins at "Mema and Papa's" house eating their breadsticks from Olive Garden. I swear sometimes they look a like and then other times, they look nothing a like. This is one of those, "they don't look a like" moments.
This Christmas Eve we stayed the night at my parent's house so that we didn't have to get up extra early and drive forever (we don't live that close to either side of our family). Most holidays we spend most of the day in the car driving to each destination. We eliminated some of that this year but we were still exhausted......except for Blake apparently. He was happy as can be while we were driving with his new movie on for him. But poor Kade was so tired he was out cold after about 5 minutes.

The kids were spoiled as usual for Christmas. Being the only grandkids on my side it is inevitable.

Oh yah, and uh Happy New Year!!!! I hope this year is wonderful for each and everyone of you!

My Boys, The Stud Muffins

2008-12-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

Maybe I am a bit biast, but I think I have some pretty handsome boys. This is them just "chillin" on my bathroom floor while I was getting ready for the day. I just can't get enough of the cuteness!

Lookin Good

2008-12-07T19:29:00.001-08:00

As most of you know my friend Tricia and I have been running and working out every morning. Well for me that meant losing some of my bum, which in turn meant that I needed new pants. Well here they are...... I hope you like it.

Seriously people?!?! Do you really think that I would post a picture of my bum on my blog?!?! Do you really think I am that vain?! Heck no! That is so not me! But I will tell you who that is, just scroll on down friends and check it out.......

That's right it is my husband in my jeans, and looking mighty good I might add. No Adam doesn't just wear my clothes because he's a cross dresser, Blake picked out his outfit for him and apparently he wanted Daddy to wear my pants. I thought it was funny until he put them on and they fit him! I guess I need to keep working out! Yikes. Bikes. (name the movie)

Word to Your Mother!

2008-12-05T13:04:00.001-08:00

My kids are hilarious, that's really all I have to say.

Who Knew.......

2008-12-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

...that a blanket and a couple of chairs would be so much fun? The boys and I were down on the floor playing when Blake decided that my legs were going to be his "tunnel" to crawl through. He kept getting mad because he didn't fit really well, so I decided that I would make him a "tunnel." It was totally a ghetto idea but for some reason the boys loved it! I couldn't get them to come out. They were having so much fun with it, that we ate dinner in the tunnel too. Oh the joys of my boys. I can't get enough of them.

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-11-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

Kade Martin Graham
November 21, 2007

Today is my little one's birthday. I know I posted about his party a few days ago, but I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't do anything on his actual birthday (I'm weird I know, he won't remember it no matter what I do). This post is going to be dedicated to Kade's favorite person. I am telling you, when my dad is around he does not want anyone but him. Kade lights up when my dad walks into the same room as him, and it in turn makes my dad light up. My dad is so awesome it is no wonder that my boys love him so much. Kade is named after his "pa pa" (middle name, don't get me started on the story, let's just say it is the only name of my dads that my wonderful hubby would "allow"), and it totally fits because he looks just like him. So happy birthday Kade here is a couple of pictures of you with your favorite person in the world...Pa-pa. I love you my sweet little boy.

Having the time of his life just sitting with Pa pa

This is about 10 minutes later, they are both zonked. Who does that?! What kid just falls asleep sitting on someones lap? Certainly not my kids.....usually. Apparently I need to take my daddy with me everywhere so my kids will nap without putting up a fight. I love you Kadeos!

A special thanks to my dad, I am so glad that they love you and mom so much. You guys are awesome how could they not love you. I have the best parents in the world, which in turn gives my kids the best grandparents in the world! Love you meema and papa!

Birthday Party!

2008-11-17T16:34:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday we had a combined birthday party for Graham (Amy and Ron's little guy) and Kade. Graham and Kade are only 6 days apart (Graham the 15th, Kade the 21st) so we decided to do it together this year. It was a lot of fun for us, the kids could really care less with what was going on. Thank you to all of the family, Ruthee and Brian & Celynda for coming, Graham and Kade love you!

Daddy helping Kade open his many presents. I think Blake enjoyed this part more than Kade did. He didn't quite understand that it wasn't his party.

Cake time! This was Kade's favorite part for sure. He sat there eating his cake for 10 minutes before I took him to clean him up. We didn't get a picture of the mess he made of his face and arms, I wish we would have. Graham and Kade are so cute together! They love to play/hit eachother, and Amy and I like to joke about our lovable ebony and ivory cousins! We absolutely love having Graham in our family, he is such a joy!

Awesome awesome LaDawn (my sis in-law) made our cake again, she is amazing. Once again I think Blake got more of a kick out of the cake than the boys did. All in all it was a good party and I am glad we did it. Happy Birthday Graham! Happy birthday to Kade this Friday!

Concert!!

2008-11-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

My sisters birthday was in October and my awesome parent's gave her tickets to the Carrie Underwood concert. She decided that she loved me best and took me with her! We had so much fun! Little Big Town opened the show followed by the awesome and great Carrie Underwood, who by the way, sounds even better live. It was really nice to have a night out with my sister. Thank you to Heidi for taking me with you! I love you my sister!

This is Ms. Underwood singing her heart out. My sisters camera would not zoom! So this is the closest shot we got of her.

Heidi and I having a blast!

Little Big Town, they sounded awesome too. I liked them before the concert, but we liked them so much after that my sister went and bought their CDs.

Drunk

2008-11-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

A story of a baby and a toddler getting drunk.
What?!?!?! I know that is what you are all thinking, so here comes the story.
Saturday night after I fed the kids, I sat down to eat. Blake and Kade were running around playing so I wasn't too worried about it. I knew they were in the kitchen with Blake's cars. We heard them both laughing so we were figured they were fine. Then we got that feeling "go check on your kids" so I walk in the kitchen and Blake is spraying Kade in the face with this....
and they are both laughing! At first we thought they were just spraying it on the ground and playing with it, but then Adam picks up Kade and it is all over his face. I started freaking out and put him in the bathtub to flush his eyes and clean it all off of him while Adam called poison control. Through all of that we didn't even put the darn cleaner away, so Adam comes walking into the kitchen again while he is on the phone and Blake is spraying the stuff in his mouth!!! Luckily it is the all natural cleaner so the poison control people said that it is just like drinking alcohol and that we needed to give them bread to eat. All of our cleaners were under the sink in the kitchen and we had been trying to figure out a way to child proof with out voiding the warranty we have on our cabinets (no drilling into the wood). Well problem solved they are no longer there, I moved them all to the hall closet on the top shelf. A little inconvenience is well worth my children not getting each other drunk off of our cleaners!!

Running Shoes?!

2008-10-26T14:50:00.001-07:00

Most people who know me know that I am not a "runner." Going out and taking a run is just not my idea of fun. There has to be a purpose to my running. I know what you runners out there are thinking, "you run to exercise dummy!" but really what is the fun in that? So my idea of "running shoes" are these:

My softball cleats. Now that is my idea of running for fun. I am running for a purpose people!! I have had this idea in my head my whole life. I was no track star. I did track in 9th grade just to do the long jump and then was told that I had to run the 400m by my coach (sprinting a whole lap! are you kidding me?! How is that fun?!) I never did track again. So having "running shoes" was never really a necessity to me. I got some for the nights that we go play volleyball and for the time I was in a hip hop class, but other than that really no need.......until now. Thats right ladies and gentlemen these shoes:

are finally getting some real use. Some ladies in my ward/neighborhood are in what we like to call a "stroller gang." Every morning we drag our kids out of bed and walk about 2 and a half miles. Awesome right? Well Tricia and I decided a few days ago that we wanted to get more of a workout afterwards, so we drop our kids off with her husband and then RUN! I never thought the day would come that I would go running just for exercise purposes! It happened! I have gone over to the dark side. I have to say it really isn't that bad when you have someone to run with, so thank you to my dear friend Tricia for converting me to my new "running shoes."

The Zoo & My Own Dare Devil

2008-10-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

The batteries died on my camera and I finally got new ones in to get the pictures off! Last Saturday was such a nice day outside so we went to the zoo with some friends. The batteries died while I was there so I didn't get very many pictures or any of Blake's new girlfriend K.J. She was the cutest little girl and was so gracious and helped push the stroller all around the zoo. Thanks Zack and Sarah for letting us tag a long with you, you guys rock! Here is a picture of Blake by the Baboon. He just came up to the window that Blake was looking through, it was awesome! We had to practically drag him away so other kids could get a close up look at him too.

Kade has decided to be my dare devil. I am convinced that it is because he sees his big brother doing things and he wants to do it as well. I have also realized that having more than one boy in the house, I constantly have to be on edge and ready for anything to happen. The other night, I was getting the kids bath ready and this is what I saw when I walked into Blake's room.....

He climbed up the stool and onto Blake's bed with no help from anyone. This is actually the look on his face when I discovered him. He was so proud that he did all by him self. So what did I do? At first I freaked out and went to grab him, but then I thought "Hey this would be a cute picture on my blog." So I left my son in danger and grabbed the camera. How sad! In my own defense though, the camera wasn't very far away and I ran really fast! Now that my little one knows that he can climb, he is always doing it. I have to be very careful when I leave the room because I never know what I am going to find when I come back. I just know that these two are going to start working together soon to see what crazy things they can do to make my heart skip a beat. It is starting already. Breathe Nicole breathe.

Relief Society Broadcast

2008-09-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we had our annual Relief Society Broadcast this past Saturday. I don't know about those of you who saw it, but it was amazing. I want to be like our Relief Society General Presidency. They truly are amazing women, and I know they were called to teach me. President Uchtdorf's talk was especially good. I felt like he was talking specifically to me. How many times do we as women point out our own faults, when no one even notices? I know that I do it all of the time. We put ourselves down to much and need to recognize all of the good that we do. Who can hold 2 kids and vacuum at the same time? Yah, thats right, a mom! Don't get me wrong, men are awesome and can do amazing things, but I am so thankful to be a women and President Uchtdorf reminded me how special I am to my Heavenly Father, and that he isn't looking at my many flaws, but marveling at the things that I can do well. I went to the LDS website to see if they posted the talks so I could post a link for those who weren't able to attend, but they weren't there. However, they will be in the Conference edition of the Ensign, so I would definitely recommend all to read it. I know I will be reading it again when it comes. You women out there do amazing things, and I am thankful to be numbered among you.

Never a Dull Moment

2008-09-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

These are my crazies after I pulled them around the house in the laundry basket. They loved it, but I was tired (they are kind of heavy!)

It is true, there really is never a dull moment in my house. My boys are always doing something to either make me laugh, or sigh. So this morning the boys were in the bath tub playing. I had just finished washing and rinsing them both when Blake tells me, "Mommy, Daddy at work." I said, "yes sweety Daddy is at work, but he will be home later." Then he tells me, "mommy, daddy loves me." I said, "yes honey daddy loves you very much." He then says, "mommy, daddy loves me because he kisses my owies." Oh my gosh I about died! How cute is he! I just love all of the adorable things my little Blakers says. He is so darn cute, I love it!
Oh but we aren't done yet. Kade, not to be out done, about 5 minutes later decided to poop in the bathtub! Yah, we are just sitting there talking and playing with the bath toys, when Kade stood up, and the next thing I know, Blake is screaming that Kade pooped! I immediately freaked out, and started grabbing towels and to get the kids out before it touched them, and then got all of the toys out. When I got the bath all cleaned up, I realized that Kade still had poop on his bum and it got all over the towel, and then all over him. I was laughing so hard by this point, that I had to sit down for a minute. Needless to say the boys got to run around the house naked while I cleaned everything up. GROSS! Blake is almost 3 and I have never had to clean poop out of the bathtub full of water before! I was very tempted to run and grab the camera at the time, but I was too grossed out to let it sit there for that long. Yikes. As you can see life is always crazy at our house.

I Am Not Very Unique

2008-09-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

So I am not the only one?!?! What the heck! I guess I am not as unique as I thought. sigh

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
352
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Where Has This Year Gone?!?!

2008-08-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Happy to have his diaper changed!

Showing me his climbing skills.

My baby is 9 months old! I seriously feel like I woke up and all the sudden he isn't really a baby anymore! The time is going too fast, it needs to slow down! My youngest monster is crawling everywhere, climbing on everything, waves at everyone, and even walking along the furniture! It is amazing how one day he's just sitting around, and then BAM! he is everywhere! What the heck do I have to do to keep a baby around here?! Don't answer that. Kade is 291/2 inches long and 19 lbs 15 ounces. He is such a joy to have in our home. He brings those big beautiful blue eyes and contagious smile, and you just can't help but pick him up and snuggle your face into his neck and give him lots of kisses. We just love him to pieces! 3 months and my baby really won't be a baby anymore! sigh.

4:45 AM?!?!?!

2008-08-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

What do you do when one of your kids wake up at 4:45 in the morning? Well first, you try to put them back to bed. Then when your other child wakes up a few minutes later and you have found that neither of them wants to go back to bed, what then? Well your a little bitter about it at first of course! Then you think, "well lets make the most of it and hope they will get to their naps a little early". NOPE! I don't know where they get their energy.........oh wait yes I do, their DADDY! I could say it was a miserable morning, but really, it wasn't, we had a lot of fun! My kids make life very interesting and very comical. Here is Blake trying to hide from me in the cupboard (hide n seek), then busting out his dance moves, and Kade watching us dance our hearts out. I really hope they don't make this early of a start a habit, but atleast I know I will survive!

It's Over!

2008-08-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Its over! So it is Wednesday and I have already read the book twice. Yikes (lets just say I am a little tired!) I am so sad that the series is done, but holy moly did I love the book! I just could not put it down (hence the reason I finished so darn fast......twice) I won't say anything about the inside of the book for fear of spoiling it for someone else but all I can say is that...............it was good and not at all what I was expecting! I mean holy crow it was awesome! I have closure now and just waiting for the movie. Te he! Stephenie Meyer you are my hero!

My Guitar Hero

2008-07-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

My son is a Rock Star! For Adam's birthday we got the game Rock Band for our Play Station. There are a lot of instruments that we knew Blake would want to play with, so instead of risking the chance of him breaking our expensive game, I found this little guitar at Target (and it was on clearance too). I figured if he had his own guitar he would be less likely to brake the really expensive one's for Rock Band. So this is a video of my little Guitar Hero playing Rock Band with Aunt Heidi. By the way let me just say that I love this game. I am not much of a "gamer" but it is so fun!

Swimming with Dad & Taxi!

2008-07-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

We bought a little pool for the boys since its a thousand degrees outside and they both absolutely love it. It's like a giant bathtub with a slide! But now I have to remind Blake when he is in the actual bathtub that he can't splash all of the water all over the bathroom. It is a mighty cleanup when they are done bathing, but they enjoy it so I don't mind too much.

Taxi! Yesterday Blake asked me "Kade in wagon mommy! Pease?!" So I put Kade in the wagon, praying as I did that his weight wouldn't tip it over (Kade is a lot bigger than Blake was at this age!) and this is the result. Blake pulled Kade all over the house and were both laughing the whole time. Kids are so easily entertained and apparently so am I because I was laughing right a long with them!

Random picture I know, but I just have to mention how obsessed both of our boys are with going behind our couches! These couched recline so we have to leave a space between the couch and the wall, and the boys just love to go back there and play. This picture is between the two couches underneath the end table which is another favorite for them both. I don't know what is so cool about it but it sure is a pain to drag them out when they get stuck. They sure are cute when they are back there though!

5 Years Baby!

2008-06-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Okay this post is a little late because our anniversary was on the 14th but I am finally doing it! Adam and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary last weekend and in one word, it was awesome! He took me off to Scottsdale for the weekend and my family took our kids. I have never been away from them for 1 day let alone 2 and a half. Needless to say our vacation was well needed and well worth it. We went to the movies, went shopping, ate out (a lot), went swimming, and just spent time together not worrying about anything. I had so much fun. So the first 5 years of our marriage has gone by so fast and I can't wait for the rest of eternity! I have the sweetest, loving husband ever! I am so thankful for him and all that he does for me and our family. He makes me laugh hysterically everyday ( if you don't know my husband, he is pretty much a comedian, he's hilarious!), and he is pretty hot if you catch my drift. I love you babe and I hope you had as good a time as I did! You're the best!
Also, a special thanks to my family for watching our babies, you guys rock!

My Boys (oh how I love them!)

2008-06-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love all 3 of them! I just love being in a house full of boys! They keep my on my toes and always laughing.

This is Adam playing with the boys when he got home from work the other day. The boys just love it when he gets here, and I must say that I get pretty excited when he gets home too.

We were getting ready to get pajamas on the boys and Blake jumped on the couch. I thought it would be funny to put Kade on his lap. Who would have thought that they would have thought it would be just as funny as I did! I got one of Blake laughing, and one with Kade laughing. I love it!

I can't get enough of them! Aren't they just the cutest?!?!?!?! I just want to squeeze their cheeks and kiss them all the time!!!

Not Such a Baby Anymore!

2008-05-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

My little Kade is 6 months old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. He is growing so much and is learning so fast. He rolls everywhere and is now scooting. He is bound and determined to be wherever Blake is (and trying desperately to get to any food that Blake has left behind) and it is so cute to watch them interact with each other. He is saying "dadda" all of the time, and occasionally I catch a "momma" come out. He had is 6 month check up yesterday and he is 17 lbs 4 ounces, and 27 inches tall. He is in the 75 percentile for height, weight and head circumference. He is such a joy to have in our home. He brings so much happiness to us all with his little smiles and his big giggles that make me crack up. Gotta love my babies that aren't really babies anymore!! Happy Half Birthday Kade!

Tagged Again?!?!

2008-05-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Keara tagged me this time! Its different then the last one though so here we go!

1. What was the best thing you cooked last week?
hmmmm, it is hard for me to remember yesterday let alone a week ago! I think it would have to be lasagna. Can you believe that in the almost 5 years that I have been married, I have never made lasagna until now?! I know! But I did and I must say that it turned out pretty yummy. I mean Adam said he really liked it so that made me happy of course.

2. If time, money, and babysitting were of no object where would you go and with who?
Well of course I would go with my husband, and I honestly would not care at all where we went. I am not much of a traveler so really anywhere is an option since I really haven't been anywhere. I would really like to go to Italy some day or maybe even Greece, that would be cool.

3. When was the last time you cried?
Let's see, okay so I am totally a dork but the last time I cried was while I was reading. Yep reading. I was reading the Twilight Series again last week and while reading New Moon, when Edward left Bella, I thought about it and the thought came to my mind, "would if that happened to me?" Would if Adam left me (I know he never would, but it still popped in my mind because I was trying to imagine how she would feel) and I could not imagine the pain. Like I said I am a dork.

4. Name 5 things you were doing 10 years ago
1. I was 14, church dances. I remember thinking for like a 2 month period how cool the church dances were, and then I remembered that I wasn't really friends with anyone in my stake, so I stopped going.
2. I was in 8th grade, who was the boy I liked at the time? I think it was Adam Poltrock. Yikes.
3. Playing softball. I was always playing softball.
4. Like Keara, I was praying and waiting for those boobies to come. (I am still waiting too!!)
5. Typical teenager, I was with my friends a lot!

5. List 5 things you were doing 5 years ago.
1. 5 years ago there was really only one thing on my mind, I was getting married! Yep I was engaged at this time 5 years ago and I was less then a month away from the actual day. I really couldn't think about anything else.
2. I was working at Emecec, a preschool for special needs. I loved it!
3. I got my Temple Recommend
4. I was desperately waiting for June 14th to hurry and get here
5. Once again waiting and waiting. That was probably the worst part of being engaged, the WAITING!

6. List 5 things you were doing 1 year ago.
1. I was pregnant with number 2
2. I was trying with all of might to stay inside because I was so hot. I wasn't even huge pregnant and I felt as though I was dying of heat exhaustion. I don't know how those women who have babies during the summer survive! It's hot!
3. I was having mad cravings in my 2nd pregnancy so I was at the store a lot buying mostly junk food. :)
4. Waiting desperately to find out if we were having a boy or girl (I thought we might be having a girl since the pregnancy was so different, but I was actually relieved when we found out we were having another boy)
5. Blake Blake and more Blake, I was living up the one child stage before we turned our lives upside down again with another one. Now I don't know how life would be with out my little Kadeos!

7. List 7 favorite hobbies.
1. I love to curl up on the sofa or in my bed and read. I really love reading. Just to give you an idea.....since about mid January, I have read about 14 books and a couple of them I have read twice. yikes lets just say I am often very tired from staying up too late
2. I love to play softball. It was much more of a passion when I was younger, but I still get so excited anytime I can get out on the field and play. It is so relaxing to me, I feel comfortable there.
3. I like to dance. Not many know that because I am pretty shy about it but it is fun
4. I am also very shy about this one too, but I really love to sing. I hate singing in front of people, but in the shower or in the car, boy do I let loose. My boys can attest to that I am sure.
5. I like to make cookies! I don't always eat them, but I enjoy making them. I make chocolate cookies so often that I have the recipe memorized and I have even changed it a little to my liking. yum
6. Teaching my boys. There is nothing better then seeing my boys learn, especially things that are important.
7. Cleaning. Lame hobby I know.

8. List 5 favorite foods.
1. Spanish Rice. Oh boy do I love it!
2. Chiminichangas! (yes I spelled it like the girl says on Napolean Dynamite)
3. Pretty much everything Mexican. I can't eat it as much as I want to anymore since I don't have a gall bladder anymore but it makes it that much better when I do. yum yum
4. Chicken. All my family and friends can definitely attest to that. How could you not like something you can have in so many different ways?! When in doubt, go for the chicken strips! Thats my motto at a restaurant.
5. Spaghetti sauce. I love pretty much anything that has spaghetti sauce on it.

9. List 5 places you've been.
1. Utah
2. San Diego
3. Disney Land
4. Six Flags
Like I said, I am not much of a traveler, I haven't been anywhere else.

10. List 5 of your favorite memories.
1. The day I got engaged (my husband is very romantic)
2. The day I got married.
3. Our first Valentines after we got married. If you have heard the story you know what I am talking about. Adam......woo woo
4. When Blake was born.
5. When Kade was born.

THE END!

Friends

2008-05-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

My boys are so cute! They play together and enjoy eachother so much! I got them matching outfits and this is how cute they look! They are playing on my bed right before I got them off to make it.
This is Blake showing Kade all of the letters in the bathtub. He would hold up a letter to Kade and tell him which letter it was. (Notice the strategically placed rag on Kade, I figured he would appreciate this later in life.)
I took this picture just a few minutes ago, it really made me laugh. I just love my little monsters!

Umm.......Is it December 12th Yet??

2008-05-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

I absolutely can not wait for this movie to come out. Those of you who know me well enough know that I love Harry Potter, but I have to say that I am looking forward to Twilight more than Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince due out a few weeks before! Woo hoo! (yep, its official, I'm crazy)

My Little Helper!

2008-04-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

My little Blakers just loves to help! The other day I gave Kade his bottle and left the room to go grab something. Kade dropped his bottle and look who came to his rescue. His big brother! I just had to grab the camera and take a picture of how cute it was!

Last night Blake wanted to help me make cookies. He is so sweet! This is me picking up the flour that he flung all over the counter when he was stirring. It was really funny........after I got it cleaned up!

CRIPES! I got tagged!

2008-04-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Michelle I got tagged!
Rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So I don't really know if there are 7 INTERESTING facts about me, but there are definitely 7 facts. Yikes

1. Okay so I am an avid reader! I really think that it might be an obsession. The scriptures, the Ensign, Harry Potter, you name it I will read it (nothing bad of course). I know I am a little behind on the latest book craze, but right now I am obsessed with the Stephanie Meyers books. I read Twilight in less than 2 days (needless to say I didn't sleep much, its the only time I can really get some good reading done!) I don't actually own the books... yet so I am borrowing them from a lady at Adam's work ( and desperately waiting for New Moon)

2. Sugar Maniac! Yep, I think if there were two words that my husband could describe me as it would be Sugar Maniac. I love it!

3. I have found since I had kids that I really like to clean. Crazy I know, but its true. I have a day set aside every week where I do my deep cleaning. I call it my weekly scrub down! Toilets, showers, floors, if it needs scrubbing I am scrubbing it! I am a dork but I actually look forward to that day every week, I don't know maybe its a stress release or something.

4. Another thing that I have found since being married and having kids is that I don't mind cooking. I like trying new recipes from my Kraft Foods Magazine that my good friend Keara introduced to me so many years ago. I guess when you are home and these things are left to you to do, you just have to learn to like it. I am thankful that I do like to cook and clean because my life would really not be as fun if I didn't.

5. I have a testimony. Some might say that this isn't very interesting but it is to me. I know that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and has a plan for me. I know the Gospel is true, and what a blessing it is to have it in my life. I really could not imagine how my life would be if I didn't turn to prayer or the scriptures if I am struggling with something, or just need peace in my heart.

6. I might be a little buyest because I am their mom but I think that I have the 2 cutest boys in the world! I cannot get enough of them! They make me laugh so much and I love them dearly! Blake is talking like crazy and oh my gosh says the funniest things sometimes (i.e. he grabbed my face the other day and said "look at me I talk to you!"). Kade is getting so big and is laughing all of the time, especially at Blake. They are both the best, and I could not imagine my life without them.

7. I know I mentioned this in my last post but I just have to say it again, I have the best husband ever! He is patient with me when I am tired from a long day, even when he has had a long day as well. He works so hard to make sure we all get the things we need as well as a lot of the things we want. I love the way he loves me and I really hope he knows how much I love him. He makes me the happiest girl in the world and I know that I sound totally corny but I am speaking the truth! I love my family!

Yah that was long but now I tag............Celynda, Emali, Shanna, Janee, and Kelli

I can't wait for Daddy to get home!

2008-04-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

Everyday at about the same time, Blake starts getting real ansy for Adam to get home from work, so he goes to our front window and waits for him. Its the cutest thing. So the other day he was doing his usual of waiting by the window and I brought Kade over to wait too and got this super cute picture of them waiting for Daddy! We love him and always look forward to him getting home so we can all play together. I am so grateful for Adam and his willingness to work so hard so that I can stay home with our sweet boys, and I am just as excited (if not a little bit more excited) as Blake when my sweetheart walks through the door. Love you babe!

APRIL 19th FIGHT NIGHT

2008-04-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

All real men are invited to the April 19th UFC fight at 7:00pm at my house. It will be George St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra for the title. Yes of course we will get the fight in HD. If you are coming plan on bringing some cash to help cover the fight and some pizza. This is the biggest fight of the year don't miss it. http://83.ufc.com/

New Toy

2008-03-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Well everyone it has been a long time since Nicole and I had done anything semi frivolous. We thought it was time to upgrade to HDTV. Our whole marriage we have had a standard 27'' TV and most of our marraige we have had bunny ears (welfare channels) So needless to say we got some good tax money back and did something her and I would never do. We bought a 42'' LCD HDTV. This thing is massive and a bit intimidating compared to the latter. We got the kind of deal you would only see on Black Friday. I would like to pretend it was an impulse buy but I had been shopping for about 6 months or so waiting for the right deal and it finally came along. If there is any lesson here it is that patience pays off and that 42'' is freakin huge.

Just Pictures

2008-03-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

I finally took the pictures off of my camera and decided to post my favorites. ENJOY!

My brother is going to be such a good dad someday. He is so cute with my boys!

Blake loves to pose for pictures!

Kade has such personality now and I am loving every minute of his smiling and laughing!

Like Father like Son! Blake likes to read his books while he is on the potty. Gotta love him!

Kade just loves his older brother and whenever Blake is around, Kade is staring at him and watching his every move. I love my boys! They are so darn cute!

Gallbladder Free

2008-03-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

So those of you who haven't heard, about a week and a half ago I had my gall bladder removed. i had 2 of what they call "gall bladder attcks" one morning and had been having pains in my stomach each time I would eat. I ended up in the emergency room after the 2 "attacks" and found that I had a number of stones in my gall bladder. Yikes! Apparently it is hereditary because my mom and grandma both had their's removed as well.
Needless to say I am grateful to not be having all of that pain anymore, but now I have to be a little more careful of the things I eat (truly a blessing in disguise because boy do I love the greasy and fried foods!). All is well now, it only took me a few days before I felt good enough to be home with my boys alone. Thank you to modern technology and the laparoscopic surgery!

Happy Birthday!!

2008-02-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my baby is 2 years old now! It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with him and awaiting his arrival and now he is so big and even potty trained! It is amazing how quickly kids grow. It teaches me to cherish each moment because before I know it he will be all grown up! Blake is so much fun and what a big boy he has become. He loves to help mommy take care of the baby and loves to help daddy in anything that he is doing. He loves to show off his big boy underwear and if you ask he will show off his sweet dance moves. Although he loves to be told what a big boy he is, he will still cuddle up in my arms like when he was a baby. I just love this boy! Happy birthday Blake!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

I wanted to say Happy Valentines Day to my Sweet Heart. Babe I wanted to tell you and everyone else how much I love you. You are the greatest wife and mother a guy could ask for. You are beautiful in every sense of the word. I am thankful everyday that I have you to call my wife. You are a wonderful example to our two crazy boys. It is so amazing to see the way to teach Blake. I want you to know I love with all of my heart and care for you deeply. Know that you will be my sweet heart for eternity.

BLAKE'S BIRTHDAY

2008-02-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

It is time for the birthday of the year!! Little Blake is finally turning 2 years old! We are having the SHREK themed party this Saturday 2/16/08 at NOON. The location will be at Nicole's parents ward building where we had his first birthday party. It is on Broadway and Extension just north of Klineman Park. There will be some munchies but not a full blown lunch. All Family and friends are invited.

A New First Presidency

2008-02-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

For those who have not heard, we have a new First Presidency for the church. Everyone in my family had their guesses on who was going to be the new counselor and I must say we were all wrong, but now that they announced Pres. Uchtdorf I know he is the perfect man for the job. I don't know about you but I am anxious to see the next General Conference!

Kade's Blessing

2008-02-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much to all that not only participated in Kade's blessing but stuck around and spent time with the family. It was so fun to have so many people over at our house. Another thank you for everyone being so willing to bring some grub it turned out perfect. Everyone should know that they are always welcome in our home especially when they bring food :)

Our Beloved Prophet

2008-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

I am sure everyone has already heard the news about our beloved Prophet President Hinckley passing away last night. I wanted to express my feelings about this wonderful man. I am saddened that we have lost him but so grateful to have had him as our Prophet for so long. We will move forward as a church, but I will never forget the words he has spoken for so many years as a General Authority. He has always made me know how much the Savior loves each one of us.

"The Almighty is with this people. We shall have all the revelations that we will need, if we will do our duty and obey the commandments of God. ... While I ... live I want to do my duty. I want the Latter-day Saints to do their duty. Here is the Holy Priesthood. ... Their responsibility is great and mighty. The eyes of God and all the holy prophets are watching us. This is the great dispensation that has been spoken of ever since the world began. We are gathered together ... by the power and commandment of God. We are doing the work of God. ... Let us fill our mission"

My prayers are with his family, and I am sure he is happy to be home with his wife. I have been privileged to hear his testimony for he has truly strengthened mine. He will be greatly missed.

UPDATE

2008-01-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

Okay so Blake got the tubes in his ears on Friday and everything went great. The doctor said that he had lots of very thick fluid that they had to drain out. (eeww) He was a little sensitive to noise for the first little while because he could actually hear what was going on. He was up and running around like normal within a few hours after the procedure. Thanks to all those who were thinking of him and even called to check up on how he was doing.

Kade's Baby Blessing

2008-01-23T18:18:00.000-08:00

Well it is long overdue but we are having Kade's blessing on February 2nd right at noon at our house. All family and friends are invited. Please come dressed appropriately for this occasion. I will call those individually who we would like to be in the circle. We lool forward to seeing you all there.

Blake's Birthday

2008-01-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

It is time for Blake's Birthday!! Blake will be turning 2 years old on February 15th. We are going to have a Shrek themed Party due to his obsession with the green Ogre. We will post a time and place later for those who would like to attend.